And to you, my brave volunteer (your job isn't over)

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/38278348.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: Gen
Fandom: Five Nights at Freddy's
Relationship: Michael Afton & Gregory, Glamrock Freddy & Gregory (Five Nights at
Freddy's), Michael Afton & Glamrock Freddy, Michael Afton & William
Afton | Dave Miller, Michael Afton & The Crying Child, Elizabeth Afton &
Michael Afton, Vanessa A. | Ness & Michael Afton & Gregory
Character: Michael Afton, Gregory (Five Nights at Freddy's), Glamrock Freddy
(Five Nights at Freddy's), Glamrock Chica (Five Nights at Freddy's),
Glamrock Animatronics (Five Nights at Freddy's), Vanessa A. | Ness,
Sun (Five Nights at Freddy's), Moon (Five Nights at Freddy's), Roxanne
Wolf (Five Nights at Freddy's), Montgomery Gator (Five Nights at
Freddy's), Vanny | Reluctant Follower | Beta-Tester, The Crying Child
(Five Nights at Freddy's), William Afton | Dave Miller, Elizabeth Afton,
Cassidy (Five Nights at Freddy's), The Blob (Five Nights at Freddy's)
Additional Tags: Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, Protective Michael, Gregory Needs
a Hug (Five Nights at Freddy's), Michael was scooped but he's ok now,
Michael Afton and Mike Schmidt are the Same Person, Michael Afton
Does Not Possess Glamrock Freddy, love that theory but wanted to try
something different, Unscooped Michael Afton, Protective Glamrock
Freddy (Five Nights at Freddy's), it/its and he/him pronouns for sun and
moon, Blood and Violence, Blood and Injury, Hurt Michael Afton, Eggs
Benedict is Michael Afton, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst,
Fluff and Humor, Michael Afton is The Crying Child's Older Brother, The
Crying Child is Named Evan Afton, POV Gregory (Five Nights at
Freddy's), mostly - Freeform, POV Michael Afton, just a bit, Angst with a
Happy Ending
Language: English
Series: Part 1 of Security Breach: Michael Edition
Stats: Published: 2022-04-10 Completed: 2022-05-02 Chapters: 23/23 Words:
34622

And to you, my brave volunteer (your job isn't over)

by glamrocker

Summary

“Open your hatch.”

Gregory freezes in fear as Freddy does just that, making him come face to face with the
mysterious Mr. Schimdt. He looks a lot younger than Gregory thought he’d be. He was
expecting an adult, but this guy looks like a teenager, maybe a little older. He’s fair
skinned, with freckles lining his exposed shoulders, and he has blue eyes and short, wavy
brown hair. He doesn’t look threatening, especially with that terrified look on his face.
 Or, What if Michael was in Security Breach from the very beginning?

Notes

Hello!!! Wow, I did not expect to publish this. This started off as a fun little project and
spiraled into a full blown story with a plot and everything. I haven't published a fic in years,
let alone a fnaf fic. I haven't even touched this account since 2019, but...here we are!

Glamrock Freddy grabbed me by the neck and has been dragging my ass around since
December. I can't get fnaf out of my head. I feel like I'm 15 again and discovering it for the
first time lol. Also I love Michael and miss him even though I support the Glammike
theory. I'm bringing this bitch back in my story sorry Mike but you can die some other
time/lh

I just love the thought of Michael and Gregory raising hell together. Chaos boys unite.

Anyway...enjoy whatever this is. Sorry if it isn't great, I was just having fun with it. I quite
enjoyed writing it so I hope you enjoy reading it :)

(Also I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I tried my best to proofread

everything but some things always slip past me ;-;)

See the end of the work for more notes

 Security Breached

The inside of Freddy’s hatch is surprisingly comfortable.

It isn't as squished inside as he thought it would be. He honestly didn’t think he’d fit at first, but he
did, with wiggle room to spare. Either he’s really small or Freddy is that large. Probably both.
Freddy is, what, ten feet tall? It feels like he is at least. And he knows for a fact that he’s too
skinny and small for a ten year old. Perks of living on the streets for a year.

It’s no big deal. All he has to do is wait for the scary security guard lady to go far away and then he
can make his escape. That was his original plan, until someone walked into Freddy’s room.

“All right big guy, let’s see what the hell is wrong with you.”

Gregory’s heart starts beating rapidly, not expecting an unknown visitor to come see Freddy. They
sound male, and have a weird accent. He can hear them tinkering with Freddy, so they must be a
mechanic. Of course a mechanic would come check on Freddy after he malfunctioned…why didn’t
he think about that?!

“Ah…showtime already?”

“Afraid not,” the person responds, “you had a malfunction on stage. Freaked everyone out.”

“Oh dear. I apologize for the inconvenience Mr. Schmidt.”

“Not your fault big guy,” the guy- Mr. Schmidt huffs, “but I’m not sure why your systems shut
down so suddenly.”

The guy tinkers with Freddy for a few more minutes before something knocks into the bear,
jostling him a bit. It surprises Gregory so much that he accidentally lets out a small yelp. He
quickly covers his mouth and nose with both hands, cursing himself for his stupidity.

“What…was that?”

“I am not sure Mr. Schimdt.”

“It sounded like-“ the guy doesn’t finish his sentence. Gregory hears him walk around Freddy,
facing the animatronics front. “Open your hatch.”

Gregory freezes in fear as Freddy does just that, making him come face to face with the mysterious
Mr. Schimdt. He looks a lot younger than Gregory thought he’d be. He was expecting an adult, but
this guy looks like a teenager, maybe a little older. He’s fair skinned, with freckles lining his
exposed shoulders, and he has blue eyes and short, wavy brown hair. He doesn’t look threatening,
especially with that terrified look on his face.

“Jesus fuck-“ he curses. He gently reaches in towards him, and Gregory’s first instinct is to wiggle
away from the stranger. “Hey hey hey kid calm down, it’s not safe for you in there!”

“Kid? There is a child in my hatch?! That space is reserved for cakes and piñata's only!”

“No shit Freddy,” the man scoffs. Freddy mutters a ‘language,’ but it’s ignored. Gregory squirms
as the man places one arm under his back and legs, lifting him out of Freddy’s hatch. “Easy does
it…”
Once Gregory is safely on the floor, he looks up at Mr. Schmidt with a frown on his face. Schmidt
levels him with his best ‘what the fuck are you doing?’ face. “What the hell where you doing in
there kid?”

“Language,” Freddy says. Schmidt rolls his eyes.

“Hiding.”

“Ok. And why were you hiding?”

“The security guard started chasing me so I climbed into Freddy’s hatch to avoid her.”

“Officer Vanessa was just trying to do her job,” Freddy says, “I will contact the main office and tell
her you are here.”

Freddy’s eyes light up, but they dim just as quickly. The bear hums in confusion. “Strange…my
signal seems to be weak.”

“It’s probably her fault,” Gregory huffs, “I don’t trust her.”

“Alright.”

Gregory looks up at Schmidt in surprise. Even Freddy looks surprised - as surprised as a robot can.
Mr. Schmidt shrugs. “What? I’m not gonna force you to trust her or something. I’ll just take you to
the entrance myself, or even have Freddy do it, if you like him more. Plus, I never fully trusted
Vanessa either, so I don’t blame you for getting wary.”

“I have never noticed something odd about officer Vanessa,” Freddy says. Mr. Schmidt shrugs
again.

“It’s more of a vibe thing, I guess.”

“You…you won’t hand me over to her?”

“Nah,” Schmidt shakes his head, “I’m not as much as a hard ass as Vanessa anyway. I’m almost
done with my shift, so just stick by me and I’ll call your parents so they can take you back home.”

That…sounds a lot better than having Vanessa help him, even though there are no parents waiting
for him. And this Mr. Schmidt guy seems ok, unlike officer Vanessa. He doesn’t get any bad vibes
from him, as the older man puts it. So, he nods. “Alright…just don’t try anything funny. I’ll kick
you in the ankles.”

Mr. Schmidt chuckles. “Noted. I’ll see you tomorrow then Freddy.”

“I will see you tomorrow, Mr. Schmidt. And I hope to see you under better circumstances,
superstar!”

“M’name is Gregory,” he says, waving towards Freddy, “bye Freddy. Sorry for hiding in your
hatch.”

“It is fine. I am just glad you are alright.”

Gregory nods and follows Mr. Schmidt out of Freddy’s room. He locks the room with some sort of
pass, before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking towards…somewhere. “First, I need to
go fix the shitty pass machine that keeps breaking down, then I’ll clock out and contact your
parents. Shouldn’t take more than ten minutes. Sound good?”
“Yeah,” he shrugs. Mr. Schmidt nods and begins walking towards the main Atrium, so he sticks
close by his side. He recognizes the path they’re on - he’s taking him to the prize area. Gregory
didn’t spend too much time there, but when he first snuck in he contemplated stealing a few items
from here. He decided against it, figuring getting caught stealing a few prizes wasn’t worth
missing out on free food.

“So,” Mr. Schmidt starts, “why did officer Vanessa start chasing you in the first place? Did you get
lost or something?”

“Sort of,” he mumbled. He looks up at Schmidt. “Why do you sound like that?” he asks, partially
for the topic change, and because he’s also curious.

“Sound like what? My accent?” Schmidt chuckles, “I’m British kid. I originally lived in England.”

“Why’d you move here?”

“My parents moved here when I was younger, so I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Do you miss living there?”

“No. It’s been…a very long time since I’ve lived there. Wouldn’t feel like home anymore.”

Gregory frowns. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one. How old are you?”

“Ten.”

“Really? You’re kind of small for your age.”

“Maybe you’re just a giant!”

Schmidt cackles as they walk into the prize area. “Maybe so.”

Mr. Schmidt leads them towards a machine that he assumes is the pass dispenser. Schmidt kneels
in front of it, examines it for a couple seconds, before punching the thing. Gregory flinches at the
loud noise. “What the hell?!”

“Relax. It just gets jammed,” Schmidt says, “I really don’t want to open it up, and this is easier.”

“You’re not very good at your job.”

“Eh,” Schmidt gestures his hand in a ‘so-so’ way, “I get by. I’m better at handling animatronic’s
than this hunk of shit.”

At least he’s honest, Gregory will give him that. He decides to take this time to look around.
Maybe now he can take some prizes, or maybe Mr. Schmidt will let him take something, to
compensate for this shitty night. He’ll definitely ask for a hoodie - it gets cold outside and a
newspaper isn’t a very good blanket.

He spots a gift box not too far away and walks over to it. He grabs the handle and turns it, smiling
as the box opens for his free prize. His smile falls once he sees what’s inside. “A crappy Mr.
Hippo magnet,” he mutters, reaching in to grab the stupid magnet. He doesn’t even care about Mr.
Hippo. He’d rather have any of the main four than him.

“God, why won’t this fucking thing budge?” He hears Mr. Schmidt complain. He turns around to
see the older man kick the pass dispenser in anger, running a hand through his brown hair. Gregory
looks down at the magnet, then back at the machine. Maybe if he just…

He walks back over to the machine and puts the magnet on it. Immediately the machine vibrates to
life and spits out a pass in the bin. Mr. Schmidt stares at the pass in awe and picks it up. He looks
down at Gregory. “You trying to steal my job kid?”

“No,” he huffs, “I just remembered that magnets mess with machinery…right?”

“They do,” he smiles. He ruffles Gregory’s hair, and he hopes the older man doesn’t notice how
knotted it is. “You’re pretty smart kid. Thanks for helping me out.”

Gregory blushes and looks away from Mr. Schmidt. It’s been a long time since he’s received any
kind of affection or compliment, but he won’t tell the older man that. “Whatever. Can we go now,
before officer Vanessa finds us?”

“Yeah sure,” Schmidt says, pocketing the pass, “I’ll just clock out then-“

“Who wants candy?~”

 Good Plan(?)
Chapter Summary

“Hello Mr. Michael!” she chirps. Michael….must be his first name. “Officer Vanessa
let us out with strict instructions to capture the intruder and bring him to her.”

“Intruder? That…that isn’t right. I heard she was chasing a child.”

“His name is Gregory, and he is an intruder. I must catch him and bring him back to
Vanessa.”

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Him and Mr. Schmidt freeze.

He hides behind the older man’s legs as he spots Chica walking around the entrance of the area.
He saw her perform earlier today, but she didn’t look so…twitchy. Also, why is she here?
Shouldn’t she be in her room like Freddy?

“Something is wrong,” Schmidt whispers, “she shouldn’t be out roaming around.”

Well, that confirms his suspicions then. “What should we do?”

“I’m going to try and talk to her. Hide behind the prize counter until I come back.”

Gregory really does not like that plan. He’d rather run away, but if Mr. Schmidt can ask her to
leave, then it’s worth a shot. He nods and runs over to the prize counter, squatting down behind it.
He peaks around it so he can hear their conversation.

“Chica!” Mr. Schmidt yells. The animatronic turns around quickly towards him. “What are you
doing out here? You should be in your room.”

“Hello Mr. Michael!” she chirps. Michael….must be his first name. “Officer Vanessa let us out
with strict instructions to capture the intruder and bring him to her.”

“Intruder? That…that isn’t right. I heard she was chasing a child.”

“His name is Gregory, and he is an intruder. I must catch him and bring him back to Vanessa.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Michael says, “I’ll find him and contact his parents. Tell Vanessa that
I’ll handle it.”

“No, he needs to go with officer Vanessa.”

He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t like how persistent she is. Vanessa wants to catch him badly, and
he doesn’t understand why. He’s just some kid who snuck in and took some food, does that really
warrant a whole robot search party?

Chica turns her head, and Gregory quickly hides behind the counter again, hoping her eyes didn’t
meet his. Sadly, he wasn’t quick enough.

“Gregory!~”

“Shit!” he hears Michael curse. He hears loud thudding footsteps before an even louder thud and
the sound of Chica yelping. He stands up and startles when a hand grips his own. “C’mon, she
won’t stay down forever!”

“What did you do?!”

“Tripped her!” Michael yells, running the opposite direction of where they came in, “she’s a lot
more unstable in this state!”

"You’re parents are looking for you!~”

Gregory tightens his grip on Michael’s hand as they run away from Chica. He blindly follows
Michael since the brown haired man knows this place better than he does. He looks behind him
and almost sighs in relief when he sees that Chica is farther behind them now. They had to run all
the way around from where they once were, but at least they escaped her sight. Once he notices
they are at a safe distance, Michael slows down, slowly catching his breathe.

“Good lord,” he huffs, “I should’ve known something like this would happen sooner or later.”

“What?” he gasps, “this has happened before?!”

“Not while I’ve been working here, which is only five days, mind you,” Michael sighs, “but
Fazbear’s has a history of animatronic’s getting a little…quirky at night. It seemed a little too
peaceful here.”

“So what do we do now?” he asks.

“Well, our main priority is getting you the fuck out of here, but it’ll be hard with everyone roaming
around now…”

Gregory frowns and looks down at the floor. Suddenly, an idea pops into his head. “Hey, why
don’t I just hide inside Freddy and have him take me to the entrance!”

“Absolutely not,” Michael says, glaring at him. Gregory huffs. “You got lucky the first time, but
who knows what’ll happen if we put you back in there. Animatronic accidents have happened
before, and the people involved always get hurt, or worse, they die. I’m not taking that risk with
you.”

“But Freddy didn’t seem dangerous. And his hatch was really roomy! I don’t think it’ll turn me
into, like, a human meat pretzel.”

“No Gregory.”

He huffs again and pulls his hand away from Michael’s. “Then I’ll just go back to Freddy by
myself and ask him to take me back towards the entrance! I don’t need your help.”

“Do you have an photo pass?”

“Uh…no.”

“You need one to open his door.”

 “I’ll find one.”

“It’s back towards where Chica was.”

“I can dodge her.”

Michael’s glare worsens. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

“Nope. It’s a good plan and you’re just too big of a weenie to see it.”

They continue to glare at each other. Gregory doesn’t budge, and unless Michael has an even better
plan, his is their best opportunity. Finally, after a few more seconds, Michael sighs and runs a hand
over his face. “Good lord, I can’t believe I’m letting a toddler bully me.”

“I’m ten!”

“You’re toddler sized, so shut up. We’ll go along with your damn plan.”

He ignores the first half of his sentence and smiles. “See, I knew it was a good plan!”

“It’s a God awful plan that’s the best out of any God awful plan I’ll come up with,” the older says.
He holds his hand out towards him, and Gregory takes it. “But, if you so much as feel or even think
something is off while you’re inside his hatch, then you immediately yell for me and I’ll get you
out. Clear?”

“Clear!” he nods. Michael nods back and begins walking back towards Rockstar Row. “But I’ll be
fine! I’m a lot tougher than I look.”

“I’m sure you are,” Michael smirks, “you did manage to escape Vanessa’s sight, so I’ll give you
that.”

“Is she always that scary?”

“Ehhhh kind of. She also hates me, so, that probably doesn’t help.”

“Why does she hate you?”

“I don’t take my job seriously, according to her,” he shrugs, “which is stupid, if you ask me. This
job is ass anyway, so why would I even try hard in the first place? Just do what needs to get done
and leave.”

“Why did you even take this job?”

“I have my reasons.”

That’s foreboding. Oh well, Gregory has secrets too, so as long as Michael keeps helping him and
doesn’t chase him like Vanessa, then he can keep his own secrets as well.

Eye for an eye, or whatever.

Chapter End Notes

Yes this is Michael's fifth night there...I made it so on purpose to 1. give me a good
excuse as to why he's a lil more...lenient about Gregory hopping inside Freddy's hatch
(he knows it's safer than previous models but it still freaks him out ofc) and 2. make
the name FIVE night's at Freddy's relevant again XD.

I've watched 5 different lets players play this game and the layout of the plex still
alludes me. I forget where things are all the time. so canon? only semi important. I
make my own canon now. the plex is built the way I WANT it to be :) is the photo
pass in the prize area? well, it is in this story!

I know I said weekly updates but I also did say I was impatient lol. I decided to posted
this since chapter 2 and chapter 1 where gonna be one big chapter before I cut it in
half. I can't guarantee daily updates, but I'm pretty sure they'll be more common than
not :D

so, here you go! hope you enjoyed Gregory bullying Michael! :> ofc they were gonna
bully each other I couldn't help myself
 Ha...Schewpid
Chapter Summary

Both of them continue walking towards the tunnels. Gregory peaks through Freddy’s
hatch to see they’re exactly like how he imagined them - dark and old and really
creepy. They have to walk down a lot of stairs before they even make it to the lower
levels. They look unused too, and he wonders how often employees really come down
here. It looks like they don't at all.

Suddenly, Freddy stops. “Gregory…I sense that you are broken.”

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Michael unlocks Freddy’s door with his photo pass and startles when he sees the bear standing in
front of the door. “Jesus Freddy, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Language,” Freddy says. Gregory giggles as Michael glares at the animatronic. “And why are you
back here Mr. Schmidt? I thought you were escorting Gregory to the entrance.”

“I was, but there’s been a change in plans,” Michael says, “Vanessa released the others and now
they’re actively hunting Gregory. Getting him to the entrance unseen is going to be tough, so we
need to hide him in your hatch.”

“My friends are hunting Gregory?” Freddy asks, his ears drooping. He shakes his head. “That is
impossible. It is not in our programming to hurt a child. They probably want to help him.”

“Listen Fred, I know I haven’t worked here long, but I’ve worked on you four enough to know
your personalities,” Michael places a hand on Freddy’s shoulder, “and the Chica I talked to
wasn’t…normal. She talked about Gregory like he was a dangerous intruder. We can’t trust her,
which means we can’t trust Monty or Roxy either. I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is.”

Freddy’s eyelids lower, and it fascinates Gregory how sentient these animatronics are. He actually
looks sad, like the thought of distrusting his friends hurts him. Maybe it really does. “I see…then I
will help escort our superstar here to the exit and make sure to avoid the others.”

“Thanks Freddy.”

Freddy opens his hatch and Gregory climbs inside, rearranging himself so that his knees are pulled
up to his chest in a comfortable manner. Michael peeks inside. “You good in there kid?”

“Yep.”

“Not too crunched up?”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”
“Yes mom,” he groans, “I’m sure.”

Michael sticks his tongue out, and Gregory sticks his out back. Even though Michael can be
overbearing, he’s actually kind of fun to be around. He imagines this is what having a brother is
like, unlike the siblings he had at his previous foster homes. They were all mean and called
Gregory names. Michael does the same, but he isn’t malicious about it. It’s nice.

“Alright,” Michael says, once the hatch is closed, “let’s take the tunnels. I don’t think the others
will be searching down there. It’ll take longer, but it should be safer.”

“Ok Mr. Schmidt.”

“The tunnels?” he asks, “this place has underground tunnels?”

“Yes. The tunnels are meant to connect all the different parts of the Plex together. Roxy’s raceway,
Monty golf, and Fazerblast can all be accessed in their hallways! Only animatronic’s and
employees have access to them.”

“Not me though,” Michael scoffs, “haven’t worked here long enough.”

“Correct. But this is a…special circumstance.”

Both of them continue walking towards the tunnels. Gregory peaks through Freddy’s hatch to see
they’re exactly like how he imagined them - dark and old and really creepy. They have to walk
down a lot of stairs before they even make it to the lower levels. They look unused too, and he
wonders how often employees really come down here. It looks like they don't at all.

Suddenly, Freddy stops. “Gregory…I sense that you are broken.”

“Huh?”

“What?” Michael echo’s back his confusion. Both of them startle as Freddy makes his way towards
an unknown location.

“I will take you to a first aid station!”

“Freddy, slow down!”

Freddy does not slow down. Instead, he ejects Gregory out of his hatch himself once he makes it to
said station. Gregory yelps and stumbles out, then turns to glare at the animatronic. “I’m fine! I
don’t need first aid!”

“Bloody hell, don’t do that again!” Michael says, once he catches up to them, “at least give me a
warning before you take off like that!”

“My apologies Mr. Schmidt, but I am worried about Gregory. He is broken.”

Michael’s eyebrows furrow as he looks down at Gregory. The blue eyed man squats down in front
of him and eyes him up and down. Gregory squirms in place, not appreciating the third degree.
Michael sighs and stands back up to look at Freddy. “It’s only a few cuts and scratches.”

“He needs first aid!”

“Fine! I’ll give him a few bandages if it’ll put you at ease.”

“Thank you Mr. Schmidt.”

“Alright, come on kid,” Michael says, walking over to the first aid station. He pulls the curtain
back and gestures inside. “Let’s treat those boo-boo’s.”

“Boo-boo’s?” he scoffs, doing as Michael says and stepping into the station, “what are you, five?”

“That would be you squirt.”

“I’m ten!”

“Five, ten, what’s the difference?” Michael says, grabbing a first aid kit, “I was scrapping my
knees and getting boo-boo’s my whole childhood. You’re never too old for them.”

Michael picks out a Freddy themed bandaid and places it on his first cut - the one on his knee. He
pats it and goes to grab another bandaid, this one for the cut on his cheek. Gregory hopes the blush
on his face isn’t too visible as Michael gently places the bandaid over his cut. It’s been long time
since someone has cared for him like this, so he’s very unused to it. It's embarrassing.

“Alright, all fixed up,” Michael says. He holds up his left arm and wiggles his fingers. “Hey, at
least we match now.”

Gregory looks at his arm and sees that Michael also has a few Freddy bandaids on him - one on his
elbow, one on his thumb, and another one on his middle finger. Gregory giggles and pokes the one
on his elbow. “How’d you get them?”

“Work. I’m just naturally clumsy too,” he says, putting his arm down, “how’d you get yours?”

“I fell.”

Michael just shrugs, and Gregory’s happy he doesn’t push the subject. Kids can be really clumsy
too, and he did get them from falling…on the pavement while running away from a mean,
homeless adult. Michael doesn’t need to know that part.

“Freddy!”

Him and Michael startle and the older man is quick to hide the both of them inside the first aid
station. They both peak out slightly to see Vanessa shine a flashlight in Freddy’s face. “You’re
supposed to be on lockdown!”

“O-Officer Vanessa! I-I have no idea how I got here.”

Shit liar, Gregory thinks. Luckily, Vanessa seems to buy it. She sighs and shakes her head.
“Y’know, you really blew it today on stage. You had everyone worried about you.”

“I apologize…I did not mean to worry anyone.”

“Since you’re ok now, I assume Michael took a look at you,” she hums, “is he still here? He
should’ve clocked out a while ago.”

“He said he was leaving after my maintenance check up.”

“He must’ve forgotten to clock out then,” she scoffs, “I swear that guy likes to purposefully get on
my nerves.”

Gregory tries not to chuckle as Michael flips her off from behind the curtain. “Look, there’s some
kid running around and causing trouble. If you see him, bring him to me, ok?”
 “I will.”

“Good,” she nods. She turns around and heads back the way she came. “And don’t get into too
much trouble! You’re still on low battery mode!”

“Thank you officer Vanessa,” Freddy says, watching her walk away. Michael sighs once she’s
gone and swings open the curtain.

“God what a bitch.”

“Language!”

