"You're abandoning us?!" Roxy whimpered.

Michael rolled his eyes, "No, I am not 'abandoning' you. As I've already explained, I have private business to take care of tomorrow, so I won't be here."

"But…but who will clean food out of my circuits?" Chica asked, pouting to the best of her ability.

"Surely you can make it one night without me," the security guard said, "besides, my manager said that he would have one of the people from the day shift take over. You won't be left all on your own."

"But it won't be the saaaame," Chica moaned.

"I believe that is enough you two," Freddy advised authoritatively, if not kindly, "Michael has a life outside of the restaurant, and we need to respect that."

"Oh, all right," Roxy crossed her arms, stomping off.

"Thank you, Freddy," Michael said with a nod.

"You are welcome, though, dare I ask what it is you are getting up on the outside?"

"I specified private for a reason Fred."

"My apologies."

Michael shook his head, "It's no problem. I mean, you're always so polite I can't imagine not accepting an apology from you." He turned to face Monty, who was sulking off in the corner, "Hey, you gonna be missing me too big fella?"

The gator looked up for a moment, before glancing away, "No! It's not like I care." He was such a terrible liar.

Michael checked his watch, "Well, it's just about my time to get going." He threw on a jacket, "Try not to let things get too out of hand while I'm away." With that, he left out the door, locking it behind.

Freddy turned to Monty, "You know, it would not hurt to show some appreciation for Michael every now and then. He does a lot for us."

Monty rolled his eyes, standing up and wandering over to the arcade, "Ok, I get it, no need to lecture me."

"I have no intention to 'lecture' you Monty, but I do take issue with how hostile you can get at times," Freddy had followed him into the arcade, not bothering to take the hint.

"Would you just get off my back already? As long as I'm not hurting the kids or the staff, who cares?"

"I care Monty," he paused, "We will discuss this another time. The staff will be here shortly." With that the bear walked off. He always wanted to be at his very best, but he knew that not every member of the team brought that same attitude. By design, they were meant to have varying personalities, so Freddy knew he could not expect everyone to come from the same perspective he did. Monty was designed to have a bit of an edge, to draw older kids. Freddy was just the opposite, designed to be more clean cut, personable and polite.

He stopped in front of the stage, staring up at where they would be performing in just a few short hours. On the one hand, he was glad that the group was not homogenous. It was good to have different perspectives in a discussion, as well as reach out to different demographics. Still, that didn't help when it came to minor disagreements. Freddy shook his head. There was no point in fretting about what he could not change. They were programed the way they were, and whether he liked it or not, that was simply the way things were.

He was just about to go check in on Roxanne and Chica, when he heard a thump behind one of the curtains.

"Roxy?" he asked allowed, stepping closer, "Chica, was that you?" He pulled it aside, revealing Gregory. The boy scampered off, running to the back of the stage and stopping upon hitting a dead end.

"Get away from me!"

"Gregory? What are you doing here? Michael instructed you to never come back," he did the best he could to approach the child as gently as possible.

"I said get away!" the boy swatted with his arm, though he knew it would be ineffective.

"Gregory, please calm yourself, I mean you no harm," Freddy knelt down, trying to get on a similar eye level with the child, "Please explain to me what is going on."

The boy looked down, shuffling his feet, "I just… I don't have anywhere else to go… and this place has food."

Freddy placed his hand on Gregory's shoulder. The child winced in fear at the action, but quickly settled, "I want to help you, but such an action is simply beyond my capacity. The day crew will be here shortly. Perhaps it is best if you let them handle this."

"No!" Gregory pulled back, "They'll just send me back to that place!"

"Is it really so much worse than living like this?"

Before the boy could answer, a jostling was heard at the front door. The lock was being undone.

"Oh no! They're here, I need to hide!" Gregory looked around in a panic, "Please, you have to help me!"

"I do not think there is time."

"Please! Anywhere will do!"

The door opened and the manager stepped in, looking over to see Freddy alone on the stage.

"Morning Freddy. How's the face of Fazbear entertainment doing today?"

"Very well sir, and yourself?"

"Just fine I suppose," he slowly wandered down to the main office, disappearing from view.

Once he was sure no one was looking, Freddy opened his stomach hatch. From inside, Gregory stretched out of the cramped space.

"Thanks a ton!" the boy said.

"You must not speak of this to anyone, or I will risk reprogramming," Freddy noted sharply.

"Of course," he was about to get out, when suddenly, another figure appeared out of the corner.

"Quickly, back in," the stomach hatch closed back up just as the other animatronics approached.

"Onstage already Freddy?" Chica asked, "You sure are prompt."

"I do my best," the bear replied, trying not to sound nervous.

"Oh, I hope nothing happens to me while Michael is away," Roxy said, inspecting her nails, "I wouldn't want my fans to see me at anything other than my very best after all."

"Fans this, fans that, are they all you think about?" Monty climbed up on the stage, along with the others.

"It's not all I think about, I just like putting a bit of care into what people think of me. Unlike some people I know."

The gator looked away, his arms folded. As the conversation was happening, two employees entered through the front door.

Freddy did not like this. His window of opportunity to release Gregory had passed now, there were too many people around at this point.

"How much longer am I going to be stuck in here?" the boy asked, almost at a whisper, "it's cramped, and I don't want to get twisted into a meat pretzel."

"Stay calm," Freddy said, trying to be quiet enough so that the others would not hear, "I will find a place to drop you off safely, but you have to trust me." This would be no easy task to say the least. Freddy knew he would have to be careful of every movement he made from there on out. The hatch was intended for birthday cakes and the like, but Gregory was quite a bit bigger. If he was not careful in how he moved, then there was the very real possibility of the child getting crushed or injured inside.

