Let The Ricks Fall Where They May

Written by Kat_Aclysm
Beta Read by Unlvcrjchick
Rated: - T for language

Disclaimers + Copyrights: I don't own any of these characters, this is a work of fanfiction. Rick and Morty is an Adult Swim animated comedy created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon.

NOTE: Average sized chapter this time. A lot of this was in Chapter 6 initially, but it was swapped around. This is the end result. Enjoy! Fixed and beta read for grammar.


Chapter 7 – Full Ricksclosure

November 21st, 8:15pm Local Time, 2001
Birdperson's Tree House
Bird World, Dimension Unknown


Rick returned to Birdperson's tree house just after sundown; spending the remaining daylight hours with Morty and getting his circuit boards finished had been more important to him than returning home. Climbing back up the tree was a lot harder than he remembered and it had to be done with even more care than usual with the grumbling youngster in the sling tied around him. Once he was back up on the landing to Birdperson's tree house, he made a mental note to install a rope ladder at some point; it had been practical back at the other house. He hesitated before pushing the door open as he still wasn't in a decent enough mood to talk just yet. Even though he'd accomplished pretty much everything he'd wanted to do today, his mind was already moving ahead through the next steps of the building process and he knew it wouldn't stop until it was finished.

He shrugged after a moment, deciding that he didn't care what might happen. He shoved the door open and stepped inside.

Birdperson looked up from the couch; he had been patiently waiting for Rick's return and was debating the possibility of having to fly out and retrieve him from his hiding place. Although he was pleased that he didn't have to do that now, he didn't get up or change his expression.

"Rick. We need t-"

"No. We don't need to do anything right now, and for the time being I'm done with you, so fuck off!" Rick's sharp reply was dispensed instantly as he cut Birdperson off. He walked past him in a quickened pace and headed for the spare nest room again, noting that the pile of debris he had left in the hallway had been completely removed. He slammed the door behind him, making a point of expressing the fact that he was still very bitter. As he stepped into the middle of the room, his first observation was that his pile of dirty laundry had been cleaned and folded in neat piles on top of his cot. He would have been more annoyed about that but it meant that Morty finally had some of his own clothes back.

Meanwhile, Morty was bored; he had a short attention span and resumed his frustrated wiggling in the sling because he wanted to move. He flailed his arms, whacking Rick in the chest, making loud demanding noises up at him. He had been confined the entire climb up the tree and now that it was over, he was quite fed up of being there.

Rick took the cue and took Morty out of the sling, placing him down on the ground. "Shut up, kiddo... I'm really starting to get tired of your shit." He stepped over to the work table and dumped his bag down on top of it, removing both chemical pots and the other things he had stored in there. He packed the first pot away and then the second. He dropped both circuit boards on the desk in front of him, pleased that they were finally complete and ready for hand loading components onto. His eyes fell on the old portal gun fragments at the back corner of the desk and he reached over to pick them up, only to dump them back down directly in front of him.

Morty followed his grandfather straight across the room and bumped straight into his leg, hugging onto it. "R-rii!" He announced with particular firmness.

Rick looked down at him, then pulled up the chair so he could sit down. "Yeah yeah, buddy, I know you're saying my name. Look, settle down, huh? I'm not going anywhere. I actually need to work for the next couple of hours." He reached down to pick Morty up, placing him into his lap. He spread the portal gun pieces across the workspace and arranged them in the rough order that correlated to each part if the device had still been intact. Now that he had the time, he wanted to work out just how much he could salvage. He picked up a flat-bladed screwdriver and began using it to lever the broken casing off one of the larger fragments.

Morty sat back and curiously watched his grandfather working. He vaguely recognized the parts; they were the same color as the weird thing that Rick had told him he wasn't allowed to touch. He was content to sit there quietly and not interfere, just happy to be back in the company of his favorite person.

"Y-you're a good kid, Morty." Rick told him after a minute. He set the broken fragment down on the table along with the screwdriver, then reached down to pat the little boy on the head, relieved to see that he was finally feeling like his old self again. "The last couple of days have been a really rocky road for the both of us, huh? I think you came out of it better than I did. It's nice to get back to the basics." He reached over to pull his bottle of whiskey from the bag and set it down on the table. "If you can sit there and behave yourself for once, you can stay as long as you want."

Morty leaned into Rick's chest, resting the side of his head right up against his sternum. He could hear his grandfather's slow, steady heartbeat and it was calming for him to listen to.

