Rilena stood at the curved table in the War Room that morning, looking at the map before them spread out; it was of Barora, the planet they were visiting that day. Qwark, Cora, Brax, Leon, Ratchet, Clank and the kids with Clink, as well as others were all listening to Elaris' plan. "...and then, if we keep the cloaking devices up, we can descend the planet without alerting the Blarg." She explained, making Rilena nod. "That sounds reasonable, thank you Elaris." Rilena stated, making the woman smile.

"I do agree," Qwark said slowly, considering the plan, before looking at Rilena, "however I think we should keep the small group being the ones to descend." Rilena hummed, thinking it over. Elaris and Qwark still weren't seeing eye-to-eye on the crew to send down. Qwark wanted it to be a small group, Elaris wanted it to be a larger group to provide cover fire should they come under attack. "But if you come under attack, you'll need a bigger force. The Blarg have been getting injected with a drug that makes them stronger, faster and bigger!" Elaris argued and Rilena felt her eyebrow twitch.

They would begin arguing in three…

"I understand but we've been lucky so far!" Qwark grumbled out.

Two…

"That luck won't last forever!" Elaris stated back.

One…

"Elaris, you don't join the battlefield so you wouldn't understand." Qwark argued, making Elaris glare at him. "Just because I'm not on the battlefield doesn't mean I'm unaware of what's going on." She snapped out and Rilena groaned, rubbing her temples. 'Here we go again…' She thought wearily, feeling a headache forming. She wondered if it was too late to take the idea back and say she's not going. Leon looked at her, seeing the headache forming and sighed, stepping forward. "Alright you two, enough." He said firmly, making them go silent.

Leon looked at Rilena, before looking back at them, saying; "If you two have the time to argue, then you have the time to actually explain your reasonings." He wondered how Ratchet, Clank and Rilena had handled them whenever they saw them! Elaris and Qwark looked at Rilena and instantly felt guilt hit them, they could see she was stressed out and them arguing obviously wasn't helping things. "Sorry." They apologized at the same time, making Rilena sigh as she rubbed her temples one last time. "Just please, try and remember we all need to work together." The blue-gray Leopardis muttered, before she took a deep breath and looked back at the holographic map.

Rilena hummed, rubbing her chin a bit before she looked at Conner who sat near Elaris at the computer. "Conner, bring up Sector B." He nodded, typing away and the holographic program turned the planet, focusing on the plate right next to the one they would be gathering at. "What is it?" Ratchet asked as Rilena narrowed her eyes...something seemed odd. The holograph was connected to real time, a way for them to monitor movements around the man-made planets. As they pulled up the needed sector, which was a plate from Batalia that was used for the planet, they noticed multiple red icons moving about. "Fuck." Rilena muttered under her breath, frowning heavily yet her swear surprised Ratchet. In all the years he's known her, she hardly swore.

Well, they were fifteen years in the future. Things change.

"Rilena, those are Blarg." Elaris commented from her own computer and everyone began muttering. "What are they doing back on that planet?" "They stated it was too unstable for them to live on." "Are they gathering like us?" "What if they found a way to make it habitable?" Everyone was confused and curious as to why the Blarg had come back to Barora, it had been unstable in weather patterns due to Aurora and the animals had mutated into even more aggressive variants of their original selves. It was a horrendous planet to live on.

The Leopardis sighed. "We'll find out when we go down." Rilena stated, making them all go silent. "Rilena?" Ratchet questioned his wife, wondering what was going on. "We can't hold off gathering. We'll be running low on our stock sooner or later, we need crystals and we need those medical plants. We can't put this off." She stated firmly, before looking at Elaris. "We're going to have to send just a small convoy down, if we send too many, we won't be able to move as freely. Keep the cloaking devices up and move the ship if needed." Elaris nodded as she stood, leaving with the Galactic Rangers to prepare the ship.

"Mom?" Ratchet Junior questioned as he walked over, she sighed softly. "If you two still wish to come along, you can. You will be watching over the deploy ship that takes us down. You know how to work the cloaking so you, your brother and sister will stay with the deploy ship." Ratchet Junior nodded, leaving with the others and Aunt Karla who had been there. "You sure that's a smart idea?" Leon said, confusing Rilena and Ratchet. "What do you mean? They are considered elite fighters." Rilena commented, yet Leon sighed.

"Not that," He said, shaking his head, "I mean YOU." She froze, eyes wide...she knew what he meant. "Rilena?" Ratchet commented, wondering what was going on. "If they even get the slightest idea you might be there, you know the Blarg will send out an alarm for all-hands-on-deck to get you back." Rilena looked down in contemplation, she knew it was true...she was the primary target of the Blarg because of Drek...and the boy. "Why do you think I asked Elaris to make smaller cloaking devices?" She questioned Leon who raised a brow.

