I'll Be There For You

After Mike called the cops, they still had a few minutes to make sure a few things were in order. The synthetics kept their suits on and were instructed to make themselves seem deactivated until Mike gave his say so. He had an idea of how to explain things to them. Even his mom decided to go along with it, though she didn't say much.

They quickly went over the security footage to make sure certain things were omitted by bursts of static. Freddy had had the idea of breaking the door handle after they had gone in order to cover Mike's mother's involvement. It was to make it look more like they'd broken in rather than they'd been let in. Mike allowed him to do so and ushered him onto the stage just as the wailing of sirens hit their ears.

The police did their usual thing, examining the crime scene and getting details from witnesses. It was while the police were conducting interviews that Mike gave his story as to how only three people, two of which weren't even security guards, were able to fend off a group of five attackers.

"It's uh, the animatronics," he said, not entirely comfortable lying to a police officer. "They um, h-have an inbuilt security p-program to respond to i-intruders."

"Is that so?" asked the officer, noting that down.

"Y-Yeah. It's voice command, watch." He turned to the stage. "Freddy Fazbear, there's an unauthorised e-entry. Evict the intruder."

Freddy snapped to life. "Oh no! We can't have that." He grabbed a nearby officer by the scruff of his neck. "Come on, you. If you want to see a show, you'll have to wait until opening time!"

"H-Hey, get off!" protested the officer. "Sarge! Help!"

"Alright, alright, I see what you mean," said the guy interviewing Mike. "Tell that thing to let her go."

"Right, sorry. Freddy, stand down. They're authorised," he instructed.

"If you say so, Mike!" He let go of the officer and patted her on the head. "Sorry about that, little miss. Enjoy your time at Freddy Fazbear's!"

He tromped back to the stage with a few bewildered looks and resumed his deactivated state. Mike caught his eye and Freddy's briefly flickered in a wink.

"They respond to my voice commands," he explained, feeling more confident. "They're programmed to remove intruders in as non-lethal a manner as possible. They wouldn't hurt anyone unless the circumstances were extreme and even then, the worse they might get is a few bruises."

"I see." The officer nodded at them. "That's some pretty impressive technology."

"You have no idea," murmured Mike. "Have you found any trace of them?"

"Well, there's not much to go on at the moment," said the officer. "These guys look like they scattered pretty quickly once they got out. I'd like to take a look at the security footage for the report."

"Go ahead, but some of it might be c-corrupted," said Mike. "A couple of them tried to access it a-and I don't think they knew what they were really doing."

"Understood. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr Schmidt. We'll do our best to track down these guys," he assured, holding out a hand to shake.

"Right. Thank you, officer," said Mike, taking it.

The officer went over to his mom who was still giving her statement. She'd been in a state of what appeared to be shock ever since the former guards had fled. She went along with the ideas that Mike had suggested before with barely a question asked. All the time, she had been looking furtively at the synthetics in their suits. His dad tried to comfort her, but there hadn't been much time.

Mike still had a hard time believing that she'd gone so far as to seek their help. Though it was clear that she didn't expect Daniel to start waving a gun around as he did, a part of him felt angry at her for putting them all in danger like that. This was supposed to be his mother. The woman who'd cared for him and nurtured him, even if she had been overprotective doing so.

By the time the police wrapped everything up and left, there were still two hours left until Mike's shift was finished. His parents were sat at one of the dining tables, his dad with his arm around his mom. Mike silently gestured for the synthetics to stay back while he talked with them and sat at the opposite end.

"Are you both okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, son," assured his dad. "I've never been shot before and I'm glad to say that it's something I'm still unexperienced in."

"How can you joke about this?!" his mom snapped. "After I almost…!" She looked sharply away. "I'm… I'm so sorry…"

Mike took a deep breath. This had been a long time coming and he'd tried to avoid it as much as he could. But that wasn't an option anymore. It was time to really end this.

