Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Working for the infamous Fazbear Entertainment was… Interesting. Its dirt poor wages were horrible, but desperate souls were still looking to work there. And Fritz? Fritz wouldn’t say he was desperate, but he did need the money.

Fritz worked as a night guard for their warehouse, where they’d shove all the unused and unwanted parts before they auctioned them off. He’d watch the cameras and call the cops if he saw anyone breaking in.

It was a fairly simple job, and Fritz knew nobody was planning to break in if they had any sense. People talked about Fazbear’s animatronics, ghost stories, all that. Locals called it the ‘Fazbear Frighthouse.’

This was something Fritz appreciated, considering he didn’t exactly want to wheel after some intruder in the dead of night. Much preferred working in the most haunted warehouse in Utah compared to some robber or vandal.

Recently, they’d gotten this new shipment; an animatronic. It was some ratty old olive rabbit, with ketchup stains and exposed wiring (which looked vaguely slimy, gross. Did they even clean these things before they sold them?)

Fritz had seen some posters around the warehouse that featured a similar bot, likely back during its prime, which made him wonder why it’d gotten so neglected. It seemed like it used to be so important, what had changed?

Fritz figured whatever the case was, it wasn’t all that important. He was just the guy they paid to look out for robbers. What’s the chance it’d ever be relevant?

On a rainy Monday night, Fritz did their job as they usually did. That meant the whole warehouse was cold, and Fritz was wishing they’d brought a blanket for their legs.

Flicking through the cameras, Fritz froze after spotting the robotic rabbit. It was sitting up, its silver eyes happening to fall right on the camera. Fritz almost felt like they were being watched.

Creepy. Did they set it up like that without me noticing?

Fritz shuddered, going to a different camera quickly. They’d have to get used to seeing that thing… Or know instinctively to avoid that specific camera feed.

Another boring hour or so for Fritz passed, almost tempting them to pull up their phone to speed it up… Until they heard it. The sounds of something moving. Almost subtle, considering how far away it was, but Fritz still caught it.

They felt their heart leap into their throat, flipping through all the cameras for some glimpse of whoever made the news. It took up until dreaded four, where the rabbit was…

They weren’t sure if they ought to be relieved or horrified by the fact its head had moved, no longer staring into the camera. They felt really silly, rationalizing the sound must have just been its head falling from the position the movers had placed it.

Still, just to be safe, they scanned through the rest. When they were sure they were still alone, they sighed and looked at the clock.

1:30 AM.

This was going to be a long night, and Fritz just wanted to be back home with Vince already.

…

Around 3:40 AM, Fritz got bored of just sitting around, and decided to wheel around the warehouse. Just for some sort of enrichment besides solitaire or minesweeper on their slowly dying phone.

Why’d I have to forget the charger back home?

All went fine. The scrapped Lil’ Music Man was cute as always, Fritz gave them a friendly little pat on their head as he went by- they sometimes wondered if it’d be possible to swindle the boss into giving them it -and the box of discarded bits that Fritz had dubbed the ‘Eye Pit’ was… Well it was something, as always.

And then, as they were heading through the room with the moldy old bunny in it–

“CHRIST!”

They jumped a little in their chair as it looked right at them. Surely, surely, it had just been the way it fell earlier, but it was one helluva scare.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’ve got the scariest mug I’ve seen?” Fritz jokingly told the animatronic, a nervous laugh escaping their lips. “Sorry, that’s rude… I say to the inanimate object.”

They thought for a moment then, on something of a whim, they grabbed a violet ribbon that sat nearby on the shelf and tied it around the rabbit’s neck in a bow. It was still uncanny and creepy, yes, but something- probably that same silly part that had them getting attached to tiny spiders with cymbals -told them it was only right to give the rabbit some dignity before it went off to be sold off or destroyed.

Fritz wheeled off, going to finish their rounds before returning to their room, all while unaware of the silver gaze continuing to watch them.

Over those last few hours, Fritz kept hearing odd noises throughout the warehouse. At first he just dismissed it as the rain and the metal occupants of the place tricking him, but then simple noises of something shifting turned into distant moans or shuffling.

He’d looked through all the cameras frantically, but nothing came up besides… Well, it was probably just a trick of the eye, but he could’ve sworn the rabbit had moved once or twice.

Since there wasn’t anything Fritz really could’ve done, he decided to just vent to his roommate, Vincent, instead of typing something up for the higher-ups to dismiss. Vince was better at making him feel less scared, anyways.

Today it wasn’t as rainy, but still pretty muggy for Fritz’s tastes. The fog made it feel like he was about to crash the car as he drove to work, so that didn’t help.

When he made it to the warehouse, Fritz wasn’t looking forward to the six hours that he’d be stuck in this place. He decided to wheel about before he settled into the office, even deciding to grab the Lil’ Music Man.

For moral support. It’s not like the poor guy was going anywhere soon, anyways.

…

When he finally settled into the office, he spent the first half hour babbling about whatever came to his mind to his new little guest while he passed the time with a silly mobile app he’d recently downloaded.

Compared to yesterday, it was much more enjoyable. It was probably silly, but he felt like he wasn’t all alone, in the middle of the AMs, praying he didn’t get held up.

Really, it was nice! …Too bad it couldn’t last.

The noises started up again. And when he went to look through the cameras, that ratty old rabbit was straight-up missing.

Fritz felt his heart drop and skip several beats. That couldn’t be right, that didn’t happen. But it did, and it was making his breathing all haywire.

“Breathe, it’s- It’s fine you’re fine everything’s fine.” He mumbled to himself as he flicked through the cameras, trying to put a stop to whatever track his brain was trying to run off on.

He knew these patterns. He got them a lot, and usually he had someone to ground him or help. Even without them, usually he could get his way back out of the death spiral.

And usually, usually, there aren’t robots two feet taller than me looking to–

Okay, not helping.

Eventually, and by 'eventually' he meant he kept clicking the wrong places as his fingers got harder to move right, he finally found it. Camera five, about two rooms over, at the end of the pseudo hallway.

It was looking at an old statue, of some obscure ballerina character. Fritz didn’t get much time to really ponder that as an almost gentle clash of the cymbals rang beside him… And had him nearly jump out of his skin.

The Lil’ Music Man had crawled closer to him, head tilted to the side. Despite being physically unable to, Fritz could tell they were frowning at him. Their little teeth chattered and a brief musical jingle came from them.

Fritz blinked for a moment, his mind working to try and figure out what was happening. “Are you… Worried about me?” He asked, pointing to himself.

The Lil’ Music Man let out a chime and nodded, chiming their cymbals together and chattering excitedly. Fritz couldn’t help but smile, touched by the little guy’s worries. Even if this was weird, it was nice.

“I’m… Well I’m not fine-” He was briefly cut off by a distraught chime, but continued. “But! I’ll be okay, probably. If I um– Don’t get killed by that rabbit.”

They shook their head, letting out a few seconds of their jingle. When that didn’t quite get it properly across, they let out a few frustrated clashes with their cymbals. Fritz certainly couldn’t blame them.

“I’m sorry little guy, wish I knew what you meant…” He frowned, then went to check the cameras. Rather expectedly, the rabbit was now gone from camera five. He swapped to six, praying it wasn’t on seven, and was slightly relieved seeing it was still slightly further away from the room.

He was startled when he felt movement by his fingers, seeing Lil’ Music Man going up to the keyboard. “Wh- Oh?”

They went to each key and pressed it, sort of like a little computer ouija board.

N-O H-U-R-T

Fritz was quiet for a moment, not really sure what to feel about it. He didn’t think they were lying, but didn’t know how they could be so sure of it… Though, if they could just walk around like this, it stood to reason they’d talked to the rabbit at some point. Maybe even some of those sounds he’d heard last night had been them?

“Well… I hope you’re right, little guy. Not much I can do to get away from ‘em.”

Almost as if on cue, somewhat comically as well, the moldy animatronic stepped into the office entrance. With it in front of him, he could hear wheezing breaths coming from it.

(Did animatronics need to breathe? Normally he'd say no, but he didn’t know anymore.)

After a quite horrifying moment of silence and staring, Fritz broke the silence. “So– Uh, hello there?”

“Hello…” The rabbit spoke back, sounding out the word. Like they weren’t sure what would happen, or like they’d forgotten how to pronounce it. Thankfully, they didn’t seem aggressive.

Yet. I can’t know if that’ll change. …Doesn’t mean I can’t still be friendly.

“I’m Fritz Smith,” he tried to smile as he held out a hand for the animatronic to shake, though it probably looked a little forced. “I work here… Sorry I called you scary yesterday.”

They laughed, their odd grimace switching up to a smile. “It’s fine… I am.” Their words slurred, s’s longer than they needed to be. “I’m mmm…” They paused, thinking about it, then continued. “Springtrap.”

Lil’ Music Man piped up from Fritz’s desk with a musical tune, excitedly slamming their cymbals together. Springtrap’s eyes lit up, their smile getting wider.

“Oh. Hello, little guy. Good to see you again.”

As Fritz sat in a room with two robots, both fully sapient as far as he could tell, somehow he got the feeling everything had gotten so much more complicated.

Well, at least night shifts wouldn’t be boring anymore. That’s for sure.

Chapter Text

For the rest of the work shift, Fritz, Springtrap, and Lil’ Music Man chatted and got to know one another. While Fritz was certainly still worried Springtrap might try to hurt them at first, Fritz got more comfortable around the rabbit.

It was the best shift they’d ever had, honestly. Usually, it was pretty boring, and lonely to boot. With these two around, it felt more like they were out with friends instead of working.

Having two robots around certainly makes you feel a lot safer, too.

When they got home, they did consider if they ought to tell Vince about all this. They wanted to, let’s be fully clear, but it was… fantastical, to say the very very least.

In the end, they decided that, no, they didn’t want to risk sounding like they were off their rocker. Instead, they just hunkered down on their couch, cuddled with their kitten, Ice Cream, and watched a movie with him until they both ended up passing out.

Seems Vince had a long day too… Well, Fritz certainly wasn’t complaining one bit.

…

When Fritz woke up, needing to untangle from Vince without waking him up (which they somehow did, he was out like a damn light!), they went about their daily routine.

Brushing after having forgotten yesterday, refilling Banana Split and Ice Cream’s bowls, and then going to get a cup of coffee… only to find their machine was all out.

Well, that meant they’d have to go out. They held back a groan, taking a skeptical look at their uniform. Ehhh… It’ll work, not like I wouldn’t be wearing it anyways.

Luckily for them, their local diner was only a few minutes away by car. Fritz didn’t think they’d feel comfortable driving any longer without some coffee in their system.

Fritz did have to admit that this wasn’t an entirely terrible situation. Sugar & Spice Diner’s coffee was way better than anything their dinky old machine could make, and getting out and about was good for them.

“Welcome to Sugar & Spice, what can I get you?” The barista smiled. The barista had sepia brown skin, curly yellow-and-brown hair, and a large rectangular scar around their right eye. They had a small pin of Mangle, a discontinued form of Foxy, stuck on their front pocket.

“I’d just like an iced coffee, please.” Fritz was silent for a moment, then decided to add, “I like your pin, by the way.”

“Oh!” They lit up, looking away from their notepad and grinning wide. “Thank you, she was always my favorite. I like your uniform, seems like they haven’t really changed it since I used to work there,” they chuckled.

Fritz blinked for a moment in surprise, then smiled. “Yeah, they haven’t changed these since they opened, I don't think.”

“You’d think they’d change something after firing me via animatronic malfunction,” they gestured towards their face, “but no. Apparently not. I’m Jeremy Fitzgerald, by the by. Your name? I need it anyway for the order.”

It took a moment for Fritz to try and answer, considering Jeremy had swept them off their feet with that dark joke, but they definitely recovered much faster than anyone else would’ve. “Fritz Smith, it’s nice to meet you.”

They chatted about a few different things while their order was swiftly worked on, and Fritz waved them goodbye. It was only when they got in their car that they realized that Jeremy had given them a little notebook paper.

It read, “XXX-XXX-XXXX if you want to chat some more! Maybe we could get together for a bite !” with a small doodle of Mangle at the bottom.

Well. That’s one way to make a friend, I guess.

After driving back home and drinking the coffee (it tasted better than they remembered!) Fritz hunkered down and hung around for the rest of the day with Vince and, when he had to leave for his daytime job, the cats.

Oddly enough, Fritz didn’t dread heading to work today. Things are always changing, huh?

Even if Fritz had been expecting to see Springtrap, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t jump a little when he saw them waiting for him.

But , other than that little scare, the night was going pretty smoothly. He’d snagged some games he and Vince had– specifically an old Allowance board game Fritz brought along from his parent’s house and Uno –so they had some entertainment besides just talking.

(Springtrap looked a little bit like he wanted to strangle Fritz during Uno, and Lil’ Music Man, or Lil’ Muse as he’d begun calling them for ease, really liked clicking the little coins from Allowance together.)

The only real issue with having people to ‘work’ with was that Fritz… Well, it was easy to forget entirely about the cameras. They were left stationary on camera one, which was outside by the front where parking was.

It was only by luck that, out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone (or something) out by the loading bay.

All Fritz could really make out was a dark hoodie and… white pants? He couldn’t say, considering there wasn’t any lighting out there. The only thing Fritz could for sure make out was the eyes, which seemed to unnaturally glow in the dark, though any color was lost.

Fritz’s head snapped to the monitor, his brain trying to figure out what in the world he was supposed to do .

Before he could, however, Springtrap got up and into action. The rabbit sped off faster than he’d seen them move in the brief time they’d known them, albeit with quite a limp to their step.

Fritz hung back, watching through the cameras. They figured that if anything happened, they could wheel over as fast as they could.

When Springtrap reached the exit, the figure scrambled off faster than Fritz (or probably even Springtrap) could keep track of. That didn’t stop the rabbit from trying to run after them, only to double over.

Lil’ Muse let out a distraught tune, and Fritz didn’t hesitate to race out to see if they were okay.

“Are you alright?” He called out, rolling over to look them over. He wasn’t a mechanic by any means, so he couldn’t tell by a glance. The way they were acting, though, suggested they might’ve been in pain.

“Augh– Yes, I just-” They cut themself off, growling in clear frustration. “I can’t maneuver this damn thing!!” They gestured vaguely yet wildly at their own body, tugging at their remaining ear.

Fritz thought for a moment (and ignored any nosy questions his brain tried to conjure up), then offered a hand to try and help them up. “I get that… It sucks, a lot. I don’t think my old crutches would be your size, but if you’d like I could try finding some?”

Springtrap was silent for a moment, then took his hand (although, admittedly, Fritz likely didn’t help all that much– Cut him some slack, a six-foot something robot was heavy.)

“I’d… I’d really appreciate it.” They shuffled a bit, seemingly unsure or uncomfortable, then perked up a bit with a lazy grin. “Let’s get back in, it’s cold as hell out here.”

“Well, I’m not gonna say no to that.” Fritz snickered, then gave them a smug look. “I’m gonna win Uno this time.”

“Oh, you bIT–”

Days went by the same for a good few days, all the way up until Friday.

Fritz was able to make a very ramshackle set of crutches for Springtrap, which they clearly appreciated. Fritz happily taught them how to properly use them, although it took a bit of remembering. It had been a while since they’d swapped from crutches to their chair.

They both also were determined to figure out a way to teach Lil’ Muse a way to communicate easily with them. A mix of sign language and morse code seemed to be a good choice, seeing as they got very excited when the concept of Morse was explained.

Friday seemed normal when it started, even still when it came to their job. But, when it hit 5 AM, something was off.

It began with a sweet scent starting to waft through the warehouse, putting Fritz on edge almost immediately. It wasn’t something Fritz was just imagining, either, as even Springtrap commented on it.

(They weren’t going to really question what Springtrap could and couldn’t do at this point.)

Fritz thought first to quickly scan through the cameras, but that didn’t do much for them. Wherever the scent was coming from, it was outside the cameras’ view. Before any of them could think to get up and investigate, things changed in a flash.

The smell turned to something burning. While no alarms went off, Fritz certainly wasn’t sticking around any longer with the haunting reminder hanging in the air.

“We need to get out, right- Right now.” Their voice wavered, and they couldn’t help but shake as the situation sank in.

Lil’ Muse let out a confused chime, but didn’t fight it as Fritz scooped them up and placed them into their pocket frantically. Thankfully, Springtrap didn’t wait long or question it, instead scooping up both their crutches under their arm and running out. Clearly, they weren't willing to risk wobbly or slow movement in this situation.

It took a lot of Fritz’s willpower not to scream or hyperventilate when they saw the state the place was in. The fire had evidently spread quick, and neither sprinklers nor fire alarms were working at all. Each shelf of the warehouse had some degree of flame, and smoke rose to the ceiling in a thick smog.

Some primal part of them wanted to freeze in terror but, as they felt Lil’ Muse burrow closer to their chest, they pushed forward. They tried to tuck their nose under their shirt, wishing they had some proper way to keep the smoke from getting to their lungs.

Frantic maneuvering and running from the both of them had Fritz’s heart pounding, and if the awful heat and roar of the fire weren’t enough to make them want to cry like a kid all over again the ash and cinders sure did.

“Shit–” Behind them they heard Springtrap trip, and turned just as a large crash sounded out and the rabbit began to scream .

One of the shelves had collapsed down onto them, its flaming contents setting the animatronic on fire. It seemed to mostly be on their legs at the moment, which meant that if Fritz acted fast they could, at least in their mind, minimize damage as much as possible.

Thankfully, the wall they’d almost reached in their mad dash had a single fire extinguisher. They fumbled to open it and then, as fast as humanly possible, they  rolled back to the rabbit.

They’d already tugged themself out from under the debris, so Fritz sprung right into action and, after a bit of struggle, sprayed Springtrap with the thing. When it seemed it was more ash than actual fire, he helped them back up and urged them back to running.

Finally, finally , they made it out of the building. Fritz couldn’t help but deliriously wonder if there had been some sort of fire exit.

“I-I-I uh- I need. I need to call the fire department.” They shook despite being more than warm. When they noticed Springtrap looked hesitant, Fritz realized they likely didn’t want to be seen. They gestured to their car, gently pressing their keys into one hand as they offered a terrified Lil’ Muse to another.

“Go uh,” their throat felt scratchy and dry, “go hide in my car. I doubt anyone will really, uh, really be looking in there.”

Springtrap nodded, awkwardly patting Fritz’s shoulder as they headed off.

Fritz took in a long breath, ignoring the tears pricking at their eyes, and shakily dialed the number.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

The next… half hour? Hour? Whatever it was, it was a blur to Fritz. Words went in one ear and out the other, though he tried his best to answer any questions properly.

But, really, he just wanted to get home.

The drive back to his and Vince’s house was almost deathly silent, only really broken up with occasional clangs or tunes coming from Lil’ Muse.

He didn’t want to think about anything, and needing to wonder what in the hell he would say to Vince was stressing him out even more.

As he rode up to the door and unlocked it, holding Lil’ Muse with one arm and gesturing Springtrap in, he could only weakly call out.

“Vince, I- I’m back…!”

