Mable: Happy New Year! Guys, I have a feeling that this is going to be a good one!... So, either it will be and my prediction is accurate, or it will be a terrible one and I can look back on the irony of it. They say hindsight is 20/20, so this is the best year to see the bright side of what we can. But enough of my rambling on! Enjoy the first chapter of the new year!

Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Eighty-Two

Jeremy hadn't been exaggerating when he said his animatronics were more upset about the loss of the apartment than he was. If Jeremy was scared and devastated, they were frantic and inconsolable. The Minireenas and even Plushtrap made little cries of distress and clung to each other desperately. The Bidybabs, usually fussy and spoiled, silently held hands and rubbed their eyes like they were crying. The only ones who had little reaction were Max, who hid every feeling by stoicism, and Balloon Boy, who was unfortunately used to losing homes.

They were slightly more together by time Jeremy drove them to Mike and Marionette's house. At least, they had all fallen into silence by then, and didn't fight as they were carried into the strange home. The usually curious little ones now huddled together in a group without the desire to wander. It reminded Marionette of when he had found some of them inside the false pizzeria and he instantly sympathized.

"Jeremy, why don't you take them into my room? There's plenty of toys and trinkets they can play with, and they can use the bed if they need to rest. It might be easier to adjust to one small room than one big house," Marionette offered. Jeremy, who had largely remained quiet himself, nodded and thanked him. Then he gathered up his bots and led them into the back.

As soon as they were gone, including Max who decided to make it easier on Jeremy by walking himself back there, Marionette let his smile drop.

"I worry about them," he admitted, turning to Mike and Charlie to voice his concerns. Mike was heading into the kitchen to make an early dinner while Charlie was still looking down the hall after Jeremy and the other animatronics. Marionette folded his arms worriedly. "It's going to be difficult adjusting to this, even if they have beds to sleep in tonight."

"To be honest, I'm more worried about Jeremy. He didn't look like he was taking it well… I wish there was something more we could do than just giving him a bed," Charlie said, equally concerned. "I know Foxy wants to get the pizzeria open as soon as he can, but maybe he should've come with us. He might've taken some of the edge off." Marionette nodded thoughtfully while Mike sounded less concerned.

"Jeremy will pull through. He's gone through a lot of hell over the years, it's going to take more than this to do him in," Mike said. Which he fully believed, even if he knew that Jeremy was going to be struggling for a while. That was why he was going out of his way to make a real dinner instead of just settling on whatever he could throw in a microwave. Chicken seemed easy enough and he took a pack of uncooked breasts out of the fridge and opened them. "I'll bring in his stuff before I take Charlie over to Henry's."

"If you think we should just stay here with them then I don't need to go back to the house tonight," Charlie said, to which he quickly waved it off.

"We made a plan and I'm going to stick by it. If there is anything left in there, then we're going to want to get it now before the place gets taped off. Besides, Jeremy's going to notice if we start hovering over him."

"That's a good point…"

"Are you coming with us, or are you going to stick around and make sure Balloon Boy doesn't find any weapons?" Mike asked Marionette with a playful smirk. He expected an agreement or decline, but not the lingering hesitance that followed the question.

"Actually," the puppet began as he tapped his fingers together. "…I was thinking of going to go see Chance." Mike paused his prep and sent him a disbelieving look. "I can't avoid him forever. Not when he's wanting to speak with me." Mike didn't look convinced and Marionette's certain tone faded. "He wanted to know about Goldie and I'm the only one who can tell him. I'm obligated to do that much."

"I don't think you're obligated to do anything with Chance, but I get your point," Mike said. He turned back to the counter. "But if he starts up, you know what to do."

"Teleport out as fast as I can and hope he forgets how to use a phone?" Marionette playfully asked.

"That's the one."

Dinner was largely uneventful, with Jeremy coming out to eat at the table with Mike and the puppets. Daisy was the only one who came with him and sat in his lap the entire time while the others stayed back in the room. Though Mike swore he caught a glimpse of Balloon Boy peeking out from the hall, but it was so quick that it was hard to tell. It was a relief to see that Jeremy wasn't as quiet, but he avoided talking about the apartment, and nobody pressed the issue.

