Author's Notes
Okay, first off, I was pretty stunned by the amount of OCs that suddenly flooded in. I've been reading all of them and I'm going to write them down so I can keep track of them all. There were a couple of things that I have to say though. Unfortunately there's no way to add extra bots in. There's honestly already so many to keep track of and with the storyline I've settled on, it wouldn't make sense. The other thing is that its practically impossible to add any OCs into Sister Location since it's basically planned with characters already even though its still a while until that arc starts. The most likely way to get your OC in is if they're designed for the pizzeria, the orphanage or the school. Those are the places that I'm missing characters to fill roles in.
If I end up using your character I'll mention that they're yours in the Author's note of the chapter they appear in. If you PM me with them I'll probably tell you how likely it is that they'll be included. Other than that, enjoy the chapter and thanks for the suggestions!
Chapter 80
Mercy
Mangle wandered to the other side of the large main room and out toward the front room, more to get away from the oil Hedy left on the table. And the bags of...person.
She shuddered. She'd probably gag too if she could.
Haunting, horrible memories came to mind, consuming her attention.
She had killed people before. Murdered people. Brutally. They didn't talk about it, but she was a murderer...just like Michael. She just...she never liked to look at the bodies, even when she had blood dripping from her shiny teeth and coiled wires. It felt wrong before she understood how wrong it actually was. She...she didn't have an excuse like the Originals did.
They were forced. Ruby could say what she wanted about Puppet manipulating Mangle and the other Toys, but still.
Seeing that body, even his body, was like a slap in the face. She'd done that to many people.
She'd almost done that to Ruby too…
Mangle held her arms close to her torso, hugging herself. Where did they, the animatronics, fall with all that they did? Literally, the only person who had never hurt anyone was Hedy.
Eventually, they were all going to end up in trash bags. Her. Toby. Freddy. Foxy. Chi. Puppet. Everyone. Rotted. Thrown away. It had already happened after all. The Originals were stored away when the Toys were first made and the Warehouse was basically where Mangle and her siblings were sent to rust away into forgotten nothings. If it weren't for Hedy and whatever the management was thinking by bringing them back, they would be gone forever. And it still might happen eventually. It was probably more than they deserved.
A knocking caught Mangle's attention and she jumped as she looked up to find herself eye to eye with a woman she had never seen before standing on the other side of the glass doors. She had two children with her, blonde little angels staring at her with wide brown eyes and faces up against the glass. They both looked about five or six. There was something about the girl that itched at Mangle's mind, like she had seen her before, but couldn't pinpoint where. That was impossible though. She couldn't put a name to the kid, which was proof to Mangle she had never seen the girl. The animatronics were designed to remember every child's face they saw and the name attached. It was a necessary function for entertainers like them. The "familiar" feeling was weird, but she didn't let herself consider it longer.
Mangle tensed and darted away to grab a paper and pen from the front desk.
"I'M SORRY. WE'RE NOT OPEN YET, MA'AM." she wrote in all caps so the lady could clearly see and held it up to the door with an apologetic look.
The woman stared at the fox for a minute, clearly curious about the intelligent robot. She looked behind Mangle, trying to peer into the rest of the restaurant.
She frowned. "I'm looking for Jeremy and Hedy Fitzgerald. Are they here?" At Mangle's startled look she continued, voice muffled through the glass. "Could you tell them Amelia is outside, please?"
Mangle hesitated for a minute, blinking before she turned around to go get the others.
She darted around the divider wall that broke the line of sight with the rest of the main room and waved frantically.
Everyone looked at her, including the other Toys, Bonnie and Chica who had finally been allowed back in with Spring put in Parts and Services and... Michael sitting in a couple of trash bags.
"What's up Mangle?" Ruby asked, pointedly not looking at the bags. She still looked a little green.
"There's a lady outside. I don't know if she's a customer?" She signed. "She's looking for you..." she pointed at Jeremy and Hedy.
"What?" Hedy asked quietly, confused, while Jeremy suddenly looked worried as Ruby translated.
Mangle finger spelled out the name the lady gave her.
"A. M. E. L. I. A?"
Hedy snapped around to stare at Jeremy and they both suddenly looked scared.
"Oh sh..."
"Jeremy!" Chica scolded.
The bots just looked confused.
