Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gregory was 7 when his dad died.

Michael Afton is was his name. He always went by Mike, simply introducing himself as Mike.

He and his dad lives had lived in a small one-floor house, it was in a nice neighborhood but there were not many kids his age to play with. That was ok, he had his two best friends and his dad, and that was enough for him.

Gregory always thought that his dad was the best dad ever. He always had time to play with Gregory. Running around outside fighting bad guys as superheroes or making mud-pies in the dirt.

One time, Gregory was at his friend Cassie's house, she had lived down the street next to Tony who wasn’t there that day, and had a big pile of mud that her dad was using to make a garden. They had thrown mud on themself and ran up to where his and Cassie's dads were sitting on the deck. Calling themself mud monsters as they chase their dads around the backyard. His dad ends up turning the garden hose on them. That day ended with Gregory and Cassie wet to the bone, and them getting banned from playing in the mud pile.

His dad also taught him how to ride a bike and roller skating. He used to take Gregory roll skating every Friday, stopping on the way home to get pizza. They watch movies and go to the playground.

His dad was always there when he needed him. Like on nights when Gregory would get scared hugging Beary, Beary was a yellow bear with a purple bow and hat, and the initial G.S. on the inside of its arm. His dad gave him the bear when he was a baby. He held Beary as tight as he could when the dancing yellow bunny monster came in his nightmares. His dad would be there, quietly waking him up with a gentle, “Shhh, it's ok Bud. I’m here.”  Before taking him to his room, whispering comforting words until he fell back asleep.

He cooked his special pancakes, with chocolate chips and strawberries in the morning. He had let Gregory pour as much syrup as he wanted.

His dad was amazing, but if there's one thing he got from his dad other than his brown curly hair and brown eyes, it's his observation skills. It wouldn’t be until a while after his dad's death that he realized that even though his dad never showed it, he was struggling.

Sometimes he would run into his dad's room in the morning, Beary tightly in his hand, and his dad's eyes would be all puffy and red. His dad would smile that never reached his eyes, “It's nothing Superstar, just allergies.” he would explain before scoping him up into his arms and taking him downstairs to start breakfast. His dad always seemed distant those days. He never went to work on those days.

Gregory was always curious about his work, but he was never allowed to come to his dad’s work. The closest he got were the blueprints and reading books about robots. The first time he asked his dad about coming, he had gotten very defensive about it. His dad had gotten to his eye level and made Gregory swear he wouldn’t go near any robot, only letting go when Gregory did promise.

It had confused Gregory to see his dad so against something. Why would his dad work for robots if he didn’t want Gregory near them so badly? It's probably why he ended up changing jobs to be a security at some restaurant.

The day his dad told him he wouldn’t be here at night, he would instead have a sitter. He had been devastated, crying to his dad not to go. His dad promised that he would be there to put him to bed and be there when he woke up the next morning. Yet he wouldn’t be there if he had a nightmare.

To fix this, his dad gave him a walkie-talkie. He could call his dad on it whenever he needed him.

The night the fire happened he had a nightmare of the yellow bunny that wore a purple vest, the bunny was pulling his dad away from him. He had woken terrified, wanting his dad so badly. He had called for his dad on the walkie-talkie, but when he was usually met with a gentle voice and comforting words.

He was met with silence.

Not a sound.

Later when the police came to his house and told him about the fire. He had cried out for his dad.

He wants his dad to come to scope him up his arms. To hear him call him Superstar and Bud. He wants his dad to come to save him from this nightmare he found himself in like he always did.

Yet, he never came.

He was forced to pack up all his stuff in his bag, having to leave a bunch of toys. He was put into the foster system

he never got to say goodbye to Cassie or Tony  

where he met a nice family that had a much bigger house than his.

A dad and mom, the mom’s name was Vanessa Schmidt and the dad's name was Michael Schmidt.

While his dad went by Mike, this Michael went by his full name, which Gregory was relieved about. Michael had brown hair and eyes like his dad, but this one was a computer worker with straight short hair. His dad had long curly hair that went to his shoulders. Michael bought and sold stuff at a company, but Gregory never asked about it. It wasn’t his dad's robot, so he wasn’t interested.

They had 2 kids already, but they wanted a 3rd, and since Vanessa couldn’t get pregnant again they decided to adopt. A son and daughter, the son was only a year younger than Gregory, Evan.

Gregory remembers his dad mentioning him having an Uncle named Evan who died when his dad was a kid. He also had an Aunty named Elizabeth who went by Izzy but she also died when his dad was a kid. It had freaked him out a bit seeing as the dad and son both had the names of his dead family members. Luckily the daughter's name wasn’t Elizabeth, but Abby who was two years younger than him.

Evan and him were fine at first then at one point he randomly decided he didn’t like Gregory. He started saying some mean things, like how he's not really Micahel's son so he should just leave. It was upsetting since Gregory was just starting to feel like he was part of the family. Plus the pain of losing his dad was still sitting in his chest.

He will never understand how his dad was able to live life the way he did with his family dying. He could barely deal with it at first, crying all the time. He once overheard Vanessa telling Evan and Abby that he was going through the ‘grief cycle’ and that he would get better eventually.

Gregory didn’t believe her then and he still didn’t.

It's been 3 years and he still felt the pain of losing his father so early and out of the blue. Michael had once sat down and talked to him, letting him know they were there for him. They just want to help him, Michael was good at helping him through his grief. Michael and Vanessa were helpful during this time. They let him tell stories about his dad and even get him new stuff since he had to leave behind a lot at his old house.

He didn’t mind being there as much, but he would be lying if he wished he was with his dad instead. The Schmidt were nice. The parents were good and made him feel included. Abby was fun to color with, and on days, when Evan wasn’t being annoying, he was fun to play with him.

Yet he got no more roller skating nights.

No more comforting words after a nightmare or a bad storm.

No more waking up to his father's special pancakes.

No more movie night.

No more of his dad's shitty dad jokes that he couldn’t help but laugh at.

No more of his old life.

The day his father left that night, was the day his old life was over. Now he was in this new one, one he didn’t fully understand how to deal with. This would be the rest of his life living without his dad.

Until he heard his dad's voice over the walkie-talkie.

Chapter Text

“Gregory! Is that you down there?” Gregory looked up from where he was taking his shoes off, to see Vanessa standing from the balcony of the second floor. She still had her white coat and blue shirt/pants on from the doctor's office. Her long straight blond hair was up in a bun still. She had her arms crossed, wearing her ‘you're not supposed to be there’ look.

He sent her a sheepish smile, knowing he wasn’t supposed to get off his stop early. Nor was he supposed to walk home from said stop.

“You're not supposed to be home for another 15 minutes mister.” He finishes taking his shoes off as she comes down the stairs. “I know, but the ride is so long, and all the kids are loud on the bus,” Gregory explained for the 10,000 times, no matter how many times Vanessa and Michael explained to him that he couldn’t get off the bus himself. He tries to stay on, but the kids are always screaming on there, pulse the second stop house is right behind his. Even though he has the last stop! Which is totally not fair, he should be the third, not the last. So, he likes to sneak off the bus with the other kids and hop over the fence to his house. It's not that big of a deal. Vanessa's face says another story though.

“Gregory, we talked about this” She pulled him to look at her, and he sighed, not wanting to have this same talk again. “I’m 10 years old I-” He tried to argue his point again only for Vanessa to cut him off.

“Exactly! You are 10, you are not old enough to be walking home from school. You need to stay on the bus.” He stared at the ground as she listed off all the reasons why he needed to not wander off from the bus. She randomly cut herself off, he looked up to see her taking a breath.

“Listen, this is getting us nowhere. Why don’t we compromise here.” Gregory peeked up and nodded. “We can change the spot you get dropped off to an early one, and you stay on the bus. Will that work?” He thought about it for a minute.

“Can we do the second stop?” He asked, she smiled. Nodding her head. “I’ll call the school and ask them to change your drop-off to the second one.” She nods and walks over to the kitchen.

“Hungry?” Gregory nodded his head yes as he followed her in the kitchen. 

—

Gregory was just finishing his snake when Vanessa had to get Even and Abby. She had just gotten out of her work clothes and onto some comfy ones when she saw the clock. “Do, I have to come?” He asks, already putting his shoes on. She shot him a look, “Would you like me to explain it again?” He quickly shook his head. She smirks, holding the door open for him.

He took a different bus than the other 2 kids since he was in middle school now and they were still in elementary. Well, he wasn’t really in middle school yet. He was in 5th grade but the school he went to before only went up to 4th grade. The school he went to now went from 5th to 12th. So he kind of was in middle school now. Right now He and Vanessa were standing under the warm spring sun waiting for the bus. Some parents were there as well chatting about the latest news or trend going on.

Meanwhile, Gregory is explaining about this new teacher they got since the old one quit. “You mean the teacher that your class and you got to quit” She looked at him suspiciously but he could see her cheeky smile. Gregory put his hand up, “Hey, I didn’t make her do anything” He said in a serious tone but the smile on his face gave him away. Vanessa chuckled as the bus pulled up.

The minute the door opens, Abby comes bouncing out. Her brown curls leaped up as she jumped off, running straight over to where they were standing. Vanessa didn’t even her mouth when she started rambling on about what they did in art class that day. Evan walked out a lot calmer, he was waving goodbye to some kid before walking over. “How was your day, Evan?” Evan hugged his mom, muttering ‘It was fine’ before Abby cut back in and talked about some game they played at recess.

Gregory watched quietly as Vanessa started guiding them back home. Gregory looked back at Evan, he was staring ahead. His bright green eyes were staring at Vanessa, they had almost had a sad look to them. This confused Gregory, why would Evan be sad? Maybe he had a bad day. The thought made Gregory feel bad, sure he and Evan didn’t get along but he didn’t want the kid to be sad. Gregory slowed down until he was walking next to Evan.

“So, how was your day?” Gregory asked, Evan only shot him a glance, rude. “As I said, it was fine” Evan didn’t even look at him as he spoke, ok, not in the mood to talk. “Well, you wanna know what happened today at my school?” If Evan didn’t wanna talk, maybe he could fill in the silence for him. Maybe get his mind off of whatever was upsetting him. Evan didn’t say anything for a while, Gregory was starting to think he was ignoring him when he gave a nod, his straight blond hair swaying slightly. He smiled before explaining, “Well, you know that annoying science teacher I told you about?” Evan nodded his head again.

“She fell down the stairs today” Evan snorted at that, and Gregory felt pride shot threw him at getting Evan to laugh. Maybe they were getting better. Gregory giggles along with him, “did he really fall down the stairs” Evan asks between giggles. “Yep!” Gregory laughs, explaining how some kid must have dropped his hoodie on the stairs. The teacher was coming down fast to scold some kids for laughing too loud when he slipped right on the hoodie and fell all the way down. Evan's giggles finally settled, the second they did, Evan seemed to school his face. Going back to his black stare. Gregory frowns, his story doesn’t work. Evan was still upset, what could have happened that made him so upset?

“So, um” Gregory awkwardly tried to start up another conversation “How was lunch?” Evan didn’t even answer just shrugged, Gregory sighed, before taking a breath. “Well, Micheal gave me a cookie in the lunch, which was nice. It was a sugar cookie too-” Gregory cut himself off at seeing Evan's hand clench tighter on his backpack straps. The house was coming into view but Gregory wasn’t looking at the house. Instead, he was busy focusing on Evan, trying to figure out what was going on.

Did Evan want him to stop talking? Maybe he wants to be left alone. It just left Gregory confused, were they not getting on better terms? Was it something he said, but what? Great job Gregory. All he did was tell him about his lunch. Gregory decided to look forward, not knowing what else to do. If Evan wanna be left alone, then that's fine. Gregory walks in after Abby, pulling his shoes off.

Gregory was just about to head upstairs when Abby came running over to him, yelling “Gregory!” She grabbed onto his sleeve and pulled him back down. “Come color with me and Mom! I learned this new thing in art today!” Abby explained excitedly as she pulled him into the living room where Vanessa was already sitting with Evan. Gregory smiled at Abby, letting her pull him to where she wanted him to sit.

Abby was only 8 so she had a particular way she wanted everything to be. She would get upset if you weren’t in the place she wanna you to be. Gregory was okay with playing how she wanna things, he let Micheal and Vanessa be the ones to say no. Vanessa and he talked with her as she explained how to draw something. Evan sat quietly as he followed along. 

—

“I’m Home!” Gregory looked up to see Micheal walking into the living room. “Dad!” Abby and Evan yelled as they threw themself at Micheal. Gregory couldn’t help but feel a twig of jealousy, seeing Micheal giving Evan and Abby a big loud kiss on their cheek and big hugs.

He miss when his dad would do that to him. His dad would pick him up from school and would give him a big old hug and a kiss on the head. Before asking him how his day was as they walked home. He knows it's stupid to be jealous, he was never jealous when Vanessa did it. Then again he never had a mom, yes he sometimes would feel sad about it, but his dad did his best to fill in both roles. He shook his head and went back to his drawing.

He had drawn a couple of pictures some with his dad or him hanging out with Cassie and Tony. He hasn’t been able to hang out with them in 3 years. They lived about 3-4 hours away, so he doesn't get to see them much. He misses them, he has talked to them 2 times since his dad died. The drawing he was drawing now thought, had nothing to do with either of them or his dad.

It was a yellow rabbit, with a purple vest and bow, dancing around in a circle. The one that seemed to be hunting his dream. The nightmare of the stupid rabbit only seems to get worse after his dad's death. He used to only dream about the mystery rabbit for 1 to 5 months. Now it seems like every mouth he wakes up in a cold sweat from the dream.

The dream is always the same, with minor changes. He walks down a random hallway; the walls are gray with a red line on top and bottom of the small black and white squares that go horizontal in the middle of the wall. The floor also had black and white squares that were bigger and dirtier. He always felt cold as he walked down the hall, he was looking for something or someone.

Before he found a big door, everything was big to him in his dream, that was crate open. It was like it was asking him to come in. No matter how many times he had the nightmare, when he saw the door he would feel curious and would squeeze himself in. He finds a desk with a computer on top. He would walk over to the chair, pull himself up, and look at the computer. The screen would be black before suddenly the screen would turn on. A yellow rabbit would be on the screen dancing around in a circle with a bright purple background. He would go around and around with some type of music playing in the background.

