-You Can't-

Chapter 12: Redemption

Springtrap was carried to the pizzeria by Marionette, barely conscious. He felt so bad. He was probably going to die. He felt his heart beating so slowly... As if it was filled with water. His head was killing him and his eyes couldn't really open. His ears were ringing. He was too weak to even try to move.

Toy Bonnie was by his side, holding his hand kindly to support him. He knew more than anyone how nearly dying was horrifying. He had an experience some weeks before, when an employee attacked him, angry because of something else, and nearly killed him by tearing his left arm apart and his two legs. Fortunately, Toy Freddy was entering the room some time after, maybe some minutes, and repaired him. But Toy Bonnie saw these minutes as years.

Marionette looked at him and smiled friendly, but Toy Bonnie could see that she was worried. Her eyes were filled with worry. The rabbit tried to comfort her by smiling hugely to her, but the Puppet just lowered her head, glancing at Springtrap, slowly dying in her arms.

They arrived at the pizzeria soon after, Bonnie, Toy Chica, Mangle and Balloon Boy coming as quickly as they could to them when they saw the golden rabbit in Mario's arms. Goldie teleported right in front of them, taking Springtrap and teleporting with him to the Back room. Toy Freddy knew what he needed to do.

The bear took his hat off his head and gulped, tensed. If he failed, Marionette was going to kill him. And so was Goldie. He needed to success. He looked at his friends, who smiled to him warmly, reassuring him. Freddy came towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You will success, little brother, I have faith in you."

Toy Freddy smiled back and turned around, quickly heading to the Back room.

Marionette stared at him, seemingly worried, and went to her Music Box. Plush Mario was waiting for her there, looking at her without saying a single word. It saw what was going on. Marionette just glanced at it before sitting on the ground, her head under its legs, thinking. What was Springtrap going to do ? Was he going to stay here ? She really hoped so. He wouldn't be in danger anymore. But... the others, mostly Freddy, weren't going to forgive him that easily.

The only thing she could try was speaking with them about it. But she wasn't sure about the results.

Plush Mario came closer to her, putting its hands over her head. It stroke Mario's forehead for some minutes, trying to comfort her. It clearly saw that its counterpart was sad and hated this. It hated seeing people sad.

Mario raised her head and slightly smiled to her counterpart, asking in a worried way: "How are you ?"

The plushie tilted its head to the right, wondering. On the one hand, it was still very sad about Plushtrap's death. It couldn't forget what happened to him and was heart-broken. The plushie missed him so much. He was its everything. It grieved for Plushtrap all day long. But on the other hand, it felt really relieved because Springtrap was back, maybe, for good this time. So... It really didn't know what to answer. "I-I'm okay, I mean- Spring's back now, isn't he ?"

"That's not sure... If Freddy doesn't want him here... He's the boss. Springtrap will have to leave." The puppet animatronic explained, her voice filled with sadness.

Plush Mario wondered for a while and tilted its head to the other side. "So why aren't you already speaking with Freddy ?"

Mario raised her look, staring at her plushie without understanding well. "Wha-What do you mean ?"

The plushie smiled and calmly said: "You have to protect Springtrap. You care about him. You feel responsible for what happened." Marionette lowered her head, nodding. "So go and speak with Freddy. Make him change his mind."

Marionette lowered her head, thinking about what her counterpart just said and nodded, determined. She stood up, attempting to go finding Freddy, but she stopped walking, looking at her plushie. She thanked it by nodding her head and walked towards the Parts & Service room.

Freddy was talking with Chica when she entered the room. Foxy was not far from them, listening to the conversation and even chatting with them sometimes. Marionette cleared her throat, every animatronic in the room turning around to look at her. Freddy raised an eyebrow, wondering about why she was here, and Chica smiled to her friend.

The puppet smiled back and stared at Freddy without expression. "I need to speak with Freddy."

"You can speak in front of everyone, you know." Freddy replied, looking at his two friends. "There's no secret between us."

Marionette just stared at him, resolute, and answered without looking at Chica and Foxy: "That's important, I don't have much time."

The bear animatronic looked at her, upset, and asked to Chica and Foxy to leave. The two just nodded, smiling to Marionette before leaving, closing the door behind them. The Puppet walked towards Freddy, starting: "Springtrap will stay here."

"No he won't." Freddy replied instantly, determined. He tilted his head to the right, staring at Puppet's expression. He clearly noticed that she was upset, but that wasn't going to change his mind. "I thought about it since we came back. He's dangerous."

Marionette shook her head negatively. "No, he's not ! Spring is the friend of us ! Freddy, try to remember !"

"I remember very well."

"You know that he's not dangerous, in that case !" Marionette shouted, the anger taking over.

