Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When a child asked him who his favorite of his friends are, he had to stop himself from saying Bonnie. Which wasn't surprising - there was no Fred Bear without Bonnie. At least it was that way for many years until very recently. But he's been warned many times not to bring up his friend anymore. It confuses the guests since he's been decommissioned for some time now, and with Bonnie Bowl still open, it doesn't help any of the STAFF trying to explain when they don't know the answer either.

But the name that came to mind next surprised himself and the child asking him.

"Foxy."

"Foxy?" The little girl repeats, tilting her head in confusion. "The Pirate Captain?"

"The very one!" Freddy exclaims over excitedly to help cover his own confusion at his answer. He loves all his friends equally, but maybe there was something to his answer he didn't realize himself.

"I didn't know he was here!" She jumped up and down, the bag of popcorn in her hands spilling over. Freddy can see the STAFF member assigned to him calling in a cleaning bot. 

"Yes, but he's hard to find-" He begins. 

"Like a treasure hunt?!" She whispers excitedly. 

It's easy to allow his programming to speak his rehearsed lines. His job in these situations is to direct the kids to one of the many restaurants and purchase a 'secret' item. This 'item' being a map to a scavenger hunt where the prize is an exclusive Pirate Captain Foxy plush. And possibly, if the animatronic was feeling magnanimous, even a meeting with the animatronic himself.

Foxy is, to put it lightly, an odd animatronic.

He was different from Freddy and the other Glamrock stars. He technically was created to be like the daycare attendant for Kids Cove, but since day one he had been an ornery machine. For one thing, he doesn't really like children.

He's not mean or outright rude, and in fact Freddy thinks he has a way with kids that everyone else just doesn't. He connects to them a lot better than Freddy ever could, and even Sunny had mentioned how much better he is with handling kids than him and Moon are. His treatment of the kids isn't the problem, it's the fact that Foxy doesn't do his job.

He's as rebellious as his backstory makes him out to be, Freddy just didn't know why it was allowed. 

Foxy can usually never be found during working hours. And if he was, he's usually found running away from the kids and the few STAFF members assigned to him. He never shows up for the scripted plays, never sits for the meet and greets, and can never be found where he's meant to be. 

Supposedly he's only allowed to be in Kids Cove and the Daycare area, but instead he's found mostly in the Arcade or jamming with DJ Music Man. If he's out at all at least. 9 times out of 10, he's usually hiding away from the public entirely. It's rare to find him in the PizzaPlex and nearly impossible to find him where he's meant to be. 

It's why the scavenger hunt had turned to getting a physical prize instead of an exclusive meeting with Foxy. It's why he's unknown as an actual animatronic to kids unless they explicitly ask - and it's why he was replaced by Roxanne Wolf even before the PizzaPlex opened. Because apparently he'd been like this since he'd been turned on, and the technicians have no way of fixing him. 

Apparently from the moment he powered on, he'd bolted from Parts and Services and could not be found by anyone. He came back a couple months later with a different casing -thin fur instead of their usual plastic- and a mischievous attitude fitting his pirate persona.

No matter what they did, none of the humans could catch him to fix his programming or perform necessary maintenance. Freddy doesn't know how he's been dealing with that on his own since he could never be found in Parts and Services, but nothing seemed to slow the fox down.  

But even with all of this, Fazbear Entertainment still found they could profit off the fox in their own way. 

Apparently finding the elusive fox is an achievement that's popular with people online and older teens, and unfortunately it's something Foxy finds annoying. But even if it helps revenue and he's been scripted to help hint on Foxy's location by pointing them to the scavenger hunts, if he knows Foxy is out in public he points them in the wrong direction and alerts Foxy on their communication link. 

He doesn't know why he enables this behavior, but it fills his circuit with warmth when he gets a heartfelt thank you in response. Bonnie used to tease him about his favoritism of Foxy, but he wouldn't really consider it favoritism if he knew Foxy was just going to do his own thing anyways. It never hurt when he could make his friend happy by helping him break some rules. 

As long as they were rules that didn't hurt anyone, or the PizzaPlex, in any way. He has no proof or seen him do anything himself, but he's heard multiple employees complain about Foxy and his pranks that have caused some attractions to be closed. He doesn't approve of Foxy's rebellious actions, but he will be the first to say that those very actions has caused many dangerous attractions to be fixed up or completely replaced. 

But he still won't help him out with breaking company property. Though Foxy hadn't asked him or any of the other animatronics for help before - with anything.

It was something that had always concerned him when he first met the pirate fox - he does not chat with many people, animatronic or human. Freddy is unaware if anyone had even spoken to the fox longer than a handful of minutes. It's one of the many reasons why Freddy turns a blind eye to most of the fox's antics. He worries that the fox doesn't have anyone he could call a friend, and it's why he tries so hard to reach out when he can. 

But Foxy has such an easy going attitude that it feels too easy to let the fox steer the conversation to an end quickly. It never feels disingenuous, and he's never outright rude to Freddy, but he's never had a conversation last longer than ten minutes at most. It's concerning, and Freddy hopes Foxy has a friend in someone that he just doesn't know about. Bonnie always called him soft for that, but Foxy was a good person, and Freddy hoped he was never lonely. 

Foxy was an odd animatronic that followed his own rules. Freddy hoped one day he'd come out of his shell - he'd like to be friends like their predecessors before them.

But he'll continue as he is for now, and as he watches the child excitedly pull her mother along to the first stop in the treasure hunt, he sends Foxy a message to alert him of a possible meet and greet.

.. --

There were no singing angels, no bright lights, no warm embraces to greet him in the afterlife. He simply closed his eyes, went to sleep - 

...

..

.

- and woke up again. 

... - .. .-.. .-..

He's getting real tired of waking up with a body he has to learn how to use again.

.... . .-. .

Waking up was slow going. He had opened his eyes a couple times, just enough to see the room he's in and recognize other people sometimes, but he's not aware enough to make sense of what he sees. 

When he wakes up fully the first time, the first thing he notices is that he has no legs. 

It's an odd thing to wake up to after everything, and it's the reason he can't help the hysterical laughter from bubbling over. The unrecognizable sound - almost robotic in a way- just made him laugh harder. Voices around him yelp in alarm, and before he can turn his eyes to see the others, the world goes dark.

He wakes up the second time with still no legs. It's not as funny this time but it's a near thing. Because of course his luck would force him back into a body more mangled than his last one. Of course his luck would have him back in the living world at all. The one man who would like nothing more than to die- cant. It's beyond a punishment at this point, and he comes to the conclusion that he'll never get what he wants.

That's fine. It has to be.

He shuts his eyes and falls asleep.

The next few times he wakes up his body is unresponsive. There is no one in the room with him the few times he comes to, but he doesn't need them to figure out the room he has found himself in. It's not a complete copy of his fathers robotics warehouse but it's a near thing with the atmosphere. It's grungy, big, and littered with inactive endoskeletons. 

He had thought that nothing could truly scare him anymore, but stuck underground with robotics while he's unable to move is a nightmare and he's wondered many times if he wasn't actually in hell. 

Nothing less than he deserves of course, but he'd just like to know.

He doesn't have a heartbeat, hasn't had one for a long time now, but he's sure he's feeling the phantom aches of a heart attack every time he wakes in the facility unable to move. 

After a handful of nightmares, he wakes up with legs and a person sitting in front of him. The man's words are the only reason he hadn't stood up and bolted the second he realized his body was functional and could move. 

"Commencing Test 01 dash 15. Captain Foxy." He fiddles with a tablet in his hands before he looks up. "Hello, Foxy."

Oh shit, Michael thinks. He's talking to me.

Chapter Text

He's seen the size of the cakes that Freddy Fazbear has taken out of his stomach hatch. He knows he can easily fit in there, so he does. He doesn't know why the animatronic is powered down but he doesn't have time to think about anything other than finding a place to hide. 

He pushes at the metal around Freddy's middle and it snaps open. He crawls in, ignoring the small stabs of metal poking at him, and watches as the stomach doors slam shut behind him. He hadn't gotten a chance to get comfortable before it closed but beggars can't be choosers and this is the safest place he's found so far. He doesn't think the security guard would ever think to look in here, and when he hears her curse out some other workers further away, he knows he's safe. It's not comfortable, but it's safe, and that's all he cares about right now as he can hear the employees walking and talking around him. 

Two voices come closer but Gregory can barely understand the conversation.

"..can't be..."

"...be quick-"

"..xy, come on man-"

"Hey, is someone going to move Freddy?" A familiar voice snaps, interrupting the conversation.

The security officer was right in front of him! Was she there the whole time?! Gregory slapped his hand over his mouth to help muffle his breathing, listening intensely.

One of the two voices comes closer, "We're not done with him yet, the technician assigned to him can't seem to figure out what went wrong." 

"Great, another issue the higher ups are gonna complain to all of us about. But it's near closing time, you know they don't like you guys here after hours."

"Shit, it's already that late?" There was shuffling from the other person. "Fuck, well, we'll keep Freddy on half power and put him in his room for now. It's enough to have him wave to the kids as they make their way out." 

The other employee calls out for help and Gregory can feel Freddy being moved. The sound of squeaky wheels almost drowned out the conversation around him.

"Cut him off from the network too, incase whatever is messing with him affects the others." The security guard insists. 

"Already done. We'll get him up and running in the morning."

"You better." 

Footsteps can be heard leaving and the people moving Freddy cheered when she was gone. 

It's quiet the rest of the journey apart from the wheels moving under Freddy. Gregory stays as still as possible, hand still firmly grasping his mouth to help him keep quiet. He still can't see anything but he feels and hears something like an elevator moving them upward. 

The ride is brief after that and soon Gregory can feel Freddy being moved around. 

"Alright I'll set him up for basic movements so he can wave but the full reboot will take an hour or so." A new voice states. Seconds later, Gregory can feel Freddy lightly swaying from side to side. 

"Do you think you can fix him up tomorrow?"

"Hopefully. You'd think they'd want me to stay overnight to fix him so he'll be ready to go by tomorrow but noooo, imagine having to pay someone overtime."

"Ha! Hell would freeze over before that'd happen." 

They banter back and forth a couple minutes more before they finally leave. Gregory takes a deep breath when a door closes, leaving him alone in the rocking Freddy bear. 

It's distant, but he can hear random people still. It must be the leaving guests the workers were talking about earlier. He doesn't know what time it is or how long he'd have to stay in Freddy, but he leans further into the animatronics stomach to try and get comfortable. 

Now that he wasn't running around the PizzaPlex and given a chance to relax, Gregory feels exhausted. Would it hurt to take a nap? He was as safe as possible until the technicians come back for Freddy tomorrow, but did he really want to take the chance and stay the whole night? The stomach hatch wasn't the most comfortable place he's spent his night in, but it's also not the most uncomfortable. At least it wasn't raining and the animatronic was comfortably warm inside. 

He wonders if they have an A/C function so he doesn't melt the cakes. 

The rocking didn't help either and he can't stop himself from taking a nap. 

IFMMP

When Freddy came back online, the sound of his voice was loud from the inside of his stomach hatch. It jolted Gregory awake and the movement caused him to press against some sharp metal. His arm stung, but when he looked at the damage, it was only a small cut. Nothing to worry about, he's had worse scratches before. Like the one on his face that's barely had time to scab over. 

"Showtime already?!" 

Gregory can’t see what the robot is doing exactly, but the rocking from the arm movement had stopped and he could feel the animatronic walking in slow circles around the room. He would have been fine in keeping quiet, but Freddy's voice was just too loud! It was giving him a headache! 

"I am experiencing a malfunction. The recharge cycle is not complete." Freddy says out loud.

"Shh! Will you shut up?!" Gregory hisses, putting his hands over his ears.

He feels Freddy jerk his body around, possibly trying to search for him. "Who said that?"

"I did! I'm down here." 

"Down where? I still do not see you."

Gregory cringed a tiny bit. He didn't think Freddy was going to come back online this soon! There was no point in lying though, he had to get out of Freddy now. No way would the animatronic let him stay here. He resigns himself to explain what he did, and Freddy's responding lecture wasn't surprising.

"Please come out immediately!" 

With no choice left, and sort of happy to get away from the loud voice, Gregory agreed. Freddy opened the hatch to his stomach and Gregory jumped out, stretching his arms and jumping around to get the tingles out of his legs. 

He'll admit, maybe the stomach hatch was the worst place he's ever slept in. The safest, but too much of a tight squeeze. 

Freddy scanned the boy as soon as he could see his face fully, "How odd. Your guest profile is unknown to me. Who are you?"

Gregory pauses, worried to admit who he is. School did teach him about stranger danger. "...I'm Gregory."

But Freddy was a robot so was that technically the same thing?

"Hm," Freddy pauses for another moment. "Let me call the proper authorities to help you."

There was another moment of silence before Freddy tilted his head in confusion. "How strange- a connection error. I cannot connect to the main network."

"Its her! She cut you off." Gregory huffs, thinking back on the conversation he overheard earlier. "She's not going to let you call for help-"

The sound of footsteps from behind him made him jump and he ran to the big window. Most of it was covered by a large curtain but he was able to peek through the split in the fabric. Rockstar Row was not completely dark, but it did take his eyes a moment to adjust as he peered out the window. 

A light from a flashlight came into view, and the security guard from earlier walked by. Gregory jerked back, hiding himself behind the curtain.

Freddy was surprised to see such fear on the boy's face, especially now that he knows the person on the other side was the security guard Vanessa.  "Do not worry, she can help!"

"No! I don't trust her. I don't know who she is but she's trying to get me ." Gregory argued, peaking out once more and relaxing a bit when Vanessa walked past. 

Freddy was alarmed at the admission and ignored the programming that wanted to try and reason with Gregory about the safety of the PizzaPlex's security officers. What stopped him was a conversation he had had with Foxy a long time ago about children in need. Always trust a child when they tell you they don't trust an adult. Especially if the adult is a family member or a person of authority.

There was truth in that unfortunately. He had never had to deal with employees hurting children, but he had to involve himself a handful of times with questionable family members or “friends” of parents. It's what makes it easy for Freddy to ignore his programming and believe in the boy.

"Alright-"

Gregory turned back to Freddy with a scowl. "Do you have any other way of communicating besides talking so loudly?"

Oh, he supposed his voice can be a little loud. 

"She'll definitely come back if she hears you talking to someone!!" 

Ah, that too. Freddy can admit that he hadn't thought of that. He keeps quiet until he can hear the sound of the metal door opening and closing, indicating that Vanessa is out of the main area to Rockstar Row. When the coast is clear he motions Gregory over to him and the boy checks the window one more time before running over.

Freddy pulls out a gift box. 

With how stressed Gregory must be feeling, Freddy's not surprised the boy doesn't look as excited as most kids his age usually are. But he still cranks the dial and lets a smile escape when the top bursts open with a bit of confetti. 

Inside the box rests the newest model of the Fazwatch. Gregory picks up the watch with wide eyes. "Oh, I've seen people wear these. What's it for?" 

When Gregory puts the watch on, it beeps to alert him of a message. He jumps in alarm, looking up at the animatronic. "What was that?!"

"I am sending you an encoded message. Go ahead and press it Gregory."

 He follows the instructions, pressing on the new message option. Freddy's voice comes out, much quieter than his animatronic voice. 

"Hello Gregory! It is me, Freddy." Gregory almost snorts. "I will escort you to the main entrance. However, I am unable to leave this room. You should have no problem. There is a button on the wall that will open the door to the back room. I will make it accessible to you now."

Gregory looks up from the watch, looking around the room. He guessed the workers put a lot more restrictions on Freddy because of his earlier malfunctions if the bot can't even leave his own room. 

He spots the Freddy shaped button on the wall near an arcade machine and presses it. The door next to him opens. 

"Well done, Gregory," Freddy says, giving him a thumbs up. "Unfortunately the elevator only goes down to Parts and Services. But, there is an open air vent inside the maintenance room. You will have to climb through the ventilation system and release me from the outside."

"Wait, what?!" All this just to open a front door?! He looks into the open doorway and just sees a dark hallway. A few fixtures on the walls are lit up but they don't give enough light to be able to brighten up the room. He wasn't scared of the dark typically but the PizzaPlex after hours is giving him the creeps. 

He looks back at Freddy, "It's pretty dark down there."

"There is nothing to be scared of." Freddy walks over and puts his paw on Gregory's shoulder and lightly squeezes. "You can do it."

Gregory doesn't know why his face heats up, but he pushes the paw away and bolts into the dark hallway. Before he can turn back to wave at Freddy, the door slams shut behind him. The sudden sound makes him jump and he gives himself a second to breathe through the panic. 

What was he, a baby?! He shakes his head vigorously to help him get out of his funk. He's got an animatronic to break out! 

With a deep breath he walks forward, finding boxes placed perfectly in a way to be able to climb up and get into the vent. It's pretty spacious surprisingly and he finds it easy to crawl through. It's not quiet but the sound of Chica's guitar practice and whatever was going on in Monty's room should be able to mask whatever sound he makes. 

It's easy enough to get through the vents and soon Gregory is able to see the other end of the vent tunnel. It's a little high up, but he tucks and rolls when he falls out of the vent. He's sure to sport another bruise but it's fine, he's lost count of the others already. 

He continues on, almost instantly distracted by the glass cases in the middle of the room. It looked like they were filled with old Freddy Fazbear items with little plaques detailing what each item is. Some stuff looked really old. If he wasn't on a time limit he'd take the time to look. He hadn't had a chance to before because Rockstar Row was always filled with too many workers during open hours. 

He forces himself to move on, glancing through Chica's window and seeing her still playing the guitar. He thought the animatronics just had a program they followed, but by the sound of it, it sounded like she was actually playing it. She was playing a song he had never heard in the PizzaPlex before. 

He keeps going, stopping for a moment at Monty's window. There were signs everywhere that basically said the animatronic was out of service, and it definitely sounded like something was going on inside. Gregory couldn't fight his curiosity. 

He peers into the window, cupping his hands around his eyes to help him see better. It's basically pitch black inside, not counting the faint green light that was found sporadically around the room. 

He squints his eyes, trying to look harder. Was there a figure over to the left?

A flash of red eyes was suddenly right in front of him, and something large slammed into the window near his face. He jerks back in surprise, falling to the floor. Heart pounding, he scrambles up and runs to Freddy's room. He didn't even glance into Roxy's room- he was ready to see Freddy again.

Only when he tried to open Freddy's door, nothing happened. His heart was still pounding erratically and he smacked the door in frustration. "Your stupid door wont open!"

"Oh? You're going to need a Photo Pass to open the door. Apologies, I assumed you had one already. You should be able to find one at a convenience counter." Freddy says from his Fazwatch. 

Gregory groaned and turned around. “Where is the convenience counter?”

As he walked away from the door, Freddy directed him on where to go. It was faster than just letting himself wander around because he’d surely get distracted by everything. He sees the cutout for a free photo pass easily enough though, and he winds the prize box quickly. He can’t help the jump as the box bursts open. “Why do you put stuff in these boxes anyways?”

“Nobody has a birthday everyday but everyone likes opening gifts, right?” Freddy responds. Gregory supposed that was true.

With a photo pass in hand he runs back to Freddy’s door and this time the door slides open. Freddy greets him with a big smile and a "Way to go Superstar! I knew you could do it!"

He feels his face go warm again and gets a little embarrassed. He completely ignores what Freddy says and just asks the bear what's next.

Freddy pauses for a moment before replying. "I know how to get you back out of here. Climb back into my chest cavity."

"I thought you said I wasn't allowed in there?" Gregory laughs as he jumps in when the hatch opens for him. He didn’t really care why he’s now allowed in when Freddy was so worried earlier, but he did like teasing the bear. It was always funny when adults were proven wrong about something!

"Er, that's true but...Well, we’re running out of time before the doors close.” Freddy explains. “It’ll be faster this way. I will escort you to the main exit through the utility tunnels. It is the safest path."

"Okay. But be careful. I don't want to be crushed and twisted into a meat pretzel."

“Of course Gregory, I will keep you safe.”

Gregory only said it as a joke, but the seriousness of Freddy’s voice made his face heat up again. He distracted himself by looking at his Fazwatch. He was surprised to find an option to be able to see through Freddy’s cameras. “Woah, I can see what you’re seeing?”

“Yes! I have given you access to my camera feed so you can view the world outside of my chest cavity. I imagine you can’t see anything from inside there.”

“Awesome!” Gregory peered down at his watch and saw Freddy open a set of doors that led to a staircase. As Freddy kept his focus on the stairs to not trip, Gregory looked around at everything else. He thought he saw something on the wall but when Freddy glances up, it’s gone. 

This place is definitely creepy , Gregory thought. 

As they come close to the bottom of the stairs, a familiar voice calls out Gregory’s name.

"She's down here! We have to go back!" Gregory whispers harshly. 

Freddy doesn’t turn back though and simply continues on. "Do not worry Gregory. Even if we are spotted you are safe with me. She would never suspect we are traveling together."

Gregory tried to settle himself but hearing the ladies' voice stressed him out. She was too close to him and he wanted to push Freddy to either turn back or run. But time was running short, and when he glanced at Freddy's camera feed, he could see the battery gauge was seriously low. He resigned himself to letting the animatronic keep his original plans.

Only, once they were walking away from the stairs, Freddy paused rather suddenly. He looked through the cameras, praying nothing was there to stop Freddy or have a need to search the animatronic. But there was nothing.

"Why did we stop!?"

"Gregory, I feel you are broken." Freddy began. "We are nearing a first aid station and it reminded me of my earlier scan. You have a cut on your cheek. We must get it taken care of."

No no no! He didn't have time to get an old cut checked out. "I'm fine! It's old and small so it's fine!"

"No Gregory, I feel that something is wrong. I cannot leave any wound untreated."

Gregory couldn't stop Freddy even if he wanted to. He had no control of the robot, and he just quickened his steps the longer Gregory pounded on the stomach plates anyways.

A tiny first aid station came to view not long after and only then did the animatronic open the hatch and let Gregory climb out. He almost wanted to refuse and stay in his stomach, but he determined it would just be faster to get it out of the way. And besides, he could grab some supplies for later to help with future cuts and scrapes. He doesn't have a medicine cabinet he could sneak through anymore so this was a perfect opportunity!

He grabs an abandoned sports bag he finds on the side of the station and stuffs all the supplies he can get his hands on. The station is small and doesn't offer as much as he'd like, but even a small amount is enough when he has nothing. He leaves out two bandaids though, for the one on his cheek and the new one on his arm. It wasn't bleeding anymore but it did hurt. 

Before he can slap them on and tell Freddy to get a move on, the bear stops him. 

"These need to be cleaned first, Gregory." He pulls out two small squares from Gregory's bag. He rips one open and uses the wipe inside to clean the cut on Gregory's cheek. 

It stings at first, and Gregory flinches back more out of surprise than pain. He can't remember the last time someone else patched him up instead of just doing it himself. He was a big kid now and wasn't supposed to rely on others to help him anymore.

But...it was nice, even if the wipe stung. It was nice being taken care of for a moment. Especially when he was going to be on his own again soon.

His arm and cheek throb after getting patched up, but he knows it's necessary so they don't get infected. He's patched himself up enough times to know that first hand. And, the bandaids have Freddy's face on them and that makes it okay to Gregory.

"Am I good to go now? The place is going to close any minute."

"Yes-"

They both turn their heads toward the sound of footsteps right down the hall. Gregory was taking no chances. He hid in the first aid station just as the security guard came into view, yelling at Freddy.

"O-officer Vanessa! I do not know how I got here."

Really Freddy?! Even I can lie better than that!! Gregory screamed in his head. He keeps a hand tight over his mouth to keep quiet. 

But the security guard seemed to believe the animatronic as she continued her lecture. "Well, you totally blew it tonight. Your system crashed and you ruined the whole show. Now Parts and Services have you on reduced power. They said it's a safety precaution. Just one more thing to deal with..."

Freddy scratched at the back of his head, "I apologize."

"Okay...look," She sighs, resting her hands on her hips. "We're like 15 minutes from closing and some kid is sneaking around backstage. If you see anything, notify me immediately. I already alerted the others. Now, go back to your room." 

She commanded in the end with a point or her finger back through the hallway. She didn't even wait for Freddy to agree before she turned around and walked back the way she came too. Gregory waited until he couldn't hear her footsteps, even distantly, before he left the first aid station.

"I told you she was after me." Gregory felt the need to rub it in, though he was still feeling the jitters of adrenaline.

"I said nothing! I will keep you safe. Let us go." Freddy opened the hatch just as Gregory got close. 

He scrambled in quickly, still feeling just a little unsafe with the security guard being so close. The chest cavity closed just as he rested the bag on his lap. 

They continue on and Gregory pulls up Freddy's camera feed once again. He was back to feeling curious again as he took in everything around them. Pallets of metal cylinders and wooden crates littered the area. "Where are we?"

Freddy was happy to answer, "We are now under the PizzaPlex. These utility tunnels connect all the attractions."

"We can go anywhere in the building?" That'll be an easy way to cross the PizzaPlex in the future. 

"Correct! Fazer Blast, Monty Golf, Roxy Raceway, they are all accessible to staff - with high enough clearance of course. Guests are never allowed down here, but yours is a...," Freddy pauses, "...special situation."

Gregory snorts. He's probably the first 'guest' ever to ride around in an animatronic and taken on a tour through the basement of a pizzalex. 

"What do you mean by high enough clearance anyways? Even if you work here you're not allowed to go everywhere?"

"Precisely! A friend of mine had told me once that it was put in place as a safety precaution because of the PizzaPlex's past history. A 'circle of accountability,' is what he said I believe." Freddy chuckles, "That was before he took a look at the security procedures himself and took it back. It is something the staff have mentioned many times that the higher ups had promised to change."

He didn't need to be an adult to know something was up. "Yeah, but when did they promise that?" 

"...Since the pizzaplex had first opened I believe."

Gregory laughed.

