Circuit went out into the living room and prepared to ask Ratchet if he had any spare fabric material lying around. However, the Lombax did not appear to be present. When they had gotten back from Al's, Ratchet had planted himself on the couch, and Circuit thought that he would be sitting there all night. But it looked like that she was wrong because he was nowhere in the living room...or the kitchen, bathroom or bedroom for that matter. But the robot had one last conclusion on where the Lombax was when she couldn't find him inside the apartment. Circuit quickly went over to the garage entrance and entered, and she found herself being surrounded by disassembled weapons and engine parts. The place was a real mess and it needed to be tidied up bad. That would explain why Ratchet was currently sitting on top of Aphelion and attempting to put a weapon back together so he could store it as a whole. But he had a lot of work to do because there were several piles of weapon parts sitting in front of him, which made Circuit want to help him with the chore. But she knew nothing about weapon assembly, so she would be of no use.

Circuit walked up to Aphelion and looked up at the Lombax, who didn't seem to notice her yet, "Hello, Ratchet."

Ratchet, after jumping a tiny bit, looked down at the small robot and then continued to put the weapon together. "Oh, hey, Circuit. What are you doin' in here?"

"Well, I was wondering if you had any fabric that I could use."

"Fabric? What do you need that for?" The Lombax asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um...I uh..." Circuit tried to find an excuse for why she needed the materials. She couldn't tell Ratchet why she really needed it, because she was afraid that he would reject the idea because he had told her to ignore what the director said. So she winged it and said: "I am concerned that...my creative skills are too limited, and I want to expand beyond just drawing with a pencil. Plus, I have not done anything artistic since I came back to life and I do not wish to get rusty."

"Hm...I guess that's pretty understandable. And it would be cool to see what you can do besides pencil drawings," Ratchet pointed to the workbench near one of the garage's walls, "There's a box of spare fabrics under the workbench. I've barely used any of them, so there are mostly full sheets in there. They're all yours."

"Thank you, Ratchet!" Circuit ran over to the workbench and pulled out the box that Ratchet had pointed to. She popped the lid off and peeked inside, but she had to stand on the tips of her feet in order to do it. Her eyes brightened when she saw a variety of colored fabrics, but her gaze was immediately brought to two large sheets of black and purple fabric. She nodded to herself and put the top back in the box and then began pushing it out of the garage. But before she went out the door, she looked over her shoulder and at Ratchet. "Oh, it is starting to get late, Ratchet. So perhaps you should finish what you can and retire to the apartment for the night. I do not want you overworking yourself while you clean up the garage."

"Alright, I will-wait..." Ratchet looked up from the weapon and at Circuit. "Do you want me to finish soon because you don't want me to work too hard, or do you want me to come in soon so I can be there to tuck you in in when it's time for you to go to bed?"

"Uh, n-no, I do not want you to get too tired," Circuit said, putting her hands behind her back and looking off in a different direction in order to avoid eye contact.

"You don't want me to stop so I can tuck you in?"

"No."

"Are you lying in order to avoid looking like a burden?"

"Yes."

"...Not gonna lie, I didn't think that you would tell the truth so quickly, so points for honesty. I'll be in there by ten, alright?"

"Okay," Circuit replied with a nod, and then she pushed the fabric box and herself out of the the garage, leaving Ratchet by himself.

Ratchet stayed still for a few minutes, his ears standing up on end as he listened for nearby sounds. When he confirmed that Circuit was staying in the apartment and not coming back to the garage, the Lombax reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The call was still going on, so she heard everything. He took a deep breath and put the phone up to one of his giant ears.

"So where were we?"

"You were going to tuck your little girl in, 'daddy'," Sasha's voice said.

"Oh god you really did hear everything. I meant besides that!"

After taking a short time to laugh at Ratchet's reaction, the Cazar continued, "We were talking about Circuit coming to stay here at the Phoenix for a while."

