#buckshot roulette fanfiction | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cherryfairytwist · 6 months ago

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Ch12 BuckShot Ricklette RickFic

(Tags: gore, violence, substance use, death)

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Booming music radiated throughout the space causing every solid surfaces to vibrate. Dark techno house music was the theme.

It was harder to see but the endless amount of black light, stage lasers and colorful blinking lights from the fully packed rave left a dull hue to the area. Astrid stood, head down, leaning against a wall near the back open bar where Rick happily helped himself to multiple cups of booze. An annoyed Summer stood next to him helping balance the solo cups from tipping over off his arm.

“C-come on Rick… I thought y-you said this was an important mission w-where we were going incognito… I don’t think this is looking very incognito..” Morty brought up after waiting around nearby for about ten minutes while Rick had downed about twelve drinks already.

Astrid stood sipping a single red solo cup trying to calm her irritated nerves after having been blindsided by Rick two hours ago. She had just gotten back to her apartment after work when he sent her portalling through her door mat, landing her in the back of his ship on the way to some undisclosed location.

“S-shut up Morty. We’ll all go INCOGNITO when I say we’ll go INCOGNITO.” Rick hissed back at him continuing to add to his drink count and snatching stray cups out of Summer’s hands.

Summer rolled her eyes and stopped trying to help seeing as Rick was already clearly in a mood that night.

Astrid nervously shifted against the wall feeling paranoia sneak into her thoughts. She mulled over his specific wording and attitude wondering if he was subtly trying to mess with her. Had he known about her visiting Cognito Inc. a few days ago..? No, surely not.. it was just the familiar location of the rave causing her upset. Had he known the significance of where they were right now..? No… of course Rick wouldn’t know this planet’s familiarity to Astrid.. It being one of the lesser party planets in the galaxy where her old job, “The Room”, was located on the red light district moon. How would he know…? But what if he did know..? What would he possibly be pulling by bringing her here for a mission? She shook the paranoia away convincing herself it was very unlikely the case. She was simply anxious knowing people around these parts might recognize her. And she couldn’t just shift her whole form in front of the Smiths… She was in a tight spot. Many crime groups ran in circles in this galaxy, some being friends with her old boss, Glacks. While navigating the crowd earlier she had managed to shift her facial features and angles that were opposite of whatever side Rick and the Smith siblings were on in hopes of not being caught using her abilities. She still attempted though in hopes of still hiding herself from outside watchers in the crowd. It had gotten harder through out the night to do since Rick seemed to be acting awfully erratic and irritated around her. Popping up and maneuvering to different spots around her as if secretly checking. Spouting off something cryptic in an irritated tone. Finally she had gotten some peace when his attention had been taken by the bar.

“W-what? y-you ganna sulk there all night? Y-You look like a w-wilting w- *burp* -wallflower.” He mocked at her while quickly finishing off the batch of drinks he had acquired.

She grimaced at his attitude that had persisted since she landed in his back seat late that evening while teleporting her along with his grandkids on a mission without any warning.

“W-what’s the matter..? W-Why do you seem so n-nervous? We’re at a party after all!” He snickered at her before throwing all his used cups away.

“I’m just a bit tired.. you showed up without warning and didn’t even ask if I was up for a mission.” Astrid said back trying to sound agreeable but finding her attitude slightly slip out.

She had literally just gotten back from her trip the Cognito that same day. Her social battery was running low and she had history papers to grade still.

“Yeah grandpa it’s rude how you keep barging in on Astrid.. it’s already hard to handle you doing it being family, but she doesn’t even live with us! It’s called BOUNDARIES grandpa. You should learn about them.” Summer said with a huff trying to side with Astrid while trying to bounce to the beat of the room.

“O-oh Jeez! E-Excuse me but I thought y-your little f- *burp*-friend said she could haAAng! T-That means being able to d-drop at a moments notice to deal with some B-BIG things!” He turned to look back at Astrid, “Ss-s-so unless this is you tapping out then-“ Rick rubbed in trying to get a rise from her before being cut off.

“I can hang. But just like your cheery little self, I never promised I had to be all smiles and giggles when Im “HANGING”.” Astrid said with a tone that mocked Rick’s.

“W-whatever. Suits me just fine. Here.” He said suddenly with an indifferent tone as he handed each of them a wireless earpiece.

They all took one and put them in their ears as they followed Rick into the more dense part of the crowd.

“A-alright so tonight w-we are going to be splitting up and doing some s-*burp*- solo missions. H-here Morty, take this bag of crystals. Go through the venue and try to get people to buy some. Tell them whatever bull shit- that it’s better than the drugs here- whatever floats their boat just get some of em in circulation- oh- and sell it at half the normal price.” He said while handing Morty a worn cloth bag.

“S-Sum Sum, I-I need you to go pick up a small p-package I ordered from a guy here in the club. H-He’ll be somewhere near the bar or smoking section, so keep close attention in-in those areas.” He said while handing her a pice of paper, “S-show him that once he asks you the phrase: “The weather is quite hot in Jube-Jube this season.” “ he explained to her with squinted eyes emphasizing the importance in a whispered tone.

“A-and last but not least,” he said while turning to smugly look at Astrid, “I’ll need you to do a little g-gathering intel assignment. G-gangsters run this party Warehouse and have been slowly getting guests hooked on this special drug of their’s making everyone get addicted so they come back and perpetually- kind of- make them party till they die. It’s a quick way for them to drain as many people of their assets as possible and sell some of them who haven’t died into slavery since they are in debt.” Rick rambled on for a bit giving context.

Astrid faked a face of surprise knowing full well what went on in this place. She felt a little relief thinking about how she knew her way around the place and could easily do a stealth mission is she was only expected to gather intel. Hell, she could even just party it up and pretend like she got intel and just come back to Rick and tell him bits and pieces of things she already knew.

“W-wait what?! They actually are doing t-that kind of thing here…? It looks like such a f-fun party..” Morty looked around nervously having the weight of the situation hit him.

“So…. You just want me to listen to what people are saying in the crowd about them-?” Astrid assumed before Rick cut her off.

“No-no. I’m ganna need you to go u- *burp* -up to the lofts in the u-upper floors and sneak around their offices. Obviously I-I want you to report back with a-any intel you can find. Y-your real main objective is to try and secure a rare jewel that the boss has. It’s the main ingredient in their drug so we need to get that from them.” He explained with an amused face knowing he had given her a task no normal earthling could take on.

Astrid remained calm in the face of Rick trying not to give him the satisfaction of protesting. However she couldn’t help but cast a quick glance around the venue checking once more if any familiar faces might have recognized her. She knew the mission he gave her was going to put her in an extremely difficult position. Seeing as how she knew a few of the gangsters and the boss he spoke of. There was no way she could let her identity be found out by them or Glacks would definitely hear about it later. She bit the inside of her lip nervously thinking about what kind of problems that could cause for her later if it got back to the Agency.