The short good mood burst as they were heading up a different set of stairs. His watch suddenly beeps, and a red banner covers the full screen of his watch. 'Low Power' repeats multiple times until they make it to level B1. Around a corner there was a red machine that Freddy quickly explained was a charging station. Freddy stops near it.

"I am terribly sorry. The recharge cycle had not yet completed when I found you. You must continue without me." The hatch opens and Gregory takes it as his que to jump out and he does so. 

"I will guide you on your Fazwatch in case you get into any trouble." Freddy continues as he makes his way to the charging station. It opens automatically for him and Gregory can only see his head when the door closes. 

Gregory only left the chest cavity because he saw the time when he noticed the low power alert, but he didn't feel comfortable running around the PizzaPlex on his own. Just the short time he had left Freddy to get him out was the only time he'd been separated from the animatronic this whole night. 

He looked down the hall he was meant to walk through. From the little he could see, it was dark. "I don't know if I can do this alone!" 

"You can do this Gregory," Freddy's voice calls out from his watch. He brings it close to his face to hear him better. "I will be with you every step of the way to guide you."

Gregory takes a deep breath and walks out the doors.

Freddy watches him go and he's hit with a sudden worry. Something happened to make Gregory wary of the security officer and he knows his friends are out patrolling. If they find him they would definitely take him back to her and he can't have that. 

He tries once more to connect to the network but it fails again. 

He can only follow Gregory through the watch and hope that the child doesn't get caught. He never wanted Gregory to be alone, no child should ever be left alone after dark, but his recharge cycle would take just too long and Gregory only has a handful of minutes left. 

He powers down most functions to help speed up his charge and simply keeps an eye on Gregory while he waits. He hopes the boy doesn't run into any of his friends while he can't protect him.

Unfortunately for Gregory, he runs into trouble the moment he opens the door to the hallway. 

There's a table with all sorts of junk on it that's blocking his way and when he detours through the restroom, he instantly runs into Chica rummaging through the trash.

Why, why, whyyyy. Gregory yells inwardly, letting the door close. How the hell do I get past her?!  

He searches the hallway, already wanting to run back to Freddy. But one look at his watch stops him. He needed to move, now. 

He looked at the table of junk again and got an idea to use them as a distraction. 

He kicks the table hard enough to cause some of the cans to fall and it creates a lot of noise. He hears Chica cluck like a chicken before the door on the other side of the table opens. He didn't let himself see her as he rushed back into the bathroom while she came out to investigate, almost like a real game of chicken.

"Gregory, where are you~?" He hears her call just as he was about to open the other door. He stops himself, trying to calm his beating heart. How do they know his name already?! 

"Who wants caaandy?" 

…what a cliche line, and something no terrified kid would actually believe in this sort of situation. Gregory was almost disappointed and it made it just a little easier to motivate himself to push forward.

And with the clock ticking, he didn’t have time to get distracted! 

He takes a deep breath, crouches, and opens the door an inch. 

Chica stands in front of him, looking over the cluttered desk. But she just stands there completely still. Maybe she's got a scanner like Freddy used on him earlier, but it doesn't seem right that she's standing so stiffly. 

Even not doing anything Freddy doesn't stand as still as a statue. 

But not moving was better than actively searching for him, and he pushed the door open wider. 

He kept his eyes trained on the robot as he moved slowly behind her. It was slower than he wanted to move but his fear kept him crouched low. It wasn’t until he turned the corner did he feel comfortable standing up and sprinting away. 

He ran as fast as he could to put some distance between them and didn’t stop until his legs began to burn. He paused to cool down in a long hallway that had a chained locked fence blocking the left side. 

When he felt like his legs weren't burning anymore he pressed on, but as he jogged down the long hallway he heard a large crash behind him. He looks back and he sees Montgomery Gator had easily broken through the locked fence. 

He didn't take the chance to hear what the animatronic was going to say. He turned right back around and bolted. 

Down the hallway and up the stairs, pushing himself even when he felt like he couldn't breathe and his legs were starting to hurt again. He couldn't stop, not with the gator so close. 

And when he made it to the last floor and he thought he might have outrun the gator, Chica had come around the corner and even Roxy had burst up from behind a pile of junk. There wasn't a chance to relax at all, he had to keep running. He barely had a chance to follow the arrows pointing to the lobby, he was just running in the direction the animatronics were not in. 

He ran until he found himself in an office room with multiple monitors on it, and the only reason he relaxed for a second was because the door he passed through slammed shut behind him, blocking the animatronics from getting in. 

Monty slammed on the door hard enough to shake the table, but the door held strong and no one was able to get in. 

 His watch beeped just a moment later and he could hear Freddy's voice. "Well done Gregory, you found a security office. You should be quite safe here. The doors were designed to keep our highly-trained security staff safe in the event of an emergency. As long as the doors stay closed, which they will...as long as there is ample power."

Ample power?! Gregory looked around the room. His heart stopped when he noticed the power gauge near the door was really low. The other door was at full power, but the door that mattered wasn't.

"Freddy, the power is only at 15% and they're pounding on the door! How am I going to get out of here?"

"Do not panic!" Too late, he was feeling it already. He had barely escaped the gator the first time! 

"You should see an interface on the security desk. Hold on while I make it accessible to you." Freddy continues, pausing for a moment. Each second felt like an eternity to Gregory. "...there. You can now activate security protocols. Open the security badge case and scan the badge inside."

Monty was still banging on the door but following Freddy's directions was a good distraction. He even laughs when the button to open the case is Freddy's nose and it makes a honking sound when he pressed it.

Scanning the badge is easy from there and his watch gives a beep when it's done. 

"Your Fazwatch is now connected to the security camera system. Check the map on your Fazwatch." Freddy begins, going over how the cameras work. It's pretty easy to figure out, and Gregory could see Chica walking around and Monty was still banging on the door. Roxy was nowhere to be found and he hopes it's because she's gone from the area for good. 

Armed with the cameras on his wrist, he makes his way out of the other door and sprints down the hall. The odd square hallway was easy to get through when he knew Chica was on the other side and couldn't see him. He even felt confident enough to grab the random gift box on the floor when he passed by it. 

He turned the knob as he kept jogging and still jumped when it burst open. A curious cluck was heard from behind him, but when he checked his camera Chica was already back to eating trash. 

It wasn't really worth it though. The only gift inside was just a Chica piñata and when he shook it, it was empty of candy. Lame.

The doors to the lobby finally came into view though, and no disappointment will ever beat seeing the security gate close over the front doors.

"No, no, no!" Gregory runs up to the newly closed gate and bangs on it, frustration distracting him from staying quiet. "I was so close!"

"How unfortunate Gregory. You missed your chance," Freddy apologizes. "But there is still hope. You should be able to escape when the security doors open at 6:00 am. Until then, keep moving and try not to draw attention to yourself. If there is another way out, I will help you find it. I promise."

"Thanks Freddy...," Gregory couldn't even find the energy to be angry or particularly grateful to the bear. He was so close! If the last hour was going to be how this whole night is going to turn out, he's not going to last until 6!

He kicks the gate once more in frustration before turning back to the PizzaPlex. Normally he'd just sneak in with a group of rowdy kids but he's alone this time and he follows Freddy's instructions to get himself a pass for the PizzaPlex.

It's a hassle and a half to get one though and trying to upgrade it is even worse! Who builds this giant place but their own machines buzz out with a magnet? And he doesn't even find a cool magnet. It's that weird Mr.Hippo guy that's popular with the older kids at his old school. He doesn't know why, it's just an old guy that talks and talks and never makes any sense. 

He does feel a little bad about calling it lame though, only because Freddy seems so upset by it. 

But it does its job and scrambles the upgrade machine. He's lucky the sound of it going haywire doesn't alert Chica to his location, but he doesn't really think the animatronic is very smart in the first place. 

A daycare pass pops out and Gregory groans. That place was for babies, he didn't want to go there! But Freddy is excited about it so Gregory resigns himself to go to the kiddy place and they promise to meet up there. 

Only, by the time he gets there, Freddy apparently can't meet him inside. 

"I am unsure why my clearance has changed but it seems I am not allowed in the Daycare. You will have to get a higher security pass and let me in. Look for the daycare's security desk - it should be out in the open."

He found it alright, and stupidly it was inside the daycare playground. It couldn't be outside of it where he can just climb a little fence and walk down the stairs. No, instead it was behind giant wooden doors and the only way inside the playground was by going down a slide. 

If he survives the night he's going to write a terrible review of this place too! Why is all of this so complicated?!

The slide down is fun though, and that makes it easier to enjoy the ride and fall into the ball pit. And the pit was clean too, not like most of those places at fast food joints. 

But like most things tonight, the second he has fun something has to come and ruin it. 

Halfway through the ball pit and another animatronic comes out from hiding, a yellow figure with a face shaped like a sun. 

It twirls on a high ledge before it jumps into the air and dives straight into the ball pit. 

Shit shit shit! Gregory starts running, trying to get out of the ball pit as fast as possible. 

But the pit is large and he's still short for his age and the Sun animatronic catches him way too easily. He's hoisted in the air, held up by hands under his armpits. 

"Heeelloooo! New friend! You're sure up late! Are we having a slumber party? Where are all your friends?" He talks as he walks out of the ball pit and puts Gregory down near the giant playset, "We can finger paint, tell stories, drink Frizzy Fazz until our heads exPLODE and stay up all night! There's only one rule: Keep the lights on. ON. On..."

The sun animatronic doesn't let Gregory speak a word, and when he tries to move around the animatronic he just follows right on his heels. When he tries to go toward the security desk he's stopped all together, getting picked up and taken back to the other side of the playground. Gregory is glad that the animatronic isn't trying to grab him and call the security guard over, but he's getting a little annoyed! 

"No No no! What a mess! Oh which was the bottom? Where is the top? Clean up! Clean up!" Hitting the stack and making it fall over was an accident but it's perfect as a distraction for the sun animatronic. Gregory uses the opportunity to run over to the desk. 

Just as he's about to hit Freddy's nose, the sun animatronic grabs at the other side of the desk. The animatronics can't really move their faces to emote as well as people can, but they definitely can sound human-like. Especially now as the animatronic was sounding very nervous. "N-new friend, this-this area is off limits. You're gonna get us in trouble."

"I just need to grab the security badge to let Freddy in." Gregory tries to reason. He had noticed the animatronic wasn't trying to reach for him past the desk so he felt comfortable trying to reason with him. 

The animatronic shakes his head vigorously, ignoring Gregory completely. "Don't you want a puppet show? I have glitter glue! Do you like glitter glue? Googly eyes?"

He wasn't a baby so that wouldn't work on him on a good day. "No, I want the security pass."

"Ooooh, no no no! Keep the lights on oN ON." The animatronic repeats over and over again. 

"I will! I don't want the lights off either! I just need the pass!"

The animatronic keeps ignoring anything he says so Gregory doesn't try anymore. He presses on Freddy's nose and scans the pass when it comes into view. His watch takes a few seconds to set up his new access and the moment he hears a beep of success, all the lights in the daycare turn off.

The sun animatronic jumps on top the desk and screeches like it's in pain. "No, no! Why would you do that? Lights on! Lights on! I warned you- I WARNED YOU!"

He didn't turn off the lights himself! He doesn't know why it happened! The Sun animatronic screams louder, clutching at his face and it suddenly falls over. Gregory hears the garbled sounds of pain for a moment until it suddenly went absolutely quiet. 

Heart pounding, Gregory took one step forward to try and look over the top of the desk to see what had come over the sun animatronic. Before he could though, there was movement on the other side and Gregory scrambled back.

Hands slowly rose from behind the desk, gripping the edge to help the animatronic climb on top of it. What was once a sun animatronic now looked like the moon, with even the outfit changed from the gold and red color to dark blue and silver stars. But what was the creepiest about it was the glowing red eyes that were staring straight at Gregory. 

"Naughty boy, naughty boy. It's past your bedtime. You must be punished~"

But whatever caused the sun animatronic to stay on the other side of the security desk seemed to limit the moon animatronic too and it never came over to Gregory at all. Instead it laughed and launched into the air. 

The moment he was gone, Freddy called him on his watch. The alert made him jump back and cause him to hit the back of his head on the wall he was pressed against.

"Gregory, I don't know what you did but the lights are out in the daycare!" Freddy starts, but Gregory cuts in with an annoyed 'I know!'

"I just got the pass and it just shut off! I didn't flip any switch, I promise!" Tears gathered at the edges of his eyes but he wiped them off quickly. It wasn't time to get overemotional. 

"I believe you Gregory," Freddy reassured. "But you need to find the emergency backup generators and turn them on. They are in the play structures."

"Can't I just wait for you? I've got the security pass." Gregory argued. Besides the lights behind the security desk, the rest of the playground was completely dark. He wasn't scared of the dark usually, but there was a creepy animatronic out there that more than likely will actually kill him.

"Unfortunately not." Freddy responds, and it makes Gregory feel a little better because the bear sounds genuinely worried. "The whole daycare is on lockdown until the power is turned on again. That means no one can get in, and no one can get out. The power won't be turned back on until the next hour and I don't know if you can hide from Moon for that long."

Gregory checked the time until the next hour. He's sure he can hold out by the desk for twenty minutes. 

Only Freddy shot down that idea. "I don't know about Sunny, but Moon never had trouble getting behind the security desk. He used to be a big prankster that would leave whoopee cushions on everyone's seats. If he hasn't reached you yet, he must be thinking you guys are playing a game and that is the safe zone."

Which meant Gregory didn't know when Moon would get tired of waiting for him and get in the 'safe zone' instead. He wasn't going to wait to find out.

Chapter Text

Freddy can’t stop himself from pacing in front of the doors into the daycare area. Whatever happened with Gregory caused the lights to go off all over this wing of the PizzaPlex and only the lights from his eyes were illuminating the room. 

"I-I found a flashlight." Gregory whispered through the watch and Freddy felt the need to breathe out a sigh of relief. It was a habit he picked up from watching the humans around him, and it was also something Foxy did constantly. 

"That's good Gregory. Make sure it's charged." He hated this so much. Gregory shouldn't have to do this at all.

"Okay." There was a pause as Gregory charged the flashlight. "Alright I'm charged up."

"Please be careful Gregory. I'll be right outside to get you the moment the power is back and running."

"You promise?" It can't have been his imagination that Gregory's voice sounded a lot smaller suddenly.

"Yes." 

He couldn't say everything was going to be alright because he wasn't sure anymore. Yesterday he would have confidently believed his friends could never hurt a child. But hearing them actively hunting Gregory in the short time Freddy was away from him, he wasn't confident his friends wouldn't hurt the boy. 

He doesn't want to think about the possibility of his friends being capable of doing something even worse than hurting a child. 

A message alert distracted him for a moment and he quickly answered the call, hoping it was anyone he can try to reason with. Instead it was someone better.

"Hey big guy, the power just went off in the Daycare and I noticed you're the closest one there. Is everything alright?"

Foxy! What a wonderful help he would surely be for them! "Foxy! I have not been able to reach anyone since I've woken up."

There was a distant sound of clanging in the background which is pretty typical for the Fox. For as long as Freddy has known him, Foxy can always be found tinkering with something in his hands. "Yeah you were cut off after your little fainting spell earlier. I've connected you with my private network for the meantime."

Private...network? When did Foxy set up his own? And why? 

"That's...good!" Freddy tried to cover up his awkwardness by pushing the conversation to something more important. "Actually, would you be able to turn on the power in the daycare?"

"Sorry big guy, it looks like it will need to be turned on manually." There was a crash and a following curse and Freddy worried that it came from Gregory. "Wait, what's going on out there anyways?"

Freddy decided to spill everything as fast as possible. Whatever was affecting his friends seemed to not have gotten Foxy and he's the only ally he can trust to help him with Gregory. And if the power issue needs a manual fix, the next hour charge isn't going to help Gregory at all.

"Something has affected our friends. They aren't acting like themselves and they're going after Gregory too aggressively. I'm sure they mean to take him to the security officer Vanessa, but now I worry they won't and Gregory doesn't trust her either. I haven't had the chance to fully ask why, but you said children who say that have a reason. And I tried to get him out of the pizzaplex before midnight but I'm not even running right either and he's stuck in the daycare and the lights are off and-"

" Freddy !" Foxy yells suddenly, and Freddy blinks a couple times in alarm. It takes him a moment to realize how out of breath he weirdly feels, as if he needs to breathe anyways.

"Calm down big guy, I'm already on my way."

"Good- that's." Freddy doesn't understand why he can't seem to focus. "Please hurry."

"I am Freddy, I promise. I'll stay on the line with you. Tell me about this lad you’ve been helping."

He's only known Gregory for a short time, but he can easily find things to talk to Foxy about. And he does, telling the fox how he found the boy hiding in his room and their subsequent short journey together. He lists off the amount of cuts and bruises his scanner had picked up and also some of things he's noticed the kid likes and dislikes. He mentions his bravery, and that no matter what Freddy asked him to do, he hadn't complained too hard about anything. 

The longer he talked the better he started to feel, and he realized quickly that this was what Foxy had meant to happen by making him focus on one thing. 

"Thank you Foxy." Freddy sighs, putting his hand against his chest. There was no heartbeat under his paw, but it was another human gesture that he likes to imitate when he gets overly emotional. 

He hears a laugh on the other end, "Anything for you big guy. How's it going over there?"

"I am unable to check. I am stuck outside the Daycare. I believe my clearance for many things has been revoked because of my earlier malfunction."

"Yes and no," Foxy huffs. "Yes they limited your movements but also someone has messed with the whole security system. What was once an annoyance is now extremely complicated, as if on purpose. I've noticed all the security levels for everything have been changed around. I got distracted and now everything is fucked up."

"Language," Freddy says, more out of habit than being truly upset. Instead he was curious about what else Foxy had said. "Is someone trying to sabotage the pizzaplex?"

"That's one theory." Foxy grumbles. The sound of robotic feet running on the floor almost drowned out the Fox's words. "But if it's what I think it is, and I'm about 98% sure it is, then Gregory is in major trouble."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear at all. Freddy stared hard at the metal door blocking him from the Daycare, willing it to open any second now. He hadn't heard anything from Gregory, but if he was busy playing some twisted hide and seek game with Moon, of course he wouldn't have a chance to say anything to Freddy. Besides the occasional whispers to himself, Gregory was quiet, and hopefully that was better than nothing. 

"Ugh why is the daycare so far- why is this place so big ," Foxy grumbles to himself, banging on something. 

Freddy takes the distraction. "Where are you coming from?"

"My secret lair- actually, I'm going to let you go for a little bit okay? I'll be there soon, I promise big guy."

Freddy didn't have a chance to agree, or do much of anything before the line cut off. He was unsure if Foxy was being truthful about the 'secret lair' of his, but given he had never once used the room set up for him in Kids Cove, he had to have some sort of room set up for himself. 

He had to trust Foxy was speaking the truth about being near too. Because if Foxy's vague warning about Gregory being in danger is true, then Freddy would feel a lot better with having Foxy on their side. 

So he stood there, fretting over Gregory and keeping an eye on the door and his inner clock. The next hour is only minutes away and no matter if Gregory was able to get the generators running again, the power will just shut off right after anyways. 

Just as he was praying, the lights in the daycare flickered on, and Gregory's answering celebratory cry could be heard through the thick doors. The metal door blocking him slowly began to lift and Freddy impatiently crouched under it, not even waiting for it to rise so he could walk through normally. 

While it was good the lights were on, he could hear the sound of many metal feet on the ground running in their direction. His friends must have also noticed the daycare power going off and on and could have deduced that Gregory was over here as well. 

By the sound of it they were right on his heels. But luckily, just as he turned the corner to see the large wooden doors to the daycare, he also saw Gregory being carried and tossed out of them with Sun yelling for security. 

"Rule-breaker, rule breaker! You are banned from the Daycare. Security alert, security alert!! Wooh woooh wooooh!!" The wooden doors were slammed shut and Freddy saw as Gregory let himself fall back onto the floor, chest heaving. He was sorry to make Gregory stand up again when he would like to give the boy a break, but the others would be here any moment.

"Gregory jump in, we need to get out of here now!" Freddy called as he ran over, only giving himself a second to perform another scan. As Gregory scrambled to stand up and climb into his chest cavity, Freddy looked over the new data. More bruises and a few bleeding cuts littered his legs, but he was otherwise safe. 

Freddy didn't allow himself to relax just yet. His friends were now in the room with them and had started to circle the area outside the daycare playground. He definitely didn't need Foxy to tell him something was wrong, because his friends were not acting like themselves at all. 

He spoke to Gregory through the Fazwatch to not gain everyone's attention. He doesn't think they'd pay attention to him anyways but he was not going to take the chance. "Gregory, I am going to head upstairs to a recharge station. We are not out of the woods yet and we’re almost out of time. Every hour the power is diverted to the recharge stations. And when that happens, the lights go out, and when that happens the Daycare attendant is free to roam the building. They will find you."

A small tapping from inside his chest cavity was Gregory's only response and Freddy had to take it as agreement. 

Freddy heads for the stairs, taking two at a time, and passes Monty who was just about to head down. There was a moment of panic when Monty focused a little too hard on meeting Freddy's eyes, but it soon passed and Freddy felt himself able to breathe again when the gator continued down the stairs. 

He hoped to make it out of the Daycare area before the next hour started but their luck had run out. The power in the whole building shut down the second it turned 1 and Freddy could hear Moon laughing behind him. It wasn't a laugh he heard often, mostly when Moon was in the middle of telling scary stories to the older kids. Him using it while actively hunting them down wasn't a good sign and Freddy could hear Gregory mumbling 'hurry, hurry!'.

It wasn't safe, but Gregory could not be taken from him- so Freddy ran. 

Who knows if that was a mistake or he was just too slow.  

A weight crashed into him with enough force to make him stumble to a stop. He fought to keep himself balanced, lest he fall and hurt Gregory.

With Gregory inside his chest cavity he was limited in what he could do to protect him. His only option was to keep Moon as far away from his chest cavity as he could. 

So he swung his arm wide and it crashed onto the side of Moon's face, throwing the other back and onto the floor. 

He had never hurt anyone before and he never wanted to do it ever again. The sound of the metal snapping, bending, breaking, rings in his ears.

"Oh Freddy Bear, you've broken the biggest rule~," Moon sang from the floor. "No fighting in the daycare!"

The Daycare attendant was not built like the other animatronics. The Glamrock stars were large, stiff, and limited in movements compared to the grace of the attendant. They could perform acrobatics and were given the biggest advantage- speed.

Moon jumped up from the floor with quick speed, launching into the air and landing on the wall above them. Freddy could hear Gregory make a scathing remark but he didn't comment on it for now. Instead he planned.

He couldn't outrun Moon, not with Gregory inside him, but he had the strength to keep him in place. For as long as his battery allows.

He scanned the room around them and his eyes landed on a STAFF door. He knew it was one made to look like it at least. The door to get to Foxy's room was located behind extra registers, masked to look like a door to a STAFF room. It's closer to them then the closest charging station and the safest bet for a lock if Foxy is to be believed.

He sent a message to Gregory on his FazWatch.

"That door there is for Foxy's old room. When I open the hatch, run as fast as you can. There should be another door that will lead out to a slide. The lights should turn back on in ten minutes so keep running until then."

"Freddy I-" Gregory starts and it hurts to hear the boy's voice crack, "I don't-"

"You can do this Superstar."

Freddy wishes more than anything that he alone could keep the boy safe. But he can't.

"O-okay." Gregory takes a deep breath. "Alright, I can do this."

That was the spirit, and not a moment too soon as Moon launched his next attack. The force was a lot stronger this time but Freddy kept himself upright. Instead of swinging out this time though, Freddy wrapped his hands around Moon and held him tight. 

"W-what?! What are you doing?!" Moon hissed, trying to pull himself out of Freddy's embrace. But what the attendant didn't have was Freddy's strength, and no matter what Moon did Freddy held strong. 

With Moon immobile, Freddy opened his chest cavity.

“Gregory-” Freddy started, holding on tighter as Moon caught sight of Gregory jumping out. “Run!” 

Gregory bolted toward the STAFF door while Freddy struggled to hold on. He had never had to test his limits in such a way before and when he glanced at his power gauge, he prayed that he could hold it for the next couple of minutes.

“Naughty, naughty…” Moon sang, twisting his head around to stare at Gregory's back. “Run as fast as you caaaan~”

Moon soon doubled their efforts, bucking and twisting and even biting at Freddy. Anything they can do to make Freddy let go. But Gregory's life was possibly on the line and Freddy wasn't going to take that risk.

Too bad Moon knew how to play dirty, and they clawed right at Freddy's face. He doesn't know why he flinched back so violently but he regrets his reaction instantly. Error messages flooded in but he could still see. His power gauge was lowering dangerously and the movement forced him to release just enough for Moon to escape.

What Freddy hoped wouldn't happen, did- Moon figured out exactly where Gregory was running towards and performed a maneuver that got him out of Freddy's hold. 

"No!" Freddy yelled, trying to grab at Moon. His blunt nails caught on the fabric of Moon’s pants but it was not enough, and instead they just ripped as Moon leapt after Gregory. Freddy gave chase too, though already knowing he would never be fast enough to reach them in time. 

He called Gregory on the FazWatch as he ran, warning him to look up the walls. On another line he called Foxy.

“Foxy, where are you- Moon is here and Gregory-” He began, seeing Gregory dodging just in time as Moon launched himself from the wall. He crashed to the floor and threw his arms out to try and catch Gregory just as he slipped through the door. He slammed the door shut right in Moon’s face and the attendant screeched in anger, beating their fists on the door. Freddy had never been into Foxy's room before so he's unaware if there is anything to help Gregory protect himself with him.  

Freddy would have been more relieved if Moony wasn’t able to throw the door open a moment later, but seeing a folded chair crashing into the other animatronic’s face showed that Gregory wasn’t going down without a fight. 

“You brat!” Moon yelled, chasing after Gregory and out of Freddy’s sight. 

