Part 3

7 didn't reply. She honestly hadn't even considered that he might have a different reason. To her his excuse was that he was trying to control her. What other reason could there be? 1 was a control freak and demanding as well as sneaky and short tempered. There couldn't be any other purpose for the way he was. Of course he always used the I'm keeping you safe excuse to justify his actions which is what he did when they argued about it.

1 watched her, waiting for an answer.

"Have you ever considered that the reason I don't want you going outside isn't because I'm trying to control you but because I don't want you to get hurt?"

What exactly did that mean anyway and why should he care if she got hurt? He obviously didn't care when 5 got hurt and lost his left eye. He'd actually told them not to even bother going back for him. What made her so different that he'd say something like that? Well she would think about that later. Right now she had to answer his question.

She took a deep breath then responded with a brutally honest answer. "No," she told him. "I never did. You never gave any indication that you cared, none at all. As I recall you once said you hoped I would get hurt because you thought it would teach me a lesson."

"I wasn't being serious about that," he replied, looking at her but not meeting her eyes. He seemed to be staring off into another time and place."I was angry."

So now you're making up excuses for past behavior? I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time believing you. You can't take that back.

7 could have said it out loud but she chose not to. Instead she held her peace and waited for him to continue. She'd give him the benefit of a doubt but if nothing changed she would give up.

1 seemed to be having a hard time coming up with the right words. Part of him wanted to slap her across the face and tear that pale fabric with his sharp fingers and scream at her and just teach her a lesson for her foolishness but another part held him back. The part that didn't want to see her harmed, the part that had convinced him to bring her in and repair her. The part that showed he actually did care and his words weren't a lie she could pick apart.

"Must you always bring up things that I've said in the past?" he finally asked. "Words hold very little weight in the end."

"Words hold plenty of weight," she responded instantly. "Unlike wounds inflicted physically, the damage words can do take much longer to heal, if they ever do. You never seemed to realize that what you've been saying does not help you in the least but only makes things worse for everyone including yourself."

She was right. What was the saying about the tongue being full of poison? He couldn't remember where he'd read that but it was true in every aspect. If he should tear her fabric she could always have 2 or 5 fix the tear. But if he should beat her down verbally recovery would take longer, if it happened at all. He just now seemed to be realizing this.

1 sighed. Maybe talking to her about what happened wasn't a good idea after all. It wasn't making things better, though he'd been hoping she'd be willing to listen this time.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

He met her gaze. 'I'm sorry." he repeated himself. "This was a mistake."

You got that right. Maybe you thought It would feel different knowing what you did but it's not working. I don't feel anything.

But even though she thought that something made her ask. "Did you really do this?" and she touched the seam on her arm.

He stared at her face a moment then his eyes wandered to the seam. He'd noticed it earlier. It looked fine, as if a professional had done it. Had 2 taken it out after he'd gone and redone it?

That thought brought an unpleasant sensation in his chest, as if 2 had violated something sacred. How dare he...

Suddenly a part of him wanting to make sure.

1 moved closer to her as if he wanted to get a better look at the seam in question. 7 watched him approach, her body tensing as if she expected him to hit her. She was surprised when he instead reached out and touched the seam. His full attention locked on it as if it was something he had never seen before. She felt his hand gently running over it.

For a moment neither spoke. 1 continued to run his fingers over the seam. It hadn't been tampered with. 2 had left it alone though the older stitchpunk couldn't think of any reason why he would. The inventor could have made it much better than how it currently was but 1 guessed 2 had either left it alone because he was trying to do something nice for his friend or it really hadn't been as terrible as the eldest stitchpunk thought and therefore 2 didn't need to change anything. 1 wasn't sure which one it was but he figured it was the latter.

After all why would 2 leave it there just to be nice to him if the seam was bad and likely would limit 7's movements? Even though the other stitchpunk was really kind he wasn't stupid.

I guess it means I didn't mess it up...

