NOTES:
If you want a better-formated version of this story,
some of the chapters of which will contain pictures and illustrations of certain scenes,
head over to Archive of Our Own!
[ /works/35908834/chapters/89535235]
Soothing Old Wounds
Chapter Summary
Rivet was injured during her mission on Kelith Minor And Ratchet and Clank have only just found out of her condition. The two heroes dash up to the infirmary to see her for themselves and to check if she will be all right.
Worse though than the injuries she suffered at the hand of Styggs however, are actually the wounds she's had for years, and they run deep.
Will Ratchet be able to help her look beyond her self-doubt and the negative feelings that stem from these old injuries?
*CRASH*
"What the-?!"
"'Scuse me, sorry! Comin' through!"
The Terachnoid and the Fongoid leapt aside as the door in front of them smashed open and a blur of orange fuzz went streaking past them at breakneck speed.
Ratchet had stayed with Talwyn just long enough to get the room Rivet had been taken to from her before tearing off in the direction of the Phoenix's infirmary, Clank at his back.
He raced through the hangar, ignoring the whispers and the poorly hidden gasps of shock from the surrounding rebels when they saw him with half his shirt torn off, bruises and cuts to his arms and face, and the blotches where his fur had been singed away. He flashed down the hall, flying through a door, and nearly knocking other rebels off their feet.
"The elevator is back there, Ratchet!" Clank said loudly, as the Lombax zoomed past the set of double doors.
Ratchet skidded to a halt, spun around, and doubled back the way he had come, slamming his palm to the up arrow on the panel beside the doors, which dinged, and slid open to admit him at once.
"Ratchet, wait!"
Talwyn was running up the hall toward him, her messy black hair flying behind herm her face full
of anxiety and worry.
"Ratch, don't go yet! I need to tell you-"
But the doors had closed, and with a slight jolt, Ratchet and Clank were being carried up to level four.
"Ratchet, should we not have waited to hear what Talwyn was trying to say?" Clank asked.
Ratchet shook his head wildly.
"No chance, pal! She woulda jus' slowed us down!"
Ratchet was wringing his hands, his eyes were wide, and his tail was curling and twitching behind him as he began to pace around in circles, his eyes flying up to the glass above that indicated what floor they were on.
"C'mon, c'mon!" Ratchet growled, "Can't this hunk of junk go any faster?!"
Clank, deciding it would be wise, leapt off from Ratchet's back, his metal feet tinking on the floor.
"Ratch, please control yourself! I know you are-"
"Not now¸ buddy!" Ratchet interrupted as the digit in the glass switched to a number three, "You heard Tal! Riv came back a bloody and broken mess and she passed out before she could tell her what happened! How the hell am I supposed to stay calm with THAT on my mind?!"
"But Ratchet-", Clank continued, noting the obviously increasing sense of panic in the male Lombax's eyes, but before he could say another word-
*Ding*
There was a sound of groaning metal and the straining of gears as Ratchet grabbed both doors and began forcing them apart, his teeth gritted and his face furious as he pushed with all his might, squeezing between the doors when they were around a quarter of the way open, growling and grunting in pain and effort as he forced himself through the narrow gap in his desperation to reach Rivet's side.
At last, Ratchet had forced his way through the narrow gap and broke back into a run, leaving Clank in the dust.
"…Yes, dismounting was a good idea…" Clank said exasperatedly, tearing off after his friend and glancing back at the elevator doors, the gears of which were whining as they closed back unevenly.
Down a long hallway, around a corner, leaping over a janitor pushing a cart of cleaning supplies between rooms, and leaping off a wall to bypass a group of slow-moving refugees.
Ratchet didn't slow down for anything, not even when he felt a painful stitch in his side that felt rather like someone had driven a knife between his ribs. She was hurt, and he had to see her for himself; NEEDED to see she was alive for before he would believe that everything was going to be all right.
To think of her, of his Rivet, broken and bleeding -
Ratchet sped up, running with renewed vigor, fighting against the terrible thoughts that were trying to intrude upon his mind.
At long last the infirmary doors came into sight.
They had only just begun opening of their own accord when Ratchet launched himself forward, jamming himself once again into the tiny space between two sliding doors, which jammed upon sensing a blockage, and he began attempting to force his way inside.
For a moment he struggled, drawing the attention of about half a dozen mingled refugees and Alliance members who were sitting in the reception area, but then the doors sprang open, and Ratchet stumbled forward from the momentum.
Ratchet staggered, overbalanced slightly, tripped over his feet, and crashed to the ground, upending a coffee table as he tried to break his fall, and sent a potted plant flying through the air.
The one-eyed receptionist nurse shrieked at the Lombax's sudden and very loud appearance, and the potted plant fell from the air as it spiraled in the direction of the entrance.
But before it could hit the ground and shatter, it was caught with a light *tink* in Clank's outstretched hands.
"Mister Ratchet!" the receptionist said, indignation and shock in her voice as she stood up from behind the desk and glowered down at the Lombax as he shook his head and pushed himself up onto all fours, "This is a hospital, not a circus! What do you mean by barging in here at this time of night and-"
"RIV!" Ratchet shouted, attempting to stand up, his feet sliding out from under him in his haste, and thudding to the ground again.
