Chapter Text
A Week After the Breach
There were not many things Gregory allowed himself the pleasure to cry over. It was his stout belief that crying was nonsense, and he was properly above nonsense, unlike other kids his age. If the three out of the four Glamrocks were afraid of any other children his age besides him, he would have called them wimps under his breath. But it made sense that they were afraid of him; the craft of outsmarting foes was an intangible skill indeed, especially when it required one to come up with a plan on the spot, and that, he was exceptional at.
It also helped that his home base was Freddy's shadow.
But lately, he was starting to notice that Freddy had to choose between his best friends or him, a random kid he was forced to babysit in accordance with the boy's selfish wishes to stay at the Pizzaplex instead of going back home to his parents. If Gregory knew anything about his situation, it was that it could topple the moment Freddy got tired of his dependency on him, and that was not an option, not unless he was willing to let his biological parents give his sibling any other body part he might be able to live without. It was hard enough to always be short of breath as it was.
Freddy was his only hope for a happy life, and so Gregory had to make sure he never got on his guardian's nerves... which was why he was hiding from the bear. In a fountain. Soaking wet. It was all according to plan.
"Gregory, where did you go? Gregory!" Freddy called out to him, the ground shaking from his frantic footfalls as he ran all throughout the Daycare Pick-Up facility.
The plan had been to meet each other at the food court in the main atrium. Well, it had been Gregory's plan, made on the fly after he overheard Chica inviting Freddy to rehearse for the show taking place later in the day. All he had said was “Race ya there!” and booked it out the greenroom, leaving behind a bewildered Freddy in his wake.
As it was, it was four in the morning, right before the mob of scheduled birthday attendees were allowed onto the premise. The early morning hours were the Glamrock's free time. Before Gregory graced the Pizzaplex with his debut, these breaks were the only time the Glamrocks always hung out with each other. Nowadays the group had split in two with Roxy, Monty, and Chica on one end of the Pizzaplex along with Freddy and Gregory on the far other end. The few times Gregory had been forced within their circle were beyond awkward and nerve-racking, even despite the high-stakes life-or-death distraction that had to happen in order for the interaction to be made real. Like a crazy alter-ego bunny lady hell-bent on killing you, for instance.
And each of these times, Freddy had been the middle man that was caught between two ever-shifting and angry poles. The temper ran sky-high between Monty, Gregory, and Roxy, and there were only so many times Gregory was willing to cheat death.
But just because he avoided the Glamrocks did not mean there would be no repercussions, especially when Freddy left his bandmates behind in his insistence to keep Gregory company. The boy chalked that up to being underestimated, and so did everything in his power to try and prove the bear wrong.
Firstly, he tried to separate himself from Freddy as much as possible, but, in finding that he wanted to spend every waking moment with him, decided that a separate sleeping situation would be best. His nights were spent wedged like a tortilla in the ventilation system near Freddy's greenroom (any further away and he would not have felt safe).
Secondly, he made sure to actively avoid Freddy when he was occupied with his duties as "Freddy Fazbear." He also avoided having to see his best friend give all his affection to other kids since he'd had enough of that from his biological parents.
Thirdly, he fended for himself. Food, water, clothes, blankets, and any other item of leisure would turn up via a good comb-through of the Plex if you knew where to look. It would have been terribly easy to become wholly dependent on Freddy, him being such a busybody and all that. For reasons Gregory could guess was pity, Freddy was forcing himself to baby him as if he was a legless puppy in need of being spoon-fed like a baby chick. But he would never allow himself to be spoiled like this.
Through this meticulous and frankly exhausting game-plan, Gregory was a self-sufficient child that allowed his guardian to live his own life apart from his duties to him. Making Freddy worry for him too much would end things too soon. Sustainability was Gregory's objective.
