"Hold on guys, I think he's waking up."
Upon hearing a voice that sounded like Freddy's, Foxy attempted to open his eyes, only to quickly shut them again after they were flooded with artificial light. He was extremely dizzy and groggy, and his muscles felt stiff. The smell of disinfectant filled his sensitive nostrils; he tried to cough, but he felt a pain in his chest. The fox was in a reclined position, and felt a hard mattress underneath him and thin blankets covering him. He heard the sound of a heart rate monitor beside him. Even with his eyes closed, he knew exactly where he was: a hospital bed.
"Please, Foxy, we're right here," he heard a familiar female voice plead, "just wake up, please."
Foxy opened his eyes again, much more slowly this time. His vision was blurry, and after opening and closing each each a few times, he realized that he could only see with his left eye. There were several figures standing in the room, but he was having trouble distinguishing any of them as his eyes were still adjusting to the brightness. He looked to his left to see a blurry image of a white and pink vixen sitting beside him holding his left paw in both of her own.
"A-aunt Mangle?" He croaked out weakly; his throat was incredibly sore, almost as if it was burned.
"Yes, sweetie, I'm right here," the vixen replied with a smile as tears filled her eyes, "you're in the hospital. You're safe now."
As Foxy's vision started to clear up, he looked around the white room to see who else was there. Chica was standing on Foxy's other side, and Freddy had just stood up from a chair by the doorway. However, conspicuously absent was...
"Bonnie!" Foxy tried to sit up, but cried out in pain before lying back down.
"He's fine, he was discharged a couple of days ago. He's staying with our parents right now." Chica explained. "He's going to stay there for a night or two before he starts going to classes again. Try not to move; you sustained some pretty serious injuries in there."
Foxy took this opportunity to actually look himself over. He had a bandage over his right eye, and stitches just under his left eye. His right paw was completely covered in gauze and medical tape, making it appear as if it was just a nub. He was covered in bandages for the scars and burns all over his body.
"My eye," Foxy began hesitantly, "and my paw. Are they...?"
"No, you're OK," Chica explained, "Smoke and ash got inside the wound on your paw, and it caused a pretty bad infection. Same with your right eye. Fortunately, the doctor was able to stop the infection from spreading, but he still wanted to keep them bandaged up until they completely heal."
Foxy breathed a sigh of relief; sure, he liked to pretend he was a pirate when he was a pup, but he had no desire to wear a real eyepatch or hook now.
"Wait," Foxy asked, suddenly thinking of something, "why was only my right eye infected?"
"Well," Freddy answered, "you were still covering your left eye when you lost consciousness inside that room. The doctor said that's how you managed to protect that eye from the smoke."
Foxy suddenly thought back to that room, just before he lost consciousness. The sound of Nero screaming in agony and laughing hysterically. The sight of Nero burning alive in his own fire. The smell of Nero's burning and melting flesh. He wanted so badly to forget, but he knew that memory would stick with him for the rest of his life.
"Nero..." Foxy muttered as his eyes grew cloudy and distant.
"He was already dead by the time I got back," Freddy muttered, "there was nothing I could do."
Foxy took a closer look at Freddy upon realizing what the bear had said. Much off his fur appeared to have been singed off, especially on his arms, and he had his left arm in a sling.
He really ran back into a burning slaughterhouse to save me? Foxy thought to himself. And after all of those horrible things I said to him?
"Don't worry about him, Foxy," Mangle finally spoke again, having been overwhelmed with relief since Foxy woke up, "he can't hurt anyone ever again. He started that fire, and he died in it."
"I guess you know all about the Nero and the fire, then." Foxy guiltily remarked. He knew his aunt would be upset if she knew her only nephew had attempted something so dangerous. "I'm sorry."
"Foxy, don't be sorry," Mangle replied, "I'm just glad you're OK now. Besides, Freddy and Chica told me everything."
If Foxy wasn't hooked up to a heart rate monitor, he would have thought his heart skipped a beat. They didn't tell her about him and Bonnie, did they?
"The fact that you put your friend's needs ahead of your own is so brave," Mangle continued. "You really are so much like your father."