"I beg your pardon?" the receptionist asked, looking utterly bewildered.
"Rivet!" Ratchet shouted again, finally regaining his balance and pulling himself up rapidly on the receptionist's desk, making her gasp at his speed and registering his wounds for the first time.
"Ratchet!" she said, stunned, "Those injuries!"
"Forget 'em it's not me I'm worried about! Where's Riv? Is she all right?! What ROOM is she in?!" Ratchet demanded, leaning closer to the receptionist with every sentence, and making her take a startled step backward from him.
"Four-Sixteen!" she said, "But Ratchet, I don't think-"
But Ratchet was already dashing off again, crossing the length of the waiting area in about half a second, crashing through the doors on the opposite side of the room, and vanishing from view.
The room fell into a stunned silence, the refugees and the handful of rebels sitting around the room turning their eyes from the still-swinging doors through which Ratchet's tail had vanished onto the small, silver bot.
Clank stood back up, walked calmly over to another coffee table, and neatly placed the potted plant on its surface.
"…Do excuse me." He said, and without another word, Clank dashed through the doors, after the noise of what sounded like Ratchet crashing into a pile of crates somewhere in the distance.
Ratchet staggered back to his feet, uttering a hurried apology to the delivery man whom he had just crashed into, knocking a stack of crates off the hand truck he had been pushing to the ground, and
continued on his mission to reach Rivet's bedside.
Room number "416" came into view, and Ratchet burst inside, making the doctor and the nurse within let out cries of shock at the sudden loud and unannounced appearance of their visitor, and the nurse hastily drew the curtains around Rivet's bed.
"Ratchet!" the Aridian doctor gasped as he recognized the Lombax, "What manner of- …Good lord, lad! What happened to you?!"
"Doc!" Ratchet said, ignoring the stunned inquiry, "Is she all right? Is she hurt bad?"
But neither the doctor nor the nurse answered, and Ratchet's fear for Rivet's condition worsened as he registered the two exchanging the smallest of half-glances in each other's direction.
There was a ringing in Ratchet's ears, and his heart was pounding somewhere in the region of his adam's apple
"Doc -" Ratchet said, starting forward, his breathing becoming more labored, "Will she make it?!"
"Ratchet, please I must insist you come back later; Visitor hours are over and Rivet is in need of peace an-"
"Don't you DARE tell me what I can and can't do! She's my girlfriend!"
Ratchet tried to push past the doctor and the nurse, but the two held him back and wouldn't let him take another step.
"Ratchet! …Please…listen!" the nurse said, her voice strained with effort as the Lombax began trying to push the two of them apart so he could get to Rivet's side, "You… can't see her now! Just wait until tomorrow and-"
The door opened again, and in walked Clank.
He paused for a second, saw the Lombax wrestling with the two caregivers, and hurried forward.
"Ratchet, control yourself!" he said, hurrying forward and trying to separate the Lombax from the doctor and nurse, "Think! Rivet needs peace and quiet while she heals! You would not wish to disturb her, would you?"
"I… But… But Clank, I can't-!"
*Knock, knock*
"For heaven's sake!" The doctor grunted, still struggling to keep Ratchet from pushing through, "What is this, a hospital or a wrestling arena?!"
The door opened, and in walked Talwyn.
"C-captain Apogee!"
Ratchet spun around, and all four of them separated, though the two caregivers continued to block access to Rivet's bed.
Talwyn was breathing hard, her breasts rising and falling quickly as she huffed and gasped for air. Her normally pale face was flushed, and her usually sleek black hair was windswept. She had obviously run here.
For a while there was silence as they all watched the Markazian catching her breath, waiting for her to say why she had come.
When no such answer came, the Aridian caregiver spoke up. "Captain… If I may be so bold to ask a favor, might I ask for you to-" But Talwyn raised her hand and the doctor fell silent at once.
"I… know what you're gonna say." She said, still breathing rather hard, "…But I'm gonna… Have to refuse… Ratchet, you may stay."
Ratchet stared at her. Did she mean it?
"Wha?" the doctor gasped, surprised, "Are… Madam Apogee, are you sure about- … But Rivet needs-"
"Let him stay, doc-" She said, cutting smoothly across the Aridian's rambling, "He…"
Talwyn looked over at her ex boyfriend, and the dark blue pools and the bright green emeralds met.
For the briefest of moments, there was what appeared to be a sort of melancholic longing deep within those dark blue eyes; eyes that had once many years ago enthralled him.
But then she blinked and the look within her eyes had vanished. There was a determined, accepting look in them now, and as Ratchet stared back, he felt as though an invisible beam of understanding branched between them.
"Ratchet… will take care of her… She needs him." Talwyn said, calmly.
Though he no longer felt for her as he had done all those years ago when the sparkle of her eyes had captured him, Ratchet nevertheless felt respect and gratitude for her springing up in his chest.
"I… Well… Captain, are you absolutely sure about this? Rivet's not-"
"That's an order." Talwyn said, interrupting the doctor once more, "Everything will be fine, trust me."
