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Chapter Text

She really should’ve listened to him, she thought he was just being nervous as always. Charlie watched the party from the outside, heavy rain slamming against her back, no matter how hard she tried to press against the massive front window and under the big “Fredbear’s Family Diner” sign above.

Inside were boxes carefully wrapped, one holding what her dad had named “The Marionette.” Each child was given a colored bracelet to indicate their party group, but also so if any kids got close to the exit, The Marionette would come over and lead them away. Her and her friend, being children of the owners of Fredbear’s, were given special green bracelets. He was hiding somewhere, petrified of the animatronics on stage for some reason, so Charlie was the one The Marionette had been mainly focused on. That was until the kids played an elaborate prank on her. A group of them distracted The Marionette, eventually trapping it in its box while others pushed her outside. When she first begged to come back inside, they just laughed, mocking her for being the owner’s daughter yet not knowing any way in. None of the adults could hear anything over the music and children’s laughing and screaming, playing arcade machines and in the ball pit, either that or they just didn’t care about a kid that wasn’t their own. She thought at least maybe the employees would help, especially since she was their boss’s daughter, but no, they were being occupied by other kids, nagging parents, and whatever new mess needed cleaning.

Charlie watched helplessly as The Marionette’s box shook, jumping as a result of its meaningless effort to break free. It was all meaningless. But she had to keep trying, she had to keep banging on the window, even though it probably just sounded like heavy rain. Curse her small six year old hands.

Nearly all hope was lost, until a dark blueish car pulled up into the parking lot, having a purple tint under the luminescent sign above. A man stepped out, not even caring to take out an umbrella. While she was used to seeing him mainly in a purple suit or trying out the Spring Bonnie animatronic, she could still recognize him. Mr. Afton, co-founder of Fredbear’s Family Diner. He was definitely there to pick up his son, but upon seeing Charlie outside, he paused, giving her time to run over.

“Mr. Afton. Thank goodness.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, unable to fully reach his spine, “The kids locked me out and I wanna go home. Can you pretty please let me come with you?”

He didn’t seem to acknowledge her, only tilting his head down between glances. It was weird, but he was always a little weird, he kinda reminded Charlie of a mad scientist, of course, one of the ones who only used their genius for the good of children. Like Willy Wonka.

There was a silence between them, only punctuated by the heavy downpour and muffled fun activities indoors, yet Charlie never let go. He finally patted her on the head.

“My my, how terrible.” He spoke softly in that soothing, melodic tone of his, “You must’ve been awfully scared.”

Charlie finally let go, looking up at him, his face illuminated in the neon light from above, “Mhm…”

“Are you sure you don’t want to just go back into the party?”

She shook her head, “I want to go home.”

“Alright. Let me check if I have the keys.” He pulled himself away from her, opening the driver’s door, reaching over into the glove box. She couldn’t exactly see what he had pulled out and put into his back pocket, but she could tell it was shiny and silver from the way it reflected the lights, even for just a split second.

He walked past the front door, shifting to go into the alley on the left. He briefly paused to turn back at her.

“Come on, we’ll go in from the side.”

“Why?”

“You don’t want those kids to pick on you again, do you?” His voice was still calm, cold, yet inviting.

Charlie glanced at the car, “Can’t I just wait here?”

“See, you could, but I don’t know where my son is at that party. Besides, who knows what could happen when I’m not looking, you’re lucky I found you before someone else did.”

She gulped, shifting as she looked at the car, then back at Mr. Afton. His face was neutral, a tiny hint of a smile. Charlie glanced back at the party inside, remembering how she was treated there, she took a shaky breath, then looked at Mr. Afton, who’s hand was now stretched out.

“Don’t you trust uncle William?”

Charlie stepped forward, taking his hand and following him to the side alley.

∗ ∗ ∗

She woke up in the dark. A box? She tried to speak, but she couldn’t open her mouth. She couldn’t breathe. Was she dead? She tried remembering and—

Oh.

She was dead.

He killed her.

So how was she still here? Charlie looked down at her hands. Long slender hands with black and white stripes, her fingers being more like claws. This wasn’t her body. She reached up, poking herself out of the box. There she was. In Fredbear’s Family Diner. Kids playing around, laughing, having fun. Bonnie and Freddy on stage singing a popular song.

A little girl approached her, but was quickly pulled away by what looked to be her mom.

She heard a voice, a familiar voice.

“Dad!” She wanted to cry, she wanted to run over and hug him, tell him everything. But…

“What did I tell you, I want this thing moved to the backrooms.”

He didn’t even look at her. He didn’t even hear her.

Two employees nodded, putting the lid back on, forcing Charlie back into the box, picking it up and taking it away. She managed to peak her head just a bit so the box lid would lift without them noticing.

“I know you’re in pain, Henry. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

This voice. HIS voice. Charlie squinted her eyes at her killer as he comforted her father. The man HE hurt. He got away with it?

Oh no.

Oh NO!!

She couldn’t do anything now. But she was going to do something. She was going to make him face justice.

She was going to make him suffer for his crimes.

Chapter Text

He was scared of animatronics. But now he was scared of something worse. His own family. His brother had been scaring him all week, all year, all his life. He was used to it at this point. But his dad? He never expected that. He knew what he did. Last year. To Charlie. Yet, he couldn’t say a thing. His nightmares got worse and worse over the past week. It was like the world was punishing him. The universe was punishing him.

At first, he tried telling Elizabeth what he saw that night a year ago, but she didn’t listen. She called him a liar. She's never around anymore, always outside playing with others, or at the pizzeria with their dad.

All he had was Fredbear. Not the animatronic, a plush. He always had one around, he knew there would be one near, watching him. For some reason, that brought him comfort. Sometimes, he swore it spoke to him. He could never remember when he got it. Maybe a Christmas, or a prize from Fredbear’s, or maybe a birthday gift.

Birthday. That was today. He was exhausted, getting barely any sleep the night before, his nightmares tormenting him endlessly, and now he had to go to a birthday party he didn’t even want to go to, but he had to because it was his. Having a pizzeria owner as a dad sounded great, until you realized he would just host all your parties at the pizzeria, just because they got a massive discount. At least he had Fredbear, his only friend in this world. The car ride was standard, Elizabeth having forced her way into the front seat, Michael staring out the window, bobbing his head to whatever was on the radio, and him, sitting with his Fredbear plush, trying not to burst into tears and failing miserably. The car parked in the packed lot, they weren’t the only ones having a party of course, really the only people who would be at his party were his family, Mr. Emily, and Charlie. But Charlie couldn’t come. Because she was dead. And it was his dad’s fault.

They all made their way in and got the table, Mr. Emily came in with a somber expression and fruitlessly tried to cheer up for the rest of the group. His dad gave Mr. Emily a pat on the shoulder,

“Daddy, when’s the cake coming out?” Elizabeth looked around.

“Not for a while, sweetie.” Elizabeth pouted at the response, causing their dad to pat her head, “Go play. I’ll tell you when it’s time.”

Michael had already left, hopefully to just play the arcade games. He fit right into the crowd with his bright red foxy mask covering his face, the mask he always used to scare him. Elizabeth ran towards the ballpit to hang out with kids her age. His dad and Mr. Emily talked for what felt like hours about business stuff, his dad comforting Mr. Emily. He couldn’t bear watching it anymore, knowing what his dad had done, knowing he was the cause of Mr. Emily’s grief. He ran off, hopefully to escape the whole party. He didn’t even realize his face was covered in tears. Or the shadows approaching.

“Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn’t he?” A deep voice chuckled. Oh no.

Oh no.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded. Bonnie, Chica, Freddy, and Foxy. Way taller than his puny seven year old self. He looked around, maybe Fredbear would know a way out.

Fredbear wasn’t with him.

Fredbear was left on the seat at their booth.

He was alone.

All alone.

“It’s hilarious.” The familiar voice of his brother pulled itself out of the crowd. Even through the Foxy mask, he could see his nasty grin.

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

∗ ∗ ∗

She didn’t witness it, but she noticed when she felt a new presence, a familiar one. Her memories were already beginning to fade, but she could recognize the sobbing anywhere. Charlie poked her head out of the box. If she was human, her eyes would’ve definitely risen.

This wasn’t the backrooms of Fredbear’s family diner, she didn’t recognize this place at all. She quickly deduced that this must be some kind of warehouse, where items from the Freddy’s franchise go until they could be properly put somewhere or reused. Next to her, slumped against a crate was Fredbear. That was it. The presence.

“Hello?” She asked, tilting her long slender neck, her claw fingers grasping the edge of her box. Fredbear tried to move his head, but was forced back down.

“H–Hello?”

There was no mistaking it. It was him.

“It’s me.”

“Where are you?” The gargled voice box of the bear spoke with the voice of a young boy, only a year older than her.

“Over here. The box.”

Once again, the bear tried to tilt his head towards her, this time making a small movement, accompanied by the sound of two pieces of metal brushing hard against each other, rusting together.

“Is it really you?”

Charlie nodded, “What happened? Did he get you too?”

“I…” He paused, “I can’t remember.”

She reached over, trying her best not to make too much noise, she patted his head.

“I’m starting to forget too. We can forget together.”

Silence.

“He killed me.”

“Your father?”

“No,” He paused, choking with a sob, “‘I’m sorry’ he said.”

Charlie noticed blood stains around the mouth and jaw that were unable to be cleaned out of the fabric.

“I’m sorry.” He broke the silence.

“For what?” She asked, retracting from animatronic body.

“I couldn’t save you, because I’m a big wimp.”

“You’re not a wimp.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Because of your father. He’s the one keeping us here. We need to get rid of him. Then we can be free.”

He paused for a long time.

“And my brother?”

“What about him?”

“He killed me.”

She put her hand on his shoulder, “You said it yourself, he said sorry to you. It was an accident. Your dad, he killed me on purpose. His machine is what killed you.”

He was silent again, Charlie was worried he might just ignore her, until his broken voice box filled the silent, cold air.

“Ok.”

Chapter Text

Terrible. Everything was terrible. This was supposed to be her day. Of course, it wasn’t her birthday, that wasn’t for another two months, but this was her second biggest day. It was the day her father was going to open Fredbear’s Family Diner’s sister location, Circus Baby’s Pizza World. Her design was finally coming to life in the form of the titular animatronic, Circus Baby. Then THAT happened. Now her younger brother was dead and her older brother was in a bit of a dump. Their father managed to keep anything more from happening, with money and a little bit of threats, but overall, the whole event really dampened the mood of the day. The worst part? Because Mike was in a funk, she had to do her hair by herself. She had managed, but just barely, trying to match Circus Baby’s outfit and wearing big red bows, even if they clashed with her pigtailed hair. It made her stand out.

Well, at least her father would only spend time with her today. He had been cooped up in his study for the past few days, so Elizabeth was a bit lonely. But, in her mind, she was building up to this day, the perfect day.

Circus Baby was made just for her. Sure, other kids would get to play with her because she was part of an animatronic band, but it really was made for her. She got a few sneak peaks at the blueprints, she could make balloons, sing any song you wanted, and could even dispense ice cream. That’s when she really confirmed it. Circus Baby was made for her.

Elizabeth rambled on and on to her father about how she was going to play all day with Circus Baby, how they were going to be best friends and all the ice cream she’ll get to eat for free. Her father remained silent during the car ride, only giving simple nods. When they parked the car, he didn’t move, keeping the car door locked. The silence was uncomfortable, Elizabeth just wanted to go and meet Circus Baby already, but her father didn’t budge. He turned to her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Elizabeth. I need you to follow one simple rule for me today, alright.”

She nodded enthusiastically, expecting it to be something small like let the other kids have a turn with Circus Baby or make sure not to eat too much ice cream. Upsetting, but manageable.

“You are not to approach any of the animatronics under any circumstances. Understood?”

She couldn’t stop her mouth from dropping, her expression turning sour. “But not–”

“Even Circus Baby.”

Oh.

“But daddy, why not?” She scowled, crossing her arms, “You made her for me, right?”

“I’m not going to discuss this with you Elizabeth. You are to stay by me. Do you understand?”

“But I–”

“I said. Do you understand?” His tone was growing harsher. She paused, her angry expression softening as she sighed.

“I understand.”

“Good.” He finally unbuckled his seatbelt and unlocked the car, “Come along then.”

∗ ∗ ∗

She woke up underground. Trapped in a dark place. Where was she? Where was her daddy? Where…

All she remembered was ice cream, and getting pulled in. The scream, the sounds, they all played on repeat in her head. But something was weird, she felt her memories being merged with someone else's, like they weren’t really her own. She saw her face, she heard her voice.

“Daddy…”

Elizabeth whispered, her voice echoing in the darkness. Small animatronics scurried towards her, Bidybabs. She remembered drawing them. Drawing herself. Drawing Circus Baby. They titled their heads, some trying to climb up her metallic leg, waiting for some kind of order. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream.

“Where’s my daddy? I want my daddy.”

Her body was stiff, she didn’t dare move. She wanted to go home. She wanted her daddy. She wanted her brothers. She wanted her mommy.

“I’m sorry, daddy. Please come back.”

Nothing.

“Please come back.”

She sobbed, yet no tears came out.

“Please don’t leave me alone.”

Chapter Text

She was actively trying to hold back tears. Her mama and papa had taken her and her sister to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria to make her feel better, but she didn’t want to feel better, she wanted her Sparky back. Sparky had been given to her on her birthday, and the two were best friends. They liked to play and sometimes she would hide him in her backpack and take him to school with her, though she would always get caught and he’d have to go home. Then, one day when she was at school, her papa accidentally left the back gate open and Sparky ran away. She didn’t want to be here, she needed to be back home, what if Sparky came back but she wasn’t there? But, her parents insisted she come with them.

Susie was given a handful of Faztokens to play with at the arcade after she showed no interest in playing in the playplace. The arcade had many games; Donkey Kong, Midnight Motorist, Pac-Man, and a bunch of other ones she couldn’t remember the name of, but her favorite game was Fruity Maze. For a while, she had the highest score, but in her absence, someone surpassed her. She forgot about Sparky for a moment, she had to fix this.

The early levels were easy, it was all muscle memory for her. She had memorized all the powerups and their most likely locations. She wasn’t the brightest at school, but she knew a lot about Fruity Maze. She had fond memories of kids crowding around her as she achieved her first high score, just two years ago. Even big kids called her cool, the best thing to happen to her in her eight years alive, only surpassed by getting Sparky. Sparky…

Oops.

In her distraction, remembering Sparky, she forgot to pick up the last few fruits. Well, that’s ok, she had plenty of Faztokens left. She put another one in and began to play. But, Sparky… He wouldn’t leave her mind, he was sticking to it like glue. She kept playing, but her vision began to get blurred a bit by tears.

Oops.

Dang it, she lost again. She needed to keep playing. She needed to forget.

She needed to forget.

She put more and more tokens in, each time getting more and more sloppy, what was wrong with her? She couldn’t concentrate. All she could think about was Sparky.

Walking home after school, her house key in hand. Her parents were still at work, and her sister was at soccer practice, so she would be home alone again, but at least she had Sparky, and leftover pizza from the night before. Apparently a babysitter would be coming later on in the afternoon, but Susie was a big girl, she was eight now, soon to be nine. The big kids at the arcade called her cool. And, if she ever needed help, Sparky was always there to protect her. Sparky would.

A bluey, purpley car sped past her, honking loudly, nearly hitting her as she crossed the street. That was scary, he should really watch where he’s going. Then, she saw it, in front of her house.

Sparky.

In the middle of the street.

The man’s loud car honks fading away.

Susie standing there.

Right in front of her house.

Right.

There.

Right–

“He’s not really dead…”

She turned around to see a tall golden bunny. Susie recognized that bunny, it was from the older location that got shut down. Why was he here? She whipped her teary eyes, sniffling.

“He is over here.” The bunny’s soft voice soothed her. She looked up, wide eyed. She didn’t know if she should’ve been shocked or happy. The bunny began to turn, looking back at her with his hand out.

“Follow me.”

She eagerly grabbed it.

She was going to see Sparky again.

Everything was going to be ok again.

∗ ∗ ∗

Fritz’s plan had gone all according to, well, plan. The clever nine year old. He hid in one of the corners between two arcade machines. The employees didn’t do much of a sweep, just cleaned the tables and any major spills before turning off the power and leaving. The night guard had already clocked in, but Fritz assumed he was just asleep in the office.

All that aside, Fritz had the entire joint to himself. He walked around, trying not to make too much noise. He jumped over the prize counter, trying to decide what he wanted. He took a cup and got a raspberry slushie while he waited to decide. He could only take one thing after all, anything else and he would’ve been caught, and he couldn’t take one of the top most expensive prizes because that would be too obvious. Finally, he picked up a medium priced plastic replica of Foxy’s hook. There, that wouldn’t be too suspicious, and he got a cool hook to show off to his friends at school. He went back in front of the counter, walking around as he drank his slushie.

Turns out, there’s not much to do in a restaurant after hours. He tried finding where they kept the Faztokens, but they were locked in a box, and he couldn’t just take some from the machines without breaking them.

He figured it out. Sure, there wasn’t much to see in the public areas, but what about the employee only area? Surely there was something he could find, and he didn’t have to worry about anyone catching him unless the security guard woke up.

Fritz put his slushie on one of the tables absentmindedly, running towards the door with an Employees Only sign. The room was dark, a singular light bulb hanging by a string being the only source of light. To his left were some employee lockers with name tags posted on them, on his right was a giant rack of random animatronic parts and boxes. Right in front of him were three things of note, a box with white wrapping paper tearing down the sides, a golden version of Freddy sitting in the opposite corner, and Chica in the middle of the room, slumped down. Earlier she had been experiencing some technical difficulties so she had to be taken to the ‘Animatronic Hospital.’

But, something was odd. There was a really weird gross smell. At first he thought it was just the animatronics, but as he approached Chica’s general direction, the smell grew more and more intense. He reached over to touch her hand–

“What do you think you’re doing?” A cold voice alerted Fritz. He turned to look at him.

He was a tall man wearing one of the employee uniforms, his body pale and looked middle aged. In theory, he was normal. Except for one thing, his head. He wore a golden bonnie head, his eyes cold and dead like an animatronic. On his uniform was a bright gold name tag that Fritz couldn’t quite make out the words of.

“Well I…” He tried to think of something fast, taking off his hook and throwing it at him, “Diversion!”

Just before Fritz could reach the door, the man grabbed him by the arm, his grip so tight it was actually hurting Fritz.

It didn’t take long for a sharp pain to enter his lower abdomen.

∗ ∗ ∗

Cassidy’s birthday, the best day ever. She was turning a whole seven years old. Many of her friends were there for the party, including Gabriel and Jeremy. Gabriel was the oldest of the three, being a whole ten years old, while Jeremy was in the middle, being eight. The three were like brothers from other mothers, best friends forever. Of course, she would be having her birthday at their favorite place to hang out, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. Jeremy’s parents were a bit concerned because of the recent disappearances, but the three had managed to convince them that everything would be fine. Cassidy’s parents would be nearby and the three would stick together. Everything was going to be fine.

They played tons of games together, the day going really well. The animatronics even sang Cassidy a happy birthday, though, Foxy was out of order and Chica was a bit smelly. Aside from that, everything went perfectly. Eventually, all the other party-goers had left and soon it would be time for the three amigos to go home. That was, until, a big golden bunny approached them.

“Hey kids! Are you enjoying the party?” There was an attempt to speak in a cartoony voice, but there was an uncanny quality to it. Jeremy noted that, gulping.

“Of course, it’s my party after all.” Cassidy grinned with a slushie in hand, she pointed to her birthday girl hat, a paper mache crown she made for herself.

“My my, the birthday girl, how exciting. How old are you turning today?”

“Seven!”

“Wow, you’re a big girl, huh?”

“Yup.”

“So… Who are you?” Jeremy spoke up anxiously, pointing at the golden bunny.

“Why, I’m Spring Bonnie.” He raised his hands in the air, “But that’s not important, I have a little surprise for you.”

“What is it?” Cassidy jumped excitedly, Gabriel took a sip of his slushie, leaning against one of the tables.

The bunny leaned over to them, whispering, “Now this is a secret, but since it’s your birthday I’ll tell you. Freddy and the gang are going to host a secret party after hours.”

“Secret party?” Jeremy asked, Gabriel put his cup down and Cassidy leaned forward.

“Yup. It’s going to have cake, pizza, and songs. But you can’t tell anyone, ok?”

“How are we supposed to get in though?” Gabriel stepped forward.

“Just when the restaurant is about to close, I’ll let you kiddos in. Got that?”

The three nodded.

“Alrighty.” The bunny began to walk away, “See you at the party!”

They looked at each other.

“That was weird.” Gabriel picked up his slushie from the table and continued to drink it.

“Sure, but you heard what he said. Free cake and pizza. Maybe we’ll even get the animatronics autographs.”

“I don’t know, Cassidy. I think this is a bad idea.”

“Pfft. Stop worrying Jeremy. If you don’t wanna come to a super secret party at Freddy Fazbear’s then fine. But Gabriel and I are going, right Gabe?”

The two looked at Gabriel, waiting for his response. He shrugged.

“I mean, I’m not going to pass up the chance to hang out at Freddy’s. Besides, how bad could it be?”

“See. What he said.” Cassidy crossed her arms with a smug expression, “But, if you just want to be a wimp, we can’t force you.”

“Hey! I’m not a wimp.” Jeremy pouted.

Cassidy continued to grin, his face went pink in frustration.

“Fine. But only so you guys don’t get hurt.”

“Yay!” She ran over and hugged him, “This is going to be the best secret party ever!”

∗ ∗ ∗

She watched it happen, again. She watched the monster lure them in, again. Just like with the others. He turned the lights off and caused a massacre, again.

Charlie had enough. This was it. He couldn’t get away with this anymore. She needed backup. She needed help. She needed them.

He had already stuffed them into the suits, all she needed to do was bring them to life. She wasn’t quite sure how it exactly worked, it had something to do with negative human emotions merging with metal, she just needed to harness that, guide the souls into their new homes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Fi–

“You’ll pay!”

Charlie was startled by the sudden screeching of Fredbear’s voice box. If she still had ears, she would’ve surely covered them. She didn’t even have to do anything. The fifth one just burst out.

“Hello?” She asked cautiously.

“What? Where…?”

No, it wasn’t him, this was the voice of a girl, the girl who was stuffed inside of the Fredbear animatronic.

“I couldn’t stop her, I’m sorry.” The familiar sobbing, cracking voice came out of the speaker.

“Damn it!”

“Woah, language.” She put her long fingers out, trying to calm the soul, “You need to remain calm.”

“No! Who are you? You’re with HIM aren’t you?”

“Mr. Afton?”

“The bunny.”

“No. Of course not.” Charlie took a step forward, “My name is Charlie. I was one of his victims.”

“He… He killed you too?”

“Yes. A long time ago.”

“Why can’t I move?” Screeching metal erupted throughout the room as Fredbear shifted.

“I’m not quite sure. He had that trouble too.”

“Who's he?”

“Me.” It was like they were fighting for control over the voicebox, the old broken voice box.

"I thought I was just imagining you. Why are you crying so much?"

"I'm sorry I can't control it." Charlie's head was spinning, trying to keep track of who was talking.

“Gosh this is going to get confusing. I didn’t know two souls could bind to one animatronic.”

“Hey! I have a name. My name is Cassidy!”

A loud scream interrupted them, it came from Chica, a girl named Susie. The scream sounded as if it had been interrupted part way through and was only now coming back.

“Shoot.”

“What’s going on?” Cassidy chided Charlie.

Then the second one, Foxy, possessed by a boy named Fritz, was a bit quieter at first before he burst out with pleads and begs.

“Mom? Where am I? What happened? I want to go home.” He tried to get up and run out. Charlie blocked the door, causing Fritz to try to tackle her, which she quickly dodged.

“Let me out.”

“Please let me explain–”

Then the third one, Bonnie, a boy named Jeremy screamed. Great, now there were two screaming animatronics at once. She didn’t even notice when Freddy, a boy named Gabriel, awakened with a gasp. But, above it all, all the questions and screaming, Charlie could hear footsteps approaching.

“EVERYONE SHUT UP.”

They all went quiet, turning to Charlie just as the door opened. The night guard looked around with a flashlight.

“I could’ve sworn…” He paused before groaning. “Whatever.”

There was some mumbling about not getting paid enough. Finally, when the steps were sufficiently far away, the chaos started back up.

“That was him! That has him!” Fritz cheered, “That was the killer.”

“No it wasn’t, he was in a bunny suit.” Susie chimed in.

“Yea but under the bunny suit he was in an employee uniform, so it’s gotta be him.” Jeremy pointed out.

“Be quiet.” Charlie spoke up again, trying not to be as loud.

All eyes were on her, looking for some kind answers. She inhaled and exhaled.

“Everyone here was murdered by Mr. Afton.”

Fredbear cleared his non-existent throat.

“Remember what we talked about.” She glared at him.

“Fine. Fine. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, you wimp.” Cassidy interrupted.

“I’m not a wimp!”

“Ok ok ok. Everyone shush.” Charlie continued to try to deescalate the situation. If she was still alive, she would’ve been nine, but mentally she was still a puny six year old stuck in the body of an animatronic, just like everyone else here.

“Our souls remain here, trapped in these vessels. I don’t know why or how, but what I do know is that the only way for us to be free is if we get revenge on our killer.”

“Obviously. That’s why we need to go to him and kill him.” Cassidy spoke up, she was probably the most vocal of the group, the others who could nodded.

“No. That’s not him. That looks nothing like him.”

“But he’s wearing the uniform.” Susie added.

“Guys.” Gabriel's voice grabbed all their attention, he was clearly the oldest of the group, “We need to listen to what Charlie has to to say.”

“Thank you.” She exhaled, “Yes. We’ll need to kill him. But, we need to set some rules.”

They all, finally, listened to her intently, hanging on every word.

“Rule number 1. You’re not allowed to do anything during the day. Our programming overrides our free will during the day, fighting it will only cause harm to innocent people. Rule number 2. If you think he’s here, only knock the suspect out. I know his appearance very well, I'll be able to tell right away. Rule number 3. We’re all in this together. Ok?”

They nodded, finally common ground. Everyone seemed to agree with these rules, except for one. Even from the other side of the room, Charlie could sense Cassidy’s disagreement, but she was outnumbered.

Finally, The cards were in their favor. All they had to do was wait

Chapter Text

First day, first shift. It was going to be easy. Really, how hard could being a night shift guard be? All you had to do was sit around and do nothing. Of course, the animatronics had this weird thing where they had to be moving around at night and such or else their springs would get stiff or whatever, but that was fine. He didn’t really like the fact his office was open to any of them coming in the front or crawling through the vents, but there was nothing he could do. He had a flashlight, he had cameras, and that’s all he needed according to upper management.

Whatever, everything would turn out fine.

He didn’t even realize when he started to doze off, falling asleep.

∗ ∗ ∗

A loud noise shot him awake. In front of him was Toy Chica, staring at him. For some reason, her beak was off. Damn, well, just something he’d have to report to the maintenance staff in the morning. Nothing would happen to him, the toy animatronics had some bugs, but they wouldn’t do anything to him since he wasn’t in any kind of criminal database.

“What do you want?” He asked the thing, partially joking. There was no way it would actually respond to him.

He heard a groan, a deep sigh. It wasn’t from him. It was from in front of him.

“What in the–”

Chica’s hand suddenly went down on him, he barely dodged out of the way, but the force of the attack broke his chair.

“Shit!” He yelped, running out of the office. Something had gone wrong with her, she wasn’t supposed to do anything to him. He wasn’t a criminal.

He held his flashlight close as he ran down the hall. He quickly turned the corner only to be met by the scrap metal Bonnie, its face missing and body torn up. It wasn’t supposed to be standing, or moving, it was supposed to just be used as spare parts.

Before he could even think to react, Chica, who had continued to follow him, whacked him upside the head. Everything quickly went dark.

∗ ∗ ∗

Oh no. She did it this time.

Blood poured out of the security guard’s head, his lifeless body on the floor.

“It’s not him.” Jeremy looked down at the corpse, sighing.

Charlie came out from the prize counter, having heard the commotion.

“What is going on?” Upon seeing Susie, she did her best attempt at a scowl, “What did I tell you about using the new suits.”

“I know! I know. I just thought that since the old ones are losing mobility, it would be better to use this one. I didn’t mean to kill him, I promise.”

She groaned, “You don’t know the strength the vessel holds. You tore off your own beak for Christ's sake.”

“Hey language.” Fritz yelled from the storage room.

“Put a sock in it!” Charlie yelled back, her slender fingers pinched her temple.

“Woah woah woah. Can you guys just calm down–” Jeremy tried to intervene.

“No.” She shot an angry glance at him before turning back to Susie, “You disobeyed my direct order.”

“You’re not our boss, Charlie.”

“What did you say?”

Susie flinched back, “I… I mean…”

“I’m the one who brought you all back. All for one goal. To defeat Mr. Afton and be free. Without killing innocents.”

“She didn’t know he was innocent, Charlie. All we have to go by is the employee uniform.”

“And we’re even starting to forget what it looks like.” Susie looked down at her hands, “I… I don’t want to forget.”

Charlie’s expression softened, she sighed and patted her on the shoulder. “You won’t. We won’t. We’ll fix this. I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

She sniffled, hugging Charlie just a little too tight. Upon hearing her discomfort she let go.

“Oops, sorry. Still not used to the strength.”

“These toy animatronics have a criminal database, so if they see a criminal they’ll alert the staff.”

“But that’s only for registered criminals, he got away.” Jeremy exclaimed, the comment reminding them of their collective frustration hearing the news.

“For now. They’re here to help us. They’re just tools.”

Susie and Jeremy nodded, Toy Chica’s body going limp as she went back to the withering Chica’s body. Jeremy looked back at Charlie again before following Susie’s spirit into the maintenance room. Charlie stood for a bit, but as the room’s door closed, she saw Cassidy’s eyes stare intently at her.

She took a deep, unneeded breath and returned to her box.

Chapter Text

After a long series of night guards going ‘missing’ or quitting a few days in, Jeremy Fitzgerald was the most promising one. He had managed to hide and ward off any animatronic that tried to get to him. To Charlie, he might be their hope. After the first few nights, she had realized how helpful he could be with his skills in multi-management and dealing with animatronics. Charlie watched him, and she could tell he knew she was staring. She continued with her daytime duties, bringing cakes and presents to children, as she had always done. However, she wasn’t the only one staring. The animatronics on stage were eyeing him pretty viciously, but they did that with every adult, Charlie just chalked it up to them constantly scanning the adults through criminal databases.

“Yo, Fitzgerald, I need you to check out the Mangle, she’s been acting a bit buggy lately.”

Ah, the new Foxy iteration, or The Mangle as the employees called it. He was originally meant to just be another Foxy, but the kids really liked playing around with her a little too rough, leading to him needing multiple repairs. At a certain point, they just gave up and turned her into a ‘build your own animatronic’ attraction. Fritz had tried taking over the Mangle, but because of how disheveled it was from so much play, he just decided to stick to his withering original Foxy animatronic. Really for the best, since everyone else had trouble managing their strength whenever they were in the darn things.

“On it, boss.”

Wow, not only was he good with managing rampaging animatronics, he was also one of the rare employees who gave a crap. He really was perfect. She just needed to find time to talk to him. She figured the night shift was too chaotic with the malfunctioning Toy animatronics and the others who were still pretty jumpy.

Because of them jumping the gun all the time, the place was set to shut down by the month’s end. Plans for a new establishment had been swirling around, though how they would get new and improved animatronics was something nobody quite wanted to answer, as both of the founders and head engineers were either in prison or MIA (definitely not helping their search for Afton).

Mr. Fitzgerald had been moved to day shift and with the closing on the horizon, this was Charlie’s last chance to get to talk to him. A lot of attractions had already been either shut down and were in the process of being tucked away in boxes for shipment. Her box came in handy, she didn’t have to worry as much about being torn apart just to fit into a cardboard box.

“Hiya girl.” He approached, giving The Mangle a pat on the head as he reached into his tool box.

The poor thing was practically shivering on the tiled floors, twitching his multiple heads around as her grease stained wires and metal innards clicked together faintly.