Foxy breathed a sigh of relief before looking over at Freddy and Chica, who both gave him reassuring glances; of course, they wouldn't have told her a secret like that. Foxy truthfully didn't know when he was going to come out of the closet to his aunt, or Bonnie for that matter, but now definitely didn't seem like the time or place.
"Besides," Chica piped in, "everyone in the state knows what happened that night. A university professor going insane and kidnapping a student, and then burning down a slaughterhouse? That kind of stuff doesn't go unnoticed, you know."
Chica walked over to the Foxy's bedside table and picked up a newspaper. She showed Foxy the headline on front page.
Fazbear University professor posthumously charged with kidnapping and aggravated assault.
However, the thing on the paper that caught Foxy's eye was the date: Wed., Oct. 15, 2014. Bonnie had disappeared on Tuesday, Sept. 30th, and he, Freddy, and Chica went to rescue him on Friday, Oct. 3rd.
Foxy furrowed his brow. He knew something about the way Chica said "that night" seemed odd. Almost as if had happened a while ago.
"Chica," The fox asked, looking between Chica, Freddy, and Mangle, "How long have I out?"
Chica looked at the ground while Freddy scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. Mangle squeezed Foxy's paw tighter before answering.
"Foxy," Mangle replied slowly, "you've been in a coma for 2 weeks."
Bonnie was woken up by his phone vibrating on his bedside table. He slowly leaned over and grabbed it before looking at the screen; Chica was calling him. He quickly pushed Answer and held the phone up to his ear.
"Hey," Bonnie quickly answered the phone, "have you heard anything?"
Chica had promised to call her brother if there was any change in Foxy's condition. Bonnie had stayed in the hospital for about a week and a half while he recovered from the ordeal; between being dehydrated, malnourished, having his nose broken, and two infected wounds that didn't get treatment until Freddy showed up, he could barely stay awake for more than a few hours at a time.
"Foxy's awake." Bonnie heard his sister's voice on the phone. "He's expected to make a full recovery, including his eye and paw. He does need to stay in the hospital for another week, though."
Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief. If Foxy had sustained any permanent injuries while trying to rescue him, Bonnie would have never been able to forgive himself.
"That's good to hear," Bonnie replied as he took a sip of water that Bella had left for him, "tell him that I...well, tell him thank you, and that I'll come visit him as soon as I can."
"Will do," Chica replied, "take care, Bonnie, I'll see you soon".
Bonnie heard Chica hang up and he set the phone back down on his table. Of course, there was a lot more the rabbit wanted to tell Foxy besides "thank you", but that was a conversation he would rather to have in person. For now, though, he needed rest.
However, just as Bonnie was about to go back to sleep, his mother walked in his bedroom.
"Sweetie," Bella asked softly, sitting on Bonnie's bed, "how are you feeling?"
"Better." Bonnie lied as he took another sip of water. His expression suddenly grew pained as he looked at his mom with his maroon eyes.
"I've been having nightmares about that place, mom." The younger rabbit confessed as tears filled his eyes. "Every time I fall asleep, I relieve everything. The beatings, the pain, the fear. I just want to forget about it, but I don't know if I can."
Bella leaned over and pulled Bonnie into a gentle embrace, allowing her son to cry into her shoulder.
"Mom," Bonnie continued, "there's something that you need to know about Nero that I haven't told you yet."
"Bonnie," Bella began as she rubbed Bonnie's back, trying in vain to comfort her son, "You don't have to tell me anything, especially not about that horrible man."
"He was your brother."
Bella pulled away from Bonnie, giving him a confused look.
"Bonnie," Bella began, "I'm an only child. Besides, I was adopted, so even if I did have a brother, then I wouldn't-"
"He showed me a photograph." Bonnie interrupted, wiping tears from his eyes. "It was of him and you. I've seen your baby pictures, mom, and I'm positive that was you."
"Bonnie, you had a head injury," Bella continued, "and you lost a lot of blood. You must not be remembering properly."
