Two months after the Pizzaplex incident is how long it took before Gregory missed one of their hang out sessions.

Vanessa supposed it was natural, inevitable even. Gregory had a life outside of her after all, there was a very good chance he had just plain forgotten about it.

But that didn't stop the parade of anxiety that went through her head last night.

She sent him a text about it, before putting her phone on silent and heading out to meet the next tour group for Fazbear Frights.

She didn't expect to see Gregory with his duffle bag as part of the group.

"H- hello, my name is Vanessa and I'm a Freddy Fazbear security guard." She continued with her usual spiel. "I will be your guide through the most horrific experience of your life as I take you through the horrifying history of the Freddy Fazbear Franchise." She gestured for the group to follow her. "Our story begins with Fredbear's Family Diner, started by its founders Henry Emily and William Afton…"

The added presence of Gregory distracted her but she continued on with the tour, leading the group through the various displays, attractions, and junk as she told the story of Fazbear Entertainment and animatronic restaurants in general.

And of course plenty of things about the murders.

"Is it true that the Purple Guy hid the bodies inside of the animatronics?" One of the tourists asked. Perhaps "piped up one of the tourists"

"It could never be proven, but I will say that it is said the animatronics began to stink shortly after the murders," Vanessa said in a faux conspiratorial fashion. "Like something was rotting inside."

That got a reaction, excited whispers for most of the tourists, although Gregory didn't react. He seemed to be just looking at the floor in a worried fashion. Alright, now she was getting worried, well worrieder, was that a word?

The tour continued as normal, her telling stories and showing off the various exhibits: from a genuine part of the original Fredbear animatronic, to mannequins wearing the various security guard uniforms, to a room modelled after the old location security office complete with doors that needed power to stay down.

Then she led them to one of the most popular rooms of the entire attraction.

"This is Balloon Boy, a genuine animatronic from the late eighties from the very same location that the infamous bite of '87 took place in." Vanessa looked at the tourists to avoid looking at BB himself, dear god he was creepy. "Around this room you'll see various boards and exhibits on that infamous incident. Please take your time to look around for a few minutes. Any questions about Balloon Boy can go to Jeff, our resident technician."

With that, the tour group dispersed around the room, Vanessa waited for a few minutes before making her way over to Gregory.

"Can't say I expected to see you here today, lil' man," Vanessa said with a nod. "What's up?"

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Gregory looked around as his grip on the duffle bag tightened. "It's important."

Vanessa nodded and turned to Jeff, mouthing at him to cover for her, once he nodded in agreement she took Gregory out to the security office, where the tour would end.

"What's wrong?"

"It's…" Gregory bit his lip. "Could you take Freddy for a while? Not forever, just a little bit."

Alright, something was definitely wrong here. Incredibly wrong, those two were practically joined at the hip.

"Sure thing kiddo. He's in the bag, right?"

Gregory nodded and set the bag on her desk, "Thank you."

"What's wrong?" Vanessa knelt down to his level. She had a hunch. "This is something to do with last night, right?"

"It's nothing… Just me messing around with some of the other kids, that's all," Gregory put his hands in his pockets.

Suddenly it was thirteen years ago. A ten year old Vanessa was saying that exact same line to her teacher when they asked why she was late. Bruises were hidden under her long sleeves and she was terrified of all the older kids, since they'd bully her for anything and everything. She never wanted anyone to worry so she hid her injuries and made excuses; did her best to make it seem like she had the 'right' interests. Anything to get them to leave her alone.

In this moment Gregory reminded her so much of her younger self it was absolutely was even wearing long sleeves and jeans today, and he never wore either of those if he could help it.

Vanessa's breath hitched for a comment before her face clamped down hard into a façade of calm.

"Don't worry Gregory, I'll keep him safe. I promise."

"Thank you," Gregory said. "Listen, I should probably get moving. We can meet up later in the week."

"That's okay, kid," Vanessa shot him a genuine but strained smile. "Go on ahead, I've got to finish with the tour group anyway."

With that Gregory left the building and Vanessa stood up to deal with the tour group that Jeff led towards there.

"Thank you Jeff," She nodded. " Now everyone, this is a typical office that the brave security guards would have worked in for the infamous night shifts," Then the lights of the office went out right on que. "There were a great many stories of animatronics walking around at night, trying to get into the office."

She sat down in her chair, putting on a show of adjusting the cameras to face the tour group.

"As one guard, named Mike Schmidt said, that it's a balancing act between managing the building power and the various animatronics," Vanessa paraphrased it. "Any mistake could mean the end, stuffed inside the suit."

