Work Text:
Morty slowly became aware of his surroundings. He had no idea where he was, but he was certain that he was outside. He could see bright sunlight through his closed eyelids and it was warm where it shone on his arms and face. He knew he should probably sit up and check out his surroundings, but he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes quite yet.
He was very comfortable.
Morty tried to remember why and how he'd ended up outside. Had he and Rick had taken a vacation or maybe gone on a relaxing adventure? It bothered him that he couldn't recall what he'd last been doing.
He slowly became aware of someone sitting behind him, likely Rick. There was a pair of warm legs beneath his head and a hand softly brushing through his hair. Morty didn't want this moment to end and he let out a content sigh at the affectionate touch. "Rick?"
"Not quite, sweetheart."
The voice that spoke was soft and feminine - most definitely not Rick - and Morty immediately opened his eyes to see who exactly was touching him. A woman with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes was smiling down at him and she almost reminded Morty of his mom.
"Who are you?! What happened to me? Where's Rick?" He quickly sat up, wincing at the sharp aches in his abdomen, and glanced around them. They were sitting beneath a large tree in a field full of flowers and grass that were gently swaying in the calm breeze. The field went on for miles in every direction and Morty's eyes widened in wonder at this unfamiliar place. He and Rick had never been here and Morty wondered why this strange woman had brought him here. "Where are we?"
"Some place safe." She gently placed her hands on his shoulders and carefully tugged him backwards, easing him back into her lap. "You should be taking it easy, Morty. You were injured."
Morty's abdomen throbbed at the movement and he could feel several jagged cut marks in his shirt, marks that had undoubtedly been made by a knife. However, his attention was pulled to a different matter when a realization suddenly hit him. This woman just called him Morty, even though he hadn't introduced himself. When he looked closer at her, he realized she seemed sort of familiar, almost as if he should know who she was. "Do I.... do I know you?"
"No, you've never met me, Morty."
"Then how the hell do you know who I am?!"
She didn't seem bothered by his accusatory tone or the curse word and even let out a soft laugh. "You silly boy, you're my grandson. Why wouldn't I know who you are?"
Grandson.
Morty understood now.
Who this was.
Where he was.
"Holy shit, I'm... you are.... you're Diane. I'm dead, aren't I? Oh my god, I'm fucking dead!" This had to be heaven or maybe an afterlife of some kind, or maybe even an in-between. Morty wasn't sure, but it was the only thing that really made sense to him. There was no other explanation as to why he was now talking to his dead grandma.
Her expression was a little sad when she looked down at him and she gently ran her knuckles over one of his cheeks, though she smiled brightly when Morty leaned into her touch. "You're not dead yet, honey, but you're close. He's trying to save you."
She was undoubtedly talking about Rick.
Morty was suddenly able to remember exactly what happened.
He and Rick had been in an alien market when some mercenary had come up to them and Morty had acted without even thinking about it. The thug had some blade dripping with green gel and stepped forward, clearly intent on stabbing Rick, but Morty jumped in front of Rick as the attack began. He'd been stabbed several times, the pain made that much worse by whatever poison coated the blade. The last thing he remembered was Rick pulling out a gun to open fire on the mercenary as the aliens shopping in the market began screaming in fear.
He couldn't remember anything else, so he assumed he'd passed out. Either that or he was about to die. Diane had said he was close to death.
"Am I going to die, Diane?" Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she squinted down at him, that same look Rick gave him whenever he was in trouble, and Morty guiltily smiled up at her, unsure what he might have done to upset her.
"Rick may let you call him by his first name, but I don't like it, Morty."
Her tone was firm, though it wasn't mean, however it still left Morty feeling like he'd done something wrong and he flashed her a sheepish grin. "Sorry..... Grandma."
It felt wrong to call her that. He rarely called Rick grandpa, but if she didn't like Morty first-naming her, then he supposed he'd just have to get used to it. Her subtle frown melted back into a smile and she ran her hand through Morty's hair again.
He realized she'd never answered his question and he wasn't sure if he should ask again. He was afraid of what the answer might be. He opened his mouth, but she spoke over him before he could repeat his question.
"We both know Rick will do his best to save you, honey. As much as he hates admitting it, he loves you dearly."
Hearing it said out loud filled Morty with warmth and he couldn't help flashing her a wide grin. It was hard to tell if Rick did actually love him sometimes, but Diane didn't seem like the kind of person to lie about such a thing and Morty knew it must be true. "He does?"
"Of course, he does. Don't ever let him tell you otherwise."
