Chapter Text

Ruby sat staring at the phone open-mouthed. Slowly her brain started working again and she picked up the tablet carefully.
"So…Let me get this straight…I'm going to sit here, in this room with a limited power supply waiting for the animatronics to come and attempt to stuff me into an animatronic suit which will most likely kill me." she stated, blankly staring at the phone.
The fan whirred on in the background while this information settled in her brain.
"Forget. That." she growled, a scowl darkening her face.
She unplugged the tablet and stood up, quickly flicking through the cameras. Any doubt that this was a prank was quickly squashed as she noticed the suspicious absence of Bonnie on the stage.
"So, the rabbit's the first one to move." she slipped the tablet into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.
Luckily, Ruby wasn't one to show up to any job unprepared and since this was a security guard job she had brought along one of her favourite tools. She rested the steel baseball bat against her left shoulder. Yeah it was simple and blunt but with a good arm behind it, it could cause more than enough damage.
After this shift she might need to introduce pretty little Betty to her new manager's face for leaving out this minor detail.
However the more pressing matter at hand was the robot rabbit wandering around.
She checked the tablet. Was he…in the closet? Ruby stifled a laugh.
"Hey Bonnie, I know people mistake you for a girl a lot what with the name and all but are you trying to tell me something?" She snickered to herself.
For a moment she could have sworn that she heard a girlish giggle echo from behind her but when she looked she didn't see anything.
"Hmmm." she mused to herself before shaking her head.
It was, after all, time for some rabbit hunting. Ruby smirked a tad sadistically. They weren't going to know what hit them.
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Behind her a golden bear suit materialized and watched the girl practically stalk out of the room. This was…interesting. Goldy had watched a lot of guards listen to that recording and seen a lot of reactions as a result. Anger, terror, shock, even amusement if they thought it was a joke. However she had never seen anyone take it as a challenge.
She thought about what she'd seen of the teenager so far.
The girl strolled into the office dressed in a black t-shirt, black jeans, black boots and a black leather jacket.
Goth much?
Goldy smirked to herself. Looked like the fifteen-year-old was just another 'rebellious teen' type. She'd seen enough of them in this job already. They usually chickened out early though, generally right after the first night.
As the new night guard settled at her desk she pushed some of her long, black hair out of her face as she flicked through the cameras on the tablet. Her intense green eyes snapped up however at the sound of the phone ringing.
"Damn, they've got to be drunk or seriously mentally handicapped if they think a children's pizza place is open at twelve o' clock at night." She shook her head as she stood up to answer it.
As she did Goldy got a look at her name tag.
'Ruby huh? Let's see how you react to this Ruby.' Goldy thought to herself as the ringing cut out suddenly and a voice filled the room.
"Hello, hello?"
Surprised to find that it was a recoding Ruby hopped on top of the desk to listen.
"Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night."
"Aww how sweet of you." Ruby smirked at the phone. "You shouldn't have."
"Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about." The voice on the phone attempted an optimistic tone.
"Overwhelming? Babysitting four animatronics? What, do they steal each other's toys and get into fights?" the night guard chuckled. "I know I don't have to worry about burglars what with the urban legends, so maybe drunk teenagers?"
Goldy was surprised. So Ruby was well aware of the urban legends of the restaurant then. So, why was she here? Purely for rebellion?
"Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?"
"I can actually imagine the cheesy, overly-happy grin he gave when he said that." Ruby cocked her head to the side. "You didn't give a name. What about Steve. I like the name Steve."
This girl…talked to herself a lot evidently.
"Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know." 'Steve' said.
"UGH! Not the boring stuff. Can't we skip it Steve? Please?" she flopped on her back on the table dramatically, knocking a few items to the floor.
'Steve' continued, heedless of her pleas. Goldy had to try really hard not to laugh at the show.
"Um, 'Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.'"
Ruby froze and slowly moved back into an upright position. "What?" her voice was ice cold.
"Blah blah blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there's really nothing to worry about." 'Steve' continued on hurriedly as though he could feel the death glare being directed at the phone.
"No no. Don't blah blah me. What kind of place has a policy like that?" She stared at the carpets suspiciously and lifted her feet up slightly.
Once again Goldy found herself fighting giggles.
"Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too."
"Quirky? What do you mea- wait they never get a bath?" Ruby pulled a face. "Yeah, I'd be cranky too I guess, but I kinda like the songs."
"So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay." 'Steve's' beaming smile could be felt even through the phone, and tape and stuff.
"Yeah they're pretty cool. My favourite was always Foxy." Ruby grinned happily.
Goldy stared at her incredulously. She was taking this rather well even if her feet were still off the carpet.
'Wonder how long her favourite will be Foxy though.' She wondered.
"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night."
Ruby stared at the phone again. "Okaaaaay."
"Uh...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long."
Ruby was still staring. "Fair enough."
"Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too."
Ruby stared at the phone in silence.
"But then there was The Bite of '87."
"Wait what?" Ruby snapped as her eyes narrowed in a glare again.
"Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"
"Say WHAT?" Ruby nearly screeched.
'Wow, that was the same level as one of the animatronics' screams.' Goldy thought her ears ringing somewhat.
"Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person."
Ruby suddenly glared scathingly at the phone and Goldy was surprised it didn't melt slightly.
"Are you trying to insinuate something Mr. Phone Person?" she growled.
"They'll p-most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on."
"Oh, then you're forgiven Steve." Ruby waved her hand for him to continue.
"Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit." 'Steve' sounded uncomfortable.
Ruby's eye twitched.
"Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death."
"Not cool dude." Ruby glared, crossing her arms. "Why wasn't this in the contract?"
"Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh."
Ruby let out some kind of growl which startled Goldy.
"Y-Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up."
"No. Kidding." Ruby bit out. "Might need to speak to the manager about that."
"But hey, first day should be a breeze."
"Why don't I believe you Steve?" Ruby moaned.
"I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night." The phone went dead.
Ruby stared at it as if she was trying to process what had happened.
'Here comes the reaction.' Goldy thought giddily.
"So…Let me get this straight…I'm going to sit here, in this room with a limited power supply waiting for the animatronics to come and attempt to stuff me into an animatronic suit which will most likely kill me." Ruby continued to stare at the phone.
There was silence before, "Forget. That."
Goldy jerked in shock. That was new. She watched as the girl got up and started checking the tablet. Her expression was…unsettling.
"So, the rabbit's the first one to move." She muttered.
Well, Goldy wasn't surprised to hear that. Bonnie was impatient. She continued to watch as the girl pulled out a baseball bat with the word 'Betty' written down its side and lifted it to her shoulder before checking the tablet again.
This was REALLY new.
Suddenly the girl stilled and then started snickering to herself. "Hey Bonnie, I know people mistake you for a girl a lot what with the name and all but are you trying to tell me something?"
Goldy couldn't help it. The comment was so unexpected and funny that a giggle escaped before she could stifle it.
Ruby turned around and looked behind her for a moment. "Hmmm." She hummed before shaking her head and turning to the door.
The sadistic grin she sported gave Goldy chills.
"I wonder if I should warn him." She wondered to herself.
Goldy continued to stare at the door Ruby had left though. This had never happened before so she was at a loss as to what to do.
"Maybe I should ask Freddy?" she mumbled to herself.
She could hear clanging coming from the kitchen. Well Chica was out and about too. However it was only night one which mean that Freddy wouldn't participate in the hunt unless the guard ran out of power. Also Foxy would be sulking in Pirate's Cove all night. He only helped out from night two and onwards.
The new guard's actions were concerning especially since that would make all her decisions hard to predict.
Freddy wouldn't like that.
Goldy sighed and flashed back to her poster. Maybe she was worrying for nothing. Bonnie would probably catch the reckless teen in no time and they'd start all over again with a new guard in a week or so.
Sometimes, she really hated this job.
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A giant, purple bunny animatronic crept surprisingly quietly down the left hallway. Wow this guard must be one of the lazy ones. Made them easy targets but also made the game boring. Distantly he heard banging in the kitchen. Chica was taking her time as usual.
He huffed in annoyance. Sure none of them liked what they did but it wasn't like they had a choice. Bonnie came up on the door and readied himself.
Silly, lazy guard.
He leapt into the doorway, a screech already halfway out his mouth before he froze in surprise.
The office was empty.
Confused he tilted his head to check under the desk. Yup, still empty and still confused.
Before he could do anything else though something solid and metal connected painfully with the back of his robotic skull.
(Sure they were animatronics but they were sentient and could feel pain. Bonnie wished that they couldn't now though.)
He stumbled into the room, the world spinning before his eyes as he lifted a hand to the now rather tender spot. Even more confused than before (can robots get concussions?) he turned around to see what had hit him.
A grinning teenager stared back at him. She was holding a metal baseball bat that was likely the cause of his ringing ears. He almost leapt at her immediately but he was still a bit unsteady and well…the way she was grinning gave him the chills.
"Not so fast Bunny Boy. You're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want me in a suit." She grinned wider as she hit the door button and darted away.
Bonnie stared at the door in shock. Getting stuck on this side of the door was new. Gathering his bearings (and hurt pride) he immediately opened the door and ran after her.
Ow. Every step hurt his growing headache. This night guard was annoying.
She was also fast. Where'd she go now?
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Ruby walked down a nearby hallway snickering to herself softly. Serves the rabbit right, trying to scare her like that. Oh and trying stuff her into a suit too.
She swung Betty a bit as she walked, listening for any sounds of sentient robot movement. She'd already lost Bonnie, he wasn't exactly fast.
She pulled out the tablet and checked the cameras again. Freddy dearest, still on stage, but staring at the camera a little eerily. Foxy (still her favourite), in Pirate's Cove sadly. Chica, well at least she's out of the kitchen now. Bonnie…
"Closet. Again?" she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Oh Bonnie."
She did one more cycle before moving on.
"I've got to bring some more things tomorrow night to make the chase…more interesting for them." she grinned to herself.
'Bonnie would look GREAT in glitter wouldn't he?' Ruby mused.
Stifling her laugh she spotted Chica in the party room, staring at the camera.
"Oh Chikadee, I 'aint looking at the camaras right now. How about you turn around instead?" she called out and tried not to laugh when the chicken's head snapped to the side to look at her in shock.
'Huh, they've got rather expressive faces for robots.' Ruby thought absently as she lifted Betty to point at the animatronic.
"I already told the rabbit so now I'm telling you. You want to stuff me in some suit? You're going to have to try really hard to catch me first." With that she leapt over a table cackling madly and raced down a hallway.
Behind her Chica stared in shock.
"What…just happened?" the yellow animatronic wondered to herself.
Suddenly Bonnie came charging into the room looking livid.
Catching the look on the chicken's face he asked, "I take it she's already passed through here?"
Numbly the chicken nodded.
"Are…you alright Bonnie?" she asked as he growled.
"No. No I'm not because that crazy girl hit me over the head with a freaking baseball bat. I have a killer headache now." He complained.
Chica watched him kick a discarded party hat in frustration.
"Why is the night guard out of the office anyway?" she asked in confusion.
"How should I know? She was already out when I got there and then she beaned me with the bat." Bonnie whined.
"Well, we should probably go after her…" Chica suggested half-heartedly.
"She'll regret that stupid blow when I get my hands on her." Bonnie muttered, his quick temper getting the best of him again.
Chica trailed after him with a sigh. This part of the job just sucked.
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On the show stage, Freddy tilted his head in confusion. Bonnie was being rather…loud tonight. He was racing through the establishment with growing volume and frustration for some reason. On his third lap through the room Chica stopped following him and sat on the show stage with a huff. Even she seemed annoyed.
"Chica?" the bear asked a little worriedly.
"It's the night guard." She explained. "She's not in office. Hasn't been all night. Instead she's been leading us on a merry chase through the building."
"Ah, I see." Freddy looked up to where he could hear Bonnie yelling. "Is that why Bonnie's so annoyed?"
"Well, actually he's mad because she hit him with a baseball bat." Chica looked at her feet.
"She did what now?" Freddy's head snapped back to her.
"When he tried to jumpscare her. She hit him over the head with a bat and now he's got a headache." She sighed. "She's starting to give me one too now."
Freddy was still gaping at her in shock.
"I'm surprised you haven't caught her though." He frowned once he righted his scrambled brain.
Chica looked at him with depressed eyes. "She discovered the vent system."
"Ah well, that might be a problem." Freddy nodded slowly.
The vent system in this new incarnation of the pizzeria was just large enough for a person, and not for an animatronic, to fit into. The management learnt from a…previous establishment.
"Seems like we have an, um, interesting night guard." His frown deepened.
Chica just nodded miserably as Bonnie yelled something from another part of the building.
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'What the heck is that rabbit up to now?' Foxy thought venomously when he heard Bonnie yell out in frustration again near Pirate's Cove.
As he heard running footsteps approaching he lost his remaining patience and stuck his head out the curtains.
"Bonnie, what the HECK are you doing running around the place raising such a fuss?" he snapped, his eye focusing on the purple rabbit.
Bonnie froze.
So did the night guard he was chasing.
Foxy blinked his eyes in surprise (yes, he had two eyes, one was just covered as he had to often explain).
'What's the night guard doing out of the office?' Foxy wondered.
Not that it had much to do with him. He didn't do anything on night one.
The three stared at each other for a moment in silence before the night guard grinned at him.
"Hi Foxy!" she called before dashing off again leaving Bonnie to complain about how Foxy's interruption let her gain time on him.
Foxy stared after the two as they disappeared around a corner.
"What?" he asked in confusion to no one in particular.
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6 AM ended Ruby's shift with her still alive and well and Bonnie and Chica nursing pounding headaches. They stumbled back to the stage while Ruby skipped happily to the door.
"See you all tomorrow night!" she called. "Better luck next time!"
With that she was gone and the 'bots were left to collect themselves from Hurricane Night Guard and figure out what the heck had just happened.

Chapter Text

Bonnie's complaints were now unintelligible after half an hour of yelling while the others simply watched. Foxy had actually come out of his cove to hear about this strange night guard. Now they were waiting for Goldy to arrive and tell them what she had seen in the office.
She always watched the guards' reactions to the phone recordings and told them about it later. It looked like she was giving Bonnie time to cool off before making her appearance though.
Eventually Bonnie's yelling tapered off to grumbling and he slumped on the stage clutching his guitar. Foxy rolled his eyes at the rabbit's dramatics.
"You can come out now Goldy." Freddy called.
The golden bear materialized in front of them. "Um, so how'd the night go?" she asked a little nervously, eyeing Bonnie.
"Terrible." The rabbit moaned. "She hit me with a baseball bat!"
He rested his pounding head in his hands as Freddy looked at the floating suit.
"So what do you know?" he asked.
"Well, she's weird." Goldy stated bluntly. "Her names Ruby and she took the whole phone conversation rather well considering. And then she seemed to take it as a personal challenge and ran out the door. That's when I went back to my poster. Oh, and she mentioned that Foxy's her favourite so I think she's been here before."
The animatronics shifted uncomfortably. The new night guard was an old customer, a child they used to entertain. Not the best thought.
"Well," Bonnie smirked weakly, trying to lighten the mood, "if her favourite's the fox then we know she's crazy already."
"Oi!" said fox glared at Bonnie heatedly. "I'm not the one that got bashed over the head by a teenage girl."
Bonnie glared back and opened his mouth to respond when Freddy shot them both a glare. Grumbling the two settled down again.
"What did she do exactly? You two look frazzled." Goldy asked curiously, looking at Bonnie and Chica.
"She found the vent system." Chica sighed. "After that she kept using them to disappear whenever we thought we were getting close."
"She's fast too." Bonnie complained. "Plus she keeps laughing at us."
"She sounded like she's decided that she's coming back." Freddy frowned. "You shouldn't let her get under your skin so much."
"But she's ANNOYING!" Bonnie whined.
Everyone rolled their eyes at that.
"Drama queen." Foxy muttered, heading back to his cove as Bonnie started up on his complaints again.
Goldy also disappeared out of hearing range leaving Freddy and Chica to deal with him.
As the fox animatronic sat on the stage in his cove he couldn't help thinking about the new night guard.
"She seems like a little spitfire, that's for sure." He chuckled. "Could be interesting."
He stared into the darkness of his cove.
"I'm her favourite huh? Wonder how long that will last." He muttered darkly to himself before he powered down again.
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Later that day at the pizzeria, the lunch rush had just finished and things were relatively calm. The animatronics had been slightly distracted all day thinking about the new security guard and apparently so were the other employees.
Freddy was near a couple of them, just inside a doorway when he heard their discussion.
"You heard they found a new idiot to take that job?" Henry asked as he cleaned one of the tables with his buddy, Jerry.
The brunette with him jerked to a stop. "You're kidding."
"Nope." The blonde grinned, ever the gossip. "And on top of that it's a teenage girl this time. Heard she was only fifteen."
That surprised Freddy. He hadn't realised they were hiring minors. Of course it also made him feel even more uncomfortable about the whole 'stuffing into a suit thing'.
Jerry seemed to share his thinking.
"What?! Are they crazy?" he hissed.
"Probably. This place is still open after all." Henry sent a dirty look in Freddy's direction.
He never had liked the animatronics.
"When does she start?" Jerry asked, missing Henry's glare in his worry.
"Started last night. Think she's still in the world of the living?" Henry snickered.
Jerry stared at him in horror and opened his mouth to respond. However he was interrupted.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm still alive and all." A sarcastic female voice came from behind them.
Freddy jerked in surprise as the two men jumped. None of them had noticed the girl's approach and she was now standing in the doorway of the room leaning on the doorframe. She was also sending them a rather menacing death glare.
How a fifteen-year-old was managing to look THAT terrifying was beyond Freddy.
"Uh, you're the new security guard then?" Jerry asked hesitantly while he threw Henry a 'you idiot' look.
"Yup. Didn't know I was the subject of the gossip mills already." The menacing aura suddenly disappeared and she smirked at the older men.
"Yeah, well we kinda go through night guards quickly so…" Jerry trailed off.
"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "I can imagine. There's a lot left out of the contract huh?"
Jerry nodded weakly.
"Hmph. You won't last the week." Henry muttered as he picked up a box of trash and left the room.
"We'll see." She called after him and turned to grin at the remaining employee.
"Um well, then welcome on board. I'm Jerry." He held out his hand and smiled weakly.
"Ruby." She introduced herself as she shook his hand.
He looked around awkwardly as he tried to think of something to say. Ruby on the other hand laughed at his predicament.
"So have the employees started a betting pool as to how long I'll last yet?" she snickered.
Jerry looked at her in horror.
"Oh lighten up Jerry. I kind of figured out the danger when Bunny Boy started chasing me around the building." She doubled over with laughter as he started spluttering.
"You left the office?" he sounded utterly horrified.
"Well yeah." She looked at him quizzically as she straightened up.
"Why?!" he almost yelled in his panic.
"It was boring." She smirked at his dumbfounded expression. "Plus, sitting in a room with limited power? Uh no, it's almost as bad as dunking myself in neon paint and running around with a sign that says 'stuff me in a suit please'."
Jerry looked a little green. "Um you don't seem as freaked out as I thought you'd be…"
"I adapt quickly." She waved her hand.
Silence filled the room for a moment as Jerry seemed to process this.
"So, are you here to quit?" he asked carefully.
She actually looked insulted. "What? No! Of course not! There's no way in hell that I'm giving up so easily. They can't chase me off just like that."
Jerry stared at her in disbelief. "Then, why are you here during the day?" he asked.
"To give the manager a piece of my mind about the details he left out and maybe introduce him to Betty." She produced the bat named Betty and started swinging it around.
Ruby grinned evilly.
"I…see." He almost choked on the words.
Silence filled the air and Jerry fumbled for something to say again while she put her bat away. She wasn't the easiest to converse with it seemed.
"So how did your first night go?" he asked hesitantly.
She beamed up at him. "Awesome! But I think Bonnie hates me now. By the way, what's with his obsession with the closet? He was in there like twelve times last night I think."
"I don't…know." Jerry's head was still reeling from the fact that a night guard had just said that her night was awesome.
"Huh. Anyway I also got to see Foxy. That was cool. Haven't seen him since I was a kid." She grinned again. "Well, see ya Jerry. I gotta go make the manager pee his pants now."
With that she trotted off smiling maliciously.
Jerry watched her leave, still slightly in a daze.
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Freddy watched calculatingly as she walked off. He could have sworn that she smiled at him across the room and winked when she turned around.
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Half an hour later Ruby had reached an understanding with the manager. The sweet man had even given her a raise after she introduced him to Betty. How kind. He certainly seemed relieved when she told him that she wasn't interested in quitting, however he was less so when she told him that she hoped not to get blindsided like that ever again. Or else.
Humming to herself she strolled out of the quivering man's office and headed to the front door. She needed to get some sleep after all if she wanted to be at her best that night. As she walked she caught a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. Stopping she grinned when she spotted Bonnie finishing a party room clean-up.
She really couldn't help herself.
She stuck her head into the room and hollered at him. "Bunny Boy!"
He jumped at least two feet in the air. Spinning around he shot her a glare that had most people going into cardiac arrest. She just smiled cheekily at him.
"Thought rabbits were supposed to be fast? You didn't even get near me last night." She teased. "Although, maybe you're just out of shape? You are getting on in years after all. No shame in that. Don't worry though, I'll show up every night and help you until there's some improvement."
She paused as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hopefully. After all, I'm no miracle worker Slowpoke."
Before he could even process most of what she'd just said she was gone and sprinting down the sidewalk laughing hysterically.
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"Old! She called me old Freddy!" Bonnie's complaints had returned with renewed vigour after Ruby's sudden visit.
It was starting to give Freddy a headache.
"Oh shut up Bonnie! I told you not to let her get under your skin." He growled.
The two were in the parts and services room so that they weren't overheard while Bonnie got this out of his system.
"Old and slow. How dare she?! I'll show her slow. Tonight I am going to catch her." He muttered as he paced around the small room.
Freddy sighed. At least he was motivated.
"Foxy's going to be out as well tonight." He reminded the rabbit.
Bonnie's ears went up. "Oh yeah. Won't that be a shock for her? Her favourite gunning for her."
The purple animatronic chuckled darkly.
Sometimes Freddy forgot about Bonnie's more vindictive side. He rolled his eyes. Strange though, how she seemed to enjoy bothering him the most. She hadn't made much of a move towards the others yet.
'Was it because he was the first to move last night, or because his quick temper made him an insanely easy target for teasing?' he wondered. 'Maybe a combination of both?'
Bonnie continued to rant while Freddy's thoughts turned towards the girl herself. He had a bad feeling about her. She was unpredictable. There was no telling what she was going to do next. She also seemed determined to stay if her cheery goodbye that morning was anything to go by.
Now she'd managed to rile Bonnie up which meant that he probably wouldn't listen… very…well…
Freddy face-palmed. How did he miss that? They had a better chance of catching her if they worked together but now Bonnie was going to go running off on his own without a doubt.
She'd already managed to split them up.
"Darn, she's good." He muttered as Bonnie stalked away.
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Ruby flopped down on her bed with a satisfied grin on her face. Teasing Bonnie was so much fun. His face showed his expressions so well. Plus, if she had to choose she'd say that the bunny animatronic was a close second to Foxy.
She rolled over and reached under her bed, pulling out a box of old photos. Digging through it she found what she was looking for. Her fifth birthday picture. She always had her party at the pizzeria back then and she'd gotten to take a photo with all the animatronics. Ruby smiled fondly at the little black-haired girl happily grinning from between Foxy and Bonnie. Freddy was next to Foxy and Chica stood next to Bonnie.
It was one of her favourite pictures.
She sighed as her eyes dimmed in melancholy.
'Where did that happy kid go?' she wondered as she rolled over onto her back again and lifted the picture above her. 'And where did those sweet animatronics go?'
Foxy was her idol back then. She absolutely adored him and spent a lot of her time in Pirate's Cove. The adventurous pirate just resonated with her. A little too well sometimes considering she'd broken her arm falling off the mast of his ship once. Not that she was supposed to be up there in the first place.
Bonnie was always cool according to her. She loved listening to him play his guitar and she wasn't afraid to admit he was why she had learnt to play in the first place.
She hadn't spent as much time with Freddy and Chica but she still loved them.
She just couldn't figure out why they were trying to kill the security guards. Her arm dropped and she put the photo on her bedside table.
Then again…
A smile crept across her face. She did love mysteries. Grinning again she rolled over and settled down to sleep. It was going to be a busy night after all.
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"So, what are we going to do tonight?" Chica asked after the place was closed up and they were back on stage waiting for the night guard to arrive.
"Catch her of course." Bonnie scoffed, giving the front door the evil eye.
Freddy sighed. "Try and stay calm this time Bonnie. She's pushing your buttons on purpose."
The rabbit huffed and he was certain he heard chuckling from the direction of Pirate's Cove.
"She's going down!" Bonnie growled.
'I'm not even sure he knows what he's going to do with her if he does catch her anymore.' Freddy sighed mentally. 'He just wants to prove that he can catch her.'
Chica huffed next to them. "I hate this job."
Freddy glanced at her and nodded sadly. "I know Chica."
Silence fell over the restaurant again as they waited.
Finally at ten to twelve the door opened.
She was wearing black again but Freddy suspected that was just to make finding her harder. As she closed and locked the door she looked over at the stage. Grinning madly again she waved at them.
"Ready to play tonight everyone? Who's going to participate this time?" she asked.
Of course they didn't answer but Bonnie was fighting the urge to glare at her.
She just chuckled.
"Well then Bunny Boy, Chikadee, Smokey. I shan't keep you any longer. I believe there may be a phone call for me in the office. Evening Foxy!"
She shouted the last bit so Foxy could hear before heading off to the office.
"Time for night two." Ruby murmured to herself, smiling.

Chapter Text

Ruby settled in her chair and waited as the minutes to ticked by. Unknown to her, Goldy was watching with equal anticipation. Eventually the clock struck twelve, the game began and the phone rang.
"Uhh, Hello? Hello? Uh, well, if you're hearing this and you made it to day two, uh, congrats!" the voice sounded rather happy at this.
Ruby couldn't help the smile. "Thanks Steve. Think the 'bots made it to day two? I really annoyed Bonnie. His eye twitched when I came in earlier."
"I-I won't talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses." 'Steve' said a little nervously.
"Oh really? I guess my teasing didn't help much either." Ruby mused.
"Uhh, it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk just to make sure everyone's in their proper place. You know..." 'Steve' trailed off.
"Fine fine. I'm checking. Your concern touches me." Ruby flicked through the cameras. "Huh, Bonnie's not wasting any time I see. Aaaaand. Yup. In the closet."
Goldy had to stifle a giggle as Ruby chuckled at the rabbit's antics.
"Uh... Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often."
Ruby raised her eyebrow. "Stage hog?"
Goldy couldn't stop this giggle and Ruby looked around the room suspiciously.
"I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so, hey, I guess that's one more reason not to run out of power, right?"
"Oh so they told you something hey?" Ruby frowned. "And yet they don't tell the helpless fifteen year old anything?"
'Helpless…Right.' Goldy rolled her eyes. 'I heard what you said to the manager. You traumatized the man.'
"I-I also want to emphasize the importance of using your door lights. There are blind spots in your camera views, and those blind spots happen to be right outside of your doors."
"Who designed this place?" Ruby muttered as she checked the cameras again.
Bonnie staring right at the camera really close up had her jumping and giving a yelp. She blinked before grinning.
"Alright bunny, that was a good one, I'll give you that." She chuckled.
"So if-if you can't find something, or someone, on your cameras, be sure to check the door lights. Uh, you might only have a few seconds to react... Uh, not that you would be in any danger, of course. I'm not implying that."
"Of course not." She muttered dryly. "You're a terrible liar Steve."
"Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time."
Ruby sat up just a little straighter at that.
"The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched."
"You know you just contradicted yourself?" she frowned, pointing accusingly at the phone. "If he doesn't like being watched he'd come after me FOR watching."
"I don't know. Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control! Uh, talk to you soon." The phone call ended.
"Okay, bye!" Ruby called cheerfully, leaping to her feet.
"So…Foxy's joining the party?" she grinned. "Cool. Should make things more interesting."
As she skipped out the door with the tablet Goldy materialized.
"She wants things to be more interesting? Maybe Bonnie's right and she really is crazy." Goldy shook her head as she heard Ruby yell.
"Ohhhhh Bunny Boy!" was followed by an explosion, hysterical laughter and Bonnie crying out in surprise.
"Wonder what just happened?" she debated going to check before deciding against it. "Probably safer in my poster."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile Ruby was doubled over with laughter while pointing a shaking bat at a rather dumbfounded 'bot.
"You should…you should see…your face!" she gasped out between bouts of uncontrollable giggling.
Bonnie was now covered in glitter. It stuck very nicely in his fur.
The rabbit was still staring at her in shock. One night she hits him, the next she covers him in glitter?
"What the HECK was that?!" he yelled.
She straightened up somewhat before withdrawing something from her bag and showing him.
"Gl-glitter bomb." She managed, still giggling a little. "Made them myself."
Bonnie looked down at himself. Well he couldn't say that they weren't effective…
"Here, have another Bunny Boy." She tossed the sphere at him before he could react and scurried into a nearby vent.
Bonnie swiped at the air again in an attempt to clear his vision. He was NOT going to admire her pranking genius. He wasn't. No matter how badly he wanted to know how to make that.
She called him old after all. And slow.
And he was supposed to stuff her in a suit and all…
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby was still giggling as she crawled out of a vent in one of the party rooms.
"Oh I am SO glad I brought those." She finally regained control as she checked the cameras again.
Her finger hovered over the icon to bring up Pirate Cove.
"Hmmmm. Steve seemed kinda confused about Foxy so…Better not bother him and see how things go." She nodded to herself, put the tablet away and jogged off to the kitchen with a plan already in mind.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foxy hummed to himself as he relaxed in his cove. It seemed quieter tonight (minus the mildly concerning explosions) and the night guard FOR ONCE wasn't constantly turning his cove's camera on and off. Maybe this one wasn't too bad.
He wouldn't mind if she stayed except for, well, that thing.
He sighed, even if she was leaving him alone he was going to have to join in sooner or later. Hopefully later.
Hearing footsteps approaching (too heavy to be human) he stuck his head out the curtains and then did a double take.
"Bonnie?! What happened to you?" he asked, blinking rapidly as if that would dispel some illusion.
The purple rabbit looked up and scowled at Foxy. He was absolutely covered in glitter.
"You look like a unicorn threw up on you." Foxy stated bluntly.
"The night guard got me with glitter bombs." Bonnie muttered.
Well, if he didn't like her before Foxy sure liked her now. He started laughing.
"Yeah yeah. Just wait until she gets you with one. You can't see properly for like ten minutes. Why haven't you come out yet anyway?" he frowned at the end.
Foxy pointed in the general direction of the camera. He wasn't taking his eye off this walking disco ball anytime soon.
"Lass hasn't been bothering me so why bother her yet?" he chuckled.
"Hmph." Bonnie just sulked.
"You got distracted by those glitter bombs didn't ya Bon?" Foxy asked, seeing the thoughtful look on the other's face.
"What?!" Bonnie immediately went back to a scowl. "Of course not. Just annoyed that I lost her."
Foxy sighed and shook his head as he watch Bonnie stomp off. Everyone knew about his love of pranking (not that he found much time to do it anymore) and no doubt the night guard was giving him ideas.
Another explosion went off in the direction of the kitchen.
"I don't think I'm coming out just yet." He muttered to himself before heading back into Pirate's Cove.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 AM rolled around and Ruby was crawling out another vent in the middle of another giggling fit.
"Ah, fans spread glitter so well." She giggled to herself. "I'll apologise to the cleaning crew later."
She looked around for any 'bots when a poster caught her eye. Well, when she looked before on the cameras it looked like a poster. Now it looked like a newspaper article?
Curious she went over to look.
"Kids vanish at local pizzeria – bodies not found? Huh?" Ruby's eyes grew wider as she read the article. "Missing kids? Someone used a mascot costume? At least they caught the guy, but…how'd he get hold of a costume in the first place?"
She felt uneasy all of a sudden and that feeling of being watched that she felt in the office suddenly intensified. Looking up she spotted another article further down the hall.
She walked over and started reading. "Five children now reported missing. Suspect convicted. But the bodies were never found… I wonder… Did the charges stick? Or did the bastard get off?"
She frowned at the thought and glared at the paper as if it could answer.
Looking around she spotted a third one.
"Please get better." She muttered. "Local pizzeria threatened with shutdown over sanitation?"
Ruby looked down at the carpets and inched a little further away from the wall.
She continued to read. "Foul odour? Blood and mucous? Likened them to…animated carcasses?! Oh no, they did NOT call my childhood heroes reanimated carcasses." She fumed.
Glaring around she spied yet another newspaper. Stomping over she started to read, still looking annoyed.
"Local pizzeria said to close by year's end." A sad look came over her face as she read. "Freddy's closed 'cuz of that bastard? 'These characters will live on. In the hearts of kids, these characters will live on.'"
Ruby gave a genuine smile at that. "Yeah, they hung around and Freddy's came back."
The smile melted into a frown however as she gazed around seeing no more newspapers. "But I wonder…that guy that did it…" glaring at nothing in particular she tightened her grip on Betty and continued down the hallway.
Once she was gone Goldy materialized in mid-air. She turned to look at the newspaper next to her sadly but then frowned and looked up at where Ruby had gone.
"Childhood heroes?" she wondered softly.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foxy had finally been annoyed into helping by Bonnie's whines and he stalked down one of the halls in annoyance. At least when the guards stayed in the office he didn't have to go wandering around the whole building.
As he turned a corner he stopped. So did the guard across from him. She blinked in surprise when she saw him, then smiled and waved.
"Heeeeeey Foxy. Ready to join the fun?" she called down the hall.
He shifted his weight, he was faster than any of the others. Time to see what she was made of.
"Think you can outrun me lass?" he called.
Her grin widened when he spoke to her. "We'll have to see. There's a vent dead centre down this hall."
She pointed and he saw the one she was talking about.
"Think you can get to it before me?" she grinned cheekily and then took off.
So did he.
'Never thought this would happen. A guard running towards me.' He wondered as the distance closed rapidly.
She made it by the skin of her teeth.
Foxy huffed a bit in annoyance but mostly he was impressed with her speed. He could hear her panting from the vent.
"Wow, that was close." She laughed breathlessly. "You might need to give Bonnie tips."
He couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"See ya around Foxy. I got a bunny and chicken to annoy." The noises told him that she was headed away from the opening and soon he was alone.
She really was something. She hadn't even flinched when she'd just barely slipped by him.
"Hmmm, well, I helped out. I'm heading back to the cove." He muttered. "Wonder what she'll do to them next?"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By the end of the night Bonnie and Chica were utterly spent. They collapsed on the stage as the 6 AM chimes rang. Bonnie still looked like a unicorn had barfed on him and Chica…well she was somehow covered in flour from head to toe. Freddy stared at them in shock and then looked up at the night guard who was leaning against a wall near the front door.
She grinned when he met her gaze.
"Alright, I know about Bonnie and the glitter. But Chica, lass, how…Flour?" Foxy asked, sticking his head into the room.
"Don't know how but she made a bag of flour explode in the kitchen." Chica moaned.
Bonnie's ears perked up at the information but he bit back the question.
Ruby didn't look apologetic in the least.
"Maybe you should go get cleaned up… Before the staff arrive." Freddy suggested, still staring at Ruby.
Why was she still here?
Foxy was using the wall as support while he laughed as the rabbit and chicken trudged past him towards the bathroom.
"I'm guessing you're participating tomorrow Fazbear?" the guard asked when Foxy's chuckles had finally tapered off.
Freddy just narrowed his eyes at her. She smiled innocently and shrugged. An awkward silence descended on them. Foxy sauntered back to his cove and by the time Bonnie and Chica came back, clean, Ruby was still there.
The gang finally took their places as the door opened to the morning cleaners. To say they were surprised to find the night guard still there and breathing was an understatement.
"Morning!" she chirped at their confused expressions.
"Night guard?" one asked hesitantly.
"Yup!" she grinned.
"Why are you still here?" another questioned.
"Oh well I wanted to apologize." She continued to grin.
They still looked confused.
"There was a slight incident with glitter, so the place is kinda covered in it. And there's flour all over the kitchen."
They gaped at her in shock.
"Yeah so, sorry. It'll probably happen again too. But hey, better than blood and guts right?" she smirked at their expressions before heading for the door.
As she was about to leave she paused and turned back. "Almost forgot. See you next time Cottontail, Featherhead, Honeypot, Foxy!" she hollered so loudly that it echoed through the building.
Then she was gone.
As the cleaners slowly gathered their wits and began to check out the glitter and flour damage Bonnie complained in a whisper. "Why does she only ever call Foxy by name?"
Freddy just sighed in annoyance. With her there they hadn't been able to ask Goldy about the phone call. Now they were going to have to find time to sneak away during the day to talk to her. Hopefully the night guard didn't show up and bother them this time.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby sighed in relief when she landed on her bed at home. It had been fun but still, three 'bots at once was a workout. Well, at least Foxy had left her alone, mostly. Except for that 'vent race'. But that was pretty cool.
She smiled up at the ceiling. Plus they didn't ignore her after her shift like last time so that was good. Progress right?
She chuckled to herself again as she remembered Bonnie's face when she unveiled the glitter bombs. Oh that had been funny.
Foxy didn't seem really into the whole chasing and killing the night guard thing though.
"Hmmm. And why does it feel like I'm being watched sometimes when I'm at Freddy's?" she whispered to herself.
She rolled over as her thoughts drifted back to the newspapers she had seen.
"They weren't there when I left." She murmured into her pillow. "There's something going on there other than sentient animatronics. But what?"
She stared pensively at the fabric of her pillow case.
"Maybe I'll find out something next time?" she hoped. "But in the meantime…"
She glanced over at her weapon of choice for the next night before smirking evilly.
"I'll keep things interesting."

Chapter Text

There were mixed reactions to night two. The 'bots thought it was an utter disaster while Ruby believed it to be a smashing success. The cleaning crew was just confused naturally.
(Unfortunately one of the cleaning crew came across an unexploded glitter bomb and well…it was exploded now. So the cleaning crew had to clean a cleaning crew member after that.)
Eventually they trudged out of the building muttering about crazy night guards.
This left the 'bots to themselves while the other staff members got the place ready for the day.
Of course their thoughts inevitably turned to the night guard.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bonnie glared at the wall.
She was annoying.
But those glitter bombs were awesome. And how did she make a flour bag explode?
But she was the night guard, which meant he had to stuff her in a suit.
Except now he didn't really want to do that as much anymore. He hadn't played a good prank in ages… Watching her run around like that had made him feel nostalgic for the time before this whole mess began.
…And those glitter bombs were awesome.
Internally he screamed in frustration.
No, she was ANNOYING. She just waltzed in here and threw everything into utter chaos. She was violent and crazy and he needed to do his job before something bad happened. After all, something bad always happened when there was a night guard around. The animatronics knew that from experience.
He continued to glare at the wall, unknowingly scaring the living daylights out of the employees walking through the room.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jerry was terrified. Why was Bonnie glaring at the wall like it had insulted him in the worst possible way? Jerry shivered. He enjoyed his job at the pizzeria but the animatronics scared him just like they scared all the other employees. Anyone who was not a kid was treated to some nasty glares quite often. The whole staff knew about the whole self-aware thing the robots had going on but they were too scared to attempt any form of communication.
As a result there were almost two separate entities working at Freddy's. The humans and the 'bots. They didn't talk to each other and no one made any attempt to change that.
He shivered again. He didn't know how Ruby did her job.
Thinking of the young night guard, he wondered how her second night had gone. The cleaning crew had mentioned that they had seen her leave (which was weird, why did she hang around so long?) and then started muttering about glitter and flour for some reason.
He didn't know when she would be coming around during the day again but he had to admit, he was curious about her. She seemed to be rather determined to hang around.
He sighed as he glanced cautiously at the rabbit animatronic.
Well, whatever had happened that night, the animatronics didn't seem to like it.
Chica actually looked like she was…pouting?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chica was pouting.
She couldn't believe that the night guard had used her dear kitchen against her like that.
She loved that kitchen, it was her favourite room in the building. And now Ruby had used that against her.
"Hmph." She huffed in annoyance.
Ruby had run off there early in the night and somehow rigged a flour bag to blow all over the chicken. So when Chica had gone to fiddle around with the pots and pans again she had gotten a face full of white flour.
Not pleasant. After that Chica had tried to catch her again but it was kind of hard to sneak up on a person when you just about glowed in the dark. Her normal yellow colouring made stealth hard but the white flour?
Made it impossible.
On Freddy's other side Bonnie was trying to glare a hole in the opposite wall it seemed and Chica didn't blame him. This guard was getting under her feathers as well which was quite the achievement. While she wasn't as patient as Freddy (who had a saint's patience) she was far more stable in the temper department than Bonnie and Foxy.
Her pout dissolved into a silent sigh. It looked like Ruby wasn't about to give up anytime soon. That was a problem because if they didn't catch her by night five…
She shuddered. She didn't want to go through that again. It was awful.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Henry glared at the animatronics hatefully. WHY were they STILL around?! It was ridiculous. They were obviously DANGEROUS. How many night guards had mysteriously disappeared after all? Maybe when this girl disappeared it would raise a fuss and they'd be FORCED to get rid of the wastes of space.
He grinned maliciously at the thought.
Maybe there was an advantage to having this arrogant girl around. Although he still didn't think that she was going to last long.
Either way, he was going to be happy.
He shot another glare at the stage area and then towards Pirate's Cove. He hoped the mangy fox was the first to go.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Freddy could almost feel the annoyance radiating off the animatronics on either side of him. He sighed in irritation. The night guard had flipped their lives over and across the room in a total of two nights. It didn't really give him hope for a quick solution.
She was completely unpredictable.
She went from a definite aggressive approach with her bat and words to an almost playful approach with races and pranks. What was next?
He mentally sighed.
The shreds of peace they managed to maintain in this nightmare had been completely ripped from them after she arrived.
Bonnie let out some kind of near-inaudible growl while Chica continued to pout. Both of them were completely wrapped up in their own thoughts. As a result the employees present in the room were skirting around the stage nervously.
He almost rolled his eyes.
Those two could be so oblivious sometimes.
Night three was next; Bonnie was a short-tempered mess, Chica was distracted by the kitchen fiasco, Foxy seemed more disinterested than ever before and Goldy seemed almost wary of the guard.
What did she have in store for him he wondered?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The manager nervously peeked out of his office. It didn't look like the rather scary teenager he had hired was in the building so he hesitantly stepped out.
Of course he was thrilled that she hadn't quit after the first night but he was rather concerned about the fact that the cleaning crew had come to complain about glitter all over the place.
On top of that the kitchen had been covered in flour.
No one complained to the night guard however. She gave off the sort of feeling that deterred such idiocy.
Hopefully she wasn't going to be paying them any surprise visits today. He still hadn't quite recovered from her last appearance.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foxy relaxed in his cove. The night had been really interesting. He hadn't had such a good laugh in ages. He chuckled remembering Bonnie's sparkly state again.
After a moment his mirth faded away and he stared in front of him thoughtfully.
Getting attached to the night guard was NOT a good idea.
…But seriously, how could anyone help it? She was so vibrant with life. Her unpredictable nature threw spice into the animatronics' rather dull lives.
It was…fun.
That wasn't something they had often anymore.
Even if the others wouldn't admit it, he could see the changes that two nights alone had made.
Bonnie had been bordering on apathy the week before while Chica struggled with depression. Now the rabbit was much more active than he had been before (even if it was because of irritation) and so was Chica. Goldy was more involved instead of only popping in for a few minutes after the night, now watching Ruby with a cautious curiosity instead. Freddy had also been pulled out of his aloof attitude and straight into the drama.
Even Foxy had been near yanked out of his detached state of mind. He found that he didn't really want to stuff her in a suit (well he never really wanted to do it to any of the night guards but there wasn't really a choice) but he also didn't want to avoid contact with her. Normally he didn't interact with the night guards at all besides the violence, it prevented feeling any more guilt in the end if he found out he liked them. However he'd already interacted with her, spoken to her even.
Just why was she having such a profound effect on all of the animatronics?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Later that day, during a lull in the customer traffic the animatronics gathered in the parts and services room to talk to Goldy without being overheard.
"So?" Bonnie asked grumpily, still sulking. "How'd she react to the phone call?"
"She took it well. I think she really is crazy." Goldy muttered. "She wants the game to be more interesting.
Bonnie spluttered as the others just stared at the golden suit.
"Hey! I am PLENTY interesting! Heck I'm the most interesting thing in the entire world! I'm just that awesome." The rabbit argued.
And Bonnie's attention was effectively distracted from their goal again.
Everyone rolled their eyes and turned back to Goldy.
"Anything else?" Freddy asked as Foxy's hand twitched as he held in his urge to hit Bonnie over the head.
"Well…she saw the newspapers…" they all twitched at that.
Why those articles kept showing up on the walls was beyond them.
"And?" Chica asked hesitantly.
"The usual. Shock, anger, disgust." Goldy shrugged, but she was still frowning.
"Something bothering ya?" Foxy spoke up for the first time.
Goldy bit her lip. "Well, then there was the unusual. "You know, profanity, defending of the animatronics…"
There was a moment of silence before "WHAT?!" filled the air.
Goldy shrugged uncomfortably again. "Yeah…she was offended they called you guys reanimated carcasses…"
"Well so were we." Foxy muttered darkly to himself.
The others were still staring in shock.
"Why?" Freddy wondered.
"She called you guys her…" Goldy bit her lip again unsure. "Childhood heroes."
An unsettling silence filled the room.
"Childhood…heroes?" Bonnie whispered eventually, breaking the heavy silence.
"I don't get it." Chica sounded upset.
Not only was their target an old customer, it seemed that she still held that same affection for them that she had as a child.
Even when they were trying to kill her.
It didn't make sense.
And it just made them feel even worse than before.
The room suddenly dropped in temperature noticeably and Goldy disappeared with a squeak as she felt the sudden, unwelcome presence. The other animatronics shivered as the not so subtle reminder told them why they were doing this in the first place. Shoulders and heads drooped as Foxy stormed away in anger.
He hated being told what to do.
He hated being forced to listen even more.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby stared at her computer fighting the urge to punch it.
"Punching my laptop is not going to solve anything." She muttered as she slouched into her seat.
The internet was supposed to give all the magical answers to any question. And yet…
"WHY is there nothing on the most famous AND infamous pizzeria in the entire CITY!" she complained as she face-planted into her keyboard.
A moment passed before "Ow…"
She sat up slowly, rubbing the key indents in her face. Glancing at the screen again she sighed. She HAD seen those newspaper articles. She knew she had (despite most people's declarations that she was crazy she maintained that she was perfectly sane). Now the internet was claiming that they didn't exist.
"You're not going to fool me." She muttered to the screen. "Something is going on there. And I'm starting to get the bad feeling that whatever it was, it was covered up."
Massaging her temples she leaned back again before letting her arms fall limply to her sides.
"Now, if the 'bots would actually TALK to me I wouldn't have this problem." She grumbled under her breath. "You know, instead of trying to kill me."
Ruby started tapping random keys in her annoyance.
"I keep getting distracted too. They're fun to play with. Bonnie is hilarious, and the race with Foxy…" her frown melted into a smile.
Even with them trying to kill her, they still made her smile. She glanced at the clock. There was still an hour left to go before she had to be at work. All her 'weapons' were packed already and she had the brilliant idea to find out something before leaving, but the internet wasn't exactly co-operating.
She pouted up at the ceiling.
Then her sulking was interrupted.
A sudden, childish yell from downstairs told her that Ricky had snuck out of his room for an almost-midnight snack again, only to mess something in the kitchen.
Again.
"Wonder what it was this time." She snickered at the thought of the eight year old's panicked face. "It was milk last time."
She listened to see if anyone was woken up by the noise but the house was still silent.
"Better go do the 'good big sister' thing." She sighed, getting up and heading out of her room.
Downstairs the brown-haired boy was panicking exactly like she had predicted.
"Ricky." Ruby complained. "What ARE you doing up. It's eleven."
She knew exactly what he was doing. He did it at least three times a week.
The eight year old looked up with eyes swimming in tears and hope. "I got thirsty."
"That's what the bathroom taps are for squirt." She rolled her eyes as she got two rags from the sink.
It was only orange juice this time at least.
The child frowned. "I'm not a squirt." He whined as she handed him the rag.
Ruby chuckled and ruffled his hair. "As long as you're shorter than me you're a squirt."
He pouted up at her.
"Well, it's not like I have far to go. You're really short sis." He snickered.
Ruby stiffened and turned narrowed eyes on him. "Watch what you say kid. Or do you want me to hang you out of the second story window again?"
He paled slightly. Height was always a touchy subject for the shorter-than-average teen.
"Sorry sorry. Geez, you're scary sometimes Ruby." He moaned.
They were quiet as they cleaned for a moment.
"And you're not allowed to do that again." He reminded her.
She huffed in annoyance. "I don't get what the problem is. The pool's right under that window."
"That's not the point." Ricky whined making her laugh again.
"Fine I won't do that again." She conceded. "But you learnt your lesson about playing with fire didn't you?"
"Yeah." He muttered. "Also learnt that you're crazy."
"I think the word you're looking for is harsh." She sniffed as she washed the rags.
"Nope. The psychologist said crazy." He answered cheerfully as he lifted a glass of orange juice (poured by Ruby this time).
She stuck her tongue out at him and chased him up the stairs and back to bed.
Checking the clock and seeing that is was half past eleven, she decided to gather her things and leave anyway. After all, being early never hurt.
Well, never hurt her. She couldn't say the same for the animatronics. Looking at her arsenal she grinned sadistically. This would give her some time to…prepare… the building.
"Time to up the game guys. Can't let things get boring after all." She murmured as she locked the door behind her and started walking to Freddy's.

Chapter Text

Ruby settled down in her chair to wait for the phone call after she had adequately prepared her surprises. She grinned. Tonight was going to be fun.
As the clock hit twelve the phone rang.
"What have you got for me tonight Steve?" she asked as she sat up a little straighter.
"Hello, hello?" the voice filled the room.
"STEVE!" Ruby cried out happily.
"Hey you're doing great!" 'Steve' congratulated.
"Aw you flatter me." Ruby batted her eyelashes at the phone.
"Most people don't last this long."
Ruby raised an amused eyebrow.
"I mean, you know, they usually move on to other things by now. I'm not implying that they died. Th-th-that's not what I meant." He stuttered.
"Of course not Stevie." Ruby rolled her eyes. "In a building full of killer robots, why would that ever happen?"
"Uh, anyway I better not take up too much of your time. Things start getting real tonight." He sounded nervous.
"Ooo. They upping the difficulty are they?" she asked as she flipped through the cameras.
Once she reached the camera showing the closet (which still didn't make much sense) her face broke out into a huge grin.
All the camera showed was a cloud of sparkly somethings.
"Bonnie, honey, did you set off my Glitter Mine ALREADY? Ah, you're a little too easy to predict. The glitter must fill the closet very nicely.
This time, she was sure she heard a girl's giggle echo through the room but before she could check 'Steve' continued.
"Uh... Hey, listen, I had an idea: if you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uhh, try playing dead! You know, go limp."
"Say what?" she asked incredulously, effectively distracted. "Play possum? Are you insane?"
"Then there's a chance that, uh, maybe they'll think that you're an empty costume instead." 'Steve' continued.
Ruby still stared at the phone in disbelief.
"Then again if they think you're an empty costume, they might try to... stuff a metal skeleton into you. I wonder how that would work. Yeah, never mind, scratch that. It's best just not to get caught."
"Oh Stevie, I'm starting to get worried about your sanity." Ruby shook her head in despair.
"Um... Ok, I'll leave you to it. See you on the flip side!" the phone went dead.
Ruby stared sadly at the device.
"Steve, Steve." She sighed. "How did you survive this long?"
She picked up her bag and threw another despairing look at the phone.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Okay, Bonnie was furious now. Whatever the heck that…that…thing was, it had covered him in glitter more effectively than toddlers on a sugar high.
Where did the night guard even come up with these things?!
He was searching high and low for her at the moment and had yet to come across the annoying teen.
As he passed by the kitchen he heard a disturbingly familiar 'bang'. Already knowing what had happened but still too curious as to the results he went inside.
Bonnie blinked, and then blinked again. He blinked a third time and then rubbed his eyes as if that would help.
He was expecting the glitter. He really was.
He wasn't expecting the icing, or the cake bits, or those silly little plastic figures they put on cakes sometimes to also be on the enraged chicken.
"She messed with my kitchen again!" the chicken wailed.
Bonnie was still staring. "A glitter…cake bomb?" he whispered, slightly in awe at the creativity (and glad that it hadn't been him that tripped it).
'Remember, you are NOT to admire her pranking genius.' He found himself thinking in a desperate attempt to stop any positive feelings towards the night guard.
She was the reason he was covered in glitter again after all.
A flash of light followed by laughter from the doorway caught their attention.
"I didn't think you would set off two of my traps so EARLY." Ruby managed to giggle out as she lowered the camera in her hands.
Camera.
Bonnie growled. She was documenting their misery!
"This is one for the scrapbook I think." She smirked, leaning against the doorway. "Or internet. Whichever."
Bonnie lunged at her. He was not about to have his reputation ruined because of some glitter!
She cackled happily as Chica pounced at the same time, ending up with the two of them stuck in the doorway.
"Nuh uh." Ruby wagged a finger in their faces (from a safe distance away of course). "Can't have the game ending that early."
As Bonnie managed to shove Chica aside, Ruby pulled out…something.
The unknown device gave him a moment's pause. "What…is that?"
She brightened up as he spoke.
"I thought you'd never ask Bunny Boy. This," she gestured at the device, "is a bedazzler."
He eyed the device as Chica climbed to her feet. He'd seen kids bring bedazzlers to the pizzeria before and that did NOT look like a normal one.
"This one however, is special. I made a few modifications to it." Ruby continued, always keeping one eye on the animatronics.
"Modifications?" Chica asked.
Her voice held the same dread that Bonnie was feeling in his stomach.
"Yup!" she nodded happily. "I'll show you."
The next few seconds were filled with yelps and cries, before suddenly the robots were running away from the night guard.
"That is not a bedazzler!" Bonnie yelled as he started picking the little gemstones out of his suit. "They hit with the punch of a nail gun!"
Chica nodded beside him as she did the same. They didn't cause a lot of pain but they stung where they stuck and they hit with a force.
Enough to knock the breath out of the animatronics (figuratively speaking).
Bonnie groaned. Now he was extra sparkly.
"How does she make these things?!" he wondered softly to himself.
"Aww. Come on Conttontail, Chikadee. I'm supposed to be running from you." Ruby called from a safe distance (for them, she had a lot of ammo after all). "You've got the game backwards."
Bonnie growled again. Now they couldn't get close to her without a barrage of what felt like bee stings hitting at the speed of a bullet. Besides that, she really shouldn't be as accurate with that thing as she was.
She giggled at the look on his face and then very nonchalantly started checking the cameras. Right in front of them. Chica growled next to him in annoyance as her smirk widened.
"Oooo. Freddy's actually off stage?" she looked up at them happily. "Guess someone's joining the party."
She continued to check the cameras, leaning against the wall and humming to herself while she swung the bedazzler gently with the hand supporting the tablet.
The animatronics struggled to come up with an idea when suddenly they got unexpected backup.
"Hey, that poster's new." She muttered to herself as a giggle filled the air. "A golden Freddy?"
That was as far as she got before Goldy materialized in front of her and let out her signature jumpscare scream.
Now at this point, Goldy would normally grab the night guard and the suit stuffing would commence after she teleported them to the parts and services room.
Normally.
There was nothing normal about Ruby.
Goldy's scream was actually drowned out as Ruby let out an ear-splitting, brain-clawing shriek of her own. Her adrenaline kicked in and her foot lashed out, nailing the floating suit in the stomach before she brought the (magically conjured it seemed) bat down on her head. Once the suit was dazed the bedazzler came up and Goldy got nailed between the eyes at close range.
When they blinked again, Ruby had scurried further down the corridor and was now staring at her assailant in shock.
Her breath came quickly as she gazed at the obviously empty suit with wide eyes.
"Floating…empty…" her thoughts were as fragmented as her speech.
A lot more focused now on her survival with her shot of adrenaline her eyes flickered over to the other two animatronics who were bent over clutching their ringing heads.
"Owww." Bonnie groaned.
Ruby's scream easily beat any of theirs.
Then her temper caught up with her.
"You…WHAT THE HELL YOU BLOODY STUPID POLTERGEIST!" her angry scream did not help their heads in any way.
Goldy was just starting to sit up from where she had fallen on the floor.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEARTATTACK?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU ANYWAY?! YOU JUST POPPED OUT OF NOWHERE LIKE A…A…GHOST OR SOMETHING!"
Suddenly her eyes narrowed dangerously on the suit. "That giggle I heard before you appeared… I've heard that before, usually when I feel like I'm being watched."
The abrupt drop to a normal volume again somehow scared them more than anything they had heard before.
"I. Don't. Like. Being. Spied. On." Ruby hissed at Goldy, bedazzler forgotten and hands clenching the bat. "And I swear…YOU TRY THAT POPPING OUT OF NOWHERE THING ON ME AGAIN AND I WILL BREAK THIS BAT OVER YOUR HEAD AND THEN STUFF YOU INTO A SALT LINED BOX THAT I WILL PROCEED TO TOSS INTO THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN! YOU HEAR ME YOU CREEPY STALKER GHOST BEAR!?"
Goldy 'eeped' before disappearing to hide until the infuriated night guard calmed down. Bonnie had the feeling that they weren't going to see her until tomorrow at the earliest.
And she probably wasn't going to go near the guard again after that.
Ruby's reaction had shocked them actually. Not only had they discovered that she was terrifying when she was angry, she also remained logical and active even when afraid or startled. She didn't freeze. Something that most (all) employees at Freddy's lacked completely. Her quick and appropriate response to Goldy's sudden attack showed a definite ability to defend herself and that scream…
Bonnie could already feel a headache coming on.
Ruby glared at the spot where Goldy had been, still breathing hard. The rabbit animatronic was actually sure he could hear her heart pounding from where he stood. Well, at least she had normal instinctual reactions. They were starting to think that hers were broken.
"I'll probably feel bad about that later." Ruby muttered to herself, breaking into Bonnie's train of thought.
Oh yeah. He was also supposed to be attacking her.
Her eyes flickered over to them before, impossibly, a smirk came over her face.
"What? I don't like surprises. You should have seen what I did at that surprise party they tried to throw for my thirteenth. Everyone had to go to therapy and they still can't go near piñatas." With that she waved the bedazzler, her cheeky grin returning.
"See ya. Tell the golden bear sorry for adding her to my 'People I've traumatized' list. And really, the sparkles look good on you Bunny Boy. You too Featherhead."
And she was gone through a vent, leaving two very confused animatronics.
"Ow." Chica muttered from beside him.
"Yeah." He agreed. "Ow. I don't feel like chasing her anymore."
His ears drooped as he said it.
For some reason, hearing that high pitched, terrified scream that was so different from a grown adult's made him feel like even more of a monster than usual.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby sagged against a wall once she had exited the vent system, her heart still beating rapidly.
"What…was that?" she wondered to herself, rubbing a hand over her face.
She really did feel bad now, for physically attacking the animatro-suit? For attacking the suit to that degree. Her instinctual reactions always leaned more towards fight than flight (meaning flight didn't exist to her at all) and whenever she was startled she always lashed out rather violently.
"I just traumatized some kind of ghost bear who has probably killed people way older than me." She mused to herself.
"Ya did what now?" a surprised voice asked.
Ruby blinked in surprise before realising that in her slightly panicked state she had gone to the area she had always felt safest in. Pirate's Cove.
Foxy was staring at her through a pushed aside curtain. He wasn't pouncing on her though so she shrugged and answered him.
"A golden suit thing. Jumped me while I was bothering the rabbit and chicken with my bedazzler." She pushed away from the wall, the adrenaline in her system making it so that she was unable to stay still for long. She started pacing the length of the entrance to the cove, always staying close enough to the vent to make a break for it and keeping an eye on the fox animatronic.
"Ah, Goldy." Foxy nodded. "Ya summoned her?"
Ruby stopped and looked at him quizzically. "Summoned?"
"The poster." Foxy leaned on his shoulder, the curtain between the metal and the wall. "Small chance of summoning her from there if you look in the cameras."
"Oh. Makes sense I guess. One more camera to avoid." She resumed her pacing.
"So that was your scream lass?" he asked curiously.
Of course the other animatronics had heard it. It was hard to miss.
"Yeah. She just popped out of nowhere and I don't handle surprises well. Feel bad for whacking her over the head though. And kicking her in the stomach. And nailing her between the eyes with the bedazzler…And yelling at her."
Foxy stared at her in surprise. "Dangerous aren't you lass?"
She shrugged. "I know self defence. Why aren't you chasing me? You know, the whole suit thing?"
She thought she saw him wince out of the corner of her eye.
"I'm on strike." He mumbled.
She looked up in surprise before grinning. "The others are going to be mad at you for leaving them to deal with the infuriating night guard alone."
He snorted. "I never liked being told what to do. So I'm putting my foot down this time. They can deal with you themselves."
"Hey Foxy?" his ears swivelled forward at her softer voice. "You had a more 'pirate-y' voice last I remember."
He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.
"It's more of an act for the kids. It's a pain to keep up for too long." He chuckled.
She giggled. "Yeah. I guess. I managed to keep one going for a full week once when I was eight. Couldn't manage any longer but it drove my teachers insane so it was worth it."
His eyes sparked with amusement at the thought. He could see this girl doing just that.
"Maybe I should try it with the staff here. Hmmm." She looked thoughtful, pausing in her pacing again.
"So, sentient robots AND ghosts?" she shook her head, smiling slightly. "Wow, my job just got a lot more hectic."
Before Foxy could reply they both heard something and turned to look. Freddy was glowering at the fox from down the hall.
"Foxy." He growled.
Foxy's ears went back. "I'm on strike. I'm done with this."
"Freddy! You finally decided to join us! I think I broke your golden lookalike. I made a mess in the kitchen too. And the closet. See ya Foxy, talk soon!" with that she bolted down the hall before either of them could blink.
"Broke my lookalike?" Freddy looked mystified.
"She had a run in with Goldy. Have fun." Foxy grumbled before turning around.
"You know what will happen if we don't catch or get rid of her!" Freddy snapped at his back.
"Yeah and I don't care because whatever anyone says she doesn't deserve getting killed because they can't get over the past." Foxy snapped back before disappearing into the cove, fully aware but uncaring of the consequences of his decision.
The moment he had seen the vestiges of fright on her young face when she exited that vent he knew he wouldn't be able to do what they wanted.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 AM left the 'bots in varying emotional states.
Freddy was frustrated by the girl's elusiveness, taunts and traps hidden apparently everywhere. Chica had made a half-hearted attempt to help him but was hindered by her massive headache. Goldy was still in hiding and unlikely to come out anytime soon. Bonnie had disappeared off to mope (and yet had somehow still set off another one of her traps, lovely exploding cookies that showered him with streamers). Foxy had stayed in his cove listening to the explosions and bangs in amusement.
After they cleaned up from the night's events they settled down to unwind before the day started. Ruby hadn't stuck around this time, instead leaving a note on the door which the cleaners read aloud when they showed up.
"Sorry about the mess." Yeah, that sounded sincere.
The note proceeded to point out where the biggest messes probably were.
"Sincerely, Me. P.S. Watch out for the booby traps. Don't think the 'bots set them all off."
"Booby traps?" One of the cleaners asked wide-eyed.
This was going to be an interesting clean-up…

Chapter Text

Ruby rolled over at the sound of her phone ringing and gave it a sleepy glare. Reaching her hand out she answered it irritably without checking caller id.
"What?" she growled.
There was a moment's silence before a shaky voice answered.
"Afternoon Ruby." Her manager's voice came though.
"Manager?" she mumbled sleepily.
"Yes." He answered quickly.
"What are you calling for? It's still daylight so I can't be late for my shift." She leaned her head back into the nice soft pillow that was calling her back to dreamland.
Such a nice dream too. Filled with exploding cookies.
"Um sorry to disturb you Ruby but I had no other choice. The day guard called in sick and there's no one else to replace him." He explained nervously.
It took Ruby's sleepy brain a moment to process this.
"So you want me to cover it?" she deduced.
"Yes. You'll be paid overtime of course." He assured her.
"Sure. Why not? It'll be nice to terrorise the staff instead of the 'bots for once." She smirked.
"Uh, yes. Well, see you in half an hour." He hung up.
Ruby sat up and stretched. She'd have to hype up on sugar and caffeine for the night but she should be fine. Getting dressed quickly she bounced down the stairs two at a time and grabbed something sugary from the kitchen.
Ricky was in the living room playing with some action figure when she ran for the door.
"Ruby?" he asked, looking up at her. "Where you going?"
"Gotta cover some guy's shift. He called in sick." She explained.
The boy's face morphed into a frown. "But you said you'd spend time with me today when you woke up." He whined.
She paused and looked over at him.
"I know, I'm sorry squirt. Can't leave them in the lurch like this though. I'll make it up to you okay?" she smiled at him.
He huffed in annoyance for a moment before nodding. She chuckled slightly and waved at him.
"See ya Ricky."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was a busy day at Freddy's so the animatronics didn't dwell on their night guard problem much. At least, until she walked through the front door.
Dressed in blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt with a sugar covered donut jammed into her mouth, she was juggling a cup of steaming coffee as well as her rather full backpack which seemed to be defying her every attempt to get back up on her shoulder.
"Ah R-R-Ruby." The manager walked up to her quickly and forced a smile. "Thank you for coming in."
"Mmmph." The night guard mumbled something around the food and nodded her head, glaring at her backpack.
"Ah well, you can settle in the office and then just keep an eye on things?" he asked.
She nodded again and headed off in the direction of the office, still struggling with her bag and coffee.
"What's she doing here?!" Bonnie hissed to Freddy while Chica just glared in annoyance.
"Looks like she's covering the day shift." Freddy murmured, frowning. "The afternoon guard called in sick remember?"
"Ugh, and there was no one else to call?" Bonnie rubbed his face in despair. "She's going to drive us nuts."
Surprisingly though, for the first hour she stayed in the office and left the 'bots alone. They only caught their first glimpse of her out of the office at two.
Bonnie groaned as she walked into the room and tried to distract himself with the kids clamouring for his attention.
"Where's your night guard cap?" one of the other employees asked however and he glanced over.
She really wasn't wearing it and now that he thought about it, she hadn't been wearing it all week.
He glanced in confusion at Freddy who shrugged, obviously having come to the same realisation.
Ruby eyed the man in annoyance.
"It's PURPLE." She stated as if that explained everything.
"So?" the man (who clearly had a death wish) asked.
She turned to face him fully, crossing her arms. "I don't LIKE purple. It's not my colour."
"It's part of the uniform." The man argued. "You've got to wear it."
She laughed and stepped closer. "I'd love to see you make me buddy. Might break your arm though. I don't wear it if I don't like it."
The poor man floundered around for a moment before he steeled himself to further argue his point. Luckily Jerry swept in to save the idiot.
"Here Ruby. It's a bit improvised but it should work just fine." He smiled shakily at her while pushing the other man away subtly.
Clever man.
Ruby just grinned brightly. "Thanks Jerry! It's fine."
She took the offered simple, black hat that had the company's logo pinned to it and jammed it down on her head.
"Well, I'd better get going. Supposed to be doing guard things after all." She waved at him, now completely ignoring the other man.
"Are you stupid?" Jerry hissed at the man when she was out the room.
He then proceeded to scold the man for provoking the unstable night guard.
"Huh. She doesn't like purple?" Freddy mused. "A night guard with taste in colour then."
Bonnie stayed quiet. He never liked the fact that his fur was the murderer's favourite colour after all. Slightly depressed now he moved towards some kids to do his entertaining job.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There was a lull in activity in Pirate's Cove so Foxy was taking a moment's break. He looked around at the room and smiled slightly. It really was a pirate's paradise.
A large replica of a pirate's ship stood in the centre of the room and it was surrounded by a sea of plastic balls. The walls were painted to give the illusion of the blue sky and sandy islands. There was also a large amount of pirate props all over the place for kids to play with.
"Wow I haven't been in here in years." A voice whistled from the doorway.
Surprised, he turned around to see the grinning night guard.
"What are you doing here lass?" he asked curiously.
"Manager asked me to cover the day shift since the guy called in sick." She walked further in, looking around with a nostalgic expression.
"Bet the others weren't impressed when they saw ya?" he chuckled.
"Nope." She smirked. "But I'm not here on animatronic business. I'm here on people babysitting."
He laughed at the description. Having an employee come up and speak to him willingly was actually a rather enjoyable feeling.
"I thought that maybe you'd be the only animatronic not likely to growl at me if I tried to start a conversation." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, her posture impossibly relaxed.
"Probably." He admitted. "I've got no problem with ya being here lass."
Her smile was almost blinding.
"Thanks." And it sounded like she meant it. "But don't worry, I won't bother the animatronics. They had enough of me last night I think. If anything I'll be driving the staff crazy instead."
He chuckled again as he watched her walk around looking at everything with that expression still on her face.
"So ya were in here a lot?" he asked.
She smiled back at him. "Yeah. My parents had to drag me out every time we visited."
Foxy looked thoughtful as he tried to think of which kid she was. She laughed at his expression.
"I was the kid who broke her arm falling off the mast after she thought it was a great idea to climb to the top." She explained.
Foxy gaped at her. "You're that little spitfire? You drove the staff crazy with your antics! Actually it kind of makes sense now that I think about it."
He laughed again as he remembered the little girl. She was always getting into trouble one way or another.
And she had been back in Pirate's Cove, cast and all, the week after her fall as if nothing had happened.
"You were my favourite back then." Her eyes glazed over a bit as she thought back. "Still are."
She smirked at his shocked expression.
"You think some homicidal behaviour is going to change that?" she grinned and he shook his head in defeat.
"You really are something Ruby." He grinned, the fond feelings he had had for the girl rising back to the surface as she smiled that now very familiar cheeky smile.
She had been his favourite back then too.
"Remember the sword fight?" she asked suddenly.
"Yeah." His grin widened.
She was a fantastic swordswoman at seven.
"Just about gave my mom a heart attack that day. I asked for a real sword for my upcoming birthday." Her smirk turned just a bit devious. "I'm probably the only kid in the world who can say that I had that wish come true. She figured if she didn't give it to me I'd find a way to get my hands on one anyway."
"I believe you." He laughed. "You were a determined lass. Still are."
He sobered a bit and looked at her critically.
"Why are you so determined to stick around Ruby?" he asked.
Her expression turned thoughtful. "I guess, originally I thought it would be great to see you guys again. After that…You guys don't seem as happy as you were back then."
His eyes widened.
"Bonnie looks a lot better when he's actively running around instead of sneaking all over the place don't you think?"
"Hmmm, yeah. Things have been a lot more exciting since you showed up. They're stubborn though, so they won't see it." Foxy shrugged one shoulder.
"Well then, I'll just out-stubborn them." Her eyes sparkled as she headed back to the doorway. "I'd better get back to my job. Thanks for the talk Foxy. It's great to see you again."
"Yeah lass, it is." He smiled softly at the empty room once she was gone. "And I don't doubt that you can get through to them. I hope you don't get hurt for your trouble though."
With that he turned to the group of children that were just entering the cove, his thoughts still heavily on Ruby.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The night guard was recharging on coffee in the kitchen when Bonnie walked in to pick up a pizza for one of the tables. The kitchen staff shivered at the glare he shot the girl but she seemed oblivious, alternating between the coffee and biting into a chocolate chip cookie.
As he stalked past her to get the pizza she smirked at his back. "Afternoon Bonnie!" she chirped as everyone in the room paled in shock.
The NIGHT GUARD just spoke to an ANIMATRONIC.
They really hoped that there wouldn't be a blood bath in the kitchen. Bonnie on the other hand just growled at her as he turned around with the pizza in his hands. There was a moment of tense silence as the two stared each other down but it was broken by a sudden bang.
The sound, now very familiar to the two, caused them to turn around in confusion. One of the staff members had backed up too quickly and bumped into the counter behind him. Trying to regain his balance he had grabbed at the frying pan above him. That, however, had set off one of her leftover traps…
The poor man was now covered in cream.
No one was even sure how the trap had worked.
Ruby started laughing of course. "I forgot about that one! I distracted Chica in the kitchen before she set off my Cream Frying Pan prank. This is brilliant though!"
She curled into herself as she laughed. Bonnie rolled his eyes and turned to leave. Unknown to the rest of the room however, he was trying to keep his own laughter stifled. It was a good prank. Not that she had to know that he thought that.
Ruby downed her coffee as the creamed employee made a grab for her and darted around the table. Digging in her bag she quickly produced three cookies and tossed them like Frisbees. Three bangs later the kitchen had been streamer-ed and Ruby was laughing maniacally as she escaped.
"What?" she called back. "Thought the 'bots were the only ones I was going to bother?"
Luckily for her the staff wasn't as familiar with the vent system as she was.
Bonnie took a moment to collect himself in a side hallway before taking the pizza into the room. However, for some reason he felt like his mood had improved since that morning.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby spent a lot of the afternoon terrorising the staff. The people that laughed the pranks off and enjoyed her energetic attitude found that they had fun. The people that found them, and her, irritating suffered though.
"Exploding biscuits?! Glitter bombs?! There was a tripwire across the staff bathroom entryway! And she covered the floor in peanut butter!" Henry complained, wiping said peanut butter off his face.
Jerry chuckled. "She's just having fun Henry."
The other man muttered profanities as the two moved through one of the rooms. The kids however found these sudden jokes and traps hilarious and Ruby seemed to have recruited a bunch of them to help in her mission.
It turned out that she was a hit with the kids.
They loved her random behaviour and she led them on many a 'mission' that day. It wasn't just mischief that she was good with though and that surprised a lot of people (and 'bots).
A tearful child grabbed onto Ruby's pant leg and looked up at her.
"Miss Security Guard?" he asked hesitantly.
She looked down, immediately stowing away the glitter mine in her hand. Her sudden change from sadistic prankster to concerned security guard threw the nearby employees and 'bots off balance.
"Yes sweety? Is something wrong?" she wiped the tears from the boy's face.
"I can't find my mommy." He hiccupped slightly.
He looked only about five years old.
"Shhh honey shhh. It's alright. We'll go looking for your mommy right away okay?" she smiled gently at him.
Still teary-eyed he nodded his head.
"Alright. Now I'm sure you can't see anything from down there so how about a lift?" she smiled mischievously.
Suddenly she swept the boy off the floor and settled him on her shoulders, startling a delighted laugh out of him.
"So how about we give you some height?" she laughed with him and started walking around, keeping an eye out for distressed mothers while he babbled about how much fun he was having.
After ten minutes of looking she finally spotted a panicky looking woman speaking to the manager.
"Hey sweetheart?" she said, catching the boy's attention. "Is that her?"
The boy followed her finger and squealed in happiness. "Mommy!"
Ruby smiled and swung the boy down into her arms before heading over to the woman.
"-and I only looked away for a second and then he was gone!" she wailed as Ruby got closer.
"Ma'am?" Ruby asked to get her attention.
The distressed woman turned around, eyes zeroing in on the boy in her arms.
"Joshua!" she cried in relief.
She watched the pair reunite for a moment nodding at the babbled thanks before grinning at the manager and excusing herself.
"These Glitter Mines aren't going to plant themselves after all." She snickered.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Finally closing time rolled around to the relief of the employees. Ruby smiled sweetly as she left, calling out that she would see the animatronics that night.
The humans all sighed in relief when she was gone.
"She's impossible." One grumbled while trying to pull glittery peanut butter from his hair.
"Yeah." Another answered with a grin. "But she makes things interesting."
No one could argue with that.

