Pro-tip, leaving right before rush hour isn't the best idea. Vanessa wasn't caught in the worst of it, but it took her forty minutes to get home.
The apartment was eerily quiet. She put her stuff on the counter and went to check the couch. Gregory was curled up under a blanket, asleep, with Netflix displaying its "are you still watching" message. Carefully she ruffled his hair.
"Gregory? Kid? You wanna wake up?" There was no response. He was out cold.
Vanessa carefully held his wrist and took the fazwatch off. She flipped it open and fiddled with the settings until she found the space to put the wifi. She typed in the passcode and waited for confirmation.
It gave her the confirmation and the pressed the button.
"Hello? Freddy?"
"Where did we find these again?"
"Hmm… I am not sure Chica." The two animatronics stared at the hoodies in Freddy's arms.
"Ooh! Why don't we take them to the lost and found?"
"Perfect!" They got abut halfway to the lost and found when they were interrupted by Roxy appearing on the second floor.
"THERE YOU TWO ARE!" She yelled at them before running down the escalator. Chica and Freddy ran over, dropping the now forgotten hoodies all over the floor.
"ROXY!" They both slammed into her at breakneck speed.
"There you two are! I was looking all over for you!" Roxy squirmed out of the hug pretending to be annoyed at it while Chica giggled, they all knew she loved hugs.
"Apologies Roxy, we had too give Officer Vanessa a hoodie for Gregory!"
"You had to what?" That's right she didn't remember who he was.
"I will explain in a moment. Was Monty right behind you?"
"Yep he should be heading up to his room in a sec."
"Let's go then! Freddy will explain everything when we get there!"
The trio got too Monty's room just as he did. He gave Roxy and Freddy fist bumps before Chica tackled him into a hug.
"Alright Fred what's this about a Gregory?" Roxy sat down on the (thankfully repaired) couch with Chica following suit.
"A who?"
"Just sit down Gator."
"Okay. Last night there was a lost child in the building, correct?"
"You figured out the kids name?" Monty raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, but also-"
"Hello? Freddy?" The small voice completely distracted Freddy.
"Officer Vanessa!"
"Just Vanessa, Freddy."
"Is Gregory there?"
"He passed out on the couch. I'm letting him sleep for a bit."
"That is great! Give me one second, please!" He muted his end of the call. "Chica, can you explain?" She squawked.
"Me? But I-"
"Tell them what I told you. I will explain more when I get back."
"Okay then uhhhh… so… kids!" Freddy jogged to the maintenance area behind Monty's room.
"This is good. Hello Off-"
"Yes, hello Freddy. Do you know what's happening tomorrow?"
"The Pizzaplex is opening back up! We were supposed to open today but opening tomorrow is just as good!"
"Oh thank fuck. I'll probably bring Gregory with me for my shift."
"Wonderful!" An awkward silence stretched between the two.
"Well, I'd better get started on dinner. See you tomorrow Freddy."
"Goodbye Officer Vanessa!"
"It's just Va-" Before she could finish her retort the door slid open.
"FAZBEAR WHAT DO YOU MEAN I ALMOST KILLED A KID?" Freddy turned around to a frantic Monty.
"Montgomery-"
"FRED WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"Roxy we are not supposed to use that language!"
"THIS IS A SPECIAL OCCASION AND SHE'S RIGHT, WHAT THE FUCK FAZBEAR?" Freddy sighed.
"What exactly did Chica tell you?"
"Chica said that the kid was trapped here and the Night-guard was acting weird so you kept him safe."
"And apparently we tried to fucking kill him? That explains why he knocked me off the catwalk at least."
"Officer Vanessa was not herself and told you to help her find Gregory. Something else happened to you, I do not know how much of it Vanessa was involved with that part, but you acted strange. You tried to harm Gregory and he had to resort to violence to protect himself."
"Then why were you repaired? If you helped the kid why would he-"
"That was Vanessa. She activated the Security Bot's failsafe protocol and had them disassemble me. However Gregory stoped her and is currently staying with her until she can drop him off here."
"Are we sure it's safe?" Monty rubbed the back of his neck, "What if something happens again?"
"It won't! Freddy said that we're all good now!"
"Yes, Officer Vanessa made sure the technicians did several sweeps for viruses and bugs. We are all clean and ready to perform!" Roxy and Monty shared a skeptical glance.
"If you're sure."
"I am positive."
"FRED WHAT THE FUCK?" And that's her cue to leave.
Vanessa ended the call and quickly turned her attention to waking Gregory up.
When he refused to move, she just started boiling water for mac n' cheese.
