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Summer is excited.
Maybe it's sick, maybe it's miserable, maybe it's cruel, who gives a shit anymore? Summer is following in her grandfather's footsteps, brushing things like 'morality' and 'politeness' to the side to make more room for the wonderful feeling of selfish satisfaction and the ability to take entertainment from things that would emotionally scar normal folk.
It probably doesn't help that she has a distaste for her family, annoying selfish bastards the whole lot of them. Morty is the only halfway decent one and even he's still a little creep. So today, the day it all falls apart?
What a joy.
She's known about her little brother's and her grandfather's... Side adventures for a while now. It's not like they've been particularly discreet. Morty is too young and dumb and desperately needy to properly hide his affections, and Rick is so high off his own ego he really thinks he's being slick, playing this all out perfectly.
It was only a matter of time before her dimwitted parents, so self-absorbed and busy constantly fighting each other, could no longer ignore the big flashing signs practically yelling out 'Your dad is fucking your son.'
She was lucky that she was standing outside their door earlier today when they finally discussed it with each other. They were scared, uncertain if it was true, but with the weird moments they both caught adding up together the answer was unavoidable. When she heard them agree they would try to discuss the issue tonight over dinner, Summer couldn't help her grin.
She cancelled her plans to head out tonight. Drugs, booze, partying, dudes. All that shit can happen any night of the week. Watching your family combust? That's worth staying home for.
Her phone is fully charged, hidden away to capture the train wreck so she can watch it whenever she wants, over and over again. She's dressed in clothes she won't mind getting dirty, in case blood is spilled or food is thrown. She's right across from Morty, like she normally is, and she smiles at him when he sits down. It's not a gentle, sweet, sistery smile. It's wide and toothy, like a predator's. She bets he sees it all the time on Rick when they're alone. Morty tries to smile back but he looks confused. Poor, sweet, dumb idiot has no clue the hell he's about to go through.
Summer almost feels bad for him. Almost.
The table is set, everybody has a plate, and Rick finally stumbles in and takes his seat. He's not very drunk, Summer can tell. She knows that old fart so well she could probably guess his blood alcohol content right now.
He may be a piece of shit, but Summer does love him. He's taught her so much. She loves her whole family, she knows this deep down, even if she does enjoy watching them go for each other's throats. Even if she does enjoy their suffering. To an extent, of course, she's not a monster.
Not yet, at least.
She pushes that though away. Tonight is not a night for self-reflection, no, tonight is for... Family bonding. She laughs quietly to herself at the thought, but nobody mentions it. They're too wrapped up in themselves to care about her. There's a reason she's grown so independent.
It's probably also the reason she so bitterly enjoys the thought of her family spiraling into a screaming match.
She tries to eat quickly. She probably won't be able to eat any more after the argument starts, she'll be too busy trying to catch all the shouting.
She's down to a dismal amount of peas and carrots when finally, oh yes finally, her mother's voice breaks the quiet tension the table had been sitting in this whole time.
"Dad." Beth starts, her voice nearly emotionless but just the hint of anger tinting it. It's the sort of thing you'd only notice after spending so much time with a person. "I want to ask you about something that's been... Concerning me and Jerry as of late."
Rick looks up at his daughter, slightly annoyed. He doesn't look nervous at all and Summer is willing to bet it's because he still thinks his daughter doesn't know. "Go on then." He prompts.
"Dad..." Beth swallows, and now she's nervous, unsure. But the only way through this conversation is forward. "We've been noticing some... Questionable behavior. Between you and Morty."
Now Rick puts down his fork and straightens his back. He glances at Jerry before looking right into Beth's eyes. "Would you liURRP-like to tell- enlighten me, on this so called 'questionable behavior'?" He asks, challenging.
Summer chances a glance at Morty and the poor kid is sweating. He looks nervous already. That idiot will give them away for sure, there's no way Rick will be able to smooth this over while Morty is practically screaming 'It's true, it's all true!' with just his posture. She looks back at her mom.
"Well, dad, you remember last week when I went to wake up Morty and you were in his bed? And even though the blanket was pulled up it didn't cover your shoulders and I could tell neither of you were wearing a shirt?"
"I wasn't aware I had to wear a shirt to bed, Beth." Rick says, annoyance seeping into his tone. "I'll remember to do so in the future."
Beth looks at Jerry for back up, already losing her nerve. Jerry is sweating too, clearly already so uncomfortable with this conversation, and things haven't even exploded yet. Summer bets he'll be a fucking mess by the time the night is through.