Gregory would feel himself smiling as he watched the bunny dancing. Sometimes he starts giggling and tries to poke the bunny. Then the bunny would suddenly stop. The music would cut and Gregory would stop smiling. The Bunny turned its head and stared at him, he didn’t like the bunny looking at him like that. The Bunny's purple eyes would stare and grin at him like he was some new fresh meat, ready to be chopt. Then the Bunny started laughing hysterically, an ugly laugh, it sounded high pitch and crazy like someone was tickling them and not stopping. Then the Bunny would lung at him, and right as the Bunny would grab at him, he would wake up.

A cold sweat rolled down like raindrops on his back. That's always how the dream would go, the only change that would happen is that it would be his dad in the chair. Getting sucked into the computer, never to be seen again. That dream never felt as real as when he was in the chair.

“Gregory?” Gregory snapped his head up to see Micheal and Vanessa looking at him. “Yes?” He asked confused, as he shuffled his drawing into a pile. “We were calling you” Micheal explained, giving him a soft look. Gregory felt his face heat up in embarrassment, rubbing his hands together. Evan was giving him a weird look while Abby just looked confused. His throat started to feel clogged at all the eyes on him. “Um sorry” He crocked out as he looked down at his hands. Vanessa cleared her throat “Well dinner ready so why don’t we go all eat” She said, pulling Evan and Abby to the dining room.

Micheal stayed behind, watching as Gregory put his pile of drawings on the little table. “So how was your day?” Micheal asked him, as he followed Gregory to the dining room. Gregory shrugged, “it was fine, the science teacher fell down the stairs.” Micheal sat down next to Vanessa, while Gregory took the spot next to Abby and Vanessa.

The dinner went by as they all talked about the day and what happened that day. Vanessa talked about a Karan at the doctor's office who wouldn’t listen to her when she said her daughter needed therapy. Micheal told them that he accidentally got the wrong wiring for a computer and had to re-buy it. Evan and Abby were talking about games they played today, teachers that they liked or didn’t, and what they were learning about. Gregory mostly stayed quiet, still embarrassed about early. He would say something here and there but mostly stayed quiet.

Once they were done with dinner Gregory watched as Micheal tried to offer to do the dish while being dragged away by two gremlins. Vanessa just laughed, “You go play with them and get them tired out. Gregory” He pecked up from where he was still sitting at the table. “Would you help me with the dish dear?” She asked, picking some plates up. Gregory quickly nodded, picking up the cups. “So what this I heard about a science teacher falling down the stairs?” She asked him as they got all the dishes up and into the sink. Gregory smiled at the memory and started telling her the story again.

Vanessa smiled as she listened to him talking, she had been worried earlier when they had been calling Gregory and he wasn’t responding. He had that faraway look in his eye he gets sometimes, she and Micheal learn that he gets that when he's thinking about his dad.

When they had finished with the dish, she ruffled his hair before walking off to do her own thing. Gregory quietly walked upstairs and into his room. He sighs, grabbing his tablet that he got his last birthday, before flopping on the bed. He might as well watch some YouTube, he was still on kids' YouTube since he wasn’t allowed on Adult YouTube yet. Which he thinks is stupid, He is 10! He is practically an adult! At least there were good Youtubers on kids' YouTube. He clicked on a slime video that seemed interesting.

—

The sound of a knock cut threw the air. Gregory looked up, “Come in” He yelled. Micheal's head popped from behind the door, he smiled at Gregory as he walked in. He was holding a pile of paper in one of his hands and used his free hand to close it and stood near the door. “How are you doing?” Gregory looks at him confused, putting his tablet down and sitting up.

“I'm ok,” Gregory eyes the paper in his hand. “what's that?”  he asks pointing to the paper. “This?” Micheal holds the paper up, “This is what I wanna talk to you about.” He says as he walks over and sits down on the edge of the bed, near Gregory. He shows the paper in his hands, the drawing Gregory was working on earlier. Gregory looks back up at him, “what about them?” Micheal shuffles to the drawing of the bunny and points at it.

“What is this drawing about?” Micheal looks at him, he has a serious face, but his eyes have this look to them. Something Gregory couldn’t pinpoint on. He looked back at the Bunny. “It's the bunny I dream about.” He says, he never told Vanessa or Micheal about the dream before. Gregory looks back to see Micheal raise an eyebrow at him.

“Dream about?” Gregory rubbed his hands as he explained about the bunny nightmare he had. Micheal quietly listens as he explains and only talks when he finishes. Asking him more about the drawings and when he was done explaining them, Micheal finally really talked.

“Gregory, are you sure you ok, nothing happened today.” He asked, putting the drawing down. He knows why Micheal is asking him this, he goes quiet and draws his dad when he's upset about something. “I mean, I think Evan was upset with me earlier, but I don’t know why he would be mad with me. I was just talking to him.” He explains, not looking at him. Micheal sighs, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll ask him.” Gregory looked back up as Micheal stood up.

“Why don’t you get ready for bed? We're going to Aunty Lily tomorrow so it will be a long drive tomorrow.” Micheal shoots him a smile as he closes the door behind him. Gregory sighed as flop back down.

Lily was Vanessa's younger sister. Gregory had only met her once, and she looked nothing like Vanessa. Lily had long brown curly hair that went below her shoulder. She was also shorter than Vanessa and had brown eyes. The first time he met her, she had asked him to call her Aunty, but he didn’t.

Gregory finally decided to get up and get in PJ before walking down the hall to the bathroom to brush his teeth. On the walk back he can hear Evan talking to Micheal. Gregory quickly walks by, not wanting to ear drop. Gregory closes the door and gets under the cover.

He was holding on to Beary as he fell asleep. 

—

“I wanna play with the bear!” Gregory held Beary as high up as he could from Evan's grabby hands.

“No! It's my toy.” Gregory shrieks, trying to push Evan back. Abby was crying over their yelling, upset about them yelling even though she was being louder than them. Micheal and Vanessa were trying to talk to them with no hope.

“Ok, that's enough!” Vanessa snapped, making all the noise stop instantly. Her face was red like a tomato from anger. She took a breath before talking, “Gregoy can you please let Evan see the bear, Evan stopped trying to grab the toy and instead asked Gregory to play with it.”

She pointed at them as she spoke to them. “Understand, not another sound until we get there,” They all nodded, other than Abby sniffling, the car was quiet the rest of the way there.

—

By the time they got to Vanessa's mom's house, everyone had calmed down. The second they walked through the door; family members were coming up to them. Asking how the drive was and how they were doing. Pinching checks, sloppy kisses, and bone-crushing hugs. Luckily Gregory was saved from this mostly. Only getting his checks pinched by some old lady, who he thinks is Vanessa's mom.

When that was all done, Evan and Abby ran off to play with their cousin. Gregory didn’t really know what to do, this was the first time he had been to someone's family party. He decides to stay glued to Vanessa and Micheal during the party, as they walk around talking to family members. Talking to them when they ask him questions or just standing by quietly. He only did this for an hour before he got bored.

He wasn’t allowed to take his tablet with him and was only allowed to bring Beary if he promised to keep him in the car. he did bring his tablet anyway. He snuck off at one point to hide in a closet to play Roblox on his tablet. He got away with this for an hour before the sound of the door opening made his blood cold.

He looked up to see a woman standing there with her arm reaching for something above him. The woman who found him was who the party was for, Lily. As he looked up at her, he realized how much she had changed since he last saw her. Her brown hair had a rainbow color in it. Her outfit of a white shirt and a colorful skirt. Different from her usual messy outfit of black and chain. Her eyes also had this glossy look to them. They were still brown but, he swears they had some purple in them.

Looking at them put him on edge. She was looking at him the way the rabbit in his nightmare looked at him. He remember hearing Vanessa telling Micheal about Lily, and how they think something wrong with her, but they couldn’t pinpoint what. Looking at her now, he could tell why they were worried. Maybe that's why they were having this party right now. All Gregory wanted to do though, looking up at her, was hide.

“Lily, what are you-” Vanessa came up next to her only to cut herself off at seeing Gregory. “Gregory! What are you doing in there!?” she pulled him out of the closet, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as she pulled him away from Lily. He didn’t have to look back to know she was watching him, he could feel her eyes shoot knives at him. 

Lily watched as Vanessa pulled Gregory away, chowing him out for bring his tablet. She smiled. I found him boss

Gregory was forced to stay with Vanessa or Micheal, his tablet locked in the car. Dinner had been uncomfortable; Lily would shoot a glance at him the entire time.

He didn’t like it.

He thinks Micheal caught on to uncomfortableness since he convinces Vanessa to let him play outside with the rest of the kids after dinner. Gregory saw his opportunity to get the hell out of there and took it. Quickly walking to the front yard where a girl with a pretty green dress and who looked at least 2 years older than him was standing with her hands over her eyes.

He walked over to where she was standing and tapped her shoulder. She looked down at him, “What are you doing?” He asked, she smiled down at him. “Where playing hide and seek tag, wanna join?” He nodded excitedly, “Go hide, I'll give you a 10-second head start.” 

—

Gregory had been playing the games with them all for an hour, at one point he was the seeker. He hadn’t found anyone yet. He was wandering around the backyard when he heard a giggle under the deck. Gregory smirked as he pretended to walk away, before sneaking onto the deck.

“Found you!” He yelled looking down to see Evan hiding under. Evan's eyes went wide as he quickly crawled out under the deck threw the side. Gregory giggled as he chased after Evan around the backyard. Gregory was just about to tag him when something caught on his foot.

Sending him hurling forward on top of Evan, right on top of Vanessa’s mom Ross's bushes. 

—

“Ow! Ugh- here let me-” Gregory groans trying to help Evan out of the Ross, trying not to get stabbed by the thorns more they already had. Evan took most of the thorns, a bunch of cuts were all over his arm and face, some sticking to his shirt. Gregory had only gotten a few cuts, one big one on his check. Finally pulling Evan out, who yelps as thorns pull at his skin.

“Sorry! I'm sorry” Gregory yelled, trying to get Evan to stand up from the dirt. Evan thrashes his arm out of Gregory's hold, stepping back away from him. His face beat red,

his jaw tight and his hands balled in fists. “What the heck Gregory!” He yelled, tears forming in his eyes, Gregory couldn’t tell if it was from anger or the pain from the cuts. “I’m Sorry! I didn’t mean to-” Gregory tried to apologize again only for Evan to cut him off. “No! God! Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” Gregory tried again to explain only for Evan to push Gregory.

“Why! You are not part of my family! My dad and mom aren’t your parents, and Me and Abby aren’t your siblings! You're just some kid that lives with us because MY parents felt bad for you! So do me a favor and just leave me alone!?” Evan's chest was heathen from yelling, tears were streaming down his eyes now. Gregory stared wide eye up at Evan, his mouth had gone dry and his eyes stung. Evan finally turned around and walked back inside, leaving Gregory alone outside.

Gregory sat up ignoring the small blood running down his cheek from the cut to the pain in his heart.

He wants his dad.

He wants his dad right now so badly. His dad would have come over and picked him up. Immediately would have taken him inside and bandaged his cuts. Kissing his cuts better along with a big hug. He wants his dad, he can feel his chest tight up as tears start forming in his eyes. He wants his dad, he wishes he was here. He wishes Tony was here, he wishes Cassisa was here, he wishes…. He wishes he had his old life back This isn’t the first time he had this thought, but it is still stunning. Anytime he thought about his old life, he could feel his heart slow down. The stunning in his eyes and his breath became uneven. He knows his old life will never come back, but he still wishes it would. Evan was right, he doesn't belong here. He could tell just by looking at them their family was already complete. He stuck out like a black spot on a red Ross. 

“Are you ok” Gregory snapped out of his thoughts, he looked up to see the girl he asked earlier to play standing there. Her green eyes were staring at him, and her red curls were falling over her shoulder. He nodded his head before standing up He ruffly whipped his eyes as he walked inside, the girl following behind him. Gregory pecked his head into the kitchen door to see Evan crying as Vanessa was whipping his cuts up, Micheal was sitting next to him, trying to comfort him by rubbing his back. Abby was standing next to Vanessa trying to help her.

A perfect fucking family.

Gregory felt anger shoot threw his sorrow, “You want me to grab a band-aid for your check.” The girl whispered to him, and he nodded. Walking by the kitchen door and into the bathroom. He pulled some tissue out and started whipping the blood up, not that bad. The girl pocked her head in before setting the ban aids down on the sink.

“Thank you” Gregory shot her a small smile, and she returned the smile before walking away. Gregory quickly cleaned up his cuts and sealed them. When he was done, he looked at himself in the mirror. His brown curly hair was a mess, his clothes were all ruffled up.

He looked just like his dad.

“Gregory! It's time to go!” Gregory looked away from the mirror at the sound of Micheal yelling for him. “Coming!” Gregory quickly cleaned up the mess before walking out of the bathroom.

Not seeing the kids in the mirror.

One of the kids was a boy, he had what looked like permanent black tears running down his cheek. Bandages wrapped around his head, with blood leaked out of them. Wearing a black shirt with two white lines.

The other kid was a girl standing next to him with orange hair and a ribbon in her hair. Wearing a pink shirt and blue skirt with blood all over it.

They were watched as Gregory left, the light flickering before they disappeared.

—

The car ride home had been deadly quiet, Evan had refused to look at him. It was late by the time they got home and were forced to go straight to bed. Gregory hadn’t gotten his tablet back yet, he had been grounded since he brought it. He didn’t care about that right now. He had been trying to fall asleep for the last hour, trying to forget about today.

He finally gave up and slipped out of bed, Beary tightly held to his chest as he reached under his bed.

He pulled out the walkie-talkie, he knew it was stupid to have kept it.

His dad isn’t coming back, no matter how much he wishes he would.

He just couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it yet. He sat up with his back to his bed, Gregory looked at the walkie-talkie. It still looked the same as it did 3 years ago. Taking a deep breath, Gregory holds the button down.

“Hi Dad” He whispered, bringing Barey and the walkie-talkie closer. “It's been a while since I talked to you, I missed you” Gregory could feel his eyes sting, he blinked a couple of times, trying to get rid of the tears. “Today was terrible Dad.” Gregory squeezed his eyes shut “I- I miss our little family. I don’t belong here, The Schmidts already had their family. I feel like a stranger here.” Gregory could feel the treas wheeling up in his eyes.

