A/N: Hi guys, welcome back, thanks for being here and thanks for your reactions to the last two chapters of Tape 2. We are now at Tape 3, the last one of the fic. As you might guess this marks the start of the FNaF 1 era, which means that we will see some new characters, among them a special someone that I'm dying to write. I'm sure you all know who he is ;)

Not a lot will happen in this chapter, but I can tell you that things will be getting more interesting as time goes on. This is just a small introduction to some new (mostly mental) challenges that the goalless kids will have to face.

I wanted to give you all another special thank you. When I started this story almost a year and five months ago reaching this point seemed like an impossible goal, something extremely far away. But we did it, and in great part it's thanks to you. I hope you enjoy the remainder of this road. And now, happy reading!

Chapter 36: From zero

I woke up with a start. My head jerked up along with my ears, right as a painfully bright light flooded my eyes, blinding me completely. After a second or two the light began to bob up and down, and I realized that it was a circle. Then, it vanished with a small click, letting me see two human faces behind it: one male and one female. I recognized the man, even more so in his characteristic purple uniform, but the woman was completely unknown. She was young, probably barely twenty, and she held a turned-off flashlight in one of her small hands. They took some steps back, both seemingly happy.

"Took longer than I expected, but it seems like everything is okay with his eyes." announced the woman with a smile, "Welcome back Bonnie."

"Great job Yin." continued Dave, showing off less enthusiasm but still looking thoroughly satisfied, "We couldn't have done it without you."

The woman shrugged as she laid down the flashlight on a long table behind both of them. "Thanks for the job. It was really fun working on these guys." The rest of the room was rather grey, except for the characteristic line of colored tiles that ran around the walls of every single Freddy's. Metal shelfs filled with spare animatronic heads and parts guarded the walls. This, combined with the small size of the room, made me feel quite cramped.

She dropped her smile after a short silence, laying an oil-stained hand on the table. "I'm really sorry about everything that happened. I basically grew up here, you know? I just hope you guys will make it through."

Dave smiled back gratefully. "Me too. So, do you have any idea where this could've come from?" He turned around sideways, picked something up from the table and held it in his hand. Angst and anger welled up in me when I realized it was TB's rose.

Yin raised her hands. "No idea. It was simply there, inside a small dent on his exoskeleton."

"Well, that's something Erik will have a hard time believing." The man stared at the flower for a few seconds while I fought the urge to stand up and rip it from his hands, then he laid it back neatly on the table. "He'll probably tell me to throw it out anyways. So, all done then?"

"All done." the woman confirmed cheerily, wiping her hands on her jeans. "Don't worry, I know you're crazy to get back to Laura, so we'll get going now."

Dave chuckled with uncharacteristic cheerfulness as he turned his head in mild embarrassment. "Uh, yeah… she's… she's quite something."

Yin grinned at his clumsy words, sticking her hands in her pockets and shaking her head. "Save it Dave. You made everything clear."

The man nodded in agreement. "Yeah… I guess you're right." He started walking towards the grey door of the room, before turning around to look at the woman. "And Yin, thanks a lot. I really mean it; we wouldn't be able to reopen if it weren't for you."

She stood next to Dave as he opened the door and shrugged once more. "My pleasure." she replied, "I know you guys can't afford a full-time technician like the guy who got fired, but give me a call anytime you need help. I loved working on them."

They both left the room to step into an open area, closing the door and leaving me alone once more. As soon as their voices and footsteps faded away I tried to stand up hastily to grab the rose, only for my body to crash down to my left by a weight that had become unfamiliar.

I was so focused on the conversation in front of me that I forgot to look at myself. My left arm was back, and the heavy weight of my head let me know that so was my face. Gingerly, I moved the fingers of my recovered arm, feeling the turning of servos and the weak buzz of flowing electricity that I had gotten so used to. The obvious suddenly came to me like a startling realization: we had been completely repaired by that woman.

For the first time in a while I felt the tiniest bit of joy, but this was cut short when I laid my new eyes on the plastic flower on the table. I held on to the wall behind me as I carefully stood up on my refurbished feet, before letting go and taking some shaky steps to the table.

I carefully picked up TB's rose and held it in my opened hand. It seemed to be a little dirtier than before. The stem was still bent and the petals were still crumbled, but it was whole nevertheless. "I'll take care of you." I whispered softly to the inanimate object, "I'll keep you safe, just like he did."

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I placed the flower inside my chest, letting it rest on a tiny screw-hole on its side. I closed the panel, holding a hand on my chest as I sat back down against the nearest wall.

"What now?" I sighed to myself in defeat.

'Aww, what's wrong Brandon?' taunted a clear voice in my head, 'Is someone feeling a little blue?'

