A/N: A little late in the month, but here we are!

If the ending seems a bit clunky, I'll let you in on a secret: This was meant to be one chapter, but I got carried away, and 8000 words later, I realized it's be more reasonable and consistent to split it into two. Besides, given the content of the next chapter, it feels fitting to post it for the holidays!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and thanks again for all the support you guys have given! *heart emote*

This is a stupid idea. This is a stupid idea. This is a really, really stupid idea.

I kept telling myself that, but no matter how many times I did, I couldn't stop myself from going backstage.

I don't know why. I just… I wanted to check on Thomas. See what he'd been doing while I wasn't here, and if he was still okay after our little… talk this morning.

So many things had come to light, many of which were things I didn't want to know. An innocent teen was attacked by one of the animatronics, Thomas had to witness it-

And it was probably my fault.

I shook my head, groaning, my hand frozen on the doorknob, the one thing keeping me separate from the backstage area. For all that these nightmares had done to show me the truth, the realization that Jeremy had been attacked trying to pull me away from the Mangle, the fact that nothing might've happened if one little boy had kept his hands to himself-

Oh, Thomas probably wouldn't want me blaming myself, the overly-forgiving dumbass. He'd tell me how oh, it was a simple mistake, or that I was only a kid, I couldn't have known better, or some shit like that. That wouldn't fix it, though. That wouldn't change what had happened, and for all I knew, all of those things he'd say would be merely empty words, from someone who couldn't forgive me any more than I could forgive myself, but found the thought of cleaning up my corpse too unsavory to risk me having my judgment clouded.

Not that I could blame him for any of that.

I pushed the door open, entering the cold, damp backstage area. I shivered, partly from the temperature and partly from the disturbing atmosphere. Well, at least it was making me put the past aside, and focus on the horrors of the present instead. I took a deep breath, then called out, "Thomas?"

There was no answer. I took a few steps further in, looking around. The room was larger than it always looked from the safety of the office, with almost half the room hidden from the camera's view, and somehow even creepier in person than on the camera, as well. And, somehow, even creepier than last time I'd been in here.

Alright, look, I know what you're thinking, and me saying that technically, I went in here twice rather than once probably won't help my case any. But in my defense, both of those times were after my shift, rather than before. The first time was actually on my fourth night at Freddy's, after… the phone call.

I stumbled into the room, struggling to see around the sweat and, yes, even a few tears smeared over my glasses. "W-Hey! Hello!" I yelled, my voice hoarse. I took in the room around me-the shelves lined with animatronic parts, the table with a spare endoskeleton sitting on it, and… and the dark puddle on the opposite side of the room. "...Phone Guy." I collected myself, yelling this time. "Phone Guy! Hey, are you-i-is anybody in here?!"

Please, this can't be happening. I don't even know the poor bastard's name, I thought. I took a few shaky steps towards the puddle, but, despite what I expected, there was no dead body. There was no suit with a man, alive or dead, inside it. It was just a dried-up, brown puddle. It could've been Phone Guy. It could've been any other person who'd died here.

My legs shook underneath me. I had to go in further, I told myself. I had to try and find him.

But I swear to God, I felt like… something was watching me. Something that wanted me dead, just as much as it had wanted the guy who came before me dead.

One last try. "Phone Guy?"

No answer. I thought I heard something. I started backing towards the door. "Phone Guy…? If you can hear me…" I dropped my head, the shame starting to set in. "…I'm sorry."

I passed through the doorway, and ran for my life.

I'd wondered, ever since that day, how long it had taken him to die. I'd pray it was quick, that Thomas didn't have to suffer for long, that… that it was already too late by the time I went looking for him.

I shook my head. That was probably the case, I reasoned. There's no way he could've lasted almost a week in there. (Though, I guess it's possible he could've lived for a few days, long enough for my first night, and I might've still been able to save him, if I'd only known…)

No. Not the time to get hung up over this, same as with Jeremy. Now's the time for business, I have to put the past aside, I thought.

