Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“GUYS GUYS GUYS!” Elizabeth yelled, sprinting into the kitchen. “You won’t believe what I found!”

David jolted in his seat and hid his face behind his Fredbear toy. Michael flinched at the volume and rolled his eyes. He turned back to the lunches he was packing. If only Lizzy would make her own lunch instead of sneaking off and finding God knows what.

“What?” Mike asked, annoyed, when the silence stretched on almost long enough for Lizzy to start yelling again.

“I snuck into Father’s workshop-” Mike choked on his spit but she carried on unperturbed, “- and found a time machine!”

Michael swung his head around to look at his, apparently insane, younger sister. “A time machine? Really? Now, I don’t doubt Father’s genius, but that doesn’t sound logical. It’s probably some household device or something you don’t know the look of, maybe a project for his new restaurant. Also, you shouldn’t be sneaking down there! What if you accidentally broke something, or got hurt?” He scolded.

Elizabeth frowned with the tiniest hint of shame before recovering. “But Father’s notes said it was a time machine.”

“You read his notes?!” Mike ran his hand through his hair. If there was one way to piss their father off, it was by reading his notes and blueprints.

“Does it actually say that?” David asked, hugging Fredbear to his chest.

Michael hated that bear, he swore it had something behind its eyes. Like it was constantly watching them. He would almost feel better about it if he knew there was a camera in there, just so he knew where that feeling came from. Not that he wanted there to be a camera in his younger brother’s stuffed toy. That was just weird. But the only person who could get access to Fredbear long enough to plant one was their father, so that was marginally better.

“Yeah, it does! Come see!” Elizabeth grabbed their brother’s hand and dragged him off his chair and towards the basement.

Mike’s heart rate went up into the thousands. He could power a city with pulses in his chest. He might need a heart monitor if he continued to live around his impulsive, sheltered siblings.

“Hang on, I’m coming with you to make sure you don’t mess anything up! Fucking wait!” He called out to them, fumbling with the ties of his apron.

Once it was off, he tossed it on the island counter and ran after the two kids. Surprisingly, he found them waiting at the door to the basement instead of having barged in already. The idea of sneaking into Father’s workshop again, after what happened last time, had his hands trembling but his siblings would never let the idea of a time machine go.

Michael had to supervise, they could get hurt. If not by Father’s inventions, then by Father himself when he caught them. Michael took a lot for them, but he might not be able to keep them sheltered for long if this went wrong.

“How did you even get in?” He turned the knob and they began their descent. “He normally keeps his shit locked up tighter than a constipated arsehole.” He paused. “Don’t repeat that.”

Both first graders nodded dutifully, used to foul language from Mike. “I stole one of his keys.” Lizzy admitted.

Both of her brothers turned to look at her with appraising glances. David looked rather unimpressed while Mike looked the opposite. Lizzy raised her eyebrow at them and they returned to sneaking around.

The lights were already on down there as Lizzy had just been inside the grey, concrete room. There were various bits and bobs scattered around the metal tables and shelves but it seemed like an organised mess. There were also animatronic parts in labelled drawers, a whole endoskeleton standing in the corner. It looked down at them with sightless eyes. At the far end was a purple divider that separated the main part of the room from something else.

“It’s behind there.” Lizzy said, pointing at the divider.

They all quickly walked past the endoskeleton, shivering like they could actually feel it watching them. Mike pulled back the divider and revealed a white, panelled… thing. It looked like a wardrobe if it were made of galvanised steel and plastic, with buttons and screens on the right and a door on the left.

Another metal table sat to the side, holding blue paper covered in drawings and writing. Sure enough, it said at the top in neat handwriting: “Time Machine”. Michael couldn’t make sense of the ramblings, some of which devolved into messy scrawls too poor to read.

From what he could gather, the machine would use something called ‘remnant’ to draw another soul back in time, binding it to the machine, before pumping that person full of remnant so they could act on their own.

Mike had no idea what remnant was or why his father knew about it, but if it was something tangible then it might very well work.

“Woah.” David commented, looking up at Mike. “Is it actually a time machine?”

Michael pursed his lips. “It… appears to be. Dunno if it actually works but I’m not keen on sticking around to find out. Who knows what Father will do if he finds us down here.”

Elizabeth scoffed. “He won’t do anything. It’s not like he’d hurt us.”

Michael flinched, his heart sinking when David nodded with her. William was very careful to hide the truth from his youngest. He even hid it well from his wife before she went missing.

“We should try it.” Lizzy decided. “Who should we bring back?”

David hummed but Michael shook his head. “Absolutely not. You little shits might not get into trouble but I will! Since I’m supposed to be supervising you, I’m the one that’ll cop a shitstorm when it comes out that you did something! We’re getting out of here, now.”

He grabbed one wrist each and dragged them towards the door. Lizzy, unfortunately, was not used to not getting her way and began kicking and screaming. Michael fought to keep hold of her, even letting go of David to grab her with both hands. He picked her up but in doing so, one of her legs went flying out and hit some of the buttons on the machine.

“I want to bring someone back! Michael Afton, you have to let me! I want to use the time machine!” She shrieked.

When it became clear that he wasn’t going to budge, she began bawling and pounding her tiny hands against his shoulders.

“That’s enough out of you.” Michael said sternly, resisting the urge to scream himself hoarse.

Why did Father ever think it was a good idea to make him babysit this entitled princess? As annoying as David’s crying was, he didn’t get on his nerves like Elizabeth did.

“Uhhh… guys?” David squeaked, once again hiding behind Fredbear.

“What?” Mike snapped, wrestling to keep the wiggling Elizabeth in place.

David pointed towards the machine, which was now emitting sparks and whirring. Elizabeth’s wailing immediately halted and they all watched with bated breaths. Michael felt his dread mounting, while Lizzy began giggling and David hid behind the both of them.

Suddenly the sparks stopped and the whirring shut down. A thud could be heard from inside the machine, followed by a dull, “What the fuck?”

It kind of sounded like Father…

One of the screens on the right of the machine lit up, text flashing across it:

MICHAEL AFTON

Chapter Text

When Michael finished closing up the Pizza Place for the day, taking over from Henry and setting up for his night shift, he wasn’t expecting to be anywhere other than their establishment for the night.

He wasn’t expecting to be anywhere at all after that night. Henry and he had just salvaged the last soul they needed to make it a real party. They were planning on burning the place to the ground, themselves included.

Michael was even looking forward to it. It had been a long thirty-ish years since his self-imposed mission had begun. It had been a difficult journey, filled with downright hellish agony and intense suicidal tendencies that he had to fight off for the greater good.

He was ready to leave his decrepit body, having rotted enough to be barely recognisable behind his mask. The formaldehyde that Henry provided helped a bit, but he was already decaying at a steady rate before they got in contact again.

They were getting ready for their final countdown when Michael tipped over, suddenly woozy. The last thing he remembered was Henry rushing over to help him before he blacked out.

When he came to, his body felt… normal. He could feel his extraneous appendages under his bandages. He’d lost feeling in his fingers and toes soon after his scooping, only able to use them because of his homemade, and currently missing, prosthetics, so this was a noteworthy development.

He poked around at his body, feeling bouncy skin and an overall lack of extra holes. Poking at his stomach through his blue button up and yellow vest yielded more bouncy flesh and no cavity. His face was next; no longer skeletal and sunken with open cheeks.

Was he in the afterlife? Did he pass on before he could even partake in his and Henry’s suicide pact? It was dark, which was to be expected. He’d seen a glimpse of Old Man Consequences when he got scooped, so he knew what was waiting for him on the other side. Yet he saw no pond of red liquid and no bipedal, anthropomorphic crocodile skeleton in a fishing hat.

He slumped and his back hit a wall. He slid down to the ground and breathed. Why did he need to breathe? If he was dead then he shouldn’t need to.

“What the fuck?” His voice was a bit scratchy but had a deep natural rasp to it. Not like the wheezy rasp he had when his throat was torn open, whistling with every other word.

Like he’d actually been allowed to grow up.

He felt around the wall he was leaning on, finding corners in close proximity. Was he in a box? What the fuck! Why did they put him in a box? Don’t tell him this was his coffin. It felt like a weird coffin to be buried in, honestly. He, personally, wouldn't have chosen a metal coffin. And he didn’t want to be buried upright. He wanted to lie down and rest for once.

The surface in front of him had a bit of give to it, so he pushed hard on it until it moved. Light flooded in and he had to blink rapidly for a few moments to get used to it.

The sight that greeted him had him short circuiting.

A teen with brown hair in a shaggy mullet, dressed in 80’s rock fashion. In his arms was a young girl with strawberry blonde hair, dressed in a pink blouse and denim skirt. Behind them was a young boy, the same age as the girl, about six, with curly brown hair, in a black and grey striped shirt and shorts.

All three of them were staring at him in varying degrees of shock and Michael felt like he was mirroring their expressions back at them.

There was no way he was looking at his teenage self and his baby siblings.

The teen, probably-Mike's eyes slid to the side to look at something that was beeping, maybe-Elizabeth and possibly-David’s eyes doing the same. Wide eyed gazes immediately zipped back to him, apparently with some new information.

“Mikey?” Elizabeth asked, looking straight at him.

“... Yes?” Michael replied slowly. “What’s going on here? What in the fresh hell just happened?”

“Uh…” Teen Mike cleared his throat. “Well… um, Lizzy thought it was a good idea to sneak into Father’s workshop-”

Adult Michael’s eyes bugged out. “What were you thinking?!”

Elizabeth pouted and Mike looked vindicated. “I know! That’s what I said. Anyway, she found a time machine and brought us to look at it. She threw a tanty when I wouldn’t let her use it and accidentally activated it. For some reason it brought you- me? You? Back in time.”

Michael wasn’t as surprised as he thought he’d be at a declaration like that. Maybe it was the ghosts of children killed by his father possessing said father’s animatronics that desensitised him to the should-be-impossibles of the world. Maybe it was his thirty odd years of living inside his own rotting corpse. Maybe it was because he remembered reading some of his father’s old complaint files and seeing something about a time travelling ball pit.

It was probably that last one.

The only thing William did about that complaint was stick a sign above the ball pit warning kids not to stay in there too long or put their heads under.

Michael sighed. “Okay.”

All three of the past children were startled by his nonchalance.

“Okay?!” They parroted in disbelief.

“Honestly?” Michael put his hands on the walls of the time machine and hauled himself up. “This probably isn’t the strangest thing that’s happened to me. Things could be worse. And I must say, I’m in better shape than I was in my time.”

“Oh my God, you even talk like an old man.” Young Mike griped. “I thought I was gonna stay cool in my old age. What happened to you, man?”

“Trauma.” Michael summed up, unbandaging his hands. He neglected to explain further despite the concerned and cautious stares that earned him.

He took a step out of the time machine and looked around. It had been a while since he’d gone inside William’s workshop, his anxiety getting too much for him even after the man went missing. He skimmed over the blueprints on the table and found the answer to his questions.

The remnant that had been pumped into his body had somehow restored him to full health. That was so William wouldn’t be liable for possession of a dead body, just in case the person he brought back was dead.

The machine detected the life status of the person targeted and injected as much remnant as necessary. Which, for Michael, meant the whole tank.

Then the least favourable outcome occurred.

Even from down in the basement, they could all hear the slam of the front door and the footsteps stomping down the hall towards the basement stairs. Even Elizabeth, the safest from William’s wrath, stiffened.

William stormed in and rounded the corner, yanking back the divider. “What on God’s green Earth do you think you’re–”

His fury was cut short by the sight of Michael, the time traveller delighting in the fact that he was now a solid two inches taller than the man in purple.

Michael saw the fear in his past self’s eyes, saw how hard David clutched at past-Mike’s leather jacket, saw how Elizabeth burrowed her face into Mike’s band shirt.

He took a step forward to solidify William’s attention on him, to pose himself as the most important issue in the room.

“Father. It’s been a while.” A rather lacklustre greeting, more than William deserved.

William’s eyes widened slightly. “Michael. What happened?” He demanded.

Michael had to play this safe. He couldn’t reveal that he knew what William was up to, he would put his past self and siblings at risk if he did that. Not to mention Charlie and the not-yet-missing children.

“Well, you see, from what I gather, Elizabeth wanted to see what was down here, and since she cannot take no for an answer, past me and David were dragged down here too to make sure she didn’t break anything.” Michael explained.

“And how did you end up here?”

“Elizabeth accidentally turned the time machine on and it brought me back. We don’t know why it chose me of all people.”

“Um…” David piped up. “I think it was because Lizzy said Mikey’s full name when she was asking him to let her use it, ‘cause she uses our full names when she’s not happy with us, like you do. Mikey wouldn’t let her so she said ‘Michael Afton’ after she hit the buttons with her foot.”

William’s cold glare settled on David and he shrunk further behind Mike. Michael smiled at him to try and ease the fear.

“Good deduction, Dave, you’re very smart.” He addressed William next. “Does that sound reasonable?”

The man hesitated before giving a curt nod. “The problem here, though, is that I have not yet found a way to send someone into the future. Which means that we can’t send you back, Michael.”

Michael figured that was the case but he didn’t mind. He could make things better by being there. “I don’t mind. The world goes to shit in the future so I’d like to spend as much time here as I can. Hopefully I hit my expiration date before World War 3.”

Shit, he should probably tone down the self deprecating (more like suicidal) humour. His whole family was looking at him with concern and alarm. Except William, he looked like he was picking Michael apart in his brain. Oh, and he also did just admit to World War 3 being a possibility so that was pretty alarming too.

“Look, just play me off as your long lost brother, Father, and we’ll be fine. I’m a pretty good actor.” Michael suggested.

William didn’t look happy at being told what to do but he couldn’t come up with any better ideas. “I suppose that could work… How much do you know of your grandparents?”

Michael shrugged. “I know they split when you were in high school and you went with Gran, while Granddad moved across the country and got into a car crash.”

The children were watching their conversation like a tennis match, going back and forth between them, wide-eyed. They seemed very intrigued about the knowledge of their grandparents. Michael had only found out when he was 17, after his father disappeared off the map.

“So the story shall be that you went to live with Father, while I went with Mother. After Father’s car accident, she didn’t want custody of you and so you were put in foster care, while I was left to assume you died alongside him. I was obviously too distraught to think about you and so that is why I never told anyone I had a younger brother. I only recently found out you were alive and we reconnected.”

Michael blinked at the quick story William wove and he suddenly understood why he was able to talk his way out of police custody.

He also realised that he was playing his younger brother. That meant Michael wasn’t his true age, because he was certainly mentally older than William was here. He was nearing his mid 50’s when he and Henry began their restaurant.

“Okay, that works for me. Just double checking, what year are we in?”

“It is the 5th of August, 1982.”

“Okay.” Michael repeated.

He had a year to get everything sorted. David’s death was the one that toppled the stack and everything began rolling downhill after that.

“My birthday is coming soon, yeah? I’ll have to get a new one. We can’t all have as cool a birthday as the 19th.” He said, winking at his younger self.

Mike (he was now Mike, for ease of differentiation) settled a little, even smiling a bit at the banter.

“The 12th of July, 1943. The machine says you are 39, so that places your birth roughly 18 months after mine,” William decided, his tone annoyed. “Now, I have to ring Henry back, as I left work in a hurry. All of you: out.”

All four of them ducked their heads and marched their way upstairs, shutting the door behind them. Mike led them into the kitchen, where he placed Lizzy down on a stool at the island. David sat down next to her and Mike went to work finishing up the lunches on the bench.

Michael felt oddly satisfied with how things were.

Chapter Text

“So, Mikey, what’s the future like?” Lizzy asked excitedly.

“Aside from it being shitty, what with World War 3.” Mike cut in.

Michael laughed. “World War 3 hasn’t happened yet, in my time, but there have been threats of it. Henry and I have mostly been keeping to ourselves though, so I’m not exactly the most caught up on current events.”

Mike tilted his head in curiosity. “You and Henry?”

The other two leaned in closer, as if proximity would draw answers out of him.

“Yes. I took over from Father.” He answered simply, stunning the three children.

The idea of Father leaving Freddy’s to Michael seemed to shock them. He didn’t blame them. It wasn’t even true, Michael took Freddy’s into his own hands after William went and got himself springlocked.

“What year did you come from?” David followed up, glossing over the idea of William retiring or dying.

Michael opened his mouth to answer but then closed it. He actually didn’t know the exact year he came from. Henry did most of the paperwork filing so he didn’t commit the date to memory, and years tended to blend together after being dubiously alive for so long. It was strange, because he had an eidetic memory. He was used to remembering things with strong accuracy but after his death, that ability had slowly faded.

“It was obviously 2007, Dave, come on.” Mike answered for him. “He’s 39.”

Thank heavens for his younger self, he’d forgotten that detail. If he had said the actual date, around the 2020’s, he would have had to deal with questions about how he was 39 in the 2020’s, instead of 50-something.

“I’m not as quick at maths as you, Mikey.” David pouted.

Michael ruffled the boy’s hair. “It’s okay. You’ll get there.” He comforted, forcing back tears.

He would see to it that David grew up and learned to do maths better. He would succeed where past him had failed. He had to make sure his family had the chance to grow up and see the world. He would make sure they weren’t hindered by their father’s misdeeds.

That started with getting him thrown in jail. But how?

They sat in the kitchen for a few more minutes, Michael trying not to give much away in his answers to their questions. Just as Mike finished up the lunches, William came up from the basement.

“I’ve informed Henry that I left due to receiving contact from you. I fed him the story we came up with. He wants to meet you.” William glowered at Michael.

If he didn’t know any better, Michael would think that William was begging him to say no to meeting Henry. In an instant, Michael was hit with one of the cursed conversations his photographic memory refused to let him forget.

“William and I had a fling once.” Henry admitted.

Michael spat out the alcohol he was drinking. It was the two year anniversary of William’s disappearance and he was over at Henry’s house for some good old fashion grieving. That was, underage drinking supervised by his dad’s best friend and apparent one night stand.

“Ex- fucking- scuse me?” Michael spluttered.

Henry chuckled sadly into his bottle. “It was to cope with grief, not because I had any lingering feelings for him. He’s not quite my type. I was grieving Charlie and Ruth, while he said he was grieving Elizabeth and Clara. Given what you told me, it’s likely that he hadn’t been at all. I thought it was weird that he didn’t mention David. I thought maybe he just wanted to relate to me about the girls.”

“Sounds like something he’d do.” Michael grumbled, very uncomfortable.

It was an awkward conversation, given that it was his own father they were talking about. Luckily Henry didn’t give him too many details. Henry didn’t know at the time that William had been responsible for all five of the mentioned deaths.

Even David’s. Michael sometimes struggled to remember that, while it was instigated by him, the fault lay on William for tampering with Fredbear. No animatronic should have the strength to crush a child’s skull.

It had been strange to learn that it seemed Michael’s bisexuality was hereditary. It also raised the question of whether William killed both Charlie and her mother so he could get closer to Henry.

These points led Michael to one conclusion.

“Yeah, sure! It’d be great to see Henry again. We were working on our restaurant when I got yanked through time, so maybe us three can work something out regarding my work situation. That way I don’t have to freeload off you.”

William’s eye twitched. “Your restaurant?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, I got into robotics around my early twenties. You and Henry, uh, drifted apart but he and I stayed in contact. We decided to start up a new pizza place together with new animatronics that we designed. We were doing pretty well for ourselves, despite it only being open for a week.”

There. Sowing the seeds of jealousy. The idea that his son took his business and best friend / business partner / crush, and that they were successful together, should prod at the man’s inflated ego like nothing else. The truth, but not the entire truth.

“I see.” He said, voice flat. “I should get back to my work. Don’t bother me.”

With that, William turned tail and damn near ran back down to his workshop. Michael smiled as he was filled with petty glee. Sure he might have just signed his death warrant, but at least it was his and not past Mike’s or his siblings’.

Not like Michael would allow him to get the satisfaction of killing him.

Not then, not now, not ever.

“So what are we having for dinner?” He asked, moving to check what was in the fridge and freezer.

Mike shrugged. “I was just gonna make box meals.”

“Classic. I remember those days.” Michael pulled out some ingredients. “Leave it to me then, I am an infinitely better cook than I used to be.”

“Can you teach me? I’m sick of making shitty things.” Mike pouted, but Michael caught some insecurity in his eyes.

He nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, of course! You should get it quicker than I did, with me teaching you. I didn’t exactly have another me to help me out.”

Mike brightened and eagerly followed his instructions. They made chicken and veggie stir fry on top of rice, with only a little burning of the veggies, that overall turned out to be delicious. Little Mike was glowing with pride by the end of it and Michael felt a sense of fondness settle in his chest.

How weird was that? He was feeling fond of his thirteen year old self.

But the fondness also extended to the twins that sat next to them, who also found the meal enjoyable. It was the same feeling that he would get when Helpy did something cute, or when Henry seamlessly covered for him when Michael caught the bear secretly making him a card for father’s day.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was a lot lighter than many of the lonely dinners in the Afton house, back when Michael was a teen. Lizzy still spouted a ton of nonsense, but David occasionally gave his two cents and Mike didn’t snap at them too often. When he did, Michael gave him a stern but soft look to remind him to be nicer.

If he could shape up Mike behaviour towards his siblings now then he’d have a better shot at preventing David’s death.

Michael left a plate of dinner in the fridge for William when he inevitably resurfaced from his man cave, and went around getting things ready for the others. He settled into his old routine like clockwork. He worked in tandem with Mike, David and Elizabeth.

The evening went by quickly. Michael was hit with a wave of nostalgia at all the old video games they had on the old console. It had been ages since he last used an Atari 2600, something that shocked the kids.

Once it hit 8:30, Michael put Elizabeth and David to bed. Mike hung back a bit and he knew that there was something he wanted to ask.

“If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll be in the spare room.” Michael patted David gently on the shoulder and turned the light off.

“Goodnight.” David said, sleepily.

“Goodnight.” Michael whispered, shutting the door behind him.

Mike followed him back down to the living room and sat on the armrest of the couch. “Why are you like that with them?”

“Because I love them.” Michael answered simply.

“Well, yeah, but like…” Mike huffed, unable to get his words out properly.

He knew where he was coming from, though. Michael had struggled with raising his siblings in their father’s absence. The stress had worn on him a lot. That was what had led to the infamous Bite of ‘83. He also didn’t have much of a good paternal influence on his life to show him what a good father was.

He didn’t spend much time with Henry as a teen, mostly with Charlie. But even that wasn’t for long.

He sat down next to Mike and put a hand on his knee. “Look, I know better than anyone how stressful it is parenting your siblings at a young age. But it’s important to realise that, because you are the one taking care of them, they look up to you. What you say is important to them even if they don’t act like it sometimes.”

Michael took a deep and shaky breath. “I didn’t realise that until I’d lost them.”

Mike’s eyes widened impossibly but didn’t say anything.

“I lost them young. In an accident.” His voice came out barely more than a hoarse whisper. “I regret the way I treated them everyday.”

“When?” Mike asked shakily. “When does the accident happen?”

“A few years.” Michael lied, looking at the scattered cartridges on the floor. In reality, it all happened in a year. “But you don’t need to be worrying about that because I will make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Mike clenched his fists. “Can you even do that?”

“Their deaths were entirely preventable. I will do everything in my power to make sure you guys are happy and safe.”

Mike seemed to be on the verge of tears. Guilt pressed against his ribs alongside his newly beating heart and pulsing lungs. Michael reached forward and pulled his younger self into a hug.

From there, the dam broke. Mike sobbed into his shirt, clutching at him desperately. Heartbroken at the idea of losing his brother and sister.

Something that Michael would ensure never happened.

Chapter Text

Two days after William left work in a hurry, Henry and Charlotte were invited over to the Afton household for dinner.

Henry was quite looking forward to it. They were going to be introduced to William’s long lost brother. He couldn’t remember the whole story of what happened between them, but he was sure he’d find out.

Charlie was looking forward to seeing Michael, Elizabeth and David. Henry could tell she was interested in the story of how those three ended up with a secret uncle they didn’t know about.

Both Emilys were buzzing with excitement when they rang the doorbell to the Afton house. William greeted them at the door and led them inside.

“Elizabeth! David! No running in the house.” His friend scolded his children when they almost crashed into their guests.

Elizabeth giggled and David hid behind her. “Sorry Daddy! Sorry Uncle Henry, sorry Charlie!”

“All good, kiddos!” Henry assured. “It’s good to see you.”

“Hi guys!” Charlie rushed over and gave them a hug, as if she hadn’t seen them in weeks. They’d seen each other at their holiday program the day before.

William shook his head exasperatedly. “Move along now, all of you, let’s not keep him waiting.”

They all shuffled into the dining room where Michael was setting the table. The teen happily said hello to them, giving Charlie a hug when she demanded it, and accepting a pat on the head from Henry.

And then in walked William’s brother.

Oh…

They looked almost identical but, for all their similarities, they couldn’t be more different. Will was an inch or two shorter and Henry could spot a few differences in their facial structure. While William’s hair was short, neat and styled, his brother’s was just as dark, but longer and tied into a small, messy ponytail. He had a bit of stubble along his jaw compared to William’s clean shave.

Oh boy…

William’s sleeves were always down, while his brother had his rolled up and loose to expose his forearms (as well as some fascinating scars). Will’s brother wore a dark grey, knitted vest over top of his white button up and had swapped out dress pants for black, ripped jeans. He had piercings up his ears and wore a black bracelet that he probably borrowed from Michael.

Oh dear…

The man’s piercing blue eyes landed on Henry and he was hit full force with a charming smile; wide like William’s, yet warmer. It felt like he’d known the man forever and he didn’t even know his name!

Oh no…

“The original Michael Afton. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The man, Michael, held out his hand for Henry to shake. “You must be Henry?”

As Henry shook his hand, mouth dry from the velvety sound of that voice saying his name, William interrupted. “I told you not to introduce yourself like that.”

The older Michael laughed and Henry swallowed reflexively. “When have I ever listened to you? Besides, Mike doesn’t mind it.”

Younger Michael laughed too. “Yeah, it’s funny.”

William grumbled but Henry smiled, gathering his wits. “It’s nice to meet you too, Michael 1.0. And yes, I’m Henry Emily, and this is my daughter, Charlotte.”

Michael 1.0 grinned and turned his attention to Charlie. “Nice to meet you Charlotte. I hear you and the kids are good friends.”

Charlie nodded rapidly. “Mhm! We are. And call me Charlie! Everyone does.”

“My apologies,” Michael curtsied dramatically. “Fairest Charlie.”

Charlie began giggling and Elizabeth pouted. “But Uncle Mike! You said I was the fairest!”

Henry watched as he grabbed Elizabeth and swung her up onto his hip with ease. Charlie, as sociable as ever, raised her arms up to be carried too, despite being older. Michael did the same for her with surprising grace. Henry himself was having a bit of trouble picking Charlie up now due to her growth spurt.

“Fair’s fair in fair and fair.” Michael recited faux-seriously to the girls.

Younger Mike looked both confused and amused. “What? Isn’t it ‘all’s fair in love and war?’”

“I said what I said.”

“Alright, let’s settle down.” William said, ever the party pooper. “Dinner’s ready. Would you help me, Michael?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” He gently put the girls on the ground and they raced over to claim their seats at the table next to David.

Henry took the seat opposite Charlie, in the middle of the length of the table. Unless Michael sat at the head of the table, he'd have to sit next to Henry. “So, how’s it been with your new uncle?”

Elizabeth lit up with a brilliant smile. “Oh, it’s fantastic! He’s so much fun! He plays games with us, and he took us out for ice cream yesterday, and we gonna go to the movies, and-”

“Breathe, Liz, jeez.” Mike poked her on the cheek before going to sit next to Henry, opposite David. “But to answer your question, it’s been wicked. He’s basically a kid in an adult body so he’s really cool. He knows his stuff. He’s automatically cool because his name’s Michael too, but since I usually go by Mike that’s how we tell the difference.”

David nodded alongside them. “He tells us really fun stories and he makes yummy food.” He added quietly.

Henry smiled fondly. Seeing them so full of life was refreshing from the sullen state they’d fallen into after their mom’s disappearance.

William and Michael brought the food out, a large roast and vegetables. Will quickly said grace and then they all dug in.

“So what do you do, Michael?” Henry asked the man next to him. “Any particular areas of interest?”

“I’m a trained technician and I have an interest in robotics.”

Henry perked up. “Oh? Have you built anything yet?”

Michael tilted his head back and forth in a so-so motion. “Kind of. I’ve made some test parts and things. I’ve made several blueprints in the past for different animatronics I want to make. I was able to make some small desk robots but I, unfortunately, couldn’t bring them on the plane. It’s funny, I didn’t even know Will had gone into the exact same career trajectory as me since we went to different universities.”

“Are you looking to stay in Hurricane?” Henry hoped he was, mentally crossing his fingers. “If so, I’m sure Will and I could help you get going.”

Michael looked pleased, his smile making Henry’s mouth dry again. “I am, actually. I’d be immensely grateful for the help, if it isn’t too much of an issue.”

“Of course we’d be able to help.” William said coolly. “Just so long as you don’t take my things without asking.”

“Are you still salty about that?” Michael smirked, amused.

Henry was not going to survive around this man. He had to get himself together, though. He was sure that Charlie was squinting at her father suspiciously.

William humfed and scooped a forkful of potato into his mouth.

“Salty about what?” Mike asked curiously.

William glared at his brother. “He stole my best friend.”

“That was 30 years ago, mate.” Michael looked positively fox-like, his wide grin full of teeth.

“And?”

Michael chuckled into his cup. “I’m just saying, I became friends with him because you were always too busy to play with him and so I did in your stead. If he decided that he didn’t want to hang out with you, that has nothing to do with me. It’s also not like we were able to stay friends since I moved across the country with Father, like, a year after that.”

William averted his eyes and Michael rolled his own.

“Anyway,” Michael turned back to Henry with an innocent look, “William’s been treating you well? Not too busy for you?”

Will’s head shot up and the glare turned to metaphorical daggers. “Don’t you dare!”

Henry laughed heartily. “Yes, he’s been just fine. He’s my best friend.”

The daggers receded and William pursed his lips. Michael looked delighted and the kids were all quietly trying to stifle their laughter. Conversation continued easily and Henry found that Michael had a thing about him that made him want to open up to him about anything.

Why did he feel like he knew this man inside and out when he’d only known him for close to an hour? Why did Michael make him feel so seen?

Once dinner was over, they migrated to the living room to continue their discussions. Unfortunately, their time with the Afton family had to come to a close and the Emilys had to return home.

“If you could provide some of your blueprints, I would be able to take a look over them and maybe help you start building?” Henry offered, pathetically hopeful.

Charlie was definitely looking at him suspiciously.

Michael’s eyes glowed with gratefulness and that damn soft smile was back. “Sure, I can absolutely do that. I’ll get them to you as soon as I can.”

“Wonderful.” Henry patted Charlie on the shoulder. “Say bye to the others, Charlie.”

“Bye, guys!” She quickly ran over and gave the kids all one last hug before high fiving Michael and waving to William.

The kids and Michael all said their goodbyes and the Emilys got in their car. As soon as the doors were closed, seatbelts were on and the car had pulled out of the driveway, Charlie narrowed her gaze on him through the rear view mirror.

“So, Uncle Michael?”

Henry sighed. “Look, Charlie-”

“No, it’s okay.” She assured him sombrely.

Henry raised his eyebrows briefly. “Is it?”

Charlie nodded. “Mhm. You’ve been a lot sadder since Mom died. I am too but she was your best friend. You were like the old you again.”