The doctor hesitated for a moment longer, his eyes fixed anxiously on the male Lombax. But at last-
"…Very well… Just… Ratchet, do be warned she is a tad… scratched up…"
The doctor and the nurse passed by Ratchet toward the door, and he watched them as they left.
"We will be back momentarily. We must allow some time for the nanotech to finish closing the wound before we can do more."
And with that, the two of them left, leaving Ratchet, Clank, and Talwyn alone with Rivet.
Ratchet turned back around to face the curtains hiding his beloved Rivet from view.
'A tad scratched up'… What… did that mean…?
In stark contrast to how the male Lombax had practically raced up to the infirmary as though he
were still being chased by the monsters at the Neptune Bio-Weapons Facility, Ratchet now approached the bed where his soulmate lay with mounting trepidation.
The two caregivers had fought hard to keep him from seeing her. Was this because she merely needed rest as they said, or was it because of something else…?
Cautiously, Ratchet took hold of the curtains and slowly tugged them back, making the metal rings to which they hung clink softly together.
He gasped and his ears drooped as his eyes fell upon her – upon the woman he loved.
Rivet's face was burned, and the usually snow-white fur on her was bloody, bruised, and covered in wet, black soot. Her clothes were ripped, and in her side there were bandages covering what appeared to be a deep laceration where what looked like a three-pronged, razor sharp claw had slashed into her, and which was only half-healed.
It was only then Ratchet realized that, apart from her wounds covering her body, something was different about her.
Her metal arm lay on a nearby table, dented and twisted, and his stomach churned unpleasantly as his eyes fell on the stump of her right arm – the evidence of one of her earliest failures, and the constant reminder of the terrible life she lived under Emperor Nefarious.
An electronic device was embedded into the place where her bionic arm used to be, with mechanisms and exposed wires sticking out here and there from where the caregivers had obviously needed to remove her prosthetic by force after it was damaged by Styggs. But in the middle of this device to which the metal arm was mounted, was a rough, course surface almost completely devoid of fur, and riddled in scarred flesh – all that was left of what had once been a functioning, Lombax arm. It was only now Ratchet realized that he had never seen her without it before.
Ratchet's heart gave a terrible groan, and he felt the lump return to his throat as he looked upon his unconscious girlfriend.
"Rivet… Oh, Rivet…"
Gently brushing her messy and usually neat and well-kept tuft of headfur out of her face, Ratchet leaned down and pressed his lips to the worst-scratched part of her face he could find.
"She… She's incredible, isn't she?" Ratchet said, his voice soft and full of affection and admiration as a small, sad smile curled his lips.
Talwyn and Clank stared at the male Lombax as he sat down beside her, took a warm, damp cloth, and began cleaning the blood from her face the doctor and nurse had not yet gotten to.
What was Ratchet talking about? Rivet looked… there was no point sugarcoating it, BAD. She was covered in blood, there was that large, deep gash in her side, her face was bruised and scratched, and that wound where her arm had been ripped off was utterly abhorrent on the eyes. And yet the male Lombax sat there, caressing her face, his eyes, though slightly tearful, alight and blazing with adoration as though he were gazing upon the most beautiful creature in the universe… because to him, he was gazing upon the most beautiful creature in the universe.
It mattered not to Ratchet that Rivet's face was puffy and bruised in places, that her fur was singed all over, that she was covered in blood, nor that she was missing an entire arm and was left with nothing but discolored, scarred, course skin in its place. No, none of that mattered to him. No
ounce of blood, no degree of scarring, no level of burns, and no wound was too hideous to mask her utterly breathtaking beauty from his eyes or remove the magnificence of who she was from his mind.
Every single scratch, every burn, and every bruise only reinforced to him that his girlfriend was brave, selfless, strong, and committed to her missions, a woman who would never give up, even in the face of unsurpassable odds… And she was his, and his alone… Whatever had he done to be so blessed with such an amazing person in his life? How was it that he, some nobody off a no-name desert planet in the middle of nowhere, had ever been so lucky to be gifted with her, someone who was not only a hero, but loved him back just as much as he loved her?
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up into Talwyn's face.
The Markazian was looking down at him, her expression free of emotion, and for a while Ratchet felt a twinge of unease.
Yet almost as soon as this feeling set in, Talwyn smiled.
"She really is." She said, softly.
At that moment, all tension was gone.
Ratchet blinked, but after a confused couple of seconds, he smiled weakly and rather awkwardly into his ex-girlfriend's face. But she merely patted his shoulder in a reassuring way.
"It might take some time for me to fully adjust-", she said again, "-but you're right of course… Rivet is incredible… I just can't believe it took me so long to realize it."
Talwyn glanced down at Rivet, and there was softness in her eyes that Ratchet had never seen there before while in the female Lombax's presence. At that point, it was almost as though those few weeks of tension between the two girls had never happened.
"I know she'll treat you right, Ratch… Just as well I know you'll treat her."
Ratchet blushed slightly. He hadn't quite expected to hear this coming from her regarding his new girlfriend… But nevertheless, her words were encouraging, and he was grateful to her for them.
"…Thanks Tal…" Ratchet said quietly.
