Chapter Text
Mike and Jeremy had arrived at the mall later than they planned. Lizzie was going to have their heads when they saw her.
Mike had been ready for over an hour. He always is. Even when he was a kid, he was always rushing everyone out of the house early. It was everyone else that was always late. Jeremy especially! Ever since they’ve moved in together, Jeremy is always making him late to everything. He would stay in bed, half asleep, right until the minute they had to leave. And today is the last day they should be late.
“Hey, hey!” Mike was dragging Jeremy by his bicep— the short bastard was having trouble keeping up with his friend’s long legs, so Mike intervened— as they ran across the mall to where he saw the Freddy’s inside. “Would you calm down! Lizzie will understand! She wouldn’t want me showing up all gross and greasy, huh?”
“I told you to take a shower before we left!” Mike scolded him for the millionth time.
“I did!” Jeremy’s hair was still wet.
“More than five minutes after we were supposed to leave!” He pushed him forward into the entrance. The annoyingly loud music was already drowning out their conversation. “How is that even possible? We might as well not have come at all!”
Jeremy huffed. “It’s a 9 year old’s birthday party. And we live in this city! It’s not that big of a deal! I’m sure they haven’t even noticed.”
Mike wasn’t so sure. There were so many kids running around, but when he found his family in the crowds, he could see his niece sitting with her head in her arms while Lizzie was trying to talk to her from across the booth. Henry was there too with his partner. Mike couldn’t see anyone else and he was getting pretty worried seeing none of the kids running over to talk to her. He swallowed and forced on a smile as he approached the table, holding up her presents.
“Hey, Cas!” He called for the girl, who sniffled and lifted her head. She didn’t smile back at Mike. “We’re here! I’m sorry we were—”
Lizzie pushed herself out of the cushioned bench and stomped up to the two men. Both Mike and Jeremy stepped back at the fury in her eyes.
“Where the fuck were you guys?!” She hissed out like a venomous snake, ready to snap at their necks. “No one but Susie and her baby are here, none of my coworkers with kids wanted to make the drive, and the few friends she did invite said their parents wouldn’t let them come! I would have expected her own uncle would make the 3 minute drive from his house to make it here on time!”
Mike was cringing away from her fury so much he was practically forced down to her height. Jeremy had taken cover completely, hiding behind his back.
She's gotten way scarier since having Cassie.
“No one’s shown up?” Mike stepped over all the yelling about their lateness, choosing instead to note that apparently none of the kids running around were friends of hers.
“No one,” Lizzie leaned back and crossed her arms. She was still spitting through her teeth, looking around with hate in her eyes. “I heard from one of the moms that they don’t trust our family. She doesn’t even want her daughter to be anywhere near Cassie.”
“That’s bullshit,” Mike snapped. “Just because William was an asshole doesn’t mean shit about—”
She scoffs. “They don’t trust any of us.”
“Mama?”
Lizzie immediately turned around and smiled at her daughter, tucking hair behind her ear. “Yeah, baby?”
“Can you please stop yelling.”
Cassie was in tears. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was embarrassingly snotty, but like Hell Mike is going to say anything about it to her. He handed off the presents to his sister and walked over and took the spot Lizzie occupied previously. He ducked his head to look at her. She dropped her head instead and sniffled loudly.
“Cas?” Mike whispered softly. The girl whined loudly.
“It’s Cassie!” She cried, muffled in her sweater’s sleeves.
Mike laughed. “You are so much like your mother, you know that? She used to correct me on her name all the time. Hates being called Liz. Don’t even think about using Elizabeth around her.”
Cassie giggles a little. “Elizabeth.”
“Yep.”
“What about Beth? Or E-liz-a?”
“It would be Eliza, but she doesn’t like those either.”
Cassie lifted her head and dropped her chin on her hands. There was smears of gooey, thick makeup that was clearly made just for glittery and girly little kids like her. It was all over her sleeves. Hopefully, Lizzie could get those stains out. She was still pouting.