Henry’s eyes welled with tears. It was true that, although he didn’t love Ruth like a husband should love his wife, her death cut him deeply. Though their relationship was a cover to hide his preferences from his parents, she really was his best friend.

It both hurt and healed him to know that Charlie could recognise that. He’d done his best to be there for her in her grief but he wasn’t sure if she knew how much he’d been grieving on his own. She was wise for an eight year old.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road and reached back for Charlie. She undid her seatbelt and jumped up to hug him. They sat like that for a few moments before Charlie moved back into her seat.

“Thanks, Char.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his knuckles and put his hands back on the steering wheel.

“I love you.” She replied simply. “I understand where you’re coming from, though. Uncle Michael is super cool.”

Henry chuckled. “I love you too, and yes, he is.”

“Can I visit the others if it means you get to hang out with Uncle Mike?”

“You can visit the others if you want, regardless of my wants.”

“Do you think Uncle Mike would build me a desk robot?”

“I’m sure there would be no harm in asking.”

“What even is a desk robot?”

“I think it might be a robot that you keep on your desk.”

“Wow.” Charlie said sarcastically. “I never would have guessed.”

Henry laughed with his whole chest. The atmosphere the whole ride home was lighter than it had been in a while.

Chapter Text

Mike cornered Michael as soon as they were all dismissed to do their own thing for the evening and William had gone back down to his workshop to seethe all by his lonesome.

“What was that?” He asked, almost incredulously.

Michael frowned. “What was what?”

“All that with Henry.” Mike raised his eyebrows when Michael just blinked. “It was like you were trying to… charm him or something.”

Oh, right, he had been doing that, hadn’t he?

“Of course I was. I have to make sure he likes me. We were great business partners in the future; I just want to set myself up nicely.”

Mike still seemed suspicious but something appeared to occur to him. “That story you and Father wove at the table. You were rewording what happened in the future, with Henry.”

Michael grinned. “Very good. Yes, Father and I were playing a little game. I told no lies tonight, unless you count those of omission.”

“Huh.” Mike nodded, impressed. “But I still think there was more going on with Henry. You had his attention the entire time. Like, he literally never took his eyes off you if he wasn’t talking to someone else."

Something moved in Michael’s chest and he was pretty sure it wasn’t a stray wire leftover from Ennard. “Oh, good.”

Mike narrowed his eyes judgmentally. “The tips of your ears are red. Don’t tell me–”

“Okay, I won’t. I think it’s almost time for you to start getting ready for bed.” Michael interrupted. “I’m going to go make sure Liz and Dave are doing their routine.”

Okay, so maybe, just maybe, he had the tiniest, infinitesimally small crush on his Father’s old friend. It had been one of those inappropriate things for his age as a coping mechanism, like the underage drinking. He could pretend he was old enough to deal with everything going on. If he could focus on how handsome Henry looked in a suit, then he could ignore the pain of attending the empty casket funeral for his eight year old sister.

He never told anyone about it or, Heaven forbid, acted on it, but he could never pretend like it didn’t exist.

He couldn’t even pretend that it was affection for a father figure since they didn’t have that kind of relationship. The title of ‘Uncle’ had been used loosely since he was an extension of Father. Someone to respect, someone they generally liked, but not exactly someone they were particularly close to. It was the same for Charlie and William.

Even when Henry helped take care of him after Father disappeared. He was mostly at work or grieving Charlie, and Michael was too busy grieving his entire family, finishing school and looking for a job.

He’d all but dedicated his life to Henry’s cause once they found each other again. Henry hadn’t cared that he was a corpse, he hugged him anyway. He didn’t care that he stank bad enough to drive away insects, he stayed by his side almost all the time. They’d sat shoulder to shoulder and planned out Henry’s speech that would be delivered before they died together.

It had been the two of them against the world.

Sitting beside him that evening, being his age, having Henry’s attention so focused on him and him alone… It had sent something thrilling through his veins. He’d poured all of his charm into his dialogue with him. To make himself seem like the most interesting person in the room.

Just another way he was like his father.

But, in all fairness, Michael did need Henry on his side. He would take everything from Father. He needed all the support he could get.

Elizabeth and David were indeed doing their routine and Michael tucked them into bed with wishes of good sleep. He even checked in on Mike, who was drawing at his desk. Michael really hoped that he forgot about their conversation.

It would be so awkward to explain properly.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Michael watched William closely as the man went over the blueprints he’d handed him. It was a mockup of Helpy, given that he had the bear well enough memorised. He could draw Helpy’s inner workings blindfolded.

They were holed up in his and Henry’s shared workshop at Fredbear’s. This was Michael's trial run to prove he wasn’t a liability or deadweight to the company (or family). Michael was leaning against the edge of William’s desk, while his father was in his swivel chair. Henry was buzzing with excitement over by his desk, swinging back and forth in his own seat.

William seemed to be getting more and more annoyed that he couldn’t pick out any flaws in the design. He tried to, disguising his remarks as curiosity, but Michael easily answered everything. The man was testing him to see if he really was knowledgeable enough about robotics to take over Freddy’s.

Given that Helpy’s technology was advanced, even for the time period he came from, it quickly became clear that Michael knew more about robotics.

That grinded on William’s springlocks like nothing else.

It didn’t surprise Michael, though. He’d taken apart the illusion disks William had used to torment him and made them better. William’s nightmarish illusions were broken by sudden movement and worked poorly in cold temperatures.

Michael’s design had been able to disguise him as a functioning human being in the dead of winter while doing exercise. Down to the last hair out of place.

He very much prided himself on being superior to his father.

“Hm. These are acceptable.” William grudgingly admitted. “I suppose we could take you on.”

Michael fist bumped the air. “Woohoo! Fantastic.”

“But,” Ah, there it was, “only if you can prove to be capable of building this.”

“Ah, that’s cool. Give me a month and I’ll have him done, given that I have the right parts.” Michael waved his hand dismissively, just to watch the tense vein in William’s forehead pulse.

The moment the blueprints were put down on the desk, they were swiped up by Henry. Hazel eyes raced from image to image, almost devouring the words written next to them.

Helpy was a mixture of design elements that Michael had found. Some from his father, some from Henry, some of his own making. What was uniquely his, however, was his ability to incorporate and innovate them all together.

William, although - admittedly - a pioneer, was rigid in his mindset. He found his ideas to be the best in the room and didn’t sink as low as to use parts from others. Henry, on the other hand, was more open minded but still tended to stick to what he knew best rather than search out more.

Michael took everything his father left behind and used it to forge something new for himself. He took what Henry had to offer and used that too. He came up with new ideas and built on them. He had no qualms about mixing and matching cohesive elements, while looking for the most effective way forward.

That was something Henry, in the future, had admired.

Past Henry was no different.

“This is extraordinary! Are you really able to build this?” Heny exclaimed, eyes sparkling. “It’s so advanced!”

Michael couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. My methods are a bit unconventional, to the point where no one really wanted to hire me just in case I accidentally blew something up. Which… I may have done in the past. But! I’ve done enough trials to confirm it's safe to use.”

Henry was looking between him and the papers with awe. “Can I watch you build him? The way everything is linked so intricately, to make it so efficient but compact, is fascinating. I almost want to see what you’d do when given a computer to take apart.”

Michael laughed. He remembered taking apart the monitor in his office because it wasn’t running fast enough. That was the moment he really discovered his knack for technology.

“That would be fun. And of course, you can watch! It might be a bit boring, though. It takes quite a bit of precision to fit everything together so it takes a long time.”

Henry waved his hand. “Oh, I’m used to long processes. So, you’ve built things like Helpy before?”

Michael nodded. “Mhm. I think I mentioned my desk robots, which didn’t really do much so not a lot of work went into them.”

“Oh!” Henry snapped his fingers. “Charlie wanted me to ask you what a desk robot is and if she could have one.”

Of course, Michael smiled. Naturally she wanted one. She’d always been fascinated by robots, like the Puppet. If she’d lived long enough, she would have made a fine Fazbear franchisee.

“My desk robots are just small robots with limited code that do little more than roam about your desk. Like those wind up toys. They’d wobble their head, made funny noises and display facial expressions on their screens, but nothing else. They were mostly to keep me company while I worked.” He shrugged.

“Fascinating.” William interjected blandly, probably realising that Michael was capitalising off Henry’s attention again. “Perhaps you could procure some blueprints for those too?”

“I’m sure I could.” Michael gave him a thumbs up. “As for Charlie, it’ll have to be her Christmas present. Because if she gets one, then my niece and nephews will want one too.”

“Oh, definitely.” Henry chuckled.

Michael had some busy months coming for him, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He and Henry (a corpse and an old man) outfitted an entire pizzeria with huge animatronics in less than a year. There weren’t any souls to reap either!

Now, time to rebuild his robot bear son.

Chapter Text

Michael knew something.

Not the teenage one, no. The older one.

William was sure of it. He was right in saying that he was a good actor, but he could never fool his father.

He knew that Michael purposefully wound him up only to act all innocent. To act so brotherly that it almost seemed like he’d actually been a good one at some point. To charm Henry so easily, so annoyingly.

He could probably blame that on feelings of spite for the times he’d raised his voice or hand towards him when he was younger. But William’s gut was telling him otherwise. He often listened to his gut instinct, as he was usually right.

No, it wasn’t all spite for a bad father.

Michael knew something. William just didn’t know what.

His oldest child, now almost as old as him, hadn't once brought up his mother.

Sure, they hadn't had the best relationship before William took her out of the picture. Sure, Clara had mainly seen Michael as an obligation to raise, a way to potentially fix her broken marriage. Sure, Michael must know that.

But it was still strange that nothing at all was said about her disappearance.

He didn't know if Michael had looked through his blueprints after coming out of that time machine. William had barged in about ten minutes after his workshop door had been opened a second time, which meant that Michael would have had a 5 to 8 minute gap to explore, depending on when Elizabeth set the machine off.

So William turned to his camera system. Closer inspection revealed that roughly 4 minutes after Michael was brought back, he looked at the table containing the blueprints for the time machine.

What was frustrating was that Michael’s face was hidden from view when he did, so he couldn't see what his reaction to it was. He didn't know if he’d looked upon them with recognition, surprise, shock, horror, understanding, anything to imply he knew what was being spoken of.

He did notice that Michael was wearing bandages when he arrived, which he promptly took off once out of the machine. Why wear bandages if he was not injured? Maybe it had to do with the strange scars on his arms.

So this caused William to check the remnant levels of the time machine, only to find that his entire tank was depleted. Certainly, it did not take all of that remnant to pull a soul back in time! Which must mean that Michael was injured pretty heavily before being transported.

This was supported by Michael’s own words. In response to the explanation of his journey through time, he’d replied that he was “in much better shape than in his time.” With the amount of remnant injected into his body, it was safe to conclude that Michael may very well have been dead.

And wasn't that an interesting thought.

He had to prepare his research project sooner.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Michael double and triple checked the list of parts as he and Henry walked down to the mill. He had a tight budget and William would not be happy if he didn't get the right parts on time.

The list was quite long, given that it contained requirements for projects of all three of them. The ones Michael cared about the most were the inner parts and outer casings for Helpy. Those had been set into the moulds the day prior and so would have finished solidifying and curing by now.

“So, how are you settling in so far, Michael?” Henry asked.

He looked up from the sheet of paper and smiled. “Very well, thank you. Everything is so simple here. Not a lot of stress to living. Everyone is so friendly here too. And being able to be with family is…” His smile turned sad. “I don't even have the words to describe how lovely it is.”

Henry’s face took on a sad but empathetic expression. “I can imagine so. William told me that you were in foster care…”

“Mhm. I bounced around houses a lot. I was… a difficult kid. Made some mistakes that turned people away from me, so I didn't have any real permanency. Got a job early, saved up and moved out to be on my own as soon as I could.” Michael said, technically speaking the truth.

He’d spent a lot of his last years in school working on the side. Henry had helped him some by providing a place to stay, but sometimes Michael snuck back into the Afton house for some sense of bizarre normalcy.

He felt like a burden on Henry, who was already struggling with losing his wife and daughter. It felt manipulative to take advantage of his empty house while he was grieving. He didn't think he deserved the courtesy that Henry offered him, especially when he’d been the one to expose William’s wrongdoings to him.

Michael himself had only found out, at the age of 17, about them after his father went missing.

He had a fight with William about him not returning home some days while Michael had been struggling on his own. Michael hadn't known about the illusion disks or his father’s hand in the missing childrens’ incident, Elizabeth’s death or Charlie’s. Not even that of his own mother, or Charlie’s mum.

It was about William’s complete avoidance of him, and his violence when they did cross paths. Michael had screamed at him for ten minutes.

William had stated, bluntly and harshly, that he didn't care. That he had work to do and that Michael had better not get in the way. He said that if Michael really wanted to know what he was up to, then to look behind the shelving unit in the basement. After that, he got in his Midnight Motor and sped off.

He didn't come home that night. Nor the next one. Or the next. Michael was the one to report him missing when nobody had seen him since that night.

Michael had torn apart everything inside the house from both anger and grief. He had no one left. He was on his own. And so he tore apart his father’s workshop, opened up the secret door behind the shelves, and stepped foot into Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rentals, where he would return two years later to recover his lost sister.

Sent there to die by his own father.

“That’s awful. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Henry said, consolingly.

Oh, you don't know the half of it, Michael thought.

“Eh, it’s in the past. I managed to get here on my own and am reaping the benefits. I have a good prospective job, a stable environment, and a wonderful family to get to know.” Michael shrugged, ‘I’m alive’ going unsaid and unheard. “I’m better.”

Henry hummed softly but made no move to continue the conversation as they had reached the mill.

Michael hadn't intended on spilling his sob story that early into his companionship with Henry, but there was something about him that just made him want to open up. It was weird, since he was usually a very private person unless necessary.

Maybe he was just a simp.

They worked together to pack the boxes of parts, ticking off the list as they went, onto the trolley carts and dragged them back to Fredbear’s. William got on their backs about being quicker but, behind his back, Michael just rolled his eyes and Henry smiled.

Michael happily unboxed Helpy’s parts, with an equally excited spectator named Henry watching over his shoulder.

He wasn't able to assemble much of Helpy’s structure, since it was delicate and time consuming, before he had to run off to pick the kids up from the program. He'd promised them ice cream and he couldn't say no.

Chapter Text

Unfortunately, Michael couldn't continue working on Helpy the next day because he was too busy helping prepare for his younger self’s birthday party.

Mike had chosen a pirate themed party for his fourteenth, which some might think is lame but was actually the coolest thing ever. Even his schoolmates who had laughed at the idea had a good time.

There was a reason that Foxy was the best animatronic out of the gang, regardless of older Mike’s trauma involving his face.

Michael was dressed like a pirate off Pinterest, not one of those cringy, cartoon-y pirate costumes from the Walmart. He’s talking: beige poet shirt, brown suit vest, loose, brown trousers, black boots, various knick knacks tied to his belt, a tricorn hat; the whole nine yards.

If Aftons were paid by the hour to be dramatic, they’d be the richest family in Utah.

Mike was currently at the park skateboarding with his friends, now in the after school hours, so the rest of them had time to set everything up. The twins and Charlie ran around handing people what they needed, like streamers and balloons. Henry and Michael were the only ones dressed up at the moment, but Mike and his friends were.

Michael did his best not to stare at Henry in a pirate costume. It had been about 40 years since he’d seen it and he didn't have a tiny infinitesimally small crush on the man back then.

But now… Henry was very much a suburban dad stereotype, so it was almost a shock to the system to see him dressed like the Pirate King from the 1982 version of the Pirates of Penzance. Only with a few more buttons done up.

Damn. Okay, he’d definitely failed at not staring.

But on the other hand, Henry had blinked rapidly when he saw Michael’s costume so he supposed he wasn't alone in the pirate brain-rot boat. He didn't know Henry liked pirates as well.

The pizzas went in the oven and the cake was put in the fridge while William went to collect the teens. Michael and David made sure that Mike’s presents were presented nicely, while Elizabeth and Charlie double checked all the decorations.

Mike and his friends (Michael’s old friends, how weird) rushed in, wearing their usual Freddy’s masks on top of their pirate costumes. They all pulled the party poppers to fire confetti all over him when he came through the door. By consequence, it got all over William too.

Now that Michael was an adult (and after all he’d been through), his father’s face of annoyance no longer scared him, but instead amused him.

David stuck close to Michael’s side, the sight of the masks scaring him. Michael’s heart twinged. Why had he once enjoyed something that had scared his brother like this? Why had he enjoyed scaring his brother with it?

Because it was the only thing you could control in your life at that point, to get a sense of novelty you wouldn't have otherwise found. Future Henry’s voice reminded him. It was cruel, yes, but when you were teasing and scaring David, you didn't have to take care of him. It helped you avoid the task that caused you stress. It was a coping mechanism. And since William was the one who mostly took care of Elizabeth before Circus Baby's, that wasn't forced on her.

Right. His own, twisted form of escapism.

Michael sat with his younger brother at the party table, Mike’s friends taking the seats near him. David seemed soothed by Michael’s presence next to him, the masks and the animatronics didn't bother him as much.

Mike and his friends were having a blast. Seeing it brought back a strange nostalgia.

As far as Michael knew, his old friends had gone on to do better things after they drifted apart. They'd all been traumatised because of what they did to David, what had happened outside of their control. They'd all seemingly resolved to never let something like that happen again.

He knew that both Scott and Daniel had gone on to become parents and, from what he heard, were good ones at that.

Scott had worked at the mill when Michael and Henry had ordered animatronic parts for the Pizza Place. If he remembered correctly, Daniel had become a technician too, to support his baby daughter.

Funny how some things turned out.

Especially funny that he’d felt like he’d seen Scott’s seven year old kid before. He swore he’d seen that blue jacket and striped shirt way long ago.

Dinner went by quickly and soon Mike was opening up his presents from his family and friends. They played a few games and mostly spent the evening chatting until the teens’ parents came to pick them up.

A gaggle of kids came running back to the entrance, giggling as a group. A bubble of nervousness spontaneously grew in Michael’s chest. He didn't know why, but he was suddenly on edge. Instinctively he scanned the room to check who was there.

David, Mike, Elizabeth, Henry… Charlie!

Panic tore through him, shearing his chest open like the scooper, and he speed-walked down the hall to the prize counter. The security puppet was nowhere to be seen, boxes piled on top of its present-shaped container. The back door was jammed shut. It was pouring outside.

Shit, no, fuck, no, no, no! This can’t happen again!

Michael’s breathing sped up as he tried to unjam the door. It didn't budge. He ran into the other room and out the front door, ignoring the questions of his family. He raced around to where Charlotte Emily’s body had been found later that night, praying that the Old Man hadn't taken her too soon.

A small figure was huddled on the ground inside a cardboard box, only her shoe clearly visible. She wasn't moving. Michael’s heart stopped and he ran over to her, nearly slipping on the wet concrete path.

“Charlie!” He called, frantically.

The figure jolted, and Charlie peeked her head out of the box, her fringe stuck to her face from the rain.

“Uncle Mike!” She cheered, jumping up and running towards him.

Michael was suddenly able to breathe again. The rain disguised his tears as he scooped her up into his arms and sheltered her from the rain with his open vest as best as he could.

“What are you doing out here, Lottie?” He asked, coughing to get rid of the stubborn lump in his throat.

Her smile dimmed and her bottom lip trembled. “The other kids wanted to show me something outside but when I got to the door, they shoved me out and shut it behind me. I couldn't get it open! I wanted to walk back around to the front but it's too dark and I haven't been out here before so I got scared. Dad says that if I’m alone in a scary place then to stay where I am until someone gets me so I don't get lost or hurt.”

Michael took a deep but shaky breath. “You did a good job, kid. You’re okay. We’re gonna get back inside now, before we both get pneumonia, okay?”

She nodded rapidly and Michael swiftly, but more carefully this time, jogged back to the entrance. Just as they turned off of the back street, Michael heard the wheels of a vehicle coming onto the street behind them.

Michael forgot how much he needed to breathe when he was panicked, after thirty years without lungs. He was filled with relief. He was just in time so that his father didn't see them, even in the headlights.

The two of them were swarmed by the others when they made it inside. He set Charlie down and she was drawn into her own father’s arms. Mike and his siblings were chattering around them, asking them what happened, but the only thing Michael could process was the ringing in his ears and the hammering of his heart.

He was so glad that Charlie was alive that he didn't even register that her incident wasn't supposed to happen until after David’s 7th birthday.

Chapter Text

“Michael?” Henry asked. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to be sick.”

Michael was paler than he usually was, breathing heavily, soaked to the bone from running out in the rain to get Charlie, and had a thin line of red around the rims of his eyes. Had he been crying? Why was he shaking so badly?

Michael jumped, eyes racing to meet Henry’s. Henry’s concern grew to new heights. The man looked lost. Like he wasn't quite sure where he was or what was going on. Then, in an instant, the look disappeared and he was as composed as ever.

Now Henry was concerned for a different reason. That looked practised.

“Hm? I’m fine.” Michael replied with a charming smile.

He clearly wasn't. Something had shaken him in the five minutes since he’d run outside the building. No… before then. Just before Michael ran out, he had this frantic, wide-eyed expression. Only for him to come back in with a soaked Charlie.

Henry, ashamedly, hadn't even noticed his daughter was outside. Apparently a group of the other kids had locked her out there using the back door in the prize counter.

So if something had happened out there that Michael wasn't telling him… That was cause for concern. Especially since Charlie hadn't given any indication, other than her general upset over being locked out, that something had gone wrong.

Henry decided to put it off for the moment, against his better nature and intuition, as he bundled up his daughter and new work partner in towels. They usually kept spares in the kitchen cupboard since accidents happen all the time at the establishment.

Then William walked in and Michael tensed. It wasn't noticeable to anyone who wasn't close, but Henry had just thrown a towel over his head. He was definitely close enough to recognise the way his spine straightened minutely and his facial muscles became the slightest bit stiff, like he was purposely keeping his expression natural.

What had happened?

William was a bit wet, having just come inside after running an errand. He looked… borderline angry. He, like Michael, was tense and his stare sharp.

“Kids, Michael, we’re going home now.” He said, not even glancing over at Henry.

William’s children sagged with disappointment but all nodded. Charlie pouted and Henry ruffled her hair.

“It’s alright, guys, you can see each other at care tomorrow. Hope you had a good birthday, Mike.” He comforted, not knowing why the tense atmosphere was still there.

The teen smiled brightly, eerily similar to Michael’s controlled smile, and nodded. “Yeah, it was great. I had a good time.”

William sent a brief smile Henry’s way but turned around and left immediately after. Michael was still maintaining his polite smile, which hadn't changed a bit, watching the kids carefully. It was almost uncanny in some way that Henry couldn't describe.

“You heard the man, lads and lass. Let’s go.” Michael finished drying his hair with the towel and holding it out to him. “Do you mind taking this for me? William will throw a hissy fit if we don’t hurry.”

Henry grabbed it with a smile. “Yeah, sure. Tomorrow, you can tell me what’s going on.” He shooed them away before Michael had the chance to deny it.

“Bye, kids!” He and Charlie waved to them and they waved back through the windows of William’s car.

They went back to finishing tidying up once they were out of sight from the restaurant. Henry sighed to himself. He knew it likely wasn't any of his business what was going on with Michael and William, but he couldn't help but want to be involved.

William was his best friend! And Michael was… well, he was his new friend and Will’s brother. He wanted to make sure they were both okay, especially if it involved the incident with Charlie.

Things were too complicated. He’d figure them out later.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Everyone in the car was tense, but only two of them kind of knew why.

William was tense because his plan was foiled. Michael was tense because William’s plan was foiled, but also simply because William was tense. Mike, Lizzy, and David were all tense because William and Michael were tense, but only Mike knew why they were tense because William and Michael were tense.

Convoluted, right?

Michael’s job was to keep everyone in the car unaware of why he was tense.

And that just made him tenser.

So he did his best to relax, at least until they were home. William, as usual, went down to his workshop, while Michael and Mike corralled the other two into getting stuff ready for the care program tomorrow.

When the night was late enough, he put the kids to bed and fell face first onto the couch.

Charlie’s incident wasn't supposed to happen this early. Her being locked outside, and her subsequent death to William, came later in the timeline. She was meant to be the last of them. She soothed the spirits that were already in the pizzeria and properly bound them to the suits, like she had been. She helped them see that they could recover their identities by aligning themselves with their new bodies, to better get revenge on that who’d hurt them.

So why was it happening now?

And why did Michael almost let it happen? He should have been keeping a closer eye on her. He knew what could happen if she was left alone in that location. He should have expected it.

The only thing that could soothe him was the knowledge that he had successfully prevented William’s murder attempt. The man had only just gotten there when they left. He knew that Michael had gone outside to collect Charlie, how could he not when they were both drenched in rainwater? But the important thing was that it wasn't evidence that Michael knew about the murder plot.

William had no grounds to suspect him of anything other than caring for Charlie.

With a groan, Michael heaved himself off the couch and took a shower. He felt much better in his pyjamas.

When he exited the bathroom, he was surprised with Mike standing right outside the door.

“Oh, hey, little me.” Michael ruffled his hair. “Need the bathroom?”

Mike huffed. “Not little. And no. I need to talk to you.”

Michael winced. That could only be about what happened with Henry, what happened with Charlie, or something about William. None of which were good options.

“Alright.”

He led the teen over to the guest room where he was staying. They both dropped down on the bed in an identical fashion and Michael stared at his younger self expectantly.

“What was supposed to happen tonight?” Mike asked, much to Michael’s dread. Thankfully he was being quiet about it, so he didn't have to worry much about the cameras in the halls picking it up. “You were freaking out both before and after bringing Charlie in from outside.”

Michael sighed and thinned his lips. He really, really, really didn't want to tell him. Though the chance of William hearing him was small, it was still present. Not only that, he’d taken a risk telling Mike about Dave and Liz’s deaths. He didn't know what would come of telling him about Charlie’s.

“Nothing, I was just worried.” He replied. When Mike frowned, clearly frustrated, he mouthed, ‘Later. Cameras.’

Understanding bloomed on Mike’s face and he rapidly glanced around the room.

Michael circled his finger around, as if to signify the whole room, before shaking his head. He pointed to his closed door that led into the hallway, and nodded. He tapped his ears and his eyes to signify that both sound and image were captured.

He knew that his younger self would know what he meant because of all the spy movies he’d watched when he was even younger.

Mike nodded quickly to show he did, indeed, understand.

“Did you have a good birthday?” Michael asked to draw them back into normal conversation, that way - if William was listening - he wouldn't get too suspicious.

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

“Still. That was ages ago for me. I want to hear it from you.”

Mike’s lips twitched, like he was fighting back a smile. “Yeah. It was good.”

“Good.” Michael repeated. “That’s good.”

They sat in silence for a while before Michael ruffled the boy’s hair again. “Go to bed now, Champ. You’ve got an early morning.”

Mike looked conflicted for a moment. He then darted forward and wrapped him in a tight hug, shocking Michael. When he was 14, he wouldn't have been caught dead hugging an adult.

When his brain caught up, quite quickly as he was rather sharp, Michael returned the hug, just as tightly. Mike tucked his head against his collar bone, under his chin.

“It’ll all be alright, kiddo. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Michael was already hard at work by the time Henry arrived at the establishment. He hoped that by seeing Michael absorbed in building Helpy, that Henry would avoid interrupting him by asking about last night.

And it worked, actually. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Henry frown and shake his head a bit before moving over to his own desk.

William was already there, having arrived with Michael. He greeted Henry in Michael’s stead and the two of them started up a conversation while they had their coffee. It was nice white noise, despite William’s voice grating on his ears.

After a while, he began to properly lose himself in the work. He'd finished making Helpy’s base skeleton and some of his nervous system.

He remembered the first time Helpy had come to life underneath his fingertips. Michael had watched the tiny bear blink his eyes a few times before identifying him as his creator, tilting his head adorably.

Michael had never really considered himself father material, it only took one look at his childhood to know why. And adulthood too. But seeing his boy explore his surroundings but always come back to him to learn something new ignited that feeling in his chest. The one that burned warmer than any Freddy’s he’d ever arson’d.

He was starting to get that feeling around the kids too.

Who knew that the only way for him and his siblings to have a stable, happy life was to have his older, more traumatised, future self travel back in time to help them?

Life was crazy.

He shook the thoughts out of his head and continued working on. It wasn't until Henry tapped him on the shoulder for lunch that he stopped.

“You hungry?” Henry asked, amusement showing on his face.

Michael quickly checked the time, 1PM, and registered the loud rumbling of his stomach. His ears turned pink and he grinned sheepishly.

“A bit.” He then noticed that it was just him and Henry in the room. “Where’s Will?”

“He said he’d take care of the patrons this afternoon, so he had an early lunch. He’s off tending to them right now.”

Michael nodded. Those bloody patrons. That seemed to be all his father cared about when he was younger.

“There’s a place not too far away that does really good sandwiches.” Henry gestured in the direction. “Have you been there yet?”

He had been there, it was a classic after all, but Henry wasn't aware of his time travelling shenanigans.

“Nope, not yet, I don’t think.” Michael answered, beginning to tidy up his work bench.

Henry shook his head, mock solemnly. “We can't have that. Once you’re ready, we’re going. I’m driving.”

Michael opened his mouth to reply but Henry grabbed his keys and left, without giving him a chance to protest.

He sighed fondly. Once Henry had set his mind to something, there was no stopping him. They were very much alike in that regard.

He met him out by Henry’s old car. It was only a ten minute drive but it was enjoyable, especially without William there to ruin it. Michael let Henry animatedly explain which sandwiches were the best before he ordered his own personal favourite, as well as a hot coffee.

Once they were done with their food Henry levelled a serious look at him from across the table. Michael suppressed a groan, knowing exactly what he was going to be asked.

“So, what happened last night?”

Michael took a deep breath and fiddled with his napkin. “What part do you mean?”

Henry pressed his lips tightly. “You seemed rather panicked before and after you brought Charlie inside. Was there any reason in particular? Because Charlie, although upset about it, didn't really find it as panic-inducing as you seemed to.”

He didn't know how much to say. Should he play it off as a strange quirk of his or should he give a bit of information? Obviously he wasn't going to tell Henry about William, but should he say something that was vague but technically the truth?

He decided on the second one, that way he wouldn't be caught up on it later.

“There was… someone else out there.” He said slowly, and Henry’s eyes widened. “I saw their silhouette through the window. I suspect they saw me too. I was praying that, whoever they were, they weren't going after Charlie before I could get out there.”

Henry put a hand over his mouth, his eyebrows lowering more and more.

“I saw them out of the corner of my eye when I found her. She was sitting in a cardboard box not too far away from them. I couldn't see much of her but she wasn't moving. I thought I was... too late. She didn't see them and they left shortly before we did. I can only guess what my presence dissuaded them from doing.”

“Oh. Oh God…” Henry looked sick. “No wonder you were so panicked… Thank you so much for looking out for her. I didn't even know she was outside… I don't know what I'd do if…”

Michael put his hand over Henry’s on the table between them. “Hey, it’s alright. You’d do the same for William’s kids. Lottie’s safe now.”

He knew that personally.

It took a bit for Henry to calm down. Michael didn't move his hand until then. Henry shook his head.

“Alright, now that that’s answered, is it okay for me to ask what went on with William?”

Michael tilted his head. “What gave you the impression that something went on with him?”

Henry raised his eyebrow. “That’s not a, ‘nothing happened.’ And you tensed a bit when he entered the room.”

He rolled his eyes. “True. We had an argument prior to the party. Nothing of importance.”