He chased them to the door and tried to follow, but when he pulled at the handle the door wouldn’t budge. What? He tried again, pulling the handle again and again and again but it was not giving him access. On his screen, a level 10 security clearance alert flashed every time he tried to open the door. Gregory couldn’t have had anything higher than a level 2 or 3 security clearance. 

“Foxy I can’t access your room- Gregory is locked in with Moon -” Freddy slammed on the door, outwardly yelling Gregory’s name. “I can’t-”

“Meet us at the bottom Freddy,” Foxy cut in, voice tight. Freddy couldn’t process the odd shift in his friend's voice. “We’ve got Moon.”

Freddy stared hard at the door in front of him, security 10 clearance alert flashing again. He had to trust in Foxy. He turned and ran back towards the metal doors, hoping to catch Gregory downstairs.

But Gregory wasn’t going down the slide any time soon- Moon had caught up to him. 

Moon was definitely playing with him, Gregory had reasoned. Foxy's room was bare besides a lone arcade machine, a couple of taped up boxes, and the single chair he had thrown earlier. He's sure Moon would be able to grab him easily, but instead he just follows after slowly, laughing all the while. 

He still tries to run as fast as possible though, and he passes through a different door, hoping to escape.

He had barely made it on the catwalk before he was grabbed by his arm, hoisted up and forced to meet Moon’s red eyes. 

“Hello naughty boy~” Moon sang, raising him up higher. His whole arm ached as it was pulled up, forced to carry his full weight when his feet left the ground. He tried clawing at the hand holding him up but his fingers against hard metal were useless. Moon chuckled at his efforts, shaking him mockingly. 

“Naughty boys should be punished,” Moon laughed, walking forward. The cracks on their face from Freddy’s hit and Gregory’s chair made their face more menacing as a red light lit the cracks. “What to do with you I wonder!”

“Let- me- GO!” Gregory screams, kicking up and getting Moon right in the face. 

The animatronic screams, releasing their hold and Gregory falls-

He didn’t realize that he was held over the edge of the catwalk-

Gregory falls-

For just a moment, time stood still. 

He doesn't get a chance to scream before a fox animatronic is there, his hook caught into the front of his shirt. 

Foxy had caught him. 

His flashlight crashed to the floor under him. 

Foxy caught him.

"I've got you Kid, I've got you." 

Gregory can barely nod his head, hands shaking as he holds onto Foxy's hook. His heart is pounding in his ears, but Moon doesn't give either of them a chance to move before he's launching himself at them again. 

"Now, Helpy!" Foxy barks, and Gregory is tugged back over the edge of the catwalk. 

Moon screams, and Gregory sees the attendant’s body jerk and twist in inhuman ways. Blue lights flash across their body before they suddenly slump to the ground, glitched groans ringing and hurting Gregory’s ears. A small robot pops up from behind the animatronics slumped form, a stick in its hands. 

He doesn’t know what exactly the small robot had done but he can hear Moon's groans, and it sounds off, like a machine glitching out. 

Foxy doesn't let him look for long. Instead, he carries Gregory to the other end of the catwalk where it connects to the lighthouse. He sets Gregory down and crouches in front of him so they are both eye level. He barely had a chance to really take a look at the new animatronic. 

Foxy’s eyes forced eye contact. "Take the slide down and meet up with Freddy. Helpy and I will take care of Moon from here, alright?" 

Gregory noticed how odd the accent sounded, given the pirate theme the fox was sporting, but it wasn’t anything he thought about for too long. There was something a little more important to focus on, especially when Moon’s groans cut off abruptly. 

Instead he nods, and seeing Moon starting to move from the corner of his eye gets him moving. 

The slide isn't fun this time, but that's more because he's running for his life than anything else.

As he lands at the bottom, he runs and picks up his flashlight. He can't tell if it's damaged in any way, but it still turns on so he doesn't worry about it for now. 

He points the light up towards the walkway and he could see the fox holding on to a newly struggling Moon. He can't hear what he's saying over Moon's screams of anger but he doesn't try hard to listen. He just wants Freddy, and he nearly weeps when he turns away and sees Freddy running towards him.

Seeing the bear soothed his jittering nerves. It's already been proven that anything could happen to Gregory and this place was not safe for him, but Freddy had been the only animatronic that had even tried to protect him tonight until now. 

He runs to the bear, arms outstretched, and he can't stop himself from leaping in and hugging the bear when they meet. He should be hiding in the chest cavity and running to a charging station as fast as possible but Freddy's arms hugging him back make him want to cry. 

It's been so long since he was hugged by anyone.

He wanted to stay in the embrace longer, maybe forever, but soon Freddy encouraged him to climb back in so they can get to safety.

He agrees while he rubs his eyes and climbs into the chest cavity. Freddy takes them out of Kid's Cove and finds the nearest charging station. It's not until the door closes and he can hear it lock that Gregory finally gives himself a chance to relax.

"We'll stay in here until the lights turn back on, alright?" Freddy asks and Gregory easily agrees. He means to check the security cameras while they wait, but he can’t stop himself from covering his eyes and taking long, slow breaths. 

His hands still shake but his erratic breathing is finally slowing and he can close his eyes without having to be on alert. His arm aches something fierce and the new cuts on his legs are beginning to sting, but he’s safe now. Freddy promised that the charging station locks from the outside while they charge to stop kids from entering, but honestly just being back with Freddy was enough for Gregory. 

The minutes tick by and Gregory watches Freddy's powerbar fill up. The moment it does the lights outside the charging station power back on too and Gregory knows it's finally safe for them to walk outside. Moon was the only animatronic that was able to tell Freddy was carrying a human so Gregory felt confident in walking the PizzaPlex.

Feeling confident and now curious about the fox animatronic they left, he almost told Freddy they could leave when he noticed something going on with the camera feed from his watch. The screen started to distort and glitch out, and Gregory could swear he could hear something outside of the charging station.

"Freddy, are you noticing this?" Gregory asks, but Freddy sounds a little confused.

"Notice what?" 

"You're camera feed is all weird and-"

A figure walks- no they skip- past the charging station. It's a white bunny he had never seen before, and everything about it sets off alarm bells to Gregory. Specifically the large knife held loosely in their hands. 

Gregory keeps quiet until the figure leaves, and when they're finally gone the camera feed starts working again.

"W-what was that?!" Gregory bursts, confused and scared all over again.

"That is a fountain. A fountain is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water."

"Not the fountain." Gregory huffs with a roll of his eyes. It did help dispel his fear a little though, "You didn't see the dancing rabbit right in front of us ?"

"No, I did not. There is no rabbit at the Mega Pizzaplex." Freddy pauses long enough that it piques Gregory's curiosity. "...not anymore."

"Not anymore? You mean Bonnie?" He had seen a few things up at Rockstar Row that had him curious.

"...Yes." Freddy replies as he walks out of the charging station. Gregory keeps his eyes peeled for the white bunny but the room is empty of anyone but them. 

"Are they gonna bring him back?"

"Fazbear Entertainment hasn't stated anything to the public, but Bonnie has been...decommissioned for some time now. I have deduced that he will not be brought back."

Gregory felt guilty asking about Bonnie when he noticed Freddy's voice grow sad the more he spoke. If not for the obvious bunny skipping around he wouldn't ask at all. He would have let it go.

"I-I'm sorry." Gregory tried. It's what people said when his parents passed away years ago.  

"Thank you Gregory, but I am alright." Freddy replies. "He has been gone for some time now. Why don't we meet back up with Foxy?"

He knows Freddy was trying to change the subject and Gregory didn't argue. He never liked when people pushed him to talk either, and if Bonnie was important to Freddy then his absence must hurt the animatronic a lot more than he was trying to make it seem. 

“Okay,” Gregory finally agrees, and he takes the time to look at the camera feeds as Freddy walks. 

One looked right over the light house he had slid down from, and he could see the animatronic fox at the bottom of the slide. He was standing over a prone form, and given the colors, it looked to be Moon. He wonders why the animatronic hadn’t changed forms when the lights had all come on. Though maybe he should focus more on what the fox was doing .

He is curious about the fox animatronic himself though. From the few times he had been in the Mega Pizzaplex before tonight, he could swear that he'd never seen the fox before. He's seen the cartoons, the plush toys, and the pictures of Foxy all over the pizzaplex but Gregory knows he's not part of the main show at all. 

Nothing could really prepare for meeting the fox animatronic though. 

When they went back to Kid's Cove, even Freddy seemed surprised at what they found.

Gregory couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him at seeing Moon face down on the floor with wires spilling out from the back of their head that were connected to a large tablet in Foxy's hook hand. The small white bear from earlier, Helpy, was sitting on Foxy's shoulder and it waved at Freddy when it noticed them. 

Foxy only flicked an ear in acknowledgment, full concentration on the tablet in his hands. 

Gregory takes a moment to really look at the fox, noticing he doesn’t look at all like the cut outs and pictures he’s seen around the pizzaplex. Foxy is wearing real clothes for one, like the daycare attendant, and not just a body colored to look like clothing like Freddy and the others. He was wearing a long black coat covered in pockets and baggy brown pants but with no shirt or shoes on though. He had an eye patch too, but it was raised up and Gregory could see that the other eye was perfectly normal.

He looked over towards the statue not too far away. He’s dressed nothing like it at all, and unlike the statue, this Foxy had a fluffy tail. Even the Helpy on his shoulder looked a lot different than the one he sees throughout the whole pizzaplex! He wonders if this is why he had never seen the animatronic until now. 

Freddy quickened over, speaking to Foxy in concern, eyes on Moon. "Foxy, what are you doing?"

That got the fox's attention, and he looked at the bear with a sheepish grin. "Hey big guy, whatever this looks like- it doesn't. I'm trying to help them out."

"I admit I wasn't worried until you said that." Freddy admitted and Gregory could see Helpy silently laughing with a hand over its mouth. 

"Oh. Well shit." Foxy laughs, flashing his sharp teeth. 

"Language Foxy, please." Freddy sighs and Gregory watches as the Fox rolls his eyes before trying to look around the bear. "I don't know who programmed you with such language but there are children present."

"Yeah, yeah, big guy, I know. Speaking of the kid though," Foxy starts, letting Helpy climb down his shoulder and into one of his big pockets. "Did he find somewhere safe to hide for now?"

"Ah, sort of." Freddy takes a couple steps back. "He's here with me." 

"What do you mean-” The hatch opens and Gregory waves. He barks instantly, “FREDDY WHAT THE F-"

"Foxy!"

"Get him out right now ye bilge rat or I'll have ye walk the plank!"

Gregory jumps out and is instantly pulled away from Freddy. He’s pushed to stand behind the fox animatronic and Freddy looked as surprised as Gregory felt. When Freddy tries to come closer, Foxy actually growls. He only stops when Freddy puts his hands up, but no amount of Gregory trying to tell the fox that he’s perfectly fine stops Foxy from threatening the bear with bodily harm.

What keeps Gregory from getting even a little worried about all this is the fact that each insult and threat is censored with bad pirate slang. 

Foxy threatens the bear with all sorts of weird pirate-like threats and odd name calling such as scallywag, rapscallion, picaroon- to name a few. It felt so out of place after everything mere minutes ago and Gregory had to cover his mouth with his hands to stifle his laughter. 

"If ya think ye can run a rig on 'ol Captain Foxy ye got another thing coming ye scallywag. I'll give ye no quarter and make ye dance with 'ol Jack Ketch!"

This whole thing is probably meant to be serious but Gregory can't hold it in. He bursts with laughter, especially with just how badly Foxy's pirate speech was! He doesn't know if it's on purpose but it was really, really bad! 

It seemed it was the only thing that was able to kick Foxy out of his odd pirate-glitch because he stopped mid sentence, mouth hung open and hook pointed right at Freddy’s chest. 

Foxy stood there in mortified shock for a full minute before he let out an agonized groan, dropping to a squat and letting his head fall into his hands. 

It’s dramatic enough that Gregory can’t help but keep laughing. 

“Aaarrrggh, this is why I hate interacting with children!,” Foxy lamented. “The second I see a kid it just kicks in!” 

Helpy pops out from the pocket it was hiding in to pat at the top of Foxy’s head. It wasn’t too sincere on the bear's part though, given that Gregory can see Helpy’s grin as it silently laughs behind its other hand. Freddy dares to step closer but Foxy doesn’t seem to care anymore as he just continues to groan. 

Gregory gives Foxy a moment to collect himself by circling Moon’s prone body. He notices the tablet on the floor, probably dropped during the commotion earlier, and notices a program running on it that was only at 75%. 

“Wait, what are you doing to Moon?” Gregory asks out loud, crouching by Moon’s arm and poking it. Moon doesn’t move given he’s completely shut down. Gregory doesn’t dare touch the tablet in case he messes with something and causes Moon to wake up to attack him again though. 

Foxy takes a few deep breaths before he stands back up, patting at his knees like there was dust on it and trying to look nonchalant as he picks up his tablet again. He moves Helpy to his left shoulder again so that he can continue working. 

“Basically installing an antivirus on him, more or less.” Foxy answers, keeping his eyes on the tablet. His thick pirate accent is subtle now and Gregory kind of misses it. He clicks a few buttons before his eyes flick back to Gregory, and they hold eye contact for a moment longer before Foxy groans, putting down the tablet. 

“I can control it for the most part,” Foxy starts, and Gregory grins mockingly. “It just comes out when I get a shock or a little emotional. Seeing you come out of Freddy just…was too much.”

“Why?” It’s not like he was stuffed in it or anything. He was obviously fine.

Foxy just shakes his head, focusing back on the tablet. “It’s a bit dangerous is all. Nothing good comes from kids being stuffed in animatronics.”

“Yeah, Freddy kind of yelled at me too.” Gregory starts, ignoring Freddy trying to defend himself. Even Foxy shoots Freddy a disappointed look. “But the others don’t see me when I’m in Freddy so it’s the safest hiding place here. Except for Moon though, I guess.”

Freddy walks over to Gregory now that he isn't being threatened by the fox. 

It is one of the strangest things to experience tonight, being on Foxy’s bad side. It was a good sign though that the fox would protect Gregory even against him. Freddy shouldn’t be surprised- throughout the years at the PizzaPlex, Foxy had been the loudest advocate for the safety of the guests, especially for the children. 

It was definitely the first time he had seen Foxy’s programming giving him such a hard time though. He had seen him in action once or twice before and though the accent could get thick, it never had gotten as bad as it just did. A great shock indeed. 

“Yes,” Freddy starts, trying to get the conversation back to the point. “About Moon again. I have never seen either of the attendants act in such a manner. Even the others weren’t so bad.”

“That’s cause they didn’t catch me,” Gregory interrupts, puffing out his chest. Freddy couldn’t stop himself from brushing his hand through the boy's hair. He huffs and crosses his arms, but only Freddy notices that Gregory tilted himself closer to his paw instead of leaning away. He feels his circuits warm.

“Well, I can say that if the others have this virus affecting them like the Daycare Attendant’s, he’s real lucky he didn’t get caught.” Foxy states, both eyes trained on the tablet. Even Helpy seems focused on whatever was on it.

"This is crazy, it's like the whole place is trying to get me!" Gregory scoffs, rubbing at his arm. Freddy notices him flinching and he decides to run another scan. He doesn’t like what he sees at all. 

“They definitely are.” Foxy replies distractedly. “And they won't stop until they get you.”

“But Foxy and I are not,” Freddy remarks, hoping to reassure the boy. It’s only because of the scan that he can tell the boy was getting worked up and why he tries to reassure him. It seemed to work though, and Gregory looks up at him.

“Why though?”

"I do not know,” Freddy starts. He knows he could never harm a child, would never want to in a million years, but something about Gregory is different than most guests. “...I want to help you. Maybe they want to help you too."

Though he very much doubts that, and Gregory scoffs too. “I doubt it. For some reason, you're different. You and Foxy."

“That actually shouldn’t have happened.” Foxy continues. Helpy points at something and that gets Foxy’s tail to wag. He finally looks up at them after a moment. “I’m guessing it’s because of what happened earlier today. You don’t mind me poking around? I want to set up my antivirus on you at least anyways.”

Freddy doesn’t see anything wrong with that, especially if the antivirus can make sure he never ends up like how his friends are. He never wants to put a child in danger, Gregory especially.

“Of course. I would like to know what has been happening as well, and stop it if I can.”

Gregory perks up, looking between the animatronics. “Wait, did someone put a virus in you guys to make you evil?”

“Someone, or something. ” Foxy answers and they watch as he starts to unplug the wires connected to the tablet. Helpy helps him work and the two get done in minutes. He points down at Moon.

“I’m going to take him back with me, and take you-” Foxy points to Gregory, “-somewhere safe.”

Freddy perks up at this, "That will be good. I do not think anywhere in the pizzaplex would be able to keep Vanessa out at least, but if you have a place no one knows where to find, that would be the safest place to hide Gregory. And good news, the doors will open in five hours!"

"Good news?! Five hours?! I'm not gonna last five minutes!" Gregory argues back, hands on his hips. Sure he might be able to rest in a bunker or something, but he’s not totally confident anywhere is safe at the pizzaplex.

"Which is why I need you to follow me," Foxy interrupts. Gregory looks over to see the animatronic heft the downed robot over his shoulder. 

He goes to put his hook in his pocket but stops suddenly, looking at the curved metal. Without a word he stretches his hand out and Helpy jumps to action, going into one of the many pockets. It pops back out with a second hand and like magic, they quickly swap out Foxy’s hook with a working hand.  

He opens and closes it for a few seconds, twisting it back and forth until he seems satisfied. 

He reaches back into another pocket and brings out a camera shaped sort of like Freddy. He hands it to Gregory.

“Alright matey, let's make our way back to port.”

Chapter Text

He fails the first test, but that was more because he couldn't get himself under control. 

Finding himself possessing a body, controlling Foxy's , was a new level of hell that he wouldn't -couldn't- live with.

They called him Foxy.

Foxy, Foxy, Foxy -

He can't process anything else the technician says. Foxy's name repeats in his mind like a mantra. He was supposed to be dead. He was at peace. He was dead.

But he came back alive, like his father. In an animatronic, like his father .

His hook pierces the metal casing over his chest and he pulls, barely aware of the error messages flooding his vision. Barely aware of the action. Barely aware at all- but he needs to check- needs to know -

He needs to see, he needs to confirm-

He digs his hand inside, pulling at wires and bending metal and causing sparks to fly.

He digs deep, over and over, completely unaware of the technician yelling-

He needs to know. He needs to know-

He digs. 

He claws. 

He pulls.

There is no flesh inside his animatronic body.

He can see into his exposed chest, wires tangled and oil spilling like blood, but there is no body living inside. His mangled corpse does not line his metal body- he does not exist in a metal prison like his father did.

It is enough. It is enough for him to let the error message flood his system and he powers down. He does not dream. 

01110100

He's forced awake, error messages playing across his vision, but he notices quickly that he has no control of his lower body again. 

He's back in his personal hell, endoskeletons surrounding him, staring at him, starting to whisper, trying to speak to him, but he shuts his eyes.

The voices get louder, memories try to resurface, he ignores it all. 

He doesn't know when he finally falls asleep. He continues to not dream.

01101000

He wakes again to the same technician, but there is a lot more distance between them. He looks wary too, and has a tablet held up almost like a shield.

That wouldn't protect you , Michael thinks. He had nearly lost his own HandUnit that way.

"Commencing Test 03 dash 27." A pause, a deep breath, and the technician continues. "Hello, Foxy."

"Yar har har-"

Oh hell no . He was not going to live like this. He reached into his own neck, old blueprints flashing in his minds eye, and he rips his voice box out. 

He gets powered off a lot faster this time.

01101001

He probably wasn't meant to wake up this time, but he did, and he can hear his technician speaking to another. He's immobile again, and the voices are to his back, so he sits and listens. It's better than waking up alone.

"I can't do this! Foxy just keeps tearing himself apart! I don't know what we're doing wrong with this! In theory his program is working fine but when we power him on he just keeps doing this shit!"

"I've gotta admit it is a little odd. I haven't heard if they've had this problem with Monty. Have you heard anything from the Freddy team? Or any of the other originals?"

"If they act like him, we'll have to start fresh with all of them-"

Yes, yes, destroy me- get me out of this- let me die-

"We can't just give up!"

"It's these damn endoskeletons they're having us use! We were warned that most of these recycled ones come with their own quirks but this is ridiculous!"

We failed- Henry you promised- You said everything would be destroyed-

"Let's try this instead...." The voices continue talking but Michael can't focus anymore, his thoughts spiraling. He wants to scream, wants to cry, wants to move, but he's unable to and he powers down on his own.

01110011

The next few times he wakes up to perform the tests are better on all of them, for machine and humans alike. It's surprisingly easy to fall into his body's programming, letting it speak and move and taking a back seat as it drives. He'd stop it when he could focus, but dissociation was just so much easier.

It made the technicians happy too, which was enough he supposed. He was getting tired of listening to the other man's complaints. Michael was trying to make sure he stayed dead and the other guy just thought he was a job to fix.

What a weird way of being able to emphasize with …Baby and Ennard. 

Losing focus, letting the program run, was just a lot easier. He didn't have to think for one.

01101001

He learned a few things once he was able to stomach being conscious and actually aware. Their plan of destroying the Fazbear name obviously didn't go as planned, for one. Henry had promised that they would be the last, that the company would end with him, that there was no legal way they could continue with any pizzeria.

But Fazbear Entertainment was a bug that couldn't be killed. They came back a handful of years later, with even bigger ideas and with plans to make a pizzeria into a pizzaplex .

The bootlicking technicians that came and went were always very excited to share news of the Mega Pizzaplex's progress. It's barely bare bones at the moment, but any progress is good progress. Apparently Michael haunting a Foxy animatronic isn't the only issue they're running into, so any good news is exciting for them. To Michael, it's all bad news. 

Nothing good ever happens when Fazbear Entertainment gets involved.

The second thing he learns is the new theme for the pizzaplex. A fusion of 70's and 80's glam metal, because anything that focuses on those decades is apparently a bright idea. No one will remember the atrocities of that time if we just focus on the glitz and glamor of the past instead. 

Very on brand for any Fazbear Entertainment idea, Michael reasoned when he thought back on Fazbear Frights.

The last thing he learns is that they were going to be bringing him into the main cast this time around.

He learns this when he was woken up from a forced rest with a confirmation of a successful upload alert and a drumstick on his left hand- his hook was replaced with one too. A drum set was set up in front of him, and it was the first time he reacted against his programming in a while.

Instead of using the sticks on the instrument, he threw them at his technician.

"Are you kidding me?!" The technician scrambles out of the way, falling on his ass.

"No landlubber can tell 'ol Captain Foxy what to play." Oh kill him now, he still can't shut off that damn pirate speech. He was shut off again for his back talk.

01110011

Slowly but surely he was growing used to his programming, and the more he accepted that this was his life from now on, the easier it was to live as an animatronic. He had to stop treating the body as if he was puppeteering the suit and more like it was his own flesh body. Having experience with his own corpse came in handy, and he was able to feel more and more like himself again. 

He had spent over thirty years as a living corpse, so learning how to live without most senses wasn't the hard part about all of this. It was learning that he had some back that he couldn't handle.

He could smell, feel, and taste again! It's been so damn long since he could feel a temperate difference, let alone nearly everything else, that it nearly sent him into overdrive the first couple of times he noticed. 

He doesn't know why they built their animatronics with the ability to eat but he was not going to complain about that one, and he may have gone overboard with eating nearly anything in sight when they set up the tests for it.

Having the senses back was a major upgrade, and he admits that it helped him lean into the idea of being an animatronic from now on.

If he simply thinks of himself more as a cyborg than a robot, it makes it even easier.

And with tests showing progress, mostly because he wasn't fighting his programming as much as he was in the beginning, he was given more liberties when the technicians went home. He was even given a room like the others, but it wasn’t anything more than a white cell with a bench. It wasn’t true freedom, but it gave him time by himself, and he used that time as much as possible.

He taught himself to walk, to talk, to manipulate his body past what he was programmed to do. He jumped, climbed, even cartwheeled a couple times around his room. It passed the time and it helped him learn his body and finally accept it as his own. Certain functions he still fights against, but overall he's beginning to feel more like himself again. Maybe even more himself then whatever he became when he was some living corpse. 

It's a strange thing to consider- being more human as an animatronic then he ever was possessing his own corpse. 

Learning to live again was a constant battle.

01101101

He can’t stomach looking at mirrors.

The first time he saw his reflection, he shattered the mirror, slamming his fist into the glass over and over and over again until the world went dark from a forced shut down.

There is always so much blood splattered on his face, on his hands, soaking into his skin and damaging his wires.

He hasn’t seen his human body, alive and untouched, in so long. He’s forgotten what he looked like, what color his hair was, what his eyes used to be shaped. Pictures are unfamiliar to him, like staring at a stranger.

But that day he will never forget. All that blood. Soaking the mask, soaking his skin, soaking into his wires-

Foxy stares back at him and he remembers.

01111001

"Alright, next one. Foxy, play 'Heaven Knows I'm Miser-'"

"No way that was approved to upload into Foxy!" 

"It will if you don't say anything about it."

The technicians bicker amongst themselves but Michael hardly pays them any mind. He plays the requested song, since it was simple enough, and he lets himself get into the groove of playing the instrument. It wasn't one he ever wanted to learn when he was young, but waking up with the knowledge on how to play made it easier. 

He wishes he could play a guitar again though. He had barely gotten his corpse fingers to be able to strum a few notes before meeting Henry not long after. And by then, he had no time for any personal interests. His rusty business skills and engineering knowledge was the focus of his time, and because Henry knew he didn't sleep anymore, he was expected to work until he couldn't. 

He focuses back into the conversation around him when they start talking about the other animatronics. 

"You think ours will ever try to speak to us? Can't imagine he'll ever have much to say. "

What makes you think I want to speak with you , Foxy can't help but think. He can understand why all the animatronics he encountered in the past never gave him the time of day before. He wasn’t technically an AI, but he definitely wasn’t a human anymore and he didn’t have a lot of things in common with these people. 

