The next morning, Summer and Mortimer were greeted by a note on the kitchen counter, set next to a pile of freshly made pancakes. The note said: Gonna be off-world today, so you two are on your own. Summer, meet me in the garage around 4pm. In the meantime, stay out of trouble. -Rick
What's he up to? Summer wondered. She didn't make a big deal about it however, because she didn't want to worry Morty.
"You gonna be okay here, ummmm, alone, for awhile?" Summer asked.
"Yeah." Mortimer feigned a smile. It was true, he was used to being alone, but he preferred to have Summer in the house. He watched silently as Summer pulled on her backpack. "Hey uh….Summer.?"
"Yeah?"
"Wh...What's school like?"
"Boring," Summer admitted, shrugging indifferently. "Trust me," she added, giving him an affectionate pat, "you're not missing much."
Nothing but other kids my own age, he would have said, and learning lots of new, fun, and interesting things. Instead, Mortimer held his tongue. He was glad Summer had never known the kind of isolation he'd had to endure for years. "S-Summer…" He bit his lip. "Will you….tell me what you do today? W-when you come home?"
Summer blinked. "Sure…." She stared at him, unable to mask her own confusion. "...but why?"
"Y'know…." Mortimer blushed. "It's….real out there, y'know? I...I just like to hear about it."
"...okay." Summer tried not to sound as weirded out by that statement as she really was. "See you later, then-okay?" She ruffled his hair in a way that she never would have done before. "Don't touch Rick's stuff and you'll be fine."
"Summer?" Mortimer stopped her on her way out the door. "Wh-where do you think he went?"
"Who knows?" Summer shrugged indifferently. "He's Rick!"
"Y-yeah…." Mortimer ducked his head shyly. Then, before he lost his nerve, he threw his arms around Summer.
Summer froze in surprise. She wasn't expecting to be hugged. Morty had never hugged her, really, especially not because she was heading off to school. "See ya later alligator." She smiled weakly at him. "You know what you're s'posed to say in response?" she asked him, braving a grin.
"N-no…" Mortimer blushed awkwardly with embarrassment, "what?"
" 'After while, crocodile'!" Summer gave him a playful noogie, smiled broadly at him, and then swept quickly out the front door before he could see the tears in her eyes.
"Got a job for you, K. Mike."
Rick slid the piece of paper across the table.
The Gromflomite sitting across from him quickly snatched it up, examining the paper carefully.
"Think you can handle it?" Rick smirked. He already knew the answer; Krompobulous Michael could handle almost anything. He was Rick's go-to assassin when it came to certain types of covert operations. This covert operation happened to include assassinating two very specific versions of Rick Sanchez: the one who had hurt Beth, and the one who had abused Mortimer. Rick was going to put an end to their existence once and for all. However much he wanted to do the job himself, he knew he couldn't, under Citadel rule. If he was found guilty of killing other Ricks, he could be put to death himself. Krompobulous Michael was notorious for being an undercover sleuth-style killing machine. Rick knew if anyone was perfect for achieving his goal, it was him.
"You know I can Rick," K. Michael returned as he folded, and then pocketed the slip of paper carefully, "and I will."
"Good man," Rick nodded in approval. "Also…." He cleared his throat. "I have a request regarding a...specific individual from Earth B314."
"Shoot," K. Michael prompted eagerly.
"Elizabeth Smith." Rick cleared his throat again. He really didn't want to mention her name, especially here in this seedy bar off-world, where others might overhear him. "I would like to know her….status."
"Whereabouts?" K. Michael probed. "Occupation?"
Rick averted his gaze. "M.O.E.," he answered flatly. K. Michael nodded promptly in understanding; it stood for "Matter Of Existence". Rick dreaded the answer, but he hated to think of the possibilities, and there was only one alternative- but he had to know. "Also...please pass on a message for me-" He took a quick swig from his glass of beer. "-Let her know that I'm still...alive."