“C-cat still got your tongue…? Hello! Earth to Astrid.” He said getting a little annoyed and stepping up to her.

“Sorry- But why am I being given a mission of such importance..? Isn’t it still a little soon to be giving me something this big..?” She said attempting so play the unprepared card.

Before either of the Smith siblings where able to come to her aid in arguing, Rick bluntly replied, “W-what? Selling yourself short now..? You’ve been crushing every adventure we’ve been on so far. A-actually you did exceptionally well for just a HUMAN. I-I really don’t see the problem.” Rick replied frankly leaving Astrid little opportunity to protest.

Astrid quickly glanced around the venue again once more before freezing up feeling Rick’s face close to her ear, “I’ve seen the security footage from the Bank. You’ll be fine.” He said in a sultry whisper before quickly stepping away as if nothing happened.

Astrid shot him a concerned glare not quite knowing how to respond without bringing more attention to the subject in front of the siblings. The music was awfully loud so they might not have heard him. She glanced over at them seeing that they were hardly paying attention while in the large crowd. Both of them had managed to find themselves rave accessories to wear from kind strangers partying around them.

“U-uh so what will you be doing while here R-Rick..?” Morty loudly asked trying to be heard over the crowd.

“I-I’m waiting on an informant- “friend” of mine..I’ll be blending in-into the party and scanning the crowd. W-We all need to b-blend in and p-party for a bit just so it doesn’t look suspicious when we separate. J-just in case anyone is watching the crowd…. I’m going to go get more drinnnnnnks!!” He hollered trying to get hype again and let lose.

While Rick left the crowd to head towards the bar Summer scooted over closer to Morty and Astrid to chat, “Of course granddad just brought us here so he could party while we do his chores.” She said in a huff.

“Typical.” Morty replied unamused while Astrid agreed silently giving them a quick smile.

Astrid tried to loosen up but felt her heart pumping knowing she shouldn’t be anywhere near this place in a long time. Her mind still raced wondering what Rick was up to and why his attitude seemed to have changed toward her so drastically since the last she saw him. They seemed to have finally gotten off on the right foot just to loop back around to this? While deep in thought she barley noticed when Summer turned to a stranger in the crowd but her attention snapped back once she spoke,

“Heyyy~ You got any drugs on you?” She asked in a playful tone, “I’m stone cold sober right now and wanting to feel the music!” She said now more enthusiastically.

“Oh yeah girl?! Check these out…!” The blue multi armed alien said while opening his jacket to present different pockets full of substances.

“Wait Summer that’s-“ Astrid tried to intervene but the music was too loud.

“Oh I know what this stuff is! I’ll take some of the Kalaxian dust if you don’t mind?” Summer said reaching out to point at a pink crystal like powder in a clear baggy.

Before Astrid could protest again, Morty just shook his head at her while Summer proceeded to snort a line of the dust off a compact mirror the alien had, “Don’t worry. S-she’s done this stuff before with Rick.” Morty said almost disappointedly.

Summer turned back to them with a smile, her eyes already changing to a blue color and a smile creeping across her face. Just as Astrid was about to worry, Morty pulled out a pill bottle and popped on in his mouth. Astrid looked at the two of them in surprise by their sudden drug usage.

“W-what are you two doing…?! Doing drugs in a place like this is dangerous..! They are literally trafficking people here- what if that was spiked?!” Astrid whispered to them worried.

“Astrid… I’m not worried cause grandpa is literally right over there. If something bad happens Rick will be back soon and he’d know what to do. If he wants me to do chores at a RAVE- I’m definitely not doing it sober.” She said casually looking around the venue seeming to enjoy herself more with the drugs kicking in.

Astrid sighed realizing Summer had a point even if she didn’t agree with her reckless approach to it. She looked down at Morty hoping for some kind of explanation from him as well. Morty chuckled looking back at her with now slightly pink eyes.

“D-don’t worry…! It’s aesthetics mostly. R-Rick made me some “temporary chill pills” specifically for-for occasions like t-this to blend in. They just have a calming effect..while making me look high. L-Like red eyes and s-sluggish speech. I’m r-really not I-impaired in any other way r-right now.” He said with a laugh now that his anxiety wasn’t bothering him.

“Jeez okay… I guess that’s a little better. You doing drugs for fun just seemed way out of character.” Astrid laughed now realizing he was in no real harm from it.

Just then Rick stumbled back to them from the bar, already inebriated from who knows what. His eyes were a green hue, a pink liquid was dripping from the corner of his mouth and he smelled strongly of alcohol and smoke. In his now carefree mood he started to dance about in the crowd near by. Taking his cue they all started to dance about as to finally start blending in with the festivities. Astrid followed the kid’s lead by discretely taking random accessories from crowd goers in order to blend in. Astrid peaked to see the siblings now were enjoying themselves just like their grandfather. Astrid’s attention was brought back to Rick as he got carried away dancing. He attempted to back it up and twirk in front of her. Before she could even react her spun around and reached out to grab a hold of Morty next to her. Ruffling up his hair annoyingly in a playful way,

“I’m p-partying hard now man! T-this is w-what you call b-blending in baby!” He hooted over the crowd as strangers started to hype him up.

He continued on dancing, drawing a small bit of fans of his vibe around to him. Summer also seemed to be making a few friends as well.

Trying to keep up appearances Astrid continued to dance hoping she wouldn’t get distracted laughing at Morty’s embarrassed reaction or Rick’s continued antics.

“A-alright. Testing. Testing. One- two- oh yeaaaaaahhhhhhh.” Rick said obnoxiously through the headset after turning it on discreetly.

The siblings and Astrid whinced at the sudden loud voice of Rick coming through their ear pieces. And all chuckled now that his mood seemed to turn positive.

“O-okay s-so you guys saw the bar- and the smoking den earlier… s-so that’s where you- Morty and Sum Sum will need to be around tonight. A-Astrid you- *burp* need to be up those stairs-“ he quickly shot her a glance from the crowd and pointed flamboyantly over at a staircase on the back wall as if he was dancing.

“-up t-there are the lofts a-and office spaces the g-gangsters hang out in. Keep out o-of sight but get me that crystal. It-It looks….like a dark purple prism.” He said into the headset while turning back to look as though he was dancing with various strangers.

Astrid swallowed hard, she knew the exact crystal Rick was speaking about. It was the head gangster, Labardous’ favorite ring. It matched the exact description Rick had just described. The boss wore it at all times. She started to sweat wondering how the hell she was going to get it without being spotted and with no previous mission prep for the job. Her contemplation was interrupted by more of Rick’s voice in the ear piece.

