Morty had stormed off, leaving Rick to pout. He hated when things were his fault, as Morty had pointed out, and he always refused to take the blame. This was one of those times.
He stood sulking in the corner. Rick had tried to engage with Beth, but she was always with Jerry. He could barely stand Jerry as an adult, much less as a child, so he would wait for Jerry to leave Beth alone. That didn't keep him from watching them though. Despite his grumpy exterior, he did enjoy hearing Beth's laugh and watching her make things out of Playdough, even if it was with Jerry.
For a moment, Rick was filled with a pang of regret as he realized just how much of Beth's childhood he had missed. He frowned to himself. There was no good excuse for simply abandoning her, and while he usually didn't feel bad about it, seeing her so young was bringing up all these unpleasant feelings.
Begrudgingly, he pushed himself off the wall, deciding that he needed to spend time with little Beth, even if Jerry was around. He approached her at the Playdough table and smiled warmly. "How are you, sweetheart?" he asked.
Beth looked up and smiled. "Surprisingly well given the situation," she responded. "You know, I almost don't want to turn back.
Rick didn't miss Jerry's frown, and he eyed Beth suspiciously. "But you will, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course," Beth replied, not looking him in the eye.
"Beth," Rick said sternly. "I know you'd love to relive your lost childhood, but we can't. You have kids. Responsibilities."
"I know," Beth replied with a guilty nod. "But still, wouldn't it be cool to start over?"
Rick grunted in response. There wasn't enough money in the multiverse that could make him stay young. He had tried bring a teenager, and that hadn't worked out at all. Already, he could feel his brain aching from his loss of neurons. Child or not though, he was still a genius. He already knew how to fix them; it was just a matter of getting home. Under his breath, he grumbled at Summer for dropping him off here. But with the way little Beth's eyes lit up, he couldn't stay mad.
He looked up to see Morty talking to a redhead girl by the fake kitchen and smiled to himself. His grandson seemed to have a thing for redheads, not that Rick could blame him.
An insistent tapping started on his shoulder, and Rick turned around in annoyance to see a blonde boy in a green shirt. "What do you want?" he snapped, but then he looked up into the boy's eyes, wide with terror. "What's wrong?" he asked more gently.
The boy started tapping again, and this time, Rick payed attention. He quickly recognized the boy's frantic taps as morse code.
... . .-.. .-. - .
Help me.
Rick's brow furrowed in concern. "With what?" he asked. The boy quickly shushed him and grabbed his arm. He led Rick off to a hidden corner, looked around to make sure no one was listening, and turned to face him. "What's wrong?" Rick asked again in a whisper.
"They're going to take me," he whispered frantically.
"They? Who's they?" Rick questioned.
The boy bit at his lip nervously. "Kids are always disappearing from here and never seen again," he explained.
"Wouldn't the parents notice if their children were going missing?" Rick asked skeptically.
With a shake of his head, the boy continued. "The parents go missing too. And then they end up on the news. Dead."
Rick swallowed hard. It seemed that this boy had a valid case. Missing children, dead parents- it wasn't something Rick wanted to get into in the body of a child, but he didn't seem to have a choice. "Come on," he said. "Let's go get my gr- um, friend. We'll figure out what to do."
The boy nodded, and Rick began to lead him to the spot where he had last seen Morty. He was alone now, trying to build a tower out of legos. "Morty," Rick whispered urgently.
"What do you want, Rick?" Morty grumbled.
"I'm not here to argue," Rick quickly said. "But we have a situation."
Morty looked up at him, concerned. "What do you mean a situation?"
Rick turned around to introduce the other child, and a cold fear ran through his body when he didn't see him. He waved his head back and forth, searching frantically. "No," Rick muttered. "They got him already."
A gentle hand was placed on his arm. "Who's they, Rick? What's going on?" Morty asked.
With a sigh of defeat, Rick quickly turned back around and began to explain everything to Morty. "Someone at this daycare is kidnapping children and killing their parents," Rick whispered. "I was on my way here with the kid who tipped me off, but they must have grabbed him.
"Aw, geez," Morty muttered. "What did he look like?"
"Blonde hair. Green shirt. About our height."
With a look of determination filling his eyes, Morty nodded. "We're going to find him," he promised Rick. "But we'll do it faster if we split up."
Unsurprisingly, Rick had decided to retrace his steps, searching for any sort of trap. Because that's how he would do it. Because he was a genius. But Morty doubted that whoever was running this operation was as smart as Rick. He knew where to look to find the kid.
He stared at Rick's back, feeling guilty for what he was about to put his grandpa through. 'I trust you, Rick,' he thought to himself. 'And I know you will save me.'
With a hard gulp, Morty turned to the counter. Normally, he was a very anxious, timid child, but something about other people's lives being on the line made him a bit braver. Morty inhaled a deep breath. He could do this. With as much resolve as he could muster, he walked up to the lady behind the counter.
"Hi, kiddo," the woman greeted him, smiling warmly at him. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Morty nodded. There was no turning back now. "Yeah, actually," he said. "My friend went missing. He has blonde hair and a green shirt. Have you seen him?"
The woman looked nervous for a second before collecting herself and smiling again. "I have," she replied. "Just come with me."
She put a hand on his shoulder and began to lead him to the back door. Morty turned around, and he caught Rick staring at him in wide-eyed horror. It looked like he was about to rush the woman, but Morty quickly shook his head and mouthed, 'Don't.' He could see the conflict written all over Rick's face as he stood frozen, and Morty felt the familiar sense of guilt.
The door opened, and Morty was rushed through. As soon as he heard the door closing behind him, two green, humanoid aliens stepped into his line of sight. The woman suddenly grabbed his arms and yanked them behind his back. Morty felt the cold steel as his hands were cuffed behind him. He was shoved roughly towards the aliens as the woman ordered, "Take him."
Without a word, one of the aliens approached him and grabbed him by his waist, hoisting Morty over his shoulder. They exited through a back door leading outside, where Morty could see from his upside-down point of view a small spaceship. He was loaded on and unceremoniously dropped to the floor. Morty grunted in pain as he sat up, surrounded by a couple of other terrified kids. Among them was Rick's friend with the green shirt.
The spaceship door closed, and after a minute, Morty could feel them taking off. He had no idea where they were going, but he did know one thing: Rick was going to rescue him. It was only a matter of time. Rick was going to save him and stop whatever sick trafficking that was going on here. He had complete faith in his grandpa.
As the ship jostled, Morty leaned up against the wall and tried to settle his racing heart. Just because he had complete trust in Rick didn't mean he wasn't terrified of what was about to happen. But there was nothing he could do now. He had made his choice.