She continued on with the speech, bringing up various ways the night guards warded off the animatronics, as Balloon Boy made its way to the office on the cameras in the background. She was actually rushing it a little, glancing towards the bag where Freddy's suspiciously silent head was resting.

And after she'd practically shoved the tourist group after the door into the gift shop, she left the building out the side door and pulled out Freddy's head; he looked slightly damaged.

"What happened last night?"

Freddy looked very mournful for an animatronic head, which really wasn't a good sign.

"It's good to see you as well, Officer Vanessa, as I'm sure you can guess, there was some trouble last night." Freddy refused to meet her in the eye. "Gregory had an incident with some older boys, they bullied him for our friendship. When he eventually began to try and leave, they attacked him. I tried to get them to stop, but they wouldn't listen, and stole his phone. Damaged me."

Fuck… that was something that sounded familiar, far too familiar.

Gregory didn't deserve this, he was kind and smart, he was a good kid that didn't deserve to be bullied by a bunch of snotty nosed brats. But what could she do about this? She had no influence over them or the orphanage. She had nothing.

Then she got a terrible idea.

"Freddy, do you have any idea how adoption works?"


Vanessa could remember her own mother well enough, although it was mostly dominated by her memories of the funeral.

People speaking about her mother, tears going right down her face as she mutely sat through the entire ordeal, the endless parade of people oh so sorry" for her loss.

But before then she remembered just how she'd always look at Vanessa with this sad expression. They didn't spend that much time together, although Vanessa had always loved her.

Her mother was always kind, that was the big thing that they'd always said at the funeral. And she was a good mother, always making sure that Vanessa had everything she needed even if they didn't spend the most time together, leaving the most of it to her stepfather.

Although she wouldn't deny that she felt just a little resentment over just how often she was left in the care of her stepfather.

Then of course there was the arguments.

She remembered vividly hiding under her bed with a pillow over her head as she futilely tried to block out the noise. Mother always said that it wasn't her fault, although Vanessa never believed her.

Now a days she thought differently of course. There was a hell of a lot of factors in the arguments and subsequent trial, Vanessa herself was just one of them.

Ironically one of her best memories was when they went to a Freddy Fazbear place together, it was still relievedly unsoiled by everything that happened. The taste of horrible cheese pizza, the Freddy characters doing a show on stage and her mother being by her side the entire time.

Although in retrospect the next night could have gotten her murdered, but she had gotten lucky.

But she could vividly remember the following morning after that good day just as well.

She got up in her bed despite not remembering falling asleep in it and went down to the kitchen that morning to see her stepfather at the kitchen table with a squad of policemen and a white sheet on the floor.


As per tradition Vanessa woke up at three in the morning. As per tradition she ran towards the bathroom to expel the remnants of her dinner after a nightmare.

With that out of the way she returned to her room where Freddy's head was watching her curiously from her dresser.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine… this is pretty regular for me," Vanessa ignored Freddy's concerned look and picked him up before going to the living room. "I'm not going to be getting any sleep for the moment, so we might as well get some work done."

As it turns out adoption was a complicated thing, like she was still having trouble wrapping her head around the legal jargon required for it.

She set Freddy down on the small table and opened her laptop to continue filling out the forms.

"Officer Vanessa, would you mind if I asked you a question?" Freddy asked after a moment.

"Go for it."

"What where you dreaming about?"

Vanessa stiffened a little, "Nothing impor- Well that feels terrible to say." She cut herself off. "It was the most important moment of that child's life, that being the end of it."

Even talking about it made her feel sick. On a certain level she knew that it was Vanny that killed that child, that it was Glitchtrap's fault. But that did nothing to stop her from blaming herself.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Freddy sounded sincere which bought a smile to her face.

"Why do you ask anyway?" Vanessa decided to make some conversation while she filled out the endless forms. "Was I tossing and turning?"

"A little, but I ask because I've always wondered what dreams were like," Freddy said wistfully. "Whenever I'm offline to recharge I do not dream, although occasionally I see one of Michael's memories."

"Dreams can be quite nice, although I'm much more used to nightmares," Vanessa told him. "Once I dreamt about walking between two rooms and in one of them there was a purple Dracula that kept insisting he was my dad, although that happened right after I had an 'The Immortal And The Restless' marathon."

"Do you like that show?" Freddy's eyes went to where the boxset for said show was lying on the floor.

