So, sorry that this thing is like 3 days later than it should've been! I've been busy with some side-projects, and by the time I realized 'wait, my series actually needs a Father's Day special, fuck', it was already that special day. So, I made this thing as quickly as I could so I can at least try and pretend to get this out at a reasonable time without being too late.
Hope you enjoy!
"Alright, erm… I think her lab's this way over here." Ratchet says, glancing to a sign in the hallway of the Center for Advanced Lombax research, before stopping and look right, then left. "Or… maybe that way?"
"It is to your right, as I recall from the last time we paid Julie a visit." Clank helpfully points out from his back.
"Thanks, pal, this place seems like kind of a maze honestly." He says with a smile before walking down the indicated direction. "Sucks we can't just ask dad for directions, huh?"
"I still find this entire endeavor largely unnecessary, Ratchet." He comments. "You do not need to perform some grandiose gesture in order to impress your father for Father's Day today."
"Well, yeah, I know that, pal, but I still want to, though." He says with a shrug. "I mean, think of the last twenty other Father's Days he's missed since I've been gone, and how much it sucked that he couldn't really celebrate it like everyone else. Now that I'm here, I want to do something that'll make up for all of that and make him feel really special, and that I'm glad he's back in my life, too."
"Well… I cannot argue that that is a kind and considerate sentiment, I will say." Clank replies. "But I still feel as though you are fretting too much about this; from the little time we've spent with your father so far, I do not see him as the kind of person who wants something big, or any kind of material possession, but simply your love, plain and simple." He suggests, holding up a hand from Ratchet's back.
Ratchet sighs. "I… know you're probably right, pal, but if there's anything that'll really show him how much I love him, it'll be by going the extra mile to do something nice for him, so I'm still going to go through with this." He states with determination, facing forward with a proud walk.
"If you say so, then." Clank responds amicably as they see the door to Julie's lab coming up. "All I ask is that you do not stress yourself too much over this, is all."
"No promises." Ratchet replies as he types in the code on the keypad to open the large hydraulic door, having been enthusiastically given it by Julie so 'her favorite nephew can always pop in for a visit!'
Clank gives a small sigh in response as the door hisses open, allowing Ratchet to step inside the Weapons Division's lab, him never failing to admire the extensive wall of weaponry to his side while many others lay on engineers' workbenches, coming up with all new ways to blow things up, a goal he very much sympathized with.
However, he doesn't allow himself to spend too much time gawking at it like he usually does, inside stopping to scan across the lab to see if Julie stood among the few dozen Lombaxes going about their business, but unfortunately, finds no such thing, prompting him to instead look over to her personal Quality Assurer, Percy, situated at a desk closest to the door, once again poring over yet another one of her more overzealous designs, shaking his head slightly with a sigh while scribbling notes across the blueprint.
"Always with the highly-experimental explosive chemical ammunition, she is." He mutters quietly to himself, writing down 'these aren't even finished testing yet, it could literally blow your face off! Can you please TRY and wait until things are finished being cleared by R&D before just dropping them into your designs willy-nilly?'
But then, he notices Ratchet walking over to him out of the corner of his eye, prompting him to pick his head back up. "Oh, hey, Ratchet, what are you doing here? Wanting to go on the range again?" He greets with a small smile.
"Erm, hey, Percy," Ratchet greets with a small wave and smile before dropping his hand. "But, no I'm not, actually, I'm just trying to look for Julie. Is she here? I don't see here around."
"Oh, yeah, don't worry, she's just out on the range, testing a new gun some of the engineers finished." He says, thumbing over to the other side of the lab, where said range lied behind a thick trillium wall furnished only with a door and small, makeshift window. "You can just go ahead and pop in to see her right now if you want, just try not to startle her too bad if you don't wanna get shot."
"Don't worry, I've had plenty of practice with stuff like that." Ratchet says with a chuckle, remembering all the near-misses from constantly scaring Tal back when they were dating. "Alright, thanks, Percy!"
"No problem." He says with a nod and a smile as Ratchet starts walking, but not before he quickly raises a finger. "Oh, and when you see her, tell her that I said that her latest design is going back in the trash until she finally understands what 'not fully tested for field use' really means." He says with air quotes and a small grimace.
Ratchet and Clank exchange a mildly puzzled yet amused glance with each other before Ratchet gives a shrug. "Erm, alright, then?"
"Great, thanks." Percy says with a friendly nod. "See you later, then."
And with that, Ratchet takes his queue to leave his desk, and walking across the length of the lap, stepping out of the way of busy engineers enthusiastically talking to each other about their latest breakthroughs in this grenade launcher, or this plasma rifle, and even though he'd love to stay and eavesdrop on these admittedly exciting conversations, he had a mission to accomplish, and tore his attention away from them to instead focus on the door to the shooting range ahead of him.
However, before he could reach it, he hears a loud 'BANG' come from the other side of the wall, and a few seconds later, the door suddenly slides open, and Julie promptly walks through while holding a pistol, the back of it appearing to have been blown off while the otherwise yellow fur of her face was darkened as black as the rest of her stripes, wearing a small frown as she immediately looks over to a nearby engineer, and haphazardly tosses it into his arms, him almost dropping it from the unexpected catch.
"Alright, so, turns out, you messed up the calculations for how much force the chamber could take from those new explosive rounds we whipped up last week." She states as she walks over to a workbench to take a rag off, trying to scrub away the residue from her face while the engineer inspects the pistol in his hand before raising a finger.
