Ratchet sighs in boredom as he sits in a drab, empty room by himself.
Well, actually, it wasn't completely empty, as there was a giant inactive terminal on the wall next to him that had a screen and keyboard, along with a small compartment next to it. He spent the first few minutes in here just gazing at it, trying to figure out what it did, but he came up empty except for being a really fancy vending machine of some kind. So instead, he just rested his head on a hand propped onto the table he was cuffed to, idly playing with the chain that constrained him to it.
He looks back at his reflection in the one-way mirror that stood across from him, seeing the boredom plastered onto his face for himself. He takes a moment to turn his head up, down, and left to right to inspect himself and brush down any stray fur with his free hand in an effort to entertain himself slightly, even baring his teeth to check them to see if he had anything stuck in them from breakfast.
But then, he hangs his head with a loud groan.
"Is someone going to come in here and talk to me, or what?" He asks the mirror irritably, betting there was someone behind it watching him. "I've been sitting here for, like, a half hour now! Isn't questioning supposed to have someone here to ask questions?!"
But just as he finishes his indignant protest, the door to the room suddenly slides open, and a slightly older female Lombax with brown fur and black stripes walks in with a clipboard in hand, wearing a distinguished uniform along with a serious and visibly irritated expression through similarly brown eyes that were staring right at him.
"Just twenty minutes, actually. Calm down." She says coldly through a frown as she walks across the room and over to the terminal on the wall, dropping the clipboard on the table as she passes by it. "And you'll have to wait for another minute while I calibrate the MemoReader, and you better not mouth off about it." She says as she starts typing onto the keyboard, prompting the screen to turn on and display what might as well be gibberish to him.
"'MemoReader'?" Ratchet asks, raising an eyebrow. "Erm… What does it do?" He asks, trying to mask the unease in his voice.
She pauses for a moment, glancing at him from the terminal with a confused look, switching her gaze back and forth.
"A MemoReader?" She questions.
"That's… Not some kind of torture device or anything, is it?" He asks seriously.
"What? No!" She exclaims with shocked confusion. "What are we, Cragmites? It just records your memories so we can see if you're lying or not!"
"Wait, you can record memories?" He asks with awe. "You can do that?"
She stares at him for a moment, mouth slightly agape in stupefaction, but then just shakes her head with a huff and returns to typing away.
Although it was very unlikely this little punk never heard of MemoReaders before, she had to remind herself that they are still on the newer side of tech. In fact, only the City Guard and the Council had access to them, which everyone knew, but she supposed it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility for someone living under a rock to not know about them. And living under a rock this kid has, if no one's been able to identify him yet, which was just one of the many, many reasons he was the biggest pain in her ass right now.
To think that he came out of nowhere, humiliated her guards on live holovision, and turned up carrying a goddamn Dimensionator of all things along with enough weapons to annihilate a small army made her furious.
The City Guard already had a less-than-stellar reputation with how inept and inexperienced its soldiers typically were, but this set a new low. And now, she was going to have to pick up the pieces and overhaul the entire department to make sure that no one will give them the runaround again after this disaster. And that was on top of all the PR she was going to have to do alongside all of that, too, and she hated talking with the press. They knew just how to push someone's buttons to make them lose it, and the last thing she needed was to lose her cool on holovision.
But before she could start thinking about all the work that she'd going to have to do to orchestrate that mess, she first had to deal with this little punk that was the cause of it all.
After a few more settings, the compartment next to the terminal slides open, and she removes a small headband-looking device from it before handing it to Ratchet.
"Put it on." She states.
Ratchet just stares at it with trepidation, not making any effort to oblige her, making her close her eyes to take a deep breath of composure before she opens them again.
"It won't hurt, if that's what you're scared of. Just a tingle." She says. "But it will hurt if you have to make me put it on for you." She follows up with a threatening look.
Ratchet shoots her a frown at that threat, again wondering if all Lombaxes were just cheery people like that gate guard from earlier, but he at least feels assured enough to reluctantly take the device from her hand, inspecting it in his own for a moment, noting how lightweight it was.
Not wanting to draw too much more ire from this woman, Ratchet bemusedly places it on his head, bracing for some kind of weird pain that memory-recording devices probably should have. But instead, just as she said, he feels a strange but not uncomfortable tingle near his temples for just a moment before it's simply gone. And furrowing his brows, he glances over to the terminal monitor, and sees the Lombax word 'RECORDING' plastered across it—making him grateful that Tal forced him to suffer through lessons of their language.
"And there we go." The woman says as she steps away from the terminal to sit down in the chair in front of Ratchet, picking up the clipboard as she clicks a pen produced from a pocket "Now, first things first. Name?"
"Erm, Ratchet." He says, returning his attention back to her from the terminal.
She raises an eyebrow, glancing up at him from the clipboard with an unamused expression.
"…Like the tool?" She asks incredulously.
"Yep." He nods. "Ever since I was a kid."
She stares at him for several seconds in silence, waiting for some kind of follow-up for him to give an actual name, but he just stares back at her like some kind of confused puppy, somehow convincing her that this was in fact this perp's name.
She closes her eyes, taking a very deep breath. She could already tell that this was going to be painful for her.