The Markazian nodded, her eyes sparkling as Ratchet hadn't seen them sparkle in years.
She took her hand off Ratchet's shoulder, turned around, and exited the room, closing the door softly behind her.
Ratchet turned his attention back to his girlfriend, listening to her slow, deep breathing, his eyes fixed adoringly on her face, and to which he was dabbing a dry cloth where he had been washing her.
Clank climbed up into a chair beside the bed and watched the male Lombax for a while in silence.
"…Do you suppose… Kit is well?" he asked, and Ratchet glanced up, slightly surprised at the tentative note in his best friend's voice.
"…I merely mean-" Clank amended, in response to Ratchet's raised eyebrow, "-with how… damaged Rivet is, should we perhaps suffer the thought of Kit's condition? She and Rivet have
been inseparable since the Cataclysm, and yet… she is not here. Do you think we should be concerned?"
Ratchet considered for a moment, glancing back at the snoozing female for a moment before returning his attention to Clank.
"…Don't worry buddy, Tal woulda told us if something'd happened to her."
Clank however still looked worried, his optics flickering subtly a time or two before returning to their usual brightness, and Ratchet searched around in the recesses of his memory to find something with which he could soothe his friend's anxiety.
"She's tough-", Ratchet said, remembering how the diminutive yellow bot had morphed into a hulking war machine and singlehandedly took out an entire fleet of imperial dropships on Savali, "-way tougher than she looks… If Rivet made it through, then Kit absolutely did."
Rivet grunted in her sleep and twitched, her head rolling onto the side of her pillow and facing in Ratchet's direction, and both Lombax and bot fell silent at once.
"Nhn, nonnne… Whurriss… "
Rivet was mumbling indistinguishable words in her sleep and her eyes were twitching. But after a few seconds during which Ratchet and Clank watched her anxiously, Rivet merely fell silent again.
*Tap tap tap*
Both Lombax and bot turned at the sudden, soft knocking of small fists on the door, but a second later before either could reply, the door swung open.
"Well speak of the devil…" Ratchet said, smiling.
Kit had just entered the room, a roll of bandaging and a canister of nanotech in her arms.
Unlike Rivet, the diminutive yellow bot was almost pristine, save for a small dent in her chassis.
"Kit!"
His optics spinning once, Clank leapt to the floor and hurried toward the former warbot.
"Ratchet? Clank!" Kit said, and she dashed forward to greet them, her fluorescent blue eyes glowing brightly at the sight of her two friends.
Clank halted before her and made the quickest and most subtle of bows of the head.
"I am most relieved to see you unhurt." Clank said.
Kit's optical shutters closed then opened.
"…As am I, to see you both." Kit replied, "…I suppose you and Ratchet believed me injured?" she asked, shrewdly, and Clank looked, if possible, rather sheepish for a moment.
Ratchet raised an eyebrow at him, but of course, Clank noticed nothing.
But Kit merely giggled.
"No need to feel guilty. It is only logical to assume as much after witnessing Rivet's present
condition… Has she woken, yet? The doctor requested I fetch more nanotech for the wound in her side."
"Ah… Well-" said Clank, sounding rather as though his train of thought had been interrupted, "Well, no… Rivet has been asleep since we arrived seven minutes and twenty-three seconds ago."
"Well, she's mumbled a bit…" added Ratchet turning his eyes back to Rivet, "But apart from that she's been out like a light…"
"Ah…" said Kit, looking slightly disappointed, "well, I suppose that is to be expected… I tried to get her to take care of those wounds sooner, but… you know Rivet."
"Yeah… I do…" Ratchet sighed, still gazing at Rivet's relaxed and slightly bruised face, though now it was much cleaner after Ratchet's care.
Clank watched his best friend for a while, watched his eyes as they rested on the female Lombax.
He knew Ratchet loved her; it was not exactly a secret as the two Lombaxes had at one point tried to make it, and he had seen Ratchet give every one of his previous girlfriends looks that, in all honesty, made the male Lombax appear rather goofy. Yet Clank's best friend had never gazed upon any of his prior love interests in quite a way as he was looking upon Rivet.
Ratchet's brilliantly green eyes were twinkling and alight with a blazing heat that had certainly not been there while resting on Talwyn...
Clank had perceived heat in Ratchet's eyes on numerous occasions – in his battle against Qwark after his betrayal, learning of Tachyon's role in destroying Ratchet's family, and once even directed at Clank himself during the time when Ratchet thought that Clank was lying to him about the Zoni and as he tried to convince the immature Lombax the Dimensionator needed to be destroyed.
But this time… the heat that filled Ratchet's eyes was not from the flames of anger, as Clank was so used to seeing whenever the male Lombax's eyes lit up; the fire within them now had the adverse effect of softening his gaze, and Clank could sense unquenchable, unyielding love and affection for the female Lombax that spread from his eyes and flooded every inch of the male Lombax's body, making that warmth and those powerful emotions he felt for Rivet radiate from his body like energy. Not once had Ratchet ever looked at Angela or Sasha like this. Not even Talwyn, with whom the Lombax had dated for six years.
