Chapter 16

A/N: Last chapter! :')

Rick, Morty, and Summer zoomed through the galaxy, set on course for Earth. They had said their proper goodbyes to their friends and allies, and at Summer's insistence, even held a short but suitable memorial for Bird Person, to which many of the rebels had attended.

They had thrown as many of Rick's inventions as they could into the backseat with Summer. Rick had made sure to grab his prototype portal gun before they departed; he knew that he would want to create a new one before portalling back to Meria to grab the rest of his inventions.

"Sanchez."

Rick had turned around to see Adalric standing behind him. He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around to make sure Morty nor Summer were nearby. "Hey. Thanks for everything, Adalric. Morty told me you saved their lives. I owe you one, man."

Adalric laughed, shaking his head. "No, Sanchez. You owe me nothing. I don't know what you did, but once again, you have made things right. I wish you safe travels, friend."

Rick, Morty, and Summer had left shortly after, giving their warm goodbyes to everyone. Now, with the stars and planets racing past them, Earth was finally coming into view after their six hour travel.

Morty turned to his grandfather, suddenly nervous. None of them had spoken much. "Rick, the Federation's still on Earth- won't they recognize us, or, or you?" Morty asked, eyebrows furrowed in worry. Summer put her hand on Morty's seat, leaning forward.

"You sure about that, Morty?" Rick cocked an eyebrow, a knowing smirk on his lips.

"What do you…?" Morty began, moving his gaze from Rick to the planet they were approaching. He recognized the deep-blue color of the ocean, the marble swirl of green and brown that constituted the landmasses. Morty thought back to the last time he had seen Earth from this perspective, when he and Summer had flown away in her pink spaceship, and he remembered thinking how beautiful Earth was, though Federation outposts and ships orbited it forebodingly.

Now, however, as Morty gazed at the plucky blue planet, he noticed that the Federation presence was lacking. The outposts that had surrounded the planet last time he saw it were gone, as if they had never been there. Earth looked, once again, as it had pre-occupation by the Federation.

"The Federation's gone!" Summer exclaimed, grinning. "Grandpa Rick, how'd you pull that off?"

Rick shrugged, leaning an elbow against the armrest. "Don't worry about it. I did what I needed to do."

!

The trio landed in the empty driveway of the Smith family house. They stepped out of the ship, the summer evening air warm on their skin. Rick stood up and stretched, taking in the clean Earth air deep into his lungs. The lawn was slightly overgrown, Rick noticed, as if it hadn't been properly cared for in a while.

Morty and Summer ran up to the front door of their home, excited yet nervous. They looked at each other.

"You do it," Summer said.

"No, you do it."

Summer took a deep breath, laying her hand on the door handle. She pushed.

She was met with resistance from the door. It was locked.

She tried again. "Damn, they must not be home," she said, disappointed.

"Wow, what gre-EUGH-at timing," Rick said sarcastically, sticking his hands in his pockets. He looked back at the empty driveway. "Your parents must be out. Either of you got a key?"

Morty and Summer shook their heads.

"Shit. Okay, since we got nothing better to do, let's drive around a little bit, try and see if we can find them."

Morty, Summer, and Rick got back into the ship and drove down the streets, the summer sun still warmly shining in the evening.

Morty rolled down his window, enjoying the summer breeze on his face as they silently drove. Where were his parents? He couldn't think of where they could have gone; he had been looking forward to seeing them, but had been bitterly disappointed by their absence…

"Wait! Stop!"

Rick swerved onto the curb, screeching to a halt, startled by Summer's sudden outburst. He turned around, facing her. "Dammit Summer, what?!"

She had already unbuckled herself, about to jump out of the ship. "There they are!" She pointed to the cemetery they had halted next to; Rick and Morty followed her gaze, and sure enough, there stood Beth and Jerry in the distance, along with a good deal of people. She pushed her door open moving her body over the strewn inventions, bouncing on her feet as she exited. "Come on!"

Rick and Morty followed Summer as they entered the cemetery, running along the path through the gray headstones. Suddenly, Summer halted, causing Morty and Rick to almost crash into her.

