*omg hi! anyways okay, so there's some more gravity falls references in this chapter, if you haven't seen gravity falls, that's alright but this chapter does follow the episode of rick and morty as well so i don't recommend skipping this one because the end is kind of important (it's also a little rushed. i'll be editing to make more sense soon). all you need to know about it is cas is being haunted in her dreams by the main villain of gravity falls who is supposedly dead. i hope y'all enjoy!*
It wasn't often that Rick allowed music while he worked but every once in a while, if Cas asked nice enough (more like begged with her best pair of puppy eyes), Rick would allow her to softly play her own playlist. It was mostly music from the 60s, 70s and 80s, which Rick wasn't complaining about, but occasionally a more modern song would come on that Rick didn't care for but Cas seemed too. Cas was adamant about her lack of musical ability but Rick couldn't help but let a ghost of a smile come to his face as she whispered quietly along to the lyrics, specifically the Beatles, though he wasn't surprised by that with her shared birthday with one of them.
As one song ended, another would play and Cas would occasionally glance over at Rick as she quietly sang along, as if pretending to serenade him.
"You know what your problem is?" Rick asked as he continued to mess with whatever it was he was building, a slight teasing tone in his voice which made Cas raise an eyebrow. "You're really cute so no ones ever told you to stop. So now, here you are in my garage, singing Blondie while I'm trying to work." Rick pointed out, leaning back in his seat as Cas smiled at him.
"All I'm hearing, darlin', is that you think I'm cute," Cas grinned, using her glowing green hand to move Rick's rolling chair closer to where she sat on his workbench. Rick didn't even attempt to stop her as she hopped off his bench and onto his lap, straddling him as she continued to lip sync along to the voice of Debbie Harry. "I don't blame you though, I'm pretty fucking adorable," Cas teased, nudging her nose softly against his. Rick rolled his eyes at her but still, the ghost of a smile didn't leave his features, even as Cas put her lips on his.
His hands moved to her waist, clutching the bottom of her shirt as her fingers gripped softly at the blue hairs on the back of his neck. Debbie Harry's voice sang the tail end of the infamous song, Call Me, as Cas shifted on Rick's lap. For a moment, it felt like everything was normal for Cas. She hadn't had a night terror in what felt like weeks but was only a few days and she finally felt like she was truly taking care of herself.
Until the next song played.
"We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when," Cas tensed up at the sound of Vera Lynn's voice replacing Debbie Harry. "But I know we'll meet again some sunny day." She couldn't control it as she pushed herself off Rick suddenly, accidentally ramming her back into the edge of the workbench. She winced at the pain but it was the last thing on her mind. Rick, who's chair was pushed back by Cas' small burst of green energy, cocked his head in confusion. Cas' hands shook, a few green wisps coming to her hands and a few tears plucked at her eyes as she tried to calm herself but the anxiety levels were raising and Rick wasn't sure what to do. For Rick, it was difficult to tell which type of comfort she needed at times. Cas was difficult to comfort as sometimes she just needed someone to hold her and other times she was so terrified to touch someone that she didn't want them nearby. When Cas got emotional, her abilities would act up and since Bird Person's wedding where her veins glowed and then the Toxic version of herself bringing those fears back to the surface, she had been terrified of her emotions getting out of control.
"Cassie?" He asked, standing from his chair as he noticed the look of pure terror on his girlfriend's face.
"Stop, Rick," Cas held her hand out, not noticing the green wisps that licked at her fingers yet. Rick held his hands up in defense, "I-I, don't want to..." She trailed off after that, her voice shaky as the high pitched voice that haunted her dreams began to sing the song like he had a year ago.
"Cas, let me help you," Rick urged, realizing now wasn't the time do anything but speak to her.
"Turn it off," She told him, a whimpering tone in her voice as she reached up to clutch her head. Rick was quick to reach for her phone on his work bench, shutting the music off as she gripped at her dark green hair in frustration. "Turn it off," She whimpered and Rick furrowed his brow at that, cocking his head again. Her hands began to glow, some of the metal objects beginning to shake like she was and a few of them beginning to slowly crush in on themselves like she was crushing them with her bare hands.
