Present timeline.
Beth's legs dangled off the passenger seat, kicking to some rhythm only she could hear.
She hadn't stopped talking since they'd left the Ghost Zone.
"…and then Desiree was like 'Your wish is my command' and BOOM—instant hotdog storm, and then Kitty got mad 'cause one hit her hair, so she tried to—oh, oh, and Ember started playing that insane guitar solo that made all the humans run in circles!
Spectra was laughing so hard she almost dropped her creepy ghost clipboard thing—"
Rod's smile twitched.
Yeah. Fun.
The kind of fun where the human world looked… thinner now.
Paler.
The kind of thin you get when you've been wrung out like laundry and maybe had your soul skimmed off the top.
Sure, there was some kind of human defence force running around trying to stop the girls + Beth, but… meh.
Too weak. Way too weak.
And the girls—no, the women now—weren't the same as when he'd met them.
Ten more years of power growth stacked on top of the upgrades they'd gotten back then?
Their power levels were somewhere between "off the roof" and "burning the whole damn neighbourhood down from orbit."
A lil' flashback
When Beth finally darted off to flip a billboard upside-down, Rod took the opening.
He strolled up to the four of them while they lounged like apex predators who'd just eaten their fill.
"So… why still here? Why haven't you gone out to other planets?"
Four sets of eyes snapped to him.
Different emotions—annoyance, disbelief, hurt, something darker—but every one of them with that, really, asshole? look.
Then, in perfect unison, they cussed him out.
Every word is a knife with a polite bow on top.
Rod blinked. "…Okay, I think I get what this is."
He tilted his head, a slow grin curling.
"You guys do know I can find you anywhere, in any universe, whenever I want… right?"
That earned him more than a glare.
The next second he was getting wailed on from four different angles—blows charged with ghost energy, claws of spectral fury.
Rod?
He was laughing the entire time.
His body barely rocked under the hits, the absurd mix of science upgrades, mystic shielding, chakra reinforcement, soul force tempering, psychic armor—hell, you could throw a neutron star at him and he'd still be standing.
And that's exactly what he did now.
Let them beat out whatever was in their system.
Because the damage didn't matter.
The ghostly beatdown was still in full swing when Beth came skipping back, a paper bag of stolen churros in her hands.
She stopped a few feet away, chewing thoughtfully as she took in the scene.
"Uh… why are they punching you, Rod?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Exercise," Rod grinned through a burst of ghost fire to the ribs.
"Keeps 'em rational... as rational as women can be."
Desiree smacked him across the jaw hard enough to make the air hum.
"Keeps us from strangling you in your sleep, more like."
Beth just nodded, unconcerned, and went back to her churro.
"Okay. Can I have the car keys after?"
Before Rod could answer, Ember stepped in front of him.
Not to stop the others—just to look him in the eye, all that neon hair burning like it could eat the dark around them.
"You think we don't know why we're still here?" she asked, voice low.
"You think we don't know what you're doing, showing up now, stirring things up, then acting like you're just… passing through?"
Rod tilted his head, still smiling, but the grin didn't reach his eyes.
Beth looked between them, her mouth stuffed with churros, like she'd walked into the wrong part of the movie.
Spectra didn't let up.
"You've been gone a long time, Rod.
And maybe you can walk away whenever you want—but some of us… we don't get to."
She turned, walking away before he could answer.
The other three followed, leaving Rod standing there with sugar powder floating in the air between him and Beth.
Beth swallowed. "…Sooo, was that like, 'ghosted a ghost girlfriends, then was ghosted back' drama, or…?"
Rod ruffled her hair without answering and started walking toward the car.
"C'mon, lil' devil. We've got more places to see."
Present timeline.
The space car's engine purred like a lazy predator as the Ghost Zone's green fog thinned into streaks of open space.
Beth leaned forward in the passenger seat, legs kicking against the dashboard, churro bag crumpled in her lap.
"So where are we going now?" she asked, licking sugar from her thumb.
Rod didn't answer right away.
He drummed his fingers on the wheel, eyes narrowing as he ran through options in his head—places to kill time, worlds worth the stop, excuses to check in on a few… loose threads.
Then the idea slid in, and his mouth twitched in that way Beth recognized as trouble forming.
"Hm…" He flicked a switch and the car's HUD lit up with dozens of coordinates.
