Not Quite Family

by masterctarl

Chapter 4 is up! Before 9, there were eight. Struggling to survive after the death of humanity, even more to get along. Eventually, some would stay and some would go. Until then, however, they would simply have to make do.

3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own 9 or any of its characters. Really. Do I have to say it again? Yes? Well, then, it belongs to Shane Acker. Stop asking.

Note: Sorry for how long it took to release this chapter. I've been extremely distracted, mostly by my TFA Christmas fic "Snow" (go read it!). But here's the next chapter. I'll try not to take so long with the next one.

READ & REVIEW ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Sylver O. Maybee - Well, not to burst any bubbles, but I really wasn't intending any 7x5, lol. But, I guess you can look at it that way if you want.
15animefreak15 - You flatter the hell out of me, you know that, right? Lol
Schellibie, Digitaldreamer, Majorkami, and Ferret Coldfinger - Thanks for your reviews, and please continue reading and enjoying! Remember, reviews fuel my need to write stitchpunk fun!

Chapter 3

"Come, my boy! We must hurry!"

5 struggled over the second leg of the stuffed bear that was in their path. He'd helped 2 and his wagon over first, unable to tell how such a frail doll could move so quickly. "I'm coming! This isn't easy, you know!"

2 laughed, shaking his head. He surveyed their surroundings, watching for any sign of the cat-beast. It didn't usually strike during the day, preferring the cover of darkness, but he could never be too careful. The light was already high behind the clouds, and they had traveled far from their home. "If we can find something smaller than the toy soldier this time we can get it to the sanctuary before nightfall."

"You know 1 will just confiscate it again," 2 muttered as he slid off of the leg onto the ground next to his mentor. "Why do we even bother bringing stuff back? You're the one always telling us that he's right. So maybe the past really should stay out here."

2 sighed, shaking his head again. "Just because the past is indeed dangerous does not mean it should go unobserved. After all, you never know what could be found to… oh, goodness!" He moved quickly towards another pile, picking up a clear shard. It was just a bit larger than his hand. "I haven't seen one of these in ages. Find more, boy! Quickly!"

5 knitted the stitches over his eyes together in confusion, but quickly got to work scouring the ground around them for the shards, piling them into the wagon 2 brought with him. "What are they?"

"You'll see, my boy, you'll see," 2 simply answered, picking up another one and placing it in the wagon. "This will certainly cause a bit more cheer in the sanctuary, of course. And even 1 cannot find harm in these simple things."

"If you say so," the apprentice said, unsure.

"That should be enough," his mentor smiled, standing and gazing at their loot. "This will cause such needed happiness in our home. Come, let's get back quickly to set it up!"

"Sure, but can I just make one request?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Can we find a way around the bear this time?"

()()()()()()

"What did I tell you?!"

"B-b-but-!"

"No, I told you to stop drawing this!"

"N-no, please! I worked so hard-!"

5 and 2 heard the yelping on the top floor of their sanctuary as they entered. "Oh, dear…" 2 gasped, making his way to the bucket used to get there. He gave the rope that brought it down to their level a tug as the twins appeared, watching curious as the bucket lowered. They had likely been drawn out of their library by the commotion. 5 began to follow his mentor, but the old doll waved at him. "No, take what we found to the workshop. I will take care of this. 3, 4," he turned to the twins who backed away a bit, shaking their heads fearfully, eyes flickering. "I will not ask you to join me in saving poor 6 from 1's anger, but will you at least help an old doll reach the top?"

The twins looked at each other again, flickering quickly. They then nodded and scurried over, joining him in the make-shift elevator. They both grabbed the rope and began to pull as 5 watched. He sighed as the old inventor was lifted away, shaking his head and pulling the wagon into their room.

At the top the yelling had stopped, only tearing and helpless yelping could be heard. 3 and 4 stayed fearfully in the bucket as 2 exited, making his way to 6's corner. He saw 8 tearing the pictures off of the wall, the purposefully drawn number and carefully scratched symbols. 1 simply watched. The artist trembled and whimpered with every rip he heard.

