Work Text:
APRIL 19TH, 1983
birthdays mark a special day in someone’s life. every year a person grows older, whether they’re just born, just died, or maybe they’re still alive, simply just one year older. for evan, he dodged a bullet– he would’ve been both option one and two if michael didn’t react as quickly as he did.
as party-goers wandered the diner many citizens of hurricane had grown to love, michael was forced in the parts and service room with his father, watching him tool with some springlocks. it was his own brother’s birthday, yet he was trapped in the musty room watching his father do boring shit. he didn’t even know why his father made him stay in the room with him, it wasn’t like he was doing anything bad– his group of friends were out there too, and he felt lame not being able to talk with them.
as for the diner itself, evan was sat alone in a booth in the far corner, knees held up against his chest as he cried. he hated his birthday, he hated the attention and he hated the crowds. he hated the overwhelming pile of gifts and food and noise. it was all major stimulation, and he hated it. he had no friends other than fredbear, and as much evan would like to pretend, he was fully aware that he was nothing but a plush. the party was filled with distant relatives he had never met once in his lifetime and he had no idea where his dad or michael was– he could spot elizabeth in the arcade, presumably playing games with her friend susie.
evan was surprised that michael wasn’t outside torturing him with his group of friends, who were also here. they were clumped in a group near some tables, leaning against the wall with their stupid masks shifted on the side of their face. michael and his group would harass evan any chance they could, so it was a surprise that he wasn’t a current target, especially on his birthday. not that he was complaining of course, but it gave him a bad and overwhelming feeling in his gut, like something far worse than anything he’d ever experienced was yet to come.
and unfortunately for evan, his gut was always right.
he couldn’t miss the group of teens putting their masks back on out of the corner of his eye, watching as they snickered and pointed towards evan’s way, completely oblivious to the fact that evan could see them the whole time; and watching their every move just made him cry more. it felt as if the whole world had shifted into slow motion, the group slowly approaching the booth he sat at, shit-eating grins plastered behind their plastic facades. several cuts, bruises, and bandages were scattered across their bodies, almost as if they were trophies, like each one told some insane and courageous story.
“hey fellas, look! it’s the birthday boy.” one of them spoke, obnoxiously dragging out his words; evan felt himself flinch as he came to terms with the fact that they were now hovering above him. “b-boy’s been kinda silent eh? whatsa’ matta’ b-boy? sad? do you need your bwankie?” another one spoke, baby talking him and earning collective hyena-like cackles from the others. evan tried his best to sniffle quietly, but unfortunately that was easier said than done. “daww, little man’s cryin’ and we’s haven’ts even touched him yet.” a sudden fist clenched the back of evan’s shirt collar tightly, forcing the fabric to press against his throat and choke him.
“help me out, will ‘ya fellas? i think mr. b-boy wants ‘ta see ol’ fredbear up close ‘n personal!”
that sentence alone made evan’s heart stop. that was the very last thing in the universe that he wanted. he was deathly afraid of the fredbear animatronic– it haunted his nightmares every single night, except his form was more monstrous and disgusting. he didn’t even try to resist the firm hands grabbing his limbs and lifting him up into the air, exposed to the world. of course, no one paid any mind to him, it was evan after all; stupid, simple, crybaby evan.
evan’s tears grew thicker each step the group took, fredbear’s abnormally large figure stepping into frame. he looked even worse up close– this was the closest he’d ever been to him, he refused to go anywhere passed a five feet line. his cartoonish eyes that dragged left and right in his sockets were inhuman and terrifying. they weren’t in sync with his head movements, which just made the idea that fredbear was a full on robot ten-times worse.
“father, can i please leave, i’d like to talk to my friends before the party is over.” michael groaned from the other room, earning a frustrated huff from his father. william pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance and jabbed a finger to the door harshly. “go. quit bothering me and my work for fucks sake.” he uttered the last part, although michael bothering him was completely his own doing– he forced the kid in here.
michael kicked the door open, scanning the diner for his friends until he froze– what he saw was far from what he was expecting; the group carrying his younger brother to fredbear forcefully, getting uncomfortably close to his mouth for his liking. frantic sobs spilled from the boy’s eyes as he showed no signs of protest, fully giving in to whatever lay ahead of him.
the group held his head a couple inches from the bear’s mouth when time froze in place, michael’s brain piecing the upcoming events at the speed of light;
group + brother = harassing
harassing + brother = robot
robot + mechanisms = springlocks
brother + group = tears = moisture
moisture + springlocks = …–
michael didn’t need to finish the equation for him to be fully aware of the fatal disaster that awaited him if he didn’t act fast. he sprinted as fast as he could towards the group, watching as they shoved the boy’s head into the animatronic’s mouth, cackling and pointing as they held him in place. evan kicked his feet and pressed his palms to the animatronic’s head, trying to free himself but to no avail.
one of his friends noticed michael running and pointed towards him, gaining the attention of the other two boys beside him. “hey mi–” one of the boys was forcefully shoved to the ground, knocking the other two over like bowling pins. their grip on evan came loose and soon the boy was hanging from just his head, unbearable pain from the weight of his body. michael was quick to yank his brother out of the bear’s mouth– snap.