"Mom, I remember this moment extremely vividly." Bonnie countered, "He told me that, when you guys were young, your parents were murdered so you went into foster care. About a year later, a species riot in your neighborhood resulted in the deaths of your foster parents. He said that two humans came and found you. I don't know why, but they took you with them, but left Nero behind. He was your brother, mom."
Bonnie finished and looked up at his mother. The female rabbit simply looked back at Bonnie.
"Bonnie," she asked, "Nero was a madman, so his word isn't exactly trustworthy. Even if he was telling the truth, what difference would it make?"
"I just thought you should know." Bonnie answered as he lied back down.
Bonnie took a deep breath and let out a sigh. He actually felt some relief having told his mother this; the thing that had disturbed the young rabbit the most was that he was being held by his biological uncle, who didn't even believe that he was that. Now that someone else knew, he didn't feel so alone. Soon afterwards, he felt his eyelids begin to droop as sleep overcame him.
Bella also let out a sigh before kissing Bonnie on the forehead and leaving the room. She needed time to think about what her son had just told her.
"Will do. Take care, Bonnie, I'll see you soon."
Chica hung up the phone and sighed. Somehow, she had managed to stay almost completely unscathed during the incident, save for the bruise on her neck that was almost gone by now. Freddy had some pretty bad burns and a dislocated shoulder from moving some burning debris when he went in to get Foxy. Foxy nearly lost a paw and and eye, not to mention almost being burned alive like Nero. As for Bonnie...he was lucky to be alive according to the doctor. Apparently, the infection from his forehead and ear had started to spread, and he was so malnourished that his immune system wouldn't have been able to fight off the infection on its own. The doctor said that if he had arrived to the hospital just a few hours later, it would have been to late.
Chica sat down on a bench in the hallway, exhausted; she had hardly slept at all in the past two weeks. Any time she wasn't in class, she was visiting Bonnie and Foxy (and Freddy for the first couple of days) in the hospital. She had been fired from her job for stealing, but she didn't really care about that; as far as she was concerned, that just meant more time with her brother and friends. She could find another job.
She thought back to the day they all arrived at the hospital. As soon as Bonnie was in the emergency room, she had called her parents; regardless of how they might react, they had to at least know that their only son was in the hospital, alive, but maybe not for much longer.
As soon as Charles and Bella arrived in the hospital, Charles had attempted to scold Chica for her actions.
"How could you attempt something so reckless?!" the rooster screamed. "You could have gotten you or your brother killed!"
"I couldn't just leave him there!" Chica screamed back, incredulous that her father was more concerned with Chica's actions than Bonnie's safety.
"But why did you just call the police?" Bella asked through tears of hysteria. "Or even us? You guys didn't have to do this alone!"
Chica sighed; she couldn't have told her parents why she didn't let them know sooner. If she even brought of Charles' alcoholism, then who knows how he could have reacted? Fortunately, her parents seemed to barely acknowledge Freddy's or Foxy's existence, being too caught up in Bonnie's wellbeing and Chica's actions to notice the other Anthro students that were in the neighboring rooms. Chica wanted to spare them the wrath of her father.
Meanwhile, Freddy was filling Foxy in on everything that had happened in the past 2 weeks.
Apparently, Freddy had run back into the building after he and Chica got Bonnie to safety. Some debris had collapsed in front of the room where Foxy and Nero were trapped, and Freddy ended up dislocating his shoulder trying to move it. Once the bear had reached the room, he grabbed the fox and pulled him over just one shoulder.
"Wait," Foxy asked, still trying to process everything Freddy had told him, "how did you manage to carry me on one shoulder when you couldn't even carry Bonnie alone at all?"
Freddy's face grew dark.
"My first guess was adrenaline, but I think there was more to it than that." Freddy responded, staring at the ground. "When I saw Nero's corpse in the center of the fire, and you lying unconscious just a few feet away from the fire, something in me just snapped. I felt feral and wild; rational thoughts of logic and reason were replaced with pure instinct. I had one goal in mind: get you out of there, and kill anyone or anything that got in my way. I was no longer Freddy Fazbear; I was just a bear."
