A/N: I'm glad the first chapter was to everyone's satisfaction. I try not to make to many author's note, but I wish to advise all new readers that I do in fact plan on making this multi-chapter story. How long it'll be depending on my level of motivation, but I'm hoping to reach the 15-chapter mark. So anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy chapter 2!

Chapter 2

The Beat of Her Hammer & Heart

Sparks flew from a mallet's metal surface clacking against a piece of metal propped up on a messy workbench. A yellow robotic right arm held down the piece of rusted gear as its organic neighboring arm rammed the tool down on it. Rivet stared at the piece intently, goggles firmly strapped over her eyes. The sparks were bright, hotter than usual. Steam fogged up her protective eye-where as the white lombax hm'd to herself. Taking a step back, she propped her thumb and pointer fingers together in a box shape, like how a director uses his hands to visually set up a scene. The hunk of metal she'd was beating mercilessly all morning still had no unwound its awful kink.

"Man!" she huffed and snatched the piece up, angrily staring death at it. "Been beating this stupid thing all morning and I still can't straighten that dent out!"

"Is everything okay Rivet?" Kit asked, the female rebel's little yellow bot poking her around the corner. Two cups held tightly in her hand, one consisting of oil for her, and the other a large mug of light liquor lemonade for her friend.

"Yea," Rivs sighed while tossing the piece back onto the bench. She couldn't contain the smile as her little friend brought her the silver mug. "Thanks, Kit, you're the best," she paused at the drink. "Though only one is my limit when I work with power tools."

Kit hopped up on the bench to be at her friend's eye level, sipping her oily beverage through a tin straw. "Yea, or else we'll have to get you a matching set," she motioned to her friend's robotic arm.

Rivet laughed, thankful that the awkwardness to their friendship had finally ended. Now being able to laugh their past off, Kit was turning out to be the best partner she ever had! Well, the white lombax paused, one of the best partners she ever had.

As Rivet sat next to Kit to join in the sharing of drinks, Kit couldn't help but spot the lombax's sudden sullen state. "Are you upset about something?"

"No, of course not!" She laughed and took a big swig of her drink.

Kit noticed her droopy ears and shook her head, not being one to pry. But she already had a guess on what it was about. Lately, the female lombax had been spending more time in her garage rather than outside. A habit Kit was trying to stop her from getting back into.

"Sorry Rivet, but I… think you're sad about something. Your ears are droopy."

Before Rivet could answer, a loud beeping noise irrupted from her com. link computer box. Eyes shooting open, she darted past Kit in a white blur, almost knocking the yellow warbot off her hinges. She snatched the metal box and yanked it open with much gusto, eyes darting all over the screen.

"Ratchet!?" She yelped, hoping it was a message from the male lombax.

"Nope, just me madame!" A skinny robot with a pray mantis look greeted her with a suave bow. "My my Cherie, you seem oh so happy to see me!"

Her excitement slowly faded upon her eyes sluggishly seeing the face that was not who she was hoping to see. Sighing in frustration, she propped both arms at the computer's base.

"What is it, Pierre? I'm a bit busy at the moment."

"Ah wee, but you've been busy for weeks my love!"

Rivet's look shifted to a more precise form of frustration, letting the bot know she was not messing around. Or in the mood to deal with his consistent advances. Though she was grateful he helped defeat Nefarious in the final battle, things quickly went back to normal afterward. Including Pierre's annoying flirtatious behavior.

"Okay, okay, I'll get right to the point." He dusted his metal frame off to present himself better. "You have been oh so tired Cherie, I see a look of loss in your eyes. Please, will you not allow me to bring a smile back to your lovely face?"

"No thanks, I have to go, please stop calling." She shut the computer monitor off before the goofy pirate could protest. Head pounding, she tried to rub her temples to soothe the ache away. Dang, she just couldn't catch a break as of late.

"Rivet, maybe we should go—" Kit tried to ask before Rivet cut her off.

"Have you talked to Clank lately?"

"Um," the former warbot paused. "Yes, a bit."

"So, if you're hearing from Clank, how come Ratchet hasn't messaged me back? I haven't heard from him in days!" She stomped back to her workbench, grabbing her hammer, and went back to hitting the metal. "I mean it's not like it takes much effort to respond to a simple hello!" She snapped at herself, completely forgetting Kit was there.

Kit sighed and grabbed Rivet's elbow, stopping her next swing midway, the hammer inches from the badly damaged metal.

"How about you finish your drink and we can go for a picnic? I found some fresh fish. I know you love that."

Rivet's eyes began to beam at the mention of a picnic, "Hey that actually sounds—" she paused when her eye saw a photo of her, Ratchet, Kit, and Clank having a picnic on Sargasso from five months back. Her excitement waned away as she brought her head down. "S—sounds fun, sure," she forced herself to smile, to hide the grief that plagued her. "Yea, let me grab a blanket and we can go!"

Kit watched the female lombax quickly leave the room in a flash. Her metal creaked together as she awkwardly rubbed her neck joint, unsure of how to process this. Rivet was more irritable lately, and she knew it had something to do with the absence of the male lombax.

Hopping down on the floor, Kit walked up to the computer Rivet recently slammed shut and opened the monitor. Once powered on, she quickly went to an online search engine and typed in 'Lombax Biography'. About to read the first article before her friend returned, Kit quickly exited it out before Rivet saw what she was doing.

A large speckled blue blanket in hand, Rivet motioned to the exit with her free robotic hand. "Shall we go while it's still cool out?"

"Sure, let me get the food first." Kit quickly rushed to the kitchen as Rivet went outside to wait. But the rush halted as her robotic mind went back to her memory banks. Searching back to her previous conversation history, she saw one with Clank. It was a private link, so neither lombaxes knew the little robot friends of their anonymous talks here.

Most of their conversation consisted of their standard 'hello' and 'how are you' with a follow-up conversation on what was going on in the other's life. Scrolling down a little further, she spotted a small sentence Clank had sent before they wished each other a goodnight and logged off.

'I'm glad you and Rivet are doing well, and continue to do so…'

Kit studied the sentence. Most individuals pay attention to tone when chatting with another. But she knew Clank was a very precise and careful bot. Everything he did typically had a pattern of some kind. A reason behind it. The way he added the three periods at the end, the low-key sullen vibes, something wasn't right. But like said before, Kit was not one to pry, she rather let someone open up at their own pace.

"Oh, how I hope everything is okay," she muttered to herself. Eventually finding the basket with their food and made her way to the exit.