"Erm, Julie, you were the one who made those—"
"It's alright, Clark, we all make mistakes every so often, I understand." She interjects, turning back to him with a newly (but not completely) clean face. "I don't blame you one bit, just make sure to get back to the drawing board and give her another shot, I know you can do it!" She says with a wide grin, patting his shoulder.
"I… You…" He simply gives a tired sigh as he walks away, exploded gun in his hand. "Sure thing, Julie."
"That's the spirit! I believe in you!" She replies back, holding a double thumbs-up.
But as she is watching him walking away, she turns her head, and finally notices Ratchet standing there, and her face lights up with joy as she rushed over to him. "Oh, hye, Ratchet! Come to visit your favorite Aunt Julie?" She asks excitedly while taking him into a big hug.
"Oh, uh, y-yeah, I guess?" He replies, her extremely enthusiastic hugs somehow never failing to take him by surprise.
"So, what is it? Another competition on the range? Wanna test more prototypes? Maybe brainstorm some new kickass ideas for guns?" She asks eagerly, raising her eyebrows whilst letting go of him, still wearing a smile.
"Erm… No, actually." He replies, looking away while rubbing the back of his head. "I, uh… kinda need your help on something, actually."
"Wait, really? What is it, then? I promise I'll be the best help ever, then!" She says with a proud nod.
"Well… Father's Day is today, and I didn't even realize it since I've never really had to pay attention to when it was, but now that I do, I wanted to do something really special for him." He answers with a shrug, looking back to her. "But the thing is that I haven't really gotten the time to really, like, know him enough to know what to do for him. And I figured that, you know, I could ask you for some help, since you've been friends with him for years at this point. So… can you help me out, then?" He asks a little bashfully.
"Damn, that's… actually pretty sweet of you, Ratchet." Julie responds with some surprise before wearing another grin while stepping beside him and wrapping her arm around him. "Hell yeah, I'll help you out! What kind of aunt would I be if I didn't, after all?" She says with a small squeeze.
"Th-Thanks!" Ratchet says, although feeling a bit crushed in her grip. "But, erm, can you just ease up a bit on the hug?"
"Ugh, fine." She says with a roll of her eyes before letting go, and placing a hand on her chin with a thoughtful hum. "So, whatcha thinking about then? A gift, some kind of gesture, what's up?"
"Erm, I… don't really know yet, honestly." He says with a shrug. "That's why I'm here. You got any suggestions?"
"Oh, I've got a big suggestion, alright!" She says, walking past him to the wall of weapons adorning the lab's wall, stopping before it to look over the extensive weapons before perking up with an 'ah-ha!' and taking off a large rocket launcher, then walking back over to Ratchet, and promptly dumping it into his arms, making him almost fall over with the unexpected weight. "Here ya go!"
"Woah, geez!" Ratchet says, regaining his balance as he takes the gun into a tighter grip. "What—huff—is this thing?"
"One of my brand new, kickass rocket launcher designs I whipped up a couple weeks ago!" She says excitedly.
"And… you want me to give it to my dad?" He asks with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"
"'Cause I know Kaden loves a good gun every once in a while, and when I let him try this thing out once it was hot off the workbenches, he was telling me all about how sweet it was, so I think it'd be a great idea if his son happened to walk right up to him with it wrapped in a pretty bow and his name on it!" She explains pointedly while raising a finger, although both it and her smile falter with a nervous laugh. "Although, erm, I don't actually have a bow to give you—but hey! You can just pick it up right along with that card you're probably going to get at the store, am I right?"
"I mean… I guess?" Ratchet replies, inspecting the impressive-looking weapon in his hand.
"Erm… I was not aware that Kaden had a penchant for weaponry." Clank pipes up uncertainly from Ratchet's back. "Well, not one that quite matches yours or Ratchet's that is—but are you really sure this is a satisfactory gift for him?"
"Probably not. But! That's why I'll also give you this!"
Before Ratchet could ask what, she suddenly rushes off deeper into the lab, making both him and Clank exchange another confused glance with each other as she goes to a particularly messy workbench, opening drawers and fishing through papers, mumbinlg to herself before exclaiming 'there you are!', and shuts the drawer while rushing back over to Ratchet, dodging a couple of engineers carrying a large cannon to be tested, both of whom barely pay her any mind.
"Here we are!" She says, holding a rolled-up blueprint.
"And what is that, then?" Ratchet asks.
"My original design for that launcher!" She replies, unrolling it while stepping closely beside him. "I had to really neuter that thing to make Percy happy with it, and although it's really sweet right now, don't get me wrong, it was supposed to be even more badass. But, you know the buzzkill he is with all of his 'oh, this is a stupidly dangerous idea, Julie! You can't make rockets that have rockets that have even more rockets, Julie! This thing might be more dangerous to the shooter than the actual target, Julie!'" She says in a mocking tone, using a hand with air quotes before giving a large groan. "Man, why doesn't he actually say 'yes' to my ideas once for a change, huh?"
"Oh, erm, that reminds me, actually—He told me to tell you that he's shooting down your latest design." Ratchet says with a bit of a smile. "Something about wanting you to understand what 'not fully tested for field use' really means."
