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Chapter 23
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"God damn it, I wish I could kill them all again..." Scar-Cheek Rick breathed as he threw open the door to Morty Room 2 and watched Regular-Rick 2 place Morty carefully on the bed. Scar-Cheek Rick wasn't sure he'd ever hated anyone more than he hated this Morty's Rick or The Sultan. Even The Sultan's men were fucking awful - sitting back and allowing the man to hurt Morty without intervening. This poor little kid had gotten mixed up with all the worst people imaginable... and even his own Rick was among them.
"What do we need out of the first aide kit?" Fat-Rick breathed as he retrieved it and brought it over, placing it on the edge of the bed and opening it up. "What are the welts? Are those burns of some kind?"
"Electrocution I'm pretty sure." Regular-Rick 2 guessed. "Let's try the flugaree wax gel."
At about this time, Morty began to stir, blinking his eyes weakly and moaning a soft, shaking breath. He wasn't really speaking as much as making pained noises. Each of his breaths sounded sharp, barely able to make their way in and out of his mouth as silent tears streamed down his cheeks. Morty continued making awful, pained moaning noises as he regained consciousness.
"You're gonna be okay, kiddo." Fat-Rick promised, placing a hand on Morty's forehead and brushing some strands of hair damp with sweat off of the boy's face. "Try to breathe... I know it hurts. You're safe now. You're with us and we're fixing you up..."
Morty's eyelids continued to flutter as he reached with shaking fingers up toward Regular-Rick 2's hands, as the man started to pull back the white lab coat he'd wrapped Morty in earlier. "D-" He choked, his fingers fumbling weakly at Regular-Rick 2's hands. "Pl... Please..." He whimpered.
"It's okay." Regular-Rick 2 spoke in a low voice. "I won't hurt you. It's just me... You're safe."
"No..." Morty choked weakly as tears spilled down his cheeks. His movements were so soft, so weak. He seemed to be trying to push Regular-Rick 2 away from him, but barely managed to lift his arms, much less shove the man back.
"It's me, Morty... Regular-Rick 2... Scar-Cheek Rick and Fat-Rick are here with me. It's just us. You're safe." Regular-Rick 2 promised. "We're trying to help you. Just try to breathe."
"H-hurts..." Morty whimpered breathlessly, grabbing Regular-Rick 2's hand and squeezing. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was visibly shaking. "Th-the Sultan..." He moaned. "Sh-shock-shocked..." He was clearly having trouble getting the words out. "I th-think it's h-hurting w-worse and worse... I ca-can't-"
"Shhh... It's okay... Fat-Rick." Scar-Cheek Rick turned toward his companion. "I need that gel. He's not just being dramatic... He can hardly breathe. We need to get this sorted out fast..."
Fat-Rick nodded, handing Scar-Cheek Rick a tube of ointment as the sound of Morty's pained, shaking cries filled the room. "Ubixian shock rods are a torture tool used on this planet. From my research on the subject, I found accounts of the pain worsening over time before healing ever beings. Poor little guy's in so much pain..." He noted. "That sultan is a real prick for doing this to him..."
"Jesus Christ..." Regular-Rick 2 breathed. "He's a fucking child... Was it not enough to fucking rape him? He had to torture him too?"
"Morty, I'm gonna apply some cream to these... It'll numb them a bit and make them heal faster..." Scar-Cheek Rick informed the boy. He remembered Morty had been very fearful about being too close to anyone or allowing anyone to really touch him before, and certainly didn't want the kid to freak out when Scar-Cheek Rick was only trying to help him. "Is that okay?" He asked.
"P-please m-make it stop... It hurts..." Morty whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut and squeezing Regular-Rick 2's hand tightly in his own.
Scar-Cheek Rick squirted some of the ointment into his palm and started to work, rubbing a generous portion of cream on each of the welts, starting with the ones on the boy's arms, then moving to the ones on his chest.
"Can I get the ones on your thighs, Morty?" Regular-Rick 2 asked. "I won't hurt you. I promise..."
"I know..." Morty breathed, biting his lower lip.
Scar-Cheek Rick frowned as he focused his attention on Regular-Rick 2, who was the first one to find Morty in The Sultan's room. The man knew Morty had these same welts on his upper-thighs, near his groin. Had The Sultan done that deliberately? Trying to make Morty as embarrassed and traumatized as possible?