"Well, Rick, how about four days ago when I entered the living room and saw Morty on your lap? And when you finally noticed me you pushed him off as if you thought I hadn't already seen?" Jerry asks.
Rick shrugs, "I didn't push him off for your sake, Jerry." Rick says the name so bitterly, Summer thinks it's hilarious. "The obnoxious kid climbed up into my lap and I got tired of him being there at that moment. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Well, okay." Jerry says, already backing down. Each day he impresses Summer more with just how much of a coward a man can be.
Beth doesn't drop it, though. "But why was Morty in your lap in the first place?" She asks.
"Dunno." Rick shrugs, mumbling around a moutful of food. "Ask the kid." He gestures to Morty.
Rookie mistake, Summer thinks. All eyes are on that poor, sweaty kid. He's trembling with all the attention on him. Rick must want this to go bad, he should know that allowing Morty a say here will be nothing but trouble.
Morty doesn't say anything, his head is down and he just stares at his plate. Eventually Jerry tries prompting him with a gentle, "Morty?"
Morty taps his fingers on the table and glances quickly at Rick as if he'll get some help from that old bastard, but of course he won't. Rick put him in this situation in the first place. "I-I was... Scared?" He says, his voice inflecting at the end as if he's asking a question.
"Of what?" Jerry asks. "You guys were watching Shrek."
"Sh-Shrek from... Another dimension where-where it's... Scary?" Morty tries. And fails.
Still, it's enough for the focus to dip off of him, for now at least, and return to Rick.
"Well then," Beth continues, and briefly Summer wonders how many of these scenarios are they going to go through until hell finally breaks loose. "How about two and a half weeks ago when I saw the both of you come out of the bathroom at the same time?"
Wow. How had she held onto that one? Summer wonders. She's surprised her mother didn't confront them as soon as she saw that. Maybe she's just as much a coward as Jerry.
Rick rolls his eyes. "We were- I was showing- teaching the kid how to shave." Summer is impressed, that's a quick excuse.
Beth's eyes narrow, anger lacing her voice, "You were both in towels, and your hair was wet." And once again, Summer wonders why she didn't confront them sooner.
Rick swallows, hesitating as that genius brain works overtime to come up with a suitable excuse. "S-s-so what if I- if we shoOAUUGHwered together? We were covered in goo- alien blood. Corrosive alien blood. We had to clean- get the blood off. Fast." Summer is surprised and excited by this plot twist, he's decided instead of some bullshit excuse to go whole hog and try to justify it. Let's see how it pays off.
Beth is silent, steaming as she can't refute that. Summer can't believe it, her grandfather knocked that curveball out of the park. On one hand, she's impressed, on the other she's starting to worry the main event won't happen now. That her grandfather really will be able to smooth out all their concerns and the big blow up will be delayed until Rick and Morty really mess up. Ah well, this is still pretty entertaining to her.
Jerry's voice draws their attention. His gaze is shameful, he can't even look at Rick for this accusation. "Yesterday." Jerry's voice is so quiet, it has Summer on the edge of her seat. "I saw you two. In the kitchen." His eyes dart up to look at Rick before they look back down, now much more panicked. Glancing at Rick, Summer sees where the fear is coming from. Rick looks pissed. His expression is darkening as he glares at Jerry, just daring him to finish. "Your hand was in his pants."
Summer glances at each of her family's member's faces, wanting to capture the moment before the downfall. Jerry looks scared, as if he thinks Rick will kill him for daring to bring up this most damning piece of evidence. Beth looks outraged, disgusted, her gaze flipping from Jerry to Rick. Jerry must not have told her this little piece of info in advance. Morty has his head cast down, panic bringing tears to his eyes but he's not crying yet. He's gripping the table like his life depends on it. And Rick... Oh if looks could kill, Jerry would be dead. His teeth are grit so tightly Summer is worried they'll crack, and both of his clenched fists are resting on the table.
There is a pregnant pause before Rick replies, voice low like a growl, "You didn't see shit."
Summer feels the tension crack, like a thread pulled taut finally snapping.
Beth slams her hands on the table, standing up and letting her chair fall back, clattering on the floor. "You're molesting my son!" She screams. "Stop denying it!"
Rick's hands clench a little tighter before Rick forces himself to relax, his hands opening in a placating manner as he turns to Beth. His expression softens, just slightly. "Beth, sweetie-"
"Don't try to sweet talk me, Dad!" She yells. "Just admit the truth!"
