Your Best Shot

She was getting looks. Of course she was getting looks. She was dressed like a punk rocker in a long coat, her hair was purple and she was wearing a top hat. Honestly, Bonnie figured she could have just exposed her ears and tail and she'd be getting about the same kind of reactions. At this point, she didn't really care.

Stopping on a street corner, she looked around. In her entire life, she'd only been out of the restaurant about four times. Three of those were when someone was in trouble, including herself. There was that prolonged period of time between being freed from the new place and staying low until they had to clean up Sid's mess. Then, of course, meeting Mike when he got out of prison. That had been a good day.

All of those other times, she'd been going along with whatever was going on. Now she had the choice, to go anywhere she wanted to and not be afraid of looking over her shoulder. And she had no idea what to do.

Maybe that was why she found herself drifting back towards somewhere familiar. The old location. Their old home.

Looking at it now, crumbling and decaying, Bonnie realised she'd never seen it from the outside in the daylight. Plenty of times coming back at night from those times she'd been out, but never in the light of day. She couldn't have imagined it was a much prettier sight than it was right now. It was a rather squat, ugly building. They'd try to dress it up from the outside with bright lights and colours on the sign, but it was like trying to make a rusty bicycle look better by adding a red bow. All of the windows were broken and it was littered with graffiti. She was glad to be shot of it. Good riddance.

So… why couldn't she pull herself away? Why was she still standing here? Why could she feel something warm start to trickle down her cheek?

"Bonnie? Is that you?"

"Huh?" She turned and grinned at the sight of a familiar face. "Susie! Hey, how's it going?"

"I'm good, yeah. Great, actually!" She grasped Bonnie's outstretched hand, returning her grin. "What are you doing out here? Hey, are you okay?"

"What? Yeah, yeah of course," she said quickly. "Why uh, why do you ask?"

"It's just… well, you're face." Susie gestured awkwardly.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, just… Stupid," she muttered. She wiped away the tear, staring at it glistening on her finger. "Crying. Who in the hell makes something that cries, like on purpose?"

"Some bizarre and scientific reason, I'm sure." Susie looked in the direction of the restaurant, then back at her. "Hey, do you want to grab a drink somewhere, maybe?"

Bonnie nodded. "Sure. Where'd you have in mind?"

Following the woman down the street, Bonnie found herself recalling this path. It was one she'd taken many months ago, during the one time she'd left the restaurant and it hadn't been for any weird or sinister reason. Sure enough, they arrived at a basement bar. The Hideaway, it was called which surprised Susie when Bonnie told her that she knew it already.

"Mike and I came here around Christmas time last year," she explained. "Had a pretty decent band playing. Something to do with fruit."

"Oh the Smashing Apples? Wendy actually knows the drummer. We come here to watch them perform. I think they're actually doing another gig tonight, we might see them." Susie laughed a little. "I thought you never left the restaurant."

"That was the only exception. At first, anyway. Ended up leaving a few more times after that but those were for all kinds of stuff happening. This was the only time it was ever for, well, for fun." A fond smile came to her lips. "That was a good night."

"Well, aren't you just full of sentimentality today," said Susie as they sat in a booth. "Okay, I'll get us some drinks. I'm assuming you don't have any money?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Let's just say the nature of my work meant I didn't exactly get paid for it."

"Shocking. You should form a union."

They shared a laugh and Susie went to the bar after telling Susie her order. The bar was quiet. After all, it was only the middle of the day. She was surprised when she actually saw what time it was. How long had she just been wandering around since this morning?

She scanned the area and noticed that Susie was right. The band was here, getting things ready for their gig. She was tempted to go up and say hi, but didn't imagine they would remember her. She looked away as one of them glanced in her direction, just as Susie came back with their drinks.

They talked briefly about the current state of affairs with Bonnie and her fellow synths. She talked about how they'd been recruited to help them, but didn't mention the revelation of their true nature. Bonnie had a feeling she knew which one had come from William Davies and didn't feel it was best to talk about it in their current setting.

"Well, I hope you guys are able to help them. From what Jeremy told me, they seem like they need it. Especially the one that looks like a little boy, with the balloons." She gazed off thoughtfully. "I always thought it was weird, how much he seemed to stare at me but now…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. We've got this," Bonnie said quickly. "Anyway, enough about me. What's up with you? How's Wendy?"

"We're fine. We've actually gone into relationship counselling. It was really awkward at first, but it's been a big help." She paused to take a sip. "Still got some stuff to work through, but it's been going a lot better than it was."

"Hey, that's great. I mean, considering I was the one who set you on the road to getting together, I'd hate to feel like my words of wisdom were wasted," said Bonnie.

