AN: There is a slight mention of substance abuse and thought of being physically harmed as well as a spoiler reference to Forgetting Sarick Mortshall. Y'all have been warned. I will put in the trigger for when the substance abuse and thought of being physically harmed starts for those who do want to read this chapter.

Morty wakes up, groggy as all hell while trying to get up off of whatever kind of bed he's on. He looks up at the small ceiling lamp and looks around the rest of the room. Where's Rick? Fuck where the hell even am I? Morty thinks to himself while he gets up. His head pounds while he walks towards the door. He can tell he's still stuck on the stupid last piece of the citadel. His eyes squint as he makes it up to the edge of the doorframe. He feels drunk even though he's really never been drunk. "R-Rick? Are yo-you there?" He calls out, looking around ever so slowly. He slowly walks down the small hallway and watches in case someone comes out to startle him. His mind started to race with new thoughts as he continued to walk. Each thought made his head pound and each time his head pounded, he felt dizzy. Morty just wanted to find Rick.

Little did Morty know, Rick actually went to get food among other things and try to find something to make new portal gun fluid. He knew they needed to get out of there as soon as possible, he needed to assess the damage done to the overarching multiverse to see what all opened up and most of all, see if he could find Diane and Beth's killer. That was important, but not as important as getting Morty and himself what they need for the time being. He walks in the door just to see Morty trying to walk around. "Wh-Whoa whoa!" Rick exclaims, putting down the items he brought and goes up to Morty in order to stabilize the poor kid.

"Wh-Where did you go?" Morty asks, looking at the bags near the door. Before Rick could even answer, he decided to go make Morty sit down so he doesn't fall on his ass or break open his skull. He wouldn't want to have that injury on his hands let alone have to deal with it. Morty looks like he's dizzy and drunk at the same time, the worst combo. "I-I-I went out to ge-get some essentials." Rick finally responds, looking at Morty and then handing him an opened water. Morty takes the water and drinks some of it in an attempt to not only hydrate himself but make the dizziness go away. His eyes look like they started to go cross-eyed. "U-Uh Rick?"

He looks back at his grandson while putting shit away. That's not a good sign. He thinks to himself as he walks up to the cross-eyed dizzy boy. "Th-This is unusual. Ar-Are you doing th-this on purpose Morty?" Rick asks as he goes to get a thermometer and other doctor like shit. "N-No. Why wo-would I d-d-do this on pu-purpose, Rick?" Morty squeaks and puts his head in his hands to focus his eyes on. "Did this j-just start hap-happening?"

Morty doesn't know how to answer this question. He would say no, as at least the headache and dizziness started before he took them to this place. The last time he didn't say what was wrong, he lost his hand and temporarily lost Rick in the process. Because you were too afraid to tell me. He slowly starts to zone out before Rick interrupts and asks again. "Morty did this just start happening?" He sighs and shakes his head, afraid of what would come next. He decided to be honest here, But at what cost? He thinks to himself. There has to be a catch, at least he thinks there has to be.

"Wa-Was this the reason you co-couldn't answer me earlier?" He asks Morty, walking towards him with some medication and a "vomit" bag just in case. "I-I-It was a pa-partial reason…" Morty replies, moving his hands away from his face and looking down at them. His eyes start to water while picking up the water bottle when given the medication. He doesn't want to look at Rick, he's hesitant to even tell him about the issue with his brain thinking of hopping in that ship with Evil Morty. He feels like his brain betrayed him to think that way, to assume it was even a good idea to have the thought. He had thought of all the positives and negatives, even the thought of how he'd cope with leaving his best friend, his grandfather regardless of blood status, behind and left for dead. The static begins to invade his brain and grows louder in his ears. It hurts, feels like hell, feels like he suddenly got stabbed by someone who was trying to protect him.

He holds in the urge to scream. He won't do that, not right now, besides he knows he'd be louder due to the fact he can't even hear himself think or speak let alone scream. Rick comes with a syringe filled with what he assumes is medication to use in order to fix the issue. His brain starts to pound against his head, as if it were trying to escape. The same thing keeps repeating over and over again. Traitor. How dare you even think of leaving him behind after he did so much for you. That, along with reasons why he should have gone with the bastard. Once he's injected with the fluid, his brain stops fighting and the static subsides. "M-Morty? You go-good buddy?" Rick concernly asks.

"I-I am no-now. I ca-can hear f-for starters." Morty says, looking at Rick's tired and concerned expression. His hands and body stopped shaking, the anxiety also stopped more than before. He feels almost without a care in the world. "I-If you're wo-wondering what th-that is, i-it's a se-serum I ke-keep with me fo-for only the big occasions." Rick explains. "O-Or in this case, when your an-anxiety levels are too high f-for your own good." Anxiety levels "too high for your own good"? What does that mean? Morty thought, watching Rick go back to putting things away. He goes to help without hesitation, nothing mentally giving him a fight about it. They start to reach the end when he finds the liquor in the other bags. "No-Not doing sober t-too well?"

START OF TRIGGER

Rick shrugs, not looking at Morty while he puts it away and grabs his flask for a refill. "I-I-I don't li-like the feeling of be-being sober." He answers, opening a bottle of whiskey and pouring it into the flask then drinking a bit of it. "You ha-have (urrrp) your co-coping mechanisms, I-I-I have (uurrpp) mi-mine." He takes a long drink out of the flask and then sighs while leaning on a counter. His body looks so used to holding up his drunken body. It seems too easy for him. Morty fidgets with his fingers while Rick keeps drinking more and more. Soon, it becomes more than just the flask. He's drinking straight from the bottle, knowing Morty sure as hell won't drink alcohol willingly at this age. "R-Rick I th-think you shou-should stop-"

"Wh-What would you know ab-about stopping!?" Rick drunkenly yells. Morty, afraid for the worst, ducks in case he gets violent with his drinking. He slowly gets up the stairs towards where he was originally sleeping when he woke up. This is his way of letting Rick calm down due to how drunk he is. He'd rather not have to explain to his parents when he returns why there are bruises on his body if it got that physical or he got hit by something while Rick was drunk. He takes out his phone and looks at photos of himself and Rick while he thinks. I'm not his original Morty… Why the hell did the original Council give him a voucher if he didn't have a Morty to begin with? He's keeping his brain from over thinking again so he doesn't end up returning for more of the serum. Morty wants to deal with his anxiety without the use of drugs or alcohol. He's seen what it does to his grandpa, who knows what the fuck it could do to him.

END OF TRIGGER

"M-Morty? Yo-Yo (UURRP) You in th-there bud?" Rick drunkenly asks while knocking on the door. He sighs and gets up to go open the door for his drunk grandpa. His usual drunken speech is back, he can say within the time he was sober he did miss this kind of stuff but he would never admit that to him as the drinking did bother him. This lasted for a few hours, in between Rick's random emotional meltdowns that continued to worsen every time he had one. Starting with him apologizing then moving to crying over the original Diane and Beth, which Morty can't blame Rick for being upset about those ones. "Y-Y-Y'know Morty," Rick drunkenly starts. "I-I-I feel like ha-had I just (hic) do-done the gu-gun, the-they'd still be (hic) here." Morty gulps while he says that. How should he react to his guardian confiding in him about something that wasn't completely preventable? "You co-couldn't ha-have known, R-Rick. Nobody co-could've known."

After Chapter AN: This chapter was definitely shorter than the first one. I want to know if you guys like the way I structure trigger warnings or if you believe I should structure them in a different way. Overall, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned for the next installment.