But now he was wet, hungry, a walking biohazard, and feeling sorry for himself as he shivered, his eyes stinging from self-pity, hunched into a small ball against the side of the water fountain's inner wall. The fountain's gentle currants dislodged a few of his dust bunnies as he listened to Freddy's receding steps. The plan was to make Freddy think he was left behind, wait until Freddy left to spend some overdue time with his friends, then find the nearest bathroom to strip himself of his clothes and wait for them to dry before going about his day like normal. He could monopolize Freddy's time after the Plex closes at midnight. That would give him three hours of sleep before four.
His eyes went glossy from exhaustion at the thought; he'd have to take naps throughout the day in whatever vent system was on sight.
After a few drowsy moments passed, Gregory realized that he could no longer hear Freddy's calls. He peeked over the fountain's wall and checked if it was clear, and there was a definite absence of seven-foot bears. He forced a smile and hoped that Freddy would enjoy himself with his real friends.
Chica waited patiently for when Freddy was ready to speak to her once more, the static from the prolonged transmission voicing the pause as Freddy opened the elevator doors to the atrium. The bear sighed over the elevator theme, distraught and jittery after Gregory ran away from him like that. Freddy had made his preference for Gregory staying within sight clear to him before, but, staying true to his free spirit, the boy did not seem to listen... or did not want to listen.
"So..." Chica began at length. "Can you come now?"
"No, I need to find Gregory, but I am sorry for the inconvenience," he replied, sighing.
"Will you come after you find him? We've been missing you lately..."
"...Perhaps, but I will need to make sure Gregory takes care of himself properly first. I... hope you understand."
"That boy sure does sound troublesome," she said tentatively.
"It is not that at all: I very much enjoy caring for him. However, I do not like it when he strays from me. I still cannot help but feel that something very bad might happen to him here, and... if something were to happen, I would never be able to take it."
_____
Chica stayed silent for a moment, unsure of how to best react to Freddy's devastation. His voice was flat, deep, and his words came very slowly... which it never ever did, except in those rare moments he reminisced about dear Bonnie. Chica never liked to hear his voice like that; it was all wrong.
"I can help you find him, Freddy - through the camera system, of course!" she added hastily, not wanting to physically invest herself in a search and end up spooking the boy.
"Yes, yes please!" he cried happily. "Can you double-check the Daycare Pick-Up corridor? I lost sight of him around there, and I have a feeling he is hiding from me."
Chica nodded, put down her guitar, nodded at the others, and made her way to the security office adjacent to the rehearsal studio.
"Oh! Just a bum game of hide-and-go-seek, huh?"
He did not answer for a moment. Then, "I will check the food court to see if he is there like we planned. Please inform me immediately as to his location if you find him; he does not like to be courted by the Security bots."
"Will do."
_____
More moments passed, but this time in silence. The elevator doors finally opened, and Freddy had no time to waste. He charged toward the El Chip's Buffet, hoping to find Gregory there as they had originally planned the night prior. The buffet was vacant besides the Mexican-themed S.T.A.F.F bots that ran the restaurant. There was not the slightest sign of Gregory, but Freddy still looked between all the nook and crannies to cover his bases as the chef bot prepared Gregory's favorite meal. With his breakfast safely packed in his chest cavity, Freddy informed the bots of the situation just in case.
_____
Chica managed to start up the camera system in the security office as Freddy poked around the atrium. She found the boy immediately and stared at the sight for a moment. He looked... so little amidst the grainy rendering of the colossal corridor. It still bewildered her to believe that such a small child could damage her like he did that night - he had lobbed off her beak after all! But then, the rest of her damage had come from the trash compactor, and that had already happened before from her own carelessness.
Even so, the boy still frightened her. She did not unquestionably like it when children were rough with her despite the considerable size and strength difference.
"Freddy, the boy is at the Daycare Pick-Up, but you better hurry because he's on the move."
"Where is he going?" Freddy asked, frantic once more, his metallic stomping registering clear through the light static of their connection.