Once again, however, I felt myself shaking as I looked around and called out, "Thomas? You in here?"

At least now I knew his name. I sucked in a shaky breath, venturing further into the room. "Thomas? Where you are?" No answer still. The quiet was chilling, combining with the air and my knowledge of the room to shake me to my core.

Finally, I went to hell with this, I'll wait in the office for him. This wasn't worth it, and he'd probably just chew my ass out for coming back here. "Aw, crap, whatever," I muttered, turning towards the door.

The door that I'd left open when I walked in. I know I left it open, because I remember thinking how I wasn't going to leave it closed, in case it locked or got jammed like in some B-movie. I only keep restating this fact because, lo and behold, the goddamned thing was shut.

Even before I speed-walked across the room, I knew it was locked. There was no way that I was lucky enough that the door somehow closed by itself and then didn't lock. And, what do you know? Locked!

Fricking wonderful.

"God-" I sucked in a breath, then yelled towards the door. "Thomas! Can you hear me? I need you to get me outta here!"

No. There's no way I'm getting locked in the backstage area of Freddy Fazbear's overnight.

No answer. I turned back to the room. Maybe there was some kind of emergency exit? A window I could crawl out? Maybe-

"M-Mike?"

I almost jumped out of my skin at the sound of a voice, but then I realized who it was. I turned back to the door, gasping in relief. "Thomas!"

"Mike?" The confusion and (understandable) frustration was palpable in his voice. "Wh-what are you- ugh, w-why-"

"Doesn't matter! Run to the office, I left my keys on the desk. The door's locked; I need you to get me out!" Not that I could've gotten out if I did have my keys; the door only locked from the outside. Hardly the biggest health hazard in the hellhole, but it meant I was stuck in here unless Thomas could let me out.

"Uh, a-alright. H-hang on!" I heard faint footsteps heading away from the door. I sighed. It's alright, I told myself. Thomas is gonna get me out of here.

A few nerve-wracking moments passed before I heard an answer. "Uh, M-Mike? Are you-" Thomas cleared his throat quietly. "A-are you sure, uh, you sure you left your keys on the desk?"

I blanked. "Wh-yes, dumbass!"

I heard Thomas take a deep breath. "I-I mean, uh, n-not to doubt you, but are you completely s-"

"Yes!" My stomach sank. "Oh, shit, you're not telling me they're not there, are you!?"

"W-well, I, heh, I-I don't want to say that, b-but I can say that if they are, I-I can't find them."

"…Shit." My heart sped up as I stumbled away from the door in shock. "Shit, shit!" Desperately, I started jiggling the knob again. "I… What do we do?!"

"I-I don't know!" Thomas groaned. "I-it's alright. Uh, e-everything's gonna be fine-" Suddenly, I heard a jingling sound and a thud, and he went completely silent.

I froze. "What was that?"

"I-it…" Thomas was quiet for a moment. "Your keys."

"My keys?! But how-"

"I-I don't know. They just… I-it's like something threw them-"

"Well, thank the void for giving back my keys later! Get me out of here!"

"A-alright!" I heard jingling, then the door swung open. Thomas stood there, a look of concern etched into his face still. He dropped the keys, rushing to my side, his hands latching onto my shoulders. "A-are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I answered, trying to shrug him off. "It's fine, I'm fine." Though, truth be told, I was still shaken up. I hate that fricking room. "C'mon, let's get to the office before-"

My watch beeped. Thomas and I both froze, then glanced down at my wrist. Twelve in the morning. An icy stream of dread filled my body, and all I could say in the moment was a soft, "Oh, fu-"

Thomas squeezed my shoulders tighter and pushed me back into the backstage room. "H-hang on!" He turned around, only to freeze in place. "Wh-They're gone! Your keys are-" He froze in place, looking out towards the stage. "N-no… H-he can't be moving already-"

"No time for that!" I hissed, waving my hand at him in an attempt to grab him. My hand went straight through his arm, and I let out a series of expletives in response. "Shit- Thomas, please, we've gotta go! Run for the office, or-"

"N-no, we won't make it!" He turned back to me, his rampant fear clear in his eyes. "M-Mike, I'm sorry, the only thing I can think of is, uh-" He sighed, visibly flinching. "Uh, sorry about this." Once again, he planted his hands on my chest, shoving me backwards. I stumbled, and by the time I regained my balance, the door was shut.

