"Freddy? Freddy, can you hear me? Don't worry, I'll get your head back on in- gah!"

"Gregory~? Ready to have some fun?~?"

This was getting ridiculous.

Roxanne sighed to herself as she finished yet another lap around the Atrium. She could hear Chica and Monty stomping around on the next level, but she'd stuck around on the ground floor, convinced the kid was hiding somewhere in the massive room waiting for them to leave. Thirty minutes later, and it seemed the joke was on her. Not a single sign of the little troublemaker, not even the faint clanking of a closing door in the distance.

Face it. The kid's long gone. You screwed up.

Roxanne growled, making some nearby wet floor bots look at her in surprise.

No. No, the kid's still here. Just… not in this room.

The wolf gave the Atrium one last lookover, her eyes lingering on the thirty-foot holograms still rocking out at the other end of the room. She had no idea what possessed the kid to turn it on, but she was in no mood to figure out how to turn it off. Even if staring up at her hologram - bright and colorful and clean - reminded her that right now she… wasn't.

And who do we blame for that?

She was supposed to be recharging right now, preparing for another day of racing and rocking out. Instead, she was running all over the Pizzaplex in search of this one troublemaker, slogging through the grimy lower levels and backstage areas. She knew how much dirt and grime now covered her casing, and she didn't even want to think about the state of her mane. She feared the next time she saw a mirror, for more reasons than usual.

Roxanne shook her head. No… no, she was just working herself up for nothing. A little dirt wouldn't ruin her. Just a few minutes at the mirror with a buffer and some polish and she'd be right as rain.

Out the corner of her eye, she caught her reflection in one of the darkened arcade cabinets. She immediately averted her gaze, only to be drawn to the mysterious gunk under her claws.

... Maybe she could spare that time to do so now.

"Hey, Monty!" She yelled, looking up towards the level above.

"No, I haven't found him yet!"

Even without seeing him, Roxy knew the alligator was gnashing his teeth in frustration. She rolled her eyes, not wasting the energy to clarify. "Well, keep looking! I'm going to do a lap out by our back rooms. Where's Chica?"

There was a sudden clang from the opposite overhang, followed by the thudding of heavy footsteps. "I… I'm here!" The chicken bot appeared at the railing, waving to Roxy with way too much enthusiasm. She looked even dirtier than Roxy felt.

"Chica…" Roxy crossed her arms as she stared up at the chicken, instantly annoyed. "Are you looking for the kid or eating the trash again?"

Chica's brow went high, her eyes shifting back and forth. "Um… I'm looking for the kid."

"Ya got a slice of pepperoni hanging off your beak, Cheeks." Monty's voice rang out, barely hiding his mirth.

Chica squawked in surprise, going cross-eyed as she tried to see the offending slice. She snatched it with both hands, eyes darting down to Roxy before she ducked back out of sight. The smacking of teeth on teeth quickly echoed throughout the Atrium.

Roxy slapped a hand to her forehead, running it down her muzzle. "Ugh, we're all going to get scrapped." She turned towards the stage, now committed to putting some distance between her and her bandmates for a few moments, for her own sanity if nothing else. She made it all of five steps before something darted down by her feet, nearly making her jump out of her suit. For a split second, she thought it was the kid, before quickly noticing the lanky limbs and dark color palette.

"Naughty Boy…" Moondrop rasped as he scuttled across the floor, oblivious to Roxy watching as he darted between tables and arcade machines in a pattern known only to himself. "Rulebreaker. Troublemaker. Must be punished."

Roxy watched as Moondrop practically flew up one of the deactivated escalators, cackling softly under his breath. Her eyes darted to a nearby clock. If she could, she would have sighed in relief at the hour being almost up. Sundrop was annoying as all get out, but she could deal with him. Moondrop was just creepy.

As she trudged across the main floor towards Rockstar Row, Roxy tried not to growl under her breath more than necessary. Where the heck was Freddy? He was supposed to be the leader of this mess of a band, not her. And yet whenever he wasn't around, she somehow became de facto leader, if only because she apparently was the only one with a fully functioning processor.

