Mable: This is a request fic for my friend 27's Fury who has supported me through 'Souls Run Deep' and my other fics. I hope I did justice on the request. ^-^ I don't own 9, Enjoy!

A Healer's Touch

It was breezy and the temperature was nicely cooled after the summer had wound down. Now it was definitely autumn, or perhaps simply winter as there were little ways to judge when trees and fauna were so spare. Fie should've been pleased with the weather. Instead, he didn't want to be in the Emptiness at all, and was weary to be out here. Nine was much more enthusiastic about the short journey as he was the reason they were out here.

"It was only last week when it was so hot that we had to stop under in that building. Remember it? It had those weird paintings on the floor." Five spoke softly, "I think they, umm, fell off the walls." Nine chuckled a bit, nearly delusional in happiness, "Yeah. Probably." Nine liked going into the Emptiness, loved exploring, and was thrilled when Two had asked them to go out and look for extra Burlap to use when anyone got injured.

They weren't alone; Eight was off in the back following along, a lot less thrilled about coming out here. If Fie heard right, Eight fought his case as hard as possible, but One still insisted he go along as well. That was some of the trigger that made Five so terrified about being out here; after Eight was sure he was going, Five was approached by Six. Six had claimed that he had a bad nightmare recently and was absolutely positive that it meant something would happen today.

He begged Five to watch after Eight. Five couldn't say he wasn't a little confused; as Eight was known to constantly torment Six. However, he agreed, but only now was beginning to piece together that the Artist tended to be right about nightmares and that they could be in danger. He was constantly scanning the surroundings while Nine stared ahead, leading them along. He was taking full advantage of the fact that Two never told them exactly where to go.

It was around that time when Nine suddenly perked up. "Let's check in there." He suggested and Five looked over, only to gape in alarm. Nine must have purposely done this as he had chosen the most threatening building in the area. It was a dilapidated house on its last leg that was connected to an even larger warehouse. The warehouse's entrance was gaping and revealed nothing but darkness in its maw. Five stared in alarm and Nine clearly noticed.

"It's not that bad." He insisted as Eight circled them and started to head inside, muttering gruffly, "Let's get this over with." Nine waited until he was sure the Guard wasn't paying attention when he reached over and took Five's hand in his, "It'll be okay." He said with a small smile and Five couldn't argue with him. Nine had that way with him, able to tame him with his little smiles, and the Healer simply exhaled.

"Alright… Let's please hurry. Alright, Love?" Nine agreed and Five could see the thankful look in his optics. They began to wander inside and Five could only let his hand pitifully fall as Nine released it. They had been like this for a while now. After Nine was declined by Seven, and suffered partial depression, Five was there to help him through. Around that time Nine realized how close he was to the Healer and his affections had shifted away from the Warrior.

Five, meanwhile, had been pining for Nine quite a bit, since he was brought back by the rain and reunited with Nine. It was the second that his friend had pulled him into an embrace when he realized he was alive that had trigger Five to admit that, yes, he did have feelings for Nine. They were still trying to stay a little out of the way and were slowly easing the others into their relationship. Two knew, naturally, One had suspicions, and Six had walked in on them kissing, and so far their slower pace had managed to go by well.

Usually when they were out in the Emptiness they kept a little bit of a pause in affection as they had to be careful of Beasts. Less they get caught from behind and be unable to immediately fight back. Five was fine with this, but felt especially forlorn now, as the danger was seemingly imminent. He realized he was falling behind and rushed to keep up with the other two.

Eight seemed to abruptly go off on his own. Mostly likely expecting to get the job done quicker so that he could return home again. This left Nine and Five alone for a short while. They wandered about the depths of the warehouse. Some sun came through the tin roof and the cement floor was uncomfortably cold. It wasn't long after this that they managed to find an old sack of flour made of canvas that looked good enough to take.

Five was cutting a little free when Nine suddenly noticed something, "You know, Eight's been gone for a bit." By now it had been a good ten minutes and Five noticed the absence as well. "Maybe he's using his magnet again." Nobody said it to his face, but everyone knew of Eight's use with the magnet, so it was a justified guess. Nine exhaled with a bit of annoyance, "I wish he'd stop doing that. Something could come up and get him."