"What do you want?" I hissed aloud through clenched teeth.

Bonnie huffed back, confident and dominant. 'Oh, I know exactly what I want, brat. I'm sure you know as well.'

I did know. "Kill, hurt, grow... Win."

'And have fun of course.' he added casually with my voice, 'What's the point if you're not having fun?' I remained silent, decided not to give him the luxury of talk. Once again he let out an annoyed huff. 'Keep quiet all you want, but you won't shut me up. Not now, not ever.'

"Leave me alone." I muttered in anger and tiredness.

'I wish I could.' was Bonnie's indifferent reply, 'But since we still are the same person, I guess we're stuck together. Shame, huh?'

"I don't want to be like you." Growling, I held my head, suddenly feeling like it was about to burst. "I won't ever be like you."

'Oh, but you will.' He chuckled mockingly, and I could hear his perverse and joyful smile in his voice. 'And you will love it!'

"GO AWAY!" With clenched fists I shot up on two feet, somehow expecting him to be in one of the empty heads all around me.

It was then that the grey door of the small room opened slowly and slightly. "Brandon?" A repaired Sarah stared at me with concerned eyes, peeking cautiously into the room. She finished opening the door as I sat down on the floor, burying my head in my hands.

"Who's here?" she whispered as I heard her steps approach me.

"Bonnie." I mumbled, uncovering my face. "He's stronger now Sarah. He can talk to me, and he won't shut up. Or maybe I'm just going mad." She let out a long sigh before sitting next to me. For a few seconds a heavy silence hung over our heads.

"I had the book in my hand." I whispered flatly, practically seeing everything that happened on that stormy night once again. "There were so many things I could've done. Run away. Kill Walther. Hide the book until we learned more." I shook my head. "But I didn't do anything. And now there is nothing left of them."

"I already miss Mini." she replied, staring absently at the shelf in front of us. "She was… cheery. They all were. And you and TB…" She smiled feebly. "I mean, he was hugging you all the time! We were all jealous."

"Yeah, he was." I shared her sad smile. "But now I'd be happy to just see him again." When I remembered his bright eyes I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I was too numb.

"Me too." Sarah turned her head to see me, and after a few seconds, whispered seriously "You do know there's nothing you could've done, right? No matter what you did Jack's seal would stay on that page. Even if there was a way out, we couldn't have known."

Staring back at her, I raised my shoulders. "That's what I like to think. But I still feel so... powerless."

"You're not the only one. "

We both stayed quiet for a while. Finally, I asked the question that was nagging at my mind since I woke up. "What now? Here we are, exactly like we were right after being killed. Everything we learned and did was useless. We gained some friends that made us forget about reality for a while, and we lost them. I mean, what are we even doing here?"

Sarah looked straight at me as she leaned closer. "The only option besides carrying on is giving up." she stated with disdain, "And we're not doing that."

"What's the difference?" I countered, a hint of anger in my defeated voice. "We lost already."

"So, you're just going to sit in this little dark room, feeling sad and sorry until nothing's left of you." I answered with silence. "Are you sure that there's not a single thing here worth carrying on for?"

After thinking for a few seconds, I only said "I'm sure."

"What about us, then?" Sarah almost sounded hurt. "What about those promises you made to Jack? You're really going to give up on that? What happened to 'Friends till the end'?"I let out a long stream of pent-up air, trying to relieve the growing know in my throat.

Sarah didn't wait for my answer. She stood up hastily, straightened up and stretched her yellow wing-hand in front of my face. "We all feel terrible Brandon, but it's better to be miserable together." She flexed her hand impatiently, and said without joy or pain "Come now bozo, we don't have all day."

I took her hand with some reluctance and allowed her to help me get back up. "Is everyone okay?" I asked as I tried to keep my balance with the weight of my recovered arm.

She nodded. "Ferny's by the new attraction; he and Jack were really worried about you."

"And what about Sean?" Sarah lowered her eyes uncomfortably for a moment as she thought of an answer to my question. But her uneasiness only made me worry more. "What's wrong with him?" I asked in concern.

"I don't know." she replied, helpless. "He pretends and says that he's alright, but he's simply not. I've never seen him like that. Right after our murders he was the most optimistic of us, the strongest. He helped us carry on. But now..." Her voice trailed off and she raised her shoulders. "He's not himself."

Those words hit me like a freight train, and I wondered if I had done this to my brother. Guilt began to take a hold on me once more, when Sarah nudged my shoulder as if trying to wake me up. "You're his brother Brandon, he needs you. Please, talk to him."

Sighing, I turned my head aside for a moment. Before answering I took a moment to feel the tiny weight of TB's rose in my chest, and I felt soothed by its presence. "I'll try Sarah." I answered, decided to put my grief aside for a moment. I could always cry later.