"Seriously? Of course he did." She says with a slump before turning her head to look over at him. "Come on, Percy! I guarantee that ammo is totally safe, you drama queen!" She yells across the lab.
Percy picks up his head from overlooking yet another design, but simply rolls his eyes before yelling back. "You might, but the R&D guys that actually created the damn things don't think so, so suck it up and make something else that won't blow up in your face!"
"Tell that to Clark over there, he literally made a gun that blew up in my face just now!" She argues, pointing to the offender, who was currently taking apart the exploded pistol before throwing up his hands.
"Julie, like I said, you were the one who messed up the calculations on the round's yield when it fires; it was you that made this thing blow up in your face!" He defends himself as some of the other engineers in the lab look onto the situation with piqued interest.
"Ha! See?!" Percy adds on smugly. "Sorry, Julie, guess it's back to the drawing board, end of story!"
"Screw you guys! I'll make it work, you'll see!" She exclaims with a pout as the engineers start to slowly return to their current tasks before she gives a small groan, shaking her head. "Man, buzzkills, I'm telling you." She mutters.
"Well, erm… what about this original design, then?" Ratchet asks, pointing back to the paper in her hand while he demanifests the weapon back into his Arsenal, tired of holding the admittedly heavy piece of weaponry any longer.
"Oh, right! So, like I was saying, Percy shot down all my cool ideas for this launcher—like usual—so I had to scrap them to actually get them past the design phase." She continues explaining with a smile. "But! Now that it's in your hands—I.E., a private owner that is free to do whatever to his piece of property as he damn well pleases, and not a senior weapons development supervisor who has to follow all these boring regulations and safety precautions, you could totally mod that thing to be as sweet as it should've been! Especially if you've got the know-how and somehow find the exact blueprints how to do them." She says, bouncing her eyebrows up and down while shaking said blueprint in front of them.
"That's… a pretty good idea, actually!" Ratchet says with some enthusiasm, taking the blueprint out of her hands, giving the ambitious yet completely doable plans a quick once-over before rolling it up and giving her a wide grin. "Thanks, Julie, you've been a huge help!"
"No problem, what kind of cool aunt would I be if I didn't help out my nephew out with getting him the perfect gift for my… erm, brother…? I guess?" She says uncertainly. "Isn't that how it'd work?"
Ratchet sucks in his teeth a bit. "Yeah, I'd say that's where your whole 'adoptive aunt' shtick… thing you've got going on kinda falls apart, honestly."
"Well… eh." She dismisses with a shrug. "I'm still keeping it, I like 'Aunt Julie' too much. And besides, Kaden kinda is like a big brother to me, so it's not too far off!" She adds amusedly with a smile. "So, you heading off back home to whip up that new rocket launcher two-point-oh, then?"
"Oh, erm, probably not, actually." He says with a shrug, putting the blueprint back in his Arsenal as well. "I'm still going to head to Mags for some more suggestions, see what he thinks I should get dad, too."
"Well, if that's the case, you better hope he's actually here and not just out researching some dimension right now." Julie says with a shrug before wrapping her arm around Ratchet with a smile. "But I wish you good luck, both on finding Mags and your little journey to give Kaden the best Father's Day ever!"
Ratchet smiles as well, and brings his own arm around her. "Thanks, Julie, I appreciate it. Your good luck and the gun, I should say. We'll be—"
They hear the door on the other side of the lab open, and they look over to see that it was Kaden, starting to walk into the lab, scanning around curiously.
"Ah, crap! He can't see me!" Ratchet says worriedly, immediately breaking out of her grip to duck down behind a nearby workbench before looking over to Julie. "Distract him for me, I'm sneaking out of here before he finds me!"
"Are you sure that is really necessary, Ratchet?" Clank asks from his back.
"Yes!" He promptly answers, turning his head.
"Ah, hey, Julie, there you are!" They hear Kaden call out, making Julie look over to see him waving a hand. "I need to ask you something real quick!"
"O-Oh, erm, yeah! Sure thing!" She replies with a thumbs up before glancing back down to Ratchet with a nod, prompting him to stealthily crouch-walk between workbenches as Kaden eventually walks up to her. "H-Hey, Kaden! What's up?" She asks.
"I was just wondering if you've seen Ratchet around?" He asks curiously. "I brought him here with me today, and we were hanging out up in my workshop, then he just kinda disappeared on me."
"Oh, really? Weird!" Julie asks, flashing quick glances behind him as Ratchet continues to make his way out of the lab, prompting some very strange glances from the engineers he was passing as he was practically crawling on the ground past the desks and workbenches.
"So… I take it that you haven't seen him around here, then?" He asks.
"Erm… nope! Not at all!" She states with a shake of her head, thankfully looking past him once more to see Ratchet quickly make it to the door, but not before looking back to Percy and quickly pressing his finger to his own lips in a 'be quiet' gesture, which he confusedly agrees to before Ratchet slips out of the door as it slides open.
"Ah, damn, I thought for sure he'd be here trying out some more of your guns or going on the range with another competition with you." He says, placing his hands on his hips.
"Man, I wish he was here, it's always fun having him distract me with those competitions!" She says with a plastic smile. "We have a lot of pretty close ones, he's a damn good shooter, I'll tell you what!"
"And I don't doubt it." Kaden says amusedly with a smile before it falters, exhaling a breath. "Well, if he's not here then, I guess I should see Mags up in the lab and see if he's talking with him about Centauri or—"
"No!" Julie quickly interjects, startling him slightly as he looks back to her with surprised confusion.
