MHP: Cold Rains, Chapter 5

Tethys stared up at the Movie House through the waning sprinkles of cold rain. He was once again frozen, but this time it was different, this time he had a fire burning at his core; a fire that had feuled his whole miserable trek back. But the thought of 95, his Leetle locked in a box, hidden away and scared and….

Tethys steeled himself and stepped out from behind the wrecked automobile he'd hidden himself behind while he'd decided how to approach the Movie House. He'd eventually just decided to put his hands up and approach slowly, making no sudden moves and no attempt to disguise or hide himself. He'd hoped this would prevent them from harming him…or at least, from harming him too badly.

No sooner had he walked ten steps than he heard something whistle through the air and a searing pain rip through his shoulder, followed by a loss of feeling in his left arm. He cried out, his body jerking back at the impact of the toothpick arrow that had suddenly sprouted out of his left shoulder, just above his chest. The end was feathered with tufty bits of fluff, and he dully wondered, as he sank to his knees, what it was tipped with. Was it tipped at all, or had 38 just sharpened the end? He kept his right arm raised, but no matter how he tried, he realized, with mounting terror, that he could not lift the left one.

"NEXT ONE'S IN YOUR HEAD!" the female twin cried from just in front of the sign still advertising 'It's A Wonderful Life'. Life didn't feel too wonderful right now. Tethys breathed heavily and looked up, rain dripping down the front of his optics. His mohawk was wilted, and the flame in his middle was starting to dampen with the pain. His sight began to dim as he felt a bit of metal press against his chin and lift it up.

The purple warrior-woman narrowed her optics as Tethys struggled to meet her gaze, a furious mama-bear stare boring into Tethys's eyes. She raised her knife slightly, pressing the edge against Tethys's throat. "Where. Is. My. Daughter."

Tethys blinked slowly, then stammered, "I-I do not know."

He felt his heart leap as she snarled and planted the knife in the ground, but it swiftly plummeted as she backhanded him across the face, hard. He'd heard that her limbs were reinforced, that she was easily the strongest person there when it came to brute strength, but he'd never truly believed it until he felt the sting of her metal hand against his face. It felt like a punch, and it sent him reeling into the mud, his arm flopping uselessly beside him.

"Oh!" He heard someone else gasp, then a small pair of hands were gently gripping his shoulders, helping him to sit up. "Come on," the girl whispered, helping him to sit up. Tethys blearily flickered his eyes open again, releasing a small whimper as he caught the gaze of a small, white, square-opticed stitch girl. She stared at him intently. "How badly do you hurt?"

"Ooh," was all Tethys managed to get out before gratefully leaning into her, just wanting to pass out and let everything go away.

"Σmily, move," 56 said harshly, wrenching her knife out of the ground and flipping it over in her hands. "Tethys and I have unfinished business."

Σmily said nothing, only cradled Tethys's head in her hands and murmured, "Please stay awake. I'm going to help you. I need you to stay awake, though." She turned around. "Mags, darling? Can you help me out?"

"Mm!" the patchwork stitch hummed, trotting over and heaving Tethys up in his arms.

"What are you doing?!" Fox roared, having just made his way down from the sign, his mate and 5-6 hot on his heels. The children were obviously all clustered inside around 27. "Jus' leave him!"

"I'm with Fox," 56 bristled.

"Why not?" 39 shrugged. 38 raised her eyebrows at her twin, shocked at his callousness.

"We can't just leave him here!" Mags quipped, hefting Tethys up further and traipsing back into the Movie House, Σmily trotting behind him.

5-6 dithered for a moment, then followed them as well, wringing his hands. "An' where d'yeh think yer goin'?" Fox demanded.

5-6 looked at him, then quickly straightened up. "I fix things," he said simply. "It's my job. Besides, why would Tethys come back? With his hands up and without hiding? He's very good at hiding, you know that."

"Maybe we should see what he has to say," Σmily whispered before disappearing into the Movie House.

Fox twisted his mouth in consternation, considering what the two stitches had said. 38 leaned over, wrapping an arm around his waist. "They're right," she murmured. "And besides, he's injured, and he has no leverage, this time. It's eight against one. Why not see what he wants?"

"He'd best not want anythin'," Fox growled. He paused, then huffed out a small sigh. "But all righ'. We'll see wha' he says. Maybe he can take us ta 95."

"And maybe he can't!" 56 spat, her optics still burning furiously. "Maybe he's just here to taunt us! He doesn't know where my daughter is, he told me that, and, and—"

"56," 39 murmured, pulling her into his arms. She stood there for a moment, stiff, then released a small sob and held him fiercely, allowing her terror and stress from the previous day to finally show through. 39 tilted his head and kissed her cheek, murmuring, "We'll find her. And having Tethys here is the first step towards that."

"I just want to kill him," she sobbed.

"I know. But you're not that kind of person."

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not." He held her at arm's length, offering his own small, tired smile. "We'll get her back. And Tethys can take us to Bunny."

"I will kill her," 56 said firmly.

"No, yeh won'," Fox spat. 39 looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I will."

56 stared at her sparring partner for a moment, a silent battle going on between the scarred warriors, then nodded and sprinted inside, quickly followed by the others.

5-6 looked over from the sickbed brick, an admiring, somewhat incredulous smile on his face. "38, have I told you what an incredible shot you are?"

"Not lately. Why?"

