Mable: Here's the next chapter! This one is a bit longer than the last few. I kept going past the usual cutoff point and suddenly 4,000 words turned into 6,000. XD Which I'm not too ashamed of. Word count is a pattern that I'm capable of breaking apparently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy today's update!
I am also trying a new formatting as well. Tell me what you think!

Can't Go Home Again

Chapter Thirty-Four

Mike awoke with a foggy head and groggily started to sit upwards in bed. Something was wrong; his chest was tightening up. With a cough, he stumbled to his feet and shuffled down the dark hall and towards the bathroom. While passing Marionette's room he could hear the sound of soft music and knew the puppet was still asleep. This was probably for the best and he stepped into the bathroom. The light flickered as he turned it on and stood in front of the mirror. His own reflection stared back at him with a blank glaze.

It was harder to breathe and Mike coughed a few times before unbuttoning his shirt. As he moved the fabric aside he was suddenly hit with an alarming sight. There was a large line down his chest and stomach. He slowly pulled the skin away, opening his own abdomen and revealing organs and flesh underneath. However, these organs were enwrapped with cold metal wires which slowly slid around, tightening on his insides. He could hear crunching as the wires began to spread, revealing a metal skull staring out from inside.

"Shh… It's okay. We're just sharing."

Mike shot upwards in bed and gasped for breath. The tightness in his chest and throat was so severe that he was almost able to ignore the searing pain in his back from the abrupt movement. He fumbled in the dark, frantically turning the bedside lamp on and waiting to feel the relief of waking set in. It had only been a nightmare. He soon realized that the tightness wasn't leaving and that something was terribly wrong. He couldn't tell if it was his back or if it was something else, maybe the medicine, and scrambled to figure it out.

It was only once he started to shake that he realized exactly what was wrong with him. He yanked open the bedside drawer and frantically searched through it for a bottle.

"Mike?" Mike hadn't even heard Marionette's box opening. The puppet had moved his box into the room to sleep with the human. This was mutually preferred by both parties after such a hectic night beforehand.

"I'm fine, I just- I need my medicine," Mike managed to get out in the most unconvincing sputter of words imaginable. Then he found them, yanking the bottle out and struggling to open them.

Right as he cracked the bottle open, Marionette chimed in, "Will those effect the others?" It was only now that Mike even considered the antibiotics and pain medicine he was on. He couldn't be certain if the medicines would react with each other. With a swear he forced himself to close the bottle and nearly tossed it onto the nightstand, where it promptly rolled and fell off.

He dragged his fingers through his hair, "I'm fine, just- give me a minute. I just need a minute." He tried to ride it out. Now that he knew what it was, knew exactly what was wrong, he knew that it would go away on its own.

Marionette came closer, clearly concerned, and moved in front of the man. "What is it? What's wrong?" He couldn't understand what was happening. Mike was kind of relieved that he couldn't visually assume what it was. Once he got more control on himself, now left weary and shaken, literally, from the experience, he pried his hands from his face. The nightmare wasn't even a thought in his mind anymore; not after waking to something like this. Marionette was so concerned and Mike wanted to assure him that he was fine, but he couldn't.

Instead, he reached forward and took him by the arms, pulling him closer. The animatronic's face betrayed his surprise as Mike held him close, resting his head against his buttons, moving to wrap his arms around him in a desperate hug. Marionette was even more shocked by how needy the entire action was. Mike silently clung to Marionette like a child would cling to a toy; like he would cling to his Golden Freddy plush. Slowly the puppet put an arm around Mike's back and then pet over his hair.

"It's all over, Mike. You're safe," he quietly soothed. He focused on caressing, on reassuring, and an exhale was the only response he received. This was his confirmation that, indeed, Mike direly needed this. Even if this didn't erase whatever physically happened to Mike when he awoke, he still needed this more than ever. That was what Marionette could give to him. For the first time, Marionette knew what it was like every time Mike comforted him. He wondered if it hurt Mike as much to see him in tears as it hurt Marionette to see Mike in shambles.

