Precaution

By SpaceWonder368

Precaution(noun): a measure taken in advance to prevent something dangerous, unpleasant, or inconvenient from happening.

Summary: He had told him to be careful, he had told him to not be so reckless, but that's how he is anyway. When he gets himself in danger, the little caretaker couldn't handle it anymore.

OH DEAR.

This….this wasn't what was suppose to be happen. How can it just be a simple thing? A simple mission, a simple job to do, only to have ultimately fail at the end? All the galactic duo had to do was travel across Sargasso in order to gather more leviathan souls to give to the Smuggler. The reason? Oh, simply because Ratchet really wanted to get that new RYNO. He really wanted that RYNO.

Planet Sargasso is a dangerous and mostly uninhabitable primordial swampland. The Grunthors roam among the wilderness, wanting to have a tasty snack of the Lombax. One Grunthor bite against Clank's Robo-Wings, tearing up a tremendous portion of it, and sending the duo flying and spiraling out of control.

Ratchet fell face front on the swampy, mushy ground, being dragged across the damp grass on his stomach and the rest of his front. He groaned sorely before pushing himself back up, stumbling a little uneasily on his feet. Being dazed and a little disoriented, he was completely unaware of the Grunthor coming in to a close. Its mouth drooling with hunger, and ready to send a barrage of attacks.

Clank's eyes went wide with awe, hoping for the hero to turn around. To pay attention and get out of the prehistoric creature's way before ending up getting himself killed.

"Ratchet!" he shouted in alarm, loud and piercing enough for Ratchet to turn to, "Watch out!"

That certainly wasn't quick enough for Ratchet to either doge, react, or fight back. One jab of the Grunthor's husk scrape against Ratchet's armor, penetrating through it and crushing metallic parts of his suit. Blood splattered from his stomach, as shown there is a deep, bloody cut right across his abdomen. Ratchet's form hurtled through the air, as he is sent flying. He flipped around and crash landed within the greenland area.

"RATCHET!" Clank's voice rang through the air, and the little robot use his heli-pack to reach towards Ratchet.

Clunk, clunk, clunk! His small footsteps stomp their way to Ratchet, not even stopping for a mili-second. Darting to him and making sure he was alright is the only thing that matters to him now. His small body examines Ratchet, and his optic lime green eyes scan every inch of his body.

Ratchet writhe in pain, his emerald orbs of vision focusing on Clank, who is deeply concerned for him. His vision is blurry and fuzzy, as he can barely spot Clank through the blur of colors and shapes. He didn't want Clank to worry so much about him. He's fine. This happens plenty of times before, right?

"C-Clank….," he croaked out, his voice raspy, quiet, and weak, "D-Don't worry too much about it…p-pal-"

He couldn't talk any further as a range of coughs rack through his body, and his cut is bleeding profusely, staining his ebony black armor. So much for being indestructible. Clank didn't keep his eyes off of him, glistening with distress.

"Ratchet…..how can I not?" he questioned softly, his voice filled with disquiet, "You could have gotten yourself mauled out there. You do know how precarious Grunthors are."

"Clank…this happened a couple of times before," the mechanic assured weakly, "It's n-nothing that y-you should agonize about."

Nothing? How is it nothing to agonize about? He could have been in the jaws of the creature, he could have been torn apart, or even worse. How could Ratchet take this so lightly? Clank doesn't understand it at all.

"Ratchet…..I'd seen you get killed by Alister Azimuth…at the Great Clock when we were about to head in," he spoke, his tone radiating off of despondency.

Ratchet's eyebrows raise with confusion and awe, even his ears perk up with interest. Alister…..killed me? He never had expected the rash Lombax, the one who admired him, worship him through and through, to murder him? But why?

"He….," Clank continued hesitantly and with grief, "….He electrocuted you by the electricity of his wrench, sending volts across your heart. You could not breathe, and you staggered backwards, falling into the abyss of the bottom of the clock. I reached for you, but I was too late. You were gone. I….I saved you by breaking the rules of what my father stated, just to save your life. I went back six minutes, and pushed you out of Alister's blast."

Ratchet agape at the newfound discovery. It all makes sense now…..to why Clank is suddenly so protective of him. Just like how Ratchet is also protective of him ever since he's been abducted by the Zoni. Above all, he is still gawking at the fact that Alister killed him, but….he knew it wasn't exactly on purpose. Alister was blinded by anger, and he didn't realize what he's doing. His obsession with finding the Lombaxes got out of hand, and he slipped.

However, that didn't matter now. What mattered now is easing the poor son of Orvus. He sat up slowly and shakily, holding out a small box of Nanotech. Whisps of the blue light energy circle around him, healing his injury. He takes deep breaths, eyeing Clank and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Clank….I'm fine now, and I'm here now," he uttered in sympathy, his jade eyes on him and filled with consolement, "Whatever happened in the past happened. You can't change what happened back there either, you gotta look into the future. I'm okay now, and nothing bad is ever going to happen to me with you around, pal."

He stands up, grabbing out his Omniwrench and twirling it around, eager to smite some beasts of this planet.

"C'mon Clank, we've got work to do."

Clank beamed a smile of both determination and happiness. He know now that Ratchet is going to be just fine, and there is nothing to worry about. Remember, the universe has a wonderful sense of humor. The thing is; learning how to take a joke.

He latched onto Ratchet's back, motivated to do the job with him, and for both of them to tag along together. Best friends, doing amazing things. Ratchet thrust his hoverboots as they soar through the swamp.

And to hopefully get that RYNO.

This is my first ever Ratchet and Clank fanfiction, and even my first oneshot about it too. Ever since the Future trilogy, I've been quite curious on how did Clank really take Ratchet's death, and how much it affected him. I haven't got a chance to see how he reacted, so I did my own thesis on it and bam! I wrote this lovely snippet. And yes, I also wanted to write about how does Ratchet feel about Alister killing him too, since I don't think he's been told about it yet. They might have in the comics, but I never got the chance to get them and read them.

Also, I choose the planet Sargasso as the setting for this fic because I know how perilous it really is once you play it. Man, those Grunthors are a hell to beat up, or at least, when your weapons aren't upgraded to max. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this fic and you all have a wonderful day!