A couple of minutes after McLaren had run off, Barney and Charlie showed up. Much to their surprise and horror they found themselves bring forced to kiss each other under the mistletoe much to Foxy's amusement. Barney and Charlie did get revenge over Foxy later though, while Foxy was busy talking to Margaret they managed to trap the two under the mistletoe. McLaren returned shortly afterwards and despite everyone's best efforts in particular Freddy's they didn't succeed in trapping McLaren under the mistletoe.

On the 31st of December McLaren gave a interesting proposition to Freddy.

"I was wondering if you and the others would like to come with me to a place close to my heart Freddy, it's not far from Fredbear's and I think you and everyone else will enjoy it."

"Where exactly are we going?" Asked Freddy.

"Oh, that's a surprise." Said McLaren, smirking. "Are you in or out?"

"I'll have to ask the others first Dylan. Wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"Very well Freddy, if you're still up for it meet me at the school gate at 7 tonight."

There was a mixed reaction to say the least when Freddy told everyone what McLaren had told him. Bonnie, Barney and Chica suggested they went with McLaren, Foxy, Frederick and Charlie meanwhile said they shouldn't, Margaret was the only one who didn't give her opinion.

"This could be a trap Freddy, you can't be 100% sure with a McLaren these days and you know from your experience back at Fazbear's." Said Foxy.

"But what if McLaren genuinely wants to simply have fun with us?" Said Bonnie. "From what I've seen he seems a changed man."

"I don't know Bonnie, are you willing to take that risk? Because all hell could break loose." Warned Frederick.

"He's right," Said Charlie. "When we saw McLaren at first he acted like some shy kid who simply wanted friends, when we let our guard down though we paid the price to say the least."

"What happened?" Asked Chica.

"I'd rather not talk about it if you don't mind." Charlie replied rather uncomfortably.

"How about this? Freddy decides whether we go or not, because he seems to know McLaren the best." Said Margaret.

"I think that's the best option." Said Bonnie. "Everyone else here agree?"

There was a murmur of agreement amongst the group, all eyes then turned to face Freddy.

"So Freddy, what will it be?" Said Barney.

At 7 o clock Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy arrived at the school gate where they were joined soon afterwards by Frederick, Barney, Charlie and Margaret.

"I hope you know what you're doing Freddy," Muttered Charlie. "If this turns out to be a trap I'm putting all the blame on you."

"Will you give it a rest Charlie?" Said Foxy sternly. "If anything does happen we'll deal with it!"

3 black BMWs showed up ending Foxy and Charlie's minor argument, McLaren was in the front seat one of the first car.

"Nice to see you all!" McLaren said cheerfully. "Choose a car and get in."

Freddy, Barney and Bonnie went into the first car, Chica, Charlie, and Frederick went into the second car and Foxy and Margaret went into the third car. Once everyone was inside the vehicles began moving.

"I half expected you guys not to show up." Said McLaren. "What made you want to come with me?"

"You have to thank Freddy for that McLaren, he's the one who convinced us you mean no harm to us." Said Barney.

Freddy could have sworn a somewhat relieved look appeared on McLaren's face, when he turned back to them though it swiftly vanished.

"Good to know you trust me Freddy, it's been a bit difficult to say the least for me to fix any damage I've caused over the last few months." Said McLaren a hint of regret in his voice.

"Cheer up McLaren. What's in the past is in the past, if you need help from us just ask we're here to help you." Said Bonnie.

There was a minutes silence before McLaren responded.

"T-thank you Bonnie." Stuttered McLaren. "I-I really appreciate hearing this from you."

And then to everyone's surprise McLaren started crying.

"I really do regret what I've done." It's just my f-father ordered me to do all of this. If he didn't he said he would kill me, he made me do things that I would never do and will regret for the rest of my life, from the bottom of my heart I'm sorry for whatever pain I've done to you guys." Whispered McLaren before covering his face with his hands.

Freddy glanced over at Bonnie and Barney both of whom had shocked looks on their faces, this was not what they had expected to hear from McLaren. They had expected McLaren to tell them where they were going rather then be informed about how miserable life was for him under his father.

As McLaren continued to sob away everything began to make sense for Freddy, the reason why McLaren had bullied them in the first place wasn't because he wanted to it was because his father had ordered him to.

Why hadn't McLaren told them all of this in the first place? Freddy suspected this was because McLaren thought no one least of all his victims would believe him, in addition his father was one of the most powerful figures in Detroit thanks to his position as CEO of McLaren automotive. Freddy couldn't help but feel deep sympathy for McLaren, no one deserved to go through what he had been through.

Freddy couldn't help but imagine how difficult life would have been for him, if his own father was like Mr McLaren, joy would be replaced with despair and he would be carrying out whatever requests his father had no matter how inhumane or cynical they were. Freddy shouldered at the thought of this becoming reality.

Shortly afterwards the car stopped, to their right was a skating ring the size of a small park. To the left and right of the stadium was rows of Christmas tress all of which were fabulously decorated.

"Well here we are," Muttered McLaren. "You guys go ahead I'll be with you in a moment."

