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Chapter 17
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It took a few hours for Scar-Cheek Rick and Morty to find Regular-Rick 2 and Fat-Rick, who had gone off in two different directions looking for Morty on Earth G-116. Once all four of them were reunited, they portaled back onto their star-ship and got back on track.
They'd lost about half a day thanks to Morty's detour. They were still only a few hours away from The Morty Safe Haven, but it was practically time for bed again already, if they were going to bother keeping track of time, which Ricks weren't famous for. Even so, Morty seemed utterly exhausted. Scar-Cheek Rick chose to watch the navigation monitor until they arrived at the Safe Haven. He was feeling increasingly paranoid that something was going to go wrong - as that was developing into a pattern surrounding this Morty.
Morty seemed to be feeling exceptionally clingy toward Scar-Cheek Rick lately and decided to hang out near the navigation system. Rick wasn't sure if he was annoyed by that or not. In a way, it kind of gave him a warm feeling in his heart. Morty trusted him, whether Rick deserved it or not. The boy wanted to be around him. Even after Rick yelled at him.
Maybe he should have been even more harsh though. If he went too easy on the kid, Morty wouldn't learn... but perhaps having his clothes violently ripped off of him and nearly being eaten by cannibals was a good enough lesson itself. Scar-Cheek Rick certainly didn't go easy on his original Morty. They argued constantly... and look how that turned out.
Rick glanced over at the boy, sleeping in the same place he had the previous night. Scar-Cheek Rick could barely believe that the kid even wanted to be around him. He was far from the nicest, most caring Rick in the multiverse. Regular-Rick 2 and Fat-Rick were much more gentle and patient... Morty hadn't asked to follow them around and sleep at their feet like a dog. Maybe the kid got so used to his own Rick talking down to him and yelling at him that he had grown comfortable with it to the point of preferring it.
Rick frowned and looked away. He hoped that wasn't it. He hoped Morty didn't think he was a bastard, wasn't gravitating toward him because being treated like shit was familiar to him. Scar-Cheek Rick wouldn't ever claim to be warm or welcoming. He knew he could be a little rough, and often didn't even want the Mortys they met getting too close... but even so, he didn't want them to fear him... especially not this one.
Scar-Cheek Rick looked back at the monitor. They were almost there. Another hour or so and they'd be at the Morty Safe Haven, dropping off this Morty, who had proven to be one of the more challenging. Somehow he didn't feel the rage inside him he normally felt when dealing with difficult Mortys though. For some reason, Scar-Cheek Rick almost felt like he could understand this one.
Of course, almost every Morty they ever met had a sort of frantic fear to them. They operated on emotion. They ran, hid, kicked, screamed... whatever they felt they had to in their states of panic. It was easy to get mad at them for misunderstanding things, assuming things, getting scared and reacting... But Scar-Cheek Rick didn't feel angry right now. He certainly had earlier... But a part of him knew Morty wasn't trying to be defiant or difficult. He was scared. He was alone and scared, nervous about being given to a Rick he didn't know - because the Rick he did know hurt him - in so many ways. Morty didn't know if this unknown Rick he'd end up with would be the same way - or worse. He ran away because he was scared of that...
But Morty was starting to know the three Ricks here with him now. He was starting to trust them. He wanted to stay with them. He didn't trust the unknown, but he trusted these three. Scar-Cheek Rick frowned as he looked down at the kid, sleeping on the floor near the navigation system, like he had the previous night, choosing to sleep on the floor rather than in a bed, near Scar-Cheek Rick instead of away from him. Even after Scar-Cheek Rick yelled at him, scared him, Morty still trusted him.
Scar-Cheek Rick frowned. He wondered if his original Morty trusted him. They argued a lot. His Morty didn't really ever seem to be fearful. He was more assertive and brave than a lot of Mortys... He wondered if his Morty was ever truly scared for his life if he would run to Rick for protection, trust him to keep him safe. He probably trusted that Rick would come find him when he ran off... But Rick didn't. He tried to, but his Morty couldn't know that.
He wondered if his Morty was still alive out there somewhere, if he was scared... Maybe another Rick, or even just a random person or creature out in the multiverse found him and was kind and caring toward him. Maybe Rick's original Morty was still alive, safe and happy somewhere.