He stood from his crouched position and turned towards the back of the warehouse. "I'll get him." Five had a lapse of thought and simply nodded, letting Nine go as he continued his work, trying to finish quickly. He did take notice though when a good few minutes passed and someone returned to him. To his surprised, it was Eight, carrying a bundle a fabric. "Let's go." Five looked surprised, "What?"

"I got the fabric, let's head back." Eight insisted, "I'm not staying here any longer. It's dark, it's cold; there should be a large sign that says 'Beasts here' hung above the entrance." Eight wasn't kidding; he was very sure that there were Beast in the large warehouse, and Five stood quickly, "Nine went to look for you. Here, come on, we have to go find him." The Guard didn't look thrilled at all, but lifted Five's found fabric and the two headed in the direction that Nine had gone.

Meanwhile, with Nine, he had made it to the back of the warehouse and was examining the area. There was black liquid everywhere that smelled strongly of oil and he could hear something nearby that sounded like a scratching noise. "Eight?" He called over into the corner and received something much different in return. A small head peeked out from a small opening in the warehouse wall that, most likely, led into the building beside the warehouse.

Nine gasped; it was another Stitchpunk. "Wait!" He called gently, "It's okay, I won't hurt you." He encouraged as he approached the small entrance, seeing the Stitchpunk again peek out. He could only see the shape of its head and no facial features at the moment. Because of such, he came closer, and peered into the building. Some light shined through in various places and alit something odd.

There was fabric everywhere, sewn together, and he ignored it only because he saw the Stitchpunk disappear behind a nearby wall. He quickly approached and spun around the corner, only to freeze. The light was bright enough that he could see the 'Stitchpunk's' entire body. Of course, he also noticed that its eyes were simply holes cut into fabric, that it was lacking arms, and that it there was clearly something large behind it.

Nine didn't even have time to question when the Machine had made a second Seamstress.

The second the optics of the tail alit, Nine turned and began to run. He knew not to look, but he also knew that it didn't much matter if he did, as the Seamstress was shown to be a notoriously quick fighter. This one even looked in better condition, clearly trouble for Nine. He began to duck and weave through fallen ceiling boards. He managed to finally find the crevice into the warehouse and burst through.

"Five! There's a Seamstress! Five-!" He was suddenly shoved to the concrete floor and was pinned against it. Something carved into his fabric and he felt a burning on his right side. He looked back to see that there were scissors pinning him down and had sliced right through his side. It hurt, certainly, but he managed to find his voice and burst out, "Five! Eight!" Before anything else could come out, the lights were before him, and he was drifting away.

Thankfully, somewhat, Five and Eight managed to arrive in time to see Nine getting sewn into submission. Five gasped and Eight swore, both getting out their weapons. Eight went straight for the tail while Five decided to aim for its optic. He missed as the Seamstress looked up. The needle did manage to clip a few of the strings stretched taunt across its face. It reared back in pain and caused Eight's swing to be off of target as well, slicing off only the very tip of the tail.

Under such an assault, the Seamstress pulled Nine inside and fled through the crevice. Five only caught a glimpse as it vanished through the dilapidated wall and disappeared into the Emptiness. Five's breath quickened as he aimed to take another shot. There was no point, there was no way he could hit it when it was so far away. He lowered his harpoon and watched as it drug Nine away.

"Come on. We can't keep up, but we'll follow its tracks." The Healer was about to agree when he paused, looking back at all the cloth bunched around, "Wait." Eight looked to him, "For what?" Five explained, "This much work probably means that it's a nest. It ran away to lead us off and will probably be back here, with Nine…" Eight paused, looked around, and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It wouldn't change a nest that fast."

He gestured outside, "Let's move to one of those other houses and watch for it. If it thinks something is up, it won't come back." Five nodded and pitifully followed the Guard. He suppressed the current feeling of guilt to focus solely on helping Nine; If he could.

Nine came back to reality inside of the Seamstress' depths. Looking down he could see that his arms and legs were sewn tightly together and looked to the wound on his side. It had been left open and stretched farther than he had thought it would. With the smallest movement, his entire body burned in pain, and his hissed to keep from crying out. He felt helpless and could only try to consider what it would do with him.

