Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Marionette remembered every detail of the black bear like it had been yesterday when he was trapped within it. It didn't look much different either. It survived Ennard tearing its head off and being roasted in the fire with few wounds to show for it. Someone had to have salvaged and repaired it, and now here it was sitting in the back of a storage room. Its one yellow eye still stared dead ahead with its mouth gaped and its body slouched forwards.

The Puppet shook his head slowly as he backed down the aisle. A low warning static began to build in his chest as his music kept hitching. Charlie noticed the sounds and curiously followed the noises back to Marionette. She noticed him drifting and stepped forward to grab his shoulder gently. "Mari?" she asked with growing concern.

Marionette gave a violent flinch at her touch. He raised his hands before him almost defensively and the pinpricks returned to his eyes as he stared down the aisle. She followed them and saw what he was looking at. It looked like a black Freddy and she was about to question it, but caught herself when she recalled something he had warned her about shortly after she had become the Security Puppet. He warned her about a black bear that gave off confusing signals, but the way he was reacting made it seem like he feared something beyond that.

"Is that the black bear you warned me about?" Charlie asked quietly. He shivered again; she had never seen him so afraid of anything. It was more of a warning than his words could've ever been.

"Th-That's- That's him," Marionette got out. His voice struggled to come forth and he fought to steady himself, tightening his hands and keeping his voice a low whisper. "That's Lefty Bear."

An unsettling quiet fell between them as they stared at the black bear on the other side of the room. Charlie could tell that Marionette was unsteady even though he was still hovering and reached to take him by the shoulders. She squeezed them comfortingly and pulled him into a partial hug, returning the comfort he usually bestowed. He accepted it eagerly and rested his head against hers. There were no more words. She didn't have to ask to know there was something he hadn't told her.

Nothing but a reassuring and comfortable silence.

And a small thump.

The Puppet's head snapped up to stare back at the bear. The Security Puppet followed suit, a little less paranoid but even she noticed that something had changed. The black bear's head seemed to have tilted back. Now its single yellow eye seemed to be staring down the aisle at them. Yet that wasn't possible, as the bear had never been alive. It had coaxed Marionette inside without even having to move.

Then its hand twitched.

There was no mistaking it, and Marionette put an arm in front of Charlie to shield her protectively. It had moved; Lefty had moved. Lefty wasn't supposed to move when it was a lifeless trap. Yet in a moment that he would've only recognized from his nightmares, the black bear grabbed ahold of the edge of a crate beside it. It slowly bent a leg and planted a foot against the ground before adjusted the other one the same. Its other hand still clutched a microphone, so it pressed its fist against the shelf and used this leverage to slowly lift itself onto its feet.

Marionette watched in horror but didn't need to see it for more than a second before he shoved Charlie back with a command of, "Run!"

His music began to frantically tumble from his chest as he grabbed her wrist and sped towards the door. She didn't need to be told twice and sprinted along with him. The bear gurgled behind them as they made it out the door and slammed it behind them. Holding the door shut, the Puppet attempted to focus on locking the door again. He knew that would stop Lefty from following them but getting the door to lock was a struggle. Panic and fear made it almost impossible to focus his powers on the lock. He kept readjusting, closing his eyes and trying to get control, but every time he almost had it, he felt it slip from his grasp.

Past the dialing noises that the other puppet was making, Charlie started to hear the heavy footsteps of the bear inside. First, they were a few staggering ones as it got its footing. They then started to quicken into a bumbling jog as it closed in. Yet Marionette was still trying to relock the door and failed. Finally, she grabbed him by the arm and forcefully yanked him back.

"Forget the door, we have to get out of here!" Charlie ordered him. She then turned and started to run back down the hall from the way they came. He followed her around the corner and in the direction of the others. All at once he remembered Foxy and the Minireenas, and the many, many humans that were closer to that room than here. He pulled her to a stop.

"It can't get to the others," Marionette forced out through all the distressed noises. His voice sounded completely distraught and he was borderline hysterical, but she realized quickly that he was right.

She looked around the hall before her gaze landed on a second set of double doors. There was a piece of printer paper that had been taped to the front and jotted down on it was 'Auction'. Probably suggesting that the items for auction were to be stored there. Hopefully that meant there would be plenty of hiding spots. She rushed over to it while still pulling him behind her.