Rick scoffed and closed his eyes. That was stupidly and unrealistically optimistic. His Morty was probably dead. That was quite likely the best case scenario. He was either dead or being somehow abused somewhere. The multiverse could be a sick, twisted, cruel place. Morty Q-405 was pretty good evidence of that. The poor kid couldn't seem to catch a break.
"How's he doing?" Regular-Rick 2's voice spoke up.
Scar-Cheek Rick looked up to see Regular-Rick 2 and Fat-Rick approaching. He shrugged. "He's alright, I guess... The Earth G-116 people really scared the hell out of him, but maybe it's a necessary learning experience. It's good he did something completely fucking stupid like that when we could guess that's where he went and save him."
Regular-Rick 2 frowned sympathetically, obviously connecting in his mind the fact that Scar-Cheek Rick's original Morty did the exact same thing without the benefit of anyone having any idea where he went. Scar-Cheek Rick hoped his original Morty hadn't suffered a violent, cruel death, but at this point, he figured he might truly never know for sure.
"We need to think about keeping our portal guns out of reach from now on... I already made this fucking mistake... Let's not repeat it again. We're fuckin' Ricks. We're not supposed to be this damn stupid." Scar-Cheek Rick glared over at Fat-Rick with a raised eyebrow. For a Rick, the guy certainly could be stupidly naive and careless.
Fat-Rick frowned, but nodded as Scar-Cheek Rick stared back down at the navigation monitor. "I'm sorry. I thought he was honestly just curious when he asked how to use it. I never considered-"
"He wants to stay with us." Scar-Cheek Rick blurted, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"I know." Regular-Rick 2 noted.
Fat-Rick shifted from one foot to the other. "I know we always say we're never going to keep a Morty... But maybe that rule isn't necessary. There's space for him here. He's not disruptive or destructive unless he's scared, and he wouldn't be if he felt safe. He feels safe with us. We really could let him stay..."
Scar-Cheek Rick shook his head. "No we can't."
"Why not?" Fat-Rick frowned.
Scar-Cheek Rick glared at him. "We aren't good at Mortys. Are you fucking kidding? All of ours are dead. We each had one once, one our our own who we completely fucking loved... And they're gone. We each proved we can't fucking take care of a Morty long-term."
Fat-Rick breathed in a small breath, staring speechlessly at Scar-Cheek Rick.
"I'm a toxic bastard. I'm a rude asshole, and if I take in another Morty, I'll just scare him off and then he'll get lost or killed like mine. When he's scared he tries to run off... We travel to dangerous places looking for Mortys. He's gonna get scared again, gonna run again..." Scar-Cheek Rick reminded him. "You each got yours killed too... We adopt these Mortys out to responsible, good Ricks... Does that even describe us?"
"I think it does..." Fat-Rick whispered. "We each screwed up... but we've learned from it. The Ricks we adopt them out to have lost their Mortys too... Mistakes happen... If anything, Ricks who've lost their Morty are an even better fit... They're more careful... They learned the hard way how precious each little Morty is..."
Scar-Cheek Rick shook his head. It hurt so bad that he failed his own Morty so significantly. He wasn't sure he deserved a second chance, and wasn't sure any Morty deserved to go through the hell of having him as a parental figure. Scar-Cheek Rick was a grumpy asshole. This Morty didn't deserve to have to deal with that. No Morty did.
"I know we each care about him... He's been through a lot... We're each bonding with him in our own way... I'd be lying if I said I didn't want him to stay, but I don't think it's a good idea either. I don't think were equipped for it... We're letting our emotions win out over logic." Regular-Rick 2 agreed.
"So?" Fat-Rick frowned. "Why not let emotions win sometimes? Mortys are emotional..."
"But we're not." Scar-Cheek Rick frowned. "We can't keep him. It's dumb. He deserves better... We're reckless and live in a space ship... He's a vulnerable fourteen year old boy who needs a semi-normal life outside of Rick things..."
"We have no actual home... He deserves a home, a real family - maybe Beth, Jerry, Summer... if they are still alive in whatever his new dimension will be. School, friends his own age." Regular-Rick 2 noted.
"Mortys never have friends their own age." Fat-Rick scoffed. "We are good at Mortys." He stared, clearly hurt by Scar-Cheek Rick's earlier comments. Fat-Rick sure was emotional considering he was a Rick. He took things so personally. "We fucked up with ours, but now we know what not to do. Now we're each so much more careful... And I know for a fucking fact you guys care about this kid as much as I do... if not more. He's so fucking drawn to each of you."