“Y’know you don’t have to that every time he cusses, right?” Gregory says, “I’ve heard worse.”

“It is in my programming to correct adults and children of their language.”

“It’s fucking stupid is what it is.”

“Language!”

“Haha…schewpid.”

“You’re stupid too.”

“You’re more schewpid.”

Michael sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m never having kids…”

“We should hurry towards the entrance,” Freddy says, thankfully being the adult in this trio, “it is
almost midnight.”

“Whatever,” Michael groans. He helps Gregory into Freddy’s hatch again. “In you go you little
fucking gremlin.”

“Language!”

“If anyone is a fucking gremlin it’s you!”

“Gregory! Language!”

“I’m programming that out of you once this is all done,” Michael says, closing the hatch, “fuck the
rules.”

“Language.”

“Oh my GOD.”

Chapter End Notes

Headcanon: Michael is good with kids. Like, kids instantly like him and want to play
with him all the time. He use to watch his siblings a lot, so he knows how to interact
with children. Him being a mean bully was a trauma response. How he acts with
Gregory is the true him: mean enough to be a pest but not mean enough to cause hurt
feelings.

(This also means he's very patient with kids even though he secretly wishes to punt
Gregory across the Plex every time he makes fun of his accent XD)

Anyway, looks like we're sticking with daily updates. I knew I was gonna get
impatient, but I guess that works out for you guys lol. More content, am I right?! :D
And thank you all for 100+ kudos and 900+ hits!!! The response to my fic has been
positive and I'm so happy you're all enjoying it so far :')

I calculated what I've written so far and, wow...looks like this fic will have between
20-25 chapters. We're in for a ride, so buckle up.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter <3 and thanks for reading!
 Sunny Days Ahead!
Chapter Summary

It’s red, with a triangle and the symbol of a…bunny, inside it. Why does Michael look
so scared by that?

“Michael?”

“Mr. Schmidt?”

“I knew it,” the older man whispers, “he’s back. He’s here.”

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“No no no!”

Gregory cries out as the metal doors shut down in front of the entrance, blocking his exit to the
outside. He groans and stomps his foot. “We were too late!”

“Hang on,” Michael says, stepping up to a scanner near the steel doors, “let me see if my pass
works.”

He scans his pass against the scanner, but nothing happens. The doors don’t move one bit. Gregory
huffs again and is about to complain to Michael, but the words die on his tongue when he sees the
horrified look on the older man’s face. Gregory frowns and slowly walks towards him to take a
look at the scanner.

It’s red, with a triangle and the symbol of a…bunny, inside it. Why does Michael look so scared by
that?

“Michael?”

“Mr. Schmidt?”

“I knew it,” the older man whispers, “he’s back. He’s here.”

“Who?” he asks. Michael looks down at him.

“We need to get you out of here as fast as possible. This place just became even more dangerous.”

“Mr. Schmidt, who has got you so distressed?” Freddy asks, “is there an intruder I do not know
about?”

“Oh, you’ve definitely heard about him,” Michael mutters. He looks up at Freddy. “You know
about the rumors, right? The ones that VR game tried to shove under the rug?”

Freddy’s eyes widen. “Mr. Schmidt…you can not possibly believe them, right? They are rumors
for a reason.”
“They were shoved under the rug for a reason, Freddy,” Michael growls, “but I know it’s all true,
and the man behind it all is still alive. He’s here in this Pizza Plex.”

“What’s going on?” he asks, becoming impatient, “who is this guy you’re talking about?”

“He’s a bad man Gregory,” Michael whispers, “he’s ruined so many lives, and taken just as many
as well. He uses Fazbear’s as a cover to do his killing’s, and him being here would explain the
most recent disappearances.”

“W-Woah, hang on,” he stutters. This is too much. Michael is only joking…right? “You're saying a
killer is here? How are you so sure?”

“Because I know him.”

Gregory flinches and he takes a step back. “O-Oh…”

“Doesn’t mean I like him,” Michael scoffs, “In fact, I’ve tried to stop him before, but that piece of
shit always seems to come back. That’s why I took this job in the first place…I knew something
fishy was going on here.”

“Mr. Schmidt, how do you know this man?” Freddy asks, “if the rumors are true, then these
killings would’ve taken place in the 70’s and 80's. According to my file, you are only 21.”

Michael scowls. “It’s complicated…”

“What am I going to do?” Gregory groans. He squeezes his eyes shut and ruffles his hair in
frustration. “How am I going to survive and get out?!”

He keeps his eyes closed and tries to imagine a scenario where he makes it out of here in one piece.
He thought a security guard was too much, but now he has three animatronics and a whole serial
killer after him. God, he just wanted some food. He would’ve never stepped ten miles around this
place if he knew how cursed it was.

“Hey, Gregory.”

He startles slightly when he feels a hand gently grip his right wrist. He opens his eyes to see
Michael squatting in front of him, a serious look on his face. “I know this must be really scary for
you, but you aren’t alone. Me and Freddy are here to protect you and help you escape. Right
Fred?”

“Of course,” Freddy nods, “your safety is my top priority.”

“And I won’t let this bastard or Vanessa or any animatronic take you away. You’ll make it out of
this and see your family again, I promise.”

He ignores the family part, instead focusing on the intensity behind Michael’s promise. Gregory
hasn’t known an adult since his mom who seemed so worried about his safety. Michael and Freddy
care, and he’s only known them for barely an hour. It’s…strange…but nice. It’s nice having
someone on his side for once.

“…Ok. Thank you Michael, Freddy.”

Michael smiles and nudges Gregory's chin with his knuckle. “You are one tough kid.”

Gregory looks at Michael in awe as he stands up and looks at Freddy. Not wanting to be far from
the man’s side, he inches closer to him. “So, how should we go about getting him out?”

“There are security badges located all around the Pizza Plex. One of those could be helpful in
opening an entrance.”

Michael frowns and reaches into his maintenance uniform pocket, pulling out the daycare pass
they acquired earlier. Freddy eyes light up. “The daycare has a security pass located behind the
security desk!”

“I guess we’ll start there,” Michael mutters, “we just need to be quick, before Sun finds us.”

“Who’s Sun?”

“The animatronic who runs the daycare,” Michael hands the pass to Gregory. He takes it and looks
at the picture of a Sun and Moon animatronic on the front of it. Both look incredibly unsettling.
How are these things allowed to watch children?

“This’ll be tricky, since there’s only one accessible entrance to the daycare,” Michael says, as they
make their way to said place, “the other one you need permission from Sun or Moon to enter, so
we can’t take that one.”

“Why do you need permission?”

“Safety protocol. It is so no intruders can enter the daycare at any time. Sun and Moon act as the
body guard as well as the babysitter to every child who comes into their care,” Freddy says.

So you need a pass to enter one entrance, and permission from an animatronic to enter the other.
This place has a lot of security measures in place, and yet somehow a serial killer has managed to
take refuge here. Wild.

Michael scans the daycare pass on the entrance door and it opens to reveal a huge room with a
giant statue of the Sun and Moon animatronic in the middle. There’s waiting tables scattered
around, and two large TV’s advertising some candies. He could actually go for some sugar right
now - he’s up way past his usual bedtime.

“Here Gregory, take this.”

Freddy opens his hatch to reveal a party gift inside. Where he got that, he isn’t sure, but he reaches
in and opens the top of it, pulling out a Freddy themed watch. “Oh cool!”

“It is a Fazwatch. It will help me keep in touch with you and Mr. Schmidt.”

“Thanks Freddy,” he says, putting the watch on. He sees that the watch has multiple tabs, such as
speaker, maps, cameras, and notes. He clicks around to find that the map tab is unavailable and the
camera tab is all static. The notes tab is working, but it’s just filled with customer complaints and
employee reports. Oh well, at least the speaker tab is working. As long as he can stay in touch with
Freddy, it’s fine.

“Be safe down there, you two,” Freddy says, “I will meet you at the front door.”

“Will do,” Michael salutes. Gregory copies him and salutes Freddy back. The bear nods and turns
around, supposedly heading towards the large wooden gate on the other side of the daycare.
Gregory turns to look at the slide across from them.

“So that’s the entrance?”

 “Yep. Just slide down it and- hey wait!”

“You said we have to be fast!” he yells. He quickly sits down on the slide and rides down it,
landing in a large ball pit once he makes it to the bottom. He looks around and sees that the actual
daycare it pretty big too, with the ball pit and multiple jungle gyms surrounding it. He quickly
moves away from the slide, knowing Michael will follow him down any second, and moves
towards the steps near the middle of the pit. Just when he thinks he's in the clear, he hears an
unfamiliar voice from above.

“Well hello hello!”

Chapter End Notes

Michael: Ah shit, here we go again.

Just bought some FNAF 6 enamel pins so my day is going great. Hope all of yours is
going good too...and if not, I hope my lil fic can help cheer you up <3

Sun finally makes his debut! I loved writing Gregory as a lil hater, because I know
when he first saw Sun and Moon he was like "wtf is that." I mean, I was like that too,
but in a loving way. Their designs are so funky but cool and I adore them.

Also, I just noticed I never, like, introduced myself. I'm Arson (they/them)! So if y'all
ever want to address me directly, now you can :D
 Dark Times Ahead
Chapter Summary

“Ok,” he nods. He walks over to the Freddy head and examines it. He reaches out to
poke it a few times - one poke landing directly on its nose. It honks and opens up,
revealing a level four security badge. He smiles. “Nice!”

He grabs the badge, and suddenly, everything goes dark.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Gregory flinches and looks up, heart suddenly pounding in fear as Sun waltz out from a balcony
overlooking the entire daycare. He hears Michael yell ‘shit’ behind him as Sun twirls around and
dives into the ball pit below.

He panics and runs towards the stairs as fast as he can, but it’s useless. He yelps in fear as Sun pops
up in front of him and picks him up by the armpits. “Hello friend! Are you here for a slumber
party?!”

“Let me go!” he yells, wiggling in the animatronics grip. It doesn’t let go as it skips out of the ball
pit.

“Sun!”

Sun pauses in his skipping and turns around. Michael stumbles out of the ball pit and rushes
towards the two of them. “Oh, Mr. Michael! I haven’t seen you in so so long! Welcome!”

“You saw me five days ago,” Michael huffs. He walks up to sun and makes grabby hands at it.
“Can I have the kid back?”

“Oh, is he your child?!” Sun asks.

“Well, no-“

“Then you can’t have him, no no no!” Sun shakes his head, “only guardians are allowed to take
their children! He has to wait here for them, yes he does!”

Sun finally puts him down and he immediately makes a run for it. He yelps again as the
animatronic picks him up and places him in the spot he was previously. “Don’t go little friend!
We’re gonna have to much FUN! We can play games and draw colorful pictures! You just have to
follow my one rule.”

Sun leans in closely. “Keep the lights on. On. ON.”

Gregory gulps. He doesn’t like that, the way his voice got all distorted. He’s probably just as
corrupted as the others.

“Oh for God’s sakes-“ he hears Michael groans. The older man walks over to a tower of blocks and
pushes it over. Sun screeches as if he’s in pain and rushes over to the fallen tower.

“Oh no no no! Where’s the bottom, where’s the top?! Clean up, clean up!”

“C’mon Gregory, while it’s distracted!” Michael yells, holding his hand out. Gregory runs towards
the older man and grabs his hand, following him as he leads him towards what he assumes is the
security desk. “We should be safe behind here. Animatronic’s are programmed to keep away from
security areas.”

“Oh no friends, only security guards are allowed back there!” Sun yells from across the room.
Michael points towards a Freddy head on the desk.

“You get the badge, while I charge my torch. I have a feeling we might need it at some point.”

“Ok,” he nods. He walks over to the Freddy head and examines it. He reaches out to poke it a few
times - one poke landing directly on its nose. It honks and opens up, revealing a level four security
badge. He smiles. “Nice!”

He grabs the badge, and suddenly, everything goes dark. His eyes widen in fear.

“Michael?!”

“I’m here, I’m here,” he hears a voice say beside him, “what happened?”

“I-I don’t know! I grabbed the badge and suddenly the lights went out!”

“NOOOOOOOO!”

Gregory flinches, and he feels Michael push him behind his back, blocking him from Sun, who’s
standing on the security desk, clawing his face in agony.

“I WARNED YOU! I WARNED YOU!”

Sun makes a few screeching noises before falling backwards, silence replacing his previous cries.
Gregory is hopeful that that’s the last of him, before a hand creeps over the side of the desk,
followed by another hand.

"Naughty boy~”

Glowing red eyes peer over the desk at them. Gregory flinches as Moon hops onto the spot where
Sun just stood. “Naughty, naughty boy~” it coos, before launching itself into the air and
disappearing from sight. He’s almost about to ask Michael what to do now before his Fazwatch
makes a static sound.

“Gregory! I don’t know what you did, but the lights have shut off in the daycare! You need to turn
them back on, and quickly!”

“How do I do that?” he asks.

“There are generators located inside the play structures. You need to turn on all five for the
backup lights to turn back on.”

“Do you know where the generators are?” he asks Michael. The man scowls and shakes his head.

“I’ve only been in the daycare once before. I didn’t even know we had backup generators in this
place.”
 “T-Then what’re we gonna do?”

Michael takes his flashlight and hands it to Gregory. “You are going to find and turn on the
generators while I distract Moon. I can’t fit inside the gyms, so just focus on finding them and
leave Moon to me.”

“B-But, we only have one flashlight! How will you be able to see?”

“I’ll be fine,” Michael smiles, “I know the general direction of the block towers. I just need to
knock those down and he’ll be distracted instantly, just like Sun. I won’t give it a chance to find
you, ok?”

He takes a deep breathe and grips the flashlight in hands tightly. Time to be tough. “Ok!”

“Ok,” Michael nods. He ruffles his hair and stands up. “Come back here if you need to reorganize
your thoughts. Remember, no animatronic is allowed behind this desk, and that includes Moon.
And yell for me if you ever think you’re in any danger! I’ll find you no matter what.”

Gregory nods and watches Michael make his way towards the left side of the daycare. He’s
completely blind in a place like this, since he gave Gregory the only flashlight, and yet Gregory
believes him when he says he’ll find him no matter what. He’s just…reliable.

He needs to be reliable too.

He dashes towards the nearest jungle gym and begins searching.

Chapter End Notes

Me: *spins the wheel of 'what is Michael going to be this chapter'* are we gonna get
protective dad or annoying older brother.......oh would you look at that! protective dad
it is!

This chapter is probably one of the shortest chapters in this story, but I'll make up for it
in due time ;) in the mean time, have some Sun and a lil bit of Moon. Shout out to the
person who commented "Maybe Michael will make Sun calmer" last chapter.....Sun
has chronic anxiety and OCD so sadly, he is never calm :)
 Please Don't Leave Me
Chapter Summary

The man has proven that he’d go to great lengths to protect him. Him - a strange kid
who bickers with him and makes fun of his accent. Michael was no reason to put his
life in danger for him, but he does. He did, if the two large bandages on his arm and
cheek are anything to go by. Gregory has spent years fending for himself and,
ironically, in this death trap of a pizzeria, he feels…safe.

Chapter Notes

TW: violence/blood mention/injuries

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Living on the streets has made Gregory immune or scared of a lot of things. Drug dealers? Not a
big deal. Homeless people? No biggie. Stray animals? Easy peasy. Angry shop workers? Violent
thugs? Creepy people with obvious bad intentions? Those things are what he really fears while
living without a roof over his head.

But this…this might take the cake.

He’s managed to find and turn on four generators, and he’s scrambling to find the last one. Michael
has done a good job of keeping Moon distracted, but the more generators he finds, the more Moon
seems to ignore the messes Michael makes. He’s even climbed inside the gym once to chase after
him. Luckily, after calling for help, Michael grabbed the animatronic by its legs, and that seemed
to be enough of a distraction for him to crawl far away to safety behind the desk.

Now, as he searches for the last generator, Moon seems to be hell bent on capturing him. Not even
Michael grabbing at him seems to work.

“Naughty boys deserve to be punished~”

He yelps as a clawed hand grabs him by the ankle and drags him out of the slide he was about to
climb up. He screams and kicks as Moon dangles him upside down, glowing red eyes staring right
back into his terrified one. This can’t be it. He was so close. He only had one more-

“Good night~”

“MICHAEL!” he screams, as Moon swipes a clawed hand at him. He squeezes his eyes shut and
prepares himself for the pain, but it never comes. He opens them back up in surprise to see Michael
on Moon’s back, holding back Moon’s arm with all his strength. The man growls and kicks the
animatronic harshly.

“Let him go!”

Moon growls and surprisingly, does just that. Gregory groans as he lands on his back and looks up
to see Moon grab Michael by his shirt and dangle him in the air, just like he did with Gregory
moments before. He gasps and sits up, ignoring the sting in his back. “Michael!”

“I’ll be fine!” he says, “just hurry up and find the generator! I don’t know if I can distract him for
much longer!”

“Naughty boy~” Moon coos, lifting up a clawed hand. He doesn’t want to leave Michael alone, but
he knows that the faster the lights turn on, the safer they are. So he rushes up the slide again,
towards where he thinks he saw the last generator. He hears a slash sound, followed by a pained
yell, and crawls as quickly as he can. He won’t let Michael die for him. He’ll save him, and then
they can get the fuck out of here and never return.

He makes it to the top, and searches high and low for a red light. Finally, he spots a faint red beam
to his left, and makes a mad dash for it. He quickly flips the switch to the last generator and sighs
in relief when the lights turn back on, just like Freddy said they would.

They did. They really did it.

He celebrates for approximately two seconds before remembering the pained yelp Michael let out
before the lights turned on. He makes his way back out of the jungle gym and gasps at the sight of
Sun standing over Michael’s body. He’s laying on his side and groaning in pain. He runs towards
the older man. “MICHAEL!”

“Mr. Mike…?” Sun mutters. He’s about to lean down towards the man, but Gregory quickly stands
between him and the animatronic.

“Don’t touch him!”

He turns around and takes a look at the man’s injuries. Four scratch marks on his lower right arm,
and one running down his lower right cheek. It looks like he tried to block Moon’s claws with his
arm, but one of them managed to knick him on the face. Gregory kneels beside him and hovers
shaky hands over the injuries. “M-Michael…are you ok?”

“M’fine,” the man mutters, slowly opening his eyes, “they’re not fatal, but they hurt like a bitch.”

“Oh no no no!” Sun cries. Gregory scowls at the annoying animatronic. “Blood everywhere! Such
a mess! Need first aid, need it quick!”

Gregory doesn’t protest as the animatronic skips away, probably to retrieve a first aid kit. Michael
slowly sits ups and cradles his bleeding arm. He looks at Gregory, clear worry on his face. “Are
you ok?”

“Am I- you’re the one who’s bleeding!”

“You got got by Moon too,” he nods towards his wrist, “I can already see the bruise forming.”

Gregory startles and looks down at his wrist. Sure enough, there’s a large bruise forming all the
way around it. He didn't even notice or feel it until now. “I’m- it’s fine. It’s nothing compared to
your injuries.”

“So no other injuries to worry about?”

“Maybe a bruised back too, but that’s it. Nothing serious.”

Michael sighs in relief. “Good. I’m glad you’re ok.”

“I’m sorry you got hurt,” he frowns, “I tried to be quick…”

“And you were,” Michael shrugs, “trust me, Moon would’ve done a lot worse if it had more time.
We both did the best we could…in fact, I’m sorry for letting him get to you in the first place.”

“Are you seriously apologizing?!”

“You apologized first!”

Gregory glares at him, and Michael just glares back. After a few seconds, Michael is the first to
break, blowing a raspberry and laughing. Gregory drops his glare and joins him. He wonders if it’s
the adrenaline or actual happiness, but he doesn’t care. He’s just grateful they’re able to laugh after
going through this traumatic experience. They probably look like a pair of crazy people right now.

“So, we’re even?”

Gregory sniffles and wipes the tears from eyes. “Yeah. We’re even.”

“Michael, Gregory, are you two ok?!”

“Freddy!” he gasps. He almost forgot about him. “We’re fine! Michael is injured, but I guess Sun
is gonna patch him up. Hang on, I’ll open the door for you right now.”

He rushes towards the big wooden door and opens it, smiling at the bear waiting outside for them.
Freddy walks in and frowns. “Are you injured as well, superstar?”

“Nah, just a few more bruises,” he points towards Michael, “Mike is the one who’s bleeding over
there.”

“I’m fine!” the older man yells, as Sun skips back over to them with a first aid kit in hand, “it's not
like I’ll die or anything.”

“Those are some very serious wounds Mr. Schmidt,” Freddy says, as they make there way over to
Michael and the animatronic. Sun gently cleans Michael’s wounds, and it’s weird for him to see the
once hostile animatronic act so tenderly now. Sun and Moon are so different. Whatever is affecting
the others must only be affecting Moon and not Sun, for some reason.

“More battle scars,” Michael smirks. He had noticed that the older man was sporting quite a few
scars, including one under his left eye and a few scattered on his arms. The biggest one is running
down his top right arm. Either he’s really clumsy or gets in trouble a lot.

“You need to be more careful Mr. Michael!” Sun scolds. Gregory glares at it.

“It’s Moon’s fault he’s hurt in the first place!”

“What!” Sun gasps. He shakes his head frantically. “No no no, we would never hurt employees!
Not allowed to, no no no, it’s bad!”

“Sun,” Michael says, causing the animatronic to look at him, “do you not remember anything while
Moon is out?”

“No…” Sun whispers. He places the last bandage on Michael’s cheek. “He does not remember
anything by the time we switch either. He just tells me to not let him out, or something very very
very bad will happen.”
“So he’s corrupted, like the others,” Michael hums, “I guess whatever is inside you two only got to
Moon.”

“Others?” Sun gasps, “you mean the others are acting bad too?!”

“Afraid so,” Michael groans. He slowly stands up and gently touches the bandage on his cheek.
“They’re treating Gregory like an intruder instead of a lost child, so they’re hostile right now.
Moon would’ve hurt him if I hadn’t stepped in to stop him.”

“Oh no no no, this is bad bad BAD!” Sun screeches, “little rule breaker isn’t safe here! You need to
leave little rule breaker!”

“That’s what I’m trying to do!” Gregory huffs, “that’s why I needed the security badge.”

“So…you didn’t mean to turn the lights off?”

“No!”

Sun cries out. “I’m so sorry little friend and Mr. Michael! So so so sorry!”

“At least he apologized,” Michael whispers to him. He looks at the older man and glares at him.
He is not forgiving Moon anytime soon, and Sun just grates on his nerves. He’d rather just get the
fuck out of this place. “Alright then,” Michael sighs, “I think we’ve overstayed our welcome.”

“But don’t you wanna stay and play some games?!”

“No,” he says quickly, “I wanna get out of this daycare as soon as possible.”

“But it’s dangerous out there!”

“You would be safer just staying in here until the doors open at 6 am,” Michael hums. Gregory
panics.

“You’re not seriously gonna leave me alone with him are you?!”

“Relax kid,” Michael says. He walks behind Sun and lifts up one of the animatronics back panels.
Gregory sees him fiddle with something before pressing a blue button. Sun lifts a hand up to his
head as Michael closes the panel. “There. I just shut off Moon’s A.I., so he shouldn’t be able to
bother you for the rest of the night.”

“I can’t…hear him…anymore,” Sun mutters quietly. The most quiet he’s been all night. It
unnerves him, maybe even more than when the animatronic is screaming.

“I still don’t want to stay here.”

“Mr. Schmidt is right superstar, it will be safer for you to stay in the daycare,” Freddy says, “I will
stay with you, if that will help ease your nerves. Mr. Schmidt will go look for any exit’s while we
wait here.”

That sounds a little better. He trusts Freddy a whole lot more than Sun. But…

“Then Michael will be alone.”

“Don’t worry about me kid. Even if the animatronic’s or Vanessa try to bust my ass, I can shake
them off. I’ll be fine.”
He hates this. He knows they’re right. With the animatronic’s and Vanessa roaming around, it’ll be
infinitely more dangerous outside the daycare than inside. If Moon somehow does come back out,
then Freddy will be here to protect him. He doesn’t doubt that. It’s logical that he’d just wait for
Michael to find an exit for him.

But…

The man has proven that he’d go to great lengths to protect him. Him - a strange kid who bickers
with him and makes fun of his accent. Michael was no reason to put his life in danger for him, but
he does. He did, if the two large bandages on his arm and cheek are anything to go by. Gregory has
spent years fending for himself and, ironically, in this death trap of a pizzeria, he feels…safe.

He feels safe beside Michael, and he isn’t ready to give that up yet. Plus, what kind of person
would he be, letting him explore this place alone? Just because he’s a kid doesn’t mean he’s
incompetent. He can help keep Michael safe too.

He moves closer to Michael and grips his pants leg. He doesn’t look up at the man, just holds on
tightly. “Please don’t leave me…” he whispers. Vulnerable. For once, he doesn’t feel scared about
being seen as weak.

He feels Michael place a hand on his head, and he finally looks up at the brown haired man. He
has a soft smile on his face for once, but he almost looks…sad. “You’re a stubborn kid, y’know
that?”

