-Author's Note-

Hello! I noticed Harmonics Rioter left yet another amazing review. I could reply with a message, but I think the seven people who follow this story should know how amazing he is (it's he, right?). Just a heads up, if I like a review, I'm definitely going to mention it. At this point, Harmonics Rioter literally has over half of the reviews. Also, thanks to Bunnybro17 and Tracker78 for leaving reviews; you guys are totally cool, all of you, and I love getting input from readers, even in small amounts. So enjoy this next chapter!

~X~

Freddy stood quietly to the side as Bonnie paced the stage restlessly. Freddy noticed that his friend hadn't taken his eye off of the door; no doubt he was waiting for Quinn. They both were.

Chica hadn't watched the video feed, so she didn't know what was going on. Freddy had asked her to make Quinn a "special pizza" and had said it was an "important matter", to which Chica had readily agreed.

Foxy was sitting on the steps of Pirate's Cove, and next to him was Adam, who was counting down the minutes until Quinn came.

"I wonder what it'll be…" Adam thought aloud. He was referring to the Star Wars toy that Quinn was bringing for him. Freddy chuckled at his childlike innocence. He was young, after all, so he had a right to that innocence.

The door to the pizzeria, and in walked the girl of the hour (six hours to be exact, but Freddy wasn't counting). Adam wasted no time rushing up to her to wrap her legs in a tight embrace, since he couldn't reach any higher.

"Hey, Adam, how're you doing?"

"Good!" he replied giddily. "Do you have a Star Wars toy for me?"

"I do, but you've got to use your manners, buddy."

Freddy smiled. Quinn was almost like a mother to Adam.

"Can I pretty please with a cherry on top have a Star Wars toy?"

Quinn laughed. "Of course you can." She pulled out a green bag that she was holding behind her back and handed it to Adam.

He took it from her and poked his head inside the bad. At once, he exploded with joy. He grabbed what was in the box and showed everyone.

"It's Chewbacca!" he exclaimed, squealing with joy, a sound that had become quite common. He held up the large Chewbacca plush toy, practically shoving it in Foxy's face. "This is so cool! Thank you Quinn!"

Quinn bent down on her knees to be eye level with Adam. He held his new toy in one arm and hugged Quinn with the other.

"Group hug!" he shouted, motioning for Bonnie, Foxy, and Freddy to join. The animatronics awkwardly tried to bend down and fit in, but Bonnie ended up knocking into Freddy, sending them tumbling down like dominos.

Quinn laughed at the animatronics, who were sprawled on the floor. Foxy sent Bonnie a menacing look, but Freddy scolded them both with his eyes.

Freddy stood up and straightened himself out as Adam squeezed his Chewbacca so hard that if it was alive, it would surely be dead. "Come on Foxy!" Adam called. "Can we go play with Chewbacca?"

Foxy nodded and smiled. "Sure thing, matey." Foxy picked Adam up and held him on his shoulder, and Adam grinned wildly.

"Whee!" he yelled as Foxy bounded off to Pirate's Cove.

Quinn chuckled, reminding Freddy that she was still there. He looked at her, his eyes serious.

"Quinn, we need to talk."

She smiled. "Sure thing Freddy. What is it?"

Freddy checked to make sure Adam wasn't in the room, just as Bonnie joined them. While doing so, he also noticed Quinn was wearing a scarf, most likely to cover up visible signs of pain.

"We wanted to make sure you're okay."

Her smile wavered slightly, but she didn't move. "Of course I'm alright. Why do you ask?"

Freddy was about to reply with a calm answer but Bonnie cut him off. "Because we saw what happened to you when you got home from work." His voice had an even tone, but there was rage in his eyes.

Almost immediately the color drained from Quinn's face. "Y-you saw that?" she stuttered. "H-how?"

"I'm rigged up a camera," Bonnie responded. His words betrayed no emotion.

"I… I don't know what I should say."

"You need to explain," he demanded. "Now."

Freddy could have sworn he saw tears well up in her eyes, but she blinked and they were gone. "What did you see?"

Freddy spoke before his angry friend could. "You went to a diner; went home, and bad things happened." He saw her shoulders start to shake, and he reassuringly put his arms around her in a brotherly manner. "It's okay, Quinn, take your time. Start from the beginning." He let go and she sat down in a booth that was nearby.

After a minute Quinn started to explain. "I go to that diner when I want to feel safe. I know the woman who works a six a.m. shift, so she's okay with me staying."

