Hello everyone! I hope you had a good week! This chapter is longer then average, however, the next one will be a bit shorter then average, so this one kinda makes up for it right?

Fantom Knight: Yes, William is very sly...very...very sly, and that will only continue to happen as time goes on. We shall see how they will react.

JustAFemaleGeek: ah yes! the new evening guard! Guess you will have to see who he is. They will only get all the more suspicious! As for the puppet? We shall see!

Silverleone: I'm sorry if the last part was confusing for you!

PK - SPRINGTRAP HUG MEH: There will certainly be more Springtrap soon!

Chapter 36
Many Questions

Leo was sitting scrunched up in a chair watching through the crack of the manager's door. The animatronics were back in their normal positions, and Enix was due to arrive an hour ago, but he still wasn't here.

This whole day was just starting out great huh?

Joey did wake up, she was dazed and Acid insisted that they take her home, despite the toys protests in her trying to fix the Puppet, but the man had been insistent. Leo finally had to step in and say if she wasn't doing well then she couldn't help the Puppet.

A bad part of him was worried about what would happen when the Puppet woke up...why had he been so freaked out about Scott? It's not like it's uncommon for dead things to come back to life…

Scott said he didn't know, but maybe he had interacted with the Puppet in the past?

He would have to ask him.

John had arrived a couple of minutes after Leo had spoken to the man, and after the new guy had told John about his pursuit to get a job. The manager had pulled him into the office and had been talking to him for the past hour.

It was weird.

The cleaners had arrived as well, forcing the animatronics to go back onstage and hide the Puppet backstage. The cleaners took longer now, with the more rigorous cleans they had to do in order to keep up with the standards that Alder had put in place.

He had heard Jack grumbling about it a lot.

But he wasn't interested in the cleaners today. He was watching the door, surely John wouldn't hire this crazy guy right?

You know you are crazy right?

The voice made him scowl and take a deep breath.

"Shut up, no one asked you." He hissed, glad there was no one around to see him. He was scrunched up in the chair, legs pulled up and squinting at the cracked open door.

Uh huh, but it's true, I mean...you do hear me after all.

"I said shut up, I'm trying to listen." He hissed again, and let out a breath of relief at the lack of response.

"You think he is going to hire him?" Leo jumped and turned to look behind him, it was Acid, he took a deep breath and put a hand to his chest.

"I don't know. I doubt it though, the guy kinda looks unhinged." He turned and looked back at the office. They were still talking.

"Hm, well, maybe you and Enix will get more breaks, more time off. Wouldn't that be nice?" He suggested and Leo looked back at him, he was watching the office and after a moment Leo followed his gaze.

"Yeah...I guess so." He muttered before taking a breath and hugging his legs close. There was a weird feeling in him that he couldn't explain.

"Hey, I wouldn't get too worried, you are the kinda crazy that the animatronics like." Acid pat his back and Leo flinched before taking a breath.

"I'm not worried, I doubt he will even get hir..." he trailed off as the man and John walked out of the room...shaking hands and John handing him a uniform. Leo let out a breath his shoulders slumping. "Or maybe he will." He paused and tilted his head, "hey Acid, you are pretty nutty right? Do you think he is okay in the hea…" he trailed off once more as he looked behind him only to find the multi-colored haired man was no longer there. "Acid?" He asked, but obviously there was no response.

Leo then couldn't help but wonder how he was here when he said he was going to leave with Joey...

"Er...h...hello...I'm afraid I was frazzled and didn't introduce myself." The familiar voice made him turn back around and immediately stand up. He ignored the dizzy spell that fell over him and took a breath.

"Uh...yeah...same I guess." The guard could only mutter in response. Taking a breath the man scratched at his head and Leo caught sight of a scar that went over his temple and into his eyebrow. The man was scratching where it must've gone into his hairline.

"W...well...I uh, my name is Bl...my name is Ashford. Ashford Ishka." Leo could only blink, he stared at him for a moment.

"...Ishka? Is that...Russian?" Wasn't there something going on with Russia a few years back?