Rick took his quietness as a sign of consent and resumed what he was doing. He picked up the handle of his old portal gun and examined it closely. "If anything from this stupid device survived, it means I don't have to redesign it from scratch... s-should have done that in the first place, but everything else got in the way..." He muttered aloud to himself as he used his ionic soldering gun to extract the battery and held it up to the light, glad to discover that it was completely intact.

"Oh-ho, hell yeah!" He cheered, genuinely pleased. Although his old portal gun quickly drained its battery while it was on, it was better than nothing; it also meant that he didn't have to waste even more time acquiring another.

Morty looked up at his grandfather, grinning at his sudden outburst. He pulled himself onto his feet with one hand and reached up to grab at his hair with the other.

"Be careful where you put your feet, Morty. I don't want you to stand on anything important to me." Rick remained still while he looked down at his grandson, not wanting him to fall off. "You know what this means?" He began idly playing with the battery in his fingers. "It means we can move this along a little faster, which means we can finally get off this damn planet and do something useful with ourselves. Once we have the new portal gun together, I'll have to show you some of the interesting places I like to visit."

Morty had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't care either, because Rick's hair spikes were far more interesting than anything he had to say. He immediately snatched at the first one he could grab and began to pull on it as hard as he could.

Rick winced in response; it had hurt. He gently set the battery aside and put his hands around Morty's chest, returning him to the floor. "Y-yeah that's enough. You're bored, huh? It's too quiet in here, let's put some music on or something..." The scientist quickly turned around in the chair and began to rummage through the bottom drawers at the right side of the work table. He found a small CD player and pulled it out, slamming it down onto the desk. He plugged it in and was pleased to discover that it still worked. "Hell yeah, this shit keeps getting better!"

Morty watched with intense curiosity. Although he was unhappy about being put down, he ran around the other side of the chair to get a better look at the new object. He reached up in the attempt to grab at it, figuring that it was something new to play with.

Rick smirked down at the little kid, amused by his enthusiasm. He pulled out one of the many CDs that had been in the drawer and popped it into the player, turning the music up high; even though the appliance was small, the sound it made was loud enough to completely drown out any normal conversation.

"You hear that, buddy?" Rick loudly spoke over the blaring noise, a wide grin across his face. "That's called a beat, motherfucker! Pure fucking awesome! Yeahhh, that's what I'm talking about!" He picked up his ionic soldering gun and pried apart the next portal gun piece for salvage, nodding his head in time to the music.

Morty watched his grandfather's strange behavior with wonder and awe. He wasn't quite old enough to understand music entirely yet, but it was certainly enough to captivate his interest. He grabbed at Rick's pant leg and began loudly whining as he pulled on the fabric, wanting to be back up in his lap.

Rick started singing along to the music as he pulled apart the damaged circuit-board fragment. He discarded part of it across the desk because it was beyond salvageable. In the same movement he picked Morty up and deposited him back in his lap, resuming where he had left off. Now that his mind was back in the things he enjoyed, his mood had already started to pick back up.

Morty settled down again relatively quickly. He couldn't work out why his grandfather was behaving in such a strange manner, but his positive energy was making him happy. He began to clumsily nod his head, imitating what Rick was doing.

"Oh, you like that, buddy?" Rick chuckled as he reached across to turn the volume knob all the way to the top. "I should get out the guitar later and play some shit for you. We used to play such utter garbage, it's actually embarrassing to think about it... I can do so much better now. Sometimes it was derivative, but people ate it up like it was the best thing in the universe." He threw a fragment of portal gun casing across the table, no longer needing it. "Some people have no fucking taste!" He paused for a moment to laugh, then got straight back into it.

Rick continued to work through the evening and late into the night. Morty fell asleep in his lap, not at all bothered by the loud music. Because the volume was up so high, Rick didn't hear the knocking sound at the door and kept on working, completely engrossed in what he was doing. He didn't notice Birdperson walk into the room, nor did he notice he was even there until the other male was standing beside him, his hand on the CD player appliance cord. He pulled it out of the wall socket and the room went silent.

"What the hell!?" Rick looked up in the same instant the sound cut out, glaring hard up at Birdperson. With the look he was giving him now, he could have easily gone into a murderous rage. "What's the big fucking deal? Why'd you turn off my jams?"

