Date Night

Mike Schmidt checked his reflection in his bathroom mirror for something like the twelfth time. It felt like every time he looked at it, there was something else wrong. A hair on his chin he hadn't properly shaved, a spot on his head that refused to stay combed. He knew he was being overly paranoid about his appearance, but he couldn't help it. Something was happening tonight that hadn't happened for a very long time.

He had a date.

Pulling himself a way from his reflection, he went through his apartment one last time. It was still rather new since he'd been let out of prison, but he still wanted to be certain it was as tidy as possible. To his mind, it was. The dishes were all clean and put away. He'd gone over the floor with a hoover. He'd even dusted the place, just to be on the safe side and he never dusted.

He checked his small living area where everything was prepared. Candles, flowers in the middle, nice looking tablecloth and plates. Well, nicest that he could afford on his budget anyway. He hoped she wouldn't mind. His dad had even lent him an old stereo and a tape to help 'set the mood', as he put it.

The phone near his door sounded off and he whipped around. His stomach was doing somersaults and he could feel his heart trying to pound out of his ribcage. He took a couple of breaths and picked up the receiver.

"H-Hi, Mike," said a quiet voice on the other end. "Um, did I get the right number?"

He couldn't help but laugh a little. "Yes, you did. I-I'll buzz you up."

"Okay! See you soon!"

He pushed the button that unlocked the front door and started to pace nervously around on one spot. He told himself over and over again that it would be fine, there was nothing to worry about, but he still couldn't get it to go away. He froze in place when he heard the knock on the door.

His heartbeat certainly didn't slow down when he opened the door. She was covered up more than usual. She wore a headscarf that covered the majority of her hair, along with sunglasses and a long trench coat. But there was no mistaking her for anybody else, especially when her face lit up in her signature smile and she threw her arms around his neck.

"Mike!" She drew back and kissed his cheek. "Hi, boyfriend."

"H-Hey, Chica. Girlfriend," he added. Saying the word brought a grin to his face and a joyful titter from Chica.

"Oh, I never thought I would ever have the chance to be called that. But now I do!" She was so overcome she kissed his cheek again. A few seconds later, she looked contrite. "I'm sorry, I'm overdoing things, a-aren't I?"

"No, no!" said Mike quickly, realising he hadn't actually reacted to that. "It's okay, it's just… i-it's been a while since anybody ever, y-you know…"

She nodded. "Of course, I understand. Let me know if I overstep my boundaries. I'm sorry, I can't help being excited."

"I-It's okay. I'm excited, too," he admitted, stepping aside to let her in and took her coat. "You suit the look, you know. The headscarf, I mean. You uh, you look good. Great, even."

"Really?" She beamed. "Thank you, Mike. In that case, I may just keep it. But not while indoors." She untied it, allowing her hair to poof out and the feathers in them to be displayed. "There we go. I hope I still look okay without it."

Minus her 'Let's Eat!' apron, she was wearing her usual yellow dress and she'd styled her hair in a slightly different way, more of a perm than her usual bob.

"Nope," he said at once. "You look… f-fantastic."

"Aw, thank you! You look fantastic, too," she said sweetly. She began staring around the apartment, taking everything in. "Wow… you have all this space to yourself?"

"A-Actually, this place is pretty small," he said. "But yeah, it's mine."

"It's lovely." She was drinking in every detail. "I never thought I would ever be in a place like this."

"What, an apartment?"

"A home. A real home. A real person's home with sofas and a TV and curtains and cushions." She picked one up at this, hugging it to her chest. "Ooh, it's so soft! Do you mind if I have a seat?"

"Go ahead, it's what it's there for," he offered. "I need to check on dinner anyway."

"Do you need any help?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine. This is something I actually know how to cook: pasta. Well, I mean the sauce is already made but it still counts."

"Okay then. Are you sure?" she asked again.

"Chica, trust me, it's fine. Just take it easy and I'll let you know when it's done," he replied.

"Right. Okay, take it easy." She sank onto the couch. "I'm having a meal cooked for me. By my boyfriend. My boyfriend is cooking me dinner, in his home. I'm in my boyfriend's home!"

Mike couldn't keep the smile off his face while she laughed with utter glee. She really was something special.

It wasn't long before dinner was ready. Mike had wanted to do something special for Chica, but he also knew his own cooking skills weren't exactly up to par. He didn't want food poisoning to be on the agenda for their first date, so it was best to play it safe. If the synths could even get food poisoning.

Luckily, Chica was more than happy with the results. She was barely containing her excitement when she learned they would be having a candlelit dinner and was pleasantly surprised by the food.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" she said. "Well done, Mike."

"Thanks. I mean, all I really did was boil the pasta and heat the sauce," he said.

"What matters is that you made the effort and it's very much appreciated. This is perfect," she said with utter sincerity.

Mike mumbled something about it being nothing, but he was smiling anyway and enjoying the feeling regardless.

"So uh, Goldie tells me there's a little good news about the restaurant," he said.

"Oh, yes! We are officially moving back in the day after tomorrow," she told him. "It's the location for the Fun Palace, not our old restaurant. I'm really looking forward to having a place to officially stay again."

"Haven't you enjoyed being outside the restaurant these past couple of weeks?" he asked.

