I do not own Sister Location.

"Are you insane, Mike?!" Marion shouted at me, his normal smile turned into a frown. "Why would you rebuild them after they tried to kill you?!"

I sat next to Bonnie on the Show Stage, his arm carefully draped around my shoulders to avoid hurting my injured arm any more than it already was. Becca sat on my other side, Freddy mimicking Bonnie as he sat with his arm draped around her shoulders. Jeremy stood next to Bonbon on the side, frowning a bit with his hands shoved into his pockets. Springtrap sat on the floor and leaned against the edge of the stage, witnessing the scene unfold. The others were scattered around the area, either watching what was happening and looking at me sadly or trying to avoid the conflict altogether by ignoring us.

I sighed. "I couldn't just leave them like that. They didn't deserve it."

"'Didn't deserve it'? Mike, they tried to kill you!" Marion yelled.

"And you didn't?" I countered.

The Puppet was silent for a moment. He soon shook his head, obviously trying to clear his thoughts.

"I had my reasons for doing it, though," he argued.

"So did they!" I defended once more. "They were angry and hurt and scared. They didn't fully understand what they were doing and didn't realize the consequences of their actions. They just wanted to get out of that building, and I can't blame them! I'd want to get out too if I went through what they went through!"

Marion let out a loud exhale. "You shouldn't be defending them. They attempted to take your life and ended up injuring you in the process. They are dangerous, and I doubt a change of scenery will alter anything."

"That doesn't mean I can't give them a chance," I responded.

"Why would you?" Marion asked.

"You gave Jeremy and me the chance to prove ourselves, even though you didn't like us, didn't you?" I countered.

Marion was silent for another moment before he sighed. "Yes, I did."

"And you're at least accepting Springtrap is a part of Freddy's if not beginning to forgive him, even though he made a lot of bad decisions in the past, right?" I continued.

Marion looked at Springtrap, who met his gaze before looking away. The others glanced at the decaying yellow rabbit sadly, and I could see pity and empathy in their eyes. They all had heard about his past through Marion, and that seemed to help them take a step towards being able to forgive him. The Puppet looked back down at me. "That is debatable, but I am sure it is safe to say you are correct."

"Then why can't we do the same for them?" I questioned. "They've been through so much pain and suffering, so why can't we give them the benefit of the doubt and try to help them?"

There was a moment of silence before a new voice was heard.

"H-hello?"

That was Baby's voice. I knew it all too well. This time, though, she sounded as if she was hesitant.

I looked over at the door leading from the Main Hall, seeing the familiar redhead, her friends accompanying behind her, all looking as if they shared her sense of unease. I got up from my spot on the stage and cautiously made my way over to them as they entered the room, scanning over my work carefully to make sure nothing was loose or out of place.

Funtime Foxy, who I nicknamed Roxy, Funtime Freddy, who I'd taken to calling Fred, and the Bonbon puppet, who I deemed Bo, all looked the way they did back at Circus Baby's Pizza World.

Baby also kept the same appearance as she had back at the other pizzeria, though I worked more on her endoskeleton to make her ice cream function more safe and kid-friendly, replacing the smaller version of the scooper from the scooping room with a thin metal ring that holds ice cream cones and adding an internal ice cream dispenser so that all that would come out was the small hoop with the frozen treat.

Ballora was now able to walk normally instead of spin, and I managed to undo the welding that kept her eyes shut and allow her to see. Half a dozen of those wooden ballerina puppets from Circus Baby's clung to her, hanging off her arms and perching on her shoulders, having stowed away in her exoskeleton until I found them and decided to let them stay since they hadn't actually caused any trouble besides scaring me.

I had no idea what to do with Ennard, since he didn't really have an exoskeleton to work with, but I fixed his endoskeleton the best I could so that his wires wouldn't hang loose and stick out as they had before and had a friend working on an exoskeleton so he would match Baby's appearance later on.

"Welcome to Freddy's," I said, trying to keep my voice light.

The animatronics from Circus Baby's eyed me carefully. It was obvious they recognized me from before, as their gazes kept drifting to my bandaged arm. It was a long, tense moment before anyone spoke. Ennard was the one who shared his thoughts, slightly startling me since I didn't know he could speak.

"Why did you rebuild us?"

