Ratchet was hungry. It had been two days since he'd last eaten and it didn't feel good.

It was a problem to do with the sickness. Every time he tried to eat something his body rejected it in the hopes of getting rid of the poison. It saw food as a threat, and anything he tried to consume other than water was wasted.

They discovered this problem five days ago not long after he threw up for the first time, and Angela had done something about it. She had scoured the first aid kit and found a packet of tablets. If he took one an hour before he ate, the food would stay down. He had been taking two a day, one for breakfast and one for dinner, but there had only been six in the packet and they ran out in the three days it took them to get around the asteroid field.

Now they were in the middle of nowhere and Ratchet couldn't eat a thing.

He rolled over in his bed uncomfortably. If there was ever anything worse than eating while sick, it was not eating while sick. He thought.

He wished there was something in the room to distract him. Maybe a window or a painting or anything interesting to look at. There was actually a Holovision mounted on the wall, but it was useless out here because there was no signal. A Vid-Comic game console would've been great.

It was good when Clank was with him and he had someone to talk to, but he had gone off to help Talwyn and Angela with directions.

He wanted to ask Clank something he was becoming curious about. Angela and Talwyn kept talking about the person they were going to see on Lecorm. He was wondering what was so important about him and how exactly he was going to help. Ratchet was guessing he was a doctor, maybe an actual expert on rare species? The more he thought about it, the quicker he realised that no one had told him anything about the trip. If he wasn't the one who was sick, he'd have been wondering why he was here at all. He was used to serving a purpose.

Clank wouldn't be back for a while though so he had to find his own thing to do. Ratchet got up off the bed and stretched. Maybe he should go visit everyone in the cockpit. He wasn't tired right now and it was the only place he could make himself useful. Maybe he would ask them about the man on Lecorm. He thought. And talk to them all at once...

Ready to finally start doing something, Ratchet went through the cockpit door.

-------------------------------------

"Nothing? Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately I am Miss Cross, there is no way of telling."

"What are you talking about, there has to be something! Don't just scan here scan the whole area." A Markazian commanded as she piloted their ship.

"I am sorry, but I can not preform a scan outside of a two hundred mile radius." Replied a small robots voice.

"Well that's helpful..."

Not one of the three knew what to do. They had been flying for five days and there wasn't a sign of life or recourses let alone a civilisation.

"We have to find something, a planet, a service station, -a pharmacy floating around on some asteroid I don't care! But if we don't find more of those tablets..." Talwyn trailed off.

"I should have known..." Angela said. "If we had just waited a day or two before setting off we would have known to bring more."

"There is nothing we can do about that now. We should just have to keep searching." Clank said.

A minute of silence went by and a frustration was building up in Talwyn.

"It's hopeless! This place is so empty!" She suddenly yelled., throwing her hands up away from the ships controls.

"Tal would you just calm down? Listen giving up isn't something we can just do." Angela scolded, shocked at her outburst.

"Ugh I know that. Why do you think I'm so frustrated?"

"Hang on, Tal there's something over there, what is it?" Angela pointed.

"Nothing? It's always nothing. Wait..." The Markazian leaned forward slightly to see what they were fast approaching. "That looks like... That looks like a billboard..."

"Read it what does it say?" Angela asked.

"I believe it says: 'Long trip? Come stop in at Yymorin for a break. Pick up the supplies you need. We are the small green planet left of the next asteroid cluster.'" Clank read. "Peculiar."

"I can't believe it!" Talwyn gasped.

"That's good news." Angela agreed.

Everyone heard a sound behind them and turned their heads to see Ratchet coming through the door. He was still in the pyjama like pants he was given at the hospital. In the rush to get moving, they had forgotten to bring any other clothes so he was still in hospital trousers, and still shirtless. He had forgiven them for it, since he was still fairly used to not wearing a shirt, but now they could see just how atrociously skinny he had gotten in just two days.

"Ratchet, you're up?" Tal questioned.

"You look awful." Angela blurted.

"Thanks Ange, it's always nice to hear your opinion on me." The Lombax replied.

Angela rolled her eyes.

"Do not worry Ratchet. We are coming within range of another planet. Soon we will be able to land there and search for the pills you need."

"I'm not worried, I wanted to know if there was anything better for me to do. I wanna help out."

"You are very sick Ratchet, you need the rest."

"Well that doesn't mean I can't do anything useful."

"Perhaps not, but it is better for you if you sleep."

"Come on Clank, we've almost arrived at Yymorin. There's no point in sending him back to bed now." Talwyn said.

"Hey, am I a little kid who won't take his nap or an actual part of this team?" Ratchet complained, but it was ignored.

"I actually am going to have to send you back to the bed for now, unless you think you can stand up while I come in for a landing." Talwyn told him as a small green planet came into view.

"Alright... I'll come back when we get there." Ratchet agreed.