“I just think it’s amazing the tech team was able to create actual artificial intelligence! It’s almost scary. We’re basically creating life , you know?”

It’s not the sort of topic Foxy wants them to focus on, so he purposely slams the sticks down hard enough to break the drums. It serves as a good distraction, and maybe a good way to express his anger. 

“I don’t know if I want Foxy to gain intelligence if he’s already this bad,” The technician grumbles later that day. 

Jokes on you asshole , Michael thinks when he’s put back in his room. 

In retaliation, he swiped the technician's tablet while he wasn't looking and hid it in his room. The technician got a lashing for displacing his HandUnit later on, but Foxy couldn't feel any guilt for doing so. 

And that was exactly what it was - shaped just like his old one, just slimmed down and no longer as bulky. It meant it was as easy to use as his old one, and since he saw the passcode to get in more times than he could count, it was easy to gain access.

Some of his skills might have been rusty, but hacking was like riding a bike. You never really forgot how to do so, even if the technology had advanced since he last tried. It definitely keeps him busy for the rest of the night.

01100110

A few days later, Michael decided to test his freedom via HandUnit by escaping his room once the workers had left for the night. It was nearly midnight by then, and Michael actually felt a little nervous about it. 

It's been awhile since he'd been afraid of anything outside of his own head, and he didn't know if he should blame himself or maybe some crossed wires. 

Either way, with his hacked HandUnit he unlocked his door and stepped out of the room. The parts and services room lights were all shut off save for the emergency lights, but with a few more presses on his tablet the whole room lights up. He didn't need the lights to see because of his eyes, but it helped the atmosphere seem less creepy. 

He walks around the room and heads straight for the computers. With a little more tweaking he can hack into the main network and access everything. The files for his own animatronic were already on his own HandUnit, but now that he can hack into the mainframe, everything is up for grabs, and he doesn't waste time in doing so. 

He knows computers, he knows engineering, he knows a little about business and money, but the true upgrade was definitely the supercomputer ‘brain’ they had given him.

He leaves his HandUnit connected to the computers and decides to finally bite the bullet and just visit his fellow animatronics. The technicians consider the others 'alive' because of their AI, but only he can confirm if their states are from the left over remnants or not. Even actual advanced AI might be a bit of a stretch.

The rooms are set side-by-side but they're unable to look in each other's rooms usually. Foxy is unsure of the reason, but they never took the animatronics out at the same time either. He doesn't know how functional and cost effective it was but he's not the one making the decisions- at least for now. 

It's the reason why he hasn't been able to meet the others just yet, and he feels jittery with nerves. His foot taps the floor a couple times even but he pushes himself onward.

He doesn't know what he wants to discover. 

As far as he can tell, his fathers hand doesn't seem to be anywhere near this new pizzeria, but with his luck William could have risen from the grave too and just be playing the long con, taking his time this go around. He doesn't know, and he's nervous to find out.

He looks into the window of his neighbor and he sees Bonnie sitting powered down on his bench. He was back to being his original purple, but only in some places. It looked like his paint job wasn't complete, as if his design wasn't fully decided on yet. 

He's happy to see that these animatronics have their eyes closed when shut off though, because he's sure he wouldn't be able to handle staring into dead eyes ever again.

He moves onto the next window and almost chokes on a laugh when seeing the new Freddy. He was also only half painted, but they had put pointed shoulder pads on the bear and possibly red leg warmers? He knew glam metal was the theme but this was too much, and whatever nerves he had died away as he moved to the next room. 

Only Chica was not shut off like Bonnie and Freddy were. She was sitting there quietly, gazing forward. When Foxy met her eyes, she perked up in excitement. 

"Hello!" 

"H-Hi Chica-" Michael stops for a second, taking a step back when she rises to her feet. "You're awake."

"Yes!" She chirps. She's painted fully but was lacking the decorations he's sure will be added later. 

"Technician Rebecca had forgotten to put me on rest mode before she left for the day. I will lose power before she returns tomorrow." She continues when he doesn't say anything else. "Has Technician Steven forgotten to return you to your room?"

"Who's Steven?" Foxy can't help but ask. Chica didn't seem particularly alive like he was. Her voice was too stiff and lifeless. If she was trying to pretend to just be a robot, she was doing amazing.

"Technician Steven is Foxy Animatronics assigned lead technician!" She states robotically. Oh, right. He's sure to forget that name later.

He had noticed her movements were fairly stiff though, especially compared to himself now. He's glad his body doesn't move that way anymore and he can't help but get closer to the window to see. 

He wasn't the biggest fan of animatronics usually, but after all these years he had become somewhat a nerd about them. Fixing them up, building them, even trying to tweak a few when he was still a boy- he's definitely learned a thing or two about animatronics. 

"Query: What are you doing?"

"Ah," He stepped back from the glass when he noticed his face was pressed up against it. "Sorry lass, just wanted to see ya a bit better." 

"Oh!" There was a pause between both of them and Foxy could swear he felt a bit of warmth through his wires. It was embarrassing getting caught geeking out about animatronic technology, and he guessed 30+ years as a corpse and now stuck in an animatronic didn't let him grow out of it. Even a robot seemed embarrassed for him!

He was saved by the bell, or really by the alert on his HandUnit letting him know his program had been successful, and he ran back over to it. He had confirmed Chica at least wasn't possessed, possibly, so he hopes the others are just as safe.

He had full access to the main network and that also meant he could look into everything now. Nothing was closed off to him, and if he wanted to, which he's sure he will do later on, he could create himself an employee profile with complete full access. It would be really hard for Fazbear Entertainment to hide anything from him now!

The other animatronics could wait, his focus is now on digging through the new data, which included the current blueprints for the building and future plans for the pizzaplex as a whole. 

"Captain Foxy, I have another query." Chica spoke up suddenly, and it was enough to make Foxy jump at the sudden voice. He put his hand over his chest, as if he could feel his heart beating erratically. 

"Aye Lass, just a moment- ye gave this 'ol fox a scare!"

"I'm very sorry," Chica apologizes as Michael makes his way over. "But I seem to find myself...curious?"

Michael crosses his arms and tilts his head, "Curious? Is that even in your programming?"

When the technicians had spoken about creating a true AI, he had chalked it up as wishful thinking or at most a very advanced programming- but maybe there was more stock in what they were saying then he thought. 

"No?" Chica questions, jerking her head down. "I am...unsure. I am programmed to emulate many emotions, most positive, but I find myself starting to be curious about many things. The technicians don't seem...comfortable with my questions."

I can see why!!, Foxy screams in his mind. This definitely didn't feel like a case of possession, and he doesn't think he's the right person to talk a robot through an existential crisis.

But if he can't, who could?

He runs back towards the center of the room to grab his HandUnit and a stool. He sits down in front of Chica's window and throws one leg over the other, propping the tablet on his leg. And a new feature he finds with the HandUnit is that it comes with a pen, which he pulls it out and looks back at the animatronic.

"Alright Chica, hit me with your questions."

He might not be the right person for the job, but who else can make sure the animatronics learn to be stable robots with no penchant for murdering children. They might be powered by remnant technology or someone might have finally cracked the code to artificial intelligence- either way, Michaels work never seemed to be done.

01100001

Time passed and Foxy learns many things about this new pizzaplex.

It was dumb luck that he was able to overhear a couple of workers on their way to lunch. He was recently kicked back into his room after a fight with a Monty technician, but they had forgotten to put him on rest mode, so he had been able to overhear the others talking.

"They found this whole mound of scraps recently."

"Come one, most of that is just trash."

"Sure, usually, but they're sticking this one in the temporary storage out back. The last time they did that we got these endoskeletons."

"You know my opinion on that already-"

"Yeah I know, but it makes me curious what they think is worthy enough to be saved after all this time." 

"Didn't they just find some memorabilia to put in their little museum? Maybe it's just that." 

"I guess. They won't let us look though, which makes me curious." 

It also piques his own curiosity, and he keeps perfectly still as the workers pass his room. A storage unit huh?

The second the workers were out of sight he pulled out his HandUnit and searched the storage location on the most updated map. If it was something even the technicians knew about, it might not be so hidden that he couldn't reach and search it in one night. 

If this is where they used to put the other endoskeletons once, it was definitely a place he had to check out. The fire should have destroyed everything, but he was still here, and that could mean a number of other things survived too. So when the lights had gone off and the last worker left for the evening, Foxy escaped his room as soon as he could.

He followed the map on his screen and made his way out of parts and services. Finding the designated storage area was easy, but he didn't expect to find rows of shipping containers instead of an actual room. 

He got busy though, and started breaking into each one. 

The technicians had been right though, most of the containers were filled with junk. Some he recognizes from his own pizzeria even, but most is just junk that could be found in any party store. There were a handful of items that he knows to be authentic, like a poster or a plush doll, but most stuff just seemed foolish to keep and were of no value. Foxy was confused why anyone would keep any of it, but he kept searching.

It's a good thing he keeps working though, a figure scurries past him when he begins to open an old cabinet and Foxy feels his ears and tail perk up in surprise. He follows it with his eyes as he feels himself go still, making a note of every detail about the thing running around the storage container. 

It could definitely be a rat, but the very distinct tapping of metal on metal was the only thing that gave it away. 

When he noticed it wasn't trying to come near, and instead was actually trying to run away, Michael decided to give chase. The small robot's size gave it a good advantage, but it was against Foxy and speed was his main advantage above all other animatronics. 

Foxy darted after the small robot and he completely ignored the mess they were making by their chase. He wasn't human anymore so he wasn't limited by human endurance, but his power gauge was lowering rapidly, so he used a calculated burst of speed to block the creatures' way and he snatched the robot in one quick swipe of his paw. 

"Yar har har! Did ye think ye could out run this 'ol Fox, bucko-" Foxy brought the struggling robot up to his face and his voice halted when he met the familiar eyes of Helpy.

Helpy, the helper animatronic Henry had built just for him. The one kind act he could remember from the man. The one robot that always seemed determined to help him with every possible thing it was programmed to do. His one friend through the last years of his life. The only one he got to say goodbye to besides-

"Helpy," Michael feels his voice box warble as he takes in his old friend. The poor animatronic was broken and burnt everywhere. His hat must have burned off and he didn't have his tiny bowtie anymore. "Oh Helpy, look at what's happened to you..."

The bear stops its struggle in surprise and stares up at Michael with wide eyes. He can't blame his friend, the last they saw each other he looked completely different than how he does now. 

"Aye lad, it's me, Michael." He tried to give a smile but he felt it wobble a bit. Helpy shakes its head though, face doubtful. That was until Foxy gives the bear his old security number, one that Henry had made him create and never tell him, so that the bear could identify him.

A broken tune played in the bear's stomach, a response to accepting Michael's code. 

The moment the jingle stopped, Helpy wiggled and pleaded to be released. Foxy did so with a pleased laugh and the bear jumped onto a nearby box. 

Before he could say anything, a distorted recording started to play from the bear's stomach and Michael was floored to hear Henry's voice.

"Start Recording...I'm sorry Michael-"

01110101

"Charlie-"

Lefty looks up, body jerking. She doesn't say a word, but Henry knows she's listening.

"I need you to do me one last favor, and then we can finally rest."

The animatronic stares silently, making no move to get up from the floor. The fire had not gotten to these rooms yet, but it was only a matter of time. He was already sweating buckets, but it was easy to ignore. 

He crouched, knees cracking, to make eye contact with his daughter. "Please Charlie, I need your gift for one last time. To make sure this horror never happens again."

Lefty jerks her head forward in a nod and Henry rises and steps back. Her body stutters and jerks as she stands up and his heart aches painfully as he watches. Soon, soon his daughter will be free from this existence.

She stands and he leads her down to Michael's office. The fire is closer to them now and Henry puts on a mask to help him breathe. Lefty becomes sluggish the hotter it gets but she doesn't stop following and he's forever proud of her. 

He opens the door to Michael's 'office' and nearly jumps back in alarm at what he finds. 

Michael is slumped over his desk, and if Henry didn't know about his condition, might have looked dead to others. No, what gives Henry a scare is not the corpse in the office, but molten Freddy, who is a pile of wires on the floor of the office.

Henry did not know molten Freddy, or Ennard, had made it into the office but the fire must have kept the creature docile or hopefully dead. It doesn't move as Henry inches further in, and it doesn't react when Lefty gracelessly stomps on the exposed wires. It gives Henry hope that their main plan will work, but it doesn't stop him from continuing his last job.

He shakes the boy's shoulder but it doesn't startle him awake like usual. He shakes him harder but only Helpy pops up from under Michaels arms, shaking it's head as if asking Henry to stop. But he can't, not when they were so close. "Michael- Michael wake up-"

He needs him, he can't be gone just yet- he shakes at him harder-

Lefty pushes him aside and lifts Michael's limp body herself. She looks over to Henry and jerks her head to the door. Assuming she meant for him to lead them on, Henry does so, hoping Michael was still alive. 

Henry picks up Helpy and walks out of the room, completely unaware that molten Freddy starts to twitch.

He leads them to a completely separate room far from the main building, furthest from the fires. The room is completely void of anything but a single endoskeleton sitting slumped against the far wall, and Lefty makes her way straight to it. 

She places Michaels body down carefully, trying to be gentle. She lays Michael down right on the endoskeleton and goes completely still. 

Henry had never seen her skill be put to work before. It was only through deciphering William's notes and finding scattered security tapes did he come to know of her hand in giving life to some of the animatronics. But knowing and seeing it in person are two different things, and he's happy there is no fanfare to the process. 

While Lefty works with Michael, Henry focuses on Helpy. The bear's focus was completely on Michael but a call of it's name easily got the bear's attention. Henry created the robot to help Michael keep focused, so he was not tempted to stray from their plan. He did not expect how close the two had gotten. 

Henry had expected Michael to hate animatronics in general after everything he had dealt with, but the boy kept surprising him. The hatred and guilt he harbored was all internal and directed at himself- he hadn't blamed a single animatronic besides his father. 

Henry looks at Helpy, giving the bear one last order. 

"Helpy, on my command I want you to record a message for me. It is imperative that Michael gets this message."

The bear nods it's head and Henry begins.

"Start Recording-"

Henry pauses to sigh, looking over Michael's slumped form. His body didn't require oxygen anymore, but the boy pretended to breathe out of habit and to help keep the illusion of being alive, and Henry understood why. Seeing him so still, so quiet, not moving an inch, Henry could believe Michael was dead rather than asleep. If it wasn't for Charlie's current actions he might have believed it too. But he couldn't falter now. One last sin to rest upon the rest.

"-I'm sorry Michael. If you're hearing this, then that means my plan was for the best, and you still being alive means the people in the future have a chance."

He looks to Helpy, the small bear tilting its head in confusion. Henry continues in a rush, "We've studied remnants extensively. We know the consequences of what trapping souls does ; what having the power of those trapped souls can create. We've seen it, experienced it, multiple times- with Ennard, the toy animatronics- even Helpy here. They're alive, not trapped souls like those poor children, like my daughter-"

His eyes cut to Lefty, but the bear is not looking at him. Her focus is fully on Michael, a paw on his chest. 

"Like your brother, your sister...There is no guarantee that all of this will put everyone to rest. You need to make sure that if life continues to persevere even after all we've done here tonight… that you'll finish what we started- That you'll keep studying remnants. That if your father makes his way back from hell- you'll force him back in permanently."

Henry takes a deep breath, refusing to look at his daughter or Helpy. "Your part isn't done until youre the last one, and I can't guarantee that unless I can keep you alive. Make sure your fathers mistakes die with him. It's your responsibility as his son and I- I can't leave my daughter again."

He stops for a moment, guilt eating at him, but he pushes on. "For all your fathers victims, for your sister, for your brother- Michael, you must live-"

The endoskeleton jerks and twitches for a single moment before slumping back over and falling fully to the ground. Michaels body falls forward but Lefty catches it and helps it lay on the ground. Henry looks back to Helpy and ends the recording.

The bear gives a thumbs up and Henry gives it another order. This time for the last. "That message is for Michael's ear, and only his. You have his security number- only accept his. Not mine, not yours, only his."

He has no control on what people might be able to dig up after they're gone, but he's tried to destroy as much as he could about what they've studied and worked on these past years. He can't leave anything to chance.

With the last order given Helpy gives a little salute before running over to Michael and Lefty. It tries to climb into Michae's human lap but Lefty stops it, and instead moves it over to the endoskeleton. 

Henry walks over then, and before he can ask, Lefty speaks for the first time.

"I did it." Her voice is low, sad, and older than he remembers after all these years. She moves her head to look at him with her one good eye. "Are you sure it was the right thing to do?"

"Yes." It had to be, because he was too selfish to do it to himself. He was so tired, and his daughter was right here, and it was his time. 

"Hasn't he done enough?"

Henry doesn't reply, unable or maybe unwilling to answer. Because it wasn't about what he or anyone else thought was enough. There was nothing fair about any of this, so there would never be a good enough answer for it. There is only a beginning and an end. 

William Afton started the horrors, and someone had to be the one to end it. The only unfairness is making someone not involved deal with it. As the son, as the main catalyst to William's spiral, was it not Michael's job to finish it?

Henry knows deep in his heart that it was wrong, but he was always a selfish man. How else could someone like him be friends with someone like William Afton?

He offers his hand to his daughter and she holds it tight. 

They walk out of the room and into the flames consuming the main building. 

Helpy curls into a ball and huddles in between the wires and metals of Michael's endoskeleton. 

The fire burns for days.

01101100

Michael tries not to feel anything by the end of the recording. He tries to shut it all off, to ignore it, to separate himself from the storm of emotions heating up his wires.

He thought it was an accident. He thought it was some pseudoscience bullshit that kept him tied to his new hunk of metal. He thought he was cursed.

Henry kept him alive- on purpose . He forced him to keep going, to keep existing, even after knowing how much he wanted to die .

Hasn't he done enough?! Hasn't he given enough of himself?! Why, why why why whyw hwy whyw whyw hwy whyw why-

It was a question he couldn't ask outloud. It wasn't anything he could selfishly ask. 

Because the answer was obvious.

No.

No. 

NO.

He'll never be able to give enough to make up for everything he and his father have done. Nothing can make up for all the lives lost, the futures destroyed, the families torn apart-

Nothing can ever make up for his brother's stolen life.

So no, he hadn't given enough, because there will never be enough to make up for it.

Never enough- never enough- never-

A tiny hand taps at his cheek, metal on metal making an odd sound close to his ear. It's strange enough for him to snap out of his thoughts and he focuses on the distraction.

Helpy is standing on his shoulder, eyes wide and eyebrows tilted up in concern. It pats at his cheek again and Michael can't stop the sob that escapes him. Short, burnt arms wrap around his face and Michael lets himself fall apart. 

There was no willingness in the action.

Everything he was trying to suppress, to push back, to ignore, came back in a burst of emotion that he couldn't process. It crashed into him like a wave, making him unable to think, or to react in any way that wasn't just sobs. 

It's been so long since he'd been forced to confront his own emotions that he doesn't know what to do. Boys don't cry, but he can't stop even if he wanted to.

He falls to the ground, holds Helpy close to himself, and cries.

It's a while before he can find the will to move again, even when his sobs finally die down, and Helpy doesn't move from its spot hugging Michael's face. It reminds him of previous pity parties he'd thrown himself years ago, when he was deep into the research of his father's crimes. 

Helpy would latch itself on the closest body part and hold on until Michael felt better. Sometimes it would be for an hour, sometimes even the full day. However long Helpy thought he needed it for. 

It brings a smile to his face thinking about past memories of the small animatronic and he's happy to have his friend back now.

A little burnt, in need of some tender love and care, but still his friend indeed.

He feels an affectionate growl bubble up from his programming but he lets it run now that he is feeling a little better.

There wasn't anything he could do now anyways. Knowing he’s this way because of Henry does upset him, but he's had months now to come to terms with being alive and as an animatronic. Nothing changed from what he knew an hour ago. 

And he now had Helpy with him again. Whatever this new pizzeria would throw at him, he would be ready for it. 

He pats the small animatronic on its back and Helpy releases its grip, letting itself fall back into Foxy's waiting paw. 

"Sorry you're going to be stuck with me all over again. Maybe I can find a way to break your programming so you're not trapped being my helper anymore."

Helpy aggressively shakes its head, eyebrows lowered in anger. Michael had always wondered why Henry had never designed the bear with a voice box. Maybe it was something he can add when he fixes Helpy later.

"Henry had hinted you were alive, Helpy. I can’t force you to be my nanny-”

Helpy grabs at Foxy’s face once again, and a voice he had never heard whispered in his head. “Not nanny- friend. You’re my friend.”

“Oh…” He was left speechless for a moment, thrown by the confession and even more thrown by the fact that the bear could technically speak. He hugs the bear tight to him again, “You’re my friend too. I’m so glad I found you.”

Michael lets the hug last longer this time, and when he pulls back, Helpy keeps holding tightly to his paw. 

"Let's see what else I can find in this crowded shed, huh?" Michael says, only to be completely surprised by who they find next.

01110100

He leaves Helpy with them for now, much to the bears chagrin, but he made them all a promise and he intends to return and keep it.

He returns to his room and opens the blueprints he'd hacked and taken from the main network. He studies the building blueprints and begins to plan.

It takes him days, but when he had everything set, he finally vanished from parts and services. He heard from the rumor mill that his assigned technician was fired a day after he ran away. 

He couldn't feel too bad though. He had a secret lair to create…or maybe a makeover first. 

00100001

“Alright matey, let's make our way back to port.”

There was an awkward pause from the fox, long enough that Gregory almost starts feeling bad for Foxy. Keyword being almost.

"Ignore that." Foxy finally snaps out, shaking his head vigorously. As if that would help stop the program making him speak like a pirate.  Gregory didn't fight the grin, completely ignoring Foxy's growls.

"Aye, aye Cap'n!" 

Foxy groaned, voice thickening. "Har har har, make fun of the fox that saved yer life. God dammit!"

"Foxy!" Freddy scolded for the hundredth time and looking like he was fighting the urge to put his hands on his hips in disappointment.

"Tell yer brat to knock it off or I'll be forced to make 'em walk the plank!" Foxy argued back. Gregory grins through it all, looking the happiest he could be, and Freddy can't really find it in himself to scold the boy too.

"Who's the adult here?" Freddy questions, and Gregory 'oooohs' from his side. Foxy bares his teeth in outrage.

"I'm going to crush you with Moon's body, kid," Foxy points at Gregory, completely ignoring Freddy. Gregory laughs as he hides behind the bear's legs and Freddy can see the tongue the boy sticks out. 

Freddy is excited to see Gregory finally relaxing after everything that has happened so far, but the playful mood is instantly cut short when both animatronics pick up the sound of animatronic feet in the distance. The others were not close, but if Foxy and Freddy can hear them, then his friends can hear them as well.  

"And that's our cue to get a move on," Foxy states as his ears swivel back and forth as he listens closely. His accent has finally died down, now closer to the one Freddy is more accustomed to, and Gregory settles down too. His smile is gone, and Freddy wishes desperately that they'll be able to get it back up soon. 

Foxy looks back at Gregory and he points to the camera in his hands, showing him the correct buttons to press. "This is a FazCam, upgraded by yours truly. You can use the flash on it to blind the others and should affect Roxy the most. It'll give you extra time to get away or find a hiding place while they're disoriented."

Gregory takes a moment to get familiar with the item before he looks between the two animatronics warily. "I'm not going to be separated from you guys am I?"

"No-," Freddy starts and Foxy continues, "It's just a precaution while we're out in the open. I'll take the fastest route that avoids us running into the others but you never know how tonight is going to go."

That seemed to reassure the boy and he threw the strap connected to the camera over his head to rest on his neck. 

Foxy smirks, side eyeing Freddy, "And it's the only weapon I had on hand since I forgot my crowbar." 

"Please," Freddy sighs, resting his hand on Gregory's head when the boy begins to look excited again. "Let's focus on getting to safety first."

"Okay, okay," Foxy shrugs, shooting the bear a fox grin. "My crowbar is there anyways."

"Foxy."

The fox makes them move fast, only allowing two detours for Freddy to charge up. Gregory recognizes quickly that they’re just following his trail backwards, and he’s sure he hasn’t seen any other door that could possibly lead them to a secret bunker.

“It wouldn’t be much of a secret lair if I had a welcome mat and knocker would it?” Foxy snarked when he led the two through the long hallway Monty had first come from. He directed them to a completely bare wall and Gregory was beginning to really question the fox. That was until he was told to use the camera on the wall while Foxy used his hand to cover Freddy’s eyes and Helpy jumped down into one of the many pockets.

Doubtful, Gregory aimed the camera and pressed the button.

Chapter Text

There was a bright flash from the camera, and Gregory pulled back a bit to blink away the dots running across his vision. If it was bright for him, he wonders how bad it must be for the animatronics. 

"I know to look away Foxy, but thank you." Freddy says behind him and Gregory could hear the fox bark a laugh. 

"Of course big guy, I'll be sure to remind you of that the next time some kid asks for your picture."

"...I can't say no to a guest," Freddy tries to defend. 

When the lights cleared from his eyes, Gregory almost gasps in surprise at what he finds. There was a door where the bare wall used to be, and Gregory looked back to the fox with an open mouth. Foxy grins and walks to the door, pushing it open easily.

"There was an actual door there!" Gregory runs after the fox, grabbing onto the animatronics coat. 

"'Course kid, you think I'd lie to you?" 

"Well, not lie- but is a camera flash really safe? What if the workers brought out a camera or something."

They shuffled through the doorway and into a single room. There was an ugly chair, an ancient tv, and a basket of...butter on top of it. The wallpaper and outdated carpet made it feel like they had gone through a time machine, and Gregory was able to take in everything with a quick turn of his head. He was kind of disappointed with this 'secret lair'. The only odd part about it is the weird lines of triangle shapes on one of the walls, but even that doesn’t hold his attention for long.