"What's going on?" 2 asked calmly as he stopped next to 1.

"I have told him time and time again that I don't want him to draw that accursed last number. I have said he doesn't exist, but he doesn't listen. I have had it, and I am confiscating all of his drawings."

"Now, 1, is this really necessary?" 2 replied, putting a hand on 1's shoulder.

The leader immediately shrugged it off. "What do you mean, 'is it necessary'? Of course it is! He is doing nothing more than feeding false hope to the others!"

"False or not, hope is hardly a harmful feeling," the inventor pointed out. "Leave the boy to his drawing. He cannot help what he sees. It does no harm."

1 narrowed the shutters of his eyes at the other old doll. He finally let out a 'hmph' before turning away. "Come, 8. Gather all of the papers that have the last number drawn on it. I do not want to ever see it again."

"Yeah," 8 smirked, picking up the pile. "What'll we do with 'em?"

"What else? We will burn them. Make sure they will no longer exist."

6 let out a desperate cry. "P-please, d-don't!" he whimpered. "N-not my drawings!"

"Now, 1..." 2 began. But the leader cut him off, glaring at them.

"You are lucky it is only the pictures, 6. This is not the first time you have disobeyed me. However, I guarantee it will be the last." He didn't even look at 3 and 4 as he passed by their cowering forms, stepping into the bucket. 8 followed and dropped the papers inside as he grasped the rope, lowering them from the platform.

6 made a miserable sound as he picked up the remaining pictures, shuffling back to his wall and tacking them back up. There were so few left, the tyrant and his thuggish guardian having gotten away with more than just the sacred number he'd repeatedly drawn. They had taken many of the new pictures of the circle with the symbols. At least a few of them had escaped, gathering on the wall again. Each picture was more detailed than the last. While the first was just a circle in three parts, the next had three circles where the symbols would be. Then the next was split into more parts. Then there was another circle in the largest circle. With more time came a clearer image.

"Are you alright?" 2 asked, gently touching the younger stitchpunk's arm. The other shook his head a bit, breath hitching. Stitchpunks were unable to actually cry, but in the appropriate situation they seemed to naturally make the same motions one would while doing so. "There, there. I know it isn't easy to have something you work so hard on taken from you. But things will be alright. You can always make new ones."

6 looked at him over his shoulder, lip quivering. He then turned and all but threw himself onto 2's shoulder, a miserable sound leaving his trembling lips.

"It's alright," 2 smiled, patting his back soothingly. "You will be fine. He will see in time, you cannot help what you must draw."

6 shook his head again, unable to speak with the lump that seemed to form in his throat. He looked up a bit, though, and gasped. "Y-you…" he let go of 2, reaching out and taking a piece of paper the twins held. "You saved one!" he finally managed. The paper was scratched with the last number. The twins smiled back at him. "B-but, why…?"

2 spoke for them, knowing their response would be lost to the artist. He couldn't understand their language either, but he knew the reason well. "It's because they know what it feels like when 1 takes something special from them. I suppose they didn't want you to feel the same emptiness they do when they lose a piece of history."

6 stared at the picture, then at them in wonder. He then smiled for the first time since the humans had been wiped out. "Thank you, thank you both!" he gushed, hugging them tightly. They flickered their response, glad they could make him happy. He moved back to his wall, but then stopped, face falling again. "But if 1 finds this, he'll…"

"He won't," 2 insisted. "At least, he won't find it here."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll keep it in my workshop," 2 offered. "I'll keep it where it can be safe."

"Y-you would do that? For me?"

"Of course. Helping each other is how we can bring joy to our family. If you ever draw something and you think 1 will be angry, never be afraid to ask me to care for it."

"Family?" 6 sounded uncertain about the word. "We're hardly a family…" He gazed at the twins, then at 2, all of which smiled back at him. "A…are we?"