“And when I do feel like I'm becoming the family, I can’t help but feel guilty. Like I’m betrayed” His voice cracked at the last part. A tear slipped down his cheek, he took a deep breath before speaking again.

“I, I love you, Dad. Please just come back. Come and get me please.”  Gregory knew he wasn’t going to get an answer, he never did. He took his finger off the button, setting the walkie-talkie next to him. He wrapped both his arms around Beary, holding him close as he let the tears roll down his cheek.

A crack of static shots threw the air.

“ What- ccrrsshh How is he back sshccrrrs”

Gregory's head snapped back the walkie-talkie, his eyes blown wide.

He remembers that voice.

The British accent was still as thick as he remembered.

The voice sounded like it hadn’t been used, hoarse a little but he could recognize that voice anywhere.

Even if he hadn’t heard in 3 years. 

It was his dad's voice

—

Gregory's mouth was dry, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the walkie-talkie.

“I ccrssh find crash Gregory,” Finally Gregory snapped out of it, scoping the walkie-talkie up in both his hands, Beary forgot on his lap. “Dad! Dad, how- what- are you here?” Gregory tries to speak, tears of happiness where flooding down his eyes.

His dad...

His dad was alive. “

CRsssh hes back crsshh need to stop him shshcrrsh” Gregory presses the button down hard. “Dad? Who's back, what are you talking about?”

The walkie-talkie with one last loud shriek of static, went dead. 

—

Gregory didn’t sleep that night, he kept trying to call his dad. Eventually, he gave up and just sat there and cried.

—

“I did hear him!” Gregory explained for what felt like the tenth time today. The therapist was looking at him, her lip in a tight line and her eyebrows pinched together. Vanessa and Micheal were sitting next to him. He didn’t have to look at them to know they were giving him that stupid pity look. He had told them about what had happened, they tried to push it under the rug. Yet when Gregory wouldn’t let go of it for a week they finally took him to see a therapist.

They kept trying to tell him that his dad was dead, that he just thought he heard his dad because of what Evan said. Evan got a stern talking to when Gregory told them what he said. Vanessa and Micheal tried to hang out with him and tell him he was part of the family. Even if they didn’t share the same blood. This was all nice but he knows his dad is alive, and he wants him to be part of the family.

He knows he's not crazy, he heard his dad. At times the walkie would go off, and his dad would be talking about being in some type of Freddy place? Something about a sun and alligator animatronic. It was hard to tell over the static. He tried to get Vanessa and Micheal to hear it, but every time they came in it would go silent.

Gregory was now sitting outside, listening to the conversation. “What do we do? He is convinced that his dad is alive.” He could hear the sadness in Vanessa's voice from here. “Well, I think what's best is to take the walkie-talkie away from him.” The sound of the ruffling of paper made it to his ears. “I also think it would be best if he was sent here.” It was silent for a bit, he could hear something being flipped open. “You want us to send him to a mental hospital.”

Gregory's eyes went wide at Micheal's sharp voice. He didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, to focus on getting sent to a mental hospital. He didn’t know much about mental hospitals other than what he's seen on TV. What he saw though, didn’t seem good.

—

“I’m not going!” Gregory yelled from the back seat of the car. Michael sighed. “Gregory-” Gregory didn’t let him finish, he was not going. “I’m not crazy!” He huffs, crossing his arms. “We know sweet,” Vanessa said softly, turning to look at him. “It would only be for a couple of days. You wouldn’t even be there for a week.” She explains for the hundred times.

Gregory doesn’t care if it's for a couple of days, he's not going. “It would be good for you.” Micheal pushes gently. Gregory just huffed, looking out the window. He hears Vanessa sigh, turning back around.

The minted they parked into the driveway, he jumped out of the car and marched upstairs and into his room. He faces plant into his bed, he's not crazy! His dad is alive, and he sounds like he needs help. Yet no one was listening to him! His dad was stuck and he needed help-

A thought popped into his head. Gregory sat up, grabbing his tablet. There is only one new Freddy pizza place that is open, all the others were shut down or burned down… He read about the Freddy Pizza Plex's 

Ignoring the missing kids' report.

It's three hours and 42 minutes away from where he was. He looks around for transport, he finds a bus that can take him halfway and another bus that can take him the rest of the way. 20-minute wait between them.

He looks up, what was he thinking? Was this a good idea, he had the money he saved up from his birthday and Christmas for the bus. He felt doubt seep into him, and he looked over the nightstand.

Sitting there was a picture of him and his dad, it was taken 2 weeks before the fire. He was on his dad's shoulders smiling brightly as he messed up his dad's hair. His dad was laughing, his eyes were open looking at the camera while trying to get Gregory to stop messing up his hair.

The picture had been taken by Tony, who got a new camera to take pictures on.

Gregory felt his determination grow at the memory.

He was going to find his dad. 

—

“Alright, bus kids can go!” Gregory shot up out of his seat and quickly walked out the door. He was supposed to go home today and get ready to go to the hospitable. Instead, Gregory isn’t walking to the bus, he was going the other way, slipping out the back door, towards the field.

Gregory walked over to the bleachers, checking to ensure no one was there before slipping under. Early that day he snuck a backpack under the bleachers. It had been hard to sneak it past Micheal and Vanessa. He had lied and said it was for a friend. He dropped his school bag, pulling the other one up from under the bleacher. He opened it, checking that everything was still there.

Beary, a flashlight, the walkie-talkie, and some tools he thought he might need. You know, since he was going to be dealing with robots.

He knew this was him breaking his promise to his dad about going near animatronics.

He needs to do this though, his dad needs him.

He zipped his backpack back up, checking his coat pocket that the money was still there. He threw the backpack over his shoulders before walking towards the bus stop. He spent hours last night remembering all the streets and how to get there. It took him 10 minutes to get there, quickly bought a ticket from the digital computer, too scared that the person would ask too many questions.

He stands there under the hot sun, Gregory feels his stomach squeeze with nerves as the bus pulls up. What if the bus driver calls the cop about a random kid on his bus with no adult? He’s the last one to step in, the cold air felt like heaven on his hot skin. He takes a breath and tries to stay calm as he shows the bus driver his ticket. The bus driver looks him up and down, before nodding for him to go.

Gregory's shoulder dropped down and a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding left him. He quickly walked to the back, trying not to be seen. Gregory lays his head on the window, watching as the bus takes off.

He wonders if Vanessa has realized he's missing yet, was she freaking out? He hopes not. He doesn’t want to upset them but he needs to find his dad.

They weren’t going to help him, so he needed to do it alone.

He pushes down the guilt he feels rising up inside him, instead focusing on finning his dad.

—

5:42, that is what the clock on the bus had said. Right now, he's standing outside the Pizza Plex.

There was a small problem with his plane.

He had the money for the bus, but he didn’t have any money for getting in. Even if he did, there is no way they would let him in without adults.

He groans, he's so close! He just needs to get in there. He squeezes Beary tighter, looking around. A group of kids caught his eye. It's a big group of kids, big enough that they surely wouldn’t notice another kid join them. He quickly walks over, trying to not get close enough that they notice him, but enough to get in.

He holds his breath as he walks in with them, past security. He only lets it out when they get in.

He looks around at all the people, the shiny light, and the loud kids running around. He takes a deep breath, squeezing Beary, before pushing forward.

Chapter Text

As he walks around, Gregory realizes he didn’t think this through. Watching kids running around, and all the security. What was he thinking that his dad was just going to be walking around? He tugs Beary closer to his chest as he walks around, looking for any sign of his dad. Every person he sees with shoulder-length curly brown hair makes him hold his breath. Only for him to let it out at seeing it, not his dad. Brown hair catches his eyes, and he feels his hope rise again only for fear to overwhelm him. 

Lily.

Fuck!

He forgot she was a security here, he an idiot! If she catches him here, she’ll know something up and call Vanessa and he’ll never get to find his dad! Panic starts to rise, his mind screaming at him to move, yet his feet don’t listen. He’s too caught up in how she was looking at a group of kids.

The kids look like they can’t be older than 7, yet she is looking at them with that glossy look again like they were fresh meet. This time he is sure he sees purple in her eyes. He needs to get away now. Finally, his feet obey him, moving as far away as he can from her. He doesn’t even know where he's going until the sound of a loud voice drills into his ears.

“Lady and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls!”

Gregory looked around, seeing kids with big smiles, cheering loudly.

“Fazbaer Entertainment would like you to put your hands together”

Gregory looked up to see he was standing right in front of a stage, he hugged Beary tighter as he tried to back away.

“For the one,”

He needs to get out before it gets louder than it already was.

“The only,” Gregory tried to get away from the stage, but it was impossible with all the kids pushing forward.

“Freddy Fazbear!”

Gregory tried to cover his ears with one hand, as kids stared cheering louder at the animatronics coming up. Gregory quickly started pushing kids, trying to get away. He had just gotten to the back when the exciting cheers turned into terrifying screams.

Gregory's head shot up to the stage, trying to see what all the kids were screaming about only for a wave of kids to run at him. He couldn’t see much, from all the kids running by him. He thinks that he saw the Freddy animatronics on the ground, but the stage went down. Kids were hitting into him as they ran by, one almost knocked him down, yet he didn’t fall.

Kids were screaming and crying, running all over the place. He needed to get out of there, he looked around for an exit. His frantic brown eyes locked on to cold purple ones.

Time seemed to slow down; his blood ran cold as fear gripped him. Surprisingly, this wasn’t the fear you get when you are caught doing something you're not supposed to. This felt like fear when you get chased by a monster. That if you get caught, you won’t live to see another day. It didn’t feel like if she caught him he would get sent back. No this felt like if Lily caught him, he was going to meet his family member real soon.

Another bolt of fear shot threw him as she started walking over to him, she was pushing past kids to get to him. What felt like a tug was pulled on him, pulling him to move. He followed it, running as fast as he could while he held onto Beary as tight as he could. He didn’t know where he was going, it felt like he was getting dragged somewhere. Like someone was pulling on his arm, in a direction he didn’t even know where to.

The pulling disappeared, causing him to stop. He looked around, where was he? He had been so caught up on Lily, that he didn’t even see where he was running. It looked like a hallway, it had metal walls and a plain floor. A door was next to him, the door was cracked open. Gregory stared at it, debating whether to go in or not. The decision was made for him when he heard a door open somewhere done the hallway.

He quickly slipped in, to see Freddy standing there. There was a computer next to him, open to some coding thing. Gregory didn’t have time to think about it, footsteps were coming this way. He needs to hide now. Looking around, there where no good place for him to hide. He was starting to panic when his eyes fell on Freddy’s stomach hatchet. He hesitated, then walked over to it prying it open.

He could fit in there; it would be a little tight with his bag. He didn’t have any other options; the footsteps were getting closer. He quickly put Beary back in his bag before shoving him and his bag in. The stomach hatchet closed as a person threw the door all the way open.

“I can’t find anything wrong with it.” A guy with a dark blue shirt walks in with another man in a business suit without a jacket. “I got angry parents demanding their money back because of this stupid thing! And you're telling me you can’t find out what happened!” Gregory's watch threw a crack as the two guys fought, hoping they would just leave soon.

The man in blue held his hands up, “Listen, I don’t know what you want me to say. It was fine all day. I can do a deeper sweep tomorrow, but right now it's too late for that.” The guy in a white shirt let out a huff, dragging his hand down his face.

“Fine, I’ll call someone to bring the thing back to its room.” with that they walked out. Gregory let out a sigh, leaning back, his bag pocking him in the back. Gregory doesn’t know how long he sat there, His head leaning back and eyes closed. 

Before he fell into the dark

—

Gregory yawned, rubbing his eyes as he blinked awake. The first thing he felt was how squished he was. Gregory's eyes went wide looking around, where- Just like that everything came rushing back. Right, he’s looking for his dad, and he hid in Freddy away from Lily…. 

Lily.

Something is not right about her. Gregory pushed the thought of her out of his brain. Right now, he needs to get out of here.

“Show time already!?” Gregory jumped at the voice, shit the thing woke up. “I am experiencing a malfunction. The recharge cycle is not yet complete” OK, he needs to get out here now. This might be stupid to get the robot's attention, but he needs to get his dad fast or… ok he didn’t know what, but he didn’t have a good feeling after seeing Lily.

“Shh, will you shut up!” Gregory whispered-yelled; the animatronics seemed to jump at that. Looking around, “Who said that?” Gregory sighed, knocking on the stomach hatched. “I did, I’m in here.” The sound of metal rustling together as the animatronic turned around. “My stomach hatched! That place is only for oversized birthday cakes and pinatas! It is not a safe play area!”

Gregory couldn’t get a word out before the hatch opened and he went tumbling out. Gregory couldn’t even think before he was picked up under his armpits, spun around, and held up. “There you are.” Gregory shook his head, trying to calm the spring room. He looked up at Freddy, scanning him up and down.

“Scanning complete” With that Freddy finally put him down. Gregory quickly puts a bit of distance between them. Freddy looked at him, if Freddy was human, Gregory would say he was looking at him confused. “How odd. Your guest profile is unknown to me, Who are you?” Gregory looked at it, was it really a good idea to give it his name? Well, it's not like it could do anything with just his name. With a bit of hesitation, Gregory gave it his name.

“I- I'm Gregory” The robot tilted its head, like it was, thinking? “Gregory.” it trailed off, he didn’t like the animatronic intent stare. Gregory shuffles from one foot to the other. “That name sounds familiar” Gregory just looked up confused, well ya. Many people were named Gregory, it was a common name The animatronic seemed to snap out of it, standing up straight again.

“I will notify the main office.” Panic shot threw Gregory. “Wait don’t!” too late, Gregory could hear a pine sound. Gregory groaned throwing his hands over his eyes and throwing his head back. Great. Know he was going to get kicked out or get the police called on him- “How odd, I cannot connect to the main network.” Gregory took a breath of relief, lifted his hands, and looked back at Freddy.

Huh? Weird, but good for him. “Good, I don’t want to be found right now” Gregory slipped his bag off, checking on Beary. “What are you doing here? It is almost midnight. Where are your parents” Gregory zipped his bag back up at seeing Beary was ok. He threw the bag over his shoulder as he looked back up at the robot. The robot was staring at him, waiting for him to answer. What should he say? That his dead dad isn’t dead at all and is stuck in this place?

….

Ok, he’s starting to realize why Micheal and Vanessa were thinking about sending him to a mental hospital.