Better to convince Henry of something that happened, or rather - didn't happen, behind closed doors than to give away the real reason.

“Okay.” Henry hummed. “That makes sense, I guess. Except for that you weren't tense when he was there before.”

Michael sighed. “Look, it’s really nothing to worry about. Just a small bit of contention. If it gets any bigger, then I’m sure William will rant to you about it.”

He was pulling the, ‘really nothing to worry about’ card. He remembered his first night shift at the main Freddy’s location. Where Ralph had tried to convince him that the haunted animatronics stuffing him into a suit if they caught him was no big deal. There really was something to worry about.

That caused Henry to look a bit concerned, but he nodded regardless. “Alright, I’m sorry for pushing. I’m sure it's none of my business.”

Waving a hand dismissively, Michael shrugged. “Eh, it’s okay. We should probably head back now anyway.”

Henry looked like he wanted to disagree but could tell that Michael just wanted to go back to work. “Alright, let’s go then.”

Not wanting to make it seem like he was in a bad mood, Michael gave him a small smile. “It was good having a chat with you, though. And the sandwich was great.”

That made him brighten up a bit. “It was, wasn't it? Maybe we can have lunch again sometime?”

Michael readily agreed and they headed back to the restaurant. The workshop was still empty when they arrived. Henry headed out to help William with general management things, while he continued working on Helpy.

If he could make Helpy perfectly, just as he had last time, then William would consider him good enough to officially become one of the technicians for Freddy Fazbears. Once that was cleared away, he could keep an eye on what William was doing. If he could keep kids away from alone time with his father, then Michael could successfully prevent any murders and possessions from occurring.

He would have access to certain areas of the restaurant that he didn't have currently. Sure, maybe Henry would be willing to let him have access temporarily, but he didn't think William would approve of that.

Michael had to keep as low a profile as possible.

Since things seemed to be happening weirdly, possibly due to Michael’s presence, Michael had to prepare for the missing children’s incident much earlier than he anticipated.

Since William’s attempt on Charlie’s life had gone largely unsuccessfully, the rage that Will was likely storing up would probably result in that. Murder seemed to be William’s de facto method of stress relief, and children were awfully easy to come across when one has a business in kids entertainment.

Long story short, Michael needed access to those cams ASAP.

Chapter Text

True to his word, by the second week of September, Helpy was completed.

All of Michael’s family were gathered around the coffee table to see him activate. Mike, David, Elizabeth, and Charlotte were bunched up on the couch next to him, while Henry and William watched over his shoulders.

“Are you ready, guys?” Michael asked.

“Yes!” All four of the kids, plus Henry, cheered, buzzing with excitement.

With that, Michael pressed Helpy’s ‘On’ button and closed his chest cavity. The tiny bear was about as tall and wide as the length and width of his hand. That meant he could carry him in his palm and put him in his shirt pocket, just the way he liked it.

Helpy’s big baby blue eyes blinked up at him. He wiggled his fingers and tilted his head to each side, wiggling his ears next.

“Hey, Helpy. I’m Michael, I made you. Please run an internal scan.”

Helpy’s irises glowed as he started the scan and he looked down at his hands and feet. He glanced back up at Michael, closed his eyes, the light fading, and did a little dance to signify that everything was working as it should.

“Awwww!!” Lizzy and Charlie cooed, startling Helpy.

“That’s adorable.” Henry commented with a huge grin.

“Remarkable.” William muttered.

Michael cleared his throat. “Okay, Helpy, this is my family.” He turned to the people next to him. “Introduce yourselves slowly. He has to process your faces and voices.”

“Hi! I’m Elizabeth!” The blond girl announced excitedly.

Once Helpy nodded, he turned to David.

“Oh… um… I’m David.” Dave said shyly, surprisingly not hiding behind his Fredbear plush. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Helpy closed his eyes happily and did another little dance, making him and the girls giggle. Next was Charlie.

“I’m Charlotte, but call me Charlie.”

“I’m Mike. You’re really cool.”

“Hello, Helpy! I’m Henry. It’s nice to meet you, little man.”

“My name is William.”

Now that introductions were completed, Helpy sat down on the coffee table and his eyes glowed again. Michael rubbed him on the back with his index finger and made a shooing motion to the others.

“He’s processing right now. I’m gonna take him to my room so he can finish up without interruption.” The kids groaned and pouted. “You can play with him later. He’s only just woken up.”

He scooped Helpy up into his palms and brought him over to the desk in the spare room, where he’d put Helpy’s charging station. He gently placed the bear down on his platform and made sure it was on. The small light on the bottom of Helpy’s foot turned on, meaning he was charging right.

It’s always good to charge your new devices before first use.

Satisfied that Helpy was stable, Michael went back downstairs. He saw his family gathered around the coffee table again and leaned over to see what they were all looking at.

Circus Baby’s ugly mug and horrifying endoskeleton stared back at him.

“Oh, Michael,” William beamed fakely at him as he approached. “I’m just showing the others my designs for the sister location. I did tell you about that, right?”

Michael swallowed down the utter hatred he had for his father and everything of his father’s making, taking extra care to keep his facial expression from turning sour.

“The scooper only hurts for a moment.” Circus Baby whispered in his ear. “You won’t die.”

“Yeah, you did.” He answered. He hadn't, but in the other timeline he had.

“These are state of the art, how long have you been planning this?” Henry asked, absorbed in the blue paper.

“Quite a while.” William shrugged and smiled, pleased but trying to appear modest.

“Uncle Mikey! Daddy designed Circus Baby for me! Isn’t she cool?!” Lizzy grabbed Michael’s hand and jumped up and down excitedly.

His hands were slowly becoming numb, not from Elizabeth’s grip but from the feeling of phantom wires shivering under his skin. His hearing quietened and his sight flickered with images of Ennard, Baby, the scooper…

“She’s great.” He said robotically, but Lizzy paid no mind to it.

Mike stared at him, and Michael tried not to stare back. He didn't want to look at the red dripping from his face and hands.

David frowned at him, concerned, blood dripping down his head and neck, that damned bear in his arms. Lizzy bounded back over to her father, ignoring the blood on her face, and sat with them as Springtrap explained Circus Baby’s inner workings to Henry and the Puppet.

“Well hello again!” Funtime Freddy said from the pages of blue squares and white lines. The outline of the child’s body in his stomach was missing.

Funtime Foxy screamed at him, face splitting open, and Ballora’s music chimed and echoed as his blood and organs hit the floor, seeping out around him. The siren of the scooper rang in his ears and the sharp edge of the unhinging bucket pierced stomach, ripping up through his chest, hot liquid remnant being injected into his body, scalding his veins.

A small hand grabbed his and pulled him away from the living room. His body moved on its own, like it had after Ennard crawled inside. He mechanically moved up the stairs as David led him somewhere. He was never in control.

David’s room was relatively small. His friends, plushies, were sitting neatly in one corner, unfortunate Foxy without his head. He kept the top of his dressing table clean, a lamp and a couple of kids books the only things occupying the space.

David sat Michael down on his bed and handed him Fredbear. Michael couldn't move. His body wasn't his, he couldn't move. He sat like a statue, Fredbear in his lap, as David moved his friends to sit next to him on the bed too. Chica was first, then Freddy, then Bonnie, then poor headless Foxy.

David then climbed up and leaned his small face into his side, small hands holding onto Michael’s baggy, blue sweater. Not purple. Anything other than purple.

Michael’s chest began to convulse and he silently gagged, a hand coming up to feel at his throat and face. It was whole, despite what the purple tinge to his skin would have him believe. Nothing came out.

“Mikey? Do you need a bucket?” David asked.

“I don’t want to go!” David cried.

“No…” Michael croaked out, muffled under his palm. “It’s okay.”

His voice was raw but without whistling. There weren't any holes in his throat. He looked back down at his hands and they were his usual skin tone. No hints of red or purple or blackened rot to be seen. The hand on his face still felt whole skin and flesh.

The cries and screams and taunts and circus music faded and he was left with the sound of his brother’s breathing and his own. His chest was rising and falling. Nothing was falling out.

“I don’t like them either. I don’t know why Lizzy likes it so much.” David whispered. “I don’t know why Daddy made them that way.”

Michael hummed brokenly. He brought his hand down from his face to wind his arm around David’s shoulders. He pulled him into a side hug, David’s grip growing stronger.

“Thanks for looking out for me, Dave. You’re a wonderful kid.” He said, no small amount of adoration filling his tone. “But that’s supposed to be my job, though. It won’t happen again, promise.”

“I don’t mind.” David said simply. “I love you.”

Michael squeezed his eyes shut tightly to fight off the tears. “I love you too, kiddo. Always have, despite whatever dumb shit younger me did. Always will.”

David giggled, gently picked his Fredbear toy up and took over his position in Michael’s lap. Michael used this opportunity to envelope the boy in a big hug with both of his arms.

He pressed a kiss to the crown of David’s head, ignoring the hair that went up his nose because of it.

They sat like that for a while, until the fear and intrusive memories had fled Michael’s body entirely. Not long after, someone knocked on the door to David’s room and opened it when the kid gave the go ahead.

Mike popped his head in, looking a bit concerned. “You alright?”

Michael knew there was more he wanted to ask, but the revelation of the cameras in the hall was stopping him.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” He smiled.

Chapter Text

Michael heard the sound of William’s care pulling out of the driveway. Anger flooded his body, almost choking him with its intensity.

How dare he leave? How dare he leave and return only when it suited him? How dare he be gone for days on end, only to come back and ignore his sixteen year old son? As though his wife and two youngest children weren't missing or dead.

Michael had no clue what had happened to his mother or sister. He missed them so, so much.

One day, after the divorce had been settled between his parents, Clara Afton had up and disappeared. A missing person’s report had been filed by her parents, Michael’s maternal grandparents, before they rejected any and all interaction with him and his family.

His sister had disappeared not long after those five children went missing. The day Circus Baby’s Pizza World opened for business, she went with their father while Michael was locked in his room and plagued by hallucinations. That day, when Michael’s six hour illusion was over, William had returned and told him that his sister was gone.

Neither of them had been found since.

The only one Michael knew the fate of was his little brother. The one he’d killed. It may have been an accident, but, no matter what Henry insisted on, he was a killer.

Michael would be spending the rest of his life trying to make up for it, and he would die trying. Whether he achieved it or not, he would try. And then it would be over.

Who knew, maybe he’d get to see his loved ones again before he went to Hell. He just hoped he’d get the chance to apologise to Henry for being so incompetent. He couldn't protect Charlie. He couldn't protect his own siblings.

He sneaked past said man, who was sitting on their couch watching TV. Henry had been spending more time at their house lately, to avoid the emptiness of his own home.

Michael moved mechanically down the stairs. The front door jiggled but didn't open. Locked. The spare key had long since been taken from him.

His bedroom window had been nailed shut for years to prevent him from sneaking out. He needed to see him. Make sure he was still there.

He grabbed his baseball bat and slammed it against the glass. After a few hits, it smashed. The jagged glass sliced the skin of his hands, leaking blood everywhere, but he didn't care. He ignored the bloodied Fredbear standing there, right outside his bedroom. It wasn't real, he wasn't there.

He ran through the trees until he reached the site of his brother’s burial.

That place again.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Michael skimmed the cameras that he’d just gotten access to. He’d used the story that he’d given Henry about someone following Charlie to convince him. Henry was understanding; he figured that Michael was just a bit on edge after that whole debacle and he wasn't technically wrong.

Henry just didn't know he was using it to spy on their business partner to prevent him from murdering children.

He was careful not to move the cameras around too much, since he didn't know if William kept note of the cameras’ positions.

The man in question wasn't spending as much time at the Fredbear’s workshop, insteading holed up in his one at home. Now that the kids were back at school, he could properly install the secret entrance down into Circus Baby’s without complaints of noise or questions about what he was up to.

Michael wasn't gonna call him out on it until the timing was just right. He just had to correctly judge when that was. That wasn't as hard a task as freeing the ghosts of all those one’s father had wronged, but it sure damn felt like it.

Henry had his head down at his desk, tinkering away with the facial recognition systems that he planned to implement into the Toy animatronics. Henry hadn't done that, in the other timeline, until William had been taken into police custody for suspicion of kidnapping the five kids.

Susie, Fritz, Gabriel, Jeremy and Cassidy; Michael reminded himself. Those were their names.

Speaking of the missing kids, on the days that William was at the establishment, he’d started talking to the kids more. The patented sunny, charming personality that the man had fostered over the years to hide his dark intentions was out in full swing and people were falling for it like London Bridge.

Some of the kids sought him out on some days when he was outside the spring Bonnie suit and he would deign to give them some of his attention. Michael didn't recognise most of the kids, but one of them stood out. A small blond girl that Michael had seen around Charlie quite a bit.

Susie. She was the first.

Michael really, really had to keep his eyes and ears out. William must have played the long game with them before killing them. If so, then it was no wonder they trusted him to lead them away in the suit. They’d trusted him inside and out.

Those kids visited more often nowadays, now that William had started talking to them. Everytime Michael caught a glimpse of them or heard a voice that could be theirs, he logged onto the cameras and kept watch.

No moves yet, thankfully. But when there was, he was going to be ready.

For now, though, he was splitting his time between watching William and building the desk robots for his niblings (a funny gender neutral term for nieces and nephews that he’d only just remembered that existed). Helpy wandered around his desk, scanning parts and documents to keep track of inventory and legal stuff.

Helpy was still in the internship phase, where he was learning the ropes but had a certain degree of independence.

Henry was charmed by the tiny bear and had developed the same habits as future Henry had: holding small conversations with him while he worked, patting him on the head with a finger, and putting him in his shirt pocket to passively observe.

Everytime, fondness washed over Michael with such an intensity that he often had to mentally reorient himself before getting back into his work. It felt like the days where it was only the two of them taking on the world and taking care of Helpy like he was their son. When William was gone, either with Fredbear’s or Freddy’s work, or building his new lair, it was just the three of them. Alone. In close proximity.

Going back in time had not helped his chances of getting over his tiny infinitesimal crush on Henry that was slowly getting bigger by the day…

At least Henry didn't seem adverse to spending most of his day with Michael.

He shook his head and withheld a groan. He was doing it again. Henry had to stop hijacking his brain like that. He had to work on the desk robots if he wanted them done in time for Christmas.

Charlie’s was designed to be the shape of the puppet, standing on top of its gift box, overall about 15 cm tall. It was going to play a music box melody that didn't give him nightmares or PTSD flashbacks to the second location. It would also be able to spin and say little phrases for limited interaction.

David’s was a little, chunky, brown bear - not as mobile as Helpy but he figured the boy would like it. He’d been quite taken with Helpy, even going so far as to leave his Fredbear plush behind to play with him. It would have wide eyes and a cute smile, that also played a calming tune to help him sleep.

Elizabeth’s was a sleek, white cat with a pink bow because Hell would freeze over before he designed something akin to Circus Baby. Hopefully it would be girly and sassy enough for Elizabeth’s tastes. It would have limited dialogue, movement and music.

Mike’s was an animated raccoon in the same style as his siblings’, but with some headphones. It fit him well enough, with the ratty way he tended to dress, his love of music and the dark bags under his eyes. The raccoon would dance when it heard music as Mike had a walkman that he loved to bits. Music boxes had always put him off after a weird experience he had as a toddler so no music would be played from that one.

Speaking of, he’d never figured out what that was about. It was something he’d chalked up to his active imagination and a slew of bad dreams as a child. But as an adult, knowing about the mechanics of souls, maybe there was something more to it than that. The memories had stuck with him all this time, never fading. There had to be a reason for that.

Another thing to investigate later, he supposed.

Chapter Text

Standing outside Circus Baby’s Pizza World, open a whole two years early, put lead weights in his stomach and Michael was desperately trying to fish them out before he got called out on his nervousness.

Elizabeth was buzzing with excitement, tugging at his hand while William unlocked the front doors. David didn’t seem very enthused, and was gripping Fredbear and Michael’s other hand tightly. Mike seemed rather apathetic but he occasionally sent glances his older self’s way.

“Daddy, come ooonnnnn!” Lizzy griped, not hearing the annoyed sigh the man let out.

Michael could see William gritting his teeth but trying to keep up his cordial smile. “I’m going as fast as I can, Elizabeth.”

“What did we say about patience?” Michael raised an eyebrow at her, hoping to quell her hyperactive whining. And to make her less excited about seeing Baby.

She pouted and gave him her patented puppy dog eyes that had long since stopped working on him. He’d learned early on that their father caved all too often to them and resolved to not be weakened by them.

William finally got the door open and strolled inside, inviting them to follow him. They all then shed their outer layers so as to not get too warm inside.

“The guests will be here soon, so don’t make any mess and or disrupt them. And I don’t want any of you going near any of the animatronics. Even you, Michael.” He ordered.

“What?!” Lizzy screeched. “Do you mean I can’t go see Baby? Didn’t you make her just for me?”

“I don’t want you going near her, Elizabeth, and that is final.” He said coldly, but not as frigidly as he would have addressed her brothers.

Before she could say another word or, Old Man forbid, throw a tantrum, he marched off to his office. He waved them off and told them to occupy themselves until the guests arrived.

Michael just sighed and Mike rolled his eyes at their father’s dramatics. David wasn't surprised and Elizabeth appeared to be doing her best impression of a blonde strawberry with how red her face was.

“How about we go play on the playground, yeah?” Michael suggested, gently guiding them over to the monkey bars and the foam block pit.

“I don’t want to.” Lizzy said stubbornly, small tears welling up in her eyes. “I want to see Circus Baby.”

“You can't, and you won’t.” Michael said calmly, surprising his siblings.

Lizzy frowned. “Since when do you listen to Father?”

“When your safety is involved.” Michael did his best to maintain his neutral tone. The things he had dreamt while her spirit was possessing his body were resurfacing, her scream of pain being the loudest. “I forbid you from going to see her.”

She let out a mix between a groan and a growl, stomping her foot and balling her hands into fists at her side. “It’s not fair! I want to see her! She was made for me!” She began sobbing.

David and Mike looked at each other awkwardly, both hanging back behind them so that Michael could deal with their sister.

The adult picked her up and held her to his chest, ignoring the bashing of her fists and the kicking of her feet. “Lizzy, you can't throw a tantrum every time you don't get your way. Just because Father lets you get away with it, that doesn’t mean it is a good method of getting what you want.”

He shifted her slightly in his arms as she started to calm down, but did not release her. “You need to realise that some things happen in ways you don’t want them to or don't understand. I know you are only young, but it’s the job of the parent to make sure their children can properly handle things in a good manner. This–” He gestured vaguely, “is not that.”

She didn't reply, simply burying her face into his shirt. It was one of his band shirts for AC/DC and he cringed at the snot she was wiping on it.

“Ask me why I made that decision, Lizzy.”

She remained silent for a few moments before she seemed to realise that he wasn’t going to say any more if she didn't.

“Why?”

“Because I know that new animatronics can be very prone to failures. Hell, even older ones are too. Your father and I want you to be careful and if something happened, we wouldn't forgive ourselves for it.”

Michael briefly met Mike's eyes and a flicker of recognition cycled through them. His face shifted into understanding and worry, his eyebrows creasing and his mouth downturning. The teen put a shaky hand on David’s shoulder.

Good, that meant Mike would be willing to keep his siblings away from the animatronics.

“I wouldn’t break her…” Lizzy whimpered.

“Even without you doing anything, something could go wrong.”

“The other kids will be able to see her, why won't you let me go?”

“The reason other kids will be allowed to see them is because there will be more people around to help if, on the off chance, something did go wrong. So, how about we make a deal, Liz?”

She perked up a little, wide green eyes peeking up at him. “A deal?”

Michael nodded. “A deal. You will be allowed to see an animatronic, if - and only if - you have someone else there in the room with you. Preferably an adult.”

Hopefully giving her what she wanted under that proviso would be enough to dissuade her hidden rebellious, reckless nature. William had moulded her into his perfect little princess, but she had a temperament much closer to Michael’s than anything.

That was why it was so hard for him to believe that William didn't intend on Circus Baby killing her. Any adult well versed in the behaviour of children would know that telling a temperamental kid not to do something, especially when it involved something they’d been promised, without explaining why, would result in them doing exactly what they were advised against.

And not only that, they would do it in the sneakiest way possible so as to not be told on by anyone else, to avoid getting in trouble. Strict parents raise sneaky kids, after all, something Michael knew well. Meaning, they would ensure they were alone when doing the thing that would get them in trouble.

Exactly what William would want.

Lizzy nodded. “Okay. That sounds good.”

“But,” Michael added, “that means you can't throw a tantrum when you aren't able to go see her.”

She pouted and he could see her struggling with giving up what little leverage she had. Eventually she nodded again. “Okay.” She repeated.

“So you’re going to stay here with the rest of us, instead of sneaking off to go see Circus Baby when Father has explicitly warned us not to?” Michael raised his eyebrow, the closest move he had to a superpower as it worked against everyone.

“Uh-huh, I’ll stay now but I want to see her soon!”

“If you pinky promise me that you’ll listen to me, then I’ll see if I can pull some strings with Father to allow us.” He said, holding out his pinky finger.

“I promise!” She cheered, linking her pinky with his.

Michael smiled and placed her back on the ground. “Alright. The place officially opens at 10 today, so we’ve got two hours. Go play in the playhouse or on the monkey bars or something.”

Elizabeth grabbed her twin’s hand, much to David’s surprise, and they both ran off into the structures. Mike stayed behind, looking at Michael with something akin to awe.

“How did you do that?” He asked, amazed. “She just… listened to you!”

Michael laughed. “Yes, well, having your own kids restaurant means you learn how to de-escalate situations with bratty children. Kids who act up will usually do so when unlikeable decisions aren't explained and so they don't understand. It gets worse when they aren't used to being told ‘no’. Most’ll calm down if you explain your reasoning and give them a compromise. Giving them a choice between outcomes also works because then they have some agency in how they feel.”

“Huh…” Mike stared off into the distance, contemplatively.

“Are you gonna go join them?” He asked, gesturing to the twins.

“Maybe.” Mike hummed. “I brought my walkman though so I might just hide in a quiet corner until we can go home.”

A barking laugh escaped Michael as he remembered all the times he wished he could have done that in his past. “Alright, just make sure there aren't any animatronics in there with you.”

At this Mike frowned. “About that… was… was Baby the accident?” His words came out hesitantly, as if he were afraid to know the answer.

The grim look on Michael’s face was answer enough.

Mike thinned his lips and swallowed, eyes darting around to follow his siblings’ movements. “They won't go near them.”

“No, not without someone else there at least.”

“Would they have survived if…”

“... Yes.”

“I’ll be there.” Mike promised, both to himself and his future self.

Michael smiled sadly. “I know you will.” He said, putting his arm around Mike’s shoulders and pulling him into a side hug.

Chapter Text

Elizabeth was really happy that she could go see Circus Baby. Every time she saw the animatronic, her chest swelled with giddiness and pride. Her father had made a whole robot just for her! And she was the leader of the other robots too!

She loved Baby’s reddish pigtails, a hairstyle she had started wearing ever since Daddy showed her the design. She loved Baby’s tutu and jingly bell shoes and her microphone. She loved Baby’s rosy red cheeks and her bright blue eyes.

She loved, loved, loved that her animatronic could blow up balloons with her fingers, and sing so beautifully, and make ice cream!! Her favourite food!

Her new Uncle Mikey had gone with her to watch one of Baby’s shows while he wasn't busy. It was still weird that he was also her adult brother from the future, but it was cool too because younger Mikey didn’t want to go to those things with her. It was wonderful! She had such fun!

Circus Baby was by far her father’s best creation in her opinion. Even if she made Uncle Mikey uneasy, Lizzy adored her. And she was so grateful for her older brother / uncle coming with her to let her see the show. Their father wouldn’t allow them to go so they had to sneak in.

Michael had scolded her for giggling so much while they were sneaking around, but even he had a big grin on his face - like he enjoyed being sneaky too.

But Daddy had kept her with him after lunch, while her brothers went with Uncle Mike to Fredbear’s, and so Uncle Micheal wasn't there to go with her to see Baby. Not even Mikey was there; even if he would grumble about it he would still go with her, right?

She mostly played on the playground and watched some animatronic shows with the other kids. Ballora was her second favourite. She was a really pretty ballerina with purple hair and makeup, and really nice ballet shoes. Funtime Freddy made funny jokes and Funtime Foxy did some entertaining dramatics, but it wasn't the same.

None of them were Circus Baby. Apparently some of the other kids thought that she was scary and so they didn't go to watch her put on a show, just running in and out, only sticking around for the balloons.

It made Elizabeth so annoyed! That was her animatronic and basically nobody liked her! It made her want to grab the other kids and ask what was so bad about Baby.

Something that she had been wondering about for a while now was why her father allowed her to see the other robots, although reluctantly, but not Baby. He was very firm about not letting her see Baby for some reason.

It made no sense! Baby was made for her!

But she had pinky promised Uncle Mike that she wouldn't throw a tantrum about not seeing Baby and wouldn't go without someone else there with her. And since none of the other kids wanted to stick around for long, Elizabeth resolved to go ask the man in charge himself.

“Daddy!” She called, with a bright smile on her face.

He didn't look up from the stuff on his desk, but his head jerked and he hummed to let her know that he was listening.

“Can you come with me to go see Baby, please?” She asked. She understood that he just wanted her to be safe around the robots so asking him to be there would make it more likely he would agree, no?

“No, Elizabeth. I’m busy right now. And I don’t want you around Baby, you know that.”

She wilted. She’d half expected that answer but she really didn't understand why he said that. She wanted to know.

“Can… can you tell me why you don't want me going to see her?” She spoke with hesitancy but she didn't know why; he wouldn't get mad at her for asking questions.

She just wanted Daddy to explain things to her like Michael had. He’d told her what he expected of her and why he did, he also made a deal with her so they could both get what they wanted. Why couldn't Daddy be understanding like older Mikey was? Even younger Mikey was more open to her than Daddy was.

“I shouldn't need to explain myself to you. You should listen to what I say, as your father.” His voice got more agitated the more he talked. She even saw his eye twitch.

Lizzy’s bottom lip trembled. She couldn't help it this time. She just wanted to understand but the only way her father would budge on most things was by getting upset. Why wouldn't he tell her without her having to beg for it?

“Please, Daddy!” She dragged out the sound of the words, tears welling along the bottom of her eyes. “I don't understand! You made her just for me, right? That’s what you said! I just want to understand!”

Her father scowled and Lizzy’s heart stopped for a single beat. “You don't need to understand in order to respect my authority. You don't need to understand to do as I say. My answer is no, and that is final. Go play somewhere else.” He ordered through gritted teeth.

Daddy was just stressed. That was why he was being like this. It had to be. He wouldn't be this dismissive of her if he wasn't too busy with something else. He wouldn't… he wouldn't be scary otherwise.

She quietly took a few, slow steps back. “... Yes, Daddy.”

He scoffed and waved his hand, and she ran out of his office. The tears in her eyes fell down her cheeks and she wished David were there. Her twin always knew how to make her feel better when she was crying, as he cried so often himself. He was like her second half, he always understood her.

She wanted Mikey there, both the angsty teen and the sarcastic adult. Mikey had always taken care of her and David even when he wasn't very nice about it. When they were genuinely upset, he toned it down and they never had to guess where they stood with him. Elizabeth had heard from the kids in her class that it was just what older siblings were like.

She wanted Michael there. He was much more gentle with them all, reminding them of a kinder Father. He was similar to Daddy in some ways but different in the ways that they needed. He gave her very secure hugs and tucked her in before bed instead of claiming she was too old for that. He didn't mind when she or David cried or when Mikey was sarcastic.

But she was here, at Circus Baby’s, alone, unable to see her favourite animatronic.

Without thinking, she wandered over to Baby’s room, not stepping inside but watching from the door. There was a group of girls in the room, three of them, a bit older but not by much. They were staring up at Baby, talking about how glittery she was.

There were people in there, she wouldn't be breaking her pinky promise to Michael. She would be with other people and, yeah, he said he would prefer there to be an adult, but he didn't say it was necessary. She wouldn't be alone and she would be careful.

And it wasn't like Daddy would know. It's not like the girls would tell on her because they didn't know Daddy. She would be quick and sneaky. And safe.

She walked inside, up towards the girls.

“Hi, can you stay with me while I look at Baby? My Daddy doesn't want me to be around her alone.” She asked, fiddling with the bow in her hair.

The girls looked between themselves and nodded at her, smiling kindly.

“Sure, just not for too long because we haven't looked at everything here yet.” One of them said.

With that, Elizabeth smiled and thanked them, before taking her turn to stare up at Circus Baby. She was so cool up close. Michael hadn't let her get this close during the show earlier, so it was a new perspective.

“Hang on, I’m going to go to the bathroom.” One of the girls said, and the other two replied with ‘okay’s.

She listened in on the girls’ conversation continuing about Baby, but she eventually zoned out. She was too enchanted by the way Baby was singing and dancing.

She didn't mind the way they shifted beside her. All that mattered was being able to meet Baby.

“I don't know why Daddy won’t let me come see you, you’re wonderful!” She said, her brilliant smile returning to her with the glee and awe that came from her animatronic present.

Baby then looked down to her, blue eyes locking on to her. She felt a bit uneasy but that was outweighed by the excitement of being acknowledged by her favourite robot. Baby stopped singing.

Lizzy tilted her head and turned to speak to the girl on her left, but didn't make a sound. The girl was gone. She turned to her right and the other girl that was supposed to be there was also gone. That third girl hadn't returned from the bathroom and so now… now Elizabeth was alone.

Panic swelled in her chest, replacing the giddiness, replacing the pride, replacing the awe. She had broken her promise to Michael! She pinky swore to him that she would always be around people! Now she was alone! She had to leave before anyone found out.

Baby’s stomach hatch opened and a claw carrying an ice cream cone extended out towards her. It was one of the ones that they sold at the cafeteria so… it wouldn't be suspicious if she took it, right? Her Daddy wouldn't have to wonder where she got the ice cream from.

It was her favourite food, of course she would buy an ice cream! And if Baby was offering it to her…

Michael’s voice was quiet in her head. ‘New animatronics can be very prone to failures… if something happened, we wouldn't forgive ourselves…’

Lizzy bit her lip and took a hesitant step backwards. Something was wrong. She shouldn't…

The ice cream fell from Baby’s claw and the silver metal surged towards Elizabeth’s face.

Chapter Text

Michael didn't want to leave his sister behind at the Pizza World but with William pressuring him to take the other two to Fredbear’s, and to leave her there with him, he didn't have a choice. David was too uncomfortable with the Funtimes to stay there for long and Mike was ready to leave before they'd even arrived there for the opening, while Lizzy was ecstatic just being there.

Michael had internally promised himself that once he got Mike and David settled he’d go right back to keep an eye on Elizabeth. But he’d been caught up with Henry and some mechanical issues with Fredbear that he simply couldn't avoid. The sooner he fixed Fredbear, the better chances he had of avoiding David’s death.

But just as he finished up, with Henry’s help, a shiver went down his spine. There was no real explanation for it, as the pizzeria was a bit muggy from the ovens with no incoming draughts from outside. He paused for a second, letting the feeling trace all the way to the bottom of his spine, feeling the way it pooled at the bottom of his stomach.

Right where the scooper had opened him up.

His shoulders tensed and Michael had to swallow back the raw sense of wrongness that engulfed him.

“Henry, can you do me a favour and watch the boys for me?” He asked, not looking Henry in the eyes. “I have to go back to Will’s place to… go get something.”