"Cas, baby, I turned it off," Rick said and Cas shook her head, tapping it lightly with her glowing green hands. "Cassie, look at me," Rick urged and Cas' green eyes met his. He could see the pure terror in her eyes, the red color in her eyes from the tears that fell down her cheeks and the way she shut her eyes tightly to try and stop the pain in her head.
"Turn it off," She cried, still hearing the high pitched voice in her head sing along to the song. "Please, Rick, turn it off." Rick was quick to put the dots together of what she wanted, typing the code into one of his many hidden areas. Cas knew that after her first night terror, one day something like this would happen. Pure terror and post traumatic stress taking over the reasonable parts of her brain. Rick hated it but she made him hide sedatives all over the house so he could knock her out if this ever happened. He hated having to shoot the dart into her arm but he knew this was what she wanted him to do in this scenario to prevent collateral. He just didn't count on how much it would hurt to even think of hurting her.
Cas woke up slowly a while later. Her hands still shook as her eyes adjusted to see her room around her. Rick sat on the small bed, which replaced the futon only a few weeks ago, next to her, looking over as he saw her wake up. "You good?" He asked, looking down at her and Cas sat herself up, rubbing her head.
"No," Cas whispered, shoving the blanket off of her and standing up. "I don't have that song on my playlist, Rick. Which means I didn't play it. You didn't play it."
"Which means?" Rick asked, furrowing his brow and giving her a look to continue.
Cas bit her lip, not really wanting to talk about the last few weeks in Gravity Falls but she knew she had to. He had a right to know as he was the one that had to shoot her with a dart only hours ago. She ran both hands through her hair, trying to figure out how to even word it in the first place. "It means... maybe my dreams aren't actually just dreams," Cas told him and Rick stood up to stand across from her at that. "When Weirdmaggedon happened, my father and I were taken by... him and he sang that song to taunt us. That stupid fucking song!" Cas snapped loudly, her hands glowing green and she clenched her fists in anger.
Rick watched as the bed they just sat on slid across the room and into the wall, the metal poles bending slightly. "Jesus, Cas, okay, baby." Rick almost flinched but reached out to grab her hands, the wisps disappearing just as he did.
"I-I'm sorry," Cas whispered, looking at the damaged bed and then back at Rick. "Can we just... can we just go watch tv? Please?" She asked and Rick looked at her carefully. Rick wasn't sure that was the best course of action to deal with the clear signs of post traumatic stress syndrome she was showing but he gave in nonetheless at the desperate way she gripped the sleeve of his coat. "Please?" She whispered.
"O-okay," Rick nodded.
Cas was the first the leave the shared room, Rick staying behind for a brief moment, collecting his thoughts, before following after. How does one even begin to comfort and help someone that was having the memory of a brain demon that tormented them throughout life taunt their dreams? Rick didn't know how to even process the information but he had to trust that Cas knew what she was doing. Cas, however, was slowly getting a grip on the night terrors and coming to terms that after all it was truly in her head. The one place where she could call the shots, especially as her abilities grew at the speed they were now. Never had new abilities or loopholes surfaced so quickly for her.
Her thoughts were cut off, however, as she sat in between Morty and Summer, the latter putting her feet in Cas' lap. "... In local news, child murderer Joseph Eli Lipnip is scheduled to die tomorrow by lethal injection, his execution already drawing dozens more spectators than the death of TV news." The news anchor finished and Cas looked over towards Beth, who was lowering her newspaper with wide eyes.
"Wow. He's really getting executed after all this time," Beth stated. Cas looked back to the tv, the female reporter beginning to talk about the crime. "You know, the son that he ate was-" Beth began.
"Your best friend - Tommy," Summer interrupted, looking at her phone. "We know. Stop true-crime bragging."
"I was traumatized, Summer. Your generation wouldn't get that," Beth argued back, pulling the newspaper up once again.
"Bitch, my generation get traumatized for breakfast," Summer replied.
"It took years of therapy to even process the reality. I mean, when I was a kid, I just told myself that Tommy had gotten lost in the magical realm of Froopyland," Beth explained, lowering the newspaper in her hand once more. Cas heard a small thud in the kitchen and looked back to see Rick peaking into the room as Summer made fun of the name. "My make-believe world. I know the names stupid but it was so real to me."
