Mable: Sorry to post later than usual but had some familial events that got in the way of finishing up. So, here we are! Enjoy!

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Baby wasn't too unused to boredom, so she made do with what she had. She spent time writing songs and making routines for Charlie- and occasionally herself, but she kept those hidden since they would never be used- or watching television. Normally Ennard was a tool of distraction when it became too unbearable, but he wasn't here to make the waiting any easier.

It was a relief when she heard the van pulling up to the garage door. Scott let himself in to open the door and let Fritz back the van in. He had been a nervous mess since Ennard left. Baby could tell from how much she heard him pacing around looking for things to do. Like her, Ennard's absence left a large gap in possible distractions.

Soon the doors were opened and Ennard hopped down into the garage. He lugged the toolbox in and dropped it beside the wall while sending Baby an eager wave. Then he turned to the approaching Scott and seized him into a quick hug. Maybe Scott was expecting it because he didn't even flinch.

"Someone's in a good mood. I guess it went well?" Scott asked with a smile. Ennard hesitated and looked off towards the corner. "...Okay, not so good. But nobody got hurt, so that's something," the man offered. There was still a pause and now his smile became strained. "You, uh… You didn't kill him, right?"

"What? No! If anything, the joker almost got me!" Ennard defended. A sort of smug amusement came into his voice. "Almost, but it's gonna take more than a bunny with a bad attitude to knock me down." Scott regained his smile for a moment. "Even with a sledgehammer."

That smile disappeared completely. "Uh, sledgehammer?"

"Don't worry about it! His aim's as bad as his eyesight, coordination, smell, and sense of humor, so I pretty much rolled right under the thing," the clown dismissed with a wave of his hand. He glanced out of the corner of his eye back at Scott, teeth glistening under his mask like he was grinning, and playfully nudged him. "I gave much more than I took."

"You electrocuted him," Baby guessed.

"I clocked him with a thirty-pound toolbox. Would've done more too but I got all tangled up in Mari and it ruined the flow," Ennard bragged. He turned back to Scott. "But, but, that's not the only thing I did! I fixed a Candy Cadet- I hotwired a talking gumball machine. You should've seen the mess inside of that thing! Ha, finished in record time too, and I even grabbed some parts for Baby."

"That's great!" Scott exclaimed. More because he was relieved that Ennard hadn't been working on Springtrap. He wasn't entirely sure on what he had planned to do when he got there, but this seemed like the best outcome of the possibilities. Not that he wasn't proud of what the amalgam had accomplished. "You were only gone a couple of hours. Usually a job like that would put an animatronic out of service for weeks…" He got a coyer smile. "But I guess they weren't getting worked on by the best technician Freddy's ever had."

"Aww, you're just saying that," Ennard said with a low rumble deep in his chest. He moved in just a little closer, looking as though he would be beaming down at Scott.

"You know I mean it," Scott assured. It was right then that he noticed Fritz out of the corner of his eye, coming to shut the van doors as Charlie climbed out. He suddenly became aware of what he was doing and his face flushed. He cleared his throat and reined himself in. "So, Fritz. How did it go?"

"I almost got my arms crushed and I'm taking the day off. I'm fantastic," Fritz quipped with similar, tired-sounding confidence. "But I've got enough work at home to keep me busy. My taser won't come on and unless I want to scour the internet for another Freddy-grade taser I'm going to have to fix it. Or go spelunking into ARI for a new one."

"Let me do it!" Ennard eagerly chirped. He rushed over to his side and leaned into the van so he could begin eagerly searching for it. "Something that small ought to be a piece of cake!"

"Are you sure? You might get shocked. I've had them discharge on me just trying to replace batteries," Fritz said with a raised brow.

"I can handle it, trust me! I'm pretty much a walking taser as it is, ha ha!" Ennard joked. "Come on. Give the best technician in Hurricane a shot."

"That's what I was planning on doing before you offered," Fritz joked with a small smirk. "But, hey, it saves me the work. I've got plenty of other things I need to catch up on… Like sleep."

