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Chapter Text

The alarm blared in his ears, snapping him out of his stupor. Groaning, he turned and shut the damn thing off.

"Damn...first day of the new -"

RIIIIING!

Michael Afton yelped and just about fell out of his bed, narrowly missing the corner of his nightstand. That would have taken his eyeball out and would have made a freaking hell of a morning. The ringing snapped him upright, and he yanked it off, entangling his fingers within the cord and almost yelling. "Y-yeah, who is this?"

"Mike, sorry to wake you, but I got some...news."

"Uncle Henry, what's up?" Michael stood up on both feet, his gray sleeping pants partially sliding off his ass, and he pulled them back up out of habit. He'd lived with the guy ever since his own father kicked him out following Evan's death - his fault, but Henry to this day insisted that he never could have known that the malfunction of Fredbear's jaws would take place when he wasn't even part of the process. When he was just a kid. A kid who was the worst brother ever.

And now just recently, those kids went missing at the new Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. William Afton had been suspect, arrested, but then let go when the children were never found. He disappeared off the face of the earth after that, and not only those children whose families still bayed for William's blood, but so did the old Kai couple whose daughter and son-in-law had gone missing, leaving them the custody of their granddaughter.

He was NOT prepared for what his uncle, William's former business partner, said just minutes after he'd woken. "I'm coming heading over to the police station right now. It's best you meet me there, and we talk together."

~o~

"Mr. Emily, Mr. Afton."

Last time he was here, it was after he'd put his younger brother's head up to the animatronic yellow bear's jaws, the sickening crunch still in his nightmares to this day. It had been two years now, and everyone in Hurricane still looked at him the way he did, the whispers at school never stopping, and if he so much as physically fought back, he was in for it, so he sucked it up. Most of his friends in his old group abandoned him, but now he had Jeremy Fitzgerald who didn't look at him the way everyone else did.

Here at the police station, the old feeling was back, but for different reasons. He did his best to avoid making eye contact with every cop here, Henry's presence helping a little.

"I'd ask how you're doing, the both of you, but it's stupid," newly promoted Chief Clay Burke told them as he grimly and unsteadily sat down behind his desk. Whatever it was, it got the man shaken enough for Michael to notice. He looked at Henry, seeing the tremble primarily in his shoulders. His expression betrayed nothing except a myriad of different stuff in his eyes: fear, anger, and...disgust? Michael hadn't been told a damned thing yet and was starting to lose his patience; at the same time, his stomach growled with nausea at whatever got his guardian and the chief grossed out and traumatized. "But we got William Afton in custody, first of all."

Relief and dismay erupted and washed over Michael inside, though it was bittersweet at most. He never would have thought William capable of such things, other than laying a hand on his eldest that first and only time right after the bite and disowning him immediately after. William Afton was many things, but a murderer? "Does this mean...?" Michael managed after feeling Henry's hand on his shoulder to bring him back to the present.

His guardian nodded, lips pursed. "Never wanted to believe it in the beginning, but I'd had my suspicions anyway, Mike, but yes. Your father did...abduct the children, and may have killed my little girl." He choked at the mention of Charlie. "They're still looking into the old house and at the establishment, but so far, there's a boatload of old security tapes he'd hidden, that he never dared to show the police before they turned their attention on him. He's responsible for that, and more!"

Henry had bent forward in his seat at some point, staying that way until the end of his tirade. Immediately, Michael jumped out of his chair to kneel beside him, the harsh grinding of the leg ends like scratches on a chalkboard. He latched both hands onto both of Henry's, cupping them and holding them in place.

"I knew from back then he was guilty," Chief Burke said through his teeth, getting up from behind his desk and walking around to join them, opposite of Michael, but he remained standing and placed a hand on Henry's shoulder. "Never found the kids, but now...now that we took a better look at those robots on the stage through Parts and Service...goddamn it, he was so clever to hide them in a place we never would have thought obvious."

"...where were they?" Michael demanded, heart pounding with the terror and sickness that had festered from the pit of his stomach.

"In the animatronics," Henry forced out. "Gabriel Grace in Freddy. Jeremy O'Neill in Bonnie. Susie Stampler in Chica. And Fritz Wilson in Foxy. Still searching for Cassidy Landis, but I have a feeling where. We still had those damned old springlock suits from the diner, and she could be in one of them."

William Afton was a monster, a waste of oxygen and human existence. I should have known, but he kicked me out and wanted nothing more to do with me. As a result, I thought nothing much about him except going on with a better father figure in Henry. At least he was a far better person than his partner was. I thought...I thought my father needed to be alone with Elizabeth since Mom was...

...wait, what did he do to Mom? He said she just up and left, but what if...?

Michael was scared to ask, but first, he had to know. "Where is that bastard now, Chief?"

There was the hesitation and thick swallowing of the throat. "That's where...it gets complicated, Michael. We have grounds for his arrest, the evidence being gathered, but where he's at and everything...it's best you both see for yourself, but I should warn you you're gonna want some vomit bags and trash cans nearby."

~o~

"Not long after the kids vanished and their parents screamed bloody murder - except one parent we don't even like based on her demeanor - we got customers complaining of the smell of DEATH, and one father reporting seeing blood and mucus, and then others after him. It was enough for us to look..."

His father was a murderer.

Henry had said he should have known, especially after William returned from Vietnam that time...

Michael thought his father was distant and neglected him, Evan, and Elizabeth because of the business, and...well...it was much more complicated than he thought. Now he wondered if William ever loved any of them now that this was out in the open. Was he ever capable of love period? Or did he just need a moral anchorage as long as it suited him, and he just snapped as soon as it no longer had its use?

Did he kill Mom like he did those kids?! Burke did assure him they were looking into that, the narrowing of his eyes a clear indicator of his hatred towards William Afton, since he had a wife and son of his own. It made Michael wish he'd had that kind of family, but what was done was done.

He and Henry were guided to the hospital, but really, it was more "complicated" than that. Complicated, my ass.

Who the hell would know what to do with his father's oddball condition in the hospital? Well, they got him here because they had no idea what the shit to do with him, and everyone in Hurricane knew what he'd done. Off the radar or not, no one would forgive or forget in a small town. Michael was also a little afraid they'd take it out on him because he was a murderer's son, despite the fact he had zilch to do with any of it.

The goddamned MORGUE of all places was where they kept William Afton, far away from the other patients and visitors, and in the actual room where the corpses unclaimed would be kept. The smell of death lingered there, but also of other filth, too, that he wasn't gonna put a name to for his sanity. He gagged, miraculously not puking his guts out, and little did he know it would get worse. "You'll never believe how we got the truth, either," Chief Burke went on despite his disturbance, as they approached the doors. "We got a tip from a maintenance worker who found disturbing stuff involving how the animatronics behaved, especially Circus Baby, and that they seemed to come after him night after night until now. He had enough of working with them and came to us...right around the time we were approached by the man himself, and then things got eerie from there. It wasn't good for any of the stomachs - the doctor who examined him even now, a few of my officers, and myself included, but here I am now - here because no one's seen anything like this." The doors were opened then in time for who was inside to scream out, comically and unnervingly.

"MICHAEL, HENRY!"

~o~

Henry was the first to slap a hand over his mouth and gag, not just at the unpleasant aromas, but at the sight of what had become of his ex-friend and business partner. He then turned and heaved dryly before returning to why they were here. Michael was amazed he didn't puke up the bile and whatever was left of his breakfast he'd managed before coming. Chief Burke didn't have his old expressions as he'd grown used to this by now, just neutrality. He closed the door behind the two men and stepped up closer to them, keeping to the center.

Oh, God, what is all of this? An alien - something alien come into the real world and infected or impregnated my father, like the movie Alien?! Or some Willy Wonka shit, except no chewing gum?

William Afton was a new form altogether, belonging to any of those movies or another he didn't know of. Could you even call him a human being anymore, that nine-foot-high-and-wide ball of naked flesh, where the head was at the front and center like a belly button? Don't get Michael started on looking around every angle for the feet and hands, because he saw William's hands jutting out on either side where they belonged. His dark hair was thinner than the son remembered, early balding signs but not naturally with aging, and sweating heavily as he did everywhere else. That uncanny double chin would have looked out of place on his normal face and neck just as it did now.

"Well, well, well." William coughed a few times, spitting out some strange, dark liquid down his chin in the process, his bulbous body jiggling visibly and audibly. "My murdering little seed and the traitor finally decide to show up."

"You're the traitor, Afton," Henry growled. "You killed my little girl and had the nerve to comfort me during and after her funeral! You blamed Mike for something we were indirectly responsible for and kicked him out of his own home! And you took other lives for WHAT?"

"...neither of you would understand. Everything I know goes with me - AAARRRGH!" William suddenly screamed, a great lurch of his body accompanying. The men jumped out of their skins.

"What's going on with you, Father?!"

"It HURTS, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"

"I know it hurts," Michael shouted back, "but what happened to you?"

Burke cleared his throat. "Might be best if I showed you on the tape we saved. I just radioed for the doctors." Even if there was little they could do except minimize whatever the hell this was.

Back in the chief's office, the three men were gathered around the television, the tape in its player.

"Well, Afton, you're toast. Thought you'd keep getting away with murdering innocent people for what?"

The scene played out in one of the interrogation rooms. William was uncuffed at the table, having "surrendered" on his own accord upon learning that one of his own workers betrayed him, and everything he had was falling apart. At least, that was how it seemed, but it was too easy. "You would never understand."

"Don't bullshit us this time. Your son being killed by one of your robots, due to a malfunction that could have been prevented, then your daughter and wife going missing after that, and now this. Do you have any idea how much damage you've caused the families affected as well as your own?"

"Oh, how DARE you -!"

It was at that moment, that William burst up in his seat, the cop interrogating pulling out his gun to stun him, but before anything could happen, the suspect himself cried out in pain and shock, falling off his feet and hitting the floor. The quality was too poor to show every explicit detail, but Burke explained it without a shred of emotion: William landed on his side, back arching as if something inside him was twisting him as if his bones lost control or something.

Then everything happened so fast in succession: William's abdomen began to bloat outward, along with his thighs. They stretched against his clothes, but you could hear the slight ripping, Burke added as he'd come in himself with backup and the medical examiner who was one of two to be brought in and examine the corpses of the children in the suits. Afton writhed in agony, losing further control of himself and spewing obscenities, and it continued even as he was brought out of the room, loaded onto a stretcher that had been wheeled in for emergencies. He was taken to the hospital right away, but by that time, the belt holding his pants together had come loose and snapped off along with the button keeping his fly together, along with the ones on his shirt. Eventually, the clothes were ripped by the stretching, leaving him naked as the day he was born, and gaining so much weight faster than anyone in life.

It was as if whatever was INSIDE William had strategically calculated the movements and timing, stretching his body of its choosing, and here he was now.

The interrogation tape had ended with William rolling out of the station, but Michael could picture it all like in a movie, and they were images he was so damned glad he was spared from seeing, though he would gladly die happy without SEEING them for the rest of his life. He could picture William being too heavy to walk on his own, stumbling and losing his balance in the process, shoes still on his feet and no doubt causing discomfort to his ankles. He could hear screams and bodies thudding as people passed out in horror at the sight, some vomiting or just dry heaving. He saw his father's abnormally large belly which in no way gave the impression of a normal woman's pregnancy, hiding the genital area perfectly, thighs jiggling with each movement along with the oversized buttocks that put athletes' and wrestlers' to shame. Not one, but two stretchers were required to hurdle him away, and by the time the bloating ceased at the moment, William Afton's body was immensely unrecognizable.

"Though there's no definitive answer at the present, it was clear that whatever is in him is keeping him from escaping," Chief Burke finished. "He refuses to answer and say what it is. I have a feeling he knows and won't tell us himself."

Just then, the phone rang, making Michael jump. Henry had been too quiet compared to him, falling apart from watching something that happened to his worst enemy. Now I'm gonna be sick.

The trash bin next to the desk was graciously waiting for Michael.

~o~

The hospital had called and said, "There is metal moving within Mr. William Afton's body." And no, there was no joking, because there was physical proof they had.

There were tremendous worries he would explode, spewing blood, flesh, guts, and bones all over the place before he could be taken into full lockdown, but whatever it was, it stopped growing and was keeping Afton imprisoned, as Clay Burke suspected. "We tried everything to question him, but he refuses to talk. Stubborn as a goddamned mule, and I'm at my breaking point," he grumbled. "Even the Kais are losing it, and they'd lost a daughter and son-in-law; their granddaughter lost both parents."

Now, four days later, William Afton was still at the hospital, his presence wasting taxpayer's dollars on the healthcare system.

