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angelofrainfrogs · 1 year ago

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Spend the Night: Ch. 32

~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

Oh, what a shame that things turned out this way Forgive me But you really got to pay up for the suffering you're caused us Join into this children’s chorus

Crank those gears, the music is in me Been a real long day and we're dying to be free Don't stop now, 'cause I can guarantee When the silence drops we're the last thing that you'll see

~Showtime by Madame Macabre, MrCreepyPasta~

Out and into the unpredictable atrium they would go. Charlie planned on making a commotion with Gregory. They would do this outside Fazerblast, as it made more sense for William to be wandering near one of his lairs during the early portions of the night. With Charlie's skills in deception lacking, Gregory knew he'd have to bear the brunt of the acting work. All Charlie had to do was make sure no one untoward came close to him.

The walk there was somewhat tense, though Charlie tried to cut the air by reminding Gregory of all the fun things they’d get to do together once it was all over. It gave the kid the strength to keep moving. Everything had to go perfectly—it just had to. They couldn't afford to let William ruin anyone else's lives.

Turns out he wasn't so far away after all.

Tonight was the night. William refused to wait any longer—his family would be reunited or he’d let this whole place burn to the ground just like all the others. With Vanny missing and totally unreachable now just like the rest of those wretched, sorry excuses for animatronics, William was forced to wander the neon halls in search of Evan.

Michael was keeping them apart, which William found incomprehensible. Once again, his eldest son's reasons had eluded even his brilliant mind.

Michael had grown quite the rebellious streak that Will never had the chance to correct in him. Serves him right for spoiling the boy...

Then, he spotted them—alone and looking petrified were Charlie and Evan, standing hand in hand.

Charlie appeared... relatively the same as before she died. Taller, William noted. He walked quiet and slow from Bonnie Bowl as the two watched the doors of Fazerblast with dreadful gazes.

With a light tap in the vents as inconspicuous as mini-Music Man pattering around, Ennard signaled to Michael and Freddy that the game was on. The pair shared a resolute nod, then as one stomped towards Charlie and Gregory.

“EVAN!” Michael growled, hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Freddy walked inches behind him, acting the part of a robot who Mike had hotwired to do his bidding and his alone. The bear scanned the area with narrowed eyes, expression otherwise passive. He had no emotional stake in this event—he was simply here to follow Michael's orders, whatever those may be.

“Where the hell are you?!” Michael continued, emerging into the main atrium. He spotted Gregory and Charlie standing, freezing in his tracks as his eyes widened in rage. “Come here, Evan! Why don't you ever listen to me, you little shit?!”

As Michael ranted, Freddy caught sight of Bonnie stalking them from the shadows on the top level, peering through the glass-paneled railing with glowing purple eyes. Freddy blinked, tearing his gaze away to look back at the “terrified” Charlie and Gregory.

That isn't Bonnie anymore.

The thought echoed in Freddy's head as he shifted, articulating wires tensed as he prepared to move at Michael's command.

Gregory spun on his heel, with Charlie unable to even try to react before he grabbed onto her hand and yanked her forward into a slow jog. It looked as though he was trying to run faster, though appeared scared and uncoordinated.

“RUN!” he told Charlie, who was dragging her feet in an almost scared frozen position. She'd started to move voluntarily when she remembered the act they were putting on depending on her bolting towards the backrooms. In what was her most gripping performance yet, Charlie managed to scream in a scared and high-pitched tone.

“MICHAEL! Stop—stop chasing us!” she shouted as if trying to talk sense into her old friend.

“EVAN!”

The sound of a father in the throes of an adrenaline-fueled panic had caught Charlie off-guard. She wasn't sure if she’d ever heard William so worried. She could only remember that awful birthday party in ’83 as the only proof he had true, powerfully raw emotions.

William bolted down a flight of stairs, skidding in the oversized suit and having to place a firm hand on the floor to prevent himself from drifting too far off his own set track.

“Get away from him, Michael!” he snarled towards his eldest, in hot pursuit of the fleeing group.

Mike let out a growl of frustration, his head swiveling between the escaping duo and William desperately trying to right himself. After a split-second's hesitation Mike snapped his fingers and pointed towards Charlie and Gregory, calling to the animatronic at his shoulder without even bothering to look: “Freddy! Follow them!”

The bear took off, his pace quicker than a typical human's—though Charlie and Gregory were not typical in the slightest, nor were they entirely human anymore. Freddy didn't speak, eyes forward as he moved with the utmost confidence in his ability to nab his prey. Michael started to follow as well, though at a slower pace so he could address William.

Yes, they wanted to get him into the basement as soon as possible, but they also didn't want him to actually get ahold of Gregory—if Mike could stall just a bit to put some distance between them, that would be ideal. Despite the panic clouding William's brain, the Bonnie suit was still fast.

“Father, stay out of this!” Michael hissed, turning around so he was walking backwards whilst facing the purple rabbit. He glared hard, speaking through clenched teeth. “This is your fucking fault, as usual! I'm just trying to talk to my brother—honestly!”

The words were gnarled with a sickly sweet tone that set even Freddy's receding form on edge. It was clearly a blatant lie—the true intentions behind Michael's pursuit were obviously much darker than a simple conversation, and he wanted William to know it.

William was befuddled, both by Michael’s youthful appearance and his speed. The rabbit gave an almost worried expression as he jogged for his son.

“Talk? Michael, stop harassing your brother! You haven’t learned a thing at all, have you?!” he exclaimed, incredulous that Michael was acting this way after all this time.

What did he expect, really? Michael was completely psychotic. He never heard the end of it from other parents and kids his age—how he’d torment and mock for fun. Shoving his brother’s head into a pneumatic jaw for a “prank” was the icing on top of the cake. For all William knew, the boy probably meant to end his brother that day.

Now revived thanks to something Will didn’t yet know, but made immortal by the Remnant William did have a hand in, Evan likely came to his senses and escaped with Charlie. Still a bad choice, but the lesser of two evils.

“Stop! Before you hurt him worse than Remnant can repair,” William warned, paw outstretched as he attempted to grab Michael.

“Fuck off!” Michael snapped, slapping William's hand away and turning to run forward, picking up speed as he did so. “Evan pissed me off, and now I'm going to get him back—it's eye for an eye, Father.”

His tone was mocking and defiant, calling back to those days in the early eighties when Michael actually spoke like this. Though William still existed in a position of paternal trust and authority at the time, Mike was known to push the envelope with him every chance he got.

“Evan was always your favorite...,” Michael spat over his shoulder. This statement was the closest thing to truth he'd said so far; he always wondered if William favored Evan more, despite his claims of how proud he was that Michael seemed to be “just like him” in so many ways. Just more fodder to goad William into following them down the twisting pathways to the basement...

Such a claim had made William slow, a look of disbelief rounding over the rabbit’s face. That was before he sped up, growling once again.

His bastard of a son was mocking him. Michael had the nerve to break his father’s arm and gouge his chest the last time they saw each other, and blatantly disrespected him even now. Just as Mike reached the backrooms, a mechanical death grip grasped onto his shirt and pulled him back.

“Listen here, you shit!” The impact of William tossing Michael into the wall left a human-shaped indentation on the drywall. “You presume to know everything, don’t you?! You idiot; I don’t love your brother over you. Or your sister!”

William was never good at words. Everything came out wrong and calloused. His actions were cruel and imposing in order to get his children to listen to him—after all, they were like him in so many ways. Discipline was often the only thing they’d understand.

And still, he didn’t say it. William danced around the subject of loving his son, positive that even if he wanted to reiterate the truth, Michael would claim his hatred for him once more.

Michael wheezed, the wind knocked out of his mechanical lungs from the shocking impact. He hadn't planned on getting caught, but William was faster than him—always one step faster. Henry's androids were strong and sturdy, but they could still get damaged.

As Michael twisted painfully onto his hands and knees, an error flashed sheer white in the corner of his vision. A gyroscope in his skull needed recalibration, and he could feel a warm, wet trail down the back of his head from where it'd hit the wall. When Michael touched it his fingers came away red with sticky synthetic blood.

“You bastard,” Michael grunted, righting himself with shaky arms and legs as his body quickly readjusted to normalcy as best it could. He glared at the rabbit with nothing but fierce hatred, taking a wobbly step back in the direction of where the others had run and wiping the blood off on his pants as he did so.

William cocked his head, watching his son back up like a kicked puppy. It almost warmed his heart at the sight. Michael may have hated him, but William only saw his victory as a way of winning this argument. For every reversed step Michael took, William responded with an equal advance.

Seeing the blood run free, William blinked and looked down his nose at his son. “Watch your language—now, let’s find your brother before he gets scared.”

He spoke casually as if it was the old days. Like Michael had acted up and William employed some corporal punishment to get his point across. A rare tactic, and certainly nothing this extreme had ever been used… But desperate times called for desperate measures.

It almost made one wonder where William thought he was—or when.

Michael gently smacked the side of his head with the base of his palm, vainly hoping the gyroscope would realign on its own. This only made the notification blink faster and Michael suppressed a groan. Clearly, his injury wasn't pulling at his father's heartstrings. In fact, seeing a head wound that surely would have severely damaged a normal human seemed to make William a bit smug.

A shot of dark fear ran up Michael's spine. It was so familiar, the old feeling of horror at how cruel his father had become. Though Michael had searched for William in order to try and undo his wrongs, in the back of his mind there was always a tiny voice that hoped he wouldn't find him... He just knew this was no longer the man who used to be a parent, made abundantly clear when Michael saw the body melded to that golden Bonnie suit. Staring into those bright, silver eyes, Mike realized with striking finality that his father's humanity was well and truly gone. He was just a being driven mad by his own fantasies.

And now, it was time to put those fantasies to an end. Michael turned with a sneer, a little unsteady at first when he tried to walk at a normal pace. Thankfully the rest of his inner parts were able to overcompensate well enough despite the misaligned gyroscope, and soon Mike was leading his father down the predetermined path. He made a point to look around corners and pause every so often to listen, pretending like he had no idea where they were actually headed and searching for Evan, too.

William did very much differ from the man from his childhood when it was just the two of them, Mom, and the Emilys.

Before the restaurant.

Before Freddy Fazbear.

Before the unfortunate chain of events that lead to what culminated as finally taking Michael’s father off of spiritual life support.

“Bonnie” shambled behind Michael, eyes darting around for Evan and calling him every so often the further they descended. It was only after a five minute stretch of unbearable silence that William mentioned:

“Oh… You’re bleeding, Michael…”

He spoke slowly, as if Mike couldn’t have possibly realized that himself by now. It was matted in his hair and half-smeared over his forehead and cheek. Maybe William assumed he had brain damage now and couldn’t think for himself. Ah, well.

“DAD! CHARLIE?!” shouted the panicked voice of a child, startling William from his train of thought.

“That's him!” William perked up, ears twitching at the sound—so much closer to his goal now more than ever.

As they rounded the corner, the final piece of their ruse came into view: Freddy was waiting in the middle of the hallway just outside Henry’s workshop. He stood at attention, and clutched tightly in his grasp was Gregory. The boy’s arms were cinched behind his back, held firmly at the wrists by one strong paw. Freddy’s other claw laced through Gregory’s hair, pulling the boy’s head back at an almost painful angle in an effort to make him immobile.