"We'll hide in here, lose the bear, and then get back to the others," Charlie explained in a hushed tone. She then turned to keep an eye and ear out while Marionette worked on the lock. He was fumbling with it, especially once they heard the loud clattering of a door being thrown open the next hall over. Charlie could hear the bear's heavy footsteps coming in closer- thankfully no people or attendants heard it too- and looked back towards the other puppet.

Before she could even encourage him, he opened the door and darted through, yanking her in after him and shutting the door. He didn't even waste the time attempting to relock it and instead just looked around for a hiding spot. There were boxes and things scattered everywhere, including a deactivated Candy Cadet, and even a couple of tables that looked temping. Though they wouldn't do much without tablecloths to hide behind. Eventually he fixated on a second sheet covered object, probably another animatronic, and he led her over to it.

Its width would be more than enough to shield them, so they hid between it and the wall. Charlie crouched down and watched the door a moment longer before looking back to Marionette. In only those few seconds he had degraded into a mess. He hugged his legs tightly to his chest and pressed his mask tightly into his knees. He lightly shook as his music box distorted and crackled in protest. Charlie never expected to see him like this. It only confirmed her suspicions that there was something he never told her. She carefully reached for his shoulder.

"The bear does more than mix signals, doesn't it?" Charlie asked. He nodded against his legs. She wasn't sure if she was going to like what she was going to hear, but she still dared to ask. "What did it do?"

"It tra- It trapped me inside. Lured me- coax inside- and trapped me inside," Marionette said. He shook his head like in disbelief. "Wouldn't let me out, shocked me, had- had to get Ennard. He had to break it to get me out…" Slowly he raised his head and she noticed that utter look of fear and distraught on his mask. It was clear that he wasn't keeping it together as much as he wanted to, but she doubted he even cared. "I thought it burned in that fire. I thought it was gone…" he quietly admitted. "And it didn't used to move…!"

She let it sink in momentarily. An animatronic made specifically to trap others, or perhaps just Marionette. She got a look of determination as she resolved to not let this happen again. The bear would have to get past her if it wanted to get to him.

"We're going to be fine. I'm not going to let it get you or me. Neither of us," Charlie insisted. He looked to her with slight surprise behind his distraught. She squeezed his shoulder and continued, "Here's the plan: we hide out here until we're sure the footsteps are gone. Then we make our way back to the room and lock ourselves inside. It can't check every room and it's not going to break through any locks without someone hearing and stopping it. Then we just wait until either it gets spotted and taken away or Mike gets back. He said he was coming back after lunch, right?"

Marionette nodded. "Then we'll just wait here, and-." Charlie cut off at what sounded like a nearby squeak. One that sounded just alongside them. She turned her head slowly. "Did you hear that?"

Suddenly, something reached out from under the sheet and grabbed ahold of them. Both puppets were hooked around the middles and yanked underneath the sheet. Charlie tried to fight against the large hand with the thought that it was Lefty. This was disproven by the laugh that proceeded to follow her meager attempts. She felt like the blood in her bloodless body ran cold as she recognized the voice.

"Well, well! Hello, my little silver bell~! Fancy meeting you here my little muse, but never fear for a shan't lose you again!"

The Security Puppet turned her head and looked up to see the large black eyes and cryptically wide grin of the Music Man.

"Please no," Charlie quietly begged. She didn't know if she was asking him or some divine being, but she really couldn't handle both the stalking spider and the black bear at the same time.

"Oh yes, my darling diva! Why, I've been waiting for you for so long and here you are falling into my arms just like an angel falling from heaven! A songbird with a broken wing!" Music Man gushed with growing eagerness. He was already too close to comfort when he pulled her in further. Her mask almost brushing his large nose as the black eyes seemed to shine. "I'm not going to let you go this time.~"

"Look, I- Music Man, there's a bear out in the hallway-!" Charlie tried to explain.

