Disclaimer: I don't own "Rick and Morty".
Author's Note: So, this is gonna be pretty intense. It was painful to write. Hope you're ready for it.
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The first thing Summer heard were the voices.
"Sir, please, back away, let's get her sitting up."
"FigURghs she'd be like this. Always been a littUL drama queen-"
Fuck you Rick. Fuck you. God, she wished she had the strength to slap him.
"SIR!" The male cop this time, and he sounded more than a little annoyed. "That's no way to talk right now! Your granddaughter is….in shock. Back away! She's trying to sit up."
Next thing she knew a cup of water was held in front of her face. She couldn't drink it; if she did she would surely puke all over the floor. Summer profusely shook her head, her lips held tightly in one place. The room was spinning like a carousel out of control and all she could see in her mind's eye was Rick staring drunkenly at her, like he'd seen a ghost, and proclaiming the unthinkable. It simply wasn't true.
And those were the first words that fell from her trembling lips: "It's….not true, right?" Summer's words echoed in her own head, as she stared up pleadingly with the two cops standing standing hovered above her, looking at her with the kind of sympathy you only gave to someone when a person they loved-
No. Summer couldn't think it. She wouldn't dare.
"HaUGHt to break it to you Summer….but...them's the breaks. Hard knocks. Life's full of 'em. Get used to it."
"Sir-" The male cop was about to say, but Summer cut him off abruptly,
"Shut your fucking mouth Rick!" she yelled at her grandfather and, unable to stop herself, burst abruptly into tears. God, sometimes she really hated that man. He could make her so mad sometimes. And even now, all he could do was force the bitter, sobering reality down her throat. It burned and scorched her insides; it left her scraped out and hollowed inside.
"YouUGh're overreacting, SUGHmmmer," Rick slurred heavily as he teetered precariously on the edge of the couch. "DeUGth...it's just a part of living….it happUGNs to all-all of us-"
"NO they DON'T!" Summer screamed in spite of herself, a rage boiling over that she didn't even know she had, "not my parents! They wouldn't, they couldn't just-" She swallowed back the rest of the words, standing on unsteady feet, trembling with a speechless and dangerous glower at her grandfather.
Rick shrugged indifferently and took a swig of the beer in his hand. "EUGHveryone kicks it sometime, kid. ParUGHnts too. NUGHn of us are im-immune, Sum-"
"SHUT UP!" Summer shouted, face red with anger and tears and, before she could stop herself, slapped the beer abruptly from out of Rick's hand, the booze soaking Rick's front as well as the couch, and the floor.
"Whught the hell SUMMER!?" Rick jumped up in a flash, furious, stunned into near speechlessness by Summer's outburst. He stared blankly down at his stained lab coat for a moment, before turning eyes of pure fury on Summer. He started towards her, hand raised threateningly, and Summer, frozen in place with fear, began backing away-
-until she backed abruptly into the cop behind her, who had taken hold at once of Rick's arm, holding her grandfather in place (in spite of his wobbliness). "Sir," said the cop with quietly restrained anger, "You're going to come with me now."
"Oooo I'm shaking in my boots," Rick quipped with a casual shrug, but Officer Jackson simply rolled his eyes at the remark.
"Officer O'Shea, you keep an eye on these kids. Mr. Sanchez and I are going to take a ride down to the morgue. Mr. Sanchez, you're coming with me. Try any funny business and you'll be spending the night in the slammer."
"Aught least there'd be some peace and quiUGHt there," Rick remarked idly.
"If you're lucky," Officer Jackson replied with gruff amusement, as he closed the front door behind them.
xxxxxxx
"Are you okay?" Officer O'Shea sat with Summer in the den, having made her some warm lemon tea. Summer sat on the couch, taking absent sips at the tea, not really caring what it was that she drank. (At this point, she was beginning to understand why her grandfather was constantly knocking them back. She almost wanted a beer for herself; she knew though the officer would never allow an underage minor to drink alcohol in her presence. Maybe she would wait until the officer was gone.)
"No," Summer answered quietly. She wondered where Morty was. At the thought of him, she felt her eyes fill. God...he didn't even know yet. "I...my brother…I have to go get him," she mumbled weakly, standing on legs that felt like rubber. "He's got to be upstairs."
"Should I come with you?" Officer O'Shea stood as well, waiting for her answer expectantly.
"N-no," Summer replied. All I want is to be left alone. "I'll be...okay." 'Okay'….what did that even mean anymore?
"I'll be right here," said the officer as she headed for the stairwell.
"Thanks," Summer muttered, and fled up the stairs.
xxxxxxx
Officer O'Shea must not have had good ears, because she didn't seem to notice the sound of Morty's footsteps as he tiptoed away through the kitchen. From behind the corner of the hallway that led towards the garage, Morty had been listening. He'd heard every word. Your parents are dead Summer. Saw his sister faint in response. Saw his grandfather nearly hit his sister. Saw the cop stop him just in time.
Morty held his stomach and leaned against the wall, sinking to the floor, hugging himself, his mind blank, his mouth dry. He knew he should go upstairs, but then the cop would see him. He was terrified of cops.
Dead. His parents were dead. Gone, just like the ones he'd left behind in the Cronenburg'd earth. Did that mean that they were still alive somewhere else? He didn't know what the answer was, and Rick wasn't there to answer it. He'd almost come out of hiding when the cop had told Rick they had to go. It was so weird, but he wanted to see their bodies. He wasn't sure why. The idea terrified him and he was grateful he'd missed the chance.
His sister! She was looking for him. Morty remembered the back door, past the garage; there was a way in on the other side of the kitchen. He left as quietly as possible through the garage, ran around back, and snuck past the den, with all the stealthy skills of a ninja on the prowl (Rick would have been proud).
He found his sister in the strangest of places. She was sitting on his bed.
"Summer…?" Morty said. She looked up, her face puffy from crying.
He walked over to her. She stared blankly back at him. He sat next to her on the bed; threw his arms around her. Summer held onto him for dear life. And they both stayed like that for some time, quietly sobbing into each other's arms.