A/N: William learns some hard truths, the antithesis of his favorite thing - soft lies.
And to reply to your question, A Reader: I don't have a set upload schedule, though I try to get a new chapter up every couple of weeks. Thank you for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying it!
When Henry saw Nicholas running toward him with tears streaming down his red cheeks, he knew immediately what had happened.
A handful of other children had come running to their parents from the hallway looking spooked and, climbing up onto their laps, they told in quick, frightened bursts about the man who was yelling at them to take their shoes off.
Henry quickly excused himself and intercepted Nicholas. He knelt and held out his arms and Nicky ran straight into them, sobbing.
"Where's your dad?" Henry asked urgently. Nicholas wiped his eyes and pointed down the hall. Henry looked around for Elizabeth, hoping he could have her keep track of her brother, but she was nowhere to be found. Henry took out the cloth handkerchief he always kept in his breast pocket and wiped the rest of Nicholas' tears away. He took him by the hand and led him to the table with the other children. "Could you please keep an eye on this little guy for me for just a moment?" he asked the parents, hoping his tone didn't seem too desperate.
A mother with a crying little girl pressed into her shoulder stared at him, alarmed. "Who was yelling at my child?" she demanded.
Henry began backing toward the hall. "I am going to see to that right now, ma'am," he said. The animatronics danced away on stage, singing the new song they had taught themselves, making good-natured but alarmingly-sentient finger guns at the children. "Thank you." With that, he turned and jogged toward the back room.
"Will?" he called. He listened hard for growling or scratching, picturing William fully transformed into the rabbit, the restaurant suddenly turned into a death trap. He wondered if he should tell the customers to leave instead of searching for him, but he found himself still searching and keeping his voice down as to not alarm anyone.
"Will!" he called again. He ducked his head into the office but it was dark and empty. He stuck his head into the men's restroom and was on his way to the safe room when he heard Elizabeth talking in a low voice.
His heart dropped and he pictured her cornered in the ball pit, trying to convince a feral beast with long claws and snapping jaws not to eat her. But just as he lurched into the room, ready to fight the rabbit with his fists if he had to, he saw them sitting against the wall together: William with his head buried in his knees, and Elizabeth doing what looked like petting his head. She saw Henry in the doorway and she held up a shushing finger in front of her lips, as though she were an animal expert on some wildlife show.
William lifted his head at the sound anyway. His face was pale and drawn, his eyes were bloodshot, and black blood was smeared across his face and hands. He didn't look well, but at least he was still human. He locked eyes with Henry and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, leaving a new streak. "False alarm," he said with a shaky smile, not bothering to make it convincing.
Henry let out his breath and leaned against the doorframe, legs suddenly weak. "Did you—"
"No," William answered. His eyes were blue and human-shaped, not the flat reflective disks of the rabbit. "Almost," he admitted. His eyes searched Henry desperately, like a wild animal, and Henry wasn't fully sure the person he was talking to was Will.
"What's your name?" asked Henry.
William gave him a confused look, more bewildered than angry. "My…my name?" he asked.
"Yes, your name," said Henry, slowly approaching. "I just want to know I'm talking to my friend."
William scowled his signature scowl. "Ronald Reagan," he said flatly.
"Please," said Henry. "Just humor me."
"Fine. William fu—" He glanced down at Elizabeth. "—untime Afton. Favorite ice cream is rocky road. Favorite song, Mr. Sandman. Do you want my social security number?"
"Be nice, Daddy," said Elizabeth. William took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair to calm down. He mumbled out a "Sorry" and Henry said it wasn't a big deal.
Henry smiled, relieved because no rabbit could fake an Afton temper tantrum. He sat down next to William against the wall. "So, uh, what caused all that?" he asked, motioning. William lifted a hand and wiped it over his face, as though he had forgotten the black blood was there.
"I was," William hesitated, took another deep breath, and started again. "The children, they were… well, I guess I shouted at them and then I started getting this…pain in my chest and I wanted to…" He paused for a long moment, long enough that Henry wondered if he should say something. But William finally continued. "The black stuff…it just came out," he said.
Henry nodded compassionately but he knew he never could truly understand. William was staring again—he did that a lot these days—just staring into the ball pit. Elizabeth was sitting close to him with her arm around him. She wasn't petting William anymore, but she was snuggled in close, as though they were watching a movie together. She had already seen and heard way too much for a seven-year-old and Henry felt guilty for not being able to shelter the kids better from all of this.
"Hey Lizzie," said Henry. Elizabeth leaned forward to look around her father. "Why don't you go find your brother? He's at the table with the other kids by the stage."