Chapter Text

It was a normal day for Vince, at least up until the night. Get through his job, take care of the cats while he waited for Fritz to get back, all that stuff. Today was boring, not to mention his job had sucked particularly more than usual.

“Vince, I- I’m back…!”

He perked up, though he wondered why Fritz sounded so out of it. He reasoned it was probably just a bad day for them both and got up to greet them.

(He did idly notice Ice Cream didn’t run to join him, which was unusual.)

When he rounded the corner and got a full view of the hallway, however, Vince stopped in his tracks. Fritz wasn’t alone, they had a giant robot rabbit just behind him that also brought the scent of burnt faux fur.

“Uh…” Vince’s brain essentially stalled, trying to actually understand what the hell was happening here. He figured he ought to be scared (and he was a little, of course he was!) but… It was kind of hard to be when he grew up around this place.

(The fact Fritz didn’t seem too troubled by the rabbit was also part of it.)

“Sorry, I um… I may not have brought something up that happened on the job?” Fritz laughed nervously, and what Vince had assumed was a toy in his arms tilted their head curiously at him.

“Well that’s one way to put it,” he laughed, despite the situation. “Just… Actually tell me this stuff now, please? Also uh…” Vince looked at the rabbit, who looked right back. “Be careful around the cats, Ice Cream’s scared of new people.”

(He could feel Fritz’s absolutely puzzled expression at him just accepting this whole thing burning right into him. Ha, now they’re even-ish.)

The robot (or rabbot, ha) went over to their couch in a very careful manner, but Cream still ended up dashing off into the kitchen. Interestingly, Nana didn’t seem to care all that much about the new stranger.

“So… My job kind of got. Set on fire?” Fritz fidgeted with their buttons, letting the weird man-spider robot crawl onto the arm of the couch. “We uh… We got out mostly fine, but Springtrap– That’s um, that’s Springtrap by the way– Anyways they didn’t have anywhere to go, and neither did Lil’ Muse, so I brought them here.”

“Shit– Are you all okay?” Vince was specifically worried about Fritz in all honesty, considering what he knew about Fritz and all, but he wasn’t going to be rude.

“They’re both fine, I think.” Springtrap finally spoke up, startling Vince a good bit. “I got set on fire but I… I’ll be fine, probably.”

Vince, somewhat awkwardly, offered a pat on the shoulder to the rabbit. He did hope they were going to be fine like they said, but honestly he seriously doubted it.

“I’m Vince Baker, by the way.”

Springtrap laughed, smiling. “Ah, Fritz told me all about you.”

Lil’ Muse let out a series of musical sounds, which Vince could only assume was laughter, while Fritz’s face turned a shade or so redder with embarrassment.

Even if this was weird as all hell, Vince could tell he’d get along just fine with these new roommates.

"We can't do this."

"What do you mean we can't do this?"

"I mean this is insane! What are we doing ?!"

"What else can we do? We don't have much of a choice here, Vince!"

"Can you two stop whispering and get this over with already?" Springtrap spoke up from their prison inside the bathtub, looking at Vince and Fritz with a bored expression as the two argued over how to clean the rabbit.

Fritz laughed nervously, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry, it’s just- Er…”

“You’re a bit of a tough project here, Springy.” Vince finished. “Can we even use water on you?”

“Eeeeh?” They made a so-so motion with their hand, which certainly didn’t instill confidence in anyone. “I mean… I don’t think it’d fry anything as long as you don’t dunk me in water. I dunno, I’m about as lost as you two.”

“Well,” Fritz sighed and readied a sponge. “Might as well just jump on in…”

All went well enough at first, albeit it was extremely disgusting seeing years worth of gunk come off of the robot. (How in the hell do you get something that grody?)

But, at one point or another, some bits of water must’ve inevitably gotten under their casing. It should have been fine.

Instead, a wet squelch came from the rabbit, making Springtrap seem to get the wind knocked out of them, and bits of red liquid trickled out from openings in their suit.

There was a long, uncomfortable moment of silence…

“Hey, um, sorry, but what the fuck?”

Springtrap looked off, bringing up their knees to their head and looking seemingly uncomfortable.

“I’m… I’m sure you both know what people say about Fazbear robots, right?” There was a pause as Springtrap figured out how to word what came next, which also gave both Fritz and Vince a moment to have the horror of the implications sink in. “Yeah.”

“So you… You have a dead body in you, right now?” Fritz futilely hoped Springtrap would shake his head or deny it, despite knowing better. Still, their heart dropped when they nodded, looking pretty miserable with the admission.

Fritz didn’t know how to continue from this, and clearly neither did Vince. How did you? They couldn’t just be silent and hope everything just went back to normal, however, so they had to try.

“I um… I’m sorry to hear that. If there’s anything I can do just let me know, not that I uh, really think there is.”

“You could get my body out of here for one?” Springtrap weakly joked. “But really just… Can you just pretend I’m a person, please ? I… Miss it.” They wiped at their eye, likely reflexively considering what they knew now.

“Of course.” Vince chimed in. “Just cuz we know more about you doesn’t mean you’re any less a person like we are!” Vince paused, clearly weighing the pros and cons of what he was about to say next. “Do you still want to be called Springtrap, or…?”

Springtrap laughed, really actually laughed again, and shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. Made it up myself, so I like it… ‘S still a bit soon for me to really, uh, talk about it. I’ll tell you about it soon, alright?”

“Sure…! Take your time, Springy.” Fritz chuckled. “... Did you want to get out–”

“No! I mean–  Not yet.” They clarified, embarrassed. “I’d rather get out of this thing clean, if you guys don’t mind.”

“Yeah, I… I didn’t want to say it but …” Vince chimed in, pulling a bit of a face. “You’re not getting out of there and tracking whatever’s on that thing through the house.”

It took hours of careful cleaning to make whatever internal mechanisms were in Springtrap not go off again, but they did eventually manage to pull it off. The olive color seemed permanent, but had lightened a good deal.

The bunny was in a good mood, cuddling up in a blanket of theirs, and they all hung out and played games until and even after Vince had to head off.

(Lil’ Muse had tried really hard to go along with him by hiding in his hood. They’d both taken a real liking to each other.)

Soon after he’d headed out, the phone rang.

“I got it, be right back.” They gently set Lil’ Muse out from their lap and onto the couch, then went to answer it.

“Hello, is this Fritz Smith? ”

“That’d, er, be me! Who is this?”

“I’m Detective Everette Larson from the HPD. I’m sorry to bother you–” A crash of some kind was heard in the background. “Sorry, one moment.” – The voice, Everette, grew muffled. – “Ryan, can you check on Millie and Andrew? Thanks, kiddo. Alright, sorry, the kids are rowdy today. I need to talk to you about what happened at your workplace today.”

Fritz felt a knot form in their stomach but pushed ahead. They could do this. “Alright, sir. Di-Did you need to do this over the phone or…?”

“Preferably it’d be in person. Would you be able to meet up today at Sugar & Spice Diner, around… 4 PM?”

“I– Yeah, that um. That works. I’ll see you then, Mister Larson.”

“Alright, take care. Click–”

Fritz set the phone back down and tilted their head back, letting out a low groan as their head thunked against the wall.

“Bad news?” Springtrap asked from the couch, looking over.

“Ugh… No, but yes? I don’t know. It was a detective, I’ve got to go meet him.” They rolled back over, looking… quite frankly like hell, thanks to how tired they were.

“Ah. D’you want a distraction for a bit? Usually works for me.” Springtrap gestured to the abandoned game controllers as an example.

Fritz thought, then nodded. “I mean… Can’t hurt for a little bit. Thanks, Springy.”

…

After a few rounds, Fritz went off to get ready. They tried their best to freshen up, though not as thoroughly as they might’ve liked considering the shower was effectively out of commission at the moment.

As they looked through their shared closet as Ice Cream, who’d essentially taken to hiding in the bedroom while they got used to the giant rabbit in their house, lounged on the bed.

“I know I shouldn’t be worried about this, it’s just police procedure but… I don’t know, what if they try to pin it on me? What if it’s actually somehow my fault?” Fritz vented to Ice Cream, who… Yeah, they knew she didn’t exactly understand or care, but it made them feel better to get it out into the air.

Finally, they picked out some clothes, which were more for comfort than leaving a good impression. They’d really rather wear something cozy than something presentable, especially considering half of it was going to get covered by a blanket anyway.

Fritz turned to look at themself in the mirror, smoothing out any wrinkles on their sweater before pausing, gently running their fingers over the burn scars on their legs and side. The memory of that fire still burned in their mind, even if there was years of distance by now.

They shook their head, reminiscing about past traumas could come later, when they're not risking running late for an interrogation. Quickly combing their fingers through their ginger hair for a few moments before Fritz rolled back out into the living room.

“I’m heading out! Take care you two, I’ll be back soon.”

Fritz made it to the diner on time, maybe even early. As they waited for the detective to show up, a newly familiar face showed up.

“Hey, Fritz!” Jeremy chirped. The two had texted back and forth ever since meeting, and Fritz could confidently say they liked the guy. “What brings you here?”

“Ah, well…” They laughed nervously. “I sort of lost my job? I’ve gotta, er, meet somebody here about it.”

“Ah, shoot… Sorry to hear about that, hope you’ll find a new job soon… Y’know, I hear the Pizzaplex’s got a new job opening if you want right back into that hellhole.” He joked, and Fritz definitely appreciated the brevity.

They talked for a little while as they waited, though they did have to leave eventually, which was certainly a bit of normality Fritz had been missing the past few hours. Fritz even decided at one point to order some powdered pretzels as they waited. (Which, by the way, tasted great . Food’s always best at Sugar & Spice.)

Dil-ling~!

Fritz perked up, looking to the door. A man with freckled umber skin, blue eyes, and shaved fawn blonde hair entered the cafe. He wore a jacket with a sweater vest underneath, and honestly gave off the energy they expected from a detective.

“Are you Fritz?” The man, clearly Detective Larson, walked over to him. After they nodded, he breathed a sigh of clear relief. “Sorry to keep you waiting, sir. My kids got into a bit of trouble, I needed to sort things out before I left.”

“N-No it’s– It’s fine! Nice to meet you, sir.” They fidgeted nervously and held out a hand for him to shake, which he promptly did.

“And the same to you, Mr. Smith. Do you think you could give me a rundown of what happened this morning?” He pulled out a notepad, and Fritz obliged.

It was slightly abridged, considering they didn’t know what to really say about the whole Springtrap thing, but overall truthful. They did make sure to mention the odd smell, which elicited a furious round of scribbling from the detective.

“Were there any suspicious figures you saw before the fire?”

“Ah, well… Not exactly that day, but we- er, I meant I, I um… I did see a strange figure a few days before, if that counts? They had some kind of hoodie on and I think white pants or something. It was really dark at the time.”

That gave the detective pause and a weird expression. At first, Fritz thought they were suspicious of them but then they realized it was less of a scrutinizing expression and more one of… exasperation?

“Is um... Is there something wrong, sir?”

“No, no.” Detective Larson shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts. “We’ve just had a recent string of trespassing all over Hurricane with a similar description. It’s unlikely these cases are related, but thank you for bringing this up. We’ll look into it.”

They continued to talk about their case for a bit, which Fritz could tell seemed a lot like arson, but eventually moved to small talk. It was a bit awkward, quite honestly, but not bad by any means. Detective Larson seemed like a nice enough man.

“Oh hey, Mr. Larson!”

Both the detective and Fritz looked over to see Jeremy approaching.

“Oh, you– You, uh, know each other, Jere?”

“Yeah! I’ve got a feeling it’s for similar reasons.” He answered, then looked over to Detective Larson. “How’s it hangin’?”

“Oh, it’s been just fine.” He seemed pleasantly surprised by running into Jeremy. “I’ve been busy with the kids, Andrew and Jake’s birthdays are coming up soon and all.”

“Oh! Tell them I say happy birthday. Keep me updated next time you stop by, yeah? I ought to get them something.” Jeremy chuckled, smiling wide.

“I will! Sorry to cut this short, but I need to head on back. Thank you for meeting up with me, Mr. Smith, we’ll do our best to solve this. You can keep in touch with me with this number, feel free to do so anytime,” he finished, handing Fritz a small slip of paper with a number on it.

After that, he shook hands with Fritz (and patted Jeremy on the shoulder) and headed off.

Despite Fritz still being nervous out of his mind… They supposed the detective wasn’t all that bad.

They just hoped it’d stay that way.

Chapter Text

Today was an interesting one, Everette had to admit. An interesting case, one which he could tell would probably be very difficult to solve.

Mr. Smith had certainly been nervous, but he didn’t want to assume they were the culprit. The small slip up, a mention of a ‘we’, was interesting, however… Well, whatever the case, he could think on it more when he got on the scene and hopefully recovered the footage of that night.

First, though, he could spend some time with his kids… Unfortunately, he probably needed to have a talk with two of them.

The rhythmic tap, tap, tap of his fingers against the steering wheel rang throughout the car as he thought about what to say to the duo. He didn't want to punish either of them for exploring, but they were playing it awfully risky... He couldn't help but worry about them.

He knew they were smart but… All it would take was one close call, one person getting a bit too close, and… well, Everette knew people could act irrationally when scared.

His fingers tightened on the wheel at that thought. No, that wouldn't happen, his boys were quick enough to get away… Just in case though, he'd still bring it up to them.

And with that, Everette pulled into his driveway. Gravel crunched underneath the car's tires as it slowed to a halt and he climbed out.

“Dad!!” Ryan ran out of their house, a big grin on his face as he basically ran right into Everette for a hug.

Everette smiled and ruffled his hair. “Hey, kiddo. Did I miss anything while I was out?”

“Andrew thought he could do parkour off the porch roof.”

Everette felt so tired. “ Please tell me he didn’t actually do that.”

“Well, good news is Jake got him to calm down by pulling out the coloring books. Me ‘n Millie were playing Mario Kart, but I wanted to come say hi instead of winning,” he giggled, and Everette felt a wave of relief go through him.

“ Oh thank god … Let’s get in then, huh? I’m sure you can make a comeback,” he chuckled.

Inside the living room, Stitchwraith laid on their belly on the floor. Both arms were working on different pages of their coloring pages. The right side was fairly normal, if detailed, while the left was overly colorful and had bits of blood added in.

“ Hi, Dad! ” They looked away from the page to grin at him, voices overlapping, then returned to their book happily.

“Welcome back, Mr. Larson.” Millie, a young albino girl with dyed butterfly locs, waved from the couch. She’d paused the game, which Ryan looked very excited about as he raced to sit back down with her.

“What’d you need to go rushing off like that for, anyway?” Millie asked after unpausing the game.

“Yeah! Are there any bad guys you gotta catch?” Ryan chimed in, unsurprisingly. He’d been growing very interested in Everette’s line of work ever since they’d gotten on better terms.

“One of the Fazbear Warehouses burned down,” Everette sighed. “I needed to talk to the night guard at Sugar & Spice. It’s looking pretty likely it’s arson.”

(Everette noticed Stitchwraith tense up a little at the mention of the warehouse, which only solidified the talk he knew they needed to have.)

“Oh! Did you say hi to Uncle Jerms while you were there?”

“I did! They were doing fine, and he wanted me to tell you two,” he looked at Stitchwraith, “that he wishes you a happy birthday.”

“ Aww, that’s sweet of them. I should write them a note! ” Jake giggled, swinging his legs back and forth.

“ Tell him thanks next time you see him. ” Andrew briefly chimed in, then quickly returned to his coloring page.

…

They all hung out for around half an hour before work called him in. It was time to investigate the crime scene.

Thankfully, Millie’s grandfather, Harvey, was more than willing to host the kids while he had to rush to work. He had real respect for the man.

(Something he couldn’t say the same of towards her parents, but that was for another time and place.)

When he arrived at the place, he could tell it had been a real blaze. As per Fazbear usual, it had fallen apart quickly thanks to its shoddy workmanship.

Before he could think about it more, another detective, Brennan Chancey, rounded on Everette. His hair was a dirty blonde, his voice had a heavy southern twang, and, in what Everette had to believe was self-parody, he wore a stetson.

"What's with the sour face, Evs? Have a long day or something?" His voice was light, twinkling with mirth as he jabbed Everette in the side with his elbow.

"You have no idea, Chancey." Everette sounded tired, idly rubbing the spot where the other had hit him.

"The work days just started! How come you’re so outta sorts already?” Chancey tipped his hat up, sending him a confused look.

“If you had kids, Chancey, you wouldn’t be asking.” He laughed, then turned his attention back to the destroyed unit. “You folks find anything before I got here?”

“Phew, I reckon we did! C’mere, you might wanna look at it yourself.” Chancey led him to around the back of the warehouse, where an odd sight awaited the detective.

While most of the wall was normal, there seemed to be a false wall built in that his fellow detectives had moved after realizing the alligatoring on it compared to the regular burns.

If the telltale serpentine burn trails coming from this area were any judge, Everette had to say this looked like where the arsonist had come in from and poured the accelerant.

“Well, that certainly confirms my suspicions… What’s the progress on the camera footage recovery?”

“Unfortunately, news from Roberts is that all the cameras and their data were destroyed. You’ll need to ask him yourself if you want more details.” Chancey shrugged.

“I’ll do that, thank you.” Everette nodded to Chancey who briefly tipped his hat in return.

(Everette swore he had to know what he was doing.)

He went around asking where Roberts was, before eventually ending up in the charred office at the back. As he went back there, he realized the place had no fire exits, which he knew was against regulations.

“James?”

“AH–! Oh, Everette, hello.” James Roberts smoothed out his clothes, clearly embarrassed by his own jumpiness. “I’m assuming Chancey or the others filled you in?”

“Yes, he did. Catch me up to speed on the cameras, and I’ll give you the lowdown on the guard’s story.”

“The cameras,” Roberts let out a clearly frustrated breath, combing his hand through his hair. “All of the ones on the inside were burnt beyond saving, so that’s gone. And the one on the outside was entirely missing, looks like the perp stole it. And– And! it’s Fazbear so of course they didn’t back any of it up.”

“Christ, that sounds frustrating…” He patted his work partner on his shoulder sympathetically. He briefly considered if Mr. Smith could’ve stolen the camera, but it didn’t seem likely. The few destroyed cameras he’d spotted had been very high up, and while he wasn’t sure if the man was a full-time wheelchair user or not, it did provide some points to his innocence.

“Sure is,” Roberts hollowly chuckled, sounding exhausted. “But enough about the hell I’m in, how’d things go with the guard?”

Everette retrieved his very detailed transcription and notes from his pocket, handing them to his partner as he recited a rundown of what he remembered.

“Sounds like our perp used gasoline, if we can trust Mr. Smith’s description. That ‘we’ thing… We might want to look into it. Could be an honest slip of the tongue, or he could be hiding something.”

They both talked for a bit about possible suspects and theories, but then Everette decided to walk around the warehouse looking for any more leads. There had to be something else, surely there was.

(Which somehow led to him looking into a bin of animatronic eyeballs that was in near perfect condition alongside Chancey. Not exactly a lead but… it was a noteworthy experience, alright.)

But, frustratingly, there wasn’t much to find. Well, that was until when, on a whim, he decided to check the fire alarm. It was noted it hadn’t gone off, making responders take longer and surely making the fire much worse.

