Work Text:
“Wait here, okay?”
Morty hadn't even managed to open his mouth before the white hem of Rick's coat had already vanished around the corner. He looked left and right, bewildered, but it turned out to be completely useless. Crowds of all sorts of creatures milled around him, yet Morty suddenly felt utterly alone.
It was a small planet, gray and dusty, so cramped that it seemed impossible to take a single step without brushing against someone else's breath. Merchants and thiefs laid out their tents and blankets right at the edge of the road. Every single one of them was desperately trying either to sell their worthless junk to others, or to slip a wallet out of a distracted buyer's pocket mid-haggle. For such a technologically advanced society, this kind of behaviour seemed... just absurd.
Not wanting to stay in a place like this, Morty stepped into the flow of the moving crowd. Surely, Rick would be able to find him anywhere, with just the snap of his fingers even.
The queues snaked on for what seemed like miles, and he pressed his arms to his sides, trying to take up as little space as possible. After all, Morty had only just turned fifteen - it wouldn't take much effort for anyone to tear him to shreds.
Lost in thought, he barely noticed the street coming to an end, and the crowd finally spat him out into a tiny square. In the middle of it, surrounded by crooked bricks, stood a tall tree that resembled an Earth pine. Its branches reached so far upward, as if they knew there wouldn't be enough room below.
But that didn't matter. What mattered was that the figure sitting with its back pressed against a post was a human. Morty stepped closer, and the person turned their head towards him. The eye patch across their face was the same as it had been the last time they'd seen each other.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Evil Morty said instead of a greeting. Despite his words, he didn't look surprised at all.
Morty felt his heartbeat quicken. He glanced around helplessly, but only then remembered that Rick wasn't here.
“You...” he began, but faltered. Evil Morty kept watching him with the indifference of a python that had just swallowed a squirrel. “You're not going to attack me?”
“Why would I?”
“Well... You recognised me, right? I'm the Morty because of whom you...”
“Ended up in Time prison?” Evil Morty finished for him, almost sympathetically. “Yes, I know who you are. It doesn't matter.”
“But why not? You can't use Rick anymore, you've got nothing to threaten him with! And how did you even get out?” Morty felt a strange rush of anxiety and irritation mixed together. It was even a little like disappointment.
“I don't mourn lost tools, Morty,” Evil Morty lowered his gaze to his hands and flexed his fingers slightly. “Your grandfather wasn't the only one I can make use of. Even the Time Police needs... favours, sometimes.”
“You bribed the fucking testicle?”
“It got a lot more than that joke you've got between your legs.”
“You're the same as me down there!”
“If that's all you wanted to tell me, we can call it a day. I'm not going to kill you or your grandfather. Leave.”
Morty clenched his fists. Evil Morty's tone alone made him want to grab him by the collar and shake him good. One for what's wrong with you, two for why don't you care, three, four, five for you were different last time.
Damn it, you were completely different.
“Um,” Morty took a deep breath, but it drew no reaction at all. “Well, since we ran into each other, I wanted to apologise for you getting arrested. That was pretty... harsh, yeah. But you were ready to kill us too, so it's not entirely our fault...”
“You don't need to say that,” Evil Morty cut him off. He raised his head, just as deliberately indifferent. Just as empty. “We met here by accident. I'll make sure it won't happen again.”
“Maybe I want it to happen again, damn it!” Morty finally snapped. He felt his ears flush as doubts raced through the back of his mind.
However, Morty couldn’t bring himself to regret what he’d said - the change in Evil Morty’s expression was worth it. At first, his eyebrows shot up in astonishment, and then, as he regained his composure, a simple look of confusion settled in his eyes. Morty knew they were the same person, but now, watching his own face take on such unfamiliar expressions yet again, he could hardly believe it. Evil Morty was skinnier, more twitchy, less like Morty. Truly, he was one of a kind.
“Why?” he asked suspiciously. Morty bit his lip and shrugged.
“When you weren’t trying to kill all the Ricks and Mortys, and when you weren’t trying to act like a jerk, you were, like, pretty cool,” he muttered. “Even though you’re the smartest Morty, you don’t look down on the others, you don’t think you’re better than them. You’ve never tried to hurt me, at least. On purpose.”