"Yeah, that'd be an interesting story for my parents." She cleared her throat and put on a casual tone. "Well actually, it was all thanks to a performer at a children's restaurant that we got together. She gave me some sagely advice I took to heart."

"What can I say? I'm wise beyond my years," said Bonnie.

Susie laughed, checked around to be sure no one was listening and leaned in, speaking in a quieter voice.

"I still can't believe this is what was hiding under that suit this whole time. I mean, look at you!" Susie gestured up and down. "You're gorgeous!"

"Oh shut up," muttered Bonnie, her cheeks growing warm. "That better not be something you have to bring up in counselling, your secret crush on a robot rabbit lady."

"Yeah, that would go down well," she chuckled. "I can't tell you how happy I was when I came to work at Freddy's and you were still there."

"Well, it's not like I was going anywhere."

"I know, but other restaurants sometimes rotate out their performers or even replace them. But no, it was still you. Same Bonnie and the band, just like I remembered. Now look… things have really changed, huh?"

"Yeah." Bonnie suddenly became very interested in her glass.

"It's not stupid to miss what came before, you know." She leaned across the table again. "Especially if you have fond memories of it."

"Fond." Bonnie laughed without humour. "Yeah, that's rich."

"It was that bad?"

"What, staying in a cramped pizzeria for over twenty years, stuck in some clunky suit, never able to leave because of what you are and because there's some guy out there who wants to hurt you and your friends for it?" She glared at Susie. "Yeah, it was that bad."

"Okay, fine.

Silence settled between them for a moment. Bonnie didn't like it. Intrusive memories threatened to creep in, making her feel squirmy in her stomach.

"Did I tell you I managed to get a new job?" Susie's words made Bonnie glance up. "Climbing place in Greater Borealis. It's a lot more hands-on than what I did. I'm not just on the front desk now, I'm actually getting involved and helping those kids and families have a good time."

"Sounds a lot better than Freddy's," said Bonnie.

"Oh yeah, I'd say. Better pay, more hands-on and more active. Oh god, the things I could tell you about from Freddy's. That jerk Bobby was always playing some prank or another. The old janitor kept giving me weird looks. The kids could be a handful, but the parents were even worse sometimes. Kicking up a massive fuss, screaming and demanding the manager when they wouldn't get their way. Especially towards the end, it was rough and that's not even mentioning… the kids…" She took a ragged breath. "God, I don't think I'll ever forget it…"

Bonnie didn't say anything, just listened. Though she agreed with everything Susie was saying, some part of her ached when hearing her talk about the restaurant like this.

"But do you know what the weird thing is?" Susie went on. "I actually still miss it."

"Seriously? Even after all that stuff?"

"Even after. Because I also remember how happy those kids got from seeing you perform. How much you made their days and made their visits special. The way you played, it wasn't just some recording, you were actually playing! And you're good! No, amazing! And because years ago, when I was still a kid myself, a robot rabbit lady came up to me and told me that who I am was all I needed to be. Now look." She gestured to herself. "Not too bad, if I say so myself."

Bonnie felt something start to trickle down her cheeks again. But this time, she couldn't suppress the grin that was growing on her face. The pride that was welling up within her.

"There, see? And I'm just one person. Think how many others you did that for, huh?"

"Yeah… but it's gone now," she murmured.

"You're right, it's gone. The place is. But what you take from it isn't. It's still there and it doesn't have to define you forever, Bonnie. You can be more than that now. I mean, look at you! You're out and about, sitting having a drink with someone. Imagine what else you can do."

Before Bonnie could answer, they became aware of somebody standing close to their table. It was the Smashing Apples, looking at Bonnie like she was a rare kind of animal.

"Oh hey, Ed," greeted Susie to a man who looked like he'd tried to shave his hair into a shape of some kind. "You guys alright?"

"Sue, I told you, my stage name is Crab Apple!" he hissed. "But forget that. Hey, 'scuse me, but did you play with us for a bit last year, around Christmas time?"

"Huh?" Bonnie had to take a moment to realise they were addressing her. "Uh, yeah. Yeah a friend and I stopped in here for a bit."

"I told you! I told you it was her!" 'Crab Apple' cried, slapping the band's guitarist on the shoulder. "I told you it was the awesome purple lady, Red! Sue, you know this chick?"

"Oh yeah, Bonnie and I go way back. We were just catching up and she was telling me that she saw you guys perform."

"Woah! You remember us?" Crab Apple asked.

"Uh, yeah, of course." Bonnie shuffled in her seat, still reeling from the sudden attention. "You guys were pretty good."

"She remembers us!" Crab Apple beamed. "Loving the top hat, it's great!"

