Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1983

This was a nightmare.

It was supposed to a great day. After all, the party was for him. He was turning nine. Yet here Evan was, crouched in fetal position below a table, sobbing, on his birthday.

He didn’t like Fredbear’s Family Diner. But he did. But he didn’t. Or, perhaps, he’d liked it at some point. That had changed.

For Evan had seen something. Something he shouldn’t have seen. No one, not a soul, believed him. Evan knew it was real, though.

An animatronic. It ate his sister.

It sounds impossible, but he watched it happen. He watched as the metal stomach of a clown animatronic engulfed his sister.

He ran an unsteady hand through his maple brown hair, shaking with fear. The table seemed to be shrinking around him. Evan loved this place at one point, but not anymore. Now it was horrible.

What if an animatronic ate him, too? What if its stomach opened, and ate him, just like his poor sister? Fredbear and Spring Bonnie were right up there.

And that wasn’t even mentioning the horrible nightmares that he had each night, about those very same machines.

The thought was enough to make him cry harder.

No one understood. No one believed him. They called him a liar, a crybaby, a loser. Especially his brother, Michael.

It was never ending with him, that torment that Evan was subjected to.

Every day. Every moment. Popping out of corners to scare him, locking him in with endoskeletons, making sure that he was terrified for his own joy.

His brother found his misery hilarious.

He could laugh all he wanted. Evan knew what horrors haunted this place.

So, then, why in the world was his birthday party being held here? In Fredbear’s Family Diner? With his father’s creations, the ones that could swallow a person whole? And why would all of Michael’s friends come, and why couldn’t they skip bullying him today?

He sniffled. What a happy birthday indeed.

The cake, it was for him. The party hats and cups and forks and gifts, all for him. And he hated it.

Frankly, he’d rather die than celebrate with the things that killed Elizabeth.

“There’s the birthday boy!” A familiar, preteen voice laughed. His brother’s hand stretched towards where he was lying.

Tomorrow is another day, Evan consoled himself as he was pulled out from beneath the table by Michael.

He just had to make it to tomorrow.

It had been a long day.

School was tough, as per usual. Evan had never ending piles of homework to sort through, and even more things to study. The joys of being an architecture major.

But, just for a minute, he was letting himself relax.

There he lay, in his one-bedroom-one-bathroom cramped apartment, watching whatever was on the telly television.

The apartment was certainly a college student’s. It had a leaky faucet, awkward wallpaper, and a very loud air conditioner. The calendar still read 1992, not updated yet, despite the recent new year. The freedom was nice, though.

His roommates weren’t around at the moment. No big deal. Evan’s attention was focused on what was airing.

It was a re-run of a Golden Girls episode, actually. Normally he’d opt for something like M*A*S*H*, but this, for as fluff-filled as it was, would do.

It was easy to shut one’s brain off when watching a sitcom. To melt into its mindless indulgence, enjoy the themes of family and comedy.

It also gave Evan an outlet, a view into a life he’d never gotten to lead.

His attention drifted from the show.

In sitcoms, everything resolved itself by the end of the episode. Neatly tied up with a bow. Unless they were really milking their content.

Also? Family looked so easy on television.

Real life wasn’t like that.

The deaths of both his sister then mother shook the family like a hurricane. His father was missing. Evan hadn’t talked to his brother in many years.

His hand automatically drifted to his forehead, where a massive scar lay.

No. This was a break for him. Just enjoy the wonders of Betty White. Turn off his brain.

He shut his eyes, listening to the program.

And the phone rang.

Evan sighed deeply, arose from his bed, and picked up the dial.

“Hello? Evan speaking.”

“Evan...”

Oh my god.

“What do you want, Michael?” He asked sternly.

“I...I just need to talk.”

His brother’s voice was raspy, unnatural. Evan brushed it off.

“Okay. Go ahead.”

Michael stuttered out, “In person.”

Come on. If this was some excuse to try to make amends (again), Evan wasn’t buying it.

“I’m sure you can tell me over the phone,” He rolled his eyes.

“No.”

“Why? What’s so important that you just have to see me in person?”

“It’s about our family.”

Evan went silent.

And then he guffawed.

“Why should I give two shits about our family?” He laughed, “I really don’t care. If you don’t have anything else to talk to me about, can we just call it a day and-“

“Evan, it’s- it’s so much deeper than you and I both know. It’s bad, Evan. Really bad. I know what happened to all of them now. Elizabeth, Father- I know what happened. I know now. And I don’t think- I think you deserve to know. Give me twenty minutes, and I’ll leave you alone for the rest of your life. I swear.”

It would be nice to get some clarity on Elizabeth, actually. To know what had happened...

“Is that a promise?”

“I swear on my...life.”

Evan lowered the phone from his ear, pondering the suggestion for a moment.

“Fine. Do you need my address, or do you want to meet up, or...?”

“You can come to my apartment. It’s near Salt Lake.”

“Okay. You didn’t actually tell me the address.”

“I was going to.”

“Alright, tell it to me.”

“I will, just stop interrupting me,” Michael’s tone indicated annoyance, but he sighed, “No. I’m sorry.”

“Just give me the address.”

And so Michael did, and Evan wrote it onto a post-it note. They didn’t say goodbye before they hung up.

He stared at the post-it note, then back at the television. The Golden Girls episode wasn’t over yet, and he could probably jump back in with ease.

...No.

Evan picked up his car keys. Salt Lake City was only, what, twenty minutes from here? He could make it here and back, and still be able to do his homework.

Yeah. He’d manage.

Chapter Text

So, this was where Michael lives.

Evan stood there, staring at the apartment building in front of him. It was rather sleek and modernistic, with different floors designated for the different owners. Far better quality than Evan’s.

Which unit was Michael’s, exactly?

Oh, god, he hadn’t said. Evan rubbed his temple, walking up to the doors. Essentially, Evan had been told to drive about half an hour (there was some traffic) out to Salt Lake City, to meet up with his estranged brother who hadn’t even told him which apartment he lived in.

Great. This better be worth his time.

There was someone at the front desk who almost looked asleep. When Evan waved a hand in front of her, she didn’t move.

“Hello?”

The woman shook her head, and stared at Evan.

“How can I help you?” She asked, mustering up her best ‘customer service’ voice.

Evan said, “I need to find someone by the name of Michael Afton.”

Something strange happened. The woman shifted uneasily in her seat, and clicked her tongue. Honestly she looked uncomfortable.

“Oh, he’s, ah...number 213,” She smiled slightly, “Are you going to see him?”

“Yes.”

The smile wavered.

“Uh, check in with him for me, will you? We’re all a little worried.”

“Okay,” Evan shrugged, furrowing his brows as he headed for the stairs.

Room 213 was conveniently on the second floor, so it was by no means a treacherous climb. It was only about five minutes before he stopped in front of the room.

Evan knocked on the door.