7 in the meantime was watching him as he did this, wondering why he seemed so intent on the stitch and also asking herself why she was even letting him touch her in the first place. Maybe it was because he wasn't trying to be hurtful for once and his touch wasn't exactly malicious, it was rather gentle even though he had claws, though she still felt uncomfortable with his closeness.

What's he doing anyway and why didn't he just answer me instead of coming over here and looking at it like he's never seen anything like this before?

"1?' she said.

He stiffened as if her voice had startled him. 1 looked up at her, his expression vulnerable. When he saw her looking at him he he moved away and quickly regained his former state.

"Well did you do this?" she asked him again.

"What does it matter as long as your arm is repaired?" he shot back impatiently. "You should be grateful that it was, especially after what you did and what happened."

It does matter! a voice in her head was screaming. It matters a lot! Why don't you just tell me instead of hiding the fact?

"1," she said, ignoring the voice. "If you did why won't you admit it? Just now you said there was another reason why you tell me not to go out. Would it really hurt you to just be honest with me instead of speaking in a circle like you do?"

1 frowned and narrowed his optics into tiny slits like he always did when he was reaching the end of his patience. She frowned as well, wondering why he was making that face. Had she pushed him too hard on this? Was it a touchy subject? If so, why?

"Well are you going to tell me?" she burst out. "or are you just going to stand there and glare at me like you think I'm prying into your business! You don't think it's my business too, seeing as this is my arm that got repaired?" she touched the seam and winced as if it hurt her. "Or are you going to make 2 out to be a liar?"

He looked away. "No."

"No?" her optics widened. 'No what?"

He turned fully away from her. "Just.." he began. "Just get out of my sight!"

7 opened her mouth to argue but he yelled louder. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

The female stitchpunk chose not to push the matter any further and turned away, heading back to the elevator. "Okay," she said, as she walked away. "But I will find out the truth eventually."


"7!"

5's voice broke into the female stitchpunk's thoughts a short time later after she'd gotten out of the elevator and headed to her own room. When she heard him call her she turned to face him and waited for him to catch up with her. "5?"

When he reached her he hunched over and took a moment to catch his breath before looking up at her and saying. "2 told me 1 wanted to talk to you," he began.

She nodded. "He did."

"Well have you seen him yet?"

"I just finished talking to him," she replied. "Why?"

He looked away. "Well... I..," he paused then said. "I was worried. I thought he might-"

"No,' she told him before he could even finish the thought. "Nothing happened."

He stared at her. "Nothing happened?" he asked. "1 didn't even yell at you?"

"Not really," she said honestly. Not enough to count anyway..

"No?" 5's one optic widened in surprise. "Then what did he want to do?"

"He wanted to talk," she answered. "About the usual thing."

"But if that's true why didn't he yell at you?"

"I don't know," she responded. "He wasn't acting like himself." she looked away. "He just.. Never mind." she continued down the hall. "Do you want talk to me about something?"

"Well," he began following her. "I wanted to make sure you were all right. I mean when 2 asked me to help repair you I saw you had some pretty nasty tears and stuff. He told me you were awake and I well, I just wanted to make sure no permanent damage had been done."

"No," she said, giving him a weak smile. "No serious damage except maybe my pride."

5 was relieved to hear that. He smiled back at her then went back to his former topic. "You mean 1 really didn't yell at you about going out?"

"Not really," she responded, wishing he wouldn't talk about it anymore. "He was upset as always but he didn't threaten me."

"You're right, though, that's not like him," he said. "Do you think there's something wrong with him?"

7 looked away, saying nothing. What could she tell him? How could she explain to 5 about 1's behavior when she didn't understand it herself?

"Have you ever considered that the reason I don't want you going outside isn't because I'm trying to control you but because I don't want you to get hurt?"

If he really did feel that way why hadn't he said anything like that before? What had caused his sudden change? She couln't even begin to figure that out. Maybe she should have pressed the issue more?

