Chapter 12 - I Just Want To Help…

As the minutes slowly pass, Kitten is sitting in one of the chairs playing with the Freddy and Bonny keychains like a little girl would with her dolls. She didn't want to disturb Alyssa from her music, so she slipped the figurines out of her friend's purse carefully and began to play with them for the time being. As she waits, Kitten looks up from the tiny dolls to look at her friend to see her eyes closed again. Assuming she's fallen asleep again, the pirate slowly gets up, leaving the dolls on the table, then makes her way quietly back onto the stage.

Carefully getting up onto the wooden platform, Kitten walks through the curtains before shutting them behind her. Foxy, still standing at the back of the stage, is sitting down with his legs and arms crossed, giving her the same look a parent would give to a misbehaved child.

Kitten turns around to see the look on the male's face, which makes her lose her smile. "Heh heh… Ahoy, cap'n," she stutters while moving her hands behind her back.

Foxy's tail angrily flicks up and down against the wooden floor repeatedly, similar to an angry foot tap. "What was the main t'ing I told ye before?" he asks, keeping a serious look on his face.

Kitten opens her mouth to say something to counter him, but slowly closes it, knowing what she could say wouldn't help at all. "To not walk around like this when people are around…" she answers as she hangs her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Foxy… I couldn't help it. Plus, she called out! I had to jump out so she wouldn't get suspicious."

What she said definitely is true. It was a quick thing to do, even though it meant being seen again, but he is still angry that she left the room in her human state again. Foxy shakes his head with a sigh. "Aye… That may be true," he says as he carefully lifts himself up off the ground, then walks over to and stops in front of the female pirate. "But ye shouldn't leave th' room either. Ye'll understand someday. Yer but a fun lov'n child," he smiles down at Kitten, giving her a comforting hug.

The pirate girl blushes, but smiles softly and hugs him back. "I just want to help her."

"I know…" the fox sighs. "I heard all ye said. She certainly sounds like a keeper." Pulling away, Foxy places his hand on his first mate's head, prompting her to look up. "Jus' make sure ye don't get hurt."

Kitten continues to blush, but smiles with a nod. "Alright." Her smile slowly fades as she quickly remembers something… and he's not going to be happy when she tells him. "Umm… Captain…?"

The redhead male moves his hand off of her and gives her a questioning look. "Yes, lass?"

"Umm…" Kitten starts, looking away nervously, she slightly twisting her foot against the wooden stage boards. "I-I may have umm... t-tampered with the other's equipment while I was out getting Alyssa's bag…"

Foxy's eyes widen with shock. "You... Wha-!" He quickly covers his mouth again to keep from shouting any louder. He then turns around and walks a few steps away from Kitten before taking his hand off his mouth to let out a quiet, but angry, breath. "Kitten..." he begins, turning back around to face her with an angry expression. "I told ye not ta' mess wit' the others' equipment. Freddy will blow me head off when he knows what ye did!"

Taking off her hat, the cat's ears fall flat against her head, feeling horrible for causing this trouble. "I-I'm sorry...! I didn't mean anything bad by it...!" she pleads with him. "I... I just needed to distract the guard and... that was the only thing I could think of…" Still not making eye contact with her captain, Kitten puts her hat back on and sighs before continuing. "I'll take the blow from Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica later... I'll be responsible for what I did…" She tears up as she talks. "I-I at least turned everything back on when I came back…" Kitten wipes her eyes with the back of her hand as she finishes.

Giving himself a smack on the face with his hand, the red-haired male only shakes his head in disappointment. "Kitten… Ye can't jus' do somethin' like that. Ye could jeopardize the whole place. Where'll we go if it had gott'n worse? Where'll we stay? It's nice yer doing somethin' fer her, but them workers will be confused an' they might find out 'bout us."

"T-There's no way they could find out about us! You all are too smart...!" she says with hope. "If anything... I'd be the only one caught…" Her ears go back as she adds, "They'd remove me from the restaurant…" Kitten turns to look up at her partner with tear filled eyes. "But if it means your safety, I'd give myself up to protect you and your friends, captain...!"

Foxy sighs, feeling a little guilty for what he said, but knows it's completely true. She has to know the easy way or the hard way. He slowly walks back up to Kitten and places his hand on her shoulder, giving her a calm, yet stern, expression. "Lass, they may be me friends, but they're also yer friends as well. I highly doubt they'd let ye go like that," he reminds the lass, pulling her into another hug; his arms squeeze her in a tight and protective embrace. "I'll take ole' Freddy's bitter-batter fer ya. After all, ye are me first mate," the pirate smiles as he finishes.

The redhead cat hugs him tightly, feeling her tears fall but get caught on the fabric of his jacket. "Th-thank you, Foxy," she sniffles with a smile, but it slowly fades. "B-But I'll deal with them tonight." Kitten's ears fall a bit, knowing right well this is all her fault. "I need to learn from my mistakes…"

Foxy carefully rubs her back tenderly. "It is part of life to learn from yer mistakes, but I think ye be better wit' me there. Ye've never seen Freddy angry before, so trust me on it."