"You hit a bundle of wires. Severed a few of them. We're lucky we have electrical tape, or he might never use his arm again."

"Vhat?" Tethys demanded, horror in his eyes. He still seemed bleary and out of it, fighting to keep awake. The arrow had been removed from his shoulder, and 5-6 had made an incision through the small hole it'd already made so he could wrap the wires.

"Relax, we'll fix it," 5-6 said reassuringly, fully in his doctor's persona. "In the meantime, I might suggest thinking of a good reason why you're here."

"I have one!" Tethys replied desperately, jerking upright. He hissed in pain, doubling back over and reaching up to grip his shoulder.

"No, no, let me fix it," 5-6 murmured, forcing Tethys's hand away. "You just be quiet."

Tethys nodded and sat in silence, not daring to meet the intense gazes of the clan around him. 5-6 worked quickly and deftly, his long fingers uniquely suited to the delicate wiring work that needed to be done. In about fifteen minutes, he'd completely repaired the wiring. "Okay, flex for me."

Tethys did so, lifting his arm and wiggling his fingers, one at a time. "Good as new," he said with a small smile, finally looking up at the ridiculously tall stitch. "Vhy did you…?"

"I'm the doctor around here," 5-6 said with a smile. "And I saw the way you looked at 95. You couldn't do any harm to her even if you wanted to. What was it she called you? Big?"

"Da," Tethys sighed, looking back at his knees and fidgeting. "I am her Big. She is my Leetle."

"Well, if you care," 56 said, her voice shaking as she stood her ground in front of the mohawked stitch, "if you care so much, then why did you take her?! Why did you bring her to Bunny?!"

"Because I love her," Tethys choked out, looking up at 56 pleadingly. "Please. I know…I know I made a mistake. But Bunny, she is my mate. I have to do vhat she vants. Ees how love vorks."

39 stared at him for a moment, then snorted and crossed his arms. "That's not love."

"That's vhat Leetle said. I don't…I'm not sure who to believe." He looked imploringly at Fox, the only person who might know Bunny better than he did. "She rescued me. She took me in vhen no one knew me. Let me love her."

Fox paused, then said, "Did she love you back?"

"She took me in," Tethys said slowly, tilting his head in confusion. "Dat…ees somethink, da?"

"Yeh feckin' moron," Fox sighed, running his hand over the scar on his face. "I always though' yeh were jus' malicious. Nope. Yeh're a moron."

"Not such a moron," Tethys muttered, looking back down at the ground.

"You don't know what love is," Σmily said softly. Mags wrapped his arms around her and made burbling noises as he nuzzled her shoulder.

"Vell, everyvone says different tings."

"Sweetheart, can you come stitch him up?" 5-6 called. "You can leave the kids, it's safe."

"Thure, you thay it'th thafe," 27 chided, coming over from the display case and flicking his fingers open to reveal the multitude of sewing tools. "But what if he'th got, I don't know…a bomb or thomething?"

"No bomb," Tethys said with a weak smile. 27 narrowed his optics, studying Tethys's face as his hands worked on the shoulder. "I'm here to help you."

"Give uth one reathon to believe that." 27 snipped the end of the thread forcefully.

"I'm here. I'm here and I'm unarmed and I'm alone. I have nothing to wager against you now, and everytink to offer. I—I'm askink a lot."

"Yes, you are," 39 said ponderously. "But…I think you're also telling the truth."

5-6 sat beside him and placed a hand on the non-injured shoulder. "Love isn't just taking every scrap of affection you can from anyone who will offer it to you. And neither is it becoming so enamored with someone that you won't see their flaws. Sound familiar?"

27 got on his tiptoes and kissed 5-6's cheek. "I jutht have no flawth, that'th my problem."

"Problems, that's what the crux of love is," 38 said, speaking up for the first time. Fox looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Love is seeing the other's problems, and knowing they're not perfect. Love is finding someone whose problems you want. Fox is somewhat cold, and I know that."

"An' yeh're too much of an optimist," Fox said with a smirk. "But we love each other anyways."

"I've seen you inside and out," 5-6 said gently, squeezing Tethys's shoulder to draw his attention back. 5-6's eyes were boring into Tethys's very soul, causing him to squirm uncomfortably. "Your fabric is thinner in some places. And your wires are stripped in others. I can wrap those up for you, but I need to know: she's been hurting you, hasn't she?"

Tethys struggled for a moment, his hands jerking in his lap, before finally biting his lip and looking down. "She—she loves me."

"No, she doesn't," 5-6 murmured, reaching over and tilting Tethys's face to look at him. "Tethys. You're not a bad guy. But she's twisted you, hurt you. Do you know how many times I've hit my family? The answer is none. Because I would never…never hurt them. When you love someone, you want to keep them safe from harm."

"We can't let you go back to Bunny," Σmily protested, quickly biting her lip back as soon as she said it. "We—we can't let him go back there."

"Nyet!" Everyone turned to look at Tethys, who was looking at them in need and…fear? "Nyet, I must go back. But I have a plan to get de leetle vone back." He sighed, steeling himself. "You offer a trade. A stitch for de child. Vone for vone."

"That's awful," 38 said, her brows drawing together. "How can we offer one of us for 95? It's an impossible choice."

"Vhy do you tink I'm here?" Tethys said with a sad smile. "Exchange me for Leetle."