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angelofrainfrogs · 9 months ago

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Into the Pit: Ch. 4

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: He should be in the Daycare.

Gregory emerges from the ball pit to find not the bright, rainbow room he’s accustomed to, but a house with a huge backyard and a kiddie pool of plastic “water.” Calling for Gregory is a familiar voice—Michael. Only this time it’s not Charlie or Freddy by his side, but someone completely new. And why do they insist on calling him their son?

Gregory soon comes to realize this existence is vastly different from anything he remembers. Perhaps these last few weeks at the Pizzaplex have all been a dream…?

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Without fail every time they visited the Pizzaplex, after family check-in Gregory’s goal was to immediately find Freddy and say hello. Even if he had other plans for the day, the kid made sure to track down the huge bear and at least give him a quick hug before scampering off. It was endearing, and Mike was grateful that Freddy seemed to love Gregory just as much as he did. Whether this was because the kid was technically an Afton or simply because he spent so much time with the animatronic was anyone’s guess, but no sane person would deny that the robot seemed to have a soft spot for the little ball of energy.

Gregory led the way at first, though as the crowds started to spill back in he deferred to Michael’s side and let Liz take the lead. Eager to be free of the tiny workshop, her pace was fast and direct while she headed towards Rockstar Row. The area was just as Gregory remembered, with the Glamrocks’ rooms lined up neatly. All the curtains were open except for Freddy’s, and there was a sign outside the plush red velvet that read:

SORRY! FREDDY IS RESTING, BUT WILL BE BACK ONSTAGE SOON!

It was Evan who knocked on the door, seeming nearly as eager to see the bear as Gregory. Despite his horrible fear of animatronics as a kid, he’d grown to love them—especially as their designs became friendlier and friendlier.

“Fredbear, it’s Evan and some of the family!” the man called, and a heavy shuffling could he heard in the room.

“Come in!” responded the deep, familiar voice. Evan obliged, opening the door just long enough for the family to squeeze in before guests saw and thought they were getting special treatment.

There standing in the center of the floor was Glamrock Freddy, as shiny and pristine as the day Gregory first met him. His smile was as warm as a robot’s could get as he catalogued today’s visitors, and of course his focus was immediately directed to the sole child of the group.

“Gregory!” he exclaimed, kneeling down and holding his arms out for a hug. “It is so good to see you, superstar!”

It was him, just as he remembered from his dream.

“Freddy!” Gregory found himself shouting, careful not to call him Dad. Still, the urge persisted even as Gregory fell hard against Freddy; the stalwart mechanical bear was a steady rock in an ocean of uncertainty right then. Gregory knocked hard against the bot, deriving a loud “Aww!” from his Aunt Liz as he flocked quickly to his idol.

She hoped that Gregory never got too old for these characters. His love for Freddy never failed to bring a contagious smile to her face, watching as Gregory nestled in before remembering exactly why they came here to begin with.

Pulling back after the short but intense embrace, Gregory sighed with relief that the bear seemed pretty much the same overall. “Boy did I miss you, Freddy…”

Then, it was down to business. Hopefully Gregory could start getting some answers around here.

“Are you feeling okay? Notice anything weird?” he interrogated, scrutinizing every slight flex of the emotional responses he saw in Freddy’s eyes and ears.

“I am feeling wonderful; thank you for asking!” Freddy replied brightly, still crouched to speak on Gregory's level. His incandescent blue eyes tracked the boy's movements as normal, and they flicked up to Michael when he bent at Gregory's side.

“I hear you got a big software update,” Mike remarked with a grin, examining him with the same ferocity his son was. “Sammy asked us to check in and make sure you're doing good.”

“Your concern is greatly appreciated,” Freddy replied, not minding the scrutiny in the slightest. Looking back to Gregory, he added: “I am not sure what you define as 'weird,' superstar... but I did receive an alert regarding a security threat in the Daycare earlier, though Roxanne and Monty seem to have taken care of it.”

“Yeah, irate parent.” Michael stood, shrugging with a little huff. “We got it sorted, so no worries.”

“Ah... I am sorry you had to deal with that.” There was a beat of silence, until Freddy reached out a blue-clawed paw to gently push Gregory's choppy bangs out of his face. His head tilted curiously, looking the boy up and down with an appraising gaze. “Gregory... are you feeling alright? My health scan indicates a mildly elevated heartrate indicative of anxiety.”

Too late, the bear realized Gregory might not want to go into that topic—although at least Freddy stopped before mentioning the word “nightmares.” The boy had confided in him many a time about his dreams, and since they weren't a direct, physical threat to his well-being Freddy didn't feel compelled to share all the details with his guardians. It was no secret they talked, but still... Gregory had explicitly said he didn't like bringing the topic up around anyone but his dads, and here he was mentioning it with Evan and Liz in the room.

Ah, well. He was just a robot after all, and even the most advanced AI can err.

Michael did say it was alright to be honest. Gregory was around people that understood him and his situation. Everyone already seemed to know he was a little different...

“No, my heart feels like it's gonna explode. I've been really anxious all day.” That was the shortest explanation he could give. Hopefully, it would take suspicion away from him and his sudden bout of amnesia. Gregory laughed; it was humorless and unconvincing to his parents and the guardians around him. “I woke up inside the ball pit in my backyard after a REALLY long nightmare...”

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence on his part, the façade of calm shortly fading before he fumbled for the little robot on his belt loop. “Look though! Pappy gave me this little guy! I'm gonna call him Ditty.”

He held the spider-like musical bot flat in his small palms. The little guy shimmied slightly and played a midi tune while waving to Freddy, and Gregory desperately hoped the little bit of good news would mask how fucked up he was really feeling.

Jeremy looked to Michael, unsure of what to do. Gregory was indeed acting strangely. “Greg, let us know if you need to take a minute to yourself... I'm worried you're gonna get a burnout today.”

It'd happened before: Gregory trying to take on the stress of socializing and having full-on panic attack without either his or Michael's knowledge until he was deep in the throes of stress. It was painful to watch and sometimes even harder to get Gregory to talk about what set him off. Though it certainly gave Jeremy a bit of hope that he'd feel alright, given he mentioned this nightmare he had. Even if he didn't go into details, even just admitting it was a huge step.

“I-I'll be fine, Dad. Promise,” Gregory assured, holding Ditty tenderly in his mitts, careful not to squish or restrict his free movement as the little music man played a sympathetic score for him. Ditty wasn't big like Freddy; all he could do was hug his thumb to show his support.

“Hey, trust me, kiddo—” Evan smiled down at Gregory with a hint of worry deep in his eyes. “—the worst thing you can do is hold it in or not take a second to breathe. Remember how I told you I used to get scared all the time?” He shook his head, glancing to the floor with a far-off gaze. “I can't tell you how many times I tried to push past it and just ended up crying on the floor...”

Sometimes, Evan's honesty was jarring. The adults all knew about his past, of course—Michael and Liz lived through it, and Jeremy absorbed the information through stories and osmosis of being tied to the Aftons for 20-odd years. Evan found that the connection with Gregory, though admittedly not a fun one, made it easy to understand what he was going through to a degree. If he could help his nephew in any capacity when it came to emotional setbacks, he'd jump at the chance.

“...What Evan's trying to say is don't bottle it all in, okay?” Michael clarified after a moment, running a hand through Gregory's hair. “We're always here for you.” His eyes drifted to the large animatronic and he couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle. “Even Freddy. You can turn off Papa Bear mode, Fred—he's going to be alright.”

“Ah... I apologize if my focus was unnerving,” the robot stated, finally getting back to his feet. He'd been watching Gregory intently, analyzing for further signs of distress. Bad dreams weren't nearly as easy to treat as bruises—Moon would be the best animatronic for consolation regarding that topic. Regardless, Freddy still knew a few ways to comfort a child, and a topic change was a good one. With another bright smile, he held out a claw for Ditty. “That is a wonderful little invention! May I hold him for a moment?”

It wasn't Gregory’s intention to worry anyone, and while that was partly why he was apprehensive to tell them much, he had to talk at some point. The boy bit his tongue, feeling the distinct and sudden sting of tears about to break. Against Evan's advice, he held it all in after hearing Michael's words.

Papa Bear...

“Yeah… Yeah, here hold your palm out flat. There you go, Ditty...” Gregory offered the little man up for Freddy to take. The mini musician scuttled into Freddy's palm immediately, waving his teeny arms at him to get his attention while playing an entirely new midi. Toreador's March chimed through his crystal clear speaker.

Gregory watched the two interact out of the corner of his eye, leaning into Michael with a half-buried face as he knew he wouldn't be able to hide emotional distress from Freddy's ever-watchful sensors. It was hard being a priority sometimes. It meant he couldn't hide.

Maybe his uncle was right. He needed the issues to come into the light to stop feeling so badly.

But how do you explain a dream so messed up, it incepted your very memories?

Briefly surprised, Gregory pointed out: “Oh that's a new song...”

Michael didn't hesitate to lift Gregory up and hold him against his chest, one arm underneath to keep him stable and the other wrapped securely around his back. Most thirteen-years-olds would cringe at the thought of their parents holding them like this, but Mike was secretly grateful Gregory didn't mind. The day he refused to be picked up would mark a turning point that meant he was growing up, and Mike didn't know how in the world he was going to deal with that.

When the little music man started playing a new tune, Michael huffed a laugh that shook Gregory slightly in his arms.

“Oh my god... one of the earlier Freddy models used to play that,” he explained, watching the robot with interest.

“Oh yeaaaah,” Evan drawled, vaguely remembering the pizzeria Michael referred to. “That was one of Fredbear's idle songs, right? Man, I swear dad never forgets anything those guys performed...”

It was nice how William's gift brought back little memories for each other them. Charlie found herself sighing contently at the music. “Yep—that's a classic...”

It was such a long time ago. The older models long-since retrofitted with newer AI to keep up with the popularity of the Pizzaplex. Still, their old vintage charms never escaped the grownups even now. Charlie could almost hear the music box at the prize counter, Grandfather's Clock perpetually stuck in her head given how long she stayed by her Puppet's side.

Elizabeth watched in awe at the teeny marvel. Looking to Jeremy, a devious little smirk slid across her face. “Still have that fear of Music Man, Jer?”

“No way!” He laughed, albeit sounding nervous when Liz didn't look quite convinced. Ditty was fine! It was the big fella in the West Arcade that made him nervous. Looking to Gregory now, he told their kid: “We don't talk much about the old locations. We should try to find our old photo albums later! That'll jog some good memories of the place.”

Gregory was previously under the impression that working for any of the old locations was a complete nightmare. The things Evan told him were few and far between, but with Michael to constantly remind him that it was a surprise to everyone in the community that their family was never run out of town from gross incompetence shocked him to his core.

Grasping Charlie's arm, Liz asked her: “Wait—remember when our dads got into that screaming match in the back parking lot at Fredbear’s?”

Holding her friend back, Charlie's eyes went wide. “Oh my GOD! Yes! Our moms made them hug it out!”

William and Henry liked to yell at each other. It usually wasn't for real, as they both would just get equally excited about things that annoyed them mutually. Though their mothers hadn't exactly liked them screaming in front of the kids, so in an effort to seem more “normal” they had the two CEOs hug it all out instead. The two made it a point for the next week to hug in front of their wives, much to the poor women’s annoyance.

“Your mom was fed up!” Charlie reminisced, showing Gregory just how warped his perception of everyone was in his dream.

“They’re ridiculous,” Michael agreed with a shake of his head.

Freddy, who’d been completely content to listen to the family reminisce, used the lull in conversation to hand Ditty back to Gregory. “What a sweet new friend; be sure not to lose him!”

Just then, a chiming jingle issued forth from Evan’s pockets. He pulled out his phone, making a face with a muttered “Uh-oh” as he checked the caller ID. “Hey, Cas—”

“Evan, I love your little gremlins but will you please come get them before they melt my ears off?”

Faint screeching could be heard in the background, and Evan winced at the distinctive sound of his triplets annoying the crap out of his best friend. Even the others could hear despite the lack of speakerphone, as evidenced by Michael’s brows shooting up to his hairline. When with their parents, Evan’s kids were little angels. But when they were with a babysitter…

“Yup, noted; on the way asap!” Evan responded, clicking off the phone before Cassidy could gripe at him more. He was already going to get an earful in person. Looking to the others, he gave a short laugh. “Heh… guess that’s our cue to get moving. Bye, Freddy!”

“Goodbye!” the friendly bear waved, and everyone wished him well in succession. He saved Gregory for last, gently ruffling his hair with that happy grin. “I will see you again soon, superstar—please do not hesitate to visit anytime you wish!”

Gregory was preoccupied with clipping Ditty back onto his belt loop. It was jarring to be taken away from his friend so quickly, but his cousins were growing impatient. Though Gregory wasn't sure how much he'd like hanging around little kids so much… He hoped June was more around his age.

“Bye, Freddy!” Gregory called, grasping onto his father's shoulder as the group made it for the door. Alas, there was no time to ask Freddy about what was happening in his life. The visit was over so fast because of Cassidy's distress call. She could clearly only take so much babysitting before Evan's kids took over Mazercise with their overwhelming hyperactivity.

As they approached Chica's noisy attraction, Gregory grumbled and buried his face hard into Mike's shoulder. “It's loud in there.”

“You don't have to stay in there long if you don't want to. Just let us know where you're going, got it?” Jeremy said, reaching up to pat Gregory’s shoulder. It was fine if he wandered off, so long as he could find Gregory after he left.

They’d barely opened the door to Mazercise before Evan was set upon by a group of three identical children. The Afton genes were strong, since—unbeknownst to Gregory unless he remembered looking in old photo albums—the kids were nearly a spitting image of young Michael… meaning they also shared quite a bit of William’s looks as well.

“DAD!” they cried in unison, nearly bowling Evan over with the force of their combined hug. He’d preemptively braced himself, feet locked in position as six hands tried to wrap around his waist.

“Hi, munchkins!” Evan greeted warmly, wrapping them in a bear hug. With an apologetic smile, his eyes lifted to Cassidy meandering nearby. “Thanks again for taking them, Cas. Hopefully they weren’t too much to handle…?”

Gregory had looked over the various kids. Oh man, how was he going to tell the difference between them? They were all nearly identical and with the way they all swarmed Evan, he couldn't keep track of them as they circled their father like hawks. Cassidy, with her messy black hair set up in a curly low bun and hands on her hips shook her head at her friend.

“Not yet! Glad you came when you did, though; I couldn't hold them back for much longer,” she laughed, rolling up the sleeves of her loose-fitting top as she said her hello's to the group. Judging by the bags under her eyes, she was getting pretty tired and needed the well-deserved break from babysitting.

When Gregory was caught in Cassidy's stare, he immediately knew what was coming. Despite the obvious age difference, there was no doubt the snippy girl was going to pick on him—

“Evan's clone! Good to see you, buddy,” she subverted, smiling sweetly at Gregory. It made him want to question her and everything he knew all over again.

Who the hell are you and what did you do with Cassidy?! his mind screamed. Would Cassidy turn out to be sort of nice were she not a vengeful spirit? In a strange way, Gregory would almost rather she picked on him at least a little bit, even if his feelings weren't going to be spared.

“Hey, Cassidy,” Gregory greeted, cut off as he felt something poking his dangling leg. A girl with dark hair and a face full of freckles stood beside him, nudging Gregory to get his attention.

“What are you doing all the way up there?” she asked, somewhat annoyed. The girl’s tone was muffled, mouth full of candy as the stick of a lollipop stuck out from the corner of her lips. It was clear who she was without anyone even saying: this was Charlie's daughter, as she was the spitting image of his friend when she was much younger and closer to what Gregory knew.

“Uh... It's got a nice view?” Gregory said, managing to bring a smile to June's face.

“Well, get down here. You don't get to be taller than me yet,” she scolded, a playful smile forming over her candy-stained mouth. She seemed fairly nonthreatening; the way she spoke to Gregory sounded as if they’d been long-time friends.

Gregory poked his dad now, queuing for him to let him down to say hi.

“You just wait, June,” Michael teased as he set Gregory back on solid ground. “One day you’re going to turn around and Gregory’s shot up like a beanpole.”

Jeremy couldn't stand the thought. One day their son was going to be just as, if not taller than himself. Another sobering reminder that he was quickly growing before their eyes, along with the rest of the tikes in the family.

“Don’t remind me of that possibility,” Evan remarked with a slightly pained expression. “That means it could happen to these ones, too…”

“Daaaad!” the sole girl whined, tugging Evan’s pant leg. Now that greetings were over, it was time for business. She stared up at him with hands on her hips not unlike Cassidy—perhaps Evan’s bestie was more of an influence than she realized—the little brown pigtails tied under her ears bouncing as she talked. “Theo and Teddy said I couldn’t play golf with them ‘cause Monty said I suck!”

“Tabitha! You know we don’t use language like that!” Evan chided in the age-old lilt of an exhausted parent.

“But they said it first!” the girl insisted, to which the boys shook their heads vehemently.

“Nu-uh!” Teddy and Theo countered. “Monty told us! He doesn’t want Tabby playing with us anymore!”

In response, Evan could only sigh and massage the bridge of his nose.

“Look at him,” Jeremy whispered, leaning into Mike. “One bad PTA meeting away from totally losing it.”

While Gregory was trying to figure out which triplet was who, he was slowly let down from his dad’s hold and relinquished to June. She was short for her age, and like her mother she had unique, smiling Irish-green eyes. After popping the lolli from her mouth, she silently offered it to Gregory without so much as a glance. Gregory looked to her, confused for a moment until June gave him a questioning look. It silently begged to know why he didn't grab the thing from her. When Gregory finally got the memo, he looked to the grape-flavored treat and shrugged.

Now was a time, as good as any, to get over his fear of cooties. He ended up shoving the sugar stick into his cheek and attempted to act cool about it as June leaned in to hug him.

“Sorry I wasn't here Wednesday. Band practice was a freaking nightmare,” she whispered, not wanting her mother to hear her pseudo-cusses. Gregory, still holding nervous energy inside him, spoke with a shrug.

“It's whatever. I wasn't trying to hang out with a whole lot of people anyways,” he remarked nonchalantly, like he knew what she was talking about.

“One of those days?” June questioned rhetorically, not needing a real answer. She was understanding in the way that best friends were, her mental wavelength usually matching.

Though... There was certainly something off about Gregory today. He was more nervous than usual for sure.

Nearby, Evan was desperately trying to convince his kids that Monty did not, in fact, play favorites and would certainly never tell someone they sucked at golf. The triplets weren't having it though, snapping at each other like Chihuahuas until Evan suddenly proclaimed:

“Alright, I think it's time for a little sibling break!” With a strained smile, he grasped Tabby and Theo's hands, walking them over to the other Aftons. “Tabby, sweetheart, you hang with Uncle Mike and Jeremy for a little bit, okay? Theo, you go with Aunt Liz. Teddy—stop climbing the stage!”

Evan had whirled around to see the youngest troublemaker attempting to scale the stage while his back was turned. Grabbing Teddy's hand tight, he narrowed his eyes sternly. “You're staying with me for a bit. Uh—” He glanced at his siblings, realizing he'd yet again signed them up for impromptu babysitting. “—that okay? They just need to be split up for like half an hour, then they'll chill out; sorry...”

“It’s fine, Evan,” Michael chuckled, keeping a tight grip on Tabby's hand as he could already feel her start to pull away. Looking to Gregory and June, he raised a questioning eyebrow. “You guys want to check out another attraction? The bowling alley usually isn't that crowded this time of day.��

He was more than happy to look after part of Evan's brood, but his own son was top priority. Gregory seemed overwhelmed again, so Mike figured a relatively relaxing time at the bowling alley would be a welcome change.

...Plus it'd give Jer a chance to sneak in the back with Gregory and make the famed kitchen-sink-slush for them to enjoy in secret.

Cassidy could be seen smirking at it all. Evan was the one that left her alone with what she would affectionately call 'crotch goblins' when out of earshot from the kids. She did love them—but in the fun loving Aunty way. There was obviously a priority for their fun and safety when she was on babysitting duty, though there was only so much she could take. Seeing how her friend was already at his wits end, she would stick with him. Theodore was being a little instigator today and was working up his siblings.

“Theo—be good for your dad and I'll get you something nice later,” Cassidy remarked, which seemed to grab the laser-guided attention of his siblings. Before they could start, she pointed to each of them with both her hands. “That goes for you guys, too! You will be good and you'll all get surprises. But if one of you acts up—” Cassidy clapped her hands together to provide emphasis. “—nothing!”

Going to Evan, she was recognizing that iconic Afton glare in his eyes. The hard look usually deterred most children from acting up... Unless it was their own flesh and blood. The triplets called their dad's bluff constantly.

“Easy, Evan,” Cassidy warned, touching a light hand to his bicep. “You're getting the scary eyes...”

Overhearing this, Charlie would chuckle lightly in passing. Scary eyes. She hadn't heard that nickname in years. Not since the last big meltdown that William had at Fredbear’s before he moved management... Coming over to her daughter, Charlie saw that June had given up her lollipop to Gregory and made a face.

“Gross guys. Gross,” she remarked, a hint of a smile peeking through the cringe. Like she hadn’t shared food with Michael over their younger years, sometimes to a questionable degree. Jeremy looked between them and laughed raucously.

“It's just germs! No worries.” Jeremy was laid back about it, even if it was just a little gross.

Gregory popped the candy out self-consciously, but managed to answer Michael. “I could go for some bowling.”

To which June replied with a nod as Tabitha joined their flock. Ditty clapped his tiny hands, excited to make more friends on his first day of being powered on.

“That settles it—meet in the Daycare in an hour?” Michael suggested, looking to the group. If the kids still had energy, who better to help burn it off than the Daycare attendant? By the time they returned naptime would be well over, so Sun should be wandering around ready to pull more kids into his fun and games.

“Sounds good.” Evan nodded, his face softening from the “scary eyes” he really couldn't keep up no matter how hard he tried. There was a reason his wife was usually the disciplinarian... he caved far too easily when it came to his kids. “Call me if they're trouble—we'll have to give Aunt Cas a report at the end of the day.”

“I'll be good!” Tabby insisted, her hand shooting up in the air to wave frantically. Whatever the promised surprise might be, she wanted it.

“Me too!” Theo insisted, while Teddy nodded vigorously with a hum of affirmation.

“Let's get a move on, then!” With a gentle tug, Mike urged his niece forward. He held out another hand for Gregory in case he wanted to take it, though his attention was diverted as Tabby suddenly gasped and jerked him slightly in excitement.

“Uncle Jer!” the girl exclaimed, thankfully still walking forward despite her clearly trying to make a break for the blonde. “Guess what?! I beat Theo and Teddy at laser tag yesterday! I was on a different team, so we were hiding but trying to find each other and then Teddy found me and he was like pew pew! But he missed, so it was my turn and...”

Michael couldn't hold in his snort as the kid started to ramble, recounting her story to the group but looking mostly at Jeremy while she spoke. It was easy to tell the favorites, especially when they were young—clearly, out of the Fitz-Aftons the Fitz side was the winner in Tabby's book.

As she rambled, Gregory looked to June who walked in quietly besides her friend. When she caught him glancing over, she would flap her fingers and thumb open and closed while mouthing “Bluh bluh bluh...” Playfully mocking the rambunctious cousin.

Charlie diligently nudged her daughter to tell her to knock it off. The damage already was done, and Gregory had to shove the lollipop back into his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Sometimes, June joked around far too much. Though now that she was a teenager, the boundary pushing was getting worse. She was starting to take on a rebellious streak that reminded Charlie far too much of Michael in his younger years.

“Wow...” Jeremy concluded, looking down with an impressed eyebrow raised high on his forehead. “You must be some kind of sharp-shooting space cadet, Tabby! It's a good thing you're in our group, then! Who knows what danger we'll run into?”

Gregory held in his opinions about the dangers of this place, finding himself scoffing quietly under his breath as they all went merrily along to Bonnie Bowl. Crowds parted for the first portion of their trek. However, the group did not anticipate the highly sought after and prized plushies going on sale in one of the many retail shops on the way. The patrons swelled, standing and crowding the aisle...

Gregory glared at the large crowd, then refused to move his feet. No way was he going over there. Big, lumbering elbows like that were unpredictable. You could get stepped on! Or elbowed.

Or taken right from plain sight.

He remembered that dream; the way it first started with him watching Freddy and the Glamrocks performing. How Vanny, still looking like a helpful security guard at the time, came and tried to lure him away just like she’d done for all the others. How Gregory had run for his fucking life when he’d caught that evil glint in her eye.

As his family walked, sure that he was holding onto someone's hand, Gregory's thoughts were pounded by intrusive flashbacks.

It was in fact Michael Gregory managed to get ahold of, and therefore it was Michael who noticed him stall like a car that'd run out of gas. For a second, they were nearly pulled apart by the crowd and Tabby's insistent tugging right towards the center of the build-up—but then Mike managed to pass her along to Jeremy with an appreciative smile and slip back to Gregory's side. He didn't say anything as he hoisted his son up and made a beeline for the backrooms. Gregory hating crowds was nothing new, and as Jeremy and Michael reasoned earlier that day, surely the Saturday rush would get to him at some point.

And so, without fuss or drawing extra attention, Mike carried Gregory to the safety of the employee-only areas for a little breather. Rubbing soothing circles on Gregory's back as the kid clung to his shoulders, Michael remained quiet until they were in the blessed sanctity of the closest security office.

“Whew!” Mike breathed, locking the door and sitting down heavily in one of the swivel chairs. He allowed Gregory to rest in his lap, spinning in a slow circle with a little grin. Hopefully his son wouldn't pay attention to the obvious concern in his eyes.

“I don't know why we keep trying to come on Saturday,” he mused, stilling the chair only to scoot closer to the computer monitor showing a few nearby security feeds. This office was tiny and had a limited range of cameras—the perfect place to hide without worry of being bothered. “I've gotta either get Sam to stop asking me to help on my days off, or start charging overtime...” He hummed thoughtfully, glancing down at his son. “I'm thinking overtime—more money means more fun stuff we can buy, right?”

Gregory had already been pressed so many times today about whether he felt okay. The last thing Mike wanted to do was prevent him from talking by showing over-concern. His son would open up in his own time, as long as Michael was patient.

Gregory was indeed snatched away, but not by any stranger with ill intentions. Michael charioted him from any perceived danger and took the utility hallway to the nearby security rooms—a place that had always felt safe for Gregory. He relaxed visibly, a long sigh escaping him as he finished the candy in his mouth. The danger wasn't far from his mind on top of everything else, but being here for a clam moment with his father was just fine.

“Sam doesn't pay overtime?” Gregory asked, finding that surprising. Maybe this version of Sam was a little more frugal considering all the family members he was employing. Experience or not, the nepotism was real.

