Tortured [under temporary construction]

Chapter 8

—POV•••still Kaden—

Ratchet was barely conscious as I took his remaining bloodstained glove off while Talwyn stitched my wounds with her travel med kit. She worked rather steadily considering the rest of my group watching her. Then I remembered Ratchet informing me she was training to be captain of the Polaris Defense Force.

I delicately clutched Ratchet's feeble frame to my more built body. He laid his head on my chest, too weak to support it any longer, and I held it there, my head settled softly on his.

This is not how I imagined I'd hold my son after over twenty years of not knowing if he'd survived in Solana or if Tachyon had tracked him down and killed him.

Talwyn tied off the final stitch. Gathering Ratchet safely in my arms, I carefully stood to return to Elaris. My son's eyes slowly drifted shut, finally falling asleep. I smiled, relieved.

"So, who are you?"

I looked up at Talwyn. "Kaden, Ratchet's father."

I saw the shock manifest on her face as she processed what I just said.

"You're... Ratchet's dad?" She sounded astonished, likely because she thought I was killed by Tachyon. "But—"

"That was my brother", I cut her off, knowing what she was going to ask. "We were identical twins and we used to confuse Mom all the time when we were little. She kept switching our names, calling me by his and Xavier by mine."

She looked down at Ratchet's limp body in my arms. "Does Ratchet have any... siblings?"

I shook my head. "He almost did."

"Almost?"

"He was going to have a twin brother like I did, but Xavier Jr. didn't make it." With the mention of my brother and Ratchet's almost twin mind started to wander, thinking about the twin bond. "How close was he to..." I trailed off, glancing at Ratchet. I knew he'd still be sensitive with Clank's name, so I had to be careful when talking about the little robot. "His friend?"

"Cl—"

"Don't say his name," I interrupted again. "But, yes, him."

"When I first met them two years ago, I thought they grew up together. Cl— I mean Mini Badass—" I held back a laugh "—knows Ratchet better than Ratchet knows himself." She smiled, then tilted her head. "What happened to him?"

"It involves electricity. And a lot of it."

"Oh."

We walked the rest of the way in silence.

Yeah, I know shorter than usual for this book, but I've been caught up with visitors and really big news and a lot of drama with my mom (more details of her in my rant book if you're wondering), so I wasn't able to work on my stories very much lately.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed and will cya in the next chapter of whatever I publish/update next.

—Rachel out