"Permanent remorse about failing to do your human duty, in my opinion, can be worse than losing your life."

- Miep Gies

As Morty approached the gate he noticed something strange. Camera's were lined across the walls, and not just a few, there were more than he could count. Either the people who lived here were incredibly paranoid or the president had moved in.

Morty wasn't completely sure why his father left him here, was he getting rid of him? He wasn't sure, he had forgotten to grab his toy rabbit to comfort his frantic nerves. Not to mention he was freezing, he only had on some grey shorts which barely reached his knee, a yellow t-shirt with a white tank top underneath and black sneakers. He didn't know his father was going to take him outside and leave him in the middle of nowhere.

Not to say it hasn't happened before.

Last time though, it had been his mother, she was...she had been..especially drunk that day. He had been sleeping when in the middle of the night she came in and literally dragged him out of the house and into the car. Summer had been having a sleepover at her friend's house that night, 'mother always made sure to have summer out of the house any time she or jerry planned to get drunk or have a grown up party.' She never made morty leave.

Morty remembered vividly how one time, while his parents had been having a grown up party a strange man stumbled into his room. Obviously drunk. Morty was still half asleep when the man creeped into his bed.

He suddenly felt the urge to puke.

A loud beep caught his attention, thankful for the distraction he looked over toward the beeping sound. He saw a white intercom. At least that's what he thought it was. It looked super high tech though, so he wasn't sure.

He jumped when he heard a voice coming from it. Not because he didn't expect it, but because the voice that came from it was incredibly deep and seemed to belong to an older man. " little boy, are you lost? Come in, i'll help you find you family." the voice brought chills up his spine. It seemed foreign but not unfamiliar. No way was he going to take one step into that house.

Morty seemed to curl into himself little by little. Eventually he quietly mumbled " n-no thank y-you, i-i'm okay." into the transmitter. if morty had learned one thing in his life, it was not to anger people.

This time the sweet voice only a mother was capable of, came from the communicator. " little boy? it's all right. You can trust us. We won't do anything. What's your name?"

Morty couldn't help but answer the question. Having never been addressed so sweetly by anyone or shown anything remote to love before, he was stunned.

"M-my name's m-morty" his voice was soft and high pitch, so it made him seem even more adorable.

"Well cutie, why don't you come in so we can talk face to face hmmm? I just made some cookies, it'll warm you right up!"

Morty contemplated whether he should trust these people or not. They seemed nice. They spoke to him as if he were a person. They didn't come out here and get him, but instead let him come of his own free will. And they showed genuine concern. 'Not forgetting they have cookies of course!'

He found himself hoping his family wouldn't come back to get him.

He walked to the tall white gate and with all his might he pushed open. It only opened a crack but it was enough for his small body to slip through. Once inside he saw a pretty gardian. There were all sorts of flowers he'd never seen before.

He did recognize one flower. The lotus flower. His mother's favorite. He'd always leave the house the day before her birthday to pick the flowers and leave them on her window sill. He'd always spend all night picking them, and someone else in the family always took credit for his work. But it was always worth it, to see his mother smile. He liked to see her happy. Busy thinking, he almost stepped off the foot pavement."woAH!" he fell on his butt.

Tears gathered at the side of his eyes "Owie~" he complained in a whiny tone. Frowning he sat there a moment remembering all the times he had seen an adult run to help there child right about this point. Then a brush of cold air caressed his skin and he was up again walking a bit faster than before, towards the front door. all thoughts forgotten...for now.

With the back of his petite hand he knocked as hard as he could. Unfortunately the knock wasn't very loud and his knuckles were sore and red. "Stupid metal door" he mumbled

Since there were cameras everywhere the couple knew to open the door. And true to her words, she held a tray of freshly baked cookies, mittens and all.

She wore a white apron, over her cloths. She had shiny blond silky hair that went just about past her shoulders. Her eyes were azure, her lips were rosy pink and adorned a perfect smile. Her skin was slightly tanned and her freckles were by far her most distinct facial feature.

Then she stepped aside, and a man stepped into view. This guy was the complete opposite of the lady. Though he guessed this was the person who first spoke through the intercom. He didn't seem nice at all. He was horrifying. His skin was dark. He was bulky. Like super bulky.

'is he taking.. ummm..asteroids?' morty wasn't too sure if they were called that, though he didn't care for it enough to give it extra thought.

The man's eyes were coffee brown, he wore a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, and he had no facial hair. If the man's appearance wasn't enough to scare a four year old out of their wits then the man's eyes had it covered. As the man looked down at him as if sizing him up, morty seized up in fear. The things he saw in those eyes said it all. They looked at him as if he were an object. Not human.

The woman's posture had changed as well, her face held a tight smirk, her eyes were even more horrifying than the mans. They were icy and emotionless. The tray of cookies she held were shaking, most likely of anticipation.

Morty let out a tiny gasp. He turned away from the adults as fast as he could. But the man grabbed his wrist before he could take that one fatal step forward. He was yanked backwards into the house by the bulky man. The door slowly closed.

He hadn't even gotten the chance to scream.