"I'm being haunted by a triangular brain demon with a top hat from my childhood. If anyone understands, it's me," Cas chuckled.
Beth gave Cas a small thankful smile at that, turning back to her newspaper as Rick walked into the room. He had a grumpy look on his face as he handed Cas a soda can with a small dent on the rim, which Cas assumed was the result of the thud she heard moments ago. She thanked him quietly, opening the can and taking a sip as Rick turned to his grandkids, hands on his hips as he asked, "Aren't you guys supposed to be at your father's for custody weekend?"
"We're not in a hurry. Dad sleeps until sundown. Can we talk a little bit more about this Froopy-" Morty was cut off by Rick pulled a blaster from his coat. Cas snorted, recognizing what exactly the blaster itself did.
"Not the bubble gun!" Summer exclaimed as Rick pulled the trigger, enveloping Morty into a bubble and letting him float out into the backyard. "There's no air-" Summer was cut off by a bubble of her own as Rick tucked the gun back into his coat.
"I gotta say, I am warming up to the bubble gun," Beth commented.
"You know, if you're so great at naming things, why don't you do it from now on?" Rick asked, sitting next to Cas and pulling his flask out. Cas rose a brow at the grumpy tone in his voice, "What's got your undies in a twist, Wonder Dad?" Cas teased and Rick huffed at that name resurfacing.
"Froopyland, Cas," Rick clarified before turning back to his daughter, who rose one brow. "Was it my best work? I don't know. Does it deserve to be shit on creatively? Yeah, that's right. I agree with your look of horrified realization. You can be very inconsiderate sometimes," Rick snapped as Beth's raised brow turning into exactly what Rick had said, a look of horrified realization. Cas, however, furrowed her brow at that as she kicked one of her legs up to rest on Rick's lap.
"What are you taking about?" Cas asked with a confused tone.
"Follow me," Rick grumbled, taking a sip from his flask before getting up. Cas looked towards Beth, who quickly stood to follow her father. "You coming, Cassie?" Rick called out as she opened the door to the garage. Cas stood up after that, taking a long sip of her drink before leaving it on the coffee table to follow after Rick.
He lead the two over to his shelf, digging around in one of the many disorganized boxes on the shelf. He grumbled under his breath as he did so before pulling out a bright pink, glowing stick of chalk. "Here it is," He mumbled. "You know, I collapsed a quantum tesseract to-" Rick began as he walked towards garage door.
"Dad, I don't care how you made it. I want to know if Tommy's still in there!" Beth exclaimed with worry.
"Relax, Beth." Rick said as he used the chalk to draw a door on the garage, which lit up with rainbow colored before showcasing the equally colorful world inside. Cas' eyes widened at that.
"Wow," Cas said as she stepped in, looking around. "Wonder Dad," Cas grinned, looking back at him.
"Thank you for the credit, Cassie," he smirked at her before turning back to his daughter. "About Tommy, if he is, we'll find him. He'll be the only sun bleached skeleton with non-imaginary DNA," Rick commented.
"So, when are you gonna create me my own little pocket world?" Cas teased Rick as Beth looked around the world around them. Rick rose half his brow at her, "I'm just saying. We all know I'm filling a void from a lack of parental attention with this relationship, Rick. If this what you do for your daughter, can't wait to see what your girlfriend gets," She teased and Rick rolled his eyes at that, a slightly amused grin on his face. Cas looped her arm with his, gripping the sleeve of his coat as they walked next to Beth.
"Whatever you want, baby," Rick replied with an equally teasing tone.
"This is a nightmare," Beth interrupted the couple. "I can't believe you used to lock me up in this glorified chicken coop."
"Chicken coop?" Rick exclaimed, "Those are procedurally generated clouds, Beth. That river is a rainbow. Literally. Come on, I-I-I put real elbow grease into this place." Rick motioned to the bright world around them as Cas gave a look of impressment as Beth gave a look of anger.
"Well, you're supposed to put elbow grease into your daughter," Beth snapped and Cas grimaced at that.
"Gross," Rick commented quickly at the phrasing.
"Do you think something ate him?" Beth asked, ignoring her father and Cas.