Mike had to give the kid credit: Gregory looked utterly terrified.

“I have caught Evan as you instructed, Michael,” Freddy said, his tone unnaturally flat. Mike’s sour expression slowly morphed into a grin. He glanced towards his father, then back to Freddy. If William hadn’t thought he was psychotic before, he surely would in a few seconds.

“Perfect,” Michael said, starting to walk fast now towards the bear and his brother. He pointed to the workshop, his grin practically devilish at this point. “Take him in there—I’ve got some things I want to tell him that Father won’t be pleased with overhearing...”

Gregory thrashed his legs uselessly. It was no use. No matter how hard he “tried,” there was no budging Freddy's paws. Their locking grip over his wrists and in his hair made him feel like a wild animal trapped and hauled by the scruff.

“LET ME GO!” Gregory managed to cry, all pent up and red in the face as he kicked the empty air. “I'm sorry! Okay?! I said I was sorry! He's hurting me!”

He could only protest in vain as Freddy quickly ran them into the darkness. With hands on his head in shock at the state of his child and the intentionally murderous grin Michael bore, William watched at the horror his eldest wrought.

“You're being a damn monster again, Michael!” he muttered, unknowing to his own hypocrisy as he stormed the room beyond the storage area.

…It was dark. An all-consuming darkness, with no focal point to speak of. Not even Bonnie’s animatronic eyes could make out anything in the smoke-scented depths.

“Evan!” shouted an increasingly distraught William, attempting to feel his way around the room. “... Kids?”

That was when it hit him. The next part of the plan was in play, a combination of Henry’s tinkering and William’s own man-made depravity come back to haunt him anew. The already delusional bunny stood no chance—not when he saw a feminine frame standing underneath a blinking, red EXIT sign, silhouetted with a demanding posture.

And then it was William's turn to feel true fear, if only for a second.

“Who...” he whispered, barely audible from his overworked voice box.

“Will? I missed you, Will…”

The voice was soft, slightly distorted in a dreamlike way as the silhouette moved gracefully towards the rabbit. It never got close though, fading in and out of view as it disappeared into pockets of darkness between tiny string lights hung on the wall that seemed to flicker on in time with the figure’s approach. Eventually it stopped, the light above its head revealing her faint outline once again. Tall, matronly, and graceful, the aura stretched her arms out to beckon William closer.

“Don’t you miss me, too, sweetheart?”

Freddy and Michael were waiting in the opposite corner of the room with baited breath as William slowly began walking towards his delusion. Gregory had been shuffled out into the hallway during the rabbit’s initial confusion, leaving the boys to lie in wait.

Of course, it wasn’t his long-deceased wife calling out. But it was arguably the next best thing: a being made in her image, crafted with love and care—and a sprinkling of murderous intent. Without Ballora’s outer shell to hide within, this had always been the shakiest part of the plan. Yet thanks to a refurbished mind-altering disc Ennard had found within their wires, Henry had been able to fiddle with it enough to produce a solid approximation of the ballerina’s likeness. The closer you looked the more cracks appeared in the illusion, hence the lowlights. In near-darkness, it was hard to lock onto how the figure's outline fizzled and glitched on occasion.

Really, the biggest miracle was Ennard tapping into only one of their voice boxes in time to keep up the ruse.

“Yes—” William’s response was instantaneous as he shambled forward. For as much as he’d cursed her name for dying and leaving him alone with a murderous son and only the fleeting memory of their other children, he was surprisingly soft-sounding.

It felt as if it took eons to cross the floor and make it to her. Her outstretched hand waiting for his—

“Cynthia, you have no idea how—”

CLUNK

William whipped around, the lights cutting out in a jolt as an electric fizzle of static cut through the air. Behind him, the door locked and he was confined to a space barely wider than he was.

It was a damned charging pod.

William raised his arms and beat on the door to no avail. He shouted as his hands impacted glass and metal with no use.

“You tricked me! MICHAEL, YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE MONSTER, YOU TRICKED ME AGAIN!” William shouted, beating on the door to no avail. “Where is she?! Where’s Evan?! Michael?!”

He caught sight of his wife again—only she was wrong now, twisting into a horrible, writhing mass that seemed move up, crawling along the wall like a horrific insect. How could he be fooled by such stupid lies?

“MICHAEL!” William groaned, commanding him to: “LET ME OUT!”

“Gosh, he’s gotten awfully whiny with old age. Hasn’t he, Evan?” wondered a particularly posh tone. The unmistakable candor of his daughter had frozen William solid.

“Yeah… he’s kind of annoying now,” a smaller voice spoke up bluntly.

“Oh, you guys have no fucking idea how much trouble it is to take care of a senile old man,” Michael lamented with a heavy sigh, moving into place between his siblings. It was then that the half-shot overhead lights flickered on, revealing a group just barely able to squeeze in enough so they could all be seen through the charging pod’s porthole.

Front and center were the Afton kids, standing strong and solid in their androids, reborn again from Charlie’s quick soul-transfer. Charlie herself made up the fourth member of their stalwart quartet and lingering slightly behind their shoulders was the ghost of Cassidy, her excited rage palpable to all those around her. Next to her were Glamrock Freddy and Gregory, both completely unharmed and holding hands in a very non-opposing, rather affectionate way.

And then, finally, striding up to the charging pod was an older man with a face hardened by years of anguish. His eyes, though? They remained bright with unquenchable hope.

“Hello, old friend,” Henry Emily said, pressing a hand to the glass porthole as he looked proudly upon their prize.

William’s confused and lost gaze only turned to that of rage and betrayal at being tricked. They all worked together now?

That kid on the arm of the Glamrock Freddy wasn’t Evan at all—just some look-alike that successfully lured him into their trap with what little sympathy Will had left. And he’d even used up precious Remnant on the little shit… With his wife nowhere to be seen, he inferred that she too must’ve been a trap. Henry took up most of the view now, forcing William’s sight to lock on in contempt to his former friend.

“You… You tricked me—Henry, I was going to make it all right again!” William claimed, as if that was his plan the whole time: to bring back everyone he’d wronged at the expense of these strangers’ lives.

And maybe that could’ve been accomplished if given some time. Though none of the ghosts desired more bloodshed unless the blood they let was William’s, and his alone.

“Please, you need to believe me…,” he claimed, and Henry sneered at that voice. The meek sounding one; the one William would use to repeatedly get his way with anyone who just never knew better.

“It’s over! You lose again, shithead!” Cassidy interrupted, unable to hold herself together as the cacophonous giggles erupted forth. She attempt to cover her mouth and stay quiet, though the sight of William about to be slowly tortured was simply too funny for her to resist. “Now you’re going to go fishing foreeeever, Willy!”

“SHUT UP!” William shrieked at the girl, fear betraying in his smooth way of talking. “No fishing! P-please…! And don’t you dare put me in that god damn office—”

It was so odd, Gregory noted, watching the creature he feared most beg for mercy. Odd, but not unwelcome.

“I haven’t believed a word you’ve said in decades, Will,” Henry remarked, ignoring the rabbit-man’s plaintive cries. His once-soft eyes held nothing but pure hatred for the being in front of him, and he spoke in a voice unbecoming of his usual nature—low and powerful, commanding authority with every syllable.

Henry was holding back the urge to phase through the glass and strangle William with his bare hands, just like the disgusting murderer did to Charlie all those years ago. It wouldn’t be enough to destroy him, but damn would it be satisfying. Even in his ghostly form, he was sure the raw emotion backing his actions could snap a few animatronic joints.

“How could you?” Henry continued, locking onto those glowing eyes without an ounce of fear. William’s gaze shifted away uncomfortably, causing Henry to smack the side of the pod so loudly everyone in the room jumped. “LOOK AT ME, YOU FUCKING COWARD!”

The rabbit’s wide eyes snapped to his and Henry relaxed ever-so-slightly. “Yes, that’s right—you’re a coward, William. You couldn’t accept that you ever did anything wrong, so you had to fuck things up even worse.”

There was a slight pause for Henry to suck in a deep breath, steeling himself for the answer his next query was about to receive. Whatever it was, he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied—but he just wanted to see William squirm in discomfort.

In a cold voice, face twisted in a mask of accusatory hatred, he asked: “Why did you kill my daughter, Will? She trusted you—we all did. And you betrayed that trust forever in one night. I just want to know why.”

The silence grew over them as William’s head slumped. As soon as he retook eye contact, the shame and guilt had forced William’s head to hang. He would take anything over this confrontation with his only friend. Or rather, his former friend. He’d take fishing, old man consequences—hell, he’d take Mr. Fucking Hippo over this trial of his peers.

After a pain-filled eternity waiting with baited breath, they’d finally know why. William couldn’t look at either Henry or Charlie, so he chose to look past them instead.

“It was an accident. I swear it was! I came to the dinner, I drove there drunk… I blacked out on the highway, Henry…,” the disgraced Afton admitted, for the first time in a long time being genuine with the way he spoke. Henry’s disappointment and rage had gutted the truth from deep inside him. “I came to when… W-When she was on the ground. She was covered in rain water… My hands around her throat—I was jealous, I think… I wanted what you had. And I was a bad friend for taking it from you…”

Charlie had long-since covered her ears, though her wobbling lip indicated she could still hear everything. Even if there was a smidgeon of truth in that explanation, Charlie couldn’t forgive him.

What if he’d called an ambulance, instead of hopping back in the car and leaving her to suck in her last breath of rainwater? Would Charlie have survived?

She supposed it didn’t matter all that much now.

Michael moved to Charlie’s side, wrapping an arm around her waist and letting her lean on his shoulder as she vainly blocked out her killer’s words. He couldn’t be there for his dear friend on that fateful day, but he could certainly stand with her now.

“I took your trust and I squandered it, Hen; I’m sorry,” William said with finality, now looking Henry in the eye. The truth did not set William free; it burned coming out instead.

Henry was silent as he listened to William’s explanation. His heart ached for all the family he’d lost, blood-related and otherwise. He and William used to be like brothers, practically inseparable after their first meeting in college so long ago.

“…‘A bad friend,’” Henry echoed hollowly after a moment. He laughed, the sound choked with pain and hurt. “A bad friend… you MURDERED my daughter! And you couldn’t even fucking own up to it, you absolute bastard!”

The ghost was shaking now, nails scraping against the glass where they pressed in, trying so hard not to reach through and destroy William just as he’d destroyed his sweet Charlie.

“I wouldn’t have forgiven you—nothing could make up for killing an innocent child—my sweet girl. But if you’d have just let me help you before you—”

Henry cut himself off, squeezing his eyes shut and taking a shuddering breath. That opportunity was long gone; he’d offered William his shoulder to cry on when Evan died, offered an ear for his friend to scream his confused frustration into… but William chose a different path. He went on a route of self-destruction, the loss of one child clouding his mind to the other two he still had, as well as all those willing to stand by his side through it all.

Eventually Henry looked up again, glaring daggers at the Bonnie suit that represented so much heartache and torment.

