Chapter Text
I knew something was off
Morty would always have that sad face whenever he came to eat breakfast, red, swollen eyes from crying all night
Something was wrong
He was happy today, grinning ear to ear, not stuttering as much, back then I didn't care as long as he was happy, but now that I think about it I just….
Morty’s 9th birthday was a mess, we we're supposed to go out to celebrate, but mom and dad got into a fight just before that.
I got scared when she started throwing things at dad, I just ran to my room, I didn't even think about Morty. I could hear them from up here, they were fighting and shouting at eachother.
Eventually dad left after a while and mom having no one else just started screaming to Morty, he didn't even bother hiding like he usually did, I think he had hope that they would make peace and go out and celebrate.
Mom was so so harsh on him, I don't know what she did or said that night, but i remember hearing Morty crying and screaming and the loud shouters from my mom and all I could do was cover my ears with my pillows and beg it would be over soon
And beg
And beg
And beg
Until the sun was out
When I woke up my first instinct was to check on Morty, he wasn't in his bed, nor under it, he wasn't anywhere, fear filled me as I searched through the house and he wasn't anywhere, nowhere.
Eventually mom and dad found out he was missing, obviously they had to make it about themselves, about whose fault it was that their son was missing.
A report was filed, the cops searched for him, a day passed, then two, then five, then a week, another, a month, and finally, a year.
He never appeared, he never came back.
….
Summer heard a loud crash coming from the garage, quickly getting out of her bed and putting on her slippers
She got to the garage and quickly opened the door, seeing the smoke around the room and a big space that had been caused by a strange, ufo looking car.
She saw a man with pointy blue hair, he looked old, around his fifties or older, heavy bags rested under his eyes.
“..Hello?”
He turned around when he heard her and looked at her with an incredibly sad face.
…
“So… you're my grandpa but also not really because you're from another dimension?”
“Yeah, that— burp — sums it up”
They had moved to the kitchen, the lights being the only things illuminating the space, her mom and dad were still out.
Her grandpa, Rick he said it was his name, she heard a little about him before, when mom would get drunk and drabble about her deadbeat dad who abandoned her and her mom when she was kid.
“And you came here for my actual grandpa and wanted to kill him because he murdered your family?”
“Precisely”
…..
Well it was a ton of information to process, learning about different universes being real was surprising, but knowing that her grandpa would murder a bunch of families just because it's definitely something
“I was planning to stay but uh.. I noticed you guys didn't have a mo—uuurpp— ty”
He said casually without much thought, until he noticed Summer’s wide open eyes like she just happened to see her life flashing through them
“Oh fuck, he- he isn’t dead in this dimension or something right?”
Summer got out of her shocked state and quickly negated with her head
“No! No.. no I- I don't think so, It’s just that-”
She fidgeted with her hair a bit before continuing, obvious nervousness filling her body upon the mention of her brother
“He disappeared five years ago with no trace– could- could that be related to…..”
Rick watched her carefully while she stumbled in her words
“I don't know! I guess, shit, maybe it had something to do with my grandpa, or- or something..”
“..You have meet him?”
“No, no… I haven’t seen him ever, sorry, it's probably stupid”
She let go a big sigh before she kept talking, alleviating a bit of her anxiousness
“Before Morty disappeared– I remember him being totally different sometimes, way too happy for the things he would go through, and sometimes I would hear him talk to someone in the night and I guess what im trying to say is–”
She saw Rick giving her a confused look, and sighed knowing he probably thought she was crazy
“I always thought someone had kidnapped him, mom and dad just thought he ran away from home but no nine year old can do that!”
“Are you trying to say your grandpa kidnapped him?”
“I don't know!” She rubbed her arm nervously, this truly was too much to take in
“Maybe he did or maybe he didn't, I don't know..”
“But you say you can travel through universes as easily as calling an uber so–
So you can find him? Maybe?”
The man looked perplexed at her before muttering to her “You don't even know me” He got closer to Summer, his face looked annoyed, maybe even pained “Im just a random old man who crashed into your garage, sputtering things about different universes and killer grandpas, and you're asking me, to find your brother that disappeared five years ago?”
Summer backed up a bit in fear, Rick stopped what he was doing, his granddaughter's face reminding him of his own little girl, the similitude between them was so obvious..
After he gave a long sigh and pinched at his brow in frustration, feeling bad for the young girl
“Alright, fine, …I'll search for your brother, shouldn't be that hard” he searched for something on his coat and pulled out a flask, taking a quick sip on it.
“Thank you… truly” Summer said, but then her grandpa quickly lifted a finger in front of her
“But– If that theory of yours happens to be true and that kid is actually stuck with that fucker, then I can't really assure you I will find him any time soon, so…” Summer just nodded in response, not needing to hear more to understand what her grandpa was referring of, kinda “Yeah– yeah I understand”
After quickly fixing the garage (It looked like new, it wasn't even noticeable that something had crashed against it and left a gaping hole full of fire) Rick departed, not before giving Summer his contact in case he had any updates about her little brother
She waved goodbye at him and watched how the ship flew away, letting go a big sigh she didn't know she was holding, turning around to enter her house and sleep the night away
She didn't hear about her grandpa-not really grandpa until a few days later. She kept the whole thing a secret, doubting her parents would believe her anyway.
She was using her phone in class when she got a message from him, quickly opening the chat in anticipation.
"Rick: No luck finding him in your universe , you might be right"
"Rick: I’ll tell you if I find something new, but don't get your hopes up"
"You: Are you completely sure?"
"Rick: Yeah, used a machine that would track any close DNA of your parents through your whole universe, he isn't here"
She stared numbly at her phone, a bit of hope crossed her heart that her brother could still be alive even after all these years, but it got quickly crushed knowing she wasn't even light years close to finding him
"You: Alright, thank you"
She turned off her phone, staring at her teacher without really caring about what he was talking about, many thoughts were racing her mind, all of them being about Morty
She hoped he was okay, wherever he was.