Morty stumbled up beside her, watching their parents from a distance. Both of them were standing, facing a crowd of people. Morty recognized some, if not most, of the faces; his paternal grandparents, Mr. Goldenfold, Principal Vagina, some of his classmates, including Jessica... His mother seemed to be speaking while crying, though Morty could not hear the words. Everyone was dressed in formal black, as if at a funeral.

Rick barked out a laugh. "They think we're dead! Oh man, they're holding a funeral, the whole shebang…" He snorted, putting his hands on his hips, turning to his grandchildren. "I have an idea-how about we go crash our own funeral?"

Rick, Morty, and Summer quietly approached the memorial, standing off to the side. A pang of guilt hit Morty as he saw his mother's tears while she spoke. There were three large flowered wreathes behind his parents, each of which had Morty, Summer, and Rick's names wrapped around them in white cloth.

"…and I know many of you didn't know my father all that well, but he was a great man. He was crazy and way too dedicated to his science, but both…both Summer and Morty loved him dearly. I-I just…Jerry, I don't think I can do this—" Beth, tears filling her eyes once more, turned to the arms of her husband, her black dress swaying as she moved away from the faces of the crowd. She rested her chin on Jerry's shoulder, looking off over the many headstones, trying to slow the tears. Suddenly, her heart dropped.

She stepped away from Jerry, causing him to turn around and stare in shock. "…Morty? Summer?"

"Mom! Dad!" Morty and Summer broke away from Rick and, in the presence of the gasping audience, threw themselves into the arms of their parents, fortuitously knocking over the wreathes.

Rick stuffed his hands into his pockets, standing a few feet off from the happy reunion. Beth released her children and faced her father.

"Dad," she said, her voice tearful.

"Hey sweetie," he said, grinning.

Beth ran the few strides and threw her arms around her father. "We were so certain that you and the kids were gone, that you were dead-we looked everywhere but the Federation stopped us from actually doing anything and we didn't know what to do, but then the Federation just left and I…I'm just glad you're here." Beth sighed.

Rick lay a light hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, me too."

Beth looked at him. "There was a billboard that said that you had been captured…how did you escape?" She turned to Summer and Morty. "And what ever happened to you two? Morty, you look like you've grown a few inches—all of you have been missing for a year! What happened?"

Morty looked at Summer, then Rick. "It's a long story…"

Rick grinned. "How about we all go home and relax with a little bit of Ball Fondlers? I'm a whole season behind, and would r-e-eally like to catch up."

Morty let out a laugh, a sense of happiness erupting like a burst balloon in his chest. He had missed this, and looked forward to the future adventures that Rick would no doubt drag him on in the middle of the night. "Sounds good."

A/N: And that's a wrap! I want to thank everyone for their dedication to this story. There were times where I wanted to give up; I absolutely love writing, but it's definitely hard. There were times where I completely doubted my abilities, and a lot of paragraphs that were scratched because they didn't seem good to me. And yet, all of you continued to inspire me to keep writing. So, thank you. This story has been such a ride; I can't believe it's over!

This whole adventure actually started because I was scrolling on Tumblr back in January and there was a "daily writing prompt" blog that had posted one line:

"The warp engine was utterly fried, biofluid leaking a thin green trail over the red sand."

I doubt anyone remembers this line, but it's from chapter 4. Amazing how one line can inspire an entire story…

Anyways, I would like to give a few shout-outs/thank-yous to a few readers. Sillycritter, romeocitychicag, Setaflow—you have been amazingly dedicated readers and reviewers. I always enjoy reading your reviews; my heart jumps about fifty feet into the air with joy whenever I see you have left a comment. You always leave high-quality reviews, and I thank you for it. You are inspiring.

Now, to all of my readers: I want to give a hug to each and every one of you. I LOVE YOU! Thank you for sticking with this story. Thank you for joining me on this fanfiction adventure with our favorite characters: Morty, Summer, and Rick. I wrote this in order to fill the void that the season 2 finale left in our hearts, and in order to quell the pain of the hiatus. Here's to hoping that season 3 comes quickly!

Stay schwifty everyone!