That seemed to do the trick once she drained the pasta and started mixing in the cheese. She definitely didn't make any noises louder than necessary. Nope.
"Issat mac n'chess?" He sat up rubbing his eyes.
"Yep. Hope you like the generic store brand." He walked over to the island and put his head down on it.
"What's got you so tired?"
"Nothin'" she started plating his bowl.
"Come on kid you've been on the couch all day, what's up?" Gregory stayed silent as she gave him the bowl and fork.
He started eating and they sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Bad dreams." That shouldn't be surprising.
Vanessa hadn't been sleeping well herself the past couple of nights, but she had learned to deal with three or four hours of sleep when she was in high school and the nigh shifts always left her drained. Not to mention all the days without sleep spent running errands for-
Don't think about that.
"You want to talk about them?"
"No." He kept eating his food and Vanessa followed suit.
About halfway through the meal Gregory spoke back up.
"It was just a stupid nightmare, stop looking so mopey."
"I'm not acting mopey."
"You keep looking at me like I'm a sad puppy, I'm not one."
"I know you're not a puppy."
"Then stop treating me like one."
"I'm not."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"I think you should talk about it."
"I shouldn't."
"Why?"
"Why do you want to make me?"
"I don't want to make you tell me about the nightmare but I know that talking about bad dreams makes me feel better."
"I'm not going to."
"Kid-"
"I'm not telling you anything." Vanessa reached her hand towards Gregory, to try and offer some comfort, but he flinched back. His eyes sat wide with fear.
They sat for a moment in stunned silence before Gregory ran to her room, closing the door.
Fuck.
She messed that up.
Gregory ran into the bedroom and sat down in front of the door.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
How could he be so stupid?
Vanessa probably wasn't going to hurt him, she already had a night to try and kill him and she didn't do anything, so why did he have to screw it up?
She just wanted to help, he knew that, but he didn't want her help. Especially with this.
Especially when Vanny was the one in his nightmare.
"You thought you got rid of me?"
He ran through the damp alley way, desperately calling out of someone, anyone to help.
"This just makes it more fun~"
Falling, pain flaring in his knee.
"You know I love a good chase~"
Seeing someone in the distance, running faster, hoping they could help. The closer he got the better he could see their features. How the leftover rain shone on the metal body. It was Freddy.
"Freddy! Freddy help!" He kept running, desperately trying to get to reach him in time. Eventually he found himself holding onto Freddy's arm.
"Freddy open your hatch, now! We have to run!" Freddy lifted him up and slowly started walking towards Vanny.
"Freddy! That's the wrong way!" He tried to get out of Freddy's grip, but he just held him tighter. He heard something snap but all senses were numb compared to the terror consuming him as Vanny slowly approached him.
"You really thought you could rely on him? You thought you could trust him? You should know better than that by now~" She held her knife dangerously close to his neck-
STOP.
It was just a stupid dream, he's safe. Freddy would never hurt him.
He wouldn't.
Stop thinking about it. Gregory walked over to where his shorts were and reached into the pockets. He had moved all of his supplies there after they were washed.
Four granola bars, seven dollars and fifty cents, and two forks.
Four days of food (maybe eight if he stretched it), enough money to get some water bottles, and something to trade if things got bad. Other people on the streets always wanted forks, especially clean ones.
It was going to be fine. If he has to run again he's prepared. His stash of emergency money should still be in the alley on Carter street if things even get to bad.
Shit, fuck, other assorted swear words.
Ugh she had messed up big time.
She shouldn't have tried to get him to talk like that! She knew better. You have to let people come to you on their own time, other wise they'll never actually talk to you.
And yet she still tried to push Gregory to talk. Like an idiot!
She finished her dinner and mulled over what to do. Putting her plate in the sink, she decided on a plan of action.
Knock knock knock.
"Gregory?" she kept her voice soft, trying to make it clear she meant no harm. "Do you want to finish your dinner?" She stood by the door, not getting an answer.
"Okay. It's on the table if you want it." She hesitated before continuing. "I'm sorry, for pushing and overstepping your boundaries. I shouldn't have done that."
"It's okay." The voice was quite, but she heard it.
"It's not okay. I should have given you space when you asked for it."
"I'm sorry too."
"What are you sorry for? You did nothing wrong."
"I…" It seemed like he wanted to say something, to elaborate on why he was sorry, but he stayed silent.
The door opened and Gregory stepped out, going to finish his dinner.
BONUS:
Benjamin grumbled as they picked up the hoodies all over the floor.
"I don't get paid enough for this shit."