"Ah ah ah, Circuit and me. I'll be going with her."

"Honestly Ratchet, you can leave Circuit here with me."

"HAHA-no. If I leave her with you, then she'll spend a lot more time with you, until, eventually, she takes after you. And I kinda don't want that."

"Oh yeah, like Circuit taking after you would be better," Sasha said with a hint of anger.

"I was kidding! Geez. But I'm serious, I don't think that separating Circuit and me would be the best idea. It's not that I don't trust you to look after her. I just don't think that she'll be comfortable being separated from me after such a short time. It's just...too soon, you know?" Ratchet said, his voice becoming quite as he got to the end of his sentence.

Sasha stayed silent for a moment before sighing, "Alright, I get your point. You can stay in your old quarters with Circuit for a few days."

"Great, we'll leave tomorrow morning. I won't bother to knock."

"I know you won't. Also, make sure that Circuit is careful with those wings that you got her. Don't let her use them until her body adapts to them or she'll end up hurting herself."

"Ugh, you worry too much! I won't let anything bad happen to Circuit, you should know that by now."

"Yeah, yeah I know that. Though you're a crazy, trigger happy Lombax, you do make a good dad. Keep it up and I may have a little bit of respect for you."

"Oh boy, I can't wait to have your respect," Ratchet said with a sarcastic tone. "Anyway, I really gotta get off. This garage is a big freaking mess and it ain't gettin' any cleaner."

"Alright, I'll see you and Circuit tomorrow. Bye."

Ratchet put his phone down as Sasha hung up, the Lombax placing his back in the Aphelion's windshield. He placed a hand on his chest and grabbed his shirt as he began taking deep breaths. Keep it together, Ratchet, he thought, you tried it and it didn't work, so move on already. Shaking his own voice out of his head, Ratchet began picking up the weapon pieces in front of him and reassembling them. There were quite a few weapons around the garage and that made the place look like a real mess. And it would take much longer to clean without Clank around to help him, and Circuit was busy playing with the fabric box, so she couldn't help. The Lombax sighed again, but then he perked up. He had fought through Galactic Ranger training and various life-or-death situations, he could handle cleaning up a garage. Honestly, how long would it take?

Three hours later

Ratchet moaned dramatically as he picked up the damaged Walloper and began unscrewing several parts of it. Three hours. Three long, boring, cleaning filled hours that had the Lombax wondering what he was doing with his life several times. That may sound a little extreme, but he really hated cleaning by himself. It felt like that he had been sitting in that garage for a lifetime. So much so that he had even forgotten that someone was currently living with...living with him in...the apartment...wait a minute...

Ratchet quickly pulled out his phone and looked at the time. It was 10:37 PM, signifying that it was thirty seven minutes past Circuit's bedtime. And he never came in to tuck her in. "Oh crap! Circuit!"

The Lombax launched himself from his position on Aphelion and rushed into the apartment, nearly tripping on several objects as he did. How could he have been so forgetful? What kind of father was he? Hoping that she was still awake, Ratchet slowed down to a quiet walk and went up to Circuit's bedroom door. He took a deep breath and grabbed the doorknob and opened the door ever so carefully. He peeked inside the room, praying that Circuit would be on the floor using the fabrics that he had given her. However, a sad look came onto his face and his ears lowered when he saw the small robot asleep in her bed. He was too late.

With a heavy heart, Ratchet entered the room and went over to the bedside and knelt down. Circuit was sound asleep with Little Ratchey in her arms and, by the sound of the tiny mumbles coming out of her slightly open mouth, she was dreaming. Or at least starting to. Ratchet sighed and placed a hand on the side of her head, which made her twitch a tiny bit.

"I'm sorry, Circuit..." He said quietly, his ears lowering a little lower. He sighed and said before he stood up, "It's kind of too late to say this but...goodnight, sweetheart."

