There is a very, very tiny movie reference in here. It has been my favorite movie since I was a child. Anyone that points it out will get a virtual cookie from me ---> (::)

Enjoy!

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[The Night Before]

[Ratchet]

Ratchet opened and shut the door quietly, making sure to lock it behind him as he looked around the empty living room.

"Hunter?"

He waited for a response and was about to call out again until he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked over to see Hunter, carrying the Council's official book with him. The older Lombax looked up at him, "Kaz was able to get your message out early. For some odd reason they sent the cargo ships out early..." Hunter informed him, "They usually don't do that."

"Do you think somethings up?" Ratchet asked. Hunter just sighed, "No, not really. It happens once in a while."

Ratchet nodded at this, watching as Hunter opened the book once more, "I tried to find out more about this dimensional map you told me about a while ago." Hunter started, "If they have a person like Kaden Callisto doing it, then it has to be something serious.". At this, Ratchet raised a brow, "Well, it's obvious by now that it connects to me." he grimaced, "The question is what they want to use it for."

"True.." Hunter mused in thought, "Then again, with the war picking up, maybe they want to leave to protect themselves and the people."

"Then what does that have to do with me?"

"Not sure." Hunter tapped his chin, "Maybe you coming here was what gave them the idea. Or maybe..." he trailed off, "I don't know, to be honest."

Ratchet huffed, rolling his eyes, "Y'know, for a very well-known and powerful race, The Council is just full of cowards...". Hunter chuckled at that, "They do seem that way, now that I think about it."

Hunter was silent as he opened up to one of the pages in the back, "They don't have much of a description on it..." Hunter said, "I can't read a lot."

Ratchet nodded in understanding, "So what should we do now? Our plan of finding out who my new stalker is, is not working out." he frowned, "We're getting nowhere and I am running out of time."

Hunter hissed under his breath, lightly banging his fist on the kitchen table, "We have all this information and nowhere to start anymore."

"Then we should be the ones to start it." Ratchet offered, "Go up to The Council and-"

"That's a suicide mission." Hunter interjected, "You'd be locked up, interrogated, and probably put in isolation."

"You would be too, since you're helping me and all." Ratchet shot back, "And I reckon that I would be able to get out of their grasp within a few days." He added on, sounding cocky and smiling devilishly. Hunter just shook his head in exasperation,

"You underestimate The Council, Ratchet."

Ratchet just smirked, "Really? Because I think The Council underestimates me instead."

Hunter rolled his own eyes this time, "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say.:. Ratchet glared at him, and even though Hunter had his back turned, he could practically feel Ratchet's eyes glaring into his soul.

He sighed, before turning a few more pages, widening his eyes as he stumbled upon some new pages, eyes scanning over the page he stopped on quickly,

No fucking-

"Ratchet, I-" he read the page over again, making sure that he was seeing things correctly. Ratchet came up beside him and looked down curiously, "What are you looking at?"

Hunter pointed at the writing, "This says that you are related to-"

*Knock**Knock*

They both paused, turning towards the door curiously. Hunter's eyes narrowed as Ratchet raised a brow, "Did you invite anyone else over cause I-"

"No, I didn't." Hunter whispered to him before walking forward, "Be quiet."

Ratchet watched as Hunter tip-toed towards the door. Instead, he went over to the side to try and look out the window. The older Lombax pulled back the curtains just a bit and looked out the blinds. He gasped silently at what he saw.

He stepped back quickly, holding out a hand towards Ratchet, silently telling him to stay put. "It's my Dad." he whispered out in shock. Ratchet's eyes widened at this, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am!" Hunter whispered fretfully. "He never-"

Another knock, this time louder. The two boys looked at each other, not knowing what to do at the moment. If Arc was here...

He had to have known, right?

Without a second thought, Hunter rushed forward and shut the book quickly before nudging Ratchet in the side, "Follow me. Ignore the door."