Chapter Text

Ruby settled in her chair, looking around the room suspiciously for a certain golden bear. Unknown to her, Goldy still hadn't reappeared and certainly wasn't going to appear that night. She was perfectly happy to sit in her poster and hope that Ruby didn't accidentally summon her.
"Hello, hello?" 'Steve's' voice cut through the silence in the room.
"Hey Steve. Did you know that this place is haunted by a golden ghost bear?" Ruby asked conversationally as she opened a packet of sour worms.
She was going to need a lot of sugar after all. And caffeine. A thermos of coffee sat on the desk next to her elbow.
"Hey! Hey, wow, day 4. I knew you could do it."
"Thanks but seriously? The ghost bear? Does no one know about this?" Ruby asked before taking a sip of her coffee.
"Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow." 'Steve' sounded nervous.
Ruby froze and stared at the phone, her breathing growing shallow as bangs were also heard in the background of the phone call.
"It's-It's been a bad night here for me."
"Steve?" Ruby murmured, dread curling up in her stomach.
"Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you," 'Steve' cleared his throat, "uh, when I did."
"Oh no." she whispered, knowing exactly what was happening…and what was about to happen.
"Uh, hey, do me a favour." More banging echoed in the background.
"No! No last requests! It makes this feel all too real." Ruby couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the phone.
"Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?" the banging grew louder.
Ruby's eyes grew sad.
"I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad."
"Steve…" the banging grew even louder.
"Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there." Some kind of tune or chime played suddenly.
"You know..." a deep moan sounded, "oh, no"
Suddenly there was a screech followed by ominous static.
Ruby was left to stare in horrified grief at the phone.
Knowing that people had been killed and hearing it were two different things.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foxy stared pensively at the wall. Ruby would be listening to THAT phone call now.
"How are you going to react lass? Can ya forgive even this?" he murmured to himself.
Maybe this would be the final straw to chase her off. The idea made him sad but he knew it would probably be for the best for her.
She didn't deserve the fate of a night guard.
She didn't deserve any of this really.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bonnie stared blankly ahead of him. Night four was when they all kicked the game into high gear. Freddy was going to be going all out and he expected them to do the same.
His eyes flicked to the camera momentarily. Still no movement. That was weird. Normally at this point the guard was frantically checking the cameras but Ruby hadn't even checked once.
Did they actually scare her off he wondered.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chica tried not to think of what the phone call was revealing in the office. She often tried to forget. It wasn't nice to discover afterwards that the very thing that she was trying to forget had actually been immortalized on tape.
They hadn't known that he had been recording at the time, just thought that he was talking to himself.
Night guards all dealt with this situation differently after all.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Freddy felt nervous. Night four was when they all worked harder and together since they were running out of time to catch the guard. However this time they were down two…
Foxy still flat out refused to help while Goldy would probably run even if she was summoned.
Would they be able to accomplish this?
They only had two nights left…
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Goldy peeked out of her poster.
"Nope." She decided and went back into hiding.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby finally took a look at the cameras. EVERYONE was out (except Foxy). She sighed and set her mouth into a determined line. Now was not the time to be spacing out. She had a mission to accomplish after all.
She looked around and quickly scurried into the room across from her. She hadn't been here before. Ruby looked around at the animatronic heads and parts and gave an involuntary shiver. It was as still as a graveyard. Steeling herself she reached into her bag and pulled out a can of spray paint. She couldn't exactly fulfil 'Steve's' final request with the amount of time that had passed but she could do it in her own way.
Five minutes later she was done and turned to leave. Pausing for a moment she glanced back. On the wall of the parts and services room she had spray painted a message.
"STEVE WAS HERE."
A little cartoon phone was painted next to it.
At least he wouldn't be forgotten. She smiled slightly.
"I won't forget Steve." She murmured. "And I'm ending this nightmare. I'm bringing the 'bots I knew back."
With a determined smile she turned and headed back into the game.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bonnie should have known that a heavy atmosphere would have not lasted with Ruby around. He also should have known that Ruby would not be scared off that easily.
"Oh Bonnie. Green is so not your colour. I'll have to try something else next time." The night guard in front of him pulled a face at his appearance.
He'd been stalking down the hallway like normal and then, out of the blue, a balloon had come flying at him. It had hit square in his chest and he now had dripping lime green paint on his front.
Lime green.
"Green, I can handle. Paint I can handle. But what were you thinking with LIME green?" Bonnie yelled but it came out more like a whine.
Ruby smiled at him innocently. "I've been traumatized! My colour sense went out the window."
"Traumatized?!" Bonnie narrowed his eyes at her. "You have no idea."
He leapt at her as she dodged and found himself being hit with another balloon. This one held orange paint.
Neon orange.
He groaned. "Are you colour-blind!?"
She laughed at him. "Hey I put the paint in the balloons but even I don't know what colour's in them until it pops."
He growled and charged at her again. She ducked under his arms and spun behind him. He was nailed in the back of the head next and turned to glare at her.
She snickered at him. "Puke yellow." She provided since he couldn't see.
Suddenly Chica dived at her out of nowhere and Ruby dodged at the last second.
"So close." Ruby grinned, a little breathless.
She tossed a balloon at the chicken who was unluckily hit in the face with baby blue.
How many of those did she have?
"Come on you two! I'm not feeling any murderous intent!" she goaded and laughed when they both made a grab for her.
As she dodged though, Freddy also appeared and she barely avoided being grabbed by him. "Well looks like everyone's here."
Ruby smiled at the three of them as they growled.
"So I can bring out the big guns then right?"
She reached behind her as Bonnie felt suddenly nervous. A long gun of some sort appeared?!
"What the-" Chica started but was cut off as she and the others were pelted by paintballs.
"Paintball gun!" Ruby sang as she covered them in bright, neon pink spots of paint. "Modified of course."
She grinned evilly as they staggered to regain their balance when she paused. Freddy recovered first and pounced at her but she danced out of the way.
"It's Paint Night!" she hollered and threw a paint balloon at Freddy's face before sprinting away cackling.
Bonnie groaned as Freddy wiped the grey paint out of his eyes. The rabbit animatronic kicked a nearby dustbin and suddenly a bang echoed down the corridor.
"She hid a glitter mine in the dustbin?!" he screeched. "Great, now I'm painted and glittered."
He threw his arms up in aggravation while Chica leaned over to Freddy.
"How'd she know that he would kick the dustbin?" she whispered.
Freddy just shook his head in annoyance.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foxy was listening to the far off yells and bangs when suddenly Ruby came barrelling into Pirate's Cove. He jumped slightly but recovered as she crouched down trying to stifle her laughter.
Looking up at him he noticed the sparkle in her eye and she grinned. "They look like they were hit by a colour blind abstract artist."
It was impossible to not smile back or chuckle at that image.
"Mind if I recharge here for a moment? Didn't get much sleep with the double shift."
He shook his head as he settled back down.
"Thanks." She pulled a thermos out of her backpack along with a bag of chips. "Running on caffeine and sugar at the moment. And a lot of adrenaline. They're pretty good when they work together."
"So what are ya doing to them tonight lass?" he asked.
"It's Paint Night so paint balloons, my paintball gun and everything related to paint. Not to mention the glitter. Gotta have the glitter." She smirked as she tore into her chips.
Another bang went off as Foxy chuckled and Ruby beamed.
"Someone found the tripwire-activated-paint-bucket."
Foxy smirked. "It exploded?"
"Yeah. It drops from its perch and 'boom' on impact." She took a gulp of coffee, always listening.
"Surprised to see that you seem to be fine lass. I thought the phone call would bother you more." He murmured after a moment of silence.
She looked at the fox for a moment before gazing up at the ceiling. "Hmmmmm. There's a reason."
"Huh?" Foxy blinked.
"There's a reason you guys are doing this." She continued to look up. "You're obviously not doing it for fun."
Foxy watched her quietly.
"So that means I can't judge without knowing what that reason is."
She glanced at Foxy who had a solemn expression on his face.
"But none of you seem ready to talk yet so I'll hang around until you are. Besides, he seemed to like you all despite the whole 'Kill the night guard' thing." She finally looked at Foxy again.
"And so do I, so I'm sticking around." Her smile was confidant but gentle at the same time. "That's all."
"Even if you're in danger?" Foxy asked softly.
She nodded as she drank some more coffee.
"We don't have a choice lass. It's not going to go away." The defeated undertone caught her attention.
She frowned at him.
"On night six we don't have a choice and things get bad. Really bad." His eyes seemed to grow distant for a moment.
Ruby was quiet for a moment.
"Someone or something is forcing you?" she clarified.
He nodded.
She bit her lip for a moment. "Anyone ever survive night six?"
Foxy averted his eyes and shook his head.
"Well, there's a first time for everything." She stood up and wiped the crumbs off her clothing.
The pirate fox looked up in surprise.
"Don't underestimate me Foxy." She grinned. "I swore that I'd end this nightmare. I promised Steve and I don't break my promises."
As she raced out of the room Foxy stared after her. "Who's Steve?"
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bonnie (who could no longer be classified as a purple rabbit) raced after the night guard who seemed to be almost giddy with sugar. He had seen a lot of sugar highs in his life but this was one of the worst.
"ComeonBonnieyou'vegottorunfasterifyouwanttocatchmeandlookatthatprettypictureisn'tthatnice?"she babbled on at super speed while lobbing balloons over her shoulder with terrifying accuracy.
Eventually frustrated beyond belief he managed to snag a balloon out of the air and without thinking threw it back at her.
She froze in surprise as pink paint mixed into her hair and ran down the back of her neck. Bonnie froze in surprise too. She looked back at him before a laugh bubbled out of her lips.
"That's the spirit Bonnie!" she cheered and hit him in the shoulder with white paint. "Have some fun."
And then she was off again.
Bonnie stared at his hand in surprise. A smile broke over his face as a chuckle escaped his mouth.
"That felt good." He admitted. "Really good."
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Eventually the night slipped away and 6 AM chimed. The 'bots dragged themselves to the stage.
"How are we going to clean up this time?" Chica wondered looking around at the multi-coloured group.
"You need a bath." Ruby's voice caused them to spin around.
She leaned against the doorframe but before they could say anything to the currently pink-haired night guard, she let out a huge yawn.
"Sugar crash." She mumbled before she stumbled over to a table and curled up on top.
Seconds later she was asleep.
"Did she just…" Bonnie's voice died away as his disbelief grew.
The others stared at her with mouths agape as well.
Foxy chuckled from the doorway. "Well, she did do a double shift."
They looked over at the paint-free fox.
"That's just not fair." Bonnie whined.
"Well I didn't try and kill her." Foxy shot a look at the others.
Ruby mumbled something in her sleep and flopped over onto her back. "I didn't use the dynamite mom."
That comment itself was a cause for concern.
"Hope she doesn't have any dynamite left." Bonnie muttered, moderately worried.
"Why are you being so difficult Foxy?" Freddy growled.
The pirate's ears fell back in annoyance.
"I'm not participating." He bit out.
Chica tried to reason with him. "Come on Foxy, please. We need your help."
The fox's eyes narrowed in anger while Bonnie stayed surprisingly quiet, glancing at the night guard occasionally.
"Lass, I told ya already. I'm not participating."
Before anyone could say anything else Ruby muttered again. "Foxy senses…tingling…"
She sat bolt upright and a fiery glare zeroed in on the animatronics.
"As role models to children you should not initiate peer pressure in any way. Do you want the children who love you to learn these behaviours at such a young impressionable age? Honestly. Basically, it boils down to: leave Foxy alone. Or I machine gun you down." She stared at them for a moment before she flopped back on the table.
She was back to sleep in seconds.
Foxy let out a laugh. "The lass just never gets boring hey?"
The others just stared at this, wondering when things got so weird in their world.

Chapter Text

The cleaning crew were dumbfounded to find the sleeping guard. Strangely enough, when they approached her, she woke up immediately. Unfortunately for them her instinctual reaction was to lob a paint balloon straight at them.
She blinked blearily for a moment before scowling.
"Why'd you wake me up? I was having such a nice dream…" she climbed off the table and headed in the (general) direction of the door.
She yawned as she mumbled something about paint before disappearing.
"What is wrong with that girl?" one person asked while the one who was hit scrubbed at his pink face.
"That's what I'd like to know." Bonnie muttered under his breath while he watched the scene out of the corner of his eye.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby fell face first onto her bed with a groan. She hadn't been this tired in ages. It was a good tired though. Turning her head so she didn't suffocate in the blanket she stared out of her window at the lightening sky.
"I should probably wash my hair." She murmured as she felt the itch of dry paint on her head. "Bonnie's a good shot."
Against her will her eyes were drifting shut.
"Maybe later." She yawned, rolling over.
Staring at the darkness behind her eyelids she reflected on what had happened that night.
"Bonnie seemed to have some fun at least." She mumbled again, a smile twitching the corner of her mouth up. "Reminds me of the good old days. And talking to Foxy again is awesome."
She drifted off to sleep like that, memories of a brighter time flitting across her tired mind.
Loud noises from downstairs woke Ruby up and she glanced at the clock before settling into the "furious that someone woke her up too early" mood.
"It's eleven." She moaned into her pillow. "In the morning. Don't these people have any idea that I work the NIGHT shift."
After listening to the yelling for a moment she determined that it was coming from outside the house and that one of the voices was Ricky. She was lost in thought for a moment.
"Isn't Ricky supposed to be at his friend's house? It's Friday. He always has plans on a Friday as long as its holiday." She frowned and tried to identify the other voices.
They weren't familiar in the least but definitely seemed young, about Ricky's age maybe.
And Ricky sounded kind of angry. Ricky was never angry since he was one of the sweetest kids she had ever known.
Older sister instincts kicking in she managed to drag herself out of bed and towards the door.
"Ooooh." She cradled her head while the room spun. "Sugar hangover."
And this was why she didn't actively try and reach a sugar high. The after effects were awful.
Finally grabbing the door handle she stumbled out of her room and down the stairs. Her first stop was the kitchen since the headache was drowning the sister instincts at this point.
Pouring herself a glass of ice water she downed the contents before refilling it. Feeling marginally better after the third glass she turned and headed towards the front door. She passed a mirror on the way and paused to look at her reflection.
Wow was she sporting one heck of a bedhead. She grinned. It had to be one of her best ones and that was probably because of the pink paint forcing it up in random directions.
She chuckled to herself. "I wish I could have paint fights with Bonnie more often. He's a great shot."
She scratched at her head as she looked the rest of herself over. She wasn't exactly in perfect condition but she wasn't in "hide in your room while you try to bring about a presentable appearance" bad so she shrugged and headed out the door.
The moment she opened the door the yelling reached full volume and assaulted her ears, and by extent her headache. She groaned and glared at the kids standing in the front yard. Ricky was standing near the fence, fists clenched at his sides, glaring at a bigger boy who stood in front of him. There were three strangers, two boys on either side of the bigger kid.
Even through her sugar hangover and sleep deprived brain she could already tell what was happening.
Bullies.
Being the sweet kid that Ricky was he tended to attract his fair share of bullies. Of course none of them stuck around for long when they met his big sister.
She grinned sadistically.
After all, this was her home turf. She spent a lot more time on this property than at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and look at what she could accomplish there.
"OI!" she yelled causing them all to jump and look at her.
Of course the bullies broke out laughing at the sight of the pink-haired teen but she flat-out ignored them and looked at Ricky.
"Thought you were heading to a friend's today Ricky?" she asked.
"I was but I had to come back to fetch something." Ricky looked up at her curiously, his anger forgotten for the moment. "What's with the paint?"
"Paint fight at work." Ruby waved her hand dismissively (as if that was a normal statement) as the bullies stopped laughing when they realised that they were being ignored. "What did you come back for?"
"A game-" Ricky was cut off by bully one.
"What a weirdo. So you're not the only one? Who's this anyway?" he sneered.
"My sister…" Ricky trailed off as he recognised that certain shine in Ruby's eyes that showed when she was in an extra sadistic mood.
The idiot laughed. "Your sister? So the weirdness is a family trait?"
"And just who are you brat?" Ruby raised her eyebrow and asked in a tone that would have had the animatronics running for the hills.
The kid rattled off his name which Ruby forgot instantly as she had decided on her own name for the brat.
"Listen here Zit, are you causing my kid brother problems? 'Cause if you are you're in some serious trouble."
"What?!" the boy screeched at his new nickname.
"So then, Zit and the ACNE gang. Quit with the squeaking and answer the question. What are you doing here?" she smoothly talked over his furious protests.
"You-you-do you know who I am?!" he yelled in that pretentious "my daddy is important and is so going to punish you" way that seemed to afflict many rich, spoiled kids.
Ruby stared at him, blinked once and then twice before answering.
"Zit and the ACNE gang? Seriously, maybe you should get your hearing checked. Or your memory. It was like the last thing I said."
The boy dissolved into furious spluttering while Ruby stared at him, waiting patiently for an answer.
"You stupid, short tramp!" he yelled.
The fact that an eight-year-old had said that didn't really register on her brain as her mind only latched onto one word.
"Short?" she growled dangerously.
Ricky gulped nervously.
Zit smirked, thinking he had hit the right sore spot while his lackeys snickered.
"Yeah, short. How old are you anyway? And what's with the paint, shorty. Get the dye mixed up with the paint?" Zit laughed.
Ruby stilled for a moment before smiling brightly. Ricky broke out in a cold sweat. THAT could not be good.
"Oh is that what you think honey? Nice to see that the youth of today are so STRAIGHT FORWARD and HONEST." Her smile was kind of creepy.
"Huh?" Zit and his gang stared at her in confusion.
"Although, I don't really appreciate your comments. So I'm going to teach you a very valuable lesson." She smiled sweetly.
"Lesson? What are you talking about you weirdo?" Zit glared at her.
Ricky was starting to edge away from the obviously doomed kids.
"Yes. Just because it's holidays doesn't mean that children can't learn anything new." Her smile then got distinctly creepy and Ricky took off in a flat out sprint.
Ruby brought a remote out of her pocket and clicked a button. Immediately the gates behind the boys shut with an ominous clash of metal. The kids jumped and looked back with wide eyes.
"Now, the lesson is simple. If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all!" Ruby said in a sing-song voice.
She pulled some kind of ball out of a bucket nearby. "And I'm going to make sure that you remember this for a long, long, long time."
She threw the ball at their feet where it exploded. The glitter that covered them was annoying. The smell that hit them was even worse. As they began to gag Ruby pulled on a gas mask that she had produced from somewhere.
"Skunk spray." She explained as their eyes began to tear up. "Nasty stuff. Hard to come across but so worth it."
Somehow her evil grin came across even behind the mask.
The boys spun around and tried to pull the gate open only to fail miserably. Ruby cackled as she threw more stink bombs at them. They gave up on the gate and tried to run around her towards the backyard.
Unfortunately if you didn't live there, you wouldn't know that the backyard was prank heaven for Ruby.
First they hit trip wire which caused them to stumble and, more importantly, to get doused in sparkly glitter infused pink paint. Backpedalling from that led them to falling into a sand pit. The sand stuck in the paint as they pulled themselves up only to notice that the lawnmower had somehow started up and was gunning them down. Shrieking they ran over in Ruby's direction who rolled her eyes at their dramatics. She pulled off the mask as she held up the remote again.
Like she would actually let them be lawnmower-ed. She cut the power to it when it got close using the remote and watched them hit another tripwire, this one covering them with a wire net. A lovely sticky wire net. Glitter glue was a wonderful thing.
Groaning they looked up as a camera flash went off. She was grinning down at them manically.
"Learnt the lesson?" she asked sweetly.
They nodded frantically, eager to get out of the trap-filled yard and away from the crazy girl.
"Yay! I should become a teacher!" she cheered while they paled at the thought.
Eventually she let them out of the net and led them to the gate. As she opened it and before they could run in all their stinky, sparkly, pink, sandy glory; Ruby couldn't resist throwing in one more prank.
They had called her short after all. Age did not excuse that level of stupidity. She was infamous in this area after all.
"Have a cookie." The thrown cookie covered the boys in streamers as she turned around happily and walked back to the house where Ricky had taken cover at the beginning.
Entering she decided on a shower as her head was just too itchy from the paint now to ignore.
"Ricky! It's safe now!" she called and the kid's head popped out over the back of the sofa.
She tossed him the picture and grinned at his hysterical laughter.
"So what was their problem?" she asked once he had quietened down.
He looked down nervously. "Just been picking on me for a while."
Ruby raised her eyebrow, silently asking for elaboration.
Ricky sighed and slumped against the couch. "They just like to bother me. All the time. They saw me today and followed me here and started teasing me about…you know."
His eyes grew sad as he looked down at his hands. "I don't think I'll go back to Ryan's house today…"
Ruby paused and then turned to walk over to him. She kissed his forehead causing him to look up in surprise.
"Just use the old "psycho-sister" threat." She grinned at him. "And you need fast food."
Ricky beamed up at her. "You're the best psycho-sister ever!"
Ruby laughed. "I know. Just give me ten minutes to wash my hair and then we can head out. I did promise to make it up to you after cancelling yesterday."
Ricky did a little happy dance. "Yes!"
Ruby laughed again. "What you in the mood for?"
"Pizza!" Ricky yelled.
Ruby didn't even miss a step. "Cool, I can get an employee discount."
"She's back!" Chica hissed to Freddy causing his head to whip around.
And so she was, pushing open the door and eliciting groans from a number of employees.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Hi Ruby?" Jerry, nearest the door, asked in confusion.
Suddenly a young boy bounced through the door behind her and ran into the pizzeria.
"Hey Jerry. Here as a customer today. Ricky's in dire need of pizza." She pointed towards the hyper kid who was looking around in excitement.
"I see. Well there's an empty table over there." Jerry pointed to a free table near Pirate's Cove.
Ruby grabbed Ricky's collar before he could dart out of sight and pulled him in its direction with a wave at Jerry.
"Come on squirt. You wanted pizza right?" Ricky grinned up at her.
"Can't we get a break from her?" Bonnie groaned.
Surprisingly though Ruby only seemed to give Ricky some instructions, pointed to some rooms (of course she pointed to Pirate's Cove) before face-planting on the desk and falling asleep.
Ricky certainly didn't seem fazed as he ran off to enjoy the pizzeria.
"You know, she's just weird." Chica shook her head as they watched the off-duty security guard snooze at the table.
"Yeah, sis gives everyone that impression." A voice caught their attention.
The three 'bots looked down at the grinning boy. They all pushed aside their annoyed feelings and smiled at the kid. They had a job to do after all.
"Hey there, first time at Freddy's?" Bonnie asked.
He shook his head. "I've been here before but when I was really small. So you work with Ruby?"
"Y-yeah." Chica forced a smile. "Sure do."
Ricky stared at them for a moment before his expression became sympathetic.
"Wow she already did a number on you, didn't she?"
"Huh?" Bonnie asked.
"Ruby's really good at annoying everyone. So I've become really good at noticing which people have been Ruby-ed. You're definitely victims." He looked very serious. "Glitter mines?"
Bonnie's drooped ears were all the answer he needed.
"Yeah but she's really nice when you get to know her. She's the best sister you know?" he smiled brightly before spotting a group of kids he knew.
"Well bye. And give her a chance. She's really fun." He ran off to join the group.
"Nice kid." Bonnie murmured as they all glanced back at the sleeping night guard.
"Wish she would just quit though." Chica mumbled.
Freddy sighed as he watched the kid run around. How would he react if his sister didn't come home one day?
Ruby woke up to hunt Ricky down and order him pizza, then again to introduce him to Foxy. Pirate Cove was busy that day though so they couldn't talk much so Ruby took Ricky home after about an hour.
She still needed to sleep after all. Fifth night was guaranteed to be difficult as Foxy had warned her.
Naturally the employees found the place booby trapped again even though she had slept most of her visit. There were now paint bombs in every trashcan and glitter mines in the vents.
She'd even swapped out every staff members lunch with exploding versions. Exploding peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were not pretty…
Neither was exploding salad. Or pudding.
Oh the pudding was never going to come out…

Chapter Text

After squeezing as much sleep out of the rest of the day as possible Ruby headed off to work. She was curious as to what the animatronics would try next. Settling down in the chair she was hit with a wave of sorrow as she realized that 'Steve' wouldn't be phoning again (even though they were technically recordings). Why was she in the office then?
Her train of thought was effectively derailed when the phone rang.
Ruby stared at it in shock.
"Huh?"
The ringing cut out.
"Steve?" Ruby wondered hopefully.
What came out of the phone was definitely NOT 'Steve'.
Ruby covered her ears in response to the awful sound. When it finally stopped she stared at it with wide eyes for a moment, her jaw slightly slack.
Slowly a look of anger came over her features.
"When I get my hands on the idiot who thought that that was a good idea…" she growled. "Messing with my hopes like that."
Angrily she threw the mug that was on the table at the wall, the sound of the crash echoing eerily through the building. Taking a few deep breaths she finally remembered the murderous animatronics and pulled the tablet towards her while grumbling under her breath.
Everyone was out (minus the less stubborn Foxy). So she was dealing with Chica, Bonnie and Freddy again. She hadn't seen the ghost bear since that first encounter so she assumed it was safe to count her out too.
Pulling out a long scarf from her bag Ruby smiled in glee. She had had the perfect idea to make tonight fun after all…
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Besides that crash that they had heard earlier, the night was rather quiet so far. It was putting the 'bots on edge. No glitter mines, no paintball guns, no manic security guard. No explosions. It was creepy.
Bonnie shivered as he wandered down the hallways. Without the constant activity it was kind of lonely now.
Suddenly a figure at the end of the hall caught his attention and he prepared himself for whatever craziness she had cooked up this time.
He…really wasn't prepared in the least.
He stared at the security guard who was wearing black again but had now added a scarf which hid her face and was standing in a familiar stance.
But she couldn't be…
Could she?
"You're a ninja tonight?!" Bonnie blurted out, disbelief beating all his other feelings.
Despite the scarf he knew she was smirking at him.
"Not just any ninja!" she declared, leaping to the top of a pile of boxes that really shouldn't have held her weight.
"I am the one and only food ninja! I bring about victory with the use of my edible tools!" she yelled so loudly that the others had to have heard her too.
Not a stealthy ninja then.
Bonnie was still staring at her in shock so he really was just a sitting duck for the cookie shuriken she threw at him. And yes, they were her exploding streamer variety. Swiping at the streamers he saw her turn around and run off laughing.
He wasn't smiling or feeling relief that the eerie quiet had been broken. He wasn't. Honestly.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chica chased the security guard into the kitchen, her 'protect her kitchen' instincts kicking in hurriedly.
"Don't even try anything night guard!" the chicken screeched.
Ruby spun around on the counter she was standing on for some reason and gestured grandly at the room.
"The kitchen is the food ninja's domain yellow bird." She declared boldly, brandishing a frying pan. "Do you believe you can best me here?"
Chica (having lost sight of her goal entirely now) grabbed a frying pan as well and the two began to duel. Ruby was far more agile and took advantage of this by leaping onto and over counters. Chica was stronger though and as such could press her harder.
Finally Chica knocked the frying pan out of Ruby's hand.
"Ha!" Chica crowed. "I win!"
"Not quite!" Ruby countered, leaping onto another counter.
With a sweep of her leg she sent a pizza towards the chicken who naturally tried to catch it. No use wasting food after all.
And then it exploded. Chica blindly batted at the hot cheese covering her as Ruby cried out in triumph.
"That's cheating!" the yellow animatronic wailed.
Ruby wagged her finger.
"Ninjas focus solely on completing their missions. There is no 'fair' in this world."
She then proceeded to throw pepperoni and tomato sauce on her adversary and dart towards the door. "There, now you are one with the pizza Featherhead!"
Chica's outraged scream drowned out Ruby's laugh for once.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Freddy hadn't found the irritating night guard but he had found the murderous chicken. Now he remembered why he tried not to get on her bad side. She was sweet 99% of the time but the other 1%... Best not to think about it.
Finally he spotted the so-called 'food ninja' across the room he had just entered and growled.
She turned to him and waved. However the thing that caught his attention wasn't that she was painting on the wall with tomato sauce, but what was in her other hand.
His microphone.
"Put. The microphone. Down." He ordered.
Ruby looked from him to the microphone and back again.
"Oh is this yours Freddy?" she asked innocently.
He growled.
"Well I supposed I should return it then." She sighed in disappointment. "Almost as bad as me messing with Bonnie's guitar isn't it?"
Which she hadn't done yet he realised. It was kind of surprising.
Those thoughts went out of his head though when she threw the microphone at him.
Immediately panicking he made a desperate dive for it. Luckily he caught it just in time and breathed a sigh of relief.
"What were you thinking?" he growled at her. "Do you have no respect for other people's property?"
She then proceeded to pull out a remote and press a button. The microphone in his hands immediately burst into a cloud of glitter.
"Glitter microphone!" she hollered in glee. "I left your real one backstage."
Freddy pounced at her and she danced out of the way laughing.
Unfortunately, her foot caught on the leg of a chair and she tripped, her giggling cutting off. She hit her elbow on the ground and yelped.
"Stupid funny bone." She grumbled. "The very opposite of funny."
She was literally yanked from her complaining by Freddy when he grabbed her arm in a bruising grip and lifted her off the floor.
"You're not getting away this time night guard." He growled, nose to nose with her.
She blinked in surprise before she pulled something out of her pocket with her other hand.
Freddy stared at it. "A pen?"
She grinned before she pulled the cap off with her teeth. Without hesitation she jammed the pen into one of his joints and clicked the back of it.
Instantly his body was flooded with electricity. Shocked (literally and emotionally) he let go of her arm. She quickly skipped out of reach and waved the pen around.
"Taser pen!" she sang before running out of the room.
It was a full five minutes before Freddy could move properly again.
"She's starting to tick me off." He glared at the hallway she had disappeared down.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby ran into Pirate's Cove sometime around 3 AM. Foxy lazily opened his eye and watched her try to breathe and giggle madly simultaneously.
"Having fun lass?" he asked with a smirk, taking note of the scarf.
She looked up at him and nodded since she still couldn't get enough breath to talk.
"And the scarf?" he asked.
Finally drawing in enough air she straightened up.
"I am the food ninja." She declared proudly.
"Are you now?" he chuckled.
"Yup. It was food ninja or food pirate but, well, I got something special planned for the pirate thing." She grinned happily.
"I'm sure you do." Foxy chuckled at the thought. "Driving them nuts again?"
She nodded but then her smile melted into a frown and she looked down for a moment.
"Ruby?" Foxy asked, sitting up.
He hadn't seen such a troubled look on her face before.
"What's wrong lass?"
She sighed and pulled herself up onto Pirate Cove's stage where the fox was sitting.
"I guess…I just…" her frown deepened as she struggled to voice her thoughts.
Foxy waited patiently, wondering what could be bothering the girl.
"It's that ghost bear." She finally sighed.
"Goldy?" Foxy asked in surprise.
"Yeah, her. Um, I didn't…hurt her did I?" she glanced at him and then back to the floor.
"It's just that I haven't seen her since. Not even a glimpse. I know it seems like I'm enjoying myself too much sometimes but permanent damage isn't the goal here." She paused for a moment again. "And well, I never exactly knew the ghost-Goldy, but I'm guessing she's a friend of the gang's?"
She looked up at Foxy again. He smiled gently at her.
"Don't worry about Goldy. You just gave her a bit of a scare and she's nowhere near as stubborn about this job as the rest of them so she'll probably only be out in a few days. It's happened before. Bonnie introduced her to firecrackers once. It…didn't end well." He grimaced at the memory a bit.
Ruby giggled at the thought.
"This been bothering you for a while?" he asked.
"Yeah. I didn't actually mean to hit her like that. Instinctive reaction." She frowned again. "It can be a bit of a problem sometimes. I get a fright or someone tries to surprise me and, boom. And the yelling part too. Short temper."
She waved at herself in general.
"Don't worry about it lass. Goldy will be fine in a few days and curious about what's been happening. Curiosity's always been her weakness." He chuckled as if he was remembering something funny.
Ruby smiled back at him. "Thanks. Needed to hear that I guess. Maybe I'll stop dreaming about it now."
She hopped off the stage and stretched before she paused and looked back at Foxy slyly.
Before he could react she had leapt at him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"Don't stop being awesome." She grinned against his chest.
With that she was gone, leaving a slightly shocked fox behind.
Eventually he just chuckled and lay back down.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
The three animatronics had finally cornered Ruby in one of the dining rooms but she didn't seem bothered by it in the least. She leapt onto one of the tables (clearly having a thing for higher ground) and brandished her new weapon.
'Where did you get candy cane nunchucks anyway?' Bonnie wondered to himself while Freddy growled at the night guard.
"And so, the final confrontation begins." Ruby declared, doing a very good impression of a narrator. "Will the food ninja survive her greatest trial yet?"
Chica rolled her eyes, clearly still miffed about the whole kitchen thing.
The 'battle' began and the animatronics started to hate ninjas a bit. She dodged, flipped and somersaulted past them, spinning and tossing her own attacks with dangerous accuracy. She seemed to have an almost endless supply of cookie shuriken and was also starting to throw little chocolate sauce bombs. Those nunchucks stung when they made contact as well and WHY did she know how to use nunchucks?
It was ten to six when things really got weird. They were getting a little desperate. This was their last chance and they weren't having any luck. Freddy seemed to be the only one who was getting even close to her. Bonnie was swiping at the streamers in the air in front of him while the pizza covered chicken stumbled into a table next to him, still growling.
Freddy made a grab for Ruby and actually secured a grip on her upper arm. It didn't seem to bother her though as she leaned forward and lifted something up to Freddy's eye level.
"A ninja never accepts defeat!" she yelled and the rather large sphere in her hand blew up.
Chocolate and caramel went everywhere. Walls, tables, floors and covered both Freddy and the night guard.
The bear stumbled back spluttering while Ruby wiped at her eyes. The silent aftermath was broken by the chimes signalling the end of her shift.
Ruby looked down at herself with wide eyes.
"Wow. That made more of a mess than I thought." She murmured, seemingly surprised by the chocolate-y destruction. Then she looked up at Freddy and had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh.
The words bubbled past her lips anyway though.
"C-c-c-caramel bear!" she yelled and doubled over laughing. "Y-y-you look-k l-l-like s-s-some k-kind of-of sweet!"
She barely managed to force the words past her laughter.
Bonnie looked at the shocked bear.
Don't laugh, don't laugh' don't lau-
The rabbit animatronic stumbled back into the table as he started laughing too. Chica looked at him in shock but he couldn't help it. Always-composed-Freddy did look like a chocolate treat and it was brilliant.
Ruby was on the floor now, gasping through the gales of laughter.
"What the heck was tha-" Foxy cut off as he walked in, shocked.
One look at the bear though and he was using the wall to hold himself up while he laughed as well.
"Lass." He gasped. "What did you do?" he asked when he could.
Ruby was still giggling madly on the floor, chocolate and caramel covering every inch of exposed skin and clothes.
"Didn't-didn't mean t-too." She gasped. "Experimental still."
She finally pushed herself up and looked around at everyone. "That was fun."
Her eyes landed on Bonnie who was still laughing and grinned in satisfaction. Foxy chuckled again and steadied himself.
"That's it." Bonnie had finally stopped laughing. "I give up. There's no way we can catch her."
Freddy shot him a glare while Chica looked angry and worried at the same time.
Ruby was only just getting to her feet, wobbling slightly as she surveyed the room.
"Well." She frowned. "I'm hungry now."
Foxy snickered while Bonnie sat down heavily in a chair. Ruby looked up at the rabbit though and smiled brightly.
"We can still play though right?" she asked.
He looked at her in surprise. "What?"
"You're tons of fun to play with and a certain fox may or may not have mentioned firecrackers which has now piqued my interest.
The sparkle that lit up in Bonnie's eyes made the animatronics worry. And how did a chocolate covered teenager make that sound menacing?
She giggled at their expressions before picking up her bag. "I'd better run. I'm seriously starving now. Bye everyone. As always, it was fun. I look forward to the next time. Food ninja, away!"
With that she disappeared down the hallway, leaving an angry chicken, shocked bear, thoughtful bunny and amused fox behind.
"It's night six next." Freddy stated sharply, breaking the silence.
Foxy jumped and then glared at the floor. Bonnie seemed to deflate somewhat while Chica wrung her hands nervously.
"Yes, it is." A cold voice murmured from the corner of the room.

Chapter Text

Ruby was almost at the door when she realised that she still had the tablet. She pouted, the need to eat and the responsibility of putting the tablet back warring for a moment. She sighed after a few seconds and turned around to head back towards the office. She could survive a little longer.
She walked at a leisurely stroll down the hall, keeping an eye out for any interesting newspapers on the walls and also for any traps she may have forgotten about. She'd leave them for the staff to find but didn't really want to set them off herself. Thinking about the staff a grin crept onto her face. Oh knowing how to pick locks was great when you wanted to booby trap lockers. There was going to be confetti and glitter galore in the morning.
As she approached the dining room where she'd left the 'bots she jumped when she heard Foxy yell suddenly.
Frowning she slowed down and crept closer to see was happening.
Technically she was still the food ninja so it wasn't spying but…intelligence gathering.
There were a few people talking and some voices…she didn't recognise.
Frown deepening she reached the door and peeked in. At the sight presented to her, she froze as her eyes widened.
'What the….?' Was all that her mind could come up with as she stared.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foxy matched the glare of the ghost child with equal heat. Could it even be called a child anymore? His eyes flickered over the other four spirits. They had been haunting the animatronics for decades and they certainly didn't act like children so he wondered what they were classified as now.
Goldy, having been forced to attend this meeting whimpered slightly from behind Freddy who was staring stiffly at the ghosts.
Bonnie, closest to Foxy was cringing away fearfully and wringing his hands, the playful spark that had appeared in his eyes earlier now gone again. Chica shook next to the rabbit, watching the confrontation.
None of them had ever confronted the ghosts before, guilt and fear mingling to create reluctant obedience.
Foxy was sick of it.
Bonnie's cheerful nature was all but gone, Chica cried too often, Freddy was stressed and Goldy was a permanent nervous wreck.
He was tired of seeing them in this state. And he was tired of feeling apathetic to everything. Since Ruby had shown up everything had felt more alive. Happier. And they wanted to take that away just as everyone had been healing somewhat.
In truth Ruby was like medicine. Foul to swallow but good for you in the end. And boy did the gang need a good dose of her.
"You couldn't even catch a teenager." The unofficial leader of the ghost group, Frederick, huffed in annoyance.
Foxy growled at him.
"I'm tired of this lad." He snarled.
One of the others, a girl whose name he couldn't remember spoke up. "Well we aren't. We want revenge and you are supposed to be helping us get that."
He glared at her. "You've already got the blood of so many security guards on our hands. What more do you want? She's not even an adult!"
Frederick shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She's the night guard. And what we want is for this place to close forever. That'll be payback. The management thought they could hide our bodies? So we'll watch this place shut down completely before we move on."
"You can't keep coming back like this. One more close down of the pizzeria should do it." Felix, the brat who haunted Foxy, specifically piped up.
All the animatronics winced. Even they had been surprised when the place opened again. It really was on its last legs. There'd be no coming back if it closed again.
"Hmmm well, I guess this explains certain things." A voice cut through the tension like a knife, causing them all to look at the doorway.
Ruby stood there, scarf pulled away from her face. She'd wiped most of the chocolate off by now and was currently picking pieces out of her hair.
"Lass?" Foxy asked, wide-eyed.
Why was she there? This wasn't good. His gaze flickered back over to the ghosts who suddenly looked furious.
She didn't look up from what she was doing.
"I figured something was going on and I've been trying to put the pieces together with the clues that keep popping up." She started talking softly. "The fact that the 'bots have been killing security guards even though it's kind of obvious that they don't really want to. The way Freddy's keeps closing over and over. The newspapers."
She finally looked up at them, looking far more serious than they had ever seen her look. There was no manic look of glee or anger or mischief. She looked far older than she should have with that expression.
"Night guard." One of the ghosts hissed at her.
She didn't even flinch.
"So how about I throw my theory out there and you can tell me how close I am? Since it seems no one here is quite willing to explain anything." She suggested, her lips curling up into a half-smile but there was no amusement in her eyes.
Everyone fell silent. Bonnie found he couldn't tear his eyes off of her as she gazed at all of them. She was so different from the crazy security guard they'd grown accustomed to. None of the other 'bots could look away either.
"No arguments? Alright then. Five kids were killed here, ages ago, according to that newspaper that apparently doesn't exist if you look on the internet. Their killer was caught but their bodies were never found. My theory is that management found those bodies but didn't want to deal with the bad publicity so they hid them." She paused for a moment. "In the animatronics. It doesn't even strike me as odd considering their policy on employee death that Steve rambled on about the first night. Carpets replaced and premises cleaned? Not suspicious at all."
She rolled her eyes and leaned on the wall behind her.
"So then, all filled with bitter vengeance and whatnot those ghosts go after the security guards because they're the closest fill-in they have to the killer. Can't do that without a corporeal body though so they force the animatronics to do it for them. I'm guessing this happened instead of the whole 'moving-on' thing because…" she trailed off for a moment, eyes finding and holding the gaze of Frederick. "The killer got off without the bodies to convict him."
The ghosts all growled at her.
"I'll take that as a yes. So this whole thing has been going on for a while cause said ghosts are really determined to shut down Freddy's to punish the management for hiding their bodies and letting the killer get away."
Silence hung heavy in the air after she finished. She continued to pick chocolate out of her hair while the others absorbed just how much the girl had managed to figure out on her own.
"Well?" her voice, a lot colder than it was before, rang out. "Am I right?"
The animatronics looked at each other while the ghosts fumed in silence.
"Yeah." Foxy eventually murmured, getting irate glares from the ghosts.
"Hmmm. And why is everyone so scared of what happens on night six?" she asked, voice still retaining that cold edge to it but remaining steady.
The silence stretched uncomfortably, the animatronics unable to voice what they feared most.
"You go up against us." One of the ghosts broke in coolly. "We possess the animatronics since they can't handle it themselves."
Every one of the 'bots flinched, unpleasant memories flooding their minds.
"It's not like they remember anything anyways, but we are waaaaaaay more violent than they are." Another added, a sick grin on his face.
Ruby looked at that ghost kid sharply for a moment.
"Oh is that so?" she asked, voice edged with ice.
"Yup." One of the girls piped up. "No one ever survives night six."
"First time for everything." Ruby murmured, her gaze on the ceiling now as her fingers combed through her hair.
Everyone stared at her incredulously.
"You think just because you survived this long you've got a chance?" Felix laughed. "You didn't even go up against all the animatronics. You didn't even play the game right."
"I'm not one for conventional methods." She shot right back.
"You've got no chance." Frederick hissed. "And we're looking forward to killing you. You're more annoying than most."
"You done?" she asked sharply.
"What?" Frederick asked, surprised.
"I asked if you brats are done with the posturing and all that. I want to put in my two cents now." She brought her gaze down to be level with theirs.
"First, your whole reasoning is absolutely ridiculous. You know with all the times this place has closed and opened again it doesn't even have the same management anymore. Second, you should know that cause you can't use the 'I'm a kid' excuse since you've been haunting this place for years. You've aged mentally but clearly couldn't be bothered to grow up. Third, you've been making how many innocents suffer because of one corrupt management? How many families lost a father, husband or son to this place? A wife, mother or daughter? Even if they left with their life do you know how badly trauma can affect a person's life? Your whole plan is stupidly short-sighted and selfish." She paused for a breath, having delivered her whole speech in an even cold tone of voice.
The room was silent as everyone stared at her in disbelief.
"Fourth," her voice suddenly took on a much more dangerous edge and anger glinted in her eyes as she took a step forward. "I'm taking this rather personally. Loved this place as a kid you see. Lots of happy memories with friends and family. I came here for all my birthdays until my tenth one. Now you're telling me that you want to shut it down? I'm not going to stand for that. And like I mentioned to Foxy, a little homicidal behaviour isn't about to chase me off so I'm still a tad protective over the 'bots. All of them. So to find out you've been forcing them to kill people just to fulfil your twisted little desire, well that's just not on."
By now she was standing directly in front of the ghosts, fury evident in every muscle of her body.
"So then, little ghost." She met Frederick's glare with equal anger. "How about a deal?"
"Deal?" the ghost boy looked sceptical.
"Yeah. Now that I know about all this I could easily cheat my way through night six." She smirked at him. "Those vents? No one can fit into them but me it seems. Even ghost bear over there can't. So if I were to sit in there all night you wouldn't be able to do anything."
Her smirk grew as the ghost's glare sharpened.
"I'm guessing that you can't just possess the 'bots whenever you want to or you would so then it probably takes a lot of energy to. So how about this instead. I'll play your game, my way of course. I can't spend more than five minutes in a vent though. You catch me, then you can kill me."
He stared at her suspiciously. "And if we can't by some miracle?"
Her smirk widened. "If I survive until the end of the shift, you can't possess the 'bots as long as I'm the night guard here."
There was a beat of silence as they stared at her in shock.
"So Ghosty." She leaned forward. "Worried I can beat you?"
"Not a chance." Frederick scoffed.
"Then do we have a deal?" she watched him critically.
He hesitated a moment and Foxy knew why. With all the supernatural stuff that happened at Freddy's, it was almost like the place had a mind of its own sometimes. And deals were something that were taken very seriously.
However, the ghost smiled confidently. "Fine. You've got a deal night guard. And don't even think about cheating. This place doesn't take kindly to deal-breakers."
She didn't look bothered in the least as the ghosts started to fade.
"Hope you enjoy having the animatronics you like so much coming after you for real." Frederick smirked darkly.
Ruby just made a lovely, rude gesture and watched as they faded away.
Silence pressed down on them while Ruby seemed to be deep in thought, the 'bots watching her. It was hard to believe what had just happened. And what Ruby had signed herself up for.
"Lass…" Foxy was the one to break the silence and apparently whatever trance she was in.
She whirled around and fixed them with a glare this time and Goldy gulped, ducking behind Freddy.
"You could have told me you know." She snapped. "Would have made a lot of things easier."
They found themselves flinching back at the words. She glared for a moment longer before she sighed.
"I've got to put this back in the office before I forget again." She mumbled, turning around and heading down the hallway with the tablet in hand.
"What just happened?" Bonnie asked when she was out of earshot.
"Not quite sure." Foxy admitted, although he could feel the panic rising up as the implications of what was said sunk in.
Ruby was volunteering for night six. There was nothing they could do to help her during that night.
"What's her angle?" Freddy frowned and Foxy felt annoyed.
Always has to be an angle according to him.
"Pretty sure she's just doing it to stop this nightmare." He snapped at the bear who glared in return.
Before an argument could start though Ruby walked back into the room.
She stared at them for a moment with an unreadable expression.
"Come on!" she suddenly yelled, causing them to jump. "Lighten up. This atmosphere is oppressive. No use worrying now about what's going to happen tomorrow."
"Lass, night six, its…" words failed him again but Ruby's gaze softened.
"I've gotten a general idea." She assured him. "So stop stressing. My life to gamble with homicidal ghosts after all."
She quirked a grin at him.
"Got to apologise ahead of time though." She admitted as she turned to leave.
"Apologise?" Bonnie frowned in confusion.
She smiled back at them but in all honesty, that smile belonged on some kind of predator. "I'm pissed off now with those ghosts. So sorry if you wake up sore afterwards."
And she was gone again, leaving a certain chill in the air that certainly wasn't there before.
"Why do I suddenly feel sorry for the ghosts?" Bonnie asked nervously.

Chapter Text

Ruby glared up at the building feeling her muscles tense up in preparation for the night. Things were getting real tonight. She felt anger flare through her body again. Those ghost brats thought that they could mess with HER 'bots? Not a chance. A growl slipped out from between her clenched teeth as she hauled her bag up onto her shoulder.
It was time to break out the big guns.
A sadistic smile broke across her face. They weren't going to know what hit them.
She quickly moved through the halls to the office to grab the tablet. As she walked she noticed that there was an odd feel to the air. It was chilly almost, even though it was a warm night.
She frowned. So the brats were making their presence known? Fine. But some temperature drop wasn't going to chase her off.
Running through the hallways and rooms she set up her traps, constantly checking the time. She'd arrived early to set-up so she could make the night extra special.
She smirked as she looked over her work. Perfect.
Settling down in the main dining room she sat against the wall and waited for the clock to hit twelve. As it did an ominous feeling washed through the entire pizzeria. Ruby shivered even as she rolled her eyes. Apparently the ghosts had a flair for the dramatics.
"Well then, show me what you've got." She muttered as she turned the tablet on.
Bonnie was off the stage. She flipped through the cameras, checking Pirate Cove as well, getting the feeling that ignoring the camera might be a bad idea this time. Suddenly she stopped before banging her head back against the wall.
"So, can I blame the ghost for Bonnie's tendency to go to the closet?" she muttered, fighting a smile.
The rabbit animatronic was back in the closet and it actually sent a feeling of nostalgia through her. She'd kept him too busy after the first couple nights to go back to the closet.
Still chuckling she paused when she heard noises from the kitchen.
"Boy they're moving quickly." She grinned and waited expectantly.
Right on time an explosion echoed through the building followed by a shriek.
"Hmmm guess they learnt nothing from the 'bots' previous experiences with the kitchen." She giggled.
She could almost imagine the pepperoni delight that would be covering the chicken now. Hopefully she found the little note that Ruby had left amusing.
A furious, wordless shriek followed that thought and her grin widened. "Guess my wording wasn't appreciated. Or maybe the 'floating pile of ecto-goo' part was too much?"
She flicked through the cameras again, this time skipping Pirate Cove's. Bonnie was on the other side of the building and Freddy had yet to move. This was the perfect time to deal with the possessed ghost bear.
She paused.
How did a ghost bear get possessed anyway? Weren't they possessing the suit already? Maybe it was some kind of double possession. Eventually she shrugged and got up.
"Just hope I don't scare the poor suit anymore than I already have." She mumbled as she headed out into the hall.
Ten minutes later she entered the parts and services room and closed the door behind her. Glancing around she scanned the room. Sure the endo-skeletons were creepy but otherwise it was safe at the moment.
She spent another five minutes preparing before she settled down with her back to the door. She checked the cameras again before she started flicking rapidly between Goldy's poster and the kitchen. She kept her eyes focused on the poster and counted silently in her head. She was going to have to be fast.
Eventually when she hit three hundred and twenty one her eyes registered a change in the picture and she dodged to the side. Simultaneously Goldy appeared and pounced for her.
Ruby noticed that the bear's eyes were red instead of the white dots from before but had to dodge another swipe before she could get a good look.
"Don't know the bear all that well but still kinda pissed with what you're doing so you're going to have to STAY OUT OF MY WAY BRAT!" Ruby snarled as she held up her weapon of choice.
It was so much easier when they didn't take note of their surroundings.
She slammed the butt of the fire extinguisher into the bear's stomach and jammed the release lever. The possessed suit flew backwards and hit the far wall. Perfect landing and the covering of foam was just a bonus.
Growling at her the bear tried to stand up but to its surprise found itself crumpling back to the ground.
"Ah sorry about that." Ruby grinned as she walked closer, hands in her pockets. "Did some research and you know, circle of salt."
She gestured at the circle and enjoyed the dawning horror on the suits face. "Yeah you're not going anywhere until I let you go. None of the 'bots even get near this room with me out and about and well, I'm only letting you go after my shift. Don't worry though, it's not enough to do permanent damage but I mixed in some special herbs just to give it a boost so you're really not going anywhere."
She pulled her bag back onto her shoulder, ignoring the look of hate the suit was shooting her.
"One down." She grinned sinisterly back at her prisoner. "Four to go."
There were a couple of close calls after she left the parts and services room as her continued absence had made the 'bots agitated. Freddy was now out as well while Foxy seemed on the verge of sprinting out of Pirate's Cove. Right after heading back into the game Ruby had run into Bonnie who had made a grab for her, fingers just barely missing her arm as she spun out of the way and smashed the side of his head with her bat. The robot stumbled slightly before turning to glare at her. She had enough time to pull out her next weapon though.
The modified paintball gun was one of her favourites as it fired mini-glitter bombs at a machine-gun's speed.
She really couldn't help the excited cackle that erupted from her throat as the 'bot stumbled and fled from the assault. By the time he was out of range he was covered from head to toe in the sticky, glittery substance.
Ruby paused for a moment before an evil grin crept across her face.
"You know, you really remind me of a certain sparkly vampire from a certain movie looking like that." She giggled before fleeing down the hall to the nearest vent.
She ran into Chica next who was still running on fury from the last trap. The chicken managed to snag her by the jacket and jerk her backwards when she tried to run.
"Gotcha." The childish voice sounded very wrong coming from the robot.
Ruby ignored it and instead slammed the water balloon into the 'bot's face. The chicken went rigid and sparks flew. The water wouldn't do any serious damage but it would leave her locked up in that position for a bit while that shock worked its way out of her system.
Ruby wriggled her way out of her jacket and took off down the corridor after taking a moment to admire the pizza covered 'bot.
Foxy, she discovered was far more difficult to avoid. When he eventually came out she spent most of her time sprinting away from him, not having enough time to pull out a weapon. She got away the first couple of times he found her by managing to get him with a water balloon the first time, leading him over a tripwire that dumped glitter bombs on his head the second and hitting him with her water gun (of course it was modified) when she was lucky enough to have it out already the third time.
The fourth time she ran out of luck and sprinted down the hall swearing in her head as she dragged searing breaths into her lungs.
He was fast. And sneaky.
'Shit, shit, shit, shit.' Was playing through her head on a loop as she barely kept ahead of the animatronic.
He was gaining though.
Finally she spotted a vent and made a dive for it. She felt Foxy's claws swipe across her back though, tearing through the thin fabric of her t-shirt and cutting into her skin.
Gritting her teeth against the burning sensation flaring across her back she moved further into the vent as Foxy snarled in frustration.
On the other side of the vent she slumped with her shoulder against a wall and sat there panting and trying to regain her breath. It felt like her back was on fire but she ignored it and forced herself to her feet. She could already hear Bonnie approaching after all, no time to rest.
But she was really starting to appreciate the fact that Foxy hadn't participated in the hunting game all week.
She might really be dead if he had.
Her second encounter with the rabbit ended with him getting a bucket of glow in the dark paint dropped on his head when he stumbled into another of her tripwire traps after she threw marbles on the floor in front of him.
She'd been leading him to the trap initially when he'd managed to get a lucky swipe in so she'd dropped the marbles and giggled while he stumbled back.
Now dripping with orange, glow in the dark paint he glared at her as he struggled to stand but kept slipping on the marbles again.
"Guess I'll see you coming from a mile away now huh?" laughed breathlessly as the chuckles pulled at her definitely bruised ribs.
Bonnie had a mean backhand.
Ruby managed to avoid Chica again by diving into a vent just in time and when the chicken stuck her head into the vent in frustration she put in her ear plugs and set off the air horn right next Chica's head.
She yanked her head out very quickly after that.
Ruby had been lucky with Freddy most of the night but inevitably ran into him around four o' clock.
He growled at her as he pounced and Ruby barely dodged.
"Looks like the others already got a few good hits on you." He snickered at her and she frowned.
Hearing such a vindictive statement might have sounded right coming from her but definitely not the gentlemanly bear.
"Oh shut up." She growled. "I'm still alive aren't I?"
Freddy, or rather the brat possessing him, snarled at that and made another grab for her. He changed his aim at the last second, compensating for her dodge and suddenly he had her right wrist in an iron grip.
She hissed as the grip tightened and the bear yanked her up into the air, clear off her feet.
"I'm going to enjoy this." He chuckled darkly.
"Not really." She bit out before smirking. "I'm left-handed."
Before those words sank in, her left hand had already come up and fired a few mini-glitter bombs at point blank range.
He was definitely going to have a headache in the morning.
He screamed in surprise, letting go of her to stumble back. She wasted no time in hitting him with a few more and getting him in the gut with her baseball bat. As he tried to recover she raced past him, adrenaline speeding her on.
When she was far enough away she inspected herself. Couple more bruises from banging into things while she dodged, a cut on her cheek from a really close-call and…yup…sprained wrist.
She flinched when she tried to rotate her right wrist and sighed. Well at least it wasn't her dominant hand.
Quickly checking the cameras while she caught her breath she groaned.
"Stupid being near stupid closet with stupid rabbit." She muttered as she hauled herself up off the ground to continue.
She got lucky for most of the time after that, avoiding them in time and finding vents quickly. Of course they weren't spared though. There was more glitter and paint on all of them now than there was in a craft store.
She was running on adrenaline she'd admit, the rush making her a little giddy and hysterical at times but still keeping her alive. It also dulled the pain from the injuries for the most part as a bonus.
She paused to catch her breath again in the girl's bathroom and caught sight of herself in the mirror.
Well, she did look like a bit of a mess.
Her hair had come loose from its ponytail and hung wild around her flushed face. The cut on her cheek was longer than she initially thought and she had smeared blood down her cheek. She could feel her back burning from her tangle with Foxy as sweat stung the cuts. Her ribs still ached from Bonnie. Chica had got in a swipe down her left upper arm at some point. Her wrist throbbed and her legs were burning.
"They weren't kidding when they said the sixth night was hard." She murmured, watching as her eyes sparked with excitement in the mirror. "But that's always been just how I like it."
As she left the bathroom she barely avoided Bonnie's attack and skidded out of the way.
Right into a wall.
Adrenaline made your reactions faster than your brain sometimes.
She rubbed the side of her head where it had slammed into the wall when suddenly she was grabbed by the front of her shirt and lifted off the ground only to be slammed back again. She hissed as pressure was put on the cuts and it took a moment for her vision to clear.
Bonnie was glaring at her but a red light glowed from his eyes instead of white, like Goldy's. She hadn't been able to get a good look at any of the robots with them trying to kill her yet.
"Got you." He snarled.
She grinned back at him.
"Awww getting frustrated that the teenager is getting the best of you experienced killers?" she teased, a dark tone hiding just below the surface of her voice.
He growled and slammed her again. "You think you're so smart don't you?"
"Nope." She grinned again after she got her breath back. "I know I'm smart. Smarter than you at least. I passed primary school after all."
It was a low blow but Ruby was too pissed off with these brats too care. The rabbit snarled and tightened his grip on her shirt.
"And you know, at least I know what stranger danger is." She dropped the smile and snapped at him.
The robot was inches away from her face and for a moment she wondered if he was going to bite her.
"Stuffing you in the suit is going to be a lot of fun." He growled menacingly.
Ruby threw back her head and laughed. (Maybe she had a concussion from the wall hitting?)
"You still think you can beat me?" she giggled. "Look at what's happened tonight. I'm a fricking teenager and I've been running circles around you murderous spirits. The worst I've got is a sprained wrist and some cuts. You look like a sparkly mess and oh-so-not threatening."
She giggled even as he slammed her harder on the wall.
"Oh and by the way ghost brat?" she managed after she had dragged air into her lungs again. "What time is it?"
The animatronic paused and his eyes widened just before the chimes signalling the end of her shift went off.
Childish cries of rage echoed through the building.
"And don't mess with my 'bots again." Ruby snapped as the possessed robot glared at her. "Next time I won't go so easy on you."
She lifted her feet and kicked him away from her, landing on her butt on the ground. The ghost let out one more angry growl before there was a flash of light and Bonnie crumpled to the ground.
Ruby leaned against the wall as she felt the adrenaline finally leave her system. The aches and pains returned full force and she gritted her teeth as she slowly pushed herself more upright.
Her eyes drifted over to the rabbit animatronic and she felt a flicker of worry but she pushed that down as she dragged the tablet from her bag that had fallen on the floor nearby.
Chica, down in a hallway near the office. Freddy, out cold in the dining room. Foxy, face-planted near Pirate Cove.
She winced. Looked like they were going to be out for a while.
Parts and services room, Goldy looking around the room in utter confusion.
Ruby sighed and put the tablet back in the bag. She crawled over to Bonnie and poked his cheek after a moment. The rabbit animatronic just moaned.
"Headache." He mumbled and shifted away from the poking finger.
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that Cottontail." She smiled slightly.
Satisfied that he was just recovering from the possession (and rather violent encounters with Ruby's baseball bat) she forced herself up and stumbled in the direction of the trapped ghost bear.
On the way she came across Foxy who seemed to be snoring softly and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth. She let him be though and eventually made it to the room.
Feeling the exhaustion down to her bones she shoved the door open and entered the room, barely stifling a yawn. Goldy jumped in shock at her sudden entrance and she smiled apologetically at her.
"Sorry about the salt. Kept you out of the worst of it though. Everyone else is unconscious."
Goldy seemed to look relieved after she registered that it was Ruby in the room though.
"They didn't get you!" she exclaimed happily.
Ruby chuckled. "Of course not. But I sure got them."
As the security guard moved forward to release the bear, concern flickered across the suit's features.
"You got hurt…" the golden bear mumbled.
Ruby looked up in surprise.
"Nothing too bad." She shrugged. "Just a couple of close calls."
This being the first time she actually spoke to the skittish bear (and not yelled in adrenaline-fuelled fury) Ruby felt curiosity push the exhaustion aside for a moment.
"So, you're a ghost bear? Gotta say I like you more than the other resident ghosts." She smirked as she started to clean up the salt.
"Y-yeah." Goldy mumbled as she began to float again once she was released. "You're not freaked out?"
The question was asked softly and Ruby looked up in surprise again. "Not really. This place is full of surprises and I think I got the 'freaked out' part out of the way the first time we met."
Goldy flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry."
It was kind of cute actually, Ruby decided. The bear was clearly shy around newcomers. Well, then again she didn't really get much contact with anyone besides the 'bots and the ghosts.
"No problem. I should actually apologise though. Went a little overboard in my reaction there. I don't react well to shocks like that." Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
Goldy couldn't help the slight chuckle. "No kidding."
She frowned though and winced, her hand going to her stomach as she seemed to realise for the first time that she was covered in foam.
"Uh, sorry about the fire extinguisher too." Ruby chuckled guiltily.
After a moment Goldy waved it off. "I have a feeling the others got the worst of it."
Ruby nodded. "Yeah, pass along my apologies would you? I'm exhausted and I doubt I'm going to make it home in this state. So I'll go catch a nap in the staffroom for a bit."
She paused.
"The nap might last all day. You guys weren't kidding. That was pretty tough." Chuckling to herself she waved and headed off in the direction of the staffroom.
Goldy watched her go, wondering about the spark of excitement she still saw in the exhausted girl's eyes.