"You want to know- you want the truth?" Rick yells back, standing himself now and letting another chair take its fall. "The truth is I've been fucking- I've been dating Morty for the past six months without you- without either of you n-noticing!"
"Oh, so now it's dating?" Beth asks, incredulous. "At least be honest and go with your first instinct and say fucking. I doubt you're that romantically inclined with your own fucking grandson!"
"Actually I think- I-I like to think I've been a goOOAURGHod boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Jerry questions, nerve regained as he jumps back into the conversation. "Are you really going to describe your sick relationship with my son as 'boyfriends'?"
"What the fuUAAUGHck else should I call it?"
Jerry points at Rick, "Abuser," He points to Morty, "Abusee."
"Fuck you." Rick growls. "This bullshit marriage you have- you've tricked my daughter into is more abusive than what-what me and Morty have!"
Beth snarls. "You're so full of shit I'm starting to think you might actually believe your own lies, you delusional old bastard."
"I-I-I'm telling you," Rick says, almost pleading but there's still too much anger in his voice, "What we have- what Morty and I have? It's good for us!"
"You wouldn't know what's good for that boy if it bit you in the ass." Jerry says.
Rick scoffs, "Like you do?"
"Better than you!" Jerry says, "I know that molesting him is bad for him!"
"Yeah, well, when it comes down to you, Jerry, you touching any-anybody sexually is a crime."
"I don't know," Jerry says, smirking, "Your daughter seems to like it."
And that is the wrong thing to say. Rick's face darkens again and he grips the table so hard it snaps in two. That wipes the smirk off of Jerry's face, as he likely imagines his spine will be next. When Rick's hand retracts, the table collapses in on itself, all the dishes falling into the middle. Summer's attention is renewed on her brother in front of her as she sees him with no barrier between them. His little hands are clenched tight into fists on his knees. Tears are pouring down his face now. He looks scared, like he's worried this night will end in bloodshed.
And it just might with how Rick stomps towards Jerry. Jerry finally stands from his own seat, taking steps back to avoid Rick's wrath. "You wanna- you wanna say that shit again, Jerry?"
Beth is right behind, holding her father's shoulders to keep him from advancing. Of course, physically she can't really stop him, he's too strong, but it seems he lets her hands stop him. Her glare is directed at Jerry, though, as she speaks, "You wanna stay on topic here, Jerry?"
"Don't get mad at me!" Jerry whines. "We're supposed to be mad at Rick right now! He's molesting our child!"
"And yet you're cracking jokes." Beth scolds.
"Yeah," Rick agrees, then burps. Sly bastard, he's found a way out in ganging up on Jerry. "Guess this isn't as big a deal- as big of a deal as you two- as you were making it, huh? Since it's so funny?"
"It's not funny," Jerry defends, "And it is a big deal!"
But it's too late. Summer loses interest as this temporarily becomes another run-of-the-mill argument between her parents. She's sure it'll redirect back to Rick soon, but for now she tunes out the familiar bickering as she turns to Morty.
He still looks freaked out. Almost like he's dissociating. Summer leans towards him and waves him closer. He sees the gesture and leans in close, seeming to calm down just a little.
Summer's mouth is at his ear so he'll hear as she whispers, "I've waited for this."
"W-what?" Morty questions.
"This moment. This fight. For everything to go to shit."
Morty pulls back to look at his sister, and it's like he's seeing her in an all new light. "Why?" He whispers.
Summer shrugs. "I've always wanted to see this family burn."
Morty's eyes widen in shock, and he looks at Summer in fear. He's pulling away so she grabs his wrist to pull him back close. She doesn't want him afraid of her, and she supposes the boy could use a little comforting. He's a little more freaked out than she likes to see.
"I've known." she says. "I've known the whole time."
"Really?" He's still whispering.
"Yeah, and as long as you're happy, I'm cool with it." Summer gives her blessing, because as far as she's seen, both Rick and Morty have been happier since starting their relationship, and as long as Morty isn't being coerced or abused, her morals are fucked enough that she doesn't mind it. She sees Morty give her a small, weak smile.
It's short lived.
"Summer!" Beth scolds. Morty's face falls as their mother turns her focus on the kids. "How can you be 'cool' with this?"
Summer shrugs. "It's not really a big deal. They're in love, let them be together."
"Don't call this- this perversion love!" Beth shouts.