…
fredbear’s mouth had clamped down tightly as his springlocks went off, holding the robot still in place. michael had thrown himself to the ground, evan held tightly in his arms; a hand was placed on the back of his head as he held him to his chest, trying to protect it from the ground’s impact. the diner had fallen into unsettling silence, the only sounds being evan’s quiet sniffles and michael’s sharp breaths.
coming back to reality, michael shook his head and pulled evan out in front of him quickly, both palms on either side of his face. he tilted his face left, right, up, and down, inspecting him for any injuries. his palms became soaked from evan’s tears, and michael wiped them away with a thumb.
he did it. he was quick enough. he did it.
a sigh of relief escaped from the depths of his chest, a faint smile creeping up his face. he closed his eyes tightly and pulled evan back into his arms, hugging him tightly out of both relief and guilt. he wasn’t the one who put him in fredbear’s mouth, but it was his friends. evan rested his face into michael’s neck, tears spilling impossibly quicker. michael’s friends were still frozen in place, their eyes darting from fredbear, to evan, and back to fredbear repeatedly. evan was in michael’s lap as the two sat on the ground, michael’s knees digging into the cold tiles below him.
“m-mike i–” one began to speak until michael shot him a glare filled to the brim with venom and disgust. “don’t you fucking speak.”
“w-we didn’t think f-fredbear wou–”
“what did i just say about speaking? of course you didn’t fucking think! you never fucking do! you’ve heard from me rambling countless times on and on about my father’s stupid fucking springlocks and what they could do to a person if activated, you knew damn fucking well they were in the animatronic– but no. no, you just HAD to do the one thing that could have fucking killed evan on his own fucking birthday. you absolute fucking gits. literal morons. get the fuck out of here before i swear to god you’ll be the next one face to face with fredbear’s skeleton.”
each word michael spat towards the group’s direction was individually injected with poison deadly enough to kill. he didn’t hold back once on what truly was on his mind at that moment. he wanted them to know how badly they fucked up and how badly michael now hated them. he watched in disgust as another opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by michael’s screaming. “GET THE FUCK OUT FOR FUCKS SAKE.”
the diner was filled with silence except for the soft hum of the fluorescent lights above. the yelling from his eldest son caught william’s attention, and he pushed the door open to see michael holding his brother closely in front of fredbear. if michael hugging his brother wasn’t a loud enough alarm ringing in william’s head, it was the unmoving robot standing completely still in place on stage, springlocks fully activated no doubt.
he ran over to the silent commotion and flashed a glare at the three boys who had begun to walk backwards out of the diner slowly. he then looked over at michael, and the two shared a silent glance of acknowledgement– william was proud that his son had been paying attention to the springlock mechanisms and was smart enough to know of their danger, and michael was glad that his father wasn’t for some odd reason mad at him.
“are you two okay?” he spoke through a breath, striding towards fredbear and not once taking his eyes off of both sons. “fine. ev, you okay?” michael asked quietly, taking the shaking nod from the younger as a yes. he held evan closer in an attempt to still his racking frame, sobs loudly escaping through chokes of his own tears. his shoulders heaved with each staggered breath and michael allowed him to cry in his arms.
“what did those bastards try to do?” his father asked, british accent thick and heavy with rage. “shoved his head in fredbear’s mouth. activated the springlocks a literal millisecond after i got him out.” michael’s voice shook, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. his body shook lightly and slowly calmed down, his ragged breathing collecting itself.
“bastards. they’re forever banned from this fucking place. i can’t unactivate these bloody springlocks, henry’s gonna have to work his weird american magic or whatever.” william grumbled, slapping the animatronic with the back of his hand frustratingly; the hollow insides echoing against the metal. “wait in the car, get liz as i talk to henry. we’re gonna close up early tonight.” he yanked his car keys out of his pocket as he spoke, carefully tossing them in michael’s direction. michael caught them and nodded in acknowledgement, carefully shifting his brother in his arms so he could properly carry him. he felt evan latch onto his clothing tighter as he began to walk, sighing as he headed towards the arcade. it really was a wonder how elizabeth didn’t hear or even acknowledge michael’s loud outburst– she either was too roped into whatever game she was playing with susie or she just had really shitty ears.
whatever it was, michael didn’t give two shits. all he focused on was trying to regain himself and evan, thanking every single god or whatever lingered above that he didn’t stall a second in running. he thanked them for giving him the thought of annoying his father so he could leave, he thanked them for the precise timing of everything. he thanked them for letting him save his brother.