Author's Note: Extra chapter tonight!

Chapter 168

Guitar

Hedy was working on Spring alone in Parts and Services when Ruby poked her head in. The fact that she was sneaking around immediately set off alarms. And the wide grin she was wearing didn't help.

"What are you doing Ruby?" she asked warily, carefully setting down her tools.

Even Spring looked a little concerned. Maybe he didn't know her as well as the others did, but he knew her well enough.

"Your suspicion wounds me." Ruby dramatically collapsed on the table beside them, a long bag slung over her shoulder.

At Hedy's unimpressed look she straightened up and returned to grinning madly.

"I went on a little trip yesterday."

"It was a school day."

"Yeah, I didn't feel like going to school."

"Ruby!"

"It was a sports day, we weren't even going to do any work." she shrugged indifferently. "Anyway! I went on a little trip."

Silence fell for a moment until Hedy realised she wasn't going to continue talking until the mechanic asked. And having an expectant night guard following her around until she did was not exactly fun.

"What did you do?" she asked with a sigh.

"Well I started out in the manager's office because I needed the address of the warehouse you worked at."

Hedy frowned, why did she do that? And why didn't she just ask Hedy instead?

"Then I took a walk up there. Lucky it's not too far. Breaking in a was a little difficult but the security system is built more to keep bots in than to keep people out."

"You broke in?" Spring asked in alarm.

"Yup, not the important part. So I got into the office, tied up the employees and had a little interrogation while I ransacked the place."

Okay, the people who worked there were a little annoying (well, one of them was okay) but did they deserve that? Hedy absently wondered if the stuff she, Puppet, and the Toys left were still there.

"After getting the information I needed and punishing the party responsible, I travelled to the next place and called a SWAT team on them to keep them distracted."

Oh no...she didn't...

"While they were busy, I snuck in and got what I needed. And discovered a creepy middle aged guy with a disturbing obsession with a children's restaurant." she visibly shuddered. "So I don't really regret the SWAT thing. And here I am!"

She grinned at Hedy like that was supposed to answer everything.

The mechanic didn't know where to start. "What the hell caused you to do all of that?" she moaned, covering her face.

"Oh! Almost forgot that part. It needs some fixing up, and cleaning. The place wasn't very hygienic." Another shudder as she shoved the bag at Hedy.

She very reluctantly opened it, expecting an explosion or something equally annoying. It would be nice if that story was all just a set up for some stupid prank.

Instead she found herself looking at a faded red and very familiar guitar.

"Oh my god..." Hedy gasped as she carefully peeled it out of the bag. She ran her thumb over the loose strings and was too distracted in her staring to grimace as she wiped away some unknown grime.

"Is that..." Spring murmured.

"You found Toby's guitar?" Hedy asked, looking up at Ruby with wide eyes. Her mouth twitched and she suddenly deadpanned and looked at Ruby over the top of her reading glasses, "You SWAT-ted someone to get Toby's guitar."

Ruby rolled her eyes and made a dismissive gesture although her cheeks turned red despite her efforts.

"I don't like thieves." she grumbled. "I'd do it for any of the bots."

She wouldn't quite meet Hedy's eyes though. It was cute.

Hedy chuckled. "He's going to be over the moon about this," she said. "Spring, would you mind if we took a break?"

Spring shook his head slightly, cracking a little small as he thought of Toby's reaction. The younger bot was annoying at times but he was funny and smart if he could be bothered to actually slow down and use his head most of the time.

"I can probably get it repaired tonight if you can keep the other's distracted and out of here," Hedy said, glancing at the paint cans on a shelf. She wasn't sure why they had it, but she was sure they had the right shade of red. "The paint and varnish might need a while to dry though. And I'll need you to sneak Bonnie in here to tune it when I'm done. If he wants to. You play guitar too don't you?"

"Yeah, bit out of practice though." she admitted, snapping out of daydreams of distracting everyone for the night. "Bonnie would do it. He was upset when he found out about it missing."

Hedy hummed as she pulled the guitar closer and adjusted her reading glasses while Spring slid off the table.