“I’ll never forgive you,” he said with a soft shake of his head, then locked onto those glowing eyes with pure, unadulterated loathing. “I just have one more thing to say, and then I’m going to leave you at the mercy of those you’ve wronged far worse than me: I hate you, William Afton. I hope you rot in the deepest pit of hell for all eternity.”

And with that Henry stepped back, dipping his head in deference to whichever spirit wanted to speak to the horrible rabbit next.

Charlie began to sob unabashed into the crook of Michael’s shoulder. Hearing that all of this might’ve been prevented if William just opened up?

It burned her inside.

Her whole life was taken from her in less than three minutes because William self-destructed, unwilling to let anyone in after the death of his youngest child. She tried to remind herself that she was fine now, that the battle long-fought was now closing to its end.

But she wasn’t okay.

Charlie was dead, and that would never change. She could play dress up in a robotic skin and pretend to be happy, but it wasn’t the same without a pulse. For the dozenth time this weekend, Charlie was glad that Michael was there to hold her up. Without him, she might’ve fallen to the floor in a pool of her own tears long ago.

As Henry backed away from the glass William began to pound on the door, desperate for them to release the locks.

“HENRY!” he gasped out, moving into an unbridled panic. “DON’T! Don’t leave me with them! Please—I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Charlie! I’m sorry, Michael! I-I’m sorry—”

To cease his meaningless rambles Cassidy popped up in front of the window, face bloody and distorted on her command into something nightmarish. She’d often manipulate her appearance to frighten the old man back to place, as it was one of the only joys she had left in this world. William jolted backwards, his head and back hitting the pod wall as he screamed in terror.

Freddy had picked Gregory up by this point, holding him close as they listened to William’s anguished shouting. He wasn’t trying to hide Gregory—after everything he’d been through, the boy deserved to stay with the rest of the spirits as long as he could stand—but Freddy reasoned they could both use the mutual comfort.

As Cassidy tormented William Henry fell back into line next to Charlie, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she cried into Michael’s shoulder. He and Mike gave each other a grim, understanding nod, and at that moment the youngest Afton moved forward. Clutching Lizzie’s hand, Evan pulled his sister to the charging pod with determined steps.

“Cas, can you let us have a turn?” Evan asked in a surprisingly confident tone. For a moment Cassidy would disregard her former suit-mate’s request, but upon seeing his and Lizzie’s expressions she backed away so they could stand directly in front of the glass.

“Dad?” Evan called, standing on tiptoe to see William as he cringed away from the souls of his dead children. Evan tried to be strong, he really did… but all it took was one deep, shuddering breath to break open the dam of fresh tears he’d been holding in for almost forty years. Hot lines tracked down his cheeks, the sensation both foreign and all too familiar to the boy whose defense mechanism had been sobbing loud enough for his father to come save him.

It was combination of things that led to Evan’s demise that day in ‘83. There was Michael, of course—the initiating factor, there was no denying that even if Evan had forgiven him. William had been distracted during the incident, working with those delicate spring lock suits and trying to ensure that no one got hurt when finagling themselves into the fuzzy death trap.

But even if by some miracle he could’ve heard Evan’s cries from the back room, they weren’t loud enough—in fact, Evan had been so scared the moment he was lifted up and shoved towards Golden Freddy’s gaping maw that his vocal cords had fizzled out into nothing more than a silent scream.

Really, it wasn’t William’s fault he hadn’t got to Evan in time to prevent the bite. However, everything the man had done afterwards in the name of resurrecting his family was his responsibility and his alone.

“D-Dad, how… how c-could you hurt s-so m-many people?!” Evan sobbed, clutching Lizzie’s hand while his other squeezed into a tiny fist, free-flowing tears dripping onto his shirt to stain dark splotches in the fabric. “I-I trusted you… we l-loved you…”

The sound of William's heart breaking was nearly audible. He floundered for a reason—

Reasons? Or excuses? he thought bitterly to himself, realizing the weight of Evan's words.

Loved. Past tense.

Evan shared the same opinion as his brother now. No longer was Will his little boy's hero, but another monster that hid under his bed or lurked in the shadows.

“No—” William began, his voice coming out in a choking sound. “—No... Son, please don't say that...” His hand faltered slightly as it touched the glass, begging for a connection with the son he lost so long ago. “I did it for all of you... I just wanted you back so badly, Evan. I-I lost sight of what mattered...”

He realized it all too late. After the countless times he returned, rage inside his heart feeding his awful bloodlust… There was no turning back from it all; no need to deny it.

“Please, Evan? Y-You can't say you don't love me anymore...!” he fretted. William may not have had a proper throat, but it felt like he’d swallowed barbed wire. His actions meant nothing, as his children hated him now for what he had done.

Evan’s bottom lip quivered violently as he tried to hold in his crying while William spoke. He knew the man he called “Dad” out of habit wasn’t going to apologize—he couldn’t, not now—but Evan was still willing to hear him out. As expected, William was full of nothing but pleading excuses, and while the anguish in his voice twisted like a knife in Evan’s heart… he still couldn’t forgive him.

He opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out was a choked-off sob. Evan quickly shook his head, turning to bury his face in the comfort of his big sister that he’d been missing for so long. He cried openly into her shirt, clinging to the back of it with such force it was a wonder he didn’t rip holes into the fabric.

Michael couldn’t stand to hear his brother cry. He’d hated the sound as a kid too, though for entirely different reasons. Back then, it’d just been an annoying, almost constant noise—at least in Michael’s mind. It took him far too long to realize that Evan would cry far less if his big brother hadn’t turned so cruel over the years. Of course, Evan’s final birthday party quickly saw the end of Michael’s mean streak, and not a moment too soon—the worst thing would be for Michael to have turned out anything remotely similar to how his father was now, blindly indifferent towards others in order to achieve his own selfish goals.

Listening to Evan’s body-shaking sobs in this dim workshop spurred Michael into action. He carefully detached himself from Charlie, letting Henry hold onto his daughter as she recovered from her own emotional reaction. Within seconds he was at his siblings’ side, and at the gentle touch to his shoulder Evan looked up at him. He released his grip on Lizzie to cling to Michael’s waist instead, burying his face into the presence of the strong, safe big brother he used to have, finally returned after so many years of darkness.

“Liz, if you’ve got anything to say I’d suggest you say it now, because if we keep him around much longer I might very well do something that may go against our plan,” Michael murmured in a voice tense with poorly-controlled anger. He was keeping it together for his family, but if he had his way William would be slowly ripped apart limb by limb, and Michael would make sure he felt every second of it.

What could Elizabeth even say? She didn't want an apology from her father. It wouldn't do any good to her now. He had a chance to make things right when she found him years ago, and all he did was use her to further his plan—sending Mike in as a decoy and making them both suffer pain unimaginable both so close and so far apart.

She wanted to put that behind her. The fire that killed both Michael and Henry; those horrible years in the dank warehouse of Circus Baby's Pizza World; that one and only day the clown had been on stage... Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to forget as much as she could. Should she be unable to move on after all of this, Liz would want her memory to be wiped. All she wanted to remember were the Emilys and her brothers. Good and bad times, at least they wouldn't concern the man that asked her for ideas on a fun new character—only to have that same character churn her to bits inside its body.

Staring William in the eyes with the utmost calm, like she’d practiced for this very moment in her head, she murmured coldly: “I don't have anything to say to him. Come on, Evan.”

William watched as Elizabeth turned from him. It was like every good memory he had with his children played in his mind in rapid succession, only to be burned to ashes by Liz's indifferent words. She was the very last person he expected to snub him. And now, there was no one...

Gregory took in a deep breath. Now seemed as good a time as any... Letting go of Freddy's hand he approached the glass, staring up at the shaking rabbit inside with piercing silver eyes that seemed to mock William’s very existence.

“You awful, nasty... cruel man,” Gregory growled with furrowed brows. “You ruined my friends’ lives, and fucked over mine. I'm really gonna enjoy this.”

With that he walked towards a set of thick cables leading to a powered-down arcade box. He plugged them into the terminal, then typed in Henry’s special code to begin a direct download from the charging pod. In tandem, from a flush cavity in the pod emerged a two-pronged device which quickly snapped into place using the access points in the back of Bonnie’s skull before the rabbit-man had a chance to react.

“Do what?! Liz! Evan! What's the kid doing?!” William gasped, sounding as if he were hyperventilating. “Do you REALLY think that'll keep me trapped forever, you stupid boy? MICHAEL, MAKE HIM STOP!”

“Don't talk to him!” Michael snapped, stepping up to the porthole so William was forced to stare into his icy eyes. He let out a laugh, short and humorless as he looked upon the frail man who'd been so confident just hours before. “All that reincarnation made you stupid—do you honestly think I'd so much as lift a finger to help you? I've told you before, and I'll say it again: I fucking hate you. You've put me through so much hell I can't even begin to describe the depths of it.”

He paused, closing his eyes for a moment as he took a calming breath. Then he gazed upon William again, looking down his nose at the trembling creature in the charging pod who was losing just a little bit of himself every second.

“You know, I used to hate that I'd inherited your face,” Michael continued, touching his cheek as he recalled those long hours in front of the mirror regretting his very existence. “I cursed you and your damn genetics, and every time someone told me how much I resembled 'my dear father' I wanted to run into the nearest bathroom and just rip my fucking skin off.”

Michael's nails pressed into the false flesh, hard enough to leave faint indents. He shook his head, lips curled into a grinning sneer.

“But now... I'm glad I still look like you. I'm glad because now I can finally use this horrible face to do some good in the end. Even if I was too late for all the kids you selfishly took away, I can take you down in their stead—me and the one kid you just couldn't quite catch.”

He spared a side-long glance at Gregory, then pressed his palm up to the glass just as Henry had done. “And then, once you're wiped from existence, I'm going to be the nicest fucking person in this damn town and prove everything you could've been if you just got out of your own head and took a second to pay attention to your own fucking children.”

Mike needed to get it all out, Gregory thought, watching with intent as he slowed his furious typing.

William, who before had been frozen speechless... started to laugh. It was by no means confident. Nervous, certainly, and devoid of humor as he began to rant.

“You'll never be happy. I'll keep coming back as many times as I need to—”

Gregory wasn't going to sit idly and let William sow doubt in their minds. His fingers restarted their quick pace, the commands he entered poised and practiced, not missing a beat before smacking the enter key. A sudden flash of yellow sparked as the charging pod was redirected, taking energy from its subject and subsequently shutting William down with a loud spark. His download was quick, flying through ethernet cables and into the boxed arcade machine.

“Shut up, already. Old freak...,” Gregory griped, sounding bored as William's personality had finally drained into the little, half-burned game called Midnight Motorist.

What a weird choice, he thought. Though he supposed they’d only grabbed what was available. Gregory turned to look at the group of dead people, feeling their collective anxiety and animosity center solely on the game now.

Without prompting, Charlie stepped forward. She knew what she had to do, and made a beeline for the powered-down pod first. A pale hand was pressed to its stark red outer casing and Charlie closed her eyes, feeling with that special power lain deep in her being for any lingering piece of William’s soul. As expected, thankfully, she came up empty.

