Mable: Long night, rough night, no time to explain. Time for posting! Enjoy!

Can't Go Home Again

Chapter Fifty-Four

There was only one office with a working computer, even after the electricity to the floor was restored. There were countless offices that were mostly empty, coated in a layer of dust, and some even locked. Then there was one that was kept clean. It was one of the bigger offices on the floor and, while not labelled, seemed to be the CEO office. Or, at least, a manager's office of some kind. Marionette unlocked the door and Mike boldly stepped inside to begin the search. He went immediately to the computer and attempted to turn it on.

Someone was coming back to the building. The fact that the computer was new, in perfectly fine condition, and clean of any dust only showed this. The computer wasn't protected with any sort of password either and almost immediately opened onto the main background. It seemed to be a relatively new computer from the computer programs' clarity, though Mike wasn't up to date on recent computer trends, being that he didn't have one of his own. His eyes locked onto a folder in particular that was listed as 'animatronics'.

"I'm going in," Mike forewarned as he clicked on the folder and watched it open. His eyes immediately widened at the lengthy list of files that were abbreviated with only numbers instead of titles. "I immediately regret it."

"I can sympathize. I feel the same way," Marionette playfully remarked as he began to look over a corkboard covered in tiny notes. There didn't seem to be much of interest, but he wasn't paying much attention.

"Let's see…" Mike clicked on the first file and a picture of a blueprint appeared. More specifically, Baby's blueprint, and it was the exact same one as before. The second file was a follow up file that contained information on Baby's creator, location of creation, current location, and trademark information. The third and fourth file were the same, but were instead for Balloon Boy. The fifth and sixth were for Ballora. "I think they're in alphabetical order, so we might be here for a while," Mike forewarned. However, he was unwilling to skip files. The next two were unknown mouse animatronics and followed by the four Funtime animatronics; Foxy, Freddy, Bonnie, who was the Bonnie puppet, and a Chica one that Mike hadn't seen.

Her information sheet revealed why. From what it claimed, Funtime Chica had been dismantled and reused for parts. "He knew where all of the animatronics were," Mike pointed out. "Or, at least, he kept an eye on the ones that he was working with… If he was going to stop using them, it looks like he just took them apart." He then scoffed, "Because that's not extremely suspicious." Marionette was now watching, but was unwilling to come stand beside Mike. He didn't want to be able to immediately see their answer; he would rather see it through Mike's reaction.

There was another mouse, what looked to be the 'Lumberbot' from Chippers, and then a familiar figure popped up on the screen. "Max the Magician. It says he plays card games. That's one hell of a list there- And… Currently out of order," Mike quickly recited before continuing through the list. The Minieenas, more unknown animatronics, and a few Springlock suits that, surprisingly enough, lacked blueprints. Instead, there was the minimal of information on the three, which was mostly limited to 'yellow bear', 'yellow rabbit', and 'brown bear'.

It was only then that Mike finally found the first of the Toy animatronics. Toy Bonnie's blueprints appeared on screen. "Here's Toy Bonnie," Mike called over and Marionette looked towards the man in interest. The blueprints showed Toy Bonnie's full figure, along with his endoskeleton, and was labelled with the same 'ABC' pattern of the Funtime animatronics. "It mentions the facial recognition and the criminal database, instrumental mimicking- whatever that's supposed to be-, and detachable exterior plates. Nothing suspicious."

"And his creator?" Marionette inquired curiously, approaching the desk.

"It's... Henry Johnson, William Afton," Mike recited directly from the file. He gave an awkward cough, "So, both of them."

"Oh no…" Marionette quietly murmured. His default smile was immediately gone and was replaced with the return of worry. "No, it can't be…"

"Don't panic just yet. That could just mean that Henry made them here," Mike tried to defend. "Let's keep going, okay?" He moved on to Toy Chica and, again, found nothing too odd. No, the red flags came with Toy Foxy, which had a very familiar 'quirk' tagged onto its list. "Deter and misdirect… That was on Ballora's, right? Yeah. Damn…" Mike tried to hide his mental war from spreading to his face. Marionette was already staring at him intently; he didn't want him noticing that he was starting to get uneasy. Again, these animatronics were made by both men.

Toy Freddy had the familiar 'grouping coordination' tagged onto him. With every word, the connections were growing, and the hole was getting deeper.