“Why did no one come to my party, Uncle Mike?” She mumbled. She sounded heartbroken. He really didn’t know what to say.
“You did want to have it in the city,” he tried to make excuses, trying to rationalize why they would hurt her like this for something that wasn’t her fault. “Maybe they just couldn’t make it. That happens sometimes. Not everyone can—”
“But I wanted to go to Freddy’s!” She shouted. She buried her face again and stomped her feet angrily. “I wanted to go to a Freddy’s because it’s so cool and we don’t have one, but you do! I wanted to see you too and show my friends how cool my family is!
“This is stupid!” Cassie pushed herself away from the table and ran off, ducking under her mother’s arms. No one went after her.
Lizzie just sighed and put the gifts on a separate table. There were only three other gifts there and a few cards.
“I just don’t get it,” Jeremy spoke up. He hopped into the booth next to Mike, gesturing wildly as he talked. “We all moved from Hurricane! How can what your father did, like, 20 years ago still follow you around? Weren’t you guys the victims here? Why the—” he cut himself off quickly and glanced towards the kids. “Why the eff does it matter?”
“He’s getting out soon,” Henry answered. He leaned against the side of the booth. “It has everyone on edge. Things are getting brought back up, we’re all working on getting some sort of order of protection. And with a Freddy’s around here, news is spreading a little faster about what happened to one of the co-founders.”
“Still bullshit, I agree.” Lizzie sits herself opposite of them, where her daughter once sat. She looked exhausted, probably from all the stress she was under trying to salvage Cassie’s ruined birthday. Or she just really needed a cigarette. “I moved here to get away from it all, and to make sure we were far away from anywhere William could get to us, but of fucking course, he’s still ruining people’s lives.”
“Language, please.” Henry asked kindly. Lizzie just grunted and waved him off.
“So, Evan couldn’t make it?” Mike tried changing the subject from their father. He didn’t like thinking about his release.
Lizzie shook her head. “Nope. Couldn’t get out of work. Plus, he’s in New York. He probably doesn’t have enough money to pay for a ticket and fly down here. He said he sent a gift though. Didn’t come here in time.”
Mike nodded, not paying too much attention. He was watching all the kids running by, watching the animatronics standing at tables and singing songs.
Henry had sold Freddy’s long ago, somewhere in the 90’s when it was becoming too much for him and he needed the money for when they all started going to college. The company that bought it gave him a hefty sum and renamed the business to Fazbear’s Entertainment. Wasn’t a bad name. Not much changed in Hurricane with the original locations, but the new ones that were in malls and bigger towns all over the western states were a lot more modern. Or, not really modern, but not the same.
The one in Mike’s city— and the closest one to where Lizzie, Cassie, and Henry moved to— was weird. It was some sort of cheesy rendition of what the 80’s looked like, all neons, rock bands, and weird lightning bolts everywhere. There were some of the classic characters like Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie, but they’ve replaced Foxy with some wolf chick and added a bunch of random new ones.
Mike was kind of offended that they would get rid of the only one that he designed, but he supposed Roxy fit the theme they were going for better. Having a random pirate in a rock band was a little strange.
“I’m going to go look for Cas,” he said, unaware that he was interrupting a conversation. He noticed quickly enough. “Sorry, I just feel like this is my fault. I feel bad for being late and then upsetting her more.”
Lizzie huffed, but smiled a little. “That’s sweet, I guess. She does love you. And I’m sure it’s not your fault, today’s just a bad day.” She clapped her hands on the table suddenly. “Plus, that gives me time for a cig. Jeremy?”
Jeremy hopped out of the booth without question and walked out with Lizzie. He didn’t even like cigarettes, they just always hung out together whenever Lizzie needed a smoke. Probably a habit started when he used to smoke something that rhymes with shmeed.
Mike was last out of the booth and started off to find his niece.
The place wasn’t too big, but it had high ceilings and kids everywhere. Scratch that, he forgot about the party rooms scattered throughout the place and the stage room off the side of the arcade. It was just the general dining hall that wasn’t that big. Christ.
