A/N: I"M SORRY! I thought I had posted this like a week ago! -_- I got on today and realized it was just sitting in my documents and now I feel bad. Leaving you guys hanging. Well, here it is. Enjoy!
Mike couldn't stop his hands from shaking as he watched his brother walk up the sidewalk. How could he have been so stupid?! His brother had told him that he would come check up on him, but with his unexpected 'guest' he had completely forgotten.
He could only hope Freddy would keep quiet. He felt a little guilty for luring the animatronic into the coat closet and shutting him in, but he had panicked when he heard his brother's car pull up.
Unable to keep his hands still he clasped them in his lap. He knew exactly how Jeremy would react if he found Freddy in the house.
The front door swung inward and Jeremy stepped in shutting door behind him. He smiled when he saw Mike and he slipped off his shoes. "How's it going? Did Gabe give you a ride?"
"Something like that," Mike said, thinking about how Julie and John had given him a ride home instead. He figured that Jeremy didn't need to know about that.
He followed Jeremy down the hallway, holding his breath as Jeremy passed by the coat closet. Thankfully Freddy was being surprisingly docile right now and Mike wheeled after Jeremy into the kitchen. He watched as his brother grabbed a glass and filled it with water chugging it.
"It's hot out there today," Jeremy commented filling his glass again. When Mike wordlessly nodded Jeremy gave him a quizzical look. "Hey are you okay? They gave you medicine to take right?"
"Huh? Oh yeah they did. I'm just a little out of it," Mike shrugged. He didn't like it, lying to his brother, but what else could he do? There was no way that Jeremy would react kindly to learning that he was housing Freddy, an animatronic that had tried to kill both of them.
Jeremy didn't look too happy with his answer, but let it go. Mike tried to situate his wheelchair so that he could watch his brother and the coat closet as he did though he bumped the broom leaning against the wall, knocking it over.
Chuckling Jeremy grabbed it before Mike could do anything. "Still getting used to your wheelchair?" He asked.
"I'm still getting used to everything," Mike admitted, feeling embarrassed. "I almost tried to stand up earlier to grab a cup from the cabinet. I still not used to the fact that I'll never be able to use my legs again."
Jeremy didn't reply for a moment before a small smile graced his features. "Hey, look on the bright side."
"What?"
"You'll always get the best seat at any concert you go to."
Mike rolled his eyes, "Yes because I go to sooooo many concerts," He said sarcastically.
"Oh that wasn't you? Sorry I must have messed you up with my other brother Bert," Jeremy replied with just as must sarcasm. "You know, the one that went to that Katy Perry concert."
"That was just because Terra wanted to go," Mike sputtered. He gave his brother a half-hearted glare, knowing that his brother would start listing off all the concerts he had been to. Okay, maybe he had been to a few concerts, but that didn't mean that he was looking forward to any in the near future.
Jeremy laughed. "I'm giving you a bad time, of course it's going to take time to get used to all this." He gestured to Mike and his wheelchair.
Mike shook his head and took a hesitant deep breath. His chest would still twinge at times, reminding him that he had been shot and that yes, there was a bullet hole on his chest. He relaxed when it didn't and looked at Jeremy.
"So what are you doing here? If it was to check up on me, I'm fine."
Jeremy waved his hand, "Yeah, yeah, I can see that. I was just going to see if you want me to make dinner for you since… you know."
Mike narrowed his eyes slightly. "You think I can't take care of myself?"
"I know you can't take care of yourself," Jeremy said wryly.
"Well…" Mike began. It would be a whole lot easier for Jeremy to make dinner, but Freddy was still in the coat closet and he had no idea how long the animatronic would remain in there of his free will. He could just imagine Jeremy's reaction if Freddy broke down the door.
He shook his head, "I think I've got it."
Jeremy seemed surprised at his answer. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," Mike said.
"Okay, if you change your mind, I'm fine with staying the night here," Jeremy stated. He shook his head. Behind him through the kitchen window Mike could see the sun start to set. "Wow turned down by my own brother. And I thought we were family."
"I'm sure you'll get over it," Mike drawled.
Suddenly he saw the coat closet door crack open. Horrified he quickly turned to Jeremy his mind scrambling. "Hey uh, Jeremy… can you see if Mom and Jeff closed the back gate? I don't want the junkyard dog to be in the yard again.
Jeremy turned to look through the kitchen window and Mike wheeled his chair down the hall as fast as he could. He all but collided with the door and he felt a heavy weight on the other end. His momentum had helped him get the door shut though and he let out a shaky breath and moved back into the kitchen.