“T-There are some b-back rooms behind the stage and some… unconventional things-f- freaky sex stuff- goes on back there- and I don’t normally judge, cause w-who am I to talk but...” He explained as he quickly shot a glance at Astrid that she had barely noticed before looking away again.

“That’s not r-really where y-you all need to go- I-if you get lost or n-need to hide just know that’s what’s going on over there. Once you each have accomplished y-your mission, continue to “party” for a bit to keep up appearances. T-Then meet back up with the rest of us at the ship w-where we parked it in the field behind the warehouse.” He said finally concluding his run down.

He spun around a few time to check and nod, looking over at the siblings making sure they heard him.

“I-I’ll turn off the headset channels once we all leave the crowd. J-just adjust the notch on the s-side of the ear piece to get the different channels c-corresponding to the other ear pieces. I’m c-channel #1, the group channel is #2, Su-Summer is channel #3, Morty is #4, and A-Astrid you will be #5. If you need help or h-have questions call in one of those.” He said assuredly before going back to party in the crowd.

The music continued to cycle through two new songs after more time went on. Getting into the dance a little, Astrid turned back around and bumped into the erratically dancing Rick who seemed to have looped back in the crowd to check on them in person. He lightly brushed up to her side as he squeezed against her and a stranger in the crowd, craning his neck down to whisper at the kids directly behind her.

“Ha! H-Holy shit I-I heard from some people that the b-basement here has some CRAZY stuff going on down there. I’ve heard rumors..b-but now I-I’m really curious!” He said eagerly while bumping his head to the beat in a now drunken manner.

Astrid felt something cold on her leg and looked down. She saw it was his open flask brushing against her in his hand. She looked back up to see a bit of whatever alcohol dripping from the corner of his mouth. She tried to lower her gaze when his head swiveled to look at her, his amused but glazed over eyes searching the direction of her face.

“T-they got some gambling g-going on- BUT- but they apparently h-have a “risk it all” room. Apparently t-that’s where everyone goes to play fucked up games t-that risk their lives and shit f-for money! S-stuff like a-a poison survival game, R-Russian roulette, knife throwing, l-life size darts, their equivalent to a-a shark tank, a “who bleeds out first” game, and-and some final- FINAL crazy game that no one will talk about b-but apparently it’s the b-biggest b-baddest bitch of them all …and it’s the hardest to win!” He said rambling eagerly.

Summer replied with a grimace, “Oh great so that’s how they get rid of their old hooked junkies?”

Rick’s looked soured slightly as he replied annoyed, “J-just don’t think about it that hard S-summer. Once we steal t-this crystal and perfect a b-better version of the drug- this place will be out of business.” He sad confidently while shaking out his lab coat.

Astrid also spoke up about the basement in a concerned tone, “Rick… You really shouldn’t go down there.”

He rolled his eyes and leaned his arm up against her shoulder to steady himself, “J-Jumpy *burp*-tonight are we? A little fun n-never hurt anybody. Y-You really that worried about me..?” He whispered to her, “Didn’t take you for the sentimental type.” He said sarcastically with a grin.

Attempting to play off her nerves and keep up the act she replied, “.. you’re telling me to go steal from a gangster while you joke about wanting to risk your life in some filthy basement. What else am I supposed to say?”

Rick unamused, looked back at her suggesting he didn’t believe the act one bit and not wanting to think about her passive aggressive comment, “T-The gangster is an animal. If you get in a tight spot just do what you do best.”

He handed her a laser gun discreetly in the crowd, “I think y-you’ll be just fine. If a-anything goes south we’ll be in the same building. That’s why we have the headsets.” He said doubling down once again and tapping the ear piece in her ear.

Astrid looked up after taking the gun and noticed Summer had already slipped off into the crowd towards her own side mission. Rick, getting even closer to her and whispered before Morty noticed,

“Want me to g-get you a drink so y-you can calm down?” He said as a pointed jest but with a suggestive tone from behind her, practically breathing on her neck.

Astrid turned her head to look at him realizing he really was awfully close. His arms continued to brush up against her’s in the tight crowd. A chill ran down her spine feeling as though she needed to distrust any ploy he was using.

Astrid fully turned to look at him uncomfortably replying, “I’m fine.” As she brushed away from him to leave.

Morty scooted by strangers near by to stop her before leaving the crowd.

“H-hey if y-you’re feeling nervous about your mission y-you could watch my back… ya know….while I start my mission. Then I-I could come help y-you with your mission later.” He smiled sweetly up at her still looking high out of his mind.

She smiled back at him trying not to laugh at his goofy expression, “Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks Morty.”

Rick jabbed irritatedly, “H-Have FUN. I’m getting another drink with the o-other ADULTS.” Before storming off.

Morty and Astrid slowly disappeared into the back of the crowd as Rick v lined his way back to the side bar next to the stage. While shoving past others, Astrid felt the heat in her cheeks rise from embarrassment after Rick’s comment. Why was he being so conflicting tonight?

Once both her and Morty went into the smoking den he pulled out the bag of crystals Rick gave him and slightly opened it, exposing a light blue hue from them. He leaned up against a wall facing the rest of the den, holding the bag casually out in front of him below waist level and resting it against his hip for people passing by to notice.

“I-I’ve notice t-this is the quickest way to get people to come buy y-ya know? I-It’s better than running around a-acting like a-a pest or-or something asking if people want to buy.” HE stammered trying to explain himself.

“I see…” Astrid said awkwardly feeling a bit uncomfortable knowing Rick had his grandson selling drugs, and apparently this hadn’t been the first time.

“Man… Rick h-has been a pain in the ass the l-last couple of days. H-He’s been more irritable than usual and he e-even seemed to have been doing better recently..” Morty suddenly brought up in frustration.

“I noticed that too.. I thought he was mad at me or something… what do you think has him acting up?” Astrid asked curiously.

“W-well Rick has been trying to hunt down the location of this guy- his sworn enemy- for like.. a LONG time now.. m-maybe he thought he was getting closer to finding out s-something but didn’t..? He’ll lock himself up a lot more in the garage lately- and won’t let Summer or me in.” He admitted starting to sound disheartened.

“Do you know who he’s hunting?” Astrid asked.

“I-it’s kind of a long story- that I also don’t know as much about either. It has to do with some family stuff…l-like my late grandmother.” He replied awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck.

Astrid nodded and changed the topic suddenly feeling bad and not wanting to pry, “So how invasive is Rick when it comes to him wanting to find out about someone or something normally…?”

Morty laughed sarcastically and said, “Rick will find out everything about anyone he feels like and will go to insane lengths to get that information.”

