"Alright, kitchen table everyone," Jerry instructed in an almost uncertain tone, looking at his wife. Rick didn't grumble about having to listen to him, but he didn't move right away either. Jerry and Beth walked into the kitchen, Beth looking behind. Morty was motionless. Rick and Summer hung back because they'd expected this and they needed to do something. Summer moved to speak, but Rick gave her a look and she fell silent with a nod. Grandpa would handle it, she was going to join her parents. She bit her lip and stood, leaving Rick and Morty alone on the couch.

"I-I don't want to do this, Rick," Morty whispered moments after she left. He was scared. This was all too real, too much. He didn't want to go in there. He didn't want to sit at the table with all eyes on him. Pitying eyes. He didn't want to stutter and stammer, answering questions he didn't want asked. He didn't want to hear the gentle, reassuring tones. He didn't want to hear arguments. He didn't want to hear anything. He wanted to sit here in silence. He wanted them to talk it out. To decide what to do for him. That would be easier. It would be easier if he wasn't there at all. It would be easier if he wasn't here at all.

Rick gripped his knee, attempting to be reassuring without knowing what to say, so he kept it simple. "It'll be fine, Morty."

Morty wanted to disappear. He didn't want to think about how things could transpire but he couldn't stop. "Th-they're going to ask why. I don't want to tell them, Rick. I-I don't want them to know."

Rick could see how stressed he was, just like he had been earlier, just like he'd been a lot today, and yet he still had no fucking idea how he should act. It was driving him insane. You'd think he'd know what to do and say at this point, that he'd contrive some kind of formula for happy grandsons, or at least less freaked out ones, but he hadn't.

No, he had. He'd learned one thing. One of the harder things for him to do in situations where he actual cared.

Honest. Just be honest.

"You can give them the short version. You don't have to tell them everything. Just enough to help. Say it was a panic attack. You need more pills. That's all."

Morty wasn't really hearing him. He was panicking. "They're going to treat me different. Like I'm broken. I-I-I don't want them to worry. I don't want to be a problem." He didn't want to. He didn't want to do anything. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to exist. He didn't want to.

"Morty," Rick let go of his knee and gripped his shoulders instead, giving him a little shake, making Morty look at him with those wide, always uncertain eyes, "you are not a problem. You never have been." Rick said fiercely. "You're going to be ok. You are. This talk is just a-a stepping stone. Y-you know, a step towards better. That's it. This is not a pity party, don't you dare make this a pity party." Rick swallowed, a little bit overwhelmed by what he was saying. This was hitting him too hard. He couldn't help thinking, wondering, what would it have been like? What if someone had taken him aside and had this conversation? What if he'd had people who cared.

Morty needed all of them. He needed to feel accepted. He needed to talk. He had to work through this and get better. And Rick knew it because he never did and he didn't want this for Morty. Not at all. "This is to help."

Morty's lip trembled. Rick was so certain, it was hard not to take him at his word, even with all his doubts and insecurities. Rick had an effect on him. Sure, he could call it when he was bullshitting, but right now no words could ring more true, could convince him of anything, like Rick's could. He couldn't run. And he shouldn't either. This would help.

Rick was positive he'd persuaded him, but he wasn't going to make the first move. He let go of Morty gently, easing himself away but not rising. "So? You ready?"

Morty nodded. "A-as I'll ever be," he said, standing.

Rick followed him into the kitchen, where the rest of the family had assumed their usual spots at the table. Summer was looking at her phone, distracting herself. Jerry was looking at Beth. Beth was tapping her fingers on the table and it was obvious she'd been watching the doorway, but now she was looking at the table as if that wasn't the case.

It was mind numbingly silent as Morty pulled his chair out to take a seat and Rick followed suit. Morty stared at the table, avoiding eyes, but he didn't have to worry. Nobody was looking at him. All their eyes shifted to Beth.

Frankly, no one knew what to say. Jerry already had his idea shot down. Summer's plan was to let her mom handle it. She knew what she'd like to happen, but she lacked the clout to act on it. Rick had a few ideas, sure, but he didn't know what the best option was. He assumed none of what he would personally do would help anyone. And Morty certainly had a say in what happened, but he didn't want one.

That left Beth.

When she saw 3 pairs of eyes staring at her she wanted nothing more than a drink in her hand. No, that wasn't true, she'd definitely take more drinks than that. Beth focused on Morty. It was easier to look at someone who wasn't gawking back. Plus he was the topic of discussion. She'd been thinking of what to say to him all the way home. A lot of questions and apologies, ideas that made her tear up in the car. Beth didn't want to be weak in front of her family, in front of her dad. She had to know what to do and do it well. She'd finally narrowed it down to two strong sentences.