"That's not what I meant by that." Freddy responded, looking at her with his big blue eyes. "I meant that, you know, Purple Guy is after him."

The puppet's eyes widened. She didn't think about that. Freddy was right, to that extent. Purple Guy was a danger and he wanted to make Springtrap pay. Leading him to the pizzeria was too dangerous to be considered as a possibility.

But something inside of her told her to help Springtrap. He needed help, just as the toys were when under Vincent's orders some years ago. And even if it was risky, they just couldn't leave Springtrap alone outside with Vincent hunting him down. He was their friend, after all.

Marionette stared at Freddy, really pissed off, and clenched her fists. "I know that but try to think about it, Freddy. Would you let Bonnie out because Purple Guy wants his death ?"

"Don't talk about Bonnie."

"I do what I want to do, Freddy Fazbear !"

The bear blinked in surprise. When Marionette started to call him by his name, that was not good at all. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to review his decision. Indeed, keeping Springtrap here was dangerous, but as Marionette said, he was their friend. He was... even like a dad to them.

They just couldn't leave him to die outside without trying to help him. That was risky, even ridiculous, but they needed to try.

He sighed, discouraged, and admitted in an annoyed way: "You are right... He can stay."

Marionette smiled hugely and hugged him friendly, really happy with his decision. She pushed him away right after, quickly leaving the room. Bonnie entered just after her departure, coming towards Freddy without understanding what was going on. Freddy smiled to him and explained calmly what they said. The purple bunny smiled when he heard about Springtrap's admission.

He blushed while looking at Freddy in the eyes before asking shyly: "Ca-Can I sp-speak with you ?"

Freddy nodded.

When Springtrap's eyes opened again, he noticed a shape beside him. The room was very dark and things were barely noticeable, but he felt something, or someone, beside him. He raised his head and sat on the table on which he was sleeping before. His right ear tilted when he heard someone moving. He turned his head to look at the shape. It seemed to be Goldie, but he wasn't sure.

He shook his head, trying to see something but it was really too dark in the room. He groaned, rubbing his eyes but it didn't change anything. "Why is it so dark here... ?" He asked, trying to see through the darkness the light switch.

A tenderized laugh came from the shape. "I see that Toy Freddy did a great job. But why can't you see anything ? The light is on."

Definitely, it was Goldie. Springtrap recognized his voice... Even if it was slightly different. It was deeper than before, and more threatening. "Wha-What happened to you ?" He cried out, refering to his friend's voice while trying to see something.

If the light was on, why did he see nothing more than darkness ? He was pretty sure that it wasn't normal. "And why can't I see anything ?"

The shape beside him moved, walking through the room. Springtrap frowned. Goldie couldn't walk anymore. Was it a nightmare ? Was it a nightmarish version of Goldie ? Like the one that bit him in one of his nightmares ? Like the one who was hiding behind him, only his two red eyes visible, in another one ?

He shook his head, looking at his hands. Once again, they were so tiny. "Where am I ?" The bunny asked, looking all around him and trying to recognize the place.

"At Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, don't worry." Goldie responded, coming towards him and holding his hand friendly.

But the animatronic's hands were not so friendly at all. Huge claws were touching his small palm. Even if the bear was trying to be nice, he was still scaring him. Springtrap escaped the grip as fast as he could, but the movement caused the claws to scratch his hand. The golden bunny hissed painfully, holding his hand close to his stomach and glancing fearfully at the shape.

The animatronic was gigantic. Much taller than any other nightmare animatronic. He was much taller than him. The bunny weeped, scared, and jumped off the table, running to the door and opening it.

Something unexpected happened. Behind the door, a nightmarish version of Purple Guy was waiting for him. The little golden bunny gasped and stepped back, bumping into Fredbear's stomach. He was trapped. Once again, he was going to die in his nightmare.

He tried to run but Fredbear holded him back, showing him Purple Guy. The man was making his way to Marionette, which was near her Music Box with the other toy animatronics. Springtrap glanced at the gigantic nightmare animatronic. This one seemed to encourage him to save them. The little bunny took a step forward, unsure.

"Save them, Spring Bonnie. I have faith in you." Nightmare Fredbear said, taking his hand very cautiously and leading him to the Murderer.

This one was about to stab Marionette when Springtrap jumped at him, defending his loved-one. Nightmare Fredbear came closer to him, helping him to stand up and smiling to him. "Now let's kill that b*tch together."

Springtrap nodded, his heart beating very fast. His vision became suddenly clear, and the bunny noticed Purple Man on the ground, standing up and looking furiously at him. He clenched his little animatronic fists and was about to fight him but Nightmare Fredbear stopped him.

