Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Vanessa wasn’t sure why she was here, or even how she got here. Really, she was better than this. Wasn’t she? She could offer the world so much more than what she was. She could be a functioning member of society. Or she could be in some random bunny fursuit she made to impress some old british man living in her head.

Honestly she wasn’t even a fan of the suit she made. She much preferred the original design she concocted. She liked the brown spot on the mask. It added more personality. Afton wasn’t a fan of it, though. He said ‘simpler is better’. In response she promptly rolled her eyes which only responded in more backlash from the murderer.
That wasn’t the only thing Afton stopped Vanessa from. She used to love to express herself. She had fun rainbow streaks throughout her hair. She thought the pop of color was fun, exciting even. Afton didn’t. He made sure she scrubbed away any trace of them.

She thought of herself as a husk of who she once was. She used to be expressive. She used to be happy. Now she was shallow. She hated looking in the mirror. All she could see anymore was the ever darker bags under her eyes. Her pale skin. Her security uniform, or her bunny suit. Or even the blood of people she barely knew. The nights she returned to her apartment covered in blood were the worst. She truly didn’t know how it got there. She had her guesses, of course, but she didn’t remember it. Not right away, at least. She usually remembers those nights through nightmares the following nights. She woke up in cold sweats, always ‘consoled’ by the man whispering in her mind. She wasn’t dumb enough to think he actually cared for her, though. But she was too scared to defy him.

She lost so many people in her life due to the virus. Friends left her after she stopped replying to their texts. She attempted to cut her parents off. They were persistent, and sometimes still showed up at her door with cookies to try and fix their relationship. Deep down she obviously was grateful for this. But she couldn’t be near them, considering whatever was happening to her. She didn’t want to hurt them.

But she had made new ‘acquaintances’ through the virus. One being Luis. She really had no interest in him. He was kind of weird. Like, really weird. He had some weird infatuation with Vanessa. Always asking her to get coffee after finding the most horrendous searches from her work computer. She was glad he got those red flag searches rather than someone else. At least he didn’t report her. She led him on for a while in an attempt to stay on his good side. It worked, thankfully, and she was able to ditch him once she was transferred. She hoped she wouldn’t have to see him again.

Not that she’d get a chance too anymore. She was sure she’d be fired by the morning. Or, even better, arrested. She wouldn’t be surprised. She did kill a dozen or so people. Quite a few of them being higher ups in Fazbear Entertainment. She could thank the virus for those ones. Him and his glitch, infecting the animatronics in the Pizza Plex. With that kind of control Vanessa wondered why Afton even needed her. Maybe he just had fun messing with her. She wouldn’t doubt it.

But still, it all didn’t matter anymore. In the cool breeze she could still feel the heat emanating from the Pizza Plex below her feet. She was well aware of the sweat dripping from her forehead under the bunny mask. She wanted so desperately to take it off. But she wasn’t in control. She really hadn’t been for the past year or so of her life. She was painfully used to it at this point. She could only watch from behind the red eyes of the mask, wondering what the glitch would have her do next.
Standing outside the fire escape, she had the hope the glitch would just walk her to her car, and drive to her apartment. Might as well get some sleep before the cops arrive to arrest her.

But no, of course that wasn’t what he was planning for her. Instead she just stood there. She felt like a stupid little lost puppy. Suddenly the door ahead of her flew open. The little brat (Gregory, Vanessa learned his name was) came barreling out, ecstatic to find a way out of the burning building. Vaness laughed a little as his expression quickly changed to horror when their eyes locked. Did she laugh, or was it just Afton? Could it be both? Maybe. She wasn’t sure, she was never sure anymore, and why should she be when her life made no sense?

Vanessa (Vanny? Afton?) reached out for the boy, digging her fingers into his shoulders. He yelped, trying to wiggle free. But Vanessa was uncharacteristically strong at the moment. She had never thought of herself as strong, let alone scary. But here she was.

With heavy footsteps, Vanessa knew Gregory’s accomplice was close by. Turning to face the door once again, Glamrock Freddy came storming out. Vanessa wasn’t worried, however. Well, that was a lie, she was always worried, but the glitch wasn’t, so her feelings didn’t matter. But the animatronic bear locked eyes with her. He wasn’t supposed to do that. He couldn't see her, right?

Freddy quickly pointed directly at her, shouting something along the lines of having new eyes, and seeing her now. Vanessa (Afton? No, they) sighed in frustration. She comically moved her hands away from the brat, holding them up as if she was being held at gunpoint. She might as well have been, considering the machine that was in front of her. But truthfully, she wasn’t absolutely horrified by Freddy. He was too kind. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Those were her last thoughts before Freddy ran towards her, tackling her into a bear hug, and jumping off the side of the burning building. She audibly gasped for air on impact, the wind immediately knocked out of her. She figured he might’ve fractured a rib too, or even worse, knowing the animatronic’s strength.

The two separated mid air, leaving her some space for her final few breaths. She thought about reaching out, trying to grab something to hold onto. But what was the point? Did she really deserve to escape with her life after all that she’s done? So she just fell. Despite the glitch screaming at her, flooding her brain, she found herself thinking rather clearly for once. This was the end, and she was fine with it. Because she wasn’t okay with it, how could she be? But fine sounded right. It figured this would be her end, her untimely death.

She hated that she had to die in the fursuit though. That was the part she hated the most actually. The fall was fine. It felt fitting. Falling and falling, like her descent into madness from the killer whispering within her mind. She felt tears fall from her cheeks, still stuck within the confines of her mask.

She never got to say goodbye to her parents, though she tried half a dozen times at least. Maybe everything would finally make sense to them once her body was found, and she would so obviously be blamed for the murders. Even if that wasn’t the full story, and her parents could never truly understand what was actually going through her mind. How would anyone know it was actually a famed killer from the 80s? No one would. No one would know her suffering. No one.

Vanessa hit the ground hard. She didn’t feel it though. She didn’t expect to. She surely would’ve died on impact, and she did. Vanessa ‘s feet felt stuck as she watched her body violently hit the ground below. She was back up on the burning roof, but she didn’t care to question why.

She glanced to her side, looking at the young boy beside her. His face was pure horror, staring down at the two lifeless bodies below. His breaths were uneven as he quickly turned on his heel, running down the fire escape stairs.

He ran as fast as his little legs could go, nearly tripping down a few stairs on the way down. As he reached the bottom, Vanessa figured he’d run straight to Freddy, considering the weird bond they’ve formed throughout the course of one night. But no, he ran directly to her own body. His hand hovered over her body for a few seconds, but he quickly pulled her mask off her face. She couldn’t see his expression from the distance, but he pulled back immediately, falling to his side. He scrambled to get up, taking a few steps back from her body.

Gregory screamed out in anguish, yelling nearly incomprehensible words. All she could make out was stuff about this being “all your fault!” as he pointed accusingly as her own dead body. He repeated the sentiment over and over. He eventually stopped, falling to his knees, and just sat there.

Vanessa looked down at the scene regretfully. The boy wasn’t wrong. It was her fault. Obviously it was. Well, it was also Afton’s fault. She liked to blame him more so, but she knew she was still in control, even if just sometimes. She could have done something. Could’ve turned herself in. But she didn’t. So she was still at fault. Even if she reluctantly followed his orders, she still did cooperate.

So she sighed as she felt the fire all around her. She still didn’t move. She wondered if she could. Maybe she would be stuck haunting the Pizza Plex for the rest of eternity. It would be fitting.

So she watched Gregory from above as he sat on the concrete. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing for him to do, but he survived as long as he did, so she figured he’d be fine.

She could feel the heat of the fire as it surrounded her, but it didn’t hurt. How could it? She closed her eyes, ready for whatever fate awaited her.