When he put his mind to looking for something, he noticed a very pronounced lack of any fire systems. There were places for them to be inserted, but they had been left empty. There was a fire alarm to switch, but it didn’t seem to actually be connected to anything.

Now, Everette wasn’t a man to usually speculate without evidence… But with what he was seeing, and what he knew about Fazbear Entertainment’s seedy history… Well, this was looking a lot like an intentional design plan.

He bit his cheek in thought, deciding he would bring it up to the others when the time came. In the meantime, however, he had a job to do.

And, unfortunately for him, that meant looking around in the crisp remains of a warehouse for little to no clues.

The rest of the day was, as he expected, boring and lacking much more information than what they’d already learned. He couldn’t complain too much though, they had a lot more information than what they had for all of their recent cases.

(That fact made him particularly upset. He hated seeing so many missing child cases go freezing cold despite all their best efforts.)

Chancey, as usual, handled taking in any evidence or items left in the destruction. He seemed to think the eye box was hilarious, if him deciding to take it back home was any indication.

Everette counted himself more than lucky, considering he was clocking out at the usual time he would. Tabitha and James couldn’t exactly say the same.

The drive over to the Fitzsimmons’ house wasn’t all that remarkable, though at one point he did have to swerve out of the way as a black cat dashed across the road.

(Now that was one way to get him to have a heart attack.)

He knocked on the door, being greeted by Harvey. Harvey had short hair, which had significantly grayed with age, and dark sepia skin. Usually he wore a well-loved tan cardigan, which had patches where it had ripped or torn, and often also had a shawl.

“Everette! Welcome back, your boys were just asking about you.” Harvey smiled, giving him an affectionate hug as a greeting. Everette, admittedly, wasn’t very used to this sort of physical affection, but he’d been getting used to it over the past year. 

“Come in, I just made some cookies.” He motioned Everette in, and the detective certainly wasn’t one to pass up some baked goods from the Fitzsimmons household.

“Thank you, Mr. Fitzsimmons. Sorry to drop the kids off on you without warning,” he chuckled, grabbing one of the offered cookies off the tray.

Seems some of the kids had already raided most of them, Everette considered himself lucky he managed to grab one for himself.

“It’s no trouble, really. Your family is always welcome with mine, after all.” The old man laughed warmly. “How was your day? The kids told me a fire got to one of those warehouses, and the news finally caught up on the coverage.”

“It’s better than what we usually get, I’ll be honest.” Everette sighed, sounding more and more miserable as he thought about it. “I can’t say much, but we got more tangible evidence than we’ve had for any of our other cases recently.”

Harvey gently patted his back, entering a sympathetic silence before he moved away and called out, “Boys! Your Dad’s back!”

Distantly, Everette heard Andrew call, “ Bye, Mills! ”

The clamor of two pairs of feet rushing downstairs went through the house, then Everette practically had the wind knocked out of him as both Ryan and Stitch ran full force right into him.

“ Hi, Dad! We missed you. ” Jake laughed, snuggling a bit into Everette before letting go.

“Can we get home? No offense, Paw! ‘S just late is all.”

“None taken,” Harvey chuckled, reaching out and ruffling both Stitch and Ryan’s fur and hair, respectively. “You folk hurry on home, now. And be careful!”

“ We will, Mr. Harvey. ” Jake smiled, giving him a one-armed hug.

Andrew waved as they walked out. “ See you later, Old Man. ”

…

When they arrived home, Ryan hurried up to his and Stitch’s shared room. Stitchwraith was about to do so as well, but Everette stopped them.

“Sorry, but can you two hang back for a bit?”

“ Oh– Sure! What’d you need? ”

He sighed, psyching himself up for the conversation he needed to have. “Now, you’re not in trouble or anything… But I do need to talk to you two about how you’ve been sneaking out.”

They slumped a bit, their eye going a browner hue. “ Aw, c’mon. You knew about that? ”

“Trying to keep that stuff hidden from me was a bit of a downhill battle.” He chuckled, despite the seriousness of the conversation. “I trust you two to be able to take care of yourselves but… You need to be more careful about this. When I talked with the night guard about the warehouse, he mentioned seeing a figure we’ve been seeing around recently… One I know is you two.”

Suddenly, their arms crossed, posture changing to be much, much more defensive. " It's not a big deal, we're just rusty is all, no one is gonna catch us. " Andrew's tone definitely matched his posture, defensive and on edge, more so than usual when the duo was being scolded.

Their right arm, the one with a green bracelet, untucked itself from their body and gently began to pat their left arm – the one with a red bracelet – soothingly.

Andrew's gaze was downcast, but kept darting around while he shifted their weight from side to side. Subtle giveaways that the two were talking inside their head.

Everette waited patiently for the duo to finish their conversation, carefully noting how Andrew seemed to grow more agitated throughout before he eventually shook their head.

“ Really, it’s not that big a deal… We didn’t think there was anyone actually in there, anyways, let alone… ” He trailed off, clearly hesitant and even avoidant.

Everette didn’t want to push Andrew, but he knew this was likely important. Both to them, and maybe even to the case. “Andrew… Was there someone else there other than the night guard?”

Andrew hesitantly nodded, refusing to make eye contact as he answered, “ We saw… We saw that suit there, it chased us off. ”

Everette felt his heart drop, then gently wrapped his arms around his son as comfort.

His son’s murderer had shown up and somehow, someway, one Fritz Smith was connected.

Everette knew what he had to do next.

Chapter Text

What started as a normal day turned into an exciting, if chaotic, one when family friend, Millie Fitzsimmons, decided to pop up unexpectedly!

(Andrew thought she might’ve decided to show up because of his behavior the past few days. As much as he wouldn’t admit it, he did appreciate it. Especially considering he’d had his worst nightmare in days the other night.)

Ryan had gone off to help their Dad downstairs with whatever new case he was covering, while Stitchwraith and Millie stayed upstairs.

“I’m just saying,” Millie smirked from the couch, “if Pluto wants to be a planet again so bad just grow?? Skill issue.”

“ Millieeee, that's not how it works! ” Jake complained from the top of their bunk.

“How do you know? Some dumb scientist?? Maybe just try talking to Pluto yourself, duh.”

“ Okay, y’know what? C’mere– ” Andrew jumped right into control, rolling over to the ladder to climb on down…

Only to get his leg stuck in the bedpost.

“ Uh. ”

“Are you, like… good ?” Millie half-heartedly hid her snort of laughter.

None of them had expected Stitchwraith to get stuck like this, even Andrew and Jake who had been caught by their endo parts before had not expected a bedpost of all things to be their downfall.

With a static-filled, annoyed huff, Andrew tried to unhook the leg. Only to let out a startled cry when he just ended up dragging them over the edge of the bed, arms instinctively flailing as they dangled from the post now.

… Jake is laughing, he can hear Jake giggling inside their head. It's a nervous laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

“Do you need me to go get your dad–”

“ NO! No, uh. It’s fine. This is fine. ” Andrew stubbornly responded, despite Jake thinking the absolute opposite. He could figure this out, really!

Millie sighed and rolled her eyes, getting up from her seat. “Alright, if you say so. I’m helping though, or else you’re gonna fall right on your head.”

They both tried to get him unhooked, but it was a lot harder than you’d expect.

(Millie had an excuse, considering Stitchwraith was made of steel and whatever other materials… Andrew didn’t think he had much of one.)

The situation went from embarrassing to stressful when, thanks to their weight, the bed started to tilt like it was going to fall. Millie had to scramble down to push it back in place, making a loud, crash-like sound.

They all knew the jig was up, and honestly, they were relieved… mostly. Andrew was still embarrassed, but he wasn’t exactly wanting to risk toppling over a bed just for his pride.

“Dad wanted me to check on you…” Ryan trailed off as he entered the room, looking at the absolute mess they were in. “I’m… I’m gonna go get him.”

Today was not Andrew’s day.

…

After that was all sorted out, and their Dad had to head out, the kids had the whole house to themselves.

Ryan had somehow ended up roping Millie and Stitchwraith into watching TikTok with him. They started out with animal videos, moved onto soap cutting, then stimboards, and now they’d ended up on Parkour videos.

“ I bet we could do that. ” Andrew piped up from in their head, sounding a bit excited.

“ Maybe? But I don’t think it’s a good idea… ” Jake tried to reason.

“ Aw, c’mon! Live a little! ” Andrew shot back, jumping in to snatch the metaphorical controller of their body from Jake. “ We’d be fine , not like we’ve got bones to break like they do. ”

“ Hey, guys, ” he piped up, catching Millie and Ryan’s attention. “ Think these guys’ve ever jumped off a porch roof before? ”

“Oh, absolutely,” Millie responded, conveniently timed to when, on Ryan’s phone, a man jumped off the second story of a parking garage into a tuck-and-roll. “I think that’s their version of baby steps or something.”

“ How much d’you wanna bet I can totally stick the landing from ours? ” He did an excited shimmy in his seat, antsy to give it a try.

“I bet five bucks you land wrong and have to reconnect your arm.” She smirked, absolutely egging him on.

“If this goes wrong, you know you’re gonna get in trouble right?” Ryan chimed in, trying to bring back some semblance of normalcy.

Unfortunately for him, Andrew clearly had his mind already set on the idea. “ Don’t be such a worrywart, I’ll be fine! And I’ll gladly take that five bucks when I look epic and land it like a pro. ”

Jake, however, had a feeling this wouldn’t go well. He could always be wrong, they did have good reflexes from before they came to live with their dad after all, but he didn’t exactly want to risk breaking something.

With their luck, they were likely to have their head pop off at this rate.

(…Jake wanted any cosmic entities to know he was not giving them permission to actually do that to them, please.)

Think, think, think… Jake thought of ways he knew how to distract Andrew, before getting a metaphorical lightbulb moment.

“ Hey, Drewie? ”

“ Huh? ” Andrew paused, already halfway to the stairs. “ What’s up? ”

“ I think Dad got us all new coloring books… Do you wanna do some with me real quick? Before you do your whole parkour thing, I mean. ”

“ Wait– He got new ones? ” Andrew perked up, excitedly flapping his hand and running them over to the drawers they kept the books. Jake hadn’t been bluffing, so there actually were some new books for them to fill out!

“ Change of plans, I’m gonna do these first! ” Their tail (well, the leftovers of it) wiggled in excitement as they trotted over to lie down with the book and a box of crayons. “ I’ll prove you totally wrong in a second, Mills. ”

“ Sure ,” Millie rolled her eyes. “Wanna do some Cups in the meantime, Rye?”

“Heck yeah! AND I’m gonna win this time!”

They hung out for about half an hour, and then had another half when their dad came back. When his work fully and properly called him in, though, they had to go over to Millie’s house.

(They spotted this cat with the oddest face pattern on the way there. They didn’t get much of a good look other than that.)

“ Hi, Mr. Harvey! ” Jake greeted, running up to hug the old man.

Harvey Fitzsimmons chuckled, reaching down and ruffling the fur on Stitchwraith’s head. “Good to see you, boys. And glad you’re home too, girlie. Annabel was meowing her little head off.”

As if summoned by her name, Millie’s black cat, Annabel Lee, came running in and let out the loudest, long suffering-est mew of her little life. She then promptly plopped right down onto the floor in front of her owner.

Millie dropped into a crouch, petting her kitten as well as giving her scritches behind her cheeks. “Awwh, life is just so hard isn’t it, Annabel? The world’s just out to get you…” Annabel gave a rumbly purr in response.

Harvey chuckled and shook his head fondly. “Now… Who wants to help me make cookies?”

…

While all of the kids had originally chimed in to try and help (or watch, as with Millie,) Annabel had gotten the zoomies midway through. And with that, both Millie and Stitchwraith had gone off to tire her out.

Ryan, however, had stuck around. The boy had a real knack for picking up things, from what Harvey had noticed, as well as a particular interest in helping bake or cook.

(From what Everette told him, he had just as much of a hunger to learn about detective work. Harvey could tell he was real proud of his boy when he told him.)

“Hey, Paw?” Ryan looked up from the cookie dough he’d diligently been mixing, gently putting it back onto the countertop.

“Hm?” Harvey perked up, but continued his work of pulling out the vegetarian quiche he’d prepared and setting it on the counter to cool.

“Can I turn on the TV? I wanna see if Dad’s case made the news yet!”

“Of course, kiddo. Want me to take over for you while you listen in?”

Ryan nodded enthusiastically, running over to the small antique of a TV that Harvey kept by the dinner table. Harvey could hear the sounds of different channels being flicked through behind him.

“ –azbear Warehouse has gone up in flames. Our sources say a worker was there and escaped the inferno. No suspects are… ”

Harvey portioned and rolled the dough, then set the timer as he put them into the oven. By now the quiche was at a good temperature, so he cut it into enough pieces for all of them. (Even Stitchwraith, just in case!)

“Kids! Soup’s on!”

…

Dinner was nice, and when the cookies were finally done the kids had thoroughly raided them. There were just a few left, and that was only because Ryan had managed to talk Stitchwraith out of raiding the last few so their Dad could have some too.

Millie and Stitchwraith had gone up to her room to set up a board game. Ryan was going to go hang out with them in a bit, but he had something he wanted to get done first.

The news was still serving as background noise for the dining room. Apparently, Fazbear Entertainment was refusing to give statements again. Not much of a surprise, but Ryan knew it must be making his Dad’s day wayyy harder.

“Paw, can I” – Ryan yawned, sluggishly rubbing at his eye as he did – “ask you something?”

Harvey continued to scoop up all the dishes to put away, but still looked over to him to let him know he had his attention. “Yeah, kiddo?”

“When do you think Dad’s gonna get back?” He yawned again. He didn’t mind hanging out with his Paw most of the time, but he wanted to get back home so he could take a nap.

“At most he’ll be back in half an hour, kiddo. Probably sooner.” Harvey offered a reassuring smile, moving to go do the dishes at the sink. (Manually, for some reason. Ryan always assumed it just felt nice to do, even if it was unnecessary.) “If’n you need to lay down or take a nap while you’re waiting, feel free.”

“Mmaybe…” He shrugged. “‘M gonna go play Monopoly with Millie ‘n Stitchy now, kay?”

“Have fun, kiddo.” Harvey smiled and waved, then got back to cleaning.

…

Meanwhile, Stitchwraith and Millie were setting up the ever-dreaded Monopoly… Or well, more accurately, they had already done that and were waiting for Ryan to see if he was gonna come up to play too.

(Stitchwraith had squirreled away some cookies to snack on during the game inside their chest. They’d offered some to Millie but she’d, and they quote, ‘rather not eat your battery cookies’. Her loss.)

While they waited, they ended up talking. About how Millie was doing with her friends at school, about different pieces of mourning gear she’d seen on eBay, the latest hoax leaks for Pokémon…

And then, eventually, somehow it rolled into the court of Stitchwraith’s (or more accurately, Andrew’s ) recent feelings.

“So, what’ve you guys explored recently? You never told me what you were gonna go look at last Wednesday.”

They both hesitated. Jake didn’t exactly fully understand the entire extent of what Andrew must be feeling, but he knew it had really upset him. And still was.

(Andrew could only think of awful, oozing purple.)

“ Nothing interesting, really. ” Andrew avoided the question, avoiding eye contact. “ Couldn’t get in anyway. It wasn’t abandoned after all. ”

Millie hummed and crossed her arms, clearly not taking this as an answer. “I know I’m not the emotional support type, but you guys know you can be honest with me right?”

“ We know, honest. ” Jake chimed in, patting Andrew’s arm comfortingly. “ And same goes for me, Drewie. ”

“Yeah,” Millie offered a rare smile. “No pressure to talk about it now, just know you’re not alone dummy.”

Andrew laughed, fidgeting a bit. He was still getting used to all this attention. “ Um… Thanks, guys. I don’t uh… I don’t really wanna talk about it yet, but I’ll keep it in mind. ”

“Alright! Good to know.” She playfully punched him in the shoulder, shaking her hand after the fact. (Fake punching steel, even when done carefully, still stung!)

Just as they fell into a comfortable silence, they heard Ryan’s footsteps coming up to Millie’s room. Good timing, considering they were both getting real antsy to start the game. (And to start snacking! Any longer and they would’ve just given up waiting.)

They managed to finish their game, somehow, before their Dad got back.

(Millie was really cutthroat with her plays. Jake got bankrupt sooner than any of them had actually thought was possible, and Andrew got stuck in jail at what felt like every other turn. In the end, Ryan lucked out and won the game despite having the least properties the entire game.)

On the drive back, Ryan was practically falling asleep in his seat. He’d gotten tired out way earlier than usual; he might ’ve stayed up late back at Angela’s if Stitchwraith had to guess.

“ How’d it go today, Dad? ”

“Could’ve gone better, I’ll be honest.” He chuckled. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“ Did you, uh– ” Andrew slid back down his face, having just finished eating the last of the cookies. “ Did you see anything interesting? ”

(He really hoped a burned rabbit animatronic counted as interesting.)

“Chancey found a box of eyes.”

“ I’m sorry– ” “ –WHAT? ”

“Robot eyes! I should probably specify they were robot eyes.” Everette laughed at himself. “It somehow didn’t burn in that place, so Chancey got to bring it home. No clue what he plans on doing with it.” He shook his head with a sigh.

(Andrew tried not to show his disappointment that it was all he mentioned.)

…

When they got home, Stitchwraith was more than happy to be back. Clearly, Ryan was too, considering he raced up to their room.

Stitchwraith was prime to follow him, ready to fall asleep (and hope no nightmares plagued them) when…

“Sorry, but can you two hang back for a bit?”

Chapter Text

When Springtrap woke up, lying on the couch, something deep in them told them something bad was going to happen. Doom was on the horizon, and they couldn’t do anything about it–

Wait. They took a moment, took in a deep breath, and sighed. Easy does it, Springster.

They’d dealt with anxiety attacks since they were young, almost always alone, so calming themself down in the middle of the early morning was routine by now.

Being in a house, like a real proper house again, was weird. For a long time they’d been stuck hopping from place to place, even before they’d gotten mauled by this damn rabbit suit.

“ Christ… ” They groaned, forcing themself up. If their… brain? Whatever it was, if it was going to force them up at the odd hours of the morning, they might as well get things done.

(It was about time they started earning their keep, anyways. Hopefully, it’d let them stay around longer…)

“ Myaah~ ” One of the pair’s cats– Banana something, they believed? –yawned from her perch, jumping down to follow them around. She’d seemed to grow a liking to them pretty quick, which… Honestly it was pretty nice, it made them feel welcome.

Now, what could I do…

Their first thought had been prepping some food for them, but… They, quite honestly, were terrible at cooking. (Not to mention they were a walking health hazard.)

Though there was something else in the kitchen that needed some attention, as they noticed both the cats’ bowls had been picked clean in the night.

That was something they could handle easily, surely.

They rummaged through the cupboards until they finally found where the cat food was. It was the wet kind, unfortunately for them and their intrusive thoughts. (Good for the cats though!)

“Nyaaaaoo!” Banana meowed, loud and demanding.

“Just a minute, Nans.” They hummed, struggling more with the lid than any hundred-pound robot had any right to. (If they had to be stuck as a bloody rabbit for the rest of their afterlife, at least make them strong damnit.)