"It is getting late, Rick. Your music is disturbing the neighborhood community." Birdperson's tone was calm and he simply stood there, holding the appliance cord in his hand. He hadn't wanted to come in at all and he knew that disturbing Rick wasn't going to do him any favors, so he promptly explained the reason for doing so. "Two of my neighbors came to my door just now to complain to me."

"I don't give a shit what they think!" Rick spat back at him as he reached out to snatch the appliance cord away. "You don't get to tell me what to do anymore!" He sounded much more like a rebellious teenager than an adult as he used his free hand to point hard at the doorway. "Get the fuck out of my room before I kick your ass!"

Birdperson shook his head as he departed the room again, shutting the door behind him.

Rick wasted no time plugging the CD player back in, though he adjusted the volume to a much more acceptable level this time. "Fucking little bitch..." He growled aloud to himself, needing a moment to calm down before he picked up the soldering gun again. He frowned as he suddenly felt a warm patch of wetness growing across his left pant leg and looked down, deeply scowling as he realized that Morty was peeing on him in his sleep; his diaper had been soaked and the excess was leaking straight through onto Rick's clothing.

"Ah, come on, not again! This is bullshit! Why do you keep doing this to me?" Although he was annoyed, he couldn't get too angry about it; this one was on him. He had been far too involved in work to have been paying attention to Morty's upkeep. He simply put his hands under the little kid's arms and picked him up, carrying him over to the floor. After laying him down on his back, he began stripping off all of his clothes; he had been meaning to remove the stupid Bird World native attire from him anyway.

Morty made small, fussing noises in protest; the floor was cold and he didn't want to be woken back up. He didn't seem to care what was happening to him though; he just hadn't wanted to be moved.

"Shut up. Just... shut up." Rick hissed at him as he reached under the table to grab a fresh diaper out from the box and then went about the task ahead with haste, hating every second of it. After it was done, he placed the unwanted articles of clothing into a pile on the floor away from the chair, making a mental note to dispose of it all as quickly as possible; he certainly didn't want to give it back and risk getting into another conversation with the obnoxiously loud bird woman again.

He carried Morty over to the cot and set him down, covering him up with the blankets. "Just... stay there. And don't piss in my bed." He huffed at him, still very much annoyed. "I'm probably going to work through the night, so go back to sleep. I'm going through a particularly productive streak right now and I don't want to break it."

Morty made a small noise in response and curled up. He was comfortable and warm, and drifted off again in no time at all.

Rick sat back down at the chair and kicked the box under the desk for good measure, wanting to dissipate some of his anger. In the sharp movement, something large and metallic bounced out and rolled across the floor. Rick had to narrow his eyes at the sound; he certainly didn't remember packing anything into it that would sound even remotely like that.

What he saw on the ground made him stop dead in his tracks; there was a large unopened can of baby formula on its side where it had fallen next to the box. He quickly reached down to pick it up, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he examined it, his mind racing with all kinds of theories as to how it could have gotten there. The can was completely sealed and brand new; it looked like it had been picked straight from a grocery shelf and could have easily lasted Morty more than a month if he rationed it out properly.

"What the hell...?" His eyes widened in disbelief as he placed it on the desk. Now he wanted to know what else was in there and upended the whole box onto its side, discovering that it had been stuffed full with all kinds of baby supplies like bottles, a large quantity of clothing, and entire packs of diapers.

"What the fuck?!" Rick continued to stare at the items that had come out of the box, but couldn't work out how it had gotten there. In another moment, his bewilderment had shifted towards anger and he was at the door, yelling into the hallway.

"Birdperson! W-what the fuck are you playing at?! I-is this meant to be some kind of joke?" He stepped back from the door, arms folded across his chest. He didn't particularly want to see Birdperson again so soon, but he needed an explanation.

Birdperson moved up the hallway again, silently standing outside the door. When he realized that Rick was staring back at him expectantly, he took a singular tentative step into the room to stand beside him, not really wanting the other male's temper to flare up again.

"Well?" Rick sharply growled at him, his expression a mix between utter confusion and anger. "What the hell is this? Are you fucking with me right now?" He nodded in the direction of the pile on the floor.

Birdperson took a moment to assess what he talking about, only to conclude that he didn't know what was going on either. "No, Rick. I am not."

"Oh, is that so? Are you serious? How the fuck did this all get here, then?!" Rick's arms were frantically flailing as he motioned to the pile on the floor beside his chair. "Where did you get this stuff, a-and why the hell were you holding out on me until now? Shitty timing by the way, it sure would have been a hell of a lot more useful a couple of days ago!"