"And what about..... what about you? Do you love me?" He was afraid of the answer. Diane never got the chance to meet him, let alone see her own Beth grow up. There was no reason for her to care about someone she'd never met, even if they were related. But he was surprised when she gently cupped his cheeks and lifted his face so they were looking at each other.
"Oh, Morty, honey. Of course, I do. I love you so much. I love you, and Summer, and my dorky son-in-law, and my two beautiful daughters."
Morty didn't get a chance to say anything in response to that. His body suddenly jerked as a pain flashed through his whole body and he sucked in a harsh breath, tightly clutching one of Diane's hands in his own. "Wha-.... what's happening?"
"Your heart must have stopped. Rick is probably trying to resuscitate you."
Another flash of pain raced through him, radiating outwards from his chest and Morty realized the jolts were likely from a defibrillator or something similar. Rick was clearly desperate to save him, which wasn't surprising considering he'd shut off Operation Phoenix a long time ago, and Morty couldn't deny he was touched that Rick was putting in so much effort. It was proof that Diane was telling the truth, that Rick did love him.
Just as suddenly as the pain started, it faded away, as if nothing had even happened, and Morty had to assume Rick had been successful in his resuscitation attempt. "He never talks about you."
Morty had no idea why he'd blurted that out and he could feel his cheeks grow warm in embarrassment at the sudden outburst.
"Losing me and our daughter was the worst thing to ever happen to him. Even after all this time, the pain of that day runs deep. But he's healing and you are one of the reasons why, Morty."
He looked up at her in surprise. He, the useless and clumsy sidekick, was the reason Rick was healing. "Me? You're joking right?"
"I'm being honest. You are a light in his life he didn't even know he needed. You and Summer. Having grandkids to care for and protect has given him a new purpose in life and I'm grateful for that."
The honestly of those words didn't sit right with him and Morty knew exactly why that was. He wasn't even Rick's grandson. He was the grandson of the Rick who'd killed his Diane and Beth. "I.... I'm not your grandson though. I'm the.... I'm.... it was my Rick that killed you and Beth."
"I don't care about that, Morty!" Her outraged words matched the indignant expression on her face. "You weren't even born when it happened. None of it is your fault. I don't blame you for it and neither does Rick. It's time you let go of that guilt, honey."
Morty wasn't sure if he could. It was difficult to ignore the fact that he was related to Rick Prime and every day he feared Rick would wake up and suddenly decide Morty was too similar to him to keep around any more. But Diane, herself, said Rick loved him, so maybe it was time to try and get past that fear. "Maybe you're right, Grandma."
Morty never got a chance to say anything more. His body suddenly began flickering in and out of existence and his eyes grew wide in panic as the world around him slowly began to fade away.
Diane didn't seem worried by it and even smiled down at him. She helped him sit up and then leaned down to press a kiss against his temple. "Looks like it's time for you to go, sweetheart."
Morty had only just met his grandma and he wasn't ready to leave her yet. He had so many things he wanted to share with her and so many questions to ask. "Wait, I can't leave you yet. Y-y-you..... you're gonna be here alone a-and I'm never gonna see you again and-"
Diane quietly shushed him and gently cupped Morty's face, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. "Oh, Morty, my sweet little grandson. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Morty threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around Diane's neck in a tight hug. As much as he was going to miss her, he was glad he'd even gotten the chance to meet her. "I love you, Grandma."
"I love you too, honey. Now wake up. Rick is waiting for you."
~
Rick nearly lost his grandson tonight.
Some asshole had tried to kill Rick while they were shopping at some space market and Morty, being the selfless grandson - and reckless piece of shit - he was, jumped in front of Rick.
The mercenary had stabbed Morty several times before he realized he'd missed his intended target, but by then it was too late for him. Rick didn't hesitate to gun him down, both for trying to attack him and for actually attacking his grandson.
Rick normally would have healed Morty right then and there in the market with no problems, but the blade had clearly been poisoned and everything Rick needed to cure it was back in the garage's sub-basement. By the time he managed to get home and to the sub-basement, the poison was spreading out from Morty's stab wounds through his veins, looking like a map of dark black tendrils.
He'd immediately started making an antidote, but it had taken far longer than he would have liked. Just as he'd finished it, Morty had flatlined and he was frantic as he used the defibrillator paddles in his palms. Thankfully, Rick was able to resuscitate him and he immediately injected Morty with the antidote.
Once he was certain Morty had stabilized, Rick simply collapsed back against the sub-basement floor and laid there. It had been a rough couple of hours, trying to simultaneously make an antidote and keep Morty from dying, and Rick was fucking exhausted. He knew it'd fuck up his neck and back, but Rick was content to just lay on the metal floor and wait for Morty to wake up.