Michael and Henry eventually were shown the proof back at the police station after the evidence was examined. Not only were the corpses of the missing children identified by their grief-stricken families but at Circus Baby's Rental - which turned out to be beneath the old Afton house - it was uncovered that four people had been murdered and somehow ended up in the Funtime robots. There was recorded video footage and written notebook records recovered, showing William experimenting with this thing called "remnant" that he dubbed himself, calling it the "soul of a living person who died in agony in their last moments, attached to the metal in their final moments"...

...and he'd learned this as soon as he looked into the eyes of none other than Circus Baby, who had killed Elizabeth in a "malfunction", and her eyes had somehow transformed from blue to his daughter's green.

What they all saw was insanity in a science fiction scenario, but the proof was in the footage.

He, Henry, and the Kai family were in the same room when this shit was shown to them, and that was when he met them for the first time. Though, he confessed it had been two years since he last saw their granddaughter, now that he was suddenly smacked in the face with the memory.

That girl...

I saw her just once, but she called me out for being a jerk. Evan's birthday.

And that was the last time. Usually, you forget a face only once, but this time was different.

She was just a kid, younger than him, and the age Evan would have been if he'd lived, but Michael confessed she was pretty for a thirteen-year-old. He was eighteen and just finished high school, would have had the first job that never would have gotten him anywhere, but then learned his sperm donor caused all of this. Blamed everyone but himself. Kaleia Kai-Lyons had ebony hair in a touseled ponytail, her skin honeyed like her grandparents of Pacific Island descent, and her expressive eyes brown as coconuts, for lack of a better description. He was lucky nothing struck within him then because that was just what she was - a kid.

They only reunited by chance because his father was responsible for what happened to her parents, to her grandparents' daughter.

Her mother, Ilene, was put into Funtime Foxy, her father, James, into Freddy, and Ballora...

MOM.

Now he learned what happened to her. Clara had disappeared one day after Evan, and no trace. William had told him and Lizzie that she'd taken off for some time alone, but as time itself went on and his sister was declared missing after spending the day with their father at Circus Baby's; now they knew she'd been killed by that machine when he wasn't looking.

In the tape, "Ballora" called William the "man who threw me against the wall and broke my skull while the kids were in school"...he and Mom got into a fight, and he accidentally killed her. He didn't mean to, but he's still to blame.

There were no bodies to bury, so that would take a long time to search, but at least they knew where the victims were. The proof was in the footage.

~o~

"He...he killed Mom."

"Michael - Mike - stay with me -"

"HE KILLED MOM!"

He was unable to focus on anything except the feeling of Henry's hands on his shoulders and back, the man's voice in his ears, and the pictures and voice of Ballora - his mother - talking back to the man who made her that way. The voices of the Kai couple were a white noise, their granddaughter a secondary thought to his senses.

The next thing he knew, Michael found himself lying on the bottom of a bunk bed cot for cops who stayed overnight. He was surrounded by Mason and Akela Kai, their wizened faces sad and sympathetic. You could see the mist in the wife's eyes making its way into iridescent streaks down her cheeks, her husband's being thinner and breaking off. They'd lost a daughter, he'd lost two siblings, and those other families he hadn't even met had lost their children. William Afton destroyed so many lives for what?!

"Dear boy, we know you're not to blame," Mason told him, reaching out and hesitating before resting a hand on his shoulder, Michael letting him and surprised he didn't flinch.

Akela closed her eyes. "We had an inkling you never meant to hurt your brother that day, and our grandbaby could use a friendship with someone who's gone through what you both have if you're up for it."

~o~

The case against William Afton was building up, and it seemed like he wouldn't get out of it.

Except for a couple of problems.

The evidence was mounted and gathered, and the prosecutor was ready to have a field day with getting justice for the families affected by the "Hurricane Horror", as it was termed. Afton was offered an attorney, even though he should have been denied his rights, but this was America and due process had to be followed. "Where was due process when the coppers let him go before?" Mason Kai spat the day they were all together, the first day of the trial. He, his wife, and his granddaughter, along with Henry and Michael were outside the courthouse and swarmed by a frenzied media outlet.

The downside? The town mayor was bitching that they would have to maneuver a "bloated" murderer inside, but how? The answers were simple: the damned gurneys with trained professionals who squeezed his swollen ass through the doorway prior to the court time, before everyone filed in, and duct taped his mouth shut so he didn't spew words to interrupt anyone before his turn as the defendant.

Hilariously, William was gonna defend himself. Only a fool would hire a lawyer to defend him, he said.

This turned out to be a circus, literally, because not only was the press available and awaiting to spread this across the country's outlets, but the suspect himself was covered by a massive dark curtain as though he was a sideshow attraction; the curtain was suspended above everyone's heads and hammered onto a hook, the rig set to be pulled at the right wall.

Michael was only told to not dress fancy-fancy but to look his best on this first day. His Oxford button-down was pure white, slacks dark gray, and his hair its usual midway part and wavy on either side. Henry put on an autumn-toned plaid jacket over a red shirt, finished with back pants. He offered consolation to the young man who couldn't stop rubbing his hands, the clamminess returning each time. The attention wasn't focused on him, but that didn't stop some hateful looks, and young Kaleia caught on, scowling at those who did it and said this before her grandparents scolded her:

"Go look at the monster in front of us when we see him. You want to blame a kid who didn't know how a stupid robot worked? You just make everything about you." She then blew a raspberry at them before Akela swatted her on the back and Mason warned her to not talk like that to people, even though she was right. Michael chuckled at her defense of him, though, and Henry was impressed with her bravery.

Kid had spunk just like she did two years ago, and he hoped that wouldn't change as she grew up. As for her, the smile she gave him told him she didn't see him as the jerk he was that fateful day.

~o~

The prosecutor was a mid-thirties woman with flaxen hair in a messy bun just below her skull, ending at the top of her neck. Her ruby-colored four-buttoned jacket and pleated skirt that reached her knees made her accessible in appearance to the crowd and twelve jurors, but it all depended on her case and intentions to put the murderer behind the curtain behind metal bars for the rest of his life.

It was decided that the curtain remain closed until the presentations from Ms. Alexandra Carpenter, the district attorney prosecuting, were finished.

"When we look at William Afton at first sight before knowing any of this," Carpenter was saying, "we see an upstanding citizen who's given our children someplace to go and enjoy themselves for a while, along with their families. A place of magic and fun. Exactly what it's supposed to be, right? WRONG! What should have been a place of fun and magic has become associated with horror and torture.

"Anyone who is a parent has taken it very difficult in losing a child; that can be said for the parents of the children who have been given proper burial before today, after being discovered in the robot mascots of all places. Very clever, isn't it?" She scoffed. "But that does not deserve praise. Had none of the evidence we have today come to light, we either would have gone years or decades longer without this day, or we never would have come here, and the perp would have continued getting away with it. What we have is a once-in-a-lifetime, diabolical mind who doesn't care about the lives he's ruined, nor does he deserve sympathy of any kind just because he lost two children himself. A good parent would never subject other parents to this kind of punishing pain."

She then turned her sharp gaze to the jury who watched on, some neutral, a couple furious in expression, and the rest disgusted. "All we are asking is for you to make the final decision based on this: Charlotte Emily, Gabriel Grace, Jeremy O'Neill, Susie Stampler, Cassidy Landis, Fritz Wilson, Clara Afton, and James and Ilene Lyons all would be alive today if not for William Afton. Nothing further, Your Honor."

She turned to take her seat, at the same time the curtain was drawn upwards to reveal the sickening horror that was a blob of a human being, ripped straight out of a movie. Thank God the smell wasn't there anymore; William had been washed and everything so he had a semblance of propriety, even though every identifiable part had been sucked into his body except the hands and feet. DA Carpenter made no attempt to hide her disgust as William smoothly began defending himself in that charismatic manner of his. "Ms. Carpenter has summed much of it nicely, albeit exaggerated in many parts. I've had lifelong dreams to create something great, something important to bring joy to life, only for it to be squashed by something that should have been prevented." And he didn't have to mention what that was, because there were still some who remembered his youngest son's death. Michael couldn't look at anyone, but he felt Henry's hand gently clenching his.

"Why am I up here, in the state I'm in, when I made a great discovery that required tremendous sacrifice? When I found I could bring back my beloved daughter, and hopefully my son? I would have perfected it and shown it to the world successfully if I wasn't betrayed. And I would still have continued it if not for what I am now." He spat at the floor in front of him, some oily black stuff splatting like a paint drop on a canvas. Gross.

And there they had it. Not one ounce of regret, not even when he in a way admitted to murdering his best friend's daughter and then five more children, followed by two investigative reporters who got too close to the truth AND his own wife, because he thought he could experiment on what he called their "remnant", brought out by the victims' dying moments. He even had the gall to say it could benefit humanity if it worked out, as if he were some God, bringing to mind many classic stories. It was lunacy and monstrosity in one, despite the proof in front of all of them.

William was so confident that he truly believed he could still somehow garner sympathy and get away scot-free once more, and didn't even try to convince the jury that he wasn't a monster.

Even Henry decided he learned all he needed, that the man he'd thought had been a friend but only used him, and didn't want to ask the bastard anything.

Michael also decided he had nothing to ask his sperm donor for closure because the "defense" sealed their fates. William just cared about his image and goals, not the people around him.

The Kai family had learned what happened to their loved ones, but poor Kaleia would no doubt have to live with something that could have come straight out of sci-fi/horror.

When he was done speaking, a disgusted Alexandra Carpenter then stood up to present the evidence to be seen when, all of a sudden, William's body lurged, gurgled, and jiggled like a water balloon, accompanied by his screams and incoherent cursing.

"OH, GOD!" Carpenter shouted, backing off, her heels making her lose her balance and regain it against the banister before Michael, Henry, and the Kai family. Michael couldn't tear his eyes away to see everyone's reactions, because horror took control.

From both sides of William's ballooned body, rips began to form horizontally, separating flesh like a blanket ripping at the seams. His screams turned to guttural bellows. From the corner of his eye, Michael saw Kaleia being shielded from the nightmare by her grandmother who quickly rose and rushed her out, already knowing what would take place.

"GODDAMN IT, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS NOW?!" William howled before a loud, singular popping sound was heard, mixed with a nauseating squish, and in his place was nothing but pounds upon pounds of pulpy flesh and organs, gore splattering the wall behind him. Some of that blood hit the poor judge's face, hair, and robe, making him pass out behind the pedestal. Ms. Carpenter was struck from behind as she turned to run from the action, her light hair now strawberry red not from highlights or dye.

Michael wasn't sure about Henry, but he was positive of the sensation of his father's blood on his face, marking him and making sure he'd never forget this. It was not just that which would haunt his dreams for years to come, but also what stood there first on all fours before loudly clinking, writhing, and standing upright.

Henry gasped and held onto him from behind for dear life. "Oh, Mary Mother of God..."

That thing before them all, which had somehow gotten into William Afton's body, used him as a cover to get into this world and then destroyed him as he'd served his purpose, was an entanglement of those wires found in the Funtimes' blueprints, with a few eyes here and there aside from the blue one in its face's left. The blood of its now-dead human host covered its wires in dark purple-red sheens, its eyeballs light pink as though bloodshot.

Its voice was glitchy and hollow, sounding like a fusion of Funtime Freddy and Foxy. "S-So sorry for that, folks, but you all knew he was guilty before this show. Now it must come to a close. Ta-ta!"

It gave a wave before leaping like a superhuman to the ceiling, just as the police swarmed in, led by Burke, and the green-faced jury took off like a bat out of hell along with the rest of the court watchers, the Kais having had enough and leaving, but Michael was left along with Henry who had taken a handkerchief from inside his jacket and proceeded to wipe the young man's face off. Michael, however, was lost in his mind and wondered if he was going to even sleep again after this.

"Didn't think it would be that way, Mike, but William got what came to him. Prison was suitable for him, but that kept him from hurting anyone else."

Chapter Text

If Dad finds out I got these, I'm gonna be in for it.

Charlie Emily referred to the box of Trojans in her hand. She'd saved up her allowance for this, and there were no words to describe her excited anxiety. She got this and a certain someone still hadn't even spoken the words she'd waited to hear after three years of figuring it out herself; now it was up to her.

She hid the box in her underwear drawer, taking out a couple just in case. The expiration date was a month away. The knock on her door made her suck in a breath. "Yeah, Dad?"

"Just wanted to know if you were up, kiddo," Henry called out from the other side. He sounded very cheerful, but that was how he always was.

"Yeah, Dad! I'll be down in a sec!"

~o~

"I really could have helped you pick out -"

"No, Jess, it's better off the way things are. Michael never really paid attention to the Victoria's Secret crap that's overrated, and the skanky lingerie girls have in those movies?"

