I said I'd probably make a sequel to "My Best Employee", so…here it is! Much like that fic, this is an AU where Cappy accepted Ratchet's advances and they started a relationship. This takes place 5 months after that fic, so it's well-established here. This is also where the 'movie events' kick in, but of course since it's an AU this won't be totally canon compliant, especially considering this is also partially a Ratchet redemption fic. Of course this means scenes will be added and rewritten to accommodate Ratchet/Cappy and shark tank's redemption. Also there's Rodney/Fender too, so of course some scenes will be worked in for them too now. In general, some reworking for what I've got planned in store. Don't know how to explain without spoiling so, um, that's all you'll hear from me for now.

P.S.: Cappy has a bit more prominent role here because she deserves it. That's all I'm going to say.

Oh, and the full summary because has such a small word limit:

Striving young inventor Rodney Copperbottom wants to work for the avuncular Bigweld, whose Bigweld Industries makes spare robot parts. But Bigweld has been deposed as company head by Phineas T. Ratchet, who wants to make all robots submit to profitable forced upgrades. However, as Rodney and his friends - one of which he starts to fall for - go underground to stop these dastardly schemes, it turns out that there's someone else pulling the strings... and the only one with a semblance of knowledge is Ratchet, who's in a bit of a dilemma regarding his morals and his relationship with one of his employees: Cappy, who starts to suspect something is amiss, as well as wondering how dedicated her boyfriend is to their relationship.

OR: in which Rodney Copperbottom's journey ends up being slightly different. Just slightly.

Anyway, with that all said, I hope you all enjoy!

The world of robots is a rather fascinating one, at least in the eyes of an outsider. A civilization compromised entirely of cyborgs? Who wouldn't be fascinated by such a prospect? Who wouldn't want to know the inner workings of such a world?

Well, robots themselves find their world rather plain and simple, just as how you and I find our human realm to be so-so. In fact, the world of robots functions pretty similarly to ours, only with a few obvious differences. One of which being how their children are born, or rather made...

Which is precisely what brings us here today in Rivet Town for you see, this is where our story begins.

-0-

Rivet Town was a small, slow-paced and peaceful society. Most of the robots who live there would be considered "outmodes", as none of them had fancy upgrades. In fact, a lot of them were hand-me downs due to the fact that upgrades were very expensive and most of the citizens there were from lower income households or barely had enough to scrape the surface when it came to new parts. The town's name was displayed on a watertower overlooking the city, for all to see – and for birds to perch themselves upon.

It was a regular day. The shops were open. Kids were playing on the sidewalk. An elder was feeding some birds. Everything was going well as usual, except in one robot's case, for his day had taken quite a turn – a turn that he had been anticipating for months.

A light blue robot – known to everyone as Herb Copperbottom – exited a diner, leaping into the air and letting out a cry of joy. After having finished his usual day's work at Mr. Gunk's Greasy Spoon as a dishwasher, he had gotten a phone call from his wife Lydia and received the best news of his entire life.

He was going to be a father.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" Herb shouted to the heavens, the happiest he'd ever been. He ran into the streets, towards a stoplight and shook it, gushing about the good news. "I just talked to my wife! My baby's gonna be delivered any minute!"

A car skid to a stop in front of him, having seen the lights turn red and a robot in the way. "Hey!" the driver cried angrily, irritated about the hold up. "Get out of the way!"

Herb grabbed the driver by his neck, while still holding the stoplight. "Hey, I'm gonna be a dad!" he exclaimed, still happy as ever. Nothing, not even someone else's sour attitude, could ruin his day. He ran towards two guys sitting on a bench and stuck two cigars in their mouth, yelling at them, "Congratulate me!" Before whooping with joy and running off, leaving the guys very confused.