-----

Gregory watched as his best friend and his worst enemy fell from the roof of the Pizza Plex. He ran to the end of the building, watching the two plummet. Freddy was smiling at Gregory, as he usually did, “Goodbye Gregory,” Freddy called out as calm as ever.

Gregory covered his mouth with his hand, unable to scream. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He took shaky breaths as he watched the two hit the ground. He couldn’t take his eyes away from the sight. His breathing quickened as he turned for the stairs. He had to know if Freddy was okay, he had to, he just had to.

He ran down the stairs as fast as he could, tripping over his own shoe laces a few times, and catching himself on the railings beside him. After what felt like long minutes he finally reached the bottom. He stared at Freddy, and he wasn’t sure he could look at him any longer. He took a step back, and looked back at the bunny lady laying beside Freddy.

He weighed his options on what else he could do. If he really wanted to, he could figure out Vanny’s true identity. He took a few steps toward her, and kneeled beside her. He reached for her mask, unsure if she would somehow come back to life and try to attack him again. He decided to just go for it, and pulled her mask off in a quick, smooth motion.

He gasped at the sight of the security guard laying in front of him. He fell backward, scrambling to get away from her. How could it be her? How could she do all of this? His intuition had been current to not trust her, at least. He didn’t think she was evil, though. How could she do all of this to him? Because of her, Freddy is dead. Gregory didn’t know how to fix a robot, so he was all alone now.

He screamed out, not true what else to do. Tears flowed from his eyes as he screamed at the security guard’s lifeless body. “It’s your fault!! You did this- it’s your fault!! Your fault-” He repeated the same words over and over again, not having anything else to do. Fire enveloped the building around him, and he had nowhere else to go. He sat on his knees, crying to no one. This is what it is, and there was nothing else to do now, not that he felt he could move anyway. He felt stuck in his spot, shaking in the cool breeze of the early morning despite the heat emitting from behind him.

Chapter Text

This wasn’t what she expected to await her. Opening her eyes, Vanessa realized she was no longer standing on the roof of the Pizza Plex. She wasn’t actually standing at all. She was laying down, and she felt like she was drowning. Unaware of her actual surroundings, she flailed her arms and legs, trying to swim upward. But she wasn’t under water. She peeked her eyes open as she reached the surface of…a ball pit.

She laughed pitifully at herself. Really? She was in a ball pit. How pathetic. But how?

“Ahem.” Vanessa froze. She knew that voice, that accent. Around her children ran through the ball pit and the area surrounding. In front of her, just outside the ball pit, stood a tall man. She slowly looked up, studying the man. Black dress pants, purple vest covering a white button down. Brownish silverish hair combed to the side, and thin glasses shielding his gray eyes.

Vanessa took a deep breath. “Aren’t you a little too old for the, er, ball pit..?” William Afton said condescendingly. It sounded like the audio equivalent of someone looking down on you, despite the fact he quite literally was.

Vanessa couldn’t find her voice as she stared at her worst nightmare come to life. “Cat got your tongue?” He flashed a fake smile towards her, the anger increasing behind his eyes.

“S-sorry.” Vanessa stammered, quickly standing and brushing plastic balls away from her. She carefully stepped out of the ball pit, making sure to stay a few steps away from Afton. He cocked his head to the side, dropping his smile, his act. He turned away from her, clearly disinterested with the interaction. Vanessa released her breath, escaping what felt like a near death situation.

Finally able to breath, Vanessa turned in a circle, eyeing the area around her. First she noticed the smell. A mix of pizza and sweat. She wrinkled her nose. Gross. Smelled just like the Pizza Plex. It didn’t look anything like it though. The area sure had its similarities, there was no doubt about it, but this place looked old. And sure, the Pizza Plex was themed around the 80s, but it was a glorified version of it. Not even mentioning their high tech animatronics. But this place, this place was old. And it sure looked like the 80s to Vanessa.

A random kid bumped into Vanessa, and she staggered backwards in an attempt not to fall over. She groaned in response. Man, she hated kids. And this place was full of them. Booths and arcade games littered the area, children running and screaming anywhere you turned your head. Parents sat in booths chatting amongst each other, trying to ignore their ever increasing headaches.

As Vanessa caught her footing, another child ran into her, running by without a regret. She turned to face the kid, glaring daggers at him. But the kid was too familiar. Blue striped shirt, messy brown hair, and a band aid on his face. Vanessa felt her jaw drop and Gregory ran to stare at the old Freddy Fazbear animatronic on the stage with his two companions. Vanessa growled in disgust, stomping towards the brat.

“Hey!! Gregory-” The little brat turned around, clearly confused. He looked from side to side. “Yeah, I’m talking to you.” She pointed at him accusingly. She stomped closer, grabbing him by the wrist. “Do you follow me everywhere I go?? You’re like some infection, like the stupid glitch-”

“Do I know you?” Gregory furrowed his brows, almost looking disgusted by her.

Vanessa continued staring at him. “What- what do you mean? Of course you do! You’re the stupid brat from the Pizza Plex, and I’m the ‘big bad bunny lady’-” Vanessa laughed the last party out, almost upset at herself for making that joke.

Gregory’s confused expression turned to horror. “No! No!! Let go of me, you- you, monster!!” He wiggled around, trying to get away from her grip.

“No!” Vanessa yelled back. “You’re going to help me figure out what is going on, and how you’re here, and where is here, because I’m not done with you-”

Vanessa muttered under her breath, tightening her grip. Randomly, the sound of gum popping right beside her made her remember the area they were in. She looked to the side, where a young teen boy stood, popping his own bubble gum. “Ugh, little brothers, right?” She smiled a toothy grin, raising his eyebrows at her. She looked at him questioningly as Gregory finally pulled his wrist away, and booked it towards the crowd of children ahead.

“Oh- ugh, c’mon!!” She smacked her forehead, distraught with the entire situation.

“Annoying little brother, I assume?” The teen restated his question, clearly waiting for some sort of answer.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Vanessa shrugged, turning towards the direction the brat ran off to.

“Yeah, my brother is like, super annoying. The little man never stops crying, super annoying.” The teen laughed, walking faster to remain in Vanessa's eye line.

Vanessa tried to ignore him, but gave him a quick look up and down. She learned to study people from Afton. Body language and the like. See what people really want from you, their true intentions or whatever. Vanessa thought it was stupid, but the glitch ingrained it in her mind.

The teen had his toothy grin of course, probably had been in a fight or two. He had a semi greasy looking mullet, gray tank top, ripped jean shorts, and a foxy mask on his head. He looked strangely familiar, but Vanessa couldn’t bring herself to care.

Vanessa laughed humorlessly, and nodded. “Sure, my, uh, brother, is the same. Very, very, annoying. Gotta get him so I can leave.” She trudged through the kids, keeping an eye out for the little menace.

“Here, lemme help ya. I’m super bored anyway.” He popped his gum again, causing Vanessa to wince.

“Whatever, I just need to get him.” If she was honest, she wasn’t sure why this boy had attached himself to her. I mean why would he care for some random 26 year old? But whatever, really didn’t matter. She just needed to get Gregory.

She peeked around an arcade machine on the corner, trying to stay out of sight. The teen laughed at her. “What’re you doing? Fantasy yourself a spy or something?”
“Something like that.” She retorted mindlessly. “If the brat sees me, he’ll just run off again.

“Ah, alrighty. Brat.” The teen chuckled to himself, trying out the ‘nickname’. “Outta start using that one on my brother.”

“Sure, I don’t care-” Vanessa gasped as she spotted Gregory speaking to a boy that looked strangely similar to himself.

“Aw look, the brat meets the brat.” The boy excused himself from Vanessa’s side, making his way towards the two young boys. As he did, he pulled down his foxy mask. “Hey, little man, did you finally make a friend?” He teased his brother. The brother looked sheepish, clinging onto a fredbear plush. Similar to Gregory, he wore a striped shirt, but it was a sweater, his black and gray instead. He had curly brown hair, not quite as messy as Gregory’s, but he had a bandaid on his knee. His blue eyes glimmered under the pizzeria’s lights, tears springing to his eyes.