Chapter Text

Bonnie groaned as he shifted. Slowly his mind drifted back to consciousness, skirting around his migraine. Oh what a migraine it was too. It pounded through his head, making it feel like his skull was being hit with a sledgehammer.
Why did he have a migraine? He usually didn't feel this bad after the possession.
Possession…
Bonnie shot upright in shock and immediately regretted it. He cradled his head and shut his eyes against the bright orange paint that covered him.
Well, Ruby had been busy.
He also expected that the headache had been caused by a certain baseball bat. That girl had a seriously good arm.
Moving more slowly he pushed himself up and leaned against the wall. Thinking about Ruby caused dread to settle in his stomach. He swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and scrunched his eyes even more.
Had one of them killed the energetic night guard?
The thought worried him but he couldn't find the strength to go and check. He didn't know if he could handle finding one of his friends distraught and covered in blood again.
He slumped against the wall, resting his head in his hands.
Maybe, maybe she had survived though?
"Bonnie?" a small voice sounded from his left.
He turned his aching head to look at the pizza covered chicken. As his eyes landed on the jacket she was nervously clutching in her hands though, he felt his heart plummet.
Even if they didn't want to admit it, they hadn't been able to stop the small spark of hope that Ruby would be able to stop the nightmarish cycle they were trapped in.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foxy leaned against the wall, lost in his own distant thoughts while he stared blankly at the dried crimson blood on his hand.
It had happened again.
Was there really no way out of this nightmare?
As his heart dropped into a pit of depression and self-loathing Goldy popped out of nowhere, appearing in front of him.
"Foxy!" she cried excitedly, seemingly unaware of her covering of foam and the fact that Foxy had jumped in shock.
"Goldy-" he growled, annoyed and wanting to be left alone to wallow in his misery and guilt.
Goldy's hands clamped around his muzzle though and cut off his comment. She seemed to almost be buzzing in place.
"She survived!" Goldy exclaimed excitedly. "It was night six Foxy and she survived!"
Foxy blinked and it took a moment for those words to sink in.
"The lass is alive?" he asked softly, hardly daring to hope.
"Yes!" Goldy yelled giddily. "Which means the ghosts lost! So as long as she's the night guard they can't take over again!"
The golden bear looked like she might be crying. Foxy sprang to his feet, eyes slightly wild.
"Where is she? Did she go home already?" he asked.
Goldy shook her head as she wiped at her eyes. "She went to sleep in the staffroom."
That was all he needed as he took off down the hallway, ignoring the fact that he was covered in glitter and that he had a headache forming.
It didn't take long for him to reach the room but he hesitated outside. Did the girl really want to see one of the robots that had tried to kill her? And one that had definitely hurt her? His eyes were drawn down to his bloody hand when suddenly the door was yanked open.
Ruby smirked up at him, satisfaction showing through even the exhaustion on her face.
"I've got a little brother so I've got an extra 'someone's loitering at the door and wants to talk' sense." She grinned and reached up, standing on her tip-toes to rap on his head lightly.
"You back in there Captain?" she asked, that grin still in place.
Foxy couldn't help the startled laugh that slipped out.
Her smile widened. "That's better. Don't look so down Foxy. I won! Told you that I'd out-stubborn them. Sorry about the glitter though…"
Her grin turned a little sheepish.
Foxy just chuckled bitterly, the sound slightly strangled. "Got the feeling that you're not the one who should be apologising lass."
His eyes flickered between his hand, the cut on her cheek and her slightly stiff posture. No matter how she tried to hide it he could see that she was in pain.
She snorted. "Tis naught but a flesh wound."
She waved her hand dismissively. "Besides, it was the ghost brats, not you guys."
Ruby paused after a moment and studied his face for a moment, taking in the blatant guilt and worry. She sighed, a soft look entering her tired eyes.
"Hey, do you know where the first aid box is?" she asked, pulling Foxy into the room by the arm. "I don't think they'd appreciate it if I bled all over their couch."
As she made a beeline for the coffee machine Foxy stared at her, wondering how she was so good at reading and comforting others.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Goldy eventually found Freddy and explained what had happened to him. It took them a while to find Bonnie and Chica but they did in the end. The two were sitting against a wall, looking absolutely miserable. Bonnie was still cradling his head in his hands while Chica was fiddling with the jacket nervously.
However they perked up when they heard what had actually happened and looked relieved.
"So it's over?" Bonnie asked hopefully.
"For now." Freddy murmured as he leaned against a wall.
Silence settled over them for a moment.
"So, do you think we should go talk to her?" the rabbit asked hesitantly.
Goldy shrugged. "Foxy went. And I don't think she's mad since she asked me to pass on apologies."
"Well, we kind of owe her apologies too." Bonnie murmured, looking down and pushing the pounding in his head to the side.
"Maybe we should get cleaned up first." Goldy suggested, looking down at the foam covering her again.
The group agreed and headed off to the bathrooms.
Half an hour later the four neared the staffroom, nervousness and guilt slowing their steps.
"How badly was she hurt?" Chica asked softly, fiddling with the black jacket again.
Goldy looked down. "A few cuts and bruises. I think her ribs were bruised too from the way she moved."
They all flinched again.
Goldy hesitated before floating forward. They at least owed her an apology. At the very least.
The door flew open before Goldy even touched it.
"Loitering senses going haywire." Ruby smirked at them. "So everyone back in their heads?"
The mischievous light in her eyes hadn't changed at all and even though she looked tired and leaned on the doorframe for support, it did nothing to diminish the triumphant air around her.
She took one look at them before groaning loudly.
"Alright, everyone inside. Looks like I've got to give everyone a lecture on this guilt thing." She spun around and headed back inside the room.
Foxy was just finishing returning the first aid kit she had used to its place when they followed after her. He had gone to get cleaned up in the staff bathroom at her insistence and by the time he was back she had wrapped up her torso in bandages and was working on her arm.
She had also taped a strip of bandage to her cheek to cover the cut there.
Foxy ended up having to help with her arm since her right wrist was sprained and the injury was on her left arm. He felt slightly better after having helped a little but it didn't feel like nearly enough.
He glanced at the others and saw the same guilt in their eyes.
Ruby had risked her life to help them even though she really didn't have too. They owed her more than she could ever know, even if it was just until she left the job.
Freedom was freedom after all, regardless of how fleeting.
The 'bots stood around awkwardly while Ruby sat down on the couch and nearly inhaled a cup of coffee.
"Okay, so you bunch are radiating guilt like stink off a marathoner." She declared, snapping them out of their discreet assessment of her injuries. "That's stupid because it was the ghost brats who did it. And I'm not even hurt that bad."
"Lass-" Foxy sighed, feeling like shaking some self-preservation instincts into her.
She held up her hand though, expression serious.
"Listen." She stressed.
He quieted and looked at her. When she was sure that she had their attention she continued.
"It was my choice to take this job. It was my choice to stay after I found out the truth. It was my choice to challenge the ghosts. My choice. None of it was your choice. So I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused without asking for your input but I'm a stubborn girl." She grinned lopsidedly at them.
They fidgeted, getting the feeling that she really was lecturing them.
"Guys." Her softer voice made them look up and meet her gentle eyes. "I've been through it too, blaming myself for something I was helpless against. I know the frustration, anger and self-hatred. But it doesn't help. The only way forward from here is to accept that helplessness. It's like swallowing bitter medicine. You really don't want to but you feel better afterwards."
As she was speaking her voice grew sad and her eyes looked distant for a moment.
She seemed so different from the crazy night guard they were used to. She also looked far older than she should have. Just what was she remembering?
But then she blinked and the moment was gone. She smirked at them over the top of her coffee cup.
"But if you still feel bad then you can make it up to me." She leaned forward conspiratorially. "Spend time with me!"
She threw her arms open wide, spilling coffee over the sofa but not seeming to notice. "After all we're co-workers! The hunting thing was getting boring anyway. Winning all the time's no fun. We can find something else to do every night."
It was really hard not to laugh at that, even with them still stunned from her little speech.
"Yeah lass." Foxy chuckled, feeling lighter than he had for a while. "Got the feeling that things aren't going to be boring with you around."
Bonnie chuckled too, nodding his head before wincing and reaching up to rub at his temples.
Ruby looked like she was about to say something, concern flickering across her face before Chica caught her attention. The animatronic was holding out her leather jacket nervously.
"Hey thanks! I was wondering where that went." Ruby chirped, lighting up.
The girl bounced forward, pulling the jacket on happily with a barely noticeable wince.
"This is my favourite jacket too." She grinned.
Her lack of aversion to a close proximity with them threw them for a loop again. Suddenly she stumbled slightly, almost losing her balance and catching herself on a piece of furniture.
"Whoa, think that nap's more necessary than I thought." She mumbled. "We done with the lecture? Good."
Before any of them could react she had stumbled over to the couch and cuddled up with a contented sigh. Seconds later she was asleep.
Everyone stared at her.
Goldy finally broke the silence. "Well, she did say that she was tired."
"Guess we should leave her to sleep." Chica murmured.
The others nodded and they shuffled out of the room, glancing back once or twice.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was quiet until the cleaners arrived as the 'bots thought about what had happened. It seemed that the security guard was never lacking in surprises.
The cleaners, obviously expecting blood and death, were still dismayed to discover the sheer amount of glitter and paint spread through the building.
By the time they found the night guard they were fully prepared to yell at her for her irresponsible behaviour. However as one of them shook her shoulder rather roughly, she yelped as the movement pulled at her injuries.
Angry and still half-asleep she lashed out, hitting the guy in the stomach with her foot.
As he crumpled like a sack of potatoes, she glared at the rest so fiercely they were surprised that they didn't burst into flames. They did take a few steps back unconsciously though.
"Don't do that again." She snarled, giving a pretty good impression of a tiger.
She stood up and snatched up her backpack from the floor before she stalked out of the room.
As she headed for the front door she glanced at the stage for a moment before waving goodbye.
"See ya tomorrow night guys." She called back, a smile tugging at her mouth even as she yawned. "Don't worry if you hear explosions. I was going to warn the cleaners about the remaining traps but then they woke me up so they can find them themselves."
Bonnie held back a snicker. He could really appreciate the girl's vindictive sense of humour.
"Oh and thanks for the exciting night." She smirked at them over her shoulder, that mischievous light back in her eyes. "It was a really interesting birthday."
She disappeared with a laugh leaving the dumbfounded 'bots behind.
"Birthday?!" Bonnie choked out and stared at the others.
They just looked stunned.
A distant explosion went off and Ruby walked off down the sidewalk humming Happy Birthday to herself.

Chapter Text

Ruby skipped through the door to Freddy's two minutes late. However she was more concerned with balancing her container of leftover cake and coffee cup while she skipped than with being late. Once safely inside the building she looked up and paused.
The room was empty.
No animatronics were in the room or on stage. Frowning in confusion and slowing to a walk she headed to the office.
Setting her things down she checked the cameras on the tablet.
Okay, so Freddy and Chica were in the kitchen apparently since they were nowhere on the cameras and there were noises coming from the kitchen. (They really needed to get that camera fixed.) Bonnie on the other hand was backstage fiddling with his guitar.
Her frown deepened. He looked kind of down.
Slipping the tablet into her backpack she headed in the direction of Pirate's Cove.
"Captain Foxy?" she called as she entered.
The animatronic looked over from the stage and waved lazily.
"Evening lass." He smiled at her.
She grinned back and hopped up on the stage to sit next to him. They sat in companionable silence for a moment as she sipped at her coffee and generally enjoyed the lack of killer robots while on the job.
"So how was your birthday?" the fox eventually asked, eyeing her in amusement.
She was still wearing a plastic party hat on her head.
Ruby's smile turned ever so slightly apologetic.
"Sorry about that. I just couldn't help it. It was so perfectly set up." She giggled, remembering their expressions.
He shook his head ruefully, smirking slightly.
"It was good though." She smiled again and sipped her coffee.
They were quiet for a few more moments before Ruby asked the question that had been bothering her.
"So why does it look like they're moping?" she asked, holding up the tablet.
Foxy sighed.
"With the ghosts stuck upholding their side of the deal the others don't know what to do with themselves. Sure they're happy it's over but its been a really long time since we've had any time for hobbies and relaxing." He murmured.
"You're not moping." She pointed out.
He shrugged. "Never been bothered by not doing anything. I'm lazy that way."
She chuckled before her expression turned thoughtful.
Then it turned evil.
"Then I'll just go entertain them!" she declared, grinning sinisterly.
She jumped to her feet, looking ready to sprint out of the door before she paused and spun around to dig in her bag.
"So Captain, up for some fun?" she asked, mischievous glint in her eyes and two-way radios in her hands.
Foxy raised an eyebrow even as a smile tugged at his mouth.
"You can even watch the show." Ruby sang, handing the tablet over to him along with one of the radios.
"Roping me in on your schemes?" he chuckled, but didn't protest.
She smirked. "It's for their own good! Moping's not good for anyone."
Laughing, he nodded his head in agreement.
Before she left though she froze again.
"Oh, wait! Got to get Goldy the friendly ghost in on it too." She announced.
She leaned over and began to rapidly flick between the cameras. The bear in question appeared about fifty switches in looking nervous.
"Goldy!" Ruby cried, bouncing forward. "Up for some pranks?"
""Pranks?" the bear frowned, glancing at Foxy.
The night guard nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Everyone looks so down in the dumps so let's make things interesting. Foxy's going to guide us."
She held up the other radio.
A grin was creeping across the bear's face, her own mischievous nature surfacing.
"What you go in mind?" she asked.
Ruby practically tackled her bag.
"Glitter mines and bombs are a necessity. Exploding cookies of course. Oooh brought the bedazzler too, forgot about that. There's some paint, ooh we can rig a cake to blow up with paint…" her listing dissolved into more planning than anything else as she shoved things into the golden suit's hands and showed her how they worked.
"Who first?" she asked excitedly.
They looked over at Foxy expectantly.
He checked the cameras again and grinned. "Bon's still alone backstage."
Ruby nodded in the affirmative. "Aye aye Mon Capitan." She saluted before dragging Goldy along with her.
A few seconds later his radio crackled to life.
"Let the battle begin!" Ruby declared.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Bonnie really didn't know what hit him.
And that wasn't a saying.
One minute he was staring at the wall, his mind falling deeper into depressing thoughts. The next there was an explosion of glitter, paint and confetti and he was flat on his back covered in the sticky combination.
After the bedazzler got him in the cheek though he had a good idea of what was going on. He turned his head and glared at the doorway where the night guard was wearing that manic grin of hers.
"Hey, you're not a bad shot with that bedazzler Goldy." She called with a laugh.
Goldy on the other hand was staring at the strange contraption in Ruby's hands.
"You managed to make that in ten minutes…And it works?!" she exclaimed.
Ruby shrugged. "Easier than throwing the glitter, paint and confetti separately. Don't question the logic."
Bonnie groaned even as he eyed the device curiously. "You two are working together?"
"Three." Ruby corrected, holding up a radio.
"Looking good there Bon." Foxy's voice came through the speaker and sounded like he was laughing rather hard.
Bonnie blinked, looking between the camera watching them and the radio before he settled on glaring at Ruby.
She grinned happily back at him. "That's it! You already look more lively."
The rabbit stared at her in confusion. "Lively?"
"Depression don't suit you very well bunny." She grinning before she threw something at him.
He caught it on instinct and, when it didn't explode, looked at it more closely. It was a paintball gun. He blinked in surprise and looked up at her.
"The suit stuffing's over but we can still play." Her smile softened slightly. "Its fun. You a good shot?"
He snorted. "Of course I am."
She leaned forward slightly before her smile widened. "Prove it."
She spun around to run and called back over her shoulder. "And everyone's a target. Foxy and I just so happen to be a team. Maybe you two can team up and help me annihilate the bear and bird?"
Then she was gone.
Bonnie smirked, near mirroring Ruby's own smile.
"This is gonna be fun."
Goldy giggled and floated down to his level. "Let's go sparkle 'em."
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Freddy and Chica felt like an all-out war had erupted in the pizzeria.
Bonnie and Ruby were going crazy with their pranks and Goldy was having the time of her life with the bedazzler, popping in and out of rooms while sniping from the air.
Foxy had booby-trapped his entire cove and the surrounding hallways making it a mission in itself to survive there.
None of them cared about innocent casualties either.
At some point they all called a truce and teamed up to mercilessly hunt Freddy and Chica down.
To cut a long, glittery story short; Ruby and Bonnie are no longer permitted to be on the same team (they make a terrifying pair) and Goldy is NEVER allowed to teleport the night guard EVER again. Just, no.
The night went down in the pizzeria's history for its infamy and only ended after Foxy had locked Bonnie in the closet with a dozen glitter bombs, Goldy got stuck in the vacuum cleaner and Ruby got corralled and put in time-out.
…The oven would never be the same again.
"That was fun." Ruby grinned, eating her cake while in the time-out corner.
Freddy groaned, wondering if Ruby or the ghost kids were worse.
Bonnie was yelling from the closet while Foxy refused to open the door claiming that the glitter had to settle first.
Goldy was hiding in her poster (after being released from the vacuum) to avoid punishment but to everyone's dismay Ruby let her keep the bedazzler. Something about it being an apology gift for their first encounter.
Goldy's glee left them all feeling worried.
"You bring chaos wherever you go." Freddy grumbled while Chica dozed lightly on the table.
"Thank you!" Ruby beamed while Foxy chuckled at them.
"You can't say it was boring Freddy." The fox pointed out as Bonnie stumbled out of the closet drenched in glitter.
Ruby dissolved into laughter which ended in a choking fit as the cake went down wrong.
She waved their abruptly panicked questions off though and smiled when the fit ended.
"I can tell, it's going to be great working here."
Her beaming smile really could melt any heart.
Even if she was not-so-subtly pointing her combo weapon at them again.

Chapter Text

Ruby rolled over and immediately groaned. Everything hurt. She'd pushed every single muscle past their limit Saturday night and had still run around crazily last night.
Not that it hadn't been fun, but…just…ow.
She glanced at the clock, noting that it was afternoon before she climbed out of bed. Some movement was needed and she probably needed to check the injuries she had gotten during the night. Those ghost brats had some serious issues.
After finishing up in the bathroom and getting dressed she headed down the stairs.
"Afternoon lazy!" Ricky called and ran up for a hug.
She ignored the twinge of pain that raced down her back and hugged him back enthusiastically.
"Everyone else already out?" she asked looking around at the empty sitting room.
Ricky nodded as he went back to his program.
"Want to watch with me?" he asked hopefully.
She smiled slightly. She hadn't been spending near enough time with him lately. Well she was on babysitting duty today so what was stopping her?
They got comfortable as the kiddie movie played in bright colours and bright noises. Ruby found her mind drifting though. She couldn't help it. She was so very curious about the animatronics that she had grown up with. What did they like to do in their off time? Did they have hobbies? Bonnie clearly had a talent for pranking.
She chuckled softly as she remembered the events of last night. When the 'bots weren't being forced into night guard murder sprees they were a ton of fun to be around.
Just like she remembered.
She's just started to dream up some new things to do with them when her phone went off loudly. She checked caller-Id and frowned when she saw it was her boss.
Stepping away from the couch she answered.
"Hello, night guard Ruby here, how may I help you?" she smirked as he began spluttering at her cheerful greeting.
"Uh-uh-hi-R-R-Ruby." He greeted nervously.
"Can I help you boss?" she asked, hiding a snicker.
"Ah yes. S-sorry for calling you but the day guard just threw a fit and left in the middle of his shift." The man stumbled over his words.
Ruby frowned. That wasn't very professional.
"So-ah-I was h-hoping that you might be able to come in and cover the rest? The other day guards c-can't." he asked a little desperately.
Ruby bit her lip as she thought about it. "Um I'm babysitting my brother at the moment…"
She glanced over at Ricky who was watching her curiously.
"You can bring him with. Complimentary meal." The manager offered hastily.
"Gimme a second." Ruby covered the phone and looked back at Ricky.
"They want me to cover a flaky employee's shift, wanna come? You get pizza." She asked.
"PIZZA!" Ricky cried out excitedly as he jumped around.
Ruby chuckled as she told the manager that she would be there in twenty minutes. He thanked her hurriedly before he hung up and she told Ricky to get ready.
Twenty minutes later the two were entering the building to a few barely suppressed groans. Ruby smirked while Ricky rolled his eyes.
"You never give them a break do you sis?" he asked.
"Nope." Her smirk widened before she turned around to face him. "Alright so you know the rules. No talking to strangers, stay near the group, if you need me wave at one of the cameras and if something happens run to one of the 'bots okay?"
Ricky nodded. "Are you getting along better with them?" he asked.
"Yup, a lot better." Her smile softened somewhat and he grinned happily. "Now go have fun. I'll go tell someone to get you a pizza."
She watched him run to a group of kids and integrate immediately. Ricky was just like that, able to get along with just about anyone. She watched him for a moment before she donned her improvised cap and sauntered off to find the manager.
Bonnie was the first one to spot her.
He paused and leaned over to get the other animatronics' attention and pointed.
"Day shift again?" Foxy asked.
"The day guard had his little temper tantrum earlier remember." Freddy reminded them as he sent some kids to go play in a group.
The others nodded but felt unsure about what to do. Usually they avoided the night guard during the day with overflowing hostility but…well…it was different now.
Then again they could just imagine the skittish employees' reactions to the night guard being buddies with the robots. This was uncharted territory so they decided in the end to let Ruby make the first move.
It certainly didn't take her long.
She ended up in the room with all four of them when they were doing a show together on stage while she was handing a pizza box to her brother. As the show was coming to an end she looked up and grinned at them, the glint in her eye promising some form of drama soon.
They sighed and resigned themselves to the inevitable.
After they were back among the crowd with the wary employees nervously looking between Ruby and the 'bots, she moved forward. People held their breath, wondering what the crazy girl was up to now. Sure the 'bots had never done anything in public before but they were dangerous.
Jerry hung around nearby with a few others trying to keep their panic in.
She sauntered right up to Bonnie and tapped him on the shoulder, standing on her tip-toes to reach. The rabbit glanced over at her but instead of glaring like everyone who was bordering on fainting expected him to he just tilted an ear forward and leaned down slightly to catch what she was saying. The absolutely wicked grin that appeared on his face didn't help their stress levels though.
None of them could hear what was being said but they were shocked when Ruby pulled the animatronic over to the group of kids that her brother was playing with.
Freddy and Chica watched on suspiciously, wondering what the two were cooking up. Foxy took one look before he ducked into Pirate Cove where it was safe.
"What's going on?" one employee asked.
They were all confused by the general lack of killer intent they were feeling from the 'bots.
"Hey, kids!" Ricky and his group turned around to see Ruby wearing her signature smirk with Bonnie in tow. "You up for some fun?"
The answering cheer was enough of an answer.
"We are locking the crafts box from now on." The manager announced while he surveyed the damage.
Ruby had brought a bunch of glue guns with her to work and armed the kids and Bonnie along with the contents of the crafts box. The room (and Freddy, Chica and most of the employees) now resembled a grade one arts and crafts project.
Foxy had been roped in as well and the entire group was currently hiding out in Pirate Cove.
Strangely enough there were also random gemstones all over the place, like the kind that came from a bedazzler.
"You should just fire her." Henry, currently more sparkly than a disco ball, snarled.
The manager looked at him in disbelief. "She survived the week. As the night guard. She may be crazy but she's great at her job."
The parents had been spared and actually found the impromptu war entertaining.
Eventually the war ended when Freddy managed to snag Ruby by the jacket and drag her away from her forces.
He pulled her up to eye level and glared at her. The other workers panicked, thinking that the bear was about to kill her right there. However Ruby just smiled sheepishly and held up her glue gun in surrender. The bear shook his head and let her go after confiscating the weapon.
Without their leader the others did lose interest and gradually things went back to (a slightly more sticky and glittery version of) normal.
Ruby dusted herself down, got a high five from Bonnie and then headed off to do her rounds again. Before she was out of the room though one of the employees asked her why the animatronics weren't trying to kill her (in a very roundabout way) and if she had tampered with their settings.
She looked at them in confusion.
"No. I just annoyed them until they gave up. We're cool now."
She left the workers staring at her in disbelief, greeting Foxy on the way.
As the day wound down and they started closing, Ruby did one last round.
"I'm glad to see that you're, uh, settling in fine." The manager said when she bumped into him near his office.
"Yeah." She grinned. "This job's pretty awesome."
He debated asking her about the animatronics when Foxy turned the corner and headed in their direction. The man tensed up, not comfortable around the 'bots when there weren't any kids around. The other workers around them did the same.
Foxy didn't even seem to notice as he grinned at Ruby.
"You're a menace, you know that lass?" he chuckled, holding up some table cloths that used to be white and now were covered in paint.
Ruby shrugged and grinned. "Well when I found out there was a crafts box I just couldn't resist."
The fox shook his head, still chuckling while everyone stared at them in shock. The ease with which she spoke to him was unheard of.
"So you still coming for your shift tonight?" Bonnie asked suddenly.
Everyone jumped in fright. They had been too focused on Foxy to notice the rabbit.
She nodded. "Of course. Might need to take it easy tonight though. Unless you want another night of dealing with a sugar high me."
Their frantic head shaking had her laughing again. But they both looked happy that she was coming for her night shift as well.
"Well I'd better get Ricky home. Looks like he's about to fall asleep." Said boy stumbled over to her tiredly.
"Really don't know where you get all that energy from sis." He yawned.
She just laughed and ruffled his hair.
"See ya." She waved at them before heading out, an arm around Ricky. "Oh and, sorry about the peanut butter incident in the bathroom. Wasn't supposed to splatter that much."
The humans all shuddered as they remembered the state of their bathroom earlier. Her new peanut butter bombs were leaving sticky messes everywhere.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby skipped through the door at five to twelve and ran for the office. By the time twelve chimed she was back in the main dining room with the tablet.
"Hey everyone!" she yelled, her voice echoing. "C'mere. Got something to show you."
The 'bots came over to her only slightly suspicious. Goldy materialised out of curiosity as well.
"What is it?" Chica asked.
"Movie night!" Ruby sang.
They stared at her blankly while she pulled out her laptop and a projector.
"Well, I thought we could relax tonight while I educate you all on awesome movies." She grinned.
"What do you have in mind?" Freddy asked, curious.
The 'bots heard about them from kids and parents but they didn't actually get to watch them themselves.
"To start off," she spun around excitedly. "Harry Potter marathon!"
She urged them all to sit down while she got the movie started.
They were hooked half an hour into the first one.
"We should do this often." Ruby suggested at some point. "Don't want you all getting burned out with the games and all."
It was only at about that point that the 'bots realised that Ruby had done this because she was worried. They worked all day with kids and ran after night guards all night. They didn't really get any relaxing time. And to be honest, it did get to them. They did feel burned out.
She was lying on her stomach between Bonnie and Foxy with her chin propped up in her hand so she didn't see the thankful looks being directed at her.
"Yeah. We should." Bonnie murmured.
Freddy sighed softly to himself. Who would have thought that a night guard was the solution to all their problems?
Foxy reached over and ruffled Ruby's hair. "Thanks lass."
She turned her head and grinned. "No problem. Can't have anything happening to my fave 'bots now can I? I'd be heartbroken."
"How often did you come anyway?" Bonnie asked as his face scrunched up, trying to place her in his memories. "You mentioned you came here as a kid."
Before Ruby could say anything Foxy snorted. "She's the kid that broke her arm falling off the mast of my ship."
It took them all of five seconds.
"You're that little girl?!" Freddy, Bonnie and Chica cried out in surprise.
"Am I really that different?" Ruby asked thoughtfully.
"No." Foxy answered, deadpan. "You're still a little hellion."
She smiled sweetly at that. "Why thank you."
"Explains a lot." Freddy was nodding his head slowly.
They all had many memories with her. Even if she did spend a lot of her time with Foxy as a kid she still played with all of them.
"Hey, didn't you make me play my guitar a lot?" Bonnie suddenly asked, remembering.
Ruby actually blushed and laughed. "Uh yeah. Actually you're the one who made me want to learn to play."
So Ruby got embarrassed too. Good to know there was some normalcy there.
Bonnie stared at her in shock. "You play?"
She nodded. "Got a guitar for my tenth birthday and started taking lessons."
The blush was still on her cheeks. Seemed like something she was a bit shy about.
"I play for Ricky sometimes but I haven't had much time to practice lately." She waved at the building in general instead of explaining.
"Why'd you take this job anyway?" Chica asked curiously.
Ruby grinned at her. "I was bored."
They all rolled their eyes at her. Bored, so she took a life threatening job. Right.
She just laughed at them and went back to watching the movie which Goldy was still entranced by. Ruby didn't think the bear had heard even a word they said.
She giggled a little at her intense focus before Bonnie caught her attention again.
"Hey Ruby." The rabbit was looking slightly to the side.
She looked over at him, tilting her head in silent question.
"Thanks. For taking the job."
She blinked in surprise while the others nodded.
"We really do appreciate what you did." Freddy murmured softly, glancing at Goldy who would never have been able to relax like this previously.
Ruby gave them one of her rarer, gentler smiles.
"Anytime guys." She turned back to the movie when it seemed like they were growing a little flustered, hiding a smile.
Things were going to be fun from now on, she had a feeling.
"Hey, by the way. Why did the day guard throw a fit?" she asked.
Bonnie and Foxy doubled over, snickering while Freddy levelled a stare at Ruby,
"Something about a glitter mine pile under his chair." He explained evenly.
"Oh. I wondered where I left them." She nodded slowly before breaking out into a fit of giggles as well.

Chapter Text

The animatronics and staff at Freddy's slowly got used to the new, eccentric night guard. However "getting used to" didn't mean that she didn't continue to surprise them. The staff were forever running into quirky traps throughout the establishment and she started leaving little lists and odd notes on the walls as well (for a reason foreign to all). It was becoming routine to find her grocery lists on the walls, as well as rather disturbing weapon ideas.
The most surprising development though was their discovery of Ruby's passion for movies. She could grow exceptionally…excited about movies.
Which was why she was currently running around on a Thursday night in a Darth Vader costume swinging a replica of a lightsaber (thank goodness she couldn't recreate that to add to her crazy collection).
Unfortunately for the other animatronics Ruby had found a fellow Star Wars lover in Bonnie after showing the original trilogy on the second movie night.
Which was why he was running around with her engaging in a rather intense lightsaber fight.
Freddy groaned as the two toppled another table in their battle.
"Could you two just NOT?" he growled.
They ignored him as they had been doing all night and continued crossing blades.
"The force is strong within you, old bunny." Ruby smirked, the helmet having been pushed up out of her face after she ran into a wall twice.
"You've lost yourself to the dark side." Bonnie replied. "I can't show mercy, even to one with awesome movie tastes."
Chica groaned next to Freddy. "I don't know how much more of this I can stand. Foxy, do something. You're her favourite."
The fox glanced over at her quizzically. "Why would I do that? This is hilarious."
Goldy giggled above them as they groaned again.
"Looks like they're having fun, and it doesn't involve paint this time." She pointed out.
Freddy grunted in annoyance.
"Those two are surprisingly dangerous together." He muttered as another table was toppled.
"I'll crush your weak Jedi order!" Ruby declared as she performed a rather impressive somersault.
"Think she took gymnastics at some point?" Goldy asked Foxy, blocking out the other two's complaints.
"Probably. I swear that lass is double jointed. Did you see her contort to fit under that table the other day?" he chuckled.
Goldy looked confused. "Why was she trying to get under the table?"
"Oh yeah, you're in your poster during the day. I forgot. She played a brilliant trick on the grump, Henry, and he went ballistic. Chased her all over so she hid under the table until they calmed him down." Foxy snickered.
"What did she do?" Goldy leaned forward.
"Bedazzled his uniform before his shift."
She snorted. "And they actually managed to calm him down?"
"Well, not really. He stopped cause Freddy yelled at him to stop swearing in a child-friendly pizzeria. Almost wet his pants then I think, along with everyone else there. Ruby just laughed harder."
Now Goldy was doubled over with laughter.
Foxy smirked in satisfaction.
A week.
It had only been a week since the end of the seventh night. Since Ruby had begun to take root firmly in their lives.
Things were already so much better. Bonnie was running around like the nut job he was, Goldy showed up a lot more often and everything felt lighter. The ghosts hadn't shown up since the sixth night but he knew they were still around. He couldn't really bring himself to care though, they couldn't do anything for the moment.
He grinned as something crashed to the floor and Freddy snapped at the two role-players again.
Taking advantage of Bonnie's startled reaction to his shout, Ruby tripped him up and sent him flat on his back.
"Hey!" he glared at her but she pointed the glowing stick at his face.
"Bonnie," her tone was ominous, "Face the truth. I…am...YOUR NIGHT GUARD!"
Her face split into a bright grin as he began howling with laughter. Goldy and Foxy joined in while Chica tried to stifle her giggles, still annoyed. Freddy just rolled his eyes and told them to clean up their mess.
Ruby waved him off and turned off the lightsaber.
"Darth Night Guard, one. Jedi Bugs Bunny, zero." She smirked.
Bonnie couldn't even retaliate as he was trying to catch his breath still.
"You're sure enthusiastic about some movies." Goldy giggled.
Ruby shrugged. "When I'm in the mood. You should see me after a marathon of Pirates of the Caribbean."
"What?" Foxy's ears perked up.
"NO!" Chica and Freddy yelled.
"Next movie night." She promised him.
They groaned, hardly able to imagine two fanatic pirates in their midst. Foxy was pretty level-headed but pirates were his passion.
The two grinned at the horrified expressions while Bonnie finally managed to push himself up into a sitting position.
"Hey, it's already four." He observed, surprised with how quickly time had passed.
"What?!" she yelped. "Darn! I've got a bunch of pranks to set up before I leave! Come on Bonnie!"
He eagerly jumped to his feet and they sprinted off.
"Those two are not a good combo." Chica sighed.
Freddy trailed after to try and limit any damage and the chicken wandered off to protect her kitchen from any pranks.
Foxy stood and stretched. "That was entertaining and all but I'm going to relax a bit before the drama starts. Guaranteed that someone sets off a trap before her shift's over."
Goldy smirked and nodded. "Probably. Well I'm going to my poster then. If I hear any explosions I'll come out."
She disappeared from view and Foxy sauntered off to Pirates Cove.
Just as he reached the room an explosion went off and he shook his head, chuckling.
"Aaaaaand that's all of them." Ruby grinned back at Bonnie. "This will be a great morning surprise."
The rabbit grinned back. "Another successful night, pranking partner."
"Couldn't do it without you buddy." Ruby high-fived him and turned around as Freddy entered the room.
"I think I liked it better when you two were enemies." He grumbled and they laughed.
"Just a little fun Smokey." She smirked.
He shook his head and shooed her out of the staffroom.
"So what do you guys want me to bring tomorrow?" she questioned as the three headed down the hallway towards the dining room.
Bonnies shrugged. "Whatever. You can show me how you make pizza blow up?"
She grinned as Freddy winced.
Poor Chica.
"Well that's my cue." She glanced up as the chimes signalled the end of her shift. "I'd best get headed home. Shopping for school supplies today."
As she pulled a face the animatronics jerked in surprise.
"Oh yeah, schools are starting up again next week." Bonnie murmured.
Ruby nodded and smiled at them. "But you're not getting rid of me that easily. Still keeping the job."
"Are you sure you can keep up a schedule like that?" Freddy frowned.
"Yeah, might need to do homework during my shift sometimes but shouldn't be a problem." She made a face as she said 'homework'.
"Well then, see you tomorrow." The two saw her off and then went about getting into place for the day.
As Ruby walked down the sidewalk, humming softly to herself she went through the list of things she would need to buy later.
A few minutes away from the door to Freddy's though, something caught her eye. Curious, she stopped to look at the poster.
"What? New animatronics coming in a month?" she frowned.
The poster was brightly coloured and had a picture of four (total rip-offs and that's definitely not the nostalgia and affection and adoration for the originals talking, not at all) animatronics on it.
She blinked a couple of times to make sure she was seeing right.
"Did they make them ALL female?" she wondered, staring at the make-up like details. "I mean, they look like girls?"
Straightening slowly she had a bad feeling. Was this advertising additional animatronics…or replacements?
The idea didn't sit well with her and she growled softly.
"They better not be trying something." She muttered. "Management or not, I will bash their heads in if they mess with my 'bots."
She glanced back at the poster for a moment before continuing home.
She had a month to find out. She could decide who to terrify to death then.
She took a deep breath, pushing down her fury. Anger was not needed just yet. She could use it to fuel her violent death spree later.
For now, she was going to be perfectly calm about this. Perfectly, totally calm. Zen calm. Finding her inner peace calm.
Calm.
…where did she store the chainsaw again?

Chapter Text

"Do…you think she could make that chair combust if she keeps staring like that?" Bonnie whispered to Freddy.
All the animatronics were currently leaning to peek in through the office doorway.
Ruby was in the office.
Ruby was NEVER in the office.
Why was Ruby in the office?
"Wonder what's bothering the lass?" Foxy murmured, a frown curving his mouth down.
They all were wondering that. Ruby had stomped into work that night and immediately holed up in the office. She hadn't said a word and looked to either be thinking deeply about something or trying to psychically set the chair ablaze.
Of course she was sitting on the table, she just couldn't be normal.
"…should we ask?" Goldy wondered uncertainly.
They exchanged looks.
"Rock paper scissors?" Chica suggested.
No one really wanted to be the one to go. So Goldy cheated and disappeared before they got started and the four played a few matches. Bonnie lost and was shoved into the office.
"Uh, Ruby?" he asked nervously as she looked up at the intrusion. "Everything okay?"
She blinked a couple of times at him before that murderous gleam vanished from her eye and she groaned.
"Sorry Bonnie. Just got some things on my mind. Didn't mean to make you guys worry." She rubbed her face and sighed.
"Anything we can do to help?" the rabbit asked, relieved that the menacing atmosphere was gone.
Sure they were on friendly terms with the night guard but she was still very unpredictable. At least she apologised sometimes now.
Sometimes.
"No don't worry about it. I don't even know if there is a problem yet." She leaned back on the table, precarious balance becoming even more unstable. "Thanks though."
She flipped idly through the cameras and smirked in amusement. "The others do know that they're hiding right in view of the camera right?"
Bonnie snickered. "Yeah, they're waiting at the end of the hall in case things get violent."
Ruby shook her head. "I'm not that bad. But where's Goldy?"
"Bailed on us like a coward." The rabbit sniffed in annoyance.
This time she laughed. Giggling she started rapidly switching between the poster and kitchen. Bonnie caught on and started laughing too.
"You're evil you know that?"
"Why thank you!" Ruby grinned brightly just before Goldy appeared with a squeak.
"Bailing on your friends is not nice sunshine." The girl's smile grew wider as she leapt at the suit.
Goldy went down under Ruby's bear hug and groaned. "I hate that summoning thing."
"Bear hugging the ghost bear." Bonnie was laughing again.
The others decided to come see what all the commotion was about and were rather confused to see the two hug-wrestling on the floor.
"What's going on?" Freddy asked, perplexed.
"Punishment hug!" Ruby sang and tightened her hold.
It was really difficult not to laugh at such a thing and only Freddy managed to remain calm.
"This is going to be a long night." He sighed as Foxy grabbed Bonnie in a headlock.
Ruby sat on a table at the back of the room while the animatronics watched another Harry Potter movie. Goldy had thrown a fit when they said that they wanted to watch Pirates of the Caribbean instead and insisted on finishing off the series of magical movies first. At this point Ruby was considering getting the suit the series of books but she worried that the bear would never socialise again if she did.
She watched the 'bots with affection but her smile slid off her face as her mind turned to darker thoughts. She'd done a little research when she'd gotten home the previous night and the results were still weighing heavily on her mind.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby scaled the steps to her room quickly and impatiently paced while her computer turned on. She wouldn't be able to sleep unless she found out about these 'new animatronics'.
First she checked the restaurant's website and found the same poster she had seen on the way home. Seeing it in the light she paused. They looked, well, shiny. Kind of plastic looking. Nothing like the cuddly animatronics she knew. (She didn't care if no one else agreed with her there, to her they were cuddly. Not that she'd ever mentioned that around any of them yet.)
Under the poster were the words 'THE TOYS ARE COMING TO TOWN!'.
"Toys?" Ruby murmured as she sat back. "Is that what they're called? They do kind of look like dolls I guess."
There wasn't any other information on the site except a small paragraph saying that the management was excited to have found these animatronics.
Found.
Ruby frowned. The management didn't order them? They looked way too similar to the current gang so did that mean that they had been used at a Freddy's establishment before?
She drew her legs up onto the chair and rested her chin on her knees.
She was getting a REALLY bad feeling about all this…
She sighed softly to herself. Once again, the internet was no help. There was hardly any information on the pizzeria out there it seemed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
She leaned back against the wall and flipped through the cameras again. Nothing out of the ordinary. She just couldn't seem to focus on the movie, what with all these thoughts buzzing through her head. She looked up and noticed Freddy looking at her.
Deciding that Freddy was probably the best choice to talk to about this (the restaurant was named FREDDY Fazbear's pizzeria after all) she pointed towards the hallway subtly and slipped off the table to quietly make her way out, indicating that he must follow. He nodded and stood, making some excuse to the others who were too caught up in the movie to really notice that anything was off.
Once out the room the bear raised an eyebrow. "So you want to tell me what's got you so deep in thought?"
Ruby leaned on the wall as she thought her words through. "You guys have been around for a while now right? Worked at different incarnations of the pizzeria?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes. We worked at the first Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. There was a diner before it but only Goldy was around then."
Ruby looked surprised. "Really? Didn't know that."
She filed the piece of information away to mull over later. For now she still had questions.
"Were there ever…any other animatronics at a pizzeria? That you know of?" she watched his reaction carefully.
The bear stiffened and his eyes narrowed. He was silent for a moment, looking at her intently before he slowly nodded.
"Yes. Once. A group of animatronics…replaced us."
It was clear that the memory was painful to think about. This time it was Ruby who stiffened.
"Replaced?!" she hissed, barely remembering to keep her voice down.
Freddy glanced at the group but they were still really into the movie.
"Yeah…They only lasted four weeks though."
She blinked in surprise. "Four weeks?"
He nodded. "Place closed down. Don't know what happened to them after that. At the next location we got repaired and got back to work."
Ruby really didn't like that they had had to get repaired. Just what had happened?
"Why do you ask?" he was staring intently at her again.
She sighed in frustration and banged the back of her head against the wall behind her as she leaned back.
"Saw a poster advertising 'New Animatronics'. Don't know much because apparently the internet doesn't know that this place exists." She watched him stiffen again out of the corner of her eye.
"I see." He murmured, frown deepening.
"The website said that the management found them though. So I'm wondering if it's not the bunch that you mentioned." she sighed.
He rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. "I really hope not. Was there a description of them?"
"There was a picture. They looked like plastic-y rip-offs of you guys honestly. With a lot of make-up."
He snorted out a surprised laugh. Seems like he liked the description. After the moment of amusement though, his expression turned serious.
"It's the same guys, isn't it?" she asked softly.
"Yeah, which means they're bringing a whole new problem with them too." He covered his eyes, looking exhausted.
"What's going on?" Chica's voice interrupted them before she could ask him to elaborate.
They turned to see that the others had paused the movie and come over to see what was going on.
Goldy didn't look happy about it and she kept sneaking peeks back at the frozen image.
Ruby glanced at Freddy and he sighed deeply before turning to face the others fully.
"Ruby saw a poster advertising that the Toys are being brought here." He explained gently, like he was breaking really bad news.
Their reactions were immediate and extreme.
Goldy's eyes snapped away from the screen and she looked completely horrified, mouth opening slightly as if she wanted to speak. Chica let out a squeak and began wringing her hands nervously, looking fearful. Foxy growled, slamming a fist into the wall next to him.
Bonnie's reaction was what really worried her as his expression clearly stated that he was not with them anymore and was instead reliving some very unpleasant memories.
Ruby's protective instincts flared up big time and she had to clench her fists to prevent herself from doing anything too rash.
"Are…are we…being replaced…again?" Chica asked softly, eyes downcast.
Ruby clenched her jaw as Freddy placed a comforting hand on the chicken's shoulder. If robots could cry, there was no doubt in her mind that the animatronic would be in tears.
"Don't know Chica. All it said was new animatronics." The bear murmured softly to her.
"When." Foxy growled.
All eyes turned to Ruby and she forced her jaw to relax. "Poster said a month."
Goldy let out a soft whimper as her eyes darted from one friend to the other. Bonnie still looked like he was in a trance.
"Bonnie? Hey come on Bon. You with us?" Foxy's anger lessened somewhat as he gazed worriedly at the rabbit.
Bonnie blinked a couple of times and took in a shaky breath. "Y-yeah. Sorry."
Silence descended on the group. Ruby glared at the floor, furious at whoever could make her friends react like this. Eventually Foxy coaxed Bonnie off to the side to talk quietly while Freddy kept Chica calm a little ways away. Goldy stood with Ruby, watching everyone with concern.
"What happened?" the night guard asked softly, not looking at the suit.
Goldy looked at her, uncertainty warring on her face.
"The restaurant doesn't know about you so they couldn't have replaced you." She spat the word 'replaced' out like it was poison. "So I know you saw what happened. What happened to my 'bots?"
Her voice was even throughout but the fury was barely concealed. Goldy's heart jumped happily at the protectiveness suggested by the words 'my 'bots'. That was what made the decision for her.
"The management…they thought that the gang was getting too old. That they weren't going to bring in new customers. So they got new animatronics. Called them the Toy generation. All the advertisements said that they were 'new' and 'better'. It broke everyone's heart. Entertaining kids…it's what we're made for. To take that away is…it's really cruel."
Ruby didn't miss that Goldy had said 'we' but decided to stay quiet for now.
"They replaced the gang. Put them into storage. It was awful." She drew in a shuddering breath. "But what was worse was that they…they…I don't know what they were trying to do. Trying to fit the new tech into them or taking parts that they needed but didn't want to buy…"
Ruby's heart plummeted.
"The staff took parts from the gang. It was terrible. Everyone lost something. It was the worst for Bonnie." She glanced at the distraught rabbit. "I hated it. But those new guys, the Toys. They were horrible. Told them that they were old and worthless. Useless. Do you know how that wears on someone?"
She looked up into Ruby eyes with a pleading gaze. The night guard felt a crushing sensation in her chest and dark memories threatened to drag her down.
"Yeah. I do." She whispered, pushing the memories away.
She needed to be here for the 'bots. This wasn't about her.
Goldy looked at her in concern but Ruby just waved for her to continue, urging her to finish. She did after a moment.
"It broke their spirits. It was already tough with the ghosts making them go after the night guards. Then this happened and they got the Toys to do it instead. They weren't very good at it though. Eventually the ghosts got frustrated and made the gang do it anyway. It was a really dark time. After a week though, there was an…incident…at a birthday party." Ruby frowned at the vague description. "The restaurant closed and everyone was put into storage. We haven't seen the Toys since."
Ruby stared at the ground for a long time while Goldy watched her anxiously. Eventually Freddy and Chica moved over to them, obviously concerned with her stillness.
"Ruby?" Freddy asked.
Bonnie and Foxy looked over at the word and frowned when they saw her.
"What's-" the bear began before Ruby snapped.
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" she screamed suddenly, losing the tenuous hold she had on her temper. "THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'M LETTING ANYTHING LIKE THAT HAPPEN! I'M GOING TO GO CHAINSAW MASSACARE ON THE MANAGEMENT BEFORE I LET SOME-SOME-SOME GLORIFIED DOLLS REPLACE ANYONE!"
She spun around, breathing hard as she tried to rein in her temper. When that didn't work she resorted to kicking the nearest chair. When that still didn't work she began plotting.
"Fireworks. I'm putting bloody fireworks under the manager's chair for this. If they thought I was bad before…" she laughed. "I'm going to be an absolute nightmare now."
"Now, calm down Ruby." Freddy tried.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?" she yelled, spinning around again. "HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN YOU TELL ME THAT THE ROBOTS THAT THEY'RE BRINGING IN HURT YOU LIKE THAT?!
She felt the tears sting her eyes and cursed the fact that she was an angry crier.
"THAT THEY MESSED WITH MY CHILDHOOD IDOLS. THAT THEY MIGHT BE COMING TO REPLACE MY FRIENDS?!"
She scrubbed furiously at her eyes as they stared dumbfounded at her. "And don't do that. Don't look like you've already accepted it as inevitable."
She glared at them, looking ready to hit anyone who disagreed with her.
Chica was the one to speak, surprisingly.
"Friends?" she murmured, looking shocked like everyone else. "But…we tried to kill you. Multiple times."
Ruby stared at her. "Yeah. But it wasn't your fault. It's not like I'm buddies with the ghosts. Of course you're my friends. Have been since I was a kid. I never considered you as anything else."
And now if that didn't make all their hearts melt.
"You're way too good for us, you know?" Bonnie gave her a watery smile.
She folded her arms. "Don't care what you say. You're stuck with me. And I swear that I'm not going to let those Toys take over."
She held everyone's gaze individually for a moment to let that sink in.
"Besides, letting a bunch of Barbie Dolls run the place? As if." Even though she was clearly still angry, that signature smirk shone through.
That got a breathless laugh from everyone.
"Guess we really should stop underestimating you, huh lass?" Foxy murmured.
She grinned at him, that manic light shining bright in her eyes.
"So, who's up for setting up traps everywhere tonight? There's a staff meeting in the morning that I have to attend so I'll get to watch the show." She started to bounce in place.
Freddy's expression grew stern. "No actual fireworks."
She pouted. "Spoilsport."
After a brief argument the mood was light enough that they all got into setting the traps. Ruby handed out stink bombs, glitter mines and paint bombs to everyone. She and Bonnie rigged the oven to throw flour when it was opened. Foxy filled the air conditioning system with glitter. Goldy stuck little buttons that delivered an electric shock in random chairs in the staffroom and Ruby left a lovely, paint filled grenade in the manager's office.
Revenge. Was. Sweet.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
It was near the end of the night, when Foxy was setting another glitter mine, that he heard what he'd been waiting for.
"RUBY! I TOLD YOU! NO. FIREWORKS!" Freddy's yell echoed through the building and the fox chuckled.
Maybe.
Maybe things would be alright with Ruby's help after all.

Chapter Text

The restaurant hadn't even opened yet and the staff were already covered in glitter, paint and numerous other things that hadn't been on them when they walked into work that morning. Since the security guard was coming in for the staff meeting just before they opened they were all storing their rage away to unleash on her.
This was on an entirely new level form before and despite her menacing aura they weren't about to let this slide.
Eventually she walked through the door.
The words died on everyone's lips. The murderous look in her eyes was very clear and focused on them, there was a Taser strapped to her thigh and was swinging a baseball bat slightly at her side. If they didn't know the girl was the night guard they would have assumed that a gang leader had just walked in.
A couple of the day guards who had never met her frowned and moved to kick her out only to be grabbed by the other employees.
"That's the night guard." One hissed. "And she's in a seriously bad mood for some reason."
They watched her stalk through the room and disappear into the meeting room. They had a feeling that this was not going to be a normal staff meeting.
The meeting started off normally enough once they had managed to get the shaking manager to go into the room. Ruby sat in a chair close to the front of the room and watched him like a hawk which certainly didn't help his anxiety levels.
He nervously introduced the new night guard to those that hadn't met her yet before moving on to the boring things. After forty five minutes he seemed to have relaxed somewhat and smiled at them, asking if anyone had any announcements or questions.
Much to their horror, Ruby raised her hand.
His grin fading he nodded at her to speak.
She stood up, stretching and the smile on her face did absolutely nothing to hide the fury in her eyes.
"So," she held up a poster. "What's all this about boss?"
He frowned. "That's the advertisement for the new animatronics that we are bringing in."
"Oh I know that." Her smile grew razor sharp. "What I'm asking is if you're so stupid as to try and replace my buddies?"
They all gaped at her, half from anger at the disrespect and half from shock at her words.
"What?" the manager asked, wringing his hands.
"Listen." She dropped the smile and glared at him. "Freddy told me that this bunch has replaced them before and I'm not about to let something like that happen again. The kids love the 'bots, I love the 'bots. Before you bring it up I don't care about a bit of homicidal behaviour and it's got a long and complicated explanation anyway. At the moment they're my friends, always have been even if they didn't know it. I've been a fan of this place since I was a kid and I'm not letting something happen to them. Now I don't care if these new animatronics are coming in as additional robots. My problem is if they're coming as replacements. So, which is it?"
She folded her arms and watched him critically, no hint of the childish trickster that they knew in her gaze.
"Uh, actually that isn't decided yet." The manager answered.
She raised an eyebrow, silently asking for elaboration.
"Uh, it was going to depend on the customers' reactions over the course of five months." He explained, wringing his hands again under the force of that stare.
"Hmmm, suppose that makes sense. Even if I don't think their popularity would go down at all." She frowned, looking thoughtful but not furious anymore. "But you have to understand that if the 'bot go, I go. Then you get to deal with dead night guards again."
Everyone shuddered at the bluntness of her statement.
"You…really get along with the animatronics?" someone asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, we have movies nights now. They don't try and kill me anymore."
More shuddering.
"And if you bring in new animatronics the killings will continue. I can guarantee that." She seemed serious.
"How do you know?" Henry asked suspiciously.
She shrugged. "That's a secret. But I won't be there to stop it this time. The 'bots are the only draw for me to come here. I've got no nostalgia or connection to these new ones."
She waved the poster around again. The manager nodded, glad that she had calmed down and seriously considering her words now. He didn't think he was prepared to lose her, crazy as she was. She had changed something for the better, even if they didn't know what.
"I'll definitely take that into consideration." He assured her.
She stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Alright. But I'll be watching. I may be young but I'm not stupid. I'm serious about all this."
She turned and headed for the door. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'm going to see the 'bots now."
She paused in the doorway. "Oh, and if you find some fireworks don't worry. Freddy stopped me before I could set up that prank."
That smirk was back as she looked over her shoulder at them and then she was gone.
"Fireworks?" someone squeaked in panic.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby walked into the room, humming to herself. The gang was setting up tables and getting ready for the day when they spotted her and waved.
She returned the gesture and sauntered over to them.
"So, I terrified everyone on the staff." She said conversationally.
Bonnie and Foxy laughed while the other two rolled their eyes.
"The manager said that they're not being brought in specifically as replacements. It depends on customer reactions. But I may have threatened with leaving if they got rid of you guys. He doesn't seem willing to lose a living night guard." She explained as she stopped Bonnie from setting off a glitter mine accidently.
They looked at her gratefully. The idea had still been weighing heavily on their minds.
"What's with the taser?" Chica asked.
She grinned. "In case they gave me the wrong answer. Why else do you think I left the fireworks here?"
"You did what?" Freddy asked sharply while Bonnie looked dangerously excited.
"I'm not going to use them NOW. They gave me the right answer." She rolled her eyes and waved him off.
"Ruby. This is still a KID'S restaurant. Please don't leave dangerous things lying around." He pinched between his eyes.
She looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Huh, guess I should take that flamethrower home then huh?" she murmured, scratching her head.
"RUBY!" Chica and Freddy yelled while the others chuckled.
She laughed and dodged a half-hearted swipe.
"Okay okay. Well I'll be go-" she interrupted herself with a short coughing fit.
They paused.
"You okay lass?" Foxy asked, frowning.
She nodded, waving him off. "Fine. Just a throat tickle. I'm going to head home now then, since everything's sorted. See you tonight."
They watched her walk off, still slightly worried. They'd seen their fair share of colds in this line of work and could definitely spot the beginnings of one.
But Ruby was a big girl…She could handle herself…
________________________________________________________________________________________
By the time the place closed and her shift was approaching they had already forgotten about the concern. They powered down for a bit, waiting for the night guard and whatever nonsense she was going to bring.
By the time they powered back on, the light was already turned back on so they knew Ruby was there. She just wasn't anywhere in sight. They frowned at each other in confusion. Usually she was the first to come running up to them in the middle of the night.
Foxy came out of Pirate's Cove and raised an eyebrow at her absence. Goldy materialized and looked around confused.
"Where is she?" Bonnie wondered.
The group decided to split up and explore the pizzeria.
Five minutes later Goldy came running to them all in a panic, popping in and out of existence in front of each of them as they searched, yelling something about the office.
Even more confused they hurried over to the office.
The sight that met them was…interesting…and panic inducing.
Ruby was curled around the tablet like it was a teddy bear, using the office chair as a pillow with the lower half of her body slumped on the floor. She clearly had a fever, if her flushed face indicated anything, and yet she had about five jackets on.
They rushed forwards worriedly while Goldy floated behind them, panic clear in her eyes.
"Ruby? Lass?" Foxy asked, hand hesitantly shaking her shoulder.
She grunted and peeled one eye open.
"Tired." She grumbled, her voice slightly raspy and indicating that she had been coughing.
This had clearly had a fast onset since she had seemed mostly fine earlier that day.
Unless she was that good at hiding how she was feeling. And that concerned them even more.
"I can tell lass. You not feeling very well?" he asked gently, relieved that she was responsive.
She regarded him for a moment. "Nope. Think I caught a cold."
"Kind of obvious lass." He chuckled.
She grunted again and turned her head slightly.
"Cold." She grumbled.
Chica stepped forward and felt her forehead.
"You've got a fever Ruby." She murmured, looking concerned.
"Probably picked it up from working in the pizzeria around the kids. Happens to all the employees in the beginning. Surprised that it took this long to hit you." Freddy admitted.
"I gotta good immune system…" she frowned for a moment. "Immune…Funny word don't you think? Immune, immune, immune immune immune immune-" Foxy chuckled and covered her mouth.
"Yeah it's a funny word lass. Aren't you uncomfortable though? Wouldn't it be more comfortable in the staffroom?" he coaxed.
She made a whining sound. "Tired. Didn't get far." She curled more around the tablet.
For once she actually sounded younger than her actual age, instead of older.
"There's a couch there." Bonnie added.
She seemed to debate this, face scrunching up as she stared at them. Finally she seemed to make a decision.
"Carry me." She demanded.
They blinked in surprise.
"Body hurts." She didn't get further as she suddenly started coughing.
They winced. It sounded like a painful cough.
"Alright lass." Foxy agreed, wanting to get her out of the cold office.
He bent down and picked her up, surprised by the lack of weight. She was actually smaller than would be average for her age, and lighter than she looked.
Grumbling something under her breath she cuddled the tablet and shut her eyes again, looking like she was getting ready to go back to sleep.
Quietly the group moved to the staffroom, worried about the normally boisterous night guard. Seeing her so out of sorts was disturbing.
Eventually Foxy set her down on the couch.
Or at least tried to.
She didn't seem quite willing to let go in her half asleep state.
"Come on lass. Let go." Foxy used the tone of voice he used with sick or injured kids at the pizzeria.
She made another whining sound.
"Cuddly." She mumbled.
They stared at her in confusion.
"You guys are cuddly. Not like the ones on the poster. They look like dolls. Not cuddly. You can't cuddle a doll since it'll poke you. I tried before. It's very uncomfortable. You guys are like plushies. I like plushies." She was rambling by now and Foxy was able to set her down.
"Think she's delusional?" Goldy asked, panic edging her voice.
As Freddy turned to reassure her Ruby spoke again.
"Hey, when did we get an elephant?" she asked.
They turned back to her. She was staring suspiciously at one of the other chairs in the room.
"I didn't know elephants came in green…" she mumbled.
"…how high is her fever?" Freddy asked Chica.
"Maybe you should call someone to pick you up lass." Foxy suggested gently. "We'll survive one night without you and you need to rest.
She shook her head. "I walk home." She explained, still staring at the chair.
Her eyes were slightly unfocused.
That didn't sit well with them since she was a minor walking around alone every night then. They pushed that aside though as they focused on the present.
"We can call your parents though lass. I'm sure they would want you home if you're feeling this bad." He pressed.
She shook her head again though. "You can't."
"Why not?" Bonnie asked, brow creasing.
She was stubborn, even when sick it seemed.
"They're dead." She explained matter-of-factly. "I don't think the elephant likes the giraffe."
The silence felt like it was strangling them.
"Ruby?" Freddy spoke softly, keeping his voice level with an effort.
She looked at him quizzically.
"What do you mean?" he asked gently.
She blinked a few times, eyes becoming slightly more focused.
"Oh, I never told you guys." She flopped back on the couch. "I live in an orphanage."
Memories of the girl entering the pizzeria with her parents flashed through their minds and they stared at her in confusion.
"After I turned ten. It was a car accident. Nothing bad like drunk driving or anything. The roads were slick after the rain and it was misty. I was the only one who survived the crash." She stared at the ceiling.
Chica covered her mouth in horror. "Oh Ruby."
"It's just you and Ricky then?" Bonnie murmured sadly.
To their surprise she shook her head again. "I'm an only child."
Now they were confused again.
"After I arrived at the orphanage, Ricky kind of grew attached to me. He's an only child too. Parent's died in a home invasion gone wrong when he was younger. So after a while he started calling me his sister. I didn't mind so we kind of adopted each other as siblings? Everyone refers to us that way, even the guardians at the orphanage."
The 'bots got the feeling that she wouldn't be sharing this much if she wasn't sick to the point of hallucinating.
"I'm sorry lass. We didn't know." Foxy murmured, kneeling next to the couch.
She shrugged and winced. "I never told you."
"But can't we call your guardians then?" Freddy asked, still worried about her health.
She shook her head again. "There's two. One's out of town at the moment and the other can't leave the kids alone. I'm the oldest in the orphanage."
They fell silent again, watching as she starting playing with the tablet. Upside down.
"Alright, but take it easy tonight. Okay lass?" Foxy felt her forehead, frowning at the temperature.
She nodded, humming slightly. "I take care of myself when I'm sick all the time."
She probably meant it to be reassuring but it really wasn't.
"Don't worry. We'll keep an eye on you." Chica was already entering mother-hen mode, bustling around and collecting pillows.
"Want anything?" Bonnie asked.
Before she could shake her head, Foxy stopped her.
"We're programmed to take care of kids lass. We couldn't ignore you being sick even if we tried. So just take advantage of it." He chuckled at the look on her face at the word 'kid'.
She nodded slowly. "I'm thirsty." She admitted.
Bonnie left to get some water from the kitchen fridge. Chica began fluffing the pillows around her while she stared at them all bewildered.
"You okay?" Goldy asked, floating closer.
"Yeah, just not used to being…taken care of. I take care of the kids usually. They're a real handful for the guardians most of the time." She mumbled, eyes going out of focus again and flickering over to the 'elephant chair'.
That simple statement really broke their hearts. Children, no matter how old, were supposed to always have someone to take care of them when they were sick or hurt. Did that mean she had dealt with all those injuries from the sixth night by herself?
Bonnie returned with the water soon after and she drank greedily. A few minutes after that she started whining that she was too hot.
Goldy and Chica helped her pull off the layers of jackets while Freddy and the boys searched for medicine in the cabinets. They'd seen the staff provide medicine on occasion to the employees and customers both. Simple cough medicines and headache pills, but they should help Ruby. If they could be found that is.
Ruby went into another coughing fit behind them and they searched faster.
Goldy managed to coax the tablet out of her arms and replaced it with a pillow which she curled around with a soft whimper.
"Hate being sick." She grumbled is a raspy voice.
"No one likes being sick." Foxy answered with sympathy from nearby.
"It's always like this." She continued whining.
"Like what?" Bonnie asked.
"Tickle in the throat then BOOM!" her sudden yell sent her into another coughing fit.
After she swallowed some more water she continued. "It's super bad the first night and then gets better."
"Why did you come to work if you knew?" Freddy asked, frowning. "You could have called in sick. You've done more than enough overtime as it is."
She shrugged. "I like my job. It's also more quiet here. Love the kids but it gets a bit much if I'm sick back home. They try to help but it's not really help. Last time there was a fire in the kitchen…"
"Makes sense." Foxy admitted.
"Hey, a zebra!" she exclaimed suddenly, followed by another coughing fit.
Foxy moved over and patted her back while she buried her face in the pillow.
"Keep the strain off the voice lass." He murmured, putting a wet cloth on her forehead when she resurfaced.
She sighed in relief at the feeling but her eyes snapped open again after a moment.
"I'm supposed to be watching the cameras." She mumbled.
"Goldy's got that covered." He patted her head. "Just relax."
Freddy finally found the medicine and walked back over to them.
"What's the symptoms exactly?" he asked.
"Hmmmm. Sore throat. Cough. Dizzy. Cold again. Ooh pretty butterfly." She wrapped her jacket more tightly around her and shivered as Chica produced a blanket from somewhere.
"Fever." Foxy added. "Hallucinations. Do you have a headache lass?"
She looked back up at them from rubbing her face against the blanket. "Yeah. Think there's an elephant in my head too."
Freddy sorted through the medicine and picked the ones that they needed.
"Allergic to anything Ruby?" he asked.
She shook her head and then winced again.
"So there's no medicine you can't take?"
"No." she answered verbally this time.
After ten minutes they managed to coax her into taking the sickly sweet cough mixture. A futher five minutes and she took the headaches pills.
"You're impossible, you know that?" Bonnie rolled his eyes.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "It's yucky."
She cleaned the taste out of her mouth with water while Foxy replaced the cloth on her head with a fresh, cold one. Her eyes fluttered closed again as she enjoyed the cool fabric.
"Get some sleep Ruby." Goldy suggested. "It's the best thing for you."
She mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'can't sleep on the job.' She was losing the battle with her sickness induced lethargy though and was quickly slipping into unconsciousness.
They smiled slightly as she curled up more and fell asleep.
"You know, she's like a cute kid when she's not terrorising anyone." Chica chuckled.
"Yeah. Just wish we didn't find that all out like this." Foxy sighed, allowing his mind to mull over what she had told them now that she was finally resting.
The others nodded sadly.
"Seems she's been through more than we could ever know." Freddy murmured.
Silence fell as they settled in to watch over their favourite night guard.