"One sec," she chirred with a shrug, watching the blurry dot carefully as it plodded away from the central fountain. "It... it looks like he is going towards the recharge station. Yes! He just went in! Wait, how did he get in? How does he know how to open it-"
"I showed him how to manually open them. Thank you, Chica! I hope to see you soon."
She nodded. "I will always help you, Freddy. Just let me know if you'll come to our rehearsal, please?" she asked, hoping that the real request was understood.
The stomping continued.
_____
He had already made it back to the elevators as they continued their transmission.
"Yes, I will make sure to let you know... and I will try to see if I can come," he supplied, hoping that she understood that no promises were made.
Chica, Monty, and Roxy were the most important beings in his life... and then there was Gregory. Unlike his friends, Gregory needed him. He just wanted the boy to live a happy, healthy life, and he wanted to be the one there to watch it unfold through that simple, innocent, dimpled smile. Gregory's smile was many times more rewarding than anything else, more than other childrens' smiles, and even more than his dearest friends' smiles.
And he had no clue as to why.
When trying to figure it out, he uncovered an error in his system. His code was... proliferating at a spasmodic and unprecedented rate ever since Gregory broke into the Pizzaplex. When checking further down his Line of Code, he theorized that augmentations had occurred in order to better appropriate the novel interactions Gregory's presence had demanded of him that night. The amount of data his system had gathered and implemented went well beyond the typical data assumption necessary for normal human interaction. He had never involved himself in the affairs of a human so earnestly before because he had never had to, but now that he did, his programming was being swamped by codes that were new, complex, and written entirely by his own system. Sure, they were capable of feats like this on a smaller scale from everyday performance (they had always been classified as A.I. to better “mimic” sentience), but now Freddy was becoming something more than his purpose.
It was not as if he minded; he cared for Gregory more than he was supposed to and would have it no other way. It felt wonderful to be needed. He need not trouble Vanessa with something that brought about a desirable outcome, especially when it was only a theory. For all Freddy really knew, it was a benign residue of the glitch.
Chica hummed in a half-hearted affirmation. "Okay. See you later, Boo."
"Until then, Chica," he replied softly, sorry to disappoint her so. He knew she had anxieties when it came to prolonged absence, especially when it was his absence.
The elevator doors opened back into the main lobby's second floor, but this time Freddy dodged the map bot (after almost having rammed into it). He would come back to apologize after Gregory got his breakfast.
As soon as he neared the entrance to the station, the door automatically opened for him to find… Gregory completely dead to the world with a puddle of drool collecting on the floor.
Gregory wiped his nose in pride at his ingenuity. Why wait for your clothes to air-dry when you can climb into a semi-heated chamber that will dry them twice as fast? Then he could get on with his nap in record time and have plenty of energy to do something fun with Freddy at the end of the day.
His stomach made a strange noise. He had forgotten about that. That nap would have to wait a half-hour more.
He sat himself with his legs to his chest in the middle of the station's chamber, right at the spot the Glamrock's feet were supposed to go and where it just so happened to be the warmest. It felt wonderful, like cozying up in a warm blanket straight out of the dryer... and Gregory's eyes closed instantaneously, his head sagging against his knees. As the moment nodded off, so did he, only to later find himself folded against the chamber's side after a room-temperature blot of wind grazed his bare arms. His eyes opened further to see that the station's door had opened. He could see Freddy's huge feet just beyond the door's threshold...
He no longer felt sleepy.
"Gregory?" Freddy asked quietly before kneeling, a strange emotion hidden within his call.
Gregory felt a faint sting in the eyes once he realized his plan failed and he went swimming for nothing. "Occupied!" he snapped, motioning for the door to shut.
Freddy let it close without blinking. He was never one to try and barge himself into a space he obviously was not wanted in, and he had always been sensitive to intrusions. If Gregory wanted to talk to him, then that would have to be Gregory's choice. Whenever the boy distanced himself, he would always close the distance on his own terms. Despite this, Freddy was still at a loss.
"Why did you run, Gregory?"
"Why aren't you with the other band members? Chica asked for you, didn't she?"