Exiting the car Freddy led Barney and Bonnie over to the ring where Chica, Charlie, Frederick, Margaret and Foxy were sitting nearby talking away to each other.

"Hey guys." Muttered Freddy.

"There you guys are we were thinking-" Foxy stopped speaking when he saw the glum looks on Freddy, Bonnie and Barney's faces.

"Is everything ok?" Asked Chica worryingly. "You all look like you've seen a ghost."

Freddy along with Barney and Bonnie told them what had happened, how McLaren expressed deep regret over his actions, how his father had forced him to carry out his orders and him breaking down in tears midway through the journey to the ice ring. When they had finished speaking Chica and Charlie had looks of disgust on their faces, Frederick shuddered and Foxy and Margaret looked horrified.

"This can't be true, it can't be." Muttered Foxy. "Any sane person wouldn't do this to their son."

"Since when was Mr McLaren sane, if the rest of them aren't?" Said Charlie. "We should have seen this from the start."

"What do you mean?" Asked Bonnie.

"When we first meet McLaren he was extremely shy, he didn't talk much and was usually by himself. Then a year before myself and Charlie moved to Fredbear's he changed, McLaren went form a shy, quite boy into the jerk you saw during the first months of the school year. During this he meet Tyler, David, Caroline, Mark and Marcus, from that day onwards he was a different man. It would seem his father also started giving him orders which would also explain his personality change." Said Frederick.

"You're right there Frederick." A voice muttered behind them.

McLaren had finally arrived a bag in his arm, his eyes had turned red from all the crying he had done and Freddy could see that his hands although in his pockets were shaking.

"Good god are you alright?" Exclaimed Bonnie. "You look like you've been through hell."

McLaren didn't answer, instead he dropped the bag and opened it. Inside were 9 sets of rolling skates each of them a different colour.

"Take your pick, I'm not really in the mood for skating." Whispered McLaren who then began to walk away but Frederick grabbed one of his hands.

"You didn't answer Bonnie's question, are you alright?" Asked Frederick his voice full of concern.

"I'll be fine Frederick, I just need some alone time."

And without looking back at Frederick McLaren broke free from him and walked over to the right side of the ring, sat down and starred at the ground. Barney was about to go over to him but was stopped by Charlie.

"I think he needs to be by himself." Whispered Charlie. "We should do our own thing and let him do his own thing."

"She's right, he'll recover from this." Said Freddy. "So who's up for some ice skating?"

Everyone walked over to the bag, grabbed a pair of skates and put them on, Freddy occasionally glanced over at McLaren to see how he was doing but every time he looked over McLaren was staring at the ground a resigned look on his face.

Once everyone had their skates on it was agreed that a maximum of two people would be on the ring for safety reasons, Bonnie and Chica were easily the best being able to do the camel spin and a few twist lifts much to everyone's surprise. They easily glided across the ice as if they had been doing it all their life.

"How did you two do that?" Asked Freddy when they had finished having not expected such a good showing.

"We went to the same skating school during the summer, it's a pastime that myself and Bonnie do whenever we can." Said Chica.

Next was Barney and Charlie, they were nothing remarkable compared to Bonnie and Chica. Barney constantly lost his balance much to his embarrassment but with Charlie's help he gradually got used to it. They simply glided from one part of the ring to the next and finished off by doing a few pair spins, on the last spin Charlie took Barney completely by surprise when at the end she hugged him and gave him a quick peck on the lips much to the amusement of Foxy and Bonnie who broke out in laughter when Barney's face turned red.

"I bet you enjoyed that Barney!" Said Foxy, smirking.

"Oh will you just go get your own girlfriend Foxy." Barney replied irritably, his face now as red as a tomato.

Freddy was about to go on when he was hit in the back of the head by a snowball. Looking in the direction it was thrown he saw Tyler, Mark, Marcus, Caroline and David.

"Bull's-eye!" Yelled Tyler. "They don't call me the marksman without good reason!"

"What are you doing here?" Growled Bonnie.

"This isn't your property Baines. So we can come here if we want to." Said Tyler.

"Even so you're only here for a reason, what do you want?" Demanded Freddy.

"Well Fenlon we're here because-"

SPLAT!

Tyler's head jerked upwards as a snowball hit him, his black hair now covered in snow.

"Who did that?"

Tyler, David, Mark and Marcus spun on the spot staring wildly around, Tyler trying to wipe his hair clean. During the confusion Freddy saw Caroline sneak away to one of the nearby Christmas trees where McLaren was hiding with a handful of snowballs.

"Freddy, weren't we told this place was haunted?" Said Foxy, with the air of one commenting on the weather.

"Oh yeah Foxy," Said Freddy matter of factly. "We better get out of here before we get attacked too."

Mark and Marcus were looking scarred, David was staring around the landscape. The only one who didn't look scared was Tyler.

"There's no such thing as ghosts." Tyler said flatly. "We must look at the facts not-"

SPLATTER!

Mark, Marcus and David caught some this time. And yet Freddy saw the snow coming not from McLaren or Caroline but from a hill some 6 feet to the left.

"That's it we're leaving!" Shouted David before he, Mark and Marcus sprinted away and out of sight leaving a furious Tyler behind.

