It was a quiet day in Veldin as Ratchet was working on ships for his adoptive dad Grim. It had been two years sense the Great Clock incident however Ratchet hadn't fully accepted that Alister was gone and had trouble accepting that he was now the only lombax in this particular dimension. That thought alone scared him and it definitely didn't sit right as he had this feeling that kept trying to pull him back to Torren IV everytime he would be in that sector.

Ratchet resisted that urge knowing the planet was home to the vullards who have been in a period of peace sense Vorsalon and Nefarious were no longer current threats though Ratchet knew that the stubborn and frankly obnoxious doctor would likely show himself again sooner then later. While Ratchet was working Clank had been busy jumping between the Clock and Veldin when requested to come as Sigmund was busy with containing the anomalies of the sectors though Alister's sacrifice had saved countless species and planets anomalies remained a issue. More often than not the duo were dealing with there own internal demons.

Ratchet's P.O.V

It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on the ships that have been coming into Grim's shop and I knew Grim has picked up on it. Seeing him head my way confirmed my suspensions. Trust Grim to relize something was off with his adoptive son that he has raised basically sense birth.

I found comfort in the big softy most of the time but, today felt different. A feeling of something big approaching was constant and was making me more nervous. This feeling had been bugging me for nearly a week and Clank's intuition was as tuned in as ever. He would have put his own hand on my back rubbing circles into my lower back as that's the furthest he could reach in a attempt to calm my frankly shot nerves when he was here but, was busy at the clock so it was just my thoughts and me.

*Ratchet's thoughts*

Almost every day except a few happier ones that miraculously got tossed in were horrifying nightmares that were getting more vivid and frankly more terrifying each time. The General was always In the center of the time lever or on the platform where I had hugged Clank in the clock standing there either in anger or in longing depending on the location.

For the lever area the bolt always hit and sent Alister who had a look of guilt and sadness to the ground hard and ended up either burned beyond recognition or blankly staring back.

For the platform area the roles were reversed and it was me going down either from falling over the edge or getting hit from behind falling forward with a hole in my chest by lightning.

Clank or Grim always had to snap me out of it by shaking my shoulders or running their fingers through my ear fur both of which were very effective as it helped ground me to my surroundings a lot faster then simply letting the after images play out as last time I had actually hurt grim by scratching his cheek with my claws. I had felt so bad about it that I had actually hid away from him for the day.

I hate that I can't get a full night's sleep and it's wearing me thin even with this supplement melatonin that Grim had managed to find in the one grocery store we had on veldin however it was only a last ditch thing as supply was very limited as we only got cargo every two weeks.

I just want to get some sleep without being scared awake is that so much to ask and who was the mysterious person in the good dreams? I just want to know who it is. I found comfort from their warmth despite knowing it wasn't a real person however the touch was so familiar that I couldn't help but, think it may be someone Ihad known in the past. who were they and why did my dreams keep me from seeing them? So many questions and not enough answers.