Author's Note

I'm using the Springtrap design from FNAF 3 by the way for those that were asking. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 62

Stubborn

It was 8:58 when Jeremy rolled up. He got out of his car and shouldered his black duffel bag after taking a deep breath. He noticed Hedy's truck was already there. She's probably been here all day. Ruby too most likely, though there was no evidence of her in the parking lot.

Jeremy glanced at the new building off to the side. He stared for just a minute before straightening his spine and marching to the usual door, his bag held just a little closer to his body.

The front door was locked, no surprise. He waited two minutes until a sharp knock on the glass made him look down. He tried not to flinch but old habits died hard.

"Hello!"

"Uh...hi..." the man said, slipping through the door as he eyed the round robot. He honestly hadn't expected that asking Balloon Boy to let him in at a certain time would work.

Balloon Boy smiled widely, looking just a little creepy from Jeremy's perspective and quickly locked the door again before turning around and walking to the main room.

Jeremy followed, bracing himself.

Just then, a shudder ran through the building, nearly topping Jeremy. Balloon Boy stopped and was staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. He whimpered softly.

"She made a deal…" he whispered before running for the main room as quickly as possible.

Jeremy ran after him. What the heck was that!?

He walked into chaos. The animatronics were in clear emotional distress and expressing it in different ways.

Goldy had dropped to the floor and was sobbing with Chica trying to comfort her while being in a state of shock herself. Freddy looked furious and helpless at the same time. Foxy had slid down the wall and was staring ahead with a resigned expression, Bonnie curled up next to him.

Mangle looked close to tears herself while looking like she wanted to strangle someone. Teddy was quietly watching the Originals and looked like he wanted to help but he didn't know how. Chi was mutinously glaring at a wall while Toby was muttering about stupid night guards. Only the Puppet still remained behind his calm mask, watching the others' reactions.

BB ran up to Hedy, clearly upset.

As Jeremy focused on his sister he swallowed nervously. She was glaring at him, ignoring the chaos around her for the moment. She looked furious.

"What are you doing here 'Hedy's Brother'?" came from behind him and he turned to find Ruby eyeing him suspiciously.

"I have a name you know." He frowned as the attention in the room shifted to the night guard.

"I know." She shrugged. "I don't care. I still don't trust you around the bots."

She was cut off by a golden blur as a ghost bear was suddenly sobbing into her shoulder. The wary expression on her face melted away as she focused on Goldy.

"It'll be okay Goldy." She soothed.

"My best friend's going to try and kill you!" the bear yelled between her sobs, smacking Ruby's shoulder weakly.

"At the moment he's not your friend. I'll get him back for you though." She promised, making the bear break out into fresh tears.

Freddy's anger had turned into resignation as he watched them and he moved to stand next to an upset Chica in case she needed comfort.

"Did you have to lass?" Foxy asked wearily. "Wasn't there another option? Other than putting yourself in danger again?"

"No." Ruby stated firmly but not unkindly. "I need to do this Foxy."

The bot sighed but nodded, not really having expected any other answer. Bonnie looked like he hadn't either.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded from Jeremy again.

She glanced between him and Hedy, who was now glaring at both of them.

"He's already here then?" Jeremy questioned, ignoring Ruby for the moment. He'd noticed how, despite how angry Hedy looked, her eyes darted in the direction of Fazbear's Fright.

A single short nod from Hedy answered his question.

Ruby was sitting on a table near Foxy and Bonnie now, watching the siblings. She seemed to be waiting for something.

Jeremy seemed disturbed with Hedy's answer and frowned. Ruby just seemed too…relaxed as well. He didn't understand why they weren't kicking that bastard out or beating him up or better yet setting him on fire in the parking lot. It was better than that guy deserved. In the far reaches of his mind, Jeremy wouldn't mind taking the bots the girls cared about outside along with them and burning the entire place to the ground. He didn't voice those thoughts of course. Something told him, it wouldn't be quite that easy. Hedy told him about the deals Ruby was fond of making and he was skeptical about whatever power she claimed the building had. It was brick and mortar. Nothing special besides the skeletons in the closets. He was still trying to wrap his head around ghosts being real and the fact that the robots he feared were living creatures with freewill. He always thought they were mindless machines and the only one out to kill him was whoever made them.

He lowered his voice, the old habits of calming frightened toddlers kicking in. "Did you see him?"

This time Hedy's glare darkened and she shook her head stiffly. Her silence was taking on a creepy edge for those who didn't know her like Jeremy did.

"No one else has seen him yet." Freddy spoke up quietly. "We just finished recharging ten minutes ago."

There was a general sense of unease and fear in the room. The bots weren't happy with the situation either.

