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Rain hammered against the windshield as Henry pulled into the car park of the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, several questions on his mind. He had been sent there after people had called him to report that someone had been coming in and out of the building for the past 4 days, and Henry had an immediate feeling that he knew who it was. But why? What was William doing back here after all these years? At first, he hadn't wanted to go. He didn't want to see the abandoned, decaying restaurant again, nor did he want to see William's face ever again. It reminded him of his own mistakes and the pain of realising someone he cared for had been a monster all too late. The anger Henry felt was directed towards himself as much as it was towards William, and part of him felt responsible for the murders. He often thought about killing the man himself, deciding that he'd deserve it. He owed it to them, to Charlie for not stopping it.
He didn't like reminiscing on the past anymore. He had met William at college as the two had shared the same dorm, but hadn't become friends for years. William was not much of a talker, seemingly bad at interactions with people and spent most of his school years alone, just as Henry had. William took business, and Henry took robotics and programming. It wasn't until their last two years that they had become friends, when Henry had begun to build a prototype endoskeleton for his robotics class and William had shown interest. From there they had grown close, and Henry had discovered the real man hiding underneath the quiet reserved dorm mate that never spoke. A few years after they graduated they managed to open Fredbear's together.
One memory that still held strong was the time where William had accidentally triggered off the springlocks during a party. That day was the most human he had ever seen him. He remembered holding William on his lap as he bled out from his injuries, looking down at his crying face as he begged Henry to stay with him. "Henry..don't leave me. I don't wanna die alone"
"I wont let that happen. I promise" Henry had responded.
Their friendship had lasted years, but when CC, the youngest, had died because of Fredbear, William was never the same. And when Elizabeth died he became the monster that Henry couldn't even recognise anymore. He grew cold and distant, all the happiness gone, but Henry had tried. He had tried to help him, to comfort the man through his grief, but it wasn't enough to save him. Or Charlie. Or the other kids who died for no good reason. William had grown obsessed with death and the idea that a machine could give life to a soul, but no one had known until it was no longer the obsessions of a mad, grieving man, but the practices of a homicidal monster.
Looking back on it, there were plenty of red flags in William's behaviour leading up to Charlie's and eventually the other kids deaths. How had he not realised sooner what was going on or connected the dots fast enough? Even when the police arrested William, he still hadn't believed it. Or at least hadn't want to.
Turning the car off, he gripped the wheel with a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He hated William for all that he had done to him and those children, more than he hated himself for not realising what was going on sooner. He had been blinded by his feelings for the man, and the unwavering trust he had for someone he cared so much for. Henry leant over to the glove box and pulled a flashlight and gun out, (for protection), checked the bullets, and climbed out his car. The animatronics on the giant sign seemed to watch him as he approached the building, and Henry felt his heart racing as he touched the door to see if it was unlocked. It was.
"Will?" Henry called as he took a cautious step inside the unlit restaurant, letting the door click shut behind him. The dining area was still set for opening, tables out layed with plates and party hats. It looked exactly how it would when they were open. As he looked around, he noticed that both stages were empty, which shouldn't have been the case. Those robots were promptly abandoned with the rest of the building...unless that's what William was here for.
"Will?" Henry called again, the gun clutched in his grasp, as he scanned the room with only the help from his flashlight. He was half expecting William to jump out and attack him, but there was no reply. No movement. Nothing.
He started to make his way further into the room, when he noticed a dim glow nearby coming from down the hallway next to the stage. His heart sank when he recognised where that hallway lead and what was hiding in the room back there. Of course he'd come back for it. He was obsessed with that thing ever since he first layed eyes on it. It was probably the only thing that made him happy anymore. Henry moved towards the corridor cautiously as he watched out for anything lurking in the shadows, but it didn't take him long to find the dismantled animatronics strewn across the floor. He frowned as he looked at the four, wondering what destroying them years after the building had been abandoned was about, before heading towards the safe room.
Hesitating to go in, Henry paused outside and listened for any sounds inside. But when he looked down, he saw blood pooling from under the door and suppressed a yelp, the worst thought immediately filling his mind. He was killing again, using the restaurant as a cover! Henry collected himself, raising the gun, before throwing the door open ready to confront his old friend. But all he saw was a golden bunny laying face down in a pool of blood twitching. There was a strange noise, but he couldn't tell what it was.
"Will...Will?" He called as he stepped closer to the costume, and glanced around to make sure no one else was hiding in the room before leading down and turning him over.
Henry jumped back as he saw the unmistakable facial features of William Afton underneath the blood stained mask, merged with the robotic parts of the costume. A sound between a growl and a whimper emitted from the mouth as the man's gaze shot around the room wildly. Then, those cold grey eyes finally met his, and the whole world seemed to pause. Henry felt glued to the spot as he watched William's eyes widen in recognition, followed by a loud wheezing noise. William was trying to say something, but he couldn't. His vocal chords were severed and his lungs were punctured by the rabbit's metal skeleton, filling up with blood. He felt his heart tighten as he saw the eyes soften as he stared into Henry's own, and the rabbit wheezed again with a gurgled hiss. Falling to his knees, Henry knelt beside the dying man unsure what to do or how to feel. A paw weakly lifted and reached up towards him, but it barely grazed his face before it fell back down with a thunk, and the costume let out another gargled wheeze as his eyes struggled to stay open.
"He...he..." The suit breathed weakly, and Henry saw tears beginning to run down the bunny's face. William squeezed his eyes shut briefly before opening them again, never taking his gaze from Henry. They seemed to emit a glow somewhere between silver and purple. Something inside his chest twisted. No matter how hard he tried to hate him, all he could see was the man he had known all those years ago. The one he had cradled in his lap over a decade before as he bled out from the springlocks, because he was scared to die alone.
"I'm here...I'm here, its ok" Henry mumbled as reached out to him and stroked his head. He thought about Charlie and the other kids, and how they wouldn't have had someone to comfort them in their last moments, and how William certainly didn't deserve it. But some part of him...some part of him still cared for the man.
"mm....ss...ee" It groaned and convulsed briefly as if it was coughing. Warm blood seeped into Henry's trousers and stained his hands.
"Will..." Henry started as he stared into his eyes. The ones he had stared into before plenty of times as they laughed together. The ones that had lit up when he first saw the animatronics and when he held his son for the first time. The ones that shone as he danced in his costume. The ones that once held happiness and love, that had grown as cold and bitter as his heart. He hoped that man was still there deep down, he didn't want to believe the William Afton he had known was gone forever.
And there was his dilemma. He hated William for the pain and destruction he had caused, but part of him still wanted to believe that he was the same person somewhere underneath. He wished things were different, but that's never how the world worked. At least, not for them anyway. The man shut his eyes for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. He wasn't going to be like Will. He wasn't going to let his hatred consume him. Just as his father used to say, Henry had to be the bigger man.
"I...I forgive you"
William's eyes flashed briefly with some intelligible emotion, before beginning to flutter. It was clear he was fighting to keep them open. He was fighting to stay alive despite it being inevitable. With all the blood he had lost, all the injuries he had endured, it was impossible for him to live even if Henry decided to save him. What was keeping him here? What was he fighting for?
"Rest now, old friend" Henry commanded softly, listening to the gurgled breathing begin to slow and shallow. William continued to fight against it, but it was clear with each breath he was passing on. With a final breathy wheeze, William finally grew limp, his eyes closing for what Henry thought would be the last time.