"Stay with me," Mike suddenly said midway through the comfort. Marionette hesitated, contemplating whether or not to remind him that he was already staying with him, but shrugged it off and focused on the more important task at hand. He answered with a chime of contentment and shift so that he could properly embrace Mike. Then, in a spontaneous moment, he decided to take a cue from his brother.

"And I can't give you back the things you had, but you don't have to do this on your own~…" Marionette quietly began to sing. Unlike the frantic pace from the fight previously, this time the tone was much more gentle. This was no longer a battle cry. It was now a reassurance. "You're not alone.~"

When Mike awoke he could immediately tell that he overslept. He needed to take his pain medicine and the sun coming through the window was obnoxiously bright. He turned over, ignoring all of the bombarding things, and felt around the other side of the bed. Unexpectedly, Marionette was no longer in the bed. Which was slightly a shame as it meant that he would need to get out of bed too. However, a greater embarrassment kicked in as Mike remembered the night before. He groaned and shoved his face into his pillow.

"Maybe I could suffocate myself and end my misery," he mentally considered. This thought was soon shot down. "That'll look great. I survive an attack by that monstrosity and then end up dying face down in bed. I'll look like an idiot… Or like an overdose." He dragged himself out of the bed, casting a brief glance to the pill bottle on the nightstand. It wasn't on the floor anymore, which meant that Marionette had retrieved it. Which meant that most likely he read what it was for as well. He shoved the pill bottle into the back of the drawer once more.

"Please let him just forget about last night," he thought to himself as he stepped into the hall. He had hoped that Marionette would be distracted so that he could slip by undetected. Instead, there the puppet was further down the hallway, winding the grandfather clock in the hall. He immediately looked over towards him.

"Good morning, Mike!" he chimed with an eagerly upbeat tone in his voice. "I made breakfast if you're hungry, or there's always leftover cake. I could turn on the coffee maker if you'd like." Marionette was sounding just a tad too helpful. Mike didn't like the sudden throb of disappointment in himself for letting himself get seen as he had.

"Yeah, that's- That'll be great. I just need to go change my dressing." He pointed towards the bathroom, really using it as an excuse to get a few more minutes to pull himself together. Though he did need to change the bandaging.

Marionette seemed to understand, "If you need any help with that I can help. Let me just go turn the coffee on."

As he started off, Mike called after him, "Don't worry, I got it covered… Literally." He then closed himself off into the bathroom. In the time that it took for him to check the wound and rebandage it, he decided what he was going to do. The wound was looking to be healing alright. There wasn't any blood nor any excessive puffiness, no immediate signs of infection, and the pain was present but didn't feel too overwhelming. All in all, it so far looked like everything was good. This meant he would have to go confront Marionette.

He decided to just be honest with him. It was better than having Marionette assume what he could from the bottle and the fit alone. He had no choice except to trust that the puppet would understand. He headed out into the living room, sitting down as he sorted through the bag of medicine left out on the table. The antibiotic wasn't to be taken until later, which left only the relief of his pain medication. He popped open the bottle and took one out, preparing to try and swallow it dry before Marionette suddenly was at his side with a glass of water.

"Thanks," Mike accepted the assistance. He couldn't tell anymore if it was because of the injury or the fit that he was being so helpful. Marionette then, almost insistently, brought in a piece of pizza on a plate.

"I know you may not be hungry, but you need to eat if you want to get better," he instructed. Mike wasn't entirely surprised that the breakfast he had made was yet another pizza. After all, pizza was clearly what Marionette was created to deal with, being a pizzeria animatronic. Mike didn't turn it away; he was hungrier than he expected and just seeing the pizza reminded him.

Once he was finished, he sat the plate down for a moment, pausing to get his thoughts together, and looked to Marionette who had sat down on the couch beside him. "…So about what happened last night. You're probably wondering what that was," Mike began. Marionette was watching with interest. His face stayed the same, and that alone showed that he was physically trying to cover any reaction. He was more concerned than Mike had originally assumed by his bubbly demeanor.