"They don't last as long as the one for the Phoenix and they're not as effective as the holo-guise, however it's the best we got." She began explaining. "We can't use the holo-guise anymore. It went missing when Kerwan was destroyed AND Kalebo III was destroyed as well, taking the schematics for the holo-guise with it." Leon rubbed his neck, if Elaris could make the cloaking device, then at least gathering would be easier. It would also be a good way to start the topic of doing stealth missions.

If Elaris could pull this off, then things would change and look up.

"Alright...just be careful." Leon said as he patted her shoulder, before leaving the war room as well. Before Rilena could follow, Ratchet grabbed her hand, surprising her. "Ratchet, what is it?" She asked in confusion, wondering why he looked so serious. "Rilena...what's going on?" He asked and before she could ask what he meant, he spoke once more. "Everyone seems to be walking on eggshells around you when it comes to Drek and the Blarg. What happened?" He demanded and she paled. She really didn't want to talk about it but it couldn't be avoided. After all, Ratchet was her husband, he was the father of the three kids.

She just wished he was the father of the fourth…

Rilena sighed as she hung her head, shame and pain in her bright blue eyes, dulling them a little bit. "Follow me...we should talk privately." She said and Ratchet nodded, before asking Clank to go find the kids and stay with them, he'd inform him later and Clank nodded, heading off. Ratchet followed Rilena out of the war room, before he grabbed her hand again, interlacing their fingers together as they walked. Rilena gave a small smile to him, one Ratchet returned as he brought her hand up, kissing the back of her hand to reassure her.

They entered the ship dock area where Rilena's ship was at. No one came here unless Rilena gave them permission that day so it was currently empty. Rilena sat down on one of the wings, before she looked at Ratchet. "Ten years ago, I got kidnapped by Drek's forces, the twins had to watch me fight and get taken. I was thrown onto Drek's ship and, for weeks, he tortured me to try and get me to reveal our plans." She shook her head, forcing the oncoming burn of tears back. "It didn't work, no matter how much pain I was in, I didn't back down to tell him what we planned." She sighed, remembering that whole year.

"About two months after I was there...Drek tried a new tactic to get me to talk. A more...direct tactic." She hoped he got the idea, yet when he merely tilted his head confused, she whimpered. She'd have to go into detail. "I was bound and chained, he wasn't going to give me a chance of trying to fight my way out of his 'tactic'. He…" She shuddered as her eyes turned darker at the abuse she suffered that day. "He stated that he needed an heir for his company," Ratchet's eyes widened, "and that I was the best candidate to give him an heir. He then said he had a sure-fire way of making sure I produced an heir." Rilena started to tremble a little and that worried Ratchet as he took a step closer.

"Rilena?" He questioned, holding her arms to comfort her. "I felt the prick of a needle and this...overwhelming heat overtook my body. I turned into a begging mess, begging for something, ANYTHING, to stop the heat." She shook her head as tears formed in her eyes, unable to hold them back. "Drek used me for pleasure...and he drugged me everytime he used me. I don't remember the first time...yet I remember every other time." Ratchet hugged her tightly to his chest, realizing what she meant. His wife had been raped...by Drek. "I got pregnant, the drug forced me into being fertile every time he had his fun. He didn't stop, even when I was pregnant." Tears rolled down her face as she hugged Ratchet. She still felt phantom pain in her hip area every time she had nightmares.

"Nine months after I got pregnant, I gave birth to a boy. He looks exactly like me, except his fur is just a tad darker and has a purple tint due to Drek's red skin." She explained, before she turned her head up to Ratchet, his heart broke at the look in her eyes. "Two months after I gave birth to him, Drek was about to kill me when the Rebels finally got to us and took me back. I tried to grab the boy, he shouldn't endure Drek's orders, but I didn't get to him in time before Drek hid him." Rilena closed her eyes a bit, before she started sobbing.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed out and Ratchet hugged her tighter. "I'm so sorry. I tried fighting him off...I tried!" Ratchet nodded, he knew she did. He kissed her tears away, trying to reassure her. "You have nothing to apologize for dear, he used you and drugged you. It's okay." He soothed, nuzzling her head despite her sobs and hiccuping. "I'm sorry." She hiccuped and Ratchet kissed her, making sure she knew that he wasn't upset, disgusted or disappointed. "I'm so sorry." Rilena whimpered when they separated.