"Did… Did it say how they were dismantled?" Marionette quietly asked.

"No. It just says they were. Remind me to ask about 'concept unification' when we get back to Fritz," Mike replied. Thankfully, he wasn't lying about this. With a small inhale, he clicked to the next file. The Puppet's blueprints were displayed across the screen. "I'm on your blueprints now…" His eyes immediately locked onto the four skills that were labelled on the side of the blueprint and titled with letters. He read them out to the animatronic, "Music synchronization, unsurprisingly. Ticket and prize exchange programming, internal music box, in-… Interchangeable mask?"

"Excuse me?" Marionette asked in just as much confusion.

"That's what it says. Interchangeable mask," Mike clarified as his eyes flicked upwards to study the Puppet's face. "Your mask comes off."

"My mask doesn't come off," Marionette denied in confusion. "You've seen what happens with the smallest crack; how could I take off my face?"

"So, the actual mystery here isn't about who created you… but whether there's a second mask floating around?" Mike was now purposefully playing with the striped being. Marionette pressed his lips tightly together and watched as Mike looked back to the screen, then quirked a brow in interest.

"I hope you aren't looking at my endoskeleton," Marionette quipped as he crossed his arms. "Especially not when we're in the middle of a crisis."

"Just seeing where your strings go- Okay, I'll stop," as the Puppet started to circle the desk, the security guard raised his hands in defense, with smugness still on his face. "But we're looking for that second mask once we're done here. If you're not going to use it, then I'll put it on myself and save myself the trouble of looking for a costume this Halloween." The following wink only made it worse. Marionette only averted his gaze because of how embarrassed he felt having Mike see his inner workings. It was the first time he felt 'naked' in a while.

"Alright, moment of truth…" Mike announced and turned serious again as he clicked to the next file. He stared at the screen for a few moments, blankly staring at the words, and then exhaled. "Henry."

"…What?" Marionette's voice was back to near silence.

"It's just Henry. Not Afton." Mike broke into a smile of relief and tiredly leaned back in the office chair. "That's fifty-fifty in our favor."

"But… That's can't be- That's wonderful!" It was obvious that the Puppet was torn. "No, I can't- it doesn't make sense. The others-!"

"Look for yourself. I doubt the file would lie about this," Mike offered as he scooted back. Marionette moved in front of him and stared at the screen, scanning the information. There it was in back and white; Henry Johnson was listed as his creator. Or, at least, as the creator of his current form. It was both brilliant and utterly unbelievable.

"This is more than I could've ever hoped for, but it seems too good to be true," he admitted as he turned around to face his companion. "Why me? Why am I different in this way?"

"It makes sense," Mike remarked in a much more relaxed manner. "You're the only one on this entire list whose been made of fabric and you're the only Toy animatronic without that facial recognition technology. I don't know why Henry went with this, but as far as I'm concerned this proves that there's nothing shady going on." He leaned forward again to click back to the previous file while the Puppet contemplated this.

"You're right… I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I'm not exactly a normal animatronic and Goldie wouldn't have helped me into a body that- Would you please?!" Only now did Marionette notice his blueprints had popped onto the screen again. He reached out and covered his figure as best as he could.

"Relax, I was just looking for anything I missed. I already saw all I can of your endo," he purposefully added this in to continue playing with the animatronic. There was no reason not to now; everything was confirmed to be fine. While it was a small relief, Afton's lack of imprint on Marionette's current body was a sort of victory. Or, at least, it would make Marionette happy, and when he was happy then so was Mike. "Do you feel better now, knowing that Baby was blowing smoke?" Part of him wondered if Baby meant to rile Marionette too, in a different way.

"I feel great! Henry seemed like a nice man and didn't look to have any reason to hurt any children. That alone makes me glad that he created this body," Marionette explained as he returned to his previous smile. Subtly enough, he flipped to the second page again, taking it off his own endoskeleton. "And yes, maybe Afton did help create my soul, if he is my biological father, but I seem to be slowly moving further and further out of his ties. The sins of the father should not be laid upon the children."

"Even if he made your body, it wouldn't have suddenly changed everything," Mike assured him. "Not between us, not with the business, not with anything. You don't have to fear being connected to William." He pushed off the office chair and laid his hands on the Puppet's shoulders, squeezing into his fabric affectionately. Marionette gave a chime before it quickly changed to the warbling. He eagerly pressed into the human's shoulder and wrapped his arms around his frame. "…But we're still taking the blueprint with us."

