Author's Note: If you're sometimes wondering why Gregory talks like an adult instead of a child (especially in the last chapter), it's mainly because his mind is maturing much faster than his body due to receiving William's memories. As the story progresses, more of William's personality will Bleed into Gregory's (for better and for worse).

Lastly, Thank you so much and Happy Early Birthday to user MermaidMagik for your helpful feedback on and ideas for my fanfic. I really appreciate it a lot

—

Location: Elevator to Main Atrium

Time: 10:20pm

Soft elevator music plays as the clone of a serial killer and the giant mechanical bear hosting two restless spirits ride on a long elevator up to the Main Atrium.

"Gregory?" Freddy checks in on the boy. "You've been quiet. Too quiet. Are you alright?

Shielded within the metal compartment, Gregory was indeed sleeping and was currently drowning in a sea of William's fragmented memories.

A family of five at a dinner table. A boy in a fox mask cries having fallen down. There are horizontal crimson scars all over his arms and he's trying to protect himself from the taller man looking down at him. Another boy is in his bedroom chatting with several animal plushies. An orange haired girl with leaf green eyes giggles while showing him a picture of a poorly drawn cat...

"Gregory?" Freddy calls him gently.

Checkered tiles. A large cake full of candles. The screams of a girl with black hair in ponytails and a yellow dress. Another girl lies on a grey pavement and is coughing blood, slowly dying. She cries purple tears as her face morphs into a blank white mask.

"Uncle William? Help me...Please."

"Are you alright?" Freddy taps his chest cavity lightly "Did you fall asleep in me again?"

"Huh?" Gregory rubs his eyes, waking up, "Yeah. Sorry. Are we there yet?"

"Nearly. I sense that your anxiety levels have been unusually high tonight. At this point I would recommend seeing a therapist."

"Unusually high is an understatement." Gregory mutters, "I just...have a lot to think about, especially with what happened earlier. Also, I think I'm going to need a lot more than just therapy after tonight."

"If you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me. I may not have all the answers to what's on your mind but I can always lend you an ear, literally and metaphorically speaking."

Gregory chuckles at that joke, "Thank you Freddy."

One of the lights on the lift dinged, signalling they had already reached Floor 7 and were now halfway to the Main Atrium. There was no seventh floor of course as the Pizzaplex was only 3 floors but that was only as far as the public knew. In truth, The Pizzaplex was much bigger below it's shiny surface, having multiple rooms and corridors full of equipment, merchandise and God knows what else. Gregory and Freddy had boarded a special lift which gave them access to the hidden floors but Gregory didn't want to explore each floor or dwell on what could possibly be in them though as soon, they would be reaching the Atrium and very soon, an exit.

"What about you? Are you ok Freddy?" Gregory asked, "You were quiet for a long while too on the way to the lift".

"That's because I was talking to Mike and Henry. I know they said they were hibernating but after hearing what they said back there about you, I felt like I had some words to say to them."

"Wait a minute, you mean you can talk to them in your head or circuits?" Gregory questioned, surprised and perplexed by this revelation.

"Yes. I tried to make them swear they wouldn't harm one hair on your head or I would throw them out of me."

"And what did they say to that?"

"Henry was quiet. Mike laughed and I quote 'Good luck with that, we are bound to you'."

The elevator chimes and the doors finally open. The two of them had finally reached the main Atrium.

Gregory recognises this large and very wide place: It was where he hid and ran from Vanny hours ago. In front of him were the rows of party tables and the large stage that Freddy performed on before he crashed. He also recalls the Freddy Fazbear Plushie he left behind and wonders if it is still there, silently continuing to wait for him just under the party tables...

'No no. I can't think of that now. Maybe once I find a way out, I'll come back for it later and besides, I have a much better and bigger version of that plushie now'.

"The moment you step out, be prepared to meet the Greeter. He'll give you the map." Freddy informs him with a slightly cautioning tone as he opens his hatch.

Gregory slides out of Freddy and, the instant his feet touch the floor, he is immediately ambushed out of nowhere by an overly passive-aggressive, glasses-wearing Staff Bot with a funny white cap and a Giant 'i' on its yellow chest.

"Ahhh!" Gregory says believing it was about to crash into him. However, it stops at the right moment and starts talking.

"Map? Map! Take a Map?" The Staff Bot's monotone repeats at him ceaselessly, "Physical or Digital?"

"Show him your watch." Freddy instructs.

Gregory does as Freddy says and shows it his Fazwatch. The Staff bot grabs it, inserting something needle-like into one of the watch's empty ports. The map bot beeps 5 times before retracting the needle and reversing backwards.

"Fazmap download has been completed. Thank you for entering the Pizzaplex. Have a Pleasant night."

The robot bows before zooming off into the distance.

'That was bizarre.' Gregory thought to himself.

"Excellent job." Freddy congratulated him once again for doing the bare minimum, "Now I can mark the Exits I found in your watch."