Gregory shook his head; that wasn't really what he wanted to talk about. Instead, in a low voice he murmured: “Dad? I don't think I'm good...”

Still keeping him on his lap, Michael held Gregory out by the shoulders. Now that they were alone and without fear of family barging in with another exciting thing to do, Michael could really look at him. To his relief, his son didn't appear to have any physical injuries. He'd really started to get worried that Gregory bumped his head, but a hand through those shaggy locks didn't reveal any concerning lumps.

His face, though... never before had it been so haunted. The look in his eyes was far beyond Gregory's almost-thirteen years, and—

Those eyes.

Michael thought something was off about them earlier, but he'd chalked it up to a trick of the light. A gentle inspection by turning Gregory's head from side to side proved that this wasn't the case. Somehow, they were a strange, practically glowing silver.

“...Okay.” Michael's tone was calm, despite the screaming in the back of his mind. He'd never seen something like this before. Did Gregory even know? It seemed like he could see perfectly fine, so clearly this wasn't affecting his vision... “Okay. Can you... tell me anything that feels wrong? I need to know as much as I can so I can help you best.”

Gregory was fine with his father's seemingly routine inspection of his face. Though the moment Michael locked eyes in his, he realized what exactly he was trying to deduce.

Were Gregory's eyes always like that? the boy could practically hear him think. It raised alarm bells in his head. If he didn't always look like this, then his dreams may have been more tangible than he previously thought...

“It's my head—my memories...” Gregory tried to explain, blinking away the feeling of harsh scrutinizing. “Dad, my dreams were so bad I can't remember anyone here... It's so scary; I-I remember you, and Charlie and Evan but—wrong. Same with the others!”

Balling his fists in his lap, Gregory used the pressure to keep himself from shouting from the frustration he felt. What horrible thing had he done in a past life for the universe to keep messing up this one?

“I'm so confused... I-I don't know what to do.”

The crease in Michael's brow deepened the more Gregory spoke. He'd had some horrendous nightmares before—ones that woke him up screaming or left him shaking in a near-comatose state until one of his dads rushed in to soothe him. That first year of Gregory's adoption had been rough... but since then he'd been steadily improving. Each day was a little better. To see Gregory fall so far back because of one fucking dream was deeply distressing.

Michael tried his best not to let it show, but he knew he was doing a horrible job of it. If not for that startling thing he'd just discovered, he could chalk this all up to a flashback or emotional regression—something they could deal with in time. It may take another round of intensive therapy, but they'd gotten through it before and they'd get through it again.

And yet, there were those eyes staring back at him, silver and almost pained.

“I... I wish I could give you some answers, Gregory,” Michael admitted. He took a deep breath, trying to center himself. “I wish I could reach into your head and see what you're going through so I can understand. But... all I can say is that this is your life. This is your family just as they've always been, and even if you're a little confused please don't doubt that we all care for you deeply.” He shook his head, huffing in frustration. “I wish I could fix this all with a snap of my fingers, but the best I can offer is to take you home and let you spend the rest of the day in bed if this is too overwhelming.”

He'd certainly be calling the shrink for a second opinion while Gregory was resting, too.

Gregory breathed out through his nose and leaned his head on Michael's shoulder. The only reassurance was that his family would still care about him no matter what which reality was the true one.

“Okay...,” he muttered with some acceptance, knowing there wasn’t much else he could do.

In the end, he would trust Michael. The man was one of the only few people Gregory could truly rely on in the short list of family. And, though he’d never got the pleasure of meeting Jeremy in his dreams, the blonde had swiftly been added to that list.

“...I love you,” He reminded Michael. Wires crossed in his brain, slowly accepting the reality while trying not to think of his fucked-up dreams. This was real; that glitched Pizzaplex wasn’t. “You and Dad. Both of you are really good to me. I appreciate you guys a lot...”

Gregory had no clue if he ever spoke to them so candidly before. He blinked slow, glowing eyes at Michael as he calmed down in his hold.

“We love you, too,” Michael reassured, a smile breaking through as he rubbed a thumb over Gregory's cheek. “So very much.”

Gregory had said things like this before, though they weren't as common nowadays as they used to be. He'd taken time to adjust, of course, but once he realized that Michael and Jeremy did love him unconditionally, Gregory had been eager to return the affection. With the years together came more silent ways to show they cared for each other, so the phrase I love you wasn't uttered as much—especially in recent times as Gregory entered the dreaded preteen years. It was so nice to hear those words again, and Michael could feel a few tears well up in his eyes before he could stop them.

“Ah, shit...,” he murmured, swiping the liquid away with his sleeve. Then he froze with a guilty expression, quickly telling his son: “Uh... don't use bad words, Gregory. And don't tell your dad I said that.”

Gregory's eyebrows silently raised for his hairline at Michael's curse words. Apparently his sailor mouth was a habit he’d never grow out of. As a ghost, Michael didn't exactly encourage this way of speaking, though he never scolded Gregory for any harsh language displayed between them.

Now that his nerves were eased some, Gregory could joke with his dad. Laughing, he attempted to haggle for a deal. “I won't tell Dad you cursed, but I get a freebie later.”

“Mm... okay, but you can only use the freebie when it's just you and me,” Michael haggled right back. “Don't want Jer lecturing both of us...”

Michael’s phone chimed with a notification that rumbled in his pocket. Jeremy and the crew had landed at Bonnie Bowl and his husband so delicately inquired:

Did you guys split to go take a leak?

Mike snorted at the eloquent text. With a chuckle, he typed a response while saying to Gregory: “Your dad sure has a way with words, kiddo.”

Greg got overwhelmed by the crowd so we hid in a backroom... doing better, but he's overstimulated so gonna take him home soon

He sent the message, then paused when he realized Jeremy was in fact their ride—or at least, the keys to the ride were currently in Jeremy's pocket. Thankfully, Jer had the message open, quickly replying as he laughed to himself at the Bowling alley.

Good luck hot wiring the van boo

Not wanting his tone to sound facetious, he then quickly offered him a better solution to get home.

How about I get our slushies and drive us instead?

Obviously that choice was a decision placed solely on Gregory’s shoulders. All things considered, with Gregory’s inability not to trust anyone so easily until they’d proven their dedication to not attempting to kill or maim him in one way or another, he should naturally fear Jeremy. Yet Gregory found himself unable to be wary of the man. Jeremy was easy-going; a man of naturally calm aspect—and nurturing on top of that. Clearly Michael found something good enough in him to marry the dude, which meant a lot in Gregory’s book.

“Yeah! I mean—” Gregory laughed, almost feeling silly that Mike had to ask such a question. “—he’s my Dad. He’s gotta come back with us…”

He was unwilling to leave Jeremy behind now. His presence was welcome, despite being an unknown variable.

Sounds like a plan, babe; meet u at the car

Michael sent the message while chuckling at Gregory's comment. “That's very true—if we left him here, Pappy would have to drive him back and I still don't like the thought of those two being in an enclosed space together for more than five minutes...”

Locking his phone and slipping it back in his pocket, Michael once against lifted Gregory into a secure carry. “One more trek through the crowds, then its home free.” He walked them to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob to check in once more before they set out—and to offer a warning. “I'm about to hone my years of high school track to get us out of here at the speed of sound... Ready?”

Gregory laughed at this. Opening up really did help; he just needed those words of affirmation to push through the hard feelings. And while he was being hoisted into Michael’s protective grasp yet again, he couldn’t help but think of his dreams.

Maybe in his own brain’s interpretation of Pappy, he’d pictured his grandfather’s and Jeremy’s bickering as something more extreme on William’s end. A murderer and betrayer of their family. That obviously wasn’t the case in real life; this delusion was something carved from nothing more than misguided, deep-rooted anxiety.

…Probably.

“You got this, Dad. I’m just gonna—” Gregory folded his face into Michael’s shoulder. He didn’t care to see the judgmental masses as they ran by, though he was ready now for whatever came their way.

Outside, the afternoon sun was beating down on Jeremy. Cold drinks were safely inside the van with the AC gently blowing over them as he waited for any signs of his family in the crowded car park.

“Aha—target spotted!” Michael announced once they'd entered the harsh glare of daylight and caught Jeremy's blonde hair shining like a beacon. Still keeping up the fast pace, he made it to Jer in a matter of seconds. Mike wouldn't admit he was winded, though it'd been a long time since high school track...

“Hey!” he greeted, pressing a quick kiss to Jeremy's cheek. Gregory had lifted his head to look around by this point, and with a grin Michael lowered him to peer into the car. “Seems like you're getting that slushie after all, huh?”

“Whaaat?” Gregory asked, leaning away from Michael to glance through the tinted windows. Sitting inside the little family van along with two identical slushies was a rainbow concoction: a menagerie or flavors layered but not stirred, meant to be enjoyed by those who favored variety in life. His mouth watered at the sight.

“I couldn’t leave my two favorite guys hanging!” Jeremy laughed. Unlocking the van and sliding open the door for Gregory, he lifted their son from Michael’s arms to aid his winded husband. “I’m making grilled cheese when we get home.”

He figured the kid would be pretty hungry by the time they got back as well. He was happy to see his son’s face light up with the simple phrase; Gregory did look like he was feeling better! But it was still evident to Jeremy that the boy must’ve been crying, judging by the strange glossiness to his eyes…

Apparently, Gregory just wasn’t ready for Saturday’s at Freddy’s yet.

The drive was spent mostly in silence, save for the sound of slushies sucked through straws with reckless abandon. When they finally parked at the house, Michael was quick to let Gregory out and usher him inside, noting the boy definitely seemed better with the drink in hand.

“Greg, you wanna hang out in your room for a little bit while we get sandwiches ready?” he suggested with a knowing look in his eye. Perhaps going through some of his old things would jog the kid's memory...

Too bad Gregory tried that before with minimal success, though Michael didn't know this. Really, Mike wanted a second alone with Jeremy so he could fill him in on the situation. He was glad Gregory trusted him so much, but this was a lot to deal with on his own... and since their son expressed his trust of Jeremy Michael felt it alright to give him at least an overview on what was happening.

That's right, Gregory still needed to go through all those notepads and papers he found... He hadn't even touched the locked journal under his bed yet. It would give him a chance to reacquaint himself with the world around him. Whatever dissociative spell came over him might be lodged loose with some help from his own personal thoughts and feelings.

“Yeah, I need to chill for a second. Thanks for the slushie, Dad!” he told his caretakers. The drink was halfway full, he'd have to hurry and drink the rest before it became a muddy brown color from the melting flavors.

Gregory was mindful of no running in the house rule, though the sugar certainly helped his mood and begged for him to move his legs. Before he could fully walk away, Jeremy grasped him around the back of his shoulders and hugged him tightly. Much to his pleasant surprise, Gregory didn’t fight his embrace.

“Go unwind; love you, kid.” Grinning, he planted a kiss to the very top of Gregory's skull. He probably flustered the poor teen, as Gregory laughed at this and tugged away. After Gregory meandered upstairs with Jeremy watching as if to make sure he got to his room safely, Jeremy planted his hands on his hips.

“We really need to pick that kid up some eye drops. His allergies must be going crazy today...” Jeremy sighed sympathetically as he made his way for the kitchen to start on dinner. More likely, Gregory’s eyes might be dry from sobbing all day. He remembered being sad at his age—always getting choked up for one reason or another.

Michael was watching the stairs too, though his gaze shifted to Jeremy as he spoke. God, he hated to worry him... But he had to clue him in that this was something much more serious than they'd anticipated.

“Jer—” Michael caught Jeremy's hand as he reached the counter, speaking in hushed tones in case Gregory wandered out of his room. “—I don't want to freak you out, but... I think we might need to call Gregory's therapist again for an emergency appointment.”

He could see Jeremy gearing up to speak, that tell-tale widening of his eyes at the notion of something amiss with his son. Michael pressed on, lacing their fingers together as he did his best to explain.

“I... honestly have no idea what's going on, because Gregory doesn't either. But when we were in the security office, he—” Michael faltered, running a worried hand through his hair. “—he said he didn't... remember any of us. I mean, not like we are now. That nightmare he had was apparently so real it made him think we're the dream. Also, his eyes—”

He winced, looking to the floor and finally showing the emotion he'd been trying to hide from Gregory all day: fear for his son's well-being.

“I don't know how to help him, Jer...”

With Jeremy’s attention captured, Michael’s husband leaned against the counter to listen to him with an increasingly broad worry line that formed in his forehead. It made Jeremy wonder how the hell he didn’t notice anything before—and now that Mike mentioned Gregory’s eyes, he felt so dumb for not doing anything the moment he saw there was something different.

Jeremy dragged his palm up and down his face to try and ground himself. Though when he opened his eyes, the distress on Michael’s face made him flock to his husband and hold their hands together, unsure how much it would help.

“Do we need to take Gregory to the hospital?” Jeremy finally asked. This was going to be a hard decision, something that might cause Gregory a ton of undue stress should he be perfectly fine.

But the near-complete intrapersonal memory loss was insane to Jeremy. How could such a thing happen just because of a dream? His boy didn’t remember any of the fun things they used to do together… No wonder Gregory had been looking at him like he had four damn heads!

“I think with his eyes and the memory loss, this might go beyond the therapist—he might need medical attention,” Jeremy said very quietly. The last thing he wanted was for Gregory to overhear his fathers talking about what might be wrong with him.

“I don’t… know,” Michael admitted softly. He knew how insane that sounded—with everything going on, they should take Gregory to be checked out immediately. And yet…

“Something’s telling me not to.” A harsh, confused frown twisted Michael’s face as he rubbed his thumbs over the backs of Jeremy’s hands. “It sounds crazy, I know—I’m usually the worrywart who’d be the first in the car. But…” He shook his head, then cast a glance in the direction of Gregory’s room. “I think we should give him until tomorrow—see if he snaps out of it. I’d hate to stress him out more with hospitals.”

That was another thing Mike and Gregory shared: a strong dislike of hospitals. Michael didn’t know where his aversion came from, but for whatever reason the sterile air always unnerved him. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t take his son in his time of need, of course—but like Jeremy, he didn’t want to put Gregory under undue strain.

“He doesn’t seem to have any vision problems; maybe we can wait until morning and see how he feels,” Michael suggested. “He was getting a lot better until the crowds kicked up, and you already saw him acting more like himself in the car. I don’t want to take him to the hospital and, I don’t know… have him regress more. What do you think?”

Jeremy was soothed by this admission. Thank god this wasn't something that might require an emergency visit to the ER or therapist whenever possible. Jeremy nodded along with what Mike was saying, as he raised good points.

“I'll call Doctor Freeman, get an appointment scheduled, and we'll go from there,” Jeremy said with certainty and calm. “Do you wanna get dinner started? This might take a second.”

Jeremy slowly let go of Michael's hands—even though his own were fumbling with shaking nervousness as he grasped for his phone. This was nerve-wracking. How does something like this have to affect their son?

The kid never did anything wrong in his life; nothing on purpose, anyway. Gregory was one of the coolest kids he knew—and he wasn't just saying this because he was his kid. Jeremy just didn't understand why life had to be so cruel sometimes. Gregory was probably freaked out all day and unable to communicate this.

Scrolling through his contacts, Jeremy found the therapist’s number and began to dial it. He held the receptor to his ear and listened to the dial tone while nervously rapping his fingers on the smooth counter top.

Grilled cheese. Michael could handle grilled cheese.

“Sure thing,” he said, managing a tiny, shaky smile. Before Jeremy pulled away fully he was able to snag a quick, appreciative kiss on the cheek. “Thanks. I’m sure he’s going to be fine.”

Michael’s tone betrayed his lack of confidence. It was useless to dwell on the situation though; they’d check in at dinner and see how Gregory was feeling. Hopefully his memory will already improve and set a pattern for his recovery. With that worried crease seemingly etched into his brow now, Michael got to work making the sandwiches.

That kiss made Jeremy stay in the room. Something about it had given Jer the feeling that his husband couldn't be alone with his thoughts on the situation right then. On instinct, Jeremy's hand came up to tenderly caress Michael's cheek.

“Of course he'll be fine. This will all blow over soon enough,” he managed to say before he heard the receptionist pick up with her usual greeting. Gently pulling back, Jeremy would answer her. “Yeah this is Mr. Fitz-Afton, and I'm calling to schedule an emergency appointment for my son, Gregory.”

After another firm squeeze around the waist, Michael was released to compete his grilled cheese preparations. A few minutes later the first sandwich was ready, and with a reassuring smile directed to Jeremy, Michael plated it and climbed the stairs to Gregory’s room.

“Greg?” he called, knocking on the closed door. “How are you doing, kiddo? I’ve got food for you!”

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

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au-wet-floor-sign-bot · 7 months ago

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first part of the story is this:

*glamtime Freddy is babysitting Gregory and Gregory convinced him to got to the basement*

Gregory: well this is the place!

glamtime Freddy: what did you want to show me?

blob: *wakes up and Funtime Freddy takes over*

Funtime Freddy: who are-are you and why do you look like m-m-me!?

Glamtime Freddy: whhhhhaaaat is happening t-this is st-strange

Funtime Freddy: oooo a ch-ch-child!

Gregory: what? I don’t feel safe here anymore… Glamtime? Can I hide in your stomach hatch? Glamtime Freddy: *covering his stomach hatch with his hands* NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! NO CHILDREN ALLOWED!

Funtime Freddy: oh wow you’re p-pathetic.

Glamtime Freddy: what?

Bon bon: he means that you won’t murder kids like he did even when i told him that it bothers me

Glamtime Freddy: oh

Gregory: maybe we should get going…

Funtime Freddy: I still don’t know y-your n-n-name!

Glamtime Freddy: I’m Glamtime Freddy and this is Gregory I’m babysitting him for glamrock

Funtime Freddy: wow you look like me and your name sounds like mine, I’m Funtime Freddy.

Glamtime Freddy: YOUR THE ORIGINAL VERSON OF ME!!

Funtime Freddy: so do you want to show me and bon bon around?

Gregory: I have a bad feeling about this…

Glamtime Freddy: sure! *pulls a usb cable out of his stomach hatch and plugs it in blobs head and the other end in his own head*

Funtime Freddy: look I’m making you wave!

Glamtime Freddy: stop it! We have to get to MXES he’ll help you get out of me and be your own computer program.

#fnaf au #fnaf

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gavegifts · 3 years ago

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“this place ‘s too big,” theo announces from the corner of freddy’s dressing room, kicking his feet as he sits on the arm of the plush red couch. he can’t figure out why someone thought his puppet would be best suited as decor in this room of all places, but at least he’s got someone to talk to. from outside, theo can hear the front door of the pizzaplex shuttering. closing time. “real easy t’get lost ‘round here.” / @shqwtime for freddy!

#shqwtime #( STARTER. )#( CH: GLAMROCK FREDDY. )#ik i said these would happen tomorrow but i'm a thief and a liar #good luck trying to scan a fucking ghost freddy #V: GIVE GIFTS / GIVE LIFE ( GAME: THEO. )

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corelex · 3 years ago

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We Don't Talk About Vanny

POV: You asked Gregory and the gang about Vanny.

Adult!Gregory:

We don't talk about Vanny, no, no, no

We don't talk about Vanny, but

It was a normal day

Glam!Freddy: It was a normal day

They were getting ready

And there weren't intruders in the mall

Glam!Freddy: No intruders in the mall!

Vanny walks in with a mischievous grin

Glam!Freddy: Thunder!

You telling this story or am I?

Glam!Freddy: I'm sorry, superstar, go on

Vanny says, "It will be fun"

Glam!Freddy: Why did she tell us?

In doing so, she made us run

Glam!Freddy: Gregory, get the passes

Hunted in a massive mall

Glam!Freddy: What a crazy night and overall,

Adult!Gregory and Glam!Freddy: We don't talk about Vanny, no, no, no

We don't talk about Vanny

DJ Music Man:

Hey, grew to live in fear of Vanny stuttering or stumbling

I can always hear her sort of muttering and mumbling

I associate her with the sound of falling sand, ch ch ch

It's a heavy task with a mask so humbling

Always left Freddy and the Glamrocks fumbling

Grappling with whisperings they couldn't understand

Do you understand?

Sunrise:

A seven-foot frame, rabbits on her back

When she calls your name it all fades to black

Yeah, she sees your dreams and feasts on your screams (hey)

We don't talk about Vanny, no, no, no

We don't talk about Vanny

Glam!Chica: She told us the kids here are, the next day, dead (no, no)

Monty: She told us she’d control us and just like she said (no, no)

Roxanne: She said that her master does the same; now, I’m filled with dread (no, no)

Glam!Chica, Monty, Roxanne: Your fate is sealed when you saw her eyes glow red

Moondrop:

She told me that the life of their dreams

Would be promised, and someday be true

She told me that his power would grow

And his reign will thrive and endure

Glam!Freddy: Hey guys, our guests are on their way

DJ Music Man:

She told me that the man claiming king

Would be just out of reach

Confined underground

It's like I hear him, now

Adult!Gregory: Hey Mx...forget what we all said, don’t you?

Y/N:

Um, Vanny

Yeah, about that Vanny

I really need to know about Vanny

Gimme the truth and the whole truth, Vanny

Sunrise: Hey, everyone, our guests are here!

All: Time for a concert!

A seven-foot frame, rabbits on her back

When she calls your name it all fades to black

Yeah, she sees your dreams and feasts on your screams

You telling this story or am I?

Hey guys, our guests are on their way

Vanny says, "It will be fun"

In doing so, she made us run

Hunted in a massive mall, they’re here

All: Don't talk about Vanny, no

Y/N: Why did I talk about Vanny?

All: Not a word about Vanny

Y/N: I never shoulda brought up Vanny

#corelex #five nights at freddy's security breach #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #fnaf security breach #fnaf sb #glamrock freddy #glamrock chica #roxanne wolf #montgomery gator #fnaf gregory #fnaf vanessa #fnaf vanny #fnaf sunrise #fnaf moondrop #the daycare attendant

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head-empty-only-sunshine · 3 years ago

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DJs Got Them Falling in Love

Ch. 7: Distraction

A/N: It's kinda short but the next 3 chapters will make up for that lost word potential lmao. Shit's about to get emotional.

Description: Cin's just tryna do their job. A little distraction comes their way while checking with the Glamrocks, that distraction being DJ. Everyone realizes Cin is softer than they seem, and DJ... Well, he realizes that he may just actually be in love.

Pairing: s/i X DJMM

Word Count: 1343

[Index]

===

It had been a while since Cin’s tough guy attitude had melted down into mere nothingness. The only time they were able to keep up that reputation was in front of literally anyone else, but god forbid they be caught alone with DJ. It was much harder to keep up with when it was just the two of them, and it was almost irritating. No one had been able to break them down like that before, and every day they fought to keep their composure. Unfortunately, it kept slipping. This was their fate now.

No moment was safe. The two of them were attracted like magnets, and found each other in one another’s presence every damn day. Even now as Cin was working with the Glamrocks at the main stage, DJ was slowly making his way over to them. Bothering Cin while they were deeply focused on work was half of his fun anyway.

“Freddy! Mic check please!” Cin ordered.

“You got it, superstar!” Freddy replied, voice booming over the speakers.

“Woah! Jeez, alright, thank you. Good to know I need to turn that down.” They cringed, blinking a little from how loud the volume was. “Alright, next up, Chica! How’s that guitar holding up? Haven’t shredded the strings again yet have ya?”

“Nope~! The new strings you put on have held up this whole time!” Chica exclaimed, shredding a little to give an example.

“Haha! Good to hear then! It sounds in tune too! You’re all set then.”

“Yay! Oh, hey DJ!” Chica said suddenly.

She looked behind Cin and waved, which made them turn around to see that familiar seven foot tall hooligan marching on over to the stage. A groan left their mouth before they dragged their hand down their face, looking directly at him with an expression of annoyance.

“Nu uh. Hell no. You are NOT distracting me today Mr. Music Man!” Cin hollered as he hopped up on stage.

“Aw, what makes you think I’m here to do that~?” He asked innocently.

“Okay. Then why are you here? Hmm?”

“Company of course~” He replied.

“That counts as distracting me, nerd. I’ve gotta get them ready for the show tonight, so if you’re gonna hang around, don’t slow me down.” They groaned, turning back to Chica.

“Cin, are you… flustered by the DJ?” Chica asked.

“Me? Nah. He’s just annoying as hell.” They answered nonchalantly.

“Oh no. They totally are. They’re just being tough for you guys.” DJ snorted.

“Shut it.”

Dj proved his point by reaching out and delivering a brief jab to Cin’s side, eliciting the expected yelp from them. Of course they turned red as a beet and glared at him while Chica snickered. Even the other animatronics noticed and were quite surprised to see how quickly Cin became a lot more tame and less directive just from DJ’s presence alone. It definitely slowed down their work performance, so they grumbled and walked on over to Roxy to distract themselves and get on with the sound check. Dj was left standing there with a sly smirk on his face, but Freddy approached him, curious of the situation.

“Wow. You completely destroyed their composure. They really aren’t as tough as they say, are they~?” Freddy asked DJ.

“Oh hell no. They’re actually the biggest softie ever. They just refuse to admit it.” DJ replied in a loud whisper.

“Yo! Quit jabbering about me while I’m right here!” Cin yelled over their shoulder. “Anyway, play a couple chords for me, Roxy. Gotta make sure your volume isn’t as whacked out as Freddy’s was.”

While Cin and Roxy worked together on individual sound checks, Monty joined in to really preoccupy them and take their mind off of the minor embarrassment they felt. Meanwhile, Chica, Freddy, and Dj all stood together and watched, mumbling to themselves about the recent display of softness that Cin had. None of them had ever seen Cin blush before, so it was a rather hot topic amongst them.

“I’ve never seen Cin so much as blush even when they drink. What on earth have you done to them?” Freddy asked while grinning.

“I couldn’t even tell ya, but it’s cute as hell either way.” DJ answered.

“They’re a tough one to crack. Whatever you did must’ve struck a cord or two within them.” Freddy noted.

Chica gasped loudly, bouncing on the spot. “Ooo! What if… What if it’s love~? DJ, are you in love~?”

He simply stood there while that stupid involuntary glow returned to his cheeks, thinking hard about what Chica said.

“... Is that what this feeling is…” He mumbled; half to himself, and half in reply.

“Oh my god no way~!” Chica squealed. “You totally are~! And I have a sneaking suspicion Cin might be feeling the same way too~”

“One problem, uh… Human. Robot.” DJ said, pointing from Cin to himself.

“Correction: Cyborg. And who cares? Flesh and bone isn’t too different from endo and casing. Open your mind a little. We’re all sentient here.” Chica offered.