"You're okay, Morty... I promise I won't hurt you." Regular-Rick 2 assured the kid again as he pushed his lab coat up just enough to uncover the welts under it. Scar-Cheek Rick could see Morty tense and heard the boy's breath catch in his throat as Regular-Rick 2's fingertips spread the gel onto each of the welts down there.
With a tiny, shaking whimper, Morty reached out and grabbed Scar-Cheek Rick's hand, squeezing it hard while biting his lower lip and frowning down at Regular-Rick 2 as the man tended to his injuries.
"You're going to be alright, Morty..." Scar-Cheek Rick swallowed a lump in his throat as he stared down at the kid. He could feel Morty shaking as the boy gripped his hand tighter than he realized Morty was even capable. The pain had to be becoming more manageable if Morty's tight grip on Scar-Cheek Rick's hand was any indication. A moment before, the boy seemed barely able to even lift his arms. Now his hold seemed pretty secure.
"Are they starting to hurt less?" Scar-Cheek Rick frowned. "The gel should numb them a bit, and then healing should be sped up from there... You can put more on a couple times a day as needed... It's typically for various types of burns, including chemical and electrical... Fat-Rick concocted it..."
"I think..." Morty breathed, still staring at Regular-Rick 2 until the man finished applying the cream and pulled his lab coat back down over Morty's lap. "I th-think it's s-starting to feel better..." He whispered.
"Good." Regular-Rick 2 breathed. "You hurt anywhere else? Did he hit you? Did your Rick? Do you think you've got any broken bones?" He stepped back and looked Morty up and down. Besides for the coat covering his groin, he was entirely exposed... He actually didn't have any new visible injuries besides the welts.
Morty inhaled and exhaled shakily, shrinking down as he looked around himself, noticing the room, the three Ricks... Maybe he hadn't been able to focus enough before, when he was in so much pain. "A-are we on your space ship?" He whispered, completely ignoring Regular-Rick 2's question. "Y-you killed The Sultan?"
"Yes and yes. Are you hurt anywhere else?" Regular-Rick 2 asked again. "You're safe now. We just need to make sure you don't have any other injuries. You don't need to be afraid to tell us. We'll help you. As gently as possible."
Morty swallowed and shook his head no.
"You sure?" Regular-Rick 2 frowned. "I know it might be scary, embarrassing... But we can help. You don't need to be ashamed by it. Nothing that happened was your fault."
Morty let out a shaking breath. Tears shined in his eyes as he looked toward Scar-Cheek Rick and ignored Regular-Rick 2's pressing questions yet again. "I-if my Rick comes back and tries to take me... Wh-what are we gonna do?"
"He won't." Scar-Cheek Rick noted rather simply. "He definitely fucking won't."
Morty shook his head and sniffed back tears. "Yes he will. He fucking sold me... He thinks I'm like his property... He's gonna come back. He knows where The Morty Safe Haven is. Don't make me go back there. Let me stay with you... Please don't let him take me... I know The Sultan's gone... But Rick's still gonna want to take me. Don't let him... He found me before. He'll do it again. I don't e-even know how he found me, but he did... W-what are we gonna do? He's going to be so fucking mad at me... He's going to find me again..."
"No he won't, Morty. He's gone." Scar-Cheek Rick persisted. "He's dead."
"H-he is?" Morty whispered, swallowing as his lip trembled. He looked even more upset now.
"He can't hurt you, or leave you with anyone who will... He's gone. He's never going to have any say in anything you do ever again. He can't fucking take you anywhere. You're safe from him. Forever." Scar-Cheek Rick repeated.
"But... W-what do you mean... He died?" Morty spoke in a tiny voice.
The boy's shoulders slumped like this news was disappointing, which made just about zero sense to Scar-Cheek Rick. The guy left him with a rapist... He dislocated Morty's shoulder. And that was just recent stuff. He was an abusive piece of shit. Morty should have been happy he was dead.
"He was trying to take you, Morty..." Regular-Rick 2 noted. "After I killed The Sultan, I was carrying you out of there... Your Rick confronted me and wouldn't let us leave. He threatened to shoot me, even with you right there in my arms. He said he didn't care if it accidentally hit you instead... I realize you still loved him... but we had to get you out of there. He wouldn't let us..."