"I had a panic attack," Mike explained. He got it out in one fell swoop, inhaled, and continued. "This isn't the first time I've had them. I've had a problem with them popping up for a while, but recently I've not been having them as much. I'd say, probably, since my last job at Freddy's I've only had a handful, and all but one's been at night…" It felt odd to admit to this. Especially since bringing up Freddy's meant that most likely Marionette put together that it was the origin of these attacks. Which, as far as Mike knew, it was.

Mike hadn't lied when he said he enjoyed working at Freddy's out of weird sense of thrill. Or that he wasn't afraid of working at Freddy's. Yet there were aftereffects that he hadn't mentioned, which posed a risk to his own honesty, and he quickly tried to get back on track and away from Freddy's. "I don't know if the nightmare caused it or if it caused the nightmare. Maybe it was the pills or something." He moved his pain medicine and dropped it back into the bag. "But I'm okay, alright? This sometimes happens and then it goes away. I'm not nuts or anything."

Marionette didn't answer until Mike looked towards him, coaxing a response. "I never thought you were, Mike. Last night startled me, but I'm just glad that you're okay now." He sounded sincere and Mike couldn't hear any sort of lying in his voice. He couldn't even detect any patronization in what he said.

"I just wanted to catch you up on all of this," Mike excused. He was still feeling more embarrassed than ever. "I could've handled it better."

There was a chime of amusement in response. "You handled her surprisingly well. Maybe this is just compensation?" He let the joke sink in before adding in, "Please, Mike, I'm glad to see that I can help you for a change." He stood and moved back into the kitchen. Mike was about to argue with this fact, but then seemed to realize that Marionette had moved out of the room because he was uncomfortable. Mike hadn't asked, but maybe Marionette was not doing as well as he let on.

"…Did Fritz get those files?" Mike asked, not wanting to but knowing he had to. Marionette hesitated in the kitchen, hovering around but not saying anything.

"…Not yet," Marionette admitted. "I… They're in the file cabinet. I just wanted to keep them close by until you decided what to do." This wasn't entirely true. It was more that, out of reflex, Marionette hid the information. It was just so atrocious, so disturbing; to think that there was animatronics made solely to kidnap and or kill children. To think that the animatronics had one, terrifying consciousness.

The security guard took a moment before making his decision. "Fritz and Jeremy need to know… We probably should've told them before they went down there, but what the hell; better late than never." He stretched out on the couch, letting himself lay limply on the furniture. "They need to know. As much as I hate it, I made a pact to be transparent with everything." Marionette didn't verbally agree or disagree, so Mike insisted further. "If we don't tell them then it could come back and bite us where it hurts."

"I'll take them over to Fritz. I need to visit the warehouse anyway to check on the magician," Marionette replied. He had told him the day before about the magician being the child they were searching for. It was some relief in knowing that even though the entire event was hectic, they did succeed in finding what they were looking for. The magician animatronic was safe and that was something worth celebrating. "But don't expect me to stay too long after I hand this over. The last thing I want is to have to answer questions."

"Which is exactly why I have no problem with you going alone," Mike pointed out. He then smirked a little, "I'll be riding out this injury for a while, so until then I'm not planning on running errands." He could hear Marionette chime in amusement and added in, "It's cute that you think I'm joking." He noticed the striped male heading towards the hallway, looking up as he laid his head on the armrest. "You're not going yet, are you?" It was a casual inquiry. Mike was sure it was still early, that Fritz was probably not there, and didn't want to be stuck at home alone for nothing.

Marionette hesitated in the hallway for a second. Something Mike said had clicked with him and he immediately changed course. "…No, no. I'm just getting the file now, but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Marionette didn't end up leaving until the afternoon. He didn't want to leave Mike alone until he was fully convinced that he was comfortable and stable. Mike was mostly inactive, which was to be expected. It didn't seem to be connected to the issue with the night before at least. When the puppet finally did muster up the will to leave the house it only took him a moment to arrive at the warehouse. Luckily, Fritz was already there, working in the office with the HandUnit laying on his desk. He must have sensed Marionette's presence as he glanced upwards.