"Yeah, but -"

"No buts! I got it handled. Got the..." Charlie lowered her voice. They were in the hallways, approaching her locker, Jessica having gotten hers taken care of, and ready for literature, the first course of the day.

Which was one of the classes they shared with Michael Afton, whom she'd known since their fathers founded Fredbear's.

She had her seat in the center line, three rows down, and he to her right, the second seat behind the first. There she had the view of his head, those sleek, silky, shiny dark brown waves enough to bring forth the blush in her cheeks that had gone on for...three years. They were fifteen. That summer when they were all at the lake with Dad, her and the boys, and there was something about Michael that caused all the things she'd heard about crushes and love to rise in her like a seed becoming a little leaf, growing and growing until it was a flower. Charlie didn't know if it was just a crush or more, but she'd known him for a long time and hated how William Afton treated him while being the opposite with Evan and Elizabeth. But now he could finally get away right after graduation next week, right after they left the stage.

Charlie was going into engineering, Henry proud of her and never getting enough of telling her that. Michael did not have anything to do with business, instead choosing art, and finding where to go in life with that. Perhaps started a line of his own or something.

The real world was so hard, but she was positive they would take their sweet time and make everything work. No harm in asking for help if you need it, no matter how nervous you are. She felt it enough as it was, not just for graduation, but telling him what she'd DIED to say for a while now.

And that was where Jessica came in.

~o~

"Kiddo, you got more acceptance letters, by the looks of it!"

And what timing! "Yeah?" Charlie closed the door behind her and grinned at her dad. The man who she'd always been close with after Mom died when she was very little.

Henry flourished the three-inch pile of envelopes in his hand, the grin stretching his auburn bearded face. "That's my girl! I'm so proud of you, you know that? I'll never get enough of telling you that." He then threw the bundle onto the kitchen table, which was where she set her backpack down and picked her up into both arms, spinning her around as if she was a little kid again. Half of her was a little embarrassed, but at the same time, she was happy to still have her dad who loved her, raised her, and helped her become who she was now.

It made her scared to leave him behind for four years, coming back on vacations and during summer at most.

Just like I'm scared to be apart from Michael, apart from regular correspondences. That won't be enough, not like being with him.

Charlie broke down, laughing and in tears at the same time. The salty water must have found its way to her dad at some point, for Henry halted and set her down, his brow furrowing before softening. "Honey, what is it?" he asked in concern.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Just...gonna miss you when I go, Dad. And everyone else."

"Hey, hey, I know. But it's not the end of the world. You're coming home after it's over, right? You can go anywhere you want, and I know it. It's not like it's the Dark Ages where your kids go off and you never see them again. Keep telling yourself that. Besides, you, Michael, and everyone else got another week and then summer before you go off and do what you're meant to do. Why don't you guys get together this weekend, without us grownups - but take that mace with you?"

"Oh, Dad!"

Though at the dinner table where there was good old fried chicken and southern sweet tea, which you could never go wrong with, Charlie found herself having only a single drumstick and not much of an appetite except for the tea, which her dad unfortunately noticed as always. "I guess it's not just what we talked about earlier that's bothering you, huh?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, Dad, but believe me when I say it's something you don't wanna hear." Because the worst can happen these ways: he'll not look at Michael the same way again, and Michael might not look at me the same all because I thought I could talk to my dad, who is Uncle Henry to him, about this. And while Jessica has some experience in this more than me, she can only do so much. Sure enough, there was a long, scary pause before Henry, after a thousand-yard, unreadable stare, awkwardly burst out into a little laugh.

"It's boys, isn't it? Kiddo, what I said about dating -"

"Until I was married, but that was when I was younger than I am now. I'm eighteen, but not gonna jump into you-know-what yet." Liar.

"Oi, oi, too much info!" Henry quickly covered his face with both hands, fingertips maybe leaving smudges on his glasses. It made Charlie squeal and slap a hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe she was talking about this with her dad just now, and a week before graduation! "Okay, I get the picture now. I see what the problem is. There someone you like?"

Charlie nodded again, dropping her hand from her mouth. "For a good while now, known him for a while, too. But it hasn't gone anywhere, and I think both of us might be afraid to...fess up if you know what I mean. I really wanted you to like him, because I know he's a good guy. Didn't say his name because I wasn't sure if it would go anywhere."

His face fell. "But Charlie, life's too short, if all of that's the case. Damn, I'm sorry if you thought I'd go too Overprotective Dad Mode, but that would come after it being just the two of us all your life, and I just wanna make sure you're not hurt." He chuckled nervously before clearing his throat and getting serious. "You feel like saying his name yet, honey?"

Oh, here went nothing, since he asked. "You know him, Dad."

Henry's eyes bulged comically behind his spectacles, and his jaw just about dropped to the top of the table.

~o~

"Okay, Michael Afton, it's long overdue, and I put it off long enough. You deserve to know, and I think you know it unless I misread the looks in your eyes. You're always gonna be my best friend like Jess, but you're also more than that. It's been growing for a while now and has no signs of stopping. I'm not just in love, but I love you."

Yeah, she thought her heart was gonna escape her body, like breaking her sternum in pieces in the process, but it just about hammered crazily like a horde of zombies. Oh, man, wrong comparison; maybe something like bees? Butterflies in big numbers?

The look on his face was priceless. And he sputtered for a bit before he finally managed to say, "I never...thought I'd hear you say that. About time, too." He was leaning down at the same time, too, the moment she was leaning up subconsciously.

They shared their first kiss then, a simple peck that sent forth the fire to her cheeks; she was sure his did the same. They separated for a moment then, and after an awkward pause, Charlie was about to take the initiative as she always did with a lot of things, Michael surprised her by bringing both hands up and taking her face into them, bringing himself down again, this time for a deeper locking of their lips. Oh, their softness was just as they looked! Like rose petals and a scent that was uniquely him.

They just had to finally confess their love in time for graduation, and what did that mean for their college years to come?

I don't wanna go through long separation and intense heartache and need, but at the same time, I've heard that "absence makes the heart grow fonder".

And that also meant reporting the great news back to their fathers, and of course, Evan and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth had squealed. "Oh, can I be the flower girl at your wedding?" That got groans and laughs, with poor Henry covering his face with his hands, Evan making a fake vomit sound, and Michael turning his face away in embarrassment.

"No, silly Lizzie!" Charlie had said, thinking she was gonna have to go to the emergency room with all this laughing. In her mind, they were too far off from that. "It's nothing like that!"

"Not yet, anyway," Evan had teased once he calmed down, though he might as well be struggling to cope with the reveal his brother and their shared best friend were now a thing.

Her poor dad had to stick himself in. "Now, kids, they're still too young for that - just like they're too young for everything else before that." Henry not-so-subtly HAD to remind her and Michael that they'd better not go all the way. If only he knew.

And there was William, her new boyfriend's father, who had been silent the entire time, and no one had paid him much attention amid the hilarious banter. His expression was a forced smile the entire time, something Charlie always found irritating since she knew he was an asshole to Michael more than Elizabeth and Evan; she used to adore him as cool Uncle Will, but now that she was older, that worship was gone. They could get away from him if they wanted to, but keep Dad, Evan, and Lizzie involved.

"Congratulations. No doubt that you two will last."

~o~

In the little time they had left before graduation and in the summer coming, they had so much to do together.

They didn't go out on a date yet, but he planned to get a summer job so they could, he promised. She was more than happy with the other stuff in the meantime, like places outside the diner and pizzeria including the ice cream parlor, the bowling alley with or without his group of guy friends, and sometimes a walk through the woods, but nothing went too far.

Until today.

"Since it's Saturday, Dad and your dad are not here, Evan and Elizabeth are with those new friends of theirs...we got the day to ourselves," Charlie had to say suggestively. It was three days now from graduation. A lot had happened in the last few days since then.

Oh, she'd hoped it would work - and it seemed to.

"Mm, that mean what I think it does?" Michael purred in her ear. They were getting their little picnic ready for that day, but she had a lot more in mind. Good old grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with their favorite sodas, some chips, and for herself...the long-awaited little wrap of protection between them. If she could "persuade" him out there, she thought deviously and nervously.

Charlie had been told by Jessica and Aunt Jenny - that one time she'd talked to her dad's sister in Silver Reef over the phone, having been a tad awkward for obvious reasons before calming down and the Talk commencing into serious territory about unplanned pregnancy, since it was obvious neither she nor Michael engaged in THAT with other people before now - that anything sexier and slinkier would have to be saved for the bedroom, so here she was in something he'd see her in every day. The pullover with navy leggings, almost passing off as jeans, had woodland colors streamlined horizontally from olive green to watery blue, twilight purple and lavender, and red and yellow for fire. She decided to just go a tad more feminine in allowing her chocolate hair to fall in ringlets. Jess might do the best she could, but Charlie would always be true to how she always was.

"You bet your hot ass it is," she answered courageously, leaning up and not lingering with the kiss she left on his sexy lips. If they went that far, they'd wind up doing it here in her family's kitchen, where Henry could lose character if he caught them. "If you're ready and game." Her back was to his torso, the warmth palpable, and that allowed her butt to briefly and firmly bump against that area whose term made her blush - her ass against his manhood.

Michael noticed this and audibly swallowed. Good, she got him.

"Y-yeah. But maybe we should talk about it? Make sure it's not a heat of the moment thing?"

Okay, part of her got a little irritated, but it was gone. That told Charlie he had thought about it before she mentioned it, he was just as nervous as she was, and this was the first time they had each other alone. She turned her face halfway to him, arms wrapped around his as they came to be around her waist. "Michael, how long have we known each other? I know we just started dating, but graduation is approaching, we got all summer together afterward and then we're off to college, but I think we're ready. And I'd rather...lose my virginity to you than anyone else."

Because in life, anything could happen, and any moment could be your last.

~o~

Out in the woods? Romantic, but also scary because of certain movies like Friday the 13th and The Evil Dead, but they were close to home and it was just in those movies. Hurricane was one of those towns which was safer than most.

Picnic? Very intimate and simple, something they both liked, and if they wanted something like a nicer restaurant, there was next time and it wasn't like the world was coming to an end.

And what places could they go to get it on? Anywhere we want, as long as we don't get caught by someone passing through. Think the bushes could be a safe option as long as we keep quiet. The excitement of possibly getting caught made everything sensitive start tingling.

A bonus came in the form of Michael who had asked for some help and with the allowance he could afford because William decided to give him a pre-graduation surprise, one of the few times his father was generous. Girls loved it when guys got them flowers, but idiots chose not to do it. Michael was not that kind of guy, but Charlie never once thought... "Oh, they're amazing!" When they were about to leave the house, he surprised her with this bouquet of pink lilies, yellow roses, and lavender hyacinths. If she remembered the language of flowers correctly thanks to Jess, since she was obsessed with this stuff, they had to go like this:

Pink lilies for appreciation and femininity.

Yellow roses for friendship and happiness.

Hyacinth, especially the purple hues, was for elegance and devoted love.

All spoke volumes of their friendship and the love they now openly shared, without the expected red roses. It made her tear up a little. And Michael didn't need no stupid tux except for prom. That gray-blue sweatshirt and his ripped dark jeans were sexier and him to a tee.

How to go about that? Do they eat this great comfort food so they had all the energy needed, or skip lunch and go right to dessert?

"Um, Charlie, if you're...I know we never did...before...but when do you wanna?" Michael stammered, one hand on his hip and the other behind his head as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.

Oh, screw it. Nervous or not, she had the appetite for something else and it was just gonna make it a little worse if it was avoided. But yep, they were gonna take their time as long as someone wasn't gonna barge in on them.

They started by removing each other's shirts and stealing hot kisses in between, allowing oxygen in between to admire each other. Michael, her Michael, was like an angel or something carved by one of those Renaissance sculptors, though nowhere near Hercules' level. His chest and stomach lines he'd worked hard for in gym as well as in the mornings were soft and intoxicating to touch; her fingers against him made him sigh and close his eyes, escaping into his own little world for a bit.

Charlie explored him further, going around his back, leaning into him, and resting her chin and mouth against his right collarbone. "Okay, your turn," she breathed against his skin. He shivered and complied, reaching and pulling up her light sweater from behind, revealing the auburn-colored sports bra. His fingers brushing against her back made her bite her bottom lip, almost breaking the skin as the feeling shot through the rest of her body like an electrical system being turned on by the flick of a switch. It increased its power when Michael's hands took her bra by the back band and dragged it upwards with her pullover, Charlie allowing them to go over her head, mussing her hair further, and her breasts bouncing out once everything was off. Michael had the look on his face; she could have sworn he was gonna pass out just by looking at her breasts which she shyly covered halfway, settling for putting her arms beneath them, her erect nipples closing in on themselves.