I cursed mentally, still a bit too out of breath to do so verbally, rushing forwards and pressing my hands against the cracked moldy wood of the door. "Thomas!" I hissed loudly. "What are you-"

A muffled voice cut me off. "I-I had to!" Thomas was clearly whispering through clenched teeth, and I could hear the way his voice shook. "I-I couldn't- We wouldn't have made- W-we can't get to the office in time! They'll see you!"

He was right, of course. The animatronics would've seen me, and even if I'd somehow been able to outrun the main three, there was no way I could've reached the office before Foxy caught me. I groaned, resting my head on the door. "No, good point." I looked at the disgusting wood in front of me, and, thinking better than to put my face so close to it, stood back. "Now what?" I shouted through the door.

Almost immediately, Thomas shushed me. "B-be quiet! Uh, b-before they hear you!" I huffed through my nose, while Thomas muttered to himself outside. "Ugh, I can't believe th-this is gonna work for six hours… Wh-what can I-" He cut himself off, then muttered, "H-hold on…"

I bit my lip and tilted my head, staring in anticipation, when, suddenly, a hand shot through the door. Flinching back in shock, I yelled, "Jesus!" However, my fear quickly turned to amusement, and I started chuckling giddily when Thomas pushed the rest of his body through the hollow-core door. Whistling lowly, I said, trying to bite back my grin at the ridiculous scene before me, "Ho-ly crap. I guess ghosts really can go through walls."

Thomas shook his arm, the last part of his body to enter, as if trying to shake off whatever contaminants were undoubtedly in the wood. "Heh, I-I was hoping that'd work," he said, turning back to me with a gleam in his eyes, evidently proud of himself for thinking of it. His face fell, and he looked around the room. "A-alright, uh, well t-the good news is, they're out there, a-and, uh, we're not, b-but bad news is, I-I can't find the keys." He glanced at the door, then continued, "My plan, um, m-my plan was to lock you in here, so at least they couldn't reach you, b-but, well, I-I guess that's not happening."

Nodding, I walked across the room to stand beside him. "Yeah, guess not." We stood there in silence, before I finally took a shaky breath and said, "Well, now what do we do?"

Thomas sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "I-I don't know." He turned to face the dark room behind us, filled with animatronic parts. "I, uh, I-I guess there's nothing we can do b-but wait it out."

I groaned, my stomach tying itself in knots at the very thought of spending six hours back here. "Oh, great," I muttered. "As if tonight couldn't get any worse…"

Thomas placed his hand on my shoulder, catching me off-guard and making me jump slightly. "H-hey, it's alright. Um, I-I'll keep my eyes peeled, m-make sure they don't come this way." He bit his lip, adding, "Uh, Bonnie's the only one I've ever seen come back here, s-so at least we only have to worry about one… in theory." He murmured the last sentence under his breath, and his eyes darted away from me. Before I could ask him what the hell that was supposed to mean, he turned towards the door and said, "I-I'm gonna go see what they're doing, got it? S-st-stay here."

"Hold on, what'd you mea-" I tried to ask, but trailed off with a sigh when, instead of answering my question, Thomas just phased through the door and left. Thanks, asshole, I thought, then sighed in resignation and wandered further into the room. As much as I wanted to not go deeper into the nightmare-scape that was the backstage room, I didn't want to be the first thing an animatronic saw when they opened the door, so I needed to at least try to hide. I looked around, scanning for a good place, before seeing a shelf that blocked the view from the door. Seems like as good a place to start as any, I thought, and regardless of where I hid, if somebody actually walked in, I'd be boned no matter where I hid.

