Don't Come Back For Me

Northern Lights (Part 2).

       As your legs began to lose strength, exhaustion washing over you, you turned to see Rick knocking Evil Morty unconscious. You took a step towards him, your leg falling heavily as the limbs struggled to bear your weight. Rick turned to face you, worry instantly washing over his face.

        As you took another step, you felt your legs seconds from giving in. Rick's eyes were wide before he was running to you, practically hurdling the end table separating the two of you. Your legs gave in, and you found yourself falling into his arms. "Shit," he grunted, pulling you up. You chuckled weakly, "N-Not as- nnggg," you struggled to breathe, "dainty as I- as I look, huh, b-boss?"

        Rick didn't reply as he dragged you to the couch, situating you as gently as he could before he walked away, throwing the two into a portal. You heard a door close and could only assume he'd gone into another room, possibly the garage. You tried to pull air into your lungs, only wincing with the effort. You'd pushed yourself too much, moving with that much force as your body was still lacking the necessary oxygen. But you'd won, something that brought a weak smile to your cracked lips.

       You heard a door open and shut again before Rick practically sprinted back to you, setting the box that was becoming very familiar to you on the ground. He kneeled in front of you, worry prominent in his furrowed brow and glossy, blue orbs. You pulled heavy gasps of air into your lungs, wincing at the flames that seemed to build in your chest as Rick looked you over, cleaning the blood from your face. He placed two fingers on either side of your nose, probably making sure it wasn't broken, before he lightly ran a finger across the bruise on your face from Morty hitting you the first time. 

        You inhaled yet again, but something tickled your throat and you were thrown into a coughing fit. You winced when it was done, the fire in your chest only slightly subsiding when you laid back down on the couch. Rick grabbed your hand and lifted it. From this angle, you could see that your knuckles were red, the skin around them bruised from the effort you'd put into your hits. Rick leaned over and grabbed gauze from the box, along with the same cream, and began to apply it. When he'd finished, he checked your other hand, finding that it was fine. Rick ran a finger lightly across your neck, no doubt checking to make sure it was fine. No doubt you'd have a mark there. You pulled back slightly and he let out a groan of almost sympathy.

       Rick released a sigh as he laid his head down on the couch near you. Your heartbeat was pounding in your ears, but the fire in your chest was slowly dying. You were finding it easier and easier to breathe as you shut your eyes and focused on pulling air in and pushing it out. 

       When the pounding had finally settled and your chest no longer burned, you smiled slightly and pried your eyes open. "Gee whiz, that was fun." You coughed slightly before settling back down. Rick lifted his head and looked up at your face, "You've gotta be kidding me, kid." You shrugged slightly, your shoulders barely moving before you sat up. "I felt like a fairy, kicking that mofo's ass." You lightly flapped your hands at your sides, chuckling softly.

       "I thought you died." Rick continued staring up at you, completely serious. "That stunt you pulled, eugh you had me convinced. But that... that was smart, what you did." He gave a soft smile, his arms still folding on the couch near your hip. You ran your fingers lightly over the side of your face, hissing when you found the spot where Morty had hit. That was the only place that really hurt. "Those sumbitches keep coming back, and they keep getting better, too." You growled, crossing your arms as you did so.

       Rick sat up, "They're learning." He stood, sighing heavily, before he held a hand out to you, pulling you up from the couch. "The funny thing," he led you to the kitchen, "is that eugh the food still got done." He motioned to the burners that had been shut off, the water still steaming as the noodles sat in it. You laughed, looking down at the water for a minute, "After some bullshit like that, I think I'm definitely gonna need to eat." 

       "Dibs on finishing it." Rick moved over and started to drain the noodles, "Can't break dibs, eugh kid." You gaped at him, "No fair!" You pouted, watching as Rick continued to finish the Mac 'n' Cheese you'd thought would be abandoned. You sat at a chair, still pouting as Rick brought your bowl over towards you, setting your silverware near it. You pursed your lips, staring down at the bowl momentarily before back up to Rick. "No fair," you repeated, "I wanted to do it."

        Rick rolled his eyes and sat across from you, "Just eat your damn food, (Y/N), or I'll throw eugh Plankton at you." He held up his fork, a Plankton-shaped noodle sitting on the end of it. You raised your hands in mock surrender before you proceeded to eat, "Alright, alright. Don't assault me with the smallest oceanic organism in noodle form. Oh no." You giggled. Your knuckles being wrapped up in gauze made it slightly awkward, but you managed to enjoy your meal.

       About halfway through, the front door opened and the rest of the Mystery Crew wandered in, looking happy as ever. They all wandered into the kitchen to find the two of you. Morty's eyes widened when he looked you over, taking in the bruises on your face and throat, slightly red nose, and gauze. "Wh-What the h-hell hap-happened?" 

       You set your fork down and swallowed the food you'd been chewing, "Well, the Super Mario Bros showed up again. They almost had me beat, but my fairy ass kicked theirs to the curb." You proceeded to eat as though you hadn't just told Morty your ass was whupped while Rick rolled his eyes.

       "Another dimension's two of us," he motioned between himself and Morty, "popped in. Have eugh been for a while. The kid was doing great until he was tag teamed. I thought he was done for." Rick looked down for a moment, "But he shot up and kicked some ass. eugh They were gonna kill him, but his happy ass spun that around real quick. That's where he got the lovely bruise around his throat." He motioned towards you and you slightly lifted your head. You weren't proud, but you weren't ashamed. You'd taken him down, and that was all you wanted.

       Slowly, you stood and took care of your bowl, ignoring the gaping family. "It wasn't a problem. All I had to do was come up with a plan real quick, and it worked. I know... I knew how he thinks, he's done it before. Just not recently." You walked over to Rick, watching him furrow his brow for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

       "Well, I'm glad you're alright now." Beth moved towards you, "But you should be more careful. If it's too dangerous for you to work with dad-" You raised a hand, interrupting her, "I don't mind it. I really enjoy working for him. I can handle it, really, it's not like I haven't dealt with those two before." Beth gave you a sad smile before she wandered off.

        "That sounds awesome, (Y/N). Good job taking them out!" Jerry congratulated you before walking off. Rick rolled his eyes and sighed, taking care of his plate. "Wow, (Y/N), I didn't know you could fight." You turned to face Summer, watching as she held her phone slightly away from her face, something new. "Well," you leaned against the table, "I ain't all sparkle and no bite, bish, that's fo sho." You chuckled awkwardly before she wandered off, dragging Morty with her and watching tv with him.

        Rick turned to face you after he put his dish away, a frown on his face. "I'm not asking fo-for the whole story, but did you mean it? When eugh When you said it wasn't new for him to do that?" He gave you a look that was almost sympathetic and you nodded, "I meant it when I said he'd gotten dangerous. That was the first time I ever won against him, because I wasn't afraid of him leaving if I fought back. That was the first time I ever even considered fighting back. That was," you tried to think of the right word, "empowering. I never thought I could take him down like that, but I did. I fucking did it."

       Rick gave you a sad smile, "You did. You did great kid." 

       "Come on, let's forget all this crap. I was promised an adventure, and it seems late enough to go out now." You grabbed Rick's hand and pulled him to the garage, "I wanna see those lights for once in my life." You turned back to smile at Rick, finding him already beaming, a light pink on his face as he was pulled by you.

       The two of you clambered into the cruiser and took off as excitement welled deep in your stomach, manifesting as butterflies. One may have promised to take you there, but the other was actually doing it.

       That made all the difference in the world to you.