Mike decided that the party rooms were an easy no. It was a weekend and you would be caught pretty easily if you rushed into one of those. And if he remembers correctly from his time working at one of the locations back in Utah, all the rooms not in use were locked to prevent anyone stealing things or taking the room without a deposit put down first. He assumed Cassie wasn’t in the arcade just by principle. It was filled with kids and extremely loud. If he was upset and crying, he wouldn’t want to run in a room full of loud people everywhere. You would want to be alone where no one would notice.
So, Mike chose to look around the stage.
“Cas!” He called out, trying not to be too loud. “Cassie! C’mon out, kid! I can try convincing your mom to let you open gifts and have cake now. Then, I can pay for any game you wanna play. I’ll play with you too! Wouldn’t that be fun?”
No response. Mike wasn’t finding anything around the stage. He looked towards the curtains. If he was a crying kid, he would definitely hide in there. Somewhere you’re completely not supposed to be, and therefore, somewhere adults wouldn’t check.
Luckily for Mike, he knows better than anyone where to hide in a Freddy’s.
He hopped on the stage and was about to call out again, but stopped short. He could hear voices. Definitely a few sniffles, but he heard a voice that he knew wasn’t his niece.
Carefully, Mine softened his footsteps and pulled the curtain open just a smidge to look inside.
Cassie was curled up on the floor, legs pulled to her chest, still snotty and running with makeup. In front of her was another kid. They were kneeling on their knees in front of her, whispering to her and trying to stop her from crying.
“It’s okay, it’s fine. I’ll help you.” The kid— a boy— turned away and shuffled a step or two to the side to rummage around a large bowling bag. It looked like he had gotten it from Freddy’s judging from the design on it. He pulled out a packet of wet wipes and shuffled back over to Cassie, taking one out of the pack. The kid held it out to her. “Here. You’re kinda gross.”
Cassie laughed a little and sniffed. She took the wipe and started cleaning her face. The boy sat back on his legs and slouched forward. Mike took a closer look at him while it was calm.
The first thing he noticed was the kid’s hair. It was a mess. Mike could mostly just see the back of his head, but there was no doubt that the whole thing was a mess. It was more than just tangled, it was matted. It sat just above his shoulders in clumps, clearly not well taken care of. The rest of him looked better, but not good either. His clothes were dirty and his shoes were being held together by obsessive amounts of duct tape. The only thing that looked to be in good condition were the a-little-too-big socks that were bunched up at his ankles.
“Why are you crying?” The kid asked as he handed Cassie another wipe. He took the dirty one from her and just held it in his lap.
“Cause everyone hates me,” she sniffed, scrubbing at her eyes. “I invited everyone. Everyone! No one came! Only my family and one of my mom’s friends came. I didn’t do anything wrong— why did no one want to come to my party?!”
She huffed and looked at the wipe when she was done with it. Her lip wobbled as she stared at the ruined makeup that was no doubt covering it. The boy shifted a little.
“I’m, uh,” he scratched at the floor, shoulders tense. He was uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. Is it your birthday?”
“Yes,” Cassie said. She wiped her nose and put the wipe aside instead of giving it to the boy. “I’m nine. It was a few days ago, but we had to wait for the weekend to have a party. So people could come.”
She sounded bitter on that last part. It made Mike feel like a worthless ant. She deserved so much better.
“What about you? Is it your birthday too?” She turned the question on the boy.
“Oh, uh, no. My birthday is some other day. I’m just here for food and maybe some games. If I can find any tokens on the floor.” He made Cassie laugh again and he seemed to perk up at that. Mike could only see the back of his head, but his posture seemed to show enough. “I’m already ten, so I’m older than you.”
“You’re really small for a 10 year old.” She teased.
“Nuh-uh! I’m the perfect size!” The boy sat up taller as if to prove it and Cassie burst into giggles.
“What’s your name?” She asked, showing off the thick braces on her teeth with her smile.