Of course, to a little cat with a whole lot of determination, barely even a minute was too long.

“Ah–!” Springtrap cried out, trying not to react too much as Banana decided to leap up and climb them. Despite the fact it hurt like a bitch, they laughed. “Jesus christ– Have some patience.”

They gently tried their best to pry her off once they’d finished, and once they’d finally gotten her little needle claws out of their back they set her down gently to eat.

Springtrap tried not to jump right out of their skin when they heard someone yawn behind them… Keyword being tried , because they still did anyway.

“Oh, sorry!” Vince laughed (who was wearing a hoodie backwards, with Lil’ Muse still dozing in the hood), awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I heard you from the other room and got curious.”

“Ah. Yeah, Nans just decided to try and murder me again.” They chuckled, then gestured behind them to the aforementioned kitty criminal. “She got excited I was filling the bowl for her.”

“Oooh… Yeah, Nana gets eager like that.” Vince smiled, reaching over to give her back a pat. “Thanks for doing that, by the way. They’d have gotten all antsy and woken up Fritz.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Springtrap shrugged. “I, uh… I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“Nah… Well, kind of,” Vince sheepishly chuckled. “It’s chill though. This is just a few minutes earlier than I usually wake up.”

“Fair. This is about when I used to nap back during my night shifts.”

“Oh?” Vince walked over to the coffee machine, only to groan after pressing a few buttons with no result. “Still gotta fix this thing… Darnit .”

“Yeah, I used to work night shifts most of the time.” They angled back their remaining ear, thinking about their old jobs. “Like back in, I think… 2017 ? Around then, I usually took a nap in between the earlier hours if it was safe and I had the office power for it.”

“Ah, sounds kinda stressful honestly.”

“Pf– You can say that again, and that’s only half of it,” Springtrap chuckled. “Enough about me, what do you do?”

“Oh, I just work part-time… Honestly, I’ve been looking for a new job for a while. Guess a fire’s one way to speed up the process,” Vince laughed.

There was a somewhat awkward silence, and then Vince piped up again. “Anyways… Do you eat?”

“I mean… Maybe?” Springtrap shrugged. They hadn’t ever gotten the chance to see if they could. “… You got any toast or lucky charms? Been a bloody long time since I’ve had some.”

“I can make some toast, easy!” Vince smiled. “I’ll put the charms on the grocery list in a bit.”

Springtrap hadn’t felt the urge to hug someone so hard in a very long time… It was nice.

It turns out that, yes, they could eat things. How? They… didn’t want to know, quite frankly. If they found out, they worried they might get sick.

Vince and Springtrap, as well as Lil' Muse when they woke up, hung out for a while before Fritz woke up and rolled into the living room. They brought a wary Ice Cream with them in their lap, too.

“When did you –” They yawned, trying to rub the sleepiness out of their eyes “– two get up?”

“ Abouuuut …” Vince eyed the clock, counting with his fingers before he answered. “Three hours?”

“Jeez,” Fritz exhaled a laugh, looking a mix of concerned and amused. “I think you both need like. A lot of melatonin tablets.”

“Or you’re just really sleepy, Fritzy,” Vince joked.

(Springtrap noticed Fritz turn a shade or so pinker.)

Fritz rolled their eyes, sticking out their tongue playfully in response. “Other than making fun of me, what’ve you been up to?”

“Mostly browsing TV, but uhhh…” Springtrap looked over to what was playing now, trying not to feel a little embarrassed. “Lil’ Muse wanted to watch Cocomelon, so we switched over to that.”

“… How do they know what that is?” Fritz squinted.

“I showed them!” Vince practically announced, way prouder than anyone should’ve been with that information, as Lil’ Muse clanged their cymbals together very excitedly.

“You are a menace.” Fritz exhaled a laugh, rolling their eyes.

“And yet, you let me live here.” Vince stuck out his tongue, then went back to rather intently watching the TV with the little wind-up spider.

“How was the night? I, er– We don’t usually have people, uh. Sleeping on the couch, except for us…” They laughed nervously, fidgeting about. “I hope it wasn’t uncomfortable, is um… Is what I’m saying.”

“Well, it was better than what the warehouse had,” Springtrap snickered. “Really though, it’s, uh… It’s an improvement from most of the places I’ve slept! …It was a little chilly though, that’s probably just me though.”

Vince hummed thoughtfully, then spoke up. “I’m sure we have some spare blankets you could have next time!”

Springtrap thought about protesting… But only for a moment. Who in their right mind said no to a perfectly good blanket? “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

They kept talking for a while. Eventually Lil’ Muse got tired (and, assumedly, a little bored), so they ended up crawling over to steal Ice Cream’s spot on Fritz’s lap. The lil’ guy got tired easily, it seemed like.

Vince had gotten up, something about going to get something from his and Fritz’s shared bedroom, so Springtrap and Fritz were just left chatting.

“Got any job plans? I mean, unless you decide to jump back into the night guard position at a different place.”

“Oh, uh…” Fritz laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, no. I’m not– That’s not happening again. Freddy’s couldn’t pay me enough for that…” They paused, thinking hard about their next answer. “I think I might, uh, look around town to see if any of the local shops have positions open? And if that doesn’t work I, er… I could explore graphic design jobs!”

“Graphic design? Y’know, I kn–”

“Uh, guys?” Vince cut them off, voice veering into the higher pitches. His chest heaved as he huffed, having apparently run back. “There’s– There’s somebody pulling into our driveway!”

“What? Do– Did-did-did you get a look at who’s driving??” Fritz panicked, stutter worsening with sudden stress, while Springtrap went stock still in shock.

“No, at least I didn’t recognize th–”

Vince was cut off by a sharp knocking at the door, which was Springtrap’s cue to practically vault over the couch to run… somewhere , anywhere that wasn’t in the open. (This somewhere eventually ended up being their small bathroom.)

…

In the other room, Vince crept towards the door with a frying pan as a makeshift weapon in-hand. Just in case.

What in the world could this guy need at 8 AM? Salesman maybe? Please don’t let somebody rob us again–

“Who’s there? What do you need?” He asked through the door.

“Detective Larson from HPD, I need to talk to Mr. Smith.”

Vince warily opened the door a crack and, when he saw the badge the man was holding out, unlatched it and opened the door in a hurry. “Sorry, sir. Fritz! That detective is here.”

“Oh– He- Hello, sir.” Fritz, who was now on their own (Lil’ Muse had run off to hide), tried not to look too nervous as their mind raced. “Did I, uh– Did I miss a message? We weren’t, uh– We didn’t expect you!”

“Sorry to catch you off guard. Something has come up, and it was urgent I discuss it with you.” Detective Larson’s voice was much tenser than the last time Fritz had seen him. They also noticed with a fearful jolt he also had a gun holster.

“An-and, uh… What is that, sir?”

“I know about the rabbit suit, Mr. Smith.”

Fritz felt their mouth turn dry, and before they could possibly try to respond…

A clash of broken glass and a loud scream came from the bathroom.

…

It all happened in a flash. Springtrap had been hiding in the tub, listening intently to the conversation in the other room, when something broke the window.

They screamed, instinctively flinching and trying to protect themself from the glass. When they looked at what had once been a window, they saw a fist halfway through it.

On the other side was a white animatronic of some kind, with yellow cheeks and an exposed battery that was mainly red with hints of green. They seemed to be missing an eye, exposing a more human-like brown one; the remaining animatronic eye had turned all black except for the pupil.

“ YOU. ”

The other animatronic lunged forward, hands finding their way around Springtrap’s throat. At first it seemed like they’d planned to choke them, they instead began to scratch and scrabble their claws against the metal of their endoskeleton.

“No–!” They tried to speak, but couldn’t form the words. This couldn’t happen again, please not again .

They didn’t want to hurt this animatronic, they really didn’t, but if it kept going this way–

“Andrew!”

A voice broke through the struggle, stilling their attacker as he looked to the detective. He squinted, almost like he couldn’t focus or was trying to recognize him.

“Andrew, breathe . Get off of the rabbit, I’ve got it.”

“ But! He’s here, I can– MAKE HIM SUFFER, HURT . ” He squeezed Springtrap’s throat furiously, as they weakly tried to push their attacker off.

“We need to make sure first, besides… I don’t want you getting hurt, kid.”

The animatronic, Andrew seemingly, slowly released them, standing up. His battery turned from that near full angry red to more green, with his animatronic eye turning back to a somewhat normal color as he practically ran away from Springtrap.

“Wha-what’s happening??” Fritz’s voice came from the other room but Springtrap couldn’t exactly see hide nor hair of them nor Vince.

There was a silence, then… “You really don’t know, do you?”

“Know what ?” Vince sounded upset, like he was holding back much more that he had to say. (Smart, considering the man had a gun. Currently trained on Springtrap, but still.)

“That suit has been linked to at least five or more murders. And that’s just officially .”

Springtrap struggled to sit up, earning them a glance at a horrified face being sent from Fritz.

“I– I’m not the murderer! Just because I died in this thing doesn’t mean I’m HIM !” They quickly defended themself, trying not to shake. Keep it together, keep it together–!

“ REALLY? Or are you just saying that? Do you just want a life away from this?! ” The red flared again as Andrew gestured furiously to his own body. “ How in the fucking hell do you plan to convince us you’re NOT that bastard? ”

They were silent for a long, awful moment. They didn’t want to be labeled as that bastard , but… No, who cares about their hangups right now? They knew what had to be done.

“You can look at my face.” Their breathing was uneven and shaky, and a long familiar feeling of tears welled up in their eyes. “It-It shouldn’t be too decomposed yet, it’s only been six weeks.”

There was a stunned silence, but the detective nodded. “You may want to look away… That includes you too, Stitch.”

“ No, I… ” Andrew paused, and then another voice joined in. “ WE can handle it, Dad. ”

“If you’re sure… The warning still goes for you two.” Detective Larson nodded at both Fritz and Vince, who stubbornly seemed determined to look as well.

(Springtrap didn’t know if they should feel more nervous or oddly comforted.)

They lifted their suit’s maw open, revealing a rotted yet still recognizable face. A sheen of gray had washed over their originally sepia brown skin, and their animatronic eyes had, thankfully, hidden whatever had happened to their real eyes.

“That… that’s enough, thank you.”

They snapped their new mouth shut, shuddering. “Is that proof enough?”

The detective looked to… Andrew? Stitch? Who nodded. “ Yeah, he… He was white, so… So you’re not him… ” They looked away, in what Springtrap could only assume was guilt or disappointment.

“I don’t blame you though. That… I think that this whole mixup was the whole point of stuffing me in this thing.” They sniffed, wiping at their eyes and finding that, surprisingly, there was some sort of purple liquid there.

“I…” Detective Larson seemed like he was holding himself from asking millions of questions, which Springtrap knew it was time to answer. They couldn’t pretend forever.

“I, uh… I can tell you more, just. Can somebody help me out? My legs don’t feel so good.”

“Of course, Springy.” Vince finally chimed in, shouldering his way into the bathroom. He looked guilty, but determinedly held out his hand to help Springtrap up.

…

After struggling out of that damned bathroom, the panic having made their legs just entirely decide to give out, Springtrap sat on the couch with a blanket wrapped around them.

(It felt grounding, like they were real … Ha, almost made this whole hell worth it.)

Fritz had gone to prepare something in the kitchen, still able to listen or chime in if they wanted. (Before they’d headed in, they’d given them a hug and a quiet yet very sincere apology.)

“So I guess I should start with a proper name, right?” They looked to Detective Larson, who nodded. “Ah, alright… My name’s Mike Schmidt. You won’t find any next of kin or anything, not that I think you can really do anything actually legal with this ,” they gestured to themself.

“I… I heard of your case, someone from your workplace filed it. We haven’t been able to find any leads.” The man frowned. “All of your stuff was put into a storage unit, if you’d like…?”

“Um, if it’s no trouble?” They shrugged, fidgeting with the blanket. “If you can’t though, I ah… I wanted all my stuff to go to Casey Geddie if I died. Did you find my will? I think I wrote a new version of it before I died…”

“You already had all that planned out?” Vince looked like a weird mix of puzzled and concerned.

“I didn’t plan anything, promise! You just learn to have your affairs in order when you work at Freddy’s for five years.” They laughed, despite the situation. It felt more natural than acknowledging the fact they were dead.

“… Is it bad to say I’m really glad Fritz’s job got set on fire, now?”

“ I don’t think it is! ” The other voice of the other animatronic chimed in. They’d decided to stand a few paces away from Springtrap, which both didn’t think was exactly needed but also was a bit thankful for.

(They didn’t blame them, it seemed like they were one of his victims, they just needed a moment to really get used to them.)

“What’s your name, anyways? I obviously didn’t catch it,” they tried for a joke, which landed an exhale of laughter from both the other robot and Vince alike.

“ We’re Stitchwraith! I’m Jake, the other one is Andrew… He’s a bit tired, so I’m doing the talking right now! ” They paused, seemingly listening to nothing. Maybe talking to each other? “ Andrew’s sorry, by the way. He’s not the best at apologizing… I’m sorry I didn’t step in earlier, either. ”

“It’s fine! Really, I’d strangle me too if I thought I was him .” They looked to Vince, who looked a little lost. “ He’s the murderer, Vin. Sorry, hah…”

Fritz wheeled back in, a small tray of hot cocoa in their lap. Lil’ Muse, who’d finally been coaxed out of their hiding spot it seemed, scuttered along behind them while munching on some crackers. “I, um! I made some cocoa for everyone, I think we all needed some…”

They gladly took it, carefully trying to drink the warm drink. They did manage, even if it was a bit messy. Stitchwraith, meanwhile, did so with practiced ease. (Them lifting up their entire face was quite jarring, though! Springtrap did not envy that little design plan.)

After everyone had finished it, and Springtrap had significantly started feeling a lot more cozy, Everette cleared his throat.

“Are you okay with telling us some more? I don’t want to push you, of course…”

“No, it’s… It’s about time I dealt with it anyways.” They fidgeted, running their fingers over the mug.

“I was working at a warehouse, and one of the higher-ups came for inspections. It had more secret parts in there, some new robot endos they were trying. I got the job since I’ve been working there since 2017, but I um… I never met the guy till then.

“We talked a little, he um… He got interested in me, for some reason.” They laughed, an entirely nervous habit as they started to shake. “He told me he wanted to talk to me at another warehouse sometime, so I um. I did!

“And he… He uh… He knocked me out,” they gulped. “I don’t remember what happened next really, just that I woke up in some kind of basement and I was wearing this thing . It stunk like mold an-and I could feel that it was just like my night shifts back at Freddy’s before it closed but-but worse! It was also really hard to breathe, it felt like there was liquid in my lungs or something.

“I knew I wasn’t going to uh… Really live much longer, so honestly when the robots found me it was a big relief. About then is when the uh… The springlocks went off, and I um. I kinda wish I’d just suffocated to death instead.

“I don’t blame them! Honest, it’s uhm– It’s really not their fault, their spirits thought I looked like him like that, so… I don’t think they were seeing right at the time.”

There was a stunned, very taken aback silence. It was, surprisingly, Lil’ Muse who acted first and crawled over to them with a soothing song playing.

Mike set down the long abandoned mug, scooping up Lil’ Muse for a long hug. They only just realized how bad their shaking had gotten, it was a real surprise they hadn’t started crying again.

“Sp– Mike, I’m… I’m so sorry.” Fritz rolled closer to them “Are you okay with a hug?”

They nodded. “Yeah um… Pl– Please hug me, it- It feels like my momma.”

Fritz certainly didn’t waste any time hugging them after that admission, and Vince wasn’t far behind either.

Mike felt like they were home , really home , and it was better than they remembered.

After what must’ve been a solid minute of hugging, they split up. Lil’ Muse stuck around, though, and continued to play a quiet melody.

“So…” They rubbed the back of their neck awkwardly. “Is that everything you need?”

“Mostly, though I did have one last question.” Everette sent Mike an apologetic look, likely feeling a good deal of awkwardness. “Do you happen to know any other victims? It… It would be good to know which of the missing cases won’t be solved.”

Mike shook their head after thinking for a moment. “No, I don’t. At least, other than you two…?”

“ Oh! That’d just be Andrew, Mister Mike, ” Jake sheepishly laughed. “ I just ended up here by chance. ”

Mike hummed, then letting the air fall into an awkward silence for a moment.

“Thank you, Mr. Schmidt. I’m sorry for bothering you three, and for the property damage,” Everett sent a look toward Stitchwraith, who had the decency to look ashamed of themself. “I’ll be happy to pay for it, if you’d like?”

“Uh– Yes please, sir,” Fritz laughed. “Glass is, um. It isn’t cheap.”

“Of course, you’ll know how to contact me about it… If you’d like me to avoid contacting this household otherwise, I understand.”

“Um… Well, actually,” Mike piped up, looking between Fritz and Vince before continuing. “I don’t know about you folks, but I personally wouldn’t mind still talking. You seem decent, and… Fritzy, Vin, I care about you a lot, but I’d still like to try and make friends when I can.”

“Well… I mean, if you’re sure about it.” Vince seemed surprised, as did pretty much everyone else, but Mike was thankful they weren’t entirely opposed.

“I wouldn’t mind, and Drewie wouldn’t either. I mean… Us bots’ve gotta stick together?” Jake giggled, rocking on their feet excitedly. “Oh, oh!! We could introduce you to our friend Millie, maybe? She’s really cool and she knows a lot of big words and–!!” Jake cut himself off with a squeal, hands flapping faster than Mike thought the naked eye could see.

Mike chuckled, nodding. “I’d love to meet her, as long as she doesn’t mind either.” Who could hold a grudge against that kid?

Everette smiled, clearly brimming with pride for his boy. “Well, I hope you four have a good day. We need to head back home, and I wouldn’t want to keep intruding.”

Lil’ Muse let out a clash and waved, which Stitchwraith returned as they walked out. “ Bye! ”

When the door closed, and it was finally just them in the house again, Mike sighed.

“Well. That was, something alright!” Vince sounded more than vaguely stressed, which was a sentiment everyone in the room could surely attest to.

(Except for Lil’ Muse. Aside from getting scared earlier, Mike wasn’t fully convinced they weren't secretly thriving off that chaos.)

“Y-Yeah. That, um… I think that cost me half of my lifespan!” Fritz nervously laughed, fidgeting with their cardigan buttons.

“Yeah…” Mike groaned, sliding deeper into the couch cushions. “I don’t think I’ve had that much of a scare since I last saw my brother.”

They laid there in silence, just soaking that all in, before…

“We’re gonna need to clean up the bathroom before Lil’ Muse eats the glass, aren’t we?”

Everyone in the room, except for a certain spider, let out a collective groan. This day was never going to end…

Chapter Text

"Y'know, when you asked me for a favor… I didn't expect this."

Jeremy raised a brow and crossed their arms as they looked from the animatronics in the car to the very sheepish Fritz in front of them.

They’d called Jeremy in an apparent hurry, asking if they could drop some things off while people came in to replace a broken window. While they didn’t exactly mind , they really would’ve appreciated a heads up.

They didn’t really get much time to clean up, after all.