“I prefer determined.”

“Of course you do,” Michael chuckles. He pats his head twice then turns towards Freddy and Sun.
“Gregory is gonna stay with me and Freddy.”

“I thought we agreed he would be safer in the daycare, Mr. Schmidt?”

“Truthfully, I’m not even sure of that. I can’t guarantee Moon will stay off forever since he’s
corrupted, and, no offense Freddy, I don’t even have a clear confirmation on your status yet. I think
Gregory is safest with me, and since I need to find him an exit, he’ll just come with me.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea Mr. Schmidt?”

“Nope,” Michael says honestly, “I don’t know what the best plan is. I do know that I’ll protect
Gregory no matter what, so we’re going with the option where we don’t split up. It’s the only solid
plan I have right now.”

Gregory smiles and goes to hold Michael’s hand. The older man doesn’t question it. Freddy must
notice the gesture, because he nods, agreeing with Michael’s plan. “Alright. We will continue to
explore the Plex for an exit.”

“Friends are leaving?” Sun sighs sadly, “please be careful friends! Be very very very careful,
especially you little sunshine!”

“I’m super careful,” Gregory puffs his chest out. Sun giggles and pats the top of his head.

“I’m sure you are!”

“C’mon, let’s get going,” Michael says. Gregory nods and turns to Freddy, who already has his
hatch open and ready for him. He climbs in and makes himself comfortable. Freddy and Michael
make their way out of the daycare, saying their final goodbyes to Sun.
 “Hey, little guy!”

“I bet you don’t even have any friends!”

“Who wants candy!~”

“Oh great,” Michael huffs, looking around as Monty, Roxy and Chica roam the area outside the
daycare, “the gangs all here.”

“Hey, Mikey!”

Michael groans as Monty makes his way over to him, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “What
are you still doing here? It’s way past your usual shift!”

“I’m helping with the search,” he shrugs Monty’s arm off of him, “and I told you not to call me
that.”

“Oooooh, so Vanessa recruited you too!” Monty cackles, “she’s got everyone looking for this
damn intruder. I could be in my room right now, but nooooo,” he scoffs, “I hope I get him first so I
can teach him a lesson about trespassing.”

“The intruder is just a child, go easy on him Monty.”

The gator just shakes his head. “Vanessa said we can be as rough as we can be. An intruder is an
intruder, child or not.”

“This is not like you, Monty,” Freddy says, “you are usually so kind to children.”

“Not ones who are breaking the rules.”

Monty pats Michael’s shoulder before stalking off again. Gregory tries to shrink inside of Freddy’s
hatch, uncomfortable at the conversation that just took place. He knew Vanessa was bad news. She
told everyone to treat him as if he’s some wanted criminal. She doesn’t care about his safety at all.

“I thought it was just the killer from decades ago,” Michael mutters, “but I think Vanessa might be
behind the disappearances.”

“Officer Vanessa would never harm a child!”

“We don’t know that for sure. And don’t you think it’s weird she ordered the dangerous intruder
protocol instead of the lost child one? She’s after Gregory, and it’s not to send him home to his
family.”

Gregory is so glad he never trusted her.

Chapter End Notes

Gregory your fatherless behavior is showing/j

This story isn't in Michael's POV but good god if it was...we'd be hearing more about
how Gregory looks like Mike's lil bro. Trust me when I say he's screaming inside his
mind after Gregory asked not to leave him. Fuck this kids parents he's signing the
adoption papers right NOW.

Trigger warnings will be placed in the beginning notes of chapters that need them
from now on, so look out for them please! If you don't see a TW, then no warnings
were needed. We're getting into the meat of the story now, so please be careful and
take care of yourself first <3
 Getting to Know Mr. Afton
Chapter Summary

It’s a women in a patchwork bunny suit, and she’s holding a goddamn knife in her
hand. He watches with hazy and fearful eyes as the woman joyfully passes the station,
ignoring Freddy completely. Once she’s out of sight, his hearing and sight return to
normal.

“What the hell was that?!”

“Language. And that is a fountain! A fountain is a decorative reservoir used for

discharging water. Have you never seen one before?”

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Mr. Schmidt…I am afraid that my battery is running low.”

“Ah shit, I forgot about your low battery mode,” Michael groans, running a hand through his hair,
“remind me to fix that if we ever go to parts and service.”

“Language. And I will.”

“C’mon, you go charge and I’ll go ran sack that security office right there.”

“What about me?!”

“You,” Michael knocks on Freddy’s hatch, “are staying in there. It shouldn’t take Freddy more
than five minutes to fully charge, and once he’s done you two can join me.”

Gregory huffs, not liking the idea of being separated from Michael. The reason he’s even here is so
they can stick together! At least it’ll only be for five minutes…

“Fine,” he says, upset that Michael can’t see his frown right now, “just be careful. And don’t do
anything schewpid!”

“Geez, who’s the mom now? I’m only letting you lecture me to make you feel better. And I
promise to be super duper extra careful just for you.”

God he can be so annoying. Why does Gregory trust him so much in the first place? His eyes drift
to the bandage on the older man’s cheek, and he sighs. “Whatever.”

“Take care of him Freddy.”

“Of course Mr. Schmidt.”

Freddy and Michael part ways, and Gregory watches as Freddy steps into one of those weird
charging stations. He hates it in here. He’s already cramped in this enclosed space, and he feels
even more cramped when another enclosed space is added. He isn’t claustrophobic, but he thinks
he might start being once this night is over.

“Are you comfortable superstar?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

Gregory continues to drift off until a loud static noise fills his ears. He cringes and covers his ears,
opening his eyes to try and see if anything is causing the noise. When he opens his eyes, he finds
that his vision is blurry and static as well. He almost asks Freddy for help when a figure skips past
the charging station. It’s a women in a patchwork bunny suit, and she’s holding a goddamn knife in
her hand. He watches with hazy and fearful eyes as the woman joyfully passes the station, ignoring
Freddy completely. Once she’s out of sight, his hearing and sight return to normal.

“What the hell was that?!”

“Language. And that is a fountain! A fountain is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water.
Have you never seen one before?”

“No, not that,” he huffs, “I meant the weird bunny lady who just passed by!”

“I am afraid I do not know what you mean. There is no bunny at the Pizza Plex…not anymore.”

Freddy couldn’t see her? How couldn’t he? She walked right past them! She even managed to fuck
with his senses! Wait, could that mean she messed with Freddy’s senses too? Is that why he
couldn’t see her?

Has the killer been hiding under their noses the whole time?

“We need to go back to Michael!” he says, “the bunny lady went towards his direction!”

“I almost done charging, only one minute left.”

He groans in frustration. He knew they shouldn’t have split up. He just hopes the bunny lady
ignores Michael just like she did Freddy. She’s probably after him only, so she has no reason to
attack Michael.

Finally, after another minute of agonizing waiting, the charging station beeps, signaling that Freddy
is ready. The bear steps out and heads towards the office Michael said he’d be at. When they get
there they find Michael hunched over one of the control panels, head in his hands and a pained look
on his face. Gregory jumps out of Freddy’s hatch and rushes towards the older man.

“Michael!”

“Mr. Schmidt, are you alright?”

“I don’t know,” he groans. He slowly opens his eyes, blinking a few times, as if he’s trying to gain
his vision back. “I was looking around the cameras when my hearing started to give out. Then my
vision got all…red and static-y…”

Gregory gasps. “It’s the bunny lady! She was here!”

Michael turns to look at him. “Bunny lady?”

“There was a lady in a bunny suit that passed by Freddy’s charging station. She was holding a
knife, and she made my vision and hearing all weird too! But I was the only one who saw her,
Freddy couldn’t see her at all, even though she passed right in front of him!”

“I have not heard of a bunny being here. Not since…”

Freddy doesn’t finish his sentence. Michael grips his shoulders tightly and looks at him head on.
“Gregory…are you sure it was a woman in a bunny suit?”

“Uh, yeah,” he pouts, “it was really ugly looking too. It looked like she just sewed it together.”

“So it wasn’t golden?”

“No.”

Michael curses under his breathe.

“Is she the killer you were talking about?”

“No,” Michael groans, “the original killer is a man, and he wore a golden Bonnie suit to lure in his
victims. Either he has an accomplice, or we’re looking at a copycat killer.”

Michael sits down and leans against the control panels. “I don’t know what the hell is going on. I
thought this was just William and his psycho ass refusing to die again, but it seems like this might
be more complicated then the last times.”

“I’m so confused,” he says. He sits down in front of Michael and crosses his arms. “Who is
William? And why do you know him? I think I deserve to know who’s trying to kill me.”

Michael sighs. He leans his head against his right fist, tapping one cheek with his pointer finger.
Gregory can see his hands shake, and his whole demeanor screams ‘on guard.’ He can’t blame him
for being so put off - this bunny lady thing has made things go from bad to worse, but he wants to
know just who is after him.

“I’ll give you the gist of it,” Michael hums, “William Afton is a child murderer who harvests
children’s souls for something called remnant. It grants immortality and it’s why he’s been around
for so long. I’ve tried killing him twice already, but he keeps coming back and it’s annoying as all
fuck.”

Gregory ignores Freddy’s ‘language’ and stares at Michael as if he’s a mad man. Remnant?
Immortality? “You’re joking.”

“It’s a lot to take in.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then don’t. It’s still the truth.”

“Prove it.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to prove this? S’not like I have a picture of him or anything.”

“There is a William Afton registered in the database,” Freddy interrupts, eyes lit up, “but it does not
state his relation to Fazbear’s. It is classified information.”

“Does it have his birthday?” he asks. Freddy’s eyes light up again.

“June 15th, 1945.”

“Ok, that’s old. But he could still be alive without all the immortality stuff!”

“He would be 81 years old today.”

“See!”

“I don’t know what you want me to do kid,” Michael shrugs. He looks around the room before
perking up. He stands up and walks over to a side desk in the corner of the room. He picks up what
looks to be a screwdriver and holds the pointy part up to his eye. Gregory panics.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“I’m gonna stab myself, duh.”

“WHY?!”

“Because I’m immortal too.”

Gregory freezes. “…Huh?”

“I was injected with remnant in the 90’s,” he says. He lifts up his shirt, showing them a large and
long scar running from the bottom of his pants up to his chest. “I had my organs scoop out, but I
survived. Kind of. I was a walking corpse for years but I was still walking around.”

Michael points the screwdriver at Freddy. “Freddy, look up the profile for a Michael Afton.”

Freddy’s eyes light up. “Michael Afton. Born June 21st, 1969. Died October 13th, 2020.”

“And is his picture of a purple man with bandages around his neck?”

“…Yes. I didn’t know a person could be that color.”

“Not if they’re alive.”

Gregory backs up until his back hits the opposite wall. “Who are you?”

Michael finally drops the screwdriver and sits back down, this time leaning against one of the legs
of the table. “My real name is Michael Afton, son of William Afton. I’ve been chasing my father
down since 1986, and sadly, have been very unsuccessful. I died in a fire six years ago, but for
some reason I came back a few weeks ago, completely healthy again. I knew it wasn’t for a good
reason, so I got job here to try and track him down again. That’s the real story - the real me.”

He’s never felt as confused as he does right now. He trusted Michael, and yet he didn’t even know
anything about this man. That’s what he gets for trusting a guy he met, like, 2 hours ago. “You lied
to me.”

“I lied to everyone. I had to,” he shrugs, “Michael Afton was dead.”

“I trusted you.”

“I still haven’t gone back on my promise,” Michael scowls, “I’ve spent the majority of my life
trying to stop my father, and I’m not about to give up now. I won’t let him hurt anymore children. I
won’t let him hurt you.”
That…that is true. Michael hasn’t broken his promise, and hasn’t abandoned him. Gregory doesn’t
necessarily feel betrayed, he just feels…stupid. He feels stupid for trusting a stranger so quickly.
Michael Schmidt doesn’t even exist, and Gregory had put so much trust into that man. How is he
supposed to trust Michael Afton now?

“Look, Gregory.”

Michael slowly makes his way over to him until he’s sitting beside him, leaning against the wall. “I
know this is a lot to take in. I didn’t tell you any of this because I didn’t expect you to get so
tangled up in all this. I’m sorry if I’ve broken your trust in me.”

“S’just hard,” he whispers, “I don’t like trusting people.”

“I get it. Putting your trust in people is scary, but y’know what scares me more?”

“What?”

“My father. You dying,” Michael sighs, “him staying alive and more children dying. I gave you
and Freddy this information because the thought of my father winning terrifies me more than
trusting you two with the real me.”

“Yeah…that would be pretty scary.”

“I can’t force you to trust me,” Michael says, “but I still plan on getting you out of here alive. I’d at
least appreciate some corporation.”

“Of course I’ll corporate,” he huffs, “I don’t wanna die.”

He still isn't sure how to feel about Michael Afton, but he can't afford to dwell on it now. Not when
a killer is still after him. His fear of dying overrides his fear of trusting people, so you'll put some
faith in this...weird, ex-dead guy.

“Glad we agree on something.”

“But no more lying about immortal dads or bunny killers!”

Michael holds his hands up. “Everything is out in the open. Oh wait,” he pauses, “you might
wanna know that the victims of my father use to haunt old animatronics. I’m pretty sure they’ve
been put to rest by now.”

Gregory side eyes Freddy. “Pretty sure?”

“They’re not in the Glamrocks, I know that for sure.”

“Alright…anything else?”

“Uhhh…during one of my jobs I went by Eggs Benedict.”

“That’s so stupid.”

“It wasn’t my choice.”

“One more question. Did it hurt getting your organs scooped out?”

“Of course it hurt dipshit.”

 “I thought that remnant stuff would make you immune to pain!”

“Sadly, it doesn’t. I don’t recommend having your organs forcibly removed. 0 out of 10
experience.”

“Eggs Benedict shows up in the database as well,” Freddy says, “he looks exactly like you. He was
fired from Circus Baby’s auditorium in 1990.”

“Those fuckers fired me?”

“Language. You did not know this?”

“I’m sorry, I was too busy being used as a meat suit by a haunted animatronic.”

“Woah…that sounds cool. Like something from a video game.”

“Glad you find my suffering cool.”

“You’re fine now so it’s ok.”

“I have PTSD.”

“Ok but like, physically you’re fine.”

Michael pulls him into a headlock, causing him to yelp in surprise. It isn’t painful like the
headlocks his foster siblings used to put him in. It isn’t easy to escape though. “You’re a little shit.”

“Language.”

“And you’re an old shit face!”

“Gregory, language!”

“Is that how you talk to people older than you?!”

“Piss off!”

He laughs in surprise as Michael tickles his side. He can’t move away since the older man still has
him trapped in a headlock. He kicks his feet, hoping to hit the man somewhere so he’ll let him go.
He cheers internally when he hears Michael yell an ‘ow!’ and finally let him go. Once he’s free, he
moves away so Michael can’t grab him again. He glares at him, and earns a glare back.

“Brat.”

“Dick.”

“Language!”

Maybe Michael Afton isn’t so different from Michael Schmidt after all.

Chapter End Notes

GOOD GOD THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPLOAD MY WIFI WENT OUT ON ME

THREE TIMES!!! I'm struggling. I need new Wifi so bad.

First off...300 KUDOS??? 3,400 HITS???? Y'ALL ARE AWESOME AND

AMAZING AND I LOVE ALL OF YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE
SUPPORT!!! I'm so happy so many of you enjoy my story, I'm truly so grateful.

Second, another lil Michael head canon: When he doesn't care about self preservation,
he's very blunt. Oh, you want proof I'm immortal? Lemme just stab myself real quick.
Oh yeah by the way, my dad is the one trying to kill you. At first I was gonna make
him keep his identity a secret for much longer, but then I thought...what if he just
didn't care anymore LOL and this chapter was born.

Anyway...hope you liked it! Seven chapters already wow, we're just moving right
along huh. Crazy.
 Choked Up
Chapter Summary

“System rebooted.”

Michael turns around to see Chica’s eyes slowly turn back on. The weird purple color
is gone - instead, they look their usual blue. She groans and shakes her head. “How did
I get here?”

Chapter Notes

TW: strangulation/child injury

See the end of the chapter for more notes

They explore another security office and find a level seven pass before Freddy announces that he
needs to charge up again. Him and Michael decide to investigate the underground a bit, hoping to
find an exit down there. The Fazwatch Freddy gave him allows him to call for Freddy whenever
needed, so once the bear is finished, he can signal their location and the bear will come running.
It’s very convenient.

The tunnels are just as creepy as they were when he first came down here. What makes it worse is
Michael’s unfamiliarity with them. Thank God for Mapbot, even if the little shit scared them both
to death. Michael’s scream was pretty funny though.

“It looks like there’s another room on the other side of this vent,” he says, pointing up towards an
open vent about six feet above the floor, “I can crawl in and see if there’s anything promising.”

“Worth a shot I guess.”

Michael picks him up by his armpits and helps guide him into the vent. He begins crawling
forward, hoping the room on the other side has some kind of exit or security badge.

It doesn’t. It has a tiny weird animatronic blocking his way.

“Oh no no no!” he yells, as the animatronic claps its cymbals and chases after him. He turns around
as quickly as he can in this small space and crawls back to where he came from. He yelps as the
animatronic nicks him in the leg, but he doesn’t slow down. In fact, he speeds up. “MICHAEL,
CATCH ME!”

“Wha-?!”

He doesn’t give him a chance to finish. He jumps out of the vent and right into Michael’s arms,
who luckily was semi-ready for him. He stumbles a bit, but he catches him nonetheless. They both
look up when they hear a loud cymbal clack.

“Music Man?” Michael asks, “what the fuck are you doing here?”
“You know this guy?”

“I built him.”

“Why would you do that?! He attacked me!”

“Well I didn’t build him to attack children!” Michael huffs. He rearranges him so Gregory's
balanced on his hip instead. “What’s gotten into you Music Man?”

The animatronic claps his cymbals in response. “Well…at least you recognize me. Can you do me
a favor and not attack Gregory again? Please?”

Music Man nods and turns around, scurrying back into the vents. Gregory looks at Michael in
shock, surprised asking even worked. Michael looks back at him and shrugs. “Too bad I can’t do
that with all of them. Where should we go now?”

Gregory lifts up his Fazwatch, showing Michael the area he was trying to get to. He scans the map,
before looking around the surrounding area. “I think the kitchen might be next door…I had to go in
there once to fix the oven.”

“Is it worth going in there?”

Michael bites his lower lip. “I don’t know…I think we might run into-“

“There you are!~”

They flinch as loud footsteps rush their way towards them. Chica runs at them, pizza grease and a
piece of pepperoni on her cheek. She must’ve been rummaging around in the garbage again.

“Shit!” Michael yells. He runs the opposite way of Chica towards two red doors. He slams them
open, and they ironically find themselves in the kitchen. Michael doesn’t waste a second and hides
behind one of the many counters in the kitchen, finally putting him down. A couple seconds later,
they hear the doors slam open again.

“Your parents are looking for you!~”

What an obvious lie. Michael peaks around the corner, probably trying to determine where Chica
is. He looks around, then turns back towards Gregory. “There’s a trash can near the other side of
the room. I’m gonna knock it over, and that should distract her long enough for us to escape.”

“What about me?”

“Stay out of her sight. Move closer to the door when you think you can.”

“Ok. Be careful.”

“You too kid,” Michael says, ruffling his hair. The older man gets to work, moving as quietly and
stealthily as he can. Chica’s movements are sporadic, so it’s difficult to get a good read on where
she’ll go next. Gregory tries to peak over and see her, but every time he does, she’s looking in his
general direction. He doesn’t know how Michael is able to move so well while under her gaze. He
can’t even hear where she is because she moves back and forth too much.

After a fourth attempt of trying to pinpoint her location, he successfully catches her when she’s
looking away. He moves to the next counter as quick as possible, not wanting to risk catching her
eye. Just another counter away from the door.
“Found you!~”

He gasps and turns around, not seeing Chica anywhere. Suddenly, a shadow looms over him. He
looks up. His blood runs cold.

She’s standing on the counter right behind him.

“NO!”

He scrambles up and towards the door, but Chica grabs him by the leg as he’s trying to stand. He
cries out in pain as she grips his leg tightly, definitely leaving a bruise. She brings him up to eye
level, and he stares into her deranged…purple eyes. Were…they always purple?

“Vanessa needs to see you now!~”

Her other hand shoots out and wraps around his neck, cutting off his air supply. He scratches at her
hand and kicks his other foot about, but nothing works. Even as he lands a few hits, her grip
doesn't relent. His vision slowly begins to black out, and his limbs become weaker. He tries to look
around for Michael, but he’s no where to be seen. He doesn’t want to die. He needs Michael to help
him because he doesn’t want to die he doesn’t want to die he doesn’t-

Chica's grip lets up, and he gasps in relief as he falls to the floor.

“GREGORY!”

He coughs and places a hand over his throat. It hurts, so he let’s it go immediately. Two hands help
him sit up slowly, one on his back and one on stomach. He gasps out as he tries to regain his
breathe. “Easy there kid. Take deep breathes, in and out- yeah, just like that. It’s ok now, you’re
ok.”

“M-Mi…” his voice feels all scratchy now. Michael must notice this, because he picks him up and
balances him on his hip, walking over to the fridge.

“Let’s get you some water. That’ll help your throat.”

Michael opens the fridge and grabs a bottle of water. He opens it and hands it him. He quickly
drinks as much as he can, thirsty not only from being chocked but also from all the running he’s
done tonight. He gasps in relief once he drinks about half the bottle. Michael takes it from him and
places it on the counter beside the fridge.

“Better?”

“Y-Yeah,” he coughs again, “C-Chica…?”

“I rebooted her system.”

Michael turns them towards the chicken, who’s standing completely still, eyes turned off. “I had to
be quiet so I could sneak up behind her and open her panel. I’m sorry for taking so long.”

Michael didn’t leave him. He just needed to be quiet, that’s why he couldn’t alert him of his
presence. He didn’t leave him. “I-It’s ok,” he rasps out, “thanks f-for saving me, again.”

“Of course,” Michael smiles. For the second time that night, his smile looks sad. “I’m just glad
you’re ok.”

“System rebooted.”
Michael turns around to see Chica’s eyes slowly turn back on. The weird purple color is gone -
instead, they look their usual blue. She groans and shakes her head. “How did I get here?”

She looks up and gasps at the sight of them. Michael flinches and turn him around in his arms,
trying to hide him from her view. “Oh, Mr. Michael! Did you take me down here? And why do
you have a child with you?”

“You-“ Michael pauses, “-you don’t remember…what just happened?”

Chica tilts her head. “You mean what happened to Freddy?” she gasps, “is he ok?! Why aren’t you
checking him over?”

“I-“

Michael goes to put him down, but he keeps a tight grip on his shirt. Luckily, Michael gets the hint
and bounces him to readjust him in his arms. “Chica…it’s almost 2 am. Freddy had his malfunction
hours ago.”

“What?” she gasps, “no…that’s impossible! They didn’t tell me I’d be shut off!”

“You weren’t,” Michael shakes his head, “You’ve been roaming around this entire time. It’s…kind
of a long story.”

“What do you mean Mr. Michael?”

“Well…” Michael bites his lower lip, then sighs, “I think something corrupted your’s and the
others systems, because you’ve all been chasing this little guy around all night, treating him as a
dangerous intruder.”

“Wha…What?” Chica’s blue eyes grow duller somehow, and her eyelids droop, “but…we are not
programmed to hurt children.”

“Usually you aren’t, but there’s something evil going on in the Plex, and it’s causing everyone to
act aggressively. The only one who seems to be fine is Freddy.”

Chica clasps her hands together. Her eyes land on Gregory, and he panics and hides his face in
Michael’s shoulder. “So…so those injuries…?”

“You were chocking him,” Michael whispers. Chica gasps in horror. “I had to reboot your systems
to stop you.”

“Oh,” she cries. She slowly steps towards them, hunched over in a non-threatening way - like she’s
trying to make herself smaller. “Oh darling, I’m so sorry! I would never hurt you of my own free
will! I love children, I couldn’t imagine ever causing one any harm.”

Gregory lifts his head up from Michael’s shoulder and scans her up and down. She does seem
normal now. Her eyes aren’t purple, and her voice isn’t as distorted as it once was. She also seems
more stable now. “I, uh, forgive you. Just, um…please don’t do that again.”

Chica’s eyes light up. “Of course! Oh, thank you so much! I know you might still be scared of me,
so I’ll work extra hard to show you I mean no harm! In fact-“

She opens up her front hatch and pulls out a lollipop. “Want some candy?”

He eyes the lollipop warily before slowly reaching out for it. He stares at it for a few seconds
before shoving it towards Michael. “You lick it first.”

“Why?”

“Just in case.”

“Why do I have to be the guinea pig?”

“You can’t die anyway, so what’s the big deal?”

“Getting poisoned still hurts,” Michael glares. He still takes a lick of the lollipop. When nothing
happens for about ten seconds, Gregory deems it ok and goes to eat it. He was a little hungry, now
that he thinks about it.

“Is he your child Mr. Michael?”