Ah he didn't pay attention to the news.

The man paused, his hand freezing before slowly dropping and slipping into his hoodie pocket with the other. "Heh..." a small...faint, and ghostly smile graced his face. "Yeah...you could say that." It was a whisper but Leo heard it.

…**** what the ****.

"...uh. Okay. My name is Leo. Leo Byrd." He took a breath and set his shoulders firmly. "I'm also the head guard here, anything that is going to be done has to go past me first. There is another guard, his name is Enix. He goes on shifts with me." Then he paused and looked at the stage before turning back to Ashford and motioning to it. "As for them, you don't touch them or interact with them unless needed." He did not want this stranger...and possibly crazy guy to be messing around with his bots.

Ashford's eyes fell upon the three bots on stage and he wet his lips, Leo took note of how he paled and clasped his hands before him tightly.

The head guard also noticed how they trembled.

Weird…

"I...I'll certainly stay away from them...don't worry." He then paused and turned to look at Leo, the head guard blinked at the stress on the man's face. "Are...are you just the day guard or…?"

"Am I the night guard? Well, I'm both I guess. Practically live at this place."

...and literally did for awhile.

Dang it where was Enix?

"H...how...how long have you been the night guard…?" The man asked bringing Leo back to reality. The head guard turned to look at him and took a deep breath.

"Er...about six months really." Leo muttered, the man stared at him brows furrowed inward in a deep confusion. The head guard could only raise an eyebrow.

"Y...you...you seem...so...so...no..nor...normal..." the man stammered out, and Leo could only stare at him for a moment. Not sure if he should be offended or not.

"Excuse me?"

He did feel kind of offended.

"N...no, no sorry...I...I just..." he glanced at the stage before hugging himself Leo followed his gaze, the bots were not so subtly watching them. But the man's reaction…

The head guard turned to him and raised an eyebrow, "do you know something about the bots?" He didn't want to say anything if this man was just going off the rumors and such.

Sure they were true...didn't mean he had to continue to feed into them…

"Wh...what?" The man asked jumping, Leo stared at him soon drawing a slightly unsettling conclusion.

Had...this man been a previous guard?

All the signs were there...all the symptoms Leo went through, the vague and underlying tremble, the darting eyes, the constant watching of his surroundings.

He could just be paranoid…

But he was watching the animatronics.

The man was constantly watching the animatronics.

"Do you know something about the bots?" He pressed, crossing his arms before him.

The man snapped his attention back to Leo, and the head guard waited as the man opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Then he bit at his nails and glanced at the animatronic again.

Yeah...Leo was almost certain now.

Well, that or he saw something.

"I...I..." he trailed and Leo opened his mouth to tell him he wasn't going to get in trouble, but that's when the door opened and Enix came inside, with Jamie following behind, Leo turned to look at them brow furrowed.

What had taken them so long to get here?

However he shook his head and turned to look at the man...but he was gone.

Geez, what was with all these disappearing people today?

With a huff, the head guard went over to his coworkers. Both were in full uniform and the eldest man could only raise an eyebrow at their lateness.

"Uh, bit late huh?" He asked, and Jamie looked at him first before letting out a breath.

"Uh...yeah, my car broke down, so Enix had to give me a ride." At that Leo nodded, Enix let out a breath adjusting his tie.

"Yes, and Jamie didn't complain the whole time he was on it." He sent Leo a pointed look, the guard let out a breath and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He then turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "There are several things I need to catch you up on." At that the blue haired man raised an eyebrow.

"Good or bad?" At that the older guard pursed his lips and looked around, finally spotting the man staring at the animatronics from under his messy bangs.

"...a little bit of both I guess."

"Wait...but how did the Puppet get under all that stuff in the first place?" The younger guard asked, leaning against the wall in the office.

Leo moved the chair side to side not quite spinning it all the way around, but just halfway.

The older guard shrugged, "who knows? I mean, he might've been trying to get something. Knocked over the wrong thing. Something like that." He scratched at his hair and paused looking at his hand before sniffing it and furrowing his brow.