"To an extent, but it's not as if we've been able to wander about freely. We've had to be careful about where we go and who sees us. Not to mention we haven't been able to really rest very well. It'll be nice to take the pressure off for a bit and not have to worry about being seen. Although…" She sighed. "I really will miss our old home."

"I don't blame you. You lived there for a long time, that wouldn't be easy to let go," said Mike. "But I guess since there's going to be more of you, it only makes sense to go to the place that has more room."

"It does." She fiddled with her fork for a bit. "I hope we'll be able to help the new synths. It sounds like they've been through a great deal. But I have to admit… I'm a little scared."

"That's natural to feel that way. It's a big thing you're being asked to do, to help them with whatever it is they've got going on," said Mike.

"It's not just that. I'm not sure if I should say, it m-makes me sound… selfish."

"Chica, you are the last person I would ever call selfish." He went to take her hand, then stopped as he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. But when she held out her own hand, he took it. "You can tell me."

"Okay." She took a moment to collect herself. "I feel… conflicted about it. The last time I saw my counterpart, she was laughing at me while she… she hit me, even though I begged her to stop. I know i-it's because she was being controlled by the Puppet, but even so. It… it still makes it hard. It's like how it was with Goldie."

"I get what you mean," said Mike. "It was like that for me, when I was helping her in the early days when she came back. Even though she was being controlled, she did actively lie to me and tried to kill me. It's… not something you easily deal with. It wasn't easy to trust her again."

"I can imagine. How did you manage it?"

Mike considered the question. "Well, it's as much about what they're willing to do for you, as you're willing to do for them. They have to be the ones willing to, I guess, take those first steps to show that they can be trusted. It has to be give and take. I mean, you know that. It's what you did around Valentine's Day."

"Not very well," she sighed. "Everyone still ended up fighting and I just ran away…"

"Yeah, but we both know that's because I… didn't exactly help much," Mike said quietly. "But at the end of it, everybody managed to work it out and talk about it, now look at you all. The Fazband is officially all back together."

"Yes. Yes, we are." Her expression perked up a little. "It's good to know that I won't be alone. Will you b-be coming back, Mike?"

"You'd have to lock me out to keep me away," he promised.

"Good. With you and everybody else, I'm sure we can work out how best to help them." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Though it won't be just us. Goldie's hoping that Jeremy will be able to join us, too."

"Considering he's the closest thing those synths have to a friend, I'd say that's needed."

"I agree. Then there's this Phil O'Neil that's being brought along as well." Chica frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know much about him, but Goldie says that he was there at the beginning along with our father."

Mike snapped his fingers. "Wait, I know that guy. He was the old security supervisor at Fredabear's. He left to spy on Hawthorne when your dad went to ground. He gave me and Goldie the heads up of what was going to happen with everything that went down, remember?"

"Oh yes. Hopefully, that means he can be trusted. Even so, the fact he's being brought along as part of this deal that Aaron's made… it doesn't sit well with me, or any of us really," she admitted.

"You're telling me," muttered Mike. "I can't believe we actually had to deal with Hawthorne. I understand that it was the only way to even get the synths, but still…"

Chica nodded grimly. "The others all feel the same way. You should have seen Bonnie when Goldie told us the circumstances of the arrangement."

"What are we going to do?"

"There's not much we can do. Like you said, this is the only way we can help them, especially with that Puppet still with Sid. The lesser of two evils, Goldie calls it. We'll help the synths in the meantime and then we'll work out what we need to do with Sid. If Phil is really on our side, maybe there's some way he can help us," she suggested.

"I hope so." Mike clenched his fist. "Even if he had Fritz and Gordon take the fall, I know he's the reason that I… I got put in jail."

"That must have been horrible for you," said Chica.

"It really was," he murmured. "E-Even though it wasn't for very long, I h-hated it. Trapped, n-not allowed to go anywhere, alone a-and looking over your shoulder the whole time. I-It was…"

"I know. Believe me, I do." She gripped his hand. "But it's over now. You're free."

"Yeah. I-I sometimes have trouble believing it. Keep thinking I-I'm going to wake up a-and be back in my cell…" He sighed. "S-Sorry, is it okay if we m-move on? I don't really w-want to talk about it right now."

"Of course it is. Just if you ever need to, the offer's there. Boyfriend," she added, with another smile.

"Thanks, girlfriend," he said, returning it. "You all done?"

"Yes, thank you again, Mike. No, don't worry, I've got this," she said, picking up both their plates and taking them to the sink. "There we go. What now?"

"Now, we relax. Come on, let's have a seat." He led her to the couch. "I got us a few Disney flicks to watch, with sing-along subtitles."

She gasped and grinned. "Yes, yes, yes! Mike Schmidt, you know exactly what to say to a woman."

"That's not something I thought I would ever hear," he laughed.

They picked one out and within moments, Chica was curled up next to him while Mike placed his arm around her. Let the future wait for now, he thought. Best to just enjoy this moment.

Hey everybody! I'm back!

First of all, a massive thank you to everybody for being so patient and understanding. This year hasn't been an easy one and it's given me a major blow in more than a few ways. But this past month, I felt it was time to return to this and I'm seeing it through to the end. A big thank you especially to my invaluable beta reader and good friend for looking over this. You know who you are and I appreciate you greatly.

This current instalment is all ready to go, so expect weekly updates every Friday unless some other major event occurs. For now though, I hope you all enjoy what's in store.

Be strong, be swift, be just.

Alpha.