The Interrogation

"Do you mind loosening your grip, mate?" The detective grunted, "You're going to choke me out before we can even get to the fun stuff."

Ignoring him, Freddy scowled towards the hallway, where he had last seen Foxy. Whilst Freddy was waiting there with his ginormous hand clasped around Caine's neck pinning him on one of the tables, the fox was taking his time retrieving the materials needed.

It was all a part of the plan; in spite of their large figures, Freddy knew how to tie a knot. So it fell to him to wrap the rope that Foxy was to come back with around Caine.

"I know you heard me," Caine spoke up, irritation in his words, "don't pretend like you didn't."

"Please be quiet," Freddy mumbled.

Sighing, Caine settled back down. Just as Freddy started to believe that he was finally going to shut up, he said loudly, "Desserrez votre prise!"

Growling as his head sparked up in his endoskeleton's process of translating what he said, Freddy finally looked at Caine, "Quiet."

Caine snorted, "Wish I'd known that would get people's attention years ago…"

Mercifully, both for Freddy's sanity and Caine's neck, Foxy returned with a bundle of rope secured around his arm. The look on Foxy's face told him that he'd figured out that the tension was quickly rising, so he spared no waste of time with tying the Detective up.

Likely due to the knowledge that even attempting to run would end up with his quick recapture, Caine didn't struggle as they tied him up. He looked at them, bemused, once they were in the process.

Minutes later, they were done; Caine sat there, ropes around his arms and legs, with another rope tying his hands to the spine of the chair. Freddy looked at him, satisfied with their work before he spoke up.

"I believe you understand why we've done this."

Caine tiled his head slightly, "You mean dragging Mike off? Or tying me to a chair?"

"The latter."

Giving a slight shrug, Caine smirked, "Not me first time tied to a chair with two angry murderous figures looking down at me. I'm guessing this whole set-up is done because you want some answers?"

Unsure, Freddy gave a nod. "You've invaded our home, armed with the threat of punishment for our actions, along with information that even we don't hold. How exactly did you manage that?"

"Are you going to talk in that dark, foreboding voice all night? It's going to get tedious quick, believe me."

"Answer the question, landlubber." Foxy scowled.

Caine gave another shrug, "I've just about told you—well, Mike, I guess—I broke into one of Fazbear Entertainment's storage facilities."

Freddy shook his head, "You've known something since you first arrived here."

"I'm not sure what you're implying."

Just as Freddy opened his mouth to exert his authority, a small ringing cut through his words. Blinking in confusion, Freddy glanced at the table where Foxy had placed the Detective's equipment, dismayed to find that the small candy bar-like phone on the table was emitting the noise.

"Apologies, that's unprofessional." Caine said snarky, "Feels like this happens every interrogation…"

Freddy looked at Foxy, "Crush it."

"Now, hang on there!" Caine spoke up, "That's a good phone."

Hesitating, Foxy moved towards the phone.

"If you answer it for me," Caine said with a surprising lack of urgency, "I'll start answering your questions."

Freddy snorted in spite of his attempted persona, "You must think we're a pair of fools if you seriously think we'd fall for that."

"No," Caine retorted, "I think you're a pair of desperate fools looking for answers. There's a difference."

"And what is that?"

Caine gave a shrug and smiled, "It's just about the only thing we have in common. I'll give you this one for free: You're right on the money."

The phone continued to bleep and Foxy was standing ready to destroy it, but Freddy hesitated, "On what grounds?"

"I've known about you lot since before I first arrived here. Or, at least, I had grounds to suspect it. You answer that phone for me, I'll tell you something else."

Knowing that he was likely making a colossal mistake, Freddy nodded to Foxy. Nervously, the fox approached the phone, scouring helplessly for what to do.

"Press the button on the top right," Caine told him.

Foxy did what he was told and the bleeping stopped. A muffled voice spoke from the phone.

"Press the button under it," Caine continued.

As soon as the fox did what he was told, the voice grew louder, enough for all three of them to hear it.

"Hello?" A woman's voice spoke from the phone, "You there, Tom?"

In spite of his predicament, Caine wasn't able to help the smile that came across his face. "Oh, hi, Honey! You doing alright?"