Elizabeth frowned, looked at William for support, but he was still numbly hugging his knees. Her shoulders fell. She slowly got to her feet and started to leave but William gripped her hand tighter. She looked down at him, confused, but he was staring down at his shoes.
"Stay," he said quietly, desperately. "Please, Lizzie?" Elizabeth looked to Henry for input and Henry shrugged. If William needed Elizabeth here and Elizabeth didn't mind, there was nothing Henry could do about it. Elizabeth hunkered down next to William again and he held her close under his arm like Nicky's favorite Fredbear plush.
"You're okay, Daddy," Elizabeth said softly. "You're doing good." William took in a long shaking breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled.
"It's like I'm allergic," William said out of the blue. "To the moon and children and noise and stress and…and who knows what else." Elizabeth patted his arm comfortingly. "Ever since we got here, I've been right on the edge. And I'm afraid that, if I hear one more screaming child, I'm…I'm going to…" He sighed and scratched the scars on the back of his neck.
"But it's daytime," said Henry. "You've never transformed during the day before."
"Thanks for your contribution, Henry," William snapped. "Helpful, as always."
"I'm just saying, it's a change. Maybe one that will help us understand what's going on and how to cure it. Maybe it means your transformations are preventable."
William frowned, meaning to look angry but the dark circles under his eyes just made him look exhausted. "Are you saying that you believe the rabbit fucking me over during the day as well as at night—"
"Language, Will, geez—"
"—thereby stealing my whole fucking life, is a good thing? Did you stick your head in Freddy's mouth? Because you're talking like someone with brain damage."
Henry had lived with William too long to be affected by his insults, but the despair in his voice worried him. Behind his antagonism, he was crying for help, clinging to Henry like a weeping child, begging him to tell him that he was going to be all right. But at the same time, he believed he was doomed, no matter what Henry said. And antagonizing him back wasn't going to solve anything.
"How did you stop it?" Henry asked calmly.
William was still glaring at him, hackles raised, raring for a fight, but when he saw Henry wasn't going to give him one, he relaxed. "Ask Elizabeth," he said.
"I have magic hands!" announced Elizabeth, showing them to Henry. "I just pet Daddy on the head like this—" She demonstrated. "—And he calms down!"
Henry looked to William for confirmation and William blushed deeply; he wiped more black blood from his nose and averted his eyes. "It responds to her," he said, "for whatever reason." Elizabeth hugged his arm and grinned a grin that made her look like a happier version of her father.
Henry looked around the room, unsure of what to say. There were children's drawings all over the walls of the animatronics: produced by drawing and coloring competitions he and Will hosted for holidays. The winner got a free pizza and one-on-one time with either Fredbear or Springbonnie. The kids used to request both of them equally, but over the years, the requests for one-on-one time with Springbonnie decreased. This upset William, who was intensely competitive and kept track of who got more requests. Henry said it was probably just because Fredbear looked like Freddy and Freddy was the main animatronic on all the fliers, but secretly he wondered if William was a little too honest on his bad days while wearing the Springbonnie suit.
They used to get complaints from parents once in a while about "the rabbit" swearing at the kids, sometimes even complaining to William, himself, thinking one of the part-time employees had been wearing the suit. When that happened, William and Henry solemnly promised that they'd give the employee a stern talking to and it would never happen again. In private, William laughed so hard about it that tears came to his eyes, but Henry warned, while stifling his own snorts, that if he kept it up, it'd drive away business.
"Maybe Elizabeth is the cure we're looking for," said Henry. "Until we can find something more permanent, maybe you just need to spend time with her when you start to get stressed."
"Yeah!" said Elizabeth, excited. "We can have a sleepover in my room and we'll draw and color and give my ponies makeovers."
William looked helplessly at Henry and the door, then back down at Elizabeth. "I…" he sighed. "I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a try." Elizabeth cheered and squeezed his arm tighter, causing a small smile to sprout on his worried face. As he explained to Elizabeth that he couldn't actually sleep in her room every night, Henry looked up at the door and saw Nicholas standing there watching them. William glanced up as well, to see what Henry was looking at, and the smile dropped from his face.
"Nick," he breathed. He leaned forward a little, wanting to say more, but he couldn't get the words to come out.
"Daddy's okay now," said Elizabeth, motioning her brother over. "Look."
Nicholas crept closer, stopping every few feet and waiting, to make sure everything was okay. Henry nodded encouragingly. Finally, he made it all the way over and William carefully leaned forward and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Nicky," he said in Nicholas's ear as he buried his head in Will's shoulder. "It'll never happen again. I swear."