"No?" He asks.
"Erm… I… Yeah! No!" She reiterates, putting on a smile.
"I… shouldn't go see Mags? And why not?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Because you mentioning me and Ratchet's competitions reminded me about the fact that it's been a hot minute since you and I had a shooting competition!" She says, raising a finger. "I've still got to beat you to make us even after last time, you know!"
"Oh, well… I'd love to, Julie, but I've gotta go see Ratchet first—" He says, rubbing the back of his head while thumbing behind him.
"Oh, come on, you buzzkill!" She cuts him off, waving her hand. "Ratchet's fine, I'm sure if you need to tell him something, you'll see him home later, and if he was able to stomp in that dirty Cragmite's face with no sweat, then I'm sure he can handle wandering around the Center by himself just fine." She offers playfully. "Come on, this little competition won't take more than like, fifteen minutes, and I could really unwind a bit after a little… incident I had a bit earlier." She says, looking over to Clark, noticing her gaze on him once more, making him frown.
"Like I said, Julie; That was your fault!" He reiterates, pointing at her with a screwdriver he was using to repair the broken pistol.
"Yeah, yeah, you can stop shoving it in my face now!" She says with a wave of her hand and small groan, making Kaden crack an amused smile.
"So… you figure the best way to destress is by having me kick your ass at another little competition, then?" He asks with a smirk. "Sounds a little weird, honestly, since I'm sure that'd make you more upset, but then again, it's not like you're exactly normal."
"Hey, screw you! I will so beat you this time around!" She snaps back at him, pointing a finger while he snickers. "So, you accepting my challenge, then?"
"Why not? You're right, I could afford to spend some time to go a few rounds with you." He says with a smile while walking over to the entrance of the range with her tagging along. "I could see Ratchet later, but I need to make you eat your words really quick."
She scoffs as they walk through the door of the range. "I can't wait to wipe that smug-ass grin off your face." She states as he gives yet another laugh, pulling out a blaster from his own Arsenal while she goes ahead and sets up the range, making sure to set it at a long enough time to keep him distracted, and buy Ratchet a little more time on his mission to give Kaden a great Father's Day.
"Alright, at least this place should be easier to find." Ratchet says as he spots the lab for Mags and his father's Interdimensional Division ahead of himself and Clank. "Hopefully Mags is here."
"Yes, I suppose so." Clank replies from his back before raising an inquisitive finger. "Erm, by the way, are you really going to agree to Julie's suggestion of gifting him that rocket launcher? Of which looked highly dangerous, I should add?"
"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I?"
"Because, well, what need would your father have for such a weapon? He does not regularly get into battles as we do, and I hardly see any reason for a Senior Engineer to be armed so effectively in his day-to-day life."
"And your point is?" Ratchet asks, raising an eyebrow while glancing at him over his shoulder.
"Is that really the best idea of a gift for him? I do not believe he would really use it, and I am once again suggesting that you are perhaps trying a little too hard to impress him when it is not needed." He gently proposes with a shrug. "I am sure that all he needs is a simple hug and an 'I love you' today."
"Well, like I said, I want to do something more than that! I mean, I hug him and tell him I love him all the time, so is it really that special if I just say it on Father's Day of all days?"
"Yes." Clank states astutely. "It is, because it once again reaffirms your love for him as your father, which I believe is in fact the entire basis of this holiday."
"Well… I want to show my love for him in something way cooler than just a hug and a few words, so we are still doing this, pal, whether you think this is necessary or not." He says, looking back ahead once more to the door to the lab.
"If you say so, then." Clank says with a conceding sigh.
"Now, then, fingers crossed he's here." Ratchet says as he steps up to the door, crossing his fingers as he uses his other hand to open it.
And as the door slides open with a small hydraulic hiss, he is met with the welcome sight of Mags standing at a paper-ridden workbench with the Dimensionator resting atop of it, scribbling down something on yet another paper, pushing his glasses back up on his nose a bit as he leans down over it.
"Yes!" Ratchet quietly celebrates with a small fist pump as he walks inside, simultaneously prompting Mags' attention as he perks up his head and turns around.
"Oh, hey, Ratchet, nice to see you!" He says with a smile. "What brings you here?"
"Hey, Mags, I was hoping I could talk to you about something." Ratchet greets back amicably with a smile of his own. "Guess I'm lucky you're actually here instead of out hopping dimensions right now, huh?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm just back here right to log some notes I took of the last one I visited. It was pretty much the same as ours, except there was, like, moons made of cheese floating around?" He explains bemusedly.
"Wait, what?" Ratchet asks confusedly.
"Right? Here, I even took some samples, try some, it's actually pretty good!" He says, turning back to the workbench to grab a small white piece of cheese, placing it in Ratchet's hand for him to inspect.
"Are… you sure this stuff's good to eat, even?" He inquires with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean, my scans showed that it was normal cheese, and I ate some a little over an hour ago, and I'm all good, so you should be, too." He offers with a shrug. "Well, that is, unless you're lactose intolerant, I guess. Are you, by the way? I know Kaden's not, but I'm not sure if Marie was." He adds, placing a hand on his chin.
"No, I'm good, don't worry." Ratchet assures him with a small smile before looking at the moon cheese in his hand, and giving a small shrug before popping it in his mouth, his eyes widening a bit as he chews on it. "Wow… that is pretty good, actually. And there are whole moons made of this?"