Ratchet reached forward and gently placed a hand on top of Rivet's as her gloveless hand lay motionless on her stomach, and he smiled at her. Though she was hurt and asleep, it was obvious to Clank that just the fact that she was alive and would recover, and that he was here with her, was all the comfort and assurance Ratchet needed… Although…
"Kit, will you join me?"
Ratchet looked around, away from his snoozing soulmate and down at his best friend. It wasn't very much like Clank to ask anyone besides Ratchet himself for a private word…
"Pardon, Clank…?"
Kit, who had been watching Ratchet with mild interest, turned quickly to face the silver bot, her blue optics spinning once in surprise.
"Will you join me?" Clank repeated, holding out a hand, "Perhaps we should give these two… a little privacy. Just for a moment."
"Oh! Well, um…"
Kit suddenly looked rather flattered. She was looking from Clank, who was still holding out his hand in a polite, welcoming gesture, to the bed, where, though invisible to her from where she stood, Rivet lay resting. It was clear she really did want to join Clank, but she also seemed hesitant to leave Rivet's side.
"No worries Kit," Ratchet said, suddenly, "She's in good hands. Promise."
"I… Well…"
Kit looked up at Ratchet, then back at Clank, then at Ratchet once more, before –
"Well… Yes, you are right… Of course she is. Will you take these for me? The doctor will need them when he returns."
Kit walked up to the Lombax and held out the bandaging and the nanotech, and Ratchet took them.
"Okay Clank-" said Kit, hurrying back to the green-eyed, silver bot and taking his hand, "Let us be off! I am most eager to hear the details of your mission's undertaking!"
Ratchet smiled and watched as the two tiny bots dashed off, hand-in-hand, and vanished through the door, leaving the two Lombaxes alone.
"If only they could leave us alone like this when we aren't recovering from injuries, heh…" Ratchet said softly, chuckling a little.
Ratchet returned his attention to his snoozing girlfriend, his heart purring and his whole body flooding with warmth.
"Can't wait for you to wake up, Riv; I wanna hear everything about your mission on Kelith Minor… I just know you were incredible out there…"
"Urrinn… Rhmnh…"
Rivet mumbled something in her sleep again and she was shifting around slightly in place.
Ratchet watched her, half excited, half anxious, his tail flicking behind him.
"Unnh… Whrr… Wh- whuh…?"
Rivet's eylids opened, fluttering slightly in the bright light above her. When did she lay down? And how come the floor was so… soft…?
Rivet sat up, so fast that her head spun.
"Wh-where-?! Where am I…!?"
She had no memory of coming to this place… The last thing she could remember was disembarking the escape shuttle from Styggs' flagship and staggering toward Talwyn in the overcrowded hangar, an excruciating, burning pain developing in her right side above her hip. She remembered something urgent she needed to ask Talwyn, but…
She suddenly remembered.
What happened to Ratchet?
Panic flaring in her chest, Rivet kicked the blankets off her feet. Someone had removed her boots; She just needed to find them and-
"GAH, FUCK!"
Rivet had made to turn and swing her legs out of the right side of her bed as she normally did, but the instant she tried to twist her body, a terrible pain erupted in her right side which felt like someone had just stabbed her with a three-pronged, white-hot pick and she slumped down to her side, curling up on her side, her eyes pinched shut and her fangs bared in anguish. The pain was terrible, but she couldn't let it hold her back.
"R-Ratchet…! Nanotech… G-gotta find-!" she began, growling the words through her teeth, but before she could make another attempt at sitting up, a hand pressed carefully against her left arm, making her freeze where she lay.
"Why bother findin' some? I got it right here, Riv."
Her side still throbbing in pain, Rivet, turned gingerly on the mattress in the direction of the soft, deep voice.
And there he was.
Ratchet had seen better days; his fur was burned, he had scratches on his arms and cuts at his neck, and his shirt was ripped. Nevertheless, those bright green eyes burning with that familiar warmth and affection, and the widening, toothy smile she had grown so fond of were exactly as she remembered.
"Ratch…!" she gasped, and Ratchet's smile grew wider, Rivet's face reflected back at her in the male's sparkling, emerald eyes.
"Riv…!"
Rivet made to roll over and sit up, but suddenly as a lightbulb bursting, the glowing smile vanished from her face and was replaced by one of confusion as she appeared to try and move something, but nothing happened.
She pulled a strained expression, clearly trying again, and Ratchet felt his own smile sliding away.
"Riv? Riv, what's wrong?" he asked, leaning forward, the canister of nanotech still held in one of his hands. Rivet was obviously in pain, though at the moment it seemed like something different was bothering her.
But Rivet didn't answer.
Instead, her pupils dilated, her ears drooped, and she turned her head to look down at her bionic arm… or rather, where her bionic arm had been.
Her eyes fell on the stump at her shoulder with its exposed mechanical attachments that had been integrated into her skin and the terrible scarring beneath, all the breath in her lungs freezing over as if she had just been doused in ice-cold water.
Rivet gasped, looked into Ratchet's concerned and caring eyes, back at her arm, then with a grunt of pain, fell back onto the cushions and rolled to the side, hiding her wound from view.