The golden bear walked towards the man in purple, engaging the fight with him. He was soon defeated by the nightmarish Vincent. The killer walked to Fredbear, ready to kill him, but Springtrap ran to him, pushing him away and falling beside him. Purple Guy raised his head, smiling cruelly before stabbing him-

"NOOO !" Springtrap shouted, waking up all of a sudden after his strange nightmare.

He blinked in confusion before sighing in relief, noticing that no one was there. He rubbed his face, very confused, and blinked again. What kind of nightmare was it ? In every nightmare, he was put back to his child's form and was fighting against nightmares. Why was it happening ? Was it a message ? Was it a vision ? If it was that, why was he always in his child's body ? That made no sense.

Suddenly, he heard the door opening. He turned around to look at Mangle, coming towards him with a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay ?" She asked, crowling to him and trying to sit next to him.

He carried her and put her on the table, smiling friendly to her. She was so kind with him. Why ? He didn't really know who she was, their 'friendship' was new. They, actually, just met. Why did she like him ?

Curious, he turned to her and asked in a low voice: "Why do you like me, after what I did to you ?"

Mangle smiled to him and lowered her head, searching how she could explain that to him. "Let's say that... Finding a robot that is as desesperate and as destroyed as me... warms my heart." Springtrap's eyes widened but she went on. "I discovered that I wasn't alone. I wasn't the only one to be lost. I wasn't the only one who needed help."

The bunny glanced at her, surprised by this explanation. That was unexpected. He thought that it would be because of Marionette, but no... It seemed that Mangle only needed someone to talk to. And that was why she was trying to speak with him. He was the only one able to understand her pain.

Mangle giggled nervously, looking at the spare heads next to Springtrap while continuing: "Y'know... The others can't really understand what this is to be... different."

"We're not different, Mangle." Springtrap replied, putting a hand over her head and stroking it friendly. "They think that we're different because they don't know what we've been through."

"Really ?"

Springtrap nodded and took her hand, which was right under her head. He laughed, tenderized, and looked at her in the eyes. "The only thing you need to do is... Find your own way. Not a dangerous one, but try to live by yourself."

Mangle looked at the spare head, smiling and her yellow eye shining joyfully. She was relieved. Speaking with someone who understood what you felt was... so much relaxing. She actually felt better than anytime before, even when she was still beautiful and new. "I can't live without them."

"You're strong enough to do this." Springtrap responded, looking at the spare head too while thinking. "You know, you don't have to live without them. You'll need them, they're your friends after all. But you must live your own life."

The fox glanced at him, her yellow eye shining as never before. She crowled closer to him and hugged him, placing her head over his shoulder and closing her eye. She was so happy. Even if she didn't know him that much, she felt really good with him.

"I hope you'll stay." She murmured into his ear, crowling back and leaving the room.

When Goldie entered the Back room to check if Springtrap was alright, he didn't know that he'll interrupt an important discussion between the golden bunny and Marionette. They were speaking, seeemingly very sad about what they were saying, and Goldie just appeared here, in front of them.

Marionette looked at him, raising an eyebrow, and Springtrap just stared at him without expression. Goldie smiled and glanced back at Marionette. "Uh... Tell me when I can come, I won't disturb you any further."

The puppet didn't move, just startling a little when the bear disappeared all of a sudden. She sighed in relief, turning around to see Springtrap laughing, amused by the situation. Marionette smiled and sat next to him, cuddling up to him. The bunny looked at her, his eyes shining with joy, and hugged her.

"Where were we ?" He asked, tilting his head to the right to be able to look at Mario in the eyes.

The puppet animatronic thought about that and smiled curiously, pushing him away and wrapping her arms around his neck. Springtrap smiled to her, looking at her right in the eyes before she said: "You remember, the part in which we were supposed to kiss."

"Then, what are you waiting for ?" Springtrap asked, smiling hugely.

Marionette jumped at him, forcing him to lie on the table, and kissed him passionately. The bunny wrapped his arms around her, holding her closer to him.

Goldie smiled, looking at them since the beginning from the darkest corner of the room. They didn't notice him, he was quite satisfied with that. He could see everything from where he was. He decided to trick them, just for fun.

He disappeared and reappeared next to them. The two startled and glanced at him, Marionette being furious as hell and Springtrap laughing euphorically. Goldie shruggled and smiled to the two, asking with a huge grin on his lips: "May I share the kiss ?"

To be continued...

Hello there ! I hope you're all well today :D Here was the new chapter, I really hope you liked it :) As always, tell me everything in the comments !

Thanks everybody so much for reading this fic, I hope that you like it, and special thanks to the reviewers, the followers and the ones who favorited this fic ! You are all very important to me :)

Until next time,

Circle of J.