“...Evan?” The faint voice of Michael came from behind the door.

“Yeah.”

It clicked open.

What awaited him was slightly unexpected.

“Why are you dressed like that?”

Pretty reasonable question. His wonderful brother had a pair of sunglasses, what looked to be a surgical mask, and bandages covering his face. The only thing Evan could recognize was his brown hair, which looked slightly off-color. He wore a long trench coat and a pair of gloves.

He wasn’t showing any skin.

“I- I’ll tell you later. Come on in.”

The apartment, too, was a mess.

God, had a bull run through here? It looked like someone had pilfered through all of Mike’s belongings. There was an uncanny amount of sewing supplies draped on the couch. The tv was on, playing something called The Immortal and the Restless.

“Alright. What did you want to talk to me specifically in person about?” Evan laced the end part with venom. Mike scratched his gloves.

“I...You remember what Father was like, right?”

Actually, not really.

“Sort of?”

“But you remember that he was...you know...” Mike sounded as though he was tiptoeing through a minefield.

“What? I have literally no idea what you’re talking about,” Evan frowned.

Sighing, Michael said, “He was weird. Even before... Listen, he’s always been weird.”

“Yeah, obviously, he spent his free time making death-machines. I’d say you count, actually,” Evan snarled.

But Mike didn’t flinch at the reminder of his mistakes. As a matter of fact, he muttered, “About that...”

“What, about the time you almost killed me?”

“Never mind. I...I found a letter from him. I don’t know when he wrote it,

because it was in our old house. But he did, and he told me...a lot. And he...here. Just read it.”

Okay. Now Evan was uneasy. His brother paced as he rambled, but something was really off about the way he moved. The letter was placed into his lap.

Evan picked it up, and read it aloud.

“Michael, your sister is-“

His breath hitched.

“Your sister is out there. You need to go find her and set her free. She’s in the storage facility, the one for the Funtime animatronics, the rentals. You’ll know her when you find her,” Evan stopped, and looked up, “What the fuck does this mean?”

“That’s exactly what I thought. So I did what he asked. God, I did it. Why would I listen. I don’t know. But I found her.”

“Is she okay?”

Michael laughed bitterly, “She’s dead.”

“Did...did you find her body?”

“No. I found something worse. The animatronics. Do you remember Circus Baby?”

Evan paused to think. Actually, he could. A long time ago, when Elizabeth went missing, he had a horrible nightmare of seeing that weird clown robot kill her. He wasn’t sure why the nightmare had freaked him out so much, but it had been the main reason for his fear of animatronics.

“Yes.”

“She was Baby.”

Oh. So his brother had lost his mind.

“I know you don’t believe me, but, she got killed by the animatronic and she- I don’t know how, but she possessed it, and she-“ He halted, looking at Evan’s face.

“How did she die, Mike?”

“She...she got pulled in by a claw in the animatronic. It was designed to kill.”

“Oh my god...”

“That’s not the end of it. Read the rest of the letter.”

Shaking now, Evan looked down.

It ended with a confession. A confession from William Afton that he had murdered around ten children.

The Missing Children’s incident. Evan could remember that.

“I don’t...what is this, Michael? Is this some kind of prank?”

“No! I swear to God, no.”

“Come on, man. I...I don’t think I can believe this. Father was a murderer? An animatronic got possessed by our sister? Really?”

One of Michael’s gloved hands shifted, wrapping around the other.

“It’s all real. People can live after they die, Evan. Or their souls can.”

The glove was pulled off.

“At least, I did.”

Holy fucking shit.

Evan screamed at the sight of Mike’s dark purple hand. It was, oh god, it was crusty, and rotting, and gross, and dead. He was glad he was in a chair, otherwise he would’ve passed out.

”I know-“ 

Evan interjected, “You need to get to a fucking hospital!”

“I already went. They didn’t understand what had happened to me. I still don’t. And I know how freaked out you are. Trust me, I get it. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just jumped in like that, without any warning.”

“What the fuck are you?!”

Mike carefully took off his sunglasses. His eyes were dark and empty and they looked like holes. “I don’t know anymore.”

“I...I need to go.”

Evan stood up, walked out the door of the apartment, into the hallway, down the stairs, and straight back to his car. Whatever that...thing was, it might’ve been following him. He couldn’t tell.

None of it made any sense. It couldn’t be real. 

The lady at the front desk shouted after him, “Have a nice day!”

Thanks. Just what he needed to hear.

Chapter Text

Evan sat at his steering wheel, head in hands, utterly paralyzed.

What the hell had just happened?

He’d been told by Michael that a) his father was a murderer, b) his sister possessed an animatronic, and c) that the man dropping this info was dead. Jesus fuck.

This was supposed to be a relaxing day. Goddamnit, Evan just wanted to watch The Golden Girls. Maybe study and catch up on some sleep.

Now, though? The world had been flipped upside-down.

It’s not as though Evan’s life was a stranger to, well, unrealistic incidents. Things that shouldn’t be possible and yet had happened.

It hadn’t been a while, though, since something like this happened. He assumed it had ended with his father’s disappearance and Mike’s venture to college.

That part of his life had been pretty awful. After William vanished, both he and Michael were placed into the foster care system. Mike didn’t stay long; he turned 18 shortly after and went off to do whatever it was that got him killed.

Meanwhile, Evan had been stuck waiting in the foster care system for six long years. And, somehow, those five years of hell, of being passed around like a basketball to whatever family took pity on him, were better than living with the Aftons.

He’d gone to university. He was studying architecture. Finally his life was normal.

And now? Michael just had to screw everything up. As per usual.

But, god, what had happened to him? Evan hated his brother. Even so, he didn’t deserve this.

And his father? Sure, what he remembered of William wasn’t pleasant, but a murderer?

What had happened to everyone?

Evan needed to know.

He unlocked his car door, and walked back to the apartment building. Normalcy could wait.

When he knocked on the door again, he was let in without hesitation.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve given you more time to process each thing before I told you the next one,” Michael rambled, readjusting his sunglasses and putting back on his gloves. “If you prefer, I can go put my glass eyes in. I’ve already got my wig on. I’ve also been working on makeup, but it’s not very convincing yet.”

Evan squinted.

“I don’t care. Just tell me what happened.”

Michael sat down onto the couch and placed his sewing kit onto the floor. He turned off the television.

“Alright. I got the letter. I went to the storage facility, and all of the Funtime Animatronics were down there. But they were angry. They wanted me dead. That is, except for Baby.”

“Why’d they want to kill you?” Evan inquired.

“I don’t know. But, basically, Baby helped me through every night I spent there, giving me directions on how to avoid the animatronics and stop them. And she told me, piece by piece, that she was Elizabeth. Or, at least, she was possessed by Elizabeth.”

“On my fourth night there, I saw something weird happen to one of them. It got put into a room with something called the Scooper, which disassembled it completely.”