“Gregory,” he said. “What’s your’s?”
“Cassie.”
That seemed as good of a time as ever to reveal himself. Mike made a show of taking clear steps and opening the curtain fully.
“Hey, Cas! There you are. We’ve been looking for you.” The two kids looked up. Mike saw Gregory’s face for the first time. It looked to be one of the only parts of the kid regularly washed, but that’s not to say it was being washed correctly. He had thick eyebrows that immediately turned down at the sight of him and warm brown eyes that held suspicion. Mike kept himself polite to ignore the trust issues coming from the kid. “Who’s this? You made a friend?”
“No! Or, maybe? I don’t know— he didn’t say we were friends but—” Cassie shook her head and wiped her face quickly to get rid of any glitter still stuck behind. “This is Gregory. That’s my Uncle Mike.”
“Hey, kid,” Mike held out a hand to help him up, but Gregory ignored it— actually cringing away from it— and pushing himself up without help. He helped Cassie get up, though. Seeing them both standing was eerie. Cassie had gained their family’s tall genes, no doubt about it, but Gregory was several inches shorter when he was supposedly older than her. “Uhh, okay. Well… we should get back to your mom now, don’t you think?”
Cassie nodded. She looked at Gregory, playing with her hands.
“Do you— do you wanna come to my party?” She asked in such a hopeful tone. As soon as she got that out, she exploded with pleas. “We have cupcakes and cookies and unlimited tokens for the games, and Roxy is going to come to my table and sing Happy Birthday to me! Please, please Gregory, it would be so much fun. Pleaseeeee—”
Mike laughed and shushed her. “Cas, c’mon. I’m sure Gregory can play, but he probably has to ask his parents first.”
She looked desperate, but held her tongue to stop begging so much. Both of them looked towards Gregory to get his answer.
The kid still looked hesitant. He hasn’t said a word since Mike had shown his face, quiet as can be. Something was bugging Mike about the kid. He was certain the kid wasn’t being well taken care of— he’s had mats like that in his hair before— but he didn’t want to assume anything. It was hard not to, Gregory was clearly wary around adults.
“Do you think your parents would say yes?” Cassie asked another question, growing impatient. Mike placed a hand on her shoulder.
Gregory stared at the two for a moment before looking at the ground. “I mean… I can ask.”
Cassie gasped and excitedly shook out her bracelet covered wrists, hopping over to her new friend and squealing. Gregory looked startled by the sight, but he smiled a little too, infected by her joy. They ran off without Mike, making him jog after the kids to make sure they didn’t get hurt.
When he made it back to the general seating area, Cassie was already introducing her new friend to her mother and begging her to let them play together. Mike doubted Lizzie was going to say no to her princess, especially not when she had no one else to play with. Just as he expected, Lizzie said that was more than okay.
“We have a lot of food,” she relayed to the kids and later to the other adults in the family. “I spent a good amount of money on this party, I would rather not waste the whole thing on just us.”
Mike joked that Jeremy was eating the same amount as ten children anyways with how he was scarfing down slice after slice.
For the rest of the party, Cassie didn’t once sit and mope. She was running around with Gregory everywhere. They were playing games, climbing on things, and eating all the treats and food Lizzie had paid for. At times, they seemed to not know what to do around each other. Cassie, Mike knew, was awkward around kids sometimes because she just wanted them to like her so much. Gregory he doesn’t know as well, but it seemed like he didn’t socialize with a lot of kids. He looked confused any time Cassie would do something kids just like to do, like jumping around or dancing randomly. It might just be that Gregory wasn’t the most energetic kid, but he did keep up with Cassie the same, so that was unlikely.
When it came to food, Gregory would eat fast and ravenously. He was very thin, but still had the round face of a young kid. He ate with his shoulders hunched, not once putting the pizza slice down. Once he would finish chewing, he’d immediately take the next bite, repeating the process until he was finished. Gregory ate feverishly, but he didn’t eat a lot. He only had two slices and half a cup of soda before he said he was full.