After that, Ratchet left the room, closing the door quietly so he didn't disturb the robot's slumber. He folded his arms and felt one hundred percent disappointed in himself. He lied to Circuit. Who knew what the poor robot felt when she stood there waiting for her father to arrive so he could say goodnight to her. Ratchet had only become a father again for several days and he was already screwing up. He hoped that Circuit wasn't too upset about it. And he also hoped that he wouldn't screw up again. He was getting a second chance at being a dad and he really needed to straighten up for the sake of his daughter.

The Lombax sighed and decided that he himself should go to bed. So he went inside the garage, put away everything including disassembled weapons and retired to his bedroom. Meanwhile, in the bedroom next to his, Circuit's dream was starting to take affect. The little robot squirmed a little as it started.

Circuit sat on her knees as a pure white room formed around her. She looked around with a bit of curiosity. Where had she ended up this time? Usually she would be in a dimly lit room with a weird checkered floor or something like that, but this was definitely different. So she did the first thing that she always did when she ended up in a new place, and that was look around for signs of life or objects or something that seemed out of place with the room. So her head did a full 360 as she scanned the contents of the room. When her search was 95% complete, she stopped when she ended up looking to her left. There was a lifeform standing twenty feet away from her. It was orange and had pointy ears, and she could take a good guess on who the lifeform was. Ratchet's smiling face looked at her, and he waved at her. The little robot giggled a little as she stood up and jumped up and down a little.

"Daddy!"

"Come on over here, Circuit! Come on, you can trust me!"

The little robot nodded and began running towards the Lombax, preparing to jump into his arms and hug him. However, her footsteps had other, scarier plans for the situation. As she ran, Circuit could help but notice that she was leaving behind black footprints. Thinking that it was just how the room worked, she just kept on running. But turned out that she was very, very wrong. When she got within ten feet of Ratchet's position, the black footprints suddenly shot forward, forming black streaks across the floor. Circuit stopped in her tracks as the streaks passed by her and started making their way towards Ratchet. The little robot jumped and yelled:

"D-Daddy! Watch out, there is bad stuff coming!"

Don't worry about it, you can trust me," Ratchet said, his voice suddenly becoming extremely low and static filled. The black streaks stopped at Ratchet's feet and then began climbing his body. And, as that happened, he began to grow. Until, eventually, the Lombax became a giant, pitch black monster. His colorful features were not just outlined in white, and he looked directly down at her. "I would never hurt you...would I?"

"I...I do not...daddy? Wh-what are you...?" Circuit stammered, horrified. Instead of receiving an answer to her incomplete question, the robot's eyes went wide as the Monster Ratchet raised his hand and gave her an unsettling mean look. Then he quickly brought his hand down upon her. "DADDY! NO! AHHHH-"

"AH!" Circuit gasped more than yelled as she was forced out of her dream, which had turned into a nightmare. She quickly sat up and looked around, taking a quick moment to confirm that she was back in reality. After a few seconds, Circuit placed a hand on her chest and gave out a large, relieved sigh. It was only a nightmare...a bad and horrifying nightmare.

As if by instinct, Circuit grabbed Little Ratchey and got down off the bed, rushing over to the bedroom door. However she stopped herself before she could even open the door when she remembered what the nightmare had been about. Ratchet...or rather a monster version of Ratchet...attacked her, and possibly tried to kill her. What in the world was her mind trying to do with that thought? She knew for a fact that Ratchet would never harm her because he loved her, and she loved him. So what was that nightmare about? Maybe...maybe it was because Ratchet forgot to come in and tuck her in, she must have been upset about that. And when Monster Ratchet meant by 'hurt her', he must have meant hurt her feelings. But Circuit wasn't terribly upset about the Lombax forgetting to say goodnight to her, he was hard at work cleaning the garage. But her mind must have been on another level of upset, and it showed that to her via her dreams. Still, it could have toned it down a little bit because...that...that was really horrifying. So much so that Circuit found herself exiting her bedroom and making her way down the hallway to Ratchet's room. She just needed to see him, and then she'll calm down.