He had to be helping the kid hide. She didn't want to believe it, and she had no idea why he would want to, but it was getting harder and harder to deny the possibility. Too many times had she or one of the others been chasing the brat around a corner, only for him to disappear and them nearly bowl over Freddy who was just… randomly standing there. That, and she'd yet to actually see him look for the kid himself. The next time she saw him, they were having some choice words.

... Come to think of it, it's been a while since they'd seen Freddy. What, was he hiding now too?

Roxy shook her head again, putting their missing bandmate out of her mind for the moment. First, get to her room and get cleaned up. Then, look for the kid, be the first to find the kid, and prove once again that she was the best.

She was the best.

She had to be-

Slam!

Roxy was torn violently from her thoughts when the double doors to Rockstar Row suddenly exploded open, just a few feet in front of her. She jumped back a step in surprise, only for her jaw to drop when she saw who it was.

The kid.

Finally!

"There you are!"

Roxy launched herself forward, arms outstretched to grab the kid before he could slip away again. The kid's head whirled around- strange, why was he looking backward as he came through the door?- and Roxanne froze midstep.

After a night of hiding in trash cans and crawling through vents, the kid was just as much a dirty mess as the animatronics, so that wasn't what surprised her. It was the look in his eye. He'd been afraid the first few times one of the bots had started chasing him, but after the third or so time of evading them, the fear had faded to annoyance each time he was seen, which in turn was riling them up. That fear was back now, possibly even greater than the first time Roxanne had charged at him. Tears were trailing down his cheeks.

(A traitorous little part of her programming screamed in protest. She was supposed to make children laugh and cheer, dammit, not cry.)

But what really brought her up short was the kid's body language. He looked wound tighter than a spring, sucking in deep gasps of air like he'd already been running away from something. Which made no sense, aside from Freddy they were all here in the Atrium. The kid was shaking with exertion, one hand clamped tightly over his shoulder, his arm hanging limply as his sleeve started soaking through with-

Was that blood!?

At a loss, Roxy started to slowly reach a hand towards the boy (bleeding boy, hurt boy, what the hell?). "Kid…"

She realized her mistake instantly. Whatever shock the kid was in broke as, with a panic glance behind him, he bolted, not to the side like she'd expected, but right at her. The change was so jarring that Roxy flinched, the kid ducking under her outstretched arm as he ran past her. She spun around at the waist, making a failed grab at him. "Kid, hold up a-"

Slam!

Crash!

Roxy let out of startled yip, her voice box barking static at the unfamiliar sound, as the double door burst open again and something slammed into her from behind, sending her stumbling to the ground. She felt the teeth of her lower jaw catch on something as she fell, a loud rip sounding as something heavy fell next to her, a light clattering sounding nearby. She lifted her head to see what had crashed into her… and wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

For a split second, she thought it was another animatronic, but it was too thin and lanky to be one of the spares from parts and service, and too tall to be a daycare bot. Their body covered in cloth and fabric, a stitched patchwork of pinks and browns. Judging by the ears it was some kind of rabbit, their body shape seemingly female, with bulging red-orange eyes that seemed to glow.

Static burst across Roxy's vision as she stared at the mysterious arrival, a half-dozen warnings trying to pop up on her HUD before being wiped away unfinished. Roxy winced at the buzzing sensation that continued to build the longer she stared at the… whatever-it-was. The figure quickly pushed itself up, twisting its head to look at her briefly. Roxy gasped.

One of the rabbit's eyes had been torn in half, revealing pale skin and a single yellow eye narrowed at her in annoyance.

This thing's human.

"Stupid robot," the woman (adult woman) muttered under her breath. Her eyes scanned the floor around them, before widening. She lunged forward towards the-

Knife.

The creepy rabbit woman was picking up a knife.

A bloody knife.

Roxy's vision was swimming in static now, barely able to see properly. More warnings continued to pop up, slowly taking form. For a full second Roxy could only stare as the woman lept to her feet and took off running. Roxy followed her path, seeing the boy running… no, limping away as fast as he could, leaving bloody footsteps behind him.

Oh crap. Was… was this why he'd been running all night!?