Not long after dinner, Jeremy returned to the bedroom to his bots as he didn't want to leave them for long. It wasn't until it grew dark that Mike and Charlie left to go check on the house, with Marionette still at the house as they left. By now Mike was starting to feel a little worse again but sucked it up and pressed on. Telling himself that once he got home he could go straight to bed, which he planned on doing.

They were almost at Henry's road when Charlie straightened up in the backseat. It was dark enough out that she wasn't afraid of being seen, and she needed to take advantage of getting Mike alone.

"Hey… Can I ask you something?" She leaned over the shoulder of the passenger seat, wrapping her arms around the headrest. "And I want you to be honest with me. No sparing my feelings."

"This can't be good," Mike mumbled. Charlie made a motion like rolling her eyes along with a tiny smile.

"No, come on. I can handle it. I need to… Ask about something, and I can't ask Mari." As her smile fell and her tone changed, Mike realized this was more serious than he thought. He briefly looked away from the road and to her. She, meanwhile, looked towards the road to avoid eye contact. "Do you remember when we were in the warehouse after I found out that Mari was William's son, and Mari was telling me about my dad? He said something then that I don't think he meant to say… He said he didn't bite him on purpose."

"Oh, this really isn't good," Mike thought. He would've started sweating bullets if he wasn't already so chilled. "Please don't ask me about the bite…"

"When Mari said that, I noticed you got this… Look on your face. I didn't bring it up then and I forgot about it for a long time… And I should warn you now that I did overhear the conversation you had with my grandfather. More than just what you told me."

"Please, if there is any mercy in the world, don't ask me if Goldie did it on purpose. Please don't make me say that," the security guard thought. His teeth clenched tighter and he looked more visibly uncomfortable.

"I guess what I'm getting at is…" Charlie looked to him again. "…Do you think he bit Mari on purpose?"

"…I swear, if I find out Goldie's somehow behind this, I'm going to drag him back from the grave and sucker punch him right in the mouth." But that wasn't going to help him now. Denying it now wouldn't be convincing, so he had to be forthright. "I'll be honest, I don't know what happened back then. I have my suspicions, yeah, but Golden Freddy denied it. He was pretty sure that he didn't."

"But you're not?"

"I don't know. Could he have done without realizing it, subconsciously trying to get back at the Purple Man? Was it just a freak accident and he really had no control? Who knows. All I know is that the whole thing is suspicious," Mike said. He then noticed how uneasy the Security Puppet looked and quickly backtracked. "But don't take my word on it. I wasn't even there, and I'll be the first to admit that I jump to expect the worst out of people. Take all this with a grain of salt."

"My dad was always buried in his work and distant with me. Quiet, but I do remember that when he was home that he was loving and caring. I couldn't imagine my dad doing anything like that on purpose. Hurting someone like that, especially a kid…" Charlie defended right off the bat. Then the thought sunk in a little longer. "…But then why does it make so much sense? Part of me knows he would never do anything like that, but I didn't even know my father. I was too young to know… And everyone changed after Sammy disappeared."

"Well, Mari knew Goldie a lot better than I ever did and he says it was an accident, so I'd be inclined to believe him. He's never been one for denial," Mike remarked. Charlie considered telling him about Marionette's fit of denial when they thought Ennard had burned, except it was then that Mike parked on the side of the street outside the house. "We're here. Let's get our plan down now before we go in."

"Plan?" Charlie asked in confusion.

"If someone shows up or the police pop in. We need some sort of backup plan," Mike insisted. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "If we run into anyone and you can't get back to the car, then it's just going to be safer for you to go somewhere you can hide and I'll pick you up from there. Not hiding here. Is there anywhere close by that'll work?"

"There's a church down that way that I can get to pretty easily," Charlie said, pointing in the direction. He gave her a thumbs up.

"Sounds good. You get there and lay low… And if I don't get there in two hours, assume I've been arrested and try to get back to the house. I'll need you to cue in Jeremy so he can come bail me out."

Charlie got a touch of a smile back regardless of the tense conversation, which had been Mike's main goal. Then they got out of the car and carefully headed up to the house. Either the power was out or most of the street had been abandoned, and either was possible with the state of most of the houses. Charlie kept her hood drawn up and stayed close to his side, giving the illusion of two humans wandering in the dark. Mike waited until they got inside to turn on his flashlight, as to not draw more attention.

It didn't look any better in the dark and Charlie flinched at the sight of the caved roof. Mike led the way into the hall and glanced around at the doors to the other rooms.