5 was watching her, waiting for an answer. "7?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed. For a moment she'd completely forgotten 5 was following her. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I wanted to know if you thought something was wrong with 1," he replied. "Seeing as you said he wasn't exactly acting like himself."

"I honestly don't know what to think, 5," she said truthfully.

A brief silence stretched between them as they continued to walk down the hall. Finally 5 spoke again. "I'm worried."

"About what?"

He shook his head. "Well about you to be honest," he said. "and 1."

"You're worried about both of us? What for?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I just have this bad feeling, that's all."

She put her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and she smiled. "There's nothing to worry about, 5," she said. "If you think 1's going to do anything or vise versa, you shouldn't. We don't get along but I can assure you we're not going to kill each other."

He looked away from her. "That's not exactly what I meant," he muttered too low for her to hear.


1 didn't feel like talking to anyone after his conversation with 7. not even 8 whom he ordered to leave him alone so he could do some serious thinking. The other stitchpunk complied without asking questions which 1 was grateful for.

The eldest stitchpunk sat on his throne made out of a broken communion glass and stared off into space, his thoughts on his discussion with 7. In all honesty he had never intended for the conversation to go where it had. He'd just been planning on lecturing her about going outside again but then she'd gone off on why he'd brought her in and why he'd repaired her and crashed his train of thought.

Why did she have to do that? he wondered as he stared intently at the bell on his staff. Why couldn't she have just allowed me to say what I wanted to say without bringing in the whole incident? What? Does she think just because I did that, things are going to change? That I'm suddenly going to side with her and change my rules? he shook his head. "That won't happen. This is just how things are and if she can't accept them she can just leave.."

Leave? the voice in his head questioned. Why would you want her to leave?

I don't.. I.. I don't know..

If she leaves bad things could happen to her. She could get into a fight with a beast or something else could happen and if that happened you wouldn't be able to sew her up again..

I know that. he sighed. "I don't know what I want."

Are you sure about that?

Honestly he wasn't but he was not about to admit it to anyone. He thought back to the night before when he'd found her outside lying there as if she'd finally lost her soul to something. He remembered how he felt seeing her there like that and a horrible feeling filled his chest.

No, he did not want that to happen to her. He couldn't let that happen. He would do his best to protect her from that, even if she didn't not want or understand what he was doing.

I'm not trying to control you, 7, I'm just trying to make sure you don't die on me. I don't want to lose you or anyone and I've lost enough sleep over worrying about you. I know you won't understand and you'll even think I'm doing this because I hate you but that isn't it and someday you'll understand it... if you would just.. for once... try listening to my side of the story.

He stood and slammed his staff against the floor. Like magic 8 came out of nowhere and looked at him curiously. "8," 1 said, looking him in the face. "I need you to do something for me..."


5 left 7 alone when they reached her room. She told him she was tired and needed to rest so he left her alone after telling her once more that he was happy she was feeling better. Once she was alone she climbed up to the beam where she's laid a torn and dirty piece of cloth down for a bed then lay down on it, staring up at the ceiling. As she tried to fall into a state of recharge her mind once more wandered back to their conversation.

Why wasn't he just honest with me? she wondered. Why didn't he just tell me what he was feeling instead of hiding it? Is he so prideful that the very idea of sharing his feelings make him hesitate?

Then she asked herself why she was even dwelling on it or thinking about 1 at all. Maybe, she told herself, his behavior was so unusual that she couldn't help thinking about it.

She touched the seam again. It still felt like it was burning her. She quickly pulled her hand away and sighed.

Maybe I'm over thinking things, she told herself. Maybe I'm trying to come up with answers that aren't even existent. So what if he brought me in here and so what if he repaired my arm? That doesn't mean he's going to suddenly change the way he is and start treating me with respect! It doesn't mean he's going to let me do as I please! All he did was help me out one time. It doesn't change a thing!

Or did it?