"Yeah! Crazy, right?" He says enthusiastically with a grin. "I'm telling you, the multiverse is super cool with how much crazy stuff you can find out there, especially now that I'm actually getting a chance to look at them in more in-depth!"
"Well, that's cool to hear, then." Ratchet replies with some amusement as his excitement.
"Indeed, it is always interesting to learn about your studies concerning dimensionality as well." Clank adds from his back.
"Nerd." Ratchet says with a scoff as Clank chuckles.
"Well, moon cheese out of the way, what did you want to talk to me about?" Mags asks curiously.
"Oh, right, well… it's Father's Day today, and I'm trying to figure out something cool I can do for my dad." He explains. "I talked to Julie just now, and she gave me a gun I can give him after some tweaking, but I thought I'd talk to you, too, to see if you've got any ideas." He offers, gesturing to him.
"Oh, well, that's nice of you, Ratchet, I know your dad's gonna love the gesture." He says with a smile. Before placing a hand back on his chin. "Hmm… well… I don't think I have anything that you can straight give to him like Julie did." He mutters thoughtfully, humming for a few more moments before his eyes widen with a snap of his fingers. "Ooh, I know! You can tune up his ship!"
"Wait, really?" Ratchet asks, tilting his head.
"Yeah! I know he's mentioned a few things to me about Lyra sounding a bit weird lately, but I haven't had a good chance to look at it myself, what with me exploring the multiverse and all." He explains with a shrug. "But you can totally do it instead, you're a great mechanic, and it'd be something really nice you can do for Kaden, too! It's perfect!"
"Wow, that's… a pretty good idea, actually!" Ratchet says eagerly before his wide grin falters. "But, erm… I actually don't know a whole lot about Lombax ships still. I mean, I feel like I'm really good, don't get me wrong, but, maybe not good enough to work on dad's ship without worrying about messing it up too badly." He says a little bashfully, rubbing the back of his head.
"Hey, don't worry, from what I've heard between you rebuilding Aphelion from scratch and Kaden giving you that little crash course on Lyra after you came back, I've got no doubt you've got what it takes." Mags offers helpfully with a smile, patting his shoulder.
Ratchet smiles a bit at the compliment, but still gives a sigh. "Yeah, but… I don't know, I wanna be finished tuning up his ship by the time he finds out, and I'm not sure if I can do it quick enough without having to stop and learn as I go like I did with Aphelion." He replies with a shrug.
"Hmm… I think I've got something that might help a bit, then, accelerate that process up for you a bit." Mags says, turning away while raising a finger to investigate amidst the piles of research notes scattered about the surfaces of the lab, making Ratchet tilt his head while Clank speaks up once more.
"And what might that be?" He asks curiously.
"I mean, it's nothing to exciting, I should let you know," Mags replies over his shoulder as he looks under papers. "But I'm pretty sure he left it… ah-ha! There it is!" He says, finding a small book before walking over to Ratchet with it.
"What is it?" Ratchet asks, pointing to it before Mags simply places it in his hand.
"A complete manual of Archai-Class Lombax star cruisers, exactly the kind that Lyra is!" He says with a nod. "Kaden brought that in to do some troubleshooting on his problem on the side in between work, so I figure it'll be the perfect thing you need to get her back up to snuff! In fact, I'm pretty sure Kaden even bookmarked pages where the problems actually are, so that should save you plenty of time to get her engine roaring just in time for dinner!"
"Woah, thanks, Mags! This'll be a huge help!" Ratchet says enthusiastically, giving him a wide grin. "Between this and Julie's gun, I think I can come up with a little something else to make his Father's Day really great, thanks!"
"No problem, I'm always to help, especially if it's to help Kaden out." He says with a smile of his own. "So, you going to head home and get going on your projects, then?"
"I think I should, yeah, I might have just enough time to maybe make him a nice dinner, too!"
"Wait, dinner?" Clank asks. "Ratchet, you can barely cook! You are really going to essentially rebuild an entire gun, do an entire repair job on his ship, and cook him a dinner? Is that not a bit too much for you?"
"Not for my dad it isn't! And, hey, I'm not that bad at cooking, Clank!" He argues, pointing back at him looking over his shoulder.
"That is a point still to be—"
He is cut off as Ratchet's communicator beeps, prompting both of their attention while he pulls it out to see what it was.
"Who is it?" Clank asks.
"It's Julie." Ratchet says with some confusion. "Let's see… 'Sorry, I should've said this like five minutes ago but Kaden just left, I distracted him with a shooting contest, he's headed up there to see Mags, get out of there soon, love, your cool Aunt Julie'." He reads off.
"Man, she's still milking that whole 'aunt' thing hard, isn't she?" Mags mutters with a roll of his eyes.
"Wait, so he left her lab five minutes ago?" Ratchet asks, ignoring him as his eyws widen. "That means he's going to be here any minute! How am I supposed to sneak past him out in those narrow hallways out there?!" He panics.
"Ratchet, calm down." Clank calmly states.
"How? This lab's tiny, too, there's barely anywhere to hide if he comes in here, just how am I—"
"Oh, I know!" Mags pipes up, raising a finger. "We can get you out of here and back home in the blink of an eye! Let you escape Kaden and get to working on his gifts just like that, two birds with one stone!"