/

Michael stood in front of the bathroom mirror (the only one he owned) trying to decide what looked best. He normally just wore around his purple Freddy's security guard outfit, but something told him that it would not be an appropriate outfit for this occasion. He did have other clothes, but he had so little social life that he hardly had occasion to wear them. This was Uncle Henry though, he wanted to put his best foot forward. Of course, being a corpse, even his best foot was pretty bad. At the same time, he did not want to draw attention to himself. He had an old trench coat, the collar of which could be used to hide his face, but that wasn't quite the friendly vibe he was going for. There was also an old hoodie, that was always good for hiding away. Still, not quite the vibe he wanted to give off. A bit too casual as well.

He continued to dig through what little options he had. There was a white button-down shirt, at least, he was pretty sure it used to be white. No, far too formal. He needed to strike some balance between casual and well dressed. If he was one for fashion, then this would not have been a problem. He shook his head, leaning over the sink and staring into the mirror. Maybe he was overreacting? This wasn't just any random person, this was Henry. Michael remembered him as a quiet man, the background type. His father had always been the more vocal of the two; Henry had a way of fading into the background whenever they were both in the same room.

Still, there were moments Michael could distinctly remember where he came off as kind. Moments where his father had to step out for a moment, and there was no one else to dominate the conversation. He always seemed to say just the right thing, the exact opposite of Michael in that way.

There was one incident in particular, Evan had been in the middle of one of his crying fits. Michael had been the one to scare him. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary for the Afton household. Still, Henry treated the whole thing as if it were the greatest tragedy in the world. He had managed to calm Evan down so effortlessly. When he had finished with the younger brother, he turned to Michael. Michael had expected him to be harsh, like his father, but the only look he got was one of disappointment. There was no anger to be seen, or even annoyance. He was so calm.

Michael ran a hand over his callous, decayed skin. Was this really what he looked like? He was so used to not seeing himself that sometimes he forgot how truly grotesque he was. On rare occasion, there were even moments where he forgot. Fleeting little moments, where he thought of himself as that innocent guy who signed up to work at Circus Baby's. He would never look like that again. He would forever be trapped within this frail mockery of a body for the rest of (what could loosely be called) his life.

In some ways, it made him a bit sympathetic to those souls trapped in the animatronics. At least, he thought it did. He couldn't imagine what it was like existing in those dead metal frames. How much control did they even have of themselves in that state?

Michael slunk away from the sink, walking into his room and taking a seat on the bed. There was no point in getting so worked up over this whole thing. He had a strong feeling that out of everything Henry would react to, his clothes would be fairly low on the list.

/

"Can I get out now?" Gregory did the best he could to readjust himself inside of Freddy's stomach hatch. He had spent far longer than anticipated inside the animatronic, and he was beginning to regret the decision

"Just a moment," Freddy glanced around. He had managed to sneak into the spare parts room, and he wanted to make sure that there was no one who had followed him. Once he was sure he and Gregory were alone, he opened the hatch. The boy inside immediately leapt out, stretching as much as he could.

"Finally! I don't know if my neck will ever recover."

"Gregory, are you injured? If so, I should take you to the nearest adult."

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Gregory paused, looking around at the room he was in. The place was filled with bare endoskeletons and old mascot heads. He felt chills run through his body just looking at the uncanny animatronics. "Um… thanks for your help, Freddy."

"I am glad that I was able to aid you Gregory, but I must express my concern for your safety from here on out. You have no legal guardian, and in circumstances like this, I have been programed to bring you to the Fazbear staff."

"If that's the case… then why didn't you?"

The bear seemed to ponder it for a moment, "I… I suppose it has to do with what is best for your safety. You have stated on multiple occasions how unpleasant the outcome would be for you, and so in the interest of your safety, I decided it would be best to take a step back and… access the situation and consider possible options."

"Gee thanks."

"Gregory, we need to decide what would be best for you. A child needs a sense of stability and safety."

"We?"

"Is there a problem?"

"You… you said we need to make a decision."

"I do not see what is so unusual about the statement."

"Well… it's just that," Gregory winced, "when adults say 'we need to make a decision' they never really mean it. It's just a way of saying that they've already decided what is best for you."

"I see, you think I am being deceptive."

"No, that's not quite it," the boy shook his head, "I… I can't quite place it, but there's something about you… I think I believe you."

"Perhaps it is because I am telling the truth," the animatronic said with a smile.

"Freddy, why can't I just stay here?"

"Gregory, we have already discussed this," he knelt down once again, "Michael has already forbidden you from the premises. To remain here would be a breach of his trust."

"But I have nowhere else to go! Can't you just let me stay here and not tell him? I'll be sneaky, he'll never even know I'm still here!"

"Gregory, please try to understand this from my perspective-"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, "Freddy, you in there?" a woman's voice asked.

"Quick, hide!" Freddy urged. Gregory quickly scampered behind some old crates in the corner just as the door opened, a young woman on the other side.

"There you are," Jessi said, "if you keep wandering around like this then the manager's going to put a leash on you."

"My apologies Jessi, I had not intended to cause worry."

"It's fine, just try and keep track of the time, the next show is in five minutes, c'mon."

"Of course," Freddy paused, glancing back before the door closed. Gregory could still hear their muffled voices on the other side.

"It could have been worse, you know? Vanessa could have been the one who found you. Ever since she was told she would have to take over the night shift tonight, she's been in a real grumpy mood."