He hoped to any god out there that hadn't forsaken him, that he would get there in time to stop something horrific from happening.

“Uh, yeah, sure. No problem.”

Henry was looking at him weirdly but Michael simply grabbed his keys from his pocket and walked out, not even stopping to grab his jacket before he walked out into the cold. Mike was staring at him, wide-eyed, as though he also had that same feeling that Michael did. That something would go wrong if he didn't move.

The teen needed nothing more than a glance to understand that Michael wanted him to stay there with David. He nodded once and settled into the booth seat next to his brother.

Michael started up his car and tore off towards Circus Baby’s Pizza World. Fifteen minutes later, he parked in the staff parking, not even bothering to find a parking spot. He just jumped out, slammed the car door shut and marched inside. The feeling in his gut was getting stronger with every minute that passed and it felt like it was crawling up his throat with his proximity to this accursed place.

He didn't bother to stop by his Father’s office. He didn't bother to check the playhouse or the monkey bars or the other party rooms. He ran down to Circus Baby’s, praying he wasn't going to have to open up the animatronic to find his sister.

A blur of blonde hair entered his view as he neared the door and his heart lifted a little. That was, until he noticed the claw outstretched before her. Lizzy’s little hand was reaching out towards the ice cream in its grasp before she seemed to hesitate and retreat.

He lunged forward towards her as he noticed Baby’s whole body jolt, her eyes roll back into her head leaving nothing but black. The claw dropped the ice cream and surged forward towards his sister, metal fingers splaying to grab her head and pull her in.

Michael didn't even process the speed at which he crossed the room. His left hand reached out and grabbed the back of Lizzy’s shirt, pulling her back. His right arm reached out in front of her to shield her from the monster’s machine that wanted to take her.

Lizzy’s screams filtered through his ears before his own did. He looked down at her to make sure she wasn't hurt, and she didn't appear to be. Her blond hair, not in pigtails despite it being her favourite style, was messy and her bow had fallen to the floor. Her face was contorted in fear and horror.

The then registered the pain in his right arm. He looked back towards Baby and saw the sharp fingers of the claw digging into his forearm. Blood was streaming from his skin as it tore through his flesh.

He gritted his teeth to suppress the small screams that were escaping him. He shoved Lizzy behind him and grabbed his arm with his now free hand.

Baby was still jolting, her stomach plate torn between opening and closing so it kept repeating the movements. Her eyes were still pitch black, her face plates had opened up to reveal that her endoskeleton jaw was hanging low. There was a low grinding noise and Michael realised that the claw arm was slowly trying to drag him closer, trying to capture its target but being prevented by Baby’s own code.

Baby was coded to retrieve the child she had grabbed, but to not extend the arm in another’s presence. Because she had grabbed onto him, that first box was ticked, but there was more than one person in the room and Michael wasn't a child, so that second box was ticked also.

Michael suppressed another scream and instead, his voice raw and guttural, commanded, “Circus Baby! Reset!”

Her body stopped moving at the sound of what she processed as her creator’s voice. Michael had never been glad to sound like William outside of school phone calls but there was a first time for everything.

The metal fingers detached from his arm and the mechanism was retracted inside Baby’s stomach cavity, trailing blood all down her front as it went. Her face plates closed and her hatch followed, her eyes rolling back down to reveal bright baby blues.

Elizabeth huddled into his side, violently sobbing, grabbing desperately at his shirt. Using his uninjured arm, he pulled her in close.

“It’s okay, it’s alright.” He whispered to her over and over. “I’ve got you, it’s going to be okay.”

The longer they spent like that, the more Michael could hear shouts from the door to the room. Other children, likely drawn there by his and Lizzy’s screams, were all talking with raised voices, pointing at the injury on Michael’s arm and the blood covering Baby’s front.

“What is going on here?” William bellowed over the noise, pushing towards the front. His eyes locked onto Michael and Lizzy, then the large puddle of blood all over the floor and his prized animatronic. “What happened?”

He then turned to look down the hall. “Someone call an ambulance!” He yelled and then did his best to shoo away the gaggle of children.

“Baby had… a malfunction? I think?” Michael answered, but his words came out breathy from lightheadedness. At least he didn't give anything away. It had been a while since blood loss had affected him in such a way. “She… tried to grab Lizzy, I got in the… in the way.”

“Mikey…” Lizzy sobbed and he covered her eyes to prevent her from seeing his wounds.

“Shhhh, it’s okay.” Michael soothed.

It was hard to focus on what came next because of how blurry his sight was getting and how light his body felt.

William had applied pressure to his gashes with one of the tablecloths that he grabbed from the party room. It wasn't long, or at least it didn't feel like long, before the ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital.

He was seen by doctors that had stitched him up under anaesthetic and wrapped his forearm in bandages. He hadn't lost enough blood to need a transfusion, which was good, just enough to make him woozy. The wounds around his forearm were deep, one of them showing one of his bones. His radius, he thought it was.

The vertical lacerations spanned from his upper forearm, close to his elbow, down to almost his wrist. Because of the severity of his injury, he had been told that he had to stay in the hospital for four days just to monitor, longer if necessary.

Luckily Michael was up to date on his tetanus injections. His old body was functioning on his nervous system alone, there was no way he wasn't going to protect it.

Lizzy hadn't been able to go in the ambulance with him, instead staying with William as he shut down the restaurant. It wasn't until the next morning that he was able to see her.

As she sprinted into his hospital room, Mike and David frantically following her, Michael was overcome with relief.

It hadn't clicked before that he’d saved Elizabeth. He’d saved his sister. She was alive, just like Charlie was. Just like David was. Just like he was.

He held them all tightly as they gathered around him, making sure to be careful of his arm. Both David and Lizzy were crying into his shirt, while Mike was doing his best to look chill. It was only because he was looking that Michael saw the red rims around his eyes and the way his smile was filled with relief.

Chapter Text

Michael toddled through the halls of his home, clutching at his little tiger toy. Daddy was having a bit of trouble with his new machine so he was supposed to stay out of the way and be good. But that was difficult for Mike because he liked running around and playing.

But because Daddy was having trouble, Michael could be good. At least for a little while. He heard Daddy coming up the stairs towards the lounge. He was done with his machine!

“Daddy! Are you done?” Michael asked, beaming up at his favourite person in the whole world. “Can you play with me, please?”

Daddy groaned tiredly. “Not right now, Michael. Go play quietly in your room, I’ve got a splitting headache.”

He sounded colder than he usually did. Maybe his machine was being more difficult than Michael thought. Machines were cool to Mike but looking at them too long made his brain hurt. Daddy’s brain must hurt too.

“Okay.” Michael plopped down on the ground and removed his tiger toy from the crook of his arm.

Daddy went into the kitchen and walked out with a handful of bottles. Michael tried not to get sad. Those were the bottles that his Mummy drank from, the ones that turned her into the monster that ripped his teddy. At least the new lady that Daddy brought over sometimes was nice and didn't drink that stuff. Daddy went upstairs and shut his door very loudly.

Michael played with his toy by himself, on the floor of the lounge. He heard footsteps coming up from the basement and frowned, confused. Daddy was upstairs, though? Who was downstairs?

One of Daddy’s robots came out of the door, staring down at him. It was like a skeleton, but made of black and silver metals. It had yellow eyes and a jaw that moved but no sound came out.

The machine felt like a piece of Daddy. It bent its arm and tucked it close to its body, like Michael did to carry Tiger Rock. Michael beamed up at his favourite person in the whole world.

“Daddy! Can you play with me, please?”

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Having deep cuts vertically circling his forearm, from elbow to wrist, wasn't the worst thing to happen to Michael. He’d had his internal organs scooped out, bones rearranged, skin and flesh torn. Not only that, he’d had a metal endoskeleton housed inside of him controlling him like a stringed meat suit.

So yeah, not the worst.

Unfortunately he couldn't exactly explain why that was and thus his family (with the exception of William, of course) did not stop fussing over him, despite how they all had dark bags under their red, slightly puffy eyes.

He was told that his wounds would heal over the course of two to three months. After that he would be left with four scars running down his arm from where the claws had dug into him. Because they were deep and came into contact with bone, he had to stay in the hospital for 10 days instead of four.

The first day that he was there, after sleeping over the night before, he was crowded on the hospital bed by his siblings and younger self (who he might as well call his sibling too at this point).

It took a while for the youngest two to calm down but once they did, Michael could actually explain what happened. Because apparently William didn't tell Mike or David about what happened. He didn't tell Henry why either, just rang them to say that Michael was in the hospital, then picked up the boys with a hysterical Elizabeth and went home.

“There was a malfunction with Baby.” He began. “She offered Lizzy an ice cream cone but tried to grab her instead.”

Mike frowned incredulously. “Why would she try to grab her?” He asked, sounding more suspicious about the cause of that action than the validity.

Michael shook his head. He sent Mike a warning look not to question it too much. “I just know that the crane released the ice cream and, instead of going back inside, it tried to extend further. That can sometimes happen with machines; they don’t realise that an action has already been performed so they try to do it again. Baby clearly didn't realise that the crane was already out.”

Mike’s frown lessened, as though the explanation made sense but he had a feeling that it was wrong.

‘Later.’ Michael mouthed and the teen sighed.

“Alright… How long did you say you have to stay again?”

“Ten days.” Michael replied, tracing down the edge of a laceration beneath his bandages, gently running a finger over the stitches.

Because of the angle the claw was at when it grabbed him, the distances between the cuts were uneven. The two on his outer forearm were farther apart and had one cut on each side that was closer. The two outer ones also started higher up than the ones closer to his inner forearm.

“Mikey!” Elizabeth scolded. “You’re not supposed to touch it!”

David nodded rapidly in agreement with his sister. Mike even gave him a lopsided smile.

“You probably aren't.” Mike shrugged.

Michael rolled his eyes. “Oh alright. I won’t touch it.”

“Good, you’re supposed to get better.” David tried to say sternly, but he just sounded adorable.

“I will.” He ruffled the boy’s hair.

Before he could complain, the door to his room swung open and a frazzled Henry and Charlie Emily entered.

“What happened?!” Henry gasped. “William didn't tell us anything!”

“Heyyyy, Henry!” Michael grinned. “Sorry for the scare, just a mishap with one of the Funtimes. Baby read a program wrong and accidentally clawed me up.”

“Clawed you up!?” Charlotte squeaked. Her eyes were glued on Michael’s arm, while her father was putting his face in his hands.

He waved his good hand. “Psh, nothing I can't handle! I’m all good, Lottie, no need to worry.”

“He has to stay here for another ten days.” Mike deadpanned. “He also has about 40 stitches.”

Michael looked at his younger self, betrayed. Mike just smirked.

Henry just groaned into his hands and dropped down into one of the seats next to the bed. Charlie crawled up next to Lizzy and grabbed her hand. What followed felt like an interrogation from Henry until he was satisfied enough to calm down.

It made Michael feel all warm inside that all the people in the room were so worried about him. He’d spent so much of his life alone, with nothing but the ghosts of the past to keep him company, and here he was; surrounded by family.

It made him tear up.

“Uncle Mike? Are you okay?” David whispered and Lizzy looked up at him, panicked, to check if he was alright.

“Ha… yeah.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his knuckle, beaming so hard his cheeks were stiff. “Yeah. I’m good. Just happy to be here with my family.”

Henry’s eyes softened, likely remembering what Michael had told him about his past. Mike looked close to tears himself, knowing what he did about the future, but was holding up remarkably well. Lizzy and David were in a similar boat too, now that he was thinking about it, but that was because they were scared for him.

“Well, almost.” Charlie said, tilting her head. “Uncle Will isn't here.”

Michael shrugged. “He’s busy. He’s with us in spirit.” He joked in order to hold down the urge to shout about how that man wasn't his family.

Henry seemed like he had something to say about that but was holding back because of the children. Good. If Henry started suspecting anything about William, whether it be about his treatment of his kids or about the animatronics, then word could not get back to him.

Even if that meant leaving the kids out of the loop. Even if they deserved to know, Michael couldn't put them in that kind of danger. William’s damage was his and his alone to deal with.

They stayed there, chatting with each other for another hour before they all started to get hungry. Michael was getting served shitty hospital food for lunch so he encouraged them all to go out and get lunch. Henry was hesitant but Michael did his best attempt at puppy dog eyes (the Lizzy special; he heard her giggling when she saw them).

“Please, Henry? Go get them some lunch, as a favour to me?”

Henry looked like a deer caught in headlights but smiled back. “Alright, we’ll be back soon. Come on kids.”

“Can I stay with Uncle Michael?” Elizabeth asked. “Maybe you could bring something back for me?”

“Are you sure?” Henry blinked. “I don't know how long we’ll be.”

The girl nodded. “Mhm. I want to stay.” She insisted, eyes going big and round.

Michael stifled his laughter while the other man groaned. “Is it okay if she stays, Michael?”

“Of course.”

On the way out Michael heard him muttering to himself, “Damn Afton puppy eyes…”, much to the boys’ amusement.

Michael was too powerful. Both his eyebrow raise and now puppy dog eyes? Unstoppable.

“Mikey?” Lizzy murmured.

“Yeah?”

“I… didn't mean to be alone with-… with her.” She admitted softly. “I was with some other kids, I asked them to stay so I wouldn't be alone, but they left me… I didn't mean to break my promise…”

Michael’s chest sank and he carefully pulled her into a hug. “I know you didn't, Liz. I know. It wasn't your fault.”

She sniffed and her body shuddered. “I- I even asked Daddy if he would go with me but he said no… I thought… I thought having the other kids there would be okay…”

“Shhh, shhh, shhh, it’s okay.” Michael soothed. “I’m not mad at you, you didn't break your promise.”

“I don't like B- her anymore…” Lizzy sobbed, dragging out the vowels of her words. “She was so scary! She- her face opened up and her eyes were black and her mouth was open like she wanted to eat me, and you, and- and- she kept pulling you closer, your blood was on her, and then went back to normal like nothing happened, but that’s all I can see when I think of her, and-”

Michael pressed a kiss to the top of her head and swayed side to side. “Shhhhh, it’s okay, I’m here, I’ve got you. It’s over now, you don't have to go near her ever again.”

She shook as she clung to him, tears staining his hospital gown. “P- promise?”

“I promise.” He swore solemnly. Never again.

Chapter Text

Michael was going to give him a heart attack one day.

Henry was sure of it.

It seemed that man kept going through incident after incident. If he really wanted to think about it, it probably started in Michael’s childhood; as his father was in a car crash with him decades ago. Then his admission of how horrible his childhood was, a lot of stuff happened to him. Then the incident with Charlie, and now Elizabeth.

It wouldn't have been as bad if Michael didn't seem so adept at playing off his own suffering. A product of his old homelife, likely.

The morning after having his arm ‘clawed up’ by an animatronic, he was bright as sunshine, apologising to him for the panic he’d caused. He probably wanted to seem strong for Charlie so that she didn't worry, but Henry was a chronic worrier and so there was no avoiding that.

What concerned Henry most of all were the similarities between Michael’s behaviour before Charlie’s incident and before Elizabeth’s incident. Both times, he’d started tensing and looking around for seemingly no reason before rushing out. Both times, something had gone wrong with one of the kids and Henry had no idea about it until after it had already occurred.

Did Michael have a sixth sense for danger or something? Or was he just rightfully paranoid?

Things about Michael just didn't make sense sometimes. But it wasn't in a way that made Henry want to avoid him or make him feel weird around him. No, Michael made him nervous to be around for a completely different reason. He wanted to know more about him, to make sense of him.

And maybe get to kiss him while he was at it.

But he’d have to take that slowly. He didn't even know if the man was romantically into other men. He prayed that he wasn't secretly homophobic under that relaxed, charming personality. That would be truly heartbreaking.

Henry’s crush on him was getting worse as the months went on. It was now December and he’d only fallen harder since meeting him. It was embarrassing to begin with but now it was just plain pathetic.

All of the kids - Charlie, Mike, David, and Elizabeth - knew about it and would always giggle whenever he said something outright stupid in Michael’s presence. He once saw Mike murmuring to his friends when they came to hang out at Freddy’s and all four of them turned to look at him in sync.

He’d simply glared at them and they looked away, a couple of them whistling like they were innocent.

His only consolation was that neither Michael nor William seemed to notice. While Henry was kind of hoping that Michael might catch on (so that he wouldn't have to put aside his fear of coming out just to confess), he was more afraid of William finding out.

He wasn't sure why. William hadn't given him any reason to think that he might take offence to his raging homosexuality. In fact, he’d made a couple of comments in the past that implied that Will was somewhat gay himself! So Henry wasn't sure why he wanted to avoid being obvious about his infatuation with Will’s own brother in front of him.

…

Maybe that was why. Maybe it was because they were brothers. William also seemed to have a sore spot regarding Michael taking things from him, so he might view Henry’s crush as Michael trying to steal him or something.

Yeah, that was why.

But he couldn't focus on this right now. He needed to know why Michael was so mysterious. At first glance, he seemed to put all his cards on the table but the longer they spent together, the less sure Henry became that that was the case. He was sure that he was hiding something.

He didn't get the impression that it was anything dangerous, but instead very interesting. Sure, it was probably none of his business but he was naturally curious.

So when Michael was discharged from the hospital at 10 AM, on Tuesday, December 14th, Henry went to go pick him up.

The kids were at school and would be until that weekend, before they were let out for Christmas break, so they couldn't be there with them. William was still dealing with the legal fallout of his ‘sister location’ so he wasn't there either.

Henry didn't want Michael to catch a ride home, or God forbid walk, in the freezing cold with an injured arm, so he drove over to drop him off. It was just a bonus that he could ask Michael about his curiosities with just the two of them around.

When he saw Michael in the lobby, he smiled as he usually did. Michael was dressed in warm clothes that William and the kids had brought from home, but they'd forgotten to bring him a hair tie. That meant his brown, shoulder length hair fell around his face in waves instead of being in his usual half-up or fully-up styles. The beanie that he wore also made his hair frame his face more than it usually did.

Henry hadn't thought that men with long hair would do it for him but there was a first time for everything.

He could see a peek of bandages from under the cuff of Michael’s dark blue sweater and a hint of concern resurfaced. Call him a simpering mess, but it made him melt that Michael so clearly cared about the children that he would get so injured to protect them. At the same time, it gave him a heart attack to learn he was in the hospital for a serious injury.

“Hey, Henry.” Michael greeted him, waving with his good hand. “Man, I’m ready to leave this place.”

“I bet. Let’s head out before the snow gets worse.” Henry replied, thankfully keeping his cool despite his previous thoughts.

“Lead the way.”

Luckily Henry had the foresight of having the heater on inside the car before he arrived because Michael didn't have his winter jacket so as not to jostle his arm too much. There had been a strange series of snow storms occurring recently, Utah usually didn't see so much snow during the winter.

“You're aware that you won’t be able to build anything until your arm is healed, right?” Henry asked as he buckled himself in.

Michael used his left arm to do his own seat belt. “Yeah, unfortunately.” He sighed. “It’s a bummer, but I’ll live.”

“Do you need me to do any work on the kids’ presents?”

“Nah. I’ve already finished them.”

Henry blinked. “How? They weren't finished before Will’s place opened, were they?”

Michael laughed. “I finished them that morning, thankfully. Just a few paint touch ups are needed before I wrap them for Christmas. I’ve even got little boxes to put them in.”

They fell into a comfortable silence while Henry contemplated how to ask him about his odd behaviours. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Michael breathe in and slowly breathe out.

“There’s something you want to ask me, isn't there?” Michael asked.

Henry let out a breath of relief. Now he didn't have to think of a way to start. “Now that you mention it, yes. I was just wondering about… the way you acted before Elizabeth was in danger. It was almost the same as before Charlie was in danger. Both times, you had no way of knowing what would happen and yet something did nearly happen. How?”

Michael sighed again. “I should have known you'd be observant enough to notice. I'm not sure, myself. Both times, I just had this really intense feeling that something was wrong and that I needed to go look for whoever was missing. And the longer I went without seeing them, the stronger the feeling.”

Henry hummed, curious. “That's strange. It's like you have a sixth sense for danger.”

Michael barked out a laugh. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Let’s hope that it doesn't get tested more.”

“I agree. I don't think I could handle more danger at the moment.” Michael said wryly.

“Well certainly not; you have four gashes all up your arm!” Henry exclaimed, but he couldn't help his smile.

“So,” Michael changed the subject with a grin, “are you dropping me back home or at the restaurant?”

“At home.” He replied at once. “And I’m gonna stay to help you out, that way you don't risk popping a stitch.”

His crush rolled his eyes but he could tell the action was done in fondness. “I know how to avoid popping a stitch, Henry. I appreciate your help though.”

Henry fought the blush that threatened to rise at the warm drawl his name was said in. “You've had many stitches then?”

“Oh yeah, back when they started selling skateboards, I was all up on that shit. Constant accidents. Went home with scrapes down my knees, bruises everywhere, covered in gravel daily.”

He tried to imagine a younger Michael trying to skateboard but could only imagine William’s son, Mike, in his place. He’d have to ask if he had any photos from back then.

“Classic rebellious mid-teen stuff then? I see where Mike gets it from since Will doesn't have an adventurous bone in his body.” Henry teased.

Michael winked at him and Henry really had to fight down the redness of his face. His saving grace came in the form of the Afton Family driveway.

Henry stuck true to his word and helped out with whatever Michael needed that required two hands until it was time to collect the kids from school. All four of whom swarmed the man when they met him at the house. A few hours later, William arrived and Henry felt remarkably at home.

Chapter Text

William was the first one up and about come Christmas morning, so Michael woke to find him setting up the presents around the tree.

Christmas was the one day of the year where William didn't get dressed first thing in the morning. It was a tradition that had started before Fredbear’s Family Diner had been founded; where the entire Afton family would sit around the fireplace in their pyjamas, drinking hot chocolate and opening gifts.

It had started back when it was just Michael and his parents, then it became just Michael and his father, then it grew to incorporate William’s new wife and their children, Michael’s siblings. Even now, on the first Christmas since Clara’s ‘disappearance’, William seemed to be staying true to tradition.

Michael subconsciously started to relax. He hoped that William wouldn't try to pull anything on Christmas of all days; when all of them were supposed to be together. He just had to tolerate being around him alone for a bit. His arm wasn't hurting as much, so he figured he could help out around the house. The stitches had been removed the week prior and the wounds were closing at a bafflingly fast rate. Michael just chalked it up to the remnant injection.

He moved to the kitchen, carefully got out everyone’s designated mugs and began making the hot chocolate. He got out the can of whipped cream and the little bowls to put the toppings in. There were crushed up candy canes, chocolate flakes, cherries, marshmallows, crushed up oreos, and sprinkles for all of them to choose from. He also got out the chocolate and caramel syrups to pour on top.

He loved the hot chocolate dessert bar, it was one of his favourite things about the holiday. It was great to wake up to and it was all brought out again for pudding after dinner as well.

Once the drinks were made and the presents were laid out nicely, under the tree they’d all helped decorate a week before, both Michael and William went to collect the children.

Michael knocked on the door of his old bedroom and opened the door when he heard a grumpy groan. He had to wake Mike up first and then come back again after getting Lizzy, or he would fall back asleep.

“Merry Christmas, little shit. Get your arse down to the lounge if you want your hot chocolate warm.” He said, gently shaking the teen’s arm.

Mike groaned but nodded, his eyes opening half way.

Michael then went to wake up Liz, leaving Mike’s door open since he knew that would piss him off enough to get up and close it, therefore waking him up more.

“Merry Christmas, Lizzy.” Just as he did with Mike, he gently put his hand on her arm.

It looked like she’d had a better night than the previous ones. The incident with Baby had left some lasting impacts on her, causing nightmares to be frequent. More than three times a week would she sneak into Michael’s room and ask to stay next to him for the rest of the night. During the day, she’d stick by Michael’s side, like David tended to do, whenever he was with her.

The girl blinked her eyes open and gasped happily. She flung her blankets off, hitting Michael in the face with them, and grabbed his good hand. She jumped up and pulled him towards the door.

“Merry Christmas!!” She cheered.

Michael laughed and followed her. They met up with William and David in the hall and he made another stop at Mike’s room to check that he was still awake. Luckily he was sitting up with his feet on the floor, blinking his bleary eyes.

“C’mon, Mikey! It’s Christmas!” Lizzy ran in and grabbed Mike’s hand, pulling him to join them.

They all headed downstairs and the twins beamed at the selection of hot chocolate toppings. They all had fun making their own variations of the drink, before bringing them - oh so carefully - to the living room.

One by one, after putting their drinks on the coffee table, they opened their presents. Most were from William, Michael and Henry, and others were from their school or work friends.

Michael sipped at his hot chocolate. It had been so, so long since he’d been able to celebrate Christmas like this.

After the deaths of his family, he hadn't been able to bring himself to participate in anything regarding this holiday. He always denied invitations to parties held by his workplaces, or work friends. He didn't go to see the Christmas Parade, or tour the streets looking at Christmas lights when it got dark, or stand and stare at the decorated tree at the centre of town. He didn't get presents, he didn't do anything.

The most he did on those days was sit in silence with Henry, either lost in memories or haunted by their absence.

Then Michael became a literal husk of his former self and hid from the world at large, hid from the only person he had left. He felt too… other. Too out of place to even handle being around others. In the early days of his scooped out form he wandered the streets at night, trying to soothe his fury and agony enough to think properly.

The days passed indiscriminately and Michael refused to move on. He had to atone for his past and fix what his father broke. That left no time for celebrations; not of Christmas, nor the new year, nor his birthday. He always took time to remember his siblings on the days of their births but nothing else mattered.

“Yo, older me, what’d you get for us?” Mike asked, picking up a small, wrapped gift box that had his name on it, from Michael.

Michael smiled. “Open it and see, but be careful. You kids have all got one.”

Mike waited until Lizzy and David grabbed theirs before tearing off the wrapping paper. He took the lid off the box and looked at the robot raccoon inside, tilting his head to the side.

“What is it?” He asked. “Is it a little statue?” He took it out and turned it over in his hands, curiosity roiling off of him. He found the on button on his side, under the little jacket Michael had made him, and pressed it.

The LEDs in the raccoon’s eyes lit up and the robot blinked. His bushy tail wiggled. “Hello!” He chirped in his mechanical voice.

“Oh rad!” Mike grinned. “Is this one of those desk robots you were talking about?”

Michael didn't have a chance to answer because David and Liz were crowding around Mike to look at the raccoon.

“I like his little headphones.”

“He’s so cute!”

“What are you going to name him?”

“His jacket is like yours, Mikey!”

Mike hummed, putting a hand on his chin. “I'm gonna name him… Mercury. Like Freddy Mercury.”

William rolled his eyes but Michael laughed.

“Alright, Mercury will dance when he hears music and will respond to certain words or behaviours. If you put him down and poke him he’ll make an annoyed face, and he’ll get angry if you take off his headphones. He’ll wander around a bit so make sure he’s not near any ledges.”

Mike tested the responses while Michael explained. The raccoon’s blue LED eyes angled downwards in a frown when Mike took his headphones, letting out a little growl.

“How come he’s not walking around right now?”

“He has a little switch near the on button. That way he’s not always roaming.”

Once they were happy with knowing how Mercury worked, David and Lizzy unwrapped their desk robots. David’s little brown bear was named Oak and Elizabeth’s cat was named Princess. All of them were quite happy with them, which Michael saw as an absolute win.

After presents came breakfast, getting dressed in their Christmas sweaters, and cleaning up the piles of wrapping paper before Henry and Charlie came over. They were going to go with them to the Christmas Parade that marched through town. When the parade was done, they walked to the playground and made snowmen at the park, culminating in a snowball fight of epic proportions with the neighbourhood kids, using the unusual amount of snowfall.

Michael, unfortunately, had to sit out because of his injury. That was fine with him, though; he didn't want to ruin the blue jersey under his jacket.

“Lucky shot, huh?” Michael asked when Mike so obviously let his friend Scott, the one who always wore the Freddy mask in their gang, hit him and get him out of the game.

Mike’s already cold-flushed face turned an even brighter red, matching his sweater. “Shut up!”

Afterwards, they headed back to the Afton house to warm up, change into some dry clothes and have lunch.

Michael helped William set up the food at the table before the man went to go do something else. Michael had a look around for something else he could help out with, and noticed that Henry was nowhere to be found. He didn't have any bad feelings, so his ‘sixth sense for danger’ must not need to be activated.

After some searching, he joined him out on the back deck.

“You’re going to get frostbite if you’re out here any longer.” Michael quipped, sitting down on the step next to him.

Henry laughed a little, his eyes darting to the side, fiddling with his green jumper. “Maybe. I just like the cold. I haven't seen this much snow here before.”

Michael got the feeling that it wasn’t the entire truth. Henry had a bad habit of avoiding eye contact when he was lying. The liar in question sighed when Michael voiced his suspicion.

“I can never hide from you, can I? I just… needed a bit of space, I guess.”

“I can leave if you want.”

“No, you're good.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments before something hit Michael in the back of the head. He turned around just in time to see Mike close his upstairs window, flip him off and run away.

Michael then looked down at the thing Mike threw at him and mentally blanked. He looked up at Henry, who was also looking down at the object with a stunned expression on his face.

“Oh, that little shit.” Michael said faintly, feeling his entire face starting to heat up, his ears a burning red.

Henry’s own face was getting pinker by the second. “Is that…?”

Michael groaned into his hands. “Mistletoe. Look, I’m sorry, that’s just Mike being… look, I- fuck, I’m-” He groaned again.

“Does Mike know something I don’t?” Henry asked, hesitant, almost… teasing?

He removed his hands from his face, looking resolutely anywhere but Henry, taking a deep breath, not knowing how to really answer.

“Michael?”

He couldn't help it. He looked back at Henry and saw… hope. Was Henry…? All the air escaped him as he looked into sparkling hazel eyes.

“He might.” Michael tried to shrug apathetically but he could tell that he appeared very awkward.

Henry slowly smiled, the sight leaving Michael’s mind as empty as his breathless lungs. “Are you going to enlighten me then?”

Michael felt his own lips tug up into a cheeky smile. “Only if you want to be enlightened.”

Before he knew it, they’d both leaned in and pressed their lips together.

It had been literal decades since Michael had kissed anyone; he felt absurdly underprepared but at the same time, it felt like it couldn't be more right if he tried. He’d always thought that all the people who described kissing as something grand and otherworldly were exaggerating, and they were to some extent.

There weren't any fireworks but his soul lit up with warmth and joy. At that moment he knew he was exactly where he was meant to be.

“Where’d you get the mistletoe?”

“Charlie gave it to me after she stole it from someone who knows someone, I think.”

“Pfft… thanks, kid.”

“Whatever. Just don't do anything gross in front of me, ‘kay?”

Chapter Text

The last time Michael had been on a date was before he accidentally killed his baby brother.

It had gone pretty well, all in all, but he couldn't remember anything other than that. He didn't even remember who he went out with or what they did. Just that he went out with someone at the age of 14, and it wasn’t bad.

Word spread fast in Hurricane, however, and suddenly no one wanted to be friends, let alone more, with someone who shoved his little brother into the mouth of an animatronic, resulting in his death. That hadn't bothered him much at the time because he knew he deserved it, he didn't want to be in his own presence either, and he was too busy trying to think of ways to somehow cleanse himself of his disgustingness. Of ways to atone.

But, because at heart he was someone who craved love, he ended up falling for the only person who was still there for him - however inappropriate it was. So between his crush on Henry and his extreme self loathing, he wasn't interested in finding anyone else.