Gregory was thinking of a lie when the sound of footsteps was coming by. “I hear footsteps!” Gregory quickly whispered yell before walking over to the window. He pecked out behind the curtain only to throw himself back.

“That is Officer Lily, she can help.” Gregory quickly shakes his head. “No! I don’t trust her” He looks up at Freddy, jumping when he sees that it is closer than it was earlier. When did it get there? “Why not?” Gregory's thoughts were cut off at Freddy's question. He looked back out, seeing she was gone.

“She has this look to her eye…” He trailed off, Freddy opened its mouth to say something, but Gregory cut it off. “Is there any way you can talk to me without being so loud?!” Gregory frustratingly whispers, Freddy seems to think about this. “Take this. It is a novelty, Freddy Fazwatch.''

Gregory watches as Freddy's stomach hatches open only for a small yellow box with a purple ribbon to sit there. He reaches in, grabbing a hold of the small box, pulling the lever around until the boxes open with a happy noise. He reaches in and pulls out a watch, Freddy's stomach closes as Gregory puts it on. Gregory looked at the watch before it vibrated, and a message popped up.

Hello, Gregory. It is me, Freddy. I am once again asking you, what are you doing here?

Gregory looked back up at Freddy, thinking about what to do. Finally, an idea hit him, maybe the Freddy robot could help him find his dad, it probably knew the place better than him. “I lost something, and I need to find it. Fast.” He finally settled on telling Freddy, he couldn’t just go out and say his dad was lost here. That would just have Freddy asking him more questions. Another vibration from his wrist has him looking down.

I am truly sorry that you lost whatever it is. I can help you find it if you would like.

Gregory looked up at Freddy, nodding his head. “Ya, that would be nice.” Another vibration.

However, I am unable to leave this room. This is not a problem, there is a button on the wall that will open a door to the back room. I will make it accessible to you now.

Gregory looked around to see what button Freddy was talking about. A light of green caught his eye, it was a small Freddy-shaped head. That must be the button Freddy was talking about, Gregory walked over and hit the button. Jumping as the door flowed open loudly, Gregory pecked into the dark room before reaching for his flashlight. Gregory takes one last look at Freddy before walking into the room

—

“Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for visiting and we hope you enjoyed the show!”

Gregory ignored the announcements as he jumped from the vent. The sound of Roxy's voice talking about how beautiful and amazing she was still echoing through the vent. Gregory thought it was weird that she was just sitting in her room and complimenting herself.

As Gregory walked around looking for Freddy's place, the voice announced that the place was now close, before everything cut. The music, the voices, the lights in some shops, everything. It was freaky. For the short time Gregory was here, it had been loud and lively, but now it looked like a ghost town.

Finally finding Freddy's room, Gregory walked up, opening the door manly. Freddy was standing at the door with a big smile, giving him a head pat. “Way to go, Superstar! I knew you could do it.” Gregory felt his breath leave him; he hadn’t been called Superstar in 3 years. Gregory quickly blinks the tears that want to push their way out.

His dad was here, and he was going to find him, he would call Gregory Superstar for as long as he was alive. With that thought Gregory starts to think of where his dad could be. Going over everything his dad had said threw the walkie-talkie to see if there were any clues. The sound of something light falling behind Gregory made him jump.

“Oh no!” Freddy said Gregory turned around as Freddy walked over to a paper on the ground. “The poster has fallen, must need more tape.” Freddy held the poster up and tried to stick it back to the wall, which was dumb. It's not gonna stay if it needs more tape. Gregory looked at the poster, it was a poster for the daycare. On it was a moon and sun animatronic.

Sun animatronic….

That it!

He remembers his dad mentioning a sun animatronic. “Freddy!” Freddy turned to look at Gregory, “I think I lost it in the daycare place, can you take me there?” He asks walking over to Freddy. Freddy puts the poster down while he looks at Gregory, smiling at him. “I can, but you're going to need a daycare pass.” Gregory deflated a little at that, seriously. How was he going to get one of those? Before he can ask that, voices shoot threw the air.

“Gregory!” Gregory jumped, looking over the corner to see a bunch of robots walking around. Roxy, Chica, and Monty, along with cleaning and security robots were all calling out his name. Gregory threw himself back and over to Freddy. What the hell were all those robots doing out!? And why the hell were they looking for him! There was no way he was going to get past all of them on his own.

Luckily it seemed Freddy could see the same thing as Freddy said “Here, climb in” opening his stomach hatch. Gregory didn’t need to be told twice before climbing in. The hatch closed just as Chica walked by, she stared at Freddy for a bit, her cold dead eyes were terrifying to have on them. Before she walked by calling out to Gregory again. Gregory lets himself breathe again before looking at his vibrating watch.

Do not worry Gregory, I will get you to the daycare place.

—

After hiding from animatronics and grabbing a lame Hippo Magnet. He has finally made it to the Daycare, but Freddy is unable to reach him, he needs Gregory to let him in threw the door. Meaning he was by himself. Quickly checked, making sure no animatronics were going to grab him, before sliding down the slide.

The feel of cold balls hit his skin as he slid right into a ball pit. Gregory quickly stood up and started looking around. The place was colorful, and the whole building was colorful, but this place seemed more colorful. Not a single dark color in sight. Gregory was walking around the ball pit when a cheering voice echoed around the place.

“Hooo Hooo Hooo!” Gregory looked up to see the sun animatronic from the poster diving into the ball pit. Before Gregory could even think of what to do, the animatronic shot up in front of him, lifting him in the air by his armpit. “Helloooooooooo Friend!” the animatronic shrieked in its loud cheering voice, spinning Gregory around. Gregory wanted to scream at it to put him down but was too busy trying not to throw up.

Luckily it finally put Gregory down on a solid floor before going off again. “You’re up late. Are we having a slumber party?! I Love slumber party!” Gregory watched as the thing jumped around explaining all the fun things they could do. “Listen I'm just- hey!” Gregory tried to move away from the animatronic but it just picked him up and back in the spot he was. Gregory did not like the sun, he needed to get away and look for his dad.

“We can color, and we can follow THE YELLOW RABBIT around the stars!!” Gregory jumped at the screeching voice. Backing away in fear only to hit some cans. “No no no no! What a mess!” Gregory sat up as the animatronic jumped over to the spilled cans. The animatronic wasn’t looking at him, now was his chance to run.

Gregory didn’t need to think twice before he started running around looking for any clue about his dad. As he was running the tugging feeling came back, this time he looked at his arm. There was nothing, no arm stretches out, no hand or rope, nothing to show what the tugging feel was. Just like last time, it disappeared, and he stopped.

Looking away from his arm and in front of him, was a bunch of posters. Gregory was confused, standing there and staring at the poster. He could hear the animatronics calling out for him, but he ignored them. Instead, he stared at the odd poster. There was nothing wrong with the poster themself, the weird part was how close they were together. Gregory reached up and pulled one down. His eyes went wide, and he started pulling the poster all down. When he was done, he stared at it.

It was a door.

It was on the way back, away from the play area and near the ball pit. It was the only thing that wasn’t colorful, the door was gray and looked a little rusted. He looked at all the posters on the ground before looking back up, it was like someone was trying to hide the door. The sound of Sun's voice was getting close, Gregory quickly turned his flashlight on before reaching the door handle and opening the door.

He cracked the door open and pointed the flashlight in, the first thing he saw with the light where Stairs. It looked creepy and old, rust was all around the place. Gregory didn’t want to go down there. “Friend! Come back! The purple man does like this!” Gregory jumped at Sun's angry voice, he looked over to see the animatronic hadn’t seen him yet, before quickly going in and closing the door behind him. 

—

Every creek of the step shot a fear threw Gregory. He was convinced that the stairs were going to fall at any point and that he would get sucked down. Finally, he reached the floor, Gregory took a breath trying to calm his fear. His hands were shaking, he could swear he heard noises he wasn’t making.

He looked around, it was a small place. There was a computer whose screen was cracked, the computer was on an old desk that had two drawers, and a chair was nearby. Other than that, nothing was there. Why would anyone put a deck here? This place was creepy as shit. His fear switched to annoying as he looked around, he came down here for nothing. He sighed, turning around, this place was just freaking him out and giving him a sense of Deja vu, he wanted to get out of there.

He just put his foot on the first step when the sound of a creek came from behind him, fear shot threw him as he spun around and held his light up. He gasps looking around, his eyes darting all over the place. He zeroed in on the deck, the draw on the bottom was open. Gregory took a breath, trying to calm his breath before walking over there.

He flashed his light all over the place to make sure there was nothing else there, he knew this was the part in the horror movie where something jumped out and killed the person. Horror movies he was tautly allowed to watch, but he was cruise so sus him. At least he wasn’t doing that stupid ‘hello’ thing.

He took a peck in the draw. It was pieces of Newspaper. He reaches in, pulls them out, before putting them on the desk, and points his light at one of the pieces.

5 MISSING KIDS AT FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA.

Like the missing kids here? He remembers overhearing Micheal and Vanessa talking about the missing kids at Freddy. He looks at the date, it says the paper was made in 1995. SO not those missing kids, but other kids from the 90s. He read on 

On June 26, 1995. Five kids by the name of Gabriel, Suzie, Jeremy, Fritz, and Cassidy were attending a party at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The parents said they looked away for only a second when the kids disappeared.

Disappeared? How do 5 kids just up and vanish? The rest of the paper talks about the upset parents and the two owners with a picture, Henry Emily and William Afton. His grandfather. He doesn’t know anything about his grandfather, his dad never talked about him and Gregory never asks him. Looking at his grandfather now, he couldn’t help but be glad he never met him.

While Henry looked upset, William seemed calm. He had a faint smile, and his eye held this satisfied look. Like he just completed something amazing, definitely not a look to have when 5 kids went missing at your restaurant. It creepy Gregory out, but at this point, it felt like everything creeped him out. He flipped to the paper; his eyes went wide as he read the article.

CHARLOTTE EMILY WAS FOUND DEAD BEHIND FREDDY’S

Gregory didn’t need to read more. He put the papers down. A dead body, a kid died here. How the fuck is this place still open, it seems like kids just keep disappearing or in this case a dead body. Gregory was trying to wrap his head around this when a blinding light came from the computer.

The computer that had a big old crack in it. He squinted his eyes, a sound was coming from the computer, what was- “Gregory” it came out glitches, Gregory fell backward, the paper and flashlight still in hand. He quickly got up, but the computer was still saying his name. The tug came back, Gregory didn’t even think and followed it back up the stairs.

He doesn’t see the yellow bunny with the purple bow tie and vest glitching on the screen.

Nor does he see the boy with tears running down his face and a black shirt with 2 white lines, standing where the drawer is still open as he watches the girl with orange hair pull Gregory away.

The boy looked angry at the computer before disappearing into thin air and the computer went black. 

—

Gregory took deep breaths as he slammed the door shut. His hands were in tight fists of the paper and flashlight. What the hell was that… that screen was broken, how did it turn on? Why was it calling out to him, it's like this whole place was trying to get him!

Gregory sunk to the floor, his back to the cold metal of the wall, pulling his bag forward. Zipping it open and putting the paper in. He can save these for when he finds his dad, he’ll tell him what's up. 

He took a breath, knocking his head against the wall. Not the wall, the door. With that thought Gregory quickly scrambled away from the door. He did not want to be anywhere near that door. Gregory wasn’t looking where he was going, too focused on getting away from the door. He didn’t see the rabbit lady watching him, standing by a light switch. She smiled under her mask.

Nighty Nighty.

Gregory finally got to his feet when darkness suddenly surrounded his vision, it took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. “Naughty boy.” Gregory yelped, spinning around and dropping his flashlight. Red bots were staring right at him from the playset and moving closer to him. He needs to get out of here now, without another second to waste.

He quickly reached down looking for his flashlight, finally grabbing a hold of it right as the thing jumped at him. He threw himself backward, his flashlight in hand before running. He quickly turned his flashlight on as he ran, looking for a place to hide. He quickly ducked under the front desk, throwing his hand on his mouth so as not to breathe so loud.

“Naughty Boy! Where are you? Bad children must be punished!” He squeezed his eyes tight, trying to be as quiet as he could, and hiding his light. A Vibration from his wrist caught his attention.

Gregory, I do not know what you did, but the lights are off at the Daycare!

Taking a peck out to make sure that thing was gone before quietly whispering. “Freddy! I don’t know what happened, how do I get out of here!” It didn’t even take a second for Freddy to answer.

You need to get the generators working for the door to open. They should be in the play structures.

T he play area, the same one he saw that thing swing around, also why are there generators in the play area? Taking a deep breath, Gregory looks over to see anything there. He did not want to do this, but he needed to get out of there and find his dad. He's no use to him if he’s stuck in here. Gregory placed his feet on the ground, ready to bolt. He took one last look around before pushing forward and running straight towards the play fort.

—

OK, whoever made this fucking moon animatronic needs therapy. Seriously, this thing was terrifying! He had to duke, swing, and run from this thing for what felt like hours. He had finally gotten the second generator, and he was out of breath.

Just as he was taking a breather, a knife came whirling at his head. His eyes had gone wide and felt his air get ripped out of his lungs as he dropped to his knees, throwing his arms over his head. He couldn’t think past what the fuck , someone had just thrown a fuck knife to his head!! The only thing that brought him back to reality was the pop of the generator.

Right, he needs to get the rest of the generators. He needs to stop thinking and move, now. With that, he pushed himself up to his elbow. Instead of standing up, Gregory made sure to stay close to the ground. Turning on as many generators without getting grabbed by Moon. He looked around looking for the last generator, before something metal and shiny caught his eye.

The last generator! It was across the play place, he just needed to get threw a different entrance. When he poked his head out he saw purple eyes. Staring right at him. He couldn’t see who it was from here, so he lifted his light to the thing.

It was a person, they were wearing a white bunny mask, and their long brown hair that had rainbow colors could still be seen behind the mask. Their outfit was a mix of rainbow and white fabrics. They had black paints and rainbow patches stitched in, a white shirt with more stitches, and a pink bow around their neck. The most important thing that made Gregory lose all thought of stepping out was what was in her hand. A big butcher knife.