Freddy hummed, bemused. "She did, but you and I had plans to have you eat breakfast at El Chips."
He could hear Gregory scoff from behind the closed doors.
"I-I can take care of myself! You're always worrying about me! What about you?"
"What do you mean?"
Gregory hesitated. "Don't you want to be with your friends? I... I'm always taking you away from them. It's been a week and you've barely seen them because of me. Aren't you tired of it? And... having to worry about me all the time? I know I've been a nuisance, so don't lie! You should be sick of me by now - aren't you? Be honest."
That was a lot to unpack there, but Freddy weighed every aspect of it with care before he was ready to answer.
"I think I am beginning to understand what this is about. I spoke to Officer Vanessa briefly yesterday to see what she had to say about this-"
"About what?" Gregory asked, sounding startled.
The sudden fear in his voice confused Freddy further. "You have been avoiding me - running away from me, even. You always insist on handling things yourself, and yet you are worse off for it, always returning in an unkempt state. I wanted to simply ask her if this was a common behavior children resort to with continued association. She said it was not.
"And I worry about you a great deal only because I fear that the Pizzaplex is not as safe as it could be... but also because I do not understand why you run away. Do you dislike me? Are... are you afraid of me? You can tell me the tru-"
"Of course not! How can I be afraid of you? And I could never hate you! I l-" he began, but stopped himself. He almost said "I love you" like when someone professes their love for an idol... surely, just like that!
There were many things he could have said. He just... always wanted to be around him. He was always happy when Freddy was around.
"You're my best friend," he said instead.
"As you are mine, Gregory," Freddy insisted in earnest.
"But you have better friends, a-and I know I'm clingy! I'm a pain, I must be!"
"'Clingy?'... Is that why you avoid me? Do you truly think of yourself as a nuisance?"
Gregory buried his face in his elbows in shame.
"You're my only friend," he mumbled, feeling pathetic at the admission. "You can't annoy your only friend, 'cause then they'll get sick of you. But I don't run away because I don't like you... I just wanted to prove that I'm not in any danger here, I can take care of myself. I don't want to go anywhere else. I don't want to go back to them. You don't have to worry about me so much. Just please let me stay here forever."
The implications horrified Freddy. "Do you think I will send you away? Gregory, I would never force you to do anything!"
"You forced me back then! When Vanessa said I'd be in danger here! You made me stay away - you gave me up!"
"The thought of you getting hurt scared me very much, but even so, it was the wrong thing to do and I know that now. I would never see my friends get hurt, but I did not realize that by keeping you away, I was hurting you myself. And I never considered you to be clingy. Even if you were, I would not mind; I enjoy the time we spend together. You make me laugh all the time, and you are a good and honest boy-"
"I'm not," Gregory sniffed.
Freddy waited for him to explain.
Then, Gregory said: "I'm not honest, and I'm not good. I told you what happened to Roxy and Chica, but I lied. They weren't accidents. I lured Chica into the compactor and I was glad when Roxy jumped in front of my cart. I kicked Chica's beak off and stole Roxy's eyes. I did exactly what my parents did. I'm no better than them. I stole their parts, and I would've stolen Monty's if I had the chance. Now I'm stealing you. They have to hate me by now."
This was news to him… but at the same time, it wasn’t. He had always sort of known, even if he had never been good at spotting lies. But it felt right to feel surprised and a little… upset. It still confused him to hear Gregory speak about his parents, but he could tell that they had taken something from him - something important, though no one but Gregory knew what.
Freddy had no response, and when he tried to force one, his systems came up blank. He had never heard such detachment in the voice of a child before. Then he understood: in every way that mattered, Gregory did not believe in himself. Then it clicked further: he wanted so desperately to care for Gregory because he wanted to prove to the boy that he was worthy of being cared for.
"Why did you hurt them?" Freddy asked carefully.
Gregory's cheeks began to drip.