"Anything else?" the assassin urged. "For instance-would you prefer to know if she is with or without a mate?"
"Jerry can go suck dick for all I care." Rick snorted into his beer. He was already over the legal limit, so he didn't really care how he sounded. He knew that K. Michael would probably find out and report back to him on Jerry's status anyway. In truth, Rick did care whether Beth had someone, but he didn't want to know if his mistake had caused their marriage to fall apart.
"M.O.E…..whereabouts….occupation. Got it." K. Michael stood and held out a freakish insect's claw. "Always good doing business with you, Mr. Sanchez."
"Likewise." Rick cleared his throat and stood up on rubbery legs; he wobbled slightly but held his ground.
"Will you need a lift home?" K. Michael asked with a smile, although it appeared to be more of a smirk; both of them knew Rick Sanchez could travel anywhere he liked, whenever he liked.
"Don't worry bout me, K. Mike," Rick grunted. "I'll be jus' fine." He was already far past buzzed. Somehow he had to become sober enough to have "The Talk" with Summer when she met him in the garage at 4pm. "Take, take care of yourself bud- buddy."
"Will do!" Krompobulous Michael gave Rick a self-assertive nod. "Well-here I go killin' again." He sauntered out of the booth with the look of a man on a mission, determined to have his way. Rick watched him go, satisfied that justice might finally be in the cards for everyone.
Rick remained in the booth by himself for quite some time, nursing his beer. Alpha 12 was a great place to find yourself if you wanted to escape the rest of the multiverse. It was the place he came to hide, and forget about everything else; however, today, he was glad he'd gotten some things out of the way. If anyone could come through for him, K. Michael would.
As much as he wished he could, time travel had its limits. If he was allowed to go back in time and kill Rick before he hurt Beth, he would have, but that was impossible, so this was the next best option. He also had to make sure that Mortimer would be protected even after they said goodbye. If K. Michael came through for him, Mortimer was safe forever. He would never have to see another Rick ever again.
Mortimer had never read a book in his life. Okay, maybe he was taught how to read some very basic books, like "See Jane Run", but he had never known the joy of reading. Now that he was alone in Mortimer's room, he discovered something magical: he could read, and he understood the words and was able to connect them to form images in his mind with ease, an ability he didn't even know he was capable of.
By the middle of the day, he was reading through the first book of "Harry Potter". By the end of the day, he had graduated to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". He combed through all of Morty's old comic books, and marveled at the stories interweaved with visual fantasy. He found Waldo in "Where's Waldo" on every single page. He discovered his favorite music in Depeche Mode and also Bob Marley. He breezed through Encylopedia Britannicas A B and C.
Mortimer was beginning to realize perhaps he wasn't as "dumb" as his Rick had once led him to believe.
When Summer got home, Mortimer nearly tackled her to the floor with excitement. "S-SUMMER!" he exclaimed, "I-I had the most AMAZING DAY! I-I read NOVELS! I-I-I looked through COMIC books, SUMMER! I- I listened to MUSIC and-" He stopped short when he saw Summer's face. She didn't look as excited as he'd expected her to be. "Wh-wh-what's wrong?" Mortimer asked in alarm.
"Same stupid bureaucratic bullshit," Summer snapped. She wasn't in the mood to celebrate. She had just been given a lecture by Ms. Hernandez on "the importance of commitment". She really didn't want to talk to anyone about anything. She brushed past him and into her bedroom, where she flopped unceremoniously onto her bed.
"S-Summer?" Mortimer lingered in the doorway. "Y-you okay?"
"Sure." Summer snorted as she stared up blankly at the ceiling. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Just...asking." Mortimer tried to mask his concern, but he was worried. He'd never seen her like this. "D-don't you have to see Rick in the garage?" he reminded her, without thinking.
"Rick can go fuck himself." Summer didn't take her eyes off the ceiling, nor did she bat an eye.
