"Where is Al Turyl?"
       Morty took a step back, shaking his head. "I don't know." He heard the rest of the group laugh and saw the man sneer at him. "Tell me where he is, or they're all gone. And I'll take my time with that kid."
       "Who the hell are you?" Morty hissed, his back against the back of the couch now. "I was sent by a friend. Strochla's tired of Al screwing him over." Morty racked his brain, trying to remember why the name sounded familiar. "Dave?" he questioned after the longest time. The man nodded with a grin. "I see you've heard of him."
       "No. Sadly, I know him, personally. The fat bastard and I used to do business together. And I think you should leave. Any one of us could easily kill you. You're outnumbered." Morty growled, setting his bag to the side. The man laughed quietly, raising a small knife. Morty sniffed indignantly, "You think I'm scared of a cheese knife?" The man growled in anger, shoving Morty now. The brunet knocked into the couch, glaring at the man. "It's rude to fight somebody not in their own home," Morty iterated, steadying himself. He threw a right, watching the man duck to the side and barely take a hit to the shoulder. The man grinned wickedly, driving the knife into Morty's left arm and tugging it down slightly. Morty cried out loudly, pulling from the man before he could twist the knife any further. The handle and part of the blade stuck out, still in his arm. The limb was on fire, Morty feeling the hot blood ooze downwards from the large gash before he moved to hit the man again. This time he connected, uppercutting the man and watching him knock back. 
       "Rick! Al!" Morty shouted, crying out as the man grabbed the knife and twisted it again. Morty yanked away, feeling the blade still in his arm and wondering if he should remove it or leave it in. He pulled a dirty move, kicking the man where it really mattered and watching him knock down. Rick and Al wandered into the room, Sho behind them holding AJ. 
       "What the hell?" Al questioned, he and Rick moving to grab the man. They each restrained him, holding him up by his arms as he fought to be let go. "Jesus!" Sho exclaimed, making her way over. "No, keep him over there," Morty mumbled, waving with his good arm as he tried to stop the knife in his left from moving further. AJ had begun to cry in Sho's arms, reaching for Morty. The brunet growled in frustration, turning to the side and wandering towards his son. "I can't hold you, baby," Morty mumbled, placing a quick kiss to the toddler's tear-stained cheek. "Just wait a minute, AJ," he practically plead. Morty found Al on his phone, most likely reporting this, and sighed. His arm was numb at this point and he prayed with everything he had that he could still use it after this. His entire bicep was cut up, at least three inches of knife buried in his flesh. 
       "Dave Strochla sent him," Morty ground out, speaking to Rick. "Somebody I used to do business with. You made a loan to his wife once," Morty clarified. "Excuse me," he mumbled, wandering past Sho and into their kitchen. He turned the faucet on and washed as much of the crimson river away as he could without moving the knife. "Sho!" he shouted, leaning back to see past the door. "Leave it in or take it out!" 
       "Don't touch it!" Sho shouted almost frantically. Morty sighed, mumbling, "Right." He finished cleaning what he could before he made his way back out, repeatedly folding a paper towel beneath the oozing blood to stop it from making an unnecessary mess. "You really pissed Dave off," Morty grumbled, standing beside Al and watching as he kept the man still. The man stared at him with wide eyes, regarding the knife and his arm. "What the hell happened?!" he nearly shouted. Rick stared at Morty's arm, waiting for the answer himself.
       "I just came to get his toys, but the dude was there. He was what had freaked AJ out so much. He was looking for you, said Strochla's tired of you screwing him over."
       "He is," the man growled, hissing when Al tightened his grip. "The sonofa bitch stabbed me and kept twisting the damn thing. Can't feel it right now, so I dunno if that's good or not. But, ya know, all in good fun, right?" Morty sighed heavily, sitting on the floor a few feet away from the three men. "Sorry if I stain your floor," he mumbled, adjusting the paper towel. He laid one leg out, leaving the other up and resting his right arm on the knee, holding the paper towel below the wound. 