He did a cartwheel right over a sentient fire hydrant, who smiled as it watched the blue robot run home. "Good for you, Herb!" it congratulated him, waving its small handles at him. Then a dog sniffed the hydrant, making it glare at the canine, knowing what it was going to do. "Don't even think about it," the hydrant warned the dog. The dog whined and gave it puppy eyes.

Herb cheered as he ran down the street, bumping into the shop owner of Rusty Nail, who was hauling out a cart of beers. He bumped into the cart, nearly knocking over all the glasses but he caught them in time before they could fall to the ground, all while laughing happily like a schoolboy. "Oh, sorry!" he apologized with a smile. "Hey, how are you? Nice to see you." He placed all the beers back in the cart before grabbing the store owner by the shoulders, shaking him. "I'm gonna be a dad!" He jumped up before running off in excitement for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Congrats!" the store owner shouted after the robot.

Herb jumped onto a bench, before bouncing off as he cheered once more, startling a passerby. He raced towards his street, asking at his neighbor: "Hey, Mr. Nuts, did you hear the news?"

Mr. Nuts looked up from mowing his lawn, smiling. "Yeah!" He waved at his neighbor.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Herb beamed, then raced to his house. He bumped into the door, wincing for a moment, then unlocked it and rushed in. "I'm here! I'm here!" he exclaimed, looking around. He ran into the living room, a large grin on his face. "I'm here, Lydia."

Lydia gave her husband a sympathetic look. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry," the brown-haired robot apologized. "You missed the delivery." Outside the window, the delivery truck was making its leave.

"Oh…" Herb's shoulders sank, a slight look of disappointment crossing his features, reflecting in his blue eyes. He felt bad for not being there on time to see his son being delivered. He tried the best he could to make it there right on time and yet...

Lydia smiled at him as she continued, "But it's okay. Making the baby's the fun part." With that said, she pulled out a box that read 'Build a Baby', her smile turning into a grin.

Herb beamed at his wife, though inwardly he swore that he could hear a sultry saxophone playing in the background.

Parts scattered around the ground as Herb and Lydia began building their child. See, robots don't reproduce like humans do. Instead of using natural reproduction, they simply build their own children. These children are built with qualities from both parents, making them look as though they were born from them the same way you and I are born from ours. The Copperbottom's child is no different in this case.

Herb and Lydia spent hours on end assembling parts, from simple things such as joints to full on limbs. Of course, this wasn't without minor problems here and there. No one's perfect after all.

"Honey," said Lydia as she glanced as the instructions, then at her husband. "I think you've got the wrong, um…" She gestured to the parts he was tinkering with.

"No," Herb chuckled, waving his hand in dismissal as he went back to working on the parts. "I don't need to see the directions." Then he paused and looked back, peering over his wife's shoulder to see said directions. He squinted to see clearer, then went back to work, knowing what to do.

Lydia smiled knowingly.

-0-

Eventually by midnight, they had assembled the torso, head and body of the baby. Now there was one thing left to do…

"Push! Push!"

Lydia grunted as she did was she was told, pushing the baby's head onto the body as hard as she could. Herb tried to help as best as he could, but fell back by the sheer force onto a box, getting his torso stuck. He grunted as he tried to pull himself out, then stopped as he heard his wife's laughter, followed by the sounds of…a baby crying. His eyes lit up as he looked ahead and saw it: their baby. A wide grin appeared on his face as he finally pulled himself out of the box and walked over to his wife and their new baby.

Mrs. Copperbottom sat in a chair as she cradled her new baby. "Twelve hours of labor," she remarked, looking at her infant, then at her husband who sat on a stool. "Oh, but it was worth it."

To say Herb Copperbottom's chest swelled with joy was an understatement of the century. He was the happiest robot on earth for at last, he was finally a father. "Look at him," he said softly, his eyes focused on his new son. "Look at him!" The baby's eyes opened, revealing sky blue eyes. "Rodney Copperbottom. He's got your mom's eyes and my dad's nose." The baby looked at his parents, a smile forming on his adorable little face. "I knew we were smart to save those parts," said the new father, a slight smirk on his face, recalling the small argument they'd had months prior. It was mainly due to Lydia insisting that saving those parts didn't sound too wise, but Herb had known better and said it would be a wise decision ahead of time, and so it was.

