Author's Note: I am NOT taking down this story. Though the ending is predictable, Imma keep it. Expect an update in a week or two. School is really hard, and I'm loaded down with homework/projects/etc. :) Thanks for understanding.

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1.

It was September 8 when Morty's life changed forever. He sat in a plastic, blue chair in his math class. He yawned, last night's 'adventure' still draining him. Him and his grandfather went to a dimension where everything was inside out. Plants, houses, and even people were morphed into undistinguishable beings. Slowly, his eyes drifted to the window. Nothing really special was out there, Morty knew, but he stared regardless. It's really strange how much a person can change in just a year… Sighing, Morty took his eyes away from the window and stared at the black and white clock. 12:03. Another hour and a half to go before class was over. Fuck. Right on cue, the classroom door slammed open. Rick appeared in the class, a look of faux urgency on his face.

"Family emergency! We gotta go, Morty!" Rick announced to the class dramatically. Morty's teacher frowned, but proceeded writing random equations on the board.

"W-what now, Rick?" Morty asked.

"We gotta get sOOOMMme uhh…" Rick paused, rubbing his forehead," …some mega seeds. Remember those, Morty?" Morty just stared at his grandfather.

"I'm not putting those in my ass again if that's where you're goin' with this, Rick. I-I-I won't do it!" Morty exclaimed.

"I-I can't believe you Morty! Y-y-you'd think I'd take you to get mega seeds again with a low- energy portal gun?! You bitched at me for weeks after that. I mean, GEEZ Morty…" Rick rambled, his voice getting increasingly louder as he continued. Morty took that as a no. He watched as Rick shot out a foamy, green portal. Usually, Morty would waltz right into the unknown, keeping his anxiety hidden inside. This time, he felt an overwhelming dread that was taking over fast.

"C'mon, Morty! We gotta go!" Rick snapped. Morty rubbed his right arm, looking at the ground.

"A-are you sure it's safe?" Morty mumbled.

"Of course it's safe!" Rick replied. He was embarrassed he'd even asked Rick something silly like that; Rick would never take his only grandson somewhere dangerous… right? Sure, there were an infinite amount of Morties that Rick could adopt, but his Morty was special (at least that's what Morty told himself) . Morty tried to calm himself. It'sokayit'sokayit'sokayit'sokay…..

Morty plucked a few fruits from one of the many mega trees that littered this dimension. So far, everything was fine. Good, even. Morty scolded himself for being so nervous earlier. He climbed down the trunk a little before leaping down to the ground. Rick collected the fruits, examining them carefully.

"What do you wan- need these for, anyway?" Morty asked. Rick didn't bother answering, instead breaking the fruit in half and taking out the seed. He repeated this with the other fruits and slid them all into one of his lab coat pockets.

"W-we need to make another stop," Rick stated flatly. He pulled out his portal gun and punched in a few numbers before pulling the trigger.

The duo walked into the new dimension. Rick had seen this place so often, he was used to the drug dealers, abstract prostitutes, and homeless-looking people strutting down the sidewalks. Morty, however, craned his head to get a full view of this urban dimension. Rick noticed how jumpy Morty was that day, which was quite normal when he introduced him to a new dimension. Rick didn't blame him; once upon a time he was also a nervous wreck in different planets and dimensions. They walked past rundown stores with boarded-up windows and brightly lit nightclubs as Rick searched for the place he wanted. As they passed an alley, Morty suddenly stopped. His expression was overcome with fear and his eyes pleaded for Rick to help him.

"What is it, Morty? Come on," Rick asked. Morty didn't answer. He was yanked into the alley, which made his grandson whimper quietly. This happened to Rick more times than he'd like to admit. He followed his grandson into the alley, careful to not be seen.

"Empty your pockets!" A husky, vile voice growled. Morty complied, though his pockets were completely empty. The alien-creature-thing pressed his gun into Morty's back harder. Morty couldn't help it- the tears slid down his tiny face like a waterfall. He didn't know Rick was just a few feet away, so he didn't try to hold the tears back anymore.

Rick couldn't take it. He knew it would've been so much worse for Morty, but it still affected him in the worst way possible. He grabbed his most lethal gun and pointed it at the mugger.

"Let him go," Rick demanded. The alien glared at Rick, then at Morty. It shoved Morty to the ground, but held onto the poor boy's arm. Morty was still crying, but he couldn't bring himself to move away or struggle. Rick pointed the gun at the sky and fired two times. He aimed it back at the alien. The creature pointed his weapon back at Rick. It wasn't uncommon for Rick to shoot someone, nor was it morally wrong to him anymore, so he pulled the trigger. A red laser pierced the air and hit the alien. It didn't move, but there was a gaping hole where his chest was supposed to be. It held onto Morty's arm a bit tighter. Rick shot the alien again, this time in its 'head'. It didn't budge. Rick was out of ideas and almost out of ammo. He maintained his confident stance to try to intimidate the creature and make his grandson believe he was safe. The creature suddenly dropped its weapon and pulled out another one. The alien shot the wall, and an orange portal appeared. The mugger walked in, dragging Morty in with him. Rick grabbed Morty by his legs and pulled him away from the mugger. Morty clutched his grandpa, softly sobbing into his coat. For a moment, everything was fine. Rick looked down at Morty to check for any injuries. Blood dripped steadily from his grandson. Morty noticed it soon after. He screamed, more tears coming from his eyes. Rick didn't take the time to examine Morty's injury. He shot out a portal to their home and jumped through it.