Ratchet turns and heads back through the cockpit door.

"Strange how it doesn't have any neighbouring planets..." Angela observed taking another look out the window.

"Strap yourself in. I'm coming in for landing and I really don't want a repeat of what happened on iiculum." Talwyn realised she was a little bit concerned that Ratchet didn't have a seatbelt but dismissed the thought. Surely he couldn't be that hopeless.

Talwyn pulled the strap over herself, clicking it into place. Angela leaned down to pick up Clank and placed him on her knee before doing the same.

Talwyn just hoped that on this planet, they really could pick up the supplies they need.

-------------------------------------

Ratchet, Talwyn, Clank and Angela stepped out of the ship one by one, happy to get some fresh air. The landing had gone smoothly and they were keen to see what the place was like. Looking around them, they could see they had been directed to a busy marketplace.

"Alright, where do we start?" Talwyn wondered aloud.

"I believe we are looking for a pharmacy." Clank reminded her.

Talwyn glanced around at the surrounding shops. "Yes but... I can't read the writing."

"That's not fair, the billboard was written in Solanaian!" Angela complained.

"If you give me half an hour, I can scan the signs and download the language." Clank replied.

"Great! Thanks Clank. We can just have a look around while you do that." Tal suggested.

"Good idea." Angela agreed.

So the group set off on a walk. Looking around, Ratchet was always awed by seeing new places. The inhabitants of this planet were small dark green creatures with little to no variety in colour, but they all seemed to carry different shapes, as their skin was rather thick and lumpy. It looked strange, but it didn't look bad as it sounds.

Despite the locals being rather short, the buildings were actually quite tall, and it was surprising that these little creatures were able to build such things. Ratchet stared on in silence as they walked up the dust and dirt paved street.

"Look at that!" Angela pointed and rushed over to a display outside of a store. She ran her fingers over a rather nice looking mask and wondered if she should buy it, though she no longer had a need to protect her identity. She had however grown quite used to wearing them. "Maybe I'll get it... You never know when you're gonna need a mask." She said.

"Could you at least wait until Clank has downloaded the language?" Talwyn groaned.

"The point of a mask is to be unrecognisable though." Ratchet said. "That looks pretty easy to pick up in a crowd."

"So what? Maybe I don't want people to know what species I am, but I still wanna look good."

"We can come by this store on the way back if you wish Miss Cross." Clank assured.

"Alright..." Angela agreed.

They left the store and continued on down the street. People were looking at them but they didn't notice or care. There was a surprising amount of stuff to look at, the buildings were so tall and they had colourful decorations hanging down from them. These people seemed to love bright colours.

As they continued walking, Ratchet began to fall behind. Clank was the first to notice. "Ratchet, are you alright?"

Upon hearing this, Talwyn and Angela stopped walking and turned to see their friend leaning forward, with his hands leaning heavily on his knees.

"I'm uh... I'm..." Ratchet searched for the right words. "Kind of tired and I guess I feel a bit um... What's the word, empty?"

"You are weak because you are sick and have not eaten in an estimated 51 hours." Clank calculated.

"Really it's been that long now? I think I need to sit down..." Ratchet admitted.

"Alright well there's really nowhere to rest here Ratchet." Talwyn said glancing around and walking towards him. "Lean on me." She stood beside him and offered.

"Are you sure..?" Ratchet asked a little embarrassed but seriously considering.

"Yes of course I am. Lean on me." Talwyn confirmed, lifting his arm up around her shoulders and wrapping her own arm around his torso.

"I think you should take him back to the ship." Angela suggested biting her lip out of concern. "It won't be long until he's hit by another wave of fatigue."

"Alright, I'll take Ratchet back to the ship and you two can start searching for a pharmacy. I'll meet you back out here after I've put Ratchet to bed."

Ratchet didn't quite like the way Talwyn said that but he didn't object. He was starting to get a headache on top of everything else and it was distracting. He still couldn't believe the state he was in, he was supposed to be stronger than this...

"Alright. We'll see you soon." Angela nodded.

"Please have a safe trip." Clank called.

"Oh for goodness sakes Clank..." Ratchet groaned.

"Catch you later!" Talwyn said loudly as she lead Ratchet back towards the ship.

Angela waited until she couldn't see the pair anymore. "Alright Clank, how long until the language download is done?" She asked.

"Approximately two minutes, twenty four seconds." He replied.

"I guess... We just start looking for a shop that looks like a pharmacy then." Angela guessed.

They looked around a bit more. None of the buildings particularly resembled a pharmacy, but before she could get annoyed by it Clank's download was done.

"Ooh..." Clank giggled as he scanned all the writing with his new reading abilities. "Interesting. He hehehehehe."

"What is it Clank?"

"Oh... Nothing." He replied.

"Do you see any pharmacies?"