"This is not my doing." Birdperson said plainly as he looked around the room. He stared at the mess on the floor, then at the small electrical components scattered across the table. "You will need to reorganize your inventory."

"O-oh go fuck yourself, Birdperson!" Rick retorted, having taken the other man's words as an insult. "Seriously though, you're not dicking around with me, right?" His eyes were staring expectantly at Birdperson now, trying to read his expression for any hint that might answer his question. "This... t-this wasn't you?" His anger dissipated and confusion had set back in over his mind.

Birdperson slowly shook his head. "No." He would have offered more, but couldn't understand the situation either. He was just relieved that Rick was willing to talk to him again.

Rick's brows furrowed and he was suddenly deep in thought, silent. He took a moment to scratch at his back again, his attention down on the hoard. He stepped across the room and crouched down beside the pile, idly flicking a hand through the stack of baby clothes and packs of diapers, instantly recognizing the branding; they were the same kind of diapers that Beth would have bought for Morty if she had picked them up from her local grocery store.

"If you didn't do this... then how the hell did this stuff get here?" He sat heavily in the chair and leaned forwards as he stared at the can of baby formula again, trying to rack his brains for any kind of logical explanation. Now that he thought about it, there was no way that Birdperson could have obtained any of these things for him; he didn't know much about his species to begin with, let alone where to get baby supplies from. He didn't even know what humans ate most of the time and had needed help from his neighbor just to work out how to feed them.

"It honestly looks like something that you would have brought with you through the portal." Birdperson suggested as he followed Rick's gaze to the foreign object on the table. "It is not something that one would expect to find on Bird World."

"Portal..." Rick said thoughtfully through the bombardment of questions running through his head, his voice distant. He sat back up in the chair as his mind returned him to reality, his gaze locked on Birdperson again. "Earlier this morning, what made you think I had finished my portal gun already?" Although the question came out rather suddenly, he desperately had to know the answer. "You know I haven't finished it, I-I haven't fucking shut up about it the entire time I've been here!"

"Yes, now that you mention it, I did find that strange." Birdperson nodded slightly as he continued watching the other. He had seen it many times before, but watching Rick think his way through something had always intrigued him. It was definitely better than being on the receiving end of his anger yet again. "As I said to you when I first saw you in the kitchen, I had assumed you finished it because I saw the green light under your door after you finally agreed to take the medicine I had made for you. The source of that light has only ever come from one place and that is your portal gun. It is completely unique. It could not have been mistaken for anything else."

Rick was silent as he listened through Birdperson's explanation. His eyes widened suddenly in the realization that there was only one other kind of person that had access to portal gun technology - and that was himself.

He had always suspected that other versions of himself existed, and the day he had finally cracked the equation behind generating coordinates to different dimensions had been a very defining moment in his life. Even though his first quantum multidimensional portal device was a clunky piece of garbage and far too heavy to be portable, the very fact it existed and worked had proven what he already knew.

He knew that other Ricks existed. There were many of them in different dimensions, living on their own dimensional timelines, just like him. The idea of meeting a parallel version of himself had been an appealing thought at first; the chance to talk to another whose intellect matched his own was an appealing and exciting prospect. However, none of the encounters with other Ricks had ended well; they either treated him indifferently, tried to beat him up, or wanted to argue because they were complete assholes, just like himself. A couple of the Ricks had gotten defensive and territorial about the impostor in their dimension and tried to kill him; he promptly left those ones alone, never to return. The least hostile encounter with a Rick had ended in the other one simply telling him not to interfere with another Rick's timeline, as it wasn't good conduct. He had learned through this encounter that most Ricks generally didn't interact with each other and that they had a strict non-interference code. After that, he returned to his own native dimension and stopped trying to seek them out; if they didn't want to be disturbed, then neither did he. But all of that had happened a long time ago and he hadn't bothered to seek any other Ricks out since then.

He simply couldn't fathom why it would be happening now.

If it had been a Rick who had jumped into his dimension to deliver the box of goods, he was very much interfering and there had to be a good reason behind it. Rick began to wonder what kind of motives the other Rick might have, and then he began to wonder if the other Rick was intending to target him, or worse, kill him. He knew far too much information for it to have been an act of random kindness - Ricks simply didn't do that because they were assholes.

He concluded that the box of goods was clearly a calculated move with purpose.