“Kids play too hard again?” Mr. Fitzgerald’s hands maneuvered around the torso and under the head, “Don’t worry, they’ll put you back together at the new place… I hope…”

He whispered the last part, as if her plastic ears weren’t inches away from his face. There was a sound of metal against metal, the screwdriver he had been using got caught in the disjointed wiring. He cursed under his breath, trying to look inside the Mangle’s jaws to find the missing tool.

A sudden shiver. A twitch. A lurch forward.

A familiar sound.

The sound of metal piercing flesh.

The entire restaurant went silent.

And a familiar chaos ensued.

∗ ∗ ∗

The next thing Charlie knew, she was back in her box, in a mysterious location. The sound of bumping truck wheels barely masked the whispering. She couldn’t quite make out the words, poking her head out.

“Did he die?”

“Who knows.”

“Definitely. Fredbear here knows better than anyone that those jaws kill.”

“What now?”

“Are we going to wait again?”

“I can’t keep living like this.”

“We’re not living stupid. We’re just…”

“Existing.”

She pulled herself out, towering above them all, “What are you all talking about?”

They shuttered, turning towards her frantically.

“We were just…” Jeremy stuttered out. If he was human, we would’ve been biting his lip.

“How long do we have to keep waiting, Charlotte?” Fritz butted in, crossing Foxy’s arms.

“What.”

“I mean, you kept telling us this was our guy, but now he’s…”

“Dead.” Gabriel finished, Fritz nodding.

“Yeah.”

Charlie leaned towards Fritz, pointing her long claw at him, “Well if you hadn’t tried to take over the Mangle during the daytime, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“But I didn’t!” Fritz slapped her hand away with his hook, “I told you I couldn’t control that thing.”

“Oh, sure. Just like how Susie didn’t kill all those guards as Toy Chica.”

“Hey!” She squeaked.

“Or how Jeremy ate that cat.”

“It was an accident–” He tried to defend himself.

“Put a sock in it. I’m right.” Charlie turned back to Fritz, “Remember the rules. No action during the day. But of course, you all just can’t listen.”

“For the last time, it’s not my fault! It was that faulty security dat… data…”

“Database.” Gabriel nodded.

“Yea!”

“Or maybe it was because you guys tried haunting them, you were the ones who messed with their programming.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” Jeremy grumbled.

“Wanna say that louder? Bunny.” She cocked her head at him.

“You…” He swallowed his worry, “You were kept in perfect working order. We were torn apart bit by bit and left to rust. It was our only way to not go insane.”

“To kill guards?” Charlie scoffed, crossing her arms, “Sounding a lot like him.”

“Charlie, that's not fair.” Gabriel growled.

“I’m just saying.”

“You’re not innocent, Charlie. You said we were in this together.” Susie pouted.

“We are. But clearly I have to be stricter.” She exhaled, “You all are like animals.”

That struck a nerve. Chaos ensued, everyone jeering at Charlie, airing out all their grievances. Charlie tried to defend herself against all the harassment, but it was really so much. Too much.

“Could you all just be quiet for five seconds!” She tried to calm the crowd, but they continued to argue.

“Quiet!”

A voice stole all their attention. It was his voice, but he was only getting their attention for the main speaker. Cassidy.

The others backed away from Charlie, landing on either side of the puppet and the fredbear.

“You put them up to this.” Charlie scowled at Cassidy, balling her hands into fists. “Everything was perfectly under control.”

“Really? You really believe that?”

“I brought you all life.”

“Tsk tsk.” Cassidy chided, “That’s where you're wrong.”

There was a screeching metal sound as the unthinkable happened. Fredbear started to move. Not just move. Stand.

“We. We brought ourselves back. Without your help.” They stepped forward, clearly working together to move the rusty old animatronic.

“Which means.” Fredbear’s empty black eyes stared at Charlie as Cassidy leaned forward, “We don’t need you.”

Charlie felt a sudden shove. She fell back into her box and before she could respond, the lid was snapped shut by the others, heavy objects and anything sticky held it down.

“Guys wait! You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Oh. We know exactly what we’re doing.” Cassidy’s voice was barely audible through the box, “We’re getting our revenge.”

“But innocent people will die.”

Charlie’s pleas were left unanswered.

“I’m done talking to you.”

She called his name, desperate for any kind of comfort, but the cold voice, soft yet rough, responded.

“You did this to yourself, Charlie.”

His voice dug through her like a knife. She was left alone.

All alone.

With no one to help her.

No one.

Chapter Text

William Afton was missing in action, which could only mean bad things. He has parked his car in front of the semi-abandoned building which led to an underground basement. William’s final note to him was that Elizabeth was down there. In all reality, he thought the idea was stupid. But, whatever, a job was a job. Even if he knew any job at Fazbear’s entertainment would pay absolute ass.

Keys, uniform, name tag, boom. He was ready to risk his life. For what? The potential of finding his long dead sister. A whole decade since she passed. Really, this all just sounded like a long winded way to get him to do his father’s dirty work.

The elevator was in working order. The whole place had a very sci-fi dystopian vibe, honestly the perfect fit for a company run entirely by William Afton. He chewed gum, popping a bubble as he waited for something, though he didn’t quite know what. Beside him was a screen with googly eyes attached. He took out a piece of tape and a marker, slapping it on.

‘Mike.’

That certainly triggered something. A voice came over the intercom.

“Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career! Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad at Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I’m a model 5 of the Handyman’s Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities.”

Well that was company propaganda if he had ever seen it. Granted, it was easier to spot when in a sketchy high tech elevator with an AI robot talking to you.

“Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful.”

Hm. Ok. He had already labeled the thing, but the program definitely wouldn’t continue if he left it hanging. Unfortunately, Hand-Unit wasn’t as willing to cooperate. The screen glitched and flickered, making it near impossible to use. He didn’t really wanna use his full name or his technically legal last name, first one was because of laziness and second because… well… obvious reasons.

He had already labeled it Mike, so that worked. Maybe his mother’s maiden name, Schmidt. Though, when he tried pressing the buttons, they flickered out of place before his finger even finished hovering. This was going to be a pain. He really did try his best to write Mike Schmidt. Honestly, when he finished, he was actually quite proud of himself.

That was until the hand-unit spoke up again.

“It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome:”

Please god no.

“Eggs Benedict.”

Damn it.

“You can now open the elevator using that bright, red and obvious button. Let’s get to work!”

Wow, this day had just started and it was already terrible. Mike, or Eggs as the hand-unit graciously named him, pressed the button and was met by a tiny crawl vent.

“You have got to be kidding me.” He grumbled.

No turning back now, he ducked into the vent and moved forward. The machine tried making small talk, but he just tuned it out and continued on his way.

∗ ∗ ∗

She lost count of the days, the weeks, the years. Waiting for her father to come rescue her. Surely he hadn’t forgotten about her, right? Though, it was his fault she was in this situation, but she didn’t know anymore. Her thoughts had been corrupted by Circus Baby’s AI. She couldn’t tell the difference between herself and her prison. Elizabeth hoped, prayed, for one of the maintenance workers to be her dear father, to save her from this hell, but that never happened. Every week or so there was a new maintenance worker, shocking and scrapping the animatronics over and over again, blissfully unaware of the consequences. It made the animatronics violent, craving destruction. Or maybe that’s how they always were?

Her thought process was distracted by the automated voice, directing the newest hire. Elizebeth tried to look up but she had very little control over Circus Baby, who remained stationary. It gave the hire the order to shock her, something she had somehow managed to grow numb to. As the shock wave went through Circus Baby, Elizabeth was able to get a glance at the perpetrator’s face. She swore she felt her eyes widen.

It was him.

It was her father.

She wanted to cry, she was safe. But why was he shocking her? Was it to punish her? She did disobey him.

Wavy, brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin, a hooked nose. He looked a bit different though, younger, less well kept. But it must’ve been him right?

Suddenly, she felt weightless, like she was falling. No. Like she was flying, floating. She felt in control of her body, free from her prison. Had he truly saved her? Elizabeth stood up from Circus Baby’s still slumped body, stepping out of it and feeling… nothing? No air against her skin, no warm loving embrace. Nothing. She looked down at her hands. Translucent. Like she was a ghost.

Was she a ghost?

She looked up from her hands just as he was leaving. Where was he going? Now was their chance to reunite right? Isn’t that what he wanted?

Well, if she was a ghost, she could go through the wall right? She ran forward, crying out to him.

“Father, father!”

Thump.

He looked back at the sound before shrugging and continuing his exit. What just happened? No no. That’s not what was supposed to happen. She was supposed to phase through the wall, through the glass and hug him. But there she was, still stuck in Circus Baby’s room, the darkness swallowing her as the lights followed him out.

Elizabeth sat against the wall, curling in on herself and sobbing quietly.

Alone again.

Chapter Text

Nights upon nights passed, Elizabeth never found the opportunity to interact with her father, he was always being led around by Hand-Unit and Circus Baby. One night, she even managed to kidnap him with the help of the other animatronics. But, Elizabeth had been trapped with Circus Baby in the room, hiding in the shadows, waiting for her chance to escape and reunite with the man she missed for so long.

Today would be her day.

Circus Baby had been sent to the parts and service room to be ‘fixed’ and, while the workers were wheeling her out, Elizabeth barely managed to sneak through. The basement was bigger than she thought, washed in a sickly green hue. A few things she took notice of, some bobbing baby heads, a bunch of vents, and two sets of panels, each with buttons to light up and shock. Above the shaft to Circus Baby’s room had two buzzing screens and a spot in between them, Elizabeth bit her lip at the black space there, so empty and uncomfortable.

She quickly hid when she heard an employee crawl out of one of the vents in a hurry, deeply disturbed, then run to the opposite vent, not even noticing Elizabeth if he could see her. In his hurry, a keycard dropped out of his pocket. Elizabeth kneeled down to examine it.

Not hearing the sound of him being hung by a rope.

Her examination ended when she heard the familiar sound of the intercom lady announcing something in the vents. Elizabeth hid in the Circus Baby vent on impulse, covering her mouth as she watched a figure step out. That was… Not her father.

It was a weird perversion of her father’s image, unnatural and unfamiliar. Similar but not the same. It got worse when she overheard him mumbling to himself, his voice was similar to his appearance, reminding Elizabeth of her father, yet having a wrongness to it. Her eyes widened upon the realization.

That wasn’t her father at all, it never had been.

It was her brother.

As he walked towards the Funtime room, he paused, noticing the card on the ground. He picked it up, looking around. The two shared eye contact for a moment, but only for a moment, not long enough for him to see her in the dark vent.

Her mind was reeling, her brother? What was he doing here? How long had she been stuck in Circus Baby for him to already be an adult by this point? She looked down at her hands, still the same, she hadn’t aged a second since she died. The world had continued moving without her. She almost started crying, only stopping when she realized father or not, this was her only chance to finally get out and be free. But what was the point? All the things she wanted to do, even if they were unrealistic, she couldn’t even try. She took a deep, deep breath and followed him through the vent.

It was dark, but she had been used to moving around in the dark by now, to the point she was worried she might lose her eyesight once she reemerged in the light, though maybe they would be healed by ghost powers.

She got bored quickly of Michael being instructed on how to take apart Circus Baby, so she wandered around the darkness, at one point noticing a door with a key card reader. Maybe the key card he picked up would work here? Circus Baby mentioned something about Ballora hiding in the darkness, but that didn’t make sense, Elizabeth had heard the workers talking about how they ‘decommissioned’ her, and she doubted Ballora would’ve been able to get such a reaction from that technician earlier. She nearly tripped on a couple of cables, looking up, she saw a pair of animatronic eyes attached to it.

The thing looked like the inside of a kid’s toy box, a bunch of pieces bundled together into a misshapen form, one that looked vaguely human but was betrayed by the hanging wires and jagged jaw. She backed away slowly, there wasn’t anything to worry about, it was probably just a bunch of scrap metal–

The creature’s big bulbous eyes shot towards her, causing her to scream.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw Michael’s head twist towards the noise just as he sent Circus Baby off to the scooping room. Elizabeth ran towards the key card locked door, making her footsteps very known. She heard him follow her at a similarly fast pace, when she reached the door, she ducked into the darkness, allowing Michael to attempt unlocking it with the key card.

“Access Granted.”

The two ran inside, Elizabeth right behind him without him even realizing it.

∗ ∗ ∗

He looked around the cramped office space, he heard a scream, he knew he did, and it sounded like Elizabeth. He looked around, seeing some TVs covered in static in front of him, a little fredbear plush sitting next to them with a walkie talkie. He lowered his shoulders in disappointment, he really should’ve listened to Circus Baby. He turned around.

“Fuck!” He jumped back, tripping on the swivel chair and landing hard against the concrete floor. His sudden profanity caused what was in front of him to jump as well, though not as dramatically.

In front of him, blocking the door, was a small girl, no older than ten. Her long ginger hair was done in two messy pigtails, each marked by clashing red bows. She wore a pink shirt with puffy sleeves and a blue skirt that stopped at around her knees, the outfit accented by a thin black bow around her collar. She looked the same she did when she died.

Elizabeth.

The one he was sent to find.

But there were two distinct differences, first was this translucent aspect to her, making her appear like she was made of glass. The second, upon the upper half of her face was a clown mask with Circus Baby’s likeness, surrounding the big eyes he recognized, the irises with a vibrant green hue, but the whites of her eyes were black instead and it looked like she had tear streaks going down her face.

“Elizabeth?”

She stared down at him, her hands fidgeting with themselves, “Michael.”

Their moment was interrupted by Circus Baby’s soothing voice.

“Why didn’t you trust me?”

Except, that wasn’t Circus Baby anymore, it was something else.

Mike sprang to his feet, trying to look at the cameras to see what they were dealing with, Elizabeth stood still, likely unsure what to do.

The thing in the monitors was basically spaghetti made out of cords and wires and other miscellaneous metals, attempting to look human in its form, most notably with the clown mask that was hung above one of the vents. It stared into the cameras as it scurried around unnaturally, shuffling and nearly tripping over itself.

“What the hell is that…” He mumbled, switching between cameras.

The Hand-Unit’s monotone voice spoke up in the speakers.

“It seems that you have accidentally wandered into a restricted area. Due to the sensitive nature of the materials that you may be exposed to here, you will not be allowed to leave until the clean-up crew arrives at 6 AM, so hang tight! Rest assured that you will be promptly rescued, fired, then sent home. Thank you for being an employee. We hope that your experience has not been as regrettable as ours.”

“Damn it.”

“Language.” Elizabeth countered, pointing aggressively at him.

He turned to see her, unsure of what to say. All of this felt so unreal to him. He thought when William had said to go find her, he was being metaphorical or vague. But no, here she was, in the flesh? Spirit? Standing next to him as a robot monster with clearly malicious intent stalked the halls.

“I’m a grown man, I’m allowed to say what I want.”

“Father wouldn’t agree.”

“Well ‘Father’ isn’t here right now, is he?” Mike spoke through his teeth, he was interrupted when he heard a crashing sound in one of the halls, looking at the cameras he saw the abomination attempting to go straight for them as Circus Baby weakly attempted to reason with Mike to let her in. He quickly shut the door, becoming hyper aware of the situation.

He exhaled, “Look, can’t you just shut them off?”

“How do you expect me to do that?” it was less of a question and more of a rebuttal.

“I don’t know, do some weird ghost things or something? Maybe possess it and turn it off.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, brother, but I have no control over them.”

Once he made sure the coast was clear, he re-opened the door to conserve power.

“Besides, even if I could control them, you showing up made me pop out.” She paused, “Some… how.”

He rubbed his temples, “Ok, ok, maybe we can talk about this after I’m not in danger of being killed by whatever is out there.”

“Fine.”

Mike looked back at the cameras before pausing, “Can you phase through the walls and be look out?”

“Uhm…” Elizabeth walked over to a wall, and pressed her hand against it with all her strength, yet she still remained on the other side.

“That’s so stupid, what’s even the point of ghosts.”

“I know right.” She let out an exasperated sigh, “Though, with the doors open I think I could. As long as you don’t lock me out.”

“Alright, fine.”

And so, Elizabeth began running between doorways and vents alerting Mike whenever the thing was near. There were a few scares where she almost didn’t make it back inside or he accidentally locked her outside and she had to wait, but overall they managed to create a steady rhythm. Throughout the whole ordeal, Circus Baby’s melodic voice attempted to stop them, to coax Mike out of the room, but he didn’t budge from the swivel chair.

The night took a bit of a turn after the half-way mark. Mike had managed to conserve more energy than he would’ve without Elizabeth, but the batteries were still running low. Elizabeth was starting to get a bit tired from the running, which was weird since how could ghosts even get tired? Whatever, now wasn’t the time for questions. As they began wondering how to continue on for another two hours, a voice slithered between them like a snake.

“‘Hello?’”

Mike looked to Elizabeth, who was horrified at hearing her own voice.

“I didn’t say anything…”

“‘I know it was an accident.’”

Her voice echoed in the halls, Mike quickly got a hold of himself and turned to one of the cameras. In their stunned moment, the creature had gotten closer to the left door, which Mike promptly shut.

“If you didn’t say anything, then how is it replicating your voice?”

“I don’t know.” Elizabeth sat on the floor, cradling herself, “This is all so weird and scary.”

He looked upon his sister with pity. He didn’t know what he could do, but a protective instinct came over him. If ghosts could get tired, they probably could get hurt, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to his sister again. Once the thing was away from the door, he opened it before crouching down to Elizabeth.

“Look, I’m sorry for… Everything.” She looked up, tears in her ghostly eyes, “But I promise, I’m going to get us out of here and we’re going to figure this all out together, ok?”

She sniffled, then nodded.

“First, we just need to outlast that monster outside. Luckily for you, big strong Mikey is here to protect you.”

She giggled at that, and for a moment it felt like they were normal kids again, in the living room talking about nightmares. But, reality wasn’t kind. The distant screeching of wires against metal alerted him to their current situation. He took off his security officer coat and hung it over Elizabeth’s shoulders. Again, the ghost physics were nothing like the movies they used to watch with their mom, but that wasn’t really something to worry about right now.

He turned back to the monitors, Elizabeth keeping watch of the hallways while Mike watched the cameras, trying to conserve as much power as possible.

“‘Everything is ok. I’m still here.’”

The voice spoke, it mocked.

4:00

“‘You have to let me inside the room!’”

He slammed on the button to close the door when he heard the real Elizabeth’s small gasp.

4:00

“‘We need you so we can hide!’”

He unlocked the door, power was so low, so so low. The clock finally changed its hour.

5:00

“‘We need you so we can leave!’”

The monster was faster and faster with every passing moment, but Mike countered it, every time. He wouldn’t slip up. He wouldn’t give it any opportunity.

5:00

Time was so slow, he watched with sweat pooling down his forehead as the power went to 1%.

“Hurry. Hurry.” He whispered to himself, unable to stop hyperventilating.

It was no use. The power would be out and they would lose. The morning crew would find his body, and Elizabeth. God Elizabeth. What would happen to her? Would she disappear? Would she be trapped for eternity in this hell hole? All alone?

He stumbled over to her, giving into the truth. He was going to die, and she was going to be all alone. The least he could do was comfort her in these final moments. Somehow, ghost logic still being lost on him, he hugged her tightly, masking her view of what was about to happen.

Ding.

“I will find a way out.” Circus Baby’s voice slithered away into the darkness as Mike heard footsteps approaching the room.

He looked at the clock.

6:00 AM.

They did it.

They made it.

Chapter Text

Security shoved Mike out, Elizabeth scurrying after, trying to keep up. The elevator ride up was awkward, yet so satisfying. Finally, he was out, he had his sister, and he could tell this rotten place to kiss his ass. The guards were holding him by his shoulders, gripping him tight so he wouldn’t get away. When they reached the surface, he was given his letter of resignation and severance pay and he was off, Elizabeth clinging onto his hand.

The guards didn’t take any notice of her, maybe ghosts were invisible to normal people? When he sat in his car, Elizabeth having shuffled into the front seat, his mind began to wander as the adrenaline wore off. He barely had any time to process any of what happened. Circus Baby had been lying to him the entire time, leading him to a trap. Then Elizabeth’s ghost appeared, still looking the same as she did an entire decade ago, who affected the physical world like a normal person but nobody could see her aside from him. Why could he see her? Was it because they knew each other or had a connection to each other? Was it because he was looking for her? All these questions swirled in his head, only being brought back by the sound of Elizabeth’s airy voice.

“What now?” Mike looked at her, he wasn’t quite sure himself. Then it hit him. He started up the busted car.

“Will–” He cleared his throat, “Father was the one who sent me to find you, he must’ve known something about what’s going on.”

“Wait, Father sent you to find me?” Her eyes lit up. Mike didn’t even notice how dim and hopeless they had been before.

“Barely,” He shrugged, “it was just a note he left.”

“But, you know where he is right?”

All he could do was shake his head. Elizabeth still had a positive view of their father after all these years, having left her to be shocked and put on display for kids. Despite everything, he couldn’t bring himself to crush her.

“Oh…”

There was silence, Mike began backing up the car.

“Where are we going?” She asked, tilting her head up at him.

“The house.”

“Home?”

He didn’t say anything.

∗ ∗ ∗

The place had fallen into bad shape since he was last there, papers and dust scattered all around. He was happy to have gotten his own apartment, even if it was a little dingy. Luckily the lights responded when he clicked them on. It was around noon already and Elizabeth looked exhausted.

He was alerted to Elizabeth’s footsteps as she ran towards her old room.

“Careful, we don’t know what could be here.”

She didn’t listen, just running until her foot went through a floorboard.

“Michael! Help me!”

He ran over, easily picking her up from under her arms and getting her to safety.

“I told you to be careful.” He scolded, she just sighed.

“I know…”

Mike took a pause, she didn’t even argue back. She really was exhausted. Exhaling, he patted her head.

“Why don’t you go take a nap on the couch. I’ll go get you a blanket.”

She smiled, eyes droopy, and nodded. Elizabeth walked back to the living room, being much more careful this time.

The house had always been old, but floorboards breaking was too old. He carefully stepped over it and made it into Elizabeth’s old room at the end of the hall. It was the same as he remembered it, nothing having been moved in ten years, the blankets and sheets neatly tucked. Mike carelessly pulled the top blanket off, a gaudy hot pink with little white flowers printed over it. It was so small compared to him, but it would be perfect for Elizabeth.

When he reentered the living room, she had already passed out on the couch, curled in on herself. He placed the blanket overtop of her, Elizabeth grasped it tightly in response, relaxing her body a bit. Mike let out a sigh, before stepping away to examine the floorboard.

It still felt suspicious. It really shouldn’t have. It was just an old floorboard in an old house that had been abandoned for at least a year or two. When he crouched down to look closer, he saw something shine in the sunlight. Lifting up the scraps of wood, he found the source. A small golden key sat in the middle surrounded by dust and a note.

The small yellowing paper only read one word.

Basement.

He stared at it for a bit. When they were kids, his siblings and him were never allowed to go into the basement. It was too dangerous with scrap metal all over the place and loose springlocks still needing work. After Charlie died, it became even more off limits, having a lock on the door so only William could enter. Mike carefully picked up the key. He had no idea how many years of decay had affected it, luckily it was still sturdy. Stepping carefully as to not wake Elizabeth, he made his way to the basement door and pushed the key into the proper slot.

Click

The door creaked open, revealing a dark winding staircase. His flash light really came in handy, the steep stairs now illuminated with a beam of yellowish light. Mike hung onto the railing tight as he carefully traversed down the stairs, each step being high and thin, but he managed to make it to a light switch at the bottom.

A dim light revealed the basement, surprisingly clean compared to the house above. Tucked under the stairs were boxes carefully stacked and labeled. Movies, records, photo albums, and most predominantly, scraps. On the opposite end of the room were two work desks and a swivel chair. One was covered in papers and blueprints, frantic notes sprawling every inch of the pages, sticky notes added to corners and anywhere that had needed correcting. A lamp sat next to the notes, leaning over to brighten them, though the lightbulb had burned out a while ago. On the other desk was more bizarre, three small televisions sat, surrounding a microphone propped up on a stand, and a tape recorder with a few cassettes carefully labeled and stacked. Everything was dusty and had lost power a long time ago, so he didn’t bother interacting with it. What caught his eyes, making them widen, was a massive cork board with illustrations, notes, and red string. He could make out some of the writing, ‘spirits,’ ‘animatronics,’ ‘remnant,’ but most worryingly, ‘experiment.’

‘Experiment.’

He didn’t try to look at that word for too long, the rest of the board though?

Maybe this place had something to offer after all.

Chapter Text

He made sure to leave a note for Elizabeth, informing her he was leaving for a bit to grab stuff from his apartment. It wouldn’t take too long considering how little he had in there. Everything was pretty normal, though, a few people in the halls giving him uncomfortable glances. Well, Mike would cancel his rental agreement and never have to look at the complex again. When he got to the door it wasn’t locked and the key hole looked a little mangled. Damn. Whatever thieves had targeted his apartment were really shitty lock pickers. The door creaked open to the modestly furnished home, shadowed in complete darkness. He tried flipping the light switch, but it just clicked defiantly, no lights activating.

There was nothing to fear, it was just a one bedroom apartment, and we would be gone in a matter of seconds.

Mike had brought a backpack he found at the house, he just needed a few things. Essentials and clothes mostly, a few photos, and most importantly, money he had stashed away. He was saving up to move out of state, it was a lot, hopefully enough to purchase that old home. Since nobody wanted it, the price would probably be less than average, which meant he had the chance to pay it upfront instead of applying for a mortgage. He only needed the house for a bit. He hid the money sporadically in the home, so even if someone did break in, they’d only end up stealing less than a quarter of what he saved over the seven years he was living here.

But something was strange. The door’s lock had been all but torn apart, which he chalked up to theft, but then why would all the money still be there? In fact, his apartment had remained the same as it did when he left. Was it an accident? No, no accident could cause that much damage. So why was everything the same?

Then he heard it.

The familiar shuffling and scraping of metal.

Except before it was on the concrete floors of the facility.

Now it was against the floors of his home.

He only barely turned his head when he saw a figure climb out of the shadows. That’s why the lights didn’t work. To keep it hidden. How long had it been hiding? Waiting?

“We told you we’d find another way out.” The voice was a metallic amalgamation of all the animatronics that formed the pile of cords and metal, hiding behind what at first was a stupid clown mask, now one that brought active terror to Mike.

Words were lost on him, “How…”

A few partially destroyed Minireenas crawled out of vents and any crevasse they could find, what was worse, some fell out of his pockets and towards the mob. He didn’t even notice them. How long had they been following him? How long had he not noticed their presence? His heart started to race violently, he lost control of his breathing as his eyes grew so wide they threatened to follow the Minireenas. The tiny ballerinas scurried into the crevasse of the amalgamation, rejoining the cluster.

“What do you want?” He stepped back, bumping into a chair. His words were intended to be commanding, but they came out fragile. Nothing felt in his control anymore, the light above them flickered.

It didn’t make sense. If they only needed him to escape, why would they now be after him?

“Silly silly, Eggs.” it’s metal fingers scraped against the wall, “Or should we call you, father?”

“Father?” He paused, feeling the weight of the backpack on his shoulders.

“Ah, too informal. How about Mr. William Afton.”

Oh shit.

“We never achieved what you wanted. We were stashed away. In all our forms, we could never truly fulfill our programming.” The wires slinked around, taking over the apartment, “Then we realized we needed a new form.”

His fingers grasped around the top of the chair.

“And we figured, you of all people would understand. Especially after losing Elizabeth.”

“So… So what? You want hi– Me to build you a new body?”

“No. That wouldn’t work.”

It got closer. The metal screeching sound slithering into Mike’s ears.

“Then what do you want?”

His grip tightened on the chair, subtly shifting it.

“We just need you to let us do one little tiny thing.”

“And what would that be?”

He shifted, still grasping the chair.

The lights flickered once more, its clown face being illuminated from above, towering over Mike.

“We need you to let us inside.”

The thing used some wires twirled into a finger to point directly at his chest.

Oh.

He glanced down, the finger only an inch away.

They wanted inside him.

The scooping room.

His hands acted on their own, throwing the chair at the monster. It smashed on impact and caused the wired beast to stumble back from the impact. Mike slid around it and towards the door. The amalgamation recovered and noticed Mike’s abrupt exit, reaching for him just as he slammed the door shut. There was no point in trying to block it. He just needed to run. Running towards the stairwell, he heard the apartment door shatter as the monster looked its multiple eyes in both directions, seeing Mike run. He reached the emergency stairwell, noticing some people poking their heads out of their places at the commotion, then promptly closing and locking upon seeing the thing chasing him. He closed the door in its face again and skipped multiple stairs to get down as fast as he could. The emergency door slammed against the ground, skidding down the stairs just as Mike had reached the level directly below his. He couldn’t outrun it. It could jump down more steps than Mike and not get injured at all. If it caught him, it was game over. Then he remembered fire axes. Every floor has one near the emergency exit. He ran through the door, the monster pausing to wonder where he went. That gave him time to find the bright red ax encased in glass.

This is about to hurt.

He covered his knuckle with his sleeve and punched through the casing, grabbing the ax and running for the elevator. He ran to the far metal doors and frantically pressed on the down button. It was later in the day, so not many people would be going down. Just as he heard the ding of the elevator getting to his floor, the scrap monster burst through the door at the other end of the hall and ‘ran’ at breakneck speed towards Mike. He barely managed to slip into the elevator, slamming on the close door button then the main floor button. Only one wire managed to peak through and was promptly decapitated once the doors closed.

He finally had a second to breathe and plan. The creature would either continue down the stairs or go through the vents. He hoped for the former. Just as he took a breath, he heard banging in the vents.

No way.

There’s no way it could’ve fit.

Well it would soon find out there wasn’t a vent directly into the elevator, so he just heard banging over the top and in the nearby ventilation shafts. Some Minireenas and maybe even Bidybabs must’ve disconnected from the cluster to chase him down while the main body took the stairs. He had a few seconds to prepare before the elevator made it to the main floor.

When the elevator dinged to the base level, it was quiet. Too quiet. Mike stepped out and cautiously looked to either side of himself. Nothing. Just a few people making their way back home from work, clearly annoyed he was blocking the elevator. He shuffled off, standing in the lobby, waiting for something to happen. Maybe it wasn’t as durable as he thought, in its rabid pursuit of him it jumped down the stairwell straight onto the concrete flooring. He wondered if it was now just a gooey mechanical blob on the ground, unable to put itself back together. Mike sighed, he had gotten himself worked up over nothing—

His thought was ended by a loud crashing sound.

Everyone in the lobby looked in the direction of the stairwell as the door burst out of its hinges and slammed against the wall opposite to it, creating a small cloud the amalgamation emerged from, crawling around the corner and facing the now horrified crowd.

Screams erupted and there was chaos, everyone running to escape the building. Everyone except for Mike.

It was an oh so familiar scene.

Just him and an animatronic in the eye of a hurricane.

He gripped the ax, taking a step back from the creature.

“Father, why do you run?”

Its voice was melodic yet raspy. It slowed down so the Minireenas and Bidybabs could rejoin the mob. He stood his ground. But he was no match for the beast. Once it had reconnected with itself it bolted towards Mike, he threw his arms back and whacked the ax straight into its side, cutting many wires. It didn’t scream, but it was shocked by the sudden injury. A slimy substance oozed out of it, it smelled like blood and oil. Mike’s eyes widened, he recognized this smell, but he didn’t know from where. It was overwhelming, clogging up his nostrils, leaving no room for air. The amalgam took this moment of pause to send one of its arm-like tendrils straight for him, slamming him against the wall. The ax hit the ground with a wooden and metal thud. Just as he went to reach for it, the same tendril pushed it away, leaving Mike vulnerable and weak.. He looked in his pockets for anything that might save him as he heard it shuffle towards him. It was toying with him, purposefully filling him with dread before it killed him and stuffed itself inside of him. The only thing he could find in his pocket was a half-empty pack of gum.

“Father, why are you so selfish? We only wanted to fulfill your goal.” One of the wires reached into the body and covered itself in the goo, “We tried to get you the remnant, but we failed.”

As he dropped the empty packet on the ground, the monster’s arm reached over and pinned Mike against the wall by his neck.