"Don't be too surprised if Bonnie follows you into your nightmares. I know he drops in now and then for mine," the clown responded. He giggled lightly and snatched up the taser. "I'll get on it tonight. And if you want to make it up to me then maybe you could get me a welder that I don't have to return after a couple of days?" Fritz looked contemplative about this, wondering how much that would cost. "You're gonna need it as much as I do if you're planning on keeping Foxy together. Spoiler alert: Foxys don't have a long shelf life."

"That is… Unfortunately accurate," Scott added in. "But Foxy's getting a lot more care than some of the- ahem- others."

"You should've seen the wires that came out of Funtime Foxy. They smelled like jerky and they looked like heck," Ennard said quietly enough that Baby wouldn't hear. He then thumped Fritz in the shoulder. "But yeah, with all those kiddies and shows it's only a matter of time before he starts falling apart."

"You've got a point… Okay, first thing when I get home I'll get on the computer and start looking… Or I'll take a powernap and eat a sandwich first. It depends on how long it takes my computer to boot up," Fritz agreed. He shut the doors and started around the van with a wave. "I'm gone."

While they were distracted with their conversation, Baby noticed Charlie coming out of the van and perked in excitement. She didn't rush in to not wanting to look too eager, but she couldn't help but be relieved that she was there after the night before. If she wanted to hear the whole story, then she would need Charlie's side with every detail. Just seeing her safe wasn't enough to sate her curiosity.

It wasn't until Fritz left and Scott headed inside with Ennard on his heels that Baby fully turned her attention to Charlie. "I didn't know if you were coming. Mike said you might, but I couldn't trust his word alone. Not when it hinges on whether on Ennard getting himself killed or not," she remarked. "But I'm glad you came. I want to show you something."

"I wanted to catch up after last night. Ennard said you stayed up last night worrying." Baby wanted to go in and throttle Ennard herself for that. Charlie smiled and added, "But I knew he had to be exaggerating. You? Worried? I think it would take more than Golden Bonnie to get you worried. What did you want to show me?"

"I don't get worried; I get impatient. Always with Ennard," Baby answered. She led Charlie to her corner of the garage. "You can look at the bed too. It wasn't here when you last came."

"It's perfect for you. Though I wouldn't take you for the type to go for something so…" Charlie hesitated, wondering if 'cheery' would offend her. "…Yellow."

"I don't have to look at it when I'm asleep. But that's not it, this is." Baby easily lifted her mattress and reached into a stack of papers hidden underneath. She fumbled through loose sheets before yanking out a magazine it was folded out to a page that showed woman's fashion. She pushed it into the Security Puppet's hands so she could see the pen scribbles over it, and where she had circled a blouse repeatedly and then drew variations of the blouse made of plates. "What do you think of this?"

"For your chest replacement?"

"Yes. Once I choose a design it will have to stay because I can't fit into clothes like you can," Baby explained to her. She looked down at her front with a discontent sigh. "I'm tired of looking down and seeing exposed wires. I want to be fashionable."

"I think you made a good choice, not that I'm the best opinion on fashion. This shouldn't be hard to put together," Charlie assured. She flipped to another folded page and found a selection of shoes. Of which Baby had eagerly circled every set of boots and doodled all over the pages. "What's this?"

"Don't look at that." Baby snatched the magazine back before Charlie could see anymore. "But you have a better idea than I do. I haven't been around real humans wearing fashionable clothing in so long. I can't use TV either; everyone in Ennard's show dresses like they stepped out of a funeral parlor. Last time I checked Halloween didn't start coming early." The Security Puppet got an amused smile at the comment. "But this one is different. This would look good on me, especially once I get my wig. You will have to help me style it."

"I know even less about hair," Charlie pointed out.

"It doesn't take a genius to make pigtails. I just don't have the hands to spare." Baby then gave a discontent sigh. "And I would have that wig by now, but Ennard has become fixated on fixing my ice cream maker. I'm going to spend every moment distracted by that cold, sweet ice cream spinning inside of me like- like silk- smooth, silky ice- Ugh!" She thumped her claw to her chest. "That has happened twice today."