She hadn’t been able to sense his soul at all this weekend, in fact—at least, not in the traditional sense. Not like her father’s or the Aftons’; Cassidy’s or Hannah’s. William’s decrepit self was buried deep underneath something sharp and twisting. If Charlie had to describe it, she’d liken it to what she imagined reaching into the internet and grabbing a handful of code would feel like.

Cold. Digital. Like the man had been reduced to something that was more suited to the virtual world instead of reality.

The charging pod was empty of life. Charlie moved to the standing console, peering down at the dusty game. Now here she could sense… something. A tiny spark of blue fire that didn’t quite fit with the rest of the unassuming box. Breath shuddering, Charlie placed a palm flat against this and closed her eyes once more. She imagined a net encompassing the system, trapping anything and everything inside. She swore she heard the faintest, tinniest scream.

It made her smile.

“Alright, guys—we got him,” she announced, stepping back to join the others. There was a moment of silence as the weight of that statement fell upon the room.

“…Well?” Gregory asked, gesturing to the console now that there was no serial murderer to intimidate. “Anyone wanna take the first shot at busting this thing?”

***

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angelofrainfrogs · 1 year ago

Text

Going Back: Ch. 5

~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

As Michael mused over the semantics of the Puppet and Charlie as two separate beings, Sun was already speaking with another new friend in the Daycare. When he'd first noticed the faint sound of metallic scraping a few days ago he'd been wary, even more so when he discovered the source—a bulky conglomeration of sentient wires scuttling around in the vents. However, once assured that neither of them was a threat the pair had gotten to talking... and surprisingly, they'd hit things off quite well.

Currently, Sun was giving Ennard a tour of his little room above the stage. It'd been put back to rights once the virus was gone since Moon was no longer apt to mess it up in his unbridled rage. Nightshift was in full swing with only barebones staff, so Sun felt alright having Ennard out and about as long as they kept watch. Therefore it was to Sun's great surprise when he heard the metallic garage door sliding open by the pick-up area, coupled with faint laughter and chattering voices.

Gripping Ennard's arm and shaking it gently, he exclaimed in a hushed whisper: “Ooh, I think someone's here! Stay put juuuust a sec and let me see who it is!”

“BE SAFE,” replied Ennard, who had been meticulously helping Sun redecorate the room back to his liking. The Daycare attendant was very particular about how the string lights were hung and their placement inside his room, so Ennard thought to busy themselves by helping out and finding the right balance for their living space. Ennard was still not one to trust the guards around here completely, and likely never would. That didn't mean they couldn't respectfully keep a quiet and mature distance from whoever entered to check up on the Daycare attendant.

Now inside the Daycare again, Gregory hoped Sun could forget all that nasty business with the lights. It wasn't like Gregory had even pulled the switch anyway! It was stupid Vanny when she was being puppeteered by William. Even so, at the sight of Sun coming out from his colorful balcony Gregory’s first instinct was to hide behind Michael and Charlie.

“Hi!” Sun exclaimed brightly, waving to the group through. Standing atop the tiny stage, he tried to get a good look but could only see so far through the netting that surrounded the play area. Still, it was enough to know he didn't recognize any of the humans—at least, not the two young adults. That animatronic draped over the girl's shoulders, though...

With a gasp, the memory of the kind Puppet hit Sun like a truck, causing him to clap his hands together in delight. “Charlie! Oh gosh, I'm so happy to see you again! Come, come—I'll let you and your friends through the main door!”

Sun pointed to the large wooden doors that had been the bane of their existence the last time the group were in the Daycare. Once he saw them start moving, Sun scampered down and rushed to open the heavy block of wood, eagerly hopping from foot to foot as he awaited their arrival.

Michael was sure to keep Gregory close behind him and as out of sight as possible, feeling the boy's palpable hesitancy radiating off him like a wave. As they neared the doors, he murmured in Charlie's ear: “Maybe you should do the introductions this time? He's clearly excited to see you...”

Charlie would take on the task eagerly. She was happy to see that Sun had made a full recovery from near-complete insanity via virus shenanigans. Stepping in past the huge door, Charlie motioned for the others to follow suit as she called to Sun.

“Sun! How the heck are you?” she called, the Puppet on her shoulders practically vibrating with anticipation. As soon as they were inside, Charlie felt the lightweight form fall to make her way towards Sun, greeting the attendant by holding out her long and spindly arms for a hug.

“Look—this is all probably a lot to take in, but I'm Charlie. That's Puppet!” Charlie clarified, gesturing to the boys as they filed in through the door. “You remember Gregory, right? And this is Michael!”

“Oh! Hello there!” Sun laughed, lifting Puppet's lanky body without hesitation and hugging her close. Over her shoulder, Sun examined the others through his static mask. Charlie's voice was familiar, certainly—that had been coming out of the animatronic in his arms the last time they'd met. Strange, but nothing the Daycare attendant couldn't look past. He didn’t recognize Michael, but Gregory—

“Little sunbeam!” Sun gasped, pressing his palms to the sides of his mask as Puppet finally let him go. He desperately wanted to reach out and hug the boy, but resisted the urge. From his expression alone, he could tell Gregory was wary of him... not that Sun could blame the poor kid after what his darkness-loving counterpart put him through.

“Gregory, I'm so sorry for the other night!” Sun went on, wringing his hands together in the best display of nervous apology he could muster. “Moon was not himself and shouldn't have chased you around like that... Plus, I know it wasn't your fault the lights got flipped! You were nowhere near the switch. I shouldn't have thrown you out, either—I felt so bad afterwards and I really wanted to help, but I couldn't get through...”

“Hey, it's alright,” Michael soothed as Sun's pitch reached higher and higher the more he fussed. “None of the animatronics were themselves that night—don't stress about it. As long as you still feel okay now...?”

“Oh yes, I feel wonderful!” Sun chirped, perking up at the reassuring words.

Puppet seemed glad to hear that, squeezing Charlie excitedly around the shoulders after scaling her back once more. Maybe it was strange, but Charlie thought of her as her shadow—reliable in the way that she’d always be there.

But where she felt comfort in her animatronic protector, her best friend's clingy companion was feared and reviled by him...

“MIIIIIIKE...” A reverberating purr could be heard behind Michael and the gang. It was a good thing Gregory had been looking up at Ennard’s more put together form, shocked into not speaking. While Gregory didn’t necessarily fear Ennard, he didn't appreciate being snuck up on. Unfortunately, he failed in alerting Michael before it was too late.

“SUN... IS NEW FRIEND! MEET SUN...?” asked the giddy clown.

“Oh god—of course,” Michael griped, pulling Gregory away from Ennard’s immediate grasp.

“Ohhhhh!” Sun exclaimed with a chuckle, lightly smacking a palm to his forehead. “Michael… Mikey… you must be Ennard’s best friend!”

“Like hell I am!” Mike was glaring daggers at this point, solely fixated on Ennard’s leering form. Sun cocked his head curiously, looking between the dichotomous pair.

“Hmm? But… Ennard said you were besties!” the cheery attendant added, using terminology he’d picked up on from being around younger generations of humans. “They said you’ve known each other for a loooong time!”

“ROOMIES,” Ennard choked out through their shared voice box. Ennard stood leaning heavily on their side in a way that made Gregory think they were going to fall over, but they were just sort of lopsided due to the carpet covering weighing more on one side.

“It's a long story,” Gregory filled in Sun briefly. That wasn't really for him to explain, and he didn't have all the facts anyway. If anyone, Ennard should fill their new friend in on what they did all those years ago—so Gregory abstained from big (and unfortunate) details. “Mike worked with Ennard, and they tricked him—”

As Gregory summarized the sanitized version he knew of their past, Puppet decided her presence was best used on Michael at the moment. She clambered up his back, watching over his shoulder protectively. Feeling the anxiety and anger rolling off him, she gently patted Michael’s head. With how much she heard Ennard speak about Mike already, there wouldn't be a need to really protect him. Still the Puppet was aware that Michael may need some form of safety blanket or he wouldn't calm down.

“Ennard,” Charlie called their attention. “You know you’ve got to take it easy on Mike. Come on...”

There was a moment of silence before Ennard uttered a broken, penitent: “SORRY...”

Michael heaved a sigh, reaching up to pat the soft shoulder of the Puppet that lingered over him.

“I’m fine,” he assured. Every encounter with Ennard was a little easier, especially when Michael had his family by his side for security.

“Wow… sounds like you’ve had quite the adventure together!” Sun remarked after Gregory finished his summary. Sun threw an arm around Ennard's shoulder, which served as a good counterbalance for their lopsidedness. “Ennard showed up in the Daycare yesterday night and they’ve been super fun to hang out with! It’s no wonder you two get along, Mike!”

Michael simply pursed his lips, deciding that to refute Sun’s insistence on his “friendship” with Ennard was a losing battle. Instead he rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets as he mumbled an unenthusiastic: “Whatever…”

“SO!” Sun exclaimed after a moment’s pause, clasping his hands together and looking around before his gaze settled in Gregory. “Would you like to play?! I know you didn’t get a chance to really explore the Daycare, sunbeam—feel free to look around, if you want!”

Sun’s upbeat demeanor slipped into a calmer tone as he reassured: “By the way, if the lights do happen to go out for some reason, I promise than Moon's functioning perfectly now. He feels horrible about the whole thing, even though we can’t remember most of it… He wants to apologize too, if you come across him.”

Sun would leave it at that, completely up to Gregory if he’d willingly like to summon Moon at any point. Either way, the Daycare attendant would do his best to make up for all the terror his personalities caused the poor child the other night.

Sun was a huge factor in Gregory’s major trust problems with the animatronics thanks to how friendly and accommodating he'd been until Vanny shut them into total darkness. Gregory was sure that Samuel wouldn't allow anyone to waltz into the Daycare should either attendant be acting out of sorts, so he threw a smile up to Sun.

“That's what we came here for! Come on—what kind of game should we play?” Gregory asked, gently pulling the ribbons and bells that were connected to his wrist in the direction of the play area.

That left the Marionette and Ennard locked in a stare-down, as if one was waiting in anticipation for the other to move. It was like watching two stray cats advance on each other, calculating before simultaneously deciding to throw down and fight in an alley.

Ennard broke the silence, greeting the Puppet with a strained: “HEL...LO?” and slowly reaching their hand out.

The Puppet remained cautious, watching as Ennard’s clawed fingers stopped a foot short of Michael. She bridged the gap, reaching out before swiftly climbing to hang off their arm.

“She can't speak—voice box only plays music,” Michael clarified, watching the interaction like a hawk. Ennard wasn't going to harm anything that didn't pose a threat to him, Michael had to keep reminding himself of that. It still didn't help his nerves as he saw what was his best friend until a few days ago hanging off Ennard like they were a weird jungle gym. He let out a small sigh, sparing a glance to where Gregory was leading the Daycare attendant around excitedly.

“Have you met Moon yet?” Michael asked after a beat of silence, eyes flicking back to Ennard with mild curiosity. He couldn't fathom how Sun and Ennard's personalities worked together, let alone Moon's. With a mild frown, Mike realized that he didn't actually know what Moon was supposed to be like either.

