Old Friends, New Friends {RICK AND MORTY} ON HIATUS

Chapter Three

Morty had decided after Rick left that he wasn't going to be concerned anymore. Summer was right in that it was silly to worry about someone who didn't care about you in return (which had become obvious to him after Rick was a total asshole to him). Morty figured that if Rick didn't even have to energy to be nice to him, then he didn't have the energy to worry. And if Morty was honest, everything went great. He felt much less stressed (especially without being dragged into horrifying adventures), he had plenty more time to do his homework, and he was able to be a normal 14 year old boy.

But after Rick didn't come home for four days straight, he began to worry again.

"H-hey Summer?" he squeaked, peeking into her room. She sighed and looked at him, standing up. "I need to-"
"I know, Morty. Grandpa. Just come with me," she stated, walking out of her room. Morty followed her timidly. He rambled on as he followed, but she barely took notice. Summer walked into the garage (which had been completely unused since Rick left) and went to some shelves. She began to shift things around, looking for something.
"Summer what-what are you doing?" Morty asked. She remained silent, which freaked him out. She was normally very compliant in explaining things like this, or even telling him to go away, but this was new to him. She finally pulled out a large tablet, which was covered in dust. She then found a cord and placed it on the table. Now she faced Morty.
"Okay, Morty. I'm only supposed to use this in emergencies, but this is one, right?" she asked. Morty nodded his head.
"I-I think so."
"Okay," she exhaled nervously.
"Wait," Morty piped up. "What is that? W-what does it do? How is it gonna-gonna help?"
"A while ago, Grandpa Rick showed me this thing and told me that I should use it if there's ever an emergency. Like, if you and him went missing for a really long time, or if we somehow knew you guys were in danger.
He said that he implanted this, like, tiny little tracker chip into his arm, and that this tablet thing is what keeps track of where he is. When we turn it on, it'll tell us exactly what dimension and planet he's on. Then, it can open a portal to exactly where he is so he can come back."
"W-wow. That's perfect! Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because you're always with him, stupid."
"I mean like, why did he tell you? Do Mom and Dad know?"
"Uh, no! Why would he entrust something so important with them? Why is this a shock to you, Morty? I'm not as useless as everybody likes to think. Grandpa Rick trusts me."
"Okay whatever, let's just stop fighting and save him."
"Wait, there's a few other things he told me," Summer started. "He said that this emergency portal isn't for anyone to go in and start looking for him, or whatever. He said that this things sole purpose is to give you guys a quick escape if you're in trouble. Never go in this portal, because what's on the other side may be really dangerous. He also said that we shouldn't keep it open for more than five seconds."
"What? That's not enough time! Why not?"
"Because then something dangerous could come into our dimension..." she trailed off.
"W-well that's okay, I mean, we can just open a portal every ten minutes or something, right?"
"No," Summer bit her lip. "He told me that this thing uses a lot of energy to power. I mean, first it has to track exactly where Grandpa Rick is out of like, endless dimensions, and then open a portal to it. So, like, he only gives it enough power to work for one, maybe two uses."
"Aw jeez," Morty groaned. They sat in silence for a moment, each becoming more and more nervous as time went by.
"Are we gonna do it?" Summer asked, breaking the silence. Morty looked at her and nodded slowly.
"We have to." Summer nodded back and plugged the tablet into the wall. Suddenly, all the lights in the house surged, as through straining to stay lit.
"Okay," Summer bit her lip again, looking at the tablet. "It says here he's on Earth dimension K-515. Do you know where that is?"
"No! I-It's not like I've been to every single dimension, Summer. There's endless a-amounts of them. It's impossible for me to go to every single one!"
"Calm down, I was only asking!" Summer spat. "God."
"Alright, whatever, just open it up."
"Okay..." she said nervously. She picked the tablet up and held it at a ninety-degree angle, and pressed a button. A bright green portal then opened up in front of them. Summer began counting"One... Two... Three.."
"Aw jeez," Morty whispered. 'Come on, Rick' he thought. 'Please come back.'
"Four... Five," she finished. But before she could close the portal, Morty had jumped in.

+++

Rick sat at a table, a cup of coffee in his hand (which he hadn't added any alcohol to) as he went through several photos of his grandkids. The woman with the blonde hair sat next to him, looking as well.
"Oh Rick, I'm so glad you brought these," she smiled. Her English accent was quite heavy, and very apparent when she spoke.
"Hey, it's no big deal. I know how badly you wanted to see them."
"I really did," she nodded. "It's so nice to finally see what-" Suddenly, a bright green portal appeared in the kitchen they sat in. They both stared at it, then looked at each other. Then, Morty came flying out, screaming. He landed on the floor, and scrambled to his feet. The woman stood up.
"What the fuck?" she yelled. Rick pulled out a gun and took aim.
"Wait, Morty?" he questioned, putting the gun away.
"Morty??" The woman exclaimed.
"Rick! Rick oh my god, we have to get out of here! I-i-it's okay, Rick! We can go! Y-you're safe now!" he rambled.
"Jesus, Morty, how the hell did you- oh. It was that damn thing I showed Summer."
"Rick? Is this...?" The woman said quietly, looking at Morty. Morty looked at Rick frantically.
"Rick come on let's go!"
"Ugh, Morty, shut up for a second. Just-Just sit down for a second," Rick said, pulling out a chair for Morty. "Give me a sec." Rick then walked over to the woman.
"Rick is that really him?" She asked, sounding tearful. They walked into another room where Morty couldn't hear them. As they were gone, he couldn't help but be amazed at how well-furnished this place was. It looked almost exactly like a regular house, with only a few minor differences (like the clock having five arms and only seven numbers, and the words on things were in a strange language). He had thought the woman looked fairly normal, as though she was from he and Rick's dimension. She had fair skin, curly blonde hair, and freckles dusted her face (which looked innocent and youthful, despite the fact that she looked like she was probably about twenty-years older than his Mom).

After a few minutes, Rick returned, the woman following close behind. Her eyes were red and a tissue was crumpled in her hand, but she grinned uncontrollably at Morty. He awkwardly avoided her gaze.
"Come on, Morty. We're going home," Rick said. Morty stood and walked over to Rick, feeling the woman's eyes follow him, which made him incredibly uncomfortable. Rick pulled out his portal gun and shot a portal in front of them.
"Come back soon," the woman said quietly. Morty looked back at her and she smiled at him. He tried to smile back.
"See you in a bit," Rick said to her. She nodded. Then, the two stepped through the portal back to Earth C-137.

+++

"Rick, d-do you mind explaining what the hell is going on?? Who was that? Why was she so-so weird around me?"
"Morty I'm g-EUGHHH-onna answer all of your questions just calm down," Rick stated. He grabbed Morty's shoulders and bent down slightly to be at eye-level with him. "Morty, that woman I was just with... That was your Grandma."