I held my breath, afraid to breathe in anything floating in the air back here, and settled into a sitting position behind the set of shelves. I let out a small huff of air from my nose, glancing towards the door, as the cold, pants-ruining reality of my situation set in. As bad as hiding in the office was, with its limited power and claustrophobic atmosphere and the two pathways for the metallic beasts to creep up on you, this was worse. Now, I had nothing to protect me. All I could do was pray that Bonnie didn't decide to visit this room tonight. Because if he (or any of the others, for that matter) came in, I'd have nowhere to go except for the empty suits that sat all around me.

And you know what the worst part was? The fact that, left alone in here, with no way to distract myself, I took the time to accept that, maybe, this was what I deserved.

Oh, sure, I'd never been the biggest believer in karma or fate or anything, but if anybody deserved to die like this-alone, scared, defenseless-it was the person who'd subjected another man to a similar fate. All I could think, looking at all those empty heads and pieces of animatronic, was how horrible it would be to be attacked by it, the kind of pain Jeremy must've gone through, in what might've been his last moments before slipping into a coma, that for all I knew, he was still stuck in-the merciful thing might've been to take him off of life support, but if your son or brother or whatever had been in a coma since he was barely legal, you wouldn't want to take the chance, right? You'd be willing to wait however long it took to see him return to you, despite everything.

I felt my body start to tremble. Heh, how long had it been doing that? It seemed to be it too much to have just started, right? Focus on that… Maybe if you focus on that, you won't have to think about anything else, the animatronics, Jeremy…

I thought I heard a voice, but I tried not to pay attention, instead locking my focus onto my own shaking limbs. If I paid attention to anything other than my own body, that maybe I'd be reminded of the hell I was trapped in, and I couldn't handle that-

A hand closed around my wrist, and a squeal of terror torn from my throat. Instinctively, I jerked away, turning my body away from whatever had grabbed me. All my thoughts, which had just been blurring and churning in a anxious mess, suddenly unified into one panicked sentence: I'm going to die.

I didn't even realize I'd been crying until a cold hand wiped them from under my eyes. Even as I turned and stared directly at my 'attacker,' it took me a moment for my brain to figure out what was right in front of me.

My breath came out in short gasps as Thomas gently reached out and took my hand. I could vaguely hear him saying words, but through the fog over my mind, I couldn't for the life of me make out what those words were. When I finally caught my breath and opened my mouth to speak, I heard a loud bang from outside the door. Another muffled scream, and I turned around, withdrawing in on myself. Breathe just breathe just breathe-

"M-M-Mike!" Once again, I felt Thomas's hand rest on my shoulder. For once, however, it did nothing to calm me down. In fact, I almost think the realization of how little Thomas's presence was doing to help me was making things worse. If he couldn't help, couldn't comfort or protect me, then that was the final straw; my last hope seemingly slipping away.

I whimpered, tears stared to flow again, as I wrapped my arms around myself, hugging my knees to my chest. Maybe they couldn't see me then? To my surprise, I felt a nervous laugh slip from my mouth, not even sure where it had come from. "I'm gonna fucking die," I whispered, barely realizing that I'd spoken aloud this time.

I felt the temperature of the air around me shift, and heard Thomas whisper something under his breathe. "Oh, g-god… N-no, Mike, uh, listen to me." He shifted, sitting in my field of vision again. "I-it's gonna be fine, u-understand?"

I shook my head rapidly, another chuckle escaping. Oh, now I understood why, though. This poor fucking idiot was still trying to help me! After all this shit, after it was clear to me that I was about to fucking die, he was still trying to help me! It was crazy! It was…

Honestly, really depressing.