"Y-You should be." He heard her gasp at his tone. "Mom… I understand how you feel about this place, I do. But… that fact you couldn't accept th-that this is my choice a-and what I want to do… it almost got us killed."

"Mike…"

"Mom, please." Mike tried to control his voice, keep it from quivering. "D-Do you have any idea… how this feels for me? F-First the truth a-about my dad a-and now this? I… I f-feel like I can't even trust my own parents."

"I didn't know what else to do!" she cried. "Both of you were keeping things from me! I didn't know what to think! I did what I thought was right, but I never thought… Mike, Andrew… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!"

She looked about ready to break down. Mike couldn't keep his anger for her, seeing her like this.

"I'm… I'm sorry too, mom," he said. "I really didn't like keeping it secret from you but… you'd never have believed us if we told you. Either of us."

"I suppose but… now that I know, I don't see why." She glanced at them. "I mean, all they do is move around. That doesn't seem so bad."

Both Mike and his dad exchanged a look with one another. They both came to the same conclusion. The time for keeping secrets was over.

"It's uh, a little more complicated than that." Mike beckoned over Freddy. "Just stay calm and let us explain. Please."

His mom's expression changed from puzzlement to surprise when Freddy removed his mask and revealed who he was beneath, followed by the rest of his suit. He gave her his warmest smile and held out his hand.

"A pleasure to meet you properly, Mrs Schmidt. As you know, I am Freddy Fazbear," he greeted cordially. "I certainly hope that my true appearance hasn't caused you undue alarm."

She stared dumbly at him for a few moments. "I'm… not entirely sure what I feel right now." She didn't shake his hand. "Who are you, exactly?"

"Freddy Fazbear, as I have said. The true face of fun, you might say," he chuckled and smoothly tucked his thumbs into his jacket lapels. "I will endeavour to explain our nature as best I can for you. If you have any questions, please wait until after I have elaborated in full."

He let the others approach and introduce themselves. Foxy hung back noticeably and gave nothing more than a short ''lo' before falling silent. Freddy then gave her the abridged version as to what they were and why they were posing as animatronics. A couple of times, it seemed his mom might interject but she restrained herself.

"So…" she said when he was finished. "Essentially… you're not human?"

"No, ma'am, we are not. Not in the traditional flesh and blood sense, at any rate," he added.

"And you're hiding because you believe someone, this Sid Hawthorne, might come for you?" she asked.

"In a nutshell, yeah," affirmed Bonnie. "So far, he hasn't tried anything and it's been nearly thirty years. But hey, best be on the safe side."

"I see." She went quiet again. "Is there a chance then that Mike might be in danger if anything like that does happen?"

"That's a bit rich considering what you just tried to pull."

"Bonnie, hush," ordered Freddy. "Mrs Schmidt, if Sid were to appear again one day, I can personally assure you that we would take whatever steps necessary to ensure Mike isn't harmed."

"What about him?" She looked at Foxy. "Can he make that promise?"

"I understand how you feel about Foxy. What happened in 1987 was awful, I'm not denyin' that," admitted Freddy. "But he is tryin' his best to move past that."

She didn't seem convinced. "I find it hard to believe that, after what happened just now."

Foxy seemed to shrink away and said nothing.

"Hey, lady!" Bonnie started forward. "Who the hell are you to judge?"

"Bonnie-"

"No, Fred, I'm saying this," she insisted. "You've got no right to say stuff like that when it was thanks to you we got put in that situation. You almost got us exposed and we're lucky the only ones that got hurt were those dumb punks. And who was it again that's the reason we sent them running?"

"Get away from me!" she shouted. "I already said that I was desperate, I didn't know that would happen! But I did see something else when all that was happening. I saw you bending metal as if it were clay. I saw you break solid wood with barely a flinch. I saw that one almost injure that man, if not worse! You especially seem just as aggressive as he is!"

"Keep talking like that and I'll show you just how aggressive I can be," threatened Bonnie.

