Chapter Text
Kaden listened carefully to the shouting voices that echoed over his home. His son followed behind Alister, his closest friend, seemingly trying to plead for something from him. But Alister remained stone faced and cold.
“My decision is final!” Alister walked down the front hallway, Kaden’s son was hot on his heels, “Drop it, now!”
“Why won’t you listen to me?!” Kaden’s son pleaded.
This wasn’t the first argument the pair had, they had several before this one. Each argument got more brutal and heated than the last. Each one, his son grew angrier and angrier. It was so odd to Kaden. The pair used to be so close, ever since his son was just a kit. It was always, “Uncle Al” or “Azi”, and he always talked about how he wanted to be just like his uncle. Then one day he just changed, almost overnight.
It happened a few years ago, he was still in high school. Going strong. He had just started his 2nd year, and he was looking forward to his future. One night he started having nightmares, they were so vivid they almost felt like memories. His grades began to drop like stones, and he began to insist that they weren’t just nightmares. By the end of the year, he dropped out. Something no one had expected
He became reserved, closing himself away. He focussed his time on building and mechanics, he was already skilled with that. If he wasn’t shut in building something, he was exercising, and not just normal exercising, but training. Like he was preparing for a fight. He even started building weapons.
Yet he refused to tell anyone why.
That’s when the first fight happened.
Kaden had been woken up from a midday nap by shouting voices coming up the stairs. He pushed his ear the door and listened for a second, only to hear his son and best friend yelling at each other about something he couldn’t comprehend.
His son seemed to be accusing Alister of something, while Alister insisted he did whatever it was for the good of everyone else.
“You took everything from me!”
“The needs of the many outway the needs of the few!”
“They didn’t need your help!”
By that time, Kaden had fully stepped out of his room and was standing in his doorway. The argument came to a halt when they noticed him there. He stared down in his child’s eyes, it was as if years of fighting, love, and loss had come crashing down on him. His eyes weren’t that of the peppy excited teenager he used to be, but a tired man who simply wanted peace.
His son went into his own room and slammed the door shut, locking himself away again. Alister had refused to explain anything, and went on his way. Neither of them would tell Kaden or his wife, Emileen, what they were fighting about. They just kept on fighting.
And now they were fighting again.
“You’re being unreasonable!” His son followed Alister, who was walking out of the house, “Just listen to me and I can help!”
Alister stopped and turned to face the boy, he glared down at him.
“I said drop it.” He hissed, but the boy remained vigilant, so Alister grabbed him by the shoulders and leaned down until he was face level, “Drop it. You have no say in what I, or my court, does. You have no say in what any of us do.”
Kaden stepped into the doorway, he watched them with worried eyes.
“You’re just a highschool dropout who couldn’t even make it into training.” Alister continued, his voice dropping, “Maybe if you were more like your father, I’d be willing to trust you.” the boy tensed up, and Alister spoke to him in a voice only he could hear, “Maybe if you were more like the hero you were back then, someone would listen to you, Ratchet.”
Ratchet was completely frozen, his grip on his omni-wrentch, something that had become a comfort to him in recent years, tighten. He began to shake. Alister straightened up and began to step away from them. Ratchet’s face twitched dropping into a fierce glare.
“That man is dead,” He began to hiss, “and you’re the one that killed him!” He brought his arm back to swing the omni-wrentch at Alister’s head, but Kaden quickly jumped in and caught his wrist, he wrapped his other arm around his son’s waist and pulled him backwards.
Kaden looked down at Ratchet, he saw a glare unlike any he’d ever seen on his child’s face, a glare that was so unnatural, yet fit so well, it showed the truest anger in his eyes. Kaden couldn’t help but be afraid, and when he looked at Alister, he could tell his friend felt the same way.
“You took everything from me,” Ratchet’s voice a deep growl, “I’ll make you pay for that. I’ll make sure everyone knows what you did to me, what you took from me.”
“I haven’t taken anything from you!” Alister protested.
“Shut the fuck up.” Ratchet shook his father off of him, “You’ll pay for what you’ve done.” he looked back at his father, who stepped away in fear of Ratchet’s anger being turned onto him instead, Ratchet seemed surprised by that and his harsh look turned into one of guilt. The young lombax pushed past his father and hurried inside.
A silence permeated the air, as the door shut behind him. Slowly, Kaden turned to look at his friend. Someone who had also recently become more like a stranger to him. Alister looked regretful, he shook his head and sighed as he brushed fur out of his face.
