Ratchet ran through his home once, twice, three times to be sure. He'd hear about it from Abba soon enough about getting his baji all scuffled with dust from so much dashing about, but he wouldn't be able to blame for boy for panicking so much.

The little (even for a Lombax) boy stopped at a nearby doorway, looking back in the room to see an idle computer and a half-packed suitcase of clothes. Ratchet had no clue how he was supposed to carry all that once he arrived at the boarding school. He looked at it for a few moments, still in awe at the size of it compared to him.

A few moments later, he found himself picked up from behind. "Surprised a little piece of work like you needs so many clothes?"

"Abba!" Ratchet spoke up, turning around to see a slightly mottled, older Lombax looking down at him. It took another moment before Ratchet gave his father a quick hug. "You're sure they have to take me?"

'Abba' chuckled, ruffling Ratchet's blonde hair. "You're going to school, Ratchik. Unless you do something stupid, yes, they'll be taking you there in a few days."

"Then I want to do something stupid!" Ratchet shot back.

"Besheket!" His father growled in mock-disappointment, before smiling and running a hand though his son's hair again. "You're a smart boy. You like the lessons I teach you; I know you're a smart kid. You already know fractions from helping me with Eema's medication. You know a little physics from helping me catch the hens. And I know you understand computers because I caught you no less than two nights ago reading that red blog!"

"I wouldn't have wanted to see the red page if it wasn't blocked!" Ratchet protested. "No wonder it is, though. Those ladies looked like they weren't enjoying it."

The elder Lombax chuckled. "Well, don't try to show that trick to your friends at school, okay? Some people don't like it."

"Okay, Abba."

"Now, is there anything you want me to pack into your bags special for you, or are you just running around to scuff up your nice baji?"

"There's a lady who left a letter on the front door . . ." Ratchet started, before he found himself lifted up onto his father's shoulders. The two sprinted over to the front door, where Ratchet pointed to the notice on the front door. "She said she takes people all the time . . ."

Ratchet held on tight as his father lurched, ripping the note off the door. "Court Order for . . . oh, for . . . " he read the note again, this time with a snarl on his face. "LOVELACE!"

Ratchet blinked, covering his ears. A few seconds packed with no response before he started shouting out as well. "EEMA!"

Sure enough, a voice quickly pierced back, as if by instinct. "Ratchik?"

"Eema!" Ratchet cried out again, and his father shook his head as he walked along, crumpled note in hand, following the cries of attention in a twisted game of Marco Polo.

Soon enough, they were standing in front of a small guest house in the corner of his family's land, and Ratchet jumped to the ground to dart for the door. His father knocked on it, and soon enough, it opened.

Ratchet looked up at the grey-furred female, her bright blonde hair hiding most of her face. Her clothes, while once having been good quality, now looked lightly soiled and dusty, as though she'd slept in them for a few days at a time; Her hair was clean but loose, and Ratchet could only see her eyes when he pushed the hair out of their way.

"Lovelace." His father hissed, looking over at her.

She turned her head to him like she was glaring. "What is it, Clockwork?"

"They're coming for you again . . ." Clockwork hissed, handing her the letter. "I'm not standing for this; I've got enough work to do as is getting Ratchet ready for boarding, and once he's off for the year, you . . ."

Ratchet's ears perked up as he heard a soft mewling, in one of the other rooms, along with the dancing glow of light that he recognized as the reflections of a display screen, followed by a woman's voice. " . . .You don't want to make this worse, do you?"

Clockwork's ears caught it as well, because his eyes narrowed immediately. "Not again . . . and don't you dare try to stop me!"

Clockwork immediately sauntered inside the small house. Ratchet's eyes went wide, and he tried to run in ahead of him, but Lovelace's hands were right there to catch little Ratchet. "You don't want in there."

"But Abba's looking!" Ratchet protested, kicking. "Let me go!"

"You don't want in there. It's ugly, it's violent and it's not good for you."

Ratchet squirmed more, pawing against her chest for leverage. "But I wanna see!"

This time, Clockwork's voice responded in turn. "No, you don't!"

His father stormed back to the duo, holding a shiny, encased disc in one hand. He glared at Lovelace, before looking down at Ratchet. "Ratchik, would you please go check on the hens for me? Make sure to check them all for fleas."

Ratchet looked confused. "But what do the hens have to do with-?"

"Ratchik, now." Clockwork hissed, no longer in a friendly tone.

Ratchet's eyes went wide, and he ran out the door, briefly bolting to make it sound like he was running away from the house, before he slowly crept back towards it, ears perked high in curiosity. Ratchet moved in as close as he could, sidled up against the outer walls.

" . . . I've had enough of all this! I'm sick of you wallowing in your past! I'm sick of finding you all up against the walls, I'm sick of seeing you fiddle with handcuffs like they were worry beads . . . I'm not standing for it!" He heard his father hiss, anger evident in his voice.

"I'm coping, damn it. The doctors said masking the pain wasn't good for me."

"Watching those damned discs isn't coping! It's filth!" Clockwork growled. "Don't make me have to think of you like that, you hear me? I want you to be the Lovelace I remember!"