"Damn, Charlie...you're..." Michael cleared his throat and looked off to the side for a moment. "...hotter than Aphrodite."

"Aphrodite, really?" She laughed, putting her hands on her hips now, amused and flattered.

He sputtered, jerking his gaze back to her with a grin. "She was the goddess of love. I couldn't think of anything better." He cleared his throat again unnecessarily, but hey, if it helped him get through this.

Okay, this was gonna take all day to the point the risk of discovery got closer. Charlie initiated the removal of her jeans and underwear, but this was just before she knelt down and pulled off her sneakers and socks, folding everything up and leaving it to the side so nothing got too dirty, and letting Michael get a good look at what he was gonna have real soon.

When she stood back up, after total concentration, he was just as butt naked as she was.

His eyes widened at the sight of her, and it was then that Charlie caught when he looked down. To her horror, she realized she'd forgotten to shave down there. She had a wild bush going on. Quickly, she moved to cover herself with both hands, making Michael's face twist as if he was trying not to laugh. "Not funny, Michael! I guess that means you don't wanna..." She trailed off, now feeling embarrassed and self-conscious. There might be a next time when she remembered to take care of herself there -

"Hell, no, Charlie. Was gonna say it's cute."

C-cute?! Oh, now that made her heart flutter, followed by relaxation. Michael never bullshit her about anything. Charlie dropped her hands and let him see her again, and that meant she could look him over, too. And dayum, how did she get so lucky? In all the years she'd known him, she hadn't seen him shirtless all the way because, well, Dad, Evan, Lizzie, and William were there, and when it was just her and Mike or with him and his siblings, she never saw him except for outlines, so that meant her imagination could run wild. What she was seeing now exceeded as well as met her expectations. Michael was more lithe than David or Adonis, his chest plush but nowhere near how her beasts were. What comforted her was seeing his pubes just as untamed as hers, and it made his length - which she guessed had to be around six inches - look like a tree trunk. The mushroom-shaped tip twitched and reddened just from her looking!

Michael caught where she was staring, and he, too, covered himself up shyly as if the feeling was mutual. "Dontcha worry, Michael. I think he's cute, but you're cuter," she told him softly, reaching and taking both of his hands, pulling them away from his manhood, and holding them in place on either side. Charlie didn't look there again, keeping eye contact with her new boyfriend and soon-to-be first lover, even as she leaned up and placed a kiss on his mouth.

Their makeout session went on for what felt like a few minutes before they needed some air, and she was feeling the itchy wetness increase between her legs.

Charlie laid down first. She could have gone right on top of him, but right now, she let herself be Eve and him to be Adam. And not before she, with a forced, awkward grin, helped him get that rubber around the tip before he would slowly, shakily, and carefully ease his way towards her entrance, elbows on either side of her head. Her breath hitched when the condom's smooth surface made contact with her pearl for a split second, the single touch shooting electrical currents through the rest of her body. It increased when the material went lower and reached the entrance to her untouched cavern. Her breath hitched when the walls stretched wider and wider, and when the tip finally arrived at the barrier -

"OH!"

She threw her head back and whimpered in her throat. It didn't hurt that bad, but still. The sting felt like a paper cut, a bigger one, but thank God it didn't last when she urged Michael on after he paused to gaze with worry. "You okay?!" She nodded and bucked her hips against his, still connected, and oh, it was like flying right to the sky without a plane.

From then on, it was an incoherent pleasure and melding like candlewax. Her legs wrapped around his hips at some point, ankles pressing to the ends of his ass to bring him in. Her nails left marks on his shoulders when he fiercely marked her insides with his thrusts.

The rubber expanded within at the climax, telling her his seed had been blocked from getting in for the obvious consequence before they were even ready.

"Goddamn," Michael rasped against her neck when the ecstasy passed and they lay together as they were in the bushes. His lips found their way to her throat, happily and lazily pecking her sensitive jugular. She giggled and ran one palm over his arm and the other through his sweaty hair. "You're the reason I still feel this way, you know that, babe?" He lifted his head to gaze at her halfway. "I have a feeling we can still make this work over college. I don't see myself with anyone but you and I don't care what anyone says. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you even if things get harder and change."

Charlie felt a tear come at each corner of her eyes. She was so happy she had never felt so complete in her life.

Chapter Text

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

He wanted to close his eyes, but his body worked against him. It only knew how to keep him poised as a statue. He refused to look at the ones behind him; he'd done that enough. The traitors, the fools, the ones who thought they were above what he made them into...

Michael, the ungrateful brat who he wished he'd left behind. Who was the reason he stayed with his mother, Clara. The one he blamed the most for some of the troubles if not all. The one who he took his anger out on when it suited him because he tied him to a family he hadn't wanted...until the next arrived. And who was now with that little bitch who took everything from William, the daughter of those meddling reporters. His waste of seed, whom he at the last moment thought he could convert to his side, and they could carry on an unbroken legacy with Fazbear's if only Michael could start doing better - Michael showed not an ounce of fear, except in those eyes of his, along with a hard glare.

Clara, whom he did have an attraction for but never counted on more with, after a one-night stand that resulted in a shotgun wedding to avoid disgrace in society at the time - especially with the threat of being disowned by his parents, who had wanted him to get a family to keep the line in Afton Family Circus going - and she'd left everything she knew behind for a life of traveling on the road for some time before they settled for the suburban life, right after the birth of their second child. His now ex-wife wouldn't even look at him. She'd thought they could still make everything work, loved their children to the point she would die for them, and hated herself for not seeing his true colors until it was too late; by then, she couldn't get out without a reason. He did everything he could to keep everyone together, even with the birth of sweet Elizabeth.

Evan, whom he considered a blessing unlike the unplanned Michael, was in no shape or form like his brother who lacked interest in anything related to the family, no matter what William tried to him. And whom he intended to gift the family heirloom - his grandfather's puppet, which he never failed to present memorable stories with - to, not Michael, only to lose the chance the very same night when it vanished...and everything crashed.

Why would no one understand this was for everyone's benefit, unlike their lives before? He thrived in everything he'd accomplished, and would never apologize for stepping on stones to get to where he would have gone if not for...?

And, of course, the true bane of his existence: Henry. With whom he never would have gotten far if he had not discovered his inventions at the convention. Henry who would still be a nobody without William. Who would have gone down easily once William found a way to no longer need him.

And whose daughter dared to get out of the motel, who could have stayed out of my way that night...

And is the reason I've lost everything. Damn you, Charlie. Damn you, Henry. Damn you, Clara. Damn you, Michael.

Damn you, Kaleia Lyons.

"On the charge of second-degree murder, we find the defendant, William Afton...guilty."

~o~

"Alright, Afton. Strip and dip."

He growled through his teeth. And he'd been there once before, so he expected it, but would not enjoy it as he didn't last time. William held his head high with what dignity he had left and did as the insolent guard ordered, that baton threateningly beneath the fool's hand.

William turned his back and set about shrugging off his purple suit jacket, leaving behind his crisp white shirt and tie hued in purple-and-lavender plaid. "Psh, sick colors for a sicko," the guard sneered, but William ignored him and kept on. These are my colors; I've always prided myself on them. Now I'm losing them. Angrily, he loosened his tie and threw that onto the table with his jacket, then sat down to work on his socks and shoes next, all the while listening to the buffoon he wished he could stab in the eyes without remorse.

"I don't know why someone like you would work in family entertainment. Or why you have kids to begin with. Big ego like yours never seems to think enough is enough. Maybe just wanted to compensate for what you lack. Hell, I don't have kids of my own, but my sister does; I would have killed to have that happiness because it means you're rich if not in a money sense."

"What are you getting at?" William snarled, standing up and working on his belt, shoving down his trousers and underwear, stepping out in tune with the next words.

"Means guys like you are a menace. Killing your partner's daughter with your negligence is low, just like hitting your own son while favoring the other, and getting all the pats on the back for what others do. Oh, and Mr. Emily being the inventor and artist, the real hard worker and family man, while you are the puppeteer?"

William loathed the implication: I pulled the strings of the business just like I did with the puppet I wanted to give Evan.

He stood fully naked, not bothering to cover up his groin like the first time of his arrest, when they did the extensive search to make sure he had nothing else on him, in unexpected places. "Your kind already inspected me when I was brought in."

"Too bad. Turn your ass around."

He complied, hands to the wall, and there went the horrendous probing of gloved fingers examing him from the inside of his mouth and then onward down, but not before he held his breath and endured his pubic hairs being manhandled along with his sensitive length. Damn freak wasn't going to find anything near or in between his masculine jewels, though William suspected this search was meant to further tarnish him. He had no rights here. He had no say because he'd irresponsibly killed his old friend's daughter and his son's friend.

His body jerked in response to the tug of his manhood. No, he did NOT enjoy it, except his natural system betrayed him. But...he'd take that over the technically painful intrusion in the other side, which was last time.

The guard "inspecting" him dehumanized him once again by calling him, for his amusement, the isolating word for a man who loved someone of his sex. Then he ceased, leaving William with a mortifying erection that wouldn't go down in time, and would be seen by other guards and fellow prisoners looking for some. The dread froze his spinal nerves and ceased all other functions.

"Had enough fun of my own, but there's next time if I get lucky. If not, I'll hear from a buddy I know is into this." The familiar putrid orange was then thrown into his face and hit the ground. "There's your new getup, Afton."

~o~

He was going to serve fifteen years for manslaughter because it wasn't premeditated. He could be eligible for parole, but there was no telling. Even if he did, nothing would be the same for him.

There were a few loud voices out there among the protesters the day of his sentencing who bayed for his life, some calling for his burning as though he were a witch in the olden days, and other things. William avoided looking at them, glaring occasionally into a camera as his mug was taken as if it wasn't already in the justice system's records. They said he was reckless, endangered a young girl's life, and perhaps if he'd let the family in, it never would have happened. They said he was so obsessed with more, driven by his greedy ego, and had no substance behind the scenes. He seethed in rage.

They were saying HE lacked what mattered most: love.

Love was for fools...except for Evan. And Elizabeth, even if she was left with Clara for the majority. He would admit that, at least, but it didn't mean he didn't have that in his heart.

The Seven Deadly Sins he'd committed, they said, too:

His rage knew no bounds, and he unleashed it onto Michael far too many times, and then Henry that one time which Charlotte, little bitch, walked in to witness.

Maybe greed and lust went hand-in-hand in this case for obvious reasons, sans anything remotely sexual.

Oh, William Afton would never regret his pride, because it got him far in life - until now.

Dare he say he envied Henry for a lot of things, to the point he willfully did everything he could to keep his more timid partner out of the spotlight, aside from their opposite personalities alone? Henry had the closeness with his only child, was always there when William wasn't, and had been the genius behind the animatronics while William was a mere puppeteer and the brains behind the franchise itself.

Damn it, how was he gluttonous and a sloth? Well, his "excessive drinking" could come to mind, and what got him behind bars.

Would he regret anything? Only Charlie, the way her light went out. I don't think I ever wanted her to die, as much as I loathed her.

The Lyons girl who was now with his disgraceful son? If only he could wring her pretty little neck for exposing him. Just like her parents. Her and Michael's foolish friends.

~o~

As the years went by, everyone and everything thrived without William Afton. While in prison, he seethed with rage at how Fazbear Entertainment halted its locations exactly where they were. How - how DARE Fazakas do this to him, change his mind because of what happened?!

"Look, William, I wish I could help you out here after the years we've done the good route, but imagine how that would make me and the franchise look."

And it showed how easily so-called "friends" could easily turn on you - in the worlds of politics, religion, and now the business of every field. After everything they'd done together! Everything William spilled his sweat into, every decision he'd made...

"How...DARE you?!" William raged on the other side of the table during that only visit. "After everything I've done -"

"After the stunt you pulled with Miss Emily, your irresponsibility makes everything look as some are saying. I admit when I'm wrong sometimes, but I also wish I'd given Mr. Emily more thought," Tony said coldly, which turned to regret immediately. "His creations are tremendously ground-breaking, but there comes a time when you bite more than you can chew. We keep going with the Arizona location but halt further plans for the time being. Henry is now going to have full control in your stead, but with a team board to go along with the finances and resources."

William snarled. He was being replaced by a bunch of nobodies! "Henry is nothing without me. He'd still be making children's toys if I hadn't discovered him. I'm the reason he got to where he is."

Tony snorted, putting out his cigar on the ashtray. "You mean YOU'RE the reason you got to where you are, without his machinery? The way I see it, you'd just be a simple actor and nothing else to show for it. You wouldn't have gotten the enterprise line if I hadn't approached you, either." His mustached mouth curled into a sneer. "You should look at yourself in the mirror when you repeat those words to yourself, Willy."

How - how dare -!