"Nope. Froopyland creatures were designed to be harmless. He definitely just starved to death." Rick commented, a now bored look on his face as the group of three glanced over a plateau to look around for Tommy.
"I could have been the one who starved to death in here," Beth argued. "What if I had gotten hurt?"
Rick removed his arm from Cas' before speaking, "God, you're right. Well, nothing to live for. Goodbye, cruel world," Rick shouted before tossing himself backwards off the ledge. Beth shouted out in horror, looking over the ledge as Cas calmly walked to the edge, both of them seeing Rick perfectly fine on the bouncy ground. "Oh, how do you like that? What kind of merciless creator makes the ground bouncy? I'm gonna have to drown myself," Rick concluded, getting up to walk over to the river of rainbows.
Beth gave an annoyed look as both her and Cas leaped down, Cas giggling quietly as she landed on her behind, bouncing slightly. "Oh, no. Oh, the water's breathable? Who went and did that?" Rick mocked and Beth huffed at that.
"Oh, whatever," Beth grumbled.
"Yeah, whatever," Rick commented back in an annoyed tone. "A dad makes a toilet look like R2-D2 and it breaks the front page of Reddit, but I'm Charles Manson because I gave you your own world instead of an iPad." Rick snapped as Cas awkwardly stood between the two, glancing back and forth at them. "I think the words you're look for are-" Rick was cut off by a large pterodactyl looking creature gripping his arm. He shouted out in pain as it drew out blood, Cas' eyes widened at that but Beth remained annoyed.
"Holy shit!" Cas yelled, grabbing Rick's other hand to hold him down. She sent a blast towards the creature, only for it to dodge it, tugging on Rick's arm ever more.
"Fuck! This thing has claws!" Rick cried out as the creature slammed him to the ground a few times.
"Yeah, I get it. It's a childproof world," Beth responded with a monotone voice. Cas held on to Rick's hand as the creature tried to fly off, taking Rick with it. Another green blast was flung towards it, the creature barely dodging it. The green energy grazed its right wing making it screech in pain, flying off with Rick still shouting out in pain in its grasp as his hand slipped from Cas'.
"Rick!" She called out before turning to Beth.
"Oh, come on. You've made your point, Dad!" Beth shouted out before another look of realization came to her face as she noticed the worried look on Cas' face. "Dad?" Beth called out again.
"Come on," Cas huffed, turning to follow after the large creature.
"What? It's not like it's my fault that I don't instantly believe him after he's talking about how safe the world is!" Beth argued as she followed after Cas, who rose a brow at that. "Why do you always defend him like this?"
"No, I get that. Trust me when I say I know how difficult he can be," Cas replied, ignoring Beth's last question. "I think he just doesn't like showing emotion and showing that he cares. He tends to lash out when he doesn't get the same attention back but doesn't understand that much how to reciprocate said attention properly. He wants us close but he doesn't want us close to his mess so he pushes us away. So, I believe he's trying to use this Froopyland situation as a way to show he does care for you and did care when you were a child and is getting frustrated you aren't seeing the point he's not doing a very good job of showing." Cas finished as Beth and her began to walk through the forest of Froopyland.
"That doesn't justify locking me up in some glorified prison," Beth argued back.
"Like father, like daughter," Cas mumbled before hearing the sound of Rick grunting out loudly in pain. Cas noticed his arm was missing and crouched down as he pulled one of his multiple devices out, attaching it to the wound. Wisps of Cas' green energy aided the metal arm in attaching to his skin easier and less painfully, Cas offering him a smile as she finished helping.
"Oh, Dad, this is the safest place. Best dad ever," Beth mocked. "Can't you just say, 'I admit it, I screwed up'?" Beth asked as Cas helped Rick stand.
"Uh, what would be the point of that?" Rick asked, furrowing his brow in frustration.
"You can't do it can you? You can't just fucking apologize," Beth chuckled out angrily. Cas stood awkwardly between them, her eyes going back and forth between them.
"Okay, okay, Beth, I'm sorry... you think you deserve an apology," Rick mocked back. Beth went to respond but the sound of the same creature that grabbed Rick stopped her, the three of the all glancing up at it. "Hey, don't look at me. You let your kid roll around on the floor of a target, it's gonna get stepped on," Rick said to the creature, holding his hands up in defense.