Mortimer knew better, then, than to press the matter. He ducked out of the room without a word and simply returned to his reading.
When Summer didn't show, Rick knew there was trouble, but he didn't have time to deal with her bullshit. Most importantly, there was a dimension where a Beth was waiting for her son to return, and he was determined to make that happen.
He found her in her room, listening to her iPod. "Wtf, Summer?" Rick barked as loud as he could, jarring Summer out of her reverie. "You're supposed to be in the fucking garage!"
"Fuck you Rick." Summer wasn't in the mood to mince words. "You're not the boss of me, you know."
Instead of a short response, the door slammed so hard that a picture of a horse nearly toppled off the wall.
"JESUS, Rick" Summer groaned, slamming the magazine she'd been reading down in a huff. "Can't you just leave me ALONE?"
"It's not always about YOU, Summer." Rick spoke through gritted teeth. "THIS is about MORTY!"
Summer sat up abruptly, eyes narowed with suspicion. "What about Morty?"
"You know," Rick snapped, "that seriously messed-up KID in there? That's NOT your brother? That WE both kidnapped? And who WE now have to relocate," Rick added bitterly, "no thanks to YOU!"
" 'Relocate'?" Summer narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "What the hell does THAT mean?"
Rick groaned. "It means," he allowed hastily, "Summer, that he CANNOT STAY here-"
"-WHAT?" Summer's eyes grew wide.
"And that we-as in YOU AND ME-WE are going to have to PLACE HIM."
" 'Place'..." Summer's eyes were growing wider as well as narrowed with greater suspicion at the same time.. "...'him'? Like, place him where?"
"With another family…." Rick averted his gaze. "...specifically...on Earth B117."
Summer blinked, completely baffled for a moment. Then it suddenly dawned on her what he was implying. "What...are you saying?" she demanded hotly, "we're dropping Morty off in another dimension?"
Rick didn't answer. He just glared back at her expectantly, which made Summer even more furious.
She leapt to her feet in a rage. "You're SAYING that we are DROPPING MORTY in another DIMENSION," she bellowed, "and LEAVING him there!?"
"SHUT your MOUTH! JESUS. And no-he won't be alone, okay?" Rick suddenly sounded unusually exhausted by his own efforts. "He'll have Earth B117 Beth, and Earth B117 Jerry-"
"This is NUTS!" Summer hollered. She stormed around the room aimlessly. "Wh-how are we supposed to explain where he CAME from!? I don't under-"
"He'll be switching places with B117 Morty, Summer." Rick rubbed his temples with exhaustion. "It's been done by millions, if not zillions, of Ricks millions, if not zillions of times. It's nothing new-"
"It's news to ME!" Summer was completely fed up by then. "And what, pray tell, Grandpa, happened to B117 Morty?"
"...he's…" Rick looked away abruptly as he spoke, which signaled an alarm in her brain. "...dead."
"WHAT!?" Summer was beside herself with shock. "You KILLED HIM!?"
"NO!" Rick barked, completely exasperated at this point, "I didn't 'kill him', dumbass!"
"Well then who DID!?" Summer demanded.
"His psychotic goddamned bully-but don't worry," Rick added gravely, pointing a finger at the sky and imitating a gun going off. "You can-you can bet your bottom dollar that he won't ever fucking touch Morty ever fucking again."
"Oh...my….god…." Summer felt suddenly dizzy, almost sick to her stomach. She had to sit down. "...Do his parents...know...what happened?"
"No, Summer." Rick joined her on the bed. "They don't. And they never will. Because Morty-our Morty in there-is taking his place."
Summer could only stare at him in disbelief. She had just begun to bond with this version of her brother, only to have to part with him once more. "I can't believe this," she muttered. If she had been able to, she would have screamed. "You...you're actually taking Morty AWAY from me-"
"Summer…" Rick slowly turned around to face her. "...this Morty was never ours to begin with."