"How?"
"With this, obviously." Mags replies with a smirk, picking up the Dimensionator off the workbench before tapping on the input screen. "Shoot open a portal back to Kaden's place, walk through, I close it, he doesn't suspect a thing."
"Ah, sweet, quick thinking! Thanks!" Ratchet says once again with a smile.
"No problem!" Mags replies as he finishes inputting the coordinates, then cranks the lever before pulling the trigger, firing a portal in the middle of the lab, appearing right in front of Kaden's house before Mags glances a little past Ratchet, and his eyes widening. "Shit, I see Kaden walking here right now! Hurry up before he sees you, good luck!"
"Sure thing, thanks again, Mags!" Ratchet says, giving him a wave before running through the portal, Mags returning it as well before hastily returning his hand back to the Dimensionator, closing the portal right as he hears the door hiss open once again.
"Oh, did you just come back from a new dimension, then?" Kaden asks amicably as he walks over to Mags, noticing the portal closing just in time.
"Oh, erm, y-yeah! Just now, totally!" Mags tells him with a smile, pushing up the glasses on his nose before turning back to the workbench, and placing the Dimensionator back on it once more. "What are you doing here, anyways?"
"What, you forgetting I co-head this whole Division along with you already?" He replies amusedly, raising an eyebrow with a smirk, making Mags roll his eyes with a small groan before Kaden chuckles. "Alright, yeah, I was just looking to see if you were in here with Ratchet."
"Oh, really?" He feigns, returning back to scribbling down his notes on the cheese moon dimension. "Why'd he be here of all places, then?"
"I don't know, he kinda ditched me up in my workshop earlier, and he wasn't in Julie's lab, either, so the only other place I could think of where he'd run off to was here." He explains with a shrug. "Seriously, I wonder where he went? I just wanted to ask him something, but then the next thing you know, he's gone and snuck off somewhere." He explains with a sigh, letting a small moment of silence linger before hesitantly looking back to him. "You don't think he's… trying to avoid me, do you?"
Mags furrows his brows as he turns his head to look at him over his shoulder. "What? Come on, don't be stupid, Kaden, you know Ratchet would never want to leave you."
"Well, that's what I thought, too, but then, here he is, gone AWOL out of the blue." He says, throwing up a hand before crossing his arms and looking away with a frown. "And on today of all days, too…" He mutters quietly.
"Kaden, relax, you're looking in way too deeply into this." Mags offers with a small smile, fully turning to place a hand on his shoulder. "If he's not with you or me or Julie, then I'm sure he's just back at your guys' place for whatever reason, I don't know. He's fine, and you shouldn't worry too much about him."
"I mean… that's a little hard to do given that he's, you know, my son that I haven't seen in the last twenty years." Kaden says dryly with a shrug.
"Well… just, try not to worry then, I guess." Mags returns with an awkward smile. "Here, I, erm… could use your help, actually!"
"I—Wait, you do?" He asks, tilting his head. "With what?"
"Well, I just came back from this neat dimension that had entire moons made out of cheese, and I, erm, need more samples!" He explains, trying to sound believable in his tone.
"Moons made out of cheese?" Kaden repeats.
"Yeah! Here, try some, it's good, and it's safe to eat, I promise!" He states, leaning back over to the workbench to grab said sample, placing it in Kaden's hand. "Go ahead, eat it!"
"I, erm… Well… Alright then?" Kaden responds with a shrug, squinting at him curiously as he places it in his mouth, chewing on it a bit before his eyes widen in surprise. "Damn, that is good actually. There're whole moons made of this stuff?" He asks with disbelief.
"Right?" He replies with a grin. "So… you wanna go ahead and go on another little trip with me to collect some more of that stuff for data and research? And maybe for a little snack, too?" He asks amusedly.
"I mean… I'd rather just try to find Ratchet, but I guess you're right about him just being back at home for some reason, and it's not like I can think of anywhere else in the Center to look…" He mutters to himself, placing a hand on his chin and humming for a few moments before giving a shrug. "Well, I guess I can just talk to him back home later. And besides, I think this'd be neat, it's been a while since I actually visited another dimension for a mini research trip after all." He says with a smile. "Erm, aside from Ratchet's that is." He awkwardly corrects himself.
"See? That's the spirit. Come on!" Mags says as he takes the Dimensionator once more, inputting the coordinates before shooting open a portal. "This'll be fun!"
"Hopefully, it's not everyday you see an entire moon made out of some tasty cheese, after all." Kaden says amusedly, walking through the portal before it closes behind him.
"Alright, sweet, thanks, Mags! See you tomorrow!" Kaden says as he walks back through the Dimensionator portal, in front of his own house as he waves back to Mags standing in their lab.
"Yeah, see you, too!" Mags returns, waving back before the portal closes, leaving Kaden facing the road for a few moments before looking at the hunk of moon cheese in his hand, collected from his and Mags' short trip there over the last couple of hours, the both of them taking notes and collecting samples while just hanging out and talking as well.
"I wonder what kind of recipes I could make with this." Kaden comments as he pinches off a tiny piece of the cheese before popping it into his mouth while he walks up to the door.