Then he left and, by the time he was in a place where he could think clearly, he discovered a new objective. That meant he had even less motivation to find someone to even play at settling down with. Until Henry made a reappearance, that was. Then he made Helpy. And then suddenly all Michael could imagine was a happy afterlife with the two of them waiting for him after death.

Coming back in time to a more age appropriate, but still meaningful, crush, had relit a desire to try building something. Not a machine, or a restaurant, but a relationship. Which is what led him to taking a walk with the person of his desires, coffee to-go cup in hand, three days after Christmas.

Not much had happened since then. After they’d kissed, they’d tripped over their words for a minute until they got called inside for lunch. Michael had bopped Mike over the back of the head, earning him some rolled eyes, but grinned at him in thanks. Henry had watched fondly and amusedly. They'd continued to shoot glances across the table at each other while the whole family talked about nothing in particular.

Before the Emilys were due to leave, Michael had quietly stammered out that he liked coffee and had nothing to do three days from then. Henry, luckily, had gotten the hint and nodded, biting down the wide smile that Michael knew wanted to stretch over his face.

And now here they were, walking about town with a disposable cup of coffee each, bundled up in winter jackets and beanies. They were going to have their date (their date!!!) at their favourite sandwich place, but they figured it wouldn't be well received by the occupants of said shop.

Being from roughly 40 years in the future, where bad attitudes towards Michael and Henry’s brand of people specifically had toned down a bit, it was a bit of a downer to remember all the homophobia that ran rampant during the 80s. Especially in Hurricane, Utah; a particularly, if not predominantly, Mormon place.

So they settled for wandering. It didn't make much difference because they were still enjoying each other's presence. The hard part was getting feelings translated properly into words. Not exactly Michael’s strong suit. Again, thanks to thirty odd years of social isolation. Forty if he really thought about it.

But he didn't want to be depressed, so he wouldn't.

“I’ve, uh, got to admit, I didn't think I’d get this far.” Michael laughed nervously. “I have no clue what happens from here.”

Henry gave him a wry but loving smile. “I have somewhat of an idea but we can make it up as we go along. I get the feeling that that’s your style.”

Michael smirked. “You know me so well.”

“Almost instinctively, it sometimes feels like.” Henry tilted his head to the side. “I know we haven't exactly known each other for very long, can you believe it's almost been five months since we met?”

Michael chuckled. “It does feel like it’s been longer than that, doesn't it?”

“But even back when we first met, it felt like I could know you inside and out. There was just something about you that made me want to know more. I still want to know more, there’s a lot about you I don't know yet.” Henry paused to sip his coffee. “There’s also something about you that makes me trust you with parts of myself. I have no clue why, but I’ve wanted to share everything with you from the beginning.”

Michael’s heart skipped a beat and his ears warmed. He had a hunch why that was. He’d been wondering what happened to the Henry he’d left behind in the future. Something in his gut was telling him that Henry had followed him back somehow, but he’d dismissed it. Surely he would know if Henry was there with him. And maybe he did know. Henry certainly had intuitions he shouldn't be having about Michael. But he was certain that he didn't remember.

“Yeah, I get that. I surprised myself with how easily I told you about how my life was before coming here. I hadn't planned on sharing that at all, much less so soon after meeting you.” Michael responded truthfully, he really hadn't meant to. “It just… feels right, you know?”

“Yeah. It does.”

“It also helps that you’re a very handsome man, Hen.” He teased, just to see the blush that rose up his cheeks.

Henry, bright as a tomato, gently whacked him on the arm. “Michael!” He whined.

He kept grumbling until Michael’s laughter had calmed down. They walked in comfortable silence for a while and Michael’s more insecure thoughts somehow managed to take root, despite the pleasant atmosphere.

“I was… a bit worried that… even if you did like me back, that I’d somehow drive you away.” He said quietly, just barely audible.

Even when his skin was whole and his flesh was alive, his heart present and beating, something was left behind. Something was wrong with him. He was broken.

Henry frowned sadly. “That’s not going to happen, Michael. I promise. Unless you turn out to be a violent criminal, or something, there’s not a lot that can scare me off. And for what it’s worth, there’s nothing wrong with you. I don't think you're broken.”

Michael jumped. He didn't realise he’d said that last bit out loud. “… Thanks. I’d, uh, be careful about promises, though. I’m not a criminal, but you can never be too sure, right?” He suggested hesitantly. He really didn't want Henry to end up making a promise he couldn't keep.

Henry hummed softly. “I’ll take my chances, I think. It adds a bit of mystery and excitement to life. And besides, even if you are broken, even if there is something wrong, it can't be anything a bit of love and care won't help fix.”

A lump welled up at the back of Michael’s throat and his eyes stung with the threat of tears. Typical Henry. That was the same sentiment that he’d always used to approach Michael, even as a hollowed out corpse. And it had almost worked as well. It had almost made him want to continue living in their little bubble, with no vengeful spirits and ghosts of the past to ruin their lives. It… made him want to live.

“I-” He coughed to clear his throat and blinked back the tears. “I look forward to it.” He said, ignoring the way his voice broke anyway.

Henry looked around for a moment, then linked their gloved pinkies together. It was a small gesture but it made Michael’s heart swell to twice its normal size. He wanted to grab the man and give him a big kiss right on the mouth, but they couldn't risk being seen. It was risky enough that linking fingers was close enough to holding hands that people would get suspicious. Hopefully it didn't seem like that from afar and that anyone who saw wasn't bold enough to spew hatred to their faces.

Speaking of…

“Are we gonna tell Will?” Michael asked, very clearly trying to guide the conversation away from emotional substance.

“… I was wondering about that, myself. He seems to be touchy about you ‘taking things’ from him and knowing that we’re together, he might see that as you ‘stealing' me.” Henry admitted.

“Yeah, you’re absolutely right.” Michael sighed. “He’s a very possessive man.”

And also very dangerous, but he didn't say that out loud. The moment William found out about the two of them, Michael could start counting his days. He could only hope that, if he did end up killing Michael, that the kids wouldn't be touched and that William would be arrested for it. But given the fact that he murdered both his mum and Charlie’s mum and got away with it, Michael didn't have his expectations high.

“I’ve been starting to realise that.” Henry said slowly. “He’s been busy with the fallout of Circus Baby’s, as well as helping run the other establishments with me, so he hasn't been around a lot. Despite that, it feels like he’s trying to… I don't know… force you out of spending time with me, almost.”

Michael didn't know how to reply to that other than nod once. “Not only is he possessive, he seems to take offence to my presence.”

“The way you say that so casually has me concerned.” Henry was frowning again. “Has he always been like that to you? Even when you were kids?”

Michael had to be careful here. He was treading very murky waters with a very crafty water snake. Giving too much away would bring unwanted attention to the things Michael was so desperately trying to keep hidden.

William had been like that for as long as he could remember. The only reason Michael was even allowed in his house was because the courts had decided Michael’s bio mum wasn't a fit guardian for him. When he married Clara, suddenly Michael was this stain on what could have been the perfect family.

“… Not all the time. It was only when I got too close to something, or someone, he saw to be his. I usually knew when to keep away so it wasn't something I was faced with often.”

“So you just had to fend for yourself?” Henry asked, becoming agitated. “And your parents did nothing?”

“They were in the midst of their own issues.” Michael shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. “I wasn't about to complain about something so minor. But back to the original topic, I think hiding what we’ve got going on would be the best option. Not that I want to, I very much want to kiss you right now.”

That brought back the blush and made the frown disappear. Michael smiled as Henry chugged back his coffee and tugged on his pinkie finger.

“You can't distract me that easily, Afton.” He huffed adorably, still pink.

Michael grinned. “I think you’ll find I can. Lottie’s at her friend’s house, yeah? I’m sure there won't be anyone to bother us at La Casa de Emily.” He winked.

Henry groaned, hiding his face in the crook of his elbow, but Michael could see the smile on his face.

“You enjoy teasing me, don't you?”

“Of course, Love, you're too pretty not to.”

“I’m an old man!”

“As am I. Your age is beautiful.”

Michael would know, as he’d seen and loved the way time had weathered him.

Chapter Text

What Henry said about William trying to force Michael out of quality time was true.

Now that the kids were back at school, and his arm had healed supernaturally fast, William had assigned the job of pick-up and drop-off to Michael. Meaning he was at the restaurants at different times to Henry. Which was very frustrating, as he wanted to see his boyfriend (his boyfriend!!!) more than four times a week for minimal hours. He’d simply sighed and reassured himself that it was better than not being able to see him at all.

But it did mean that he got more time with the kids, which was always a pleasure. Well… almost always. When they weren't bickering like the world would end over ice cream flavour, they were well behaved.

What Michael was worried about, though, was accidentally spilling something to them and them talking about it with William in earshot. He still hadn't told Mike about the future and he could tell that Mike was becoming more restless the longer he held out.

Mike kept staring at him as though he were trying to piece things together in his head with what little information he’d been given. It was only going to be a matter of time before Mike broke and demanded answers.

Michael knew how long that would be, considering that he’d done exactly that with William in his past. He’d lasted a month without asking questions. Because things weren't quite as serious as they were before, Michael could predict that Mike could wait much longer than that.

“How has Freshman year been so far? High school’s different to elementary so it’s a bit of a difficult change to get used to.” He asked, briefly taking his eyes off the road to glance at the teen in the passenger seat.

“Why haven't you told me anything yet?”

It was mid February. Not as long as he thought Mike would last but within the range he’d expected. He kept his eyes on the road. He didn't know if there were microphones in the car yet. He’d have to check later.

Michael sighed quietly. “Because I haven't found the right time to. How about we go pick up Dave and Liz, and then we can have a chat at home?”

Mike wasn't happy about it, but he stayed silent until they were all back at the house. They set up the youngest to be occupied with their homework and the kids show that was on TV, and then Michael led Mike outside. The snow from the storms that December had cleared out so it wasn't too wet to sit on the back step.

“I’m going to be honest, I don’t know how much to tell you.”

“All of it.” Mike said immediately.

“No. Some of it I definitely don't want you to know.” Michael said sternly.

“But-”

“No buts. I hate knowing what I do.” His voice turned bitter but remained quiet. “I have nightmares about it. When things get too stressful I see and hear it when I’m awake as well. It’s fucking awful, Mike, and I would give everything to make sure you don't ever go through any of that.”

Mike’s stunned expression slowly turned to apprehension and fear. “How… how bad is it?”

Michael exhaled sharply. “Worse than you could ever imagine.”

Mike visibly steeled himself, setting his shoulders back and raising his chin. “Tell me. So I can avoid it.”

The older of the two ducked his head, arms resting on his knees. There was no getting out of this, knowing himself as well as he did. He was the most stubborn person he knew, and that was knowing Mr. William “I always come back,” Afton. It would be easier to let the least-bad parts out now than to have Mike’s trust in him shake.

“It… it was supposed to start on the twins’ birthday this year. I was tasked with looking after David while Father finished up some stuff in the other room with Lizzy. I… made a god-awful mistake. You know that the stress of having to raise the twins caused us to bully Dave.”

Mike flinched. “Yeah…”

Michael took a deep, shaky breath in. “I… I- I put David’s face up to Fredbear because it scared him. His head got s-stuck in the mouth and his tears and squirming caused the springlocks to… to…”

Mike paled, remembering the impromptu lesson that Henry had given him the day of Circus Baby’s opening. When he and Michael had to fix something inside Fredbear.

“It… shut?”

“Yeah… it- it shut. It shut so hard that it cracked his skull.”

Mike’s hand flew up to his mouth. Horror and guilt shone in his eyes even though he hadn't done anything to warrant it.

“He died in the hospital.” Michael whispered. “Two years later, Father opened up Circus Baby’s and there was no one to stop Baby from- from grabbing Liz.”

“Why did Baby try to grab her?” Mike asked, voice muffled from behind his hand. “It wasn't a malfunction, was it?”

Michael hesitated. He couldn't risk Mike becoming more suspicious of William because then William would be more inclined to act against both of them. William would have no qualms dealing with his son to keep him out of the way, present or future. He wouldn't be telling him about the missing children’s incident that happened before that, or the nightmares he was punished with, though. That would raise more questions.

He spent too long hesitating, it seemed, because Mike was frowning with confusion and suspicion, fiddling with both his hands now.

“No, but I can't explain why.” Michael settled for answering. “All I will say was that Father and I were the only ones left come December ‘85. It wasn’t long after that, in ‘86, that Father disappeared. We had a big, blowout argument because he’d been spending less and less time at the house while I was grieving. He left afterwards and never came back home.”

“Do you know what happened to him?”

“Yes, but I can't say that either.”

Mike huffed, frustrated, but didn't protest. That was good. He wouldn't have to explain how Father was on the run from the police and was sneaking around trying to both murder children and dismantle the animatronics, before getting himself springlocked.

“I stayed with Henry and Charlie most of the time, but on her birthday, in ‘87, she was trapped out in the back alley at Freddy’s and murdered. They found her with the Security Puppet laying on top of her.”

The hand that had left Mike’s face was back up, covering his mouth, as he began to look sick again.

“It was only Henry and I left. We were a right mess. Both of us were grieving our entire families while also trying to juggle school and work. That was around the time that I started drinking. I wanted to feel like I was old enough, capable enough, to handle what was going on, so I pretended like I was older than I was. Adults drink, so I did. Adults smoke, so I did. Adults fall in love with other adults, so I did.”

Mike looked a bit queasier at that and Michael didn't blame him.

“I never got an answer about what happened to Lizzy, so I went to look for her. I’m sure you’ve heard by now - despite Father’s best attempts to stop it - that Circus Baby’s has shut down. He’s moved all of the Funtimes into storage below the house.”

Michael rubbed his eyes. “What I’m about to say might be a bit outlandish.”

His younger self raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m talking to my future self after we brought him back in time. What part of this isn't outlandish?”

He snorted. “True, I guess. Well, ghosts exist.”

Mike paused. “Not… that outlandish but still pretty out there. How’d you find out?”

“I heard childlike giggles and saw flashes of the words, ‘It’s me,’ whenever I was around Fredbear. He seemed to follow me between locations. The Puppet watched me whenever I was around and I could hear her music from across the building. Baby’s eyes turned green and she talked to me like she knew me.” Michael said bluntly.

That caused what little colour Mike had in his face to vanish.

“I knew I had to get Lizzy out of there, but she’d recruited the help of the other Funtimes. They mistook me for Father. They… used me to get out.”

Alarm slowly seeped into Mike’s expression. “Used you how?”

Michael winced and shook his head. “Another thing I can’t explain. But there was no way for me to survive. The method they used trapped my soul inside my own body. It wasn't pretty. That’s why I was covered in bandages when I came out the time machine.”

While Mike was processing that information, Michael fiddled with the cuff of his sleeve. “I started developing illusion technology left over from Father’s experiments to hide the way that I looked. My soul wasn't enough to keep my body… in good shape. I wandered the streets at night because being undead isn't good for the public eye.”

“You were a zombie?” Mike whisper-shouted.

Michael couldn't help it. He started laughing. “No, not quite. I didn't suddenly acquire a hankering for brains, but I wasn't exactly alive.” He then sobered. “Henry found me a while after that. He took care of me and we started our restaurant together. And then Father’s time machine brought me back here, pumped me full of remnant and sent me on my merry way to prevent all of that from happening.”

“Remnant? I saw that on his blueprint. What is it?” Mike perked up, finally able to contribute something other than a horrified reaction. “Did it heal you?”

Michael ran his fingers along the scars on his forearms, now fully healed, both from the future and from protecting his sister. “I can't explain what it is right now, but yeah, it healed me. That’s the long and short of it. I bet you regret asking now, huh?”

Mike’s mouth was pressed into a thin line and he nodded. “A- a bit, yeah. But what you told me isn't the order that things have been happening.”

And that was the thing. Michael had noticed that too. Charlie was supposed to be last; murdered by William, who had disguised himself as a dayguard to get access to the spare suits and tamper with the animatronics.

Then the actual day shift guy got bitten and the place went on lockdown. That incident had been incredibly stressful because it meant that Mike had to put on two fake aliases at once. Jeremy Fitzgerald was moved over to day shift to cover for the bite victim so Mike had to run in to reapply as Fritz Smith so that he could cover the last night there. Because Henry was so distracted over William showing up and the bite happening, he didn't question it.

The next day, Charlie had her birthday. Then the building shut down and Michael was fired for tampering with the animatronics. And odour from handling the dead bodies in the old ones. Those poor kids needed a proper send off, even if he got fired for it.

“Things have been happening out of order lately. The Pizza World opened two years early, Charlie was supposed to be last, and I… I’m just rolling with the punches at this point. I hope things don't take a turn for the worse.”

“What happens if something does go wrong?”

“You call 911. You tell them where you are, then you say what you need; police, ambulance, fire truck. Then, only if you have time, you explain what’s going on.”

“I know how to ring the emergency services.” Mike grumbled, but Michael could tell he was still put off.

“I know. I just want to make sure.”

Chapter Text

Michael frantically flipped through the registry booklet for upcoming birthday plans to find the parent’s name. He kept one eye on the screen, keeping track of the man in the golden bunny suit. He’d strategically moved to the Freddy’s location today, rather than be at Fredbear’s in the workshop. As loath as he was to leave Henry alone for the day, he needed to be where William was.

Because, apparently, today was the day that William was making his move.

Michael had bribed the day guard to let him into the security office and to keep his presence a secret. The dude was fine with it, he didn't even really ask questions; he just double checked his name and that he was part of the company. He’d whipped out a book and started reading while Michael skimmed the cameras. Fazbear Entertainment truly had quality workers.

He remembered what Ralph said about the safe room being boarded up after the Missing Childrens’ Incident. He’d meant to ask Henry about it but he had to play with disguises and then got scooped before he could. By then, Henry was all over the place and no one could get a hold of him.

He was reminded of the safe room when Phone Dude (he had no name to attach to the voice, sadly) dug up the old recordings of Ralph. That was when they'd found William behind the boarded up wall. It was implied that Henry was the one who’d sealed it up to begin with and, from Henry’s own wording later down the line, re-sealed it once he found the freshly springtrapped murderer inside.

The room was invisible to cameras and animatronics alike, so Michael had to be extra vigilant regarding William’s whereabouts. And more importantly, the children. Which was a bit difficult when he was tired from a night of nightmare animatronic related terrors.

Michael was at Freddy’s under the excuse that he wanted to learn more about the spare parts of this line of animatronics. William had tried to give him blueprints to ‘save him time,’ but Henry, love of Michael’s life, had convinced him that in-person experience was better than reading about it. Because it was Henry making that argument, William had caved pretty quickly - however reluctant he seemed.

But with that excuse aside, Michael’s real job was keeping Cassidy Andrews from following the bunny man. It was always the girls first with William, huh?

Once he was sure that Cassidy was both with William and not going anywhere, he slipped out of the office and wandered over to the back room. It was a freaky room, what with all the robotic heads with dead, glassy eyes staring down at him. He remembered going in here to check if Ralph was still there after his phone call on night 4. His body had already been disposed of.

On his way there, he kept a sharp eye out for Cassidy’s mum. While it was Susie’s birthday, the woman was there to help out. Both Cassidy’s parents and Susie’s parents were close friends. He locked onto the woman in question, who was helping out some other kids, and went up to her. She looked remarkably like her daughter with her straight black hair and round eyes.

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

She blinked, surprised at being so suddenly addressed. “Yes?”

“You are Mary Andrews, correct?” Michael asked.

“Yes, that’s me.” She replied, recovering quickly with a polite smile.

“I saw your daughter wander over that way. She can't be going to the bathroom because those are down the other end of the hall, so I think she’s found her way inside the staff safe room.” He gestured over to the bathroom hall, the end closer to the performance stage.

Mary’s eyebrows raised and then she sighed. “My apologies, I’ll go get her.”

Michael nodded, smiling gratefully. “Thank you. Usually guests aren't allowed in there. If you don’t tell, then I won’t.”

“That would be much appreciated.” Mary said before turning around and going into the hall.

He saw her knock on the door and enter, but he didn't stay long enough to see the outcome. If William walked back out with Cassidy and Mary, and saw him, then he would know that Michael was the one who sent Mary in there. It wouldn't matter if Mary told anyone or not, William would know.

Instead he hurried back to the security office and bribed the guard with twenty more bucks to ignore him for the next fifteen minutes while he deleted the camera footage. He put the video evidence of William bringing Cassidy into the safe room, and her mother going in after, on a hard drive and slipped it into his pocket.

He thanked the guard, who winked and asked who he was, before heading towards the back room again. Like before, his eyes locked onto Mary, with Cassidy happily by her side. He sent the woman a smile and went in to take apart Freddy’s spare head.

While he checked on the spare voice boxes, coming up with ways that they could be improved, Michael couldn't help but wonder again why things were happening differently. Was it his presence alone that seemed to spur William into action? Was it simply that his messing with the timeline jumbled events around? He wished he could find out because it was driving him insane.

An hour in, William found him underneath the work table, taking apart Foxy’s voice box and chest motor. That poor pirate had been out of order for far too long. It did give Michael a miniature heart attack when he looked to his right and saw William, looking beneath the table, staring at him with eyes like blue ice chips. It startled him so badly that he banged his head on the surface above when he jumped.

“Ah! Fucking Christ! Hello, William.” Michael grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. He hoped that his voice and facial expression didn't give anything away, because his father would murder him right then and there if he knew.

“… What are you doing?” William asked, raising his eyebrow at the mess of parts laid out before him. Or maybe he was just confused about Michael sitting under the table instead of at it.

Michael wasn't sure why that would be the case, under the table was always the best choice. “I’m fixing Foxy. You know he’s my favourite, I want to see him performing again.” He answered.

“Under the table?”

“Of course.”

William continued to stare at him, even after Michael stared back like he was stupid. Surely he knew Michael well enough that he was aware of his strange habits. It would be embarrassing otherwise because William once claimed to know him better than Michael knew himself.

“You are aware that you are basically cheating, right?” Will prodded, gesturing at the modifications that Michael was making to the older tech.

Michael snorted. “Having knowledge of the future is indeed cheating. But it’s not like I can help it. And would you rather I didn't? Foxy is quite popular and the kids are sad that he’s out of order. My future-acquired skills are making things run smoother, so there’s less chance for lawsuits.”

He ignored the implication that William was trying to make about him interrupting Will’s plans. He didn't know what he was talking about, obviously.

William hummed flatly. If he did that long enough he’d start sounding like a microwave. “I suppose. My workload has been lifted somewhat by your work.”

Michael grinned. “Aw, nice of you to acknowledge me.”

William stood back up straight and left the room, leaving his time travelling son to laugh in solitude. When the door shut behind him, Michael was able to let out a silent sigh of relief. That was Cassidy safe for now with no extra suspicion on his part.

It was interesting that not all of the kids were brought in at the same time. Perhaps because the restaurant wasn't as busy, and so Mary and Susie’s mothers would have more easily noticed five of their party being led away by a strange man. Michael had to remember that things were happening years early so minor circumstances were different.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. He crawled out from under the table and heaved himself up, without bashing his head again, to check who it was.

“Hi, Uncle Mike!” Charlie beamed up at him. “The party’s over now and Cassidy said that Uncle Will was being weird, so can you drive me back, please? Dad said you’ve got your own car now, right?”

Michael blinked and then smiled back. “Yeah, of course! Let me pack up my stuff and we’ll get going.”

There weren’t many people in the building anymore, most of them being staff, and the rest of the children were leaving as one big group. It would be incredibly stupid for William to try luring another child after his failed attempt at Cassidy when the restaurant was clearing out.

“Thanks, I wanted to talk to you in the car as well.” She said, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet while she waited.

Michael tilted his head as he packed the spare parts back into the box. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s a secret.”

The secret turned out to be the shovel talk. It was adorable, about four months late, and not as threatening as Charlie probably intended it to be, but it made him warm inside to be on the receiving end of it anyway. He’d simply smiled and ruffled her hair, assuring her that he’d sooner die than willingly hurt Henry. The girl had hummed happily, ignorant to how utterly dedicated Michael truly was to not only Henry, but to her and the others as well.

“Hey, you okay?” Henry asked later, when Michael wrapped his arms around him after Charlie had run up to her room.

Michael sighed happily, relaxing into Henry’s hold. He deserved a reward for consistently foiling William at every turn and stressing over every little thing. “Yep. Just recharging.”

It was so satisfying, being able to hug Henry like this. They'd both been rail thin the last time he had the opportunity so it hadn't been as cushy, even if it was still nice. He was a handful of inches taller than Henry so he was able to rest his cheek on the crown of his head, pulling Henry to his chest with scarred arms around his waist.

“Alright, darling.” Henry pressed a kiss to Michael’s jaw and he could feel him smile.

Michael leaned his forehead against Henry’s, both of them closing their eyes in domestic bliss, Henry’s arms around his shoulders. He felt like he could burst from happiness.

Even when Charlie came downstairs and started fake gagging.

Chapter Text

Michael carefully breathed through his nostrils, careful to keep his mouth closed and his eyes open. No sounds could be made here, no visual cue could be missed.

In the giant room he was tiny. A child in an adult’s world, where monsters roamed the corridors. They hunted him just as much as they guarded him. Placed there to keep him in line but to strike him should he move wrong. They never got close enough to really hurt him, but the fear and terror would shock him like an electrical socket ripped open. It would sting him and freeze him and make his chest hurt so bad he wished he were dying.

But they never hurt him.

It was a sick sense of comfort that Michael got from them. That they would never kill him. They were only doing their job.

He sat at the foot of his bed and reached out his hearing to seek the sound of footsteps. They shuffled up and down the halls either side of this unfamiliar room. The room that wasn't Michael’s but was slowly becoming so.

The monster in the cupboard rattled the doors, the mini monsters screamed behind him, footsteps crept up to the door he held shut, thick, heavy breathing on the other side as it tried to pull control away from him. Michael could hear the chimes of the church bell, one he remembered oh so well from the day of his brother’s funeral, or was that the grandfather clock at the end of the hall? The neighbour’s dog barked outside, a monster was in the kitchen as one tended to be, the radio on the table out there played a distorted voice recording that he couldn't make out.

Michael’s own footsteps seemed so loud when he ran across the room, between the doors, the cupboard and the bed. He clicked his torch on to disperse the minis and caught sight of the flowers that were on his brother’s bedside table in the hospital. Fredbear laughed, warped and slow. Deep rumbles and the distant sound of rain on the roof.

He held the cupboard shut to trap his favourite, the one he couldn't even bear to look at anymore. He crossed the room to shut the door when he heard more footsteps and more thick breathing.

When the alarm went off, Michael crawled onto the bed and fell asleep. There he’d dream about a car horn blaring, the smell of asphalt, erratic movement and screaming, red everywhere, his father panicking. He would wake up again, in his own bed, two hours later to help his father around the house. He wasn't allowed to be anywhere near his sister, their father was the only one who was strong enough to be around Michael. Michael couldn't hurt Father like he’d hurt David.

Father was the only one there. He ran his fingers through Michael’s hair on the days where the six hour nightmares were particularly awful, where so many of the monsters came so close to catching him, when Michael could do nothing but cry the way he’d condemned David for. Father would hum and say nothing else, and Michael would say nothing else. He would lie on the couch, with his head by Father’s legs, while the man read the newspaper and drank his coffee; Elizabeth asleep, ensconced in her room, safe and sound.

And when Lizzy inevitably woke up, Father would give Michael a cold look and send him up to his room to be locked away for the rest of the day, and sleep.

And that was okay. Because Michael loved his family.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Michael had anticipated a period of waiting from William. Attempting another murder so soon after getting caught almost committing the first one would be social suicide. He just hadn't thought that the waiting period would last multiple months. Michael would say that he knew William fairly well and, while impatient was not a word he’d use to describe the man, it was still longer than he thought.

Perhaps he should have expected it, given that William waited years between murders in the original timeline. Then again, those murders were successful.

Susie’s birthday was in early April and it was now nearing late-June. Cassidy seemed to have spread the word of William bringing her back to the safe room because the kids didn't go there often anymore, much less by themselves. They were even hesitant to go to Charlie’s (successful and lively) birthday party back in May simply because William would be there. They were soothed by Michael being there, though. Cassidy’s mother, Mary, and Susie’s mother, Judith, were both terse but polite with William, and were cheerfully friendly with Michael whenever they saw each other around the place.

There were other groups of kids that visited, not just for birthdays but to hang out, but none of them were so established with William like the Future Missing Group was. Michael had assumed that William would try to rebuild trust between them, or start trying again with some other kids but so far… nothing.

The twins’ birthday was approaching, four days away to be exact. It was now summer break. The twins had finished their first year of elementary school, and Mike had finished his first year of high school.

It was difficult to comprehend that Michael had already been in the past for nearly ten months. Everything had gone by so quickly. In his rush to save everyone as the incidents were happening, he hadn't noticed the time slipping away. Despite his stresses, he really had been enjoying himself and everyone knew the saying about that.

Both Fredbear’s Family Diner and Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza were flourishing as they had before the incidents in the previous timeline, if not even more so. Michael's contributions to the company as technician had improved the functionality of the animatronics and decreased risk, like he’d pointed out to his father.

Not only that, being able to live with Mike, David and Elizabeth had been a delight. Even on the days where they were a handful and Mike was at the end of his wits, Michael still cherished their time together and the opportunity to care for them and love them. Over the last year, he’d become more of a parental figure to them than he ever expected to be.

Imagine that. The kid that had accidentally killed his little brother due to the stress of having to raise him, had gone back in time to become his little siblings’ pseudo-parent. And was doing a fine job of it, even!

Depending on how one looked at it, William was either a big help or no help at all in that regard. The man had been spending more and more time in the bunker below the house, and less time with the kids. With less Father around, the more they latched onto Michael. When Michael made his move against him, whenever that would be, he was sure that the kids would take his side.

His relationship with Henry had been going strong, despite having to hide it from pretty much everyone in Hurricane, plus William. They occasionally went out for lunch to discuss ‘business’ but he had a feeling that all the regulars of the sandwich shop knew and just didn't say anything. They just had to hold out until October 2014 to be legal.

Even though William was inactive, Michael sensed that he was gearing up for something. Something big. It wasn't surprising. The Missing Childrens’ incident had been a big ‘event’ that William wanted to ‘knock out’, so to speak, in one go.

Michael was counting down the days until his own became numbered. Because there were only so many times he could get away with sabotaging William before he figured it out.

The day came earlier than expected.

Monday, 20th of June, four days before the twins’ birthday, Michael spotted William in costume, hand in hand with 8-year-old Fritz, leading him to the back of the pizzeria.

“Hey, Spring Bonnie, hey, Fritz! Sorry to interrupt, but Fritz’s dad is wanting him back now.”

“Is he?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh man! But I want a present!”

“I’m sure you can go ask your dad and come right back.”

“Alright, be right back, Bonnie!”

William stared at Michael. Michael’s hearing blurred, the ambience of the busy restaurant blending together into white noise. His vision narrowed until all he could see was William. Until all he could feel was the pulsing in his chest. The yellow of the suit became splotched with rotting green, red and black. Holes opened up in his chest and his arms became thinner, bonier, entangled with wires. The skin underneath turned raw and eyes bulged in the empty sockets.

Fritz didn't come back to them.

Michael turned and left, his skin crawling at the action of turning his back on Springtrap. He walked over to the security office, where the day guard was waiting. He paid Michael no mind as he transferred the camera and audio files to the hard drive. He slipped it into his jacket and left the building.

His skin rumbled, ready to burst. His hands trembled like his endoskeleton was ready to hatch. Whispers danced in his ears as he sat behind the wheel of his car, hands carefully steering the vehicle away from the establishment. He pulled into Henry’s driveway and sat there, breathing heavily.