Chapter Text

Ruby didn't stay asleep for long and they ended up babysitting the delirious night guard for the rest of the night.
"It's hot." The girl complained. "Like, desert hot."
Chica rolled her eyes. "Yes Ruby. It was the Arctic a moment ago too."
"That's it. Shirt's coming off." She decided, sitting up and reaching to pull up her shirt.
The chicken dived forward and grabbed her hand.
"No no no no no no." she shook her head frantically. "Shirt stays on."
"Chiiiiiiiiicaaaaaa." She whined, tugging ineffectually at the shirt with her other hand.
"No buts about this. Bonnie, get her some ice water." She called to the rabbit.
He nodded and left to fetch the sixth glass of water.
It took them a moment to notice that she had fallen silent again and was staring at the chicken strangely.
"Chica?" she whispered.
The chicken looked back at her. "Yes?"
"The monkey's back." Ruby hissed.
"Is he now Ruby?" Freddy asked, sitting in one of the other chairs and watching them in amusement.
She wasn't easier to deal with when sick, not by a long shot. But she was entertaining. Her hallucinations were rather vivid and as the night wore on, things got worse just like she had warned them would happen when she was still somewhat lucid.
A few minutes later she was drinking from the glass Bonnie brought back. Once it was drained she flopped down on the couch again. Silence fell and everyone relaxed for a while.
"You don't have to do this." Ruby mumbled in a rare moment of awareness. "I know I'm terrible when I'm sick."
She peeked over the pillow at them but they waved her off.
"It's no problem Ruby." Chica smiled warmly. "But try and get some sleep. It'll be best for you."
She nodded slowly, eyes dulling again before disappearing behind the pillow once more.
"You remind me of my mom." She admitted softly.
Everyone froze and stared at her but she was already starting to doze.
"Keep it together Chica." Foxy chuckled, noticing Chica's happy, frazzled expression.
"But she said her mom. Is that good or bad? Did it make her happy or upset?" she fretted.
Bonnie leaned over. "She looks pretty happy."
Ruby was snuggled in a pile of blankets hugging the pillow with a slight smile tugging at her lips.
"She does I guess. How long do you think she'll sleep this time?" Goldy wondered.
"Hopefully a decent amount. At least there'll be no drama tonight." Freddy sighed.
A calm night was never meant to be.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Three hours later later Freddy was standing, fuming, in front of Goldy and Bonnie who were covered in glitter and bedazzler gemstones respectively.
"And WHY did you think that was a good idea?" he asked furiously.
Bonnie shrugged while Goldy wrung her hands guiltily.
"It's boring without Ruby causing chaos." The rabbit admitted.
Before Freddy could yell at them, laughter rang out from the nearby doorway.
They turned to see Ruby supporting herself against the doorway but eyes looking clearer and face less flushed.
"I'm so proud." She grinned at them.
Bonnie grinned back and Goldy teleported over to her, half to get away from a lecture and half out of concern.
"Should you be up Ruby?" she asked.
"I'm feeling better." The night guard admitted. "Memory's a little fuzzy though. Did I do anything weird?"
One look at their faces and she groaned. "What did I do? I didn't strip again did I?"
Goldy giggled a little. "No. Chica stopped you."
"You did hallucinate a bunch of animals." Bonnie admitted.
"Called everyone 'cuddly' too." Goldy added.
Ruby groaned again. "Sorry about the trouble."
She stretched carefully, still mindful of her achy body.
"There was one other thing." Freddy murmured.
She tilted her head in question.
"You mentioned…well, that you were an…orphan." He explained uncomfortably as Foxy and Chica walked up to them from their trip to the kitchen.
Ruby stilled immediately. She averted her eyes.
"Uh, yeah. I get a bit…open…when I'm sick. Sorry."
They stood around a bit awkwardly for a moment before Ruby broke the tense atmosphere as usual.
"Well at least I don't have to deal with telling you all at a later stage." She smiled at them. "Thanks for stopping me from doing anything stupid."
They were relieved to see that she wasn't upset.
"Are you feeling better?" Chica asked.
"Yeah. Lots." She coughed a little but it was nothing like before. "I'll be fine now. Past the worst of it."
"That's good." Foxy held out the glass of water.
She accepted it gratefully and drank slowly.
"Everything you do, you go all in and lose interest quickly don't you? Even getting sick." Bonnie chuckled.
Ruby grinned at him. "Of course, is there any other way?"
"Well there's only an hour of your shift left. How about you sit down and relax until it's time to go home? Are you sure no one can pick you up? Maybe one of the employees can drive you home?" Foxy asked, worried about letting her walk home by herself.
Ruby shook her head a little violently. "No! Uh no. I…I don't do…cars. I'll be fine walking back."
She averted her eyes, unable to hide the flash of panic that appeared in her eyes. Her hands clenched around the glass, knuckles turning white.
The 'bots looked at each other worriedly. Guess no one could walk away from something like that without some emotional scars.
"Don't worry." Freddy assured her. "I'm sure the staff wouldn't mind you staying here a little longer after your shift until you're feeling better."
Before she could argue again, Bonnie jumped in. "We're just worried Ruby. We don't want you walking home in the dark while you're sick. At least wait until its lighter?"
She met their worried gazes and sighed in defeat. "Alright."
They smiled in relief.
"Thanks lass. Now how about you go lie down again?" Foxy suggested.
She pulled a face. "But I'm booooooooooored." She whined.
They chuckled and shooed the sick night guard back into the room.
"Be good and let us take care of you." Chica pushed her back on the couch.
She mumbled something under her breath but didn't seem too annoyed.
They suspected that her reluctance to be taken care of stemmed more from her inexperience with it. And they were determined to change that.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
For the rest of her shift she alternated between dozing and holding conversations about different pranks with Bonnie and Goldy.
Eventually the chimes went off and Ruby didn't even seem to notice. She was lightly dozing at that point and they decided to leave her be and deal with the employees themselves. That would probably be…interesting, at the very least.
When it came time for the cleaners to arrive most of the 'bots lefts to go 'talk' to them. They didn't want them waking their night guard up after all.
Goldy stayed behind to keep an eye on her.
Surprisingly the manager arrived with the cleaners, probably something about checking his office for any vengeful traps.
The group felt true terror for the first time when they found the 'bots waiting for them. The animatronics threatened (very politely of course) that they would regret waking Ruby up and insisted that she stay until there was enough light to walk home safely. Freddy also pulled the manager aside and scolded him for overworking Ruby since he suspected the double shifts that she worked sometimes had contributed to the sudden onset.
After terrifying a promise to take her health into account and that the cleaners would be quiet, the 'bots wandered off. Bonnie muttered a bland apology regarding the glitter and went off to clean himself up.
"That was…" one of the employees stuttered, clutching at his heart.
"Y-yeah." Another nodded. "I know what you mean."
Behind them the manager had dropped in a dead faint.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby woke to feeling achy and fuzzy, but worlds better than before. She sat up and stretched carefully, noticing the blanket that fell off her with the movement. The girl smiled fondly. The 'bots really could be very sweet and considerate.
She reached for one of the many jackets that she vaguely remembered putting on before leaving for work and pulled out her cellphone.
"Shoot." She muttered when she saw the time. "It's almost eight."
There were about twenty missed calls as well. With a sigh she called back and waited for the explosion.
"Ruby! Where are you? Why aren't you home? Why haven't you answered? Do you know how worried I was-" the frantic voice on the other side of the line spilled over into the quiet room.
"Hi Alice." Ruby cut her off, knowing that the guardian would continue infinitely if she could. "I'm sorry about all this. I actually caught a cold and was pretty out of it all night."
"You're sick?! Oh why didn't I notice? You did seem a bit out of sorts yesterday. Why did you go to work then? You should have stayed home." Alice fretted.
"Don't worry. Everything's fine Alice. A few of my…co-workers made sure that I was okay." Ruby smiled slightly.
"Oh that's wonderful. I'm so glad." She sounded relieved.
"I'll just be back late since they didn't want me walking around until it was daylight. And then I fell asleep so I'll only leave in a few minutes." She stifled a yawn as she said that.
"Alright. Do you want me to come and walk you home?" Alice asked sympathetically.
She knew about Ruby's aversion to cars and the reason behind it.
"Nah. I'll be fine. Already feeling better." She smiled. "See you later Alice."
It sounded like she was about argue but then just sighed. "Alright honey. Just…be careful. Okay?"
"I will. Bye Alice."
"Goodbye Ruby."
Ruby stared at the phone for a long time. She knew that Alice worried about her. However, she also knew that the other kids were already difficult to deal with. She didn't want to cause any trouble for the kind woman.
"She sounded nice." Goldy murmured, materializing near her.
Ruby didn't even flinch, having gotten used to the strange feeling of being watched when the bear was around.
"She is." Ruby nodded, starting to gather her things. "The others already settled in their places?"
Goldy nodded. "The cleaners were terrified into keeping quiet so that they wouldn't wake you up."
Ruby chuckled. "Awww that's so sweet." She cooed.
The golden suit laughed. "You're cruel to the employees."
"I know. But that's just me." She shrugged.
"We wouldn't want anyone else." Goldy beamed and Ruby actually flushed.
"Thanks. Well I'd better get home before they call the police again to say I'm missing. Wouldn't be the first time." She chuckled.
"See you tomorrow Ruby." Goldy waved, disappearing from view.
"Bye Goldy." Ruby smiled and turned to the door.
Still coughing slightly, she made her way to the front door. A few employees jumped when she passed them. Some greeted her with a smile and asked about her health. She waved off the concerns and reached the exit rather quickly.
"See ya tomorrow." She waved at the stage and reached for the door handle before pausing. "And thanks again."
Then she was gone, door closing softly.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
As Ruby opened the door to the large house that accommodated the orphans, she was swept up in a tight hug. Squeaking in surprise she looked up at Alice. The guardian had tears in her eyes and was babbling about how worried she had been.
"Sorry Alice." Ruby murmured tiredly.
"Oh you look so tired. Let's get you to bed immediately." She ushered Ruby up to her room hurriedly. "Please be more careful Ruby."
"I will. Ruby rolled her eyes affectionately as she assured the easily panicked woman.
"Something happen?" a voice asked from the doorway.
The two turned to look over the stair railings.
"Hey Clint." Ruby greeted the other guardian. "You're back early."
He smiled good-naturedly at them. "Finished early. So what happened?"
"Ruby just gave me a mini-heart attack." Alice answered dramatically.
Both Ruby and Clint rolled their eyes. He looked at Ruby for an answer. She covered another yawn before talking.
"Kind of got sick at work and so got back late. My co-workers took care of me though." She explained.
"Ah, you're too dedicated a worker." Clint looked amused. "Do anything entertaining while sick this time? Or was there another fire incident?"
"Hey! That was the kids not me!" she pouted.
He laughed. "Get to bed kid. You're exhausted."
Grumbling something under her breath, Ruby staggered off to her room.
The guardians waited until she was gone to look at each other worriedly.
"She tries to take on too much by herself." Clint murmured.
"I know. I worry about her. She never tells us anything. She's always putting the other kids first." Alice rubbed her arms nervously.
Clint placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Clint. I worry. About her self-confidence. Her self-esteem. She seems fine all the time, but when does she ever do anything for herself? It's always to help someone else. I really do worry, about her doing something that gets her hurt. She's taken on a job as a night security guard! I know she's capable but it's dangerous." She looked up at Clint, concern shining in her eyes. "The psychologist did warn us about self-destructive behaviour. I thought she was getting better, but what if she isn't? What if she still blames herself? We wouldn't even know if she was still hurting herself…"
Clint tightened his hold on her shoulder. "She IS getting better, already is better Alice. She's a strong kid. I think she's passed that dark phase of her life now. She just needs us to help her stay on this road of healing. And I think taking that job…I think that's her way of helping herself. She was rather determined to get the job, don't you think? Even though it takes away time she could spend with the kids. I don't think she would have done that even a year ago. Just trust her. She knows what she's doing."
Alice gave Clint a watery smile.
"You're right, as usual." She murmured.
"Alright, then how about breakfast!" he grinned. "I smell waffles!"
She laughed at him and the two headed into the kitchen.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Above them, on the second floor, Ruby leaned against the wall and sighed.
"Didn't mean to worry her that much." She whispered.
She would admit it. She had been in a really bad place for a long time after the accident. She had blamed herself for being the only survivor. No one, not even anyone from the other car involved had survived. Only her. Something like that could really mess a kid up. Survivor's guilt, she thought it was called.
Logically it didn't make sense, but sometimes logic didn't help. She had to finally accept it herself, that it wasn't her fault.
She'd cried a lot the night she did. Tears of relief, pain and grief. But she did get better after that. And she didn't think she was engaging in self-destructive behaviour. She'd never doubted that she could win against the 'bots, against the ghosts.
And…honestly…she WAS there for more selfish reasons. Freddy's held some of her happiest memories. It had hurt to see the 'bots in the beginning, considering how intertwined they were in those memories. Then she'd gotten distracted by the challenge of surviving and helping them. After the challenge was over and the ghosts beaten, it didn't really hurt anymore.
Now she had some more happy memories there, ones that didn't have a bitter undertone.
She smiled slightly. Being there kind of gave her the same feeling she had around Ricky. Like she was surrounded by family again.
She sighed again and stood up from her seat on the floor. Falling asleep there wouldn't really help her. She quietly entered her room and thumped on the bed.
Her head was still a bit fuzzy from the cold and her body still achy. Her heart however, was quite warm. She smiled against the blankets. It felt nice to be taken care of again.

Chapter Text

Things settled into a normal routine after that. School started for Ruby which kept her busy during the day. She was always there for her night shift though, ready to start complaining about her homework or tell the story of some elaborate prank that she had gotten away with. The employees resigned themselves to the fact that they would now be working in a prank-filled environment and a few got very good at avoiding the more annoying ones. Others…well, the complaints box was always overflowing now.

No one could deny that she did her job though. The animatronics were a lot more agreeable now, not shooting death glares at the employees anymore and being more approachable to those who made an effort to talk to them.

Jerry especially was on better terms with them, being the one others went to when they wanted an answer from the 'bots. He played messenger a lot.

Tensions were running high with the 'bots though as the day of the Toys' arrival grew closer and closer. One night, a week before the date, Ruby had to be the good and sane friend to calm the 'bots down after an almost-breakdown. She was starting to seriously worry about her friends' states of mind at that point.

She, of all people, could spot the signs of trauma. And every time something like that happened, she felt her anger at the Toys grow more and more dark.

"Ruby? Hey! Earth to Ruby!" a voice yelling in her ear shook her out of her thoughts.

"Jeez Alisha. What's with trying to blow my eardrum?" the girl grumbled, rubbing her ear.

Alisha pouted. "You've been spacing out for about twenty minutes there. Haven't heard a word I've said have you?"

She waited for and answer, hand running through her light brown, purple-tipped hair in frustration.

"Nope." Ruby answered, no remorse in her tone as she went back to eating her lunch before the bell rang for class.

"Ugh!" Alisha covered her blue eyes. "Ruby!"

Ruby just grinned as she finished her sandwich.

"Sorry Alisha, just got a lot on my mind." She sighed as she leaned back against the wall.

"Yeah, I noticed. Your pranks have decreased the last few days." Her friend glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, worried. "What's wrong?"

Ruby shrugged. "Work stuff."

Alisha rolled her eyes but knew better than to push. She'd known Ruby long enough to know that if she didn't tell her something then she wasn't going to.

"Fine. But you don't have work Saturday morning right? We planned a Minecraft marathon."

Ruby smirked. "I'd never deprive you of Minecraft my Minecraft obsessed friend."

Alisha's hand went to her shirt subconsciously. Her love of the game was very proudly shown considering just about all of her t-shirts had Minecraft pictures on them.

"Nothing compared to your animatronic obsession." She shot back playfully and the two friends laughed.

They chatted for a bit longer before the bell rang and they headed off to class.

Alisha glanced at her friend again. She really was worried. It wasn't like Ruby to not take every pranking opportunity. She was infamous for it really.

Well, at least her pranks hadn't stopped completely. That would be a real sign of trouble.

In the distance, an explosion went off. A few people around them groaned while most of them laughed. A few even high fived Ruby. She smirked in satisfaction.

"That was from the science lab, wasn't it?" Alisha guessed.

Ruby nodded.

"Glitter mine by the door?"

Another nod.

The laughing increased. They all knew Ruby didn't like the science teacher and vice versa. While she was generally well-behaved in class there were a few teachers that had managed to get on her bad side.

That's why their science post had been like a revolving door since she started there. They didn't even make a term usually.

After school the two friends walked towards the gate together. Alisha usually got picked up by her brother, Steven, while Ruby walked home with a few of the kids from the orphanage who were old enough to go to the school. They chatted while they waited for the younger kids.

While they were waiting, Ruby's phone went off. She frowned when she saw the manager on her caller-ID.

"One second." She murmured to Alisha before answering. "Manager?"

"Ah, R-Ruby." The poor man had never really gotten rid of that stutter when talking to her. "Would it b-be possible to come i-in for a few minutes t-t-today?"

She frowned. The manager had never asked her to come after school so far.

"What for?" she asked, giving Ricky a sideways hug when he ran up and smiling at Steven who had just pulled up.

"There's something i-important you sh-should know, especially before the new a-animatronics arrive." He explained nervously.

Ruby's eyes narrowed and nearby students backed up, recognizing when Ruby was getting angry. She thought for a moment. They did pass Freddy's on the way home. She sometimes stopped there to get supper on fast-food night and to say hi to the 'bots.

"I'm walking some kids home. Can they hang around while I'm there?" she asked, keeping her tone even.

There was a sigh of relief on the other side. "Y-yes, yes. They can have some free pizza while we talk."

She nodded slowly while the others looked at her curiously. "Alright. I'll be there in ten minutes."

She hung up and looked at the kids.

"So, looks like you're getting free pizza." She announced.

They cheered and started talking excitedly among themselves. Alisha looked at her quizzically while Steven waved at the kids with a grin.

"Manager wants to tell me something so going to stop on the way." Ruby explained.

Alisha nodded and glanced back at her brother.

"See you tomorrow then." She smiled at Ruby who returned the expression and began shooing the kids along.

"See you Alisha." Ruby responded.

The girl waved and headed off to the car.

Ruby knew that Alisha and her brother would love to drive the whole group home, especially since they had such a big car left to them by their parents. They knew the struggles of being orphans, twenty two year old Steven having gotten custody of his little sister. She'd never be able to climb in though, and the kids refused to go without her. They preferred to walk home with her after school.

"We're going to Freddy's?" an eleven year old girl, Lillith asked.

The little girl was, as usual, dressed in something bright pink and bouncing up and down in excitement so that her dark brown hair flew everywhere. Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness.

Ruby chuckled and nodded. "Yes Lilly. Got to talk to my boss quickly."

"Yay! I get to see Bonnie!" she cheered and the other kids started talking about their favourite animatronics.

Ricky moved to walk by Ruby's side and glanced up at her as she texted Alice about the slight delay.

"Why do you look worried?" he asked softly, so that the others wouldn't hear.

Ruby's smile slipped slightly. The kid was observant.

"Just some stuff happening at work, that's all. Nothing big squirt." She shrugged and grinned when he complained about the name.

Observant? Yes. Easily distracted. Oh most definitely.

Once at the pizzeria, Ruby reminded them of the rules and set them loose on the place. Before she left the room she spotted Lillith already tackle-hugging Bonnie who looked delighted to see her.

The 'bots looked around, recognising the kids from previous visits but she slipped out before they saw her. She wanted to find out what the manager had to say before she spoke to them.

She knew she could trust them with the kids too, so she wasn't worried as she knocked on the door.

"Come in." the manager's voice answered, seeming surprisingly calm.

Ruby had to try really hard not to laugh when she entered though.

"Um…manager? Why are you, um…"she cleared her throat as she tried to keep control. "Why are you hiding behind your desk?"

The barely visible man was silent for a moment. "No particular reason."

She coughed to cover a short laugh and cleared her throat again. "You wanted to tell me something?"
"Ah y-y-y-yes. I just wanted t-to i-inform y-y-you about the n-new employees that we will be g-getting." He stuttered his way through the words.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. Did he think she was going to get mad about some new employees?

"Are you hiring any new night guards?" she asked evenly.

"N-no!" he quickly assured her, well aware of her possessiveness over the job.

"Then why are you using your desk as a shield?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"W-well, um, y-you s-see. W-we n-needed a n-new m-m-m-mechanic and w-we found one. B-b-but she will o-o-only work during the n-night shift." He explained, sinking out of sight completely.

Ruby tensed up. Why would anyone (besides her) request the night shift? And a mechanic too. The 'bots already had bad experiences with a mechanic.

"Why do you need a mechanic so badly?" she asked, tone growing slightly colder.

"Th-the Toy's n-needed s-some f-fixing up." He stuttered, voice going higher.

Well, that did make sense. Ruby frowned.

"So they're not coming to do anything to my 'bots?" she asked.

He poked his head back into view carefully and seemed relieved to see that she wasn't furious. "N-no. She's g-going to stay on as the h-head mechanic but that t-ties into s-something else I w-wanted to t-talk about."

She tilted her head again.

"I wanted t-to promote you. To b-be in charge of the a-animatronics." He explained, finally standing up from his hiding spot.

Ruby stared at him in surprise. "What?"

"You'd still be the n-night guard, but anything and everything to do with the a-animatronics would have to go through you. Including repairs. The Toys would fall under your authority too. It also comes with a r-raise. Oh, this position would also put you in charge of the day guards. So head s-security guard too I guess." He shrugged and offered her a watery smile while she thought about it.

"Why?" she asked eventually.

"You work wonders with the a-animatronics." He admitted. "And we are going t-to bring in new day guards so we will need your help in the selection process."

She stared at him calculatingly before she suddenly grinned. "Sure. Why not? I can boss around a couple of adults then."

His smile wavered slightly at the look in her eyes but he would take what he could get. "The mechanic is going to be there during the n-night shift most nights then. She will start from when the Toys arrive. Actually sh-she's here right now if you would like to meet her?"

Ruby nodded and the manager moved around his desk and towards the door, hands still shaking. Wow, she really had spooked him. But he had good reason to be scared if this mechanic's intentions were to hurt the 'bots.

They moved through the establishment and Ruby waved at a few employees and grinned when she saw how the kids were mobbing the 'bots. Foxy spotted her and raised an eyebrow quizzically but she shrugged and made a 'later' motion.

Finally they arrived in the staffroom where a girl was filling out some forms.

The first thing that struck Ruby was the wheelchair, although she kept her expressions carefully under control. She had dark, dirty blond hair and stormy grey eyes. She was currently wearing reading glasses while she squinted at the contract.

Wait, was she reading the fine print even? Who did that?

"Hedy?" the manager called.

The girl looked up at him and glanced at Ruby curiously. She looked maybe twenty years old.

"This is our night guard. She's the head security guard and in charge of the animatronics. I thought it would be best if you two met before you started working." Anyone could tell that he was nervous.

"What? But she's a teenager." Hedy asked, confused.

She didn't say it with any venom, more genuine confusion, but Ruby still tensed up.

"Yeah, I'm sixteen as of last month. Is that a problem?" Ruby's voice, on the other hand, barely hid her scathing tone.

Hedy jerked back in surprise at the hostility and the manager began wringing his hands nervously.

"She may be young but she's quite competent. I assure you. She been here for about two months now I believe." He said diplomatically.

Hedy was clearly surprised at the length of Ruby's stay.

"That's…surprising." She admitted.

Ruby stiffened again.

"Wow." She said, no humour in her smile. "It usually takes people at least an hour to make assumptions about my capability."

Hedy's eyes widened. "I didn't mean anything like that."

She shook her head, hands raised in a gesture of peace.

"I just meant…I know what goes on here at night so…" she seemed to be struggling to find the words and immediately stopped when she saw the scathing glare that Ruby threw at her.

"If you know what goes on here, then why did you insist on the night shift?" Ruby asked, eyes narrowed.

She really didn't have a good feeling about this and a shiver raced down her back. Glancing out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a ghost child fading from sight. Great, the ghost brats were out and about.

She didn't like this. Did this mechanic plan to hurt her 'bots?

"I…Less distractions. And I'm studying during the day." Hedy shrugged, averting her eyes.

Ruby, living in a house full of kids, knew when someone was hiding something. Her eyes narrowed further and Hedy's lips thinned as her jaw clenched.

Silence fell over the room while the manager glanced from one girl to the other.

Suddenly Ruby beamed (in that way that usually sent the animatronics and employees running).

"Well then, I look forward to working with you Hedy." She smiled while the mechanic reeled from her abrupt about-face.

"Uh, yeah." She stammered, looking confused.

"Just need to say one thing before we become official co-workers." Ruby bent down slightly, so that they were on the same level.

She dropped her voice and her smile grew razor sharp. "You don't mess with my 'bots. Ever. If they don't want you near them, then you don't go near them. They don't like mechanics see. And I don't like people that make them upset. Bad things happen to people I don't like. Very bad things."

Green eyes held steady with grey eyes and a flicker of fear passed over Hedy's face at the intensity in Ruby's gaze.

After a moment Ruby smirked and straightened up. "Well then, welcome aboard."

She turned and snagged a biscuit out of a container on the counter (she had left it there one night and it contained regular cookies and exploding ones so there was always the chance of it blowing up in your face).

"See ya around Hedy. Bye manager." She waved goodbye cheerily, ignoring the heavy atmosphere.

After Ruby was out the door the manager sagged against the wall.

Hedy picked the contract back up after taking a deep breath.

"She seems…intense." She admitted.

"Y-yes. Ruby is rather…protective over the animatronics. She wasn't very happy with the news of the Toys coming." He rubbed his face. "But she's a brilliant night guard. The animatronics have behaved since she started. Except for the pranks."

Hedy pulled a face. "She also seems reckless and immature."

The manager shot her a panicked look. "Please don't say anything to upset her. She's the only night guard to have lasted this long."

"And I'm the only willing mechanic." Hedy shot back coldly. "I wonder why?"

He cringed under her sharp gaze.

It wasn't anything like Ruby's scathing looks. Those felt like she was plunging a physical weapon into their bodies. Hedy's was more chilling.

What was he thinking? Putting these strong personalities together in such a volatile situation was just plain stupid.

He said nothing though as Hedy handed him the contract and turned to wheel herself out the door.

"How did your visit to the warehouse go?" he asked nervously.

Hedy paused at the door and looked back. "It was…interesting. I got the repairs done though."

The manager stared down at the contract in his hands.

She'd already met the Toys. He just hoped Ruby didn't undo her work when they arrived in a few nights time.

Ruby leaned against a wall, watching the kids play for a while. She was thinking over what had just happened. She'd already decided that she didn't like this new mechanic. Hedy was hiding something from her. She didn't like that.

The guard growled in frustration. She had to admit that she was impressed that the older girl had kept her cool like that though. Most people wilted when she did that. Sure, she'd been afraid but that was an instinctual reaction.

She rubbed her face before pushing away from the wall to walk over to the nearest 'bot. Freddy turned to her as she approached and looked at her curiously.

"They're hiring a mechanic who will work during the night shift." Ruby explained flatly.

Freddy's expression darkened as he looked up at the hallway leading to the manager's office.

"I've been promoted though." She added, getting his attention back on her before he went storming off. "Head of the security guards and in charge of the animatronics. So she's got to go through me with anything regarding you guys."

Her tone softened in sympathy and he sighed.

"Bonnie and Foxy are not going to take this well." He admitted.

"I know." Ruby murmured. "But we'll get through it. She starts the night the Toys arrive."

He nodded while she moved to go fetch the children. She paused though and threw a grin over her shoulder.

"If she tries anything though, you've got my permission to go full suit stuffing on her."

Freddy chuckled as he shook his head. "You've supposed to stop things like that from happening Ruby. Not encourage them."

She just shrugged and continued on her way, humming some tune to herself while she pried Lillith off of Bonnie.

Chapter Text

The next few days passed quickly and Ruby didn't see the new mechanic again. As expected, Bonnie had a near panic attack at the news and Foxy went on a rampage through the building while Chica went to hide in the kitchen. The remaining three were left to divide and conquer. Freddy went to comfort Chica while Goldy went to calm Foxy down.

Ruby stayed with Bonnie and talked to him in a gentle tone, mentioning what the kids were up to and how much Lillith wanted to come visit again. He gave her a weak smile and apologised softly which she waved off. She reached over and tugged on his ear, something that she had started to do when she wanted his attention.

"Don't apologise." She murmured. "It's not your fault. And nothing's going to happen. Not on my watch."

He shot her a grateful look while she started refilling her glitter grenades. Needed to be prepared after all.

The day of the Toys' arrival, a Sunday, Ruby packed up her chosen weapons and went off early to hopefully arrive before anything actually happened.

If she'd known what would happen, she would have arrived at the pizzeria that morning instead just to be safe.

Hedy arrived as the place was closing up that evening. She was signing for the Toys as the head mechanic so she had to arrive early. As she wheeled herself in she got greeted by a few employees who nervously wished her good luck.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. These people were terrible at hiding anything it seemed. She hung around, studying a manual on the animatronics while she waited. The older animatronics' systems were completely different from the Toys' so she needed to read up on it.

Thinking of the older models, she glanced out of the corner of her eye. Freddy seemed to be the only one cleaning the room she was in, seemingly ignoring her. Bonnie had bolted out the room the moment he had seen her while Chica followed close after. Foxy on the other hand had shot her a look that chilled her to the bone before stalking to his cove.

She shivered again. She'd admit it. The fox terrified her. Not for the first time she felt her conviction waver slightly.

Shaking her head she went back to the manual, taking note of the employees skirting around the animatronic as they left. Eventually Freddy finished and left the room, glancing back at her with an unreadable expression.

Once he was gone she put the book down and sighed. The main three were going to be on the stage in the main dining room as far as she knew and Foxy would be in his cove. She turned her wheelchair and made her way to the kitchen where the loading doors were. That's where the truck would drop off the Toys and she would get them settled from there.

She felt a little excitement ignite in her chest. She hadn't seen them since the repairs at the warehouse and was looking forward to it. While they had tried to kill her admittedly, they were easy to befriend once they found out she wasn't a night guard.

Hedy paused a moment and frowned, the thought of the night guard making her nervous. While the strange girl had been rather intimidating and the manic look in her eyes set her on edge, she was worried about the Toys killing her. They seemed rather set on the goal.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Well, she'd cross that bridge when she got there.

Although, she was kind of curious about the possessiveness the guard was displaying over the originals.

Suddenly her phone went off, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hello?" she answered, continuing to wheel herself toward the kitchen. "Yes, I'm here. Yes, I'll come and open the loading door now."

She hung up with the delivery man and went to open the door.

Twenty minutes later the Toys were set up in one of the other two dining rooms in their depowered state while Hedy signed off on the paperwork.

"Thank you." She smiled at the man who nodded his head.

"Where do you want this box?" he asked, pointing at a large, colourful box.

She pointed to the proper place and he moved it for her before wishing her good night and leaving.

Hedy checked the time, nine thirty, before she moved to turn the Toys on.

"So this is the new place." A dark voice asked from behind her.

Hedy rolled her eyes. The puppet always sounded so sinister when he spoke.

"Yeah." She answered as she moved behind the animatronics.

"Hmph." Was all he said before he disappeared back into his box.

'So anti-social.' Hedy thought as she powered the Toys on.

Once she was done they stretched and greeted her.

"We're here! Oh I can't wait to get started." Toy Chica gushed and bubbled in her high pitched voice.

Mangle looked around nervously, sticking close to Hedy. The poor fox's voice box still hadn't been fixed since Hedy couldn't find the right parts yet. Toy Bonnie dropped down onto a nearby table with his guitar, eyes roaming the room curiously. Hedy wasn't fooled though. She could tell he was looking for an opportunity to cause trouble already.

Toy Freddy stood next to the mechanic while she fussed over Mangle and kept an eye on Toy Bonnie.

Balloon Boy was already restlessly wandering the room. Good thing the door knobs were too high for him to reach.

"So what do you think of the place?" Toy Freddy asked when Hedy was done with checking that the transportation hadn't damaged Mangle further.

She shrugged as all eyes fell on her, the Puppet even peeking out of his box.

"The people seem nice and the place seems to be doing well." She paused as she put her tools away, giving a stern glare to BB who tried to steal her spare batteries. "I met the night guard."

That got their attention.

"Oh so they've got a night guard at the moment?" Toy Bonnie grinned maliciously.

Hedy sighed as the others also looked excited. It was disturbing, even if she liked them.

"Yes. Manager says she's been working here for about two months now." She pursed her lips as she remembered Ruby again.

They stared at her in disbelief.

"Those scrap heaps couldn't catch a night guard in two months?" the Puppet growled.

Hedy shrugged again.

"Where are they anyway?" Toy Bonnie glanced around.

"Still can't believe those antiques are still working." Toy Chica crossed her arms.

Hedy had a bad feeling that Ruby wasn't going to like how the Toys spoke about the originals.

"They're in the other dining room." She explained. "And the night guard is…interesting."

She frowned, unable to accurately describe the girl.

The Toys just brushed her off though and moved towards the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked tiredly, already knowing the answer.

"To say hi of course!" Toy Bonnie grinned in a decidedly not friendly manner.

Toy Chica nodded in agreement while Toy Freddy shook his head in defeat.

"Not even ten minutes and already causing trouble." He muttered.

Mangle looked at Hedy in concern while she just shrugged.

"The night guard's not here at the moment." She reminded them.

"All the better, we can find out why she's still alive." Toy Bonnie responded cheerily.

Hedy smacked her forehead with her hand as she tried to stop herself from muting him. Again.

Toy Freddy looked at her in pity. At least not all of them were bloodthirsty. Just Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica. Oh and the Puppet. And maybe BB but no one was really sure with him. Mangle was wringing her hands together nervously.

While Hedy would really like to work on the fox some more (she looked mostly whole again but there were still some internal system problems) she really didn't want to spend her first night putting fighting animatronics back together.

She sighed in defeat as she followed the group out the room. Mangle dawdled but eventually followed. The Puppet stayed in his box like the anti-social grump he was, mumbling something possessive about his music box.

"Guys, do you really have to fight right off the bat?" Hedy complained.

"No one said this had to end in a fight." Toy Freddy assured her. "Right T Bonnie?"

He eyed the rabbit until he got a grudging agreement.

"T Chica?" he turned his gaze on her and she reluctantly nodded too.

Mangle didn't look too convinced though.

And then BB sprinted ahead of them, yelling some kind of weird battle cry. Or 'batteries'. They weren't sure.

Everyone groaned.

He ran through the open door they were headed for and the Toys' groans were echoed by the inhabitants.

"Darn." Bonnie's voice came from the other side of the doorway. "I was hoping that they would lose him in storage."

"Can still be arranged." Foxy muttered.

Toy Bonnie tried to stifle his snickers but they all kind of agreed with the originals on their feelings for BB.

Hedy rolled her eyes, taking a mental note to keep an eye out for the round robot's inevitable disappearance.

This was going to end…badly. She pinched the bridge of her nose as Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica raced into the room to cause trouble.

Ruby hummed happily to herself as she strolled to Freddy's. She had scored a doughnut from the kitchen before she left and had her favourite weapons in her bag. Despite what she knew was waiting for her at work she felt like the night was off to a good start.

That thought was blown out the window again of course when she walked into the middle of a full on screaming match.

Bonnie and Foxy were yelling at full volume at Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica while Freddy pinched between his eyes breathing through a headache. Chica stood next to him, wringing her hands in worry. Toy Foxy was cowering behind Hedy who was mimicking Freddy's posture. Toy Freddy was glaring at the argument and seemed to be debating pulling them apart physically.

Ruby set her bag down quietly, a twitch already starting above her eye.

She pulled out an air horn, put in some ear plugs and blasted the room with the siren-like sound. When she finally stopped, everyone was gripping their heads in pain.

"Are you quite finished?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as they all looked at her.

The Toys' reaction was obviously hostile the moment they saw her improvised security cap but she basically ignored them. She bit into her doughnut as she picked up her bag again and sauntered over to the group.

"What's got you guys all tied into a knot?" she asked Foxy and Bonnie.

Hedy and the Toys watched her casual interaction in disbelief.

Bonnie mumbled something unintelligible, glaring at his Toy counterpart. Foxy on the other hand sighed and made an effort to calm himself down.

"Sorry lass. High tensions blowing up." He turned to her.

"Did you have to use the air horn again though?" Chica groaned while Freddy rubbed his head.

She grinned at them.

"At least it wasn't in the vent this time." She pointed out.

Chica shuddered at the memory.

"What's going on here?" Toy Freddy growled out, glaring at the group.

The originals stiffened again, seeing the hostile glares focused on their night guard.

Ruby on the other hand, spun around with a beaming smile and gave a dramatic bow.

"Night guard Ruby at your service. So, you're the Barbie Doll animatronics?" she tilted her head, smile holding no humour or friendliness.

Toy Bonnie began spluttering in anger while Bonnie and Foxy tried to hold back snickers.

"Ruby, don't start picking fights right after stopping one." Freddy sighed and Ruby held the Toys' gaze a moment longer.

"Fine. But only until they do something stupid." She relented, spinning around to walk over to the originals again.

"Why are you acting so buddy-buddy?" Toy Chica snapped at them, not liking being ignored.

Ruby looked back at her and smiled. "Cause we're friends Feather Butt."

The smaller chicken screeched at her and made to pounce forward.

Toy Freddy grabbed her and glared at Ruby. "Unfortunately it's not twelve yet."

The chicken shook in rage while Ruby shrugged and smirked.

"So I'm guessing you want to start that game up again?" she asked innocently. "We haven't been playing it since I beat night six."

She bit into her doughnut again while the Toys processed this.

"You beat night six?" Toy Bonnie snorted in disbelief.

Ruby ginned. "I'm still here aren't I? Not squished in a suit."

Hedy shuddered at the casual way she spoke about death while the Toys stared at the strange night guard.

"If you think we're going to let them try and hurt you, you're wrong lass." Foxy growled, eyes focused on the Toys.

The hostility in the air grew again.

Ruby waved the air horn to get their attention again.

"Well, obviously there's going to inevitably be a confrontation of some sort. So…how about a deal?" she leaned forward, excitement dancing in her eyes.

The words were eerily reminiscent of her challenge to the ghosts so the 'bots fell silent, trusting her judgement.

"What are you-" Hedy tried to say but was cut off by Toy Bonnie.

"What deal?" he asked, suspicious but excited.

"One week." She held up her finger. "You get one week to kill me. If you can't do it by next Sunday then you have to resign yourselves to the fact that I'm going to be sticking around and you can't try to kill me anymore.

"Ruby!" Hedy yelled in horror but she ignored the mechanic.

The Toys looked at each other contemplatively for a moment.

"Why would we agree to this deal?" Toy Freddy asked.

"Because, if you do, my 'bots can't interfere for this week." She explained, grinning like the Chesire Cat.

"Ruby." Chica murmured worriedly but the girl flashed her a reassuring smile and she fell quiet.

The Toys seemed to be seriously considering her offer. They glanced at the originals who were watching her in concern and realized in annoyance that they would protect her from them. For some reason they couldn't understand.

"PUPPET?!" Toy Bonnie suddenly yelled.

"You won't get her if they help her!" an annoyed voice yelled back. "Don't mess up!"

Ruby stared at the door in confusion while the other animatronics looked even more worried. They'd been hoping that the Puppet had been lost in storage too.

"Puppet?" she murmured to herself, thinking of the Muppets now instead of the deadly animatronics.

"Fine." Toy Freddy turned back to glare at her. "It seems like we have a deal."

Her smile was rather disturbing as she stuck her hand out to him. "Then we'll start tomorrow? So you can settle in tonight."

She held his gaze as he finally shook her hand.

"Very well." He dropped her hand quickly.

She turned to grin at Hedy then, smile still razor sharp. "Welcome to the night shift Hedy."

The older girl felt a shiver run down her spine. The way she gambled her life so easily…

"So! How about introductions?" Ruby clapped her hands together, smile losing its razor edge. "You already know Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. I'm Ruby, the night guard and resident terror."

Hedy glanced at the Toys before sighing. "Well, I'm Hedy. The new mechanic."

Bonnie flinched at the title.

"This is T Freddy, T Bonnie, T Chica and Mangle. Balloon Boy is running around somewhere over in the next room and the Puppet is in his box back in the dining room." She finished.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, hostility melting away a bit as she looked at the 'bot cowering behind Toy Freddy and Hedy.

"Mangle? No offense but I thought you were Toy Foxy?" she asked curiously.

The fox made a distressed, static-like sound and cowered more.

"She used to be but…something happened." Hedy answered, firmly cutting off that conversation. "She can't talk at the moment. I haven't finished the repairs yet."

Ruby nodded slowly and for a moment it looked like she was going to push the matter. Instead she asked something else.

"So…the Puppet…is he like a Muppet puppet or what?" she asked, sticking her hands in her pockets.

The reaction was instantaneous. The 'bots, all of them, burst out laughing at the image that presented and she grinned. Hedy looked at her calculatingly, wondering just who she was. She switched from barely concealed threats to jokes in seconds, betting her life to casual banter.

"Uh, no." Bonnie finally managed to draw in a breath. "Think more stick-thin clown."

She pulled a face and stuck her tongue out. "I'm not liking that image."

The original gang chuckled again, seeming much calmer now that she was here. The Toys were watching her in irritation though. Hedy just watched her discreetly.

"Oh." Ruby looked like she was suddenly remembering something. "We can't forget Goldy."

"Goldy?" Hedy asked. "Who's that?"

"OI! GHOST BEAR!" Ruby hollered, voice echoing through the building. "I'VE GOT THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS!"

Goldy popped into existence in front of them in excitement, completely ignoring the Toys. She grabbed the books from Ruby and began hugging them.

Hedy's jaw fell open. "What?"

"Hedy, meet Goldy. Goldy, the new mechanic Hedy." Ruby introduced, enjoying the look on the older girl's face.

"Yeah, yeah. I watched her interview with the manager." Goldy waved absently.

"You what?" Hedy squeaked.

"Ghost bear." Ruby explained. "Not sure how it works. Anyway. Who's Balloon Boy?"

The question was met with groans from both sides.

"Annoyingness personified." Bonnie grumbled.

Before she could ask any more questions, said annoyance appeared in the doorway. He spotted Ruby and his eyes latched onto the torch she had clipped to her belt.

"BATTERIES!" he screamed, racing forward towards her.

The Toys rolled their eyes and hoped it would freak the night guard out.

Hedy rubbed her face and wondered if she should have left him powered down.

The 'bots waited in anticipation with grins.

It happened in a second. Betty appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and connected solidly with the short 'bot. He went rolling head over heels back to the doorway while Ruby snarled viciously, the moderately friendly girl from before gone in an instant.

"What. Is. That?" she bit out, waving the bat in a threatening manner with her eyes still fixed on her target.

It looked like she was about to go beat him to a pulp.

"BB." The gang said in unison while the Toys and Hedy stared in shock.

Ruby stared for a moment before relaxing slightly.

"Thought a sentient bowling ball was running at me." She grumbled.

That got another laugh out of her friends. She glanced at the Toys while she slid the bat back into her bag.

"I don't react well to surprises." She shrugged.

Goldy snorted. "That's an understatement."

Ruby grinned sheepishly. "I did apologise."

The golden suit grinned back at her while the Toys started to move out of the room. They kept glancing back at the original gang, thrown off by the friendly attitude they had to the night guard. THE NIGHT GUARD.

"As they reached the door they found the Puppet on the other side. He stared at them, waiting for information.

"Uh, they get along with the night guard. Like really well. They're not just helping her to annoy us." Toy Freddy sounded perplexed.

Hedy, nearby, rolled her eyes as she got to work on Mangle again. She had decided to stay in the room with Ruby to see if she could find out anything else about the strange girl (and she was still reeling from the possessed, floating suit thing.)

"What?!" the Puppet hissed and they flinched.

No one liked it when the Puppet got angry. He stalked into the room to confront the gang.

Twenty minutes later there was glitter and paint everywhere and the gang was hiding behind tables, the Toys outside the room and Ruby had locked the Puppet up in the craft box.

Wide-eyed, Hedy poked her head out from behind Toy Freddy.

"What was THAT all about?" she demanded, disturbed by the savagery the girl had displayed.

Ruby had reacted before the Puppet had even begun speaking and was currently sitting on top of the craft box, panting.

She looked over at the others sheepishly.

"Uh, I don't…I don't like clowns." She admitted. "Bad experience at one of my birthday parties. Plus, they're creepy."

The gang seemed to accept this easily, shrugging and going back to their business as if this randomness was completely normal to them.

The Toys however wondered what they'd gotten themselves into.

"LET ME OUT!" the Puppet yelled.

"You're safer in there." Ruby pointed out. "I have very poor self-control."

Chapter Text

Hedy glared at Ruby who was lounging on a table flicking through the cameras on the tablet idly. The Toys were still trying to get the Puppet out an hour after she had locked him in and Bonnie and Foxy were enjoying the show, mostly ignoring the mechanic. Goldy was floating mid-air while she read the first of her favourite books. Freddy and Chica were watching Ruby and waiting for the explosion they knew was coming.

Surprisingly, the most volatile combination was turning out to be the night guard and mechanic. Their personalities were too different. Ruby was impulsive and violent while Hedy was a peace-keeper and logical. Hedy also clearly thought Ruby too reckless for the job after the deal she had made with the Toys.

"Where did you put the key to the box Ruby?" Hedy was making an effort to be civil at least.

Ruby wasn't. Anyone else would have probably stopped a long time ago with the hostility that was radiating off of her. She turned a scathing glare on the mechanic who flinched. Who wouldn't?

"Oh, that key?" she said sweetly, looking ready for murder in all honesty. "I gave it to BB with a battery and orders to not let any of you get it."

They stared at her incredulously. That explained BB's absence but she was already using their own against them?

Ruby went back to the tablet but they weren't fooled. There was an annoyed twitch under her right eye now and she looked ready to throw something at the older girl.

"This isn't going to end well." Chica murmured to Freddy who just sighed and nodded, going back to his book.

The entire night was strained and while Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie eventually got the key back the Puppet immediately disappeared into his box (trailing glitter behind him), muttering some profanities that had both animatronic groups biting their tongues. Seems he didn't care about swearing like they did.

"Hey, how come he can swear?" Ruby pouted as the chimes went off, looking at Freddy.

"He's just otherwise." Freddy chuckled as she flopped back and glared mildly at him.

"Are you sure about this whole challenge Ruby?" Chica asked softly, now that the Toys had left. Hedy was the only one there as she was packing up her things.

"Of course." Ruby grinned. "It'll stop them from causing problems. And I get a way to vent my frustration."

Bonnie and Foxy dragged Goldy over to join them.

"We should at least tell you how they work." Foxy said, elbowing Goldy in the ribs.

She grumbled but put her book down.

"Well, Toy Bonnie is the first to leave every time." She frowned in thought as she remembered the past.

"Does he also have a weird obsession with the closet?" Ruby asked and Bonnie swiped at her playfully which she easily dodged.

Goldy chuckled softly. "Uh, then I think Toy Chica is the next most active and then Toy Freddy the least. As long as you keep the music box wound up the Puppet will leave you alone. Mangle used to be more sneaky but she seems kind of different now. And of course I'm not participating."

Freddy nodded. "None of us are. There's nothing they can do to force us like last time."

She smiled at them, understanding the subtle flinches and winces for what they were.

"So what did happen to Mangle? Since spoilsport over there won't tell me." She asked, pointing at Hedy who was almost finished her packing.

"Well, you know how popular Foxy is." Chica smiled slightly. "They didn't take kindly to him being replaced."

"They didn't take kindly to anyone being replaced lass." Foxy frowned. "But yeah. The lass took the brunt of it and the kids pulled her apart one day."

Ruby looked shocked. "Yikes. Okay, that does explain the jumpiness."

She frowned but shook herself out of it a moment later. She had to get home before Alice had a heart attack again.

"Well, I'd better get going." She waved at them as she walked to the door.

Wheels behind her told her that Hedy was also leaving.

Outside Ruby stretched for a moment in the fresh air before turning to face Hedy. She knew the mechanic wanted to say something away from the 'bots, which was why she had dawdled while packing.

"What?" she asked flatly.

Hedy sighed as she rubbed her eyes.

"Why are you being so reckless?" she demanded.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Listen here. I might not be able to drink legally yet but I can sure as hell handle a bunch of animatronics. I already did it before, and if you don't remember that group actually managed to kill a few night guards. Your bunch is still way too inexperienced."

"You speak about this as if it's a game!" Hedy exclaimed, fixing her eyes on Ruby.

"Because it IS a game. To them. That's how they think. They're programmed to work with children after all." Ruby hissed back.

"You're not helping anything with challenging them." Hedy tried to reason with her.

"Remember Hedy." Ruby rounded on her, eyes burning. "They're the ones who started this. They're the ones who want to kill me. Everything I do, it's just self-defence."

Her smile sent chills down the older girl's spine. A smile was not appropriate for this conversation.

"I'm not about to roll over and die. I intend to win. No matter what it takes. That's just my approach to life in general." As she turned to leave she paused for a moment and looked back. "This whole logical, peaceful approach you've got going on? It doesn't work here. This place doesn't follow regular logic or conventions. You're not going to make it if you don't understand that."

She left with those parting words echoing in the mechanic's head. Hedy found herself more confused about Ruby than ever.

Ruby arrived for her shift Monday night twenty minutes early. She calmed her 'bots down as they'd spent the day working themselves into a panic over what was going to happen. Once that was done she set them up with a projector and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. That would keep them busy at least.

"Stay safe Ruby." Freddy told her just before she left and she grinned back.

"Have you already forgotten how I kicked your butts last time?" she smirked and they had to chuckle at that. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Can't say the same about the Toys."

She left with her signature smirk on her face, patting her bag of weapons.

She ran into Hedy who was just coming out of Pirate's Cove. The mechanic set her jaw and wheeled over to her.

"Since you seem determined to do this I needed to tell you that Mangle won't participate. She's too fragile at the moment so I told the Toys that she can't help." Hedy explained stiffly once Ruby had stopped to listen.

"Okay." Ruby shrugged indifferently.

Hedy studied her for a moment before speaking again. "Do you mind if I stay in the office? I have some work to do on some parts."

Ruby shrugged again. "I never stay in there anyway."

She started walking again while Hedy frowned and followed.

"You don't stay in the office?" she asked in confusion.

"No that's just plain stupid. It's like asking to be attacked if you stay in one place with killer robots wandering around." Ruby rolled her eyes, tired of explaining this to people.

It seemed like common sense to her.

"So you just run around with no protection?" Hedy stared at her incredulously.

"Who said I don't have protection?" Ruby grinned sadistically as she patted her weapons bag.

Hedy sighed in frustration at the girl's persistence.

"Just stay out of the way and things will be fine." Ruby shrugged as she entered the office.

Tuning out Hedy's arguments Ruby spotted a box on the desk that hadn't been there the previous night. It had "Night Guard" written across the side and looked kind of old.

Curious, she dropped her bag and moved over to the box. Prying it open she was surprised.

"Training tapes?" she murmured to herself, holding the tapes up to inspect them.

They were each labelled Night 1 through Night 6.

"Huh, they must have come with the Toys from the old location." Hedy guessed.

Ruby shrugged and moved over to the phone. She'd already taken the tape that held 'Steve's' recordings home so she just slipped the tape in and closed it, waiting for twelve to start playing it.

Hedy watched her in silence, admittedly curious about her strange actions. She had guessed that Ruby would run off immediately after arriving.

Twelve hit and the phone rang, sending a wave of nostalgia through Ruby.

"Uh, hello? Hello, hello?" the familiar voice shocked Ruby.

"Steve!" she yelled happily as Hedy murmured "Uncle Scott?" at the same time.

"Uncle Scott?" Ruby frowned at Hedy but the call continued, stopping that conversation.

"Uh, hello and welcome to your new summer job at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Uh, I'm here to talk you through some of the things you can expect to see during your first week here and to help you get started down this new and exciting career path." 'Steve' explained excitedly and Ruby chuckled.

"Some things never change." She murmured fondly.

"Uh, now, I want you to forget anything you may have heard about the old location, you know. Uh, some people still have a somewhat negative impression of the company. Uh... that old restaurant was kind of left to rot for quite a while, but I want to reassure you, Fazbear Entertainment is committed to family fun and above all, safety." 'Steve' sounded nervous again.

"Safety. Right." Ruby rolled her eyes. "Except for the killer robots."

"They've spent a small fortune on these new animatronics, uh, facial recognition, advanced mobility, they even let them walk around during the day. Isn't that neat?" he paused to clear his throat.

Ruby stiffened up at the mention of the Toys which had Hedy glancing at her in concern.

"Yeah, spend a fortune replacing childhood heroes. Always a good idea." Ruby muttered bitterly, hands clenching and unclenching a few times.

The bitterness in her voice surprised the mechanic.

"But most importantly, they're all tied into some kind of criminal database, so they can detect a predator a mile away. Heck, we should be paying them to guard you." 'Steve' laughed unsteadily.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Uh no thanks. No offense and besides the fact that they hate me, they look like fricking dolls."

Hedy glared at her. "You should stop calling them that."

"I'll call them what I bloody well please." Ruby growled back.

"Uh, now that being said, no new system's without its... kinks."

Ruby just rolled her eyes again. "Steve, you are the master of understatements."

"Uh... you're only the second guard to work at that location. Uh, the first guy finished his week, but complained about... conditions. Uh, we switched him over to the day shift, so hey, lucky you, right?"

"Yeah! Lucky me! I get homicidal dolls now!" Ruby cheered while Hedy bit her lip to keep from commenting.

It didn't seem like she could get through to the night guard that way.

"Uh mainly he expressed concern that certain characters seemed to move around at night, and even attempted to get into his office."

Ruby gasped. "No kidding?! The same thing happened to me!"

Hedy glared at her while she giggled. She was treating this like some kind of joke.

"Now, from what we know, that should be impossible. Uh, that restaurant should be the safest place on earth." 'Steve' assured them.

"Wow. Security must have sucked worldwide back then if that was considered 'safest'." Ruby idly fiddled with some things on the desk, getting bored.

"So while our engineers don't really have an explanation for this, the working theory is that... the robots were never given a proper "night mode". So when it gets quiet, they think they're in the wrong room, so then they go try to find where the people are, and in this case, that's your office. So our temporary solution is this: there's a music box over by the Prize Counter, and it's rigged to be wound up remotely. So just, every once in a while, switch over to the Prize Counter video feed and wind it up for a few seconds."

Ruby stared at the phone, waiting for the 'but' that would inevitably follow this 'brilliant' solution.

"It doesn't seem to affect all of the animatronics, but it does affect... one of them." he cleared his throat again.

Ruby face-palmed with a groan.

"Uh, and as for the rest of them, we have an even easier solution. You see, there may be a minor glitch in the system, something about robots seeing you as an endoskeleton without his costume on, and wanting to stuff you in a suit, so hey, we've given you an empty Freddy Fazbear head, problem solved!" he cheered.

"Wow, he glossed over that really fast." Ruby was impressed. "But I am not sticking my head in some head. That's just weird and what happened to spending a fortune on them? That seems like a pretty big glitch. Not that it's really a glitch. They're just messing with you."

"Do you talk to yourself a lot?" Hedy sighed in annoyance.

"What do you mean? I'm talking to Steve!" Ruby grinned cheekily back.

Hedy pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed in deeply.

"You can put it on anytime, and leave it on for as long as you want. Eventually anything that wandered in, will wander back out." 'Steve' continued explaining the second 'brilliant' solution.

"No thanks." Ruby shook her head. "And you're making them sound like stray animals."

"Uh, something else worth mentioning is kind of the modern design of the building. You may have noticed there are no doors for you to close, heh. But hey, you have a light! And even though your flashlight can run out of power, the building cannot. So, don't worry about the place going dark."

"Okay, no doors? Seriously stupid. Do they WANT to lose security guards? But I'll admit the limitless power thing would help." Ruby smirked at the phone again.

"Well, I think that's it. Uh, you should be golden." Ruby choked on a laugh.

"I wonder if he knows about Goldy?" she giggled, effectively distracted from everything happening now.

"Uh, check the lights, put on the Freddy head if you need to, uh, keep the music box wound up, piece of cake. Have a good night, and I'll talk to you tomorrow." 'Steve' hung up.

Still giggling Ruby began checking the tablet. She noticed a new button on the screen when she flicked to the room with the Puppet's box in it and, being the curious and impulsive girl she was, she pressed it. Faint music could be heard and she assumed she was 'winding up' the music box as the meter on the screen went up.

"Weird." She muttered, skipping over Goldy's poster, Pirate's Cove and the room where her 'bots were watching their movie.

She'd all but forgotten Hedy was in the room at this point.

"Huh, so Barbie Rabbit is the first to move. Better get going then." She grabbed her bag and turned around at the last second. "Uh, when you hear explosions just ignore them."

Hedy groaned. It wasn't even 'if'. It was 'when'.

"Just don't do permanent damage." She almost begged.

"No promises." Ruby's smile was feral.

Hedy looked at the doorway, biting her lip. Why did she feel more worried for the Toys than the night guard?

She glanced at the phone after a moment. She hadn't heard her uncle's voice in a long time…

Ruby had forgotten how much fun messing with homicidal robots was. She raced down the hallway, laughing so hard she could barely breathe, adrenaline pounding through her system while the irate blue rabbit chased her. Well…he used to be blue…

She'd decided on another paint night for night one.

Toy Chica appeared ahead, obviously thinking she could cut Ruby off. The night guard grinned maliciously and aimed the paintball gun.

Not even animatronics could stand up to a machine gun barrage of paintballs. She sprinted past the horrified chicken and dived into a nearby vent.

The Toys had been furious to discover that she used the vents to navigate the building and that none of them could fit into them in this incarnation of the pizzeria. Of course, they'd been shocked to find that Ruby didn't even stay in the office in the first place. That was all before she's started shooting paintballs at them and now they didn't even know what to feel…

BB, being the smallest 'bot, had tried to follow her into the vents. Then there'd been loud bangs and screeches and now he refused to leave the closet, having barricaded himself inside.

She was already driving them crazy, having found time to string plastic wrap across the doorways and leading them straight into the clingy film. She'd hit them with glue bombs followed up by glitter bombs and mines. She'd set up explosive pizza in the kitchen. There were paint buckets above doorways, confetti cannons around corners. She'd even placed a table on the puppets box at some point which he was NOT amused by.

In short, she was making sure the Toys knew that this was HER space. She was marking her territory in a sense. And making them aware of the fact that they were intruders.

At some point she stumbled, laughing, past Mangle who was timidly poking her head out of Pirate's Cove. The fox froze when she saw Ruby but the night guard waved her fear off.

"I slipped a glitter bomb into the Clown's box. That was funny." She giggled madly, stumbling off while trying to breathe properly again.

Mangle stared at the girl in confusion. She was really strange, but admittedly she didn't seem that bad. She was just trying to protect her friends as she saw the Toys as a threat. After another explosion gave her a fright she scurried back into the cove to hide.

Toy Freddy felt like he'd been hit by a bomb (not talking about the actual glitter glue bomb that had hit him). This night guard was insane. Utterly insane. She was actually enjoying the chase. The Puppet was currently trapped in his box by a table and none of them could get through the literal glitter minefield that she had set up around it.

He leaned against a wall to straighten out his thoughts when another explosion went off in the building and Toy Bonnie screamed in frustration.

"Is she always like this?" he mumbled to himself.

"Yup." Goldy's voice echoed eerily out of nowhere.

She materialized, still holding her book and grinned at him.

"She's always like this. But it's much more fun when it's not directed at you." She hummed happily as she flipped a page.

"She's the night guard!" Toy Freddy hissed but Goldy ignored him. 'I can't believe that the kids haven't gotten rid of her yet."

Goldy snorted. "Yeah right. She won that bet fair and square. Just like she's going to win this one."

"You seem awfully confident." Toy Freddy frowned.

Goldy shrugged. "You do know she's still warming up right? It's only night one."

With that she disappeared, leaving an ominous feeling behind with the other bear.

Toy Chica slid down a wall panting. This girl just never seemed to run out of energy.

"Why won't she just stay in the office." The chicken whined to herself.

Nearby, Mangle poked her head out of the cove at the chicken's voice and looked at her inquisitively. She was rather confused about all the glitter…

"The night guard." Toy Chica explained petulantly. "Booby-trapped the entire place."

Mangle looked up and down the hall a few times before she disappeared back into the cove. She wasn't getting involved in whatever was causing those explosions.

Toy Chica huffed in annoyance and stood up again, determined to get this girl.

Toy Bonnie was losing his mind. Completely and utterly.

"Stop doing that!" he screamed at the guard who was pelting him with paintballs.

Surprisingly she did stop and speared him with a glare.

"Oh come ON. Will you stop being such a fricking baby Barbie doll? It's a paintball gun. The 'bots survived it fine and took it much better than you." She looked thoroughly annoyed. "Honestly, are you trying to ruin the fun?"

Toy Bonnie growled and leaped at her. She danced out of the way, the annoyed look still on her face.

"Fine, you don't want to play? Then you get the Betty treatment."

Before the rabbit could even process the words, the bat came speeding through the air and slammed into his skull. It tipped him off balance and sent him to the ground. Dizzy he looked up at her in shock.

"My 'bots dealt with a lot worse you wimp. Man up." She sniffed disdainfully before sauntering away.

BB came running down the hall screaming out his war cry again (seeming to have gotten over his earlier fright) and Ruby absently batted him into a wall.

"Note to self, bring the sledgehammer next time."

The Puppet sat fuming in his box. He was well and truly stuck with whatever was on top and the guard keeping the music box wound up. Every now and then he heard an explosion or yell of anger and frustration echo out.

After a while he started to wonder if he was better off inside the box…

Bonnie glanced back at the door longingly as yet another explosion went off.

"She's got it handled Bonnie, trust me." Goldy assured him from her position reading in the air.

"But, I want to play to. It's boring." Bonnie groaned, flopping back.

Chica looked at him in sympathy. "I think its best if we stay out of her way tonight Bonnie."

Freddy shushed them and returned to avidly watching the movie while they snickered at them.

A scream echoed through the building at Foxy tilted his head.

"That's Toy Bonnie. Wonder what the lass is doing tonight?" he mused.

Bonnie groaned again. "It's probably fun. And they won't even appreciate it most likely."

Before they could say anything else, Freddy shushed them again and they smirked in amusement. Seemed each of them had a weakness for a specific movie franchise.

When 6 AM finally chimed the Toys felt like they had been hit by a bomb. They hadn't even gotten close to catching the night guard. She grinned at them from across the room as Hedy surveyed the damage.

"You've got to be kidding me." She deadpanned.

The Toys were covered in paint, glitter, glue and a hundred other things. So was the rest of the building excepting the main dining room and Pirate's Cove. Ruby had even somehow drawn a mustache on Toy Chica. Not even Toy Chica knew how that had happened.

A whistle from the doorway caught their attention. Foxy was surveying the mess.

"Looks like you had some fun lass." He chuckled, ignoring the glares sent his way.

Ruby skipped over to him and grinned.

"Yeah, but none of them can run as fast as you." She admitted in annoyance. "Kind of takes away from the thrill."

They gaped at her while Foxy just chuckled again.

"So you heading home now?" Bonnie asked from behind Foxy.

He was still wary around Hedy.

Ruby stretched and nodded. "Want me to bring any specific movie for tomorrow night?"

"Well, I don't think Freddy will be happy until he's gotten to watch the Lord of the Rings series finished." Foxy chuckled.

Ruby smirked. "I'll bring the Hobbit series then. It's a prequel trilogy."

Bonnie grinned. "He'll be happy but I don't think Chica will. She didn't really like it I think."

"I'll get something for her after the Lord of the Rings binge." Ruby laughed.

She packed her things and headed for the door while Hedy struggled to clean something off of a complaining Toy Bonnie.

She glanced back at the mechanic. "They can do it themselves. My 'bots could."

She left before anyone could yell at her and Bonnie and Foxy ran off to avoid the inevitable explosion too.

The Toys were still yelling an hour later and Hedy had to frantically calm them down before the cleaners got there.

Said cleaners looked around at the mess after they arrived and glanced at each other. Seemed like it was an exciting night alright.

Chapter Text

Ruby stared at the wall across from her, blinking, while she tried to process what the manager had just told her.

"You…want me to come in and help you choose new day guards?" she asked sleepily, having been woken up by the phone call.

"Uh, y-yes." The manager answered nervously.

"Already? You just told me you were planning to hire the other day." She covered a yawn.

"W-we had a good response." He responded. "H-Hedy will be coming in to help as well."

Ruby let out a groan and flopped into the pillow. There went her nice afternoon nap.

"Fine." She muttered into the pillow, her voice muffled by the material.

The manager thanked her and hung up.

Ruby dragged herself out of bed and made herself presentable. This new schedule with the job and school was wreaking havoc on her sleep habits. She wouldn't change it for the world though.

She headed downstairs, snagging a snack from the kitchen as she called out a goodbye and ran out the door.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
"WHAT is she doing here?" Toy Bonnie seethed to Toy Freddy.

The bear didn't need to turn around to know who he was talking about.

All the 'bots were on the floor, working with the kids but the Toys were staring at the door, radiating hostility.

"Afternoon." Ruby called sleepily, getting the attention of customers and employees alike.

The reaction was instantaneous.

The 'bots waved happily at her. The employees either smiled and greeted her or groaned in mock irritation. (At this point only Henry really didn't like her. She had a way of growing on people.) The parents waved at her, all of the regulars already knowing her. The kids screeched in excitement and mobbed her.

She chuckled and a gentler expression appeared on her face.

"Hey guys. Sorry, but got to talk to my boss today so I can't play."