"What about we swing by Dad's adopted family house?"
Beth's brows shot up. "Adopted family?"
Rod smirked.
"Yup. You can even meet your grown-up self, Beth.
And not just one—there are two of you there."
Beth's face lit up like she'd just been promised free flamethrowers.
"Two mes?! Ohhh, I gotta see this!
Are they cooler than me?
No—wait, I bet I'm cooler.
Wait—are they rich?
Do they have a bigger room than me?!"
Rod chuckled under his breath, tapping in the coordinates.
"Guess you'll find out. And hey—" his gaze flicked sideways, almost too quick to notice "—we'll check in on someone else while we're there."
Beth didn't notice the shift in tone. She was too busy plotting whatever chaos she planned to unleash on her alternate selves.
The car shuddered as the portal tore open ahead, its swirling light throwing long shadows over both of them.
"Seatbelt," Rod said.
Beth grinned, tightening her churro grip instead. "Let's go."
The car shot forward, swallowing them into the rift.
- - - - - - - - - -
The kitchen of the C-131 Smith house felt… heavier than it looked.
Afternoon light spilt across the table, but it didn't chase away the air hanging over lunch.
Plates sat half-finished—roast chicken, limp salad, mashed potatoes going cold.
Diane sat at the head of the table, fork idly pushing food she clearly wasn't tasting.
Across from her, Beth and Space Beth traded glances that weren't the smug, sharp-edged ones of old—they were sharper now, but not with hostility, more like the weight of knowing something.
Space Beth leaned back, arms crossed.
"You realize Rod and Dad must be the ones behind this, right?"
Diane didn't even look up, just hummed softly.
"Of course they are, sweetie."
Beth stabbed at her salad, chewing slower than usual.
"Then… do you think Dad will be back?"
Silence settled.
No one moved.
Not even Jerry, who for once didn't try to fill the quiet with awkward talk.
Diane's gaze drifted toward the far window.
She didn't need to say it—her Rick in this reality was gone.
And even with Rod's wild impossibilities, even with Diane's own revival, there were some lines the universe didn't uncross.
The table felt smaller than it was.
This family had closed ranks—not out of choice, but because the absence was too large to ignore.
And then—
A low rumble, faint at first, then louder.
Tires skidded onto the gravel drive.
The unmistakable growl of an engine with way too much power for a suburban porch.
Morty was out of his seat before anyone processed it.
"Grandpa Rick!"
Diane straightened, her heart kicking hard against her ribs.
The others froze—half in disbelief, half afraid to hope.
The engine cut off.
A car door slammed.
And then—footsteps.
The front door swung open before Morty even made it to the knob.
The smell of ozone and engine grease drifted in with the hiss of Rod's space-car cooling outside.
Rod stepped in first, tall and broad-shouldered, scanning the room.
Kid Beth popped in right after, practically bouncing off the doorframe, her eyes darting between every face like she was mentally sorting them into "cool" and "not cool."
Morty froze mid-step, his smile faltering.
"…You're not Grandpa Rick."
Rod smirked, leaning on the doorframe.
"Nope. The upgrade package came with better hair and fewer DUIs."
Space Beth's eyes narrowed, her gaze locking on him like a hawk spotting something shiny.
"You're Rod." It wasn't a question.
Kid Beth's attention was already caught by Space Beth, her jaw dropping.
"Whoa… you're me! But tall. And… kind of scary-looking. Awesome."
Beth-from-this-reality squinted at the smaller version of herself.
"And you're… a gremlin."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Kid Beth chirped before spinning toward Diane.
"Hey, Mom!" She darted over, wrapping her arms around Diane without hesitation.
Diane's eyes softened, but they flickered to Rod.
In this reality, Rod's not here, maybe it's because our Rick spent too much time here, or it's because he came here before the un-erasure occurred.
That might upset something, but nobody knows exactly why.
But Diane, she knew exactly who he was, even without an introduction — and the fact that he was here meant something bigger was brewing.
Jerry finally spoke, voice slow and wary.
"…So, uh… are you staying for lunch, or is this one of those 'drop in, blow up the garage, and leave' situations?"
Rod gave him a lazy grin. "Guess we'll find out."
The table was silent for a beat, tension and curiosity hanging heavy, until Kid Beth piped up again —"So who's hungry? I'm hungry!!"
