The Crucial Miscalculation (Rick and Morty) | ✓

Chapter 11: A Nightmare

The crippling truth that Morty could never get the chance to see his family again had made itself at home in his mind some time ago. He was starting to get used to it even if it wasn't getting any easier to dwell on those thoughts. Thinking them as rarely as possible was how the boy was managing to stay somewhat-sane.

And somehow here he was, opening his eyes to discover that he was cooped up in his own bed, in his own bedroom. Morty threw the sheets off his body, panting as if he had just woken up from a terrible nightmare – which he kind of had.

Everything looked normal – as if they had never left in the first place. Morty left his room wandering through the house in search of his family. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. For all he knew this could be a reality different from his own. And the worst part was that he wouldn't even know the difference.

But as soon as Morty walked down the stairs he felt a familiar smell of his mother's pancakes. And as that happened some of the doubts left him and he realized just how tired he was. And not physically but rather mentally from all the running and scheming with Rick. The events from the past couple of days were pushed to the back of his mind as he entered the kitchen.

The scene playing out in front of his eyes was truly serene – if having a family breakfast at the Smith-Sanchez household could be called as such. His mother was serving Jerry pancakes while he was complaining about how there wasn't a job for him. Summer had her nose stuck in her cell phone, typing furiously. And Rick was shoveling pancakes into his mouth with a bored expression on his face.

"M-mom?" Was the first word that left Morty's mouth. The woman in question looked at her son and smiled softly.

"Oh, you're awake." She said as the rest of the family turned to look at Morty. "You must be hungry."

As if on cue Morty's stomach rumbled. "Oh, yeah. I am." He said sitting down by the table.

Beth put pancakes onto Morty's place and the boy started eating. But as he ate he realized how weird it was that his family was acting so...normal – as if they hadn't been gone for more than a week. Morty looked to his grandpa but the old man just shook his head and continued eating. So Morty did the same hoping that Rick would explain everything to him later.

Right after breakfast Morty followed Rick into his lab. "What happened?" He asked as soon as they were alone.

"My plan worked, duh. That's what happened." Rick said reaching for his flask. "That would be a good time for you to say-" The man took his time taking a swing and then burping. "-ugh, thank you, you know? For saving us and all that."

"But how?" The boy asked not understanding anything at all. "Why don't I remember anything? And, and what about the other Mortys? And why isn't everyone freaking out about us being gone for so long?"

Rick sighed. "I kind of erased their memories so that they don't ask me stupid questions – kind of like you're doing now." He took another swing of the alcohol. "I did the same with you – to a point. I thought it could be useful for you to remember some of it."

"And the Mortys?"

"The fuckers are safe at their homes."

The boy let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding this whole time. It wasn't that bad. He could live with it and go back to his life. Except...

"Wait. H-how do I know if it's real? If it's our home? For all I know you could be lying! This...this could be a completely new universe."

Rick didn't seem to be at all phased by Morty's accusations. "For the record, this is a completely new universe. But Beth, Summer and Jerry are the ones from that old one." He paused for a moment, clearly sensing that Morty's mind was about to blow up. "Listen, Morty. You could spend the rest of your life poking holes and drive yourself fucking nuts but at the end of the day you've got to ask yourself...does it even matter? Of course I could prove all this mathematically to you but you wouldn't understand shit."

Morty ducked his head knowing that Rick was right. "Fair enough."

So that was exactly what Morty did. There were still a lot of questions on his mind but he decided to let go and just enjoy life. He did what any fourteen year old boy with a mad scientist for a grandpa would do. He went to school scoring mediocre grades while occasionally joining Rick on his adventures.

He tried not to think about the past and even if every once in a while he would have nightmares about two lifeless dots chasing after him he was alright. For the most part. He could pretend that what he was having nightmares about was nothing more than that – a nightmare.

It was all fine. Hell, more than fine. It was perfect.