Then… the woman let out a chilling giggle.

"Gregory~... playtime is over~"

The boy looked behind him, letting out a cry of fear when he saw the rapidly approaching rabbit woman.

Like a switch being flipped, Roxy's vision cleared instantly. Four warnings flashed onscreen in rapid succession.

INJURED CHILD

INTRUDER DETECTED

WEAPON DETECTED

CHILD IN DANGER

Any annoyance she had with the kid disappeared as Roxy put her volume at maximum. "ARMED INTRUDER IN THE ATRIUM!"

She faintly heard Chica's startled, "What!?" as she took off on all fours, claws clacking across the linoleum floor as she shot across the Atrium. She was just a few feet away when the rabbit woman managed to tackle the kid, knocking him flat on his back, pressing a knee to the boy's chest and raising the knife high.

Roxy snarled.

It's over.

Gregory didn't even have the energy to beg as Vanny loomed over him, ready to bring the knife down. Her ripped mask somehow made it all worse, because now he could see the glee in her eye at what she was about to do. He clenched his eyes shut as Vanny started giggling.

"It's been fun, Gregory~"

Gregory could only whimper. He felt Vanny shift above him and braced himself.

Freddy, please! Help!

A terrifying snarl echoed throughout the Atrium

Gregory heard Vanny let out a squeal of pain, and the crushing pressure on his chest vanished.

His eyes flew open as he heard a crash just a few feet away from him. He scrambled to sit up, expecting to see Freddy grappling with Vanny. To his shock, he was wrong.

It was Roxanne Wolf.

Gregory watched, stunned, as Roxanne and Vanny rolled on the ground, the wolf gripping Vanny by the wrists as she tried to pin her down. Vanny let out a scream of rage. "Stupid bot! What do you think you're doing!?"

Roxy let out a growl in response, her jaws snapping just in front of the rabbit woman's masked nose. "Drop the knife!" When Vanny continued to struggle, Roxy reared up and slammed her back against the ground. "Drop it!"

Vanny snarled in kind, straining and pulling against Roxy's grip. There was a sudden rip as her costume's stitching gave way, leaving Roxy clutching at torn fabric as Vanny got her hand free. Her arm flew forward, knife flashing in the neon lights as Roxy's eyes widened.

Gregory's heart leaped into his throat as Roxanne let out an agonized screech. The wolf clutched at her face in pain, allowing Vanny to slip out from under her. Roxanne's left eye sparked as it slid off Vanny's knife, bouncing as it fell to the ground. Vanny's head snapped up, and Gregory tried to scramble back as the woman lept to her feet and charged. His back hit the side of an arcade cabinet, and he threw his arms up in defense.

Just before she reached him, a shadow passed over him from above. Gregory peeked through his arms just in time to see something large and green leap down from the upper level. The ground shook, and Vanny let out a surprised gasp as Montgomery Gator landed between her and the boy. Monty let a roar in her face, grabbing the woman by the shoulders and lifting her into the air.

Before Gregory could process that, he was suddenly grabbed from behind himself. He dipped his head back in panic and let out a scream when he saw Chica looming over him. But the chicken's eyes weren't on him. They were darting between Monty struggling to keep a hold on Vanny and a whimpering Roxanne trying to climb to her feet. Gregory felt the chicken's arms tighten around him as she took a step back.

There was a sharp clang!, and Monty let out a groan as Vanny lifted her legs and started kicking him in the face, shattering his sunglasses and knocking a couple teeth loose. Roxanne looked up at the sound, oil dripping down her face as she pressed a hand to her missing eye. She saw Monty struggling with Vanny, then saw Chica holding Gregory. "Chica, get the kid out of here!" She yelled, pointing towards Rockstar Row.

Chica's eyes widened, and she gave a sharp nod. "R-Right!" The chicken shifted Gregory in her arms, practically manhandling him as she started to run until she was holding him like a much younger child, turning him around and clutching him to her chest, his chin resting on her shoulder.