"I had to kill him." Scar-Cheek Rick spoke, not feeling the least bit remorseful about it. "He sold you to a rapist... You escaped and he took you back and did it again. He went through so much trouble to make sure this fucking rapist got to have you... He dislocated your shoulder..."
"I know..." Morty whispered, looking down at his hands in his lap. "I understand that he didn't love me. He was cruel... And maybe I didn't love him either... Maybe I just wanted to love him... W-wanted him to love me back..." Morty's voice shook as his lip quivered.
"It's okay." Regular-Rick 2 reached over and squeezed Morty's hand. "Its okay that you feel conflicted about this... He was your grandfather. Family's... you know... a fuckin' mess sometimes... I get it."
Morty nodded silently, squeezing Regular-Rick 2's hand in his own.
"Morty, did your Rick or The Sultan... or anybody else hurt you anywhere else? Anywhere we can't see?" Scar-Cheek Rick frowned, feeling sick even suggesting it, but knowing how likely it was. They needed to get back to making sure Morty was physically okay first and foremost, whether the boy really wanted to talk about it or not. It had to be discussed.
Regular-Rick 2 found him first. He was the one to dispatch The Sultan... but Scar-Cheek Rick did see the state Morty was in when he arrived, and that was completely naked, wrapped up in Regular-Rick 2's coat, passed out, in horrible pain... They had found him in The Sultan's bedroom. Morty wasn't wearing any clothes. The possibilities were very sickeningly fucking obvious. Ubixians were large beings. If The Sultan raped him, Morty could be legitimately seriously injured.
Morty quickly shook his head, shrinking down as though nervous.
Scar-Cheek Rick furrowed his brow. "You sure? We don't all have to be in here to help you if you're hurt. I know it's not-"
"I'm sure. I'm okay..." Morty interrupted. He looked nervously around the room and his breaths still sounded labored. The welts probably still hurt quite a bit. The ointment made the pain manageable, but didn't erase it all together.
Scar-Cheek Rick exhaled tiredly. He knew he shouldn't keep pressing this issue, but he had a bad feeling Morty might not tell the truth with all three of them there. He was only beginning to trust them, and having three men he really didn't know all that well hovering around him, demanding details on this traumatic experience was probably pretty scary.
Glancing with a frown toward Regular-Rick 2, Scar-Cheek Rick felt like he could tell what the other man was thinking - he was unsure of Morty's response as well. Regular-Rick glanced quickly from Fat-Rick to Scar-Cheek Rick, then down toward Morty, probably noticing exactly what Scar-Cheek Rick did - that Morty might be overwhelmed by having too many people asking too many questions, being too close...
"Fat-Rick... Can I talk to you for a minute in the hall?" Scar-Cheek Rick spoke up, silently nodding toward Regular-Rick 2 who gave him a knowing look and nodded back. Without speaking it out loud, they both understood that Morty seemed to trust Regular-Rick 2 the most, and that talking with him alone might yield more honest, complete answers from the boy.
Fat-Rick followed Scar-Cheek Rick out into the hall, where Scar-Cheek Rick immediately leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.
"I think he's okay now." Fat-Rick noted.
Scar-Cheek Rick shook his head, keeping his eyes closed. "Of course he is... but..." He trailed off. He still felt so fucking angry at Rick Q-405 for not caring about his Morty any more than this. Mortys were frustrating, sometimes Scar-Cheek Rick would be pretty blunt and describe them as nothing short of stupid or annoying... but they were innocent. They wanted to help, wanted to be accepted, loved, taken care of. They wanted to feel safe.
How the fuck could someone look at Morty - any version of him - see and hear him shaking, crying, begging not to be hurt... and just leave him with a man who was a confirmed sexual abuser? How could his Rick knowingly leave him with The Sultan, when he knew exactly what The Sultan wanted to do to him?
"If The Sultan or his Rick hurt him more, we'll deal with it." Fat-Rick put his hand lightly on Scar-Cheek Rick's arm. "I know it's fucking awful... but he'll be okay. This is what we signed up to do, Rick... The Mortys we find aren't ever the ones who live happy, carefree lives. That's why they need us."