“Al,” Kaden started, he stepped down towards his friend, “what the hell is going on between you two?”
“I wish I had an answer.”
“Clearly, you do have an answer!” Kaden seemed exasperated, “What was he talking about? What was taken from him? What did you do? What did he do? Why do you hate each other now?” It was clear worry was rising in Kaden, he seemed almost frantic.
“Kaden, deep breaths.” Alister placed a calming hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“I….” He shook his head, “I just want to help you both. You’re both my family, Al.” He hugged himself and looked at the ground, “I feel like I don’t even know you two anymore…”
Alister bit his lip and thought of a response, he could see the hurt in his friend, his brother, he could almost feel it radiating off of him. So he resigned to tell him the truth.
“I’ll tell you tomorrow, at work.” He let go of Kaden’s shoulder and stepped back.
“Why not now? Right here?”
“Kaden,” Alister made a small, almost invisible movement, singling Kaden to glance around and see the many onlookers from their neighbors homes, “let’s not cause more of a spectacle then we already have.”
“Come inside then?” Kaden motioned back at the door.
“I don’t think a certain someone wants me inside right now.” Alister looked up and Kaden followed his gaze. They saw Ratchet staring down at them from his window, glaring daggers into Alister. When he noticed they were both looking, he quickly slunk away, pulling his blinds shut.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kay.” Alister turned back and walked to his ship, Kaden stood there until Alister wasn’t visible anymore. Then he walked back into the house.
He sat at his work desk, staring down at his papers until Emileen returned home. He had planned on working and distracting his thoughts, but that wasn’t working. He kept telling himself to start working, but he just kept staring at his papers. When she came inside he hurried to her arms, where he explained everything from that day.
Ratchet, on the other hand, didn’t leave his room since the argument. He figured he’d already be grounded, so he saved them the trouble. He thumped his pencil against his paper, where he’d drawn out another memory. Quietly wishing that those nightmares had really just been nightmares, that he never had this secret life that was taken away from him. That he had never been a hero. That he never had all those friends back then. He wished he’d never met Alister. He wished he saved Clank on his own. He wished Alister had left along with all of the other lombaxes. He wished-
The tip of his pencil broke, he had been pushing it into his desk without realizing it.
Ratchet sighed and tossed the pencil. He thumped onto his bed instead. There wasn’t any point in wishing for things that already happened. Slowly he closed his eyes, thinking about his old life, the life he missed so dearly. His old friends, the Galactic Rangers, Sasha, Cronk, Zephyr, Talwyn, Clank- CLANK!
He sat up quickly, his eyes now wide open. If he and Alister remembered everything, then Clank would remember too! He quickly grabbed his computer, and checked the year of the Solana Galaxy. It was still a few years before Clank would crash on Veldin, about 1 or 2. He needed to be there, he needed to go to Veldin more than anything.
He tossed some things into a bag, clothes, snacks, drinks, his omni-wrentch, then he slipped on some hoverboots. He had been notoriously bad at using them, but since he had started regaining his old memories, he’d also begun to regain his old skills. He slipped out of his room, and snuck over to where the keys for ships were hanging. He was also known for being bad at flying ships ( which was still sort of true), but there was one ship that he was good at flying. Aphelion. And he knew exactly where she was parked.
He reached up to grab her keys, then paused. His mom’s keys were hanging up. He hadn’t even heard her come on. His ears perked up, as he began to hear their voices.
“They won’t tell me what’s going on, Em.” Kaden paced around the kitchen, “Glym used to tell me everything, y’know? Now I don’t even know what TV shows he likes.”
Ratchet’s ears drooped.
“I know, hun.” His mother sighed, he could hear the sound of her tapping fingers, something he knew she did when she was nervous, “But these things happen sometimes. People grow apart.”
“But not so suddenly!” Kaden sat down at the table and rested his head on his hands, “I just wish I knew what to say to him, I want to make it all better, I want to be there for him.”
“I do too,” She reached across the table and took his hands, “we’re doing all we can right now. We have him in therapy, he has medications, we help whenever he asks. We just hope he’s willing to open up, we can’t force it out of him.”
Ratchet’s tail had dropped to the ground. He slipped Aphelion’s keys off the ring and walked towards the kitchen. He couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to them. The second he was in the doorway, they looked up.
“Evening, kitten.” His mom stood up and walked over to him, “What’s with the bags?”
“I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going?” Kaden was resting his chin on the backrest of his chair, “Are you gonna stay at Angie’s for a bit?”
