Scott woke with a gasp, tears pricking in the corner of his eyes as he doubled over immediately.
He thought he heard a surprised squeak coming from his left, although it was hard to be sure with the shrill ringing in his ears.
"Fritz." He mumbled, blinking in an attempt to focus his blurry double vision.
"Scott! Are you okay? What happened?"
"M fine. M fine." He clutched the side of the desk, rubbing his throbbing forehead.
"What time is it?" He finally asked, laying his head down between his knees.
"It's... Its 6:26..."
"Oh... Cade 'll be here any minute... he's gonna kill me."
"Cade's already here..."
Scott's head shot up, glassy eyes widening. "He is? He... mghh..."
He trailed off, kneading his forehead with one hand as he struggled to pull himself back into wakefulness. Cade was going to kill him. What was Cade going to kill him for? Now that was a question Scott couldn't answer. He couldn't quite remember what had happened, much less if he was the one to blame for his own blossoming migraine.
Fritz laid a hand on Scott's shoulder, fingers shaking against the wrinkled fabric of his shirt.
"Where is he?" Scott mumbled once again, lifting his head much slower this time.
"He... I told him to go check on Golden Freddy. He asked if you were okay." Fritz paused for a moment, before adding "He seemed really worried."
"Aw. He does care." Scott chuckled slightly, his signature grin once again pulling at the corners of his dry, cracked lips.
"Fritz?" An unmistakable voice echoed through the pizza scented silence.
Fritz's head shot up, green eyes widening as his glasses teetered dangerously on the edge of his button nose.
"Cade! We're in the far security office!"
Footsteps ensued, mixing with the ringing in Scott's ears. He propped himself up on the leg of the desk, pasting on a grin.
"Nice of you to show up Cade." He smirked, watching as the janitor jogged through the left doorway.
"Scott!" Cade dropped to his knees, grabbing the man in question and pulling him into a hug. "What did you do to yourself this time Cockroach?"
"No idea." he shrugged nonchalantly.
Fritz raised a hand, looking like a child asking for permission to speak.
"Fritz? What?"
"I... err... you were babbling about Golden Freddy... You... that's why I asked Cade to go check on it."
"So that's what all that was about." Cade said, still on his knees, arm still wrapped protectively around Scott's torso.
The lights flickered on.
Cade looked up at the newly lit lightbulbs as if they were the most interesting objects in existence. "The day crew will be here soon. You okay to go home by yourself?"
"I'm fine." Scott grinned, moving to pull himself up using the desk. "I-" He blinked rapidly, his grip tightening on the edge of the black security desk. His vision faded into purple and he heard a distant shuffling.
He opened his eyes. Cade was on his feet, holding Scott upright so that the brunette's cotton stuffed head was resting over the other man's shoulder.
"You're not fine you self destructive idiot! You're sitting in here while I do a walkthrough of the building and make sure the animatronics haven't destroyed anything, then, I'm driving you home. I would take you to the hospital, but we both know unless there's a free ER visit fairy, I'd rather us be able to afford electricity and lukewarm coffee three times a day." Cade pinched his the bridge of his nose with one hand, easing Scott down onto the chair with the other.
"Stay." He said, stepping out of the room.
Fritz looked down at Scott. "So... What happened? You... you gave me a heart attack."
"I... I hallucinated a golden Freddy. He just sat there between me and the desk... twitching. I reached for the phone to make sure you were okay. And... After that..." He trailed off. "I wake up to you kneeling over me on the floor and Cade screaming at me all worried."
Fritz shivered, looking around the room as if expecting Golden Freddy to pop out at him. "Golden... Freddy... I've seen it to... Oh my god, what is it?"
Scott decided to change the subject before Fritz had a panic attack. "So... If I passed out at 4:00, how am I not stuffed in a suit right now? I doubt the animatronics just ignored me layin' on the floor."
Fritz stopped shaking, expression hinting at pride as he explained. "I... I heard you scream and so I ran here and... I made sure you were okay, well, mostly, and then I went back to checking the doors. I was worried about them tearing up the other security office, but they all seemed to focus on this one. I guess they have more advanced AI than I give them credit for."
Scott smiled outwardly. "Yeah... AI." He pushed the thought away, letting his grin become genuine. "Good job Fritz. You did well. Thanks for not lettin' me get stuffed in a shrapnel filled fursuit of death."
Fritz gave a small smile, face slowly twisting into a yawn. "I... I gotta go home. You okay?"
"I'm fine Fritz." Scott rolled his eyes. "Go home and get some sleep. Oh and good luck on your test."
"How did you know?"
"You think I didn't notice the textbook in your arms and the panic in your eyes when you walked last night?"
"Oh... Well, I'm not trying to study here again."
"Good idea Fritz. Also, never bring fruit salad to work. Believe me."
"I think you need to go lay down..."
"What? Oh... Maybe I should, but that's not the point. The fruit salad thing really happened. Just ask Cade."
Fritz nodded, smiling slightly as he stepped out of the office door.
###
Cade stepped back into the far security office. The animatronics had been good apparently. Well, as good as murderous robots could be. No blood or claw marks or crumpled chairs at least. Sometimes the strength they showed made Cade wonder if they could snap a human in half if they wanted. Who in their right mind would let their children play with these demons?
He looked down at Scott's slumped over form. He was curled onto his side, laying limply against the back of the rickety swivel chair, his breathing slow and even.
"You okay?"
Scott looked up, glazed brown eyes blinking open. "Yeah, you done?"
"I'm done. Nothing destroyed luckily. Let's go, I'll drive you home, you got your truck keys?"
"What about your car?" Scott handed over the keys, letting Cade help him up.
"I'll walk or take the bus or something."
"Oh." Scott's eyes closed slightly as he leaned against Cade's shoulder.
"Let's go before you pass out again."
###
Puppet watched from within the walls, inky black eyes peering out from a missing tile in the ceiling.
They frowned. "Cassidy, what are you doing?"
###
Somewhere across the city, a bruised, scarred hand curled around a crinkled newspaper, a faint smile creeping onto their face as one searching eye scanned the article.
They turned away from the help wanted ad, still smiling as they turned to the horoscopes.
"A good time to finish old tasks and visit old friends."
A good time indeed.
Author's note: I feel so evil… fear me puny readers! No… never mind, don't fear me… just leave me a review or something. Please? Lol.