“Why don’t you come down here Gregory”

Gregory threw himself back on the ground, trying to be as little as he could. Fuck that. He was going nowhere near that lady. BUUUT he did need to get the last generator his mind stupidly reminded him. What was he supposed to do! Go out, and face that bunny with a knife, or stay here and never find his dad. Lucky or unlucky, the decision was made for him when a cracking voice entered his ears.

“Naughty Boy…” Gregory looked down to see the fucking moon thing climbing up to him. Bunny it is. With that thought, Gregory threw himself up and out of the play-place. Landing on his knee that was definitely going to bruise tomorrow, just add it to the list. He used his light to look around, finally finding the Bunny skipping right his way. Without another thought, he was on his feet and running as fast as he could away from the Bunny and to the generator.

A gust of wind went by his ear, making him lose his footing a little as the knife landed first on the floor and glinted. He quickly regained his footing as he climbed the slide up, the only thought going through his head was to get the generator.

The feeling of cold metal as he turned the last generator on had never felt so good. His breath was coming out in big puffs as he leaned on the generator. As he was shutting his flashlight off, he winched a little at the big lights coming back on. His legs failed him as he fell to his knees.

He needed a breath, the feeling of something wet dripping down his ear had him moving his head up. Using his free hand, he lifts his hand, light touching only to feel a stunning shot through him. He winced, bringing his hand back to see blood on his finger. He didn’t think his eyes could get any wider.

The knife from early must have hit his ear as it went by. Holy cow, the knife had been so close to his head. A little more and it would have gone right through him. Before he could freak out any more about the knife almost killing him. A small vibration brought his attention to his wrist.

Gregory, the lights are on. Good Job Superstar!

Superstar, his dad. Right, he needs to get out of here, freak out later.

Gregory quickly put his flashlight away, taking another deep breath. He stood up on shaking legs. 

—

The Bunny was nowhere to be found when he got out, but the Sun animatronic was back. It had picked him up and thrown him out, the screeching of it had Gregory throw his hands over his ears. The thing finally stopped its screeching, slamming the door in his face. Gregory took his thousands of breaths of the night, before uncovering his ears. “I am just trying to help” Gregory snapped his head to the voice, seeing Chica walking a couple of feet away. She wasn't facing him but was way too close for comfort. “Gregory!” Gregory quickly turned around and felt himself smile seeing Freddy there. Thank fuck. 

“Jump in, we need to get out of here. They have found you!” Gregory didn’t need to be told twice, quickly hopping in. Chica had just turned around when the hatch fully closed. Gregory let his head hit the cold metal, it felt nice on his sweaty head. Letting himself just rest as Freddy started walking away, saying something about needing to charge.

Right now, Gregory didn’t care, he just wanted to sleep. He felt the adrenaline wearing off and tiredness take over as he sat there. That might have been the most running he has ever done. The sound of metals swinging shut together had him opening his eyes. He looked forward, peeking threw the cracks Gregory could see the hallway threw a glass. They must be in a charging station, the feeling of the metal warming up was another sign.

Just as Gregory was about to close his eyes again, something caught his eye. The rabbit from early, skipping by with the giant ass knife. He threw a hand over his mouth to not make a sound as she skipped by. When it was out of sight and Gregory had counted to 60, he finally let his hand fall.

“What the fuck was that!” He shouted, cringing at how loud it came out. “Gregory! Languages” Freddy scolded him, Gregory just rolled his eyes. Right, a kid's robot. “And that is a fountain, a fountain-” 

“Not that!”

Gregory cut in, “You didn’t see the dancing rabbit right in front of us?” He asked, looking up even though he couldn’t see Freddy's face. Freddy was quiet for a bit, so long Gregory thought he had shut off. “No. I did not” Gregory jumped at Freddy's voice; he wasn’t expecting Freddy to sound so… sad. “There is no rabbit at the Mega Pizza plex. Not anymore at least.” Gregory was confused, anymore?

Did that mean there was a rabbit here?

What happened to it?

Gregory was about to ask him about this when a loud scratch went off in his bag. “Dad!” Gregory quickly pushed his bag into his lap and zipped it open. He ignored Freddy's questions as he pulled the walkie-talkie out.

“ ccrrsshh stuiped, ssccc alligator. Ccsassss parts”

Gregory listened quietly before it shuts back off. Freddy was talking to him, but he wasn’t listening. 

Alligator?

Alligator.?

Alligator.

Alligator!!

“Monty golf…” Gregory whispered.

THAT was it! His dad must be in Monty golf!

“Freddy! We need to go to Monty golf.” Gregory said as Freddy stepped out of the charge station. “Gregory… what was that man? Was he your father?” Gregory huffed, they didn’t have time for Freddy's questions! They need to move. “Listen we have to move-” 

“No Gregory, not until you answer my question” Gregory groaned at this, hitting his head as he leaned back. Why did Freddy have to sound so serious, it reminded him of when his dad would scold him. He took a deep breath; Freddy had helped him all night. Plus, he did seem trustworthy, so he guessed he deserved to know.

“Remember when I told you I lost something, and I was looking for it?” He asked, even though he couldn’t see Freddy's head. “Well, I’m looking for my dad. He’s lost here, and he needs my help.” Gregory would have cringe at his voice cracking at the last part if he wasn’t so despite finding his dad. Freddy was quiet, but Gregory could see through the cracks that he was moving.

“Gregory. What is your father's name?” Now that caught Gregory off guard. Of all the things he thought Freddy was going to ask him, that was not one of them. He didn’t know if it was a good idea, what if he could look him up and see he was dead? Then Gregory was double fucked. He could see that Freddy was going towards Monty Golf though. Plus, he really likes Freddy, and he trusts him, so it couldn’t hurt to tell him. 

“Umm, Michael? He mostly goes by Mike though.” Gregory felt a shot of panic when Freddy just stopped, shit. Was he looking it up? “Was his last name Afton?” Freddy quietly asked Gregory didn’t know if he should answer, but his mouth was already open before he could think.

“Ya, Michael Aftone is his name.” Gregory cursed himself, but it was too late, the words where already were out. Freddy was quiet for way too long, it was making Gregory nervous. “Freddy?” His voice was not as strong as he wanted. Yet it seemed to snap Freddy out of it, as he started walking again.

“Do not worry Gregory, we will find your father.” Gregory was just getting more shocked by the night. Freddy sounded so determined, and he didn’t question it as much. It made Gregory feel silly for ever questioning him in the first place. It also filled him with relief to finally have someone on his side about this. He smiled softly as he quietly said “Ya, we will.”

—

Freddy watched as Gregory hopped out his chest, the elevator making a chime as the doors closed. They had finally got the keep card for Monty Golf and were heading down. He watched Gregory pock at the watch. 

Gregory Afton.

Freddy was just confused and scared when he realized there was a kid in his chest plate. He started getting warning signs and just opened his chest plate. He got suspicious when the kid didn’t have a guess profile. Yet the kid felt distantly familiar for some reason. Even more so when he said his name was Gregory. He had pushed it to the side, as many kids have brown hair with the name Gregory. Now though, hearing who the kid's father is, he knows why this kid was familiar.

Freddy has only a couple of memory cards of his creator. Michael Afton was his name, yet he always went by Mike. He was mostly just an endoskeleton. Yet his creator would tell him about his son Gregory, showing him pics of him. One day though, he had seemed so serious when he had asked Mike was silent. He had programmed him with a protected code, making sure he would protect all kids.

After that, he left.

A new person came in to finish creating him, before creating the rest of his friends. He never learned what happened to his creator. Gregory smiled up at him, and Freddy smiled back. He looked back as the door opened. He had to protect this kid and get him back to his father.

—

Dogging all the security robots and having to leave Freddy back. Gregory was starting to get frustrated, he had looked all over the place. Yet he couldn’t find his dad anywhere. Gregory had slid into the kitchen area, trying to get away from the robots. He leaned on the wall, trying to think when his stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten since lunch and had been running around for hours.

He hadn’t realized how hungry he was, too busy running and dogging crazy robots while he looked for his dad. He looked around, a snack couldn’t hurt. It might even help him focus more. With that thought, he pushed himself off the wall and looked around. It didn’t take long for him to find some leftover pizza, It was cold and had the faint taste of cardboard. Gregory was too hungry to care though, he plowed down three slices. He was on his fourth one when he heard something.

It was a small noise; he barely even heard it at first. Gregory, lifted his flashlight, looking around. He couldn’t see anything, just normal kitchen stuff. He walked closer to the noise. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't a noise, but a whisper… Of a boy? At least it sounds like a boy.

“This way…”

Gregory quickly turns the corner only to see no one there. Just one of those yellow-wet sign things, and a door. He hadn’t seen the door before. It was red, and unlike the door he found in the daycare. It looked as new as the rest of the place. Gregory looked back at the exit. He didn’t know if following the voice was a good idea. He had seen enough horror stories to know what happened to the main characters who followed the voice.

“Miky this way Gregory….” 

Gregory shot his head back at the door, the door was swinging softly. It sounded like a British girl's voice this time, yet no one was there. Gregory looked around, he gulped as he looked back at the door. Was it really a good idea? What if his dad was in there? He needs to try at the least. He took steps at the now-closed door. Slowly opening the door, cracking it open to look inside.

It was just a normal hallway. All the walls and tiles were white, but the green light gave it a green tint. He stepped in, looking around to see if there was anyone there. See nothing, he moved forward into the hall. He turned the corner only to see more hallways and some doors. 2 light blue, 1 gray, and one bright red. He kept walking, the gray one had an exit sign over it.

Gregory wasn’t trying to leave yet so he walked by and to the blue door. He cracked the door open to see if there was anyone inside, before throwing the door all the way open. It looked like an empty room that had another door. The door was one of those sliding doors. It was metal and had yellow-black lines at the bottom, it looked solid and hard. Like it was trying to keep the person inside or keep something out. He walked over, letting it slide up, it was an office.

Gregory used his flashlight to look around, unlike the office in the daycare, this had lots of stuff all over the place. Papers, walkie-talkies, a Freddy trash can, a desk, and a chair with a working computer. Pizza boxes and plastic coffee cups are everywhere. The floor was black and white checkers, and the walls were gray with a small line of some black and white checkers and a red line on top of them. There was also a bulletin board on the wall with papers on it. There were way more boxes and storage places.

The room, all in all, looked more used than the one in the daycare. He stepped in, and the voice said his dad was there, but he didn’t see him anywhere. Maybe his dad left a clue for him? Gregory looked around the room, trying to play with the computer, but that led him nowhere since he needed a password. He had looked into the draws and had only found a key card for Fazer Blaster. He had put it in his coat pocket, leaving it for later.

Gregory was just getting annoyed and was about to leave when he opened a box. The box had looked so much older than the rest of the boxes. It had dark spots on it and some rips. Gregory had opened it, not expecting anything really useful. He was met with pieces of newspapers. The same pieces of newspapers he had found in the daycare office. He points his light, reading the first title.

TRAGEDY STUCK AT FREDBEAR’S FAMILY DINER!

Fredbears diner? How many of these stupid party places were there? He reached in, pulling it up to read more.

On November 10th, 1993, Evan Afton-

Gregory's eyes went wide. Evan Afton, his dad's younger brother who died when he was a kid, his uncle... He took a breath, reading on.

Evan Afton was celebrating his 9th birthday when a group of boys thought it would be fun to shove his head into Fredbear's head. The owner, Henry Emily, said that the spring locks were locked, but since Evan was crying his tears-

Gregory stopped reading, he didn’t need to read the rest, knowing what happened. He felt like he had just dropped into a bath of cold water. He had read enough things on robotics to know what happened when the spring locks got wet. Spring locks were much safer than they used to be, they were not safe back then. The small wrong move and the springs would lock up. Killing anyone inside, and a group of boys had shoved his uncle's head into it.

Gregory blinked a couple of times, trying to regain his thoughts. He remembers seeing one more piece of paper in the boxes. He put his light down for a second and picked the paper up. He put the paper over the other one, before picking up his flashlight and shinnying it on the paper.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELIZABETH AFTON.

Ok, so this one is about his aunty. Gregory gulped as he read on.

On September 9th, 1993 8-year-old Elizabeth Afton was last seen at Circus Baby Pizza World. She was last seen near the animatronic stage before she disappeared.

Gregory took a breath, that was it. That was where the paper ended. Gregory looked around, his heart was pounding. His Aunty and Uncle were dead at the age of 9 and 8. Same as Evan and Abby. Gregory shook that thought out of his head. Gregory could see now why his dad was so serious about him not going near animatronics. It seemed like anyone in his family near them would just die or disappear. Gregory slides his bag off his shoulders and zips it open, he was about to place the paper in the bag when he sees something behind one of the pieces. He held it up and felt his heart stop.

In the middle of the paper was a picture of two kids. One was a girl with bright curly orange hair and a big red bow on her head. She had a pink short-sleeved shirt with a dark blue skirt that went to her knees. He couldn’t see the shoes she was wearing. He could see her freckly face, her bright green eyes were looking back at him with a big toothy smile that had a missing tooth. Her chipped nail polish hand was holding hands with a boy next to her.

The boy had short brown wavy hair and brown eyes. He had a short-sleeved black shirt with 2 white lines. And was wearing blue shorts and had a band-aid on his knee. The kid was holding a yellow bear with a purple hat and bow to his chest. The only words that weren't completely smudged were under the picture.

It read, The last picture of Elizabeth Afton with her brother Evan Afton .

He felt his hands shake, staring at the picture. Gregory quickly pulled out Beary, letting the light fall on the ground and roll away a little. He held Beary up with the picture and looked back at both of them. It was the same bear. Gregory's breath came quick shallow air, letting it sink in that the bear his dad had given him was his Uncle. It had the same stitching as the hat. He slowly let his arms go down, staring at the wall.

His dad.

He had so many questions, why did his dad never tell him the bear was his uncle? Why never tell him any of this? He took a deep breath, he needed to focus on finding his dad, and then he could ask him all the questions. He must have had a good reason for not telling him all of this. He slowly put the paper in the bag, holding Beary close to his chest. He closed the bag and slid it back on, Gregory walked over to where the flashlight had rolled away.

Picking it up, he felt something move in his pocket. He put his flashlight in his hand with Bear before reaching in and pulling out a card. Right the key card he had gotten for Fazer Blaster. As he stared at it, he felt this pull to go there. He turned towards the door, putting the card back in his pocket. It couldn’t hurt to go to Fazer Blaster, his dad could be there. He wasn’t ready to give up hope, even if he felt his confidence slowly dwindled.