"That camera is the only one I keyed into my security system." Foxy reassures as he closes the door. The second it shuts, Gregory could hear a multitude of heavy clicks as it locked. The room might suck but it sure seemed safe, and he's confident nothing could get through that door. 

"And it only affects the cloaking system that hides the door. The door only opened because I was here. And Helpy too." The bear pops back out of the pocket it was hiding in and jumps out, landing right in Gregory's hands. It seemed small next to Foxy, but the bear was the size of the standard plush in his own hands.

"Awesome," Gregory grins before pausing. "Wait, if you have this cool tech to hide this place, why does it look like...this?" 

He gestures to the room and Foxy does this complicated expression, as if he can't decide to laugh or scowl. "And what's wrong with this?"

Freddy looks back and forth between the two, as if feeling like a fight might break out. 

"It looks like some sort of old person's room. Like grandpa age."

"Grandpa age-?!" Foxy growls, swiping at Gregory. The kid laughs as he skips away, Helpy holding tight to his hand. "I'll have you know this was peak design when I was-"

Helpy honks suddenly, cutting off Foxy and making Gregory jump. He looks down at the bear in his hands and watches as it presses on its nose again, the honking returning. 

"That's cute," Gregory blurts out, and his face goes red. He wasn't supposed to find stuff like this cute!! He was how old?!

Foxy huffs a laugh before snatching the small bear up, "Helpy's definitely the cutest little bugger." 

He presses their noses together to cause another honk before letting the bear run back to Gregory to be held. 

"Back to topic though, try to ignore my old man tastes for the rest of the evening at least. It's gonna be your home until six." 

"Anywhere is better than out there." Gregory can handle any ugly style choices as long as it keeps other animatronics out. "But isn't it a little crowded in here? And how are you going to fix up Moon??"

Foxy pauses, and even Freddy looks to the fox for the answer. The room could be used as a cramped living space, but it definitely didn't have the set up for any repairs, even minor ones. 

"Well...," The fox starts, but Gregory already knows what he was going to say.

"You said you guys weren't going to leave me on my own!" Gregory accused, looking to Freddy. The bear seemed confused as well but didn't argue with either of them. 

"You won't be, kid." Foxy reassures, "Helpy has volunteered to stay with you."

"That's not the same thing!" Helpy's ears lowered a little, and for a second Gregory felt bad, but this wasn't fair! 

"I promise you that that door wont open for anything besides maybe a bomb. You'll be perfectly safe here until-"

"You promised we'd stick together!" Gregory argues, stomping his foot down. "I want to go with you guys!"

"Foxy, I don't mind Gregory joining us as long as it's safe," Freddy argues, dropping to one knee and letting the boy hold onto him. His power was already starting to drain again so he didn't let him jump inside his chest cavity. 

"Both of you don't understand. Something is going on in this pizzaplex and I don't want a six year old getting involved in it." Foxy waves his free hand as he argues, a low growl in his voice. 

Gregory fights the urge to argue his real age when he had something better to fight about, "I'm already involved! The animatronics are trying to get me!"

"They're not trying to just get you," Foxy snaps. "They're trying to kill you."

"Foxy!" Freddy frets, looking back down at Gregory. The boy seemed shocked by the answer, but not really surprised, and that breaks his heart. Gregory already had wounds that prove that very fact- his friends were not trying to capture him. It's very clear they were trying to kill him. 

Foxy takes a physical step back, breathing deep and taking a moment to set Moon down on the single chair. He rubs at his eyes before crouching down as well, so that he can look Gregory in the eyes.

"I'm sorry Gregory, I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just...scared. For you." Foxy stretches his hand out, palm up. Gregory thinks he's asking for Helpy back, but instead he grabs one of Gregory's hands and squeezes it gently. "If you stay in this room the whole night, I can guarantee that you'll stay safe. The less you know about all of this, the safer you'll be. I can't ask you-"

"Stop treating me like a child! I was doing just fine before you came along!" Gregory snaps. His arm aches at his blatant lie.  

Foxy takes a moment before he replies, "I'm not saying this because you're a child Gregory. I'm saying this because you're an innocent person who shouldn't be involved-"

"But I am-' Gregory interrupts again, snatching his hand away and hugging Helpy to him. For a second he forgot the bear wasn't a stuffed animal, but the bear hugs him back fiercely and he feels confident in speaking further. Only Freddy sees the briefly stricken look on Foxy's face.

"I was taken. Before I hid in Freddy I..." He pauses, not meeting either animatronics eyes. Freddy tries so hard to not interrupt, to not do anything but put his hand on Gregory's back in support.  

"I've been in the pizzaplex loads of times before. It's easy to sneak in, you know? It's easier on school days. But today- today I wasn't. I didn't sneak in. But I woke up here." He doesn't want to admit everything, doesn't want to answer any questions, so he finishes in a rush.

"I woke up in some room and I ran away as soon as I could. The security guard found me first but I don't know why I woke up here so I couldn't trust anyone! I've been running since...so yeah, I am involved ."

"Oh Lad," Foxy sighs, ears pointed back. "I'm so sorry."

Freddy drew the boy into a hug, being careful not to crush him when his circuits were being flooded by some sort of strong, unknown emotion. So many possibilities and scenarios filter through his mind at what could have happened to Gregory if he hadn't found him when he did. Every idea is worse than the one before. 

Gregory's face was hidden between his shoulder and neck, and he didn't seem like he wanted to move anytime soon. That was fine for Freddy. He doesn't want the boy anywhere but in his arms for the rest of the night. 

He glances up to Foxy, sending a message straight to the fox. "He comes with us." 

Freddy watches the range of emotions Foxy filters through before he seems to settle on acceptance, nodding his head. He doesn't seem happy about it, but he wasn't arguing and Freddy accepts it as a win. He knows logically that Foxy is right and Gregory would be safer if he's far away from the danger of it all, but it only seemed fair to not keep the boy in the dark after everything he's been put through. 

“He needs some medical attention as well. Moon…hurt his arm I believe.” Freddy adds as well, and he sends over the latest scan that he took of Gregory. He knows the fox received it when he sees the fox bare his teeth at the Daycare Attendant powered down on the seat. 

With that settled, Freddy calls Gregory's name softly before pulling away. For a brief second the boy refuses to let go, but he does in the end, quickly rubbing his eyes. There were no tears that Freddy could see, but they were red rimmed and a little glossy. No one likes when a child cries, but Freddy knows it's healthy for a human to express emotions instead of repressing them.

"He's a tough kid," Foxy messages him, and Freddy looks over to him. He's busy picking Moon back up, but his eyes are fully on Gregory.

"He is," Freddy agrees, half proud and half worried, and watches as Helpy tries to distract the boy with honking on it's nose again. Gregory tries it himself, and he laughs when he presses it. 

"Alright," Foxy says out loud as he hefts Moon back over his shoulder. He walks over to the wall with the odd triangles on it, "If you're going to follow us, I want you to remember this passcode." 

He motions for Gregory to move closer to him and when the boy does so, Foxy presses down on the shapes in a certain pattern. He goes slow, checking if Gregory is paying attention. When the last mark was pressed, the wall to the left groaned and slowly slid open, revealing a brightly lit hallway. 

Gregory couldn't stop himself from staring in surprise. He should realize by now that the fox obviously had some cool tricks up his sleeve. 

He jumps a little when he feels a hand pat his head, and when he looks thinking it's Freddy, it's actually Foxy smiling down at him. "I've got a couple friends down there with me so don't freak out alright?" 

"I'm only scared cause they're friends of yours," Gregory snarks, giggling when Foxy gives a playful growl and pushes his head in retaliation. 

Freddy is happy to see the easy atmosphere return between the two. Foxy was always very good with children and he's not surprised the fox was able to ease the mood again. But a low power alert interrupted his thoughts and he felt bad interrupting the two from their mock fight.

Foxy looks back at him with a quick nod, "Sorry big guy, let's get going. I've got a charging station down here, and I'll fix that little power issue too when I get my hands on you."

Gregory snorts for some reason and even Foxy fake coughs awkwardly before starting to lead them down the hallway. Freddy doesn't understand what he missed but he follows anyway, and he takes in their surroundings as they journey down. 

The hallways wind back and forth at a decline, but what takes Freddy completely by surprise is the amount of children's drawings lining the walls. Some of the walls are even drawn or painted on directly, and there's a painted mural that they pass that is of the glamrock stars in their space gear. This one is painted rather well, and Freddy notices quickly that it has them dressed in their old space designs before the company changed it to their current one. If his power wasn't running low he'd love to spend the time looking at each drawing they come across.

As they journey further down, Gregory asks Foxy about these friends of his that they’ll be meeting. Freddy can feel his own ears perk in curiosity. He’s so used to his personal questions being politely unanswered that he doesn’t expect much more than a change in topic, but with the night they’ve been having, maybe Foxy would be willing to open up to him a little more. 

“Oh,” Foxy pauses, “We’ve known each other for years now. We found each other before the pizzaplex was finished being built actually.”

“These friends of yours are…other animatronics?” Of course they were , Freddy answered himself, but he was confused on who they could possibly be. He was unaware of any other animatronics being built. There were whispers of bringing back some old ones like Mr. Hippo and Orville, but surely they wouldn't be hiding down here with Foxy of all animatronics. 

 Foxy glances over his shoulder to give Freddy a nod. “Yeah, two others. They’re actually older animatronics, from one of the original pizzerias.”

“I did not realize they were able to salvage any other animatronics besides our endoskeletons!” Freddy exclaims in surprise. As he speaks, they turn a corner and the hallway finally comes to an end. “And they’ve been living down here with you?”

At the end of the hall there is a metal door much like the ones in the main pizzaplex, and on the front of it there was a cartoon doodle of a growling pirate fox with the words 'Caution! Dangerous Pirates ahead!' written below it. Four pairs of hand prints surround it, all different colors, and Freddy shouldn't be surprised to find that they weren't exactly human hand prints. One was definitely Foxy's and another was Helpy's. The other two must be the 'friends' Foxy had just mentioned, and Freddy felt like he was buzzing with curiosity. 

When they reach the door, it starts to rise automatically. As they wait for it to open Foxy finally answers, scratching at his snout. “Yeah, I guess Fazbear Entertainment is really good at digging up anything . But they didn’t want to be part of the new pizzaplex so they went into hiding. It was pure chance that I ran into them.”

“Chica used to tell me that you made a habit of escaping Parts and Services even before your big breakout.”

The gate opens completely and Foxy grins as he gestures at them to follow him in. “It’s not my fault they programmed me to be a rebel. To be fair, they should have expected it from me .”

Freddy nearly stops the moment he steps into the room, and he feels like he shouldn't be surprised at what Foxy reveals to them anymore, but he can't help it. All this time, all these years of wondering where the fox animatronic runs off to, and he's finally being given all the answers to his every question. He had even worried for the fox animatronic, worried that he was lonely or living in some small room like the one they first went through. But with the area opened to him and getting a peek of Foxy’s life, Freddy feels the worry melt away.

The room that opens to them looked like a disorganized, overcrowded workshop. It definitely resembles the pizzaplex’s current Parts and Services with its own protective cylinder in the center of the room. There was no organization to the features scattered around the cylinder though, as Freddy could see workbenches, arcade games and writing desks strewn about. Boxes of assorted foods were stacked precariously on top of each other and placed in no order either. 

To the left of the room were five different colored doors, and to the right, a full living space was set up. There were couches, a cluttered coffee table, a large screen tv, and a drum set. This area was definitely well used, and even the tv was still on and paused on an action scene from a movie he’d never seen before.

Foxy had a completely separate life far from Freddy and the others, and he feels something odd about it. Nothing negative, but the emotion isn’t positive either, and he doesn’t try to dwell on it. He instead focuses on the fact that Foxy isn’t as alone as he feared, and is in fact doing better than he could have ever hoped for. 

He supposes it hurts a little, to know Foxy had not trusted him enough to share a little bit of his life with him. 

“Welcome to our humble abode,” Foxy gestures to the area with a sweep of his free hand. He kicks a Montgomery plush to clear the way, “Ignore the mess…we weren’t expecting visitors.”

Before Freddy could reassure the fox, Gregory lets out a long whistle, twisting his head back and forth to try and take in the whole place. 

“This. Is. Awesome!” Gregory exclaims, looking towards the fox with a large grin. “Now THIS is what I call a secret lair!”

Gregory runs ahead of them, jumping over scattered boxes and tools. Foxy barely had a chance to reply before the boy ran back to them, buzzing in excitement. “You even have a cool super computer setup!” 

Indeed there was. Behind the protective cylinder were multiple monitors set up like a security office, with some screens even showing different camera feeds. Tools littered the desk and from what Freddy can see, there were even multiple keyboards strewn about. One was distinctly smaller than the others, and Freddy assumes that it was possibly for Helpy.  

Foxy seems to physically stand taller at the praise and Freddy can't stop the smile when he sees Foxy starting to grin. "And you were just complaining 'bout my old man tastes. Praise me more kid!" 

Gregory rolled his eyes and kept his mouth shut, going as far as puffing out his cheeks in defiance. He did go back to looking around the room though, completely ignoring Foxy's indignant huffing. As cool as the place looked, and as much as his stomach growled when he noticed the assortment of foods everywhere, something seemed a little odd about the place. It was completely empty of any other animatronic but Foxy, Freddy, and Helpy who was still in his arms.

"Where are your friends?" The moment he asks the question, a giggle came from right behind him, and Gregory jumped and whipped around- but no one was there.

Another giggle came from a different direction and Gregory whipped his head to catch it. He still had the flashlight in his pocket, and he pulled it out in case he might need a weapon. The giggling continued, coming from different directions and moving every time Gregory turned to look.  

He didn't know he was moving in circles until his back hit a metal leg, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. But it was only Freddy he had run into, and the bear patted his head while Foxy gave a low chuckle. 

"Enough of that now, BB. Come out and say hi." Foxy lightly ordered, and a round figure made their presence known, running out from behind a cluttered desk. Gregory clutched Helpy to him tighter when the new animatronic giggled again. 

"Hello!" The animatronic greeted, and Gregory took a moment to look them over. The animatronic looked like...a human boy, in the sense that he wasn't an animal like Freddy and the others. He was round, with a striped shirt and matching striped propeller hat. He had rosy cheeks and a smile that he's sure was permanent. 

He was holding a red Freddy shaped balloon in his hands, and when Gregory finally made eye contact, the animatronic offered up the balloon. 

Gregory gulped, unsure if he wanted to get closer. He didn't want to be mean, but the animatronic was sort of creepy looking. But he didn't want to be rude, and even Freddy was encouraging him with a subtle push on his back, so he stepped forward and grabbed the string. 

"T-Thanks," Gregory says, shuffling back to Freddy's side quickly. He barely catches the soft 'you're welcome,' that the animatronic replies with. 

"No need to be shy," Foxy reassures, coming up to the animatronic and giving him a one armed hug. He was still holding Moon over his shoulder so it was an awkward hold, but the new animatronic still gave his typical laugh and gave a quick hug back. 

Foxy straightens up and points at each one individually, "Everyone, this is Balloon Boy. Balloon Boy, this is Gregory and our resident superstar, Freddy Fazbear."

"Hi!" 

"Hello!" Freddy greets, even going as far as to offer a hand to the other animatronic. Gregory sort of wants to laugh at how earnest the bear seems as he watches him shake Balloon Boy's hand enthusiastically. 

The other animatronic must have said something, but besides his greetings of hellos, his voice seemed to stay at a whisper. But Freddy had the volume of multiple people combined, and both Foxy and Gregory watch as Freddy starts a lively conversation with Balloon Boy. 

"I'm glad you guys hit it off so well," Foxy starts before tilting his head and looking up. Gregory follows his line of sight but he can't see anything. "But where be the rest of my crew?"

Speaking to Freddy seems to help Balloon Boy further break his shell, and Gregory can finally hear his reply. It's still low, but no longer at a whisper, and now Gregory is more confused by his answer.

"They went to their room. I think they want to stay there for the rest of the night." Balloon Boy's face did not change from his smile, but his voice did sound a little sad.

"We're sorry to impose on you-" Freddy starts, but Foxy shakes his head. He heads over to the protective cylinder and it opens automatically for him. 

"No, it's fine." Foxy reassures him. He puts Moon down on the seat and steps out. "You're right, what's going on here affects both of you, and it's safer here than anywhere else. We're completely hidden from the pizzaplex down here, and they haven't found us yet. Keeping him down here won’t hurt." 

"Maybe don't jinx us Foxy," A new voice suddenly replies, and both Freddy and Gregory snap their heads up. 

Another animatronic was hanging over their heads and they both jumped back in surprise. Foxy only sighs, putting his hands on his hips. "I told you guys to be normal, not scare them half to death. Get down from there before you tear the ceiling again."

The animatronic sniffs in defiance but jumps down regardless, landing with a flair. The new animatronic was another fox, but unlike Foxy, this new fox was white with pink accents instead of the usual red and white. And while Foxy's paws and legs were colored black like a real fox, the new animatronics were a darker shade of pink. 

Freddy even noticed another difference between the two. While Foxy had covered his body with a thin 'fur' coat with a matching fluffy tail like Roxy's, the other animatronic was full metal like Freddy, with even the tail being of solid metal too. 

The tail was thinner than Foxy's, and as they stood to their full height, Freddy noticed that the animatronic was a few inches taller and leaner than Foxy as well. If they stood side by side, Freddy is sure the fox would be taller than him too. 

The new fox nods their head in greeting and introduces themselves. "Hello, my name is Mangle."

Freddy noticed something odd about their voice. While it was mainly feminine, it had a strange masculine voice under it too, as if they had two voices speaking at once. An odd quirk, and with the access to all sorts of tools down here, Freddy is sure it was on purpose. 

When they finished introducing each other, Foxy grabs everyone's attention and points at Freddy. "Through the purple door there's a kitchen and a charging station set up. Go get charged up. I'll fix you up once I'm done with the Daycare Attendant, alright?"

The blaring Low Battery alert doesn't give him much of a choice, and he follows the instructions to the kitchens. 

Gregory stops himself from following Freddy when the bear leaves. It's not that he needs Freddy's protection...but he hasn't had the best experience with other animatronics before! These two were fine so far, but they also introduced themselves by trying to scare him. He's dealt with too many animatronics coming after him for a lifetime. 

But with Freddy gone, Foxy focused back on him, and he asked Mangle to get him a first aid kit.

"Do we have one of those?" Mangle asks, barely glancing at Gregory. He had noticed that the animatronic was happy to meet Freddy and shake his hand, but the fox had barely given him a second glance since dangling from the ceiling. 

Balloon Boy didn't seem to have the same issue since he was perfectly content to stand next to him and pass him another balloon randomly. Balloon Boy had passed him another one earlier, and now he had three balloons in his hand at this point. He was curious on where and when the animatronic was getting these balloons. 

"Huh," Foxy pauses. "That's true. Shit."

"It's fine, I grabbed some supplies earlier. It's in my bag inside Freddy's stomach." Gregory cuts in, and Foxy watches him accept a fourth balloon. 

The fox laughs at both of them and walks over to rub at both of their heads. Gregory grumbles and tries to fight back, but with one hand holding balloon strings and the other still onto Helpy he couldn't do much more than grumble. “Let's get some food in you then. We’ve got…just about any junk food imaginable.” 

Foxy looked at the nearest box to them, labeled with Freddy chips, and opened it up with a quick swipe of his claw. He pulls out a couple bags and hands them out to everyone. Balloon Boy accepts them gladly but Mangle declines, deciding to sit out on the couch. Balloon Boy looks between Foxy and Mangle, an awkward giggle rising from his voice box, but Foxy waves him off.

“Go on and sit with them. I know you guys were in the middle of watching a movie.” 

Balloon Boy fiddles with the bag, “You were watching it too.”

Foxy shrugs and gives the animatronic another one armed hug. “Thanks BB, but I’ve seen this one a hundred times by now. Go hang out with them for a little bit. I’m just gonna give Gregory a quick tour.”

With another push Balloon Boy finally relents, waving at Gregory and Helpy before running back to sit on the couch. Gregory waves and watches as Mangle lets him cuddle up to their side and they press play on the tv remote. 

“Does Mangle hate me or something?” Gregory asks, not wanting to beat around the bush. It was pretty clear Mangle wanted to get as far away from him as possible. 

“It’s nothing personal, I promise, not against you at least.” Foxy sighs, pulling out two rolling seats and pushing one towards Gregory. When he sits, Foxy takes the balloon strings from Gregory’s hands and ties the strings loosely around his wrist.

“It feels sort of personal.” Gregory grumbles. Helpy has been quiet and limp in his arms since the bear jumped at him, but since he needed two hands to eat, the bear finally detached itself and sat on the nearest desk. 

“Mangle doesn’t…” Foxy looks back toward the two on the couch, but they’re both focused on the movie. “Mangle doesn’t have the best history with children. It’s sort of how they got their name in the first place. Kids aren’t the nicest with what they consider toys.”

“Oh,” Gregory says, taking that in. He guessed he could understand that. He was never gentle with his own toys years ago, but he wonders what could have happened to an animatronic that they were named mangle of all things. 

“Try not to take it personally if you can. It’s been…a long time since they’ve had to interact with a kid.” 

Gregory takes a bite of his chips, ignoring the way his stomach instantly starts to growl now that he has food again. “‘Course. It’s not their fault kids are dicks.”

“Definitely not.” The fox snorts. He pulls out another box from under a table, this one labeled candy bars. “Also, you’re free to take whatever and however much you want from any of the food stashes. Unfortunately it’s all junk food, and I haven’t stolen ingredients from the upstairs kitchens in a while so our kitchen doesn’t have anything to make you a proper meal either.”

Any food was better than no food, and he grabbed a handful of chocolate bars when presented the box. This is the most he’s had all day, and he barely gives himself a moment to breathe as he eats. He doesn’t notice the way the fox stares at him, or notice the concerned look he shares with Helpy. He’s too busy gorging himself on chips and chocolate, and he eats his fill until his stomach starts to ache and Freddy comes back fully charged.

Chapter Text

When Freddy walked to the kitchen, he can admit that he was very curious about the other colored doors. He wasn't tempted to take a peek inside without permission but he was curious to see more of Foxy's secret life. 

But he passed without stopping and he walked into the kitchen easily. He wonders why the charging station was put in here of all places, but given the random disorganization of the room outside, he's actually not that surprised. Foxy was always an enigma, and tonight keeps proving that fact over and over again.

He steps into the charging station and goes into rest mode to help speed up the process. He's happy meeting some older animatronics, especially ones from previous pizzerias, but something in his wires makes him uncomfortable with leaving Gregory alone for too long. Freddy trusts Foxy, he knows the fox would never let anything happen to the boy, but he can't help the worry flooding his circuits. Especially after learning how Gregory ended up at the pizzaplex. 

Someone was using the pizzeria for nefarious purposes, and from what Foxy had hinted at, it was probably for reasons Freddy can't even stomach thinking about. The very idea of someone hurting a child- the cowardice of making the glamrock stars commit the crime- 

He knows his friends. If they were made aware of their actions, the guilt would surely eat them alive. Especially if they had actually gotten to Gregory-

Freddy can't think like this. His friends hadn't gotten Gregory, and he's going to spend the rest of the night making sure it never happens. For Gregory, for himself, but especially for his friends. 

They were created to bring children joy. It is what makes them who they are. Their very purpose was made with the happiness of children in mind- to make them go against their core is beyond cruel. He understands that most humans don't consider them more than robots but they know they're not. They've known it since they were powered on. They are more than the staff bots, service bots, wet floor bots. They are more than the code that made them, and it's an insult that they were being shaped into weapons so easily. 

But Foxy was aware of what was going on, more than Freddy or any of his friends he's sure, and that means they have a chance of stopping it. They have a chance of stopping it before it could start and Freddy is willing to do anything to keep children safe. He was willing to do anything to keep Gregory safe.

A full power bar pops up suddenly and he lets himself power back on fully. He never really liked going on rest mode when he needed to charge but it was necessary, and he gave himself a physical shake as if that would help brush away his earlier thoughts. There was no time for a spiraling crisis, he had a boy he needed to focus on instead. 

Before he walks back to the main room however, Foxy sends him a message asking him to grab some sodas from the fridge. When he goes to grab some, he tries not to stare at the blue Fizzy Faz, and instead he grabs a couple of the orange drinks. 

He leaves the kitchen at a brisk pace and finds Gregory walking back to a semi-cleared desk with Foxy, tipping a bag of chip crumbs into his mouth. There were multiple crumpled bags of various food items and candy wrappers on the desk next to him and Freddy worries if that's all the boy had eaten. 

Gregory smiles when he sees him and something in Freddy's wires loosen. Maybe he wasn't eating a balanced meal, but he was safe and happy and that's all that Freddy needs for him right now.

Freddy passes Gregory one of the cans and the boy looks surprised and thankful. They were nice and cold, and Gregory opened one up and chugged like his life depended on it. Foxy had brought out a different box full of cookies earlier and Gregory couldn't stop himself from eating a couple bags too. He was parched, and the carbonation was a nice boost of energy too. Now that he was full and relatively safe, he was already feeling like he was going to crash soon. 

He was determined to stay up though! It would be just like Foxy to ditch him if he fell asleep and he wasn't going to let that happen. He needed to know what was going on, and like he said earlier, he was already involved too. He felt like he was owed an answer.

Foxy stole one of the faz drinks as well and chugged it down without a thought. He laughed at the fact Freddy only grabbed the orange flavor when Foxy knew they had all five flavors, and Gregory's attention was caught. 

"Five flavors?"

"Yup," Foxy tossed the empty can into a nearby trash bin. "One for each of the glamrock stars."

"But there's only four- '' Oh, he had forgotten about Bonnie. He never realized he was a glamrock star though, and he kind of feels bad about bringing it up. 

"Have they really pulled Bonnie's drinks too?" Foxy sighs, and Gregory chances a glance at Freddy. His ears are down, and he's looking away as if he doesn't want to be part of the conversation. Foxy continues on, not at all paying attention to either of them as he rants away. Gregory kicks the fox's shin.