Ratchet decided not to argue and followed his friend up the stairs. Hunter growled in frustration before pushing his bedroom door open and dropping the book on the ground. Ratchet jumped when more loud and aggressive knocks pounded on the door. He looked back towards Hunter, who seemed to be ruining his whole closet at this point.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Ratchet whispered out to him, "There's no time to-"

"You do fucking realize how in trouble we are in, right?" Hunter shot back, "At least one of us needs to make it out of here to let-"

The noise from downstairs kept getting louder and louder. Hunter huffed in frustration before finally pulling out what he was looking for. He turned towards Ratchet, holding the article of clothing out to him, "Wear this."

It was Hunter's old Council Cloak, obviously too small for him to wear now, but Ratchet could fit into it...barely.

Ratchet refused, "No, no fucking way. I'm not leaving you here! We're in this together." he spat, "I'm not just leaving you. And we don't know if your father is here because of The Council. You are just over-"

"Overreacting!?" Hunter finished, "My father doesn't care about me enough to just come for a visit and chat. He is here for a reason, and we both know what the reason is, Ratch!"

The younger Lombax winced, but still pushed the cloak away, "No. Not happening. If we get caught, we get caught together. That is-"

"Honestly, I don't give a fuck what you think, Ratchet." Hunter growled. Ratchet glared back at him, standing his ground, "I don't know what The Council wants you for. Hell, I don't even know your whole story just-" he sighed, "I was the one that decided to help you. That was my own decision."

"So what?" Ratchet replied, "Leave you for dead while I just run and-"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying. Thank you for understanding."

Ratchet yelled in protest as Hunter threw the cloak over his shoulders and started pushing him out the bedroom and into the hall. At the end of the hall was a window and Hunter was pushing him right towards-

"Fuck no! I am not-"

Hunter turned him around, glaring at him, "Yes you fucking are! And once you jump you're gonna run as far as you can away from here, got it?" Ratchet looked at him hesitantly, "Got it?" Hunter repeated.

Ratchet nodded, and Hunter pushed him out of the way to unlatch the window and pull it up, "Alright then..." He peeked his head out of the window slightly, wincing at the drop to the ground below. "It's a bit high but you gotta do it."

He stood up straight, and made eye contact with his friend. He nodded at Ratchet, "Good luck, Ratchet."

Ratchet nodded back, "I will get you out of there. I promise." he said determinedly. Hunter just smiled sadly, "Whatever you say..." He looked in the direction of the stairs, before looking back at him again, "You better go."

With that, Ratchet walked forward to the window, looking out himself. His ears dropped as he realized how far down the ground actually was. He could break something if he wasn't careful...

He found a way to sit on the window sill, hand still holding the frame as he looked down. He better do this before anyone comes around the house to get inside...

He counted down in his head, before sliding off and heading toward the ground. He ducked into a roll as he hit and lessened the impact, but he could feel his ankle throb in protest when he got up again. He dusted himself off before looking back up at the window.

Hunter already shut it...

He sighed heavily, before pulling the hood up and bolting it to the nearest alleyway.

Why did it feel like he was making a mistake?

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

Meanwhile, Hunter just got off Ratchet's phone, mentally cursing the other boy for leaving it here but also thankful because he was able to contact someone that could help and understand.

If Kaden would listen to what he said, that is.

He dropped the phone in shock as the door was kicked, silently stepping back as the door threatened to break at every hit. He looked around the room for something that he could do but turned up empty. He glanced behind him, but it was too late to bolt when the door opened.

And there, stood his father. His hood was down, and Hunter could see those cold, blue eyes glaring at him. Surprisingly, no one else entered with him. Hunter became uneasy,

"Hey...Dad." He whispered out, refusing to look at the man. It was silent for a while, until the man spoke up. "I know what you have been doing, Hunter." Arc said coldly, "Why would you go against The Council like that?"

Hunter stayed silent, ears lowering as the tension in the air threatened to suffocate him. His father scoffed, "Look at me, right now."

And Hunter, being the coward he was, looked up, "It's because what you are doing is wrong."

"Wrong?" Arc asked incredulously, "Is it so wrong that we want to help our people?"

"Help your people?" Hunter spat, "You're leaving millions of others to die!"