"So, how long did we stay out this time?" I asked Ferny as we walked with Sarah across the familiar-yet-strange dining area, our colored eyes the only sources of light. "Three months? Six?"

"A year and two months." he answered flatly, "Welcome to January 1989, and to the new Freddy's."

He stopped for a moment, giving me the chance to inspect my surroundings. Long dining tables were already set up to my right, but they still had to be covered with mantels, making the room even grayer. Behind them, twin hallways led off to a small room, whose shape I could barely make out in the dark. To my left was the show stage. Tacky, fake wooden clouds and a brick wall formed a miserable excuse for a background, and I cringed inwardly at the thought of performing once again. But the biggest addition of all was a star-spangled purple curtain that closed off a small, circular stage.

"This looks like the old Freddy's." I whispered to no one in particular, "The one where we were murdered."

Sarah nodded. "They changed a lot though. It seems smaller to me."

I shared her feeling, but it took me a while to see why. The door that led to the old arcade room was gone, the counter where Jeremy used to work now resting right in front of where it used to be. Opposite to it, another room had been covered up, and when I realized which one I felt both relief and spite toward the company.

"They covered up the arcades and the private party room." stated Ferny flatly, almost reading my thoughts.

"They hid away the place where we were killed." I said slowly as the bloody images of that rainy Tuesday passed through my mind. Back then, they still tormented me.

A silent minute of spontaneous mourning passed. Then, I asked "Where are they?"

Ferny answered by quietly turning around and walking toward one of the dark hallways. Sarah and me followed him between the tables, and arrived at the hall farthest from us. Jack was sitting on the floor against the grey wall of the corridor, idly tracing circles on the checkered tiles below, when he lifted his head to look at me with a hint surprise and happiness in his eyes. I couldn't hold back a little smile when I noticed that he had been fixed up nicely as well.

But before I could greet him my eyes went over the other figure slumped down against the wall, blending in with the darkness of the back of the hall, his face hidden between his crossed arms. My smile disappeared as I walked toward him.

Sean didn't move when I stopped in front of him and slowly sat down on the floor. Crossing my legs, I whispered "Hi brother."

His dimly-lit blue eyes kept staring sideways for a moment, away from me. Then he suddenly turned his head to me, as if my words needed a few seconds to reach him . "Hey private." he murmured in a low voice, trying to fake joy.

"I wanted to talk to you." I shoved myself closer to him. "I'm so sorry about everything, I should've told y-"

"Don't talk about it." he cut in suddenly to my unpleasant surprise. Sean was never one to interrupt people. "Everything is fine. Let's just leave it all behind, alright?"

Completely puzzled, I stayed silent for a while as I tried to read his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Sean shook his head a bit, and answered casually "Exactly what I said. Let's just forget about everything that happened and everyone we lost."

"Brother, we can't do that to the Toys." I replied, slightly unnerved by his words. "That's not fair to them."

"It wasn't fair when you lied to me about Mom, but it happened anyways."

A fresh pang of guilt hit my chest when I heard his words. "I… I thought you said that everything was alright." I mumbled weakly.

Sean forced a strange chuckle, and replied in one breath "Of course nothing's alright Don, but that's not what I like to believe. I want to think that there is still hope, even though there isn't; that you didn't lie to me, even though you did; that we never lost the Toys…"

"But we did." Now it was my turn to interrupt. "This isn't you brother. You never run away from problems, you solve them, and then you teach me how to do the same."

"We can't solve this one Don." he hissed back with sudden coldness. "If you think logically, that means that we'll never be happy again. Let's ask Ferny, he likes to think logically." My brother turned to the slender red figure, then asked "Am I right, nerd?" Fer bowed down his head as he tapped his foot in mild irritation.

"I'll take that as a yes." continued Sean, "But we can at least pretend to be happy, right? Can't we just please make-believe that we're okay?"

Our little group stayed silent for a while. At last, I murmured "I think I'd be less worried if you just hated me."

"Why would I hate you private?" asked Sean sarcastically as he stood up, smiling falsely while he added with exaggerated carelessness "After all, everything will be okay!" We followed him with our eyes as he walked briskly past us, leaving the hall and navigating around the tables to go back to the tiny backstage room.

"What if that doesn't work?!" I called out strongly, standing up but remaining in my place. "What if my feelings are too strong?! If you walk away from me, who will I turn to when I need you?!"

Sean stood still in front of the grey door of the backstage. Without turning around to see me, he answered in an emotionless voice "Keep those feelings down, private. Keep them down until they die." Without another word he entered the room and shut the door behind him, leaving us all startled and silent.