"Alright." She states firmly, opening them. "I am Chief Wells of the City Guard, and I'll be overseeing your interrogation today. And believe me, I've got a lot of questions for you, Ratchet." She says sourly as she glares at him.
"Yeah, so do I." Ratchet replies as he taps a finger on the table, looking right back at her. "Where's Clank? You guys said he'd be here with me, but I haven't seen him since you threw me into that transport ship! If you took him apart or did anything to him, you are going to regret—"
"Your robot is fine." She states curtly, scowling. "We are just downloading its memory to corroborate your story, whatever it is, and I highly suggest you shut your mouth and leave the questions to me, because your ass is in some hot water, punk." She says impatiently, leaning forward while continuing to glare at him.
But then, she pulls back, clearing her throat as she raises the clipboard once more, reading from it.
"Missing identification, intrusion into the city, property damage, failing to comply with a City Guard, assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful use of hoverboots, unlawful use of Grindboots, unregistered modifications, countless traffic violations, dozens of counts of trespassing, and that's just the first page." She says, rifling the paper on the clipboard quickly with her finger for emphasis.
"Wait, trespassing?" Ratchet asks, tilting his head at that last part, seemingly unfazed by the rest of the list.
She glances up at him from the clipboard with a frown.
"All those rooftops you ran across are private property, you know." She replies. "Same goes for the refinery pipelines, and you're lucky you didn't break them and cause an accident when you jumped onto them from that roof like a dumbass."
"Hey, if was prepared to do that, am I really a dumbass?" Ratchet counters.
"Yes, because only an idiot falls from a roof so many times that he has to prepare for it." Wells fires back at him. "And that was all before we apprehended you and found all the weapons in your Arsenal, which is very concerning in and of itself with how young you are, and also opening the question of possible intent for terrorism and I don't even want to think how much paperwork for every single illegal and/or unregistered weapon you have. But, not even all of that is half as serious as a particular device you were in possession of when we arrested you." She says in a deadly tone.
He rolls his eyes, knowing that this is all just going to blow over once he's able to tell his side of the story for who he really is. But at the moment, he just plays along to get to that point.
"Let me guess, the Dimensionator?" He asks tiredly.
"Oh, so, you are confirming that it was a Dimensionator, and that it was knowingly in your posession?" Wells clarifies carefully, flipping to a few pages and scribbling something down.
"Yes!" Ratchet exclaims, throwing his hands up—albeit with one awkwardly held back midway from the cuff restraining him to the table. "How many damn times am I supposed to tell you people?! I even showed it to that one guy at the gate, but he didn't believe me, no matter what I said!"
"I said stop—Wait… He saw that you had it?" Wells asks in disbelief. "And he just… Let you go?! Just like that?!"
"Yeah!" Ratchet states with a huff, crossing his arms once more. "He just said 'run off with your toys, kid, and learn what an actual Dimensionator looks like next time!'" He repeats in a mockingly gruff impression of the guard before turning his head. "Dick."
Wells groans loudly and starts to rub her eyes, somehow finding yet another thing to be pissed off about this morning.
She knew Pyle was an idiot, there was no question about it, and gate duty was supposed to be his last chance in the force with how hard it'd be to screw that up after everything. But lo and behold, here she was, getting firsthand testimony that he just let some kid walk away with one of—if not the most restricted and dangerous weapon in the galaxy! And he didn't even think to REPORT IT?
In that moment, she instantly decided that the second this interview was over, she was going to his desk, shoving everything into a box, and throwing it in his face with his notice of termination taped onto it. And he could say goodbye to that measly pension he was no doubt planning to coast on, too! He would have plenty of time to think about how much of a horrible officer he was when he has to flip burgers for a living.
"I'm guessing that guy was supposed to let me in when I showed him the Dimensionator?" Ratchet asks, leaning back casually in his chair.
Wells snaps her hand from her eyes to throw it up while angrily glaring at him.
"NO! He should've locked you up like the little bastard you are!" She yells at him.
Ratchet's eyes widen, and he sits up straight as plants his hands on the table in surprise.
"Wait, what? Over a Dimensionator?! Why?!"
"Because, you absolute dumbass, the Council deemed the possession of a Dimensionator a crime of the highest offense twenty years ago, coupled with a punishment of either life in prison, banishment, or… Execution." She says as she counts them on her fingers, making sure to finish that last one slowly, making Ratchet gulp.
"And my job here is to gather information so that they know which one they should sentence you in your trial. So, unless you have a damn good reason for everything you pulled today, I suggest you shut the fuck up and answer my questions. Got it?" She growls, leaning over the table.
Ratchet gulps, now suddenly feeling the intimidation from this Chief Wells as he learns that his little chase may have escalated into something that very well may jeopardize his life, thanks to him wanting to cause trouble for the fun of it while accidentally breaking what sounded like their biggest law.
However, he did have one good reason that may spare him from this.
"I, uh…" He quietly says, meekly raising a finger. "I think that this is all just one big misunderstanding." He offers with a nervous chuckle.
She raises an eyebrow as she slowly sits back down instead of leaning over the table, placing the clipboard down.
"Are you about to say that wasn't you causing chaos in the city while making a complete ass out of my forces? Because I swear to the stars that if you try to pull anything like that with all the footage we have of you, I might as well go ahead and sign your death warrant right now." She states coldly.