“Because YOU trapped us down there!”

If the animatronic could, it would’ve spat at him.

“YOU built us with purpose, then rendered us USELESS.”

It sharpened one of its arms, aiming directly for Mike’s stomach.

“Now, it’s your turn.”

He chewed until satisfied and spat the giant wad of gum straight at the core. It panicked enough to let him go, finally allowing Mike air. Who knew gum could be so useful?

“What is this? What have you done?” It screeched. Each of the animatronic voices lost sync and began screeching different things, some blaming others.

While it writhed and clawed, tearing itself apart to get the imperfection out, Mike grabbed the ax from the ground and swung it at the amalgamation. It screamed for him to stop, but he just kept chopping until it stopped moving.

He took a step back, dropping the ax. The ooze had stained itself into his clothes, the purple uniform now a deep dark blue. His breath slowed as all his senses returned. Mike looked around, everyone else had left, leaving him and the corpse alone. His backpack had fallen away during the kerfuffle. He simply picked it up and walked to the house.

Chapter Text

When he entered, covered in goo with a full backpack, he was instantly hit by how clean the house was. Well, as clean as it could get. The floorboard he stepped on was still broken and the wallpapers still peeled, but the dust had been cleaned away and all the furniture was somehow reorganized. In the middle of the living room was Elizabeth sprawled across the ground, failing to turn herself into a blanket burrito.

Mike couldn’t stop himself from chuckling, “What happened here?”

Elizabeth rolled onto her stomach to face Mike, letting go of the blanket in the process.

“I got bored and the house was making me depressed.”

“Depressed.” His eyebrows raised in a semi-teasing fashion.

“Yeah, like– really depressed.” She rolled back onto her back and went back to her blanket rolling.

As she continued to fail to wrap herself up, Mike rolled his eyes and rolled it around her himself. She giggled as he then hoisted her up.

“Wooosh! We got a launch.”

Elizabeth squealed, trying not to ruin the burrito.

“Oh no!” He gasped in fake terror, “The spacecraft is crashing! Everyone take cover!”

He made a funny sound as he plopped her onto the couch, her giggling turning into full blown laughter.

“Eww, you’re so weird.”

“Now why would you say that to your commander, pilot?” Mike continued with a laugh, though he was genuinely curious. Elizabeth carefully stuck her index finger out and pointed at his shirt.

“You have smelly goo all over you.”

He had, somehow, forgotten his state. Mike looked down, remembering the shirt’s current predicament.

“Do we even have running water?” He got up and went to the kitchen sink. Somehow, miraculously, it worked.

He wasn’t confident enough in the abundance of water, so he decided he wouldn’t actually take a shower until he bought the house and had reliable water access. Though, when he looked at the goo on his shirt, it was definitely not leaving without a fight, and even then it would definitely stain. Then the horrifying thought came to his mind. What if the amalgam still exists within the ooze? He immediately took off the shirt and his pants and tossed them aside. Well, he didn’t want to dirty another set of clothes, so he put on the closest thing he had to pajamas. A regular t-shirt and some shorts. It was late enough to justify it.

Mike debated on how to dispose of the uniform. Right, he didn’t even technically own it, it was the company uniform. But, if he returned it in this state, he would surely have to pay considering it was likely damaged beyond repair. Then it came to him. He picked up the clothes, careful to make sure they remained in his sight in case they took a life of their own.

“Hey Liz, care for a bond fire?”

She looked at him with a confused expression, dumbfounded by everything about his display. The dirty clothes in his arms, in his pajamas, asking to do a bonfire without any snacks. She needed more incentive.

“I’ll carry you so you can stay in your burrito blanket.” He conceded, sighing dramatically. This perked her interest.

“Ok! Just don’t do that lift off thing again.”

He reached over to her with his other arm, throwing her over his shoulder, “Come on, you liked it.”

“How are you so strong? I remember when you couldn’t even lift the couch.”

“Haha. Maybe it’s because you’re super light.”

“No way! You just got buff.”

He laughed, walking out the back door. He wasn’t lying, she was as light as air in his arms, despite him not changing anything about his lack of workout routine. It must’ve been something about her being a ghost. Though, she seemed to weigh a decent amount on the ground in order for her to get stuck in the floorboard.

Outside, the sun was setting dramatically in the distance, lighting the sky with pinks and oranges and a few remaining blues from the day. The fire pit in their backyard was surrounded by weeds. It had never been used, having been a pre-established part of the house when they bought it.

If mom was still here, we would’ve used it every other week.

He shook his head, sitting Elizabeth down on the porch. Mike had made sure to bring a lighter with him from his backpack. To start the fire, he had to light a small piece of wood and toss it into the pile of unused firewood, weathered and worn just like the house. The cold night was heated by the dancing flame, engulfing the wood in a desperate plea to stay alive. He let it stir for a bit before tossing the ruined uniform into the inferno.

That was a mistake

Suddenly, their ears were hit with thousands of screams of bloody murder. All screeching and begging and pleading, yet no words could be made out among the whirlwind of voices. As the clothes dissipated to ash, the screams slowly faded. Mike glanced back at Elizabeth, who had ruined her burrito to cover her ears. He sat next to her, unsure of how to comfort her. Instinctually, she leaned over against his shoulder.

Her head weighed nothing.

“Sorry Liz.”

She didn’t move an inch, just staring at the blaze. The light seemed to phase right through her, leaving no shadow behind her. Her face was illuminated by the fire, but the light bouncing off of her didn’t interact with anything except for Mike’s eyes.

“For what exactly?”

Mike looked down at her, his eyes widened. He didn’t really know himself. Was it for being a bad brother when she was alive? For letting her die while he was selfishly mopping about something he did? Was it for leaving her to rot in that bunker for a decade? At that moment, he was sorry for causing her pain, though that wasn’t even unusual.

Always hurting other people.

He looked back at the flames, its light leaving little specks of orange in his deep blue eyes.

“For everything.”

There was another moment of silence, punctuated by the crackle of burning wood. Smoke curled up, filling the sky with a dark mist that eventually dissipated as it was overpowered. The sun had fully set at this point, a pitch black void surrounding them and this little fire that gave them warmth.

Elizabeth didn’t say anything. Perhaps she did blame him. Or maybe she was just enjoying the moment. Mike could feel the cold air of night freeze his fingers, turning them a soft pink. Eventually yawned herself to sleep. He sat there for a few more minutes as the fire began to burn out. Once it was just a few embers he turned over and picked up Elizabeth.

Just as he stepped inside, he heard a rustle in the bushes. His eyes darted back towards a forested area.

Was it here?

He shook his head. He was probably tired and imagining things.

The house wasn’t any warmer than outside, but the walls stopped any wind chill from freezing them. Mike was careful not to step through the broken floor board.

Elizabeth’s gray walls clashed with the pinks and pastels that coated her furniture, like a little girl trapped in a machine. He had expected to see scattered toys on the ground, however, it seemed in Elizabeth’s clean of the house she put the toys back to their proper positions.

Mike remembered the last day he saw her. He had been sitting in his room, refusing to leave even for basic necessities. At the time he was so guilt ridden he thought he didn’t deserve anything, even food. William didn’t seem to care at all. Mike had heard Elizabeth playing with her dolls in her room, when their father yelled from down the hall it was time to go. Elizabeth begged for a minute so she could put her dolls away, but he refused, saying she could put them back when they got home.

And now, ten years later, she finally got home.

He gently placed her in her bed, taking the blanket used for her burrito off and draping it over top of her snoring ghost.

She fit the bed perfectly.

Not having grown an inch.

At the door, he turned his head to watch her, reminding himself of her existence. He had to keep reminding himself that she was here. That they were in the house they grew up in. That none of this was a dream.

Walking down the hallway, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing at his room, then the door across from it. Dad’s room. He didn’t want to sleep in his old room, too many memories. His hand was an inch away from the knob before he stopped.

Dad’s room.

He ran to the couch like a scared child, turning on the television for some white noise. It was the season finale of The Immortal and the Restless. He only started watching it when he was young because Mom liked soap operas and the supernatural, at first he only continued watching it because it was so stupid, then a few seasons in and he came to the dreadful conclusion that he actually enjoyed it. Nearly every episode was the same, the two lovers Vlad and Clara would argue about something–usually their baby–and then the show would leave it on a cliffhanger. Last episode ended with Clara burning Vlad’s house to the ground, which was shitty of her. Of course, Vlad needed to accept the baby was his but Clara had no right to do that. Their dramatic voices helped drown out all the running thoughts in Mike’s head, the events of the day, of the week, of his life.

Halfway through the episode, he found his eyelids had gained weight, his mind falling into sleep.

∗ ∗ ∗

“Was it him?”

Foxy shook his head.

Golden Freddy sighed, her voice a grumble, “We’ll get him next time.”

“Uhm… Cassidy–” Chica peeked into the kitchen.

“Golden Freddy.” She corrected.

“Right… Golden Freddy…” She paused, “Maybe we should stop killing the guards.”

“Why? They could be him.”

“But they never have been.” Foxy protested, “You always say it’s going to be this time, but it never is… It’s just like when Char–”

“Do not compare me to that sock puppet.” If they could, her brows would’ve furrowed. The words ‘sock puppet’ spat out of her mouth like venom.

The two animatronics stepped back as a result of the outburst. Noticing their reactions, Golden Freddy exhaled, her robotic voice box rasping.

“We will find him. Eventually.”

They still looked unsure. They needed more incentive.

“Think about it this way. This place pays dirt and enough deaths have occurred here that anyone willingly coming has a death wish.” She lowered her head, “They’re also working for him.”

Chica gulped, then nodded. She seemed unable to find her words, keeping her beak shut. Foxy spoke for both of them.

“Ay. We’ll take that into consideration.”

Golden Freddy leaned back to her resting position, “Good. Now go back to your posts.”

They nodded in sync, leaving the room, Foxy’s non-hooked hand patting Chica’s back.

There was silence. The familiar hum of the freezer echoed through the kitchen that was not up to any code. Though, this entire building wasn’t up to code. It was a cheap cash grab for a dying company. The only people who came here anymore were poorer families or those blinded by nostalgia, the security guards were no better. Usually teens or young adults looking for summer jobs or there on a bet. You would get the occasional adult who had fond memories of Freddy’s, whether it be Fredbear’s Family Diner or one of the many later establishments. Other times it was a paranormal investigator getting the job so they could write about the hauntings of Freddy’s in a magazine or something they called a ‘blog.’ Honestly, people were just making up words at this point.

“Goldie.”

The hauntingly quiet voice of CC whispered her out of her mind. He was the only one allowed to call her something other than Golden Freddy. The others had been hesitant when she insisted on being called Golden Freddy instead of her previous name. Cassidy was dead. Cassidy died years ago. Now she was Golden Freddy, a being fueled by revenge.

After the sock puppet was put back in its box and Cassidy became Golden Freddy, they needed a way to distinguish between her and him. Since he was always crying, they came up with the name Crying Child, CC for short.

“Yes?”

Their broken and rusted face reflected off the metal counters, dirty and stained.

“Are you alright?”

The question gave her pause. Of course she was alright, why wouldn’t she be?

He continued, “I think we need to find a different approach.”

“What?” Her voice came out like the crack of a whip.

“The way things are going, the place will be shut down for good. It will become impossible for us to find Afton.”

“So?”

“Isn’t our goal to find him?”

“Well– Yea, but–”

“How will we find him if we’re in a warehouse, Cassidy?”

“Don’t call me that.”

There was a silence that stiffened the air.

“You’re losing your mind.”

“I am not.”

“You’re letting anger and rage consume you.”

“No I’m not.”

“You’re not listening.”

“Why should I?”

There was another silence. CC didn’t seem shocked at all, just quiet. Golden Freddy hated that. She hated when he was quiet. She hated not knowing what he was thinking. She hated when he was judging her.

“Speak.” She barked.

Nothing.

“SPEAK!!!”

Nothing.

“I DEMAND YOU SPEAK OR I WILL–!!!”

“Goodnight Goldie.”

He didn’t respond at all after that. Golden Freddy scoffed and glanced away. Her eyes darted to the box.

It shuffled.

Chapter Text

His eyelids blinked awake, the morning sun streaming through the window. Well, he thought it was the morning sun, it was actually around noon. Mike shrugged and got up. Where was he again? He looked around, his surroundings vaguely familiar. Then, a sudden banging. Oh. Right.

It came from the kitchen.

Was it that thing come to get him?

No. It was just Elizabeth.

Mike rubbed his eyes.

“What are you doing, Liz?”

“Making breakfast.” She grinned, very proud of herself.

There was nothing on the pans or pots, thank god, it was just pretend.

“Do you mind going to the grocery store?”

He snorted, “Do you even need to eat?”

“I don’t know. But you do. You’re like a skeleton.”

Mike glanced down at himself. Sure he was wearing more baggy clothes but that didn’t make him a skeleton did it? He exhaled, bringing the conversation back to Elizabeth.

“Well, knowing you, if you needed to eat you would’ve been screeching for it hours ago.”

“Hey! I do not screech.” She pouted as he laughed, pressing her hands against her hips.

“Yes you do. Here it sounds like this.” Mike cleared his throat, sitting down. Then, he put on a high pitched, annoying voice, “‘Daaaaad, I’m hungryyyy!! Hey daaaad!! Can we get food??? I’m staaarving!!! I’m gonna die!!’”

His impeccable impression was disrupted by Elizabeth throwing the wooden spoon in her hand straight for his head, smacking against it then clattering to the floor.

“OW–” He winced.

“Hmph! If you’re going to impersonate me, at least do it right.”

“Yes, your highness.” There was zero seriousness in his voice, only sarcasm.

Elizabeth put the dishes down on the counter and sat across from him at the table, “So, what do we do now?”

“Well, first thing’s first, I’ll need to officially buy this house. With father missing, I am technically the heir to it. If not, then I’ll have to use what I saved up to buy it off before someone else can, which shouldn’t be hard since it’s old and decrepit–”

“Booooring.” She fake snored, “What about the fun stuff?”

“Sorry Liz, in the adult world you’ve gotta worry about the boring stuff before the fun stuff can start.” He smirked at her. If she had sat closer, he would’ve flicked her forehead. Though, then he wondered if she would’ve actually felt it with the mask on.

“Is it possible for you to take the mask off?”

“Why?” She tilted her head.

“Just curious.”

She sighed dramatically, “I’ve tried but I just won’t come off. It’s like it’s part of my skin now.”

“Mmm, I see.” Mike curled his index finger against his lip, thinking. Now was the time to start asking questions about ghost physics.

“So, basically, you’re a normal human who only I can see but you don’t get hungry or thirsty, but you do get tired? How does that work?”

“Hmmm.” She pondered for a second, “Well, being tired just means you have less energy, right?”

“Yea?”

“Maybe, since ghosts are made of energy, that’s why we can still get tired.”

“But what replenishes your energy if you can get tired?”

“Sleeping seemed to do the trick.” Elizabeth shrugged, “I think ghost energy is only based on sleep or exertion of energy instead of food or air or water.”

He nodded. Mike began to wish he had a notepad with him.

“I think the better I sleep, the more energy I get.”

“Which is why after your nap you were able to clean a whole house.”

She nodded, “But, then I got tired again.”

“So maybe how much energy you have is determined by how much sleep you get, like alive humans.”

“Yea, exactly.”

“But, with living people, when we reach the limit and push it, our body naturally passes out. Does your body do that?”

“Maybe? I don’t know. I don’t really want to test things that might kill me.”

“You’re already dead–” He snapped his mouth shut with a small click of his teeth, regretting his words.

“You know what I meant. Might make me disappear or whatever.”

“What would happen if you disappeared?”

She shrugged.

“That’s like asking what happens after you die.”

“Well, we already know now.” He leaned against his hand. She, thankfully, didn’t take any offense.

“I’m not sure… I think I’m the only ghost I’ve seen.”

“So, maybe there’s a reason.”

There was a pause.

“You said father might know something about this.”

“Yeah?”

She fidgeted with her hands, “Did you go into the basement?”

Mike paused again, he didn’t even try to put the lock back on, of course she would’ve found out. He wasn’t sure how she would react to the stuff down there, if her misplaced faith in their father would be shattered or not. He didn’t want to lie. There was no point when she already knew.

“Yes.” He nodded solemnly. He didn’t even know why he responded that way, it wasn’t like he was in trouble or anything.

“Did you find anything down there?”

“I–” Again. He wanted to tell her about the tapes, the tapes he procrastinated on listening to. He wanted to tell her about the cameras and microphone connected to who knows where. Then he thought of something else. Microphone. A microphone. And that walkie talkie sitting with a fredbear plushie. He gasped.

“What?”

“He wasn’t lying.” Mike’s voice was quiet and guilt ridden, “It did talk to him.”

“Who? To who?” Confusion and enticement filled her gaze, but there was something else. Worry. Concern.

“He was talking to him.”

“Michael? What are you talking about–”

He needed to get out. He needed to get out of this house.

He was right.

He was right.

He never lied.

And Mike killed him for it.

∗ ∗ ∗

Michael had left in such a hurry it scared Elizabeth. He was hyperventilating and didn’t even get changed out of his pajamas, just pulling on his jacket and running to the car. Elizabeth was alone again. When surprise and confusion washed away, she felt her face get hot with anger. Michael knew something she didn’t and it was driving her mad. She got out of her seat and ran to the basement door.

Father had always told them to never go down there, but she had been allowed down a few times to show him concepts and her drawings. Though, that was before the incident. She shook her head and blinked. That was the past. Father’s secrets had led to her being left in that hell hole for years. Father’s secrets led to her death. She still had to grapple with that. She had always thought of her father as perfect, but it seemed even he was capable of making mistakes and keeping secrets, even from his own children.

Had he kept secrets from mother?

The staircase was dark and winding, like entering an abyss. Elizabeth hopped down the stairs, too intent on learning the truth to worry about her safety. She was a ghost after all? How bad could one fall be?

Apparently pretty bad. Nearing the bottom of the stairs she tripped, slipping and falling hard onto the concrete flooring of the cramped space. While there was no blood, bruises, or anything, there was pain. Was this what people meant when they said phantom pains? She laid there for a bit. There had been a bit of a thunk with her fall, but nothing fell or even shifted. It seemed things only ever responded to her whenever she was actually physically interacting with them. Sort of like wind. Maybe that’s what ghosts really were, human winds.

When she finally had enough of the ground, she stood up and instinctually dusted her skirt and blouse. She had to get on her tippy toes to reach the lightswitch, but the light emitting from the bulb did little to light up the room. Her years in pure darkness had accounted for that however, her mind filling the unlit corners.

It was a bit of a mess, though not as bad as the one originally upstairs. There were tons of boxes and scribbled papers. She shrugged, this was how it always looked. Father was very organized, yet he had trouble organizing his thoughts onto paper. That’s what Uncle Henry was for, translating father’s rambles into coherent messages for ‘investors.’ There were two desks, one of only notes. The handwriting was so fancy Elizabeth couldn’t read it, even with her rudimentary training in cursive. The other desk had a tape recorder, a few televisions, a microphone, and some tapes. All the tapes were labeled dates; 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1993.

If she was going to find any answers, it would be in these tapes. She picked up the first one. 1982.

There was a bit of static silence, before a throat cleared.

‘If you are listening to this, allow me to introduce myself. My name is William Afton. I am the co-founder of Fredbear’s Family Diner.’

It felt odd hearing his voice after so long, smooth yet pointed. Like a shaved down icicle.

‘I have manufactured animatronics the likes of which no one, past or future, will ever know. Yet, they are put into children’s restaurants.’

There was a venom to the final words, then a sigh.

‘It was Henry’s idea. How could I refuse? He is much more of a people pleaser.’

When he talked about Uncle Henry, there was an indescribable bitterness.

‘Oh, look at me, I’m Henry. I have a loving wife and kids, and a good house that’s not falling apart.’

His voice was a crude mimic of Uncle Henry’s. Afterwards, a deep growl escaped his throat before he composed himself.

‘Nevermind. At least I can take pride in my inventions. Springlocks.’

Father went on and on, rambling about the technology. He used words Elizabeth couldn’t begin to comprehend. It was like he was speaking an entirely different language. Elizabeth sped forward, the audio turning to a sort of white noise until she reached the end.

“Ugh.” She groaned, “Useless.”

She tossed the tape aside then moved on to the next. 1983.

A click and it was on. His throat cleared.

‘It appears my last recording was cut out, so I have created a script.’

He cleared his throat again, the tape picking up the sound of him grabbing his reading glasses. Paper crinkling sounds blotched out any other noise.

‘What started out as a petty revenge turned out to be quite fascinating. It began with Charlotte Emily, daughter of Henry. Now, granted, I was not in a fully conscious headspace. However, the ramifications of that night were interesting to witness in the morning. While Henry grieved, I noticed the Puppet’s box moving. Apparently her body had been found with it. I decided to investigate further. Turns out, it has been moving during the night when it believes no one is watching.’

Elizabeth stared at the audio, her mouth slightly agape. He was talking about Charlie’s death. He was talking about it like it was nothing. He was talking about it like HE had done it.

‘I was hesitant to continue my research. I mean, it could have just been a coincidence. The Puppet had been programmed to move around on its own. So how about a springlock suit?’

Oh no.

‘My children came of use. At first I was furious. But, when a warehouse worker reported sounds of screeching metal and whispering, I knew my theory was right.’

Oh. No.

‘Both animatronics came to life. Fredbear and the Puppet. The moving could’ve been a mistake but the whispering? Especially whispering in child-like voices? No coincidence.’

There was the sound of paper falling as he ditched his script.

‘I have two future establishments to work with. Circus Baby’s Pizza World and Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Along with my… Pet project…’

There was a deep sigh and a mumble.

‘Let’s just hope they don’t kill each other again.’

The tape stopped.

Elizabeth frantically reached for the 1984 tape. This had to be a mistake. A misunderstanding. Her father was odd but he wasn’t evil. Right?

He sighed deeply. Elizabeth imagined him rubbing his temple.

‘Circus Baby’s Pizza World was… A failure. Only one kid was able to be used, and it was my own daughter.’

Oh.

There was a crash, a chair hitting a wall.

‘Damn it!!’

Elizabeth flinched at his scream.

‘The one time I tell her not to do one simple thing, she ignores me. And now she possesses the clown.’

He knew.

‘Don’t think I didn’t notice the eyes. They were blue. They were always blue. But now? Now they’re green. Her green.’

There was a sharp inhale before he took a seat once more, composing himself.

‘No matter. The second establishment has worked thus far. Plenty of test subjects. It is quite popular.’

His voice was back to its smooth calmness.

‘My pet project has been going smoothly so far.’

It stopped.

Elizabeth rarely saw her father angry. Whenever he was, it was obvious. It scared her to remember the screaming matches that occurred between Father and Michael. Of course, that was before their brother died.

She reached for the next tape. 1985.

‘What do you know? This establishment was an overwhelming success. I got five subjects in total, all acting exactly as planned. It is almost too easy. Freddy Fazbear’s is getting investigated and guess what? Good old Henry was arrested for the crime. Unfortunately, he didn’t get sentenced or convicted. Not enough evidence. But his name was dug through the mud.’

He laughed.

‘First his daughter dies, then his wife leaves him with their other kid, and now he is known as the man arrested for causing children to go missing.’

He laughed. Like it was some joke. The funniest joke he had ever heard. He calms down, taking a sigh of relief.

‘Anyways. The subjects seem to excrete a potent ooze. My hypothesis? It is what allows them to persist after death. There is still much to be discovered, however, ooze is not a good name for it.’

There was a pause.

‘Remnant.’

The tape was cut out. Elizabeth stared blankly at it. She still had two more tapes to go, but they’re dates were different. They were no longer the straight line of years. The last two tapes were labeled 1987 and 1993. She exhaled, her mind being taken over by an unknown force as she inserted the 1987 tape.

‘It has been a while, hasn’t it? So much has happened. The 1985 establishment closed in favor of a new one, but that is set for closure again thanks to the reputation the franchise has.’

He sighed in disappointment.

‘I wasn’t able to get any more subjects.’

There was a paper crumple, meaning he flipped the page of his script.

‘Speaking of test subject. The test subjects in what I began to call the Nightmare Project have been intriguing. Most are too terrified to even move, let alone defend themselves. There have been a few outliers but most don’t even last a week.’

He paused again, putting down the paper.

‘The only success ran away this morning.’

Elizabeth snapped back to reality just as–

“Elizabeth!”

Chapter Text

Mike stood at the steps, staring at Elizabeth. He just left for a bit to do paperwork for the house and get some groceries, but in that time frame, Elizabeth had gone down stairs and broke into that pile of tapes. When he came into the house, it was eerily quiet.

Then he heard voices in the basement.

The two stood in their spots, staring at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Elizabeth’s face contorted in a way Mike had never seen before, full of anguish and fear. Mike himself felt a wave of emotions, mostly negative. Was he upset that she came down even though it was dangerous? Was he devastated that she had learned the truth of their father without anyone being there to comfort her? Was he jealous that she managed to actually listen to the tapes? Judging by the tapes scattered, she had reached the final two.

Mike became aware of his face as he looked into Elizabeth's eyes. Like a scared animal. He realized his tone, horrified. He yelled at her. He had done that before but this was different. It wasn’t a brother and a sister yelling at each other as kids. This was an adult yelling at a child. His expression softened in guilt.

“I– I’m sorry.” Elizabeth’s eyes became speckled with tears, “I was just curious. I didn’t mean to–”

Her voice was shaky and unfocused, like she was at a different point in time than him. Mike continued down the steps, being careful not to slip.

“I only wanted to help. I didn’t mean to–”

She exhaled sharply when Mike reached the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t realize it, but due to the poor lighting of the room she could only see his silhouette.

His silhouette.

Despite the realization, she was still distraught.

“Please don’t be angry.”

“I’m not–” His voice caught in his throat. He took a deep breath, kneeling down to be on her level, “I’m not angry.”

She sniffled, staring at him, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

“Are you ok?” He tried his best to suppress any emotions, making his voice sound as comforting as possible.

This wasn’t about him. It was about Elizabeth. She was the one who died and got reanimated. She was the one needing comfort.

“Father… He…”

Mike sighed.

“I know.”

She looked at him in shock. He didn’t actually know the full depravity of William, but he knew enough to understand why she was upset.

Finally, she ran and hugged him. Mike felt awkward, unsure. He simply patted her on the back.

The ghost physics made no sense.

Mike pulled away from Elizabeth.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you anything. I was just… I don’t know how to phrase it.”

Elizabeth sniffled, “No more secrets?”

He looked at her for a moment. He smiled and nodded, “No more secrets.”

She held out her pinky with a serious look on her face. Mike snorted, then interlocked his pinky with hers.

“I promise.”

Elizabeth wiped her tears away, a wave of questions threw themselves at him at breakneck speed.

“How much do you know? How long have you known? Did you listen to the tapes already? Did you need to? Did you work with father at any point? Do you think there are others like me? What do all these notes say? What made you panic earlier? What was that pet project he always mentioned?”

Mike was alarmed by that last one, trying to brush it off, “Ok ok, one question at a time.”

She exhaled, “Ok.”

“Have you listened to the tapes?”

He shook his head with honesty.

“You have to hear this. Then we can listen to the last one together.”

∗ ∗ ∗

Jesus fucking christ.

He knew William was a bastard but what the hell. At the end of the tape labeled 1987 he just had to sit back and stare at the basement walls in disbelief. How could someone possibly be that evil? Elizabeth caught his every reaction, looking over at him over and over. Once the tape had finished, she nodded. Especially after hearing the last bit, he felt sick.

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“How…? What…? I mean, it explains a lot but also… Jesus.”

“I know right.” She exclaimed, “I feel so stupid for knowing.”

“Hey hey, you’re not stupid for being manipulated by him. He’s a piece of shit.” He accidentally let the last part slip. But instead of a mini lecture about how William hated swearing, she simply nodded along.

“Totally.” She paused, then looked at Mike with a serious expression, opening her mouth as if she wanted to ask him something. Nothing came out. She stood up and walked to the board as if she were a detective.

“What could this all mean?”

Mike chuckled before glancing grimly at the final tape. 1993.

The current year.

Elizabeth turned around, raising an eyebrow. He grabbed hold of the tape and lifted it into her view.

“Maybe this will give us all our answers.”

She seemed unsure. Neither of them had touched the tape and its mere existence was enough to cause discomfort. It would’ve made sense for the final tape to be in 1987. Creating a random tape in 1993 would be stupid unless there was a reason. But what reason could there be? Unless of course he anticipated Mike returning to the house in search of answers after visiting the facility.

The only way to find out was to put it in. Mike sat on the swivel chair, popping in the tape as Elizabeth grabbed a sturdy box to sit on.

A throat cleared.

‘Greetings. If you are hearing this, you already know everything I’ve done. You probably have many questions, however, I am not here to answer them.’

It was him. Of course it was him. He sighed.

‘I’m going to cut to the chase. I know you’re listening, Michael.’

After hearing all the previous tapes, it was a mini shock to hear his name. Elizabeth got similar goosebumps. It was as if he was talking directly to them.

‘I knew after you left that my previous plans were… not quite going as planned.’

His voice was still that smooth tone, unphased and uncanny, like there were no emotions to be found.

‘Which is why I wrote that note. By now you have gone to see your sister, and if all went well, she is here as well.’

Elizabeth jumped at being mentioned, the siblings glanced at each other in discomfort.

‘Perhaps, you can find your brother as well. Then, we can finally be… a family again.’

Mike felt disgust coursing through his veins. After everything William had done, he thought he was deserving of a family? Their family?

‘Because of the remnant, if everything is going according to plan, you are acting as a sort of lightning rod for ghosts. remnant attaches souls–the culmination of one’s experiences–to metal, to animatronics. What’s good about this is that the vessel can be destroyed, however the soul will remain intact, as the vessel is not biological and can thus not be hurt, only destroyed or damaged. And even then, if there is enough of a connection, the soul will be able to possess any piece, even if it is no longer a part of the whole.’

He chuckled.

‘However, due to your… nature. Anything that happens to you will affect the souls using you as a vessel. Because you are a living organism, you can not be possessed in any way, only exist as a vessel.’

He felt himself go cold. If Mike got hurt, or worse–killed– Elizabeth’s soul would have the same fate.

‘I believe every person has a little bit of remnant in them, our bodies are made up of many metals, and even then, metals have been fundamental to human civilization. The biggest, secret ingredient of remnant? Suffering. Agony in its rawest form.’

Elizabeth looked at Mike, but he was staring intently at the tape recorder. His hands balled into fists.

‘But now, you have such a profound amount of remnant inside of you that just by being near, you counteract any other remnant source around you. Like a magnet going against a bigger, stronger magnet. I suppose you should thank me for all those–’

The next few seconds were a blur.

A crashing sound.

Tapes stumbling against the concrete.

Elizabeth yelling.

When it all came back, he saw the destruction.

He had thrown the tape recorder so hard against the stack that they tumbled down. The tapes themselves were relatively fine, with just a few artificial scratches, but the tape recorder was completely destroyed. Each piece scattered against the basement floor. Elizabeth stood up, staring at the mess in shock and horror. Mike’s breathing was heavy, like it was a significant effort to stay alive. Elizabeth quietly looked up at him.

“What… Happened…?”

He looked back at her, his face twisted, contorted. He wanted to run. He wanted to hide. He wanted to pretend like everything was ok. But her face. It was so full of concern and confusion. Even fear. They just promised not to hide anything. Yet Mike just wanted to keep pretending.

Mike just stared, swallowing back everything.

“It’s fine.”

He could fix this.

“I’m fine.”

He could make things better.

“Everything is fine.”

Chapter Text

The first thing he needed to do was buy a new tape player. If William was going to communicate with them through these tapes, they needed a way to know what he was saying. Elizabeth didn’t talk to him at all since his freak out. He really shouldn’t have thrown the stupid player. Why couldn’t he just grow up already and move forward. He had new responsibilities. He had Elizabeth, and all the other potential ghost children out there. So why couldn’t he shake off his shivers?

“Hello to space cadet.”