"He's got a lot of dangerous people with very advanced space-travel technology after him, Rick." Regular-Rick 2 reminded Fat-Rick. "They know we have him. They tracked him somehow-"
"And they'll track him again." Fat-Rick glared. "We know how to deal with it. His new Rick might not. We know what might set him off - what he might do if he's scared. We know his trauma and we're starting to learn how to not upset that. We should keep him. He wants to stay. We want him to stay, whether we each admit it out loud or not..."
Scar-Cheek Rick shook his head, but didn't deny that. He did want Morty to stay. He knew it was a dumb idea, but he didn't want to let the kid go. He had similar feelings about lots of Mortys, but he couldn't deny the fact that he felt particularly drawn to this one. This one seemed to need them a lot more than most.
"We should blow up the Ubixian castle, any outposts..." Regular-Rick 2 suddenly suggested. "Kill his Rick if he tries to take him back. Anyone after this kid, we should just kill... Fuck all of these people for treating him like this. We kill them all. Then no one will be after him, he'll be safe... Then we can consider keeping him."
Scar-Cheek Rick felt his mouth drop open slightly. Regular-Rick 2 wasn't usually this brash. He was also usually the one who most frequently advocated for rescuing Mortys, but never adopting them. He said over and over again that he loved them, but wanted to help them get somewhere safe, not take them for himself.
"I agree." Fat-Rick grinned.
"What about living in a space ship without a real family?" Scar-Cheek Rick frowned. "What about him needing a house and school?"
"We'll be his family." Fat-Rick noted.
"Space ship works as a house for us... It might not be that big of an issue..." Regular-Rick 2 shrugged. "And you know damn well he'll learn more with us than he ever could at any fucking school."
"You both are thinking with your hearts instead of your brains." Scar-Cheek Rick glared, feeling his own heart struggling to be heard as well. They were Ricks. Ricks didn't make decisions based on emotions. They functioned through logic, even when it sometimes felt cold, even cruel. It would be dumb to let this Morty stay here.
"Maybe that's not always such a bad thing." Regular-Rick 2 furrowed his brow. "Mortys need love and care sometimes. This one certainly does. Logic is great, but Mortys need something else."
"They need stupidity?" Scar-Cheek Rick crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah... Kind of... Blind, stupid emotions. Actual love... I know it's dumb..." Regular-Rick 2 frowned.
Scar-Cheek Rick frowned and shook his head. "You're all a bunch of loose canon emotional fucking idiots..." He grumbled, but the more they talked about it, the more he thought about it, the more it didn't seem like such a bad idea. The thought of an individual Morty always hanging around, being cute and stupid... Someone to teach and take care of... It was really appealing. They could each get to know him as a person, joke with him, feel proud of him... It would be like old times... He couldn't replace the ones they lost, but he could start to fill that void in their hearts.
"He wants to stay..." Regular-Rick 2 repeated. "Our whole operation's goal is to match up compatible Ricks and Mortys... to find each Morty we rescue a Rick who will love and care for him... I know we care about all the Mortys we rescue, but I don't think any of us can deny that this one has a spark of something different about him. If the goal is to find a Rick who would really care about him... we already have... We found three. We're rescuing Mortys all the time. There's almost always at least one on the ship anyway... Why not keep this one around?"
Scar-Cheek Rick sighed. "We'll think about it. We'll drop him at the Safe Haven, go back and blow up the castle... Find and eliminate his Rick if need be..."
"Then go back to the Safe Haven and adopt him." Fat-Rick finished.
"Maybe." Scar-Cheek Rick glared. "We're Ricks, you guys. We're logical, not emotional. We need to think this through. We all agreed-"
"We all need a constant Morty in our lives." Fat-Rick frowned. "I know you each feel it too... I love saving them, helping them, but I want one of my own... He can't replace mine... I don't expect him to... We'll each still have that piece of our hearts lost with our original Mortys, but we have space in our hearts for him too. I know we do..."
"We'll think about it." Scar-Cheek Rick persisted. "I'm not committing to this." He glanced down at the floor, where Morty was curled up on his pillow, snuggling under his blanket. The other Ricks were right, in a dumbass emotion-driven way... He really wanted to keep this kid.
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