Disclaimer: I don't own Ratchet and Clank, just my own characters.

Chapter 2: Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Finally, after a long walk, Ratchet and Clank arrived at their house. Ratchet didn't even bother to unlock the door; he just walked up to it and quickly kicked it open. His friend Clank looked at him confused,

"I'll fix it later." The Lombax responded, Clank nodded, and followed inside. Ratchet gently put the teenage Lombax onto the couch and watched him for a moment. The Lombax didn't move he just lay there in the same position that Ratchet left him in. After a few tense minutes Ratchet asked,

"Why won't he wake up?" Clank looked at his friend, Ratchet had a worried look on his face, add in the fact that they look so much alike, and Clank instantly pictured Ratchet as the older brother, worrying for his little brother. Clank just replied,

"Well you need to think about this Ratchet. He may be athletic, but that doesn't mean he's healthy. He was in pain from being raped, he was probably running for a long time, before we saw him, and he was running really quickly too. He was probably pumped full of adrenaline, then after it stopped…he basically just crashed."

Ratchet didn't take his eyes off the unconscious Lombax lying on his couch. He looked at the teenager's leg and noticed the blood and semen was starting to dry. Ratchet walked over and hoisted his look alike over his shoulder, then proceeded to walk into the bathroom. He laid him down gently and then turned the shower on. Clank just watched, growing puzzled. Ratchet turned around and looked at him, then he said,

"I'm going to clean him up. That'll help a little bit at least." Clank nodded, and then noted,

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're his big brother." Ratchet didn't laugh, he just said sadly,

"If I was this wouldn't have happened." That shut Clank up. Clank didn't know what to say, so he walked out, letting his friend be. Ratchet tested the water, after he got it to where he wanted he pulled the showerhead off the hook, luckily for him it was the kind attached to a hose. He pulled the dirty boxers off the unconscious Lombax and placed him inside the tub.

Ratchet then proceeded to spray down the Lombax, get the shampoo, wash him, and then rinse it down the drain. Any feeling of being uncomfortable was completely forgotten as Ratchet washed the teen, he didn't care about seeing him naked, or bathing him or anything. Ratchet just wanted to help. As the suds went down the drain a line of crimson went down along the white bubbles. Ratchet watched, and couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment, but he also wished that he could wash all the teenager's problems down the drain just as easily. After Ratchet made sure he rinsed all the soap out of the fur, he turned off the water, put the showerhead back on the hook, pulled the Lombax out of the tub, and dried him off.

When the unconscious Lombax was finally dried off enough he hoisted him over his shoulder again, and carried him into his room. Ratchet laid him on the bed, and then got out a pair of boxers and a pair of red pajama pants. After Ratchet had him dressed he put him under the sheets, made sure he was comfortable (or at least tried), and walked into the living room to meet up with Clank.

He sat down onto the couch with Clank and said,

"I decided to let him sleep in my room, it's a good thing we got the spare, but we don't have anything for him to sleep on yet." Clank nodded in agreement and said,

"I wonder what'll happen when he wakes up." Ratchet shrugged, but that was all he did, he couldn't talk all that much at the moment. He was as worried as a mother would be for her child. Clank realized he wasn't going to get any other response from his buddy so he just got up and went back to his "bedroom". It wasn't really a place he'd sleep, like the Lombax would do, but he went into "sleep mode" so it was close enough.

After Clank left, Ratchet grabbed a blanket from the closet and layback down on the couch, and started to think. It was true, he did want to meet another Lombax, but he did not want to meet them like this. This was like turning his dream into a complete and utter nightmare. Sure it was worse for the unknown Lombax sleeping in his room but it still wasn't great for Ratchet either, but he decided to think about in the morning. With a yawn he was out like a light.

The next morning, a certain teenage Lombax started to wake up. He was awake, but he didn't open his eyes, he was too scared that his escape would be a dream…or that he'd be dead. After he realized how cozy he actually was he couldn't help but muse, if I'm dead…this isn't so bad…then, very warily he opened his eyes…to find himself in an unknown bedroom.

After years of being raped, he learned that after he was raped, his dominator would let him have the "joy" of sleeping in the same bed as him, still naked though. But since he realized he was alone, and he was wearing a pair of pants, he realized he wasn't still in that hell, and he was finally free, and because of that, he had to fight the incredible urge to run around dancing, screaming, laughing and crying. Then another question popped into his head, this time he said it out loud.

"Where am I?" He looked around the room, posters of different weapons, and vehicles were randomly posted on the walls. There was a closet full of different shirts and pants, and a pile of dirty clothes lying in a corner, there was a window on the wall the bed was placed against. As he continued to look around he saw what he could only describe as a giant metal hat. He continued to look at it, then there was a flash and suddenly he saw an old man working on a hat that looked a lot like the one he was looking at now. The old man turned around and the Lombax saw that the old man was the same species as him, he was wearing a white lab coat, and glasses. His fur was the silver one would get of old age, the man opened his mouth to say something, and then he flashed back to the bedroom. He shook his head and said,

"What the hell?" then a voice answered,

"Well at least your awake." His head snapped up to see another creature that looked just like him, when the older creature smiled he started to grow tense, but when he realized the smile wasn't full of lust, he relaxed a bit. The teen slowly got out of the bed, he winced as he felt a stinging sensation in his spine, but he ignored it and walked up to the other Lombax. They about the same height, the younger being about an inch or two shorter, the older Lombax had bright green eyes, while the younger had a mix of crimson and gold. And the older Lombax's fur was a lighter shade of brown, while the younger one's was a shade or two darker. Then they heard another voice say,

"Well it's good to see your alive." They both looked down to see Clank looking up at the new Lombax. As soon as the teen saw Clank he instantly grew curious, he got down on his hands and knees and stared at the robot, then after a second he started to reach for him but Clank jumped back and stood behind Ratchet. Ratchet laughed and said,

"Kid's as curious as I am with machines. So what's your name?" the other Lombax looked up at Ratchet then turned away, looking sad and ashamed, he answered,

"I…I don't remember." Ratchet and Clank both stared at him confused, then Clank asked,

"What do you mean you don't remember?" the young Lombax turned to him and said,

"I don't remember…the only thing I remember is when I was six a man in a suit took me to his boss. Then after that they…" he looked away, refusing to meet their gaze. The other two just stared at him; they thought he was raped ONCE, not since he was SIX. After a few moments Ratchet said,

"Well, we'll get you something to eat…then we'll think of a name for ya. Okay?" the younger Lombax looked at him, and then gave a small smile, then before he could say anything he stomach gave a loud rumble. He scratched the back of his head embarrassed, while Ratchet laughed and Clank just sighed.

"Great, if you eat anything like Ratchet does we'll have to go to the store every day." Ratchet just huffed indignantly and walked into the kitchen with the other two. He couldn't help but feel kind of uneasy, what was that image he saw before? There's something not normal about that "hat" in Ratchet's room, but that wasn't the top of his priorities, he was just glad he was free.

Yeah kind of cheesy but this chapter was practically promised to be cheesy. It'll get better later on. By the way, I forgot to mention that this will NOT have a pairing between the two Lombaxes; it's all brotherly love.