(HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE! :D

This one of those couples that I've made some plans to write about, but I never had the time or energy to write it. And that's quite a shame if I do say so myself.

I decided to have this couple already married in this little oneshot since I want to showcase all different forms of love at different times. There're some couples getting together, there're some couples already dating, there're some couples that are engaged, and there're some couples that will be already married. This one was one I wanted to look at in the later parts of their relationship, partly because of the strong bond these two already have and partly because I just wanna write some husbands being loving husbands.

Le peeps that requested this couple:

Discord: Alex21346587 and KayxClankForever

Thank you to all those that asked for this, and I hope you enjoy the story! :D )

Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. *relieving sigh* *calm smile* Time to write some husband fluff.

To the Beat of My Heart

Clatchet (RatchetxClank)

His legs were a blur as he tore toward his home.

The sands of Veldin clung to his feet, and laughter echoed through his mind as the sands drew up his shoes. His hoverboots were swallowed whole as sand held him in place and pulled him to a stop.

He fell, his feet glued to the ground. Faces appeared in the sands, ones he couldn't properly recognize. Their mouths gaped open, and their cruel laughter grew louder in his ears.

With tears in his eyes, he looked up at his house.

Through the blur and haze of the land, he felt the heat of the explosion.

"NOOOOOOO!"

His hands clawed and tore at the ground, slashing the faces out of existence. He heaved his body forward, and his legs popped free. He bolted towards the burning house, gasping for air as he felt fear flood every cell in his body.

The sand still slowed him down, but it didn't hold him in place. The faces spread out around him as he ran. An ocean of cruel smiles encircled him as he screamed for his partner.

When he finally reached the door, he rammed his foot against it, and it crashed against other things inside the house.

Flames rushed up to meet him, their heat searing his fur. The faces from the sands drifted through the body of the fire into the smoke, and the Lombax hacked and coughed as he sucked in air-

"CLANK! CLANK, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

His wrench batted away the fire, and his world spun as he struggled to realign himself. Everything felt as though it would vanish in an instant, but it also felt so real it could kill him if he let it.

What-

Was-

Happeni-

"CLANK! PLEASE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He sprinted down the hall to their bedroom, and the hall grew longer as he ran. The light from the room grew faint as firelight grew around the corners of his vision.

It spun like a circle, closing him off from the path in front of him.

His body spiked in temperature, and he was sure that he was covered in sweat but he thought the fire would have evaporated it-

His hand hit the doorknob as his body crashed into the door.

Smoke filled his lungs as he wrenched the door open-

"CLANK!" Tears rolled down his cheeks as the fire swept into the bedroom.

He tore towards the closet.

Something pushed him to it-

He opened the-

"CLAAANNNK!"

Ratchet jackknifed up from his horizontal position so fast he almost did a flip.

Dry heaves and coughs wracked his body as he shook. His arms wrapped around him, and his fur was soaking wet to his touch.

"Ratchet! Are you alright?!"

It took a moment before Ratchet could move, and the only reason he did was because of the gentle metal hand resting on his arm.

Clank raised his other hand and delicately laid Ratchet back down. The little robot was careful to not agitate the shaking Lombax, careful to-

"Clank, I-I-I really need the blankets off me. Right now please-"

The robot was up in an instant, grabbing the covers from Ratchet's side of the bed and pulling them to his own. Ratchet's legs became exposed to the night air, and as the Lombax shuffled up a little, his breathing began to slow down.

When Clank finished folding the blankets over, he immediately slipped back under the covers on his side of the bed and wrapped his fingers around Ratchet's arm. His hand slowly moved up and down, gently petting the Lombax as Ratchet squeezed his eyes shut and focused on slowing down his breathing.

It took a while before Ratchet finally got his breathing under control.

Clank never stopped moving his hand, though it did move from Ratchet's arm. When Ratchet's breathing had started to pick up, the little warbot had scooped up Ratchet's left hand into his, and had started massaging the back of his partner's hand, careful to not scratch the silver band wrapped around the Lombax's ring finger.

"Ratchet," Clank finally said. His optics peered up at the Lombax. "What happened?"

Ratchet swallowed, his other hand covering one of his eyes as he used it to cradle his head. "Nightmare… a really bad one. One that felt… real."

Clank noticed the state of Ratchet's tail, and the robot slipped out from under the blankets again to draw the covers back over his partner.