Mike couldn't help but smirk as Marionette's warbling immediately changed to slight static. "We need it for the file cabinet, Mari. What happens if you ever need maintenance?" Mike suggested in a somewhat patronizing way; possibly because of his amused smile. "There's a printer right over there. It'll only take a minute and then we'll head back down again," he drew back and went to check the printer. The Puppet was less than impressed with the human's assurance that the blueprints were necessary, but returned to a bubbly demeanor.

Once the printer was on and going, Mike turned back to Marionette. He could only still be amused by his excitement. "So, while that's printing and you're throwing a temper tantrum, we have some unfinished business. Now stand still while I try to take your mask off." Mike's continued teasing at the Puppet's expense didn't shift the emotion. Marionette was just so giddy, so filled with life, and it was almost contagious. Mike reached forwards and cupped the porcelain mask, watching as Marionette almost immediately softened under his touch.

Because as relieved as Marionette was, as confident as he seemed, Mike knew that he needed this little bit of reassurance.

He traced his thumbs along the soft, ruby circles of his cheeks and could feel the Puppet tremble in response. The smile slipped to a smaller one and Marionette closed his eyes, pressing into the human's hold and reaching upwards to grasp his wrists. It was obvious that he enjoyed being touched on his mask. As fragile as it was, Mike knew exactly which points he liked caressed. Every soft chime was a reassurance that he was doing exactly what he needed to do, drowning out his attention on the nearby printer.

And it was intoxicating. This thing, whatever this relationship was, was as addicting as it could be. Here he had more evidence towards Marionette clearly being an animatronic, and yet he wasn't deterred at all. Mike couldn't understand the logic in it; he grew closer because of how human the Puppet was. Even now he reacted with the same life that any human would. Every soft chirp and every squeeze of his hands; so human, but he could now guess every piece of metal inside his fabric.

"Mike~," Marionette chimed in absolute adoration. He turned his face to press further into one of his hands, clinging to the touch. "I love you. I love you." There came the babbling and Mike relished in it. Then decided to silence it by pressing his lips to the porcelain ones. They were cool, as firm as porcelain, but eagerly moved with false softness that was perfect against his own lips. It was so wrong to want this so much.

That being said, Mike had no desire to separate. If anything, he only wanted to continue this as long as they could, ignoring the printer. He took every second with his guilty pleasure and greedily clung to it. Only breaking apart to get air. Marionette hugged closer and allowed the male to get only a breath before his hands tightened. An alarmed chime broke out and Mike only had a second to brace himself.

"Foxy!"

That was Mike's only warning before the sound of footsteps. Before he could respond, Foxy crashed against his back, and he reacted by shoving Marionette back out of the way. He then tried to turn towards Foxy, who was surprisingly strong as he shook the human like a doll. Foxy said nothing but instead made a barrage of growling and shrieking noises. As though he was just too angry to say anything with words. He slammed Mike back onto the desk, his fingers tightening on his collar, and brought back his hook.

Mike couldn't cover the sudden alarm across his face. He grabbed at the gripping arm with one hand and put the other out as though to block the coming hook. Before Foxy could take a swing, Marionette appeared behind him and wrapped his hands around Foxy's wrist.

"Foxy, you're going to kill him!" Marionette blurted out with actual panic. He was capable of putting up a fight with Foxy, but truly had no desire to do so. The last thing he wanted was to fight his brother.

"That's what I'm aiming for!" Foxy snarled. Marionette didn't know if he was bluffing or serious, but wrapped his wires around the fox's arm for extra measure.

"Stop it!" Marionette commanded. "I swear, I'm not above dragging you off of him!"

"Hey, come on, let's just talk about this!" Mike blurted out in his own defense. Normally he wouldn't result to trying to talk his way out of this, especially when he had a clear shot if he took a swing, but the last thing he wanted was to be gored and then have Foxy and Marionette fighting as a result. This could all go very badly very quickly. "I know what you saw wasn't-." He was interrupted by Foxy at this point.

"What did you think, Schmidt?! You'd just lead him out of the room and have your way with him?!" Foxy shook at his collar before pressing him back harder. The human could feel the computer now being shoved into his back. "Taking advantage of a child, you sick, purple wearin' freak!?"