"No," I whimpered, "no, it's not gonna be fine, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna…" I trailed off, my breath coming out in short gasps.

"Oh, no… Um, h-hang on…" I flinched when I felt Thomas's hand grab my wrist again. "M-Mike, listen to me. Uh, I-I think this'll help. Do you hear me?" Faintly, I nodded, and he continued. "I-I'm gonna squeeze your arm, g-got it? When I do, I-I need you to take a deep, slow breath. Uh, g-got it?" Again, I nodded, but my stomach still churned with the same sick fear. How would this help?

A tiny part of me wanted to protest, point out that there wasn't any point, they were coming for me, but- But another part of me knew that Thomas knew what he was doing. If he could give me even a fighting chance…

Thomas's hand closed tighter around my wrist, and I breathed deeply, my body still trembling. "G-good," I heard Thomas whisper softly. "S-still with me?" Another nod, and he sighed with relief. "Good. N-now, um, I'm gonna let go. When I do, I-I want you to breathe out. Slowly. Understand?" Another nod, and I felt the grip on my arm loosen. On cue, I let the air out of my lungs, feeling my body shake as I did. "There. Feeling better yet?"

This time, I shook my head. Maybe a little better? Not nearly enough, though. At least now, I could start to think straight, but it still wasn't enough.

Thomas hummed lowly. "Th-that's fine. Alright, w-we're, uh, we're gonna do it again, but I need you to look at…" He trailed off, and when I glanced up from behind my knees, he was looking around the room. "…Hm. Well, I-I don't think, uh… Huh." He sighed, then turned back to me. "J-just… Look at me, g-got it? Just focus on me, a-and your breathing, alright?"

Now I nodded again, and turned up fully to look at Thomas as he squeezed my arm again. Dark brown eyes met mine, a sympathetic-yet encouraging-smile on his face. The pressure on my arm released, and I breathed out. He sat on the floor, empty hand resting against his leg. Another squeeze. He nodded affirmatively as I followed his instructions, whispering. "Th-that's it, y-you've got it."

By the fifth repetition, it was basically instinct. My head seemed to clear, and my heart rate evened out, and I came to a startling realization: we were the only ones in here. Despite being convinced earlier that the animatronics were coming for me, that it was pointless to try and save myself… None of them were here. I reached up, wiping the last of the moisture from my eyes. Taking one last, slightly shaky breath, I pulled my arm away. "…Thanks," I mumbled, my face starting to heat up. Now that I'd calmed down, I was, quite frankly, humiliated by how I'd reacted. If I couldn't control my panic, I really was going to die, wasn't I?

"H-hey, it's okay." Thomas seemed to read my features and notice the shame I felt, because he cupped my chin in his hand and said, "D-don't worry, Mike. It…" He sighed, looking away briefly. "I-it's understandable. Y-you're under pressure, your life's in danger, i-it's perfectly reasonable to react like that. B-but, uh, but I need you to keep a cool head, g-got it?" He gently took my head in his hands and, to my surprise, drew me close to his, resting my head on his chest. "You're tough, b-but everyone has their breaking points. A-and I'm here to help you, g-got it?"

I looked away, my face just heating up more. No matter what he said, I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I should've been able to handle it. And besides… "It's my fault," I muttered, once again not realizing I'd spoken aloud.

Thomas, however, certainly did. "M-Mike? Uh, what do you-"

"The Bite!" I yelled in response. I felt my heart start to hammer again, and part of me felt I needed to shut up, stop thinking about, before I had another… meltdown, but I couldn't stop now. "I was the kid, Thomas! I-I was the one who was playing with the Mangle, I was the one Jeremy had to pull off of it, i-if I'd just kept my hands to myself, he'd be fine!" Thomas opened his mouth, and, feeling a surprising surge of rage bubble up inside of me, I yelled, "And don't you dare try to say it wasn't my fault! If it hadn't been for me fucking it up, your friend'd still be here today!" My head dropped in shame, and I felt the familiar churning and swirling in my gut. I struggled to take another breath, and as I did, I was surprised to hear Thomas speak.