"After you left, my heart shattered into dozens of pieces! I waited for ages for you to come back- surely you would- and now you have! I already feel the music coursing through my veins, my heart beating with a new life it hasn't felt in ages, and all right before the big show. Fate itself must've pulled us together again to have us sing on that stage!" Music Man continued to prattle. By now, Charlie was actively trying to squeeze out of his grasp while Marionette sort of hung there in his other arm. He almost looked resigned to his fate. "What do you say, my silver bell?"

"I can't sing right now, Music Man," Charlie whispered harshly. "There is a black bear outside that's chasing us-."

"Can't sing?! But your lovely ringing- it would be a crime against nature!" Music Man swiftly deflected. He then looked down at Marionette. "Is it because of this one? You're killing the mood here, Mr. Purple Tears!"

It was then that Marionette's head spun around to face the Music Man. If looks could kill, the spider would've been dead at the look of flat out anger twisted on the mask. Even Charlie was taken aback.

Pop Goes the Weasel blared as Marionette slipped out of the Music Man's grasp just to pounce onto his head. Music Man cried out and staggered, releasing Charlie enough for her to get free.

"Hey, hey! Stop that!" Music Man scolded as he swayed. He smacked up at his head like he would if he was holding his cymbals and staggered over his own feet.

Marionette simply crawled over his head, down his back, and slipped through his legs. His strings unwound while doing so and tightened themselves through the many legs right before the Puppet sprung forward past them and onto the floor. The abrupt motion tightened the strings around the legs and caused the wobbling spider to capsize backwards, spinning his arms in a pinwheel fashion before crashing to the floor.

As Marionette detached himself and rose, Music Man began to thrash and make an angry cymbal noise through his speaker. He was obviously not damaged but seemed to have trouble getting himself back up. Unfortunately, the noise would draw something- whether bear or human- to the room, so Marionette beckoned Charlie and went for the door.

"No, Silver Bell, you can't leave yet!" Music Man cried after the Security Puppet desperately. "We haven't even had a chance to reconnect, let alone sing our duet!"

"Raincheck!" Charlie called back. She wasn't sure whether to pity or be firmly unnerved by Music Man's continued interest in her. Maybe it was a mix of both.

The Puppet opened the doors and moved into the hall. He hadn't heard anyone outside, so he assumed that the coast was clear, but immediately he felt the familiar prickling of someone's gaze on him. His head snapped to the right and there his eyes met with the empty gaze of Lefty. The world seemed to grow silent again as his vision narrowed in.

It wasn't until Lefty started to stagger at him with a clumsy jaunt that Marionette snapped to attention. He grabbed Charlie by the wrist and took off down the hallway in the opposite direction. They continued down to the end and went around another corner when they were met by the sight of people at the end of the next hall. It was by sheer luck that the men were too busy moving equipment to notice the two animatronics. The Puppet pushed his companion back into the hall they came out of, now seemingly trapped between the humans and the bear.

"Where now? Do we try a door?" Charlie asked. Her head snapped around as she scanned the walls for some sort of a sign.

Marionette peeked out around the corner and saw that the men weren't in a rush to get anywhere. He looked down the other way and found his answer as soon as he spotted a door with a small sign beside it saying it led to the stairs. There had been stairs beside their storage room too. They could sneak through the lower floor and come up near the storage room, hopefully losing Lefty along the way. He checked the men one more time, steadied himself, and then pulled Charlie as he sped across the hall. Thankfully the stairwell was not locked and they ducked inside without being noticed.

"Downstairs," Marionette instructed as he led the way, zipping down the stairwell. Charlie almost lost her balance behind him but managed to hold on, relying on their clutched hands to help steady herself. At the bottom the Puppet tried the door. Unlike the one above it, this door was locked. Though this made sense when the sign beside the door was labelled as both 'basement' and 'private'. "Just a moment," he assured as he took his hand back to focus on the door.

Charlie shifted from leg to leg, antsy as she kept her back to Marionette's and kept watch. The stairwell was nearly soundproof and they couldn't even hear footsteps until the door opened above them. The Puppet flinched and the Security Puppet reached back to grab her bell, making sure to keep it from making any noise. If they were quiet enough then maybe their pursuer would head upstairs instead of down.