Astrid paused to think about what she would ask next but ultimately decided to go for it, “do you think he’s looking into who I am?” She asked calmly.

Morty seemed confused by the question having not anticipated the direction the conversation had gone in. He too paused to think.

“Y-yeah I guess… I mean after all t-those skills you pulled out on our previous adventures… h-he hasn’t really said anything about it to us. Other than when he’s b-bitching about it to you…So I’m guessing he didn’t find a-anything crazy.” He said putting the pieces together and getting quiet again.

Astrid then stood in silence after a few more minutes went by while people came to and from Morty buying drugs.

“Morty, do you think I’m someone who should be looked into?” She asked again while leaning up against the wall next to him.

“ well….” He replied trying to think about his words. “Y-you are kind of odd for an human teacher…but I- I’ve seen all kinds of things honestly. I-I don’t think I’m like Rick in that aspect. I don’t need to know e-everything about everyone. J-Just how you’ve treated me and Summer has told me enough I think. I-i don’t think you’re like Tammy.. M-maybe I’m being naive and stupid by not thinking about it too much… b-but that’s okay because I don’t care. I think I trust you Astrid.” He paused and looked up at her “W-we’re friends right?”

Astrid got quiet and looked away, “That’s an interesting way to look at it.” she said touched by Morty’s rather sweet honesty and forced a smile back at him, “Yeah Morty, we’re friends.”

She paused and looked around the bar,

“I think I’m going to go start on my side mission. I’ll call you on the communicator when I find a spot we could meet at upstairs.”

“Got it! S-see you soon!” He said as he turned to another customer coming to greet him.

As she was leaving she ran into Summer waiting for the package. Summer mindlessly chewed on a toothpick as Astrid caught her eye.

“Hey!” She pulled Astrid in to whisper to her. “If you’re feeling nervous about your side mission we could just trade. I won’t tell grandpa.”

Astrid thought about it and started to realize Rick would know, he might even be keeping tabs on all of them right now. She thought about how maybe Rick had been keeping tabs on her this whole time and considered the comments he made to her earlier.

“I’ll be okay Summer, just first time jitters. I wanna prove I can hang just fine.” She said with resolve.

“Okay just know you can ask me anything on the communicator if you want, so like you don’t have to feel dumb asking Rick while he’s clearly in a mood.” Summer insisted.

“Thanks that might really come in handy..” Astrid said keeping up appearances. “I’m going to get started, I’ll see you later.” Astrid said and walked off towards a set of metal stairs that coiled towards the upper levels of the warehouse.

As she went through the crowd she seamlessly picked off more clothing items, accessories and makeup items from the individuals in the crowd without being noticed and quickly added them to her outfit to help her blend in and hide her identity. This way maybe if caught she could claim to be just a simple inebriated raver who adventured into the wrong part of the party. And so Rick couldn’t see her shifting if he happened to be monitoring somehow. She then practiced fake voices as she got closer to the top of the stairs. But right as she reached the top, she scanned the crowd below looking for Rick. She stood watching the crowd meticulously until her eyes caught a glimpse of blue spiked hair moving through the crowd towards the warehouse basement door.

“He wouldn’t….. would he…!?” She muttered to herself as she watched but then felt herself dart down the stairs back down to the floor level.

She rushed and shoved her way through the crowd trailing behind Rick.

“What is he doing?!” She angrily whispered to herself. “Is he really going to go risk his life in some games for money while his literal grandkids are here doing errands for him?!” She huffed under her breath.

Once in the basement Astrid could see what the different betting games were. Like creature fighting, small races, cards, shitty jackpot machines, trashy mini booths like in a carnival, games of chance etc. She scanned the room, Rick still nowhere in sight. She stopped to ask one of the booth runners if they had seen him,

“Uh.. has an older man with spiked blue hair come through here?” She asked to a yellow and purple spotted alien that had a similar resemblances to the Dreamworks’ Shrek.

He chewed on some type of crystal, eyes hazy and puffy, “Err- yeahhh… I think he went to go “risk it all”.” He said nodding his head in the direction of a long dark hallway at the back of the basement room. “You might want to hurry cause the dealer only plays one on one games.. you’ll be lucky to see him if he gets out of there alive.” He laughed desensitized to the situation.

Astrid nodded in thanks to the man and went to follow down the hall. She quickly kept up her pace as she traveled a decent distance in the darkness. The hall was extremely long and only had a small bit of an ominous glow from the door that awaited her. Once close, she saw the words “Risk It All” in chicken scratch like graffiti on the door. She sighed in annoyance expecting a hassle was definitely on the other side. She opened the door and went in. To her surprise it looked as if she was underneath the rave warehouse dance floor. After a few seconds of her eyes adjusting she could see that the dance floor was made up of a one way mirror. She could see thousands of feet, cups, trash and various other items like change all ontop of the glass. She quickly looked around the room to see it was empty but saw another door all the way at the back of room ahead of her.

“Well this is kind of … weird..” she muttered to herself.

She continued on but scanned the crowd from below to see if she could spot either of the siblings. She could still hear the booming music as she got closer to the next door, she paused once she thought she caught a glimpse of Summer in the crowd.

“Jeez I need to hurry then if Summer is already done with her mission now.” She noted to herself before opening the next door.

The door also had something written one it, “It’s not too late to turn back”

The door opened up to a stairwell leading back upwards, but it seemed to lead up to somewhere above the ground floor. She sighed again thinking about how bazar this Risk game must be making people go through all this to get there. She momentarily shifted her eyes to ones that could spot if there were heat signatures or cameras in the area. Once nothing was spotted she rushed up the stairs at superhuman pace not wanting to waist time. Once at the top of the stairs she saw another door with the words “Don’t turn back now” written on them in the same way as the others.

She started to pick up a weird vibe causing her to open the door with caution. She opened it to find it lead to a short metal walkway in the rafters right above the rave. The music boomed even lower below. She paused to compose herself, looking down to see Summer was in fact in the crowd dancing below. She also looked over to see the loft area she was supposed to be investigating was close by, only a little bit of scaling in the metal beams close by and she’d be able to reach it in no time. She sighed in relief realizing she wouldn’t have to waist time going back the way she came. But why was there only one isolated room all the way up here away from all the other lofts..? She followed the short metal walkway to another door that had the words, “Good luck” on it in small letters right above the handle. She clenched her fist knowing Rick had to be behind the door. She kicked out her leg with an aggressive weight, kicking with her whole weight inward through her foot as the door swung inward.

“What-*OOF*” Rick let out a startled breath as Astrid and the door slammed into the back of him.

“Oh my gosh, Rick? I’m so sorry I didn’t-“ Astrid quickly apologized before Rick interrupted.