"Y-you're not the only one."

My head shot upright ,and I saw Thomas, arm crossed over his chest, averting his eyes nervously. "I-I didn't believe him, o-or the other guard, when they said something was wrong. I-if I had, i-if I'd just gone in with him sooner, paid more attention…" He trailed off, then said, "M-Mike, I won't try to tell you you're not at fault, b-because I can tell you wouldn't believe me. I-I have to, uh, l-let you come to terms with this, however you do, on your own watch. B-but..." He sighed, turning to finally meet my eyes "...Kn-know you're not alone in it, is all."

I sat in silence with him for a moment, before cautiously reaching out and brushing him arm with my fingers. "Guess we're in the same boat here, huh?" I found myself unintentionally scooting closer to him, leaning in to rest my head on his chest.

Thomas seemed surprised, but gently reached up to touch my hair, humming to himself. "Y-yeah, I guess," he whispered, so quietly I could barely hear him. But it was enough.

My heart finally seemed to slow to a normal rate as we sat there, pressed against each other, trying to find some sort of comfort in the hellhole we were trapped in. I mustered up my courage, turned up to face Thomas, and, quietly, asked, "How did you do it? I mean, you didn't last six months by melting down."

A flash of sorrow showed in Thomas's eyes, and I wanted to kick myself. Shit, and there I go again! Why did I say that? Of course he wouldn't want to talk about how he'd done it; not when any strategy he'd had failed him in the end.

To my surprise, he actually smiled, and said "Oh, uh, w-what, where'd you think I-I got that trick?" He sighed, grabbing his wrist. "I, uh, a-after a couple of my shifts, I-I needed something to help me out. I-I modified this trick my mother taught me when I was young. I-I thought maybe it'd help you?" To my surprise, he phrased it like a question, as if asking for confirmation that it'd worked.

One corner of my lips curled up, and I said, "Of course it worked, dumbass!" I sighed, my own eyes falling back to the floor. "Man, I.. I don't know what I'd do without you." My eyes fell back to the floor, and, without thinking, I looped my arms around Thomas's waist. I thought I heard a soft gasp, but he simply wrapped his free arm around my shoulder, other hand still resting on the back of my head. "You're a real life-saver, you know that?"

Thomas chuckled softly. "H-hey, that's, uh, t-that's what I'm here for! T-to make things better for you." Gently, he pushed me back upright, smiling down at me. "A-and I'm honored to be helping somebody like you."

I sighed again, pushing my glasses back onto my face. I took a moment to look around the room, then glanced back at him. "How are things out there? All the bastards staying in place?"

Thomas hummed thoughtfully. "Uh, f-for the most part. I-I had to run to the office and check Foxy's camera-I-I don't know what he would do if nobody was in the office, but, uh, l-let's not test, y'know?"

I nodded. "Fair enough." I glanced towards the door. "So nothing to worry about for now?"

Thomas nodded, and I began to think he was suppressing a grin. "N-none of them are heading this way. I-I think we'll be fine tonight!"

Right as he said that, the universe just had to throw our good mood back in our faces.

A loud bang sounded from outside the backroom door, and Thomas and I both jumped damn near out of our skins. He turned to the door, his jaw dropping. "W-w-what was that?!"

"I dunno!" I pushed Thomas roughly away from me. "Go, go, go check on them! I'll be fine!"

Thomas jolted backwards, glancing back at me. I nodded soberly, and, after only a moment's hesitation, he nodded back and stood up. "B-be careful, Mike," he said, looking over his shoulder as he turned back to the door.

"I will," I said, forcing a smile. The last thing I wanted was him staying in here fretting over me, instead of checking on things out there. "I promise."

Thomas stared, eyes murky, then sighed and took off, leaving me alone in the room once more.