"Yes, I love it, although that boxset was Michael's I think. It came with the apartment."

"Fascinating. While a part of him lives in me I know very little about Michael himself, so these types of insights are intriguing."

"It is nice to see what type of person he was," Vanessa sighed. "Glitchtrap always ranted about him, about 'his' Michael and how he ruined everything. So seeing all the stuff in here, finding out what type of person he was… it humanises him for me. Uh, no offense."

"None taken," Freddy chuckled. "You know, when we were both working at the Pizzaplex I think you were one of the guards we all liked best."

"Oh? One of? Who was the favourite then?" Vanessa tilted her head playfully.

"It depends on who you ask, for me I always liked Richardson, because of his sense of humour. Monty liked Lilly the most, Chica favoured Charles and Roxy actually liked you the best, although she next actually said it."

"How could you tell?"

"Roxy talks to herself when she thinks she's alone."

Vanessa chuckled a little. Looks like she and Roxy had something in common.

"Do you?"

"No!" Freddy denied. "Well… maybe. Sometimes. If I feel Like it."

"Never change Freddy," Vanessa snorted as she shook her head lightly.

"But things will change, you know this." Freddy became more sombre. "That's why your putting in that application right now isn't it?"

"Yeah…"

There was a beat of silence as they both thought about what the change to this tenuous status quo would mean. Adopting Gregory certainly would change everything. It would be a big commitment from her, and right now Vanessa wouldn't really classify herself as a functioning adult.

"I'm still moving forward with it," Vanessa declared.

"And I'm grateful, but I want you to be sure about this before you go further."

"I've been thinking about that myself ever since I first asked you, what is technically yesterday, now," Vanessa sighed. "I know I'm probably not the best mother figure, but Gregory… he's a sweet kid that deserves better than having to relive my childhood."

"You were an orphan?"

"Yeah, I was at an orphanage for the first few years, before being passed around a dozen or so foster homes. I hated it." Vanessa recalled. "It felt like I didn't belong anywhere, never made any friends, never got adopted. Gregory doesn't deserve that."

"For what's worth Vanessa, I'm with you and support you every step of the way," Freddy said kindly.

"Thanks, Freddy."

"It's no problem, I will always be there for you."


Vanessa never knew her real Father.

He left just a few weeks after she was born. It was very sudden according to her mother and with no explanation.

The most she knew about the man himself came from the personal effects he'd left behind locked in a box.

The first of them was an old Foxy mask. It was very dusty and crumpled when she pulled it out, clearly not having been worn in a very long time.

The second was a letter to, what would have been her uncle, if he wasn't long dead by time said letter had been written. It gave her the only real insights to the man, but it wasn't very long and some of the words were too unclear to discern their meaning.

Dear [Too degraded to make out]

It's been a long time since I last did something like this, but while you are never going to read these words I hope that your spirit or something can. It's been a long time so let's get you up to speed, I'm married now and I've just had a beautiful baby girl that we've named Vanessa. You'd have loved being her uncle, I've known her for only two days now and I think that she's going to be the sweetest little girl ever. But she has got me thinking about the past. Father disappeared years ago, with him, mom, Elizabeth and you gone I'm the last Afton of our happy family. Well, Second last.

But before he vanished, Father left a clue [Large portion of unreadable text] I hope that I'll be able to get there easily, but it also means that I think I'll be having to leave my wife and daughter behind. I can't let the sins of the past [Text too faded] Me. Don't worry, I'm going to go and fine out everything.

Lots of love, your older brother [Word too faded to make out].

That last bit of faded text, her father's actual name, was a source of never ending frustration for Vanessa. She didn't know how many long hours she spent looking at it and hoping that it would just suddenly make sense.

The question of why exactly he decided to leave also bugged her. From the letter it sounded like it was to help them, but he never returned. She often fantasised about her father suddenly returning one day, to save her from her Stepfather and then to rescue her from the orphanage and foster system.

But around her teen years this idolisation turned into resentment, hatred of the man that abandoned her and her mother. The fantasies of him returning to her life now included a lot of yelling, lots and lots of yelling, it was when she started going by Vanessa A.

But now a days Vanessa only felt a mild curiosity, she had more important things to worry about than her long absent father.

Like Gregory.


"Gregory, how're the cupcakes?"

Currently Vanessa and Gregory were currently at the same hill they rested on when they first escaped the Pizzaplex. She thought it would be a good idea to ask him about adopting here because of the good memories.

Also it was the start of June and roasting enough for a picnic.