Lovelace scoffed. "I'm taking care of myself. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"NO! I want more!" He growled, and soon Ratchet heard the sound of something being shoved up against a wall. "I want you to actually take care of your goddamn son rather than making me teach him how to take care of you!"

He heard his mother growling. "I can take care of myself!"

"Where's your medication?"

"I've not been taking it. I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Clockwork growled. "If you were, we wouldn't be out in the middle of nowhere dealing with your goddamn guilt complex! Look, if you're not going to take your medication, then we need to do damage control. Where's your medallion?"

"I hid it." She hissed, grit in her voice. " I don't care if you think something's wrong with me, but I'm not giving it up without a fight."

"Is that a threat or an invitation?" Clockwork remarked. "I don't want to hurt you . . . but damn it, either you hand it over or they'll make you hand it over when they get you thrown in the asylum!"

"I'm not going anywhere and you're not taking my medallion anywhere either!"

There was a pause, and then next thing Ratchet knew, the door flew open with a bang as a tumble of fur flew out of it. His father already had his arms wrapped around his mother's, trying to pin her down to the ground, while his mother's legs were braced against the ground for leverage as she went for his ears, and then spun around to catch Clockwork roughly in a full nelson, slamming him down into the nearby dirt, holding him there.

Ratchet quickly bolted, deciding that right now, checking the hens for fleas didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Ratchik?"

He'd heard the knocking on his door, but didn't answer. He was currently hiding under a thick woolen blanket, trying to get his head clear. It'd be a few more days and then he'd be off to boarding school, and he wouldn't have to worry about this stuff for a good, long while. Maybe by the time he came back for holidays she'd be off to spend time in the doctors' place again; he didn't know much about it, but she seemed to be much better whenever she came back from there.

This time, the door opened; Lovelace was standing in the door frame, now much cleaner; it looked like she'd put on some new clothes and showered, judging by how tight her hair was tied up now. "Mind if I come in?"

"Taken your medicine, Eema?" Ratchet remarked, causing Lovelace to frown, but the older Lombax sighed and let the frown fall away fast enough.

She walked a little closer to him, where he had lain down on the bed. "It's okay. See? I'm normal."

"Until you're off to the little house again." Ratchet mumbled, causing Lovelace to shudder.

She sat down next to him, placing a hand on his back. "I . . . I know I've let my problems get the better of me . . . but that's no reason to let you down."

Ratchet sat up. "But I'll be leaving for school soon . . . then you won't have to worry, right?"

"I'll always worry, baby. But you . . . you'll be all right." She smiled, putting her hand under his chin to get him to look up at her. "Listen, tomorrow we're going to go into town and get you the last supplies you need before you go. Once we do that . . . it'll just be you and me, okay? We'll get to spend time in the park together, and down by the waterfront . . . I'll even get you some of that rock candy you like." She smirked, looking back down at her little Ratchet. She could only hope that he was still young enough for this sort of thing to work.

"I don't know . . ." Ratchet remarked, obviously tempted but still nervous.

"Come on, it'll be fun! I just have one little errand to run in the morning, and then we'll have the rest of the day to ourselves." She smirked, picking him up to hold him close against her. "Please?"

"Well . . ." Ratchet spoke, looking up at her. "Promise?"

"I promise." Lovelace purred, kissing his forehead before tucking him in. "Sleep well, Ratchik."

The little Lombax nodded, then rolled over to fall asleep. It took a few minutes for Lovelace to leave, most notably to walk over to where Ratchet had set aside a variety of toys, with little wooden figures of robots, humans, Blargians . . . a veritable Noah and Noel's ark of characters.

In one little wooden ship, she gripped the top gingerly, before pushing down and sliding it to one side, revealing a hidden compartment. She opened it up wider to let a small circular talisman roll out; a simple medallion, trimmed in gold with a star-shaped ruby gem visible from the front. It was easily more valuable than perhaps the house itself, and here she was, hiding it in a simple child's toy . . .

She quickly slipped it around her neck and under her shirt, tucking it away for safekeeping. No, it wasn't ironic. Ratchet had kept her from going off the deep end well before now; sure, taking care of a child had always taxed many a mother's patience, but for her, it was just the thing she needed right after . . . well, thinking about the trauma itself wasn't important right now. But raising him kept her sane, at least until Clockwork started getting more involved and she slowly found herself less useful, and with more time to dwell on the past . . . which was why she'd degraded as far as she'd already gone. Dealing with how to handle herself once Ratchet left for school would only try her patience more.

Maybe it was a sign that it was time to get back to doing what she did best. After all, son saves mother, mother saves planet . . . perfectly natural in the scheme of things, right?

She left her son's room, walking out to see Clockwork in the hallway, wearing a loose robe. "Bit long for a goodnight, wasn't it?"

"I'm just doing like you said; you want me to take care of Ratchet, and tomorrow I'm going to do just that." Lovelace smirked, walking past her husband. "And in the meantime I'm going to work on a few other 'duties' of mine that I've been neglecting . . ."

Clockwork's eyes lit up, before he blinked. "Hold on . . . what about that court order? We can't just ignore it."

"Leave that to me . . ." Lovelace moved in close enough for Clockwork to feel the chill of the medallion against his back. "You didn't marry a Solana Scout for nothing, now did you?"