Nine had no idea how long they'd been running for. The only thing he knew was that if they were caught they were going to be in trouble. He honestly wasn't too sure what would happen. Part of him wanted to hope they wouldn't be killed, but if they were it wouldn't surprise him too much. Hopefully they would just get locked in the room again. He didn't want that but it was better than death.
The room was tiny. It had copper colored walls with a hard tile flooring. There were no lights in the ceiling either, if you were in there the only light you would get came from the cracks in the door. There was hardly any room to stretch and you couldn't sleep properly on the hard floor. You had to curl up into a ball just to lay down without your head and feet hitting the walls. It was also freezing so being thrown in there in only a thin gown was torture.
Nine hated that room. The worst thing about it wasn't even how uncomfortable it was. The worst thing about the room had nothing to do with physical discomfort. The real reason the room was so bad was because of the quiet. You can only be left in complete silence for so long before your mind goes haywire. You start thinking you hear or see things that aren't there. Then they leave you there for who knows how long, with only the occasional water bottle being tossed in. Maybe a sandwich if you were in there long enough.
He remembered the first few times he'd been put in there. He never knew how long he was in there but he can remember begging to be let out for what had to be hours, if not longer.
That's why Nine always tried to do what he was told. He didn't want to be punished. The last thing he'd ever want is to dissapoint Papa, even though it seemed like that's what he did most of the time. Nine couldn't help it though! He really did try, he just wasn't always strong enough. Maybe he was physically, but not mentally.
Sometimes Papa asked him to hurt animals... Nine couldn't do that. It felt wrong and even Papa's disapproving face didn't do a whole lot to change his mind.
Papa used to say he was too sensitive. Nine guessed that he was right. He could remember the few times where he had ignored the guilt he felt and just did as Papa asked. He'd always cried afterwards.
Nine shook his head. He didn't want to think about them right now. If everything went well then he would never have to deal with them again but in order for everything to go well he needed to be ready for anything.
Nine glanced over at the girl next to him. Her name was Eleven and they had known each other for as long as he could remember. Her hair was shaved off, just like his, and Nine could still see the remnants of blood on her nose from earlier. She looked a little pale but Nine didn't know if that was because of her using her powers or from the knowledge of what they'd just done. He knew she was probably in even worse shape than he was. Nine's powers weren't super useful in their escape. He couldn't do the same things she could. Her powers were good for most combat situations, and while Nine could still help his weren't always the best for fighting.
He was still proud of what he could do, though. His powers may not be good for every fight but they were still very useful. Papa had told them both they were, 'special', and should use their powers to do good. Nine always thought that was weird. He said to use them for good yet the things he wanted them to do didn't feel right.
Nine and Eleven kept running. They didn't want to chance getting caught by stopping but they also didn't know where they could go. Their escape wasn't planned. Besides, even if it was they had never been outside before. How were they supposed to know what to do?
After a while they both turned their heads to look behind them. The bad men's lights had faded so much that they could no longer see them. Nine and Eleven glanced at eachother before they both slowed to a stop next to a tree.
The pair sat down with their backs to the trunk and tried to catch their breath. They had run so far away from the lab that it was no longer visible to them. Nine glanced around. It seemed like it was just the woods for miles! He could just hope they could last till daytime without being found. Then may be it will be easier to find something. He assumed there had to be people nearby somewhere. If there wasn't then they were screwed! He doubted they could find anyone to help them but they had to get food and if there were people then there would be food. If there wasn't people though... well, Nine would deal with that problem if it arises.
Nine's thoughts were cut off by the feeling of something rolling down his lower right arm. Nine glanced at it and saw that he had a small vertical cut. It wasn't deep enough to do any real damage but it did draw quite a bit of blood. He must have been cut while crawling through the pipe they used to get out of the lab. He knew that was most likely the case since some of Eleven's gown had been torn while in there. Nine sighed and debated on what to do. He could heal it easily but he had to get rid of the blood first.
Nine lifted his leg and grabbed the bottom of his gray gown. He ripped off a small piece of the fabric and did his best to clean it off. Once he got all the excess blood off it he set the fabric down and held his hand gently over the cut. He ignored the feeling of Eleven's eyes on him as he concentrated. Doing this was practically second nature to him at this point but he didn't want to risk using more than he needed to. Especially not right now. He needed to save as much energy as possible to fight in case they were found.