A noise like a cough echoed through the stairwell. For a second there was hope that it was just one of the workers- hope as long as they didn't come downstairs. Though that changed when the cough rung out again and proceeded to crackle like short circuiting electronics. It was the bear, and its heavy footsteps now thumped through as it walked around the upper landing. Maybe it couldn't get down the stairs. Marionette got the door unlocked and began to open it, only for it to squeak loudly.

This noise was followed by a thump and then a raucous banging as something tumbled upstairs. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Lefty falling down the stairs. It managed to grab the railing and swung into it, chest slamming into it with a thick thump, and bowing over it as the bear somehow stopped itself. The puppets gawked momentarily before it suddenly turned its head towards them. Its yellow eye focused in on them and a gurgling echoed through its chest. Somehow it had followed them all the way here even when it hadn't seen them.

It was only then that Marionette considered the possibility that Lefty was tracking him. If it was made to trap him then it would make too much sense if it could. Before it could right itself, he pulled Charlie through the door and shut it behind him, leaning his back on it as though to hold it closed.

"It always knows where I am," Marionette gasped out. "The bracelets- It must be able to track me like the bracelets."

"…That won't matter if we can lose it somewhere where it can't get out. It might come down the stairs, but I don't see it going back up them," Charlie pointed out. She looked down the hallway. Unlike the one on the floor above, this one was definitely not supposed to be open to the public. From here alone the walls were lined with stacks of non-folding metal and fabric chairs, like dozens of towers lining the way. At the far end, right in the direction that might lead to the other stairwell, there was another pair of double doors. "Come on. That stairwell won't hold him for-."

The comment was interrupted by the loud banging that was Lefty making his way down the rest of the stairs. Charlie grabbed Marionette wrist again and began to run down the hall. Within seconds she was slamming into the double doors, only to find them locked too. It took her off guard, but Marionette was working on the doors right away. Except this time the lock was different. Whatever was keeping the doors closed wasn't just located in the handle and he found himself working blind.

"Bolt lock," Marionette decided. His tone betrayed his panic as he continued to try and 'feel' with his telekinesis.

"Shouldn't that be easier?" Charlie asked.

"If I knew where it was, but apparently it's not near the knobs-."

There was a loud thumping and a jumbling as the bear reached the door and tried to get itself through. It was fumbling with getting the door open and they only had precious seconds to spare. But as Marionette continued to try with the door it became more apparent that Lefty would get inside and they would be cornered. Then all it would need to do is use its shiny new microphone and he would be sunk. It was just waiting to get close enough to him and then it would take him while he slept.

For a split-second Marionette acknowledged that he could just as easily teleport back to the storage room or the van. He could save himself, but Marionette managed to see past his panic enough to focus in on that 'himself'. He looked back to Charlie and could see the dread and confusion on her face. Foxy had been right; she couldn't teleport and he didn't know if the bear could differentiate between them, or if the bear was hunting them both or not. She was only here because he brought her here. He had to protect her.

He grabbed her wrist and guided her over to two stacks of chairs that were close together. "Here," he instructed as he pulled them apart. "Get in. Hide."

"What?" Charlie asked in surprised. "Wait, but what about you?"

"If Lefty's tracking me then I can't hide. It will be so focused on me that when it passes you can sneak to the door and get away."

"I'm not going to leave you!" the Security Puppet blurted out in aghast. "Mari, wait, let's try the door again!"

"Once you get back into the stairwell and I know it's not following you then I can get away too. I won't let it-."

The door opened and the Puppet promptly ended the conversation by shoving the other into the small opening he had made. He then backed away from it enough so that Lefty wouldn't take notice. Unfortunately, Lefty would have to get close if Charlie was to sneak by unscathed, but he was willing to risk it.

As soon as Lefty staggered through, swaying on its own legs after struggling so much with the stairs, it affixed its eye on him again and started to come for him. It wasn't coming that quickly, but it came with determination, focusing in on him, coming to trap him.

"Lure, Evade, Fight, Teleport, Evacuate," Marionette thought to try and steady himself. "Distance self from music, don't go in the bear, protect Charlie."

Lefty was more terrifying than ever now that it walked with that mindless need to get him. It wheezed and coughed as the groaning echoed through its hidden speaker. It started to edge past Charlie's hiding spot but was already too close for comfort. Marionette tried to back away further when he hit the doors behind him. Remembering them, he spun around and was back to trying to open them. This only made Lefty move in quicker and gave Charlie just enough space to slide past a quietly hurry to the stairwell.

