Hello! This update is sooner then I planned it to be, but hey, I am a little bit ahead so why not?
Luckyshot8: Yeah, he does not have the greatest luck...
TU4QU0I53T4AN6L3: You are very very close! It was actually Mangle, but very good guess! And yes, Leo is just getting worse and worse, and sadly it doesn't look to be getting better anytime soon. Also liking Enix for his blue hair is a very good reason to like him. Very good guesses! I guess we will just have to see!
SilentAmbiance: Aw! Thank you! And yes, it is very good that Leo was able to get some help, I highly doubt he would've lasted much longer without it! Good guesses! And in time it will be revealed where the voice came from! I'm so glad you like Jamie! And yes, I totally get it, Leo is great...but can be a bit much at times. And as for Enix? Well we shall see how his time there goes!
I own nothing but my characters
Chapter 22
The Arrival...
"There has to be something besides a expensive wheelchair that you can give me." Leo said with a groan, a chuckle came from the doctor, who at this point the guard should know the name of. But he didn't particularly care.
"Leo, I understand finances are tight, but you need to give your body as much rest as possible. I don't want to let you out of here. But I get the feeling you will be twice as much trouble in here then you will be out there."
"You got that right." he grumbled under his breath.
Doctor's got a pretty good logic on him.
The oh, so annoying voice made Leo bite the inside of his cheek to prevent scowling.
"Fine, but I can't promise the safety of it." He warned, looking up at the taller man with irritation growing in him.
"I will make sure he doesn't strain himself doc." Jamie cut in, sending Leo a look, one which the guard ignored.
"Make sure you do Fitzgerald, I don't want to see him back here so soon again." The doctor warned and Jamie nodded taking the handles of the wheelchair.
"Of course sir."
The doctor nodded and dismissed them, and as Jamie rolled away, Leo slumped back in his seat with a groan.
"Are you in a better mood today?" Jamie asked and the guard sent him a side-eye look.
"Shut up." He growled and Jamie couldn't help but crack a smile and let out a breath.
"That would be a no." He shook his head amused, "you know I had a cat once who acted like you. She was so desperate to be around us, but if you ever acknowledged her or gave her outright affection she would hiss and scratch you." Jamie helped him into the car and Leo grunted as his chest ached in pain. This caused him to briefly look down at the clothes that Jamie let him borrow as his others...well they weren't in that great of condition.
However, in the red-head's clothes, Leo felt like a child playing dress up. He had to roll up the sleeves and pants in order to use them properly, which of course only made him feel smaller.
"Are you calling me a cat?" The guard asked after a moment and watched as Jamie got into the driver's seat next to him. His wheelchair had been put into the back seat.
Jamie didn't even look at him as he buckled in, "yes, a wet and angry cat." With that, he started the car and Leo frowned but slumped back into his seat.
Eh, I would disagree, we're more like an angry ferret.
The guard closed his eyes with a breath, his new companion was very talkative, and Leo was sure that it was slowly going to drive him insane.
"When are the toys supposed to come?" the guard asked as he was being helped out of the vehicle and into the wheelchair. Jamie took a breath and looked around as if he would see the truck that was bringing them.
"In about an hour or two." The waiter turned back and helped the guard get settled before pushing him toward the building. It was fairly busy, but that was probably because they would be closing early in order to accommodate the new animatronics.
"Great." Leo drawled a bit, before looking up at the redhead, "how were the bots last night?" At that Jamie inhaled through his teeth.
"Well...they were very upset about Enix's presence, I had to pull the card of your disapproval in order for them to calm down." at that the guard raised an eyebrow.
"My disapproval? Seriously? That worked?"
"Oh yeah, made them all get quiet as well. You'd be surprised how much they value your opinion." Jamie finished and Leo took a breath leaning back in his seat brow furrowed.
The good thing about Jamie's clothes is it kept out the cold, the fabric was much thicker than the uniform. Plus with it bunching up the fabric overlaid and blanketed him more.