Without looking up, Nicholas held up his hand, one pinky outstretched. William hooked his own pinky around it, locking in the promise. Because of how selfish William often acted, Henry sometimes forgot how much he loved his children. Will wanted to solve the rabbit problem for himself and for Freddy's, sure, but it was clear the thing that caused him the most stress was his kids' wellbeing. He wasn't a perfect father but he cared about them and was willing to do whatever it took to keep them safe, maybe more even than was healthy. Henry couldn't let him down again.
"Let's get you home," said Henry.
"It's Saturday," said William. "We can't close Freddy's on a Saturday. I'm fine."
"No, you're not—"
"I'm fine—"
"No. You're not," Henry insisted. William glared at the ball pit, pensively rubbing the back of Nicholas's t-shirt. Henry sighed. "How about we finished up this current birthday party and then go home? Is that an acceptable compromise?"
William was quiet for a long moment. "Yeah," he said finally.
"Good," said Henry. He scuffed his shoe on the floor in thought. "I'll, uh, I'll speed them along and you can hang out in the office in the meantime. Sound good?"
"I want to stay in the office with you," said Elizabeth. Nicholas added a soft "Me too."
William lifted Nicholas off his lap and disentangled Elizabeth from his arm. "Go with Uncle Henry for now, okay?" He got slowly to his feet, using the wall for support. "Daddy needs a moment to himself." The kids started to protest but he snapped his fingers and pointed. "Henry or no TV this weekend." Elizabeth continued to hang on his arm and beg, but once the threat of no TV extended to two weeks and he made it clear that Saturday morning cartoons weren't exempt from this, she quietly took Nicholas's hand and they followed Henry out of the room.
Henry looked back when William didn't follow them right away. He had stopped by the ball pit and was staring vacantly in. "Will?" Henry prodded. "Are you going to the office?"
William scratched the side of his face. "Yeah," he said into the ball pit. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute. I'm just…collecting my thoughts."
"Okay," Henry said, trying not to let his concern shine through too strongly. "Let me know if you need anything."
"All right," said Will as Henry herded the children into the main room. He really hoped William was fully in his right mind. He decided that, once he got the cake cut and the second animatronic act up and running, he'd come back to check on him. Just to make sure he made it to the office and didn't get lost on the way there, confused, shaking, bleeding, rabbit-brained.
—-
William sat on the edge of the ball pit. He took his shoes off and dipped his feet into the balls, kicking them back and forth as though it was a swimming pool. He imagined he was at the public pool with Henry and the kids. Nick was doggy-paddling in water wings, Elizabeth was doing cannonballs off the diving board, Charlie and Mike were playing water volleyball, Henry was sitting on a lawn chair under an umbrella with a book on his lap and sunscreen on his nose. I want to go to the pool, thought William as he lay back on the economy-carpet floor and stared up at the fluorescent light in the ceiling, his blood-smeared hands making black spots where they fell. But pools had screaming children, and lots of them. Thanks to the rabbit, those days might be over.
He focused on his breathing, whistling through his stuffy nose: in William, out the rabbit. In peace, out—
A sound caught his ear; it sounded like whispering and buzzing wires at the same time, and it was coming from the vent up close to the ceiling. William sat back up and walked to the vent, trying to get a closer look. At first, he thought he had imagined it since it was so quiet, or that it was sound that had drifted from the party room. But now, standing under the vent, it was clear it was coming from there. He listened closely and craned his neck, trying to see inside but it was too high up. It was a voice, alright. It sounded like a recording because of the static, but it didn't sound like one, because he got the feeling that it was trying to talk to him. It spoke in short statements with wide expanses of silence between, as if waiting for a response.
William felt himself beginning to sweat and he realized he was terrified, and yet, something about the voice was familiar, internal, as though he had donated a kidney and he was meeting the recipient. Or rather, like he was the recipient and the donor was in the vent.
"…room. Meet me," said the voice.
"What?" William called back despite himself. He pressed his ear to the wall as though it would help him hear better. "I can't—"
"Parts," said the voice. "Services. Meet me."
The parts and services room was where William and Henry brought the animatronics when they needed maintenance or upgrades. It was where they had stashed Bonnie after gutting him and scrubbing out the fluid that had started all this. William hurried down the hall in his socks like a man possessed. His legs threatened to give out at any moment, begging him not to go into that room with the paranormal rabbit, but even if he was going to his doom, he didn't have a choice.