What if he never found his dad?

What if he was forever stuck here?

Forever only be able to hear his dad but never find him.

Gregory shook his head. He would find his dad. His dad was always there for him when he needed him. Now he needs Gregory's help. With that thought, Gregory walked out the door, letting it close behind him. 

—

“Are you sure this is the place, Gregory?” Freddy asks as Gregory jumps out. Freddy hadn’t outright said it, but Gregory could tell Freddy was losing faith every place they went to. Honestly, Gregory was starting to get more scared the more he looked around. He tried to not show it and to not think about what would happen if he couldn’t find his dad. Instead, he looked up at Freddy with determination.

“Yes, I'm sure that he's here. Or at least a clue to where he is.” Gregory said the last bit with less confidence. Gregory shook his head of all the fears and doubts, he held Baery closer and started walking.

The walls were black with flashing red lines all over the place. Some walls are black with flashing green lines or purple. The floor carpeting was black with white Freddy head printed. Looking up he saw nothing but black, and random space stuff. He looked back down, seeing more cutouts of the gang, when a thought entered his brain. “Hey, Freddy” Gregory called over his shoulder not surprised to see Freddy right behind him.

“Yes, Gregory?” He asked, looking down at Gregory. “You mentioned earlier how they're not a rabbit in the pizza place anymore. Does that mean there was one?” The sound of Freddy's step stopped, and Gregory looked back. Freddy had stopped walking and was staring at him, his smile looked like it had been smacked off. Gregory felt like he had said something wrong and quickly tried to fix it.

“You- You don’t have to answer. I was just wondering. Sorry,” Gregory looked down, trying to rub his hands together while holding a flashlight. “No, no it ok, Gregory” Gregory looked up as Freddy walked over to him, Freddy had a sad smile. “There was a rabbit animatronic, His name was Bonnie,” Gregory remembered the bunny from the bowling alley he saw on a map.

“The one for the bowling alley?” He asked, following Freddy as they started walking around. Freddy was silent, he seemed sad. Gregory didn’t know if he should say anything. Last time he did…

“Yes, the one in the bowling alley.” Gregory's mouth was already open before he realized it. “Were you guys friends?” Freddy stopped again, and Gregory stopped next to him. Gregory had to remind himself that Freddy was a robot, so he wasn’t going to actually cry. But damn if he didn’t look close to tears as he told Gregory.

“He was not just my friend, he was my best friend. He and I would hang out all the time after the shows. Playing songs or simply talking.” Gregory quietly listened as Freddy told him all the things he and Bonnie did together. It made Gregory feel sad that he never got to meet Bonnie, he seemed like a good person. It had Gregory scared to ask him; he didn’t know if he wanted the answer.

“What… What happened to him.” If Freddy hadn’t been standing right next to him, he wouldn’t have heard by how quiet, he was. Freddy's shoulder tensed up as he spooked, “One day, He left with a security guard and never came back.” Freddy wasn’t looking at Gregory, but he could tell how sad Freddy was. He knew the feeling. The pain of losing someone you hold so close to your heart. Gregory didn’t know what to do, so he did the only thing he could think of. 

He hugged Freddy.

He's mostly hugged his legs, but it was still a hug. Freddy was still for a bit before he leaned down and hugged Gregory back. They stayed like that for a bit, not saying anything. When they finally split, Freddy smiled down at Gregory. “Thank you, Superstar,” Gregory smiled at Freddy. Before they continue on their way. 

—

They had just found a ramp when it happened. Staff robots had come out of nowhere and started closing in on them. Gregory didn’t know what to do, he gripped his flashlight and Beary tighter. One of the robots tries to grab him, only for Freddy to push Gregory out of the way.

“Gregory run!” Gregory didn’t know what else to do, so he ran. Dogging all the hands trying to grab him as he ran by. He barely even realized the tugging feeling was back. Pulling him away from danger, and away from Freddy…It all happened so fast that he didn’t know where he was running. Until he finally stopped when the tugging was gone. Just like all the other times, he found himself in front of a door.

It was an orange door before Gregory could even look around to see where he was. The door was open and he felt himself being pushed in. He looked back trying to see who pushed him, only for the door to close. He walked over, hitting the door with his flashlight. “Hey! Open the door!” Gregory yelled, his fist pounding on the door. He jumped as he felt the room move.

No, not a room, an elevator. He looked over at the sound of air leaving. Another door had opened, Gregory looked threw to see a hallway with green lights. Gregory signed, he didn’t have time to mess around. He needs to get back to Freddy, he could be in danger. He didn’t have many options right now though. Gregory flashed his light around, seeing if he had another way. Before stepping out of the elevator, the door snapped shut behind him. Fear licked up his spine as he walked down the hall, pecking over the corner before hurrying down.

He could see a blue light at the end of the hall, it was only when he got closer did, he realized it was just a blue wall with a planet sticker. He looked to his right to see he was in some type of room. There was a tall circle type of table in the middle that had a black and white checker on it, pizza boxes, and plastic cups all around the desk. The room was mostly purple. With red benches and couches with Freddy plushes. Floating from the ceiling was a spaceship. Gregory looked around, flashing his light all over the place.

Something caught his eye, a big vent thing. He looked in, it looked dark, and he couldn’t see anything. Gregory looked back out to see if there was any other way out. Seeing no other way out, Gregory took a breath and went back to the vent thing. He put Beary back in the bag, before crawling in. After a bit of twists and turns and wounding where the noise was coming from, he finally was out. He pulled himself out, trying to figure out where he was.

He was on top of the Lazer tag place, some wooden stuff was blocking his view a bite. Gregory tried standing on his tippy toes to see if he could find Freddy. He couldn’t see him anywhere. Gregory huffed as he went back to his flat, he walked down t. Nothing was up here other than another vent way, this one was blocked though. Gregory tried kicking it down with no luck. Gregory was starting to think that maybe he could maybe survive if he jumped down when he remembered what he had brought. Throwing his bag on the ground, he zipped it open and felt around.

When he finally got ahold of what he needed, he pulled out the screw drive. He left his bag on the ground, walked back to the vent, and quickly unscrewed it, popping it open. He moved it out of the way, grabbed his bag, and put the screwdriver back. After zipping it back up and throwing it on, Gregory crawled in. It felt like it took twice as long as the other one took to get to the end. Gregory finally pulled himself up and out, the first thing he saw was an open door.

He pointed his flashlight in the dark room seeing how dirty the floor was, it had the same stupid checker floor. There were cups, candy wrappers, and dirt piles on the ground. Gregory stepped in, using his light to find a light switch. Luckily one was right next to the door, he pressed it. After a bit of flickering, a purpled light filled the room. Gregory looked around; his eyes went wide in surprise.

With the lights on he could see that there was a bed, without a bed frame, shoved in the corner. There was a desk with a couple of computers on it, and pizza boxes, pens, and papers. There was one of those old arcade games right next to the desk. It looked rusty and older than the dinosaurs. That wasn’t what had immediately grabbed his attention, it was what was on the walls. The walls for the most part were simply plain black walls, but right above the bed was a name painted in big purple letters. 

VANNY

Next to it, where an exit door was, was a bunch of papers pinned to the wall. Some of them were newspaper pieces, others were normal papers written on them. It looked like those things you see in the detective show, without the red string. Gregory got closer, trying to get a better view to read it.

FIRE BREAKS AT FREDDY FAZZBEAR’S PIZZA

Gregory felt his heart stop, shining his light, reading the newspaper one by one. Reading headline after headlight, about a security guard's head getting bitten, a fire, and more kids going missing. Gregory realizes something, the dates. They went in order. The newspaper wasn't random, it was a timeline. The normal white paper was like a text, between someone. He kept reading the headlines, reading every note that went along with it. 

Make sure to read every date.

—

FREDBEAR DINNER OPEN  

1992.

                                             FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA OPENS

                                             1992.

CIRCUS BABY’S PIZZA 

WORLD OPEN 

1993.

                                              A missing paper.

CIRCUS BABY’S PIZZA 

WORLD CLOSE 

1993.

                                             A missing paper

FREDBEAR DINNER CLOSE 

1993.

                                             -Such good work Boss :)

                                              CHARLOTTE EMILY 

                                              MISSING AT FREDDY 

                                              FAZBEAR’S PIZZA

                                              1995.

—

There was a random big space with a paper stuck in the middle.

—

-I killed that 

little bitch.

               -The first one of 

                 you’re amazing work boss :)

                                                -Fucking Micheal.

                                                              -Don’t worry Boss, I’ll 

                                                              take care of him. 

                                                              Once I find him :)

                                                -I know you will.

—

Gregory felt anger, and fear going through his veins, what did she mean she’ll ‘take care of him.’ It didn’t matter, he would find his dad first.

—

FREDDY FAZBEAR’S 

PIZZA CLOSE

1995

                                           FREDDY FAZBEAR’S 

                                           PIZZA REOPENS

                                           1999

-Your work is truly amazing Boss :)

                               -Thank you Vanny

MISSING CHILDREN 

AT FREDDY

1999

                                             A SECURITY GUARD

                                             DID NOT MAKE IT

                                             WHEN ATTACKED BY

                                             ANIMATRONIC

                                             1999

FREDDY FAZBEAR’S

PIZZA CLOSE

1999

                                 FREDDY FAZBEAR’S

                                 PIZZA OPENS 

                                  ONCE AGAIN 

                                    2008

CIRCUS BABY’S 

ENTERTAINMENT 

AND RENTALS OPEN

2020

-Those fucking kids ruined everything!

                                          -Don’t worry Boss, your suit is almost finished. Just need to sneak a few more things to the basement. :)

-I Know Vanny, have you found Micheal yet?

                                                                     -No sir. :)

-Well, hurry up! I know he's here somewhere.

                                                                              -Yes sir. :)

                                                         THE OWNER 

                                                          WILLIAM AFTON 

                                                          HAS GONE MISSING AT 

                                                          FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA

                                                           2008

CIRCUS BABY’S 

ENTERTAINMENT AND 

RENTALS RANDOMLY 

CLOSE DOWN

2020

                                               FIRE BREAKS AT

                                               FREDDY 

                                               FAZZBEAR’S 

                                               PIZZA

                                               2020

FREDDY FAZBEAR’S

MEGA PIZZA PLEX OPENS

2022

                                     -I did it sir!! I even think I found Michael! He’s somewhere in the basement. I won’t let you down, Boss!! :)

-Good job Lily.

                                                 MISSING KIDS AT THE MEGA PIZZA PLEX

                                                 2023

—

Gregory read the last note over and over again. His flashlight slipped through his hands. He backed up, until his back hit the wall, sliding down. His ears were ringing, and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. Lily. Lily was making kids disappear. Did she…

Oh god.

Gregory felt like he was going to be sick. He felt like he was getting more and more confused. He had so many questions. 

Why did this fucking place keep opening?

Why was she being called/calling herself Vanny?

Who was the other person writing to Lily or Vanny?

Why was she saying he did good work?

It couldn’t be Willaim. He was dead.

His dad said-

Just like that, everything stopped. His dad. 

His dad was under the place. He needs to get to his dad. His dad would know everything. His dad… he would. He will. He needs his dad right now.

Gregory stood up on shacking leggings. Trying to calm his breathing. He didn’t know what was happening, he just needed to get to his dad. He walked back, picking up the light with shaken hands, to the papers. He reached up pulling the note down, he put his bag down.

Stuffing the paper in, he didn’t know why, he looked back at all the papers on the wall. His dad would explain everything, the thought calmed him down a bit. He needed the papers, so he started grabbing all the papers. When he was finished, his breath had calmed down more, and his hands were still slightly shaking as he threw his bag on. He needs to find a way out-

The sound of a door opening had his head snapping over. Vanny was staring at him, her knife in hand. He couldn’t see her face, but he could feel her anger. She gripped the knife like it had offended her mother. “ You little. BRAT!” She screamed as she leaped at Gregory.

Gregory threw himself back, the knife getting a small cut on his shoulder. He could feel the blood started running as he ran as fast as he could. As he tried to run by and out the door. Only for her to grab him by the arm, throwing him back, his flashlight slipping out of his hand. She was on top of him, she was holding down his arm so hard it stung, and her knife held up high.

Gregory couldn’t help but scream, trying to kick her with no luck. He felt tears flow down, his free hand was trying to grip on to something. Just something to hit her with. Nothing, he was going to die and never find his dad. He wasn’t ready to die yet.

“Bye Bye, Gregory!” She laughed, just as she was about to swing the knife down, he grabbed something heavy. He didn’t think, he swung harder than he ever had at her head. He heard a crack as she swung off a bit, her hand letting go of his arm as she grabbed her head.

Ignoring the bruise and cuts, he kicked her in the stomach. Pushing her the rest of the way off. He didn’t wait, he got up and ran, making sure to slam the door on the way out.

He doesn’t see the boy with the bloody head. Standing where he had given his flashlight back.

—

Gregory had finally gotten back to the FazBlater, he had called Freddy. He learned that someone had called the robots to disassemble Freddy. Gregory was pretty sure it was Lily or Vanny... Gregory would have felt guilty that he wasn’t there to protect Freddy. But he was too tired, the only reason he hadn’t fallen yet was that he needed to find Freddy and get out of there. Thankfully, the heavy thing he had grabbed early had been his flashlight. Which helped him find Freddy a lot faster.

“Freddy!” Gregory breathed out, running to his body. Or what was left of it. He slowed down as he got closer, looking at all the body pieces all over the place. “Gregory! Over here” Gregory looked over to see Freddy's head lying on the ground. Gregory raised over, kneeling next to his head.

“Freddy! Thank God you’re ok” Gregory said, shoving his flashlight in the bag and putting Freddy's head up on his lap. He smiled up at Gregory before his eyes went wide. “Gregory! You’re bleeding!” Gregory looked at what Freddy was looking at. The cut from earlier was still bleeding, very slowly but still. Thinking about the cut, and finally stopping running, Gregory felt the adrenaline leave. Replace with the pain of all bruises and cuts from the night.

He looked back at Freddy “I know, I kind of got in a fight with the Bunny lady. Or Vanny” Gregory wiped his now dry tears. He needs to get up. He knows where his dad is now. “Freddy, is there a basement here?” Gregory asked before Freddy could say anything. Freddy was still looking at Gregory with concern, before answering.