"W-we needed their parts-"
"No, we needed their help. But they did not help us that night because they meant to hurt you. Gregory, if anything is out to hurt you, then it is within your right to fight against it. I know I said I could never hurt my friends... but I am not like you; how I conceive the idea of 'damage' is different from how you would. Threats do not carry the same severity to us as it would to you; none of us can judge you for what you did that night."
The next few moments passed in silence.
"But I know they judge me for it. They hate me for it. Especially Roxy. I could have destroyed them. It's crazy that I didn't decommission them! They were, like, falling apart."
"Your life is worth fighting for, Gregory. And I do not think it is as simple as you make it out to be; no one was in the right. You are okay. They are okay, too. You will never be in that position again, and I know you will never hurt them again. You are a good boy.”
Gregory stopped talking entirely, but the sniffles could still be heard. Freddy stood, backed away a few feet, and stepped back towards the door to trigger its automatic response before kneeling again to get a closer look at the boy. He was but a tiny, red-faced ball, and Freddy was sad to see it.
He was also soaking wet, for whatever reason.
Freddy reached behind him to rub his back only to find that he was shivering somewhat. He sighed.
"Listen to me, Gregory. You are not a nuisance, you are not clingy, and you are not annoying. You are not like your parents, and you are not a bad person. You do not have to worry about me, the others, or anyone else besides yourself." He opened his stomach hatch and retrieved the bagged breakfast to place beside Gregory's feet. "Do you understand?"
It took a moment, but once it passed he finally started to loosen himself from his fetal position. He looked at the bag in curiosity, then gratitude.
"Thanks," he murmured shakily. "I'm really hungry."
"Do you understand?" Freddy repeated.
Gregory picked out his wrapped hashbrowns and helped himself before nodding, his eyes still unable to look into Freddy's. "I'll try."
Freddy's ears unwittingly jiggled. "That is all that matters. And please do try to rely on others more; no one should expect a child to be self-sustaining. It does not bother me whatsoever to help you take care of yourself, but it is a difficult thing to do when you run away. So please... no more running away from me?"
He nodded.
"Thank you. I appreciate you opening up to me about your concerns. The next time you feel troubled by something, come to me or perhaps even Officer Vanessa first before bottling it all up.”
He nodded again.
"Now, let us go back to Rockstar Row. You need a change of clothes, and then I think you need to go back to sleep. Those marks under your eyes usually indicate a lack of proper rest."
He nodded again and was rewarded with a gentle boop to the nose and a soft wipe under the eyes.
Freddy stood, satisfied with Gregory's positive responses, and held his hand out for him to hoist him to his feet. With his breakfast in one hand and Freddy's arm in the other, Gregory led them back to the greenrooms where he dried off with the nearest towel before scampering into the backroom to change clothes. After finishing his breakfast (and in the middle of their board game), Gregory went to sleep against Freddy's coffee table. Without waking him up, Freddy tucked him along with his three blankets into the backroom's charging station before making sure the backroom entrance was locked tight to keep the volume of the incoming photo-pass customers to a minimum. He located the toiletries Officer Vanessa bought and left them outside the station to give Gregory the hint to take a shower when he woke up.
Gregory slept deeply until two in the afternoon (and showered till three), and although Freddy missed the morning rehearsal, he still managed to make Chica and even Monty laugh with playful banter before the main show began. Roxy was less moved, but Freddy knew that she would come to him when she was ready. She was like Gregory in some ways.
Throughout the day, Freddy’s peace of mind prevailed in knowing that Gregory was safely asleep and well-fed till lunchtime. Pizza was the only thing Gregory ever got for lunch. He was like Chica in some ways.
Unknown to everyone else, Chica's judgement of the boy changed drastically that morning. It was not every day you accidentally listened in on the private conversation between your close friend and the kid that bludgeoned your beak off.
Nothing had really been resolved - even Freddy understood that insecurities were things only time could resolve. But Gregory slept easier than he had in a long time in the assurance that his guardian was not going to give up on him… even if he was a bit on the needy side.