The door to the room had a big red sign on it that said "Employees Only," but the door was never kept locked. He pushed it in and turned on the light, half expecting Bonnie to ambush him and finish the job. But he didn't. Bonnie was sitting propped up against the crates at the back where William had left him, his chest panel open and the moving pieces scrubbed and smelling of antiseptic, drying on a towel on the floor. Bonnie's plastic eyes were staring lifelessly at the ceiling, but William still felt like he was watching him in his peripheral vision.
William crossed his arms uncomfortably and rubbed a hand over his mouth, suddenly self-conscious about how badly he had been dealing with his situation. "So, I'm here," he said lamely. He waited but Bonnie didn't respond. Muffled laughter and music drifted through the thin walls. He felt stupid standing there waiting for something to happen; he felt insane for thinking the voice in the vent was real. He was losing it, but he couldn't allow himself to go full-blown crazy; at least not until his kids were grown. "Get it together," he scolded himself, pushing his hair back in irritation. He waited another long moment alone in the dusty room.
"This is idiotic," he said and turned to leave.
"William."
The voice was low and thin and gravely, as though transmitted long-distance over telephone wires. It rattled in Bonnie's mouth, but it was clear it wasn't Bonnie who was talking. Whoever was talking wasn't even in the building, maybe not even on earth.
"Y-yes?" William ventured.
"William," the voice said again. "Poor. William."
The rabbit in William responded to the voice like a TV antenna picking up a signal; its heartbeat felt like glass in his stomach. William winced and crossed his arms low over his torso, trying to calm it down. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"You're having a tough time with it," replied the voice.
William took a deep breath and squeezed harder. If this kept up, he was going to have to sit down. Bonnie's insides were glowing faintly and he thought he saw the outline of a body within but something told him it wasn't human. "Yeah, no shit," he said. He thought of the supernatural fluid inside Bonnie, in the petri dish, inside himself. The glow inside Bonnie was the same color. "Did you…did you poison me?"
"Yes." There was no hesitation.
William's heart beat loud in his ears and he wished he had Elizabeth there to calm him down. "But…" His voice sounded whiny to his own ears. "But why?" It was the question he had been asking himself since this whole thing had started. Why him? What had he ever done to deserve this? He was just a simple restaurant owner, a mechanic. Why would a supernatural entity choose him to bully?
"It's a punishment," said the voice, "and a mercy."
"For what?" William demanded. "I haven't done anything!"
"You would have. If not for this."
"Done what?"
"You know."
Inside the cavity of the Bonnie animatronic, William thought he saw a long scaly snout with sharp, jagged teeth. They were the kind of teeth used to catch prey and rip it to pieces. William was that prey, he had been caught between those teeth, and no amount of struggle could get him loose. Those teeth were in him permanently, no matter how far he ran.
"Remove it," William said, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice. "Remove it and I promise I'll never do whatever you think I'm going to do. I swear. On my kids' lives, I swear. Just tell me what it is and I won't do it."
"You would fail." The statement was flat, unemotional, and nonjudgmental, just a statement of fact.
"How is sticking me with a killer rabbit supposed to keep me from doing bad things?" William asked.
"I didn't stick you with anything," replied the voice. "I just gave what was already in you a form. One you can't control or use to harm others. Nurture it and keep it safe and you both will survive this."
"I don't…" William didn't know what to say. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, couldn't believe who he was talking to. "For how long?"
"That is uncertain," said the voice. "The length of your life is hard to predict." The voice waited for a response, but William was speechless. "Take heart," it continued. "this is the lesser evil."
The glow began to fade. William lurched forward and grabbed Bonnie by the shoulders.
"No, no, no, no!" He shook the casing. "Stay here and unpoison me, you fuck! You can't leave me like this. If you do, I…" The glow disappeared completely and the rabbit went back to sleep. "…I'm going to hurt someone." He shoved Bonnie to the floor and yelled at the ceiling. "You hear me?" he shouted. He kicked Bonnie in the side. "I'm going to hurt someone and it'll be your fault! It's your fault, not mine!" He kicked Bonnie harder, but the glow didn't return. "It's your fault."
He sank to the floor, panting, his foot throbbing, his chest tight with tears. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He curled up next to the animatronic and tried petting his own head for comfort, but it didn't work.
A/N: "Your lifespan is hard to predict, William. You might live to eighty, or you might die tomorrow because you decided to do a backflip in the Springbonnie suit."
Just nurture the rabbit, Will. Eat carrots, watch romantic comedies, and stop calling it mean names.