"We don't have to care about those who-"

"You're all just cowards!" Hunter interrupted him, "You're running from your responsibilities as the Lombaxian race!"

His father, however, seemed unfazed. Instead, he just chuckled humorlessly, "If you think like that, you'd get everyone killed." he replied, "I thought I taught you better."

"You taught me shit." Hunter growled.

Arc just shook his head, before looking around the room. He then looked back at his son. "I'll have a chat with you later. For now-" he turned his head, side-eyeing the door, "Take him in." he called out. And, as Hunter feared, two assistant Council members entered the home as well, each one of them grabbing an arm. He hissed at them, as they squeezed his arms too tightly. As he was getting dragged out, he glared at his father, but said nothing.

Arc, unfazed, looked around the room once more. He called another member inside, "Look around. There has to be something here." he ordered them, "We need to find out where that kid went as well. We can't let him escape."

The assistant nodded, starting to search the home along with him.

He grimaced to himself, walking into the kitchen to look for anything suspicious.

He was going to have a long, long talk with his son after this...

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

Ratchet ran as fast as his legs could carry him, making sure that no one would spot him on the dimly lit streets at this time. He couldn't take any chances, not now

The problem was, where could he go?

He didn't want to risk leading anyone to Kaden and Phoebe's house. Oliver was out of the question....He hasn't talked to Alice in a while and Kaz needed to stay under the radar anyways...

So who could he go to?

He pressed his back up against the building, looking around the corner before bolting across the street again. He crouched down this time to collect his thoughts.

There was nowhere to go...

Perhaps he could go back to Hunter's place and wait there? He had a feeling Hunter was captured by now if The Council really was after them...

Then again, The Council could always come back.

It didn't matter now. He had to get as far away from the middle of the city as he could. Then he would figure out what to do.

He was about to cross another alleyway before he was roughly shoved to the side by an unseen force. He fell with a shout and lifted his head to look up at his attacker. Noting the familiar black attire along with the black cloak. He hissed in frustration. Great...just great.

"Now, what have we here?" the muffled voice asked, "Good thing I was the one to stay back. Boss should have at least thought that you'd run." they mused, "Then again, he didn't want to believe that his son was conspiring with you."

Ratchet stayed silent, glaring up at the Council member, eyes widening as he made eye contact, about to speak

They held out a tranq gun, "No hard feelings."

Before Ratchet could make another move, he was out like a light.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[Hunter]

Hunter sat in his cell, staring outside the bars bitterly.

He was dragged all the way here, and thrown in this cell like he was nothing but trash. He scoffed to himself. Couldn't these people see that what was happening was wrong? Could they not see what was going on? Or did they refuse to believe it?

Either way, he knew that they all were making a big mistake. In the end, this whole thing will (most likely) end in disaster.

Too bad he couldn't do anything about it now...

He straightened up when he heard the door to the small cell block open loudly. He crawled towards the bars and gripped them as he watched who was taken in.

Ratchet...

Two Lombaxes were dragging him down the walkway. He seemed to be unconscious, and that made Hunter even angrier, "Ratchet!" he called out, "What did you do to him!?" he growled to the guards. Neither of them responded, but one of them did shake their head and scoffed at him. He glared at them, but said nothing more.

They put Ratchet in the furthest cell at the end of the hall. Hunter couldn't see him anymore but he heard the cell open and then he heard a soft thud right after. They threw Ratchet in the cell as well...

He growled as they passed by his cell once more, heading towards the exit. Still, they didn't respond, ignoring him as they exited the cell block. He banged his fists on the bars in anger. Great, now both of them were caught and held by The Council.

Now The Council could do whatever they wanted and no one, not even him or Ratchet, would figure out what The Council's goal was.

"Ratchet!?" he called out, "Ratchet? Are you awake yet?"

No response

He growled, giving up on talking with Ratchet for now. There was no use until Ratchet woke up from his (presumably) drugged sleep...

He pressed his back up against the far wall, bringing his legs up to his chest. It was odd, he thought to himself, he was usually strong, or defiant. Now here he is, cowering in a corner, dreading the moment his father will walk in and talk to him.

