Gregory fought to stay awake as Roxanne carried him. Thankfully Chica and Monty were nowhere to be seen, but their handiwork was all over for them to see, from unidentifiable slop next to destroyed trash cans all the way to crumbling doors with broken frames.
Rather then directly go to the niche mini restaurants in the food court like he thought, Roxanne took him to the main kitchen of the PizzaPlex, right where the pizza was made.
"I didn't think I would be back here so soon." He quipped.
"You've been here already? When?" She wasn't able to keep track of where he has been before, it pained to admit that he is so much better at running away then she initially thought.
"Not too long ago, just after midnight. I sacrificed a staff bot to distract Chica. She is a sucker for pizza." Gergory looks at the spot where the poor bot was destroyed, sure enough, bits of crumbs and a pile of metal still remain.
"She did all that …over pizza? I knew she needed a bit of a tweak to regulate her love of eating, but I didn't think it could have been this bad." She walks around the mess to look for any of the other staff bots, only to be met with even more scrap piles around the counters and machinery.
'No mercy when it comes to stuffing her beak I guess.'
"Okay, so the good news is that we are alone right now." She sits on a metal chair, allowing Gregory to sit on her lap comfortably. "The bad news? That also means the staff bots are nothing but a memory."
"What does that mean for us? Or me?"
"I'm going to have to make you something myself, and hopefully it doesn't attract someones attention."
"Who are you- oh, I get it." He glances at the metal pile, then at the door they came through. "So what do we do if she does show her mug?"
"I don't know yet, that entirely depends on how she behaves." She cleans one hand then begins to work on making a pizza, all while carrying him with one arm. She is thankful that everything she needs is already prepared and ready to be used, the only steps left being to actually put them together then cooking it. Gregory could only observe the process as it happens, the anticipation of getting a full meal that isn't from the garbage is so enticing to him.
"Are you all able to cook for yourselves? Like, you could do it if you wanted to?" She is amused by his question.
"Heh, of course we can. Though we never actually cook for anyone since we have so many staff bots to do the more mundane tasks."
"So how did you learn to do it if you never had too?" She looked annoyed for a split second.
"To put it simply, the eggheads were lazy and cut a lot of corners. They recycled a lot of the code from previous animatronics to boost profits." He decided to stop this line of questions because of the obvious disdain in her voice.
The process was almost done, it was a miracle that they went uninterrupted for so long now, but of course their luck would run out now. Roxanne could hear metallic footsteps coming from the distance. She quickly applied the finishing touches then stuffed the pizza into the oven.
"Gregory, I hear someone coming, I don't know where I could hide you!" She was freaking out looking for a spot to hide away the injured kid, but there was nowhere to put him without causing undue suffering. The boy meanwhile is looking alongside her for a place to hold out. His face is constantly being swatted by her long fur, bothering him to some degree, but then he takes a closer look at the amount that she had.
"Wait, I have an idea!" Gregory whispered, "What if I hide myself under your fur? I think I'm small enough to be covered by it." Roxy freezes for a moment to process what he said.
"That…might work. I didn't even think of that. Just…please be gentle with it, I need to look good for the performances later." She holds still to allow the child to carefully and methodically maneuver himself to hang on her back with his arms around her neck. Once he stops moving she faces the door, bracing herself for whatever might appear.
Her fears would be unfounded. When the door opened it was none other then Freddy himself, not the chicken she was fearing.
"Roxanne, you're okay!" He looks around to see if she had his superstar anywhere. "Where is Gregory? And…why do you have blood on you?" The worry in his voice is palpable. She looks down on herself, only just now realizing that she never completely washed up after dressing Gregorys wounds. She is at a loss for words, her mind couldn't form a coherent thought. Thankfully she is saved by Gregory making himself known.
"Freddy, I'm here!" He pokes his head out of Roxannes bushy fur rather adorably.
The bear quickly closes the distance between them.
"Gergory! I was so worried about you! What happened, why are you bandaged up?" Roxanne internally gulped, would he hate her for what she did? She was about to explain, but the boy beat her to it.
"I had…a bit of a nasty accident. But I'm fine, Roxy found me and made me feel better. It was just a bit of a messy process for her, I wasn't exactly holding still." The wolf in question had her jaw drop a bit.
'He…he protected my image, without me even prompting him to. On his own volition. His own free will!"