“They called it the Scooper?” Evan said, trying not to laugh.

“Yeah. It’s a pretty accurate name, actually. My last night there, Baby told me to go there. And I did.”

“That’s where I found out that Eliz-Baby was lying to me. She wasn’t on my side. She was working with the other Funtime Animatronics, and they had merged together into one animatronic called Ennard. It looked a lot like an endoskeleton, but if it were for a human animatronic.”

“I went into the Scooper room, and they trapped me. And they...scooped me.”

Evan frowned, “You got...disassembled?”

“No. I got my organs ripped out.”

Suddenly, Evan felt incredibly sick to his stomach.

“Tell me once you’re ready, and I’ll continue,” Michael reassured him, and stood up. He walked into the kitchen, fetching a glass of water. The glass was given to Evan.

“Thanks. You can go on.”

“Okay. So, basically everything inside of my body was removed. And Ennard climbed into my body, and used it to escape.”

Evan’s eyes widened as he said, “Is it...still inside you?”

“No, thank God,” Mike shook his head, “It left once my body started decomposing. But somehow, once Ennard left, I got back up. I don’t know how. Even without all of my organs, I’m alive. So that was last week.”

“What?!”

“Yeah.”

Evan finished his glass of water. Mike plucked it from his hands, and went back to the kitchen.

“So, what happened to Ennard? And what about the missing children?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Michael continued as he placed the glass into the sink. “Father sent me down there to die. That...doesn’t surprise me. But somehow he knew that Elizabeth possessed the animatronic that killed her.”

“Okay, going backwards a little bit, in 1987, I worked as a security guard at one of the Freddy’s locations. And the animatronics were aggressive there, too. One of them bit a guy’s frontal lobe.”

“Wow. I should start a club.” Evan jabbed.

Mike paused, biting his lip, and said, “...I think they were possessed too. Or at least some of them were. And I don’t know how many others there were. I am going to find them, and I am going to find Father. Does that make sense?”

Evan waved his hand in a “so-so” motion. Michael sighed with relief.

“So I have a proposition.”

God damnit.

“I’m not gonna help you, Michael,” Evan said immediately. “I’m not interested in getting killed, sorry.”

“You don’t ever have to set foot in a restaurant. I promise. But if we worked together, we could-“

“Nope. Not happening.” Evan stood up from his chair, and started moving towards the exit.

Mike ran a hand through his wig. “Just let me explain first!”

“I don’t want to go near those things. I never want to go near them again.”

Flipping towards his brother, Evan feel the annoyance radiating off him.

“Neither do I! But I have to! Someone’s gotta do something. And it would be easier and safer to do this if I wasn’t alone.”

“‘Someone’s gotta do something’, god, Mike, you don’t have to do jack shit! Where did this hero complex come from?”

“Hero complex?!”

Michael was on his feet now, coming up to Evan.

“Yeah! This is dumb and dangerous. You’re already dead, Mike.”

“Exactly. I can’t die. So I don’t have to worry about my life being in danger. I’ll be the one to go out there and deal with the killer robots. But I need someone to help me. I can’t do this on my own.”

“You’ll have to.”

He turned around again, and placed his hand on the doorknob.

“Evan...please. I’m not looking for forgiveness. I just...I don’t want to be alone right now. And that’s not a valid excuse for you to help out. But I want to figure this out, all of it. Whatever Fazbear Entertainment has been hiding. And I think you deserve to know. This is our family. I hate it, you hate it- but it is. We don’t have to be family. But we should know what happened, together.”

Slowly, his hand dropped from the doorknob. It hung limply against Evan’s side.

“For the record, we’re just working together on this, and then it’s goodbye,” Evan stated.

“Deal.”

They shook each other’s hands. Even through the gloves, Evan could feel how boney and gross his brother’s hand was. What you would expect of a zombie.

Just what Evan was getting himself into, he didn’t know.

“So, Brains, where do we start?” He mocked.

“...what?

Chapter Text

“Here’s the plan. There’s an open restaurant in Hurricane. One of the newer ones, I think, but they repurposed the old animatronics. I’m going to apply for the security guard position there, and try to dismantle them. Maybe that’ll set them free,” Mike elaborated whilst sewing part of his skin shut.

Evan could not take his eyes off the moving needle. It was horrific. The needle weaved through his deteriorated arm, closing a gap that had torn at some point during their argument.

“I know you just got scooped last week, but does that-“ He gestured to the injury, trying not to gag, “-happen frequently?”

The man shrugged, “Not really? I haven’t been like this very long, so...”

Mike grabbed the end of the thread with his mouth, and pulled it tight. The arm came together like a stuffed bear.

Evan shuddered.

“Fun. I...am sorry about that, by the way.”

“Not like it’s your fault, but thanks.”

The pair sat there a moment, unsure what to say.

“It’ll be somewhat of a time commitment. You don’t have to go out to Hurricane by any means; I’ll take care of that. But we should keep in contact during it. Most of the places have rotary phones; I’ll just call you. The shift is six hours, though,” Calmly, Mike went on.

“I mean, my college isn’t that far from Hurricane, but that sounds fine. What time?”

“It might fuck with your sleep schedule, but it’s 12 to 6 am.”

Evan laughed, “That’s it? I usually stay up that late with architecture stuff.”

“You’re taking architecture?”

“You didn’t know?”

“I...never thought about it, I guess.”

“Yeah. Not like you ever cared about my life, anyways.”

The air in the room became sharper, more cold. It stung to the touch. His brother looked into the floor guiltily.

Then there was the noise of tearing. Mike held up his arm. Every thread that had been sewn together over the last few minutes fell apart, causing the skin to tear again.

“Damnit. Anyways, I already got accepted for the job. I start next Monday,” As though nothing had happened, Michael kept speaking, “Does that sound okay?”

“Yeah. That’s fine. Long as I can do homework and stuff while you’re sitting in an office.”

“Yeah. I doubt it will be that interesting.”

The drive home was rather short in comparison to the drive there.

So were the days following.

Evan could not take his mind off of his dead brother, another addition to the family tradition. He hated Michael. He despised him.

But it was horrible. What had happened to Michael was horrible, and even he didn’t deserve it.

Yet, there was a nagging voice in Evan’s brain. One that found grim satisfaction in the man’s fate.

What comes around goes around, it said.

Was what happened to Evan as intense as what happened to Michael? No, no. Even so...

1983

“Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn’t he?” The kid in the Bonnie mask laughed as Evan was shoved roughly onto the floor.

Tears fell from his eyes in waterfalls. The party was for him. All for him. Why would they do this?

Michael pushed his Foxy mask further up on his face, hiding his eyes, and snickered, “It’s hilarious.”

Quickly, Evan tried to pull himself up, off the floor, out from the circle of his least favorite characters. Before he could, though, an arm latched onto his. That arm, that one belonging to what once was his brother, pulled him straight back.