"-who doesn't like to drink the color blue anyways- ow, what the fuck kid?"

"Foxy!" Freddy reprimands and Foxy looks back and forth between the two in shock and betrayal. 

"The brat kicked me! Yell at him!" He pointed at Gregory just as he was trying to make a ‘be quiet’ motion without getting Freddy's attention. Foxy didn’t seem to catch it though as he just gave Gregory a confused look.  

"I wouldn't be surprised if you deserved it, honestly." Mangle says suddenly, and Gregory watches as they walk up and join the conversation. Balloon Boy runs after them, circling the group before deciding to stay by Mangle's side. Maybe now that Freddy was finished charging they felt comfortable enough to rejoin them, and he reminded himself that he had to keep in mind about Mangle's issue with him. Or technically with kids in general. Even now he noticed the white fox standing as far away from him as possible without acting like they were trying to do so. 

Foxy takes Mangle’s insult with a whip of his tail and a huff. Only Helpy seems to be on his side as the bear pats the fox's arm soothingly. "Betrayed by everyone, and in my own home no less. Helpy, run Total Annihilation procedures." 

"Was that the one that's supposed to blow up the base, or blow up the pizzaplex?" Mangle questions, and Gregory can't tell if they were being serious or not.

"Both," Foxy answers, and Helpy's stomach starts beeping like an actual bomb timer. 

Mangle sighs like the weight of the world is on their shoulders. The sound of their dual voice makes the sigh sound garbled and slightly glitched. "What is with you and solving all your problems with fire?"

"Third times the charm," Is all Foxy says, and both Mangle and Balloon Boy burst out laughing. Gregory doesn't really get it, and neither does Freddy apparently, as the bear has his head tilted to the side. He figures it's an inside joke of theirs, and from the amount of tools scattered with no safety measures in sight, he wouldn't be surprised if they had a few fire accidents. 

“Sorry you two, sorry,” Foxy apologizes as he tries to calm his laughter. He might be wrong, but Gregory thinks he might hear a slightly manic edge to his laugh. “Let me fix up the Daycare Attendant and Freddy and then I’ll explain what we’ve figured out.”

The animatronics don’t need to breathe, but Foxy takes a couple deep breaths as if he was actually having trouble breathing. When he finally calms down, he goes right to a small computer set up near the cylinder in the middle of the room. The large mechanical arm turns on when Foxy begins typing and Gregory watches in awe as it starts removing metal plates from the animatronic.

“The Daycare Attendant should be fixed up in less than an hour, then I can take a look at Freddy,” Foxy says when he notices Gregory looking into the protective cylinder intently. “And then I’ll try to explain what's going on, as far as we have been able to piece together. Do you think you can handle waiting a little longer?”

“That should be fine,” Freddy interrupts quickly before Gregory could get a chance to argue or complain. The fox gives him a thumbs up. “It'll give me time to patch Gregory up too.” Foxy whips back around to look at Gregory intently, as if he was scanning him like Freddy does.

“Shit, yes, I’m sorry kid.” He uses one of his claws to poke through the hole on Gregory’s shirt, “and maybe a new shirt too. At least until we can steal one from upstairs or something.”

He actually completely forgot about the hole Foxy had made from his hook earlier, and when he looked down at it, he was surprised he didn’t feel cold yet. He gave a doubtful look around the room though, “...are your clothes clean?”

“I feel like you’re insulting me again,” Foxy grumbles, ignoring Mangle’s stifled snort. ( A point for me , Gregory mentally cheers.) “Yes, my clothes are clean brat, and in my room.”

“I can just get changed and patched up later,” Gregory reasoned. He didn’t want to get distracted by anything else now that he was so close to learning the truth. And he’s been doing a good job of ignoring his various open wounds and sore arm, what's another thirty minutes at least?

Foxy rubbed at his head roughly, completely ignoring Gregory trying to fight back. “I promise I’ll tell you everything when you get back. I’m not going anywhere, and besides, Freddy is going to be the one helping you and he’s the guy I need to fix next.”

He supposes that’s true and he regretfully agrees, only because Freddy honestly looks ready to burst and he’d feel bad if Freddy got upset with him. “Fiiiiiiine.”

“Thanks,” Foxy huffs with a shake of his head. He then points towards the row of doors, “The red one is my door and I’ll keep it unlocked for you. Go ahead and take whatever you want from the closet.”

“You each got your own bedrooms?” Gregory asked.

“Yup. Though we don’t use them as often as the main room out here, it’s nice to have a small space for yourself.” Foxy shrugs before looking back down at his tablet. “Now hurry and get patched up. I’ll fix up Moon while we wait for you.”

"My room is completely off-limits." Mangle cuts in, and Gregory fights the urge to look over to their door. He wasn't gonna start barging into anyone's rooms because that was rude, but now he was curious to find if the white fox was hiding something! 

"Of course." Freddy answered for him though, and the bear placed a hand on Gregory's shoulder, "We won't go into anyone's room without permission." 

For the first time Mangle actually looks Gregory in the eye, and their face shifts into an unimpressed look, "Suuure, I know how kids are. I've witnessed one too many kids going where they shouldn't."

"Mangle," Foxy starts with a warning tone, and Gregory sees him look up from the tablet. But he only says their name and Mangle looks away slightly shame-faced. 

There was an awkward pause from everyone, and Foxy finally sighs when nothing happens. 

He puts the tablet down so he can push at Freddy and Gregory, walking them to his room. "Come on, you can pick out anything you want until we can find something your size upstairs."

The red door opens automatically when they stand close, and Gregory feels the awkwardness from earlier evaporate as he investigates the new room. He doesn't know what he was expecting from the fox anymore given what the main base and the secret room upstairs looked like. 

The room looked the most normal, which Gregory guessed was the weirdest part about it. It was a plain room with one accent wall painted a dark gray. There was a bed, a night stand, and a desk littered with drawing supplies. On the walls were posters of human rock bands, some old and some new. It was almost too normal really, and that throws him off more than anything else tonight. He almost says something about it, but Freddy starts speaking first.

"We're sorry about earlier. If we said or done anything-"

"You didn't, I promise," Foxy waves him off. "Neither of you have done anything. I told Gregory earlier too. Mangle's just...been through some stuff in the past, and this is the first time they've seen a child in a long time."

Freddy is curious to know more, to understand what exactly Mangle had gone through to make them so guarded with Gregory, but he doesn't dare ask. He isn't their friend, and he knows Foxy wouldn't tell him even if he asked. Which he won't, but he is curious. 

Foxy doesn't apologize for Mangle, but he does ask them to be patient, and both Freddy and Gregory agree easily. 

With that out of the way, Foxy puts a little more enthusiasm to his voice as he gives them a quick tour by waving his arm in a circle. 

"Here is my room~ Simple I know, but I spend most of my time out there anyways." He grabs Gregory by the shoulders and pushes him to a different door. "And here is the closet. There is absolutely no organization whatsoever so I won't blame you if you just choose the first shirt you find."

The warning was warranted, as the closet was a large walk-in that held dozens of clothes that was as disorganized as the main room was.

"What do you even need all these clothes for?" Gregory can't help but ask. The glamrock stars were pretty much dressed since their metal casing was painted, and the other two older animatronics were the same way. Besides the daycare attendant, only Foxy actually wore clothes.  

Foxy only shrugs. "I just like clothes. I kind of pulled myself out of the glamrock ensemble before they finished my designs so I never had a base look. I just...never actually stuck to anything I came up with."

“Is that why you’ve got…fur?” Gregory couldn’t stop himself from poking Foxy. 

He swats at Gregory’s hand as he answers. “Yeah, the original animatronics used to have ‘fur’ instead of the metal casing. They learned pretty quickly though that it’s easier to clean dirty hand prints from plastic or metal than faux fur. But I like the classic look more and I stay as far from kids as I can.”

“Is that why you stay away from them?” Freddy asks, one part amused and another part exasperated. He could never really guess why Foxy was so against entertaining kids, but this wasn’t what he thought either. 

“It’s one of the reasons.” Foxy shrugs, not really answering. “But enough about me. Pick a shirt and get patched up. I’ll meet you both out there when you’re done.”

Foxy escapes the closet quickly and Freddy doesn’t try to stop him. He can recognize when his friend is trying to escape a conversation, especially one that was getting too personal for the fox. Gregory tries to call him back, but the fox only waves a hand over his shoulder and disappears from the room completely. 

Gregory doesn’t linger on the abrupt end to the conversation and instead focuses back on the clothes. There was a range to what Foxy had, from pirate coats and themed clothes to regular shirts with text or logos on the front. It almost felt like a regular human’s closet who has a love of dressing like a pirate as a hobby. The only issue is trying to find something that he won't swim in. They were definitely made with Foxy’s large size in mind and he’s sure he might have to tie anything he finds. 

While Gregory was busy rummaging around the closet, Freddy waited in the room instead and got Gregory's bag from his chest cavity. He pulled out the supplies he thought he might need, and as he worked, he realized he could hear someone talking through the door if he focused. It sounded like Foxy and Mangle, and he stepped just a few steps away from the door so it didn’t open.

“-sorry…only one night…”

"-the memories are overwhelming...so long...and...hiding-" 

Freddy steps away from the door with a mental shake of the head. He can’t believe he would eavesdrop on his friend like that. It was beyond rude, and the conversation sounded like it was very personal. He had no right to overhear whatever was being said, and whatever Mangle was going through didn't need a stranger butting in. He feels guilty for overhearing the little that he did, but Gregory comes running back holding a couple shirts in his arms, and he can’t focus on that guilt with the boy demanding his focus.

“Foxy is weird ,” He says, but his voice is filled with wonder and Freddy knows he means it in a positive way. “His style is all over the place. And he’s got weird shirts like this. What do you think this means?”

He spreads out a shirt on the bed and Freddy looks it over, reading the text: ‘I survived the Scooper and all I got was this lousy shirt.’

“I’m unsure. This shirt is not a Fazbear Entertainment product so I’ve never seen this before. And we don’t have any attractions called a scooper either.”

“Maybe it’s outside the pizzaplex? I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes and goes whenever he feels like it.” Gregory comments as he puts the shirt back in the closet.

“No, that’s not possible for us. Without a recharge station, our systems would shut down within an hour. It is a safety precaution. It is…our design.”

“Oh…,” Gregory pauses, looking at the bear. “Sorry.”

Freddy runs his claws through the boy's hair, “There’s nothing to apologize for, but thank you. Did you find a shirt? I want to take a look at your arm before you put it on.”

Gregory pauses, looking away from the bear. He kind of hoped Freddy would forget about that part. He'd gotten lucky that all the cuts and bruises Freddy had seen had just been the ones not hidden by his clothes, but his luck might run out with this one. 

"My arms’ fine," Gregory lied. "It just feels a little sore. I grabbed some medicine so that should help." 

Freddy pauses for a while, and Gregory worries if he might have said something wrong. But the bear kneels down not long after, and he lightly grabs Gregory's hand. There is a serious look on the bear's face and Gregory feels himself stiffen. Not in fear, but he is worried. 

"You don't have to take your shirt off if it makes you uncomfortable, but can I roll up the sleeve so I can take a closer look at your arm? Or would you be more comfortable if it was someone else. Foxy maybe?" 

"No! I don't need- I'm fine-" Gregory stops, not wanting to meet Freddy's eyes. It doesn't matter if it was Foxy or Freddy looking, cause he doesn't want either of them! And it's not that he's uncomfortable or anything! He just doesn't want to worry Freddy anymore then he already is! He's got older bruises that Freddy can't help with and Gregory knows the bear would just fret about them. It's just easier if he keeps them hidden and only worries about the new ones he can't hide.

"Okay, fine, you can look at my arm but that's it," Gregory grumbles. He looks away from Freddy as he rolls the sleeve up and he can hear Freddy when he lets out a small gasp. He doesn't turn to look at it, trusting the bear to know what to do.

Freddy touches around the biggest bruise, being careful to not press too hard. He moves the arm slowly, asking Gregory a few questions as he catalogs the boy's every reaction. His face pinches a few times as he swears it doesn't hurt but Freddy keeps going as if he wasn't lied to. He doesn't know why the boy feels the need to lie to him about his injuries, but he doesn't say anything about it for now. His typical protocol would basically have him barging the child with questions, but he runs a different one that hurts his heart any time he has to use it. 

He keeps quiet through his examination for the most part, and Gregory relaxes a lot more once Freddy is done and focused on the new cuts on the boy's legs. They're already clotting and started the healing process on their own, but Freddy cleans each new cut with laser focus. Gregory tells him they're from Moon when the animatronic got a little too close to grabbing him when he was crawling through the playset. Given Foxy's aggressive response from the scan earlier, Freddy thinks he might keep this extra tidbit to himself for now. 

When he's finally done, Freddy stands back up and runs one last scan on Gregory. It comes back clear for the most part and Freddy will simply have to live with that for now. 

"Thank you for letting me look after you, Superstar." Freddy says, and he can't stop the smile when he sees Gregory's face go red in embarrassment. "With some rest, medicine, and ice, you should heal just fine."

Gregory looks away, trying to ignore Freddy, and instead makes to grab the shirt he chose. It was the smallest he could find, but it had Foxy's face on it. He didn't want to wear Foxy merch in Foxy's own house, but everything else was just too big for him. 

Just as he's about to ask Freddy to turn around at least, Freddy does him one better. "I'm going to the kitchens to grab you some ice. Would you like to stay in here or-"

"I'll meet you outside! And don't start talking until I'm there okay?" Gregory cuts him off, getting close to Freddy so he can poke the bear in the chest. He had to stand on his tiptoes but he did it to make a point. 

Freddy chuckles, patting Gregory's head. "Of course Gregory. I'll grab you some water to help you take the medicine too. I will see you in a moment."

Freddy feels a lot better leaving Gregory this time now that he knows he's patched up, and he nearly bumps into Foxy who was just leaving another room. 

"-you fucking owe me- oh shit, hey Freddy." Foxy startles, jumping back into the other door. Unlike Foxy's door, this one locks when it closes and doesn't open back up when Foxy goes near it. Freddy assumes it must be Mangle's room, and he hopes they're not fighting because of Gregory and him.

"Is everything alright?" Freddy asks, guilt beginning to climb.

"Yeah big guy, of course. What about you? Is Gregory okay?" Foxy pushes away from the door and leads Freddy away.

Freddy points to the kitchen however, and Foxy pauses. "Yes, I was just about to grab Gregory some ice for his arm. I hope we didn't-"

"No, I promise, everything is good on that front." Foxy cuts off, pointing over his shoulder toward the main room. When Freddy looks over, he can see Mangle working on Foxy's tablet. The mechanical arm in the protective cylinder was working to fix the damage Moon had sustained from their earlier fight. Mangle wasn't giving either of them any indication that they noticed them, so whoever Foxy was growling at wasn't Mangle. Even Balloon Boy was sitting on a rolling chair and spinning in circles, Helpy tight in his arms. 

"I promise it's nothing to worry about. Now, Gregory, is he alright? We've got ice like you want, but I don't have any medicine on hand." 

Freddy decided to let it go. Foxy has already opened so much to him, and he can't be greedy. He nods, letting the focus stay on Gregory. "Yes, his arm is...badly bruised. I don't think he's noticed it, but there is also a large hand shaped bruise on his lower arm now as well. I don't think he's being honest on how much pain he's in. I hope the ice will help him, since I fear he might have pulled a muscle or something."

Foxy sighs, crossing his arms. His tail whips back and forth in irritation. "When I caught up to them, Moon had him held over the edge of the catwalk by his arm. It wasn't for long, but all that weight has to hurt."

"He held him over the edge?!" Freddy starts, feeling his voice rise. He stopped himself from saying anything further though, and he didn't want to be too loud either. Gregory probably wouldn't be too happy if he found them talking about him. "Let's talk in the kitchen?"

"Sure, and I can grab you a towel to wrap the ice in." Foxy follows him into the kitchen and goes through the process of grabbing the ice himself. He talks as he works, and Freddy feels both anger and dread. 

Foxy had gotten there just in time to catch Gregory, but if he had been only a minute late, who knows the sort of state Gregory would have been in. That fall could be survivable, but only if he didn't land wrong. But even if he was lucky to survive it, a bone or two would have broken at least. Freddy wanted to give his friends the benefit of a doubt, but this was proof that he couldn't. This was serious, and Gregory's life was in danger.

Foxy grabbed a water bottle and walked back to Freddy. "He's fine you papa bear. I got to him in time, and you've done all you could to keep him protected so far."

"There were too many instances where I almost didn't," Freddy argues, and he leans against the counter in defeat.

"You didn't know this could happen," Foxy argues back. "It's also really hard to believe your own friends would become dangerous like this too. If I didn't have a general idea of what was going on, I wouldn't believe it either. I know the others; they're the last ones I'd think would turn into killer robots."

Freddy nods, letting Foxy try to reassure him, but the fox wasn't done. "You have to cut yourself some slack though Freddy. You did what you could with limited information, and that's more than anyone else would have done."

"Thank you Foxy," Freddy finally gets in, and Foxy pats him on the back. Freddy was serious though, and he put his hand on Foxy's shoulder. The fox acts as awkward as Gregory does when getting praised, and it almost makes Freddy feel better.

"I'm serious Foxy, thank you for everything you've done for us tonight. For saving Gregory, for getting us to safety, and for everything I know you have planned to help the others. You let us in when you didn't have to, and that means more to me than you can possibly know."

"Freddy-"

"Just take my gratitude Foxy," Freddy can't help but tease, and Foxy huffs and rolls his eyes. But he's got a smile on his face so Freddy lets his hand drop. He grabs the forgotten ice pack and turns back to the kitchen door. Foxy follows him out, and they find Gregory sitting next to Balloon Boy, getting handed five more Freddy shaped balloons. He looks confused, but he takes the balloons with a thanks anyways. 

When he sees them, he scowls impressively. “What took you guys so long?”

“Don’t get yer knickers in a twist,” Foxy replies, pushing at Gregory’s chair to cause him to roll away. Gregory yells indignantly as he tries to stop himself, only to be helped by Freddy. But that was because Freddy wanted to place the homemade ice pack on his shoulder, and Gregory hissed in both pain and relief.

“Oh, you found some of BB’s clothes! I forgot I stored them in my closet when BB didn’t want them.” Foxy teases as he copies the grin on Gregory’s shirt. “It’s still a little big, but better than nothing for now until I can get something from upstairs.” 

“Maybe BB didn’t want them cause it’s got your face on it.” Gregory laughs at Foxy’s outraged look. Balloon Boy bursts out laughing again, and Foxy just throws his paws up in the air in defeat.

“I’m done with all of you.” Foxy growls, turning his back to him. Gregory snorts at the theatrics but gets distracted when Freddy passes him a couple pills and a water bottle.

While Freddy dealt with Gregory, Foxy moved over to Mangle, and the white fox handed over the tablet with little fuss. “Are the repairs going okay?”

“For the most part. The Fixer-Upper was able to fix most of the damage, but there are some smaller repairs that you’ll need to take a look at.” Mangle replies, pointing at the tablet. 

“That’ll be from the shocks we gave them earlier.” Foxy sighs as Gregory whispers to himself. “Fixer-Upper??” 

Mangle actually laughs, looking over to Gregory. “Foxy comes up with the worst names ever. We vetoed a lot of other ones he came up with.”

Foxy scoffs, bumping his shoulder with Mangle’s. “I named this one perfectly!”

“Of course, Captain,” Mangle rolls their eyes and Gregory snorts loudly at Foxy’s offended look. That must have made Mangle realize they were conversing with Gregory of all people, and the white fox instantly went back to being serious as they physically turned away from Gregory again.  

“It’s a good thing you were able to get your hands on the most updated blueprints earlier. They’ve added a couple new features since the last time you looked at it.” Mangle states as they bring up a report on the Fixer-Upper computer.

“They upgraded the Daycare Attendant too? I don’t like how fast they’re moving…” Foxy looks at the computer and his ears flick back and forth quickly in irritation. 

“You’re not saying the upgrades are the problem are you?” Mangle asks, looking doubtful. The repairs from the Fixer-Upper came to an abrupt end, and the conversation was interrupted by an alert from the computer. 

“No,” Foxy answers distractedly. The mechanical arm finally stops moving and the protective cylinder opens automatically for the fox. “I think they’re using them as a cover.”

Gregory watches as Foxy goes into the machine and sits next to Moon. The animatronic was still powered down, but he could see that Moon looked fully repaired. All the outside damage from earlier was gone, and the metal casing even had a bit of a shine to it. But Foxy was still not done apparently as he reconnected the animatronic to his tablet once again. The face plate slid up and Gregory stood on his tippy toes to be able to look through the window to watch.

“Do you have an interest in animatronics?” Freddy asks as he lifts Gregory up to help the boy see better. 

“Kind of,” Gregory replies as he watches Foxy pull out some tools. He doesn’t know exactly what he was doing, but watching him switch through different tools without pause as he worked was fun to watch. Foxy even asks Helpy to play some music as he starts working, and some old pop songs start to play from inside the protective cylinder. Gregory spends the time watching Foxy work, held up in Freddy’s arms, and he finally feels himself relax.

Chapter Text

She slammed her hand on the desk hard enough that the items scattered on it jumped from the force. Pens fell and clattered to the floor, and it was enough to piss her off more- she screamed as she swiped at the rest of the items on the table and threw them in rage. 

She tore up the office with wild abandon, throwing anything she can get her hands on and stomping on anything getting near her feet. She screamed until her throat ached, and she stood over the wreckage taking deep, ragged breaths. Frustrated tears threatened to fall but she pushed her mask up just enough to wipe them away quickly. 

She didn't have time for a pity party yet-

"Are you done with your tantrum?" A soft voice whispered in her head, and she jumped in fear. She felt herself cower as she hunched over, as if that would make her smaller and less of a target. But there was no hiding from the voice of her companion. 

"You lost him." The voice continued, sighing in disappointment. She could swear she could feel a hand on her face but she was the only one in the room.

"I-I'm sorry." She started, knowing it was futile to try and explain herself. 

She didn't expect the boy to wake up so quickly. He had directed her to use less of the chloroform than she had wanted to use, but she must have used too little. The boy woke up before the day had even ended and he ran from the security office she had hidden him in. It was pure luck on her end that she was able to find him on most camera feeds, but ever since Freddy's earlier fiasco, he'd been missing.

She had lost him in the crowd and he hasn’t been happy with her since.

“Because of your incompetence , that fox menace has gotten ahold of him.” He growled, and what followed was searing pain. She tried to muffle her screams as she crumpled to the floor, grasping her head and praying for the piercing, stabbing pain to end. She was sorry, she didn’t mean to fail him so soon, she was trying her best! She had thought the Daycare Attendant was fully in her control but Sun had gotten in the way.

The pain drew away suddenly and she was left gasping on the floor. She wanted to tear her mask away but she couldn’t move, not yet, not while he was still so angry with her. 

A soft touch rested on her back. It wasn’t real, not physically, but it felt like a solid hand was rubbing up and down her back in comfort. In her heart she knew it was a lie, but she pushed back against the comforting hand in relief anyways and hoped that he was not displeased with her anymore.

“Oh you poor, sweet little dummy,” His voice lowered, softer, mocking. “You will make it up to me won’t you?”

“Yes- I will- just one more chance-” She pleaded, keeping her face down.

“You will get only one,” His voice hardened and the hand stopped its soothing motion. She froze at the tone.

 The hand rested on her shoulder and she knew she was in danger. “Because if that boy escapes the pizzeria, it will be you who takes his place.”

The hand moved to gently rest on the back of her neck, tightening with each word, “Do you understand me?”

 “Y-yes Mr. Afton.”

.... . .-.. .--.

When Foxy was done with the repairs, he pushed back from the prone animatronic and Gregory watched as the plates closed on their own. Foxy took the time to put his tools away and when he was done with that, he stood up and opened the doors to the protective cylinder. The only thing left behind was his tablet that was still connected to the back of Moon's head.

Mangle and Balloon Boy had gone off to do their own thing while Foxy worked, but Freddy and Gregory did not. Gregory more because he wants to watch Foxy work, and Freddy because he held the boy up so he can see into the cylinder without having to stand on his tip toes. It seemed Foxy didn't know he had an audience as he worked, because he jumped when he saw the two waiting for him.

"Thought you'd sneak up on ol' Foxy huh?" Foxy snarked as he left the cylinder, the door kept open even when he walked out. Helpy jumped in excitement when he came near, and the fox held out a hand to let the bear climb up to his shoulder. 

"Can I come in when you fix Freddy?" Gregory asked, jumping out of said bear's arms and completely ignoring Foxy's earlier question.

Foxy worked on the computer as he answered. "Sorry kid, the protective cylinder isn't protecting those inside. It's to protect everyone else outside of it. No matter the new owner of Fazbear Entertainment, they can't seem to make a perfectly safe animatronic. They get a little...quirky when taken off safe mode for repairs."

For some reason Helpy pulled at the fox's ears at his last sentence and Foxy gave a little huff before looking back at Gregory. "But I can turn on the inside cameras so you can watch, if Freddy's alright with that?"

Gregory turned to the bear with wide, pleading eyes, and Freddy was powerless to them. Not that he was going to deny Gregory in the first place. "I do not mind. However, what sort of repairs were you going to perform besides adding your antivirus?"

"The antivirus for one, yes, but also taking a look at what caused your malfunctions earlier today. Your technician's notes were inconclusive before they left for the night so I want to take a peek inside. And look at your hands too. I see they're a little dented."

Freddy looked down at his hand in surprise. He didn't notice the thin cracks and slightly indented metal. He didn't realize he had sustained any damage from his fight with Moon, but apparently he did. Nothing major was reported from his own scans, but outward damage usually didn't unless it messed with the wiring within. 

"And what about his power limit?" Gregory asked, and Foxy nodded his head in agreement. "I'll take care of that too."