Rick realized he must have looked rather concerning by now, because Birdperson was openly staring at him. He didn't care about that however, and his attention shifted back and forth from the window to the open doorway. He didn't know where the other Rick was, but he already felt uneasy; the box of goods meant that the other Rick knew exactly what was going on. It was a very clear message: he was being watched. The other Rick must have known he was running low on supplies, but he simply wouldn't accept the fact that there was any positive motive behind being given everything he needed; he was almost positively certain it had been done just to fuck with him.

It was certainly working.

Birdperson watched him carefully, not finding his continued silence particularly reassuring. "What is wrong, Rick?"

Rick didn't answer. He knew there was no point in running; if he was being watched then the other Rick would more than likely know where to find him no matter where he fled. He leaned forward in the chair and put his head down onto the table; the thought of the Galactic Federation tracking him to the ends of the universe was bad enough, but at least he could escape that because they didn't have access to multidimensional portal technology. If another Rick was watching and wanted him, all he could do was wait for them to arrive and fight back. He wasn't even able to do that with much effectiveness anymore either because he'd given up all his guns; they were either broken or completely inaccessible to him right now.

"Rick?" Birdperson was standing near the chair now. He wanted to help but knew things were still sour between them. He simply stood there, not knowing what else to do. "If there is any way I can assist you, please tell me."

Rick finally sat up again after a couple more moments of silence, looking back up in Birdperson's direction, his brows creased in guilt and worry. Despite everything he had said and done to him, the guy was still trying to help him and he felt terrible. He wasn't even sure if there was any point explaining the situation to the other, Birdperson probably wouldn't know how to handle it anyway. Rick also found himself worrying that if Birdperson did interfere, the other Rick would possibly harm or kill him if he was feeling particularly malevolent and he didn't want that at all. He simply didn't know what another Rick might do to him, because the only predictable thing about other Ricks was that they were completely unpredictable.

There was no point running, there was no point in doing anything. His expression became completely unreadable as he suppressed his fear and worries; there was little else he could do.

"Can you please just... get out." Rick said finally, his voice quiet. "I-I... I need to be alone for a while."

Birdperson nodded his head once. He had wanted to say so much more, but he respected Rick's wishes and left him be. He silently departed through the door again, closing it behind him.

After he heard the door shut, Rick returned his attention back to the can of baby formula; even though its mere presence was doing his head in, he was glad to have it there to use. Even if he did finish the portal gun, he was sure he could be tracked, no matter which dimension he escaped to. And if the other Rick wanted him dead, it was only a matter of time.

He made a loud sigh and put his head back, staring up at the ceiling; so many conflicting thoughts all at once, and worse; he still had to do something about Birdperson because it was nagging heavy guilt in his mind now. He had been abrasive and completely unfair to his friend and it had been going on far too long for him to tolerate it anymore. He had absolutely no idea how to come back and apologize to him; he'd never been any good at that. If there was another Rick coming after him, Birdperson might be the only one who could make any useful attempt at trying to protect him.

Rick moved to his feet and picked up the whiskey bottle he had been busy with over the last couple of days; he had to fix things again. He also knew that if he was ever going to have a chance at breaking through his own pride and ego to say all the things he needed to say, he would have to be very, very drunk. He pulled the cork off the bottle and quickly downed the remaining contents. Once that one was empty, he got started on the second one.

So much for rationing it.


Birdperson was asleep when the drunken human stumbled into his room. He was a light sleeper at the best of times and so when he heard the first footsteps in his immediate surroundings, he was already awake enough be aware of everything that was happening. He heard three more steps shuffling towards his nest-bed and he sat up, turning his bedside light on, immediately turning his attention towards the intruder.

Rick stood there, his body swaying uncoordinatedly. He furrowed his brows in discomfort and his eyes blinked independently of one another in reaction to the sudden difference of light. "Heeeey..." He managed to slur out, taking another step forward, promptly falling over his own feet, landing flat on his face. He managed to keep the bottle steady though, not spilling any of the contents as he went down.

"Rick, why are you still awake?" Birdperson asked, though he wasn't the slightest bit annoyed to have been woken up. He continued to watch Rick carefully, and he wasn't at all surprised when he saw him go down. He could already smell the heavy stench of alcohol in the air surrounding him and immediately knew what was going on. "Have you been drinking again?" He already knew the answer, but asked anyway.

"Mmm... m-maybe a little." Rick's reply came from the floor.