"Morty," Morty inhaled sharply, not knowing what to expect and shaking nervously as a result. Beth saw this and, for both their sake's, continued evenly, "You may or may not want to talk about what happened today, but I need you to know, no matter what, I'm here for you. We all are." She looked around at the table, not glaring, but close, a commanding Right? in her eyes. They were all on board, but if they hadn't been, that look would have changed their tune real quick.

Then there was Morty, absolutely dumbfounded. He couldn't fathom any other emotions at that moment. How did he respond to that? Did he talk about what happened? It sounded like she'd given him a free pass. Did he say thank you? That kind of response would probably make things awkward. But he did appreciate it. The way she'd said it...he certainly wasn't overcome with worry anymore. Now it was confusion, but that was better than having his mind go haywire. A lot better. He wasn't sure what being there for him entailed, he wasn't sure what they could deal with and what they'd rather not know, but he'd heard "no matter what." No matter what he said, whether it was too much or too little, they'd listen. They'd help. Just like Rick said.

Morty looked up at his mom. She had the smallest of smiles on her face, not forced or strained, but uncertain. He could tell she didn't want to show how worried she was, yet she didn't want to come off as too positive. Fake cheery, fake everything will be just fine. This was a real moment and the reality of it was somehow not oppressive. It was just...life.

And he was ok with telling them.

Morty crossed his arms, lifting one to lean his head on and using that hand to rake through his hair. "Can I, you know, talk about it?" he asked the table.

Everyone was caught off guard. Rick had expected silence and tears and more anxiety. Summer had expected Rick to say something before Morty did. Jerry had expected a family argument of some kind. And Beth, Beth had expected apologies. She'd thought Morty would cry and ask for forgiveness, that's why she'd try so hard to avoid anything that might make him feel guilty. And she had apparently succeeded.

"Y-yes, yes," she cleared her throat, trying not to sound overly eager or flustered and not quite succeeding, "Of course."

Morty took a breath. He could hear Rick's voice, You can give them the short version. He didn't have to draw this out. He didn't have to make it grossly transparent that he'd been dreading this all day, that he feared it more than anything else that had happened so far, he could keep it simple.

"I-" he hesitated, looking at Rick. Rick waved his hands in a don't look at me, dipshit, keep talking gesture that Morty had, unsurprisingly, seen before. No take backs. He looked at his mom. "I had a panic attack th-this morning. A really bad one. And, uh, I didn't have-I ran out of Xanax and, I dunno. It's so stupid. I-so I thought I was dying and- well I'd rather die fast, you know, so I took-I took a lot of Zoloft. But Rick found me and I'm fine now, so..." he trailed off. He didn't need to tell him that he'd taken the pills slowly, one at a time. He didn't have to tell them about all the thoughts he'd had leading up to that and since. He could keep it simple. He just needed more pills.

"So..." It was Jerry, sounding surprisingly calm, "we just get some more Xanax and...this won't happen again, right? It's all good?" The last part was directed at his wife. Beth had heard him, but was thinking too hard to dignify him with an actual response. Jerry was one who ignored problems or exacerbated them, there was no in-between, and this was very much the former.

"Morty, have you been taking your medicine every day?"

"Well...uhh...no. But," he knew where this was going, she wanted him to lay off the adventures and have more routine, but he remembered quickly, "I asked Rick to, uh, t-take care of my pills for me. So we'll always have them on adventures and I can't, um, you know..."

So he'd thought about it. Beth couldn't deny that it was a good idea, but going on adventures was probably not the best idea for him right now. While she mulled over different plans of action, Summer piped up, "But will grandpa Rick remember? I mean, he's drunk most of the time."

"I'm the smartest person here, drunk or not. Y-you think I can pilot Millenium Falcons and build machines out of nothing but remembering pills, you know, that-that is where I draw the line?" Rick asked defensively.

"Ok, first of all, the Millenium Falcon is the ship from Star Wars, even dad knows you made that up..."

"Hey! What do you mean 'even dad'?" Jerry interjected.

Rick ignored Jerry but took advantage of the cleared air. "Oh yeah, like I don't know how to pilot actual ships, that was just an example, Summer."

"This isn't about your ego!" Summer yelled, clawing her way back into the conversation before she could get waterlogged. Screw letting her mom handle it, she had her own voice. "It's about Morty! And if you misplace his pills this could happen again!"

Morty looked down at the table and everyone else was silent. Rick acted haughty but he knew there was a chance. And it gave Beth more to think about. Summer knew she may have taken it a bit too far, but she wanted to give her idea while she still had the floor. She looked at her brother, even though he wasn't looking back. "I'm sorry, Morty, but I think it'd be better if you went to a hospital or something. So they can observe you. Make sure you're ok after this and then make sure you take your pills and get back on track. Just in case, you know?"