She knelt down as they groaned in disappointed.

"How've the new animatronics been by the way?" she asked curiously.

The opinion in the group seemed divided. Some kids liked the new Toys while other kids preferred to stay with the old gang.

"Who do you like best?" one of them asked.

She gasped in indignation. "Foxy of course! I'm a proud member of the Foxy fan club."

She stuck her nose in the air as they giggled and started discussing their favourite 'bots. Ruby ruffled a kid's hair before standing and grinning at said fox. He rolled his eyes and waved.

"I'm the second favourite." Bonnie said proudly in hearing distance of the Toys. "Cause I'm awesome."

As she passed by on the way to the meeting room she high fived the rabbit and hugged Chica. Freddy waved across the room while looking at her curiously.

She mouthed 'interviews' to him before heading into the room.

Inside, the manager was nervously rearranging a pile of papers while Hedy tapped a pen impatiently against a clipboard next to him. She clearly didn't approve of Ruby being involved in this.

Ruby yawned again and slumped down into a chair on the manager's other side.

"Afternoon." Ruby mumbled, eyes already closing.

She really should have hyped up on sugar.

"A-afternoon Ruby." The manager greeted her with a nervous smile.

"Afternoon." Hedy rubbed her temples, remembering the aftermath she had to help clean up the previous night.

"So how's this going to work?" Ruby asked.

"We look a-at the applications and t-then talk to the applicant." The manager handed them their copies.

Hedy began looking through the applications immediately but Ruby frowned at the first page.

"Oh no. You don't want this guy." She pointed to the page.

"Why?" the manager was surprised.

"He took a part-time job at my school. Trust me, does NOT get along well with kids." She grimaced. "He yelled at this bunch of kids when I was walking past once. He regretted it and now he can't go near glitter either."

The manager nodded thoughtfully and took the application out of the pile.

Hedy was surprised. It seemed like she was actually taking this seriously. Beneath the reckless, carefree attitude maybe there was some responsibility after all.

The younger girl skimmed through the pages and stopped on another one.

"Ummmm." She looked down sheepishly while she fiddled with the page. "This one might be a problem."

"Why?" Hedy asked cautiously.

"Weeeeeeell, there was this incident where he yelled at Ricky for something stupid. Made him cry, and I didn't…react well. He's got a restraining order against me. So we can't work in the same building. Didn't know that he was still in town though. Thought I scared him off" Ruby frowned at the paper.

Hedy sighed. Maybe a no on the responsibility front then.

The manager wordlessly put the application away. A night guard was more valuable than a day guard after all.

"Anyone else?" Hedy asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Nope." Ruby grinned happily.

"Alright. Then let's get started." Her professional side took over and she looked expectantly at the manager.

He nodded hurriedly and picked up the first application.

"First one, Olivia D. Reyes. Twenty years old and studying engineering." he read.

"For what position?" Hedy asked sharply, picking up on the engineering bit.

"Day guard." The manager assured her. "And emergency mechanic for small problems during the day. We can't call you in for everything and some things can't wait."

"Better not let her try anything on my 'bots." Ruby shot him a dark look and he gulped.

"O-o-of course not." He started trembling.

"Good." She lay down on her arms and stared at the door. "Well then, call her in."

Olivia was a little nervous, ocean blue eyes darting between them and fingers playing with her light hazel ponytail.

Ruby spoke first of course. The manager didn't even get to the greeting part.

"Are you angling for the night shift?" she asked bluntly.

Hedy face-palmed. Ruby's one-track mind.

Olivia looked surprised and confused. "Uh no? I'm only available in the afternoons…"

Ruby watched her for a moment. "Are you planning to do anything to the 'bots?"

Olivia shook her head. "No. If it's alright I'd rather, uh, keep my distance from them."

She wrung her hands nervously.

"Okay." Ruby shrugged and lay her head sideways on her arms.

In all honesty it looked like she was going to sleep.

The manager cleared his throat and offered the seat across from them to Olivia. The girl sat, still stealing confused glances at Ruby.

Hedy just rubbed her forehead. It was going to be a long day.

The mechanic asked more practical questions; the extent of her skills, what experience she had, where she was studying. Olivia relaxed a bit at the normalcy.

Until Hedy reached into her bag and threw something at the girl.

Olivia caught the piece of wiring and plastic on reflex and looked at it in surprise. "Uh."

"Fix it," Hedy said.

"What? What is it?" the applicant frowned in confusion.

"You tell me. It's broken and needs fixing. So fix it or tell me how you would," Hedy said.

Ruby cracked open an eye to see what was going on. When she spotted the device she lifted her head. That little bundle of wires and plastic looked familiar...

"Well," Olivia turned it over in her hands. "It's some kind of motion sensor, right? And, something is supposed to go in this little pouch." She pulled a slightly sticky finger away and sniffed, "I-I might be imagining things but uh.. it's uh, covered in cookie dough?" She looked at Hedy in confusion.

If she hadn't been avoiding eye contact with Ruby, she would have seen the night guard's mouth open in a silent 'oh' as she turned to stare at the head mechanic.

"And there's something sticky and shiny in the pouch. What is this? Glitter? And the whole thing smells kinda like fireworks...or um gunpowder."

"How would you fix it," Hedy said a small smirk growing on her face as she noticed the night guard's realisation and surprise.

"Well, I think it isn't really broken," the poor interviewee looked eager to give the strange device back. "It's just these two wires that are disconnected." She moved to connect the wires but paused when all three people in front of her scooted back just a bit. "Is something wrong?" She asked with a slight squeak.

"Nope. Good job," Hedy said with a rather concerning smile that somehow still put the girl back at ease. Just a little. The mechanic held out her hand for the device and immediately disconnected the wires again when the girl handed it over.

Ruby was doubled over in silent laughter and Olivia finally looked at her. The night guard finally drew in a breath in and spoke.

"...That's one of my cookie bombs..." she said accusingly although she didn't seem too mad.

"Yes," Hedy said as she put the cookie glitter bomb back in her wheelchair's side pouch and put on her glasses to look at Olivia's application again.

"Bomb!" Olivia jerked her hands backward as if the device was going to jump out of Hedy's bag and bite her.

Ruby took no notice, "And you took it apart...without blowing it up..." she stared, just a little impressed.

Not that she would say anything.

"Yep." Hedy shrugged.

She was the mechanic after all. Although there were a few of Ruby's inventions that she wouldn't touch even if her life depended on it. Ruby had a knack for defying the set rules of the universe it seemed.

They ended up approving Olivia and she left with a sigh of relief, glad for the job but wondering about her new co-workers.

They went through a few regular applicants. Some Ruby rejected flat-out them moment they showed hostility towards the animatronics and the other two couldn't budge her on the matter. Hedy rejected a couple based on suspicious past work experience. The manager just sat quietly in the middle as the two took over.

"Next, Samuel Falmer." The manager read from the application.

The man that came in was chubby with long arms and legs. He also looked really intimidating with most of his face obscured by two scarves, his blue eyes and short blond hair the only features visible.

The manager looked even more nervous but the girls looked unfazed.

Samuel greeted them, sounding friendly and amiable.

Ruby asked her two questions and was satisfied with the negative answers. Hedy did her cookie bomb thing and he passed.

They seemed happy with him and the manager was forced to hire him even if he was nervous about the intimidating appearance.

The rest of the interviews passed quickly enough. Ruby only got into a verbal confrontation with one poor idiotic soul who was thoroughly traumatised as a consequence. Hedy managed to keep most conversations polite though.

By the time the last applicant left they had five new part-time day guards…and a sleeping night guard.

Ruby had fallen asleep and didn't seem to be getting up anytime soon. The manager watched her, uncertain about what to do. Hedy rolled her eyes.

"Oh for goodness sakes." She muttered, reaching over and shaking Ruby's shoulder despite the manager's sudden panic.

She shot bolt upright instantly. "Honest, I didn't buy the gunpowder mom."

She blinked sleepily as she realised where she was.

"We done?" she asked, covering a yawn.

Hedy nodded as the manager thanked them both and hurried out. Ruby nodded absently and stood up, stretching. She picked up her bag, said goodbye to Hedy and waved at empty air as she left.

Hedy frowned. That was weird. Before she could think further on it though, the cookie bomb in her bag went off.

"When did she even do that?" Hedy asked in dismay, no doubt in her mind that it was Ruby's doing.

Goldy stifled a giggle at the mechanic's expression. Too funny. Ruby was getting good at sensing her as well. It was surprising how nice it felt to have her acknowledge that she was there when she waved goodbye.

She sobered up as she watched Hedy pack up and leave.

She didn't know how she felt about seeing the girl back at Freddy's after all these years.

Chapter Text

Ruby practically skipped into work, waving excitedly at the gang. They looked at each other for a moment and then back at the bouncing night guard.

"Sugar rush?" Freddy asked with a sigh while Bonnie snickered at the thought of what was going to happen that night.

Ruby nodded enthusiastically.

"The interviews cut into my sleeping time so I brought a bunch of caffeine and sugar and stuff so that I could get on a sugar high and maintain it during the night so that I can have fun and-" she ran out of air and stopped to breathe.

Freddy quickly cut in.

"That's great Ruby." He shook his head but looked amused.

She grinned at them, giving Freddy the equipment and movies.

"Enjoy!" she yelled as she took off to start the night.

The 'bots were quiet for a moment before Chica spoke.

"Anyone else notice that she was carrying a sword?" she asked nervously.

"What?" the other's asked, suddenly worried.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby bounced around the office, waiting for the phone call.

"Come on come on come on." She muttered, staring at the phone.

Hedy watched her from the doorway.

"You're completely buzzed on sugar." She sighed.

"Yup!" she giggled as the call started.

"Ah...hello, hello!"

"HELLO!" Ruby answered back enthusiastically.

"Uh, see, I told you your first night wouldn't be a problem. You're a natural!" 'Steve' said.

"Aww. Thank you!" Ruby giggled, still bouncing in place.

"Uh, by now I'm sure you've noticed the older models sitting in the back room."

Now she froze.

"Uh, those are from the previous location. We just use them for parts now."

A low growl started in her throat, making Hedy worry.

"The idea at first was to repair them...uh, they even started retrofitting them with some of the newer technology, but they were just so ugly, you know?"

Ruby let out some indescribable screech and leapt forward to grab the phone but Hedy had come closer and grabbed her wrist.

"It's a recording!" she tried to calm the night guard down.

Ruby growled something but didn't try and break the phone again.

"The smell...uh, so the company decided to go in a whole new direction and make them super kid-friendly. Uh, those older ones shouldn't be able to walk around, but if they do, the whole Freddy head trick should work on them too, so, whatever."

"Whatever? Whatever?! Stupid people…I'm not talking to you anymore Steve!" she yelled, completely forgetting about her plan to ask about Hedy's 'Uncle Scott'.

"Uh...heh...I love those old characters. Did you ever see Foxy the pirate?"

She froze again before settling back. "Okay…You're forgiven."

"Oh wait, hold on...oh yeah, Foxy. Uh, hey listen, that one was always a bit twitchy, uh...I'm not sure the Freddy head trick will work on Foxy, uh. If for some reason he activates during the night and you see him standing at the far end of the hall, just flash your light at him from time to time. Those older models would always get disoriented with bright lights. It would cause a system restart, or something. Uh, come to think of it, you might want to try that on any room where something undesirable might be. It might hold them in place for a few seconds. That glitch might be in some of the newer models too."

Ruby stared at the phone suspiciously. "No…I'm not doing that to them. That's just mean."

"One more thing - don't forget the music box. I'll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing."

"Me too!" Ruby gasped, throwing her arms up, excited again.

"It was always...thinking, and it can go anywhere...I don't think a Freddy mask will fool it, so just don't forget the music box. Anyway, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Uh, have a good night, and talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye Steve." Ruby waved at the phone before she bolted past Hedy, energy levels too high to let her stay in place.

She had something special planned…
____________________________________________________________________________________________
So…

Ruby decided to finally have her pirate night.

She spent the entire night running around in a pirate hat and eye patch waving her sword around. She had also modified a water pistol to shoot a lot more water.

A LOT more water…

"Would you STOP that?!" Toy Bonnie shrieked as she locked Toy Chica's joints up again.

Ruby just laughed hysterically, at the peak of her sugar high.

"Not stopping for anything ya landlubber!" she yelled back and swung the sword dangerously close to him. It was sharpened to a dangerous edge as they had discovered after she had sliced through a table so they were making sure to avoid it.

"Come on! Come at me Rabbit!" she yelled at him. "This is what you get when you threaten mutiny!"

Hedy was also in the room, head in her hands as she listened to the insanity that was this conversation.

"Ruby! Stop playing around!" she yelled.

Ruby just laughed louder and sprayed Toy Bonnie full in the face with her water gun.

"No one's going to get the jump on Captain Ruby!" she giggled, running out the room to find more victims.

Hedy massaged her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

Goldy materialised above her.

"This is hilarious." She giggled.

"Well at least someone is enjoying this." Hedy sighed. "She could seriously hurt them…"

She looked worried, Ruby didn't seem to be taking safety into consideration.

Goldy waved her off.

"Don't worry so much. Although I don't know why you worry about them..." Goldy muttered the last bit.

Hedy looked at her curiously. "From that bitterness, am I correct in assuming that you were here back when the Toys were here?

An explosion went off in another room followed by a wordless scream of rage.

"Yeah." Goldy said softly before eyeing the mechanic. "I was here when you were here too. And your brother."

Hedy stiffened but Goldy ignored it, too caught up in whatever memories she was thinking about.

"I don't know why you're back, I just wouldn't suggest trying to hurt my friends. They've been through enough." She looked back at the girl for a moment before disappearing.

Hedy stared at the empty air for a moment. She sighed and rubbed her face.

"Geez…So someone recognised me?" she whispered.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby ended up in a really interesting position.

This position was also driving the Toys mad since they couldn't reach her.

She had forgotten to wind the music box in her sugar rush so The Puppet got out. The moment she saw him she made a very interesting squeak-scream sound and hit him with Betty. And then again. And again.

Eventually one of the Toys tried to grab her and she swung wildly at them connecting solidly.

That was why Hedy was repairing Toy Chica's jaw at the moment, muttering to herself.

Ruby, meanwhile, was halfway up the mast of Foxy's ship.

The gang had come out at some point at Goldy's insistence and were now trying really hard not to laugh.

At least Freddy and Chica were. The other three were laughing freely.

"Lass…" Foxy eventually managed while Toy Bonnie, Toy Freddy and The Puppet prowled around the base of the ship. "What…are you…doing up there?"

She grinned at him, munching on a chocolate bar.

"The freaky clown, Captain. The sea monster of the pizzeria!" She swung wildly around her unstable perch.

This, of course, made them laugh harder.

"I see…" he chuckled. "Just don't fall off again."

She grinned down at them, waving her sword around.

"A Captain fall off her own ship?" she looked aghast. "Never!"

She swung a full 360 degrees around the mast, giggling again.

"Although this is your ship." She added thoughtfully.

"Sugar highs…" Freddy sighed although he was also finding it amusing.

In between his heart-stopping every time she swung around.

"This isn't as bad as last time." Bonnie pointed out. "At least she's staying in one place this time."

Hedy looked over at them.

"This has happened before?"

Freddy was the only one to look at her. "Yes. She pulled a day shift so she survived off of sugar and caffeine."

Ruby stopped her swinging and aimed her water gun at Toy Bonnie while they were talking. He screamed furiously at her when he could move again.

"What if you damage them?" Hedy asked heatedly.

Ruby shrugged. "My 'bots handled a full night of water balloons and water guns with no problem. What happened to new and improved?"

Her voice took on a mocking tone which just infuriated them more.

She then decided to throw a glitter bomb with terrifying accuracy, hitting The Puppet dead on.

"Hmmm…Glitter does not help with scary clown impression. I'm staying up here." She hugged the mast comically.

Goldy appeared next her suddenly.

"Wow…Good shot." She nodded in appreciation, looking at the distance the glitter bomb had covered.

"Hey!" Toy Bonnie yelled. "You can't interfere!"

"I'm not." Goldy rolled her eyes, bringing out a video camera. "I'm getting a better angle."

Ruby laughed again and brought a new weapon out of her bag while they yelled indignantly at the ghost bear.

"Oh dear." Chica murmured at the sight of the weapon and the gang took a good few steps back.

"What?" the Puppet snapped suspiciously.

"Chocolate bomb!" Ruby crowed, dropping the weapon.

"Oh no." Hedy froze, realising that she was also in the blast radius.

Chocolate covered everything.

The gang had taken shelter so they had avoided most of it. The Toys were covered in chocolate and so was Hedy. From head to toe.

"Hmmmm." Ruby mused, looking over the destruction. "Needs a little more oomph."

"What is wrong with you?!" Toy Freddy yelled up at her, trying to wipe the chocolate off.

"I need to have another food night." The night guard answered dreamily. "But the things weren't ready yet so this is a sneak peek of the fun."

Hedy threw a glare up at her while Ruby snickered.

Suddenly she lost her balance and slipped off the mast. The gang cried out in worry as she hit the floor. She was up quickly though, already laughing.
"Chocolate broke my fall!" she yelled as she raced out of the room, Toys hot on her heels.

Hedy wiped her face.

"Great." She muttered.

"You've got to admit that it's a good prank." Goldy pointed out from above her.

"It's a waste of time. And chocolate." She answered. "If she's that talented at inventing shouldn't she use it for something else?"

The others didn't answer her, mostly because they were still laughing.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
The shift finally ended and Ruby collapsed in the middle of the dining room.

"I'm tired." She whined.

Her back was covered in chocolate and she had flipped the eye patch up after an unfortunate depth perception accident.

The Toys looked far worse though. Covered in chocolate they had been alternatively hit with water and glitter throughout the night.

I'm going to kill her." Toy Chica growled.

Toy Bonnie was still stuck in the air vent entrance so he couldn't add to the complaints. (Long story that could be explained by his recklessness and Ruby's goading.)

Toy Freddy and Hedy were trying to get him out while The Puppet was hiding in his box. BB hadn't been seen all night.

"Going to take a nap lass?" Foxy asked in amusement.

She cracked an eye open to look at him.

"Ugh…I'm on breakfast duty." She just realised. "I've got to get back home before everyone's up."
She pushed herself up and groaned. "That was a good work out actually. Thanks!"

She threw a cheeky grin over at the Toys who growled. Toy Bonnie was finally out, hands clenching and unclenching as he glared at her.

"Sorry about the mess in the Cove Foxy." She apologised to him.

He waved her off. "Cleaners are used to it by now."

She smirked at that. "I am a terrible influence on you all."
"Ah you figured it out at last." Freddy chuckled. "Take care on your walk home."

She waved goodbye while Hedy frowned. She walked home? She was still a minor so why did she walk home by herself?

"Oh, by the way."Chica looked around in confusion. "Where's Balloon Boy?"

Everyone looked around, realising that he had been absent all night.

"Oh, him." Ruby looked back at them with an evil grin. "Wonder if you can find him?"

Chapter Text

Ruby stared at her ceiling thoughtfully. It was between her afternoon nap and her shift and she found herself thinking about, well, a number of things.

Forefront on her mind, were the personalities of all her new co-workers.

She'd had a few days to learn about them by now and was thinking the information over. Compared to her 'bots they were exceptionally different.

More different than she thought was possible since they were supposed to have 'similar but new and improved programming'.

"New and improved…right." She muttered.

Toy Freddy was the least annoying of the bunch. He seemed like more of a stick-in-the-mud than Freddy though. She had often heard him going on and on about rules she had visited for the interviews. He was a walking talking rulebook it seemed. Freddy may have been stern, sure, but even he would bend the rules now and then.

And he knew how to have fun.

She groaned as she remembered one incident the previous night. She had hit Toy Freddy with her water gun. He had WHINED. Actually, honestly, WHINED about it. She rolled her eyes at the thought. Then he'd tried to shout a lecture about improper use of water in the pizzeria at her while she ran away.

Just…really?

She shook her head while covering her eyes.

At least Toy Bonnie knew how to have fun but…

Wow.

She had never wanted to kill someone so damn badly in her life. He was beyond annoying and obnoxious. He also had the worst superiority problem out of the group.

She'd seen him playing with some kids and he STILL looked obnoxious while he did it. She really didn't know what the manufacturers had been thinking with him.

'Let's make him as annoying and full of himself as possible' probably.

She rubbed her face and then propped her head up in her hands on the table, staring blankly at the computer in front of her.

"And he never shuts up." She muttered to herself. "Ever."

Sure Bonnie was a prankster and mischievous, with maybe a little bit of an ego, but he was nowhere near as bad as that Barbie Rabbit. This wasn't even her personal preferences coming into play. She couldn't believe these badly behaved, ill controlled animatronics had actually been brought in to REPLACE the originals.

If it were up to her they would have been back in the boxes the day after their arrival.

His screams were also ridiculously girly.

Then there was Toy Chica…Oh how she wanted a mute button. She never stopped TALKING. About the most ridiculous things too. She squealed and giggled incessantly and was just all around annoying. She also complained every time she got hit with a prank, saying that she was 'dirty' now. She cleaned herself up after every single prank it seemed. Unless she needed help, then she had to wait and did she complain.

Just thinking about those three were giving Ruby a headache.

Mangle… well, she didn't seem so bad. She was insanely shy, playing with the younger kids when Ruby had seen her. She still couldn't talk and she'd admit that everything about the poor 'bot set off her sympathy alarms. She'd been trying not to bother her every night. But still…she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to Mangle than she was showing.

After all, cute animals could still bite.

She started doodling on a piece of paper on the table. She'd tried to get some information about the pizzeria off the internet again and once again, nothing.

Her mind drifted to the other Toys.

BB…well, she'd be surprised if they found him anytime soon. She snickered to herself. It was going to be hilarious when they found him…eventually.

She really needed to figure out how to rig the fake cannons in Pirate's Cove to fire the annoying bowling ball. What had they been thinking, when they made him?

Maybe he was defective…

Then there was The Clown. Or The Puppet or whatever. He was still creepy as anything. Maybe if she stuck a picture of a face on his mask it would make it better?

She mulled over that thought for a while.

But to do that she'd have to get close to him…

What did he even do in the pizzeria anyway? She hadn't seen him away from the room his box was in and she certainly hadn't gone in there willingly yet so what was his job?

She gave about five seconds to that thought before his face creeped her out again and she moved on.

Finally there was Hedy.

…

…

Really, Ruby…didn't know what to think of her.

She was obviously there for a reason (and Ruby really needed to stop getting distracted from asking about her 'Uncle Scott') but she just couldn't figure it out.

She wasn't blind either.

She'd noticed that Hedy was never in the same room as her 'bots when she was alone, always having the Toys or Ruby with her. She also never met Foxy's eyes. Flinches weren't something that she missed so if Hedy was so scared of the originals then why was she there?

And why didn't she seem bothered by the Toys?
The Puppet was just a pain so why put up with him? She'd seen the mechanic get annoyed with Toy Bonnie and BB as well. She also ignored Toy Chica's endless, endless talking sometimes. Seems she was pretty close to Toy Freddy and Mangle though.

She didn't seem to be supporting their night guard murder desire however.

Which didn't make a lot of sense.

She was friends with them, but was on Ruby's side in the whole killing night guards thing. She chose to work there, but she was scared of the originals.

She also called 'Steve' Uncle Scott.

Why was she there?

Ruby glared at the screen since no answers magically popped into her head. She sighed and leaned back in the chair to stare at the ceiling again.

All in all, she didn't know how Hedy tolerated those Toys. They acted like teenagers sometimes…

Ruby sat bolt upright, mouth popping open in a silent 'oh'.

"You've got to be kidding me." She muttered.

She looked at the time. It was still far too early but she needed to talk to the 'bots. She'd just wait it out there.

She grabbed her bag and almost ran to Freddy's.

The 'bots were just about to relax in preparation for the new night when Ruby burst through the doors.

"Ruby?" Freddy asked in surprise, the rest of the gang looking over.

Luckily the Toys were already in the other room.

"A little early there lass." Foxy frowned at her in confusion.

It was only eleven.

"They're teenagers!" she exclaimed, waving her hands in the direction of the doorway that led to the Toys.

There was a moment of perplexed silence.

"What?" Bonnie asked, tilting his head.

Goldy materialised and felt her temperature.

"No fever." She frowned.

Ruby waved her away.

"The Toys! They act like teenagers! Or stereotypical ones at least." She amended.

She was a teenager too after all.

"Uh, still not following." Chica admitted.

Ruby took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"How much experience did they get? Working?" she asked.

"About a month maybe?" Freddy frowned, trying to think.

"Well." Ruby looked at them all. "Compared to you guys they're still kids! Never mind teenagers."

They still looked confused but Freddy looked like he was catching on.

"When you guys started, you weren't like you are now right? Experience changes you." Ruby pushed, trying to get them to realise it.

Freddy nodded thoughtfully. "We were really different."

Goldy caught on next. "Oh yeah! Bonnie was way more reckless until his one prank almost got someone hurt. Freddy had to learn when to make exceptions to the rules. Chica couldn't cook and Foxy was actually kind of mean."

"So experience made you guy work on the flaws until you became better 'bots." Ruby nodded her head. "The Toys never did that."

It finally hit the others.

"They never learnt to temper their flaws." Chica murmured.

Everyone looked thoughtful.

"Toy Bonnie's annoying and short-tempered and all that but he hasn't had a reason to try and change that yet. Toy Chica is still insanely selfish because she doesn't know better. Toy Freddy's still so obsessed with rules because he hasn't learned that they need to be ignored sometimes." Ruby was pacing. "They never had the experiences like you that taught them to change. They've been in storage where those personality flaws just remained stagnant."

Foxy frowned. "Mangle's changed quite a bit lass. I'll admit she was a bit of a bloodthirsty girl back then."

Ruby shrugged. "I think something happened to change her. I don't know her since she's always hiding away."
"The Puppet's been around pretty long too." Goldy added. "He's been around for almost as long as I have."

"Then he's just a creep." She waved her hand dismissively.

"Why is this important?" Bonnie asked.

"Because, that means they can still change!" she grinned at them. "They can still learn and then they won't be such a pain to work with!"

"You're optimistic." Goldy muttered.

They were surprised that Ruby was so willing to give the Toys a chance. Their group was a little divided on the subject. Freddy and Chica were curious while the others were more grudging.

"Oh but experiences? They can hurt." Ruby's signature smirk reappeared on her face.

Oh, so that was what she was going for. That made more sense.

"What are you planning lass?" Foxy asked, fighting a grin.

"They need a few decades of experiences if those feelings of superiority are going to get squashed. So I'm going to focus on knocking them down a peg or two. Or ten." She looked almost giddy with excitement. "Up until now it was just revenge. Now? Now its revenge and teaching them a few lessons. I like teaching lessons."

"Might not be so easy." Freddy warned her. "They're really influenced by the Puppet."

Ruby looked thoughtful. "And you're sure the wood chipper is out?"

"Yes." Freddy answered sternly.

"Fine. Then whatever he says I'll prove him wrong." She shrugged.

"You seem very into this." Goldy pointed out.

"Oh yes. There's nothing I like more than knocking some jerks down and showing them that they're not the centre of the solar system." She rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

They looked at each other for a moment before shrugging. There wasn't much of a point in trying to stop her once her mind was made up.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hedy was packing her bag and inspecting her tools in preparation for the night but her mind was elsewhere.

Her thoughts were stuck on the night guard of course.

The girl was just too…strange. She didn't make much sense. She freely put herself in harm's way for what reason? She was already proving that she could easily avoid the Toys by using the vents. Having the originals helping her would have guaranteed that she wouldn't be in any danger.

This deal wasn't even going to bring about a permanent solution. If she won, the Toys would just have to wait until she left the job to continue.

"Did she even think this through?" the mechanic murmured to herself, worrying her bottom lip.

Strangely enough, she also didn't seem to be trying to get rid of them even though she clearly preferred the originals. She was just trying to win.

And annoy everyone as a side effect.

There was still chocolate in her chair.

Hedy put her bag down and rubbed her face.

Was there any logic to Ruby's thought processes or actions? Probably not. She seemed to be trying to accomplish something though. She'd already temporarily stopped the originals killing night guards, although Hedy didn't really know the story of how.

That was more than Hedy had managed though.

She had come here to…what? Prove herself? Stop any more murders? She wasn't really sure anymore actually.

Ruby didn't seem to need much help and Hedy couldn't even look at the originals without breaking into a cold sweat. Her brother's stories still echoed in her mind…

She shook her head and sighed, rubbing her face.

Then there was that unexpected part of Uncle Scott leaving those tapes. She was curious about why Ruby called him Steve though.

"I wonder how Uncle Scott's doing." She murmured.

She hadn't seen him in a long time.

"Maybe, when Ruby actually stops giving me death glares every time I talk to her I can ask if she knows where he is."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ruby glanced at the clock for the fifth time that minute. She was itching to start the night, fueled by her interesting realisation.

"I'm actually feeling sorry for the Toys now." Foxy murmured softly to Freddy.

Freddy nodded his head slowly in agreement.

"I'm not." Bonnie grinned.

"You never got rid of that vindictive flaw." Freddy rolled his eyes.

The rabbit shrugged, going back to cleaning his guitar.

Goldy and Chica were setting up the projector and going over the movies Ruby had while she paced back and forth, eyes on the clock.

When it finally hit five to twelve she grinned and started heading to the office.

"Class is in session kids." She skipped out the room.

The 'bots watched her go.

"I'm really glad that nostalgia saved us from that level of sadism." Bonnie admitted.

The others all nodded.
"We didn't ask where Balloon Boy is." Goldy realised.

"Not our problem." Foxy shrugged.

"They'll find him eventually." Freddy didn't look interested.

Foxy grinned at him. "She really is a bad influence on you too."

Chapter Text

Ruby stared at the phone in anticipation while Hedy watched her a little nervously. The excitement radiating off of her was scary.

Finally the phone rang and the night began.

"Hello hello! See? I told you you wouldn't have any problems!"

"You have such confidence in me Steve." Ruby grinned.

"Did...uh... Did Foxy ever appear in the hallway?"

Ruby's back straightened and she looked interested. Behind her Hedy flinched violently.

"Probably not. I was just curious. Like I said, he was always my favorite."

"Mine too." Ruby smiled a little more gently.

"They tried to remake Foxy, ya know? Uh, they thought the first one was too scary, so they redesigned him to be more kid-friendly and put him in Kid's Cove. To keep the toddlers entertained, you know... "

Her expression saddened. "Too scary? What about him is scary?"

"But kids these days just can't keep their hands to themselves. The staff literally has to put Foxy back together after every shift. So eventually they stopped trying and left him as some 'take apart and put back together' attraction. Now he's just a mess of parts. I think the employees refer to him as just "The Mangle." Uh..."

Ruby winced in sympathy.

"Wait, him?" she looked at Hedy in confusion.

"Misunderstanding. She's female." The mechanic told her.

"Oh, hey, before I go, uh, I wanted to ease your mind about any rumors you might have heard lately."

The night guard raised an eyebrow. "Rumours?"

"You know how these local stories come and go and seldom mean anything. I can personally assure you that, whatever is going on out there, and however tragic it may be, has nothing to do with our establishment. It's just all rumor and speculation... People trying to make a buck. You know... Uh, our guard during the day has reported nothing unusual. And he's on watch from opening til close.

Okay, well anyway, hang in there and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"People can be really dense when they don't want something to be true." She muttered, grabbing her bag to leave.

Hedy did the same so the night guard looked back.

"I'm upping the game tonight so you might want to stay clear. All my toys are modified to work on the 'bots." She warned before leaving.

"No problem there. I'm not risking getting covered in chocolate again." Hedy muttered.

The mechanic ended up taking refuge in Pirate's Cove with Mangle as explosions rocked the building.

"She wasn't kidding." She mumbled as she massaged her temples.

Mangle sat next to her looking concerned and nervous.

"It'll be fine." Hedy assured the skittish 'bot.

The fox pulled out the whiteboard she used to communicate since her voice box was still out and wrote on it.

"She seems more active."

Hedy sighed. "Yeah, she said something about 'upping the game'."

They heard Toy Chica shriek.

"I don't know who to feel sorry for." Mangle wrote.

Hedy chuckled. "Yeah. The target of the hunt or the targets of the revenge."

Mangle flinched as another explosion went off and Hedy patted her arm comfortingly.

"How've things been?" she asked, deciding to change the subject. "Everything okay?"

Mangle nodded. "The kids are nice when I can play with them and the employees are mostly nice. Ruby hasn't done anything to me either."

Hedy was relieved at that. Mangle was very fragile at the moment, hardly able to play with the kids on some days. At least Ruby wasn't including her in her pranks.

"The others are getting really annoyed though. She's pushing all their buttons." The animatronic wrote.

"Yeah, I'm getting that loud and clear."

This time Toy Bonnie's scream echoed through the building.

Hedy groaned. The Toys were going to be complaining so much after this night…

Ruby laughed at the image in front of them.

"Oh I love the glitter cake bomb." She giggled. "But Chica is going to be so mad after she sees the kitchen."

Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica would go after her again but they were struggling to stand on the cream covered floor. They were also covered head to toe in cake bits and couldn't see properly.

"This is brilliant." Ruby started taking photos.

"I hate you." Toy Chica whined.

"Feeling's mutual Featherbutt." She grinned back, neatly dodging Toy Freddy's swipe and getting him in the face with an exploding cookie.

"These cookies are still my favourite though." She admitted as he batted at the streamers.

She stuck a non-exploding cookie in her mouth and observed the cream covered destruction in satisfaction.

Toy Freddy was now down in the cream as well.

"Well, come find me when you find your balance again." She waved cheekily and sauntered out of the room.

"Hmmm, those three are stuck in the kitchen for at least twenty minutes. The Clown Freak's box is duct taped shut and anyway if he got out he'd freak because I hid his music box away. That annoying bowling ball, well…" she snickered as she remembered what she'd done to him.

Ah that was a good idea. A very good idea. They still hadn't found him.

"So that leaves the fox? But she hasn't done anything so I'm guessing I'm safe for a while. Cookie break!" she stretched as she began devouring the cookies, avoiding picking the exploding ones in her bag.

"I should stop talking to myself so much…" she muttered after a moment.

It was a little eerie walking through empty rooms but at the same time comforting. This place held so many memories…

She glanced up in the hallway that had held the newspapers before but they weren't there. They hadn't shown up since she had last seen them.

"This place, it's like it's got a mind of its own sometimes. Its own agenda." She patted a wall and looked around thoughtfully. "Wonder what will happen next then?"

An angry yell came from a nearby room and Ruby chuckled.

"Looks like the rabbit ran into my chocolate bucket tripwire trap." She snickered. "Break's over I guess. Back to work."

Hedy groaned at what seemed like the hundredth explosion.

"She must be making a mess…" she muttered.

Suddenly the girl in question came shooting into the room giggling madly. She hardly gave the two a glance while Mangle jumped and hid behind the mechanic.

"Oh, I love caramel. I really love caramel. I don't think the Barbies do though." She doubled over, trying to catch her breath.

"Caramel?" Hedy asked in confusion, mind flashing back to the chocolate bomb.

The night guard straightened up.

"I needed another food night. Badly. Oh I love food night." She sighed.

On closer inspection the night guard was actually splattered with caramel, chocolate and…sprinkles? Looked like she wasn't afraid of getting dirty.

"What did you do?" Hedy asked, afraid of the answer.

Ruby dangled a key in front of her.

"Caramel bomb plus locked closet equals angry bunny." She beamed.

Hedy stared for a moment before a laugh escaped her, surprising the night guard.

"Hey! Look who actually has a sense of humour!" she snickered.

Hedy covered her mouth in embarrassment but she had to admit. It was a good prank.

"Well it wasn't a violent joke. And I didn't get hit." She muttered. "It was…pretty good."

Ruby paused for a moment and looked her up and down.

Mangle cowered behind her again.

"Huh. Well then Miss. Mechanic. Guess there's a little more to you than meets the eye." She tilted her head curiously. "Still don't like your friends. Although I'll admit the fox isn't so bad it seems."

She looked at Mangle and her expression softened.

"Hey chill out. I'm not going to bite." She grinned but her voice softened as well. "Well I'd better get going before the chicken catches up with me."

She darted out of the room.

Hedy watched her go, surprised that she had taken the time to reassure Mangle. She patted the 'bot on the shoulder.

"Huh, guess there's some kindness in there somewhere." She smiled slightly.

An explosion went off followed by an indignant screech.

"Maybe not."

When the night ended Toy Bonnie was still stuck in the closet, Toy Chica was stuck in the kitchen again and Toy Freddy had a headache. The Puppet was also still in his box and BB…was still missing.

"Where is Balloon Boy anyway?" Freddy asked while Bonnie and Foxy laughed themselves sick on the floor at the aftermath.

Ruby just smiled at him.

"Better if you don't know Freddy." She patted Freddy's arm.

He thought it through for a moment and nodded slowly.

"Okay." He said as Goldy appeared next to them.

"Where'd you hide the closet key?" she asked curiously.

"Dropped it somewhere." Ruby answered honestly.

They shrugged and accepted the answer.

It was something she would do after all.

Ruby finally collapsed on her bed and relaxed.

"That was fun." She chuckled.

The cleaners were going to be absolutely furious when they saw the place.

"Hmm. Wonder if anyone's noticed that the craft box went missing yet?" she mused.

Chapter Text

"I'm not getting up." Ruby muttered into her pillow. "I'm not. I don't care if they want me to come into work for the day shift. I'm not getting up."

Days of only a few hours of sleep had finally hit her and she was lying face first on her bed. Talking to herself apparently.

"I feel like roadkill." She mumbled.

"Well, then you should ease up on this overtime." Alice chuckled as she came in with some water. "And hydrate. You drink too much coffee."

Ruby groaned and rolled over, blindly reaching for the water.

"I'm just a dedicated worker." She mumbled after draining the bottle.

Alice laughed softly. "That's for sure. But maybe they need a break from you sometimes too."

Ruby sniffed haughtily. "I'm an absolute pleasure to be around."

Alice laughed harder at that.

"Hey!" Ruby whined, peeling an eye open. "As my caretaker you should support me!"

Alice patted her leg.

"Sorry honey. I don't support delusions." She snickered a bit.

Ruby threw a pillow at her.

"Don't tease the exhausted and sleep-deprived." She mumbled.

Alice sat on the bed, still giggling a little.

"Weren't you going out?" Ruby asked after a moment, peeking at the guardian.

Alice shrugged. "Changed my plans. Emily is sick so I'm staying home today. You were walking into walls at breakfast so I thought I'd give you a break from babysitting duty."

Ruby frowned.

"Thought the walking into walls was a dream." She muttered.

Alice shook her head. "Nope. Entertained the kids though."

Ruby groaned even louder.

"Great. I'm the entertainment now."

Alice put the pillow she had thrown earlier back on the bed and stood up.

"Get some sleep Ruby. You've been working too hard."

The girl mumbled something but it looked like she was already falling asleep. Coffee and sugar could only keep you going for so long after all.

She rolled over and was soon out cold.

Alice hummed to herself as she closed Ruby's door and went to check on the other children. She was glad that the teenager was finally taking a break. Her schedule had grown hectic between school, her job and the extra shifts she kept taking.

She needed a day to herself. Maybe she could convince Ruby to take a day off soon…Maybe.

Things were a lot calmer at Freddy's without their infamous night guard making an unexpected visit. Freddy took a moment to relax during a lull in customers.

"Hey Freddy." Chica came up to him.
"Chica?" he noticed that she looked concerned. "Is something wrong?"

The chicken fidgeted with her hands.

"I just…It's about Ruby. I can't help but worry about her and the Toys. She was tired when she left last night."

Freddy nodded in understanding. "She was. But you know she'd never listen to us. And what advice could we give? She's determined to see this through to the end."

Chica sighed miserably.

"I know. She's just the first one to accept us so easily and I'm…scared to lose her." She looked away. "Not just because of the deal with the ghosts. I'm worried for her."

Freddy's ears drooped a little. "We all are Chica. She's got a way of worming her way into your heart no matter what it seems."

He rubbed his face.

He knew the gang wouldn't be the same without Ruby. In such a short amount of time she had managed to make herself an integral part of their weird little family.

"The others feel the same." He sighed.

They were pretty easy to read, no matter how they tried to hide it.

Foxy was becoming her best friend and prank planner, which was not really good news for the employees sanity. Bonnie was taking on a role similar to a little brother for her. He was also a dangerous prank partner. Goldy was becoming a very good friend too. Ruby often went to her for advice if she didn't go to Freddy.

How she had gotten so involved in their lives so easily…

She may have been slightly crazy but she was impossible to not like after getting to know her it seemed.

Or, at least for most people.

Bonnie walked over to them, ears drooped and a depressed look on his face.

"Bonnie?" Chica asked in concern.

He looked up in surprise. He hadn't even noticed they were there it seemed.

"You okay?" she asked.

He nodded but it wasn't very convincing. Freddy had a pretty good idea on what the problem was.

"Toy Bonnie giving you grief again?" he asked gently.

Bonnie's flinch was all the answer he needed.

The Toy took great pleasure in bringing up all of Bonnie's painful memories when he was alone with him. They tried not to let him get to Bonnie but he always managed to get through when they weren't looking.

"Just ignore him." Chica patted his arm but it was easier said than done.

Out of all of them, Bonnie had the worst time remembering the period the Toys were active. He'd had a nightmare of a time and still struggled with the memories.

"We'll just set Ruby on him tonight." Foxy growled from beside them.

The fox was glaring at the blue rabbit across the room. He turned his attention to Bonnie.

"She's going to be furious."

That got a bit of a smile out of the 'bot but he was still far from his normal boisterous self.

Foxy pulled the rabbit off to try and distract him while Freddy sighed. Working with the Toys… It seemed that a confrontation was coming, and quickly.

Hedy glared at Toy Bonnie for the fifth time.

"Toby!" she finally snapped, using the nickname that he pretty much despised. "Sit still while I'm doing your check up!"

Toy Bonnie glared at her but knew better than to answer back when she had tools in her hands.

He complied grumpily while Toy Chica snickered off to the side.

The Toys were getting their weekly check-up before the night started and, as usual, were being difficult about it.

The originals had disappeared off to the stage room and Hedy wasn't about to go ask them if they wanted a check-up too since they'd probably bite her head off. Even though they fell under her job description too.

She let out a quiet sigh as she finished on Toy Bonnie who shot into motion, hating being forced to sit still for any length of time.

"You're a child." Hedy muttered to him as she waved Toy Freddy over.

At least he was cooperative. Toy Bonnie wouldn't sit still, Toy Chica complained all the time, Puppet was a grumpy little brat about it and BB…

"Have you still not found BB?" she asked.

"Nope." Toy Chica said from her seat on a nearby table.

She didn't sound very concerned.

"Aren't you maybe worried about him?" she asked.

"Nope." Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica answered simultaneously.

Toy Freddy mimicked her sigh.

Puppet muttered something about him turning up at some point.

"Ruby could have put him anywhere." Hedy said as she got started on Toy Freddy. "I wonder how she even caught him."

"Who knows with that crazy chic." Toy Bonnie muttered, expression turning dark.

Hedy mentally face-palmed. Why did she mention the night guard around them? It just made them annoyed.

As Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica launched into a tirade about why Ruby was awful, Hedy tuned them out.

Yes she was friends with them but boy could they get annoying sometimes.

"You hanging in there?" Toy Freddy asked her after a moment.

She shrugged.

"Yeah. Things have just been crazy so my head will catch up with all of this later probably." She rolled her eyes.

He chuckled. "Yeah, it has."

Hedy was extremely glad for the fact that Toy Freddy was a good friend. Besides the Puppet, he was the only one who could control the chicken and rabbit sometimes, so he made her life a lot easier.

"Toby, you throw that cup at any of the 'bot in the next room and I'm muting you for a week. Again." She said without looking up.

Toy Bonnie groaned but put the cup down and slumped in the chair.

"I'm bored." He whined.

"I'm working." Hedy shot back.

Toy Freddy gave the rabbit a mild glare and he pouted.

Mangle looked over from where she was sitting reading a book Hedy had brought her and made a questioning static noise.

"Almost finished Mags." Hedy smiled at the 'bot. "I'll come look at your arm in a moment okay?"

The fox nodded and went back to her book. One of her arms was giving her trouble again so she'd asked Hedy to fix it via whiteboard earlier that day.

"I'm bored!" Toy Bonnie said again and groaned dramatically.

Hedy responded by throwing a wrench at him.

Even her patience had its limits.

The rabbit muttered something under his breath but behaved after that. Generally when Hedy started throwing things, she was very low on patience and she really would mute him…

Again…

Meanwhile, somewhere in the building a round robot re-evaluated the consequences of EVER going near the night guard again. That is, if he ever got out of the small, battery-less environment he was currently trapped in.

Chapter Text

"I'm going to kill that walking pile of scrap!" Ruby snarled, pacing like a caged animal.

She hadn't reacted well when she heard that Toy Bonnie had been messing with Bonnie during the day.

"I'm going to tear him to pieces!"

For once none of the others were trying to calm her down. They were all pretty mad as well.

She stormed out of the room when it was close to twelve, muttering angrily.

"Um, we're all staying in here tonight right?" Goldy asked, a little nervously.

They all nodded in unison.

"What's got you all tied in a knot?" Hedy asked as Ruby glared venomously at the wall.

"I hope you're really good at fixing things Hedy. Because I am tearing the rabbit's head off of his shoulders tonight." She snapped.

Hedy paled. That…didn't sound like an idle threat.

The phone finally rang and focused Ruby's attention away from rampaging and talk of decapitation.

"Hello? Hello? Uh, hey there, night four! I told you you'd get the hang of it!"

Ruby couldn't help smiling at his usual exuberance. Both girls also realised that they still hadn't asked the other about 'Uncle Scott/Steve'.

"Ok, so uh, just to update you, uh, there's been somewhat of an, uh, investigation going on."

The night guard's attention focused entirely on the phone.

"Uh, we may end up having to close for a few days... I don't know. I want to emphasize though that it's really just a precaution. Uh, Fazbear Entertainment denies any wrongdoing."

"Of course they do." Ruby muttered, rolling her eyes.

"These things happen sometimes. Um... It'll all get sorted out in a few days. Just keep an eye on things and I'll keep you posted."

"Always positive aren't you Steve?" Ruby sighed.

"Uh, just as a side note though, try to avoid eye contact with any of the animatronics tonight if you can. Someone may have tampered with their facial recognition systems - we're not sure. But the characters have been acting very unusual, almost aggressive towards the staff. They interact with the kids just fine, but when they encounter an adult, they just...stare."

She frowned in confusion and glanced over at Hedy.

"Don't get any ideas."

The mechanic glared. "What do you take me for?!"

"Uh...Anyways, hang tight. It'll all pass. Good night!"

"Night Steve." Ruby stretched, attention shifting to teaching a very memorable lesson to a certain blue rabbit.

"Why do you call him Steve?" Hedy asked before she could leave.

"He didn't give a name. He sounded like a Steve." Ruby shrugged.

Hedy face-palmed. "His name is Scott. He's my uncle."

Ruby paused. Was she using the present tense? Then she didn't know? And what other connections did she have to Freddy's?

Ruby decided against saying anything just yet. She wasn't in any state of mind to be gentle about breaking news like that.

"Huh. Well, I have a rabbit's head to pull off." She waved as she left.

Hedy was seriously considering going out to check on them later.

Then again, he could just put Toy Bonnie's head back on afterwards…

"BARBIES!" Ruby yelled once out in the hallway. "It's open season on rabbits tonight!"

She hefted her machine paintball gun and started down the hallway. She was going to make his life a misery.

An hour later she had locked Toy Chica in the kitchen and Toy Freddy backstage. The Puppet was duct taped in his box so Ruby could focus completely on Toy Bonnie.

And focus she did.

By then he was also no longer blue. He was rainbow coloured.

"Just try and catch me you bucket of bolts!" she laughed, well ahead of the furious rabbit. "This is what you get when you mess with my friends."

As she turned the corner though, she slammed into something and went down.
"Ow…" Ruby propped herself up on her elbows and looked around.

Hedy did the same, and Ruby realised that she had run right into the older girl and knocked her out of her wheelchair.

"Ow is right." Hedy mumbled.

Toy Bonnie stood a little distance away, unsure about what to do now since Hedy had never been involved before.

"Shoot sorry." Ruby apologised, surprising both the 'bot and mechanic. "I'm so used to the clanking of robots that I didn't hear you. You okay?"

Nice to know there was a more caring persona under the sadistic one.

"Yeah. Happens more often than you think." Hedy answered.

The night guard looked like she wanted to help her up back into the chair but her eyes kept darting to the robot.

"Continue with your weird bet, game thing." Hedy waved her hand and Ruby took off again.

Survival instincts were strong after all.

Toy Bonnie stood around awkwardly. He wanted to chase after the night guard but Hedy was his friend…

He glanced back at Hedy who had pulled her wheelchair over to her and was inspecting a rather bad dent in the left wheel.

"Darn. I can't risk sitting in it now." She muttered.

She bit her lip and Toy Bonnie shuffled from one foot to the other, torn between chasing the night guard and helping the mechanic.

Hedy looked over at him and by the time two minutes had passed was getting really annoyed. He was still looking between the hallway and her.

"Toby!" She finally snapped, making him jump. "If you don't stop glaring after her and help me up, I WILL reformat you into a toaster!"

He hurried over to her and picked her up carefully.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"You're impossible." She grumbled, crossing her arms in annoyance.

The trip was very uncomfortable for both of them; physically and mentally.

For Hedy, it was because she didn't enjoy the helpless feeling of needing someone to help her move around. Frankly, it was embarrassing and she was far too old to be comfortable being carried by anyone, even though she knew Toy Bonnie wouldn't drop her.

He wouldn't dare... She really could make him a toaster if she was willing to put the time and effort into the project. The staff might make him work in the kitchen...then they'd kick him out for his attitude.

The carrying hurt too. Just a little.

A fair amount of pressure was being put on the titanium rods in her spine due to the way Toy Bonnie had to hold her.

He was programmed to be able to hold young children, including babies and toddlers (not that many parents handed their babies off to any of the bots), but the "usual" way. For the ones old enough, that meant one arm around the back while balancing the kid on his hip as the kid sometime rested on his shoulder or gripped his neck. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't hold Hedy that way since her adult body was simply too awkward for him to handle size-wise.

So in the end he was stumbling slightly as he held her bridal style and carried her toward the main room. He felt his endo-skeleton teeth grit as his joints strained against the weight. He wasn't supposed to carry this much! Not that Hedy really was heavy, she actually was very thin but tall, er...long? And with other adults, night guards really, he dragged them most of the time.

Not that he could ever get away with doing that to Hedy, besides that one rather bad time at the warehouse that he tried not to think about.

But she would probably shut him down and do something even worse than that crazy night guard would before she woke him up again.

And Mangle would definitely rip him apart.

Toy Bonnie had a feeling that the Toy fox would murder him if he even looked at her best friend wrong now.

Not that he wanted to. As quite literally the only adult that any of the Toys could stand or even care about, Hedy had certain privileges. Even PUPPET did what she told him, even if she had to have a very good reason to convince him with.

"You could lay off the ice cream." he muttered without thinking.

Ah...insulting her was not one of those privileges he enjoyed.

"That's rich, coming from someone who doesn't understand taste." Hedy tried to cross her arms but couldn't succeed without making the already top-heavy Toy Bonnie lose his balance.

He did sway as she swung her arm and she suddenly held onto his neck for dear life.

"The toaster thing is still on the table if you drop me!" she growled. "And don't you dare complain. I know for a fact your gears can handle a lot more weight."

"Yeah yeah..." Toy Bonnie said as he rolled his green plastic eyes, though still a little sheepish from before.

"You're making me waste a lot of time. I should be chasing the night guard." He said sourly.

"Not my fault."

"True. It's hers." Toy Bonnie glared at a wall as if he could set Ruby on fire with x-ray vision.

"No it isn't." Hedy said sternly, "Its either everybody's or nobody's and it's pointless to assign blame like that for something so little."

"Yes mom." he said obnoxiously.

Hedy rolled her own eyes and shifted in an attempt to keep a plastic suit piece from digging into her. True the Toys looked friendlier and more cartoonish than the originals in her opinion. "Looked" being the operative word. Honestly, their hard plastic wasn't very "cuddly," as Hedy had heard Ruby once mutter.

Not that she could really compare them to the originals. Hedy wouldn't be caught dead getting THAT close to the Original gang. Ooh... Wrong choice of words...

Dead.

Hedy subconsciously reached up to run her fingers through her hair, yanking it back slightly.

Toy Bonnie saw this but miraculously didn't speak his mind, for once. Toy Freddy, or Teddy as Hedy annoyingly called him when they were all together without prying eyes, had noticed that Hedy pulled her hair when she was thinking about something that stressed her.

She'd been doing that a lot this week...

Hedy thought about the Originals. Yeah they were softer-ish looking, but they still looked so creepy! She used to have nightmares about them when she was little after that one glimpse into the back room at the old place.

And after she heard those stories…

And they were huge! It was ridiculous.

The shortest of them was that fox, yet he was still about seven and a half feet. The tallest was Bonnie at about eight NOT counting the ears... And his teeth...

How Ruby could stand next to them was beyond Hedy's understanding. Ruby was tiny. At least in comparison.

It was worse for Hedy though since sitting in her chair she was only 4ft.

Chica looked the creepiest but honestly she seemed more timid and less threatening than the others.

Freddy...she understood why Uncle Scott liked him the least. But he at least looked at her. Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The Golden Freddy suit, which was a GIRL, called Goldy and a "ghost" for some reason, didn't seem especially threatening but Hedy knew she was old. And old people had the most memories, experience and wisdom. The way she talked and saw the world reminded Hedy of Puppet. But at the same time they were completely different.

She couldn't understand why they all seemed afraid and/or angry at her. She was the one who was terrified out of her wits to even be in the same room as any of them.

Especially Foxy.

"I've been thinking..." She started.

"Knew I smelled smoke," Toy Bonnie snickered.

"First of all: you can't smell. Second of all: if anyone could actually burn from thinking, it would be you," Hedy snapped back.

"Pfft."

"I was thinking," she said, "I came here as the mechanic for ALL of you. Foxy certainly needs it at least. But the most work I've done is fix Toy Chica's jaw and work on Mags." Hedy said using her nickname for Mangle. "And the check-up on all of the Toys."

"I thought you hated that worn out ancient piece of scrap." Toy Bonnie said, referring to Foxy.

Oh if Ruby heard him…She was already gunning for his head.

"I don't have to like someone to want to help." she said with a sniff.

Maybe if she told herself that enough, she would actually get the courage to ask the originals if she could work on them. They would probably say no.

"Whatever."

"Are you ever going to tell me?" Hedy asked, deciding to change the subject.

"About what?" Toy Bonnie asked.

But going by his tone, he already knew what she meant.

"Why you insist on killing Ruby."

"She's the Night Guard." he said in exasperation.

How many times did they have to explain this to her?!

"Use her name. And all of you still haven't told me why you hate night guards." she said and shifted again.

"It's not important." Toy Bonnie lied insistently.

Hedy was about to press and yell at him again that they couldn't kill someone because of something 'unimportant' but at that moment they reached the door.

Bonnie paused in the doorway to glare.

The Originals were watching their movie but immediately paused it and all turned to stare at them as they entered. Even Goldy looked up from her book.

"What happened?" Chica asked worriedly at seeing Hedy, the chicken's "mother hen" programming kicking in and overriding her fear.

The boys' and Goldy's anger actually melted into confusion.

Hedy hesitated to answer but Toy Bonnie beat her to it.

"The night guard broke her chair." he accused.

Foxy snarled immediately, making Hedy flinch and Toy Bonnie tense.

"The lass wouldn't do that." he said defensively while Freddy nodded in agreement, eyes flicking between them and the projector screen.

Bonnie just stared at a wall distantly after glancing at them.

"It was an accident." Hedy assured quickly as she hit Toy Bonnie in the back of the head.

"Hey!" he whined.

The sharp movement made him lose his balance and he stumbled the rest of the way into the room, causing Hedy to cry out in fear.

She wasn't afraid of heights, but she was afraid of falling.

"Do you need help?" Freddy asked hurriedly as both he and Chica moved to get up.

Foxy and Bonnie glanced at each other uncomfortably, their programming telling them they should offer to help as well, but their dislike for the stuck-up mechanic getting in the way.

"I'm fine!" Toy Bonnie snapped and he steadied himself and walked quickly to a booth table where he carefully set Hedy down in the seat.

"Am I still on the toaster list?" he asked, slightly nervously.

"Not at the moment," Hedy breathed, her heart rate finally going down.

"Good!" he chirped and darted out the door.

"TOBY!" Hedy shouted after him but he was already gone.

He left her. Alone. With the originals. And without her stuff.

"I'm going to strangle that idiot." She muttered.

It wouldn't do much to him but it might make her feel better.

"Toby?" Goldy whispered in confusion.

Ruby soon ran into Toy Bonnie again and continued making his night hell. A nice, colourful hell that featured a lot of streamers and glitter.

Life was good…

Chapter Text

Hedy stiffened as a large shadow fell over her. She swallowed nervously and looked up to see Chica standing next to her looking equally nervous.

"Are you okay?" Chica muttered, not looking Hedy in the eye.

Not that Hedy noticed, she couldn't look at Chica directly either.

"Uh huh..." she couldn't even make words at first.

She cleared her throat.

"Y-yes..." she squeaked and winced at the sound.

Chica looked like she wanted to say something else but suddenly thought better of it. She turned to walk back to the others who were all still staring at the mechanic. They hadn't even un-paused the movie yet.

Suddenly her numb mind remembered something important.

"Uh actually..." she swallowed nervously again. "We uh, left my chair and my bag in the hallway. Would one of you mind...getting it for me...please?"

Well that was awkward.

The 'bots all looked at each other, silently daring one of them to volunteer. That is until Goldy rolled her eyes.

"I got it." she said before teleporting away.

She was back a second later, popping in next to Hedy and staring at the really bad dent in the wheelchair.

"How the heck are you going to use this?" she asked incredulously.

"I can't. I'm going to have to send it in to the manufacturer and use my spare that's at home." she said bitterly, forgetting her fear for the moment.

She really liked that chair...it was relatively expensive and was customized with silver rims and faint blue pieces shaped like lightning bolts for the spokes. A little fancy for her but if she was going to stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, it might as well look good. Plus it had been a birthday present.

"Oh. Did Ruby really do this?"

"Accident. She was running and turned the corner without looking." Hedy frowned, "She was limping a bit. I hope it doesn't slow her down."

"The lass wouldn't need to worry about being slow if your pals didn't want to kill her." Foxy snapped.

"Foxy..." Freddy said warningly as he pushed play.

Hedy stifled a yelp at Foxy's snap and looked down. She absentmindedly turned the broken wheel. It would be very bad if the Toys caught Ruby because she ran into Hedy…

Goldie looked at her for a second more then went back her place hovering over Bonnie as she read.

"She'll be fine Foxy." she assured as she turned the page.

After Hedy managed to calm her heart rate again, she listened to try and figure out what they were watching. She just couldn't hear properly.

Goldy didn't seem to be paying attention though since she was reading a Harry Potter book. She couldn't see which one it was though. Actually the only thing she could see was the animatronics.

She really was going to strangle that rabbit... He could have at least put her where she could see the screen.

Bonnie couldn't concentrate on the movie anymore. The mechanic was RIGHT THERE and he was already having flashbacks. He determinedly stared at the wall, trying not to think about it. Foxy was glancing at him in concern now and then. Chica occasionally looked at Hedy with uncertainty while Freddy was completely caught up in the movie. Goldy just floated above him reading her book.

The girl shifted her weight and his ear twitched.

Why couldn't Toy Bonnie have put her in a different room?

Hedy tried really hard to ignore them. Or rather the movie.

Finally she strained to see again but huffed in frustration when she couldn't, making Bonnie jump at her noise.

If an effort to distract herself she discretely pulled her reading tablet out and turned it on. It chirped quietly and she winced, thinking the animatronics would notice. They didn't, though Foxy's ear swivelled back.

The tablet didn't have much besides books...but it did have internet connection.

Praying that they wouldn't notice, Hedy typed in the password for the pizzeria and opened an app she got from the manager.

A second later, she had access to the security feeds. She flipped through the feeds, wincing at the sound, while looking for the others. Her heart caught in her throat and she tensed as she found Ruby...and Toy Chica.

Toy Chica was holding Ruby's wrist and seemed to be...scolding her? But Hedy relaxed again as Ruby just laughed and threw something at the already glitter covered chicken.

The feed chose that moment to cut out and a second later an explosion echoed down the hall along with a high pitched scream.

"That was Toy Chica," Goldy noted while Foxy chuckled and made a tally mark on a clipboard sitting next to him.

Freddy shushed them.

Wait? What?

"You're keeping score?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Foxy threw a glare at her while Goldy chuckled.

"We've got a betting pool. On who gets hit the most." she grinned.

Hedy gaped at them. They had to be kidding...

There was someone's life at stake!

"Why are you all treating this like a game?" she asked, the words just slipping out at this point.

Foxy just huffed and ignored her. Freddy muttered something under his breath about movie etiquette and paused the movie again. Bonnie was still stubbornly not looking at her. Chica glanced over at her again and away.

"We know what she's capable of." Freddy shrugged. "If we worried too much she would take it as an insult to her abilities."

"The lass is more than capable of taking care of herself." Foxy grudgingly joined the conversation though he still wasn't looking at her.

Chica nodded timidly while glancing at Bonnie. The rabbit was just staring at the wall.

"The Toys don't have the same...experience...that we had." Goldy said, struggling to explain it without talking about uncomfortable topics.

"...I'm not doubting her ability." Hedy said quietly but shivered at what the bear meant.

Experience. Right.

Ruby had said something similar but Hedy had forgotten to tell her about...She cleared her throat.

"Uh...what makes you think that?"

They looked at her just a bit longer now. Never before had Hedy wanted to shrink into nothingness so much.

After a long pause Freddy answered, "They only worked for about a month...as entertainers and...otherwise. We've been...We did this for a lot longer while they were in storage."

Uh oh.

She really debated telling them, "...Um...they were stored in a warehouse."

"So?" Bonnie actually looked at her suspiciously now.

"A pretty expensive third party warehouse that rents to large corporations who want to store expensive stuff..." Oh she really wished she could keep her mouth shut.

"What? Someone thought they were worth something?" Foxy said sarcastically.

"...what are you watching?" Hedy said trying to abruptly change the subject to something that was harmless.

"Oh no." Chica said warningly, taking away the remote from Freddy who wanted to end the conversation and start the movie again.

She pointed it at the mechanic. "Don't do that. What did you mean?"

That's it. They were going to kill her and stuff her in a suit and her family would never know what happened.

"The warehouse...used to employ night guards," she said. "S-seven years ago they decided it would be simpler to spend a million dollars on a high-tech self-automated system instead of lawsuits. They, uh, never figured it out. Th-there was a lot of stuff from a lot of different companies there..."

It didn't take them long to get it.

"Oh." Freddy said, before trying to get the remote back.

The others didn't look as calm. They actually seemed pretty angry.

Foxy snarled, making her flinch back.

"We were cutting 'em some slack since we thought they hadn't killed before. But they have? And they're still doing this?!"

"No one's even forcing them and they...they still..." Chica muttered angrily.

Goldy had lowered her book and was glaring at the floor. "Do they even understand what they're doing?"

Bonnie was glaring a hole in the wall and clenching and unclenching his fists.

"They have a choice." he muttered. "They have a CHOICE and they're still continuing this nightmare?"

Hedy stared at them in confusion but they seemed to have forgotten that she was even there.

Freddy was even looking angry although he was keeping more calm than anyone else.

Silence descended on the room.

Finally, Freddy spoke, deciding it wasn't the best time to start his movie again.

"How do you know this?" he asked.

Not for the first time in her life Hedy wished she could just disappear.

"...They uh...told me," she mumbled.

"They told you," he repeated coldly.

Hedy nodded, the knowledge of how utterly helpless she was in this moment finally sinking in..

"What do you mean 'they had a choice'?" she asked, honestly confused.

"I'm not done." Freddy said, refusing to answer her. "They told you. What I don't get is why they would even trust or even speak with an adult, much less tell you that."

They were listening now at least.

Hedy hesitated but didn't give him an immediate answer. "I...I was very stupid."

"When?"

"When I first took the job. A guy showed up at my door looking for my dad but found me and offered me the job." she took a deep breath, "I told him I couldn't do it since I had school and he asked if I would be willing to pull night hours fixing them up. I agreed."

"Nice one." Goldy sighed.

"...then I accidentally got locked in by the automated system when I stayed a little too long to look around the place..." she winced. "They uh...didn't react well. And uh...the Puppet liked following me around a lot. Freaked me out. His music box was broken and I didn't know any of the 'rules'. But they didn't attack the first night."

"So they hunted you and you weren't even a night guard?" Freddy growled.

"Not even at the pizzeria." Goldy muttered.

"I hope Ruby really gives it to them tonight." Chica glared at nothing.

Somewhere in the building Ruby suddenly got a sour feeling and hit Toy Bonnie extra hard.

"Stupid Barbies..." she muttered stomping off.

Bonnie had gone back to staring at the wall but it was clear that the whole group was furious with the Toys. Not her for some reason, but the Toys.

They still hadn't given her an answer about the 'no choice' comment' though. But did she really want to bother them when they were this angry?

Leave it for later. She thought to herself.

"Well it really wasn't terrible. I mean I thought it was awful at the time but looking back it was like they were conflicted. I uh...heh...they wanted to kill me but at the same time they didn't think it was 'fair' since I couldn't run. So they held back sometimes. But they also...it was weird...like they wanted me to come back every night. They're never going to admit it, but I think they were... Lonely." She snapped her mouth closed. Why on earth was she telling them this?!

"Lonely." Freddy repeated again.

"They...they didn't have kids to play with. I think it helped them to actually have something to look forward to. ...even if it was trying to kill me. They didn't know I was there to fix them though. They thought I was the night guard."

They were quiet for another moment.

Freddy, Chica and Goldy at least seemed to be thoughtful. Foxy and Bonnie were still radiating hostility.

Suddenly Ruby came skidding into the room, giggling like a maniac.

"I love my job." She snickered as she slumped in a nearby chair.

Their demeanour changed a lot when she came in.

"Having fun lass?" Foxy chuckled.

Ruby glanced over at Hedy before nodding with a smirk.

"Two minute break." She grinned. "So what's going on here?"

"Not much," Hedy sighed tiredly and rested her dirty blond head in her hand and put her elbow on the table.

Ruby in the room made her feel mentally exhausted. "Just talking."

And obsessing about a movie that. She. Can't. See. Because. Of. A. Stupid. Rabbit. Robot.

For some reason, she was just a teensy bit less scared of the Originals now, or at least less scared of Freddy, Chica, and Goldy. It was strange but it was like talking to anyone besides the Toys about what happened at the warehouse was comforting, even if she barely mentioned it to them. And while she wasn't comfortable with them being so angry with her friends, it was understandable why they were.

And maybe it helped that they didn't seemed particularly angry at her. It was more like they were all suspicious of her at varying levels. It was probably because she was a twenty year old adult... Her dad had said that they were all usually wary with adults compared to children.

Ruby ignored her, leaving Hedy feeling a slight bit miffed, and waited for one of the others to say something.

"Just talking to Ms. Hedy about the Toys," Chica answered truthfully.