“No. He got lost and I’m trying to get him out. I can’t call anyone because the phones are down.”

“Oh you poor thing,” Chica coos, “you must be so scared.”

He shrugs and takes the lollipop out of his mouth. “A little…but at least I have Michael and Freddy
to help me.”

“That’s good. And I’m glad to hear that Freddy is ok!”

“He wasn’t corrupted at least,” Michael scoffs, “he’s just on low battery mode, which is
annoying.”

“Speaking of Fweddy,” he says around his lollipop, “I should call him.”

He presses the call button on his Fazwatch. “Fweddy?”

“Superstar! Are you alright?”

“Chica got me, but then Michael rebooted her systems and she’s all ok now.”

“Freddy!” Chica cheers, “I’m so happy to hear that you’re ok!”

“Chica! It is so good to hear your voice. I knew it was not really you trying to hurt Gregory.”

“Freddy, are you still charging?” Michael asks.

“No. I have finished and I am currently at 98% charge.”

“Good. Can you meet us at parts and service then? I need to fix your battery, and I wanna take a
look at Chica’s coding. Maybe it’ll tell us what’s been corrupting everyone.”

“That is an excellent Mr. Sch- Afton!”

“Afton?” Chica asks. Michael sighs.

“I used a fake name for this job. I’ll explain everything on the way to parts and service.”

“Don’t worry,” Gregory says, patting Michael on the cheek. “He’s not sus.”

Michael gives him a weird look. “I don’t even know what the fuck that means.”
 “Language!”

“Ok, bye Freddy!” Michael lifts Gregory's finger off the call button and groans, “I don’t get paid
enough for this shit.”

“Language Mr. Michael.”

Gregory giggles at the defeated look on the older man’s face. Michael is probably right, he doesn't
get paid enough for this.

“Let’s just…go to parts and service.”

Chapter End Notes

YEP. IT'S GONNA BE ONE OF THOSE STORIES WHERE WE SAVE THE

ANIMATRONICS INSTEAD OF CRUSHING THEM. I just couldn't kill them,
especially since Michael is here and works as fucking tech guy. Now we have Chica
with us!!!

*Phineas voice* DUDE WE'RE GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER!

I wanna thank you guys for the positive response on the last chapter!!! I'm still so
blown away by all the love my fic is getting...y'all are amazing I can't say that enough.
I hope you enjoy this chapter too!!! We're getting...a lil more angstier, so please look
out of TW's in the beginning notes!

Also, is it canon that Michael built Music Man? I thought he did but with fnaf you
never know...for the longest time I thought Crying Child was named Evan but then I
found out he didn't have a canon name XD the lore is a lot...as a writer it's a blessing
and a curse. On the one hand, its so hard to keep up with, and on the other, its so
messy you can claim 'free reign' and just do your own thing LOL
 Hello Father
Chapter Summary

“For what it’s worth…I don’t think you’re like your dad.”

The older man’s face scrunches up, as if he’s about to cry. Michael takes his hand
fully into his and squeezes it. He smiles at Michael, and gets a small one in return.

“You’re a good kid, Gregory.”

Chapter Notes

TW: poor knowledge about computer science/coding (sorry I tried)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

He dozes off on Michael’s shoulder as the blue eyed man retells his whole story to Chica. He
explains who he really is, who William is, and who Vanessa might be. Since Gregory knows most
of this stuff already, he doesn’t listen for long. He doesn’t fall asleep, not completely, but Michael
is warm and it’s been so long since he’s slept and felt warm too. The sidewalk is always cold at
night, even during the hotter months.

The only reason he opens his eyes again is because he feels a hand run through his hair. He hums,
announcing that he’s awake. “You with us bud?”

“Mmm yeah…”

“Ok. Hope you had a good nap,” Michael whispers. The hand leaves his hair, and he physically has
to stop the whine that threatens to leave his throat. “We’re at parts and service, so I have to put you
down.”

“…Alright.”

He yawns as Michael puts him down. He’s glad that he doesn’t let go immediately, letting him
adjust and make sure his bruised leg doesn’t hurt to stand on. He nods and gives Michael the ok to
let him go.

“Those bruises look bad,” he hears a deep voice say. He looks to his right and sees Freddy. “Should
we take him to a first aid station?”

“We can, after I examine you two.”

Michael walks over to the computer and types something in. The huge cylinder thing in the middle
of the room opens up and Michael walks into its entrance. “Alright big guy, you’re up first.”

Gregory and Chica stay outside as Freddy lays down and the cylinder shuts. He watches Michael
grab a few tools on the work table inside before opening Freddy’s hatch. Knowing what he knows,
it makes sense that Michael is so skilled at repairing and working on animatronics. He’s been
doing it since the 80’s apparently.

“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Gregory flinches, forgetting that Chica was in the room too. She chuckles at his reaction. He pouts
and crosses his arms. “I guess.”

“I always wondered how Mr. Michael was so good at fixing us. It says on his application that he
has no prior experience in working on animatronic’s.”

“Well, being as old as dirt would give you a lot of experience.”

Chica chuckles again. “Ah, I’m so surprised you two aren’t related! You two sure do bicker like
some of the families that come into the Plex.”

Gregory shrugs. “He probably just thinks I’m annoying so I get on his nerves.”

“On the contrary! I think Mr. Michael is quite fond of you. He certainly cares about you a lot,
enough to put his life on the line.”

He shrugs again. Sure, Michael would put his life on the line for him, but he’s done that for other
kids before. He cares about his safety, but once this night is over he’ll just put him back into the
system and call it a day. Gregory wouldn’t blame him - no one wants him around for long anyway.
At least Michael is nice to him. Not everyone grants him kindness like that.

“Alright!” Michael says, once he steps out of the cylinder, “no more having to charge every two
minutes! And no more cussing protocol, thank God,” he waves his hand at Chica, “You’re up next
birdie.”

Chica nods and steps into the empty cylinder. Instead of going in with her, Michael closes it and
walks over to the computer. Gregory goes over to stand beside him, peering over the table to look
at the screen. “What’re you doing?”

“Running a diagnostic,” he mutters. A bunch of numbers and letters that Gregory has no idea what
it means pop up on the screen. Michael reads over them, somehow understanding this weird
computer language.

“What’re looking for?”

“Anything abnormal in her coding…it should be obvious once I find it.”

Freddy leans over Michael’s other shoulder as the older man continues to scan the screen. Finally,
after another few minutes, his eyes light up. “Found it! It’s a virus.”

“A virus?” he asks. Michael nods and points at the screen.

“See? How this part of the coding is in bold and in a different color than it’s surrounding codes?
That means it’s been inserted by an unauthorized source.”

“Huh,” he says. Now that Michael has pointed it out, he can see how the virus stands out. “So can
you get rid of it?”

"I’m gonna try.”

The next few things Michael does fly right over his head. He types something in and waits for it to
load, before inserting a flash drive into the computer. The minute the flash drive is inserted, the
entire screen goes black. Michael lifts his hands away from the keyboard in shock.

“Uh,” he begins, “was that supposed to happen?”

His question is answered when the screen glitches out, and a bunny symbol pops up on the dark
screen. They watch in horror as something types out in the middle of the bunny head.

“Hello Michael. It's me.”

The older man's eyes widen. “Father…?” Michael whispers, “how…what are you…?”

“Modern technology is amazing, isn’t it?”

“I don’t understand, how are you speaking to me right now?” Michael growls.

“You’re an Afton, my boy. You should be able to figure it out.”

Michael’s eyes shift back and forth, trying to find the answer. His eyes widen again when he does.
“It’s you. You’re the virus.”

“Good to see you haven’t lost your wits after so many years.”

“This doesn’t change anything. You don’t need a physical form for me to kill you.”

“Still on about that, are you? If you just hand me the boy right now, then I promise to never
bother you again."

“Bull-fucking-shit,” Michael growls, “you never change father. I won’t let you lay one finger on
Gregory.”

“He isn’t Evan, Michael.”

That gets Michael to freeze in fear. “Don’t…” he whispers.

“Why spend your life trying to save someone who’s already dead? You know what you did,
you can never change that. It would be easier for everyone if you just accepted the monster
you really are.”

Michael slams his fist against the computer desk, startling both Gregory and Freddy. “I am
NOTHING like you, understand that you piece of shit?! This isn’t about Evan or Lizzie or Mom or
Charlie, it’s about stopping your sorry ass from hurting anyone else! I know I can never undo what
I did, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to stand by and let you kill children. I. Am. Not. You.”

“Still as soft as ever. It’s that boy, isn’t it? You care about him too much, he is corrupting
you. Don’t worry, I will dispose of him soon.”

“Over my dead fucking body you decrepit old psychopath.”

Michael slams his hand on the keyboard this time, and the screen goes black again. A blue screen
replaces it, a loading bar in the middle. The bunny symbol is gone. Michael turns around and takes
a few steps away from them, his breathing more erratic and his hands shaking. Gregory looks at
Freddy, unsure of what to do. Freddy looks just as lost and concerned.

William is more deranged than Gregory thought, and he can’t imagine how Michael must feel
 talking to his father after so long. He slowly walks up to Michael, but doesn’t touch him. He gives
the man some space. “Michael…?”

The blue eyed man takes a deep breathe, but doesn’t look at him. “I’m sorry you two had to see
that.”

“It’s fine,” he says, “but…are you ok?”

Michael doesn’t verbally answer him, but his silence is answer enough. Gregory slowly reaches out
and grabs two of Michael’s fingers. That gets him to look at Gregory. “For what it’s worth…I don’t
think you’re like your dad.”

The older man’s face scrunches up, as if he’s about to cry. Michael takes his hand fully into his and
squeezes it. He smiles at Michael, and gets a small one in return.

“You’re a good kid, Gregory.”

He can’t remember the last time someone said he was a good kid. He’s always been a trouble
maker, or nuisance, or a bad seed. Maybe Chica was right. Maybe Michael doesn’t think he’s
annoying and actually cares about him.

“Mr. Afton,” Freddy says, “the loading screen is complete.”

Michael sighs and walks over to the computer. He lets go of Gregory’s hand only because he needs
both hands to type. “The virus should be wiped clean from Chica’s system, so hopefully we won’t
be experiencing that again.”

“That is good,” Freddy nods. He looks at the screen, then back at Michael. “Are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine,” Michael whispers, “I’m use to hearing my father’s bullshit.”

“If you do not mind me asking, who is Evan?”

Michael removes the flash drive and places it in his pocket. “My little brother,” he whispers, not
looking at Freddy.

“I see…”

“I’d rather not talk about him or my family life.”

“Of course,” Freddy says. Gregory is a little curious, but he understands the want to keep family
secrets. But he can’t help but wonder…

…what did Michael mean when he said ‘undo what he did?’

What did Michael do?

Chapter End Notes

Ahaha....what did Michael do....aha......ha.......*gulps*

Michael's family secrets are slowly unraveling. William is confirmed to be here

fucking shit up and still being a piece of shit, and now Gregory and Freddy are aware
of Evan (Crying child). How long will Michael be able to keep his secrets?
Hmmmm.....

On a personal note, my fnaf hyper fixation is still going strong. Just bought two more
plushies, an action figure, and a Moon phone case. My pins just came in too and now
Lefty and Rockstar Freddy and Foxy are sitting pretty on my backpack
LOL........please take my credit card away from me......
 A Helping Hand
Chapter Summary

“I think we should help them,” he says. Michael turns to glare at him.

“I agree!” Freddy says. Michael redirects his glare to the bear. “I do not like seeing my
friends like this. I believe helping them would be beneficial for everyone.”

Michael sighs and throws his hands up. At the same time, the elevator opens and they
step out onto the first floor. “Fine! Looks like I’m outvoted here. We’ll find Roxy and
Monty and reboot them.”

Chapter Notes

TW: Kidnapping

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Since Mr. Michael can fix us, shouldn’t we try and help Roxy and Monty?”

Gregory watches Michael’s face fall as he turns to look at Chica. None of them had a destination in
mind, but it makes sense she’d bring up her friends. Michael had already cleared Chica and Freddy
of the virus, so it’s possible he could do the same for the others.

“No offense Chica, but the only reason I helped you is because you were hurting Gregory,”
Michael says, “our main focus should be getting him out.”

“But helping them would also help him!” she argues, “less animatronics hunting him. Plus, more
eyes to search for exits!”

Michael groans and throws his head back. He understands the older’s reluctance to help the others.
If Gregory was in his position, he’d ignore Roxy and Monty as best as he could. On the other hand,
she makes a good point. It would make everything a lot less stressful if there were no animatronic’s
hunting him down. Chica was nice once Michael rebooted her, so he assumes Roxy and Monty will
be as well.

“I think we should help them,” he says. Michael turns to glare at him.

“I agree!” Freddy says. Michael redirects his glare to the bear. “I do not like seeing my friends like
this. I believe helping them would be beneficial for everyone.”

Michael sighs and throws his hands up. At the same time, the elevator opens and they step out onto
the first floor. “Fine! Looks like I’m outvoted here. We’ll find Roxy and Monty and reboot them.”

“Thank you, Mr. Afton.”

“Thank you Mr. Michael!”

“Yeah yeah whatever,” he sighs. He looks around the first floor. “I guess we’ll go to Roxy’s
Raceway first, since we’re close by. Knowing her, she’d probably stick to her turf.”

“We could use me to lure her out.”

“You wanna be bait?”

“If it means finding her faster than sure.”

“Oh yeah. Great idea. Here-“

Michael suddenly picks him up by his armpits and dangles him in front of his body. Gregory
scowls as Michael holds him up above his head, Lion King style, and turns to face Chica and
Freddy. Freddy looks confused, while Chica looks very amused. “I’ll just wait for the predator to
come to me.”

“It was just a suggestion, you don’t have to be a dick about it.”

“No I think I do.”

Michael brings him down, but doesn’t put him down on the floor just yet. “Here’s what you’ll do.
You’ll hop into Freddy’s hatch and stay there until Roxy’s rebooted, and don’t come out under any
circumstances.”

Gregory huffs. He wishes Michael would let him be more helpful.

“This is for your safety, superstar,” Freddy says, as he climbs into his hatch. He doesn’t say
anything to the bear as he makes himself comfortable. He knows that they do this to protect him,
but he wants to protect them too! He cares about Michael and Freddy and, little by little, Chica as
well. He doesn’t want to see them get hurt just to help him - not anymore. He wants to be there in
case they might get hurt.

But he’s just a kid, and against huge and heavy animatronics, he’s useless. It sucks feeling so
vulnerable.

It doesn’t take long to find Roxy. Like Michael predicted, she was roaming around Roxy’s
Raceway. Unlike Chica and Monty, Roxy uses mocking statements to try and lure him out. He
hopes it’s the virus speaking and that she isn’t this mean all the time.

“Ok, I need you two to distract her while I sneak up behind her and reboot her systems.”

“You got it Mr. Michael!” Chica says. Freddy nods and both animatronics make their way over to
Roxy. The closer they get, the clearer Gregory can hear her sniffing. Can she…smell him? So not
only can she see really well, but apparently they gave her ole factory sense. In his opinion, that’s
going a little too far.

“Roxy!” Chica yells, getting the wolf’s attention, “have you found the kid yet?”

“I wouldn’t be searching if I have,” she scoffs. She suddenly turns around to glare at them. “Why,
have you found him?”

“Nope!” Chica giggles. Roxy seems to relax at that.

“Good, because I’m going to find him first.”

“I am sure you will, Roxy. You are the best at finding people,” Freddy says. Roxy’s chest puffs up
in pride, and this is around the time that Gregory sees Michael sneak up behind her.

“What about Mike? Have you two seen him anywhere?”

The two animatronics freeze at that. Even Gregory freezes in surprise. “Mr. Michael?” Chica asks,
“no…I have not seen him at all.”

“I thought we were only searching for the intruder,” Freddy says. Roxy glares at him.

“Did you not get the new order? We’re supposed to captured the kid and Mike. He’s sneaking the
kid around apparently, when he should bring the brat to Vanessa,” she says, eyes turning purple.

Oh great, now Michael is an active target as well. With Monty still on the loose, they’ll need to be
extra careful walking around. He’s glad Michael instructed Freddy and Chica to distract Roxy,
otherwise this would’ve been more dangerous.

“Why didn’t you two get Vanessa’s order?”

Chica chuckles and waves her hands. “Must’ve slipped past our coding!”

Roxy glares at them. Gregory gulps. She’s on to them. “Are you two sure-“

Suddenly, her eyes dim and her body slumps forward. Michael walks out from behind her and
sighs. Gregory, deeming it safe, opens Freddy’s hatch and hops out, standing in front of Roxy.

“Holy shit that was harder than expected.”

“Why?” Gregory asks Michael.

“Roxy is more sensitive than everyone else. She can see, hear and smell things a lot better, so I had
to be as sneaky as possible opening her up.”

Gregory’s nose scrunches up. “That sounds…excessive.”

“Fazbear’s do love to go above and beyond," Michael says.

“System rebooted.”

Everyone turns to look at Roxy as her gold eyes light up once again. She shakes her head, just like
Chica did when she first came to. She glances around and looks confused when she realizes she
isn’t in her room, like she’s supposed to be. “What the hell…?”

“Roxy!!!”

The wolf yelps as Chica barrels into her, arms wrapped tightly around the wolf’s waist. “You’re
ok!!!”

“Of course I’m ok!” Roxy groans. She still hugs Chica back, despite the annoyed look on her face.
“I just don’t understand why I’m here and not in my room.”

“A lot has happened while you were corrupted Roxanne,” Freddy says. Roxy’s ears perk up at the
word corrupted.

“Corrupted?”

Gregory tunes Freddy out as he begins to explain what is happening to Roxy. He takes to observe
 Roxy’s Raceway, since he never got the chance to earlier today- or, yesterday. He mostly stuck to
the arcades and El Chip’s, but Roxy’s Raceway looks pretty cool too. He’s never been racing. It
sounds more fun than laser tag, and even better than boring golf or bowling. He wishes he could’ve
enjoyed it while this place wasn’t so…murder-y.

He looks at Michael, who’s now explaining to Roxy who he actually is and why he’s here. He
should’ve just waited until Monty was fixed too, since he’ll have to explain his story again for a
fourth time soon. He doesn’t know why, but his eyes decide to drift up, way above Michael’s head.
That’s when Gregory notices two red beams flying straight towards Michael.

Not him. Michael.

“Naughty boy~”

“LOOK OUT!”

He uses all of his strength to push Michael away from Moon’s grasp. It works, thank god, because
the sudden push is enough to startle the older man and cause him to lose balance. He lands flat on
his butt and far away from Moon’s grasp.

Sadly, it just made him an easier target for the flying animatronic.

He yells in fear as Moon grabs him by the back of his shirt and lifts him away quickly, out of
reaching distance from Michael and the others. He’s never had a fear of heights, but being this far
up and dangling in the grasp of a crazy robot makes him rethink things.

“GREGORY!!!”

Moon cackles as Michael chases after him, Freddy right beside him. He yells and kicks and flails
around in Moon’s grasp, but it’s no use. Michael is trying to climb the roof of Roxy’s beauty salon
as Moon flies away from the raceway. Gregory watches as the older man grows smaller and
smaller, the distance between them becoming greater and greater.

At least he protected Michael.

“Nighty night~”

Something hits the back of his head, and everything goes black.

Chapter End Notes

MOON??? GREGNAPPING??? IN MY PIZZERIA??? HOW DARE HIM.

I had in mind for this chapter for Michael and Gregory to get separated...how I landed
on Gregory basically getting kidnapped is a mystery to me, but here we are. I love
Moon I truly do, but he makes a great antagonist. Perfect candidate for aerial
kidnapping.

But hey, look on the bright side...Roxy is an our side now!!! Hurray!!!
 Sacrificial
Chapter Summary

His vision suddenly becomes distorted. His eyes widen as everything becomes static-y
and red. It’s like…when that bunny lady passed by the charging station.

Oh shit.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The next time he wakes up, he’s in a room with two large computer screens and a metal door
closed shut on the right. Freddy isn’t around, and neither is Michael. Not even Chica or Roxy are in
this small room. He wipes his eyes of any sleep residue and slowly sits up. He flinches slightly
when a voice emits from the computer screen.

“I bet you think you’re real clever, Gregory. Yeah, I know your name! You’re in big trouble! This
is not the night to be wasting my time! So, you are going to wait right there in lost and found until
your parents or the police arrive! Stay put while I go find Michael and stick him in here as well!”

Gregory scowls and flips the computer screen off, taking a lesson from Michael himself. He really
does not like her. It’s all her fault he’s still here in the first place! Maybe if she didn’t set the
animatronic’s on murder mode and send them after him, then he could’ve left hours ago. But…it is
weird that Moon got him and he’s still alive. Is she really planning on setting him free, or is he
trapped in here for a different reason?

He sighs and goes to check his Fazwatch. He grumbles in disappointment when he sees the screen
glitching out. Great, now he can’t even call Freddy for help. He’s stuck in here, and he's alone.
This is the first time since he’s met Michael and Freddy that he’s had to be alone. It sucks.

His vision suddenly becomes distorted. His eyes widen as everything becomes static-y and red. It’s
like…when that bunny lady passed by the charging station.

Oh shit.

He stands up quickly and gasps as a woman in a familiar patchwork suit skips towards the closed
metal. Shit. Shit shit shit he needs to think fast. He sees the glint of the knife in her hand, and he
refuses to die like this. Alone in a stuffy old security room. He looks around and spots a present in
the corner of the room. He rushes over to it, hoping something in it will help him. He whisper a
“yes!” when he sees that it’s a screwdriver - the one thing he desperately needs right now.

He picks the screwdriver up and runs over to the vent. As quickly as he can, he unscrews the two
screws still inserted into the vent. Just as he hears the door open, the vent falls to the floor, and he
scrambles inside it, relieved to see the main atrium just on the other side.

“Are you having fun yet?~”

He most certainly is not. This is the most scared he’s been all night, which is saying something.
His vision is still blurry and static-y, which means bunny lady is still nearby. He needs to run far
away from lost and found before she finds him again.

He runs across the atrium floor, and for the first time tonight finally notices all the security bots
roaming the area. Being in Freddy hatch or Michael’s shadow did a lot to hide him from all
potential danger. Now that he's alone, he's practically a sitting duck.

“Hey!” he yells, as a security bot grabs him and alerts the surrounding area of his whereabouts. It
doesn’t hold him for long, but it’s long enough for bunny lady to catch up to him.

“Are you having fun yet?~”

He rushes up the escalator and dodges any and all security bots that cross his path. He manages to
escape their sight, and he takes a quick second to observe his options. He could take the elevator,
or hide in a photo booth. Hiding means waiting things out, and he needs to get to Michael or the
others as fast as possible. So, elevator it is. He’ll go up to the third floor and find somewhere to
hide up there.

He presses the button to the elevator and rushes in once it opens. He slams the third floor button
just in time to see bunny lady skip her way up the escalator. His heart pounds in anticipation as the
theme music plays on the speakers. When the doors open, he runs out and looks around at all his
options.

His eyes land on El Chip’s, and he decides to hide in there for a bit. He’s familiar with the layout,
and he doubts bunny lady will scan every last nook and cranny for him. Luckily, El Chip’s is
exactly the same as it was during the day. He hides behind the counter, near the kitchen, and sits.
His chest moves up and down as he tries to catch his breathe.

He doesn’t regret protecting Michael earlier, but he takes back what he said to the older man a
couple hours ago: he isn’t a tough kid. He’s scared and lonely and wants nothing more but to be
back beside Freddy and Michael. He squeezes his eyes shut as he thinks about how safe he felt
while in Michael’s care. He didn’t know just how lonely he felt until he had someone looking out
for him. Now that he’s alone again, he hates it. Going back to the streets after tonight will be
rough.

After another minute of catching his breathe, he lifts his Fazwatch to see its condition. It’s no
longer static-y, which means bunny lady isn’t close enough to disturb his vision or his means of
communication. He presses the speaker button. “Freddy?”

He almost cries in relief when the bear responds. “Gregory! I am so happy to hear your voice! Are
you ok?”

“M’fine,” he says, “I woke up in lost and found and the bunny lady started chasing me. I ran all the
way to El Chip’s and now I’m hiding in the kitchen.”

“That is terrible. I am so sorry you were in danger. But you made it out! That is good! I will make
my way to El Chip’s as quickly as possible.”

“Are…the others with you?”

“Chica and Roxy took to parts and service so that Chica can wipe Roxy clean of the virus. Mr.
Afton…I do not know where he is.”

“What?!” he whisper yells, “That’s not good! Bunny lady is after him too!”

“I tried to stop him, but…he was very distraught after you were taken. I believe he is trying to find
you.”

Gregory scowls. “Fine. I’ll just look for him on the cameras.”

“Are you going to go find him? I would advise waiting in El Chip’s until it is safe.”

“I’m not leaving Michael alone,” he huffs, “I’ll be fine. I’ll call you back when I find him.”

“Alright…please be safe, superstar.”

“I will Freddy. Don’t worry.”