"See! Right there!" she snapped. "You might not be animatronics, but you're still dangerous. That one especially and you don't seem much better!" She turned to Mike and his dad. "How can you stand to be around them? They're not even human!"

"Don't talk like we're not here! And quit being racist!" Bonnie added.

"Ma'am, I think you should calm down," said Freddy in a level voice. "There's no need for any of-"

"No!" She pressed her fingers to her head. "I-I don't know… I don't know how to handle this right now! Just…"

Her head bowed, she walked away in the direction of the security office.

"That went well. Good work, Bonnie," remarked his dad.

"Hey, I didn't see you adding any input," she retorted. "Besides, she needed to hear that. Plus, did you see how she reacted? She all thinks we're gonna kill her or something."

"Which you didn't really help with," put in Mike.

"That's enough," said Freddy firmly. "Mike, perhaps it might be best if you go and speak to her."

"You're right. It's not going to be easy though." He took a moment to collect himself. "Guess you were right all along about this, Freddy."

"Indeed," he said sombrely. "Best of luck, Mike."

Mike nodded his thanks. His dad gave him an encouraging smile which made Mike feel a little better. He walked down the east hall and approached the office. He saw her through the window, her head in her hands. He knocked on the side of the door.

"Mom? Are you okay?" he asked, stepping inside.

She barely looked up at him, nor did she answer him straight away.

"I can see why you both kept this secret now," she said in a low voice. "I would never have believed either of you. I'm still not completely certain I do."

"It is pretty crazy," he agreed. He pulled up a chair close to her. "They're really not bad, mom."

"Mike, they-"

"Mom, I know what they did," he said with mounting confidence. "They protected us. They didn't physically hurt them. They just got rid of their weapons and let them run, then stood back and let the police handle it. How does that make them bad?"

"What about the fox one?" she asked. "He could have killed that man!"

"But he didn't. He stopped him and if he hadn't, he m-might have killed me instead." Mike felt a little cold at the thought. "Maybe he did it aggressively, but that guy had a knife, mom. He was losing it. Are you saying he shouldn't have done anything?"

"Of course not!" she insisted. "I'm glad that you're alright and I take responsibility for what he almost did but… it was almost like 1987 again."

Mike sighed. "You're right. Maybe if we hadn't stopped Foxy, he might have done something worse to that guy."

"But then how can you defend him?" asked his mom. "Doesn't this prove what I said?"

"Because even what he did may have been bad, that doesn't make him bad," answered Mike. "He spent nearly thirty years in Pirate Cove, all on his own with nothing to do but think about what he'd done. It was only because I went and talked to him that he left at all and I did it knowing what he did, both to that man and to our family. But I still forgave him. He had to move on from it and… I…I…" He took a deep breath and looked her right in the eye. "I-I think you d-do too."

She gasped. "Mike. H-How… how can you…?"

"He's right, Lizzy." They looked to see his dad standing in the door. "Over twenty years is a long time to hold a grudge and it won't do any of us any good with Mike working here."

"Andrew…" Her speech faltered. "A-Are you saying you want him working here?"

"I do. Look at him, Lizzy. He's got friends here and I can tell you for sure that they're some of the best he could wish for," he said confidently. "Not only that, but he's done real good for them. He not only helped Foxy, but he let them go outside when I never could never do that. And it was thanks to him they had the distraction to get rid of those vandals. He cares about them a lot and I know they feel the same for him. It's time we all moved on from what happened in 87. All of us."

His mom looked as if she might protest again. But her shoulders sagged and she shook her head sadly.

"You're right. It's my fault we were put in danger in the first place," she murmured. "That you were almost… And I call myself a good mother…"

"It's alright, mom," assured Mike. "I understand why you did it. But now you do know, just please let me have this. I want to stay with them."

She held Mike in a thoughtful look, with a tinge of guilt still present on her face. Mike waited with baited breath.

"I'm still not completely sure about them," she finally said. "But I owe you this much after everything that's happened. If this is what you really want, Mike, I won't stop you."

