Rick didn't fuck up often, but when he did, it was bad. Really bad.
"SHIT shit SHIT shit SHIT!"
The portal had disappeared, and Rick was standing alone in the alley. He couldn't just stand there-he had to do something.
This other Rick, whose identifying coordinates Rick didn't even know, had stolen his Summer. Except she wasn't his Summer-but now, none of that mattered. What mattered now was that Summer could wind up being a victim of permanent psychological and physical damage. If Ricks were capable of what her Rick had done, then who knew what this new Rick was currently doing to her, now that Summer was in his grasp?
Once again Rick chastised himself for forgetting the locator. Now he had to return back to the Smith house to retrieve it, so he could find where Summer was. In the meantime, he hoped she wasn't getting tortured to death by this completely over-the-top controlling and unhinged Rick, who had clearly been traumatizing and abusing his Morty to the point where he'd run away and was eating out of trash cans.
Rick shut his eyes against the imagery and tried his best not to think about it. He snatched the locator, which he knew he wouldn't be able to use correctly until he was back in the Citadel because the Citadel existed out of space and time. The locator would only be able to locate Summer once he was physically there. Rick portaled back to the Citadel, returning to the same spot that he had just left, and where Summer had been taken.
He turned on the locator and dialed in Summer's identifying dimension mark. The revealing answer made his heart sink: she was in the Citadel dungeons-where they took Mortys who had been sentenced to unspeakable punishments. Rick could only hope now that Summer hadn't been traumatized beyond repair.
The Citadel dungeon was an unspeakably terrifying place of unknown horrors. The corridors were dark and damp; only the guards were allowed to carry torches. There was one lone torch close to the jail cells, but even in the cells themselves, the prisoners could hardly see their own hands in front of their faces.
Summer had never been in any kind of a dungeon or jail for that matter, and she was beyond terrified; she could barely move and was trembling uncontrollably from fear. She sat on the cold hard ground in a small otherwise empty cell, hugging her knees to her chest, and tried not to think about who had been there before her. She couldn't stop thinking about Morty and she couldn't stop blinking back tears. Now what am I going to do? she couldn't help but think to herself in a panic, I'm stuck in here forever, and there's no way Rick can save me now….I don't even know if I WANT Rick to save me at all….
All of a sudden she heard a rustle in the darkness and Summer jumped. "Wh-wh-who's there?" Summer's voice sounded exceptionally loud in her ears, and the echo, as well as the silence that followed, was deafening.
She was startled when two small hands could almost visibly be seen gripping the bars, and she realized that someone was in the other cell….and it looked like the hands of a child. "Wh-who are you?" Summer croaked in a hoarse whisper.
"My name is Mortimer," a small yet solemn sounding voice replied, and Summer gasped.
"MORTY?"
"My name is Mortimer," the boy responded in an eerily calm and neutral tone. "Mortimer of Rick J517."
Summer slowly got to her feet and began to walk over to the other cell. She could barely make out his features from the shadows, but she could see that he was in fact the spitting image of her brother Morty-and the same one that she had found in the alleyway earlier. Summer could only stare at him for a moment, dazed, until he blinked, owl-eyed, back at her.
"It IS you!" Summer exclaimed in a loud whisper. "Or-" She shuddered. "-Are you a ghost-?"
"Quiet please!" the boy who looked like Morty shushed her with wide and alarmed eyes. "The guards will hear you!"
"B-but I don't understand-" Summer blurted in confusion. "If you're not a ghost, then….What are you doing in here?"
"I am in violation of page 43 of the Infinite Finite Curve's code."
Summer blinked back with started confusion. "I-I don't know what that is-"
"I am still in violation of it even now." The boy's expression did not change. "I am not supposed to speak."
"But…" Summer shook his head. She couldn't believe how much he looked like her brother. He was completely identical. "...Why-?"
The boy lowered his head as though he were ashamed. "I also violated page 52 of the Infinite Finite Curve's code."
"...Wh-what's that?" Summer gently urged. While she was also curious, she also wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer.
There was an awkward silent pause during which the boy simply stared at her as if expecting something.
"It's when a Morty disobeys his Rick," the boy finally answered, matter-of-factly, as though it were a simple thing to imply. He was strangely calm as he spoke. It gave her the creeps.
"A…." Summer's head was spinning. "...a 'Morty'?"
"You are not even a Morty," the boy responded suddenly, instead of explaining his earlier statement. "And you have a Rick. Why?"