When she yanked open the stairwell door and the squeaking echoed out again, in his alarmed state the Puppet mistakenly believed it was the beginning of a music tune. Or of a broken speaker trying to make a noise akin to music. The fight or flight instincts kicked in as he became adamantly focused on getting through the door by any means necessary. He lashed out with as much of his power as possible and the burst of telekinesis was just strong enough to bust the doors open, bolt lock or not.

But even this came with a price. Marionette fell through the door and collapsed onto the carpet momentarily, barely having enough time to get his bearings as he pushed himself back up. He had expected the doors to open into another hall instead of the conference room they did open into. Not that it mattered as all he had to do was get some distance and teleport away. Marionette just got off the ground to escape when a strong hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him back. It was powerful enough to spin the Puppet around where he came face to face with the bear.

For the second time that day, his music resounded with frantic chimes as he fought back. He started to twist his arm and wrist to get out of the bear's grip, legs planting on its chest to push it back. Lefty refused and continued to try to yank him in close. Marionette's free hand planted on the bear's forehead and for a second he grew confused, working more about the mouth clamping on his head than the chest cavity he would soon be lodged inside. Panicked memories melted together; bears trapping him, bears biting him, he couldn't escape.

Lefty yanked him close and Marionette snapped out of it enough to realize he needed to escape. He knew how he would do it too, by fitting his leg against Lefty's neck and bending himself backwards until he twisted out of the grip. He was yanked in one more time, bent leg pressing into the bear's throat, and he went to throw himself back.

And then he heard it. Not a cough, not a shushing, but something low in the static slipping through the bear's chest. A grumbling groan punctuated what vaguely sounded like a voice.

"HRRRRGGH…. HEEeel-l-l-l-l… M-Maaarrrr…"

Marionette's eyes widened as he heard it. It was a voice. Lefty was speaking to him. This could've easily been a trap, an addition to the bear to make it more effective in coaxing him in, but he swore- he quieted his music so that he would hear the whispering. He stopped fighting just long enough to make out what was being said.

"H-E-L-P M-E."

And all at once Marionette was gripped by a whole new terror. It was no longer a trap hunting him down mindlessly, but a haunted animatronic that was sentient just like him. Lefty was alive. Lefty had a voice.

Lefty had Chance's voice.

Marionette couldn't believe it and yet it all made too much sense. The only way that Lefty would be alive was if someone's soul was now possessing it, and they never were certain if Chance made it out of that fire. Now it was clear that he hadn't.

"Chance?" the Puppet asked quietly. The bear still clung to him and stared with a pinprick-pupiled yellow eye. No longer was it the look of a vicious predator, but now of a terrified soul that had seen and felt too much. "Chance, are… are you really in there?"

"I-I-In HE-HE-rrrre," the broken voice whispered back.

"I thought- we all thought-!" The Puppet trailed off with a distraught noise. Chance tried to kill them, Lefty had trapped him in its core, but he had never wanted this. He never wanted anyone to die in that fire, he had just been so used to them getting out that he never thought someone wouldn't get free. He was too used to the Purple man getting himself out. "Oh no… How long have you been like this? How long have you been in this bear? Was it since the fire?"

Lefty didn't give a full answer because the whispering was cut off by the crackle and static of a broken speaker. Then that heavy coughing. Not real coughing but recorded coughing, like a man choking on smoke. Like the last few minutes of horror from a man suffocating in a room. When he finally spoke, it was not an answer but a plead. "Heel-l-l-p… Dooonn't-t lee-ve ME."

The rationality was slowly starting to slip again. Whether it was the severity of the situation or the pressure he was suddenly under, Marionette was slipping back into growing hysteria. "How?" he chokingly asked. "I don't know how. I can't give you your old life back…"

"L-L-LET meee OU-UT," Chance begged. His hand tightened until it was beginning to hurt. "B-R-E-A-K M-E."

"What? No! I can't- No!" Marionette protested. He started trying to pull his hand again. "I can't- I can't do that. I'm sorry, I can't."