He must have still not expected Marionette, as upon seeing him he flinched back in surprise. Marionette wasn't going to pretend that he didn't find it amusing, but said nothing and instead dropped the file onto the desk. "This is what we found down there. Mike insisted that you see it. Personally, I would've rather not seen this," he admitted.

Fritz seemed remotely confused and took the file. "What is it?" the technician inquired as he flipped it open. "…Blueprints? How many animatronics were down there?" Marionette chose not to response; Fritz had unintentionally left him with a question that had a difficult answer. Technically there were numerous animatronics, but they all had a similar consciousness. Marionette decided to simply not answer the question.

"Where is the magician?" Marionette asked in concern.

Fritz gestured back into the warehouse, "I got most of him together last night. Some of its parts need replacements, but I'm going to have to call around about getting them. Might call Glenn or something, did any of the Chipper- What…?" Fritz seemed to apparently notice something that stood out on the blueprints. Marionette took this moment to flee into the warehouse.

It didn't take him too long to find the magician. He was being kept in the area where Foxy had once made his faux Pirate's Cove instead of one of the back rooms. He could also see Jeremy through the shelves, fiddling with some boxes. He approached the magician first and greeted him, "It's good to see you put back together again." The magician clearly waited until Jeremy moved into the office with Fritz before he spoke.

"I almost didn't think you'd come back for me," the magician pointed out. He was casual, as though merely shooting the breeze about pizza recipes. "I could hear something was going on over there. You look okay so I guess she didn't get her way with you." Marionette nodded in agreement. "So yeah, thanks. No hard feelings, right?" Marionette shook her head, smiling honestly. "Last thing I need is you having a grudge. She would've never let you out; I don't even want to know what you did to her… On second thought, yes I do."

Marionette chimed in amusement and prepared to speak when he heard a soft thump. He turned his head curiously towards the shelves to see that a box was knocked over. Suddenly he wondered if this was the alleged haunting that he had yet to see and moved closer. The magician watched, but had fallen silent yet again. There was a soft pattering on the shelves and Marionette could see an empty cardboard box shift. He approached further, floating up to the proper shelf and pulling the box out and searching around.

It didn't take long before Marionette noticed something that pointedly shouldn't have been there. Amongst the leftover items, some of it being sold in the auction, was a white face staring back at him. Immediately Marionette recognized that this wasn't the ghost; this small doll was much more familiar. It vanished behind some stuff, continuing down the shelves, giggling as it went. He held the empty cardboard box and followed along behind it, watching as things were shifted around from its movements. For a few short seconds, it seemingly vanished.

There was no movement, no shifting in front of him, and Marionette was confused to where it had gone. It didn't take too long for him to hear the soft pattering on the floor. Turning back, he could see the source of the noise. There, crossing the floor, was one of the Minireenas. It didn't seem too scared as it would stop every step or so to add in an extra spin, like the little ballerina she was. Marionette didn't give chase, he just tilted his head curiously, teleported to be over her, and dropped the cardboard box overtop of her.

With the Minireena contained, Marionette lowered himself into a kneel and lifted the box a small bit. The Minireena was crouched down in a defense posture, suddenly not eager to laugh and dance. Marionette was more confused than anything else; he didn't feel threatened by the small doll. As he lifted the cardboard box, footsteps suddenly could be heard, and Jeremy ran onto the scene.

"Wait!" he sputtered out in an awkward choke. "Wait, wait, this isn't what you think!" he defended in a frantic display. But Marionette already had a good idea about what he thought and he had feeling that it was close to the mark. He took the box fully off while Jeremy crouched down and scooped up the doll. Marionette noticed immediately how the Minireena clung onto Jeremy's shirt; Jeremy had to stop her from climbing him fully. "She's-Uh- I saw the others- She's not aggressive," Jeremy scrambled to explain, as though the puppet was about to fly into a defensive rage.