"Erm, no, that was me, and I really don't think it's my fault your guys can't shoot the broad side of… A..." He trails off as he sees the deadly glare Wells is giving him, somehow burning into the very depths of his soul with impatient rage.
He clears his throat, raising his finger.
"I mean, I promise I have the perfect, understandable, and reasonable explanation for all of this." He says pointedly.
Wells takes a moment to close her eyes, mentally bracing herself to listen to yet another inevitably ridiculous alibi that all arrested suspects gave in spite of being caught red-handed with so much evidence against them. And right now, she couldn't FATHOM what this kid was had to say that would explain why he'd have a goddamn Dimensionator, of all things.
With a sigh, she opens her eyes and looks back up to Ratchet, who sits patiently with his hands clasped in front of him on the table.
"Okay." She says calmly. "Let's hear it, then. What is it?"
"I'm not from this dimension."
Silence.
"…Excuse me?" She asks blankly, expressionless.
"I'm serious!" He cries out. "It's why I don't have an ID number or anything like that, and why I have the Dimensionator, too! It's because I found it in the last dimension, the one you guys ran from! I used it so that I could travel to this one and finally meet the rest of my species, since I'm the only one back there! In fact, you're only the, like, fourth Lombax I've sat down and talked with in my entire life! I think!" He explains. "So, I mean, at the very least, if I'm from another dimension, that means I get diplomatic immunity or something from this whole 'execution' thing, right? I dated a president's daughter, you know! I know that's a thing!" He argues, raising a finger.
Once again, silence.
Then more silence.
Then even more silence.
But then, a very, very deep and angered breath from Chief Wells as she uses a hand to rub her eyes for a few seconds before lowering them to stare daggers into Ratchet with a furious scowl.
"Start telling the truth, or things will end very badly for you." She says with a careful yet deadly tone.
Ratchet's face falls, jaw dropping before he throws a hand up.
"Why don't you believe me?!" He cries out. "I have a Dimensionator! Where else would I get one if they're banned here, apparently?!"
"Because why would I believe a bullshit story like THAT?!" Wells retorts while slamming her hands onto the table, starting to lose her cool. "Everybody knows the only Lombax left behind was that dirty goddamn traitor, and you sure as hell don't have white fur! So how could you have POSSIBLY come from there, you little shit?!"
"Check my memories, then?!" Ratchet retorts, pointing to the headband on his head. "That's what this thing is for, isn't it?!"
"It can't read and display memories at the same time, you idiot!" She corrects him. "I can only review them after we're done with this interrogation, but it's going to be useless if you only spit out stupid goddamn lies, so start telling the truth!" She demands.
Ratchet's mouth drops in disbelief, unable to believe what he's hearing. Didn't Tachyon say his father stayed behind to protect the Dimensionator? Wouldn't everyone know about that? Plus, there was Angela, too! Didn't she have family here?! Wouldn't they object to that statement?! Of course there were more Lombaxes than that 'traitor' that was left behind, he himself was an—
Suddenly, his eyes widen as an idea flashes through his mind, registering what she said, realizing who she meant by 'traitor'.
"Wait, did you mean Alister? Alister Azimuth?!" He asks hopefully.
"WHO THE HELL ELSE WOULD I BE TALKING ABOUT?!" She yells back impatiently. "YES, I'm talking about that son of a bitch!"
Ratchet tries to ignore her as he hurriedly digs into his pocket, grateful they didn't confiscate everything.
"Wait, I-I met him! Here, see?!" Ratchet says as he produces his pocket watch, opening it to reveal the photo of a younger Alister and Kaden inside, proudly posing beside one another. "This is his watch! This is a picture with him and my dad, see? This proves I'm from the last dimension if I met him, right?!" He says excitedly as he points to it.
"That could be anyone's watch!" She argues, barely taking a glance at it. "And it's not hard to find a picture of that bastard when he's in every goddamn history book made in the last two decades since the Exodus!"
Ratchet's face drops, as does his hand holding the watch as it thunks against the table in defeat. Why won't anyone believe him?!
"But I did meet him! He taught me nearly everything I know about the Lombaxes! He was practically an uncle to me!"
"How could you say that about him?!" Wells asks in a mixture of confusion and anger. "He's the reason we all had to leave our original home and why nearly every single goddamn Lombax lost someone they loved, and you're saying you look up to him? I, for one, hope that he ROTS in hell!"
Ratchet scowls at her and glances at the watch in his hand for a moment, his memories of Alister flooding back in as they usually did when he looked at it.
Honestly, on top of the small panic that this whole 'execution' thing might be happening, he was getting pissed.
Partly, because of how Wells was disrespecting Alister, even though rationally he knew it was warranted from her perspective, not seeing the lengths he went to correct his mistake.
But mostly, he was just pissed at how unreasonable this woman was. Why is it so hard to believe he's from the other dimension? How much proof doe she need?!
He snaps the watch closed as he puts it back into his pocket, and returns his attention back to her with a frown.
"I… Don't think I'll go so far as to say I completely look up to him, but I can say that I do respect him, despite everything." He states firmly. "He may have made a horrible mistake, but deep down, he was a good man that did all he could to serve his people. That much you can't blame him for."