“Why don’t we help him get a closer look! He will love it!”

Surely, in that moment, Evan’s heart must’ve stopped. For he was motionless as Fredbear and Friends grabbed onto his frail torso from all angles.

“No, please!” Evan returned to consciousness to plead with his brother.

There were parents watching, Evan could see them. They didn’t care. All they saw were “boys being boys” and “brotherly love.”

“Come on, guys, let’s give the little man a lift!” Mike suggested. “He wants to get up close and personal!”

Now he was being hoisted into the air, like a dancer. For he thrashed in the grip, shaking, sobbing, as the party marched, staggered forward. A parade towards Fredbear.

In a moment of stillness, Evan looked back at Mike. The Foxy mask had once again slipped down his face, revealing the sharp blue eyes. He stared into them, begging for freedom.

Michael adjusted his grip, as well as his mask, and the eyes were gone, along with his brother.

Evan pleaded more and more, no doubt met by more egging. The details were a blur, up until they stopped before Fredbear.

“Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!” The one in the Foxy mask proclaimed, making a cup with his ear directed to Evan and laughing even harder.

The others nodded. They smiled, they grinned. No one looked at Evan.

“On three!”

Thus began the countdown.

“One...”

Evan tried to break against the grip. What now could slow the motion? The ball was rolling, rolling, and his body was swung a little bit, ever so slightly closer to Fredbear’s jaws.

“Two...”

Where was his father? Where was anyone who cared?

Why was no one helping? Why? Why would they let this happen?

Before the word “three” was said, Evan was flung into Fredbear. His head hit against the metal hard, and then fell into the mouth.

All Evan saw for the last moment were teeth, metal teeth clicking above him. He didn’t have time to scream.

The teeth met skin, and that was it.

Perhaps some wounds couldn’t be sewn shut. Perhaps they’d always break open.

Chapter Text

The rest of the week was a blur.

Evan took a pop quiz in one of his classes, got even more homework from the same class, sat through a seven hour lecture (in the same class!), met a really pretty girl named Dyani at the school library, and thought about his brother.

The “scooper” weighed heavily on his mind.

He wished, above all, to understand how a man could survive such an incident. To be stripped of all necessary body parts, to deteriorate and decay, and still see the following day. It was a miracle. God, if he had lost him-

No.

Anyhow, Michael hadn’t reached out since their interaction. Cool. At least he was upholding his end of the deal.

Yeah.

And their father, who created a machine that killed one family member and sent another to be killed by it, too. Jesus christ, this family was a mess.

And the dead kids, who could apparently possess things, ‘cause ghosts were real. Awesome. Amazing. His entire world view was caving in. Great.

Before long, it was Monday. Mike had said he would call Evan from the pizzeria on one of the telephones. They could stay on call for as long as needed. He said he’d call by 12.

Yet here Evan was, sitting on a barstool of his kitchen, phone on one side and a book on the other, at 12:30 a.m.

If one wished to be technical, it was Tuesday, and he still hadn’t called.

Evan took a glance at his book. It was something about philosophy. He’d meant to work on homework. Truly, he had.

But the television was on, and it was playing M*A*S*H.

...To be fair, if he tried doing his homework, he might just fall asleep. At least until Mike called he could watch some.

The episode was about Hawkeye and Margaret going out to some medical hospital, or something, to demonstrate some surgical stuff. Evan missed much of the first part.

But their jeep had broken down in enemy lines, and they’d been forced to take refuge in a small, bombed-out hut. Hawkeye got something stuck in his leg, the people back at the base tried to get into contact with the higher-ups, yada yada.

It got more interesting, though, when Margaret revealed that her husband had been cheating on her with another woman. Fuck her husband.

And better yet, the two went to bed, but were disturbed in the middle of the night by bombs dropping. Hawkeye helped comfort her, and then-

The phone rang.

“Michael?” He asked immediately. There was a pause, where he could faintly hear his brother taking frantic breaths.

“They’re moving. The- the animatronics are moving, and they keep coming up to my office, and they’re gonna s-stuff me into a fucking suit, Evan, they’re moving!”

His brother hissed out.

“Oh my god- do you want me to get there? I can, it might take me, like, half an hour, but if you give me the address-“

“No. No, if you came in, they would attack you before you even reached the office.”

“The animatronics?”

“Obviously!”

Evan glanced back at the television. The credits were rolling.

“What do you want me to do?” calmly he inquired.

Through the phone, Evan could hear a loud metallic clang, like something slamming against the floor. Then, quiet and slow footsteps.

“Mike, are you okay? Mike?”

“Yeah. Just- just tell me something interesting. Literally anything. I don’t care.”

Evan switched off the television.

“So, uh, arches are really interesting, actually. Because there’s so many different types of them. I personally am a big fan of pointed trefoil arches. They’re super common in Gothic architecture, think, like, Notre Dame.” He explained frantically.

“That’s really lame.”

“You told me to talk about anything!”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect you to talk about arches! Shit, Chica-“ Another metallic clang.

“Are you okay?!”

“Just closing the doors,” Mike said through the static of the phone. “I’ve still got, like, 70% left of the battery. I should be fine.”

“It’s 1 am, how did you use up 30% in an hour?”

“I was a little bit focused on staying alive, sorry. God, this is just like Circus Baby! Of course every single dead child wants me dead!”

“It’s gonna be alright, Mike,” Evan soothed, “You’ll make it. You’ve made it before. You will again.”

He heard his brother sigh through the phone.

“...keep talking about your architecture stuff.”

“Okay, so, arches. It’s really interesting to see the cultural influences of each...”

They managed to get to six a.m. The only notable thing other than Bonnie and Chica’s repeated visits was when Michael checked the camera and saw Foxy running at him.

Neither of them liked Foxy much, as it turned out.

Evan told him a lot of random architecture information, from the importance of Frank Lloyd Wright to the construction of different landmarks. Eventually he switched into discussing sitcoms. Mike was more of a fan of soap operas, however they both shared enthusiasm for M*A*S*H.

“I was watching an episode before you called, actually.”

“Oh, really? Which one?”

“I forgot what it was called, but it’s the one where Hawkeye and Margaret get stuck in a hut in enemy lines together. I didn’t see the ending.”

“Ohh. That one ends with them kissing.”

“WHAT?!”

It was...nice. Serene, actually. For a moment Evan could forget the raspy, broken quality of his brother’s voice. He could forget the killer animatronics and their killer father. He couldn’t forgive, but he could forget, if for a second.

The second night at Freddy’s, though, wasn’t as great.

They did the same routine. Mike went to the office and called Evan, who told him random stuff.

“Well, she said her name was Dyani. She was checking out a Virginia Woolf novel. I read some of her stuff a while ago, and it was pretty good. Anyhow, she gave me her number. I don’t know if she’s interested in me like that, though. Should I just ask her out, or what?” Evan was rambling about something a bit more personal, more about his own life.