Morty didn't respond. He didn't want her to blame Rick if he missed a dose, they were his pills. He didn't want to go to a hospital. But just because he didn't want to didn't mean she wasn't right. He knew she was looking out for him. He knew she had a point. If Rick lost his pills, what would he do? The pharmacists knew when the last refill was, if he lost an almost full bottle they wouldn't give him more so easily. Or if Rick decided to snort them with other aliens. Or any of the other crazy shit Rick did. Morty could trust him but there were also limits because he knew what Rick was like.

He was also realizing now that after he'd taken that cleanser he hadn't taken his regular dose. It was all flushed out of him, so it had technically still been days since he'd last taken his meds. It would explain why his anxiety had never halted afterwards. And that was terrifying because a panic attack could very easily strike again.

Beth broke the shallow silence. "I was thinking the same thing, Summer."

Everyone turned to Beth, waiting for her to say more. "I was thinking of all the options we have..." There honestly weren't very many but it hadn't made the choice any easier. " And I think, for now, we should have the hospital take you under observation. Of course we'll check up on you and be there for you as much as they allow us to be, but it may be best to have the professionals handle this." Beth reached across the table and put her hand on Morty's. She truly wanted what was best for him. If they didn't take him to be evaluated, if they just left it at this, she couldn't say she'd done her best. Because as much as she loved her family she genuinely did not know the best course of action if he stayed here. He likely wouldn't even stay here, he'd be off with his grandfather. And those trips...something could happen to cross a line and in the state his mental health was in...it could end in disaster. She had to bring him in. But... "I love you and I want you to be ok. Is this ok with you?"

Morty couldn't believe she asked. She was going to let him choose? He could choose to stay home and-

No. No he couldn't. He knew that this was the path his mom wanted him to take, that Summer wanted him to take. If he said no, would they make him? If he said no, would the family argue and try to pick something else? If he said no, would he be hurting himself?

He knew he didn't really have a choice here. Even if he did, he knew this was the right one. So he nodded.

Beth smiled. "Ok, sweetie. And when we check you out of there we can talk about what to do for adventures and whatnot."

Morty nodded in understanding, trying not to cry. This was hard. This was going to be hard, but he needed to do this. He wanted to do this, for himself and his family. He could get better. Morty could do anything with his family by his side. He just had to believe in them and believe in himself. It would all be ok.

Now that the choice had been made, Rick had to admit that it was a better solution than any he could have offered. That's why he'd stayed out of it. This helped everyone, especially Morty, maintain a sense of doing the right thing, the standard thing, and his deflections and off-planet ideas could not help Morty in the same way. He was a normal kid. He wasn't like him and he couldn't treat him the same way he did himself. Maybe if something like this had been done for him...but that wasn't worth thinking about.

He looked at Morty out of the corner of his eye, Morty who was resigned to this but still upset, still emotional about what had transpired earlier, what had been said now. He wanted to say something to help him. To make him feel better. To tell him this was the right thing, whether he accepted that or thought otherwise. Morty needed to know this would be ok. That he mattered and everyone here really cared. He personally knew he could never do without him.

It struck him then. That was it! Of all the things floating around in Rick's jam-packed skull, Morty needed to hear the truth from their earlier discussion. It felt like several months ago, but it was something that would still be bothering Morty, even if it wasn't at the forefront of his mind right now. The free Morty voucher debate. After everything that happened, he had an answer for himself. If he had to choose between a new Morty and no Morty, if those were his only two unsatisfactory options, he didn't want to choose. He couldn't choose to betray his grandson by starting something with a new Morty, a Morty that shared his face and voice but not all of the important, intrinsic points of his personality. Yet, after a lifetime of self-preservation, he wouldn't willingly destroy himself by being alone. He'd let the council decide.

It seemed like a cowardly move, letting the council decide, not keeping his fate in his own hands. Yet it had to be one of the most selfless decisions he'd made. Kind of.

He knew what he had to say. What he had to do. And not just for Morty's sake, but his own. Because as much as Morty needed them right now, all Rick had ever needed, what he'd spent his whole life searching for, was Morty. His Morty. Rick had always run away from his problems, but he had to face this situation head on, no fail safes. He couldn't continue living only for himself. He had to believe in him.

He had to try.

Beth made to stand, to take Morty away, but Rick looked at her and held up a hand. He couldn't go yet. Beth remained in her seat, confused, but willing to see what happened.

