Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note:

With a prompt like this, people usually write their favourite ship. I'm not too much of a shipper, so I've left it a bit more open-ended. This one has a lot of introspection in it. I like trying to get into characters' heads.

Once again, reviews are appreciated!

Chapter summary: Ratchet contemplates his past romantic relationships. Set sometime after A Crack in Time; may contain spoilers for it and all prior games.

2. Love

Ratchet had never had much luck with romance.

Despite all the travelling he did, he rarely encountered any potential partners. Most of the people he encountered were either trying to kill him or sell him something. Sometimes both. Saving the universe made it hard for him to settle down. He could blame the lifestyle.

During his childhood on Veldin, there hadn't been anybody worth a mention. He had dated a few girls, but never for very long, mostly because of 'interspecies issues'. The price of independence—setting up his own garage—had been leaving school, his one constant source of female interaction. The classes on Veldin hadn't been good for much else, though, and he had been running short on money anyway.

Then, Clank had come along, and he had been thrown headfirst into a series of adventures with ever-growing stakes. He had soon realized that saving the universe and finding romance didn't really mix. Ratchet could count the number of potential girlfriends that he had encountered since the start of their adventures on one hand.

Firstly, there had been Angela. She was also a Lombax. Despite this, nothing had really started between them. Angela was older than him, and had seen him as a bit of a kid. They had been friends, but then they had gone their separate ways. For a time, he had thought that she was dead. The people on the radio said that she was actually still alive. Maybe he could find her and join up with her later. Maybe she would help him find the Lombaxes. Still, he had a feeling that she wouldn't ever be interested in him in that way.

Then, there had been Sasha. Their relationship had been good, while it had lasted. She was pretty, funny, and smart, too. They got along well. Ratchet and Sasha had spent a lot of time playing vidgames and discussing weapons. Still, after they were forced to separate, they realized that a long-distance relationship wouldn't work. They were both too busy with their own, separate lives. The fact that Ratchet hated politics didn't help. Both of them were still friends. Still, Sasha had moved on and had started dating a guy who had a bit more time for her. More importantly, he wasn't 'Secret Agent Clank's chauffeur', which kept Sasha's father happy.

His one-off date with Aquagirl hadn't really gone anywhere. While Aquatos was a nice planet, he wasn't too happy about the fact that it was underwater. Especially not after he found out the hard way that seafood didn't agree with a desert-dwelling Lombax's stomach. The whole situation had ended up being really awkward. Aquagirl hadn't called him again, and he hadn't bothered trying to call her. 'Interspecies issues' were the problem once again.

Finally, there was Talwyn. At the beginning, he had flirted with her for a bit; mostly out of curiosity. During their search for Clank, though, he had come to accept that they worked better as friends. She wasn't really looking for a romantic relationship. Her search for her father took a higher priority. Ratchet respected that.

The Lombax sighed, staring out into the distance through Aphelion's cockpit. She was set on autopilot; the surrounding space was free of asteroids and planets.

Clank turned towards his friend.

"Ratchet, is everything all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine… aside from the fact that I'm pretty much doomed to being 'just friends' with all the girls in the Universe."

Clank hummed sympathetically. "I am sure that you will find a suitable partner someday."

Ratchet frowned. He switched Aphelion to manual control in order to deter further conversation on the matter. Clank hadn't given wasn't a very helpful answer, but Ratchet didn't really expect his friend to understand. They didn't usually talk about their issues with romance. Besides, Clank, being a holo-vid star, was a magnet for both robot and organic girls.

Then again, Clank had never ended up hanging on to any of his girlfriends for very long, either. The more he thought about it, the more Ratchet realized that maybe Clank had the same problem, too.

This, they could blame on the lifestyle. It was yet another reason to retire.