"Ah, there you are!" She replied, relief in her voice, "I've been trying to reach you all day!"

"Sorry. I've been working on the case that Sanders gave me."

"And how's that going?"

Caine shrugged, "About as expected. Tied to a chair, two very angry robots looking down at me, and a 'dead' Night Guard in the other room."

Freddy was a second away from ordering Foxy to destroy the phone before the woman replied, "Well, can't say I've heard that one before."

"Would it worry you more if I said that I hadn't, either?"

The woman hesitated, "Er, are you needing any help?"

"No, I think I'll be fine. They want answers and I'm doing my utmost best to tell them what they need to know."

"Are you sure? I can call Carl, if—"

Caine snorted, "Carl's good with tech, but what's he going to do against killer robots? Bleed on them?"

"Well, if you're sure…"

Caine smiled again, "Case should be over by tomorrow, so I'll see you for lunch?"

The woman seemed happy again, "Sure! I can't remember the last time we did something like that together!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Caine smiled before looking at Freddy expectantly.

Freddy scowled at him, while Foxy gave a confused look.

"Well?" Caine said,

"What?" Freddy replied,

"Don't be rude. Say goodbye."

"No."

"Aw, go on."

Foxy went to say something, but Freddy immediately held up his arm to stop him.

"Well, that's just rude." Caine snorted, before twisting around to look at the backstage room. "How about you, Mike?"

Nothing.

"Mike?"

Still nothing.

"I guess they're still hiding," Caine mumbled to himself, "Anyway, bye hon!"

"Shut it off," Freddy grunted to Foxy, who followed through and ended to call.

It was hard to deny that the call had knocked Freddy off his game. It had been easier to consider this 'Detective Caine' as merely a nuisance needing taking care of. Now, with the knowledge that he—like so many of their victims in the past—who someone who cared for him…

"Could've at least said goodbye, guys," Caine said irritably.

Freddy turned around to face him, "Tell me what you know."

Caine sat back, "Well, we've been watching this place for a while. Waiting for a chance to swoop in. All we needed was a catalyst."

"Then Mike Schmidt came in with a gun," Freddy finished for him.

Nodding Caine smiled, "Exactly. This isn't something that Fazbear Entertainment can keep a lid on. The whole town knows about the shooting now and they're not about to forget anytime now."

Freddy saw the truth in his words. Ever since the shooting, Fazbear Entertainment was on everybody's minds now. He'd heard it himself from the employees: Tales of rising tension. Someone had apparently spray-painted one of the walls of the pizzeria.

This wasn't something that people were just going to forget.

"Then what's your stake in this?" Freddy demanded,

Caine blinked, "Not sure what you mean. I was given a case; I'm making aims to solve it."

"Don't play coy. The moment you stepped in here, I could hear the anger in your words. You've got your own agenda."

Not opening his mouth to reply to that, Caine scowled at Freddy and the bear glared right back. Before either of them could say another word, the phone started to ring again.

Caine smirked, "Ring ring. Answer the phone and you get a prize."

Desperately trying to stop the angry yell from leaving his robotic lips, Freddy stormed over to the phone and answered it himself, using the ballpoint pen that Foxy had used to press the buttons.

"Caine?" A voice spoke from the phone, "You there?"

"Aye," Caine replied, "What's going on, Carl?"

"I've been following up on our findings. Just wanted to check up and see how you're doing?"

Caine gave a small shrug underneath the ropes, "Could be better, honestly. This isn't the best time, so can we wait to do this?"

"Well, it's just…I think I found out something about the killer."

Pausing, Caine didn't seem to be able to resist, "Go on."

"He was arrested after some security footage was found; or at least, they believe it was him. Lured the kids away like some…demented pied piper."

In spite of his annoyance, Freddy couldn't help but be interested in what they were talking about. He gave a glance towards Foxy, who was looking uncomfortable.

"He must've done so to earn their trust," Caine mused quietly, "Then lured them away…"

"Exactly. The suspect was arrested and charged for the crime, but since the bodies were never found, he was released."

"Of course," Caine was almost acting like the animatronics weren't there, standing ominously over him, "That's assuming they even caught the right guy."

The man named 'Carl' seemed to pause, "What are you saying?"