Ennard diligently held the Puppet up as she swung herself lazily from their arm. The very action made Charlie laugh at what she perceived to be the fun her old robot was having. Ennard shook their head, eyes never leaving Michael now that Puppet posed no real threat.

“MOON IS... ELUSIVE,” Ennard noted, one of their superfluous eyes glancing at Gregory's direction. The boy was in thought, thinking of the games they could play together.

“I figured as much.” Michael turned his gaze to the glow star-studded ceiling. If Moon was actually as calm and friendly as Freddy stated during one of their many discussions about his time in the Pizzaplex, Mike could definitely see how kids would enjoy spending nap time here as well.

“You're good at Hide and Seek, right?” Gregory was asking Sun, already having his first hiding spot picked out.

Sun nodded enthusiastically, the bells on his wrists jingling as he shifted from foot to foot. “Yes! That's one of my favorite games!” He turned his back to Gregory, having noticed him searching for a place the Daycare attendant wouldn't easily be able to find him. Covering his eyes with his hands for good measure, Sun told the boy: “Okay, you can hide first—I'll give you to the count of thirty!”

Charlie had been entertained at the sight of Puppet nimbly clinging to the carpet on Ennard’s back before sitting directly atop their head. Unfazed completely, a couple of Ennard's vestigial eyes blinked as they remarked: “SHOULD TINY MICHAEL GROW TIRED… WE MEET MOON.”

Waiting for Sun to cover their eyes in anticipation, Gregory bolted faster than he ever thought he could run. He made a beeline straight for the ball pit, diving head first into the deep, rubber-coated pool of color and staying buried beneath its saturated waves for cover.

Charlie tugged on Michael’s shirt to get his attention. “Speaking of which—look, isn’t he so stinking cute when he’s having fun?”

Before Michael could correct Ennard on Gregory's name, Charlie had diverted his attention towards said kid and his disappearing act. Michael conceded with a nod, his smile growing wider at the sight of Gregory actually having fun for once. Mike realized how little chance he'd actually been able to just... be a kid. They might not know the finer details of Gregory's troubled past, but his new family could tell without a doubt his childhood had been stifled far too much.

Of course, Sun instantly recognized the sound of someone diving into the ball pit. He'd give Gregory the benefit of the doubt though, making a big show of looking around when he eventually counted all the way up to thirty.

“Hmm...,” the Daycare attendant murmured, slinking casually towards the nearest play structure and peering into one of the plastic tubes. “Now where oh where could that little sunbeam be...”

Michael chuckled softly as he watched, crossing his arms over his chest. He figured Sun already knew where the kid was, but clearly understood his role to let Gregory think he'd outsmarted him—at least for a little bit. “Sun's a good sport, I'll give him that.”

Ennard sat on the ground now, Puppet's legs dangling just within their line of sight until they picked her up and set her down on their knee. She slouched a little against Ennard’s hand, but ultimately kept resting upright with their help. Puppet looked to Ennard gratefully and patted their hand as they watched the little game of hide and seek.

“MAYBE... NEXT ROUND... WE COULD PLAY..?” Ennard mentioned to the group as they watched Sun entertain Gregory and his antics for the time being.

Charlie glanced sidelong at Ennard, surprised that they wanted in. Then again, she figured they wanted to spend more quality time with their new friend. She hadn't even considered that they may be encroaching upon their time together.

“I'm game. Mike?” Charlie asked, nudging her friend with her elbow.

Michael stared at Ennard hard through narrowed eyes. No matter how much everyone else got over their initial unease around them, Michael knew he'd never be absolutely 100% comfortable around the amalgamation even if his stress and anxiety lessened as time went on.

Who could blame him, though? No one had quite the experience with Ennard as he did...

Even so, a glance at the Puppet resting contentedly in Ennard's lap, then a look at Charlie's imploring face was enough for Michael to relent to their wishes.

“Ugh... fine,” he groaned, sounding almost like a petulant child who'd been told to clean their room. He did want to play hide and seek with his friends though, and knew Gregory and Sun certainly wouldn't turn down any new players. Before the group could get too excited, Michael held up a finger to signal them to wait. “One condition, though—I'm the seeker first.”

Charlie saw no issue in this, and by the looks of the Marionette she didn't have an opinion about their upcoming game in the slightest. Ennard began to quake slightly, gaze floating back to Michael. Ennard really hoped he found them first. That would give them time to talk a little...

Or, that's what Ennard had secretly hoped for. More than anything, they would love for Michael to understand them just a little more.

“THIS... WILL BE... FUN!” Ennard decreed, reaching over and taking Puppet's arms gently by the wrists. They resembled waves with the cadence Ennard shook her with, but she didn't seem to mind at all. It was hard to tell, given she was the most stoic of the animatronics, but she was soaking in the attention from this strange companion.

“Dude, you're such a super cheater when you seek,” Charlie scoffed, causing Puppet to take back her hands and cover her mouth in a silent laugh at Charlie's call-out.

“No, I'm just good,” Michael corrected smugly, then turned his attention towards the ball pit as he heard a loud exclamation.

“Found you!” Sun cheered, lifting Gregory high into the air. The Daycare attendant laughed brightly, carrying Gregory back over to the group as his legs kicked uselessly. Eventually he set the boy down, the smile in his voice matching the grinning visage of his mask. “Gregory had a great hiding spot! Does anyone else want to join?!”

“You read our minds,” Michael replied, craning his neck to look up at the tall animatronic. Sun let out a gasp of excitement, looking between the group.

“ALL of you?!” he asked, and when Mike nodded Sun instantly bent to grasp the one of the Puppet's spindly hands and Ennard's arm, hoisting them both to their feet in one fluid movement. It was a surprising display of animatronic strength and Michael felt a pang of relief that the Daycare attendant was now fully on their side. Sun bounced from foot to foot, causing the lightweight Puppet to sway with the movement while Ennard remained more or less stationary. “Ooh, this is so exciting! Who's the seeker this time?!”

While the Puppet grasped onto Sun's hand in turn, she raised her arm to point repeatedly at Michael in silent answer to Sun’s question. Gregory was attempting to find a new hiding spot; inside of one of the slides seemed to be a good idea. Charlie meanwhile had no clue where she’d go. Honestly, just trying to sneak around unnoticed by Michael was probably her best bet.

“I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MY JOY,” Ennard remarked, their voice betraying little raw emotion as normal; rather their inflection was presumed as excitable due to how hard it was to understand them through the exorbitant static.

“Ooh, Michael's it? Okay! We're counting to thirty!” Sun instructed, releasing his animatronic friends so they could all find spots to hide.

“Got it. One.... two...,” Mike began, closing his eyes and making a display of also covering them with his hands so Charlie wouldn't accuse him of cheating.

As the countdown began, everyone followed Gregory's lead and scrambled to find a good spot. Sun went into the play structure as well, scrunching his flexible body up as much as possible and settling in one of the opaque tubes that connected two of the jungle gyms. Michael was bit bigger than the kids that usually crawled through the play place, but if Sun could fit he imagined Mike's lean frame could as well.

“—Thirty. Ready or not, here I come!” Michael proclaimed loudly, doing his best to slow his counting until all sounds of shuffling had stopped. Opening his eyes, he turned to scan the Daycare for signs of any of his companions.

Gregory had made it to his chosen hiding spot right away. He felt like it was smart to stand inside the tube slide. Who would guess he was chilling comfortably inside?

As for Ennard, currently they’d made the rough attempt to hide behind the security desk. Provided no one looked that way at a certain angle, Ennard was totally hidden.

The Puppet? Gone without a trace. Tiny and silent, the animatronic had wedged herself between the bars of the climbing gym and a metal cut-out of Roxy’s face.

All the while Charlie wandered around, tiptoeing across the rubber. She was praying now. There had to be a good hiding spot somewhere—some place no one had taken yet. She watched her step, careful not to trip while listening for Michael in her search.

Mike had gone for the easiest place to check first: the security desk. As he approached, he got the definite feeling that someone was hiding back there. With a wicked grin, he slowed his steps so they barely made a sound on the padded floor, hoping to get the jump on his hapless victim.

“AHA—oh… it’s you.” Michael’s joy was cut short as he peered over the front of the desk and came face to face with the last thing he wanted to see. Rolling his eyes, Mike pushed away from the desk and gestured for Ennard to come out of hiding. “Figures you’d be the first one I found.”

“YAY.” Ennard rejoiced, slowly picking themselves up from the floor. “YOU HAVE FOUND US... GREAT JOB, MICHAEL...”

Charlie watched this interaction from the obscurity of the colorful bars of the play place. Wow Ennard, Charlie thought to herself, way to kill him with kindness... Either that, or poor Ennard genuinely had no damn clue Michael legitimately hated them with a passion.

“Let me know if you see anyone, alright?” Mike said, searching the jungle gym with narrowed vision and refusing to acknowledge the smidgen of amiability he was showing his metallic shadow. “You’ve certainly got enough damn eyes to track them down…”

Though it was the smallest of swears, Sun was unable to stop a little gasp from escaping his mouth. His language filter was amped to the extreme, even more than Freddy’s due to his job of watching over babies and toddlers. He clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late—Michael’s head swiveled in the direction of the echoey intake of breath, and as he squinted hard he could see the vague outline of a lanky figure illuminated by the bright overhead lights that tried to pass through the plastic tube. Michael could crawl in and tag Sun… but with a side-eyed glance towards the tendril inching near his arm, he realized there was another option that saved him from going in the enclosed space altogether.

“Hey Ennard, why don’t you help me out and get your new friend?” Mike suggested, pointing towards Sun’s hideout. At Michael's request, Ennard seemed hesitant to comply. Then again, they supposed that now that they were found, technically Ennard was on his team! This was going to be funny...

Ennard silently maneuvered their way towards the construct with the intent to scale it silently. Squeezing in past the bars and safety netting, they quietly snuck behind Sun inside the tube, then gently tapped his shoulder. “FOUND Y-Y-YOU!”

At the terrifying prospect of Ennard finding her next, Charlie skedaddled and went to take cover behind the service desk for now. Luckily no one would think to check where someone else was found recently.

“Oh!” Sun’s head whipped around 180 degrees at Ennard’s tap, though he seemed more surprised at being discovered than the animatronic itself. Having already made Ennard laugh once before, Sun already recognized the disjointed chorus of staticky feedback for what it was. Chuckling as well, Sun began unwrapping himself to follow Ennard out into the open, lamenting: “Aww, and I thought I had a great spot...”

While Ennard got their prize, Michael set his sights on finding the others. Despite her indecisive tendencies towards selecting a hiding place, somehow Charlie had managed to evade him for now. Mike padded along the floor slowly, trying not to give his position away. When he got to a suspicious opening or tunnel in the jungle gym, he’d jump out from around the corner in hopes of catching one of his friends unaware. It wasn’t long before one of these sneaky attacks was a success. Upon finding an unassuming slide and peering in the bottom, Michael noticed a distinctive pair of little red sneakers.

“Gotcha!” he exclaimed, grasping Gregory’s ankles and yanking him out of the of the slide feet first, holding him upside down as he gloated in his victory. “Good hiding spot, kid—but not good enough!”