"I can't believe you SYMPATHIZE with that bastard!" Wells fumes. "You wanna go ahead and compliment Tachyon's efficiency when it came to genociding our people while you're at it? Oh, wait! I guess you were in the same dimension with him, so I'm sure you told him yourself, huh?!" She says in a mocking tone, holding her hands up with a plastic smile.
"No, I didn't, actually. I killed him." Ratchet responds coolly, crossing his arms as he leans back in his chair, staring into her eyes. "Well, at least, I'm pretty sure he died. I don't know what else you'd call it after I gave him the beating of his life and watched him fall into a black void, screaming for his life."
Wells immediately freezes, a reaction that can't help but put a small smirk on Ratchet's face.
But then, she closes her eyes, her fists clenching on the table, and trying to convince herself in her mind that she couldn't reach over to strangle this little shit because she didn't want to have to explain that on top of the shit show that was literally everything else today.
So, instead, she grits her teeth as she keeps her eyes closed, not sure if she'd be able to keep what little semblance of composure she had if she had to look at his stupid, smug face.
"Is there anything else you want me to know?" She growls.
"Yeah, in case it wasn't obvious from all my guns, the moves I pulled in my chase, and the fact I beat Tachyon, I'm a famous intergalactic hero in the other dimension that saved three galaxies and time itself by the time I was nineteen. Or twenty, right around there." He responds nonchalantly, tilting a hand from side to side. "Oh! I did also star in a popular holovision series, too, but I can't say it was my cup of tea. Annoying to deal with fangirls and stuff, you know?"
She opens her eyes and glares into his soul, leaving him completely unfazed, however, as he rests his hand on his chin.
Wells finally opens her eyes as she silently glares at him with every iota of her rage, but Ratchet appears completely unfazed as he merely places a hand on his chin, squinting back.
"Mmm… Eh, I'd give that look a... Six out of ten." Ratchet says as he waves his hand from his chin with a shrug. "I've seen Thugs-4-Less goons give me dirtier glares for meddling in their contracts and ruining their paychecks. Also saved the galaxy from those guys once, by the way."
"I will fucking beat—"
Wells is interrupted by a ringing coming the communicator on her belt, and she growls in frustration before ripping it off and yelling into it in her hand.
"WHAT?!" She demands, managing to startle Ratchet from his aloof state.
"Uh… A… Councilman is here to see you, Chief." A slightly frightened voice responds to her.
She pinches her nose, grumbling inaudible swears. A Councilman coming to question her, just what she needed right now. All this high blood pressure she was feeling is just doing wonders for her health.
"For the love of—Now is not the time, Jacks! I'm too busy dealing with this stupid goddamn pain in the ass kid we brought in to talk to him right now, so tell him to piss off and come back later!"
Ratchet furrows his brow in irritation.
"Hey, I'm not—"
"Shut your mouth, I'm not talking to you." She interjects forcefully while pointing at him.
"Erm, that's the thing, though. He's actually here for the kid."
She turns her head away, staring at the communicator in dumbfounded confusion
"Wait, what? Why?!"
"He says that he knows who the kid is, and he wants to deal with him personally. He won't really say any more than that, though. 'Classified Council business', apparently. He's only asking for you so you can take him to the kid."
She glances over to Ratchet, who looks mildly confused as to their conversation, and wonders why in the hell a Councilmember wants to personally speak with this little bastard.
But as much as she wondered why, she was far, far too tired and done with everything right now to question it any further, as to be honest, she needed to get the hell away from this kid if she wanted to regain any of her sanity back.
So, rubbing her eyes again, she gives a deep sigh as she holds up the communicator.
"Fine. Have him meet me in front of room 313, here. I need to get out of here, anyway."
"Is he really that bad?"
"I am this close to committing a felony, Jacks." She says gravely.
She hears him chuckle lightly, making her almost want to yell back at him in anger.
"Alright, I'll send him your way, then, Chief. Over and out."
She lowers the communicator down to place it back onto her belt and looks back to Ratchet, who is staring at her expectantly with some confusion.
But then, she sucks in a breath, pushing back her chair as she stands up, and grabs her clipboard.
"It seems you have a special guest coming to see you." She says sourly, turning towards the door.
"Erm… Is that a good thing?" Ratchet asks with mild concern.
"You'd better hope so, kid." She replies coldly as the door slides open.
"Hey! I said I'm not—"
The door then slams shut as Wells leaves the room, leaving him alone once more.
"…A kid." He sighs. "Why do I even try?"
Outside, Wells leans against the wall next to the door and rubs her face, groaning. Not even halfway through her shift, and this day was already turning out to be an absolute shitshow.
First, a mystery kid humiliates her men, and by extension, herself.
Then, he spouts off nonsense that he's from the other dimension, was buddy-buddy with Azimuth, beat Tachyon, and whatever the hell else he could say just to piss her off.
And to top all that off, she was going to have to deal with a Councilman who somehow knows all about this petulant bastard and will also probably give her a reaming for her men's atrocious performance in the field today, being what had to be a historical low for the City Guard in its history.
As her mind swims with all the fires she was going to have to put out over the next few hours, days, and months to salvage all of this, she just drags her hands down her face as she continues leaning her back against the wall, staring off into nothingness with a scowl that may as well have been a permanent feature of her face.