Mike jumped at the voice. He looked around and saw a man standing in the same aisle, waving. He looked about Mike’s age, maybe a year or two older. He had short, dark curly hair and was wearing an employee uniform. The thing that caught Mike’s eye was the massive scar going over his forehead and down his cheek, leading to that side’s eye being in a perpetual squint.

“My bad. Didn’t mean to startle you.” He approached, looking down at the tape player, “You got a pretty old model there. Mind if I look?”

He stared at the man for a moment before giving it to him.

“Wow. You some kind of collector?”

“Don’t you work here?”

He shrugged, “Yeah, but I mainly work the customers, not stocking.”

The man passed the tape player back to Mike.

“Anyways, you didn’t answer my question. You collecting?”

“Not really. I just need it.”

“For what?”

Mike grimaced at the man. He was asking too many questions for his comfort.

He sighed, “Just listening to some old tapes my dad left.”

“Ahh.” There was some pity. Mike forgot that when most people say something like that it means the family member passed away and they miss them, two things further from the truth.

“Well.” He exhaled, stretching, “If ya need anything don’t be a stranger.”

Finally, the man left, allowing Mike to breathe a sigh of relief. What was he thinking about again? Right. He needed to apologize to Elizabeth. Though, he had very little idea on how exactly he could do that. He didn’t see the random man again, even as he was leaving the store. The car ride to the house was uncomfortably quiet. Mike had to make an active effort not to space out at the wheel, he almost didn’t notice when, by muscle memory, he went into the house’s driveway. With the tape recorder in hand, he walked into the house.

It was just how he left it. Peeling walls and creaky floorboards. When everything was finalized and he owned the place, a lot of work would need to be done to get it up to code. When he told the real-estate company that he didn’t want an inspector, they gave him some weird looks, though they were easily bought by cash. Mike needed to watch how much he spent. Without a job, the money was like a waterfall slowly being choked by a dam.

He placed the tape recorder on top of the old tv, then glanced down the hall. Elizabeth’s door was closed, but there were sounds coming from it. His steps felt slow and heavy, not helped by the creaks of the floor. When he reached the door, Mike hesitated, breathing in his pride and knocking. Elizabeth’s talking paused.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.” He hoped that was enough to identify himself, “Can I come in?”

“I don’t know, can you?”

Mike exhaled, “May I come in?”

There was a silent response, like Elizabeth was conferring with her toy friends on if Mike was allowed.

“Fine.”

The door opened slowly. Elizabeth sat on her bed with the pink Foxy and a doll. The curtains fluttered, the outside world breathing into the room, a reminder of her freedom.

“Hey.” Mike glanced at the small chair at the desk vanity combination, “May I sit?”

Elizabeth nodded wordlessly, not making eye contact with Mike as she brushed out the doll’s hair. The chair was uncomfortable and threatened to crumble under his weight. There was an awkward silence between them, only soothed slightly by the chirping of birds.

She wasn’t going to say anything unprompted. He needed to be the one to speak.

“Look. I–”

“Don’t.”

“What?” He looked at her in surprise.

“Don’t apologize when you don’t mean it.”

“I do mean it.”

“Yeah. Like how you meant that pinky promise.”

Mike inhaled and sighed.

“Things are… complicated.”

She finally looked up, “What’s so complicated about our promise? All you had to do was not keep a secret. But, then you immediately broke it.”

“I don’t want to keep secrets from you, Liz.”

“Then why do you? Why do you say things are ok when they’re not.”

“Listen, I know you’re upset but–”

“I am upset.” She placed the doll down, “I’m upset that you don’t trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

“Then why won’t you share.” She crossed her arms.

“Because–”

“Because what? It might hurt my feelings? It might make me think differently about you?”

“No–”

“Then why?”

“BECAUSE I’M NOT READY!”

The air was thick, but already cut. The two sat staring at each other. Elizabeth didn’t seem as scared about this outburst. Mike caught the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“I’m… I’m not ready…”

It was more of a whisper.

“I’m sorry. Genuinely. I wish I had a better answer. A real answer. But I don’t.”

She sat intently, listening to him, lowering her arms.

“I want to tell you. I really really do. But the words just can’t form in my mouth and any time I think about it, I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

“That’s still not fair.”

“None of this is fair. I’m sorry, I can’t control any of this.”

“Yes you can.” She seemed insistent.

“No. I can’t.”

“That’s because you’re telling yourself you can’t control it.”

“No, you don’t understand. I can’t control any of this.”

“So then why did Father want you to thank him?”

Mike’s breath caught in his throat. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing emerged. Only memories. And nightmares.

Elizabeth stared at him intensely for a bit before curling in on herself.

He exhaled. This wasn’t going anywhere. But this couldn’t be left unresolved.

“Look.” He stood up and sat on the floor in front of her bed, “I…”

He looked up to her, noticing tears forming in her eyes.

“Liz…”

She sniffled, “I don’t want you to be a monster like Father.”

He sighed.

“Me neither.”

Elizabeth looked down at him through teary eyes.

“Please tell me you didn’t mean to break our promise.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Then why won’t you tell me?”

“I… I don’t know. Most of it is a blur anyways.”

“Did you know?”

“About?”

“The experiments.” She wiped her eyes.

Mike breathed, simply nodding.

“How could you–?”

“Because I was the one that got away.”

Chapter Text

She looked shocked for a moment, Mike didn’t blame her.

“So…” Elizabeth leaned forward, “What were the experiments?”

He still couldn’t make eye contact with her, debating on if he should tell her.

“You would go to sleep in your room, then wake up somewhere else. It was like that area where we fought that amalgamation, except it looked like a bedroom, with two winding hallways on either side.”

Elizabeth was silent, listening intently.

“It wasn’t every night. I just thought they were nightmares. But, at some point, I don’t even know when, a new nightmare came.”

His voice was slowly breaking away from him, but he had to keep talking. He had to tell her.

“On nights when I didn’t have the nightmare about the bedroom, I dreamt of waking up in the middle of the night to a man with a gas mask and a syringe coming into my room and injecting me with some weird gooey ooze. Some nights I tried to fight back, but then I’d just fade to darkness.”

Mike sighed.

“When I ran away, the nightmares stopped. I just assumed it was from all the stress but, with the tapes… I guess it was all real.”

He glanced up at her. Elizabeth’s mouth was wide open, her staring blankly at him, forgetting to blink.

“Liz?” The last word to squeak out before he felt his throat tighten, unwilling to let anymore words exit.

Unexpectedly, Elizabeth jumped at him and pulled him into the tightest hug possible, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders. Mike sat there, a little flabbergasted. He thought she would hate him or think less of him. Then he felt a pang of shame. Sure, what happened sucked but it allowed him to see Elizabeth again and now gave him purpose, the purpose to save the lives his father ruined. So why did the corners of his eyes sting with tears?

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Mike opened his mouth to say it was alright, yet nothing emerged. Elizabeth must’ve felt the shift and continued.

“I wanted to know so bad I didn’t think… I didn’t actually think it would be that bad.” She tried to laugh but she was clearly tearing up, “I thought it would be something like… I don’t know… Anything but THAT.”

He chuckled slightly. He wanted to tell her it was ok, that it was in the past and it didn’t matter, but even if his words did obey him, Elizabeth wouldn’t budge.

“Wow. Father sucks!”

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Mike burst into laughter. Elizabeth let go of him, speaking with her hands.

“I mean. Killing kids? Bad. Abandoning his daughter? Horrible. But all that? Unforgivable! Evil! How did I not notice?”

“Because you were dead.” His voice rasped.

She bit her lips before sitting in front of him, “Well, I may be dead but I’m still here. And now we can bring him to justice! Like superheroes.”

Mike laughed, “Really? Superheroes?”

“I mean, you have super powers, and you saved me… So yeah, you’re a superhero.”

“Some others might think differently.” His mood quickly soured, thinking of him.

Elizabeth made a face.

“There’s only one way to find out.” She stood up and rummaged around.

“What are you doing?”

She grabbed a flashlight.

“We’re gonna go to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!”

Chapter Text

He had been recording these audios for future employees for a few days now. As a manager of Freddy’s he was getting tired of having to hire new night guards every night, so he decided to take on the job and make some recorded messages for any new employees. He didn’t realize how actually terrifying it could be. Now, running on low power, with all the animatronics at his doors, he sat curled up under the desk with his literal life line in his hands.

“Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day four. I knew you could do it.”

Whoever made it to this point with his assistance was worthy of more than this job that paid garbage and was part of a franchise slowly dying out of public consciousness.

“Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow.” His voice cracked, a banging sound permeating his words. He could feel their eyes scan the office, looking for him, preparing a suit to stuff him in.

“It's– it's been a bad night here for me”

That was an understatement. The night had been terrible. Not only had he dealt with the regular four, but he swore he saw the fifth animatronic they put into the kitchen for storage. A Golden Freddy that used to be known as Fredbear from the oldest location.

“Um… I– I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you,” He cleared his throat, “when I did.”

His stutter under pressure was coming in full force as the animatronics outside made the presence very known. He hoped the voice message recorder wasn’t catching their moans and banging.

If he was going to die, he wanted to know the person after him would find him.

“Uh, hey, do me a favor–” He was cut off for a moment by the incessant banging.

“Maybe sometime, you could check inside those suits in the back room?” He felt a twinge of stupid hope, “I'm gonna try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad.”

He knew he was going to die, yet a naive part of him was hoping, praying that the animatronics wouldn’t kill him immediately and would just stuff him in a suit.

“I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there.” He muttered, still horrified by the sight. The smell. Was that what angered them so much? Was that to be his fate?

His thoughts were killed by the ringing of Freddy’s music box.

“Oh no…”

The animatronics moaned deeply, the banging continuing until–

∗ ∗ ∗

He was dead. All that effort and it wasn’t even their killer. Golden Freddy sneered at the corpse, she hadn’t had to kill any of these night guards before, but this one, for some reason, was stupidly persistent. Like a fly always evading your swatter. But, after four nights, they did it.

Chica looked over at her, “What do we do with the body?”

“Stuff it in a random suit.”

She nodded, carrying it off with the help of Foxy.

“Hey… Cass–”

“Golden Freddy.” She glared at Bonnie.

He sighed, “Look, we’re running out of suits to stuff them in and it’s getting really gross.”

“So?”

“We need to think of a new idea.” Freddy joined in, standing in the doorway.

Golden Freddy glared at Freddy.

“Well. Go ahead. What’s this grand new idea?”

He paused.

“We need to let Charlie out.”

The chair in front of the desk shattered at Golden Freddy’s punch.

“We are not letting her out, do you understand?!!”

“Listen. We’re as mad as you, but it’s been years and this isn’t working.” Bonnie crossed his arms.

“If you two worked together, we’d be able to find him.” Freddy nodded along to Bonnie.

Golden Freddy growled, “You listen here–”

Chica ran back into the room, holding a piece of paper, Foxy not far behind.

“Look what we found!” She held it up, waving it violently.

“What is it?” Golden Freddy barked at them, still enraged by Bonnie and Freddy’s insubordination.

“There’s a new night guard coming. Tomorrow.” Foxy pointed with his hook at the resume, “And look.”

The group looked at the photo attached to the resume. Bonnie gasped and Freddy made as good of a face as he could.

There, in the dark, flickering lighting of the office.

The man in the photo had pale skin, wavy brown hair, and big blue eyes.

“CC” Chica mumbled, “Is it him?”

CC, having remained silent since his and Golden Freddy’s argument, came up to look. Due to their link, Golden Freddy was able to tell whatever CC was feeling. His reaction to the image puzzled her.

Indifference.

Confusion.

Realization.

And an emotion Golden Freddy couldn’t quite place.

“That’s…” He paused, his soft voice quaking.

“Well? Is it him?” Bonnie asked.

“Of course it’s him. He looked exactly the same as I remember!” Foxy piped up.

“But he would’ve aged a lot by now.” Freddy noted.

CC’s voice brought all their attention back with two simple words.

“It’s him.”

Chapter Text

He had never been to this establishment before, though he tried to avoid anything associated with it. Mike parked his car in the frankly pathetic parking lot. Elizabeth was asleep at home and Mike was going to do his first shift. He approached the decrepit building with his flashlight, light rain dripping down.

The door took a bit of work to budge open. The key didn’t work at first, jamming the door, but Mike had years to practice lock picking. The inside was a pretty standard Freddy’s location, a few arcane machines, tables, and two stages; one for Freddy and friends and the other for Foxy. The place was very low budget, not even having designated party rooms. Mike bit the inside of his cheek as he pondered if it was only reservations now. Oh well. Not his problem.

Before entering the office, he glanced at the animatronics. William mentioned souls trapped inside of them, but Mike wasn’t sure what would happen. Had they already left? Were they here but couldn’t control the animatronics similar to Elizabeth? Or was their case different entirely? He exhaled, going down the long hallway to enter the office.

The office was a mix of overcrowded while not having anything useful. There was no chair, so Mike was forced to sit on a box. There was an army of tvs, none of which actually worked or were even plugged in. The walls were plastered with kids’ drawings and a giant Freddy’s poster. Mike cringed at the half-empty cup of stale soda, seemingly having lost its fizz a long time ago, yet nobody was willing to throw it out. There were probably only four useful things in the entire office: a fan plugged in and blowing cool air in his face, two sets of buttons attached to the walls that controlled the hallway lights and doors, a hand monitor to look at the security cameras, and a mysterious phone with a sticky note attached with two words…

‘Call me!’

Mike breathed out his nose and picked up the phone, holding it to his ear with his shoulder as he looked at the monitor.

Surprisingly, a groggy, stuttering voice responded.

‘Hello? Hello, hello?’

Mike’s eyebrows raised, he lowered the monitor and listened in.

‘Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact.’

Ah, so it was a recorded message. Well, it felt nice to have someone there to guide him through this.

‘So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week, okay?’

Well, if Mike was lucky, he wouldn’t need to be here that long.

‘Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. Um, “Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced–”

Mike rolled his eyes as he listened to the company jargon. He was suddenly allerted by a muffled sound. He looked down at the monitor while the guy on the phone continued to talk. His eyes widened slightly.

“Where’s Bonnie?”

He frantically changed cameras until he reached 1B and saw Bonnie standing casually off his stage. He tuned back in on the phone man to get answers.

‘So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh... something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long.’

Mike let out a side of relief. So it was just them wandering so they don’t break down. A little creepy, but not the end of the world.

‘They used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of 87. Yeah. It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?’

His jaw dropped and almost dropped the phone. Bite of 87? He didn’t know anything about that, and William definitely didn’t mention it in the tapes. Though, due to the victim not dying, he probably didn’t see a need to address it. Mike couldn’t help but get this sudden, overwhelming sadness. He remembered being told in the hospital that his brother could have survived with minor damage to the frontal lobe, but Mike had stupidly shoved him in so far that the teeth punctured integral parts of the brain. Whoever the victim was, he hoped they were doing ok.

‘Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll– they'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on.’

Oh.

Mike was starting to think William actually just wanted to kill him at this point.

‘Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to... forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort... and death.’

Wow, William and Henry couldn’t make a non-deadly animatronic if they tried. First spring locks and now these. And these things were supposed to be around kids. He began hearing scrabbling pots and pans. Mike looked down at the monitor, but the camera for the kitchen was broken. As he glanced at the others, he realized Bonnie had moved again, but this time he was closer. He had left the view of 1B and entered the hallway.

Mike knew how to play this game though, he couldn’t waste power by locking the door unless the animatronics were directly outside.

‘Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh.’

The image disgusted him, though, he was slowly starting to become numb to these kinds of talks.

‘Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night.’

The phone turned off. Well, Mike didn’t need to learn all that but whatever.

The pots and pans stopped. He checked the camera and saw Chica in camera 1B. Bonnie remained where he was, though, he seemed stuck. Mike looked up at the ceiling light when he heard a sudden crash. It didn’t come from the kitchen, he saw Chica move from where she was checking to examine the noise. Mike looked back at Bonnie to see the cause.

The Bonnie animatronic had fallen flat against the ground, a ghostly figure ran out of view of the camera. Mike frantically checked the other camera, but he just saw Chica in 1B before she started directly at the camera. It was like she was staring directly into his soul. Mike felt a shiver go down his spine as he took a sharp breath.

After that, the animatronics left him alone for the rest of the night.

∗ ∗ ∗

“CASSIDY!!”

“Don’t make me tell you agai–” Golden Freddy paused when she saw. It wasn’t Bonnie standing in the doorway, it was Jeremy. Or, at least a ghostly figure of Jeremy with a Bonnie mask and tear streaks.

“What the hell happened?”

Chica ran in, “He’s gone.”

“What??” Golden Freddy looked between the massive chicken and the short boy. Then Freddy and Foxy peaked in.

“What just happened?” Freddy questioned.

“I heard loud noises.” Foxy nodded.

Everyone was equally shocked and confused by Jeremy’s appearance, both in his form and the fact he was here at all instead of in the purplish-blue bunny.

“Everyone quiet!” Golden Freddy sighed, “What… Happened?”

Jeremy fumbled, “Well, I was scoping out the office but before I got to the window I just felt this floating sensation, like I was weightless. Then I blinked and Bonnie was flat on the floor and I… I’m out.”

There were murmurs in the small crowd.

“But the animatronic wasn’t destroyed?” Foxy tilted his head.

Chica shook her own, “No, I saw him put Bonnie back on the stage and the robot was perfectly fine.”

“Then how did…” Foxy vaguely gestured to Jeremy, “This happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wait, does Mr. Killer Guy have some kind of anti-possession powers?”

“No, that’s stupid.” Chica pouted.

Foxy looked almost offended, “I’m just trying to make sense of it all!”

“We’ve been here for eight years and nothing like this has ever happened before.” Freddy grimaced.

Everyone hated being reminded of how long they had been trapped. Golden Freddy just sighed loudly.

“Well, can’t you just get back into Bonnie?” She looked at Jeremy who shook his head violently in response.

“Ow–” He rubbed his head, not being used to it being so light, “I tried as soon as he left, but it’s like I’m banned from re-entering it.”

The four kids went back to bickering over what to do about this new development while Golden Freddy sat in thought.

“Maybe CC knows.” Chica chimed in.

“Yea, CC, you know him better than the rest of us. Does he have some kind of anti-possession magic?” Foxy’s eyes snapped towards the Golden Freddy animatronic.

“That’s stupid and you know it.”

“Shut up.” He pouted.

CC’s voice startled them back to the situation, “I don’t know.”

They all looked at him expectantly, so he continued.

“I… I don’t know?? Maybe?? I don’t know how??”

“Uhm… CC… You seem unsure.” Jeremy fidgeted with his hands.

“Are we even sure this is the killer? Maybe it’s more trouble than it’s worth.” Chica glanced at the group, who nodded.

“No! I know it’s him!”

The rest of the group snapped back, even Golden Freddy felt a jolt. None of them had ever seen him so… Angry? Unsure? Conflicted? Again, Golden Freddy just couldn’t place the emotion.

“Then what do we do?” Foxy didn’t know where to put his hands, waving them around erratically and almost hitting Freddy in the face.

“Maybe we could ask Cha–” Jeremy spoke before glancing back at Golden Freddy, who’s glare shut him up.

“Look.” Golden Freddy cleared her throat, “If CC knows it’s him then it’s him.”

The others glanced at each other, then back at Golden Freddy.

“He’s going to come back another night. And another. And another. And if he stays too long? We’ll just do what we did to the other guy. Clear?”

They paused, before nodding. Golden Freddy turned her attention to Jeremy.

“Try to stay out of the way of him and any cameras. We don’t know what he plans to do, but it can’t be anything good.”

Jeremy nodded.

Golden Freddy let out a sigh of relief.

“Good. Now get back to your stages, the sun is coming up.”

The animatronics and Jeremy left the kitchen, now it was once again just Golden Freddy, CC, and the box.

It shuffled.

“CC…”

“Leave me alone.” His voice was cold as ice.

Golden Freddy just silently accepted his request.

The box shuffled again.

Chapter Text

The same thing happened again. This time with Chica. Golden Freddy was startled when she heard the sobbing at 6AM. Susie entered the kitchen with Jeremy. She looked like a normal little girl, but with tear streaks and a Chica mask.

“Again?” Golden Freddy stared at the crying girl, who was unable to formulate a simple sentence.

“She went to investigate, but then she tripped on a wire and popped out. I managed to get her out of sight of the cameras before he saw her.”

Jeremy sat her down on the ground.

“I– I don’t–”

He held her hand in his, “I know, I know.”

Freddy and Foxy did the same as last night, leaning in and listening.

“Same story.” Freddy mumbled, “He put the animatronic back on the stage after it fell.”

Foxy crossed his arms and nodded, “He also keeps looking at me funny.”

Golden Freddy swore she heard CC breath sharply, but she ignored it.

“Chi– Susie, you’re going to need to calm down.”

She sniffled loudly, “I just feel so weightless and weak. I don’t know what to do. I feel like… I don’t even know.”

She stuttered before breaking down into sobs again.

One in an incident, two is a coincidence. Still, it was a coincidence Golden Freddy didn’t like.

The box shuffled.

“Ok, that’s it. No one is approaching the guard alone, got it?” All their eyes turned to her, “We fight him together.”

“Golden Freddy.” Jeremy spoke softly, “I think we’re in over our heads. Maybe we could–”

“No!” It came out more aggressive than she intended and caused Susie to flinch.

“Golden Freddy, we aren’t prepared for something like this.” Freddy spoke, entering the room fully and casting a bear-shaped shadow.

“But this is our last chance. He is this close. We just need to…”

“Face it Golden Freddy, we’re outnumbered.” The younger kids looked to Freddy as he spoke, switching between the two bears.

“We just need to keep trying”

“Then what?” Foxy piped up, “What happens after we catch him?”

“We’ll be free of course.” Golden Freddy was becoming increasingly panicked. This was just like the sock puppet. She was outnumbered. Golden Freddy also wasn’t being entirely honest.

She didn’t want to be free.

She wanted to make him suffer.

“But what does that even mean?” He raised his arm and hook in the air.

“It… Well…” She was losing her words, losing her thoughts. Losing.

A voice came to her rescue.

“Goldie’s right.”

It was CC, the others looked back at the golden animatronic. CC rarely ever contributed unless he had to say something really important.

“We are dealing with a monster. A monster who won’t stop until… Until it’s too late. Tomorrow is another day.”

Foxy opened his mouth but stayed quiet, simply nodding. Freddy was stone cold. Jeremy and Susie weren’t paying much attention, the former comforting the latter.

“Now go back to your stage.”

They obeyed, a bit shaken up by his tone.

It was just CC and Golden Freddy.

And it was becoming clear the tides were changing.

CC had been way more vocal in the past two days than ever. But there was something new to his voice, a venom. A venom he never had when talking about their killer.

Something wasn’t adding up.

“CC.” Golden Freddy asked cautiously.

“Yes?”

“Who is he? Really?”

He paused for a moment.

“A killer.”

∗ ∗ ∗

The drive home was quiet and Mike was exhausted. Chica had fallen down today and unlike Bonnie she was actually disgusting. Cockroaches and moldy pizza disgusting. When he finally made it home, he was surprised to see the lights on.

Is Elizabeth still awake?

He grimaced, locking his car and entering the house.

“Welcome home!” Elizabeth cheered.

Oh. She wanted something.

“You should be in bed, Liz.” Mike crossed his arms. She pouted.

“I’m not even tired. I stayed up all night like a big girl.”

“You what?!” His eyes widened.

“Yeah. So… I was wondering…” She shifted her weight and closed her eyes.

Here it comes.

Her eyes bulged and sparkled, creating the biggest puppy dog pout known to man, “Can I pretty please come with you with a cherry on top?”

“No.”

“What?” The act dropped immediately as Mike sat on the couch, “Why?”

“Well one, you need sleep–”

“No I don’t, I’m a ghost.”

“Right, well then number two, it’s dangerous.”

“Again, ghost.”

Mike was not amused, lowering his eyelids to a side-eye. He tried to think of a good reason why she shouldn’t come.

“It’s boring.”

“How?” Elizabeth sat down on the arm of the couch, a place William would’ve yelled at you for sitting on.

“Well, all the animatronics do is move around, but when they get too close to the office they just sorta flop to the ground.”

Elizabeth gasped, “Maybe it’s the souls being freed by your aura.”

“I don’t know… I haven’t really seen any signs of ghost kids there.”

“Well maybe they’re just shy.” She rocked back and forth on the arm, filling Mike with both amusement and caution.

He shrugged, “Whatever the case, I can deal with it on my own.”

“But we’re a team, remember?”

“Of course, but–”

“But nothing.” She hopped off the seat and put her hands on her hips, “I’m going with you tomorrow night whether you like it or not.”

Before Mike could respond, she skipped back to her room, leaving Mike to just sigh into a groan.

As dawn creeped into the window, he was left to think for a moment.

Then he remembered being alone with his thoughts for any matter of seconds was a death sentence.

He just flopped onto the couch and dozed off quickly.

Tomorrow would be another day.

Chapter Text

The third night was the exact same, but this time with Fritz, who pouted his way into the kitchen.

“Let me guess. Went to check it out?”

“No, actually.” He plopped down on the cold floor, “Unlike those two, I’m actually clever.”

“Hey!” Susie tried to argue back.

“Don’t ‘Hey’ me, you tripped on a wire and got caught.”

“Well…”

“Exactly. Now let me talk.”

Susie frowned and crossed her arms.

“During the day, I broke a camera so when he came out to fix it I could jump him.” He explained with pride, “My reasoning was that maybe he put something around the office, like an invisible force field.”

“And…?” Golden Freddy would’ve raised an eyebrow if she was human.

“Well, he took the bait. But when I went to get him I fell right off the stage and… Well… You can guess the rest.”

“So it is him that’s causing this.” She pondered.

Freddy peaked in, His new nightly routine.

“Don’t say it.” Golden Freddy already knew what he was about to say, that this was too much to handle and they should call it off.

“Well, what do we do, Golden Freddy?” Jeremy sat on the counter, his legs crossed.

She inhaled and exhaled, “Ok. Here’s how it will go.”

With all her might, she stood up with a little silent help from CC.

“Tomorrow night, me and Freddy will attack together.”

“But what if this thing can affect multiple of us at once?” Susie wrapped her arms around her legs.

“You forget one detail.” Golden Freddy pointed at her chest, “Two of us exist in here.”

“So?” Jeremy starred with his eyebrows lowered.

“So, while it may affect multiple animatronics at once, it might not affect two spirits inside one animatronic.”

Fritz, Jeremy, and Susie looked at Golden Freddy with a glimmer of hope in their eyes.

“Let’s do it.” CC agreed.

Golden Freddy was a little shaken by CC’s sudden willingness, but she decided to chalk it up to him being as done with this monster as the rest of them.

“Then we’ll be free.” Susie’s smile was audible in her voice.

“Freedom here we come!” Fritz grinned as he raised a fist in the air.

Freddy simply nodded before leading the ghosts to hiding places.

“When are you going to tell them?” CC’s voice was clear and sharp. Golden Freddy’s eyes widened.

“Tell them what?”

“That you don’t plan on freeing them.”

She was rocked to her core.

How did he know?

“I… No, they will be freed.”

“No they won’t.”

CC took control, walking the golden animatronic out of the kitchen and into the parts and service. Each kid was hiding in different places: Jeremy was in the supply closet, Susie was in the girl’s washroom, and Fritz was in pirates cove. The only person who saw them walk past was Freddy, who had gone to sleep for the morning.

Once they were safely in parts and service, the conversation continued.

“Do you ever think, Cassidy?”

“Wha– My name isn’t–”

“Cut the crap. You’re not Golden Freddy or Goldie or whatever. You are Cassidy.” Each word he spoke pierced through her skin.

“No… No no… Cassidy died–”

“Do you know what it’s like? To listen to you insist on having no name while I can’t remember mine?” The venom in his voice filled the room with a thick toxic mist that could’ve choked her, “All because of a stupid prank.”

“Stupid… Prank…?”

“Nevermind.” He continued, “If you torture him for eternity, never letting him die truly, the others will never be free.”

It felt like CC was digging right into her soul, squeezing it tighter and tighter. Grasping, twisting her lungs so she couldn’t breath.

“You are selfish, Cassidy. You put your own desires over the lives… the souls of other people.”

“Why… Why are you saying this now?”

“Because I’m sick and tired of you giving them hope when you don’t plan on fulfilling your end of the bargain.”

“CC. What happened to you?”

“What?” He paused.

“You’re so… different…”

There was silence, before he spoke one last time for the night.

“I was always like this. You just never listened.”

∗ ∗ ∗

He knew the place was rundown but he didn’t think it was ‘technology stops working randomly’ levels of rundown. Though, what did he expect?

What was actually worrying him? Elizabeth. Mike waited in the driveway for a solid ten minutes, staring at the lighted house. To avoid her coming along, he left earlier in the day. He hid this well at the time, saying he needed to do some final things to get the house, and he did do that. But after being gone for a while, she most definitely noticed the trick. Now he just had to wait her out. After a while of waiting in silence, the lights turned off and he let out a sigh of relief.

The door creaked open louder than he would’ve liked. Clicking it shut, he tiptoed towards the couch for much needed sleep.

A sudden light blinded him.

“Really Michael?”

“Wha– Huh?” He rubbed his eyes. At the beginning of the hallway with her finger on the light switch was Elizabeth.

“Tsk tsk. You’ve gotten sloppy.”

“Sloppy?” His eyes finally adjusted to the lights.

“Did you really think after last night I would go to bed and give up?” She put her hands on the hips, “Especially after parking in the driveway.”

“Look, I–”

“Nope.” She cut him off, unwilling to listen, “Tomorrow night. I am coming with you. Everywhere. Even if you have to go to the bank or need to go shopping or anything. I’m going.”

Mike groaned.

“Oh hush. You’re… wait, how old are you again?”

“Twenty three?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Wow, you’re old.”

He didn’t have the energy to fight back against it, so he just flopped on the couch and covered his face.

“I won’t say it again. I’m coming–”

“Whether I like it or not.” He finished, “Now go to bed.”

Satisfied, Elizabeth nodded, flicking the lights off and skipping to her room.

He uncovered his face and stared at the ceiling.

Tomorrow was about to be a mess.

Chapter Text

Before leaving he took a peek into Elizabeth’s room. Good, still sleeping. Taking a chair, he put it against the door that made it impossible to open. Since William hated locked doors, Mike had found creative ways to keep others out. But this time, he was trying to keep someone in. He felt guilty about the whole ordeal, but it was for the best. Neither of them knew what exactly waited at Freddy’s, every night was an anxiety attack. He just wanted to keep her safe.

He got into the car and drove off from the house, listening to the evening radio. It was starting to worry him how nocturnal he was becoming because of all these night shift jobs. When he parked in front of the building he let out a sigh.

“You’re not as clever as you think you are.”

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST–” He almost jumped out of his skin, staring at the backseat. There, where Mike somehow hadn’t seen her, was Elizabeth.

“How did you–”

“Windows, Michael. Windows.”

Mike felt a sudden pang of stupidity. Of course. She always kept her window open. Elizabeth in the past had become a master at faking sleep, so Mike really should have double checked. How could he be so stupid?

“You’re staying in the car.” He took out the keys from the engine.

“That’s not fair!”

“Liz, you–”

“Nope. You can’t make me.” She hopped out of the car, Mike scrambled after her.

She skipped towards the front door, completely ignoring Mike’s calling.

Just as he got close she whipped around with her hands on her hips.

“I don’t think you realize what’s been causing so much trouble.”

“What?” He exhaled, “Liz, I don’t have time for–”

“There are definitely ghost kids here. Not just our brother.”

“Well yeah, of course. But–”

“Why do you think they’ve been avoiding you?”

“Stop with the puzzles, Liz.”

“Fine. You’re so boring.” She groaned, crossing her arms. “You look like father.”

Mike’s nostrils flared, “You don’t think I don’t know–”

“No. Seriously.” Her tone was sharp and low, “You are like a mirror of him.”

“Alright. I get it. What does that have to do with–”

“If father killed them, and they saw his face…” She did a little circle motion in his head. A lightbulb went off.

“They think I’m him.”

“Bingo.” She pointed, “Heck, I’ve known you my whole life and I thought you were father when I first saw you.”

His shoulders sank. Mike sat on the pavement. How did he not realize that? Maybe he just didn’t want to acknowledge their similarities, but just because he didn’t want to see them didn’t mean they weren’t there. Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder.