From this position, Gregory watched as Vanny managed to loosen Monty's grip enough to get her swinging arm free, burying her knife in the bot's elbow. Monty yelled out in pain as he was forced to let go, his arm going limp. But when Vanny tried to pull the knife back, it caught on something in Monty's arm. Between the strength of her grip and the weight of his arm, the blade snapped, leaving Vanny staring dumbly at the useless knife handle in her hand. Hearing Roxanne getting to her feet and seeing Monty struggling to remove the knife blade from his arm, Vanny looked frantically around the Atrium. When her eye locked with Gregory's, it narrowed dangerously.

Chica looked back when Gregory let out a frightened gasp, letting out a startled squawk at seeing the rabbit lady right behind them, arms outstretched. They were nearly at the doors to Rockstar Row, but what was the point when the woman was right on their heels?

"SECURITY ALERT!"

All three of them snapped their heads up at the sudden screeching yell. Sundrop dropped down from the ceiling, launching himself right at Vanny's head. The woman yelled in surprise as she stumbled under his weight, trying to throw him off.

Chica skidded to a stop at the doorway, she and Gregory watching in stunned bemusement as the daycare bot wrapped his legs around her shoulders and started raining slaps and punches down on her head.

"Bad Lady! Mean Lady! Kids are for caring and hugging and drinking Fizzy Faz! Not stabbing and scaring! Bad! Bad! Bad!"

"Get off of me!"

Vanny managed to grab Sundrop by the shoulders and started pushing him away. Sundrop gripped her shoulders to hang on, the two struggling against each other. Just as Sundrop's grip started to give out, the thudding of heavy feet sounded behind Vanny. Looking over the top of the woman's head, Sundrop gave a startled yelp and let go, purposefully letting Vanny throw him to the side.

Surprised by the sudden ease of her opponent's defeat, Vanny overextended with her throw, accidentally spinning herself to the side. There was a snarl and a roar behind her. Her eye went wide as she looked up, throwing her arms up in defense at the two forms running full tilt at her.

Roxy and Monty slammed into Vanny at the same time, carrying her with the force of the impact. Neither stopped running as they lifted her. And Vanny didn't know what they were planning until her short journey ended with a bone-shaking jolt, the two bots ramming her right into the wall.

The sound of impact echoed throughout the Atrium, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. The only sound remaining was Gregory's rapid breathing and clanking of the animatronics joints.

Roxanne's remaining eye roved over the woman's form as she and Monty held her against the buckled outer shell of the Atrium wall. The woman was still breathing, but her eye had slipped closed and her arms hung limply at her sides. Roxy shared a look with Monty, and by unspoken agreement they let the woman drop. She slid down to the ground bonelessly, slumping to the side.

With the threat taken care of, Roxanne turned to face the kid, still held in Chica's grasp. The utter bane of their existence for the past few hours… and she couldn't even take any satisfaction at finally catching him. Not with him staring up at her with fearful teary eyes, blood still trailing down his side.

Sundrop apparently agreed. Before anyone else could respond, he scrambled to his feet, took one look at the kid, and promptly shoved his face inches from the boy's own, milky white eyes roving over his injuries. "Oh, those are big ouchies, friend. Big, bad, messy! They need fixing right now!" He didn't seem to register how the boy cringed away from his attention, instantly whirling around and running off further into the Atrium, in search of a first aid kit if Roxy had to bet.

Roxy shook her head. She was officially too tired to care about Sundrop's antics. The kid did need patching up. She looked to Monty, then back at the unconscious woman. "Monty, find some cables or something to tie her up."

Monty's brow rose, then he nodded. "Right. Now, uh… oh, that'll work!" The gator stomped off towards the sound stage, and Roxy only hoped he wouldn't break too many things in his search. Tomorrow was already going to be a nightmare, given all this.

She pushed that aside, kneeling in front of Chica to be at eye level with the boy. She hoped he didn't notice how unsteady she was on her feet with her new lack of depth perception. She doubted he did, given how he seemed terrified out of his mind at the moment. Not that she could blame him, considering how much of a mess she was, missing an eye and still having oil trickling from the empty socket.