Hedy wasn't sure but she felt like the animatronics wouldn't want her to tell Ruby about the Toys "experience" at the warehouse, with her as the target or otherwise. Or maybe it was just her not wanting to tell. Hedy liked to keep certain things to herself, a lot of certain things. But what happened at the warehouse was something she would tell if they did ask.

Which the 'bots had while Ruby hadn't.

And honestly? Even though she was being reckless, immature and seeming uncaring about a little thing called her life, Ruby seemed to be doing fine without warnings and with Mangle out of the so called game.

She did seem to limp a little though...

And on a side note...what was with the "Miss" title?

"I just needed to teach them." Hedy groaned and closed her eyes like she had a headache, "They're getting the hang of it, though. At least Toy Chica is." She sighed and looked at them sideways. "I understand why you think they're annoying most of the time. I'm not going to deny it. I swear I'm acting like a mom half the time with their childishness. Which is ironic since I wouldn't even know what a mom is supposed to do since I didn't know mine. Actually, I think I count as a big sister. To Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica at least."

"I knew it!" Ruby cried out. "They are children! Or teenagers at least."

Hedy looked at her weird, not sure what she was talking about. "Uh...you do know that they are literally about fifteen years old?"

"Oh." Ruby shrugged. "Moving on, I think I broke the oven."

They stared at her for a moment before they reacted. Foxy and Bonnie started laughing, the hostility emanating off of them evaporating. Chica groaned and muttered about 'her kitchen' always being a target. Goldy looked interested while Freddy pinched between his eyes.

"How?" he asked, trying to keep calm.

She grinned evilly.

"Toy Bonnie got his head stuck in there. When I left he was still stuck." she snickered.

"How did you manage that?" Goldy asked.

Ruby hummed in thought.

"Not sure actually." she admitted. "He called me short and then he was in the oven."

"Ah, rage blackout." Foxy chuckled.

She nodded, looking highly amused.

Hedy looked slightly horrified...then again...not entirely surprised.

When did this become normal? Or at least unsurprising? It was actually pretty funny but Hedy needed to do her job. Which meant checking something in this instance.

"Um...excuse me?" she asked trying to get their attention.

Ruby looked over at her in annoyance.

"What?" she asked grudgingly.

She didn't want to listen to a lecture on 'safety' again.

What Hedy said next actually surprised her.

"Is his head still attached?"

Ruby stalled and blinked. "What?" she asked.

"Is his head still attached to his body?"

Bonnie actually had to try stifling a laugh, the bots understanding what the mechanic meant.

Normally Hedy would check on Toy Bonnie herself and she was hesitant to give Ruby prank fodder. But at the moment...she was stuck where she was.

...And Toy Bonnie was possibly decapitated.

"..." Ruby crossed her arms and hardened her glare,."He was still yelling like a diva when I left. He's fine. I'm not going kill him, unless he's extra annoying."

"..." Hedy bit her lip.

"T-that's not what she meant lass," Foxy wheezed, laughing harder.

Ruby rolled her eyes as Hedy tugged on a strand of hair.

"Then what did she mean?" she asked, annoyed.

"Our heads come off lass. For maintenance. " Foxy explained with a snicker. "He'd be fine without his head actually."

Ruby stared at him for a moment before a dangerous light sparked in her eyes.

"The prank opportunities this opens up..." she murmured.

"Oh dear..." Chica whispered to Freddy. "I don't think this was a good idea..."

"Well I don't think the Barbie Rabbit did that." Ruby finally said. "Besides, Barbie Bear was outside the kitchen when I ran out."

She was absently rotating her wrist and Hedy remembered seeing Toy Chica grabbing that wrist when she was watching the cameras.

"Good," she said, referring to Toy Bonnie.

She really didn't need a repeat of the warehouse elevator incident...

"I have one of those chemical ice packs in my first aid kit if you want it." She offered to Ruby after a moment.

Ruby looked at her oddly.

"What do you mean? Why would I want one of those?" she frowned, more in confusion than anything else.

Hedy glared mildly at her. "For your wrist. I know better than anyone how strong their grips are. You don't take care of it then it might swell up. Then good luck going bat crazy," she pointed at Betty who had fallen to the floor.

...Oh dear... When did she start thinking of the bat as a "who?" Ruby and this place's insanity was infectious.

Ruby actually laughed at her.

"I ran around with bruised ribs and a completely sprained wrist before and I still won. A little pulled muscle isn't going to slow me down. Also spent most of that night running around with cuts all the way down my back." she waved Hedy off.

She also didn't seem to notice the guilty flinches from all the 'bots. Goldy looked at them in sympathy.

Hedy stared at her in disbelief. Not about the "winning" part, but oh did she want to knock some sense into someone for being so arrogant, never mind reckless.

Toy Bonnie had an immature kind of arrogance, but Ruby was a weird "dangerous to herself" kind. Considering the fact that it was obviously the originals who hurt her, what kind of person bragged about scars her friends gave her?

Hedy didn't show off the scars the Toys gave her...

In a more selfish way, it annoyed Hedy that Ruby was refusing her honest help.

"...Fine," she finally said shortly with a nod, annoyed.

Ruby stayed a little longer before leaving to cause trouble again and the 'bots watched the rest of their movie in silence.

When six rolled around Ruby left with a cheery goodbye while the Toys searched frantically for a missing Toy Bonnie. The originals just found it hilarious and watched.

They found him eventually although he refused to tell anyone how he'd gotten stuck in the refrigerator.

Ruby tossed her bag down on the floor when she got to her room and prepared to get some rest. Something odd caught her eye though. Her bag was slightly open.

She pulled out a package that hadn't been there before and frowned.

"Nosy mechanic…" she muttered as she grudgingly wrapped it around her admittedly stinging wrist.

Chapter Text

Ruby stared at her ceiling for a long moment, lying on her bed. She'd been in full 'cause havoc mode' so she hadn't really had a chance to think things through.

So…Hedy's Uncle Scott was Steve…Interesting.

She really didn't know if she should tell her about his unfortunate fate or let her find out for herself. Then again she hadn't asked. So perhaps it would be better if she just gave her the tapes if Hedy ended up asking?

Ruby ran a hand down her face and sighed.

She really hated being the bearer of bad news.

She groaned and flopped onto her stomach, burying her head in the pillow.

"When did my life get so complicated?!" she yelled into it.

After a few more minutes of fuming she got up to get ready. She had a blue bunny to torment after all. Couldn't start slacking off.

"She's so annoying!"

"Uh huh."

"All the time!"

"No kidding."

"It's just so…ANNOYING!"

"You don't say."

"Are you even listening to me Hedy?"

"Nope."

"Ahhhh!"

The mechanic rolled her eyes as she fixed the crick in Toy Bonnie's neck despite his incessant and never-ending whining.

Toy Freddy looked like he was already getting a headache and Toy Chica was glaring from a distance. Seemed the rabbit had annoyed everyone during the day with his complaints.

"I'm definitely going to get her tonight!" he yelled, springing to his feet.

Hedy sighed and rolled back so she didn't get trampled by accident. She really would make good on her threat of turning him into a toaster then.

As he stormed off and Toy Chica trailed behind him, Hedy slumped down in her chair.

"You okay?" Toy Freddy asked, pausing instead of following the others.

She nodded.

"Just been a…stressful week." She sighed. "I'd better get to the office. Almost twelve."

Toy Freddy nodded and walked off, looking back once as if he wanted to say something before leaving.

Ruby seemed to be calmer at least when Hedy wheeled into the office.

Moderately calmer.

Kind of.

She was throwing a glitter bomb up and down while she stared at the clock impatiently. She seemed to look forward to these nights more than the 'bots did.

As the seconds ticked by Hedy found herself getting restless. The silence was bothering her. She didn't know how Ruby could sit there like that in complete silence for so long.

"Hey, where did you put Balloon Boy anyway?" Hedy decided it couldn't hurt to try again.

He'd been missing for a while now after all. And she really wanted to fill the silence.

Ruby glanced at her and frowned.

"Who?"

Hedy felt like face-palming.

"The round robot that seems to have disappeared?" she explained through her irritation.

"Oh. He's…somewhere." She grinned cheekily.

She did face-palm this time.

Ruby snickered as the phone rang.

"Hello, hello? Hey, good job, night 5!"

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered along with 'Steve'.

"Um, hey, um, keep a close eye on things tonight, ok? Um, from what I understand, the building is on lockdown, uh, no one is allowed in or out, y'know, especially concerning any...previous employees." 'Steve' sounded very nervous.

Or at least more so than usual.

Ruby froze.

"Hmmm? Why would that be?" she had a suddenly serious glint in her eyes that gave Hedy chills.

"Um, when we get it all sorted out, we may move you to the day shift, a position just became...available."

Ruby's eyes narrowed on the phone and she fell silent, just listening for once.

"Uh, we don't have a replacement for your shift yet, but we're working on it. Uh, we're going to try to contact the original restaurant owner. Uh, I think the name of the place was..."Fredbear's Family Diner" or something like that."

"Original restaurant?" she muttered to herself, her usual violent playfulness gone.

"It's been closed for years though, I doubt we'll be able to track anybody down. Well, just get through one more night! Uh, hang in there! Goodnight!"

"Night…" Ruby mumbled with far less energy than before.

She sat and stared at the wall thoughtfully for a long moment until Hedy started to get uncomfortable again. Ruby just didn't seem…right, if she wasn't moving. And she usually took off right after the phone call to start causing trouble.

"Something…on your mind?" she asked hesitantly.

Ruby started, apparently having forgotten that Hedy was there.

"Not particularly." She shrugged and stood up, grabbing her bag.

She did seem kind of preoccupied though.

Hedy watched her leave feeling concerned and very out of the loop.

"That was odd." She murmured once she was alone.

Ruby stopped a little ways from the office and just stared ahead.

"Restaurant lockdown? Concerning an employee?" she mumbled to herself and rubbed a hand over her face.

The first thing that came to mind was the murderer of those kids.

"What exactly happened here?" she wondered.

She still had the feeling that she only knew part of the story. She knew about the murders and the management hiding the bodies. But…

"There's more to this…isn't there?" she whispered.

Clanking footsteps shook her out of her thoughts though and she got started on the night. She couldn't quite push the thoughts away completely however and the phone message stayed in the back of her mind.

"Would you stand still!?" Toy Bonnie yelled at her as she led him on a merry chase around the tables.

"Why on earth would I do that?" Ruby laughed back at him. "Come on bunny! You're too slow!"

She threw a paint balloon over her shoulder again and got him with pink paint smack in the face.

He screamed in rage as Toy Freddy tried to cut her off. She dived under a table to dodge around them and laughed again.

This was exhilarating. They'd upped the game it seemed, although it was still only the rabbit, chicken and bear. The Clown was taped up in his box and she'd hidden his music box in one of pirate cove's cannons while BB…

Well…

She snickered again as she dodged past Toy Chica.

"Come on!" she cried again. "Bonnie could do better than this on his own!"

Toy Bonnie growled.

"That outdated piece of scrap couldn't do anything!" He snapped at her.

Ruby stopped and turned to look at him. It was the first time that he'd openly insulted one of the originals in front of her.

"You need a real big attitude adjustment." Ruby snarled at him, the fire in her eyes giving Toy Freddy and Toy Chica pause.

Toy Bonnie just rushed forward and instantly regretted it when she jammed her taser pen into his neck joints.

"New doesn't mean better." Ruby snapped. "Just means that the more gadgets, the more things that can go wrong."

She decided to stop playing around and pulled her water gun out of her bag and aimed for the other Toys.

"I'm really sick of your superior attitude you cheap rip-offs." She growled before firing at them.

After a few moments the chicken and bear were both locked up due to shocks caused by the water. Toy Bonnie was twitching on the floor while his systems tried to get restarted.

"Shocking isn't it?" Ruby snickered at them before skipping away.

3 AM found her lounging against a wall fiddling with a glitter bomb. The Toys took forever to recover from a shock it seemed.

She sighed, getting bored.

"Come on!" she yelled, her voice echoing down the corridor. "Geez, the gang spoiled me in the game. They were way better."

Something caught her eye and she turned her head. Hadn't the parts and services room been closed a moment ago?

Curious and reckless as usual, Ruby stood up and went to explore. Inside was just as awesomely creepy as before with all the heads and animatronic parts. Her eyes were drawn to the wall where she had spray painted her own weird homage to 'Steve'.

She felt her mood drop again and sighed.

She'd been sad when she'd found out that he was dead before, but now…now she knew that he had a family…

"They must have missed you huh?" she whispered, sitting on the table and staring at the wall.

Her more depressed moods were few and far between nowadays but they were still there. The mention of death never failed to bring up the memory of her parents too.

She shook her head.

"No. I need to stay focused here." She muttered.

She stood up quickly and turned around. The last thing she needed was to be getting all depressed and nostalgic.

She left the room quickly, not looking back. Someone did watch her leave though. Or was that something?

"You're annoying!" Toy Bonnie screamed at her as she evaded them again easily and 6 AM struck.

"And you seriously sound like a girl when you scream Barbie." Ruby chuckled.

She'd mixed paint and water night together so the Toys were all a little glitchy from the consistent dousing of water. They also glowed in the dark.

"I love glow in the dark paint." She giggled as the originals walked in to see what had happened.

"We could hear him all the way across the building." Foxy grumbled.

"Thought a little girl was screaming." Goldy snickered.

"You're a terrible influence." Freddy told Ruby although there was a slight twitch to his mouth.

"You left the kitchen alone right?" Chica fretted.

Ruby just laughed and started snapping photos of the glowing and glowering Toys.

"Are you ever going to tell us where BB is?" Hedy asked, sounding tired as she surveyed the damage.

"Nope." Ruby sang and started giggling madly.

"You know…I don't think I want to know his fate." Bonnie whispered to Foxy.

The fox nodded. They loved Ruby but she really did scare them sometimes.

The Puppet fumed in his box. This nonsense had gone on for far too long. This night guard was more unpredictable than the others had been so they needed an equally unpredictable member on their team.

He gave a sinister chuckle.

He knew exactly what to do. The night guard would not survive night six. Not this time.

Chapter Text

Puppet was prepared the next day. He waited until there was only a small bunch of older kids standing around looking bored while their younger siblings played with the 'bots before making his move.

"You all look rather bored." He said sweetly as he came near them. "Shall I show you our latest activity? It's only for the older kids. We just need to find the pink and white fox."

His smile turned wicked as they answered with excited affirmatives.

Ruby strolled into the pizzeria that night happily but sensed the heavy atmosphere immediately. Frowning, she walked over to the gang who were talking softly together.

"Guys? What's going on?" she asked slowly.

They jumped and turned to look at her, looking worried.

"There was an…incident Ruby." Freddy sighed.

"Okay…" she raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know why, but some kids got it into their heads to, uh, well…" he trailed off looking rather upset.

"The kids tore Mangle apart again." Foxy answered, looking away.

They might not have liked the Toys, but they'd been partially dismantled before and they wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Ruby froze.

"What? What on earth were those brats thinking?" she growled, feeling the urge to 'teach another lesson'.

They shrugged in answer.

"The lass…she didn't take it well." Foxy continued. "Looks like she's gone back to how she was before."

He paused before continuing. "She's tougher than any of the other Toys Ruby. Tougher and nastier."

It took her a moment before she realised what they were so stressed about.

"Oh, you guys are worried." She murmured, glad that she'd come early on a whim.

Looks like they needed another pick me up lecture.

They nodded reluctantly.

"Mangle…she's savage when she's in this state." Bonnie muttered nervously. "She's even tried to take a bite out of the Toys a couple of times today already."

"Where's Hedy?" Ruby asked.

Surely this was WHY they had hired that mechanic.

"Mangle won't let Hedy get close to her so the Toys locked her in the Puppet's room to keep her out of the way." Freddy explained.

"They're…pretty confident about tonight." Chica murmured softly, looking very worried.

Ruby sighed. "How many times do I have to say this? Stop worrying about me so much. I'll make a plan."

"Ruby-" Chica tried to say something but Ruby cut her off.

"No. Listen guys. I'll be fine. Don't go losing faith in me because of this." She smirked confidently.

They watched her walk off to the office nervously and she felt her smirk fade once she was out of sight.

Why did this feel very…convenient?

The Marionette, or Puppet as he would answer to either, often kept his opinions to himself. Especially concerning "oddness."

But the night guard was undoubtedly odd.

And he hated her, like all night guards and adults. But this teenager's oddness simply infuriated him. After all, it was hard to pull the strings on a puppet when the piece wouldn't play by the rules...

Unfortunately, he didn't have much room to adapt his playing strategy what with being trapped in his box most of the nights and having to make an effort to NOT to be in the same room as the night guard if he wanted to keep his endoskeleton and face in one piece.

Seriously…

He was not a clown.

The night guard (the Puppet refused to call her by name) had stopped caring about winding his music box a long time ago it seemed since she usually just duct taped his box shut and then (worst of all), stole his music box to hide somewhere. He usually spent most of the next day looking for it.

It was torturous not having it playing and as each second passed during the night, the Puppet's imaginings of wringing the night guard's neck grew more and more vivid.

He scowled at a corner of his box and reminded himself that this night would be different. He had made sure that it would be different.

Night 6. Night 6! And nobody, including him, had gotten anywhere near killing the night guard. She hadn't even needed to be saved by the 6AM alarm! This time…this time had to be different.

She was on a completely different level from them at this point after all.

She wouldn't make the same mistake he did of trying to scare the night guard before attacking. When she got a chance, the night guard would be killed immediately. Before she could swing that damn bat. True it wouldn't be as satisfying as stuffing her in a suit personally, but by this point he couldn't bring himself to care.

The Puppet heard Hedy throw something else at the wall. She had been in a foul and panicky mood ever since she found out about Mangle and the Toys had no choice but to lock her in his room just to keep her away from the violent animatronic.

"Mari." he heard Hedy say coldy from outside his box after a moment. "I know you're in there"

"Of course, where else would I be?" he asked shortly.

"Mari…what did you do?" she asked, voice strained.

"What I needed to." The Puppet retorted sharply.

Hedy slammed her fist down on top of his box suddenly.

"She's your friend you monster!" she yelled. "She's your friend and you…you…"

Her voice caught on a sob.

"To get rid of the night guard we should be willing to do anything." The Puppet hissed, rising out of his box suddenly.

He couldn't help but let his resentment for the mechanic grow. He didn't like her. Hated her even. She was an adult after all. However, she was one of the marginally not-completely-bad ones and she did fix his music box along with the Toys. Thus she was...tolerable. However, she was too smart for the Puppet to manipulate easily and she did not let him pull her strings.

And she was far too against the killing the night guard plan.

"This is going too far Puppet!" Hedy growled back, tears stinging her eyes.

"I don't expect you to understand," the Puppet said, "But you need to trust me."

His voice suddenly took on that sickly sweet tone he used when he wanted to manipulate someone.

"Know that this is what needs to be done. For peace. I can't possibly ask you to help us." Somehow that seemed to be exactly what he was asking. "But please. Stay out of the way at least."

He hated having to be polite to her.

"For peace?" Hedy said her voice calm, yet with a dangerous undertone. "Can you even hear yourself Mari? This is wrong! Hunting a teenager for something that you seem to think all night guards need to be punished for? When it couldn't possibly be her fault?! And doing that to your friend?! When she's already been through so much?!"

She brought her face closer to the Puppet's but he didn't even blink.

"If you think I'm going to stand idly by while all my friends and charges succumb to a delusion of right and wrong, then you really don't know me all that well yet. I'm sticking around because I happen to believe there is good inside you all. I have just enough hope that I believe you will someday come to your senses." she lowered her voice a bit. "Ruby deserves to live just as much as anyone else. She's not an evil person that you need to protect children from. I'm beginning to believe that you're the one people need to be protected from."

She looked at the door, the pain on her face clear as day.

"Using kids to hurt Mags like that just to make her join this sick game…" she whispered.

The Puppet had a bad feeling about that spark in her eye.

"I hope you're not planning to interfere in the game." He hissed.

Hedy shot him a look.

"I'll do anything to end it at this point." She shot back.

They stared at each other for a long moment before the Puppet let out a low hiss.

"You should remember something Mechanic." He spoke softly. "You. Are. Replaceable."

She felt a shiver race down her spine but didn't back down.

"That doesn't change anything Mari." She responded coldly.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Loyalty is a fickle thing Ms. Hedy. Easily broken yet easy to bend. Difficult to create, and difficult to mend. Even if that is your specialty. Be careful how far apart you tie the strings of your loyalty. Every string you tie; friends, family, ideals...well, you see...they're each attached to you." Somehow his smile seemed to get wider.

"Like. A. Little. Puppet." It brought up a finger and tapped her nose with each of those words.

Hedy just looked at him steadily, creeped out yet not flinching from the light taps to her face and the threatening close proximity.

"And if you tie too many strings too far apart and they each give a pull in different directions, well…" he chuckled lightly but with very little humour. "You might just end up ripped apart." The Puppet finished with a light hiss.

Hedy narrowed her eyes at the threat. "We wouldn't want that."

"Of course not, dear." it said with a slight hint of fake cheerfulness.

With that it disappeared into its box and closed the lid as the chimes started and the sixth night began.

Chapter Text

Ruby sat in the office chair, staring calmly at the phone. However, she was reeling internally from the news she had received.

It seemed that the sixth night was going to be tough again…

She was pulled from her thoughts as the phone rang. Shaking her head she lifted the tablet and started looking for the elusive fox again. She hadn't been able to find her before.

"Hello? Hello...uh...what on earth are you doing there, uh didn't you get the memo, uh, the place is closed down, uh, at least for a while."

Ruby looked up in confusion. "What?"

"Someone used one of the suits."

She felt a chill go up her spine.

"We had a spare in the back, a yellow one, someone used it...now none of them are acting right."

"A…yellow one?" she whispered.

"Listen j-just finish your shift it's safer than trying to leave in the middle of the night. Uh we have one more event scheduled for tomorrow, a birthday. You'll be on day shift, wear your uniform, stay close to the animatronics, make sure they don't hurt anyone okay, uh for now just make it through the night, uh when the place eventually opens again I'll probably take the night shift myself. Okay, good night and good luck."

Ruby stared at the phone for a long moment.

"Steve…you really shouldn't have taken the night shift…" she murmured sadly.

She sighed and stood up but a sound caught her attention and she just barely managed to dodge the swipe of a clawed hand.

Spinning around, she looked up and paled.

Mangle was a mess. Missing parts, twisted limbs and…an extra head? Ruby felt a chill of fear run down her spine at the look of pure hatred in the 'bot's eyes. She was hanging from the ceiling which explained why Ruby hadn't been able to find her on the cameras.

The 'bot let out a static noise and swung down, jaws aiming for her neck. Ruby dodged again and spun around to run.

She darted for the other door and Mangle scrambled after her, moving very quickly considering how damaged she was.

As Ruby exited the office and before Mangle could reach the door though, Hedy hit the door button and jammed it. The fox shrieked in rage while Ruby eyed Hedy warily. She was friends with the Toys after all.

The mechanic was looking at the door with a heartbroken expression as Mangle shrieked but she forced herself to face Ruby.

"You don't have much time. Mangle is the most dangerous out of all of them so you have to move." She urged.

"And you're helping because?" Ruby frowned.

"I don't want my friend to have murder on her hands. She…she's not usually like this. I'll explain afterwards but it's not her fault. Please…don't hurt her too much?" Hedy begged.

She didn't really expect Ruby to listen but the night guard's expression softened somewhat.

"Whole thing seemed a bit too convenient to me anyway. I'll do my best. I want that explanation afterwards though." She turned to leaved but hesitated and glanced back at Hedy who was looking at the door again.

"…Thanks. You might want to get out of the way tonight Hedy." She murmured before running off.

Hedy looked back in surprise before a shriek of rage caught her attention and she shivered. Mangle was terrifying when she was like this.

The mechanic hesitantly wheeled into the room with the originals. She knew that she would be in the way anywhere else, even though she wanted to help.

The 'bots looked up at her immediately. They weren't watching a movie this time, instead listening to the sounds echoing through the building.

"Ruby…told me to stay out of the way and this room…" Hedy said a little nervously but Goldy interrupted her.

"It's that bad?" she asked wringing her hands.

The group seemed to have suspended their hatred of the mechanic in favour of their worry over Ruby. Although Bonnie still scooted behind Foxy when she came in.

Hedy looked down and nodded.

"I can't even get near her…" she whispered.

A sudden scream from Toy Bonnie caught their attention.

"The lass seems to be moving quickly tonight." Foxy murmured.

Ruby panted a little as she grinned up at Toy Bonnie. The rabbit glared back. He was stuck hanging upside down from the ship in Pirate's Cove.

"That…" she snickered. "Is literally the oldest trick in the book."

She looked at the rope holding him up. Who walked into that trap? Honestly. Rabbit caught by a simple hunting trap.

The rabbit snarled at her.

"Not like you're going to win. Mangle will get you easily enough." He snapped.

Ruby's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Yeah, enjoy your friend's suffering since it benefits you. You're a wonderful friend." She growled scathingly at him.

He actually flinched and looked away.

"Do you even care?" Ruby demanded. "I know you all feel pain so I can only imagine how much pain she's in. I don't blame her for coming after me. I blame you all for letting this happen. You're so obsessed with getting me that you didn't even notice what happened. And then you just decide 'hey, it'll benefit us so let's not help her in any way and let her suffer'."

She glared at the rabbit who cowered away from her.

"You're a selfish bunch." She muttered, turning to leave. "Try and not make this whole thing worse."

Toy Bonnie watched her leave, unable to get down. The night guard's words were a little difficult to swallow…since she was right.

The Puppet had told them to take advantage of the moment and just fix it later though….but then again, Hedy had looked so upset.

His ear flicked towards the door as he heard another shriek. That was Mangle and…yup…that was a crashing wave of guilt.

By 3 AM Ruby had stacked chairs on top of the Puppet's box, locked Toy Freddy in the closet and trapped Toy Chica in the kitchen.
So it was just down to Ruby and Mangle.

The fox was fine with this. The others had just been getting in the way anyway. She moved along the ceiling quietly, avoiding cameras and tracking the night guard.

She was by far the most elusive prey Mangle had ever hunted.

Those vents were rather…annoying.

She'd also unfortunately come across that infuriating Balloon Boy. Ruby's hiding place was…interesting, but she'd decided to leave him there since he'd just get in the way.

Her heads swung to the side as she heard something.

Sounded like Ruby was climbing out of a vent nearby.

The fox's mouth twisted into a terrifying grin and she changed direction.

It was time that the hunt got more serious.

Ruby leaned against a wall panting around 4:30 AM.

Mangle…she really was on a whole new level. She was fast, sneaky and brutally ruthless.

She moved her left arm and winced, biting back a hiss.

She was pretty sure that her arm was going to be badly bruised and sprained for the next couple of weeks. Mangle had missed another of her swings for the night guard's head but had got her arm instead.

Ruby quickly pushed the pain out of her mind as she started moving again. She couldn't stay stationary for long.

She heard a crackle of static as she turned a corner and cursed as she dodged.

The fox glowered at her menacingly from the ceiling. Ruby grinned back despite the flaring pain in her arm.

"Am I entertaining you?" she asked, laughing as the fox's eyes narrowed. "I hope that I'm keeping you properly distracted. Since that's all you're using me for isn't it? A distraction from what happened."

She dived to the side as Mangle leapt forward and landed awkwardly on the ground.

"Or is it something else? What's caused this whole attitude change?" she asked, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. "I didn't even do anything to you! You seemed fine with leaving me alone before."

This just seemed to infuriate the fox further and she snapped at Ruby, snagging her jacket.

"Geez, this is one of my favourite jackets." Ruby muttered absently as she wriggled out of it.

She didn't want to use any of her hectic weapons because, honestly, Mangle looked like she'd fall apart at the slightest push.

"I'm starting to wonder if you don't blame me for this." Ruby spun to face the fox who narrowed her eyes and gave a static-like growl. "Did I hit the nail on the head? Because if that's the reason, don't you think this is all too convenient? The sixth night, near the end with all options to beat me running out. Then a bunch of kids decide it's a great idea to do this and suddenly you're in the game. Why would I do that when I'm winning? What would I get out of it?"

The fox snarled and snapped at her again, a faint hint of doubt entering her slightly crazed eyes.

"Come on Mangle! The only reason I go after the Toys is because they go after me! Why would I try and mess with you when I know you and Foxy are the most dangerous?!" Ruby tried again but the fox seemed well past reason and Ruby had to dive out of the way as Mangle sprang at her.

Ruby growled before darting down the corridor again, Mangle pulling herself up to the ceiling and following quickly.

Five forty five rolled around and Mangle was getting desperate and angry while Ruby felt her exhaustion catching up with her.

Mangle was on the same level as all the possessed 'bots together.

She hit the floor hard as she dodged the irate robot and bashed her head on the ground. She felt blood trickle down her neck as she kept moving to avoid those snapping jaws.

Ruby's luck finally ran out though and Mangle cornered her and pounced. The night guard dodged quickly enough that her neck was left uninjured but the robot's sharp teeth cut into her shoulder and she gasped as the fiery pain hit her. The animatronic's full weight also landed on her and she gritted her teeth.

The fox growled, jaws tightening and Ruby bit back a scream.

She really hadn't wanted to do this but she had no choice in the end.

"I really…hope…you can…handle this…" Ruby panted out as she jammed the taser pen between Mangle's joints and pressed the button.

The shock made the fox lock up and Ruby felt like screaming again as her teeth dug deeper. When the 'bot went still though she reached up and forced the jaws open, hissing and biting her tongue until it bled.

She squirmed out from under the inert 'bot and pulled herself a short ways away before turning to look at the fox.

She was clearly unconscious and Ruby felt worried.

She really didn't want the 'bot to be seriously injured… Something felt…off, about this whole night. So she didn't blame Mangle. Her first thought was to find Hedy but moving did not sound like a good idea at that moment.

She sat and took stock of her injuries.

Her left shoulder was bleeding pretty badly and felt like it was on fire. She also had bruises forming everywhere from the 'bot landing on her. Her left arm was still aching but that seemed dull in comparison to her shoulder.

She drew in a shuddering breath and winced.

"How the heck am I explaining all this to Alice and Clint?" she wondered, leaning her head against the wall.

She winced.

Oh, head injury too.

The chimes signaled six and Ruby sighed in relief.

After a few minutes Goldy popped up next to her and looked distressed immediately.

"Ruby!" she sounded upset.

She'd gone looking for her immediately after the chimes.

Ruby managed a smirk.

"I win." She said tiredly. "Mind telling Hedy to come here and take a look at her? I had to shock her to get her off me."
Goldy ignored her though and began fussing.

"You're hurt! And bleeding! Ruby…" Goldy looked ready to cry and Ruby patted her shoulder, wincing as the movement pulled at her injured arm.

"Goldy, calm down. Just got to stop the bleeding and I'll be fine. It looks worse than it is."

Goldy spluttered in indignation. "She bit you!"

Ruby rolled her eyes as the 'bot fussed and teleported to find a roll of bandages to wrap around her shoulder.

"Your head too…" Goldy trailed off, looking really upset.

Ruby sighed.

"I'll be okay Goldy." She smiled at the bear. "This was something I had to do. Now though, now I want the explanation I was promised."
She looked over at Mangle again as Goldy continued treating her injuries.

She had a feeling she would still be bashing someone over the head tonight when she heard what the mechanic had to say.

Chapter Text

Ruby leaned back and winced as Goldy finished off the first aid on her shoulder.

"Are you sure about not going to the hospital?" she asked the night guard in concern.

Ruby shook her head vigorously.

"I don't do ambulances…at all…" Ruby mumbled, looking away.

Goldy nodded hesitantly.

She knew not to push this matter.

The two heard frantic clanking footsteps approaching and Ruby winced as her headache pounded in time.

"We're over here!" Goldy called and Ruby moaned and rubbed her head.

Goldy immediately started fussing over her again as the originals and Hedy came around the corner, with the Toys trailing behind them.

"Lass!" Foxy yelled.

"Ruby!" Bonnie cried.

The group rushed forward and crowded around her in worry.

Meanwhile, Hedy was staring at Mangle with fearful concern. She couldn't move, too scared at the possibility that the 'bot was…

"I just shocked her." Ruby sounded tired as she looked at Hedy. "Only way to get her off me. She's got one heck of a bite."

Hedy's gaze moved to Ruby's bandaged shoulder and her eyes widened in horror. Ruby waved her off before she could speak though, wincing at the movement.

"Check on your fox." She told her.

Hedy nodded hesitantly and moved over to Mangle who was surrounded by the Toys.

"Oh Mags…" she whispered softly.

"Ruby, you should get medical attention." Freddy said as he inspected her shoulder.

She shot him a sharp look.

"No. I'll be fine. The bleeding's stopping already and otherwise I'm not that badly injured." Ruby answered, forcing herself into a standing position.

When the 'bots freaked out she relented and allowed them to carry her to the dining room where the light was better.

Hedy also insisted that Toy Bonnie and Toy Freddy carry Mangle there as well.

"The light's just as good in the prize corner." Toy Bonnie pointed out with a glare at Ruby and the originals.

She had survived again.

Hedy snapped back at him. "Not near Puppet."

They looked at her in confusion but listened.

Ruby glanced over, curiosity sparking in her eyes. She stayed quiet though, getting comfortable in Foxy's arms.

"Carried like a little kid." Toy Chica said in an effort to annoy Ruby.

"By my favourite 'bot? Who cares what you think?" she grinned back at the chicken.

Bonnie walked next to them, looking worried.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her.

There was a lot of blood staining her shirt and Mangle's teeth.

Ruby nodded.

"Survived worse." She said dismissively.

That didn't exactly make them feel better.

Foxy set her in a chair and they checked her shoulder, arm and head again. She had some nasty bruises darkening the skin of her arm and blood in her hair at the back. Chica started cleaning her head wound out.

Meanwhile Hedy was directing Toy Bonnie to set Mangle down.

"Put her here." She murmured, patting a table.

The air was heavy with a solemn silence.

"I'm fine." Ruby insisted. "Just would really like a couple of painkillers soon."

Goldy went looking while Hedy started checking Mangle over.

"Is she going to be alright?" Toy Freddy asked.

He was ashamed. None of them should have been happy about what had happened to Mangle but they were just...so desperate to win. He shouldn't have listened to Puppet when he said that while what happened to Mangle was very 'unfortunate', they should be willing to take the opportunity. Mangle herself seemed enthusiastic about joining…

But...they had lost. Night 7 didn't matter anymore since Ruby far out-matched them.

The night guard had won, which meant they had to hold up their end of the deal so the game didn't really matter at the moment.

But their friend did.

"I have to check her first," Hedy said softly.

Hedy then turned to the other 'faction,' so to speak.

The originals were still fussing over Ruby while she was busy complaining that she was fine and that they worried too much.

Hedy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Seemed Ruby would never admit just how close the night had been. On several occasions. Not that it mattered. The originals probably already knew and might be even more worried if she did admit it.

"Hey." she said, getting their attention. "Ruby, you don't need to stay if you have to head home. It's almost 6:30."

Ruby paused for a moment, then shrugged. She winced as she pulled her shoulder again.

"Nah. I think I'll hang around. I already texted home and told them I'll be a while." The night guard frowned a bit worriedly at the fox on the table. "I'd like to see how things work out and you still owe me an explanation remember?"

"I know." Hedy sighed as she picked up her tool bag from the floor and wheeled over to her friend.

She took a deep breath. "I know."

Cold anger leaked into her voice but her anger didn't seem directed at Ruby.

"Hmmm." Ruby hummed softly to herself as she started staring at the ceiling.

Then she was suddenly up and moving to stand next to Hedy.

"Lass wait a second." Foxy murmured as the originals followed, feeling nervous about Ruby so close to the violent fox after the night.

They stopped a little ways away but close enough to help if Mangle suddenly woke up.

She just waved him off with a grin and shot a glare at the Toys who glowered at her for being so close.

"So…" Ruby started, hesitating after noticing how stressed Hedy looked. "I didn't do any real damage with the taser did I?"

Hedy shook her head, glad that Ruby had stayed away from more damaging weapons.

"How long will it take you to fix her?"

"Depends on what's broken." Hedy answered as she used a screwdriver and tweezers to part a tangle of wires around where Mangle's arm should have been. "I'm not sure yet."

Suddenly she swore as she reached into her pocket where her glasses where and put them on.

"Language!" Chica automatically chided while the Toys looked surprised at the word.

"Wow." Toy Bonnie said uncomfortably, "That's the first time I've heard you swear."

"Seriously?" Hedy muttered as she inspected a few frayed wires in the back of Mangle's head. "I swore a lot at the warehouse. But I don't usually."

She held up the wires. "I'm going to kill him."

"Who and why?" Ruby asked, interested in the glare Hedy was giving the wires.

"Marionette." Hedy said like it was obvious. "These wires are completely torn up. When she was pulled apart, her pieces didn't even come off cleanly. It hurt, a lot, for these wire to rip up like this."

Hedy looked even angrier now. "I want the names of the brats who did this."

"Ditto. What's the clown got to do with this?" Ruby asked even though she suspected already...

"He tricked those kids into doing this." Hedy scowled dangerously.

"He what?!" Toy Chica squeaked.

"H-he wouldn't do that!" Toy Bonnie said in horror. "He...he cares about us! He wouldn't hurt Mangle."

"Are you sure Hedy?" Toy Freddy asked worriedly. "I mean, how do you know?"

"I suspected when you told me what happened. It was too convenient, happening on night six and all." Hedy murmured.

"Then he practically confessed when I confronted him." She continued after a short pause, deciding to leave off the part about him threatening her.

Well...Ruby suddenly looked very angry.

"Freddy? Are you absolutely sure the woodchipper is out of the question?" she seethed.

That clown has going to pay!

"I'm debating." Freddy said with actual anger in his voice.

This was news to the originals, and they sure weren't happy either. Puppet betraying his own friends… Even if they didn't like the Toys it was undeniably wrong.

"Aye, he'll be walking the plank for that." Foxy agreed.

Chica had that livid glint in her eye that not many were unlucky enough to see.

Bonnie..was distractedly staring at the twisted 'bot on the table. But he was angry too.

"Oh no." Hedy said calmly, but in a way that screamed 'calm before the storm'.

Strangely, to Ruby it seemed that she had been sort of like that all night. "I get first crack at him, then Mangle herself, then Ruby can have him."

Ruby was about to argue when Mangle stirred. She immediately stepped back. Survival instincts trumped recklessness sometimes.

Everyone else, besides Hedy, also took a step back.

Hedy looked surprised and a little panicked for a second but quickly reached up and twisted together a few wires which seemed to turn on the lights behind Mangle's eyes. Another twist and the blank eyes shut properly, though Mangle was still waking up.

"Mags?" Hedy asked with a strange tremble in her voice. "Can you hear me?"

Chapter Text

The first thing Mangle saw when she woke up was static, her processor coming online before her yellow eyes did.

Everything hurt!

It made her want to scream. She couldn't tell what exactly was hurting nor could she remember what happened as her mind slowly rebooted.

"Mags? Can you hear me?"

That was Hedy!

Why did she sound so sad though…

Did the others kill the night guard? Was that why Hedy sounded strange? It was night six after a-

Mangle's train of thought derailed as memories, very bad memories, from earlier came flooding into her mind.

Kids…children…they…

It happened again. She was …that's why everything felt wrong and she hurt all over.

Mangle sorted through what she remember from the night. There were a few missing pieces, like the memory files were corrupted but…

She remembered kids. Taking her…apart. She almost tried to keeping herself from going further but pushed on.

And Puppet came in and told them to stop. When they left, disappointed, he told her that the night guard had told the kids to do it.

The night guard…Mangle wanting to growl or hiss or something!

But she was too tired. She remembered being angry and then someone, an employee found her, and she snapped at him and he ran. Then….

Hedy came. That's right…

Hedy came and tried to calm her down along with the others but…

No! She didn't…she couldn't have. Did she? Did she try to hurt Hedy?! What was she thinking?

"Mangle, you have to wake up now." Hedy said again, almost pleadingly, which was strange coming from her.

Hedy never pleaded.

But Mangle didn't want to get up. She was too guilty. Maybe Hedy should just leave her be.

Or better yet take her apart the rest of the way.

Already halfway there, so she guessed that was a start...

Then the night guard came and the game began and the others had asked earlier if she wanted to help them now. She agreed but couldn't tell them why she wanted the guard dead since she couldn't talk, nor could she use the whiteboard anymore.

Then…she was hunting. It was…fun…

She stalked the night guard and it was funny when Ruby got the others with her pranks. That was fine though, less people in the way. Let her prey take out the competitors and then Mangle would get her all to herself.

But wait…Hedy helped the night guard… She was helping the person who hurt her! Hedy betrayed her. She wasn't her friend. She wasn't…her friend. It was a lie! Hedy was a liar.

But still… Mangle didn't really want to hurt the mechanic. So she didn't go after her, instead focusing on Ruby.

After a while Mangle got annoyed with the night guard's escapes and hated Ruby even more, then…

She almost killed her. She almost killed Ruby. She almost killed again.

No. What was she thinking?! She hadn't wanted to kill again after meeting Hedy but she was going to…But Ruby hurt her…

Mangle let out a strangled static moan that sound vaguely like a sob and opened her one eye. She kept the eye that was in her second endo-head closed.

The first thing she saw was Hedy in front of her with her glasses on and a concerned expression. Suddenly the mechanic smiled softly.

"Morning Mags." she sighed and reached out to pat Mangle on the head.

However, Mangle jerked backward in horror and slipped off the table she was on. She hit the floor with a painful clatter and cried out with a pained screech.

"Mags?!" Hedy said in worry and quickly came around the other side.

Behind her, Mangle saw Freddy grab Ruby's shoulder to keep her from following the mechanic.

"Mangle? What's wrong?" Hedy asked.

"Besides the obvious."

Mangle tried to look around for the other Toys and soon found them standing a ways away nervously.

"Shut up Toby." Hedy snapped. "Mangle. Mags. It's okay. Everything is okay."

'No! It wasn't okay!' She wanted to yell, to scream. 'I tried to kill again! Stay away!'

Somehow, it was like Hedy could read her mind.

"Mags! I'm fine! Everyone is okay. Ruby won. The game's over and you're going to okay."

'She hurt me!' Mangle wanted to say and awkwardly scooted her twisted body away from Ruby and a bit farther from Hedy. Instead she simply looked away and shut her eyes.

"Mangle." Hedy's voice was still soft but somehow serious. "This wasn't Ruby's fault. I'm not sure what Mari told you but she didn't tell those kids to hurt you."

Mangle wasn't sure if she should believe Hedy. The Puppet had never lied to them before.

Had he?

However… Mangle wanted to believe Hedy more than she wanted to believe Puppet.

It hurt though. Why would he do that?

Mags couldn't help but let out another weird sob and whimpered.

'I'm so sorry'. She wanted to cry. 'I tried to kill again! I'm sorry! You'll never forgive me for doing this again.'

"Mangle please come here?" Hedy asked.

Mangle shook both her heads fervently.

"She not mad at you Mangle." Toy Chica assured.

"I'm not. Honest." Hedy said. "And Ruby isn't either. Right?" She looked to the night guard questioningly.

Ruby actually glared at her.

"You're kidding right? I'm buddies with the 'bots who tried to kill me. We're good fox." she shrugged.

She found that bluntness was usually the best way to avoid misunderstandings.

Hedy shot Ruby a look that clearly said that she disagreed but focused on her friend.

Mangle looked down and backed away until she was against a wall.

"See Mangle? I'm serious." Hedy said. "Everything is going to be okay. No matter what happens, I'm always going to be here to fix all of you up and you're never going to stop being my friend. So quit sulking and come here." Hedy said gently though her words were still a little sharp.

Mangle didn't look at her. Instead she reached up with a few limbs and pulled herself up until she was hanging from the ceiling again.

'I'm a monster. You need to stay away from me.' She wanted to say.

This time she looked at the others pleadingly, trying to get her words across.

However, Hedy wheeled up to her until they were face to face. "Mags look at me."

Mags just flinched and contemplated making a break for the door. Maybe she could hide in Parts and Services. It was appropriate after all.

She jerked slightly as Hedy reached up and held her ear. "I saw that. Don't run away Mags. The only one blaming you is yourself. Nobody hates you and nobody got seriously hurt."

Mangle let out a rattle noise from the back of her throat. After a moment she carefully nudged Hedy's shoulder with her nose. It was embarrassing but really, the only way she could communicate at the moment was through noises and body language.

"I'm fine. Perfectly fine." Hedy answered.

Mangle nodded weakly, clearly not entirely convinced. She then looked over at Ruby.

Foxy glared at her. If she tried anything...

Mangle hesitantly approached. Crawling over Hedy, across ceiling towards Ruby.

The originals looked nervous as Mangle lowered herself until she was eye to eye with Ruby. Mangle glanced between her, the originals, and Hedy before cautiously nudging Ruby the same way, in her uninjured shoulder. She was asking if the night guard was okay. Without the haze of anger clouding her thoughts she truly regretted what had happened.

Ruby looked surprised for a moment but then she brightened.

"Aww, you're adorable you know that?" she laughed, picking the weirdest reaction as usual. "I'm good. Nothing I haven't dealt with before."

She bounced in place a bit.

"Nothing some rest can't fix."

She was pretty good at reading body language so she gathered most of what Mangle was trying to convey.

"Besides, it was a completely natural reaction. Not like you've had good experiences with night guards before, so it wouldn't take much to believe something like that."

Ruby seemed to have moved on from the whole thing already.

Mangle still looked ashamed but nodded. She turned back to Hedy who had followed.

"Feeling bet-Oof!" Hedy jerked in surprise as Mangle suddenly pressed the top her head into Hedy's stomach and chest in her own version of a hug.

Her loose metal parts rattled a bit as she sobbed, but nodded.

"Uh..okay..." Hedy looked a little confused but hugged Mangle back and patted her head.

"...Awwww..." giggled Toy Chica with a little squeal. "That's so cute!"

Mangle's second head shot up and glared at Toy Chica as Mangle bared her teeth and half-heartedly snarled, not moving from her spot.

Hedy glared at everyone over the top of Mangle's ears with a look that said 'never speak of this'.

Ruby suddenly jumped up on Foxy, determined to break the tense mood.

"Fox cuddles!" She yelled as he caught her in surprise.

The original shook their heads in amusement.

"You never stood a chance." Goldy said, floating above the Toys as Foxy freaked out about her jumping around while she was injured.

Chapter Text

Ruby watched the mechanic and 'bot for a moment before looking around.

The Originals and Toys seemed to be distracted with a glaring match while Hedy checked Mangle out. She took advantage of this and slipped out of the room.

Ruby allowed herself a moment to lean against the wall and breathe through the pain radiating from her shoulder. Then she moved in the direction of the prize room, a room she'd never actually entered except to trap the Puppet.

Once inside, she couldn't help but giggle.

Hedy had padlocked the Puppet in his box.

"I was wondering why you didn't show your scrawny self all night." Ruby snickered.

"Oh, so you survived. I'm disappointed." Puppet answered from inside.

"Alive, breathing and angry as hell." Ruby responded absently as she looked around the room curiously.

Then she froze.

Were those…plushies?

Of the animatronics?

Her animatronics?

And nobody told her?!

She almost grabbed them from the shelves but Puppet spoke again, distracting her.

"And why would that be night guard ?" he spat the term 'night guard' like it was detestable.

"You, Clown, are an awful friend." She answered casually, leaning against the nearby table and inspecting the rest of the shelves. "Absolutely terrible."

There were Toy animatronic figurines and mini puppets of the…well, Puppet.

"Well I don't particularly care what you think." Puppet replied, a hint of a growl in his voice.

"Really? Never would have guessed." Ruby started idly examining one of the creepy mini Puppet puppets.

Suddenly she slammed the thing down on the top of his box violently.

"You're sick." She hissed. "A sick, twisted manipulator who uses others."

She put more weight on the lid so it creaked.

"You know, I've got a theory. You want to hear it? You're pretty darn old aren't you? So what I'm guessing is that you met the Toys before the gang did. And you were an awful influence. They were young so they were easy to control. You brought the Toys up from the beginning to listen to you, to hate the Originals who you couldn't control. Then you taught them to hunt and to kill. I might not like them but I have a feeling that's your fault. Then, one of them stops listening to you. Mangle starts listening to Hedy, her new friend, more than you. She second guesses the whole killing the night guard thing and doesn't really want to do it anymore. She's also fragile so that's the excuse Hedy uses to keep her out of the game. I'm not blind, it was pretty obvious to me. So you, angry at the loss of control, devise a way to regain it. You manipulate the situation to make all the things you've told the Toys seem true, forcing Mangle to re-join the hunt. You hurt her to control her again."

She leaned closer to the box, a manic light dancing in her eyes. The others weren't around so she didn't have to tone down her darker side.

"I don't like you." She whispered. "But after this stunt? Your days are numbered. I don't care that she tried to kill me. My problem is what you did to her. I know trauma. I don't appreciate you causing more for her."

She slid down to sit next to the box, playing with the puppet doll again.

"You like playing games, don't you Puppet?" her sudden use of his actual name was strangely chilling. "You also like winning."

She glanced up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"You don't know how to be a friend since you don't have any. You only have tools. You fancy yourself quite the puppet master don't you? Even though you're the puppet in reality."

She made the doll dance on its strings.

"You know what the dangerous thing about strings is though Puppet?" she asked softly, fingers manipulating the strings expertly.

A sadistic smile twisted her features as she looped a string around the doll's neck.

"You've got to be careful not to hang yourself."

The doll dropped limp in her hands and she hung it in plain view of the box.

"I won Clown. You lost. The game is over and your tools just had a very rude awakening."

She stood up and dusted herself off.

"You pulled the wrong string and the noose is tightening."

Ruby picked up a Foxy plush from the shelf.

"I'm taking this by the way. You give prizes to the winner of games don't you? You're in the prize corner after all. Enjoy your day Puppet. I look forward to the day you pull that wrong string again." She paused and glanced over her shoulder at the silent box. "And your subsequent hanging. I'll be the one laughing when it happens."

She left then, the room strangely chilled by her words.

Ruby strolled down the hall feeling satisfied.

"This isn't over." A venomous voice spat at her from the darkness.

The night guard didn't seem concerned though since she had noticed their presence long ago.

"Oh, so you've decided to stop sulking about night six at last?" she asked in amusement, looking over her shoulder.

The ghost child narrowed his pale eyes and glared at her.

"Or not. Whatever." Ruby shrugged and continued walking.

"You're just delaying the inevitable." The ghost growled.

"Oh really? Do you have another batch of animatronics from another restaurant up your sleeve? Cause I beat both bunches so far, so they have to obey the deal. So do you." She answered coolly.

"There weren't just the restaurants you know." The ghost hissed softly.

Ruby paused and looked back.

"Hmmm?" she hummed. "And what does that mean?"

The ghost's mouth snapped shut as if he hadn't meant to say that.

There always seemed to be something new to find out about the pizzeria. One mystery or problem was solved and a new one appeared to take its place.

Ruby gave the ghost a grin.

"Something new? Bring it on." She challenged.

The ghost simply glared at her before disappearing again.

The feeling of a nearby presence didn't though and Ruby looked around suspiciously.

"I'm sorry…" a soft, trembling voice spoke.

Ruby spun around to look at another ghost child, peering around the corner. She didn't remember seeing him before though. He had very distinct tear tracks stained onto his cheeks.

"It's my fault…" he murmured again.

Ruby frowned, motherly instincts kicking in hard.

"What is?" she asked gently, cocking her head to the side curiously.

"Everything." He answered miserably, head hanging in shame.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked but the ghost was already fading.

"I'm sorry…"he repeated and then he was gone.

Ruby felt very confused. She'd already met all the ghosts that possessed her 'bots.

So…who was this?

After a moment she continued walking, deep in thought.

The 'bots, of course, were in full panic mode when she finally walked back in. Seemed like they might have noticed her absence.

"Lass!" Foxy sounded relieved as they gathered around her, checking her over again.

Hedy was still checking Mangle over while the Toys watched her worriedly.

They spared a moment to glared at Ruby though.

"Stop worrying so much guys. I just had to go get my prize from the Clown. I won after all." She held up the Foxy plush triumphantly.

"There's still night seven." Toy Bonnie snapped at her.

Before anyone could respond, Hedy threw a wrench at his head.

"Oh no you don't. You're beaten. Grow up, get over it and stop listening to Puppet!" she almost yelled.

Ruby raised an eyebrow but stayed out of it.

"We could catch her! She's injured and-" he was cut off.

Hedy started pelting him with tools.

"Shut! Up! Mags is hurt and that's all you can think about?!" she did yell this time. "You stupid, idiotic, moronic rabbit!"

She punctuated each insult with a blow.

"Forget a toaster! You'll be lucky if I turn you into a battery!"

The other Toys wisely stayed quiet.

Ruby watched the assault with interest for a moment before turning back to her 'bots.

"Isn't he cute?" she held up the plushie again. "I think I'll name him Mini Foxy. I want to collect them all. Can you believe that no one told me about these? I love plushies!"

They just nodded mutely.

The mechanic could be just as scary as Ruby sometimes it seemed.

Ruby walked home, mind split between coming up with an excuse for the injuries and wondering who that new ghost was.

She was holding the fox plush under one arm and carried her bag in the other hand since it hurt to put it over her shoulders.

"Things keep getting more and more interesting." She murmured to herself. "But seriously, if Hedy was like that more often then I'd probably like her more."

She chuckled, remembering how Toy Bonnie had run from her like a scared kid.

"That was brilliant. I have the feeling that the Barbie Rabbit and I are still going to clash a lot of the time though. Oh well, should make it fun."

She grinned and hummed happily until she got to the front door where she abruptly remembered that she still didn't have an explanation for her injuries.

"Oh dear…" she mumbled.

Chapter Text

Alice freaked out. Completely.

Ruby had to calm her down and stop her from calling an ambulance before she could even explain anything. She went with the 'malfunctioning animatronic' excuse since she couldn't really explain the bite away with 'I slipped'.

"Then you shouldn't be working there!" Alice exclaimed, still fussing over her worriedly.

"It wasn't her fault. She got damaged by some bratty kids." Ruby defended.

Eventually Alice calmed down again after double checking and treating her injuries. She sent Ruby straight to bed though.

However, the night guard had something to do on her computer first. She had swiped the security footage from the pizzeria so she could find some little delinquents. She searched through the film until she came to the time that Mangle was damaged.

She sat back and watched Puppet speaking to some kids and then those kids approaching Mangle in an empty room.

It…was brutal.

Ruby's fist clenched until her knuckles whitened.

Then Puppet entered and 'saved' the day for the poor fox.

Ruby rewound and took a screenshot of the kids. She stared at it for a long moment.

Seemed that she had another lesson to teach…

Ruby arrived at the pizzeria that day, surprising the 'bots and terrifying the employees.

She was furious.

She made her way through the building, scattering people out of her way until she cornered the group of suddenly petrified kids.

Their parents looked shocked as Ruby leaned in threateningly close.

"So, you think you can tear apart one of the 'bots because?" she asked softly, holding printed pictures up as proof.

Their parents gasped before spinning around to glare at their kids as well. Ruby was known for being unstable but never unfair, especially with kids. So they didn't doubt her accusation.

"It-it-it was just a game." One stammered out. "It's just a robot-"

Ruby cut him off by slamming the picture against the wall above their heads.

"I'm the NIGHT GUARD. And I'm in charge of the animatronics. All of them! You HURT one of MY animatronics!" her voice steadily grew louder until she was shouting at full volume, bringing a halt to the activities in the pizzeria.

The Toys were shocked that she was doing this for Mangle, especially after being hunted and hurt. Mangle herself was listening from the empty room next door with wide eyes.

The kids trembled, losing the ability to speak.

They looked to their parents for help but the adults seemed content to let Ruby continue. She was doing a fantastic job so far after all.

"S-sorry." One of the girls whispered.

"I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to!" Ruby growled.

"Ruby." One of the dads interrupted and the kids looked hopeful suddenly. "We'll leave them and their punishment to you."

The kids' expressions turned to horror as the other parents nodded in agreement.

"And what is the repair cost?" another queried.

Ruby shook her head. "Our mechanic says that it won't be much so don't worry about it. I'll take you up on your other offer though."

She turned angry eyes back on the terrified children.

The parents nodded and apologised profusely for their children's behaviour.

"First, you're going to apologise to her. Then I'm going to put you to work for the rest of the day." Ruby said as the parents turned to walk away.

Most of the children nodded meekly while one dared to complain.

Ruby dragged him to Mangle by the ear.

"Apologise!" she snapped at the kids while Mangle cowered away from them a little.

Ruby noticed that Hedy had started on the repairs but the 'bot still had a long way to go.

They apologised quickly and sincerely to avoid further trouble.

"And if I catch you near her again I'll drop kick you down the street." Ruby threatened before herding them out of the room again.

She flashed a smile at Mangle before she left.

For the rest of the day, they washed floors, tables, cleaned the bathrooms and did the dishes under the watchful eyes of a furious security guard.

Suffice to say, after that day, they learnt their lesson and the parents discovered a new way to threaten their children when they misbehaved.

Ruby was also offered a large amount of babysitting jobs.

As the place closed and those children left with their parents for more punishment at home, Ruby leaned against a wall and sighed. She'd technically been confined to bed but had snuck out.

Alice was going to kill her.

It had been worth it though.

"Feeling alright there lass?" Foxy asked in concern.

Ruby nodded. "Just tired. Glad the game's over actually. I'm probably going to sleep all night on the job with my pain meds."

The fox nodded. He was also glad that the 'game' was over. All the 'bots could stop worrying about her now.

"Going to take it easy then tonight?" he asked.

She hummed an affirmative.

"I'll bring some movies and we can chill." She grinned at him before pushing away from the wall. "I'd better get moving. I can still get some sleep before my shift."

Foxy saw her off and started to help with clean up.

"What is her problem anyway?" Toy Chica huffed in hearing range and the originals shot her dirty looks. "What's she up to now?"

"I don't know." Toby shrugged, still sulking from the fact that they lost.

Toy Freddy looked thoughtful. "She's unpredictable and dangerous."

"Would you just shut up!" Foxy snapped. "You lost so now leave the lass alone. She defended one of your own and you still can't accept that she's not a bad person."

Bonnie nodded in agreement. "She's helped Mangle more than you have."

The three flinched at that statement. They couldn't deny it since Hedy had already given them that lecture.

"She's the night guard." Toby muttered.

"Yeah and Puppet was the one who told you to kill night guards. Puppet was also the one who set up Mangle getting hurt." Freddy pointed out coldly. "So what does that tell you?"

They looked away uncomfortably.

"Stop hiding from the truth and just accept it. You've been had. He didn't have ghosts forcing you to do it so he tricked you into it." Foxy growled bitterly. "You've been his tools this whole time."

The Toys glared at him angrily.

They had a glaring match for a few minutes before everyone headed off to do their work.

Ruby arrived a couple minutes late that night, having dealt with five lectures from Alice. She flopped down on a chair and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. Then she looked at the 'bots.

"This…is really strong pain medication." She grinned at them a little too happily.

The gang groaned. Looked like they were on night guard babysitting duty.

Hedy wheeled in a few minutes later, causing Ruby to look over from her seat.

"I just wanted to, um, tell you that the Toys won't be causing trouble tonight. They're going to stay in the other room." She still seemed nervous around the originals.

Ruby shrugged, not concerned.

"Okay. How's the fox?"

She was fiddling with a glitter bomb which had the 'bots worried considering her medicated state.

"She's…better. A little at least. Thanks for asking." Hedy responded, turning to leave.

"Hey, I never had a problem with her. It's the others that need attitude adjustments." Ruby muttered.

Hedy shot her a look but bit her tongue and left. She could tell that Ruby was maybe not all there at the moment.

She wheeled into the Toy's room and straight into an atmosphere of gloom. The Toys were in full on sulk mode. Even Toy Freddy.

They'd changed rooms because Hedy refused to be in the same room as Puppet and she wasn't about to let him near Mangle so that had made Toby throw a little fit of course. Hedy had settled it with a nice little toaster threat though.

"How are you feeling Mags?" she asked Mangle gently.

The fox was lying a bit apart from the others and staring at the wall. She gave a half-hearted crackle when Hedy spoke.

"Ready for me to do some more repairs?" the mechanic asked.

The fox nodded after a moment and turned to face her. The look in her eyes was so sad it just broke Hedy's heart.

She glanced at the door. She really needed to have her own talk with Puppet soon…

Chapter Text

"Hello Puppet," Hedy greeted coldly when she entered the room.

"Hedy," the Puppet responded, climbing out of his box and closing the lid before smoothly jumping up to sit on top.

Hedy stared at him with narrowed eyes while she rolled up.

The Puppet forced himself to suppress a shudder. Even after Ruby's...display, Hedy's coldness made him just a little uncomfortable. She reminded him of a frozen pond, not that he had ever seen one up close, hard on the surface but there was an unknown danger right underneath.

"Ruby won the other day," Hedy stated, leaning back in her chair while she spoke calmly.

As if they were old friends discussing the weather.

The Puppet glanced toward the prize corner, or rather toward where he had hidden the miniature Puppet after failing to untangle the impromptu noose from around its neck. Couldn't give children something like that after all.

He let out a huff of air and looked back at the mechanic, unconcerned. "I am well aware of this."

"Well are you also 'well aware' of just how awfully your little plan backfired on you?" Hedy asked.

Her voice dripped barely restrained contempt.

"The Toys no longer trust you. They doubt you, Mangle most of all, and everyone hates you."

Puppet glared at her but didn't say anything.

"I'm going to be very clear." Hedy spoke softly. "I am disgusted by you. I am disgusted by anyone who would selfishly hurt people, especially those close to them, just to get what they want as if nothing else matters."

Her voice lowered to an almost growl. "I have seen monsters Marionette. I have seen horrible, terrible things that only evil monsters could do. When I first started this job I thought I would see the same thing. But I never saw monsters in the Toys. Never. No matter how hard I looked. No matter how scared I was of them at first. Even after all they've done, all I saw were children who needed to grow up. Except for you. You were always dark enough inside to scare me, but afterwards I ignored it because the others trusted you. I'm never making that mistake again. You ever pull something like that again with anyone, then shredded cloth and a twisted endoskeleton will be the least of your problems."

They stared at each other for a second.

"Do you think you're threatening, Ms. Hedy?" the Puppet finally spoke with a sneer. "Do you think you can make me fear you? You're not the first to come here with that intention and I doubt you'll be the last, dear. I have seen fear, from all sides, and you are not it mechanic."

Hedy looked at him steadily.

"It's laughable really. All your words are empty promises and shallow threats, when really you use words to hide something that's so glaringly obvious," the Puppet snarled.

"You're weak. Why'd you come with us, hmm? To keep humans from dying? And what have you done? Nothing. The night guard won our little game, for now, while you just sat idly by. You lack something that the night guard has. Something that I have. Conviction. You'll never be willing to do what it takes. Your threats mean nothing."

He leaned forward slightly and growled, "You've seen monsters? If you think I'm a monster than you don't know the meaning of the word you mech-" He was suddenly cut off as Hedy reached up and grabbed him by the cloth on his chest and yanked him down to her eye level.

The Puppet squirmed in surprise but Hedy gripped him tightly.

"There are many differences between Ruby and me, and even more between the two of us. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm not a reckless teenager, nor am I a psychopathic robot. What I am at this very moment is a very angry friend of someone you hurt. Badly. Both physically by herself and emotionally along with her friends over the years," Hedy hissed, "Do not test me. Don't you dare. You're lucky that no matter how much I want to rip your eyes out right now, I'm still willing to listen to your side. But this, right now, is the only chance I'm giving you. Tell me why you think your behaviour over the years is acceptable. Why have so many people been hurt?"

"You wouldn't understand." the Puppet hissed as he tried to pry himself out of her grasp.

"Don't give me that," Hedy shook him slightly. "I am done being patient, waiting for you all to tell me on your own time. It's ridiculous. Too many people have been hurt because of this."

The Puppet laughed derisively and tried to scratch her but Hedy caught his wrists, "Ridiculous?! You think my anger is ridiculous? What monsters could you have possibly seen! You don't know anything!"

"Then tell me!" Hedy snapped.

At least it was her voice and not his neck...

There was silence.

It stretched on for so long that Hedy was about to get her tools and dismantle him right there.

Finally Puppet snarled. "I made a promise."

Hedy just narrowed her eyes and waited for him to continue.

"I promised that they would get justice."

"Who?" Hedy asked.

The Puppet sneered. "You really know nothing. The children."

To Puppet's complete and utter confusion, Hedy suddenly looked conflicted. He was expecting her to immediately ask "what children." No one knew about them anymore after all. The old management had made sure of it, paying off everyone from the employment and the media to the police and the families. But he remembered. The Toys remembered. The others remembered. None of the humans did...

His thoughts trailed off in a confused sputter as her grip on his cloth loosened and her eyes widened slightly.

She blinked and glared at him. "What makes you think that you can punish years of innocent night guards for something that one insane monster did fifteen years ago?"

Hedy's voice had dropped to a furious tremor. "They've been gone for years Puppet. They're never coming back! Killing more people sure as heck isn't going to help."

Hedy roughly pushed him away hard enough for him to fall against his box and turned her head away.

"Don't come near any of the Toys again," she warned coldly.

She turned her chair toward the door.

Puppet stared at her until she was halfway there.

"I take it we've seen the same monster then," he said, testing her but unable to remove the slight shakiness from his voice. "Some things just can't be unseen can they?"

She stopped rolling, her hand still gripping the wheel. After a second, she started moving again.

"You're wrong you know. Revenge will help them," he said.

"They're gone," Hedy said sternly.

"Are they?" the Puppet asked angrily. "Why don't you ask around!?"

"You're insane. And if you think your reasons make you better than that murderer, you're dead wrong," Hedy said.

With that she was gone.

Puppet blinked and leaned against his box for a moment before climbing back in, scowling after her. How dare she compare him to that...that...

….

She couldn't be right…

On her way back to the others, Hedy furiously wiped tears from the corner of her eyes.

She had meant to rail at Puppet like no tomorrow. Lots of cursing. Maybe a few shattered masks and broken pieces of a half-wooden endoskeleton. She even knew where to find a wood chipper. Yet here she was leaving because she didn't want anyone, least of all the one person she hated the most at the moment, to see her cry.

…

What was he talking about anyway?

"Stupid," she muttered stopping her chair and resting her head in her hands. She knew what he said about her being weak wasn't true, logically. One person can't go through something like her life and survive if they're weak. Yet at the same time...

"What have I possibly done?" she mumbled.

She didn't help Ruby. She couldn't help her friends either.

"I haven't done anything. Even Mangle's back to where she started!" she said out loud.

"You're kinda wrong there." Goldy's voice floated down to her.

Hedy jumped a little but groaned and didn't look up. "How long have you been there?"

"Surprised you didn't rip him apart in there," Goldy said, not answering the question.

She really should have just left the mechanic but something was telling at her that she needed to say something. Do something.

Hedy shrugged, "I'll let Mangle have that honour." She moved to continue her way to the main room but stopped when Goldy spoke again after a second.

"Speaking of, what you said? I don't think you understand how much you've helped the Toys. I mean, I still don't like them and they are still jerks but..." Gold floated down just a little closer. "You're good for them. I didn't notice it at first but they are...getting better. And it's definitely not just Ruby kicking their ego down a notch, though that helps. After your moment with Toy Bonnie yesterday, I get the feeling you've been doing that for a while."