“Yes... I can guide you, but I do not think it is a good idea, Gregory.” Gregory shook his head, trying not to wince at Freddy's head pressing on his knee. He moves his head up, “Listen, my dad is down there. I know it this time, I need to get down there.” Gregory's face was hard as he looked at Freddy, Freddy looked at him for a second before closing his eyes. “Ok. I can guide you there, but you need to get your cuts clean first.” Gregory nodded his head, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Gregory~” Gregory jumped at the voice behind him, and adrenaline came rushing back in. He quickly stood up, running behind a wall. He kept his back to the wall as he heard footsteps walking by, her voice traveling to his ears.

“Gregory, I may have lost my temper earlier. But it was just a glitch! It won’t happen again” 

Gregory tightens his hands on Freddy's head, trying to keep his hands from shaking. Luckily Freddy was quiet, not saying anything.

“It’s been such a difficult day for all of us. Why don’t you come out, and we can play a game!”

Gregory let out a breath when he heard her voice and footsteps faded away.

Gregory pecked out, seeing that everything was clear.

He took off to the exit. 

—

After more running from robots and trying not to fall over carrying Freddy's head. He finally made it to the first aid place. He placed Freddy, in his bag, and took off his coat, on the ground. Reaching for the band-aids, Gregory sat down and quietly applied the band-aids.

He was so tired.

\He just wanted his dad to be the one cleaning his cuts.

He would always give them big old kisses, to feel better.

Gregory felt tears wheel up in his eyes, he didn’t try to stop it. He was finished cleaning his cuts and bandaging them. He reached into his bag pulling Beary out. He hugged him tight, all the memories of his dad, the Schmidt, The killings, this whole fucking place.

He let it out, snot was coming out of his nose, but he didn't care. Freddy was saying something next to him but he didn’t care. He just let himself cry, half listening to Freddy conform words.

—

When Gregory was finally done crying, he got up. He knew he couldn’t hold Freddy's head the whole way there. So kept the bag open, placing Freddy to see out it. He kept Beary out, holding his flashlight in the other hand. With another deep breath, he made his way up the stairs. 

After hiding from fucking robots, listening closely to Freddy's instructions, and chugging a water bottle. He had finally made it to the door. It was in Roxity place. It was a big red door behind all the fancy stuff. He didn’t wait, he took a breath and grabbed the handle. Opening the door.

He’s coming, Dad.

—

It was dark, he couldn't see anything without his flashlight. From what he could tell, the floor was made of metal, and there was dirt all over the place. Pipes were on the dirty walls, leading somewhere. There were stairs, every creak made him think they were going to fall at any moment. The further he went down, the more rusted and crowded it got. He had to break a lock just to get further down.

Gregory thought of calling out for his dad but decided against it. He could hear noise all over the place and he didn’t know if he wanted to be heard. There were rocks and chunks of buildings all over the place, the ground was also very uneven. Gregory was breaking a sweat climbing all over the place. The only thing keeping him going was finally getting to see his dad, after 3 years. 

So he moved on.

Ducking over stuff and climbing over all the things, the air was starting to feel a lot stuffy. Finally, Gregory came across an elevator. It looked old and rusted, its green paint chipped. Stepped in, pushing the button to go down. “Gregory” Gregory jumped at Freddy's voice; he had been so quiet that he thought Freddy's battery had died.

“Be careful, this elevator does not look very safe.” Gregory nodded, letting the elevator take him down. Trying to ignore the shacking and creaking sound. He let out a breath as the doors opened, Gregory looked around as he stepped out. It didn’t even look like they were in a building anymore, there was nothing but dirt and rocks. It felt like they were way down, it made Gregory nervous, but he survived crazy robots and a killer rabbit lady. He could survive a little bit of rocks.

There was a generator right in front of him, he clicked it on, thinking maybe it could help him. He made his way down, turning on generators and trying to not hit rocks or random junk. After he turned on all the generators, he found another door. He opened it and came face to a bunch of endoskeletons, he felt dread wash over him. He clutched Beary and the flashlight tighter before taking off.

He just looked at the next door, when one of them grabbed him. Its metal hand gripped his arm tight enough that he felt blood start leaking out. He screamed, trying to pry it hands off. He kept his eye on the door, trying to pull out of its hold on him. Suddenly, it let go, letting him run through the door. He felt the tugging feeling again pulling him over to a giant hole in the ground.

Gregory jumped down, ducking, and squinted his eyes, not really knowing where he was going, just holding Beary and his light tight. He shouted as his foot caught on something and he went tumbling down, the flashlight and Beary slipping from his hand.

Branching himself to hitting the floor, but he didn’t.

He felt something wrapped around under his arms, holding him upright and close to something solid.

He thought maybe one of those things caught him and was about to eat him.

But the thing holding him was breathing, holding him close but not hard. It was gentle and warm. 

“I got you, Bud”

Chapter Text

Gregory felt tears swell in his eyes at the sound of the British voice. He looked up and was met with the same chocolate eyes as his. The same scare on his chin that he told Gregory he got from a fight. The same curly brown hair that went to his shoulder, looked like it could use a good brush and shower. Gregory didn’t blink as he stared at his face, taking in every inch. His dad seemed to be doing the same, his eyes were filled with tears as well. Gregory felt his feet finally meet the floor, his dad kneeling with him. Gregory let tears run down his face.

“Dad!” He sobbed as he threw his arms around his neck, shoving his face into his shoulder. He didn’t care that his dad smelled like straight garbage. His dad was here, he was here. “Hi bud” He whispered holding Gregory back just as tightly, like he was scared he would disappear. Gregory didn’t know how long they stood there, he didn’t care. When his sobs had turned to sniffles, his dad had backed up while keeping his hands on his shoulders. Only enough to look him up and down, he could see some tears rolling down his dad's eyes.

Gregory felt confused when his dad's face went from happy and relieved to his eyebrows coming together and biting his lip. Why was he upset, they were together again. Gregory didn’t know what to say, but it seemed his dad picked up his confusion as he took a breath. “Gregory, as happy I am to see you, what are you doing here? And why are you hurt? What happened?” His dad's voice was firm, he looked Gregoy in the eye. Gregory could see worry brimming in his eyes, Gregory tried to ignore all the pain.

“I heard you and you sounded like you were in trouble so I came to help,” Gregory spoke through deep breaths, he was trying to calm his still-raising heart. He took in the rest of his dad, he was still wearing a long-sleeved purple shirt and a black vest that Gregory was sure said Security on the back, he was still in his black pants with his belt that had the walkie-talkie snap on.

He still looked the same day he left. “I missed you,” Gregory said in a shaky voice, his dad's face softened. His dad took a deep breath closing his eyes, pulling Gregory back into a hug. “I missed you too kiddo, but you shouldn’t be here” His dad pulled away, making him look him in the eye. His face was more serious but his eyes were soft, “This place is dangerous, you could- you did get hurt!” Gregory rubbed his hands together, opening his mouth to answer.

“But-” His dad cut in firmly “But nothing, I told you to never go near an animatronic, you promised me you would never. Yet you did” Gregory felt ashamed that his dad reminded him of his promise, but also annoyance. “I know!” Gregory spooked loudly, “I know you didn’t want me near them but I kept hearing you’re voice in the walkie and no one believed me and I just want to see you again” Gregory finished, his dad's mouth was open and he looked confused. He blinked once, then again, then again.

“Wait wait wait” His dad put his hand over his eyes, rubbing them before sliding his hand down his face. “First off, you heard me over the walkie-talkie?” Gregory nodded, his dad just looked more confused. “Gregory, my walkie-talkie is broken, got burned in the fire.” Gregory felt his eyes widen, he was confused as to why his dad never responded but figured he couldn’t hear him. “I don’t know, it would just go off and I would hear you’re voice,” Gregory said with a shrug, his dad nodded. “Ok, I believe you” Gregory felt relief at having a person believe him, other than Freddy. 

Freddy!

Before his dad can open his mouth, Gregory throws his bag forward and checks inside. He breathes a side of relief when he sees Freddy blink at him, “Hello Gregory” He smiles up at him. “What the-” His dad cut himself off, looking in the bag before looking back at him. Gregory smiled at him, while his dad looked at him with disbelief. Gregory quickly explained before his dad could ask, “This is Freddy. He helped me look for you, but he had an accident. Luckily his head was ok.”

His dad looked back at Freddy smiling face, before shaking his head. “Where talking about this later” His dad says, looking back up. Gregory looked around as he put his bag back on, trying to figure out where they were without his flashlight. From what he could see the walls and floor were nothing but rocks. There were some wooden planks and a gate that was rusty as hell. His eyes finally land on his flashlight and Beary! Gregory quickly ran over, ignoring his dad's surprise shout, picking them up.

He felt his dad's hand on his shoulder “Gregory, we need to leave now. It's dangerous here.” Gregory looked up at his dad, who was looking around. Gregory could tell he had his guard up like something was going to jump at him. Before Gregory could say anything, the sound of footsteps and a voice coming straight towards them. Micheal grabs Gregory's hand or tries with a flashlight in the way and Beary in the other.

Pulling them to hide under a metal cart thing, that must have been for putting toys on display. Pulling a wooden plank in front of them, hiding them from the eye. Gregory had his back pressed to the wall, gripping his dad's shirt. His dad had his back to him, trying to cover Gregory as much as he could.

“Oh Micheal, Gregory, won’t you places come out.”

“Shh, it gonna be ok” His dad whispered as Vanny's voice got closer. Gregory looked up at something jumping on top of them, trying to be as quiet as he could be. Gregory could see through the cracks her jumping down, her knife in hand.

“William just wants to talk, that's all!”

Gregory closes his eyes, shoving his face in his dad’s back. Even when he couldn’t hear her sicking sweaty voices or steps. Gregory still kept his eyes shut tight and his face pressed to his dad. It was only when his dad moved the wooden plank and was pulling himself out is when Gregory opened his eyes.  “Come on, we need to get out of here,” His dad held a hand out for him. Gregory moved his flashlight to his other hand with Beary, taking his dad.

“What was she talking about Grandpa, he’s dead,” Gregory asked, as he was pulled to his feet. His dad bit his lip, he didn’t look Gregory in the eye. “Listen, Gregory, We need to leave. It's too dangerous here for you.” Gregory felt annoyed at his dad for ignoring his question, he wanted answers! His dad was trying to pull him over to sliver things to climb back up, but Gregory was having none of it.

“Is it because of what happened? To Aunty and Uncle, to the other kids that were killed and missing here! Is that why you won’t tell me anything.” Gregory shouted, looking at his dad angry. His anger faltered a little at seeing his dad’s horrified face. He looked at him, his mouth opening and closing. “What are you talking about Bud…” He asked softly, Gregory could see he was not trying to brush him off but trying to understand better. He knelt to his height, making him look him in the eye.

Gregory took a breath, “I- I found these Newspapers in a box and this old desk in the daycare.” His dad took a sharp breath but nodded for Gregory to continue. “They talked about Aunty Lizzy going missing and Uncle Evan… death.” Gregory gulped, and the words tasted like acid on his tongue. Surprisingly his dad's face didn’t go white or didn’t whinc. His hands tighten a little on his shoulder, but not enough to hurt.

“I found more in Vanny’s room,” Gregory ignored his dad's worried face at hearing that Gregory was in Vanny's room. “I realized it was a timeline from when this place and something called Circe Baby opened” His dad’s lips were in a fine line, but still he said nothing. “It talked about more of the place shutting down and reopening and more missing kids. It even talked about Grampa going missing.” Gregory's anger had turned to frustration, confusion, and fear. “I’m just so confused and scared” Gregory finally admitted, looking at his feet and rubbing his hands.

“I don’t know what's going on, and what all these kids going missing mean. I don’t even know how you survived! They said everything was gone, and why didn’t you come back if you did survive.” Gregory didn’t think he could cry anymore, yet hot angry tears formed in his eyes. He hears his dad sign, putting his hand and cupping his check. Pulling his head up to look him in the face. “I'm sorry kiddo” His dad’s voice was soft, gently holding his face. “I’m sorry you had to go through this without me.” His dad's eyes were soft and held guilt.

Gregory sniffed, “I swear I was going to tell you, but you’re 7-” Gregory quietly cut in. “I’m 10” His dad’s eyes went wide, and he looked confused before his face morphed into a sader one. “10, you’re 10,” His dad said quietly, shaking his head softly, still looking at Gregory. “Ok, you’re 10 so I was gonna tell you when you were older. This is all…” His dad trailed off, he looked away from Gregory and brought his free hand to his face again. Gregory quietly waits for him to continue, his sniffles finally stopping.

“Please tell me” Gregory couldn’t help desperate whine in his voice. He just wanna answer. His dad looked back at him, dropping his hand. He took a breath, “OK, I'll tell you” his dad's face was serious, but he also looked nervous. “What I'm about to tell you, is going to sound crazy and honestly horrify.” Gregory couldn’t help but snort. He had been chased all night by killing robots and Lily in a bunny outfit. He didn’t think anything could sound crazy anymore.

“I want you to know, that I'm here and as long as I'm here. You have nothing to be scared of because I will protect you. Ok?” Gregory already knew that, yet he felt his nerves rise in his stomach. His dad was so serious about it. What could be so scary, other than a killer rabbit running around with killer robots? Gregory nodded, “Say it,” his dad told him firmly. “As long as you’re here, I don’t need to be scared,” Gregory repeats, looking his dad in the eye. His dad nodded before opening his mouth.

--

Gregory realizes why his dad wants him to understand that his dad could keep him safe. William had killed kids, he had made robots to kill kids. Gregory felt like he had not just been thrown into a cold bath, but a freezing one with sharp ice in it. He could feel his fear rise as his dad went on to explain everything he knew. Why he had become a security worker, why he was in the fire. He had helped with the fire, with Granpa Henry. To free the kids and stop Willaim. It doesn’t seem like it works, since William was back. His dad looked guilty, as he opened his mouth again.

“So you knew the fire was going to happen, and you still went” Gregory looked at his dad with big questioning eyes, his dad meant to leave him. His dad closes his eyes still holding on to Gregory's shoulders. “I never meant to leave you bud. I was supposed to have a way out” Gregory took a deep breath, blinking a couple of times. His dads looked sad and guilty, of course, his dad would never try to leave him. “Then, why didn’t you come home?” He said everyone that seemed to have come back, where in those robots, or controlling them. Yet his dad was standing in front of him, looking the same as 3 years ago.