"You took a shower three days ago Leo. Yes, you are due for another one." Enix said and the guard couldn't help but look up at him with a frown.

"How do you know that?"

"Well. For one, you smell far more than you realize, and I have thin walls and can hear when the shower turns on." The man claimed before taking a breath and pushing himself off the wall. "Well, I hope that Joey will be alright." He paused and then turned to look at him, "you know, for seeing her and Acid as often as we do. We don't really know all that much about them." He turned and leaned outside the door as if he could see them before turning back to the eldest guard. "Do we even know Acid's last name?"

At that Leo raised an eyebrow, "I didn't even think he had one. Just always thought his name was Acid, and that was it." He let out a breath and stretched his back, and that's when his stomach decided to rumble again.

He instantly stiffened up and looked down at his abdomen. Before glancing up at Enix who had an eyebrow raised.

The guard flushed and looked away with a breath.

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything." The other guard countered, Leo let out a huff and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Doesn't matter. Shut up anyways."

When the two guards exited the office, Ashford was no longer there. Jamie was setting up tables for when the place opened.

Leo cast his glance to the stage. The animatronics were in their power down position on stage waiting till the place opened up.

His eyes flickered back to the hallway that led to the parts and service room. He should probably check on Scott and make sure that he was in a good hiding spot for the day.

He glanced over and Enix was helping Jamie and talking to him about...something.

He figured this was as good a time as any.

With a breath he headed to the back room and looked around trying to find him. "Scott?" He tried his best to keep his voice quiet.

"Over here." Leo looked around trying to find him, only for a spare tablecloth over a pile of something to move a bit. The guard blinked and watched as the animatronic man pulled off the cloth and rolled his shoulders with several creaks and groans.

"Wow. I didn't even see you." Leo muttered and Scott looked up at him and let out a chuckle.

"I figured with how many empty suits were in here. No one would think twice about one under a cloth." At that Leo nodded.

"Yeah...makes sense." He paused and leaned against the table behind him. "The others are worried about the Puppet. I sure hope Joey can fix him up." His eyes flickered up to the decaying bunny, "you have any idea why he was so angry with you? Normally he is pretty chill."

But the rabbit just shook his head, "no idea. He just came in here. Saw me and went ballistic." He looked down at his body. "Maybe he and Springbonnie had a bone to pick with each other?" He suggested and Leo let out a breath scratching at his head.

"Yeah maybe, when he wakes up I'll have to explain it to him." The rabbit nodded and got up to his feet stretching and rolling his wrist and ankle joints. Leo watched him carefully a moment before taking a breath. "Is it...hard to move? You don't still feel pain do you?" He asked quietly, the animatronic man turned to look at him and paused looking down at himself.

"It is difficult to move around, but that's because of the rust. Only recently have I been able to move around. For the longest time all my joints were locked. The only thing that would move were my eyes. I had to work up to mobility. But sometimes it still locks up. As for pain? No. I don't really feel much of anything anymore. The only thing I feel is some senses on my endoskeleton, but nothing from the outer shell." He explained and Leo tilted his head.

"That's kinda weird, but I guess it makes sense. You aren't really connected to the outer shell." His brow furrowed and he couldn't help but wonder if it was the same for the other bots. Were they able to feel anything? It seemed like they did. But Leo had just...never asked.

"I heard a new voice, is there a new employee or did John let someone in early?" The sudden question made Leo blink and raise an eyebrow before realizing.

"Oh yeah, that's Ashford, he's gonna be the new evening guard, I guess the other one finally quit." He paused and took a breath, "he is kinda...odd, I think he may have been a previous night guard." He shoved his hands into his pockets, "he has the same haunted look that I had." A noise before him made him look up at the animatronic bunny, he was also leaning against a table. But the legs groaned under his weight.

Idly Leo couldn't help but wonder just how heavy he was.

"He could, the question is, why would he return? Also, I didn't recognize his voice." He added and Leo paused before nodding with a breath.

