Thank you very much for the support that you have given me so far. It may not look like much but when I saw that first review, I nearly flipped a damn table. I was that overjoyed. Was I overreacting? Probably. Anyhow, enough of this. On to the next chapter!

XXXXXXXXXX

"Argh!"

Mike felt like his arms were about to get pulled out of their sockets when the pole made contact with the metal fox, smashing it against the side of his face. The fox lost his footing and stumbled to the side slightly, holding his muzzle.

"What in the bloody blazes did ye do that for?!" Foxy growled as he rubbed the small dent the pole left in his face.

Mike just stared in shock as he kept a firm grip on his only weapon.

"Y-you can talk..?"

Foxy raised his eyepatch and gave the guard a confused look.

"Aye...Course I can talk, yer circuits come loose or something?" He tilted his head.

"...What? I don't...have circuits. I'm a human. Um. See?" Mike held the pole under his arm and held up his hand, pinching his skin slightly. "Human skin, no...wires, no circuits, just...flesh." He held onto the metal pole again, just in case the robot tried anything, he was slightly surprised when the fox rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Oh aye, we've only heard that excuse a million times. Now c'mon mate, yer gonna have to get back into costume. Tis the rules after all." He reached out with his good hand to grab the guard by the back of his shirt. However, Mike managed to duck in the nick of time, scrambling away from the towering animatronic, holding out his weapon once again.

"N-no! Get away from me! Back off!" He swung, only to have the pole yanked out of his hands as Foxy crushed it into a pitiful scrap of junk, throwing it to the side before continuing his advance on the petrified guard, who was now trying to climb on the desk in an attempt to avoid the fox's reach.

"Please...I already told you, I'm human! Y'know...like the day staff! Look!" Mike quickly unpinned his name tag and held it out in front of him, although he feared that he might drop it due to his hands trembling so much. "See? M-my name's Mike Schmidt, I'm the Night Guard! I work here! I'm not an endoskeleton! Please, you gotta believe me!" Foxy pushed his jaw back into place with his hook and narrowed his eyes as he examined the name tag.

"Hmmm...But all tha other ones that came in at night were endo's too." Foxy looked back up at the guard, tilting his head again. "All of em claimed they be human too. What makes ye any differen'?"

Mike glanced down at the tablet. 5.50am. Maybe if he kept the animatronic distracted for long enough, he could make it. There was no activity from the others either. Not even Freddy. Maybe this was his lucky break after all..

"Well..I.." He looked around nervously. He had to think of something to say and fast. He couldn't keep the robot that could probably snap his neck in a split second waiting for long. His life was on the line after all. A very thin line.

Suddenly, his face brightened up slightly as he had an idea. Giving a nervous smile, he spoke up.

"When I was a kid, I used to come here a lot to see you guys. You had your own show back then, right? All the kids loved it, myself included."

This caught Foxy's attention as the robot perked up slightly, giving the guard a curious look. It even looked a little...hopeful.

"Ye did? Ye saw ol' Foxy when he was back in his prime, eh?"

Mike nodded vigorously. All he had to do now was keep him talking. Just until the end of his shift, he wanted to look down at the tablet but he didn't want Foxy to catch on to what he was doing. It shouldn't be long now. He was beginning to feel like a bit of an idiot, standing on a desk while having a coversation with a kid's animatronic.

'Why did I take this job again?' He bitterly questioned himself. 'Oh right. Because I'm a fucking idiot.'

Mike decided to focus on Foxy again as he began to talk.

"Oh I used to love the wee mateys. They'd listen to this old sea dog ramble on about tales of the Seven Seas. They'd join me on adventures with maps, monsters and treasures!" Foxy waved his hook around in an enthusiastic manner, as if he was back in his cove, entertaining the kids. This made Mike flinch and lean back a bit, afraid Foxy might catch his hook on his shoulder if he kept swinging it about like that.

"I'd take care of em if they got hurt or if they had any troubles on their minds.." The fox sighed, his ears lowering slightly. "I really miss it. Looking after the kiddies."