"ANYONE HOME?" Rick yelled, trying to get any kind of attention for Morty. Jerry thumped downstairs. He stared at his son for a moment before realizing exactly what was going on.

"OH GOD, MORTY!" Jerry cried, embracing his son. Morty was still in shock.

"We gotta get him to the hospital!" Jerry exclaimed. Rick normally would have retorted with a smart-ass comment about how Jerry stated the obvious, but he kept his mouth shut this time. Jerry sprinted to his car and they jumped in. The car started and Jerry almost floored the pedal. Rick cradled Morty as his son-in-law sped to the hospital. Morty's head was spinning as he breathed shakily on Rick's chest. Rick tried to comfort him as best as he could. He stroked the boy's hair, parting it away from his grandson's sweaty forehead. Suddenly, the pain hit Morty, and hard. He sobbed and choked on his tears.

"It's gonna be okay. Just hang in there, buddy," Rick cooed. Jerry pulled into the hospital and hurried inside. Rick followed quickly behind him. Morty had Rick's lab coat tied around his arm tightly as an effort to stop the bleeding. As they entered the ER, a few nurses looked their way; a tall, skinny woman rushed over and scanned Morty.

"Can you tell me what happened?" The woman asked. Morty didn't reply.

" He was mauled by a stray dog," Rick lied, quickly thinking of a believable story. Jerry's face contorted to pure rage.

"Oh, of course he would get hurt when he was with you!" he shouted.

"It's not my fault, Jerry!" Rick retorted.

"Calm down!" The nurse frowned, "We'll take it from here." She then walked over to a phone that was attached to the wall and picked it up. Soon after, a male nurse appeared with a wheelchair. Rick gently placed Morty in the chair. The nurse gestured for him to take a seat. Rick shook his head. He got Morty in this situation, and he didn't want to leave him to them. The nurses glanced at each other and the male shrugged. Rick followed them as they pushed Morty to a hall full of doors that were marked with black letters like: EXAM 1 or EXAM 2. Rick held Morty's uninjured hand. He looked up at his grandfather sweetly. Guilt grabbed at Rick's heart. How could he let something like this happen to Morty? He told him it was safe, but now… A doctor came into the room. She looked down at the boy.

"Aww, poor baby!" She exclaimed, making Rick feel much worse. She was obviously used to working with younger children, as her voice had a child-friendly gentleness to it.

"Can you tell me your name?" she asked. Rick knew what she was doing; she was seeing if his grandson was responsive.

"Mort..y.." he mumbled.

"Okay, Morty. I'm just going to unwrap you and see what's wrong, okay?" she smiled. Morty nodded. She untied the now- bloody lab coat and tossed it to the side. Morty gasped as old, dry blood ripped at his wounds. Rick squeezed Morty's hand reassuringly. Rick's face went pale as he saw the true extent of his grandson's injury. The doctor covered her mouth and stared at the fresh lacerations. From his elbow down, his arm was either gashed open or just gone. He was missing almost his entire hand. Rick tried to stay calm, and act like it wasn't that bad. Morty wasn't brave enough to look at his injury, instead turning to Rick.

"I-is it o…kay?" He managed to utter. Rick searched for an answer. Yeah, you're fine. Just slap a band-aid on it. Or OH MY GOD MORTY YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE YOUR ARM! Both were too extreme, and he didn't want to lie to him, but he also didn't want to scare him.

"Well, it's- uhm… it's not good, Morty," Rick finally replied. The doctor left the room. Moments later, She returned with another person.

"Oh, wow," The other doctor breathed. This one was a skinny male. He sat on a stool close to Morty. The female doctor left again; She once again returned with a tray with syringes, gauze, and a few other things.

"Give me a call if you need anything else," The female doctor chirped, leaving the room. The doctor picked up a syringe.

"I'm injecting you with some numbing medicine," He stated plainly. Morty squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face into his grandpa's shirt. Rick's stomach churned as his grandson squealed. Morty dug his fingernails into Rick's hand.

"I know…" Rick whispered. There were a few more needles on the tray. He swallowed, hoping Morty wouldn't have to go through anymore. The doctor finished, and picked up a cotton ball. He dipped it into some brownish liquid, and then rubbed it on each one of the gashes on Morty's arm. He finished, standing up.

"I need to speak to you outside," The doctor stated. Rick let go of Morty's hand and walked outside the room.

"We're going to have to take him into surgery, so we need the guardians of the boy to sign a release forum," he explained.

"I-I'm just his grandpa," Rick replied.

"Yes, but you're listed as one of Morty's legal guardians. We already have the parent's signatures." Rick could have been touched by the fact that Beth or Jerry saw him as a guardian, but he was feeling too guilty to feel much of anything else. Instead of a piece of paper, the doctor produced a tablet and a faux plastic pen. Rick hastily scribbled what sort-of resembled his name, but he could really care less about his penmanship. Before they could wheel Morty down to the OR, Rick bent down to Morty's level.

"Hey, Morty."

"What's gonna h-happen to me?" Morty asked, fear laced in his tiny voice.

"You're going to get some surgery done," Rick explained. He was trying to keep Morty calm in the bad situation.

"Rick…I-I'm scared…" Morty whimpered. Rick gave Morty's good arm a squeeze.

"Don't b-be scared. You're going to be fine."

"That's what you said earlier," Morty mumbled, tearing up. I'm sorry… Rick couldn't think of a suitable reply. The doctors wheeled Morty down the hall, leaving Rick alone with his thoughts.