Circuit opened the door to Ratchet's room ever so slightly and she peeked inside. The Lombax was still up, sitting on his bed, and he was now wearing a white t-shirt with light blue boxer shorts, and wearing that meant that he was about to go to sleep. The little robot absentmindedly stroked the door as she thought about what to do. She really wanted to be with Ratchet tonight, because that nightmare had shaken her up beyond the comfort of Little Ratchey. However, she didn't want to disturb him either. She knew that Ratchet liked having his peaceful nights of sleep. So, she sat there and pondered her options. Will she sleep in her own room and cope with her nightmare herself, or will she intrude on Ratchet's sleeping time by telling him everything? However, before she could make a decision, the sound of the Lombax's voice startled her.

"Circuit?" Ratchet asked quietly. Circuit had forgotten the amount of light that her eyes were giving off in the darkness, and she quickly stepped behind the door. However, a few seconds later, Ratchet opened the door and located her quickly. He raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Well, yes...I should be, b-but..." she trembled a little bit as she hugged herself. Her voice broke. "I...I had a nightmare. A really bad one..."

"A really bad one? Aw...come here."

Ratchet picked Circuit up and carried her over to his bed. He was actually prepared for this situation. Circuit had had a lot of nightmares when he first had her, but, to be honest, he didn't think that they would start up again this soon. The Lombax absolutely hated it when she had nightmares, it always made him feel so depressed. Circuit was the very last person who deserved to have a nightmare. He sat down on the bed and had Circuit sit in his lap. She looked up at him with large, innocent eyes. But the innocence was accompanied by fear. He placed a hand on her head, "Come on, tell me what happened."

"Um, well...you see uh..." Circuit tried to start telling him, but what would he think of her for dreaming such a terrible thing? He might not ever forgive her! What if he got so mad that he disowned her or something? She might be overreacting a bit, but Circuit was prone to that. So she prepared to say something about the nightmare when Ratchet's hand suddenly went onto her forehead.

"Circuit, you're starting to overheat. You might need a coolant injection if it gets too serious," Ratchet said, sounding very concerned.

"S-Sorry, I will try to calm down," Circuit said with her eyes screwed shut, embarrassed about the overheating. After a few moments, her temperature dropped a few degrees, but she still very extremely warm.

"You're still pretty warm. Did the nightmare shake you up that much? Because this has never happened before."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it did...very badly," the robot said, now hugging herself and tears started forming in her eyes, "Very badly i-indeed."

"Aw, Circuit, don't cry. Whatever you were dreaming is gone now; it's not there anymore. So there's no need to worry about it. But...if you're that uncomfortable talking about it...I won't make you tell me what happened."

"Really?" Circuit asked, surprised that Ratchet wasn't all over the nightmare's story.

"Yeah, really. As long as it'll make you feel better."

Circuit nodded her head, deciding not to tell Ratchet about the dream. She thought that it would be best if he didn't know, because he might be offended by it. Though, there was something that she wanted to ask. "Daddy? You...you would never hurt me...right?"

"Hurt you? Of course not! Why would I ever do that?" Ratchet asked, very caught off by the question. He wasn't lying about his answer either, he would never dream of hurting his little girl. He wondered where that question suddenly came from. But he had a slight idea. "This isn't about me forgetting to tuck you in, right? Of, and I'm really sorry about that. I kinda got held up cleaning the garage and I lost track of time."

"Oh, it is quite alright, daddy. I was probably asking a bit much of you to stop what you were doing just so I could get a goodnight."

Ratchet sighed, "You really are too forgiving. You weren't asking a lot, Circuit, I was the one who screwed up. So you can be mad at me, really."