She nods, but doesn't let him go. "Y-Yeah. Thanks captain," Kitten says and buries her face against his chest.

He holds her tightly like a father would hold his newborn daughter and whispers, "Aye aye… Ye had a long day. It's time to rest. We be busy again tonight."

Kitten pauses for a moment to choose her next words carefully. "Actually…" she starts nervously. "C-Could we take a break tonight...?"

This was certainly new. Foxy looks down at her confused and asks, "Why? Ya know we can't help who we really are an' how we act at night. I'm not sure if we can even take a break."

The young lass sniffles, not wanting him to be mad, but also not wanting to sit back and watch her only friend get hurt. "B-Because... Alyssa is tonight's night guard…"

Foxy stares down at her a little surprised. "Oh… Er…" he slowly releases his grip on her and crosses his arms. Looking around desperately, he tries to think of an excuse, but sadly fails to think of anything that would help. If only she knew why they always hunted them down each night, but… He slowly looks back down at her with sorrow in his voice. "Lass… Ya don' know why we kill 'em, but… we can't change it. If that girl is the guard… she may die t'night…" His words are true and he felt utterly guilty to say that about his first mate's new friend.

Kitten tears up, trying to think of anything she could do to help Alyssa out tonight. This is her only friend and Kitten isn't planning on losing her now. "Then... could you at least hold back...?" she asks desperately, looking at her captain with pleading eyes. "You steal her power every time you rush her door...!" she cries as tears start falling down her cheeks.

The older pirate unfolds his arms and holds up his hook in defense. "I'm not the only one! Bonnie an' Chica stay at the door fer so long wastin' them powers! I jus' run to da' door!"

She looks up at him with a glare saying 'You know exactly what I mean' and backs away from him, crossing her arms with a huff.

His anger rises from her glare. "Kitten, I do what I need ta do! Ye can't expect me to jus' stop immediately! I can't help why I act like this! The others would not be able to get themselves to stop!" he shouts.

"You can at least try!" she argues back, then walks to the other side of the stage and sits on the ground. Kitten crosses her arms as tears fall to the floor. At this point, she was getting desperate.

"Ugggh…" Moving his hand through his messy hair, the elder male tries to think up anything else to help soothe the tension between them. "Look…" he starts, turning around to face her. "Before 12, I'll talk to Freddy. Maybe see what that ol' swashbuckling, bilge rat'll say." He walks up to her, then kneels down on one knee to be on her level. "Will that make ye happy?"

"No. Freddy won't listen." Her ears fall already knowing the answer they'd receive. "I already know he won't…" Kitten turns to face the male, her expression shows her sorrow and anger. "Just stay here in Pirate's Cove for one night! Or at least hold back from constantly running at her door...!"

Foxy looks down in thought, then closes his good eye for at least a few seconds before opening it with determination. "Lass, remember what I said?'' he asks, standing back up and placing both hand and hook on his hips, staring down at her. "'A good pirate does what he says he'll do!' Or was it 'A good pirate goes down wit' his ship'...?" His gaze wanders up in thought.

The younger pirate looks up at him and wipes her eyes before chuckling a bit with a small smile at his comment. "I-I think it was the second one, sir."

"Bahh! I ain' goin' down wit'out a fight! Ol' Foxy won't be goin' down to Davy Jones locker till I get me golden booty!" With that little stunt, he looked down at her again with a smile. "Jus' stay positive, lass."

Kitten wipes her eyes again and smiles. "Aye aye, captain..!" she slightly laughs.

With that, he moves up closer to her, then sits down beside her, bending one leg up and resting his left arm on top of it. "Let's wait till 11. She may be asleep till 12, so we'll all chat about it then."

"No no, Alyssa can handle Bonnie and Chica pretty well; and Freddy usually stays up on stage. So, as long as we don't interfere too much, she should be fine." Kitten hugs him again before continuing. "Freddy won't be happy about this, but I don't plan on going anywhere tonight. I'm staying here...! And with the restaurant being closed on the weekends, we can just talk to the gang once she and the owner leave."

Foxy wraps his arm around her comfortingly and says, "Not sure 'bout that. If we can' help it, they'll be stuffed before six, or... they leave an' never come back to work." He turns his attention down at her. "Ye might not help yourself tonight. Fifth night is th' hardest of nights fer them guards."

His first mate looks up at him with a serious expression. "Foxy... Listen... If you don't chill out tonight, I will do something EXTREMELY against everything you guys have ever done. So, I'd suggest chaining yourself up behind the curtain or something of the sort so you don't rush her. Okay? Okay," she says, turning away from him, not waiting for his response.

In utter shock, the elder male pulls away from her as he backs away. "Kitten? Why ye threatening me like that?" he asks, feeling angry that she was literally threatening her own captain like this. "Ye know what I said is true. I would try me hardest but… inside, we can't help it. Inside is somethin' that forces us to kill." He turns away, giving up on reconsidering her threat. "I'll do me best… but no promises…"

After a moment of thought, Kitten crosses her arms and says, "Fine, but the first time you make a run for that door, I won't be here when you get back to Pirate's Cove."

"Aye…" Foxy sighs and leans his head back, resting against the wall.