He closed his eyes as he felt the energy pouring out from his palm and into the cut. It was a calming, albeit odd, sensation. He opened his eyes in time to catch the last glow of green seep into the spot the scratch had been. Now, instead of the small wound, there was just his skin.
He turned towards Eleven who still had her eyes locked on him. She tilted her head to the side looked questioningly at him in a silent, 'Are you okay?'.
They had both gotten good at having conversations with just their facial expressions over the years. It wasn't that they couldn't talk. They may not have a big vocabulary but they know enough to have a basic conversation. It was just that neither of them were big talkers to begin with. Not to mention they couldn't always say what they wanted to in front of Papa. So, instead they learned to speak without speaking.
Nine gave her a small nod before looking at her the same way. She bobbed her head at him and gestured to her arms to show that she wasn't hurt.
They sat there for a little longer just waiting to see or hear someone. When Nine looked over at Eleven he could see how exhausted she was. Nine tapped her shoulder to get her attention. When she turned to him he patted the space next to him.
"Bed." He whispered.
Eleven shook her head. Of course she would be stubborn. He knew she was scared they'd get caught but it was important they stayed in as good of shape as possible. If they fought while tired then they'd be less likely to win.
"I'll watch. You can sleep." He insisted.
She eyed him skeptically before giving in. He kept look out as she layer down next to him. He didn't know how long it would be till the sun came out but he prayed they wouldn't be found before then.
——————
Nine woke Eleven up as the sun started to rise about 2 hours later. Thankfully, the night was peaceful besides a small scare. Nine had heard rustling from somewhere near them just a few minutes after Eleven had went to bed. He couldn't see what was causing the noise and had almost woken Eleven up before he found out what was making the noise. A small brown animal raced out of the leaves and down the trunk of a tree just a few yards away from them.
The animal had a large bushy tail, a white underbelly, and two small black eyes. He made eye contact with it before it chirped at him and ran up back up the trunk of the nearby tree.
Nine was glad he hadn't woken Eleven up for that. He wondered what it was. Nine had seen a few animals before but never whatever that was. It seemed harmless though so he didn't think about it too much.
The duo looked around now that they could see clearly. They still couldn't see any buildings so they decided to just continue in the opposite direction of the lab.
They didn't walk for long before they saw something. To their right they could see smoke rising into the air. They decided to go look and see what it was. This could mean they're finally nearing a place with people!
It was about a five minute walk before they spotted what the smoke was coming from. It was a small white building with a dark gray roof. There was a car parked in front of it so there had to be someone there.
They slowly stepped towards the place to try and get a closer look. The leaves crunched softly beneath their bare feet as walked. Nine hoped that whoever was here wouldn't spot them. The last thing they needed was more trouble. Hopefully they would be able to find food and then follow the road in front of the building. That should lead them somewhere useful.
Suddenly, the back door to the small place opened and a man walked out. He was heavy-set with a beard, a mustache, and a bald head. He had on a long sleeve dirty white shirt and jeans. Wrapped around his jeans was a long white cloth that covered him in the front from his hips to his knees. Nine wondered what that was for.
The man carried a black bag over to two shiny cans. He lifted the top off of one of them and threw the bag inside. He sat the top back on before turning around and going back inside.
Eleven and Nine stared intently at the door. It was definitely a risk to go inside but they didn't have much of a choice. They couldn't just stay in the forest forever.
Nine pursed his lips as he reluctantly began walking towards the building. He could hear Eleven follow after him and slowed down to match her pace.
When they finally got to the door Nine pressed his ear to it. He could hear faint music from somewhere inside but he didn't think there was anybody directly on the other side. If there was somebody there then they were being oddly quiet.
Nine peered over at his friend. He gestured at the door with his head and looked at her inquisitively.
Eleven studied the door for a second before she gripped the handle. She carefully twisted it and pushed the door open. Once it was wide enough to fit her head inside she stopped and scanned the room. Nine tried to peek inside from his spot behind her. He didn't see anyone but they knew that man had to be in there somewhere.