Even when fighting the Minireenas, Marionette hadn't felt that worried about them. Though the Minireena began to giggle again as it pawed at him, which wasn't exactly assisting in Jeremy's case.

Fritz heard the commotion and stepped out of the office. He took one look at Jeremy and did a double take at seeing the animatronic. "What- When did that one start moving?... Wait, no, when did you even bring that back from ARI anyway?!"

Jeremy flinched back at Fritz's reaction, "It was the one from the office. She started moving last night…" He looked to Marionette now as though he didn't understand. "Is it a problem?"

"It is now!" Fritz sputtered, lifting the folder of blueprints as to present it to Jeremy. Marionette had the urge to just turn and leave. Any other situation and he would've. "The animatronics in here- For the love of-!"

"It's not the same situation, Sam," Marionette verbally dismissed in a reassuring manner, though unintentionally called Fritz by his alternate name. "These small ballerinas were simply guided by Ballora- 'deter and misdirect'- and I doubt this one alone is much of a threat without her." He shrugged, opening his arms in an accepting gesture. "If Jeremy wants the responsibility to tend to it and to watch over it, then that's his choice. She doesn't threaten us." He then turned and approached the magician, looking over him as the humans continued to speak. The magician was still alert but stayed fully silent.

"Jeremy, I want you to read this file," Fritz insisted, handing it over. "If you're still sure after you see what was going on under Afton's, then be my guest." Jeremy took the folder and glanced at it, not yet opening it. Fritz then approached the puppet and, almost uncomfortably, asked a further question. "Which… Which one of those things was the one that got Mike?"

Marionette wasn't sure why Fritz wanted information that specific. In any case, did it matter? It would if they were going after said animatronic, but Marionette had already done that to a degree. Then again, the answer wasn't exactly what Fritz was looking for either. "The floor got Mike," Marionette replied. His tone wavered between its usual upbeat sound to one a little more somber. It was an amusing reveal, but revealing it happened at all was already a failure on his part. "The building was falling apart and Mike fell through."

"Oh… Alright, he mentioned that before. I just thought he was, you know, sparing my feelings or something." Fritz absentmindedly adjusted his cap. "I just thought that he didn't want to scare us... Or this was a pride thing or something." This line did get a genuine chime out of Marionette.

"Was Foxy down there?" Jeremy inquired, trying to open the folder while still containing the Minireena. She had now climbed onto his shoulder and seemed absolutely determined not to stay still. She giggled again as she avoided his grasp.

"It was," Marionette answered. "It's in the folder as well. It was down there, but it wasn't either of the Foxys I remember… Didn't seem like it would be much fun for kids either." Fritz made a strange coughing noise Marionette clearly noticed and added in, "In every sense of the term." Fritz nodded in agreement, but it looked more like a shuffle than anything else. "I didn't think any of them were in working condition."

"I found her in one of the offices and brought her home. I really just thought I could prop her up and display her somewhere, but last night she started to move around on her own," Jeremy explained. He reached upwards and patted the doll on the back. It shifted from contact. "But she's been friendly. She's- She's a little bit of a handful, but she seems to like me."

By time Jeremy had gotten the file open, Marionette had decided to make his abrupt exit. He looked towards Fritz, "I'll be off. I don't want to leave Mike alone for too long in his state." Fritz agreed and Marionette sent a brief, silent reassurance to the magician. The magician didn't seem bothered; considering his current situation compared to his old one, he was as calm as could be.

"If it's alright, could I stop by later and see him? Just to make sure he's okay. I'm a little worried about him," Jeremy asked, as though he needed permission. "I won't be bringing her. I don't think Mike's going to want to…" He went silent as he stared at something in the file.

"There's my cue to leave!" Marionette chirped, looked to them both, and gave a final, "Thank you both." Then he was abruptly gone.