"On a scale of one to ten," Birdperson peered over the edge of the bed, his attention on the few, powdery-blue hair spikes he could see, "how inebriated are you right now?"

"N-nine-nn-nineteen." Rick's answer was rather abrupt as he pushed himself back up onto his feet. He took another swig from the whiskey bottle before stumbling ahead again, falling face-first down onto the nest-bed, his head landing next to Birdperson's feet.

Birdperson was used to seeing Rick blind drunk like this and the behavior almost always had good reasoning behind it. He was quiet as he tried to work it out, though he quickly concluded that it could be one of many reasons right now.

"N-not like it's not a big deal..." Rick told him suddenly, "I c-can stop anytime I want."

"Perhaps you should go back to bed, Rick." Birdperson suggested. "It is the middle of the night."

"Sh-shut up. Don't... d-don't tell me what to do." Rick's reply was automatic. He turned his head to the side as the entire room swayed around him, and then he decided he was too incapacitated to attempt standing up again in the immediate. "You're... you're my good buddy, Bir-UUUURRRGGGGGperson." He coughed for a moment after that burp. "Are... aren't you?"

"Yes, Rick." Birdperson replied, his voice calm. "At least, I assume we are still friends."

"Hell... h-hell yeah we are!" Rick raised the whiskey bottle in an uncoordinated toasting gesture. "You're... you're my b-best friend, Birdperson... y-you... y-you know that, right?" He hiccuped softly. "I... I-I'm really sorry about my r-recent conduct, I've been a real dick to you in the l-last couple of days." His brows creased in heavy regret. "F-fuck..." He had hoped that getting drunk would numb some of his emotions, but right now they were all over the place. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hide them or to be open in his apology to the other, but quickly realized that he was too far gone to even bother trying.

"While I will not disagree with you," Birdperson paused, carefully choosing his next words, "you had your reasons. I am sure everything is still raw. You will adjust to your new situation in time. You are adaptable and you always have been."

"Th... t-thanks for the vote of confidence, but," Rick made a failed attempt at trying to sit up. He rolled off the bed and crashed onto the floor. "Most of the time I'm just... just fucking around, p-pull... pulling it out of my ass."

Birdperson sat up properly this time and peered over the bed to make sure that Rick hadn't hurt himself, relaxing a little when he saw that he was perfectly fine. "Get off the floor, Rick. It is not comfortable down there."

"F-fuck how I'm feeling," Rick's reply was rather sharp and annoyed, "wh-what about you?"

"I am fine, Rick." Birdperson's response was plain and monotone. "Perhaps you will be too once you stand up again."

Rick forced himself to his feet, his entire body swaying as he stood there, trying to maintain his balance. "Hah, good one!" He seemed to be having a hard time focusing his eyes anywhere ahead of himself, but he stared back at the other, his expression stubbornly determined. "Full disclosure, BP... I-I'm not fine, and n-nothing is-is ever going to be the same again... a couple of days ago, I was fine, but..."

Rick drunkenly stumbled back across to the bed, heavily sitting down on it. He launched straight into his rambling drunken story in great detail, even though he knew he had already given Birdperson the abridged version. He slurred his words out as he told Birdperson about the park, about the stupid sandpit candy incident, and then the appearance of small Federation ships in the sky; first five, then nine, then too many to count, his mind being able to recall every vivid detail because it would be burned into his long-term memory forever, no matter how drunk he was. He told him about running and being shot at, about shooting back at them, and then the appearance of the Galactic Federation Capital Mothership in the sky, and then finally about the moment he'd resigned to the fact that he was going to lose everything. He started to choke up as he told Birdperson about Beth's car collision with the Federation ship and then the vitrification beam, but he kept himself together and drank more whiskey. He was a little surprised that he hadn't completely lost it this time; it was still so raw in his mind and it still very much hurt, but being completely smashed had somehow helped him to keep it together.

Birdperson was quiet through the entire explanation in the concern that saying anything would make him stop; he had been wanting Rick to talk about this since he had gotten here. He simply sat there when the other was done, the reason behind Rick's behavior suddenly making complete sense to him; he had needed to unload onto somebody and being drunk was the only way he could do it without inhibition.

"Don't... d-don't think it changes anything about me, BP. I'm still the same guy," Rick's voice was suddenly firm, "all it means is that... is that w-when I get the portal gun back, I'm going to have to get back out there and f-fuck up their shit so hard, they become extinct." He shook his head, deeply irritated all over again. "H-have to return the favor, y-you know?"