Vanessa strolled over. “Michael, s-stop…Fredbear is my friend.” the young boy held out his plush bear.

The teen, Michael, laughed. “I mean a real friend, little man.”

Gregory scoffed, looking truly offended. “Well, how dare you speak to him like that!! I find that bears tend to be the bestest of friends.” He huffed, crossing his arms.
While he wasn’t looking, Vanessa grabbed Gregory’s arm again, interlocking it with hers. “Thanks, er, Michael, for the help. Gotta get home with him now, to our…parents.” Despite Gregory whispering something about not having parents, she flashed him a smile, as to seem convincing, and Michael threw her a thumbs up.

“No prob! See ya back here another time?” He smiled.

She chuckled awkwardly as she fought against Gregory’s squirms and shouts. Vanessa nodded. “Sure. Uh, bye.” She pulled the brat towards the exit nearby, and to a wall close outside the building.

“I am not letting go of you until you answer my questions.” She glared at Gregory as he relentlessly fought against her.

“Then answer me a question. Why do you look like that??” He shouted at her.

“Huh-? Look like what?!” She squinted at him, seeing if maybe he was trying to trick her, but he looked genuinely sincere.

“Like, younger, or whatever. And your clothes- where’s the button up, or the bunny suit?”

“What?” She hadn’t really cared to check herself out while she was here, but she started noticing things. Like the fact that Gregory wasn’t as short as she was used to. Or he was, and Vanessa was just shorter. Her hair was also much frizzier, and falling into her face. She had straightened it this morning, and it was supposed to be in a ponytail. And where were either of her normal outfits? Wearing some random t-shirt and pair of shorts, Vanessa found herself very confused. “I- I don’t know, I don’t know what going on-”
She let go of her grip on Gregory, running to one of the windows to look at herself. Now, analyzing her facial features, she really did look younger. Like 15 or 16. No bags under her eyes, her freckles very prominent. She stared at herself, unsure of what to actually think about this whole situation.

Gregory walked beside her, staring at his own reflection. “You really don’t know what's going on?” He questioned her.

Vanessa whipped around toward him. “Of course I don’t!! I have no idea where I am-” Gregory pointed right above their heads. Taking a few steps back, she saw the big luminescent sign that read ‘Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza’.

Vanessa closed her eyes, sighing. Duh. Of course they were at a Freddy’s location. Obviously. “Well, okay. I don’t know when we are.” Vanessa admitted.
“...What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, hmm, let’s think about this, yeah? For starters, we’re at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, and that place was only opened in the 80s-”

“Until it was closed due to many deaths,” Gregory pointed out.

“Second off, don’t interrupt me, I know that. I unfortunately know too much about this stupid franchise.”

“Unfortunately? Stupid-? How rude! I happen to love this franchise, and I researched it myself, thank you very much.”

Vanessa looked at him with pity. “You allow that information into your head? How sad. But nevermind, as I was saying. One, we’re at the original Freddy’s. Two, I’m younger, somehow. Three, William Afton is in there, alive.”

“Woah, like the William Afton!?” Gregory smiled excitedly.

“Yeah, like him.” She didn’t dare want to ask why he was so happy about that tidbit. “But what I’m trying to get at is that we somehow went back in time, and I don’t know what year we’re in.” Vanessa started mumbling to herself, thinking about how she could narrow it down based on who was still alive or not, because she reluctantly had to learn all about Freddy’s past through the glitch’s never ending rants.

Gregory stared at her. “I can’t tell what you’re even saying anymore.”

“Whatever. We need to figure out how to get back-”

“We? I’m not helping you!” Gregory shouted at her.

“What? Why not-”

“Well, hmm, cause you tried to kill me! Like, all night! What makes you think I’d want to be around you?!”

“Then why are you still here?” Vanessa questioned him.

“I- uh…I dunno! I have nowhere else to go.”

Vanessa pointed right at him. “Exactly! So you’re staying with me. Besides, I’m the only one here you even remotely know.”
“Wrong!! I know, like, a handful of people!”

“We’ve been here for like 10 minutes, who can you even meet that quickly?” She laughed a little at him. “And if you’re counting that boy you just met-”
“Yeah, I am, actually.” Gregory announced proudly. “Like I said, I did my research. I know who that boy and his brother were. And a few other people who we haven't met yet.”
“Yeah, and who were those kids then, eh?”

“Evan and Michael Afton, obviously.” Gregory smiled. “Or were you too stupid to figure that out?”

Vanessa wanted to yell back at him, but she needed to think about that. It made sense, really. That Michael boy had looked familiar. Thinking about it now, he obviously looked like the glitch. Vanessa had seen old newspaper clipping and as such, she knew what Afton looked like. And he ranted on and on about how he and his eldest son looked similar, and his hatred of that fact. And the younger brother being bullied by him made sense from what she knew about the Bite of ‘83.
Vanessa looked back toward Gregory, who looked expectantly at her. She sighed. “Okay. Okay, okay, I get it. You don't want to be around me cause I chased you around for like, 6 hours.”

“Duh!!”

“Please let me finish. But I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

“Pinky promise??” Gregory asked, sticking his pinkie out at her.

“I- er, sure.” She reluctantly stuck her pinkie out as well, interlocking it with Gregory’s, and pulling away quickly. “But you have to stay with me, okay? I have no one I know, you have no one you know, but we kind of know each other. Let’s just find a place to stay, and figure out how to get home, okay?”

Gregory squinted at her, looking her up and down. “Hmph. Fine. But if you try to kill me once, I’m out.”

“Then don’t annoy me. Besides, I just pinkie promised that I wouldn’t hurt you, yeah?”

Gregory nodded. “Still don’t trust you. And you have to explain to me why you were chasing me, and what was with the fursuit.”

Vanessa chuckled a little. “Fine, it’s a deal or whatever. But not right now. Let’s find somewhere to go first.”

“Please. I want food anyway.” Gregory smiled, and Vanessa rolled her eyes, and the two walked away from the pizzeria.

Chapter Text

Vanessa kicked at a vending machine, making sure the chips she just bought fell to the bottom. Thankfully she kicked it hard enough and was able to grab them. She reached over to grab them, and scanned her surroundings. She wasn’t sure she felt safe at the motel she and Gregory had found. It was ridiculously cheap. The man working there didn’t even question when seemingly a teen and her younger brother asked for a motel room, and didn’t even have identification. But this was the 80s, so what really made sense anyway?

And Vanessa thanks the time traveling entities or whatever for leaving her some money in her pockets. She turned around, chips and a soda in hand, and walked back to her room. Walking back in, Gregory was flipping through the TV channels, trying to find something interesting to watch.
She threw the chips at him, and he caught them mid air. “Nice!!”

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you to say ‘thanks’?”

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to be a murderer?”

“Touché.” Vanessa sat herself on the edge of the bed that she reluctantly wouldn’t be sleeping in that night. Being a one bed room, she and Gregory decided to take turns between that and the couch every other night, though they both hoped it wouldn’t be even that long.

She opened her soda, and sipped it as she stared mindlessly at the flickering TV ahead of them.

“There’s, like, nothing good on!! What am I supposed to watch?” Gregory threw his arms out, nearly sending the TV remote flying.

Vanessa shrugged. “What, aren’t you some expert on the Freddy’s franchise? Didn’t they have some TV show in the 80s that you could watch?”

“Well yeah, they did. But that started around 1983, and we don’t even know what year we’re in. Besides, if it was on, I don’t know what channel it's on.” The brat grumbled as he continued his search.