Charlie was about to assure her and remind her that they could fix the programming again. Or suggest that maybe they could figure out a way to break the obsessive thoughts. This was all sidelined when she remembered what she had come to talk to Baby about. This seemed like as good a time as any.

"That's not all I have to show you. Come look at this and tell me what wall it would look good on," she coaxed. Only to notice that the Security Puppet still looked distracted and tilted her head. "Is something wrong? Are you thinking about Golden Bonnie again?"

"No, it's not that. It's something else," Charlie denied. She still wasn't sure whether to be forthright with Baby, knowing how she didn't want to discuss her past. The clown didn't entirely believe her.

"He couldn't follow you here. Even if he did, we wouldn't let him get near you," Baby insisted. She then wondered why the puppet would be so worried. It only made her imagination run away into unpleasant ideas. "He didn't… Hurt you, did he? Scott said he grabbed you, but you fought him off. You weren't hurt by him, were you?"

"The only one who hurt me was myself when I forgot that metal conducted electricity," Charlie joked to try and ease the mood. "It's something else, but I'm a little afraid to say it because I don't want to upset you."

"If he didn't hurt you, then what did he do to you that would upset me?" Baby asked testingly. Between that tone and the tightening of her claw it was clear she expected the worst. "Just because Fritz put him back together doesn't mean I can't take him back apart. I'm not afraid of him."

"No, Baby, it's got nothing to do with Michael. It's about you and me," Charlie defended. Baby loosened her claw and cocked her head in confusion. Now Charlie didn't really have a choice but to explain and stood to do so. "When I was looking around your old bedroom, I found some of your old toys. One of them I remembered from a long time ago… I think we knew each other when we were children. Or maybe we played together once? It would've made sense since our fathers worked together."

"What?" Baby sounded genuinely surprised. She looked down in confusion, trying to remember this but still finding nothing. There were no memories of her playing with anyone except maybe Marion, and even those were faded by time. "I don't remember that…"

"I don't really remember it either. If it wasn't for the toy I would've completely forgot. It was a take-apart Toy Foxy doll. Or maybe a Funtime Foxy doll. All I know was that you could take it apart and put it back together… I can't remember if that was what it was supposed to do, but it came apart so easily that I'm guessing yes." Looking at Baby showed that same flickering of her eyes as she tried to remember. She was desperate and yet finding nothing, so Charlie reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I wasn't telling you to get you worked up. I was telling you because I thought it was cool."

"And how is that?" Baby asked in confusion, green eyes back on Charlie. The Security Puppet smiled.

"Because we knew each other! We could've been childhood friends and just can't remember it," she explained. "Long lost friends don't usually meet up again."

"…You must be mistaken," the clown dismissed. Her less than pleased answer somewhat surprised the puppet, which was only strengthened when Baby turned her head down and away. Almost like she was ashamed of something. "I wasn't a good child. I don't think I had any friends… Except my father." There was something eerie in that last comment. Maybe it was genuine belief that Baby had that her father was her only friend. Even now his strings ran deep.

"I don't think that's true," Charlie corrected. Baby looked to her doubtfully. "You didn't have to tell Scott to come check on me, but you did. You knew I needed help and if I wouldn't have gotten that help then the night could've ended a lot worse. And not just for me. Fritz could've gotten hurt, and if he would've tried to work on Springtrap alone he could've gotten killed. All because you thought I needed help. I have trouble believing that you suddenly became the type of person who would care that much. This is something you've always been."

Nobody had ever said something like that to Baby before and it was enough to shake her usual apathy. There was always a part of her that preferred the superiority of being barely affected by emotions or aloof. Caring weighed her down too much. But constantly denying herself that was starting to become tiresome, so she said what she felt like saying.

"…I was worried about you." Charlie looked only a little surprised; mostly because she didn't expect Baby to admit it. "You're not the type to get scared easily, but I could hear it in your voice in the call. Even if I didn't hear it long. I had to make sure you were alright… because you are my friend."