"Riv, what-"
"Ratchet, no…!"
The male Lombax hastily drew back an extended and caring hand, gazing down at his girlfriend in shock.
Rivet was cringing away, her chest rising and falling rapidly as though she had been running miles, her left hand half hidden beneath her as it rested over her stump.
"Rivet, what's the matter?" Ratchet asked, his heart thumping rather hard. Rivet had never hidden anything from him before. What was wrong with her?
Rivet blinked rapidly, her eyes wide and darting wildly around the room as if looking for a hiding place.
"N-nothing! It's just… I-it hurts a bit is all!" she said, and she hitched up an unconvincing smile which, to Ratchet, looked more like a grimace.
"…W-what?" Rivet asked, still laying half on her side, still covering her stump, and still with that insane smile on her face, "I-I'm not hiding anything! It's normal to cover a place that's sore! You do that too, right?! It's not weird!"
"…Riv-" Ratchet began, flatly, sitting down on the side of Rivet's bed. Was he this bad at lying too? If so, then no wonder Clank could always tell…
"If your shoulder was hurt they'd have bandaged you up there and not in your side… I got nanotech here, C'mon, just lemme-"
"P-please don't!" yelped Rivet, as Ratchet reached forward again, "R-Ratchet, please… Please don't look, it's - … I-I'm hideous!"
Rivet shouted the last word so loudly that Ratchet winced.
Rivet rolled onto her back and turned her head to look at him.
"Hideous, Ratchet! You've never seen me without my arm and… and I never wanted you to! Everything underneath is… every time I see these scars, I'm just reminded how pathetic and ugly I am… But you… you're so… so b-beautiful and… and good-looking and-"
Ratchet's face burned as Rivet stammered into gibberish, the white fur in her own face starting to glow rather pink.
"…and… you're just… amazing, okay?!" Rivet shouted, her ears momentarily flaring before they flopped right back down again, "But then there's me, with my lifetime of failures, just one right after another… I couldn't beat Nefarious without help, I got caught and imprisoned twice, and I lost my arm… I'm covered in blood, my fur's a disaster, and the place where… it happened is… I'm a cripple and a wreck, Ratchet! Why would you ever wanna look at me again after seeing me like this?"
Rivet turned away again, gazing into the cushions of the bedside armchair which Clank had occupied earlier, and she fell silent.
Ratchet stood there, stunned and speechless. He had certainly never expected to hear anything quite like this from Rivet of all people… In fact, this barely sounded like Rivet at all; Ratchet was used to the headstrong, confident, and courageous Lombax who had saved not only the dimensions, but also saved the male Lombax from death in Zordoom Prison, and yet now a weakened,
vulnerable creature lay before him, reminded suddenly and irresistibly of her failures that the absence of her prosthetic had occasioned, and she was mortified to be in his, Ratchet's, presence while she was in such a state. She thought herself appalling; a thing unworthy of his affection, and an embarrassment to be seen with him, when she thought him so much better than herself…
…But how could she think that way…?
It wasn't so much Rivet's failures, no, the thought of her failing so much earlier in her life tugged at his heart strings quite as much as it did hers, but the way she always pressed on and never gave up, the way she continued to always give everything her absolute best, even in the face of impossible odds, and how she always, always went out of her way to help others, often times putting herself in harm's way… Those traits of the female Lombax were precisely what made her so irresistible to him…
And besides, how could Rivet think herself repulsive when compared to him?
He, Ratchet, had been out of action for three years, simply drifting through the clouds with Clank after they banished the Nethers, while she, Rivet, had been fighting a nonstop losing battle for sixteen years of her life, but in spite of it, she had never given up.
He had made a fool of himself, getting jumped and thwarted by Emperor Nefarious, and ruined Rivet's first ever victory when she defeated Doctor Nefarious in Zurkon Jr's battle arena. But worse even than this was when he had gotten himself captured and sentenced to public execution, and he had been powerless until Rivet had broken him free.
And how could she think him 'amazing' when he had stuttered and babbled his way through every conversation they had her prior to their relationship and yet without ever telling her how he felt, and especially after he suffered that terrible wound in his chest that had nearly taken his life and leaving her alone in the universe…? If anyone in the room was a failure or repulsive, it certainly was not the snow-white female Lombax lying curled up on the bed…
Ratchet sat down on the edge of the mattress, opposite the side Rivet was curled up on, and he noticed her tense up slightly.
"Riv…" Ratchet said quietly, "C'mon now, that's enough… You remember what I said to you, don't'cha? Months ago, at Nefarious Tower?"
Rivet didn't answer by word, but after a few seconds, she nodded, still facing away. "Wanna remind me what I told'ja?"
"…You said 'don't be ashamed'… And 'you didn't think any less of me, but that I'm the strongest and bravest person you met'."
"That's right… And then ya called me a 'dumbass' right after." Ratchet added, and he was pleased to see Rivet's drooped ears twitch subtly in amusement.
"But still-" Ratchet said, "You weren't the one who needed those words most, y'know…"
"Whuh-?" Rivet said, so surprised that she actually turned her head around to look at him.