He glanced up at the counter Morty was laying on and let out a tired sigh as he watched the faint rise and fall of his grandson's chest. He had never been so glad to be the smartest man in the galaxy. It certainly came in handy during dire situations like this.
Rick immediately got up when he heard Morty shift ever so slightly on the counter. It appeared his grandson was coming around and he hurried over to the counter. "Morty?"
Morty knew Rick's voice when he heard it and he opened his eyes to find Rick standing over him. He groaned as he pushed himself up and immediately lowered a hand to his abdomen, however the stab wounds he'd previously had had long since been healed. He looked up to Rick, intending to share what he'd just experienced, but in classic Rick fashion his grandpa began yelling at him.
"Morty, I swear to fucking God, don't ever do that again! You hear me? You don't get to sacrifice yourself for me. Grandpa's a big boy. He can take care of himself."
"I... I'm sorry. I didn't really think before I did it. Besides, better me get stabbed than you. Unlike you, I'm not a genius who can create antidotes for poison."
Rick had to resist the urge to facepalm. Of course, only Morty would argue with him about this. "You idiot. I have cybernetics that can filter poisons away from my vital organs, you don't. I'm serious, Morty. Don't ever pull that kind of shit again. I don't want you sacrificing yourself for me."
Morty didn't argue anymore, knowing it wasn't an argument he'd win, so he simply nodded. Morty wasn't entirely sure why it was such a big deal, but when he recalled Diane's words - "As much as he hates admitting it, he loves you dearly." - he supposed he could see why Rick didn't want Morty taking a fatal injury meant for him.
"How are you feeling, Junebug? Any lingering aches or pain?"
He actually felt great, considering what he'd been through, though he supposed that might be from whatever painkillers Rick gave him. "No, I feel fine."
"Cool, lemme know if anything starts hurting. You're due for another dose of morphine in two hours." Rick began cleaning up the tools and supplies he'd been using, returning them to the drawers he'd pulled them from, but he stopped when Morty called out to him.
"Rick?"
"What is it, Junebug?"
"She was a really nice person." Morty knew he was being vague, but it was the first thing that came to mind, so he said it.
Rick did a double take at the unexpected sentence. He had no idea what Morty was talking about or who this "really nice person" was that he'd mentioned. Maybe the drugs were making Morty loopy. "Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Grandma. She doesn't like it when I call her by her first name." Morty huffed out a soft laugh, but it turned into an unexpected sob. Tears he hadn't even realized had been building up began to fall.
Morty was eventually going to forget this encounter and forget this near death experience that had allowed him to meet her. It'd get buried under whatever next traumatic near death experience he had. That meant he'd forget her and that thought was unbearably sad. Diane was so nice and gentle and had so much love for someone she'd never even got to meet. Morty could see why Rick loved her so much, why he'd gone to such great lengths to avenge her.
"Holy shit! You saw Diane?!" Rick supposed he shouldn't be too surprised. They'd already discovered heaven, or something close to it, was real when they'd killed Jerry over and over again. And considering his Diane and Beth had been killed by a bomb and not the Omega device, it sort of made sense Morty would see her in whatever kind of "heaven" he ended up in.
"Yeah, I woke up in this field of flowers and I was laying in her lap. I didn't even realize it was her at first." Morty cried harder as he recalled how gently she'd hugged him. "She was.... she was such a kind person, Rick."
"Oh, buddy." Of course, she was. She was the nicest person Rick had ever known and he just knew she'd probably been thrilled to meet one of her grandkids, even if it was under some rather unfortunate circumstances. He stepped closer to lift Morty from the counter and gently cradled his grandson against his chest. "I bet she loved you, didn't she?"
Morty nodded as another sob left his mouth and he clung tightly to Rick, crying into his labcoat. "She was s-s-so happy to see me and she.... she gave the best hugs. I already miss her."
"I miss her, too, Junebug." As fucked up as the circumstances were that lead to Morty meeting her, Rick couldn't deny he was a little happy Morty got to meet his grandmother. He gently shushed Morty and rubbed circles into his back until he finally quieted down. It didn't take long for Morty to fall back asleep and Rick held him close as he headed for the sub-basement elevator. "Hey, uhhh, Diane?"
Rick felt a little dumb talking to thin air. He didn't exactly believe in heaven or an afterlife, but he wanted Diane to know how grateful he was, so he continued. "Thanks for looking after our little Junebug, sweetie."