"They're pretty nice," Gregory said with pink frosting all over his mouth. "You and Freddy made them?"

"Yep, although between you and me, Freddy is a horrible cook," Vanessa joked.

"Don't be so hard on him. I'm sure he really helped you get a head with it," Gregory punned.

There was a beat before they both laying back on the grass laughing like mad. She wasn't sure if baking the cupcakes was necessary, but listening to Gregory's laugh was enough for it to be worth it.

Freddy himself was back home recharging. It took a lot of work to build a makeshift charging system for Freddy, but she was fairly confident that it wouldn't explode.

Potential fire hazard aside, Vanessa tried to remember the lines that she practiced with Freddy just a few hours ago, while she was setting up the death trap of a charging station.

"Gregory, I've got to ask you something… something really important…" Her courage failed her three steps. "W- who's your favourite animatronic?"

"Freddy obviously," Gregory looked at her weird. "Why do you ask? Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Vanessa said quickly.

"Oh. That's good," Gregory looked at the sky. "Which one is your favourite?"

"Not Bonnie," She'd never liked the rabbit much and her experience with Glitchtrap only made things worse. "I suppose it would be Foxy and all of the other fox and wolf type ones."

Her belief of Foxy being her favourite came from that aforementioned trip to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria when she was a little girl.

"Foxy was one of the old animatronics right?"

"Yep, one of the originals."

"Huh. Really?" Gregory looked thoughtful. "If I'm honest I can't really picture all of the animatronics being that old."

"They were old when I was a kid," Vanessa chuckled. "You know, you remind me a lot of when I was your age."

"Really?"

"Just a bit," Vanessa shoved him playfully. "Although I think you were braver than I ever was."

"No way! I bet you're like totally brave and stuff," Gregory was quick to her defence.

He and Freddy always did that, always tried to pull Vanessa up when she put herself down.

Maybe it was time to prove them right.

"Gregory… would you mind if I told you a story?" Vanessa asked, her tone much more subdued.

Gregory didn't say anything but he did nod, looking at her with a clear curiosity.

"When I was aged nine I didn't have a family anymore. My birth father was never there, my mom had very recently died and my stepfather abandoned me." Vanessa leaned back on the grass and crossed her arms behind her head, looking to the clear blue sky. "I spent the next three years at an orphanage, before I was put into a few different foster homes for the next few years. I hated every second of it. The other kids bullied me and I always felt alone. That loneliness has's never left me." Her mouth felt drier than a box of Fazbear brand Disappointment. "I don't want you to have that same experience."

She risked a glance to see that Gregory was doing the same thing as her, lying back on the grass with arms crossed behind his head looking at the sky. Her eyes hastily returned to the blue sky. She always liked the clear sky.

"Gregory… with your permission, I'd like to adopt you."

The entire world seemed to go silent and a moment stretched out to an eternity as she waited for Gregory's response.

A moment more. An eternity more.

Then she heard his voice.

"I was running away," Gregory's voice was barely above a whisper. "That's why I was at the Pizzaplex that night. I didn't know where else to go."

"Oh."

She'd always assumed that he decided to stick around after hours as a dare, or to impress someone, or even out of curiosity. She didn't even consider that…

"Is it that bad there?" She asked gently.

"Yeah… I got the idea from my friends you see," Gregory explained. "They all ran away one by one, all of them having disappeared in and around the Pizzaplex. I thought they'd all found somewhere to hide in there which is why I went there, I thought they were waiting for me. And then…"

Vanessa's heart sank as she realised what he was saying, all of his friends disappeared in and around the Pizzaplex.

Like everything was, this was all her fault.

But self-pity and loathing could come later, right now Gregory needed her.

A moment passed, then without thinking Vanessa hugged Gregory. "I'm sorry…"

Gregory didn't say anything, instead he simply just hugged her back, no words were needed.

They stayed like this for a few moments, although Vanessa wasn't used to hugging people. She'd seen it done in movies sure, but it's been a long time from the last time she did it.

Gregory mumbled something into her shirt.

"What did you say?"

Gregory pulled away, they both sat there. "I said… yes, I'd like to be adopted by you. If it isn't too much trouble."

"It's none at all kid, although it'll probably take around two or three months for everything to be sorted." Vanessa said. "But I'm willing to give it a go if you are."

"I am…" Gregory said with a smile on his face. "Thanks Vanessa."

"Anytime kid, it's the least I could do."


Vanessa hated her stepfather.

That was it.


"Remember to breathe."