"It's okay, it's okay." He soothed once more. He pulled Rilena close as he sat down on the ground, her in his lap as he rocked back and forth with her, trying to soothe her while keeping his own anger in check. Now he had even more of a reason to kill Drek. Ratchet wasn't someone who generally wanted to hurt someone else...however Drek had more than crossed a line. Destroying planets, drugging people...raping his wife! He wasn't going to be merciful to the Blarg. He was going to make Drek pay!

It took a few minutes for Rilena to calm down and compose herself but she eventually did, even as Ratchet continued to rub her back. Ratchet kissed her once more when she pulled back to look up at him, only for her to return the kiss. When they separated, Ratchet leaned his forehead against her own, rubbing a thumb over her cheek. "No matter what happens Rilena, I will always be here for you and the kids. I will always love you." He said softly, kissing her once more, before helping her stand. No matter what happened, he would be there for her.

She wiped her eyes and cheeks clean, before she gave Ratchet a smile, the same one that melted his heart all those years ago. That smile still brought him a sense of happiness and warmth. "Thank you, Ratchet." She said softly and sincerely, making him nod. "I'm always here for you so, never forget that." He assured once more and she nodded, nuzzling his neck as he wrapped his arms around her. They could afford being a few minutes late to the ship if only to stay in eachothers arms for a few moments longer.

**(Hours Later, The Phoenix)**

Leon and Ratchet refused to look at one another, blushes on their faces and Rilena was no better as she avoided eye contact with anyone...at least her driving the ship was a good distraction. Everyone wanted to ask why the three were blushing but they clammed up every time the topic was brought up. Leon glanced at Ratchet, before looking away and messing with some stuff on his robotic arm, even as Ratchet took a gun out to clean...for the fifth time.

Qwark looked over at them confused, letting RJ and Ragar entertain their younger sister, before he sighed; he was getting annoyed. "Alright you two, what happened?" He asked, rubbing his temples and they both paled as they looked at him with wide eyes. They opened their mouths, closed them, looked at one another and blushed heavily before avoiding each other's gazes again. A squeak from Rilena made Qwark and Cora look up at the front, she was hiding her face in her hands and even Elaris seemed confused.

"Now I'm getting more curious." Brax said with a raised brow, before Ratchet Junior looked up, humming a bit. "I did overhear yelling earlier when I was getting supplies from storage." Ratchet, Rilena and Leon all paled, their eyes wide. Rilena groaned, slamming her head against the steering wheel in front of her, even as Ratchet and Leon looked at Ratchet Junior. "Junior, erase everything you heard from your mind." Ratchet pleaded with his son who seemed confused, yet he shrugged and picked Clank up to talk to him.

Qwark thought a bit, yet taking in the fact that Ratchet and Leon seemed embarrassed and were refusing to look at one another, as well as Rilena's mortification...he paled as well. "You walked in on them, didn't you?" Quark asked Leon who choked on air and Ratchet held his head in his hands, mortified and Rilena groaned again. "Qwark, shut up." Leon muttered and Qwark scoffed amused. "After being married, you'd think you'd realize being in a rebel base that you should lock doors." He muttered.

Leon glared at him darkly, grabbed a gun and threw it at him yet Qwark caught it easily. "J-just...clean the damn gun." A small pack of ammo hit Leon's head. "LANGUAGE!" Rilena snapped at him, glaring at him. "What the-?" He grumbled, grabbing the pack of ammo. "All I said was damn." He muttered, rubbing the sore spot she hit while Ratchet tried his hardest to not laugh. Seemed his wife didn't want kids repeating words she thinks they shouldn't know. "You already got RJ dropping the 'f'-bomb." She muttered and Ratchet glared at Leon as the white Lombax gulped...he knew he was in trouble.

So, this is chapter 4, another reason the story was Rated M is because it was explained exactly what happened. Now, yes, Drek did rape Rilena and NO I do not deal with that stuff lightly. Riley was born through an experiment, Rilena's fourth child (really the third because he was born before Riley) was born out of wedlock. (As if Drek could've ever convinced her to marry him. -.-) So, yes, Rilena was forced into giving Drek an heir.

It did wound her but she's somewhat heal from what happened (you don't ever really get over it, you only get through it.) but with Ratchet back, she'll heal faster. Plus the little funny scene at the end. I did that because there's always a funny scene in Ratchet and Clank, this story, despite it's dark themes, should not deviate from that. So I added the little funny bit there...won't deny it took a bit to figure out how to break the tension. I figured why not have Leon walk in on them. XD He went looking for them, only natural SOMEONE would've walked in on them like that sooner or later, lol.

Well, hope you all like the story so far.