"Who?" Freddy asked.
"We're not open yet, Mags," Teddy reminded her.
"I told her that!" Mangle signed.
Jeremy ignored the bots' annoyance at his swearing and gripped Hedy's shoulders. "You're taking the fall for this one!"
The others looked at the siblings, Ruby snorting in amusement at their expressions.
"Nice," Ruby snickered, her stomach settled and her colour returning to normal. She had a guess as to who the woman was now.
Hedy ignored her. "What?!" she snapped at Jeremy, looking horrified.
"You're the one who tricked me into breaking you out!" Jeremy snapped back, clearly panicked.
Mangle waved her hands again. "She's got two kids with her too. Who is she?"
That got their attention.
Hedy's eyes widened and she gasped with a wide smile, her fear of "Amelia" evaporating in her distraction.
Jeremy and Hedy didn't get a chance to answer Mangle.
"DADDY!"
"AUNT EDDY!"
Two high pitched ecstatic screeches startled everyone as two kids came barreling into the room, the girl launching herself at Jeremy, who's demeanor immediately changed as he scooped her up and spun her around, earning squealing giggles.
"Daddy?!" Toby muttered in shock, staring at Jeremy. Wait a second...
Ruby watched in interest. This wasn't a side of the pair she'd seen before.
"Marcus! Mercy! Wait a minute...!" a stressed female voice ordered as Hedy remembered they didn't lock the front door earlier. Or maybe they did, and the building was cooing over a couple kids.
"Hey, kiddos!" Jeremy started, catching the boy around the middle before he ran into Hedy. "Whoa whoa! Marcus! Slow down. Aunt Hedy's stomach still hurts. You got to be careful remember?"
"Oh right. Sorry, Aunt Eddy. Hello!" the boy smiled at Hedy and waved, even as he looked disappointed. His eyes drifted to the bots and widened slightly, seemingly unsure.
Hedy laughed and held out her arms. "Come here, love."
The kid's eyes lit up and he climbed up into Hedy's chair to sit in her lap carefully. He screamed in delight as Hedy tickled him and planted a kiss on the side of his temple.
"I want a hug too!" the girl demanded.
"Mercy..." Jeremy started with a sigh.
"I'll be okay," Hedy said. She was still clearly in pain, but didn't care anymore.
Jeremy grunted but lowered his daughter down until both kids were sitting with Hedy, her arms around both of them to keep them from falling.
Mercy climbed to hug Hedy around the neck and gave her a kiss on the cheek, not noticing Hedy wince in pain as she shifted to avoid Mercy kneeing her in the chest as the girl stood up in the wheelchair.
"I left you a drawing while you were sleeping. Did you see it?!" The girl swayed a bit in her excitement, making Hedy worry she'd fall.
"It was a masterpiece. It's in my bag, love," Hedy assured her, tightening her grip around the girl.
"I left you one too," Marcus piped up. "I drew you with a bunch of balloons."
"I saw both of them, darlings," Hedy said in adoration. "What are you doing awake so early?"
"Mummy said we were going to visit you. But you weren't there and Mummy got mad."
"O-oh," Hedy said as Jeremy winced.
Puppet was staring at the little girl, glancing at Hedy with a confused look as he did.
Several of the bots were also staring, unsure why. There was something about the girl that felt like deja vu but they couldn't explain why. Ruby noticed and looked at them all in curiosity.
"Everyone, this is my family," Jeremy said, chuckling a little nervously, "My son and daughter, Marcus and Mercedes, and my wife...Amelia."
Amelia hadn't said anything yet, not even phased by the animatronics. She just stared at Jeremy with a small disapproving scowl. Then her eyes narrowed and went to Hedy, who squirmed and smiled sheepishly.
Amelia looked back at Jeremy and crossed her arms.
Jeremy swallowed nervously. "M-My love, my joy, my loving, forgiving wife, my goddess..." he tried.
Amelia raised her eyebrows and cut him off. "Aren't you going to introduce your friends?"
Ruby watched in amusement as this woman silently threatened both siblings. She had a feeling that if there weren't others around those two would be getting a tongue lashing about now.
Her expression reminded Ruby of Alice. Alice could be damn scary when she wanted to be. As Ruby had found out after pushing her a little too far once. Never again…
Clearing her throat to get Amelia's attention, Ruby pointed at each bot and introduced them. They all looked a bit wary of her but clearly wanted to coo over the children.