“W-what the fuck are y-you doing here? G-get t-the fuck out! Can’t y-you see I’m in the middle of something..?” He complained while catching his breath, blood splatters on his skin and lab coat rubbing off on Astrid’s top a little.

“Oh my god did I….?” Astrid asked in surprise dapping the blood thinking she hit Rick with the door too hard.

“Ha! You wish. N-No that’s not from you.” Rick said plainly before turning back to a table in front of him.

After Astrid’s eyes adjusted again realizing what was going on. The space was small and cramped, random stereos and lighting boards lined the brick walls of the room. Other various lighting and sound equipment hung from the low hanging metal rafters on the ceiling. An overly wide pool table with white markings sat in the middle of the room taking up most of the space. Leaving very little standing room away from the door. Astrid shut the door behind her in order to make more space but was met with a disapproving glare from Rick. Something about the room felt too familiar… but how? She had never been here before she thought. She then looked to the opposite side of the table to see who this supposed “dealer” was. She was met with the sight of a wide round pale face with hollow dark eye sockets. She felt an unnerving energy in the room as she then looked down to see his wide gaping mouth full of tightly packed thin metal razor teeth that barely all fit in his mouth. His soulless expression looked back at her silently. A chill ran down her spine. She recognized him. But yet again, could not recall from where.

“S-sorry to interrupt… she whispered to the dealer hoping to not come across as rude but then turned back to Rick, “What the hell are you doing…?! You have your grandkids running around doing errands for you at an undercover drug den while you’re up here risking your life for shits and giggles.” She furiously whispered to Rick.

As she looked back at Rick she noticed the blood splatter on him better now as well as what looked like bullet wounds. Her eyes went wide realizing this. She then looked down to see a shotgun was on the pool table as well as a few various bloody crusted objects.

“W-what’s going on here….?” She asked bewildered.

“Calm down it’s fine. Y-you- don’t you have somewhere to be right now..? O-or did you already give up on y-your assignment?” He groaned at her, eyebrows twitching in irritation.

“No-fuck you Rick! What are YOU even doing right now?! You’re covered in blood! You’ve been shot!! Aren’t you supposed to be-“ Astrid yelled at him while grabbing at his lab coat and shaking him in a mix of anger and worry before he roughly shoved her hands away from him.

He groaned and replied, “I have countless b-backup clones in the garage to upload my consciousness in-into. Con-Consequences mean nothing to me.”

Astrid replied, “W-what the fuck? this is just normal for you? You’re just cool with that? How many times have you traumatized the kids like this Rick?!”

“W-why do you even care?! Y-You literally tagged along on all our other a-adventures knowing that’s basically what this was.” Rick raised his voice back at her not backing down.

“What is up with you…?! why are you acting like this?! I thought we had come to an understanding the other night!” She said upset and confused.

Rick got quiet and then snickered, “Yeah w-well I had a lot of time to think about all the things we DIDN’T talk about that night. B-But don’t you worry, we have a CRYSTAL clear understanding now.”

Astrid in shock wondered if he might have found out something on her, she spun him around interrupting his game again to make him look at her directly. He grimaced but stood there looking down at her. Because of the tight space they almost stood nose to nose.

“C-Calm down. I still d-don’t know enough of what you’re assuming. Like I said…I saw the footage at the bank. T-That’s enough to make anyone with a braincell understand y-you’re more than you appear. B-besides your little nose parlor trick.” He shouldered against her roughly while turning, attempting to go back to playing.

She shouldered back against him harder causing him to get out of the way, leaving her standing in his spot in front of the table. Turning to look the dealer in the face she demanded, “Put me in the game to take his place.”

“H-Hey….!” Rick attempted to protest grabbing her arm to pull her away.

“So what that I’m more than I appear..? It doesn’t mean I wasn’t honest when we talked.” She insisted still standing her ground and not budging from the spot.

“C-can we just talk a-about this later?! And- HE ONLY PLAYS ONE ON ONE GAMES!” Rick protested referring to the dealer now more insistent.

From across the table the dealer cleared his throat, a dark guttural sound came from his mouth as he did this. Both Rick and Astrid looked up in anticipation at him.

“I’ll allow it.” He said in a deep hollow machine like voice.

“A-are you kidding me?! F-fuck no! T-This is my game!! Keep her out of it!” Rick yelled at him outraged as Astrid smiled triumphantly.

“I’ll allow it- temporarily…” he corrected, causing Rick to quiet down and listen to what he had to say, “She may play a few rounds for you since she interrupted our game if she agrees to the rules I’m implementing for it.” He said unbothered.

“Perfect! Agreed.” Astrid chirped back delighted.

“Fine.” Rick said with a groan.

After Rick proceeded to explain to Astrid the basics of the game and how all the items worked she seemed to catch on fast. Going on to complete three incredibly risky rounds, he couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed. Even he had lost at least one round resulting in him being shot. She even managed to turn the shot gun on the dealer quite a few times. But mysteriously after the dealer had been shot , he would stand back up seeming to recover each time even though he was covered in blood.

“W-what even is this game…?” Astrid couldn’t help but ask wondering more about it having come in late and still not knowing the full extent of it.

“An overly complicated version of Russian Roulette basically…” Rick said with a grin now having eased up on Astrid, “The monitor- over there- k-keeps you from dying until the end of the game. S-so even if you get shot, you can get back up and be just fine. If you lose though… all the damage will compile- and of course, result in the player’s death.”

Astrid looked up at him from the corner of her eye not quite knowing what to say, she was torn. Part of her also starting to find the thrill of the game appealing, the other part felt horrified knowing this was something that just seemed like an afterthought to Rick.

Astrid played a few more rounds with Rick’s assistance, still only resulting in a single shot gun wound to herself, causing her to fall backwards and feel the wind knock out of her chest. She blinked her eyes open on the floor coming back to after a small machine shocked her back awake. Rick stood over her with a grin helping her back up to her feet,

“Alright I think that’s enough on your part. Good thing you won’t feel the effect of that wound unless we lose.” He said wiping away blood from her face casually.

“N-no! I can take it! Let me do a few more rounds Rick come on…!” Astrid protested feeling her adrenaline rush.

Rick rubbed his face and chuckled, how crazy was this girl? She wanted to go out of her way to keep him from playing by playing herself? Why would she do such a thing even knowing he had back up life support options even if he did lose?

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by his ear piece beeping into the channel between him and Morty informing him that both the siblings had now finished their missions and were enjoying the rave downstairs.

“I-I just got word Morty finished his mission. Y-You need to get going to yours. S-Stop stalling and head out.” Rick insisted to Astrid relieved he could give her something else to do besides high jacking his game.

“Okay…but don’t you need to be finding your contact now too instead of playing games?” Astrid tried to snap back still not wanting to leave.