"You're the one acting like a child, Foxy!" Marionette replied as he suddenly slipped in between them and directly blocked the animatronic captain. "Unless you intend to attack me too, you can control yourself!"

Only now did Foxy back off, but then proceeded to stalk back and forth in the office, as though preparing to pounce. Marionette looked back to Mike to make sure he was fine before looking back at Foxy, disappointment on his face. Then came the silence that followed what was probably the worst scenario. Someone had managed to catch them, even when they thought they were completely alone.

Before anyone could say anything, Mike boldly let his hand fall onto Marionette's back. He didn't know whose comfort it was for, but one of them needed it. Unfortunately, Foxy must have noticed it, as he began to question.

"How long has this been going on?" Foxy demanded with a growl. Denial faded as he realized exactly how unlikely it was that the Puppet just let someone use him. Especially now that he was actively guarding him. He might have mindlessly followed Goldie, but Foxy didn't know if Marionette was willing to throw himself in front of him and stubbornly shove them apart.

"Not too long, but long enough," Marionette vaguely responded. His tone grew a bit softer. "Around Valentine's Day."

"You're kidding me…" Foxy shook his head in disbelief. "This can't- What is this? What have you two been-?!" His attention then changed to the printer which finished its task. He reached for the printed blueprints. "What is this?" this time he sounded exasperated.

"We were looking for information on who created my body, Afton or Johnson." Foxy's gaze immediately perked and Marionette forced a smile and raised his hands in a mock joyous pose, "This is sort of a celebration." Regardless, Foxy locked his gaze onto Mike who stared back, and for a few moments they stared each other down with absolute silence.

Then, Foxy turned away, almost stumbling in place. "This can't be real- You can't-," he snapped his head back to Marionette. "Do you realize what's gonna happen if they-," he hesitated and then pointed at something on the floor. A second glance revealed that it was the Handunit. Neither Mike nor Marionette knew why Foxy had brought it here. "If anyone finds out what you two have been doing?! You think you can trust him- Someone that our father trusted!" The animatronic was infuriated by the suggestion. "You don't know him."

"Of course, I do," Marionette bluntly retorted. "I know everything I need to know and more… And now, thanks to that blueprint, he knows more about me than I would want him to know." He was obviously trying to find humor in the situation, but Foxy was relentless.

"And you love him?" Foxy asked in an extremely patronizing way.

"I do," the younger replied.

"And does he love you?" Foxy asked again.

It took the Puppet a moment to answer. Long enough that Mike noticed it and looked to him, while Marionette continued staring for Foxy. Then he answered, "I should only hope so." Foxy didn't pick up how open that answer was to interpretation. "What are you even doing up here, Foxy? You were supposed to be protecting Jeremy and Fritz," Marionette scolded as he turned the tables on his older brother.

"I-… Where's the fake bedroom?" Foxy answered in a question. The Puppet looked surprised by the question. "The one with the closet. The bedroom- I need to see it."

"...Foxy," regardless of the fox's behavior, Marionette's voice held some sympathy. That didn't mean he was fully willing to excuse the outburst from a few moments before, but he couldn't help but sympathize. "You go down to the Funtime Auditorium and take a left into the private room. Follow the hall to the back and you'll find a vent entrance. It's the only way that I know of that leads inside."

Then there was awkward silence. Unwilling to say another word on what he had witnessed, Foxy turned away. "Finish up here and get back downstairs," he randomly commanded and headed out of the office, storming away.

Now Marionette and Mike were left alone. Foxy's abrupt transition from yelling to leaving had left both reeling, but it was obvious that they were both equally disturbed. "He's still mad..." Marionette pointed out, dropping from annoyance to a mix of sorrow and fear, for both him and them. "I never thought he'd take it that badly…"

"He's mad at me, not you," Mike pointed out before making a sudden decision. "I'm going after him. Can you shut the computer down?" He then handed the Puppet the radio as well. "Here, Phone Guy can stay with you. Just don't pretend to be me and start prank calling him."

"I don't- Mike, you shouldn't follow Foxy when he's like this," Marionette pointed out. "I don't think he would've really killed you, but I have no doubt that he wouldn't 'play nice'."

