Morty followed his grandfather as he was led through a dark tunnel that seemed endless as they walked. Rick had taken him out in the middle of the night again, but this time he didn't give an explanation of the adventure they were having. He just boarded Morty into his ship and took off.

Morty asked no questions. Instead he followed silently in the best of his ability behind his grandfather, waiting for an explanation. He knew pressing Rick would make him respond with his usual snarky nature.

Finally they reached the end of the tunnel, and a bright light blinded Morty as he exited to see their area of arrival. He blinked as his eyes adjusted, and was surprised to see himself standing on a wide cliff looking out to a colorful world. Extraterrestrial plants were everywhere and water flowed smoothly across a grassy moor. The sun was barely going down but the stars were out and brighter than he had ever seen. Morty gasped and turned to look at his grandfather.

"What...what is this Rick?" He murmured.

"Welcome to Planet Z1," Rick exclaimed excitedly. He walked ahead to get a closer view from the cliff they were standing on.

"This is the place where I go to escape when the alcohol isn't cutting it for me. I thought that maybe we could look for some minerals for my science. I haven't explored the entire thing yet."

Morty walked along the edge of the cliff, gazing in wonder at the view. He held a strong look of awe in his face. "Yeah, I'd like that!" He said.

Rick led to a place covered by some bushes. He signaled to Morty and disappeared into them. From outside, Morty could hear Rick's call saying everything is alright. Morty followed in to discover stairs of rock, and he knew Rick had definitely been working on it to make it more accessible.

The stars were high and bright in the sky as Morty followed his grandfather back to his makeshift campsite. He carried a bag of diamonds he was still amazed to have found. Rick held on to his own bag full of a powder that he claimed would help his machines run longer without needing a constant change of a power source.

"Alright Morty, go ahead and put your bag here," Rick instructed. Morty did as he was instructed, and Rick disappeared into a nearby bush. "Come on Morty, I have one last thing to show you."

Curious, Morty followed. He was welcomed by a hidden trench of glowing diamonds. He gasped in amazement. Of all things he expected to see tonight, this was not one of them.

"These are what I call Moonstones, Morty," Rick explained.

"Wow Rick, I didn't know you like diamonds and stuff!" Morty exclaimed.

"I don't. These are very rare, very special minerals. I've collected them and stored them here for safekeeping. No one wants to check out a desolated planet Morty. It has nothing to offer. So I used that to my advantage an-and brought them here."

"I didn't expect this at all Rick. Why are you showing me these?"

"They are highly valuable and worth more than every person's kidneys sold together in the black market back on Earth. Now as you know, I don't h-have a lot of time left. I want you to take on my job of protecting them, so you can sell them and have enough for y-you and your children, and then your grandchildren, and all other generations after that. Y-y-you're all set, Morty."

"Geez, that's awfully kind of you. B-but, w-what about Summer?" Morty asked anxiously, turning to gaze at Rick. Had his grandfather stored enough for her too?

"Relax Morty. There's enough for the both of you to last a lifetime. You can even share with your friends and you'll be f-financially stable. It's fullproof."

"Oh. Cool!"

Morty turned his attention back to the beautiful glowing pearly white surfaces emitted a gentle light. If the stars were not so close to this world, Morty thought, they'd surely offer a form of illumination.

As he stared at the gems, he thought about the financial stability Rick mentioned. He thought about how he could start a family and be able to pay for his children's college. They could even offer it to their own children. And then the next generation could follow after that. He thought about how he could share the earnings with Summer so he could never see her struggle to raise her own family.

He thought about the life he could have. The opportunities and promises these minerals offered. All of it laid right before his eyes. He found himself getting so excited, his heart felt like it was going to burst.

His heart skipped a beat, and he reached up to press on his chest as he let out a cough to release some pressure.

Rick turned his gaze from the gems to his grandson. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked.

Morty rubbed his chest. "Yeah, just got a little too excited there, but I'm fine."

"You taking your medications?"

"Mhm. Don't worry, I'm fine!" Morty smiled at him. Rick only raised a part of his brow, but said nothing as he turned his attention back to the stones.

"That's enough gazing. Time to hide them." He began to cover them up with nearby shrubs. It seemed to Morty as though he had done this before. They said nothing as they covered up their sacred stash and returned to their camp.

As they curled up in their sleeping bags beside the fire to end the night, Morty couldn't stop staring out to the direction of the diamonds. His chest hurt and felt like a pressure was sitting on him. He was sure he was fine, but he had lied to Rick. He had run out of medication several days earlier. He just hadn't felt a need to get more.

But he began to wonder. Was he going to be able to enjoy the rich earnings the diamonds had? Was he just prolonging the inevitable? Was he going to wake up in the morning?

With those sinking thoughts, Morty drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

A/N: Sorry it's a pretty short chapter. I've been busy haha! I just wanted to let you know Morty is alive and well.

Reviews help Morty keep his diamonds!