"Do you think Bonnie and Toby are getting along well?" she asked. "Toby has matured a lot since you first met him."

"They're still pretty much rivals." Ruby answered immediately. "The Toys might be better, but they do still have a bit of a superiority complex. Freddy and Chica don't really care anymore but Bonnie still picks up on it and gets defensive."

Hedy hummed as she got out a rag. "Yeah. Even Mangle has her moments. She not being malicious but you know how she teases Foxy and calls him old sometimes. Can one of you hand me that cleaning fluid on that shelf there?"

Ruby jumped to get it, scaling the shelf to reach the higher items and giving Spring a heart attack. She safely jumped down and handed it to Hedy.

"Yeah, Foxy doesn't get bothered because she never really was bad about it in the past. But you know Toby kind of went the furthest with it all."

"He was a bitch," Hedy deadpanned as she sprayed the cleaning fluid on the rag and started rubbing the guitar's surface. She grimaced at the sticky grime that was coming off and immediately regretted not putting gloves on.

"Yup." Ruby popped the 'p'. "So I just need to send Bonnie in here and distract the rest of them?"

The glint in her eye made Spring decide to stay in the room.

"Yes. Keep Toby out of here," Hedy said, getting some gloves.

"Can I help?" Spring asked. "With the guitar," he clarified. "I'm not going out there." He was usually content to watch Hedy work, but he felt guilty doing nothing sometimes. He was always trying to help in little ways if he could.

"See you guys! I'm going to cause havoc!" Ruby gleefully waved and darted away. She first found Bonnie and sent him towards Hedy before sneaking up behind Toby, screaming 'fruit night!' and smashing a pumpkin over his head.

Bonnie practically threw the door open and quickly closed it behind him.

"Where did Ruby stash a pumpkin?" he asked.

"A pumpkin?" Hedy said. "She had a...pumpkin?"

Bonnie didn't answer her as his eyes had landed on the object laying across Hedy's lap as she used a toothbrush to scrub the rust off the bass strings.

"Wait, isn't that..." he trailed off as he pointed at the guitar in surprise.

He didn't seem upset to see it, just surprised. Bonnie could have his petty moments but he was generally pretty mature.

"Ruby found it," Hedy said. "By terrorizing about half a dozen individuals and breaking into someone's disgusting house." She grimaced at the three grime soaked rags she had already gone through. She was probably going to dump them in a biohazard bin at the hospital instead of washing and reusing like usual.

"While calling a SWAT team on him...whatever a SWAT team is..." Spring added.

Bonnie started giggling.

"Ruby called a SWAT team on someone again?" he didn't look too surprised. Actually there was an understanding light in his eyes.

"Again..." Hedy deadpanned. She sighed and glanced at the guitar. "I can clean, repair the dents and repaint it, but I need help with the frets and strings. I think it needs to be restrung. Are any of these salvageable?" She ran her fingers across the strings with a questioning look.

Bonnie leaned in to get a better look and grimaced. "Not really. I mean a couple might last a few weeks but not longer than that. It would be better to replace them all."

"Do you have spares you wouldn't mind donating?" Hedy asked. "I'll order you both more sets. I was just hoping to get this done tonight."

"Sure." Bonnie moved over to the other side of room where the spares for his guitar were kept. "How will he react when he hears it was Ruby who found it?" he asked curiously. He didn't know Toby well enough to predict his reaction. He still didn't sound surprised himself that Ruby did it though.

"Equal chance he actually says thank you or is just so stubborn he can't believe Ruby would do that and just walks away to process it," Hedy snorted.

Bonnie snickered as he brought the replacements over. "Ruby might freak out if he says thank you."

"I'm hoping it's that one actually, just to see everyone's shock," Hedy said with a smile. It was nice to joke with Bonnie. She thought back to when she first showed up and he wouldn't even look at her while she was just as terrified of him.

"He is a bit of a brat isn't he?" Spring chuckled, still not as familiar with everyone yet.