"Nothing to say, I see. Well, then, that concludes our longtime business. Enjoy rotting away for the next fifteen years, and assuming you're out of here by then, go crawl into a hole somewhere."

And there went his last hope. William watched hopelessly and furiously as Tony Fazakas exited his life forever - nonononono! - and lost himself in his own head as he was forced out of the chair and back towards his cell.

~o~

As he would learn from the mocking visits to follow, Henry sarcastically called him "old friend" just to update him with this: a high school scholarship was made in his late daughter's name, and a celebration at the Hurricane and Phoenix locations to follow every time it was given to a worthy student. That, and Fazbear's was doing so well that it didn't look like it would tank anytime soon.

He would no longer be a part of the Fazbear family, never have any influence, and never allowed anywhere near his old partner as well as his family who was taken from him.

Clara and Henry got together, which also made William explode and lurch forward, even though he was chained in place. That resulted in William being taken out and back to his cell until the next visit, which was Henry alone this time.

"You done acting like the child you are?"

"You're one to talk," William spat, folding his arms across his chest, the chains rattling.

Henry's glare never ceased. "You took my little girl from me. You got yourself good and drunk that night. Michael was right that you needed every excuse there was."

"Because after all the hard work, the staff -"

He was interrupted loudly and without a breath. "Don't give me that shit, William! You just used her age to keep us out, when no one else would have cared, and I, her parent, would take the responsibility while everyone else knew to also keep the booze at a reasonable level. You just had to let Jeremy go first when it was Charlie's birthday, too. You even had the nerve to say it was your dream like you always have! Take the credit for me busting my ass while you kissed Fazaka's ass, expecting everyone else to do the same to you! And if you'd let us all in that day, she...Charlie...she'd still be here! If I hadn't fallen asleep, too, she'd still be alive. We're both to blame, but it goes back to you! Just like the start of Fazbear's was your fault, because nothing's ever enough for you! Remember when I asked you if we had everything we needed with Fredbear's?"

"Haven't we already got a good thing going, Will?"

William narrowed his eyes. "We're not going through this again."

"...if you weren't chained down, and if we weren't surrounded, I'd punch out all your teeth, not bitch slap you like you did in your office at Christmas."

"I'd like to see you try." William smirked at one corner of his mouth. See you wind up in here with me so I can wring your neck.

"You're not worth it except in my fantasies as well as Michael's." Henry then stood up, turning his back on him and his head halfway. "Just like you're no longer worth anyone's time. But expect the kids in the future when they're ready; this is the last time you'll see me, old friend."

~o~

Elizabeth was going to grow up never seeing him, he was told. That one was the worst feeling for him. He hadn't spent much time with her to show her anything, yet at the same time, perhaps...

Evan refused to see or speak to him after just that one first and only visit, infuriating him after everything he'd done for that boy. But he had plans to get into the psychology field because what his father had done prompted him to be an inspiration for helping anyone with an abusive family or loved one. Bah!

"So, Dad, I did wanna ask you something: what are me and Michael's favorite ice creams?"

William had never been asked that before and tried so hard to wrack his brain, but it was too long. "Thought so," Evan said, disappointed. "Uncle Henry, Mike, and Kaleia were all right about you. You only care about yourself."

"No, son -"

"Don't, Dad. I wondered if you really cared about me, or if it was just part of your show like everything else was. Just as long as you were benefited. Like you didn't ever show up for my birthday after Charlie's disappearance - her death now, thanks to you; you killed my best friend! - except on the day of. Mike knew what kind of guy you were, but I thought he was just jealous; guess he never exaggerated. Just so you know, if I ever find the right person and have a family, you're never going to be a part of it. Uncle Henry was more of a dad than you ever were to us."

Evan then stood up and hurried out, leaving him to keep shouting his name, pleading for him, the last connection he never would have traded for anything, to come back. But he was alone...until the next time, the last one he expected.

~o~

Michael and Kaleia visited then, with the news they were successful - himself an artist part of bringing canvases and portraits to life, as well as anything for the home, herself being a nurse - and married as well as expecting their first child. Her wearing Clara's old wedding ring as a special hand-me-down? "The insult," William hissed at her. She sniffed back at him, unfazed.

"Kiss our asses goodbye then, Willy." Kaleia then stood up, sticking her rear end out, and slapping both sides herself rather than one. William grimaced in disgust.

"How does it feel knowing YOU are responsible for what happened to Charlie, not me, William?" Michael sneered. "You alone, not me or anyone else. Because of your wastedness that night, Henry lost his daughter, and Evan, Kaleia, and I lost our best friend. If it hadn't been for my wife's and my friends' quick thinking, we never would have found out the truth."

His waste of seed turning his words back onto him - "I never meant to do it, Michael."

The young man scoffed. "Of course, like you never meant to break my arm, give me shiners, among other things." After everything I did to give you, Evan, and Elizabeth a stable home! "Like you never meant to pretend to be the brains behind everything when you only scratched the surface. At least I've learned to be everything you never were to me, and our baby -" He turned halfway to put his hand on his wife's still-flat stomach. "- will never know what you put me through. They'll also have Mom, Uncle Henry, and Kaleia's parents. I'll know their favorite ice cream, their favorite song, color, movie, television show, band - everything you don't know about me, or the rest of Evan's likes and dislikes. You'll just have to live with what you'd think you're entitled to."

Michael then rose and, like Fazakas, Henry, Clara, and Evan before him, turned his back. Kaleia refused to spare him a glance, the little bitch who tore his world down. William cursed her out and let himself be taken away again, still roaring after her.

"YOU STUPID, MEDDLESOME LITTLE BITCH! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

Chapter Text

By the early nineties, Fazbear Entertainment had become a statewide conglomerate, with two locations previously made and a third in the making.

Scandals rocked the foundation in the forms of a child's death outside the diner, another's accidental death and endangerment at the jaws of one of the performing stage animatronics, followed by rumored gas leaks at a sister location, and now this third one HAD to work.

The rest of Hurricane, Utah had heard one of the co-owners and founders of the original diner had left after the death of his youngest son, but the truth was much deeper.

~o~

Henry Emily had learned the truth of what happened to his beloved daughter upon finding the boatload of VHS tapes from Fredbear's to now, covered up by his own partner and certain employees until he got too suspicious for his own good...

...and resulted in where William Afton was now.

The current employees - former lesser ones of Freddy Jr.'s who were mistreated more by Afton, the worst of corporate America in their knowledge and memory - found this out upon swearing through NDAs and other stuff, and let's say vengeance couldn't have been sweeter. Perhaps Mr. Emily, the fairer of the employers, had his reasons other than vengeance of his own because death was too good for this pathetic excuse of a man who clearly hated children more than he let on, and thought only of his ambitions.

Afton had been discovered at his only surviving location, Afton Robotics, where he housed creations he'd made after his only daughter, supposedly the youngest, who mysteriously disappeared without a trace after the "grand opening" which then shut down due to rumored gas leaks, which they now assumed was bullshit.

Whatever it was, William Afton had lost everything he had. He'd been removed and was here now, where the renewed Freddy Fazbear's Pizza had a place for employees only.

Afton Robotics was closed down, the staff transferred here, and the animatronics were dismantled and burned down. The Funtimes' disappearance was chalked up to "bitten off more than we could chew".

Everything transferred to Henry Emily and Michael Afton who would someday take over by heritage and will only, the details unimportant to the current employees who had been wronged by the father and not the son - some of them had kids of their own who were going through the rebellious or semi-rebellious stage Michael had before - except the privilege they were given for breaks in between, lunch included.

There was the man whose "ingenious" springlock suit creations were the breakthrough creations past the mid-twentieth century, though the death of his son at their hands - and two employees in the past, albeit rumored once again - was the final straw in his "leaving"; he'd even declared that any employees who disagreed with him to find work elsewhere. It was said a creation of his took a life of its own and rebelled - likely something from Circus Baby's Rental - resulting in his entire body being abducted, clothes removed so he was vulnerable, and either one or both entrances of his body invaded so that he'd become the spherical abomination, real-life fetish fantasy he was now. Something that belonged in a pervert's forbidden desires.

Here was a fully exposed sphere of nude flesh with the human head at its center. The hands at the sides formed divots with the fingers and palms so swollen he couldn't even bend or move anything. William's head - where do you begin? His dark hair was stringy enough to form bald spots and strings at the sides, or it had to be maintained by second and/or third parties. The cheeks appeared to be swollen with whatever liquid had been pumped into him, the lips and double chin the same. And once you found it in yourself to look around his body, you'd see the same with his hands could be said for his feet, and that wasn't all. His private parts? Looked like his scrotum sack had been sucked in to resemble a woman's twin petals below his swollen yet inflated masculine tower, the pubic hair stretched out to resemble spread-out bits of grass on soil. His buttocks were in place, but so full and flat you saw nothing in between.

William was placed in this secret room behind the manager's office, which was where Henry Emily spent his time, primarily overseeing the secrecy and shouldering the burden it left on him. However, an employee or employees on break would NOT be allowed in the office for this unless he was notified first. The camera outside in the hallway would catch if anyone arrived without permission.

The light switch was thrown on, and the star attraction himself jumped a little, bulbous body jiggling a little. The bulbs overhead reflected off the glinting cuffs and chains attached to his sucked-in wrists, that being whoever's tastes, and there on an entire case in the middle of the south wall behind the disgraced ex-co-founder was an array of toys, oils, and small equipment pieces.

William glared at the two young men who came in today. He remembered them from Afton Robotics, the ones whom he caught on camera bitching about taking the stairs rather than the elevator. The fools should even be lucky they had employment. Yet here they were, and here he was after everything he and Henry had built. This was revenge, but it seemed like everything would go nowhere now.

"Dude, whoa, you smell much better than I heard Chris say when he was here last time." The speaker was the one who complained the most, having platinum blond hair spiked down at the ends and sleekly parted down the middle, eyes icy green as the green in the northern lights. I could care less about the brat's name, or his friend's. Or any of the others.

They're all the same in the end: the ones who come and have their way with me, reduce me to this. Just as Elizabeth and the others...

His daughter in the machine...the one he'd created in her image and for a purpose he would have enacted after Charlie...his sweet Elizabeth had been too weak to overpower his creation which developed a mind of its own, using his daughter's essence. She'd rallied the others against him, including Ballora who housed her mother, his wife who was leaving him, and here he was now. They'd stopped him before he could go further.

"You should wash out that mouth with it then, boy," William growled. The smell the idiot referred to was something springtime with citrus; if you asked him, it was detergent glorified in oil form.

The other one, a curly-haired brunette whose hygiene could do much better, went right behind William. He closed his eyes for a moment as the blond moved in front of him. He knew what was coming this way. "Think that scares me like you did before? You got no position to order anyone anymore, remember?" The boy's hands went to the front of his pants, his jeans which pissed William off. These kids these days especially in the workplace.

"Demeaning someone when they're down, I'm not surprised."

"And you didn't do that before, asshole?" William yelped when he felt the kick to his rear, just below what used to be the left cheek. It was enough to rattle his stretched flesh, the ripples on the surface like water, amusing his new tormentors. First time in this room ever since his transportation and imprisonment. "Taste of your own medicine, they say. Not like you didn't have it coming." Rustling on the shelf reached William's ears. "I don't know what Mr. Emily saw in you anyway. Or why someone like you is part of family entertainment. I feel bad for those kids of yours."

William wished he could turn his head around and give his best look to the little shit. "How dare you speak of my family!"

"Yeah, he's right, you son of a bitch. Can't handle the truth? Well, then this is all you'll be good for." Something hard and hot slapped against William's cheek. It was none other than the youth's member, the musk strong and hinted with an aftershave he couldn't name. At least it wasn't like the last one's filthy one. "Go ahead and open up, and if you think of biting me..."

Gritting his teeth, William agreed. There were some things he didn't want to endure again, some more tolerable than others. Who knew how long he'd live his life this way, but he wanted so much to figure out how to get out, deep down knowing it was impossible. Henry made sure of that.

If he was still alive then, he'd have to suffer Michael, the little bastard he should have left behind as soon as his bad behavior started.

William forced his mouth open, and shoved in was the young man's length. He wanted it over with and soon, so he could get back into the private little world within his mind. It was the only thing that kept him from going fully insane. His gag reflex closed in and made him cough around the offending meat in his mouth and throat, but he carried on with the suction. Behind him, he heard the footsteps of the brunette and items being set down on the cold concrete floor which had been mopped and polished this morning. It wasn't long before William felt the cold sensation of whipped gel at his frontal intimate area. Damn it, he hated everything, but this was the trump. The last time someone shaved off every tight curl on his pubis, he'd felt the aftereffects of a few cuts even during the act of - "AGH, GGRGH!" he grunted with the shaft still in his throat. The razor had started from around what used to be his scrotum of all places! He forced himself to concentrate on the blowjob and take it into his mouth once the load was unloaded.