"So we were," Lydia murmured, a large smile on her face as she looked down at her baby.

"This Copperbottom will do great things for the world," Herb went on, already thinking of their baby's future. "I can feel it."

Lydia was about to nod, until she saw something in the corner. "Honey?"

Herb looked up. "What?"

"What's that extra piece?" Lydia asked, making a gesture to a special part lying in the corner.

Herb's eyes traveled to the extra piece. "Oh. Oh, no, they always put in an extra…" He got on the floor, picking it up. There was a pause as he stood up. Then, he chuckled nervously, asking: "We did want a boy, right?"

Lydia nodded.

Herb cleared his throat, picking up a small hammer in one hand, the extra piece in the other. "This won't hurt a bit, son…"

There was a clang. Baby Rodney Copperbottom's eyes widened for a second and then, he let out his second cry, which was much louder than the last.

What followed the birth of Rodney Copperbottom was a series of moments that Herb and Lydia wouldn't have traded for anything in the world, not even the shiniest of upgrades.

The first being Herb trying to calm a crying Rodney down by imitating monkey noises. It didn't work as the baby robot kept crying. So the father tried to imitate baby talk, which had the same results. This then led the adult robot to grab the baby robot's nose, making him giggle. "Got your nose," he cooed. "Got your nose, got your—" He kept playing around, but stopped once he accidentally pulled his son's nose off.

"Uh oh."

-o-

During the night, Rodney wailed and flailed in his mother's arms as his father read a book titled What to expect the first fifty thousand miles. Lydia winced, looking at her husband for help as her attempts to rock the baby to sleep failed. Herb smiled once he stumbled upon some useful information, then went to his son and began turning a switch on the side of his head, which quieted the infant's cries.

Eventually, Rodney stopped crying and smiled a little. Both Herb and Lydia smiled at one another.

-o-

Herb took a picture as Rodney began to walk on his two legs, albeit with some help from training wheels. "Dada!" the toddler gurgled, moving towards his parents. He nearly fell, but managed to keep sturdy and continued to walk right into his mother's arms.

Herb took another picture once their son was right in Lydia's arms.

-o-

There were many other pictures taken afterwards over the years. Examples included Rodney's first birthday, him dressing as a cowboy for Halloween when he was five, him getting his slick when he was six – albeit he was disgruntled at first as his mother put it on his head – and many more.

Today, Rodney was eight years old and thus, he was getting new big boy parts. He ran excitedly towards his dad when he saw the older robot carry a box into the kitchen, panting yet overjoyed.

"Hi, son," Herb greeted him warmly.

Rodney grinned as he looked at the box. "Are those my big boy parts?" he asked, excited.

Herb smiled at his son. "They sure are," he answered, placing the box on the table.

Rodney quickly got up on a chair and looked into the box. "Wow!" he said in awe, at first amazed until his eyes landed upon the new parts in question. They were his color, but they were too…big, and also not shiny like he expected them to be. He'd seen kids his age be gifted shiny new parts in movies all the time, yet here he was being given rather regular-looking big boy parts.

Lydia looked up from the oil she was brewing and noticed her son's smile fade, feeling slightly worried.

Rodney looked from the box up towards his dad, frowning. "They're not...shiny," he said, pouting.

Herb felt a pang of guilt. He wished he could give his son shiny new parts, but unfortunately he lacked the money for them, so he had to take what he could get – and in this case, it was using the parts lended to him by his nephew. "Well, they're not brand new," he explained gently. "They're p…pre-owned, so…" he trailed off.

"They're…hand-me-downs," Lydia continued, smiling at her son in reassurance. "From your cousin, Jeffery."