"Yeah, it really is," agreed Red (though Bonnie doubted that was his actual name). "You really spruced things up night with all those tips you had. You're like a pro!"

"I mean, yeah, I'm pretty good," she said, feeling her cheeks heat up again. "I just figured I'd give you some pointers."

"Pointers of how to be amazing!" chimed in the singer, the only woman of the trio. "Red Delicious was already a decent player, but you helped kick him into overdrive! Rock on, purple lady!"

"You said it, Honeycrisp!" agreed Crab Apple.

Bonnie laughed, both from elation surging through her and the ridiculousness of the stage names. She kept that last bit to herself.

"What can I say? I guess I just have that impression on people," remarked Bonnie. "You guys keep rocking on, too."

"You got it!" said Honeycrisp. "Hey, are you gonna be around for the show tonight? It'd be really cool if you were."

"I'm…" Bonnie caught Susie's look and gave the band an easy smirk. "I think I might be able to squeeze it in. But only if you play as good as you did when I saw you."

The band promised they would and returned back to their preparations, still buzzing about what had happened. Bonnie was as well and Susie looked very pleased too.

"See? Out for one night and you already made a difference. I'd say that puts you on a pretty good track."

"Yeah…" Inspiration struck Bonnie and she downed her drink in one. "Hey, come on. I wanna show you something."

"Oh! Okay, where are we going?"

"Back to Freddy's. There's something I wanna check."

If Susie had any objections of breaking in to an abandoned building that was also the site of a murder, she didn't voice them. They waited until no one was looking, then Bonnie used her strength to break the lock on the back door. They slipped inside and closed it behind them.

Bonnie had to take a moment, gazing down the hall. A thick layer of dust coated every surface. She could see the show stage beyond, the place she would stand and perform. The door to the security office was on her right. She smirked at how many times she'd tried to creep in, both successfully and unsuccessfully. She could almost see Mike's face, almost apologetic towards her. Unlike his dad, who always rubbed it in.

But they weren't here for that, nor was Bonnie going to go much further beyond the hall. Even now, she thought she could still detect the smell, hanging from the back room…

Susie must have been having similar feelings because she spoke in a whisper like she feared waking something up.

"Sorry, but what are we doing here?"

Bonnie answered by leading her down the hall. "You ever have something you've always wanted to do in your life?"

"A few things. Visit Comic Con in LA. Sleep in a haunted house. Why?"

Bonnie opened a door on their left. The cleaning supply cupboard. The closest thing she had to her own space. There was a loose bit of flooring in the corner, which she jiggled and lifted away. She rummaged around the space and felt something.

"Oh my god, it's still here." She pulled it out of the floor, concealed in a dust case. "Guess they never found it."

"Why? What is it?"

She answered by unzipping it and pulling out a set of portable amps. "I asked Aaron to get me these, ages ago. Told him it was in case the restaurant ran out of power and I couldn't play. It was actually for something else. Never could do it, every rule in the book told me I couldn't."

"But now the rules have changed?"

"Sort of. But it's more than that." She looked Susie in the eyes. "It's to show the guy who's responsible for this place going under that I just don't give a damn what else he might do."

A flicker of fear crossed Susie's face, but a fierce look of defiance soon replaced it.

"Play one for William."

"Trust me, I'm playing for all of them. Now, do me a favour and look after this. I need to go grab something real quick."

When she returned for her guitar, Goldie told her exactly what she thought of her plan. It was reckless and would go exactly against what she'd said about not drawing attention to herself. Bonnie could hear the smile in her voice when after a moment of silence, she told Bonnie:

"Go and knock 'em dead."

It was how she found herself on the roof of the restaurant, hooking the guitar into the portable amps. Amazingly, they still had power. She'd kept good care of them, just in case and now it was about to pay off. It wasn't totally ideal. She didn't have a microphone, for one thing. But she'd make do.

Susie was watching from below. A few curious passers-by had already stopped to see what was going on. But she didn't care if she didn't get a big audience. She was doing this for herself.

She played a few experimental notes. The sound was good. Her confidence growing, she strummed the opening notes to the song of her choice.

"Is that Pat Benatar?" called Susie excitedly.

"Hit Me With Your Best Shot!" confirmed Bonnie. "You know it?"

"Only through Guitar Hero 3 but still!" Susie clapped.

Bonnie grinned in response. She played, not caring who was listening. She sang, even though no one could hear her. Her presence atop that old, crumbling building served one simple message:

She was still here, despite everything and if Sid Hawthorne wanted to try and change that? Give it his best shot. She was ready for him. He wasn't going to ruin her past and he sure as hell wasn't going to be in her future. Not if she could help it.