"Right," Charlie agreed. "Maybe longer than we even remember?"

"Maybe," Baby answered. She tried to ignore the soft sparks in her chest. "But I can't remember it. Let's focus on something I can remember and come look at this. You've caused me enough worry today." She took the Security Puppet's wrist and almost forcefully dragged her over to the washing machine, so that she would get control of the conversation again. Thankfully Charlie caught the hint and let it drop.

Even if Baby's mind wasn't as willing. It would keep trying to remember and maybe, eventually, something would come back. Something involving two little girls playing together in the grass together without a care in the world. Something about a life and childhood she had almost had.

This was the first time Foxy had witnessed something like this at the pizzeria. Which was shocking considering that so many children passed through the restaurant. Not all of them could be polite crewmates or rambunctious little scallywags. Eventually a real problem child would come into the pizzeria and make his job harder. Unfortunately, today was that day.

The kid was a bully, straight and simple. In the time Foxy had watched him he had snatched dropped tokens up and insisted they were his, mocked kids who were playing arcade machines on how they were playing, and stole a piece of pizza from a table in plain sight and showed no remorse when Louise confronted him about it. He was acting like a brat, and apparently he didn't have any parents there to stop him. Foxy was waiting for someone to do something and kept a careful eye on the boy as he continued to work.

Unfortunately, nobody stepped in before the boy had set his attention on a younger child walking around the arcade with a bundle of tickets and a plate with a slice of cake on it. Really the boy shouldn't have been allowed to walk into the arcade with food, but nobody had noticed him and Foxy hadn't gotten free time to go over himself. He had been too busy watching the bully, who then began watching the boy in Foxy's stead. He stalked over to the younger and demanded he handed over his tickets.

The boy was just young enough that he refused and didn't seem to realize there would be repercussions. It wasn't until the cake was smashed into the front of his shirt and the tickets were snatched away that he knew who he was dealing with. Then the bully smugly went on his way while the boy, devastated, ran off to the table where his father was sitting to tell on him. Not that he would be able to do anything. The bully had been an unstoppable menace. He was everything that Foxy hated and remembered once being.

It wasn't like Foxy could go and straighten the bully out in the traditional sense. One wrong move and they would be looking at a room full of fearful children screaming and panicking. He had seen it before. But there was one plus to being a machine like he was: any accidents wouldn't be considered malicious. Just small mistakes in programming.

"So, ya want a food fight, do ya, Brat?" Foxy thought wickedly. He caught a plastic cup of soda in his hook. "Let's see how ya like a cupful 'o warm, flat pop."

Every part of Foxy knew this was a bad idea and still wanted to do it. There was nothing worse than an unchecked bully. He only wished someone would've put a cup of soda over his head at that age.

Only to be blindsided when Jeremy suddenly strode over and snatched the cup out of his hook. "Nope," was all he said as he continued walking past. Foxy turned to disagree, and to get the cup back, but the blond kept it out of reach. "Nope. I know what you're doing and I'm not going to let you do it." Foxy gave a grumble but couldn't argue in a full dining room. "I think you're needed somewhere else, Captain."

Foxy wasn't quite sure what he meant and Jeremy pointed back towards the bully's victim. The child was now crying as his father tried to comfort him. It didn't look like he was getting any results with it. Foxy's ears lowered as he looked at the pitiful scene.

"I'll deal with that kid. You've got a new recruit to get on board," Jeremy encouraged with a smile. With little more than a nod, Foxy turned and headed straight to the table, now transfixed on a new goal.

The blond man watched the scene from where he was standing. The father noticed the fox coming and turned his son towards him before pointing. "Mathew, look. Foxy's coming to say hi," he said. The boy's head snapped up and the crying already started to dissipate. He wiped his pink eyes and cheeks as Foxy leaned over and introduced himself.