Although it was personal, it was still stiff and awkward. There was a recognizable tension in their conversations, especially when recalling their pasts, seeing as they were so closely intwined. Go back too far, and you got to some painful memories.

Through the phone, he could almost see Michael nodding, “Well, I’m not one for romance, but Dyani sounds like a good match for you. It’s worth a shot, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Oh, one sec, Bonnie’s outside.”

The line went silent for a moment before that familiar metallic clang. Then his brother returned.

“So, what have you been up to?” Evan asked softly.

Michael had been intentionally shady about whatever he’d been doing, although Evan didn’t suspect anything unordinary.

The response he got was unexpected.

“Why do you care?”

Evan furrowed his brows.

“Uh, ‘cause we’re making small talk, right? You know? I’m telling you about my life. I mean- you don’t have to tell me anything.”

“I thought you didn’t want to know me.”

Although he tried, Evan couldn’t come up with a good answer for that.

“Yeah, I don’t. But I’m just trying to talk to you, dude. Stop making it weird.”

“I don’t mind being distant, Evan. You don’t have to force yourself to talk to me.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You told me to talk about anything. Did you change your mind? Did you just want to sit in silence all night?”

God, he’s always like this, Evan thought bitterly. Every time we start making progress, he brings us straight back to square one.

Quietly, Mike replied, “I don’t know what I want.”

They sat there a moment.

“Tell me once you figure it out.”

That’s when Evan started working on his homework, ignoring why he felt somewhat disappointed.

Thus went the first two nights. Right before six o’clock that morning, Michael invited Evan to come do the shift with him.

Evan gave him an extremely hesitant yes. He didn’t look forward to the prospect of six hours in a small space with the world’s worst brother.

Even so, it felt necessary.

Chapter Text

He arrived in Hurricane at 11:38, around fifteen minutes before Michael’s shift would start.

To be more exact, Evan arrived at the actual restaurant at 11:45. He sincerely hoped the animatronics hadn’t started moving yet.

He walked up to the double doors of the Freddy’s establishment, knocking twice upon the door.

No response.

Swiftly he gave another knock, and the door opened.

Michael ushered him inside, muttering, “Couldn’t you have gotten here sooner?”

They practically ran through the empty pizzeria, giving Evan little to no time to process the surroundings. He did catch a glimpse of the relics the place must’ve called animatronics. They looked horrible. Perhaps near Michael’s level of deterioration. One could smell their odor from across the room, and he didn’t even know what could cause such a rancid stench to emit from the creatures.

Evan didn’t like animatronics. They all looked like Fredbear to him.

Of course, did either of them?

“There was traffic.”

“It’s basically the middle of the night!”

“That’s what I thought, before I got caught in traffic!”

Practically Evan was dragged down the hall, into the cramped office. He surveyed the room.

There was a single swivel chair in the center of the room. It was right beside a noir desk, clutter resting all over it. From scrunched-up wads of paper to a fan to a cupcake that had eyes (were they watching him?), there seemed to be no free space.

Amidst the clutter were several tiny screens, all turned off. Evan assumed them to be the cameras. There was also the telephone.

To add insult to an already messy office, there were posters plastered upon the walls, peeling and rubbing off. One was of the core three animatronics (Evan was fine with Foxy’s absence).

The light was unnatural, and flies flew around it. The office was altogether what one would expect from a minimum-wage security guard position. Perhaps slightly worse.

Oddly enough, Michael hadn’t shut the doors. Evan could read the panels on both sides; there were two buttons each, one for shutting the doors and one for turning the lights on outside, henceforth four buttons in total. Below both panels was the same electronic message: 100%.

Ah. There was a battery. Mike had mentioned it, hadn’t he? So they wouldn’t close the doors until the animatronics moved. Cool.

The clock read 11:52. Eight more minutes until the animatronics would be set loose.

“Okay, so the actual reason I wanted you to come along tonight was because I want to disassemble at least one of the animatronics,” Mike explained.

“What?”

“I want to check if there’s actually a kid inside. Maybe try to free its spirit, or whatever, I don’t know. The next person’s shift doesn’t actually start until 7; I clocked it. So we’ll have an hour. Hopefully we can check two.”

Evan checked the clock again. 11:55 p.m.

“Alright. Sounds fine,” He shrugged. “Do you know how to?”

“Uh...I’ve opened up Funtime Animatronics before, and they’re way more complicated than these. It won’t be too hard.”

“So that’s a no.”

“Shut up.”

His brother paused for a moment, adding, “Oh, by the way, every night they give

me some weird automated message over the phone. Just, like, instructions.”

11:57.

“Weird. Oh, shit, I left my homework in the car!”

“That sucks.”

“Could I actually quickly go-“

“No.”

He breathed out a sigh. “There’s only one chair in here.”

“I’ll sit on the floor.”

“Like a goblin,” He joked.

“What did you just call me, Arch-Arse?”

“Did I stutter, Grimace?”

Just then, a clock chimed. Wherever it came from, Evan did not know. Yet it sounded uncomfortably like the grandfather clock in their old house.

12 p.m. Here goes nothing.

Holy shit. They moved.

“Mike, check the cameras.”

“We checked it a second ago.”

“Yeah, check again.”

“You’re gonna waste the battery.”

“Okay, and? You wanna die?”

“If we run out of power, Evan, we die!”

“Whatever.”

“...”

“You know, it’s been a minute or two. Maybe they moved.”

“God- fine. Look. See, nothing moved.”

“Uh...where’s Foxy?”

“Shit, shit, shit, shit-“

Clang!

“Is he banging on the fucking door?!”

“That’s what I said!”

“You could check the cameras and see.”

“Oh my fucking god.”

After what was one of the most horrifying nights of his life, Evan was nothing but relieved to see the clock turn to 6.

“Hah! Fuck you, Freddy! Not getting in our office!” He cheered upon the chimes.

“Hell yeah!”

The brothers high-fived rather loudly in celebration.

“Ouch,” Evan murmured after the slap.

“Hm?”

“Tinnitus. So, which animatronic should we check?”

Mike suggested, “Chica was being really annoying. We could get rid of her first.”

Evan considered the idea for a moment, and nodded.

Exiting the office felt strange. Traveling the same hallways those metal monsters had just transversed was freaky, especially upon entering the main party room and seeing them up onstage as though nothing had ever happened.

Bastards.

The two walked onto the stage, and then to Chica. Yikes. They really did smell horrendous.

“Do you think these were Henry’s designs or Father’s?” Evan inquired idly as Mike surveyed the machine.

“Probably a mix. Henry would’ve tried to make them friendly, Father-“ He pressed on something near the animatronic’s neck, continuing, “would’ve given them extremely questionable mechanisms. Like this.”

Just like that, he took off Chica’s head, revealing the endoskeleton. It was rather uncomplicated looking for an animatronic of its capacity.