She was right. Every animatronic in this facility was revered and respected for their incredible AI and sentience. Most people didn’t even consider them bots anymore, save for a few newbies that always ended up changing their mind after a few weeks of work. Their minds were of their own creation, which honestly… made processing this whole ‘love’ thing a little easier. He thought it wouldn’t be realistic, or even possible, but Chica’s encouragement and weeks of the same weird fuzzy feeling may have just convinced him that it could be possible. His processor kept verging on overheating anyway. Perhaps this news would do him some good.

“You may just be onto something, Chica.” DJ noted.

“She’s usually right.” Freddy laughed. “Don’t ignore it. I think you’ve got a shot. I’ve seen the way they look at you.”

“HEY. Less gossiping, more playing! Get the hell over here Freddy, Chica!” Cin called out, waving them over to center stage.

“Hah, gotta go. Good luck with this one though, my musical friend.” Freddy encouraged.

Freddy and Chica ran off to join the others for a full sound check. Cin barked a few requests over the occasional playing that came from everyone and backed off to the side. They set up their laptop on a mixing stand and gave the cue for them to play something, and started fixing all the levels as they went. Reducing volume here, supporting vocals there, a few effects, and all other sound related things were corrected over the next few minutes. Their hand was pressed hard to their headphones on one side, really trying to hear the music to fix any other minimal errors that may have popped up. While they worked diligently, they briefly looked up from their screen and made eye contact with DJ. He waved at them, and they returned the gesture by flipping him off. There was no need for him to be concerned about that. The dumb little grin that flashed across Cin's features told him everything he needed to know.

DJ stepped back a little while Cin ran a couple more sound checks, leaning on the edge of the stage as he watched. He couldn’t help but remember their flustered expression again, and thought about what Chica said. They definitely let their guard down around him more often, and the probability of it being because they were fond of him was now incredibly high. His fans kicked in due to overheating at the thought, a new feeling of excitement and hope running through his systems. He was suddenly even more grateful for the ability to feel touch, and to have been given a casing that felt nearly human. Nothing but the thought of possibly being able to feel Cin’s heartbeat against him kept his gaze locked on them as they worked.

Even in work, did he find himself staring fondly at them. A little blush still lingered on Cin’s face in the neon lighting. It was cute. So damn cute. It was most definitely love.

#s/i x djmm #s/i x canon #s/i #fnaf s/i #self insert #fnaf self insert #oc x canon #djmm x me #lmao #anyway #fluff #mutual pining #realization #fnaf #fnaf security breach #purely self indulgent

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anothercloudyday · 3 years ago

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WIPs

Here are the things I'm working on!

Editing Ch. 2 of Dust and Sweat for Her Safety - Adopted by Springtrap

Editing Ch. 1 of A Pirate's Love - A Foxris Story

Ch. 1 of Silent Moon - Adopted by Glamrock Freddy

I'm Gonna Take Care of You - Sam Anderson | Aomaris/Reader

You Left Me - Tamaki Souh/Haruhi Fujioka

Please Don't Go - Mammon (Obey Me)/Reader

You're Original; Cannot Be Replaced - Golden Freddy/Original Female Character(s)

Ch. 1 of Belonging to the Stars - James Anderson | Raestrao/Reader

"I Wish I Died Back There Because At Least Then You Would Have Been Satisfied" - Murdoc Niccals/Original Female Character(s)

Hook'd - Lucifer (Obey Me)/Original Female Character(s)

"If You're Still Somehow Here, Can You Send a Sign? Anything?" Iida Tenya/Original Female Character(s)

Shapeshifting Feelings - Slender Man/Original Female Character(s)

#ao3 #archive of our own #five nights at freddy's #ouran high school host club #seduce me the otome #writers on tumblr

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angelofrainfrogs · 3 months ago

Text

Break My Mind: Ch. 7

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Gregory must be dreaming this time. No sooner had he come to accept this strange reality where everyone is alive and well, than he’s sent back through time and space to the weekend he got trapped in the Pizzaplex. He’s supposed to help his family get on track for a better future, yet… didn’t he already succeed in his own timeline? Confused but relieved, Gregory drops back into his new life in the mega mall. In fact, who should be waiting for him but Michael, clad in a security uniform and searching for his missing family! Only—the night guard seems a bit more withered than when Gregory last saw him. Not to mention that cold look in his silver eyes…

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Making sure Gregory's hand was still held securely in William's, Henry inched past to take the lead. They'd been stalking around these corridors long enough that he could guide them to Parts & Service without an issue. Michael had no reason to be down here unless an animatronic was out of commission, so provided no robots in question were around their trek should be smooth-sailing...

The group moved in tense silence, listening for danger. The heavy animatronics did their best to keep their footsteps slow and quiet, pausing every so often to assure it was just them echoing through the halls.

Finally, they'd reached the back corridors of Rockstar Row. Henry paused, throwing out an arm to stop everyone.

“Be extra careful—this is where the Glamrocks live and I wouldn't put it past Mike to set up a guard in front of the service elevator or something,” he whispered, glancing over his shoulder to assure everyone understood his warning before they moved forward. While he reasoned they could take down one, maybe even two Glamrocks by themselves, the greater fear was that they'd alert Michael to Gregory's presence and summon the psychotic guard right to them.

While all of this was entirely new to the group, Gregory had seen this scene before, and his unease began to grow the closer they got to the animatronics’ “home.” Before Henry could peak around the corner to look into Rockstar row, Gregory grasped his hand and tugged him back. While he wasn't strong enough to fully restrain the bear, Gregory was successful in garnering his attention. When Henry sent the boy an equally perplexed and concerned gaze, he said quietly: “I have a bad feeling. Someone's going to be in Rockstar row...”

He spoke with conviction, as he knew for a fact Freddy was ready for them and guarding the pieces to repair their little group. Cassidy's eyebrows flew up, speaking in the same measured whisper as she glanced at their surroundings. “Me and Evan can scout it out. It's not like they can catch us...”

“Yup, we got this,” Evan said with as much confidence as he could muster. Notably, he slipped his hand through Cassidy's and held on tight.

She was right—the animatronics couldn't hurt him anymore. But that didn't mean he wasn't still terrified of large, lumbering robots... especially if they were defective.

“Be careful,” Henry warned, feeling like he was sending the kids into a trap. It was their best option, though. “If anything goes down, run. Don't worry about us; we can always meet back in the basement.”

Evan nodded, sparing a last look at his companions before tugging Cassidy to the door. He took a deep breath, and as one they phased through it into the magnificent splendor of Rockstar Row.

As with the rest of the Pizzaplex, the lighting was dimmer than usual, making it hard to see the figure standing in the middle of the floor. He certainly saw them, though. Bright blue eyes locked onto the pair, not quite processing that they'd gone through the door instead of opening it.

“Hello, superstar,” Glamrock Freddy said with a smile, recognizing the boy's face as the one Officer Michael and the rest of them had been after the whole weekend. “It is so nice to see you agai—oh dear... another lost child?!”

Freddy had been prepared for Gregory's reappearance, but he had not expected to see a little girl at his side. She looked so sweet and innocent with her pigtails and braces, it tugged at Freddy's mechanical heart to see her trapped in here over the long weekend as well. His face reset into a reassuring smile and he told her: “Do not worry—we will get you both to the security guard so he can inform your parents of your whereabouts. You will be home before you know it! Now, if you would please come with me?”

He held out a blue-clawed paw expectantly.

What the hell? Cassidy thought, staring at the Glamrock. They really bulked Fazbear up. He didn’t seem broken to her; just as Gregory described, the glitch must not be so superficial. Cassidy squeezed Evan’s hand in reassurance. Even if there was a way the big robot could hurt them, she wasn’t going to let that happen.

First, Cassidy thought of Liz’s words: they shouldn’t split the group. Though if it meant leading Freddy away from where the rest needed to be, then that was just what they had to do. Cassidy looked up to Freddy and batted her eyes in a cutesy way to show her innocence.

“We’re really lost—I don’t know how long I’ve been here…,” she said, having to hide her elation as the bear would potentially lead them right to her killer. With her free hand, she gently took the metal guardian’s paw. “Come on, Gregory. We’re gonna be home in no time…” Gently pulling Evan along, she tried to urge the bear away from the path to Parts & Service so the others could find Charlie in their stead.

***

Inside the workshop, Charlie wasn’t doing so great. Michael had gotten to her while she was attempting to self-repair. The mechanic’s cylinder could do many wonderful things—including swapping parts. And it had apparently been Michael’s strong opinion that if Charlie missed the Puppet so bad, why not reunite the two permanently again?

She was losing hope for rescue, tied down with the Puppet’s old parts stuck onto her body, Marionette’s worn mask now welded to her face. Any faux tears she cried had long poured from the eye slits, only darkening the faded blue streaks.

***

Evan simply stared up at the Glamrock for a moment, trying to process how this thing could be so different yet undeniably Freddy at the same time. Thank god Cassidy took the lead again, as the thought of touching the giant bear made him cringe.

“Yeah… uh, thanks, Freddy,” Evan eventually managed as they crossed the doorway leading out of Rockstar Row. The bear smiled down at him, clearly pleased with the direction this night had taken despite his initial shock at a second wayward child.

“Of course, superstar!” Freddy replied earnestly. “As I have been trying to tell you, I only want to get you home safely!”

Evan had a feeling “safe” looked very different to the infected bot when he was pushed… but the ghost didn’t want to find out. So he simply clung tight to Cassidy’s hand, hoping the others would take the opportunity they’d given them and reunite with Charlie.

Watching from the shadows, Henry had to bite back the urge to scream. Damn those kids. They never listened, even in death.

Holding back Will, who’d lurched forward as Evan was carted away, Henry waited until the trio was well clear of the door before stepping out.

“Shit,” he breathed, though he just had to remind himself that free-roaming ghosts couldn’t be hurt—not like real kids. Shaking his head, he kept one hand on Will’s arm and tugged him forward, hearing Liz stomping behind with Gregory in tow. “Charlie better be in there, damn it…”

Liz face-palmed with her barely functional hand and began to trail the others, trying her best to walk quietly in tow. Gregory didn’t look so worried; in fact, to Liz he looked headstrong.

William, on the other hand, was boiling with anger. Why couldn’t those kids just listen? None of them would be in this mess if they’d just trusted him from the beginning of it all.

He followed Henry, as his arm was in a vice grip used to keep William from trying to get his son back. Upon entering the Parts & Service department, William turned into an anchor, stopped before the large cylinder in the room. He stood in front of Gregory and Liz now, shielding their eyes from the bloody horror that became of Charlie Emily.

“Kids!” He shouted, pointing across the room. “I-I need the both of you to look for a manual for me. It’s about neck joint configurations—”

A lie; no such book existed. He merely didn’t want them to see Charlie until they could calm her down and sort her out… Before they could question him, he sent them away to look for the imaginary title and reunited with Henry—

Poor, shocked Henry having to find his daughter passed out from fear and an over-stimulated sensor. As his friend stood in abject horror, William bolted to the doors to jump-start the process of rescuing her.

“Henry, the door—” he said, groaning as the struggled to lift the magnetic locks by himself.

“Shit, shit, shit—” Henry was in shock, frozen in his tracks as he looked upon what became of his daughter. The Puppet’s mask covering her face was jarring, but coupled with the altered limbs it was downright sickening.

Michael had replaced one of Charlie’s arms and legs, creating an opposing profile with her normal left arm and the Puppet’s right, and her android right leg with the Puppet’s left. The disturbed technician hadn’t bothered to add anything else to the Puppet though—he’d simply tossed Charlie’s “unneeded” limbs aside on the floor, leaving the Marionette slumped against the cylinder wall with lightly sparking wires jutting out of the gaping holes in her body and face.

William’s prompting finally got Henry to move. With the kids distracted Henry rushed to his side, and together they jimmied the locks and raised the door. Charlie was motionless, and Henry half-wondered if she’d abandoned the vessel… but due to the dried tear stains over the mask, he knew she’d still been in there to suffer through the whole thing.

“I-I’ve… I’ve got to get this off…,” Henry murmured, though even as he spoke he rolled Charlie gently onto her side, feeling for that small panel in the back of her neck that’d lead to the access port. With shaking paws he managed to get it open, realizing to his increased distress that Michael had fiddled with the sensor that processed "touch;" based on the sight before him, it seemed Mike altered it so that Charlie could experience pain for the first time in decades. Gritting his teeth, Henry pressed the button to free his daughter of the physical torture she’d been under for the past few hours.

I’m going to kill him, he thought, rolling Charlie onto her back again and analyzing how Michael had attached the mask to her face. I’m going to rip that bastard’s limbs off one by one and make sure he feels every fucking second of it.

Charlie’s skin was melted with the plastic, grotesque as red hydraulic fluid and synthetic skin had dripped like candle wax on her neck and the collar of her shirt. The one gift that Henry gave her to feel normal again was now an agonizing reminder that she couldn’t escape the monster she’d become. Charlie’s dark eyes snapped open and she began to thrash like her life depended on it, even though it was long-since over. The torture had been unbearable for her, and Charlie screamed incoherent wails until she realized who was touching her.

“Please—” she gasped, her spine arching painfully against the chair she was strapped into. “—let us out. D-Don’t touch us!” Her voice glitched, sending off a myriad if errors in her visual displays.

“What did he do to you, Charlotte?” William replied, incensed. The cold blood in him could boil with rage as he quickly set on untying her ankle restraints.

The scene was bleak, and as Charlie pulled her limbs together, she was able to see exactly everything Michael did after he soldered the mask to her face. A blood-curdling scream ripped through her voice-box as Charlie grasped at the mask on her face and tried to physically yank it off. There was no budging, and all Charlotte could do was weep into her mismatched hands.

There was no need for further explanation. It was abundantly clear that Michael had tortured his former best friend, and he’d likely enjoyed every second of it. Watching his daughter break down like that was nearly too much for Henry to bear. He simultaneously wanted to scream and cry with her, while also run upstairs and destroy that rotting corpse in an equally terrible fashion to what he’d done to Charlie.

But Henry couldn’t leave—his child needed him. Revenge could come later, once she was taken care of.

“Sweetheart, I’ve got you,” Henry murmured, wrapping his arms around her. She struggled at first, still on high-alert and worried that Michael had grabbed her again… though once she realized it was her dad in the old, moldy suit she practically melted into him, that tormented mask burying into the matted golden fur on his chest.

“God, Charlie, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Henry’s voice broke as he held Charlie close. Once again, he’d been too late and his child had suffered at the hands of the Afton family he’d once considered his dearest friends.

Her hard face squished into the chest of Henry’s suit. Her screams had quieted, but the shaking didn’t stop. She wasn’t just distraught; she was pissed that Michael had gotten the drop on her with his stupid taser. The next time she got her hands on him, he was going to regret it. Even if he thought he couldn’t feel such a heavy emotion now, he’d rue ever submitting her to such torment.

William sat on the chair next to her, the reclining bench creaking with the added weight as he began to rub Charlie’s back. It was nice not to be rebuffed, but the circumstances presented to show he cared were grim.

When she got a grip, Charlie tried to stand up, finding her new parts to have a learning curve. She held onto her dad as she lifted herself away from the bench and demanded to know: “Where is he? I’m going to punch his face until it’s a red stain on the floor—”

Charlie growled, thinking about how the fucking bear only watched uncomfortably as Michael committed acts against nature to her and the Puppet. Her dear friend was with her now once more, tied together both body and soul. Unfortunately, Puppet detested this form as much as Charlie. She was even more upset to have to be forcibly bound with the person she failed to save twice…

“We're working on it,” Henry replied, eyes unfocused as he stared ahead. He was seeing red as Charlie used him for support, and honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do the next time he was in Michael's vicinity. They'd better come up with a damn good plan, or he'd take matters in his own hands and hold the man down while Charlie slammed his face in.

“...We found Evan, Cassidy, and Liz,” Henry added, wanting to fill Charlie in now that she was coherent enough to speak. He tried so hard not to let his voice crack again as he watched his daughter struggle. It's as if she was learning to walk all over again, and it was painful to observe. “Together we're making a plan to take Michael down for good, so we're trying to get all the help we can beforehand.”

He paused, cringing as his gaze roamed over the open hole where Marionette's face should be. Fearing the answer, he had to ask: “Is... is Puppet...?”

It was clear what he meant: Is Puppet with you again?

As Charlie listened, she dipped down in an unsteady gait and grasped her father's shoulder with her cloth-covered hand. Silently, she tapped the edge of her mask. The central processor—everything that gave the Puppet her intense personality was stored inside, now just barely functional. She was but a mere voice inside Charlie's head, commanding her to keep moving and perform her main function: to subdue and potentially maim the intruder who did them harm...

“She's here with me,” Charlie confirmed. She gave standing on her own a go, the long leg of the Puppet bending at an unnatural crease to accompany her short stature.

“And Gregory? Is he safe? Is he... alright?” Charlie asked tentatively. Henry hadn't mentioned whether their search for the lost boy had come up positively, and the thought of Michael having him back in his clutches made her quiver with rage.

Henry kept his arms out in case Charlie needed extra support as she got used to her lopsided body. Though his concern for her was obviously greater, Henry felt for the Puppet, too. The poor thing had just gotten a chance to be herself again like his daughter, and once more they’d been unceremoniously bonded together. At the mention of Gregory, Henry’s gaze briefly shifted outside the cylinder to where he and Lizzie were diligently searching for the unreal manual. Surely they’d realized it was a lie by now, but it seemed they had enough sense not to come over until given the okay based on Charlie’s terrifying screams.

“He’s… with us,” Henry said, the hesitation in his voice making that tear-stained mask turn to stare up at him suspiciously. Pointing a golden finger, Henry indicated the boy on the other side of the room. “He’s with Liz over there. He seems to be dealing with everything as best he can, but…” Henry’s tone softened and he placed a hand on Charlie’s back, knowing she was about to lose her shit again. “Michael got to him before we could and injected Gregory with Remnant.”

Charlie was at the glass in an instant. Thank goodness Gregory and Liz were nose-deep in the few textbook-sized operator’s guides, or the sight of her face could’ve given Gregory a heart attack. But even from over in her little prison, Charlie could see exactly what was done to the boy by his brilliant silver eyes. Her fist collided with the glass; it wasn't enough to crack it, but it shook the cylinder they were in. Before either parental figure could protest, she kicked the chair she’d been strapped to so hard it bent on its hydraulic stand.

“HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT!” Charlie lamented in frustration. She went to tear the bench out of the floor and rip up the bolts, but William had grasped her behind, hugging her shoulders so tightly that she couldn't move her arms any further.

“Let GO, WILLIAM!” Charlie demanded fiercely, teeth barred behind the hole in her mask.

“No,” he replied simply. She was going to rampage, and he knew more than any of them that could lead to more people being hurt. Being this emotional and reckless only served to make their collective lives worse. Trying to explain, he told the girl: “You don't think we're mad, too? I'm fucking pissed. But there's nothing more we can do for Gregory. We just have to be there for him and make sure he gets out of here without Michael using him for his own gain.”

Charlie began to calm at his reasoning, going limp in a defeated fashion inside William's solid hold.

“I failed again...,” she finally said after some time. The feeling of letting Gregory down and allowing him to get hurt stemmed from both of her conjoined personalities, though the Marionette was taking it the hardest.

“Not yet you haven't,” William attempted to comfort, finally placing Charlie back down on the floor once she seemed as though her frenzied hysteria was in check.

“You didn’t fail, Charlie,” Henry confirmed, pulling her into a side hug as soon as William released her. “None of us can predict what insane thing that bastard’s going to try next. Like William said, what’s done is done—Gregory’s life is never going to be the same, but we can at least make sure it doesn’t get any worse.”

Henry tightened his hold on Charlie’s shoulders. How he wished to be out of this fucking bear suit so he could embrace his child properly…

“Cassidy wants to put Michael in another virtual hellscape,” he went on, hoping that filling Charlie in on what few details they had of their hasty plan would curb her feelings of uselessness. “We’re working out the details, but we think—” He shook his head. “—we know it’s possible. We’ve done it before, so all we need to do is make sure he stays down this time.”

Charlie looked down, attempting to bury away the deep-seated feeling of inadequacy. Really, she should be worried about how she was going to defend herself with lopsided parts. But all she could think of was Gregory...

“It's possible, yeah; tricky, but possible.” Charlie nodded in affirmation. “Cassidy's done great work with her traps. As long as we all stay together long enough to set it up, we could possibly catch Michael alone. Then ambush him before he can call his goon-squad.”

Sparing a glance over her shoulder, she looked to where poor Liz in her mangled, scrapped together clown-suit read with Gregory. If he wasn't afraid of her, then surely he wouldn't be so afraid of Charlie? She was nervous to find out, but they couldn’t sit here lamenting forever.

“We should head out before that giant furball gets back here,” Charlie remarked bitterly, releasing the magnetic locks and leading their egress.

“Right,” Henry agreed, following her to the cylinder door. He kept his ears peeled as the locks clicked open, trying to listen for the tell-tale footsteps of a Glamrock. Hearing nothing but the ambient flickering of fluorescent lights, Henry shifted past his daughter and moved swiftly to the Lizzie and Gregory.

“Hey guys,” he said gently, garnering their attention while he stood between them and Charlie. They’d have to learn how to deal with her appearance for now, as there was simply no time to fix it. Once Michael was gone they could work to separate her and Puppet, but for the moment they were one again in the most grotesque way.

“Charlie’s up and at ‘em now, so we need to get moving. She’ll be okay, but she… looks a little different than before,” the old bear went on. Lizzie would surely be distressed at the state of her friend, though she’d seen some horrendous things in her time trapped inside various animations (and humans). Gregory, though… this was going to hit the kid hard.

Gregory tilted his head to the side. He could see Charlie was sort of dragging something—by the black and white stripes, it looked to be the Puppet, though it was hard to tell with Henry standing in front of her directly blocking the view.

Gregory's stomach dropped. Something did happen to her, even if he hadn't been the cause. His veins lit aflame with nerves, but Liz was quick to touch Gregory's back in a show of solidarity.

Charlie almost wanted to stay hiding behind her father. She felt like a coward; like a little girl too scared to face even her closest friends, even one she hadn't seen in years now. William stood beside her, giving her a tiny nudge to encourage her to move. It was now or never, as they were wasting their time.

With William stepping up for their group and providing an emotional support that Charlie hadn’t seen from him in literal decades, she managed the courage to speak from behind her dad. “Hey... Everyone...”

Lizzie's static face was hard to read, but she quickly stood from her crouched position and went to Charlie, nearly knocking Henry out of the way as the girl attacked Charlie with a viciously lovable hug.

“Charlie Emily, you promised you would write!” was all Lizzie said, refusing to acknowledge the clearly sensitive issue about the way she looked.

“I-I did!” Charlie laughed, though it came out like a pained sob as she held fast to her old friend. “—I did! Did you move? I thought I sent them to Michael's house.”

Gregory held his fist over his mouth as a strong wave of nausea overtook him. It wasn't that he saw Charlie as gross, no matter how many jokes he used to make with Michael based on her tomboyish looks. It was the fact that Charlie looked like she was in pain—the fluid soaking her clothes looked just like blood. Really, he thought by now he would’ve been more desensitized to all of the senseless gore. It took everything in him to swallow the bile rising in his throat; there was no way he was going throw up on himself again, especially in front of everyone else.

There went Henry, instantly moving to comfort. Sliding a paw over Gregory's shoulder blades, he offered reassurance without pulling the boy away from the situation—despite how much he wanted to. The kid really didn't need to see this. His psyche had already been broken in unforeseeable ways because of the Remnant, and this only added to his trauma. But still...

Charlie was their friend.

An ally.

A fierce protector.

Even if she was a pile of scrap metal on the ground, Henry knew his daughter would fight until her spirit was literally wiped from this mortal plane. Her new look would just take some getting used to on all their parts, but soon enough they'd be moving forward like they always did.

He was still going to fucking destroy Michael for this, though.

“She's not hurting anymore—physically,” Henry murmured, leaning down to speak to Gregory as if he'd read the boy's mind. “I disabled her sensors, so she shouldn't be able to feel anything like that again.”

It was a matter of telling himself that Charlie was going to be fine. She needed Gregory as much as he needed her. He could only imagine why Michael wanted to do this to her; it was as if they’d never even been friends. The deep de-personalization that Michael had to perform to do this to people he'd grown up with—those who once loved him now turned to scorned friends and family—was astounding. Gregory considered not only Charlie’s heartache at the moment, but Henry’s. He reached up and held the moldy old paw as he looked up to the man.

“Don't worry, Henry,” Gregory soothed, trying now to keep his emotions in check as to not vomit from the huge upset. There was only so much he could promise, but he was going to try his hardest. “Everything's going to work out. Now that we have so many people on board, we can take on anyone. Liz can probably chop Michael in half with that big-ass claw, too.”

He wasn't sure if these violent sentiments would get through to the old bear, but before he could elaborate, Cassidy was pulling Evan through the workshop doorway.

“Fazbear’s looking for us!” Cassidy called, not quite caring who was around to hear. “I don't know how far away he is—where to next?!”

Henry huffed, though he was very relieved to see the ghosts intact. He wasn't sure if Freddy could really hurt them, but no one wanted to find out. As Henry mulled over their options, Evan let out a little gasp upon spotting another figure by his sister.

“Charlie!” he exclaimed, rushing forward without hesitation. “What—oh...” He slammed to a halt mere inches from his old friend, taking in her mutilated appearance with wide eyes. The utter confusion twisting his features quickly morphed into anger as the realization dawned on him. There was only one person who could've done this.

...No, he couldn't even call Michael a “person” anymore.

He was a monster.

“Ch-Charlie,” Evan said again, a slight hitch in his voice as he tried his best to reign in the frustrated tears. Like Liz, he had no fear of the mismatched android and was quick to fall into her chest and squeeze her in a tight hug. He cared for Charlie and Puppet; no matter whose arms wrapped around to embrace him back he was just happy they were here. After holding long enough to curb his tears, Evan turned his head to offer a suggestion to the group. “We passed a Daycare while we were up there... We thought maybe we could hide out there?”

Henry winced and shared a look with William. “Um... well, it's not the best place.”

But did they have a better, closer option? He rubbed the back of his head and asked: “Were you guys able to see if the lights were on by any chance?”

“Uh... I dunno.” Evan shrugged. “But when I asked about it Freddy said we shouldn't bother 'Sun,' whatever that meant, so... does that help?”

Henry was quiet for a moment before speaking again slowly. “...If we can either assure the lights stay on, it could be a temporary hideout. Will, Charlie—what do you think?”

Ironically, the attendant was both the least or most affected by Mike's virus—it just depended on how bright the room was.

No matter how badly Charlie was feeling, she knew that she was would feel ten times worse if Evan started crying... She didn't hesitate to pick him up, hugging the boy closer.