"Yeah...I donno, there was also the toy location..." Then he shook his head, "it really doesn't matter." The guard turned to face his friend, "so, are you going to be alright in here by yourself today? I don't know when I will be able to visit again." Leo voiced, is eyes flickering over the bot. Scott let out a raspy breath and tilted his head down to the side a bit, like he was raising an eyebrow.

"As I said before, I'm a grown man. I think I'll be alright for a day." Then however, he paused and looked to the side before back at Leo. "Though I would appreciate a visit tonight. Being left alone with my thoughts is never a good thing." He admitted and the guard paused before nodding with a breath.

"Okay, yeah I can make that work." The guard paused and pulled at his hair. "Scott….I'm sorry you have to hide like this...I can't imagine how difficult this is. Finally being free but still having to hide." Leo took a breath before looking out the doorway behind him. "I mean...if you really want to...I'm sure I can figure out a way to explain everything-"

"No!" At that Leo jumped and looked at him startled, he was leaning forward and had his hands clenched.

"Uh...okay?" He muttered brow furrowed deeply, the bot seemed to realize what he had done and paused looking at his hands before dropping his shoulders.

"Sorry...sorry that was uncalled for. The...incident with the Puppet freaked me out...I want to be better...look better before I see them." He let out a nervous breath and Leo swallowed a bit, "I don't want them to..." he rubbed his hands together, "I only want to be threatened and killed by them once Leo." The animatronic man muttered in a soft voice. Leo paused and nodded slowly, taking a breath.

"Yeah...okay, I understand. We'll get you all cleaned up alright? Then, I'll make sure that they won't hurt you." He let out a breath and a shrug, "I mean...if you look normal, and I explain things then there shouldn't be a problem." The animatronic nodded with a breath and looked around before taking his place in the room and pulling the cloth over him once more. Leo nodded with a breath.

"Yeah, I'll come by tonight okay? Just stay quiet." He advised before heading out of the room with a hard breath.

Leo did come by that night, and every night after that, honestly he spent more time with Scott then he did anyone else. Part of him felt guilty for it, but honestly...another part of him didn't.

When he was around them, all they would talk about is him eating, or how much sleep he was getting. And honestly he was getting tired of it.

But when he was with Scott, it was nice, they talked about life and normal stuff, he didn't bother him about eating except every once in a while.

It was nice not being constantly fussed on, Leo never thought he would think that being fussed over can be annoying...but it was.

It's not like he didn't care for them, or want to protect them, he enjoyed spending time with them, but being constantly told to eat was a bit aggravating.

Scott was pretty easy going, and Leo did his best to try and update him on things that had happened since he had...died.

But this also meant that Leo needed to know what was happening, which meant using the...internet, and reading about stuff and actually paying attention to the world around him. Which was...extremely weird.

He was just lucky Enix had a computer.

Speaking of Enix. Things had been...stiff? Was that the right word?

For some reason the other guard had been sighing a lot in his presence and looking irritated sometimes as he muttered things about drugs.

That didn't make any sense. Despite the cravings sometimes Leo hardly talked about them. Let alone did them. He was surprised with how well he was doing actually. Maybe it was easier then he had thought?

Yet Enix still seemed cross with him.

Honestly Leo was wondering if it was still a good idea to stay with him.

So to give his roommate breaks he stayed more at the restaurant. He played poker with the others, even did his best to learn all the complicated rules, and then he would go and visit Scott.

It was really fun talking with the animatronic man, it was a lot more relaxing and Leo for some reason didn't have to worry about what he was saying all the time.

Joey had come back the next day completely back to normal, and like what Acid had said, she claimed it was because her sugars got too low.

Everyone was glad to have her back, and in the nights they insisted that she work on the Puppet. Leo however, snuck her in during the day to work on Scott. He wanted it done as soon as possible.

All this sneaking around was making him even more paranoid than normal.

It wouldn't have been so bad, if it didn't take longer then she had promised. Instead of a few days as she had claimed, it took nearly a month for her to deconstruct the corpse, replace the endoskeleton, rewire everything, and give him a new and fresh outer shell once more.

It was daunting, and he was honestly surprised she did so well.