His voice was full of caution, tone accusing, as if he believed there was something I wanted from them in my act of reconstructing them.

Bonnie, who had walked up behind me when I spoke, wrapped an arm around my shoulders protectively as if daring them to show any signs of aggression towards me or my friends. I mentally shrugged off Bonnie's actions and answered Ennard's question.

"Call it a second chance. After everything you've been through, I think you need one."

They were all silent, confusion clouding their expressions. They looked between one another, trying to understand my words. Baby finally broke their stupor.

"But why?! After everything we put you through, why would you want to rebuild us?! You should hate us for what we did! Look at your arm!" She gestured to said limb, her voice cracking and glitching with emotion as she spoke. "We did that to you! We hurt you! Why would you let us live after that?!"

I could see the hurt in Baby's eyes, and my heart ached at her words. I moved out of Bonnie's hold and placed a hand on her still outstretched arm. She gasped at the contact, looking down at my hand on her arm before looking back up at me. I gave her a small smile, trying to show her there were no hard feelings between us. I was sure if her eyes could water, they would have.

A violent jolt ran throughout Baby's body and a high pitched squeak escaped her. Slowly, she sank to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she began sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she repeated over and over, and the urge to comfort her overtook me. I tried to console her, but it only seemed I was making it worse.

"Are we going to go back?" Ballora spoke up, and I could hear panic lacing her voice.

Baby went quiet at the ballerina's words, a slight shiver running through her. If I hadn't had my hand on her arm through the entirety of her breakdown, I would have missed it entirely.

Jeremy was the one to answer her.

"No. Circus Baby's Pizza World was shut down after Mike was sent to the hospital."

"Then where are we gonna go?" Fred asked, exchanging glances with Bo.

"You're staying here at Freddy's," I responded.

"What?" Baby asked, looking up at me. The others gave me unsure stares, obviously uncertain if this was good or bad.

"You wanted to leave Circus Baby's Pizza World, right?" Becca questioned.

When baby nodded, she continued speaking.

"You're not trapped there anymore. You're free."

"No, we're not!" Bo yelled before covering his mouth, his ears sinking as he realized he just admitted to something they didn't know my friends and I already knew.

"Yeah, you're not," I said. "You're still trapped in the animatronics."

The entire group was silent, and I stood up as Baby moved to join her friends, clearly shocked at my words.

"You," Roxy began before seeming to gulp, "you know about that? But-but how?"

"Because you're not the only ones going through this," Jeremy spoke, coming to stand next to me with Becca joining us on his other side. "You're not the only souls trapped in those machines."

"What?" Ballora asked, sounding awestruck.

I smiled sadly. "All the animatronics here," I began, gesturing behind us to our friends, "they're souls trapped in the suits, too. They were all murdered by the same person who killed you, so they understand you."

"Why are you doing this?" Ennard questioned, a tint of anger in his tone. "Why are you telling us this?"

"I want to help you," I answered. "I don't like the idea of anyone having to suffer, even after death. Especially when those suffering are children. You didn't deserve that. You don't have to live in anger and fear anymore. You're free from Circus Baby's Pizza World, and I'm sure we can find a way to free your souls from the animatronics, too."

The group from Circus Baby's exchanged looks, silently conversing between themselves, before Ennard finally nodded and Baby began to speak.

"Thank you, Mike. You don't know how much we appreciate this."

"What's going to happen to us now?" Ballora asked.

I smiled. "You'll be joining Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Mr. Fred actually decided to renovate the building again once you guys came in, and we're expanding the building to include the original Fazbear Crew, as well as the Toys and Circus Baby's Pizza World characters. There are some blueprints in the desk in the Office. I can bring them out here, if you want to see them."

They all nodded, their eyes shining with excitement.

"I wish to talk with them first, Mike," Marion started, coming up to stand in front of me now while facing Baby and her friends. "There are a few conditions you'll need to follow. First, you are not to harm anyone who comes into this building unless it's absolutely necessary. Mike has made some changes to your original designs, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

As he talked and the other animatronics came up to join in on the conversation, Becca and Jeremy following not long after, I walked to the Office to get some pain meds for my arm, as it was beginning to hurt again, and grab the blueprints to show the others, going to the bag I had brought first to retrieve my pill bottle.