He ends the call and takes a deep breathe. Why would Michael choose to search for him alone? He
knows him getting taken away must’ve been scary for everyone, but why would he roam this death
trap by himself when he knows he’s being hunted too? That doesn’t sound like something Michael
would do.

He lifts his Fazwatch back up and flicks to the cameras app. He starts from point A, which is the
fourth floor, and makes his way down. With so many cameras and such a big mall, it takes him a
few minutes before he finally finds Michael in the daycare area. He’s standing in front of Moon
with his arms crossed and a pissed off look on his face. For once, Moon doesn’t look so homicidal.
Instead, he looks…defeated.

“I am sorry Mr. Michael,” he hears Moon say through the camera, “but I truly do not know where
Vanessa had me take him. I only remember her turning me back on so I could locate him and you.”

“Think harder,” Michael growls, “search for anything until your coding is in ruins. You must
remember more.”

“I only remember my orders. I do not remember any locations or anything about a woman in a
bunny suit.”

Michael curses underneath his breathe and runs a hand through his brown hair. He turns away from
Moon and marches up to the security desk. Moon tilts his head in confusion.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going back to parts and service to talk to my father.”

Gregory’s heart drops.

“Mr. Michael…I do not think-“

“He knows where Vanny is, which means he knows where Gregory is. I don’t care what it takes,
I’m getting him to let Gregory go.”

“How?”

“I’ll trade my own life for Gregory’s,” Michael says, like it’s the easiest decision he’s ever made,
“if I promise to give him my soul for all the remnant I have, then there’s a chance he’ll let Gregory
go.”

“It’s a slim chance.”

“It’s good enough. I’m not letting him kill Gregory. I won’t let another child die under my watch.”
 Michael quickly charges his flashlight and pockets it before making his way to the daycare exit.

“You are too sacrificial Mr. Michael,” Moon says. Michael pauses.

“I know. It’s the only thing that gives my life meaning.”

Gregory watches in fear as Michael rushes out the daycare to parts and service. He needs to beat
him there. No, Michael is closer to the basement level and he’s faster than Gregory. His best
chance is meeting him at the ground level…but by the time he makes it to the daycare, Michael
will already be at parts and service. No matter what he does, he won’t make it to the older man in
time. He’s too far away.

He can’t let Michael die for him. Why is this man so ready to sacrifice his life for Gregory? A
street kid with no attachments to him. He won’t let him make a stupid decision like that! Especially
since he’s ok and alive.

Wait. There is something he can do. Something that will put him in danger, but hopefully, it might
stop Michael in his tracks.

He runs out of El Chip’s and over to the balcony overlooking the atrium. He braces himself against
the railing, takes a deep breathe, charts out an escape route, and yells:

“MICHAEL!!!!!!!!”

Chapter End Notes

If you want Michael's side of things: he quickly gave Chica the flash drive and told her
how to clear Roxy of the virus. He left the group to search for Moon, but found Sun in
the daycare instead. Sun was confused, but complied when Michael told him to sit still
and let him reboot him. Once Sun was rebooted, he turned the lights off and began
interrogating Moon (he wasn't sure if Moon would be hostile, but he was desperate and
didn't care). And that's when Gregory hears them over the cams :D

Maybe one day I'll write a sequel to this but in Mike's POV........It's tempting but
knowing me......... :/ I make no promises.
 You Care About Me?
Chapter Summary

Gregory blinks in shock. It’s been…a very long time since someone has hugged him
like this. Michael has held his hand and ruffled his hair and held him, but this hug is
different. It’s one that comes from pure affection. It reminds him of how his mother
use to hug him. Tightly, with his head pressed against her heart so he could hear how
much she cared about him.

That last thought makes his eyes tear up.

Chapter Notes

TW: violence/injuries

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The yell triggers all the security bots around him to sound off their alarms. It sets off a chain
reaction, and the security bots on the lower levels activate as well. Gregory makes quick work and
rushes over to the elevator, pressing the button to the ground level. He looks at his Fazwatch and
sighs in relief when he sees that Michael has paused, staring at the security bots in shock. Maybe
he didn’t hear his scream, but he definitely hears all the bots go crazy.

He’s confused, and that confusion has given him enough time to catch him.

He runs out the elevator once it opens, making a beeline towards the daycare. “MICHAEL!!!” he
yells again.

“Are you having fun yet?~”

He cries out as a security boy snatches him by the arm, before a pawed hand swats it away to grip
his arm instead. Bunny lady- Vanny’s red eyes mock him as she holds up her knife towards his
face.

“It’s over~”

“LET HIM GO!”

Vanny hums and turns around just in time to see Michael lift his flashlight up over his head and
brings it down against her head. She yelps in surprise and lets him go, clutching her head. It
doesn’t knock her out, sadly, but it scares her enough to make her stumble back. Michael takes this
chance to tackle her to the ground, going for the knife in her hand immediately.

“Stay down!“

He punches her in the stomach, a low gruff coming from behind her mask. Vanny swipes the knife
at him, slashing him across the collarbone and shoulder, adding a new scar to his collection.
Michael rolls away to avoid a stabbing to the stomach, and Vanny takes this chance to stand up and
skip away, leaving the two of them behind. The blue eyed man groans and punches the ground,
unhappy he let Vanny get away. Gregory, however, is glad that he got away from her. It means
he’s safe.

His stupid plan actually worked. He almost died, and Michael is injured, again, but still. It worked.
Which means-

“You stupid idiot!” he yells, turning to look at Michael, “I heard you talking to Moon through the
cameras! How could you be so stupid to just throw your life away like that?! You’re so stupid and
stubborn and-!”

His rant is interrupted when Michael brings him into a tight hug.

“Thank God,” the older whispers, “you’re ok…”

Gregory blinks in shock. It’s been…a very long time since someone has hugged him like this.
Michael has held his hand and ruffled his hair and held him, but this hug is different. It’s one that
comes from pure affection. It reminds him of how his mother use to hug him. Tightly, with his
head pressed against her heart so he could hear how much she cared about him.

That last thought makes his eyes tear up.

Before he can reciprocate the hug, Michael pulls away and places his hands on his arms. “Are you
ok?”

That breaks Gregory out of his thoughts. He scowls at the older man. “No! You were going to
sacrifice yourself!”

Michael scoffs. “Of course I was. I wasn’t about to let Vanny or my father kill you.”

“But- but you should care more about your life!”

“I don’t.”

“Well I do!”

Now it’s Michael’s turn to look surprised. “Why do you think I pushed you away from Moon?! I
wanted to protect you too, so don’t go around trying to get yourself killed while I’m not here!
We’re gonna get out of here together whether you like it or not!”

Michael looks floored - like he almost can’t believe someone actually cares about him. He’s stupid
then, if he thought Gregory wouldn’t care about him - how couldn’t he, when Michael cares about
him, so much so that he’d die just to protect him. Gregory doesn’t let himself get attached to people
so often and so quickly, but for once, he doesn’t care.

Michael is important to him, and he’d like to see him live through this hellish night.

“Gregory,” he whispers, “you shouldn’t have to worry about me so much. Your main priority
should be your own life.”

“My main priority is both of our lives, so deal with it.”

Michael sighs, and almost looks pained at his stubbornness. “I just…I don’t want you putting your
life over mine.”
 “I don’t want you doing that either, so how do you think I feel?”

Michael looks down at the ground. “I didn’t think you cared that much.”

“Well, I do, so-“ he huffs and kicks at the air, “-y’know.”

This guy sure is stupid. How heartless does he think Gregory is? Of course he’d care if he died.
He’ll drill it into his head manually if he has to, just so he understands how much Gregory cares
about him.

“I care about you too,” Michael says. Gregory looks up at him. “and I’m sorry, for worrying you
so much. I’ll try to be more careful from now on.”

Gregory nods. “Good. No dying.”

“No dying.”

Michael smirks and pulls him into another tight hug. Unlike this one, he can tell this hug is meant
to suffocate him. He squirms in Michael’s hold, trying to free his arms, but they're glued to his
sides. “Look at you, being a sweetheart for once. I knew you couldn’t always be a gremlin child.”

“Let me go or I’ll bite you!”

“Ah, there it is.”

Michael lets him go and finally stands up, holding his hand out for Gregory to take. He takes it, but
not without a frown, silently telling the older man he didn’t appreciate having the life squeezed out
of him.

“Alright,” Michael sighs, running a hand through his hair, “all that’s left is rebooting Monty, and
then we can focus on getting you out of here.”

“What about Vanny? Or your dad?”

“Actually, I know how to help Vanny.”

“…Help?”

Chapter End Notes

*Separates them for one chapter* ..........yeah I don't like this change it back.

When I first wrote this I didn't have the fight scene...then I read it again and thought
hmmmmm...something is missing. So I had Michael and Vanny deck it out a bit and
then it felt right :) happy 4/20 y'all.

(Also happy Jeremy day!!! He isn't in this fic but I gotta shout him out. Love that
scrunkly boy. If you read blueycapsules, you know what I'm talking about hehe)
 Please...not again...
Chapter Summary

“You suck! Let me go!” he groans. He swings his foot out and actually manages to
kick Monty in the snout. He smiles in victory, but it falls when Monty doesn’t let him
go. His once red eyes turn purple as he glares at him. Gregory gulps.

“You’re gonna regret that little guy.”

Chapter Notes

TW: violence/blood mention/child injury

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Gregory stares at the arcade game in disbelief. “This…is supposed to set Vanny free of your
father’s brainwashing?”

“That’s what Moon told me.”

“And you believe him?”

“He doesn’t have a reason to lie about this.”

He’s still having a hard time believing that an arcade game could free Vanessa. According to
Michael, or Moon technically, Vanny is Vanessa, but she isn’t following William’s command
willingly. He’s been brainwashing her for quite some time now, and her free will is locked within
three Princess Quest games here at the Plex. It was the VR game in the first place that allowed
William to control her, and now it’ll be these arcade games that get rid of him.

Moon knew where the first two were, but the third one remained a mystery. Michael said they’ll
try to find it after playing the first two and freeing Monty.

“So all I have to do is beat the game?”

“Yep,” Michael shrugs, “I figured you can play it while I stand guard.”

“Alright,” he says. He climbs onto the stool and boots up the game. “I haven’t played any video
games in a while, so sorry if this takes a long time.”

“S’fine,” Michael says, “it’s been decades since I played one, so I’m not in any place to judge.”

“I keep forgetting you’re like, 60.”

The game turns on, and he begins his trek around a labyrinth as the princess.

“Only mentally,” Michael scrunches his nose up, “even then I don’t feel 60. I don’t think I aged
past 21, mind, body and soul.”

“How long were you a corpse for?” he asks. He dodges a few enemies and lights a lantern.

“About…thirty years? Give or take.”

“Holy shit,” he gasps. He didn’t think Michael was dead for that long. “What’s it like?”

“Being a rotting, purple corpse with no organs?”

“Yeah.”

“Awful. You get use to it after a while, but I didn’t know how much I missed the simple things
like, breathing. Or eating.”

“You couldn’t eat?!”

“I could, but the food had no where to go. I had to remove it manually.”

“Oh gross.”

“It wasn’t pleasant.”

He lights the final lantern and follows a strange man down a dark hallway. Foreboding as hell.
“This might sound harsh, but…why did you stay that way for so long?”

“I needed to find my father, so I kept on going. And I thought…what a more fitting punishment for
someone like me.”

Gregory fights off more monsters. “Does this have something to do with that ‘thing’ you did? Your
dad mentioned it.”

“Yes. I’d rather not talk about it.”

“You sure do have a lot of secrets.”

“Well, what about you?” Michael scoffs, “All I know about you is your name and age. You’re
quite the mystery yourself.”

“I like being mysterious,” he whispers, as he beats the game. He turns on his stool to look at
Michael. “My life story isn’t important anyway.”

“I disagree. I’d like to know the basics at least. Like, what’s your last name?”

“…Miller.”

“Your guardians names? I’ll have to know them anyway for when I call them.”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Michael glares at him. “Why are you being so secretive about this?”

“Why are you being so pushy?!”

Michael’s glare lessens, and a worried look replaces it. “Gregory…are you safe with your
guardians?”
He doesn’t want to answer that. He looks away from Michael, hoping the older man gets the hint
and drops it. Of course, he doesn’t. “Hey, kid, it’s ok,” Michael says, kneeling in front of him, “you
can be honest with me.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he whispers, “there’s nothing you can do for me. You won’t see me
after tonight.”

“But-“

“Hey, little guy!”

“Shit,” Michael says. He grabs Gregory’s hand and books it away from Monty’s loud footfalls.
Gregory turns his head and gasps as he sees how close Monty is. Has he always been so fast?!
They don’t have the others to help them reboot him either. They need to lead him towards parts
and service so Freddy, Chica and Roxy can hold him down while Michael fixes him.

They don’t make it far out of the arcade. A too large hand comes out of nowhere and picks Michael
up. Gregory cries out in shock and lets go of the older’s hand. “MICHAEL!”

A huge Music Man looking animatronic brings Michael up to its face. It doesn’t hurt him, just
observes him. It doesn’t make a move for Gregory.

“Got you!”

He yelps as a clawed hand grabs him by the arm. He squirms in Monty’s grip as the alligator
brings him up to face level. “You’re in big trouble little fella!”

“You suck! Let me go!” he groans. He swings his foot out and actually manages to kick Monty in
the snout. He smiles in victory, but it falls when Monty doesn’t let him go. His once red eyes turn
purple as he glares at him. Gregory gulps.

“You’re gonna regret that little guy.”

“MONTY, STOP!” Michael yells. He doesn’t listen, unsurprisingly. He raises his other clawed
hand and brings it down on his face. He ducks quickly, and instead of hitting his face, the claws
scratch the top of his head and forehead. He cries out in pain as he feels blood seep down his eye to
his cheek to his neck. He feels woozy all of a sudden, like he’s going to throw up. His head burns.
It hurts a lot.

“Music Man please let me go!” he hears Michael yell. So the big guy is Music Man too? “I helped
build your model, remember? Little Music Man?”

Gregory doesn’t hear what happens next. Michael must’ve convinced Music Man to help him,
because the next thing he knows Monty is dropping him and a big hand is holding down the
alligator animatronic. He groans and turns to lie on his back. He brings his hand up to his head and
winces at the sight of red. To his right, Michael climbs on top of Monty and goes for his back
panel.

“H-Hang in there kid,” he hears Michael say. He sounds…terrified. “You’re g-gonna be ok. It’s
gonna b-be o-ok.”

He closes his eyes to prevent blood from getting in them too much, so he doesn’t see Michael’s
shaky hands fix Monty, or the way his teary eyes glance over at him every second. All he hears are
his annoyed groans and whispers of ‘not again.’ What that means, he doesn’t know.
 “G-Gregory? Answer m-me kid, y-you still with m-me?”

He hums and nods, not wanting to open his eyes just yet. He feels two arms pick him up gently,
and his head rolls onto Michael’s shoulder naturally. He’s still warm. It makes him sleepy.

“Gregory? H-Hey, stay with m-me bud!”

He wants to, but he’s so sleepy. A little nap…wouldn’t hurt.

“Gregory? G-Gregory?!”

He falls asleep to Michael crying ‘not again,’ over and over.

Chapter End Notes

Hang on I prepared for this *pulls out apology letter**clears throat* I wanna apologize
to all of you for what I did it was very wrong and I am very sorry. I just would like to
move on and lead a normal life. You know get a job and a wife and change my ways.
And I hope this apology impresses you even though my grandmother made me do it-

Uh. Ignore that last part.

Every time someone last chapter was like "yay they're back together!" on the inside I
was crying because I knew what I was planning. I am sorry for the angst. I gave y'all a
lil fluff at the beginning and DJ Music Man so........I hope you enjoyed it
 Monster
Chapter Summary

Michael doesn’t pay attention to anything else they say, just blindly follows Freddy
and Roxy to Freddy’s room. He knows they’ll help Gregory, especially Freddy. He
honestly should’ve let Freddy go with Gregory anyway, but the kid wanted to stay with
him and Michael couldn’t forget the way he looked when he told Michael not to leave
him.

He looked just like Evan, and Michael wasn’t about to abandon another kid. Funny
where his own guilt got him and Gregory now.

Chapter Notes

TW: child injury/blood mention/mentions of death

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Michael couldn’t breathe. He felt like his lungs and heart would collapse under him with how
much overtime they were doing.

There is so much blood. He felt it between his fingers, he saw it when he closed his eyes, and he
could smell it no matter how much he tried to ignore it. It felt like a never ending stream and it
wouldn’t stop and it was all his fault it was his fault again this is why he’s a no good monster-

“Mr. Afton!”

He startles and turns around to see Freddy, Chica and Roxy rushing towards them, worry on all of
their faces when they notice the unconscious Gregory in his arms. Freddy is the first to reach them.
“What happened?”

“M-Monty, he got h-him,” he hears Chica gasp and Roxy growl, “I-I rebooted him. A-Arcade. He’s
there. I had to l-leave, I have t-to-“ he clutches Gregory closer to him as Freddy goes to examine
the wound, “-h-he’s dying.”

“I do not think he will need stitches,” Freddy says, “but he needs first aid. I have a kit in my room.”

“You and Roxy go with Mr. Michael,” Chica says. She holds up his flash drive. “I’ll go help
Monty.”

Michael doesn’t pay attention to anything else they say, just blindly follows Freddy and Roxy to
Freddy’s room. He knows they’ll help Gregory, especially Freddy. He honestly should’ve let
Freddy go with Gregory anyway, but the kid wanted to stay with him and Michael couldn’t forget
the way he looked when he told Michael not to leave him.

He looked just like Evan, and Michael wasn’t about to abandon another kid. Funny where his own
guilt got him and Gregory now.

Monster. You’re a monster. You killed him. You’ve done it again. Just can’t help yourself, can
you?

“Mr. Afton.”

Freddy’s voice brings him out of his self deprecating thoughts again. “We are here.”

Michael nods and walks into Freddy’s room. He walks over to the couch and sits down with
Gregory in his lap. Freddy busies himself by retrieving the first aid, while Roxy stands beside him.
She places a hand on his shoulder. “You ok Mike? You’re shaking a lot. The kid will be fine, he’s
a tough one.”

Michael shakes his head. “I-It’s still my f-fault he got hurt in the f-first place.”

“Monty was the one who got him,” she says, “and even then, it’s Vanny and your dad that are
running this shit show. Gregory getting hurt is no one’s fault but their’s.”

He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t want to tell her that she’s wrong. That yes, his father is a monster,
but Michael is one too. No matter how much he tries, he can’t seem to ever do the right thing, and
because of his incompetence children always end up hurt or dead.

He’s a bad person. A horrible person. Evan probably thinks so, and now Gregory will think so too.
He’ll be mad Michael couldn’t protect him and demand to stay with Freddy - not that Michael
would blame him. What’s worse is knowing that Gregory might live with unsuitable guardians, and
now Michael has become another adult who’s failed him.

He’s silent as Freddy asks him to help clean the blood from Gregory’s head. His hands shake as
flashes of a familiar scene pop up in his mind. He never got to take care of Evan after his injury.
Father whisked him away to the hospital as soon as the accident happened. At least this time, he
can be somewhat helpful.

“The scratches do not look deep,” Freddy says, “I will put on some bandages. Hopefully this will
slow the bleeding and minimize the damage.”

Michael nods and helps Freddy wrap the bandages around the head wound. He was right in saying
the scratches aren’t that deep, but he’ll still need to go to the hospital when he gets out. Once
they’re done, the wound is completely hidden and there’s no more blood dripping down the kids
face. It still unnerves him seeing Gregory so…lifeless.

“Mr. Afton,” Freddy whispers, “he will be fine.”

“He still g-got hurt,” he whispers back, “he could’ve d-died.”

“But you saved him, again!”

“I’m the reason he g-got hurt in the f-first place!” he sobs, “he isn’t safe w-with me! I’ll only get
him killed.”

“I do not believe that Mr. Afton,” Freddy says, shaking his head, “you have done all you can to
protect Superstar here, but you are only human.”

Michael looks down at the sleeping boy on his lap. “Maybe he should just…stay with you.”
 “I do not think he will allow that.”

And that’s the worse part, isn’t it? Gregory trusts him, a little too much for Michael’s liking. He
put his trust and life into Michael’s hands and he almost died because of it. He doesn’t know why
he indulged the kid and let him stay beside Michael. He should’ve said no in the daycare, or made
the kid stay with Freddy while he searched the pizzeria.

But Michael is weak, and worst of all, he is selfish. He is weak because Gregory looks so much
like Evan, and Michael couldn’t make the same mistakes he made with his brother with Gregory.
He is selfish because he wants the kid to stay beside him. He cares about Gregory, not just because
he looks like Evan, but because…he just does.

He’s a good kid who cares about Michael’s well being. He trusts Michael a lot, and Michael trusts
him too. It’s weird to think he’s bonded with this random kid after only a few hours together, but he
has. He doesn’t just want Gregory to live because it’s the right thing to do - he wants Gregory to
live because he wants him to leave here and be happy.

It’s how things should’ve been with Evan. With Elizabeth. They should’ve lived and grown up to
be happy. Michael thought he could grant that to Gregory, but he can’t. He’s a monster, and
monsters aren’t meant to save kids.

They’re meant to kill. That’s all he’s ever been good at.

He sniffles and hides his face in Gregory’s hair, ignoring Freddy and Roxy’s concerned faces.
He’ll miss Gregory, but he can’t stay with Michael anymore. He needs to find his father and end
things, and possibly die in the process - that’s how he can keep Gregory safe. He promised the kid
he wouldn’t die, but things don’t always work out the way they want.

Gregory doesn’t need him anyway. He’ll be fine without him.

Chapter End Notes

Short chapter, but this one is actually a newer chapter, one I added in just a few days
ago XD the majority of this story is in Gregory's POV, but for this part I felt like it was
important to get into Michael's mind a bit. I kind of wished I made it a lil longer, but
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

It's angsty, but it's Michael we're talking about...we'll go back to Gregory's POV next
chapter, but this isn't the last we'll hear from Michael's POV ;)

Also, thank you so much for 600 kudos!!!! I really can't thank you all enough for the
support :') it means a lot to me, and I hope you continue to like the story <3
 Family?
Chapter Summary

He takes a moment to process everything Michael just told him. No wonder he didn’t
want to talk about his family life. With a father like that, and what he did to his
brother…Gregory can tell that he feels remorse for what he did. He can tell he’s
different than William by the tears and sorrow he displays when talking about Evan.

Michael did something awful, and maybe Evan wouldn’t be as forgiving as he is

being. He’d understand if Evan wasn’t forgiving. He saw a side of Michael that’s
cruel, and mean, and dangerous. To Evan, Michael is the brother who failed him
miserably, but…

But.

Chapter Notes

TW: mentioned child death

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It’s warm when he wakes up. His head feels tighter than usual, but luckily there’s no blood seeping
into his eyes. The pillow underneath him moves up and down, and there’s a hand nestled in his
ratty, brown hair. An arm is wrapped around his waist, and the hand attached to said arm rubs his
back up and down. It’s soothing. It’s safe.

“Mike? He’s awake.”

The pillow underneath him gasps, and his head is gently pushed away from its comfortable
position. He’s met with Michael’s teared stained face and red eyes. The older man looks like a
mess. He frowns. “Mi…chael?”

“I-I was s-so worried,” Michael sniffles, “I…I thought y-you-“

Oh. So that’s why he looks so upset.

“M’ok,” he whispers, “it doesn’t hurt that much anymore…”

Michael doesn’t answer - he pulls him into another tight hug, placing Gregory’s head against his
shoulder and his own head on top of his brown hair. Gregory hums, enjoying the warmth.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you,” Michael whispers.

“S’fine.”

“It’s not. It’s-“ Michael pauses. He feels his hands shake on his head and back. “Remember earlier
when you asked me about that…‘thing’ I did?”
“Yeah…?”

“It has to do with my brother.”

Brother? William mentioned him…oh! “Evan?”

He feels Michael nod. “He died. A long time ago. To a head injury.”

“Ok…?”

“He was put into an animatronic’s mouth, and the thing malfunctioned and bite down on his head.”

“That’s awful.”

“I put him into the animatronic’s mouth.”

Gregory freezes. “You….wha…?”

“I was stupid,” Michael whispers, “I was mean and I thought it’d be a funny prank. He was always
so scared of those fucking animatronics, and I liked scaring him and seeing him cry because I was
a dick. I didn’t…I swear I didn’t know it’s mouth would snap. I didn’t.”

Michael’s grip on his shirt tightens. “But i-it did, and h-he died, and i-it was all my f-fault. My
father w-was right, I’m a-a monster. I couldn’t p-protect E-Evan, and now…n-now you almost d-
died too. I’m sorry Gregory. I’m s-so sorry I f-failed you.”

The older man sighs deeply. “I-I think it’d be b-best if you stick with Freddy. I…I don’t think
you’re safe with m-me anymore.”

He takes a moment to process everything Michael just told him. No wonder he didn’t want to talk
about his family life. With a father like that, and what he did to his brother…Gregory can tell that
he feels remorse for what he did. He can tell he’s different than William by the tears and sorrow he
displays when talking about Evan.