"Ahoy, matey! I be Cap'n Foxy an' I be lookin' fer a crew to join me on a treasure hunt. What say ye, Lad? You lookin' to join?" Foxy offered. The boy perked up already and his father looked quite relieved, and completely unbothered that a mechanical fox had commandeered his son. Foxy would be sure to replace the boy's tickets quickly, but more importantly would leave him with memories he wouldn't forget.

Jeremy smiled at the scene before looking back into the arcade. Now for the less pleasant job of keeping his end of the deal. He headed into the arcade section and looked around before finding the boy standing beside the Fruity Maze game, impatiently waiting for someone else to finish their turn. Though 'waiting' was giving him too much credit, as Jeremy could hear him muttering and fussing even before he came up.

"Hey, excuse me," Jeremy started. The boy looked up at him and a look of dread passed his face, that look knowing he had gotten caught without knowing what for. The look was replaced quickly with annoyance and indifference. "I saw what you did back there with that boy and his tickets."

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything," the bully quickly denied. Already he knew the kid would try his own patience.

"I saw you shove a piece of cake into his shirt and steal his tickets. We don't tolerate that behavior-."

"No I didn't," the bully denied again, interrupting him. "I'm just waiting to play a game."

"Again, I saw you do it," Jeremy flatly said. He took a deep breath. "We don't tolerate bullying at Foxy's, so I'm going to have to ask you to go apologize to the boy and return his tickets to him."

"These are my tickets. I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything!" the kid vehemently denied. Now he got a nastier look in his protest. The child playing the Fruity Maze game discreetly finished and hurried off.

"Once again, I saw you do it. And now I'm not asking, I'm telling," Jeremy said a little more firmly.

"Whatever. You can't tell me what to do," the kid said blowing him off. He strode right past him to the game machine and popped a token in to start playing. Jeremy just stood dumbstruck as the boy started up a new game. "Are you just going to stand there or what? Because I don't have to do anything some stupid purple guy says."

"…This is why animatronics bite kids," Jeremy thought. He shook the dark thought away and knew he had to be an adult about this. Mike and Fritz weren't here to do it for him, and even if they were it was an embarrassing thought that he would need them. It was just a kid with a bad attitude, he could handle it. "…Okay, you don't want to apologize or give the tickets back. That's fine, you can keep them… But they aren't going to do you any good. Because you're going to be able to get any prizes with them."

"What?!" Now the bully was paying attention. He snapped his head up. "That's not fair! I got these tickets myself!"

"And you're not going to be getting anymore tokens either… Not that I'm guessing you bought any of those tokens. So… Have fun with what you have!" Jeremy started to turn and leave, before turning back. "Oh, and one more thing. You won't be allowed back into Foxy's once you go, so make sure not to leave any personal items behind, okay?"

"That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair. Life wasn't fair to that little boy when you stole his things and ruined his cake, and life's not going to be fair for you either. Tough break, Sport." Feeling somewhat vindicated, Jeremy turned and headed towards the Prize Corner to forewarn Natalie. He'd keep an eye on the boy afterwards, but he needed to make sure he wouldn't weasel by and trade in the stolen tickets. Part of him felt a little bad about it, but it was smothered under an out-of-character annoyance. A nagging stress bothering him.

Then he looked over and saw Foxy with the boy at one of the rockets on the other side of the pizzeria. The boy was now smiling and laughing, far from the tears of earlier, and Foxy seemed completely at ease. Jeremy's smile returned once again. "I'm doing fine," he mentally encouraged. "I can do this! Do it for Foxy, do it for the Minireenas, I can do this." Though right before he entered the Prize Corner a deceptive thought slipped in. "But I can't do it forever." Then it was gone like it had never been there at all.

By time Jeremy returned, he wasn't too surprised to see that the kid had neither returned the tickets nor apologized. Now he was just storming around the arcade in a huff, watching the floor like a hawk. Jeremy could only guess that he had run out of tokens. Not that playing the games would yield any sort of result now.