Part of him had been worried about the whole haunting thing, like if his endoskeleton had been replaced….then what would happen to his soul?

Apparently according to Scott (though Leo wasn't entirely sure how he knew this...) the endoskeleton is not what housed the soul.

Instead, it was in something he had called a...chip. Apparently this is also what gave the other animatronics the ability to talk, function and think normally.

Now, Leo wasn't the best with all this techno...stuff and whatever, but he could understand it...a bit after Scott explained it.

Well...understand might be a bit of a reach.

He could vaguely comprehend the concept. But still, it all seemed kind of magic stuff and whatever.

But Scott...had actually gotten excited when speaking about it, and Leo rarely ever saw his animatronic friend excited. So, even though it was like the man was speaking a foreign language, Leo listened attentively.

As for Ashford, well, he often stayed...later than his shift required, he hadn't yet seen the animatronics move. But Leo could've sworn that the man already knew.

He kept watching them, carefully, the man avoided children like the plague and Leo couldn't help but notice how isolated the man kept himself. He would stay at his station. Gazing at the ground and twiddling with his fingers. Avoiding conversations seemed to be his specialty.

He seemed more socially awkward then Leo was.

But he wasn't a bother, and he didn't cause any problems. He was there everyday, on time and while sometimes stayed a bit overtime. They hardly saw him anyways.

Ashford was a weird guy, but Leo was far too interested in helping Scott to care much about him.

Which may have been his mistake.

It had started when Ashford had stayed extra late one night, and everyone had assumed that he had left.

The man had stumbled upon the animatronics, Leo and Enix playing poker as Joey worked on the Puppet and Acid ate pizza with his globs of frosting on it.

It was something he ate so often Leo was sure he had an addiction to it.

Well, during this, Ashford had walked in, and everyone spotted him falling into silence.

There had been several beats of silence before Leo had gotten up to his feet and come over.

"This...is not what it looks like, we are testing the joints of the animatronics out. Basic motor functions and all..." he fibbed gazing at the man and wetting his lips.

But the man just stared, stared past him and at all of the animatronics before them.

"...t...they...they move...o...on their own..." he muttered, lost in a daze. Enix hopped up and came over with a breath.

"Hey...hey you okay?" He asked placing a hand on Ashford's shoulder, but then turned to Leo, "how the **** did he get past us!?" He demanded, and the older guard could only shrug helplessly.

Leo thought he had left earlier?

"Hey, Ashford look at me." Enix instructed getting in front of the shocked man. Finally Ashford focused on him, and Enix offered a smile. "Hey, yeah hey, everything is okay. This is not what it looks like. Leo and I...well, bit of a confession here, we..." he sighed, shoulders falling, "I got nothing." But Ashford just stared at him before looking at the animatronics who were remaining completely still.

"...I know they move." At that Leo couldn't help but blink, not at the fact that he knew, but the lack of stutter.

This man had only spoken in stutters thus far.

"...you mean...more so than normal?" Enix asked hesitantly, glancing at Leo who could only shrug helplessly again.

"I know its more than being on stage." Ashford informed glancing briefly at the animatronics before back at Enix. The two night guards looked at each other before back at him.

"What exactly do you know?" Leo asked looking over the man, it seemed his courage for eye contact died away and he was looking at the ground.

"Can...we talk about this...away from them?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper, the night guards once again looked at each other. Before back at them, Enix opened his mouth, only to be cut off.

"Anything that you have to say can be said in front of us." Freddy's deep bass voice made the evening guard flinch and take a hard breath shoulders bunching up. Leo looked over him a moment and worried his lip before turning to the animatronics.

"It's two against one, if he tries anything, Enix can punch him through the wall." He informed and the bear animatronic gazed at him for a moment before looking at Enix who nodded.

Leo couldn't help but frown at that.

Wasn't he head guard? Why did it have to be cleared with Enix?

After receiving assurance from the blue haired man, Freddy nodded as well.

Leo pushed aside the strange feeling within him at that.