Thank goodness Spring was in Parts and Services and the...body, was out of sight in trash bags.
"And I'm Ruby, the resident night guard." She finished up the introductions, feeling her exhaustion from the night settling into her bones. While it was nice to meet Hedy's in-law, she really wanted to head home and fall face first into her pillows for a solid eight hours of sleep. At least.
Amelia's gaze left the animatronics and she stared at Ruby for a long second, her expression unreadable.
"How old are you?" she asked Ruby stiffly.
"I'm six!" Mercy shouted, thinking they were sharing ages. She was very proud of getting to use two hands to show how old she was.
Ruby's eye twitched and the Originals very obviously edged away from her.
"Sixteen." She answered with a sharp smile and a hint of a challenge in her voice.
"Sixteen," Amelia repeated. She turned to Jeremy. "Jeremy, can I have a word with you? Privately."
Jeremy paled. "W-we should go outside. I can't tell when the ghosts are around." He shot Hedy a pleading look but she just shook her head with wide eyes.
"Fine. Hedy, watch the twins." Amelia tightened her grip on her purse and turned to walk out. She...knew about the ghosts?
"O-okay," Hedy whispered, wincing as Jeremy followed like a dead man walking.
He stopped and mouthed something at her angrily, but she just pointed after her sister-in-law with a mildly panicked expression and mouthed, "Don't make her angrier!"
Jeremy glared at Hedy and left.
"So...uh..." Hedy said. "Yeah. That's my sister-in-law."
"She doesn't seem happy," Teddy said.
Mangle cracked up at his dry tone of voice.
"How observant..."
Marcus tapped Hedy on the shoulder. "Aunt Eddy?" he tried to whisper, "What's the animals' names again?" He seemed embarrassed about not remembering Ruby's introduction of them. In the poor kid's defense, there were more than a few new names to learn.
"You can ask them, love," Hedy suggested. "Want down?"
Marcus nodded and Mercy took his spot as Hedy helped him slide down.
He nervously went to the nearest bot and looked up at them shyly.
It just happened to be Puppet.
"Hello..."
"Hello," Puppet replied. He didn't really play with children very much anymore, just handed out prizes. "I'm Marionette."
"Mary... Marioo..." Marcus tried.
Puppet chuckled despite himself, "Everyone calls me Puppet though."
"Okay. Nice to meet you," Marcus seemed to gain a little more confidence and ran to Bonnie. "What's your name again?"
Bonnie crouched down to introduce himself, knowing their height sometimes intimidated the kids.
"I'm Bonnie." he told the little boy.
Ruby seemed to forget her annoyance for the moment and watched them with soft eyes. She loved watching her bots interact with kids. It's what they were made for and they loved doing it.
"You seem to be in trouble." she smirked as she turned back to Hedy. Considering the older girl was the one who always scolded others, the idea of her being lectured was weird. And hilarious.
"Shut up," Hedy muttered, glaring at Ruby.
Mercy stood up on Hedy's lap and leaned over Hedy's armrest to get into Ruby's face, making Hedy panic for a second as she had to suddenly support the girl around her middle or let her fall. "Why is Aunt Eddy in trouble?" She tilted her head, confused but curious. "Also, I like your face. You seem nice, Ms. Ruby. Daddy said you were crazy though."
Hedy snorted at Mercy's bluntness.
Ruby gave her a soft smile that she reserved for the kids at the orphanage and pizzeria.
"Your daddy is completely right there kiddo, I'm crazy as can be." she poked her lightly in the forehead. "And your Aunt is in trouble because she snuck out of the hospital when she wasn't supposed to."
Toby was muttering under his breath about how Ruby and nice couldn't be put in the same sentence.
Hedy ignored him. "Mercy, love, I need you to get down, please," she sounded strained and in pain.
Mercy seemed to hear the stress in Hedy's voice and jumped down.
"Can I go play with the other kids, please," she asked, bouncing excitedly as she pointed.
Hedy blinked, eyes snapping in the direction Mercy was pointing just in time to see Felix duck out of sight with a startled yelp at getting caught. His noise caught the others' attention too.