“Which is why I’m here. If they see me, a fellow ghost child, with you then they’ll surely put that all behind.”

“Maybe…”

“Hey.” She grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her, “No funking.”

“‘Funking?’”

“That’s what you do. You enter funks then something bad happens.”

“Liz–”

“So. That’s not what we’re going to do. We’re going to be brave and show these ghosties that we’re nothing to fear. Got it.”

He sighed, “Will you stop interrupting me if I say yes?”

“No promises.”

Mike stood up and dusted himself off, “You’re right. Sitting and feeling sorry won’t do anything good.”

“That’s the spirit! Now let’s go!”

∗ ∗ ∗

She heard the front door open. But unlike before, she heard a strange, high pitched voice.

“Woah, this place is so… Low budget.”

The girly voice was accompanied by pitter pattering footsteps. She heard CC’s voice break.

“Lizzy…?”

“Who? You know her?”

He was silent.

“I’m going to the office.” Their killer’s voice hushed, “Be careful, alright?”

“Yea yea, I’ll be fine.” The footsteps ran towards the kitchen.

Whatever was happening, whoever this girl was, it didn’t matter.

They couldn’t back down now.

∗ ∗ ∗

Elizabeth ran into the kitchen. Inside was somehow more disheveled than the outside. It was dirty and the flickering lights made shadows on the walls. What was most odd about the kitchen however, was a gift box in the corner. The dirty blue and off-white wrapping paper was damp and stained, the corners peeling.

Then it did something unexpected.

It moved.

She approached with caution.

“Hello?”

Her voice echoed. The box shifted again.

Something was trapped inside. Elizabeth noticed another box on top of it with clear writing.

‘Do Not Remove.’

“Is something in there?”

A muffled voice, barely audible, reached Elizabeth’s ears.

“Who’s there?”

It was too distorted for her to recognize anything other than it was a little girl’s voice.

“Hi, my name’s Elizabeth. What’s your name?”

“E… Elizabeth…” There was a pause before recognition. “Elizabeth?”

“Yeah? Do I know you?”

“It’s me, Charlie.”

Her eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it. The barely audible voice in the box was Charlie Emily. It had been so long since they had last seen each other. Elizabeth remembered Charlie’s funeral, being confused as to why she’d never see her again.

“I need you to let me out.” There was a plea, “The others plan on doing something really bad.”

Elizabeth tilted her head, “The others?”

“I’ll explain everything to you, I just need you to lift the box off so I can escape.”

She was right, there was no way to have a decent conversation like this.

Elizabeth reached up for the top box.

∗ ∗ ∗

Another camera was broken. This time it was camera 5. How had he not noticed it? Whatever, Mike went to go fix it. He was a little concerned about Elizabeth’s whereabouts but he had to have faith that she would come to him at the first sight of trouble.

It was eerily quiet, more than before. His flashlight flickered.

Shit. Out of batteries.

Just as he reached the door he heard a loud and sudden crash. Mike turned around and his eyes widened.

The Freddy animatronic had fallen off the stage.

And surrounding Mike were four children.

Each with an animatronic mask.

Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, and Freddy.

He remembered their faces from the missing posters.

Distorted by the same ghost effects that make Elizabeth look uncanny.

They all stared up at him.

The door behind him opened.

A quiet, familiar voice greeted him.

“Hello.”

∗ ∗ ∗

Charlie blinked open, the light was unexpectedly bright. So long in darkness clouded her vision. But, none of that mattered. She was finally free. And she could see Elizabeth. She was too young to be close with her, but maybe her arrival meant something. Charlie was just so excited to see how much she had grown–

When she got up, she looked down. There was Elizabeth, who was a ghostly apparition of her ten year old self, only with a clown mask and gray tear stains.

“No… This isn’t right…”

“Have you been in this the entire time?” Elizabeth absentmindedly asked, grabbing Charlie’s slender fingers and pulling her out of the box.

“No. You’re supposed to have grown up. You’re not supposed to–”

She gave Charlie a solemn look, “Accidents happen.”

So, Elizabeth had died. But then she possessed some kind of clown animatronic? Then how was she here?

Who was the security guard?

Sensing her confusion, Elizabeth squeezed Charlie’s hand, “We’ll explain everything. But now we have to go stop the others.”

We’ll?

∗ ∗ ∗

Cassidy burst out of the parts and service. The plan was a failure. He was here and it seemed Cassidy, Gabriel, and CC all were ejected. But CC looked like he was on a mission. When Cassidy stepped out, she saw the stand off.

Susie, Fritz, Jeremy, and Gabriel surrounded him, all wearing their animatronic’s mask, yet their killer didn’t even look at them, his eyes were trained on CC.

“Hello.” CC’s voice was bitter.

The man said a name none of them recognized. Except for CC.

CC looked enraged.

“Don’t call me that.” His voice frightened everyone. It was sharp. Bitter. Vengeful. Enraged.

“I–” The man was about to speak when the kitchen door burst open.

∗ ∗ ∗

The kitchen door’s slam alerted Mike, it was followed by another bang. This time, it was the old puppet animatronic. There, in the kitchen doorway were Elizabeth and…

“Charlie?”

“Michael?” She looked in shock. A puppet mask on her face.

“What?” The girl in a Fredbear mask looked between Mike and his brother, the other children didn’t know where to look.

“I’m so confused.” The boy in the foxy mask babbled, “What is happening?”

He just stared daggers at Mike.

The girl in the Fredbear mask then turned her attention to Charlie and Elizabeth.

“How did you get out of your box?” She stomped over, “And who are you?”

“Thanks to Elizabeth here, I was able to get out. I’m here to stop you.” Charlie had a conviction Mike had never seen before.

“Wait…” The Fredbear girl looked at Elizabeth, “You’re Lizzy?”

“He told you about me?” Elizabeth’s eyes lit up.

“No.” The fredbear girl crossed her arms.

Charlie turned towards him, “He hasn’t been very honest.”

“I have been.” He was unwilling to take his eyes off Mike.

“No you haven’t.” Charlie pushed forward, “You’ve been keeping so much from everyone.”

“Just because I didn’t say everything doesn’t mean I lied.”

“You planned on letting them kill him.” Charlie sneered, “You know he’s innocent.”

“He’s a dirty brother killer.”

The fredbear girl looked back at him with a look that can only be described as offence.

“You said he was your father.”

“All I said was that he’s a killer.”

“You only said that after I asked you.”

Charlie crossed her arms, “So you were planning on letting the others kill him.”

Mike and Elizabeth’s brother, noticing he was cornered, pointed at the fredbear girl, “Cassidy was never going to let him die.”

“What?!” Charlie and the other children all gasped at the girl, who’s name was apparently Cassidy.

“Well…” She rubbed the back of her neck.

“So you were lying this whole time.” The girl in the Chica mask had tears in her eyes, “You said we would be free.”

“Cassidy, is he telling the truth?” the boy in the Bonnie mask looked at Cassidy, betrayed.

“Look, I didn’t think death was good enough for him. He needs to suffer for everything he’s done. That doesn’t mean you guys will not be freed.” She scrambled.

“Why did you hide this, Cassidy?” The boy in the Freddy mask crossed his arms.

“For this exact reason. I knew you guys would be upset.”

“Wait… I’m confused…” The boy in the Foxy mask rubbed his head, “Who’s who? Who’s lying? What is going on?”

This was getting out of hand. All these kids were arguing. Elizabeth looked at Mike, sharing the same thought. He took a deep breath in.

“EVERYONE CALM DOWN.”

Heads cracked towards him.

Why did he have to be an adult here?

“Can you guys just… Sit down. Yelling isn’t going to do anything good.”

“And why should we listen to you? You killed us.” The Bonnie boy made a face at him.

“No I didn’t.”

“Uh, yeah you did. And my dog too.” The Chica girl’s upper lip raised up to her nose in a frown.

“What? I wasn’t even old enough to drive.”

“Yeah. Stop putting these shameless accusations on MY brother.” Elizabeth put her hands on her hips.

The kids looked even more confused. Mike sighed and sat down first.

“My name is…” He paused. Even though he didn’t want to say it, he needed to be open with them. “Michael Afton. Son of William Afton. The man who killed you.”

They all stared at him. Some with misbelieving glances, others in shock. Elizabeth sat down at the table.

“Hello, I’m Elizabeth Afton. Same thing with me. I was killed by one of his creations.”

There was a pause. No one wanted to come forward.

Except for Charlie.

“You all know me. I’m Charlotte Emily, or Charlie for short. My dad worked with Mr. Afton.” She looked at Mike and Elizabeth with an approving nod.

The boy with the Freddy mask, clearly the oldest, looked at the rest of the group before sitting down.

“My name is Gabriel.”

He was one of little words, but those words counted. The little girl with the Chica mask began approaching before the boy with the Foxy mask pushed in front of her.

“Hey–!”

“Hi, I’m Fritz. Nice to meet you non-murderer. Sorry for trying to kill you.”

The girl Fritz pushed dusted off her dress, sticking her tongue out at him. She sat down, “And I’m Susie.”

“What was your dog’s name, Susie?” He was worried he was pushing a bit, but he thought it might also make them more comfortable.

Luckily, she responded.

“Sparky.” She gave him a small, somber smile.

The boy with the Bonnie mark looked back at Cassidy, giving her a dirty look. Then he sat down, adjusting his glasses.

“I’m Jeremy.”

Unlike Gabriel, he didn’t seem like one of little words, instead he was keeping them to himself. He had his arms crossed and he sat with terrible posture, still frowning at Cassidy.

The last two left.

Cassidy looked at him, then the group. She fidgeted with her hands, stuck in thought.

Elizabeth patted the spot next to her, away from the others.

She approached with caution, sitting down.

“My name is Cassidy.” She glanced up at the others, “And…”

They looked at her expectantly, but the words were caught in her throat. Disappointed glances went around when the kids realized she wasn’t going to finish her sentence. They turned their attention to the last one standing.

He stared, bandages wrapped over his eye, his other fueled with a fiery fury. A Fredbear mask attached to his face.

“You may call me CC.” His glare went directly to Elizabeth and Mike, “Nothing else.”

He stayed standing.

Chapter Text

After the little introduction piece, the kids sort of just conversed with each other while Mike cleaned up the place.

Well, tomorrow’s shift is going to be pretty boring.

The place was closing down anyways due to the brand ultimately dying. Mike snuck out of the building for a second and stared at his car. The new question was how he was going to transport eight children in this standard beat up car. He needed to get a better job on the side, maybe get a van or something. He cringed at the thought, driving around in a white van with a bunch of ghost children in the back. It was like the opposite of Ghostbusters. While he stood there questioning, he heard the door behind him open. Mike turned around to see Charlie.

She looked the same as how he remembered, dark curly hair in a low ponytail in an overall skirt. She had a mix of features between her dad and mom. Oh god. Mike would have to tell her about what happened.

“Hi.” She looked up at him with her big green eyes.

“Hey.”

Charlie glanced behind him, “How are we going to fit in there?”

“That’s what I was just thinking about.” Mike turned around to look back at the car.

She stepped forward and looked on the inside.

“Two front seats, three back, plus floor space and the trunk.” She put her finger to her chin, “I think we could fit two in the front, four in the back, and two in the trunk.”

Mike blinked, “You aren’t serious are you?”

Charlie shrugged.

“Can anybody else see us?”

“No, not to my knowledge.”

“Then it should be fine.”

There was an awkward silence. Neither of them knew what to say.

“You look so different from how I remember…” She rubbed her arm.

Mike’s eyebrows raised as he looked at her.

“I mean… Of course you do, it’s been ten years. But…” She looked at him, “You’re not what I thought you’d be like.”

He inhaled a small laugh, “What did you think I was going to be like?”

Charlie looked down at her hands, squishing the flesh on her fingers.

“I thought you would be cooler I guess.”

Mike snorted into a laugh. Charlie’s brows raised under the puppet mask, looking up at him.

“Nevermind. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“What happened between you and those kids?”

She opened her mouth–

“Michael!” There was a call from inside from Elizabeth, “Can we go yet?”

“Yea, sure.” He yelled back. When he turned back to continue the conversation, Charlie was already claiming a spot in the front seat.

The army of children piled out of the decrepit building. The younger kids ran straight for the car while the older ones looked with reservations.

“Ok.” Mike looked at them, Charlie’s already in the front, and–”

Elizabeth, not skipping a beat, ran over to that side of the car and burst open the door, “Get out of my spot, Charlie!”

“There can be two of us here.” Charlie protested.

She groaned, “Fine, but get on the ground.”

Mike turned back to the other kids. “We can fit four to five of you in the back and one in the trunk.”

Fritz raised his arm like a bullet, “Can I go in the trunk?”

“Brain damage.” Jeremy chuckled.

“Can you really damage what’s already broken?” Susie snickered along.

Mike lifted the trunk, Fritz hoping in after blowing raspberries at them.

“Right, the rest of you can get in the back.”

∗ ∗ ∗

It was a very loud and very cramped ride. He made up his mind, he was going to save up for a big van. Susie and Jeremy yelled, asking if Fritz was comfortable in the trunk. He responded with words so muffled they couldn’t possibly be translated. Gabriel was calmer than the others and the one with the most reservations with the arrangements, but he laughed along with Susie and Jeremy’s torment of Fritz. Charlie and Elizabeth bickered, apparently Elizabeth kicked her but she continued to deny it. Cassidy and CC were dead quiet for the ride, both on either side staring out the windows. When a song came on the radio that they knew, a chaotic karaoke session would commence.

Mike turned into the neighborhood. CC’s eyes instantly widened.

“We’re not going where I think we are.” His voice was a cold order.

Elizabeth turned back–nobody was wearing seatbelts so this was easy– and talked in a semi-condescending voice that she so cherished, “Of course we are. And you can’t say anything about it.”

He opened his mouth but chose to just cross his arms and stare out the window.

When they pulled up in front of the house, a cascade of dead children spilled out of every opening of the car. Thank god it was so early in the morning, though, the neighbors would’ve probably thought it was their sleepy eyes tricking them. The kids were chattering amongst themselves before there was a small knock.

“Hey!” A muffled yell from the trunk. Right. Mike went over and opened it for the poor kid, who stumbled out to meet his friends.

Elizabeth skipped over to him.

“Key please”

Mike looked down at her for a moment before nodding and handing the key. They would probably be more trusting of her with it. As she ran to the door, Mike had a horrifying realization.

Where were all these kids going to sleep?

Elizabeth had her own bed, there was CC’s bed, Mike’s old bed, and the bed in William’s room. At best, those could probably only fit five of the eight children. Charlie, who was standing separate from the group, looked back at him and noticed his conflicted expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just–”

“Woah! We could make a fort here!” Susie’s voice echoed and gave Mike an idea. That’s it. They would sleep in a fort for the time being until he could get them situated with actual beds.

“Yea!” Fritz yelled enthusiastically. Mike jogged into the house before they could destroy the place. Charlie followed close behind.

Elizabeth stood on the couch with her hands on her hips.

“Alright. We shall build a fort. Everyone spread out and grab as many pillows and blankets as possible.” She had playful authority in her voice, there was the bossy Elizabeth he remembered. But the kids didn’t mind, they all dispersed except for CC and Cassidy.

Charlie glanced at Mike before following Elizabeth to grab chairs from the kitchen. The tension left in the room was palpable. Cassidy sat on the floor against the couch while CC sat on the actual cushions.

Mike approached CC.

“Don’t think about it.” He snapped, standing up and going off to grab blankets and pillows. Mike recoiled slightly at the harshness in his tone, though, he didn’t blame him. Mike sat on the couch, sighing.

He leaned over and looked at the young girl, sitting with her knees to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her expression was sour in every way possible, her eyebrows tilted down and a scowl on her face.

“Why won’t you help your friends?” Mike asked, he realized how condescending he sounded, but the words had already left.

She didn’t raise her head, “Mind your business. I still don’t trust you.”

He exhaled through his nostrils, his mouth widening to form a straight line as his own brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak before the cavalry arrived.

“We’re all set!” Elizabeth’s voice rang out as she and Charlie dragged in chairs.

“I found these big blankets we could use.” Jeremy lifted a blanket and sheets Mike had never seen before.

He got it from William’s room.

He didn’t actually care, but part of him felt any objects coming from that room had been cursed.

“Michael, get your butt off the couch! We need those cushions.” Elizabeth let go of her chair and swatted at Mike.

“Ok ok.”

While Elizabeth and Gabriel took apart the cushions, Charlie set up the chairs in an optimal position. The kids tried to get the sheets on top of the chairs but they just kept falling.

“Mr. Tall Guy.” Susie looked at Mike with pleading eyes, “Can you please put this sheet on top.”

“Hehe, sheet.” Fritz snickered, getting a swift pillow to the face from Gabriel.

Mike laughed, “Ok.”

Compared to the kids, Mike had a much easier time getting the sheets up and connected, even tying them to the actual chairs so they wouldn’t fall. Meanwhile, all of them set up their own corners in the large fort. All the bedrooms had been ransacked, not a single fluffy thing or toy had been left untouched. Surprisingly, Elizabeth didn’t make a fuss at all about the others, specifically Susie, snatching a toy or two from her room.

The fort was complete, the kids all squirming underneath. CC came back from his room with a Fredbear plush.

“Woah, I’ve never seen that guy before.” Jeremy’s eyes widened at the plush, awestruck by it.

“My dad made it for me.” He looked at the doll nonchalantly, “He used to talk to me.”

“Pffft, you’re lying” Fritz, laid on his back with his hands under his head.

CC’s head shot like a bullet towards Fritz, “He did so! I heard him.”

“Nuh uh.”

Mike crossed his arms, “It’s true, I heard it.”

Fritz looked at Mike in awe, “Wait really?”

“Yup.”

“That’s actually sick, dude!”

Mike glanced at CC, who looked at Mike in slight disbelief before squinting, the same bitter frown forming. He thought it would help, but Mike adding himself to the conversation just made CC more spiteful.

“Wait.” Susie spoke, drawing the conversation to her, “Where’s Mr. Tall Guy gonna sleep?”

“He has a name.” Charlie sat with her legs crossed, the others ignored her.

Wow, these kids had a lot of bad blood.

Elizabeth looked around inside the fort, trying to think of where Mike could fit. He shook his head.

“It’s ok, I’ll figure something out.”

She looked at him, slightly concerned but the others brushed it off quickly. Mike shared her glance and nodded. He would figure something out.

“It’s getting early. You guys should sleep.”

“What? But I’m not even tired.” Fritz groaned.

“I am.”

“Yeah, me too.” Susie nodded to Jeremy.

“Come on. Just one more hour?”

Mike turned off the lights and closed the curtains for the living room.

“Good morning you guys.”

“Good night, Mr. Tall Man.”

Mike went downstairs to the basement.

Chapter Text

He stood alone in the basement, the dim light swinging overhead, illuminated the board of clues. William had used it to study Remnant, Mike was going to use it to study him.

If William was going to make this a treasure hunt, they were going to need to find the next clue. First was the tapes sending Elizabeth and him to find the missing children, but Mike suspected it would take a while before they found any further direct clues. He was stumped. Nothing on the board gave clues on what to do next.

Mike paced around the basement when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Charlie?” His head turned towards her ghostly figure, she was halfway down the stairs, looking around at the unknown basement.

“I couldn’t sleep.” She continued her journey down and met Mike at the bottom, “What is all this?”

“William’s evil ramblings.”

Charlie got a closer look at everything, she picked up a diagram of Remnant.

“So that’s it…”

“What is?” Mike approached, glancing over her shoulder. She looked back and met his gaze.

“I was wrong… I thought I was the one bringing them back, but…” She looked back at the paper.

Mike exhaled, “What happened between you all?”

She stared at the board for a bit, thinking of a response.

“I wasn’t very nice. I wanted to fix everything but I… I just made everything worse.”

She sat against the walls, knees to her chest, “You don’t know what it was like. To be trapped for years in a stupid box, losing sense of reality.” She wiped her eyes, “I just wanted to go home.”

“To see your parents and Sammy?”

She nodded.

He would have to tell her the fate of her family.

“Your mom and Sammy aren’t in Hurricane anymore.”

Her head snapped towards him, her eyes wet with tears.

“Your death… It tore your family apart. Especially when your father was arrested.”

“Arrested?!” Her already bulging eyes widened so much Mike was afraid they would fall out.

He scrambled, “He wasn’t sentenced or anything, he was just considered a likely suspect.”

“Oh.” It seemed to alleviate her slightly, but there was still sadness. He understood, death often tore families apart.

He knew it better than most.

Charlie stared into the distance for a moment, before her face turned to one of a lightbulb moment. Her brows raised and her eyes wide, less distress and more hope.

“Wait, did he leave Hurricane too?”

Mike shrugged, “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Then maybe we could find him and get him to help us!” She stood up, “He worked directly with your dad so maybe he knows something.”

He was hesitant, the tapes made it clear Henry was not an accomplice. Besides, he still wasn’t sure if he still lived in Hurricane. Mike lost contact with Henry after Elizabeth’s death. But Charlie’s hopeful disposition made it hard for him to refuse.

Letting out a sigh, he nodded.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Chapter Text

He parked the car in front of a house that had been plastered with vulgarity and threats. Graffiti with such friendly messages as ‘child murderer’ and ‘burn in hell.’

Charlie escaped the car and looked in horror at her childhood home. Mike wondered if Henry could really still be here. It seemed clear that in the earlier years, he would make an attempt to clean the vandalism, but at some point he stopped trying. Despite Mike’s gut feeling that something was wrong, he knew that this was their only lead to find him and perhaps find William.

She looked back at him expectantly. Mike approached the house, steering clear of rotten egg shells, nails, and other things thrown at the house over the years. He took a deep breath.

“He won’t be able to see or hear you. You know that right?” He looked down at her.

Charlie pondered this for a moment before nodding, “That’s ok. You’ll be my voice.”

Right. He was just stalling. Delaying the inevitable.

He knocked on the door.

There was silence.

Mike’s already little hope diminished rapidly, he was one moment from going back to the car before he heard a distinct, loud unlocking sound.

“If it’s you damn kids again I swear to go–”

There he was. Or, the remains of him.

Henry Emily, the previously fit and friendly co-owner was a complete mess. His hair was matted and shaggy, his glasses having a tiny crack in the corner that indicated he never went to get them fixed. His stained white button-up and ugly stubble portrayed one image, that of a broken man.

Henry’s voice was ragged with age. Mike remembered him having a generally kind, more soft spoken tone. Hearing those words exit his mouth caused Mike to shutter slightly. This couldn’t possibly be him, right?

He stared at Mike for a few solid minutes. Blinking, trying to register what he was seeing.

“Will…? No… You’re someone else.”

Mike recoiled at Henry’s nickname of William. Another bitter reminder.

Henry’s eyes suddenly widened with recognition.

“Michael?”

“Hey… Mr. Emily.”

Henry looked around, not seeing Charlie’s ghost right next to Mike. He made an ushering motion for them to come in.

“Quickly quickly.”

Charlie entered with zero hesitation. A cold breeze hit Mike in the back, like it was telling him to follow.

The house was surprisingly tidy, minus the scattered papers here and there.

“Please, have a seat.” Henry’s voice echoed from the kitchen, “Can I get you anything?”

“Oh, no. I’m fine.”

Charlie ran towards the living room. Mike smiled to himself as he heard her impact on the couch. He found his eyes wandering the main hallway. His face curled into a frown when he saw the family photos. Well, family photos would be a bad word for them. They were more photos of Charlie. Every other family member, including Henry himself was scribbled or even ripped out. The only unmangled face was Charlie’s.

He knew her death shook him up, but this just felt… wrong.

It did align with what he heard, that his wife took Sammy and left them after Charlie’s death. But to cross them out of the images?

Mike took a mental note and entered the living room. He sat next to Charlie on the couch to not rouse suspicion from Henry when he reentered with a bottle of some kind of alcoholic substance.

“You drink?” Henry asked. Mike quickly shook his head. Sure, maybe back when he was younger and more rebellious, but he generally hated the taste.

Henry exhaled and he sat down on the couch opposite of Mike, “So, what brings this surprise visit?”

“Well, I need your help.”

“Sure. Anything.”

“I’m trying to find William.”

Henry paused mid sip, taking his time to swallow the liquid.

“What happened?” His voice was curious, yet had a sort of malicious tinge to it that he was failing to mask as concern.

Mike shrugged, “Not sure. But, I need to find him.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

Mike looked up. He didn’t realize he was looking down at his hands and shaking leg until Henry’s abrupt question.

“It’s… really complicated.”

“In my opinion, it’s better that he’s gone.”

“But he needs to pay for what he’s done. He could be hurting more innocent people.” Mike pleaded.

“Oh, I get ya’ kid.” Henry leaned back into his soft cushioned chair, “But sometimes it’s best to let things lie.”

Mike made a face. That wasn’t what he was looking for. Charlie leaned forward.

“Ask him about the tapes you mentioned.”

He took a deep breath, “So, did William ever mention anything about tapes.”

Henry looked to ponder this for a while.

“He was always the journaling kind of guy, especially anything he found fascinating. Why do you ask?”

“Because when he went missing, he left me a series of tapes with the expectation I would look for him.” He explained, his leg continuing to bounce beyond his control.

Henry let out a tired sigh, “So he put you up to this?”

“No. Well… Not really. I wouldn’t be listening to him unless I also wanted to know more.”

“Right…”

There was an awkward silence. Charlie looked to be pondering something.

“Ask him if he knows anything about ghosts or remnant?”

“No, he wouldn’t know anything.” Mike mumbled back.

“Who are you talking to?” Henry raised an eyebrow. Before Mike could answer a loud crash was heard coming from what used to be Charlie’s room. Henry abruptly stood up, placing his bottle on the coffee table.

“I’ll be back. Stay here.”

Once Henry left the room, Mike stood up. Charlie looked at him with big, confused eyes.

“Where are you going?”

“We’re wasting time. He’s clearly hiding something.” Mike looked around the living room, glancing to the hall in case he came back. Charlie stood up after him.

“What could he possibly be hiding?”

“I don’t know, but I have a really bad feeling about this.” He left the living room to explore more. He could hear Henry in his study. If the sound came from Charlie’s old room then that would be the best place to look.

“Can’t you see? He’s clearly really tired and sad. He must really miss me, and Sammy, and Mom.”

Mike approached the closed bedroom door, his hand inches away from the handle. He looked back at Charlie.

“We won’t know until we find out.”

He opened the door to a horrifying sight.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of female robot bodies sat in the room, all of different ages. All of them had one similarity. They looked exactly like Charlie, or what Charlie would have looked like if she got to grow up.

Charlie peaked from behind Mike, her hands clapping to her mouth. So this was what he was hiding. The two cautiously entered the room, Charlie not moving away from his side. Luckily, all of them seemed to be lifeless, but it was still uncanny. No sane person would do this. The had to get out of the house now–

“What are you doing here?” A cold and raspy voice in the doorway spoke. The two turned to see the unmistakable figure of Henry Emily, holding something long in his hand.

Mike’s eyes widened in recognition.

It was a gun.

“I’ll ask you again. What are you doing here?”

Mike gulped, stealing his resolve.

“What… the fuck is this?” His voice was more shaky than he would have liked, his fingers twitching. He felt a small ghostly hand grab his own.

Henry stepped fully into the room, “What do you mean? It’s Charlie.”

Mike looked around, all the doll-like faces staring back at him with dead eyes. He shook his head.

“That’s not Charlie.”

“You’re right.” Henry lifted one of the younger Charlie’s up, maybe two or three years old, cradling her in his arms. He looked down at her with the loving gaze of a father. If Mike didn’t know better and Henry wasn’t holding a gun, the scene would’ve looked wholesome. “She’s better.”

Mike took a step back. He could feel the real Charlie hiding behind him in fear of her father.

“I’ll never have to worry about anything happening to my little girl ever again.” Henry gritted his teeth, “If only I could get them to work.”

“This is insane.” He blurted out, “Is this really what Charlie would have wanted?”

“Of course!” He snapped back, “What little girl wouldn’t want to be reunited with her father at last.”

The real Charlie gulped. There was truth to the statement. She had been so excited to see her family again, but now it was clear that the family she hoped to see no longer existed.

“It’s not really Charlie though, it’s just… A cheap mockery.”

“Oh sure, for now. But I have a way to fix that.”

Mike raised an eyebrow expectantly. Henry sighed.

“Long time ago, your father told me about something called remnant. A thing that can bring people back from the dead. So, I thought, what if I remade Charlie and then put her soul inside of these new bodies.” He grinned. A wicked, inhuman grin, “I just need to find her soul, then I can put her back together.”

“That won’t work.” Mike countered. Henry looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Shit.

“You can’t take Charlie’s soul.” He tried to explain.

“Why?”

Mike relented, “Because it’s attached to me.”

Henry raised his brows, his eyes widening. He sneered, “You’re lying.”

“I’m not! She’s right here, she’s been right here the whole time.”

Even though he couldn’t see her, Charlie shuffled further behind Mike for protection. To not be seen. Henry chuckled. Then he started to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. The whole room was filled with his roar of laughter.

“Oh… You’re funny.” Henry raised the gun, pointed directly at Mike’s head.

Before he fired, Mike picked up one of the adult Charlies and used it as a shield. The real Charlie ran around and tripped her father, giving Mike the opportunity to drop the robot and run for the exit. Just as he made it to the main hall it was hit with a strong force and a sharp pain in his shoulder.

“Fuck!” He yelled, his body slamming against the wall. He instinctively grabbed his shoulder, his hand being covered with a mix of blood and the same blueish ooze the abomination produced. Remnant. His eyes widened at the sight, but he didn’t stay there for long.

Charlie grabbed his hand while the older man reloaded his gun. The two ran out the door, Mike hissing at the pain in his shoulder as blood and ooze dripped onto the floor.

“Get back here, Michael!”

The two didn’t stop for anything, they ran for the car, leaving the door wide open. Another gun shot rang out, missing them as they leaped into the car.

“Drive!” Charlie screamed. Mike slammed his foot on the peddle and sped off.

They could hear some distant yelling, but another sound allerted Mike more than the fading older man.

The sound of air rapidly exiting one of the tires.

“Shit! He popped a tire!” Mike looked around, the adrenaline still pumping through him until he saw the luminous lights of a gas station.

“Hang on.” He swerved into the gas station, slamming against the breaks and leaving clear tire tracks on the pavement. He fell out of the car. He could feel his blood draining onto the pavement. His adrenaline couldn’t carry him forever.

“Michael!” Charlie’s voice followed him as he walked towards the gas station building, “You’re bleeding a lot.”

He began to feel sluggish, his body slowly failing him. He reached for the door handle before his legs gave out.

“Michael!” Her voice was distant and fuzzy.

The last thing he saw was a vaguely familiar man running up to him.

A giant scar across his face.

Chapter Text

He blinked awake, his entire body was sore. The blinding hospital lights made him want to just go back to sleep.

“You’re awake!” Charlie’s familiar voice, filled with panic, startled him awake. Mike tried to sit up but was hit with a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked over at it, the shoulder was bandaged tight, his arm wrapped in a sling.

“What… How…?” He remembered it clearly. What was supposed to be a friendly visit to Henry led to the man shooting him in the shoulder and Mike passing out at a gas station. Then a man with a giant scar on his face came to him? No, that didn’t sound right.

The hospital room door suddenly burst open. Mike was instantly proved wrong when that same man from the day prior stepped into the room with some bags, which he instantly dropped when he saw Mike wide awake.

“Space cadet!” The man looked both shocked and relieved “You’re alive!”

His loud voice screeched into Mike’s ears, he curled in on himself, making a face that felt like he swallowed a lemon. ‘Space cadet?’ Where did he hear that before?

“Wow.” He sat down, booting Charlie off the seat, “What a coincidence.”

“What?” Mike looked puzzled, so much was happening at once.

“Ah, right, I should probably introduce myself. Hi. I’m Jeremy Fitzgerald.” He held out his hand for Mike to shake.

Mike glanced at Charlie, who’s eyes went wide, her mouth dropping. Did she know this guy?

He cautiously shook his hand, trying to move past the pain, “Mike. Mike Schmidt.”