“Dummy. He is my contact.” Rick motioned to the dealer as he nodded his head, “If I win, he gives me the intel I’m looking for. If I lose… w-well you’ll see me regenerate in the garage.” He said with a goofy smile.

“Oh…” Astrid said actually feeling a little dumb, “of course… obviously.” She said sarcastically mocking no one in particular as she turned to leave.

“Ah, Ah, Ah, not so fast little lady.” The dealer let out in a hushed voice causing the hairs on her neck to rise up, the voice feeling uncomfortably nostalgic.

“You agreed to the rules I implemented in this game.” He said pleased with himself.

Astrid slowly turned to look back at him confused and unnerved.

“Hey w-what are you saying?! She was just standing in for a few rounds and now I’m taking back over- she should be able to go-“ Rick demanded but was cut off.

“That’s the delicious catch.” The dealer said cooing to them both, “If she leaves now and doesn’t wait until the end of the game to leave, she will have to forfeit her life if you lose while she is gone Rick. I let her play a few rounds for you so this is my benefit for giving her an exception. I mean you’ll regenerate if you lose right? But I wonder if she will too?” He said slyly knowing he managed to get one over on Rick.

Rick looked at the dealer in disbelief and rage, how had he not caught that? And now he really did have something to lose if he didn’t win. He clenched his fists in rage about to fling himself over the table at him. Suddenly Rick was stopped in his tracked as he saw Astrid take off one of her earrings and toss it to the dealer. The dealer picked it up and arched his eyebrow at her curiously not understanding.

“Here, as a token of my appreciation and agreement on the matter. I won’t protest.” She said casually.

The dealer looked closer at the earring and grinned realizing it was a rare and expensive crystal from a far away galaxy. Something in the back of Astrid’s brain made her have the feeling he’d appreciate her leaving him a memento.

Not seeing what the earring was made of, Rick looked at her shocked as she turned to exit the room. He attempted to reach out his arm to block her from leaving.

“W-why would you risk that-?” Rick asked confused as to why she was to eager to leave now.

Astrid glances at Rick casually and then shrugged, “ I know you will be fine if you do lose. Besides don’t I need to go get you that crystal?” She said laughing before looking Rick right in the eyes, “So I hope you realize we do have a CRYSTAL clear understanding now…. And you know what? I’ll just let you decide if I’m worth trusting for now. IF you feel like saving me then be my guest. Until then, I have a job to do.” She said confidently walking out the door and closing it behind her.

She stood there for a second leaning against the door letting out a shaken breath as she listened in silence for a moment.

Rick’s neck stiffened a little as he looked away from the door and back to the dealer, “Well. You heard her.” He said before taking a large swig from his flask.

Moments later while sneaking around the upper loft offices Astrid mumbled to herself sarcastically while picking a lock, “Like I’ve never been here before..”

After successfully breaking into the bosses office she found him asleep at his desk in the dark.

“Well… that was easy… a bit too easy…” she muttered to herself while keeping her footsteps light.

She scanned the room in the dark to see if his muscle man was anywhere near by. Once she was sure he wasn’t, she attempted to get closer. She observed a half empty liquor bottle had fallen over and continued to drip out droplets onto the floor off the side of his desk.

“Gosh.. at least I know my drinking hasn’t gotten that bad.” She attempted to lie to herself to lighten her mood.

She silently creeped ever so closer to his side, hearing him lightly snore into the desk. He was a more humanoid looking alien with pastie skin. However a lot of his face skin was extremely wrinkly compared to most humans. He also was about three times taller and wider than a regular human man. She noted the irony of how small most of the upstairs spaces were compared to the alien man. She pulled the laser gun Rick had given her out from under her skirt and kept it at the ready while she pulled out another secret little item she kept on her at most times. Astrid never left home without a mini syringe filled with some of the most powerful tranquilizer known to most multiverses. The Agency had always supplied her with some for missions in the past. So these days she kept some of her secret stash on her just in case she were to need it. She hesitated for a moment wondering if it was truly necessary to use in the moment knowing she didn’t have many of them left. She hovered her hand over his nose to see how heavy his breathing was. Would he notice if she tried to just pull his crystal ring off his finger while sleeping? She lightly touched his hand and wiggled the ring ever so slightly. He stirred with a drunken grunt and swatted at the air as if getting a house cat to leave him alone. She breathed silently out in relief knowing he still was too deep in sleep. This was one of the occasions she most likely needed to use the trank. She quick pricked him on the neck with it and then hid behind his chair. He let out a pained moan and jolted up for only a moment before falling back forward completely unconscious. No more snoring could be heard. Just deep breathing. She then poked him a few more times to make sure the dose had been enough for him and attempted to pull at his large sausage fingers to free the ring. After a few long awkward minutes of wrestling the ring off the man’s hand Astrid finally slipped it off. She triumphantly punched the air and hid the ring in her bra. With her mission over she rushed toward the door hoping to catch up with the Smith siblings a little downstairs before Rick had gotten done with his game. Just as she opened the door a large hand shot out from the hallway lifting and dangled her by the arm with incredible force.

“Oy- WHAT ARE YOU DOIN ER?!” A deep bellowing voice demanded.

Astrid let out a pained cry as his grip continued to crush her arm with his strength. She looked up to see it was the boss’ right hand man Jarbain. He was a massive brute, slightly smaller than his boss and with less wrinkles. Her eyes went wide in horror realizing he had now seen her face. Her identity compromised, she kick and flailed to get free, landing a hard swipe to his nose with the heel of her boot. He jolted back gripping for his face releasing his grip on her.

“MOURNING STAR- YOU FUCKING TART BITCH-“ he moaned in anger as his glare focused back on her.

“Missed me that much hu Jarby?” Astrid mocked backing away into the office hoping to lure him in.

Falling for her ploy he lunged at her, but to her dismay he was able to grab hold of her leg before she managed to dodge him.

“Oh yeah… I missed being able to teach your ass a lesson back when Glacks would throw you in the gentleman’s club fightin ring! Guess you could call me a feminist because I always thought- *OOUF* “ he was interrupted by another kick from Astrid into his throat.

He quickly punched her in the face giving her upper body a whiplash like reaction due to the size of his fist.

“THAT LASSES SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE A BEATING JUST AS BAD AS US MEN DO.” He yelled at her after catching his breath.

Gripping both her legs he threw her down hard on the side of the office desk, breaking it in half and causing his boss to fall backwards into his chair still unconscious. Astrid gasped for air after the impact, she could feel her ribs cracking from the impact. Jarbain stood there with a wicked smile on his face as blood poured out of his broken nose.