Angela, or Angie, had been one of the more interesting things Ratchet learned in this life. Someone who he had once thought of as just another lombax back then, he now learned was basically his cousin. Although he had always thought of her as a sister. Alister had told him once that Emileen and Angela’s mom, Lorna, had been friends and even roommates at one point, Ratchet had no idea they were that close though.
“No,” this hurt him to say, and he really didn’t want to see their reactions what he was about to say next, “I’m leaving this planet. I’m going to Veldin.”
Kaden was sitting up now, “Glym, that’s all the way in Solana!” He looked at Emileen then back at him, “Why the hell are you going there?”
“Job opportunity.” Ratchet shrugged, “I think it’s time I struck out on my own.”
“Hun, there’s job opportunities here on Fastoon.” he mom gently took his shoulders, “Why go all the way there?”
“People on Fastoon will recognize me. They’ll know my name.” Ratchet tightened his grip on his bags, “It’s not like you two are small town nobodies. I want to start anew, with a planet that doesn’t know my family.”
“But Glym-”
“That’s not my name.”
“What?”
“I said that’s not my name.” Ratchet looked at them, his eyes were soft and sad, “My name is Ratchet.”
They looked at eachother, then back at him. Seeing the hurt in his eyes, they smiled and nodded, even if they didn’t really understand why.
“Ratchet then.” His mom pulled him close and kissed his head, “Good luck, Ratchet, stay safe. Call everyday, or text at least.”
Kaden wasn’t exactly comfortable with him leaving, but he wouldn’t protest if it meant that Ratchet would be happy, so he added, “And don’t forget to take your meds! And drink water!”
Ratchet nodded, finally smiling again.
That very night, he climbed into his ship and took off for Veldin, only saying goodbye to those who were there to see him go, which wasn’t very many people. Kaden and Emileen took a seat on their couch, neither said it out loud, but they both were silently hoping that Ratchet would change his mind and turn around. He didn’t.
It wouldn’t be much of a story if he did.
When the sun came up that very next day, the house was still completely silent. The couple quietly got ready for work, quietly ate breakfast, and quietly left the house. Stepping into the building, their grim faces were hard to ignore.
Aslister was the first to approach them, he always was of course. The trio were close friends. Kaden and Alister knew each other since they were kids, and Emileen went to the same highschool as them. If it wasn’t for Alister being a lot more confident and outspoken than Kaden, he and Emileen would have never started talking, let alone start dating. The trio told each other everything, and always counted on each other. They truly were the best of friends.
“How’s Glym?” Alister asked, he was the source of worry on a lot of people’s minds.
“He’s gone.” Kaden looked into Alister’s eyes with a dark and grim look, Alister gasped and covered his mouth, assuming the worst. Emileen gently whapped Kaden on the head for being so dramatic.
“He moved out last night.” She added on, Alister sighed with relief, “Said that he had a job opportunity on Veldin.”
“But that’s all the way in Solana?!” Alister wasn’t surprised really, but he’d prefer they think he was. He knew Ratchet started out on Solana, it made sense that he would go back there.
“We know.” She shook her head and rubbed her face, “But it was his choice, and that’s what matters. He’ll come by and visit, and he’ll keep up contact. There’s no need to worry.”
“You’re worrying aren’t you?”
“An insane amount, yes.”
Kaden, who had been oddly silent since he first spoke, hadn’t changed his grim look as he stared Alister down, “Al, you still owe me that explanation.”
“And you’ll get one.” He motioned for them to follow, “Come with me.”
Alister wasn’t planning on telling them the whole truth, they wouldn’t believe it. But with some carefully thought out lies, he was sure they’d accept his explanation. Hopefully. Probably.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two years had passed, two long years for Ratchet. His estimation had been a bit off, Clank had yet to crash and they hadn’t reunited. Of course, and ratchet didn’t want to think about this, but it was also possible that due to the change of timelines, Clank would never be created and Chairman Drek would never attempt his planet destroying scheme.
He was really trying to not think about that. As the year went on, however, the thought just kept forcing its way inside his head.
He’d been working at Grim’s garage, after a sort of clumsy landing lead to Ratchet seeking out Grim’s help in fixing his ship. By clumsy landing I of course mean, he crashed in front of the garage and Grim had to pull him from the wreckage. He then fixed up Ratchet’s ship, free of charge, which made Ratchet feel bad. So he started working for Grim to pay it off.
“You got a place to stay, kid?” he asked.
“No, sir.”
“Do you live on Veldin?” he continued.
“No, sir.”
“Do you have anywhere to go?” He sounded worried.