Michael did something awful, and maybe Evan wouldn’t be as forgiving as he is being. He’d
understand if Evan wasn’t forgiving. He saw a side of Michael that’s cruel, and mean, and
dangerous. To Evan, Michael is the brother who failed him miserably, but…

But.

To Gregory, he’s the first person in a long time to actually care about him. To protect him and
laugh with him and hug him like he’s someone important. To him, he’s a good person who did an
awful things decades ago. To him, an orphan with no support system, Michael is the family he
wished he had. He feels safest with him, and this incident and his past doesn’t change that. Maybe
it should, but it doesn’t.

Michael is kind to him, and he hasn’t been shown kindness in a long, long time.

“Please don’t leave me…”

Michael sniffles and finally lifts his head to look at him. Gregory keeps his head hidden in his
shoulder. “It’ll be ok. You’ll have Freddy look-“

“S’not the same!”

He feels tears leak from his eyes as he grips the front of Michael’s shirt tightly. “All my life…all
people do is j-just leave me behind. My dad left when I-I was a baby, and my mom died when I-I
was four. Every f-foster family I’ve b-been to ends up giving me back because I-I can never fit in.
The last o-one I was in k-kicked me out because t-they hated me so m-much. Even while living o-
on the streets no one tried t-to help me or even cared! They all just turn a blind eye and leave!”

He sobs as he lifts his arms and hugs Michael tightly his neck. “Y-You’re the first p-person to care
a-about me since m-mom. I-I don’t wanna l-leave here and g-go back to being a-alone and cold. I-I
don’t care if y-you think you’re a-a monster, you aren’t o-one t-to me. So please,” he takes a deep
breathe and sobs, “p-please don’t l-leave m-me!”

He keeps his face pressed against Michael’s shoulder to muffle his cries, a little embarrassed to be
crying so loudly and freely. Usually his cries are silent, a habit he picked up when his first foster
home punished him for crying too loudly. He’s not used to this, so he takes as much as he can get
while hiding as much as he can at the same time.

After a few minutes of sobbing, he feels a soft medley vibrate against his ear. He lets out one last
cry before quietening, wanting to hear Michael’s soft humming. He’s happy that Michael isn’t mad
at him for crying. A small part of him was scared that he’d be punished for crying too loud again,
but the larger part knew Michael wouldn’t do that. He was kinder than that.

“Feel better?”

Gregory hums, not a no but not necessarily a yes. He does feel better, but he doesn’t feel his best.
“M’sorry,” he whispers.

“Don’t be,” Michael says, “you’ve been through a lot. It’s ok to cry.”

That makes him want to sob all over again. Not only is Michael not punishing him, but he’s
encouraging him to cry.

“I know what it’s like to be alone,” Michael whispers. Gregory sniffles and looks up at him. “My
mom died when I was 11, and my father was a piece of shit. When my brother and sister died…I
thought I was I doomed to be alone, forever.”

“But-“ Michael smiles, “-but then I found people who loved me and accepted me for who I was,
demons and all. Even while I was a zombie, I had a boyfriend and friends throughout the years to
keep me going.”

Michael cups his face and wipes away the tears still falling down his face. “I’m sorry you don’t
have that Gregory. If…if you really don’t want me to leave…then I won’t. I’m not v-very good
with kids, but we’ll figure something out, once w-we get out of here.”

Gregory stares at him in shock. “You won’t…turn me in to CPS?”

“No. Not right away. I mean-“ Michael scrunches his nose up, “-I’ll try my best to let you stay with
me, at least. I’m not really good at this, but I want to try. You deserve to be taken care of and have
a roof over your head.”

“So,” he whispers, “will we be like…a family?”

Michael chuckles. “I guess. As much as a family a previously dead guy and orphan can be.”

Gregory’s eyes tear up again and Michael chuckles again, but his eyes tear up too. “C’mon kid,
you’re killing me here.”
“S-Sorry, I just-“ he sniffles, “-I didn’t think y-you wanted me a-around after tonight.”

“I honestly thought I’d never see you after tonight,” Michael shrugs, “but I would’ve missed you,
y’know. You’ve grown on me.”

“…I would’ve missed you too. I was scared to go back to living alone on the streets.”

“Well, don’t worry about that.”

Michael runs a hand through his hair and smiles. “I don’t know much about caring for kids, but I’ll
do my best to look after you. I live in a shit studio apartment with horrible plumbing and no oven.
Also, I have no car and barely any money since this job pays terribly.”

“That all sounds better than living in a box.”

“You’re also going to have to trust me,” Michael whispers, his smile turning sadder, “the last
children I cared for were my siblings, and…well…”

“I trust you,” he says, “you being honest with me made me trust you even more. I know you’ve
done some awful stuff, but…I think you’re a good person now. I’m not Evan, and I think you’re
the kindest person I’ve known since my mom.”

Michael’s face scrunches up, and before Gregory can see him cry again, he hides his face in his
ratty, brown hair. “…Thanks, kid. That…that means a lot to me.”

He smiles and hugs Michael again. He’s so happy that the older man won’t abandon him after
tonight. He doesn’t care about the logistics of it, he just hopes he can stay with Michael for as long
as possible.

“Alright. That was a good therapy session, but sadly, we’re still trapped in a Fazbear hell hole.”

Michael stands up with him in his arms. “It’s 5 am, and we’ve fixed every animatronic. All that’s
left to do is help Vanessa and stop my father.”

“Where are the others?”

“They left a little after I started crying,” Michael smiles sheepishly, “very nice of them to give us
some privacy.”

He huffs. “Yeah…I don’t like crying in front of people.”

“Same,” Michael says. He reaches up to pinch one of Gregory’s cheeks. “That just means you’re
special.”

“Lucky me.”

Michael ignores his snark and makes his way out of…Freddy’s room. He never even noticed they
were in the bear’s green room. Outside, Freddy, Chica, Roxy and Sun are waiting patiently for
them. Monty is there too, but he’s leaning against the opposite wall, a good distance away from
Freddy’s door. Michael said he rebooted him, so he must feel guilty for what he did. It’s
considerate of him to give them space.

“Mr. Afton, Gregory,” Freddy begins, “are you two feeling better?”

“I am,” Michael says. He looks at Gregory. “You ok?”

“Yeah,” he nods. He gently taps his bandaged head. “My head doesn’t hurt anymore either.”

That makes Monty remove himself from the wall. He doesn’t make a step closer to them, but
instead lowers his snout in shame. “I’m sorry about that, kid. I…I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Gregory wiggles in Michael’s, a signal that he wants to be let down. Michael gets the hint and puts
him down. He immediately makes his way towards Monty, who stares at him in surprise. He
smiles up at the gator. “I forgive you. I know it was Vanny making you do those things.”

Monty continues to stare at him in surprise until his face softens. He slowly reaches out and pats
Gregory’s head, making sure to avoid the bandages. “Thanks kid.”

Gregory nods and walks back over to the rest of the group.

“So, now that everyone is fixed, all that is left is to help Vanessa, correct?”

“Yep,” Michael says, nodding at Freddy, “we just need to finish the last two Princess Quest games
and that should free her from father’s control.”

“And your father?”

“We’ll deal with him afterwards,” Michael pauses, “actually, Freddy. Can I talk to you privately
for a second?”

“Alright,” Freddy agrees, if only a little confused. Him and Michael walk back into Freddy’s green
room, leaving the other four animatronics and Gregory also confused. He wonders what Michael
needed to tell Freddy. And why couldn’t he say it in front of everyone?

He’d hope Michael would stop hiding things from him.

“Relax kid,” Roxy says, “it’s probably not that important.”

“I guess,” he mutters. Chica squats down in front of him and tilts her head in worry.

“Are sure your ok darling? Your eyes look so swollen…”

He winces. He hoped his earlier crying wouldn’t leave any evidence. They probably noticed
Michael’s swollen eyes too. “Y-Yeah…I did cry a lil, but I’m really ok now. I promise.”

Chica looks at him critically for a moment before nodding, accepting his answer. She reaches into
her chest cavity and pulls out a chocolate bar, handing it to him and smiling. He smiles back and
takes it without hesitation. Unlike last time, he doesn’t wait for Michael to taste test it, just goes
right in and eats it.

Michael and Freddy come out a couple minutes later. Michael looks unbothered, but Freddy
looks…sad. It’s brief, since he perks up the moment he steps outside his room, but Gregory
could’ve sworn he saw the bear’s eyelids and ears droop. He frowns at Michael as the older man
walks up to him. “What did you guys talk about?”

Michael smiles. “Just needed to ask Freddy for a favor.”

“Oh,” he says. That isn’t too bad. He was afraid Michael was hiding something from him again.
“So, where’s the next game?”

When him and Michael turn around, Freddy’s happy demeanor drops again.
Chapter End Notes

UGH I'm posting this later then I wanted because I worked overtime today, and then I
went out to eat and then shopping and was so busy....I was so excited to come home
and post this that I didn't proofread any of this chapter so, apologies for any grammar
mistakes. I'll edit this some other time.

Fellow authors: you ever have that o n e chapter you're super hyped to post? Well, this
is my chapter. I hope it makes up for the angst I've been putting you all through :') I
have so much to say about this chapter...

First off: the juxtaposition of Michael and Gregory...this is why added in the last
chapter last minute. Hearing Michael go on a long inner monologue about how he's a
monster and then BAM Gregory literally begs him to not leave him, because to him
Michael isn't a monster :'( it hurt and healed my heart to write that bit.

Second: Forgiveness. When I first wrote about Gregory "forgiving" Michael...I was
kind of unhappy with it. I thought maybe he forgave Michael too soon, but then I
added some bits, and thought...well...Gregory isn't Evan. What happened to Evan,
while sad, doesn't affect Gregory. So yeah, he understands Michael guilt, but he just
wants a family :(

Sorry for rambling. This chapter was just so fun yet so complicated to write for me,
but I'm happy with how it turned out. And also: Freddy and Michael? What are y'all
scheming hehe....

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!! <3

 Intermission: Freddy's Room
Chapter Summary

“Let me finish,” Mr. Afton says. Freddy shuts his mouth. “It’s not like I’m trying to
die, but my father is…unpredictable. I’m only telling you this because, if I don’t make
it out, I need you to keep a promise for me.”

Chapter Notes

TW: mentions of death

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Mr. Afton closes Freddy's door and turns around to look at the bear animatronic. “I don’t know if
I’ll make it out of here alive, Fred.”

Freddy’s eyes widen at Mr. Afton admission. “Mr. Afton, you can not-“

“Let me finish,” Mr. Afton says. Freddy shuts his mouth. “It’s not like I’m trying to die, but my
father is…unpredictable. I’m only telling you this because, if I don’t make it out, I need you to
keep a promise for me.”

Freddy wants to refuse, but a part of him knows Mr. Afton is right. So, he nods. “Ok…what is the
promise?”

“Gregory doesn’t have anywhere to go,” Mr. Afton whispers. Freddy’s eyes widen. “His parents
are gone, and his foster family kicked him out. He’s been living on the streets for God knows how
long.”

“That is…awful,” he mutters. He had no idea…his poor superstar. No child deserves to fight on
their own. He despises families who treat children like they’re disposable.

“I know. That’s why I promised to take care of him once we’re out of here. I couldn’t…he didn’t
want me to leave him, so I agreed to stay with him. I don’t want him to be alone anymore.”

Mr. Afton places a hand on his shoulder. “If I don’t make it…then I need you to watch over him.
Take care of him and make sure he is protected. I don’t want to die knowing I’ll be abandoning
him with nothing.”

Freddy’s ears droop. He knew that Gregory was growing attached to their technician, but he didn’t
know that he wished to stay beside Mr. Afton even after they leave. He supposes it makes sense,
since Gregory has gone a while without any loving adults in his life. Mr. Afton is kind to him, so of
course he’d latch onto that kindness like a vice.

Freddy doesn’t wish to see him despair again. He cares about that kid too.

“I will keep your promise, Mr. Afton. If you do die…I will look after him.”
 Mr. Afton smiles. “Thank you Freddy.”

Mr. Afton removes his hand from his shoulder and starts towards the door, but Freddy stops him
just before he can open it.

“You are a good man…Michael.”

He’s never called Michael by his first name. It always felt too personal…but this is a special
circumstance.

Michael’s smile turns a little sadder.

“You’re good too, Freddy.”

Chapter End Notes

Ok, this one is the shortest chapter in the entire fic, but this little convo was too
important to just, add into another chapter, y'know? So now it serves as a small break
before we get to the climax of the story ;)

It feels good to see Michael actually have a nice relationship with a Freddy
animatronic lol. I mean, he did have Helpy, who's modeled after Freddy, but now he's
friends with a whole Freddy Fazbear. Even if their convo was about Mike dying...it
was somewhat wholesome too :'(

Alternative title for this chapter was Gregory Protection Squad assemble XD
 Princess Quest Success
Chapter Summary

“Shit,” Michael mutters. Gregory looks at him, only to see Michael looking up at
something else. He follows the man’s line of sight, and his eyes widen when he sees
Vanny standing in front of the window overlooking Fazerblast. She waves at them,
then lifts up a remote, pressing the red button in the middle of it.

“Disassembled the animatronics~”

Chapter Notes

TW: violence

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Well that was easy,” Gregory huffs, as they walk towards where they think the third game is,
“hopefully the third game is easier.”

“I just think you’re a show off,” Michael scoffs. Gregory sticks his tongue out at him.

“Not my fault some people are ancient fossils who can’t hold a joystick.”

“You do remember you’re just a four foot punk that I can punt across the Atrium, right?”

“Do it coward.”

Michael levels him with an unimpressed glare. Before he can make a run for it, the older man
scoops him up bridal style, causing him to yelp. Michael swings him up, almost like he is going to
toss him, but doesn’t actually let go. The action is enough to make him cry out in fear and
laughter.

“You’re lucky I care enough not to drop you.”

Michael swings him up one more time before putting him down. He huffs at the older man, a bit
dizzy after being tossed around, and moves to walk beside Freddy. Michael smirks at him. “Need
Freddy to protect you?”

“No,” he huffs, “I just know he won't toss me around like a rag doll.”

“That is true!”

“See!”

Michael blows a raspberry at him. “Drama queen.”

“Dick.”
“Language!”

Michael groans and rubs his face with his hands. “I never programmed that out of him…”

“Why would you do that?!” Sun gasps, “it is important to correct children of their foul language!
Very very very important!”

“Ok, sure,” Michael sighs, “I’m already a bad influence on the kid.”

“True.”

Michael glares at him. He just gives him a sweet smile back.

“We’re here,” Monty announces. Gregory looks up at the Plex attraction that supposedly holds the
last Princess Quest game: Fazerblast.

“So the third one is up there?”

Sun nods and points up towards a catwalk overlooking the attraction. “There’s a room up there that
she stays in. The third game is located in there.”

“Alright,” Michael nods. He looks down at Gregory. “You ready kid?”

He nods back. “Ready.”

Michael grabs his hand and begins leading him towards the entrance, the other five right behind
them. There about to enter when multiple security bots roll up in front of them, effectively blocking
their path. Freddy and Monty push their way in front of them, while Chica, Roxy and Sun stay
behind guarding their backs.

“Shit,” Michael mutters. Gregory looks at him, only to see Michael looking up at something else.
He follows the man’s line of sight, and his eyes widen when he sees Vanny standing in front of the
window overlooking Fazerblast. She waves at them, then lifts up a remote, pressing the red button
in the middle of it.

“Disassembled the animatronics~”

The bots attack quickly, throwing themselves at Freddy and Monty and trying to make their way to
Roxy, Chica and Sun. Michael is quick to pull him close.

“You two need to get up there!” Roxy growls, “we’ll handle the bots!”

“Will you be ok?” Michael asks.

Roxy smirks. “Of course! I’m the best! No bots can beat me!”

“We’ll be fine Mr. Michael,” Chica reassures, “you two just focus on the game!”

Michael looks down at him, then back to Chica and nods. He pulls Gregory around Freddy, Monty
and the bots and runs towards the stairs that lead up to the catwalk. He’s glad that Vanny only
commanded the bots to focus on the animatronics. That means they could slip by easily.

“Alright kid,” Michael says, once they make it into Vanny’s secret lair. It’s small, with a mattress,
table, and arcade machine in the corner. He rushes over to the machine and boots it up. “Work your
magic.”
“On it,” he says. The game starts just after the events of the second one. The gameplay is similar,
thank God, so it doesn’t take him long to fight off the enemies and light the lanterns.

“Michael~”

He gasps and turns around, just in time to see Vanny stroll in through the door.

“Don’t stop Gregory! Keep playing!”

“But-!”

“Don’t worry-“

Michael doesn’t get to finish as Vanny takes her knife and swings it towards him. It manages to cut
his arm, just barely. He hisses and quickly dodges her next attempt. “HURRY GREGORY!”

He curses under his breathe and goes back to the game. He tries his best to ignore the fight below
and behind him, but it’s difficult. It settles in that if he doesn’t beat this game, than Vanny and
William might win. He can’t let that happen. He can’t let the bots destroy the others, or let Vanny
get Michael. He needs to win this so he can save everyone. He needs to save Vanessa too. As much
as a pain she’s been, she’s just as much of a victim as him or Michael or the animatronics. He
won’t let her suffer anymore.

He finally makes it to a door with an odd purple haze around it, and goes to open it. When the door
finally opens, he walks in, causing the game to suddenly go dark. He lifts his hands away in shock,
hoping that he beat it and that it didn’t just crash. He remembers Michael and quickly turns around
to make sure he’s ok. Luckily, he looks unscathed save for the cut on his arm and torso. He’s
breathing heavily with his fists raised in front of his person. Across from him, Vanny holds her
head, almost like she’s in pain.

“Michael?” he says. The older man doesn’t look at him. “Is she…?”

Vanny drops her knife, and goes to lift the bunny costume off her head. He knew it was Vanessa
under the mask, but it still shocks him to see her wide, green eyes stare back at them in relief. Her
once pristine blonde ponytail is now in disarray and her hands shake as she drops the Vanny head
and clutches her own head once again.

“I…” she whispers, “I can’t hear him anymore. He’s…gone.”

She falls to her knees, her hands clutching clumps of her hair tightly. “It’s so…quiet.”

She heaves and slouches close to the ground. “O-Oh God…the t-things I’ve done,” she heaves
again, “I’m a-a horrible person. I-I’m a fucking m-murderer.”

Michael takes this chance to slowly walks towards her. He squats down in front of her. He doesn’t
say anything as he slowly reaches out and places his hands on both her shoulders. Vanessa flinches
at the touch, but doesn’t push away. She looks too tired to fight back. Michael takes this silent
acceptance as permission to pull her into a hug. He’s gentle when he places her head on his
shoulder, and he doesn’t hold her too tightly - just enough for it to be a hug. Vanessa looks surprise
for one whole second before her face falls and-

-she breaks.

She buries her face in Michael’s shoulder and sobs. She sobs and screams, her hands clutching the
pants of her costume instead of hugging Michael back. For the first time this entire night, Gregory
 feels a pang of sympathy for her.

He jumps off the stool and walks over to the two. He doesn’t try to comfort her, since he might
make it worse, so he stays at Michael’s side. After about five minutes of sobbing, she starts
calming down. She sniffles and slowly lifts her head from Michael’s shoulder. Michael looks down
at her. “Ok?”

Vanessa takes a few seconds to respond. “…No.”

“That’s fine,” he smiles, “you’ve been through a lot.”

“I don’t deserve your sympathy,” she whispers, “I didn’t deserve your help.”

“Well, you got it anyway,” he says, “and far from me to judge who deserves saving and who
doesn’t.”

Michael reaches out to pat him on the shoulder. He flinches, not expecting the gesture. “Gregory
did though, and I trust his judgment.”

Vanessa looks at him now. “Really? Even after all the horrible shit I put you through?”

“Well,” he shrugs, “that wasn’t really you anyway, so…I don’t think you deserve to be
brainwashed by some evil child murderer. It’s messed up that he used you like that.”

“But I still did them,” she scowls, “I’m still…awful.”

“You’ve done some awful stuff, but you can be a good person now.”

Gregory looks at Michael and smiles. “That’s what Michael taught me. Redemption isn’t
impossible, even for you.”

He feels Michael wrap his arm around his shoulder and pull him into a side hug. He truly believes
that Vanessa can still fix her wrongs. She was a puppet for an awful man, and as long as she works
to distant herself from this horrible Plex, then she can still live as a good person.

“I don’t even know what I can do to redeem myself.”

“Well,” Michael begins, his face turning serious, “you can begin by telling us where William is.
Then we can finally take down this son of a bitch. Together.”

Vanessa scowls, a look of pure hatred on her face. Gregory smiles. William is going down.

“Deal.”

The clock hits 6 am.

Chapter End Notes

And that completes the gang!

This fic truly gets me through the day. Wasn't feeling great today but I already feel
better after eating and working on this. We just hit another milestone too!!! 700
kudos!!! Thank you guys so much <3<3<3<3<3
I know these past few chapters have been angsty, so I hope this one lifted up your
spirits a bit :D this chapter marks the beginning of the climax of the story....how
exciting hehe
 A Visit to Father's
Chapter Summary

The fall led them to a Pizzeria. A very old, very burnt looking Pizzeria. He never knew
the Plex has built on top of another Fazbear sight. Michael stands up from his tumble,
not injured, (thank God), and slowly walks through the place.

“This is my pizzeria.”

Chapter Notes

TW: mentions of child death and murder

See the end of the chapter for more notes

William is alive. Springtrap, Glitchtrap, Burntrap, whatever he calls himself, is here, underneath
the Plex. His body is incomplete, and Vanny has spent months trying to rebuild it. His soul mostly
lives on through a virus, but once his body is complete, he’ll be back in action. And sadly, his body
is about 99% complete.

The kids she’s killed have been used to revive his body. However, unknown to her and William,
some of that remnant had been going to Michael’s previously burnt body as well. The how is
unknown, but it happened. That’s why Michael found himself in a new, healthy body. The remnant
was strong enough to not only heal his soul, but heal his everything as well. This slowed down
William’s own revival. It’s why Vanny had to kill so many children - she had to make up for the
lost remnant.

She’s also been using the animatronic’s to capture kids and bring them to her. Even Freddy has
fallen victim to this manipulation. Vanessa says that the only reason the virus didn’t work tonight
is because of his malfunction. It automatically rebooted his system and flushed out the virus
manually. Bonnie used to lure in children as well, but William soon found another use for him.
Vanny lured him out one night and took him down to William to destroy him and use his parts for
William’s body. Since William is trapped in a Bonnie model, any Bonnie parts work perfectly for
him.

Gregory thinks if animatronics could throw up, they all would. Freddy looks devastated, Chica and
Sun look horrified, and Monty and Roxy look pissed.

Vanessa killed 9 children in total. Gregory would’ve been the last and final piece. That’s why she
put out all the protocols against him. That, and because William knew that Michael cared about
him. He can’t have his son care for a child if he’s going to get Michael to join him. He’s angry at
Michael, but he also misses him. It’s an odd flurry of emotions.

He wants Gregory dead, no matter what. So the plan is: kill William and protect Gregory at all
costs.
“This elevator takes you down to were he’s being held,” Vanessa says, “It’s old, and doesn’t have
much juice left in it. I don’t think it can carry everyone.”

“Then this is where we part.”

Michael stands in front of the elevator and turns to look at everyone. “He’s my father, so I’ll deal
with him.”

“I will go too,” Freddy says. Michael opens his mouth to protest, but Freddy interrupts him. “You
do not have to fight him alone, Michael. It would be beneficial to have some back up.”

Freddy’s eyes flicker to Gregory quickly, something he doesn’t catch, but the older man does. He
sighs.

“Ok. Me and Freddy will go.”

“And me.”

Michael looks at him in shock. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m staying with you,” he huffs, “I can help you burn him. Plus, I’m safest with you, remember?”

“Not when I’m about to kill my child murdering father.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he glares, “we’re in this shit together, whether you like it or not.”

Michael glares back. The expression lessens when Freddy places a hand on his shoulder. “I will
keep him in my hatch. He will be safest in there.”

“You can’t be-“

“The kids right Mike,” Vanessa says, “as long as William is alive…he’s safest with you. You’re
the only who hasn’t been corrupted by him.”

Michael sighs again and pinches the bridge of his nose. He thinks over his options because
nodding. “Fine. Fine. Gregory will come with us.”

Michael points at him. “You stay in Freddy’s hatch until we say it’s safe to come out. Clear?”

He can do that. “Clear.”

Freddy turns to Vanessa. “Would you like to come too, officer Vanessa?”

Vanessa looks down at the ground, contemplating Freddy’s question. Finally, after a few seconds,
she shakes her head. “I probably shouldn’t. As much as I’d like to kill the bastard…it’s still
possible he can take control of my mind again. I…I can’t risk it. Me and the others will stay up
here to deactivate the rest of the security bots.”

“You sure?” Michael asks, “this is your last chance for revenge.”

Vanessa shakes her head again. “It’s better if I stay as far away from him as possible,” she takes
out a flash drive and places it in Michael’s hand, “so I’m counting on you. Make him pay for
everything he’s done, ok?”