However, that all became irrelevant once they got inside the heated pizzeria, children were, as usual, screaming and running around like their heads were cut off. The animatronics were on stage, and to Leo's surprise, he noticed the COMING SOON sign on Foxy's cove, along with where the toys would be located.
He couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight, one day soon, Foxy would be able to be with the kids again, and he knew for a fact that he would love that.
But his attention was soon pulled away from the signs and to a small crowd of children that had gathered around a man in a purple uniform. He was telling them a story and dramatically motioning about, but the sight made Leo frown and tense up slightly.
Maybe it was because of the fact that Leo knew it was an employee who killed those children. But the sight of a grown man around children automatically made Leo tense up.
His eyes flickered to the stage and he found that the bots were watching so incredibly close that they had failed to notice him yet.
"That's the new guy, Enix." Jamie supplied causing the guard to pause and look back at him, before turning to the new guy again.
"..." He kept silent as he took note of one important fact about this new man, "Jamie..." his voice was low, "you didn't tell me this man could be a MBA basketball player." He growled lowly and he heard Jamie nervously laugh behind him.
"Oh c'mon he isn't that tall Leo." The waiter tried, but the guard looked up at him with a side eye glare. "Er...right, sorry. I should've told you." He admitted and the seasoned guard let out a breath and slumped in his seat.
"Whatever. I should probably go say hi or something." At that Jamie let out a breath and Leo assumed he nodded before pushing the wheelchair closer to the ground, a few of the children recognized him and gasped at his condition. He offered a bit of a smile to them. "It's alright kids, I just...fell." They nodded slowly accepting that.
He soon got close enough to be spotted by the giant before him, the man turned and Leo blinked startled at the sight of bright blue eyes gazing at him. "Oh! You must be Leo right?" the man asked, and all Leo could do was nod stupidly.
"Uh...yeah...yeah t...that...that's me..." he stammered finally.
Sheesh, could you sound any more pathetic?
The guard's eye twitched and he took a deep breath before looking up at the man before him.
"I'm Enix, I'll be working with you for awhile during the day, but I'm your new partner during the night." He said in a far to cheery voice then anyone should have after a night in this place.
"...uh, yeah, Jamie told me." the seasoned guard responded guardedly, but the man just smiled again, making Leo's eye twitch once more.
$# $ #$ he was going to be annoying.
"Great, now I was just telling this kiddos about my trip to Africa..." he trailed clearly wanting to get back to it, Leo nodded after a moment.
"Uh, yeah, I gotta...go do stuff anyways. See ya around?" It was a question, but Leo already knew the answer before the man smiled.
"Yep!" The seasoned guard could only offer a half smile in return before Jamie took him away from the scene. Looking back, Leo took a breath and slumped in his chair.
"I don't like him. He's too tall and too loud." He griped, and Jamie sighed behind him.
"C'mon Leo he isn't that bad. I spoke to him last night and it's very apparent that he has no ill intentions toward the bots." The waiter tried, but Leo just frowned and looked to the side.
"Yeah, forgive me for not taking his word for it." He grumbled, and the man behind him sighed again, but didn't say anymore.
"Ah! Leo, you aren't supposed to be back yet!" The seasoned guard jumped at the voice of John behind him.
Craning a look back, Leo grumbled something inaudible before forcing a smile, "uh, yeah, doc released me early. I didn't want to miss when the toys arrived ya know. Get to know them all before tonight." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to ignore the instant regret as pain flared from his fingers.
"...hmm, just be careful alright? Does us no good for our guard to always be in the hospital." The manager hesitated before nodding a bit to himself and walking off.
Leo shook his head and leaned back in his seat with a breath.
That is one weak willed man right there. We could take him down easily. Imagine it, being in charge here. Then you could run a whole business!
At the voice the seasoned guard grit his teeth and took a deep breath, if he just ignored it, maybe it would go away.
You wish.
With another breath Leo looked at the ceiling and prayed for the will to stay sane.
"Leo? Are you in pain?" Jamie asked snapping the guard back to reality. He looked back at the waiter and took a breath slouching back.
"My head just hurts." He grumbled, "can we just go to the office?"