"Looks like some of the back rooms are totally blocked off and I couldn't get in the master, but your room and the living room is pretty clear. Kitchen is too," Mike said. He leaned to shine his light into the kitchen as she passed by, then went to follow. Only to do a double take and lean back into the kitchen as he noticed something.

The china cabinet was now straightened up and the pantry was open. Mike was sure that this wasn't how it was before. Slowly he drew his light from the kitchen and followed Charlie into the bedroom.

"I think I saw… What?" Mike began and cut off. He looked around Charlie's bedroom and instantly knew something was amiss here too.

Other that the closet door, which Mike had opened, things had definitely been moved. The bedside drawer was open and some of the dressers looked askew, some pulled out a couple of inches with clothes messily bunched in them. The biggest red flag was the lamp that had been on the floor and was now sitting up on the nightstand again. As though someone picked it up and tried to use it as a source of light.

"What?" Charlie repeated in confusion. She didn't notice the subtle changes like he had. Most of the telling things she wouldn't have known to look for, but Mike did.

"Someone's been in the house," he said. He scanned over the drawers and the nightstand and remembered back to the china cabinet and pantry. "And they were looking for something."

Charlie looked startled by the comment and watched as he went over to check the bedside drawer for himself. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, things have been moved. I can tell," he said as he looked through the drawer. She looked around and started to notice things too, like the drawers. She had packed her things in a haste but knew she hadn't left them like this. Mike couldn't find anything suspicious in the drawer and closed it again. "Was there anything in here worth hiding?"

"I don't think so. Mostly just supplies and stuff, nothing that anyone would want to steal," Charlie admitted. She looked around the room before her eyes landed on a toppled over horse toy. "The most valuable thing in here is Stanley."

"Could've just been looters looking for something to grab," Mike said. He hoped that was all it was and shut the drawer again. "I'm going to go check out the living room."

"Alright. I'll get what I can and meet you out there," Charlie agreed. She took off her emptied bookbag and began to look through the drawers for things to fill it.

Mike headed out into the living room and honestly couldn't tell if anyone had been there or not. It was still a mess, so it wasn't easy to spot the differences. He changed targets and instead headed to the master bedroom and tried the door. To his mild surprise, it opened wider than it had for him, but then struck the same wooden object and stopped. Someone had clearly tried to force their way in after he had. Seeing as he wasn't getting in, he headed to the fallen part of the house.

It was then that he found something that wasn't there before. It looked like someone had moved some of the rubble, making a sort of tunnel through the fallen wall and into the back. This was unnecessarily risky to find valuables that might not be there. He wouldn't expect this from a usual looter.

"Looks like someone tried to tunnel through here. I don't know what they were hoping to find, but they must've been desperate… Or looking for something specific." Suspicion was growing. Charlie came out of the room to look for herself and stared at the hole curiously for a moment. "I'm guessing probably not, but other than the bathroom is there anything back there worth finding?"

"…Dad's office," Charlie said, her own suspicion growing as she looked at the tunnel. Someone had been determined to get back there. Almost like they knew what was back there.

"Guess that makes sense. An office might have a computer, might have a safe, probably the best chance anyone would have of striking gold," Mike agreed. He crouched down and shined the light into the hole. It didn't look safe, so whoever headed through must have been desperate. He noticed when Charlie crouched a little closer to the hole, leaning forward like she was about to crawl in. "I wouldn't go in there."

"This doesn't look like a random theft. They were looking for something specific. I need to check the office and make sure," she said. She took off her jacket and handed it back to Mike before starting to creep inside. "You wait here and I'll go look. If something falls on me, I'll be okay."

"I don't think that's how it works, but alright," Mike agreed. He kept the light shining into the tunnel as the other puppet crawled inside.

'Tunnel' wasn't exactly the best way to describe the small space though. It was much tighter on the inside, with broken wood planks leaning in and poking through, and with the roof still slumped down in the center. A human could fit through here, but they must've been slow and careful as to not jar anything loose. Charlie couldn't afford to be that slow and sacrificed caution for speed. Hands felt along carefully to make sure the floor underneath wasn't set to collapse as she slid underneath a tight squeeze.