It felt like hours were passing by until the Seamstress finally stopped its movements. He was soon removed from the Beast's gullet and it began to look him over. It prodded him in a few places before setting him down on the ground. He laid there, face down, as it worked on its own. Unknown to Nine, Eight and Five had seen the Seamstress return, and were presently entering the warehouse again to corner the Beast and retrieve Nine.

When Five stared into the crevice, Eight standing beside the entrance, he watched as the Seamstress wrapped a few threads around a nearby hunk of wood and then sewed the thread through the thread that was already holding Nine in a tight grip. Now he was restrained so tightly that he couldn't move if he wanted to. This was fine, since any movement inflamed his side. He didn't see Five, but Five could see him, and was relieved that his lover was alright.

That was, until the Seamstress became a bit too curious. It obviously saw the slice in Nine's side and wanted to see it closer. It leaned in and used two of its small arms to open the wound. Nine breathed heavily before letting out a short cry of agony. It was too wide of a cut to take the pain without any noise. Five felt a mix of emotions. Guilt, naturally, and the empathy that the other was in such pain.

Then there was the overwhelming anger that Five couldn't control as he watched this creature touch the Stitchpunk he cared so deeply for. Prodding and causing pain mercilessly. He spun around and looked around, soon loading his harpoon and shooting it towards the ceiling. It hit the tin and caused a small tingling noise. As Five moved beside Eight, the Guard asked in confusion, "What was that?" He whispered.

Five answered with, "When you see it, attack, and I'll get Nine." Eight agreed and, shortly afterwards, the Seamstress popped through the crevice to search out the noise and Eight struck. Five hoped that he could handle the Beast as he himself rushed in before slicing Nine free with the knife he retrieve from his bag. Nine looked to him, looking thankful and thrilled, "Five!" He was actually smiling and Five gave him a small smile of sympathy.

"Don't worry; I'm going to get you home." He pulled the threads from Nine's body and helped him up, only to watch Nine fall back, clutching his side. "Let me see." He insisted and the zippered one put a hand up in defense, "No, it's okay, let's just go." Five decided to sympathize and exhaled calmly, "Alright, okay, I can carry you." Nine nodded and went to climb onto Five's back. To his confusion, Five decided to just take him into his arms, sliding his arms under his knees and back.

"Five?" Nine asked in a desperate attempt to get some clarity. Instead Five ignored him and easily lifted him away from the slanted, fallen beam. Nine knew that Five was stronger than he let on, and the easiness shown in picking Nine up proved it. Though Nine wouldn't admit it, he felt a little awkward, but it was overtaken by the radiating pain circling the slice in his side. His hand gripped to cover it as he allowed himself to go limp in Five's grasp.

Five noticed this and felt incredibly saddened, merely lowering himself to press a kiss against Nine's forehead, "It'll be okay. Just rest." Of course, that's when Eight ran up, "I clipped it and it's coming for revenge! Go, run!" They went out the way that the Seamstress had escaped earlier. They could hear it screaming from the building, furious that they escaped, and sped up their running. It was around this time that the shaking from the running had managed to cause a bit too much pain.

He blacked out.

Five stared at Nine's frame lying limp on his bed. He had gotten Nine back to the Sanctuary and had sewn his side together again. One then gave Five and Eight both a healthy lecture that Eight cleverly managed to stop by pointing out that the Leader made him go. It rebuffed One enough that he merely left the room out of annoyance. Now, here he was, waiting for Nine to awaken. Staring at his limp form made him realize how close he came to losing him this time.

Of course, yes, that was this time. There would always be a next time knowing Nine. There would always be another risk, but only now did Five see how close he came to having the one thing he couldn't live without drug away. It was beyond helpless; it was torture. Five reached forward and gently rested a hand upon Nine's before noticing the other's optics flickering open in response. He perked, "Nine?"