When he came back he saw Jeremy giving him a confused look, "What were you doing?"
"Sorry I'm still trying to figure this thing out," Mike lied, moving the wheelchair side to side. He needed to get Jeremy to leave soon, before Freddy got out.
"The gate is closed," Jeremy said. He seemed to be at a small loss of what to do and he looked at Mike. "Are you sure you don't need me to stay?"
Mike nodded. "I'm sure. If I need I'll give you a call."
"Please do," Jeremy said as he walked over and gave him a light noogie. Mike batted his hand away. With a huff Jeremy looked around. "If you don't need me I don't see the point in staying."
Mike followed him as he walked down the hallway towards the front door. He passed the coat closet without incident and Mike relaxed. Jeremy grabbed his shoes and slipped them back on, stifling a yawn. Mike suddenly noticed the heavy bags underneath his eyes and felt glad he hadn't ask his brother to stay. Even if Freddy wasn't here, Jeremy wouldn't have slept well on the couch.
Jeremy opened to the door and began leaving. "Remember to call me if you need anything," Jeremy said leaning back in.
"I will," Mike said offering a sincere smile.
With a nod Jeremy was gone. Mike listened to his car start up and leave, sitting in the sudden silence for a moment. Running a hand through his hair he turned to go into the living room and jumped at the brown-furred animatronic that loomed over him.
Freddy didn't look to happy as he glared down at Mike. The human shrugged. "What? It's not like I had a whole lot of options. If Jeremy had seen you all hell would have broken loose."
When Freddy's expression didn't change Mike shrugged and went about his business. Even though shoving Freddy into the coat closet had worked, Mike knew that he couldn't keep doing that. Besides the obvious that Freddy didn't like it – what if Jeremy came while he was at school? There would be no why for Mike to hide Freddy.
Time passed quickly and the house got as evening turned into dusk. Mike flipped on a few lights and grabbed a microwavable dinner from the freezer. He ate it watching some stupid sitcom and then reluctantly shut the TV off. He looked out at the dark sky and then glanced at Freddy.
The animatronic had followed him everywhere, watched him do everything. And while Mike had been able to mostly ignore it he was getting more paranoid. What if John was right and Freddy did try to kill him at night?
And where was he supposed to sleep? When he had been in the hospital he had thought he'd just pass out on the couch. His room was upstairs and they sure as hell didn't have any ramps for him to wheel himself up.
With grim realization he knew he was going to have to get upstairs somehow. Even though Freddy hadn't done anything to him today, there was no way he was sleeping down here. But he didn't want to lead Freddy up to his room.
Dusk turned into night and he moved into the kitchen to grabbed the bag that held his medication. He stopped though when he noticed that there was something else in there besides the pills and brochures of 'how to live disabled'. With disbelieve he pulled out a Ziplock bag that held Freddy's finger. Mike shuddered, that thing had been shoved into his chest.
He froze when he heard a mechanical whirling next to him. Turning he saw Freddy staring at the bag that held his finger. "Forgot you were missing a finger buddy," Mike said.
Freddy looked from the bag down to his hand and stared at where the missing appendage was, making a fist slowly as if to hide the fact. An idea formed in Mike's head and he acted on it. He wheeled himself over to the kitchen counter and set the bag down, backing up.
"You can have your finger back," Mike said. Freddy looked up at him and Mike pointed to where he had set it. Freddy lumbered over towards the counter and Mike quickly wheeled himself down the hallway until he was at the base of the stairs. Pride all but gone he ditched the seat and began army crawling up the carpeted steps.
His chest constricted uncomfortably as he hauled his useless lower half along, but Mike pushed through it, trying to be quick and silent. Eventually he made it to the top and collapse on his side, his chest heaving. He glanced through the railing and was glad he didn't see Freddy. The whole point of his commando move was to lose the animatronic.
An animatronic in his house was one thing. He didn't think he could handle having one in his room.
Catching his breath Mike crawled along the carpeted hallway at a more leisurely pace until he came to the door at the very end. Pushing the door open he was greeted with the familiarity of his room. A small TV sat on his dresser at the foot of his bed with his Xbox hooked up to it. A small amass of video game posters sat on the wall, Halo, Fallout 3, and Tomb Raider were just a few.
Mike awkwardly sat his legs underneath him and pulled himself up the doorframe until he was able to hit the light switch. With the light on he collapsed back down trying to shake the soreness out of his arms. "I've got a feeling my arms are going to be sore for a while," Mike chuckled to himself.