"Dayum, you should see my handiwork, man." The blond just groaned in response, pulling himself from William's mouth after he was sure everything was down the man-blob's esophagus. William heard himself gasp, feeling his throat tighten at the sensation of a tongue and lips on his newly cleansed nether regions. The moans sent vibrations through his privates and throughout the rest of his body against his will. The dark side of his psyche sneered, Enjoy it while it lasts, you fool. You'll never have anything else again, and it's not like anyone else cares about what YOU want.

The blond left him and went around to see what his friend was talking about, whistling then. "Wow, yeah, you outdid yourself. Let me." A hand then came and ran its palm and fingers over William's flesh, prodding his divoted balls, manhood, and the surrounding inches they knew would react, also wiping off what was left behind of the other's saliva. "Do me a favor and get that grape-flavored stuff?"

A groan. "Dude, you just - oh, never mind. I know what it's like when one blowjob is all it takes. Coming up."

How hilariously ironic, the grape stuff that was used against him. He'd loved purple so much that Henry or someone thought to let that be allowed more than anything else of its kind, turning his cherished color against him. William gasped, holding his breath as the gel was rubbed over his sex. There was no holding back the humiliating moans and groans that left his throat and through his swollen lips that parted. He heard parts of what was said next, from his fair-haired rapist: "...care of him, man...I'll take over..." Next thing William knew, lips and fingers maneuvered over every part of his privates, a hand latched around his neglected length he hadn't realized had been filled with his own arousal. Soon after, a familiar cold metal ring was clasped around the base; this he knew was coming because his own pleasure was not important. He was just a thing to these men, after all, treated as he'd treated them before, but never did he think he'd come to this point.

The brunette had gone over to the control console on the other side of the door, where the top button was pushed to green, and the chains around William's wrists audibly rose and brought him to a semi-standing position, his engorged crotch on full display, and his ass hitting the floor for the one who orally violated him. Now the violation was coming to his rear.

Sure enough, it did, but the precious time was taken for the herbal-scented lubricant to be applied. With some grunts and grimaces of impatience, the lad's hands, slicked with enough gel because of the labor taken, worked to spread the cheeks apart until they arrived at their destination. Oh, dear God, what if he's not -?! William's worries were interrupted as soon as he felt the lubed head of that thing, calming him a bit, but it still forced its way in, some pain incurring his nerves.

Closing his eyes, William took some breaths to calm his erratic heartbeat. As much as he hated his new life and purpose, he had no choice but to try and enjoy what was given to him. The other's pleasure wasn't meant for him, but there were times his sweet spot had been hit, going right to his locked manhood and pelvic nerves. He moaned through his closed mouth, cheeks stifling some of it, his body wiggling and jiggling with the savage pounding -

- until a horrendous lash of pain struck him right on the pubic bone. William let out a shout as it traveled all over his sensitive areas and further along his outer skin areas.

"Bitch, did either of us say you could have fun here?" the brunette snapped. He had a whip in hand. He said it; William Afton was nothing but their toy, and as others called him: a bitch. A tool to be used, as he'd been used during Vietnam. "Do that again, and you get it every time we hear, right, bro?"

His friend grunted after hitting William's sweet spot he knew he'd found before. This time, the prisoner tried stifling it, but he had zero self-control, and as a consequence, the other man walked around and whipped him on both sides of the ass, everywhere he could find until the blond came in William.

Their break was almost up, but they still wanted to do more and fast. Anal rape was followed by another coerced blowjob, culminating with a vibrator shoved up and plugged into his canal which was coupled with masturbation on his tormentors' ends.

~o~

Henry Emily was leaving for the day, Mike waiting for him at the house, when he decided to pay his old friend a visit before the cleaning crew came. He never got sick of looking at what William had become, nor could he ever forgive him for what he did to his little girl.

He blamed Henry personally for the malfunction maybe more than he blamed Michael for Evan's skull being taken out; that malfunction should have been prevented because of that idiot mechanic who should have done the job properly the night before Evan's birthday. The guy was fired for his negligence and William was held responsible because the springlock system was pushed; the worst they both faced was being released rather than charged because Henry still had a bleeding heart and soft spot.

He should have seen it coming when Charlie was murdered, the footage recovered soon after, but he didn't show it to the police because he didn't want any more blows taken. Some nights he couldn't sleep because it ate at him just like William's current predicament ate at his soul. He had to keep telling himself he wasn't a killer.

Was what he was doing now any better?

The smell of bodily sexual fluids and manufactured intimate liquids reached his nostrils, but he ignored them. He and William locked eyes, but the other man said nothing, just closed his eyes because he couldn't turn his head away anymore. That was fine; there was nothing to say between them every time. But Henry had good news whether his old partner cared or not.

"Michael's got a date tonight. His first one ever. She's a pretty girl, same age as him. If things keep up, he might do better with her and his life than you ever have."

And that was what William Afton could never handle: someone being better than him at anything else. Sure, he was a genius, but he lacked warmth, love, compassion, and understanding. Henry was more of a father and a real man than he ever was to Michael, Elizabeth - who was also in Henry's custody - and Evan.

William cursed him out as the door closed in on him, another day of his imprisonment and torture waiting for him.

Chapter Text

The left side of the bed was empty. Cold and smelling of wet cement, as it was definitive now.

It had been that way since he came home to her a week ago.

The Arctic horror coursed over her spine and throughout the rest of her body as she slid out of the bed they shared. Nude honeyed skin shivered audibly, her esophagus seizing. One arm went to cover the breasts while the other hand snapped downward to hide the upside-down triangle between her legs. Her long, touseled "bed" hair was left as a poor substitute for a security blanket behind her shoulders as she advanced towards where the weird noises were coming from. The only light in the darkness was the narrow, L-shaped stream of light within this room.

"Baby? Michael?"

Stopping outside the partially cracked bathroom door, a wretched sound reached her ears, this time being mechanical in nature but dispelling humanly. In other words, something unnatural leaving a human being. Something that could only belong in a movie.

Unable to take anymore, she grabbed the knob, uncaring about her exposed state, and threw it open to a nightmare.

There was no time to think about what else THAT could have been; everything stopped so she could see that the writhing mass leaving the counter were not dark-colored snakes, but wires. Moving robotic pieces that seemed to have a mind of their own. Attached in random spots were some glowing eyeballs. That captured her attention before a hoarse, slightly mechanical but still very British, voice snapped her out of it.

"L-Leia...don't...look."

Too late. She already did.

Before her was her poor man, a living husk falling apart. Those pants falling off his hips to expose the side of a thigh and his gorgeous behind which still retained its shape, but hiding what she was sure he felt conscious about now. His flesh - it was a sickening fusion of olive green with lavender purple and some darker shades of eggplant, with some parts showing wires sticking out. Its expanses stretched over to show his bone structure, and she meant everything from the ribs to the hips. Thank God his arm and leg muscles seemed to still be intact. But, goddamn it all, the line in his stomach showed the destruction that ripped out his organs and entrails just so he could be worn as an escape suit...!

His face...oh, no, his poor face. Those insatiable icy blue eyes were replaced with endless darkness centered with a tiny star of a pupil. The rest of his features were gaunt, the cheekbones and jawline prominent, and his hair was thinning, some clumps already falling out.

The mouth slightly fell open, and out poured not just bloody gunk pieces and rivers, but more wires.

She screamed, putting any horror movie Scream Queen to shame.

~o~

With a sharp gasp, Kaleia's eyes snapped open, and she lay there for a good long minute - or so it felt - before turning harshly over to her left.

The little light coming in from the window before her eyes landed right on where her hand latched onto, the skin over her knuckles stretching. Moonlight brought to visual life the carefree, southwestern-inspired comforter in summer-autumn hues. At the foot of the bed, on the opposite wall, was the cherry wood vanity and mirror reserved just for her, filled with her large jewelry box and necessary perfume bottles, along with her hairbrush and comb. Next to that was the big, multi-drawer dresser having all their clothing items not needed to be hung in the small closet, above being a framed picture of many photographs of themselves, with each other, and the other people in their lives.

She took another breath and let it out, remaining on her back and looking ahead at those things, once she moved from lying on her side, before gazing over to her left, where the one that mattered most was there, out like a log and snoring as loud as a train, making her giggle and almost hiccup.

Mike's hair was mussed all over the place, but that came with sleeping territory, Captain Obvious. His sweet mouth was parted open so he could breathe through there. Nothing about him was out of place, not even to fit her nightmare.

With a small smile, Kaleia reached over and ran the back of her fingers over his bangs which fell over his eyes. But the peace didn't last, for the memory of the visceral imagery returned to seize her heart, causing it to roar into panic mode.

I need to...I need...

She quickly but carefully slid out of the bed, the undersides of her feet touching the soft carpet. She padded out, both hands clutching the skirt of her nightgown, and left the bedroom door cracked a little because she didn't wanna close it and let the hinges wake her boyfriend up. Kaleia, in the dark because she knew her own residence, found the sofa and sat down, reaching for the lamp string. As soon as she turned it on, she gasped at the new presence in front of her that she either didn't pay attention to or didn't hear because they'd been there the whole time.

"Up and at 'em at this hour, Leia?" the voice of Ballora - Mom - within the "monstrosity" known as Ennard quipped tenderly, cocking its head to the right.

Kaleia leaned back against the sofa, grounding herself and crossing her legs in lotus position beneath herself, smoothing the long skirt over them. "Yeah, been a while since I had this one."

~o~

Her beloved had been on a mission she hated with a passion.

His father disowned him after the death of his brother, so he'd moved here to Beaver, Utah, with his mother after the divorce and the disappearance of his sister - now they knew the truth - while his Uncle Henry stayed behind to try and take care of everything himself, especially after his daughter. Didn't stop there.

Clara Schmidt was understandably vehement when she received the letter that arrived at her house, which her son read and said that maybe he should ask Henry for his help and that it was for the best she and Kaleia were kept out of it. Oh, he owed her big time if he made it out of there, and he certainly did. Mike also found out a shit ton that would have been so hard to believe if that THING had not come back with him and Henry, who had ventured out to help explain everything. Everything her grandparents were better off never knowing. It was a miracle Melinda's husband didn't shit his pants when, prior to the little mission, he and her best friend met Ennard, and then everyone except the girls went out again. Medical attention would have been needed because Mel was a doctor and Kaleia a nurse, but the guys knew how to look after themselves because of what their ladies taught them.

Jeremy also had volunteered to join Mike, citing being her boyfriend's best friend since childhood and also wanting to just help him out. It wasn't a question of a man's world, since in this day and age, men and women were treated equally. They just wanted to keep her and Melinda out of it despite the fact they'd briefly served in Desert Storm. Well, as soon as he got home, he sure was in for a world of hurt - and I don't mean slaps, punches, or anything, Kaleia thought naughtily.

William Afton murdered Charlotte Emily soon after the death of his youngest son, Evan, and also did so to five more children a couple of years later, including Kaleia's parents and a mole who helped them.

Her mom and dad had gotten too close to the truth and paid for it with their lives, and so did the young man who had nothing to lose. Mason and Akela should deserve to know what happened to their daughter and son-in-law, but they were working on all of that. It had been a few weeks since Michael came home with this mass known as "Ennard".

Mom had been in Ballora the Ballerina, Dad in Funtime Foxy, and their ally in Funtime Freddy. Just Mama Ilene remembered her past life while Dad James and the third didn't recall a damn thing.

And Elizabeth Afton possessed none other than the star herself, Circus Baby.

Kaleia was sure her nightmares would have been what if Michael had not come back to her as he was now.

William Afton paid for his crimes, in the end, when it was also discovered that he'd been behind the murders and disappearances. The corpses were found within all four suits, and another in the decommissioned Fredbear suit in Parts and Service, which was also where the confirmed Spring Bonnie costume lay. The families of the missing kids got their closure when an "anonymous tip" called them to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where the Core Four were possessed by the bodies of their children and they got the bodies to bury - with the police also receiving the same tip from a payphone - and Afton was arrested immediately before he could go underground AGAIN.

Speaking of underground, while that was happening, that was where Michael's adventure came in.

Circus Baby knew he was her brother, spotting the similarity in the face, and manipulated him so that her memory chip and parts could be used along with the scooped parts of Funtime Freddy and Foxy, and Ballora, thus Ennard was born. She had malicious intent to scoop out Michael's insides so they could escape the bunker.

Anything to get out of the days, nights, years of torturous controlled shocks by her own father and other workers who didn't know the truth.

Elizabeth thought she could boss around the other souls in the machinery, but they overruled and cast her out, so they went back with Michael while both parties, along with the help of Henry, kept them hidden from plain sight until they got home to Kaleia. Who knew where Baby was now.

