Work Text:
Although confused, she knows two things about her surroundings. It's nighttime, and it's raining. Great job, Charlie, very aware. She knows something else, as she comes more to her senses. She is trapped in the body of a small child, feeling like the night could swallow her whole. She shivers. Finally, Charlie remembers where and when she is.
"Come on, open the door! It's cold!" Charlie shouts as she turns to the door, hitting it hard with her fist. And there is the green band. She has been here numerous times before. The door in front of her is illuminated as she hears a car drive up closer. Charlie turns to look at who is about to get out of it.
It's him yet again, but he isn't like what he was that fateful night. He is in the Golden Bonnie suit. He takes a step closer to her, and then another. Closer and closer. The more steps he takes, the larger he becomes. Charlie feels like she becomes smaller until she seems to fade into the darkness.
She wakes up in bed, holding her arms close to her chest, shaking. It's so cold. Oh God, why is it so cold here? She blinks slowly, coming back into reality. It was a nightmare, nothing more than that. Just another nightmare. The same one as yesterday, and the night before that. Her blanket was tangled at her feet, no wonder she was shivering. She pushed the blanket away and got off the bed, standing up shakily as another breeze went through her. The window, Charlie. Close the window. No wonder she is so cold. She looks outside before closing the window. It can't be too late yet, as she notices the groups of people going in and out of the bar across the street. She feels a strange sense of admiration for those people. Sure, she still went out to get coffee with Jessica, and stays up all night with Carlton, watching terrible romcoms. The group still hangs out quite a bit, but Charlie doubts she could ever really stay up all night barhopping. Although she is still in her mid-twenties, she feels old. So very old. She pulls the bottom rail down, shutting out the cold wind.
Going back to bed feels like a burden. Charlie starts walking to the kitchen. A snack can't hurt, right?
The apartment she shares with Michael isn't grand by any account. There is a living room connected to a small hallway with three doors. One to the bedroom, one to the bathroom, and the other to the kitchen. Michael stays in the living room, and she got the bedroom. As many times as she offered to switch every now and then, Michael was very set on staying on the sofa.
She and Michael are... It's hard to say. Friends? Partners? Again, it's hard to say. They kissed once.
It was the evening before Michael set Fazbear Fright ablaze.
"I don't want to die without telling you-"
"Then don't die."
They never bring it up. There just hasn't been the right time.
The door to the kitchen is ajar, and she can see the small light coming from the coffee maker sensor. Michael must be awake.
"I thought you start at the rental tomorrow," Charlie said, leaning against the door, "or, today, I guess." She nodded to the digital clock on the counter. 2 AM.
"I'm planning to get a head start on a horrible sleeping schedule, but I think I'm already ahead of the game," Michael said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Don't you have a lecture in the morning?"
"It's at ten."
They both go quiet. Silence doesn't bother them. Charlie starts coming closer to the coffee pot, which Michael takes off the counter and holds farther away from her. "You don't have the night shift. You should sleep, Charlie."
"I can't. I keep seeing him over and over again, ever since Fazbear Fright." She reaches for the coffee pot again, he only holds it farther away. "Jerk." She rolls her eyes and walks back to the fridge.
Michael laughs, "at least I'm the favorite jerk, or did John beat me again?"
"John keeps stealing all my pens during lectures, so..." she glances back at him, "you're in the lead."
Another cold breeze causes her to shiver as she opens the fridge. Soft yellow light fills the space. Charlie turns away, her eyes still getting used to the brightness since the rest of the kitchen was still dark. The light's edge is sharper than she expected. It looks like a line dividing her and Michael. He remains in the shadows.
"Do you want anything?" She looks up and down at what was left. It isn't much. After all, you have a grad student who works at a bookshop on the side and a night guard. None of that really leads to a lot of money or meal prepping skills. There's leftover pizza, some vegetables that Jessica dropped off, meds, some cans of cola, and cheese. She turns to Michael awaiting his answer.
He seems transfixed on the line that lies between the shadows and light. Thinking. He is frozen in place, but Charlie can tell that his mind was racing. Usually, this would not go well. Thoughts can get dangerous.
"Mike?" She asks softly, trying to bring him back to reality.
He blinks slowly. Once, twice, looks back up at her. "Right, sorry, what?"
"Do you want anything?" Charlie nods back to the fridge.
"Right," he looked back to the line that separated him from the light. It seems to mean a little more than a simple step. He sets down the mug behind him and steps forward into the light. Now illuminated, Charlie can see that the burn scars have been healing well. Having to be dragged out of a flaming office while unconscious, would undoubtedly leave scars. She doubts that the one on his cheek would heal at all. "Do we still have the cookies from Marla's recipe?"
"Oh, the ones we added too much baking soda to? No, we don't."
"They were still edible." He pouted.
"No, they weren't."
She's right. They were not. No sane human being, or animatronic for that matter, should have tried to eat them.
"We're eating the pizza." She takes out the paper plate with two slices of pepperoni pizza and sets it in the microwave. The fridge is still open, letting the golden light in. Charlie looks back at Michael, both of them are out of the shadows. He looks so tired. Just like Charlie, he appears to be older than he is. They are tired. So very tired. It often feels as if the universe doesn't want them to succeed in their plan of ending this dark remnant cycle. As soon as it feels like they are free, the past seems to always come back to haunt them. Freddy's Pizzeria got shut down only for Fazbear Fright to reopen. William died in the springlock suit five years ago, only to come back to Fazbear Fright two years later. Fazbear Fright burned down only for Circus Baby's Rental to become as prominent as ever. The ghosts never seem to go away. They don't seem to want to go away.
"Michael?"
"Yes?"
"Promise me that no matter what she says, you will come back. You won't let her convince you that any of it was your fault."
He looks down, shadows starting to hide his face, but he looks back up at her. "I promise."