“NO! NOOO!” Gregory lamented, shouting and clawing the inside of the tunnel as he was dragged. Dangled unceremoniously, Gregory found himself swinging as he cried out. “My spot was SO good! How?!”

“For you? Brotherly intuition,” Michael stated with a grin, setting the kid down. There wasn’t a chance Mike would reveal the discovery had been pure luck. “Right, now onto the last two…,”

“Maybe they’re hiding together?” Gregory brought up, helping Mike out despite losing the game to him. Charlie crawled, trying to be careful and quiet before reaching the far side of the desk and further away from the group. Wherever Puppet ran off to, she was certainly fast and thorough with her hiding spots.

“WE HEAR SOMETHING...,” Ennard told the group in an almost intimidating manner, though they likely meant nothing by it other than hearing Charlie crawling mutely across the floor.

Michael cocked his head, listening intently. For a moment, there was nothing but the ambient sounds of the Pizzaplex. And then, the faint sound of fabric rustling was picked up by the android’s sensitive hearing. Without a word Michael turned on his heel and marched back to the security desk as the rest of the group tagged along behind. Just as he’d done with Ennard, Michael pushed himself up to peer over the top of the desk to find Charlie huddled into a ball and trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

“Charlie Emily!” Michael exclaimed, mild offense in his tone. “And you accuse me of cheating?! You can’t use the same spot as someone else!”

Charlie could've jumped higher than the moon. Her face even flushed with the accusation as she stood with a bashful grin. “What—Huh? Since when was that a rule?”

“Oooooh, cheater!” Gregory jeered. Looking around in a grand spin on his heel, he tried to spot a dot of black and white amidst the sea of color. “Guys—Puppet's too good at this game! Where could she even hide that she wouldn't stand out?”

“YOU HAVEN'T... THE PLAY PLACE...” Ennard’s voice glitched helpfully as they pointed towards the rainbow jungle gym.

“Hmm…” Michael reached out to Gregory, hoisting him up to sit on his shoulders. The boy’s new height still wasn’t a match for the lanky Daycare attendant, but it was definitely closer. Looking at Gregory upside-down, Mike advised: “Keep an eye out for stripes.”

“Oh my goodness. These dorks...” Charlie sighed, watching as Michael took off in a high-speed bolt that made Gregory grasp onto his head for security. Soon, screams evolved into laughter as Charlie and the others followed in their silly game. The Puppet, who wasn't one to wait around in such times, began to crawl out from behind Roxy's cutout cartoon face.

Carefully climbing through the bars and timing it just right, she dropped right onto Gregory’s back. The boy let out a higher-pitched scream of surprise. Where did she even come from? Gregory couldn't deduce it, but began to laugh when he realized what was happening.

“Whoa—hey, we didn’t even get a chance to look for you!” Michael laughed as one of the Puppet’s long limbs brushed his arm while she got settled. His body had no trouble stabilizing itself with the sudden added weight, and after one more round past the jungle gym Michael halted at the edge of the ball pit. He felt like he should be out of breath, but true to these bodies’ wonderful capabilities he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“Puppet, hold on tight!” Michael said, grasping Gregory by the underarms.

“Oh goodness—careful, Michael!” Sun called, sensing what the man was about to do mere seconds before it happened. With a heave Michael tossed Gregory and the Puppet into the colorful river, causing a wave of plastic balls to rise up from the impact.

It was like the two brothers had been in sync their whole lives. Gregory had expected the throw, but was uncoordinated when being tossed up. Thankfully the Puppet squeezed around him, lessening the chances of Gregory being hurt further. Not that it was likely he would be hurt—it was only the ball pit, after all.

Laughing from the sidelines, Charlie watched Gregory's splashdown, plastic flung from his loud and crashing impact.

“Do that again! Fling me into the pit again!” Gregory begged as he popped back up with stars in his eyes. The Puppet still clung on for the free ride, her hugs reassuring Gregory and keeping him calm. Charlie had placed a hand on Sun's arm, patting him gently.

“It's okay, Sun! They do this stuff all the time. No worries,” she attempted to soothe. The poor guy was probably used to kids roughhousing too much and children being hurt all the time. Charlie found his reaction justified, but there was no need to stop—especially because she was sure that Gregory had a hard time being hurt anyway.

“Well… they do seem to be having fun,” Sun relented, placing his hand on the back of Charlie’s and squeezing gently. As long as he was assured no one was being harmed—especially the child—he saw no reason to stop their activity. With a cheerful laugh, he added: “It is super fun to jump in there! I understand why Gregory loves it!”

Charlie leaned into her friend. She'd been meaning to pop back to the Daycare to see how he was doing—especially after their less than friendly last encounter of being kicked from Sun's home. She felt awful leaving Sun as alone and scared as he was.

After the fifth or sixth toss, one could see Gregory’s energy wearing down. It was true that his last nap seemingly only lasted two hours before he was charged up again, but surely Gregory still needed more sleep as a growing kid.

“You getting sleepy, little man?” Charlie asked playfully, watching as he lugged himself from the ball pit with the Puppet's arms tied over his shoulders.

Gregory, who could hardly hold open his eyes now shouted back a defiant: “Nooo..!”

This time when Michael picked him up, he tossed Gregory straight into the air, listening to his burnt-out giggles as he landed safely back in his arms.

“Oh yeah, he’s spent,” Michael announced. He could feel Gregory gearing up to argue, so he rolled his eyes. “Relax; you'll thank me later."

“Oh! I could help with a nap!” Sun perked up eagerly, lightly bouncing from foot to foot. “Well, Moon could—if you’re up for it, sunbeam.” His tone softened, fully understanding if Gregory was still hesitant. “We can set up a little sleeping spot and turn the lights off.”

“Uh… maybe not all of them?” Michael suggested, to which Sun quickly shook his head.

“No, no, certainly not! We only turn the lights directly over the play area off during nap time,” the Daycare attendant explained, pointing to the ceiling waiting to come alight with glowing constellations. “The only reason the whole place would go dark is if a breaker was flipped! If you ever get too nervous with Moon and aren’t near the light switch, just walk into a bright area—he won’t follow. I promise he’s fine though!”

While Michael and Sun discussed Gregory's sleeping arrangements, Charlie moved to Mike's side to gently play with Gregory's hair. Charlie had found Gregory's more sudden bout of fatigue to be both interesting and... Maybe a little cause for alarm? For all she knew, irregular sleeping patterns and fatigue could all be a part of the side effects from his Remnant injection. It would be something to discuss with Freddy and Mike later, but for now Charlie watched as Gregory struggled hard to keep his heavy eyelids open.

“Moon..? Yeah... Yeah I'd be fine seeing Moon...” Gregory hoped that Moon may scare him enough to be pulled from his tired stupor, but if Sun was sure his counterpart was back to his original personality then he didn't have a chance at staying awake. Ennard hung back behind Sun, gently brushing him with their carpet-covered body.

“WE WILL GRAB PILLOWS...” they offered. Those huge sleeping pillows provided in the Daycare had all been organized meticulously by Sun's high standards earlier that day, so Ennard was more than familiar with where everything was now.

“Thank you, friend!” Sun said cheerily, turning around and giving Ennard a brief hug around their shoulders. “I’ll get blankets—give us a minute!”

The Daycare attendant bounded away towards a little section of cubbies that held blankets, stuffed animals, and other such things the little ones would need during nap time. As he and Ennard gathered supplies, the others moved to the security desk where the light switch was located. Michael believed Sun when he said his counterpart was fine, but a small part of his mind warned to be cautious. Even with the lights off, the security desk would be a safe space with its back-up illumination.

“Okay, we’re all set!” Sun exclaimed a minute later, gesturing to a spot in the midst of a plethora of pillows that’d been decked out with cozy blankets and various Glamrock stuffed animals. Sun stopped a few feet back from the security desk, clasping his hands as he looked at Gregory. “Aww, he’s all tuckered out…”

“Yeah...” Charlie agreed with Sun's assessment. She gently stroked Gregory's bangs from his face, reading his peaceful and sleepy expression. “He hasn't been sleeping well; he probably needed this.”

From there, Puppet gently climbed down from Michael's tall frame to scamper towards the pillow pile, immediately getting lost in the soft, embroidered cushions. There she would wait for her friends to join her, and Charlie headed over to investigate the soft-looking pile as well.

Over at the desk, Ennard found the naptime switch. Flicking it dimmed the lights, prompting the glow in the dark stars to come out and coat the sky in a gentle neon. Upon the overhead lights dimming completely, the Puppet's music box began to play Grandfather's Clock gently on instinct.

No longer was Sun afraid of the transformation into his night-themed counterpart. Contrary to the screaming and frantic mask-tearing he’d shown last time, in this instance Sun simply gave a cheery wave and ducked out of sight, knowing that sometimes the change distressed the children—even if Gregory wasn’t conscious enough to notice, Sun wanted to make this experience as easy as possible. In seconds, his thin fingers had taken on a blue-tipped hue as Moon hoisted himself up to peer over the edge of the desk.

“…Hello,” he said in that soft, raspy voice, eyes locked onto Gregory and Michael. Unlike their last encounter, Moon’s tone was soft and calm, the almost-staticky undertone meant to soothe instead of distress. There was a faint red glow to his eyes, though it wouldn’t brighten unless he perceived a security threat.

“Hey, Moon,” Michael replied, holding Gregory close. To his relief, he didn’t sense an ounce of maliciousness from the robot—and Mike knew a threatening animatronic when he saw it. He cracked a smile, curiously examining the stark difference in color palates as Moon moved fully into view, notably staying out of the lights from the security desk. “Nice to formally meet you.”

“Yes… I’m sorry about before,” the Daycare attendant apologized, wringing his hands exactly as Sun did when nervous. There was a distinctive crouch in Moon’s posture, but now that his coding wasn’t going haywire it was easy to see how the two were indeed the same animatronic at their cores. Moon went on, still in that easy tone tinged with genuine apology: “I don’t know what came over me… Like Sun told you, we don’t remember much, but I think I caused Freddy and his little starlight a lot of trouble.”

Charlie was surprised at the calmness Moon portrayed. It was quite the opposite of what she’d seen when he chased them through the Daycare with possessed-looking abandon. The way his voice no longer contorted to something nightmarish and twisted made her feel better about the character that supposedly took care of sleeping children.

“It's not your fault,” Charlie gently reminded, her first words to Moon kind and gentle.

In Michael's arms Gregory rustled, willing himself to snap out of his sleepy state for all of three seconds, long enough to glance up to the smiling Moon and to feel a sense of safety under his gaze. Squished against Michael's chest, Gregory muttered a tuckered out, “Hello, Moon...”

“Hi Gregory, ehehehe…,” Moon let out a quiet cackle, far from his raucous, demented laughter the other night. With a sweeping gesture, he motioned towards the pile of pillows. “Let’s put you to bed, hmm?”

Michael nodded in agreement, finally taking a step into the darkness where Moon was free to snatch the boy up if he so desired. The Daycare attendant remained calm and collected, swaying slightly as he tracked Mike across the padded floor. That was definitely an unnerving sensation… Or it would’ve been had Michael not already been used to multiple sets of eyes locked onto him at once. Sure enough, as he neared the bedding he heard Moon and Ennard shuffling behind him.