But as he walked, he couldn't help but look around, wondering if he'd find Ratchet out here waiting for him like he hoped he would. Or just be there with him more than just their short walk to the Center that morning, given how today was Father's Day, and yet, he wasn't here to celebrate it with him for some reason. Hell, even on that walk, Ratchet seemed oblivious to what day it was, never mentioning it or just giving a little 'Happy Father's Day!' or an 'I love you' or anything, which admittedly made Kaden feel a little worse than it probably should have.
He didn't doubt that Ratchet cared about him, not at all, since he had no qualms about saying he loved him or hugging him any day of the week. Ratchet was sure to take Kaden to all sorts of neat places in his dimension, meeting his friends, and just generally being excited to have his father back in his life, just as Kaden was excited to have his son back in his.
But that was exactly the reason why he had to admit he felt kinda sad about today, now that the sun was starting to set, because he always hated Father's Day since the Exodus, seeing all the other dads with their kids, happily spending time with them and just hammering in the fact that his own son was stranded in a completely dimension from his own, possibly dead, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
He may have been a father by definition, sure, but he didn't feel like one, never having been able to hear his son's first words, or see his first steps, or take him to his first day at school. So, every Father's Day, he always elected to just isolate himself as far away from the outside world as possible, be it by staying at home, or throwing himself into his work as much as possible, all so he could distract himself from the fact that he himself would never be able to hear those four little words from his son; "Happy Father's Day, dad!"
But now that Ratchet was back, it was all that he was hoping for all day, now that he was an actual, real father once again, to just hear those words to make up for the last twenty years he missed out on hearing.
But instead, he had barely seen his son at all today, let alone speaking to him, and it just made him sad and confused, wondering if he should've been more direct in saying what day it was today instead of acting all coy and trying to pry it out of him. Hell, Ratchet probably never even had to celebrate a Father's Day, so why the hell should he have to remember it?
Whatever the case, Kaden simply gives a woeful sigh as he walks up to the door, inputting his code on the keypad before it opens, and steps inside before throwing his boots off, hoping that next year would be his first real one instead, given that today seemed like a bust.
But as he closes the door behind him, he hears the sounds of something sizzling, and he sniffs the air to find a pungent aroma, and aroma of something…
Burning?!
"Shit, did I leave the stove on this morning?!" He cries out, rushing over to the kitchen, dropping the cheese on the ground in his fervor.
Within mere seconds, he reaches the doorway of his kitchen, but as he does, he finds not a roaring fire threatening to destroy his home, but instead a panicking, grease-covered Ratchet, flanked by Clank, who was holding his face in his hand and shaking his head slowly, both of whom stood in front of a pan that was currently burning a charred and black… thing.
"Gah, shit, what happened?!" Ratchet says as he blows on it. "It was just fine a second ago!"
"You put too much oil on it, Ratchet! Exactly like what I warned you about!" Clank chides him as he takes a stool and steps up next to the pan Ratchet was still blowing on. "And you do not blow out oil fires, you smother them!" He says as he simply takes a lid and covers the pan, snuffing out the flame before turning the burner off.
"Well, sorry, my job is usually about starting fires, not putting them out!" Ratchet says, crossing his arms before hanging his head with a huff. "Man, now what am I supposed to do for his dinner?"
"For who's dinner?" Kaden pipes up.
"Gah!" Ratchet cries out, jumping in place as he snaps around, facing Kaden as Clank too turns around, albeit with less surprise. "Oh, uh, h-hey, dad! I didn't think that you'd be home this early!" He says with a nervous chuckle, calming down a bit.
"Yeah, erm, me and Mags checked out this dimension with moons made out of cheese, then he dropped me off here, since I didn't have anything else to do at the Center." He explains, thumbing behind him while raising an eyebrow. "Why are you asking if I'm home early, though? Were you preparing something? Is that why you're covered in grease?"
"Huh? What do you—oh." Ratchet utters dumbly, looking down at himself. "Whoops."
"And what's up with this dinner, too? What's going on?" Kaden asks, walking further into the kitchen, wearing a confused look.
"Well… that's… you see, I'm…" Ratchet stammers for a few moments, looking back at Kaden before slumping and given a large sigh, crossing his arms. "I was trying to give you a good Father's Day, alright? But I messed it up." He mutters with disappointment.
"Wait, what?" Kaden asks, caught off-guard by his answer. "Messed up how?"
"Well, I went to Mags and Julie today to ask what I should do, and Julie gave me this gun I could modify for you, and Mags said I could tune up Lyra, and then I thought I'd cap it off with a nice dinner for you from some nice steak Clank picked up from our dimension." He explains with a shrug, still timidly looking to the ground. "But when I got here, I got a little stuck on modding Julie's gun since her blueprints are just written in a weird way only she could really understand, then I decided to take a break on that and go tune up Lyra really quick with some help from a book Mags gave me, but I got stuck on that too, figuring out what pieces go where and whatnot, and before I finished that, I realized how late it was getting, so I needed to get dinner ready in time for you to come back, but… well…"
He then turns around, and takes the lid off the pan to reveal the black lump that was supposed to be a nice and juicy steak. "You saw how that went."
Kaden remains speechless as Ratchet plops the lid back onto the pan in defeat, giving another large sigh while hanging his head. "So… sorry, dad. Sorry I made your first ever Father's Day with me suck." He says sadly, prompting Clank from beside him to give a sympathetic look while placing a comforting hand on his leg.
"What are you talking about?" Kaden asks gently.