He assumed that Jamie agreed because the waiter started taking him to his office.
Once inside the small room, Leo spotted two packs of cigarettes waiting on the table, he visibly sagged in relief and reached out grabbing them.
"Hey Jamie could you pass me my bag please?" He asked looking up at the redhead, and with a nod he passed it to him.
It took a bit of digging but he found his lighter and moved to light it only for his brow to furrow deeply, there was no way for him to ignite the flame on the lighter with his bulky finger casts.
"%#$# %$#%$# $ $# !" he swore in sequence, before chucking the lighter against the wall and letting out a hard breath. Leaning forward he held his head with his two working fingered hand. Jamie was watching quietly from his spot leaning against the doorframe.
"Leo." He called and the seasoned guard looked at him without moving his head, "it's gonna be okay." There were several beats of silence following that, and Leo looked down at the ground.
"...but what if it won't?" His voice was hoarse, and the words were barely whispered.
"It will."
"How do you know that!? Huh!?" He sat up and heaved for breath, gripping the handles of his wheelchair and trying to focus his breathing. "Those blasted toys are coming and it's gonna # #$ everything up! They aren't even here and the children nearly killed me because of them! What if they are like how the bots were!? What if they are full of bloodlust!? What if I can't stop them?! What if-"
"Leo stop."
Jamie's calm voice cut into his frantic shouting, the guard paused still panting and looked up at the waiter, he hadn't moved and his expression remained calm. Leo took deep breaths looking to the side and wrapping his arms around himself.
"...contrary to popular belief. I don't want to die." He finally whispered gazing at the ground, "I just...I just wanted money for drugs...I didn't...I didn't..."
"You didn't expect to get so attached." The waiter finished softly.
"Heh...well I wouldn't necessarily say attached, they are robots, and $ #$ annoying ones at that." He grumbled.
"Stop it Leo, they are your friends. They are your friends...and they scared you the other night." Jamie took a breath and looked at the various papers taped and tacked to the wall. "You don't want to admit it, but they scared you like they did on those first few nights."
"...it's not...it's not like that I..."
"Leo, it's alright to be scared, they hurt you...sent you to the hospital. Honestly, I don't know how you are able to keep doing this. I spent one night here, on good terms with them and I was a nervous wreck." With a breath the waiter came over and crouched before the guard, "you've got this. It's going to be difficult and quite possibly life threatening. But they care about you. The prospect that scared them the most about last night was the thought of someone replacing you."
But Leo rolled his eyes and looked away, "Jamie you make everything so sappy, you know they hate adults regardless."
"Yeah they hate adults, but they also have a favorite adult, and that's you." The redhead insisted, and Leo refused to look at him.
"...say I believe you. It wouldn't really matter, would it?" He sighed deeply, "the toys are coming, they may even be worse than the originals. How am I supposed to best them?"
"You didn't best the originals, you befriended them." the waiter pointed out, and Leo sighed with a roll of his eyes.
"Yeah, but how do we know that it will work a second time around. I can't exactly run away now can I?" He pointed out gruffly, Jamie took a breath and got up.
"Yeah, but now you've got help."
And before Leo could respond, lone behold, said help leaned into the doorframe making them both look at him.
"Guys, we just closed up...and, the truck just arrived."
The truck had parked opposite of the entrance, instead he was by the new room's garage door. One that Leo wasn't even aware that they had now.
Said door was currently open, and the seasoned guard watched as it slowly backed up to the opening. It wasn't an eighteen wheeler, but the truck was decently sized, and he was pretty sure it was a remodeled u-haul truck.
His insides were wound up so tight and twisting uncomfortably. He heard the squeak of the rubber that was on the handles of his wheelchair and he knew Jamie was just as nervous as he was.
The new guy, Enix however, looked like a little kid, grinning excitedly. He would look at them and then grin before looking back at the truck again.
I think he might be crazier than us…
This was probably the first and only time that Leo agreed with the voice.
