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Jeremy woke up with a pounding headache, which was pretty in line with how his night was going. He also had no idea where he was.
Jeremy lifted his head from the pillow it was rested on to find himself in the old Afton family home...fuck this shit.
Jeremy felt a presence in his mind. The presence was familiar but not reassuring, like an old friend you weren't sure you trusted yet. I'm watching you, he told the presence. The presence didn't respond. Jeremy sat up and left Michael's room, refusing to get lost in teenage nostalgia. He wished he had time for that.
Jeremy wandered his lover's old house. It seemed dead, but Jeremy knew better. He wasn't alone. This had to be a trick by William. He headed downstairs to leave. There was no way being here was a good idea. He had to get out of here.
Think, he told himself, or maybe the presence in his mind did, he wasn't sure, where would you be for the best fighting vantage point? Jeremy turned and saw William on the stairwell. Jeremy hit the ground as William tried to jump onto him.
THINK. That voice definitely wasn't his own. The presence was pissed. TAKE STOCK. WHAT CAN YOU USE? Jeremy looked around and his mind immediately shot back to his first time in the house, the rickety chair leg he'd almost impaled himself on. William had looked at Michael like the both of them were the biggest disappointments in the world.
Jeremy found the chair with his eyes easily, rolling over to the kitchen for protection, cursing inside his head. The memories here were almost too much. The thought of Michael, Simon, Carlos, and him laughing in the kitchen was painfully bittersweet.
William didn't know where Jeremy was for the moment. William was relying on the fact that Jeremy had never been stealthy, never thought about his moves beyond what would hurt the man he was fighting the most. But Jeremy knew that he couldn't win this fight by fighting. William knew that normally, he would try. Jeremy knew there was too much at stake to fall into old habits, so he got to thinking. Then he got to moving.
Jeremy shot towards the chair and ripped the leg off, sharp nails exposing themselves on the piece of wood. Michael always said he would get Henry to fix it. He never did.
"Where the FUCK are you?!" William shouted, voice booming across the room. Jeremy's resolve hardened, and he ripped himself out of the past.
ROLL. Jeremy nodded and rolled into a kneeling position before impaling William on the chair leg. "Fucker," he spat.
William roared in pain, and kept standing, despite the nails buried in his stomach. Jeremy ripped it out, and stabbed him again. William's form flickered between every form he'd seen, from the first day he'd met him to the final fire. Jeremy kept stabbing, and finally, he crumpled into a jar of Remnant.
Jeremy sat up and looked around.
"Who's been helping me?"
A child with an alligator mask appeared. He looked...remarkably similar to Jeremy in build and tone. The kid took off the mask and smirked.
"It's Andrew," he said. "Come on. Pick it up." Jeremy rolled his eyes and nodded.
"Hey, kid. How've you been?" Jeremy asked casually, picking up the container of Remnant.
"Pretty good. Montgomery Gator is a sick ass animatronic." Jeremy nodded. "You?" Jeremy sighed deeply.
"Well, you know Michael's..." Jeremy trailed off, mood thoroughly soured.
"Gonna survive because he's still got his organs inside him and both Ennard and Jake looking out for him?" Andrew offered, and Jeremy stopped dead. It had been a trick and Jeremy had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. Jeremy closed his eyes and took multiple deep breaths before speaking again.
"What?" Jeremy demanded. "He's--that little fucker."
"He'd die if he didn't make that move. Jake and I are trying to make up a good reason for Michael to get over here. I'm thinking one of you goes out to 'find Henry' and 'accidentally' gets spotted by Mech." Andrew said. It was a beginning premise to a plan. Jeremy shrugged and took it, hoping that he could smooth out the details with the group later.
"I...okay. Sure, why not. And there's no danger of being spotted by William?"
"You'd have to dodge the fuck out of S.T.A.F.F. bots and the animatronics, but no danger of being directly spotted by William." Andrew said. "If I were you, I'd send Mike's adoptee in while you're getting ahold of him." Jeremy nodded.
"Let's do it," he said, and he couldn't stop the flickering light of hope from spilling out of his chest and onto his lips as a smile.