It was her elbow that tapped a piece of wood and set off a chain reaction. Apparently, it was propping up part of the roofing, which collapsed in along with a large slab of drywall that landed on her legs. She scurried forwards to get out from under it and barely skirted into the office before there was an almighty crack and the whole tunnel caved in on itself.

"Charlie?!" Mike called after her. He tried to look through the space only to see that it had been swallowed by the rubble. "Christ, the whole thing caved in! Charlie, are you okay?! Can you hear me?!"

"I'm fine! I made it through to the office!" Charlie called back. She then looked around at the room. "Or what's left of it…"

"I'm going to go around back and see if I can find a window to get in. Don't move around too much," he called in. He hurried out of the house and around the back.

Left alone to her own devices, Charlie looked around at what had been her father's office. Most of the things on the shelves and desk, including books and computer equipment, were strewn on the floor and she stepped over them carefully to get to the desk. It made sense that something powerful enough to tear down walls and the roof would throw these things onto the floor. What made less sense was how one of the top drawers had been yanked out and was now sitting on top of the desk, its contents empty.

Charlie didn't know what was worse; the confirmation that someone knew what they were trying to find, or the fact that whoever it is had stolen her father's recorded tapes.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by a knocking on the window and looked to see Mike peering in from outside. She went to unlock the window and raised it slowly to not shake the already fractured structure.

"You were right. Whoever it was stole some of my father's old recordings. They would've been worthless to someone just looking for things to steal," Charlie revealed as she started to climb out. "It looks like they might've taken some of his old paperwork too, though Aunt Jen got rid of most of it already. I doubt she would've risked her life crawling back here for cassette tapes."

"No, not Jen. You said yourself that she wasn't into opening up the past, right? Probably hasn't even found out about the damage yet," Mike agreed. He shined the light inside of the office briefly and looked over the scene inside. He then flicked off his light and handed Charlie her jacket. "That's not all. Here, come look at this."

He beckoned her around the back of the house and to the basement doors. He pointed the flashlight and clicked it on, the beam of light falling on a padlock that had barely kept the battered doors shut.

"Now I know that wasn't here when Mari found Springtrap. So, the question is: who locked it up, and why? Again, maybe Jen, but I'm thinking no," Mike said. Charlie shook her head, agreeing that she wouldn't do it. "And another good question is; when did someone have time to do this? Because the lock doesn't look brand new, so it could've been any time between then and now."

There were so many questions that had disturbing answers. The basement had housed some of Henry's old animatronic prototypes and blueprints- both knew this- and with the missing tapes it almost seemed like someone had been digging up information on Henry. That could never be good for them.

"Maybe I should get my stuff and we should leave," Charlie said. "We're not going to find any answers here… And I don't feel safe."

"It was probably almost getting crushed under falling debris. I know that always does it to me," Mike said with little inflection. It covered up his own unease well, though his was not out of fear of his safety but of what this information getting out could mean. "If the wrong tapes got out, it could be the end of Foxy's," he realized. This angled his suspicions. "You don't think it could be Burke, do you?"

"Clay? No," Charlie said with a shake of her head. "He's had access to the house for years. He didn't even need a search warrant; Jen would've let him right in. Why wait until now?"

"Good point." This only made him more discouraged; nobody wanted another Dave or Chance to pop up out of nowhere and cause massive problems. The problem was, too many former employees were currently unaccounted for and any of them could come back. Blackmail would be only the lightest threat; they could be looking at another martyr or psychopath with a bone to pick. "You're right. Let's get your stuff and go."

The two all but cleaned out the rest of Charlie's stuff from her bedroom. Neither intended to grab that many things, but once in the process they just continued until they had most of the things. The last things she took were a few of the broken pictures from the living room that she tucked under her jacket before hurrying out in the car. With the stuff in the back and the streets seemingly barren, she slid down in the passenger's seat and they started to drive back.

It was during that drive home that the other puppet started looking at the pictures in her lap. They were all taken before the family had crumbled and she didn't remember the memories. One was of her father sitting in a chair with her and her twin sitting in his lap. Her mouth was open wide in a smile, maybe laughing, while Sammy's face was scrunched up. Henry was smiling proudly, and it could only be assumed that it was her mother taking the picture.

Things could've been so different. She barely even recognized the people in the photo and had trouble looking past what she knew about them now when seeing her happy family. She shook the thoughts off quickly, not wanting to get into a mood before they got home. Though the thoughts did stir up a question.