"We are the closest thing we can be to one without blood," 2 assured him. The twins nodded quickly. "And as I said, families help each other. So, how would the three of you like to help me with a project?"

"M-me?" 6 asked. The twins also looked a bit skeptical.

"Yes, you. It's a special project that not even 1 could object to, but I'll need as much help as I can get. And it will take your minds off of 1 and 8."

The three looked at each other then back at him, nodding. If nothing else, they were all curious.

()()()()()()

5 hummed softly to fill the emptiness of being alone in the workshop. He honestly didn't like being alone. It made him feel insecure, unable to function properly without someone to tell him what to do next. He wasn't proud of such a feeling, it was simply how he was created. An impulse he couldn't fight ever since he woke up in the scientist's hand.

5 shook his head, putting down the crossbow he'd been making. It was taking him a long time by himself, but he insisted on doing it without help. 2 honored this wish happily. Nothing had given him more joy than his own first invention, and he loved seeing the same joy in his apprentice's eye.

The shards were arranged neatly on their worktable. It was really his job as 2's apprentice, keeping order in their workshop. Or at least some semblance of it. He looked around at the mess, the materials lying around, the tools out of place. He shook his head and got to work. It helped keep his mind off of the loneliness. As he hung up the tools, though, he couldn't help but notice how long 2 had been gone. Maybe he should… no. It was his fault they had lost the toy soldier; he couldn't interfere again.

"Of all the nerve! Interfering with my judgment like that… has he no respect for authority?"

5 cautiously peeked out of the workshop at the sound. 1 and 8 were walking by, heading toward the entrance to the sanctuary. The burly guard's arms were filled with paper. 'Wait a second,' 5 thought, narrowing his eye to better see. 'Aren't those…?'

"We really gonna burn these?"

"Of course not. I have better things to do with my time," 1 waved the idea off.

"Oh…" 8 sounded disappointed. "What're we doin' with 'em, then?"

"We aren't doing anything. You will take them to the Emptiness and throw them where they will never be seen again."

"Yes, sir," 8 grinned, lumbering on to the outside world.

5 bit his bottom lip, backing away. He clicked his metal fingers on the worktable rapidly while thinking, making up his mind. He had to find out where those pictures were being taken. He had to get them back. It was what 2 would do. So he drew back the cloth entrance to follow. But he was stopped cold. He stood face-to-face with 1.

"Well, well," the leader stepped forward, causing 5 to back up. "Eavesdropping, is it now? Spying on me for 2, are you?"

"N-no, of course not," 5 said quickly. He was forced to stop backing when he hit a wall. "2 would never-!"

"Hmph!" 1 cut him off. "He would never, indeed." He pursed his mouth, thinking carefully how to word his next point. "Now, I want you to listen carefully. I am getting tired of impertinence around here. Tired of people like you and your mentor questioning my authority. Tired of disobedience. So you will not say a word about what you saw or heard to anyone, especially not 2, understand? If I find you or anyone else searching for those pictures you will wish I had you disassembled. Do you understand?" He emphasized the last word by banging his staff into the wall next to the frozen apprentice.

"Y-yes, sir!" 5 yelped, cringing.

"Good," 1 snapped, backing off. He turned to leave, but stopped as the shards on the table caught his eye. "What do we have here?"

5 tried to work up the courage to protect the treasures like 2 cold. But no matter how he tried, he simply couldn't. All he could manage was, "I don't know. 2 found it."

1 picked a clear shard up and scrutinized it. He then huffed, putting it down. "Ridiculous waste of time…" he muttered, leaving.

5 couldn't believe it. 2 was right, 1 had left the new treasures with them. What could they be that even their leader couldn't find anything threatening about them? He picked one up, holding it up to the light. What he saw made him gasp, then smile. 2 had been right on two accounts. These little shards would definitely bring much-needed joy to their home.

()()()()()()

"Hey, guys," 7 greeted as she passed 2, 3, 4, and 6. They had just exited the bucket on the bottom floor, and she seemed to have been heading into it to go up. "It's not often I see you three out and about. What's the occasion?"