“Ugh, I missed you, squirt,” she said, the cheek of her mask rubbing lightly to the top of Evan's head as she embraced him.

“There's more than enough of us to keep the lights on in the Daycare,” William replied with a shrug. They did need somewhere for Gregory to rest. He was only human after all (unlike the rest of them). He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the kid pointing out: “Besides, this one needs sleep. He's starting to look... buggy.”

William, now that he was in control of his emotions, had regressed back into that cold persona of his. It only broke slightly when Gregory yawned and leaned into his leg. There wasn't any harm in carrying him after all. In fact, it would probably save William some trouble in watching him. He picked Gregory up and held him in one arm with a rough sigh.

“Alrighty, kiddos, the night isn't getting any younger,” he announced, encouraging their group to head for the entrance at the top floor.

“What about my blaster?” Gregory asked, eyes half-lidded, recent high-strung emotions beginning to take their toll. It was hard to say how his newfound condition would affect him, but narcolepsy certainly wasn't off the table.

Liz walked besides her father, looking at the boy with an unnatural tilt in her neck. “I don't know... You look pretty beat, Gregory. Like they said, you really should take it easy.”

“Getting the blaster is first on our list after we take a solid rest,” Henry assured, already thinking of how they'd make that work. Perhaps they didn't all need to go... although separating was what got them into hot water earlier, so it was probably best to stick together from now on unless absolutely necessary.

The group made it to the door with Henry in the lead, before the moldy bear paused and turned to look at Evan and Cassidy. “So you guys don't know how far away Freddy is?”

“No, but we got a really good head start so it'll take him a while to get back here,” Evan piped up. He was still in Charlie's arms, totally comfortable in her embrace and willing to stay there until she put him down. Honestly, it was nice to be held by his pseudo-sister again... He'd missed Lizzie dearly and certainly wouldn't complain about clinging to her either, but she'd never been one for physical affection as much as he wanted—especially in this form.

“We let him take us all the way to the third floor, then Cas distracted him and we ran,” Evan went on, puffing out his chest a little with pride for their quick-thinking. “And then we just phased through all the floors and got back here! He had to take the loooong way around.”

“Smart cookies, both of you,” Henry praised, turning back to the door. He listened for a moment, but upon hearing nothing he cautiously ushered them forward. “Okay, everyone move quiet and stick to the shadows. Meet in the Daycare if we get separated, but if anything goes wrong and you can't make it there the basement is our ultimate safe spot to reconvene.”

“Good thinking, Hen,” William would agree, absently bouncing Gregory in his arm like he used to with his own flighty children. It was a force of habit; no deeper meaning that William wanted to acknowledge.

He may not admit it out loud yet, but... he cared a lot for this boy. Though they’d only known each other a short while, the days they’d been trapped here together had given him insight on Gregory's home life and it became apparent he had some issues with trusting people. Unfortunate as it may be, it was also something William respected in him; it made Gregory resistant to Michael's tricks, at least.

Pressing into the wall along with the others he inched along, sticking close to his old business partner. Charlie hadn't minded holding Evan in the slightest. She missed her times babysitting at the Aftons with Michael, before everything had gone to shit. Mike always had his issues, but back then, he was different person. Someone who actually cared about his friends...

Charlie hadn't been aware of how Evan matured over the years, and still resorted to treat him as the child she knew so long ago. As they went into the shadows, she instinctively hid Evan's face into her damp shoulder.

“Close your eyes, its dark here,” she told him in a gentle whisper, remembering his various phobias.

Cassidy meanwhile tried her hardest to help Liz along. She was, sadly, the loudest in their group. Her various cogs and gears clogged with debris and gunk compounding with her clunky design made her more noticeable than the others.

“I'll catch up. They won't hurt me,” she told Cassidy, encouraging her to go and keep Gregory safe. It didn't quite sit right with the forever-teen, but Cassidy bit her tongue, as arguing with Liz sometimes was like talking to a brick wall.

“Catch up soon, Liz,” Evan whispered when he heard his sister's muted words and the pause in her footsteps. He still kept his face hidden, appreciating Charlie's protectiveness even though he'd conquered his fear of the dark eons ago.

***

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angelofrainfrogs · 1 year ago

Text

Going Back: Ch. 13

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Things are looking up for Gregory. After putting the soul of a formerly-immortal killer to rest, he and his new family can finally begin their lives anew. Sure, Gregory might have been cursed with mysterious Remnant in exchange for being involved in this mess—not to mention his caretakers consist of sentient robots and ghosts… But there’s no doubt that the bond they share is unbreakable. They love him, and he in turn.

All in all, life is finally starting to go right for once.

…Unfortunately, true peace is a hard-won battle. There are other things to contend with besides William’s decrepit soul, and Gregory will learn that his role in the lives of the Aftons and Emilys is far greater than anyone could’ve imagined.

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Far too soon, a group message buzzed Freddy, Michael, and Charlie's phones in unison. It was from Sam, alerting them that dayshift had all arrived and it was time for their grand introductions. After a round of parting hugs and goodbyes, the trio headed back to the surface with Gregory, Mari, and the other Glamrocks in tow. Monty and Bonnie went their separate ways once they'd reached the top, leaving the rest of the group to walk to Sam's office. It seemed the CEO had successfully gathered all employees in one location, as the coast was clear of any humans along the way. Still, the group was cognizant of Gregory's position and made sure to keep him in the center of their huddle, away from any potential prying eyes.

“Sam?” Michael called, knocking on the office door. “We're ready—Gregory and Mari are going to hang in your office for a bit, if that's cool.”

“Come in!” called Sam, who once again was cleaning up around his office. All the spare parts he gutted and repurposed were put away in a recycling canister and Chica was standing, propped up on a barebones recharging station. Its fun casing was removed and a rudimentary stand kept her upright as her battery refilled slowly.

Sam had worked hard; now all that was left was Roxy. Tomorrow night, he’d get around to finishing her up. Then came the next project he planned on proposing at this morning's meeting.

Mari with her mask on had entered first, making Sam jump slightly, unable to recognize who was wearing the Puppet's face like that. That was until his sleep-deprived mind relaxed when the rest of his strange family wandered inside. Samuel rubbed his head, laughing to himself for being so silly. Who else would it have been?

“Yep! Make yourselves at home, you guys—I'll bring everyone back here in no time!” Sam might need to grab a coffee from one of the break rooms, unless he really didn't want to make it to the end of his own meeting...

Freddy had momentarily stalled at the sight of Chica upright and refurbished, hand pressed to his heart. He knew Sam had been working on her, but he hadn't expected her to be ready so soon. The Emilys were full of surprises tonight, it seemed. “Chica looks wonderful, Sam. I am sure she will be ecstatic to be active again.”

“Yeah, awesome job,” Michael praised, gently knocking shoulders with his old friend. He then reached up to pat Freddy's back, simultaneously to reassure him that he wasn't dreaming while also steering him back towards the door. “Come on—we can see her later.”

“Of course,” Freddy agreed, turning slightly to call for Gregory. “Superstar, have fun with Mari! Call Michael on his walkie talkie if you need anything, alright?”

There were a ton of spares lying around the office that the boy could use if necessary, though of course the group hoped there would be no further Gregory-related drama today.

Sam gathered a pen and a clipboard from his desk, grabbing for his own walkie. He was slightly embarrassed at how little sleep he’d gotten, and hoped the others didn't realize how exhausted he was. He had a plan to deliver to everyone and couldn't let them down. After all the chaos over the past week, the staff of the Mega Pizzaplex needed some direction.

“Thanks you guys; nothing some WD-40 and a soft mallet can't do,” Sam remarked said, really thanking his equipment more so than his own abilities. Quickly, he rose the walkie in his palm and spoke to the all-staff channel. “Meeting in 10 minutes, everyone—in front of the main stage.” Clicking off the mic, he patted Gregory's hair. “Be good. If you want to take a nap, there's the couch and a TV. Have fun, you two!”

Samuel tried to put an emphasis on be good. After all, this kid had quickly adopted a lot of Michael's habits and inclination for mischief. He gave Mari the same treatment, ruffling her soft hewn hair in his hands.

“Don't worry, Sammy! Gregory's under my watchful eye,” she said, lifting her mask and winking up to her old friend.

“I'm expecting a full report when we return, Miss Security Bot,” Michael told Puppet with hands on his hips. Then he realized she might take this seriously and added: “Uh, not really—just have fun and keep the kid out of trouble. Don't let him do anything I wouldn't do.”

“Ah, correction—do not let him do most of the things Michael would do,” Freddy remarked, raising a finger as he spoke to emphasize his point. Mike scoffed in offense, batting the redhead's arm.

“The he—eck, Fred, did Gregory give you an attitude update while I was working?” he muttered, barely catching his curse in time.

“I am happy; now that everyone is getting either refurbished or receiving new bodies, I feel as though everything is becoming right again,” Freddy replied simply, never one to shy away from speaking his positive feelings aloud.

The room was silent for a moment, before Michael let out a little sigh and hooked an arm through Freddy's, leading him out of the room before he could spout more pleasant commentary that vaguely made him feel like he wanted to cry.

“Let's go, sappy bear,” the guard said, a little smile on his face as he pulled his friend along to follow after Sam.

“Awh...,” Charlie murmured, thinking of Freddy still as a big teddy bear when it came to his more sensitive side. He cared so deeply for his friends; she was glad Freddy was beginning to feel better about everyone’s recovery. She gave both Gregory and Mari one big hug as she was able to fit the two comfortably in her arms before following the crew out.

***

Samuel felt a little nervous introducing everyone. In reality, not that many people came into work while they were closed. There was no need besides from a few shift managers and some specialized techs to help repair all the messed-up functionality around the Pizzaplex. Really, he wanted this staffing change to mostly spread by word of mouth.

Once arriving to the stage, the idle chatter around the group of people settled and Sam attempted to sound as unbothered and well-rested as humanly possible.

“Morning, everyone! Wow, what a weird few weeks, huh? It's almost time to reopen. And with the system repairs nearly complete, I've decided to hire a few more helping hands for plans going forward!” Sam spoke confidently, showing off the group that followed him. “This is Mike Afton, General Manager and new Head of Security. He’s also taking on some night guard duties. Before any rumors start—no, Vanessa is not fired. She's currently on a wellness retreat and won't be back for some time.”

Clearing his throat he moved onto Freddy, realizing he had no last name to introduce him with. “This... is... Fred Fitzburgh. New stage manager! He'll be helping out with detecting further issues in the band and coordinating the shows. And lastly, Charlie Emily! She'll be helping me out closely, so any questions or concerns you may have for me, you can always direct to Charlie.”

As Sam looked around the room, he felt that some people were confused with the abrupt staffing change—especially Sophie, who thought they already worked at the Pizzaplex.

The terms “stage fright” and “social anxiety” weren't even in Freddy's databank. Completely at home with all eyes upon him, he was the first to step forward with a winning smile, pressing a hand to his chest and giving the meager group of staff a small bow.

“It is wonderful to meet you all,” he said once fully upright again. It felt strange to be re-introducing himself to people he'd worked with, some of them for years. However, that'd been in a completely different capacity and while his animatronic friends might understand and accept the concept of data transfers and android bodies, he knew this would be a lot for most humans to handle. Regardless, he took the situation in stride, sweeping his gaze over the room. “I look forward to working with everyone to make sure that our shows and animatronics run smoothly. Also, please do not hesitate to ask me if you need extra assistance at any time; I am always happy to help!”

There was a hushed murmuring from the crowd as they stared up at the redhead, noting the confident stature and formal way of speaking. His formality was a bit unnerving, but he seemed like a nice person; reminiscent of one of their Glamrocks, in a way...

Before the crowd's attention was lost to speculation, Michael stepped up next to Freddy with a tinnier smile of his own. Unlike the bear, Mike disliked feeling as though he was on display with a passion. He didn't necessarily have a problem speaking to groups of people, but circumstances like these where he was literally forced to be the center of attention got under his skin.

“Hey, everyone,” he greeted with a wave, and the crowd instantly went silent. Whether it was his accent or the fact that he was an Afton that shut them up Michael wasn't quite sure, though he guessed it was a combination of the two. “Like Sam said, I'm here to keep things safe around here, though you can come to me with any issues you have. It's, uh... good to meet you all.”

Charlie gave a small wave before stepping forward next to her friends and brother. Easygoing, she gave off a similar energy to Freddy with her short and sweet speech that got right to the point. “Happy to be working here with all of you!”

She felt a little too closely inspected as the group watched her. She wondered if they were trying to figure out how exactly her and Sam were related. To Sophie, who knew the most out of everyone, Charlie was Samuel’s daughter. It wasn’t a secret that Sammy rarely spoke on his personal life. The Pizzaplex staff simply accepted that, while their CEO was nice for the most part, he wouldn’t get chummy enough with anyone to spill the secrets of his existence outside the neon-lit walls. Sure, the fact that he had a fully-grown daughter was a bit shocking, but with how odd Fazbear Entertainment had been from the get-go, it certainly wasn’t the weirdest thing about the company and its management.

“So—going forward, it’s going to be real busy,” Sam continued, scrubbing at the stubble coating his chin. “After making a deal with a few sponsors, I’ll be working on some new animatronics with my mechanics. I know a lot of you wanted a reintroduction of classic characters. So, in the spirit of trying to keep my own promises—” Sam let out somewhat nervous chuckle. “—we’ve already restored Bonnie to his former glory after his sudden decommissioning. Just know the vandal who ended up breaking him has been taken care of.”

He finished off strong and confidently, flashing his team a grin. “Any questions?”

Sophie immediately raised her hand. Sam was banking on no one wanting to ask in the group setting, but of course there was always one.

“I do—many, actually. Uh—” Sophie began, coughing into her fist to clear her throat. “I thought these guys already worked here?”

Charlie spoke up, giving lying another shot. “We were brought on to help out with the mess of last week. Then, Sam asked us if we wanted more permanent positions.”

Cocking her head to the side, Sophie raised an eyebrow. Considering how odd this meeting was and the timing of everything in general, she felt as if something was fishy about the whole debacle.

“Right…,” Sophie replied, pretending to believe them. “And the vents? Are we allowed to go near them again?”

“No, we’re still working on that rat problem,” Michael replied, unable to stop his eyes from flickering to one of the ducts high up on the far wall. To Sophie’s increasingly disbelieving gaze, he added with a shrug: “They’re really giving us a run for our money.”

Now that Ennard had Sun to spend time with, Michael hoped they wouldn’t track him as much… but he had no doubt in his mind he’d be subjected to the usual stalking at least once a night. Michael realized it would probably be in everyone’s best interest to have a conversation with Ennard at some point about how things were going to change once the Pizzaplex officially reopened—specifically, absolutely no wandering out of the basement when there were children present during the day.

“Just steer clear of vents for a bit longer,” Michael reiterated, managing to relax enough to flash the group an easy smile. “We’ll give you a heads-up when everything’s clear.”

There was another moment of silence until another employee spoke up with a half-raised hand. “So… you said Bonnie’s back?”

“Bonnie and Monty are back in commission, yes,” Freddy replied with an eye-crinkling smile, recognizing this man as one of the techs that often helped with animatronic repairs. “Samuel is working hard to get the others restored soon as well.”

Sophie blinked at this, unable to fully process that Bonnie and Monty were already up and running. The progress that Samuel had made in the past week would probably cripple a lesser man.

“Boss, have you been... sleeping? There's no way you did this all in a week,” Sophie remarked with a slight laugh to punctuate her sentence. The look on Sam's face told her everything.

With a slightly pinched expression and tapping the back of his clipboard, Sam responded with a shrug. “Oh no, not a lot.”

No need for his employees to worry about him, even if every time he shut his eyes Sam saw Redbulls and socket wrenches dancing in his vision.

“I aim to have Roxy finished by the end of the night Saturday; Chica's already on her way to a restart one she finishes charging. We should be ready to re-open next Monday without a hitch. Oh a-and Parts & Services is off limits for the time being. There's going to be some construction work as we move the department to a more convenient location...” Sam warned, knowing he was putting off the most important thing for last: finally sealing off that awful room.

“Like Sam said, any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us,” Michael chimed in, unsure if Sam had anything else he wanted to announce. If not, he was ready to get off this stage and away from the confused and mildly terrified gazes currently turned upon him. “If the person you speak to can’t help, they’ll direct you to someone who can.”

“We are so happy to be working with you all—” Freddy began, though Michael gripped his shoulder warningly. He didn’t want the sweet bear to lay it on too thick, lest the employees think the situation was fishier than they already did. He could tell that Sophie was very suspicious, although he couldn’t blame her.

“Anything else you wanted to cover, boss?” Michael intoned, glancing towards Sammy across the stage.

Sam answered with one last item on the agenda. After flipping through his clipboard, he held up two pictures from security footage for all the crowd to see.

“Yes—these two are named Terry and Rita Smith. Under no circumstances are they allowed inside the Pizzaplex. They're currently under a ban,” Samuel explained, though Sophie's eyes widened considerably once she recognized the couple from the local cable news.

They’d lost a boy—a younger kid with hazel eyes and brown shaggy head of hair. Sophie couldn’t remember the picture clearly as it’d only flashed for a second, but his visage tugged at her subconscious. Terry and Rita claimed that neighbors last saw him and a pair of twins heading towards Main Street. It led them to wonder if they were going to the Pizzaplex...

A murmured affirmation issued from the crowd. Banning people from the Pizzaplex wasn’t a common occurrence, but it happened enough that this wasn’t too strange. Of course some people recognized the Smiths just as Sophie had, but they weren’t going to question Sam’s decisions.

…At least, not to his face. There would be a lot of chatter in the break rooms over the next few weeks, that’s for sure.

“We greatly appreciate your understanding with all of these changes,” Freddy chimed in with his easy smile, though there was a hardness in his eyes imperceptible except to those standing right next to him. The mention of Rita and Terry made him uneasy, though he was glad that now Michael had legal reason to take serious action should they come traipsing around again.

“Absolutely,” Mike agreed, simultaneously clapping Freddy on the back and flashing his own confident grin. “Here’s to a successful reopening!”

With that, most people dispersed back towards their posts. It was going to take a few more days for everything to be as spotless and finely tuned as it once was. Come Monday, everything was going to at least look perfect enough for guests.

“Sam? Could I use the card to buy some hair scissors?” Charlie asked seemingly out of the blue. She’d recognized that some of them may have seen Gregory's wanted poster. So, she had an idea.

“Uh... Yeah—I suppose,” Sam replied, whipping around to look at her strangely. “Can I ask why?”

“I'm going to give Gregory a makeover! It'll make him less... noticeable,” his sister stressed.

“Charlie that is a wonderful idea!” Freddy praised, expression relaxing back into its usual calmness. Everything would be fine. Gregory would be fine. There were so many people looking out for him at this point—living, dead, and something robotic in-between—that it was hard to imagine a scenario where he wouldn’t be alright.

Still, while Freddy always tried to look on the bright side, he was rational and had a penchant for worrying. Changing Gregory’s appearance where they could would certainly help the situation.

“We should see what trouble those two got into… hopefully your office isn’t trashed, Sam,” Michael remarked with a snicker, starting the walk back to Sam’s office.

In the half an hour that the group was gone, Sam's office wasn't so much destroyed as it was a little unorganized. Gregory's drawing pad was in the middle of the floor. The TV played mutely inside the office as he and Mari sat inside a pillow fort made out of couch cushions. They’d created a mighty battlement with it, lining the bottom of the fortress with throw blankets Sam kept for long nights at work. At some point, Gregory had decided to curl up and fall asleep to the sounds of Freddy and Friends. Mari had tried to change the channel out of curiosity, but the remote needed fresher batteries to accomplish such a task...

The little bot still was sitting up, Gregory using her legs as a pillow while she watched the old reruns with a fixed gaze until the door began to crack open. Her head snapped to the sound, always alert.

“Hey, it’s just us,” Michael reassured, slipping into the office with palms raised. The look Mari gave the would-be intruder was calculating and menacing, despite the cherubic face. Mike laughed, taking in the pillow fort. “Wow, you guys have been busy!”

“Thank you for watching over him, Mari,” Freddy told her, stepping up to the pair and running his finger gently through Mari’s hair. His smile widened as the stalwart guardian seemed to lean into the gesture, then turned his attention to his sleeping son. With a gentle shake of Gregory’s shoulder, Freddy quietly tried to wake him: “Superstar, we are back. It is time to wake up so we can return to the hotel shortly.”

Just her friends. Mari's aggressive look dithered out and a smile replaced itself on her face. Leaning into Freddy's hand, she blinked up at him with an innocent look.

“It's no trouble; he's an angel,” Mari assured Freddy before he gently shook Gregory's shoulder's awake.

Gregory startled a bit, not quite used to falling asleep without Freddy around these days. Only when those glowing silver eyes batted themselves to full awareness did Gregory greet them all.

“Guys... Hey...,” he murmured in a groggy voice. With his eyes unfocused and sleepy, he raised a fist to rub the tiredness away. When he could finally see well again, he reached over and hugged Freddy around the shoulders. “How was the meeting thing?”

“I believe it went well,” Freddy replied, hooking an arm under Gregory’s legs and around his back to lift him up, letting the boy settle comfortably on his hip. “Samuel introduced us to some of the staff.” An amused smile crossed his lips. “Apparently I will be known as ‘Fred Fitzburgh.’”

“Yeah, we probably should’ve thought of an alias beforehand…,” Michael remarked, though he had to give the guy credit for coming up with a name on such short notice. “Some people are definitely a little suspicious of the sudden staff changes, but they probably just think it’s nepotism at its finest.”

As Michael spoke, Freddy wandered over to Chica’s resting form. Careful not to dislodge Gregory, he peered close to the meter on the side of the crude charging port. His eyes widened as he realized the bird’s power was at 97%. Looking to the CEO, he asked hesitantly: “Sam, is there a chance we can speak to Chica before we go? It is alright if not, I… simply wanted to ask.” His eyes flickered to the boy in his arms. “As long as it is okay with Gregory too, of course.”

Samuel wasn't super happy with how his staff might be viewing him right now. Then again, it was better than to have them know the strange, terrifying truth of what happened here this past week—not to mention the dark inception that’d started since Vanessa’s sudden “promotion” from beta-tester at a contracted company to a top position in the Pizzaplex.

As Freddy spoke, Samuel watched Gregory hide his face away in the man’s shoulder. He didn't seem too bothered by the prospect of Chica’s reactivation, too tired to really care. If Monty and Bonnie of all the characters were just fine, then Gregory could surmise the rest were purged quite expertly. With Sam's caring hand, the robots were free of this all-encompassing virus.

“Oh! Yeah, of course. She's probably almost done resting! I'll go power her on,” Sam agreed, careful not to step on Gregory's drawing tablet on the way over to the bird. With a swift hand he found her main power button, feeling under a panel at the side of Chica's neck. After pressing down and holding for ten seconds, Sam stepped back to watch the magic happen as she woke up.

Unsurprisingly, a few seconds passed by with no signs of life. Gregory peeked away from Freddy's shoulder with curiosity. Then, two bright blue eyes snapped open and immediately pierced back to Gregory's own silver stare.

"BA-GAWK!” Chica crooned, caught off-guard at the people watching her. Normally she would’ve woken up alone in her room...

But this was just totally weird. Why was she in Sam's office on the repair rig?

“Oh geez! Sorry there!” she apologized, blinking as she carefully moved her limbs off the sturdy structure. She gripped her head as if nursing some robotic hangover. “I must be out of it, man... I remember I was in my room last...”

“It is wonderful to see you back in commission, Chica!” Freddy was quick to speak up, pushing down the twisty feeling in his gut when she turned an utterly confused pair of eyes on him. He’d come to expect his old friends wouldn’t recognize him, but that didn’t make their blank stares any less hurtful. She’d understand his interest in her soon enough, but Freddy figured it best to give her a moment to wake up before regaling her with his body-swapping ordeal.

“You’ve been through quite a bit,” Michael informed the bird, stepping up next to Freddy. He gazed up at her with a satisfied smile, happy to see Sam’s efforts come to fruition. As a testament to how unafraid he was of the Glamrocks now, he thrust out a hand for Chica to shake. “I’m Mike, new head of security. I’ve been helping Sam fix you and the others up. It’s… been a crazy time around here, but everything’s getting sorted out now.”

He gave her a second to process, before adding on: “You might have some memory loss, but all your systems should be functional. How are you feeling? Any problems your internal diagnostics can detect?”

This was a lot to take in. The new guy was named Mike, Chica got that. But who was this dude with the little chick on his hip?

Wait—speaking of the chick...

She’d seen him before. The boy was definitely in her facial recognition bank, but strangely with no profile to match it.

Curious...

Chica shut her eyes, quietly running her maintenance folder before perking up. “Yeah, I'll be fine. Just, like... Totally out of it. Phew.”

She fanned a hand in front of her face dramatically. Her entertainment protocol was kicking in now that she recognized there were two kids in the vicinity. She bent at the waist slightly, looking down to both Gregory and Mari with smile in her eyes.

“And how are you two enjoying the Pizzaplex? You guys must be new pals of my good friend Sam!” she said, recognizing there must be a reason she was here with two tikes and the new staff members.

Gregory wasn't shying away from her, but seemed just a little hesitant before speaking. “Y... Yeah, Sam's my friend. My name’s Gregory...”

Chica cocked her head to the side. Gregory... She searched the name up in her internal hardware folder. A search on just the first name showed that, at one time, someone with that name was previously blacklisted. However, nothing came up in the present.

Weird. It must’ve been an error that was fixed by now. Even if she couldn’t actually recall meeting this kid, Chica reached out and gently patted the top of his head affectionately.

“It's tubular to meet you, Gregory!” she gushed regardless of his previous status in their computer system. It might not even have been for him, anyway—it was rare that children themselves were banned. Usually their parents were the troublemakers.

Freddy could feel Gregory’s tension at the sudden focus Chica gave him, made worse when the bird reached out to touch his head. Gregory flinched but didn’t give any indication of wanting his dad to whisk him away to safety, so Freddy allowed the interaction to take place. When Chica pulled back and Gregory did not look like he was either going to pass out from fear or punch Chica in the beak, Freddy allowed his own tension to ease. Things were going better than expected.

“Okay, I suppose introductions are in order.” Mike chuckled, giving Gregory’s hair a little ruffle of his own. He was proud of the kid for sticking his ground in the face of the things that previously tried to kill him—it was something Michael understood firsthand and made him appreciate Gregory’s resilience even more.

“You obviously know Sam,” the guard continued, gesturing to the older man who looked like he was about to fall over. As soon as this meeting was done, Mike was marching Sam straight to the Daycare for an extended nap… and if he refused, he’d get Sam’s loving animatronics to strong-arm him there.