"I'm…" Summer felt ill. "I think I'm going to be sick." She turned and promptly vomited on the cold hard ground.
The boy did not speak until she was done. "Are you ill?" he asked with complete sincerity, and Summer had to choke back a sob.
"N-n-no…" Summer wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. She was suddenly exhausted and just wanted to be home in her bed. This all felt like a very bad dream.
"What is wrong?"
The question was so innocent and so painfully appropriate that it made Summer laugh out loud, and hard. "SO fucking much!" she said emphatically and with conviction, much more louder than she had intended. Her words bounced off the echoing walls.
The boy was silent, staring down resolutely at the floor, and Summer realized she might have scared him. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I didn't mean to yell-"
"It is okay." He regarded her silently for a moment. "You are not like anyone I know here," he declared. "You are different."
Summer slid down the bars until she felt the cold hard wet floor seeping through her pants and into her bones.
"You don't know who I am," she exhaled sadly, "do you?"
"I do not," the boy replied.
Summer wiped furiously at her tears. Damn tears! She hated them.
"In the alley," the boy spoke again, "you said that you were my sister."
Summer remained silent, leaning her head back against the bars. She was far too exhausted to explain the situation.
"What this is that you speak of: -a 'sister'?"
Summer felt a single tear leak from her eye. "It…" She gulped. "It's...someone who has the same parents that you do...only a sister isn't a boy like you...it's a girl."
"'Parents'?" The boy echoed, sounding far too confused. "What is this thing, 'parents'?"
Summer looked up at him from the floor in astonishment. She couldn't believe she was hearing this! "Are you serious?" she asked, turning back to face the boy who looked exactly like Morty. "You-you don't know what parents are?"
"I have never had a parent." The boy sounded painfully sad, and Summer looked away again.
"Th-then-" Summer swallowed hard. "Who takes care of you?"
"Nobody," the boy replied. "I take care of myself."
Summer winced but had to continue. "What about that man that took us here?" she asked quietly. "He looks just like my grandfather-"
"He is a Rick," Mortimer answered. "All Ricks are forever in charge of their Mortys."
" 'Their'..." Summer felt sick. "...'Mortys'?" She had so many questions now, but none that she really wanted to ask. Questions like: Did this Rick believe that they OWNED this Morty? Was this how her own Rick felt about HER? How many Ricks were there, and how many Mortys, for that matter? Summer had never been so confused.
"What does Rick do with you?" Summer asked instead, her voice sounding strangely faint and hollow in her ears.
"I am here to provide a human shield," the boy answered almost mechanically, causing Summer to shudder.
"...say what?" Summer muttered in complete disbelief. She was beginning to regret asking questions.
She was just about to ask where the other Ricks' Mortys were when the entire cell began to glow with an eerie green light, and a zapping noise made Summer whirl around-there, standing in the middle of her cell was Rick….or she hoped...he was her Rick….
"RICK?" Summer yelped. "What are you-!?"
"QUIET!" Rick hissed. Without warning, he quickly covered her mouth with his hand. "I only have so much charge left in the portal gun, Summer-I'm not even supposed to be using this here!" Rick snapped in just above a whisper. "So for once in your life don't be your completely typical whiny bitch of a self and come with me-OW!" He jumped in pain as Summer bit his hand. "What the HELL Summer!?" Rick whispered as fiercely as he could without raising his voice and alarming the guards, "I'm trying to fucking RESCUE YOU HERE!"
"How do I know you're HIM?" Summer whispered just as fiercely. "How do I know you're not just some OTHER RICK?"
"JESUS SUMMER!" Rick groaned. "Fine-quiz me! Ask me whatever you want-but you have to do it quick-because we're running out of time here!"
"Why do you want to come to get me?"
Rick narrowed his eyes. "Because you're my granddaughter, dumbass."
"But am I REALLY your granddaughter?" Summer demanded. "Or am I not your original Summer?"
Rick glared back at her, daring her to continue. "I told you, dingbat! I never had a Summer."
"How did you meet me?" Summer smirked. She was beginning to enjoy this.
"Stupid ass foster care."
"Most embarrassing interaction living together?"
Rick let out a muffled groan. "...Walking in on you naked…."
Summer snickered in response; strangely she was beginning to enjoy this.
"And why do you have to make me trust your sorry ass again?" Summer demanded.