"What do you think I'm doing!?" Vanessa hyperventilated. "You aren't helping Freddy! You aren't helping!"

"Don't worry Officer Vanessa, you are safe here," Freddy soothed her. "I want you to repeat that, say 'I am safe, I am at home, I am safe.' Can you do that Vanessa?"

"I- I am safe," Vanessa repeated, although he waves of sheer panic overwhelming her made it seem different. "I am at home, I am safe."

"That's good, now just focus on the sound of my voice Vanessa," Freddy said softly.

"Okay…"

She did her best to focus on that sound, of Freddy's soothing tones and gentle calm.

Minutes passed and Vanessa's panic attack seemed to fade, her breathing returned to normal.

The source of today's particular panic attack was that a social worker was coming over for an interview, if she did well then a trail run could begin next week. If she failed it was game over, so no pressure.

"Alright, I'm good now…" Vanessa took a few deep and calming breaths. "Thanks, Freddy."

"Anytime Vanessa," Freddy said amicably. "Are you ready?"

She wasn't, but nodded anyway. Freddy would pretend to be a replica while the tour and interview took place. She'd rehearsed her answers and done research, the entire apartment had been cleaned top to bottom.

Then came a knock at the door.

She opened it to reveal the social worker, a woman that looked to be in her fifties, with wrinkles and grey hair already. She was wearing 'smart' clothing and carried a clipboard and pen.

"Hi, are you the social worker?" Vanessa asked to which the lady nodded. "Please come in. Would you like anything? Tea? Biscuits?"

"No thanks," The woman wrote something down on the clipboard. "My name is Doctor Kimball. II will be evaluating you today."

"It's great to meet you Doctor Kimball, I'm Vanessa Afton." She raised her hand to shake, Kimball did not take it.

"I'm aware. Now to start we will go through a tour of the premises," Kimball said shortly. "Shall we?"

"Right, of course," Vanessa's smile was much more fake now. "This way."

Kimball walked in and immediately got to work examining the living room, seemingly writing down notes as she looked at the various things. She was also technically in the kitchen because it was one of those deals that had the kitchen and living room in the same room.

"I suppose this is all your literature?" Kimball looked at the bookshelf with a critical eye.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Kimball said nothing and went over to the kitchen where a combination of old and new appliances were scattered around the various counters. Vanessa cringed when Kimball picked up the toaster that looked to be a decade old, she'd been meaning to replace that one.

Without a word Vanessa showed Kimball the bathroom and then Vanessa's own room before moving onto where Gregory's room would be.

After that they sat in the living room on Vanessa's recently purchased sofa for the interview portion.

"Alright Miss Afton, I will be asking you a few questions, some to gauge your parental ability and others to see if you are suitable for the position. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Vanessa nodded.

"Excellent, now I'd like you to tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living?"

"Well I'm a actor slash security guard for Fazbear Frights," Vanessa said. "Typically I'd be showing around guests and tourists and telling them the history of the Fazbear franchise. Have you ever been there before?"

"No. I always found it's appearance to be rather droll," Kimball said stiffly as Vanessa's anxiety skyrocketed. "Do you… enjoy working at such an establishment?"

"Yes, I do." Vanessa nodded with false confidence.

"I see… What are some of your hobbies?"

"I uh, like reading under the blue sky and uh, oh! Video games, I love playing video games." Vanessa answered quickly.

"What was your childhood like?"

"My father left my mother shortly after I was born and my mother died when I was eight," Vanessa tried to ignore how dry her throat suddenly felt. "I was then put into the system until eighteen."

"I see," Kimball's expression was unreadable as Vanessa's smile wavered. Was she saying the right things? "Can you provide for a child financially?"

"I can, my pay adequately covers both my own needs and potentially Gregory's as well," Vanessa explained. "As I'm sure you can see from the provided documents."

"Do you have any criminal record?"

"No."

The questions kept coming and weren't stopping, everything from "What is your plan for school?" to "What do you think your parenting style will be like?" And "What do you know about some of the unique challenges faced by children who come home through adoption?" Then "What are your hopes for your child?"

It was an exhausting gauntlet that Vanessa was ill equipped to handle, but she did her best to answer them anyway, thankful for the hours she'd spent rehearsing with Gregory and Freddy. All in all despite how merciless Kimball was, Vanessa though she was doing not well, but decent given all the circumstances.

Then came the last two questions.

"Now according to your file and our own research, you've had five therapists. All of whom were murdered." Kimball's expression was steely. "What would you say are your feelings about that?"