Jeremy watched the bully for a little longer before his attention was caught by Mike and Marionette entering the dining room from the hallway. Mike was carrying the puppet in his arms almost like one would carry an overly large dummy. Marionette was slump on his shoulder believably and only broke this character right before entering the Prize Corner, when he raised a hand to wave to Jeremy. He gave them a few moments to get settled before going in after Natalie came out.

"Head's up, you two. We have a problem child in the building. If you see a kid wearing a green and orange shirt with a twelve on it don't trade out any of his tickets. They're fraudulent," Jeremy forewarned.

"Kid must be pretty desperate if he's bringing in counterfeit tickets just to get a couple Foxy erasers," Mike joked. Jeremy lightly rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, just don't do anything with him. I'm going to try and see if I can coax him into doing the right thing… Or leaving. He's already stealing stuff so that's a pretty good option too." Jeremy headed out to keep an eye on the situation, along with Foxy's adventures with his new little friend.

Mike watched Marionette climb into his box and get settled in and leaned against the counter with a tired exhale. It was going to be hard adjusting to a normal workday after everything that happened that morning. He checked his watch to see that there were still hours of it left, which wouldn't be as unpleasant if it wasn't for the still unfinished business at the warehouse.

"Mind if I stick around with you for a while? I don't feel up to wrangling kids just yet," Mike asked.

"Sure! I could use the company. Just as long as you're willing to help me restock." The puppet gestured down at the candy selection that was starting to get low. He could only wonder how many children had been through here today and he was almost disappointed to miss it.

"Anything that makes me look busy," Mike said with a playful smirk. He looked around before noticing a couple of cardboard boxes stacked in the corner. Looking inside revealed the stocking supplies. "I'm guessing we dodged a bullet if it was busy enough in here that Natalie was ready to restock. That or we missed one kid rocking a credit card and a massive sweet tooth," he added. He began to stock the shelves with 'Plunderbars' that wore Foxy's visage on their wrappers.

"What do you think of lollipops? Maybe in black and white striped wrappers. I don't see that being a candy that would cost too much to order," Marionette suggested. He watched Mike work with his head propped up by his arm, leaning comfortably on the edge of his box. "Maybe in strawberry and grape. Or Pina Colada."

"I think I'd be in here restocking a lot more often," Mike teased with a knowing smile.

"I can control myself! I could easily stop at, oh, one a day. Maybe two. One per flavor still counts as one," Marionette excused with a playful shrug. Though he then hesitated for a moment, glancing towards the doorway to make sure nobody was there. "…Do you really think he'll still be there when we get back? Be honest."

Mike knew exactly what he meant and decided to be truthful to maybe soften the blow. "No. I don't even think he's still there now. He probably split the second we left."

"I appreciate your unwavering bluntness, even though I hope you're wrong. Even though I know you aren't," Marionette agreed with a small nod. "…I guess we'll just have to wait and see?" He gave Mike a small smile, but it was clear that he had his mind made up like Mike had. They both knew what to expect.

The workday was slow. Marionette came out to assist with the main party and circled the dining room and arcade once, but like Mike he was having trouble focusing on the task at hand when there was that pressing issue hanging over his head. Mike spent longer in the Prize Corner than he had anticipated, coming out only a few times before retreating to the safety of the room. The hours slowly crawled by until closing time.

And then, without much conversation and little fanfare, Mike and Marionette left the restaurant and headed back to the warehouse. By then Fritz was long gone and had taken both Ennard and Charlie with him. The building had the telltale silence of being empty and most of the overhead lights had been shut off. It wasn't a positive sign already, but they pressed on.

Marionette couldn't help but be disappointed. He gave a low, out-of-tune sigh as he rubbed his arms and looked around at the building. He couldn't blame Springtrap wanting to leave this place as quickly as he could. "Let's at least check the office. There's a slim chance he's in there."

"Right," the man agreed. He went along with it and led the way back towards the office. The light had been left on, but that wasn't anything unsurprising. He opened the door and stepped inside-.