Foxy shuddered upon hearing this, and exchanged an uneasy glance with Mangle. Foxy knew exactly what experience Freddy was describing, having been through it himself so many times before. Letting go of all rational thought and allowing your feral side take over was easy when you were emotional overwhelmed, Foxy knew that. The feeling of just letting the animal within take over was certainly a rush, but Foxy always felt guilty and ashamed afterwards. And now, it seemed that Freddy had shared in that experience.
"Fortunately, we were just a few hundred yards from that shoe store we saw on the map." Freddy continued quickly, wanting to change the subject, "Once all four of us were clear of the building, Chica ran there to get help. Fortunately, the night manager was still there, and she let Chica use their phone to call an ambulance. The paramedics arrived in no time and took all of us to the hospital."
"What about those henchmen?" Foxy asked. "Did they make it out?"
"They only found one body in the burning wreckage, and that was Nero's." Freddy responded. "The police think that they managed to slip away during all of the confusion. They're trying to track them down, but no luck so far."
Just at that moment, a nurse walked into the room.
"If everyone could please step out of the room," the siamese cat announced as she walked over to check Foxy's monitors, "Mr. Fox needs rest."
Freddy and Foxy nodded at each other, and Mangle kissed Foxy on the forehead before they both left the room, allowing Foxy to fall asleep once again.
Later, when Foxy woke up, he saw that he was alone. However, right before he went back to sleep, he heard a voice from the doorway.
"Foxy?" he heard the somewhat high pitched voice ask, "Are you awake?"
Recognizing the voice, Foxy looked over to the doorway and gave a huge grin upon seeing who it belonged to; it was Bonnie. The rabbit was in much better shape than when Foxy had last seen him: he looked far less emaciated and pale, and the scars on his head appeared to be healing well. Bonnie's nose even looked mended, although the lagomorph still wore a small bandage over his muzzle.
"H-hey." Foxy eventually greeted the rabbit, not really knowing what else to say. It was the first time the fox had seen him since he had woken up, and the first time he had seen him not beaten up since he had come to terms with him feelings for the rabbit.
"Chica said you have to stay in here another week." Bonnie said as he walked over to the chair beside Foxy's bed, smiling. "I'm sorry that you're stuck here, but I'm glad you're OK."
Foxy's smiled back as he laid his head back on the pillow, blushing slightly.
He has such a cute smile. Foxy thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling. To think that he almost...
He shuddered at the thought. No, Bonnie was safe. Nero was dead. There was nothing left to worry about.
Now however, there was an entirely different issue at hand. Foxy wanted to tell Bonnie how he felt, but he wasn't sure how Bonnie would react.
After a moment of silence, Foxy turned to Bonnie and began to speak again.
"Bonnie," the fox began nervously, "I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it, Foxy?" The rabbit replied, ears perking up.
"Uh," Foxy was hesitant, unsure of exactly what to say, "I wanted to ask you, if, um..."
"Yes?" Bonnie leaned in, getting closer to the fox.
"Would you stay with me for a while?" Foxy finally blurted out, "It's really lonely in here."
"Of course I will, Foxy," Bonnie answered, as he scooted his chair closer to the bed. "I would hate to see you alone right now."
Foxy smiled in relief as he lay his head back down on the pillow. He knew that he would eventually have to talk to Bonnie about how he felt, but for now, he was happy just knowing Bonnie was there.
Bonnie's presence made the next week much easier for Foxy. Mangle, Freddy, and Chica, would occasionally stop by, but since the former worked long hours and the latter two were in class all day, they were usually only around for an hour or two.
Bonnie, however, seemed to always be in Foxy's hospital room. Usually, he would come by to drop of any assignments that fox had missed (fortunately, all of Foxy's professors accepted "in a coma" as an acceptable excuse to miss class). After they finished their work, they would just sit and talk for hours. Foxy rather enjoyed this, as it made the discomfort of being bedridden in a hospital much more manageable.
One day, just as Bonnie was leaving to go to class, Freddy entered Foxy's room, having just gotten out of his own class. Freddy sat down where Bonnie had been sitting at looked at the fox.