“No, sir.”
Grim allowed Ratchet to stay, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the kid, and he couldn’t exactly explain it but he felt like he just knew the kid from somewhere. Ratchet had never mentioned any family, always did his best to avoid the topic, he never called anyone off planet and never even went out of his way to make friends.
He was just a little genius lombax inventor, who could fix (or modify) any ship he got his hands on. Customers had very mixed feelings about him. The younger crowd loved his random modifications, and he never charged extra for them which was a plus, but the older crowd hated how much of a loose cannon he was, often demanding he be fired.
Ratchet sat in his new room, technically his old room, and pondered how different this was from before. When he’d grown up on Veldin before all the adults mostly acted like he was some poor pitiful baby who constantly needs sympathy, and the other kids his age never wanted to hang out with him, due to them believing he was fragile (thanks to their parents).
His thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of a ship entering the garage, before Grim could even finish calling out to him, he was hurrying to the bottom floor and to his new project. Ratchet didn’t even take time to look at the new customer. As he investigated the ship, he did listen in though.
“He’s a very intelligent young man, he’ll be able to fix up your ship in no time.” Grim had a reassuring tone.
“How fast? I’m worried I could be late…” A female voice responded.
“Well, let’s find out.” Grim turned and shouted to Ratchet, “How long do you think this’ll take kid?”
He sprung up from around the ship, walking confidently over to the pair, “This? This is nothing. I could finish it by tonight!” He puffed his chest out and opened his eyes, finding himself face to face with his very pissed off look cousin.
“Oh…” He stepped back, “Uh, hey… Angela…. It’s certainly been awhile.. eheh ....”
He stepped back even more, before she could bring her fist down on his head.
“You asshole!” She yelled, stomping closer to him, Ratchet almost seemed to shrink down, “Where have you been? Don’t you know you’re worrying your family sick!”
Grim meant to intervene, now he was just confused. Ratchet didn’t have any family as far as he knew. But these two clearly knew each other somehow. Perhaps siblings? He wondered to himself.
“I’m sorry!” Ratchet almost pleaded with her as he stepped back again.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it! For all we knew, you were dead!” Her voice hitched, she was getting very worked up over all of this, her eyes welling with tears as she stepped forward, “How could you?”
Ratchet stepped away again, being very sure to step over a toolbox on the ground, “Look, Angela, I didn’t drop contact because I hate all of you… I just needed to start a new life, and get away from everything. Like the General.”
She paused for only a moment, her hands balled into fist and her glare bore holes into Ratchet’s soul. He started to look panicked and he searched for any quick escape routes, he soon found himself out of luck. Angela began to march forward, ready to strike him. Grim finally stepped forward, to pull them apart. There turned out to be no need for that.
Angela hadn’t noticed the toolbox and wasn’t sure to step over it, instead she ended up falling flat on her face. Ratchet stared down at her, her face snapped up to look at him. He covered his mouth, trying to hide a growing smile. She had started to growl, but just stopped, feeling defeated.
She picked herself up, dusting off her clothes, when she and Ratchet made eye contact he looked apologetic. He really didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but that didn’t change the fact that they did get hurt, and he couldn’t fix that with just a simple, “I’m sorry.”
She took her by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug, a very tight one that he wouldn’t be able to easily wiggle his way out of.
“I’m just glad you’re alive, stupid.” She gave another big squeeze.
“I’m glad to see you too, Angie…” He squeezed her right back and he was considerably stronger due to his strict exercise routine.
“Lordy!” She gasped from the squeeze, as if he had squeezed the air right out of her. Angela pulled back and ruffled his head, “Now fix my ship so I can get out of here.”
Ratchet nodded, gathering his tools and jumping to work quickly. He was determined to get this done as quickly as possible so he didn’t have to think about going back home anymore. He really wasn’t going back, not unless he had too, and he did have too.
He stopped paying attention to the other two, and although he could hear them talking, he had no idea what they were saying anymore. It was just work, work, work, until the ship was all done. The repairs were minor, it looked like she had just overworked the engine and got a bit dinged up from space rocks, nothing too big. He was able to finish just before the sun would even rise.
Setting down his tools with a satisfied smile, Ratchet walked out of the garage, ready to admire the night sky and fall asleep under the stars. Just as he started to get comfortable, a blinding fiery streak came crashing down onto the planet's surface. Ratchet was more awake then he’d ever been in his entire life.
“It’s time…” He whispered to himself, jumping up and racing away towards the wreckage. It was time for his life to properly begin.