And there was Springtrap at the desk fiddling with the Handunit. Mike wasn't sure which of them was startled more, but from how the rabbit stood sharply it was clear that he didn't hear them coming up, having been fully engrossed in whatever it was he had been doing.

"Oh. Hey," Mike blinked and recovered. "I didn't actually expect you to still be here."

Springtrap didn't seem enthused by the answer. He calmed down and yanked the office chair to sit down again. It creaked uncomfortably under his weight and Mike was half surprised it hadn't broken.

"I don't believe it…" Marionette's voice was soft and full of shock. Springtrap must've still heard it as he slowly raised his head. Right on cue, Mike stepped out of the way and waved to usher the puppet in. Marionette hesitated, seemingly uncertain, but the security guard persisted.

"Come on, he doesn't bite," Mike assured. As the puppet inched by him, he quietly added under his breath, "Just don't go near his chest."

Marionette partially suppressed a nervous chime and faced Springtrap, whose eyes were flickering between the striped male and the Handunit he was holding. Even when the other animatronic came closer to the desk he seemed reluctant to do much else. Mike watched the awkward scene and had to restrain himself from any further prodding. Instead he just looked expectantly between the two.

The Handunit made a few noises as Springtrap tapped through the options. He stared at the screen intently to ignore the other and the striped one tightened his hands at his sides.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Marionette suddenly asked. Mike was cut off from whatever he was going to say and Springtrap suddenly mis-tapped on the unit, triggering it to randomly start blurting out directions for animatronic scooping and cleaning. He shut it off quickly, sat there for a long pause, and then defeatedly set the unit down on the desk.

"I don't have anything to say," Springtrap answered simply. Marionette perked momentarily before fading at the words themselves.

"To me?" he asked.

"To anyone."

"I disagree, Michael. I think there is still plenty we have left to say," the puppet somberly replied. He turned slightly in Mike's direction before straightening and looking back to the rabbit again. "You don't have to leave again."

"I don't have a choice any longer. It's only a matter of time until someone finds the tunnels now that they opened the investigation on Freddy's. Now that he is no longer here to sweep it under the rug," Springtrap said in excuse. "It won't be long until they are in Foxy's. You would do well to keep a low profile."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but they've already been in Foxy's. They crashed our last Halloween party," Mike said with an exasperated shake of his head. Just the memory annoyed him while it had a slightly different effect on Marionette, reminding him of the risk. All Detective Burke would need was a warrant and he could come into the warehouse looking. The thought suddenly startled him.

"It's not safe for you to stay here and going back to the sewers is out of the question. Come home with us. There is plenty of room for you and we could keep you safe," Marionette boldly offered. His companion looked to him in shock, having not anticipated the offer without at least discussing it, while Springtrap didn't even look up.

"I can't return to that house. I only went back for what I needed… And such a waste it was." Springtrap sent a weary look at the unused parts spread out on the desk. "Have you been in that basement, Marion? I could feel him there, staring down my shoulder, watching me with that Cheshire grin. That basement and house is cursed. I couldn't bear to stay there."

"…I understand. Lizzie was the same way. She won't come into the house," Marionette admitted in a slump of defeat. "If things change, the offer still stands. I won't have you or anyone else to be taken by Burke."

"You should be more concerned with Foxy. He is the one in the spotlight. He is the one they will look to when questions start to surface," Springtrap pointed out. Marionette knew he was right, but he also knew that the state of Springtrap- and the remains inside of him- would be much more incriminating than anything found on the fox or himself. "Foxy is Gabriel, isn't he?" the older asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, he is, and he remembers it. He even has his own voice still, just hidden underneath Foxy's," Marionette explained. Springtrap nodded and it fell into silence. A long silence that seemed to end the conversation.

Then the puppet turned to his human companion with a signaling look. A silent look saying that he thought it was time to leave, which Mike picked up and ran with. "Well, we're going to head back home. Curse or not, we've got to live there. The phone numbers are up on the corkboard if something goes wrong."

"Wait," Springtrap stopped them. He drew his attention fully away from the Handunit and looked towards his sibling. It felt so strange looking directly at him; for both of them really. "I need to ask you something." He looked to Mike and clarified, "Alone."