Mike couldn't contain the grin that spread across his face. He pulled her into a hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Mike…" She returned it gratefully. "I love you."

"I love you too, mom. Thank you," he repeated happily. "I swear, you won't regret this."

"I hope not." She pulled away and pressed her fingers against her head. "This has all been a little much. I need time to process all of this."

"Sounds good to me," agreed his dad. "I suppose that means we'll be off tomorrow?"

She nodded. "I think that's for the best. We all need to time to move past this. I'm sorry, Mike."

"It's okay," he said. He hugged her again and let her kiss his cheek. "It was still nice seeing you, mom."

"You too. Hopefully, the next time will be better," she replied. She looked at his dad. "I'll… let you say goodbye."

"I won't take too long," he promised. He kissed her too before she left out the back door. "You'll have to let Aaron know about that broken lock tomorrow."

"Yeah. Can't have anyone else getting in. Come on, we'll tell them what's happening."

They returned to the synths and gave them a lowdown of the situation. All of them were happy to learn that Mike's mom no longer had problems with him working there. They all looked disappointed when his dad said he would be leaving, but they didn't protest to it.

"It's probably all for the best. She'll need some time to come around." Freddy held out a hand. "Regardless, it was wonderful to see you again, old friend."

"You too, Freddy," said his dad, shaking his hand. He turned to Bonnie. "Be nice to my son, you hear?"

"I am nice. Just in my own way." She punched his arm lightly. "So long, Andy."

"At least we're able to say goodbye this time," said Chica, hugging him. "We'll miss you but we'll take good care of Mike."

"I have no doubt you will." He approached Foxy. "Try not to let this get to you. You've still got a fair way to go before your voyage is over."

"Aye, tha' be true." Foxy shook his hand. "Fair winds to ye, matey. 'Till we meet again."

"Hopefully," said his dad and he looked at Mike. "I'll see if I can't get a couple of things sent over for you, to add a little more fun to your nights."

"I'm looking forward to it," said Mike. He hugged his dad tightly. "Have a safe trip back. It was great seeing you and having you."

"For the most part," he chuckled. "So long, everyone."

He walked to the east hall and lingered for a moment. He turned around with a sad smile, waved one final time and left their sight. The back door closed a few moments later.

"Well, that happened," remarked Bonnie. "So, looks like we're stuck with you Mikey."

"Looks like it," agreed Mike. "I know I'm not as cool as my dad, but I hope that just me is okay for you."

"It'll do," shrugged Bonnie.

"I'm so happy you got everything straightened out, Mike," said Chica sincerely. "And I'm… happy you're n-not leaving."

"I am too. I mean, I wasn't going anywhere before but it feels better knowing my mom is mostly okay with it now," he said.

"It certainly does," nodded Freddy. "Well, after all that, I believe we all need to relax and reflect a little bit."

"Aye. I'll be in me Cove if anyone wants me," announced Foxy.

"He didn't say we need to do it alone," noted Bonnie.

"I know, bu'… I'd rather be righ' now. Got some things ta consider," he said. "Holler when it's openin' time."

Without another word, Foxy walked off to Pirate Cove and shut the curtains. Before he closed them, he looked at Mike.

"It is good yer stayin', lad."

Mike smiled at him before he went out of sight. "Will he be okay?"

"It might be best if we let him have some time to himself," advised Freddy. "We'll check on him before we open up for tomorrow. Come on, let's pull up a few chairs and have ourselves a nice little chat."

Mike felt his smile grow. "I like the sound of that."

Mike was still falling. This looked like the end for him. If the ocean waters didn't claim him, surely one of its hungry inhabitants would. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could grab hold of. All he could do was fall.

Until he felt something stop his fall. Something, or someone, grabbed his hand from one of the portholes on the side of the ship. He jerked to a halt in mid-air while a soft hand gripped his tightly. As they heaved, he hurriedly swung his hand up, grabbed hold of the porthole and pulled himself in at the same time they did.