Michael nods and clutches the drive, determination written on his face. “I will.”
Freddy opens his hatch and Gregory climbs in it. They say their goodbyes to Sun, Monty, Roxy
Chica, and Vanessa as they walk into the elevator and press the down button. The ride down is
rocky and sketchy as hell. Gregory isn’t sure this thing could take them back up. Vanessa did say it
was on its last leg.

Once they make it to the bottom, they find a huge cave of dirt and wires everywhere. If Gregory
listens closely, he can hear machinery running. It’s eery.

“Vanessa said he’s down lower, in some safe room,” Michael says, “we need to find its entrance.”

Michael and Freddy make their way through the cave. There’s not much going on besides a bunch
of wires scattered around, but the closer they get to the end of the cave, the louder the machinery
noise is. Actually…it sounds more like snoring, if he thinks about. Is the machinery down
here…alive?”

“Here.”

Michael points towards a hole in the ground that absolutely does not look safe in anyway shape or
form. He holds his breathe as Michael makes his way down the hole, Freddy close behind. He can
feel bears careful movements - he’s trying hard not to slip and make a mistake.

“This place,” Michael mutters, “it feels…familiar.”

He points his flashlight around, trying to find the safest route down. He freezes and stops short at
one particular corner. “No…” he whispers in horror. Gregory peaks out and gasps at the sight
before him.

A massive bundle of wires is nestled between the walls and stairs. It’s…making sounds, and he
realizes that this thing is the one making snoring sounds. Almost like it’s sleeping. He can see
animatronic faces scattered on the Blob - older models, he assumes.

“I knew I felt them,” Michael says, “they…they should’ve died in the fire. They’re still here - still
trapped.”

“Who?” Freddy asks. Michael turns towards him.

“A child. His victim,” he turns back towards the Blob, “I-I can’t tell who is in there but…they’re so
angry. They know father is here.”

He shines his flashlight around the Blob creature. “God, it could be anyone. Funtime Freddy," he
points the flashlight at a pink and white Freddy face. “Susie,” an old looking Chica model.
“Jeremy,” and older Bonnie model. “Mangle,” a…Foxy model, he assumes. Michael gasps at the
next one. “Charlie,” he whispers, at a creepy looking puppet mask. “Lizzie,” he chokes out,
pointing his light at a clown looking animatronic. Lizzie - Michael’s sister.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, “I’m gonna make sure he dies this time. For good.”

The Blob doesn’t answer. Just continues to snooze. Michael turns away from the creature and
continues down the hole. Freddy doesn’t comment on the interaction, just continues to follow
Michael to where his father is.

Michael must step on a weak piece of wood, because he’s suddenly falling down, completely
disappearing from Freddy and Gregory’s sight. “Michael!” they yell out in worry. Freddy doesn’t a
waste a second and jumps down the hole after him. The ride is bumpy and long, and Gregory is
happy they both make it down in one piece. Who knew Freddy’s hatch could be this safe? It
 literally cushioned the fall for him.

The fall led them to a Pizzeria. A very old, very burnt looking Pizzeria. He never knew the Plex has
built on top of another Fazbear sight. Michael stands up from his tumble, not injured, (thank God),
and slowly walks through the place.

“This is my pizzeria.”

“Your pizzeria?” Freddy asks. He stands up as well and dusts himself off.

“Well, it was owned by my uncle,” Michael says, “but I ran it. I was the manager. It was my job to
buy new things, handle lawsuits, handle finances,” he pauses, “make sure all the haunted
animatronics were gathered in one place.”

Oh. Oh. That’s why this place is burnt.

“This is where you died. Where everyone should have died,” Freddy says. Michael nods.

“It should’ve worked. Uncle Henry worked so hard to make sure everyone was put to rest. And
now here we are,” he scowls, “more kids dead. More heartbreak. More needless suffering. I’m so
tired of it.”

“We will end him this time,” Freddy says. Michael sighs and sets his eyes towards a back door.

“Right.”

Chapter End Notes

DUN DUN DUN...

A lot goes on this chapter phew. Apologies again for any grammar or spelling
errors...had another long day at work so I'm feeling kind of lazy right now lol. I still
wanted to upload this chapter of course. Thank God I have tomorrow off, I should be
more energetic and feel more inclined to proofread everything then :D
 End Communication...
Chapter Summary

“You disappoint me, Michael.”

“Good, that means I’m doing something right.”

“Looks like I have no use for either of you anymore.”

Chapter Notes

TW: violence/mention of child death/threats of violence/injury/child injury/emotional

abuse

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The energy Gregory gets from the door in the back is…well, it’s evil. Something evil is back there,
which means this is the room Vanessa was talking about. William is back here.

The room is dark. Creepy. Perfect for an evil masterminds lair. There’s a table with a remote and
computer in the back, but Gregory can’t see the screen. Michael moves towards the desk. Freddy,
however, stays put.

“Freddy, we should stay with Michael.”

He still doesn’t move. “Freddy?”

He yelps as Freddy suddenly ejects him out of his hatch. Michael, who was busy staring at the
screen in horror, turns to look at him and Freddy. He rushes over to them and picks him up,
backing away from Freddy slowly. Gregory watches as Freddy twitches and splutters. “Freddy?!”

“I-I can…f-feel h-him trying to…t-to take control,” Freddy eyes flicker to purple for a split second,
“s-stop…h-him…”

“Shit,” Michael whispers. He turns back towards the computer, and Gregory finally has a good
view of what the older man was staring at on the monitor. It’s an animatronic, but with…flesh
melded into its circuits. The golden bunny suit gives away who it is - this is William. Child
murderer. Former co-owner of Fazbear’s. Michael’s father.

He’s horrid looking. A literal walking corpse. His hand is pressed against a different computer
screen that’s lit up purple, and he assumes William is using that to try and control Freddy.

Michael puts him down and goes to insert the flash drive Vanessa gave him into the computer.
Gregory stays close to him, clutching his pants leg. “Hello father. Looking as dead as ever.”

“Hello son. I have missed you.”

“Yeah, well, sorry to say that sentiment isn’t shared.”

Coding pops up on the screen, and Gregory assumes he’s trying to stop his father from controlling
Freddy.

“Give it up Michael. You can’t win.”

“You know that won’t ever stop me from trying,” Michael growls, “I refuse to lose to you.”

“I must admit, you’ve done a great job foiling my plans so far. It saddens me to see you stray
so far from me. After all these years…I still held hope that you would join me.”

“You’re delusional.”

“Am I? Did it not feel good to kill your own brother?”

Michael shudders at that. He clenches his eyes shut for a few seconds before going back to
working on the computer. “Shut up.”

“I know you’re true nature Mikey. You’re a monster, like me. You don’t truly wish to save
Gregory, do you?”

“Shut. up.”

“…Or maybe, you do wish to save him. Save him like you couldn’t save Evan. To prove to
everyone, especially yourself, that you aren’t like me.”

“Stop…”

“How pathetic. Face it Michael - you can never redeem yourself. You killed Evan. You
couldn’t save him, and now you can’t do the same for Gregory. He will up exactly like your
little brother, and it’ll be all. your. fault.”

Michael smashes both his fists against the keyboard, his body shaking in anger. “I KNOW I
COULDN’T SAVE HIM, YOU BASTARD! I know that I’m a killer, and I know that no matter
what I do, I can’t go back in time to that fucking day in 1983 and reverse what I did. It will haunt
me for the rest of my immortal life.”

Michael takes a deep breathe. “But here’s the difference between me and you, father. I killed once,
and regretted it for the rest of my life. You…you kill for fun. For your own sick and twisted
research. If I’m a monster…then you…you’re the damn devil.”

William is quiet as Michael goes back to typing.

“He isn’t Evan, Michael.”

“I know,” Michael whispers, “Evan is my one and only brother who I took for granted. I was a
horrible brother to him, and that’s something I can never…ever change.”

He takes a deep breathe. “Gregory isn’t him, because he’s my kid. I’ll get him out of here, and
raise him, and make sure he grows up much happier than me, Lizzie, and Evan ever did under your
roof. I’ll never be like you. I won’t repeat mine or your past mistakes.”

Gregory’s eyes tears up at Michael’s words. He hugs Michael - his family - around his waist, trying
to show his gratitude in any way he can.

“You disappoint me, Michael.”

“Good, that means I’m doing something right.”

“Looks like I have no use for either of you anymore.”

Gregory yelps as he’s pulled away from Michael’s side and tossed across the room. He groans and
looks up, gasping at the sight of Freddy looming over him, purple eyes staring into his soul.

“GREGORY!”

Freddy rushes over to him, and he moves quickly, dodging the bear. He doesn’t have much time to
regain his bearings, because the bear rushes towards him again.

“Stop this father!” Michael yells, “it’s me you want anyway!”

“Wrong. The child will complete my vessel. I’ll kill you for being a nuisance.”

“I’ll kill you first, you fucking hear me! I won’t let you take him!”

Gregory dodges Freddy’s claws once again, throwing himself near a broken table in the corner. His
chest heaves, up and down, as he tries to think of a way to evade the bear. He could keep dodging,
but that puts more at a risk of getting caught. He needs to find a way to stop Freddy, even if it’s just
for a minute.

Freddy comes at him again, and this time, he runs between the bear’s legs. Now getting a good
look at the dingy room, he spots a wet cardboard box in the opposite corner. He rushes towards it
and goes for the first thing he finds inside it: a metal pipe. Perfect.

With all of this 10 year old might, he takes the heavy pipe and swings it at Freddy’s legs. If the bot
was human, he probably would’ve broken his kneecap, but since he isn’t, he only kneels down after
being knocked off balance. But his planned worked: he stopped Freddy.

Long enough for Michael to kick Freddy on the back and knock him down.

“Gregory! The pipe!”

He startles and throws the pipe to Michael. The older man takes it, then presses a knee against
Freddy’s back. He slides the pipe underneath Freddy’s neck, locking the animatronic into a
chokehold. “Ok bud, I’m gonna need you to do a big favor for me.”

Michael nods towards the computer. “I didn’t finish wiping the server clean of the virus, so I need
you to do it for me, ok?”

“B-But- I don’t-“

“You do,” the man groans, as Freddy struggles under his weight, “remember what I told you about
coding? How virus’s stand out?”

The virus…that’s right. It was bold, and purple. A sore thumb amongst the surrounding normal and
green codes. “I-I remember.”

“Good. I need you to-“ he groans as Freddy moves, “-to find it! Highlight it, then transfer it onto
the flash drive! Once it’s on there, destroy the flash drive!”
“But-“

“I-It’s ok,” Michael smiles, “You’re a smart kid. I know you can do it, Gregory. I believe in you.”

Michael believes in him. He’s trusting Gregory to not only save his life, but everyone else’s life as
well. Their lives, and the lives of every child who walks into the Plex rests in his hands now. He
feels sick just thinking about it. Is this how Michael felt for the past 40 years?

No, he can’t dwell on that now. He needs to help Freddy and Michael and Vanessa and the others
and stop William. He wants to get out of here so he can see his new home and be with his new
family.

He runs towards the computer and starts searching for the virus. He ignores the struggling in the
background, just like he did when he was playing Princess Quest, and focuses at the task at hand.
He can’t take his time. He needs to kill William now.

“Give it up boy.”

Gregory flinches.

“Do you really think a pathetic child like yourself could ever stop me?”

“M’not l-listening to you,” he says. William laughs.

“Look at you. Trembling at the mere sound of my voice! You’re so scared and weak. I can’t
wait to get my hands around your throat once I am complete.”

“I-I won’t let you k-kill me!”

“Oh really? And what could you, a stupid, homeless ingrate do to stop me? Face it Gregory,
you’re not brave. You’re helpless.”

“I know I’m not brave, you stupid idiot,” he sniffles. A spot of purple on the screen catches his
eye. “I-I’m scared and all I-I wanna do is go h-home. But m’not a-a helpless orphan a-anymore. I
have Michael and Freddy t-to help me, so I won’t let you take them a-away from me. I won’t let
you make me feel weak ever again!”

He highlights the purple coding and goes to move it the save file on the flash drive. He waits
impatiently for it to upload.

“What a useless child you are.”

“Yeah, well,” he smiles and removes the flash drive once he’s done, “this useless child just kicked
your digital ass.”

“What do you-“

He drops the flash drive on the ground, takes a rock sitting near the desk, and smashes it into a
hundred tiny pieces. He hears screaming from where William’s body is being held, which spurs
him to keep smashing it until the drive is basically dust. He drops the rock and exhales once he
thinks it’s destroyed enough.

“What…is happening…?”

He gasps and turns around, seeing Michael slowly step off of Freddy’s back. He runs towards the
confused bear, while Michael makes his way back to the desk. “Freddy?!”

“Gregory,” the animatronic whispers, “what did I-“

“MICHAEL!!!!!”

The bear and boy flinch and turn to look at Michael, who’s pressing down on a button located on
top of the desk. Gregory then turns to look down the hallway where William is, and he gasps at the
sight of the corpse bunny on fire. Suddenly, the place rumbles, and wires begin crawling up the
walls towards the former child murderer.

“DON’T DO TO THIS TO ME!!!! MICHAEL!!!! DON’T DO THIS TO YOUR OWN

FATHER!!!!”

“Gregory! Freddy! We need to go, now!”

“What’s happening?!”

Freddy stands up and Michael grabs his hand. “I set the pizzeria on fire!”

“Why?!”

“Fire is the only way to kill him!”

The place rumbles again, and the ceiling begins to crack. Michael tugs him towards the exit. “We
have to go! This place will go down in minutes!”

Gregory nods and holds into Michael’s hand tightly as they run out of the abandoned pizzeria.
Behind him, he can hear a terrible screeching sound, along with William’s screams of pain.

“They’ll burn along with him,” Michael yells.

The wires - it was that Blob thing. If the fire doesn’t kill William, then that thing certainly will.
There’s no way he can survive it’s wrath and size. They really did it. They defeated William.

They can go home.

None of them notice the large beam falling towards them until it’s too late.

Freddy manages to dodge it since he’s so fast, but him and Michael aren’t so lucky. The older man,
as best as he can, shields him from being smushed by the beam. That means his own body gets hit
in the process.

“Michael!”

Freddy tries to lift the beam up, but it’s being blocked by more debris, specifically a large boulder
weighing it down to their right. Freddy isn’t strong enough to lift it. Michael groans, using his
weight to make sure he doesn’t crush Gregory underneath him.

“I-It’s no use,” he says, “it’ll t-take too long to get me out. This place i-is falling fast.”

“But Michael-“

The pizzeria rumbles and more debris falls to prove Michael’s point.

“Take him,” Michael wheezes, “and get the hell out of here. Make sure he gets out safely.”
 “N-No,” he coughs. The smoke of the fire is getting to him. “M’not leaving y-you…”

“You have to kid. It’s the o-only way you’ll make it out safely.”

He goes to protest again, but his lungs force him to stop. He coughs, his eyes becoming blurry
from all the smoke inhalation.

“F-Freddy…g-go…”

He feels two large hands pick him out from under Michael. He cries out weakly, and clutches
Michael’s shirt in one last attempt to stay. “N-No…you p-promised…to…to…stay…”

“I know.”

Michael lifts up his hand and cups Gregory’s cheek. Gregory sobs. “M’sorry…Freddy will…look
after y-you. I know you’ll be fine…w-with him.”

The place rumbles again. “P-Please don’t….leave m-me.”

The smile he gives Gregory looks happy. His tears reveal his true emotions. “I’ll miss you,
Gregory. L-Live a full…and h-happy life.”

“N-No,” he cries, as Freddy lifts him away from Michael. He wiggles in the bears arms as Freddy
begins running away, leaving Michael underneath the beam. “N-NO…WE’RE….S-SUPPOSED
TO BE…FAMILY! MICHAEL!”

Michael sobs and lets his body fall flat against the floor, the beam falling with him and crushing his
body. He lays his head against the concrete and closes his eyes. At least Gregory is safe. He’ll live,
and Michael won’t have failed him. He won’t be like Evan.

“MIKE…DON’T L-LEAVE….M-ME….P…please…”

His only regret is that he didn’t keep his promise.

Chapter End Notes

*sighs**pulls out apology letter again* I wanna apologize to all of you for what I did
it was very wrong and I am very sorry. I just would like to move on- you get the
point...

Yeah I can't say anything to make this better. This one is rough so...all I can say is, this
story isn't over yet. What that means, you'll just have to wait and find out!

I read the JJK manga before editing this, and emotionally, I am a wreck. My own work
wrecked me more. Please share my pain. Let's cry together :'D
 Second Chance
Chapter Summary

“Mikey? Wake up! Wakey wakey Mikey!”

Michael gasps awake, his eyes snapping open at the sound of a familiar voice. He sits
up, and is met with the sight of a flourishing meadow. The grass is green, and the
flowers are vibrant and bright. It's a beautiful but confusing sight. He should be in the
Plex. Not…wherever this is.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Mikey? Wake up! Wakey wakey Mikey!”

Michael gasps awake, his eyes snapping open at the sound of a familiar voice. He sits up, and is
met with the sight of a flourishing meadow. The grass is green, and the flowers are vibrant and
bright. It's a beautiful but confusing sight. He should be in the Plex. Not…wherever this is.

“Geez, you’ve died twice before, you think you’d be use to this already!”

Another voice he hasn’t heard in so long, but still so familiar. It can’t be. He turns around, and
immediately starts crying.

“E-Evan…Lizzie…”

“Long time no see Mikey!” Evan giggles, “I didn’t get to see you last time!”

“Only cause me and him were both in limbo,” Elizabeth huffs, “now we’re really dead.”

Dead. That’s right. He’s dead. The beam crushed him, the fire likely burned him to a crisp. He’s
finally dead.

“Well, we’re dead,” Elizabeth says, motioning between her and Evan, “you’re still in limbo
though.”

Michael freezes. “W-What? But…I…”

“You have a lot of unfinished business back on earth, Mikey. Your soul won’t let go,” Evan says.

Unfinished business? But…he killed his father. What else…

“Gregory,” he whispers. Evan and Elizabeth nod.

“Yep. He needs you right now Mikey. More than we do,” Elizabeth says. Evan nods in agreement.

“But…what about you two? I can’t leave you again.”

Elizabeth blows a raspberry at him. “Please! We’ve been on our own for years! We can handle a
few more while you raise your kid.”
“We’ve been fine, and we’ll be fine, Mikey. We promise,” Evan smiles at him, “with father gone,
we can rest in peace once and for all.”

He’s gone. He’s really gone. He sobs and reaches over to hug his siblings for the first time in
decades. He pulls them closely, something he rarely did when he was alive. He should’ve hugged
them more, cherished them more, told them he loved them more. There’s so much he wants to say,
so much he needs to make up for.

But sadly, that all needs to wait.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, “I wish I could stay…”

“We know,” Evan whispers, “we saw everything Mikey. We know what you did for us.”

“Sorry about the scooping thing, by the way,” Elizabeth says, “I wasn’t me. I never wanted to hurt
you.”

“I forgive you,” he chuckles, “I knew that wasn’t really you, so I was never angry at you.”

“I forgive you too, Mikey.”

Michael stops breathing. He pulls away from the hug to look at Evan “Y-You…what?”

“I forgive you,” Evan smiles, “I held onto my anger for so long. I hated you for years, because I
thought you hated me too. But then I came here, and my thoughts became clearer again. I saw what
you did, and what you went through to stop father, and…I couldn’t be angry anymore. I’m finally
ready to let go of my anger and move on. So, I forgive you.”

Michael sobs and pulls his brother and sister close again. He places his lips against his little
brother’s head. “I-I don’t deserve i-it.”

“Well, you have it.”

“I-I never hated you, Ev. I’m so sorry I was mean to you for so long. I’m so sorry you died not
knowing how much I love you.”

He pulls away again. “Both of you. I love you both so much, and I miss you two every day.”

Elizabeth and Evan smile at him. “We love you too Mikey,” Elizabeth says.

“And we miss you too,” Evan says, “we’ll see each other again, one day.”

“But not too soon!” Elizabeth huffs, “make sure you raise our new nephew right, you hear me?!
When he comes here he better be the happiest boy I have ever seen!”

Michael chuckles. “I-I will. I’ll introduce him t-to you and mom and uncle Henry and everyone
else. He’ll love having a big family.”

“Good,” Elizabeth nods in approval.

“You’re gonna wake up soon,” Evan says. Michael’s smile drops.

“W-Wait, I’m still trapped underneath the beam.”

“Don’t worry,” Elizabeth smiles, “we called in a favor from a friend. She’ll help you out of the
pizzeria.”
 “She’s helped us out a lot. She’s the reason you came back in the first place.”

“This…this mystery friend brought me back?”

“She needed your help,” Evan shrugs, “she couldn’t do much in the beginning since she’s trapped
in an unfamiliar vessel, so she redirected any remnant being stolen to you. She must’ve given you
too much, since it healed your… everything.”

“Unfamiliar vessel,” he whispers. Then, it clicks. “So…the Blob…?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon,” Elizabeth winks.

Michael suddenly feels himself being pulled back, almost like someone is tugging on his shirt. His
grip on his siblings loosens, and his eyes droop. He feels tired. He feels like he’s fading away.

“It’s time to wake up, Mikey,” Elizabeth whispers.

“Live a happy life. We’ll see you again when you’re ready.”

“T…Thank you,” he whispers. He slumps over, but both his siblings catch him. They hold him as
he slowly falls asleep.

“I love…you both. Take care…”

“Love you, Mikey.”

“Love you Mikey. Wake up. Wakey wakey. It’s time to wake up…”

Chapter End Notes

..............Come on..............I couldn't really make Mike stay dead :D had to give him
some closure first.

The response last chapter was amazing. I'm sorry for tugging on your guys heart
strings but kajhdjkahdjka some of your guys reactions were so funny I love y'all. This
chapter will tug on heart strings too, but in a good way. Hopefully I have been
redeemed a bit :D

What do y'all think? Think Mike deserved forgiveness? I understand both sides, but in
the end, Evan gave it to him :') Evan best boy. Elizabeth best girl. I love the Afton
siblings. And who could the Blob be...? Hmmmm...
 I Have a Feeling That You Are Right Where You Want To Be
Chapter Summary

Something wraps around his torso. He looks down and sees wires around his
abdomen. He’d freak out if he didn’t remember Elizabeth and Evan’s words: this is a
friend. She’s helping him escape. There’s no need to fear the Blob.

“You are lucky Evan is so kind, otherwise I’d leave you to burn.”

He chuckles. He recognizes that voice. Of course it would be her who Evan asked a
favor from.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When he wakes up for a second time, he’s warm.

The ceiling above him is crumbling. The walls around him are collapsing. The beam that trapped
him is being lifted. He can breathe again, barely. The smoke is infiltrating his lungs. He needs to
get out of here quickly if he hopes to escape this place.

Something wraps around his torso. He looks down and sees wires around his abdomen. He’d freak
out if he didn’t remember Elizabeth and Evan’s words: this is a friend. She’s helping him escape.
There’s no need to fear the Blob.

“You are lucky Evan is so kind, otherwise I’d leave you to burn.”

He chuckles. He recognizes that voice. Of course it would be her who Evan asked a favor from.
“T-Thanks…Cassidy.”

“My wires can only reach so far,” she says, “once you are out of this pizzeria, you are on your
own.”

“Gotcha…”

He lets her lift him up and out of the hole he fell through, as well as the cave and pass the elevator
they rode down. Before he knows it, he’s back in Roxy Raceway. The fire has already spread to
this level, but the upper levels are still spared. He hopes the others made it out ok.

“Don’t worry about William,” Cassidy growls, “he will not escape my grasp again.”

“Y-You…gonna be o-ok?”

“Yes. I will pass when I want to. I still have unfinished business with him.”

The wire nudges him forward. “Go. The others are outside waiting for authorities. The child who
was with you is there.”

“Thanks again C-Cass.”

“Do not make me regret saving you, Michael Afton.”

“I won’t,” he says, confident for the first time in his life. He won’t screw up his true second chance.
He’ll make it up to Elizabeth and Evan by being the guardian they never had to Gregory. It’s what
they wanted, and he will honor that for the rest of his life.

Cassidy’s wires disappear back down into the depths of the Plex. He slowly stands up and
navigates his way through the flames of the raceway. His lungs are burning, and his body still
hurts from the beam falling on him. He preservers and steadily makes his way towards the exit.

Suddenly, a giant hand blocks his way, startling him and stopping his trek towards the exit. He
looks up and is met with DJ Music Man. His original Music Man animatronic is sat on top his
head, cymbals clapping in, what he assumes, happiness. “DJ? MM? W-Why haven’t you… two e-
escaped?”

DJ shakes his head and points a large finger at him. Music Man claps his cymbals again, causing
him to chuckle. “T-Thank you…f…for waiting. Sorry I-I took so…long.”

DJ doesn’t respond. He gently lays his palm out towards Michael, and he takes this as a sign to
climb aboard. He steps onto DJ’s hand and holds onto his thumb as the animatronic lifts him to his
head. He takes a seat next to Music Man, who climbs into his lap and settles there easily. He
smiles, happy that one of his animatronics will escape with him. Maybe one day, he’ll try to rebuild
Helpy. He misses that little bear.