A few days had passed since Marionette had visited the warehouse. Since then, Jeremy and Fritz had visited on a daily basis. Fritz was still trying to get information out of the HandUnit. By now he had gotten it to come on, but was having trouble accessing the information stored inside. Jeremy, on the other hand, was having a little more trouble with the new addition to his life. Minireena had become even more of a handful with her curiosity and disregard of knocking things about. Though he mentioned that Foxy hadn't disliked her, whenever they had seen Foxy.

Mike hadn't left the house since he returned from the hospital. If this was any other case, Marionette would've been worried, but Mike was acting relatively normal. He was more tired, probably from the medicine, and much less active, probably from the wound. Still, Mike seemed in relatively high enough spirits, and when he wasn't laying there he was interested in what Marionette was doing. Being that he had lost a lot of what he could do, naturally Marionette became his distraction for the immediate moment.

Unfortunately, Marionette had been focused on nothing except cleaning the blood off Mike's jacket since that morning. He had washed it multiple times to no avail, the blood stains still lingering, and Mike had casually mentioned throwing it out and getting a replacement. Next thing he knew, Marionette was scrubbing it in the sink, obsessively determined to get the blood out. Naturally, this amused Mike to no end, and he occasionally made light jabs that Marionette deflected before returning to his task. Marionette simply could not accept failure.

It was around this time that Mike got a phone call. He assumed it would be Fritz or Jeremy, one of them in a frenzy over the 'headaches' that they brought back from ARI. Instead, it was none other than Natalie. "Hey, Mike! It's, uh… Been a while," she began with a strange amount of hesitance. Natalie wasn't the hesitant type. Or at least, wasn't usually the hesitant type around Mike.

"Hey, Stranger," Mike greeted right back. "Where've you been hiding?" He was being playful enough that Natalie eased almost immediately over the phone.

"I've just been working a lot. I'm thinking of switching jobs; ever since you've left everyone decided to act insane. It's like you started some sort of revolution," Natalie pointed out. "So, if you're feeling any better- I know you were just in the hospital- I was wondering if you'd… Like to get a drink or something to eat? My treat." The offer was tempting. Regardless of Mike's injury and how accepting he was of just lying around until he recovered, Mike did like the idea of going out. Especially since he hadn't seen Natalie in so long.

"Sounds good to me. Do you mind driving? I don't trust myself behind the wheel of car yet," Mike asked. Though he left out the fact that he more so didn't feel like driving than he didn't think he could drive.

She agreed to this immediately. "Sure! I'll be over there in a couple of minutes!" Natalie sounded quite happy about the arrangement and the call ended soon afterwards.

"Mari, I'm going out. Try not to scrub your hands off while I'm gone," Mike called over into the kitchen, then went to get himself put together. At first Marionette didn't seem concerned, but in the time that Mike finished getting dressed to leave he suddenly seemed very interested. Mike grabbed his cellphone and keys, the latter even though he wasn't driving. It was then that he noticed Marionette now following him. "At least you're taking a break," Mike added in with a light smirk.

Marionette chimed lightly with an almost distracted air. "For a few seconds. Where are you going?"

"Natalie invited me out. I've got to take the offer for a ride while I still can. Fritz is practically my chauffer," Mike pointed out. "I won't be too long. Maybe an hour at most; depends on how long I want to sit there."

"I would drive you if I could, Mike, and I'm sure I could if I wasn't at risk of being seen," Marionette randomly volunteered. Mike gave a slight scoff-like snicker at this. The puppet pointedly ignored this and continued, "Just make sure you don't overdo it… I don't want you to get out there and get overwhelmed…"

"I'll be fine. I already took my meds and Natalie will drive me back if I get too stiff or anything. If anything, this is a good thing; I'm going to have to eventually get to the point where I can work again if we're going to continue work on the Pizzeria." This had been one of the things weighing in on Mike's mind. While he knew for a fact that Fritz and Jeremy were still working on getting the Pizzeria ready to open, this setback had left him out of work for at least a little while. He wasn't contributing and while it wasn't pressing just yet, the lack of funds and the idleness was soon to haunt him.

