Author's note: So... I guess I owe y'all an explanation as to why the updates have started coming in slower. Between Uni absolutely kicking my ass and recovering from a bad bipolar episode (which I'd like to say won't happen again but definitely will), to say things have been rough would be an understatement. But the good news is, the semester is almost over, and I should have more free time (and hopefully less stress triggering my bipolar) to write.
Wolowizard: I created this account around halloween time and had the witch from Hocus Pocus chanting "dead man's toe dead man's toe" stuck in my head so yeah... this happened and I have no regrets.
YrooXrksvi618: the schedule goes my agents of shield projects (which I'm almost done with), my clexa story, Wubba Lubba, this one, and then the requests (one per person at a time) in the order I get them.
Rick couldn't sleep. Never in a million years had he imagined reconnecting with his family, but here he was, reconnected with his family. And it was all thanks to the mute kid laying beside him who had stolen his heart. He had sworn off family and love the day he left Diane. It had left him heartbroken, not that he would ever tell anyone that. He was only supposed to get Morty for his brainwaves, but from the moment he saw him, he knew this kid was special.
He couldn't describe the bond he felt to Morty. The boy had already been through so much that Rick wanted to protect him and keep anything else bad away from him. But most of all, he felt guilt. He had abandoned Beth. He had let this happen.
The boy next to him started twitching and mumbling. Rick listened in, curious as to what his voice sounded like. Suddenly, Morty thrashed out, kicking his legs and waving his arms around. "No!" he cried out.
Rick didn't think the first word he'd hear Morty say would break his heart, but it did. He reached out with his hands, trying to steady the boy, but that just caused him to cry out again and shy away from Rick's touch. Rick watched on, helpless as the boy turned into himself and started to shiver.
He pushed himself closer to the boy until his stomach was touching Morty's back. He threw and arm around the boy, trying to warm him up. "Shhh," he whispered. "You're safe now."
Morty turned into Rick and began to sob into his shirt. Rick rubbed his back and simply let the boy cry. He wished that Jonathan was still alive so he could kill him himself, painfully. Whatever that monster had done to his grandson was Rick's fault, so he was determined that Morty would not have to bear it alone.
When the boy had stopped crying, Rick wiped the tears from his face. It seemed that Morty did a lot of crying. Whatever had happened to him must have been extremely traumatic. Though Rick was a genius, he had no idea how to cure a traumatized kid. But he had an idea.
"You awake, buddy?" Rick whispered.
Morty nodded, not bothering to look up at Rick or even open his eyes. "You wanna get out of here?" he asked.
Now, Morty looked up at him, confused. "I think it'll help take your mind off things," Rick added.
The boy looked skeptical, but after a few seconds, he nodded. "Okay. Get your shoes on," Rick instructed.
Rick did the same and grabbed his portal gun. He entered the coordinates for a planet called Nafdrib. He had never dared to go there before, but now that he had Morty's brainwaves, he figured he'd be safe. "You ready to go?" he asked.
Morty nodded, and Rick opened the portal. He stepped through to the purple dirt planet and looked up at the night sky. Behind him, Morty gasped. Rick turned around and smiled. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said. Morty nodded again, smiling widely. "This is the clearest night sky in the universe due to the lack of light and air pollution."
Rick sat down and enjoyed the view above him. It really was amazing to see stars of so many different colors lighting up the night. It wasn't long until Morty sat beside him, gazing up at the stars. At his soft smile, Rick couldn't help but smile. Then, the guilt hit him again. This was the life Morty deserved, but he hadn't been there to give it to him.
He cleared his throat. "I may no be good at this," he began. "But if you ever want to talk about your nightmares, I'm here."
Morty looked up at him, his eyes starting to water again. He opened his mouth, an unsure look on his face. After a moment, he decided to speak. "Jonathan," he said.
Rick nodded in understanding. Suddenly, Morty threw himself at Rick and started to cry again. To his surprise, Rick found his own eyes tearing up. The guilt was eating him alive. He wrapped his arms around the boy and held him tight. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I should have been there."
"The way he touched me, spoke to me. I feel... dirty," Morty continued.
A ball of ice dropped into Rick's stomach as he began to get an idea of what happened that night Beth had told him about. "You have no reason to feel dirty," Rick spoke soothingly to him. "The only person who should feel dirty is dead."
"I'm glad you came," Morty whispered.
"Me too, kid," Rick replied. "Me too." He just wished he had been sooner.