"Morty," Morty looked up at him, as did the rest of the family. He could see the distrust in Jerry's eyes while Beth and Summer were curious, but he didn't care about them right now. Morty looked at him miserably, eyes wet with unshed tears from emotions Rick couldn't grasp himself. If there were any doubts about what he was going to do they were gone in an instant. "I...I said some stuff earlier. About Rick's needing a Morty because they believe in us, because they have hope o-or something..." he looked away. God, Rick's weren't supposed to be bashful, this was humiliating, "and I was thinking..." There was no time to feel stupid. He was making a point. Rick pulled the voucher out of his pocket. He locked eyes with Morty, hoping he understood how hard this was for him. There was true gravity to this situation, but there was no question in his eyes. He had to trust Morty.

Not choosing in the Morty situation discounted the point. It wasn't about not deciding, in fact it was the very opposite. He wanted to put all his faith, what little there was, in Morty. Rick wanted to rely on the grand hope that he would never have to make a choice at all. That Morty would be strong. That Morty would outlive him. He was going to corral every positive thought he'd ever had and will himself into believing it as fact. If Morty had his faith and trust, if Morty had a support system including Rick and the Smith family, he was going to be ok. He was going to pull through this incident and any others that may follow. If he could think of that as a fact, the very point of having a voucher would be null and void.

Morty shifted away slightly, still not liking the voucher. His eyes shone with wonder and confusion, not having any real idea as to how the slip of paper and Rick's words related. He listened intently. "I-I-I was thinking that...Morty's need that too. I need to believe in you. Y-you're hopeless in a lot of ways, Morty, but I have hope for you yet. And I -uuuurp- have a strong feeling, Morty, I really believe-" Rick took the voucher in both hands, clearly showing Morty what it was as he ripped it purposefully down the middle, "that I won't be needing this."

Morty's mouth dropped open in surprise at the first sound of torn paper. After everything this morning, after discussing what it did to Rick's who didn't have Morty's, after convincing Morty to let him keep the coupon, he'd destroyed it. And that wasn't the shocking thing. Rick believed in him. Rick, Rick!, thought he would make it. That he could pull through all this shit and outlive him, as grim as that thought was. Morty blinked, knowing it would set off an onslaught of tears, but he didn't care. He didn't care if he cried in front of his family. Rick had faith in him. Rick, who didn't believe in anything, who calculated his moves in a way that he always came out ahead, even if just barely, was willing to put all his faith in Morty and the fact that he was going to be ok. That meant everything to him.

If Rick believed in him then he could believe in himself.

Morty jerked to the side and hugged his grandfather hard as tears started to fall. Rick held him with equal ferocity. Before he could think it through, before he could worry about the consequences, he said something he'd never said to him before. "I love you, Morty,"

Morty responded by hugging Rick a bit tighter. "I love you too, grandpa."

Fuck, as terrible as it was, Rick felt such joy in that moment. To be acknowledged, to have his love reciprocated in some way. The biggest thing, however, was Morty calling him grandpa instead of Rick. It happened so rarely and it felt so good to hear it. He was really a part of something, he was a part of this family. The value of having these people in his life, as vexing as it was at times, was astronomical. Rick had never cared so much about anything else he'd chased after before, and he'd been doing all that chasing to avoid this. Because he didn't want to deal with these heavy, heartbreaking moments, and yet there was such joy in their togetherness.

After all the shit he'd been through, all the times he wanted to lay down and die, he was grateful that he'd crawled back onto his feet to make it to this moment. He was glad things were going like this. It made him want to go back in time and praise himself for his will-power, to shake Bird Person's hand those times he helped him through a rough patch, to thank the few who had spurred him on out of both love and spite.

He realized that Morty would likely go through all kinds of shit moments too. He'd also have those ups and downs, he'd already had them for a while. If Rick could make Morty happy, if he could make Morty feel the way he was feeling right now, that could be his motivator. His reason to keep trying, to keep moving forward.

"Get in here! Family hug!" Rick yelled.

The family didn't understand the import of what had just happened between Rick and Morty, but they knew that this was a good moment and Morty was shedding happy tears. Summer was the first to pop up beside them and hold on tight. "I love you guys!" Beth and Jerry shared a look and joined in together, Jerry at Morty's back and Beth at her father's, huddling around their sitting forms. It was awkward, uncomfortable, and incredibly heartfelt.

This is what family was.

Morty felt so overwhelmed with love and it was right then that he knew. He knew that if he kept trying to be better, he would be. And if he kept trying good things would happen.

He had to keep trying.

And he would.

THE END

This is it, everyone! I'd like to thank you all for reading, especially those of you who left comments and started following, it really pushed me to finish this! I think it's been a bit over a year since I first posted and I'm so sorry it took this long, but I hope you aren't disappointed!

I have more Rick and Morty ideas putzing around in my head, so we'll see how soon those get posted. Thanks again, guys!