The sound of quiet mechanical footsteps caught my attention as I rummaged through the bag, and I turned to see Springtrap standing at the doorway of the Office, leaning against the frame.

"Are you going to tell them?" he asked quietly.

"You mean about what you did?" I replied.

He nodded.

I sighed. "I guess that's up to you. They'll find out sooner or later, but I think it's best if you tell them. You were the one who did it, after all. But I'd wait until they settle down. Forcing too much onto their minds could have bad results, so we'll just have to take it one step at a time."

There was a loud crash from down the hall, followed by laughter. I smiled as I listened to my friends trying to talk through their gasps between fits of hysterics, though I couldn't make out what exactly they were saying. I could see Springtrap doing the same, a small and sad smile beginning to form on his face.

"Sounds like they're getting along already," I commented, making the yellow rabbit look over at me and nod.

A short silence passed.

"Y'know," I began again, "I'm sure the others would vouch for you if the souls from Circus Baby's get angry when you decide to tell them."

He laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, they probably would. But I deserve everything they do to get back at me as revenge for what I pulled. They should be angry at me…I'm the monster who took everything from them."

"And yet you regret what you've done," I added. "That's a big step right there. Most murderers, even on the brink of death, likely never regret their bad decisions or want to try to make up for them. You may have been a monster back then, but you've changed. Whatever made you kill in the first place isn't affecting you now. It's best for all of us if we put this behind us in the past where it belongs."

We both fell silent after that, and I went back to rummaging through my bag. When I finally found the pill bottle I had stored there, my hand brushed against something soft, reminding me of one more thing I wanted to do before the night was over. Carefully, I removed the Golden Freddy plushie from its confines after taking the bottle out. Looking over at Springtrap, I noticed he was looking down at the floor with his arms crossed, not paying any attention to what I was doing. I smiled to myself, stood up, and walked over to him, catching his attention. I handed the plushie to him, and when he looked at me curiously, I answered his unspoken question before he could ask it.

"I found that plushie in the security office at Circus Baby's the last night I worked there. Mr. Afton said I could keep it, and I figured you might want it instead."

He gazed between me and the stuffed toy for a moment before a small, almost unnoticeable smile twitched onto his face.

"Thank you, Mike," was all he said before slipping the plushie into one of the torn out portions of his suit for safe-keeping and walking back down the hall out of the office.

I nodded. Remembering what I was doing before, I took two of the small capsules out from the bottle and swallowed them along with some water from a water bottle I had bought at a convenience store before my shift. I made my way over to the desk, kneeling down and opening the bottom drawer to grab the blueprints Mr. Fred had stored there for the future project. Once I had the paper in hand, I looked up so I could set it on the desk and read the design specifications one more time, only to flinch back quickly. One of the wooden ballerinas accompanying Ballora sat on the edge of the desk right in front of me.

Cautiously, I leaned toward the wooden figure so I could take in the few features it had on its face, and it tilted its head as if curious about what I was doing. My mind flashed back to the night I was trapped in the suit after basically being kidnapped, and a sense of dread came over me as the figure remained still for what felt like forever. The moment was broken, though, as the figure jumped onto my face and climbed up to sit on my head, giggling girlishly the entire time. I chuckled at the figure's actions and made my way down the hall with the blueprints in hand, making sure the little ballerina wouldn't fall off.

The other Minireenas (as I would later know them to be called) jumped off of Ballora and ran over to me as I returned to the Show Stage, climbing up to join their friend while laughing and giggling. Everyone either chuckled or snickered at the scene, amused by the wooden ballerinas' antics.

"They seem to like you," Ballora commented, moving closer to me and watching her little ballerinas as they gripped my hair to keep their balance while perching on my shoulders and trying to climb up from there, the figure from the office protecting its place on top of my head.

I nodded, careful not to knock the wooden figure off.

"I have the blueprints, if you want to see them," I said.

All the animatronics gathered around the Show Stage as I set the paper on it and opened it, revealing what would later become the new Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. This was going to be interesting.

I'm not dead, guys!

Sorry for the month-long hiatus, but I've been working non-stop this week whenever I've had free time to finish and edit this. And sorry if it's not the best, but it's the best I could do with what little time I've had between work, classes, and studying.

And if you want to know what the blueprint looks like, you can check it out in my deviantART gallery under the same username.

I hope you've all enjoyed reading this.