Freddy enters the directions and coordinates into the Fazmap within Gregory's Fazwatch. They appear as large green dots on said map.

"So, which way Superstar? It's your choice."

Gregory weighs his options: The Loading Docks or the Prize Counter? He takes a few minutes to analyse which Exit would have the easiest and fastest route to reach and gradually, he makes his choice.

"The Loading Docks," Gregory replied, "I'm going in that direction."

"Speaking of going," Freddy says, "I have to go recharge".

"Again?!" Gregory groans a bit angrier than expected.

"I'm sorry. That conversation with those two ghosts combined with the travelling took a lot out of me but don't worry: I'll always be contactable by Fazwatch".

With that, the Giant Bear runs off into the nearest charging pod which is at a farther distance.

Gregory is slightly irritated. He wanted to ask Freddy more questions like "How long were those ghosts, Henry and Mike, bound to him? How well did he know those men?" and so on and so forth but unfortunately, he would have to store them away into recesses of his mind for now.

Gregory watches Freddy vanish by the corner before moving forward to the Loading Docks, following the directions on his Fazwatch.

—-

Location: Loading Docks

Time: 10:45pm

"Freddy, it took me a while to get past all those Security Bots but... I'm finally at the loading docks and all I see is a funny locked box with a badge on it."

"Those are the loading dock controls. Something is not right. Someone must have changed the permissions. You are going to need a much higher security level to get out that way. I'm sorry but, return to me right away."

"Rggh." Gregory seethes. "Just when I thought we had an exit".

He supposed the Prize Counter Exit was the only option he left. As soon as he reunited with the Giant Bear, Gregory decided that that was where he would go with Freddy.

Gregory traverses on the walkways that lead back to the main Atrium. However, it seems he wasn't going back alone as after a minute, he had an unfortunate run in with a hostile animatronic.

"This area is off limits!" The glamorous Bird Lady with a taste for garbage, Chica, squawks in front of him. Her footsteps grow louder as she runs towards him on the metal grills.

Gregory is chased by her into a Kitchen area. However, with the help of another security room and, distracting her using a pizza machine of all things, he manages to sneak past her and enter the next area which was a laundry/wardrobe hallway of sorts.

The sides were filled with shelves and racks of folded and unfolded employee uniforms of all shapes and sizes. Gregory could see that they belonged to the diverse employees that worked within the building: Security Guards, Cashiers, Waiters, Performers, Scientists (as there were white lab coats present) and much more.

Gregory even saw identical versions of the flashy purple suits that the announcer on stage wore earlier. It made him recall another memory...

William flashed his signature, almost psychotic grin at Henry as he stepped out of a dressing room and showed off a new suit he was wearing.

"Check me out! I look wonderful in purple don't I? Henry?"

"You look silly in it." Henry huffed, "Take it off please."

William pulled a face, "Awww but purple is such a calming colour. Don't you think so?"

Stopping for a moment, Gregory looks behind. Chica hadn't followed him... which was good. Meaning she was probably still obsessing over that Pizza made from random ingredients. However, thinking about Chica. also made him realise something.

'Why the hell does an animatronic need to eat? That's such a weird function to install into a machine".

And then, having the thought of eating, Gregory's stomach suddenly growls loudly. The sound echoes in the empty hallway but thankfully, it happened out of earshot of Chica or anyone else (or so he hoped).

Gregory places a hand on his stomach, only now coming to the realisation that he hadn't eaten properly in several hours and that the last meal he had was merely a small hotdog. On top of that, Gregory had been running and hyperventilating a lot over the past few hours and this likely further aggravated his appetite.

Staring ahead, Gregory sees one of the many electronic vending machines with a variety of snacks lying dormant in front of him. However, upon going up to it, he realises he needs to feed it coins before he can get anything inside.

'I'll have to ask Freddy to hack one of these vending machines for me when I get back to him.'

Almost as if it read his mind, the machine starts to vibrate and Gregory jumps away slightly out of shock. He then sees one of the snacks fall down by itself into the bottom of the machine where a covered slot was. Seizing the opportunity, the child inserts his hand into the slot and fishes around the bottom of the machine until he feels it.

Taking the snack out, Gregory stares at what's in his hands: It's a chocolate bar.

He looks left and right. No one was around. So why did he feel like he was being watched?

Taking more steps back away from the machine, he refocuses his thoughts and decides to keep moving forward while unwrapping the snack and eating it. The taste of the chocolate melting in his mouth felt oddly nostalgic, evoking summer memories that were long gone and never his...

Meanwhile, from a nearby hidden camera, another presence was also recalling similar memories of summer days gone by as he observed Gregory walk and eat. The Gold Rabbit smiles longingly, telling himself that very soon, he would be able to fuse with his Vessel and enjoy the taste of chocolates (among other things) once again...

Chapter 12 End

Chapter 13 Title Preview: Golden Days

Preview summary: Gregory discovers the "Fazbear Entertainment History Exhibit" within the Pizzaplex and, out of curiosity, enters it to find out more about William Afton.