"How are you holding up?" Freddy asked his friend.
"I'm alright," Foxy replied, readjusting his position in bed. "Recovering. How's the arm?"
"I can take the sling off tomorrow," Freddy replied, gesturing to the injured arm. "Though it really hasn't been that bad. I'm right-pawed, so I didn't have any trouble writing or anything like that. Dr. Schmidt was kinda pissed that I left his seminar to steal from the nurse, but oh well."
Foxy chuckled, before suddenly giving Freddy a much more serious look.
"Freddy," Foxy began slowly, "I never thanked you for saving my life back there. If I had just come with you guys when you asked me to, then you wouldn't have been injured, and I wouldn't be here, and-"
"Foxy," Freddy interrupted, "you're one of my best friends. Yes, we have our disagreements, but that doesn't change the fact that I care about you. Before I met you, I was a coward. I always hid behind books and calculators, since they weren't dangerous. If I had a problem that I couldn't fix by being smart, then I just let someone else deal with it. However, you taught me how to be brave. There's no way I would have left you in there, and I would do it all over again."
Foxy smiled upon hearing this.
"Thank you, Freddy."
"By the way," Freddy continued in a lower voice, looking around to be sure that they were alone, "have you told Bonnie what you told me and Chica yet?"
Foxy stared off to the side, breaking eye contact with Freddy.
"No," the fox replied glumly, "I haven't."
"Why not?" The bear asked, somewhat surprised.
"Because I don't want to drive him away." Foxy replied sadly, "especially not right now. His visits are the highlight of my day, and if I tell him I love him and he doesn't feel the same way, then I could lose him."
"Foxy," Freddy continued, "you're going to have to tell him eventually."
"I know," Foxy replied, "but I'm just scared. I haven't told anyone besides you and Chica that I'm gay yet, not even my aunt. I mean, she's never shown signs that she's homophobic or anything, but I've still never been comfortable even bringing the subject up around her, so I have no idea how she would react. Besides, I've learned in the past couple of months that not everyone is as accepting of minorities as I once believed. I don't know if I want to give people another reason to treat me differently.
"The thing is," the fox continued, "if I knew Bonnie felt the same way, it would be different. Then, I wouldn't have to face it all alone. The thing is, I don't want to lose Bonnie as a friend completely. I don't know what to do."
Freddy sighed. He hated to see Foxy stuck with an impossible decision, but he knew there was nothing he could do to help. After all, it's not like he could remotely understand what the fox was going through.
"Foxy," Freddy began, "I can't make this decision for you, but know that Chica and I are here if you need us. I wish I could be of more help."
"Thank you, Freddy." Foxy answered, smiling at the bear, "that means a lot."
Freddy stood up, patted the fox's shoulder with his paw, and walked out of the room.
When he reached the end of the hallway, he saw Chica as she entered the building.
"How is he?" Chica asked, stepping to the side of the hallway.
"He's doing better," Freddy replied. "but he still hasn't told anyone else that thing he told us."
Chica silently nodded. She figured as much, but she hated to be the one of the only one's who knew a secret like that.
"Actually," Freddy continued, "there is something I've been meaning to talk you about. About us."
Chica sighed; she knew this was coming, but she still didn't want to have this conversation.
"Can we go outside?" Chica asked, looking around the crowded lobby. "Get some privacy?"
Freddy nodded and the two Anthros stepped outside.
Once they sat down at a bench, Freddy began to speak.
"Chica," the bear began, "I know things have been kinda weird between us, after the thing with the socks, and Chelsea, but I didn't want to think about it with Bonnie and Foxy in danger."
Chica just nodded as she listened to the bear.
"The thing is," Freddy continued, "I've had time to think about it more carefully now that they're OK, and I realized that I do like you, as more than just a friend. And I don't know if you feel the same way, but I wanted to tell you that I do have feelings for you, and I think I have since we first met."
Chica was silent, still processing everything Freddy had just told her.
"So," Freddy spoke again after a few seconds, "would you like to go out sometime? I mean, not just as friends, but on an actual date?"