"Brrrreak th-s bo-o-ody, L-LeeeT me OUT!" Suddenly the black bear became more demanding and much more frantic. He yanked the Puppet close to him. "BURN ME BURN ME."

"No! Stop!" The Puppet twisted his body to get his arm free. "Let go! I can't help you!" he was nearly begging. His frantic music returned once more as he began to fight with the bear.

Lefty released the microphone and it hung from his wrist by a cluster of frayed wires, so he could grab with his other hand. Marionette saw what he was about to do and spun quickly, detaching himself from his grip and moving back until he thumped against a table. He gripped onto it for a moment before, again, instincts kicked in. In seconds he was under the table and right out of reach of the bear.

Lefty staggered after him and leaned down to reach under the table for him. Its body was still clumsy, and it had trouble reaching for him, but it still tried to grab desperately for the Puppet. Whispers were obscured in static and noise, but they sounded akin to begging. Still continuing to beg for something he couldn't give it. This was a different kind of nightmare altogether. Marionette couldn't help him, he couldn't fix him, but he couldn't convince himself to leave him behind either. He wasn't sure how long he stayed under that table dodging the bear's hands.

All they caught was the sound of rapid footsteps before something suddenly charged into the room and into Lefty. The table was slammed so hard that it fell over, and Marionette barely skirted being pinned by both it and the struggle, back now pressed against the underside of the tipped table as he stared at the scene. It had been Foxy who tackled Lefty and was now atop him. He raised his hook dangerously with every intention of maiming the bear further. Marionette reached out to stop him at the last moment.

"Foxy, don't!" he pleaded. His brother didn't look to be stopping and swung his hook down. "It's Chance!"

That was the only thing that stopped Foxy from stabbing his hook right into Lefty's blackened eye. He stopped just inches away from it and stared down at the black bear. Slowly his eyes widened in realization. It was then that Charlie came sprinting into the room. In only a few seconds she had gotten over to the table and to Marionette's side.

"Are you okay?! Did it hurt you?!" she asked in dread. He shook his head slowly and she gave a low toned jingle, "Thank goodness…"

"Whaddya mean it's Chance?" Foxy asked as he stared down at the bear with an unreadable look. Charlie turned her head to look at him in confusion as Marionette explained.

"Chance is inside of Lefty… He didn't make it out of the fire. He's been inside of Lefty all this time…" The Puppet glanced to the Security Puppet beside him and noticed her look of confusion. Probably trying to figure out if the name Chance was just a coincidence, and him feeling guilty when he knew that it wasn't.

"I see…" Foxy twitched above the bear and stared down at him. "…Guess that's what happens when ya play with fire. Ain't that right, Chance? Ya get burned…" A low growl began to build in his throat as his hand, firmly planted on the bear's chest to keep him held down, bared down with more pressure. "That's what happens when ya try to burn people. An' burn families. An' decide yer gonna play God fer the day. Guess it ain't so easy when yer just some selfish old bloater with no idea what it's like ta suffer. Bet yer sufferin' now."

Lefty did little more than stare up at him. He didn't fight him off either, seemingly having little will to do so. It only infuriated Foxy more.

"Always hoped there was a special place in hell fer ya after what ya tried to do to me family. Turns out there ain't, you've gotta live like this if yer gonna feel what ya did. How's it feel bein' broken? Knowing that some human that don't give a rat's hide about ya is gonna make yer decisions fer now on? I hope ya live forever just to feel all the years I did. All those years as a pitiful, empty, mindless husk."

"F-Fox-xy," Lefty tried to begin. He was rewarded by the hook being lowered into his face again.

"Don't ya dare call me that. That's me stage name. I ain't gonna hide behind a stage name again," Foxy snarled at him. "That's what ya did, wassn't it? Ya hid behind us just bein' characters so ya didn't have to face that you were tryin' to kill people. You don't get the easy way out this time." All at once, Foxy slid out of his character. "You didn't even know who I was and you would still burn me. Well…" He grabbed Lefty by the ear and yanked him up, his hook swinging forward to press into the bear's neck. "My name is Gabriel Afton. I was a human just like you, and now you're just like me."

Lefty let out a shaky sort of gurgling deep in its chest cavity. He had definitely heard him and for a moment Foxy almost felt a little vindicated. Except he wasn't the only one who heard.