Pressing a hand to his chest, he went on. “I’m Mike, that’s Gregory, and those are all the names you know. Now this is Charlie—” He pulled the girl to his side, gesturing to her smiling face. “—and she’s also a new employee. The girl with huge eyes staring up at you is Mari, and this is…”

Michael paused, looking to Sam and Freddy for direction. He didn’t want to overwhelm the bird and fry her circuits, although he could see Freddy practically vibrating with the need to let her know that her good friend was right here.

“Freddy,” the redhead piped up, his eyes shining brightly. “My name is Freddy.”

Perhaps she’d pick up the clues on her own and accept him immediately like Bonnie… or perhaps like Monty, she’d need some more convincing—and vouching from Sam—that this was indeed Freddy Fazbear personified as a human.

After waving hi to the girls, Chica was looking between Michael and the man that called himself “Freddy.” Then, she looked from the child on his hip right back to him, her eyes darting as it was clear the gears were turning hard in her head. Her first guess as to why he seemed so familiar didn't make sense.

He acted like Freddy Fazbear. Sounded like the bear, too. But Freddy wasn't a person...

That just couldn't happen. Not that Sam wasn't a genius—but how could Freddy suddenly become a human?!

Chica's hands were raised now, looking like she was halfway between pulling Freddy into a hug or pinching him to see if he was actually real.

“F... Freddy?!” she asked, eyebrows high on her head now as she tried to put it all together. “Like... our Freddy? Are you really real...?”

One of her oldest friends had changed seemingly overnight. But why? Chica would never tell Freddy what he could and couldn't be; only he could decide that for himself. She just wondered why and how he’d done it!

She ran her health diagnostics on the room. Only two people had a health signature profile pop up onto her interface, and that was when she finally nodded her head in somewhat of an understanding.

“You're all robots like me! Wow...,” Chica said, raking a hand through the lush feathers on the top of her head.

“I apologize for the unexpected change,” Freddy said, handing Gregory over to Michael with a grateful smile. As Mike set his little brother on his shoulders, Freddy stepped forward to slip his arms around Chica’s torso, squeezing tightly. Despite his tall android form, for the first time Chica beat him in the height department.

“So much has happened while you were asleep,” Freddy continued, clinging to his feathered friend as long as he could. He loved Monty and Roxy dearly, but there was just something special about finally having almost all the original quartet back that made his heart soar just a little bit higher. “I will explain everything over the next few days, I promise. I needed to take on this form to care for Gregory—as you can probably tell from the people he is around, he is quite a special child.”

“We’ve got a good friend that specializes in robotics who whipped us up a couple of androids,” Michael elaborated. “The rest of us also have, um… extenuating circumstances that necessitated these things. But we can guarantee that the guy hugging you right now is one hundred percent Freddy Fazbear.”

Chica sighed a simulated breath of relief. It was Freddy. She recognized the crushing hug style anywhere. No matter his size, Fred still managed to give bear hugs. Her arms gently slipped around Freddy's shoulders and hugged him close in turn.

“Freddy,” Chica crooned, happy that her friend was okay. Now that she was in her fullest mental faculties, Chica was able to finally express how worried he made her and the rest of the band that fateful night.

“You had us scared, you know—with your gnarly malfunction on stage. I'm glad you're okay...” she said truthfully, then let out a bright laugh. “And as for the kid? Freddy, that's so like you to take care of a little chick in need.”

She sounded so proud, always loving the chance to see the best qualities in her friends shine through, like Freddy's deep empathy for any and all people. And ever since Bonnie had been decommissioned, she was so fearful of Freddy being scrapped next and replaced with something new...

“You have to do what you have to do,” she said, knowing what that meant. Freddy had to leave soon and take care of Gregory. She didn't want to let go... Yet she made herself slowly unclench her hands from around his shoulders to hold him at an arm’s length and really look him over.

“You know, Roxy’s going to be bouncing off the walls when she sees you like this!” she laughed. The wolf might even be a little jealous knowing that Freddy could probably make it outside in such a form.

“I do not doubt that,” Freddy replied with a smile so wide his entire face hurt. “Monty did not put me down for some time when he saw me! And as for—”

Freddy cut himself off, eyes growing wide with excitement. Though he’d need to part with Chica far too soon for his liking, he could leave her with a surprise that would certainly distract her from any negative feelings she might have from his temporary departure. When Chica finally released him he took a step back only to grasp her hand between both of his own.

“When Samuel gives you the okay to free roam, I suggest stopping by the bowling alley. You will be very happy with the recent addition he and Michael have incorporated.” With a final knowing wink like they were kids sharing a secret, Freddy let Chica’s hand slip from his grasp and moved back to Mike, who returned Gregory into his waiting arms.

“It’s great to meet you, Chica,” Michael said, and he meant it. “Any mechanical or technical issues, you can come straight to me, okay? For the next few days we’re all working the night shift, though I show up a couple hours earlier to help Sam out. You let me know if anything feels funky, and I’ll get you fixed up in no time.”

Chica already knew she was going to like Mike. Sending him a thankful grin, she flexed her articulate hand in a wave to the “humans” and watched as the rather sleepy child was transferred back into Freddy's waiting arms. The way he immediately reached for Freddy, dependent like the patrons were for their parents told Chica everything she needed to know that their whole deal was for real.

“Thank you, Mike! I'm feeling pretty good—you and Sammy did a great job!” she praised, thinking that she'd have to go see what was so important down at Bonnie Bowl.

After all, she typically tried to avoid the whole place these days. She wasn't specifically designed to feel pain. Still... When she thought about Bonnie, her throat felt tight as if she just couldn’t sing or move in the ways she usually could. It was sadness—something she wasn't programmed specifically to feel, but had become a learned emotion over time.

“I'll probably head to Bonnie Bowl after I catch up with my good friend Sam!” she replied energetically. Too bad Sam was currently leaning into her like he was going to pass out. “Or... Maybe I'll take him to see Mr. Moon in the Daycare first!”

“I think a trip to Moon is exactly what Sam needs,” Michael murmured, his tone indicating that it wasn’t meant as a suggestion. He gave Sam a brief hug, speaking into his ear: “Get some damn sleep, okay, Sammy? I’ll be back to help with Roxy before night shift.”

Feeling it was time for their departure soon, Mari came over to the group, first silently hugging Michael goodbye around the legs and then moving onto Charlie and Freddy. She took Gregory's hand in hers and rubbed his palm on the top of her head.

“I'll miss you guys. Come back soon~” Mari asked of them, her voice sad to see them go. This must always be what she felt when she sees them leave, as though they'd never come back...

Discreetly, Mari slipped a little green band on Gregory's wrist. She’d insisted Henry make an extra before working on her new body and was determined to use it properly this time. Gregory was too tired to notice it, but was awake enough to rake his fingers gently through her hair in quiet response to her affection.

“We will see you tomorrow, Mari,” Freddy assured the little security bot, offering her his kindest smile.

“Hey, quick request—” Michael piped up as they set out. “—can we swing by the gift shop? I was looking around for cool merch during one of my breaks and I found something good.”

There was an eager shine to Michael’s eyes that was impossible to deny. Whatever he found must have amused him greatly...

“I am fine with that, as long as we do not take too long,” Freddy replied, holding his son close. “Gregory is already falling back asleep…”

“Five minute detour, tops,” Michael reassured with a grin.

Charlie had perked up at this. What on earth was Michael up to? She knew that grin well enough to know it could either be something that made him die laughing at some point, or something he wasn't expecting them to take seriously. Either way, Charlie was dying to see it.

Sam told them with the last remaining brain cells floating in his sleep deprived mind: “Go ahead; you know you can take anything you need—”

As he was interrupted by a yawn, Chica lovingly scooped Samuel up into her arms. She shushed him, and Mari went to get the door for everyone.

“Goodbye, everyone! We'll see you real soon,” Chica bid, happily waving farewell to the group with Samuel's limp hand.

***

When they reached the gift shop, Michael rushed to the storage area and pulled out the box he’d hidden away at the back of a far shelf. He was starting a little collection of things—some items he found cool, but mostly merch he thought his friends might like. It was always good to have a stash of surprise presents; you never know when you might need them!

Soon Michael emerged with a piece of clothing. Freddy instantly recognized it as his color palate, and his old databank of Fazbear merch pulled up exactly what this item was. He let out a little aww as Michael stretched out his prize, revealing one of the limited edition Glamrock-themed zip-up hoodies. This one was of course Freddy’s model, mostly orange with a cream oval on the chest and the signature blue lightning bolt in the center. The thing even had faux red shoulder pads, though arguably the most noticeable—and adorable—feature was the hood designed to look like Freddy’s head, complete with bear ears and a little black and blue top hat.

“Oh, Michael, how sweet!” the former bear exclaimed, his eyes wide with mild surprise. “I thought this sold out months ago!”

“Well, that explains why this was the only one I could find,” Michael replied. “Our biggest concern is Gregory’s face being recognized, so I figured if we can cover it with the hoodie it’ll be a little less stressful for all of us waking to and fro. If he’s in your arms like right now, you’ll just have a mini-Fredbear and no one will question it!”

“That is brilliant,” Freddy praised, and Michael rubbed the back of his neck with an embarrassed laugh.

“Okay, okay, it’s not that smart… Now come on, kid—” The eldest Afton lightly jabbed a finger into Gregory’s side. “—sit up so I can put this on. Then you can pass out for as long as you’d like.”

Gregory opened his eyes again, half attempting to pay attention to the conversations being had inside the waking world. When he processed what he was looking at, Gregory seemed excited to curl up comfortably with the fleece-lined hoodie.

“That's for me?” he asked in a groggy manner. Charlie chuckled at him; the poor kid was so sleepy he couldn't quite pay attention long enough to know. Still, he was good and stretched out his arms to allow himself to be dressed up.

After zipping the hoodie up himself, he flung the heavy hood forward. Then Gregory went right back to stuffing his face into his father's shoulder to try and catch up on some shut-eye. It was hard being a kid without a real sleep schedule sometimes, but Gregory made do.

“Alright, night...” Gregory yawned, grasping the front of his dad's shirt for comfort as he drifted back off to sleep. Charlie reached up, gently tugging the hood further in front of Gregory's face before giving the group a little thumbs up.

“This was a good idea, Mike,” she said, impressed at his little hidden plan to put aside the merch that would help Gregory in the long run.

“I figured he’d like it, what with his Freddy obsession and all,” Michael joked, though it was clear he found the whole thing endearing. No matter what form Freddy wore, everyone would always have a soft spot for the original animatronic bear look. With a chuckle, Michael patted the hoodie’s top hat on his way to the door. “He’s super cute though, I’ve got to admit.”

Thank god Gregory was too exhausted to fight back… Under normal circumstances Michael would’ve been attacked for such comments. For now though, the boy was content to rest in the safe warmth of his father’s arms as the group traveled back to the hotel.

Once they all got to the hotel room, safe and sound without any prying eyes to watch the family's every move, they entered and Charlie immediately went to draw the blinds for Gregory. The sun was far too bright outside, and might intervene with his nap. When she turned around, watching Freddy nestle Gregory on the bed beneath the covers, she couldn't help but smile.

“Look—he's a baby bear cub,” she remarked, knowing if Gregory heard her call him that, there would certainly be hell to pay. Though it was kind of true, being Freddy's kid and all.

Charlie had learned how to use her phone fairly quickly in the past 48 hours. She raised her camera and snapped a quiet picture to remember him like this: peaceful and sleeping in tranquil bliss before he was awake and running around everywhere again. “When he wakes up, I'm going to ask if he wants me to cut his hair...”

Freddy simply nodded in acknowledgement, a faint smile on his face as he ran his fingers through Gregory’s hair. They were both underneath the covers, Gregory still in his hoodie and curled up to Freddy’s chest as his dad rested on his side, one elbow on his pillow to keep his head propped up.

“M’kay, I’m going to follow Gregory’s lead and pass out for a bit,” Michael announced in a hushed voice, kicking off his shoes and hopping into the other bed. He didn’t even bother removing his security guard uniform, suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion as the day caught up with him. Even these android bodies had their limits, it seemed. Still, it’d be nice to get some actual pajamas in the near future…

But Michael didn’t have time to worry about that right now. Dreamland was calling and he didn’t want to miss his appointment. With a huge yawn, he patted the empty spot next to him.

“You should guys should try and get some rest, too,” he advised, then promptly rolled over so his back was to the others, leaving it up to Charlie whether she’d take his suggestion and crawl into bed as well. Within a minute, Michael’s breathing slowed as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

With everyone having a fully messed up sleep schedule, Charlie had to agree with Mike. It wasn’t long before she was kicking off her shoes as well and flinging herself in beside him. There was hardly any time to argue; her robotic body needed some way to recharge, and sleep was the best answer right then. She made sure to cover them both with the cushiony comforter and took one last look over to her friends in the bed besides them.

She may be overthinking it, but the way Gregory slept had changed a little since that first night in the hotel. Where he was once curled in on himself and huddled in a tight ball Gregory now laid sprawled out, usually with one fist curled into his father's shirt for comfort. It brought a smile to Charlie’s face knowing he was becoming more comfortable. With all the stress in their lives, she could count her blessings that at the moment Gregory—for the most part—appeared to be just fine.

***

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#fnaf security breach #fnaf sb #fnaf #fnaf au #five nights at freddy's #michael afton #charlie emily #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #angelofrainfrogs #zeitghest #spend the night #going back #the wires that bind us au #sammy emily #gregory #glamrock freddy #puppet fnaf

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angelofrainfrogs · 7 months ago

Text

Break My Mind: Ch. 3

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Gregory sighed in relief at the sight of the familiar bear. Much to Charlie's dismay, Gregory unhooked his hand from hers and shouted: “Freddy! You're okay!”

Tonight, Gregory made far too many assumptions. He figured Michael would be the same, his jokes and manner of speaking to be just as he remembered—but even when proven wrong, he couldn’t believe that his dear Freddy could’ve suffered the same twisted moral fate.

Charlie quickly snatched Gregory's hand and start backing up. Simultaneously, William forced his way to the front and shielded the pair of them with his plush chassis.

“Don't talk to him, Gregory. Just another proxy for Michael,” he warned, wondering if the kid even had time to meet the more ruthless of the twisted Glamrocks.

At William's words, Gregory's heart sunk. It couldn't be true—Freddy was good. That glitch he had at the show should’ve saved him from any virus!

But… had any of that even happened in this world?

A deep-set frown invaded Gregory's expression as he looked to Freddy; there couldn't be any faults to him. It was impossible for him to lose two family members in the same timeline...

The ever-so-slight dip in Freddy's expressive eyebrows was the only sign of his annoyance. Otherwise he kept his face passive, that pre-programmed smile still curving up his jaw as he peered around William's shoulder.

“I do not appreciate your insinuation, Bonnie,” the bear remarked, hissing the name with a bit more venom than he'd ever used before.

Even though his stunning AI might not be able to handle the concept of possessed animatronics and ghosts without having one in his own head, he knew this old model of his companion was wrong. He hadn't needed Michael to tell him that—the look in Bonnie's eyes was full of nothing but sadness and anger, and Freddy knew the real bunny would never look at him like that.

“I am no proxy, rest assured,” Freddy continued, taking a step towards Gregory. When Henry stepped in his path as well, he let out a sigh. “Please move along—my child safety protocol dictates that I must take Gregory out of harms' way, and if you bar me from doing so I will have no choice but to consider you a threat.”

“Greg, do not listen to him,” Henry insisted, sparing a glance over his shoulder to the confused kid. “Remember what we told you? The Glamrocks are very advanced—their AI can be ruthless when put to the wrong use—”

“Again with the backhanded insults?” There was a hint of something in Freddy's tone—if not Michael's soul itself, then his programmed influence, surely.

And in this universe, that was a very bad thing.

“No worries Fredbear!” William said, backing his friends towards the door. “As you can see, us and security guard Charlie are on the case! We’re already taking him back to the security room...”

William attempted to soothe in the southern twang he always put on for Bonnie, regardless if the accent change may mess with Freddy's friendly interaction sensors. Not that it mattered at this point; he clearly wanted Gregory, Michael’s influence washing over him with all its tainting toxicity.

“In fact, we were just leaving to take him there!” God everyone, William thought stubbornly, take the hint and get the fuck out of here!

Charlie only had one arm to work with; there was no way she would let go of Gregory's without this one being ripped clear off her body.

“I think I'll take the long way 'round!” Charlie said, the Puppet and Gregory both clinging for dear life as she twisted on her heel and sped off down the corridor they came from. William blocked the hallway, knowing he was no match for a pissed off Glamrock alone.

Freddy's eyes narrowed. Instead of chasing them however, he watched them go with a cold glare that he soon turned on William and Henry.

“You are going to regret that decision,” he remarked, his tone icily flat. “If you think a pair of original models stand a chance against us, you are severely mistaken.”

“Freddy, we're not trying to compete with you,” Henry insisted, knowing it was a lost cause to reason with the peeved bear. At least he could buy Charlie and Greg some time. “We all have the same goal, right? To keep Gregory safe?”

“Yes, and the way to do so is to take him to Officer Michael,” the Glamrock bear stressed.

Henry blinked at him, a lightbulb of understanding going off in his head. So they weren't just blindly rampaging—at least, Freddy wasn't. He was still working off his original programming, though it'd been warped by Michael's influence when he sent out that damn virus. At least it didn't seem like Freddy wanted to outright kill Gregory...

“We'll take him there,” Henry reassured, starting to back off now to join the others. He hated the thought of leaving them alone, although he was hesitant to turn his back on Freddy as well. “Just... trust us.”

The rockstar's head tilted at an odd angle before he let out a staticky sort of laugh. “Trust you?! I am not a human—I do not deal with things like trust. I will find that boy again, and when I do he is coming under my protection immediately.”

“Try it, Fredbear. See what happens.” Henry's voice was cold now, all false pretenses of kindness out the window. Grasping William's arm, he tugged him backwards towards the doorway.

Still, the newest Freddy didn't move, simply staring after them with that wide-eyed look of cleverly-composed mania.

William watched the tense exchange. It was obvious Michael put Freddy there to guard the supplies. Now they would have to scavenge tools and parts elsewhere.

Finishing their tense conversation with a very concerned Freddy, the two diner animatronics bounced from Rockstar Row. Painfully, William dragged himself just behind Henry, fearful of the bear following them. Michael certainly knew where they were now, and William's only hope was that both Charlie and Puppet were smart enough to run and find some cover.

***

The sound of light footfalls echoed, clicking hard against the tiles of the Pizzaplex. They dashed, unsure of where to go or where to hide.

“Gregory! It's, like, going to be totally okay!” called an airy valley girl's accent. There were more in pursuit of him; it was as if they all communicated silently to one another, letting one know where their target was heading. “We need to take you to Officer Mike! Like—please stop running from us!”

Charlie's brain raced, knowing she would only be harassed until Gregory let go of her hand. After all, they couldn't stop her when she was already escorting him. That was until Gregory snapped and stopped in his tracks.

“I'm hiding inside the hamper,” he said, but Charlie tried to pull him along.

“Gregory no! We have to keep running—” she attempted, but the shadow of Chica loomed just around the corner. In a hushed tone she looked to Puppet for help as Gregory dislodged his hand and crawled beneath costumes and rags in one of the utility room hallways.

The others had a good head start, but with Gregory stalling at the sound of the bird Henry and William soon caught up. Throwing out an arm to stop the rabbit, Henry froze at the sight of Chica coming around the bend. She barely paid them any mind, simply casting her gaze over the pair with a slightly disgusted look before moving on.

“We need to get away from here,” Henry murmured, catching sight of Puppet raised on Charlie's shoulders and looking around. “Ugh, but we need supplies, too... shit.”

So much for carefully-laid plans... Closing his eyes for just a moment to gather himself, Henry tried to come up with something else. “Okay, I think... one of us needs to be a distraction. If Chica and Freddy are here, it won't be long 'till the others show up.”

“Gregory won’t come out of the hamper!” Charlie would say, pointing then as Chica’s shadow grew closer. She would completely distance herself and the Puppet from the hamper as Chica approached.

The chicken thought Freddy said the kid was with the other security guard, but here they all were with no child in tow.

“Oh my goodness, what happened now?!” Chica asked without any shred of patience left. Since her last ‘tune up,’ she’d been acting differently. Some might call it giving others attitude or sass; she called it being assertive. “Like, really? You can’t hold onto ONE child’s hand?” She sighed, attempting to radio Mike to update him. “Mikey… They lost him. Again.”

William looked to Henry, then back to the bird with a nervous demeanor. If Michael showed up and searched the hamper, he would be the only one capable of defending their little group. So, acting fast, William gave Chica a stilted wave.

“He headed back towards the West Arcade faster than a speedin’ twister!” he attempted to convince, watching as Chica eyed the older model with high scrutiny. “Fredbear an’ I are far too slow now to keep up. You and your friends could still get him!”

“Yeah, we saw them heading towards the main atrium—you can make it, I’m sure, Chica!” Henry corroborated, putting on his best affect of the goofy Fredbear voice that matched this model. Encourage his friends, that’s what Freddy was supposed to do…

Chica considered this for a moment, trying to determine if they were lying… but she didn’t seem as in tune to their deception as her Glamrock bear counterpart. She turned slowly, making her way for the door and picking up speed as she summoned the others towards the West Arcade. Henry followed her to the exit, peering around a corner to make sure she wasn’t lingering behind. With no sign of Freddy either, he meandered over to the hamper and tapped it with a paw.

“Gregory!” he hissed, leaning close so the kid could hear his voice without him having to shout. “Coast is clear; come on, I’ll carry you for a sec.”

Gregory popped up, throwing rags and clothes everywhere to scramble back up into Henry’s waiting arms. With his good arm slung around Henry’s shoulder, he huffed.

“I’m sorry—I got tired of running,” he excused, jostled slightly as the group broke back into a run.

“Great. There goes our plan. I doubt Freddy's going to leave his post unless…” William stopped briefly in his jogging pace, the gears turning in his skull. “If we offer a distraction… We could lure him, away. Then, maybe we could lock him out as soon as we’re past him.”

There really wasn’t time for debate. Whether they chose to go with this half-baked scheme or not, they had to decide now.

There was the perfect opportunity to sneak back towards Rockstar Row as a split in the hallways came back up. A handy directional sign pointing them back towards the “fun” would guide them in a big circle essentially. William folded his knuckles into his opposing palm, cracking the joints much to Gregory's confusion. “Leave the distractions to me, everyone.”

It was all a matter of knowing your strengths, and William knew exactly how to get beneath people's skin. Luring Fazbear would be a cake walk. Sighing heavily, Charlie shook her head and exchanged a look with Puppet. She was going to be stuck with Will making sure he didn't kill himself while distracting Freddy, wasn't she?

“Guess that means we've all on watch duty. If things go south, we can meet up at El Chips—Gregory should probably eat something after our heist. Right, little man?” Charlie asked, steering the group in the right direction as she looked to her friend.

“Please. I need two everything burritos, like, yesterday,” mentioned the hungry kid. He could wait, of course; he’d gotten very good over the years at ignoring the hollow growling in his stomach. But after being on a pretty steady diet for the past week, the pain tolerance had ebbed away slowly.

“Kiddo, when we get out of this you can eat burritos until you pop,” Henry promised, lifting the hand not supporting Gregory's weight to ruffle his hair.

Regardless of them being undeniably bonded because of such dire circumstances, Henry really liked this kid. He was spunky and somehow still retained a relatively positive outlook, even when the situation was dire. In a way, Gregory reminded him of Charlie before everything went wrong...

“Okay, this is where we split,” Henry announced when the time came. He reached out to give Charlie a hug—and Puppet, still clinging to her back—then gripped William's shoulder. “Good luck.”

This plan was going to work. It simply had to. William hardly cared that a Fredbear's mask was now permanently apart of Henry's face; the way he held Gregory reminded him so much of the good old times. Before the grave mistakes they both made, regrets they both shared... More so on William's end. He saw how they all could be happy again, even as their window of opportunity grew smaller and smaller with each passing day trapped inside the Pizzaplex.

“No need for luck, Hen; I've got it handled,” William replied, grasping Henry’s forearm in solidarity, a potentially empty promise depending on whether or not Freddy could catch up to him. Looking to Gregory—the kid who inexplicably resembled his Evan—he bent down a little to see him eye to eye. His floppy ears lilted to the side as William cocked his head.

“You've grown up so much...” The hint of something serious he was trying to communicate was lost as he smiled. “For now, you're the man of the group. Keep Henry in line, will you?”

At this, Gregory would crack a smile. Perhaps in another life, he and William could’ve been good friends... His chest hurt thinking about it this way. Giving Will a lazy salute, he assured: “Don't worry, I've got this on lock.”

With a final nod of determination, the group parted ways. Henry tried not to linger on how much William's words sounded like a goodbye.

But... it's not like they could really die, after all. In the worst scenario, he'd be incapacitated and unable to help take down his crazed son. Although, Henry doubted he'd let that happen—William had quite a few things to say to Michael before he left this plane of existence, after all. The old Brit always came back.

***

As Henry and Gregory snuck around to lay in wait for the distraction, Glamrock Freddy was currently pacing in the same spot he'd been at before. The bear was... well, annoyed wasn't quite the right word—he couldn't have that sort of emotion. But he was certainly feeling something about being put on guard duty.

His other bandmates were, to put it lightly, rather incompetent compared to himself. Bonnie had been on par with the leader, but ever since his decommissioning Freddy had been left to deal with the scrap. Chica was alright most of the time, though she tended to get distracted easily, but wrangling Monty was a chore—and Roxy drove him up a wall sometimes with her whining about being “the best.”

These thoughts ran on a loop through Freddy's mechanized mind as he swept the floor, no longer kicking up dust due to his frequent movement. Somehow, he had to get Michael to switch him out with someone... He doubted the others would be able to catch that kid without his help, and the longer they waited the angrier the night guard became.

Then, a familiar, amiable voice fluttered through the air. William had come to the threshold of Rockstar Row, big fuzzy ears peeking right around the corner.

“Freddy? Oh Freddy-Eddy!” he called. William could always slip right back into character. Maybe a part of him dearly missed performing with Henry; if he closed his eyes, this was almost like those little comedy skits they would do between shows for the kids. “Fredbear, where’d you go and run off to?”

He finally poked his head around the corner, finding Freddy alone in the hall. He could get Freddy to move; all it would take was some careful convincing. He stepped into the room, the slightly off-color fur on Bonnie's body shifting as he placed his hands upon his hips.

“Mike said that you were on guard all by your lonesome,” he remarked sympathetically, implying that he may have spoken to Michael in a non-confrontational way. Freddy locked onto the rabbit with a confused stare, stopping in his tracks and turning to face him.

“I thought you and Michael were not on speaking terms,” he said, his tone measured and smooth as always. “He told us not to pay you any mind, nor my old model.”