Birdperson nodded in understanding; of course Rick wanted revenge. He was sure that he would have wanted the same thing if he had been in similar circumstances.

"F-furthermore," Rick continued, having decided that he wanted to launch straight into his next concern right away, "y-you... you can stop worrying about me, OK?"

Birdperson was silent again; he was sure that if he said anything, he would distract Rick from his thoughts.

"I me... m-mean it, buddy..." Rick placed his right hand on the bed beside him to keep his balance, his attention on the door. "S-s-s... s-stop worrying about me. I'm sorry for... f-for the last couple of days." He set the bottle of whiskey down beside him on the bed, his left hand still firmly grasped around the neck. "I-I've been a real jerk to you..."

"It's fine, Rick." Birdperson told him as he lightly shrugged his shoulders.

"No-no, It's NOT fine!" Rick's voice was harsh in his reply. "You... y-you took us in when we had nothing. By us, I-I mean... my little buddy and me, Mmm-Morty." He picked up the whiskey bottle and took another couple of swigs from it. "A-and what did I do? I-I was an asshole about it. I... I'm really sorry, Birdperson..."

"You have already been forgiven, Rick." Birdperson told him, his voice remaining calm. "To be honest with you, I am relieved that we are still friends in spite of everything. I did not want to take your guns away from you but the alternative would have been worse. You need to understand that your life is more valuable than you think it is."

"Y-yeah, I know," Rick conceded rather quickly to that statement, "y-you were right to take them away. Y-y-you were just looking out for me..." He lowered his head, his voice breaking up again as he felt a deep sadness come over him. "God, w-why is everything so fucked up...?"

Birdperson was silent again; he didn't have an answer to that.

"Y-you don't have to worry about me..." Rick was becoming annoyed with himself; this was still very hard for him to talk about even though he was completely wasted. "I'm not... I'm not going to..." He shook his head as he fought through his own desire to shut down, "I-I'm not going to kill myself i-if that's what you're worried about. I just..." He went quiet again.

"You just what, Rick?" Birdperson hadn't wanted to say anything, but noticed he was stalling and wanted him to finish it.

"I just... needed you to know that." Rick leaned heavily to his right side, promptly falling off the side of the bed, his limbs splaying out around him. He didn't even feel it and casually raised the whiskey bottle up keep it from spilling. "I-I'm not OK. B-but know that I'm not going to do anything. N-not going to happen... I have too much shit to do, Morty needs s-somebody to take care of him, and then there's b-bureaucra-UUUURPts to blow up. So s-stop worrying about it." He looked up at the ceiling, but quickly decided it was easier to stay down than risk getting up again; the room was spinning and he was starting to feel quite nauseated. He knew he had completely overdone it, but he still didn't care.

"I am glad to hear it, Rick." Birdperson told him. "You need to take care of yourself and be aware of the fact that your situation is only temporary. It is not like you to resort to a permanent solution to a temporary problem."

"D-doesn't matter what I do f-from here out, anyway..." Rick lifted his arm up, raising the whiskey bottle up to slosh it around, his eyes having trouble tracking the contents. "I-I'm a dead man."

"What do you mean, Rick?" Birdperson was a little confused; that statement had come from nowhere.

"Shit's still after me... p-probably always will be. Everyone wants a piece of Rick Sanchez, intergalactic terrorist, d-destroyer of worlds. I-I know that's what the people of B-Bird World call me... fucking stupid title." Rick set the whiskey bottle on the floor next to his head. "Y-you're gonna have to watch my back, b-because otherwise shit's going to kill me..." His stomach made a sudden spasm of protest, and he made a harsh, involuntary retching sound. He swallowed hard, managing to keep it down.

"What is chasing after you, Rick?" Birdperson peered down at him. "And if you are going to purge, please consider taking yourself to the bathroom as soon as you can."

"I-I'm fine." Rick answered quickly, dismissing it entirely. "Just... just warning you in advance." He looked back up at Birdperson, a deep scowl coming over his face, still incredibly bitter about being deprived of his guns in spite of his apology. "Y-you took my stuff away, so now I can't shoot back at... at anything trying to kill me. Y-you... y-you're going to have to do it for me..."

"Is something else coming for you, Rick?" Birdperson seemed even more confused; that was a rarity for him. It sounded like important information though, so he pushed it. "What is it?"