Vanessa knew that this particular question was coming, there would be no way in hell it wouldn't be. It was the biggest blip on her record that the public knowledge, as such she'd prepared appropriately for it.

"I was terrified at the time," Vanessa said quietly. That was technically true, she was terrified. Except that the reason for it was she was afraid she'd wake up to news of a sixth. "It felt like someone was out to get me, but it was just some very bad luck."

"I see, but why were you having therapy in the first place?" Kimball asked pointedly.

"It was company mandated, after the last beta tester broke down and took his own life. I'm not sure why the company kept them going after I switched from Beta tester to security guard however."

There was beat, then two more. After that Kimball nodded.

"Very well, final question. Why do you want to adopt?"

"Because Gregory reminds me a lot of myself at that age, and as I'm sure you can gather, I didn't have the best experience growing up." Vanessa closed her eyes and massaged her temple. "A kid like Gregory, hell any kid, they don't deserve to have the same childhood I had. But while I can't help every kid, I can help Gregory."

"Hmmmm," Kimball wrote a final thing on her clipboard before looking directly at Vanessa in her eyes for the first time since she got here. "I'll be blunt Miss Afton, you are not the most suitable candidate for this. Several of your answers have been lacking and this charming abode isn't ideal for a family. In spite of this, I can see your heart is in the right place."

"You mean…?" Vanessa dared to hope.

"Yes, I am going to allow the trial run to move forward, you can collect young Gregory next week."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Vanessa grinned enthusiastically as she practically jumped up out of her seat. "You won't regret this!"

"I'd like to hope I won't, there will be stipulations and requirements of course. Every two weeks on an unspecified day and time there will be a check up to make sure nothing criminal is going on." Kimball explained as she got up from her seat. "And final checks will be made."

"Of course," Vanessa felt like she was at the top of the world.

She was actually doing this, things were actually going her way for once.

Now all that was left was to try and be a good parent, a good mother to Gregory.

Well it wasn't like she could do any worse than her own parental figures.

Especially Glitchtrap.


Saying that Glitchtrap was a monster was a lot like saying water was wet.

And in a very sick and twisted way he acted like a parental figure to her, although it was more of an extreme caricature of an abusive parent. In a way he reminded her of mother Gothel from Tangled, he certainly was good at a lot of the same things she was.

He was also in her head, making sure to slowly grind her down and create Vanny. Gaslighting, mental torture with a helping of verbal and psychological abuse was par for the course when he was around.

Now that he was gone Vanessa couldn't help but fear that one day he'd come back and be in her head once more.

And of course there was the murders and horrible crimes he made her commit.

Those still haunted her conscious and nightmares.

If he ever did get back into her head again…

She'd make sure that she was stopped permanently before another crime could be committed.

That being said, thought(?), whatever. With that statement made, she knew that things were better now.

Glitchtrap was gone, she only had a panic attack once a day now.

But she was worried however, she'd read stories of kids with Vanessa's type of childhood abusing their own kids. That was something that really horrified her to her core, the idea of her hurting Gregory.

But while she didn't have the best role models, Vanessa was going to do her damn best to try and be a good mother to Gregory.


"So kid, this will be your room, what do you think?"

Gregory was looking around the room with a good deal of awe. "I've never had my own room before."

"I know that feeling, I didn't get my own room until I moved into student accommodation for university," Vanessa chuckled a little. "It'll be an adjustment period."

"It's awesome!" Gregory grinned. "Thank you!"

"It's not just me, Freddy was the one who suggested the posters and picked the bed clothes."

"I just used my Fazbear intuition," Freddy said modestly.

"Well then kid, it's our first night together under this roof. What do you want to do?" Vanessa asked. "Play video games? Movie marathon? It's your choice."

"A marathon sounds great," Gregory said after a moment. "What do we have to watch?"

"I think season five of Stranger Things came out yesterday on Netflix," Vanessa offered as the walked out into the living room/kitchen where the Chinese food they ordered was still waiting.

They sat down on the coach as the streaming service booted up and then the familiar theme filled the noise of the apartment.

As far as days went, watching TV with her two best friends with Chinese food was pretty good.

Just a few episodes into the marathon is when Gregory fell asleep, he looked peaceful.

Gently she picked him up and set him in his room, tucking him in under his blanket before returning to the living room and turning off the TV.

"Night Freddy."

"Good night Vanessa."

When she fell asleep that night, for the first time in years, she would not have a nightmare.

And her hope for the future was brighter than ever.