"Wait… Your name is Gabriel Afton?" Charlie cautiously asked.

Foxy turned his head to glance at her, still holding Lefty down, and it was then that he noticed the look of panic on Marionette mask. It was only then that Foxy realized his mistake but by then it was too late. Charlie was already piecing together what he had just implied.

"So, you're related to… You're William Afton's son," she guessed. From the way his ears dropped it was clear that she was right. "Which means…" She slowly looked to the Puppet. "That you're William's son."

He didn't want to admit it. Marionette was just staring back with that same look of horror as she waited for his answer. Time seemed to slow down, refusing to move unless he confessed his secret. He had no choice.

"…Yes," Marionette meekly admitted. "He was my father."

"Why didn't you tell me? How could you not tell me that you were related to him?" Charlie asked in aghast. "I've been living in his house and you didn't- Is that why there's the secret basement in the house?! And why Baby won't-?!" She instantly cut off and her eyes widened as she noticed more connections. "Which means Baby- she said that her father… And Michael-." She raised a hand to her head. "I don't believe this…"

"I know I should've told you sooner, but I was afraid that if I told you right away that you wouldn't feel safe in the house. And then I waited so long that I just…" Marionette trailed off from the thought. His rambling didn't seem to be helping things at all. He reached for her arm to comfort her. "Charlie, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have hidden it from you-."

"What else have you been keeping from me?" Charlie snapped as she stood quickly, dodging his grasp and staring him down with a look of betrayal. "This isn't even about you being that man's son, this is about you covering up something this important for this. You had me living in your house and didn't even trust me enough to tell me the truth about whose house it was! And you didn't tell me about the bear either, so what's next?!"

Marionette was just frozen up. His music box clicked like it was stuck in place and he made no attempt to explain himself. He knew she was right.

Charlie looked back to Foxy and Lefty, then Marionette, and finally turned back towards the door. It was all too much to deal with. "…I need to be alone. I need to think some things through," she said quietly. It was clear that she was still very upset and he sprung up to follow as she headed towards the door.

"No, wait, please," Marionette begged after her. He didn't dare try to touch her after her last reaction and his voice almost sounded watery. "I didn't mean for this to happen…"

"I'm not going to go get myself caught. I know better than that," Charlie affirmed sourly. She didn't want him going into a frenzy thinking she was going to jeopardize herself or them. She had more self-control than that. "…But I need to go." She stepped out into the basement hallway and started making her way back towards the stairwell.

Marionette was left to stare after her with a look of utter dismay. He wanted to pull her back and apologize, hug her close and assure that he wasn't hiding anything more, but he knew that the damage was already done. All at once he had ruined everything they had built together. He had betrayed her trust in a way that he was all too familiar with and now there wasn't anything he could do or say to erase it. He could feel the paint welling in his eyes.

Just watching the scene made Foxy feel terrible. He had known that Charlie wasn't aware of their parentage and yet haven't even considered it when trying to spite Lefty, who had remained silent since the reveal. The pirate ignored the bear and stood to look after his brother with concern.

"Marion… Lad, I'm so sorry. I wasn't even thinking 'bout it. I just…" Marionette flinched forward with a discordant noise in his chest, like a sob, and Foxy knew what that meant. "Lad, don't cry. We'll figure this out. She just-." He was cut off as the striped one vanished from the room. Probably running off to hide and cry, which only made Foxy more concerned. "Marion?" he called out to no response. He would have to go after him and maybe find a way to contact their human workers. Perhaps he could find a phone.

But that meant leaving Lefty. Foxy looked down to see the bear's still staring up at him and growled. "Yer lucky he's more important than you," he snarled as he pointed a hook at him. "And ya ain't a threat to no one no more, but if I ever catch ya goin' anywhere near me brother again, or so much as put a finger on him, then I will show ya that there be things worse than death when yer like this."

With that final threat, Foxy stepped over Lefty and headed to the door. He had more important things to do than waste his time with a dead man.

Mable: After getting used to William's constant disappearing act, one could easily believe that someone going 'missing' was just hiding in the woodworks waiting for revenge. Reality is quite cold.