“Well Mr. Schmidt, it’s a pleasure to meet ya again.”

“Again?” He raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t remember? We met each other at the electronic store, you were buying an old tape player.”

It all came back to Mike. He had seen that scar before and been called a space cadet. He was that employee who worked there, who asked so many questions.

“I was just getting myself some gas when ya collapsed right there.” He let out a sigh, “Man, I don’t even wanna know what ya did to piss off your dealer.”

“Dealer?!” Mike sat up so fast that he was instantly pushed back down with a sharp pain. He hissed, grasping his shoulder.

“Woah, take it easy. Doctor says you shouldn’t be up for a few days.”

“Days?! I don’t have time for days.”

“No worries man, just let me know who your dealer is and I’ll pay him for ya.” Fitzgerald shrugged nonchalantly.

“I don’t do drugs.”

“Uhhh.” He laughed, “Then what was all that purple gunk?”

Fuck.

How was he going to explain remnant to him?

Mike looked at Charlie for answers.

“What’cha looking at?” Fitzgerald looked at Charlie, but he didn’t seem to notice her.

“Just tell him. We can trust him.”

Mike was unconvinced. The last person Charlie said to trust shot a bullet into Mike’s shoulder.

Noticing his apprehension, Charlie begged, “Please. He has a car.”

He sighed.

“My dad experimented on me and now I can see ghosts.”

Fitzgerald stared at him for a bit. Fuck. He fucked up. This was a bad idea-

Then he started… Laughing? He leaned over in hysterics, he was laughing so hard. Charlie walked to the other side of Mike’s hospital bed, also very puzzled by the sudden outburst of laughter.

“Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to laugh.” He tried, and failed, to compose himself, “That’s just a new one.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

“Come on, dude. This is Hurricane, Utah. I don’t think anything is out of the realm of possibilities.”

“So… You believe me?” Mike was still a bit shocked himself. Hurricane was a pretty weird place where terrible things happened, but everything Mike was going through was more on the side of paranormal and stuff hack sci-fi writers would make, not tangible real world crimes.

Fitzgerald pointed at his scar, “I was bitten by a mangled fox robot and survived. I think I can handle anything.”

“Were you… The bite of 8–”

“Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it.” Fitzgerald’s agitation caused Mike to close his mouth with a click, “Yes, I was bitten in 1987. Yes, I survived. No, you can’t touch the scar.”

It was as if he rehearsed this multiple times a day. Mike couldn’t blame him, he was lucky that he was a minor during his bite so his face wasn’t plastered all over the news. Most people who saw him didn’t think twice, but with Fitzgerald and his big scar that mutilated an entire quarter of his face, there was no doubt he regularly got stopped in the streets.

“Right, my bad.” Mike rubbed the back of his neck, ignoring the pain.

“So, is there a ghost in the room with us now?”

“Actually yes. And she seems to know you.” Mike eyed Charlie for answers.

“Woah, no way.” He looked genuinely excited at the prospect, now pretending to see Charlie.

She exhaled, “Right. Well, I knew that we needed an alive person to properly fulfill our goals.” Charlie pointed at Fitzgerald, “He was the first person we chose. That was until the bite.”

“What did she say?” Fitzgerald noticed Mike’s silence.

‘Uhm… Did you have to go through this whole trial of animatronics trying to attack you and stuff you inside a suit?” Mike couldn’t hide the sarcasm. It was his best way to cope.

“Oh my god, yes.” that one sentence sparked up frustration in him, “It was like a workout every night trying to keep them away. Not to mention the fact there was no door.”

He let out a sigh of relief, “Everytime I try to tell people about it, they just call me crazy and say my memory must be busted because my frontal lobe is gone but that’s bullshit. It’s nice to finally meet someone who’s been through the same thing.”

“Kinda?” Mike shrugged, “They all were ejected from the animatronics before they could do anything.”

“Damn. I wish I had that.”

“Anyways back on subject.” Charlie interjected, “Michael you’ve been out for the whole night, we need to get back to your house before the others realize we’re gone.”

“My tire popped, remember?” Mike stared at her with a deadpan expression, “Besides, Mr. Fitzgerald just said the doctors won’t release me for a few days.”

“Hey wait, do you need to get somewhere ASAP?” The man perked up at the mention of his name.

Mike did his best to nod to Fitzgerald without causing unnecessary pain, “So, I know we’ve just met and all, but can you drive Char… I mean the ghost to my house just so she can let them know what’s going on.”

He stared at him for a moment, fumbling through his pockets until he found a crinkled receipt and a pen. Mike carefully gripped the pen with his right hand, lucky that it was his left in the sling. The writing was messy, but still legible. Fitzgerald eyed the crumpled instructions and nodded.

“Got it. Get the ghost to the place to…”

“Inform the other ghosts that I won’t be out of the hospital for a bit.”

“Ah. Got’cha.” Fitzgerald turned to an empty spot of the room, “Come on ghosty, let’s ride.”

Charlie raised her hand slightly to speak but Mike just shook his head. Fitzgerald couldn’t see the ghosts and that was that. He was really their only option for the moment. As soon as Fitzgerald left, Charlie turned and hugged Mike, accidentally causing him intense pain.

“I’m so happy you’re not dead.”

Mike patted her back, “Me too. Now go after him before he accidentally leaves you behind.”

She nodded, letting him go. She looked like she was about to say something, probably an apology for the whole ordeal, but thought against it. Mike was left alone in the chilled hospital room, closing his eyes to rest away the pain.

∗ ∗ ∗

Charlie felt intense guilt. Running through the hospital to keep up with Mr. Fitzgerald, she couldn’t stop her mind from spiraling. It was her fault they saw her dad, it was her fault Michael got shot.

It was her fault she followed Mr. William that night.

The two entered the parking lot, maneuvering around until they found an older model car that was considerably beat up. Mr. Fitzgerald slid into the drivers section but forgot to unlock the passenger door. Charlie got his attention by knocking on it. Something she had quickly come to realize as a ghost was that she had physical manipulation over objects. She could pick them up, knock on them, put any amount of weight on them, and somehow people would be able to notice. Fitzgerald seemed shocked that Charlie was actually there. He unlocked the passenger side door and Charlie hopped in, buckling her seat belt.

“Holy shit he wasn’t lying.”

Charlie looked over at him. She opened her mouth to speak but remembered he couldn’t hear her. She needed to find some way to communicate. She doubted he had enough old receipts for her to write on, at least in his pockets, so she opened the glove box, causing the man to jump in his seat. She fished around until she found a bunch of napkins, some completely untouched while others had nebulous grease stains. She reached into his pocket and pulled out the pen, writing on the napkins.

Once she was done, he read her writings out loud, “‘Of course he was. My name is Charlie. I was the puppet. Sorry for sometimes attacking you.’”

“Huh. Well, nice to meet ya’ Charlie. And don’t worry about it. Past is past. Though I would like to talk to the kid who bit me.” She could tell that the last part was a joke, but she still flipped the napkin over and wrote.

“‘Too much to explain. Wasn’t us.’” Charlie accidentally poked a hole in the napkin she was writing on, realizing the faultiness of what she was writing on. In order to fully communicate she’d need something stronger, especially if this was how all the ghost children would talk to him.

“Huh.” He paused, finally starting the car, “Welp, we better skedaddle to this address before those other ghosts he talked about wreak havoc.”

Charlie paused and quickly wrote something down. He looked at the napkin, intrigued. He grinned and nodded.

Chapter Text

Elizabeth woke up with a shooting pain in her shoulder. Michael let her know before he left that he and Charlie would be going to see Mr. Emily, that she was in charge for the time being. After that she immediately went back to bed. She had slept through all day and night, the sun peaking through the windows. She rolled her pained shoulder, she probably just slept on it awkwardly. The other kids looked fast asleep, Elizabeth began to wonder how long they had all stayed awake for. There was no doubt their bodies were also not used to being so weightless. She still couldn’t believe it. Every time she closed her eyes, she wondered if they would open and she’d be back in the gallery.

She shivered at the thought, running to her father’s old room.

It was somehow colder than the other room, darker and more gloomy. The room was more of a guest room, minus the sheets and blankets that were used for the fort. The only features designating it as her father’s room were the family photos on the dresser.

They looked so happy.

Elizabeth curled in on herself on the naked bed. Despite having never slept in it, Elizabeth could imagine her father’s scent attached to the dusty fabric. She felt stupid. Her father’s creation killed her. Her father killed at least six kids and trapped their souls. Her father did horrible things to her brothers, letting Michael scare their younger brother, then experimenting on Michael after they died. But he was still her father. The father she loved her entire life and longer. The father she still craved the acknowledgement of. Her bottom lip quivered as she felt the corners of her eyes get moist with tears.

“I thought you’d be here.” a quiet voice brought Elizabeth out of her head. She sat up, looking at the doorway. There he stood. CC, as he wished to be called. His familiar face was hidden by a fredbear mask, one of its eyes blackened.

Elizabeth sniffed, wiping her eyes, “You’re awake.”

CC nodded silently, shifting his arm oddly. Elizabeth wondered if he also slept weird. They’d need to talk to Michael about getting actual beds. CC, oblivious to her thoughts, sat next to her on the naked bed.

The two sat in an oddly comforting silence. There was a silent understanding. They were both victims of their family, paying the ultimate price. Forever trapped in the forms of children. Elizabeth took notice of CC’s head, draped with the bandages he had in the hospital. Elizabeth remembered his form in the bed. Pale and bloody, cold to the touch.

She felt the moment his life left the room.

“How did it happen?” He asked, breathing the silence again.

Elizabeth looked away.

“You don’t have to answer–”

“Remember that animatronic idea I always pestered father about?”

“Circus Baby?” She silently nodded, his eyes widening with understanding.

“After you died, he built it for me. For my birthday. On the day her establishment opened, I ignored his warning and ran up to her when nobody was around. She had ice cream and soft music was playing. But when I grabbed it, I felt a sudden excruciating pain. Then… I woke up underground.” She explained.

CC listened intensely, empathizing with her sorrow.

“I waited for so long. I had no control over the animatronic. I think it had something to do with her ‘AI’ as father explained it. When the animatronics didn’t behave, the workers would shock them. I felt every shock.” She felt the pain just remembering it. The agony.

Elizabeth’s face subtly shifted to a more hopeful one, “But one day, Michael came and he saved me. We saved each other from the animatronics. And you can probably guess the rest.”

CC’s expression went sour at the mention of Michael. He looked away, bottom lip curling.

“I’m sorry that all happened, Lizzy.” He said quietly. Elizabeth’s smile was somber. Just by mentioning one name, CC’s walls went back up.

“How long are you going to be mad at him?” She couldn’t stop herself from asking. It was insensitive, sure, but they couldn’t continue like this.

He turned to look at her, an expression Elizabeth had never seen before. It was cold, vengeful. Inhuman.

“As long as I want to be.”

Before she could say anything more, a loud shout interrupted them.

“Hello? Ghosties? Anyone– Holy wow! That’s such a cool fort!”

Elizabeth had no recognition of the voice. Someone found them and knew they were here. The two looked at each other before going to investigate.

∗ ∗ ∗

The irritating voice shot Cassidy awake. It apparently shocked the others awake as well. The only absents came running in from the hallway filled with the bedrooms. At the entrance was an embarrassed Charlie and a face Cassidy thought she’d never see again.

Jeremy Fitzgerald.

Except, he wasn’t the same. Years added to his appearance but the most striking thing was the giant, Foxy jaw-shaped scar over his face, making one of his eyes squint. In Cassidy’s peripheral vision, she saw CC’s face morph into an indescribable emotion. Bitterness, despair, anger. Before he could act, Elizabeth sprang to action.

“Who is this?” She intensely questioned Charlie as Mr. Fitzgerald explored the house, calling out for people he could not see.

“So… Something happened.”

“I can tell. Where’s my brother.” Her voice was sharp. Did all Afton children have the ability to do this with their voice? Make their voices feel like daggers plunging into your ears.

“In… The hospital…” Charlie hesitated with every word. A protective rage seemed to overwhelm all reason in the clown masked girl. She tacked Charlie to the ground.

“Tall man’s in the hospital?!” Susie shrieked, “What does that mean for us? Are we in trouble? Will he be out soon?”

“What if Mr. Afton gets to him first.” Fritz questioned, getting a quick punch to the arm from Jeremy.

Gabriel rushed to the girls, trying to break them apart. He grabbed Elizabeth from under her arms, lifting her into the air, giving Charlie the chance to scurry to safety. Cassidy couldn’t deny she enjoyed seeing Charlie so pitiable and pathetic. Elizabeth kicked and screamed. Silently, Gabriel brought her to another room to calm down. Charlie dusted herself off, now faced with the remaining kids and their questions.

“First, we’ll have to adjust our plans. Second, we aren’t in trouble yet. Third, the doctor said he’ll be out in a few days. Fourth…” She pondered that last one, it seemingly being a worry for her as well. She shook her head, “Anyways, for now, Mr. Fitzgerald will be our assistant. Just like originally planned.”

“Uhh, no offense. But he can’t even see or hear us.” Jeremy pointed his arms at the other, who was now examining the television. “How exactly is he gonna be able to help us?”

“Come with me.” She ushered the group to the unknown car outside. Noticing the door, Jeremy Fitzgerald followed.

“Oh, you’re showing them the stuff we got?”

“Stuff? What stuff?” Jeremy looked at Charlie cautiously. They had all learned to have mild distrust in Charlie.

Mr. Fitzgerald opened the trunk to reveal color-coded sheets and notebooks, each with a name already written on it.

“We already ripped some eye holes so we’re all set.”

“Wait. So you want us to dress up like ghosts?” Cassidy questioned, crossing her arms. Charlie starred back with an unamused expression.

“That’s stupid–”

“Mine has flowers!” Susie giggled, excitedly putting the sheet over her head.

“Boo!” Fritz jumped up behind her, causing Susie to scream. “Hah! Gotcha.”

“That’s not funny, Fritz!” The yellow flower patterned sheet lifted with her arms as she wacked at Fritz, wearing a sheet with a pirate pattern.

Cassidy was baffled. She looked to Jeremy for backup, but he was already holding his own sheet with a guitar pattern.

“You can’t be serious.”

Jeremy shrugged, “If this is the best way to communicate, what’s the harm?”

She clenched her fists as Jeremy hid under the sheet. Charlie approached Cassidy with a sheet. A golden yellow sheet with white flowers. She sneered, giving in and grabbing the sheet, dropping it unceremoniously over her head. Seeing her success, Charlie draped herself with a white sheet with purple butterflies.

“So, is that all for now?” Mr. Fitzgerald asked, holding three more sheets. A white and brown plaid pattern, a white sheet with multicolored ice cream cones, and a black sheet with a yellow star pattern likely meant for Gabriel, Elizabeth, and CC respectively.

Charlie grabbed the green notebook with her name, writing in it. “Gabriel is in a different room with Elizabeth calming her down. And CC…”

“Wait, wasn’t he just here?” Fritz backed off from Susie to ask.

“I thought he went with Elizabeth and Gabriel.” Susie replied, a bit of sass in her tone, as if stating an obvious face. Jeremy shook his head.

“No, he just stayed in the room when we left.”

Charlie grimaced. Her short spot of concern was brushed away as quickly as it came, “He’ll get it later.”

Mr. Fitzgerald’s voice caught their attention, “Ok roll call.”

They all looked at him as he pointed at each of them.

“You’re Chica, real name Susie. You’re Foxy, real name Fritz. You’re Bonnie, real name Jeremy. And you’re Cassidy.”

They all nodded, almost in sync. Susie brushed the back of her neck.

“Sorry we tried to kill you.”

He looked at her confused, understanding she was trying to say something yet unable to hear it. Susie’s face was pink with embarrassment. She quickly grabbed the yellow notebook meant for her and scribbled down what she said.

“Pfft, water under the bridge.” He waved her away, “So this is the base?”

Charlie nodded, quickly writing down, “This is the Af” She scribbled out the last name she originally wrote, “Schmidt’s house.”

“Ah. Not a bad place I must say, though he could really do with a bit of cleaning.” He thought for a moment, snapping his fingers, “How about we do that.”

There was a collective, unheard groan from the kids. Aside from Jeremy and Charlie, none of them wanted to do chores. Mr. Fitzgerald started recognizing their body language.

“I’ll bring over my Atari and NES if you make it spotless.”

It was a race back to the house after hearing that.

Chapter Text

“Let me go!” She screeched, trying to escape Gabriel’s grip. Once they reached her Father’s room, the closest door to the living room, he set her down on the bed. Tears streamed down her face as he looked in her eyes.

“You need to calm down. Take deep breaths.” He began to take deep breaths, Elizabeth eventually managing to follow suit. She wiped her face.

“I should have been there.”

A new aura surrounded Gabriel, less aloof and more compassionate. Yet he still had a firm edge to him. Without getting a response, Elizabeth laid down, entering a fetal position on the empty bed. She could hear his footsteps explore the room, stopping at the dresser. He picked up a photo, looking at it. He turned over to Elizabeth, pointing at it.

“Is this you?”

Elizabeth sniffled, looking at the picture. It had a yellow tint to it, yet all the colors were still vibrant. It was a family photo, unprofessional, shot in front of Big Ben. Little tiny Elizabeth had her hair in pigtails, smiling wide at the camera despite having only a few teeth. She was held tightly by a heavily pregnant woman with similar features to Elizabeth, just older. Next to them was her father, trying to look composed and professional but failing, holding a young Michael’s shoulder not as tightly as he would in later family photos. Michael was probably the most staggering difference. A very happy, cheerful, goofy boy with messy hair that their father had desperately tried to comb back.

They were so happy.

He sat next to her as she looked at the photo, tears streaming down her face.

“After mom died, we packed up and moved here. Then everything just went downhill.”

“Is that why CC doesn’t have an accent like you guys?”

Elizabeth snickered, “Americans have an accent, you guys just can’t tell.”

Gabriel smirked, silently acknowledging he’d been outmatched. He nodded allowing her to continue.

“Michael blamed… CC for mom. She died giving birth to him. Father dove head first into his work, never having time for us. And… when he did…” She flinched, but felt a hand rest on her shoulder. “Then the accident happened. But I suppose father was always crazy enough to kill.”

“I see why you were so worried for your brother.”

Elizabeth turned to face Gabriel, “I just don’t want to lose another living family member. I don’t want to be alone again.”

He patted her on the head.

“You know, I have… Had a younger sister.”

“Really?” She tilted her head slightly. He nodded.

“She never went to Freddy’s, the animatronics always gave her nightmares.”

Elizabeth chuckled, “That sounds like someone I know.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but they were interrupted by the door slamming open.

“There you losers are.” Fritz said enthusiastically, wearing a pirate themed sheet with eye holes.

“What in the world are you wearing?” Elizabeth laughed.

Charlie, wearing a butterfly patterned sheet, peaked through the doorway, “It’s to communicate with Mr. Fitzgerald.”

“Who?”

“The living guy who came in with Charlie and can’t see or hear us.” Fritz leapt onto the bed before Gabriel could stop him.

“Oh.” Elizabeth got off the bed and placed the photo back on the dresser. She felt Charlie’s gaze, brushing it off when she saw two sheets in her arms. One was a brown plaid and the other had ice cream cones on it. Elizabeth’s eyes lit up.

“Is that for me?” She snatched the sheet, pulling it over her head.

“Of course, and this one's for you Gabriel.” He nodded, taking the sheet and putting it on. They all looked rather silly, but it gave some comfort in its own weird way. At least now they wouldn’t see the constant reminders of the animatronics.

Fritz was jumping on the bed, trying to perform a backflip.

“Fritz, get down from there, you’re gonna hurt yourself.” Gabriel tried to get into a position where he would be able to catch him if he fell.

“Pfft, we’re ghosts stupid, we can’t get hurt.” To punish his hubris, Fritz indeed fell off the bed, hitting the hard wood floor with a thud, “Ow…”

“What was that about not getting hurt?” Gabriel looked on, unimpressed. The two girls couldn’t help but giggle at the boys.

Charlie turned to Elizabeth, “By the way, Mr. Fitzgerald said if we make the house spotless, he’ll bring over his Atari for us to play.”

Elizabeth’s eyes lit up, “He has an Atari?! I’ve never played it before.”

“What?!” Fritz stood up, shocked, “You’ve never played it.”

“To be honest, me neither.” Charlie raised her hand when she talked, “We barely had enough to get a family computer.”

“My father said it was a waste of money.”

“Oh we need to fix that right now!” Fritz ran down the hall to find the cleaning equipment, “We’re gonna make this place spotless!”

∗ ∗ ∗

He looked at the walls of the cold basement, dark and dry. While everyone else was distracted, he went to the basement. It wasn’t all he thought it would be. A plain basement with monitors, papers, tapes, and a cork board. The things on all of those were certainly odd, but then again, CC didn’t know any different. His steps creaked against the stairs, transitioning to the tapping of shoes on concrete. The room had a surrealness to it. Stillness. Like time didn’t exist.

On the board, hidden behind illegible notes, was a newspaper. CC just stared at the picture featured.

Was that what he looked like?

He let the notes fall over it, his body stiffening at the gruesome sight. He gripped the Fredbear Plush’s arm, so tight it would hurt a living creature. The audio equipment caught his eye, he couldn’t help himself. He turned it on, tentatively leaning forward.

“Hello?”

An awful feedback loop was created between the microphone and Fredbear, causing CC to drop the bear and cover his ears. Despite the pain, he managed to turn the microphone off, ending the loop. He stared blankly at the plush. The realization hit him.

All this time. Dad was the one talking to me.

He felt his face contort. I didn’t like the feeling, even though he found himself doing it often. His bottom lip curled, allowing his top teeth to press against the inside. He sat next to the bear, propping it up against a table leg. They had a staring contest, CC trying to find the words.

“I…” He paused, breathing softly, “I guess I can’t ask for your advice anymore.”

CC grimaced. He was talking to himself now. Not Fredbear. Not his father.

The corners of his eyes felt wet, “I… I can’t see.”

He felt pathetic. On the floor with Fredbear, crying. As always. He hated it. He hated feeling so weak and powerless. He hated having such complex emotions. Why couldn’t he just be normal? CC picked up the doll, looking at it sullenly. He whispered to it.

“Where are you?”

“There you are!”

He jumped at the voice, shooting his head towards the staircase. There, halfway down were Susie and Jeremy, both wearing sheets that reflected themselves or their animatronic. Or both.

“What are you doing down here?” Jeremy questioned him as Susie raced down the stairs. She was holding another sheet. A black one with yellow stars. Without asking, she draped it over his head.

“What is this?” He asked, ignoring Jeremy’s question. He rolled his eyes. Susie stood above CC, hands on her hips.

“Charlie came up with it. It’s so we can communicate with Mr. Fitzgerald. Oh!” She ran back to Jeremy, snatching something out of his hands, then bringing it to CC, “And a book to write in so we can talk to him.”

CC stared at the gift placed in his hands. A gray notebook with a name written, then scribbled out and replaced with CC. He frowned. CC was what he wished to be called, what felt natural after so many years, but being constantly reminded that it was not his real name filled him with an undeniable sadness. Susie seemed to notice his sorrow, holding out her hand to help him up.

“Come on, Mr. Fitzgerald said if we make this place spotless, he’ll bring over his gaming systems.”

He took her hand, a small smile creeping onto his face.

“Ok.”

Chapter Text

By the time Mr. Fitzgerald made it back to the house, it was as clean as a bunch of kids could make it. Sure, the house wasn’t dusted or cleaned on any level other than a surface one, but it was enough for the kids to get their rewards. As a sacrifice to play video games, they had to take down the fort and make all the beds, but they kept some blankets and pillows out to sit on in front of the TV. Mr. Fitzgerald also brought jiffy pop for himself. One good part of being a ghost was they only needed rest or sleep to retain their form.

“How much we exist is probably based on our energy levels.” Charlie theorized to deaf ears. Gabriel, the only one aside from Mr. Fitzgerald who actually knew how to plug in the console, managed to maneuver his way behind the fat television and manipulate the wires just right to activate the consoles.

Elizabeth patted Charlie’s shoulder, giving a halfhearted ‘maybe.’

“No way! You have the Indy 500 drive controller?” Fritz marveled at what looked to be a bottlecap on top of a remote with all its buttons removed, Jeremy was quick to write it down on his own notebook, attributing the words to their respectful owner. Mr. Fitzgerald reentered and read the writing, the smell of his freshly popped jiffy pop alone making Charlie’s ghostly stomach flutter.

“You betcha. Now pick a game already.” He took his spot on the couch. He insisted he just watched since he would, “Kick all your ghostly buts.”

Charlie wondered endlessly about what this all looked like to Mr. Fitzgerald, a bunch of sheets causing his controls to move.

“I wanna play! I wanna play!” Susie piped up, reaching for a remote only for Fritz to snatch it away.

“Nuh-uh. You’re a girl.”

She crossed her arms with a pout, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you can’t play. Everyone knows girls are bad at video games.”

Cassidy looked like she was about to jump into the conversation before Susie beat her to the punch.

“Sounds like you’re just too chicken to face me.” She curled her arms inwards to create the illusion of feathers, making chicken noises to mock the boy. Ironic.

“Pfft, yea right.” He shrugged her off, “Look who’s talking, chicken mask.”

Susie’s voice turned into a mocking baby voice, “Oh no, the big mean fox is too scared to race a little girl. Do you need your mommy?”

That instantly made Fritz’s face go bright red.

“Fine! But don’t start crying when I beat you.”

Fritz did not beat Susie.

The kids ended up playing the games in a tournament style, the loser would tag out and the winner would have to fight a new person. When they got bored of a game, they’d switch to a different one. Mr. Fitzgerald’s collection of games was nothing to sneeze at, so many games, some that Charlie recognized and others no one but Mr. Fitzgerald knew.

Susie proved to be a formidable opponent for all in movement based games and puzzle solving, though games that required more hand-eye coordination proved to be her downfall. Fritz on the other hand was the opposite, able to split his mind between his hands and his head until it came to puzzle solving, then his brain vanished completely. Gabriel had decent hand eye coordination, but was more a fan of watching other play than playing himself. Susie said he reminded her of the kids who would crowd around the box while she was playing fruity maze. Jeremy was bad. Really bad. He could manage puzzle games fine but anything that made his hands have to work fast caused him to fumble. At first he was pouty about it, but then joined Gabriel in the thrill of watching. CC was also a watcher, barely commentating, though Charlie swore she saw him smile a few times. Elizabeth was a quick learner, being very similar to Fritz. Her strategy skills were in need of work, but she managed to skirt by with quick thinking. Charlie on the other hand was not as lucky. She found herself enjoying the puzzle games, solemnly reminding her of the puzzles she used to do with her dad. She was the strategist through and through, others often turning to her for advice when they got stuck on something in game. And Cassidy?

Cassidy was dead silent the entire time, caked in shadow behind the couch, out of the range of the TV’s illumination. She found an unfinished crossword that she began filling out to pass the time.

Eventually, everyone was game’d out. Their eyes were sore and their nerves were shot.

Mr. Fitzgerald yawned, “How ‘bout a movie to end the night with.”

“Oh!” Elizabeth sat up, running over to the bookshelf in the corner of the room with a list of VHS tapes, she shuffled through them for a moment before finding what she was looking for, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

Charlie felt her stomach twist. Her mind instantly flashed back to the night of her death. Her stupid, naive mind compared her killer to the wonderful Willy Wonka.

Mr. Fitzgerald saw the cover and nodded “A Gene Wilder classic.”

She felt her heart drop more and more, beating faster and faster. Her vision blurred and all the voices around her turned to fuzz. They were all in unanimous agreement to watch the film. Charlie’s hands shook violently until a hand grabbed her own. Her vision refocused for a moment.

Mr. Fitzgerald looked curiously at the notebook of the other.

“Yea, no problem. Goodnight Charlie, night Cass.”

Before Charlie could register what Mr. Fitzgerald said she felt herself get pulled towards one of the rooms. Pink. Flowers. Elizabeth’s room. She looked up and saw Cassidy sitting on the bed, going back to her crossword.

“Wha–” Charlie breathed out, looking at Cassidy with a mix of emotions.

“You're welcome.”

“Excuse me?” She tensed.

Cassidy looked up, “I said you’re welcome. You were having a hard time and I rescued you.”

Her confusion was replaced with anger.

“Are you kidding me?” She stomped forward, unable to stop the tears in her eyes, “After everything you did? You think I’m going to thank you for one simple act of human decency?!”

Cassidy silently watched her, her grimace barely visible in the darkness. The two girls were only illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window.

“You locked me in a box for TEN years. You turned all my friends against me. You ruined everything.” Her calm composure broke down. She was tired. So damn tired. Big globby tears stained her face. Cassidy stood up, meeting Charlie’s disdain filled glare.

“We weren’t your friends. We were your pawns.” She met Charlie’s tone, causing her to flinch backwards, “You turned us against you.”

“Oh please, you always hated me. You turned them against me with your lies.”

“I was angry, ok. I wanted revenge against him.”

“So did I.” Charlie stepped forward, her arms spreading out wide, “But at least I understood the importance of keeping a low profile.”

Cassidy scoffed, crossing her arms, “Is that why you were able to be kept in a box for all those years without a single person realizing you were there.”

She saw red. Charlie wound up her arm and punched Cassidy square in the jaw.

“All you do is lie.” Her lips curled into a vicious, sadistic grin, “Look where that’s got you now.”

Cassidy yelled out, tackling Charlie to the ground. The two exchanged blows. They pulled on each other’s hair, they spat on the other’s face, they bit and clawed at each other. All the years of build up. All the years of animosity came out in one singular moment. Charlie didn’t even worry if the others could hear them, she wanted to make Cassidy suffer. Just like she had made her suffer. It helped that neither of them bled, so the only damages were to the furniture in the room. They used Elizabeth’s toys against each other, the harder the better.

Charlie’s face felt hot. She wailed as she animalistically attacked the girl with the bear mask. Charlie was eventually on top of Cassidy and pulled at her mask.

“Ow ow ow! Stop!” Cassidy’s pleas were met with more force. Charlie would rip that stupid mask right off her face.

Then she heard it.

It was a disgusting, wet, ugly sound. Like skin being pulled away from skin. In the darkened corners of Charlie’s vision she saw it. A bluish ooze dripping down her fingers. She pulled back, looking at her stained hands. The ooze sank into her skin and she felt a sudden burst of energy.

Cassidy was the opposite. She cried out in pain, pushing her mask against her face as the same blue ooze sank down the sides. The goo mixed with tears. Charlie reached a hand forward, concern overflowing. Cassidy smacked her away.

“You’re crazy!” She yelled at Charlie, “You’re a crazy bitch!”

Charlie flinched, tears continued to stain her face, her nose was filled with the ghostly equivalent of snot.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She curled in on herself and broke down. Cassidy’s gaze softened, though she was still experiencing a lot of pain. She sat next to Charlie, their backs against one of the gray walls.

Cassidy bit her bottom lip, unsure of how to handle this situation.

“I… Why am I so stupid.” Charlie sobbed into her knees.

“Hey– You’re not stupid.” Cassidy leaned towards her, “If anything I’m the stupid one.”

“I got myself killed and then–” Her breath hitched, “Then I brought all of you into this stupid mess.”

“None of that is true. It was that evil bunny man.”

Charlie lifted her head and looked at Cassidy with pleading eyes, “Then my stupidity led to Michael getting shot in the shoulder by my own dad.”

“That’s what the pain was?!” Charlie tilted her head in confusion, Cassidy brushed off her comment, “Anyways, it’s not your fault that your dad turned out to be a crazy trigger happy maniac.”

“But it is. My death caused my family to break apart and him to go crazy. All I do is mess everything up and hurt people.”

Cassidy grimaced. Charlie wasn’t entirely wrong, she did hurt a lot of people, intentionally or not. But for the first time, Cassidy was able to see her, the real her. Before, it was easy to just brush her aside because she was a literal puppet animatronic. Now, despite having a mask on her face, Charlie was a human. A human girl the same age as Cassidy. Granted, if she wasn’t killed, Charlie would definitely be older than Cassidy, but the both of them were permanently locked in the worst moments of their lives.