He removed his seat belt and leaned gently on the steering wheel. Foul memories crept up his throat, squirming as they latched onto his tongue. He gagged, mouth dry, as his chest heaved for breaths. His shoulders shuddered as memories of his father, of Springtrap, of Scraptrap, of fire and passing, washed over him. The stench of death stung the air.

When he sat up, Fredbear was crawling towards him on the hood of the car, dripping blood and teeth. Ennard sat in the back seat, eyeing him through the rear view mirror, dangling eyeballs and wires. His own skin was turning purple and black, his fingernails becoming jagged and unkept, his flesh split open at the seams.

He couldn't let all of this happen again. He couldn't. He couldn't. He couldn't let Father get his fingers under Michael’s skin again. He couldn't let Father take away so many lives and ruin many more. He couldn't–

The car door opened and Henry, old and weathered, skin wrinkled and limbs gaunt. He looked at Michael with sympathy, he knew of the horrors that Michael had seen, had heard, had felt, had been.

“Michael. Can I come closer?” Henry asked, sounding younger than he’d been in decades.

Michael gasped, breathlessly pleading. “Please, please, I- I- I can't-”

Henry shushed him gently, soothingly, as he pulled him away from the steering wheel, away from the prying eyes of Fredbear and Ennard, who was suspiciously absent from the back seat. He pulled Michael close to him, so that his face would sit in the crook of his shoulder, just underneath his chin. He carefully pried Michael’s fingers out of the strong grip he’d had before and placed them in between the two of them.

“Breathe, Michael, slowly.” Henry pacified him, voice calm and quiet, but could be heard rumbling in his chest. “I’m here, I’ve got you.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Michael stopped hyperventilating.

“Good, you're doing so good, Michael.” Henry praised him, running his fingers through Michael’s hair, rubbing circles into his back with his other hand, keeping him safely tucked away in his arms.

Michael blinked the fog from his eyes and sagged against his boyfriend. Relief and gratitude flooded him, followed by a love for him so intense it brought more tears to his eyes.

He couldn't believe he'd gotten so lucky to be with someone as amazing as him. What had he done to deserve such a thing? In either life? How amazing was he in a previous life to be gifted such a blessing in the shape of a man? To be gifted a partner and equal who could hold him together with ease and grace and care without a second thought?

“You back with me now, my darling?” Henry asked softly.

“Yeah…” Michael whispered, hoarse from the crying and dry gagging. “Thank you…”

Henry kissed his forehead and then rested his own against it. “Of course, Michael, anything.”

“I love you.” Michael blurted out, then flushed from the suddenness. “Sorry, I- I didn't- I know it hasn't been that long, but-”

Henry chuckled and cut him off with another short, tender kiss. “I love you too. I love you so much.”

Chapter Text

Michael went to sleep that night with his door locked and Helpy awake.

William behaved no differently once they were both back at the house, but every so often Michael could see him glaring out of the corner of his eye. Every time it had goosebumps raising all along his arms and neck. It was a familiar feeling, having been on the receiving end of such glares often during his childhood. One that demanded not to get in the way.

The man had arrived home before Michael did so they were both well aware that Michael had gone to Henry’s house. William was just unaware of what Michael was doing there. For all his father knew, Michael could have told Henry everything and they were making plans against him rather than just ride out a set of especially bad hallucinations.

Michael would much rather spend the night at Henry’s, but he couldn't risk leaving the house. Not with the kids still there. William could and would use anything against him, and his siblings/younger self were no exception. In fact, they were ideal to use against Michael due to how devoted he was to them.

So he got ready to try and sleep in that house, despite the dread mixing horribly with the dinner in his stomach. He set Helpy up by the door and turned on his heat sensor so that he could alert Michael to anyone outside.

The first few hours went alright. He drifted off but didn't quite make it to REM sleep before Helpy’s alarm went off. It wasn't obnoxiously loud but it was loud enough to startle Michael awake quite violently. He surged upwards and all but stopped breathing to keep aware of his surroundings.

A small knock came from the other side of the door, one belonging to a small hand. Michael put a hand on his chest, phantom pain spiking in his right arm, to soothe the racing of his heart. He got up and pressed a button on Helpy’s cheek that projected what he was seeing onto the surface in front of him. Lizzy’s heatmap shone on the door, shifting as she waited.

Michael unlocked the door and let the girl in. Her eyes were red and puffy and her bottom lip was trembling. He gently picked her up, cradling her in the crook of his left arm to not hurt his right, and locked the door behind her.

“Another nightmare?” He whispered and she nodded. “It’s okay. I’m here. Try not to kick me in your sleep, alright?”

Lizzy buried her face into Michael’s sleep shirt and nodded again, as he laid them both down into bed. He tucked her in under the blankets and let her cuddle up to him as she cried softly. He whispered assurances until she fell asleep not long later.

Michael himself floated off into a fitful sleep that ended prematurely when Helpy alerted him a second time. He groaned at the interruption and looked over to where the tiny bear was still stationed. The projection of the heat map showed a shape that looked like Mike heading towards the bathroom.

He would need to alter Helpy’s code to only alert him to figures of William’s stature, that way he didn't become sleep deprived from restless kids.

All sense of sleepiness had left his body, though, so there was no point trying to fall back asleep. He glanced at the clock; 6 AM, of fucking course. He quietly groaned and rubbed his face with the hand that wasn't trapped under the sleeping six year old next to him. Luckily Elizabeth wasn't disturbed by Helpy’s alarm.

Michael carefully extracted himself from the mess of blankets that Liz had made and unlocked the door so that he could carry her to her room. She had about an hour and a half to continue sleeping in, depending on when William would be making them all get up.

He spent the entire first half of the day, especially when he had to be around William, on edge. It was a Tuesday during summer break so the restaurants were open, but Henry took one look at Michael and demanded he go home and rest. William had seconded that opinion rather quickly so he was outvoted and had to do as they said.

The plus side was that he could watch the kids without William being around. He still had to be careful about the cameras, though. After they had finished having their lunch, Michael pulled Mike aside.

The teen saw the grim expression on his face and silently followed him out to the back step where they’d had their chat last time.

“What’s going to happen next?” Mike muttered, knowing that Michael wouldn't start talking until he said something. “Is it going to be David?”

“No.” Michael answered firmly. “No, because you are not going to let a single thing happen to either him or Elizabeth all week. They are the most at risk but you are to watch out for yourself as well. You three are going to stay together on Friday and nothing is going to happen to any of you.”

“So it’s- it’s going to be on Friday then? That’s three days away.” Mike clarified, swallowing nervously. “What… What do you think will happen? I know I’m not gonna… do what happened the other time, but other than that, I can't think of what else could happen.”

Michael shook his head wearily. “It’s something to do with the events I can't talk about. It’s… not something I can share. Not right now, at least. I’m sorry.”

Mike scowled as he nudged a pebble on the ground with his shoe. “I still don't like that you haven't given me all the answers.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for that. But it’s not at all pleasant and some of the information I have is dangerous. It’s to keep you and the others safe.”

Mike kicked the pebble and sent it flying. “But who’s gonna protect you?” He asked, frustration evident in his tone. “If something happens to you…”

Michael blinked. He sighed and put a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “I’ll protect myself. Nothing will happen to me, and, even if it does, I’ll push through it. I’ve been surviving for decades on nothing but soul energy and spite. I’ll make it because I’ve got you and your siblings to take care of, don't I? Not to mention Henry and Charlie.” He smiled but he couldn't quite get rid of the tenseness. “We’ll be okay.”

The boy didn't look convinced but he couldn't seem to find it in himself to argue further. Mike leaned into Michael’s side and wrapped an arm around him. Michael returned the side hug and rested his head against Mike’s.

“Look after the others, and look after yourself. We’ll be okay.” He whispered. “If something does happen, you know how to get help.”

Michael, in all honesty, didn't know what to expect. He wished fervently that he could give Mike some more reassurance, some better instructions, less vagueness, but he himself didn't know what to say.

Michael’s days were officially numbered but he couldn't bring himself to tell Mike that. He was worried about whether he would survive what William had planned, despite the assurances he promised Mike. William Afton was like a parasite; he took and took and took, and continued to take. Had Michael not been so fixated on securing justice, on claiming atonement, he would have surrendered to his virus forty years ago.

But now he had a proper family to protect. What would happen to them if anything happened to him? If William won, then Henry would be the one to take up the mantle - assuming that he saw William for what he was. If Henry failed, then Mike would be next in line as he had been last time.

He remembered all the torment that William had put him through at that young age. Mike could claim all he wanted that he was basically a grown-up, but fourteen was still too young to be exposed to the particular gruesomeness that was his walk of life.

He remembered the illusion disks that dotted about the house, giving him nightmares until the day he went around trashing the halls with his grief. He’d often wondered why William didn't just kill him like he had done to so many innocent others. He’d fallen so low that he’d sometimes begged for that to have been the case, instead of being left behind to deal with the ghastly trail of shattered lives.

His own included.

Michael was back to his original goal. Surviving five nights just to see the conclusion of this horrific franchise of murder and ghosts. The real work would begin on Friday, the day of the party.

Chapter Text

Henry was quite worried about Michael. Scratch that, very worried. That, honestly and sadly, wasn't uncommon at this point. Michael was plain from early on that he had troubles, even if he didn't so much as specify what they were. After learning about his backstory, hearing how he spoke about himself as though he were broken, and seeing how nervous he was about Henry making promises ‘he couldn't be sure he'd keep’, it was even more obvious.

But lately, Michael had been acting like he was under some kind of attack. It wasn't anything big, if anything it was very subtle. He was tense all the time. The only times he wasn't tense were when it was just him and Henry alone. The more people that were around, the tenser Michael got; even with his own niece and nephews.

What concerned Henry the most was how stiff he got, how plastic Michael’s face seemed when around William, especially in these last couple of months. Henry knew what Michael looked like when he was comfortable. He knew what he looked like when blind with panic. Plastic was not how he would describe Michael’s face, he was usually pretty expressive.

The panic attacks were also becoming more frequent. Henry hadn't yet seen one as bad as the one in his driveway, but it didn't seem out of the ordinary to Michael.

It made Henry feel a bit sick to know that Michael was struggling so badly and Henry couldn't do much to help him. All he could do was be there for him and hope it was enough. A home life like the one Michael had vaguely described to him would be enough to cause lasting impressions and if there truly was something going on behind the scenes with William, like he suspected, then Michael might end up retreating altogether. Henry wouldn't be able to do anything.

Henry rubbed his face as he started packing up his paperwork. He had to go check on his boyfriend to make sure he was resting. The poor guy showed up to work both yesterday and this morning looking dead on his feet. Henry had instantly sent him back home both days to get some rest because working in an environment hosting machinery while sleepless was a recipe for disaster.

Of course, Michael had tried to deny it and had claimed that he could still be useful (another thing to be concerned about, because who made him think that his only worth was how useful he could be?). Henry had put his foot down both times and was backed up by William both times. Looking back on it, maybe William’s insistence on getting Michael out of the workplace had some ulterior motive.

“Henry, there’s… something I want to tell you.” William spoke up before Henry could move away from his desk.

Henry hummed, tilting his head in William’s direction to let him know he was listening. “What’s up?” He asked, distracted.

“I’ve admired you for a really long time–”

Oh no. That was what this was about. He’d had a feeling…

“– and I think it’s about time I told you that–”

Henry swallowed down the dread that started surfacing as his gut plummeted. He hadn't known but he felt like he should have. Maybe he’d known all along but simply didn't put proper thought to it.

“– because I feel we’ve gotten really close over the years–”

William was Henry’s friend. His best friend even. Yes, he was charming and everybody seemed to like him, and he wasn't bad in the appearance department. But Henry just didn't see him that way. He didn't want to lose a friendship with William if he suddenly decided that his unrequited feelings were more important.

“– and I want to know if I have a chance at something more with you–”

Not to mention, Henry was secretly dating the man’s brother! Who was so, unequivocally different from William, despite their occasional similarities, that it was impossible to imagine it being William in Michael’s place.

“I know you’ve been having trouble after Ruth’s death–”

Of course he mentioned her. Not only that, but with a hint of bitterness in his tone as well.

‘He’s a very possessive man.’ Michael had told him. ‘It was only when I got too close to something, or someone, he saw to be his.’

William saw Henry as ‘his’, didn't he?

“– and I’m proud that you’ve come so far afterwards, but–”

What extent did William’s feelings go? Henry had already begun to fester doubts about William’s true character. The differences in how his own brother and children behaved between his presence and absence was something he hadn't noticed before. William’s attitude about certain things had become somewhat sharper and he’d become slightly more callous in how he acted when not around Henry.

“– I would like it if you gave me a chance–”

Oh God, what was he going to do? Everything was going to be so awkward and maybe even unpleasant - which he very much hoped to avoid. He hoped that William would take the rejection lightly and not hound him or Michael about it.

“I have feelings for you, Henry.”

Henry bit down a wince. He opened his mouth but closed it almost immediately. He really, really didn't know what to say. His brain whirred as he came up with a response.

He sighed. “Look, Will, I’m- I’m sorry, but I don’t think it would work out. I… I don't feel that way about you. I’m sorry.” He apologised, looking William in the eye properly for the first time the entire conversation.

William had no expression on his face. It made discomfort crawl up his back. Once upon a time, he used to think that William was the most expressive man he knew. Now here he was, staring dead at him.

“You could learn to.”

That sent alarms blaring in his head but Henry forcibly turned them down and kept his own face from showing anything.

“I don’t feel that way about you, and I… don't think I want to, Will. I’m really sorry, but that's just how it is.” He insisted gently, trying to ignore the goosebumps of something that might be disgust raising on his skin.

William hummed and nodded, and his expression turned contrite as though he hadn't been emotionless, suggesting he could change Henry, a few seconds ago. “Alright. Just thought it was worth a shot. Sorry for making you uncomfortable, Hen. I thought you deserved to know.”

He only let Michael call him that.

Henry smiled back at him, hoping it wasn't strained. “It’s alright. It might take me a while to reconcile with it, but I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship.”

“You and me both.”

Henry nodded and the remaining conversation fizzled out. He left soon after to get rid of that god-awful crawling sensation.

He had to check on Michael.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Everything I’ve done has been for him. From the beginning, it was all for him.

I wonder when it went so wrong. No, I know when it went wrong. All those years ago, it was that stupid choice I made. Then I just kept going too far. Even now, I can't seem to stop myself. I know, logically, I have changed on a fundamental level. I don't even know if I am the same man that I was all those years ago. It’s unlikely.

If a ship is repaired, piece by piece, until it is completely new again, is it still the same ship? If so many parts of it have been stripped and replaced by cold, unfeeling others, is it still the same? Can it still be called the name it went by before?

Or was it always meant to stay broken?

Perhaps I am broken. Maybe I have been replaced bit by bit by some version of myself I never intended to be at the beginning. But I want to keep going. There are boundaries I haven't pushed yet and if I must make sacrifices to seek out and accomplish my goal, then I will. Even if it means I have to sacrifice him. The one I started all of this for.

I need to see. I need to complete what my future self failed at. Ever since Michael stopped me from getting evidence for my study, I’ve been dreaming of the future - day and night. I know for certain now that Michael has seen the fruits of my labours and is actively sabotaging me.

I’ve seen the acts that future me has committed. I’ve seen what it did to Michael. What it did to Henry too, even if I didn't see much of my oldest friend. I remember the agony of being trapped in my springlock suit and refusing to die. Of being sealed behind a wall by a man I once loved.

I remember the agony roiling off of Michael when I faced him, after they freed me and released me into that knock-off jumpscare house, mocking the brand that I built with my bare hands. His fury and torturous pain stirred up the energy in the air like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Not even my own remnant was so volatile, so effervescent. I remember seeing the purpling of his skin, the emptiness of his eye sockets, nothing but blinking white lights glaring at me, the numerous bandages he covered himself with.

I remember the rage on his face the night he decided to burn me alive. A rage I cultivated without knowledge. An agony I cultivated without intention.

Michael is much different than the boy I raised. In some sense, he is no longer the boy I raised, just as I am no longer the man who raised him. We are both something other and it has a sense of poetry to it. Michael, the angel who is like God, emulates me as much as he is my antithesis.

It makes sense, given that there will always be a piece of me inside him. There always has been.

My plan follows the same format that Michael has been living by for the last forty odd years. He is aware of this. He knows that something will happen on Friday, in two days. The day of the party.

I will sacrifice him.

Chapter Text

William’s Midnight Motor was not in the driveway when Michael left for work. That was typical but it felt more foreboding than usual.

Mike had insisted on looking after David and Elizabeth this week to avoid any accidents happening, so Michael was leaving them alone at home for a while. He intended to go check up on them during his lunch break because, while legal, it was still more stress on Mike than he was willing to dish.

Michael himself wasn't feeling too great. The last two days he’d been sent home for being too tired but he couldn't help how little sleep he was getting. Between the near-constant nightmares, the stress of being in the same house as William, and having to take care of the kids, his energy levels were quickly depleting. That left his body feeling heavy and his mind fogged.

Completely counterintuitive to what Michael was trying to accomplish, but it couldn't really be helped. Taking sleeping pills would leave him vulnerable to any move William wanted to make and would mean he wouldn't exactly be receptive to any of the kids who wanted some midnight reassurance.

He knew he was likely to be sent back again, but he didn't want to give William any chances to make a move at either of the restaurants. Without Michael there, William had free reign. Getting sent home wasn't ideal but at least turning up seemed to put William off, knowing that he could show up at any time regardless of his own health. Henry was also there, watching over and ready to report to him, which William knew.

Michael also just wanted to be around Henry. He got to spend so little time with him as it was and missing out on it more made him sad.

Just as he was closing his car door to drive off into the drizzly weather, Henry’s car pulled up next to him. Henry gave him an exasperated look from the driver’s seat, making him smile sheepishly.

Charlie jumped out of the back seat and Henry followed. Michael sighed as the man tapped on the window and gestured for him to get out. Michael was nothing if not a simp, so he did as told.

“Michael, come on… you look even worse than yesterday.” Henry said, worry evident.

Michael felt guilt swirl inside him, making his shoulders sag. The thing was, he couldn't even tell Henry why he was so insistent on going to work while run off his feet. He couldn't explain why his sleep was so bad either. And as horrible a boyfriend he was for making Henry worry about him, he couldn't let anyone else lose their lives to the monster that was hellbent on taking them.

“Gee, thanks.” He replied wryly, earning him a stern stare that made him deflate. “Sorry, yeah, I know. It’s just… I have stuff to do. And I’ve been stressed lately, not sleeping right, but I can push through. Really, I can!”

Henry shook his head and took him by the hand, leading him back up to the front door which was open from letting Charlie in.

“We’re heading off to the restaurant now, you kids be safe!” Henry yelled out.

Michael’s eyebrows raised as he listened to the round of assent from the children. After all that, Henry was still taking him to Fredbear’s? Or Freddy's? That was unexpected.

After locking the front door, Henry herded Michael into his car and hopped into the driver’s seat himself. The turn he took at the end of the street told him that they weren't going to Fredbear’s but back to the Emily household. Michael felt like facepalming. That, he should have expected. There was no way that Henry would let it go.

Despite all his negative emotions, it still sent some warm, fuzzy thrill through him that Henry so obviously cared for him. It made him chuckle at his own obliviousness, looking back. Henry had been visibly flustered over his pirate costume and what did Michael think? ‘Wow, Henry must like pirates too.’

Neither of them made a move to exit the car once they parked in the driveway. The energy in the air was the same as when Michael’d had a panic attack in that same driveway, not even four days ago. It was Thursday now and the panic had set in on Monday.

Tomorrow was the big day. Fuck.

Fuck, he hadn't even thought about it like that. Michael had one more day to get his affairs in order. Shit… fuck!

He didn't even notice that his hands were trembling until Henry took them both into his own hands. Michael forced himself to breath slowly. He’d feel even more like shit if he had another breakdown. His head was pounding, his eyes felt like they were going to drop out of his head, his chest felt tight and his brain was going to melt if he had to do any difficult thinking.

The two of them remained in silence until Michael’s hands stopped shaking. He couldn't bring himself to say anything. Luckily, Henry came through on that for him, as he usually did.

“William confessed to me yesterday, after we sent you home, before I went to check on you.”

Michael’s blood turned to ice.

“What?”

“He confessed. And what he said…”

Michael’s chest constricted. No. He couldn't have told Henry. Not about the time travel.

“What did he say?”

“When I told him that I wasn't interested, he said that… maybe I could learn to love him that way.” Henry admitted, unease, bordering on fear, all across his face. He could practically feel his boyfriend’s discomfort.

Oh. It wasn't about the time travel but that was so much worse. Michael could live with things being awkward between him and Henry, but Henry being made to love William? Being put in such an uncomfortable situation with someone he dearly trusted? He remembered his conversation with future Henry about him only saying yes because of his grieving state, knowing that Henry sorely regretted it afterwards, how disgusting it made him feel… Michael wouldn't be having that.

“That’s… a disgusting thing to say. I’m sorry…” It was Michael’s turn to hold Henry’s hands to prevent them from shaking. “I’m so sorry he said that to you, Hen. I’m sorry that I wasn't there to help or stop it. He won't try anything with you, I’ll make sure of it.”

Without putting too much thought into it, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the hard drive. He pushed it into Henry’s palm and closed his fingers around it.

“Keep this for me, please?” He asked when Henry looked at it in confusion.

“Sure… why?” Henry asked in return, his voice weak. “Michael, what’s on here? What’s going on?”

Michael was going to have to tell him. As wild as the truth was, he had to. He was going to explode if he had to somehow lie his way out of this. He wasn't even expecting to live through tomorrow and Henry deserved to know. He wasn't going to tell him about everything, he wasn't even going to mention William’s active role in his stresses, but most of it.

Including how Henry was dating the older version of a kid that he saw as a nephew. Including how awkward it would surely be.

Michael prepared himself for the inevitable break up that such a confession would lead to. There was no way that Henry would be comfortable dating Michael after this, especially with William’s alarming words still fresh. If Henry even believed him to begin with, that was.

“There is something that we’ve been keeping from you and Charlie.” Perhaps not the best start, given Henry’s cautious stare, but it was something. “Both William and the kids know about it. It’s to do with how I spontaneously appeared out of nowhere.”

Henry frowned, fiddling with the hard drive. “Are you not who you say you are? I don't know how that would be, since you’re very visually similar to the others.”

Michael smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. “I don't know if you’re going to believe me, but the kids and Will will back me up on this. Time travel exists.”

Henry blinked, his frown disappearing. “Okay… that's definitely not what I thought you were going to say.”

Michael chuckled humourlessly. “I wouldn't have expected that either. But I want you to think about the implications of that for a moment. You’re smart, you can figure it out.”

Henry fell quiet and Michael could almost see the cogs and gears turning inside his brain. After a while, Henry’s mouth fell open a little and he looked like he was seeing Michael for the first time again.

“‘The original Michael Afton?’” Henry recited Michael’s first introduction. “If you’ve time travelled, then that would mean… you’re Mike?”

He winced despite the smile still on his face. “Yep. All those similarities between me and younger Michael were no coincidence. I… I’ve seen a different set of events than the ones we’ve seen here.”

“All those incidents… you saw what would happen if there was no interference.” Henry realised, understanding bloomed but it was shortly followed by dread. “You know what was supposed to happen. Charlie would have… and Elizabeth…”

Michael nodded and began the explanation of what had happened; from David’s death all the way up to being brought back in time. Excluding the details about William and the gory descriptions, such as getting his internal organs and several bones removed by a mechanical scooper or Springtrap’s entire existence. He explained the existence of remnant and ghosts, and how their entire family had been stolen from them.

Henry was just as horrified and guilt-ridden as Mike had been. Michael took a deep breath and braced himself for what was to come.

“I’m sorry for dumping this all on you, Henry. I know it’s a lot and it’s very disturbing. But you deserve to know. Especially now that I’ve been running myself ragged trying to prevent all that stuff from happening and I couldn't explain to you why…” Michael chewed on his lip, considering his next words.

“If it’s too much, or too weird that you’re dating… well, me, Mike, then…”

“You think I’m going to break up with you.” Henry stated.

Michael risked a shaky grin. “Are you not? I realise how this is. I knew my crush on you was inappropriate when it developed and now that I actually had a chance with you, I took advantage of how you didn't know it was me. I’m…”

Henry grabbed his chin firmly, forcing him to look him in the eyes. “Don't you dare say you're no better than William. You didn't try to force me to love you. You were given a chance, something he hasn't been. You've shown me how real your feelings are. You didn't choose to make me love you, you treat me with respect and care, and I know that if I had rejected you that you would have held no ill will.

“And I don’t care that you're the older, future version of Mike. You're Michael Afton, the man who takes care of the kids like they're your own, my daughter included, who’s sacrificed his life for them on multiple occasions, who did his damnedest to atone for a mistake he made and bring his family back together again. You're different from the Mike we have here. You're an adult, for one thing.”

Henry winked at him and Michael felt his face warm alongside his chest. For all that Michael thought he could expect from Henry, he always kept surprising him. He should have known that the man who had stayed with him to tend to his living corpse, had planned to help him commit mass-arson, wouldn't be so scared by a little dubious morality.

Henry loved his family, just as Michael did.

“Let me know how I can help.” Henry begged.

Michael just beamed and kissed him. “Will do, but for now leave it to me. You're what I need right now.”

Henry laughed. “No, some sleep is what you need right now. How about we pick up the kids and we all have a sleepover here?”

“That sounds perfect.”

Chapter Text

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

Michael groaned at the sound of whispers in his ears. He went to rub an itch on his face but his arms wouldn't move. Ah, it was one of those dreams. After being kidnapped by Circus Baby that one time (well, technically it was Funtime Foxy that did it) he had been left with nightmares about being trapped in a springlock suit. Sometimes he could get free and other times…

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

He tried to focus on the whispers to find out who they were coming from but they were too far out of reach. The names sat on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't access them; tantalisingly close but out of reach nonetheless.

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

He could hear the ticking of the springlocks on either side of his head, becoming loose from his heartbeat and breathing. He slowed his breathing in a practiced manner and tried again to move his arms.

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

Would that fucking whisper go away? He knew he had to wake up! He was going to! He was-

…

The ticking was growing louder.

His chest tightened.

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

“Shhh, be still and quiet. You’ve been sleeping for quite a while.” Circus Baby murmured to him.

Oh god no. No, he couldn't be…

“I am only going to keep you for a little while. Try not to wiggle, though.”

What was going on? Why did his dream feel so tangible? His last dream about night 4 at the sister location wasn't nearly this surreal.

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

“I’d recommend that you keep the spring-locks wound up. Your breathing and your heartbeat are causing them to come loose. You don’t want them to get too loose, trust me.”

He knew that. He knew what to do. He had to keep them wound to escape the suit. The problem was that the suits usually required a second person to help extract the wearer to prevent injury from rapid movement. That’s why he’d had to wait for the morning crew. In his dream, Michael had no one.

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

“Something bad always happens. I don’t want it to happen again.”

Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up

Michael felt his body becoming heavier. He could move his arms little by little but the more he woke up, the more resistance he felt around him. He supposed that letting Henry tuck him into bed had ensured that he became tangled up in the blankets during the night.

Wake up wake up wa-

Michael blinked his eyes open, giving himself a moment to get used to the darkness and the bleariness that followed from his decent night’s sleep.

The sight that befell him was not the room that he’d gone to sleep in.

Wake up.

All fogginess fled his body in an instant and he immediately became aware of the animatronic exoskeleton that was keeping him bound in place. His eyes darted around, the ticking of springlocks unwinding filled his ears. It looked like… the safe room at Freddy’s? What was he…? How? Why…?

A sharp jolt of a small bolt clicking back into place above Michael’s head reminded him of his current situation. He was somehow trapped inside of, what appeared to be, Fredbear’s springlock exoskeleton. The harsh edges of his retracted endo curled around Michael. The clicks of the springlocks keeping his head from becoming mush were becoming louder and louder.

He gently shuffled himself around so that his arms were no longer pinned at his side. He tried to steady his breathing like he had done in the dream, had done in the future, but it was difficult. He hadn't been inside of a springlock suit in 35 years, and his nightmares about it hadn't done it justice. The feeling of compression on all sides had been dulled by the mist of sleep, but here, in real life, there was only claustrophobic pressure.

Michael’s fingers trembled as he carefully twisted the springlock disks, taking care to not let any of them blink red. He twisted, and twisted, and twisted. It felt like it would never end. He blinked back tears, and twisted, and twisted. He swallowed the hitch in his breath as Ennard peered through the eyehole of Fredbear’s face, and he twisted, and twisted. Ennard’s various eyes took turns staring down at him, jiggling like they were laughing at his misery.

Michael twisted the springlocks until his fingers were becoming stiff and chaffed. The sore skin of his fingertips was red and the springlocks kept counting down the seconds until protraction.

He couldn't help himself. He heaved a breath of panic, tears rolling down his face. One such tear narrowly avoided the springlock closest to his face and the shuddering of his chest caused all of them to make a couple more rapid clicks.

No, please! Michael begged in his mind.

He was going to die here. Alone, locked in the safe room, with no end goal in sight. Was this how Cassidy had felt? In the other timeline, being killed inside the Golden Freddy that Michael now resided in? Feeling so desolate and helpless, bound to an animatronic? He was going to die here.

No! I don’t want to go! Michael pleaded. Another tear fell down his face and another shudder shook the locks.

His own face, wearing that damned Foxy mask peered down at him through the eyeholes of Fredbear’s face. That cursed Foxy mask, covered in blood, just barely disguising the horror filled eyes of the one that caused it. Mike stared down at him in thinly veiled disgust.

“This is what you get for what you did.”

Wake up.

Michael couldn't breathe anymore. He did his best to steady himself again but as time went on, what felt like days, he felt himself losing control.

A crunching sound from outside the suit met his ears over the sound of the springlocks.

“Mikey?”

Michael blinked repeatedly, fingers still twisting and twisting and twisting. He couldn't see anyone, where was the voice coming from? Who was there?

“Help…” He rasped, near silently, afraid that any noise louder would have bolts, beams and wires piercing his chest like his godforsaken father.

“How, Mikey? I dunno what to do.” The voice asked, pleading.

“Click…” Michael wheezed.

“Click? Like, the buttons?”

The voice came closer and Michael’s body froze. He no longer had to worry about the shaking of his chest because he could no longer move. His body wasn't his anymore. He was sure that Ennard had crawled into the suit while he wasn't paying attention and had taken over him again. He felt like ice.

A soft hiss released the head from the body, and Fredbear’s face was carefully lifted off of him. Michael didn't dare to let himself move while his fingers twisted and twisted and twisted the springlocks at the rim of the chest.

One finger slipped and he froze, expecting barbs from all angles to tear him open again. But a small hand came into his line of sight and wound it for him.

Michael’s eyes slowly raised until he met David’s scared and worried gaze. He let in a small breath as he met his baby’s teary eyes. Animatronics terrified the poor boy, he was being so incredibly brave right now to save Michael from Fredbear on his own birthday.

“What now, Mikey?” David looked around frantically at the rest of the suit.

“Under the arm.” He whispered, still twisting.

Another hiss and Fredbear’s left arm detached from his torso. Another hiss and his right arm followed.

“Button at the back.” Michael gained more confidence with each part removed, finding comfort in the ease that David was following his instructions.

Maybe he wouldn't die after all.

