"We, uh… still need to fix that arm."
As Clank walked with Ratchet back to his garage his processors struggled to make sense of everything that had just happened. They had managed to defeat Drek, prevent the destruction of Ratchet's home planet, and destroy the planet he was building. They had completed their mission, that meant, or should mean that their partnership was over. So why was Ratchet bringing him back to his garage with him? Perhaps Ratchet was just fixing his arm as a way of repaying him for his help? That seemed like the most logical answer, which meant that after his arm was repaired Clank would find himself headed out on his own, to where he was not sure. He supposed he could go back to the factory where he was "born", though that did not feel like a proper home to him. If he was being completely honest with himself Clank wanted to stay with Ratchet. The two had been through more together in the last few days than most folks experience in their entire lives, and despite his rough, sometimes outright hostile exterior Clank found himself quite attached to Ratchet, and he had hoped that the feeling was mutual. That seemed unlikely however, if the past few days had been any indication, it seemed like Ratchet wanted nothing more than to get Clank out of his fur and return to his quiet, isolated life.
"Ah, it's good to be home." Ratchet's voice pulled Clank from his thoughts as they arrived back at the small garage, "Go ahead and hop on the workbench over there, I'll grab my tools and take a look at that arm."
Clank did as he was instructed and climbed up onto the workbench as Ratchet dug through his toolbox. From atop the workbench Clank took in his surroundings, this was the first time he had actually been inside the garage, and it was much messier than it looked from the outside. Boxes were hap-hazardously stacked in all corners of the room, and various bits and pieces of machinery lay scattered on the floor. Despite the clutter the inside of the garage was also surprisingly bare, with the only proper furnishings being a pair of reclining chairs sat in front of a TV in the corner of the room, and a small fridge next to that, along with the bench Clank was currently sitting on, as well as the toolbox Ratchet was digging through.
"All right," Ratchet spoke as he made his way back over to Clank, tools in hand, "Let's get that arm working again."
The next few hours were spent mostly in silence as Ratchet focused on repairing Clank's arm, with the only real talk being Ratchet asking Clank to reposition himself to allow him better access to his arm. By the time Ratchet finished the repairs the sun had long since set.
"Ok, give 'er a test movement." Ratchet requested, as he backed away from the workbench.
Clank moved his arm around, finding everything to be working perfectly fine.
"My arm appears to be fully working again, thank you Ratchet." Clank said as he jumped off the workbench. "Well, I suppose I should be leaving now." He finished, the sadness in his voice more noticeable than he intended as he walked towards the open garage door.
"Woah hang on a second, you can't leave!" Ratchet exclaimed, a bit louder than he meant, causing Clank to turn around. "I mean, uh, do you even have anywhere to go?"
"Well… no." Clank answered, unsure as to why Ratchet seemed to care, he thought he would be happy to see him leave.
"Well, unless you wanna get eaten by sand toads you should probably stay here for now. Besides, we might still be able to catch the rerun of 'The Galaxy's Funniest Superhero Bloopers'." Ratchet said as he grabbed a soda out of the fridge and sat down in his chair.
"Thank you for allowing me to stay here, Ratchet." Clank replied as he climbed on to the other chair.
"Don't worry about it, in fact it's… kinda nice having a friend to share this place with."
"'Friend'?" Clank may have been a robot, but hearing Ratchet call him his friend had an emotional impact on him that he could not quite describe.
"Well yeah, we are friends, aren't we? I mean, I know I acted like a jerk and all but I really didn't mean what I said, I was angry at Qwark and worried about my home, y'know? I'm not really good at this kinda stuff, but I hope you can forgive me."
"I forgive you Ratchet, and of course we are friends. In fact, I was worried you did not see me as a friend."
"Well don't you worry about that, heck I think we're even best friends now, and as my friend, my home is your home, and you're welcome to stay here as long as ya like. I mean, if you want to, that is."
Home. The word repeated through Clank's processor over and over. He looked around the garage at all the clutter, the dust, the cobwebs that hung from the ceiling. It was small, it was cramped, and it was dirty, but to Clank it was perfect.
"Ratchet, nothing would make me happier than to call this my home."
"Glad to hear it." Ratchet replied with a smile as he turned the TV on.
A few hours later the garage was dark and quiet, Ratchet had fallen asleep on his chair (Clank assumed this must be where he normally slept, given a lack of any proper bed), and Clank had turned the TV off for him, leaving him alone in the dark. As he began to power down for the night Clank glanced over at the snoring Lombax in the chair next to him and smiled. Not only had he found a home but had found a friend as well, and he could not wait to see what the future held for them.
Author's Note: Hi there, thanks for reading! I recently replayed the original R&C and I forgot just how much I love the story of that game, seeing how Ratchet and Clank became friends, and I especially love the ending, so I decided to write a short story about what might've happened after that ending. I'm still new to writing fanfics so any critiques are welcome, see ya next time!