"No. Not yet, but if we continue walking forwards, I am certain we will find one."

Just a minute later, the store they were looking for came into Clank's sight. "This store is labeled Pharmacy." He pointed. Towards a tall pink building.

"Perfect!" Angela exclaimed and they entered the store.

Looking around, neither of them really recognised any of the medications stacked on the shelves, but Angela had the packet from the pills they wanted with her. All they had to do was go up to the counter and ask for it.

The pair approached the bench and a female waited behind the counter to serve them.

"–What can I do for you?–" She asked.

"–We would like to purchase some more of these pills.–" Clank said gently taking the packet from Angela and placing it up on the bench.

The lady examined it for a few seconds and shook her head. "–I'm sorry but we don't have this.–" She said. "–You will have to try another store.–"

"What did she say..?" Angela asked Clank as he led her towards the door.

"They don't have it. We will have to try again."

"Okay, that's okay. Now that you know the language it shouldn't be too hard to find another store. Right?"

-------------------------------------

This was a little more difficult than she'd expected. Ratchet wasn't making this very easy. All they needed to do was get to the ship, but Ratchet was getting slower every second, leaning more heavily on her as his eyes began to droop shut.

"Come on Ratchet, I can't carry you!" Talwyn shouted.

His big furry ears perked when he heard Talwyn yelling at him and he was awake once again. "Sorry... Tal maybe it's better if I don't lean on you." He said attempting to push her away.

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't think any less of you for needing help." She retorted still holding him tight.

"No I mean if I'm standing on my own I couldn't possibly fall asleep." He yawned. "My willpower isn't good enough right now, I need to do it on my own." He said, and Talwyn understood so she let go.

He stepped away from her and continued walking on his own. He wasn't particularly unsteady, Tal noticed, but he couldn't seem to stand up straight.

"Ratchet are you sure you don't –

"I'm fine Tal." He said flatly before she could finish.

She could tell it was harder for him this way, but if it was what he chose to do she kind of had to respect that. So they continued on the same way, slowly walking along the busy dirt road. Tal was keeping an eye on him.

It seemed to be taking forever, but at last the ship was within sight. "Look Ratchet we're almost there." She pointed and turned to see his reaction. Strangely, he didn't seem to have heard her. His eyes were closed and he was slowly tipping forwards.

"Oh no!" Talwyn shouted as she rushed to catch him. She got to him just in time to keep him from crashing to the ground and getting trampled by the locals feet.

"RATCHET!" She shouted sounding somewhere between furious and fearful.

The Lombax opened his eyes again, a little slowly for the situation. "Wha- what's up?" He asked.

"How could you fall asleep while you were walking?!" She yelled standing him back up.

"I did?! How is that even possible?" Ratchet asked confused.

"I don't know, but somehow you managed." She said. "Listen the ship's right there, if you can't make it I'm just gonna have to leave you here."

"Keep your pants on Tal." Ratchet rolled his eyes, but then he stopped to think for a moment and sighed. "I'm sorry... Let's just get back to the ship." He said, and started walking at a much faster pace, forcing himself forward to prevent causing Talwyn any more grief.

Talwyn was surprised for a moment, but she followed right behind him until they arrived.

Talwyn reached into her pocket for the keys and unlocked the door, allowing Ratchet to go inside first.

Talwyn put the keys back in her pocket and went inside expecting Ratchet to already be passed out on the bed, but instead he was standing up against the wall waiting for her.

"What are you doing? You not tired now that we finally get here?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I am... I'm really tired but Tal, I wanted to apologise to you for making all this so hard for you."

"What do you mean?" She asked a little unsure.

"I want to apologise for everything. For crashing the ship, being careless, getting injured, getting sick, making you worried, making you wait. Making you come all the way out here to save my sorry butt instead of searching for your dad... And I want to thank you for choosing to help me anyway. You, Clank and Angela are better friends than I could have ever hoped for, and I want you to know how much I appreciate all this."

Talwyn was shocked for a minute. She didn't really know what to think at first. It wasn't often that they got emotional on each other. She would definitely have to tease him for this later, but right now...

"You know what Ratchet, we all seem to think it's our own fault when things go wrong sometimes, but I think we know each other well enough that we don't need to apologise for these things anymore. And you know what else? You're very welcome. Whatever we have to do to get you better, you're worth it." Talwyn leaned forward and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

That opened his eyes. Ratchet stared at her shocked, and in awe. He looked like he wanted to talk about it but Talwyn wouldn't have it.

"Get to bed." She instructed. "You need more rest."

Silently, Ratchet pushed off of the wall and sat down on the bed. He leaned back into his pillow and drifted off quickly without another word.

Knowing he couldn't hear her, Talwyn spoke again. "We will get the medicine for you Ratchet, I promise." Not wanting to linger too much on this, she left him to sleep and went to find Angela and Clank.