"F-feds, probably. Gromflomites, other versions of m-myself. E-everything else..." Rick's voice was quiet as he listed them all out. "D-doesn't matter what I do, shit's going to come after me and try to k-kill me. I-I need you to... if something happens to me, y-you'll take care of Mmm-Morty for me, right?"

Birdperson stared back at the spiky-haired man; the information he was hearing was definitely cause for concern and if Rick was saying it, it must have been true. He could think of no reason to doubt his best friend's words.

Rick scowled at Birdperson's silence, not liking it at all. He looked up at him, glaring. "P-promise me. W-without me, Mm-Morty has no hope. He's j-just a scared little kid and without me h-he doesn't have anything... poor little bastard..." His voice momentarily choked up; thinking about that really did hurt him no matter how drunk he was.

"This threat will come to Bird World, yes?" Birdperson asked suddenly. While he did care about Morty's future, the concern of his home world being at risk was more important to him in the moment. "Is it going to harm the entire planet or just you, Rick? I need to know the answer to this so we can prepare for it accordingly."

"I... I don't even know..." Rick placed a hand on his forehead in the attempt to keep his emotions contained. The whole world was spinning faster than it had before. "J-just keep an eye out for shit... keep a gun on y-you at all times and be ready to s-shoot anything that's..." He sat up rather suddenly, his stomach protesting once again. He swallowed hard, fighting to keep it down.

"Rick, take yourself to the bathroom." Birdperson's tone was calm, though he wasn't happy with what he was hearing now.

Rick finally decided that Birdperson's suggestion was a good one. He attempted to get to his feet again, only to stumble over and hit the floor once again. The bottom of the whiskey bottle smashed open as it hit the ground and the contents promptly spilled across the wooden floor. "Ah shit, n-not my good stuff!" He reached out with a hand, grabbing at the glass fragments and the puddle, even though he knew it was completely futile to bother trying to save it.

"I will get you some more." Birdperson told him quickly, he was sure he had something around that would keep Rick happy. He moved to his feet and reached down, grabbing Rick's arm so he could haul him to his feet. "Go to the bathroom. Then go back to bed."

"I'm... I'm so sorry I've been a dick to you, Birdperson..." Rick lowered his head as he was pulled back onto his feet. "S-so... y-you're still my friend? We're... w-we're cool again, right?"

"Yes, Rick. You are still my friend, and you always will be no matter what happens." Birdperson told him, his voice still very flat. "It does not matter how you behaved towards me during the last couple of days and it would take a lot more than that for our friendship to end. But if you could, please avoid behaving that way in the future. It is not entirely pleasant to be on the receiving end of it."

"S-sorry..." Rick didn't bother looking up. He stared down at his feet, and then the broken whiskey bottle on the floor. That strong feeling of regret was back all over again, and worse, now he didn't even have anything to drink. "Th-thanks, BP..."

"Do you need assistance in walking down the hallway?" Birdperson asked him.

"N-no..." Rick clumsily pulled his arm away, needing a moment to steady himself on his feet. He drunkenly staggered out of the room, his shoulder heavily hitting the wall once he was out in the hallway. His stomach gave an abrupt heave and he threw up on the floor in front of him. He simply stepped over the mess and made the slow uncoordinated stumbling walk into the living room. He decided the couch was far enough and collapsed down onto it, remembering to lie on his side in case he threw up again in his sleep; he didn't want to choke to death.

Birdperson shook his head as he heard the sound, though it didn't bother him that much; it was a small price to pay for what had just happened. Rick had told him everything and apologized to boot; it must have been very hard for him to do that. He very much appreciated it and respected Rick all the more for it. However, he couldn't deny the fact that he was concerned over his best friend's safety now; if what he said was indeed true, then he would need to keep a vigilant watch.

It didn't matter if his friend or his home planet was in trouble as both were equally important to him. He picked up a couple of spare woven blankets that he kept in the cupboard beside his bed and stepped out of the bedroom, being careful to avoid the mess in the hallway. Once in the living room, he tossed them over Rick, covering him up with them.

"Get some sleep. We can discuss the situation again in the morning." Birdperson told him, his voice quiet. "If you have any further details, I would like to hear them when you are able to do so."

Rick made a pathetic groan in response. He had heard Birdperson's words, but he was no longer capable of forming a useful response.

Birdperson let him go, though he couldn't help but wonder why trouble always somehow seemed to find him; maybe he would never know.