Natalie could be heard pulling into the driveway. "There's my ride," Mike announced and started to step out before stopping and looking back. "Don't worry about me. I'll be back before you know it." This seemed to help the puppet a little more as Mike shut the door. He then headed down to Natalie's car and eagerly climbed into the passenger seat. "That was pretty quick."

"I was already on the road when I called, so you saying 'yes' was a lucky break," Natalie replied with a smile. "You're looking great. I thought you were going to still have that 'fresh out of the hospital' look."

"Trust me, I did. This took days to pull off," Mike pointed out. They started to drive off in some random direction. Mike didn't ask where they were going; he just assumed that Natalie knew where they were going.

She then turned to look at him, gesturing into the back. "I got you something." Mike looked into the back seat, trying not to move his back too much. Sitting in the backseat was a little gift basket, fitted with a 'get well soon' card, some packaged items, and a little doctor dressed teddy bear. She beamed only wider as he grabbed it and brought it into his lap.

"You didn't have to get me anything." As much as Mike said this, the fact that he dug into the basket immediately was sign enough that he was happy. "Thanks!"

"No problem. I would've gotten it to you sooner, but… Something came up…" Natalie suddenly lost her smile. She stared at the road, her hands fidgeting on the steering wheel. "…I wanted to see you in the hospital. I was there to see you, when I-… Okay, Mike, time to tell the truth. I've been avoiding you for the last few days." Mike looked surprised by the revelation. To be honest, he hadn't noticed, but that was only because he and Natalie hadn't seen each other as much since he had been fired from his job.

"Any reason why?" Mike inquired. His focus was suddenly off the basket and onto Natalie. She looked more than a little flustered. Something about her was just amiss; he was surprised that he hadn't noticed her behavior beforehand. She had hidden it well, even on the phone.

"…Yeah, Mike, there is." Natalie pulled into the parking lot at a fast food restaurant. She didn't stop to eat there, but only to stop the car and discuss what was going on. "I couldn't talk to you about this on the phone. It's too… It's too important. For the last couple of days, I didn't even know what to do about it. I just- You mean a lot to me, Mike. So, I knew that this was coming…" She fiddled with her keys as Mike leaned back in the seat. "I felt terrible after you were fired. It wasn't fair that you got cut off like that, and then this happened."

She gave a small smile, "And I realized how worried I was when I realized you were in the hospital. Fritz called me and told me. I knew I had to come see you and do something to make up for what happened. So, I bought you a basket," she gestured to the basket. "And I…" She started to trail off. "I… This is really hard to get out."

Seeing how uncomfortable she was getting, Mike nudged further. "Natalie, you can tell me. Nothing you say is going to change our friendship, right?" he gave a small smile. She stared at him for a second as though letting the words sink in. Then she inhaled sharply and confessed.

"I saw Mari."

For a few seconds it didn't sink in. Mike didn't seem to process the words for at least a few minutes. Then they managed to come to him, "…What? Mari?" She couldn't have seen Marionette. Mike knew that there was no way she could've seen him. "What are you… Talking about?"

"I saw Mari at the hospital," Natalie explained. "I was just so stunned I-… I didn't know what to do."

"Wait, no, hold on," Mike interjected. "Are you sure you didn't see Jeremy? He was sitting outside the room for a while." It was all denial; Mike was scrambling to deny the fact that they hadn't been careful enough. That somehow someone stumbled upon Marionette while he was at the hospital.

"I saw him with you," Natalie explained. "At first I was just- I'll be honest, I was horrified. You don't usually walk in on a… On something like that. I didn't even know what he was until I realized that I recognized his voice." She looked to Mike again, "I heard Mari once or twice when you were talking on the phone with him, so I know. I thought that Mari wasn't ever there because, you know, he had another job or was shy, or something…" She got an uneasy smile, "But the truth was that this whole time he wasn't… human."