It was odd. Mostly, it was concerning.
When the kids were out of earshot, Mike tried bringing up his concerns.
“Did you talk to Gregory’s parents?” He asked his sister, who was currently finishing off one of the Chica cupcakes. The Chica at this location barely looked like her. She did look more a “girl” however.
Lizzie shook her head. “No, but he said he would. I haven’t had anyone come up to me yet, so I assume it’s all fine.”
She licked frosting off her teeth and wiped her mouth with a napkin. There was a look in her eyes that she was thinking the same thing Mike was. At least, he hoped she was.
“Have you noticed anything about Gregory,” he asked, picking at the flimsy tablecloth instead of looking at her. “Anything setting off some motherly instincts.”
“Everything sends off motherly instincts. You’ll understand when you become a mother.”
“Liz—”
“I mean,” Lizzie huffed and waved her hand in the air. “I get kids all the time that have mats in their heads from neglectful parents, but it doesn’t always mean something bad. Sometimes I get parents that have kids throwing tantrums if you so much as touch their heads with a brush, so they give up and have me come in to chop off bad knots.”
“Yeah, but what about the smell.”
“Sometimes kids don’t want to get cleaned up.”
“Lizzie, that’s obviously not just a kid being difficult about washing up, that’s clearly neglect.”
“The kids I see that have mats in their hair from neglect are kids too young to know how to clean themselves, many even are unable to.” Lizzie gathered some trash in his hands and pushed off to a trash can. “Gregory is clearly old enough to know how to do all that stuff, but something makes it so he’s unable to.
“I’m not stupid, Mike, I know something’s up with the kid,” Lizzie came back over to lean on the side of the booth with her brother. She watched her daughter and Gregory, jaw clenched shut. “If they continue to be friends, my door will always be open for him. I’ll make sure he knows he can call me anytime and I will be there to help, but I can’t say he’s being— you know. I can’t say he’s anything because I don’t know him. But I do see what you see, Mike. I’m not dumb.”
Mike felt relieved to hear that. Lizzie wasn’t stupid, he didn’t think that, he was just worried. Some things were just a little too familiar about the situation.
Gregory and Cassie were currently pressed together as they watched the claw descend from above and attempt to grab a Roxy stuffed animal. It grabbed it by its arm and just as it was being lifted up, the claw swung around a little too hard and dropped the doll. Both of the kids shouted at the machine. Gregory even dropped down to try and reach his arm into the compartment, making Cassie laugh.
He trusts Lizzie to watch out for the kid. He just hopes the kid accepts it better than he did.
The party was probably over by now. Mike had work at 11pm, so he wanted to take a quick nap before he had to go. They left first— something Lizzie commented on sarcastically— but he didn’t leave without saying goodbye to Cassie.
He said goodbye to Gregory too, telling him it was nice to meet him and how he hopes he continues being friends with Cassie so he could see him again. Gregory had only nodded, still not saying much to him or any of the adults.
Mike was leaving for his job soon, already dressed in uniform and ready to go. He stared at himself in the mirror. He could almost imagine what he looked like as a kid Gregory’s age. He probably had matted hair and old clothes too, maybe a few more bruises than just a couple old ones on his legs like every child has.
He looked towards the couch to where Jeremy was lounging, eating pasta from where the bowl balanced on his chest.
“Do you ever think about having kids?” Mike asked.
Jeremy stopped chewing and glanced up. He made a face, confused. “Maybe.” He said, without swallowing his food. “I like kids. I think they’re fun and cute. Why? Cassie’s party making you think of that stuff?”
Mike shrugged and turned away, scratching at the back of his head. “I dunno. Maybe a little bit. I just wonder if I’d make a good dad.”
“You’d make a fucking amazing dad. Look how Lizzie and Evan turned out! Could’ve been a lot worse without you there.”
Mike thought about bruises on little arms, clutched in his hands. He thought about all the times he’s screamed at and belittled his siblings for getting on his nerves.
He just shrugged again. “I have to go now. See ya.”