"That's an understatement." Bonnie rolled his eyes but it was said with a lot less hostility than in the beginning. He may not be friends with Toby yet but they definitely weren't enemies anymore.

Things really had changed.

"He broke Ruby's arm once," Hedy told Spring. "He so stubborn about things he cares about, like hating night guards back then. He was sick of her calling him out for his behavior and swung. I don't think he actually thought he was going to hit her but Ruby was distracted."

"Foxy almost killed him." Bonnie added when he saw Spring's eyes widen in alarm. "I haven't seen him try to actually hit her since then. He's tried to catch her but not hit her."

Hedy grunted. "He doesn't even know what he'd do if he caught her." She held the guitar out to Bonnie. "I don't know how to restring a guitar. Could you show me?"

It still needed paint, so she'd have to take the strings off again and have him tune them later when she put them back, but at least he wouldn't have to wait around with her for another couple hours.

He carefully showed her how to remove the strings and replace them.

Around that time they heard an explosion. Ruby was probably getting on with her distraction...

Hedy and Bonnie were too good at ignoring it when they weren't in danger and kept working but Spring looked a bit worried and jumped.

"She won't come near here." Bonnie assured him. "She's planning to keep them away from here. I'm glad I'm not out there though. It's been a while since she had a messy night."

"Funny," Hedy hummed with a grin, "I was planning on kicking you out until I needed you to tune it." She shrugged. "But I guess you can stick around while I paint." She took off the strings like Bonnie showed her and set them aside in the order Bonnie said then went rooting around a box for a paintbrush.

"I love my mad little sister but I'm not going out there right now." he deadpanned. "Not when I KNOW she's focused on distraction. She's worse then."

Hedy laughed. "Tell me something she did before the Toys and I got here. And hand me that box with the paintbrushes."

Bonnie grinned and settled down to tell her about the first food ninja night, back before Ruby even made her first deal.

Hedy and Spring listened while she worked, her eyes on the instrument.

"This was when the ghosts still had you right?" Hedy asked in interest, "So you were technically still trying to kill her." She couldn't imagine how the Originals had first reacted to all that. They were so used to Ruby now.

"Yeah." Bonnie smiled slightly as he thought back. "We didn't even know who she was yet. Foxy might have but he didn't tell us until after that week. She was driving us absolutely crazy already."

"Huh. Freddy mentioned she put a bomb in his microphone and had a pan fight with Chica in the kitchen." She didn't seem like she believed that last one. It was hard to imagine Chica mad.

Bonnie laughed. "Chica was livid. Ruby put a glitter bomb in the oven."

"Oof," Hedy deadpanned. "Where does she even get all her supplies? The amount of paint she's used on us by itself cost a lot."

"Did anyone ever figure out where that paint slide came from?" Spring spoke up thinking of all the stuff Ruby had pulled.

Bonnie and Hedy both froze and looked at him.

"I don't even want to try and figure that out." Bonnie groaned. "Even physics bends to her will when she's pranking."

Hedy didn't mention how Spring shouldn't have known about the slide as it was during 'Springtrap's' week.

"The building has been manipulating things for a while. It helped me out during Ruby's coma. I wouldn't be surprised if it made the slide," she shrugged as she laid down one more stroke of paint on the red part of the guitar's body. She checked that the masking tape she put down to protect the white part was secure then carefully began painting the neck. "It turned this room into a maze for those ghost hunters."

"Doesn't it concern you that the building will bend the rules of the universe so that Ruby can pull off a prank?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Not really," Hedy said tiredly. "I've mostly given up trying to apply reality to this place." She was almost done. She set the guitar to her side to let it dry before she added the varnish. She glanced at the walls with an odd thoughtfulness and touch of sadness.

Bonnie hummed in agreement and leaned against the wall.

"That deal caused a lot of trouble with the memories and all that. But it saved us. You two coming back saved us," he admitted.

Hedy looked down at that. A part of her would never believe she did very much. It was all Ruby…"I'm not so sure it's that aware," Hedy said. "Or maybe it is. Some things don't really make sense. Like how it took Jeremy's gun but not that woman who attacked Ruby's."