"Huh?" Ratchet asks, picking his gaze up from off the ground to instead look up to Kaden's smiling face, wearing a huge grin. "I… messed up everything, and I don't have any kind of gift to give you." He dumbly replies.
"That's not true at all, Ratchet. You've already given me the best gift you possibly could." He says warmly.
"Erm… what's that?"
Kaden simply grins even wider as he places his hand on his shoulder, squeezing it with a comforting grip, still looking into his eyes.
"You." He states fondly. "You're already the only thing I could ever want."
Ratchet simply remains frozen with surprise while Clank silently takes a step back, smiling with a mixture of happiness and slight vindication while Kaden continues speaking.
"Do you know how many Father's Days I've had to go through, wishing for nothing more than to just hold you in my arms again? Watching all the other dads and their kids celebrating it without me? Because let me tell you, it was agonizing to me." He explains, still hanging on to his shoulder. "And I always hated today because I could never experience it like they could, and it always made me feel sad and terrible knowing that you very well might have been gone from my life forever."
He squeezes Ratchet's shoulder a bit more. "But then, the greatest thing to have ever happened to me happened; you came back, once again in my arms, and here to stay. Now, I could be a real father again, just like everybody else, and even more than that, I'm thankful to know that I have a son who loves me just as much as I love him, and is thankful for all the sacrifices I made so that he could live the happy and exciting life that I hoped he would."
He then steps closer to Ratchet, and removes his hand from his shoulder to instead take him into a tight hug. "And that's the greatest thing you could ever give me, Ratchet." He says blissfully. "I don't give a shit about a gun, or a ship, or a stupid steak. I only care about you, and the fact that I can actually hold you in my arms just like this, and being able to let go knowing that it won't ever be the last time I will."
"I… But… Aren't you still a little disappointed that I still botched everything, though?" Ratchet asks in the midst of his dumbstruck response to Kaden's unexpected reaction.
"No. If anything, I'm elated to see that you tried to go that far to make me happy today, Ratchet, and just knowing that you care enough about me to do that means more than enough to me." He says happily, squeezing him some more. "Thank you, Ratchet. This is the best Father's Day ever."
"I'm… glad to hear that, then." Ratchet says with relief, beginning to smile as well as he then wraps his own arms around his father in turn, returning the embrace warmly. "Happy Father's Day, dad. I love you." He says contentedly.
And as he says that, he feels Kaden's arms suddenly tighten around him even more, able to hear Kaden's breath hitch slightly.
"Yep." He says in a nearly choked breath. "Feels even better than I thought it would." He whispers.
"Erm… are you… are you crying right now?" Ratchet asks uncertainly, unable to look up at his face as he's too busy being smothered in his chest in his tight grip.
"Maybe." Kaden says with a small chuckle. "Why? You gonna judge me or something?"
"No!" Ratchet quickly assures him. "No, it's just… I didn't know that this was all you really needed, is all. Guess I really didn't have to stress about and run around all day giving you the perfect day, after all." He says with a blissful smile.
"See? I told you so." Clank chimes up smugly from beside them.
"Shut up, Clank."
Kaden chuckles once again as he closes his eyes, feeling a pair of warm tears fall down his cheeks as he relishes the feeling of having his son in his arms, replaying those words in his mind again and again, feeling like the luckiest father in the galaxy at being able to finally hear them after twenty long, agonizing years.
He continues to hold Ratchet in his grip for another good minute, Ratchet not attempting to let go, giving him as much time as he needs, until Kaden eventually breaks away with one last squeeze, and steps back while wiping his eyes.
"Man, I don't think I've ever cried as much in my life until you came back." He says with a small laugh, sniffling a bit.
"Well, if it's any consolation, I think the same goes for me." Ratchet says with a chuckle of his own and a shrug.
"It does make me feel a bit better knowing I'm not the only who's turned into a crybaby over these last few weeks, yeah." He says with a smile before turning and looking to the stove, observing the charred remnants of that steak before looking back over to Ratchet. "So… you at least got one more of those things, then? It looks like it was supposed to be good, at least."
"Oh, uh, yeah… two more actually." He says, chuckling nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "Clank said I should've gotten three in case I, well, messed it up."
"I am sure you are glad that is the case then, huh?" Clank adds on.
"Hush, you; stop rubbing it in my face." He says with a roll of his eyes as Clank chuckles, along with Kaden.
"Well, let's whip 'em out, then, and get dinner up and ready, I'm starving." He says as he moves to dispose of Ratchet's previous poor attempt at food. "And if we have enough time, we could take a look at Lyra and Julie's gun together, and get them both working while teaching you a thing or two about Lombax ships and Julie's language that I've had to learn over the years." He says amusedly. "It could be a great Father's Day activity for the both of us to do together, it'll be fun!" He states, turning his head over to Ratchet to flash a big smile.
Ratchet smiles as well, feeling excited as Clank walks over to the fridge, producing two more of the steaks as Kaden rinses the pan off and places it back on the burner.
"Except cooking dinner, that is; I'll do this solo. You can't cook for shit, and I totally want to try out one of these steaks without it getting ruined by you." Kaden responds amusedly, throwing one of the slabs of meat into the pan with a loud sizzle as he and Clank laugh, all the while Ratchet simply frowns in response to take a seat at the kitchen island, knowing that any argument he'd voice would be a losing battle against the experienced smartass that was his loving father.
Happy belated Father's Day, everyone!