"Will you morons get back here! There's no such as ghosts you stupid fools-"

SPLAT!

Tyler was hit in the face and chest by 4 snowballs, 2 came from McLaren and Caroline the rest came from the hill.

"OK that's it!" Yelled Tyler. "I'm out of here, but if I find anyone throwing snowballs at me you will pay!"

Giving a last glare to Freddy and the others Tyler stormed off cursing under his breath occasionally glancing to his left and right in case he got hit again by a snowball. When he had disappeared Freddy led everyone over to McLaren and Caroline who were on the ground silently laughing.

"Did you see their faces?" Said McLaren gleefully. "I've never in all my life seen David, Mark or Marcus that scarred or seen Tyler that angry!" He then glanced at Caroline, "What were you doing here anyway?"

"I overheard them planning to ruin your evening so I thought I'd try and stop them." Replied Caroline.

Then she stopped, Caroline suddenly blushed, her eyes fixed on something above McLaren. He looked up and froze, it was only when Freddy moved closer that he saw what it was. Under one of the branches was a garland of mistletoe. McLaren tried to escape yet again but Caroline grabbed one of his hands.

"What are you doing?!" Said McLaren his face now as white as the snow.

"I have a confession to make." Whispered Caroline. "I've always liked you Dylan, from the moment I met you to be honest."

"What? Are you serious? You better not be joking Caroline." McLaren said half heartily half serious.

"Let me prove it then." With one fluid motion Caroline pulled McLaren towards her and kissed him. After a minute they pulled away, McLaren seemed to be lost in his own world a astonished expression on his face, by contrast Caroline looked as though her parents had just caught her planning a late night out with her peers.

"I just had to tell you Dylan I couldn't hide it any longer, I hope you understand."

Giving him one last kiss on the check, Caroline left. McLaren stood still for a minute before he feel backwards sighing. Freddy glanced over at his friends all of whom were trying very hard not to laugh at what they had just seen.

"Freddy! Hey Freddy!"

Looking behind him Freddy saw Chester and Toby both of whom had satisfied looks on their faces.

"Where you'd you guys come from?" Asked Bonnie.

"We overheard your conversation with Tyler so we decided to give you guys a helping hand to say the least." Said Toby.

"You're the guys who threw the snowballs at Tyler from the hill?"

"Precisely, I hope you were satisfied with our contribution." Said Chester. "It's not every day we get to bombard snob kids with snowballs."

"Yeah everything was spot on." Said Chica. "You did everything perfectly."

Behind the group was a low moan. McLaren had recovered from his kiss with Caroline and was slowly getting back on to his feet.

"What happened to you?" Said Chester. "Why were you on the ground?"

"Let's just say I've found love Chester," McLaren said dreamily. "Now my life isn't so bad."

Sighing slightly McLaren walked past them and over to the bag of rolling skates, Chester and Toby were silently giggling at McLaren who had a radiant look on their face. They were at one stage about to hit McLaren with a few snowballs but were stopped by Barney and Charlie.

5 minutes later McLaren returned.

"Let me show you all how the pros skate." Whispered McLaren. "Prepare to be amazed by the magnificent Dylan McLaren."

Winking at everyone McLaren put on his skates and walked on to the ice ring, what happened next took Freddy by surprise.

McLaren wasn't lying when he said he was magnificent, he was able to do the spread eagle, Biellmann spin and the Ina Bauer with ease. In addition to all this he gliding across the ring as though he had been doing it his own life, he finished off with by doing 3 axel jumps, one immediately after the other.

After a final bow McLaren skied back to the Freddy and the others all of whom were giving him a standing ovation.

"That was brilliant McLaren!" Said Toby who like everyone else couldn't believe what they'd just seen. "Think you could teach us how to do all that one day?"

"Certainly Tobias. But first it's snowball time!"

Freddy was having the time of his life, he was having so much fun. He expected that this year would be alright he hadn't expected any of this to happen.

They had a very enjoyable snow fight. McLaren comfortably won each round, his aiming and movement was miles ahead of everyone's else. After a half hour they walked back to the cars and made their way back to Fredbear's.


Meanwhile

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes sir everything is ready."

Mr McLaren was on the phone speaking to a man.

"Very good McLaren, we are one step closer to ultimate victory over the competition, when Fredbear's falls everything will fall into place. Make sure your son stays loyal otherwise this will all be for naught."

"Of course Mr Sinclair." Said Mr McLaren. "I'll make sure he is if not I know what to do, the Federation always comes first."

"Couldn't have said it better myself Dylan." Said Sinclair. "I'll see you when your plan has been executed."

"Yes sir, goodbye."

Mr McLaren hung up. He took this time to reflect on how everything that had happened had lead to this. He'd gone from a bitter, failed art student into the most powerful man of Detroit all of which he had the Federation to thank. Despite all the problems that had come his way nothing could stop him now.

His son could be a potential problem though, since the start of December he'd become a bit rebellious to him disobeying direct orders and encouraging members of his staff to revolt against him.

But this didn't matter anymore, with the Federation backing him anything was possible.

I mean who would stand against the biggest companies in the world?