“I-I know, sorry,” Fritz awkwardly rubbed the back of their neck. “Everette told me you, er– You were in the know, and… I really didn’t want to make them hide in my closet.”

“Eh, it’s chill,” Jeremy shrugged. “Just give me a heads up first next time.”

Fritz sighed with relief, then nodded. “I will, if this uh, happens again. Which! It um– Probably won’t? I usually don’t have my windows punched in…”

“What happened with that anyways?”

“Ye– Yeah, so … It turns out Mike, my, uh– My new kinda roommate,” – they gestured to the rabbit robot, who waved to Jeremy – “yeah they sort of got stuck possessing a suit linked to Fazbear’s bunch of murders? So Everette’s son kinda. Broke in. They’re not the murderer! But, ah, they kinda look like ‘em when they’re in there…”

“Oh.” Jeremy took a moment to process that all, brain buffering a bit. Then– “OH! Shit– One sec!”

And then they promptly ran into the house.

(Fritz, Mike, and Lil’ Muse were all certainly confused about what was going on.)

A good few minutes later, Jeremy came back out. “Hah, sorry!” They panted, thoroughly out of breath. “I… Phew! I um, I’ve got a roommate, right? He’s great, really, the best! But I don’t think she’d have appreciated it if I just sprang this on her.”

“Oh! Sorry about that… Uh, who are they?”

…

“Well hello there!” A mishmash of cutesy white-and-pink fox parts and mix-and-match animatronic limbs greeted, hanging down from the built-in jungle gym of a ceiling.

Lil’ Muse chimed excitedly, doing grabby hands at the fox. Said fox giggled, wagging her pom-pom tail as she obliged the little spider’s request and became a living jungle gym.

“Sorry for the surprise, Mx…” Mike chuckled sheepishly.

“Oh, it’s no trouble!” He giggled, while his second head tilted her head curiously at the new guests. “I’m just glad you gave me a heads up, even if it’s late. I am a bit sharper than the boys are, aren’t I, Jere?”

Jeremy let out a surprised wheeze of a laugh, practically doubling over. “Mags–!”

They wolfishly grinned, clearly pleased with themself. “I’m Mangle, by the way! Or Magnus, sometimes.” They gently lowered Lil Muse back onto the floor, who then scuttered off to who knows where.

Mangle’s second head let out an insistent bird-like chirp, which prompted her to give the head some scratches on her… cheek? “And this is Daisy-Belle. She used to be a parrot, so she gets a little loud sometimes.”

Springtrap slowly looked from the laughing duo to Fritz with a slightly concerned look, who just shrugged in response before responding to Mangle’s introduction.

"I'm Fritz, this is Mike," they gestured towards the rabbit animatronic, "and Lil' Muse was the one climbing on you... Who I'm starting to think is going to bite me into getting a jungle gym back at our house.”

“Do you think you’re going to stick around?” Jeremy asked, tilting their head with a curious look. “We wouldn’t mind one more guest, right, Mags?” They looked over to Mangle, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh! I um, I wish I could! I’ve gotta head back though,” Fritz sighed. “I’ll text you when I’m heading back, alright? And, ummm… Keep an eye on Lil’ Muse, Mike! I think they’re in a destructive mood.”

“Can do!” Mike chuckled with a nod, doing a mock salute. “Good luck, Fritzy.”

Fritz rolled out, giving the three a smile and wave before closing the door.

“What exactly does ‘destructive’ mean for my furniture?”

“Nothing, probably! If we keep an eye on them that is.” There was a brief pause, and then, “… Where did they head off to?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” Mangle chimed in, crawling off into the other room to look for the runaway spiderling.

“Well,” Jeremy started, “while she’s got that…” They headed over to the couch and patted the cushion next to them invitingly, “Might as well relax!”

“Sooo…” Mike sat down beside them, somewhat unsure of what to really talk about. “I heard from Fritz you used to work as a night guard?”

“Yeah! It was my job for the summer back in 2012, which lasted exactly one week before” – they gestured vaguely at the scar on their face before continuing – “somebody ended up getting nippy. Docs say I got real lucky I didn’t lose my frontal lobe!”

“Wait…” Mike lagged a bit mentally, then straightened up with an absolutely bewildered look at Jeremy. “YOU WERE THE BITE OF 2012??”

“Wh– They have a cool ominous name for me?” Jeremy looked like an equal mix of bewildered and oddly excited.

“Yeah, the frickin’ uhh…” Mike snapped their fingers, trying to get the words to get back in order in their head. “The phone guy, the one they had record messages for my first four nights on the job, they mentioned it.”

“I made it into the training tapes? Sick!” Jeremy did an excited fist pump, grinning like mad. “I never knew I wanted to be a workplace legend, this is the best news of my life.”

Mike couldn’t help but laugh. Who knew somebody could possibly get that excited over this sort of thing?

“Was Phonz still working there when you worked at Freddy’s? She was the best manager there, even if she was a bit clueless.”

Mike thought through all the managers they’d had, but ended up shaking their head. “Never heard of ‘em, probably got let go before I got hired.”

“They probably let him go for being too nice. He used to do all the training for us newbies,” Jeremy hummed, falling into a pause in the conversation.

“… Do you think we should go check on those two?”

Jeremy sat up, “Yeah, it’s way too quiet in here.”

Now Fritz, when they said they had to hurry off, was only slightly fibbing. They did need to, just… Not as long as they’d implied.

See, they had some things they wanted to go get from the stores. Stuff that was supposed to be a surprise! And this was the perfect chance to get it naturally.

And, so, here they were at their local Rite Aid.

They rolled through the store, almost blindly looking amongst the various shelves. (In their defense, they didn’t really go here usually!)

They paused for a moment (out of the way so they weren’t blocking foot traffic), and popped in their earbuds as they dialed Vince.

“Hey, Fritz!” Over the phone, Fritz heard a very upset meow from Nana. (They could almost picture the puffed-up tail she must’ve been sporting, poor baby.) “How are things going out there?”

“It’s, uhh… It’s going fine, mostly!” Fritz chirped, going back to moving through the shelves. No luck yet… “Uh, I decided to grab some stuff at the… Rite Aid while we– Um, wh-while we wait. Mostly as a sorry-we-thought-you-were-a-murderer gift,” they finished with a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s smart,” Vince nervously laughed on the other end of the line. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Oh, well, uhh… You know how their crutches got burnt back at the warehouse?” They waited for an affirmative hum, then continued. “I was, uh– I was thinking I could get them some, er, proper ones. I made sure we, um… We had enough before I headed out. I was, uh, planning this before that whole… Yeah . And I figured now’s a better time than ever to just grab ‘em!”

For a brief, anxiety-filled moment or so, Vince was quiet. “Sounds good! Sorry, had to give my brain a moment to process.”

(Fritz let out a breath they didn’t know they’d been holding.)

“Alright, glad you’re, um… I’m glad you’re on board too, Vince.” Fritz smiled, feeling their face heat up a bit. “Anyways, enough about me! What, uhh… How’s the replacement thing going?”

(As they listened to his enthusiastic response, they grabbed a few snacks as they rounded into the next shelves.)

“Nana’s all freaked out by the sounds, and Cream’s hiding under the bed right now. It’s a little too loud for me, too, so I’m hiding in here with them.” He laughed, while Nana made another yowl. “It’s okay, sweetie, they’re not gonna hurt you…”

“Oh, poor baby…” Fritz cooed, wishing he could scoop her up. “Maybe we should grab her a happy hoodie?”

“Or I could cut up one of our socks,” Vince joked.

(At least, they thought he was? He seemed like it, anyway.)

Fritz stifled their laughter and rolled their eyes, forgetting for a moment that Vince couldn’t exactly see them. “I don’t know if that exactly works…”

They kept talking for a while, probably for about the rest of their trip through the store.

(During which, after they’d finally found where they kept the crutches, they accidentally discovered some blankets. Fritz decided to grab the light lavender one, just for Mike.)

Fritz only ended up saying goodbye when it came time to wait in line. Even if it was significantly more intimidating and empty with Vince gone, they really didn’t want to annoy anyone.

(Not to mention really boring. There was always Solitaire, at least…)

“So… This is how you show your true colors.”

“It’s just business, Jeremy,” Mike smirked deviously.

Jeremy groaned, forking over a stack of Monopoly money. “ Maaags , why’d you have to give them that orange?”

“For that exact reaction!” The aforementioned fox cackled, wagging her tail. Clearly, she was very proud of herself for this chaos.

Jeremy stuck out their tongue, thinking, as the others took their turns, of some way to get themself out of this pit. They were approaching bankruptcy, and literally any kind of new property or money could make or break them.

(Lil’ Muse let out frustrated little clangs of their cymbals as they got sent to jail again .)

When things rolled back to Jeremy, they hopped right into bargaining.

“Mikey, buddy, my lovely bunny buddy,” Jeremy rambled, a somewhat desperately frantic grin on their face. “Surely you don't need all of those properties, right?”

“‘Fraid I do, Jere. My poor little sibling will starve if I do,” they put the dramatics on full, ignoring the glare Lil’ Muse was giving them. “What would you even trade, anyways?”

“Has anyone told you that your ribbon looks adorable? Very distinguished, Mx. CEO.”

“Wuh–” Mike’s brain visibly stopped working, blanking out.

“Jeremy–!” Mangle wheezed, clearly trying really hard to stifle his laughter.

“ Whaaat ? It’s true!” They huffed.

That snapped Mike back into action, shaking their head to reset. “I, uh– I mean, I guess? Thanks… You, erm,” they coughed, looking off. “You’ve still gotta actually trade something, though.”

“I’m sure I can wear you down with my wiley charms, Mx. Schmidt.” Jeremy chuckled, hardly able to take themself seriously at this point.

Lil’ Muse let out a stilted chime from their music box, looking frustratedly between Jeremy and Mike… Before crawling over to the rabbit and biting them.

“AH– What did I do to you, it’s not even my turn!?” They yelped on reaction, jolting away.

Jeremy giggled at first, then skittered away as Lil’ Muse decided to turn their ire onto them. “This was funny until it was happening to me–!”

The chaos of the room was put to a stop when a knock from the front door rang out. Jeremy dusted themself off and then headed towards the door. “Be right back, guys.”

(On instinct, Mike and Lil’ Muse went to look for some sort of hiding spot; meanwhile, Mangle didn’t budge an inch from her spot.)

After Jeremy did a quick peek to see who it was, seeing it was Fritz, they happily opened the door. “Welcome back! How’d things go?”

“Pretty good,” they chuckled. “Things are all, uh, set up! Thanks again for this, both of you.”

“We were happy to, really!” Mangle chimed in, grinning wide. Daisy-Belle gave a whistle and tweet of her own to show her approval. “There needs to be more chaos in here, anyways.”

Jeremy stifled a giggle, but nodded. “Yeah, we really had a great time having you three around!”

Lil’ Muse skittered over to give Jeremy’s leg a hug, letting out a cheery tune before the spiderling went over to Fritz and reached out for them to grab them (which they quite happily obliged!)

“Thanks for having me, Jere.” Mike smiled, flapping their hands. “I had a great time meeting you and Maggie!” They waved, going to head back out with Fritz.

“Oh– Wait!” Jeremy blurted out, trying not to feel a little silly as they did.

“Mm?” Mike perked their ear up, stopping in place.

“Give me a call sometime! I know Fritz has my cell, so…”

Mike seemed genuinely surprised they’d even asked, but nodded. “Alright, I can do that easy. Talk to you later, then.”

On the way back home, Mike got the feeling Fritz was hiding something. Nothing big, they just seemed a little more giggly and fidgety than usual.

Eh, they probably just got something for Lil’ Muse at the store. (Maybe a cat toy? They were cat toy-sized, and they sure enjoyed playing along with cats.)

When they got out of the car and back into the house, Vince was waiting to greet them. He was standing in the way of the couch, so Mike couldn’t see if either of the cats were lounging on it.

“Welcome home!” He smiled, then held out his arms excitedly for Fritz to pass him Lil’ Muse, who’d fallen asleep during the drive. After carefully getting them into a comfortable cradling hold, Vince motioned over Mike.

When they came over, they were surprised to see a pair of forearm crutches and a lavender blanket left on the couch.

“I may have, um… Fibbed, a little!” Fritz giggled, rolling over to grab the crutches so they could hand them to Mike. “Err… I wanted to get you these, since your last ones I made got damaged… I, uhh, I heard these are better long term.”

Mike flapped their hands faster than they knew they could go, blinking away happy tears as they brought the ginger in for a big old hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank youuu! You didn’t have to do this”

“Of course we did, silly!” Vince piped up, chuckling warmly. “I mean, not to take credit of course… This is all Fritz’s idea.”

Fritz rolled their eyes fondly before speaking. “You’re, um… You’re my friend, and I want you to be able to get around like I can– That is, uh, without needing to worry about it.”

Was it silly that those words made Mike start properly crying? Maybe. Did they still do it without any shame? Yes, absolutely.

Chapter Text

Over the next few days, things settled into a new sense of normalcy.

Springtrap was getting the hang of their new crutches, and getting around better than they ever had on their legs. When they weren’t with Vince and Fritz, they were usually on the phone with Jeremy. The two seemed to get close real fast.

(They’d also continued to toy around with which of their two names they liked best, eventually letting their housemates know that either of the names worked as well as the other.)

Fritz and Lil’ Muse were diligently working on learning a mix of sign and morse so they could express themself more than they already could at the moment. (Well, all of them had been, but it was mainly Fritz’s ‘project’ , so to say.)

And finally, there was Vince. Vince was enjoying hanging out with his housemates, absolutely, but… Well, he was getting antsy. None of the jobs he’d applied to were getting back to him, and just waiting around at their house wasn’t making it any easier.

And, so … That meant he was diving headfirst into looking for something to distract himself. And, luckily for him, it was way past due for him to do some more urban exploration!

Next came the question of where ?

Now, Hurricane had a lot more to explore than you’d think. With a homegrown corporation that throws out locations all willy nilly, forgotten and untouched buildings were easy to come by.

It’s just picking that made it hard. There’s so much that Vince was curious about, and a lot of possibilities of things he could find. Old arcades, surviving merch, rotting animatronics…

(Well, that last one he really hoped he wouldn’t find. Knowing what he knew now about the Fazbear rumors… It honestly made him feel sick.)

Eventually he did manage to settle on one, an older one of the many rotting pizzerias. It was one of the earlier establishments, short-lived and seemingly having never actually opened.

Maybe not a good sign for any interesting finds, but still a fun adventure!

He’d originally planned on just going by himself, like normal. But… Well, it couldn’t hurt to ask if his new housemate wanted to join in.

…

“Say, Springy?”

“Hm?” Springtrap looked up from a book, one of the Warriors books from their vast collection of them. (Fritz had convinced them to check out the series after finding out they’d never read it, and they seemed to like it so far!)

“I was planning on heading out to explore some old abandoned buildings!” He rocked on his heels; to say he was excited to head out would be an understatement. “ Aaand , I wanted to ask… Do you think you’d want to come with?”

Springtrap perked up, clearly surprised. They hummed, sliding a bookmark into the borrowed book and setting it down as they thought. “Where were you thinking?”

“This old pizzeria that never really opened. I couldn’t find anything about the branding or name, so that made it the most interesting out of them all.”

(When he’d realized it was practically scrubbed clean of details, that had been the deciding factor for him to choose it.)

Springtrap took a moment, thinking it over, before they nodded. “Sure, couldn’t hurt to get out.”

They grabbed their crutches from beside their seat and stood up, and Vince could’ve sworn he saw their tail wiggle a bit. “Let’s go, then!”

The car ride to the place was about an hour long, filled with podcasts and banter between the two. It made the drive go by quickly, and Vince was almost sad when they reached the location.

The building was sun-bleached and boarded up, entirely forgotten by the outside world. Whatever branding had been there before its abandonment was torn off, only leaving a faded pink of where some of the images remained.

“Hm,” Springtrap hummed as they looked over the building, a pensive look on their face. “I, er… How do we get in?”

“ Well ,” Vince started, motioning for them to follow behind to the back, “that’s what this is for.”

And, with a bit of dramatic flare, Vince unveiled a crowbar from his backpack; it was well used, with tape around where he usually gripped it and flaking paint.

“Ah, yeah I… I should have expected that.” Springtrap paused, then squinted their eyes at Vince. “Why do I get the feeling you do this a lot?”

Vince looked Springtrap straight in the eyes as he slid the crowbar into place, and then gave the smuggest smile as he wrenched it open with practiced ease. “What gave you that idea?”

“Just a hunch.” Springtrap hummed, heading through the door ahead of Vince.

Inside was an industrial kitchen, which had a floor covered in crumbled ceiling bits. Pans and utensils laid abandoned, forgotten, and surely unimportant to the owners.

“Eugh, did they use the crumbliest ceiling they could find? …Don’t answer that, I know the answer already.”

Vince snorted, then found himself in a coughing fit. Maybe he should’ve brought a mask.

(Springtrap sneezed in response, rubbing at their nose as if that’d make the lingering dust go away.)

“Let’s hope this isn’t asbestos air,” Vince joked, pointedly ignoring the entirely real possibility it could’ve been as he swapped out his crowbar for a flashlight.

Springtrap rolled their eyes and followed along as they headed into the hallway.

The stickers and decals that decorated the walls weren’t bleached like what had been outside, but they weren’t exempt from damage. While not entirely torn down, they had suffered a lot of damage; for example, a decal of what Vince had to assume was a prototype Toy Foxy holding a microphone had been practically torn in half.

The hallway split into various party rooms, as well as leading into what Vince assumed was the main party room. Popped balloons and forgotten confetti littered the floors of all the rooms, and their decals had favored much worse than their hallway counterparts.

All Vince could make out was the feet of a ballerina on one, blue shoes and ribbons somehow still vibrant against all the dust. “You think they made Chica a dancer for this?”

“Uh,” Springtrap paused, eyes lingering before shaking their head. “Maybe? Or they, um… They made Freddy a ballerina, just for fun.”

Vince snorted, though he shot them a concerned look. They looked a little… Well, he didn’t think they could get queasy anymore, but it sure did look like their metaphorical stomach was doing flips.

But, against his better judgment, he continued on and hoped that Springtrap would tell him if they needed to stop.

The main room was styled like a circus, and Vince could imagine it used to look so bright and vibrant before time had claimed it. Old, abandoned arcade cabinets lined the walls, as did more decals; one of them was a white and pink version of Freddy, he thought, which had a puppet version of Bonnie on his hand. Another showed the Foxy again, grinning widely.

There was a prominent amount of torn decals in the room, all focused around any that seemed to feature that ballerina or another mystery character, with a red tutu and what looked like jester shoes.

(The more he saw those destroyed decals, the less he believed they were just because of time wearing them down.)

The stage was empty, framed with rotting circus-patterned fabric. Streamers, stars, and all sorts of decorations hung from the ceiling, although many had fallen onto the floor (like some multicolor flags, which had faded and been torn by whatever critters must’ve made their home in the pizzeria.)

Vince couldn’t help but feel relieved there wasn’t any animatronics left behind, even if it was slightly disappointing as well.

