Chapter Text
5 Hours After the Incidence
Gregory had been sleeping on Roxanne’s couch for the better part of the last five hours. Curled up and hugging a Freddy Fazbear plushie tightly in his arms, he looked so peaceful. Roxy hated having to wake him, but given that guests were now entering the Pizzaplex, it had to be done.
“Hey, kid. Kid, it’s time to get up.” She whispered as she gently nudged the boy.
“Mmmmh…” Gregory slowly sat up while rubbing his eyes. “... What’s going on?”
Roxanne gave him a sympathetic smile and patted him on the head. “Sorry, kiddo. I hate to have to kick you out of my room like this, but the Pizzaplex is open now and we can’t have guests see you sleeping in here now can we?”
“I guess not…” Replied Gregory, staring down on the floor and rubbing his bandaged upper arm.
Roxy went back to her vanity table to look over her appearance. The time between opening and noon were Rockstar Meetup hours, meaning that guests could be entering Rockstar Row any minute now to meet and take photos with their favorite animatronics. As such, she needed to look her best.
“You should go check in with Chica,” Roxanne said as she looked at Gregory’s reflection in the mirror. “I told her to get some breakfast for you.”
The thought made him visibly gag.
Roxy gave Gregory a flat look. “No. It’s not trash.” She then returned her attention to herself. “Chica may have her… issues… but she’s also programmed to hand out treats to guests and is incapable of giving out anything that’s toxic.”
“... If you say so,” Gregory replied, not looking entirely convinced.
“More importantly, she’s the one person who can get a large amount of food during opening hours without raising suspicions.” The two exchanged glances through the mirror for a few moments before Roxanne finally added, “And if she does give you trash, let me know and I’ll go have a chat with her.”
The boy couldn’t help but let out a snort at that, and Roxy responded with a reassuring grin.
“Now get out of here,” the wolf animatronic said as she continued to look herself over. “Can’t have you hogging all of my attention, now can I?”
“Alright,” Gregory replied as he went to collect his things.
“Hold on.” Roxanne turned to the boy just as he was about to leave. “The others will be busy with their respective attractions for most of the day, but given that Roxy Raceway is still under maintenance, I have plenty of spare time to hang out with you after 11:00 AM, if you want.”
The boy beamed a smile at her. “I’d like that!”
“Great!” Roxanne grinned. “Normally, I spend my day at the Raceway motivating the workers, but they can probably manage without me.”
“Okay, well see you later, Roxy!” Gregory waved at her as he backed out through the door.
“Later, kid,” Roxanne replied just before the door to her room slid shut.
Gregory took a minute to just take in the sights of Rockstar Row. Being on his own again in the Pizzaplex, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. His thoughts were flooded with memories of hiding and being chased around all night. Sure, it turned out that all of the other animatronics were just trying to help him, but even so he couldn’t help but to recall the absolute terror he felt at the time. And Vanny… Vanny had almost killed him. The only one who he had never been afraid of, who made him feel safe was…
Freddy.
It all suddenly rushed back to him. Vanessa had trapped Freddy and detached his head in Parts and Service. Gregory was going to put Freddy back together when he was suddenly attacked by Vanny! As Gregory made his escape, Freddy was just left down there by himself!
His breathing became more rapid. He ran to the window of Freddy’s Room to see if anyone was in there. Inside, he saw the animatronic bear giving himself a look over by his vanity table. However, once he spotted the boy’s reflection, he immediately turned around and waved at him with a warm smile on his face.
“Freddy!!!” Gregory ran, rushing through the door before throwing his arms around the bear’s legs.
“Good morning, superstar!” Freddy knelt down and hugged Gregory back, rubbing the back of his head. “Oh, I missed you.”
The boy hugged the bear tightly, refusing to let go. Tears began to trickle down his cheeks. “Freddy! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
“Huh? What for?” Freddy asked with a puzzled look.
“I- I just left you down there!” Gregory sobbed. “A-and I didn’t listen when you told me your friends were actually nice! I th-thought they were actually going to hurt me!”
“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay now.” Freddy responded, gently stroking the boy’s hair. “And everything worked out well in the end, did it not?”
Gregory finally let go and looked Freddy in the eyes. He rubbed his nose and sniffled. “I guess… But what happened to Vanny.”
“The police came by a little while ago and took her away,” Freddy explained with a proud smile, before handing Gregory a box of tissues. “Here you go, superstar.”
The boy used some tissues to wipe away his tears and blow his nose, before handing the box back “But… won’t they need me as… like… a witness or something?”
“No. We told them that we sent you home but never got your name or address. They won’t know where to look for you.” The animatronic bear gave Gregory a reassuring, yet serious smile. “Is that alright?”
Gregory nodded. “I’d just get into trouble if they found me.”
“They won’t, Gregory. I promise.”
The boy looked down on the floor for a little while. He finally felt somewhat calm and collected. He then looked back up at Freddy. “So what happens now?”
“Well, right now is Rockstar Meetup, so I’ll be busy with that until 11:00 AM, and after that—”
“N-no, what I meant is… umm…” It’s not that Gregory didn’t know what to say, but rather that he was afraid to ask, and more so to hear the answer. “H-how long can I stay here?”