"Hey, Mike. Did you think I was going to be living with you and Mari this long?" He was slightly surprised by the question but answered much easier than the earlier bite question.

"I didn't really think about it. Either you would stay with us or you'd get tired of us and go live with Fritz and Natalie, or with Foxy at the pizzeria," Mike explained. He sent her an encouraging smile. "But between you and me, I'm glad you stuck around."

She smiled again, "I am too." That was all the encouragement that Charlie needed to put the pictures away.

Chance stared numbly at the television in Fritz's dark basement sitting room. Some home repair show was on that he was playing little attention to. Fritz and Natalie had gone to bed early, exhausted from the events of the day and relieved that their home had been spared. He gave them their space and sulked to himself, staring at this screen, thinking of nothing and wondering about even less.

Then, out of nowhere, he was struck by a sudden jolt shooting through him. He straightened up on the couch and dropped the remote that he had been holding loosely in his hand. Every sense focused in for a few moments until he forcibly relaxed them, but even then he could still tell that he was upstairs by the front door. He knew exactly where he was but made no effort to get up or do anything. He just rode out the feeling.

"What's he doing here this time of night?" Chance wondered. He supposed he would know soon enough as he felt the figure moving around the upper floor and heading to the stairs. He knew he could've tried to get up and head to his room, even if he wouldn't make it in time, and still didn't even make the attempt.

"Chance?"

Marionette was nearly whispering as Chance turned to look at him. His dark form looked eerie in the light of the television. Like a phantom that crept out of the darkness and now stood before him. The Puppet always startled him; even more now that he always knew where it was. His left hand gripped at a microphone that was no longer there; his programming trying to kick in and failing.

"What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night," Chance asked. He picked up the remote, still watching the new animatronic, and turning the volume down on the television.

"I know it's late, I just thought it would be better to wait until everything calmed down… I know you had questions about Golden Freddy. I'll tell you whatever you want to know," Marionette explained calmly.

Though by now Chance almost knew too much. Whatever the puppet would say could only worsen his already shaken image of his son, himself, and the situation they were all in. He turned back towards the tv.

"That's already been taken care of. Sorry to drag you all the way out here for nothing," Chance said. His voice held little emotion beyond exhaustion. He didn't even sound angry even though Mike had been harsh, and Marionette took this as a bad sign. Lethargy always worried him when it came to animatronics. That apathy could lead to malfunctions alarmingly fast, and he knew he had to do something more.

So, instead of leaving like was being suggested, Marionette moved closer to the couch. Chance turned to look at him again once he got only a few feet away, still just as paranoid as ever, so the puppet stopped there. He decided against sitting on the couch and instead lowered to the floor to sit on his knees. Then looked up at Chance and it was only then, in this somewhat submissive posture, that the television light cast the bear in the same eerie glow. Marionette shivered internally even when he knew Lefty couldn't hurt him.

But he regained his nerve enough to speak. "The first few weeks after I came into this body were difficult. I was confused, couldn't control myself well, and was virtually alone most of the time. The children were so close, but I couldn't speak to them or the employees. I could barely move myself so how would I escape if I got myself into a difficult situation? I couldn't… But it was alright, because I had Goldie."

Now he could see Chance paying more attention. Smiling a little more honestly, Marionette continued his story.

"Goldie was more than my best friend; he was my protector. There was nobody else there to help me, or us, and he was the one to do that. Many nights I would crawl out of my box and work my way back to the storage room or safe room, wherever he would be, and he would reassure me through the night. They made me sleep so much that when I had the choice I wouldn't, but Goldie would see that I was tired, and he would help make it easier. Those long, empty nights in those backrooms, when it was only us…"

Marionette lowered his head somberly as his smile reverted to its default. "I still miss him. That friend of mine, the one who took care of me, the one who saved me…" His voice faded with a low tune as his smile dropped. "…And that's why it hurts so much knowing what I do now." He couldn't tell what Chance was thinking when his eye widened, he couldn't even look directly at him. Marionette gave a dry and empty chime.

"I came here to counter what Mike said and show you that Henry still was a good person, even though he made mistakes… But all I did was just remind myself why I'm still angry at him. He didn't have to go to the lengths he did. I would've done anything he asked of me… Now I'm going to always be asking myself if he was even my friend at all," Marionette admitted. He looked up at Chance, noticing that he was still staring. "…Chance, I'm sorry. I shouldn't put this on you."