“Yeah yeah whatever. We’re going to bed soon- and before you can whine and say no, yes we are. Because tomorrow we’ll figure out what year it is, and figure out how to get back, okay?” Vanessa pointed at him, making sure he understood how serious she was.

“Ugh, okay. Fine. Only cause time traveling makes me tired.”

“Yeah? How often do you do this?” Vanessa cracked a smile.

“Oh, only the usual.” Gregory laughed, and turned the TV off. “Never gonna find that stupid channel.”

Vanessa tossed and turned as much as she could on the couch. For a while Gregory kept yelling at her to stop moving, considering the loud springs within the couch, and she would have to shush him to stay quiet. But now he had already fallen asleep, the lucky brat.

Vanessa just stared at the dull ceiling above. Normally she had trouble falling asleep due to the British man talking to her. But now she had trouble falling asleep because it was quiet. Too quiet. As much as she hated his rants, she almost found herself missing his company. He had always told her that he was all she needed, and that he would always be with her. He’d never leave her side. But now he was gone, and Vanessa felt utterly alone.

She always feared she’d end up alone. And that's not speaking in a romantic relationship sense. Just in general. She never had many friends, or family for that matter. Just her parents really. And yeah sure, Luis was kind of there. But still, she wasn’t a fan of him, so she didn’t count him.

But now she was stuck with some child who she pretty much hated, and the feeling was mutual. Why shouldn’t he hate her? She literally chased him around with a knife all night. And when she wasn’t doing that, she was locking him in the lost and found to keep him in place so she could then chase him with a knife. He really had no reason to trust her, and yet, here he was, fast asleep in the same room as her.

But who else did he have? Not just with the time traveling thing, but even back in their own time. Vanessa was sure she heard him mention having no parents, let alone the fact that he was seemingly just hiding out in the Pizza Plex. Maybe he was just happy to have someone with him. He was just a kid.

But Vanessa wouldn’t even trust herself. It’s not that she wanted to kill all those people, she didn’t care for it. She just didn’t want to defy Afton. She’d rather make sure he was proud of her. He had truly convinced her that he was the only person that she needed, and she kind of believed it, even if she didn't want to.

So truthfully, Gregory should be safe with her. She had no intention of pulling a knife out on the kid. But what if Afton came back somehow? Then she knew she couldn’t trust herself.

Vanessa rolled over one last time for the night, finally falling asleep.

“Do they, like, have an all inclusive breakfast?” Gregory called from the bed.

Vanessa laughed at the idea, walking out of the bathroom with a towel on her head, wearing the same outfit that the time travel entities gave her. She figured she may as well take a shower after landing in what she imagines to be a dirty ball pit. “You wish.” She checked the drawers for a hair dryer, but eventually found one under a few towels.
“Then what are we supposed to eat?!” Gregory threw his arms up, and fell onto his back on the bed.

Vanessa plugged in the hair dryer, pulling the towel off her head. “There were some powdered donuts in the vending machine.” Gregory groaned in disappointment as Vanessa started brushing her hair out, using the hair dryer in her other hand. She tried to multitask, drying and brushing her hair out, but it just caused an even frizzier mess. She should’ve expected this. Gregory burst out laughing at the state of her hair, and Vanessa tried to ignore him.

“C’mon, don’t you know what you’re doing? You’re from the 80s or whatever.” Gregory asked nonchalantly.

Vanessa gasped, mocking offense. “I am not that old, I’m twenty six.”

“Yeah, so like, a thousand.”

Vanessa sighed, dropping the conversation. “So here’s what’s going to happen. We’re gonna…figure out what year it is.”

“Oh, wow, such a good idea!” Gregory applauded her sarcastically.

“You have a better idea kid?”

“Yeah actually.” He jumped off the bed, joining her by the mirror, and hopped onto the counter in front of her. “We go back to Freddy’s and observe. See if anyone talks of disappearances or whatever, and we can determine it from that.”

Vanessa stared at the brat in silence.

“Aww, what? Sad I had the smartest of ideas, and you were too stupid to even think of it?”

“Oh shut it.” To be fair, Vanessa had never been one to make plans. That was always the glitch. He was the one telling her what to do. She never had ideas. She just listened and followed. And apparently she’d be continuing that pattern with a literal child.

A car whizzed by the two, and Vanessa grabbed Gregory’s wrist, pulling him closer to her. “Be careful, we can’t have you dead. It’d ruin the timeline or something.”

Maybe it was Vanessa’s fault for choosing to walk along the side of the road, but she didn’t think taxis existed in the middle of Utah. Gregory kicked at the rocks by his feet. “Yeah yeah, whatever. Hey, at least then I’d make history.”

“I’m sure you’ll make history for destroying all the animatronics at the Pizza Plex and getting me fired.”

Gregory giggled. “Oh, yeah!! People will think of me as a hero.” He smiled, and pretended to wave elegantly at whatever paparazzi existed in his imagination. Vanessa chuckled. “Look! There, there!”

He pointed ahead to the pizzeria as if he’d never seen it before. “Gregory, we were just here yesterday.”

“But now we have a motive, a plan!! And we can put that plan into action!” The brat smiled mischievously, pumping his fists in the hair.

“You scare me kid.”

“Good!” He laughed in victory. Gregory began to run forwards, but Vanessa quickly pulled him back.

“Listen, you know the plan-”

“I made the plan.”

“Whatever. Stick to it, and if anyone asks, you’re my younger brother, got it?”

Gregory grumbled, but nodded. “Fine, just let me go!”

She loosened her grip on him. “And don’t run into traffic.”

“I’ll do what I want.” Gregory stuck his tongue out at her, wiggled free from her grip, and ran into the pizzeria. Vanessa sighed, following slowly behind.

Upon walking in, Vanessa regretted everything that led up to this moment. She really hated this place, maybe more than she hated the Pizza Plex. Because here, William Afton was physical. He was real, and he could do real harm. Thankfully, though, there was no sight of him yet. But he was certainly here somewhere.

Maybe she can find Michael again. She can surely figure some stuff out from him, considering everything that happened was ‘his fault’, or so Afton would tell Vanessa. In truth, she felt bad for the kid. But who thought that sticking a young child’s head in an animatronic bear’s mouth anyway?

“Hey, you’re back!” Speak of the devil. Vanessa turned around to face Michael once again. She pulled back as he punched her playfully in the shoulder. “Have the little ‘brat’ here again?” He chuckled to himself.

“Uh, yeah, he’s…somewhere around here.”

“Wouldn’t doubt he’s with my brother again. Well, losers attract each other.” Vanessa looked at him questioningly. “It’s a phrase that everyone says. C’mon.”

Micheal led Vanessa through the pizzeria, walking through children as they ran in circles. By the two interactions she’s had with this kid, she could definitely tell he was just trying to seem cool to her. She found it kind of funny if she was being honest, considering his popularity didn’t matter to her. She figured maybe he just wanted someone to think highly of him. He surely didn’t get praise from his father.

“Here.” Michael led her to a booth with two other teens about his age. “Everyone meet, uh- wait what’s your name?”

“Vanessa.”

“Vanessa! Met her here yesterday, she also has a brat of a little brother, and he already made friends with Evan, could you believe that?”

Vanessa eyed the two teens in the booth. The one laughed along with Michael. Wavy orang-ish hair, nearly a mullet, but not quite. He wore a messy white button down, different colored stripes littering it.

The other one, a girl, covered her curly mess of brown hair under a gray beanie. She had on a Fredbear t-shirt, a green flannel over top. She laughed a little, but didn’t seem to fully agree with Michael. “Well hey, at least he made a friend, Mike,” she said.

“Yeah, and maybe he won’t have to bother us anymore. Oh, oops- Vanessa, this is Jeremy and Charlie, my closest of friends.” Michael smiled proudly at the idea of him having friends. Charlie patted the booth beside her, so Vanessa joined her, and Michael sat beside Jeremy.

