"I understand, then could we at least keep in touch?"
When Chase heard this question, he stopped dressing himself and turned to face the brunette while seriously contemplating the idea, but his clashing thoughts brought him to the conclusion that keeping in touch wasn't a good idea.
"I-"
Although he wanted to decline, Chase couldn't bring himself to do it. He took advantage of this girl in a weak and vulnerable state, and if he were to leave now, it might just break her mentally. Chase could only promise to keep in touch when possible.
"Yeah, we can keep in touch"
Chase finished getting dressed and wrote down his number before leaving the apartment. Once he was alone, Chase took out his portal gun and began traveling the multiverse similar to Rick while trying to find him, but as fate would have it, as Chase would wander, Rick would take the time to rest back in universe C-137 while drinking his pain away, and when Rick would set out to hunt for Rick Prime and his son, Chase would return to spend time with the brunette who Chase got to know as Vanessa Brookes a few years had passed as Chase had his 21st birthday, and when Vanessa found out that Chase was so young when they met, she was a bit embarrassed to have brought home and later slept with a 17 year old, but Chase had eased her nerves by reminding her that he had illegally entered the bar, so it wasn't her fault.
Two years later, Chase had returned to C-137 and shortly after his return he found out he was going to be a father. Chase, now 23 years old was going to be a father for the first time in both of his lives, and the thought had scared him to the point of leaving, but as Vanessa tried to beg him to stay, he only promised her to give him a few days to contemplate and that he would return. Chase didn't know if he was cut out to be a father, he hoped that he could be around, but both he and Vanessa knew that he was still searching for his own father and he wasn't around often. Chase didn't want to be like Rick Prime who abandoned his family, but he knew that people of his caliber can't be stationary.
After a week, Chase returned, and upon his return, Vanessa jumped into his arms while in tears, expressing how she feared he wouldn't come back, Chase eased her emotional state and began to express his own worries.
"Vanessa, you are aware I can't always be around. I'm still looking for my father. I know he's out there, I've already caught some of his tracks, but he's very elusive. I'm willing to be part of both your and the child's lives, but you must understand that I can't be stationary, I need to keep looking for my father"
"Hmm, I understand. I support you in your choices, otherwise why would I have been willing to continue waiting for you to return all these years"
With a solid understanding, life went on. Vanessa gave birth to a little girl, and Chase was present for the birth. They named the girl Gwen, she was a dazzling little redheaded starfire who was too smart for her own good, and similar to how naughty Beth was as a child, her personality was equally as naughty. Always trying to start fires, shaving the family dog, she even put a bunch of nail tacks over the neighbors driveway so that when the neighbor backs up they pop their tires.
As time went on, Gwen's antics began to ramp up, and the stress it caused Vanessa began to get at her health. The most recent time Chase dropped by for a visit he noticed that something was wrong, he had taken her to the doctors and discovered she had developed late brain stage cancer. When they found out, the mood was dark and depressing, Vanessa thought that her time was short, but Chase felt that he could do something and began to work on creating a cancer drug. He began spending more time in C-137 as he began absorbing medical texts and building up a plausible cure that would kill the cancer cells.
After a month of trial and error, Chase was confident he had created the cure for cancer, and upon administering it to Vanessa her health began to improve. Chase began to run tests on her and even had taken her to the doctors to do more tests and all tests had shown that Vanessa's cancer was in remission which was good, but it was advised to continue doing checkups. During this time, Chase found that Gwen was a constantly buzzing fly who would float around him wherever he went, and it also became obvious that her naughty antics were suppressed which Vanessa found curious, and as she observed, Vanessa found that when Chase was around, Gwen would be well behaved, but when he left, she would raise hell and cause trouble.
"Honey, have you noticed that Gwen seems to act differently when you are around?"
"Hm? Not really, she's always been a good girl when I'm here"
"You dummy! That's exactly what I mean! Every time you come back for a visit, I am always left to regale you with the achievement of your dearest daughter, so you should be aware of her usual antics, but every time you are here, she changes her attitude"
When Vanessa explained her observations, Chase seemed to ponder for a moment before coming to a conclusion.
"Ah, I think I understand what's going on. Gwen's usual antics are a result of her acting out in anger and confusion. She knows she has a father, but she hardly ever sees her father, and this lack of presence has created a void of paternal affection, however when I am present, I try to shower her with as much affection as I can, and this has cemented the idea that if she acts up enough I will arrive to give her affection. She doesn't yet understand that my arrival isn't relevant to how much destruction she causes, she only knows that when I arrive, I shower her with care, and recently I have been present so she is curious as to why I am here for so long"
As Chase explained his conjuncture, Vanessa seemed to nod in understanding, this also left her with a new idea that would not only give her daughter more time with her father, but also ease the stress of having a wild child wreak havoc around the neighborhood.
"Honey, how about you take Gwen on your next journey to look for your father? I'm sure she would love to spend more time with you"
With this idea, Chase began to ponder over it. He thought it wasn't truly a bad idea, but that's in the understanding of what Vanessa knows about him. Vanessa doesn't know he travels all over the universe and into different universes, and her impression is that his journey is all done on Earth.
"Hmm, I don't mind, but would Gwen be willing to follow me?"
"Well, let's find out tomorrow when she wakes up. She's 12 now, so she's old enough to follow her father on a journey across the world"
Vanessa began to imagine scenes of a father and his daughter traveling across America before boarding a plane to countries like Africa, Australia, and Japan, enjoying the scenery and bonding together, but what she was unaware of was that the journeys they would take wouldn't be to those places, but to alternate universes and alien planets.