He tucked the top of the blanket over Ratchet's waist, and felt the Lombax shift as his tail disappeared back under the warm blanket. As he fussed with the crinkles in the cloth, the little robot looked back up at his partner.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Ratchet almost said no, but he knew that talking it out would be the most logical way to combat the problem. He didn't know how to explain it to Clank, but…

He swallowed as Clank sat bowl-legged on the Lombax's lap. "I was running…"

Ratchet felt himself start to shake again, but the little metal hand that had held his before rushed back. His fingers felt the little gold band around Clank's pinky finger, and a deep, calming breath filled his lungs.

"Go ahead Ratchet." Clank grabbed his other hand, and their fingers interlocked as the Lombax settled down. "It is okay to let it out. I am right here, so there is nothing to fear."

His fingers moved the small metal hands close to his face, and his lips kissed the backs of Clank's hands as Ratchet pressed them close to his cheeks. "Th-the house… The house caught fire."

Before Clank could say anything, it came spilling out.

"There was stuff in the sand. It stopped me from getting to the house. And I knew you were in there and you were so far away and I-"

Clank squeezed his digits, gently nudging the Lombax back to reality. "Ratchet… take a moment to breathe…"

Tears were very close to forming again. The Lombax took another deep breath, slowly getting used to the repetitive action.

Once he felt somewhat stable again, he continued.

"I ran inside the house. There was a lot of fire… and the heat… i-it felt so real. So real it made me think you had…"

Clank squeezed, and Ratchet let out the air he had been holding.

"I… I thought you were in our bedroom. So I went there." His grip on Clank's fingers tightened, and his heartbeat echoed in his ears. "I opened the door, screaming your name an-an-and… you weren't there."

Ratchet pulled another breath of air through his nose, and slowly blew it out through his lips. His eyes fell shut as his memory filled in the rest of the dream.

"Something made me think you were in the closet. Instinct maybe…" Another breath of air. "I opened the door…"

His lips tried to form the next sentence, but he couldn't make a sound.

Ratchet opened his eyes to see Clank's comforting smile. The little robot's thumbs rubbed the backs of Ratchet's hands, and Clank blinked as he tilted his head.

"Shall we unpack this together Ratchet?"

Ratchet nodded mutely.

Clank's smile deepened. "Let's start with the fire. It is possible that our house could catch on fire."

Panic painted Ratchet's face, but Clank held up their interlocked hands. "However," he countered, "I routinely make nightly checks to make sure all of our cooking appliances are shut off, the doors are all locked, and the lights are all off before I sleep with you." He giggled. "You know how strictly I follow my nightly routines."

Hearing Clank's laugh filled his chest with a different kind of warmth. A small smile of his own teased at the corners of Ratchet's mouth. "That's true…" he murmured.

The little robot leaned back against Ratchet's drawn-up legs. "Indeed. Now, let's disprove the next little bit."

"The sands and fire… yeah, I know. There's no such thing as 'sentient faces' in fire or sand." Even with his head against the headboard and a sheepish grin on his face, the thought of "faces in the fire and sand" thing was just… silly.

"'Sentient faces?'"

Ratchet looked back at Clank, the nervous grin still there. "Oh… I think I forgot to tell you that."

Clank waved one of their hands. "That is irrelevant, though I do believe the dream is starting to get less horrific due to your deciphering of the fear-inducing moments." He mimicked a calm sigh, the smile back. "Do you need to talk about the fire and sand more?"

"No."

"Then let us move on…"

Ratchet banged the back of his head against the headboard. "Oh… yeah, you definitely wouldn't stay in a house that was on fire. You'd hop out through a window, or rush to one of the exits you planned out in case of emergencies."

Clank pressed his mouth to Ratchet's hand. A little kiss tickled the back of Ratchet's hand. "That is it! The nightmare was nothing more than illogical fears from your subconscious. There is nothing to truly fear, my love."

Ratchet's smile froze, then melted away. He fell silent.

Clank's concern from earlier rushed back. "Ratchet… is there something you are not telling me?"

Silence flooded their bedroom, and not even the normal sounds of Veldin were heard. The Lombax's eyes looked everywhere but the robot's optics.

"Clank… are you… unhappy with being married to me?"