Ratchet hesitated for a fraction of a second. The things that were on his mind right now, even with the knowledge that horrible creature was gone forever, were still difficult to dwell on. Yet he knew they were the right things that Rivet needed to hear.
"I needed to hear those words… from you." Ratchet said, and, feeling slightly sheepish, he tugged at the large tear in his shirt, pulling it back across his chest and revealing his large, star-shaped scar to her, and causing a few more threads to break.
Rivet stared at him for a moment, then blinked and gave a single, short jerk of the head and glanced away, her face slightly pink again.
"I was broken, Riv-" Ratchet continued, ignoring the heat in his face, "I'd never been beaten before… not like that at least… Every time I saw or even thought of the Harbinger, I was reminded of all my failures and how weak and useless I was… I was terrified; terrified of being faced with those memories and those thoughts and the possibility I'd never see you again... You think you're a mess? Just look at me… What chance would a weak, cowardly, wreck of a Lombax like this stand with a woman as amazing as you?"
Rivet turned again, a little more fully this time, and gazed into Ratchet's face. The look of fear in her eyes had gone at last, to be replaced by one of compassionate care.
"Ratchet…" she began, sounding as though she were about to tell him to 'shut up' over his self-deprecating words, but Ratchet merely shook his head and continued.
"But then Riv, you told me how much you loved me, and how every scar and every cut just reinforced to you that I was brave…"
A small, unrestrainable smile curled Ratchet's lips as he dwelt on the memory of Rivet kissing the scar in his chest, and he could tell, by the flush in her cheeks and the small, sheepish grin on her face she was thinking of it too.
"How could I feel disgusted of myself or my scar or my failures after hearing you say that? I wondered for a while, some nights after you had already fallen asleep, what I had done to deserve such an incredible, brave, strong, beautiful, and just straight up perfect girl in my life… But hearing everything you said just now, I think I finally understand…"
Ratchet leaned forward, and Rivet didn't turn away.
"Riv… It doesn't matter to me if you're scared or you're brave, weak or strong, crippled or whole…"
Ratchet gently placed his palm at Rivet's burning cheek, her bright blue sapphires sparkling and ablaze once more.
"You're perfect, just the way you are, and I love you. I always have, and I always will… And no matter what happens, you will always, always be the strongest, the bravest, and most beautiful person I've ever met in my life."
Rivet's face split into a wide, slightly embarrassed, but no less happy smile. "R-Ratch…" she whispered, and she made as though to sit up and meet him as he leaned closer. "HHRGKH…!"
Rivet gave a hastily stifled grunt, her expression of flustered pleasure replaced instantly with a look of intense pain as she tensed up again, her body shaking, and her left hand flying to the bloody bandages in her side once more.
"Whoah, easy, easy…!" Ratchet said, a little startled. He had almost forgotten she was still
wounded…
"Rrggh, s-sorry…" Rivet groaned, her teeth still gritted, but sounding slightly upset at the same time, "Just… killed the mood, didn't I…?"
"Of course not, Riv-" Ratchet said hastily, shaking his head, "You couldn't help that… But I think I can though, if… if you want me to."
Ratchet took the canister of nanotech in his hand once more and held it up.
"I think your last dose has done about all it can for now. Mind if I… help out, Riv?" he asked, tentatively.
Rivet glanced back at her stump, then down at the bandages, then finally back into her boyfriend's anxious, concerned, and compassion-filled eyes.
"…Y-yeah… J…Just please don't… think too badly of me, 'kay?" she said, shakily.
Ratchet's ears twitched, and he gave her a soft, reassuring smile, which after a moment, she returned, nervously.
Ratchet got up and crossed to the other side of the bed, pulling the soft armchair up closer so he could be on a more even level.
Rivet still had her body twisted somewhat, hiding the scarring from Ratchet's view; all he could see were the bits of machinery to which her robotic arm attached.
"Ready?" he asked.
Rivet would have to move so he could remove the bandaging; would have to show him the scarred and wasted remains of where had once been a functioning, Lombax arm.
"I… I think so…"
Rivet took a deep breath and closed her eyes, untwisting her body and elevating herself somewhat with her legs so Ratchet could unbind her wound.
And Ratchet's eyes fell upon the wasted, discolored flesh.
Rivet kept her eyes shut, apparently too scared to see Ratchet's reaction for herself.
His eyes rested on the place, where scorching hot lasers had torn through the fur, tissue, and muscle to render her arm useless, before the former, reformed warbot had heard the Lombax's scream of mingled fear and anguish, and ceased its attack. The sight was unpleasant, but more powerful than his initial shock at seeing the wound in full was a terrible, stabbing pain in his throat and a burning in his eyes.
The thought of her, his beloved Rivet, hurt and scared, running for her life, watching as her useless arm was removed from her body… It was almost unbearable.
Ratchet blinked furiously, and hastily wiped the tears from his eyes, as he began, wordlessly, to untie her bandages.
Rivet grunted and gasped in small instances of pain as the wound was disturbed by the shifting cloth, until she felt a cooling sensation at the place where the stinging was at its worst.
Within seconds, she felt the pain flying away, and skin growing back in the place where Styggs' clawed prosthetic had slashed her, with fur soon sprouting up in the newly formed flesh.