"2 asked for our help," 6 answered, clicking his pen-nib fingers together. The twins nodded quickly, eyes flickering curiously.

"Really? With what?"

"It's a surprise," 2 informed her, winking. "Would you like to join us?"

7 looked unsure a moment, looking up to the watchtower. She then smiled, though, joining the group. "Sure!" she enthused, following them to the workshop.

"5?" 2 inquired, pulling back the cloth cover.

"Right here!" 5 replied, looking up from the crossbow he had gone back to working on. "Wow, it looks like you brought everyone."

"Everyone who would appreciate what I have to show them, anyway," his mentor chuckled. "Ah, you lined them up, good." He moved over to the table, putting his cane to the side. He could move around the workshop fine without it.

"What's going on?" 7 asked, joining him. The others gathered around the table as well, 5 putting his project away.

"What are these?" 6 asked, picking one of the shards up. "They look like glass."

"I assure you, while they seem it, they are not quite glass," 2's glass eyes twinkled as they each picked up a shard, looking it over.

"They look pretty sharp," 7 reasoned. "Are they weapons?"

The inventor chuckled. "No, I'm afraid not, my dear. If you tried to attack anything metal with these, they would likely just shatter."

The twins were flickering over one each, looking at each other and shrugging.

"Come now, everyone. Use your imaginations," 2 encouraged, smiling widely.

"If they're not glass, and they're not weapons, I think we give up," 7 shrugged, putting hers down. "What are they?" She turned to 5. "Do you know?"

5 smiled, leaning in next to his mentor. "Actually, yeah. But I found out by accident."

"Well, then, don't keep us in suspense!"

The one-eyed doll shook his head. "Sorry, but it's not my call. Besides, it would be easier to just show you."

"That's right, and in order to show you we'll need wire. If you'll please, my boy," 2 requested. 5 nodded and hurried to their worktable, searching for a moment before finding a small roll of silvery wiring. "Good, good," his mentor smiled as it was placed in front of him. "Now, I'll need you to use the wire-cutters, if you'll please." 5 placed himself at the cutters, which were too large to lift. In order to use them they had propped them up on their side so they could function it without trouble.

"What're you doing?" 6 asked, watching 2 pull a few centimeters of wire out. 5 pulled the top of the wire-cutters up and waited until the wire was in place before pressing it down and severing the piece off. They did this ten times, matching the number of shards on the table.

"We are going to hang those little shards on the ceiling," 2 answered, chuckling at their puzzled faces. "Trust me, this will be quite fun. Now, I need each of you to help prepare these wires. Like this." He showed them how to loop the wire so that the shards could sit in the loop without falling through. 5 found more of the hooks they used to hang their tools, carefully working them into the ceiling. The group then suspended the hanging shards from them, stepping back and admiring their work.

"Okay, so it looks kind of nice, but you couldn't have needed us for this, could you?" 7 asked.

"My dear, sometimes the best surprises are the ones you have to work for," 2 assured her. "5, if you will direct the light, please?"

5 nodded, putting a mirrored cover over the candle that lit the dim workshop. He carefully maneuvered it until the light shone directly on the shards.

"Oh, my…"

"Wow…"

6, 7, and the twins stared in wonder as colors painted the walls. They were patterned and bright, of different sizes and angles.

"They're beautiful," 7 gasped. "But how…?"

"I bet the boys know, don't you?" 2 asked, turning to the twins. They were trying to catch the almost magical patterns with their hands, marveling at their incorporeal state. At the question, though, they flickered to each other for a moment, then shuffled to the space between the light and the shards. 4 pointed to the light, then his metal finger traveled to the shards, which sparkled and shined. "That is absolutely correct. It's the crystals."

"Crystals?" 6 asked.