He looked up at the face of his saviour and was amazed at what he saw.

"Chica?!"

"Mike!" She threw her arms around him a hug. "I knew I glimpsed you outside! You came for me!"

"Um, yes." He nodded to her. "It seems like you didn't need any help with that though."

"It was horrible," she murmured. "They were forcing me to cook their food for them, like I was a common bar maid. But when the attack started, the man keeping taking me back to my cell got distracted, so I took chance and knocked him out."

She gestured to the far end. Mike could see an unconscious man feebly stirring as the ship rocked to and fro.

"I'll bet he didn't see that coming," he remarked. "I'm glad you're safe, Chica."

"I feel that much safer with you here, Mike. A-And the others of course," she added with a faint blush. "Come on, let's get back on deck and get out of this horrid place."

"Right." Mike took her hand and was about to do as she suggested, when an idea struck him. "Chica, run back and join the others on deck. I'll join you later."

"But where are you going?" she asked.

"To the powder storage. I'm going to blow this ship sky high," said Mike with a grin.

"Okay." She kissed his cheek. "For luck. Take care, Mike." She hiked up her dress with one hand, held the sword she'd taken in the other and ran towards the stairs.

Mike let that carry him forward. He met a few brigands on the way, but he was lightning fast with his sword. They couldn't even hope to match his skill.

But when he arrived at the room stacked with gun powder, he found one final obstacle waiting for him. A tall, grizzled man with a large scar on his face that was only made more grotesque by his snarl. A knife hung from his belt and a sword was ready in his hand.

"Sid. So, this is where you're lurking. Not even fighting with the rest of your crew," accused Mike.

"And good thing too." He raised his blade and grinned wickedly. "I get to be the one to run you through, Schmidt."

Mike stood ready. "You wish."

Sid lunged at him, but Mike easily parried the blow. With a snarl, he came at him with heavy strikes but Mike was able to dodge and block every single one. Sid had assumed that Mike would be easy prey and that was his mistake. Mike let him know that by continuing to remain on an effortless defence before going into the offense.

Sid grimaced as Mike swiped away his sword and performed swift thrusts towards his weaker areas. His sword only just managed to keep Mike away, but it didn't last very long. Mike feinted to the left, then slashed right and knocked his sword out of his hand.

"Surrender," he ordered.

"Very well…" He hung his head, but Mike saw his hand flick to his belt. "Ha!"

But Mike quickly caught the knife and got rid of that as well. Now, Sid changed his tone.

"No! Please Mr Schmidt, I beg you!" Sid fell to his knees and clapped his hands together. "Have mercy on this poor man!"

"Scum like you doesn't deserve mercy," Mike growled.

"I swear to you, I am a changed man!" he vowed. "You have helped me see the error of my ways! I'll do anything you say! Anything!"

"Fine," said Mike. "Go jump overboard or something."

"At once!" With that, Sid fled from the room.

Mike hurried to catch him, but by the time he got out, he was just in time to see Sid dive straight out of a nearby porthole. Mike heard a scream and a splash. He looked a while longer, shrugged and went back into the powder room.

He made a long trail of gun powder leading up to the stacks of barrels. He lit the powder using the flint from his pistol and scrambled to the upper deck as quickly as he could. He arrived to see them all valiantly holding their own. His dad was clutching his arm painfully, but he continued to fight enemies as they came.

Mike sought out Foxy and found the captain dancing with two swords in hand. Mike knocked out one of his assailants with a swift punch and knocked another over the head with his pistol. Foxy beamed at the sight of him.

"Mike, me lad! Chica came and told us ya found her! Grand work, me boy!" he praised. "Now, how abou' ye-!"

"No time, captain!" interrupted Mike. "We have to get going! I lit powder leading to the magazine supplies! This whole ship'll be blown sky high and us with it if we don't get going!"

"Shiver me timbers!" cried Foxy. "Why didn't ya say so sooner?" He bellowed in a powerful voice, "RETREAT! BACK TO THE SHIP!"