Blinking rapidly, Freddy searched his glitching database for the conversation he'd had with Michael about this scenario. Unfortunately, the virus took a big toll on the Glamrocks' internal systems, and some of his recorded memory banks were inaccessible. Still, Freddy couldn't deny that this rabbit was suspicious. Why in the world they'd chosen to allow such decrepit suits into his shinning Pizzaplex, he had no idea...

“...I do not recall anything that indicates that I cannot speak to you,” Freddy eventually added with a curious tilt of his head. “Although as you stated, I am performing a task that does not lend well to distractions. Please, tell me what you wish to say and move on so I can focus.”

Smiles. William was all smiles as he posed against the busted glass of a display cabinet, trying to look casual despite the pained way that he moved.

“You're a real diligent man, Fredbear. You remind me a lot of my Freddy. Kind...” He strolled in further, moving slow as he didn't want to come off as threatening. “Dependable. Always looking out for the kids. That's why I'm here!”

It was a sad fact that Michael had learned such manipulation skills from watching his father. Another regret of William’s was being such a bad person throughout his eldest’s formative years. Looking at Freddy, he knew that tonight he was on the right track to making it better.

“I saw Mikey; he an' I got to talking. Y'see, my central processor needed a lil’ updating. Apparently I just didn't have enough CPU to understand what Mikey needed from me! I'm gonna help you out now, as per his orders,” he explained. “Right now he's looking for Gregory in the West Arcade. So he's asked me and Chica personally for complete radio silence. Poor kid's startled by the static!”

Though this Freddy's AI was certainly the most advanced in the business, he was still just a machine at his core. He didn't have the gut, human instinct to tell when someone was lying. Sure, he could determine it based on facial and body cues, though this was only useful on humans and animatronics like himself. These older models, with their static faces and limited movement... they were much harder to read.

Bonnie's explanation did make sense—perhaps the reason he and old Fredbear had been so difficult was because they simply hadn't been updated with the proper software.

“The West Arcade?” he echoed, glancing past the rabbit's shoulder as if he could see the attraction from here. “Ah, Michael should have contacted me before going dark...” Freddy let out a little simulated huff, his gaze soon drifting back to Bonnie. “Does he require my assistance finding Gregory? I believe the child has taken a liking to me, so I may be able to lure him out easier than the others...”

Maybe this was his chance to actually do something instead of standing around. This sort of job was much better for the likes of Monty than Freddy Fazbear.

William had to hold in the urge to laugh out loud. Oh, this was a cakewalk. Besides, it was better than coming in here aggressively and risk being brutalized by the larger, stronger machine. What did the American Southerners say? You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar...

“Say, that's a great idea Fredbear!” Bonnie encouraged, hoping the animatronic would process this as his own idea rather than William's. “Well, I'd be chuffed to watch Rockstar Row in your absence. After all, I'm no spring chicken anymore; I couldn't catch moss if it was growing on my knees.”

Which... William honestly thought there might be moss growing on him these days. But that was beside the point. Bonnie looked up to Freddy with an innocent look—one that mirrored the kind and thoughtful expressions of his later Glamrock model.

Despite his older look, this was still Bonnie, and Freddy always valued his best friend’s opinions. His face lighting up in a bright grin reminiscent of the expression Gregory would see on his own non-infected bear, Freddy started for the door.

“Thank you, Bonnie; I would greatly appreciate it!” he told the rabbit, patting him on the shoulder as he passed. His brow furrowed at the squishy texture of the suit—it was a far cry from his sleek, metallic model. Still, it wasn't Bon's fault he was made like this. Times had been very different, back then—those suits were even designed to hold people, Freddy recalled, doubling as costumes when the owners decided they were better actors than the animatronics themselves. No wonder they were so odd.

“I will be sure to update Michael on the situation when I find him,” the bear called over his shoulder, then broke into a jog as he crossed the threshold of the door.

Nearby, Henry was clutching Gregory in a tight grip and watching slack-jawed at how flawlessly William's plan had worked. He remained in the shadows for now, waiting for either Will or Charlie's signal that the coast was totally clear before emerging.

Charlie was just as flabbergasted as her father. Now that Freddy was gone, they could work to fix the broken connection in her arm and patch up Gregory! Peeking out from behind one of the oversized potted planters, Charlie checked for a clear coast and came out.

“Dad? Gregory, come on!” she encouraged, hightailing it to the elevator behind Roxy's room.

William nonchalantly leaned with his arms poised behind his head, looking pleased with himself that he had tricked Freddy so easily. It wouldn't be long before the irony set in: this wasn't the first time he'd manipulated his friend—or in this case, a rather diluted extension of his former best friend's personality. He opened an eye when Charlie asked in astonishment:

“How did you get him to leave?”

To this, William thought for a single moment, his content smile fading away into as hard of a frown as Bonnie could muster. “The way I always get people to do what I want. Come, Charlotte; we need to get you fixed up...”

He beckoned, working on helping her gather all the supplies necessary to fix herself as they made it to the treasure trove of Parts & Service. Gregory made sure to lock the magnetically sealing doors that led to Rockstar Row. He'd hate to think of someone disturbing them while they took this much needed rest.

“Henry?” Gregory asked, looking up to his newest guardian. “What... exactly are we going to do with Mike when we finally get the upper hand?”

Surely, even after everything they weren't going to kill him… But then again, if Michael hurt people the same as William had in another lifetime, would he not deserve similar punishment? Gregory had been wracking his brain with this puzzle for some time now.

It was the same game board, just with shuffled pieces. Like Gregory’s own reality, there was one ruthless killer Afton and everyone else trying to take him down. To the Gregory this world belonged to, this was the only reality he’d know. Though he might balk at the thought of killing someone, after learning all that Michael had done—all the pain and torment he’d put his friends, family, and innocents through—he would accept that perhaps he did deserve such a fate.

…Unfortunately, this was not the correct Gregory Henry was speaking with. This was the immortal counterpart brought in to help push things along so Michael could be defeated and his alternate self could lead a semblance of a happy life after this traumatic weekend. This Gregory got so used to Michael as a caring brother—even a dad in another lifetime—he was having a hell of a time replacing him with the William in his mind.

Henry might not know these details, but he could tell Gregory still had a soft spot for Michael for some inexplicable reason. Therefore, he chose his answer carefully.

“We’re going to take him down, whatever that entails. We can’t let him hurt anyone else, Greg—and we’ve tried to stop him so many times before, but failed. That’s why we’re all here right now… but we’re tired of fighting. Once we get the upper hand, we’re going to end him.”

***

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angelofrainfrogs · 1 year ago

Text

Spend the Night: Ch. 33

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: The familiar melody of Grandfather’s Clock chimes through the echoing halls of the Pizzaplex…

Charlie wakes up in her Puppet’s vessel yet again with one goal in mind: to stop William Afton’s reign of terror for good. She enlists the help of Glamrock Freddy, the emphatic leader of the newest iteration of the Fazbear Band. But there seems to be more to this bear than meets the eye—and the same goes for the mysteriously familiar kid the duo find tinkering with animatronics down in Parts & Service.

With some help from friends new and old, Charlie’s journey into the bowels of the Pizzaplex will unravel mysteries none of them ever expected.

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

When you're forced to live in a mask for the rest of your years You pick up a thing or two about bone-chilling fear And we just wanna share with you everything we learned All the pain and suffering, tenfold in return We're not gonna lie to you, this is gonna hurt 'Cause now it's your turn

~We Know What Scares You by Tryhardninja, Halocene~

To Henry and Charlie's mild surprise, Evan's hand shot into the air. He'd stopped crying now, tear-streaked face wiped clean by the caring hands—and now-damp shirt—of his older sister. He moved away from her now, taking the sledgehammer that Cassidy had stored nearby and dragging it over to the arcade console. It seemed like it would be too heavy for his tiny frame, but with his android strength combined with the flash of defiant hunger in his eyes at finally getting revenge for all his family and friends' torment, Evan hoisted the weapon up like it was nothing but air.

With a sickening crack of breaking glass and machinery, the Midnight Motorist display screen was destroyed in one hit. Sparks flew out of the console, spitting angrily as if William's very soul was frothing at the mouth with unbridled rage that finally his plans of resurrection were foiled for good.

“Nice job, Evan!” Michael cheered, and Evan absolutely beamed at his older brother's praise.

“Thanks, Mikey!” he replied, then looked to the group with a questioning tilt of his sweet, innocent head. “Who's next?!”

Gregory had gaped in surprise at Evan's strength in his fresh new android body. After rising to his feet, Gregory would cheer him on alongside the others. Charlie came forth, hesitant as Cassidy made a move towards the game—only to drop in an ostentatious bow.

“No, please, I insist you go first,” Cassidy said, much to Charlie's surprise. Maybe all those years of hanging out with Evan’s softer personality had finally rubbed off on her. After Charlie thanked her, Cassidy would make it known to the whole room: “But I called next, got it?”

There was a smile on Charlie’s face, ancient tears dried as she carefully picked the sledgehammer from Evan's hands. Charlie motioned for Evan to back up, using the space around her to wind up a swing. She swept the legs out from under the tabletop game, the already busted glass breaking completely out of the case now.

“WOO! Take that, you old fuck!” Charlie shrieked with pure elation, though quickly apologized as she remembered the company of Freddy and her own dad. Cassidy rushed to her side, staring at the now smoldering machine.

“Oh man... That's like—did we hit a lithium battery or something?” Cassidy giggled, not worried for their health with obvious reasons. However, the idea of William exploding was playing in her mind on a loop that couldn't help but make her snicker.

“Looks like it,” Henry piped up, arms crossed over his chest and a satisfied smirk on his face. He let out a laugh of his own as all eyes turned to him. “Now, under normal circumstances I'd never condone this, so don't you kids start getting any ideas...” He raised a stern eyebrow, though the absolute shit-eating grin underneath it counteracted whatever seriousness he was trying to go for. “But I think, after all the fucking bullshit you've been though, I can selectively not hear any curses that might come out of your mouths for the next five minutes while you smash that thing to smithereens. What do you think, Freddy?”

Henry looked over at the bear, who was wearing a wide smile of his own. With demure tilt of his head, Freddy added in a tone of fake surprise: “Oh, will you look at that—my profanity filter seems to be temporarily turned off as well. What a coincidence!”

“I knew you were always the best one, Fazbear!” Henry said, jovially patting him on the back. There was a collective swell in the room as the kids started to process the temporary power they'd been given, and Mike couldn't help but let out a snort.

“Uncle Henry, you have no idea what you've just done...,” he commented, a delirious chuckle threatening to spill out of his mouth at any given second.

Gregory gasped, standing from his crouched position by the computer on the floor. Excitedly making his way towards the Midnight motorist game, he began stomping the more brittle pieces, snapping plastic casing away from the smoldering remains.

“Take this you dumb piece of shit!” Gregory laughed before feeling Cassidy's hand on his shoulder.

“Woah! Woah! Save some for me! Smashing him was my idea!” Cassidy whined slightly, though she wasn't really all that upset, laughing at the way Gregory chose to curse. For once, the two managed to get along as Gregory pulled her closer. Together they kicked at the remains before its damaged motherboard began to spark.

Far off and standing by Michael, Elizabeth watched with crossed arms. She didn't need to join in. She spent so long being angry, Liz felt the very notion tire her soul out. Though she would never forgive her father, she didn't want to expunge the energy needed it took to continuously hate him forever.

“God damn!” Liz mentioned, watching as Gregory stomped unperturbed by the slowly growing electrical fire. “Don't burn yourself, Gregory! Hahaha—” Liz couldn’t help but laugh at the kid’s eagerness to destroy what remained of their father.

“Watch your feet, superstar!” Freddy called, a flash of concern crossing his face as the little flame sparked and fizzled. Looking to at the oldest adult in the room, he said to Henry: “I do not think we should let that grow much larger...”

“Don't worry,” Henry reassured, hands on his hips as he watched the kids have their dark fun. “Between Michael and me, we're experts on fires by now.” After a glance up at Freddy showed this comment only made the bear more concerned, Henry chuckled and jerked a thumb towards a desk, underneath which a plethora of bright red fire extinguishers sat waiting for this very moment. “Ennard snagged some extinguishers before things went down tonight—we've got it covered, Freddy.”

Standing behind his siblings, Mike leaned forward and draped his arms around their shoulders to pull them into a tight hug. Unable to stand his giddiness he then pressed a quick kiss to each of their cheeks, laughing heartily as the pair instantly started wiping away his nonexistent spit.

“EW, Mike—that's gross!” Evan shrieked, which only caused Michael to laugh even louder.

“Yeah, yeah, suck it up!” he replied, refusing to release them even as the pair struggled. Though, based on how lightly they pushed against his arms, he could tell they didn't really want him to let go anyway.

“Gross, Michael,” Liz remarked, worming her way under his arm to give him the tightest squeeze. The odds of all of this having eventually worked out better for the bulk of them made Liz happier than berating her deadbeat dad ever could.

For one brief moment she looked to Evan, happy to see that being inside a new robot hadn't been giving him too much anxiety off the bat. From what Cassidy told him, he cried for the first two years of being stuck together… That didn't even include the time that Evan was alone.

As a small fire broke out Gregory fell back to avoid being burned, only to be caught by Charlie who's quick thinking made Liz laugh.

“Freddy warned you!” she called, and Gregory waved a hand dismissively her way.

“I'm hardly burned! Hey, uh... How do you use a fire extinguisher anyway?” he asked curiously while Cassidy left to fetch it.

“Uh... You use the hose? Duh,” the ghost replied, as if it were that simple.

“Let me help,” Henry said, retrieving his own extinguisher. Together he and Cassidy worked to control the flame, allowing it just enough spark to catch on the next piece of shattered equipment and reduce it to smoldering ash before quenching this particular section of fire. They didn't want to risk leaving anything salvageable at the end of all this.

Evan had been too distracted by the quick shift in bodies and subsequent well-deserved torture of his father to really register the android he was currently in. However, as things began to calm down his enhanced senses started coming into play—he could feel the warmth on his back as Michael held him close, the fabric of Lizzie's clothing as she pulled him into the family group hug, the vague remnants of dried tears on his cheeks... It was wonderful to be able to feel again, but something about this whole thing was beginning to tug at Evan's nerves.

After dislodging himself from his siblings—which was quite the feat—he wandered over to Charlie. She and Gregory were watching Henry, Cassidy, and Freddy work, the bear having joined in to assist with flame control. Tugging on the sleeve of the kind spirit who'd watched over him all this time, Evan quietly asked: “Hey, Charlie? Thanks for getting me out of Fredbear, but, um... a-am I stuck in this body now?”

Charlie had given him a quizzical look. She then relaxed, figuring Evan would be more uncomfortable in spectral form. This was totally fine in her book—goodness knows the boy deserved to be out of a robot for the rest of eternity if he wanted. He’d given the android a test run and Charlie knew Henry wouldn’t be offended if he kept it as backup from now on.

“Not if you don’t want to!” Charlie made that clear. She reached for Evan’s head, chuckling a little to herself as she took back her Gift. “Always feels wrong doing this. But if you’re fine with being a ghost…”

It didn’t take long. The separation was nearly instant as Evan’s robotic body shut its eyes, falling like a ragdoll to the ground. It was an odd sight as Charlie guided his spirit back onto the floor as well.

“Yeah! Who needs those stuffy robot bodies?” Cassidy remarked, then looked between the four people who outnumbered those without androids. “Uh… No offense to you guys! It’s probably weird being cooped up like that again.”

“Thanks, Charlie!” Evan sighed in relief, shaking out all his limbs. Just like Cassidy proclaimed, the thought of being trapped up in another robot wasn’t something Evan wanted to entertain if he could help it. This ghost form was light and free, and while there were benefits to having a body Evan much preferred the ability to go wherever and whenever he wanted without the restriction of solidity. Honestly, he’d been kind of jealous watching Cassidy warp through walls the past few days…

Once satisfied that he’d stretched out a good amount of 40-odd years of stiffness, Evan moved to stand in front of Gregory with a spring in his step. Holding out a hand, he grinned and said:

“Hi for real, twin from the future!” He giggled at his own little joke. “See, I said you looked just like me!”

By this point the Midnight Motorist game was nothing but a black spot of lightly smoking ash and extinguisher debris. Setting the red canister on the floor, Henry gently picked up the discarded android and carried it away to its cabinet until Evan was ready to try it out again.

Gregory glanced at Evan, staring him up and down as he finally took stock of his appearance. As with the others, he’d been so caught up in ensuring William’s demise he hadn’t gotten a chance to process everything else that’d come out of this crazy night.

“What the fuck?!” Gregory would laugh, grasping onto Evan’s hand before using it as leverage to raise himself back to his feet. Gregory, when given free range of speech without repercussion, seemed to have a little sailor mouth not unlike Michael’s. “Dude—you weren’t kidding!”

To Gregory, everyone’s reactions made so much sense now. He thought they may have been misremembering the way Evan looked after so long, but even now he could see how the poor kid’s own father mistook Gregory for his own…

“Am I looking in a mirror, or what?” he remarked, a wide grin spreading across his face. Cassidy discarded the extinguisher, quickly swiveling her gaze between the boys.

“Oh look—it’s Evan and Evan’s clone,” she teased, making Gregory roll his eyes.

“Double-trouble,” Michael muttered with a smirk, ruffling their hair aggressively and cackling at the identical cries of annoyance and vain attempts to push him away.

“Mike, you realize one of these days they’re going to team up against you, right?” Henry warned, settling next to his daughter and putting an arm around her shoulders. Knowing Henry’s claim was a very real possibility, Michael was quick to release his brothers and take a few steps back, palms raised in supplication.

“Hey, no hard feelings, right?” he asked, though his twitching grin detracted from his sincerity. He would surely bother his siblings whenever he got the chance—but never again would there be malice behind any of his actions.

Evan rolled his eyes and shoved Michael’s hip, the man making a dramatic show of being pushed off-balance that caused Evan to snicker. Freddy watched this display with a soft smile, intrigued to see how everyone got along when the looming threat of an immortal murderer was well and truly gone. The relief in the air was palpable, and despite the terror and uncertainty of the past few nights, Freddy was glad he’d been able to be there for those who needed him.

Speaking of time passing…

“Oh—it is nearly 5:15 am,” Freddy spoke up, blinking rapidly as he checked his internal clock. “If we would like to get out of the Pizzaplex before dayshift, we should start moving… There are still a few things we must do.”

Lizzie laughed at them. It was so easy to see Gregory becoming close to their family already. Good thing, because that Remnant wasn’t going away anytime soon. She bumped Michael with her hip when Evan pushed him closer to her. “You could barely handle two younger siblings. How on Earth are you going to manage three?”

Charlie had been hugging onto her dad, surreptitiously wiping a small stream of tears off on his ethereal shirt. At Freddy’s watchful observation Charlie shifted to hold Henry by the shoulders and meet his gaze. “I’m going to find Sammy, Dad. Apparently he owns this whole building.”

“Does he now?” Henry let out a soft chuckle. “Well, well… make sure all that power hasn’t gone to your brother's head, will you?”

To Gregory, Freddy alerting them was like his dad telling him to wrap up hanging out with his friends. Without even thinking, Gregory pulled Evan in for a quick hug.

“We’re gonna hang out again soon, okay?” He spoke with a determination in his voice. Cassidy quickly piled into the hug, and Lizzie was soon to follow—though the sheer instability of their unbalanced embrace had the group of kids falling over into a giggling pile on the dirty ground.

“We’re gonna hang out tons!” Evan confirmed after the laughter died down. He stood, helping Cassidy to her feet. “I want to see what this new place is like—Cassidy says it’s so different from all the other restaurants!”

“I think you all will have a great deal of fun in the Pizzaplex,” Freddy said, and Evan turned to stare up at him. After a second’s hesitation, he wrapped his arms around the bear’s leg to give him a brief squeeze before stepping back.

“Thanks for helping, Freddy,” Evan muttered quietly, falling back to Lizzie’s side. He wasn’t afraid of this particular Glamrock model in the slightest, but his lingering nerves towards any large animatronics still caused him to revert to shyness.

“There is no need to thank me; I am glad I could be there for my friends, no matter how new they may be,” Freddy responded kindly, then offered a hand for Gregory to take. “Shall we go?”

“We’ll be back soon,” Michael reassured, patting Cassidy on the shoulder before giving his siblings a final hug, then moving onto Henry.

With a battle they long dreaded finally coming to a satisfying end and a happy farewell, the Faz-gang hurried for the surface. As they traveled out into the darkness, Charlie walked behind Gregory. She was shaking her hands over his shaggy—albeit greasy—hair, squealing in praise: “You did so well back there, Gregory! Isn't he such a cool kid, guys?”

It'd been a long time since she felt this good; that she didn't have to worry so much.

“Shut up; you were so badass!” Gregory laughed. “The way you kicked the charging pod door closed was priceless!”

“Aw, shucks.” She feigned humility, then jabbed an elbow into Mike’s side. “And you two? Dude, you guys were ruthless.”

“I would say that our ruse worked perfectly,” Freddy commented, causing the group to grin up at him.

As they neared one of the staircases that would take them up to a higher level, there was a sudden movement in one of the dark corners. The group stilled, watching the huge, lurching shape come towards them, and for a horrible moment wondered if they'd somehow gotten it wrong—was William still roaming the Pizzaplex, having miraculously escaped the data transfer?

However, as Ennard stepped underneath a hanging lightbulb everyone relaxed. Well, three out of four in the group, at least.

“For fuck's sake, Ennard!” Michael groaned, raking a hand over his face. Then he paused, realizing something that needed to be addressed before they left. “Oh—actually, you know what? I have something to tell you.”

Of course Ennard was completely fixed on Mike, all eyes staring unblinkingly at his face. At this point it didn't even phase the android, who simply met the demented clown's gaze with a serious one of his own, arms crossed in front of his chest. “Now listen—the four of us are going to leave the Pizzaplex soon, and you need to stay here. We're coming back, so don't... come looking for me, or anything. Just stay down here out of sight and listen to Henry—got it?”

Michael hated subjecting his uncle to Ennard's attention in his stead, but at least he wasn't scared for the ghost's well-being... and he was sure that the second he set foot inside the Pizzaplex again, Ennard would be waiting eagerly in the nearest vent for a glimpse of his “friend.”

Much to everyone's stunned, silent gazes, it was almost a relief to see Ennard okay. They did a good job at keeping a close watch on them as per Michael’s instruction, up until the very end where they’d had their own part to play in the ruse. Where Gregory figured that Ennard would obey, they instead rubbed their arm bashfully.

“STAY..? B... BUT WE HELPED.” Ennard had worked hard. Being trapped here again meant no freedom. No freedom meant they couldn't go with Michael or the rest. They were trapped. Trapped like back at Circus Baby's Rentals.

No. This couldn't be happening again.

“WE DON'T UNDERSTAND...” Their voice sounded somewhat betrayed, the garbled tone harder to comprehend when feeling this intense emotion.

“You helped a great deal,” Freddy stepped in, deciding it best to take over before Michael went back to sulking. He'd hate for the man to lose his good mood so soon, and Freddy also knew how to use a bit more tact when speak to Ennard at this point. Smiling gratefully, the bear continued:

“We thank you for everything you have done, Ennard. It is not that we do not want you to come with us—” There was a grumble from Michael, which quickly turned into a yelp as Charlie's bony elbow jabbed into his side. Unfazed, Freddy went on. “It is just that there are a few things we need to sort out before we can bring anyone else along—not just you.”

Freddy left unspoken the fact that Ennard would scare the living daylights out of most people they came across, as this was a given. Instead he chose to focus on the positive, hoping that giving Ennard something to look forward to would make them accept staying behind a little easier.

“As Michael said, we will return soon—we promise we will not abandon any of you. Perhaps when we come back I can introduce you to some of the other animatronics, if they are functional again. You may be able to visit them during the night shift and make some more friends.” He hummed, tilting his head in thought. “Hmm... yes, I can already think of at least one you may get along with rather well. It will just take a bit more time, alright?”

Ennard tilted their head with interest, now looking at the situation in a new light. They approached the group, slow and hopeful that their friends wouldn’t be alarmed at the proximity.

“WE AGREE...,” they replied, sounding somewhat melancholy as they went to pass them in the hallway. They slunk around with eyes that wandered and flicked back to Michael every now and then. “YOU'LL BE BACK.”

It wasn't a lie, as far as Ennard could tell. After Charlie dislodged her elbow from between the faux flesh on Michael's ribs, she waved at the amalgamation.

“We'll see you soon, buddy! Take it easy think of all the awesome robot friends you’re going to make soon,” she encouraged, to which Ennard would give her a thumbs up—making sure to graze a wire or two over Michael's shoulders and they squeezed on by him.

“HAVE FUN... PLEASE COME BACK AND SEE US SOON...”

Gregory waved too, feeling a little bad for Ennard. But they were just way too conspicuous to take into the public eye. They needed to focus on the little quartet making it through alright by themselves for now. There still wasn't a good, concrete plan put into place for how exactly to do that.

Michael brushed Ennard away, but in a surprisingly non-aggressive manner. As much as it pained him to admit, Ennard had helped them and kept their word of watching over Gregory. As if reading the kid's mind, once they were climbing the stairs and fully out of Ennard's sight, Michael spoke up hesitantly.

“So, uh... what exactly are we going to do when we get out? Because I don't know about you guys, but I don't have any money. Or ID. Or... anything.”

He used to have those things, but they'd been burned to a crisp along with his original body in the diner fire. The only one who could have anything remotely close to things they'd need was Gregory, although they'd established already that he had no money—and any form of ID would be useless because he was only twelve and it would link him to the foster care system that may or may not have noticed his disappearance by now. Mike desperately hoped that Gregory was one of the unfortunate kids to have fallen through the cracks—a horrible thing to happen for anyone but the immortal boy who'd been adopted by an animatronic bear and two android siblings.

“—Cool.” Gregory smirked. “We're off the grid.”

He probably didn't even consider the fact they needed all of those things to do anything.

“All we need to do is get jobs! That'll be easy,” Gregory convinced himself. Once they all had money, then they could live somewhere. “Besides, if we need a place to sleep, there's this old van from like... The 70's or something in a junkyard around here. It's got a smelly water bed in the back and it's pretty comfy—”

Charlie winced. How long had this kid been on the run for?

“No—one, you're too young to work.” Charlie burst Gregory's bubble. “Second, we're not going to sleep in a decrepit old van... Unless we don't have a better option.”

It was at that moment that Freddy realized his knowledge of the outside world might be a bit... lacking, to say the least. He knew that people needed jobs to make money, which was obviously used to obtain everything. He’d been designed as a mascot for a Mega Corporation after all and was used to people spending exorbitant amounts of money for the smallest things.