"No." Chica answered almost immediately, not breaking eye contact.
"Oh," Freddy stared at the ground. "I mean, if you don't like me, then I guess-"
"It's not that!" Chica quickly interrupted, causing Freddy to look up. "It's just that I don't think I want that kind of relationship with you. I mean, you were the first real friend outside of my family that I ever made, and I don't want to mess that up. I want to be friends with you, Freddy, but that's it. Can you accept that?"
Freddy looked into Chica's purple eyes for a moment before responding.
"Yes," Freddy lied, as he stood up and walked away without looking back, shoulders hunched.
The truth was that Freddy was heartbroken. He had denied it to his dad, but he had held romantic feelings for Chica ever since she first comforted him during orientation. Now, after almost two months, he had finally worked up the courage to tell her how he felt, and she had rejected him with almost no hesitation. Yes, he enjoyed being friends with her, but he still wanted something more.
As he walked away, a single tear fell from his eye.
Chica sat on the bench, just as upset as Freddy. She started to cry herself.
Why couldn't I just sat yes? she thought to herself. Of course I have feelings for Freddy, and I would love nothing more than to go out with him. And yet, the thought of going on a date with anyone terrifies me. Am I really that afraid of letting anyone get too close to me?
Chica wiped her tears from her eyes and walked back into the hospital. Regardless of her relationship with Freddy, she needed to be there for Bonnie right now.
"YOU IDIOT!"
Bradley Lago was knocked to the ground when he felt a human fist collide with his face. The blue rabbit hit the ground with a *thud* before looking up at the man who had struck him. They were in a small, dark room, with the only light source being a hanging lamp in the middle of the ceiling; Brad could just barely make out a dark figure standing over him, but he could clearly see the white mask upon his face.
"You could have jeopardized our entire operation!" The masked man scolded, ready to assault the lagomorph in front of him again.
"I-I'm sorry, Mr. P." Brad whimpered, covering his face with his arms as he lay on the cold, hard floor, "I had no idea Nero would go rogue like that!"
The man kicked Brad in the side, causing the blue rabbit to cry out in pain.
"We're lucky Nero didn't kill Bonnie!" Mr. P. shouted as he turned away from the rabbit, "Who knows how that would have affected Foxy emotionally. And need I remind you how important it is that he join us willingly?"
Brad had managed to sit up, still clutching his side where he had been kicked.
"L-look, I know this looks bad," Brad began hesitantly, "but I do have a backup plan. If I can just get Ted to-"
"Shut up!" Mr. P. swiftly turned around to face Brad, causing the rabbit to wince, "It was your plan to trust Nero that got us into this mess. You knew how mentally unstable that rabbit was; we all did. You should have known better than to trust him blindly like that; there was no telling what he would do!
"Regardless," he continued, suddenly calmer, "I will give you a chance to redeem yourself. Clearly, our original approach is inherently flawed, as Foxy appears to have grown closer to Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica than we had initially thought. Trying to tear them apart has proven to be much more difficult than we had anticipated."
"So, what do we do?" Brad asked as he slowly stood up. "Keep trying to pit them against each other and hope one of them eventually snaps?"
"No," Mr. P. answered, "I don't think that's going to work. Those four seem to share a stronger friendship than I've ever seen before. No, driving them apart by conventional means seems impossible at this point."
"So what, we just do nothing?" Brad asked, annoyed.
"Not at all," Mr. P replied. Brad couldn't see the man's face behind the mask, but he could have sworn he grinned, "We use their bond against them. You saw what they did for Bonnie when he was kidnapped; I'd be willing to bet that Foxy would join us in a heartbeat if it meant protecting his friends. All friends have their secrets; Foxy must know something about one of the others that they wouldn't want to come to light. Your job is simple: find one of these secrets, and use it as blackmail. Even you should be able to handle that."
Brad nodded quickly as he turned to leave. Mr P., however, stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Do not disappoint me again, Bradley. You know what happens if you do."
Brad stood there silently for a moment before leaving, shutting the door behind him.