Once the truck was in place, two of the drivers came through the human sized door and went to open it. Leo couldn't help but tense up, were they on already? The other bots were still on stage! What if they attacked now? There is no way anyone in this room would survive!
Leo didn't realize he had been holding his breath until he saw six boxes, one of them large and looking more like an oversized present then a regular box.
The rest of them were wooden and rectangular. There was one box that was smaller than the other four, and it was stacked on the top. However the guard couldn't help but gulp at the size of the crates.
Were they really that big?
Sure they were smaller than the originals, but it still made Leo feel like a child in comparison.
One by one the boxes were hauled out, until finally the largest one was brought out. Leo swallowed thickly and felt quite faint at the size of the largest one.
What the $#$#% was in that one!?
Finally there was the last box, it was considerably smaller than all the others. The lead driver came over and looked at them.
"Who's the head guard here?" He asked, and Leo slowly raised his hand, the man raised an eyebrow and let out a breath.
"Sheesh man, good luck. These guys gave us quite a run for our money at the warehouse." He handed over the box, "can't say I'm sorry to see them go." Then he went over to John so the man could sign the paperwork.
Leo swallowed and opened the smaller box, relieved it wasn't nailed or anything. His brow furrowed a bit at the sight of cassette tapes.
"What the %$%^%..." he muttered, Jamie and Enix leaned closer to get a look as well.
"What are those for?" The waiter asked, and Leo could only shrug helplessly.
"Hey, it looks like there is something under it." At the voice of the new guard Leo couldn't help but look up at him before back down at the box. Clumsily he moved the tapes and blinked at a small black box beneath it.
"Uh…"
"Wait! I think I know what that is, Jeremy used to talk about this...thing he had to do, and it was super annoying. It was some kind of box...uh...music! He said it was a music box!" Jamie exclaimed and Leo looked up at him before back down at the box.
"Um, okay?" He tried to pull it out, but his casts were too bulky, he hissed a curse with an infuriated noise.
"Here, let me try." The waiter reached inside and pulled out the music box looking it over before handing it to Leo, who had placed the larger box onto his lap.
Once it was in his hands, the guard looked it over before finding the latch and opening it up. Inside was a miniature record player, with a little disk and slots for more. But there was only one disk in the box.
"...okay, that is adorable." Enix said, making them both look at him, "what? I call it like I see it. You guys don't think tiny things are cute?" They still stared at him, "ya know, like when things are supposed to be normal size but then they are miniaturized?" He made the motions with his hands and then looked at them before frowning, "neither of you find that adorable?"
"Uh...I never thought about it." The lead guard admitted, and Enix shook his head with a click of his tongue.
"James?" Jamie blinked at that before shrugging.
"Er...same as Leo I guess." The new guard shook his head again before taking a breath.
"Shame."
"Uh...right, anyways." The seasoned guard closed the box and put it back in the box, placing the cassette tapes back in and lid on it. Then he held it up to Enix. "Take that to the office will ya? Be careful with it." He added the last part warningly with a pointed look, Enix chuckled and mock saluted.
"Gotcha boss." He took the box and headed out of the room.
The remaining two looked over at the boxes and took a deep breath in unison, that caused a glance to be shared before they looked back at the boxes.
"Can't...we just leave them in there?" Leo proposed meekly, but the waiter shook his head.
"And have them be even angrier than they would be otherwise?" The redhead shook his head, "no, it's best if we just free them."
With a hard breath the seasoned guard nodded, Jamie went to go get the crowbar before coming over and wedging it under the lid.
"Alright, get ready, I don't know if they are on under here." The waiter warned and Leo nodded, gripping the arms of the chair with a deep breath.
After a bit of pushing down on the bar, the corner of the lid popped up, Jamie jerked back and held up the crowbar for defense, but nothing happened. He looked to Leo and the guard looked to him and then the box, motioning to it for him to continue.
With a breath the waiter did just that.
Soon the lid was removed, and there was silence for a few tense moments, slowly Jamie went over and leaned over it.
"Well?"
"It's uh...it's the Chica model." He paused and raised a strawberry colored eyebrow. "They certainly changed how she looks."