Just as she sat down, a Fazbear employee walked over, placing a tray of pizza in front of the group. “Grab some, Ness!” Michael smiled his toothy grin, grabbing a slice for himself.

“What did you call me?” Vanessa asked the teen.

“Oh, Ness. Yaknow, just a nickname. Like how I’m Mike, that’s Jere, and that’s Charlie.”

Vanessa smiled, a little agitated. She really was never a fan of the nickname Ness. Even before Luis started calling her that. It had always been a nickname from her father, and it was reserved for him. But whatever. She’d just have to deal with this nickname once again.

Charlie raised her hand. “He means' cause my full name is Charlotte, but nobody calls me that. Besides my dad, of course.”

“And my dad.” Michael raised his hand as well. “But he doesn’t care for nicknames, so it figures.”

Vanessa shrugged, unsure of what to say, but grabbed herself a slice of pizza. It looks disgusting if she was honest. Too cheesy for her liking. And she could care less for pepperoni. But who was she to complain? Free food. And those bagged donuts did not fill her up.

“You new in town or something?” Jeremey asked with his mouth full, pizza nearly falling out of his mouth.

“Yeah, you could say that. Just, er, popping in for a bit I suppose. Gregory- my brother- really likes it here, so I’ll probably be here a lot.”

“Awesome!” Michael cheered out.

Charlie lightly elbowed Vanessa. “Maybe you can save me from just hanging out with these two guys,” She joked, and Vanessa smiled a bit. Thank god one of these teens seemed sensible.

“Yoink!” Gregory quickly ran over, grabbing a slice for himself, and ran off.

“Ugh, little brat-” Vanessa muttered under her breath.

“Your brother?” Charlie asked, and Vanessa nodded. “Nah, let him. We can get more. Free pizza for the children of the owners” She chuckled quietly, taking a bite out of her own pizza.

Gregory snickered as he ran back towards the back hallway. “Yo.” He smiled as he sat against a closet door. Evan sat, hugging his knees. “Got some pizza! Oh darn, did you want some?” Gregory asked, realizing he hadn’t gotten his new friend any.

“Oh, uh, no, I’m good. Thanks.” Evan spoke in almost a whisper, causing Gregory to make sure to listen to anything he said.

“I really like your little friend there.” Gregory flashed a smile, pointing at his plush.

“Thanks.” Evan held the plush closer. “Most people don’t like him though. Especially Mike. He thinks Fredbear is stupid.”

“I don’t think he’s stupid. I really like Freddy too! Especially the robots, they’re super-”

“Scary. I think they're scary.” Evan said, still looking at the floor.

“Hmm?” Gregory tilted his head. “Why would they be scary?”

Evan opened his mouth to answer, but quickly changed his mind. “Oh, hello.”

“Huh?” Gregory questioned, but noticed a shadow growing beside him. Gregory whipped his head around.

“I thought Mike was joking when he said you made a new friend.” Behind him was a young girl, older than Evan, maybe Gregory’s age. She had strawberry blonde hair in two low pigtails, red ribbons attached to each one, and a lollipop in hand. Gregory already had his suspicions of who this was. The girl crouched beside Evan, and patted his head. “But cool! Glad you made a friend.” While the beginning seemed sarcastic, the girl seemed genuine now.

She turned her attention to Gregory. She stuck her hand out. “Elizabeth Afton.” Gregory’s eyes widened, and he smiled, knowing he was correct with his guess. “Aw, what, excited to meet me?” Elizabeth smiled.

Gregory chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose so. I’m, uh, Gregory.”

“Well hi ‘uh Gregory’.” She laughed in his face. She quickly got in his said face, furrowing her brows. “And if you hurt or make fun of my brother I will personally kill you.” She then hopped up and twirled her hair, looking all innocent, and placed her lollipop in her mouth. “See ya boys.” She waved, and walked back out of the hallway.

“She’s my sister. She can be kind of loud. Very nice though.” Evan stated as he pushed himself off the floor. Standing now, he continued holding his plush close to him. “Want to…play some arcade games? I-” Evan stuck his hand into his pocket, and dished out a bunch of arcade tokens. “-have some extra coins.”

Gregory’s eyes lit up. “Yes I would absolutely love to.”

Vanessa stared at the arcade game in front of her. Midnight Motorist. Just some driving simulator. She really had no interest in it, but she couldn’t spend more time listening to Michael and Jeremy goof off. So instead she watched Charlie as she intently played the arcade game.

Charlie bit her bottom lip as she focused, not that it mattered considering she crashed not even a second later. She lightly smacked the game. “Ugh, c’mon!!” She pulled her hand away, and sighed. “Oh darn, do you wanna play? I’ve been hogging it this whole time-”

“Nah, it’s good. I’m fine just watching.” Vanessa shrugged.

“Not a fan?” Charlie asked, and Vanessa answered with a shake of her head. “You spending summer break here with your brother?” Vanessa nodded. “Then how are you gonna survive here if you don’t even like arcade games?”

“Eh, I dunno. Maybe you guys can get me to like them or something. Good luck though, not a fan of video games.” She shudders slightly at the thought of a VR headset.

Charlie chuckled, and jokingly saluted Vanessa. “I’ll do my very best, Ness.” Vanessa sighed at the nickname, but didn’t correct her. Instead she smiled, saluting her in return.

Vanessa winced at the sound of gum popping beside her. Michael quickly swooped in, watching as Charlie started another round of her game. “Want some?” He held out a piece of gum to Vanessa.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” She took it gladly, desperately wanting the taste of the plastic-y pizza out of her mouth. She threw the gum in her mouth. At least the watermelon taste wasn’t absolutely horrible.

Scanning the area, Vanessa hoped she would see some sort of calendar or something to indicate the year. But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? Gregory had asked her why they couldn’t just ask someone, but then they’d think that they were just out of their mind. Which technically, in Vanessa’s case, would be true.

Vanessa rubbed her temples, needing to escape this place to save herself from the impending headache. From the corner of her eye she noticed another little headache running towards her.

“Vanessaaaaaaaa!” Gregory shouted, slapping a small piece of paper into her hand. She uncrumpled the paper, and written crudely in crayon was ‘Your invited to my birthday party. Yay! 7-11-83 at Fredbear’s Diner’. There were many errors that were crossed out and fixed, making it barely eligible.

Little Evan Afton shuffled over to her, and pointed at the invitation. “It’s for my party.” He smiled wearily, as if he were ready for someone to shout at him at any second.

Vanessa smiled a little at the boy. “Thanks kid.”

Evan smiled, and Michael laughed. “Good going little man! Get to hang out with Ness at your party now, nice!!” Michael punched Evan in the arm excitedly. Evan chuckled silently under his breath, though he honestly looked like he was suppressing tears.

Gregory pumped his fists in the air. “Yeah!! And we get to go see Spring Bonnie and Frebear!!” He shouted.

“Oh, you guys haven’t seen them yet?! They’re so rad!!” Jeremy joined in with Gregory’s excitement, and Vanessa wanted to laugh aloud at the 80s slang being used unironically.

“Yeah, Fredbear is my favorite, actually.” Charlie smiled. “My dad loves wearing that suit. He loves entertaining kids. I think he’s an actor at heart.”

“Yeah, my dad likes wearing Spring Bonnie too. I don’t think he cares for the entertainment though. Feels more like a disguise.” Michael said, including the last bit randomly. Vanessa almost chuckled to herself. If only he knew.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Charlie asked.

Michael shrugged. “Oh, I dunno, forget it.” Charlie made eye contact with Vanessa and Jeremy, and the three shrugged as well. Gregory raised his eyebrows toward Vanessa knowingly, and she rolled her eyes, lightly flicking him in the forehead to make sure no one else saw.