He was scared. He was upset. But most importantly, he was angry.

The man he called his father was barely that. He never talked to him outside of work and even if he did, it was never a genuine, heartfelt conversation.

He remembers the days before his father was appointed head of the council. He remembers when his father would take him places and hold his hand wherever they went. He remembers his father reading bedtime stories to him when he was younger. He remembers the days before all this went to shit.

He was 13 when his father was appointed as the head of The Council. While he was happy for his father that day, he didn't know what would happen in the coming years.

His father would constantly be busy with work, and Hunter was often left with a babysitter. Some days he would be alone in their house, and he was left to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner by himself. The seat across from him that was usually occupied by his father stayed empty. As the years passed, his father became more and more distant, and Hunter became more and more bitter.

On his 19th birthday, his father came around for his birthday, which was surprising. He wasn't expecting a gift, so he wasn't upset when the man showed up without anything.

Instead, his father told him something he wasn't expecting to hear.

His father had a place for him in The Council. An assistant job, where Hunter would work under him as his assistant. Hunter growled at the man that day, but said nothing as his father scolded him.

Back then, he honestly didn't care. He thought that, maybe this way, he would have the chance to get close to the man again.

But he was wrong.

If anything, the whole thing opened his eyes to what was really going on inside The Council. Things were corrupt, and kept secret. His father was at the head of it all and he wondered how his father could let this go.

He...couldn't stop it though.

A short time after, he found a place to stay by pulling some strings and was able to stay alone, even though he was still considered a kit in their society. He remembers walking into the empty home with only a suitcase in his hand and a bag on his back.

And throughout it all, his father never seemed to notice.

See, Hunter was the one to convince one of the other higher-ups to let him live alone. For some reason, they did it without informing his father which was...weird. But Hunter didn't complain...

He refused to believe that his father did know, and that he just didn't care where Hunter was.

So life went on, and then this whole thing happened...and then he met Ratchet and now here he was. In a cell, cowering in a corner.

He sat in the silence for a bit longer, before the doors opened again. His ears lowered as he heard a familiar set of footsteps. He refused to look up at who stopped in front of his cell.

"Hunter."

It was his Dad. Of course.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know why." Arc said quietly, "Why did you defy The Council and humiliate me in front of our fellow superiors?"

"Why would they care?" Hunter shot back, "Last I heard, you are all selfish pieces of shit."

His father was quiet for a moment, "Just answer my question."

Hunter looked up and scowled at him, "I already told you." he spat, "The Council is corrupted. I didn't want to be part of it anymore."

The man just shook his head in disbelief, "Oh? And why would you think that?"

"Well, first of all, you lie to your fucking people. And you keep secrets from them too." Hunter started, "I overlooked everything. But after Ratchet appeared and you just...just took advantage of the situation? Manipulated him? Drugged him? All for answers you already knew?"

"That was to make sure he wasn't a threat." Arc replied.

"No. No it wasn't. I just know it."

They sat there in awkward silence. His father started tapping his foot impatiently,

"I had faith in you, Hunter."

"Well I had faith in you too. A long, long time ago." Hunter whispered out, only loud enough for the man to hear. His father glared back down at him, "I don't understand what you mean."

"Oh, really?" Hunter asked incredulously, "You should know. So I won't tell you why."

"Why do you have to be so difficult, Hunter!?" His father asked him angrily, "This whole situation-"

"I didn't want to be controlled anymore!"

"Controlled?" Arc growled, "Far from it. I have you a home, a place to be. I gave you a spot in The Council and-"

"Did I ever ask for it!?" Hunter interjected. "You are my father, of course I had a home with you but-" he clenched his fists, "Did I ever ask for anything else?"

Arc was silent at this.

"I wanted a Dad! I wanted my Dad back!" he cried out, "But as far as I know, I lost my Dad a long time ago to-to this Council!"

After his little outburst, he looked back to the ground, refusing to make any more eye contact with the man. Arc stopped tapping his foot as he composed himself.

"Hunter. I am still your father." he said sternly "You are just acting like a child right now."

"No. I'm not."