The three guards headed toward the office, and as they did, Leo glanced back at the room, the animatronics were watching, while Joey was working on the Puppet, once again Acid was nowhere to be found.

Weird guy.

Once they arrived at the office, Leo took his seat, because he'll be **** if either of these guys thought they would take his seat.

"Okay, explain." The shortest guard ordered, but then Ashford turned and shut both doors startling both of the guards. Then he turned to them wide eyed.

"What the **** are you doing!?" He demanded, causing both night guards to look at each other and then back at him.

"Uh...what?" Leo asked, and the man scratched obsessively at that same spot taking deep breaths and then gripping his hair in his trembling hands.

"Hey...hey it's okay, take a deep breath. They aren't going to hurt us, we are on the same side as them." Enix assured taking a step near the man, but he flinched violently away his hands going to hug himself as he took heaving breaths. At that the blue haired man raised his hands in surrender and took a step back.

Leo watched from where he was and took a breath, "you were a previous night guard weren't you?" His voice was quiet, but the man heard it and nodded jerkily after a moment.

The shortest guard took a breath and Enix remained quiet.

"They hunted you down right? Broke into the office, hurt and tried to kill you?" He offered up quietly, the man paused before nodding again. Leo took a breath and nodded as well, "that happened to me too. But...then something changed, we are good with them now. They don't want to hurt us, I guess you could even say we are friends now." He shrugged, and the man remained quiet gazing at the ground.

"...if you were a previous guard, why did you come back?" Enix pressed crossing his arms, "do you have any intention of hurting them?"

But at that the man laughed...near hysterically, "me?! Hurt them?!" He demanded heaving for breath eyes wide, Leo bit his lip gazing at him a moment before taking another breath.

"I get it, if someone had told me that I would be friends with the very robots that gave me nightmares, I never would've believed them." Ashford gazed at him quietly having calmed some, Leo knew this was his chance, "they aren't as bad as they may seem. They just...thought all adults wanted to hurt children." At the word children, the man paused, his eyes glazing over. A far away and haunted look that made both night guards look at him hesitantly.

"Ashford?" Enix asked, this succeeded in getting his attention. The man looked up and then to the side with a breath scratching at his head.

"I came back...not to hurt them." It was an answer, but it also wasn't. And Leo knew that both of them noticed it. "...I won't hurt them." The man confirmed before pulling at his hair a bit, "I won't bother you guys either." Without another word, he opened up the door and left, both guards got up to grab him but the man was determined and heading straight for the exit to the pizzeria.

The animatronics seemed to notice, because Foxy, the fastest of them all was suddenly in front of the door. The man didn't yelp, but when he caught sight of the red animatronic he jumped back and covered his head trying to hide under his arms.

Leo and Enix came over and Leo nodded his thanks to the fox.

"Now, hold up here, we haven't finished talking. Why are you here exactly?" Enix pressed coming over in front of the man, Ashford took deep breaths still hiding his head best he could.

Steven came up behind them and tilted his head gazing at him.

"You are kinda familiar..." he muttered and Leo looked at him.

"You know him?"

"Know may be a stretch, he just...seems familiar." Chia voiced from where she sat on one of the tables.

"The Puppet would know, he was always the best at identifying people." Fred muttered from where he stood by the Puppet. Joey was completely ignoring everyone and continued to work.

"Please let me leave…" the man muttered weakly, hiding best he could, Enix glanced at Leo and then back to the man.

"Do you plan on coming back tomorrow?" The blue haired man asked, and Leo pursed his lips waiting for a response.

"...yes, I still need the job. Can I leave now?" This sounded more like a whimper, and Leo couldn't help but feel for the man, he knew exactly what he was feeling.

"Foxy let him go." He ordered, but then, making Leo do a double take, Foxy turned and looked at Enix, the blue haired man hesitated before nodding.

It was only then that the fox moved.

Leo could only stand there, mouth agape as Ashford left, when...had this happened?

After that, Ashford hardly stayed late, but Leo noticed something odd, the animatronics almost seemed to want to prove to him that they weren't bad. Sometimes he would see Chica breaking stage directions and waving when Ashford entered the room.