“They really cleaned up all the branding in this place, didn’t they?” Vince spoke as he went over to the stage, deciding to take a bit of a closer look around. Maybe there was a backroom of some kind?

“Yuh– Yeah! Um, they really did,” Springtrap responded after a long pause. “Er– What are you, uh, doing up there, anyways?”

“Ah!” Vince perked up as he spotted the backstage door, flapping his hands in excitement. “I was just looking to see if there was a door back here, and there is! D’you wanna check it out with me?”

“No!” Springtrap responded almost instantly, shaking their head. “Sorry, I meant– No, no, I’m uh– I’m gonna… Stick back here,” they gestured behind them. “There’s uh, there’s still the prize corner to check out!”

Vince faltered for a moment, his enthusiasm swapped out for concern. “Are you sure? I mean, I can always just cut this short if you’re uncomfortable…”

“Really, it’s– I’m fine, I’ll just… Be over here,” Springtrap responded, going over to the old prize counter. (Vince wasn’t sure there even was anything over there, honestly.)

He hesitated, then eventually decided to continue. His gut absolutely didn’t believe that, but Vince decided to dismiss it. It had been wrong before, and it’s not like he hadn’t totally misinterpreted someone’s social cues before.

The room was somehow darker than the rest of the building had been, not a hint of light in there. Old discarded uniforms were hung up on the wall, now a dusty purple color.

As he stepped further in, he noticed they’d actually left behind some animatronic parts when he almost tripped on some. At first he thought they were tubes or some internal skeleton bits, but as he crouched down to inspect them the truth was that they were some kind of metal wires.

They gave off, quite honestly, the weirdest vibes Vince could think to imagine. So he stood back up and carefully maneuvered around the room so he didn’t have to touch them.

Set aside on a table was an old drawing, probably from one of the staff’s kids. Miraculously it was mostly undamaged, at worst just having a bit of dust. ‘Bestest Day!’ it read.

On the little paper were two– well, technically three, but that’s beside the point –figures. One was red with pigtails and a dress, labeled as ‘Me’; the other was blue with curly hair and a skirt, labeled as ‘EvAn’ (Though at first he’d honestly read it as EVAA.) ‘Evan’ was holding a golden bear plushie, labeled as ‘FREd BeAR’. The artist had signed it as ‘LizziE, AGE 8’

Something about it made Vince sad, thinking about whoever had drawn this only to have it discarded and forgotten. He hoped little Lizzie and Evan were doing alright.

After he’d had a thorough look around for anything else, he headed back out of the depressing room.

Springtrap was still at the Prize Counter, perking a bit as they realized he’d walked out and was now behind them. “Oh –” they sniffed, their breathing unsteady and fast, hand rubbing at their eyes and coming away purple “– are you done?”

“Shit,” Vince mumbled under his breath, placing his hand on their shoulder gently. “Let’s uh… Let’s get out of here, Springy.”

As he led the crying rabbit out of the building, he vaguely realized there was one thing left on the prize counter: an open box of old markers.

After they’d gotten in the car and driven off, Springtrap had requested they just drive around and listen to music. So, of course, Vince was happy to do that for them.

They went around for half an hour until Springtrap spoke up again.

“So-sorry I, um… I ruined things like that.”

“You didn’t ruin anything!” Vince was quick to reassure them, turning the music down a touch so they could talk better. “I just wish I’d realized you were so upset, I’m sorry I didn’t.”

“I, uh… I had a panic attack earlier. Most of this drive has been, um… It’s been me cooling that off,” they admitted with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t want to stop your fun.”

“Next time, tell me… If you’re comfortable with that, I mean,” Vince sighed. “Even if I was having fun, I’d prefer you looked out for yourself and not me.”

Springtrap was silent for a moment, and then quietly murmured, “Thanks…”

They stayed in comfortable silence for a few minutes, and then Vince decided to ask, “Did you want to talk about it, by the way? No pressure, of course. Just figured… Well, it’s only right to ask.”

Springtrap was quiet, considering it. “…I didn’t know until we got in, but I realized I’ve been there. Back before it, er… Yeah. Me and… someone I was really close with, we uh– We were there for the pre-grand opening.

“The bots there were really creepy, th-they had these segmented body pieces. And the main one was this clown girl with red pigtails, she-she um… She had some nasty surprises in her, and she… She ate my friend. They… They still think she went missing, I think.”

Vince was put into stunned silence. He wasn’t sure if he should be used to these kinds of revelations around Springtrap by now, by some degree.

“I… I’m so sorry, Springy. I shouldn’t have brought us here.” He wished he could’ve stopped the car to hug them or something. But, as it was, he was stuck with his eyes on the road.

“You couldn’t have known! Really, I um… I didn’t even catch on until we got inside, it’s nobody’s fault,” they sighed. “I just appreciate you letting me talk about it. I, uh… I’ve never really verbalized this to anyone before, except for er… Never mind, what I’m trying to say is it means a lot that you heard me out and believed me .”

“Of course. I’m here to listen, Springy, it’s what friends are for… You wanna head back now? I think Nana’s missing you by now.”

Springtrap chuckled, and Vince could hear the smile in their voice. “Sure, let’s go home. Oh! Put that Podcast back on, I wanna finish the episode.”

Chapter Text

If Springtrap had any hope the next day would be better, the universe decided to pile drive any hope right into the ground.

They felt awful , their head felt like it was full of cotton balls that had been ripped apart and rolled back together in a horrible-looking blob. And somehow, somehow , their nose felt both stuffy and like a faucet that wouldn't quite shut off at the same time. 

With a pitiful groan, they smushed their face deeper into the couch cushions, willing God to strike them down where they laid… Before nearly jumping out of their skin when a soft, concerned hand gently ran over their shoulder.

“Ah–! Oh… Hi, Fritz,” they sheepishly smiled at their housemate, really quite embarrassed with themself.

“Are you feeling alright? You, um…” Fritz hesitated, likely rethinking their wording, before just saying it anyways. “You kind of, uh– You look like death.”

Springtrap laughed, which then morphed into a coughing fit. “ Ugh , I feel like I’m about to explode… Metaphorically, Fritzy.”

“Oh,” Fritz giggled, having the sense to look embarrassed. “Do you, uh… Do you think you’re sick? If, um, that’s even possible I mean.”

“I mean…” Springtrap sighed, pulling up their blanket as a shiver overcame them. “Bloody feels like the flu, so it’s as good a guess as any.”

“I’ll, uh… I’ll try asking around to see if there’s, uh– If anyone knows anything about it. Just give me a shout if you need me, alright?”

Springtrap just gave a thumbs up and a nod before curling into a ball in their blanket.

Fritz let out a sigh, rolling off to give them a little space (and… well, they didn’t know if they were contagious.)

They looked up to see Vince leaving their bedroom, Ice Cream hot on his heels. (And, as had become the norm, Lil’ Muse was snuggled up in his hood.)

Fritz waved, “Hey, Vince. I think Mike got sick.”

“Really?” Vince asked with a yawn, crouching down to scoop Ice Cream up for some cuddles (which she quickly wiggled out of.) “Hope it’ll clear up soon…”

Fritz hummed affirmatively, nodding as they pulled out their phone to text Jeremy. They just hoped he would be up. “I’m going to, er– I’m gonna call Jeremy and Mr. Larson to see if, uh, anything like this has happened with them.”

“Ah, ss shoot .” Vince looked off guiltily. “I wish I could help, but I’ve got a job interview today. Sorry, Fritz.”

“It’s alright,” they smiled and grabbed Vince’s hand, giving a reassuring squeeze. “Finding a job’s important, don’t worry. I’ll be able to– Um, I can handle everything while you’re gone!”

“Okay, just call me if you… I dunno, need someone to talk to? I’ll text you the moment I’m done!”

“Just drive safe, silly,” Fritz chuckled, pulling him in for a hug.

After pulling away, Vince turned his attention to the tiny animatronic resting in his hood. “Lil’ Muse,” he made a little ksksks sound, earning an inquisitive chime from their music box. “I’ve gotta go, go nap with Fritz alright?”

The little spiderling let out a sad chime, but crawled out into his waiting hand and then over to Fritz.

“Tell Springy I said bye, alright? I’d do it myself but,” – Vince laughed nervously as he stole a glance at his phone – “I’m starting to run late.”

“Can do,” Fritz chuckled, sending a mock salute. “Good luck at the interview!”

“Thanks,” Vince smiled, hurrying to put his shoes on. “Gotta go, love you, bye!”

Fritz didn’t have enough time to react to that little, four-letter word before Vince shut the door behind him. (They didn’t even think Vince had time to process it.)

Okay, they can… They can deal with that later. Right now , they had a house to hold together and a friend to help.

(Fritz pointedly ignored the growing heat on their face and ears.)

They wheeled back over to the couch, giving Lil’ Muse a gentle pat as they settled down to nap in their lap. “Hey, Mike?” They kept their voice hushed, not wanting to make their headache act up.

“Mm?” Springtrap pulled the blanket up so they were looking at Fritz, but otherwise stayed nestled in their cocoon. “You look redder than a tomato.”

“Vince, uh… Vince wanted me to say bye, since he had to head out for an, um– He had to rush to an interview.” Fritz ignored the second question and hoped they could get away with it.

“Oh, and did he kiss you goodbye?” Springtrap teased, looking about as smug as smug can be.

“Ah–! Okay, that’s not– That’s no fair!” Fritz fumbled out, embarrassed. “I’m– I’m just hot?”

Even when they were sick, Springtrap wasn’t going to fall for that flimsy of an excuse. “ Mhm .”

Fritz was about to try and dance around the issue some more when a buzz from their phone, which provided a perfect excuse to ignore this whole situation.

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

wats up?

*whats

Me

Do you know anything about animatronics getting sick?

Mike’s not feeling great

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

oh no!

tell them i hpe they feel better soon!

mags got sick when she first moved in

i think stitch did too when they moved in with eveerette

i dont think its co tagious so dont wrry

*contagious

Me

Thanks! Is there anything I need to do to help them get better?

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

not as far as i know?

just do what youd do normally when someones sick

Me

Got it

Thanks, hope this wasn’t annoying!

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

it’s chill :]

my break’s about to end, see you later!

Me

Bye!

Fritz placed his phone in his lap with a small sigh and glanced back over at Springtrap, who had preoccupied themself with making their cocoon as warm as possible with their limited supply of blanket. 

He didn't get as much information as he'd have liked, but the fact that whatever Mike had was (probably) not contagious was exceptionally good to know. Plus, knowing that at least they had two other people who've cared for somehow sick animatronics (and by extension, three people who had been sick) to ask questions did give them a bit more confidence in being able to handle this.

Giving Lil' Muse's head a gentle scritch, they started to wheel towards the bathroom to look for wherever they'd last put the Ibuprofen. Fritz was sure they could handle today just fine.

Vince had heard so much about Freddy's, be it from Fritz complaining about their old job or the absolutely horrifying things Mike would casually mention like it was the most normal thing in the world, he thought it was about time he got in on the horrors.

So that's why Vincent had applied to work at the Pizzaplex. Grand idea.

The Pizzaplex was a good way out, where Vince never drove. At first he’d worried he might get lost, but once the building came into sight it was more than clear that wouldn’t be an issue. It was huge , and he was willing to bet that the neon signage could easily damage your eyesight if you got too close.

The inside wasn’t any less gaudy. Bright colors, glowing signs, and the worst of all was the giant golden statue of the new Freddy. It was a capitalist nightmare, and Vince would have to roam its walls if he got this job.

He wasn’t actually sure if he even wanted to get this job… Well, obviously he didn’t. The Fazbear Company was poison, and it still had murderers in its midst.

(Would working here mean he was ignoring all that? No, he didn’t think so. He still worried though.)

But …

They needed the money really bad. And he wasn’t going to make Fritz pull all of Vince’s dead weight this time.

And maybe, maybe , if Vince worked here… He could prevent more disappearances, prevent more Mikes .

So… Yeah. He had a lot of conflicting emotions about what he was doing here.

Hopefully, he’d just get this over with and done as fast as possible.

Finding where he was supposed to even go to get interviewed was a mess. Some sort of bot harassed him into taking a map, which ended up only barely helping him find his way around. The complex was like some cutesy, kid-friendly corporate maze that only served to trap you in it until closing time.

To his credit, he did eventually manage to get there.

“Good evening, Mr. Baker.” A woman greeted him in the interview office, with the most disinterested voice he thought was possible. She was white, with an overly clean gray suit and brown hair in a bun. The name on her desk read in crisp, clean lettering: Danielle Monahan .

“Sorry I was late,” he laughed nervously as he took the open seat in front of the desk. The air in the room was practically oppressive, and the look she was giving him made Vince feel like he was some pest she didn’t appreciate invading her space.

“Just don’t make a habit of it,” her response was clipped. She straightened the papers, mercifully deciding to scrutinize them instead of him. “I see you have no prior work experience working as a guard. What made you decide to apply?”

“Well, I’ve always had an interest in Freddy’s. I’m sure anyone in Hurricane can say that,” he began. “When I saw you folks needed another guard, I figured I’d give it a shot. I’m good at wrangling kids, and I’m real flexible too; so, if they get somewhere they aren’t supposed to be, I can get them out easily.”

“I see. I would hope they wouldn’t get into those situations, but it certainly is… useful .” The way she said it made it feel like a backhanded compliment. “What kind of experience do you have with kids, exactly?”

“I’ve worked as a daycare assistant before, and I’ve also worked at Giant Eagle’s Eagle Nest– back before they closed, I mean.”

“Well then, I suppose that’s the end of this portion of the interview.”

“This portion…?”

“Ah, yes. Wait here,” she simply responded, and then walked out.

What? Vince had no idea what was going on.

He rocked a bit as he waited, all while looking around. For some reason, even this corporate area of the building had posters and cutesy decorations. A real creepy one was a close-up of what he had to assume was Freddy's mouth, smiling with sharp teeth. ‘Never stop smiling’ it read; ‘The customer is always right’

It was menacing and deeply uncomfortable. Why’d they make that damn thing so detailed?

He also spotted a vintage-style poster, advertising Fredbear’s Family Diner, which featured what Vince realized with a jolt was Springtrap . Well… Springtrap before they were Springtrap, but still. It was weird and felt out of place, and somehow managed to unsettle him way more than the weird smile poster.

Vince was jolted out of his thoughts (and seat) when he heard someone behind him clear her throat. He felt really silly when he saw it was just Ms. Monahan and another woman.

This new woman had dark sepia skin with near-black hair, whose ends had been dyed a sandy blonde color, in braids that had been put into a ponytail. She looked dead tired, and wore that same purple security uniform they’d made Fritz wear.

Ms. Monahan returned to her seat, looking between both him and the security guard. “Ms. Accurso will show you around the Pizzaplex,” she said, like it was just some normal part of an interview.

Almost like she already knew he was getting the job.

(Vince felt a dawning sense of dread at that thought, even though by all accounts he should’ve felt relieved.)

Vince didn’t hesitate in scurrying out of that office, almost letting out a sigh of relief. He was sure Ms. Monahan was probably a lovely lady, but something about her office (and the way she looked at him like he was a bug she wanted to squish) made him feel on edge.

He turned to Ms. Accurso, giving her a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you, miss! I’m Vincent, people usually call me Vince though.” His smile turned apologetic, laughing a bit. “Sorry to take up your afternoon.”

“Not like I had anything interesting to do,” she shrugged. “Vanessa, but call me Ness. I work the night shift, but they had me pull a double shift today.”

“Oof,” Vince winced. “Do they usually do that?”

“Only just recently. I’m hoping I’ll get back to normal hours after they hire a new guy,” she sighed, then motioned for him to follow. “Anyways, let’s get this over with.”

…

The walk around the Pizzaplex was about the same as getting lost, despite the fact he knew that Ness knew where she was going. It just felt like some sort of ant death spiral through cutesy theming and swarms of families.

Unlike before, however, it was actually kind of nice this time around. Ness was interesting to talk to, especially since she wasn’t afraid of shit-talking the company she worked with, and she was pretty funny (Vince was a sucker for dry humor, what can he say?)

The first few places they passed weren’t too noteworthy. Mazercise and El Chips were wholly boring, and Superstar-cade was neat but nothing really interesting happened quite honestly besides spotting a Golden Bonnie in a claw machine.

Then they got to the Fazcade. He’d assumed it’d be just as interesting as the others had been, even when they passed the big statue of the main animatronics (he thought, anyway. Why wasn’t there a Bonnie? And that fox or wolf sure didn’t look like Foxy.)

But then they rounded onto the dance floor. And, through the scattered groups of kids, he saw a huge stage and an enormous spider animatronic that had hands about the size of his entire… Well, his entire him !

(They looked a lot like Lil’ Muse, in a roundabout way, but that was the last thing on his mind.)

“That’s DJ Music Man,” Ness pointed out, and Vince was absolutely dumbfounded as to how she wasn’t going as far away as she could from them. She even waved at the giant spider, who, to Vince’s faint surprise, waved back with a smile. (He should be expecting this by now, really.)

“Try not to worry, she’s pretty gentle actually,” she gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know he’s pretty intimidating though, scared me a lot back when I got this job.”

“What pronouns do they use?”

“Oh! DJ uses any pronouns, I don’t think she has any particular preferences so I tend to just swap them around.”

“Neat,” Vince hummed. “Does she always stay on stage like that?”

“Just during the day, she crawls around during the night. She scared the he– heck out of me one time, somehow I didn’t realize he was right there.” She pointed to one of the various, glowing holes– no, tunnels , which were all around the arcade. “When I spotted him I jumped right out of my skin,” she laughed, self-consciously.

“You became a skeleton??”

“Yeah, it was cold though so I put my skin back on,” Ness dryly replied, meanwhile Vince ended up cracking up.

They spent a little bit longer in the Fazcade, but eventually did head back into the rest of the complex. On their way out, Vince went out of his way to wave to the big spider at the dance floor.

They seemed surprised, or even a little confused, but waved back all the same while they set up the next song playing in the area.

Mike was feeling a bit better than before thanks to the pain meds that Fritz gave them, as well as just because they’d had company.

Lil’ Muse was making an effort to be quieter for Mike’s sake, so they’d mainly switched to just using ASL. It was a good way to practice more in-specific, as an extra bonus.

Speaking of Lil' Muse- Mike looked up from Fritz's phone to look at the progress on – as Fritz had deemed it – Fort Feel-Better, which was just a basic pillow fort the two had spent the better half of an hour trying to set up. 

It'd been taking much longer than anticipated because Fritz kept discovering that they did not have as many blankets, chairs, and pillows as they thought and kept having to forage through the house looking for more, and since they had a very limited amount of things they could carry in his lap, plus Lil' Muse being mostly unable to help carry things meant it was a lot of trips back and forth. The duo seemed to be having fun setting it up though, so Springtrap didn't worry about it much.

A quiet ding brought Springtrap back to the current center of their attention. Jeremy was on another one of his breaks, so the two had been texting back and forth ever since Fritz and Lil' Muse had set out on their quest.