Bonnie blinked. That seemed so long ago. "It took the bullets though didn't it?"

"Yeah," Hedy said, "But why not the entire gun?"

"It's more subtle with other people," Spring said. "Goldy said it was like the building doesn't really like people being aware of it."

Hedy thought for a minute. "I think...I think...the closer a connection we have to it, the more it can do with things concerning us. It doesn't make toys appear out of thin air for random children but I can ask it to bring my tools from one room to another if I want."

Bonnie hummed. "Makes sense. Ruby's always seen this place as a second home."

Hedy shrugged.

"I have a question," Spring said, "Since we seem to be reminiscing on how things were before Ruby."

They had nothing else to do but literally watch paint dry.

"Question for who?" Hedy asked.

"You maybe," he said. "What happened when you first met Ruby?"

"Oh...uh...pretty sure we hated each other," Hedy said. She cracked an annoyed grin, half a grimace. "Or at the very least, I thought she was very irresponsible and stupid, risking her life. I thought she was encouraging the Toys to try killing her. Then, of course, she just hated me because I was a nosey mechanic encroaching on her night shift and getting near her bots." Hedy jokingly patted Bonnie's arm. "I think I was coming across as a dry stuck up so that probably didn't help."

Bonnie snickered.

"Ruby...takes a while to warm up to people. I mean she's still a little difficult when Jeremy is around. She's always been that way."

His eyes lit up as he remembered something.

"When she was eight a new employee started in the Cove. She hated him, somehow tied him to the mast and he didn't even do anything. He was just new."

"Bet he wasnt expecting that. How long did he last?" Hedy asked.

"A day." Bonnie smirked. "Apparently he developed a phobia of kids after that."

"That's...kind of terrible," Hedy said, though she was grinning.

Bonnie shrugged.

"He wasn't great with kids to begin with. That probably didn't help."

"I will never understand why a bunch of teens and youngish adults come to work here if they don't expect to be good with kids," Hedy shook her head.

"Hypocrite," Spring said softly.

Hedy blinked. "What?"

"Every time you've been here during day shift, you either hide in here or sit outside and look like you've never seen a child before and have no idea what to do. You look like you're terrified of them. Mangle thinks it's hilarious."

Bonnie was trying really hard to smother his laughter.

For a moment Spring sounded like his old self. That was definitely something he'd say.

Hedy looked a bit insulted. "That's not true! I love kids."

Spring cracked a small smile at her. "Hedy," he reasoned, "You can love children as a concept, but, in your case, be completely inept at the practical aspects."

Hedy gaped a bit stupidly at the well-worded roast he basically fried her with.

Bonnie practically fell over he was laughing so hard.

He missed hearing Spring say things like this. He and Ruby could have epic insult battles if he remembered what he used to be like.

Hedy, for once, looked dumbfounded, though she broke the expression to glare at Bonnie mock-murderously.

Spring looked very surprised by the reaction. He tilted his head and frowned. "...Was it really that funny?"

Bonnie snickered. "You know how rare it is to beat Hedy in a game of words?"

He grinned at the older rabbit.

"You used to do that all the time."

Spring blinked, taken aback. "I did?"

Bonnie's expression saddened a bit.

"Yeah. Used to drive Goldy mad since she couldn't beat you in an argument ever."

Spring was quiet for a long moment. "I didn't insult her suit color did I? Because I can see that backfiring." He gestured at himself and Hedy couldn't help snorting. If Spring wasn't so discoloured, she'd think both Spring and Goldy's suits were cut from the same length of cloth.

Bonnie snorted, grinning again.

It was good to hear Spring sounding more relaxed.

Hedy grunted. "One of you comedians hand me the varnish."

Still snickering Bonnie handed it over.

Hedy glared at both the rabbits over the top of her glasses as she got closer to finishing the guitar.

Spring just smiled softly at her.

"Remind me to thank the building later. I didn't think to look for this and I don't think Ruby would have known to if we didn't watch those...videos." She sounded clipped and a bit pained at the reminder.