"No, love, they need to come in here if they want to play," Hedy said, pointedly raising her voice, but she was cautious with it. She knew everyone hated the kids, but she had hoped someone had checked on them. Springtrap hurting her had to be traumatic for them.
Ginny took that as her being allowed to come out and she suddenly appeared from the hallway where the others presumably were. She ran instead of floating, dirty transparent shoes slapping the floor silently. She burst out crying and gripped Hedy's sleeve, the interaction with something physical startling everyone, but she didn't say anything at first. She stared at Mercy in...terror.
Mercy didn't seem to know what to think about the other child's expression and frowned, tilting her head.
That seemed to freak the ghost out more and she screamed.
"Why are there two of you!?" Ginny shrieked as lights flickered in her panic.
Marcus seemed disturbed at another kid showing up in tears and came beside his twin to stare in confusion.
Puppet suddenly realized why Mercy worried him so. With the exception of the eyes, it was like he was seeing a younger Hedy again. He remembered what she looked like back then and even now kicked himself for not recognizing her when she first showed up at the Warehouse so long ago.
Mangle stifled a little whine, Ginny's cry jostling her memories too while Hedy just glanced at them in mild confusion.
Ruby had stiffened at the sight of the ghosts but kids really were her weakness, regardless of whether they were homicidal. Genuine tears from a child would always be something she couldn't ignore. So while the Originals backed up from the ghost in confusion and the Toys looked uncertain over whether they were supposed to do something, Ruby did what she did best around kids and slipped into big sister mode.
"Hey kiddos there's a big pirate ship through that door with a giant ball pit. Why don't you go check it out?" she distracted the twins easily, waving Foxy and Mangle over. "This is Captain Foxy and Mangle. It's his ship and it's really cool."
That worked to distract the two for the moment but she didn't doubt that they'd be wanting to check on their aunt soon. She guessed she had about ten minutes. The foxes led the excited and distracted kids away as Ruby turned to the other bots and made silent shooing motions towards them. The Toys looked mutinous for a moment before the Originals that were left managed to get them out of the room leaving a distressed ghost child, Ruby and Hedy. The other ghost children were in the doorway and looked just as shaken.
"Right, guessing that your niece looks like you as a kid," Ruby muttered to herself before crouching down beside them.
Hedy jumped, eyes widening as her face twisted in sorrow. She looked at Ginny in sudden understanding and sympathy.
"Ginny." Ruby's voice was the gentlest that Hedy had ever heard her speak to the ghosts and it was probably the first time she used any of their names. "That little girl is Mercedes, Hedy's niece. Hedy is right in front of you and just fine. She's too stubborn to die. So not a ghost although I think she can now give you a hug if you want her to?" Hedy could now see how Ruby could soothe kids so easily despite her energetic personality and short temper.
The ghosts didn't even get angry at the night guard, they were too freaked out.
Ginny nodded, tears in her eyes as Hedy shakily offered her arms. The ghost jumped up to float for a second before sinking into Hedy's hug, sobbing with her face in Hedy's shirt.
Hedy shuddered, partly because of her own tears and partly because the ghost's touch was still painfully icy.
Moments later Benji appeared at her shoulder and wrapped his arms around Hedy's neck as he cried, his face in her hair. The others joined soon enough, all crying silently.
Fredrick sunk to the ground next to Hedy's feet and sniffled as he leaned on her. "H-he got you..."
"No, he didn't..." Hedy whispered, reaching down to gently touch his head.
"But he was supposed to, then he did, " Fredrick cried, flinching away from her hand in guilt. "We kn-knew. We knew. W-We shouldn't have left you alone..."
Felix and Benji were both crying so hard that they couldn't speak. Benji remained hugging her neck while Felix gripped her pant leg like his existence depended on it.
Cheryl wailed, "S-she looks just like y-you! She looks just like you i-if you were with u-us..." She shook her head frantically. "..the last time we saw you, you looked like her."
"When we were alive..." Ginny sobbed, muffled in Hedy's sweaty and dusty shirt.
Hedy didn't say anything and hugged Ginny tighter.
Meanwhile, Jeremy and Amelia came back.
Jeremy saw what was happening and pulled Amelia back to quietly explain.
The woman nodded along, clearly shocked and upset about the ghosts but she didn't freak out.