“You have pretty low standards if that’s enough for you,” replied Evil Morty. His shoulders relaxed a little, and he looked away. “Though you’ve definitely gotten braver. I don’t think you would’ve been able to say that last time.”
“Thanks,” Morty felt the corners of his mouth twitch upward involuntarily. “Well, you know, we have to ask Jessica out on a date, that’s kind of a Morty thing.”
“That’s not my thing.”
“What?”
“Not all Mortys are in love with Jessica. Not all Mortys are in love at all. I’m not.”
“Oh, then what do you think about when you’re, um… not trying to avoid being bothered?”
“I collect rocks,” Evil Morty replied calmly. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white stone that looked like a wad of cotton. “It’s a worthless planet, but sometimes you can find something decent. This stone comes from an asteroid beyond the Central Finite Curve, and it’s phenomenally resistant. I’m going to clone it and use it in the security system of my new base.”
Of course, Morty should have paid better attention so as not to look like a fool, but he was completely distracted by Evil Morty himself. When talking about a silly rock, he showed more enthusiasm than he had in the entire time they’d known each other. There was something horribly insulting about it, but at the same time… endearing.
“Where’s your Rick then?”
Morty flinched and looked at Evil Morty, who was already looking back at him. His eyebrow was raised in condescending anticipation.
“He’s, um, he’s around here somewhere, you know. On this planet.”
“So he just left you alone?”
“You know he did. But he’ll be back, he always comes back.”
“Of course,” Evil Morty drawled. He didn’t sound convinced, but Morty wasn’t going to hold that against him. “Why don’t you ask him for a second portal gun? It has certain advantages, you know.”
“Oh,” Morty paused for a moment, contemplating his answer. “I usually only travel with Rick, so I don’t think I need it. If I die here, I’ll come back in my backup body at home. Well, like everyone else. So it’s not really necessary.”
“Wouldn’t you like to be more independent? To be free?”
Morty bit his lip. Trying to delay the moment, he bent down and sat next to Evil Morty under the tree, pulling his knees up to his chest. For some reason, he wasn’t scared at all.
“You make it sound like it’s a really good thing,” he said, looking down, “but that means I’ll be all alone. Without my family and without, well, without Rick. I don’t like being alone. Wouldn’t you want to have friends? At least one?”
Evil Morty remained silent. His entire essence was one big anomaly. One moment he looked like a threat to all living things, and the next - like a boy with a pirate eye patch. Morty wanted to take his hand, but just clutched his knees tighter.
“I suppose you’re right about that,” Evil Morty finally replied. He seemed pensive. “I was so absorbed in my plan that I didn’t really worry about it before. It’s not a problem now, either, but in the universe - especially where I live now - it’s hard to find someone to talk to. There are robots, but… Well.”
“You liked what you had with my Rick, didn’t you?” Morty asked tentatively. He was afraid that one careless word would make Evil Morty shut down like a clamshell. “I think that since you’re so smart, you’d be better off with someone on the same level. You know, so it wouldn’t be boring.”
“I’m not bored with you,” Evil Morty replied simply.
“Because we’re the same person,” Morty laughed awkwardly, but there was no reaction. Evil Morty just looked at him and blinked slowly.
“No,” he said. “We’re completely different.”
Morty didn’t have time to come up with a reply - the next moment, there was a rustle behind him, and that fragile, new something between them crumbled away like tropical sand.
“Hey, Morty!” Rick’s voice shook the air. “Let’s go, we need to show these knives to Summer - your sister will be thrilled! ”
Before he could get any closer, Evil Morty sighed and stood up. He was just as pompously composed as before, but now Morty could see a spark of annoyance in his gaze.
“Well then,” Evil Morty said, pulling out his portal gun. “I’ve got to go.”
“Let’s hang out sometime,” Morty blurted out, surprising even himself. He ignored Rick’s repeated call, keeping his eyes on Evil Morty. “Let’s go to the movies or something. You can show me your rock collection.”
Evil Morty froze for a moment with his hand raised. He looked off to the side, and then suddenly a smirk spread across his lips - a small, suspiciously smug one.
“I’ll find you when I have time,” he said, and then vanished in a whirlwind of golden sparks.
Later, sitting in the passenger seat and listening to the story of how Rick had haggled with a vendor over a set of unique screwdrivers, Morty realised that he, too, was still smiling.
That felt good.
No, that felt absolutely wonderful.