“There you go, kid,” Michael said as he set Gregory down in the plush cloud next to Charlie and Puppet.

Gregory didn’t have time to cover himself with the chosen blanket, Puppet was quick to cover Gregory up and snuggle against his side. To Charlie, it reminded her of when she was young. Taking naps in her father’s office while using her Puppet as a pillow…

Charlie smiled, telling Gregory: “Goodnight, kiddo.”

There was a soft kiss pressed into Gregory’s hairline, and he Gregory was out like a light once more. This smiling angel sleeping on a cloud was a far cry from the hyperactive maniac she watched run from the ball pit and towards his brother so many times.

Moon’s instinct was to help Gregory get settled, but he resisted the urge—his siblings and music box-playing animatronic clearly had that covered. Instead, he turned to the amalgamation at his side, grinning behind his mask. “Hi, Ennard—I’m glad to finally talk to you myself. Sun always hogs our friends…”

Ennard was fiddling with a knob at the side of their head, lowering the volume of their voices as to not disturb Gregory.

“MOON… VERY GLAD TO MEET…” they murmured, opening their arms and enveloping the Moon in a slow but unavoidable hug. Ennard swayed him slightly as they embraced, the joy of having two new friends noticeable in the Funtime conglomerate’s voice.

Michael grimaced at the tall animatronics’ interaction, sinking into a cross-legged position at Charlie’s side. Resting his head against her shoulder, he murmured in a quiet, sarcastic tone: “At least there’s someone for Ennard to bother with besides the ghosts while I’m not here…”

Charlie would chuckle quietly at this, barely audible and only noticeable from her shoulders bouncing slightly. She reached over, gently holding Michael’s cheek as she sympathetically touched her forehead to his.

“You're doing that thing where you worry too much,” Charlie warned, urging him to relax and follow his own speech. Ennard was leaving him alone! There was something in that to be grateful for. Charlie wrapped her arms around her friend and dragged him to lay down beside her, more or less trying to force him to not be on the defensive right now. She trusted the guardianship of Puppet and Moon to keep them all safe. Even if Michael never 100% trusted Ennard, they weren’t defenseless.

“Take it easy; listen to the music,” Charlie advised. Puppet's softly playing music box could nearly put Charlie herself to sleep. It surprised herself how she wasn't immune to its tempting lullaby even after all these years.

“I always worry too much,” Michael grumbled, a bit too much rawness in his voice for the confession to be taken as a joke. Still he did as Charlie instructed, curling up with his back to her.

“You can rest, Michael,” Moon offered, catching the man’s watchful gaze. He pressed a hand to his chest, standing up a bit straighter. “I’m designed to protect anyone who decides to sleep in my Daycare—you’re all safe, I promise.”

Michael muttered something unintelligible that sounded slightly mocking, but he allowed himself to sink a bit further into the pillow mountain. He wasn’t still wasn’t going to sleep here though.

…Of course, all it took was another few minutes of listening to the Puppet’s now-comforting song before Michael too was passed out, his face finally relaxed into a peaceful mask that matched Gregory’s. Moon cackled softly and gestured for Ennard to follow him a little out of the way so they could talk more without disturbing anyone. As was his design, Moon would never be far when he had a sleeping child under his care, so if Gregory or his family needed anything he’d be at their side in a few hops.

With the tough guy finally fallen asleep besides her, Charlie could in turn relax. She threw her hand into a thumbs-up for Puppet and Moon before it limply fell back on her chest. Having wormed her way into Michael’s side, she began to doze off with the light of the glowing sticker stars guiding them to sleep.

***

The room must’ve been set on an automatic timer. Once the switch was pulled there was only a limited time before the “Sun” was to come back up and wake the children within the Daycare. A rooster crowed, alerting the residents of the coming day, and Gregory was the first to wake under the bright light again. Groggily, he lifted himself up and rubbed at his eyes. He was well-rested, sure, but Gregory thought he could stand to sleep a few minutes more.

“Hi, sunbeam!” the Daycare attendant greeted excitedly, sounding much too cheery for those who’d been asleep moments prior. Sun was crouched at Gregory’s side, all smiles as usual as he checked in on the boy. “How’d you sleep? Did you have good dreams? Were you comfy enough?”

“Mph... Morinin', Sun..." Gregory yawned before unabashedly reaching over to give Sun a quick hug in greeting, feeling like he got a pretty relaxed few hours of sleep.

“Why are you so loud…?” Michael groaned, awoken by the bright voice of the Daycare attendant. He tried to shift but felt something at his side. Glancing down he saw it was Charlie, to which he smirked and tapped the crown of her head repeatedly. “Chaaarlie… wakey wakey; if I have to get up, so do you.”

“I'll bite you.” Charlie tossed the empty threat to Michael, letting out a yawn herself and stretching obnoxiously in his space before even thinking about sitting up. It got her thinking as she finally sat up and looked around how much this place could really warp one’s perception of time. “How long were we out..?”

After a cursory glance to his Fazwatch, Gregory tried to remember the last time he looked at it before finally dozing off. “I think, like... Less than three hours?”

“Yup! Two hours and forty-seven minutes, to be exact!” Sun clarified, still glowing with happiness from Gregory’s hug.

“Oh geez, that long?” Michael said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, then attempting to comb fingers through his hair to get rid of the frizz as best he could. “We must’ve all been exhaust—shit!”

The curse escaped in a yelp as his gaze fell upon Ennard standing much too close for comfort. In Michael’s pleasant dreams the amalgamation was nowhere to be found, so to see them right there was startling.

“Michael!” Sun gasped, pressing his hands over Gregory’s ears. Mike winced, feeling the robot’s glare through his mask. “We do not use that sort of language in the Daycare, especially around impressionable children!”

“Sorry!” Michael quickly apologized, holding up his palms in deferment. “I was just surprised—can you move back a little?"

This last part was snapped at Ennard, Michael’s embarrassment at being scolded coupled with his sleep-addled brain making him lash out at the robot out of habit.

Ennard’s eyes widened ever so slightly at Michael’s outburst. He found the man to be silly for being so startled when they’d been here this entire time!

“WE WERE W-W-WAITING FOR YOU TO WAKE UP—” they admitted, hands held innocently behind their back. “—WANTED TO PLAY MORE GAMES…”

To save Michael the headache of answering Ennard without cursing him out, Charlie stepped in politely.

“Sorry big guy,” she said, seeing the disappointment in Ennard’s drooping shoulders and head. “We gotta get Gregory back to his dad… And probably go job hunting?”

Charlie thought more about that. Someone had to keep Gregory fed and clothed, and expecting Sammy to pay for a child that wasn’t his would be selfish of her. He had enough to worry about without them thrusting that responsibility on him, too.

“MICHAEL AND FRIENDS… BACK TOMORROW..?” Ennard asked, getting their own hopes up once more.

“Sure!” Gregory answered this time. Now that the Pizzaplex was safe again, he could settle back into returning most days. “We’ll play tomorrow, Ennard.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Michael confirmed, rolling his eyes at Ennard’s eagerness. Really, he was looking forward to returning to see his family again and check in on the progress Sammy made in fixing up the other animatronics. Speaking of which…

Charlie’s mention of a job had given Michael pause. The only jobs he’d worked were related to Fazbear Entertainment. He’d never experienced what it was like to do anything else, and honestly Michael just couldn’t picture it. Maybe he could talk to Sammy about letting them work a little bit in the Pizzaplex—that way they could make some money and keep watch over their families at the same time. But did Michael really want to work in this place?

…That was a discussion for later. As he stood and helped Charlie to her feet, the walkie on his hip crackled to life.

“Michael?” Freddy’s voice came through. “Are you there?”

“Hey, Freddy!” the android answered with a grin, holding the walkie up to his mouth. “We were just about to check in on you—everything good?”

“Yes, everything is wonderful!” The smile was clear in Freddy’s voice. “Samuel and I will meet you at the front entrance in about ten minutes, alright?”

“Sounds good; see you then.” The static clicked off and Michael slipped the device back into its holster. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Sun bouncing much more energetically than ever before.

“Freddy’s back in commission?!” the attendant squealed. He would’ve recognized that voice even if Michael hadn’t said the bear’s name. “Ooh, he should come here and visit! I miss him!”

“Yeah! He's all better but... Well—” Charlie answered with a smile, wondering how exactly to explain Freddy's new situation to such an old friend of his. So she went for the most easy to digest answer. “—you just might not recognize him right away. He looks a little different now.”

She was sure that Sun wouldn't hold any qualms about Freddy’s appearance. The Daycare attendant wasn’t the type to judge people in such a way. Gregory reached up and unhooked the walkie talkie from Michael's hip, happy to accommodate for Sun's request.

“Hey, Dad? We're in the Daycare and Sun wants to see you!” he called over the radio waves, hoping both Sammy and Freddy would be fine with the pit stop.

There was a moment of dead air before Freddy’s voice came through again. “Hello, superstar! That is fine—we will be there shortly.”

“Dad?” Sun questioned with a curious tilt of his head. “So it isn’t Freddy Fazbear…?”

“No, he definitely is,” Michael replied, only adding to the poor bot's confusion. Reaching up as high as he could, he gently patted Sun on the small of his back. “Look, there’s a lot of stuff that’s been going on around here that, honestly, I think you’d be happier not knowing about… But I’m sure Freddy will tell you all the details soon, okay?”

“Oh… okay,” Sun relented with a nod, not one to argue on topics like these. Instead he clapped his hands, looking to the group. “Well then! How about we play a game while we wait? Maybeeee… red light, green light? I can be it!”

“Works for me,” Michael said, alright with the game so long as he wasn’t being the one snuck up on. He looked down at Gregory with a raised an eyebrow. “What do you think? One more game before your dad gets here?”

“Heck yeah!” Gregory censored himself, fists balled excitedly in front of his chest. “Where's the starting line?”

“Start at the security desk, finish on the other side of the jungle gym,” Sun instructed, bounding over to the finish line to demonstrate. He waved to the group and then turned his back, calling over his shoulder: “Let me know when you’re ready!”

After a bit of shuffling, everyone was poised in front of the desk. Michael indicated they were good to go, and the game began.

***

They played almost three full rounds before the sound of the metal garage door opening caught Sun’s attention.

“Red light!” he called, whirling around without much time to give everyone a chance to stop. Sure enough he caught Gregory swaying on his feet, arm outstretched mere inches from tagging him. Laughing brightly, Sun scooped the boy up into a gentle hug. “So close, Gregory! But I think we have to cut this round short—we have more visitors!”

“Hello, everyone!” Freddy called with a wave, grinning as he and Sammy made their way to the play area. He looked just the same as when they’d last seen him, without even a hair out of place. Whatever Henry did in order to check out the whole “eating human food” thing was completely undetectable.

Sun could feel Gregory start to wriggle at the sound of Freddy’s voice, so he was quick to set the boy down. He watched the men approach, rather confused but going with the flow as usual—surely someone would explain in time.

“Dad!” Gregory shouted, excited to see his favorite member of the Glamrocks again. Though he no longer wore the bear costume, his voice was unmistakable. Waving Sun goodbye, he ran for Freddy and jumped him in a hug. “Oh! Dad, Sun's been waiting for you to show up! He said he missed you.”