Mike frowned. This was new. He'd never seen this much...emotion come from a machine. Did he actually feel...sad? But how? Was it even possible? It was a little unsettling to be honest, but he couldn't really help but feel a little sorry for the poor robot, even if he had been trying to kill him.

He shifted slightly , nearly stepping on some paper that was scattered on the desk. These minutes were beginning to feel like hours. Why on earth hadn't the other animatronics attacked yet? After all, he was pretty vulnerable right now. He shook his head. Now was not the time to be thinking about that. He decided to keep the conversation flowing.

"Well, I loved your stories when I was little. Your cove was always my first priority whenever I came here. My parents used to take me all the time." He felt a slight pang in his heart as he mentioned his parents.

Foxy looked back up at him.

"Tha' so mate? Hm..." The fox took a moment to tap his chin, seemingly in deep thought. "..Come down for a wee minute, would ye? I promise I won' hurt ye." He took a step back.

Mike blinked.

"Y-you want me to come down..?"

The robot nodded.

"Aye. I wanna get a closer look at ye. See for meself that yer no an endo'."

Not having much of a choice, Mike slowly lowered himself and climbed down from the desk, landing on the carpeted floor.

'Crap. Why hasn't the bell sounded yet? Shouldn't my shift be done by now?!'

Mike felt himself get extremely nervous as Foxy gently grabbed his arm, lowering his head to examine it.

"Ye do seem a bit...squishier than a normal endo'.."

Mike fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"That's because I'm not an endo'." He pulled his arm away. "That's what I keep trying to tell you. Surely you gotta believe me by now." Mike gave Foxy a hopeful look as the fox crossed his metal arms.

"Well..."

*DING DONG*

Both of them looked around as the bell chimes sounded throughout the building. He had done it. He had actually done it. He managed to survive another night by the skin of his teeth. He sighed slightly in relief and resisted the urge to start cheering and dancing as he realised that Foxy was still there with him.

"I'll give ye the benefit of the doubt, lad. Ye seem like yer human. Well, ye act like one anyway. I'll make me mind up by tomorrow. I wouldn't hold yer breath though."

With that, the fox disappeared down the hallway. Leaving Mike alone in the office.

He never thought he would have survived tonight, let alone actually talk to an animatronic, one that had been Hell bent on killing him, or in their terms, 'Putting him back into costume.' It was so...strange though. Foxy displayed emotions that Mike had never seen from any kind of machine. He actually looked like he was longing to be back in his show, to be able to interact with kids again. It was so...human. Maybe they were just misunderstood, if he could somehow get through to them then..who knows? Perhaps he could even become friends with them.

'Yeah. Then pigs will fly.' Mike chuckled to himself and left, deciding he would clean up the disaster room that was his office another day. He was too exhausted to deal with it now. He walked down the hallway and came face to face with the Show Stage. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica were already back in their positions, ready for another day of entertaining children.

"Why didn't you guys attack me when you had the chance...?" He questioned more to himself than the robots. Did they also feel emotions? Did they have personalities? Did they know he was human? Or did they also mistake him for an endoskeleton? Maybe there was a way to re-program them? It would be a big relief if he could find a way to stop them from hunting him for the rest of his time here. However long that would be. He shook his head. He'd figure it out tomorrow. He needed to get home and sleep. The adrenaline that was pumping through his system before was quickly diminishing.

The three main animatronics onstage remained lifeless as the lights around the restaurant came back to life, Mike watched them for a moment before pushing the doors open, letting the crisp morning air hit him like a wave. It felt wonderful. He would never take moments like this for granted again. Not after being so close to death.

Unbeknownst to him, Freddy watched closely as the guard walked out. He had listened to every word during the little exchange. The bear grinned ever so slightly as his mechanical ears twitched.

'This makes things a little more...interesting."

XXXXXXXXXX

A/N- Alrighty. I tried to make this chapter a little longer. Hope it's ok! Please tell me what you think! Criticism is also welcome. Please don't be mean about it though, k? I'm pretty damn sensitive. Till next time. Peace out!

'