Eleven turned back to look at him before heading in. Nine quickly followed. He didn't close the door all the way as they walked away. It was probably better for it to be left like that so they could escape quicker if they needed to.
The room wasn't lit very well but they could still see fine. It was covered wall to wall with shelves stacked with different foods. Nine felt the stress leave his shoulders. There goes one problem.
On the other side of the room was another door. The duo wasted no time walking over to it. The door had been left open and gave them a view into the main room of the building. As they got there they could see tables set with people sitting down around some of them. Just then the man from earlier walked towards a table where two men were sitting with something in his hand.
"Alright, and one more! There ya go."
"Hey Ben, what you think about that uh... Arthur kid?" One of the men at the table asked. He had white hair that was covered by a green cap and a matching beard.
"Hey, I don't know. I don't know."
"I don't know, man. Thirty seven points per game average!"
"Thirty seven now, but..."
Nine and Eleven turned away from the talking men and went through the two big doors next to them. Inside was a room that seemed to be filled with big silver appliances. Nine had no idea what any of this stuff did. One of the walls had a big rectangular gap in it. When you looked through it you could see the main room.
He continued examining everything until Eleven tugged on his sleeve. He turned to look at her and she pointed at a small basket with paper in it that had been left. They walked over to it and checked inside.
Nine didn't know exactly what was in the basket. It was thin and yellow, but one thing was for sure. It smelled like food.
The two tentatively grabbed a piece of the mystery food and took a bite. Whatever it was, it was good. They glanced back up at the man from earlier and made sure he wasn't paying attention before they started shoving handfuls in their mouths.
Nine hadn't realized how hungry he was until he actually started eating. He felt like he hadn't eaten in days. He could tell Eleven felt the same by how fast she was eating.
"Hey!"
Nine's head shot up. Staring at them from the other room was the man from earlier and he looked mad. The other people there all gaped as they realized what was happening.
"Come here!"
Nine quickly grabbed the basket with one hand and Eleven's hand with the other. He raced back the way they came and towards the back door with Eleven right behind him.
Just as they were about to escape the man grabbed Eleven by the arm and pulled her back. This caused Nine to also get yanked back close enough for the man to grab him too.
He turned them to face him and held them tight so they couldn't run away.
"You think you can steal from me, boys?" He raged.
The man's face softened and he stopped talking and looked the two kids up and down.
"What in the hell?"
——————
Nine and Eleven sat at one of the tables in the big room from earlier. Everyone else that had been there left. Now it was just them and the man. He was in the 'kitchen', as he called it, making us food.
Nine was surprised that he started being nice to them after he had caught them stealing. He didn't really understand why the man would do that but he also wanted the food so he didn't ask.
When the man came back out he gave us some food. It was a piece of brown meat in between some weird type of bread. Apparently they were called burgers. Honestly, Nine didn't care what they were called. As long as he got to eat he was happy.
"Geez, your parents forget to feed you?" The man asked them as they dug in. He had sat across from them after he'd given them their food.
"Is that why you ran away? They, uh... They hurt you?" He asked. Nine studied the man in front of them as he ate. He didn't like that he was asking so many questions, especially since he couldn't really answer them.
"You went to the hospital, you got scared, you ran off, you wound up here. Is that it?" The man wondered. Nine desperately hoped this guy would just stop talking. Instead of answering he chose to pick at the bottom of the new shirt he was given.
The shirt was a bright yellow and had a picture of a burger with a flag on it. Under the picture it read Benny's Burgers. Eleven had on the same thing. Nine briefly wondered why this guy had two of the same shirt but he brushed it off as nothing. In the lab they were given these gray gowns with darker gray spots. That was all they were allowed to wear. It was probably something like that, Nine figured. Although, the gowns they were given never had any colors or pictures on them so it felt weird to be wearing something so bright.
The man sighed and leaned forward in his chair.
"All right." He reaches towards them and grabbed the burgers out of their hands. He sat them back in the small baskets they came in and scooted them back towards him. Eleven and Nine's eyes were now glued to him.