"Thanks," Hedy said, somewhat unconvinced.

Goldy nodded hesitantly, "I didn't eavesdrop by the way. But, um, I couldn't help but notice you were...crying. Is there anything I can do?"

Hedy glanced away embarrassed. "I'm okay. Just..."

Goldy nodded. She didn't really trust the mechanic but that was simply because of her job. Other than that? She knew what was probably bothering the young woman.

Hedy looked up at the yellow bear, studying her. "How did you know who I am? No one else recognized me, not even Puppet after working with him this long."

Goldy looked surprised then sheepish. "I've always been good with faces," she mumbled.

"I've aged." Hedy deadpanned.

"Plus you used your last name when you were signing the contract and the manager called you by it before you told him to just call you 'Hedy'."

"You didn't tell anyone," Hedy pointed out.

"I was going to but I wanted to know why you were here first. Then I figured you didn't want anyone to know who you were related to. Everyone still remembers him..."

"...Thank you," Hedy murmured quietly after a moment.

"It's really not my place but I have to ask. Why don't you want anyone to know?"

Hedy sighed. Should she tell her? "At first I never mentioned it because it didn't matter. I was just taking a job. I just wanted to know how much of the stories were true. Then after I got to know the Toys I didn't want them looking at me differently. They would if they knew."

"That simple?" Goldy asked with a slight scoff.

Hedy nodded.

Goldy glanced toward the main room where the faint sounds of a rising argument could be heard.

"We should go."

Hedy gestured for her to lead the way, but suddenly stopped, "Uh. Goldy?"

"Hmm?"

"There's something that's been bothering me..." Hedy tried starting again. "The other day when I stayed in the main room with you all, Freddy mentioned something that got me thinking. I still don't understand. 'You didn't want to but you had to'? You were forced to...? I mean, then Puppet said something that..."

Hedy sighed and quit her rambling. She looked apologetically at Goldy.

"I'm sorry. Just...thinking out loud. Never mind."

Goldy stared at the ground for a minute and Hedy was afraid she had made the suit angry. Goldy wrung her hands as she looked up and opened her mouth. Then Goldy changed her mind and shook her head.

"It's okay. No problem." Her voice was soft and forced.

She teleported away into the room.

Hedy resisted the urge to yank her hair out. What the heck was going on? The originals obviously didn't want to hurt night guards like the Toys did, yet they did. For fifteen years. No one was telling her anything and she had a feeling, based on the way Ruby acted, that she was the only one out of the loop. She at least knew why Puppet had his "conviction" though it still didn't make much sense. Too many secrets.

Heh. As if she could talk.

She moved to follow Goldy but shivered suddenly. She glanced around as she absentmindedly zipped up her jacket. Looked like she had a heating system to check out later.

As she moved into the room a blond ghost child cracked a rare smile behind her.

Of course…she walked into a massive argument that Ruby probably had a hand in starting. As she wheeled through the doorway, Ruby slammed her bat down on Toby's head.

"You mess with my bunny buddy again? I'll tear you to pieces!" she yelled, clearly still under the effects of the pain medication.

Although she would also do that on a normal day too.

Bonnie snickered as Freddy steered her away from the angry Toys.

"Come on Ruby. What happened to resting?" he asked her, sighing in exasperation.

"He's getting on my last nerve Freddy," she growled.

Hedy rested her chin in her hand, watching the scene. Things were probably going to be interesting from now on…

Chapter Text

Something was bothering Freddy even though it was a relatively peaceful night. The groups had called a temporary truce (under threats from both Ruby and Hedy respectively) and were gathered reluctantly to watch a movie since Ruby was still supposed to be resting.

And no. It wasn't the fact that Ruby was playfully glaring at everyone while she lazily spun a paint filled water gun around her finger. Nor was it the fact that the mechanic was glancing at him as she wrote in a notebook and looked at a book she had on the table. A systems manual from what he could see.

It wasn't the fact that Bonnie was practically cowering behind him and Ruby in attempt to put anything between him and the mechanic.

It wasn't even the fact that Toy Bonnie was complaining as loudly as possible about his left eye, which Hedy had knocked loose during her amusing rant the other day and had only that day popped out, scaring some kids.

"Would you just hurry up. Please? My depth perception is completely gone!" he whined.

"I'll say. You missed the door. Twice." Chica sounded amused.

"Toby shut up for ten more minutes or else I will get out my muting screwdriver." Hedy warned as she continued to write. Whatever she threatened seemed to work because Toy Bonnie immediately quieted, earning him snickers from Toy Chica.

"What's a muting screwdriver?" Ruby asked. "And can I get one?"

"Ha ha. No." Hedy answered sarcastically.

"Buzzkill." Ruby muttered.

She yawned. "I wonder why the projector's taking so long to warm up." she mused distractedly.

She sent a bored glare in the direction of the movie player.

Freddy looked around again before noticing something. Oh. That's what had been bothering him. Someone was missing.

"Where's Mangle?" he asked with a frown.

Ruby frowned and looked around. "She was here a minute ago..."

The Toys glanced around worriedly.

"Mangle?" Toy Freddy called.

"She's fine Teddy." Hedy told him, closing her book and motioning for Toy Bonnie to come over. "But I wouldn't suggest interrupting her right now."

"Where is she?" Freddy asked.

Hedy smirked. "You'll probably hear soon enough."

Ruby snickered, remembering the tail end of a conversation she had caught earlier.

"What's that supposed to me-" Bonnie glared at the mechanic but was cut off as an ear splitting shriek echoed through the building, making everyone jump in shock.

It was sound none of them had ever heard before.

Incoherent yelling continued as the 'bots shared confused glances.

"Is that...Puppet?" Toy Freddy asked in disbelief.

"Apparently." Hedy snickered and got to work on Toby.

Ruby was choking on her giggles for the whole five minutes that they all waited in confusion, listening to the angry yelling, when the pitch of the shouting sudden rose to a frantic screeching and continued like that for thirty seconds.

"What is...?" Goldy closed her book debating on whether to go and investigate.

"H-hold on Goldy." Ruby laughed, stopping the yellow bear before she could teleport away.

She hadn't heard the whole of Mangle's and Hedy's one sided conversation, but she heard enough to figure out that the clown wasn't having a great day. Which was completely fine with her.

There were clanging sounds from the hallway a second before Mangle poked her head through the top of the doorway. She was grinning, looking nervous and embarrassed, but at the same time far too amused for her own good.

There was also something black and white hanging from her toothy jaws.

"What did you do to Puppet?" Toy Bonnie asked hesitantly.

He eyed the limp black thing suspiciously. She wouldn't have...would she?

Mangle came the rest of the way into the room and dumped the limp black thing in the middle of the room. It crumpled to the ground and Mangle looked very smug.

Hedy was suddenly reminded of a cat she had when she was a little girl. It often brought her little dead things as 'gifts'. Rats and birds and the like.

Strangely enough? The yelling was still continuing from the other room and not from the pile of noticeably empty fabric on the ground.

Ruby stared at the thing and reached out to poke it with Betty. A smile was fighting to show itself on her face.

"Is that...the clown's suit?" she asked, grinning broadly.

Freddy blinked. "Did you...you took him out of his suit?!" he asked incredulously.

Mangle didn't nod but her grinned widened a little even as she looked away a slightly sheepishly.

Ruby continued poking the black and what fabric with her bat until a wooden mask showed itself under the folds.

Hedy managed control herself long enough to shout as loud as she could. "Feeling a little breezy there Marionette?"

"Shut up you..." the rest of his faint sounding curse filled tirade probably shouldn't be repeated.

Ruby curled into a ball as she tried to control her laughter.

After everyone finished cringing, both at the swearing and at the empty limp suit, Ruby turned to Hedy who had a pleased look on her face.

"Please tell me you two have something else planned." Ruby laughed through the pain in her shoulder.

She was irritating it with her laughing but she didn't care right then.

"Oh I don't know." Hedy rolled her eyes modestly and shrugged with an exaggerated bored air. "I kind of thought you'd like to be a little creative with it. We have to give it back eventually. We can't really have the kids seeing a naked robot skeleton walking around later today after all."

Based on her nonchalant tone of voice, that was probably the only reason Hedy would put a deadline on her and Mangle's idea of teaching Puppet a lesson..

"Oh don't say it like that." Chica whined, grimacing.

Toy Freddy looked about ready to burst into a lecture about just how against "the rules" that was but snapped his mouth shut at the look his pink and white fox friend shot him.

Ruby gave a sinister smile and picked up the suit with the end of her bat.
"Oh, I can get very creative. Very creative indeed." She snickered, eyes dancing.

She glanced over at the doorway at a slight noise and did a double take as she raised her bat higher, the suit still dangling off it.

"What the heck is that?!" she pointed at the spindly thing that was glaring at everyone in the room.

It's pinprick white LED eyes where narrowed in annoyance.

"Give. It. Back. " it hissed through a black speaker on its "face" with Puppet's voice.

Hedy blinked in...shock? She wasn't sure. She just knew that the half-wood-half-metal wire covered skeleton looking thing standing unsteadily in the door as it favoured its right leg was indeed Puppet.

He was a heck of a lot creepier out of his "skin".

"H-hi Puppet." Toy Bonnie greeted uncertainly.

They hadn't talked to him for a couple days since they lost and found out about what he had done, and it was seriously throwing him off to see Puppet not as Puppet.

Mangle let out a crackle of static and suddenly swooped down, picking up Puppet's costume/suit from Betty in her mouth and bolting for the other door.

"Argh!" the Marionette growled and darted into the room to follow Mangle, wobbling slightly on his damaged leg and trying (and failing) to ignore just how humiliating this all was.

Everyone stared at the door for a moment.

Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know..."

"What?" Hedy asked without looking at her.

"I think he looks better this way." Ruby smirked.

"NO." was the immediate response.

Puppet eventually did find his suit with barely five minutes to spare before opening time.

"Finally." He snapped.

How DARE they?! He had never been so humiliated before.

It was tacked onto a wall in the staff room with the push pins from the bulletin board, hung up with all the arms and legs in the proper place. (Probably Ruby's doing.)

Puppet glared at his own face staring back at him with blank eyes. His own real white ones narrowed in fury.

Muttering to himself he stalked forwards towards it and reached up to yank himself off the wall...

At that moment, one of the cleaners opened the door with the intent to get his morning coffee from the staff room. He entered just in time to see a smallish, very creepy endoskeleton yank a flattened Marionette off the wall right before the paint, glitter, and bleach bombs hidden inside and behind it went off in a spectacular explosion.

Apparently, bleach turned black fabric purple.

Puppet looked very splotchy and dripped rainbows and unicorns from every single seam that day.

Meanwhile, Ruby went home and demanded to be called the 'Clown Rainbow-fier' for the rest of the day to the house's amusement.

Chapter Text

Things at the pizzeria settled into a…strange…routine after everything died down.

The Toys and the Originals still held glaring matches during the day with each other, Toby's and Bonnie's rivalry being the worst, followed closely by Toy Chica and Chica.

Freddy and Toy Freddy seemed to pretty much ignore each other and the Originals were mostly polite and careful around Mangle. They still avoided Hedy like the plague while the Toys still glared daggers at Ruby whenever she was there, day or night.

The Toys were also dismayed to find that Ruby's pranks continued even without the bet. It was just her hobby at the moment to drive everyone crazy.

As for Puppet…they mostly stayed away from him. The Originals were disgusted by him while the Toys were unsure and awkward. Mangle and Hedy were still mad and Ruby…well, it was still attack on sight for her.

Their nightly routine had settled as well. The two groups stayed separated while Puppet sulked in his box until one of the Toys set off Ruby's traps which sparked a chase. She then quickly turned the chase around with one of her weapons and they ended up with headaches at the end of the night.

Even though Ruby didn't like the Toys with their superior attitude, it did bother her that the groups didn't interact except to fight. She had accepted the fact that they were the way they were because of Puppet and she couldn't exactly blame them for it.

No matter how much she wanted to bash Toby over the head with Betty.

Which was a lot.

A LOT.

So when she overheard a conversation between them and Hedy it got her thinking of a way to start fixing things.

First step was to get the notion that she was a one note night guard out of their heads. (Honestly, she wasn't even trying to prank them anymore. They literally just walked right into the ones usually intended for the staff like idiots.)

" Wait, you mean Mangle knows where BB is?" Toy Freddy asked in surprise.

" Yeah. She saw him when she was…hunting…the other night." Hedy told him.

" Then, where is he?"

" That's the problem. She can't explain in writing with her hands damaged like that and in her state it's too dangerous for her to show us." Ruby could hear the frown in Hedy's voice.

" I see… Well, it's not a priority at the moment but, the staff have started to notice that he's missing."

Hedy sighed. "Only now?"

" More of a reluctant acceptance that he's missing instead of ignoring it as a blessing actually." Toy Freddy deadpanned.

Ruby snickered at the memory again before growing thoughtful once more.

She could always tell them where she hid the annoying bowling ball but that would be boring and wouldn't help accomplish anything.

Luckily, she had a different plan.

That night she distracted the 'bots with another Disney movie before sneaking off. Peeking into the Toys' room showed Hedy trying to break up an argument between the Barbie chicken and rabbit with Toy Freddy's help.

Mangle didn't seem to be in the room which benefitted her.

Searching through the rooms quickly she found the battered fox sitting alone in Pirate's Cove, staring at her hands. Hedy had been making progress but it was clear that she had a long way to go.

Mangle now had one head again and parts of her endoskeleton had been covered up once more but other parts were still showing and her hands didn't have the dexterity they needed for something like writing. Especially the long explanation that it would take to explain where BB was.

She knocked on the doorframe to alert the jumpy 'bot to her presence.

Mangle's head snapped up to look at her and she cowered a little. Ruby raised her hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Just want to talk." She grinned.

The fox was still tense but looked down at her hands and nodded.

She had shown less fear around Ruby since she had punished the kids that hurt her but there was still some lingering around.

Ruby strolled in and plopped down on the floor near where she was sitting.

"I was eavesdropping on a conversation and heard that you found where I hid your annoying friend?" she asked with a grin.

Mangle looked up, worried that Ruby would be upset about this.

"About time someone found him. I mean, geez. I didn't think that NO ONE would find him." The night guard sighed dramatically. "Anyway."

She leaned in closer, eyes sparkling.

"Did you like the hiding place?" she asked mischievously.

Mangle looked surprised and stared at her for a moment before looking down again and nodding shyly.

Ruby snickered. "I worked hard on that idea."

Mangle waited, wondering what Ruby had come here for. Alone as well. She didn't think that the teenager would feel that at ease around her after everything that happened. Her eyes flickered to Ruby's shoulder that she still clearly favoured somewhat.

"Anyway, you're trying to figure out a way to tell the Barbies where he is, aren't you?" she asked.

Mangle glanced up again worriedly but Ruby didn't look angry about it. She nodded after a moment, her hands fidgeting again.

"Well, it goes against my principles to just tell them myself." Ruby smirked. "But I can help you get the message across if you want?"

Now Mangle looked up properly, surprised. Ruby seemed genuine enough in her offer though.

But, she'd already tried all the methods…

The fox's ears drooped and she reached over to pick up the marker that was on the floor next to her. Her fingers couldn't quite grip around it and it clattered to the floor.

She gave a forlorn static-y sound, looking down again.

She didn't know why Ruby wanted to help, although she did appreciate it, but there wasn't anything that she could do.
To her surprise Ruby gave an amused chuckle.

"What people forget is that speaking and writing aren't the only forms of communication." She told Mangle, her voice softening slightly.

Mangle looked up again and cocked her head, curious to her meaning.

"Watch." Ruby told her.

Her hands blurred through some odd signs and she grinned at the robot.

"Just said 'hi how are you' there."

Mangle looked bewildered.

"It's sign language. All done through arm and hand gestures. While your speed and some gestures might be affected, I think you've got enough dexterity to communicate enough to people." Ruby explained.

Now the fox looked interested. She leaned forward slightly, ears pricking up.

"I learnt it so I could communicate with this one kid I knew." She explained further, showing the same signs at a slower pace. "Do you want me to teach you?"

Mangle answered by lifting her hands to try and mimic Ruby.

Ruby smiled slightly, glad that one of the Toys was willing to listen to her.

"We'll start with the basics okay?" she suggested.

Mangle nodded shyly.

The lesson went well. Mangle did struggle with some signs and she was slow but she learnt quickly and Ruby was a surprisingly patient teacher.

Near the end of the night (and the only time either group thought to look for the two) Mangle could read quite a lot of what Ruby said and respond in kind.

"Must be nice to have a robot brain." Ruby complained at some point out loud. "Would make studying a breeze."

Mangle stared at her hands with a slight frown. She didn't feel like she was making much progress.

"You learnt a lot." Ruby assured her, staring at the ceiling. "It takes people a long time to learn and you've got the basics down already."

She gave the fox a lopsided grin.

Mangle looked at her for a moment before she lifted her hands and clumsily signed 'thank you'.

Ruby's grin widened. "No problem."
Mangle gave a small smile in return. She was surprised by how approachable the night guard had turned out to be. When she wasn't hyped on adrenaline or angry she was actually very…nice.

Before she could sign anything else though, there was a sudden commotion in the hall.

Frowning, Ruby stood up and poked her head out.

She immediately reeled back as she was assaulted by a wall of noise.

Seemed the originals were blaming the Toys for Ruby's 'disappearance' while the Toys were claiming that Ruby had to have done something to Mangle.

They didn't even notice her fuming in the doorway.

"I'm going to go teach a lesson about assumptions now." Ruby smiled dangerously at Mangle as she picked up her bat. "This arguing is getting on my nerves."

Mangle gulped as the yelling turned to screams and yelps.

Yes, Ruby could be very nice. She was also still pretty darn terrifying and probably the best fit for this job now that she thought about it.

She smiled slightly, looking down at her hands. Suddenly, the night guard didn't seem so intimidating anymore…

Chapter Text

Ruby's and Mangle's newfound friendship kind of freaked everyone out and Ruby took great pleasure in using sign language with her while everyone watched on in utter confusion. The fox seemed to be relaxing more around her which the other Toys didn't like at all.

Hedy was currently trying to find out where BB was to Ruby's amusement.

Mangle was signing slowly so that Hedy could check her notes for the translation. She was doing it silently but everyone was getting curious now as her eyebrows rose and her expression changed to one of disbelief.

"You're kidding." She deadpanned.

Ruby, who was munching on an apple, grinned and shook her head.

"Nope. Nice and creative don't you think?" she snickered.

"Where?" Toby was asking, craning his head to see the paper.

Hedy rubbed a hand down her face before bringing the paper she had been writing on into her sightline.

"Firstly, bound by fairy lights. Secondly, voice box deactivated SOMEHOW." She looked to Ruby suspiciously while the teenager just grinned wider and made go ahead motions. "Thirdly, wrapped in pink wrapping paper. Fourthly, shoved into the small vent above the camera in the dining room."

She looked up at them, looking insanely tired.

"Fifthly, she super glued the vent shut."

There was silence for a long moment before they spoke again.

"He's your problem." Foxy shrugged.

"Nice one." Bonnie fist bumped Ruby.

Freddy rolled his eyes but didn't seem inclined to help get him out.

"Want some pizza Ruby?" Chica asked, moving on.

"That's hilarious." Goldy snickered.

The Toys were staring at Ruby in disbelief. She'd led them through that room all the time and they STILL didn't notice him?!

"I'll get the glue solvent." Hedy muttered while Mangle engaged in another sign language lesson with Ruby now that her message was delivered.

Of course…they should have guessed that it wouldn't be that easy…

A few hours later several explosions went off and the vent spewed glitter and confetti. Ruby started humming happily to herself.

Chapter Text

Ruby stared at the ceiling, bored out of her mind.

Who knew that she'd actually miss those hunts?

Hedy had essentially grounded the Toys after some interesting threats that Toy Bonnie had made towards her after the reveal of BB's location. She couldn't remember most of what he'd said since she'd been laughing too hard though.

She sighed as she rolled over on the table she was lying on.

"Ah! It's so boring!" she cried eventually, sitting up with a huff.

Her gang was also off having a 'strategy meeting' regarding what they were going to do now that the Toys were officially working in the same building as them without the ability to kill night guards. That turned out to be even more boring since Ruby's solution always involved Betty so she'd wondered off hoping to run into an annoyed Toy she could provoke.

No such luck.

Sighing again Ruby stood up and started wondering around again. She idly flicked through the cameras, only half paying attention when she saw something that made her freeze.

"You've got to be kidding me…" she muttered, staring in disbelief.

She changed the camera before flicking back but, lo and behold, it still showed the same image.

A group of teenagers climbing in through a window that some employee must have left open.

Ruby face palmed.

"I can't believe it." She muttered, rubbing her forehead. "Some bunch of kids, younger than me, are stupid enough to break into the king of urban legends at NIGHT?"

She looked at the screen for a moment longer before a smile stole across her face.

"Well, then how about I help this place keep its reputation?" she murmured thoughtfully.

Giggling to herself a little disturbingly, Ruby started skipping down the hall, humming to herself.

She'd found what she was going to be doing all night.

Toby was sulking.

But that wasn't new.

Hedy ignored him as she continued pulling whatever the heck this gunk was out of BB's joints.

"Batteries!" the bot yelled and everyone wondered again why they'd asked Mangle where he'd been hidden.

"But just let me go mess with her!" Toby tried again and Hedy ignored him again.

"No Toby." Toy Freddy said calmly. "Hedy's got enough to deal with without having to put you back together again too."

The rabbit glared at him.

"She made fools of us!" he yelled.

"You didn't need help." Toy Chica remarked which prompted the rabbit to start chasing her.

Toy Freddy sighed and looked over at Hedy.

"I'm dealing with battery boy here. They're your problem Teddy." Hedy shrugged.

Mangle just watched them all while practicing her signs. She had a little more mobility in her hands after another repair session with Hedy.

Ruby watched them from the vent. It was pretty clear what was going on.

Idiot #1 had dared the rest to this spooky adventure. His bratty, catty girlfriend was egging them on. Idiot #2 had taken that dare which is why he and his sister were currently there although his sister was far from happy about it. Idiot #3 was just there to prove that there was nothing to be afraid off and talking about how the supernatural was all fake.

Ruby stifled a laugh.

This was going to be fun.

First, Idiot #2 stumbled across a glitter mine which is to say that he set it off spectacularly making the others scream. Idiot #1 had a rather shrill scream actually. He tried to laugh it off afterwards but they were all a bit jumpy as they moved further.

Seemed their goal was to take photos with the animatronics.

Ruby snickered. They weren't getting near the bots.

"Hey, are those cameras watching us?" the sister asked nervously.

"Nah." Idiot #1 with his false bravado. "This place doesn't have a night guard cause they always get killed remember?"

He laughed at her expression while Idiot #3 rolled his eyes.

At that moment Ruby activated the camera in the room. The light blinked on and followed them as they moved. It froze when they froze.

"Uh, must be motion activated." Idiot #3 said after a moment and the rest were quick to agree.

"Place is really tacky don't you think?" the girlfriend commented as they walked.

Ruby bristled at that. This place was a second home to her!

Glaring she aimed with extreme prejudice and nailed the girlfriend between the shoulder blades with a lovely puke green paintball.

The girl shrieked, making the others jump as Ruby moved away in the vents. It was only getting started after all.

"Hey did ya hear that?" Foxy asked, cocking an ear forward.

The others nodded, looking confused.

"Huh. Toy Bonnie's scream seems extra girly tonight." Bonnie shrugged.

The others accepted this answer and went back to discussing their problems.

"Wonder what that was?" Teddy frowned.

"Probably that antique rabbit getting stuck in the closet with her bombs by accident." Toby scoffed.

The others shrugged and went back to whatever they'd been doing.

Ruby had successfully turned the group of teenagers into a group of crying idiots after another hour. She finally gave herself away when she couldn't stop laughing in the nearby vent though when they triggered a bucket of red paint to land on their heads.

Seems with the legends of the place they jumped to the conclusion that it was blood.

They looked around frantically at the laughing until Ruby dropped out of the vent with a wide grin and waved her paintball gun at them.

"Alright, I'll admit. You guys certainly were fun to mess with." She snickered.

They stared at her in disbelief.

"You…it was…you?" one of them stammered.

"Yup." Ruby grinned. "Got the place wired with traps and my trusty paintball gun to mess with all intruders."

She waved the weapon again.

That's when they started screaming at her.

"Why would you do something like that!?"

"You scared the living daylights out of us!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Kind of the point. Just doing my job."

"Your job?!" Idiot #1 spluttered.

"Yup. Night guard at your service." She grinned.

They stared at her stunned.

"What? Don't think that a teenager can handle the possessed killer robots?" she asked innocently.

"Y-yeah right." Idiot #3 stuttered. "That's just an urban legend. You're the most dangerous thing here nut job."

Ruby grinned wider. "While that may be true I assure you that those legends are very true. But, I can't have idiots like you wandering around here where you can get killed. So looks like you need one final lesson."

She pulled the tablet out as they started talking about suing her and how she was in so much trouble. She flicked between two cameras while smiling sadistically.

"Uh huh. Just remember that my buddies actually like me so they won't like you messing with me much." She snickered.

"Buddies?" one of them asked just as a girlish giggle filled the air.

Goldy materialised in front of them and their screams echoed through the building.

Ruby watched in satisfaction as they ran off while Goldy watched in utter confusion.

"Thanks Goldy!" Ruby chirped happily, hearing the window slam shut.

"Uh…I'm actually not going to ask." The golden bear slowly shook her head.

"I was bored." Ruby shrugged.

"Come on then. The meeting thing is over." She sighed.

Ruby cheered as she skipped back towards the dining hall.

The Toys hadn't even heard anything since there was a screaming match going on between Toby and Toy Chica.

Chapter Text

Ruby and Toby were having a death glare contest across the room, both seething from rage.

The Originals were also glaring furiously at the Toys while the newer models were fuming as well.

Hedy was attempting to play peacekeeper with little success. Ruby had walked in on the Toys insulting the Originals and, well, she'd ripped the 'plastic, creepy-doll things' a new one.

She paced the floor across from them like a caged animal, eyes never leaving the blue rabbit's.

"Aren't you supposed to be more mature than this?" Hedy huffed at the night guard.

She speared the mechanic with a harsh glare, fury still evident on her face.

"No one talks to my 'bots like that." She hissed. "These arrogant rip-offs are getting on my nerves!"

The Toys bristled at the words and glared viciously at her.

The tension thickened in the air as Ruby remembered the scene she had walked in on earlier.

Toy Chica had been throwing out nasty comments about Chica while Freddy and Teddy had been having an argument about territory in the pizzeria. That seemed to be what had started the whole thing. Toby had been the worst though, throwing spiteful insults at Bonnie about being 'broken' and 'uglier with a face'. Foxy had looked ready to attack the blue rabbit.

Ruby had lost it, screaming at them. She'd also gotten a few good swings in at Toby with Betty.

In all honesty, it looked like an all-out war was just moments away between the groups again.

"All right! Everyone calm down!" Hedy yelled.

There were a few angry grumbles but they complied.

Mangle peeked through the doorway she was hiding behind.

"I think what everyone needs right now, is some quiet time AWAY from each other." She looked at the groups meaningfully before the Toys reluctantly shuffled out of the room, still throwing death glares at the others. Hedy followed them, looking like she was already getting a headache.

Ruby leaned against the wall, trying to get her temper back under control. She was angry. She was so so so angry she wanted to start dismantling that stupid blue rabbit but that wasn't going to solve anything.

She glanced around at the others.

Goldy was floating above them, hands fidgeting as her gaze flickered between everyone.

Freddy was actually pacing across the room, looking frustrated.

Foxy had punched the wall before disappearing into his cove.

Chica was settling into a chair near Freddy, looking highly annoyed.

Bonnie…Bonnie worried her. He had slid down to sit against the wall, staring dully at the floor. Glancing at the others to make sure that they were busy, Ruby moved over to him and sat down next to the rabbit.

"Hey Bonnie? You okay?" she asked softly, not drawing attention to them.

He started somewhat, not having noticed her.

"Uh, yeah. Fine." He looked away, ears drooping slightly.

"Bad liar." Ruby snorted.

He glanced at her and away quickly.

"Come on Bonnie." Ruby coaxed. "It's because of what that jerk was saying isn't it?"

He flinched and she sighed, knowing that she had hit the nail on the head.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked, testing the waters.

She knew that being pushy about these things never helped. Bonnie just kept his eyes on the floor. The look in his eyes bothered her though. He looked…ashamed?

"Hey Bonnie?" she waited until she knew that she had his attention. "You know that whatever they say about you won't change how I treat you or think of you right?"

His eyes rose back to her level.

"I know you've been though a lot. And you've got your sore spots, like I've got mine. So I won't push if you don't want to talk. I do want you to know that I'm here though." The tone of her voice had softened, the constant sarcastic edge gone.

Bonnie fiddled with his fingers while he seemed to struggle with something before coming to a decision.

"He always brings it up." He finally muttered.

Ruby waited patiently for him to continue.

"Whenever he sees me he always throws out a jab about it, to remind me. Of the time that we were… when we were in storage and in… disrepair. During that time…" he took a deep breath. "During that time I looked really bad and he loved to tease me about it. I… I didn't have a face."

He looked down, ashamed.

"Just woke up like that one day. He thought it was hilarious and still brings it up all the time."

Ruby felt that anger rising again but she forced herself to remain calm.

"I guess I never… got over it." His ears drooped further.

"Hey, you don't just 'get over' something like that. It's traumatic." Ruby patted his shoulder. "And he's nothing but a jerk to be bringing it up like this."

The fire in her eyes spelled utter doom for the blue rabbit.

"And regarding what he said when I came in?" she made sure that he was looking her in the eyes. "I think you're adorable personally."
She kissed his cheek quickly, effectively distracting him from everything as he complained about his 'prank sister' kissing him rather loudly.

Goldy watched them and smiled. She liked how Bonnie had developed a sibling like relationship with Ruby. It was good for him.

Chapter Text

Hedy was furious.

Everyone could tell but she wasn't yelling at them which meant that she was REALLY furious.

Teddy had calmed down pretty quickly afterward the fight and was now sitting in a chair, constantly glancing at the mechanic nervously.

Chica was sulking but she was glancing at Hedy often too.

Toby on the other hand was still complaining about what had happened.

Hedy finally reached her limit.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked them all coldly.

They flinched at the tone and Toby stopped to look at her.

"Why would you do that? Chi, you acted like a spoiled teenager in there. Teddy, I expected better from you at least and Toby? Do you even understand what empathy is?"

He started to argue with her but she cut him off.

" Why do you enjoy hurting others so much? " she glared at him.

Out of them all, she was angriest with him.

He reeled back in shock.

"I don't know the full story but bringing up something that's so obviously painful for him and mocking him about it?" she gripped the armrests of her wheelchair, thinking back to some cruel teasing she had endured before herself. "That's crossing a line. I don't care if you don't get along with him, you still need to act civil."

She took a deep breath.

"You're going to be working with them. They're not going anywhere and while I still don't know what your problems with them are, I'm sick of this childish fighting you've been starting."

"You don't like them either!" Toby yelled indignantly.

"Do I pick fights with them? Say things to hurt their feelings? Ridicule them?" she snapped. "No. I don't."
She rubbed her forehead while they all looked away.

"Have you even noticed that they don't pick fights with you?" she asked after a moment.

They looked back at her in surprise.

"Sure, Ruby does. But I'm pretty sure that's her way of taking your attention off of them. Can you tell me about one incident where they started a fight unprovoked?"

Toby's mouth opened to say something before closing as he frowned in frustration. Teddy looked down, appearing thoughtful.

"They shouldn't be here." Toby finally spoke up, flinching under Hedy's glare but forging on ahead. "We were brought in to replace them. They're obsolete, so they shouldn't be here."

He seemed to think that this was a clear cut win in the argument.

Mangle watched them all sadly, knowing what Hedy was about to say and leaving the room.

The mechanic's face became carefully blank as she began to gather her tools.

"Well then." She turned around and headed for the door. "What happens when they decide replace you?"

She closed the door on their shocked faces and rolled down the hall. She entered an empty room and rested her head in her hands. They were exhausting sometimes, with this childish attitude towards everything and stubbornness.

She hated having to be harsh with them but it was sometimes necessary.

The door opened and she looked up to see Mangle looking at her sadly.

"Why are you the only one who understands this?" she asked, sighing.

Mangle shrugged and pulled out her whiteboard.

'I was damaged badly too. I understand how they feel while the others don't.'

Hedy rubbed her face.

"I just wish they weren't so insensitive." She murmured, pulling out her tools and beckoning the fox over. "Anyway, let's get to those repairs huh? Almost fixed the right arm completely."

Mangle settled by her and silence fell over the room except for the sound of the tools.

Chapter Text

The truce between the groups remained tense. It felt like anything could break it so it wasn't surprising that exactly that happened a week or so after the last fight.

Ruby walked in on a massive argument as her shift began. She gave an irritated sigh as she rubbed her temples and proceeded to break it up with the air horn again.

Everyone glared at her for that like usual.

"Would you stay out of it!?" Toby snarled at her, twitching all over he was so mad.

Hedy glanced at her, relieved to see the stubborn night guard for once. She was relentless in breaking these fights up at least.

"You idiot." Ruby hissed back. "You've been screaming so loudly that you've terrified Mangle under the table!"

The other 'bots followed her finger and immediately felt guilty. She was cowering under the table still.

Hedy rolled over to coax her out while Toby still fumed.

Where did the NIGHT GUARD get off on pretending to care about one of them?! It was infuriating!

Ruby passed him on her way to help Hedy and muttered under her breath.

"Some friends."

That was the last straw for him.

"Shut up!" Toby snapped, whipping around to hit her with the back of his arm.

Ruby was too focused on Mangle and Hedy to notice and so she didn't dodge in time. She took the full brunt of an animatronic's blow for the first time and as the back of his hand connected with her arm a crack echoed around the room.

Ruby flew into the opposite wall with a cry as everyone looked up in shock.

There was a beat of silence before Foxy launched himself at Toby with a snarl. "You're dead rabbit!"

Toby's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he realized he actually hit the night guard right before an angry fox who was much bigger and much faster plowed into him with a screech.

He yelped and tried to duck but Foxy grabbed him and knocked them both over a table and to the floor. Toy Bonnie had never actively feared for his life before, the closest being when he and the others thought they were going to be scrapped and melted down for parts after the last place, his home, closed its doors.

He'd always thought that it was funny when a night guard freaked out after they saw him. It was hilarious how a human reacted to knowing Toy Bonnie and the others were coming to kill them. Basically, he didn't ever really understand terror himself until he saw Foxy snap his razor sharp teeth inches from his face. He was close enough to see Foxy's endoskeleton teeth.

Toby was frozen for a moment as the situation caught up to him before he frantically started kicking and clawing in attempts to get Foxy off, shouting and screaming all the while.

Foxy was all growls and snarls as he pinned the rabbit down, going for his throat.

Bonnie was staring at the scene, frozen in shock while Freddy and Chica rushed over to Ruby. Goldy was also frozen in midair. Ruby NEVER got hit. At least...never that badly.

Ruby was curled around her arm, breathing heavily. She gritted her teeth to stop a scream as she moved her arm accidentally.

"Yeah that's broken. Definitely broken..." she muttered to herself.

Hedy glanced between the fight and Ruby as she backed up as quickly as she could, which really wasn't very quick at all. She was too close...

She yelped as Toby kicked Foxy's arm, making a swing of his hook come a little a too close to her leg.

Thankfully, Mangle had scrambled out from under the table as soon as the fight started and she and Toy Chica pulled Hedy back far enough.

"Toby!" Toy Chica shouted in worry.

No way was he going to survive this never mind win it if someone didn't make them stop. However no one except maybe the night guard was going to get through the fox's blood-lust and Ruby didn't seem able or willing to do anything curled around her arm in pain as Freddy and Chica tried to check on her while keeping a wary eye on the brawl.

Hedy looked between the violent fight and Ruby again as she tried to decide on what to do. Ruby was hurt and Foxy looked like he was seriously going to kill Toy Bonnie. Yelling for everyone to stop wasn't going to help. Toy Freddy and Freddy were already trying that...

She had an idea. It was going to make a lot of people mad at her, but it would diffuse the situation safely until Ruby could get checked out and before Toby got his throat ripped out. And frankly, she'd rather everyone be furious at her later then Toby dying.

That...wasn't an exaggeration.

Foxy growled like a real animal and was actually trying to get his teeth around Toby's neck. He had already torn through the wiring on Toby's arm and chest and an ear was sparking as flopped around uselessly.

Ruby actually growled at Chica as she tried to look at her arm, eyes dazedly following the fight.

Foxy didn't look like he was slowing down and every snap of his jaws was closer to the frantic rabbit's throat than the previous one.

Goldy was still frozen even though she'd be the best for teleporting Foxy or Toby away. Freddy couldn't get her to focus though.

Suddenly, Toby cried out as he made a fatal mistake and misjudged his dodge.

Foxy's jaws finally clamped around the blue rabbit's neck where a lot of very important tubes and wires were located.

Hedy's breath hitched and she hurriedly threw a party hat at the fox with one hand while raising the other. "Hey FOXY!"

Foxy looked up to threaten her to stay out of it, loosening his bite slightly.

Hedy flicked on her high powered flashlight and pointed it straight at his eyes. She flickered it a few times for good measure.

Time seemed to stand still for a second while Foxy's eyes widened and his optic lenses constricted in attempts to keep the light from overloading his systems to no avail.

"Sorry," Hedy said honestly and winced as the pirate's joints locked up.

He collapsed and his processor was forced into a system reboot, the lights behind his eyes shutting off.

Toy Bonnie immediately pushed him off and looked up, thankful, only to meet the eyes of a very disappointed Hedy.

"You too. " she said and pointed the flashlight at him.

Toby was interrupted before a single word came out and shut down next to Foxy.

Ruby blinked in shock before she abruptly looked furious and Freddy and Chica had to hold her back before she hurt herself more by moving.

"What did you do to Foxy?!" she demanded angrily.

Her arm shifted though and she hissed and curled around it again, furious eyes still on Hedy.

"He'll be okay," Hedy said, expecting this. "He'll wake up in a few minutes." She immediately stowed away the flashlight into her bag and zipped it up so that the other didn't think she was threatening them.

Ruby let out a pained growl though. She clearly wasn't happy with Hedy's solution.

"Will you let me look at your arm?" Freddy asked crossly.

Ruby shot him a look.

"No." she ground out.

She was being petulant and immature but that was to be expected considering she was still a teenager and probably going into shock from the pain.

Hedy got out her phone and looked at the two prone figures.

"We should separate them before they wake up." She noted as she started dialing. She looked at Freddy. "How bad is it?"

Freddy huffed since Ruby was being stubborn and still not letting him get a good look. The crack they heard earlier told them a lot though.

"It's definitely broken." he told her as Ruby growled at Chica again for trying to look.

"Ok. Ruby I'm either calling the ambulance or I'm getting your parents' number unless you can convince me otherwise." Hedy said sternly.

She wheeled over to the chair where Ruby had left her jacket and pulled out the night guard's cell phone, holding it up warningly.

Ruby froze and the glare she shot Hedy actually shocked her. The teenager's jaw tensed as the bots fell silent. They...had a problem now. Ruby hadn't told the new arrivals that she was an orphan yet and the night guard's aversion to vehicles was also a problem. They glanced nervously between themselves while Ruby stayed silent.

Hedy looked at Ruby evenly, getting over her brief shock after a second. She gave her a pointed look as she opened the cell phone and went to Ruby's contacts.

They watched Hedy's slight confusion as she looked through the entire list only to not find a "MOM" or "DAD" or any variation thereof anywhere in there. She glanced up with a raised eyebrow but didn't mention it directly.

"Give me a number right now or it's the ambulance."

Ruby actually flinched at the word, causing her to shift her arm again and hiss in pain.

Freddy looked at Hedy worriedly, wondering if they should say something. Ruby couldn't get to the hospital in her condition without an ambulance but...this wasn't going to be easy...

Teddy, Mangle, and Toy Chica glanced between each other but decided to concentrate on moving the unconscious Toby away from Foxy.

"Ambulance it is then." Hedy said holding up her own phone and closing Ruby's. For some reason she felt like she shouldn't use Ruby's phone for that.

Ruby flinched at the word again and...it was just weird. None of them had ever seen her flinch before.

Bonnie crouched down next to her, ears back.

"It'll be okay Ruby." he insisted as her muscles tightened.

"Why couldn't he have just knocked me freaking unconscious." Ruby muttered.

Hedy paused, looking concerned at their reactions.

"Ruby I'll take you myself if that would be better?" Hedy offered hesitantly and with a little more gentleness.

There was still a layer of sternness. She wasn't budging about getting Ruby some medical attention.

"Actually that would probably be worse unless you've got some decent sedatives." Ruby muttered sourly.

"Benadryl?" Hedy said half-jokingly.

Her finger still hovered over the "CALL" button.

"Anything as long as it'll knock me out immediately." Ruby answered dead seriously. "The paramedics always knock me out right away now."

"Don't have that," Hedy said apologetically and pressed the button.

"Hello," she said into the phone. "I need an ambulance sent to my location."

A pause.

"Uh. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria," Suddenly Hedy jerked away from her phone and stared at it, checking if she called the right number.

She sneered and answered the unheard question with a snap. "No I'm not calling about a dead body or a bad smell! My co-worker has a broken arm and needs to be taken to the ER!"

She sighed and ran a hand down her face.

Ruby couldn't seem to help it. She snickered while the originals winced.

Hedy was still talking to the operator on the other end of the phone. "No this isn't a prank call. I work here. Is my answer relevant to whether or not you send an ambulance?"

She paused and said to the group. "They're coming."

She blinked as the operator asked another question. "I'm an engineer. No she's conscious...the night guard...yes...yes the night guard...I just said she was the night guard! ...I don't know, let me check."

Hedy said that last sentence with exasperated sarcasm.

"Hey Ruby, are you stuffed in a suit? Because this intern seems to think you are." She spoke loudly so that the person on the phone who was annoying her could hear.

"Still alive and with a freaking broken arm lady!" Ruby yelled.

There was a pause.

"Did you say Ruby? What's she gotten herself into this time?" They asked in an exasperated tone.

Hedy frowned. "Wait. You sounded like me just then. You know her?"

"Every operator and paramedic knows her." The lady grumbled.

"Sounds like Cheryl." Ruby murmured.

Hedy minutely flinched at the name 'Cheryl' and swallowed but spoke to the operator anyway.

"Why am I not surprised?" she deadpanned. "Are you a Cheryl by any chance?"

"Yeah. Always me that gets her calls. I'll send Brad since he deals with her best." She sighed.

"I'll take your word for it so long as you quit asking about Freddy's." Hedy said, not unkindly this time.

To Ruby she added. "She said she's sending Brad."

"Oh. I like Brad." She mumbled distractedly.

"Alright fine." Cheryl said at the same time. "One more. Did you say Ruby was a night guard at Freddy's?"

"...yes." Hedy eventually answered.

"Why am I not surprised?" She sighed.

"I think that's what I just said." Hedy said with a small laugh.

"Please tell me you two aren't comparing notes." Ruby whined.

Hedy rolled her eyes. Out the corner of her eye she thought she saw Foxy twitch and she frowned.

"Thanks for the ambulance, Cheryl. I think I hear it. But I have to go now." she said a little hurriedly.

"Right. I didn't catch your name." the operator said.

"Hedy." She answered, eying the fox on the floor.

Ruby moaned as she heard the ambulance and a flash of...something appeared in her eyes.

Panic?

Hedy noticed but didn't say anything as she said goodbye to Cheryl and hung up. She wheeled up and handed Ruby her phone and put her own away.

"Sorry for being a boring responsible adult here Ruby. Can I have the key to let them in please?"

Ruby grumbled something incomprehensible while Freddy handed them to her.

Hedy thanked him and went to let the paramedics in, Mangle following after making sure Teddy and Toy Chica were able to take Toby to the other room by themselves.

The lead paramedic, Brad, hesitated at the door upon seeing Mangle standing behind a young woman in a wheelchair but only for a second before rushing in, his partner following closely as he eyed the robot.

When Hedy led them to the main room they blinked at the mess and zeroed in on Ruby next to Freddy and Chica.

Goldy had disappeared for the moment.

"Come on Ruby." Brad sighed. "Again?!"

She flashed a pained smile at him.

The partner was eyeing the prone Foxy in the middle of the room suspiciously, then looked at Freddy and Chica who had backed up a little to let Brad check Ruby without them looming over him.

"Get the gurney Greg." Brad told him. "We're gonna have to knock her out before we take her to the ambulance."

"New guy?" Ruby squinted at Greg.

Greg frowned but nodded. They weren't supposed to use those drugs unless it was an actual emergency. A teenager with a broken arm didn't usually count. As he left, he gave a wide berth around Foxy and walked a little faster when Mangle flashed him a smile.

"Yeah. You scared off the last one." Brad said matter-of-factly.

"Good to know I'm not the only one that thinks she has that effect on some people." Hedy smirked.

She looked at the bots. None of them had said anything since the paramedics came in.

"Oooh that makes three." Ruby smirked but it was strained.

Chica giggled a little at that but quieted almost immediately.

There was another giggle, a little louder.

Brad whipped his head around just in time to see Toy Freddy and Toy Chica duck behind their door again.

"...you work in the strangest places." He sighed.

"Just knock me out before I panic." She groaned.

"You'll be okay." Bonnie assured again.

Right on time Greg reappeared with the gurney and a needled syringe with the sedative. He handed the syringe to Brad wordlessly.

Ruby eyed the needle with distaste but she preferred it over the ambulance.

Hedy made a face at the needle and watched as the paramedic injected the sedative and with his partner's help lifted Ruby onto the gurney as carefully as they could.

Ruby was out like a light.

"This Greg, is Ruby protocol." Brad said. "You only try and get her in the ambulance awake if you want to lose a few limbs."

Greg gulped and nodded.

"How long is she going to be?" Hedy asked.

"Probably overnight at least." Brad told her. "It's a strong sedative."

"Dang it." Hedy muttered knowing that meant she had to deal with everything on her own unless the bots suddenly all decided to be cooperative.

As if.

She could do it...but it wasn't going to be easy.

The paramedics took her away while the bots watched anxiously.

They waited until the sirens had faded to move.

"Teddy." the mechanic said finally, "I have a job for you. I need you to watch Toby. When he wakes up, you make sure he stays there until I came have a talk with him."

The originals watched her warily while Bonnie checked on Foxy.

Toy Freddy looked on for a second before nodding mutely and leaving. Toy Chica looked conflicted for a second before she decided to follow, casting a nervous glance at the originals.

Mangle debated on whether she should follow too until she realized that would mean leaving Hedy alone with the originals.

"Where'd you learn that?" Freddy snapped, referring to the flashlight trick.

Hedy didn't answer immediately. She wheeled around until she could see Foxy's face properly, his eyes specifically.

He was still restarting but the lights behind his eyes were starting to flicker on slightly.

She sighed. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation…

Chapter Text

Bonnie started when he realised that she was looking his way as he checked on Foxy.

His ears fell back but he focused on his friend.

Hedy mumbled something to herself he couldn't hear. "Do you know how long it might take for him to wake up?" she asked.

She really didn't want to have this conversation.

They glared at her.

"No. It varies." Freddy answered in a clipped tone.

"Oh," Hedy said looking down. "Does it hurt?"

Their glare was enough of an answer.

"He's going to have a nasty headache." Freddy said stiffly.

"Sorry." Hedy said sincerely. "I wasn't sure what else to do. He was going to kill Toby."

"He deserved it." Bonnie muttered softly. "Ruby didn't do anything."

Hedy glared. "And here I was starting to think you were the ones who didn't want to kill anyone." she said softly but with an undercurrent of sharpness. "Guess I was a fool."

Freddy matched her glare while Bonnie looked kind of panicky.

"Excuse us for being protective of the girl who freed us and came around often as a child." He snapped.

"I'm not blaming you for being protective." Hedy bit back. "That's a good thing! I'm mad at you for thinking its okay to kill someone so easily in anger. You sound just like Puppet! That's revenge you're talking about. Not justice! I would have actually been fine with Foxy beating him up. It would hurt, but he sure would learn never to hit a human again! But I'm not going to stand by and let my charge be killed because he's made bad choices that I think he can still come back from."

That led to a glare off between the two. The bots seemed unwilling to back down and Hedy wasn't about to either. Mangle watched everything nervously.

"We'll do whatever it takes to protect those we care about. No matter what it is." Freddy told her coldly. "She's the first to believe in us in a long time. I don't particularly care what you think mechanic."

"Well get in line Freddy, cause you're not the first to say that to me and you're not going to be the last, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm wrong." Hedy countered, squashing her fear with extreme prejudice. "And you're not the only one who's willing to protect those close to them. I'm a cripple if you didn't notice. I'll never be able to walk again and I can't defend myself except with a stupid flashlight if you wanted to hurt me, but I'm willing to sit here and argue with the ones who killed my uncle! How much does that tell you about how far I'll go to protect my friends?"

Freddy pulled back in shock at the statement.

"Uncle?" His face scrunched up in confusion.

The others seemed just as confused as he did.

Hedy flinched for the first time in the whole argument and Mangle let out a surprised whimper.

"Yeah." she said through gritted teeth.

She looked up at the ceiling, using gravity to keep her already watering eyes from betraying her further. Please, don't let her start crying. Not now.

"He was here for years so I'm sure you knew him. He made the phone calls," she forced herself to say.

Their confused looks changed to horror after a moment.

Those clearly weren't happy memories they were remembering.

"You're Scott's niece!?" Chica whimpered shakily and stepped back, forgetting her rising anger for the moment.

Hedy continued to stare at the ceiling and didn't react when Mangle came to stand worriedly next to her, glancing up at the originals with a flash of a glare.

The bots shuddered at the memories. They'd been so upset to realise that he was finally dead.

"Yeah. I am." Hedy murmured, closing her eyes.

She didn't even notice Foxy stirring at first.

Bonnie noticed but panicked, not knowing what to do. The others were too deep in shock to notice.

"Ow. Where's that mechanic," Foxy snarled, his face still on the floor.

Hedy jerked and glanced down at him in surprise.

The bots looked at him with worry, still relatively distracted by the horrible new information.

"How are you feeling Foxy?" Freddy asked, quieter than he was when speaking to Hedy.

He continued to stare at Hedy who was looking a little pale.

"Like the lass hit me in the head." Foxy growled.

He shook his head painfully and pushed himself up. "Then I got run over by a truck."

He looked up to see the mechanic backing up slightly and glared, his eyes narrowing to bright orange slits.

"You!"

He surged to his feet, stumbling slightly while Bonnie grabbed his arm to steady him.

Hedy flinched again and her hand ghosted toward her bag. But she didn't open it yet.

Foxy snarled loudly and took a step toward her to give her a piece of his mind only to be suddenly blocked by his Toy version.

Mangle glared and growled viciously, holding out her hand in a "stop" position and baring her shiny silver teeth. Mangle was only a little taller than Toby so there was still a size difference between her and the older fox.

Foxy snarled at Mangle before shifting his eyes to Hedy.

"Calm down Foxy." Goldy murmured in a subdued voice. "Ruby's already gone to get fixed up."

The fox didn't seem satisfied.

"I HATE that flashlight trick mechanic." He snarled even more.

Hedy swallowed. "I-" she got her voice under control and tried again. "I-I know."

She steeled her nerves and looked him straight in the eye. "But if I ever feel like I have to choose between making any of you mad and keeping you from killing me or anyone else, than I'd rather take the consequences of you being angry at me."

She was doing an okay job of pushing it down but that didn't stop the flash of terror from creeping in behind her eyes.

Foxy snarled again. He seemed furious but Freddy caught his arm.

"Go cool off Foxy." He murmured.

The fox speared Hedy with a glare again before stalking off, slamming the door open on his way.

Hedy let out a shaky breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Freddy threw a glare at Hedy though.

"He's going to be glitchy for days..." he muttered.

"Playing the game at the old place must have really sucked with that on top of...everything else." Hedy said softly. "I know it hurts you it but I still feel a little better knowing...the night guard had...something. Sorry."

Freddy just turned away and starting ushering the others out. He seemed to be the first to recover.

Goldy went after Foxy, looking concerned. Bonnie kept glancing at Hedy with more fear than usual.

"Psst. Hedy?"

They looked over to see Toy Chica leaning into the doorway. The smaller chicken didn't say anything else.

Hedy nodded, understanding.

Toby was awake...

"I'll be there in a minute."

Mangle looked at Hedy worriedly. She'd relaxed now that the others were gone.

Hedy met her eyes and smiled softly. "Thanks Mags. But you didn't need to do that."

Mangle rolled her yellow eyes and clicked her teeth together sharply.

She signed slowly, "Yeah right. You Ok?"

Hedy watched her hands then nodded. "I think I'll be fine. Stay here okay? I need to talk to Toby alone. You to Chi."

Toy Chica mumbled something that Hedy couldn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

Toy Chica looked up angrily. "That piece of scrap needs to pay for hurting Toby."

Hedy eyed her sternly. "Don't you dare try anything Chi." She snapped. "You'll only make things worse. Toby shouldn't have hurt Ruby."

"You're defending them?!"

"No. But Toby did something bad and he needs to be responsible for that. And Foxy needs to be responsible for how he reacted. And you need to be completely responsible for what you decide to do next. You can't blame someone else for how you react to them."

"You heard what the night guard said." Toy Chica muttered.

"Yeah." Hedy said. "But everyone still reacted poorly. Stay here Chi. I mean it."

With that she rolled past the chicken.

When Hedy was gone, Toy Chica turned to Mags.

"Have you ever noticed that Hedy acts like she our mom sometimes?" Toy Chica said sourly. "It's really annoying."

Mangle didn't even hear Toy Chica. All she could focus on was the shocking new information Hedy had inadvertently smacked her with. None of the Toys knew anything about Hedy's family, let alone that the phone guy was part of it or that Hedy had any kind of connection with the pizzeria in the first place. Setting aside that little tidbit for a moment (until she could fully process it), Mangle didn't even know he was dead. He did cross her mind a few times but she simply assumed he had quit soon after she and the others were scrapped.

But he was dead. Stuffed by the Originals obviously...

And Hedy had been hiding that she knew the truth for some time.

Worst of all? Mangle had never seen Hedy even come close to crying before.

"Crying" and "Hedy" just didn't belong in the same sentence! Mangle was glad the others hadn't seen that. It made her feel completely terrible.

Mangle continued to stare at the door through which her mechanic friend had disappeared as Toy Chica gave up trying to get her attention and sat on the floor with a frustrated huff.

What else was Hedy hiding?

Toby seemed to be over his shock now and was instead angry now.

Teddy was keeping him in the room but obviously getting increasingly annoyed with him.

"Hope that she gave that fox glitches for a month." he snapped in irritation as she entered.

When he saw Hedy he pouted, still not happy that she had knocked him out too.

"Teddy could you go wait with the girls please?" Hedy asked

Teddy left eagerly, sick of listening to Toby.

"What did you knock me out for?" Toby asked indignantly when he was gone.

He winced as he tried to shift his position. Foxy really did a number on him. Metal was torn from his chest looking vaguely like an opened can of sardines. One arm had completely fallen off with wires sprouting out. His paint was scratched up everywhere and one leg looked like it shouldn't be stood on. He had tried to leave and argued with Teddy but standing on that leg made it crumple a little and he had fallen on Teddy. So here he was, sitting on the floor battered and broken and with a nasty headache. Oh... and bite marks on his neck casing.

Hedy looked at him and deadpanned. "You would have made it worse. I needed everyone to calm down and you would have made someone else mad at you."

"That mangy fox attacked me!" Toby cried out. "He should get scrapped for this!"

"Because he wasn't able to protect someone close to him from getting hurt by you? You hurt Ruby and he got mad that he let it happen so he took it out on you." Hedy said.

"Hmph." Toby looked away. "The fox overreacted."

"Yep and that's his fault. But you overreacted too." Hedy pointed out.

She took her bag off of her wheelchair and set it down next to Toby.

"You broke Ruby's arm, Toby." Hedy moved her chair around to the right position before carefully sliding out of it to sit next to Toby on the floor so that she could reach him.

"Not like its life threatening." he muttered. "It'll heal. And she was asking for it."

"You never learn." Hedy sighed. "It doesn't matter if it's life threatening or not. It isn't right to hurt people. I'm not even talking about stuffing night guards in suits right now. Humans are fragile Toby. When you get hurt I can just fix it or replace it. It only takes as much time as I'm able to spend energy working. It's much more difficult to heal a human. You don't seem to understand how physically dangerous it is for me or Ruby to work here. And that's not even because of the kids. Tonight was a case in point."

Toby huffed. He didn't like getting lectured.

"Why should I care? The night guard is annoying and keeps poking her nose where it doesn't belong." there was no remorse in his voice and he still seemed more focused on the fact that Foxy had attacked him.

Hedy shook her head. She needed to get through to him.

"You should care because if she had actually ducked like you thought she would, you would have hit me. And you would have killed me."

His eyes widened at the thought, stalling out.

"I-That's not-I wouldn't-" he struggled with words, mind wrapping around this scenario.

He'd just been so mad at the night guard. Acting concerned over Mangle. Who did she think she was? She wasn't Hedy who actually cared. But...he could have hurt Hedy?

Hedy quietly watched him as she let him struggle with that possibility.

"But if she didn't interfere in the first place, then it wouldn't be a problem." he said, albeit weakly.

He was used to blaming others if something happened and so it was his default move. It was a problem with Toy Chica as well and one that she hadn't gotten them to stop yet.

"So it would have been her fault you killed me?" Hedy asked with a raised eyebrow as she got out a screwdriver and worked on removing his chest plating. It was too damaged to fix properly so she needed to replace it later. He was going to have to be out of order for the rest of the week.

His mouth opened and closed for a moment as he struggled with the question.

"But it was none of her business! Who is she to pretend to care about Mangle now?!" he asked in frustration. "She's the night guard! It's...it's not right!"

"It's not really actions that have consequences Toby. It's decisions. Things could have gone very differently if Ruby hadn't decided that she actually cared what happened with Mags. She might have ducked instead of focus on Mags and I would be dead because you couldn't control your anger. But she didn't duck because at that moment she decided that helping me with Mags was more important than her own surroundings. Toby, she's not pretending to care and her being the night guard is no reason to think she is."

He frowned.

"But the night guards are there to stop us. That's how things are." he said.

The Toys' world was far too 'black and white' to understand these concepts. Toby especially dealt with a 'them' and 'us' mindset.

"That's only how you believe they are Toby." Hedy said and put on her glasses to work on Toby's broken fingers. "Every night guard has been a different person with a different past, different decisions and different reasons for being here. You have to check what you believe against truth and if what you believe causes pain, then maybe it's time to re-evaluate."

The rabbit was silent, looking away stubbornly.

"Ruby's not a bad kid Toby. Neither are you, though you seem determined to prove me wrong a lot." Hedy said with a small smile.

He just huffed in annoyance although she had given him a lot to think about.

"Okay you should be able to stand on your leg if you don't strain it too much. Help me up."

He did just that since he really didn't want to be knocked out again and her patience had been tested too much already tonight.

"I would suggest avoiding Foxy and Ruby until you're ready to apologize to her. I don't need two Mangles to worry about." She muttered as she rolled away, leaving him to think.

Chapter Text

Ruby woke up with a groan. She recognisedthe familiar feeling of pain medication and wondered what she did this time to end up in hospital. Was she playing with fireworks again?

"Hello there Ruby. Haven't seen you in a while." An amused voice came from her left.

Ruby cracked open an eye and looked up at the familiar form of Doctor Cecil. The black, haired woman was the only doctor who could deal with her nonsense without tearing her hair out.

The teenager smirked up at her.

"Hey doc. Long time no see."

The doctor rolled her eyes as she checked Ruby's pulse and blood pressure.

"I don't understand how you manage to get into so much trouble." She sighed.

Ruby screwed up her face as she thought back to what happened this time. She felt an ache in her arm as she shifted it.

Her arm...

...

...

...

She was going to kill that rabbit.

Doctor Cecil raised an eyebrow at her murderous expression.

"So… someone else going to end up in the hospital?" she asked as she wrote down some numbers. "A bloody case usually follows that look."

Ruby growled.

"Hell yes! Brat broke my arm!" she yelled indignantly.

Her furious gaze flickered down to her new cast.

"I'm not going to ask," the doctor muttered after a moment of silence. "You're stuck with us overnight for observation and then you can go home if all's fine in the morning."

Ruby groaned loudly.

"Oh come on! I hate overnight visits!" she whined.

Doctor Cecil chuckled. "I know that. That's why they made me tell you since you're less likely to throw something at me."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at the older woman.

"You'll probably sleep off the pain meds and tranquilizer all night anyway." She patted Ruby's shoulder comfortingly.

The teen tried to stifle a yawn, not really wanting to agree with her.

The doctor laughed again before bidding her goodnight and leaving. Ruby glared at the ceiling for a long moment as she fought off sleep. She eventually succumbed though as she imagined all the lovely things she would do to that stupid blue rabbit when she was back.

By the time Doctor Cecil came back for her morning rounds, the nurses were begging her to discharge Ruby. She'd already gone on a wheelchair race down waxed floors, snuck into the x-ray room to get a look at her skeleton (again), kidnapped a patient and locked them in the MRI machine and driven everyone nearby up the walls with her antics.

She grinned widely at the Doctor when she came to check on her. For some reason there was a nurse banging from the inside of the bathroom and yelling while confetti drifted slowly through the air.

Doctor Cecil shook her head and let the poor nurse out before doing her check up.

"Well, to everyone else's relief, you're fit to be discharged." She smiled as Ruby cheered happily.

Her cheer was echoed down through the ward by staff and patients alike.

Ruby grabbed her things and the prescription the doctor wrote out and raced for the doors.

"Be careful Ruby! Don't want to see you here for a while!" she called fondly after the fleeing teen who was dodging around wheelchair bound patients at full speed.

Ruby came storming into the pizzeria, scattering visitors and employees alike.

"RABBIT!" she screamed, swinging her bat rather haphazardly.

"She's medicated… isn't she?" Chica whispered to Freddy fearfully.

The bear nodded silently.

"She can tell us apart from rabbits right?" the chicken asked after a moment.

"I'm purple! Not blue!" Bonnie squeaked in terror when her eyes landed on him.

Ruby paused and cocked her head.

"More lilac bunny boo." She grinned lopsidedly. "I'm going to kill your bad copy now. Bye."

She raced off and Toby's shrill scream soon followed as the bots all distracted the children from the possible homicide happening in the next room.

"I'm. Going. To. Kill. You." Ruby snarled.

A manic, dangerous light danced in her eyes as she stood on his chest, bat pointed at his face. So… now he was fearing for his life a second time in twenty four hours.

He screamed again.

"No murder around the children!" Goldy jumped into the fray and picked Ruby up. "You'll traumatise them! Even though he does deserve it…"
Ruby twisted in her arms and snarled, trying to hit the rabbit scrambling away from her at full speed.

"I'm going to make you WISH that you were dismantled!" she yelled.

He ran away to hide while Goldy worked on calming the irate security guard.

"You can hit him during your shift." The bear compromised.

Ruby paused.

"Fine." She muttered petulantly.

Goldy set her down gently and she sulked. The bear started fussing over her cast once she was settled.

"I'm fine." The teenager mumbled.

They were quiet for a moment.

"Uh… what happened to his chest by the way?" Ruby asked softly.

"Oh, Foxy did that. Remember? He attacked Toby after he hurt you."

Ruby thought back.

"I… vaguely remember something like that…" she murmured. "Was kind of in shock."

"That's understandable." Goldy nodded. "Where are you going?"

Ruby looked back at her with a sharp grin.

"The Cove. Gotta thank Foxy for getting started on him already after all." She said sweetly. "Get some tips on damaged parts I can hit tonight."

She left the room and Goldy shivered. Ruby was still pretty darn terrifying sometimes…

Chapter Text

Ruby passed out in the cove not long after she arrived. Foxy was relieved to see her again and was maybe slightly overprotective when anyone approached the table she'd curled up on.

"Relax Foxy." Freddy told him after he growled at the fifth employee to walk 'too close'.

"She could still take Toy Bonnie down, even with a broken arm. She can handle herself."

Foxy sighed and rubbed his face.

"I know, I know. It's just…" he glanced at her, curled around Betty happily. "Sometimes we forget."

Freddy frowned and tilted his head. "Forget what?"

"That she's not invincible. That she can get hurt…" he spoke softly. "She's capable, ridiculously capable. And confident. But she's still technically a kid Freddy."

He looked up with pained eyes.

"She's sixteen Fred and she spends her time getting hurt 'cause of us."

His ears drooped.

Freddy sighed and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I know. We do tend to take her for granted lately."

The two moved closer to the table to check on her and make sure that she didn't roll off.

"And you know what makes it worse?" Foxy asked softly. "We did it to her too. We hurt her and judged her like the Toys do. We aren't any better…"

He fell silent as Freddy opened his mouth to comfort his friend.

"Don't be a dumb fox. " Ruby's voice cut in as she kicked him playfully, and waved Betty around slightly. "There's a big difference and that's not just my bias talking."

She looked up at them sleepily.

"You guys accepted change. The Toys haven't. Well, except Mangle but foxes are naturally awesome." She gave a lopsided smirk. "That might be my bias talking there. But seriously, stop beating yourself up about it. You were trapped in a really sucky situation. Besides, you hardly hurt me. It was the ghosts on the last night."

They couldn't help but smile at her. She was always so confident in what she said that it was hard not to believe her.

"Sorry for waking you up lass. " Foxy murmured as Freddy pushed her errant bat away from him.

She shrugged. " More dozing that anything else. Simmering rage makes it hard to sleep."

Her eyes flashed dangerously.

Freddy patted her on the shoulder.

"You can deal with that tonight." He told her kindly.

He did wonder when he had become so unconcerned with her violence. Was it just a matter of too much exposure?

"And you'll have a lot of help." Foxy half-snarled. "Bonnie and me both want to give him what he deserves."

Freddy rolled his eyes while Ruby grinned.

"Aw Captain. You guys are so sweet."

"As sweet as one of your sugar rushes." Freddy muttered as he left them to their plotting.

"Hold still." Teddy snapped as Toby moved again. "Do you want me to get your ear right again or what?!"

"Where's Hedy?" he whined petulantly.

"She doesn't live here you idiot." Toy Chica rolled her eyes.

He shot a glare at her.

The Toys were taking a break to check on Toby after Ruby's little stunt.

"She's dangerous." Toby returned to complaining about what was becoming his favourite topic it seemed.

Even Mangle was getting annoyed with him and his whining.

Heck even BB was starting to get irritated. Being annoying was his job after all!

"Oh shut up." Chica groaned.

Mangle signed something and they had the feeling that she was saying the same thing.

He opened his mouth, probably to say something stupid when a new voice joined the conversation.

"Why do you insist on not giving her a chance?" Goldy asked, floating above them.

She'd always been more neutral than anything towards them even though she was on the originals' side.

It probably had to do with not being made with either of their groups.

The Toys didn't even really know much about her origins actually.

But seeing her glare so fiercely at them was a new experience, making them flinch backwards. She was always so nice, a little shy around strangers and mischievous with friends but very nice.

This hostility… was new.

"You've judged her on literally everything but herself!" she waved her arms, clearly frustrated with them.