“I would say today was a successful day.” Gregory announced to the entirety of their motel room. Vanessa sighed, but chuckled lightly.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” She spit her gum into the garbage can close by. She strangely missed the artificial watermelon flavor. But whatever. Maybe she can get another one from Michael some other time.

“I mean, just look at this!” He held up the party invite as if it were some reward. “Now we clearly know when we are, and we can save Evan. I mean, we literally just got invited to his death day, so-”

“Save Evan?” Vanessa asked. “Think of yourself as some hero?”

“Well yeah, maybe.” Gregory said, kicking dust within the carpet. “I mean we went back in time anyway, so why not try and save them!?”

“Kid, I don’t tend to save people, just so you’re aware.”

“Well yeah, you still owe me that explanation, don’t you? Why did you try and kill me all night? And all those other kids, were they also you?” Gregory got on his tippy toes, trying to intimidate Vanessa.

“No- I mean technically yes, but not really-”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Did you kill the kids or not?!”

Vanessa took a step back, not sure if she really wanted to answer that question. How would she answer that? And how would he even understand her answer?
“Fine, Fine! Sure, I killed those kids. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Vanessa laughed sharply, feeling a little better to admit it. But Gregory’s eyes were filled with horror and disbelief. “What did you expect me to say?”

“I-I didn’t expect you to actually…say yes.” Gregory took a step back.

Vanessa’s breath caught in her throat. She didn’t mean to actually scare the kid. Sure, he annoyed her to no end, but he is still just a kid. “No I- there’s more to it kid. I didn’t want to.”

“Didn’t want to? Then why did you?!”

“It’s uh, a lot to explain-”

“Then explain! I am all ears.” Gregory hopped onto the bed, sitting criss-cross-applesauce, and crossed his arms. Vanessa stood there a moment, considering how insane this scenario is. When she didn’t move immediately, the kid pointed to his ears, and quickly crossed his arms again.

Vanessa sighed, and sat beside him. “This is gonna sound totally nuts, so just let me finish and you can ask questions when I’m done, okay?” Gregory nodded, his arms still crossed. “How do I say this, uh…William Afton, right? He was a real dude, obviously you know that, uh, but he also existed in those stupid games that came out not too long ago. You know, the ones that ‘ruined Fazbear Entertaintment’s reputation’ or whatever.”

Vanessa glanced toward Gregory, who surprisingly seemed to still be paying attention. So she continued. “But those games are like, heavily based in truth. They’re not just silly little ghost stories. And William Afton, after being burned alive for the second time, was put into that Help Wanted VR game that Parasol Games came out with. And since I got to be a beta tester, I came in contact with a, er, glitch, you could say. That glitch being Afton himself stuck in the game and-stick with me here, cause this is when it gets totally weird-he kind of fused his consciousness with mine? So he was like, living in my brain, making me do things, like, uh, killing kids I suppose.”

Vanessa stopped speaking with her hands sticking out, doing some motion which mimicked stabbing someone. She quickly put her hands down. “I know it’s a lot, and doesn’t make sense-”

“Nah, that makes sense.”

“How? It barely makes any sense to me!”

“Well duh, of course not. You’re not a Freddy fan, are you?” Vanessa shook her head. “Clearly. I’m like an expert in Freddy’s lore. I love the games, and they’re clearly not just dumb little ghost stories. I mean, ghosts are real.” Gregory whispered the last bit, and smiled.

“Yeah, and how do you know that?”

“Just do. Call it intuition or whatever.” He stuck his tongue out playfully.

“So you’re just going to believe all that?” Vanessa couldn't even wrap her head around everything that happened over the last year of her life, so how could this random kid?

“Yep. I mean you just so happened to chase down a Freddy fan and expert who believes in ghosts. I think you got lucky.”

Vanessa chuckled. “Yeah kid, I think I did. You trust that I won’t hurt you now?”

Gregory shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Huh. that was easier than I thought.”

“Well you ended up with a gullible kid.” Gregory joked.

“Lucky me.” Vanessa smiled. “You still wanna save that kid?”

“Yeah, obviously! You have no idea how you got in 1983, right?” She nodded. “Well, when this stuff happens in movies, they have to like, rewrite the past or whatever. Make things right. So we could do that!”

“Life isn’t a movie.”

“Well no, but life doesn’t usually include undead serial killers and time traveling. Plus if you like, stop Afton or whatever, that means he can’t haunt you in the future, right?”

Vanessa thought about it. It was stupid, but he might be right. She could try at least. Fix her own sins or whatever. It was worth a shot. “Yeah, I suppose.”

“Cool!” Gregory hopped off the bed, and opened the door. “I’m gonna get a snack from the vending machine.”

“Yeah, with what money?”

“Some quarters I found around the pizzeria. I’ll grab you a snack too!” Vanessa jumped a little as Gregory slammed the door behind him, but she couldn't help but smile. Maybe being stuck with this kid wouldn’t be so bad.

Chapter Text

Vanessa never got to be a teen. Well she did technically. But it was all school work. She was convinced that if she did well in school, she could get into a good college, and then finally do something big. Not that she even knew what that was. But she would do something and feel important. She would make history. And she sure did. The famed mysterious killer, the cause of multiple childrens’ deaths. How wonderful. Just like she imagined.

But now she kind of had the ability to try again. She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. A phone number, and Charlie signed the bottom of it, adding a little smiling face with its tongue sticking out. Charlie had said that “the girls had to stick together”. The paper also had Michael’s home number. She said that was in case Gregory wanted to hang out with Evan. She had also offered her own house for if they all wanted to hang out someday. Vanessa was secretly very appreciative of that offer, considering she did not want to spend any time in the Afton household.

She figured the Emily household would be better. Truthfully, she didn’t know a whole lot about Henry Emily, but she was sure that he was a lot nicer than William. She only knew what the glitch told her about, and he only made her aware of the fact that he was a backstabbing idiot who cared too much about his family or whatever.
But now she stood beside the motel room phone, contemplating whether to call Charlie or not. She didn’t have much else to do. If she and Gregory wanted to rewrite the past, she had to make sure they were near anyone who had to do with the events. And that obviously included the Afton and Emily families. And lucky for them, they already made friends with both families.

So should she call Charlie to ‘hang out’? Or call Michael and set up a play date with their ‘brothers’? Or does she just get lazy for a day, and surf the TV channels until she finds something even remotely interesting?

She considered the latter, but decided against it. She should really get to business. They only have a few days until the youngest Afton’s birthday party, and that was a disaster waiting to happen. She and Gregory both knew that. She walked to the back of their room where Gregory lay on the floor, writing down a checklist on a notepad he found in the bedside drawer.

She squatted next to him, eyeing the list. “See, look here.” The kid pointed at the notepad. Written below was the following:

-Save Evan and give him a happy birthday!
-Save Charlie and give her a happy birthday!
-Stop Circus Baby!!
-Keep watch over the MCI kids!! SAVE THEM!!!
-Save Jeremy from the bite of ‘87!!!!!!!!

“What do ya think?” Gregory sat up proudly.

“Well, it’ll sure keep everything in order for us.”

“Exactly!! So, first we have Evan’s birthday party, obviously.” Gregory stood up, and began pacing as he explained his plans. “We just have to keep Michael from sticking his head into Fredbear. Easy peasy.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.” Vanessa smiled wearily.

“You’re friends with him, so all you have to do is keep him busy so he won’t pick on Evan! And all I have to do is make sure he stays away from Fredbear and has a good birthday. Think we could do that?” Gregory asked, stopping in his tracks.

Vanessa nodded. “Yeah, I think maybe we can.”

“Good!” Gregory clapped his hands together, smiling widely. “So, what are the plans for today?”

Vanessa sighed, and sat on the edge of the bed. “Not too sure. We could, uh, call Charlie or Michael or something, make you guys a play date or something.”

“A play date? How old do you think I am?!”