“Oh, Gregory.” Freddy pulled the boy into another hug. “You can stay for as long as you want.”
“R-really?” Gregory struggled not to burst into tears again. “And that’s okay?”
“Well, technically not.” Freddy responded matter-of-factly. “But as long as the human staff doesn’t know about it, it will be fine.”
“Thank you, Freddy. Thank you for everything.”
The two were interrupted upon hearing someone knock on the window. They turned to look and saw an impatient-looking man next to a small child who was holding up a photo pass.
“I am so, so sorry, Gregory. But now I must go back to work.” Freddy said solemnly as he ushered the boy out of the room. “I will see you later, superstar.”
“Okay. Later, Freddy,” he responded as he exited Freddy’s room.
Gregory proceeded to watch Freddy greet the guests. The first group entered his room, and then the door slid shut behind them, breaking Gregory’s line of sight. He could continue to watch through the window, of course, but he honestly didn’t feel like it.
The boy then glanced over at Chica’s room and saw a small queue forming to meet the chicken animatronic. His stomach growling suddenly reminded him that Chica had apparently gotten breakfast for him, and he hurried over to the queue before it grew longer.
After having waited in line for about 15 minutes, it was finally Gregory’s turn to enter Chica’s room.
Chica seemed overly enthusiastic to see him. “Good morning, chickpea!~ Did you sleep well?~”
“I guess,” Gregory replied and let out a yawn. “Still feel really sleepy, though.”
“Awwww…” The chicken animatronic wringed her hands together and gave the boy a look of sympathy. “I’m sure Roxy would’ve let you sleep however long you wanted if it wasn’t for our schedule”
Chica then suddenly turned around and knelt down to grab something from a compartment below her vanity table. “Anyway, I got some goodies for you!” She pulled out a white paper bag with the Fazbear logo on it and a bottle, then turned back around and handed them to Gregory with a big smile on her face. “Here you go! I hope you like it!~”
“Um, thanks,” Gregory replied as he accepted the items. He took a moment to look them over. They seemed clean enough. “Hey, Chica?”
“Yes, hun?”
“You… didn’t get this from the trash, did you?” The boy asked sheepishly.
Chica let out a shocked buh-gawk before shaking her head vigorously. “No no no! Of course not! I got them from the folks over at faz-pad!”
Gregory took a look in the bag and saw two very fresh-looking breakfast muffins. Chica had to be telling the truth—these things looked way too fresh and clean to have come from the trash. With a guilty look, he finally said, “Sorry for doubting you, Chica. These look great! Thank you so much for getting this for me!”
“Awww, you’re welcome, chickpea!” She responded with a bright smile and ruffled his hair. “Couldn’t let Freddy’s Number 1 superstar starve, now could I?~” Chica added with a giggle.
Gregory couldn’t help but smile too as he looked at the large muffins in the bag. His stomach growled audibly in anticipation. He couldn’t even remember when he last got a decent meal.
Chica in turn looked very satisfied with herself. She had been hoping that this would help make amends for what the boy had been through the night before.
It then occurred to Gregory to ask something else. “Hey, Chica?”
“Yes, hun?~”
Gregory looked up at her with a more serious expression on his face. “You washed your hands before handling this, right?”
“O-of course I did!” The chicken animatronic responded with nervous laughter, before quickly changing the topic. “H-hey, did you know that you can now contact all of us on your Fazwatch?”
“Really?” Gregory asked, somewhat excited by that prospect.
“Uh-huh!” Chica replied with a grin. “Freddy gave us your identifier last night after you went to sleep! We all sent you messages that you can reply to whenever you wanna talk to any of us!”
Gregory looked at his watch and sure enough, all of the main four animatronics were now available in the message menu. “This will definitely come in handy when I want to meet up with you guys later.”
“Uh-huh!” Chica repeated. “And speaking of which, if you want someone to keep you company now before the attractions open up, Monty is currently free! I’m sure he’d love to spend some time with you!”
“Monty?” Gregory looked up at Chica again. “Why him?”
“Weeelllllll,” Chica began, expressing a bit of embarrassment for her friend. “As you may already know, Monty’s room is currently too wrecked to accept guests right now, so he’s currently allowed to roam around freely in the Pizzaplex!”
Gregory wasn’t too sure about hanging out alone with Monty. Out of the three animatronics that had been chasing him last night, Monty had frightened him the most. Not only was he so physically imposing, but he also seemed to have a lot of anger issues.
“Um, yeah. Okay. I’ll keep that in mind,” was all the boy managed to respond.
“Alright then, sweetie! You should probably run along now before the guests waiting in line get too impatient!” Chica gave Gregory a warm smile. “And if you want me to get you some lunch, I can meet up with you anytime between 1:30 and 4:00 PM!”
“Okay. Thanks, Chica,” Gregory replied, returning her smile as he walked out of the room.
“Have fun, chickpea!~” Chica called out as she waved him goodbye.
As Gregory slowly made his way out of Rockstar Row, his thoughts went to the night before. He could hardly believe how things had turned out. Yesterday, he had slept in a cardboard box in the alley, but now he was living in a billion-dollar entertainment complex and cared for by four animatronics. It was like a dream come true…
Well… more of a nightmare that had somehow morphed into a pleasant dream. He truly hoped nothing would ruin it.