“It always peeved me off you had that little cheat code of yours that little simp of a handler would call out. You think you’re better than me just cause you’re some lab rat?! Ha! I erd about how you got put on time out from your precious little Agency. I’m guessing you’re not even supposed to be er are ya? Ooh hoo! You’re ganna learn that I’m better than you today lass. No handler er to help you now.” He gloated as he towered over her.

Astrid tried to keep it together, she had to figure out a way to kill him without having more witnesses from the mob know she was there. But how? She didn’t have her handler, she didn’t have her trigger word. And Jarbian still to this day had always been one of the strongest opponents she’d faced in the past. She willed herself up, lunging forward and tumbling between his legs getting behind him. She winced at the pain in her body but quickly checked to see if she had an extra syringe in one of her pockets. Just has her hand grasp what felt like another one she felt the back of her shirt jolt up from behind her. Jarbian had managed to whip around and grab hold of her. Before she could react he sent her flying up into the ceiling smashing into the pointed light fixture. She gagged out bloody bile as her back made sharp contact with it. Her head then jolted backwards at in angle causing the communicator in her ear to crack and glitch through the various channels between the Smiths.

Downstairs in the rave crowd the two Smith siblings froze as they heard the horrible glitching cries of agony coming from their ear pieces.

“A-ASTRID?!” Morty shouted in an attempt to get her to respond.

“Holy shit… Astrid?” Summer breathed out worried also hoping for an answer.

Suddenly a loud screeching interference noise came from Rick’s communicator ear as it picked up the glitching. He whipped around from the game table and looked at the door in shocked contemplation as the sound of Astrid’s screams were being heard throughout the channel.

“Ah ah ah Sanchez. If you leave the game now you two both will die. Remember that.” The Dealer cooed in amusement at him having heard the loud interference as well.

Rick turned to glare back at him annoyed, “L-Let’s hurry this shit up then you goblin nosed ass b-bitch.”

Back downstairs the siblings tried rushing through the even more tightly packed crowd after the night had gone on. Summer gulped as she heard what sounded like a horrific crushing noise and the sound of wind being knocked out of Astrid once more in her ear.

“How ya like that you dumb little cunt!? Can’t do much a fight me no hu you little- *shhhhhiiiiiiirrrr* - rat! Can’t fight back without your little- *shhhhhhhrrrrr* “ Rick heard through his glitching ear piece the deep voice of the man waling on Astrid relentlessly.

“Jesus fucking Christ… “ Rick muttered to himself trying to concentrate on the game.

Just as Morty broke through the back of the crowd and started to scale the warehouse stairs leading to the upper lofts he yelled, “A-Astrid where are you?! I-Im heading up the stairs hold on!”

The channel crackled again and he heard Astrid’s voice, “M-mo-Morty…?! *shhhhhhhherrrr* MORTY!? DON’T- *shhhheerr* her audio crackled out again.

Back in the office Astrid limply rolled over in pain trying to catch her breath, Jarbain had completely beat the shit out of her but she had managed to get an opening. After he had flung her around the office for a bit she had managed to grab the laser Rick had given her off the floor in the rubble. Right before he was about to send a crushing slam down on her with his fists again she shot him in the arm and chest quite a few times. He now lay on the floor in a pool of his own blood. Astrid then crawled over to the exit and attempted to stand up, clinging weakly to the office door for support.

“M-Morty… m-meet me in the bath-bathroom… n-near the s-stairs.” She muttered out hoping he could hear her over the head set still.

Just as she was about to leave the feeling of a needle pricked the side of her neck. She whipped her head around to catch a glimpse of Jarbian behind her now pressing the office emergency call button on the wall next to the door. Something in her felt like it snapped. But not in the physical sense. There was just no way she was about to lose to this monster of a man. There was no way he was going to get a chance to expose her identity. In a swift and powerful motion her leg slammed so hard between his legs he went flying backwards back toward the desk, his head slamming down on the spiked light fixture that had fallen from the ceiling earlier. The light left his eyes and all movements from his body ceased. His skull lay impaled right next to his still sleeping boss. Astrid jolted herself out the door with her remaining strength feeling the tranquilizer start to kick into her system.

She wasn’t panicked knowing the worst part was now over, as long as she made it to the bathroom without being spotted by his other men she’d be home free. Morty could come retrieve her and they’d make it back to the ship.

The tranquilizer would only incapacitate her momentarily, she had the advantage of being poison trained since leaving beta training at the Agency. Of course it wouldn’t have the same effects on her. As her vision started to blur she forced herself to run to the bathroom near the staircase, bobbing and weaving as she attempted to try and stay awake just a bit longer.

“A-Astrid?!” Morty called through the ear piece as he caught sight of her while he neared the top of the steps.

He saw her bust through into the woman’s bathroom with hazy and glossed over eyes.

Once inside she collapsed into a light blue stall, looking up at the ceiling motionless. Moments after Morty barged in,

“Astrid! O-oh o-oh… oh jeez oh- y-you’re not doing s-so good… Jesus are you okay…?!” He panicked seeing the state she was in and kneeled down on the floor to help get her up. Her bloody and bruised face blankly looking up at him sent chills down his spine.

She mumbled out, “I- drugged…. I-I got d-drugged M-Morty…. Muscles all… all fucked up…” she muttered out limply.

He tried to help drag her out even though his strength was lacking in comparison. He managed to help get her standing up against the bathroom wall next to the door.

“S-sorry… I’m definitely not the s-strongest b-but I got you. Just hold on..!” He stammered in difficulty while trying to finagle them out of the bathroom door and out above the stairs.

Once outside Summer met them at the top step and helped shoulder Astrid on the other side, “Oh my god Astrid! Are you okay…?!” She asked in shock seeing how she was.

“G-got tran-tranked…” Astrid woozily mouthed out loud over the booming music in Summer’s ear.

The sibling both managed to drag her down the stairs and through the back of the warehouse toward the exit. Once out in the open air they all breathed a sigh of relief now free from the loud partying. Shuffling to the ship they helped get Astrid as comfortable as possible in the back seat. Summer slid in next to her trying to keep her upright as Morty took his set in the passenger front. Once they both calmed down and made sure no one was near the ship they both looked to check on Astrid.

“Uhh is that dry blood..?! Or is that some kind of poison…?” Morty squeaks out in fear.

Summer turned to see a black liquid dripping from Astrid’s nose as she leaned unconscious on her shoulder.

“Oh no Morty! Quick, ask grandpa how close he is!” She yelled at him while attempting to check Astrid’s wounds and searching the ship for anything that could help.

“C-Calm down. W-what’s the problem? I head that mess earlier in the channels. G-gave you a hard time did they?” Rick said getting into the ship attempting to joke with Astrid.

He peaked in the back seat and saw her sorry state and his good mood immediately soured.