She could've just coasted by as a mere captain and leave problems like this to someone else for them to fix, but no, she had to be an overachiever and accept a promotion to Chief of the City Guard six months ago. And what an honor it was, being the face of an administration that was to blame for all its successes and failures—and for the City Guard, very often was the latter. It was just great.
But as she starts rethinking her life choices that led to this career, she hears hurried footsteps coming from her right, along with some cries of 'Watch out!' and 'Sorry!', with several responding that he needs to watch where he's going.
She looks down the hall towards the commotion, swearing that if it was one of her men trying to start something, they were going to regret it with the mood she was in right now. But instead, she sees a Councilman was the source of it, screeching around the corner as he narrowly dodges a guard guiding a suspect to another room, damn near crashing them all to the ground. She stands in dazed confusion as she sees this distinguished, respected individual practically sprinting to see some punk kid.
And as he runs closer to her, that confusion only amplifies once she recognizes him as being not only a Councilmember, but the Keeper of the Dimensionator himself. Although, to be honest, it somewhat lessened her perplexation considering the nature of this kid, who has the damn Dimensionator, so of course the Keeper himself would have some skin in this game. But at the same time, was it really enough skin to warrant him running like an idiot for this punk?
Regardless of her many questions that seemed to only increase by the minute today, she gives him the standard salute as he reaches her screeching to a halt while doubling over, gasping for breath.
"Damn, I'm getting old." He pants. "Young me is rolling in his grave right now..."
"Chief Wells, at your service." She greets him professionally in a firm tone. "How may I help you, Councilman—"
"Just Kaden is fine." He cuts her off, waving a hand while standing up straight with a more regular breath, looking up at her. "I hate that title."
"Oh, erm… Alright, then." She replies bemusedly, lowering her hand with furrowed brows.
She seemed to recall that there was some talk that the Keeper wasn't actually so chummy with the rest of his Councilmembers, but Wells never really paid attention to the gossip. Partly because Council business was far above her paygrade, but mostly because she simply didn't give a single damn about them unless it involved her directly—most often being not-so-great experiences with certain demands they have of the City Guard.
"Is this where the suspect from today's chase is being held?" Kaden asks urgently, pointing to the door next to them with wide eyes, still recovering his breath. "The kid with yellow fur, green eyes, and a Dimensionator?"
Wells snaps out of her thoughts and gives a curt nod.
"Yes, sir. I was in the middle of interrogating the suspect for—"
"I NEED TO SEE HIM! IMMEDIATELY!" He interrupts with an intense look in his eyes, honestly startling her slightly with his fervor.
"Erm… Sir, with all due respect, it is inadvisable to have a member of the Council interact directly with a suspect who has not been properly cleared—"
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!" He yells at her, pointing at her in her face. "LET ME SEE HIM!"
Wells, however, loses her amicable, professional expression to a deep scowl, feeling her blood pressure start to rise once more.
"Sir, I insist as Chief of the City Guard to oblige my duty to protect any Councilmembers who may present under my watch as per protocol, and I cannot in good conscience let you see the suspect this early yet without clearing—"
"IF YOU DO NOT OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR RIGHT NOW, I WILL ENSURE THAT YOU ARE FIRED OVER TODAY'S EVENTS MY OWN DAMN SELF!" Kaden yells back at her, scowling right back at her with impatient anger now flooding his gaze. "NOW DO AS I TELL YOU, CHIEF!"
Wells just stares back at him with the same expression for a few intense seconds, but then merely closes her eyes with a deep breath before opening them again, throwing her hands up.
"You know what? Fine. Go ahead." Wells states with apathy as Kaden watches her coolly step over to the door. "I've got better shit to deal with right now than babysitting an arrogant Councilman. Have at it, and don't say I didn't warn your ass if he decides to punch you or something."
Kaden completely ignores her harsh and disrespectful attitude as he apprehensively watches her input the code to the door's keypad, while although quite speedy with her practiced ease, feels like an eternity to Kaden as he mentally braces himself for whatever he might find in that interrogation room, either walking out with crushed hopes and dreams, or with the singular thing that has defined his entire life for the last twenty years.
After five minutes (three seconds) of button pressing, the keypad gives an affirmative beep, allowing the metal door to slide open.
Wells steps inside first, with Kaden rushing in right behind her, immediately glancing around before he freezes stiff, breath catching in his throat, landing his gaze onto the Lombax sitting restrained to the table in the center of the room, idly playing with the MemoReader headband in his hand, inspecting it from different angles.
And as they walk into the room, the Lombax looks back up at him with green eyes that felt very, very familiar, sending flashbacks of a warm desert night through Kaden's mind as they stare at each other, slight confusion written across the Lombax's face.
He didn't want to get his hopes up when he rushed out of his office right after seeing the news, but… Was he… Was he really…?
Wells, however, slaps a hand onto her face before throwing it over to Ratchet.
"TAKING OFF THE HEADBAND BEFORE I END THE SESSION RESETS IT, YOU COMPLETE DUMBASS!" She yells at him, snapping him out of his inspection of Kaden. "NOW I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT YOUR MEMORIES WITHOUT STARTING OVER AGAIN!"
"Wha—How is that MY fault, you asshole?!" Ratchet yells back, pointing right back at her. "I literally JUST told you I've never even HEARD of MemoReaders before, and you just expect me to know that I'm NOT supposed to take this off when you leave me alone?! What is wrong with you?!"