"I'm not afraid of Foxy… Maybe a little wary of his hook, but I'm not afraid of him," he assured as grabbed the printed paper, handed it over, and then snatched the Handunit from the floor. It didn't seem to be damaged, but he didn't want it to get 'accidently' left behind. Fritz was liable to go after him just like Foxy did; men, or a man and a fox, and their toys.

Mike knew he had to hurry after Foxy before he got to the elevator, but he lingered a moment. Marionette's answer to Foxy's final question was still lingering and, after something like that, he felt like he needed to say something. Yet as he looked to the Puppet, he felt his mouth go dry and ran out of appropriate words. Eventually, he realized that there was nothing he could say. Instead, he moved back in and tried a bolder approach to deal with the lack of time. In a quick motion, he pulled the Puppet back in and pressed his lips to his cheek.

"Foxy's the least of our problems, Mari. Let me take a whack at him," Mike comforted.

The Puppet lowly warbled, "Take a literal whack if he starts grabbing on you again. He can take it."

"I'll try, but I don't want to put my hands near his mouth," he remarked with a smirk and drew back. Then he quickly headed out the door and headed back to the elevator. Foxy was standing in the elevator and was blankly staring at the back wall when he heard the security guard approach. He immediately moved to the keypad and began to aggressively pound at the buttons. Thankfully, the elevator was slow, and Mike was inside long before the door came to a shut. The moment they were closed, Foxy turned on him.

"I don't know what's more of an insult: you following me or you bringing that with you," Foxy snapped with an obvious glare. "What do you want, Schmidt?" Before Mike could even begin, Foxy added in another question. "And where is Marion? Why isn't he with you?"

"He's shutting off the computer and pulling himself together…" Mike tried to keep from losing his patience at Foxy's behavior. "We've got a few minutes. Let's talk about this." As the animatronic started to turn away, shutting him out, Mike finally allowed himself to snap, "I know you're upset about catching us, but you acting like this is only hurting Mari, not me. Frankly, I don't care what you think, Foxy." His gaze narrowed further as past anger began to resurface. "You keep acting like he can't trust me, but as far as I'm concerned, I can't trust you."

"What does that mean?" Foxy asked with a dangerously low tone. Mike took the risk and didn't back down.

"What is it; overprotection or overcompensation?" Mike demanded right back. "Such a good older brother, watching over Marionette. Shame that you weren't doing it before."

And then there was silence. Mike expected a big fight to originate out of this, planned on getting clocked, but Foxy went completely inactive. It took a moment after that, but Mike then wondered if he had gone too far. He hadn't meant to let that get out, but it had. Just like Foxy, he had let his emotions and overprotectiveness get the best of him. Now Foxy stood there staring blankly at the wall, as though dumbstruck. Not that Mike could find any words either. The elephant in the room was standing between them and it was starting to suffocate them.

"Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career."

"Just kill me now," Mike muttered under his breath as the Handunit began to babble onward. It didn't help ease any of the tension and now ruined the slim opportunity he had to restart the 'talk' with Foxy.

Eventually, the Handunit came to a specific request. "Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful." Of course, there wasn't any name printed above the keypad. After giving a shrug to himself, Mike started to tap at the screen, trying to type in his own name. It wasn't like anyone other than Fritz was going to have the information anyway. Unfortunately, the keypad was as buggy as usual, and eventually the Handunit intervened.

"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment."

"Oh, I'm going to love hearing this," Mike muttered as he stared at the screen, daring the Handunit to continue without saying a word.

"Welcome: Mike."

"…It got my name right," Mike murmured in continuation. It was surprising and soon led into a sort of sinking feeling in his gut. He could've only gotten the beginning in right; it shouldn't have been able to guess his name. "…Unless it wasn't me?"

"Michael Afton," Foxy drew out, suddenly announcing his presence. Mike hadn't been speaking to him when he was making small talk with himself, but Foxy had obviously been listening.

"You… Know about him," Mike half remarked and partially accused. "Phone Guy mentioned him."

"Aye, course I know 'em," Foxy remarked as he slipped back into character. "He was our brother. Older brother, older than me by a few years."

"Does Mari not remember him either, because he's never mentioned him?" Mike pointed out as he fully looked to Foxy. "He doesn't even have a bedroom at the house."

