Now This is An Upgrade (Ratchet x Rodney)

At Dinner

Fender skidded to a stop as he went into the bedrooms, beckoning everyone to get out with haste. As they were, they groaned and complained with him at his sudden recklessness. Crank was rubbing his forehead as he rolled out of his room, growling a little at Fender. 

"What's the big idea?" he said grumpily as Lug, Diesel, and Piper came out of their rooms as well, surprised yet at the same time annoyed. 

"Downstairs," Fender pointed frantically to the door, breathing hard. "He's here. Downstairs." 

"Who is?" Piper asked. "Is it Rodney? Is something wrong?" 

Fender was wheezing now, having a hard time catching his breath. Crank slapped him in the face and shook him back and forth. 

"Come on, now, tell us!" 

Fender stammered a little, but managed to get his voice back. He was still pointing to the door. "Ratchet," he managed to say. "He's here." 

"What?!" everyone said in unison.

"Ratchet's alive?" Lug asked. 

"I thought that he was still in the Chop Shop! What the heck is he doing here?" Piper exclaimed. 

"Are you just playing with us?" Crank suspected. In the background, Diesel looked to be freaking out, running around in circles. 

"I'm not! I swear!" Fender claimed. "I saw him with my own eyes! He's down there, and Rodney's with him!" 

"How is that even possible?" 

"I don't know! Rodney said that Ratchet was good now, but I don't believe it." 

"Yeah, not for a second," Crank added. "Not after what he did to us." 

"What is Rodney thinking about bringing him here?" Piper said. 

"I don't know!" Fender said. 

"What are we going to dooooooo?" Diesel started crying. 

"Hold on a sec, guys," Lug chimed in. "Rodney must've brought him here for a reason. We just need to ask him. I say that we just pretend that we're happy to see him before talking to Rodney about what's going on." 

"I don't see why we need to pretend," Piper said. "But I agree that we should talk to Rodney after dinner. Let's just keep our cool." 

After the Rusties came to an agreement, they headed downstairs and into the kitchen to see Aunt Fanny serving Rodney and Ratchet at the table. At first they didn't realize that it was really him, mainly because of his outer shell was gone. Even then, they tried their best not to freak out on him and sat down as Aunt Fanny served them as well. After a second, she then left the room. 

"Excuse me for a moment," she said. "You all go ahead and eat." 

Once she left, Piper folded her arms. "Hey Rodney," she said. She immediately got to the chase. "Care to explain why he is here?"

Rodney put his fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat. "Ratchet just needed a place to stay for the night is all. I'm sure you guys wouldn't mind, right?" 

"What makes you say that?" Crank said. "Of course we mind! Don't you remember what he did?" 

"Exactly, Rodney! Why should we trust him to stay in the boarding house!" 

Lug shook his head and hid his face in embarrassment. It was like no one was even listening to what he said earlier. 

Rodney tried his best to keep his composure as Ratchet remained quiet. "He came to me because he didn't have anywhere else to go, you guys. I was just doing what I thought was right." 

"Just because you did what you thought was right doesn't make it right," Crank pointed out. 

"Exactly!" Piper slammed her hands on the table and glared at Ratchet on the opposite side of the table. "Who's to say that he won't try to do something to us in the middle of the night, huh?" 

"I..." Rodney mumbled. 

"See? Even he doesn't think so!" Crank said. 

"It's not that! It's just that I don't see why none of you are giving Ratchet a chance to prove himself!" 

"If you want him to 'prove' anything, then you won't let him out of your sight. That includes tonight." 

Fender widened his eyes. "Crank!" 

"No! If he really thinks that that man is trustworthy, then he should stay in the same room with him. That's the only way that I'll even consider thinking any good of him." 

The Rusties waited for what Rodney had to say. Ratchet was as well, genuinely interested in what he had to say. Rodney thought to himself for a moment and glanced at Ratchet beside him. As much as he didn't trust him that much himself, he figured that he might as well do it. If Ratchet so much as lay a finger on him, then he would know for sure that he wasn't trustworthy, and would inform Bigweld in the morning about Ratchet's returning (well, either way, he would probably still let Bigweld know, just to be safe). 

Rodney took a quick breath before nodding his head. He made eye-contact with the shocked Crank on the other side of the table, as well as the other Rusties who had the same expression of surprise. "Alright then," he said. "I'll do it."