They made space at the table like they weren't sure if Rod and Kid Beth were honoured guests or potential threats.
The spread was halfway eaten already — roast something-or-other, mashed tubers that might've been potatoes once, and a suspiciously watery salad.
Rod slid into an empty chair like he owned it. Kid Beth plopped beside him, immediately spearing something with her fork that she couldn't identify but ate anyway.
Space Beth watched her chew. "You don't even know what that is."
Kid Beth grinned, cheeks puffed with food.
"If it's poisonous, I'll find out faster than you."
Morty was still staring at Rod like the man was a puzzle he didn't want to solve.
"So… uh… you're Rick's… what, exactly?"
Rod picked up his fork, twirling it in the air before answering.
"Son. Beth's older brother. Better looking. Definitely less emotionally damaged."
Diane gave him a look over her glass. "That's debatable."
Jerry tried to change the subject.
"So… space adventures, huh? What's that like? A lot of… uh… zero gravity? Floating around?"
Rod smirked. "More explosions than floating, Jerry. More running than sitting."
Beth — the grown one — was still glancing between Kid Beth and Diane, her brow furrowed.
"You're seriously telling me she's… me?"
Kid Beth pointed her fork at her older self. "Don't act like I'm not the better version."
Space Beth snorted into her drink. "Yup. That's definitely you."
The table fell into that uneasy rhythm where everyone's eating but no one's really relaxed.
Rod clocked it immediately — the unspoken absence of their Rick sitting heavier than the food.
He leaned back, balancing his chair on two legs.
"Relax. I'm not here to replace anybody. Just… visiting."
Morty muttered, "That's what people say before something blows up."
Kid Beth beamed. "Ooh, can we blow something up after lunch?"
Rod chuckled, patting her head. "We'll see, gremlin."
The question came from Space Beth, casual on the surface but sharp underneath.
"So… how did Diane come back, Rod?
Don't tell me it's some random cosmic miracle."
Rod tapped his fork against his plate, not quite smiling.
"Let's just say Rick and Rod always have… ways.
The kind of ways you don't talk about at a dinner table unless you want half the people here to lose their appetite."
Beth frowned. "And… is he gonna come back?"
Before Rod could answer, Kid Beth piped up through a mouthful of bread roll.
"Huh? Why does he need to come back to you guys?
He's my dad!
You're just adopted, right?
Why don't you guys… I dunno, find another Rick?"
The table went still.
Rod's lips twitched into a smirk.
"Lil devil, it's not that easy."
She blinked at him, all innocent defiance.
"Huh? Why?
Don't you always tell me you and Dad are basically gods with infinite families, but you both still love me and Mom the most?"
Her eyes started to glisten.
"Is it a lie… sob sob?"
Rod felt a bead of sweat slide down his temple.
"Hey hey hey, it's not that, Beth."
He reached over, scooped her up, and set her on his lap.
"Come here, you witch little fox."
She nestled in, letting him run his fingers through her hair.
"Alright," Rod started, "say you've got a pair of guns.
One's yours, perfectly broken in, fits like nothing else.
Then those guns get lost.
Now, sure—you can buy another pair.
Same brand, same size, even the same scuff marks if you get lucky.
But… they're not the same guns.
They don't have the same wear, the same creases, the same number of head shots.
They don't carry the same… history."
Kid Beth tilted her head.
"So… Dad's like that gun?"
Rod grinned. "The best, most dangerous, most pain-in-the-ass pair of guns in all existence."
Space Beth leaned forward, her elbows on the table, eyes narrowing just a touch.
"Alright… guns analogy aside—do you know where he is right now, Rod?"
Across from her, Diane's fork froze halfway to her mouth.
She turned to him, her voice quieter but heavier.
"So? Where is he?"
Rod looked between the two women—Space Beth's sharp stare and Diane's searching one.
He didn't answer right away.
His hand kept combing absent circles into Kid Beth's hair while his brain ticked like a loaded timer.
"Know where he is?" Rod finally said, leaning back in his chair. "Sure."
The room tensed.
"…Will I tell you?" He grinned, all teeth, but his tone was steady.
"Not right now."
Space Beth scoffed.
"Of course. Cryptic as hell, because God forbid you just say it."
Diane didn't look away from him.
"Is he in trouble?"