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, YOU STUPID, ARROGANT, LYING, LITTLE PIECE OF—"
"I can take it from here, Chief Wells." Kaden calmly says, raising an arm to lower Wells' that was furiously pointing at Ratchet, who he was still staring at, almost as if he'd just disappear if he took his eyes off him. "You can leave now. This is Council business now."
Wells snaps her gaze from Ratchet and instead to Kaden in slight confusion, then back to Ratchet, then back to Kaden for a few cycles. But then, with a breath, just rolls her eyes as she turns around, waving a hand.
"Alright, whatever. If he acts up or tries to harm you, just let an officer know and I'll come down here to personally taze his ass." She bids farewell, walking out of the door—but not before shooting Ratchet another scowl with a dirty look before the door shuts closed behind her.
Ratchet, however, doesn't even notice, as he now has his full attention on the Lombax man in front of him, squinting at him as he inspects his body, slightly uncomfortable with the way that man had a piercing gaze on him with a weird look on his face, but… Very confused at this feeling of… Familiarity? Why was he feeling that towards a complete stranger?
"…Who are you?" Ratchet asks uncertainly, breaking the silence in the room. "This sounds weird, but… Do I know you? Have we met? You seem… Weirdly familiar…"
Kaden, stuck frozen in place, manages to rip himself from his thoughts with a quick shake of his head before he carefully and slowly grabs the chair opposite to Ratchet to sit down at the table with him.
"I… I hope so." He says quietly, not breaking eye contact once. "I'm… I'm just here to ask you a question. A very simple question."
Ratchet groans slightly, slumping in his seat as he crosses his arms as he looks away.
"Great, now for someone else to yell at me that I'm lying about my life when I'm not." He complains. "If I get a third person to do that today, do I get a free ice cream or what? Do I need a punch card?"
"No, no, nothing like that, please, don't worry." Kaden quickly assures him, holding up a hand. "Like I said, a very simple question is all I ask. Yes or no, then I'm gone, if you want. Okay?" He asks, still staring into those green eyes that were making his heart race and his mouth dry.
Ratchet stares at him oddly for a few seconds, seeming to contemplate his decision, honestly making Kaden start to grow nervous that he'll try to just kick him out before he even gets to ask.
But before he can assuage that fear by just blurting out the question like an idiot, he hears Ratchet sigh.
"Alright." He says tiredly with a nod, looking at him with an unimpressed look. "Shoot."
Kaden closes his eyes with an anxious swallow, feeling his heart in his throat as he exhales a shaky breath, keeping his fists closed on the table to keep his fingers from shaking in fear and anticipation.
This was it. Yes or no. The answer to his prayers, or yet another cruel trick from the universe that's not satisfied with the misery it's damned him with every since Tachyon attacked.
Please, please, please to all that was holy… Please don't let this be a trick.
With one more deep breath to steel his wracked nerves, Kaden opens his eyes, staring at the Lombax in front of him as he opens his mouth.
"Are you from the last dimension?" He asks as calmly as he could in his state. "The one where we fled from?"
"Yeah." Ratchet immediately answers in an almost bored tone, as if he was just asked if grass is green and the sky is blue.
Kaden's breath hitches as his heart soars, almost wanting to pinch himself right here and now, but he knew that he needed to know for certain that this Lombax was in fact his son before he could begin thinking of celebrating.
Ratchet, however, furrows his brows, half-expecting him to yell at him for being a liar like everyone else has immediately said to him, making him sit up slightly.
"Wait… Do you actually believe me?" He asks hopefully. "Not going to call me a stupid kid or a liar?"
Kaden shakes his head as he swallows once more, leaning forward slightly as his heart somehow races even faster, still staring into his eyes.
"And in the other dimension, you grew up on a desert planet called Veldin, in the Solana Galaxy, right?" He asks desperately, wanting to remove all doubt. "And when you were a child, you lived in a place called Ms. Perigee's Home for Lost Children, right? An orphanage on the Kyzil Plateau, in view of some big city? Where you were found on its doorstep in a basket in the middle of the night as a baby?"
Ratchet's jaw drops as his eyes widen with every word, stunned into a silence as Kaden finishes.
"How… How in the HELL do you know all of that about me?!" He asks in a mixture of awe and fear. "Not even some of my friends know that much! What, did you scan my memories when you arrested me, or what?! Was this MemoReader crap some ruse, then?!" He asks, glancing at the terminal.
Kaden, however, remains frozen. Unable to move, unable to breathe, the only movement coming from his body being the tears forming at his eyes before they slowly roll down his cheek.
The rest of the entire world sinks away as he sits here, right here, right now, staring into the eyes of the Lombax across from him—
No.
Not some Lombax.
Kipler.
His son.
His son.
His. SON.
The last time he stared into those green eyes, he was sitting in a stolen ship, fleeing from a burning Fastoon, ready to say goodbye to the only family he had left in a universe that had killed everyone he loved, thinking about the life he will never get to see after he himself gets killed by the monster who destroyed his life.
But now… Now… Twenty years later—TWENTY WHOLE YEARS LATER—Here they were again. Attached not to a tiny baby that could fit in Kaden's arm, but to a grown, young man that were sitting right here, across from him, just mere INCHES from him.