"I can take a hint," Mike answered. He looked to Marionette, making sure it was fine with him, and got a nod in return. He stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him.

Springtrap waited until he heard him walk away before he turned his focus back to Marionette.

"Marion…" he began. "I came to see you and Gabriel years ago. Back when you were still a child and I was not in this suit. I came to the house when I knew Father wasn't there to check in on how you were both fairing since I had just found out that Elizabeth had gone missing… I found you playing alone in the backyard. I think I brought you a toy, I can't remember what it was."

"It was a robot," Marionette clarified. Springtrap's eyes were back on him and widened slightly in surprise. "I remember that. Not too well, but I do remember. It was one of the only times you came home."

"You looked terrified and I couldn't tell if it was something Father told you about me or if it was just the natural fear of a stranger… But over the years I thought back frequently on how you looked. Quiet, shaken, and it only occurred to me years later, once I had lost all contact with anyone, that you must have had seen something. That had to have been it." Springtrap paused momentarily before asking a question that he had been waiting to get answers from for years. "What did you see?"

It would've almost been easier to list the things that he hadn't seen. But one memory always stood out in the back of Marionette's mind. It always found its way back, even if it no longer scared him.

"…Once I was locked in the backroom of the diner. It was the storage room where they kept the spare parts and the suits. Gabriel and his friends had locked me back there as a cruel joke and thought that my yelling and crying was me overreacting to being stuck in there… They hadn't checked the room before they locked me in there. They didn't see what I saw in there."

Marionette's spools tightened as a low hum of static came from within. Not out of anger, but just out of the emotions brought on by the memories. Even in hindsight it seemed so ugly, so repulsive, what he faced.

"I think it was the Fredbear suit, but I could've been wrong; it could've been Bonnie. The head had been removed and all I could see was just the neck of that slumped suit… And there was human hair sticking out of the top." His striped body trembled momentarily. "There was a child in that suit. An unmoving child, a body, hidden in that suit in that backroom. I think it might've been a boy, I never checked… I had been the sole witness to a crime scene, and I stayed with that silent, lifeless child until I was found."

"Oh dear God," was Springtrap's only reaction.

"Now I know the truth about what was going on at that restaurant and that it wasn't the animatronics I should've feared… But that memory still haunts me. It could've been someone else who stumbled onto that body. They might've not been fortunate enough to get back out of that room… Gabriel had come so close."

"…Did Father kill Gabriel?" Springtrap asked in a mix of disbelief and disgust. He had always suspected it and the puppet's nod confirmed it. "Did he kill Elizabeth? Did he kill you?"

"Father killed us all in one way or another… Some of us just died a lot more quietly than the others." Marionette bitterly said. He had to calm himself down before any more emotions rose up. The last thing he wanted was to cry from frustration in front of his eldest sibling. Instead he changed his tone and turned the subject. "Believe me, Michael. I wasn't afraid of you. I was afraid of everyone and everything."

While Springtrap said nothing his eye contact and relaxed features seemed to suggest that he believed him.

"…I suppose I should go back home with Mike soon. Our offer still stands if you change your mind," Marionette suggested. Springtrap gave no indication that he had. "Then I'll be off. Unless there's something else?"

"Not now," Springtrap declined as he looked down to the Handunit. "But I'm not going anywhere."

"I suppose that's true." While the older took this as a shame, the younger smiled a little to himself. At least they could manage a conversation. "Take care of yourself."

Marionette let himself out and Springtrap sent one last look after him. Then his focus returned to the Handunit. He tried not to think of what he had just been told, or of Freddy's or his father. Without the pain to distract him he would need something else to drag him out of the present, and hopefully the Handunit would do that. Even if it meant dragging him into an equally unpleasant past.

"Welcome: Eggs Benedict."

Mable: So, this is clearly not the end of our time with Springtrap, but this is the end of the chapter. Thank you for reading and I'll see you next week!