Foxy returned his focus back onto the computer after that and only when he was done with whatever he was doing there did he return to the protective cylinder. The door closed and locked behind him, and as he got comfortable on the rolling chair again, Mangle sauntered back. 

“You want to be here for this?” Foxy asked the white fox.

Mangle shrugged their shoulders. “Freddy already knows about us. I assumed we wouldn’t stay in hiding for much longer after tonight.”

“I would not tell anyone you three are down here if you wanted me to,” Freddy interrupted, but Mangle just shook their head. 

“It’s fine Freddy. We were going to be discovered sooner or later. Though, as long as the humans don’t learn about us.”

Freddy shook his head, “I will not tell anyone. I promise.”

“Then we’re good,” Mangle stated, looking back to Foxy. “Go ahead and turn them on.” 

With one last shrug Foxy unplugged the animatronic from his tablet. It took a couple of seconds, but Moon’s eyes soon started to light up and Gregory gripped Freddy’s hand tightly. He wasn’t exactly…scared of the other animatronic with Freddy holding him and the protective cylinder locked, but it wasn’t that long ago that the animatronic was hunting him. 

Freddy must have noticed he was nervous because he ran a hand through Gregory’s hair and moved them a couple steps away from the protective cylinder. 

The Daycare Attendant sat up from the chair slowly, eyes flashing and adjusting while the face plate twirled a few times before stopping all together. Moon twisted his head from side to side, not focusing on anything until he looked right at Foxy. At that very moment the animatronic gave an agonized groan and dropped his face into his own hands, and what was once Moon shifted to Sunny. 

He had not gotten to see the Daycare Attendant shift earlier, but this time Gregory was able to see the shift first hand and he was in awe at how fluid the metal was switched and how seamless the clothes changed too. It was a lot quicker than last time, and there were no agonized, painful screams as the animatronic switched. 

At least he didn’t sound like he was in physical pain like last time, but the groans the animatronic continued to let out even after the shift may argue against that. 

“Oh, no no no no!” Sunny fell to the floor suddenly, and Foxy jumped in surprise. “How could we do that, how could we?!”

“Woah there lad,” Foxy started, but Sunny snapped up and gripped the fox’s arms. He shook the fox aggressively and Foxy could only try to stop the other as he blurted out apologies and begged for forgiveness. The sun beams around his head spun in erratic circles the faster he spoke and the fans in his body kicked on suddenly to help cool down the heated wiring. 

“We didn’t mean to! Foxy you have to believe me! We’re sorry. Moony is so so so sorry. We don’t know what was going on, we would never hurt a child! Rule breaker or not! Moony was not himself, he would never do what he’d done to the child-” Sunny stops short, sun beams stilling, and he tightens his hold on the fox’s arms. “The child. Foxy! The boy- Moon hurt him. We didn’t mean it, we didn’t, but he dropped him-”

Foxy finally got his arms freed, but he used his freedom to grab at Sunny’s hands, and the sudden touch jolted the Daycare Attendant enough that he stopped and Foxy was able to get a word in.

“Sunny, breathe .” Foxy started, voice steady. “I got there just in time. The boy is fine .”

“We- He- I saw him fall ,” Sunny argued weakly. 

“He’s fine Sunny. Scratched up, bruised to hell, but Moon didn’t get him.” Foxy stated seriously, and Sunny jolted back. But the hold on his hands stopped him from moving very far. 

With his hands being forced still, the sun beams started up their spins again as he felt himself starting to get overwhelmed. “We don’t know what happened. Something was wrong. Has been wrong for days. I noticed, but Moony didn’t want to say anything to the technicians. If we’d known it would hurt a child, we would have… I should have said something.”

“Something, huh?” Foxy asked, “Was this after your recent upgrades?”

“Yes!” Sunny shouted, sun beams spinning faster. “It’s why Moony didn’t want to say anything! We hate- we dislike the cold, dark parts and services. We didn’t want to go back so we…kept quiet. If I’d have known though- We could never have known-”

Sunny shook his head aggressively and Foxy gave him a moment to grab his bearings. 

The conversation continued back and forth for a long time. Sunny would work themselves into a panic as he tried to explain or apologize, and Foxy would take the time to help him deescalate. It was a slow process and everyone outside the protective cylinder felt uncomfortable watching something so personal. Freddy dropped Gregory back down and he was promptly distracted with Balloon Boy and Helpy while Mangle walked off somewhere else. 

Back in the protective cylinder though, Foxy continued to work with Sunny. They were normally the ones helping a child through their own panic attacks, but this was the first time he had felt it himself and he hated it. They hated it, and Moony just wouldn’t stop apologizing-

“Take your time, both of you,” Foxy encouraged softly, and after a while, Sunny finally felt that he was becoming a little more clear headed. Animatronics didn’t need to breathe, but copying Foxy’s fake breaths helped to ground both of them, and Sunny gripped Foxy’s hands tightly when he felt he could finally focus.

“You’re very good at this!” Sunny praised later on. 

He didn’t like being the one having a panic attack, but he’s glad Foxy was the one helping him through it. He would have never been his first choice (Moon will always be his number one) but he really shouldn’t be surprised at how well Foxy was at it. He had seen the fox help many kids go through it before, and he knows the fox must be programmed with the same procedures as him, but it was definitely a different experience being on the other side of it. 

It was something he wouldn’t like to repeat if he could help it though. 

“Thank you,” Foxy smiles, finally letting his hands drop. He looks around them for the first time since he went on alert and he’s surprised to find them on the floor of the protective cylinder. He rises and helps Sunny up too, leading the animatronic back to sitting on the chair. “Are you feeling more grounded now? Both of you?” 

Sunny takes a deep breath, pausing as he awaits Moony’s answer before he finally nods their head. “Yes, we are feeling a lot better!”

“That’s good,” Foxy starts before tapping on his tablet. “Cause I need to ask you a couple questions that might be a little sensitive.”

Sunny looks down and he feels Moony twitch and shudder in shame. “Yes…we know. But we’re willing to answer any of your questions.”

“Alright,” Foxy nods as he sits back in his own seat. He pulls out a tablet pen and looks at the animatronic. “Let’s start with the first one. When you said earlier that you both started feeling off , was it after your latest upgrade?”

“Yes.”

“From what I saw, your last upgrade was two weeks ago?”

“Yes.”

“Can you describe what you mean by feeling off though?” 

Sunny pauses, thinking. “We don’t know how to describe it…Moony says some of my tendencies have gotten…worse. And I noticed he had started becoming…aggressive.”

Foxy wrote notes as he listened, but he did perk up at that. “What tendencies?” 

Sunny waits for Moony’s reply. “My cleaning protocols for one. I am very serious about keeping the play area clean and sanitized for the children, but since the upgrade I’ve gotten…obsessive about every mess. Even the small things that are meant to be tossed around. I need it to be neat and orderly and it…upsets me when it isn’t.”

“And do you feel the urge now?” Foxy asks, pointing outside the cylinder as an example. Sunny couldn’t help but groan at the complete chaos that met their eyes.

“No,” He groaned, “I just feel the normal amount again. But your room…might bring it back.”

Foxy couldn’t help the snort of laughter and he patted the Daycare Attendant’s back as they slumped forward. 

“And for Moon, what do you mean by aggressive?” 

“He’s always been the bot for punishments, but that usually means time outs and one on one talks with the disruptive child. But lately he’d just been…harsh and unhelpful. He hadn’t hurt a single child, but he’s not nice-” Sunny pauses, feeling the overwhelming urge to hug himself. He can feel Moony’s guilt already eating at them and he didn’t want his friend to go through it alone. This was a problem they both noticed but didn’t fix. “And when it came to nap time, he refused to sing or read stories to the children. He’d become…mean to them. He’s made some kids cry.”

“That seems like a major change in behavior,” Foxy stated plainly, disappointment clear in his voice. Sunny couldn’t stop the physical flinch of shame. They were very much aware of that now, but at the time they didn’t believe it was enough to warrant a trip back to parts and services. 

When he tried to explain that to the fox, Foxy simply nodded his head and sighed. “It’s not just you both of course, but also the human staff should have noticed the change. There haven’t been any reports lately, but if it was that noticeable, they should have said something to the technicians.”

Foxy sighs and writes a note on his tablet. “It’s definitely something I’m going to be reporting.”

“It’s not their fault,” Sunny tried to defend. Mostly because it was more their fault than anyone else's. “The staff has been so focused on the remodeling, they barely have any time for us-”

“There is no excuse when you’re the bots directly involved in the care of children, Sunny,” Foxy stated seriously. “If they aren’t watching you, then that means they’re not watching the kids, and that's not something I’ll let slide.”

They both couldn’t argue with that, but Sunny still felt guilty. The human staff were very kind to them and with the staff shortage lately plus the remodeling, the humans have been more upset and distracted than ever. They’re not the only ones who ignored the signs, and if the Daycare Attendant was in their right mind maybe they would have reported the anomaly earlier. But they also agree with Foxy. Something was changed in their code that affected them, enough that Moon would try to ki- hurt a child, and it was the humans that worked beside them that should have caught on that something was going on. 

Sunny knows he had snapped one or two times at a child himself, and the staff member who was with him very clearly saw but said nothing about it. If the problem was reported before, surely it would not have gotten as bad as it did tonight. 

“But that’s for another day to worry about,” Foxy relented, giving Sunny a gentle pat on their hands. “Don’t shoulder so much of the blame. You were affected by a…virus,  which caused the personality change, and to be honest, I don’t think you would have reported it in that state anyways.”

That was…terrifying. Someone had gotten to them so easily and was able to change who they were without their consent and without their knowledge. They had noticed the change, but at the time it was of no real concern to either of them that they had let it go. Now that they were free of the virus, it’s almost too clear how dangerous that was. It’s enough to make Moony curse and Sun agrees with the sentiment. He’s glad that somewhere in his software, he still had enough sense to limit Moony to night procedures only because if he hadn’t…who knows who else could have been hurt.

“It’s gone right?” Sunny asks, sun beams starting to rotate in worry. “The virus? You were able to…stop it? Block it?”

“Yes,” Foxy states easily, giving the Daycare Attendant an encouraging smile. “Go ahead and run a diagnostic. I’ve purged the virus from your systems and you should see I’ve set up my own little firewall too.”

Moon does so for both of them and Sunny can feel himself relax at the report that follows. Their program was running just as intended, safe-mode fully on, and there's now a new little grinning Foxy animation in the corner.

“Thank you Foxy,” Sunny speaks for both of them and the fox merely shrugs with a small smile. 

“‘Course Sunny, and Moon too. I’ve blocked you from the main server for now as well, as a precaution while I work on making that safer too. Luckily the pizzaplex will be closed for a few days so the STAFF shouldn’t notice anything for a little bit. Hopefully.”

Sunny perked in surprise, “This is…serious.”

Of course it was. Moony had wanted to ki- hurt a child. And from Foxy’s serious expression, he knew it was a dumb question to ask. Of course, of course, Moon wanted to-

“The boy!” Sunny suddenly changes topic, grasping onto the fox desperately. “I saw you caught him but-”

“I did,” Foxy said firmly, grasping the Daycare’s Attendant’s hands again. “The boy is fine. He’s already been patched up by Freddy.”

“Oh…oh that’s good.” Sunny sighs in relief. He knows Foxy has told them this a hundred times by now but it’s still good to hear it. “We should apologize to him. We were horrible hosts…”

“I’ll say,” Foxy snorted, “But let me run a few more tests to make sure you’re in full working order. Freddy and I kind of did a number on you both and this is the first time I’ve fixed you up.”

Sunny doesn’t complain one bit as he follows Foxy’s orders. Their own scan didn’t report anything amiss anymore but it’s something all technicians required before letting them out again. It’s easy to follow Foxy’s directions and soon Sunny is bouncing around and giggling, happy to start feeling normal again. Even Moon seems to be in a slightly better mood, and Sunny is giddy to finally be let out by the time Foxy gives them the all clear.

“Before we leave though, you’ve got a couple people to meet. My friends for one and the boy you were chasing-”

“He’s here?!” Sunny yells, crouching low and moaning miserably. Oh they were not ready! They have to apologize, and they will, but ooooh they don’t want to see them! What if Foxy’s antivirus fails and Moony pushes through?! What if the lights go off and Sunny can’t stop him?! No no no-

“Breathe Sunny, breathe . I will be right there to stop you if anything happens. I give you my word.” Foxy cuts into their panic once again, crouched on the floor with them, and Sunny wants to trust him. He stopped them once before so Sunny is confident he could again, but they’re scared . Sunny doesn’t want Moony to be a victim of the programming again if Foxy’s purge didn’t work. 

The guilt was already eating them up from the inside, and their plan had failed. What would Moony do if they succeeded this time? 

“We’ll go at your pace. You don’t have to meet anyone right now.” Foxy reassured and Sunny realized that the fox was completely serious about that. He wasn’t pushing them to stand up and face their consequences, wasn’t doing anything but sitting on the floor with them. He was acting as a steady presence and Sunny leaned into the fur body without thought. 

Arms embraced them easily and Sunny allowed himself to break down in seconds. 

They sat on the floor for a long time.

Sunny didn’t keep track, Moony didn’t either, and Foxy didn’t rush them at all. Sunny wished for the first time that their face was able to make different facial expressions because the smile felt wrong for this moment. 

It felt nice to be held and he tried to soak up the fox’s warmth as much as he could.

Slowly, slowly, he began to feel better, and soon they were able to pick themselves up from the floor. They had to face the music sooner or later, and the boy did deserve their heartfelt apology.

With a final deep breath Sunny turned to look at Foxy, who had one hand resting on their lower back and was watching him attentively. 

“I’m sorry we keep-”

“No need to apologize you two.” Foxy cut off gently and Sunny could only nod. There was really no arguing with the fox when he was being stubborn. “Let me know when you’re ready to move on. Or I can let you guys rest in my room for the rest of the night.”

“No- no, we should apologize to the kid. We can’t keep pushing it off…” Sunny argued for both of them.

“It’s not really pushing it off,” Foxy reasoned before shrugging in the end. “But if you’re sure, we can go when you’re ready.”

Sunny gave themselves a moment to gather their bearings. There was no point in pushing it off, they wanted to apologize to the boy, and they wanted to make sure he was really alright. They trusted the fox to not lie to them, but Moony especially needed to check.

“We want to check on the little guy. Moony especially.”

Foxy nodded his head, putting his tablet in his pocket and walking towards the entrance of the protective cylinder. “Alright, but I’ll stick close by just in case for you.” He tapped on a keypad to unlock the door. “Oh, and the boy’s name is Gregory.”

Sunny prepared themselves as much as they could, but the doors to the protective cylinder opened quickly and soon they were face to face with Gregory, who was being held in Freddy’s arms. The boy had a determined look on his face, but the grip he had on Freddy couldn’t fool Sunny.

But what Sunny worried would happen when he saw the boy didn’t happen, and slowly Sunny felt he could relax. Moony was still tense and silent, but it was easier to walk up to the duo without feeling like they were going to randomly become violent. They were still nervous of course, but seeing a child uncomfortable made it easier to ignore their own discomfort so they could help a child in need.

And when he used their own scan to check the boy’s vitals, it helped to relax them both to find only a small amount of damage was caused. (More than they should have ever done, but Sunny was trying to be reasonable.) 

“Hello Gregory!” Sunny waved his hand in greeting and the bells on his wrist jingled. He tried to keep his voice light and easy. “I wanted to apologize for Moony and I. We can’t take back what happened, but I hope you know we would never hurt you on purpose. We’re really, really sorry. Please tell us if there’s anything we can do to make it up to you.”

“It’s…fine,” Gregory mumbled, looking away from the animatronic. It wasn’t like it was Sunny who hurt him anyways. His arm still aches, but it was Moon who hurt him, and Sunny hadn’t done anything to him besides picking him up a couple times. And after seeing the robot going through multiple breakdowns in a matter of minutes made it really easy to pity them more than being angry with them. 

“It’s not though,” Sunny argued, trying to keep his voice soft. Their guilt was something they had to work on their own and he didn’t want to push it on the boy though. “What we did was wrong. Hurting a guest, hurting anyone , isn’t right at all.”

“It’s fine.” Gregory said again, this time more serious. “You guys got pretty hurt too so we’re all even.”

It shouldn’t be a tit-for-tat sort of situation, but it was clear Gregory didn't want to argue about it any longer. They were fine if the boy didn’t actually forgive them yet, especially so soon after the attack. Sunny decided to take the half forgiveness for what it is and simply promised to make it up to the boy in other ways outside of words.

“But, uh, can Moon stay…away from me?” Gregory asked, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. He wasn’t scared of them or anything, but it would be safer if he wasn’t around, right?

“O-oh! Of course!” Sunny promised, sad but hiding it quickly. Moony had nothing to say to that and Sunny could feel him swimming in guilt. 

“Then we’re good!” Gregory repeated awkwardly, and there was a pause between everyone. 

Freddy broke up the odd atmosphere by speaking though, and he put a hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “I am sorry as well for hurting you both earlier. I am glad to see you both looking a lot better. How do you feel?”

“Very good! Foxy fixed us up like new!” Sunny exclaims, jumping into the air and giving a twirl when they land. Mangle whistles and claps.

“And no need to apologize! I’m glad you were able to protect Gregory when we couldn’t. A small tussle is the least of our worries after everything. Leeeet’s hope it never happens again though.”

“Agreed,” Freddy laughs. 

Foxy takes over the conversation from there, but only to introduce the Daycare Attendant to his friends. 

Balloon Boy and Sunny hit it off like two peas in a pod, which surprised no one, but what was surprising was Mangle getting a little swept up in Sunny’s boisterous mood. Sunny fits in seamlessly between the two and Foxy seemed surprised at how easy Sunny made it look, as if the past half hour didn’t happen. 

It was good to see the Daycare Attendant so excited after everything though, and Gregory was able to see Sunny’s true personality after he’d been cleared of the virus that made him so creepy. Doesn’t mean he’s ready to see Moon though, and he’s not budging on that. But Sunny didn’t fight him on it and that made it easier for Gregory to relax and let Freddy put him down.

And not too soon either, because Foxy had ordered Freddy to sit on the big chair for his turn. 

Freddy agreed easily but Gregory worried about being left alone with Sunny. Both Foxy and Freddy were going to be separated from him and they’re the only two animatronics he could fully trust. Balloon Boy too, but Gregory isn’t sure he’d be much help against Moon if he suddenly reappeared. 

Foxy must have caught his nervous glances though, because he was suddenly pulled aside and presented with Helpy again. “I’m a hundred percent certain the Daycare Attendant is fixed and back to normal, but if they change suddenly and attack-” here he hands Helpy the small stick from earlier, “Helpy here can defend you both with a nice little controlled shock.” 

The stick lit up on one end and Gregory saw the small current of electricity. It didn’t look like much to him, but it was the same one he saw Helpy use earlier and that stopped the animatronic last time. Having Helpy in his arms, and now armed too, definitely made him feel better with being left on his own.

With everything taken care of, Foxy returned to the protective cylinder and hooked Freddy up to his tablet. 

“Alright big guy,” Foxy began, “It’ll be lights out for a second. See you on the other side.”

Freddy didn’t have a chance to reply before the world went dark. 

He didn’t dream, but he typically doesn’t, and it felt like no time passed before he started to reboot and power back on.

His start-up always took a couple minutes and he let his system scan and run an automatic diagnostic. Safe-mode came on automatically and he read the scan report quickly, seeing everything come back green and ready. The only thing off was the small grinning Foxy animation in the corner and Freddy couldn’t help but laugh.

“I hope that means everything’s running correctly,” Freddy heard in the distance, and he finally opens his eyes to see Foxy sitting nearby with a smile on his face.

“Yes,” Freddy agrees, “Everything looks good. I see your little antivirus was added successfully as well. It’s rather cute.”

Foxy puffs out his chest. “Good! It was actually Mangle’s idea to add the animation so I’ll let them know you liked it.”

Freddy sits up from the chair and he follows Foxy’s directions as he lets the fox observe his hand. It was completely fixed from what he could see, and no errors popped up from his own scan. It worked completely fine and there wasn’t a dent or crack to be found. 

“Very nice work,” Freddy praised.

“Thank you,” Foxy shrugged, “fixing animatronics is in my blood.”

“Is that so,” Freddy began, becoming curious, but Foxy’s quick backtracking made him drop it quickly.  

“Well, wiring, you know what I mean- Anyways, everything else is running correctly right?”

“As far as I am aware. Were you able to discover what my previous malfunction was from?”

Foxy sighs as he nods, and the brief panic from earlier was replaced with absolute seriousness. “Yes. I don’t know how you were able to do it when Sunny couldn’t, but you completely blocked out the virus. It looked like it tried to force you out of safe-mode and your system completely shut down to fight back.”

“That…makes sense.” Freddy pauses, thinking back on earlier in the day. “While performing, an alert came on about a possible threat but all my system could pick up was a child. I knew something must have been wrong so I tried to stop it but…when I did, my whole system failed and I shut down.”

“...that’s strange. You didn’t feel anything off before that?” Foxy wrote furiously on his tablet while Freddy shook his head no.

“No, I haven’t felt anything off at all. Everything seemed to be functioning just as normal until today.”

“Wait,” Foxy clicked on his tablet a few times. “When was your last upgrade?”

“Months ago, and I wasn’t scheduled for any future ones as far as I’m aware.”

Foxy seems to frown at that answer. “Why did they skip you?”

“Skip me?” Freddy asks, but Foxy was already lost in thought, writing too fast and mumbling to himself. It was silent for the most part as Freddy waited for the fox to refocus, and Freddy took the time to look out of the protective cylinder. His eyes instantly focused on Gregory, and he saw the boy playing against Balloon Boy on an arcade machine. Helpy was rooting for him on his shoulder and Sunny was bouncing back and forth to encourage both of them. Only Mangle seemed to keep themselves away from the group, and Freddy found them by the monitors behind the protective cylinder.

“Lets get everyone together,” Foxy suddenly cuts in, and Freddy turns back to find the fox tidying up and directing him out of the cylinder. “I want to talk to everyone all together so I don’t have to repeat myself.”

That seemed fair, and when the doors opened for them to leave, it caught everyone's attention and both Gregory and Balloon Boy ditched their game to run back to them. Sunny followed with a spring in their step and only Foxy’s serious expression seemed to bring the group down.

- .... . --

Vanessa sighs, rubbing at her head as she digs through her plethora of medicines and trying to find something for her headache. The stress was getting to her, what with the major repairs and changes the pizzaplex was getting in the next couple of days, Freddy fizzing out right on the main stage, and now some kid lost and more than likely getting into things he shouldn't. Now the Daycare Attendant was missing and Freddy has all but disappeared! She was so getting fired for this.

But maybe that was for the best.

How was she going to pay for her bills if she kept that mindset though. Yeah it wasn’t the best job ever, and sure she might get something she actually went to school for, but there was something about the Mega Pizzaplex that she couldn’t stay away from. It started since she was a game dev on that AR game a couple years back. Fazbear Entertainment had a hold on her that she just couldn’t shake off.

Not that she wanted to anyways. This job is the best she’s had in a long time.

She guessed that was true in some way. All her previous jobs were shitty customer service jobs so it wasn’t that hard to say this one was better by far. 

And he wants you here.

And someone went out on a limb and recommended her, giving her a stunning review that basically helped her to get a job with little issue. She wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. She has bills to pay, student loans to pay back, and a constant growling stomach to take care of. 

She slammed the door to her locker and cursed as the noise hurt her head even more. She didn’t want to look at the white fabric folded and pushed into the inner cubby of her locker. She just wanted to grab her medicine and get back to finding the missing robots and random kid. 

As she chugged the water and swallowed a couple pills, she left the security office with a grumble and determined to finally make some progress.

Chapter Text

Foxy decides now was the time to bring everyone up to speed. He snatches Helpy up with a quick 'gonna borrow him for a sec,' from Gregory's hands and places them by the so-called super computer. 

The bear types on their personal keyboard while Foxy connects his tablet and as they work, the fox turns to the round animatronic. “BB, can you go pull out the evidence board?"

The round animatronic scurries away just as lines of codes pull up on one of the screens, and many of the camera feeds on the other screens change to different angles. Balloon Boy returns wheeling in a large white board with pictures, notes, and red lines running across it. Gregory was the first to see it and he ran up to it in wonder. 

"Wow, you've got a whole murder board set up too? I don't know if I'm impressed or freaked out." Though he was teasing, his eyes were glued to the board, following every lead and reading the notes under the pictures. 

"This kid," Foxy grumbles to Helpy, and the bear laughs along with Balloon Boy's distinct laughter. 

Gregory runs back to the bear and pulls him along with a hand in his paw and Freddy follows easily. Mangle was closest to the board besides Balloon Boy, and Freddy watches as the white fox flinches when Gregory runs by. They quickly move away, deciding to stand on the opposite side of the group to keep away from the boy.  Freddy ignores the odd behavior and instead keeps his attention on Gregory who was staring in awe at the pin board, but the moment Freddy lets his eyes scan over the photos pinned up, the world around him loses focus.

On the board is a line of six photos. Each photo is of a child, with their name and age written under in Foxy's messy handwriting. There is further writing under each child, but that isn't what Freddy is focused on, because next to each photo is a newspaper clipping- and Freddy cannot get himself to read past the headline. Missing Child Found Dead-

He can't read it, he can't, because every time he tries his eyes focus back on the child. His systems scan them automatically, and he remembers. He remembers little Clara, who had a birthday party for her seven year old sister who loved Roxy but wanted a Monty theme because he was Clara's favorite-

He remembered Christian, a boy celebrating his tenth birthday who cried when he lost at laser tag but snorted with laughter when his friends fell into the birthday cake-

He remembered Susan, one of the sisters from a set of triplets, who loved Freddy Fazbear so much that her and her sisters all dressed just like him with face paint and oversized bear paws-

He remembered twelve year old Jess, who he and Chica found crying after their friends left them in Chica's Mazercise and the big smile they were rewarded when they helped them solve the puzzle-

He remembers quiet Jeremy, who was only nine but had the saddest eyes and ran when Monty tried to help the poor boy-

And he remembered five year old May, who was the most recent child on the list. May, who's mother was so distracted that Sunny had to leave the daycare personally to help find the lost child-

"No...no no no," Sunny stuttered out loud suddenly, and Freddy felt himself jolt in surprise. Surrounding sounds came back to him suddenly, and he was able to hear the strain in Sunny's voice. He caught the Daycare Attendant as they swayed forward, but no amount of trying to pull them away from the board could move Sunny from their spot. 