(Broken, useless, ruined, worthless-... Don't think about it, don't think about it, don'tthinkaboutit)

She still tried to give him a smile. "It's okay, kiddo. I know we look like a mess right now, but we're okay. You're safe now."

The kid- Gregory, his name was Gregory- looked at her doubtfully, his eyes darting up at the animatronic holding him. "You… You're not gonna hurt me?"

Roxy's brow shot high. She shared a startled look with Chica, both of them looking at Gregory like he was crazy. "Kid, our whole job is to entertain children. Y'know, make them happy? Why on Earth would we want to hurt one?"

Gregory squirmed in Chica's grasp, looking defensive. "Then… Why have you been chasing me all night?"

Roxy fixed him with a flat look. "Kid, it's 3:00 a.m. You're trespassing, you're breaking and entering..." She looked pointedly at the security passes sticking out of his pocket. "And you're stealing. Why wouldn't we be trying to catch you?"

The kid blinked, a dumbstruck look on his face. "Oh… I thought… I thought you were…" His gaze drifted towards the masked woman, who Monty was kneeling next to with a jumble of wires.

Roxy huffed, letting some of her irritation show. "You thought we were in league with the crazy lady with the knife. Wow. Thanks, kid."

"Roxy!' Chica chided softly.

Gregory scowled at her, which would have looked more threatening if the kid wasn't, you know, nine. "Well, what was I supposed to think? You all started chasing me at the same time she did!"

Roxy rolled her eyes-er, eye. "Kid, the only person here we have anything to do with is the security guard. Speaking of which, we need to get a hold of her so she can-"

"Uh, Roxy?"

Roxy turned away from Gregory, whose mouth was already opening for some backtalk. "What's happened now, Mont-"

Roxy froze at the sight before her. Monty had successfully tied the woman up with all the cables - possibly excessively so - and then had the idea to pull her mask off.

And the woman under the mask… was the security guard.

Roxy could only stare for a moment. Then she put a hand to her forehead. "Okay… sure. Sure, why not?" She stood up, clasping her hands together with a tight smile. "New plan. We stick her somewhere she can't escape from when she wakes up, clean ourselves up, and let Dayshift figure out what to do with her."

Monty scratched the back of his head, thinking. "Uh… we could put her in a charging station?"

Roxy pointed at him with a smile. "Perfect! That's… yes! We'll do that! We lock it down, she shouldn't be able to get out. That's… good call, Monty."

As Monty smiled, Roxy turned back towards Gregory. "As for you…" She tried not to be annoyed when the kid flinched under her attention. "Kid, I don't know what you were hoping to do when you broke in here, but I think we've all had enough excitement for one night. Any idea how we get a hold of your parents?"

Oh, good, the scowl was back. Except now the kid wouldn't meet any of their eyes. "I can't."

Roxy struggled to reign in her temper. "And why not?"

"I… don't have any parents."

An almost oppressive silence fell over the group. "W-What?" Chica haltingly asked.

Gregory's scowl deepened, a blush tinting his cheeks. "I'm homeless, okay? I only broke in here to have a warm place to sleep."

Roxanne just stared, trying to wrap her head around the concept. She eventually gave up, both in finding a proper answer and in dealing with the situation. "Well, luckily for you, Rockstar Row is plenty warm."

She ignored the three gobsmacked looks she got, instead turning towards the Atrium at large and shouting. "Sundrop, any luck with that first aid kit?"

"Over here!" Sundrop's voice came from the DJ booth on the top floor. "I found one but- gah!" The daycare bot let out a yell of frustration, his head popping up over the railing. "They have it locked up tight."

"Why would they lock up a- oh, forget it. Monty, go help him break into whatever it is." Monty gave a hesitant nod, then moved towards the escalators. Roxy then turned to Chica. "Take Gregory to my room and get him comfortable on the couch."

"Why your room?" Chica asked with what passed for a pout. Gregory didn't exactly look thrilled either.

Roxanne gave them both a flat look. "Because, Monty's is trashed, yours is full of trash, and Freddy's has been locked all night."

Chica wilted under her stare, looking abashed. "That's… a good point."