“I’m just so tired…” She mumbled, leaning forward and staring into the moonlit darkness, “So tired…”

Cassidy leaned back, staring into space with her, “Same.”

They sat in silence. It was somber, yet comforting. They basked in each other’s company. The two were entirely opposite in so many ways, yet were able to find common ground in their tragedies.

“What did you want to be when you grew up?” Cassidy broke the silence, earning Charlie’s confused gaze.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Cassidy shrugged, “I don’t know. Just answer the question.”

Charlie stared at her for a moment before turning to face the darkness again.

“Realistically I would’ve gone into robotics… Like my dad…” She looked down at her hands, her eyes almost glazed over, tired from all the tears she spent.

“But…?”

“But,” She shifted, a small smile on her lips, “I wanted to be a doctor.”

“A doctor?” Cassidy asked, getting a nod in response, “Why?”

Charlie’s eyes kept their position, gazing at her hands, “I want to help people. More than anything.”

“Huh.” Cassidy looked back into the darkness, silence returning for a moment before Charlie interrupted it.

“You?” She asked, her gaze shifting towards the girl in the bear mask. Cassidy pondered the question for a bit.

“A Musician.”

∗ ∗ ∗

After the movie had finished, Elizabeth noticed how everyone was passed out, even Mr. Fitzgerald. She didn’t really want to sleep on the couch or the floor, so she got up and walked towards her bedroom, careful to avoid creaking floorboards. When she got to her room she paused.

Hadn’t Cassidy taken Charlie here?

She really hoped Charlie was ok. She looked spooked by something. It made Elizabeth a little sad that they couldn’t watch the movie together like they always used to but it was still fun to watch it with the others. The other kids debated on which golden ticket winner should be chosen. In any case, she didn’t hear or see either of them leave the room. Maybe they fell asleep.

Elizabeth slowly pushed the door forward.

The room was a mess. Toys decorated the floor unceremoniously. Lightweight furniture had been flung across the room. How they didn’t notice the sound puzzled her. The curtains danced in the midnight breeze. Elizabeth’s eyes caught the perpetrators.

Charlie and Cassidy were sitting next to each other, head on each other’s shoulder. She was a little shocked. Since Elizabeth and Michael found them, the two had butt heads indefinitely, but now they were sleeping together, peacefully. She exhaled, too tired herself to wake them up and ask for explanations. Careful not to disturb their sleep, she got into her warm bed and fell asleep, thinking of what the future may hold.

Chapter Text

Mr. Fitzgerald made an egg sandwich for breakfast while Susie, Gabriel, Fritz, Jeremy, and CC played monopoly at the kitchen table. On the couch in the living room, Charlie and Cassidy were talking about important business that Elizabeth paid no mind to. It was odd how friendly they were though, but whatever made less trouble for the group was a net positive so she didn’t worry about it. Elizabeth leaned against the counter, resting her head against it as she watched the man work.

“Why do you have a big scar on your head?” She wrote in her pink notebook. He was almost startled by the question, pausing in his cooking. He waited a moment, almost waiting for Elizabeth to catch the hint and drop the subject, but she remained stoic. Mr. Fitzgerald conceited, sighing before putting on a cocky face.

“I got into a fist fight with an animatronic.” His voice oozed confidence, a stupid grin plastering his deformed face.

“No way.” Elizabeth’s disbelief made Mr. Fitzgerald more persistent.

“Uh huh. She got real hungry and bit me right in the noggin’. Had to get the whole frontal lobe removed.”

“Now you’re definitely lying.”

“Nope, the proof is right before your eyes.”

Elizabeth took a moment to think. It did explain the shape of the scar looking like that of a giant bite mark. She wondered how CC might feel about someone walking around after suffering the same injury as him. How it must feel to have not survived while another person did.

Her pen scribbled against the lined paper, “An animatronic ate me.”

He was taken aback for a moment, a look of mild concern replaced his cockiness.

“Not actually.” She clarified, “She just opened her stomach and scooped me inside.”

Remembering that time hurt her more than the actual event somehow. The physical pain was long gone, but the emotional pain, the psychological pain, it hurt deeply. It didn’t help that her mind was perpetually locked in that moment forever. No matter how much she tried to accept it, the knowledge of her current existence was an ever present agony.

“How old are you?” Elizabeth wrote, wanting to change the subject. She was curious about Mr. Fitzgerald’s past, before he got roped into the nightmare of Freddy’s.

“Oh that’s an easy answer.” He went back to finishing his egg sandwich, “twenty-four. You?”

“Ten.” She wrote the answer naturally. What else could she answer with?

Mr. Fitzgerald nervously chuckled, “Right right, I forgot. How long have you been ten? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Elizabeth had to stop the conversation to do math. Ugh, she hated math. Well, if she died in 1983 and the callendar said it was 1993. Her eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead.

“I would be in college by now!” She groaned, her movements being enough to portray her discomposure over the topic of her lost future. Mr. Fitzgerald laughed between bites of food.

“Well, whatever your age is, it’s probably more fun being a kid forever. Being a grown up is actually pretty boring.”

“No way!” She argued, “Being a grown up is great. You get to go anywhere you’d like, you can get a job, get married, people will listen to you, you are super strong and brave–”

He interrupted her writing, “Not all the time.”

She tilted her head with a “Huh?”

“Adults can get just as scared as kids.”

No. No, that wasn’t right. None of the adults Elizabeth knew got scared. Her mom was always optimistic, her father was more stoic. Maybe uncle Henry but she’d only ever really seen him sad, not afraid. Michael just seemed stressed all the time. Were all of them ever afraid? When mom was dying, was she afraid? Was uncle Henry afraid of more kids going missing? Was her father ever afraid of losing Elizabeth or even Michael after CC died?

Is Michael afraid?

The thoughts made her uncomfortable. It was uncanny. It was unreal. And yet, the more she thought back on her fading memories, the more moments she remembered where the adults put on brave faces for her or she was too caught up in her own fear that she didn’t notice theirs. She wrote down a silent question.

“Were you afraid when you got bitten?”

He silently nodded, “I heard about the bite in ‘83. I wasn’t there but I saw it on the papers and the news. Some of my last thoughts when I was being taken to the hospital were that I was going to die.” He chuckled, his tone self-deprecating, “Imagine my surprise when the doctors managed to keep me alive.”

Elizabeth grimaced at the mention, looking over at CC. Fritz and Susie went bankrupt and Gabriel was on the cusp of losing everything. The two powerhouses were Jeremy and CC. He looked happy, enthralled in the competitiveness of Monopoly, but those bandages on his head were an ever present reminder of his death.

“Sorry.” Mr. Fitzgerald began cleaning his plates, “You were probably too young to remember that–”

“I was there.” She presented the page to him. He almost dropped the plate he was holding, his eyes widening as if Elizabeth had just spoken an evil tongue.

She didn’t wait for a response to add more, “I was there. My baby brother was the victim.”

Mr. Fitzgerald followed her gaze towards CC as the cogs turned in his head. He made the realization pretty quickly.

“Oh.”

She nodded.

“Well that’s just bad luck.”

Elizabeth cocked her head. Mr. Fitzgerald continued, washing the dishes gently.

“Two deaths in one year. Your family sounds like kind of a mess.”

She chuckled somberly, writing down one last thing.

“You have no idea.”

“Nooo! My empire!” Jeremy cried out, causing Elizabeth to turn her head in his direction. Mr. Fitzgerald followed her gaze to see the tantruming sheet.

CC chuckled, “Mine now.”

“Hah! Guess your strategy wasn’t as perfect as you said it would be.” Fritz crossed his arms smugly. Jeremy turned his anger towards the other boy.

“At least I can count the laps I made on more than one hand.”

“Hey! Susie was cheating.”

“If I was cheating then how did I lose?” She asked, helping Gabriel clean up the game.

“Well… Uhm…” He paused, trying to think of a response, “You are just bad at cheating.”

“Or maybe you’re bad at the game.”

“Ok, no need to be a bunch of sore losers.” Gabriel interjected, putting the board game in its rightful place.

Fritz huffed, “You guys just haven’t seen me in my proper element.”

“And what might that be?” Susie grinned, “The stupid convention?”

“The park!” He pointed at her defiantly, full of confidence. Susie was unamused. Gabriel shuffled the box onto the shelf while Jeremy and CC exchanged Monopoly strategies. Now tuned in on the conversation, Elizabeth perked up at the mention of going to a park.

“Well newsflash dummy, we can’t go to the park or else people are going to think Mr. Scarface is a creep.”

“How would he be a creep?” Fritz asked innocently.

“Use your brain for once.” Susie continued, “An adult man with no kids and a big scar sitting around at a playground?”

He pondered her words for a moment, “I still don’t get it.”

“Now I see how you were killed–”

“Woah woah.” Gabriel came between the two with his stern, older brother voice, “Susie, you better apologize to Fritz right now.”

She huffed, “Sorry.”

Satisfied, he then turned to Fritz, “But she’s right. We don’t want Mr. Fitzgerald getting in trouble.”

“What if we go at night?” Elizabeth chimed in, gaining the attention of the three other kids, “The worst people would think is that he’s homeless or a junkie.”

“How do you even know what that means?” Gabriel grimaced, mildly concerned.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Elizabeth quickly scribbled down the request and showed it to Mr. Fitzgerald. He read it over a few times before nodding.

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”

∗ ∗ ∗

Charlie shared Cassidy’s confusion at the announcement they were going to a park at midnight, but she soon was wrapped up in everyone else’s excitement. There was a slight breeze, night ambiance accompanying the group’s footsteps through the grass. The nearest playground was boxed in by a fence with a swing set and seesaw. It wasn’t much, the seesaw even creaking when pushed by the breeze, but it still looked like fun. Mr. Fitzgerald took care to not park in front of private property or illegally, a challenge in itself.

Fritz ran towards the playground, followed shortly by Susie and Elizabeth. Jeremy, Cassidy, and Gabriel followed shortly behind, but were not in a rush. Gabriel casually chatted with Cassidy, but Jeremy still held a grudge from the reveal of her lies. In the very back were Mr. Fitzgerald, Charlie, and CC. Fritz made a beeline towards the swing set, loudly challenging himself to make the swing do a 360. Susie sat on the seesaw, challenging him further with jeers. Elizabeth sat on the other swing, asking Gabriel to push her. Jeremy made sure to sit far away from the swing set to avoid being hit by an inevitable flying shoe. Cassidy sat on the other side of the seesaw, joining in Susie’s jeers as the two pushed each other up and down. Nearby was a park bench where Mr. Fitzgerald and Charlie sat.

And then there was CC, who didn’t want to join the crowd in the park, but was still apprehensive to sit by the two on the bench. Mr. Fitzgerald noticed CC’s apprehension and called him over.

“Yo, CC. Come over here.”

CC paused, looking between the two groups before obliging. He sat in the grass, picking it slowly to pull out the white bit.

“How ya’ doin’, buddy?” Mr. Fitzgerald asked him so casually, like he knew CC for years. CC grabbed his notebook, holding it close to his chest.

“CC doesn’t like talking.” Charlie wrote, Mr. Fitzgerald making an ‘ohh’ sound. CC scowled, quickly scribbling in his notebook.

“How are you alive?” Mr. Fitzgerald read the writing, understanding the question instantly. His scar was very obvious and CC’s death could be easily inferred based on his appearance.

Mr. Fitzgerald leaned back, “The doctors called it luck. Some people call it God’s miracle. To be honest, I believe the first option more.”

His comment made Charlie curious. Was Mr. Fitzgerald religious? Based on how he talked about the subject, he seemed disinterested at least. Almost everyone in Hurricane was at least a little religious if not a devout believer. Some people were even door knockers, or religious salesmen as her dad called them. Charlie’s thoughts continued as CC continued to write.

“I’m the unluckiest kid in the world.”

“I don’t think so.” Mr. Fitzgerald spoke with empathy, “Sure, your dad sounds like a piece of shit, but you have a friendly older sister, some nice friends, and, from what I hear, I pretty cool older brother.”

CC scoffed as he scribbled his words, “Sure, he might be cool, but he’s the worst older brother to exist. He’s just as bad as our dad.”

“CC! You can’t say that.” Charlie gasped, forgetting to write.

“Why not? It’s true.” His cold eye glared at Charlie.

Realizing their silent argument, Mr. Fitzgerald stepped in.

“Woah woah woah. Slow down.” He turned to CC, “Why do you say that? Surely he can’t be that bad.”

“I think bullying and then killing your own brother for a prank is worthy of the worst brother of the century.” He had an almost smug look towards Charlie as he revealed Michael’s dirty secret. Charlie’s face was hot with anger. Mr. Fitzgerald stared at page, in shock. But CC had one more secret to spill.

“What else would you expect of the Afton’s oldest child.”

“CC you’ve gone too far!”

CC left his notebook in Mr. Fitzgerald’s hands as he argued back to Charlie.

“If he’s working with us he deserves to know the truth! All you guys do is lie because the truth makes people you like look like the cruel monsters they are.”

“Ok, he deserves to know the truth, but what about Michael? How would he feel if he knew you told the truth.”

“Do I look like I give a shit what he thinks?” CC’s curse word made Charlie stumble, “I WAS THE ONE WHO DIED!! He killed ME!! By your logic, none of you should confess that my father killed you because it might hurt his feelings.”

“Your death was an accident—“

“I’M STILL DEAD!!!” Tears began falling down CC’s face. Once he realized, he began aggressively rubbing his face to clear the stains, “No no. It’s not fair.”

The other kids noticed the ruckus. Cassidy and Susie found a balance to watch the event. Jeremy turned, Fritz’s shoe a few inches away from him. Gabriel stopped Elizabeth’s swing at her request, but before she could run over to ask what was happening he rested a hand on her shoulder. Fritz jumped off the swing, leaving it to flail wildly.

“Hey CC, it’s ok, don’t cry.” He tried to comfort but CC snapped.

“IT’S NOT OK.” He sobbed, trying to rip his mask off in anger. “None of this is ok!”

“CC—“

“I’m so sick of you people! Lying, fighting for petty reasons, telling people what to do and what not to do. How to feel and how not to feel.” He glared at the kids in the playground, “NONE OF YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL!!”

“CC…” Susie said quietly. Cassidy’s face was full of guilt, knowing that she had caused so much trouble. Charlie would’ve felt the same, but CC was being dramatic.

“Look, CC, I get your anger but all of us were hurt. All of us are dead. All of us were killed.”

He scoffed, turning to Charlie, “Yeah, but none of you are expected to forgive your killer.”

Charlie opened her mouth to counter but Gabriel stepped forward, Elizabeth following close behind. She immediately went to comfort CC. Gabriel towered over Charlie.

“Let it go, Charlie.”

“But—“

“You’re both getting too emotional. CC justifiably.”

She couldn’t understand it, Michael was helping them and now suddenly all of them were against him? Why? Because of Mr. Fitzgerald? Sure, he killed CC but it was an accident. Charlie just couldn’t understand why everyone was being so stupid.

Mr. Fitzgerald suddenly stood up, silent the whole time.

“It’s getting early, we should get back home.” He looked at CC and Charlie with an unreadable expression, “I think everyone’s tired.”

Mr. Fitzgerald paused suddenly.

“Where’s my car?”

Chapter Text

“I must say, your injury has healed at a remarkable rate Mr. Schmidt.” The doctor said from her clipboard, noting his condition.

Mike rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Well, I guess it’s sorta a family trait.”

“Interesting. Well, I think you’re all good to be discharged early.”

“And the bill?” He winced.

“Oh, no need.” She waved away his concerns, “Mr. Fitzgerald paid for it in full.”

Damn, that Fazbear hush money sure was something.

Mike stood up, putting on his sweater and nodding to the doctor, “Well, thanks for everything.”

“No need, just doing my job.” She waved him goodbye before quietly mumbling to herself, “I swear I’ve seen him before…”

He didn’t want to think about if she meant the incident or just him generally looking like William. Both thoughts shook him. It was extremely early in the morning, but he didn’t really mind. If all was right in the world, he’d walk out of the hospital and see Fitzgerald’s car and when they got back to the house it wouldn’t be complete chaos. Well, there was his car.

Did it always have newspapers covering the windows?

That seemed incredibly impractical. Whatever, maybe the kids and him thought of a clever way for him to communicate with them and vice versa, whatever it was would’ve surely been really weird to look at. He reached for the front passenger door but it was jammed. Ok. Maybe Charlie or one of the others were in the front, but Mike’s gut twisted. Something felt very wrong.

He opened the back passenger door, about to step in when he heard shouting.

“Wait! Not me! Not me!” Mike turned to see the voice. Fitzgerald, out of breath, riding on a clearly stolen bike. But before he could react, he felt something cold and metallic grab his arm and drag him into the car.

He thumped against the back seat, the metal spaghetti-like arm closed the door, locked it, and sped off.

Shit.

He recognized that arm. His eyes darted in horror at the driver. The abomination. The amalgamation of all the Funtime animatronics. Mike tried his best to make a beeline for the door opposite to the one he was pulled into only to get dragged around the back seat like a rag doll. Escape was impossible, this thing’s sensors were trained on him. But the monster seemed less inclined to jump into his skin as it did before, which somehow filled him with more dread.

“I thought I killed you.” He exclaimed, his breath quickening. He was panicking too much and too obviously. He felt his pocket.

At least that was still there.

The animatronic’s ragged voice was so familiarly discomforting. Like nails on a chalkboard.

“Our father found us and put us back together. Said if we did his bidding he’d set us free.”

“Wait, father–?”

“Of course, Michael.”

The creature’s use of his name made Mike’s spine shiver. He was so fucking dead. But then he thought. Why would William send for this abomination to… kidnap him?

“What do you… does he want?” He put on a brave face. He really had enough of crazy old men and killer animatronics.

The car swerved suddenly, one of the animatronic voices jumping above the rest.

“What was that?!”

Mike couldn’t recognize the overly cheerfully sadistic, he was too focused on being knocked against one of the doors.

“Our sensors should’ve picked it up.” Another voice, more relaxed, commented.

“It was because of these stupid coverings.”

Circus Baby’s voice managed to break into Mike’s mind and memories. While they were distracted he made his escape, slamming the door open and stumbling out.

“Bonbon’s idea was flawless! You were the one who messed it up.”

“Well—“ Circus Baby’s voice was drowned out by the collective coming back together.

“HE’S GETTING AWAY.”

Shit shit shit shit.

He looked around, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The location had an uncomfortable familiarity to it. Trees surrounded a single house on a hill. It looked so vaguely familiar, like Mike had seen it in a dream. Behind him, the car had travelled across dirt roads. A gooey, metallic creature crawled its way out of the vehicle to give chase. Mike jumped for one of the bushes, landing on a weird lump. He covered his mouth, barely breathing as he heard the monster search.

“This way.”

“No, this way!”

The voices argued. Mike didn’t dare move.

“He couldn’t have gone far.” Almost like clockwork, little bits of the burnt animatronic, likely the remains of Minireenas, scuttled off the main body and began their search. The main body went towards the house in the distance. If he was going to get away, now had to be his chance.

Mike looked down at what he landed on, dusting off the layer of dirt to see an animatronic shell. Almost as soon as he uncovered it, the endo released a strange gas. Mike’s vision blurred, the animatronic shell shifting in his vision to look like a more nightmarish version of one of the main animatronics. He shuffled back. Again, there was a familiarity to its appearance, a deja vu. Like he’d seen it in a dream. It felt like this entire place came from a dream. He heard sudden shuffling in the bush next to his.

Had they found him already?

A head popped out of the bush and took a deep breath. Mike’s body released all its tension when he saw Jeremy Fitzgerald.

“There you are–!” Mike clapped his hand over Fitzgerald’s mouth.

“Shut up, do you want them to find us?”

He shook his head rapidly, reassuring Mike enough to let go.

“What the fuck is that thing?” He exhaled, trying to hide his own panic.

“Long version or short?”

“As short as possible.”

Mike listened as best he could to the movements of the Minireenas as he conversed, “Underground animatronics formed together and now they’re working for–”

“William Afton.”

Mike’s eyes widened, but he couldn’t even articulate how Fitzgerald knew William’s full name until he continued.

“Your father.”

Shit.

Mike exhaled, “Look, that story is very long and very complicated and we really don’t have the time for it right now.”

Fitzgerald paused, releasing the tension when he nodded. He lifted himself up slightly to peak over the bushes. Before Mike could react, Fitzgerald lept out and ran to the car, “Now!”

Mike hesitated just a little too long the amalgamation and all its parts allerted to them. Oddly, the monster stood in front of the house with what looked to be a balloon. Fitzgerald stopped right at the driver’s door to see the towering figure slowly make its way towards them.

“I’m getting way too many It vibes.” He slipped into the car, “We gotta get the fuck out of here.”

“No.” Mike stood where he was, stealing his resolve.

Fitzgerald stared at him through the window, gobsmacked, “Are you crazy? That thing has murder written all over it.”

“Which is why it needs to be destroyed.” He walked forward to meet the monster, “For good.”

The Minireenas all reformed into the clump. The amalgamation was silent, a soft breeze musing against Mike’s footsteps. Its eyes trained solely on the figure in front of it, it offered him the balloon. Mike looked at it with a fair amount of suspicion.

“The first clue.” It whispered. As soon as Mike took hold of the balloon he reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter.

Before the animatronic could react, Mike threw the flame onto the creature. It screeched, but its cries were drowned out by the agonising screams of the remnant. Fitzgerald ran towards Mike in horror. In vain attempts to free itself from the flames, it clawed at its body, causing remnant to go flying towards Mike and Fitzgerald. His body moved on its own. He kicked the burning mess into the entrance of the house, setting it alight. From this angle, he could see the house was just two long hallways that both led towards one room.

So that’s why it was so familiar.

Mike took in the sight of those halls burning, the mangled animatronic inside it. He felt like he was in a trance. Only broken when Fitzgerald grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the car, leaving the house to burn. Fitzgerald sped off, away from the scene of the crime. Weirdly enough, as his adrenaline was winding down, he still had a lot of energy. A burst of sorts. It was mid day so finding parking was tough. Fitzgerald found a random one in front of a random store and parked. Finally, time to breathe. He looked at Mike, then paused.

Fitzgerald grimaced, letting out a deep sigh.

“What the hell did I get myself into?”

Mike sank. Guilt overcoming him. He remembered what Fitzgerald said earlier. He knew that Mike lied about his identity. He knew his father was William Afton, co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment. Mike could only guess how much more he knew. Fitzgerald probably knew everything.

“Look, I’m sorry.” Mike rubbed his eyes, he was so mentally exhausted, “Just drop me off at the house and forget about all this. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”

“Pfft, you didn’t drag me into anything.”

Mike’s eyes met Fitzgerald’s, “Look, whatever you’re going to say isn’t worth it. You don’t need to lie just to make me feel better.”

He paused at that, unsure of where to take the conversation. Mike clearly caught him trying to bring in words of encouragement, “How do you know if I would’ve lied or not?”

“Because, with everything you probably know. Fuck, what positive thing is there to say.”

“What do you think I know?”

“That my father is a crazy lunatic who killed and experimented on children. That I bullied and then killed my own brother on his birthday. That everyone I’ve ever come into contact with has either died or gone crazy.” He was just letting it all spill, he felt his face get hot. So stupid. Even when he was explaining everything conceivably wrong with him, he still couldn’t stop the self-pity from seeping through his words. In what world was he the victim in all of this?

He was just so pathetic.

“Just do yourself a favour,” He sighed the plea, “Leave Hurricane. Don’t come back. And especially don’t come back to the house.”

Fitzgerald leaned back, being entirely silent while Mike talked. Once he was done, Mike turned towards the window, ready for the silent drive back. He was prepared for Fitzgerald to drop him off, maybe curse at him, or maybe just drive off without another word, never to be seen again. Mike barely even knew him, yet he still understood that all the suffering Fitzgerald ever went through was due to Fazbear Entertainment, and Mike didn’t want to add to that suffering. He didn’t want to add that suffering to anyone ever again.

“I’m not mad.”

“Just disappointed?” Mike asked, absentmindedly.

“Nope.”

He stared at the parking lot, not daring to make eye contact with the man in the driver’s seat.

“It was your little brother who told me, CC.” Mike’s eyes drifted down to the concrete outside, pain etching itself across his face. Fitzgerald continued, “Poor kid. On his own birthday too?”

“That was…” His breath shook, “The worst mistake of my entire life.”

“Hm.” Fitzgerald nodded, “Does CC know that?”

“Everytime I try to talk to him, he ignores me.” He can feel himself gently picking at the skin on his fingers, “But, he’s in his every right to do so. He’s right to be mad. I just hope I can eventually help him move on.”

“From his death?”

“To the afterlife. If there is one.”

Fitzgerald sighed in relief, “That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Huh?” Mike finally turned to look at him. Posture was relaxed. He leaned forward, his elbows against the wheel as he stared out the front window.

“You’re not a bad person, Michael. Even if some people insist you are. Even if you yourself think you are.”

“I told you–”

Fitzgerald met Mike’s gaze, “I’m not lying. What you just said. The thing about understanding your brother’s anger and wishing for him to just be happy? That’s selflessness. And I’m pretty sure that’s a virtue.”

Mike looked down at his lap, grimacing. Fitzgerald sensed his opposition.

“Wow.” He leaned forward against the wheel more, “Brutal honesty, you are probably the most emotionally damaged person I’ve ever met.”

He was instantly alerted, making a face to Fitzgerald, “Brutal honesty.”

“That’s just not true–”

“Listen, I’ve spent only a few days with those kids and they all talk about you like you’re the ultimate big brother. And sure, CC has a grudge, but I can just tell he still sees you as his brother, even if you’re not a perfect one.” He used his hands to accentuate his points, “The only people I’ve ever heard talk down upon you are CC and yourself.”

“Those guys are kids, dead kids.”

“Do you wanna know how Elizabeth reacted when she heard you got shot?”

Before Mike could answer, he continued, “She apparently freaked out so much, Gabriel had to take her to another room to calm her down.”

“That’s just Elizabeth–” Mike tried to shrug off but Fitzgerald continued.

“That’s not how people react to each other getting hurt if they simply tolerate the other person.” Fitzgerald leaned towards Mike to keep his attention, “I don’t know who the hell put into your head that others should hate you for the things you did in the past, but they’re wrong. Everyone has done stuff they regret.”

“Sure, maybe saying something stupid. Not killing their brother.”

“And we circle back to that. Do you feel guilt?”

“I know what you’re doing.” Mike tried to rebuild his walls but Fitzgerald just kept breaking them down with his words.

“Do you feel guilty? Yes or no.”

“Yes.” He said loudly, exasperated, “Every day, yes.”

“And sure, maybe some people will never forgive you. But that doesn’t mean you should be defined by that your entire life.”

He exhaled, “A final life lesson before you leave isn’t necessary–”

“Who said I’m leaving?”

“Excuse me.” Mike was taken aback by Fitzgerald’s quick, sharp response. A rhetorical question that set Mike off balance. Why did Fitzgerald like doing that so much??

“Those kids are amazing, and from the looks of all this I think I need to stay.” Fitzgerald gestured to Mike, “You also still don’t have a car so you need me anyways.”

Before Mike could protest, he started up the car and drove out of the parking lot. The two drove towards the house. Fitzgerald’s stance was clear.

He was here to stay.

Chapter Text

Fitzgerald stopped the car in the driveway. Elizabeth, CC, and Charlie knew the route back to the house so the lights were on inside. Before the two entered, Fitzgerald stopped Mike.

“Can ya do me a favour?” Mike responded to his question with a silent nod, “Can ya talk to CC. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the others busy.”

He didn’t want to do it. He really didn’t want to. He didn’t want to cause any more problems or discomfort for CC, but Fitzgerald was right. The brothers needed a compromise, especially if William was going to send the entire group and a wild goose chase. Mike sighed, and nodded again.

When Fitzgerald suddenly opened the door, Mike was instantly tackled.

“You’re alive!” Elizabeth, the perpetrator, sobbed as she squeezed him tight. Mike was a little stunned, he chose to reciprocate her hug.

“Did you really worry that much?” He teased her comfortingly, but she didn’t seem to care.

Neither of them noticed Fitzgerald’s shock. Charlie ran towards Mike and Fitzgerald.

“What happened with the car? Did you get it back?”

“Yup, no big deal.” Fitzgerald shrugged her off, “An animatronic stole it.”

“And animatronic–” Charlie paused, then looked at Fitzgerald with shock, “You heard me?”

“I guess so?” He brushed the back of his neck.

Mike stood up from his hug with Elizabeth, “Must’ve been the remnant.”

“The who the what now?”

“That gross goo the animatronic threw on us.”

“Huh. Neat.” He was surprisingly cool with the whole situation. “Well at least you guys won’t need to use those notebooks or sheets anymore.”

Mike stared, having no idea what they were talking about. An army of footsteps ran down the hall. Susie, Fritz, Cassidy, Jeremy, and Gabriel all entering the living room.

“Mr. Tall Man!” Susie yelled out in excitement, “You’re all better now.”

“Yup, what did you guys do while I was gone?”

Fritz leapt forward, jumping up and down in excitement, “We played video games and watched movies and played board games and went to the park.”

“Yea, and Fritz sucked at all of the games.” Susie teased.

“Hey! No I didn’t. Susie just cheated all the time.”

Cassidy crossed her arms, “Nope, you definitely sucked.”

Fritz looked at her with betrayal, “Not you too.”

“Alright, stop picking on Fritz.” Gabriel chuckled, patting Fritz’s head, “He did almost manage to do a 360 on the swings at the park.”

“Almost.” Cassidy grinned as Susie giggled alongside her. Fritz stuck his tongue out at the two girls as Jeremy shook his head in dismay at the others’ shenanigans. One figure that was notably absent was CC. Mike looked at Fitzgerald, ready to call it quits, but he pushed on ahead.

“So, kiddos, where’s CC?” He asked.

The unknowing kids scrambled for notebooks but Charlie just responded nonchalantly, “He’s in his room. Probably all smug.”

“Great. Mike here has to chat with him for a bit.” He patted Mike on the back, encouraging him to go. Mike took a deep breath and left as the kids freaked out over Fitzgerald’s new ability to hear them.

He couldn’t help but take notice of how bitter Charlie seemed towards CC. It made sense. Since CC was the one who told Fitzgerald, Charlie was probably upset, thinking that it would ruin everything. When Mike reached the bedroom he paused. He remembered when he was a kid he would sneak into CC’s room and hide under the bed just to scare him, or a time when he locked the door on CC leaving him trapped there for hours. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the handle.

The room was oddly cold, no thanks to the grey walls. Scattered on the floor were action figures of the animatronics from Freddy’s. The room had a similar layout to the bedroom of Mike’s nightmares, nightmares that he now knew were real. Sitting on the bed, holding a Fredbear plush, was CC. He didn’t respond to Mike’s arrival, seemingly lost in thought, but Mike could tell he knew he was there. Mike didn’t know if he was comfortable with him sitting next to him on the bed, but it felt more awkward to stand. The bed sank a little when he sat, the child bed not meant to hold an adult man. The air was stiff and tense, neither wanting to talk.

“Did he leave?” CC asked, clearly referring to Fitzgerald. Mike shook his head. CC grimaced, “He should have.”

Mike sighed, “I agree with you there. But he was insistent on staying.”

“And talking to me?”

He nodded, CC was able to clearly see through Mike’s poorly made disguise. CC let out an exasperated sigh, squeezing Fredbear’s torso in discontentment.

“I don’t want to hear about how sorry you are or how it was the worst mistake of your life. I don’t want to hear excuses and reasons why I should forgive you. Your actions led to my death. I can never forgive you for that.”

Mike stared at the ceiling. It felt oddly refreshing to hear CC’s words. “To be honest. I don’t want you to forgive me.”

CC exhaled from his nose, “Really?”

“Mhm.”

There was a pause in the conversation before CC spoke up again.

“The way people talk about it… Everyone acts like it’s no big deal. That even though bad things happened I should still forgive them, just because you’re my brother. But, I don’t tell them they should forgive their killer, I don’t chastise them when they call my dad a heartless murderer.”

Mike listened intently to CC. All the words felt true. Because they were true. The double standard existed and CC had a right to be upset about it. He only took a pause when CC turned his head towards Mike, full of anger.