“O-oh shit…. H-hey! Astrid are you- ?” He attempted to ask her in a more serious tone before she jolted up right and uttered out a response.

“I-I’m fine.” She said hunching over to hide her horrible state and catch her breath. She almost slipped into unconsciousness around Rick, didn’t want to let him to think he’d have any type of upper hand.

Rick arched his eyebrow as he looked her over from the front seat for a moment. He then reached in his lab coat and pulled out a handkerchief and a test tube. He quickly snagged a sample of the black liquid dripping from her nose and attempted to cover it up with the handkerchief on her face so she wouldn’t notice.

“H-here..! Wipe your face. It looks like you’re bleeding.” He said casually before slipping the vial quickly back into his jacket.

“Uh.. thanks.. Astrid said woozy while she rubbed her nose and then stuffed the handkerchief in her pocket.

Rick couldn’t help but grin knowing he finally got another clue he could investigate on Astrid. Either this mysterious liquid was her alien blood or it was a type of drug that could incapacitate her if needed in the future. He started up the ship and took off.

“O-Once we’re back I-I can scan you in the garage and check your damage. We’ll get y-you all fixed up.” He said confidently.

“I’m good. That won’t be necessary, I just need a good nights rest. Whatever they drugged me with already wore off.” She said through gritted teeth trying to sound casual.

Rick laughed under his breath knowing she was going to react like that.

“Oh really? l-look at you! Y-You look like shit- no offence… You definitely need some medical help… I mean any EARTHLING definitely would.” He said in a lofty tone.

“Well you’re the one who sent a regular EARTHLING to go deal with… with- THAT! F-fuck you Rick. The crystal you wanted was this… big guys fucking ring!!” She spat at him annoyed from the back seat.

He got silent for a moment and looked at her through the rear view mirror with his eyebrows arched in surprise.

“N-No shit…. It was his ring?! Ha o-oh jeez- I really- really I had n-no idea.. I thought it was just something t-they were keeping in a safe! Oh man- you actually tried to take the boss’ ring?!” Rick replied in impressed amusement.

Astrid glared at him through the rear mirror and shifted her whole body to point away from him in annoyance as she still leaned against Summer.

“Oh my god! Grandpa that’s so not okay. Astrid just went through all of that because you put her in a bad situation!” Summer yelled at him from the back seat while clutching Astrid supportively.

“Y-yeah Rick what the hell…? A-Astrid’s been doing a lot to help us- a-and you’re over here just busting h-her balls and stuff Rick! M-maybe you could s-say thank you or something…?” Morty stuttered out in serious resolve.

“T-thank her…? THANK HER-?!” Rick replied raising his voice in anger until he caught a glimpse of all their expressions in the mirror.

They weren’t just annoyed like he had thought, they all looked completely done. The faces on both of the Smith siblings made Rick know in their eyes he had fucked up. Astrid still turned away in silence made his stomach feel like it was in a knot. “Damn it” he thought to himself realizing his deep seated distrust for her was making him lash out.

“-*ahem*-“ he attempted to act as though he was clearing his throat, “I-I mean come on M-Morty. I-it’s an ADVENTURE!” He continued on in a humorous and relaxed tone, “T-things get a little wild on our adventures- a-and I’ll admit I really should have l-looked into- d-done my homework for this one like I-I usually do… *ahem*” he cleared his throat again to shift his tone to sound more genuine. “But hey- if you’re all banged up I could really give you a look over back at the house. I do it for Morty and Summer all the time… I mean fixing any injuries is the least I could do to make it up to you right..?”

He eyed her through the rear mirror intensely seeing how she would react. Both Summer and Morty seemed to cool down, pleased enough with their grandfathers attempt at making nice for once.

“Y-yeah Astrid.. maybe you really should let Rick just check you over. Y-you look like you might have some broken bones..” Morty encouraged after being swayed by his grandfather’s act.

“Astrid- You do look really bad right now... Rick really can fix you up it will be easy-“ Summer worried as well tried to join in on the point before Astrid interrupted.

“Please can you guys fuck off with that? I’ve had a rough enough night. The last thing I want to do is be poked and prodded at! Jesus- j-just let me have what’s left of my dignity!” She raised her voice still turned away from everyone.

The sudden out of character anger from her made them all sit in silence. Rick smirked to himself knowing he won this round, oh course she wasn’t going to let him get the chance to find out more on her. Realizing she had lost her temper, Astrid quickly sighed out loud to disperse any suspicions the others might have started feeling.

“God I just want a nice hot bath when I get home and to pass out… I gotta get ready for classes tomorrow.” Astrid said in a tired and sleepy voice hoping to lighten the seriousness of the situation.

“Oh right… we have school tomorrow.” Summer said bummed out, falling for Astrid’s redirection.

“Y-you probably have to grade papers for tomorrow still don’t you? J-Jeez and here we took you out to a rave late at night just for you to fight someone..” Morty laughed in an attempt to sympathize with her.

“Right… school..” Rick muttered to himself mulling it over.

Rick went silent knowing Astrid was just redirecting the conversation, but something deep deep down made him feel guilty. He knew her morning tomorrow was going to be ten times worse just because he had dragged her on this mission just to mess with her. But she had risked her life twice that night and hadn’t even brought up what happened between them in the dealer’s room. He smiled to himself for a second wondering why she would have even done something like that. After flying in silence a bit the siblings continued conversation about school. He peeked up in the mirror once more to see if there had been any change in Astrid’s mood. She still lay in the same position in the back seat but her body seemed more relaxed. Had she dozed off..? He craned his neck to the side to try and get a better look.

“Uh.. Astrid….? Y-You alright back there?” He asked trying to sound humorous.

“Mmm… yeah. What’s up?” She stirred and answered.

“O-okay n-not to be a dick here or anything but did you get the crystal…?” He asked bracing himself for the shaming his grandkids would most likely hurl at him if Astrid came up empty handed.

“Uh.. yeah. Yeah it’s right here.” Astrid said turning over and opening her eyes sleepily.

She pulled out the crystal from seemingly nowhere and held it out.

“OH FUCK YES! Y-YOU ACTUALLY GOT IT!” Rick exclaimed before grabbing it from her and shoving it in his lab coat.

“Woah Astrid you got it?!” Summer eyed her impressed.

“I mean.. I wasn’t about to go through all that and not get what I came for.” Astrid snickered.

—- PART TWELVE COMPLETED —-

—- SHUTTING DOWN —-

—- GOODBYE —-

#rick and morty #rick and morty fandom #rick and morty oc #rick sanchez fanfic #rick sanchez x reader #inside job fandom #crossover #inside job fanfic #rick and morty fanfiction #inside job #buckshot roulette #buckshot roulette fanart #buckshot roulette dealer #the dealer

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