But... how would they get to that point? He hadn't even considered needing identification. His adoptive children might be able to finagle their way into obtaining something, but what about Freddy? He was literally created as a bear, for goodness sake—how would that translate to a human identity? He didn't even know how old he was supposed to be in this new body he would soon take over, let alone what last name he should take on since Fazbear was clearly out of the question.

“We'll figure something out,” Michael said determinately. “Worst case, maybe I can throw around the Afton name a little—or better yet, the Emily one.” He raised an eyebrow at Charlie. “Your brother's still alive, and Fazbear Entertainment is famous; maybe we can find a cheap hotel close by and convince them we have a room booked under Sammy's name? I'm sure we can raid the registers around here for cash, too! Well, unless they clean them out at the end of the day...”

He trailed off, scratching the back of his head, and that's when he remembered the wound he'd sustained earlier. His nails came away coppery with dried blood, making Michael wince.

“Ah, crap... Hey, Gregory, would you mind fixing something in my systems before we move Freddy over to his android? Something got out of whack when I had an, um... incident with you know who earlier.”

“Crap, what’d you do?” Gregory asked. It was his turn to be concerned. The trail of dried blood leading from a crack at the crown of Mike’s skull made Gregory cringe at the sight.

“Dude, you need to stop getting so messed up,” Gregory chided. He tried to look everywhere else but the wound on his head. He’d have to suck up whatever repulsion he had from the sight of it later when they had access to tools. “That jerk really hit your head… Piece of—”

Gregory bit his lip to stop himself from cursing. Charlie gave Michael a sympathetic look, but agreed with him nevertheless.

“I’m going to go find Sammy after we make sure your head isn’t messed up… Well, more messed up than usual.” Charlie corrected herself, teasing him gently as they approached Rockstar Row. “Who knows—maybe Sam can help us out! He probably wouldn’t mind; after all we’re family!”

“I'm fine,” Michael said with a roll of his eyes. “I got an alert saying a gyroscope was out of whack, but other than the wound itself I'm pretty sure that's the only thing wrong.”

“I am sorry we could not help you at the time,” Freddy murmured, frowning at the blood smears. Michael shook his head with a smile.

“You guys had a job to do. And hey, now we have at least a little plan!” He shoved his hands in his pockets, subconsciously looking for danger as they approached Freddy's door. “We'll fix up my head, find Sammy if he's around, then get you in your new body.”

“Alright,” Freddy relented, not feeling the need to press the matter. He decided to knock on the door, remembering that Vanessa and Hannah were still inside, and was mildly surprised it was opened by the ghost. “Oh! Hello, Hannah; how are you?”

“I'm fine!” she said, peering around Freddy's leg to see the others, her eyes widening at the sight of everyone covered in grime and soot. “Whoa, you guys are so dirty... what did you do?!”

Before anyone could give Hannah a rational answer, Gregory hopped into the front of the group—probably being the filthiest of them all. His apparent grime dusted off of him in small clouds with each movement.

“We put an old man inside a video game and smashed it! It was intense!” he said with all the excitement of a child who’d just finally been told he could have a puppy. He moved inside of Freddy’s room all with the intention of telling Hannah every detail he could remember from the final fight with William Afton.

Charlie shared a look with Freddy and Michael, figuring they could afford to let Gregory relax and unwind with his new friend for a few minutes.

“Ness? You still here?” she called out, wondering if she had already decided to head on out before dayshift showed up.

“Yeah, I’m here.” Vanessa’s exhausted and worry-ridden voice came from the direction of the couch. She stood in front of it, having jumped up at the knock on the door, hand relaxing from where it’d been poised on her walkie to alert the others of an intruder. Hesitantly, she asked: “So is it… done?”

“It’s done,” Michael confirmed, watching Gregory excitedly explain the details to an astounded-looking Hannah. Turning back to Vanessa, he offered her a smile. “He can’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“Oh thank fuck,” Vanessa breathed out in a rush, pressing a hand to her heart. She took a second to process the fact that she was indeed free of the mind control she’d been under for far too long, then glanced at Hannah. “We’ve just stayed here—she played the arcade game for a bit but then she got bored and we’ve just been… talking. She’s a sweet kid.” Her voice caught on the last word, and Vanessa cleared her throat.

For Hannah’s part, the little girl was now 100% confident that the entity who’d kidnapped her and the woman who’d been watching over her for the past hour or so were not the same by any means. She couldn’t find it in her to blame Vanessa for her death, whose genuine remorse was palpable in every apologetic word and guilty expression.

“Perhaps after she and Gregory have a few more minutes together, Cassidy can take Hannah down with the others?” Freddy suggested softly, looking to Charlie. He had a feeling Cassidy might not appreciate another random summons, but the other option was for one of their quartet to trek down to be basement again to show Hannah the way, which they simply didn’t have time for.

Charlie watched as the young ghost acclimated well to her new existence. With Gregory telling her the colorful details of their daring battle with her killer, Charlie could feel her heart clench. Then Freddy’s words pulled her from the thoughtful stupor.

“Oh yeah; good thinking. I’ll call her soon.” Now Cassidy was in a better mood, Charlie reasoned the girl would be glad to make a new friend. Honestly, she was more worried about Vanessa.

“Are you going to be alright, though?” Charlie asked genuinely. After all, Vanessa never had a choice to be involved in all this, just like the rest of them. “It… It’s okay if you’re not fine, y’know?

After all, the majority of them were by all means not fine. Though Charlie knew they all had each other to get by… That raised the question if Vanessa had anyone who worried about her the way their Faz-family cared.

Vanessa gave a short, humorless laugh. “Not really, but… I’ll get better eventually—I hope. It’s just… so raw right now.”

The guard grimaced, looking to the floor.

“I still don’t remember everything, but I know enough to confidently say that William fucked up my entire life. I… I want the parents of those kids down there to know what happened. Not the details, of course, but at the very least they deserve finality that their children aren’t coming back.” She swallowed heavily, the air suddenly thick with the weight of William’s crimes against the innocent. “I’ll… I mean, I want you to know that I’m not going to say anything you don’t want me too. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would believe me… but I’ll wait until you all get things settled before speaking out.”

“Thanks, Vanessa,” Michael responded softly. He met her gaze, offering a small, sympathetic smile. “I promise we’ll do everything we still can for those kids. Who knows—maybe more of them are still hanging around like Hannah, waiting for Charlie to give them a second chance.”

“…You really think so?” Vanessa asked hesitantly, looking over towards the little girl. She was so lively and animated listening to Gregory’s tale, it was hard to believe she was actually a ghost who’d been killed in such a brutal, unceremonious way barely a week prior.

Charlie had been thinking on this topic since leaving the basement. Even with all of the safety features that Sammy kept inside this facility, there was still the aftermath of a “tragic accident” at a Freddy's location. Every single building that had to do with this IP turned into a murder scene. Like the very name was cursed. She always wondered if Evan's death had triggered it—just an unfortunate chain of events that led to the latest killing spree leaving nine kids dead and one brainwashing victim traumatized.

And one boy left permanently scarred as well, given an experimental drug that clouded his eyes stark silver...

For Charlie, it was easier not to think about. It's what the franchise had been doing for years after all. She'd have to bring up coming clean about everything to Sam with they finally met again. Charlie had been in a somewhat nervous mood since this realization—and Vanessa mentioning it just now made her chew on the corner of her finger in thought.

“—I want to do my best to help them. And... I don't know how we're going to do this. It might bankrupt Sam and we’ve got to be super careful not to incriminate him, but we have to tell the police something,” Charlie remarked, knowing the families must miss these kids be worried sick not knowing where their children disappeared to. Of course, it all felt too personal; too close to home for Charlie to take lightly.

“...Look,” Michael began with a heavy sigh. “Not that I'm condoning keeping this from the public, because this damn franchise has been hiding things for way too long... But let's just give it at least one more day, okay? We can find Sammy and get his opinion on the whole thing, and we'll figure out where to go from there.” He glanced at Vanessa with a raised eyebrow. “You're going to get a lot of heat for this, you know, regardless of how we spin it.”

“I know,” she agreed with an expression of acceptance. “I'm ready for whatever the consequences are. I might not’ve actually done the deed, but I'm still responsible for all those missing kids.”

There was another pregnant pause, before Vanessa's shoulders slumped with exhaustion. “Alright, if there's nothing else you need, I think I'm going to go home. Can you tell Hannah goodbye for me? I... don't think I can face her again. Not tonight.”

“We will,” Freddy reassured, giving Vanessa a smile. “Please try and get some rest.”

“I'll do my best; you all do the same.” Vanessa spared one more glance at the kids, who were still involved in their own world. Then, with a half-hearted wave she slipped out of Freddy's room and made her way for the main exit.

Once the door closed, Freddy walked into the back area to grab a toolkit used for quick, basic repairs so the group wouldn't have to go to Parts & Service to get Michael fixed up. As he did so Mike took a seat on the couch, calling over to his brother with a little smirk: “Hey, Gregory, any chance you could help me sometime in the next century? Charlie's going to get Cassidy to take Hannah down to the others.”

Gregory’s face was red. He had completely forgotten about Mike's busted skull in his grand recounting of events.

“Crap—sorry, Mike! I’ll come look at your head!” he replied without trouble. Gregory’s pale eyes flicked back to the girl and he promised with a subdued smile: “I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I’ll come visit you guys as often as I can.”

He didn’t want to seem too eager to hang out with her. As Charlie came beside them, she touched Hannah’s shoulder.

“Hey! Did you have a fun time chilling in Freddy’s room?” she decided to ask, attempting to gauge the ghost’s mood before meeting with Cassidy. Despite their differences Charlie personally came to love Cassidy as a close friend, though was fully aware that Cas could be a bit much upon first meeting her.

“Oh, uh... yeah!” Hannah replied, frowning a little at the whiplash of her conversation with Gregory being cut short only to start a new one with Charlie. She also realized that Vanessa was gone, and while Hannah was a little peeved the woman hadn't even said goodbye, she couldn't really blame her—Vanessa looked ready to fall right off the couch from exhaustion towards the end. Tilting her head, Hannah asked: “So... what now?”

“You can stick around if you want—we’re going to be leaving for a little while. But I have a few friends your age that would love to hang out with you. My dad’s around here too, and he’ll take really good care of you!” Vaguely, Charlie wondered how long Henry planned to linger. Then again, some people can’t choose when they pass on. Charlie did what she could to twist the threads of fate, but sometimes they snapped before she could get a firm handle.

While the girls conversed Freddy joined Mike and Gregory at the couch, handing over the toolkit so the boy could work. Despite all the blood matted in Michael's hair, the wound itself thankfully wasn't too intense—a bit of poking around on Gregory's part should do the trick to get him back to rights again.

Gregory had to access a switch he found between a flap of fake skin on the back of Michael’s head, just under his hairline. It almost made Gregory pass out when the back of his brother’s head flipped forward to reveal the intricate endoskeleton underneath.

“Fuck—” He gasped, covering his mouth before rasping out an apology to his dad. “—Sorry I… I mean just look at that.”

How could he be blamed? Gregory didn’t think it was going to open up in such a way, and though he was aware Michael’s body was robotic there was a stark difference between accessing the inner workings of the Glamrocks versus a humanoid vessel. Regardless, Gregory spotted the problem right away.

“Oh, the housing for the gyroscope is loose. Easy—Dad, can you pass me a hex wrench?” he asked, holding out his tiny palm.

***

At the main entrance to the Mega Pizzaplex stood a very distraught CEO, feeling a stress headache coming on as the day staff lead explained the current status of his once-beautiful building. The sheer state of the damages was going to cost him dearly. Just when sales began to peak, he had to renovate the place again?

“Sophie…,” he murmured lowly, interrupting the girl. “Where is Vanessa?”

He sounded one part mortified and two parts silently infuriated. The normally calm man watched Sophie clam up, floundering in her speech.

“Uh—I… I’m sorry—I really don’t know. She’s kinda been avoiding me. No one could get a hold of you over the weekend either, Boss…,” Sophie explained meekly.

Mr. Emily wiped his hand roughly down his face in frustration, knowing it was partially his fault for not guiding them but unable to admit it while he was this upset. “—Fuck it. I’ll call her. She can’t just not explain any of this!”

As Vanessa's hand reached the push-bar of the main entrance doors, she was mortified to see none other than Sammy Emily, the CEO of Fazbear Entertainment marching in her direction. Her eyes widened in utter terror and she backed up, wondering if she'd be able to dart into a closet and hide until he passed by. Unfortunately, it was too late—upon catching sight of her, Sam let out a surprised exclamation and picked up his pace, soon bursting into the lobby with fire in his eyes.

“Oh shi—um, hello, Mr. Emily! I-I didn't expect to see you for another few days!” Vanessa greeted with a weak smile, crumbling into herself. God, she was so fired...

Mr. Emily held out his arms in a matter of fact gesture as if to say, ‘Yet here I am anyway.’

“Hm—the meeting went well!” he said through grating teeth. Samuel could feel another grey hair coming in on the back of his head. “Now, if my new stockholders decide to come by, they can see how majorly they fucked up.” He smiled, but there was no joy in his eyes. “Yep. They’ll say: ‘wow I sure do regret investing in this dump.’ Vanessa—what the hell happened?!”

Ness opened her mouth to speak, then promptly shut it again. She had no clue what to say. No excuse she had could truly make Mr. Emily understand what went down. Well, if she was going to be fired anyway, there was no point in lingering—Vanessa was fucking exhausted.

“Honestly, Mr. Emily?” she began, moving around him towards the front door. “Some major shit went down this weekend; that's really all I can tell you. I'd suggest you visit Freddy's room—they'll be able to explain much better than I ever could. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a long. Fucking. Nap.”

Before Sammy had a chance to respond Vanessa turned and rushed out the front doors, keeping her head down and ignoring Sophie's frantic call. She didn't stop until she'd reached her car, which she jumped inside and sped off in towards home. She'd come back to the Pizzaplex eventually to help tie up some loose ends, but the sheer glee Ness felt seeing the place fading away in her rearview mirror was indescribable.

Mr. Emily couldn't believe what he heard from the supposed head of security who’d just—what? He wasn't entirely sure what happened just now. Had Vanessa quit, or simply taken an abrupt leave of absence for who knows how long?

He left Sophie behind to investigate on his own terms, taking it slow as he inspected the rogue points of damage around the Pizzaplex. Even from the state of the lobby, it was clear they couldn't open this place tomorrow. Mondays weren't particularly busy in the morning, but the place sure attracted kids after school was out. Besides, how was Sam supposed to run a business with only one working Glamrock?!

If Freddy had even been fixed after that gnarly stage malfunction, that is…

***

“There's more kids here?!” Hannah somehow managed to sound both excited and mildly upset at the same time. Vanessa hadn't gone into much detail about everything that'd happened, but she'd mentioned there were many more victims of this William guy before Hannah. However, the ghost girl hadn't expected to see anyone but Charlie so soon, if ever. Trying not to think about how or why the other kids were around, she gave Charlie a small smile. “Yeah, I'd like to stay with them! Especially if you guys are gonna leave; I don't want to hang out here by myself...”

It didn’t take long to summon Cassidy, and Charlie was glad to see her in a good mood and just as excited to meet Hannah. She laughed at the state of Michael's head when first appearing inside Freddy's bedroom, but ignored him fast enough to greet the new girl. She was surprised that Charlie was still giving out Gifts, but was amiable enough thanks to recent events to help the newly deceased girl acclimate.

“You've already met Gregory—but have you met his twin yet?” Cassidy asked, already playing along with the joke. Hearing this, Gregory smirked as he finished up the repair and worked to close Michael's casing back into place.

“He's got a twin?!” Hannah asked with a surprised gasp, looking from Cassidy to Gregory and back again. “That's so cool!”

Hannah liked this new girl already. Cassidy's confident aura was something Hannah naturally drifted towards. That's probably why she'd already gotten along so well with Gregory, too.

“Let's go!” she exclaimed, grasping Cassidy's hand without hesitation and eagerly swinging her arm back and forth. Hannah was also very glad for the chance to make new friends—it would distract her from thinking about other things. Before Cassidy could whisk her away, Hannah waved to the group.

“Bye; I'll see you guys soon! And thanks, Charlie.” She released Cassidy's hand for a just a moment to squeeze Charlie around the waist, then returned to her new friend's side, locking their fingers back together. “Okay, now I'm ready for real.”

“Hey—you're going to love this. Watch what we can do,” Cassidy prompted, taking a firm hold of her new friend's hand whilst waving goodbye to the others as she and Hannah began to slowly sink through the floor.

And not a moment too soon, as someone's shadow fell over the door.

***

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angelofrainfrogs · 1 year ago

Text

Going Back: Ch. 1

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

All in all, life is finally starting to go right for once.

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Hello and welcome! :) This is Part 2 of The Wires that Bind Us Series; although you don’t have to read the first part to enjoy this fic, it’s highly recommended to help contextualize the plot of this story and others moving forward. Here’s a quick summary of prior events:

While hiding out in the Pizzaplex, Gregory is discovered by Glamrock Freddy and an old animatronic known as The Puppet. Turns out the robots aren’t all they seem—possessed by children of Fazbear Entertainment’s original founders, Gregory winds up involved in a quest with Charlie Emily and Michael Afton to take down the digitized but still murderous soul of William. Along with some help from other spirits that linger in the burned-up diner down below, they managed to extract William from the Glamrock Bonnie suit he was using as a new body and trap him in a video game, which they subsequently destroyed.

The journey wasn’t easy, though. Along the way Gregory was injected with Remnant, the full ramifications of which are still unknown. What he is sure of however is that through the trauma he’s gained a new family that cares for him better than anyone—including a dad in the form of Glamrock Freddy. You see, human souls are a powerful thing; when bonded to an animatronic they can leave a lasting impression. Thanks to Henry Emily’s fantastic engineering, Charlie, Michael, and Freddy were able to possess lifelike androids to start their lives over anew.

Where we left off in Part 1, the quartet had just left the Pizzaplex to head for a nearby hotel and get some rest after their adventure.

***

It's going back, back, back, back They've been through this before It's going back, back, back, back The final page of the lore The sound of cheer The need for fear The souls of the kids are free Rewind the tears

~Going Back by Kyle Allen Music~

It was a fairly large hotel. It made Charlie wonder how many people visited this town nowadays, what with the Mecca of Fazbear Entertainment standing tall and proud as its most notable landmark. Last she checked, this town had a population of a little over 10,000. Not a whole lot, but not a small number by any means. Sammy's draw of tourists had done wonders for the family businesses.

“We should order room service as soon as we check in. Gregory's going to need to build his strength back with something that isn't a pizza-flavored slushee,” Charlie pointed out, waiting before crossing the street. While she was sure Freddy knew not to linger in the road, Charlie grasped onto his free hand regardless to make sure he and Gregory were still trailing along.

The parking lot looked pretty full, and they approached with only Michael's shopping bag of clothes as their luggage. At the front desk, popping gum in his mouth sat a concierge manager typing things into the computer, digits nimbly pounding away at the keys.

“Be with you in a moment!” the overworked college student called, finishing his email. Getting up from the desk and walking towards the quartet, he put on his best customer service smile. “What can I do for you folks?”

Despite him never having interacted with another human outside the comparatively small bubble of the Pizzaplex, Freddy took it upon himself to respond. Beaming down at the young boy, he announced: “Hello! My family and I require a room to stay in—preferably one with 'room service,' as we are quite hungry.”

Michael bit back a groan. God, he could see it now—he thought catching Charlie up to speed with things would take a while, but it seemed like Freddy was going be the biggest problem. Quickly stepping in, Mike moved in front of the redhead to catch the concierge's attention.

“Sorry, ignore my—uncle. He’s... not from around here,” Michael said, reaching into his pocket to retrieve Sam’s wallet. Offering the boy an apologetic smile, he clarified: “We need a room for four people, at least 5 nights with the possibility of an extended stay. It doesn't have to the biggest; we don't mind sharing beds. Just preferably no smaller than queen-sized—two kings would be great, if you have it.”

“Do you guys have ping-pong or air hockey here?” Charlie asked, officially overloading the poor kid with too many questions.

His eyes flicked between the three of them, blinking. “Uh... Y-Yes! Yep, there's actually one available family vacation suite! That's a bathroom, two king beds with a kitchen and full amenities, too.”

The concierge leaned over and grabbed a pamphlet, handing it over to Charlie who presented it to the rest of the group.

“With room service, plus full spa, gym, and arcade access, that's about $250 a night,” he added, doing his best to answer all of their questions.

Charlie tried to hide her shock at how expensive things were. Sammy did say they could use his credit card on anything after all... And the room looked nice. Gregory deserved a good spot to be in and relax.

“We'll take it,” Michael said quickly, not in the mood to haggle. He was just happy they'd found something so spacious—he thought with all the cars in the parking lot, they'd have to settle for a simple room with just two beds, and a bathroom, maybe a couch if they were lucky. Though Sammy would probably appreciate a cheaper price, Mike knew he'd understand them wanting to indulge after so long being cooped up and handed over the credit card. “You can put the tab on here.”

Freddy, who'd only been exposed to the exorbitantly hyped-up prices in the Pizzaplex, had no frame of reference for what was considered expensive. He appreciated Michael taking charge, hanging back next to Charlie's side as Mike and the concierge moved to the front desk to get all their information and secure the room.

“Need anyone to take your luggage, Mr...?” the young man began to ask. Taking the credit card from the brunette, he couldn’t help but notice the distinctive name emblazoned on the metal rectangle.

Samuel Emily.

Anyone who lived in that area of Hurricane knew the Emilys. The boy then felt sort of stupid for not recognizing Mr. Emily's family—even if he couldn't quite recall ever seeing this group before.

“Nope! We don't have much,” Charlie responded, reassuring him with a grin. With that succinct answer, after charging the card the manager would put their names in as Emily for the time being.

“Uh—okay then, you’re all set! Here are your room keys, guys, and your recreational passes,” he explained, pointing to the number on the keycard. “Room service will call after 20 minutes; give you some time to get settled. Have a nice day, and enjoy your stay!”

“You have a wonderful day as well!” Freddy called over his shoulder as Michael firmly took his free hand and urged him towards the elevators.

Mike couldn't help but roll his eyes, a smile lifting his mouth at Freddy's endearing friendliness. At least that hadn't changed.

Before long they'd ridden the elevator up to the 7th floor and found themselves in front of room 717. The door opened with nothing more than a delicate press of the keycard against its sensor lock, and Michael led the way into the suite.

“Oh, hell yeah!” he exclaimed, staring around the room in wonder. True to the concierge's word, there was a little kitchen and sitting area at the end of the short entrance hallway they stood in.

Michael wasted no time kicking his shoes off, dropping the bag of clothes, and walking into the space, taking note of the two doors coming off of the sitting area that led to the bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom itself was shaped like an L and also had two doors so it could be accessed from either the bedroom or the main area, per whatever suited the guests' fancy. Michael spun in a slow circle, his arms spread out wide. “I can definitely get used to this place.”

Charlie had noticed on their way through the halls that things looked notably different from the last hotel she remembered staying in nearly fifty years ago. The style of interior design had changed from those homey patterns to something more minimalistic over the decades. Gone were the days of strange patterns and bright colored dishes, replaced by a more neutral palate. If asked, Charlie would argue and say that it seemed a lot more boring to look at.

But how could she really complain when their room had a flat television?

She was awestruck, and looked around Michael and Freddy at their temporary living space. It wasn't long before she found the bedroom and flung herself onto the nearest mattress. She sunk in almost immediately and stretched her arms out to the ceiling.

“It's like laying on a pile of angel hugs...,” Charlie groaned, feeling the stress she didn't know was in her back melt away the longer she reposed on the top of her bed's comforter. “Come on, Freddy! Put Gregory to bed and take a load off!”

While Michael went to explore the kitchenette and bathroom, Freddy followed after Charlie. At first Gregory didn't want to move, frowning as his father's warmth was suddenly taken away when Freddy detached the limp grip around his neck... Although this stopped as soon as Gregory felt the plush mattress underneath him. If they'd thought he was in deep sleep before, it was nothing compared to what the exhausted kid was about to experience as he instantly passed out again.

Freddy had set Gregory on the second bed, so in order not to disturb him he went over to where Charlie lay. He made sure to take his shoes off as he'd seen Michael do at the door, choosing not to comment on the fact that Charlie hadn't done so herself. She was clearly overwhelmed, and Freddy had to admit he was a bit stunned himself—not at the technology or the way anything looked, but simply for the fact that it was such a foreign environment to anything he was used to.

No longer would he have to enter “sleep mode” in a charging pod. Severely underestimating the cushiness of the comforter underneath him, Freddy promptly fell back onto the mattress with a surprised gasp, landing with his head on the pillow right next to Charlie's.

“Oh... this is very comfortable!” he commented with a laugh, turning his face towards her as he rested his hands on his stomach.

Charlie opened an eye, glancing over to Freddy as his weight shifted where she laid on the bed and rolled into her friend slightly. There, she would proceed to ask Freddy a question. “Have you ever actually slept before?”

Surely, sleep mode was similar, Charlie thought. But could Freddy dream? That was the important question.

Gregory certainly dreamt. Looking over at the tiny kid curled in the middle of the mattress would tell you that instantly. He twitched every now and then, having an active dream—maybe one where he was running...

“It's really easy. You just close your eyes and stop thinking of anything,” Charlie guided. Though she always slept better with music, Charlie wouldn't be needing it tonight. The excitement and terror of one action-packed weekend was enough for Charlie's mind to cringe at the thought of staying awake any longer. While Charlie was a side sleeper, choosing to roll and face Freddy as she shut her eyes, Gregory was in a tightly wound ball, laying on his right side and holding himself as he dreamed.

“I have never truly slept as you have,” Freddy replied, then listened to Charlie's instructions. He soon shut his eyes as well, staring at nothing but blackness.

And then he waited.

And waited.

He tried to think of nothing, but in doing so he was thinking about not thinking, which put Freddy in a catch-22. Still keeping his eyes closed, his brow furrowed slightly as he asked: “How do you... think of nothing?”

“You just don't,” Michael piped up unhelpfully, appearing in the doorway. Their one bag of clothes was slung over his shoulder again as he leaned casually against the frame, observing his family either passed out or on the verge of doing so. He too needed a rest, but first he really wanted to take a nice, hot shower and wash off all the gunk and grime from the past few days.

“Here, I found the room service menu on the coffee table,” he said, throwing the laminated booklet towards the bed where it landed next to Charlie's back. “I'm going to take a shower—you guys can handle it if they call, right?”

It was a simple task, answering the phone and giving them an order Gregory might like to eat, but Freddy and Charlie's unfamiliarity with everything made Michael a bit nervous—especially since the only one besides him who could help looked like she’d already drifted off.