The man glanced down for a second. He seemed eerily calm. Without facing her, he looked at Ruby out the corner of his eye. "I'm not going anywhere if that monster is in the same building as my sister. I'm only leaving if one of them does." He looked at Hedy pointedly.

"I told you not to come," Hedy said softly, but it wasn't a kind "softly". This one was harsh and threatening. "You never listened to me."

Jeremy flinched. Quickly he righted himself and snapped, "I listen to you just about as much as you listen me, Hedy. Which of us decided to work at the place that screwed our lives up?"

Hedy sneered and ignored him. Her eyes flashed to Ruby. She seemed angry, but there was something else in her eyes. "I was hoping to get here before you and stop you from doing this incredibly…well...I wouldn't really call this stupid, but it's on the list. Reckless? Definitely." Hedy groaned and ran a hand down her face. Her hand stopped over her eyes and stayed there.

Ruby's only response was to raise an eyebrow. She surprisingly didn't look smug about getting past them all. She still seemed to be waiting.

"You're not going to cry again, are you?" Teddy asked, worriedly.

Hedy looked over the top of her hand with a small glare. Her eyes were dry.

Teddy shut up and Toby smirked despite the situation, pleased it was the bear with his foot in his mouth this time.

Hedy glanced back at Ruby. "Why did you do this?"

"I already said, I had t-."

"I heard you. I know you had to, for Goldy's friend. You've told me repeatedly each of the hundred times we had this conversation over the past month. But I had hoped..." Hedy trailed off while Ruby glared slightly for interrupting her. She bit her lip. "You don't..." She struggled with the words. How could she say what she needed to without hurting Goldy? She glanced at the bear, who was still crying in worry, though she had eased to sniffling by now.

Goldy noticed. "It's o-okay, Hedwig..."

No one else, except maybe the ghosts, knew, but Hedy and Goldy had talked about some of the things that happened there. Specifically, the murders of Hedy's friends. Hedy knew Ruby wouldn't like it but she needed to talk to someone who knew what happened and the Originals didn't like her while the Toys were just too plain immature. Besides, Goldy had brought it up first, one day in the back room while Hedy was counting the masks. It wasn't a very in-depth discussion, just a few minutes, and neither really said much.

Hedy had quietly admitted to Goldy that she really wasn't sure Spring was still alive in that body. She was terrified that Ruby was risking them all for someone who might not be there anymore.

Goldy had nodded, breaking into tears and making Hedy feel awful, but the bear claimed to understand how Hedy felt about the situation. They were silent for a few minutes in the back room until an explosion from outside interrupted before they could say anything else.

Jeremy's face twisted. He narrowed his eyes, turning back to Ruby. "What's stopping me from taking an ax to that mother-"

"Language," Hedy muttered, no emotion in her voice. "And you can't, I bet." Hedy flashed Ruby a weary glare.

The teen had stiffened and was shooting a venomous glare at Jeremy.

"Doing that would hardly do anything to a ghost, but it would injure Spring. The deal stops you from trying though."

"I'm not about to believe in magic buildings."

"I'd love to see you try and go against it." She growled.

Hedy meanwhile looked ashamed, "We don't even..." she stopped. We don't even know if Spring's alive, she wanted to say. But she shouldn't. That was so selfish of her! H-how could she even think that...but...she couldn't help it. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't help thinking that she wasn't willing to risk her life and the lives of others because of one animatronic. She cringed at the thought. That was awful of her to think that. She was a terrible person. And she was scared, horrified even, but she couldn't show it. Not now. Not with him only a few walls away. She took a breath. "Do you really think he's not...going to recognize me? You don't think he's not going to try something?"

"I'll admit to reckless, but I'm not stupid." The night guard's gaze flicked over all of them as if daring someone to contradict her. "I kept the deal simple. The game is between Springtrap and me. No other bot or human can get involved. He can't attack anyone else and I can't use this part of the building. When I win, he has to leave Spring and can't possess another bot while I'm the night guard."

"Why'd you have to make it fair?" Chica voiced what everyone else was thinking.

She shrugged. "The building… it needed to be fair. That's how every deal I've made has been. The building pushes until its fair."

That sounded insane to Jeremy but the bots were all nodding like it made sense. Ruby turned to face Hedy.

"You don't have to be in the building this week you know. You can take the week off. Although I doubt you will, you're as stubborn as I am sometimes." She wasn't hostile when she said it but she also wasn't looking at Hedy with pity. There was sympathy in her eyes along with understanding.

"I'm not going anywhere." Hedy muttered, making Jeremy groan.

Ruby actually smiled. "I'd be a bit disappointed if you did." She admitted before turning to Foxy and Bonnie to talk about prank ideas. She wanted some fresh ideas for the next night.

They didn't see their new member that night. Ruby doubted it would stay that way for the rest of the week though.