Kaden cannot count how many times he dreamed of this moment. To be able to see his son in the flesh and not in his memories, or a worn piece of paper that was in his pocket.
But for however millions of times he imagined such a wondrous yet unreachable dream… Never once has it felt so…
Amazing.
"Uh… Are… Are you okay, man?" Ratchet asks uneasily with concern, seeing the tears freely flow down his cheeks. "Do… Do I need to call someone in here to help you, or—"
Kaden suddenly shoots up from the table, knocking the chair he was sitting on down to the ground with a loud clatter, startling Ratchet in his seat, but not as much as the feeling of this man damn near tackling him into a suffocating hug that knocks the wind out of him, distantly hearing how his silence was now broken for loud sobs as he tightly clutches his arms around his body.
"What the fu—" Ratchet rasps out in shock.
"It's YOU, Kipler!" Kaden cries, barely coherent through his tears while holding Ratchet against him. "A-After all these years… Y-You're in my arms again! I-I promised you I'd be back, Kip, a-and… You're here! YOU'RE HERE!" He sobs.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Ratchet exclaims, dazed and confused and in stunned shock at what the actual hell was happening right now. "Who's Kipler?! Why are you hugging me?! Why are you crying?! Why do you know where I live?! Just… Who the hell ARE you?!"
After a few more seconds of sobbing, Kaden picks his head up off of his shoulder, and with tears streaming down his face, grinning, he locks back into his son's bewildered and slightly scared eyes, still hanging onto him for dear life.
"I-I…" He stammers before swallowing, trying to compose himself to at least introduce himself in the midst of his tears. "My name is Kaden, and I-I know this might be a lot for you, but… I'm your father!" He says happily, squeezing him a bit underneath his tight grip, never thinking he'd ever be able to actually say those words. "And after all these years… You're here, Kip!"
It was now Ratchet's turn to freeze, all of his feelings washing away to complete numbness as those words hit him like a freighter.
Kaden.
I'm your father.
Ratchet knew this man looked familiar when he saw him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But now… Now he knew exactly why.
Those green eyes, that face, that yellow fur, with the stipes on his cheeks… Just like in the photo. Granted, it was obvious that the man in front of him had aged since then, with the color of his fur just a touch less vibrant than that in the picture, and with more wrinkles around his eyes, but… There was no doubt that he was the Lombax standing next to Alister in the watch.
But… HOW?! He couldn't be his father! It wasn't possible! Tachyon had killed him himself, he said so! Alister said so! This man in front of him couldn't be Kaden because Kaden was dead!
"Th-That… You're lying! That can't be true!" Ratchet manages to stammer out in shock with wide eyes, shaking his head as Kaden continues shedding tears, smiling at him. "My dad is dead! H-He was the Keeper, he stayed behind to protect the Dimensionator, a-and Tachyon killed him! I know he did! You… You can't be!"
Amidst the intense flurry of feelings he was experiencing right now, Kaden, for some reason, reacted not with sadness or anger at his son's flagrant denial, but instead just smiles even more as he simply shakes his head, seeing that deep in his eyes… He knew it was true.
"No. I almost died. That Cragmite wished he could kill me." He responds, collecting himself once more as he places his hands on Ratchet's shoulders while kneeling in front of him. "It's a long story, one I'll tell you later, but I survived and ended up here, in this dimension, away from you for twenty long, miserable years of my life. But even after all this time… I never once forgot about you, Kipler."
Letting go of his shoulder, Kaden then reaches down into his pocket, producing a folded, worn piece of paper. Wordlessly, Ratchet watches as a sniffling Kaden gently unfolds it, and holds it up to him while maintaining his grin, eyes already beginning to get a bit red from all his crying.
And as Ratchet gazes on the piece of paper, his jaw drops as his breath hitches in his throat.
"This is me, and you, and your mother." Kaden explains, presenting the photo that he took from the frame on his desk the instant he left, just for a moment like this. "I… I couldn't save her in the attack, but she saved you. She made me promise her that I'd protect you, and that's why I put you on that doorstep so, so long ago, so that Tachyon wouldn't be able to find you."
He removes his other hand from Ratchet's shoulder to instead grasp his hand resting in his lap, but Ratchet hardly notices as his gaze is wholly transfixed on the paper, shock still written on his face.
"I didn't plan on surviving, but I did. And unfortunately, I was never able to come back for you, too, Kip, even though I fought like hell for it. But despite that, every single day, I have stared at this picture and promised you that someway, somehow, I would be able to see you again."
Kaden squeezes Ratchet's hand, still unbelieving he was touching his son for the first time in twenty years, and he couldn't help but give out a small chuckle that sounded strange amidst his hitching breaths of his crying.
"I never would have guessed that meant you being the one to come to me to fulfill that promise, but I'm not complaining. Not by a long shot. All that matters is that after twenty long, painful years… You're finally here."
Ratchet doesn't respond. Instead, he just continues to stare at the photo held in front of him as Kaden sniffles.
It was… Surreal, to say the least. Shocking, mindblowing, turned his world upside-down to see that picture held by a dead man.