Nine groaned, "Five? What happened?" The Healer smiled a bit, "We got you home. You're safe." Nine went to sit up, only to gasp and clutch the new stitches on his side. Five understood that the slice was long enough that it would probably bother him for a bit and pushed him back down, "Don't get up." Nine obviously didn't feel much better. "It won't stop stinging. You fixed it, right?"

"Yeah, it's fixed." Five insisted, "It may hurt for a day or so, though." Nine smiled a bit, obviously pained, "Thanks." Then laid there against the cot, looking miserable, and Five felt even worse. Here laid his love, pained, bedridden, and he could do nothing. That was, until a small idea started to eat into his mind. He loved Nine, more than anything, and knew there was a way that he could help him to feel better, but also knew little about this thing that logically would be able to make Nine feel somewhat better.

"Nine… I think there's a way I can help you." The Healer started softly, still unsure that he was thinking of trying anything so invasive, and yet Nine looked curious. "You can?" Suddenly Five felt bad; he wasn't thinking like a Healer ought to. "Well… I don't know… I don't know if it will work, and I- I think it would be best if we just waited it out. You'll feel much better by tomorrow."

Nine stopped him, though, "Five, please, I want to try it. I'm not going to be able to focus with this. It's only been here for a little while and it's already driving me insane." He wouldn't admit how much it was hurting out of a small bit of shame from not being able to handle it. Five then made up his mind and leaned forward, suddenly pressing his lips to Nine's, causing the male to become a bit confused.

It didn't take long for Nine to relax into the movement, noting how Five was suddenly being a bit more forward. Usually when they were kissing Five would allow Nine to be in most of the control. Nine began to sit up a bit and went to rest his hand on Five's arm. The movement reminded him of exactly how bad his side hurt and he stiffened up in distress. The Healer stopped him and gently guided him down onto the cot again.

"Don't hurt yourself. Just let me handle this. I can help you." Nine let himself lay back down as Five leaned over him, pressing their lips together once again. His left hand moved to stroke the back of Nine's neck while the right hand slid down to massage the stinging fabric around the new stitches. It helped a little having the soothing warmth petting him on such a tender area. Five's lips massaged Nine's in a gentle motion.

That's when Five suddenly became more daring than Nine had expected him to be; his hand moved to Nine's zipper pull and began to rub over it. The zippered male gasped as the odd sensation and Five pulled back, "Am I hurting you?" A few seconds passed and Nine shook his head, "No… No, you're not." He just felt so strange; an odd tingling that he was positive was partially pleasure resonated across the pull.

Seeing that Nine wasn't refusing his touches, Five decided to go a bit further, managing to suppress the inner nervousness that threatened to overtake him. He ran his fingers down the teeth of Nine's zipper and relished the feel of them. He couldn't count how many times he ran his fingers over a zipper he found in the Emptiness, imagining that it was Nine's and unsure why. Now here it was under his grasp and he wanted to relish his time.

He began to slowly lower the zipper and Nine spoke up in an almost meek fashion. "What are you doing?" Five was completely torn. He wanted to keep going, but he didn't like how hesitant Nine was, and tried to make his voice sound comforting. "I'm just going to… To help. I promise it won't hurt… We can stop whenever you want." Nine didn't ask to stop and instead nodded, "Alright." He then relaxed and allowed Five to continue, completely trusting Five, giving himself to Five.

Five pulled Nine's zipper down and opened him up to see his inner metals. He had seen them before, naturally, but this was the first time seeing them without his optic clouded with the view of a medic. This time, he wasn't forcing himself to see as a concerned doctor, and only saw as a curious lover. He reached inside and rubbed at Nine's interior, knowing exactly what would make the other male feel good, and knowing how far to go.

Nine gasped as something in the back of his body alit. It felt amazing, amazingly bizarre, and he felt his breath quicken. When Five pulled his hand back, Nine just wanted to reach back inside, and began to do so. "What was that?" He asked as the arm farthest from his injured side moved up to dip inside. The Healer stopped him gently, "Don't strain yourself. I won't stop." Nine removed his hand and tried to wait patiently, but after that pleasure he couldn't very well do so.

