Disclaimer: I don't own "Rick and Morty".
Author's Note: Second to last chapter, broh! I have to admit, this one was immensely satisfying and, I hope, really wrapped things up nicely. (I will really miss this story...and it will probably be awhile before I write one as long as this one.) Next chapter, be prepared to find out a little more about Jenna.
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One second, Morty was walking down the street with Rick. The next, Rick was pulling him into a poral, and suddenly he was standing in his family's garage. Disoriented, he stumbled a bit before finally gaining back his footing, and, realizing where he was, Morty's eyes widened, and panic began to quickly settle in.
"R-Rick-oh my God Rick! We can't stay here, why are we back here!?"
Instead of answering him, Rick began rummaging about mechanically around the garage, looking for something; Morty couldn't fathom possibly what.
"We-we just left them back there-oh my God Rick, what are we even doing here!? Rick-I-I-I-I can't just leave them like that! We just left everyone there-Rick! We gotta go back there Rick! They-they need me there!" He was beginning to hyperventilate; he couldn't take much more of this. Meanwhile, Rick, it seemed, was completely ignoring him. He watched, helplessly, as Rick surfaced from one of the cabinets with a shiny new flask, which he quickly began relishing in, seemingly having completely forgotten that Morty was there.
"RICK!" Morty shouted as he ran towards his grandfather, who swayed a bit, blinking back with astonishment at his grandson as though he were looking at a ghost. "Get ahold of yourself Rick! We gotta go back there-we gotta go back!" Morty shook his grandfather, trying to snap Rick out of it.
"Dona worry little buddy," Rick slurred as he tipped some more of the flask's contents into his mouth, spilling some on his face and his lab coat in the process. "We wiUGHll, kapeesh? Jussst needed thAUGH commmpany."
"RICK! You're-you're-" Morty shook his head with disgust and disbelief. "My Dad is going to freak out if we don't come back soon!" He began to pace in desperation as Rick continued to get steadily more and more plastered. "You-you just basically kidnapped me, you, you know?! I-Oh God, what about Grandma and Grandpa Smith-they-they don't even know about-oh God, oh God Rick! I just-just don't know what to do-"
"Eaasy M-Morty," Rick intoned. "Y-you gotta just loooosen up a little. Here. Drink some a' this stuff," Rick said as he let rip a loud belch, shoving the flask haphazardly in Morty's direction, drops of liquor spilling all over the floor.
"ALCOHOL?!" Morty exploded with venom, furiously wringing his hands. Clearly Rick hadn't even noticed he was on the verge of tears. "You're bribing me with alcohol for me to go on your stupid quest!? I'm not staying here, Rick! My sister, my sister's gone, Mom and Dad are dead...I gotta go back. You gotta take me back!" Morty broke down then, weeping in spite of himself; it seemed that he couldn't hold anything back these days, especially tears.
"Liiike I said MAURGHty. Grandpa RiUGHck will make things right." Rick then proceeded to stumble dangerously out of the garage and into the house, Morty following quickly behind him.
"Wh-what are we gonna tell Grandmom and Grandpop?" Morty pleaded as his grandfather raided the fridge, downing nearly a whole carton of orange juice and tossing the empty carton in the sink with abandon.
"ProUGHbably not best to come back," Rick said solemnly as he struggled to avoid walking into the kitchen counter, missing it by mere inches. "Unless Jerry dUGHsn't mind walking around in-cognito dressed as a clown for the rest of his pathetic little life."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Morty froze, completely confused by his grandfather's statement.
"ThEUGH Jerry from this world no longer exists," Rick explained as he drowned half a beer in a matter of seconds.
Morty frowned, still confused. "I-I don't get it Rick…"
"It's like this M-Morty, if everyone thinks someone is dead...then they suddenly appear, most likely he'll be a media sensation and you can forget having a normal stupid life like everyone else."
"Oh." Morty winced, hating to think of his father needing a disguise every time he left the house.