The chest opened at the front and fell backwards to the floor. It seized the moment it hit the linoleum, snapping shut in an instant. Michael took a deep breath in and wiped his eyes free of tears.

“I can do the legs now, kiddo. Thank you so, so much.” Michael said, his voice thick with emotion; left over fear, adoration, relief. “Take a step back now.”

David did as he was asked and Michael bent down to undo the pelvis and upper leg portions. He managed to get his right leg out, but his hand slipped from exhaustion at the last second when undoing the left leg.

“FUCK!” Michael shouted as two metal bars, each the width of a pencil, shot through his calf. It wasn't as bad as being scooped, not by a long shot, but it still hurt pretty badly.

“Mikey!” David shrieked. “What happened?! What do we do? What do we-”

Michael gritted his teeth and smiled the best that he could, pointing to the work table. “No worries, Dave, just hand me that wrench and I’ll rewind the springlock that holds those bars in place.”

David hurried to fulfil his request and Michael made his first attempt at rewinding it. A hoarse scream left his throat without permission and he had to grit his teeth again as David began sobbing.

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.” He mumbled through his teeth. “They didn't strike bone, so it won’t be too hard to pull out.”

He decided that rewinding the lock would take too much time and would be too much in regards to prolonging the pain. Not to mention, one jolt and he’d be back at square one. He instructed David to hand him one of the mini bolt cutters they kept in there for emergencies like this one. He used them to cut the bars free from the springlocks and yanked them out of his calf himself. It was quick, bloody, and very painful, but over regardless.

Michael ignored the blood that he trailed behind him when he removed the last of the suit leg. He stepped over the remains of an illusion disk and limped to the door of the safe room. David followed close behind him, gripping at the blue sleep shirt that Michael still wore. He was glad that he went to sleep dressed but it did raise the question of how he got inside the Fredbear suit without waking up.

The answer, as was to most, was likely William. William had probably sneaked into Henry’s house and kidnapped him to keep him out of the way and occupied. Why William didn't just kill Michael, he wasn't sure but he was glad it didn't happen that way. What William was doing now was Michael’s bigger concern.

He opened the safe room door and the two of them booked it, as fast as they could anyway, to the front entrance.

“How did you get in, by the way, Dave?” Michael asked, panting from the exhaustion that came from past sleeplessness, panicked hallucinations, sustaining injury and limped running.

“I stole Father’s spare keys like Lizzy taught me how to.” David admitted shyly, wringing his hands.

Michael stared down at his kid and beamed. “That’s my boy. Now we just have to get back to the house.”

“How?” David asked. “I saw Father put you in the boot, so after he dropped us off back at our house I sneaked back into the car. He drove off when he left you here.”

“Michael? Oh, my goodness! You’re bleeding!” A woman’s voice cried out.

He and David turned around to see Mary Andrews, mother of Cassidy, rushing towards them, her car door open where she had haphazardly parked. An idea flickered to life in Michael’s head.

“Mary, there’s an emergency back at the house.” He insisted, his voice grave. “Can you drive us there?”

Mary nodded and began herding them towards the vehicle. “Of course. After what you did for my Cassidy, and that boy in her class, anything you need.”

Michael smiled grimly back at her. “Thank you. I’m sorry if I get blood in your car.”

“Oh, don't worry about that. Blood can be cleaned.” She waved her hand dismissively as Michael and David quickly buckled themselves in. “What happened, anyway?”

He shook his head. “It’s a long story. We need to get home ASAP.”

Mary gave them a thumbs up and hit the gas. It felt simultaneously like ages and no time at all had passed when they finally arrived at the house. They thanked Mary and raced up to the building.

Just as they got to the door, a shiver went down Michael’s spine. Like the one that had appeared when Charlotte was in danger, like when Elizabeth was in danger. Dread swirled in his gut as he turned the door knob. Locked.

“Father locked us in our rooms.” David explained in a whisper. “I climbed out of my window onto the roof over the porch and slid down the pole.”

Michael ruffled the boy’s hair and rifled through the spare key set to find the right one.

“You’re so clever, Dave, you know that? And so brave.” He whispered back, as he unlocked the door.

Just as he stepped foot into the threshold, a voice whispered in his ear.

“Michael is in danger. Please, help him.”

Michael knew that voice. That was…

Mum?

Chapter Text

Michael didn't allow himself any time to process the fact that he’d heard his mum, Clara Afton’s, voice in his ear when she was definitely dead. He handed David the keys and pointed to the stairs.

“Get Lizzy out of her room and be prepared to run for it. Whatever you do, do not go down into the basement. Either of you.” He ordered.

David’s eyes went wide and, though he looked like he wanted to ask, he nodded, running upstairs to the opposite side of the house.

He followed the tug in his gut that led him down into the basement workshop. He shoved the shelving unit aside to find the door to Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rentals already open. He called the elevator and stepped inside. He tapped his foot on the ground as it slowly, ever so slowly, would it hurry up, descended. When it opened, he crawled as fast as he could through the vent ahead of him.

He was spat out in the primary control module, the crawlspace between the two main showrooms. It was dark but visible, and missing a lot of the decorations that it hosted in the future but Michael had no time for that. The feeling of dread grew stronger, more gut wrenching than either of the other two instances. Mike would die if he didn't hurry up, but the problem was that Michael didn't know where he was.

A feather light touch of a ghostly hand rested on his back, pushing him towards Funtime Auditorium, which was partially lit up inside.

“Through the private room.” Mum whispered again. “Hurry.”

The private room, got it. Michael ducked into the Funtime Auditorium vent and gunned it for the room he hadn't gotten the chance to enter the first time around. He'd seen it on the map in the breaker room, opposite the scooping room, but hadn't been able to access it. By God, he hoped that it wouldn't deny him.

He almost slipped on the blood that he was leaking all over the tiled floor, bringing him briefly back to the night he was scooped; where his blood had soaked the ground. Michael shook his head and forged onwards. He couldn't risk being haunted by his past right now.

The door was unlocked but it seemed to have something in front of it to prevent it from opening. Michael rammed his shoulder into the door and it budged a few centimetres. Another time had it open just enough for him to shove the monitors stacked there and push his way through.

Mike wasn't there so he ran down the left hall, checking in the room there to find it empty as well. He ran down to the far hall and found a few cylindrical, unlabelled tanks; likely for restocking Baby’s helium balloon inflation system. After a split second, Michael grabbed one to take with him to use as a potential weapon. It was heavier than expected, filled with some sort of liquid.

But there was no one there. Panic was swelling inside him like one of Baby’s balloons. Where was Mike and William? Why weren't they there like his mum had told him?!

“Observation room.” Mum clarified, her voice barely audible over the buzzing of the lights and the rumbling of the machinery.

Oh, right! The observation bedroom where William had tested on him was near here! The room that had been the setting of many a nightmare and hallucination; home to roaming illusions and sleepless early mornings.

Michael put the tank down and began running his hands along the walls. In the centre of the far wall, he found a seam. He pressed on it and a section of the wall opened up to reveal a narrow hallway. Michael heard a scream and his body moved without a second thought, leaving the tank of liquid behind.

He came across a door at the end and exited into another hall, this time lined with wood flooring and familiar red wallpaper. He’d never been at this end of the simulation before. Michael sprinted down to the bedroom and flung open the door to find William standing over Mike, back to the door, large kitchen knife raised.

Michael surged forward and pushed William away. The arc of William’s knife, however, came down at Michael’s own chest as William tried to reorient himself. Michael flinched back just in time to only receive a slice down his front rather than a stab wound. A quick glance at Mike showed him awake with no visible wounds other than a gash on his shoulder.

“Mike! RUN! Go now!” Michael bellowed, moving between William and the boy.

Mike jolted into action and stood up, hovering by the doorway behind Michael. “But what about-”

“Do not argue with me, Michael!” Michael insisted. “I’m sure I’ve left a trail of blood for you to follow. Now GO!”

William stood by the opposite door, watching them vacantly. Even after all these years, William’s empty gaze sent shivers down his spine.

“You should have stayed away.” William warned.

Mike made a break for the right hand door and his father quickly darted out of the left one to head him off at the top of the n-shaped passageway. Michael took off after him, grabbing him by the arm and shoulder just as they reached the junction of the corridors. Mike ran past from the other hall, his small scream of fear echoing throughout the simulation rooms.

William turned his knife around and aimed it back at Michael, prompting him to let go of his arm and dodge. The older man tried to break free of Michael’s grip on his shoulder but Michael grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the knife.

The two of them wrestled for the knife, both of them gaining cuts on their hands from the sharp edge. William headbutted him but Michael gritted his teeth and kneed him in the stomach. William curled in to defend his softer parts and Michael managed to wrench the knife from his grip.

Michael aimed the large knife at the man who was no longer his father and circled around him to block the exit.

“You know I was never good at staying away, William.” Michael spat. “Especially not after what you did.”

“I never meant for things to go that far!” William retorted, his face contorting into a snarl.

“That didn't stop you, though, did it?!” Michael’s voice was hoarse from rage and resentment. “From continuing to murder and violate children! From murdering my own siblings and mother! From sending me to my death!”

“I should have known not to send you that way. I should have known how badly they would react to you, but I thought you might have understood! You and I were always alike, I thought-”

“You thought that I would take your side? When you were the one who allowed my entire family to die on your watch?”

William scoffed. “Please, you act as though I’m the only one to blame. You killed David, Michael.”

Tears stung at Michael’s eyes but he snarled right back. His entire body trembled with unrestrained anger and bitterness. “You don't think I know that?! You don't think that the decades I spent cleaning up your messes, I also spent trying to find a way to atone for what I did? You are the cause of all of our suffering, your own included, because you were the one who could never stay away! You never cared–”

“Don't you ever accuse me of not caring when I carved off a piece of my soul to keep you alive!” William roared. His words echoed through the empty room.

Michael faltered and William stalked forward, pressing his advantage.

“You were the one I did all this for! I put a piece of myself inside that failure of a robot to make sure that I would always be there for you when I couldn't be. I gave you a part of myself when that robot failed to do its job and protect you! You know, you used to complain of nightmares where you were hit by a car.”

He did. Michael used to get recurring nightmares where he would run into the road to grab a toy and be hit by a truck. He’d dreamed of an animatronic endoskeleton standing over him, next to his panicking father. They were always worse after nights in the observation rooms, but he'd never put much thought to them.

“Those weren't nightmares. That day, it felt like my whole world was crumbling.” William explained, his fists clenching at his sides, his eyes wide and glossy, his lip curling and nostrils flaring. His expression was a mix of anger and grief that Michael had never seen on him before.

“So I put a part of my soul inside of you to revive you. Admittedly, it was because of that, that my fixation on soul science and remnant became more prevalent. There was always something special about you. I never cared about Clara, or the twins, or Ruth, or Charlotte, or even Henry. It was all for you. You died because of me. You were the one I shouldn't have killed.”

Michael’s lip trembled; from rage or grief, he wasn't sure. His skin prickled under his clothes from the weight of his words. “That excuses nothing.” He hissed.

William breathed out harshly through his nose. “Indeed. You only ever got in the way. And now, here you are again to stop me.”

The man lunged, grabbing Michael’s right wrist. The healed wound from Baby twinged and his grip loosened. The knife slipped through his bloodied fingers and went clattering to the floor. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get to the knife first, when William let go, Michael turned and ran. The pain in his calf hindered him but he managed to get through the narrow hall, back to the private room.

His path to Funtime Auditorium was blocked by Funtime Foxy. The animatronic reached forward to grab him and Michael ducked, backing away straight into William’s knife.

The blade dug deep into his lower back, the tip breaching his front. He stifled a scream. William wiggled it in deeper before removing it sharply. Michael spun around as he pressed a hand to his back to try to stem the bleeding. William didn't try to come closer again, seemingly content to just watch him bleed out, but Foxy moved in to keep him from running again.

Michael let Foxy come in close before ducking under her (his? They were never clear about that) arm and shooting through the door, narrowly dodging William’s attempt to grab him.

“Running is pointless.” The man in purple called out. “You’ll remain down here, Michael.”

Michael’s calf spasmed painfully as he ran, making his knee buckle. As he hit the floor, the stab wound became searing and the phantom pain in his forearm flared. The smell of gasoline filled his nostrils and his eyes widened. William leisurely walked towards him, the tank of liquid in his hand and open.

He forced himself, panting heavily, to stand and back away as he heard Foxy come closer. The clicking of animatronic footsteps on tile flooring came from in front of him also. He looked up and saw Ballora, faceplate open, crawling on all fours towards him. He continued to limp backwards until his back hit a wall.

William was taking his time pouring gasoline around the room, puddles of it blocking the path in between Michael and the exit, William on the other side.

“You like fire, don’t you, Michael?” He asked conversationally. “It's such a shame that you had to escape the suit I put you in. I was going to have you drugged, locked in there, burning alive, so that you may have experienced what I did. I was going to play it off so well too. I arranged for the building to be empty today. It was going to be so poetic.

“The story was that you snuck into the restaurant to pretend to be me, to further dampen my reputation, but your inexperience and ill intentions backfired on you; the suit was supposed to trap you. No one would have been able to save you as I would have set the building on fire. I just had to make sure my little rebellious son wouldn't have been able to get to you first, before I took you out for good. You would have been blamed for the younger Michael’s disappearance and I would have gotten off scot-free, like I did last time. Obviously, that didn't work out how I wanted it to.”

William sighed, taking a box of matches out of his pocket. “It really is such a shame, Michael. All of this could have been avoided if you'd simply listened to me. We could have been unstoppable, you and I. We’re so similar and yet so different, we would have had all our bases covered. But it’s much too late for that… Much, much too late. I must get going soon; I don't want Michael getting too far, nor do I want your siblings to get caught in the fire.”

Michael would have to duck between the animatronics in order to escape both of them, then somehow get to William before he could light the place up. With the state his leg was in and the growing dizziness from blood loss, he didn't think he would make it. He wasn't going to make it.

At least Mike got out alright… He would be able to tell someone and keep the twins safe. Michael had accomplished the goal he'd set himself when coming back in time. Michael could die knowing that his efforts weren't in vain.

Suddenly, his entire body felt even weaker; heavy and lethargic, like the drugs were kicking in again. He trembled as he tried to move, tried to say something. Why wouldn't he move?

Instantly, both animatronics stopped in their tracks. Ballora once again became bipedal and Foxy’s arms lowered. A glitchy sound came from Funtime Foxy’s speaker. It fuzzed into focus as it repeated it, one word becoming clear.

“Michael.” Foxy said.

“What are you doing?” William asked warningly as he paused in opening the matchbox. “Cut that out. Keep him immobilised.”

“Michael.” Ballora said, her voice being much more familiar to Michael, but it had an undercurrent of something different.

“Michael.” Foxy repeated again.

“What…?” Michael said softly, his breath slowly becoming faint. He was fully leaning against the wall now.

“My… son…” Ballora tilted her head, her voice changing into something Michael had recently come to remember.

His dazed eyes widened. “Mum?”

Both animatronics turned to William, marching across the room to reach him.

“What are you doing?” Will shouted, striking the matchstick head against the rough side of the box. “I’m not your target!”

“Hold him.” Foxy said, words still a bit garbled.

William tried to dodge the way Michael had but something had changed within the robots. They were much faster, movements less… robotic. They closed in on him and William fumbled the match. It fell into a puddle of gold and flames slowly began to travel around the room. Ballora grabbed and held William’s arms to his sides, pushing him to the ground, while Foxy held his legs in place.

Michael huffed and puffed, the strength of his legs failed him and he collapsed to the floor again. He pressed his left hand weakly to the wound on his back, coming away even bloodier than before. It was smeared all down the wall and leaking from the cut on his chest. His vision started to fade, spots of black flitting about randomly.

“Hold on, sweetheart.” His mum soothed.

“Michael!” Henry screamed, making his head jolt up to look at him.

The wonderful love of his life was sprinting towards him full tilt, terror woven in his beautiful face. He nearly slipped on blood and gasoline alike, and skidded to a stop before him. He crouched down to check Michael over.

“Oh, God, you're hurt, oh, fuck, we need to get you to the hospital right now!” Henry stressed, pushing his own hand over Michael’s stab wound and making him hiss from the pain.

“How…?” Michael asked, head lolling to rest on Henry’s shoulder.

“I had a bad feeling and rushed over to find Mike in hysterics on the phone to the police, all covered in blood. Now, we need to get out before the rest of this place catches on fire! There should be an ambulance on the way!”

Michael blinked slowly. High pitched ringing took over his hearing. The rest of Henry’s words faded into the background. The sensation in his hands and feet were dulling, the pain of his injuries disappearing.

He heard one last call of his name before he himself faded into darkness.

Chapter Text

Wandering the abyss had a cooling effect on Michael’s mind. All his worries and fears oozed out and vanished into nothingness. He ran his fingers through the darkness, where light went to sleep, where the end came for all.

The path was littered with black swirls of mist. There were occasional threads of white that streaked by. Everything there took on a black silhouette, even Michael himself. He wandered between trees, or what he assumed to be trees given their blocky shape, until he found a lone red one.

He walked up to the red tree, the only one with a triangular shape. Near it was a figure of similar stature to Michael, but he couldn't tell who it was because of the lack of features. He reached out to put a hand on the trunk but he stopped. If he did that, then he would be trapped.

Michael felt a presence behind him and turned. Old Man Consequences, in his glowing red glory and fishing hat, stood next to an equally red door. The anthropomorphic crocodile skeleton looked no different to the last time Michael had seen him.

“Leave the demon to his demons. Do not fall too far. It’s impossible to escape once you've gone too deep.” Old Man Consequences told him, deep and rasping.

“I know.” Michael replied.

Old Man Consequences gestured to the door beside him and Michael stepped forward. When he touched the handle, the door turned a brilliant white. When he opened it, he found himself back at the observation bedroom.

He'd never had the opportunity to take a proper look around the room. He was always too concerned about the monsters roaming the halls, sneaking into his closet and hiding under the bed. There were a handful of decorative stars hung on the pale upper walls, above the striped wallpaper beneath the dark chair rail. A vent dispensed hallucination gas above a set of pictures; one of his family’s halloween pumpkins, a picture of him in a white, baby onesie sitting on the floor, a picture of William standing behind the twins.

The sets of drawers there were painted light blue, Michael’s favourite colour. On top of the tallest dresser was a lava lamp and the music box that his biological mother had left with him. The carpet was dark blue, toys scattered around messily, a bulbous lamp on the other set of drawers. The closet was ajar, clothes hung from coathangers on the railing.

The bed was a double and had a triangle patterned duvet atop it, something that Michael wouldn't ever buy for himself which probably added to the torture. He remembered the times where he looked back to disperse the Freddles and saw reminders behind the lamp on the bedside table.

An IV drip. A bottle of pills. A pink vase of white flowers; love, nurture; purity, new beginnings, hope for forgiveness.

Michael picked up the Freddy plush that had not moved from between the pillows. A shuffling sound came from the closet. He brought Freddy across the room, watching as he turned yellow.

Michael opened the closet and found his younger self. Not the Mike he’d grown to see as his own child, but a past version of himself that would never come to be. Michael could tell exactly where he was from; donned in a grey tank top, splattered with blood, clutching at the Foxy mask adorned on his face.

“Did you fix it?” Almost-fifteen-year-old Mike begged desperately, tears spilling down his face as his chest heaved.

“Yes.” Michael answered calmly, handing Fredbear to Mike who held it gently to his chest. “I fixed it. All of it. We’ve atoned, not just for our mistakes but for William’s as well. David loves us.”

The lights in the room flickered and Mike disappeared.

Michael left the room, finding himself back in his real house. He walked to his room, first door on the right. Inside was his seventeen-year-old self, face wet with tears and a picture of his family in his hands. He was still in clothes from four days ago, unable to even change himself in his grief.

“What happened to her?” Mike asked, thumb brushing over the printed image of Elizabeth.

“I found her. I put her back together.” Michael rolled up his right sleeve to reveal his scars, both from Baby and the occupation of Ennard. “She’s free now.”

This Mike vanished as well, the picture fluttering to rest on his bed.

Mike crossed the hall, passing by the spare room, to reach the bathroom, the light of which was visible through the crack under the door. He opened it to find his nineteen-year-old self, purple skinned, covered in blood, dressed in a dark security guard uniform. Eggs Benedict pulled at his white hair and sagging skin, eyes dark except for the white dots that constituted his vision.

“What’s happened to me?” Eggs asked brokenly. If saltwater could seep from the dead ducts in his eyes, it would be flowing in streams.

“You're not a monster.” Michael reassured him. “You are capable of healing. You’ll find yourself again, you’re not completely lost. We’ve saved everyone, we’ve freed them all. We can be free soon.”

Eggs Benedict disappeared, leaving a spool of waxed thread and a needle on the cabinet counter in front of the mirror.

Going down the stairs, he navigated the corridor that led to the kitchen. Inside, he found a blackened purple man, dressed in the same blue shirt, yellow suit pants and vest, and white bear mask that Michael was dressed in. His 54-year-old corpse was fiddling with a watch on his wrist, containing the illusion disk that allowed him to interact with patrons and leave the restaurant during the day.

Jeremy Fitzgerald looked up from his watch. “How are they doing? Is it over?”

Michael smiled. “I am nearby. This place will not be remembered, and the memory of everything that started this can finally begin to fade away, as the agony of every tragedy should. I believe there is peace, and perhaps more, waiting for you after the smoke clears.”

Fritz Smith removed his mask, revealing gaunt features owing to his deathly nature, sunken and split cheeks, cracked and thin lips, glowing white eyes in empty sockets, bandages covering his throat up to his chin.

Michael removed his own mask, his face a reverse mirror image; thriving features owing to his life, whole cheeks, blue irises in teary eyes, healthy - albeit scarred - skin.

“They’re doing well. Henry and I are taking care of the kids, together. We’re slowly building a home for all of us. We won't be bogged down by the foul actions of a single man any longer.”

“And Helpy?” Mike Schmidt asked.

“Still the best lawsuit specialist I’ve ever met.” Michael said with a cheeky grin. “He’s family just as much as the others.”

Michael Afton smiled, his sunken cheeks stretching to match the width. Henry’s brave volunteer vanished between one blink and the next.

His next destination was the dining room. Inside, at either end of the table, sat Clara Afton and Ruth Emily. Both smiled lovingly at him and gestured for him to sit in the only chair between them.

“Hello, Michael.” Mum greeted, beaming proudly.

Michael wiped his eyes and beamed back. “Hi, Mum.”

“I’m sure you know by now that William’s machine used our souls to bring you back and heal you.” Ruth began, tapping her long nails against the table. “We weren't exactly aware during that time. But because remnant is an emotion-based substance, we had a vague sense of what was going on by feeling the emotions in the air.”

“Those bad feelings you had were our way of guiding you to where you needed to be. Some of it was your own intuition, we simply amplified it and gave you a direction.” Mum explained.

“Thank you. For helping me protect them.” Michael said earnestly. “I couldn't have done it without you.”

Their smiles turned sad.

“We won't be able to stick around for much longer, sweetheart.” Mum admitted, rubbing the beads of her bracelet under the sleeve of her green blouse, strawberry blonde hair shifting over her shoulder.

“What? Why?” Michael frowned.

“We left your body to take control of Foxy and Ballora, but in doing so we used up the last of our remnant.” Ruth said sorrowfully. “We won't be able to watch you all as closely, or be able to interfere like before.”

“Oh… Thank you for protecting me, and keeping me alive and healthy while you could.” Michael ran his fingers over the scars on his forearm. “You’ll both still be there, right? Even if it's not much?”

Both mothers nodded.

“You’ll have to heal on your own now, Michael. No more super speedy recovery, which means no recklessness, young man!” Mum instructed sternly, but her smile remained intact, ignoring that he was her age.

Michael grinned. “No promises.”

Ruth reached over to place her hand on his shoulder. “Continue to protect our family. You mean the world to them. It would do you all some good to stay out of trouble. They love you so much.”

He nodded definitively. “I promise to stay with them and protect them.”

Ruth studied him for a moment before nodding and standing. Mum joined her and Michael followed suit. He gave Ruth a quick hug before enveloping his mum in a tighter embrace. He let a few tears slip out.

“I’ll miss you.”

“I know, I’ll miss you too. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Go on now. They're through there.” Mum pointed to the door that led to the living room.

Just as he was about to step through, Ruth called out to him.

“Michael?”

He turned and raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Ruth grinned, dark eyes glinting. “Thank you for loving Charlie as your own. Thank you for loving Henry. I’m glad he can be with his type of man now.”

Michael laughed. “It’s my pleasure. I’m glad too.”

Clara shook her head fondly as Ruth laughed in turn, her dark hair swaying as she tilted her head back. Michael exited the room, the feeling of a mother’s love still washed over him.

The next room over was bustling with people. In the background, he could see the ghosts of children between the ages of 7 and 10 running about, phasing through walls and screeching with amusement. As he watched, he identified the five missing children; Susie, Fritz, Gabriel, Jeremy and Cassidy.

On the couches sat Michael’s family of five, each of them with a ghost from the future watching over their shoulder. Younger Henry was doing his best to comfort the younger living ones, Older Henry leaning against the back of the couch, watching sadly. Mike was the only one without a ghost behind him, all of his having been integrated as Michael discovered himself when he walked the path.

Dave, Lizzy and Charlie’s ghosts were silent and healed, soothed by the lack of agony in their living counterparts. Said counterparts were nearly inconsolable, however. David and Elizabeth were curled around the sides of a bandaged Mike, right next to Henry, the other side of whom was claimed by a tearful Charlie. While not bawling his eyes out like the children were, Henry looked tired and filled with worry. Michael wanted to reach out to all of them and reassure them that he was okay.

All of the ghosts glanced up at him when he entered. Older Henry’s sad expression turned to adoration and amusement, and the kids’ expressions all turned to joy.

“Mikey!” They chorused, clambering over the living to come hug him.

Michael couldn't keep up with the multitude of babbling that followed, but he crouched down to hug them back and laughed with unrestrained glee, tears now leaking freely from his eyes.

Older Henry wandered over and carefully lowered himself down to sit next to them, placing a hand on Michael’s shoulder.

“You did it, kid.” Henry chuckled. “You should'a said something.”

Michael blushed as his siblings giggled and Charlie fake gagged. “Shut up, old man.” He muttered fondly.

Henry pulled him into a side hug, jostling the small ghosts in his lap. “You really did it. You've come so far and done so much. I’m so proud of you, Michael.”

The time traveller cleared his throat. “Stop, or you'll make me cry again.”

Henry smiled knowingly and they all sat there for a moment, basking in each other’s presence. He bathed in their unconditional, all-encompassing love.

“Will you guys be moving on?” Michael asked hesitantly.

All of them shook their heads in tandem.

“Not really.” David said, pointing to Michael’s heart. “We’ll always be here.”

Michael squeezed them all in his arms as he felt himself slipping away.

“Ah, it’s time now.” Henry said calmly.

“I don't want to go.”

“I know. But we’ll always be here.”

“We’ll be here!” The kids repeated.

Henry rested his head against Michael’s. “Go join the land of the living.”

Michael leaned his head against Henry’s and slowly closed his eyes. “Alright… Catch you on the flipside. I love you all.”

And with that, Michael let go.

Chapter Text

William was bent over his desk, head in his hands, bottles of booze next to him on the wooden surface. He sighed tiredly, wisps of smoke floating away from his body. He wished he could have a smoke right now, but Michael was in the house and he didn't want his four year old exposed to those kinds of inhalation practices.

He’d done it. He successfully spliced a piece of his own soul into the Mimic. That way the robot taking care of Michael would always have a part of him with him. Hopefully that would encourage the correct mimicking behaviour and give Michael, practically, a second father.

He knew that he couldn't provide all of what Michael needed. But he consoled himself with the knowledge that he couldn't be any worse than that drunkard ex-girlfriend of his, who'd taken to abusing his son.

More smoke drifted off of him as he tore off another part of his soul desperately to save his baby. As the smoke wafted through the air, a piece of William’s mind drifted too. He felt unstable, like he could fall through the floor at any moment, clipping between atoms.

Michael, though, had taken to the integration of William’s soul like a fish took to water. Michael, the boy who had talked of nightmare landscapes and strange creatures; something his father knew to be a coping mechanism for dealing with his mother. William couldn't help but wonder if those tall tales were real. His son had an uncanny ability to know what people were thinking or feeling, perhaps that came from a specialty in his soul that allowed him to perceive what others could not.

Maybe if William had some guide, some knowledge of what made Michael different, then he would be able to replicate it. To see it himself.

And thus his addiction to, what he dubbed, “soul science,” began.

Michael watched the remnant of his father comfort his younger self after a vicious fifth night in the observation room. The experiments took place over the summer breaks, a time meant for leisure, but Michael could never bring himself to run away. He craved the solid presence of William beside him after a long night of no sleep.

He watched as William lifted a hand to him to keep him from digging too deep. He hadn't done it too often but enough times for the message to sink in. If Michael dug too deep, then he would turn out like William; something the man both craved and dreaded.

Michael could feel William’s mixed feelings about having dragged his son so deep into knowledge that was meant to be unknown. Horrified at his own actions yet satisfied at his own discoveries. Craving to know more yet begging himself to stop. But begging alone hadn't worked.

Michael now remembered how much colder William had become after Clara had come into their lives. The woman hadn't liked him much at the beginning, only taking care of him to appease William who wouldn't take an eye off him if possible. At the beginning, Clara had only seen Michael as a way to further her marriage. She had eventually come to care for him as her own son. The twins had seemingly done the job but it left her blind to what was festering underneath.

By the time Michael’d had enough, William was fundamentally different from the man who'd given his soul to protect his child. He’d committed several murders in the name of science, forcing the souls of children into states of agony to further his unholy research. Eventually, it stopped being to keep Michael alive, stopped being to find out what was so special about him: it became about making William immortal.

But for all that Michael was unnecessary, William couldn't bring himself to get rid of him.

He stared into the mirror, smoke billowing in clouds on the other side, almost obscuring the black silhouette standing next to the red tree.

“Leave the demon to his demons.” Old Man Consequences said.

The figure placed his hand on the tree and faded, the Old Man following after him. And just like that, the part of William’s soul inside of Michael vanished.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

The first thing that Michael noticed was how heavy his body felt.

His eyelids appeared to weigh ten pounds apiece and the best his limbs could do was twitch. He could feel the cotton texture of bandages on his left leg, wrapping the wound he received from Fredbear’s springlocks. That same texture told him that his stomach was bandaged as well. His hands only had small plasters, sorry, bandaids, on them to cover the cuts from fighting over the knife.

When Mum and Ruth said they couldn't sustain him anymore, they really meant it. Not to mention, the faint remnant of William was gone as well. Michael had kind of gotten used to being quick to bounce back, but he hadn't forgotten how exhausting existing truly was when injured.

The old timeline was truly over, Michael realised. He remembered the warm embrace of his doomed family before he woke up. He wondered if he would be able to see them again in his dreams or if he would only be able to feel their presence on the outskirts.

Despite his exhaustion, Michael felt the most at peace with himself he'd ever been. His family was alive and together, William’s evil deeds were stopped and his motivations had finally become clear to Michael. He finally had no need to atone and nothing left to search for. His body was whole, albeit injured, and human; his soul was whole, slightly weaker than before, but human. All of Michael’s inner doubts and fears were laid to rest.

He opened his eyes and smiled at the ceiling. He was alive.

His thoughts were interrupted by the hospital room door opening. It was a different room than the last one he was in, but it was extremely similar. It had five chairs squished in there, one for each of his children and his love. In the door stood an elderly lady in nurse scrubs.

