Ratchet frowned, staring out at the stars in front of him. They twinkled brightly in the dark abyss of space, the Lombax blinked at them as they reflected onto his dulled out, emerald eyes. The stars were surely beautiful out here. But it was not enough to put him out of his disappointed state. Letting out a sigh, Ratchet hit the autopilot button as he crossed his arms and slid back onto his seat. Today had been a complete, utter failure. He let himself get distracted with a hover-board race that Clank had specifically told him not to get involved in, yet he had done it anyway, completely ignoring his friend's advice. And now, thanks to his stubborn, not-wanting-to-listen personality, Nefarious had escaped. Which meant that they were back to square one, with having absolutely no idea of where he could be. Ratchet face palmed himself, a cold feeling of regret rose in his chest.

"I'm such a-" He was about to scold himself, but quickly slapped a gloved hand over his mouth as he remembered his robot companion occupying the seat next to him. His ears lowered as he shut his eyes, cringing at the fact he was talking to himself, and Clank could hear. The Lombax slowly peaked out an eye in Clank's direction, but, much to his relief, the robot was fast asleep. He was covered in a small, comfy blanket, with a rather peaceful look on his face.

"Oh, phew…" The Lombax let out a relieved sigh as he gently leaned onto the steering wheel, smiling weekly at Clank. The robot looked extremely comfortable, all snug in his blanket and not cramped up at all, unlike Ratchet. The Lombax sighed, sometimes he wished he was Clank's size so that he could have enough space in his seat to lay down. His back hurt like heck, and this cramped spaceship seat wasn't helping with that.

Suddenly, Ratchet's eyelids began to feel very heavy, and he was having trouble keeping them up. He sighed, maybe it was time to get some shut-eye. He hadn't gotten a proper sleep in days, and he had the dark circles under his eyes to prove it. Ratchet finally gave in, letting his eyes shut as he began to drift away into sleep. His head rested on the steering wheel and his mouth was slightly open, letting a tiny bit of drool hang out.

"We have reached our destination!" Aphelion blurted. "Prepare for landing!"

"Gahhh!" Ratchet yelled, startled by Aphelion's loud voice as he fell back into his seat.

"What was that? Ratchet, are you alright?"

Ratchet turned his head around to see Clank, rubbing his optics. Aphelion had clearly woken him up as well, either that or it was Ratchet's over the top scream.

"Hm? Oh, yeah." Ratchet said, brushing off the question. He grabbed the steering wheel, tightening his grip. "Alright Clank, get ready. We're coming in for a landing."

"Hehehehe, you say that as if we do not do this every day."

"Well, it's fun to say." The Lombax shrugged, a tired smile on his face.

Soon the duo had landed Aphelion into the Starship Phoenix and Ratchet hopped out, letting out a big old stretch. It felt good to not be cramped up in the tiny ship anymore. Clank hopped out as well, then looked over at Ratchet. The robot suddenly had a concerned look on his face.

"Ratchet, you look very worn out. Perhaps you should get some sleep?" Clank suggested.

"Ah, right. Good idea, pal. Then we kick Nefarious' butt tomorrow!" Ratchet put a fist in the air, then his eyes slowly drifted off into Clank's direction, a look of guilt quickly made its way onto his face. "I-if we can find him…"

Clank rolled his eyes, but he was too tired to lecture Ratchet about his mistake during their mission. "I am going to head to bed." The robot started to walk off, his metal feet making soft clanking sounds against the floor. "I suggest you do the same, Ratchet." And with that, he was gone.

Ratchet watched as Clank left the room. Although he hesitated, Ratchet thought it was best that he followed him. He began to walk forward as his boots made somewhat loud banging noises against the Phoenix's floor. It was then that Ratchet began to realize how stiff his body had become. As he rubbed his shoulder, a bit of dirt fell off of it and onto the floor. "Whoops, better get some cleaning bots to take care of that." Ratchet said, looking around. But he soon waved the idea off, thinking someone else could clean it up. Ratchet looked back at his shoulder, realizing it was covered in dirt. It didn't take him long to see that the rest of his outfit was covered in it as well. The Lombax leaned his head down to take a whiff of his armor, then quickly drew it back as the foul stench hit him in the nose. "Aw, yuck!" He chocked. Ratchet couldn't wait to change out of this muddy old armor and slip on a pair of sweatpants to fall asleep in. Perhaps a shower would do as well…

"Ratchet?"