Her thoughts are interrupted when Freddy places his hands on her shoulder pads.
"I don't know if I could ever thank you enough for being there when I couldn't. I'm so proud of you Roxanne."
"I…Thank you. I needed that." The oven beeps signaling the completion of the baking process. Being nonorganic, she didn't need to use any tools to safely pull out the pizza, but that didn't stop Gregory from cringing at the sight of it. She quickly boxes it up before its aroma can reach too far.
"Does this mean we can go back to the rooms now?" He softly asked.
"Yes, it does." She turns her attention to Freddy, "I don't suppose you want to take Greg back, right?" She actually felt a bit upset at the prospect of giving him up, but she would understand if he said yes.
"Actually Roxanne, I think it is in his best interests that he stays with you." Her golden eyes widen at his unexpected answer, to which he further explains. "The technicians have stunted my power supply because of my…accident earlier. Whether I like it or not, I can't always be there for him, but you don't have that same restriction, you can keep him safe from harm consistently." Roxanne nods in understanding.
'I can try. I won't mess it up this time.'
Now that they were on the same page, they proceeded to exit the kitchen then head back to the rooms. However, Gregory is on edge, he is scared of being seen by either of the undesirable animatronics that are still unaccounted for.
"I smell pizza!" Speak of the devil. Roxanne can feel the child go completely rigid underneath her fur. Freddy however felt joy upon seeing another one of his friends.
"Chica, I didn't expect to see you here." Her eyes are glassy, expressionless.
"Hello Freddy, how is your search going?" Absolutely no change in her face.
"Um…no success as of yet, but not to worry. We will find him before long." Chica became disinterested in him as soon as he finished, turning her attention to the pizza box like it was a shining beacon.
"How kind of you to make me a pizza Roxanne!" She reached out her grubby little hands to snatch the box only to grab air as Roxy moved it away from her.
"This isn't for you, Chica. Now would you please leave me alone?" The chicken grew angry at being denied her favorite food.
"Then who could it possibly be for, huh? Who?" Freddy stepped in between them to try and defuse the situation.
"Now, now, Chica. It doesn't matter who it is or isn't for. Why don't you make one yourself?" She stomps her foot.
"Because all the machinery suddenly disables when I enter any of the kitchens!" She shouts at him.
Roxanne meanwhile has been sneaking away to get to her room without any more distractions, only to get unlucky when Chicas eyes glazed over Freddy and spotted her.
"Hey! Get back here with my pizza!" She starts to sprint towards Roxanne, who started to run herself. Freddy tries to grab hold of the artificial chicken, unfortunately being too slow and missing entirely. Gregory gripped tightly on the wolf to keep himself from slipping off her back, struggling to keep himself from shouting in fear. He found amusement in the fact that Chica didn't stand a chance of catching up to them.
It didn't take long to break line of sight from the hen, soon after making it to the sanctuary that is Roxannes room. The wolf in question made sure her curtains remained closed. She placed the pizza box on her table then allowed a shaking Gregory to slide down onto her sofa. She instantly comforts him.
"It's okay now, you are safe."
"Is she always like that?" He asks in a weak voice.
"Yes actually. However, she seems to have her personality quirk dialed up to eleven. But lets forget about-'' She is interrupted by the glass being pounded on. Gregory holds onto her midsection. Thankfully the curtains obscure the view to both parties.
"I know you're in there Roxy~, be a pal and let me have one to ten slices of that pizza you're keeping~." Roxanne scoffed at her persistence.
"Ignore her, she is just having another episode it seems." She whispered to the child.
"Don't be so greedy with-" Chica squawks in surprise, seemingly in a scuffle.
"I think that is quite enough!" Freddy came to the rescue, and thanks to his bulkier frame he is much stronger then Chica could ever hope to be. They could hear the chicken being dragged away until silence took over once more.
"So that is over, are you still hungry?" He nods enthusiastically as she opens the pizza box.
"Dig in. Nothing here to stop you." So he does, trying to be as neat as possible to respect her space.
Once he finishes the box the lack of sleep starts to catch up to him. He yawns while rubbing his eyes in an effort to stay awake for just a few moments longer.
"We both know that you need to sleep now." He lays down putting his head on her lap.
"Will you be there when I wake up?" She runs her finger through his messy hair in a slow and calming motion.
"You can count on it." He finally allows his eyes to shut.