Arc hummed, becoming more and more frustrated, "You are." Arc confirmed, "Do you understand how much trouble you are in right now, boy?" he asked, "Do you know the consequences you'll be facing now!?"

"Yeah, I do." Hunter replied.

Arc's eyes widened, "What do you mean!?" he hissed, "You could be imprisoned for life! Or even killed!"

"By who!?" Hunter retorted, "You, right?"

Arc looked taken aback. Hunter smirked in satisfaction because of such a reaction from the man, "At the end of the day, you will be the one to press the button to imprison me, or kill me if you prefer. I know that the other Council Members could care less."

"Not if this whole situation winds up badly."

"How so?" Hunter raised a brow, "You're planning to take the Lombaxes away from a war we are a part of." he said, "You are all cowards!"

"You don't even know half of the story, boy!"

"Then what don't I know!?"

Silence

"Yeah...you can't tell me. That's right. You coward."

"Hunter." his father stated coldly, "Stop this. Now." he growled, "You have conspired against The Council. You went against our rules. You have stolen confidential items!" He said, "These are serious crimes!"

"Cool." Hunter replied sarcastically, "I don't give a shit anyway."

"I don't believe this." his father scoffed, "How can you sit there so pitifully instead of realizing the mistakes you've made."

"Because they aren't mistakes to me." Hunter said confidently, "I am happy with what I've done."

"You've ruined my-"

"I ruined your reputation!?" Hunter finished for him, "Good."

Arc growled, "I can't believe you're acting like this."

"Like what? You already called me a child. What else?"

"You might as well be a traitor to our people."

Hunter just shook his head, letting the man speak. "A Lombax is supposed to be respectful. Proud, confident. You are none of those at this moment." Hunter winced, "You're not a Lombax."

Hunter's ears lowered.

"You're not my son."

With that, Arc walked away from the cell and exited the room, not caring to look back. He still felt an immense weight in his chest though...

It didn't matter. He would have to pay the Callistos a nice little visit in the morning and he had no time to think about what just happened.

Meanwhile, Hunter turned his back to the opening of the cell, silently staring at the wall. All this time he felt resentment towards his father for leaving him alone. He hated how the man could just...forget about him. And now...

Why did those words hurt him so much?

With that in mind, Hunter pulled his legs tighter against himself, realizing the situation he was actually in now.

He stared silently at the wall as a few tears escaped his eyes.

This was a nightmare.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[Present Time]

[Kaden]

Kaden allowed the man in, keeping himself composed as the man hummed, looking around the place. "It sure is quiet." Arc mused. Kaden narrowed his brows, "Well...it is morning. My wife and Ratchet are both sleeping."

The other man raised his brow, "About the kid..." he started, "Did you know that he showed up at the headquarters last night?" he asked. Kaden made a look of shock, "What!? No! I could swear I saw him in his room last night!" the lie rolling off his tongue.

"Well, may we have a look?"

Kaden looked at the man suspiciously. Deep down, he didn't like how this man was acting at the moment. However, he had to comply or else he would seem suspicious as well. "Sure. I'm sure I saw him in here though...."

Kaden led the man up the stairs, stopping in front of the closed door to Ratchet's room. He turned the knob and opened it, giving a faux look of surprise, "What? But-"

Arc walked past him, to his dismay. But he let the man go. "See? I told you, Callisto. I assure you, he came to us."

Kaden huffed, "Really now?" he asked, "Why would he?"

"Well, he remembered some things. As we said, he was supposed to come to us so we could help him." the man said, "Did you forget that?"

"No...I didn't." Kaden said, "Well, where is he then?"

Arc paused for a moment, "He is undergoing some...evaluations. Nothing to worry about." He kept walking around the room, looking at every detail, "Did he ever tell you anything? Act odd, at all?"

"No." Kaden said, "No, he was acting normal."

Arc hummed to himself in thought. "Well, I just thought I would come to let you know what happened. I see you were unaware..."

Kaden nodded, "Yeah, I was." he said, leading Arc out of the room and down the stairs again, "What will happen after he tells you what he remembers?" he asked the man. Arc smiled, "Well, that depends on what we learn." was all he said. "Thank you for letting me in, Callisto. Do say hi to your wife for me, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Kaden agreed. "Can you...let me know how the kid is after?"