"So how are we supposed to judge the arrogant, violent, unpredictable night guard?" Toby snapped.

They may not be interacting with Puppet anymore but some things still stuck.

"You still don't get it!" Goldy yelled, startling them.

"Oh yeah, just because she's got some childhood history with you guys making her like you more. If she didn't have an attachment she would have hated you too." Toy Chica sneered at her.

Goldy paused and stared at them incredulously.

"You're kidding right?" she asked in disbelief.

Mangle was trying to get away from the confrontation while Toby and Chi glared back at Goldy, confident in this assessment. BB was just glad that Toby wasn't whining anymore and played with the battery he had found.

Teddy…

Well, Teddy's eyes had widened as realisation hit him. Goldy noticed and focused her attention on him.

"Ruby didn't know about me. She idolised Foxy and loved Bonnie. She got along well with Chica and Freddy." Goldy spoke softly now. "But she didn't even know that I existed until like night three or something."

Mangle turned back to look at her.

Goldy laughed softly as she thought back.

"She's got good instincts though. She could tell that she was being watched. And she didn't like it. When I first showed up she sent me running back to my poster for the rest of the week. She was terrifying. So we didn't exactly make the best first impressions. But you know what? She apologised. That same night too. She asked Foxy to pass along the message. She felt bad about it because she just got a fright." She paused, a slight smile on her face. "I liked watching her. She made the place lively and fun. She even gave me her bedazzler to say sorry. She started bringing movies after night six. She found out what we like, what we didn't like. She brought me the Harry Potter books. She got Bonnie a lightsabre because he likes Star Wars. She got pirate movies for Foxy, we've got this huge stack of them now. She got all the Lord of the Rings for Freddy, even the Hobbit series! She gets all these cooking shows and books for Chica. She knows exactly what we all like! She loves horror movies but she doesn't bring them because they freak us out. And she doesn't have to! That's the crazy thing. We'd all be happy if she just kept the ghosts at bay. But instead she cheers us up, plays with us and cares. She became the best friend we could ask for. You have no idea what you're missing out on."

Before they could say something angrily or otherwise, Mangle gave a happy crackle. She smiled up at Goldy who gave a grin in return.

"Or most of you anyway." She glanced at Teddy for a moment before disappearing, having said her piece.

Mangle left as Toby and Chi bust into indignant yelling. BB ran off to annoy someone while Teddy stared thoughtfully ahead of him.

He slipped into the hallway, massaging his temples. While he had an issue with the originals, Goldy didn't really fall under that. They could actually get along pretty well. Or could in the past.

She wasn't the type to lie about something like this.

He sighed. After what Puppet did, he was questioning what he believed more and more.

Puppet said that the Toy were better than the originals but the children liked them equally.

Puppet said that he was the only one that they could trust but he betrayed and hurt Mangle while the night guard helped her.

No, not the night guard. Ruby. She had a name and it was demeaning to not use it.

He sighed again. Hedy had been trying to get that through to them since the beginning. They were just too stubborn, like always.

"Well, don't you look deep in thought?" he could hear the smirk in her voice and turned to look at the girl.

She had a glass of water and a bottle of pills balanced in her usable hand.

Ah, he must have caught her just before she took her pain medication again. The slight haze that had been in her eyes before was gone for the moment and she looked significantly calmer.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, do I have something on my face?" she asked and he realised that he was staring at her.

He shook his head and sighed.

These thoughts were inevitable he supposed. He could only hide behind flimsy excuses and reasons for so long before his logical mind found him.

"Hey! You're not glaring at me!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed. "That's new."

Her excitement had a childish quality and Teddy suddenly saw the appeal that the originals did in it.

She cocked her head curiously. "What? Did a head injury damage your circuitry?"

"Goldy came by to yell at us." He mumbled.

Ruby looked surprised. "Goldy yelled? That's not common."

Teddy shrugged.

"But what does that have to do with the lack of a glare? You've been yelled at plenty of times." Ruby asked.

He let out a tired sigh.

"Coming to terms with the fact that everything you believe is false is kind of difficult." He told her dryly.

Her annoying, teasing tone dropped from her voices as she spoke again.

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrow again, medication forgotten for the moment.

He glanced up to meet her eyes for a moment, swallowing his pride. His stupid pride that was the reason he felt miserable in the first place.

"It seems…we were wrong in blindly following Puppet." He admitted. "In both judging you and the original animatronics."

He mostly expected her to gloat or something but instead she just asked a question.

"Why did you believe him?"

He looked at her in surprise. Her gaze was steady, not leaving his face.

"He was the first person we met." Teddy shrugged. "Guess we didn't know any better."

"Hmm, though so." Ruby nodded. "Then it's not really your fault."

He stared at her, stunned. She grinned at the expression.

"When I figured out that you were all essentially teenagers, I decided to bug you until you learnt a lesson. Hedy already got through to Mangle and now looks like you finally get it too."

All he could do was blink.

"I'm not your enemy Teddy. Never was. I protect those that I care about, that's all. If you're not mean to them, then we're cool." She grinned at him.

He was surprised at the use of his nickname as well as her words.

"So?" Ruby's gaze held his. "Are we good now?"

It was hard to believe that she was so willing to just forgive and forget. It only strengthened his faith in his decision further.

He offered a small but genuine smile to her.

"I suppose it is time we grew up." He held out his hand.

She grinned and shook it.

"Good. Now I'll focus on irritating the lesson into the other two." She smirked confidently.

Teddy's eyes strayed to her cast.

"I should also apologise for Toby's actions." He murmured guiltily.

Ruby waved it away. "I'll get revenge tonight and then we'll all move on."

She walked past him and waved cheekily.

"See ya around Teddy Bear." She called before she turned the corner.

He sighed and wondered what she was planning now. And why she insisted on teasing everyone about everything including their nicknames.

Although…

He felt a lot lighter after that conversation.

Smiling slightly he went back to his job.

Chapter Text

Ruby arrived for her shift feeling pretty good, and it wasn't the medication this time.

Finally getting through to one of the Toys felt wonderful.

In all honesty, the hostility had been getting boring. She could do so much more with them when she was on friendly terms.

She was already thinking of all the ways to irritate the rest of the Toys as she entered the building when she heard raised voices.

Eyebrow twitching as her good mood vanished, she prepared herself to jump into the middle of it when what they were saying registered and she froze.

The originals didn't seem to be in the middle of it but they were still clearly upset.

Teddy was standing with Mangle behind Hedy who was full on glaring at Toby.

Toy Chica was in the no man's land between them looking nervous.

"Toby, would you shut up for once!" Teddy was furious, fists clenched by his sides.

The rabbit crossed his arms haughtily.

"Well, its true." He huffed angrily.

"Take it back!" the bear demanded, moving slightly in front of Hedy.

Mangle agreed, hands flying through her signs too fast to read. Ruby caught the words 'insensitive' and 'cruel' from her position by the doorway.

"No." Toby snapped. "I think it's good. Now we don't have to deal with him. One less night guard."

Hedy ground her teeth together, hands clenched on the arms of her wheelchair.

"He was a night guard after all. It's good that he's dead!" Toby added and Ruby felt her body go stiff with rage.

"How can you say that?!" Chica gasped from next to Freddy.

The blue rabbit glared at her.

"You can't really say anything since you guys were the ones to kill him." he snapped.

The originals recoiled like they were physically struck and Ruby let out an inaudible growl as her vision went red.

"The fact that he's my uncle doesn't even factor for you?" Hedy demanded coldly, keeping her anger barely in check.

Toby glared at her again.

"He was the night guard." He stated again like that solved everything.

"I miss him Toby!" she suddenly cried, blinking back tears. "Now I find out that he's dead and you just don't care?! You're happy?!"

He looked away from her stubbornly but said nothing.

Hedy bit her lip, both angry and upset simultaneously.

A tense silence fell over them.

Ruby had enough. Her anger reached a boiling point as she stalked into the room.

"What is WRONG with you?" she hissed, fury rolling off of her in waves.

Everyone jumped in shock and the originals shrank back fearfully. They'd only seen her this angry once before.

"Do you have any empathy in that empty head of yours?!" Any at all?!" she snarled. "You know, for your FRIEND?!"

The Toys had never been so scared of her since their arrival. She was weaponless but for some reason… she was more terrifying than ever.

"Ruby…. Don't-" Hedy tried to stop her but she ignored the mechanic.

Toby backpedalled as she advanced on him.

"You know you can't just FIX humans. If we're hurt, it takes time to heal. Sometimes it's permanent and sometimes we die which is even more permanent!" she backed him into a corner. "And you know the little issue with dying?"
Her eyes were alight with an unstable, fiery light.

"If you die... You. Don't. COME. BACK!" she punctuated each word with a rough shove and he was soon pressed against the wall.

If asked, the Toys wouldn't be able to tell anyone why they suddenly feared for their lives. Just that they did. A lot.

"You can't just get spare parts or build a new body. You're gone. Forever." She stepped closer, ignoring the height difference.

"The night guards that died here won't come back." Her voice started to slowly rise again as she spoke. "Hedy's uncle won't come back."

She reached out, hand closing around a jagged piece of metal on his chest that hadn't been fixed yet. Blood dripped down her hand and wrist as she tugged him down to bend forward. He went easily, terrified out of his mind.

"My parents damn well won't come back." She growled lowly, eyes dark."So stop being a supreme jerk rabbit and be there for your friend. It sucks to be alone."

Toby was petrified, feeling the murderous rage emanating from her. A realisation hit him.

She'd been going easy on them this whole time. So so easy on them.

If she really wanted them gone, they would be gone and probably never found again.

With a rough shove he was pushed back into the wall and she stalked away.

Silence fell heavily behind her.

Hedy glanced at the door she'd left through and sighed. She'd suspected as much about Ruby's family but to get confirmation like that…

Toby looked terrified still and the originals looked ready to follow her, concern on their faces.

Foxy was the first to move, sprinting out the room with Bonnie right behind him.

"What did she mean? About… her parents?" Teddy asked hesitantly.

Apparently he'd come to a truce during the day with Ruby much to Hedy's relief.

At least there was some progress.

"Exactly what she said." Goldy murmured. "Ruby's an orphan. Has been since she was ten."

"You happy?" Chica asked angrily. "You upset her. She hates talking about it."

Freddy patted her shoulder to calm her down but he looked worried.

Hedy started wheeling out of the room.

"Hedy?" Where are you going?" Toy Chica asked softly as the mechanic wiped her eyes subtly.

"Home." She answered curtly.

"Are you coming back?" she asked even softer, sounding scared.

Hedy paused and refused to looked at Toby.

"I don't know." She muttered and then she was gone.

Mangle whimpered quietly at the answer, looking close to tears.

The originals left the Toys as they whirled around to start yelling at Toby.

Foxy and Bonnie caught up to Ruby in the office. At least she waited until they were inside to close the doors.

She slumped in the chair before slamming her fist into the table with an angry yell. The force split the skin of her knuckles but she didn't even seem to notice.

If she wasn't in a cast she would have punched with the other hand too no doubt.

Foxy winced at the amount of blood dripping from that hand now. He was worried about how easily she hurt herself as well.

Bonnie fished out a first aid kit from somewhere and held it out to Foxy worriedly. He looked lost, not knowing what to do.

The pirate gently caught Ruby's shoulder.

"Ruby, lass, let us look at your hand please." He asked softly.

She looked at him and he was shocked to see tears glistening in her eyes. With a sigh she deflated into her chair again and held her hand out. Now she just looked… sad.

Frowning slightly, Foxy turned her hand over and winced again at the sight. The cut was jagged and deep, crossing her entire palm.

He got started on cleaning it off with tissues and water. Ruby stared blankly at the wall, only wincing occasionally.

He kind of preferred the punching now.

As he pushed her sleeve up a bit to get the bandage on properly, he froze. Old but clear scars crisscrossed her wrist. He glanced up at Bonnie who had also frozen in horrified realisation.

Swallowing hard he forced himself to continue wrapping the bandage. Ruby hadn't noticed the hesitation at all.

Clearing his throat he asked her. "Feel better now lass?"

She blinked and looked at her hand. Seeing her sleeve pushed up slightly she let out a rather colourful curse and yanked it back down.

She sighed heavily and rubbed her face, heedless of the injury and bandage.

The two 'bots shifted awkwardly. They didn't know what to do.

"Yes, I used to cut my wrists." She broke the silence.

She seemed to have gathered her composure again.

"Key words being 'used to'. So unfortunately I'm still prone to hurting myself in high stress situations." She waved her hand to draw attention to it. "But I'm a lot better. Okay?"

Those steady green eyes locked on them and they nodded after a moment.

She was back in control of herself and they realised that the lack of control was what had scared them before. Even when angry she was always in control of everything, seeming like nothing could stop her. Losing control of herself... not having a handle on her own emotions, it scared them.

"Alright lass." Foxy frowned, eyes dropping to her hand again.

Ruby's expression softened.

"I don't do it anymore. I promise. I realised long ago that it was just hurting others that I cared about. So I cope in more prank filled, property-breaking ways." She grinned at him.

He gave a weak smile back.

"Are… are you okay Ruby?" Bonnie asked softly. "You don't like talking about it… but you brought it up..."

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay now. Just poked some old injuries ya know? I just get so… so mad when death is treated like it's nothing."

They nodded in understanding.

"We get it." Foxy's ears dropped back sadly. "I'm sorry that lowlife reminded you of it."

Ruby smiled slightly.

"Ah I'll get over it. I've got my favourite fox and rabbit checking on me after all." She relaxed back in the chair. "Wonder how much of this I'll remember?"

They looked at her, confused.

The teen grinned wickedly. "I think I took too much medicine. A little loopy tonight."

They both groaned while she laughed.

"Let's play paintball!" she declared. "Wait, where'd I put my bag? Hmm… I should find it. I forgot to disarm that timed glitter bomb.

An explosion went off.

"Oops… Nevermind." She grinned happily as they sighed in defeat.

At least... this was normal. Foxy glanced at Ruby as she convinced Bonnie to join in on some prank.

...She was very good at deflection. It worried him. Why wouldn't she just let them worry over her without feeling the need to reassure and distract them? He knew that they needed to have a proper conversation with her.

An explosion went off.

When she was off her pain medication of course.

Chapter Text

If the Toys were expecting a peaceful night where everyone could sulk and worry in peace, they were gravely mistaken.

After speaking with Bonnie and Foxy for about half an hour, Ruby came tearing through the building with a vengeance.

In all honesty, they didn't stand a chance. The originals even grabbed Teddy and Mangle and hid in the kitchen since they were more reasonable now.

Teddy had never been so grateful as he listened to the explosions go off every two minutes.

The night guard was mad.

Ruby raced ahead of Toby, laughing maniacally.

"Catch me if you can you insensitive jerk!" she yelled.

Toby and Chi were just trying to figure out how she was still causing utter chaos with one usable arm.

How?!

Suddenly as he followed her down another corridor, his foot sank through the floor. Flailing his arms to try and regain his balance, he looked down.

…

…

Somehow…

She replaced a tile in the floor and the space beneath it with a vat of grey paint.

…

…

HOW DID SHE DO THESE THINGS?!

He let out a shriek of rage as he tried to yank his foot out.

Meanwhile Ruby had stopped and was snapping pictures of his predicament.

"I'll get you for this." The rabbit snarled.

A dangerous smirk crossed her face and she pulled something from her bag. Something big and kind of scary looking.

"Say 'ello to my little friend." She pointed it at him, some kind of accent colouring her words.

"What the he-" he didn't get further as a POTATO (a potato? Why? Just…why?) was launched at speed towards him.

It hit him square in the chest and sent him flying him down the hall.

"At least I go your foot unstuck." She pointed out sweetly. "I love my new potato grenade launcher."

Toby just groaned as she skipped away, hugging the weapon.

"See you later stupid rabbit!" she called back.

Forty five minutes later, Ruby was ducking and diving around Chi. The chicken had somehow twisted her logic and come to the conclusion that Ruby was also to blame for Hedy's absence.

Ruby didn't get the logic but it gave her an excuse to use her new toy. She only had two targets at the moment since Puppet was still sulking in his box (now that she thought about it she hadn't seen him for ages. Good.) and BB had learnt that if he annoyed Toby she left him alone.

Spinning around Ruby threw a large sphere at the 'bot.

It exploded in a lovely display of tar and feathers.

"Nice plumage there chicken." She snickered as the animatronic stared at her in disbelief.

She snapped a photo and darted off again.

Chi would have followed if she wasn't stuck in place by the tar.

The night guard took a break in one of the vents. She pulled the tablet out and checked the security cameras.

The originals were talking quietly among themselves while they watched Harry Potter again. Goldy kept shushing them even though she was mouthing along with the dialogue.

Teddy was a distance away from them and seemed to be trying to cheer Mangle up who was lying in a miserable heap under the table. Ruby frowned at that. The Toys were taking this hard then. She sighed. That wasn't very surprising actually. It was clear that they loved Hedy, even if they struggled with expressing it properly.

Switching cameras she found Chi finally getting free from her tar and sitting on the floor, a mix of anger, frustration and worry on her face.

Toby was stalking through the halls, muttering angrily to himself but he seemed less energetic than usual.

Even BB was sitting in the Toys' room, staring sadly ahead at the wall.

They were all miserable.

Ruby dragged a hand down her face and sighed again.

Putting away the tablet she crawled through the vents until she exited near the manager's office. It was time to practice her lock picking skills again.

Freddy glanced at the two 'bots sitting across the room. Mangle seemed to be taking Hedy leaving hard. Teddy was trying to calm her down but the fox was curled up and shaking slightly as if she was crying.

Bonnie was a lot more relaxed since there wasn't a mechanic in the building but he kept throwing guilty and concerned glances at them. It wasn't his fault that he was scared of Hedy and Freddy didn't blame him for feeling relief.

Chica was also concerned but it was overshadowed by her worry over Ruby who was causing trouble while injured. She was fidgeting anxiously as they watched the movie for the hundredth time.

Foxy was still angry with Hedy for shorting him out with the flashlight but he was worried about Mangle. Freddy knew that he was developing a soft spot for his Toy version and so he was torn about whether to hope for the mechanic's return or not.

Goldy… well she was off in Harry Potter land.

The bear sighed, not sure what outcome would be better for them either. Why were things so complicated?

Ruby hummed happily to herself as she headed to the dining hall. She'd retrieved what she needed from the office and was off to say goodbye to the 'bots since it was almost quitting time.

An odd feeling of being watched made her pause though and she looked over her shoulder.

That ghost kid that she caught sight of before was peeking around the corner and staring at her nervously.

She was certain he wasn't one of the brats that possessed the animatronics and there was no hostility coming from him.

Cocking her head slightly she turned to face him. He shrank back slightly but stayed in sight.

"Uh, hi?" the night guard greeted him since he didn't seem about to say anything.

He jumped slightly and gave an almost inaudible whine.

Ruby frowned slightly at his odd behaviour. Odd even for a ghost kid.

As she waited for him to do something, he seemed to gather enough courage to speak.

"He's after you too." He murmured softly, his voice wavering from… fear?

Her frown deepened.

"Who?" she asked carefully.

The child looked distressed. "He wants you too."

Ruby crouched down, instinctively making herself smaller so she didn't frighten him. Ghost or not, he pressed every big sister instinct she had.

"Who sweetie?" she asked softly.

"He's not going to stop." The kid was crying now and starting to fade like the first time she saw him.

Ruby watched him with a puzzled expression as he disappeared with a few final words.

"I'm sorry… It's my fault."

The teen stood up slowly, trying to understand what the kid was trying to tell her. They were clearly scared of something though.

Or someone.

Looking back once, she continued on as the chimes went off.

What was going to happen now?

Chapter Text

Hedy frowned when she got to her front door, her angry thoughts from the night stilling as she stared at the door.

It was unlocked. Why was it unlocked?

She cautiously pushed it open. It creaked softly as it swung inward. Hedy pursed her lips into a thin line as she pulled out her cell phone and placed on her lap. It was probably nothing. One of her roommates probably just forgot. Still...better safe than sorry.

"Sarah? Rena? You guys home already?" It wasn't likely.

True, neither of them had classes that day but they were probably out shopping or meeting with their boyfriends or something. One of them was probably in a hurry and left without remembering to lock up.

Nothing seemed out of place until she entered. The sounds of some movie drifted to her. Entering the lounge slowly, the last thing she expected greeted her.

Ruby was sprawled on the couch watching the movie, popcorn on the floor next to her and a glitter bomb in her hands that she was working awkwardly on with her casted arm.

Hedy stared a Ruby for a long moment, her mouth slightly agape.

"Am I dreaming? Or knocked out? Because I'm pretty sure I've had this nightmare before..." she finally said aloud.

Ruby threw her that insufferable smirk that screamed 'this is just the reaction I wanted and I'm enjoying it' before setting the glitter bomb on the coffee table.

"Hey Hedy! Geez you took forever to get back. I was running out of places to boobytrap. And those two that got caught in the net are starting to annoy me."

She kicked her boots up on the couch, smirk widening.

"Oh my g- " Hedy suddenly paused and her eyes darkened dangerously. "You better not have gone in the garage."

She eyed the glitter bomb.

In the back of her mind, Hedy realized that she should have been more concerned about her friends/roommates than her workshop, but honestly she knew Ruby wouldn't actually hurt them.

...Right?

"Your garage? That place with all the wonderfully complex and expensive looking machinery?" Ruby asked innocently. "Now why would I, a teenager with a history of making mechanical pranks and disrespecting other people's property as well as privacy, go in there?"

Her smile was wide but her eyes were clearly daring Hedy to call her out on it. She was starting to enjoy her confrontations with the mechanic.

She picked the bomb up again and started absently tossing it up and down as she ate some more popcorn.

Hedy looked like she wanted to strangle the teenager.

"Oh, you are so dead," she said matter of factly. "Do you expect me to kick you out? Because you, little miss psycho, are not leaving this house until you clean up everything." She pointed above her head without even looking up. "Starting with whatever's in the bucket hanging over my head."

Ruby just grinned wider.

"Aw you want me around? I'm so flattered Hedy! And here I thought you didn't like me. And good peripheral vision. The blonde didn't see it." She stretched out on the couch like a cat. "At least I got someone with it."

Suddenly voices came from the bathroom.

"Hedy! Is that you?! Call the cops, she's psychotic!"

"And get us down from here! I'm getting sick of being stuck in a net."

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Their fault for falling for the old tripwire-net trap," she muttered, eyes straying to the movie which…

That wasn't even one of theirs! She'd brought some horror movie WITH her!

Hedy resisted the urge to facepalm and huffed as an obnoxious scream came from the television. She refused to look at it. She could understand why other people thought them entertaining but she always found them somewhat painful. They didn't scare her. She just had an intense dislike towards them. Bad memories and what not. She'd have a certain recurring nightmare for days afterward.

"They haven't been working the night shift with you for the past couple weeks," Hedy pointed out. She reached down and disconnected the tripwire before lowering the bucket down while ignoring the yelling from the other side of the house. The sludgy, brown chocolate pudding sloshed around slowly. What did she use on Sarah?

"You gonna let them out or what?"

Ruby snorted.

"Not even the 'bots fall for that trick. I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts. Ooooh! It's the chainsaw part! This is the best part of the movie!" She sat up, eyes fixed on a rather disturbing scene in the movie.

...there was no way this movie was for under eighteen... how did she get it?

Strangely enough, as Hedy set the bucket on the floor she didn't see any mess from it hitting Sarah. Did she clean it up already just to try and get her next? At least it didn't stain the floor, whatever it was.

She cringed as Ruby excitedly turned the volume up. She could tell the screaming from the movie was fake but still. It was familiar.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" she groaned.

She might as well focus on one of two distracting things in the room. "No. Scratch that last one. I think I know how. How do you know where I live?"

"I feel offended that you don't already believe that I can pick locks," Ruby scoffed. "And bonus, got to do it twice in one day! Your lock was harder than the manager's though. You keep it in good condition. Anyway, also got some awesome blackmail so he handed over your address and here I am. Geez that was a long walk. Why do you live so far away?!"

Hedy really hoped that she hadn't had too much sugar already.

Ruby shifted so that she wasn't leaning on her cast as another violent scene started on screen.

"Hmm, they made good fake blood..." she mumbled.

She looked back at the mechanic after a moment.

"As to why I'm here, guess." She smirked at her again.

Hedy scoffed as she wheeled the rest of the way into the room.

"You walked?" Hedy asked incredulously.

She shook her head. "Look. I just needed some time to think. I didn't expect you to care if I came back or not."

Ruby groaned, pulling one boot off to massage her foot.

"The whole way," she muttered. "Anyway, it's because the Toys are sulking all over the place. And I like two of them now so that bothers me. Sure Toby's a jerk but Mangle hasn't come out from under the stage and Teddy's been snapping at everyone."

She looked up at Hedy, gaze steady.

"Why are they suffering if it wasn't their fault?" she asked.

"You don't understand," Hedy said, her voice hesitant and a little sad. "Don't think I'm trying to punish any of them. Not even Toby."

Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"They're like insecure teenagers and you left without telling them that?" she asked a little heatedly. "You could have said that you need some space and will tell them your decision later. Instead they think you might never come back."

"I know. I should have said something," Hedy admitted, "But all I could think about was that I needed to get out of there. I didn't want them to see me lose it I guess..." Her lips twitched. "Want to know something strange?"

Ruby cocked her head to the side, looking curious.

"I'm going to make a terrible mom. If ever. You're right about them. Being children that is. Teenagers. And no one's said it out loud and it's weird to think of but...I have kind of been their only parent figure besides Puppet." Hedy scoffed harshly at herself. "Hmph. Murder, betrayal, weakness, and abandonment. Some examples we've set."

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"You'd only be a bad example of you didn't try and fix it." She shrugged.

Hedy sighed through her nose.

"And what have I fixed Ruby? Mangle's still fragile and can't speak but she wants to tell stories so badly. She has dozens running through her head but can't even write them down properly to share with us. Toby can't tell right from wrong but he wishes he could so that the kids would like him more. Balloon Boy can't read even though he wants to. Then maybe everyone would stop thinking that he's stupid. Chi has memory problems that makes it hard for her to remember how to cook and she's insecure about it. Teddy wants to take care of his team, his family, but he's not sure how and the rules are the only guidelines he's had for so long. That and Puppet. Speaking of, as horrible a creature as he is, I can see he's scared of something. Something to do with night guards obviously. But he never talks. He'll never trust anyone. I'm trying my best but I'm not sure much more I can take. Knowing that my uncle and...others...have been...hurt doing their own bests doesn't help."

Ruby turned her full attention to the older girl now, a softer light having entered her eyes.

"Can't see the wood for the trees," she told her. "I didn't mean fix as in your completely fixed idea. You've done more than you think. The things I heard from the bots about them... they changed before they got here, they're more bearable. Mangle's not trying to kill me after all. And I made a truce with Teddy. Sure the rabbit and the chicken are stubborn but you're getting there. It won't just sort itself out after a few attempts. You've got to keep pushing and sure there will be set backs, but you'll get there in the end."

She sounded like she was talking from experience.

"It's not the end result that you should be focusing on. It's the process."

Hedy looked down, a tiny smile on her face. "You know, this isn't the next conversation I expected to have with you. The screaming in the background is ruining the mood a bit." She gestured to the movie then toward the direction of her roommates' shouting.

Ruby shrugged and grinned.

"Yeah but I didn't think that you would appreciate me tasering your roommates." She smirked, eyes drifting back to the tv.

After a moment she looked back at her.

"Anyway, that's what I wanted to say. I'm not the type to demand answers so I guess I'll leave you to find all the traps. Have fun. I've got to get back before Alice starts freaking out."

She stood up and grabbed her glitter bomb and popcorn and stopping the movie.

"Whoa. Did you not even hear the part about you not leaving until you clean up?" Hedy said sternly. "Call...Alice and tell her you're staying for a little while longer and if you get in trouble for that then I'll explain. I'll let you keep five traps up but only that, and the garage, attic, and basement are off limits. We have too many important things in our workshops." She looked Ruby in the eye, dead serious.

Ruby groaned at her, actually looking like an ordinary teenager for a brief second.

"Left my phone at the pizzeria by accident," she said as she dumped the popcorn back on the table. "Was a little high on pain meds again."

She stretched and winced slightly as she pulled on her broken arm.

"And I didn't make a mess. The mess in the bathroom is all because of your roommates swinging the net around. There's like, six traps now that you took that one down and those two set that one off. I started feeling lightheaded after that many so I settled on the movie."

"You can use my phone. Any traps in the workshops?"

No mess huh? Hedy made a pointed look toward the popcorn spilled on the floor beside the couch.

Ruby rolled her eyes at the look and actually picked it up to Hedy's surprise.

"Nah, I don't boobytrap other people's workstations. I'd kill if anyone did that to mine." She held her hand out absently for the phone as she put the popcorn back into the bucket.

Hedy handed it to her. "Good. Also I should probably point out that Sarah and Rena are probably almost out by now. Rena keeps a pocket knife."

There was a loud crash from the bathroom followed by lots of colourful cursing.

Ruby grinned. "Not bad then."

She didn't seem bothered as she dialled a number on the phone.

"Hey Alice-" a frantic, female voice exploded out of the phone and Ruby had to hold it away from her ear until someone else got it away from her.

"Oh, hey Clint. Yeah I'm fine. Went somewhere. Left my phone at work. Uh huh. Yup. I know. Sure. I will." She ended the conversation and handed the phone back to Hedy.

"Thanks."

She was looking at the bathroom now excitedly waiting for them to exit covered in who knew what.

"Where'd that little-" an angry voice said as the two other girls in the house rounded the corner.

"Wait. Rena..." the second voice cut herself off. "Hedy!? Did the psycho get you too? Ugh...my hair..."

They came into view and Hedy's eyes widened as she tried not to choke on her laughter.

It looked like they were covered in a combination of chocolate and cream. There were also rainbow sprinkles all over them.

Ruby had no such reservations about laughing and collapsed back on the couch, trying to drag air in between laughs.

Hedy snorted and her friends snapped around to look at her.

"Aw no fair." The white blond with wavy hair (now tangled and messy) pouted and glared at Hedy. "How come she didn't get you?" She was cringing at the stickyness of every movement.

The black girl with loose hair in a natural style crossed her arms and focused on Ruby as a drop of cream fell from her nose. "Who are you and what the heck are you still doing here?"

Ruby finally managed to get some words past her laughter.

"Came to...talk to...Hedy and...got bored..." she gasped.

After a few minutes she regained control and only giggled now and then.

"Hedy wanted me to clean up and make sure I didn't boobytrap anything important." she shrugged. "And she didn't fall for the kind-of-obvious prank. Name's Ruby."

Rena shut her mouth and turned to Hedy.

"Heds..."

"From work." Hedy said. "She has a couple pranks to clean up and she's helping with the bathroom."

"Ooooooh," Sarah said. "Thaaaat Ruby..."

Ruby looked pretty proud to be recognised.

"I said it wasn't my fault though." She pouted. "I told them to stop swinging the net and they didn't and knocked everything over. The chocolate is made so sticky so that it doesn't drip. I'll clean up a couple pranks though. Maybe the microwave one is too mean..."

"Thank you." Hedy said.

She then smirked at her roommates. "While she's doing that, who wants the shower first?"

"Out of my way!" Sarah yelled as she and Rena spun on their heels to make a run for it.

Rena turned too fast and hit the ground as Sarah jumped over her with little regard.

"Sorry! I have a date tonight!" She shouted.

Rena groaned without lifting her face from the floor. "She's going to be in there for hours."

"Then she can clean it up by herself." Hedy shrugged.

"Ugh. I'm going to go use the water hose outside." She gestured to Ruby, "Hey kid. Wanna help?"

Ruby was looking at the bathroom with an odd expression.

"Uh sure. But should I take the goop bomb out of the shower first?" she asked innocently. "Oh and I've got soap that gets it out of your hair faster."

She held the soap out to Rena.

Rena opened her mouth to respond but right on cue there was an explosion and a furious scream from the other side of the house.

Hedy couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

Now Sarah knew that pain she had laughed at Hedy for back in the day.

Ruby snickered madly and grabbed Rena's arm.

"Think the hose is your better option." She admitted.

By the time they got the bathroom and roommates clean it was growing dark outside. Ruby shoved her things into her bag awkwardly with one arm.

"Well I'd better head out." She was still grinning at the furious Sarah.

"See you tonight." Hedy said.

She was just going to have to deal with the memories like she always did.

"Wouldn't it be better if you stayed and let Hedy drive you?" Sarah asked as she sharply combed out her hair, still glaring at Ruby from the corner of her eye.

She really did have a date that night apparently. She had a nice dress on and everything.

Ruby visibly flinched at that suggestion and her tone was a little shakier than usual as she answered.

"Nah. I don't do...vehicles." She shrugged, this time uncomfortable and didn't look at them. "I'll be fine. The walks only like two hours and I've walked at night before. If anyone tries something I'll just taser them."

"Here." Hedy said handing Ruby her phone again. "Just in case."

She nodded, a slightly distant look in her eyes. With that the teenager headed out the door, throwing her usual smirk and a remark about finding the remaining traps over her shoulder.

They waited a moment until they were sure she was gone before turning on Hedy.

"Why did you let her keep some of those pranks up? I'm afraid to get in my bed now." Rena scowled and crossed her arms.

Hedy smiled softly and took a minute to reply.

"She puts pranks up in places where she wants to feel safe. Where she wants a piece of home. I didn't have the heart to take that away. In the end she's still a kid after all."

Chapter Text

That night Hedy arrived after Ruby was already causing nonsense. Rena and Sarah had set off every single trap that she left behind and were not happy with Hedy since she didn't get hit with one.

As she entered the building a glitter bomb went off in Toy Chica's face and Toby dived for Ruby furiously.

"Hey look! The perfect distraction!" Hedy suddenly shouted, making Toby trip and a couple other robots jump in surprise.

Ruby jumped over Toby, dropping a paint balloon on his head and ran away from him laughing. She bounced up to Hedy and held the phone out.

"Oh, Alice said thanks and apologises for any damage I may have caused." she even managed to keep a straight face as she said that.

Hedy huffed but nodded. "Did she make you memorize that little speech?"

"Yup." she grinned, not looking like she regretted anything.

"Hedy!" Toy Chica shrieked happily and ran up, making Ruby jump back so that she didn't get run over.

"Gah!" Hedy gasped as the chicken awkwardly gave her a tight hug, careful not to pull her out of her wheelchair.

Mangle scrambled forward and took her turn hugging Hedy, adding to the mechanic's surprise.

'I'm so sorry. Don't leave please.' Mangle signed, her ears back and fearful.

Teddy came in from the other room at that moment and looked very relieved to see Hedy.

"I'm not going anywhere Mags and you don't have to be sorry for anything. I shouldn't have left like that." Hedy apologized after Ruby murmured a translation to her.

She was still not used to sign language especially if Mangle signed quickly.

Mangle did her best to curl up against Hedy, shaking slightly. Ruby gave a slight wave, threw a rather rude sign over at Toby before sauntering over to the originals.

The blue rabbit was looking at Hedy with a mix of guilt, stubbornness and relief from where he was standing while BB bounced happily next to Hedy's chair.

"We were so worried!" Chi wrung her hands anxiously.

"I know. I already got the lecture from Ruby." Hedy sighed.

They blinked in surprise before all eyes turned to Ruby.

"What?" she asked defensively. "You were moping. I hate moping."

She then pulled out some movies that got the originals all excited and distracted from the mechanic.

Hedy shook her head, a small smile on her face. The night guard just couldn't say that she was worried about the Toys too.

Before anyone could really do anything, BB had latched onto Ruby's leg and was beaming up at her. She jumped and looked down in surprise and the others worried that she was going to send him flying again. After a moment she shrugged and patted the 'bots head before going back to what she was doing.

That was… shocking to say the least.

The atmosphere between Hedy and Ruby seemed to have relaxed somewhat. They still bickered over the smallest things and avoided the opposite group of 'bots but there was a diminished amount of hostility.

And BB hung onto Ruby's leg, staring at her with adoring eyes for most of the night. Strangely the night guard didn't seem bothered at all.

About halfway through the shift Ruby heard Hedy's phone ring where she left it on the table. The mechanic was somewhere else working on Mangle so Ruby answered the phone with her usual lack of concern for other's privacy.

"Hello!" she greeted cheerily.

"Uh, hi?" a confused, male voice answered. "Um, are you one of Hedy's roommates? I need to talk to her."

"Nope. I'm the night guard." Ruby answered happily. "She's somewhere fixing one of the animatronics. Can I take a message?"

For a moment Ruby was certain the man was having a heart attack on the phone as he sputtered and gasped for breath.

"ANIMATRONICS?!" exploded out of the phone and she had to jerk it away from her ear.

"Ow." She deadpanned when there was a moment of silence on the line. "Just… ow."

"What the HELL are you talking about?! Animatronics?!" the man demanded, sounding angry and… scared.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "First maybe I should ask who the heck you are."

"I'm her brother!" his voice went up a few octaves as he panicked about everything apparently.

"Okaaaaaay." Ruby drew the word out. "So then you should know that she's working as the night mechanic at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria right?"

From the sudden hyperventilating she guessed he didn't know.

"Or not." Ruby was starting to worry about killing this guy over the phone now.

"No no no no no no no no no no no." he was muttering to himself. "What is she thinking?!"

"Uh buddy? Deep breaths. Seriously, you need to calm down before you pass out." She tried, her voice taking on that soothing tone she used on the kids when they had a nightmare.

"Wait! You said you were the night guard?!" he suddenly cried.

"Yeaaaaaaaah." She answered, drawing out the word again.

"You have to get out of there! Oh my gosh its already past midnight. You have to find Hedy and get out of there!" he near screeched.

Ruby rubbed her ringing ear before answering.

"Listen, I'm fine. I've been here for-" he cut her off.

"Why does no one ever believe me?! Why does Hedy insist on doing these things?! I'm driving down there. Just… don't die before I get there." The man hung up and Ruby was left staring at the phone, speechless.

She glanced down at BB who was looking at her curiously from his position on her leg.

"Did you know that Hedy had a brother?"

He shook his head.

"Well… I'd better go tell her that her brother is freaking out and on his way from… wherever."

She started to look for Hedy and Mangle, having already adjusted to the extra weight.

When the 'bot wasn't going crazy from batteries he was kind of cute.

"Hey… Hedy?" Ruby called when she entered the room with the mechanic.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up from her work.

"Your brother's weird." She stated bluntly, holding the phone out to her. "He freaked out and is on his way he said.

Hedy looked at her, then to the phone and back again. This continued for a few seconds before her eyes widened in horror and she dropped her tools.

"You… uh… you didn't let it slip that I'm working here… did you?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah." The night guard answered. "He freaked out. Completely. My ear's still ringing. You didn't tell your brother that you're working here?"

Hedy, however, was on 'panicking out of her mind' planet.

"Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh. Why! Why did he have to phone now?! Ugh!" she buried her face in her hands.

Ruby tilted her head and glanced at Teddy and Mangle.

'Did you know that she had a brother?' she signed to Mangle.

The fox shook her head looking surprised and slightly hurt.

"He said he's driving down." Ruby shoved the phone in her hand. "You might want to phone him back before he has a heart attack."

Hedy groaned but dialed quickly.

"Hey listen-" she tried but the phone exploded into noise.

"Just listen-" she was cut off again. "I know-"

He yelled something that sounded final and the phone cut off.

Hedy glared at it.

"Overprotective… never listens…" she muttered sourly.

"So…" Ruby tilted her head. "You have a brother?"

"Yes." She groaned.

"Who's coming here."

"Yes."

"And knows about the animatronics."

"Yes."

"And didn't know you were working here."

"Yes."

"Can I-"

"No."

Ruby pouted. "You're no fun."

Hedy was silent for a moment.

"If he won't listen then you can."

"Yay!"

Ruby ran off with BB still on her leg.

Teddy and Mangle stared at Hedy, wondering when she started understanding Ruby-speak.

Hedy was stressing, not able to focus on anything as she kept glancing at the clock. By her estimations he would almost be here. Especially if he was driving like a frantic maniac like she expected.

She tugged on her hair worriedly.

Ruby had run off to create 'welcome traps' but Toby kept setting them off so that had started a fight between the two.

By now all the 'bots knew about Hedy's brother being on his way. The Toys were curious and the Originals were wary.

The main room was empty luckily when Hedy heard screeching tires followed by frantic footsteps.

"Hedy!" he screamed as he banged on the door.

The mechanic rolled her eyes and headed over to open the door. He was instantly checking her over while trying to drag her out the building.

"Are you alright?! Oh my gosh what are you doing here?! The night guard that was on the phone is she… did they…" he was definitely starting to have a panic attack.

"Jeremy! Stop it!" Hedy was getting annoyed as he dragged her chair towards the door.

At that moment Ruby sauntered into the room and spotted them. She raised an eyebrow and tossed a glitter bomb at them.

Hedy wasn't happy about the covering of glitter but at least it gave her the chance to back further into the restaurant while her brother looked around wildly.

"What the heck?!" his eyes eventually fell on Ruby.

"Will you just calm down Jeremy!" Hedy huffed, looking annoyed. "I'm fine. She's fine. The world's not going to implode so CALM DOWN."

His eyes were darting all over the place now, taking in the building, his sister and the girl standing with an improvised night guard cap on her head.

She couldn't have been eighteen. There was no way.

"This place is hiring kids now?!" his voice rose in pitch again.

Ruby scowled. "I'm not a KID buddy. And I'm perfectly capable."

"Listen Jer. It's difficult to explain. I know you don't like it here but-" Hedy was speaking gently now.

"Like it?!" the man glared at her. "I HATE it! This place is dangerous! You of all people should know that!"

"Jeremy!" Hedy's tone turned sharp again.

Her brother did have that annoying tendency to baby her. Which was why she didn't tell him about this job in the first place. Among other reasons.

His mouth snapped shut and he looked at her.

"Things have changed." She assured him.

His glare darkened.

"Are you TRYING to get killed Hedy?!" he demanded, looking furious.

The sentient bowling ball decided that that was a good time to barrel into the room and latch onto Ruby's leg again.

It was still weird how he'd grown so attached to the teenager suddenly.

Jeremy let out a (rather girly in Ruby's opinion) scream and yanked on Hedy's chair again, to try and escape.

She wasn't going anywhere though as BB looked at him, cocked his head and said "Hi."

Jeremy screamed again.

"What is with all the screaming?!" Toby demanded, sticking his head into the room.

Jeremy froze, staring at the blue rabbit in fear. Hedy facepalmed.

Toby stared at Jeremy for a good minute before he screamed.

"What the heck?! You're supposed to be dead!" he pointed at the terrified man.

"Toby what are you yelling about now?" Teddy asked but stopped dead as he entered the room and spotted Jeremy.

His jaw dropped, apparently thinking the same thing.

"Dead?" Ruby asked curiously, patting a… purring(?) BB on the head.

Hedy was massaging her temples.

The rest of the 'bots trickled in and had similar reactions. Even Puppet was watching from the doorway. All eyes turned to Hedy for an explanation as Jeremy backed up against the wall. He looked like he was ready to bolt but didn't want to leave his sister there.

Hedy sighed as she caught Ruby's expectant look.

"First off. Jeremy, you can relax. They don't do… that, anymore." She started.

"Not by choice." Toby muttered.

Teddy hit him over the head.

"Shut up." She snapped at the rabbit, having no patience for him at the moment. "Anyway, yeah. Stop freaking out. Second, this is Jeremy. He's my brother and used to be a night guard."

"Really?" Ruby looked interested.

"But… he was dead!" Toby repeated.

"Shut up Toby!" everyone responded.

"He faked his death. To get you guys to leave him alone on night six." She explained.

Ruby whistled while the others gaped at him.

"Wow. You made it to night six?"

"What the hell is going on here?!" the poor man cried, still looking torn between running away from them and protecting Hedy.

The mechanic sighed again.

"They won't hurt you. They can't really."

"They're tricking you! What kind of sick ploy are they pulling now?!" he demanded.

Hedy rolled her eyes before turning to Ruby.

"I think he needs a demonstration." She admitted.

Ruby's grin had them all scrambling backwards for cover as she pounced on Toby. He shrieked as she got a hold on him and attached a chocolate bomb. Jumping away she set it off and dodged his furious blows, laughing all the while.

"Gonna have to try harder than that cotton butt!" she sing songed and skipped out of range again.

"I'll kill you!" he screeched.

"Like I haven't heard that before." She rolled her eyes before whacking him over the head with Betty.

"Good enough demonstration?" she asked with a sadistic grin, looking back at Hedy while Toby groaned at her feet.

The mechanic nodded.

"She's the one you've got to be afraid of when you're here." She deadpanned while the 'bots nodded.

Ruby skipped over to the Originals.

"How do you swing that hard with only one arm?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"I'm that good." She smirked.

Jeremy dropped in a dead faint at that point.

They stared at him silently before Ruby spoke up.

"Well. I'm bored. Who wants to play?"

The 'bots scattered with squeaks of fear.

Chapter Text

Jeremy Fitzgerald had only experienced unconsciousness a few times in his life and all occasions were for bad and/or stupid reasons. But the description of feeling like he was underwater was pretty accurate.

He wasn't even aware he had blacked out until vague, incomprehensible voices trickled through the darkness. Next came light but it was faint and only added to the fuzzy feeling. Plus his head really hurt.

He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut at the pain.

"You hit your head." the harsh clipped tone of his baby sister drifted to his ears.

It was the first voice that wasn't getting lost in translation from his ears to his brain.

Great. What did he do now? She only used that tone if she thought he was being exceptionally stupid.

It was a trait she and his wife both shared funnily enough.

"Hmmugh. What happened?" he moaned.

"You don't remember?"

He shook his head and winced.

"You want the short version or the long one?"

"Sort. I mean, short." he mumbled.

"You are an overbearing, overprotective, hair-brained, distrustful, blondist-blond idiot that is one of only three blood relatives I have in the world yet the only one who decided a panic attack was worth a possible death by brain injury from making out with the floor."

"I had a really strange dream." he mumbled, still a bit out of it.

"Did you hear a word I just said?!"

"Not really." he groaned. "Tuned out after 'hair-brained'."

"Yeah I still don't see the resemblance..." was that a different voice?

"Well, their hairs' the same. But he looks too old."

"Quiet guys." That was Hedy's voice again.

There were other voices in the background whispering. There was giggling too.

"I'm serious about the dream. How hard did I hit my head?"

Someone tossed something cold into his lap.

"You're fine. Just don't go jumping around doing anything strenuous for the next hour." That was another girl's voice that was vaguely familiar.

"Strenuous like running away."

"Not helping, Mari." Hedy hissed at someone else.

"Not trying to."

"Oh shut up Clown. Hedy gave me permission to torment him, not you. But since when do I listen." The voice sounded distinctly threatening.

Hedy ignored the bickering and spoke to Jeremy. "This dream you just had. Was it about Freddy's?"

Jeremy opened one eye in a squint and looked at her.

"Yeah how did y-." his question died on his tongue as the pieces clicked back into place and he actually got a look at where he was.

There was silence for all of three seconds as everyone stared at him and he stared back.

Foxy couldn't help it...A grin snuck its way onto his face.

"Boo."

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

"Aaaand we're back to screaming." Ruby grinned as Hedy gave Foxy an annoyed looked.

The night guard was snickering along with the pirate fox.

"Nice going Captain." She smirked while Freddy glowered at them.

"You are a terrible influence." He muttered.

Hedy lost her patience finally. "JEREMY FITZGERALD!" She suddenly shouted in her brother's face.

"WHAT!"

"SHUT THE HECK UP!"

"YOU SHUT UP! YOU'RE THE CRAZY PERSON!"

"I DIDN'T SPEND SEVERAL HOURS BLOWING THROUGH THIRTY RED LIGHTS ON THE WAY HERE!"

"IT WAS FIFTEEN AT MOST!

"TELL THAT TO AMELIA WHEN YOU GET THE BILL!"

"Ok, I'll be sure to mention that IF WE'RE NOT DEAD! YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULDN'T-."

"Um, excuse me." Ruby raised her non-broken hand. "Can I-"

"NO!" both siblings turned to her and shouted.

Ruby blinked.

"Okay then..." She then turned on her heel. "I brought the duct tape for the blue rabbit but I think he'll get a pass tonight."

Toby wisely didn't respond and kept his wide eyes glued to the man yelling at Hedy along with the rest of the bots.

Hedy however heard Ruby and lowered her voice. "Jer, just calm down for a minute or you're going to pass out again. Please don't make me slap you."

"I AM NOT CALMING DOWN! YOU'RE WORKING IN A DEATH TRAP WITH A BUNCH OF FREAK ROBOT MONSTERS! HOW CAN I CALM-"

Smack!

Even Ruby looked shocked. She wasn't expecting Hedy, the one who usually tried to break up fights, to actually slap him.

"Don't call my friends freaks or monsters. They're neither." Hedy said with that chilling anger that so often conflicted with Ruby's hot temper.

Jeremy seemed shocked into some sense as he held his cheek and stared wide eyed at the occupants of the room.

He swallowed and nodded numbly. As the panic subsided, he realized that they should all actually be dead already if something really strange wasn't going on.

"Um, can we ask those questions now?" Chica asked timidly.

Hedy winced but nodded anyway. She shifted uncomfortably and cringed at the look a few of the Toys were sporting.

Ruby looked between Jeremy and the door, a mental dilemma going on. "Answers. Duct tape. Answers. Duct tape."

Eventually, one choice won and she turned around with an agitated sigh and jumped up onto the counter in the staff room they were all in.

"Me first!" she chirped.

BB pouted from where he stood on the floor. He couldn't get up onto the counter where Ruby was now standing.

Hedy gave a long suffering sigh and gestured for her to go ahead.

"Why didn't you just leave if you didn't want to do this job?" Ruby asked immediately.

"He's a stubborn idiot who refuses to tell our dad that the animatronics were trying to kill him because it sounds crazy." Hedy answered flatly.

"It is crazy!" Jeremy squeaked.

"Shut up unless you're going to contribute something helpful." Hedy snapped, annoyed.

"Which incarnation of Freddy's did you work at?" she asked next, staring at him intently from her high ground.

"The one that brought the Toys in for the first time." Hedy answered when it seemed like Jeremy had lost the ability to speak.

"So you were up against the Toys?" she tilted her head.

After a long moment he nodded slowly, staring at the strange teenager.

"Well there's the problem!" she grinned widely. "They sucked before Hedy and I talked/knocked some sense into them. Those two still suck though."

She pointed at Toby and Chi who glared back at her.

"It's not that simple Ruby." Hedy sighed in frustration.

"They tried to kill me!" Jeremy cried. "They came fricking close a bunch of times too! Those ones too!"

He pointed indignantly at the Originals who did look upset about the whole thing. Foxy was looking a little guilty about giving him a fright too.

Ruby glanced at them, knowing that they'd been involved back then too. Not willingly of course.

"So?"

"SO?! Jeremy sputtered.

"They tried to kill me too. Several times. I've had this job for months now though so everything's good. The Barbie rabbit and chicken still try some stupid things though and the Clown's an idiot too."

The insulted 'bots glared harshly at her.

Jeremy gaped at the teenager.

"What the hell?! You can't be more than fourteen?!"
Now the night guard bristled, eyes narrowing. She leapt down and stalked towards the man.

"I am SIXTEEN you idiot! And I really hate it when people underestimate me. Yes I'm young but I've done better than anyone else in this job. I'm still alive after all."

Her sharp eyes didn't move from his face and she was exuding a dangerous aura now. He swallowed audibly.

"You had to fake your death to survive night six. I survived it TWICE." She snarled, eyes glinting angrily.

"Ruby!" Hedy snapped suddenly. "You can't blame him for not knowing. He doesn't live around here so he hasn't heard about you."

"Hmph." Ruby took a step back but still glared at him.

The mechanic sighed in relief.

"Maybe we should discuss this at my house Jer." She suggested.
She was worried about him saying something bad about the Originals and setting Ruby off again.

At that moment the chimes went off and the 'bots turned to hesitantly go back to their places. Ruby grabbed her bag and stalked towards the door.

"You better not try anything to MY 'bots buddy. Then you'll have ME to deal with. And I don't stop when the chime go off." She threw a glare over her shoulder before disappearing out the door.

Jeremy turned to look at his sister.

"Come on. It's a long story." She sighed and headed towards the door.

Ruby came back into the pizzeria that afternoon, having a meeting scheduled with the manager. She'd been thinking about the night's events all day and so was slightly distracted when she entered. She waved at the 'bots before heading to the office.

"So what is it manager?" she asked, not meaning to sound rude but being too distracted to care.

"I have some exciting news!" the man smiled, used to her attitude by now. "We're opening up a new attraction!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. What the heck? Attraction? This wasn't a theme park.

"Okay?" she prompted.

"We recently discovered a piece of Fazbear history. An animatronic from one of the first restaurants. And it still works!" he seemed giddy in his excitement.

"A new animatronic?" she asked skeptically.

There were more? Hopefully they weren't like the Toys…

"Yes! I'm not sure about its original origins but it was the main star of a horror themed attraction years ago."

"Horror?" now Ruby was just confused.

"Yes. It took advantage of the restaurant's rather… gruesome rumours." He grimaced.

"How come I've never heard of it?" she asked curiously.

"Well…" now he seemed nervous. "The place burnt down before it could officially open. Fazbear's Fright I think it was called."

Ruby just stared as she waited for the reason for her presence.

"So we're planning on bringing Springtrap in and building a more… exciting area for the older children. As you're in charge of the animatronics I needed to talk to you first." He explained.

"Springtrap? Weird name. But sure, that sounds like a pretty cool idea actually. I'm guessing this is also going to become part of my 'places to keep an eye on' while I'm on the job right?"

He nodded.

"Alright. Looking forward to seeing the 'horror' animatronic." She grinned. "Certainly sounds… interesting."

As always, her sadistic smirk sent shivers down the manager's spine.

"Ah, yes." His smiled was strained. "Then I'll trust it to you."

As Ruby left the room she caught a glimpse of that strange ghost child again. Before they disappeared she spotted their expression.

Terror. Complete terror.

Now what was going to happen?

Chapter Text

The door slammed open startling Rena. She looked up from the set she was working on and glanced toward the stairs leading down from her attic workshop. Frowning, she checked her watch. Sarah just left five minute before, all the while complaining about Hedy being late for class if she slept in. Seriously. Sarah wasn't the one with the night time job. Hedy's first class didn't start until nine. It was Sarah who was obsessed with waking up at ridiculous hours.

Rena really hoped it was Hedy. It better not be that nutty kid again. Ruby was it?

That idea went out the window as a harsh voice drifted up the stairs.

"Rena, you home!?" Hedy called from the bottom.

"Yeah?" She leaned back until she could see her friend.

Something was up. Hedy didn't usually sound so stressed, even at times she probably should have been.

"My brother's coming over in a few minutes. I hate to ask but do you think you could...make yourself scarce for a couple hours?"

Rena paused but didn't say anything as she came down.

Hedy wheeled backward out of her way.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah just...personal family stuff..." Hedy muttered, instinctively tugging on her hair again.

"Never actually met your brother face to face. He cute?" Rena asked as the faint sound of another car pulled into the driveway.

"He's over thirty and married." Hedy deadpanned.

"Didn't answer my question."

"Oh shut up and get out of here." Hedy said hitting Rena on the arm lightly.

"'Kay. Let me get my stuff." Rena shrugged and wiped the grin off her face.

Hedy watched as her roommate shuffled up the stairs at an unconcerned pace.

Rena was a good friend. She knew when not to question Hedy's need for privacy.

Then again, she was likely going to demand answers later.

The door opened again and Hedy turned to see Jeremy looking around from the doorway.

"Heh. It's been ages since I've seen this place." he said, reservedly.

Rena came hopping down the steps, backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Oh hey! I'm Rena. We talked over the phone a couple times."

"Hello. I'm Jeremy. Nice to finally meet you."

"Cool. So Hedy, I'm off to go to that meeting thing I'm late for. Need me to tell the professors you're not coming today?"

"If you don't mind."

Rena shrugged and waved as she closed the door behind her.

Jeremy and Hedy just stayed there in the hallway, staring each other down.

The eldest spoke first.

"...You know, I never really stopped you from investigating what happened..."

Hedy scowled and looked down.

"I probably should have. It wasn't healthy. But I understood; I needed the closure too. I even covered for you with Dad."

Jeremy eyed his sister and levelled his stare like he did with his kids when they misbehaved.

"But even when you hit a dead end and couldn't go any further, we agreed you would never go near that place! And you didn't. You let it go. For years! What the heck changed?!"

Hedy didn't answer but lifted her gaze to glare at her brother.

"And now not only are you going there, but you're working there! During the night shift! As a mechanic! A mechanic Hedy! What the hell!?"

"No swearing." Hedy muttered.

"Oh now she speaks!"

"Oh shut up."

"No you shut up! I don't care what you have to do, but you are never going back there! You are going to call the manager or owner and tell them you quit. If you have to find a replacement, fine! Do that from home! But you are not going back there!"

This time Hedy's anger edged up another notch. "First off, we never agreed I wouldn't go there. You, not 'we', said it was too dangerous and I never went there, out of respect for you. It was never that place that scared me. It was never the animatronics that scared me. I knew it was dangerous because of what you told me, but I wasn't afraid. Second, I never just 'let it go'. How could I? I thought there was no one left to care about what happened! No one cared anymore. I even went looking for the detective! You know what he said? Drop it kid. Third. I'm not quitting my job. I don't care what you say. They...they need me there."

Jeremy put his hands to his face and stifled a frustrated scream. He then turned back to face his sister.

Hedy looked at him steadily as he bent his lanky self down to her level and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Hedy..."

The mechanic put her hands over his own. Her look softened as she felt him tremble.

He was scared. He honestly was terrified for her safety.

"Sis. I've come way too close to losing you before. Don't make me go through that again...please."

"...Jer." Hedy squeezed her brothers hands. "Things are different now. The originals...er...the older versions don't want to hurt anyone. The Toys, a couple at least, still want to hurt people, but even if they could they wouldn't hurt me. Believe me please."

Jeremy didn't look up. "Why can't they hurt anyone?"

"That girl. Ruby made a deal with them. She made a deal with the older ones too, but I'm not sure on the details. They're a little odd. I'm still not sure what their motives for stuffing night guards was. Whatever it was, Ruby changed their minds. Anyway, the deal was if she could survive all week then they couldn't ever hurt anyone again as long as she worked there. The originals, her friends-don't make that face Jeremy-couldn't help her out."

"And if they killed her?"

"Things would keep going as they were." Hedy sighed.

"She's insane.

"That isn't the half of it. She never used the doors and never stayed in the office."

"What?!"

"Instead she ran around the place setting pranks and annoying everyone. Myself included."

"Wait." Jeremy interrupted. "When did you come in? Why weren't the Toys going after you?"

Hedy swallowed. "Uh..."

"Hedy..."

"...They uh weren't in great shaped after being in storage for so long...soooo I took the job to fix them about month before they...actually came to the restaurant."

The girl kept talking as her brother tensed. "They...they did hunt me."

Jeremy looked ready to scream and cry at the same time.

"Jer! It's okay! I'm fine. They decided not to hurt me. I made friends with them. They trust me."

"This sounds like Stockholm Syndrome."

"It isn't. I swear. It would be if they were abusive and I kept defending them when they were. I don't. I'm okay with them being taught a lesson when they need it. I did it before, but now I let Ruby or...Foxy... handle it...I know the Toys are evil sometimes, but they are changing."

"But they still want to kill people."

"...Yes."

"HE-."

"But that's changing! Even before I met them, Mangle and Toy Freddy in particular were starting to question what they were doing. It was the Puppet's fault and they-."

Jeremy let go of her and sat back on his heels, staring at the floor.

"..."

"What is it?"

He smirked. "It's just bizarre how you talk about them like people."

"They're self-aware." Hedy said.

"I never got the memo. Little too busy trying not to die to have a little chat. What about the originals? You're not convincing me enough about those ones."

"They're not what you expect. I'm not sure how much they've changed but Ruby trusts them like family. They may not like me, not sure why, but they've never hurt me. They're actually just as dorky as the next person." She smirked slightly. "Golden Freddy, call her Goldy by the way, is a huge fan of Harry Potter. She's um...of all of them...she's the least hostile to me."

Jeremy couldn't help the snort, but he quieted and went back to frowning at the floor.

Hedy let him sit there for a minute in silence.

After a while he finally said something that Hedy had been dreading.

"You didn't answer my question. What changed? What made you change your mind and break your promise about going near that place?"

It was Hedy's turn to tremble. She leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees as she buried her head in her hand.

Jeremy let her be.

"I got a call from Uncle Scott while I was at your house this summer. He left a message. Several actually. I was during that last week before he retired like he promised."

"And?"

"He started talking about some really weird stuff. The animatronics. White eyes. Something I had to find. Boxes. Suits. Files. He kept mentioning that it was his last week over and over again. I didn't think it was important until I finally found the last message."

"...Why?" Jeremy decided to let his confusion over the "white eyes" detail slipped.

What was special about that? That was just the night vision right?

Hedy was still. She sniffed.

"He said he was sorry for what happened and said I needed to come. I haven't heard anything else from him since. I can't find him anywhere..."

There was a heavy silence over the house.

Jeremy couldn't move.

It wasn't true. It couldn't be.

"Those bas-."

The man looked up at the sound of sobs.

Hedy didn't cry often, but when she did it was usually only a few tears. Not this time.

Wordlessly, he picked up his little sister from her chair and carried her into the living room.

She didn't protest and instead held onto his neck like she did when she was a little girl.

They sat next to each other on the couch, TV and lights off, as Hedy cried on her brother's shoulder. She didn't want to admit it but it was actually a relief not being the only one who knew Scott was gone.

"It was them wasn't it?" Jeremy finally said when Hedy's sobs had subsided to shuddering sniffles. His voice was laced with disbelief and dull anger.

She nodded, head still leaning on his shoulder. "He was gone long before Ruby came and stopped them. But..."

"..."

"If you had killed a lot of people and someone who knew your victim said they knew you did it, how would you react?"

"How many people have I killed?" Jeremy asked.

"Too many."

"Then at that point I wouldn't care very much, but I might be afraid about being caught. Maybe I would taunt them."

"Hm. That's not...what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I told the originals I knew they killed him..."

Jeremy tensed again. "Why?"

"I wasn't thinking straight. Maybe I wanted to test them. But when I said I was Scott's niece...they were...shocked. And guilty..."

"Guilty?"

"I don't understand them. They killed far more people than the Toys have, yet they act guilty and as if they never wanted to."

"I hope you aren't expecting an answer from me Hedy."

Hedy shook her head and wiped her tears away.

"You're still going tonight..." Jeremy murmured.

"You haven't even really tried to convince me not to. You just listened."

"...I've known you your entire life Wig. Nothing I say or do-short of committing you to an insane asylum-would stop you. But I have to know. What are you looking for?"

"Answers. I'm not sure who has them though." Hedy grimaced at the nickname.

"Do those monster know who you are?"

"...not really. And don't call them monsters. They're going to ask a lot of questions tonight. They might connect the dots now that you're here." Hedy winced, "Actually...Goldy knew the whole time...she's probably the only one who's going to be on our side tonight until the others calm down about me lying."

"..."

"Come with me tonight."

"What!?"

"I'm serious. You obviously don't believe me about them being safe. I want to introduce you properly. They just remember you as that one particular night guard."

Jeremy hesitated, every survival instinct in his body on fire. But he knew he couldn't stop Hedy from going. She'd taze him if it came to that. And if he went and things went wrong then at least he'd be there to keep her safe.

"Fine. But I'm not making friends. They killed Scott. I'm not letting that go! And I'm not just going to forget how many time those freaky foxes almost chewed my face off. And if the panty wearing chicken takes off her beak, then I'm-!"

"Okay okay. Word of advice. Don't insult or talk bad about the animatronics."

"Why. I'm going to hurt their feelings?" he scoffed.

"...Nooo...but Ruby and I might hurt you."

He flinched at the look in her eyes.

"Whatever." He muttered petulantly.

"Oh, and I wouldn't say anything bad about Foxy. After Ruby's through with you you'll probably wish that the animatronics had finished the job instead…" Hedy added after a moment's thought.

Jeremy gulped nervously.

Chapter Text

As Hedy finally coaxed Jeremy in through the door, manic laughter greeted them (not really new to Hedy).

Ruby went racing past in full pirate mode, outfit and all. She was swinging a very real looking sword as she had a duel with Foxy. Neither really noticed the siblings arrive.

Freddy spotted them though and nodded in greeting. He seemed to be a little less frosty around her lately at least. Mangle was next to him with Teddy and Bonnie. Bonnie was bouncing in place excitedly as he watched the fight while Mangle watched in mild concern.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that Captain!" Ruby announced as she spun under his sword.

"Aye lass. You're quite the swordswoman!" Foxy returned, a very happy smirk on his face.

The other Toys were on the other side of the room (Toby already covered in chocolate) obviously waiting for Hedy. Chica was chatting to Goldy on the opposite side.

Jeremy made an odd little noise that was the very opposite of manly as Hedy patted his arm.

"Relax. No one's in danger..." she said. "Er...except maybe Toby." She frowned as her eyes followed Ruby who was still too preoccupied to notice them.

"Toby?"

"Toy Bonnie remember."

"Right..."

Goldy decided to pop up next to them at that moment.

"Why's there a day dedicated to talking like a pirate?" she asked Hedy with a frown. "Ruby just burst in, announced that the night was about that and started a sword fight with Foxy."

At this point, Ruby had leapt onto a table and was probably re-enacting something from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Most likely something to do with Jack Sparrow.

Foxy just laughed and continued the duel.

"AAH!" Jeremy jumped nearly two feet in the air at the sight of Goldy popping in.

Hedy jumped and squeaked in surprise. "Late reaction much?"

Goldy looked over at Jeremy for a moment, that look in her eyes that reminded Hedy that she was the oldest one there despite her often childish attitude.

"Uh, sorry." she apologised. "I'm used to everyone being... used to it now."

BB ran up to them too and hugged Hedy.

"Hi!" he grinned.

Ruby and Foxy had paused their fight to look over at them along with every single animatronic. Even Mari was in the room, sitting in the corner. His eyelights were fixed on them.

"I suddenly regret this." Jeremy muttered, wanting to shrink into nothingness.

"If you make a run for the guard room and use up the generator with the doors, I will never forgive you." Hedy deadpanned.

"Hello Mr. Fitzgerald." Mari said from across the room.

He tilted his head and played a few notes of his music box.

Ruby turned and threw the Puppet a venomous glare.

If looks could kill...

"Want a repeat of the suit incident?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice.

Foxy snickered at the memory.

Looking around Hedy could see everyone reacting quite obviously.

Toby was switching between glaring at Jeremy and Ruby. Chi was fuming silently at the floor. Teddy was being used as a shield by a nervous Mangle. Bonnie was doing the same with Foxy. Freddy was watching them cautiously. Chica was shifting nervously from foot to foot and wringing her hands. Goldy was still floating near them, expression neutral.

She'd totally known about this. Hedy was sure.

"Yeah I know you have questions. Yes, Jeremy Fitzgerald is my brother and yes I know he was the last guard at the old place before it shut down. My name is Hedy Fitzgerald and I didn't tell you because I didn't want him knowing I was here and because I didn't want you all acting weird around me. And yes Foxy, he was the one who told me about the flashlight trick. He's staying for a couple days, until I can convince him not to commit me to an insane asylum."