Rod's grin eased into something calmer, almost thoughtful.
"It's… kinda complicated," he said, glancing between Diane and Space Beth.
"But he's doing something important—for Beth, for me, for Mom… and for himself."
His mouth curved into a faint, knowing smile.
Before anyone could press him, Kid Beth perked up on his lap.
"Oh, isn't Dad and mo—"
Rod's hand was on her mouth before the sentence could finish.
"Ah-ah-ah—"
She squirmed, eyes narrowing, then chomped down on his palm without hesitation.
Normally, that'd be a mistake.
Rod's body was all but indestructible, but he softened his skin on purpose—just enough so her teeth and jaw wouldn't take the brunt of it.
He didn't even flinch.
"Cute," he muttered, still keeping her muffled while her little legs kicked.
The bite didn't go unnoticed.
Jerry winced like he could feel it.
Space Beth just leaned back in her chair with a smirk, clearly amused at the reversal of power.
C-131 Beth shook her head with a sigh that carried a thousand unspoken, yep, that's a kid version of me.
Diane's eyes softened for a fraction of a second before narrowing at Rod, like she was silently warning him to quit antagonizing her daughter—while also clearly fighting a smile.
Rod finally let Kid Beth's mouth go, ruffling her hair into a complete mess.
"There, now you can talk. No more biting, lil' devil."
The conversation meandered for a while—trading a few updates, awkward laughter, and the kind of polite small talk that felt unnatural for this family.
Eventually, Rod's gaze drifted to Morty.
The kid hadn't said a single word, just poked at his food like he was somewhere else entirely.
Way too quiet for Morty.
Rod made a mental note to circle back to that.
But Kid Beth beat him to the spotlight again.
Her eyes darted around the table, then the walls, then the cramped dining space. "Wait, wait, wait—why are you guys living in this shack?"
Both Beths froze.
"You're Beth, and you're Space Beth.
You should be, like… rich!
Or have, I dunno, a huge cool house!"
She glanced suspiciously between them.
"You're telling me your rooms aren't even big? You're this normal?"
Rod's smirk twitched. Oh no.
Her little fists clenched.
"Even Space Beth—you work for other people?
Not even as the boss?
You should be, like, the lady boss of everything!
The BETH-iest Beth! How are you not—ugh!"
The steam kept building.
"This is so wrong! So disappointing!"
She spun to Rod like she'd been betrayed personally.
"They're not me!
They're not us!
How can I grow up and be that normal?!"
And then it cracked.
"HuWAAAAAA!"
She bolted from her chair and stomped right over to him, grabbing onto his sleeve like he was the last safe thing in the room.
Rod just patted her head while she buried her face against his arm, muffling more complaints.
Rod crouched a little, rubbing slow circles on Kid Beth's back like he was petting an angry cat instead of his little sister.
"Easy, lil' devil. You're overheating the room."
"I'm not wrong," she muttered into his sleeve, voice muffled but sharp.
"They're acting like they've got limits. We don't have limits."
C-131 Beth crossed her arms.
"It's called being a functioning adult. You can't just—"
Kid Beth's head popped up, eyes narrowing.
"Oh? Functioning adult? Like Jerry?"
Jerry choked on his drink.
Space Beth cut in, "She's a kid. She doesn't—"
"Doesn't what? Understand?" Kid Beth's tone was pure surgical precision.
"I understand perfectly.
You two could be anything, rule anything, but you're sitting here eating takeout like it's your apex achievement."
Both Beths opened their mouths to fire back, but she steamrolled right over them.
"You had all the advantages, all the connections, all the brains… and you're normal.
That's worse than being dumb.
At least dumb people have an excuse."
Rod pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting a smirk.
"She's not wrong, you know."
"Rod," Diane warned.
He sighed, finally standing up and setting Kid Beth on her feet.
"Alright, alright. That's enough verbal murder for one day."
Kid Beth crossed her arms, still glaring at the two grown versions of herself.
"I wanna leave."
Rod gave Diane a sheepish look and mouthed, you know how she is.
Diane's answering sigh said, unfortunately, yes.
Rod guided Kid Beth toward the door.
They were halfway there when Morty suddenly lurched up from his chair.
"R-ROD! C-can I c-come with you?"
Everyone turned. Morty's voice cracked halfway through, like he hadn't really planned to say it out loud.