Arc paused, halfway out the door, "You have done your job, Kaden." he said, "Ratchet won't be coming back here. But The Council will make sure to thank you with something soon, alright?"

Kaden nodded wordlessly, watching the man leave in shock. He let out a heavy sigh as he leaned his arms on the countertop.

"What an asshole." he mumbled to himself, looking over to his holo-phone.

He might as well call Alister now...

He picked up the phone, pressing Alister's contact and holding it up to his ear.

He didn't pick up...

Kaden huffed. Maybe Alister was working right now....shit.

With that, he was left sitting in silence, sipping the last of his coffee like his life depended on it. He was tired after last night, after all.

He just hoped Ratchet was alright...wherever he was.

He just...he just couldn't believe what he found out last night. Besides the war and hints towards The Council's intent, Ratchet was...his son? From another dimension? It was too absurd to believe but also...somewhat believable at the same time. Ratchet appeared outside of the city, like out of thin air. No one on this planet knew him. No one off of the planet knew him. It really was like he materialized into existence that day. Not only that, but his injuries were...suspicious. The burns, everything was just...unexplainable at the time. But after Yuin confirmed the DNA results themselves, and those same results were written in The Council's official book, he had no choice but to deal with the information. It was true. And he was just...shocked.

His son from this dimension was long dead. He saw it himself. He saw the whole aftermath. In the years following the incident, he couldn't live with himself. He couldn't sleep. He barely ate. He lost his passion for his work. But Phoebe was there, and they grieved together. She was a godsend. Really.

But now this whole situation opened an old wound he never wanted to see again. The utter conflicts that were going through his mind right now were immense. He still could wrap his head around the whole ordeal but he had to accept it. He knew more than anyone that things like these are...possible. Especially with the aid of a Dimensionator. But...

But Ratchet's injuries didn't make sense.

If the Dimensionator was used, Ratchet wouldn't sustain such injuries unless something...bad happened. And, even then, what was a kid like him doing with it?

He shook his head. Whether the kid was here on purpose or by mistake didn't matter. Ratchet was here now and in possession of The Council. Hell, Kaden didn't know their true goal either.

He needed answers.

Caught in his inner ramblings, he didn't notice Phoebe walk into the kitchen.

"Kaden, are you doing alright?"

He looked up at her, "I...I don't know." He answered honestly. He looked at her critically, "How are you so calm about this!?"

Phoebe sighed tiredly, "I think I'm more in shock than anything, Kaden." she replied, "It doesn't change the fact that I care about him. Wherever he is from, however he got here. It doesn't change a thing for me."

Kaden was silent for a few moments, "It's just..." he tried to formulate his words, "I don't understand."

"You can't understand everything in the world, Kade. No matter how much you try." She said, "For now, I think we have to focus on what to do next. I don't think I want him in The Council's grasp for long."

"Me neither." Kaden agreed, "But we can't let them know that we know the truth. That's for sure." he put his mug in the sink, "At least...not anytime soon." he mumbled.

Phoebe nodded her head, "Then what should we do?"

Kaden looked down at the countertop, contemplating his option. In reality, he didn't have a fucking clue what the right course of action could be.

"Well, since he is from a different dimension..." he started, "Mags and I could probably figure something out. Alister can listen in on The Council if he could. And-" he paused, thinking about his next words, "-Just work from there."

Phoebe nodded, "I'll keep an ear out to see if I hear anything. One of my friends is close with The Council." she said, "I...I just hope he is okay, Kaden."

Kaden froze at the statement, gritting his teeth.

"Me too, Phoebe. Me too."

From this point on he will have to try his damn hardest to figure out what the fuck is going on with The Council, all while trying to ignore the elephant in the room about who Ratchet was revealed to be. He would have to think about that later. Now, it was the time to act.

Now, it was time for him to find some answers.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[Ratchet]

He woke up on a cold, stone floor. Looking around in confusion.

Oh yeah, he was caught....great...