“Like, hmm, three.” Vanessa joked, and Gregory groaned. “But whatever, we can maybe hang out with them. Go to a park maybe, I dunno what kids do in the 80s.”

“Well neither do I!!” Gregory threw his arms up. “Why can’t they just call us?”

“Uh, maybe because we’re living in a motel, so we can’t give them a phone number. We also don’t need them knowing we live here. Then they’ll be concerned why we have no parents or whatever, and it just won’t be very good. So don’t mention any of it, got it?” Vanessa raised her brows at the kid.

Gregory faked zipping his lips in response, and Vanessa chuckled. “Cool, we’re on the same page.”

“Can we go to Freddy’s?” Gregory asked excitedly.

“Again?”

“Well yeah. Plus I can’t see you calling any of them anytime soon, so we can probably just find them at Freddy’s.”

Vanessa sighed. “Yeah, sure kid.”

The two walked down the main street once again, Vanessa holding Gregory's wrist tightly. He wasn’t a fan of this, obviously, but she was not letting him accidentally walk into traffic. He initially tried to wiggle free, but succumbed to his fate.

Once they made it to the parking lot, Vanessa let go, and Gregory ran off. “Meet me by the door later!” Vanessa called after him, and he threw a thumbs up in response as he ran through the front door.

Vanessa twirled at her hair as she began to head towards the door, but stopped when she heard something. Around the back of the building she could hear kids yelling. Oh God, were they okay? Has Afton started killing kids already? But why would he? That didn’t matter, though. Vanessa had to go and make sure.

She ran around to the back of the building, but was relieved to see the trio she had been hanging out with. The three were just messing around, thank God. Michael and Jeremy took turns on a single skateboard, and Charlie rode around on a scooter.

“Yo Ness!” Jeremy waved her over as he slipped off his skateboard. Michael quickly went to help him up. “Nah dude, I’m alright!” Jeremy laughed, brushing dirt off his shorts. Vanessa was sure this is why kids were told to wear helmets, despite the fact that none of these kids had one on.

“Didn’t realize you guys were back here.” Vanessa stated.

“Oh yeah, sometimes we come back here when we get sick of it inside.” Charlie chuckled. “Next time call me, I’ll tell you where we’re meeting up.” Charlie offered, and Vanessa smiled sheepishly.

Michael pulled out his gum, holding one out to Vanessa. She muttered a thanks and gladly took it. “Want a turn, Ness?” Michael motioned to his skateboard.

“Oh, no, I’m good. I don’t skate.”

“Neither do we!” Jeremy smiled. “We’re all here to learn.” He did his best job at a wink, and shot her with finger guns.

“Yeah, mostly them though. I like my scooter.” Charlie said, riding in circles. “Besides, my dad would kill me if I got hurt using a skateboard. Overbearing dad and the like.” She chuckled, though Vanessa didn’t care for the light hearted joke.

“So, you wanna try?” Jeremy asked again.

Vanessa weighed her options. She could easily say no and just watch. But if she really wanted to become a part of their group, she’d probably want to participate in their shenanigans. Besides, if she fell just right, maybe she’d hit her head and die, and none of this would have to be her problem.

She sighed, and shrugged. “I’ll try.”

“Rad!” Jeremy shouted out, handing her the board. “But be super careful, it’s Mike’s board, and his dad won’t buy him a new one if it breaks.” He whispered, and Michael smacked Jeremy in the shoulder.

“Nah, he’d totally get me a new one. Totally.” Michael said, trying to seem confident. “But don’t go and break it or anything.” He muttered the last part, staring at his feet.

“Yep yep, got it.” Vanessa said, pretending not to notice Michael’s attitude. Charlie scooted closer, watching intently.

Michael and Jeremy stood on either side of the skateboard as Vanessa took careful steps onto it. Jeremy, who was standing in front, held out his hands. “I’m fine.” She waved his hands away, wanting to prove she could stand on her own. The motion caused the board to move, and she began to fall. She quickly reached out, finding Jeremy’s hands before she could fall. She smiled shakily. “Y-yeah, thanks…” She said under her breath.

“No prob!” Jeremy smiled easily as Michael and Charlie snickered at the near accident. “Just ignore them. Here, you’re gonna want to put your dominant foot in the back, and your other in the front. Back foot goes sideways, front foot is angled like-” Jeremy lightly moved her foot with his own, “-that. Now you kick off with your back leg. It's totally easy.”

“Jere, didn’t you just eat dirt?” Michael teased, and Jeremy laughed.

“Yup!” Jeremy answered honestly. It didn’t make Vanessa feel much better about the predicament she got herself in. “But no worries Ness, just hold onto my hands, and you’ll be fine!”

Michael took a few steps away, and motioned towards himself. “Try to skate to me.” Charlie scooted towards Michael, standing beside him.
Vanessa took a deep, shaky breath. “It’s okay, you got this.” Jeremy reassured her, but she wasn’t sure how much it helped. She really didn’t know this kid. But she knew she had to be his friend to save him, so she nodded.

“Aw, is she chickening out?” Michael called over, and Charlie elbowed him in the stomach. “Ugh- Charlie!!” He turned, hitting her in the shoulder, and the two laughed.

Vanessa breathed in and breathed out. Still holding onto Jeremy’s hands, she kicked off with her right foot, moving forward slightly. Jeremy grinned at her, egging her on to continue. So she did. She pushed again, a little harder,and she moved a little farther. It felt good. Really, it did. It felt freeing. Something she could do freely. Something that served no other purpose but to have fun. For the past year or so of her life, she had done nothing she wanted to do. Everything was for the glitch. Everything was for Afton. And sure, skateboarding was not on her to do list, but it wasn’t on Afton’s either. She was happy to have this. Until she fell.

She wasn’t aware that hitting a single pebble would cause the whole board to stop, and she flew forward, nearly landing on her face.

“Oh man!” Jeremy shouted, trying to help her back up. Vanessa coughed and coughed, realizing she swallowed the gum during the fall.

“Ah shoot- you okay Ness?” Michael asked, clearly concerned. “We shouldn’t have made you try that, sor-”

“No.” Vanessa said, finally catching her breath. “No, I liked it. I wanna try again.” Vanessa admitted, rubbing dirt off her shirt. Jeremy cheered Vanessa on, applauding wildly. Michael laughed at Jeremy, and Charlie smiled towards Vanessa. And she thought she felt herself genuinely smile back.

Chapter Text

Gregory laughed in victory as he beat yet another arcade game. “Yes yes yes yes!” He pumped his fists in celebration, putting in the initials GGY so everyone would know was the best.

“Woo.” Evan whispered, joining into the celebration.

“You want a turn?” Gregory asked, motioning toward the game.

“Oh, I’m good. Thanks. It’s too loud for me.” He hugged his Fredbear plush, and Gregory was certain it looked up at him.

“So you don’t play them?”

“Oh, sometimes I do.” Evan admitted. “Only when Liz wants me to help her win more tickets.”

“Is that…fun for you?” Gregory couldn’t imagine having fun winning tickets for anyone but yourself. “Don’t you want anything from the prize corner?”

“Not really. I have Fredbear, and my friends back home. But playing them makes Liz happy, so I’m happy. As long as it’s not the loud games. They make me cry.” Evan smiled wearily, and glanced around the arcade.

Gregory realized he looked around a lot. He figured it was to make sure his brother wasn’t around to scare him. Evan seemed constantly aware of his surroundings, or at least he tried to be. Michael still scared him often.

But instead of Michael, Liz came walking up, lollipop in hand once again. “Hey losers.” She stood beside the arcade game. Gregory stuck her tongue out at her, and she returned the sentiment. She eyed the game, looking at the high scores. “Are you GGY?” She asked, seeming interested.