The large animatronic makes his way towards his emergency exit. It’s a huge garage basically, and
was especially built for him in case he needed to leave the Plex. Michael is glad DJ waited for him,
because it takes him three minutes to escape the crumbling Pizza Plex. If Michael kept going on
foot, who knows how long it would’ve taken him.

The sun is just barely coming up on the horizon. The outside is cool and crisp, and a welcomed
relief after being stuck inside the Plex all night. Breathing in the fresh air feels amazing, and it
almost makes him pass out from exhaustion. But he needs to stay awake. He needs to make sure
Gregory is ok.

The others aren’t far away. Chica and Roxy are sitting next to each other on the ground, while
Monty is giving a passed out Vanessa a piggyback ride. She must’ve fallen asleep after his father
had been killed. Freddy is standing next to Chica, and Moon is in front of Freddy, singing soft
lullabies.

And Gregory…

The little boy is still sobbing in Freddy’s arms, hacking the few times his cries become too much
for his throat to handle. Moon’s lullabies do very little to soothe him, but he still sings them,
hoping they’ll help. He’s distraught, and it’s Michael’s fault.

“DJ!” Chica yells. She jumps up and runs over to the animatronic. “There you are! We were so
worried you got trapped somewhere.”

DJ doesn’t respond to her. He offers his palm to Michael again, and he crawls onto it, letting the
DJ lower him to the ground. Chica’s eyes widen when he steps off of DJ’s hand. She gasps and
rushes over to him when he stumbles. “Mr. Michael!!! You- You’re alive!”

“Michael?” he hears Freddy say. The others echo his confusion.

“Gre-“ he coughs, “-Gregory…is he…?”

 “MICHAEL!”

He sighs in relief and falls to his knees as said boy jumps out of Freddy’s arms and runs towards
him. He holds his arms out, ready as Gregory crashes into him, hugging him tightly and sobbing
into his chest. He buries his face in the boy’s hair and cries silently. He never thought he’d be so
happy to be alive.

“M-Michael,” Gregory sobs, “h-how…I thought y-you were d-d-dead!”

“Can’t get r-rid of me t-that easily kid,” he chuckles, “I couldn’t d-die now…not…not when I-I
have something t-to live…for a-again.”

“Michael,” he hears Freddy sigh. Two big, metal arms pull them both into a hug, and he takes this
opportunity to lean heavily against Freddy. His injuries are catching up to him. “I am so happy to
see you are ok.”

“M’happy too,” he mutters. Gregory’s cries have finally died down, and the boy settles into his
arms, probably just as tired as he is. Maybe even more. He deserves to sleep for years after the
night he just had.

“M’sorry I almost died,” he whispers, loud enough for Gregory to hear, “I really tried to stay
alive…this time.”

“You’re here now. That’s…that’s what matters.”

“Evan and Lizzie…say hi, by the way.”

“What…?”

He doesn’t get to respond. His eyes droop and his body falls completely against Freddy as
exhaustion overcomes him. The sound of sirens fill the morning air.

Chapter End Notes

Arson stop referencing Henry's speech in your titles when? *whispers* Never...

Anybody who guessed Cassidy last chapter was right!!!! A lot of people guessed
Charlie too, and while I did think about making the Blob her, I decided not to for one
reason: when the Blob snatched William up in the game...it just felt like a Cassidy
moment XD canonically, if I'm gonna be honest...I have no idea who the Blob could
actually be lol

Posting this feels bittersweet. We're almost to the end! And this crazy night is
officially over...only one more chapter left and then the epilogue ;-; I'll leave the
sadness for when it actually ends...for now, hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!
 Family.
Chapter Summary

“Of course,” Michael smiles, “you’re family now. You’ll meet everyone, including my
mom and uncle Henry and his daughter Charlie. They’re on the other side waiting for
us right now.”

Family. He has family waiting for him. Michael and Vanessa are his family now, and
by extension, Michael’s family is his family too. An aunt, an uncle, a grandma, a great
uncle, a cousin - all eager to meet him once he’s ready. He’s never had a family except
him so easily. He’s never fit in anywhere, ever since his mom died.

Thinking about it now, she’s probably waiting for him too. He has so many people
who care about him, and it’s overwhelming, but in a good way. This is what he always
wished for - people who cared about him.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Waking up in a hospital is never fun. He’s only done it twice before - once for a broken arm, and
another time when he had to get his appendix removed. Each time, there was no one waiting for
him. No parents sitting beside his bed or walking into the room with a smile on their face, happy to
see that he was ok. He spent the whole time in his hospital bed alone and sad.

This time still isn’t fun, but it’s already a bit more bearable when he looks to his left and sees
Michael sitting in the uncomfortable looking hospital chair. He’s reading some magazine, though
he doesn’t look very invested. He is also wearing a hospital gown, which means he isn’t only a
visitor, but a patient as well.

“Michael…?”

The older man looks up from his magazine and tosses it aside. He smiles. “Hey. You’re finally
awake.”

“Wha’ time is it?”

“Almost 7,” he chuckles, “you slept the day away, though I can’t blame you. Not only were you
exhausted, but you inhaled a lot of smoke.”

“S’that why I’m here?”

“Yeah. They wanted to keep your overnight to monitor your health, just in case.”

Gregory scans him up and down. “And you?”

“Broken ribs,” he says, gently patting his torso, “I should be out soon.”

Gregory hums and leans back against his pillows. Being in a hospital isn’t so bad when he has
someone looking out for him. And he got to sleep in a bed! A dingy hospital bed is 10 times better
than the sidewalk.

“What happened…to everyone else?”

“Well, Vanessa got discharged quickly, since she wasn’t injured that badly. She’s back at her
apartment right now,” Michael rubs his chin, “the animatronics will be put in a smaller location
until the Plex is repaired. Shouldn’t take long. Fazbear’s works quickly with this kind of stuff.”

So they aren’t closing the Plex. He should’ve expected that, but it’s still surprising. Oh well…at
least Freddy and the others won’t lose their home. Plus, it should be safe since William is dead and
Vanny is destroyed.

“So…what now?”

Michael stands up from the chair and sits down on the edge of his bed. He moves closer to the
older man, and hums in content when Michael side hugs him. “Me and Vanessa talked a bit, before
she was discharged,” he begins, “apparently, her apartment is a lot nicer than mine, and it can
house three people. She said we can move in as soon as possible.”

His eyes widen. “She wants to live with us?”

Michael shrugs. “Yeah. I was just as surprised as you are. I think after everything, she doesn’t want
to be alone right now. I didn’t give her an answer, because I wanted to talk to you first.”

Living with Vanessa…he never even thought of that as an option. He was perfectly fine living in
Michael’s studio apartment, so why wouldn’t he be ok with Vanessa’s much nicer place and two
people taking care of him? He doesn’t trust her as much as Michael, but they could work on that.

“What do you think?”

Michael hums and fiddles with the end of his blanket. “If you want the truth…I think it’s our best
option. Not only will I have help looking after you, but CPS might be more lenient letting me and
her adopt you than just me. A single man trying to adopt a child is sketchy, but a man and woman
adopting one is common practice.”

Gregory’s nose scrunches up. “So…you two will be like my mom and dad?”

Michael barks out a laugh. “No. If we’re gonna do this, then she’ll pose as my sister trying to help
her big brother raise a kid. That’s easier than trying to pose as a couple, trust me.”

He frowns at that, remembering when Michael briefly mentioned having a boyfriend at some
point. It sounds like it would be awkward for him to pose as a dad with Vanessa as the mom.
Actually, it would be awkward for everyone.

“So…she’s my aunt and you’re…my dad?”

“If that’s ok with you,” Michael smiles, “s’not like you have to call me dad or anything. It’s mostly
for legal reasons.”

He lifts his shoulder up in embarrassment. “I mean…it doesn’t sound that bad…b-but I’m not
calling you d-dad! Not yet a-at least.”

Michael coos and ruffles his hair, embarrassing him even more. He already regrets his previous
sentiment. “You better start quickly, my siblings are expecting to meet their nephew once the time
comes.”
“Oh yeah!” he yells, sitting up straight, “you said something about Evan and Elizabeth! What was
that about?”

Michael scratches the back of his head in a sheepish manner. “I sort of…saw them. On the other
side.”

“So you did die?!”

“Briefly! I came right back!”

“Why didn’t you stay?” he whispers, “I mean…you must miss them, right?”

“Of course I do,” Michael whispers back, “but…I wasn’t ready to leave. Not yet. I couldn’t
abandon you. They knew this too, and encouraged me to come back and raise you.”

Gregory looks down at his blankets. He never met Michael’s siblings, but…

“They sound really nice.”

“They are. They’re the best.”

“They really want to meet me?”

“Of course,” Michael smiles, “you’re family now. You’ll meet everyone, including my mom and
uncle Henry and his daughter Charlie. They’re on the other side waiting for us right now.”

Family. He has family waiting for him. Michael and Vanessa are his family now, and by extension,
Michael’s family is his family too. An aunt, an uncle, a grandma, a great uncle, a cousin - all eager
to meet him once he’s ready. He’s never had a family except him so easily. He’s never fit in
anywhere, ever since his mom died.

Thinking about it now, she’s probably waiting for him too. He has so many people who care about
him, and it’s overwhelming, but in a good way. This is what he always wished for - people who
cared about him.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t stay with them,” he whispers, “but…m’happy you’re not dead.”

“Don’t apologize. It was my choice to come back,” Michael moves his bangs away from his face,
“besides, not many people get second chances like this. After decades of pain and suffering, I think
I’d like to try living a normal life for once.”

“I hear it’s not all that’s cracked up to be,” he hums, “you have to, like, get a job. And pay taxes.”

Michael stares at him in silence for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. He tries to stay
serious but ends up laughing with him. “Thanks for the warning kid,” Michael says in-between his
laughter, “but I-I think I can handle the IRS. They seem a lot less scarier than my father.”

“Everything is less scarier than him. Did you see his body? He looked like that grouchy old woman
from that Spongebob episode about chocolate.”

Michael barks out another laugh. “I actually know that episode! Funny thing is…he never had a
sweet tooth. He always preferred bitter things.”

“Because he’s a bitter old bastard.”

“That’s my boy,” Michael beams, ruffling his hair, “already dissing grandpa like a pro.”
Gregory is about to ask Michael to never, ever call William his grandpa ever again when the door
to his room opens. A familiar head of blonde hair peaks in, and her green eyes widen at the sight of
Gregory awake and sitting up. “Oh…you’re finally awake.”

“He woke up about 10 minutes ago, so you’re right on time,” Michael says. Vanessa nods and
steps inside his room, gently closing the door behind her. She glares at Michael.

“You’re not supposed to be out of bed.”

Michael shrugs. “No one stopped me from coming in here.”

Vanessa sighs and walks over to his bed. She stands on the opposite side of where Michael is
sitting. “I knew Fazbear doctors where shady.”

“Fazbear doctors?” he asks. Vanessa nods.

“The doctors looking after you two are specially picked by Fazbear company whenever they have
an…accident. It keeps things more hushed hushed.”

“Lawsuits are always a staple of Fazbear entertainment,” Michael hums.

“Did you, um,” Vanessa pauses, “did you talk to him about…y’know?”

“Go on. Say it.”

Vanessa glares at Michael again. “…About…moving in.”

“….With?”

“I hate you.”

“Now is that how you’re going to talk to your future roommate?”

“Fine. Live in a hole in a wall for all I care.”

Gregory smiles at Michael as Vanessa huffs and turns away from them, crossing her arms. Michael
snickers under his breathe, enjoying messing with her a bit too much. He wonders how well these
two will co-habit a place together. Vanessa will be pulling her hair out by week out. He’s calling it
now.

“Oh don’t get so twisted,” Michael says, “yes, I talked to him about it.”

Vanessa uncrosses her arms and turns back to them. “Oh,” she whispers, looking at him, “and…?”

Gregory shrugs. “I think it’s a good idea. As long as I get to sleep on a bed, I’m fine with
anything.”

“You’ll definitely get a bed, and a whole room to yourself. My room stays the same,” she points to
Michael, “smart ass over there will be stuck on the pull out couch.”

“The sacrifices I make for my new family,” he dramatically sighs.

“What sacrifices? I’m letting you live in my nice apartment. If anyone is making sacrifices it’s me,
because I have to live under the same roof as you.”

“Oh, and living with you will be a walk in the park?”

 “I’m a delight!”

Michael and Gregory look at each other. Vanessa growls. “Really?!”

“To be fair,” he begins, “my first impression of you wasn’t the best.”

“Same,” Michael smiles, “but we can work on that! Like now-“

Michael holds his arms out and waves his arms at Vanessa. “C’mon, group hug.”

“…Why?”

“Bonding.”

Vanessa takes a deep breathe, but doesn’t fight back this time. Instead, she slowly sits down on the
edge of his bed. She looks at him multiple times, silently asking permission to sit beside him. He
doesn’t verbally answer, but he doesn’t stop her. He doesn’t stop her when she fully sits down, nor
does he stop her from bringing him into a hug. He also doesn’t stop Michael when he brings his
arms around both of them, bringing them into one big group hug.

It’s so warm. He really likes hugs, something he didn’t know he missed until this morning. Now he
has two people he can ask for hugs all the time, something he’s still trying to wrap his head around.
He wonders if living with Michael and Vanessa will always look like this: happy and warm and
never a dull moment.

He hopes it will. He misses living a life that wasn’t always so miserable.

“This is nice,” he mumbles. Vanessa hums in agreement. Michael just squeezes them tighter.

“Y’know, I’m glad I snuck into Fazbear’s now.”

“Please don’t make that a habit,” Michael mumbles. He smiles.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

He has everything he needs right here.

Chapter End Notes

Only one more chapter left: the epilogue ;-; can't believe it's almost over...

Here's the happy ending to the hellish night at the Plex XD hope it was worth it! Look
at them being a happy lil family :')
 Epilogue
Chapter Summary

“Look at us,” Michael hums, bouncing him in his arms, “being one big happy family. I
think we should celebrate this special occasion.”

Vanessa gives Michael an unimpressed look. “You just want to procrastinate helping
Gregory with his school work.”

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

2 months later

“So sus is short for suspicion.”

“Yes.”

“And you call a player that when you think they’re the imposter?”

“Exactly.”

Michael types something in the game chat. “I just called green sus. I swear I saw that motherfucker
vent.”

“You have to give them a reason, or they’ll think you’re sus.”

“Good God,” Michael mutters. He types out his explanation and sends it in the chat. “Can’t trust
no one in this game. This absolutely does not help my paranoia.”

“That’s why it’s perfect for someone like you!”

The older man huffs, but he smiles once the other players vote out green and they win the game.
He’s gotten pretty good at Among Us, unlike some of the other games Gregory has introduced him
too. He sucks at any shooting based games, but he’s pretty good at puzzle games. Among Us he’s
gotten down quick, but Gregory assumes that lying about your identity for decades will make you
good at a game about lying.

These past two months have basically looked this. In between moving and trying to get him back
into school, he’s been spending his time teaching Michael of all the cool media trends he’s missed
over the years. He isn’t too outdated, since his previous boyfriend kept him up to date on a lot of
stuff, but being dead for six years means he’s still missed a lot of things. Enter: Gregory.

This past week he’s been introducing Michael to any popular games he’s missed, and he couldn’t
pass up showing him Among Us. He knew the older man would love it, and he was right.

Other than the media lessons, life with Michael and Vanessa is nice. Vanessa is exactly what an
older sister is like. They bicker a lot, and he loves to get on her nerves when he can, but she’s also
a very caring and attentive person. She was cautious around him at first, but she’s been opening up
more and more over these few months. He loves it when she bickers back and seeks him out first,
because that just shows that she’s becoming more comfortable around him.

Michael is a bit different. He still acts like a brother would with their younger sibling with him, but
he’s definitely taken the responsibility as his main care taker. He’s the one who’s enrolling him
back into school, and he’s the one who took him to the doctors to make sure he’s healthy, and he’s
the one who enforces his bed time and makes sure he eats his three meals a day. Of course Vanessa
helps with all this, but it’s Michael who’s taken the front seat and became his parent.

It was an adjustment, having an actual parent again, but he thinks he’s gotten used to it. He
certainly isn’t going to complain about someone doing the worrying for him again. For the first
time in a long time, he feels like he can be a kid again.

“What are you two doing?”

He’s brought out of his thoughts by Vanessa, who’s standing in front of them with her arms crossed
and an unimpressed look on her face. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping him with his math
studies?”

“…We were taking a break.”

Vanessa lifts up a questioning eyebrow, and Michael deflates. “Ok fine. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I haven’t been in school since 1985, give me a break.”

“God you’re old.”

“We all know I was born in 1969. Get new material.”

“Wait,” Vanessa holds up both her hands, “1985…wouldn’t you have been 16?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you graduate early?”

“No, I dropped out.”

Vanessa stares at him in shock. He looks at Michael in surprise too. He never would’ve guessed he
was a high school dropout. “I let you tutor him. You, a high school dropout.”

“I’m not stupid-“

“Schewpid,” he whispers under his breathe. Both adults ignore him.

“-and I missed like, one year of school. It’s no big deal.”

She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “You’re way too nonchalant about this.”

“Dad’s not that bad,” he says, “I mean, he seems smart enough to me, so I don’t see the big deal.”

Michael and Vanessa stare at him with wide eyes. He squirms in place, not understanding their
sudden surprise. So he thinks his dad is smart, big deal.

“Gregory,” Michael whispers. He looks at the blue eyed man.

“What?”
“You just called him dad,” Vanessa says. Now it’s his turn to look surprised. “You’ve never called
him that before.”

Oh.

He did. He did just do that. Out loud. He’s thought of Michael as his parent - his dad - for a while
now, but he’s never been brave enough to actually call him that to his face. It seems like his brain
just made the decision to say it right now.

“Gregory,” Michael whispers. He lifts his shoulders up embarrassment. “Do you really see me as…
your dad?”

He huffs and turns his head away from both adults. He won’t let them see his red face. “I-I just said
it…didn’t I?”

“So you really-?”

“Why are you making such a big deal about this?!”

“BECAUSE IT IS!”

He yelps as two arms pick him up and squish him against a sturdy chest. He groans and wiggles in
Michael’s grip, but the brown haired man only squeezes him tighter. He feels Michael lay his head
on top of his own. “You- you think of me as your dad! This is- it’s-!”

He hears Michael sniffle, which gets him to stop squirming. He frowns in worry. “Are you…ok?”

“Yeah,” Michael whispers, “yeah. M’just…happy.”

He feels Michael kiss the side of his head. “I love you kiddo.”

Now it’s his turn for his eyes to tear up. He buries his face in Mich- in his dad’s shoulder and
finally hugs him back. He’s hugging his dad. His dad. He has a dad now- has had one since that
fateful night in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Plex. It stills feels surreal, but this is his reality now.

He has a dad. He has a family. He is loved.

“Love you too…dad.”

Their little moment is interrupt by someone loudly ‘awing’ near them. Gregory is mortified to see
Vanessa holding her iPad up, the four gathered Glamrocks’s and Sun on screen. They’re still
located at the smaller location, so it was easy for dad to sneak them an iPad to keep in contact. He
loves talking to Freddy and the others and seeing what they’re up to.

This is the only time he wishes to cut off contact with them forever.

“So cute!” Chica coos, “I’m so happy to see you two become a real family!”

“Look at him!” Monty cackles, “he’s been caught off guard! That’s hilarious!”

“S-Shut up!”

“There is no need to be embarrassed superstar,” Freddy says, “it is nice to see you comfortable in
your living situation!”

“Thanks for calling Vanessa!” Roxy says, “his embarrassed face is hilarious!”
“I hate you all!”

He squirms in his dad’s grip and groans when he doesn’t put him down. “Dad, let me go!”

“He said it again! Hurray hurray hurray!” Sun cheers, earning the cheers of the other
animatronics as well. He gives up and decides to hide his face in his dad’s shoulder instead.

“Sorry Gregory,” Vanessa chuckles, “I just had to call them.”

“You betrayed me,” he mumbles, “I have no aunt.”

“Oh! Aunt Vanessa! I haven’t heard that one before!” Chica cheers. She’s right, of course. He’s
never called Vanessa his aunt before, and by the look on her face, she’s surprised by this recent
development. He doesn’t understand why, it makes sense for her to be his aunt since she’s
Michael’s step-sister (according to CPS).

“Can we be aunt’s too?” Chica asks, “I’ve always wanted to be one!”

"Oh yes yes yes! I want to be apart of the family!" Sun says, spinning in place.

“I’m his coolest aunt, right kid?” Roxy asks, a smirk on her face.

“And I’m his coolest uncle!”

“No way,” Roxy scoffs, “we all know Freddy has that title.”

The bears ears wiggle, delighted at the idea of being Gregory’s favorite uncle. Like there was any
debate in the place. Roxy is right - Freddy is definitely his favorite relative.

“Y’know, this started out as my moment with my son,” Michael groans. Gregory absolutely does
not tear up hearing his dad call him son for the first time. He doesn’t. He’s only hiding his face
because he’s tired. Yeah…that’s it. “Now you’re all butting in on it.”

“Michael is right,” Freddy says, “we should leave them be.”

“We’ll come visit you guys again this weekend,” Vanessa says, “You guys can fight for Gregory’s
affection then.”

“You’re all going down!” Roxy cackles.

Gregory stops hiding his face when they start saying their goodbyes, with more promises to come
by and visit on Saturday. Once they end the call, Vanessa puts her iPad down and smiles at him.
“So…aunt?”

“Duh,” he says, “what else would you be to me?”

Vanessa’s smile softens. She reaches over to gently pinch his cheek. “Love you too kid.”

“Look at us,” Michael hums, bouncing him in his arms, “being one big happy family. I think we
should celebrate this special occasion.”

Vanessa gives Michael an unimpressed look. “You just want to procrastinate helping Gregory with
his school work.”

“First off, I value his education very much, and would never be so irresponsible,” Michael says.
Vanessa rolls her eyes. “and second, is it so wrong for a new father to be excited about his kid
 finally excepting him into his heart?”

Vanessa sighs. “Fine, whatever. We’ll celebrate with a Minecraft and ice cream marathon.”

“Excellent choice!” Michael beams. He cheers in response, happy he doesn’t have to do homework
for another few hours. “See! Everyone’s happy now!”

Vanessa sighs again, but this time it’s mostly out of fondness instead of actual exasperation. Her
smile is back, matching their enthusiastic smiles. “Thanks aunt Ness,” he says, “you and dad are
the best.”

“Awww look at you,” Michael coos. He leans in to kiss Gregory’s cheek in a very exaggerated
way, pulling away with a loud ‘mwah!’ “Being a sweetheart for once!”

He groans and goes to wipe his cheek. “EW GROSS!”

“For once I agree with the kid,” Vanessa nose scrunches up, “that was disgusting.”

Gregory watches in mild horror and amusement as a devilish grin spreads on Michael’s face. The
older man puts him down, then takes a step towards Vanessa. She takes one step back in fear.
“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Oh am I?” Michael takes another step forward, “just want to show my sister how much I love her.
Is that so bad?”

“It is when it’s you.”

They stare at each other for a total of three seconds before Michael makes the first move. Vanessa
is quick as well, running down the hall to escape Michael’s cheek kisses. Gregory laughs as
Michael almost trips and falls flat on his face.

“YOU’RE GROSS DON’T TOUCH ME!”

“WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME?!”

“CAUSE YOU SUCK!”

“Go aunt Ness!” Gregory cackles. Michael freezes in his tracks and looks at him in (fake) despair.

“Oh my son…not you too!”

He screams in a mixture of laughter and fear as Michael begins chasing him too. He follows
Vanessa around as they escape from Michael’s attempt to show them affection. Insults are thrown
around, but the smiles on their faces tell the real story: they’re having fun. They’re happy. They’re
a family.

They’re home.

Chapter End Notes

 Here it is, the dreaded and anticipated final chapter.

I was right, this really is a bittersweet moment ;-; I'm gonna miss this story so much,
but I'm also so happy it's finished and I can share the final thing with all of you ;u; this
fic is literally My Baby and I'm so happy so many of you enjoyed reading it. By the
time I publish this there's almost 900 kudos, 150 bookmarks, and 16,900 hits.
Combined with all of your lovely comments, this fic was shown so much more love
then I thought it would. I can't say this enough: I'm so grateful to everyone who liked,
commented, and read my story. You're support means a lot to me, and thank you <3

Some of you have asked about a sequel. I'll say this: I have been working on
extensions for this story, but I don't want to promise something I can't guarantee. I'm
hopeful that this inspiration streak keeps going, because I truly love this lil AU I've
created ;u; but for now, this is it!

Again, thank you all so so SO much for the support. If I do publish for this AU again,
I hope to see you in the next one!!! <3

End Notes

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'm almost done writing the entire story, so updates
should at least be weekly. Maybe sooner if I'm impatient ;)

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!