"Yeah, so get moving. I'm going to lock up our friend here. Then I'll try to find Freddy and fill him in."

"Um…" The two look back down at Gregory, who now looked abashed as he hung in in Chica's arms. "He's down in Parts and Service. But… you might have to reattach his head."

"... Of course I will."

Two hours later, and the Pizzaplex was back to something resembling normality. A set of service bots were in the process of cleaning up the blood and oil in the Atrium. The security passes have been returned to their proper places, save a few extra ones that no one would immediately miss. And the animatronics were in the process of cleaning themselves up for the next day.

The only difference was Sun and Moondrop's watch just outside Rockstar Row. The daycare bot had found a new perch on top of the nearby charging station, hanging over the edge of it and peering through the window at its occupant. Vanny had woken up around half an hour after being knocked out, and was none too happy to be trapped inside the metal tube. Sundrop was having perhaps too much fun deriding the woman for her increasingly creative bouts of profanity as she struggled to escape her bonds. The four animatronics would periodically check on them to make sure nothing had changed, and Roxanne got a good laugh from Freddy's horror regarding Vanny's potty mouth.

As it stood, Roxanne was just trying to get the last bit of grime out from under her claws. It had taken almost an hour to buff out all the dirt and grime on her outer casing, and that was after the painful process of installing a new eye. It was pure luck there happened to be a spare down in Parts and Service, and now she had to figure out a way to let Parts and Service know they needed to make a spare to replace the spare. She fought with her ruined mane for all of five minutes before throwing in the towel and having Chica help her replace the fake hair with a different one. She was finally able to look in the mirror and see something acceptable.

As she scanned a critical eye in the mirror for any remaining flaws, she heard a whimper behind her. She twisted in her chair, seeing Gregory curled up on her couch, clutching at a Freddy Fazbear plushie. His eyes were screwed shut, his body tense.

With a sigh, Roxy got up and move towards him. Freddy was still recharging, so it seemed babysitting fell to her. She kneeling next to the couch. "Gregory?" She whispered, as softly as her voice box allowed. "Kid, you okay?" She gave him a small tap on the shoulder, mindful of the bandages wrapped all up and down his arm (Sundrop might have gone a little overboard).

Gregory inhaled sharply, his eyes snapping open. He looked frantically around the room, flinching back against the couch when he saw Roxanne in front of him. The moment soon passed, and he looked down. "Oh… s-sorry…"

Roxanne huffed a laugh. "It's okay, kiddo. Nightmare?"

His cheeks tinged slightly, and he gave a small nod. "I saw Vanny." His eyes darted around the room again. "Is… is she...?"

In answer, Roxy picked up his Fazwatch from where it sat on the couch arm. She tapped a few buttons to bring up the security cameras. She stifled a snort as she brought up the one trained on Vanny's tube. Monty had stopped in to check on Sundrop and was just in time for Vanny's next round of insults and threats. The woman had her face pressed against the glass as she screamed obscenities, Monty just staring back at her, arms crossed and unimpressed, Sundrop draped across his shoulders like a bored cat. Part of Roxy wished they had sound on the cameras to complete the image. Instead, she just held it out for Gregory to see. "Still locked up tight. She ain't going anywhere."

Gregory relaxed minutely. He laid his head back down and tried to get comfortable again. "Good. That's good."

Roxanne grinned. "There's still a couple hours before the place reopens for the day. Try to get a little more sleep, eh, kid?"

"Okay." Gregory rolled over to face the couch, pulling the Fazbear-brand blanket over himself. Roxanne stood up to walk back to her vanity. She was halfway across the room when she heard his murmured last words.

"Thanks, Roxy. You're the best."

Roxanne turned around in surprise, her mouth partly open. But Gregory had already drifted off, snoring softly. Roxanne just stood there for a moment, watching him sleep. She smiled softly.

"And don't you forget, superstar."

A/n: So, I wrote this instead of what I meant to. Seems to be a trend for me at this point. At least this was a one-and-done. Security Breach was just that dang good, y'all. We should be a bit more character interaction aside from just Freddy and Gregory, which led to this. Hope someone out there likes it. You all have good holidays out there!