"Feel safe from what?" Bonnie muttered.

"At home… you saw, right? That was my brother, Max. He says he's a police officer, but I know he's involved with gangs and stuff. Sometimes I get pulled into the mess. I don't want to, but it happens. And if I do anything wrong…" Quinn trailed off and pulled her knees close to her chest, dipping her head down and resting it on her knees.

Freddy put a hand on her shoulder for comfort, and Bonnie could only stare in sympathy.

Finally Quinn looked up, ready to continue explaining. "Lately there's been something going on with him. I don't know what, but he's just gotten so violent lately. He's been doing… things… for no reason. Like what you saw on the camera…" She shuddered as if recalling events from earlier.

Bonnie gazed somewhere off into the pizzeria before getting an almost malicious glint in his eye.

"Where is your brother?" he asked Quinn.

"I don't know, I think he's at home. Why?"

"Because I am literally going to kill him."

Freddy was about to argue, but thought differently. He actually didn't mind that Bonnie wanted to murder Quinn's brother.

Mere milliseconds after Bonnie said that, however, Quinn sprang out of the booth. "You can't do that!" she shouted.

"And why is that?" Bonnie growled.

"Because… because he's the only family I have left."

The gleam in Bonnie's eyes immediately disappeared. "Where are your parents?"

Quinn wiped away what must have been a tear. "Dead." She said it unnaturally, as if she had accepted the fact yet still hadn't stopped grieving.

"I'm so sorry Quinn…" Bonnie trailed off.

"Don't be. It's my fault anyway."

"That can't be true, Quinn," Bonnie argued. "You'd never do anything to hurt anyone."

"I didn't hurt them!" she almost yelled, her voice having risen. Then she quieted down. "But it's still my fault."

"What happened?"

Freddy shot Bonnie a glare, but he ignored it.

"I was graduating. From high school, and–"

"From high school? How old are you, and how long ago was this?" Bonnie interrupted.

"This was two years ago. I'm sixteen, but I graduated early. I had studied so hard and moved up in all of my classes." She smiled grimly. "My parents were so proud of me. They were driving me to my graduation when we were hit by a drunk driver… I was the only one who survived."

"I'm so sorry. I feel like a jerk."

"It's okay. You didn't know. No one ever does."

"It's not okay." Bonnie met eye contact with Quinn. "I was so angry after seeing what your brother did that I didn't stop to think of your feelings."

"It's fine, really."

Freddy glanced between the two of them. Is there something going on that I don't know about?

"Well, after my parents died, Max, my brother, became my legal guardian. I can't live on my own yet, but I've been saving money. I took this job so I could run away, but it's not enough and I'm still too young. That and the fact that I don't think I could leave you guys."

"That's child abuse," Bonnie pointed out, referring to Max's actions.

Quinn looked away. "There's nothing I can do about it."

"Call the police," Freddy suggested.

She laughed darkly, still not facing them. "I can't do that. Then what? They do an investigation, find out Max is guilty, and lock him up. I get shipped off to some foster home or orphanage, or Max's buddies literally kill me. Take your pick."

Freddy sighed. Quinn's predicament was worse than he had expected.

Bonnie gently held her chin, tilting her head to look at him. "Don't worry; we'll help you figure this out. And if you need anything, you know we're here for you."

Quinn hugged Bonnie, and his eyes widened. Despite the situation, Freddy gave him a thumbs up.

The rabbit grinned slightly and returned Quinn's hug. They embraced for what seemed like hours. There is seriously something going on between those two, Freddy thought.

Once he had pulled away, Bonnie looked at Quinn's scarf. "Let me see how bad you're hurt," he offered, his voice soft and kind.

"I'm fine," Quinn said.

"No you're not. I saw what happened, and you are not fine."

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"Quinn, I can help," he reasoned, reaching out a hand. Quinn kept an eye on his hand. She swallowed and said, "Don't touch me. I'm fine."

Bonnie reluctantly retracted his hand and looked to Freddy for help. The bear sighed and stepped up to Quinn.

"We're not going to hurt you, you know that. I can't help you if you don't help me. Just take off the scarf."

"No," she replied, her voice just above a whisper. "I don't need help."

"Quinn." Freddy's waited for a response. "Quinn, listen to me."

"What if I don't want your help?"

"Quinn, you're just pushing us away. I get it, you don't want us to get involved, but you can't isolate yourself."

She finally sighed, defeated. "Fine." She reached up and unraveled her scarf, revealing bruises all around her neck.