The head landed on the floor with a soft thump. Mike kept working.

“You want me to do anything, or...?”

“Nah, not yet. Just want to see this first.”

“Cool. Can I get offstage, though? I don’t like being so close to them...” Evan trailed off.

Mike seemed to realize where Evan was, and gasped, “Yeah. Of course, yeah. Get off. With all due respect, I mean.”

He stepped off, landing near the table. It had a party hat atop. Strange that the janitor hadn’t thrown it out. At least they hadn’t wasted a good party hat.

“This is totally one of Father’s, actually.”

“Why?”

“It almost broke my hand,” He laughed.

“What?! Are you okay?”

“I doubt it would’ve done too much, seeing as my skin’s falling off, but yeah. I should probably be more careful with all this stuff,” Mike mused, “Father just loves trying to kill me, be it with the animatronics or on his own.”

Evan looked up, frowning.

“Did he try to kill you?”

“What do you remember of Father, actually?”

He thought about it for a moment,

“I remember...his door being locked. And one time I said that he had a gray hair on his head and he yelled at me. And he drank, a lot.”

Shaking his head, Mike started removing one of Chica’s arms.

“No, that’s pretty accurate. He got a lot worse after... while you were in the hospital. He started drinking even more, which I didn’t know was possible. And, god, he’d scream at me.” Mike laughed again, though extremely bitterly. “All about how useless I was, how he hated me, how I didn’t deserve forgiveness, or anything for that matter, and how if you didn’t wake up, he’d...he’d...”

A chill ran down Evan’s spine, as Mike yanked off another one of Chica’s arms. He looked back towards his brother as he spoke.

“I don’t think he was even that sad about you. I think he was more worried about how the consequences of a kid dying by one of his animatronics.”

“My god.”

“Yeah...it’s...in the past. Father’s gone. I just try not to think about it too much.”

“That’s...I don’t know if that’s the best way of coping, mate.”

Michael switched the subject as he pulled on the body of Chica. “I can’t get the torso off. I know that something’s in there, but it won’t budge.”

Evan moved back towards the stage.

“You want me to try?”

“No, you’re good. I wonder if one of the other ones will work, though.”

They went through the process again, together this time on Bonnie.

Sure enough, the torso did not move an inch.

“Blimey, that’s frustrating,” Mike stared at it. Evan sighed.

“We can check the other ones tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to come. I can do this on my own.”

“I want to, Michael.”

The attention Mike had been focusing on the animatronic diverted to his brother.

“Are you sure?”

The answer was automatic, despite how much he dreaded it.

Evan would make sure to drive out here sooner for the next shift. Traffic was a bitch, even at midnight.

Chapter Text

Thursday went as follows:

Evan went to three classes, one at 10 in the morning, one at 1, and one at 4. Not much of interest, though one of his professors was distinctly hung over.

After all of his classes, he stopped by the library to pick up a Virginia Woolf book.

Scanning through the aisles, Evan plucked out the one he was looking for, and bumped into Dyani.

“Oh, sorry! Wait, you’re...Evan, right?” She asked, running a hand through her dark hair.

God, she had beautiful eyes.

“Yeah. Dyani. It’s nice to see you.” He remarked, uncertain of where to take the conversation.

She glanced at his book, and smiled.

“Oh, you’re reading A Room of One’s Own? I love that one.”

“Oh, yeah! I’m rereading it, actually. I really love Virginia Woolf’s writing style.”

“Me too. So, you go here, right? What’s your major?”

“Architecture. You?”

“Engineering.”

“That’s really cool! My father was-“ He hesitated, remembering the stories he’d been told earlier that morning. “Uh, he...was a really good engineer. Made animatronics and stuff.”

“Wow. Animatronics creep me out, but that’s neat,” She laughed.

“Same! They’re so...lifeless.”

Evan shuddered, garnering another laugh from Dyani.

“And, it’s like, everyone in my family works with them so much. I literally can’t escape them.”

Will and Mike in particular, but perhaps Elizabeth, too, seeing as she had possessed a machine.

Wait. Mike.

“Oh, uh, Dyani. Would you, maybe, want to go out sometime? On a date?” The words sort of fell out of his mouth.

“I’d love to! I’d-“ She paused, “I’d like that. Is tomorrow too soon, or-“

“No! I mean, yeah. That works.”

They shared a grin.

The two of them scheduled a date, at noon the next day. Just going down to a cafe to grab coffee at a cafe on campus. But he couldn’t wait. He just wanted a real connection with someone.

What else had happened that day? Not much, really. Before he knew it, Evan was back in his car, driving out to Hurricane.

He arrived at the restaurant earlier today. It was 11:23 when he walked in and joined Michael.

“I took your advice, Mike!” Evan cheered. “I asked Dyani out! And she said yes!”

Michael smiled, though he didn’t actually respond. He simply moved towards the office, and Evan followed behind, a bit more concerned now.

There were two chairs in the office now, although it didn’t look much better than the previous night.

The minutes passed by in near silence. Evan hated it. Sure, he disliked...he didn’t get along well with Michael, but he disliked the silence more. Too quiet, obviously.

That silence was too much for him.

“How was your day?” Eventually he asked. Mike was startled, jolting in his chair.

“I looked at the animatronics a little longer. I practiced my makeup. That’s it.”

Short answers, but alright.

Evan huffed.

After what felt like ages, the clock struck 12, and an automated phone call played.

Softly he mused, “Wonder what they’re gonna tell us tonight.”

Once again, no reply.

The phone call began.

“Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day 4. I knew you could do it. Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow. banging sound It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you clears throat uh, when I did.”

“Uh, hey, do me a favor. bang bang Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room? I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won’t be so bad. Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there. You know...oh, no-“

Then a screech, and the call cut off.

Evan and Michael stared down at the phone in shock.

“Did...did he...when were these recorded?” Evan stuttered.

Shaking his head slowly, Mike muttered, “I...I don’t know...”

That man had...he’d just died, hadn’t he? To one of the very animatronics about to promenade around their office. Holy shit.

“We should be careful.”

“Yeah.”

They worked quietly for several hours, until maybe three a.m. That’s when Evan attempted conversation (yet again).

“You said you were looking at the animatronics earlier. Did they give any sort of, like, indication that they were possessed? Like, are they just like this at midnight, or-“

“They allow the animatronics to free-roam at night. That way the joints don’t lock up, or something.”

“That’s a liability waiting to happen. I guess the company isn’t a stranger to incidents with their animatronics, though,” He joked, although it was strained, “Right, Mike? Mike?”

“Whatever.”

“Jeez, you’re friendly tonight.”

“Stop it. You hate me, right?”

Evan looked his brother.

“Uh, I wouldn’t say I hate you. I wouldn’t say I like you much either, though.”

“So stop acting like we’re friends.”

Where in the hell was this coming from? Evan looked at the buttons on the door. They were already at 38%.

