Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. The prompt list I am following is "SOFTober" by wafflesandkruge of Tumblr. StarryEyedEm picked the prompt for me to follow (mostly bc I begged her to tell me what to write for the new gorl).

I know. I know that I shouldn't write a canon character in one of my stories til I see the whole character.

But consider… Her.

*******YES, SPOILERS FOR THE TRAILER!********

Opening Up Again

The garage door opened, creaking and groaning with every motion. Light from the workshop spilled out onto the abandoned alleyway, giving a refuge from the streets crawling with guards.

The smell of gasoline and grease hit her nose, and a long, relieved sigh left her chest.

Rivet jogged into her garage, heading straight for her workbench. With one swift movement, she grabbed the little remote amid the workbench's clutter and tapped the garage door's button.

As the garage door closed, the little robot she found hummed to himself.

White ears swished as she leaned her right shoulder, letting the little robot hop off her back. "Well… whatcha think?" She watched him, shrugging her shoulders. "Sorry about the mess. Didn't really have any plans for company being over, you know?"

Green optics scanned over the length of the garage, taking in all the scraps of ship parts scattered over the large space. He tilted his head. "This is…"

He stalled.

Rivet narrowed her brows, looking at the robot with confusion over her face.

After a moment, the little robot seemed to settle on a word. "…familiar," he said, his words quiet.

"How so?" Rivet asked, turning her attention to the clutter on her bench. Her hands already moved, reaching for the necessary tools she would need in order to fix the little robot's right arm. "And while you're at it, wanna tell me how a cute little guy like you ended up out here?"

Said cute robot whipped back around, a sheepish expression plastered all over his face. A few stutters left his mouthpiece before he raised his left hand to his mouth to mimic a cough behind. "Y-Yes, we-we-well…"

He mimicked taking a deep breath. "My name is Clank, and the friend I mentioned earlier, the one I am currently on a quest to reunite with, is a Lombax named Ratchet." He paused, and sadness filled his expression and body language. "We have been separated before, and I am not particular to being separated yet again. Ratchet is my best friend. He will be distraught with worry, and I can only imagine what could happen to him without me by his side."

Her ears drooped and her body froze. Misery touched her face, and she looked away from Clank's direction. "You guys must be real close…"

"Yes, we are." The sound of Clank's feet pattering against the wood of her workbench echoed in her ears. "I would be eternally grateful if you were able to help me reunite with Ratchet, Miss Rivet."

Memories flashed through her mind's eye.

With a rough shake of her head, Rivet turned, stepping to the other side of the room where a heap of spare parts sat. "Yeah, sure thing, Clank," she said, forcing herself to add strength to her words. "Lemme just fix your arm real quick, and then we can head out and start looking for that bud of yours."

Gloved and metal fingers tore into the pile. Rivet dug into the scrap heap, throwing chunks of metal and stray parts to the sides of her, uncaring of where they landed. "Come on," she muttered, throwing a bulky metal arm to her right. "I know I got a spare part for ya around here somewhere…"

"Have you tried looking at the very bottom of the pile, off to the right, just off-center?"

Clank's words pulled at something in her chest. Shrugging it off, she dug through the scrap heap to the place the little robot had mentioned, and within a moment, she came across the exact parts she needed.

Fear and pain laced her heart, and she bit her lip as she gently picked up the parts.

"Hey, Clank?" she asked. Her voice softened, and there was little she could do to keep the shakiness out of her words. "How'd you know the parts I needed would be there?"

"…Ratchet has my spare parts in the same place. He is very disorganized. However, he usually sets my spare parts close to the center at the bottom of the pile. He also favors his right side, and it led to my calculation that you were similar in that regard."

She looked back to the tiny robot on her workbench. With a heavy sigh, she stuffed the parts under her arm and went back to the workbench.

"Is everything… alright?" Clank asked. "You appear upset, and it was not my intention to hurt you in anyway."

"Yeah… it's- I'm good." Rivet paused, dumping the parts onto her workbench. She grabbed a screwdriver, let out another sigh, then looked to Clank. "I had a friend too. Someone who was a lot like you." A sad smile pulled at her mouth, and she gestured to the harness on her back. "They were my best friend in the whole universe."

Clank's optics slitted, and a mixture of curiosity and guilt grew on his face. "What happened to them…?"

Her lips pressed inward, teeth biting into them, and her eyes kept solely to the metal upper-arm joint she planned to screw onto Clank. "Emperor Nefarious had them… executed. I lost them the same day I lost my right arm."

She saw the surprise on him out of the corner of her eye. "Oh! I apologize! I did not mean to pry. Erm, well, I was prying…" Metal smacked against metal, and Rivet turned her head to see Clank facepalming the side of his head. "I apologize greatly for the upset, Miss Rivet."

"It's okay, Clank," she said. "You just wanted to know."

"I promise," he began, letting her study the area where his right arm had been. "Once I reunite with Ratchet, we will both put a stop to Nefarious' wrongdoings and make your Nefarious pay for his crimes."

Rivet paused in her work. She turned her body directly to Clank, looking down at the little robot. "Your Nefarious looks so much like my Nefarious, and he's evil too. And that Lombax… Ratchet?" Her shoulders sagged with defeat. "Do you really think you guys can put a stop to both Nefariouses? I couldn't even stop my own, and I had a whole resistance behind me around the time I lost my best friend."

Clank gave her a comforting smile. "I promise, Miss Rivet, that Ratchet and I will put a stop to all of this. We will not be able to bring your friend back, but we will not let you handle this all on your own." The little robot's smile grew. "I promise you with all my heart that we will set things right."

A tiny ball of warmth sparked in her chest.

"You really mean it, Clank?" she asked, hope in her words.

"Absolutely."

Relief lifted the stress from her shoulders, and Rivet felt hope fill her body. Her usual cheer slipped back onto her face, and the Lombax flashed Clank a blinding grin. "In that case, we better get you fixed, little bud!"

She froze, eyes wide and mouth clapping shut. "I'm sorry," she quickly said. "I… I'm not tryin' to like… force myself to be your friend-"

Clank's working hand waved in a comforting gesture. "It is okay, Miss Rivet," he assured. He matched her joyful smile and held out his working hand. "I would say that we are friends at this point, and I am sure that Ratchet will no doubt become good friends with you as well. You will not battle this alone."

Her gloved hand reached up and slipped into Clank's left hand. Fangs, white under the light of the garage, flashed as she shook the little robot's hand. "Thanks, Clank. I'm happy to be a new friend, and I promise I'll help you find your best friend."

Their hands dropped, and the little robot's smile fueled the warmth rooted in her heart.

"Right then," Rivet started. New energy, new life, new hope flooded her body as she picked up her screwdriver and the upper-arm part. "If we're gunna search for Ratchet, we gotta get you fixed up first. Now, let's see what I can do…"

Song Inspo: "One Woman Army" by Porcelain Black.

I know, I know. I just want to freaking write her so badly, and I had to get this out of my system. A lot of this was based on headcanons and this was written as first draft with a few edits, so basically, this is not meant to be perfect. This is just a result of a rush of emotions and a dire need to see Rivet in-game. God… I feel so alive.

Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! :D