"Quinn…" Bonnie tried to say something but failed. Eventually, he managed, "Does it hurt?"

"No." She shook her head, but even the small action caused her to wince slightly.

"You're lying," Freddy noted. "I'm going to grab some ice. If you don't ice it, it'll swell. Bonnie, keep an eye on her."

Freddy went into the kitchen and opened the freezer. There were no ice packs so he grabbed a bag and filled it with ice. Taking a towel from the counter, he wrapped the bag of ice in a cloth to keep it from being too cold.

He went back into the main room with the stage. He handed the makeshift ice pack to Quinn, who gratefully accepted it and put it on her neck.

Suddenly, Adam came running into the room. He dove through Freddy's legs and rolled onto the floor laughing.

"I bet ya can't catch me!" he challenged Freddy.

Freddy smirked at the toddler. "We'll see about that."

He registered Quinn laughing as he fruitlessly tried to catch Adam, but the little bear was fast on his feet and outmaneuvered him. Finally, Adam ran between Bonnie's legs, and Freddy crashed into the unsuspecting rabbit.

They fell with a crash, and Adam sat on top of Freddy. "I win!" he declared.

"Not so fast," Freddy said, grinning. He reached up and grabbed Adam, pulling him down. Adam yelped in surprise, but giggled nonetheless. Freddy did something he didn't think possible; he tickled Adam. Not that it was so amazing, but he didn't think that animatronics could be tickled.

Yet here he was, wiggling his fingers and causing the toddler to howl with uncontrollable laughter. Even Quinn was laughing so hard she was almost in tears.

Finally, Freddy stopped tickling Adam, and he sat up and stared at Freddy. "That wasn't fair," he pouted. "I'm ticklish." He crossed his arms, an icy glare on his face.

However, Freddy found it impossible to take Adam seriously; his "icy glare" was adorably silly, and he burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Adam complained.

Quinn put her ice pack down and bent down next to Adam. "Don't worry buddy, no one's laughing at you. We just think that you're super funny. You're the best toddler I know."

Adam brightened up. "Really?"

"Really," Quinn confirmed.

"Okay then. Freddy, you're forgiven."

"Thank goodness," Freddy said sarcastically as he stood. Quinn elbowed him in the side. "I mean, thank you Adam. I didn't mean to make you upset."

"It's okay!" Adam chirped. He hugged Freddy's legs.

Foxy walked into the room, followed by Chica who had a large pizza box in her hands. She twirled it a bit and set it on the nearest table.

"A special pizza for our special girl!"

Quinn smiled. "Thanks Chica."

Chica returned the smile but looked horrified when she saw the bruises around Quinn's neck. "What in the name of the motherboard happened to your neck?"

Freddy placed his hands around Adam's ears. "Language, Chica," he reminded her.

Quinn glanced wearily at Freddy, who removed his hands from Adam's ears. The toddler hadn't noticed, however, and was now playing with his Chewbacca plushie.

"Can you explain it to her?" she asked Freddy.

"Of course, Quinn," he replied.

"Thanks."

Quinn walked off, to where, Freddy didn't know, and he began to explain what had happened.

~X~

Quinn sighed and ran a hand through her hair, which was a habit she only had when she was stressed. She didn't want the animatronics to find out like that… they were her only friends, after she had decided not to go to college due to lack of funds. But that was fine with her; she didn't need to go to college for at least another two or three years.

She needed somewhere quiet; she could still hear the voices of her friends. Adam had cheered her up, and she had definitely needed that, but she wanted to be alone to think.

She came across a door marked "Supply Closet". She hadn't been inside, but Bonnie had told her there were some empty suits and spare parts for the animatronics. That would be a suitable place to think.

Quinn opened the door and turned the lights on. And screamed.

~X~

Duh duh duh! Woah, cliff hanger! Go me! I wonder what Quinn found in the supply closet… anyone have any guesses? Feel free to put them in the reviews. I can't wait to see what you guys think it is. And this chapter we learned something very, very, important… well, yes, we learned that the animatronics have a deep caring for Quinn and Bonnie maybe cares a bit more, but what was really important? You guessed it (or maybe you didn't)! Adam's ticklish! Is that not important? I didn't get the memo. Anyway, I'll get write on that next chapter. See what I did there? Right on, write on? Get it? Haha. Puns. :3

P.S. I can see you all rolling your eyes at me! I see you through the screen… :3