“I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about, but we need to use the doors less. The battery’s dropping fast,” He remarked.

Mike looked down.

Another hour passed. The silence was even louder, and the animatronics were getting more and more active with each second. How many times now had Foxy visited? Too many for comfort, to say the least.

Their battery was at 24%.

“We could probably make it to six a.m. fine, long as we’re careful. Then we’ll do it again tomorrow.”

“No, we won’t. I will.”

“What?”

Mike sighed deeply, “I don’t know. I can do this fine by myself. I’ve done this before at two different restaurants. I don’t need your help. Besides, this is super dangerous. You shouldn’t be here.”

Evan shut a door, noticing Chica on the side.

“Where is this coming from? You’re the one who was eager to have me on your side.”

“I still want you on my side. I just don’t think you should come with me for the night shift. No big deal.”

“We’re in this together now, Mike. I want to come with you.”

“No, you really don’t.”

“What do you mean?” Evan unsealed the door, seeing as Chica had vanished.

Mike stood up, out of his chair.

“You know what I saw earlier, Evan? While I was looking at all the animatronics?”

Why did his voice sound so pained?

”I found Fredbear.”

Suddenly the world was flipped upside down. There was no gravity, nothing to keep Evan’s feet on the ground, and he was falling into space. Free-falling, floating away.

“Why...would that be stored here?” Was all he could manage.

“I don’t know. But it’s in the other room. I think that it might be possessed, too. I don’t think you should be here anymore.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Why do you want to stay?!”

Evan smiled softly. “It’s like you said, Michael. Someone’s got to do something.”

Seemingly, his brother didn’t know what to say. So they continued on.

It was 5:30 am when the conversation picked up again, by Evan’s choice. They were at 15%.

“Is...is that why you’ve been so freaked out all night? ‘Cause of Fredbear?”

Mike, who was checking a light outside his door, stopped what he was doing to look back. He left the door closed.

“I mean, sorta.”

“It...why? It’s not like you have a reason to be scared of it.”

“I watched it crush your head.”

“I got my head crushed by it! You don’t see me complaining, though.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “You’ve been complaining about it all week.” Then, to add insult to injury, he heard Mike mutter, “Hypocrite.”

“What?!”

“Look, let’s not talk about the bite.”

“No. I’m sick of not talking about the bite.” Evan slammed his fist against the door, closing it.

“I’m sick of you avoiding talking about it, or even acknowledging it whatsoever.”

His brother laughed coldly, “You’re the one who’s pretending like it didn’t happen, after years of refusing to talk to me.”

“I- Yeah, because I’m trying to move on! You seemingly can’t, and it didn’t even happen to you!”

“That day was traumatic for me, too.”

“I’m not saying it wasn’t. But I’m saying that every time anything bad happens, you just avoid it! You lost all your organs last week and I haven’t heard you mention it once! You deserve to process things, too. Shutting it all in isn’t going to help you move on.”

Mike groaned loudly, “God, why can’t you just get mad at me? Yell at me more. Please don’t judge my coping mechanisms.”

“Because I care about you!” He screamed in frustration.

“Why?! Why do you care about me?! I almost killed you! You should be mad!”

“Of course I’m mad! But I’m not mad about the fucking bite anymore, Michael!”

Both went silent for a moment. Back into that uncomfortable, familiar silence. They just breathed harshly.

“I’m not mad about the bite, not anymore. I mean, I don’t really blame you. You were, like, thirteen, and that animatronic should not have been able to crush my fucking head.”

Mike didn’t respond.

“I forgave you, Mike. Don’t you remember that? I told you it was okay. But you shut me out, never apologizing, never talking about it. And then you left. You said nothing to me for years in end, and as soon as Father vanished, you left me.”

Mike didn’t respond.

“I’m not even mad about that, Michael. I care, of course, but I’m not angry. I’m mad that you never came back. I never wanted to be your enemy.”

“I...I just wanted my brother...” Evan’s voice quivered.

Mike didn’t respond.

“God fucking damnit, say something! Please! Anything!”

Perhaps Michael was about to say something. Evan would like to think that.

But before he had the opportunity to, the lights turned out, and the doors opened wide.

Chapter Text

1983

Evan scratched his head.

It hurt to do so. His fingers met bandages, wrapped tightly around his cranium. Every time he touched it, or moved too fast, or even looked around, it exploded with pain.

He was getting slightly more desensitized to it. Slightly. It had been a month now, after all.

Since the...the bite. Yeah. Where his brother...he, yeah, he lifted Evan up. Into Fredbear’s jaw. There were others, too. They helped.

The doctors had advised him to go over any events he could remember from before the bite. There weren’t a lot.

What he did remember was throwing a ball with Michael, Father getting mad at him over...something, playing hide and seek in the woods, a weird nightmare of Elizabeth, uh... what else?

He remembered Mother’s disappearance, baking a cake with...someone, Mike making him macaroni and cheese, and, of course, the bite.

That was it. He’d met a man named Henry who he’d known before and his daughter, Charlie. There’d been a lot of kids at his school who said that they knew him. That they were sorry.

Evan didn’t really care about them. He’d get to know them later.

What he was focused on was Mike. His brother hadn’t spoken to him since he got out of the hospital.

He was mad at Mike. Super pissed, really. But he wanted to talk to him.

Father hadn’t been talking much to him. He didn’t know if this was out of the ordinary. But it was boring. Evan knew that he used to spend lots of time with Mike.

Honestly, Evan just didn’t want to be alone.

He needed someone. He needed his brother, for however angry he was. For he loved Mike. Although he’d forgotten much of his brother, he could feel it.

So here he stood, outside his brother’s bedroom. The door was locked, no doubt with the boy inside.

And in his hand Evan held a gift. He didn’t know the significance of the item, yet he knew it held such. So he’d give it to Michael. Maybe he’d like it more than Evan did.

Hesitantly he held up his palm to the door. Gently his fist made contact, three times, three square knocks.

There was shuffling inside, yet no response. So Evan knocked again.

Same answer, a.k.a. nothing.

“Mike, can I talk to you?” He projected.

The door creaked open slightly. It only allowed a sliver of visibility. But Evan saw frantic eyes.

“What do you want?”

“I want to talk about the bite.”

The door began to close. Evan clasped a hand to block it, nearly damaging his hand from the motion.

“Careful! You could’ve broken your fingers!” Mike yelped, and the door opened fully out of instinct.

The room inside was a mess. The bedsheets were untidy, there was paint on the walls, and fragments of broken glass accompanied by a bottle on the floor.

“I just want to talk, please. I’m not mad- actually, no, that was a lie, I think I am,” Evan said slowly, the words sluggishly escaping his mouth.

Mike didn’t say anything, merely looking around behind him.

“But I think I’m okay with forgiving you. Because I know that you didn’t mean it. It was a accident that my head got-“ He motioned a clap, “between the...the bear- it was a bear, right? The bear’s mouth and teeth and stuff. You didn’t know.”