      "You can take an insane amount of ass whupping," Al muttered, his eyes still wide as he regarded Morty. "How the hell are you not freaking out?" he asked Rick. The man shrugged, "Nothing too new. It was awful the first time he had glass shoved in his palm." Morty set the towel aside and held his hand up, showing Al the scar before he grabbed the towel again. 

       Eventually, the man had been taken by the pair of officers that had shown up in response to Al's call. Morty gave his story, almost laughing at the faces they pulled while regarding the knife. They asked if he wanted them to call in emergency services, but he shook his head and said he'd get to a hospital on his own. 
       "Jesus," Al huffed, standing next to Morty and staring at his arm. "Yea, well.." Morty trailed off, shrugging with one shoulder. "You sure you didn't want them to call a paramedic or some shit?"
       "Yea. We're gonna get goin' now, though, just so I get it taken care of quicker. But, ya know, it's kinda funny, having a normal conversation with a legitimate knife in your arm." Al nodded slowly, smiling gently. "Yea, kinda. Hurry on out to that hospital, though, seriously. And I wanna know how long you're gonna be out."
       "Trust me," Morty sighed, keeping a new towel below his wound as he made his way out the door, "I'm not gonna be gone at all, just doing something different."

*~*~*

      For Morty, the actual pain from being stabbed hadn't set in until he was halfway through explaining to the man questioning him about it as he sterilized needles and gauze and whatnot. Morty had effectively stopped mid sentence to utter the simple work, "Bitch." He had laughed slightly after, trying to cradle his arm though not moving it still. Rick had sat across the room, holding AJ against himself as the toddler slept, trying not to shake him awake as he laughed at Morty's remark. None of the other bouncers with any sort of medical knowledge had been awake, nor nearby, leading the trio to be forced to head to an actual hospital. It was wonderful once the doctor finally numbed Morty's arm, but the brunet made the fatal mistake of glancing over, turning away very quickly to the doctor's amusement.
       Now, as Rick drove home to keep Morty from further irritating his arm, there was no sound, aside from the very quiet radio and the soft sighs from the sleeping child in the back seat. Morty held his left arm as still as he could, the sleeve remaining rolled up and irritable gauze around heavy stitches. His right arm propped his cheek up as it rested on the door, his eyes staring blankly at the stars. There were sparse clouds blocking some stars from view, though none were in front of the moon. It was full tonight, a beautiful sight, glowing against the black backdrop and surrounded by smaller twinkles. It was a very relaxing sight, perfect after everything that had happened.
       "Shit," Rick grumbled, sighing lightly as he continued on his way. Morty hummed curiously, facing the man now. "Turned down the wrong street," Rick admitted after a moment. "Forgot I was going to your place."
       "Oh," Morty mumbled, yawning and returning to staring out the window. He glanced ahead, seeing the stars over the water now as clouds rolled in front of the moon. "I take it you were heading to your home, then," Morty noted with a short laugh, peering back at AJ to find the toddler still sleeping heavily. "Yea," Rick mumbled, waiting for the light in front of him to turn green. "Always forget something." Morty gave a short nod in response, sinking down in his seat. "I dunno if Sam's even home yet, but he better be awake to let me in. I dropped the damn house key somewhere," Morty grumbled as he searched his pockets. He would have to call Al tomorrow. It was nearing two AM and there was no way the man would be awake now, though he would probably have a little trouble sleeping, knowing people were pissed at him now and were after him.
       "You think you could do that freaky card trick?" Morty questioned, searching through the knapsack to see if it had landed in there somehow. He huffed, finding it wasn't there, and set the bag back at his feet. Rick hummed in response, neither giving a yes nor no, while Morty turned back curiously as he heard movement. AJ was barely awake, rubbing at his eyes with one hand while the other grabbed at his seat buckle. He stared at Morty for a moment before he leaned to the other side, smacking his lips and settling back into the seat before falling asleep once more. Morty was very relieved that the toddler hadn't thrown a fit, facing front again. He sighed, leaning against the door again. Rick never was the best conversationalist anymore. The man was always out of it, always focused on something else, like if he pretended Morty wasn't there then he had no problems in this world. Like the man couldn't care any less.