To Mike’s surprise, Charlie opened her eyes to look at him standing across the room. With a grin, she reclined her arms behind her head. With the sheer technological advances of these androids’ existence, she was sure her father designed them to be waterproof. Even so, she was glad Michael seemed more than ready to test it out first.

“Sure,” Charlie replied with a shrug. “Don't worry so much; we'll be fine. We'll order Gregory something simple and a few other things for the room. By the way, if you happen to figure out if these android bodies need to use the bathroom, could you give me a heads-up?”

Charlie was half-joking. She hadn't exactly had the urge to go, but she couldn't help thinking about all that food she ate. It must go somewhere, right? Or maybe it just gets burned to make fuel inside her?

Charlie felt like the only thing these robotic forms were missing was an instruction manual...

“Will do,” Michael replied with a roll of his eyes. He fished around in the bag for a new set of dark wash jeans and tank top, this one black with a simple neon logo for The Fazbear Band emblazoned on the front. New outfit obtained, Mike dropped the bag on the floor and headed to the bathroom.

Like Charlie, he had a suspicion that their bodies were converting things they ate into fuel. How, he had no idea—that was another question for Henry the next time they met up.

After locking the bathroom doors, Michael was quick to throw off his dirty clothes, cringing at the messy pile on the floor they made. The group would definitely need to do a shop outside the Pizzaplex to invest in other items besides shirts and pants…

Michael wanted to take the hottest shower he could physically stand, letting the burning water eat away at his years of tightly-wound anxiety. However, he also didn’t want to damage any internal systems in this robotic body, so he opted for a temperature best described as “pleasantly warm.” As he scrubbed the dried blood out of his hair, he could feel his stress going down the drain right along with the crimson water.

While Michael commandeered the bathroom, Freddy and Charlie perused the room service menu.

“What do you think Gregory will like?” Freddy asked, curious of her opinion. “I would prefer it to be somewhat healthy, if possible…”

“Healthy... Hm...” Charlie looked over the kids menu. It was recommended for children 12 and under, so that seemed appropriate for him. It couldn't hurt to get Gregory more than one thing, considering how fast that kid ate. She wondered if a growth spurt was right around the corner. “Okay, hear me out. We get him this peanut butter and jelly smoothie, plus the broccoli mac and cheese. And a pulled pork sandwich?”

Charlie was initially going to get him the chicken nuggets, but she was afraid it wouldn't be enough to hold him over until dinner. She figured it was also about time to get him back on a healthy eating schedule. Just then the phone rang, prompting Charlie to jump up and answer it before the incessant noise woke up Gregory.

“Think about something you want to eat, okay, Freddy?” she said, answering the phone in a sing-song tone before reciting their order so far. She was glad to see Gregory was still asleep, out like a light and dead to the world in the middle of his bed.

“Me?” Freddy blinked down at the menu. Right; in this body he should be able to consume food as well. He roamed over all the options, not afraid to admit with a small laugh: “It is a bit overwhelming, if I am honest!”

Still, Charlie was expecting an answer. Freddy would like to just try a bit of Gregory’s food—and he was sure the boy wouldn’t mind sharing with him—but he knew Gregory needed all of it to make up for the nutrition deficit he’d been suffering for far too long. He really was a tiny kid for 12 years old…

“I suppose I will try a cheeseburger?” Freddy said it as more of a question. Burgers were quite popular at the Pizzaplex and Freddy had always wondered what the fuss was about.

Charlie nodded, holding her hand over the receiver as she listened to Freddy's request. “One cheeseburger with all the fixin’s, please—uh, medium rare!”

She figured that was a safe bet. That’d been her dad’s usual order if she remembered correctly, so perhaps Freddy would like it, too.

“Could I also get a 24 piece basket of the hot wings, bone-in?” Charlie curled the phone cord around her fingers, walking back towards the living space as to not disturb Gregory. She thought for a moment of ordering champagne, then decided against it. It would be nice to celebrate, but knowing Gregory, he'd try to get into the bottle and drink some for himself. “20 minutes? Solid, thank you... Yep, you have a good day, too.”

Oh man, she was adjusting to talking to people again. After hanging up the receiver, Charlie quickly jumped back onto her side of the bed before reaching over and hugging Freddy.

“Dude—you're gonna love burgers,” she assured him, almost excited to watch Freddy take a bite from his first meal.

“I am eager to try one!” Freddy replied with a grin, maneuvering his arm from underneath Charlie to wrap it around her back. He held her loosely as she hugged onto his torso, thinking back on how far they’d come from their initial, confused meeting in the ball pit.

Despite the strange circumstances, even back then they’d gotten along perfectly, becoming fast friends in a matter of hours. Perhaps, subconsciously, they knew they were destined to stick together for a long time.

About five minutes after Charlie ended the phone call, Mike emerged from the bathroom. He looked fresh and clean, hair a wet, slightly wavy mess as he’d decided to give it a brief towel dry and let the air do the rest. He was quick to jump on the bed next to Charlie, smushing her into a sandwich between himself and Freddy.

“So, what are we talking about?” he asked cheerfully, completely inserting himself into whatever bonding time the others were having.

Freddy could only chuckle at this, understanding Michael’s want to be close to them even if he had an interesting way of showing it. After all he’d been through, it was refreshing—and relieving—for Freddy to see the man's true personality peek through without constant anxiety pushing it down.

“Oh, you know,” Charlie began, playfully nudging her old friend as he scooted in closer. “Just talking about how much you smell. Yikes, dude; you sure you actually stood under the water in there?”

She shot a grimace at Freddy, which lasted around half a second before Charlie burst into twinkling laughter. Ignoring Michael’s offended scoff, she told him: “I ordered both of us hot wings, by the way; hope you don't mind.”

It was a strange dynamic they all shared. From Charlie's almost reserved demeanor when they first met to her now openly involving Freddy when she clowned on her friend, the three of them had certainly come far. The days of hiding in backrooms and away from the light were over.

“Oh my god… hot wings?!” Michael draped himself over her shoulders with a dramatic gasp. “Charlie Emily, you know me so well.”

“I take it you are a fan of that dish?” Freddy laughed, watching as Charlie tried in vain to push away Michael’s dead weight as he practically rag-dolled on her, grinning all the while.

“That and a good old-fashioned burger; those were some of my favorites,” Michael replied, and Freddy’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

“Well, what a coincidence! Charlie ordered me a burger as well—you are more than welcome to have a bite.”

“I’m taking you up on that for sure.” Mike gave Freddy a rather lackluster thumbs, attention now focused on bothering Charlie. He had a lot of years to make up for, after all.

Charlie effectively had her arms pinned as Michael rolled over her, essentially using her as a pillow. He totally ignored her as she attempted to wiggle from beneath him while he had his conversation with Freddy, but without the use of her arms there was no throwing him off easily.

“Are you comfy yet?” she asked sarcastically. Squished lightly between her two friends, she managed to screw one arm out from under Mike and poke his ribs with a bony finger.

Gregory was beginning to stir at the sound of fun. It was the oddest thing, he felt as though he'd gotten a full night’s sleep—though he was sure it still couldn’t be that late in the day. He almost felt jealous as he watched his family interact without him, but there wasn’t anything to stay mad at. Gregory would get up slowly, hoping to get a drop on them and ambush his family where they all hung out casually on the bed.

“I was, until my pillow stabbed me in the ribs…,” Michael grumbled, finally rolling off Charlie to lay on his back. He scrunched one leg up, hooking the other over his knee as he locked his hands behind his head. He could definitely still use a legit rest, but the shower seemed to give him a small burst of energy—enough to have trouble sitting still for a little while longer, at least.

Michael may not have noticed Gregory sneaking towards them, but Freddy had a second sense when it came to his son. As Charlie and Mike playfully bickered, Freddy’s ears perked up at the muted padding of little shoes against carpet. For a moment he ignored this, acting like he was completely unaware of Gregory’s approach as he laughed softly along with the others. However, just as Gregory reached Freddy’s bedside in preparation to strike the redhead acted fast.

Whipping around, Freddy was quick to snatch him under the arms and hoist him into his lap, hugging him close. “Hello, superstar! I am glad you could join us! How are you feeling?”

Gregory squawked as he was lifted, unable to mask the smile on his lips. Other than his pale eyes, there didn’t appear to be anything different about him—no major change in health from before the nap. Thank goodness.

“Better! I feel great, actually,” he laughed out, content despite his plan not exactly working. He leaned in, hugging Freddy around the chest as he took in his surroundings. “This hotel room’s pretty sweet!”

When he’d left that horrendous foster home a while ago, Gregory knew one of the things he’d miss most was sleeping in a real bed. Though he’d had some respite in Freddy’s room this past weekend, the itchy carpets of the Pizzaplex and hard flooring could only be comfortable for all of three minutes.

“I got you a big lunch to get your strength back, kiddo,” Charlie said, turned on her side again now that Michael quit using her like a backrest.

“We are staying in a family vacation suite,” Freddy added, gesturing towards the doorway leading to the main area. “As well as these extremely comfortable beds, we have our own kitchen and sitting area, and full spa, gym, and arcade access.”

He was quoting the concierge now, understanding the concept of an arcade perfectly but curious as to what the gym and spa entailed. He could make educated guesses of course, which weren’t too far off—he knew gyms were meant for humans to work out in and spas were meant to relax.

“Arcade?!” Gregory asked, surprised to know there was something he’d enjoy at this hotel. Well—besides from the free meals and beds.

“After you eat,” Charlie reminded him gently. Someone had to disappoint him a little, and she knew Freddy didn't enjoy telling his son no. Though as his big sister, Charlie could burst his bubble all she liked to a certain degree.

“We’re going to max out your poor brother’s credit card at the end of this, Charlie,” Michael mused, turning on his side to face the others and resting his head on his palm. He grinned up at Gregory, happy to see that he did in fact look chipper than earlier. “But yeah, we’ve got a bunch of food on the way—apparently your dad’s going to try a burger.”

Gregory's eyes widened at that, and he eagerly patted Freddy’s shoulders. “Oh man—you're gonna love it!”

All this talk of food made Gregory's stomach growl loudly. The lack of a proper diet was beginning to take its toll. If only he still had that blue ice cream cake, he thought. He could fill up on that right away.

As if on cue, there was a hard knock at the door as an unseen staff member called out: “Room service!”

“I’ve got it,” Michael assured, launching himself off the bed and heading for the front door. Opening it revealed a huge tray piled high with food, which he immediately brought inside with a careful balancing act. Charlie really had gone all out with Gregory’s lunch…

The others made their way over as Michael set the food on the kitchen counter. When Gregory tried to peer up and see their spread, Mike told him: “Looks like you’ve got a sandwich, some Mac and cheese, and… a smoothie?” Eyebrows furrowed curiously, he picked up the drink and read the label on the side. “PB&J flavored… huh. Mind if I take a sip? Thanks.”

Without waiting for an answer Mike took a loud slurp of the drink, his face shifting through an array of emotions as he processed the weirdness of it.

“Michael…,” Freddy chided gently, though he couldn’t fault him for being intrigued. Admittedly, now that he could eat Freddy wanted to try everything on the counter too.

Gregory laughed at his reaction. The smoothie was a mix of grapes, strawberry yogurt, and peanut butter. It tasted too sweet to be good for you. Yet it must have some nutritional value if it had fruit, right?

“Oh man, is it like the pizza slushee?” Gregory leaned over, snatching his smoothie out of his big brother's grasp. Immediately, Gregory went through similar stages of grief to Michael after taking a sip. It had an odd texture with the various seeds—he was almost positive this yogurt was just mixed with strawberry preserves to make it even sweeter. After processing what’d just assaulted his taste buds, he held the smoothie up to Freddy.

“Try this—” Gregory suggested without giving his verbal opinion. He didn't want to influence his dad’s decision to drink the odd smoothie more than his face already had.

Freddy took the smoothie, visually analyzing it before hesitantly putting the straw to his lips. He took the smallest of sips, more so trying to get used to the sensation of drinking before he could focus on the flavor itself. He swirled the smoothie in his mouth, giving the flavors and textures a moment to process before swallowing it down. The corners of his lips quirked up and down of their own accord, his expressive face unable to settle on how he felt. Meeting Gregory’s inquisitive gaze, all he could say was: “It is… odd.”

Meanwhile, Charlie popped open the large container of hot wings, its spicy aroma wafting over the table. Luckily they’d been given an array of dipping sauces along with a few vegetables. Charlie figured she’d end up sharing those veggies with Gregory, as her and Michael were likely just going to pig out on the platter of chicken wings. “I could cry, these look so good...”

Michael joined Charlie at the table, enticed by the mouthwatering scent of chicken. They each picked up a wing, clinking them together as if they were glasses before taking a bite.

“Oh my fu—reaking god…,” Michael groaned, curbing his swear at the last second when Freddy’s eyes snapped to him. It seemed like the former bear’s patience for cursing was at its end, now that he had time to worry about that sort of thing. Mike immediately scarfed down the rest of the chicken wing and deposited the bone on the empty side of the container. “I missed food so much…”

“Right?!” Charlie said, discarding a wayward bone. This hotel’s kitchen didn’t mess around with the wings. Satisfied for the moment, Charlie wiped her fingers off—now more attentive towards getting Gregory his sandwich and side dish. After she set Gregory’s plate at the table, Charlie retrieved and set Freddy’s burger down as well.

“I can’t believe I was fine with not eating for like forty years—never doing that again, that’s for sure,” Charlie scoffed, going in for a second spicy morsel.

Gregory wasted no time. Like a feral beast, he dug into his bowl of gooey homemade macaroni and cheese. The dish had been baked over with spiced bread crumbs, its broccoli snapping with roasted flavor as he munched on his pasta. It felt good to eat a dish with some vegetables in it. While Gregory's deathly pallor hadn't changed from the meal, he seemed more lively and aware with each bite.

Satisfied that Gregory was enjoying his food, Freddy picked up his burger. Again, he conducted a visual examination before digging in, taking note of “all the fixin’s” that Charlie ordered. Then he took a tentative bite, placing the rest of the burger back in its container while he chewed experimentally. His bright eyes widened as the satisfyingly greasy flavor washed over his tongue, and instead of giving a verbal opinion he simply picked the food right back up and took another bite.

“Good news: Freddy likes burgers, everyone!” Michael announced, though his words were muffled as he spoke through a mouthful of chicken wings.

Freddy nodded in agreement, swallowing down another few bites before offering Mike a bite. “I am sorry… Did you want some, Michael?”

“No—you’re good, big guy!” Mike laughed, shaking his head and grabbing another wing. “Enjoy your first official meal!”

Charlie snorted, covering her mouth as she dug out a napkin from their meals and tossed it Michael's way. The sauce on his face was making her mouth burn just by looking at it. If she remembered correctly, Michael had been far better with spices than her. She was always dipping her wings into the blue cheese sauce provided and powered through despite the pain it took to clean the spicy meat from the bones.

“Yeah! It's your first time eating, so take a wing—” Charlie offered, pushing hers and Michael's platters towards Freddy a little.

While Gregory wanted to part with some food to share with Freddy, he found himself on autopilot when eating. He wasn't paying attention at all, and had quickly finished off his pasta before starting on the pulled pork sandwich Charlie so graciously chose for him. It felt nice to eat real food.

When he heard his name being called, he finally looked up. The corners of his mouth were stuck with cheese and barbecue sauce as he listened.

“Gregory—is your food really good, little man?” Charlie asked, subtly pointing out how he hadn't spoken since they began their meal.

“Mhm—” was all Gregory could answer. Both cheeks were full and he foresaw himself spitting anywhere should he actually try to talk.

Freddy quickly realized that he wasn’t a fan of messy food. The burger was bad enough, falling apart towards the end and dripping a trail of grease down his hand that he quickly stopped before it reached his sweater. Learning quickly, he pushed his sleeves up before attempting to eat a wing, although the texture of the sauce coating his fingers made him grimace slightly. It reminded Freddy of children slapping their sticky hands onto every part of his suit they could reach, covering him with unknown substances and prompting a thorough wash at the end of each day. Still, he managed a surprisingly demure bite of the chicken wing that left little residue on his mouth and had to consent it was also delicious.

Having wiped off his own face, Michael grabbed a handful of clean napkins and threw them to Gregory. Honestly, now that he’d been fed the kid probably needed a shower more than anything—it would certainly make him feel even better to put a clean outfit on over a body not already caked in grime

Gregory read Michael's mind. He was a little surprised no one had commented on the sheer unhygienic state he was in. All of his bandages, once fun and brightly saturated colors, were coated in a generous layer of filth. He was sure were he to peel back the protective plastic, the healing skin beneath would be clean and lily white.

There would be a paradox with cleaning himself off. People would see how pale he'd become, and may worry and nag his dad about the matter if they were super nosy... Then again, people were going to complain if he smelled bad, too.

With his sandwich finished, Gregory pushed his emptied containers away, asking Freddy: “Can I be excused? I need to shower or I'll catch the plague or something...”

“Of course,” Freddy replied with a nod, already starting to gather the empty containers together.

“The bag of new clothes is in the bedroom,” Michael reminded as Gregory rushed off.

After Michael and Charlie scarfed down the rest of their wings, they helped Freddy collect the trash. Upon Freddy’s confused question of where to put things, Mike laughed and informed him that they could just return the tray to the hallway and staff would pick it up. It was interesting to figure out the little things Freddy didn’t know—Michael had to remind himself that what was common knowledge to him wasn’t necessarily as obvious to the former animatronic.

When Freddy bent to place the tray on the hallway floor, he felt Sammy’s business card crinkle in his pocket. Locking the door and returning to the living room area, he told the others: “We should call Sammy and let him know we successfully acquired a room.”

“Do you want to do the honors, Charlie?” Michael asked, watching Freddy pull the little card out of his pocket.

Charlie leaned back, the sensation of being full unusual and new all over again. While eating had given her a sort of tired demeanor, she could always talk to her brother. “Sure! Sam's probably already worried we haven't called already.”

Charlie didn't want to tell the others, but Sam had begged Charlie to stay. While she wanted to catch up with her twin, it was very clear that he wouldn't get anything done with her around to distract him. She'd return tomorrow, and the three friends could catch up—maybe reintroduce Sammy with Liz and Evan, if he was up for it.

And Sam still had to meet with his dad…

After taking the card from Freddy, Charlie wandered into the living area and dialed up his number. He voice grew dimmer as she walked, with Sammy picking up immediately.

“Hey! It's Charlie—” she started, unaware that he knew the hotel was calling him from the caller ID. Their conversation consisted of what room they were staying in, and how nice it was to be out and about again after so long.

Inside the bathroom, after Gregory dressed himself he took a good look in the mirror. Wiping away the fog from the reflective glass, he sighed deeply.

He was happy to be out of the Pizzaplex—even happier to be alive and with people who cared about him. Still, this ghastly appearance he had now just made him feel strange. It’s like he was looking at another person's face in every reflection he saw of himself. The shower didn't help with that; it couldn't wash away the effects of the Remnant on his body.

Feeling his mind grow foggy, Gregory decided to lean against the sink and stare dejectedly until his face looked normal again.

Of course, it didn’t take Freddy long to sense something amiss. After the water had been cut off for some time and the boy still hadn’t emerged from the bathroom, Freddy glanced towards the closed door with a pinched expression.

“Hey, we’re supposed to be relaxing, remember?” Michael commented, placing a hand on Freddy’s back. Despite his playful words, Mike also felt a nagging tug in the back of his mind as he remembered the last time he’d left Gregory alone in a bathroom… although he was quick to remind himself that William and his tricks were gone. Plus, Michael was in there last and hadn’t seen anything that might inject an unsuspecting child with immortality juice.

“…I should check on him,” Freddy murmured, and Mike knew not to fight him on the matter. He gave Freddy’s back a pat, then went to lounge on the couch and check out the TV, curious to see what sort of trashy shows were on nowadays. Knocking on the bathroom door, Freddy called out softly: “Gregory? It is Freddy; are you alright?”

Gregory was stirred from this odd depersonalizing episode. Blinking out of it and looking to the door, he called beyond the sturdy wooden barrier between them.

“Combing my hair!” he lied, quickly brushing his fingers through his bangs. Gregory held it out before dropping the still wet locks of hair, in desperate need of a cut soon. “Be out in a second!”

The last thing he wanted was to worry Freddy of all people. After making himself a little more presentable, halfway tucking his tank top and not caring if it was uneven, Gregory strode from the bathroom. Charlie had since taken her call out on the balcony, the cord to the hotel phone pinched between sliding glass doors. Between Michael's flicking through endless channels, you could hear the light chime of her laughter.

Gregory smiled up at Freddy. “What's up?”

There wasn't anything wrong. He was fine.

…Well. Fine enough.

Surely the strange apprehension he felt when entering bathrooms now would go away eventually. One day he'd forget the whole fiasco with that plushie even happened, Gregory told himself.

“I was just checking in on you,” Freddy said, returning the smile. Clearly the boy had been stressing about something—Freddy could see it in his pale face and shining silver eyes. “Follow me a moment, would you?”

He led Gregory into the bedroom and closed the door, just in case he didn’t want his siblings to overhear their conversation. Freddy hoped he'd open up and tell him what was bothering him, but if not he at least wanted to assure Gregory he was always there if he wanted to talk. The poor boy had been through so many traumatic events over the past weekend, it was honestly a wonder he could still be in such high spirits. Freddy half-expected some residual shock to hit at any moment—possibly even for Michael and Charlie, too, though they had years to deal with the situation compared to Gregory’s three days.

“Sit next to me,” Freddy instructed gently as he perched on one of the beds, patting the empty spot at his side. When Gregory clambered up and got settled, Freddy ran a hand through his wet hair, pushing it out of his face. “I just wanted to let you know that you can always talk to me about anything. You have been through a lot this weekend—more so than anyone should ever have to, let alone someone so young. If there is ever something bothering you, I will listen and do my best to help in whatever way I can.”

Freddy’s words and kind expression were backed with nothing but the utmost sincerity. Of course he could talk to Freddy about anything; Gregory knew this.

But what good was talking about how he felt going to do?

Maybe this mindset—this way of approaching things—wasn't good. But Gregory felt as though it was merely his self-esteem being affected. Or... perhaps it was a side effect of the Remnant.

There was a while where Gregory thought on this. That is until he realized his father was looking at him with increasing worry. He had to say something—whether it was a cover up or the truth it didn’t matter.

“It's my face... I just don't look like me anymore. I'm still getting used to it,” Gregory admitted, unsure how important it was that his mind left his body while staring at his own reflection. He would omit this little detail for now.

“Ah.” Freddy’s expression shifted to one of understanding. “Well, I can certainly empathize to a degree—it seems like it may take us both a while to get used to our appearances.”

At this point, Freddy still hadn’t gotten a chance to really look at this new android form of him—not while he inhabited it, that is. So distracted with the rest of the world, he’d been content to catch the occasional faint glimpse of himself in a passing glass window. However, he knew Gregory’s concern came from an entirely different and darker place.

“If it is any consolation,” Freddy continued with that eye-crinkling smile of his, gently cupping one of Gregory’s cheeks in his hand. “I still think you look just like my superstar, regardless of what you might see in the mirror.”

At least they weren't going through this alone. Gregory never thought he'd ever get to feel the familial closeness and pride of being loved unconditionally. But Freddy remained his papa bear; now he just happened to look less ursine than ever.

“That helps...” Gregory replied, leaning into his touch. “I'll get over it eventually. Like you said... I just have to get used to it.” He sighed in a resigned fashion.

And hey—maybe it would help him hide better from... them.

“It's probably for the best I don't look like myself, anyway.” Gregory reached up and grasped Freddy's hand where it rested on his face, glancing away momentarily. “Then my foster parents can't find me...”

Almost imperceptibly, Freddy’s fingertips tightened against Gregory’s cheek. This was a topic he hadn’t wanted to think of just yet, but knew this was a real threat on the horizon. For all intents and purposes, Freddy had kidnapped a child. Despite the well-meaning behind his actions, he knew there was a whole slew of issues regarding that he hadn’t the first idea how to go about dealing with.

“No matter what happens, I am staying with you,” Freddy reassured, wholly confident of at least that fact. He finally moved his hand, only to pull Gregory into a tight hug. “Now, how about we get the others and check out that arcade? I am curious to see how it compares to the Pizzaplex!”

Gregory had never seen such a collection of attractions than those at the Pizzaplex. He doubted the little hotel arcade could hold a candle to the might of the gaming library Freddy’s had. Still, it was totally worth it to go and see the looks on Michael’s face when Gregory beat him at fighting games again. It was a fun distraction.

And that’s what he really needed right now. Anything to get his mind off the silver eyes in his head, and those terrifying faces of people who only loved him for the paycheck he brought with him.

***

There were a few reruns of popular shows playing on some TV channels. The 90’s hit The Immortal and the Restless was having an anniversary marathon—all twelve seasons aired two times and followed by the dramatic movie conclusion. When Charlie was done with her phone call, she couldn’t help but notice the familiar theme song playing on the high definition television.

“Oh no, what season is this?” she asked, hurrying to hang up the phone so she could scamper back towards the couch. She didn’t want to miss anymore of the show than she already had.

“Season five,” Michael replied, shifting to make room. His eyes never left the TV, even as he felt Charlie sink in next to him. “You’ve missed so much… meanwhile I’ve seen this entire show way too many times.”

Mike couldn’t even begin to count the amount of hours he’d laid motionless in front of the TV, watching crappy soap operas with reckless abandon. It’d become somewhat of a guilty pleasure over the years, especially as time went on and it became more difficult for him to actually leave his apartment. What better way to get away from the troubles of his own life than to become invested in those of fictional characters?

As Charlie settled next to Michael, Freddy and Gregory emerged from the bedroom. Noticing the pair on the couch, Freddy walked over to their side and announced: “Gregory and I are going to visit the arcade and would love for you to join us!”

“Huh?” Mike was fully invested in the vampire drama, and it took a monumental effort—and well-timed commercial break—to tear his gaze away and look up at Freddy. Once he processed what the man said though, he was quick to brighten up with an eager nod. “Oh, sure! We can definitely explore the hotel a bit.”

Good thing they were playing the marathon twice, Charlie thought, grinning as she lifted herself energetically from the couch. That way they could start at the beginning tomorrow.

“I almost forgot about the arcade!” Charlie was going to enjoy being able to play a video game without the oppressive atmosphere of the Pizzaplex ruining all their fun. Remembering the bag stashed away inside her jacket pocket, she mused: “I wonder if this prize counter will accept three rolls of game tickets from Freddy's…”

“Great question,” Gregory said, already trying to get out of the door. He reached for the knob and opened up the hallway and holding it. “We'll find out when we get there!”

***

PREVIOUS INSTALLMENT: Spend the Night ~~ Next Chapter

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