She did see him. Mike cringed, teeth clenching, as a wave of panic passed by. Friend or not, she had seen Marionette, she had seen everything. He held back whatever swear wanted to slip out and replaced it with an, "…Oh." Silence overtook the car for a few moments, "…Uh… Yeah, I can see why you'd… Be a little shocked from seeing that." He coughed into his fist before grasping the door handle, which gave him something adequate to hold onto. "You've talked yourself out of worse things than this, Mike. Say something."

"Is he an animatronic?" Natalie asked with a quiet and curious tone. As uncomfortable as she had been earlier, Mike only noticed now that Natalie didn't sound necessarily afraid.

"…Yeah, he is," Mike exhaled through the comment. "You remember what I told you about the Pizzeria and the animatronics. It all still stands, just… Happened to leave out the fact that Mari was one of them. I didn't really have a choice." He kept a straight face, but forced out a joke in the form of, "He came with the house." This got a smile out of Natalie, at least. That was something in the right direction at least. "Everything I said about Mari is one hundred percent true. Even the constant cupcake baking. It's weird, but it's all true."

Natalie was clearly listening. When Mike took a moment to hesitate, she spoke in. "It took me a little while to figure it all out, you know? But I knew at the moment that you weren't afraid. I saw you, you clearly weren't scared of him, and then the voice- It all clicked together." She looked down for a moment. "I didn't know how to talk about it. That's basically the reason I called you tonight… And to go out! Of course, to go out too. This wasn't some sort of confrontation or anything."

"No, I'm glad to know. I knew we were risking it in the hospital. Funny, Mari even thought…" He trailed off as he realized when Marionette heard someone outside the door it had been Natalie. Though it could've been anyone. "He just wanted to check in on me. I wasn't doing so well when I went in… I'd give examples, but I can barely remember any of it." He paused a moment and then admitted, "Marionette was the one who saved my life. It's not exactly the first time, but it's the first time I actually thought I was going to die."

"Wow…" Natalie broke in quietly. She was listening intently, so Mike continued.

"I'm not ashamed of what he is, but it's one of those things that has to stay quiet. I want things as comfortable as possible for Mari and me, so we… We don't try to risk him getting seen. I mean, it'll be fine at the Pizzeria, but if he's out and about moving, without any strings or anything, then people are going to get spooked. The only people who know Mari is how he is would be Fritz and Jeremy, and me, and now you." He looked to Natalie with a look of stone cold seriousness, "You didn't tell anyone else?"

"Who would I tell?" Natalie retorted back. She then answered fully, "I didn't tell anybody. I just… I wouldn't have told anyone before I talked to you."

"Thanks. It's important that nobody else gets wrapped up in it. The last thing we need is that sort of annoyance. Am I right?" Mike couldn't help but feel relieved. "Now that you've seen him you might as well meet him. I'd have to run it by him first; he doesn't do well with unexpected visitors," Mike offered. The look that passed Natalie's face was a nervous one, but didn't look entirely reluctant. "Oh, come on. He's not as terrifying as he would seem. Once you get used to the constant smile then it's just like talking with anyone else."

Meanwhile, Mike's eyes went down to the gift basket. Speaking of the puppet, there were a lot of things in this basket that he knew Marionette would love. He still did owe Marionette and this conversation only reminded him of the fact. It wasn't like he could take Marionette anywhere either. Instead he was out with Natalie while Marionette was sitting at home alone. His eyes briefly landed on a small box with the words 'exotic butter' printed on the side. After a moment of considering what exotic butter was, and why exactly it would be in a health basket, a sudden idea came to his mind.

"Hey… Mind if we stop somewhere a little different? There's something I probably need to do…"

Mable: So, a few little tidbits down here. Minireena's introduction was brought to this chapter when it wasn't going to be for a few more. This was mostly because of the Sister Location Custom Night inspiring it to come sooner. Secondly, night panic attacks are a real thing and can be one heck of an experience. Not in a good way either. Anyway, anyhoo; I hope that everyone enjoyed! The next chapter will be posted next Saturday, as per schedule! Thank you for reading. ^-^