Chance didn't say anything, and they sat there silently in the dark living room staring at the tv screen and whatever was playing on it. It looked like a commercial for kitchen cleaner.

"…When you were little, you used to get sick all the time," Chance suddenly said. The puppet looked up at him. "Maybe it was having a baby around all those kids at the diner, but you used to catch everything that passed through. So, you used to spend a lot of time in his office. He'd stay back there with you, rocking you and trying to make you feel better. He treated you just like one of his own. He really took to you."

"He did?" Marionette asked hesitantly. "…I remember he would let me come in and stay with him if I got too upset. He used to give me brownies too."

"Henry spent a lot of time looking out for you kids. He'd take your siblings on trips when William was too busy getting loaded at a bar… At least, I hope that's what he was doing. Good God… A couple of years he even took you all trick-or-treating or out to movies on the weekends. Used to annoy the heck out of my daughter-in-law after the twins came and money got tight. They couldn't afford birthdays and Christmases for five kids… But then things happened and all that stopped."

"I know. Charlie told me."

"Yeah…" Chance began to make a stressed coughing sound, signaling that he was about to strain himself even before he did. "Did you ever find out what happened to Sammy?" Marionette looked to him wide-eyed and curious. "You've been around the bend. Thought maybe you found out where he went."

"Sadly, no. Or maybe not sadly depending on how you look at it. Of all the animatronics I have met, none of them were Sammy. And the ones who couldn't remember who they were didn't match up with the time frame… But maybe that could be a good sign?" Marionette asked hopefully. Chance gave him an exhausted look. "There is a slim chance that Sammy could still be alive out there. Someone else could've taken him. He could be living with another family and a different name, not knowing the truth but being alive and well."

"…Guess that's possible. You hear about people stealing babies, and Sammy was so little that he probably wouldn't be able to remember much. Nothing he couldn't replace with new memories…" It was clear from his tone that he didn't believe it, but still went along with it. "The point is Golden Freddy was not my son. He… He's just what my son turned into… If you're going to remember anyone as Henry, remember the man he used to be. That's what I'm going to have to start doing."

"I will try," Marionette agreed. "…I hope you do the same for me. I know you hate me, but it is in our best interest that we learn to cooperate."

"I don't hate you, Marion. I just hate that every time I look at you, I have alarm bells telling me to rip open my chest and shove you inside," Chance said bluntly and looked back at the television.

"Oh…" The puppet's eyes widened slowly as he stared at the bear. Then he quietly started to slide back across the carpet, barely moving as he did so. "I see…"

"Relax. I've got it under control. Even if I didn't, I'm not fit to do anything," Chance assured. He almost sounded a little bit amused for a second. "But I get it. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon… Unless I figure out where that clown got burned. Don't think I didn't notice that."

Marionette flinched lightly but stayed quiet.

"We'll figure it out," Chance finished. "You should get back home. They're probably waiting for you."

"Are you sure? I can stay," Marionette offered. He didn't know why he did when Chance had just said he was battling the programming to attack him. He just knew if he left it like this, he would dwell on it all night. "…Would you mind if I stayed a little longer?"

Chance considered it for a moment. "…Sure, Kid." For now, at least tonight, he would pretend this haunted puppet was just a normal kid, and maybe he would find out why Henry took to him so well.

It was an hour later before Marionette arrived back at home. The teleportation was tiring after the lengthy and exhausting day that he had been through. It was hard to believe everything that happened that day, and to believe that it had all happened in one day. Afton Robotics alone felt like a distant memory when it had only been some hours ago. It wasn't even midnight and he was already back to the state he was in he before his nap.

Charlie, Balloon Boy, and Max were all in the living room. Max standing prone as he watched the television while Charlie and Balloon Boy sat on the couch, but they all could feel when the puppet appeared in the room. They all turned to look at him, Max even spinning his head almost all the way around and could see how slumped his posture was.

"Didn't go well with Grandpa?" Charlie asked. He shrugged a bit, his head and neck tilting limply. She hummed and considered telling him about what they found at the house, but then decided it would probably be best to wait for morning. "You look tired. Maybe you should call it an early night?"