Summer crosses her arms and leans back in her chair, she turns her attention back to Morty, "Do you love grandpa, Morty?" She asks.
"Yes..." Morty answers, voice weak but conviction strong.
Summer turns back to her mother and shrugs. "Looks like love to me."
Summer hadn't really planned to get into the argument, she just wanted to watch as a bystander, but it seems even this little interjection might've changed the direction of the fight. Summer watches as Beth turns her attention to Morty, and sees the way her mother's eyes narrow. No way, Summer thinks. This can't really be happening, she won't.
"Morty." Beth says, voice low and disgusted, and Summer can hear that light tint of jealousy that she is trying to hide and it just proves this really is happening. Beth 'Daddy's girl' Smith is about to turn on her own son. "How can you do this? Are you really so desperate for all of Rick's attention that you'd turn to this?"
Summer might actually be disgusted with her mother, but she isn't surprised.
Morty looks mortified to be the subject of questioning now. He looks up at his mother with those big, wide eyes, all tensed up and nervous.
Jerry's voice turns up before Morty can answer. "Beth!" He scolds. "What the hell are you say-"
"Just shut the fuck up, Jerry." Beth says, turning to glare at Jerry for only a moment before looking back at Morty. "Answer me, Morty."
"I-I..." Morty stutters, but he doesn't know what to say. He wasn't prepared for this. He has no answers.
"Beth," This time it's Rick interjecting, his voice sounds dangerous as he glares at his daughter. "Leave him alone."
"Why should I?" Beth asks. "He thinks he's enough of an adult to fuck you, then he's enough of an adult to have this conversation. Tell me, Morty, why are you fucking your grandfather?"
Morty blushes, his eyes dart to his feet. "Because I love him." He says simply.
Beth rolls her eyes. "What do you know about love? You're fourteen."
"I know that I f-feel it!" Morty says, anger starting to grow as he shouts.
"Oh, right, like how you loved that Planetina girl." Beth brings up, and Morty winces. "Or Jessica, what ever happened with her?"
"Nothing happened with her." Morty says, anger and hurt in his voice, "I just- I finally accepted we were never meant to-to be. I moved on, l-like everybody kept telling me to do!"
"You moved on to a crazy man who doesn't believe in love or morals." Beth gestures behind herself towards her father.
"H-he loves me." Morty whispers, voice shaking.
Beth actually laughs at that, a cruel, humorless thing. "Does he tell you that? Do you really believe it? How's it going to feel when he gets bored of you and jumps universes in a few years and you never see him again like he did to the first person who he 'loved'?"
Morty's breath is coming in short, shuddering little breaths. Summer is worried he's actually having a panic attack right now. This is going pretty far, and not in the direction Summer had thought. Summer had thought that at the worst, somebody would try to shoot Rick tonight, which she is sure would fail to do anything but start an even larger fight. She didn't foresee watching her brother have this bad of a breakdown. She's wondering if she should intervene or wait for Rick to do so, because if that old fuck really does love Morty then he shouldn't let the kid suffer this badly.
"I'm not leaving." Rick says, pulling attention away from Morty and letting the kid have a chance to breathe. "And I do-" He swallows, "I do love him."
Summer can hear the little cracks of Beth's knuckles as she clenches her fists. She's not even bothering to hide the jealous tone to her voice anymore. "What makes him so special?"
Summer huffs a surprised breath at that. Oof. That's rough.
Rick's eyes narrow. "Everything."
Summer almost chuckles at that, how fucking sappy.
Her mother doesn't find it quite as humorous as she swings her fist at her own father. Rick dodges it pretty easily and grabs her wrist.
"How fucking dare you!?" She screams, tears now pouring down her eyes. "You old fucking bastard! You piece of shit!" Her other fist comes to slam down on his chest, which he makes no move to stop. He doesn't even flinch at the contact. "You're doing this on purpose, you're trying to hurt me, aren't you?"
"You know, not-not everything's about- about you, Beth." Rick says, tone evening out as his anger dissipates, being replaced with pity and disgust.
The fight leaves her, and Summer has never seen her mother look quite so exhausted. "Nothing ever is." She says, tired and morose. Rick lets go of her hand and both her arms drop to her sides. Defeated, she turns and heads into the kitchen, and the sounds of glass clinking signifies she's likely drinking right out of the bottle.
It seems like the fight might be over, but Jerry is still standing. Shaking, but standing. "You won't get away with this." He says.