"I don't think it cares, Rick," Cas mumbled. Rick held his metal hand out, shooting the creature but saving a small portion of its DNA, pulling it close to him. The hand projected a blue hologram, which made Cas furrow her brows as she looked at what it was saying. "Don't tell me..." She trailed off in slight disgust.
"You'd be correct, Cassie. Here's the problem right here," Rick said, spinning the hologram around. "We've got a bunch of Froopyland procedural carbons all gummed up and mixed in with real human DNA."
"Are you saying Tommy survived here by having sex with Froopy creatures, creating Froopy-human hybrid offspring, and then consuming their proteins, sustaining himself with an endless cycle of cannibalistic incest?" Beth asked and Cas grimaced at that but nodded to confirm Beth's theory.
"It's just a working theory. Of course, if that's the case, I expect he'd be worshiped as a kind of god by a medieval-level society of his least delicious children," Rick said before motioning around them. Cas held her hands up in defense, green wisps on her fingers as all sorts of Froopy creatures surrounded them with weapons.
"Halt! You are now prisoners of our exalted ruler, giver and taker of life, helped and consumer of mortality, dispenser of life-" one of the creatures began.
"Yes, if I could interrupt?" Rick interrupted, "We're way ahead of the reveal here."
"Yeah, can we just go to King Tommy already?" Cas asked.
"All kneel for King Tommy!" One of the Froopy's shouted after blowing a horn.
"I only kneel for one man and his name ain't Tommy," Cas smirked up at Rick, making him snort from where he stood next to her. "I'm not kneeling, either. Suck my dick," Rick snapped towards the creatures. Cas' eyes widened as the purple curtain was pushed open and a blonde man with messy and greasy hair that connected to his equally messy and greasy beard appeared. Cas face was quick to morphed into disgust as he walked forwards, his stench hitting her nose. She smelt some fairly awful things in her life but nothing beat the smell of Tommy as he walked by her.
"Well, hello, all!" Tommy grinned as he walked. "I am the King of Froopyland, but I go by another name, too."
"We know," Beth interrupted, standing back up.
"It's Tommy," Tommy said dramatically.
"We know," Cas, Rick and Beth all said at the same time with the same annoyed tone. Cas almost gagged when Tommy gave her a grin, a look in his eyes she never wanted to see again. Rick glared towards Tommy as Cas took a small step backwards.
"I have lived here since I was a mere child. I suppose you're wondering, how do I sustain myself?" Tommy asked, ignoring the three's side comments. "I always find the theater is the best way to clarify things," Tommy motioned towards another curtain and the three groaned. Yet, they watched the play go by, showing Tommy's side of the story where Beth pushed him into the river of honey because she was 'jealous of his friends, Nintendo and dad who likes him.' That made Cas snort, earning a slightly glare from Beth.
"Hey, I'm allowed to laugh at that. My dad didn't care for me," Cas pointed out before turning back to the play.
"Huh, well, that's interesting," Rick commented as the child that played Beth pushed the child that played Tommy into the fake honey. "Fake news," Beth mumbled as the play then took a rather gross turn, explaining exactly how Tommy was... 'hugging' to sustain himself and pass time.
"Never mind about wanting a pocket world, darlin'," Cas grimaced.
"Perhaps a demonstration is in order," Tommy announced and Cas was quick to hide her head in Rick's shoulder. She didn't care that the blood on his sleeve would stain her skin, the only thing she cared about was not seeing the disgusting demonstration. "No, that is the last thing that is in order!" Beth grimaced, looking away as Rick's face turned to pure disgust, looking down at Cas to avoid the sight.
"Dinner time!" Tommy announced, pulling the child that came out of the creature he just used for his demonstration.
"Alright, that's is. We're outta here," Rick pulled the Froopyland crayon from his pocket, drawing a circle around him and Cas. He grabbed Beth's hand, pulling her down with them. Cas landed on the couch next to Rick, trying to force herself to block the memories from her brain, shaking her head in disgust.
"What are you doing? We're in the middle of an adventure!" Beth asked as Rick stood from the couch and went into the kitchen. Cas sat for a moment before following after.