"Little May- Susan- Christian- how could they- who-" Sunny yelled, slamming his fist on the board before looking over back to Foxy and his friends. Each of the animatronics had a somber look to their face, but only Foxy answered for them. 

"I don't know who yet." He starts, “I can't investigate outside of the pizzaplex.”

"Six children- how hasn't this been stopped yet-" Sunny cuts himself off, and Freddy tries to calm the animatronic down with a hand on his arm but he's brushed off without a thought. Gregory stays quiet beside him and Freddy feels his earlier anxiety soothed with Gregory safe and in easy protection reach. He hasn't given himself time to process what he has just learned, but right now wasn't the time to waver. What had happened to all those children almost happened to Gregory, possibly, and it causes something in his chest to tighten at the very thought.

Gregory doesn't mind Freddy's hand on him like Sunny had, and the bear wants to weep in gratitude.

"Did you get a chance to read the articles or my notes?" Foxy tries to explain, "I can't investigate as much as I would like to-"

"I can't...We couldn't-" Sunny answers, and he wraps their arms around himself in comfort. Freddy is sure Moon is the one doing so. 

Freddy shakes his head in agreement though. "Neither could I...Each one of those kids were a guest here at the pizzaplex. Please tell me none of our friends-"

"Freddy!" Sunny snaps, jumping out of his own arms and twirling to face the bear. Their face does not emote well, but their voice more than made up for it. Anger coated their tone, but Freddy could detect a small amount of distress too. He understands why they might be upset with his question, but it's a valid one to ask, especially after what he witnessed tonight.

He tries to say as much. "It's a valid question, Sunny. I understand you and Moon were under a virus but there are six children on that board-"

"He didn't do it!" Sunny defended, looking back at Foxy. The fox was quick to agree, putting a hand on Sunny's shoulder and his other one on Freddy's arm. 

"Guys, let me explain first, please. None of the animatronics hurt these kids, I promise. Not either of you," Foxy says this directly to Sunny, and then turns to look at Freddy, "or your friends either."

Sunny nearly drops to the floor in relief, leaning against a cluttered countertop. Freddy doesn't feel fully relieved, because his friends might be innocent but there was still someone out there that had hurt these poor kids and not a single person had stopped it yet. Tonight was the first time he had even heard about this, and to know it's been going on for so long. Six children had been taken, their futures stolen from them, and what was he doing during the worst moment of their short lives? He'd been sitting idly by without a clue, living each day while theirs were being taken from them. What was he doing, what was he doing, what-

"--Freddy, you there big guy?" Foxy steps in front of him, tapping at his chest lightly with his knuckles. The sound of the metal tapping was enough to snap him out of his spiraling thoughts, and he shakes his head lightly. 

"Yes, sorry, I- I'm glad to know none of our friends were responsible." Even he could tell his voice was strained, and he felt Gregory squeeze one of his paws.  

Foxy gives him a look, eyes searching. Freddy doesn't know what he was looking for exactly, but Foxy seemed to find whatever it was as he finally looked away and directed everyone's attention back to the board. Specifically to a map that had an equal amount of red and blue dots placed on top sporadically. One spot was circled with a black pen, and there is where Foxy points to specifically.

“This is the Mega Pizzaplex,” He moves to each blue mark on the map, “I won’t go into too much detail, but these are where parents and witnesses have stated are the last known locations each victim had been seen at.”

Foxy moves to the red dots, “And these are where the child’s bodies were found.”

Sunny makes a stifled choked sound while Freddy feels his own ears start to droop. Foxy gives them a moment to fully process the news before he regretfully continues on.

“Surprisingly, not a single child was taken from within the pizzaplex. From the reports, each child was taken at different time periods. Some reported missing in the mornings, some late afternoon, and only two in the early evenings. There's…” Foxy pauses, eyes briefly glancing at Gregory. “I promised I won't go into too much detail, so I’ll just skip to the major points.”

He moves to a clear spot on the white board and writes as he talks, “Each child was killed in the exact same way, each child was found with ‘HAHAHA’ written close by, and the only thing that can be linked between the victims is the fact that each child was a guest at the Pizzaplex. Besides that, nothing points to Freddy’s. There is a possibility that the kids are being taken to the pizzaplex, killed, then dumped somewhere random-”

“I know her.” 

The whole group stops short, everyone turning to look at the one human boy who was staring at the board. Specifically at one picture- little May, five years old, and the most recent guest to the pizzaplex.

Freddy feels Gregory's hand tighten its hold on his paw and he squeezes back in encouragement. He wants to wrap the boy in a fierce hug, wants to shake him for answers. But he stays a steady figure as Foxy comes forward instead, crouching in front of Gregory and asking him to elaborate more. 

Gregory looks really uncomfortable, glancing between all the animatronics. “She…She was from the same foster home.”

“Did you by chance see who took her?”

“I-” Gregory looked away. “I don’t know.”

“Gregory,” Foxy starts, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Please think back to a week ago. Even if you don’t think it’s worth mentioning, anything could be a possible clue to help us. If you want, you could even just tell Freddy or me. But anything , and I do mean anything, could be helpful. What did she eat? Who were her friends?”

Gregory shakes off Foxy’s arm and pulls his hand away from Freddy’s. He crosses his arms. “I don't know. She’s in the foster home but I didn't see her when she went missing!”

“Come on kid, this girl is dead -” Mangle snaps out, apparently fed up and not believing the boy at all. Freddy wants to argue but Foxy stands up and whirls on them instantly instead, snapping their name.

“What! It’s a little suspicious that he doesn’t know anything? Right after he says he knows her!” They yell back, pointing at Gregory. 

“Watch what you’re saying,” Foxy growls.

“Me?!” Mangle’s two-toned voice growls back. “I get the feeling this kid knows something! Why should we tiptoe around his feelings-”

“Are you hearing yourself right now?!”

“I don’t know who took her!” Gregory screams, cutting both of them off and makes both Freddy and Sunny jump in surprise. Freddy could see the stress over the boy’s face and in the tightening of his arms crossed over his chest. Almost like he was hugging himself too.

“I ran away!” Gregory forces out, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. “I ran away a day before she went missing so I wasn’t at the foster home when she was taken. I didn’t see who took her, I didn’t see what she ate for breakfast, I don’t know who her friends are- I don’t know anything .”

The room goes silent, everyone taking a moment to process the boy's words and understanding what it means. Freddy moves first after a moment, crouching down and pulling the boy’s small form into his arms and to rest against his chest. He holds him close, hiding him from the others for a moment. 

“Okay, okay, let's take a minute.” Foxy says, grabbing the rest of everyone's attention. A message comes to Freddy and Foxy’s voice fills his head. ‘Take Gregory away for a moment. Let him know we’re not upset. I’ll talk to Mangle.’

Mangle’s words were completely uncalled for and Freddy is more than happy to know that the fox animatronic is going to be reprimanded for their words. Freddy knows it’s not a kind thought to have, but Gregory was shaking in his arms. So he listens to Foxy and picks up the boy, walking them both back to Foxy’s room. Freddy knows how well an animatronics hearing is and at least a door would be able to muffle their voices. It’s the best way to give Gregory privacy and he can already feel the boy relax when they're completely alone.

“I'm okay.” Gregory lies, face hiding in Freddy’s shoulder.

“Of course Superstar.” Freddy rubs the boys back slowly, humming a familiar Fazbear tune. 

He wants to ask him so many questions. Why did he run away? Where was he staying if not at the pizzaplex? Why didn't the foster home report him missing? Was there anyone out there who would be worried about him?

But Freddy doesn't ask anything, instead holding Gregory close and letting him process his emotions in any way he wants. He wasn't crying like Freddy hoped- not that he wanted him to cry! Crying is just very healthy! And with the night the boy has been having it would make sense! 

But being hugged tightly is good enough and Freddy holds him back just as fiercely. 

PME

The atmosphere is heavy once Freddy and Gregory go to Foxy's room. Sunny is just as upset as Freddy is with Mangle, but Foxy looks downright livid and the daycare attendant almost worries if the pink and white fox was about to get in trouble. That was no way to speak to a child, but no one likes to watch someone get yelled at either.

But no one speaks for a while after Foxy's door closes and Sunny starts to feel jittery. He wants to have a word with Mangle if Foxy doesn't, but is that overstepping? Especially with someone he's known for less than an hour?

Sunny doesn't know, and neither does Moony, so they both stand there awkwardly as Foxy sighs and turns back to the computer, typing something in until Helpy takes over. Sunny doesn’t know what they’re both doing until they see a picture of Gregory pop up on the main screen and both daycare attendants understand. If Gregory didn’t want to tell them his life story, Foxy has the means to look up the child through the system instead. It wasn’t the same as Freddy Fazbear’s internal system used to monitor their guests however, so it takes Sunny a little longer to find what to read that was important.

Their heart breaks at what they read. Gregory had admitted to being in a foster home, but the words on the screen describe the specific reason of how he ended up there. And if they read the report correctly, the boy hasn’t been reported missing either. May was kidnapped eight days ago from today, and if Gregory ran away the day before, that meant that he was on the streets for nine days. Sunny and Moon both wonder where the child was staying for so long and why he wasn’t reported missing yet. Especially because one of their kids in that same foster home was already found…dead.

Foxy lets out the biggest sigh, closing the open tab and turning to everyone in the room. “We’re not going to tell him what we learned alright? Let the kid open up to us first, especially since what we read doesn’t really have anything to do with the case.”

“You don’t think it does?” Sunny asks. 

“Maybe, maybe not. It explains how he ended up in foster care but not why he ran away. I’ll let Freddy try to get that story from him. As for the killer's MO…I don’t think so.”

“The only thing linking any of these kids is the fact that they were guests at the pizzeria. May, and now Gregory, are the only ones that have come from a foster home. Ages, gender, financial status, hobbies- everything is random.” Helpy explains further. “Maybe the killer went after Gregory because they saw him at the foster home when they were looking for May?”

“So the question is why they changed their tactic and went after Gregory instead.” Foxy finishes for Helpy. “Which means we won't know until we actually capture the killer ourselves.”

“So we’re back to square one.” Sunny sighs, Moon’s mood showing through. 

Helpy nods their head. “Unfortunately. Maybe Gregory will be able to tell us more but I really doubt it. From what we read before, May was very new to the foster home. There’s a chance he really doesn’t know anything about her at all, especially with their age difference.”

“What if...” Balloon Boy cuts in suddenly and all eyes turn to him. “What if…Gregory was the target in the first place. What if they were going to take Gregory but because he ran away before they could grab him, they took May instead?”

Foxy looked toward his room, making sure the boy they were talking about wasn’t there to overhear their conversation. He looked back at the other animatronics with a serious expression. “We definitely don’t need to tell Gregory this theory. We don’t need him to think May was killed because they couldn’t get to him. He definitely doesn’t need that added guilt. But…it’s definitely something to think about as well.”

The group agrees to keep it quiet for now, at least until they get more proof from what Gregory tells them. With nothing else to go over, at least until Freddy and Gregory return, Foxy decides he’ll check up on the two and hopefully bring them back. Before he can walk away though, Mangle steps in front of him. 

“Are you not going to yell at me? Or are you going to wait until the boy’s here so you can yell at me with witnesses?” Mangle growls lowly, blocking Foxy from leaving the room. 

“I’m not going to yell at you.” Foxy says. Sunny is surprised by that, especially with how angry the fox looked earlier.

“Why not? I yelled at your precious kid-”

“I’m not going to yell at you because you already know what you did.” Foxy answers slowly. “You’re already feeling guilty, what's the point of making you feel worse? I expect you to apologize to Gregory but I’m not going to push you to do anything. I’m not your dad or your boss.”

Mangle laughs, dual voice warping the sound to be somewhat eerie. “That’s it? That’s all you got? You were ready to bite my head off a minute ago!”

Foxy’s tail gives a sharp swipe, the only show of irritation. “Poor choice of words Mangle .” The pink and white fox did look a little guilty at that but Foxy pushes on. “I was pissed off but I don’t need to reprimand you like a kid. We’re all emotional right now, tempers are high. I know why you said what you said, but there is a method in getting traumatized kids to talk- outside of yelling at them like you did.”

After a moment of silence the other fox deflates, ears swiveling back in remorse. Sunny could see them take a breath they don’t actually need and Mangle soon nods their head. “I am sorry. I knew it the moment I yelled at him but it’s just…so frustrating. This killing spree has been going on for months and we finally get some sort of clue and he just…refuses to talk?”

“I get it,” Foxy sighs. “I really do. But you and I both know that what you did wasn’t right. He was just kidnapped hours before and got chased by aggressive animatronics. I’m not surprised that he’s not feeling trustful of anyone right now. Just- just be patient, okay?”

“Yeah…” Mangle finally steps aside to let Foxy through. The pirate pats Mangle’s shoulder when he passes them and the group goes awkwardly quiet when Foxy leaves to his own room. 

GSJFOE

They stay like that for a handful of minutes until Gregory finally pulls away, rubbing red rimmed eyes but looking calmed down and determined once again. Freddy is secretly happy that the boy only pulls away far enough to meet Freddy's eyes but doesn't ask to be put down and let go. Freddy wants to be able to hold onto Gregory for as long as possible. 

“That was embarrassing,” Gregory grumbles to himself. “I'm not a baby anymore…”

“There is no shame in feeling overwhelmed and upset.” Freddy tries to comfort, but Gregory's annoyed face makes him stop. He changes the subject instead. “But if you are willing, I'd like to ask you some questions if that's alright?”

“Yeah…” Gregory huffs and frowns. “Just- promise me you won't send me back to the home after this!”

Freddy dithers for a moment. He wants to make a promise with Gregory but logically…he knows he can't. Children are not supposed to be homeless, and not returning him to his foster home would mean possibly sending him back onto the streets.

“Freddy, you have to promise me!” 

“I-” Freddy can't control his facial expression. Gregory looks devastated before he could even finish his sentence. “I can't promise you that Superstar-”

Gregory struggles to get out of his hold, face set to a deep scowl. “Let go of me! I knew I could never trust you!”

That crushes his mechanical heart. “Gregory- are you in danger there-”

“Let- Go!”

Freddy puts him down just as they get a knock on Foxy’s door, and it slides open a moment later when neither of them answer it. Foxy walks in, ears already drooping, but he looks a little surprised once he actually sees the state Freddy and Gregory are in. 

 “Lad, is everything alright?”

Gregory scowls again, giving Freddy a sneer. “Just great!” He lies.

“ Sure .” Foxy says, dragging the word out as he looks back and forth between them. “Is this still about what happened earlier?”

“No.” Gregory snaps out, folding his arms over his chest again. 

“Alright…wanna let ‘ol Foxy take a stab at this instead? Maybe I can help?”

“Yeah! I asked Freddy to promise to not take me back to the foster home but he-” Gregory scoffs and rolls his eyes to hide his hurt expression. “He said he couldn't promise me that.”

Foxy relaxes completely, even smiling a bit. “Oh well that's an easy one to fix. I can promise you myself that I won't take you back.”

“Really?!” Gregory exclaims just as Freddy yells Foxy’s name. Disappointment oozed from his tone, but Foxy merely shrugs his shoulders at the bear.

“‘Course. Kid, the foster home didn't even report you missing. Like hell I'm gonna let you go back with them. Now, while I do wanna ask you questions about that-” Gregory shrinks a little bit at Foxy's words. “But right now it's not the main problem.”

“Foxy I have to disagree! If we get Gregory out of here, where is he going to go? I refuse to let the boy be homeless!” Freddy argues, his tone so serious and harsh that even Gregory didn't want to speak up.

“Of course not,” Foxy says. “Gregory can stay with me until we can sort out his living arrangements. Didn't we agree earlier that it was the safest place for him during all this?”

Freddy relaxes, backing off completely now that he knows Gregory won't be on the streets anymore. “Oh. That's a better alternative. Although the pizzaplex is not a place a child should be raised, it is definitely a better alternative than having him back on the streets.” He places his hand on his chest and looks at both of them as he apologizes. “I apologize Gregory, I didn't think having you stay with Foxy was an option until now. And I am sorry for my tone Foxy, I should have never doubted your intentions.”

“No need to be so serious.” Foxy shrugs with an awkward laugh. “That just means you were very worried about Gregory. Can't fault you for that.”

Freddy would like to argue but he lets it go, looking back at Gregory and hoping the boy will forgive him. It would hurt even more if the boy doesn't.

“I guess it's alright,” Gregory starts, still not looking the bear in the eye. “I didn't think Foxy would let me stay either…”

“Come on kid, give the bear what he wants or we'll have to deal with a moping Fazbear for the rest of the night.” Foxy gives Gregory a wink. “And trust me, that is not something you want to see.”

Freddy feels like he should probably be insulted, but Gregory finally turns to him and he keeps all of his attention on him instead. Gregory fidgets a little bit but he looks him in the eye, face set to that familiar determined look. “I forgive you.”

Freddy knows how much he had really hurt Gregory when he did not give him his immediate promise. He had asked for it from Freddy specifically and he had failed him. But he is determined to do better in the future. Even if it's a lie, even if he has to change or break his promise later- he should do everything in his power to help Gregory with his wants before focusing on his needs. He will help Gregory in the future and do all he can to make sure Gregory is put in a nice home- but at this very moment Gregory needs allies and friends. 

He will do better, and he'll start that now. 

Freddy crouches down and opens his arms, asking for a hug. He doesn't expect it but Gregory jumps into his arms and hugs him tightly. Freddy holds onto him fiercely and protectively. No matter that they just hugged minutes ago, the bear is always happy to do it again. 

Foxy lets them have this moment, staying back and quiet while they hug. Freddy appreciates his friend’s consideration and he lets Gregory determine when to let go, which he does soon after. Freddy is beginning to guess how Gregory acts after a moment of high emotion- he doesn’t make eye contact and fidgest like he is embarrassed and uncomfortable. The bear is finding this little habit to be rather cute and he can’t stop the urge to run his claws through the boy’s hair. Gregory leans into the motion without thought and Freddy feels his wires warm.

The moment comes to a close when Foxy asks if Gregory wants to join them back out in the main room or if he wants to stay in Foxy’s room for the rest of the night.

“You just want me to stay put so I don’t get involved anymore!” Gregory accused.

Foxy rolls his eyes, “It wouldn’t be a bad idea, but no lad I’m not suggesting you be kept in the dark anymore. You said so yourself that you were involved and you’re right. If the situation is even more dangerous than what I thought earlier it’s best that you’re given as much information as you need to stay safe.”

“Oh.” Freddy can tell that Gregory is pleased by this. “That’s good then. I don’t mind going back out there but uh…can you not ask me why I ran away?”

Both of the animatronics glance at each other and Gregory can’t tell if they’re speaking to each other telepathically or not. Foxy finally sighs and nods his head, looking back at Gregory with a serious expression. “I’ll try not to ask personal questions right now, but you have to understand Gregory- I need to get the full picture to piece everything together. For example, if you were essentially homeless up to now, where were you taken from? Or how did your kidnapper know to grab you? If you were homeless, why did they take so long to kidnap you?”

Gregory stops short and it dawns on him on what he went through. He was literally kidnapped . Okay, sure he knew that when he woke up in the pizzeria, but he was so focused on the immediate danger of getting out that he didn’t have a chance to fully process the fact that he was taken. Maybe it’s hard to think about it because he just honestly can’t remember when or how he was kidnapped. Honestly, thinking about it more, he realizes his memory is just…completely blank.

That scares him a lot more than everything else he has gone through tonight.

“I-I don't remember when I was kidnapped-” Gregory gets out, looking back and forth between the two animatronics.

Foxy crouches down to be at eye level, noticing the boy’s sudden spike of fear. He keeps his voice soft. “Alright, let's unravel this slowly. Usually after something traumatic like this our minds don't process it properly. What was the last thing you do remember doing? You don't have to tell me straight away, just think about it.”

Gregory does so, going through the last couple of days in his head and trying to piece together his timeline. The last thing he can properly remember is sneaking extra sample foods from the closest coffee shop and going back to his home. He had gone to sleep curled up in a bed too big for him and that was it. He woke up inside the pizzeria near closing time and had to hide away from the security guard who was sent to catch him. 

“I think I was kidnapped in my sleep.” Gregory says slowly. “I remember going to bed in- at the place I was staying at. I went to bed and just…woke up here.”

“Alright,” Foxy says. “Alright, that's good. Let's go back a little further. That day, before you went to bed, did you notice an odd smell? Did you notice anything off at the place you were staying? Did you hear anything strange?”

Gregory shakes his head and then gives Foxy a weird look. “An odd smell? Hearing things? That's weird…”

Freddy has to agree that the questions seemed odd but Foxy explains himself easily. “I'm wondering if the kidnapper used anything on you to keep you asleep. Even if you were completely exhausted I can't imagine that you stayed asleep the whole time, unless the kidnapper used something on you.”

“I am a light sleeper,” Gregory admits. (He had to be. He learned that lesson even before he became homeless.) He pauses for a while to think but ultimately shakes his head. “I didn't see or smell or hear anything weird though. The place is really dark at night though so…I guess the kidnapper could have been there the whole time too-”

Gregory shivers and looks sick, as if he wanted to throw up. Freddy could understand, and he wraps the boy up in his arms as if to shield him from the memories at least. Gregory was safe now- he has to remind himself of that.

“You're safe now Gregory.” Foxy says softly, putting his own paw on the boy's head. “You got yourself out of their clutches and made it to Freddy. No one is going to take you again, we promise you.” 

“I know that! And if they try, Helpy will just zap them too.” Both of the animatronics can see how uncomfortable he was at Foxy's words, but they can also see his flushed cheeks and small smile. 

Foxy huffs, scratching at his chin and giving Gregory a sharp smile. “Remind me to raise the power on the taser- no one will be safe getting shocked by it after I'm done with it.”

“Foxy.” Freddy sighs as Gregory fist pumps the air. “As long as Helpy is the one who holds onto the taser. I don't want you to hurt yourself on accident.”

“Boooring!” Gregory complains, but he's got a true smile back on his face and Freddy realizes that's what Foxy was going for. He really is very good with children. It’s a shame that the night couldn’t end on a lighter tone. But there were six children whose lives were cut short and possibly more in the future. That meant the brief good mood couldn’t last.

“Before today, you said you visited the pizzaplex before right?” Foxy asks slowly. They all know that being a guest to the pizzaplex was the most common clue among all the victims. But Gregory’s response surprises both animatronics.

“Oh, yeah, I visit the pizzaplex all the time. It’s pretty easy to sneak into here.”

“Wait seriously?!” Foxy chokes out, looking at Gregory in awe. “This place has security out the ass!”

“Foxy!” Freddy reprimands, but the other two don’t listen to him at all. Gregory bursts out laughing too so Freddy doesn’t feel the need to reprimand the fox too hard. 

“It’s true! You sneak in with a birthday group and your set! Security doesn’t bug you once you pass the gates.” Gregory smirks proudly, “It’s best when you sneak in with a classroom though, cause sometimes the chaperones hand you arcade coins without realizing you weren’t part of the class.” 

“Evil genius…I know you said you so earlier but I didn’t actually believe you…” Foxy murmurs to himself. He shakes his head in amazement.

“Buuuuuut, it did help that I also have a friend whose dad works here.” Gregory admitted with a shrug. “He’d let us in through the staff entrance most of the time too.”

“That is definitely against company policy!” Freddy complained. 

“Ah leave it Fazbear, nearly all the staff who have kids have done that.” Foxy argues, shrugging. “I’m really curious who this staff member is though.”

“Uh-” Gregory looks a little guilty. “I don’t want to get him into trouble.”

Foxy waves his hand though, “Don’t worry, I’m not curious enough to push. But if you get in so easily and all the time…when was your most recent visit?”

“Like…two days ago?”

Foxy looks impressed. “And before that?”

“About two weeks ago my friend had a party here. I snuck in then.” He says it so casually now, as if sneaking into a business was a legal pastime. Freddy crosses his arms in disappointment while Foxy grins proudly. 

“I’m going to give you an annual pass to the pizzaplex Superstar, that way you don’t have to sneak in and risk getting in trouble.” Freddy sighs, realizing that against two trouble makers it was just easier to follow along with their plan rather than argue with them. And it might be enabling them, but if Gregory was just planning on doing it either way he might as well help him right? He wished Bonnie was here to comment on his soft spot for trouble makers. 

“Last personal question lad, and I’ll let you go.” Foxy warns after a moment. “During your time from your last visit from two weeks ago till now, was there anyone that made you uncomfortable in any way?”

Gregory kicks at the floor and shrugs, “I mean, not really. Not like serial killer weird. There were a few people I met when I ran away from the foster home that scared me but…I don’t think they had anything to do with this though.” 

Freddy noted that he didn’t make eye contact when he answered Foxy. He’s sure the fox had picked up on it too given the foxes ears twitched back and forth a few times. But neither of them comment on it and Foxy just ruffles the boy’s hair as he stands up. With the last of the more personal questions Foxy can think of being answered, he asks Gregory if he’d like to go back into the main area or answer some more general questions with just Foxy and Freddy present.

Gregory decides to go back to the main area and warns them that he really doesn’t know much about May personally. With their age difference it’s not surprising to the bear but Foxy just explains that any little detail shouldn’t be overlooked and anything is better than nothing. They all make their way back to the main room and Foxy drops another bomb on everyone. Everyone outside of the older models at least.