As the ghosts calmed down, Hedy could feel her touch slipping. She tried to hold on as long as she could. Eventually though, Felix's fingers lost their grip, Benji and Fredrick accidentally fell into her skin, Cheryl didn't get her chance to hug Hedy, and Ginny turned to static-y smoke in Hedy's hands. Now she really started crying, tears slipping out even as she wiped them away.
There was a definite sad look in Ruby's eyes as she watched quietly. She clearly felt for the children no matter how much she provoked them normally. As they lost the ability to touch Hedy, sympathetic pain flashed across her face briefly.
She kept herself slightly away from the group, fully expecting the hostile behaviour to resurface when the children got a grip on themselves. And she'd go along with it because she was the only one who was willing to stand against them without being weighed down with guilt and painful memories. They needed Hedy and the Toys' kindness to remind them of better times and that they used to care about others. They needed the Originals' anger and distrust directed at them to remind them that there were consequences for their actions.
But they also needed opposition from someone they could freely hate and despise for stopping them. She'd give them that since a deal wouldn't solve their problems like it did for the bots.
She couldn't hate them like she hated Michael though. She'd come to that realization during the week. She wanted to sometimes when she saw how they treated her bots but...Hedy had forced her to see the remaining humanity in the children.
She'd forced Ruby to see them for the lost souls they were.
When Jeremy and Amelia glanced from the ghosts to Ruby they saw the teen looking tired and...sad. Her eyes seemed far too old for her young face but right in front of them she pulled her masks and barriers up and that vulnerable image disappeared beneath a confident and cocky mask. Relaxed posture and easy going expression.
If they hadn't seen it happen they wouldn't have suspected what they saw as being fake.
"Hedy," Amelia said. "When you're ready, I need to take you back to the hospital. Where're the twins?"
Hedy rubbed the tears away and winced at the scolding she was going to get in the car. "Pirates Cove." She pointed in the direction.
Amelia nodded. "And these are your friends. From when you were little?"
Hedy nodded while Felix glared distrustfully at the stranger.
"And where's that...
Amelia looked pissed at the whole idea of dead children, suddenly unable to find a word for the man her husband told her about.
"... Michael?" Hedy asked. "He's...around." She smiled slightly viciously. "I wonder if he knows I'm back."
"He does," Ginny murmured. Then, her small smile matched Hedy. But with a crueller, proud tone. There was still an underlying twinge of fear in her voice that echoed on the expression of the other kids. But they were glad Hedy had beaten 'Purple Guy' at a game they personally lost to him.
And they were never going to admit that they were somewhat glad they were wrong about believing Ruby would lose.
"Hmm." Amelia frowned. She turned on Ruby next. "Jeremy said you've been doing this for several months. Do your guardians know about this?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes at Amelia, posture going tense again.
"They know I work here." Her tone was angry already, not that it was surprising. She got like that with everyone who questioned her job. "Not that it's any of your business."
She could be a bit more polite though...
The ghost kids were back to glaring at Ruby but she didn't look bothered in the least.
They couldn't help wondering if that was an act as well.
"But they don't know the rest," Amelia said.
Hedy and Jeremy shared concerned looks. Hedy grit her teeth as she glanced at Ruby cautiously.
Amelia narrowed her eyes. "And is that really, your response? None of my business? You expect any decent person to turn a blind eye to something like this because it's just none of their business." She pinched the bridge of her nose and glanced at Jeremy. "Why didn't you..."
Jeremy waved his hands, interrupting her. "Trust me I would have dragged them both out of here if I could. I almost did when I found out."
"And you let them both stay?!" Amelia snapped. She stiffened at losing her temper in public and quickly calmed herself. "Hedy, get in the car. And you..." Amelia looked at Ruby. "We're not your parents, but your guardians deserve to know what you're doing. For your sake."
Hedy's eyes widened slightly at the idea of Amelia trying to get Ruby in a car. "Amelia," Hedy said with a soothing tone, interrupting Ruby who was about to snarl something very rude to Jeremy's wife. "I know you're mad, but things with Ruby and me and this place are a little more complicated than what Jeremy's been able to tell you. Neither of us can just leave and stop coming to work. Also, please don't speak to me like that. I actually am an adult, and not one of your kids either."