"Anyone can dress up," Caine explained, "And though most cops I know are honest and hard-working, they're also pressured into going for the easy answer. Did they ever catch the guy's face on camera?"

Carl hesitated, "No."

"Then what answer would you go for: An employee with formal training and in a position that required them to wear a costume or a janitor? Or a kitchen hand? Or even the CEO?"

"That's true," Carl said, "Though I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those suits. You seen how hideous they look?"

Freddy's interested look quickly turned sour.

"Er, yeah," Caine nervously laughed, "Anyway, can we do this another time?"

"I mean, really, have you seen that chicken? Or the rabbit? Rabbit alone would give me nightmares!"

Neither the bear nor the fox seemed pleased about it and it wasn't clear whether they were aiming to take out their displeasure on the phone or the detective.

"Carl, could you please not insult the killer robots?" Caine said somewhat more urgently,

"Fox looks like a death trap, even back then! I got a picture of him right now. You think it was before or after he bit someone's head off that they figured he wasn't safe for kids?"

Foxy blinked with his one good eye, then looked down expressionless.

Caine was becoming more annoyed than worried, "Could you stop that?"

"And the bear? Jesus Christ, he must've eaten all the pizza—"

"Carl!" Caine yelled out, his face a mask of anger and fright at the look that Freddy had just given him.

"Uh, sorry. Got distracted. Hey, I kinda feel like getting Pizza. What about you?"

"Carl," Caine breathed with closed eyes, "I'm at Freddy's right now."

"Oh?"

"Tied to a chair."

"Um…"

"With two very angry-looking animatronics hovering over me."

"…"

All there was on the other side of the phone was buzzing for what felt like an eternity before Carl's voice came back.

"I'm on speaker, aren't I?"

"Aye." Caine slumped down slightly.

"Ah, hell," Carl mumbled, "Listen, I'll make it up to you, alrigh—"

Carl's apology was cut short when Freddy's fist slammed down on the table, destroying the phone and shocking both the detective and Foxy.

"Really?!" Caine spat out, "Why the phone? It was the idiot on the other end you're annoyed with!"

"Enough!" Freddy shouted, almost surprising himself with the sound of it, "Start giving us real answers, or tonight's not going to end well for you!"

Caine tilted his head slightly, "By real, do you mean 'real'? Or like, real-real?"

"The truth."

Sighing, Caine shrugged, "Then can we do this on neutral ground? Enough of this pantomime bull."

Pausing, Freddy kept his voice even, "I'm not sure what you mean."

Snorting, Caine twisted slightly, "Can you three get out of the closet, already? You're making me feel stupid just by having to say that!"

Freddy's eyes widened, "There's only two in there, now. Mike Schmidt will be dead by now."

"And would you cut it out with that voice?" Caine snapped at him, "Besides, I figured your little 'game' out about twenty minutes ago."

Freddy stared at him for some time, before sighing, "Come on out."

Glancing at him, Foxy seemed unsure, "Boss, are ya sure?"

"The game is up."

Hesitantly, the backstage door was pushed open. Bonnie and Chica came out, looking both confused and forlorn, followed closely by Mike.

"How did you…?" Mike started to ask him,

Sitting back in his chair, Caine inhaled slowly, "It was a good plan, I'll admit. You did catch me off-guard with your spiel of 'company threats' and 'accidental bystander'. That ambush, as well? I have to admit, for the first few minutes, I genuinely believed that it was all a legitimate murder."

A look of shame came over Mike, though it wasn't clear why, "So then…how did you figure it out?"

Caine shrugged again, "The lack of screaming, for one. I doubt there was any way these…" He glanced between the animatronics, "…robots...could kill someone quickly and painlessly. After you were dragged in, I didn't hear a peep. Probably should've continued the act."

"Then there was the fact that just before you were dragged in there, I saw something that stood out," Caine looked at Mike directly, "Legitimate panic. It was obvious you had gone through a similar experience once before."

Mike flushed, before biting his lip and hugging himself, "But…I could've just been scared."

"Oh, I know you were," Caine agreed, "which was why it stood out. It was the first time I genuinely believed you were scared for the right reasons."

Mike closed his eyes, clearly blaming himself for the plan's failure.

"The cameras helped, too." Caine suddenly continued.