Rod tilted his head, a slow grin creeping in.
"Well now… that's interesting."
Morty's voice trembled, but it didn't stop him.
"I've been through… so much with Rick. Our Rick.
Stuff none of you even know about.
And yeah, he was a pain in the ass half the time, but he was there when no one else was.
Not Mom. Not Summer. Not Jerry."
His hands were clenched into fists, knuckles white.
"He was the one who got me out alive. Again. And again. And again."
Morty swallowed hard, his eyes darting between Rod and Diane before locking back on Rod.
"I need to know. I need to hear it from him—what he really thinks about us… about me."
Rod stayed still, studying him.
Kid Beth tilted her head, watching the older boy like she wasn't sure if she wanted to mock him or sympathize.
Rod's smile faded into something quieter.
This wasn't just a kid talking.
He could see it—the weight behind Morty's words, the way his shoulders sat like they'd been carrying years more than his age should allow.
Fourteen on the outside, Rod thought.
But upstairs? Older. Too old.
And Rod knew exactly why.
Rod's smile faded into something quieter.
Rick had pulled one of his "elegant horrors."
A time-loop—perfect, merciless—resetting Morty's existence every year, starting the moment Rick stepped into the prime universe and met prime Beth in the garage.
It wasn't just Morty.
Every single version of him.
Every single being caught in the web—higher planes, lower planes, every branch in the Central Finite Curve—reset to the same physical age, the same hormonal state, the same baseline brain chemistry.
Bodies never aging past that one-year window meant hormones never changing.
No matter how much they saw, no matter how much they endured, they were stuck reacting with the impulses and chemistry of their "locked" age.
And with brains naturally geared to focus on the present, slowly erasing old experiences like worn chalk, those hard-earned lessons slipped away, leaving only flashes and instincts behind.
That was the real cruelty.
You could live a thousand lives in there and still get knocked back to square one, still feel like the same dumb kid… unless you figured out how to break the cycle.
Rod had.
He'd lived through every loop, banked every memory, reforged himself piece by piece.
His body?
His choice now—when it aged, how it aged.
Morty hadn't.
Not yet.
But Rod could see the bleed-through—the glint in his eyes, the subtle stiffness in his posture.
Signs of a kid who'd been reset a hundred times, but still carried too many ghosts inside.
Rod's lips curled—not his usual lazy smirk, but something sharper, almost approving.
"Alright, kid… I think I get it."
Morty's hands clenched into trembling fists on the table, his voice cracking, but not from weakness—more like a dam straining under too much pressure.
"I hate it, Rod. I hate waking up and realizing I've been here before.
I hate not knowing how much I've lost.
I hate feeling like… like Rick's the only person who gets it.
And now he's gone, and I—" His throat tightened, cutting him off.
He forced a shaky breath.
"I need to know if I mattered to him. If we mattered. Even once."
The whole table had gone silent, even Kid Beth.
Rod leaned back in his chair, studying Morty like he was a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit.
For a moment, he didn't speak, letting Morty's words settle in the air.
Then his grin returned—calmer now, but still carrying that glint of challenge.
"You got me, kid," Rod said finally, drumming his fingers on the table.
"You're coming with us."
Morty's head snapped up. "W–Wait, really?"
"Yeah," Rod said, standing and stretching like they'd just agreed to grab snacks instead of rewrite destinies.
"But we're not heading to Rick right away.
Me and my little devil here—" He ruffled Kid Beth's hair, earning a predictable squawk— "are still on vacation.
You're tagging along until we're done.
Then maybe, maybe, we'll go find the old man."
Morty hesitated, confusion mixing with relief.
"So… you're not gonna—"
Rod was already walking toward the door.
"Nah. You'll survive a little longer.
And in the meantime, maybe you'll learn there's more to life than chasing after Rick's approval."
Beth was grinning ear to ear.
"So he's coming with us? Awwww, he looks lame!"
Rod glanced over his shoulder, smirk widening.
"Exactly. So don't you think we'll look cooler with him beside us, hehehe?"
And just like that, the three of them stepped out into the sunlight, the hum of Rod's space car waiting for them—a weird, fragile alliance taking shape before anyone at the table could decide if it was a good idea.
- - - - - - - - - -
Do you get any of that?
And just like that, we're back again with more adventures!
That's all, peace!