“Oh, you're awake! That's good timing, your family is here to see you.” She remarked happily, clapping her hands together.

Joy filled his heart and he did his best to adjust himself in the bed. A spike of pain shot through his back and leg as he did so, making him wince.

The nurse tutted. “Stay still, Mr. Afton, I’ll adjust the bed for you.”

“Ah, thank you.” Michael said, coughing a bit from the sensation of talking with a dry throat. “And, please, just Michael is preferable.”

Once the nurse, whose name tag read ‘Virginia’, raised the head of the bed for him, she handed him a glass of water and left to retrieve the others. Michael nearly choked on the water when David, Mike and Lizzy came zooming up to the door, Charlie and Henry right on their heels.

The kids all started shouting and climbing on the bed, reminiscent of their other selves in Michael’s dream. He simply sat there and laughed, eyes crinkled and smile wide. He toned it down a little when he felt four sets of tears wetting his hospital gown.

Completely ignoring that Nurse Virginia was still in the room, Henry marched up to Michael, grabbed him by the collar and kissed him. Michael adjusted his arm so that he could cradle Henry’s face with his palm. He couldn't help his chuckles when hearing Mike and Charlie making disgusted sounds. He didn't know why he was so giggly after waking up from an attempt on his life. Maybe it was the realisation that he and his loved ones were no longer in pain.

Henry pulled away, letting go of Michael’s now-rumpled collar, a million watt smile also on his face. “You really need to stop ending up in the hospital.”

“I’ll do my best.” Michael said wryly, before turning to properly hold his kids. “Are you all okay? You didn't get too hurt, did you, Mike?”

Mike, who was squished between Michael and the bed railing, shook his head and buried his face in Michael’s shoulder. “No. It was just the cut on my shoulder. It'll heal soon.”

“We were so worried.” Lizzy cried, and her twin nodded rapidly in agreement.

“It was so scary getting you out of Fredbear and I didn't know what F– he was doing to you. And then after you went to the basement, Mikey came running up covered in blood and crying, and Mikey’s never scared!” David exclaimed, teary eyed, small fingers tightly gripping his hand. “And then Uncle Henry went down and brought you back up and you were bleeding too!”

Michael ran his hand over David’s hair and tucked them both in closer. “Shhh, it’s okay. It’s over now.”

The strange thing was that their situation was a complete reverse of what had happened in the original timeline. Instead of Michael putting David inside Fredbear, David had gotten Michael out. He'd done so well in spite of his fear.

“You're alive.” Lizzy whispered, like she was reassuring herself more than anything.

This must have been awful for her especially, having already seen Michael nearly bleed out to protect her. She’d seen Michael in the hospital after that and had confessed to her fears like David did.

Charlie sniffed, wiping her eyes. She looked around to see that Virginia had left the room to give them some privacy. “Dad and Lizzy told me about your time travel, Uncle Mike. I’ve been doing some thinking after everything that Un- William did. Was something going to happen to me the night of Mikey’s party?” She asked, in a whisper's volume.

Michael sighed and nodded. “William was about to drive up the alley that night. That’s why he was so pissed when he went inside.”

They all sat in sombre silence for a moment, reflecting on that night. It had to be jarring for them to be remembering such a happy day with a different, darker lens. They weren't used to it like Michael was.

“I'm sorry that all that with William happened on your birthday, Dave, Liz.” Michael apologised. “I’m sorry that you'll have to live with that memory now.”

“I don't know about the others but I’d rather live with a memory than a worse outcome.” Mike replied, almost sounding grudging. He knew how the future had impacted him, after all.

The girls, David, and Henry all nodded in agreement.

“Things happened in reverse of their original order, y’know?” Michael tilted his head, curious. “I wonder what about my presence here prompted the timeline to bend that way.”

Henry shrugged. “Maybe we’ll never know.”

Michael conceded the point. He doubted that he could just rock up and see the Old Man again to ask, not without putting his life at risk again.

They spent the rest of the day together, just chatting about nothing in particular and relaxing in each other’s presence. It was so comforting and familiar that Mike, Charlie, David and Lizzy all fell asleep against him on the bed. Like after he saved Lizzy, they’d all lost sleep worrying about him and what happened. What little sleep they did get was tainted by nightmares of Michael and Mike dying.

Unfortunately, all the children were present to witness William being arrested, holding the knife stained in both Mike and Michael’s blood. The police had showed up before Mike even finished the call, thanks to Cassidy’s mum calling soon after dropping them off. Henry had given the police the hard drive that Michael had left with him, providing them evidence of William trying to lure away Cassidy and Fritz. Henry promised that later he would try to sort through the alley recordings on the day of Mike’s birthday to find anything incriminating. The police were going to search the house to find more evidence, of which - Michael knew - there was loads.

When all the kids were asleep, Michael told Henry about his dreams.

“It’s… difficult to reconcile that the worst man I know only cared for me.” He admitted. “Especially when he didn't act like it. It makes me wonder how much of me is… me, and how much came from his remnant. He’s horrendous, what he did was despicable and I’m glad that his… reign of tyranny, or whatever, is over, but… part of me wants the old him back now that I remember him.”

Henry rubbed his fingers over Michael’s knuckles, eyes intent on his face. “I think you've got time to figure that out, but I don't think it changes much. And you're not the only one who wants that, Michael. But we both recognise that he’s changed too much for that to happen.”

Michael hummed. “Yeah. It doesn't really change anything. It just annoys me that one of the things I’ve always wanted was his affection, something I’ve received in the worst way possible. It took literal child murder for him to express it. Talk about repression.”

“Yes.” Henry let out a small laugh but his face fell immediately after. “I still can't believe that it was festering right under my nose and I had no idea. That William was the one to take Ruth away from Charlie and I, and Clara away from you kids. That he was hurting Mike in such ways, being careless with Dave and Liz, trying to take away my daughter, and hiding it behind his friendliness.”

Tightly gripping his hand, Michael nodded. “He had everyone fooled. Even me for a time. It’s not your fault and there was nothing you could do, even if you knew beforehand. There was solid evidence against him in the old future and he walked out with nothing but a slap on the wrist. The best we can do now is keep going forward and make sure he gets what he deserves. We’ve got kids to do better for, right?”

A slow smile spread across his love’s face again. “Every child wants to be loved by their parents. Luckily for these four, they’ll have that.”

Michael smiled too. Who knew that the only way for him and his siblings to have a stable, happy father was to have his older, more traumatised, future self travel back in time to adopt them?

Life really was crazy.

And along the way, he'd eventually find out who he wanted to be. For the first time in his life, he had time.

Chapter Text

Michael stared at the clock next to his mattress. 11:56 PM. He didn't necessarily need to sleep but he liked having the mattress to lie down and pretend to be normal. His two room apartment was home to few things, the least of which being himself.

The twin mattress he took from his bedroom when he moved out was shoved into the corner so that nothing could come up behind him. He had a lamp and alarm clock plugged into the outlet next to it. At the foot of the mattress was his suitcase with every pair of clothes he owned, ones that had to be washed often to get the scent of death out. He had many containers of laundry powder and bottles of detergent stacked next to the washing machine. One of the only things he really bought nowadays.

He had a grand total of one chair at his small, rickety table so that he could sit and lean on it with his head in his hands; something he did often enough to classify it as a hobby. His bathroom cabinet was the most equipped in the entire apartment. It had makeup, bandages galore, next to spools of waxed thread, long needles and butterfly bandage strips for when his wounds started drifting apart again.

It was all that Michael needed in his abode. Nobody ever bothered him, even though he knew they told spooky stories about ‘whoever lived in that apartment’, and it was easy to get to his various workplaces. A living dead person didn't really need much else.

For now, though, he was staring at the clock next to his mattress. 11:58 PM. Two minutes until his birthday. He was supposed to be turning… 25? It was 1993, so that made him 25. It was getting harder to remember things when living a desolate life like his.

He hadn't celebrated his birthday since his 14th. He stopped getting birthday privileges after killing David. 10 years ago, now. David would be 17. Elizabeth would be too. That was wild to Michael. Imagining them growing into adolescent rebellion like he had, but they had no younger siblings to murder. If they'd made it to that age then Michael would have steered them away from how he used to be.

‘The pressure put on you caused you to act against how you usually would.’ He could remember Henry trying to absolve him of guilt. It hadn't worked.

He still celebrated their birthdays, however unworthy of it he was, to remember them. He didn't want to just remember them by the way they haunted him. He didn't want to just remember Fredbear half lying on the ground, unmoving except to giggle in a child’s pitch. He didn't want to just remember Circus Baby taunting him with his sister’s voice while she manipulated him like a puppet. Even Charlotte, Michael didn't want to remember by the Puppet she became.

11:59 AM.

He wondered how for long he would have to go on like this. How much longer could he really take? Perhaps once all of his father’s sins were cleansed and his spirits freed. Once they were all laid to rest then Michael would follow. It had to be that way.

12:00 AM. It was now officially Thursday, the 19th of August. He was now 25. He had taken tonight off of work, feeling oddly nostalgic. He usually worked night shifts in differing locations to keep his movements unknown. He was due to start at the first Freddy Fazbear location sometime in November when Ralph was apparently going to be taking his leave.

Michael curled in on himself, his chin resting on his knees, hugging his legs. His socked feet were cold against the shitty carpet, his fingers even more so. His thick jacket and jeans weren't very warm. Nothing he did could ever bring his warmth back.

“Happy birthday to me…” He murmured.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ✦⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

Although it wasn't his real birthday, it was real enough. The 12th day of July rolled around quickly and Michael was still in the hospital.

But with all things considered, it was shaping up to be the best birthday he'd ever had. The nurses made sure to give him a nicer breakfast than usual and, when they were allowing visitors, Henry walked in with a nicely decorated cake. The kids followed behind him, carrying balloons and presents and party poppers. Mike pulled one of the poppers in Michael’s face, sending confetti all over him and getting it all in his mouth and hair. Naturally it was hilarious.

Each of the kids took rotations on the bed, giving him their presents and thanking him for being a part of their lives. It was so sweet that it made Michael choke on his tears for the better part of an hour. Mike gave him Megamania for the Atari, which he knew the teen would be hogging as soon as he got the chance. David gave him a notebook covered in stickers because he noticed Michael drawing in the work logbook. Lizzy gave him some brightly coloured pencils (also covered in stickers) and Charlie gave him a little homemade clay keychain of Foxy that she’d made during school.

Henry had a few to give. One of which was a mug that read ‘Best Coworker”, which gave them all a laugh. The second was a book of puzzles to keep him occupied during his stay in the hospital. The third consisted of a couple band shirts and accessories which made him grin like a loon. He hadn't had such a wide variety of stuff since his teen years, even now that he was able to make his own purchases.

“Mike seemed to know what you'd like.” Henry said cheekily.

“Thank you, I love all of it.” Michael tried to convey his thankfulness but he wasn't sure he managed through the watering of his eyes and the way his voice broke.

His family didn't complain though, they giggled and gave him enough hugs to last him the rest of the day.

“Please don't kiss while we’re here.” Charlie asked matter-of-factly, in the way only a nine-year-old could.

“Agreed.” Mike added.

Both Michael and Henry cracked up, prompting the younger ones to follow suit. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. They all shared confused glances, since none of them knew of anyone who was going to be visiting.

In walked Mary and Cassidy Andrews, shortly followed by Susie and Judith. Both of the 4th graders attached themselves to Charlie’s sides and started up a conversation while their mothers focused on Michael.

“Good afternoon, I hope we’re not intruding by dropping by unannounced. I heard from Charlie that it’s your birthday today.” Judith said, handing him a block of chocolate and a card. “These are from the girls.”

“The more the merrier! Thank you for the gifts.” Michael beamed.

When he had planned on preventing the deaths of the missing kids, he hadn't expected to make such an impression on the parents. It made sense due to how he had been more focussed on freeing the children’s spirits than the loss experienced the first time around. Knowing what it was like caring for kids of his own had him relating to and watching out for the parents more and more.

“We’re glad to see you're doing alright.” Mary greeted with a slight smile. “It was rather worrying to find out on the news what had happened after I drove you there. You really weren't kidding about that emergency, huh? If you hadn't been so serious about it, I would have driven you to the hospital instead. I immediately called the police after I got home because I had a hunch.”

Michael dipped his head in recognition. “Yeah, it was rough. Thanks, again, for that. I wouldn't have gotten there in time to do anything without you. I hope I didn't stain the inside of your car too badly, though.”

“Oh, it was no problem.” She assured. “Women know how to clean out blood stains, so it was gone in a jiffy.”

Henry laughed at that. “Indeed you do. I remember Ruth saying something like that a while ago. Must be a trade secret.”

Both Mary and Judith winked at him. Completely unrelated, but Michael’s eye twitched.

In the following hour, they were joined by Fritz and his dad, Richard. Apparently the boy had recognised the picture of William and his suit they’d put on the news and told Richard how Michael had stopped him from following Golden Bonnie. That led to Richard frantically calling Mary about the situation since the two kids were classmates. He thanked Michael profusely for protecting his son.

The room was getting a bit crowded at that point, so Michael ignored the twinge in his calf and moved with them to a seating area for patients and visitors. He didn't even know they had one in the hospital but it was a nice change of scenery. Henry had given him a knowing look and supported him while they walked.

The next to join them were Gabriel and Jeremy, two of David and Elizabeth’s friends from school and the final two missing children. They were brought by the former’s dad, Robert. With all of the five missing, as well as all three Afton children and the one Emily child, alive and in front of him, something tugged at Michael’s soul.

He closed his eyes and followed it. In the darkness of his eyelids he could see the beaming smiles of all the kids mentioned prior. They fluttered about happily in the void, feeling the radiant energy of the living ones in the room.

“We’ll always be here.” Dave and Lizzy whispered.

“You alright?” Henry asked softly and Michael opened his eyes again.

He wanted nothing more than to lean into Henry’s side and close his eyes again, but he didn't know how the other adults in the room would react. He settled for smiling and nudging his arm.

“Yeah. I’m fantastic.”

Chapter Text

The last year of Mike’s life had been a rollercoaster to say the least. When his younger sister had sneaked down into that godforsaken workshop, the most Mike had been worried about was ending up on the other end of his father’s anger. He'd had no idea that it would lead, slowly but surely, to more freedom than he ever expected to have before the age of 18.

Bringing back his future self had been easily the best thing to happen to him. That was without even knowing how the future would have played out without intervention. Michael had been a huge impact on Mike’s life from day one; giving him advice, teaching him not only how to cook food but to better care for his siblings, taking care of him.

He'd heard the tail end of Michael and Henry’s conversation in the hospital. Apparently it had been his mum’s, and Charlie’s mum’s, soul that had been able to spur it all into happening. How both mothers had kept Michael alive until they couldn't anymore. It made Mike tear up but he'd hidden his face and controlled his breathing to ensure that the older men didn't know he was awake.

Clara had been good to him, even while prioritising her own kids. She was the exact opposite of William. She had clearly loved him enough to aid Michael in protecting him. Protecting him like his own father should have.

The gash on his arm, going from the joint of his shoulder down the front of his upper arm, burned at the thought of the man.

Mike had heard all of what Michael had seen because of the change in remnant that went on in his body. About a part of William being put inside of him to keep him alive, something that had caused him to spiral into child murder and soul experiments and abuse. Like his older self had said, it was hard to reconcile.

He had one of the same questions; what was truly him and what was William?

After Michael had been released from the hospital, not nearly as quickly as last time, he'd found Mike sitting on the back step of the Afton house.

“Back here again, huh?” His older self asked knowingly, sitting down next to him. “This was my favourite place when I was your age too.”

Mike snorted. “I'm sure it was.”

Michael grinned and Mike was once again struck with their similarities. His first impression of him had been how like his father he was. Now that he'd seen the worst of William, and had become closer with Michael, Mike could see more of himself. Now that everything was over, he could only see a different man altogether. They both shared the obvious similarities that came with being literally the same person, but they were inherently different.

They were different and it wasn't all that hard to remember sometimes. Michael was haunted in a way that Mike hoped he would never be. In a way that Michael had ensured he would never be. They were different men, for all they were alike. And Mike was happy with that.

“I have officially been granted custody of you, you know that?” Michael broke the calm silence that had fallen between them.

Mike’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Mhm.”

It felt like there were bubbles swelling in his chest, rising and popping so quickly that it made him feel ticklish. He couldn't help the returning grin that spread across his face.

“So, like, you're basically our dad now?”

Michael’s eyes widened a bit before becoming more neutral. Mike knew him well enough to know that he was trying to conceal hope. “If you want me to be, then yeah.”

Mike rolled his eyes at how dumb he was being. “Of course we want you to be our dad. You've been wayyy better than William was. And we love you, I guess.”

Suddenly Mike was pulled into a side hug, being careful of his arm. Mike tucked his head under Michael’s chin and grabbed onto his shirt.

“I love you too, kiddo.” Dad whispered.

When they were both feeling less emotional, they headed back to the Emily house. It was a bit of a tight squeeze with all of them, as the house wasn't built for 6 people. Or rather, 5 people since Michael shared Henry’s room. Charlie was more than happy to share with Lizzy. Because they were both small, they shared Charlie’s bed and Dave took a spare mattress on the floor. That left Mike on the couch, which was fine as he hadn't been getting much good sleep in the other house anyway. It wasn't as good as his bed but it got the job done.

It wasn't going to be like that for long, though, because they were due to start packing up their things from both houses. It had taken quite a while to find a suitable house within their price range, but they found one that they all liked that was a good distance away from the restaurants.

Dad and Henry were with them when they went to collect the remaining stuff from the old Afton house. David’s lower lip trembled as he saw a smudge of red that hadn't been properly cleaned away near the telephone. Mike simply swallowed and looked away, grabbing his brother’s hand and bringing him closer.

That night had been horrific. Mike hadn't even known what had been built underneath the house until he’d woken up there with William standing over top of him. Dad hadn't seemed surprised and had later admitted to having been there before. That had been the place where the haunted Funtimes were stored and Michael had been ‘used’ to get free. It was also the place where William had used Michael to get results on illusion technology and hallucinogenic gas.

It was really no wonder that Dad hadn't wanted to tell him until it was necessary. Every detail that was added was worse than the last, and Mike didn't know the full extent of it even now.

He blinked away the memory of clutching the rotary phone with slippery, bloodstained fingers, heaving with fear as he rang the police. He guided David up to his room with Dad following, Henry and Charlie going to help Lizzy with her room. One by one, suitcases were filled and brought downstairs, and rooms were emptied.

Some of the furniture was left behind because they didn't feel any particular attachment to it, and there were repeats with Henry’s furniture, but Mike was insistent on bringing his mattress. Dad didn't argue, in fact he looked like he knew why, and simply helped him move it (carefully, due to his leg and back).

“I snuck back in to sleep here after everything went wrong and I went to stay with Henry. No offence to his mattresses but…” He explained quietly. “It felt too foreign at the time when I needed comfort. I even stole it when I moved into my first apartment.”

They were properly introduced to the new house in person later that afternoon. The moving truck got all their furniture there and the rest of the evening was filled with arranging the essentials. Anything else could be done later. That did mean that they got to choose their rooms.

With Dad getting William’s paychecks, added to Henry’s own and the money they got for the sold Emily house, the new house was bigger than either of their old ones. Five bedrooms meant that everyone had their own, excluding Dad and Henry’s. Mike hastily claimed the biggest one (that wasn't the master bedroom) for himself, much to his siblings’ and Charlie’s irritation.

“Hey, more for him to clean.” Henry called out, amused.

Their opinions changed quickly after that.

The new house had two bathrooms and one separate toilet, which was very necessary. If there was one thing that Mike had learned about living with 5 other people in a one-bathroom-house, it was that the bathroom was free game and had to be used with consideration.

It had two floors and a nice porch out back so he could continue to have quiet time and private conversations out there. It didn't have as much greenery surrounding it, like the forest they'd had before, but enough to be able to appreciate it. The main tree in the yard looked ripe for a tire swing.

Mike sat on the floor of his new room, looking at the bare space, interspersed with his packed belongings. He could see himself getting more stuff and have it pile up into organised messes. He could see himself creating new memories in this house with his family, in this room with his friends. He could imagine his (now) three siblings chasing each other and him yelling at them to shut up.

He could imagine more birthdays in this house, his next one coming in two weeks, with better associations attached. A better childhood, without the looming presence of William. Of course there would always be lingering moments, but no miasma of dread that blanketed the home.

He could imagine his older self’s loneliness after everything that had happened. Could imagine him moving out but still being tied to that place without being able to move on, with his mattress in the corner; the iron-on Pirate Foxy patch the only thing to designate it at his. Now Mike had the chance to. He hadn't suffered much loss, nothing irreparable except for the damage done to the love he’d had for his father.

That man wasn't his father anymore. He had a better one now.

A knock on his door startled him from his thoughts.

“Mike, dinner’s here. Hope I remembered your order correctly.” Henry opened the door a bit and saw Mike’s face, frowning with concern. “You alright, kid?”

Mike cleared his throat and nodded, standing. “Yeah, I’ll, uh, talk to Dad about it later. I gotta make sure the ratbags don't eat my fries.”

Henry’s scrutinising gaze softened and his eyes gleamed at the way Mike referenced his older self. He nodded and they headed downstairs. The ratbags in question did eat some of Mike’s fries but he bonked them over the head and they stopped trying.

Once dinner was over, they set up everyone’s sleeping arrangements. The twins weren't too keen on spending the night alone in the new place so they moved everyone’s mattresses again out into the lounge for a big sleepover. They managed to get the television hooked up so they watched films and played games until they were too tired to keep their eyes open.

Mike laid down on his bed, face half buried in his pillow, trying to ignore the sleepy giggling of Liz and Charlie, his sisters. He jumped a bit when a large hand started smoothing down his hair but when his dad began humming, his body relaxed. Charlie and Liz fell quiet to listen to the deep soothing melody. His brother, David’s eyes drooped as he held Helpy’s tiny paw, Mike’s Foxy plush tucked under his arm.

Michael Afton quickly drifted off, a small smile on his face.

Chapter Text

“GUYS!” Elizabeth exclaimed, walking into the kitchen. “You won’t believe what Cassidy got for her birthday!”

“A lot?” David replied, not looking up from his homework.

“Her mum is a pretty good lawyer, and they make quite a lot of money. I imagine she would get a lot of stuff for her birthday.” Mike added, also not looking up from his own homework. “Maybe you should be one, Liz, given how you like to argue the point for no reason. At least you'd get paid to be argumentative.”

Lizzy rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Mike.”

Charlie chortled beside her and shook her head. “She got the hair chalk that Liz has been eyeing up. And one of those ‘grow your own crystal’ kits.”

“Yeah, and she was nice enough to let me use some, so check it out!” Lizzy put her hands up to show off her strawberry blonde hair, which had a variety of red and blue stripes running through it.

Mike glanced up, happy to be distracted from pre-calculus (whoever came up with calculus deserved a place in hell) to appreciate it. “Strange colouring but somehow you pull it off.”

“The stripes match your belt.” David noted. “And your roller skates.”

“Exactly!”

“Did you see dad’s face when you asked for those?” Mike asked. “He looked like he was having flashbacks but he got them anyway. Do you know what that was about?”

Liz laughed, swinging her arms, her long dark sleeves flowing. “Yeah, apparently I modified CB in the future to include skates and a huge claw hand. The skates weren't identical but close enough in shape to remind him. He just laughed and said that some things never change.”

All three of her siblings gaped at her. Mike nodded.

“Yeah, that would do it.”

Charlie sat down next to Mike and peered over his shoulder. “Oh, ew, math.”

He sighed. “Yeah. I’m about done, though, so we can head over to the restaurant in a bit. I think they're finishing up the renos today.”

“Finally.” David groaned and shut his workbook. “I dunno how you do maths so easily, Mikey, it hurts my brain.”

Mike snorted. “It hurts my brain too, I’m just used to the easier stuff. You just gotta remember the order it goes in. At the rate I’m going, I might not pass pre-calc.”

Liz scoffed. “Yeah right. You said something like that last year and you had the best grades in your friend group. For someone who acts like a bad boy who doesn't care about school, you're a huge nerd… Why is Scott going out with you again?”

He glared at his sister as his other siblings giggled behind their hands. “Aaaaanyway, shall we head off?”

The twins and Charlie agreed, gathered up their things, and walked down to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza to check out the renovations. It still looked like a classic Freddy’s but they’d expanded to fit some more party rooms, as well as a fresh paint job. They also had to remove all the gum from the underside of the chairs and tables.

Michael could be seen chatting with one of the long time workers, Ralph, talking about the man’s three year old daughter. Michael had fit easily into his place in the past, more comfortable than he'd been in his life. The new co-head of FazEnt, co-inventor, head of the technician team. Luckily Henry had done as he had in the future, and taken over the role of paperwork manager. Henry usually dealt with any unhappy customers.

Things for the pizzeria and diner had been a bit rough after the incident with William. People had doubted the company that had been built by a man who'd tried to murder children and his own family. After the trial, all of that had simmered down.

The trial had revealed how William had hidden his intentions from everyone, especially Henry. He'd documented all of his work and intentions in his workshop, before moving them all down to the lair beneath. Some of it was lost to the fire, but enough was recovered to get him locked up for good. Not just for how he'd targeted both Michaels, but for how he'd also murdered his wife and Ruth Emily.

Footage of William dragging Michael into the safe room was recovered from Freddy’s as he hadn't had time to erase it. Drugs and needles found in the Afton house were a match to the experience Michael described, with William’s prints on it. The wounds on both Mike and Michael matched the knife they’d caught William holding, covered in their blood.

It had unnerved everyone in the courtroom to read William’s insane ramblings about remnant and how he could infuse his creations with it.

One throwaway sentence in his journal had implied that the incident with Circus Baby and Elizabeth was no accident, which upset the girl enough for her to leave the courtroom with Michael to collect herself. The hard drive Michael had given Henry had proven to be useful, as it backed up the comments on finding children in the restaurants that ‘fit’ the animatronics.

The entire combined Afton and Emily family had breathed a collective sigh of relief when the judge and jury declared him as guilty. As one last piece of active pettiness, Michael had caught William’s eye and kissed Henry right in front of him. The following glare could have cut glass but Michael had long since been made unbreakable.

Despite everyone’s reservations about the incidents regarding the children at the restaurants, popularity had slowly increased again in the following years. They were growing to once again be the favourite hangout spot in town.

Michael rolled up his sleeves as he inspected his work. Rockstar Foxy was almost complete and they'd be able to start their trial run of the Rockstars in a week or two; just in time for Mike’s 16th birthday. The kids in the area had responded positively to concept art and the group had done well in the future, so he had high hopes for his favourite renditions of the classic crew.

He sat down and leaned back in his wheely chair, looking around the workshop. It was a new addition to the pizzeria and he much preferred it to the workshop at the diner. It had become a bit cramped after he moved in alongside Henry and William, and they’d begun to associate it with poor memories. The new one was more spacious and only hosted Michael and Henry.

One of the other renovations done was boarding up the safe room – this time with no one inside. The spare springlock suits were dismantled before their retirement and the parts were disposed of with no hope of recollection. Spring Bonnie and Fredbear were replaced by non-springed suits and were officially declared to be animatronic only.

There would never be any Springtrap, there would be no Golden Freddy.

Michael and his family had come a long way since he’d been brought back in time. And just over a year later, they were able to continue their journey of healing from the damage done. Some days, he could hardly believe that his new life was real. On those days, all he had to do was look over at Henry sleeping soundly next to him and check on the kids all tucked into bed, and he could rest again.

The door to the workshop opened and Henry peeked his head in. His auburn curls, streaked with grey, tumbled around his face. His kind, hazel eyes glinted behind his new glasses, and the skin around them creased when he smiled. His hands were calloused on the palm and soft on the back, and Michael wanted to grab them and hold them every time he saw him.

“The kids are here and the patrons are starting to file out.” Henry notified him, prompting him to stand and follow him out to the main party room.

He spotted Elizabeth’s colour streaked hair and sighed, smiling fondly, remembering how Scrap Baby had coloured hers. The girl had been experimenting with some more alternative styles that Michael had described from the future, which was sure to shake the fashion scene. She’d taken so much pride in the image William had encouraged. His betrayal in trying to have her killed had shattered her self image to the point where she didn't want anything to do with how he'd previously perceived her.

It might have been an unusual style for an eight year old, but Michael and Henry weren't at all fussed about it so long as she talked about what bothered her, which she had no problems with. She had found a multicoloured, studded belt that would have had emo kids in the 2000s green with envy, and switched between bright colours and dark colours on the regular.

David remained the least changed after everything. He still had a habit of crying quite a lot, but his family no longer judged him for it. He'd taken an even stronger shine to Helpy in the wake of events. Michael could hardly see one of them without the other. Though, he had started to become more confident with the help of his siblings and school friends. David had grown closer to Mike through all of it, a newfound respect having been forged out of the fear of almost losing him.

Charlotte was still as bright and cheery as ever, choosing to take it upon herself to make everyone smile at least once a day. They always made sure to do the same for her and pick up the work on her off days. She had a habit of overworking herself while helping out at the restaurants, so either Michael or Henry had to force her to take breaks. She’d admitted to feeling helpless during William’s attack, how everyone was hurting and she was safe, leading to her trying to make up for it.

Mike himself was doing better. Being able to talk to his older self about his experience had encouraged him to face it and move on, while still acknowledging that he had been hurt. Mike was used to acting strong and being vulnerable left a bad taste in his mouth. With the help of his siblings, his new dad, and Henry, as well as his friend group (and boyfriend), he was starting to figure out who he truly was.

All four of Michael and Henry’s children sat around a party table, eating good food and enjoying the nice night. Michael allowed himself to drink it all in.

Once upon a time, the name Afton had given him pain. The name he had associated with grief and resentment. At one point he would have given anything to change it. He’d come a long way since then. He was able to separate the pain from his identity, and – like Mike – he was figuring out who he was. And that was Michael Afton.

Michael glanced to the side at his boyfriend as Henry laughed at something that David said.

He might be moving a bit fast, but the small square box in his pocket felt just right. Their souls and their futures were intertwined. It would be a long time before they could have the celebration they deserved, but Michael could feel it in his bones that, come 2014, he would be Michael Afton-Emily.

Michael took Henry’s hand into his own as he pushed his own chair out and knelt to the ground, his other hand bringing out the box. All four of their kids squealed and grinned, as if they hadn't been there shopping for rings with him, and Henry’s face morphed into one of delighted shock.

“Henry Emily, I’ve known you my entire life, and you have consistently been a shining light for me to follow. Even when I had nothing, your voice was in the back of my mind keeping me going. When Mike threw that mistletoe at us two Christmasses ago,” He sent Mike an amused glare when the teen snorted, “I had no idea that it would bring me one of the greatest things in my life. The best parts of these last two years were with you and our children by my side, and I want to have you all with me for as long as I continue to live. I know that this might seem a bit rushed, and currently illegal, but would you do me the greatest honour and–”

“Yes!” Henry blurted out giddily, not even letting him finish his proposal. “Oh my– yes, yes!”

Michael laughed and their sons and daughters cheered. He slid the ring onto Henry’s finger and Michael rose from the floor to press his lips against his new fiancé’s. After a few seconds, Lizzy, David, Charlie and Mike all pretended to vomit, prompting the engaged couple to part with joyous, teary-eyed laughter.

The rest of the dinner had a jubilant atmosphere, and their hands remained interlocked until the Afton-Emily family made it back to their shared home.

It had been a long time since Michael had felt at home. And now he was right where he wanted to be.