"I know." Scar-Cheek Rick kept his eyes closed, and didn't shove Fat-Rick's hand away like he normally would. The other two Ricks on this ship were way too fucking' nice. They barely even seemed like Ricks half the time. It had taken a while to get used to them after he first joined them, looking for his own Morty. Scar-Cheek Rick still often felt like he was the odd-man out, the only Rick-like Rick, the only one who didn't seem too nice to be real... Maybe it was working with all the sad, hurt little Mortys they found that softened them up. Maybe Scar-Cheek Rick was growing softer too.
He opened his eyes and looked at Fat-Rick, who looked kind of sad as he looked back. "Regular-Rick 2 will find out what happened... and we'll fix him up however we need to. We'll help him physically, emotionally... however he needs to be helped. He went through a lot, but he'll be okay. If anyone can deal with it, it's us. That includes you."
"You think so?" Scar-Cheek Rick laughed. "I'm kind of an asshole."
Fat-Rick shrugged. "You're a Rick... and in case you didn't notice, he fucking loves you. He slept on the floor near the control panel twice, just to be close to you, Rick."
Scar-Cheek Rick smiled, then shook his head. "I don't know why he seems like a little more than the other Mortys we've found... I've always seen the others as mostly all the same in a way... Because obviously they are, in a very fucking obvious way. But this one... I don't know. I just feel... like weirdly protective. More than normal."
"I think we all do. He's been through a lot. Not that the other Mortys haven't as well. Maybe it's because his own Rick hurt him and enabled others to do the same. We're usually saving Mortys whose Ricks died. The Rick still being alive isn't usually the problem." Fat-Rick noted.
Scar-Cheek Rick shook his head. He was never not going to be viciously offended that Morty Q-405's Rick allowed him to be hurt... The man hurt him himself, then passed him off on someone else who he knew would hurt him even worse. Ricks could be harsh, but god damn that was fucking cruel.
"Are we going to keep him?" Fat-Rick wondered. "No one's after him now... He should be as safe with us as he is with any other Rick... He knows us already, so it'll be an easier transition for him."
Scar-Cheek Rick stared at the other man. He honestly couldn't think of a good reason not to let Morty stay with them. They all wanted him to stay. They each felt a connection to him specifically that they hadn't quite stumbled into with other Mortys they rescued.
"I could tailor some of Regular-Rick 2's clothes to fit him... He could dress like us." Fat-Rick smirked. "He could help us rescue Mortys... and he's a Morty too, but he could be like a cute little mini-Rick Morty..."
Scar-Cheek Rick felt a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "We'll see what Regular-Rick 2 feels about it... I'm hoping he's going to get some answers out of him... See if he even wants to stay with us anymore... We kind of fucked up..." His smile fell into a frown when he realized this as he said it. "We shouldn't have left him alone anywhere until these people were gone... We knew they might come after him."
"Lots of people might come after any Morty..." Fat-Rick reminded him. "We did what we thought was enough. He won't blame us."
"He won't." Scar-Cheek Rick frowned. "I do."
Fat-Rick shook his head. "We saved him, Rick. Twice. And that was just from The Sultan. You saved him on Earth G-116... From actual fucking cannibals. And when the Ubixians boarded our ship. You alone saved him twice."
"We should have only had to save him once." Scar-Cheek Rick noted. "Go find him some clothes and I'll check the navigation... I'll make sure no one's following us... There shouldn't be, but we should fucking start paying attention a little more. Can't keep fucking up. Let's give Regular-Rick 2 some time to talk some answers out of him."
"Alright..." Fat-Rick frowned. "You didn't know his Rick would find him... None of us did. I don't even know how it happened... We did our best. Don't beat yourself up about it."
Scar-Cheek Rick shook his head. Ricks always beat themselves up about everything. That wasn't new. Scar-Cheek Rick was always going to blame himself for his own Morty disappearing. Now he could blame himself for this one getting further injured and traumatized too...
But maybe, just maybe, he could do better from here. Maybe he and his friends could give this poor little Morty a better life, finally give him what he'd been looking for for so long, love, support, a family... a bit of safety. They could help this one in a bigger way the usual...
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