Five opened Nine a bit more before leaning down and pressing his mouth to Nine's neck. He then reached back inside and began to run his hands over the metal that connected the voice box to the skeletal system. That certainly was sensitive as Nine let out a soft noise, "Ah…" He trembled, "Five, it- you…" He couldn't form words as the warm had continued to massage over the particular piece. He was shivering, trying to push himself up against Five, who lovingly moved his mouth to Nine's.

That's when a soft glow began to resonate from Nine's insides and both of the Stitchpunks pulled back to stare at it. Five had a slight idea what was occurring and his face began to grow warmer from such. Nine, however, spoke softly, "Please tell me that my soul isn't going to float away." Five chuckled a bit, albeit nervously, and stopped ministrations. Nine's face showed desperate questioning and the Healer forced the words out.

"I… I can keep going, but… I want you to be sure of this. It won't hurt you. On the contrary, it is supposed to feel very good, but it's something that we can only do if you're really sure. I mean, if you're, well, sure about trying this with me." Nine immediately cracked a confident smile, "Five, you know I'd do anything with you. I love you." Then his voice lowered, almost as he suddenly realized the depth of what they were about to do, "I only want to do this with you."

That was enough to push Five the rest of the way. Nine was sure, he was sure, and it was time to attempt this. He ran his hand through Nine's soul, causing the Stitchpunk to moan and clench his fists tightly. By now the pain in his side was nearly non-existent. He reached up and grasped Five's wrist, holding it out of desperation, and Five knew that it was time for them to attempt to continue. With his free hand he unbuttoned himself and realized that touching Nine had triggered his own soul to emerge.

Nine had seen Five's soul before, but staring into it now made him feel beyond warm, and he wanted Five. "Five… What would happen if we put ourselves together?" Quite a correct guess as Fie slowly moved atop. "Let's see." He said quietly, his soothing voice causing Nine's soul to actually twitch as though it was sentient. Five locked his optics with Nine's as he slowly lowered his soul to Nine's.

The light was bright enough that neither could see. Though Five wasn't sure; as the pleasure made his optic white out. Nine let out the most enticing noise of pleasure that he had ever heard and wrapped his arms around the buttoned one's back. Five held Nine by the waist, making sure to carefully avoid the wound, and began to move against him. Metal against metal and fabric against fabric wasn't supposed to feel this good, but it was amazing.

The color green seemed to resonate about them and filled their entire beings. Five was beginning to like the color green as much as Nine did. The zippered male's opened zipper teeth rubbed over Five's burlap and, instead of hurting, actually seemed to tickle and tingle a bit. Five held Nine close and grinded against him. They were starting to grow even more frantic, Nine's legs locking behind Five's, Five pressing their mouths together.

"Five." Nine panted, "Five something is- I think something is- Creator I- I can't- I can't- I just- Five!" There was a sharp intake and, surprisingly, Nine's soul seemed to grow warm as it began to grow brighter. Nine's grip tightened and he trembled under his mate. Five wasn't sure what was occurring until it slammed into him at full force, "Creator!" He burst out as a sudden shock of pleasure overtook. All he could recognize was that they were still together.

It was as though their souls were fused into one for a few seconds because Five was feeling very nice. Like the feeling that swelled in his insides when Nine and him hugged, or kissed, or when Nine admitted his feeling to him. Total and utter love; he loved Nine and had come so close to losing him, but now was closer than ever before. It all came down at once and Five almost collapsed on Nine, exhausted, as though his energy suddenly drained away.

Nine was panting and his optics were closed. He was on the verge of falling asleep and Five met their lips sweetly, arms nearly giving out. When he pulled back he smiled, "I love you." Nine smiled as well, tiredly, "I love you too, Five." The Healer slowly adjusted himself beside the zippered male on the cot and Nine tiredly moved over a bit. Five held Nine and watched as he pushed his head into the crook of the one eyed male's neck.

They laid their together for a bit before Five asked, "Feel better?" Nine didn't answer. "Nine?" Looking down he could see that Nine was no asleep and the Healer smiled; he was certain that Nine was feeling quite a bit better. All it took was a Healer's touch.

FIN

Mable: Again, I do request fics for anyone who is interested, any Stitchpunk coupling and any content. I hope everyone enjoyed!