Ratchet snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to see Sasha, walking towards him. "I thought I heard something," the Cazar said as she stopped, putting a hand on her hip. "How'd the mission go?"

"The mission?" Ratchet asked, dumbfounded.

Sasha raised an eyebrow, although she was smiling at him.

"Oh! Right! The mission!" Ratchet recalled. He put a hand on the back of his neck, feeling stupid. "Aw yeah, that… went great!" He lied, plastering a fake smile onto his face. He hated to lie to Sasha, but there was no way he could tell her he had lost focus with a hover-board race and let Nefarious get away. She would be so disappointed, and possibly angry with him. Worse, she would never trust him with something so important ever again. Not to mention the universe was now in even worse danger thanks to what he had done. All exactly what he didn't need in order to impress her.

"Perfect!" The Cazar's eyes light up. "I'll get everyone ready for the attack on Nefarious's base tomorrow. Just send me the coordinates by then and we should be ready to go."

"R-right, coordinates," Ratchet repeated, shuffling his foot across the floor. Truth was, he wasn't even able to get the coordinations. Being in that race had caused the duo to completely lose track of Nefarious's whereabouts, and now he had most likely relocated.

He realized Sasha giving him a concerned look. "You don't look so well, Ratchet. Head to your quarters and get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow." She began to walk away, her tail slightly swishing back and forth on her way out as Ratchet watched her go.

…

"Sasha?" Ratchet asked, causing the Cazar to stop.

"Yes, Ratchet?" She replied, turning her head around to look at him.

"I- um… would you like to… uh…" The Lombax froze, there was no way he could ask her. He wasn't ready, not yet.

"Uh… nothing. Have a good night." He ended off with a small smile.

Sasha smiled back slightly. "You too."

He watched as she left the room, his smile slowly faded. He missed his chance again. He sighed under his breath "One day…"

Ratchet turned around and began walking to his quarters, where the large doors automatically opened in front of him. He walked inside to be greeted by the large couch in the middle of the room, with the VG-9000 game system sitting on the coffee table. Ratchet unbuckled his helmet and tossed it over onto the couch, letting dirt stains sink into the fabric. He took off his boots as well, leaving them in the middle of the room near the entrance. Ratchet looked to his right to see Clank, already powered down in his bunker. Deciding he should do the same, the Lombax went straight to the washroom so he could freshen up before getting some shut-eye. Ratchet closed the door behind him and turned on the lights. Then he froze when he saw his reflection in the mirror. Man, he really did look awful. His ears were down and he had dirt stains smeared onto his face, stuck in his fur. The dark circles under his eyes topped it all off.

After taking a shower and brushing his teeth, Ratchet changed into an old, washed-out pair of blue sweatpants before exiting the washroom. The Lombax lazily walked over to his bed, which he then realized was all the way up on the third row.

"Great." Ratchet sighed, then scrambled over to the dashboard to lower the bed. Once he found the correct button, the beds began to silently rearrange, as to not wake up whoever was in them. Ratchet's bed slowly stopped right in front of him and the Lombax scratched the back of his ear as he was ready to finally get some rest. Ratchet reached a hand under the bed as he tapped onto another button, causing the clear cover on top of the bed to vanish.

Ratchet stretched before hopping up onto his bed, letting himself get cozy under the covers. Today had been hectic, and there was no doubt tomorrow could be worse. Knowing that, it was best to get as much rest as he could right now.

Ratchet peaked out of the soft covers he was snuggling in, as his eyes drifting over to Clank. The robot was still fast asleep, though it seemed like he had repositioned himself under the covers. Ratchet began to think about how lucky he was to have such a great companion with him on his journeys. The two had gone through so much together, and Ratchet didn't know what he would do if he ever lost him. Clank was always there for him whenever he was feeling sad or needed help. Ratchet wished he could pay back the favor of Clank's generosity, but he kept letting his stubborn personality take over. If he had just listened to Clank today, then they would have the coordinates to Nefarious's base and no worry of not knowing where he could be.

Ratchet sighed, rolling over in his bed. No, he was going to make it up to Clank. Tomorrow he was going to listen to everything the robot told him, no stubbornness allowed.

The Lombax looked over at the sleeping Clank, a small smile formed on his face.

"I'll make it up to you, pal. Coordinates or not, we're stopping Nefarious tomorrow."

So, yeah! That was the story! :) I really hope you enjoyed reading that! I am considering writing a prequel that takes place during the mission that is mentioned few times in this story, since it's an important part. It would have much more dialogue and would be fun to read about the hover-board race.