Bonnie's ears drooped a bit.

"Yeah... I don't think he would have mentioned it otherwise."

"It was nice seeing Ruby as a little kid," Hedy mumbled, "And her parents...I always wanted to meet them. I mean, I guess I did, but does it really count if I can't remember? Then of course there's that annoying reminder what a little menace I was." She didn't mention how awful it got towards the end.

"I'm still sure you influenced her." Bonnie deadpanned.

"Ugh," Hedy said while Spring laughed at her expression.

The rabbits watched Hedy finish off the guitar while listening to the explosions. Ruby was doing a fantastic job keeping everyone away from them.

The varnish would need to dry for a couple days but it would be touchable pretty quickly so Hedy only made sure it wouldn't smear before she restrung the instrument and handed it to Bonnie to tune.

She cracked the door to let out the toxic fumes, internally scolding herself for the headache she caused herself. She decided she was just going to pop her head outside the backdoor after this and not mention it. Eh, if she passed out Bonnie would have carried her out. Not Spring. She would be mad if Spring hurt himself trying. Ho boy she really needed some fresh air…

Bonnie carefully tuned the guitar, nodding to himself after a moment.

"Sounds good as new." He handed it back to her.

"Great." Hedy smiled. "Let's go freak Toby out. Someone go tell Ruby she can quit it."

Bonnie and Spring glanced at each other before Bonnie groaned.

"Fine."

He headed out and fifteen minutes later the explosions stopped, allowing them to hear Toby's shrieking.

When they peeked into the room they found that the blue bunny had been the main target of Ruby's attacks. The teen was hiding behind Foxy while the now rainbow rabbit had to be held back by Teddy and Chi.

"What the heck!" Toby yelled. "You're so annoying! I didn't even do anything...! You...you..." he trailed off into sputters as Teddy rolled his eyes.

It was just one thing after another that night. Toby didn't even get a chance to sit down. Once he tried, defying Ruby's entertainment, all she did was shoot him until he had to get up. He was frustrated and if he caught her, well he wasn't sure what he'd do. Maybe he'd hang her upside down from the mast and just leave her there. She'd get out though, so maybe he'd dunk her in paint. If he could even get that far.

Most of them were annoyed. Ruby really pushed it tonight. Only Foxy and Goldy had really enjoyed it.

Freddy looked tired and Chica was muttering about her kitchen.

Ruby was just snickering.

"What brought this all on?" Foxy asked in amusement.

Goldy had a knowing look in her eye and was grinning at Toby.

Toby noticed it in his flustered state and snapped at her. "What are you laughing at!?"

Hedy slipped in, Spring carrying the guitar behind his back.

You could clearly see it if you looked and Mangle stared at the neck poking out over Spring's shoulder and the flash of red.

"Hedy!" Toby shouted. "Ruby...she...AAUhg!" He shouted in frustration.

He glared at Hedy when she cracked a smile. "Stop smiling! Look at me. I can't get cleaned up in time for work!"

Ruby peeked out from behind Foxy with a wide grin. The fox noticed the guitar next and his eyes widened. Bonnie was leaning against a wall, watching eagerly.

"I don't think you'll be interested in working for a bit." Goldy giggled, looking ridiculously happy.

"WHY?!" Toby snapped, spinning to glare at her.

Spring shifted the guitar out of hiding and held it in plain view while Hedy grinned.

The others who hadn't noticed all stared in shock.

"That's why." Goldy pointed behind Toby.

"What-!" he turned and immediately froze, his words cutting off to a weird static as his voicebox quit on him.

"...My...?" he tried. He walked over to Spring and gingerly took it, staring wide-eyed.

"The varnish isn't completely dry so be careful," Hedy said helpfully, still grinning.

"My guitar?!" he said with a squeak. He turned it over to look for something, his hands shaking a bit as they barely brushed the strings and let out a soft twang. He had a shocked look on his face when he found whatever it was he was looking for, like a sticker or maybe initials. Hedy hadn't looked that closely. "It's mine...it's...really mine... not a copy... "

The bots stayed quiet while he studied the guitar.