Herb smiled once again at his son. "And they're only for a year," he finished.

Rodney looked at his father, then at his new parts. Well, if it was only for a year, then he supposed it wouldn't hurt. Besides, it was better than no new parts at all. So he sighed and said, "Okay…"

Both of his parents grinned, with his father ruffling his slick. "That's the spirit."

-o-

Later that day, after Rodney had put on his big boy parts, he and his father went into town. Herb walked ahead, with his son running behind him in his new parts, albeit they slowed him down a bit because of their big size on his small body.

Rodney panted as he tried to catch up to his dad, his parts clattering with the torso even falling down. He tried to pull it back up onto him and after a while, it finally came back on. He quickly rushed to his dad's side, grabbing the elder robot's hand. Voices were clamoring as a marching band began playing.

Herb brought his son to a good area where they'd get a decent view, hoisting the boy up onto his shoulders so he could see everything more clearly. Rodney held onto his father's slick as he watched the marching band. A drum with the words 'Rivet Town' written on it let out an "ow" each time it was banged on. The young robot looked up and saw a large blimp of a large, round robot. The robot had a spherical body with a small head on top and two large arms. He also sported a metal, tuxedo-like covering which hid the upper half of his body. His lower half was plain and didn't have legs, leading Rodney to assume he got around simply by rolling.

"Hey, dad, who's that?" the young robot asked his father, pointing to the round robot.

"That, Rodney, is Bigweld," his father answered, looking up at the blimp. "The greatest robot in the world."

Rodney frowned, having thought his father would hold the title for the greatest bot. Instead, it was this Bigweld who held the title. He felt lied to. "I thought you were the greatest robot in the world."

Herb chuckled at his son. "No," he said, shaking his head. "Besides me." And he smiled seeing the boy's own smile return. He looked back up at the blimp. "He's the head of Bigweld Industries," he explained. "He invents things that make everyone's life better."

Rodney grew excited, now wishing to meet this robot. He sounded so amazing, like those heroes he'd see in movies except this guy was real. Therefore, he was even more amazing. "Could I meet him?"

"Sure," Herb said with a grin. "Maybe someday." He wasn't entirely sure if that would happen, but it was nice to imagine and besides, who was he to dash his son's own dreams? It would be unfair… and Bigweld's motto was always 'you can shine no matter what', so maybe someday his son could meet the business robot – and maybe he could too.

Watching the blimp of Bigweld float by had Rodney wondering just what exactly his father's own job was. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you do?"

"Me? Oh, I work at a big fancy restaurant," Herb responded, walking away from the dispersing crowd as the blimp floated away. "Let me show you…"

And so he took his son to Gunk's diner and demonstrated just exactly what he did for a living. "I'm a dishwasher," he stated, opening up his chest to reveal some dishes. He slid one out onto the counter.

Rodney's eyes lit up in amazement.

The TV flickered on, revealing the top of a large building with a rotating "Bigweld" sign.

"And now, live from Robot City: it's the Bigweld Show!"

"Wa-hoo!" nine year-old Rodney let out a cry of joy, jumping around in excitement. He jumped onto the living room chair and began dancing. "Oh yeah, uh-huh!" He looked to the kitchen and called for his father, "Come on, Dad, you're missing it!" He hopped off the chair and ran towards the older robot who stood in the doorway, starting to pull him towards the chair.

Herb chuckled in amusement. His son's enthusiasm was nice to see, even if it made the boy very impatient. "Alright, Rodney," he laughed. "Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming." He placed some dishes back into his washer as his son pushed him to the chair. Gunk had ordered him to do some extra work that weekend, a home shift of sorts. He couldn't object as he needed the money for his son's big boy parts, education and necessities so he disguised his tiredness with smiles. Besides, seeing his son happy made it all worth it in the end. "I had to bring work home with me again – I'm sorry. Mr. Gunk has really been piling a load of work onto me lately." He sat on the chair, allowing the boy to hop onto his lap. He smiled at his son, whose eyes focused on the picture in the TV in front of them.