"At once, captain!" Freddy hauled the man he had overboard and called out as well. "ALL HANDS! RETURN TO THE SHIP!"

"Aw, what?" Bonnie casually fired her pistol and the man from the crow's nest thudded to the deck. "And I was just starting to have fun."

"I think we'd better go, Bon," suggested Chica, whom she was guarding. "Or we'll be cooked along with this ship."

"Oh. Oh!" Bonnie nodded when she realised. "Okay, I'm convinced. Hustle your bustles, people! Party's over!"

Mike rushed to his dad's side as the rest of the crew broke off and hurried back to the Fox. He smiled proudly at his son.

"I knew you'd be the one to save her, Mike," he said. "I'm proud of you, son."

"Thanks, dad," he replied. "But let's save our celebrations for after we get out."

They scrambled across a wood plank just as the Sea Fox was pulling away. Bonnie turned with all her might into the wind, speedily sailing the ship away from its doomed counterpart.

"So, how long before you think the powder blows?" asked Mike aloud.

"I don't think it should be too much-"

BOOM!

A shower of splinters and timber that used to be a ship rocketed into the sky. It rained down into the sea, with what little was left sinking beneath the waves in a burning wreck.

"Ya did it, lad! Ya did it!" cheered Foxy. "At last! The dread pirate Sid is no more!"

"Wow. Mike was the hero of his own dream," remarked Bonnie. "Never saw that coming."

"Belay that!" Foxy roared.

"A very well done, Mike," congratulated Freddy. "We could never have gained this victory were it not for you."

"Thanks, Freddy. My dad helped too," he added.

"Modest as always, son," said his dad, clapping him on the back. "Tonight, we'll be celebrating and I don't see us stopping anytime soon."

"Man overboard!" someone called. "It's the captain of the Backstabber!"

"Sid?" Foxy leaned over the side and spotted him. "There ye are, ya mutinous yella-belly. Haul him up on deck! We'll be the one ta claim him, not the sea!"

As everyone went to haul him on the ship, Mike turned to see Chica. She had an adoring smile on her face while her dress billowed in the breeze.

"You saved me, Mike and you've made sure Sid will be brought to justice. How can I ever repay you?" she asked, stepping closer.

Mike shook his head. "I don't need anything. Just having you back safe is reward enough."

"Then," she whispered, right in front of him now, "this seems like the best way."

Mike felt his stomach begin to flutter, but he closed his eyes and leaned in towards her…

Mike awoke from his dream feeling better after such a good sleep. Then, he realised what part in his dream had almost happened and felt his face grow warm.

"Well," he said, falling back into his pillow, "even dreams aren't perfect, I guess."

Hey, hey! Hold on there! Where do you think you're going? We're not finished here yet.

Mojojoao: If this is a trick question, here's my trick answer: inside the Pirate Cove that resides in all our hearts.

Monkey999Boy: Have no fear, this pairing only exists for this chapter and had been nipped in the bud.

Alexis: Thank you and yes, poor Chica.

candy: That's as plain as I can make it.

Kliff: Yes, you're an odd bunch, I know XD

Balloon: Yeah, I'm not Scott Cawthon. I will debunk theories XD

Edge: In the canon, this is true. In this, she's called G.O.L. without the Freddy part, so I get to choose the gender.

XxD4RKGAMERxX: Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline your suggestion. Bonnie has better things to do than fight with one of her best friends over a guy. I'd rather avoid a 'two girls fight over a guy' plot line. I like to think I try to make female characters in my stories as good as possible. I appreciate the input though and thank you for reading my story. Glad you're enjoying it.

Edge: Your favourite part was how five innocent children were brutally murdered and horribly tormented in death? *backs away slowly* And I'm sure there's lots of things he doesn't tell you.

Emerald2020: This story might end, but I've got plans for the future.

Guest: Well spotted sir.

BLINIX: Well when you put it like that… XD

1OneHuman: Indeed it does.

Be strong, be swift, be just.