“Yeah, yeah I am. You jealous of my natural talent?” Gregory raised his eyebrows.
“No, not jealous, I’m much better than you.” She said, but she pouted a little anyway. “But I can certainly use your ‘natural talent’.”

Gregory laughed. “What, to get you tickets?”

Liz nodded. “Obviously.”

“You wish.” Gregory scoffed. “I want tickets too.”

Liz rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. “Ugh, you have to make this so difficult. How bout we just go and play some games, and we’ll…split the tickets.”

Gregory thought about it. “Seventy-thirty.”

“Forty-sixty.”

“Fifty-fifty.”

“Deal.”

The two kids shook their hands as Evan stood there, very confused, not fully understanding math.

The three kids ran around the arcade, playing as many games as they could. Gregory won almost any game he played, proudly putting his initials into the scoreboard. Liz wasn’t as good as Gregory was at the games, so she stuck to playing games she was good at. Unfortunately they didn’t give as many tickets away. Evan took turns following his sister and his friend, quietly cheering them each on.

The trio met back up in the back hallway of the pizzeria, throwing their tickets on to the ground, and they began counting. After a few short minutes of silence, they realized they didn’t get as much as they thought they would.

“Well this sucks.” Gregory announced after the silence.

“Well maybe you didn’t try hard enough.” Liz retorted.

“Me? Oh come on, I got so many high scores, there is no way that I am the problem-”

“Well duh it’s your problem. You’re new here, and can’t hold up your end of the deal.”

“Seriously? You played the same game the whole time, at least I tried different games-”

The two continued arguing back and forth, progressively getting louder and louder. Evan sat near the two, hugging his plush close to his chin, convering the bottom half of his face. He tried to hide the tears in his eyes, wiping at them every few seconds. He really didn’t like loud noises, or arguing.

“At least I-” Gregory stopped mid sentence, looking over at a teary eyed Evan. “Oh, Evan-”

Liz turned around, and quietly gasped. “Sorry Evan!” She ran over and gave him a big hug. “I can’t believe you would make him cry, Gregory.” Liz rolled her eyes at Gregory.

Gregory threw his arms out, ready to defend himself, but Evan cut him off. “No, it’s…it’s okay.” Evan sniffed, wiping away his tears. “Just…stop arguing. Please.”

Liz took a deep breath. “Okay, sorry Ev.” She crossed her arms, blowing hair out of her face, and glared at Gregory. “We’ll stop.”

Gregory groaned, shaking his head. “Whatever, we still need like, a ton more tickets to get anything good from the prize counter.”

“Well, what else can we do?” Liz asked.

“Hmm… we could just, like, take tickets from other kids.” Gregory thought aloud.
Liz gasped. “No way, that’s stealing!” She smacked Gregory in the shoulder, but thought about it for a moment. “Well, actually…”

The two boys leaned in closer, ready to hear Liz’s idea.

The trio’s poor, unsuspecting victim strolled around the pizzeria, excited to get the new Freddy plush from the prize counter. He held his tickets in his arms, proud of what he had achieved today. He smiled, and turned the corner, but three other kids stood in his way. “E-excuse me-” He stammered, trying to walk past them.

“Nah, you gotta pay up first.” The girl, who was easily recognized as Elizabeth Afton, said.

“Huh?” The victim questioned.

“She said you gotta pay up. Half your tickets.” The older boy responded, eyeing all his tickets. The victim began to shake his head, but the older boy laughed. “C’mon, hand them over. Or else you’re not going anywhere.

The victim’s eyes darted between the three kids, eventually landing on the little boy, Evan Afton, with his creepy Fredbear plush in his arms. Evan shrugged, and smiled a little. The victim looked at his tickets one last time and sighed, giving in.

Once again the trio sat in the back hallway distributing their tickets. “Nice haul.” Gregory smiled triumphantly.

“Yeah, I do tend to have pretty brilliant ideas, don’t I?” Liz smiled as well.

Gregory rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, want a round of applause?”

“Always.” She responded, standing and bowing for the two boys.

Evan giggled and nodded silently. Gregory looked at his pile of tickets, and grabbed a bit, giving it to Evan. “Have some, you deserve it.”

Evan opened his mouth to say no, but Liz cut him off by handing him some as well. “Yeah, I guess you should have some too.” She did her best to hide her smirk, but evidently failed.

“I…thank you guys.” Evan smiled, and teared up.

“Oh Evan, you okay-?” Liz scooted over, giving him a big hug.

“Mhmm…” Evan nodded, “I’m just very happy.”

Gregory smiled in victory. Not only did they get all the tickets a kid could ever need (until they want more), but they caused Evan to happy cry, and that’s the best accomplishment ever.

“Little man, did you actually win some games?” In front of them was now Mike and his group of friends, all but Charlie seeming a little scuffed up. Gregory eyed Vanessa confusingly, and she shrugged in response.

“Oh c’mon Mike, leave him alone-” Liz stood, defending Evan.

“Oh what, he can’t talk for himself? I’m listening Evan, speak up.” Mike squatted down, cupping his ear.

Evan looked nervously around, and locked eyes with Gregory. He nodded at the young boy, sneaking him a thumbs up for encouragement. Evan took a shaky breath. “I…won them myself.” Evan spoke up, sounding fairly confident in his lie.

“Yeah, so take that!” Gregory laughed in Mike’s face.

“Ugh, whatever.” Mike stood and turned. “We’re heading home or whatever.” He walked away, seeming defeated by a child.

Charlie chuckled lightly, and patted Evan on the back. “Good job Ev.”

“Thanks.” Evan whispered. He quickly stood, and scurried toward his brother, following him towards the exit.

Gregory turned to Liz who was flicking him on the shoulder. “Thanks for making today bearable. And thanks for being Evan’s friend. Maybe mine too?” Liz whispered the last part, looking almost shy for once.

“Yeah, sure.” Gregory said, caught off guard from the question. “Only as long as you promise not to be annoying all the time.” He smirked, and Liz laughed.

“Yeah fine, whatever. No promises though.” She smiled, and followed behind her brothers.

“Jeez kid-” Vanessa said, eyes wide, “how’d you get so many tickets?”

“Yeah, that’s like, the jackpot.” Jeremy laughed.

“Oh, we scammed a bunch of kids.” Gregory announced proudly, and the three teens stood in silence.

“Uh…just make sure my dad doesn’t find out about that.” Charlie, smiling a little. “That’s pretty funny though.”

“Yeah, it’s awesome!!” Gregory shouted excitedly.

The teens laughed a little. “Anyway, Ness, you two need a ride home? My dad is driving Jeremy home, so we don’t mind.” Charlie offered the two.

Gregory saw the immediate worry on Vanessa’s face. “O-oh, we’re good! We like the walk home.” He chuckled nervously. “But t-thanks Charlie.”

Charlie gave her a look, but shrugged. “Okay, if you ever need one though, my dad and I don’t mind.”

Vanessa sighed. “Thanks.”

Charlie and Jeremy waved goodbye, and left. Vanessa sat down against the wall, seemingly catching her breath. Gregory kicked at her.

“Hey, stop-”

“Nah. Don’t feel like it. Why are you so tired?”

“I didn’t know skateboarding would hurt this much.”

Gregory laughed at her. That’s what you guys were doing? Skateboarding?”

“Yup.” Vanessa took a deep breath. “And they want to do it again.”

“Not excited?” Gregory asked, sitting beside her.

“Nah, I kinda am. It was fun. It just hurts.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. I say we go back to the motel and go swimming.”

“Go swimming in that filthy motel pool? No way. Besides, we don’t even have swimsuits.”

“Ugh.” Gregory complained.

“Maybe someday we can find a nicer public pool or something. And get swimsuits.”

“Cool!” Gregory jumped up, and began to run for the exit.

“Hey, no promises kid!!” Vanessa yelled behind him, and the two headed back to their motel.