Circuit quickly shook her head, "Uh-uh! I love my daddy too much in order to be mad at him! Even if he ever does hurt me, I would not be-"

Ratchet cut Circuit off by pulling her into a hug. His teeth were clenched a tiny bit due to the end of the robot's almost unfinished sentence. "Circuit, I'm never going to hurt you. You love me too much to be mad at me and I love you too much to hurt you. The day that I harm my little girl is the day that the universe learns to save itself from villains." The two sat there for a few few minutes, saying absolutely nothing. Circuit had her face buried in the Lombax's shirt like always and she pondered what Ratchet had said to her. He would never hurt her...he would never hurt his little girl. The nightmare was wrong, but the fear still ran through the robot's oil filled veins. Ratchet must have noticed because he looked down at her and gave her a sympathetic smile. "If you're still scared, you can stay in here if you want."

"U-Uh, I do not think so. I do not want to be a burden or anything like that-ah!"

Ratchet lifted Circuit into the air and shook his head, "Still think that you're a burden, huh? Well I'm gonna tell ya this, burdens can't be adorable, and, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but you're pretty damn adorable!"

Circuit blushed a little as she giggled; she always tended to do that when someone called her cute or adorable. Ratchet lowered her onto his lap and waited for her to make her decision on where she was going to sleep tonight. After staring at the Lombax for a few seconds, the little robot grabbed Little Ratchey and crawled over to Ratchet's pillow, where she comfortably laid down. "I think that I will sleep right here."

"Uh yeah, nice try," Ratchet said, pushing her to the side. Then he laid down on the pillow and let out a great big yawn as Circuit snuggled her stuffed animal. It had been awhile since he had Circuit with him in his bed. The last time it happened was one year ago at Apogee Space Station, only she was scared about discovering her weapon upgrading power. But, even when he had only known her for less than two weeks, he was willing to comfort the robot by letting her sleep in his bed. And here they were now, doing the same thing again one year later. As Ratchet thought back to the past, he suddenly remembered something, and he looked at Circuit, who was fairly tired. "Oh, by the way, we're going to be leaving tomorrow morning. We're gonna stay at the Starship Phoenix for a few days. You'll get to see Sasha."

"Mommy? I get to see mommy?" Circuit asked, suddenly excited.

"Yeah, but we have to get up kind of early tomorrow, so we need to sleep now. Sasha can be kind of strict when it comes to scheduling, and she wants us there by lunch time."

"Oh, okay," the robot said with a nod. Then she smiled, "I cannot wait to see mommy, again! Though I did see her this morning..."

"Alright, settle down there. You've had kind of a long day, so start charging your battery now. Your systems probably still needs time to get used to the new updates, too."

"Okay. Goodnight, daddy," she said, hugging Little Ratchey and began shutting down.

Ratchet nodded and placed a hand on the side of her head, "Goodnight, sweetheart."

When Circuit shut herself down and went to sleep, Ratchet looked at her with a bit of pity. She loved him too much to be mad at him...that just didn't sit right with him. Maybe she would learn to become angry as she got older. But, for now, Ratchet would have to deal with his overly forgiving daughter who was having thoughts about him harming her. Parenthood could be difficult sometimes.

Looks like Ratchet is struggling with his fatherly duties, and being a mature adult with a child is proving to be a bit difficult for him. Will he cope with his parental responsibilities or will he screw up again? I guess we'll find out.

And what was Circuit's nightmare all about? Was it just her being upset about Ratchet not keeping his promise of tucking her in, or was it something more significant? Again, I guess we'll find out.

And I got this chapter up three days late...sh*t.

Yeah, sorry about the really late updates. My schedule has been out of whack lately, but hopefully I'll get it back on track soon.

Also oh my god next chapter is going to be painful to write. You guys are gonna hate me once you read it. Why? Oh-ho, you'll see why.

Make sure to leave a review while picking up your complimentary toaster!

This is Amberdiamondswords, Lordess of Diamond Swordness, pledger to Tobuscus, signing off!