He didn't seem to appreciate it.

When a customer was giving the guard a hard time. One of the animatronics would "malfunction" and distract the customer. Ashford seemed to know what they were doing and would still flinch all the same. As Leo observed him, as they sometimes stayed late or came early for their shifts, he noticed the man seemed to have a far more deep rooted fear then even Leo had.

How long had he been a guard?

Also, why didn't any of the animatronics recognize him. The best Leo got when he asked, was that he was just...familiar.

All the animatronics seemed to try and show the man that they were friendly now.

All of them except for Bonnie.

Was it weird that Leo was secretly glad that the bunny was just as stiff toward this other guard?

Maybe.

Enix seemed to be trying to befriend the man, talking with him, coming early to help him out. The man was pretty receptive. A lot more receptive then Leo.

...they seemed to be getting along...pretty well.

Jamie even befriended him.

Things just seemed to be going strange.

The animatronics always looked to Enix for approval in order to do certain things, and it left a weird feeling in Leo. One time he even caught them talking...about him...again.

They were talking about his drug problem.

The shortest guard was about ready to go in there yelling that they were wrong and he was trying his hardest to do better.

But instead of going...he just sat there. Listening and twiddling with his thumbs. Hiding away as they spoke bad about him.

Suffice to say...he was starting to prefer Scott's company more and more.

Speaking of the animatronic man, his repairs were almost done, and Leo had never been gladder for something in his life.

Finally he could prove that he was useful again.

He had been working to help someone! He had been supportive and helpful and doing his best to help someone.

That was good behavior...right?

Well. It seemed that way to him, and once they saw how he was able to help someone like this, then they would see that he wasn't just a grumpy drug addict. He would tell them just how much he had been working to get better.

It would work out, he was sure of it.

...he hoped.

Part of him was still nervous that the animatronics would react badly to him. That it would end in disaster. The Puppet still wasn't awake, and Joey didn't seem hopeful that it would be soon. Apparently the damage has caused a circuit to fry his entire system. She had to rewire and rework everything.

Again. Leo wasn't familiar with the details of this weird tech magic stuff.

However. There was also an obstacle in his way.

He had to clear it with his boss.

Now by boss, he certainly didn't mean John. John would likely shoot him down immediately. But if he spoke to Alder about how the new animatronic could boost business...then he was sure it would go well.

...okay he hoped it would go well.

Calling corporate was difficult because of the lack of a phone, so Leo had to...borrow Enix's phone in order to get a hold of Alder.

"Hello? This is Alder, my secretary told me you wanted to speak with me?" The voice of the calm man drifted over the phone and Leo took a silent breath.

"Hey...er, I mean hello sir, this is Leo...um, Leo Byrd. I have a...proposal for you sir." He stammered out finally, and there was silence for a moment, silence besides a slight scratching sound that indicated he was writing something.

"A proposal?" He only sounded vaguely interested, Leo knew he had to sell this.

Taking a deep breath he pulled out all the old tricks he knew.

"Yessir, yes sir I do, I have recently found an animatronic from an older location, I have been using my funds to pay Joey to repair him, he is finally back in proper working order again, and I was wondering if he could join the cast. He seems to have an even more advanced A.I then the others. I believe he could be a great addition and help to bring in more traffic." He explained, and there was a moment or two of silence.

"It seems like you have been working on this awhile, traffic has been dwindling...perhaps a new/old animatronic would help to boost customers." Leo took a breath not sure if he should dare to hope. "I'll come by tomorrow to check him out." At that Leo nodded.

"Of course! Of course sir! Thank you so much!" There was a polite, your welcome before the line cut.

He let out a breath and slipped Enix's phone back in his bag.

This was it. Everything has to work out. It would be fine, of course Alder would approve of Scott. He looked completely normal now!

It would be okay...it would.

It had to be.

So, what do you guys think of the chapter? You think Alder will approve? how do you think the animatronics will react? What do you think is going on with the animatronics and Enix? what do you think of Ashford?

I'd love to hear what you think!