"Him and Dad weren't gettin' along. Don't know if he was disowned or just set sails on his own," Foxy admitted as he kept his gaze on the elevator's doors. It seemed like this was the end of it and Mike considered further questions. Though he didn't want to give Foxy the idea that he just forgot what happened a few minutes previously. That was, until a cold hand was suddenly on his shoulder. "In fact… Ya sorta look like 'em…" Foxy's voice had a different tone; threatening, but not in a direct way. He slowly turned the security guard to face him.

He stared Mike in the eyes as the young man watched back, looking out for if the animatronic was about to attack. This wasn't aggressive Foxy; this was 'about to mistake him for someone else' Foxy. That could be even more dangerous. Right as he started to consider pulling away, Foxy released his shoulder and took a step back.

"…But not enough," Foxy revealed as he looked to the front again. "Too many little differences. You ain't him." The elevator came to a stop and the Handunit continued to prattle on, though so did Foxy.

"We're gonna act like nothing happened up there. Mari, me, you; they don't need to know. I won't be the one to tell 'em, but you need to keep an eye out, cause they'll see it themselves," Foxy forewarned the security guard. Then he added in with a rather firm, "And I won't stand in between you and Marion, but if you hurt him… I'm an Afton. We make people disappear." With that warning, he pressed the button and stepped out of the elevator. Mike silently acknowledged this threat and followed.

Marionette had arrived in the Control Module before either of the others had and was waiting as they entered inside. He couldn't help but be relieved to see both in fine condition. "Welcome back," the Puppet volunteered to them. "How was the ride?"

"Nothin' special," Foxy excused before looking to Jeremy who was sitting between Fritz and the wall, coddling the two, kicking, fussing Minireenas. "To yer feet, Lad! We be shoving off!"

"We're going home?" Jeremy guessed and this got a chuckle, clearly forced, out of the animatronic.

"Nah, we're going back to lookin'! Come along," Foxy beckoned as he headed back towards the Auditorium vent and crouched down. It was then that he could feel a familiar, fabric hand on his shoulder. Marionette didn't say anything to the fox animatronic and simply showed his concern through the gesture. Foxy reached up and patted his hand with reassurance, all while staying silent as well.

Jeremy gave a tired groan as he set the dolls aside and stood. However, he didn't protest and followed Foxy, silently climbing into the vent with him. It was as though he knew there was no chance of protest and that it was best to just follow along.

With Foxy gone, Marionette turned to Mike. "I need to speak to Baby again, if you will accompany me to the Circus Module."

"I think I can handle that," Mike replied as he handed over the Handunit to Fritz. "What about you? Want to tag along?"

"I think I'm going to just wait here and watch the Minireenas," Fritz admitted as he set the Handunit down and covered it up again. "And try my best not to get tetanus."

"Don't count on," Mike smirked as he followed Marionette towards the vent entrance. He could still remember all the boosters they gave him at the hospital, after his blood count had been raised enough. Then he followed his own animatronic to the vent. "Keep an eye out for moving wires!"

It didn't take Foxy and Jeremy long to return to the private room. By now, the vent had somehow opened back up, and Jeremy sent it a wary look as the captain led him past to the hallway. They crossed down the corridors in the direction that the Puppet had sent them.

"So… What exactly was this place used for?" Jeremy asked quietly. He almost didn't want to know the answer and kept a close eye out as Foxy approached an open vent. "Was this to… Watch something?"

"Probably not. Looks like some sort o' testing room," Foxy dismissed as he climbed into the vent and started to crawl. "Stay close. We don't want you gettin' drug off." This seemed to work too well as Jeremy practically threw himself into the vent and was nearly on the animatronic's back as they left the other side. What they stepped into was something much different than one would expect; as though the vent didn't just take them into another room, but took them into a completely different building.

It almost looked like a normal house. Almost, but the smell of rot and the obvious fact that they were still underground challenged this. It wasn't much of a house either. The front room had some furniture, carpet, a few fake windows, a grandfather clock, and a door that led somewhere else. This room also attached to two hallways, and Foxy naturally started down one.

"It's this way," Foxy assured as he led Jeremy further. The human continued to shine his light around, looking at the confusing location. The hallway was dolled to look normal; with a table with a lamp and various pictures dotting the wall, yet this only made everything seem uncanny. He couldn't imagine why anyone, even William Afton, would take so much time to build a fake home. Before he could dwell on it, Foxy pushed open a door and stepped into what looked to be a bedroom.