"Here's some things and adventure needs, Beth. Conflict, stakes, a way for me to benefit, and, clearly, Morty." Rick listed, tossing a soda can to Cas as he reached into his cabinet and pulled out his wafer cookies.
"But Tommy's still in there, raping muppets and eating babies," Beth exclaimed.
"Yep. Luckily, that's not our problem," Rick pointed out and Cas bit her lip at that, more so agreeing with Beth. "Time to pull the plug," Rick shrugged as he tossed a wafer cookie into his mouth.
"Pull the plug? We have to get Tommy out of there, okay?" Beth snapped, grabbing the chalk stick from Rick. "We- We need to do the right thing. Do what you never did as a dad - put in a little effort," Beth argued and Cas followed them into the garage. She agreed with Beth about getting Tommy out of Froopyland but she also saw that it wouldn't go down as Beth hoped. He had become so accustomed to the life in Froopyland that she doubted he'd ever want to come back now. But, a part of her still wanted to do something because after all, she knew what it was like to be helpless as someone attempted to rape her and that's exactly what Tommy forced upon his subjects.
"Alright, cut the high-road routine," Rick said. "We all saw Tommy's shitty play. You pushed him in the Honey Swamp, Beth. His very happy life is in your hands. You go save him from it."
"You're gonna believe a play of a deranged man who's raping his own children over your own child?" Cas asked, raising an eyebrow at that. Rick gave her a look, "Yes, I am, Cas. Because she's not my own daughter."
"Oh, god, yes. I'm one of infinite Beths with infinite fathers in an infinite universe," Beth mocked. "It's called a hug, Dad, it won't kill you."
"Yeah, don't be so sure. You know why all Ricks made a Froopyland for all their little girls? Same reason I wasn't surprised by Tommy's overwritten, badly structured, cheaply produced flashback. You were a scary fucking kid, man," Rick explained, taking a sip from his own drink. "I didn't make Froopyland to get rid of you, Beth. I did it to protect the neighborhood. Not in a *burp* noble sense. It was just more practical to sequester you before I had to start, you know, cloning a replacement for every less than polite little boy or gullible animal that might cross your socio-path."
"You would rather believe I'm evil than admit you were a bad father?" Beth asked, crossing her arms.
"Oh, dude, no. Bad father all the way to the max over here. I'm a fucking nutcase and the acorn plopped straight down, baby," Rick accused. "Look at some of the shit you were asking me to make you as a kid. Ray guns, a whip that forces people to like you, invisibility cuffs, a parent trap, a lightning gun, a teddy bear with anatomically correct innards, night-vision googly-eye glasses, sound-erasing sneakers, false fingerprints," Rick continued to pull things from a rather old box as list them off as he did so. Cas rose her brow towards Beth, who watched with an unreadable face.
"Has it occurred to you that I asked you to make those things because I wanted you to spend time with me?" Beth asked as Cas pushed herself up on to Rick's workbench, choosing not to intervene this time. "Has it occurred to you that if I did try killing Tommy, it might be because I was jealous of his family?"
"Wait, what, why? Wasn't his dad like some kind of cannibal? Seems like it's hereditary," Rick asked and Cas rose a brow, "Smartest man in the multiverse here," Cas mumbled to herself.
"Oh my god, this is your fault! I am not a bad person. I'm gonna go back in there, I'm getting Tommy and I'm fixing this!" Beth snapped, grabbing the box and drawing on the garage with the chalk before disappearing.
"Whatever you say, Stone Cold Steve Austin," Rick chuckled as she left. His gaze turned to Cas, who still sat awkwardly on the bench. "What?" He asked when he noticed her eyebrow raise.
"You know, for the smartest man in the multiverse, you can be quite a dumbass," Cas pointed out and Rick rose half his brow at that. "Remember the first Christmas I was here for? And I told you I had daddy issues and you choked on your food?" Cas asked.
"W-w-what does that have to do with this?"
"Before that, I told you I blamed myself for my dad leaving and then for when he came back and didn't want me," Cas reminded him. "That's what Beth is feeling, Rick. She felt unwanted because you left and when you came back you showed little affection towards her. Granted, you show far more affection than my father did and I know it's not entirely your fault, you still need to at least be a dad even if she's grown up. I don't think she knows how to accept or show affection very well because of it and while I didn't get that from my own experiences, I still know what she's going through... so, I'm gonna side with her on this." Cas shrugged, jumping off Rick's workbench.