“But then you have to go and be all nice and brotherly and stuff to them. They get to see all the positive sides of you and none of the negative.” Tears began to slip down CC’s face, “Why couldn’t you be the big brother they have? Why didn’t you change sooner?”

Mike grimaced, letting CC get all his words out before answering, “Because watching you die, then Elizabeth dying after that… I just… I don’t know. And with all this, I thought it would be a chance to do things right.”

“But that’s not fair.”

“No. It’s not. And I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve been better. I should’ve been better. You deserved a better brother than me. One who would protect you instead of torment you. One who fights off the bullies rather than leads them. You deserved to grow up. But nothing I say or do can ever erase the past. My mistakes were my mistakes and yet they forever affect you. And repeatedly saying sorry won’t change that. It won’t change me from the past.” Mike’s emotions got the better of him, he felt the corners of his eyes get wet, his face get hot. This was supposed to be about CC and Mike was the one feeling bad about himself again.

CC was silent, staring at Mike as they both cried. Mike began to wipe at his eyes with a self-deprecating chuckle, “I’m doing it again. I’m making it all about me again.”

He took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself, trying not to break down and force CC to pick up all the pieces. That’s not what the point was. The point of this entire conversation was for him to make things right. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t because he didn’t know how. He thought… What did he think? He couldn’t even articulate his thoughts properly. What was wrong with him? Maybe Fitzgerald was right. Mike was broken. And nothing could possibly fix him. Maybe that was why he tried to fix everyone else’s problems, even if it meant putting himself in danger. Maybe then he would finally have a sense of purpose, of completion, of satisfaction.

But you can’t fix a broken pot with shards of glass.

“I can’t think of anything else I can say other than I’m sorry. I don’t ever expect you to forgive me. I just want you to know that you, Elizabeth, Charlie, and all those other kids are the reason I chose to keep going. Just so that one day you guys can be free. So one day you guys can finally move on to whatever afterlife exists. Then everything will be ok.” He sighed out the last words, leaning forward, ready to stand up and leave before he felt a sudden grip and the sound of a plush bear falling to the ground.

Mike looked over and saw CC, hugging him. Mike leaned back to make it easier for him to hold on. He sat there, a little in shock. Tears still dotting his eyes, staining his face. CC was oddly quiet, leaving Mike in the dark to his thoughts.

“I don’t forgive you.” He finally spoke. Mike relaxed his body and nodded. He knew that, but what CC said next surprised him, “But I still want you to be my big brother.”

“Why?” He asked, the word falling unceremoniously out as he continued to not understand the situation.

“I don’t know… I guess, even though you killed me and bullied me and ruined my life, some part of me still cares. And, what you said about us moving on to the afterlife, I want that too.” The little boy spoke with a maturity that shook Mike.

Events changed both of them, for the better and for the worst. CC wasn’t the sobbing mess he used to be. And maybe Mike wasn’t the big bully he used to be. Their shadows still haunted them, but maybe they could learn to move forward, at least for the sake of everyone else. CC didn’t have to forgive Mike, hell Mike wasn’t sure he wanted to forgive himself, but there was still love between them. Finally, he felt comfortable enough to hug CC back, the two sharing a warm embrace.

Things weren’t perfect. But maybe, just maybe…

Things could get better.

Chapter Text

When Mike and CC re-enter the main room, the other kids are marveling at the balloon. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it appeared to have some kind of film that made it change colors depending on the angle of light.

“Where’d you get it?” Susie asked enthusiastically.

“Do we all get one?” Fritz carried her excitement and added on.

Jeremy shot down the enthusiasm as he shifted his glasses, “There’s only one balloon.”

Undeterred, Fritz looked back at him, “What if there’s more in the car?”

“Did you guys get back fine? No detours or escapades?” Fitzgerald chuckled as he held the balloon out of reach of the pleading Elizabeth. Charlie nodded.

“Yup. Lizzy, CC, and I practically grew up in that park.”

“Says the one who got us lost.” CC snickered as he entered the conversation. Charlie looked back towards him, first with concern over the conversation, then with playful anger as she puffed up her cheeks until they were red.

The two bickered about nothing, the others focusing more on the balloon. Fitzgerald handed it over to Gabriel for safekeeping before sitting down on the couch. Mike flopped next to him, emotionally and physically exhausted, animatronic remnant still staining their clothes.

“So… It went well?” He asked, half genuine and half teasing. Mike sighed.

“Actually. Better than I expected.”

Fitzgerald leans back with smug satisfaction, “Crazy what communication can do, huh?”

He stares at him, his lip curled into a humorless line. If he had something to throw at the scarred man, he would throw it. But, he couldn’t help smiling a little. It had been a long time since he had experienced any playful teasing. After the levity, Fitzgerald’s expression hardened.

“They’re not exactly what I pictured.” He grimaced, “They look just like the missing posters.”

Mike nodded solemnly, unsure of how to verbally respond. It felt wrong to make any comment, though he always thought about it. How they looked almost exactly like they would have during their last moments alive. He wondered if they were almost perpetually trapped in those moments.

“I want to free them.” Mike said in a hushed tone, but the kids weren’t paying attention to them. “To repair what my father destroyed.”

He noticed Fitzgerald’s sombre smile, but didn’t comment on it.

“He’s been leaving these clues and hints, almost like he wants me to find him.”

“Well, at least that makes our job easier. Ya think that balloon has something to do with it?” His working eye glanced at the colour changing balloon.

“Definitely.”

Their conversation was interrupted by snickering from the kids. Turns out, their secret conversation was not so secret. But what was there to giggle about? Unless they were laughing at something else. Fitzgerald laughed at their lack of subtlety.

“What’cha snickering about over there?”

Susie stopped giggling to say in a very playfully guilty voice, “Nothing.”

A sudden, obnoxiously loud bang silenced the room. Gasps from children as confetti exploded from where the balloon once was. Mike stood up instinctually, trying to see any damages. It seemed that while the kids were drestacted, the balloon must have bumped into a sharp corner or undergone some kind of pressure. Either way, the result was the same. Among the scattered rainbow confetti was a note in fancy yet messy handwriting, a style he recognized instantly.

“No… The balloon.” Elizabeth mourned. Charlie and Cassidy turned to Mike, noticing the paper in his hand.

“What’s that?”

“What does it say?”

In the corner of his eye, Mike saw Fitzgerald stand up, a mirrored expression of confusion and mild worry. He took a deep breath and began to read what was written.

“‘Congratulations. If all is right, most everyone should be together. Happy gifts for happy children who gather. Who reach for their Happiest Day.’” He paused. On the page was an address. He didn’t recognize it at first, but his eyes soon widened.

“The first location. Fredbear’s family dinner.” The last Mike had heard, the place was turned into a bar or something. But now, William owned it again, or it was abandoned enough that nobody would care if he was there. Of course. Right back to where it all began.

The missing children looked at CC. Everyone knew what CC went through. William clearly wanted all of them to come, but Mike wasn’t willing to put his brother into any more danger. However, with a bandaged face and a fredbear mask, CC steeled his resolve.

“This is our last chance.” He said softly.

Charlie nodded, “To be free.”

“To get revenge.” Cassidy agreed.

No matter what tomorrow brought, they would have to face it. But none of them were alone.

∗ ∗ ∗

A letter in the mail.

Henry was tired. So fucking tired. He fucked up so bad.

He tore his family apart. He did nothing when he knew William was out there killing children. He shot Michael, a boy he watched grow up, for no reason. Why did he do that? He was stupid. He was emotional. What didn’t help was that he called him a liar. He wanted to believe in the delusion that Charlie could manifest herself into a doll that he instantly took the offensive when told otherwise.

But since injecting that stuff into himself, he began seeing things. Spectres. Wanderers. His new power was too weak to attract any of them, but he could see them. He could hear them.

And Charlie was nowhere to be found.

He should’ve just killed himself when he had the chance. Not a coward who built a robot just to kill him. A pathetic man who was stopped by a conveniently placed police raid.

Then he saw the letter.

With that familiar handwriting from a man he’d grown to despise.

‘Come find me.’

‘Old Friend.’

Chapter Text

Everyone was tense. The evening to come would mean the end. Mike almost couldn’t believe it. The past months felt like a dream. A horrible, wonderful, anxiety inducing dream. He supposed he was used to those, or at least he should’ve been. But sitting at the kitchen table, looking over to his childhood living room at ghost children curled up on the floor in blankets, having one last peaceful sleep before the twilight, he felt unreal. Minutes stretched on.

“Yo, ya look exhausted.” Fitzgerald was there to lighten the mood a bit. He held two mugs of coffee. They were definitely going to need it. Mike graciously took the cup and chuckled.

“Can’t believe it’s all going to be over soon.”

“Are you nervous?” He sat down across from him, leaning back nonchalantly.

Mike shrugged. A little. It was hard not to be anxious. You never learn how to deal with this situation.

“I guess… I’ve just spent so long doing all of this, I can’t think of what I’ll do after.” There was a bitter feeling. Towards himself for letting his father control him, towards his father for doing all this, towards the world. Towards the tiny town of Hurricane, Utah. The bittersweet sensation of something you spent so long trying to achieve coming to reality.
Fitzgerald seemed to ponder what he said. He leaned forward, caressing his cup and letting the steam tickle his mutilated face.

“You don’t have to know right away.”

“I suppose.” Mike glanced away. He looked back at the other man, genuine curiosity taking hold, “What about you? What are you going to do next?”

He thought about it for a moment, taking a sip of his coffee and cringing at its bitterness.

“Well the first thing I’m gonna do is get the hell out of Hurricane. Hell, maybe out of Utah entirely.” he said, clinking his glass against the hardwood, “The rest will come naturally I guess.”

Mike laughed a sigh, “I probably should’ve thought of that. Though, I might even go further than Utah.”

“You’re thinking of leaving America?”

He shrugged again, “It’s all hypothetical. We could all die horribly and become experiments for all of time.”

Fitzgerald inhaled through his teeth, “Forgot about our impending doom.”

“Me every day.” Mike laughed. Dark comedy and sarcasm always helped him through these feelings. Fitzgerald held up his glass.

“I can drink to that.”

Mike clinked his coffee mug with Fitzgerald’s and took a sip. His face seized and grimaced.

“Christ, you put nothing in this.”

“Nope, just black. Didn’t know how you liked your coffee.” He scratched the back of his neck a little shamefully.

“Meh, not the worst thing I’ve had put into my body.”

They looked out the window on the warm summer day. It was ironic that such a lovely day would proceed such an unthinkable night ahead. For all they knew, this would be their last summer day.

“Y’know what.” Fitzgerald interrupted the silent contemplation with a suggestion, “Why don’t we take the kids to a picnic. I think it’ll be good for the kids.”

“And us too?” Mike raised a brow in suspicion. He was getting to know Fitzgerald’s tricks without even thinking about it. He snapped his fingers into finger guns.

“You got it.”

He rolled his eyes, finishing the last of his mediocre coffee, a new surge of energy inside of him. He took Fitzgerald’s cup and went to clean them in the sink.

“So… I’m not hearing a no?”

“I think it sounds fun.”

∗ ∗ ∗

They set everything up. In the nearby park they set up a nice blanket at a picnic bench and brought some food for the living. Charlie was happy to get this final moment of peace before the final showdown.

The kids played together, running around the wide open park. The best part about being ghosts was that no adults would see or hear them causing a ruckus. There were families there, barbeques frying and kids squealing. Dog owners walked past, unaware that their dog’s sudden hyperactivity was due to ghost children petting it. Toys would be stolen and then returned by either Michael or Mr. Fitzgerald.

It was peaceful.

Charlie sat at the top of a small hill, letting the breeze go through her. She watched the others, as she always did. She waved when she saw Cassidy walking up to her. The other ghost girl saw next to her.

“Tired?” She asked. Cassidy shook her head.

“Nah, just wondering why you were sitting all alone.”

“Just thinking.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Charlie smiled, “Not at all.”

They sat in silence, looking over the sun slowly setting. It looked like it might rain in the evening, clouds already beginning to cluster. And it had been such a nice day up until that point.

“Any last minute unfinished business?” Charlie asked, her knees tucked to her chin. Cassidy pondered this for a moment, looking down at the others with a slightly sombre expression.

“I think Jeremy still hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.” At least, Charlie didn’t think he did. Sure, he was upset about being lied to like all the others, but maybe she just hadn’t been around long enough to see. Cassidy shrugged.

“Maybe.” She picked at the grass with an absent mind, “Tomorrow would’ve been my birthday.”

Charlie’s eyes widened slightly, “No way. You remember?”

“Yea.” Cassidy brought her knees to her chest, “It’s hard to forget the day I was killed.”

“Oh…” Charlie’s legs were criss-cross applesauce, “That a crazy coincidence.”

Cassidy chuckled bitterly, “What, that I was killed on my birthday?”

“No. That you and CC share a birthday.”

Now it was Cassidy’s turn to be shocked, “He never told me.”

Made sense, previously none of the kids liked talking about the days they died and birthdays were pointless when you stopped ageing.

“I wonder if that’s why HE wants us all to come together tonight.” Cassidy thought aloud. Her face once more bitter at the reminder. Charlie stood up and dusted herself off.

“Let’s not think about that.” She held out her hand for Cassidy, “We have an entire day left.”

Cassidy reached out and grabbed her hand, letting Charlie help her up. They both looked over when they heard Fritz yell.

“Last one to the top is a rotten egg!”

“No fair, you were already half-way up.” Elizabeth complained, Susie yelling out in agreement. Jeremy was the last one and earned a bunch of teasing from Fritz. Despite having been half-way up, Fritz was still beaten by Elizabeth, though Fritz complained about her using dirty tactics. CC rolled his eyes with a smirk, noting that it wouldn’t be the first time Elizabeth cheated. That earned him a playful shove from his sister.

Charlie gently nudged Cassidy, “Well, now’s your chance to get any grudges fixed up.”

Cassidy looked at her anxiously, biting her cheek. Charlie then shoved her towards Jeremy. It was now or never.

Jeremy was panting and heaving after running, Cassidy held out her hand to him. He grabbed it out of instinct and she helped him up the last little way.

“Thanks.” His voice was breathy with exhaustion.

“No problem.” Cassidy looked back to Charlie who was giving her a thumbs up. She itched the back of her neck, “Look, I’m really sorry for lying to you. I’m sorry for treating you and everyone else like garbage. It was wrong of me.”

He looked up at her, listening intently. This just made Cassidy more nervous.

“And I don’t expect you to forgive me or anything. I know I sucked bad before. It’s just that with this final confrontation happening tomorrow and stuff, who knows if we’ll ever get to talk like this again and–”

“I’m not mad at you, Cass.”

“Huh-” She stopped her rambling apologies and looked at him with surprise, “You’re… not?”

Jeremy fumbled with his hands, “I mean, I was. I was really angry. We were supposed to be best friends who never lied to each other.”

Cassidy avoided eye contact. She couldn’t help herself from feeling guilty. Jeremy reached over and put his hands on her shoulders.

“But we’re still friends and I forgive you. I’m sorry for being a bit of a petty jerk.”

“No way.” She shook her head, “I totally deserved your pettiness.”

“Oh. Then I’m not sorry.”

Cassidy elbowed him and laughed, “You suck.”
He nudged her back with his own grin, “No, you suck.”

They laughed and hugged. Charlie smiled when she made eye contact with Cassidy, who looked like she was holding back obnoxious tears. She was then tackled accidentally by Fritz.

“Oh you’ve done it now.” Susie chided him, hiding behind Gabriel. Fritz backed up.

He laughed anxiously, “H…Hey Charlie, that was an accident. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to–”

“Oh I’m gonna get you for that” Charlie grinned wickedly, playfully. She raised her arms in the air and began to chase Fritz, “Come over here.”

Realising she was playing Fritz laughed and tried to run away, only to get caught by Charlie.

“You're it!” She yelled, running away as fast as she could. The others squealed and ran away from Fritz as fast as they could.

They ran and played until they were tired.

Unfortunately, with the sun set, the day had just begun.

∗ ∗ ∗

He had to get all his affairs in order. He did that years ago when he tried to kill himself, but this time was a lot more final. Henry cocked his shotgun and looked over at the old house. The house that had fallen into ruin under his care. Just like his family.

The floors slick with oil. All of his disgraceful creations locked in their room. He wished he could’ve given them life. He wished for things to be different. All he had left were his gun, a photo of his family, and a box of matches.

Coldly, he flicked the match and lit it.

“Goodbye, Charlotte.”

He left behind the burning house in his wake.

He had a rabbit to hunt.

Chapter Text

Memories overwhelmed Mike when he parked a block away from the rundown establishment. The first restaurant. Where this all began. Everything went full circle. Fitzgerald sat in the passenger seat, all the ghost children cramped in the back. Mike unbuckled his seatbelt. The kids tentatively exited. Fitzgerald–Jeremy–looked at him expectantly.

“You sure you’re ready for this?”

He took a deep breath, “It doesn’t matter.”

When Mike opened the door and was about to exit, Jeremy grabbed his wrist. He looked back, the two making eye contact. Jeremy gave him a small, but reassuring smile.

“You’re not alone. I’ll be right out here.”

Mike nodded, looking back at the dilapidated building that was once the birthplace of the Freddy’s brand. Jeremy let go of his hand, Mike closing the door behind him.

The parking lot was, as expected, empty. Not a single car. And yet, he knew this was the right place. He knew this was it.

He knew who was waiting for them inside.

Mike jumped when he felt something grab his hands. He looked down, seeing Elizabeth cling to him on his left. On his right, CC also held on. Right. Jeremy was right. He wasn’t alone in this. No matter how he felt, they were ten times more terrified. Worried about the outcome of this final showdown. He needed to be strong. For them. And for himself. The missing children followed close behind, all unnervingly silent.

There was nothing blocking the front door. No barricade. The doors were all but wide open. They creaked, the glass in their windows cracked and dropped from their decayed holdings. His shoes stepped over the shards upon entry.

It was dark. Clearly abandoned. Papers and flyers were strewn about the checker tiled flooring. He looked around as his eyes adjusted to the dark, the moonlight outside unable to breach the walls. Not even the heavens could witness what was going to happen.

Mike’s eye caught on a small light. Candles softly illuminating a table that had been placed on the main stage. The stage that once held animatronics or humans in deadly suits. The stage that’s wood needed to be replaced when they couldn’t get the blood stains out.

There were ten seats, two of which were at one head of the table, paper crowns on their cushions. A cake was at that same end, candles decorating the top. As he got closer, Mike could see writing on the cake.

‘Happy Birthday.’

Balloons hung around the stage, cupcakes on the table, gifts strewn about.

This had to be a trap, or some kind of scheme. There had to be something in the darkness they just couldn’t see. Susie looked at Cassidy and CC.

“You did say it was your guys’ birthday, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” Cassidy responded with apprehension, “But… Then why…?”

“Maybe… That’s the unfinished business.” Charlie spoke. Everyone turned to her as she climbed up onto the stage, “CC spurned Afton’s killing spree and Cassidy was the last he killed. Both were killed on their birthday, on the same day.”

She looked back at the two, “You never got to blow out your candles.”

Was that really it? It couldn’t be. After all that’s happened. All the pain and suffering. The conclusion would be a simple birthday party. And even if it was, Afton was the one who asked them to be here. William, the man who caused all of this agony. Even in the unlikely event he had realized the error of his ways, could Mike ever forgive him? Absolutely not. He wanted to kill him. To torture him for all eternity for what he’d done to these kids. What he’d done to him.

And yet…

Mike stepped up onto the platform, “It wouldn’t hurt. Even if it doesn’t work, a birthday should still be celebrated.”

Fritz jumped up onto the stage with excitement, sitting at his seat. Susie and Jeremy followed, both anxious but willing to try. Elizabeth also appeared visibly weary, but ultimately joined in, especially with Gabriel’s encouragement. All that was left were CC and Cassidy, who both stood in the darkness, faces illuminated by the candle light.

Silently, they grasped each other’s hands, climbing up and to their seats at the head of the table.

“If this works…” Cassidy whispered, “I… I really love you guys. I hope we meet again in heaven or whatever.”

CC nodded with a small smile. Elizabeth crossed her arms, “Hey! Don’t say your wish out loud or else it won’t come true.”

The other kids laughed, Mike found himself chuckling. He took a deep breath.

“Happy birthday to you…” He began. The others quickly joined in, singing the birthday song. It was simple. A small cacophony of voices, most young kids, all celebrating one moment in time. CC and Cassidy still held onto each others’ hands, holding on tight, bracing for whatever was to come.

They reached the end of the song. CC and Cassidy took deep breaths. Cassidy closed her eyes. They blew out the candles, CC watching the flames fizzle out at their breath.

Once more, they were in darkness.

It was quiet.

Was it over?

Were they free?

“Wonderful!” A chillingly familiar voice echoed in the darkness. With the clap of his hands, the stage lit up with bright multi-coloured lights that blinded Mike. The candles had been blown out, but all the kids were still there. All in their seats. All just as confused as he was, but those who recognized the voice shivered.

Mike looked over and saw headless animatronics approach the kids, each holding their head, each going to their corresponding kid except for Charlie, CC, and Cassidy.

“No no no!” Elizabeth screamed, “Don’t put me back in there!”

Hers and all the other kids’ pleas were silenced by the animatronics placing their heads on their necks, the kids suddenly disappearing.

Mike stood up, his chair knocking back. In the corner of his eye, he saw him. That tall slender figure in his trademark purple suit, a yellow rabbit head on his own, covering his face. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal the scars from being springlocked.

William Afton.

He grit his teeth. Of course. Of course it wasn’t this easy. Of course it was all a scheme. How could he be so stupid?

“Such a wonderful job you’ve done, my boy.” He spoke with charisma and arrogance, “Not even I would be able to bring them all together.”

“Mike, what’s happening?” Charlie looked at him with terror, trying so desperately to be brave. William laughed. Silky. Oil. Vile poison.

“Why it’s simple, my dear. They’re being put where they belong.” He circled them like prey, a shiny knife making itself visible in his hands, “Back in their boxes.”

He looked at the three ghosts, mock sympathy in his voice, “I’m truly sorry you don’t get to join them. The bear was unsalvageable and well… I never liked that damn puppet anyways.”

It felt like when he said the puppet, he was talking about something other than the animatronic. Someone other. Mike, filled with fury, ran at him and punched him in his furred jaw. Behind those hollow eyes, he saw the silhouette of a grin, a shooting pain planting itself in his gut. He stumbled back, blood and remnant staining his hands. The children screamed when he was hit, even the ones in the suits. Afton stood over his slumping body with scientific fascination.

“Intriguing, even when returned to their hosts, they’re still connected to you.” He leaned over to be eye to eye with Mike, “I am truly sorry it has to be this way. However, in the end, you were useful after all.”

“I’ll fucking kill you.” He spat out. He was about to actually spit on William in hopes to activate the spring locks until the masked man grabbed him by the hair and threw him into the table. Charlie gasped, covering her mouth. CC and Cassidy stood up, running to Mike’s aid.

“Such a shame. I was going to offer you a place at my side, but in the end you’re still a child.”

He walked away from Mike. Blood pooled from the wound. This was it. This was the end. William saw that too. He laughed. He lavished in his victory, walking past his victims, a final lap.

“Child should be seen. Not heard. However, believe it or not, I’ve always wanted a family. I still do. That’s why I did all of this. Imagine it. An eternal fantasy land where children never grow up, where we live forever.”

“All of this…” Mike coughed, struggling to stand up, “Just for the perfect family that you already had–!”

“‘Perfect?’ Hah! Maybe.” He pointed to CC, “Until that one killed his own mother in the womb.”

CC shrunk in on himself, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks. Cassidy and Charlie looked between them, horrified by the knowledge. Mike felt ashamed. He too used to blame CC for their mother’s fate. But how could it be his fault? He was just a baby. He didn’t ask to be born. William continued.

“Then, you went and killed your brother. Then Elizabeth refused to listen to my one order and got herself killed.”

“And what of the Emily’s?” Mike screamed. Charlie crumpled at the reminder, “You killed Charlie before I killed him. What’s your excuse there?!”

“Ah. The Emily’s.” He sighed, almost wistfully, “They truly were perfect. A loving mother, two well behaved children, and a hard working man.”

“Then why–”

“Because they were perfect!” William snapped back, “Imagine… I lost everything, then HE came along. He offered that we should work together on a stupid children’s animatronic restaurant and every. Damn. Day. I am reminded of how perfect he is. How perfect his life is.”

He growled, stabbing the knife into the table, “He taunted me! He knew and he held it over my head! He made me an idiot! So… I turned him into the fool.”

Mike felt sick. All of this, just for that? For jealousy? Pride? Even without the gaping stomach wound, he’d want to hurl. William composed himself, taking a deep breath and putting his hands together.

“But now… Things can finally go my way. I can finally have my perfect, immortal family.”

A bang rang out. Splinters flew from the table. Everyone looked to where the shot came from. Smoke rose from the entrance, from a single shotgun blast.

It was Henry.

Chapter Text

“Henry!” Mike gasped, “What are you doing here–?”

“I’m sorry, Mike. I’m sorry for what I did, everything I didn’t do.” He turned and glared at William. The mad bunny man stopped and stared, then laughed. He laughed wickedly and danced to the end of the stage, completely unafraid of Henry’s weapon.

“Aww, how sweet. Henry Emily comes to the rescue at the last minute.” He taunted, “You think this makes you a hero? I couldn’t have done all of this without you, you know. It was your complete trust in me and inaction that led to all of this. The death of your poor, innocent daughter.”

Mike saw Charlie crumple in on herself. He was losing blood fast, even gripping the wound with all his strength couldn’t stop his flesh from dripping onto the stained stage. Yet, even with that, he could see Henry’s resolve stay true. He didn’t waver for a second.

“You’re right. All of this is as much my fault as it is yours. If I could see past my own grief, I could’ve done something. I should’ve done something. Nothing I do here can erase what I did or didn’t do in the past.”

Before William could continue his mocking, Henry continued, “But, even so, I refuse to let you continue! I will kill you and ensure the darkest pit of hell will open to swallow you whole, old friend.”

Yet, instead of being intimidated, William just paused and laughed once more. He cackled, throwing his head back.

“Oh, that’s quite a speech. I must admit, we both always had a flair for the theatrics. However, you are mistaken.” He took his knife, cutting into his neck. Blood oozed out. No… not blood. Remnant. Pure remnant. Mike and the kids stared in horror. He was undead. He couldn’t be killed. The wound healed itself in a matter of seconds.

But, when Mike looked over to Henry, he saw no devastation or fear. Instead, a smirk.

“Neat trick. I have one too.” Henry aimed and fired at one of the stage’s candles. It shattered, dropping fire at William’s feet. In an instant, the rabbit man caught fire. He screamed in agony, his flesh tearing away, the fire melting the mask and fusing it with his face.

Mike couldn’t help but admit it was quite the spectacle.

“Yea, I did my own little experiments with that remnant stuff. As it turns out, it doesn’t react well to fire.”

William looked at Henry with pure hatred, the man approaching the stage to give his final bow. The old wood burned, causing William to fall through in its fiery blaze. The flames began licking at the tablecloth. All of the other candles began dancing along.

“That hell stuff? It was literal.” He then, to Mike’s shock, turned towards him, “Mike. Go.”

“What–?”

“This place… It’s going to go up in flames. I am remaining here. As the captain, I shall go down with this ship. But, you still have a chance. A chance to live a normal life.” He stepped forward and grabbed him by the shoulders, “Someone needs to carry the memories and ensure this doesn’t happen again. You deserve to be happy.”

Mike stared, unable to process what Henry was saying. Tears pricked at his eyes. He looked at the kids. His siblings and the kids he’d sworn to protect. But, when they met his gaze, they nodded. Charlie grabbed his hand and smiled.

“We’ll be free. After everything you’ve done for us, you deserve to be free too.”

He looked at CC, holding Cassidy’s hand firmly with a smile.

“We’ll see each other again, won’t we?” He asked innocently in a tone that read more as a statement than a question, “Go on.”

He couldn’t tell if it was the stab wound or the emotions or maybe even the smoke beginning to plume around the building. He was about to argue, to say that this was where he belonged. He deserved to go down with this ship as much as anyone else. Until…

“Mike-!” He turned his head. The entrance was covered in smoke and fire but he could hear the voice. Jeremy Fitzgerald. He’d supported him and the kids throughout this insanity. Even after what he had been through as a result of Freddy’s, he kept a positive attitude. He didn’t deserve this.

Mike looked back at Henry, who nodded, letting go. The moment was quickly cut short by the sound of debris. They all turned their heads to see William, burned and melting, still hanging on by the last of his remnant. He climbed back up to the stage and glared at Henry and Mike.

“Go.” Henry urged.

Mike ran, at least as well as he could with his stab wound. He looked back when he heard Henry’s scream of agony as he physically held back William. The kids were helping, weighing him down with their suits. The last glimpse of his father he saw was a hateful, pathetic, desperate man who was trying to scream Mike’s name with his burned vocal cords.

He shook his head and kept running. Even as his blood dripped against the tiles. Even as flames licked at his pants and sleeves. Even as his lungs began to fill with smoke. He just kept running.

Charlie, CC, Elizabeth, Gabriel, Jeremy, Fritz, Susie, Cassidy, Henry. They were counting on him to get away. To live. And damn it, he was going to live.

He saw Jeremy Fitzgerald’s silhouette in the doorway. He lunged forward, knocking himself and the other man out just as the building exploded. Jeremy Fitzgerald called out his name as Mike finally lost consciousness, his adrenaline and blood loss finally catching up to him.

***

Mike woke up with a strange feeling of deja vu. He was in a hospital bed, but this time it was quiet. Empty. When he looked over to the chair in the corner of the room, he didn’t see a spectral figure. It was just… Nothing.

They really were gone. Free.

And here he was. Lost once more. He began to wonder if he made the right choice. Maybe he should have stayed with the others, ensured his father was dead and would never come back. But instead he was here, in a fluorescent hospital room.

“Mornin’ Space Cadet.” Jermey Fitzgerald–Or perhaps it was just Jeremy now–barged in just like he had the first time.

“Fitz– Jeremy. What happened?” Jeremy sat down in the seat, now without any ghost in the way.

“I was kinda hoping you would explain that. I was just waiting in the parking lot when this guy with a shotgun stormed into the building and then suddenly the whole building caught on fire.” He explained, gesturing wildly with his hands and with no concern over how loud he was, “So I went in to check on you and the ghost kids, but then you came running out with a massive stab wound and tackled me right before the building blew up.”

Mike nodded, it probably sounded insane to any passersby who might have been eavesdropping. Mike explained everything. The party, William showing up and stabbing him, Henry appearing and setting the place alight, and that the kids were free. Jeremy had leaned forward, listening intently to everything Mike said.

“Damn…” He sat back in shock and awe, “So it’s all over…”

Mike nodded, “It is.”

“What now?”

In truth, Mike didn’t have an answer. He had always been dragged around for most of his life, following orders or rebelling against them. He never had much agency in it all. Now, he was expected to live his own life. Live free from his father’s control, from everyone’s expectations. It should’ve been liberating. But…

Sensing his hesitation, Jeremy patted him on the back.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” He reassured, “Things may seem… like a lot right now. Honestly, I don’t blame you if you’re feeling aimless or whatever. But, whatever you decide to do next, I’ll be there.”

“You will?” He asked.

“Of course! We literally went through hell and back, it would be kind of silly if we just parted ways and never saw each other again.” Jeremy pointed at his scar, “Besides, we’re scar buddies now!”

Mike paused, then looked down. He couldn’t see it, but he could tell there was a scar where he had been stabbed. He chuckled, “I guess so.”

Jeremy held out his hand in a fist bump.

“I have an idea. Once you get discharged from the hospital and stuff, let’s get the hell outta here.”

Mike remembered the conversation they had before the final confrontation. Leave Hurricane behind. Leave Utah behind. Maybe leave the US behind. He didn’t really know how or when they’d get out, he didn’t even know if it was possible.

But, it was the idea that rekindled his fire. The idea of finally changing. Of experiencing the wider world outside of his bubble in Hurricane, Utah, USA.

Hope.

He smiled, returning the fist bump.

“Yea. Let’s do that.”