The next morning, both Chase and Vanessa sat down with Gwen and asked her opinion on the topic of traveling the world with Chase.
"Hmm~ Wherever daddy goes, I want to follow!!"
"Well, there you have it! Wherever daddy goes, she wants to follow"
When Chase got the confirmation that his daughter wanted to follow him on an adventure, he began to plan for the safety measures that needed to be taken so he didn't lose his kid, as unlike Rick's, including his father, who treat Morty's like disposable chaff, Chase was a man who cared for his family.
"Well then, let's go pack your clothes, little lady! Daddy's gonna take you to travel the world!"
After Gwen got packed up, Vanessa was there to see them off at the door with kisses and farewell hugs, with promises to come back in a few months with stories and pictures to show all the fun they had together.
After leaving Vanessa's place, Chase put all of Gwen's stuff in the trunk of his custom made car that Gwen called "futureistic" which she was unaware of how true that classification was, but would soon find out, and as the two of them got settled into the car, Chase turned to his daughter and asked.
"So, where do you want to go first?"
"Hmm~ I don't know! Let's go where daddy wants to go!"
"Hmm, good choice, kid! Dad knows where all the best spots are… Do you like playing games?"
When Gwen heard Chase mention games, her eyes brightened as she quickly nodded while her eyes showed gleams of expectation.
"I-I love, love, LOVE games, daddy!"
Seeing the excited expression of his daughter, Chase couldn't help but smile as he prepared the upcoming itinerary for the next couple of months.
"Then dad will take you to play at Blips and Chitz! That place is your dad's favorite intergalactic arcade!"
When Gwen heard the term intergalactic arcade, her face was one of confusion.
"Daddy, what's an intergalmacktic arcade?"
"Hunny, It's pronounced Intergalactic, and it means it's in space"
Upon hearing that the place was in space, Gwen's eyes widened with excitement, as she had never been to space before.
"Awesome! I want to go to space!"
"Then let's go! Car, turn on autopilot and input the destination for Blips and Chitz"
With the command given, the car began to light up as a synthesized female voice filled the car with prompts related to the orders given, while the car itself began to move and soon activated the cloaking mode before transforming into a sleek spaceship that was large enough to move around and even have with a few rooms and even had both a bathroom and kitchen area. Chase's car was like a futuristic camper turned spaceship, while in car mode it was compact and fancy.
"WOW! Daddy, the car! The car transformed like Swoosh~ Woosh~ Swoosh~"
As Gwen began to run around and explore, she quickly ran back to the view port where the scene of the vacuum of space began to flash past as the car flew past galaxies and star systems, all of the sights imprinting themselves into the heart and mind of the small 12 year old girl who was enjoying the time spent with her mysterious father who is hardly ever present in her life.
Soon, 7 years have passed, over the last 7 years, Chase had made due on his promise to take Gwen out for a few months out of the year and show her the vastness of the universe, and over time as Gwen grew older, her personality slowly began to mellow out, she no longer caused havoc, instead she took up painting and would constantly paint the scenes of her spending time with her father. These memories were the best memories of her life, but most recently, she had lost her mother in a car accident, and now she was alone, waiting for her father to arrive to tell him the news.
"Gwen, I'm here! What, are you not in the mood to wait for your old man at the door like usual?"
As Chase walked into the calm and silent house, he thought he had walked into the wrong place, but looking around at the familiar furnishings and family photo's, he knew he had the right place. The next thought was that nobody was home, but that shouldn't be the case as the car he had built for Gwen with his own hands was still sitting out front.
"Dad, I'm up here! Can you come up, I need to talk to you"
When Chase heard the tone of her voice, his brows furrowed, as her tone seemed off, almost, choked? Chase could tell that his daughter was crying, but the question now was why?
"Well, I'm coming up then"
Chase made his way upstairs where he saw his daughter sitting on her bed while clutching a photo in her hands with tears in her eyes. As he got closer he noticed that the photo was one of her and her mother when she was a small child with that still unruly nature.
"Gwen? What's wrong? Where's your mother?"
Although Chase had never married Vanessa, she still was someone he held very close emotionally, so when he saw how distraught his daughter was and how she was clutching a photo of her and her mother, a sour taste filled his mouth as bad ideas began to cloud his consciousness.
"D-Dad, mom… Mom died in a car accident… I-I'm sorry"
When Gwen spoke, every word felt like a sledge hammer as it smashed into his mind, the memories of the time spent with the only woman he had ever let into his heart and shared his emotions about his family with, the girl he had even created the cure to cancer to save, she had died.
'What's wrong with me? Have I been cursed? Why do my loved ones keep dying around me?'
Gwen watched as Chase stood motionless, his eyes almost vacant, but tears still filled his vision as they slowly began to fall down his weathered cheeks. Upon seeing her father like this, Gwen couldn't help but rush over and give him a hug as the two of them expressed the grief filling their hearts through tears. After a few hours, the crying came to a stop, as Chase began to regain his composure and then he turned to his daughter and put forth his question.
"Gwen, I've found my father. He has finally settled down in another universe and I plan to go and join him over there. Do you want to join me and go meet your grandpa?"
When Gwen heard the offer, she was a little surprised to hear that her father had finally found his father, and when she heard that he wanted her to join him in reuniting with his father she felt a sense of budding expectation and happiness, as over the years she had learned that there exist an infinite number of realities and universes, and that her father was unique out of all of them, so this made her curious as to what was special about his father than made her father so unique.