Disclaimer: I don't own "Rick and Morty".

Author's Note: Last chapter before the Epilogue! As intense as it has been, this story has been one of my favorites to write. In this chapter: A major question is answered and the stage is set for transition. Life as Rick and Morty know it will never be the same.

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After awhile of scrounging, Rick went back upstairs to check on Morty.

Kid was passed out cold on his bed, covers strewn haphazardly about, Winston clutched tightly in his arms. He was snoring, but otherwise, looked more peaceful than he had been in a long time.

Rick forced the relentlessly persistent lump back down his throat and, as quietly as he could, he shut the door behind him. Better not to disturb them.

He then proceeded to head down the secret elevator beneath the basement floor to his carefully hidden lab. Down here, was where he'd find the good stuff. His 'secret stash' was in here, plus he'd need his blueprints for building his next spaceship. There were extra portal guns, ray guns, laser guns galore, and these he stuffed into a few of Jerry's business duffle bags as quickly as possible. There were notes for his various top-secret experiments, as well as his scientific equipment that he packaged carefully with bubble wrap (for safe traveling).

In the bags were several things he probably didn't need. This was, of course, because Rick was delaying the inevitable: the task he should have done right away, before he lost his nerve. His fingers ducked into his right pants pocket, surprised that they were still there: the few stray strands of hair he'd managed to pluck off of Jenna's shoulder, which had landed there after their scuffle.

She was the only human being that existed in Chronenburg world besides the rest of the Smiths...and, if his suspicions were right...It couldn't be possible, though...Rick thought...could it?...The odds of it happening, they were way too unreal...it just felt too...

The old phrase "too good to be true" flashed through his head...but there wasn't really anything 'good' about the situation at all, if what he assumed was fact was, in fact, just that, fact.

Even so, it all lined up: she was twenty years old, incredibly stubborn, clearly intelligent, and her crazy unkempt spiky hair-

Stop it Rick-just stop it, you're wishing for the moon and the stars and everything in between and you don't even deserve to outlive your own daughter.

His fingers shook as the two images of DNA appeared on the screen: one was hers and the other, his own. Rick froze as he stared at the separate strains, a breath hitched in his throat, and the shock left him dizzy. He sat down in the first chair he could find, his eyes locked on the strain of X chromosomes for his DNA, and then the X chromosomes of Jenna's. They matched each other perfectly.

His arms reached out as if of their own accord towards the monitor, his hands gripping each side as though it were her face; the monitor began to shake...and one lone tear snaked from his right eye, and slid down his cheek. This time, Rick didn't care; there was nobody here to see them. He sat back down in the chair; the tears, unbidden, kept right on coming. He let them fall.

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Summer eyed Jenna with suspicion as she walked aimlessly around the fort, admiring her father's handiwork. "You guys really did a great job on this place," she said to Summer, who was heating up some more tea.

"...Thanks," said Summer with an awkward shrug. (Who was this girl, anyway?)

"I'm...sorry about your sister," Jenna told her as she sat down on the nearby couch. It had stuffing falling out of it, and was close to falling apart completely, but she settled in with abandon, exhausted.

"Yeah...thanks, but, she...wasn't my sister." Summer quickly handed over the tea for Jenna to take. Jenna accepted gratefully, even as she watched Summer with confusion.

"But-your father said-"

"It's-a long and kind of...boring story, really," Summer added hastily as she handed Jenna a buttered piece of toast.

"Thanks-for the food and hospitality." Jenna smiled back at her (a forced smile, if ever Summer had seen one) and added cautiously, "Where...did Rick and Morty go?"

"Beats me," Summer shrugged, "they're always taking off for one place or another."

"But-aren't we having a funeral?" Jenna pointed out with a frown.

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Summer balked with annoyance, narrowing her eyes at Jenna, "I-don't even know how you met my grandfather in the first place...and you didn't even know the other S-" She stopped herself as she realized what she was saying, before adding (a bit more calmly at the sight of Jenna's hurt expression), "How...did you meet Grandpa Rick again?"

"It's a long and boring story," Jenna explained (without really explaining). She wasn't about to tell Rick's granddaughter that she'd narrowly stopped him from killing himself. "Is...your Dad...okay?" Jenna questioned with a sincere concern that surprised Summer, as she glanced towards the fort's ramshackle window. "He...shouldn't be alone right now."

"I'll go check on him," Summer vowed and stood up quickly to leave. This girl irked her; she wasn't too much older than she was, but she was a stranger, and had just shown up out of nowhere...and where on Earth was her grandfather and brother, anyway?

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Morty sat up in his bed in his room, looking around the walls at his posters and his books, his toys and his computer. He'd miss his life here...it was a good life.

"...Rick...?" he called out down the hall, peering cautiously out the doorway. No answer. He hoped Rick hadn't left him completely by himself. He knew he couldn't survive that on his own.

He'd already taken a couple of his sister's books and stuffed animals (now companions for Winston). Now, he stole into his parents' bedroom, with one thing in mind. On the nightstand was a picture of both of his parents and, on his mother's, one of his mom with a prize horse. The breathtaking, gorgeously spotted Appaloosa had been a client of hers at the vet hospital; she'd performed a life-saving surgery on it, and her pride was almost palpable as she smiled brightly at the camera.

Morty carefully picked up both pictures, taking extra-special care of the one of his mother. Back inside his room, he placed them carefully together side by side in his knapsack for safe keeping. It was going to be very different in this new world, and he wanted to remember that, in this one, he was loved and cared for by two good parents who wanted only the best for their son.

Mom...Dad...you were the best parents I could have ever asked for...

...I love you and I will always make sure that you will never-ever-be forgotten.