       Morty turned quietly, watching as Rick focused on the road, propping his head up against the window while his other hand laid at the top of the steering wheel. "Do you hate me?" he wondered aloud, watching Rick slowly furrow his brow. "What?" he questioned, glancing quickly at the brunet before he was watching the road again. "Do you hate me?" Morty reiterated, scratching the lowermost part of the bandages as it had begun to irritate his skin further.
       "Why would you even need to ask?" Rick mumbled, sitting up as he turned down Morty's street. "I just wonder sometimes. You never want to talk to me."
       "Last I recall, I was specifically asked to leave you alone," Rick muttered, looking around for Morty's driveway like it would save him from having to speak anymore. Morty gave up, sitting back in the seat, while Rick pulled into his driveway now. Sam must still be gone. Usually, one of them would switch the porch light on, simply out of habit for the stray cats they left food for. The light was off, the house dark. Morty sighed lightly, climbing from the vehicle and throwing the knapsack carefully over his right shoulder. He and Rick both shut their doors quietly, Morty moving to open the door and finagle with the kid, only to see Rick wave it off. "You can't lift him," he stated, ducking into the car and standing with the toddler after a moment. AJ gave a whine of protest, rolling his head to the side and laying on his shoulder while Rick shut the door carefully. "You find your key?" he questioned, walking carefully. Morty went through his pockets one last time, sighing. "Nada. It's gone somewhere." Rick nodded, holding AJ with one arm while the other snaked around and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. Morty watched as he used a credit card to, essentially, break into his home. He shrugged, following after the man and quickly flipping the lights on. Sam had never come home, though he supposed that was somewhat of a good thing.
       "Where's he going?" Rick questioned, shifting AJ once he put his wallet away. "I gotta put him in his pajamas, so to his room, I guess. I can take it from here if you wanna go," Morty offered, setting the bag on the ground and yawning once again. "I don't mind helping out," Rick stated, moving past Morty and to the toddler's room. Morty shrugged lightly, following after. Rick set AJ on his bed while Morty made his way over to the small dresser, grabbing a small pair of pajama bottoms and the matching t-shirt top. He set them to the side, shifting AJ carefully on the bed while he worked at changing his shirt, pulling the one he was currently in off with slight difficulty. His arm was already burning again when he finally got the shirt off of the toddler, Morty giving a huff as he tossed the object to the side. 
       "Kid," Rick sighed, walking over and grabbing the pajama shirt from beside the toddler, "look out. You're gonna make that worse." Morty twisted his lips to the side, stepping back with another huff while Rick tugged the shirt over the boy's head. "How hard is it to wake this kid?" he mused, setting his tiny shoes to the side. Morty laughed quietly while Rick worked at tugging the pajama bottoms around AJ's waist now. "He sleeps like a rock," he admitted, grabbing the toddler's previous outfit and setting it aside. 
       "Can you lift him up again?" he questioned, watching Rick nod and lift the toddler carefully. Morty drew the blankets back and smiled as Rick set AJ back down, placing the Spongebob blanket over AJ. The toddler sighed softly and turned to his side, never opening his eyes once. Morty gave a short laugh, gathering his clothes now and flipping his nightlight on. The room was illuminated by the small lamp, filled with dancing figures spinning around on the ceiling. AJ absolutely adored the lamp.
       Morty ushered Rick from the room, shutting the door behind himself quietly. "Thank you," he spoke quietly, wandering towards his room. He stopped to drop AJ's clothes in the hamper before he stood in front of his bedroom door. 
       "No problem," Rick mumbled. "Are you gonna be okay with that?" He pointed to Morty's arm before his hand fell to his side again. "I think I'll manage," Morty announced with a laugh. 
       Rick nodded, the air filled with silence for a minute before he cleared his throat, obviously uncertain in the moment. "I, uh.. I'll see myself out. Take it easy, Morty." 
       "Goodnight, Rick." Morty gave a soft, tired smile. "You don't gotta ignore me all the time. I miss talking to you, ya know?"
       Rick gave a short laugh, shrugging as he spun around and wandered down the hall. "Goodnight, Morty," he called quietly, disappearing. Morty waited until he heard the door shut before he finally wandered into his room, changing and feeling as though there was glass in his chest the entire time.