"Here kid-" Rick was dumping beer bottles into a double duty garbage bag. "Come on, help, help me get all of this stuff in a bag, we gotta loot the place if we're not gonna stay."
"C..couldn't we just go to some normal dimension where...where both my parents and Summer are okay, and monsters don't exist?" Morty asked, with an innocent hopefulness in his eyes that made Rick wince and turn quickly away.
"Not that simple," Rick shrugged listlessly, and, upon seeing the blank look of confusion in his grandson's shimmering eyes, sighed and continued hastily, "You see M-m-m-Morty, in this dimension, your mom and dad...well…" Rick made a cutting motion across the base of his neck with one finger for emphasis (ignoring Morty's glowers of unspoken rage). "...in that dimension," Rick added reluctantly, "somehow only Jerry made it through that mess alive...and, in at least every dimesion, at least two or all three of them bit the dust, so...it's hiiiighly doubtful that there'd be any dimension where both your parents and your sister all survived."
Morty's shoulders sank, and his heart quickly followed as his eyes fell with defeat to the floor. "...Oh."
"But, but Morty," Rick added quickly as he saw the sadness return to his son's vision, "at least we have one dimension where at leat two of them survived."
"But...everything's so messed up there, Rick," Morty said with a helpless sigh, falling into one of the kitchen chairs with exhaustion. "And...what about school? And...and my other grandparents? We'd just live in Chronenburg world forever?"
In spite of the liquored haze, there was a sudden sobered intensity in his grandather's eyes. "There are much worse types of existence in the universe, Morty."
Morty looked past Rick, out the window at the street, where a woman was walking her dog, and a neighbor was getting their mail. The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly through the clouds. It was a simple and beautiful day. Morty knew he would miss it.
"...I really miss Mom," Morty whispered, almost to no one but himself.
He turned back towards Rick-but the man was gone, and Morty heard footsteps on the stairs heading upwards. He probably doesn't even miss her at all.
It was quite a surprise when, at least ten minutes later, Rick returned-carrying something in his arms.
"Wh...what's that, Rick?" Morty stared suspiciously, blinking with astonishment as he realized it was nothing but a stuffed animal in Rick's hands.
Rick placed the pink stuffed elephant on the kitchen table in front of Morty and said simply, "Winston."
Morty stared at the elephant; it seemed to stare right back at him. "...Win-Winston?"
Rick sat down across from Morty, the elephant between them. "Yeah. Winston. Winston," Rick told the stuffed animal, "meet my grandson, Morty."
Morty gaped at his grandfather, who was suddenly talking to pink stuffed elephants for reasons that were beyond him. What the hell was in that flask of his? It couldn't just be plain old liquor if he was doing stuff like this.
"...Rick?" Morty questioned, "why are you talking to-"
"ThUGHs was your Mom's, Morty," Rick informed with an urgency and sincerity that surprised him. "AaaUND I want you to take care of him."
Staring first at Rick and then at the elephant itself, Morty felt his throat constrict, fearing that he might break down and cry. "...R-Really?" Morty couldn't believe his ears. "You...you're giving him to me?"
"Sure." Rick patted the elephant as though it were a cat, which Morty found very strange; his grandfather didn't often show affection for anything. "Aund Winston...you take care of my gr-grandson, Mo-MAURghty here."
Morty felt his eyes sting with tears as he gently picked the worn stuffed animal up and held it close to his chest. Suddenly, he felt a relief, and a warmth that he hadn't felt in quite some time. It was like a breath of fresh air that filled him with hope. He looked up at Rick, his grandfather, and realized suddenly that, as long as they stayed together, it could just be possible that everything would turn out…..okay.
"...Thanks, Rick." Morty smiled weakly through his tears.
Rick shrugged as though it were nothing, but Morty knew better.
"SurUGH thing, Morty."
Then together they went about the house choosing the things they would bring back with them.