"I'm sorry," Amelia said. "But still. Please, both of you, get in the car. You need to be in observation at the hospital for at least a week. Maybe two." she turned to Ruby, "And your guardians deserve a say in your safety."
Ruby had a short fuse lately because of all the stress surrounding Springtrap and especially the incident with Hedy, so it wasn't too surprising that she lashed out when she lost her temper now. Jeremy and Hedy had both been on the receiving end of it and knew that she tended to say things she'd regret later. This just couldn't end well.
"No." she snapped, surprisingly taking an unconsciously defensive step back. "Stay the hell out of my business lady! You have absolutely no say in my life so don't go poking your nose where it doesn't belong and isn't wanted. Your husband didn't let me stay. What I do is my choice and mine alone. Stay out of my personal life, I'm not a child and I'm damn well old enough to make my own decisions. I'm also perfectly aware of how dangerous my job is and I also know the consequences of stopping. People would die. My bots would suffer. So keep your opinions to yourself and stick to mothering your own children and keeping your stupid husband from attempting murders of his own."
Hedy could practically tick off a checklist now that Ruby's anger wasn't aimed at her and she wasn't near an emotional breakdown. Harsh words meant to insult and keep person at a distance? Check. Defensive statements about own independence? Check. Logical argument that she really could have just stated in the beginning instead of losing her temper? Check. Insult meant to distract from sensitive topic and hopefully end up making the person leave in an angry huff? Check.
Ruby wore her anger like a protective shield the moment anyone attempted to show her any parental concern. This really wasn't going to end well, she'd clearly had years of practice at angering adults who tried to show any care towards her.
"And try and get me in your car and I won't care if your kids are watching, I'll break your damn arm." her voice dropped to almost a growl at the end.
Amelia was clearly shocked but oddly was very good at recognizing fear. Not even Jeremy understood why.
The woman looked at Hedy.
"S-she," Hedy said. "She doesn't do cars, Amelia."
"...What consequences?" Amelia asked after a moment of tense silence.
"As long as Ruby works here, the ghosts can't hurt anyone. It's like...magic. People would get hurt, die, if she was forced not to work the night shift."
"You got hurt."
Jeremy flinched but Hedy sighed. "It was a fluke. The deal still held. Michael just found a loophole we couldn't have guessed."
Ginny and the ghosts looked both angry and upset.
"We didn't know it would matter," Cheryl whispered, crying a little.
Hedy shot Cheryl a weak half-smile before taking a breath and looking back at the others, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Th-think of the building like a very young child," she started hesitantly. "L-like it doesn't fully understand how the outside world is supposed to work and it does things based on how it believes things are supposed to work and never changes it's...um...mind. However, unlike a kid, it can actually change reality to how it wants, within the walls. I'm guessing the building wasn't entirely sure what happened to me when Michael killed the others, so it paid attention to my fear and marked me as dead. Then when I came back it already decided I was dead and wasn't sure what to do except count me as such. As a ghost like the others. It...doesn't allow exceptions, to the deals or anything else, and I don't think it can go back on a decision it makes. Like a deal, I guess. It decided I died and even though I didn't, it still treats me that way. Ruby was careful about including the humans and bots in the deal, but she left out the ghosts." Hedy took a breath, worried about the reaction. Amelia didn't know the building so she was going to be the most confused but Hedy could explain more in the car.
Ruby looked down with a frown as she thought over the added explanation, longer than Hedy's earlier one. A flash of guilt shot across her face almost too quickly to catch and Hedy knew she was still blaming herself for the fact that she didn't include the ghosts in the deal. Ruby didn't seem to have a problem with accepting the idea of the building 'thinking' in that way, she did have an uncanny ability to make sure the deals met all its conditions of fairness and she sometimes spoke as if the place was alive. Maybe she'd figured that out unconsciously.
But it was clear that she still felt to blame for the attack and knowing Ruby, she was going to hold that emotion close to her chest and act like everything was alright until she had a breakdown.
And like Hedy predicted, she focused on her anger instead of her guilt or fear.
"You've got your answer so now stay out of my business." she snapped, throwing a glare at Amelia. The lack of respect and hostility was definitely intentional. She was trying to pick a fight to distract herself.
Amelia blinked, a bit overwhelmed by Ruby's attitude and Hedy's explanation. She still didn't seem appeased.