"I might just do that if you all don't mind," Marionette agreed. He glanced around the living room and noticed someone was missing from the group. "Where's Mike?"

"He already went to bed. He was coughing a lot when he got back from the house and I think he took more medicine. If he wasn't tired before, he's going to be now."

"Maybe I should go check on him," the puppet subtly suggested before heading to the hallway. He felt so slow and his body felt like a sandbag. It would be so good to get in bed and forget today happened.

"Are we not supposed to know that he's going to get in bed with him?" Max asked loudly- on purpose. There was a squeaking noise; Balloon Boy's neck as he shook his head. "Ha ha ha. That's cute."

He would choose to forget that too, Marionette decided. He gave no response and headed back to the master bedroom, quietly letting himself inside. Mike was already in a dead sleep. He had changed into his nightclothes and it looked like he had set the alarm, so he was intending to sleep through the night. Marionette liked the thought of that so much that he turned the alarm off and dropped onto the bed. He half-collapsed on the sleeping man, partially draped over him and almost still dangling off the bed and curled up against his back.

Mike was warmer than usual, the back of his neck dampened like he had just broken a fever, and his pulse seemed slower than usual. Still very ill, still very much in need of rest and today couldn't have helped matters. While Marionette was worried, this was something they could handle right here at the house. He could handle that much, and he drifted off holding him, trilling in contentment.

It was good to be home.

"You need to do something about this or you're going to have to go to the hospital," Scott said as he leaned over the back of the couch. Mike looked up at him and huffed.

"Scott, I'm fine. It's just a flu. I'll take more meds," he told him. This didn't seem to appease the older man, who was growing increasingly frustrated.

"Don't you see what's going on?! You're running a fever of one hundred twenty! Look!" Suddenly Scott reached down and yanked the blanket off Mike's body, revealing that not only was he missing his clothes, but his entire body was turning a deeply flushed pink color. He stared down in shock, ignoring the nudity and focusing on the color. "Look at what it's doing to you, Mike!"

"That's not the fever… That's from that cough syrup!" Mike exclaimed. He sprung from the couch and ran into the bathroom where he found the empty bottle on the sink and looked at the back. There, underneath the side effects, he could see it written as plain as day: 'May cause skin discoloration'. "It says it right here! I don't believe this!"

It was then that he noticed tiny words written underneath and squinted to read. "May cause teeth to fall out…?" Suddenly Mike realized that he was missing his front teeth.

Then, just as abruptly, something suddenly fell on him and Mike's eyes popped open to reveal him lying in bed in a white room. It took him a few seconds before he registered that he was in a dim hospital room. He was facing towards the windows that stared out at nothingness, and he could hear sharp beeping, along with the dull hum of a ventilator.

"…I didn't actually get sick enough to go to the hospital, did I? I don't even remember anyone driving me here," Mike thought. He tried to shift and move but found himself frozen in place. Something was laying across him. "Probably Mari," he decided. He looked over the hospital wall and out into the blackness outside.

Something was looking in from outside. Mike blinked once and suddenly the hospital was gone and he was laying in his bed in the master bedroom.

As predicted, Marionette was wrapped around him with his mask pressed into the back of his neck. It looked like it was still dark out, but it felt like it was probably morning, so he guessed the sun would be coming up any moment now. He wasn't curious enough to turn over and look past Marionette to see the clock. He still felt groggy but the urge to cough had faded quite a bit, which he took as a good sign.

Except that something had been weird about that dream. Thinking back to it, or them, the two parts had felt very different. The first section with Scott had felt like a typical dream, already starting to become slightly foggy- save the image of him running around naked in front of Scott. Marionette would get a kick out of that- but the second section had that strange lucid feeling. That hospital had felt so real to him. So real that waking up felt less like rousing from sleep and more a simple blink. More like a hallucination than a dream.

He lazily reached up and felt over his own head. Less warm than earlier; not feverish enough to be hallucinating. It must've just been an extremely weird dream. At least there was no sign of Old Man Consequences.

Mike rolled onto his back and put an arm around Marionette, rousing the puppet just enough to have him nuzzle into his neck and warble lowly. It was adorable and Mike couldn't help but smile at it. Then faded back into a thankfully dreamless sleep. Nothing to worry about yet.

Mable: I hope everyone had a happy first day of 2020 and have a good year following! Remember: someone's always watching out for you!