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

cant wat for when this shift is over 😭

*wait

i wanna see if the leaks were rightttt

Me

I hope all the official looking ones are fake except for maushold and flamingo

it would be funny

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

*flamigo

Me

boo you whore

/ref!! REF

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

c\:

i might do a nuzlocke at sompoint, wngt to name a pkmn 4 u?

Me

name it michael and then instnatly kill it for me.

Jere Fitzgerald ☕

:(

Me

ples

1 sec actualyl

They placed the phone down as a certain spiderling entered the apparent ‘throne’ of the fort, hands going a mile a minute. “Bababababababa!”

“Yeah? What’s up, buddy?”

“Can you say hi to Jere for me?” They paused and then, realizing they’d forgotten something, continued. “I also wanted to know if you wanted to play while we wait for food?”

“Of course, buddy,” Mike chuckled as they sent a quick text letting Jeremy know that they had to go and they’d see him after his break. “Any–” they coughed and sniffled, then snuggled a bit more into their blankets “– Anyways. What did you have in mind?”

“Uno!”

“Oh…! Sure, buddy. Let’s, uh. Let’s do that.” Springtrap didn’t mind Uno, actually they loved it! But um…

Fritz was going to kill them dead once they caught wind of the game. The consequences of their actions were catching up to them.

Eh. It was worth it for the big grin the little Spiderling gave them when they agreed to it.

The Pizzaplex was… a lot, Vince had decided. Not all bad, it was actually pretty interesting, but it was certainly overwhelming and held sinister undertones he saw everywhere now that he knew what to look for.

At least Ness was here. With all the time they’d gotten stuck together thanks to this interview-tour, he honestly thought he wouldn’t mind being her co-worker one bit.

( If he got hired. Now that regret was starting to outweigh the desperation, he kept trying to convince himself he might get rejected.)

The final few stops were Rockstar Row and Superstar Daycare. The daycare was first up, though Ness seemed… unsure? Uncomfortable?

“This one will be quick, alright? We don’t want to uh, interrupt Sunrise when he’s watching the kids!” She sounded like she was trying to be polite, or lie. Considering Vince had only just met her, he wasn’t planning on pushing her on it.

The first thing Vince noticed as they entered was the massive golden statue (did they just love those things or what?) The characters were obviously solar-themed, one the sun and one the moon, and seemed like a mix of just being humanoid and somewhat inspired by lions.

The daycare’s music was charming, and it made Vince wish it was playing non-stop inside a sensory playroom. If stimming was a sound, this music was it . It was a shame, really, that they had to do this so quickly.

Down in the play area – which had a slide to get in! This place was Vince’s dream – he could see a bunch of little kids playing around. At first, he’d thought they were alone, but then he saw who he had to assume was Sunrise. The animatronic was skipping around and playing with the kiddos.

“This place is really nice, Ness,” he flapped his hands excitedly, but her apprehensive look made him worry he was missing something bad.

“It is, just…” Ness winced as she looked in, and Vince followed her gaze.

Even though it seemed like any irises or pupils had long faded from disuse, he knew the now stock-still form of the solar jester was staring right at them.

“Sunny isn’t a fan of adults he doesn’t know. Let’s… Let’s go, I don’t want to stress him out,” Ness sighed, hurrying out of the space.

Vince was quick to follow her, both creeped out and feeling guilty. He hoped they hadn’t upset that Sunrise guy too much…

Rockstar Row wasn’t too far of a walk, and they were lucky to have gotten there when one of the animatronics was out and about. The neon lights had come back for their headache-inducing revenge here, bright as ever.

Now, don’t get Vince wrong, he was always up for a bit of neon signage… In small doses . This Pizzaplex didn’t know the meaning of a small dose, instead going overboard whenever they were able to. It was starting to give him a headache, is what he was saying.

The animatronic walking around was one of the two surviving cast members, Chica. She was white, with a big pink bow in her hair and big green triangle earrings. She was happily signing autographs for all the kids swarming her, and Vince could hear her cheerily chatting to them even from a distance.

“Looks like Chica’s gonna be late to the performance again,” Ness shook her head fondly, then walked over to the crowd of children to shoo them away… but, given how Ness clearly didn’t usually work with kids, it wasn’t going well.

So, Vince decided to step in himself. “Hey, kids, give Chica some space, okay? She’s got to get ready for her big concert, she’ll see you after!”

That one worked and, slowly but surely, the crowd of kiddies dispersed away, likely towards that giant main stage. He let out a sigh of relief, as did Ness.

“Thanks, Nessie! And thank you too, guy I’ve never met,” Chica giggled. “They all wanted an autograph, and I couldn’t just say no! That’d be like if somebody told me I couldn’t have a snack, it’d be torture! ”

“Of course, Chica. Even if I admittedly didn’t do much,” Ness chuckled in embarrassment. “Thanks, Vince, you really saved me. I’m not great with kids, and I’m running on, like, four hours of sleep.”

“Happy to help,” Vince smiled bashfully. “Nice to meet you, by the way!” He smiled at Chica, holding out his hand for her to shake. “I’m Vince, I’m applying to be a guard here.”

Chica gave an overdramatic gasp, grinning as wide as she could. “You’re going to be our new friend? Oooh, I’d love that!” She grabbed his hand with both of hers, practically jumping in place in excitement. “Oh, um, no offsense, Nessie! You’re more than enough of a friend, I’m just–”

“It’s fine, silly bird,” Ness rolled her eyes fondly. “I’m not offended you’re excited to have a new playmate.”

“Okay, good!” Chica chirped, then squawked (literally!) as she seemed to internally realize the time. “Okay, okay, okay! Sorry to cut this short, but I’ve gotta fly! Oooh, Roxy’s gonna be sooooo mad at me for being late! Okgottagobye!”

And like that, the bird had flown right off.

“She seems like a lovely gal,” Vince chuckled.

Ness laughed and nodded, “You don’t know the half of it.”

…

With all of the interview over, Vince was relieved beyond words to be back in his car. He hadn’t hated the experience as much as he thought he would, but it was a lot at once. Any longer and he might’ve overloaded, honestly.

He actually might have and just didn’t notice? Things were so much quieter than the ever-increasing loudness, and he did sort of go non-verbal at one point… Eh, he could care about that when he got home.

(Home with his kitties, and weird little spider son, and rabbit friend, and his amazing, perfect, adora–)

And, as his mind went on a random tangent of thinking of his friends, it suddenly came to a sudden, screeching halt as he finally registered something.

Oh good god, he’d said the L word out loud. Fritz had heard that, he’d said it right to their face .

He’s screwed.

Chapter Text

Not so long ago, Millie would’ve said she hated lunchtime. She still wasn’t entirely fond of it, – it was loud, and people tended to stare at the weird goth kid – but now she actually had a reason to look forward to it.

But now …

“Hey, Millie!” Dylan called Millie over, grinning once he spotted her. Beside him, Brooke looked up from her book and waved.

Dylan had tawny beige skin, short, red-dyed hair, and was starting to grow facial hair (T was sure working fast on that front.) He had brown eyes, one of which was cross-eyed, and he wore gray, horn-rimmed glasses.

Meanwhile, Brooke had long, soft, light blonde hair and brown-and-amber eyes (which had a more subtle form of amblyopia compared to Dylan’s.) As Millie sat down, she heard her whistling through her missing tooth idly as she turned her eyes back to her book.

“Did’ya read that article I sent you last night?” Dylan practically leaned over the table, clearly eager.

“I read a bit,” Millie responded. “You sent it at 1 AM , so I didn’t exactly get that much time to read it,” she teased, hints of a smile on her face. The article in question was something about the latest statement of Fazbear Entertainment about the recent warehouse fire. “I’m assuming you did too?” Millie looked to Brooke.

“Yeah, I did. I didn’t really get the point of it, they barely even talked about the fire,” Brooke responded as she closed her book. “I’m pretty sure they spent more time talking about their old locations than they did the fire.”

“Yeah, it was really dodgy,” Dylan chimed in. “I think they’re being so cagey about it because it was their fault. ‘Prolly didn’t shut off some of the old animatronics they kept in there right and set the place on fire.”

“I think it was tax fraud,” Millie supplied. “They’re probably being more evasive about this than usual because they didn’t realize some guy was still in there, and now they’ve gotta double avoid a lawsuit.”

“It’s silly, but I feel bad for all the old merchandise they kept in there. They never got to be loved by the kids they were made for…” Brooke was quiet for a moment, then laughed in embarrassment, “I, uh… I watched Toy Story again recently.”

Dylan scooted closer to his girlfriend and gave her a peck on the cheek, prompting Millie to jokingly groan and look away. “ Affection ? Disgusting, don’t.”

“Oh frick off,” Dylan rolled his eyes and flipped her off with a laugh. “Anyways, I was thinking, maaaaybe we could go check the warehouse out before they tear it down! Maybe some stuff survived and we’ll have cool bragging rights.”

“Maybe we’ll see ghosts,” Millie joked. “But I’d be up for it. Anything to piss off Fazcorp.”

“It might be dangerous, it’s not exactly a stable building anymore…” Brooke hummed, looking a little unsure about the whole thing. “I wanna go with you guys!” She clarified. “I just don’t want you to get hurt is all.”

“We’ll be extra safe, I promise,” Millie spoke gently, offering her friend a reassuring smile. “If you think it won’t hold up when we get there, we’ll leave right away.”

“Yeah,” Dylan chimed in. “Exploring some stupid building isn’t worth feeding your anxiety.”

“Thanks, guys.” Brooke smiled, fiddling with her hands nervously. “I don’t like being a spoilsport.”

“You’re not! You’ve just got way more sense than both of us combined,” Dylan reassured her. “Really, we’d get hurt from being dumb a lot more if we didn’t have you to reel us in.”

Brooke smiled, patting the table briefly, “I do like you both, so I try to keep you from doing stupid stuff… Maybe I should get some child harnesses for you two.”

Millie smiled and rolled her eyes, while Dylan barked out a laugh so loud it got people's heads to turn. 

They turned to new topics, including High School Musical for some reason, before eventually the bell let out its piercing ring.

(Millie hated that sound, it was loud and shrill and overstimulating on her best days, she’d shared many a rant with Brooke and Dylan over it. Power of Autism, she supposed.)

Brooke and Dylan shared a brief kiss before getting up, Millie had loudly and very dramatically gagged, she was continuing that bit into the grave.

Still, they had a plan in motion now, and Millie was excited for tonight.

…

Maybe she wasn’t as excited, it was cold as fuck out here, Millie decided.

They’d ironed out the details over text when they’d all gotten home, and while Millie knew that going when it was getting dark was the smart option – she did enough trespassing on her own and with friends to know that – she was still going to complain to herself about how it meant it was cold.

She’d already finished her chores, fed and played with Annabel Lee until the kitten had decided she was done and slept in the deepest, most ragdoll-esc sleep Millie had ever seen, and packed a bag. Now she was just waiting for Dylan and Brooke to show up.

She checked her backpack once more. It didn’t have much, just some bandaids, a portable charger as well as a cord, a flashlight, a camera, and finally a few masks. She didn’t doubt that Brooke wouldn’t bring one, but Dylan had… questionable self-preservation skills at the best of times.

She sighed, zipped the bag back up, and slung it over her shoulders, leaning against her bike as she waited.

Not even ten minutes later, Millie heard the sounds of crunching leaves and hushed voices. For a brief moment Millie didn’t recognize them and her heart started racing, she gripped the handlebars tighter.

Then her friends popped out of the darkness with sheepish looks, Dylan waved to her as Millie dragged her own bike over with a quiet, exasperated sigh.

“Sorry we’re a bit late, someone forgot to put batteries in his flashlight and we spent forever trying to find some.” Brooke sounded apologetic, fingers nervously tapping against the handles of her bike.

“Hey!” Dylan cried indignantly, pointing an accusatory finger toward Brooke. “Don’t throw me under the bus here!”

Millie snorted, “We’re throwing you under the bus. Maybe you shouldn’t be so throwable?”

Dylan put his head in his hands, letting out a noise of pure betrayal. He stayed like that for approximately two seconds before dropping the bit.

“Did you get everything you needed, Mills?”

“Yeah,” – Millie tugged on one of the bands across her shoulders for emphasis – “you guys?” 

They glanced at each other before nodding and Millie threw a leg over her bike. “Let’s head off then, It’s cold as hell out here.”

…

It had taken longer than expected to bike to the warehouse, it was completely dark out now and they were all glad to have packed flashlights.

Dylan leaned their bikes against the wall as Millie and Brooke shifted through their stuff to get their flashlights and masks, he huffed a little when the mask Brooke handed to him got caught on his earnings.

(Though, to be honest, Millie doubted any cameras that might’ve caught them were long out of service. At least they had protection from whatever was left over in the air.)

The building looked somehow both worse and better than Millie had imagined. The ceiling had collapsed in most places, but most of the walls had managed to somehow keep their vague shape.

“I was gonna say this place has seen better days, but this is a Fazbear warehouse, I don't think it’s seen ‘better’ anything.” Dylan quipped dryly, earning a snort from Brooke.

Dylan, unsurprisingly, was the first to go under the police tape and into the building. Brooke and Millie weren’t far behind, heading into the fresh corpse of a warehouse.

The first thing to greet them was some old poster of what Millie thought was… The G2s? Or the Classics, or whatever else the Faznerds liked to call them. Millie didn’t actually really care; the only thing she actually cared about was wondering how that thing survived the fire…

Actually, survived might be a bit too generous of a word.

“Creepy,” Brooke audibly shuddered as she centered her flashlight on the thing. The fire had done some weird warping of the image, making it look like the animatronics had entirely black, crying eyes.

(Millie privately wondered if it was more than just the fire that had done it, but kept that to herself.)

“Looks like something from a Creepypasta,” Dylan joked, clearly trying to dispel the creepy air of the place.

It worked a little, as Brooke laughed quietly. “Yeah, it does. Just wait ‘til the hyper-realistic blood shows up.”

Millie snorted a bit, smiling beneath her mask as she rolled her eyes, “I call dibs on being the only survivor.”

Going deeper, they entered the rows upon rows of shelves. Many had ended up collapsing, scattering boxes, burned toys, and things of all kinds across the floor. Luckily for them, the police had already made a safe footpath through the maze when they came through to investigate.

(At one point, Millie spotted shattered porcelain beneath one of the collapsed shelves and wondered what it used to be.)

The air of the place felt thick and heavy, like a blanket of soot and smoke still hung over it. She knew it was just her imagination, but Millie couldn’t help but feel relieved she had a mask on. (Even if it probably wouldn’t work that well in a real fire.)

Millie had found herself looking at the burnt remains of a Chica plushie when Dylan stopped and looked behind her.

“Hey, Brooke, what’s up?”

Apparently, while Millie had been preoccupied with her own thoughts, Brooke had trailed to a stop a little bit aways from them.

Brooke held up a tattered Freddy plush that had definitely seen better days. It was covered in soot and ash, as well as missing a leg and being covered in rips and tears. Aside from that though, it didn’t seem to have been very damaged by the fire itself.

“Do you guys think I could repair this?” Brooke asked as they walked back over, showing off the plush to her friends. “It’s sad that… they just got left here. I wanna try giving it a better home.”

“I bet you could,” Millie looked the little guy over. After a moment, she spoke up again. “Maybe you could fix those rips up with black fur or fabric? I think he’d look very distinguished,” she chuckled.

“Oooh!” Brooke flapped a free hand, and Millie could practically see a sparkle in her eyes as she imagined it. “That’d look so cute ! Thanks, Millie!”

(Millie couldn’t help but grin so much her cheeks hurt. Even if she couldn’t see it, Brooke’s smile was infectious enough that she didn’t need to.)

When they neared the end of the warehouse's maze of shelves, Millie spotted a big box. It was somewhat untouched on the outside, except for the lid that had been tossed to the side.

There was stuff thrown on the ground in front of the box, almost like someone had been digging through it. It made Millie feel uneasy, and, judging by her friends' faces, she wasn’t the only one.

“Probably just a raccoon. They’re really smart, y’know?” Brooke tried to rationalize, but Millie could tell even she didn’t fully believe herself.

Nobody really went to refute it though. It was better to just assume it was some animal’s doing than wonder what someone was looking for in this burnt husk.

At the back of the place, there were two more rooms. One was the bathroom, while the other didn’t have any kind of door. Millie just had to assume it was some sort of office.

There was also a door-shaped hole in the wall, just underneath where a security camera used to be. Millie would have assumed that was where the fire exit was… if the news people hadn’t eagerly reported about the odd lack of any in the building.

The flashlight jittered in Dylan’s hold as he turned to look at his companions, “What do you think this is?” He gestured towards the hole, causing the light to wobble once more.

“Honestly, I…” Brooke paused, like she was looking for something to say. “I can’t think of anything .”

Millie wasn’t particularly focused on whatever the two were saying, instead she idly looked around, the light from her flashlight sweeping side to side as she did, whatever was on the floor crunching beneath her shoes. Then, there was a creaking sound followed by a quiet thunk coming from somewhere else in the building.

She was the only one who heard it, seeing as Brooke and Dylan didn’t so much as turn their heads. Granted, they were a bit ahead of her, having decided to check out the presumed office. 

She was about to run up to them and warn them that they needed to leave, but before she could, a hushed, familiar voice murmured something she couldn’t quite make out.

“I’m gonna stay back here, guys,” she called out. “I wanna look at the rest of this stuff.”

“Alright! We shouldn’t be long,” Dylan gave her a double thumbs up, dragging Brooke behind him into the office. Millie rolled her eyes fondly before she went to do what she’d actually stayed behind for.

She looked around a bit more thoroughly to see if she could spot them and, when that unsurprisingly didn’t work, she decided to retrace her steps. She’d spot them eventually.

She spent a few minutes going back through the shelves, looking around silently, before–

“ Boo! ”

Millie jumped right out of her skin as Stitchwraith popped out from the other side of a shelf. Honestly, she’d almost punched them on instinct.

“ Howdy there, stranger. ” Andrew drawled as he scooted across the shelf that separated him from Millie. “ Hi, Millie.”

“What are you guys doing here??” Millie glanced around, quickly moving in closer so she could talk in as low of a voice as possible.

“ We could ask you the same! ” There was a barely audible thump as Stitchwraith dropped onto the floor and dusted off their hands. “ We’re exploring, duh. ” Despite their inability to facially emote, Millie could feel the deadpan Andrew would’ve been giving her.

“Well be careful about it,” she glanced back towards where the office was, just to be safe. “We’re not the only ones here, my school friends are too.”

“ We know, we saw you three when you got in, ” Jake reassured her. “ We’re good at keeping out of sight, Mills. ”

“Ahuh,” Millie gave them a dry look, raising an eyebrow.

(She knew they were very capable of hiding, she really did, but it was funnier to bully them.)

“ So mean to us, ” Andrew put a hand to his heart. “ I let you explore before we even get to, and this is the thanks I get? I see how it is. Cruel and evil ! ”

Millie rolled her eyes and snickered. “ Well , finders keepers, losers weepers.”

“ Well if we’re going by that logic, we found it first! We just didn’t get to explore before the fire… ” Andrew grumbled, crossing his arms and looking off.

“ Before the fire?” Millie thought for a moment, then it clicked together in her brain. “Is this that place you tried exploring on Wednesday?”