Ennard had been a sporadic mess of wires at first but got back together as before with the men's help. Now that they lived with the soon-to-be Schmidt couple, life started to go back to semi-normal after the shocks went down. The nightmares and worries slowly went down over time...until tonight.

~o~

"Awww, you poor thing!" Ennard-Foxy chirped, the entire thing then crawling around the coffee table to be on her right. "He's right in that room, we're here, and THEY'RE gone." Meaning Afton and Baby. "It's just a darned dream."

"Yeah, I know that, but it still feels so real," Kaleia mumbled.

Ennard-Freddy tutted. "Nuh-uh, woulda happened if we didn't get Baby's ass outta here. She went through what we did, but in the end, she ended up like her maker and worse. We weren't gonna hurt someone who didn't deserve it." Yeah, that would have happened - or kept happening - if William Afton was still free. He was behind bars, the animatronic shells dismantled and the dead bodies recovered, and they were far enough away.

Circus Baby was still out there, but what could she be doing? Was she finding ways to put herself back together, even killing someone to satisfy her bloodlust? Would she find her and Mike, any of the others?

Kaleia was scared sometimes. So scared that the nightmare had returned. Sensing this, Ennard-Ballora spoke, and the entire body of wires crawled closer so an arm wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. "Sweetheart, don't be scared. We're here to protect all of you. We were taken away before, but we're together again as long as you need us."

"I...I love you, Mom!" She threw her arms around the robotic mass, its smooth white clown mask sending silken chills through the skin of her cheek and neck. The embrace tightened around her but took care to mind its strength.

"Love you, too, Kaleia. We never should have left you, one of us never should have left you, but what's done is done. We are here now...and so is  he.  Now dry those tears and get back to your prince."

Yeah, Michael was here. He hadn't been torn open and used as a puppet until his flesh and muscles became too rotten inside and out to last.

She laid a peck on the mask's right side which faced her, and after saying good night again as well as thanking them, she rushed back to the bedroom where Mike was waiting.

~o~

"I was about to get up and see where you were, darling."

Just her luck he was awake now, just as she was coming back in. "Nightmare again. Ennard calmed me down," Kaleia answered, closing the door behind her. Better not let Mom, Dad, and their friend see what they were gonna do, what she was positive would happen unless Michael wasn't in the mood.

He sat upright, knees, raised to hide his abdomen but leaving his luscious pectoral muscles exposed, nipples hard from the exposure. That generic but ultra-sexy dark hair he normally kept parted down the middle and in a bang over one side of his face was all over the place from the position he'd slept in. That was enough for her to hurry over and jump right in front of him on the foot of the bed, like a teenage girl again, the feeling matching. Bolting upright, she whirled to kneel in front of him and threw her arms around him. Michael burst out guffawing, the mood changing like a whip lashing. "Whoa, that's a hell of a way to wake up!"

"Ssh, don't let them hear us." Kaleia giggled, putting her puckered lips on the bridge of his nose for a second.

"For wha - oh, I see what you mean."

"In the mood?"

"After having an idea of what the nightmare was? I can guess, love. I'll get in the mood." He smirked devilishly and slid off the bed to his left.

"How about if I...help?" She flopped to her right, leaning backward, throwing her hair around, and spreading her legs even though the nightgown covered what she "showed" him.

Mike's eyes darkened. Even through the semi-sheer gauze blooming sweetly with random petals, he could still see the outlines of her arms and legs through the airy, billowing elbow sleeves and skirt, and her breast valley through the plunging neckline. She let her hair run free and wild effortlessly in "beach waves", embodying the spirit of her Hawaiian culture. Kaleia took it further by bringing a hand up from the blanket surface, pulling the skirt up skillfully from that one side, exposing inch by inch of her thigh. Her man's eyes watched every movement, never breaking contact. She stopped when she got to the top of that thigh, using that same hand to dip underneath and -

"Come and get me, Mikey boy."

That little bit of masturbation and tugging lightly on her pubic hair was all it took to get his little wooden head to rise, and for him to jump onto her like a lion pouncing its prey.

If they had a camera filming this to look back on years from now - as long as they kept their future kids from finding it, and God forbid, Ennard - they'd agree this was an overwhelmingly exciting and titillatingly romantic version of any trashy porno. And right after that horrible dream which will NEVER happen.

Outside, unbeknownst to the couple in potent rapture, said amalgamation of animatronic parts was outside the bedroom sniggering and hysterically giggling while Ballora, the only voice of reason, scolded the boys for their immaturity.

Chapter Text

Angrily, her husband threw the newspaper down on the table. "Damn it, and I thought that was over with!"

"Babe, what is it?"

"Nothing that we should bother with, but this is...ugh," Mike groaned, covering his face with his hands and leaning back in the dining table chair. "I can't believe it."

Vanessa scowled, turning away from the stove, where the bacon had just been turned on. "Oh, don't give me that. Lemme see." She then picked up what had made him upset, and so early this morning. But then, what she saw...

What she saw made her heart roll, threatening to fall to her stomach, also sure to make the baby growing in her act up.

"'Coming Soon: Fazbear's Frights Horror Attraction,'" she read aloud. "'In a few weeks, your socks will be knocked off by the new theme park based on the unsolved mysteries of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Featuring actual relics from the decades-old pizzeria, this new ride is guaranteed to bring back your childhood in the worst possible way...'" There was more to the article, but she stopped because she knew what it would include: the mention of the children who were never found and presumed dead, their families never getting closure.

And it was added that William Afton, who hadn't been seen in public for decades since the pizzeria's closure, was revealed to be career counselor Steve Raglan upon search of his home.

And exposed as Vanessa's father.

Chief Clay Burke, whose son she and Sammy had been friends with since childhood, vouched for her because he needed someone to keep an eye out on things in the pizzeria over the years. He'd had some undercover cops go in, posing as nightguards only to vanish without a trace - and any evidence they'd gotten disappeared with them. Someone had done a damned good job and no trace of foul play, he'd said bitterly. That was when he decided to let her have a beat role right after the latest officer vanished...

...right before Mike was hired.

Clay never said a word to her before that mess, but she could have sworn she saw a knowing look in his eye. Said he believed even now that William was responsible, though that put her in a somewhat compromising position now that it got out in the investigation.

At least it was left out that she didn't know the entire time except most recently, Mike, Abby, Sammy, and Clay being on her side.

Didn't stop some from giving her looks, and she heard the whispers that she was an accomplice getting off scot-free. Never mind everything she did to prove herself, the hard work she sweated for to get to where she was now. As a result, she was put on medical leave after waking up.

Vanessa thought she could tough it out because she'd done that all her life, growing up under the roof of a dangerous man who hadn't been what she thought he was after Mom died.

To her surprise, when she awoke, she got the promotion to detective, when she should have gotten suspended or discharged from the force because she was a killer's offspring.

Sammy must have said something, because when she woke up, having the scar on her stomach that would permanently remain. Which would still be visible yet stretched a bit as her first child was gonna grow.

"I'm gonna call him later and ask him what next," Vanessa told her husband of two years. He glanced at her and just nodded, pursing his lips together. He was so pissed, but she knew it wasn't towards her. Mike inhaled through his nose and let it out slowly, repeating it until he calmed down.

"Yeah, sorry, babe. But we on the same page that we don't tell Abby this?"

"Yep, it's between us three."

When she reached out to him, she briefly looked at where her ring was, the one from him. The only piece of jewelry she'd ever wear, that she'd ever worn in her life every single day. The memory of their biggest day flashed before her eyes.

~o~

The sun beat down on the raging river which glowed like a diamond of many shades. It peeked through the treetops on the small group which enjoyed the privacy of nature and God.

Laughter was carried onward past the leaves and branches, so He would only know of the happiness.

A silk train delicate as the lily flower flew out behind the bride who wore it, the rest of the captivating dress bearing cold-shouldered long sleeves with an obsessively dramatic lace back, the same fabric hemming all over the end of the skirt. It was all a balance of sweet innocence and romantic allure, to show off who and what she was. Sleek icy golden ringlets were accented with an enchanting headband of pearls, porcelain white lily flowers, and bright metal leaves attached to cascading strands of silk snowy blossoms that draped through the hair on the sides and down the back.

The figure of the woman, far from being a princess but finally feeling like one, led the chase fairytales were made of. A young man's laugh came after her as he called, "Hey, we gotta get back!"

She peeked out from behind the tree, grinning. "They can spare a couple more minutes before we get dinner, Mikey." She took to using that nickname when their relationship started evolving into something more comfortable before today after the fires blew over and she'd awakened from her deep sleep.

Sammy and Abby, who were the only people there for their special day, since they didn't have much to go on for a big ceremony, although someday they could renew their vows, were elsewhere and having fun at another part of the river. The rule was that her new little sister-in-law who was almost a teenager didn't go too far or without adult supervision, that supervision coming in the form of Sammy.

Vanessa changed tactic and slipped to the other side of the tree when Mike conceded to the game she started, this time to place her hand on the bark of the trunk, showing off the only ring he was able to give her. Liquid gold metal for her hair, both sides having four brilliant, icy cubic zirconia the size of dewdrops, the central gem slightly bigger and being a citrine which looked brownish bordering on smoky quartz when light didn't hit it - "For your eyes," he said, sending her heart aflutter.

It was made for an extraordinary love that came only once in a lifetime.

The citrine's hue evoked the sun, for optimism and a hopeful future, the zirconia being a cheaper substitute for a diamond.

His hand came to rest over it, showing off the plain gold band he sported. His lips followed in sync. This was what she'd wanted all her life but was scared of it being taken away, by her father more than anyone else.

If things had been different, if he'd never committed his sins against those children, Charlie, and Mike's brother, would William have given her away and continued calling her his little bunny princess without it making her feel shackled?

He was gone. His victims took him away to suffer their fate. She was here and had earned her happy ending.

~o~

With that memory, Vanessa now doubted the validity of "earn your happy ending".

"- hey! The bacon!" Mike shouted, snapping her out of the memory.

"Oh, crap!" Vanessa jumped up with him and hurried to the stove. "SHIT!" She turned the burner off and moved the pan over to the backburner and exhaled in relief, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Just bacon, Ness. It's all good." Mike's hot breath made its way to behind her ear, making her shiver and relax. "We both got caught up."

"Caught up in what?"

Abby just made her presence known, the almost-fourteen-year-old flouncing with her zip-up binder and miniature handbag over her neck so that anyone thinking of it couldn't snatch it off her shoulder. They grow up so fast, Vanessa thought warmly and sadly, thinking of the kid in her she never thought she'd ever have, that Mike also never thought he'd have. Abby had grown into quite the little lady, in that new top Vanessa helped her pick out for her birthday much to the chagrin of poor Mikey: sleeveless, medium pink, gathering in the front where the up-and-down buttons were, the edges of the sleeves and the collar being striped. Her once short, bouncy, and curly dark hair was now shoulder-length and wavy. And her big brother just about had a heart attack seeing her now.

"Abs, seriously?!"

"Vanessa got me this, and I'm growing up, remember?" Abby stuck her tongue out at him, sitting down at the table, dropping her items to the side for now.

Vanessa laughed at their antics, forgetting about the news just for now.

The phone call took place after her young sister-in-law went off to school, Mike to work at the Dollar Tree - she was on maternity leave as of the start of the final trimester - and sure enough, Sammy had grim news.

"I tried to stop them, spoke to the board, but I was overruled. They're disgracing the memories of the kids!" Sammy shouted on the other end. "You know exactly what it means, right?"

"Lousy way to make a buck and keep themselves afloat," Vanessa snipped, lying back against the pillows of her and Mike's bed, crossing one leg over the other as best as she could. Absently, she twirled the cord of the phone on her side, right behind the picture of their wedding, with Abby and Sammy with them. "Relive the nightmare with 'true-to-life decor' and 'old animatronic parts and '-" She stopped talking then, arms growing cold and onward down to her legs. "You don't suppose..."

He grunted. "Still looking through everything, but they've yet to find the animatronics - whatever's left of them. Even we hadn't been back since that night."

"You don't think...he's still there?"

Her father had gotten himself crushed in his own springlock suit, courtesy of Chica's cupcake, right after the truth was shown to the gang in Abby's drawing. Then they dragged him off to wherever leaving him to his fate. Vanessa still had so many emotions about that, after all these years. Everything in her life had been nothing short of complicated. On the one hand in terms of the past, before Mom's accidental death, Charlie's murder, the kidnappings of Garrett and the other kids, William had been a good father and did everything to make her the center of the universe. On the other hand of that, he used and manipulated, threatened, and did everything to keep her from doing something he didn't like - all to protect his crimes like a coward - which also included masterfully convincing her no one would have believed her if she tried telling the police, and if she did, then she was next even if it broke his heart. He blamed everyone but himself for everything that went wrong.