There was an awkward silence. Rick cleared his throat. "Because of the goddamned diary , Summer-and because how many times do I have to save YOUR sorry ass!?" Rick hissed in as loud a whisper as he could muster. "Now come with me-and no complaints-unless you want to die in a dungeon in the middle of space without time-which means you could be here forever!"
Summer thought about it. Rick seethed. Summer finally gathered the courage to speak up. "Fine," she said, "I will come with you: on ONE condition."
"...which is?" Rick spat through gritted teeth in a barely suppressed rage.
"We're not just rescuing me, Grandpa…." Summer turned in the direction of the opposite cell. "...We're rescuing this Morty."
Mortimer had moved into the light, daring to look at Rick with wide and soulful eyes.
Rick simply stood there staring back at the boy with his mouth agape. "You can't be serious Summer," he snapped. "This is rickDICKulous! This is flat-out freaking absurd! What do you expect me to do with him?"
"He's all alone, Grandpa…" Summer knew she was being manipulative but she couldn't help it. She moved to stand closer to Mortimer, who looked small and helpless and pitiful through the bars. "He's never even had his own family-"
"Do you know how many Mortys fall into that category, SUMMER?" Rick hissed. "We couldn't save them all even if we TRIED!"
"Well we can at least try to save this one," Summer replied with conviction as she grasped the timid boy's hand; surprisingly he let her, even though his hand was weak and feeble in her grasp. "Can't we?"
Rick simply rolled his eyes and looked away. He hadn't wanted anything to do with another Morty, but it looked like now Summer was forcing him into it. If he didn't acquiesce to her request, he might really lose her for good, and all would be lost, and who knew what the Council of Ricks would do to him then-
"I know I"m going to regret this," Rick muttered, and suddenly before he could say another word he was nearly tackled to the ground by an enthusiastic and overjoyed Summer, as she threw her arms around his neck. "S-s-Summer!" Rick forced between gasps for air, "-Can't-breath!"
"-Sorry," Summer giggled. She suddenly felt elated, knowing she would be free from this horrible place and that this particular Morty was coming home with her. "You won't regret this Grandpa-"
"RICK." Rick shot back sternly, and Summer fell silent. "JUST. PLAIN. RICK. GOT IT?"
Shocked by his sudden change in tone, Summer nodded silently.
Reluctantly, Rick strode over to this new Morty. "What coordinates are you?" he asked.
"...J517."
"JESUS." Rick slapped his forehead with a groan. "THAT guy's gotta be TONS of fun." He crouched down to where he was Mortimer's level. "OK, so-you promise, if I portal my way in to your cell, you won't struggle?"
Morty J517 nodded in confirmation. "Yes Mr. Rick."
"JUST. PLAIN. RICK," Rick hissed. "Understand me?"
"Yes," the boy shot back as though answering a drill sargent, "Yes, I do sir, I understand sir, Mr. Rick."
Rick groaned inwardly. This was going to be some wild ride. It was however a ride he'd never bought a ticket for, because it was a ride he'd never wanted to get on. "Okay then," he returned gruffly, "I'm gonna portal into your cell with Summer, and then we're all gonna portal our way outta here….ya dig?"
"Dig what?" Mortimer's eyes were wide.
"Oh boy." Rick groaned again and turned back to Summer. "This one's got some problems," he informed Summer under his breath, "but hopefully it's nothing a nice few days of uneventful domesticity can't fix." He pinched the bridge of his nose; he was beginning to get an awful headache. "He'll only stay with us for a couple of days," he added promptly, "And we'll have to keep it on the down-low, alright? I'll have to figure something else out."
"But Rick-"
"How are you going to explain this to social services?" Rick demanded sharply. "That your brother is suddenly and mysteriously, magically brought back from the dead?"
Summer walked away and pouted for a moment. She hated to admit it, but she knew he was right. "...Okay," she agreed reluctantly. She hated that Rick could be right about anything, but especially that she knew, deep down, that he was right about this- and she hated the thought of sending this Morty (or any Morty, for that matter) away for any reason...especially when she'd just gotten reunited with her brother once again...
"Ready?" Rick held out his hand. "We only get one shot at this," he warned her darkly. "Let's do this!"
Summer gritted her teeth and prepared to jump. She was strangely getting used to the idea of portaling around. "OK," she nodded back at him, "let's do this!"
With a determined nod at each other, they gritted their teeth and both jumped at once into the portal.