"Yes," 2 nodded. "These shards are crystals, clear and fragile. They are very valuable to much of the technology humans used." 3 tapped on the metal casing of his eye. "That's right, it is the same technology behind the twins' projectors. I am quite sure there are crystal components in them. Since these crystals are bare, though, they simply project rainbows. I played a bit with such things when I first awoke. I will not bore you with anymore details. I did not bring you here for a lesson in science, simply to show you this wonder. Please, enjoy it while you can."

6 ran a pen-nib finger across one of the rainbows, sighing. "I wish I could draw in such colors."

5 put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. But anything but black ink is near impossible to come by out there."

"Hey, look!" 7 called to them, standing so a splash of color splayed her torso. "You always used to tell me I didn't seem female. How female do I look now?"

They all laughed and played with the colorful refractions, the twins reaching up and batting at the crystals so they swayed and the colors danced. They forgot the empty wasteland outside. They forgot about 1 and 8. And they forgot about the cat-beast prowling the Emptiness.

For a moment, the six dolls were happy.

()()()()()()

1 paced the empty space of the upper floor, trying to ignore the laughter and joy that floated up to him. It was nonsense. There was nothing fun about their situation. And 7 was supposed to be in the watchtower, not playing around with the others like a schoolchild. Blasted, interfering…

"1?"

The leader spun quickly. The object of his internal ranting stepped off of the bucket lift ahead of 8. "What are you doing up here?" 1 practically spat. He trusted it wasn't about the pictures he made sure 8 got rid of. No, 5 was too frightened to defy him so.

"I came to apologize," 2 replied, making his way over. He rested down next to where the eldest was pacing, holding out a crystal he had tucked under his arm. "I even brought you a gift."

1 huffed at it. "Keep your crystals. I want no part of your nonsense."

2 sighed, placing the crystal to the side. "1, I am sorry I interrupted your judgment with 6," he said as 1 continued to pace. "But you are much too harsh on the young ones. This world is already hard for them."

"That is why I must be harsh!" 1 snapped. "This world is cruel! Dangerous! If I am any different they will not survive! They need discipline!"

2 held a hand up in a gesture of peace. "I understand that, but they do not. And you take it much too far at times. I understand you must feel stressed by your position, but try not to take it out on them. 6's pictures did no harm."

"Hmph! What do you know?" the leader approached the frail inventor, looking down at him. "You're just as bad as them. Always going out there when I have warned of the dangers, bringing back things that have no place here. Defying me left and right. I have half a mind to hold you responsible for it all!"

There was silence as they stared at each other, 2 looking puzzled, yet never losing his calm demeanor. "I am very sorry," he apologized again, shaking his head. "I had no idea you felt that way. You must understand, I hold nothing if not respect for you," he continued, standing up and putting a gentle hand on 1's shoulder. "The responsibility you take on, leading us as you do, holds more importance than they have the patience to understand. You protect us all from the dangers out there. If it weren't for you, some of us may have even been lost during the war."

1 put a hand to his chin, calming. Perhaps he had been wrong about 2 all along. "That is all very true. It is a great responsibility I carry."

"A burden, to be sure," 2 assured him, patting his shoulder. "However, you should still take the time to understand those you command. After all, we cannot keep them from who they are."

1 deflated a bit, letting out an exasperated breath. "What do you know about leading?"

2 didn't look the least bit offended, instead chuckling. "Absolutely nothing. That is why I leave it to you."

"Yet you presume to tell me how."

"They are not orders, nor instructions. Simply suggestions." The old inventor patted his shoulder, leaning on his cane and beginning his shuffle back to the bucket-lift.

1 pursed his lips, refusing to be left without the last word. "Tell 7 to return to the watchtower!" he demanded. 2 simply nodded over his shoulder and entered the bucket lift, allowing 8 to lower it for him. The eldest doll sank into where the inventor had been sitting. He picked up the crystal shard and held it up to the fading sunlight, watching the colorful display appear on the floor. For a moment, looking at something beautiful in the newly established wasteland of their world, even he felt a spark of hope. He then scoffed, tossing the crystal into a corner. "Beauty… hope…" he muttered to himself and the empty room. "Nonsense…"