He felt another squeeze against his fingers. "Ratchet," Clank exclaimed, "I very much enjoy being married to you. You are the greatest friend and partner I could ever have. What makes you think that I would be upset or uncomfortable with being married to you?"

A pause.

"You were in the closet. You had… You were… There was a belt."

The fear and anxiety from earlier hit him full force. "Your optics were black."

It only took an instant for Clank to connect the dots.

The little robot yanked his fingers out of Ratchet's and immediately cradled the Lombax's cheeks. His mouth pressed against Ratchet's lips, and tears fell down Ratchet's cheeks as he tightly hugged the person he loved the most.

They stayed that way for a minute, one supporting the other as the other tried not to fall apart.

When Clank pulled back, his hands slipped back to Ratchet's. The little robot squeezed the Lombax's hands until they hurt, but Ratchet couldn't bring himself to care.

"Ratchet, I would never do that to you."

The Lombax's head bumped against Clank's forehead. His breath fogged up Clank's mouthpiece. "Clank…"

"I love you so much Ratchet." Clank moved up their hands as Ratchet leaned back. The silver and gold bands reflected the early morning moonlight. "Do you remember when we said our vows? That I would stay honest and loyal to you through the darkest times, and you the same? I meant that, and I would never do such a thing if I was ever unhappy with the way our marriage was going."

"I'm just… surprised," Ratchet said. "You could be with anyone in the universe, someone that's just as intelligent as you are, or someone that isn't as reckless… but you chose me."

Clank's expression softened. "I love you Ratchet. I could tell you all the reasons why, but the largest reason is not one with a logical explanation. I love you so much, and it was one of the greatest moments of my life when we said our vows."

Ratchet's heart pounded in his chest, and a smile graced his face. "I love you so much Clank. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And nothing will. At least, unless they wanted a fight."

Their mouths pressed together again, and the two of them sat in silence, bathing in the reassurance that the other was there with them.

A little laugh pulled itself from Ratchet's mouth as he broke his kiss with Clank. The robot looked at him, confused, until Ratchet spoke up again.

"I guess it'd be a little hard for you to use a belt… you don't really breathe…" he said as his hand delicately rubbed at the base of his neck.

Clank smiled as their hands broke apart, and Ratchet felt the rest of his worries melt away. "Indeed my love. It would be a little hard for me to try and do that if I could not breathe oxygen."

With that, Ratchet settled back down. His legs drifted back to the bed, and he moved himself down as he laid back in his horizontal sleeping position.

Clank stayed on Ratchet. "Are you ready to go back to bed?" he asked.

Ratchet wanted to close his eyes that moment, to have Clank's smile be the last thing he saw for the night, but he kept his eyes open. "Yeah pal, I think I'm good. I feel better, and I can't thank you enough for helping me with my nightmare."

Clank unhooked his leg from around Ratchet's waist, and slipped back under the blankets on his side of their bed. His face gazed back at Ratchet's. "It was no problem of mine Ratchet. If you have any more nightmares, then I hope you wake me so we can go through it together. Now, let us get some sleep. I wish you pleasant dreams and a good night."

Before Clank could turn over, Ratchet turned and wrapped a hand around Clank's. The little robot looked at him.

"Clank, could we spoon for a little bit? I really want to hold you, just for a little while."

Clank smiled, and the blankets shifted as he turned over and pushed his back to Ratchet's stomach. "Of course my love."

As Ratchet wrapped his arms around Clank, he felt safe. His lips pressed against the back of his partner's head, and as the two of them drifted back to sleep, a smile painted his face.

Clank's wishes did indeed come true. He had one of the best nights of sleep he had ever had in his life.

Song Inspos: "Talking Body" and "Habits" by Tove Lo (both remixes)

Whoa… fun fact, I'm writing the ending author's notes as I go (to make things a lot easier for me during the publishing period and to give you guys a little insight on the behind the scenes) and this was the first story I fully finished. This turned out a lot longer than I expected, but I really like how it turned out!

I hope you fans of Clatchet enjoyed the story! :D This was planned to take a different direction halfway through, head in a happier direction, but apparently I went down the Angst path and now we have Clank comforting Ratchet from the darker parts of his nightmare.

I really like this couple, and I'm so glad I finally have something written about them. After a couple years of trying to find the best way to write about them… I found a way that I was comfortable with. :)

That's it for this day! Thank you all so much for reading and supporting me, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

XD