"I'm nOOAUGHT-not trying to URRP get away with anything." Rick says, turning his annoyed glare to Jerry. "I'm dating Morty, and you can accept that or you can- you can get another fucking divorce and-and leave your family again like the pussy you are."
"I didn't leave my family!"
"Well you sure as fuck didn't-didn't fight for them." Rick pokes Jerry in the chest and Jerry backs away, already intimidated.
Jerry turns to Morty, as if he would ever get support from his son. "Morty." He practically whines. "You can't really want to be with this douchebag?"
"I do." Morty says, more confident now that his mother is out of the room and it's just his pussy dad he has to deal with.
Or so he thinks. As Jerry slumps in defeat, Beth reenters the fray, not quite sloppy drunk, not yet. "What about when he dies?" She asks, bringing attention to herself with the morbid question.
"What?" Morty asks, voice small and tense.
"He's seventy, you're fourteen. He's gonna die sooner rather than later. What then?" She brings the bottle up and takes a sip, but her eyes never leave Morty.
"H-h-he won't." Morty says, the lightest tint of fear in his voice. "He's gonna stay with me, R-Rick and Morty, a hundred years." Summer rolls her eyes at the old line. She hears it all the time, but usually from Rick.
Beth puts her face in her hand as she lets out a deep sigh. She turns to Rick. "Are you hearing this? How naive he sounds? He's a fucking child. Are you really able to get your rocks off with that?"
"If you want to call me a pedophile, just call me- just say it to my face, Beth." Rick says, face carefully blank.
Beth glares. "Pedophile."
Rick burps. "Yup, sure am." He says, voice neutral and unbothered.
Beth looks furious, but more so at how little she's managed to bother him than for Rick's unrepentance. Still, it looks like she's given up again, drowning herself in what little is left of her bottle and heading back into the kitchen for more.
"You- you have to leave, Rick." Jerry says, a small stutter in his voice from how nervous he is trying to command Rick to do anything.
"Not haAUUUGHp-happening." Rick replies, not even bothering to look at Jerry, still looking at the space his daughter was standing.
"I'll call the police." Jerry threatens weakly. Summer can't help but laugh.
Rick chuckles himself, a quick disbelieving snort. "Yeah, we'll-we'll see what they can do."
"I'll fight you?" And it's much more a question than a threat. An extremely pathetic question. Too pathetic to even laugh at.
Rick glares at Jerry, more annoyed than angry. "Why don't you just fuck off already, Jerry?"
Jerry sighs and slinks away, heading into the living room, likely to sulk in his armchair.
Then it's just Rick standing there, his two grandchildren still seated across from each other at the broken table. Summer is affecting a bored look now that the major damage has been done. Morty looks pretty miserable, and extremely unsure. This fight isn't really over, it's just on hiatus for now. He's probably dreading when it'll start up again. Rick looks somewhat self-satisfied, but definitely not happy.
He turns to Summer. "So, Sum Sum..." He smirks but it's not a happy one, hell it's not even smug, "Was that entertaining enough for you?"
Summer shrugs. "It sure was something." But there's a hint of amusement to her tone, she knows it and she's fine if Rick hears it.
"You, uh, you planning on sharing- uploading that video anywhere?" Rick says, nodding at her phone hidden in the corner. Not hidden well enough it seems, not from the genius.
"If I say yes will you destroy my phone?" She asks.
"Well it could be- would be pretty bad if-if Morty's little classmates saw this footage."
Summer nods. "That's what I was thinking too. Nah, grandpa, that footage is for me and me alone."
She watches as he pulls up his sleeve and presses a specific watch on his wrist. "Disable time activated EMP bomb." He whispers into the device. A small beep confirms the order. He turns back to Summer. "Good to have you in our corner, Sum Sum."
"Good to be in it, grandpa." She holds out a fist for him to bump and he does so. She looks over at Morty, who still looks pretty stunned. "But hey, Morty, if anything happens? You come to me. I'll always have your back first." She grins, cockily. "I'll kill this old bastard if he hurts you."
"That's my girl." Rick says, a fondness to his voice as he finally smiles.
"Thanks?" Morty says, still not quite sure what is going on. It's terribly endearing.
Summer finally stands, stretching her back and heading to pick up her phone. "Alright, see you later masturbators."
They say their goodbyes to her retreating back as she heads up to her room. She checks her texts and finds her phone blowing up. Seems that party she skipped out on turned out to be a real rager and her friends are making fun of her for choosing a quiet night in with her family rather than coming out. She laughs to herself. They have no idea.