Chapter ten: Your own words

"So he was here after hours," Freddy said, "because there was no guard to watch him."

"He must've slipped inside sometime after the afternoon guard left," Douglas said. "Before I came in. Or while I was in Mr. Griffiths' office…"

"At least he's gone now."

"Gone or not, he's onto us," Golden sighed.

Douglas ran an embarrassed hand through his hair, looking down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be; you did what you could. I should be sorry for not warning you or Griffiths about him; I was too focused on Mortar and the girls, and you two completely slipped my mind."

"Does he have any more people to interrogate?" mused Freddy.

"He didn't talk to Mr. Griffiths yet," Douglas hesitantly said. "We haven't heard from Zach, either."

"Kyle ain't just goin' to give 'im answers," Foxy said. "Mortar's goin' to keep lookin', but it's goin' to be a dead end for 'im."

"That's the best case scenario," Freddy said. "I'd rather be prepared for the worst."

"I'm wondering why he was here in the first place," Douglas said. "Since his hirer should've called him off…"

All eyes turned to him.

"What do you mean by that?" Chica asked suspiciously.

Only then did Douglas realize his mistake. For a moment, he was at a loss for words. "Er… Mr. Griffiths gave him a call."

"Gave who a call?"

"His hirer."

"I thought we didn't know who…" Freddy stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes narrowed at him. "You went to see Blake!"

Douglas glanced away, not sure how to answer. That was enough of a response for them.

"Are you stupid?"

"We agreed you wouldn't see him!"

"Did he hurt you?"

"What happened?"

"ALRIGHT!" Brunette hollered. "Leave him alone, will you?"

"He visited Blake without any of us to back him up!" Freddy said.

"Good! It's only because of him that Kyle could contact Mortar's hirer."

"Fat lotta good it did," Foxy grumbled.

Douglas looked at her. Was she serious? Her of all people…!

Brunette shook her head. "Whatever. What's done is done; now what?"

"We're not just going to gloss over this!" Chica said, glaring at Douglas.

"For now, we are," Freddy sighed. "Brunette is right; we should think about what to do next—and in order to do that, we have to anticipate what Mortar will do next."

"There's not much more we can do," Douglas said. "We've warned Zach; Bill and Mr. Griffiths backtracked to other places associated with Freddy's to see if there's anything incriminating…" He paused. "He might still stop. Maybe Hector just didn't get to calling him yet."

"We don't know that…" Freddy said slowly. "But if you're right, then maybe it is better to lay low, lest we attract his attention. We'll see what he does." She looked him right in the eye. "And Douglas? I suggest we keep it at just that: seeing."

Shortly after, the meeting ended, and everyone proceeded to leave. Douglas sat down on the stage yet again, sighing. It was becoming a habit if nothing else… He always needed a moment after these meetings. Having so many eyes on him was still nerve-wracking, but the strain of it only really landed after the fact.

His eye found Foxy, still leaning against the wall, eyeing him sharply. Huh. Seemed she had a habit of staying longer too.

"Gotta agree with her," Foxy said. "Ya had no idea what Blake was goin' to do."

"I had to do something," Douglas said quietly.

"Nah, ya didn't."

"You said—!" He stopped himself, clenching a fist. No, he didn't want to step into some confrontation now.

She frowned. She moved away from the wall and towards him. "What?"

"It's nothing," he whispered.

"No, it ain't. Talk."

"No…"

"I ain't goin' to pretend there's nothin' goin' on here. C'mon, spit it out."

Douglas glared up at her, hesitating.

Then, in a quiet, restrained voice, he said, "You were the one who told me to take action."

She frowned. "What? I said nothin' like that!"

"You said what you meant," Douglas said, voice trembling. He rose to his feet, facing her. "I just followed by what other people did, right? I never take action, or decide things myself."

"Idiot! This ain't what I meant! Ya went to see that lunatic just to prove me wrong?!"

"No! Because you were right!"

She looked at him surprised. "… What? What's that mean?"

Douglas sighed, glancing down. "I'm…passive," he said softly, feeling the anger drip away. "I had to take action for once."

"But not like this…"

"I heard you the first time," he snapped before he could stop himself.

She frowned at him.

He glanced away again. "Whatever you think about what I did," he said quietly, "it worked."

"It coulda turned out badly."

"If I'd been prepared to take risks before, maybe I could've protected the protos from Mr. Griffiths."

"The protos are fine now."

"It could've turned out badly," he echoed.

She sighed through her nose, scowling. "It's still different from visitin' a crazed moron."

He looked at her.

With a huff, Foxy turned and strode away.

Douglas glared at her. When she left, he sighed, feeling…unpleasant. Why was everyone so worked up about this? He understood he went against their collective wishes, but he had a good reason for it.

Finally he made his way to his office and checked the cameras. The animatronics had already begun to spread out. Douglas hoped the rest of the night would go smoothly, at least.

His conversation with Mortar still kept playing in his head.