"I'll give you this back, all right? And you can have as much as you want. All right? Maybe even some ice cream but you gotta answer a few of my questions first, all right?" The man demanded. "We got a deal?" He asked.
Nine could tell he was getting upset at not getting a response but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell him about the bad men. Who knows what they'd do if they found out.
"All right, let's start with the easy stuff, all right? Here," The man held out his hand towards Eleven. "my names Benny. Benny Hammond."
Eleven stared at his hand before glancing up at him. Benny seemed to wait for some sort of reaction from her and when he didn't get it he turned to Nine. He moved his hand away from Eleven and reached out towards him instead.
Nine's eyes flicked between Benny and his outstretched hand, not quite sure what the man wanted. Benny let out a breath and reached for him.
"It's like this." He grabbed Nine's wrist and instinctively Nine tried to pull back.
"Hey, I got you. Don't worry, it's okay." Benny reassured.
Nine cautiously let Benny grasp his hand. Once he calmed down Benny shook his hand up and down.
"Nice to meet you, yeah? And you are?"
Nine didn't respond. Benny, who was clearly getting a little frustrated, let go of his hand. However, before Nine could stop him he grabbed his other hand and turned it over so he could see his wrist.
On Nine's wrist was a small black tattoo that read 009. The bad men had given it to him and he had it for as long as he could remember. That's where he got his name from.
"Nine?" Benny's eyes squinted in confusion as Nine jerked his hand away.
"What does that mean?" He interrogated. Nine refused to say anything. Benny turned back towards Eleven who also had pulled her hands away from the table.
"What's it mean?" He asked again.
"No." She whispered. Nine's eyes shot to her. He didn't think it was a good idea to talk to this man at all. He just wanted to get food and go. The longer they stuck around the more likely Papa would find them.
"Well, I'll be damned. She speaks. No? No what?" He encouraged. Neither Nine or Eleven spoke.
Benny sighed and stood up, grabbing the baskets of food.
"Alright, I guess no more food then." Just as he was about to walk away, Nine spoke.
"Nine." He called out. Nine knew this wasn't the best idea but they needed food. He hoped that if he told Benny his name then may be he would give it to them. Hopefully he wouldn't ask anymore questions either. Then they could sneak away once they were finished.
Benny turned back to look at him.
"Yeah, what's it mean?"
Nine tapped on himself. "Nine." He repeated.
Benny's mouth closed as he processed the information. Then he turned to Eleven.
"And you?"
Eleven glanced at Nine and he nodded. She slowly shifted her gaze back towards Benny and held up her wrist to where he could see it.
"Eleven?" He questioned. The girl nodded. He was quiet for a minute as he stared at the two. He seemed to contemplate what to do before he sat the baskets back down.
"All right, then. Here you go."
Nine and Eleven wasted no time, immediately grabbing the burgers. Benny chuckled as he watched them.
"Take it easy, take it easy."
——————
Benny went back to the kitchen after a little bit. Nine didn't know what he was doing and in the moment he didn't care. He was finally getting to eat and that was all that mattered to him.
Nine looked up as he heard a scratching noise. Just a few feet away from where the two were devouring their food was a fan. It was long and silver and the top of it moved from side to side as the fan blades spun.
Nine, who was getting irritated by the scratching noise, looked at Eleven. She seemed to be ahead of him though, as she was already staring at the fan. She tilted her head down and narrowed her eyes as she gazed at it. The fan suddenly started rattling and the noise increased until it turned to them. The second it faced them the blades halted and the sound stopped.
Nine could feel the air stop flowing and gave Eleven a small grin in thanks. She returned the favor and the two went back to peacefully eating their meals.
——————
Nine and Eleven were now back in the kitchen and sitting on one of the counters in the room. Benny, who was washing some plates, had given them a cold treat that he called 'ice cream'. He gave Eleven the strawberry one and him the chocolate one.
Nine was liking all the new foods he was getting to try. Back at the lab it was always bologna sandwiches and water. He didn't think he'd ever want to eat bologna again if he could have all this stuff instead.
"You like that ice cream, huh?" Benny spoke up. The pair glanced up at him.
"Smile looks good on you." Nine's face morphed into confusion. He looked at Eleven but she looked just as clueless.