"And now, the host of our show: Bigweld!"

A hoverboard carried the round robot around the outside of the building. A smile appeared on his face as he greeted the viewers: "Welcome! This week, I'd like to take you around for a tour of Bigweld Industries!"

The hoverboard flew Bigweld toward a large gate of sorts. "This here is the front gate!" he explained, gesturing to it. "Adorable, ain't it?" Upbeat music played as he was flown down and landed on the ground. He rolled towards a booth where a small puppet-looking robot was seated in, dressed in guard clothes. "Good morning, Tim," he greeted the small robot.

"Good morning, Mr. Bigweld, sir!" Tim returned the greeting.

Bigweld looked at the gate for a moment. "Tim, who closed the front gate?"

"Well, I just thought that since, uh…"

"Oh…we never shut the gate, Tim," Bigweld said, shaking his head at the small robot who looked down ashamedly. "Shutting this gate means shutting out fresh ideas." He gestured to a small group of robots gathered outside the gate, both outmodes and upgrades. "You see, everyday robots come here from hither and yon, bringing us new ideas."

Each of the robots demonstrated inventions and blueprints alike, showing fresh ideas that fascinated Rodney. Inventing something seemed so amazing, even if it sounded hard. But it was usually the hard things that had the biggest payoffs in the end, right? At least, that's what his dad would tell him. And from what he heard from reading a newspaper article on Bigweld, it was something the big guy once said too.

"And I listen to every single one of them." Bigweld turned to the camera and held a hand up, sticking his finger out as he finished, "So remember, whether a bot is made of new parts, old parts or spare parts, you can shine no matter what you're made of."

Rodney's eyes lit up, a surge of inspiration filling up inside him. "He's talking to me, Dad," the young boy said. Bigweld was telling him that despite not being shiny like most of the robots in Robot City, he could shine within and make it big despite his origins. He could be an inventor no matter what.

Herb looked at his son with a warm smile. "He sure is, son," he said to the boy, who turned to him with a big grin. "He sure is." The father and son smiled at each other for a moment, before turning back to the TV as the program went on.

"Okay folks, let's get to inventin'!"

Once those words left Bigweld's mouth, the gates opened and he and all of the robots lined up went inside the building.

-o-

Inspired by Bigweld's words and lessons, Rodney began to work on a project: his first invention. He tinkered around with some wind up metal, the words of his idol echoing through his mind.

"You know, I love to tinker. But all the tinkering in the world isn't useful unless it starts with a good idea."

Rodney watched as the little metallic doohickey began to move about, until midway through jumping, it snapped in half, startling him. He yelped and fell backwards onto the floor. He quickly scrambled back up, peering at the broken bits on the desk.

He then remembered Bigweld's instructions.

"So look around for a need, and start coming up with ideas to fill that need. One idea will lead to another, and before you know it…" the big round robot had knocked over dominos as he trailed off, until a domino flung up from a catapult made from a mouse trap. "... you've done it! See a need, fill a need."

A now twelve year-old Rodney's eyes widened, realizing that his idol was right. "That's it, Dad. I have to look for—" he stopped when he turned and saw his dad sleeping in the chair, snoring loudly. He must've dozed off during the segment, probably due to the exhaustion from having to bring a load of work home again, thanks to Mr. Gunk's demands. The pre-teen smiled sadly, shaking his head at his father. He worked too much, the boy thought to himself. He should've been able to spend the weekend relaxing, but his boss was too harsh on him. Alas, his dad had to work at the diner for money's sake and to support his family – at least, that's what mom always told Rodney. His father would just smile and act like it didn't bother him, but the boy knew better.