"Mommy!" Mercy shouted, dragging Marcus back into the room with her. "Look what Mr. Puppet gave me!"
She proudly held up a plushy of Chica while Marcus showed off his.
"This one is Mini Freddy," he said, very seriously. "I'm going to call it Freddling."
Hedy snickered at Freddy's amused expression as he and the others wandered back into the room. The Originals eyed the ghosts, still there, but the children didn't leave.
"Your kids are so cute!" Mangle signed to Jeremy who grinned proudly when Ruby translated, quickly dropping her anger with the kids back.
Mercy ran to the ghosts, adamant about making friends with these new kids.
Benji whimpered and ducked behind Hedy's chair, still not ready to deal with someone with Hedy's face speaking to him.
"Why were you crying?" Mercy asked Ginny, tilting her head. She leaned a bit too far into the ghost's personal space.
Ginny shifted, uncomfortable. "You look like Wiggy…" She corrected herself, suddenly sounding older. "Hedy. Hedy has a scary face. You scared me."
Hedy spluttered but was mildly surprised that Ginny was lying to protect her niece.
"No, she doesn't!" Mercy said, a little insulted. "Aunt Eddy is very pretty."
"Pretty scary," Felix quipped, seeing an opportunity and snatching it. A grin snuck its way onto his face.
"I'd flick your ear if I could," Hedy muttered while Cheryl, Benji, and Ginny snickered and Fredrick groaned.
The Originals could see the signs of Ruby's barely hidden temper and wondered what had happened while they were gone.
Foxy moved over to her and spoke softly to her for a few moments and the tension eased a little from her shoulders. It was always amazing how easily Foxy and Bonnie could calm her down. When they wanted to anyway. Freddy and Chica could as well but the fox and rabbit usually had better success because of the sibling like relationship they had with the night guard.
Foxy shot a look at Jeremy and Amelia though, guessing that one of them upset her. He didn't even give Hedy a suspicious glance which was new.
"You going back to the hospital?" Toby asked.
Hedy nodded.
"How long?" Teddy asked.
"At least a week," Hedy answered, clearly angry about it. She couldn't just leave Spring sitting in the back for a week. "But I'll talk to my doctor and figure something out."
The Toys seemed uncomfortable about Hedy not showing up for the shift for so long.
"I'll call you guys every night. Don't worry about me," Hedy said gently. She glanced at Ruby and Amelia, the tension still thick in the air.
Ruby glanced at Hedy briefly and the older girl could have sworn that she saw the same dislike of her being gone for a week in Ruby's eyes. Ruby didn't say anything though and ignored Amelia and Jeremy.
"I'll get Spring's suit cleaned on the outside by the time you're back." She muttered. "And none of the employees will touch him."
Guilt flashed through her eyes again as she thought of the state of the bot.
"Wear gloves," Hedy said in a low voice. It was the inside she was most concerned about. There were stains from when Michael died that she didn't want to think about, but there was nothing they could do until she got Spring out of danger of more damage.
Jeremy went to put Hedy's tools in the back room, secretly relieved to get a break from the tense atmosphere.
"Come on, kiddos," he said when he came back, "You're going to take Aunt Hedy to the hospital with Mommy."
"Okay, Daddy," Marcus said, happy about his new toy. "Where're you going?"
"I want to ride with you, Daddy," Mercy complained loudly. She gasped. "Can I use the siren?!"
Jeremy glanced at the trash bags and suppressed a shudder. He shared a tensed, slightly disgusted look with Hedy. "N-no, sweetie. I'll meet you and Mommy at Aunt Hedy's house."
"Say goodbye, loves," Hedy said.
Mercy and Marcus happily waved at Ruby and the others as they ran outside ahead of their parents and aunt.
As Amelia pushed Hedy outside without another word to Ruby or the others, Hedy told her to stop for a second.
"Toby, behave," she snapped, turning around in her chair to glare at him.
"Me?!"
Mangle chortled at Toby's face and waved bye.
The ghosts nervously waved goodbye as well.
Ruby cracked a smile at Hedy's warning to Toby. She sighed after they were gone and stretched her tense muscles.
"I should get home." She murmured as the ghosts vanished.
No one contradicted her since she looked exhausted.