"What? Let me see."
The guard was brought over by his coworker and raised both his eyebrows, "yeah...wow, that is rather different." He looked up at the redhead, and chuckled, "I think they were trying to attract a older crowd." The waiter rolled his eyes and moved to the next box.
"Yeah, better get the others open as well." He muttered, his eyes drawn back to Chica as she lay still in the box.
This felt weird, he was so used to the sight of his animatronics, the appearance of these new ones was so jarring. They were plastic, lacked the fur that was all over the originals, and...well they looked modern...but Leo couldn't help but find himself not really a fan.
"Oh jeez what the heck did they do to Bonnie?" Jamie questioned, his eyebrows lifted, Leo followed suit.
"What?" He asked, but the waiter just shook his head and Leo let it go. He turned and looked at the big present box. "Hey Jamie, can you open that one next?"
He needed to see what he would be up against.
As Jamie went over Leo frowned a moment, "hold up, I thought your brother worked at the other location? How do you not know what they look like?" He asked and the redhead paused before taking a breath.
"Jeremy never let me go, he said it was too dangerous. I was on him all the time about it. Though...I guess looking back on it now it may have been a good thing." He whispered the last part and looked a bit to the side lost in thought.
However the name caught Leo and he paused a moment blinking.
"You're brother...he was blond right…? Green eyes…?" He asked slowly looking up at him, Jamie frowned and nodded.
"Yeah he had freckles too." His brow furrowed deeply, "why do you ask?"
"...I think I met him." The guard admitted with a breath, Jamie blinked and stared at him for a long moment.
"...what?" The waiter's voice was hoarse, faint and very shaky.
Leo shifted in his seat, took a breath and casted his eyes down. "Jeremy...I was...buying drugs, and he was there too." Jamie lit up like a Christmas tree, he came over and got down next to Leo, the guard blinked gazing at him cautiously.
"Wait really? You saw him?! What was he doing!?" he demanded, Leo leaned away from him and took a breath looking to the side.
"He...he was buying drugs." The guard admitted, and Jamie blinked his shoulders dropping.
"He...he was what?" he sat back on his legs, his brow furrowed, "he...he knows I'm here..." that was whispered and Leo swallowed thickly. "I...I told him I'd be here! I told him..." he trailed, and the guard shifted in his seat.
"I'm sure he knows...I'm sure he wants to return to you Jamie..." Wetting his lips he looked to the side, "sometimes...when you are scared...or hurt...or angry...you don't want to be around the people who care about you. Because you're afraid that they will leave you...or that you will hurt them…or that they will be ashamed of what you have become." He explained quietly, Jamie gazed at the ground before him.
"...I just want him back. I don't...I don't...I don't care what condition he is in. Is it just too much to ask for him to be here? I want to help him!" He cried, and Leo bit his lip before placing a hand on his shoulder.
"At least you know he is still in town. And it's a small town, you are bound to run into him at some point." He paused before rubbing his shoulder slightly, "there has got to be a reason I saw him there, right?"
"Yeah...I guess." the waiter muttered, before taking a deep breath and shifting in his spot. "Sorry...I just...haven't heard from him in two years."
"It's alright, hey if I knew of any family members that I had, I'd be wanting to see them as well." he let go of his shoulder, "now...do...do you want to talk about it more…?" He trailed, he was really awful in situations like this, there had only been one or two other times similar to this, and one of them was while he was in prison.
It resulted in him losing a tooth because he said something wrong.
You could've punched him back, but you folded like a card under the weight of those iron cuffs, didn't ya Leo?
With a breath, the guard looked to the side, he wanted to say something back, but both literally and figuratively bit his tongue.
"No, no, we need to get back to the toys." The waiter said, before pushing himself to his feet with a breath.
"Yeah, yeah right of course." Leo nodded, and cleared his throat, he paused and looked up at the redhead, "but...just so you know, if you need to like...talk or...vent or something. I literally live here so..." he shrugged, Jamie chuckled looking at him.