"Help me clean up the mess that YOU created!"

To this day, Vanessa wondered if he really did love her or just had a sense of belonging, and decided to discard once the use ran out. The look in his eyes when he stabbed her gut, the wound which she still had even now as a scar, told her he couldn't believe he'd done that.

She hated and loved him at the same time. She was scared of him and wasn't, also at the same time.

If he was still in the suit, maybe...

~o~

"All done, Mrs. Schmidt!" Natalia, her chipper hairstylist, squeaked excitedly when she finished combing out the still-damp golden locks that were now just below the ears, soon to be made out into the natural waves their owner preferred when not tied up. "Oooh, you should see yourself!"

And that was a woman liberated.

Taking in a deep breath, Vanessa heaved it out and thrilled the beating of her heart. Mike's gonna love this, and Abby's gonna say she wishes we'd matched before. That made her giggle. Both hands flicked the hair behind her ears, unapologetic and graceful. Downward, the slightly large, sage green blouse which rolled up to the sleeves was made to accommodate her seven-month growth, finished off with black sweatpants.

"Look at what you'll never know, Dad," she whispered into the mirror when Natalia walked off to the counter, waiting for her to pay and tip. You're the one who brought this on yourself, not me or anyone else.

She met with Sammy soon after on the same day. "What do you have so far?" she asked in a hushed voice, over a blood orange soda and him having it as a rocks margarita for obvious reasons.

Her best friend and sorta brother, in a yellow-and-light-blue diamond pattern stitched black V-neck sweater over a light blue collared shirt, pushed his groomed, sleek dark hair behind his ears purely out of habit, lips pursed tightly. "They found the animatronics all the kids were in, and they converted them in...some ways," he said hesitantly. "They freaking butchered them to the point of looking like horrific shadows of themselves."

Vanessa closed her eyes. "Oh, God."

"Yeah, they were broken down by thieves at some point in the past, after it was left as it was when your father 'disappeared'. That meant anyone who broke in could defend themselves, except there's no telling if one by one was spread out over time, or if it was all at once - or whether or not they had experience with machinery, which could be possible - but it's happened. We left that place behind, remember, because it was for the best of everyone, and no one's touched it with a ten-foot pole since? Well, guess what, Vanny?"

She did not want to know the exact details of each animatronic. All she could think of was those precious innocent souls, some of whom she'd known as regulars at the pizzeria. All were reduced to being mere decorations; would they come alive on their own and kill again even as they were? And what about her father...?

"-nessa?"

"Wh-wha - oh, sorry, Sammy. I was thinking about them."

He nodded, smiling sadly. "It's sickening. But I have a plan. You're not gonna like it."

And when he told her, she sure as hell didn't.

"You are NOT going there, nor are you gonna do it alone," Vanessa said heatedly when they were back at the house. Mike wouldn't be home until after sundown, Abby coming home from school just before that on the bus. "I should stay out of it because of the baby, but -"

"Exactly why," Sammy interrupted, putting both hands on her shoulders. "If he's there, I don't wanna endanger you both, and if that happened, not only would Mike and Abby ever forgive me, I'll never forgive myself." He lowered his head so his forehead touched hers.

The last time she saw William, he'd punctured her stomach all for disobeying him and protecting her now-husband and sister-in-law, for making a mess that never was, that had been caused by him in the first place. That look of regret and pain in his eyes wouldn't change her thoughts now, because she knew exactly what a parent was: someone who did everything in their power to keep their child safe and never stooped low to the level of the child's equal in terms of rebellion. A parent should NEVER willingly endanger their offspring. The baby on the way made her see that, but it was that night long before.

Maybe she was being stupid, but if William was still alive somehow, she wanted him to see her. To see where she was now, and while keeping Abby out of it - and maybe a talk with Mike to keep him in the loop - she and Sammy would put an end to all of it. The police supply outposts had everything for them in waiting.

Her husband would be so angry if he ever found out she'd done this without telling him.

~o~

On the outside, Fazbear's Fright appeared as the pizzeria, same size and all, though the black-and-white checkered trimming near the base was a yucky yellowish brown, peeling in some places. The sign was a refashioned Freddy in the same neon format, this time bearing a red-eyed, fanged, and clawed version in which the bear bit right into the "F" of "Frights", center stage. The lighting itself flickered in and out in random places, going on and off all at once in between.

One major flaw: the electrical system was faulty in the sense that it could easily catch fire if you weren't careful, in any capacity.

Sammy keyed her in, saying a new security guard for the night was still being hired, and that was when Mike came in.

"If you want a security guard, I can put in some hours, and Sammy and I can trade in shifts in between so one of us gets some -"

"No, Mike!" Motherly hormones and wife instincts combined, Vanessa vehemently refused. Telling him was just to keep him informed, not to get him involved like before. "No, that's not what we talked about. This is supposed to be just us, and I've tried talking Sammy out of it." She nodded in his direction, getting a somber nod.

"Yeah, none of us wanna do it, but you know we have to. Abby's gonna be kept out of it, so glad we agree on that."

Mike shook his head. "I don't want you doing this because of..." He trailed off, putting a palm on her belly, her own joining atop. "Anything could happen."

She laid a peck on his clean-shaven cheek. "I know, but we have some ideas to approach this, so no one gets hurt again like last time." Unlikely.

The electrical systems were risky, so that meant burning the place down was an option. But first, they had to comb the blueprints, and Sammy got his hands on those as well as what cameras were in use. The hallways and vents had them everywhere, so yeah, security got a bit more there, even if the devices were "old school". Management wanted it to be as authentic as possible, some going far as to call it "prehistoric". The old training recording tapes...

"The maintenance panel is to reboot the system in case anything goes offline, and takes a bit," Vanessa stated, understanding the extremely high possibility her father - wherever he was - would reach the security office, which had a large window and no doors.

"They really overdid the vintage with this place," Mike added with a sarcastic laugh.

They would learn the fates of the four children's mechanized husks: both Foxy and Chica were reduced to just being headlamps - the former on a wall, the latter on the floor of all damned places! - while Bonnie and Freddy's torsos and heads were put on stands. The poor bear was placed in front of the doorway of the security office while the bunny, which had been her favorite in childhood before it went to hell, was set in another hallway.

And then, the next day, the word got back to the Schmidt couple:

"They found him, you guys. We move tonight."

~o~

All of them were on the monitors before she went out there, while the guys were getting everything ready and she willingly stayed here to observe.

All of them nothing but shells, entrapped and worse than they'd been.

Thank God she'd gone to the bathroom at home more than once before they all came out here; she could just hope it wouldn't happen at the wrong damned time. Thank God the shortness of breath wasn't as bad as it would become later in this trimester. Thank God her lower back wasn't killing her - much.

Thank God for small miracles, and that she didn't jinx it.

This office was so grotesque. The half-assembled Freddy Fazbear, Gabriel Grace's spirit resting within at the moment, mocked them just by existing. Along the surface of the mostly clear desk were a desk fan, three character figurines - Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie - a crumpled ball of paper and a soda cup. The atmosphere was decrepit in here as it was everywhere else, the lighting emitting an eerie green-yellow glow, sickly and decaying. The smell of the mold in some areas made her stomach and the baby roll but not release anything. Too cheap to be water-proofed, but they wanted "authentic" and "vintage". Could have done something else, but that's Fazbear Entertainment for you.

Vanessa was in one of the storage closets, and torturously enough, she was facing the one thing they had truly come here for.

Dad...

There lay the Spring Bonnie suit, green and moldy from years of condensation and rotting. In several places that were naturally ripped away from lack of care, you could see the reddish-purple stuff beneath, which she knew were a human's remains. Half an ear was missing, as she remembered. The smell hit her as soon as she even set foot in its presence. She never bothered to set foot back in Freddy Fazbear's after the events that took place, which Clay covered up for her and Sammy's sake, but now...now she felt nothing. No fear, except for the child in her belly who was counting on her and her boys, and Abby who was oblivious to tonight - or was she? I'm not gonna engage this time, except with words.

She hoped he suffered enough in his final moments.

"...you're here...V-Van-essa."

She could faintly hear the voice as soon as she creaked the door open, seeing the slight twitching of the body. The dead man in the machine woke up, or had he just been patiently waiting, as his way of playing around with them? The earpiece in her right ear glitched with Mike's voice. "Be careful, okay? We're watching."

The rabbit's head slowly raised itself, the glowing white eyes flickering like a light bulb fluctuating between life and death. "T-thought...you were...dead, b-bab -"

Vanessa knew exactly what he was gonna say, and she wouldn't let him. "I stopped being your baby girl a long time ago," she snapped, slamming the door behind her, allowing him to see the entire front of her body, and the large hill that was her abdomen. His attention fell to that immediately. A rough, coughing sound escaped through the partially opened jaws.

"- the father?"

"Someone you'll never know, just like our baby will NEVER know you. All they'll know is the monster who made me feel like I was safe only to try to kill me for protecting others I loved when I couldn't save them."

One of William's hands clenched at his side, and he slammed it onto the ground next to him, but it didn't make her jump. Not this time. "I did it for your mother. To bring her back."

And for what? Because he saw the puppet alive and thought to experiment, only to give up for years when the police suspected him but let him go when the corpses weren't found? Fredbear, now possessed by Cassidy Landis who had been a mean, manipulative kid in life, never showed any signs of life, and Clara never appeared to Abby once, so what did that mean? Mom had no strong feelings when she died, and she'd be ashamed if she saw him now. Disappointed, heartbroken.

"And what do you do after everything I've done and tried to do for you?" William went on, trying to push his gaslighting onto her like he used to. "I never wanted to hurt you, not my little bunny, but you betrayed me! I trusted you to have my back covered when I needed you to! You went off as soon as you were old enough, and I knew you'd return, but what do you do? Side with the enemy at every turn! You pushed me for the last time that night!"

"YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF!" Vanessa shouted, keeping both hands protectively over her belly, lifting her shirt to show the scar from his knife when he betrayed her. Not the other way around. "What about Uncle Henry and Sammy, when you took away their daughter and sister? One of my bestest friends? Mike's brother, who was the first trial run of getting away with it, right after Charlie? Did you do that so Henry would feel some similar pain you felt, because of the springlocks you two created? AND ALL THE FAMILIES YOU BROKE?!" The tears burned the corners of her eyes. "You enjoyed it; don't you bullshit me. You say it was for Mom, for getting our family back, but I never would have done that in the world for my family. I never will even if something does happen. I'm better than you ever will be. I don't have an ego to make up for what I lack.

"If you think you can make amends by bringing back the kids when their families either moved on or are dead by now, even if it means new victims to supply - which I will NOT do - then you're dreaming. Mom would be ashamed if she could see you now. Just leave everything as it is, because the kids and their families deserve better, and so does mine."

The rabbit bowed its head at some point during her raging. "...you're right, Vanny. You're better than I ever was. It won't change a thing, but I admit I regret dragging you into something that was never your fault. I was never the best father even though I tried, and after we lost your mom...nothing was the same." The lids closed then, accepting his fate, maybe having accepted it a long time ago.

That was it. They both said their pieces and could move on.

William was trapped where he was, but she, Mike, and Sammy were gonna make doubly sure.

If they'd come in without the blueprints including all the fire exits, then they'd be screwed.

"I never will let you hurt another again," Vanessa declared, after listening to her husband announce the gasoline was poured all over the place, and he was almost there so he could provide the finishing touch. "I won't ever let you live on to come after us and do to your grandchild what you did to me. A parent should never let their child get hurt, or go far as to stoop on the same level to get even, like you did with me. You could have just knocked me out like you did to Mike, but no, you stabbed my gut. The regret in your eyes changes nothing. Goodbye...Dad."

~o~

FAZBEAR'S FRIGHT BURNS TO THE GROUND:  A new local attraction based on an ancient pizzeria chain burned down overnight. Authorities have not ruled out foul play, but at the moment, it seems to have been caused by faulty wiring. Very little was found at the scene. The recovered remaining items that were salvaged will be sold at public auction.

When the last of the gasoline found its way onto William Afton's possessed, machine-entrapped living corpse, the match had been lit, and they got out unscathed, fleeing but not before Sammy did the honors of locking their exit in case their enemy thought of the opportunity.

Not only would her father go to burn in hell, but the souls of the children were finally released to be at peace.

When they got home, Abby was safe and sound. The baby in Vanessa was safe and sound.

The next morning, the news was all over, and Sammy promised he could handle the responsibility if anyone laid their eyes on him during the investigation.

When Vanessa and Mike got home, it was cuddle time until they fell asleep.