“Wha...what?” His brother stuttered.

“I’m not ready to move on yet but I want to be friends. We can be friends, right? I’m still your friend?”

Evan knew that the words were ineloquent and that Father would be disappointed in his lackluster coherence.

Speaking of Father:

Mike whispered, “I...how are you able to forgive me? Father said- well, you shouldn’t.”

“Why’d he say that?”

“I...I almost killed you. How are you okay with that?”

“I’m alive, aren’t I?”

Mike stood there in his doorframe in shock.

Alright, time for the gift.

“I got this for you. It was in my room, and I thought you might like it because it’s soft and nice.”

He held out the yellow bear plush in front of him, out for Michael to accept it. Evan felt connected to it; no doubt it would help him.

Mike’s eyes widened.

“You’re my brother. I still love you.” Evan smiled. The bandages that went further down his face creased.

And Michael slammed the door shut.

It was impossible to see anything.

The office was pitch black. All of the mess upon the desk, the ominous glow of the side buttons, the strange fan- they did not exist any longer.

The only things were he and Michael, in a dark room, rendered defenseless.

Both doors were opened. The animatronics could come it any second. Evan couldn’t even check the light. He wouldn’t get to know the time was when he died.

“Evan. Get under the desk.”

His brother’s voice was faint.

“Fuck off. They’ll find me.”

There were faint footsteps moving to their office. Loud, crumbling footsteps, yet light and celebratory.

“They’re only looking for one target. I’m already dead, anyways. Not like getting shoved into an animatronic suit will make a difference.”

Suddenly a music box started up. Now, Evan wasn’t one for classical music, but he was confident that the song was Toreador March. Freddy was outside the office.

Evan argued, “I’m not going to stand by and let you die, Michael. I don’t care.”

“I’m sorry.”

A hand grabbed onto his. How Michael had managed to hold it in the dark was a mystery, yet a welcome one. Evan could feel how rotted and faint they were.

“I’m so fucking sorry. I’ll never, ever be able to make it up to you. And not a day goes by where I’m not sorry. What I did that day was unforgivable. What I did afterwards was just as bad. I shouldn’t have left you alone. You were all I had, too. But I still did, and for that, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I never reached out. I’m sorry that it’s taken me so long to say this. I wanted to be a part of your life. God, I always did. Because I love you. I don’t expect you to love me back. It’s amazing that after all these years, it’s just the same. I love you, and you’ve become such a smart and talented and lovely person. You’re the best of this family. You deserve the world. I love you. And I’m sorry I didn’t say any of this sooner.”

Evan stood there in shock. He managed to muster the words, “You’re making this sound like a goodbye.”

“It might be.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye yet.”

“I don’t think it’s our choice.”

“Don’t go. Please don’t go. I don’t want to lose you, either. I just got you back, please, please don’t. I don’t want to be alone.” Evan was trying his best not to break down into tears.

“Get under the desk, Evan.”

The song was coming to a close.

He wiped his eyes. Not like it mattered; no one would’ve been able to see his tears. And so he crawled down, to the desk.

“I don’t know if I forgive you. But I love you, Michael.”

He shut his eyes.

And nothing happened. No scream, no struggle, nothing.

When he opened his eyes, Mike was still there, looking as confused as he.

Wait. He could see Mike.

The lights were on. It was 6 a.m.

What followed would best be described as a slide tackle. Hey, Evan wasn’t the best at giving hugs.

“You’re an amazing brother,” Mike murmured, clutching onto him like a plushie.

“I don’t see you as a brother, and I don’t think I’m ready to call you that yet.”

“That’s alright.”

...

“And I’m not completely over any of it.”

“You don’t have to be.”

...

“But, maybe we could be friends.”

Chapter Text

Evan stood outside the apartment building  yet again. The place looked far less foreboding than it had the first time he had arrived, almost welcoming now.

Pushing through the door revealed the same receptionist he’d seen around a week ago. She nodded to him as he went to the staircase

Room 213. Where was it? First floor up, on the right.

Now he was in front of a new door, locked, no doubt.

So hesitantly he placed his palm up to it and knocked three times, three square knocks. There was a shuffling inside, and the door opened.

“Hey,” His friend, Michael, greeted, allowing him inside.

“Sup, dude?”

The apartment was considerably more tidy. There was still sewing supplies scattered about, yet it was clean now. No blood or anything. Mike’s face was pretty covered up, allowing no access to most of his features. Except for the eyes.

He was wearing contact lenses. They looked just like his old, blue eyes.

“I went on the date with Dyani, by the way,” Evan added as he took a seat on Mike’s couch.

“How’d that go?”

“We made out.”

The date had been yesterday. Initially they were just going to grab coffee. And they did do that. But the two ended up enjoying each other’s company so much that Dyani invited him to see a movie later that night, and after the movie they kissed.

Moving a little fast, although Evan didn’t mind. He really liked her.

“God damn!” Mike laughed, “That quick, huh? Good for you, man.”

“I know! She’s really amazing. Like, really really cool. She loves engineering. Maybe you two should do engineer stuff together or something.”

“Oh, I never want to think about engineering again. I’ll pass. But eventually I want to meet her.”

Evan asked, “Didn’t you go into engineering for college?”

“Yeah. But I switched majors halfway through and then dropped out ‘cause of the whole William thing.”

Neither of them wanted to call William their father anymore. He was just the man they had lived with.

“I got you.”

They sat for a second in comfortable silence.

“I might go back soon.”

“What about the night guard thing?”

This question made Michael jerk in his seat, bursting out laughing. He gasped a few times, then stood up to walk to the kitchen.

“What? What?” Evan laughed, though confused.

Mike said nothing, only passing him what appeared to be a pink slip.

“You got fired?!”

“Look at the fucking reasons.”

Scanning over the notice revealed several things. These included tampering with the animatronics (oops), “general unprofessionalism”, and...

“Odor?!”

This made Mike guffaw even harder. They both laughed.

After the two had recuperated, Michael sighed, “I’m...really glad we’re friends again.”

Gently Evan touched the scar on his forehead. It was more healed than he had realized.

Things were fine now. Maybe they wouldn’t be forever, but he didn’t need to think about that for now. He could cherish this moment.

Evan had always looked to sitcoms for what family could be. An idealized life. But sitcoms were unrealistic. Perhaps not as unrealistic as his life, but in a different way.

Striving for the sitcom-package life was pointless. There wouldn’t be a perfect ending tied up with a bow, everything resolved in approximately twenty four minutes. Because life wasn’t twenty four minutes long. It would continue.

As it did.

This was good for the meantime. This would enough. It sure as hell wasn’t perfect, but it was nice.

Just he and Michael, together in peace and forgiveness.

Tomorrow was another day. One that would bring new challenges, new conflicts. But today was enough.

“We’ll always be.”