A Request for HotRedSparkles on deviantart.

A Ratchet and Clank Fanfic

Genre: hurt/comfort

Warnings: references to war scenes/death

Hope you all enjoy!

A New Father

Ch. 2

During the last few weeks, the life of General Alister Azimuth changed forever. His home was on Fastoon along with other Lombaxes such as himself. However, that quickly changed as a range of warships invaded the planet and destroyed everything, and everyone, they could find, under the commands of Tachyon.

Now, this white Lombax lived on what many called a Junk Planet due to the attack being his fault to begin with. The general had been too trusting, and because of this trust, ended up being the cause for his whole planet's destruction.

Having to admit to these crimes would kill him inside one day. No, not from the other races or other worlds, but the day he would have to explain this all to his best friend's son, his new adopted son…

Several days were spent by the radio as he waited for any kind of contact from Kaden. Hopes for his survival from the war were slim that first day as reports stated the Lombax defeat, and grew smaller by the day. The outsider as some called Alister continued to wait. After close to a week, he assumed the worst, and stopped waiting by the radio.

He had other things to worrying about. Some good news was that it was easy to find supplies to fix up a beaten up home on a junk planet. None of the supplies were new and nice looking by any means, but they were effective and free.

Rooms were cleaned up to make the place a better home for the Lombaxes. The kitchen actually looked like a kitchen but just a little worn out looking instead of looking like a century or so old. Alister managed to get his hands on a bed for himself and a baby crib for tiny Ratchet. There was even enough luck that some baby toys were found. All looked dirty and beat-up, but the small ball of yellow fur was not one to complain as he treasured them as if they were new toys. Furniture for the rest of the house had not given much difficulty either.

Two problems occurred that Azimuth had a bit more of a challenge handling. One was getting food. Luckily, he did seem to find a way to make the process easier. He could not leave the planet because there was Ratchet he had to watch. However, the locals were weary of this newcomer and had heard stories about him, which unfortunately, were true. The stories were of the fall of Fastoon being the newcomer's fault.

To solve this predicament, Alister a lot of times wore a cloak to hide himself and would either trade some of the junk he found if it was not needed and could be worth something, or would give bolts, which could be found randomly out in the desert. Either one was taken positively for the most part so he stopped having as many difficulties in requiring nourishment.

The last problem was one the older Lombax still had a hard time fixing, for it was something he could not really fix. Ratchet was usually pretty good about playing with his toys, eating, and just being overall happy, but there are times, especially in the night, when he cries. Though he is young, Ratchet did know how to mumble a few words, and those words consisted of Mommy and Daddy. Seeing the child cry out for his parents that were no longer alive just broke the general's heart. He could not help but blame himself.

There was one night at a time at half past one when whimpers and sobs came from to room next to Alister's. He inwardly groaned but showed no verbal complaint as he rose from his bed with half lidded eyes. Feet dragged themselves down the hall until he reached the baby room and opened the door.

Flicking on a nightlight, Ratchet was wake and crying more than he had a few seconds ago. He was quickly picked up into the white furred arms before walking around in circles in that tiny room.

This did not put the baby at ease as his cries became louder. Usually, walking around a bit helped calm him when he was fussy, but not this night. Alister then decided to walk out of the room and try something else.

He walked into the living room before sliding a glass door open and stepped out onto an outdoor landing, or porch as some might call it. It looked out to the desert and rock mountains that stretched as far as the eye could see. Light flickers of yellow hues indicated the village that Alister went to for food was not but a mere few miles.

The sky was brighter tonight, for it was almost a full moon. It was around three-fourths of the way there, but even that help brighten up the night sky considerably.

"Ratchet, what do you think?" Azimuth asked, "You can see the desert so clearly."

The baby did kind of a gurgle in response but seemed slightly distracted by something else. He then noticed those bright emerald eyes looking up at the sky. Following his example, the white Lombax also looked. He could see many constellations and some he even knew to be planets instead of stars.

"They are something else, aren't they? When you are older, I promise to take you up there so you can get a better look at the stars and planets, with your own eyes."

This caused a coo to come from Ratchet, as if he really understood what the older was saying. Alister knew Ratchet was too young to really understand everything around him, but he planned on keeping that promise, to both Kaden and the one he just made to the little one, no matter what.

After star gazing for a bit longer, Alister decided to head in. However, the yellow furred Lombax was still not sleepy so the older decided to try something. He turned one of the rocking chairs in the living room a little to the left before scooting it to the glass door. While Ratchet continued to fascinate himself with the stars in the sky, Alister got to sit and rock them both.

It did not take long before red and emerald eyes drooped and then fully closed in sleep. This was one of the first times Alister truly felt his role of being a father figure, and to be honest, he actually quite enjoyed it.

*Yes! It's finished. This was originally meant to be a one-shot, but when I took requests a while back, a request like this was asked and I thought it would go well with the one-shot of New Father that I wrote, so I just continued it. This was a request for HotRedSparkles on deviantart. I hope you liked it! Thank you all for reading and I hope everyone enjoyed!