"This is it…" Foxy quietly admitted as he looked around the room. His eyes scanned every detail and recognized it all. The bed, the closet, the toys; everything was the same. "Here we are, Lad! We found it!"

"We found what?" Jeremy timidly asked, again not certain if he wanted the answer.

"Remember the story I told ya, Laddie? This be the room!" Foxy revealed with a wide gesture of his left arm. "This were Captain Foxy spent the last of his days!" Jeremy reaction was an instant choking noise, followed by a quick 'what?!'. "It be so, Mr. Fitzgerald, but don't let it get to ya. Trust me, it ain't as bad as it looks!" It was almost out of reflex that Foxy was defending the scenario. As though he had to calm down Jeremy and convince him that everything was under control. "'Specially when ya don't know yer underground. You turn on the ambiance and swear yer hearing crickets!"

"Foxy, this…" Jeremy's breathing was a little quicker. "This is just- I can't…" He was starting to hyperventilate as the claustrophobic room's past reared its ugly head. "Why would you bring me here?" He was having trouble keeping his voice even and could only watch as Foxy's face seemed to fall. Everything seemed to subtly lose its forced bravado.

"Just returnin' the favor, Jer'my. You showed me yer scars, so I'm showing ya mine," Foxy quietly explained his reasoning. "If we're walkin' the plank, it's worth us goin' all the way into the water."

"What?" Jeremy was now completely confused to what he meant. Though he recovered well enough. "You… Foxy, you didn't have to do this. I can't- I can't imagine-."

"Can't imagin' how it felt showin' me yer bite?" Foxy guessed. "When it was one of my crew who bit ya?" This caused Jeremy to immediately clam up. "If this salty fox couldn't take it, he wouldn't have brought ya here." Yet as Foxy said this, he felt the looming shadows over his shoulders and stretching around his neck. He felt unsafe, like he was being watched. As though his father was still watching him from the cameras.

He had been so ready to show Jeremy this. Then he had seen the truth about what was happening between Mike and Marionette. Then he realized that his worst fears, that his suspicion that they were too close, were completely true. Then Mike just happened to remind him of that. He couldn't escape that. He couldn't escape this. He hoped that Jeremy didn't notice how much he was twitching.

The human didn't, though. Instead, he came closer, and hesitantly reached forwards. "I-If you're sure… Still, I mean, yeah…" Jeremy had lost himself to uncomfortable jabbering. He reached out and touched his arm in an almost hesitant fashion. As though he feared making it worse. "It's… You're so strong, Foxy. You're so much stronger than I am."

"Ah, don't get all soft on me." Foxy started to slowly pull himself together. "It ain't nothing to get soft over." He couldn't get it. Jeremy was such a good 'lad'. Why was Marionette cuddling up with Mike when he could be with someone like Jeremy? Foxy could only be so lucky. "It needed being done. I needed to face this room." With that, Foxy moved to sit down on the floor in front of the bed, just as he had when he stayed here before. "Hand me yer light." Jeremy didn't even ask and handed over the flashlight.

It was so surreal to be here again. Foxy didn't expect to ever be in this room again, shining a flashlight back and forth between the doors and expecting something to leap out… And yet it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was the feeling of not being alone- Jeremy took the liberty of sitting on the bed beside him. Maybe it was just knowing that William Afton was dead… If he was truly dead. Whatever it was, Foxy could handle it.

Foxy had seen his younger brother in the arms of a former security guard; he could handle anything.

The blaring of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' roused him from his brief respite. In a panic he fumbled around, briefly forgetting why he was in his car and trying to figure out where it was coming from. He turned on his ignition and flipped on every light in the car, yet the music continued. Though it was only while he was digging into his glovebox when he realized that the music was coming from the passenger seat. More specifically, from the radio that was sitting on the seat.

With shaking hands, he grabbed the radio and scrambled with it. "H-Hello?! What is this?! Mike?! What's going on?!" Almost immediately, the music stopped, and chiming replaced it. Still panicked, he dug into the back of the radio and yanked out the batteries, silencing the chiming. The chiming which had begun to sound less like music and more like laughter.

He had a feeling that he should've stayed home, and that the Puppet was laughing at his expense.

Mable: Sorry about the lateness in this chapter. There's no excuse, but shocked even me. The next chapter will be posted next Saturday, hopefully earlier. I hope you enjoyed!