Much as she tried to deny it, some part of her kept insisting this meant more than a simple act of kindness. After all; how often did 1 do nice things for people? Usually he'd play the villain and she was the hero, protecting the others from his wrath. But now...now she felt like the villain.

That's dumb. Why should I feel that way just because he fixed my arm?

Maybe because you still refuse to admit he can actually be nice to people? a voice in her head questioned. Maybe because that simple act of kindness ruins your view of him? You can't exactly think of him as heartless if he did something for you.

One act of kindness doesn't make up for all the terrible things he's done!

I'm not making up excuses. Just try considering it for awhile. It might surprise you.

But she couldn't consider it. It was too impossible. She sighed and shuttered her eyes, curling up into a little ball to get more comfortable. It makes no difference. He might have done one kind thing but... that doesn't mean he won't do something to make that one kind thing moot.

With that thought she fell into a light state of recharge.


5 felt he needed to talk to somebody but since 2 was busy with something he couldn't speak to him. He almost decided to tell his problem to the twins but since they couldn't talk back decided it was a bad idea. The only other options were 1 and 8 and 6, not a very good selection.

I can't talk to ,1 he's the person I want to talk about! he thought. and I can't discuss things with 8 because he always agrees with 1.

That only left 6. Hopefully the seer hadn't decided to go upstairs and draw in his usual corner. Even if 6 wasn't exactly there most of the time he did tend to listen to people's problems... or at least 5 convinced himself he did.

But as luck would have it 6 had decided to work on his art in another place. 5 found him sitting under a broken pew working on something. "6?" 5 said.

6 looked up as if startled. When he saw 5 he quickly covered the picture he was drawing with a blank sheet. "5?" he said, cocking his head. "I.. yes?"

"Can I talk to you about something?" he asked him.

6 looked startled, as if people talking to him was uncommon, which it was. The only times anyone spoke to him was when 1 was punishing him for something or when 2 wanted to see his drawings.

"M-Me?" he asked confused. "W-what do you want to talk to me about?"

5 hesitated. What exactly could he tell 6 anyway? That he had an uneasy feeling lately that something was about to happen between 1 and 7? That he was uncharacteristically being protective of her? Why was he so upset that 1 was talking to 7 in a more civil fashion anyway?

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hmmm?" it was obvious from 6's expression that he wanted to get back to what he was doing. "Yes?"

"Do you think.." he paused. What exactly did he want to ask him anyway? "Do you think 1's been acting strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... 7 told me what when she went up to see him he didn't do what he usually did to her," he replied, pacing. "She said he just talked to her and then said she could leave..." he looked at 6. "Do you find that kind of odd?"

6 didn't respond. He thought about 5's question for a moment. It did seem out of character seeing as 1 usually was yelling at somebody but then again it didn't. 6 glanced briefly at his pictures then looked back at 5. "I... I don't know,..."

5 went on. "I don't even know why I am feeling the way I do about this," he replied. "It's not like he's trying to hurt her or anything.. it's just that I well.. I feel as if there's something going on and I don't like it.."

6 nodded slightly. "Do you like 7?"

What kind of question was that?

"Why are you asking me that?" he inquired.

"I don't know," the black and white striped stitchpunk replied, dipping his hand into an ink bottle. "Forget I said anything."

"Okay fine," 5 blurted out suddenly. 'I do like her. I like her a lot."

"..."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

6 shook his head. "Nothing.. nothing is wrong..." he turned away from 5 and started drawing.

5 sighed. So much for talking to 6 about this. It was obvious he wasn't going to focus on the issue for very long. "Thanks for listening anyway," the one eyed stitchpunk said before turning away.

6 paused for a moment and watched 5 go. he frowned to himself then turned back to his drawings and pulled out the one he'd hidden. I'm sorry 5... but you might want to... not entertain those thoughts too much..

A/N

I'll end it here... 6 is kind of hard to characterize. He REALLY required more screen time.