"You know, smile?" Benny looked between them before 'smiling' as a demonstration.
Nine finally understood what he meant and smiled back at him. Benny just laughed and turned away from them.
All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door. All eyes went to the door. Nine and Eleven looked back towards Benny who eyed them nervously.
"All right, just sit tight. Whoever it is, I'll tell them to go away real quick, all right?" Benny reasoned as he took the cloth off his shoulder and wiped his hands on it. He sat it down next to the sink then started making his way towards the door, Eleven and Nine's eyes never leaving him.
The knocking on the door started again before he could reach it.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." he mumbled.
Nine tried to listen in on the conversation as Benny opened the door.
"Hey, can I help you?"
"Hi, you must be Benny Hammond." Standing outside the door was a woman. She had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked to be somewhere around Benny's age.
Nine didn't like this woman. There was something off about her. He tried not to panic as he tensed up, preparing for the worst.
"Yeah, I'm afraid I am. I'm afraid we're closed for the evening too, so try tomorrow morning." Benny was about to shut the door when the woman cut him off.
"Connie Frazier. Social Services."
"Ah, social services. My apologies, I didn't expect you so soon. That's a heck of a drive."
Social services? Nine had never heard of that before.
"Not too bad this time of night."
"Yeah, hey listen. I haven't told them you were coming yet. I didn't want them running off again, they're a tad skittish."
"Children I work with usually are." She smiled.
"Right, right."
"So, where are they?"
"Right, they're in the kitchen. Come on up, I'll introduce you." Benny opened the door and stepped out of the way so Connie could enter. Benny took the lead again as he started leading her back.
"Thank you."
"Sorry, again, for trying to turn you away there."
"It's fine."
"You know, it's funny, your voice sounds different on the-"
Nine watched as the mysterious woman pulled out a gun from her purse. The second Benny turned around she shot him, stopping him from finishing his sentence.
Nine gasped as Benny's body dropped to the floor with a hard thud. He quickly turned to Eleven and grabbed her hand as they both made a dash for the exit. He could hear dishes fall and shatter as they did so. They burst through the kitchen door and right as they got into the room with the back door, two armed men came through. They were blocking their only exit.
With no choice but to fight back, Eleven took on one man and Nine took the other. Nine reacted on instinct, glaring at the man on the right as he took control of him. He could see the man's eyes glaze over as he did so and he forced the man to turn his gun back on himself. Nine closed his eyes when he heard the gun shot and the sound of a neck snapping. He opened them again, eyes avoiding the ground where the two men lay, and ran out the door into the night with Eleven right on his tail.
——————
They had been running for who knows how long now. Nine hadn't really been paying attention, more focused on trying to escape than anything.
He felt awful about what happened to Benny. Nine may not have trusted him at first but he seemed nice. He treated them better than any of the other adults he'd ever known. He wished he could've reacted in time to stop that woman, Connie, from killing him but it was too late. She shot him in the head and Nine couldn't exactly bring back the dead.
To make matters worse, it had started raining after they left. Now they were scared and freezing. The shirts they had on now may be better than the gowns from before but they still weren't very helpful.
Nine didn't know how long it would be until they were found again. His head whipped around desperately as he tried to find a safe space in the dark. They needed to find a place to hide and fast.
Unfortunately, Nine was so focused on trying to find shelter that he didn't notice the voices up ahead.
So when he and Eleven suddenly went from running through the forest to staring into the face of three boys shining lights in their eyes, you could say he was a little more than just caught off guard.
——————
A quick question to anyone reading this, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on when they wanted the gang to come in.
In order to line up with the show the most they would need to come in during the time period of season 2 but if I change a few things they could come in during season 1, if that's what people wanted.
I'm conflicted on which one to do so I figured I'd see if anyone else had thoughts on it.
Other than that, I want to thank everyone who's given me feedback, I love seeing what people have to say about this. It's my first time actually publishing something so I like knowing if there's things I could improve on. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! I finally decided on Nine's powers and was excited to have him use them. Until next time, baiii!
-Merce
(P.S. writing down the dialogue for these scenes made me realize just how many times Benny says, "All right".)