Looking at him incredulously, Freddy's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about?"

Caine hesitated for a moment, "Probably shouldn't have mentioned that. I made sure to put a few hidden cameras around the pizzeria on my first visit here."

Exasperated, Mike's eyes went wide, "The hell?! Where did you—"

"In three places around the pizzeria," Caine explained, "One just inside the security office, one in the entrance hall, and one just by the hallway. Neither of the former caught anything too substantial, but the third…"

"Caught us." Freddy suddenly finished for him.

"Aye. Specifically, caught you lot making your plan. Of course, the cameras don't have any audio so I couldn't actually hear what your plan was, so…"

"Was it recorded?" Freddy asked, looking down.

"Yep, it was."

"Which means…"

Caine nodded, "Which means I have all the evidence I need, aye."

Freddy didn't say anything, keeping his eyes glued to the ground.

"I just don't understand," Mike gritted his teeth, "How is any of this legal? None of it will hold up in court!"

Caine shrugged, "They send me in when they don't want 'by the books'. More fool you for believing I'd play fair. Besides, I doubt kidnapping will help your case much."

"He's right." Freddy responded.

They all looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Well, be still by aching ego," Caine smirked.

"Freddy," Chica asked, concerned, "What do you mean?"

Freddy's eyes were closed, "The plan has failed. He isn't going to be scared off. He's got the evidence to prove his claims. The moment he leaves this building, our fates are sealed."

Bonnie looked worried, "Then what do we do?"

Refusing to answer himself, Mike had clearly figured it out. He froze, shaking his head in horror.

Freddy looked at Caine. "I'm sorry. I'll try to make it painless."

"No," Mike found his voice, "No, no! Freddy, if you do this—"

"They'll want our heads," Freddy answered him, "if they ever find out. But if he leaves, that's not a possibility; it's an inevitability."

"You don't know that." Mike pleaded with him.

"I'm not willing to gamble our lives on it. Because no matter what, I must protect this family."

"Well," Caine cleared his throat, "Guess I can't fault the logic in that one."

"But I can!" Foxy hissed out, surprising the bear, Mike, and Caine. "Yer not doing this, Fazbear!"

"Foxy," Freddy spoke quietly but viciously, "Stand down."

"Ya not doin' this for us!" Foxy shot back, "Ya doing this for ye own bloodlust! I won't let ya!"

Freddy's face went red with fire, "How dare you! I've done nothing but give to this family—"

Before the argument could implode more, a sharp rapping sound stopped them in their tracks. Slowly, they all looked towards the direction of the sound and in its place sat Caine, ropes dangling by his feet and a small pocketknife in his hand.

"Well," He said sullenly, "Not the greatest timing."

Before either of the two animatronics could respond, Caine vaulted from the chair and over the table. Freddy's eyes went wide as he realised that Caine's target was one of the tables further back, where they'd placed his equipment.

Mike realised this, too. "Stop him!"

Caine grabbed the pocket watch, the combat knife, and the phone from the table, but before he was able to recover his pistol and hat, Foxy reached the other end of the table and with a monstrous amount of strength, flipped the table over effortlessly.

From behind, Freddy tried to rush him, but Caine vaulted over another table, intending to reach his gun. Bonnie and Chica both joined the fray whilst Mike stood in the back of the room, helpless and aimless.

Stomping closer to him, Freddy's eyes went hard. "You're not going to win this. But I swear, if you hurt one of my friends…"

Caine didn't take his eyes off the bear, though he made sure not to lose sight of the others that were quickly surrounding him, either. Slowly, the Detective hoisted the combat knife and the smaller pocket knife up and stood ready for the fight.

But then, just as Freddy stepped forward to initiate the attack, a blinding flash overcame his vision and his thoughts drifted away…

Apologies for the long space between updates. I'm currently on holiday from work, so I'm mostly trying to recharge my batteries. I wasn't too pleased with how this chapter turned out, so it wasn't as good quality as the others.

TheAmberShadow: Yep, he's come prepared. This was never going to be an easy out for the animatronics or Mike.

vaetta: Poor guy just keeps putting himself in dangerous situations, doesn't he?

TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3: Overall, not the greatest first impression, huh? It wouldn't seem that Caine is the type to walk away so easily...