"That's not, that's not how I do things, Cassie," Rick pointed out. "You of all people should know that."
"Oh, I do. I know better than anyone. Which is why I'm still siding with Beth." Cas smiled, putting her arms around his neck as she stepped towards him. "Plus, you should more affection. It's a good look on you," She smiled, kissing his cheek before leaving the garage.
Rick sighed, sitting back into his chair as he sipped from his drink.
Cas didn't hear from either of them until Beth and Rick walked back into the house through the front door. She spent the day watching TV instead of helping Rick and Beth clone Tommy. Cas felt it was something better left between the two of them so Beth could have time with her father without Cas third-wheeling. She had been in the middle of making herself a sandwich when the two walked in the kitchen. She offered Rick a small, soft smile as he went to go back into the garage. "Dad?" Beth called out and Cas watched Rick stop and turn back to Beth. "I feel like I've spent my life pretending you're a great guy and trying to be like you and the ugly truth has always been-"
"That I'm not that great a guy and you're exactly like me," Rick finished.
"Am I evil?" Beth asked, following Rick into the garage. Cas didn't follow, instead she listened to the conversation from the kitchen, snacking on the sandwich.
"Worse. You're smart," Rick pointed out. "When you know nothing matters, the universe is yours. And I've never met a universe that was into it. The universe is basically an animal. It grazes on the ordinary. It creates infinite idiots just to eat them, not unlike your friend, Timmy." Rick said, only for Beth to correct him. "Yeah, it hardly matters now, sweetie. You know, smart people get a chance to climb on top, take reality for a ride, but it'll never stop trying to throw you. And eventually it will. There's no other way off. It's why Cas doesn't show her intelligence much. She's smart as all hell but she hides it because she knows just as much as I do that the universe isn't kind to smart people."
"Dad, I'm out of excuses to not be who I am. So, who am I? What do I do?" Beth asked and Cas set her sandwich down at that.
"My advice - take off. Put a saddle on your universe. Let it kick itself out," Rick shrugged and Cas furrowed her brows from the kitchen. She felt her stomach drop at how casually he even spoke about it.
"I can't do that!" Beth responded. "The kids, Jerry, my job, and, as much as I'd hate to admit it, ABC's 'The Bachelor.'" Beth rambled until Rick was quick to interrupt her.
"I can make a clone of you, a perfect instance of you, with all your memories." Rick said, "An exact copy in every way. It'll love and provide for the kids, do your job, and consume broadcast-network reality TV on the same allegedly ironic level as you. You could be gone a day, a week, or the rest of your life with zero consequences. The moment you decide to come back, I flip a switch, and the clone's job is done. It feels no pain, it regrets nothing, and has zero chance of going 'Blade Runner'."
"If nothing matters, why would do that for me?" Beth asked, breaking a brief moment of silence.
"I don't know, maybe you matter so little that I like you. Or maybe it makes you matter. Maybe I love you," Rick shrugged. "Maybe Cas really has made me soft. Maybe I love her too. Don't jump a gift shark in the mouth," Rick grumbled and Cas leaned back against the kitchen counter for a moment as Beth walked back in. She didn't even pay attention to what they were talking about for a brief moment as her own thoughts raced.
He was so casual about it and for some reason it didn't sit right with her. Cas had a million reasons to doubt Rick and quite honestly she had a million more to just leave her self, yet, she never did. She had gotten so attached to Rick that everything about her revolves around him. Her emotions shut down when he had turned himself in and she had let herself be swallowed up by his... toxicity. She knew he cared for her. There was never and would never be a doubt in Cas' mind that Rick Sanchez cared for her, despite how little he verbalized it. Yet, sometimes Cas couldn't help but question it and hearing how nonchalantly he mentioned Beth leaving made her worry that what if he was one day that nonchalant about leaving her?
"Okay," Beth's voice cut her thoughts off and Cas looked up to the two of them. "I know what I want to do," Beth decided before turning back to Rick.
As Beth told Rick her decision, for only a moment, Cas felt doubt in Rick for the first time.