He sat up, rubbing his neck and hearing it crack. He felt like he got run over by a hoverbike...

He looked around the cold jail cell that he was in. There was nothing but an old bed and toilet if he needed it, but besides that, it was pretty dreary in here.

Honestly, he had a feeling he would end up in here eventually. But with Hunter?

"Hunter!?" He called out, going over to the bars, "Are you in here!?" He asked loudly. He heard a quiet shuffle at the other end of the hall, "Yeah, I'm here..."

Ratchet frowned. His friends sounded...defeated. Did he miss something while he was out?

"Are you alright!?" He asked. He hated how he wasn't able to see where Hunter was exactly located. But at least they could talk with each other...

"Good as I can be." Hunter replied, "You?"

"Eh, hanging in there."

Ratchet was about to say something more before he heard a door open. He tilted his ear to try and hear who it was, but they just walked closer and closer down the hall to his cell. He composed himself as the figure stepped forward and he could finally see them. He couldn't see anything under the long, black cloak...it seemed longer than the others...

Whatever, no time to dwell on it.

He glared at them. They still had their hood on, though. He couldn't tell if they had any reaction or not. "How are you feeling in there?" the heavily muffled voice asked. Ratchet just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, smiling. He was totally gonna try to annoy this person...

"I'm pretty fine, actually." he said, "Pretty comfy in here if you ask me."

The Council member was quiet for a moment, "Are you joking?" they asked, "Do you realize the consequences you will face?"

"Yeah, I do." He replied, "But I know that I am a part of whatever plan you all got so...yeah I don't care." He smirked, "What's the worst you can do?"

They scoffed, "I don't think you realize that you are a threat to us. The Council is capable of anything when it comes to you."

"Well, if your Council is so high and mighty, I wonder how your reputation will be once word gets out that The Council killed us." he pointed to the direction of Hunter's cell, "I don't think the people would be too happy to hear that."

"No one needs to know. The Council could just tell them an excuse as to why you're here." they replied, "No one really knows who you truly are, after all."

"And you do?"

The Council Member seemed taken aback. Ratchet chuckled, "Yeah, I guess they would never tell that to a little...assistant-" he guessed that's what they were, "-like you."

He could practically feel them glare at him from underneath the hood. He continued to smile as if nothing was wrong,

"I trust the Council."

"Cool. Good for you." Ratchet said sarcastically, "I don't know how desperate I would have to be to blindly work for someone without knowing their true intentions."

He could hear them growl under their breath, "You're a real nuisance, do you know that?"

"Yes." Ratchet replied seriously, hearing them tsk-tsk under their hood. They moved back, "Well, this conversation was fun while it lasted. I just came to let you know the consequences you'll face." they said, "Isolation? Death? Those options are all on the table. Don't you care?"

"No. I don't. Because trust me-" he leaned forward, glaring at them, "I'll get out of here eventually. And when I do, everyone on this damn planet will know what The Council is doing in here."

"I doubt it." They replied. And they seemed like they were about to walk away. Ratchet watched them start to leave but then they stopped, turning towards him once more.

"Oh, before I leave, I should probably thank you."

Ratchet raised a brow, frowning "For...what exactly?"

The Council Member was silent for a moment, before going to take off their hood and pulled the thick scarf down from their face. They smiled at him as he looked at them in shock.

After a long moment of silence, they started walking away. When Ratchet came to his senses, he banged on the bars in anger,

"Alice!"

The door shut, and the two occupants on the cellblock were, once again, left in silence. 

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

So...that happened...heheh

And look at that! This chapter released a bit early. I hope you all liked it. Once again, I am sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Google Docs has been slacking lately and won't find any errors I have missed >:( Oh! And did anyone find that reference I talked about before? I wonder if anyone noticed it....

ALSO : Genuine question. Who's POV do you want to see next chapter? Ratchet, Clank, or Nova? I haven't started writing it and I want to get everyone's opinion on who they want to see. And don't worry, if people say all different names, I will try to incorporate them all in one chapter :)

Anyways, hope you are all doing well! I will see you all next chapter! ❤