Tiredly he shut the door and pulled himself onto his bed. He didn't realize how sore and exhausted he was until he was finally able to relax. He found himself fighting to keep his eyes open and he lazily flicked his phone.
Gabe tried to reach you. How are you? Was a message from Terra. Mike checked his missed calls to see that Gabe had indeed tried to call him a few times hours ago.
I'm good. Had to get a ride from someone else though, Mike texted back. He stared at the ceiling and idly twirled his phone until it vibrated.
Already chewed him out for you :D Who gave you a ride?
Mike had to snicker at the start of that text. A nice couple I know, they even gave me something. He replied. He didn't think that Terra needed to know that the 'something' was Freddy. Technically he was telling the truth. His phone vibrated before he could go back to twirling it.
That's so sweet!
Mike smiled and closed his eyes imagining the almost sarcastic way Terra would say that. He must have started dozing because the next thing he knew he was struggling to open his eyes as his phone vibrated.
So since tomorrow is Saturday. Gabe wants us to all hang out at his house. Want too?
Sure, Mike texted. He mentally slapped himself as he saw it send. He had completely forgot about Freddy! He couldn't just leave the animatronic here alone could he? Freddy followed him everywhere. What if Jeremy tried to come in while he was gone? Before he could try and back out of the get-together Terra texted him back.
Awesome cant wait to see you tomorrow! I've got a surprise for you! ;)
Resigned Mike flopped back. What is it? He replied.
A surprise, Terra answered.
Mike shook his head. They texted back and forth for a while talking about trivial things, foods, school, Terra's part-time job. Terra had asked him what it was like to not be able to feel his lower half and he told the story of how he had gotten a cup – minus the Freddy part – and his army crawling up the stairs.
That can't be good for you :( Is Jeremy not there to help you?!
I sent him home, Mike answered.
He could have helped you with things like that though! Terra shot back. She didn't seem too happy, but Mike knew she was just worried about him.
I don't want to talk about it. Mike finally texted back.
It wasn't that he didn't want help. Jeremy had moved out when he was nine and it wasn't like his parents were going to look after his every need. If he wanted something he had learned he needed to get it on his own. He was his own best man.
Okay, but I'm taking care of you while we hang out tomorrow, Terra insisted. It's a little late and I'm tired. Gunna check out.
Mike checked his phone's clock to see that it was getting close to one in the morning. Yeah, see ya tomorrow.
Night dork, Terra texted.
Mike stretched out and grabbed his charger to plug into his phone. He stared at the light switch over by the closed door before deciding against it. He was too tired to go over there and shut it off. He awkwardly arranged the comforter over himself. Having to physically move his legs with his arms was a pain, but eventually he got comfortable and was quick to drift off.
Night had come almost too quickly for Freddy.
Looking up from where he had been messing up with his detached finger he realized that Mike was nowhere to be seen. He made a quick sweep of the house, eventually finding Mike's strange chair, but not the human.
In the end he just shrugged it off. This was Mike's house, it wasn't like there was anywhere else he could go. If he had left he would be back soon.
Freddy looked at the clock to see that it was a little after midnight. If it had been a normal night and he was still at the pizzeria, he and the others would have started hunting the night guard. But he wasn't at the pizzeria and there was no one but him and Mike in the house.
His neck was giving him some trouble, but he ignored it as he lumbered over to the coat closet that Mike had shut him in earlier.
He had been a little miffed at being suddenly shut in there earlier. Who did Mike think he was? Shoving him in a closet! But it was okay because he found something in there.
With a grunt he pulled it out, admiring it in the almost nonexistent light.
It was shaped like a human torso, made out of wire and on a stand. He broke away the wooden stand part with a snap! Moving into the kitchen he set it down. Besides watching his night guard all day, he had been searching.
Searching for an empty suit.
His thoughts on the ex-night guard were strange and conflicting to say the least. On one hand he was glad that Mike was still alive, that he had managed to save him. But on the other side he had killed night guards for so long it felt wrong not to kill Mike. It was a habit that was almost engraved into his very being. Kill over and over, and over, and over…
Shaking his head Freddy once again looked at the metal wired torso on the kitchen floor.
There hadn't been any empty suits in Mike's house which was slightly disappointing, but that didn't mean he couldn't get a little creative.
But he was going to need more than this. Spotting a door that he had not yet gone through that day he slowly opened it, peeking into the darkness beyond with his flashing eyes.
Since he couldn't find a suit he was going to make one.
Only he would get to kill Mike.