He recognized the baby in the photo as himself well enough, having been shown far too many by Ms. Perigee in his younger days. He was being held by his father, who looked exactly like he did in Alister's photo, but instead of wearing an expression of fierce determination, it was of a soft, blissful look, complimenting the gingerly way he held onto the infant in his arms, and contrasting the hard soldier that he'd only ever seen of him in the watch.
But then… There was the woman standing next to him, looking at the camera with a wide grin as she rested her hand on his shoulder.
She had fur that was light gold, accented with primarily white fur that covered most of her face, save for an occasional splotch of black on her muzzle or forehead, with a big tuft of white fur on top of her head that complimented her extra fuzzy cheeks. Her eyes, a soft violet, stared into the camera with a beaming grin, and even though it was just a piece of paper, Ratchet swore that he could feel the warmth behind those eyes.
A warmth that could only be described as… Maternal. A comfort that could only be felt by his mother. His actual, Lombax mother, who he now finally knows, being able to look at her face. It was… Incredible, finally getting an answer for who his real family was.
But despite that, there was something else about this photo that truly made him take a pause.
This photo was obviously aged. There were tears at the edges, a worn crease in the center of it to show it's been folded and unfolded many times, and the colors were beginning to fade as well. This wasn't something that this Lombax just brought in on the fly to fool Ratchet into thinking he was his father as some kind of extremely screwed up interrogation tactic.
This was an old photo, something that's been kept for the last twenty years, loved, and used. And the only person who would bother to do that… Would be his father.
His living, breathing, alive father.
His father that was kneeling right in front of him right now, looking expectantly towards him, waiting anxiously for a response as tears continue to run down his cheeks, dripping onto the metal floor of the interrogation room.
Ratchet finally tears his eyes away from the photo, and looks into his green eyes—the same ones that he's only ever seen in a tiny picture, often late at night while wondering what it'd be like to see them in the flesh.
Just like right now.
Ratchet gulps as he feels the sting of tears beginning to burn his throat, the corners of his vision starting to blur with moisture.
"Is… Is this really happening?" Ratchet whispers, suddenly finding it hard to talk.
Kaden was distantly amused that his son had the same exact reaction he himself did at truly realizing that his loved one has been found, but it was greatly overpowered by the sheer, intense wave of joy and relief he felt at him finally understanding what he was saying was true.
Kaden smiles happily and nods, squeezing Ratchet's hand with his own.
"It is." He assures him with a whisper. "It really… Is."
Ratchet doesn't respond. Nor does he even do anything, either. He just sits there, silently staring at Kaden, his mouth agape in shock.
But before Kaden has a chance to ask if he's alright, worrying for a split-second if he just might lose his son again to a heart attack, Ratchet suddenly lunges forward and tightly embraces him into a desperate hug, nearly knocking Kaden off balance in his kneeling position.
"You're actually alive!" Ratchet speaks into his shoulder as starts to shed tears, Kaden feeling the warm drops soak into his clothing. "I-I thought you were dead! I-I never thought I'd ever get to m-meet you! I've only been able to imagine something l-like this happening, b-but you're here, and… And…"
Ratchet trails off as his voice finally cracks into full-blown tears, squeezing Kaden in their hug as best he can with his arm still awkwardly cuffed to the table. Kaden, however, recovering from the initial surprise, begins to grin once more as fresh tears roll down his own cheeks, relishing the feeling of his son hugging him with so much love, seeing him so happy to see his father when just mere hours ago, Kaden was scared that he hated him for abandoning him all his life.
The sheer amount of happiness Kaden feels at this moment is enough for him to break down once again, wrapping his own arms around his son to return the embrace just as tightly while beginning to cry once again—but not before being able to utter just a few words first.
"It's okay, Kip, it's okay." He whispers as he buries his face into his son's shoulder, grinning amidst his sobs. "Welcome home, son. I've missed you so much."
To be honest, this was one of those chapters that I kinda cringe at rereading the original, since at this point, I assumed that Chief Wells would just be a one-off character that'd immediately disappear after this chapter before I brought her back for a tiny plot point, accidentally gave her a great personality, and now she is an integral part of my AU. And as such, after developing her even more, I found her behavior in the original out-of-character for her in acting scared from Kaden's threats, as we all know that that the Wells we know and love (and hate) today wouldn't be scared of such threats, lmao.
That, and the fact that when I first wrote this, I straight up forgot to describe Marie in the photo and had it end mid-sentence, mid-paragraph. So now I can finally rectify that mistake that's haunted me for 2 years now, lmao.
Plus, Kaden and Ratchet's whole reunion in the original really sucked for how quickly it just happens with very little emotional feeling that such an event rightfully deserved. Which, to be honest, felt kinda hard to do this time around since if I was truly doing a rewrite in the sense of 'throwing away the original plot to make a new one', I'd have a LOT more build-up to that point to make it more satisfying since there's not much to work with as-is, but… Eh. It'll do, lol.
Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this rewrite, because I sure am! It feels like reexperiencing the joy I first felt at 'wow, making stories is really fun :D' like when I first started writing this, so it's a bit nostalgic for me. Plus, holy FUCK college is eating up so much of my time lately that I've barely had any time at all to do anything, so having a story that I can just write without all the usual hang-ups of figuring out plot and stuff to make it go by much quicker is a godsend. Hopefully I'll manage to sneak some time for other stories, too, but I'm not holding my breath, lol.
Until next time!