“FREDDY HAS BEEN GIVEN A NEW MODEL...” Ennard whispered, having sluggishly moved across the room to inform his friend of the recent life changes Freddy was going through. “HE HAS ADOPTED GREGORY AND THEY LIVE INSIDE A HOTEL.”

Charlie smacked a palm to her face, wishing she could’ve given Sun a more nuanced version of the events that took place before Ennard chimed in with their blunt explanation.

“Oh, um… hmm…” Sun muttered weakly, for once at a loss for words. It wasn’t the body change itself that was hard to process, but the suddenness of it all. Also, from the cursory health and safety scans the Daycare attendant performed, Gregory was definitely human… so how in the world did he wind up being Freddy Fazbear’s adopted child?

“Hello, Sun; I am sorry for the abrupt change,” Freddy apologized as everyone made their way over to him. Gregory rested on his hip, held securely in one arm as he hugged onto Freddy’s shoulders. He chuckled softly, inclining his head towards the multi-eyed conglomeration. “Ennard explained the situation quite succinctly. I will spare you the details tonight, if that is alright.”

“No problem, Fred; as long as everyone’s okay and happy, so am I!” Sun assured, leaning down to get a better look at his old friend’s new body. Used to Sun’s hands-on nature, Freddy didn’t bat an eye as the lanky animatronic twisted a lock of bright hair in his hand, then pressed gentle fingertips against his cheek to feel it’s warmth. Sun’s eyes would be shining in childlike astonishment if they could.

And then as his curiosity fully peaked, the line of rambling questions began, directed towards both Freddy and the CEO at his side. “Wow… this is amazing! Are you sure you’re still a robot?! Did you make this, Sammy? Ooh, do we all get human bodies? Hmm, I’m not sure if I’d want to totally give up this one, though… Oh, would Moon get his own, or would we still share?!”

Everyone getting their own robot? Sam grimaced. Oh man—his poor ghostly father would have his work cut out for him. At the barrage of inquisitions Samuel floundered some, flustered but smiling nevertheless at his first original creation.

“Sunny!” He laughed, coming forward and grasping the giant’s hands to pull his attention to him again. “Ah... Yes! That's a project I'd be happy to work on. However, there's only two of us who know how to work with them. I need to hire more techs and then we'll make something for all of you in the meantime!”

Christ—Samuel now had another obligation to fill. This is what he got for being such a people pleaser with a tight enough schedule as it is. He needed to hire people, and fast.

Gregory had been happy that Freddy's new look was being accepted so quickly by the others, especially when Freddy had once been a little concerned about it. Soon the Puppet was crawling up to sit on Freddy's shoulder, missing her disguised ursine friend.

Mention of Sammy needing workers gave Charlie an idea, though she wasn't sure how much Michael would like it. She nudged him from where they stood beneath the jungle gym and asked quietly: “Do you think we should ask Sammy for stuff to do? He seems a little strapped for employees...”

“You read my mind,” Michael whispered back, flashing Charlie a grin. For the first time, he wouldn’t be working in a restaurant designed by his corrupted father—this one was made with loving, attentive care from the mind of Sammy Emily, a man who took after his own father in the best of ways. Taking Charlie’s arm, Michael led her over to where the others were talking. “We should bring it up before we leave tonight.”

“Have you all been having fun?” Freddy asked, leaning his head to rest against the Puppet’s side.

“So much fun!” Sun replied, jumping from foot to foot . “We chatted a little bit, played some games, and some of us even took a nap! Oh, and Moon got to say hi!”

“It sounds like you all were quite busy,” Freddy commented with a smile, giving Gregory a little squeeze. The boy seemed very awake now, and Freddy assumed he’d been a part of the napping group that Moon quietly watched over.

“Michael said we should come back tomorrow—can we?” Gregory tugged on Freddy's sweater eagerly. He may have been officially over his fear of the Pizzaplex now... Though maybe it wasn't best to leave him alone in this place just yet. “I wanna bring the other kids up to the Daycare! They'd love this place!”

Evan and Liz had told Gregory a bunch of stories about the old diner and how it used to look. Their vivid storytelling is what made Gregory want to check it out earlier. He impressed them in turn with his description of the Pizzaplex as “Fredbear's playground on crack,” and the pair simply had to see it. Hopefully Sam would be fine with them all hanging out in the shutdown Daycare, at least until the week was up. Coming over to Sam's side, Charlie hooked an arm around her twin's shoulder.

“We couldn't help but overhear you need experienced staff members,” she mentioned, much to his surprise.

“You're serious? You two actually want to work here after all... The...” Samuel didn't want to mention the unpleasantness of the past, though the implication was clear.

As Charlie offered her brother extra help around the building, Freddy tuned into their conversation with hesitant eagerness. If Sammy allowed them to help out, perhaps Freddy could make himself useful as well. After all, he arguably had more knowledge of the Pizzaplex than most of the human staff…

“Sam, this place is a marvel,” Michael added, slinging his arm around Sammy’s other shoulder to rest on Charlie’s. “And even if it was just a tiny little diner, it'd be far superior to anything my father built.” He flashed a trademark grin, pointing a proud thumb to his chest. “Besides, don’t you want the best mechanic and night guard Fazbear Entertainment’s ever seen in your arsenal? I can help you get all those animatronics back in shape in no time.”

That was true; Sam did need a new night guard. And like usual in this businesses history, both the security and mechanics departments were severely understaffed. So much so that Sammy really only trusted himself to be working on all the severely busted Glamrocks.

“Michael—if I could get you to come in and do both, I'll start you off with a decent paycheck,” he said, looking to Charlie then and knowing he could count on his sister to help out in the Pizzaplex where they may be short-staffed. “Seriously, I'll need all the help I can get come morning—” Sammy even looked to Freddy. “— and if I could hire you back, I would, too.”

“You’ve got it, Sam,” Michael told him, giving his old friend a brief side hug before finally letting go.

Though he wouldn’t voice this out loud, Mike realized he would’ve come back to this place no matter what. Fazbear Entertainment was ingrained into his very soul whether he liked it or not, and despite all the horrible things his previous technician and guard jobs led to, a small part of him enjoyed the work itself. As he told Sam, the Pizzaplex was a far cry from anyplace he’d worked in before—in the best kind of way.

“Wait! You can't all get jobs. What am I supposed to do when you're gone all day…?” Gregory asked with widening eyes, concerned at being left alone again. Unless they planned on sending him back to school...

Anything but school...

“Do not worry, Gregory,” Freddy reassured with a soft smile. “We still have many more things to sort out in our immediate future before we can consider leaving you on your own; I will stay with you while Michael and Charlie help around the Pizzaplex.”

No one put up a fight to this—if there was anyone who should be watching over Gregory 24/7, it was undoubtedly Freddy.

“Don’t think you’ll be rid of us that easily,” Mike added, reaching over to ruffle Gregory’s hair. “Charlie and I will hang with you when we’re not working!”

At that moment, almost as if summoned by the notion of the new night guard, Sammy’s walkie talkie came to life with Vanessa’s unmistakable voice.

“Um, hey… Mr. Emily?” she began, and everyone leaned towards the CEO to listen. “I’m sorry about yesterday—I know you didn’t technically fire me yet, but I’m sure you’re about to so I’m heading to your office to get it over with and turn in my stuff.”

Vanessa sounded completely resigned to her fate, not even entertaining the thought of a simple demotion after the shitstorm she’d caused. There was barely a pause in the static before she added: “I also just wanted to tell you that there’s some lady at the front door; I told her the Pizzaplex was closed but she insists on talking to you. It’s… something about a missing kid.” There was an obvious wince on the last word. “I managed to keep her from actually getting in, but you might want to see her soon.”

Oh Vanessa, Sam thought, scrabbling to answer. Helpful, even when self-depreciating.

“You really think I can afford to fire you, Ness?” Samuel asked playfully. No she wouldn't be rid of this place; not yet. “Why don't you stay at the office for a little? I have a new assignment for you, and we've got a few things to discuss.”

Still, the talk about addressing one of the missing persons made a nervous chill run down his spine. “I-I'll handle the parent. Just relax...”

Samuel dreaded what this conversation would entail. He was getting dangerously close to remembering all those times the police had showed up to question his own father and William—

No, those kids weren't dead because of him, Samuel had to keep telling himself.

“Charlie? Michael? Mind coming with me? Freddy and Gregory, you two should just hang tight until we get back.” Samuel would entrust the walkie with Gregory, handing it off to the kid as he headed for the garage door and out into the atrium.

Freddy nodded at Sammy’s instructions, waiting until the trio reached the doors before turning back to the companions that were left.

“Well now,” he started with a warm smile, running a soothing hand through Gregory’s hair to quell any worry that might be building up in his young mind. “How about we play another fun game while we wait?”

***

Michael and Charlie were right on Sammy’s heel like some sort of android guard dogs. Like Sam, Mike had been through his fair share of distraught parents begging for something—anything—that would help figure out where their child was. They mostly ignored him when he was younger, but as Michael aged into his father’s face he’d been confronted a few times by angry, screaming guardians. One notable moment involved a mother actually pounding on his chest and yelling for him to:

“Take some fucking responsibility for your fucking restaurant, you heartless bastard—if she died here, you’re responsible! You might as well have killed her yourself, MURDERER!”

She’d only been venting at the time, but little did anyone know how close to the truth she really was. However, this was not one of those situations.

Michael reminded himself of this as they reached the front doors, noticing a figure under the harsh lighting of the Pizzaplex entryway. He grasped Charlie’s hand for mutual comfort, following Sammy outside to greet this mysterious visitor.

Steadfast and with a neutral expression, Samuel held the doors open for the two. While them holding hands in front of the woman didn’t seem the most professional, Sammy wasn’t about to scold them for it. It was likely the lady wouldn’t even mention it. Charlie wove her fingers together with Mike’s as her stomach twisted with anxious bubbles.

Inside the inner lobby sat a woman. She looked like the standard clientele of the Pizzaplex: a middle-class mother type, though her expression was grim.

“Hello, ma’am. I’m Samuel Emily; I was told you needed to speak with me?” the CEO greeted with a tone of understanding, his best customer service voice on display. After all, he was trying to preemptively minimize how badly this woman was prepared to scream at him.

Charlie could feel the animosity for this place plastered in the woman’s gaunt expression, years of anger already apparent in the harsh lines between her brows. She seemed to be worrying a missing person’s poster in her palm.

The woman stood at the group’s approach, dark brown eyes locked onto Sammy. Her ink-black hair tied in a stylishly-frazzled bun and barely there makeup made her look like the perfect example of a distraught mother trying to keep it together.

“Mr. Emily,” she said curtly, offering a hand to shake. What used to be French-tipped nails were now chewed off from anxiety, and she was quick to hold up the paper for the group to examine as she explained her situation. “My name’s Rita Smith. I’m looking for my son, and I have reason to believe this is one of the last places he might’ve been… His name is Gregory.”

Her fingers tightened around the frayed edges of the poster. “Have any of you seen him?”

***

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