At last, the pain vanished, and Rivet gave a long, slow sigh of relief, though she kept her eyes closed.
"Th-thanks…" she said, quickly.
But Ratchet didn't say anything.
"R-Ratch…?" she asked, feeling a sudden drop of fear in her chest. Why wasn't he talking? Did he… Did he leave…? Was her wound so off-putting that the male Lombax had taken the first chance he had to escape from her presence?
But then, making her gasp, and making her eyes fly wide open, she felt something soft and warm press into the scarred and bristly skin.
Tears streamed down Rivet's cheeks, matting down her recently-cleaned fur, and she beamed at him, a gesture he returned.
Rivet turned and reached with her left arm grabbed Ratchet by the shoulder and tugged, pulling him in and hugging him tighter than she had in weeks.
She turned.
Ratchet had leaned forward the moment
her wound had closed, and pressed his
lips to the horrible marks where the
scarring was worst.
"Ratchet…! Y-You… B-but they're
so-"
"Beautiful…" Ratchet interrupted,
looking up into her tear-filled eyes,
"Rivet, honey… These scars are your
scars… and I love them, just as much as
I love you…"
He squeezed her back, his heart fluttering in his chest and his grin so wide he knew he looked stupid. But he didn't care; She was safe, she was healed, and she was hugging him, her grip tight with love and gratitude, her
ecstasy over his acceptance and unconditional love for her was infectious, making him feel shamelessly euphoric.
The door opened.
"Oh."
Both Ratchet and Rivet jumped and
released each other at once, Ratchet
flying back into the armchair so hard and
fast that it toppled over backward and fell
to the floor with a crash and making
Rivet yelp with shock.
"Well-" said the doctor, as Rivet hopped
out of bed and pulled Ratchet to his feet,
"…It seems Captain Apogee was right;
You did take care of her after all… Well
done, Ratchet!"
"Errr, right, thanks…" Ratchet said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, his face burning scarlet.
"So, how are you feeling Rivet? Does it hurt anywhere else? Any tingling?" the doctor asked, completely ignoring what he had just walked in on.
"W-well- ", Rivet replied, her face more flushed even than Ratchet's, "N-no, actually! I feel great, in fact! Yeah, Ratch's a… he's a pretty good medic, hehe…!" she finished, with a slightly embarrassed chuckle.
"Hmmm, yes-" replied the Aridian, "Well, very good then! Ratchet, I'll just give you this nanotech to take on your own time for those bruises and cuts. You two should go shower and head up to Command; Madam Apogee wishes for a debriefing, and she informed me she has news for you and your two bot friends, whom she's already taken upstairs."
Ratchet and Rivet looked at each other.
There was mingled curiosity and excitement in Rivet's eyes, and Ratchet couldn't pretend he too wasn't excited and curious.
"Right, thanks doc! And… Thanks for takin' care of Riv for me."
"Yeah, thanks." Rivet added, slightly awkwardly. It felt strange to thank someone she had just met…
"Not at all, not at all, my dear Lombax. Now run along! Oh! And don't forget your boots, Rivet!" "Oh, uh… Right!"
Ten minutes later, Ratchet and Rivet were standing side by side in the elevator, both cleaned and in fresh clothes, and Rivet with a new, spare arm she now had attached to her shoulder.
Ratchet noticed she kept flashing him sideways looks.
"What's up, Riv?" he asked, smiling slightly and a little flushed at her constant, silent attempts to get his attention.
Rivet giggled, and the sound made Ratchet's head spin in a rush of dopamine.
"Nothing, just… Well, I'll be honest, I didn't exactly tell the doctor the truth back there…"
"Wha-!?" Ratchet gasped, turning to look at his girlfriend in disbelief, "Riv, what're ya talkin' about? Hold on, I got more nanotech, jus-"
"Oh, not that, dummy!" Rivet said, laughing and giving the male Lombax a playful shove as he began feeling around his shirt and pockets for nanotech, "I was referring to the other thing the doctor asked~"
Ratchet raised an eyebrow at her. Rivet was smirking at him, but he had no idea what she was talking about.
"…'Other thing'?"
Rivet's smirk broadened, and she sidled right up to the male Lombax, making his heart thump excitedly.
"I think I do feel a bit of a… 'tingle', actually… a certain 'itch'~ After this meeting Ratchet… You. Me. My room~"
Ratchet's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, his ears flared, his face blazed red hot, and his tail sprang up, poker-stiff and sticking straight out behind him.
*Ding*
The elevator doors opened.
"Hope your story's a good one, hotshot; you'll be in for a hell of a reward if it is~" Rivet said, winking at him and brushing her tail up his chest and across his face as she stepped off the elevator.
Ratchet stood frozen for a moment, his eyes fixed on Rivet's hips, which she wasn't troubling to keep from swaying this time.
He shook his head and snapped out of his trance and grinned.
"Oh, do I have a story for you, Riv~"
And feeling warm, excited, and happier than he would have ever believed possible a few hours ago, Ratchet hurried up the stairs after his girlfriend, and toward the double doors leading to Command.