“Us Aftons never truly stay dead.” His dad said softly, his hand started rubbing his arm. Gregory blinked, “But, you’re standing in front of me and you’re not one of those robots. You don’t even look a day old from when you left that night.” Gregory said confused, how could have his dad died if he was right here? His dad took one of his hands off his shoulder and unbuttoned one button, but that was enough for Gregory to see the scar.

The scars were pink and ripping. Gregory could not see much but he had a feeling it was worse under the shirt than what his dad was showing him. His dad buttoned back up, pulling him closer. “I tried to get out but couldn’t, honestly I don’t even know how I'm alive right now.” He was rubbing his back, holding him close. “I’m so sorry kiddo, about everything. I promise, once we get out of here, I'll never leave again.”  Gregory looked at his dad, his face was still sad. Gregory held up his pinky, “Pinky swear?” A small smile slipped on his face, he locked their pinky together. “I pinky swear” Gregory signed, leaning back into his dad. His dad was here, he would never leave him again, yet with Willaim here.

Gregory looked back at his dad, “How do we stop Willaim?” Gregory asked. His dad looked at him confused. “What-” Gregory cut in. “Kids have been going missing again and I think Vanny is helping him” His dad took in a sharp breath, he could tell his dad was going to object to him helping. “You said you would never leave me again, but as long as he’s here kids are gonna go missing and he could take you too” Gregory shoved his face in his dad's shoulder, holding on tightly. The thought of losing his dad again hurt, “we need to stop him now.” His dad signed, pulling him back. His dad had a serious face again.

“Ok, but there are going to be some rules.” Gregory quickly nodded, eager to help if it meant his dad never left again. “You stay with me the entire time and if I tell you to do something, you do it. Ok,” Gregory nodded, “ok” His dad nodded, pulling himself up. “Can I have your flashlight?” His dad held his hand out for it, and Gregory placed it in his hand. He turned it on, grabbing Gregory's hand, he looked at the hole Vanny had gone down. “We need to go farther down.” His dad squeezes his hand, before pulling him to the hole. 

—

“Abby is really nice, she lets me color with her.” Micheal listened quietly as Gregory informed him of what he missed while he was, dead. God how had it gotten that bad, Henry and he had planned the perfect escape for him. He even had a plan for what he was going to do with Gregory tomorrow. He and Gregory hadn’t been able to go Roller skating for a while, and he was going to surprise him with it. He was excited to see his happy little face brighten up, yet he never got to.

He had tried opening the door, but it wouldn’t open. He was trapped. The last thing he remembers was yelling at Henry to let him out, his son needed him. Then he woke up in an old office in some daycare place with his dad alive. 3 years into the future if Gregory was telling the truth.

He was a terrible parent. He had left his 7-year-old kid all alone, and now his kid knew the horrors of this place. For God's sake, he's 10. He should have never gotten mixed up in this. He should be playing outside with his friends. Not here, learning about dead kids and stopping a killer. Micheal wanted nothing more than to take his kid out of there and have him forget everything. He shouldn’t have told Gregory, but he knew, there was no point in trying to hide it anymore. Gregory was a stubborn kid, he would keep asking him until he finally told him, or learned it himself.

Of course, he didn’t go into detail or tell him everything. He just told him enough to make him happy. “Dad, are you listening to me?” Micheal looked at Gregory's face, his big brown eyes still where red from crying. His kid. Micheal smiled, “Yes I'm listening. Know what was it about Evan being a jerk?” Gregory huffed, going back on a rant about this kid he had lived with.

The family Gregroy had been living with.

That was a problem for another time.

Micheal signed when they get out of here, he is going to do whatever he can to make it up to Gregory.

Give him the life he deserves. 

—

Gregory looked around with wide eyes as his dad placed him on the ground. The place was dark, if it wasn’t for his dad holding the light he would barely be able to see. The room was big. The floor was no longer rock but the same black and white titles. They were dirty with garbage and dirt, it were rusted too. Long black cables were hanging from the ceiling and on the ground. The wall was either cement or rock. On the other side of the wall were two red rusted electric doors. The ceiling had holes that all Gregory could see was empty black. Yet the scary party was the desk in front with computers mounted to the wall. There were so many of them, and were big too. The whole place was rusted and dirty, except for the computer screens.

Gregory tried to step forward but his dad was still holding his hand. His dad pulled him back, looking down at him. “Let me go first, you stay behind me.” His dad whispered, Gregory nodded and took a step back. His dad slowly steps closer to the desk, his grip tight on Gregory's hand. Gregory could still see his dad's face and could see he was on edge. When they were halfway to the desk, all the computer lights were turned on. Gregory shut his eyes at the bright light, his dad pulling him all the way behind.

“Micheal”

Gregory opened his eyes at the glitching voice.

“Willaim” Gregory jumped at his dad's voice, he had never heard his dad's voice hold so much venom.

“ Come now Micheal, is that any way to greet you’re dear father.”

The rusted voice scratched at his ears, and Gregory gripped his dad's hand tighter. His dad softly pushed him closer to him as he took a step back, keeping a grip on his hand.

“ You are not my father.” his dad's voice was eerily calm, no venom dripping. Gregory summoned all his courage and pecked out. His breath escaped him as he saw what was on the screen. On the screens was that fucking bunny from his nightmare. His smile was filled with sharp white teeth, but his eyes were filled with anger. He was staring at his dad, then suddenly his had snapped to him. Gregory's eyes went wide as he looked at those crazy purple eyes before he was pushed back behind his dad.

“Ah! Finally brought my grandson, have you”

Gregory didn’t like… that thing calling him his grandson. “Don’t call him that, he’s not you’re grandson. You lose the privilege when you decide to be a shit father!” His dad sounded angry, Gregory tried to peck forward but his dad wasn’t letting him.

“Still have a temper, don’t you? I guess some things never change.”

Change? Gregory doesn’t even think he’s ever seen his dad angry before this. His dad didn’t say anything, he squeezed his hand so that it almost hurt. Almost.

“Tell me, Micheal, why are you here? If not to see his dear father.”

Well, they were here to stop him- 

Gregory stopped trying to look as a thought entered his brain. The bunny or William was on the screens, maybe if they broke the computers it would stop him. Gregory had some tools in his bag that they could use. Before he could tell his dad his plane, he was speaking “You should have stayed dead.” Gregory's eyes went wide at his dad's cold tone. He looked up at the back of his dad's head. It was quiet before soft laughter entered his ears. Then it got louder and louder until it sounded historic, suddenly red lights started flashing, and the sound of glitching was heard. Gregory finally pushed his face to look at the screen.

The rabbit thing had its head thrown back, his mouth wide open and eyes looking around face. Purple things were glitching around the screens, as the screen quickly flickered. A couple of the screen flicks, show robots heading down to them from the hall. Another screen showed one of the charging stations opening with purple smoke coming out. His dad was pushing him back before he could get a good look. The laughter kept going, laughing high and insane.

“There you are!”

Gregory snaps his head around, looking up. Vanny was standing there with her huge fucking knife. Before Gregory could think, his dad was turning himself in front of Gregory and pushing them into a corner. Gregory almost tripped over some of the things as he kept getting pushed. They were trapped.

“KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!!!!”

Gregory's breath was coming out short, Vanny was getting closer and so were the robots. They were trapped, and Vanny was coming in close, like she wanted to save this, what could they do they-

“Gregory” his dad’s voice cut threw his thoughts, he looked up but his dad wasn’t looking at him. “When I say now, you run. You understand me.” Gregory opened his mouth to protest it, he didn’t want to leave his dad. “Just do it, I got a plan.” Gregory took a breath as his back met the wall. His dad was leaning down, keeping his arms protectively around Gregory.

“Now!” His dad yells, rushing forward at Vanny. Gregory didn’t look at his dad, he ran to the other side of the room. Closer to the desk. The rabbit was gone, but their screen where purple, and showing the robots coming. He looked back for his dad, he was fighting Vanny. There was something black in his hand that he was swinging at Vanny, Vanny was dogging them, almost losing her footing before swinging her knife at his dad. Gregory almost screamed but his dad luckily blocked it and pushed her back.

Gregory turned back to the screen. The robots were getting closer. Gregory looked back at Vanny and his dad fighting to the screen over and over again. What should he do?? He needs to help his dad fight Vanny, but even if they overpower her robots where on their way. “Gregory” He jumped at the sound of Freddy's voice, it was quiet and he hadn’t said anything. Gregory quickly pulled him out, his eyes were dropping.

“Freddy! What should I do? Robots are coming to get us!” Freddy looked around, his eyes looking at the screen behind him, Gregory turned him around to better see. “I am almost out of battery, but I am going to give you the last of my power to help.” Gregory's eyes went wide if Freddy's battery went out. They would have no way of charging him up. Gregory felt tears wheeled up in his eyes, he wanted to protest but he could hear the robots getting closer. Freddy smiled at him, “It was an honor to meet you, Gregory.” He spoke softly before his eyes went wide, before shutting off. Gregory held his head before a green flashing light caught his attention.

The purple and red lights flashing did nothing to hide the green light. It was a button. That must be what Freddy said he was going to do. Gregory took a breath and put Freddy back in his bag, zipping it up tightly. He research the button, pushing it down. Screams filled the air, and Gregory looked at the screen. There was fire hitting the robots, their arms swinging around.

Another button was on the other side, Gregory ran over to it, setting my robots on fire. He ran back and forth while he heard his dad and Vanny still fighting. He was sure he had almost killed all the robots when a loud bang came for a door to the side. Gregory looked over, his blood ran cold. There was a claw on the door frame, attached to the claw was the uglies thing Gregory had ever seen. It looked like a moldy rabbit with more metal bones than flesh. His purple eyes were staring at him.

“HAHAAH! THIS IS THE END”

Back up as Vanny laughs, his eyes don’t leave the monster. It was grinning at him, pulling itself threw the door and towards him. “GREGORY!-” Gregory snapped his head over at his dad, who was on the ground and pinned by Vanny. “Gregory RUN!!” Gregory didn’t need to be told twice he was spinning around and running threw the other door and down the hall, hearing the monster falling after him.

—

Micheal watched terrified as Gregory ran threw the door, William following after. Micheal needs to get to him before William does.

“Say goodnight~”

Vanny's sweet sicking voice was close to his ears. He tilted his head to look at her, her knife was in the air for the final blow. Instead, Micheal used his foot to roughly kick her in the back. Sending her flight forward and onto his shoulder. He hissed and gritted his teeth together. He quickly got his knees under him and threw her back. It took a bit, but he finally got her knife out of her hand. She was screaming trying to grab the knife and land more hits on him. He blocked her hits, thanking whoever was up there that he got in enough fight to know who to do it.

Before he plunged the knife into her neck, blood flicked in his face as it rolled down her neck. Her eyes were wide as she tried to cover it up to no avail. Micheal stood over as she slowly died, breathing heavily. It finally hit him with what he did when she stopped to move. The grip on the knife slipped, and his eyes went wide.

Oh god, he killed someone.

Before he could think about what he did, a scream came from the Hall. “Gregory!” He dropped the knife and ran over to the door, he could freak out later, his kid needed him.

—

Gregory was running as fast as he could, trying not to trip. He swears he felt one of the claws nearly grab his bag when he almost fell. Finally, he ran into a wall, he felt his heart stop as he looked back. The rabbit was getting closer, Gregory felt tears fall as he looked around. He needs to think fast when he sees something. On the wall was a camera and undernet it was a long tobe thing. The thing he must have been using to spray fire.

“COME HERE GREGORY!”

Gregory quickly ducked under his arms, running straight for the tub. He pulled it down, trying to find something to start the fire. He finally pushed a button just as the rabbit tried to jump at him. He held it down as it screamed in pain, trying to back away. The rabbit backed itself into a certain that caught on fire. Gregory threw the thing on the ground and the whole room started catching fire. He quickly ran down the hall, leaving the screaming rabbit. He kept running, he couldn’t think past getting out of there.

He ran into something solid, almost falling if he wasn’t grabbed. He looked up to see his dad's worried face, with blood… He let his tears roll down at seeing his dad, before he could get a word in his dad was grabbing his hand.

“Time to go!!” His dad yelled, pulling him down the hall and out the door. The fire was spreading fast and was already in the main room. Before Gregory knew it, his dad was pulling him up the hole as the fire was licking up after them. His dad was finally pulling him from the hole, he could see the exit, when a metal hand grabbed him.

He screamed as pain shot threw his leg and was being pulled down.

Gregory looked down to see the monster holding onto him, the eyes held so much anger and its mouth was open screaming words out. He gripped hard to his dad, crying out as his dad tried to pull him up and out of the monster's clutches.

Gregory looked back down, trying to kick it off with his other foot. Just then, 2 sets of hands grabbed the monster. His eyes went wide at seeing his dead Aunty and Uncle holding on to the monster, trying to pride its claw off him. “Get off me!!” He screamed and gave the thing a kick in the head.

It went falling with the ghost.

—

Mike stood there in the parking lot, watching the building burn down. He held on to Gregory's hand tightly, he was pretty sure it might hurt but he wasn’t saying anything. He just needs to hold Gregory after all of that. The only sound was the sound of fire crackling and their heavy breathing.

They need to get out of here before fire people show up and start asking questions. Micheal looked down, Gregory was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Tears were still streaming down his face.

Mike's heart broke at seeing his kid all blood and teary. He leaned down and with his shoulder that didn’t have a stab one, he picked him up. He places Greggory on his hip. “Shhh, it's ok Bud” He whispered reassurance as Gregory buried his face into his neck and sobbed.

They need to go, but where?

Mick looked around before a thought entered his brain.

He turned around and walked away from the burning building, whispering soft reassurance to his son.

—

Sun was just pecking out of the horizon when Mike knocked on the door. Gregory was fast asleep on his shoulder, poor kid tired out from the terrifying night. The neighborhood was just like he remembered, and so was the house.

It was still blue with a white door and a swing porch. The door opened to a little girl, she had dark brown hair in pigtails, rubbing her hand in one of her eyes.

She was in a Roxys PJ, and her brown skin face had leftover makeup on. Her sleepy eyes went wide when she saw him, and he gave her a soft smile.

“Hi Cassie,” he said softly. She turned around.

“Dad! Mike and Gregory are at the door!”