"Alright, then I'll have to look you up." Leo nodded and gave a thumbs up, before clapping his hands together and instantly regretting it.
"Okay...so this one next...right?" Jamie asked, making the guard pull away from his wince and back to the waiter and nod.
Jamie took a breath and went over, he lifted the crowbar and then thought better of it, lifting up the lid and peaking inside.
"What the heck…" he trailed, causing Leo to frown deeply.
"What? What is it?"
"It's...tiny." Jamie turned to look at him seeming just as confused, "like...it's tall...but super thin..." He trailed, and Leo's brow furrowed.
"What? I want to see." The waiter nodded and came back over. He brought Leo to the box...but it was just above where the guard could see. With a breath, and the help of Jamie, he was able to get on his one working leg.
Only to scowl as his eyes just barely went above the box.
He heard Jamie cracking up next to him, but was silenced by a quick side eye glare.
"Right...sorry, do you need a hand?" The waiter then put a hand to his mouth in a futile attempt to hide his smile, "ne...need me to p...pick you up…?" He could barely hold back his laughter, but this only resulted in a very dirty glare from the guard.
"Jamie." The name of the waiter made him look up still trying to bite back his laughter. "Shut the %$#$ up." He growled and the redhead sobered quickly nodding and putting his hand down, however he still had a barely suppressed smile.
Leo pushed himself up with his one good foot and peered in as much as he could, but all he could see was a vague outline of a black figure, with a breath he looked around more, only to spot a white mask. Two black spots were where the eyes should be, and blue tear tracks ran down from that spot. There were two rosey red circles on either cheek, and below that was a wide and black grin that made Leo tense up automatically.
He wasn't sure who approved this to be children safe, but %$#$# %$# this was %$%$# creepy.
"Is it...another animatronic?" Jamie asked peering over as well, but Leo soon had to sit down in his wheelchair with a breath, his extremely overworked good leg growing tired from the strain.
"I don't know, never seen anything like it." He muttered, and Jamie looked at him before at the other boxes.
"We should probably finish opening these before Joey and Acid get here to check them over." At their names Leo couldn't help but groan and rub his face tiredly. Jamie gave him a sympathetic smile that went unnoticed before going and prying open the other boxes.
According to what John wanted, the puppet would be the only one in the main room. Apparently they were going to be building a better prize counter or something and they needed it there. If anyone asked Leo why, he would only shake his head and sigh.
The toys were all put up, all except for the broken one...Mangle, that one was placed in the back room in parts and services, in hopes that Joey would be able to rebuild it.
Leo kind of doubted it.
Said guard was currently sitting back and staring at the plastic imitations on stage. They were in the same positions as the originals, and coincidentally, the fox of this bunch was also out of commission.
That creepy balloon child thing was on its own stage, off to the side and Leo did his best to avoid looking at it.
"Well, I'm just going to assume you can hear me just like the others can." He said, his voice echoing softly in the room. There was no response and the guard couldn't help but let out a huff of breath. "Naturally, I'm also going to assume that you have children as well. Seeing how that sick psycho had a theme or something." He took a breath and looked to the side, "this can either go one of two ways, you can come after me tonight like the creepy psychos you are. Or you can realize that I am not here to hurt any kids or anything like that." Once again, there was no response and the guard let out a breath looking to the side. "But I already know it's going to be the first option. Because ya know, life is full of %&$#." He took a breath and rolled his shoulders, His eyes went down to the wheels of his wheelchair and then looked at the door that Jamie had gone out of about fifteen minutes earlier.
He scowled, "%$#% #$#% Jamie..." he growled before biting his lip and pushing the chair into the other room. Swearing at every spike of pain that came from his hand and arm.
What he was unaware of was the bright green eyes following him out of the room.
I hope you guys liked it!
Not sure when I will post the next chapter but it could be pretty soon!
What did you guys think about Enix in this chapter? Still hasn't had a lot of screen time but he will certainly be getting more of it soon. What did you think of Jamie's emotions about Jeremy? And while they havent' spoken, any first impressions of the toys?
I'd love to hear what you think!