Prompt by YrooXrksvi618
"Why are we here again?" Morty groaned, warily watching a group of Glaxoid teenagers playing with a ball not far from where he was standing.
"Because -urp- I need more Glaxoidian fluid," Rick reminded him. "Hey, don't watch those Glaxoids," he said sharply.
Rick and Morty were at an alien park, with Rick bent over a pool of black liquid, trying to fill as much containers as the ship could hold.
"Why not?" Morty asked. "I don't like the way they keep looking over here."
"You don't have to like it, you just have to deal with it," Rick grunted, pulling out another container and loading it onto the ship.
"Hey, ugly mug!" one of the Glaxoids shouted over towards Morty.
"Morty do not move, do not respond, do not even look at them," Rick instructed under his breath.
"Why not?" Morty hissed.
"Because in this dimension, human are very very inferior to the Glaxoids, and we could get in huge trouble for fighting with them," Rick explained.
"Hey, what are you, retarded?" the same Glaxoid shouted.
"Fine," Morty huffed. "Just hurry up."
The Glaxoid was walking towards them now. Morty could see him from the corner of his eye. The Glaxoids were a very large species, so he would have been hard to miss. "Shit, Rick, he's coming. What do I do?"
"Nothing," Rick whispered, loading another container.
"Hey retardo," the Glaxoid shouted. "I'm talking to you." Morty clenched his fists tightly. "Oh, so you can hear me? Why don't you turn your stupid, ugly mug around and look at me."
"I don't want any trouble," Morty said calmly.
"Ooh, the ugly little retard speaks," the Glaxoid taunted.
Bursting with anger, Morty glared up at the Glaxoid. "Calling people retarded isn't nice, you know!" he exclaimed. "You should apologize."
The Glaxoid laughed and punched him in the face. Morty could already feel the skin around his eye bruising. Next, he kicked him in the leg so hard he could hear his bones cracking. Morty screamed as he fell to the ground. "A Glaxoid apologizing to a human?" he taunted. "What are you, autistic?"
"Hey, why don't you shut your face before I get over there and shut it for you?" Rick asked, stepping between the Glaxoid and Morty.
"What are you gonna do about it?" the Glaxoid asked, laughing.
"Well I'm certainly talk to you, as that would lower my IQ," Rick growled in annoyance. He threw a punch, hitting the Glaxoid square in the eye and kicked his legs hard enough to knock him down.
Suddenly, the Glaxoid turned. "Hey! Police!" he shouted.
"Shit," Rick muttered.
Two Glaxoid police officers walked up to them, eyeing Rick suspiciously. "These two are harassing me," the teenager said.
"We don't want any trouble," Rick said. "We're just gonna be leaving now." He set the last empty box inside his ship, then bent down and cradled Morty. "I'm sorry, kid. Let's go home."
"Leave and never return," the officer demanded. "Or there will be consequences."
Morty was crying from the pain as Rick gently placed him in the passenger's seat. He pulled a syringe filled with clear liquid out of his pocket and injected it straight into the boy's leg. Morty could hear his bone snapping back in place and sighed with relief.
Rick got in on the other side of the ship and closed the door. "I have an idea," he said, aiming his portal gun at the empty container. A portal opened up, and Glaxoidian fluid filled it up. "Let's go," he said.
Once they had taken off into space, Morty finally spoke. "Thank you," he said softly.
"Don't think about it, Morty," Rick said. "Anyways, I'm pretty sure we just got banned from that park. Now I'm gonna have to find somewhere else to get the Glaxoidian fluid."
"Thank you for not letting them make fun of my autism," Morty replied.
Rick gave him a strange look. "You do know I'm autistic, right?" Morty asked.
"Yeah," Rick said softly. "It's -urp- just... I am too."
"Oh," Morty said in shock.
"Not many people know, I mean besides every other Rick in existence," Rick continued. "Birdperson knows, and Squanchy knows, and I guess now you know."
"Why doesn't our family know?" Morty asked.
Rick sighed. "I don't know. I just don't know how they'd react I guess."
"Well, I think you should tell them."
Rick sat nervously at the dinner table, thinking about what Morty had said. Not even his own daughter knew he was autistic. He didn't really know why he didn't tell her. Perhaps he felt it would make him too vulnerable. But it would make Morty feel a little less alone so he decided to do it.
"Beth," he said. "I have something to tell you."
"What is it, dad?" she asked.
Rick took a deep breath and said, "I'm autistic too."
Beth's mouth dropped open in surprise. She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "Thank you for trusting us enough to share," she said. "Let us know if there's anything we can do."
"Well at least you don't seem autistic," Jerry said.
Rick sent a harsh glare his way. "And why is that, Jerry?" he said through clenched teeth.
Jerry paled. "It's just... you're smart," he finished lamely.
"Oh, fuck off!" Rick exclaimed. "So is your son, you just refuse to see it because he has a hard time in school."
"Jerry," Beth scolded. "There you go, putting your foot in your mouth again!"
"I'm sorry," Jerry said quickly. "That was rude of me."
Next to him, Morty was smiling brightly, and that was all the confirmation he needed that he'd done the right thing.
"I'm proud of you, Rick," he said softly. "And I'm glad I'm not alone in this."
Rick ruffled Morty's hair. "You never were, kid."
Morty glanced over at Summer. "Summer, are you tweeting?" he asked.
"That I have an awesome, badass, hashtag actually autistic grandpa? You bet."
Rick considered for a moment telling her to keep it secret. But judging by Jerry's reaction, the world needed more positive autistic representation, and if he could provide that, then who was he to say no?
"That's damn -urp- right," Rick replied.
Summer smiled. "I'm proud of you too, grandpa."
"We all are," Beth said. "Now, who wants to go out for ice cream to celebrate?"