Bonnie knew how he must be feeling. Their guitars were very important to them.

It was one of the few belongings they had.

"How did you..."

"I didn't," Hedy said. "Ruby beat up a few people for it." She smiled widely at Ruby's expression.

'Why couldn't you leave me out of it?' she signed with a scowl, making Mangle snort.

"Bonnie, Spring, and I fixed it." Her grin shifted to Bonnie as she knowingly yanked him into this, reveling in how awkward they'd be.

Bonnie gave her an annoyed look. He would have preferred to stay out of this.

Ruby still looked irritated too.

Toby looked at them in utter shock and a far off look of disbelief.

He stared for a few seconds, holding the instrument close with wide eyes.

"Thank you..." It was genuine. He didn't even have to force it out with gritted teeth.

Teddy and Mangle gaped in shock while Chi looked very confused.

Hedy grinned in amusement as she sat back and watched the reactions. She was used to Ruby, but this was the kind of emotional chaos she always truly enjoyed. Occasionally.

"Waaaait...what did he say?!" Chi asked, sure she misheard.

Even Ruby looked surprised, gaze snapping from Hedy to Toby.

It wasn't often that they got to see Ruby shocked. And like she was trying to squash her instinctual reaction to recoil from genuine thanks.

Bonnie covered his mouth to hide his snickering.

"Uh...no problem." The teen said awkwardly, looking away. And like she might bolt if things got too mushy.

"She sent a SWAT team at the guy who had it." Bonnie added helpfully.

Ruby looked at him in betrayal.

"Again?" Freddy groaned.

"I'm getting really concerned by this continuous mention of 'again'," Hedy snorted. "Also, everyone make sure the end times aren't coming because Toby said 'thank you'..."

Toby managed a small glare at her, still shell shocked. "Hey," he whined. "I know how to say thanks!"

"Oh but to Ruby?"

Toby looked like he would blush if he could and pointedly looked down to focus on his guitar. He strummed a few notes and couldn't help a small smile.

Ruby shook her head.

"That was so weird. I don't like it. Make him go back to normal." She demanded.

Foxy had to laugh. Ruby and change didn't get along very well. And Toby was her mock-nemesis and she didn't want that to change.

"Y-yeah well, I can take it back!" Toby shot back stubbornly, but there wasn't anything to back up the threat and he looked down, even more embarrassed.

"Okay, he sounds normal now." Ruby muttered to herself, grinning.

"I'm so glad you got it back!" Goldy looked excited. "Keeping it a secret was so hard!"

The bots all looked at Ruby in realisation.

"You were distracting us all while Hedy worked on it." Freddy said.

Hedy chuckled and handed Toby a rag so he could keep the wet paint that was dripping off him off the newly repainted guitar. "Ah, the blessed safety of Parts and Services when Ruby's keeping everyone else away..."

Toby blinked then groaned loudly, obediently wiping off a smudge. "She didn't need to slam a pumpkin on my head!"

"When I do something, I do it right." Ruby crossed her arms and grinned. "It needed to seem real after all."

"Oh it was definitely real...," Mangle complained.

"Thank you." Ruby chirped, looking pretty pleased with herself.

"Play us something, Toby," Chi said, bouncing a bit as she ran up to her best friend and studied the guitar.

Toby's ears went back a bit. "I want to mess around a bit first, you know? It's been a while." He sounded worried.

Hedy wondered if he was afraid he had forgotten how to play.

"I don't think you want to get paint on it either," she pointed out. "Go clean up." She snickered a little, "If you can."

Toby immediately glared at Ruby at the reminder he was still dripping color everywhere.

Ruby just smiled angelically back at him.

It was nice to see the softer side of the teen. Especially since it wasn't directed at her usual favourites.

She was including all the bots in her protectiveness. Even those she fought with.

And considering her behaviour with the ghost kids… they might be falling under that too. At least Benji.

And Hedy didn't know how she felt about that…