“ Oh, uh– ” Andrew realized what he’d said seconds too late, and Millie could tell he was trying (and failing) to think of a way to backtrack out of this. He went quiet, briefly talking to Jake in their mind, before sighing. “ Okay, okay… It is. ”

“Do you…” Millie hesitated, thinking carefully about how she had to approach this. “Do you want to talk about what happened yet?”

“ I mean, not really, ” Andrew barked out a laugh, then leaned back on his heels with a groan, “ Probably should though, talking about things is ‘good for you’ n’ all. ” He gave a discontent murmur as he rocked forward, Jake rubbing his arm soothingly.

(Millie awkwardly stayed silent, waiting for him to continue speaking. She wished she could ask Brooke for help. She always knew what to say in these situations.)

“ I saw my murderer– Well, actually, it wasn’t but I thought it was for a few days. ” He rocked a bit, fidgeting restlessly as he continued to talk. “ You know what I mean, right? The– The suit, I saw the suit. And I kind of almost strangled the guy who’s stuck in there now, and we’re… Kind of friends now, I guess? It’s weird, this ” – he gestured wildly at his body and then the whole building – “ is weird . ”

“Oh,” Millie said, very intelligently. She didn’t really know how to respond, it was… A lot? But she couldn’t just say nothing , damn it. Say something Millicent! “That… That really sucks, dude.” Amazing, 10/10 comfort.

Andrew let out a dry laugh, “ Yeah , really sucky stuff. ”

“I’m not used to this stuff,” she defended. She was trying to think of a better way to comfort them when–

“What’s going on over there?” Dylan’s voice echoed across the empty space, Millie could vividly imagine the wince on his face at the noise.

What she didn’t imagine happening was Stitchwraith to suddenly bolt – which was the only expected part of this – and start climbing up the remains of the charred shelving units next to them that were somehow still standing.

She had seen them tuck themselves into a dark corner of… something, it was hard to tell what exactly, before Brooke and Dylan strode over, looking at her with confusion (and mild anxiety on Brooke's part.) Millie didn’t often see them move like that, it was startling to remember how fast Stitch could be if they wanted.

She briefly considered trying to introduce them to each other, she wanted both of the important duos in her life to not be separate anymore. But Jake and Andrew hadn’t given any indications that they wanted to meet; in fact, with the speed they’d run off, they’d seemed very opposed to the idea. She wasn’t going to force them into that situation.

“Eh, nothing. There was a stray cat over here and I was talkin’ to them.” Millie excused, shrugging as she turned to face away from the shelf.

“Aww, I missed the kitty?” Brooke sounded absolutely heartbroken. Millie honestly felt bad lying to her about it, and made a note to herself to have Brooke snuggle up with Annabel Lee when this was done and over with.

“I’m sure it’ll show up again eventually,” Dylan hugged her reassuringly. “Or! We’ll probably see more on the way home.”

“So, what was the office like?”

“There wasn’t much, honestly. The wall collapsed so it was really cold,” Dylan shivered, rubbing his arms. “There was also some stuffing around the place, it looked fresh. I don’t… really know where it came from, honestly.”

“Maybe a raccoon or coyote got in there?” Millie suggested, considering it was the only thing that made sense to her. It didn’t explain why it was in the office, where likely no plushies were kept, but… What other explanation did they have?

“Is there anything left to look through?” Brooke looked around idly, and for a moment Millie worried she might spot Stitch by accident. She knew she didn’t have to be worried, logically, but she still breathed a muted sigh of relief.

“Just the bathroom, and you couldn’t pay me to go in there,” Millie shuddered.

“Yeah,” Dylan pulled a face at the thought. “Not happening. I think we oughta head home, then. It’s getting dark, and my dad’s making mac’n’cheese tonight.”

“Aww, I want some!” Brooke giggled. “You gotta have your dad make some for me sometime, please ?”

“We’re gonna hold him hostage if he doesn’t,” Millie added, snorting when Dylan let out a series of unintelligible complaints.

The group continued to joke amongst themselves as they headed back towards the entrance – mostly about how they’d kidnap Dylan’s dad, much to his loudly stated displeasure – when suddenly Brooke jolted and froze, whipping her head around to look behind them.

“What’s wrong?” Dylan gave her a concerned look, and Millie didn’t need to see his mouth to know he was frowning.

Brooke looked around again before she responded, “It’s… Probably just my imagination. I could’ve sworn I heard something is all.”

Probably just Stitch , Millie frowned. She wished she could’ve just told her the truth, but instead she settled for patting her on the shoulder reassuringly. “Might’ve just been the building settling. Even if it is something, we’ve got your back, right?”

“Right,” Dylan nodded, grabbing Brooke’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

…

You know, for the first few minutes, Millie was still confidently telling herself it was just Stitchwraith following them to see if they’d be okay. It didn’t exactly make sense , but honestly what else would it be?

It got dark way faster than they’d been expecting, so they’d all decided it was too dangerous to bike their way back home. It sucked, like. Really sucked. But they had each other, so it was fine really! Just make it to a bus stop or something and they’d be fine.

But… Well, denying it only worked so long. Her friends were getting creeped out, and so her last, crumbling bit of hope decided to text Stitchwraith.

Me

please tell me you two are the one following us

i really dont want to be stalked tonight

Stitches Get Bitches

im sorry WHAT???? ☠️

Yeah that’s

Not us

Do you need us to come over there? 💚

Me

yes

im sending you my gps right now

The hair on the back of her neck was standing on end, every now and then she’d turn and look around, each time with growing panic.

Someone else was here. Someone was watching and following them.

Millie wasn’t a stranger to danger, unfortunately. The fact she’d first met Jake and Andrew after nearly getting herself decapitated was proof enough of that. But this ? It was a new kind, something she wasn’t used to. It made a small part of her want to run and hide, while at the same time it made an even larger part of her indescribably mad. Not only was this bastard threatening her, they were threatening her friends .

The only thing Millie could do was clench her fists and grind her teeth.

Dylan and Brooke were far from oblivious, if she noticed this stuff then they had to as well. And, judging from the uneasy looks they were both sporting, she was absolutely right.

The worst part of this, in her opinion, was the fact that they had to keep silent and that they had to keep going. If they stopped, that’d just tip the guy off and maybe make them do something Millie didn’t want to think about.

The only comfort she had was knowing Stitch knew where she was going, and they’d be here soon. She wished Dylan and Brooke had the same comfort.

It took longer than she would’ve liked, – now that she was focused on it, she could hear another set of footsteps and the occasional crunch of leaves – but eventually her phone dinged once more. 

Stitches Get Bitches

were here n yeah some1 is following u

– Millie could feel her heart pounding, there was a picture of someone wearing a black hoodie and pants attached. If that wasn’t creepy enough, there was something about them that just felt wrong , like they weren’t meant to be there. –

want us 2 chase them off? ☠️

She didn’t hesitate one bit as she frantically typed a response, her fingers shaking a bit with the force of her nerves.

Me

yes

There was an awful few minutes where they kept walking, but the sounds had stopped, and Millie couldn’t tell if it’s good or bad. She’d just been waiting and waiting until thankfully, mercifully , she finally got another text.

Stitches Get Bitches

Got rid of them for you!

We’ll call or text as soon as possible

Stay safe 💚

She let out a sigh of relief, finally relaxing a bit. Her visible relief seemed to signal her friends to ease up as well. None of them were fully relaxed – how could they be? – but, for now, they were hopefully safe.

They made the rest of the journey back safe, and kept close until they knew they would get back home safely. (Though, if it were up to Millie, she would’ve slept over with them. She didn’t think she wanted to worry her Grandpa tonight, though.)

As she went to head home, dialing Stitchwraith as she did, she couldn’t help but wonder…

What in the world was that?

Chapter Text

The front door closed with a small clicking sound as Brennan Chancey finally got home from work. He shrugged off his coat with a groan, already setting out to go scavenge their kitchen for whatever takeout was undoubtedly buried in the fridge.

They loved their job– really! It was great, but today had been so incredibly boring . The literal only interesting part was when Tabby ambushed him and Roberts in the halls and shot them with Silly String. Apparently they had a bit of a workplace war going on, and Chancey just happened to get caught in the middle of it.

Well, he’s just gonna have to stop by the store and get some ammo of his own now. He was already planning ‘attack’ routes in his head as he flung his binder onto the counter.

They took a series of deep breaths as he rummaged through the fridge, eventually finding some leftover grilled cheese from the other night. That’ll do, they thought as they pulled the sandwich out and put it into the microwave to heat.

(His cooking was fine , but honestly he wished he could eat some of his Mama’s home cooking, or something Tabby made. They always tasted better, less lonely too.)

He scrolled through the group chat between him, Tabby, Roberts, and Everette while he waited for the thing to finish heating up. He didn’t say much besides sending a random gif of an explosion, just simply to see the confused reactions from the others.

When the food was done, Chancey went over to their living room couch and set up their console as they ate. The sandwich was… fine , but honestly reheated food always tasted weird to them. Maybe it was just the ‘tism.

They took a while to decide, before settling on an old classic: Minecraft. As per usual, they made a whole new world despite having plenty of perfectly good pre-existing worlds.

The rain outside provided a comforting soundscape as he wandered vast blocky lands, bartered with villagers, and got blown up a lot . So comforting, in fact, that it was really easy to end up drifting off into dreamland…

Chancey let out a groan as he woke up, his body protesting heavily as he sat up. He blinked tired confusion away as he tried to remember why, exactly, he was waking up to all kinds of aching muscles and stiff joints.

…Oh, right. He fell asleep on his couch, with a controller in his hands to boot. Yeah, that’d just about do it.

As he maneuvered through menus to turn off the forgotten console, which had started to sound like an airport or industrial fan at this point, he took pause as he saw the time on the clock.

2:15 AM

Usually, Chancey at least made it to 6AM before he woke up, so it was… weird, to say the least. Part of him wanted to just say it was something from the forgotten game, or maybe his internal clock just being off wack.

Though… that was really unlikely since, admittedly, he’d done the exact same thing before and still woken up around the normal time.

In the end, the curious and investigative side of their brain won out and they got up. Something had probably just fallen off in the night, but what if it was a ghost, huh?

They got up, squinting in the darkness as they fumbled over to the walls and somewhat wildly felt around for the light switch. (Even if they knew it wouldn’t show up until they got close to the door. Couldn’t hurt to be safe in the dark, right?)

They’d just felt the wooden ledge of the window when they let out a loud yelp as they stepped onto something sharp and awfully painful.

“Sssshit,” he hissed, falling over to clutch his foot. Despite the natural panic that threatened to wash over him, he tried to stay calm as he pulled out his phone for the flashlight.

Unfortunately, but as expected, his foot was bleeding. There wasn’t anything embedded, at least as far as he could see, but he had to take care of it as soon as possible.

The problem was, there was a slight roadblock to that. As he panned the phone’s light to look at the broken glass on the floor, he realized with stark clarity this meant something or some one had done this.

What if they were in the house?

So, stifling his hiss of pain, he stood back up. He’d look around, and then he’d do the smart thing and patch himself up.

Chancey aimed his phone flashlight to the primary culprit for the broken glass, wanting to see the damage. Something had absolutely destroyed the window, the sliding part had been hit so aggressively it stuck out from the inserts.

He limped into the hallway, slowly looking around with his flashlight. He hated how dark it was, but didn’t want to flip on the lights in case they might tip off the hypothetical intruder.

Well, not so hypothetical, as he saw muddy footprints on the floor. They were very small, about half the size of an adult, and, oddly, they had three toes. Maybe it’s a kid with some shaped shoes?

(It didn’t make too much sense, and Chancey knew it, but what else was he supposed to assume? A cryptid? Fun thought, yes, but probably not the case right now.)

That’s when he heard it. Crunching . While it was in theory very quiet, in the tense silence it might as well have been loud like a car alarm. And thanks to that, he could tell it was coming right from his bedroom.

(Chancey was suddenly very thankful he’d fallen asleep on the couch now.)

He crept as quietly as he could into the doorframe of his room, and then he saw… Well, honestly, he had no idea what it was, but he could sure try to describe it.

It was a dirty olive color (or at least that was Chancey’s best guess in this darkness), had long ears, and stood at about two and a half feet if he had to wager a guess. Embarrassingly, it took him a little while to actually notice it was distinctly robotic looking.

The source of the crunching sound he’d heard was from it reaching into the box of robot eyes Chancey had gotten from a crime scene and then eating them. (At least chewing them up? He had no idea what it was actually doing, but it was the only thing that really made sense.)

It froze in place when the flashlight landed on it, turning to stare at him with wide eyes. For a few hopeful seconds, Chancey almost thought it’d be stuck like that. But, of course, the real world didn’t work like that.

It growled as it clattered its teeth, pulverized pieces of animatronic eyes falling from its jaws. It slipped into a defensive posture, and Chancey doubted it’d hold back from attacking him for long.

The good thing, at least, was that Chancey was good at on-the-spot planning.

The creature was the first one to make a move, darting forward with a snarl. Its jaw practically unhinged, primed and ready to bite into their leg. Thankfully , Chancey was the one with faster reflexes in this situation.

Chancey snatched whatever it was by the back of the neck, somehow managing to shove it into an old dog kennel they still had from when they used to dogsit for a cousin without getting his arms torn up.. too much. There were small, surface level cuts around the topside of his wrist where it had grabbed at him.

This… was going to be a problem. 

…

He and the creature in the kennel had been having a stare off for at least an hour at this point. His phone held limply in his hand as he sat back on his heels.

He’d nearly called Tabitha, her number was even still pulled up, but he had no idea how to explain what was going on… would she even have believed him?

Besides, Everette had been talking about a weird cat he kept seeing, maybe this was that cat? Chancey didn’t live that far from the other detective.

… Who was he kidding? This was so obviously not a cat.

At least it had stopped growling at him, now it was just glaring a hole into his very being.

“Well, aren’t you precious?”

As expected, it just glared back in response.

Chancey reckoned he had no idea what to do. He couldn’t just leave the thing in there, it felt wrong, but he didn’t know how to communicate with it. Not to mention it was too early to call Chief Monahan to say he couldn’t come in today.

(Though he wasn’t exactly sure his boss would take ‘I got glass in my foot’ as an excuse to call off work…)

He was drawn out of his thoughts by a grumble from his stomach, prompting a sigh. Well, an angry tummy wouldn’t help things. He could make some quick and easy snacks and then get back to thinking about this mess of a situation.

“Wouldn’t suppose you’d be hungry too?” He joked, obviously not expecting any kind of response.

And yet, he got one in the form of a nod.

“Oh!” Chancey buffered for a moment, then got up. “Alright, I’ll… I’ll get you some food too, then.”

(He just hoped he had enough food to feed two.)

He hobbled out and into the kitchen, opening up the fridge and just… staring for a moment, trying to figure out what in the world he could make. By the time the cold started to sting a bit, he finally just decided he’d make a quick pair of sandwiches.

Or, well, just one sandwich actually. Chancey ended up not having the patience to wait, and just decided to eat two pieces of bread while he made a proper one for his, er, guest .

Chancey didn’t exactly know what… whatever the intruder was ate, but figured meat might be a good guess with those big teeth. They threw in some lettuce and tomatoes as well, just for good coverage.

They headed back into their bedroom, crouching down in front of the crate and holding out the freshly made snack. “Here y’go, lil’ guy.”

He quickly snatched the sandwich out of Chancey’s hands, eating it so fast that Chancey almost thought he’d have gotten sick.

(With how quickly he gobbled it up, you’d think he’d been starving! …Actually, for all Chancey knew, he could’ve been.)

Once they’d both finished eating, the little intruder went to sign something. “Thank you.” (Admittedly, at first Chancey had honestly thought he was going to sign something much more rude.)

“Oh, of course,” Chancey signed as he spoke on instinct. His baby brother was deaf, so it was about as natural as breathing for him. “Sorry if I scared you earlier. Though, t’be fair, you scared me first.”

The little intruder didn’t respond, instead he just stuck out his tongue… or well, at first Chancey thought it was before just realizing it was a second jaw in the form of a bear trap.

Chancey sat back, just… staring into nothing as he processed all of… This . Part of him still wanted to believe he was dreaming, honestly, but he knew he’d have woken up a while ago.

An aching pain in his foot reminded him he… probably should go get himself patched up. So he navigated to some dumb game he’d downloaded on a whim, turned on airplane mode, and handed it to the little intruder.

(He lit up excitedly when he swiped the device. Once again, Chancey couldn’t help but be reminded of his baby brother.)

Chancey stood up with a wince, limping over into the hallway and rummaging out their first-aid kit. They didn’t often use it, but they still knew their way around first-aid boxes pretty well. (They kind of had to, considering they were a Detective and all that.)

They walked to the bathroom, sitting down on the tub edge and grimacing as they got a proper and more thorough look at the damage. It wasn’t anything dire, but it was still enough to make Chancey feel a little sick.

They cleaned and disinfected the area, wincing a good few times during the process, then bandaged it up. They were glad they hadn’t needed to use any tweezers, they’d have probably cried, in all honesty.

When he came back, he couldn’t help but smile at how enraptured the little guy was with his phone.

Chancey let out a hiss of pain as he sat back down outside the crate, prompting the little intruder to look up and let out a gasp when he spotted the bandages he was now sporting. “What happened?”

“Y’sorta left some glass out, buddy,” Chancey tried to joke, but backtracked once he saw his distress. “No, wait– Don’t worry, really, it wasn’t too bad. I’ve had worse! Being a Detective is more dangerous than you’d think.”

“Promise?” He signed, giving him the biggest and saddest puppy dog eyes Chancey had seen in weeks.

“Yeah, promise.” He smiled. “Oh, and before I forget…” Chancey hummed, unlatching the kennel door with an apologetic look. “Sorry you were in there at all. I reckon I wasn’t fixin’ to get mauled.”

The little intruder crawled out and, instead of running off like Chancey had half-expected, then plopped right down beside him to continue playing the game. Chancey couldn’t help but give the lil’ guy a pat on the head.

(Which was quickly taken away, alongside some quick apologies, when he growled. Boundaries, Chancey, boundaries! Why did that have to be the thing he always forgot?)

“I’m Chancey, by the way. Y’happen to have a name, or…?”

The other went still for a moment. “Can’t remember,” he looked really upset as he signed. (Chancey kind of wondered how that even worked, but now wasn’t the time for it.)

“Well…” He hummed, thinking. “If you can’t remember, why don’t we think of something in the meantime?”

He perked up, giving Chancey a curious, if watery, look. Still, he looked better than he had before, and that’s what Chancey had been aiming for.

He thought for a moment, probably more than he should’ve, and then shimmied a bit when he got an idea. “What about Plushtrap? Cuz you’ve got those big ol’ bear trap chompers, and you’re kinda like a teddy bear.”

Plushtrap let out an excited squeal, flapping his hands excitedly before fingerspelling out the name to himself over and over. Clearly the name was a hit, and it had definitely cheered the little guy up for the moment.

“So,” he scooted a bit closer, looking at the game. “Mind if I watch?”

Plushtrap let out a giggle and nodded, unpausing and eagerly showing Chancey any and everything he could think of.

… Chancey was so getting attached.