Rodney shook his head again, turning back to the TV. "I have to look for a need …"

Later, Rodney found that exact need and repaired the little project he made, tinkering with it more until it started to resemble something – something he decided to call a "Wonderbot." He placed a pot on his head and pressed a small button on the 'head' of the invention, watching as it came to life. Mechanical wiring could be heard as it began moving about on small 'arms' and 'legs.'

He held out a plate to it, saying slowly, "Easy now…" It looked at him and the plate curiously, before grabbing the plate and twirling it, holding it in front of its inventor. He chuckled softly. It was working out nicely…

Wonderbot mimicked his laugh, then smashed the plate onto its head. Rodney gasped and watched as it started to create chaos, squeakily laughing as it destroyed several objects and threw others around. He dodged as much as he could, wincing in pain as batteries hit the side of his head as the invention played with a drill. Then, he heard the sound of his bedroom door open.

"Hey there, sport!" his father's voice rang out.

Shit, the boy swore silently, realizing his parents were there now. He quickly put the pot over Wonderbot, hiding it from their view. He turned to his parents, pulled up his inventor's goggles and said a quick, "Oh, hi."

Herb held out a large box with a small grin on his face. Lydia rubbed her arm as she glanced at the box, knowing what was inside. "These are your twelve year-old parts," the father stated. A nervous smile appeared on his and the mother's faces. "They're—"

"Hand me downs," Rodney interrupted, looking down with a sigh. "I know, Dad." He smiled slightly as he looked at his father. He was used to getting hand-me-down parts by now, especially from his cousin Jeffrey who seemed to be the only one in the family who was able to get upgrades. Funny how that worked. Still, he couldn't complain. New parts were better than no parts, after all. If his dad could bear working for Gunk, he could bear the hand-me-downs. Wonderbot let out a muffled squeak from beneath the pot, moving it forward, prompting the boy to grab it and pull it close, holding it firmly in place. "I don't mind." He smiled awkwardly.

"They are from your cousin…" Herb pulled out a new torso, which was the color pink, making Lydia cringe slightly as both parents forced smiles. "Veronica."

"You know how popular she is~" said Lydia, sing-songy as she held the box.

Rodney's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He had to wear Cousin Veronica's old parts until he hit eighteen? Goddamn it! The things he bore for the sake of not being ungrateful…

He groaned and banged his head against the table. Oh well, at least it would only be six years. He could bear wearing those parts for six years…right?

Wonderbot let out another squeak and the young robot slammed the pot on it once again.

Many pictures were taken of the graduating class of 2005. There was Phil Crankshaft, a master in Block and Tackle, Class Mechanic and Shop Class President. Steel Anvil Jr., a master in All State Drill Press, Gridiron Captain and Future Welders Club. Tammy Cotterpin, who was quoted saying: "My dream is to end world rust." She was the drill team captain, and her nickname was swivelhips.

And then there was Rodney Copperbottom, who spent his final year of high school still stuck in Veronica's torso, so he forced a smile when his picture was taken. He was quoted saying: "As Bigweld said, you can shine no matter what you're made of."

And once he turned eighteen, he finally shed his female cousin's torso and was in his own blue metal again. He didn't have shiny big boy parts for when he hit eighteen, but he didn't care. He graduated high school and was on his way to becoming an inventor. He was going to shine no matter what he was made of, and that was all that mattered to him in the end.

Rodney stood on stage clad in graduation attire, holding his diploma in his hand. On one side of him stood his mom who held onto his arm, and on the other stood his dad. Both looked at him so proudly, with the hugest smiles on their faces. Then all three of them grinned as they looked at the camera, the shutters clicking as it took one final picture.

This was the start of a promising future for the young Copperbottom, no doubt.

Or at least, that's what he liked to think.

If you've made it to the end of this chapter, then hi! Thank you for reading this. If you have any thoughts, please let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear what you think of this. :)

I'm not sure how long this will be, since I tend to write a lot sometimes for single chapters, but I'm going to guess there will be more than ten chapters so I'll say seventeen just in case. We'll see though. It all depends.