Chapter six: No way back

On the cameras, Douglas watched Griffiths leave. He put the tablet down, not wanting to violate the girls' privacy.

He left the office soon after and wandered through the halls. It was eerily quiet. He guessed the girls were on the other side of the building or something. That wasn't unusual. There were eight of them, but still it was easy to assume this place was abandoned.

A hand landed on his shoulder.

He yelped and jumped back. The figure behind him was a woman—one with brown hair and—

Brown hair. Of course.

Douglas sighed. "Brunette!" he cried exasperated. "You scared the crap out of me."

Brunette—the only animatronic who actually looked like a human—chuckled darkly. "I noticed that. A little trick I learned from Chica and Foxy."

He glared at her.

"Don't be mad," Brunette said. "I thought you'd be used to this by now."

"And that makes it better?"

She grinned. "Alright, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"I don't believe that for a second, but thanks anyway." He paused. "What else did Chica and Foxy teach you?"

"I'm not telling you."

Of course she wasn't.

"Hey, do you know where the others are?" asked Douglas. "We just learned some more about the Mortar thing."

"I thought we didn't have to worry about that?"

"It's always good to stay on guard."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "… I don't know where everybody is, but I'm guessing Golden does. Or if not, she can find out. Come on, let's go look for her."

"Uh…why don't you go to the main party room? I'll meet you there with the others in a little bit."

She visibly deflated. "Okay. I'll see you then."

Douglas paused for a moment. He hadn't meant for her to take it so personally. He just thought…

She was grinning.

He sighed. "… Funny."

"Hey, I gotta keep you on your toes somehow. You're actually starting to get used to our usual pranks."

He glared at her.

"See you in a bit," she grinned, turning and walking away. Douglas shook his head as he watched her go. This woman… Yeah, she fit right in with the likes of Chica.

He made his way to Parts and Service. He made sure to knock first to avoid any awkward anime scenarios and only entered when Golden and Spring called out.

"Morning," he greeted.

"Hey, Douglas!" said Spring, standing from her chair. "How've you been?"

"He's obviously been terrible," Golden interjected. "He said 'morning' when it's 11:57 p.m.."

"Nice to see you guys too," Douglas said dryly, accepting a hug from Spring. "I actually wanted to have a meeting with everyone, though."

Golden huffed. "And you need me to get them? Of course. Never a social call with you."

"We talked the other day, didn't we?"

"That was one whole night ago."

Douglas sighed. "Brunette already guilt-tripped me just now. And I'm sorry to say this, but she did it way better than you."

Golden gasped and put a hand to her chest. "You dare!"

Spring chuckled. "What's the meeting about?" she asked.

That one question already dropped the mood down.

Soon enough, they were all in the main party room. Everyone had settled somewhere. The two golden girls were sitting with Brunette and Mari in the back, while Chica, Freddy and Bonnie were situated more to the front, closer to the stage where Douglas stood. Foxy was standing, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed; in the chair nearest her sat Mangle.

Douglas looked over the group, trying to ignore the stone in his stomach. He'd grown less and less embarrassed around them, even when he was the center of attention, but he still wasn't fully comfortable with situations like this.

He took a deep breath. "Okay," he said, silencing the conversations and drawing all eyes his way, which in turn prompted him to cast his gaze down and to the side. "Uh, with how things are going lately, I thought it was a good idea to meet up whenever we get more news about Mortar."

"The PI?" Chica asked, lounging in her chair.

He managed to meet their gazes. "Yeah, him."

"Alright. What's up?"

"Well, firstly, Zach might get questioned sometime soon; we already warned him. Secondly…" Douglas hesitated. He might as well get straight to the point. "Mr. Griffiths talked to me earlier tonight…"

"He stay up late again?"

"…and he told me he got a call from Maxwell."

That caught everyone's attention in full. Foxy frowned. "Maxwell? Blake Maxwell? That punk from your school that attacked ya?"

"Yeah," affirmed Douglas. "He called Mr. Griffiths just after Mortar questioned him."

"Blake called Kyle?" Bonnie asked. "Why?"

Douglas glanced away. "Well… Blake seems to think we're watching him. Now he wants us to stop watching him in return for his help."

Freddy raised an eyebrow. "He thinks we're watching him…"

Douglas nodded. "And that we'll do something to him if he 'steps out of line.'"

"Did Kyle refute that?"

"No, but…I mean…he didn't confirm it either."

Freddy shook her head. "That's not right. If we don't tell him the truth, we'll just prove his point."

"Relax, Fred," Chica said. "He'll be fine. I mean, not that we should care…"

"Anyway," Douglas cut in before Bonnie could propose her counterargument and initiate an hour-long debate. "Maxwell says he knows who hired Mortar."

A silence fell.

"But," he continued, "he won't talk until he's got proof that we'll fulfill our end of the bargain. And…he wants to see me personally."

Foxy huffed. "Hmph. Just have Kyle say we'll pay 'im a visit if he don't talk."

"I think that's a bit much," Bonnie said softly.

"We'll think of a way to make him talk that doesn't involve threats," Freddy said.

Douglas looked at them all quietly. "Um…guys?"

They all looked at him for a moment.

Douglas hesitated on how to say what he wanted to say, but before he could think of something, Chica groaned. "No, no. You're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"It's the only way to find out what he knows. He made it clear he wants to talk to me and me alone."

"Yeah, why do you think that is?" Chica insisted sharply.

"I have to agree with that," Bonnie softly said. "Douglas, are you really going to meet with him? We can do this without his help, can't we?"

Foxy grunted. "I'll bet he's in cahoots with the detective. He's just lurin' ya to 'im."

"We all remember what he did," Chica added.

"I don't," Brunette said, "but I heard."

"And?"

"And," Brunette continued, "while you guys were having your little argument, I came up with a better idea."

"We came up with a better idea," corrected Golden, who was sitting with her feet on the table, hands behind her head.

"Let's hear it," Foxy said.

Brunette smirked. "Well, obviously Douglas needs a bodyguard to back him up."

"We'd all stand out like a sore thumb, outside," Chica said.

"You might." Brunette tapped her chest. "But I won't. At least not as much."

"One of us, outside?" Freddy sighed. "That's too risky."

"You've done it before," Brunette said.

"That was only just outside the door. And because we had an emergency on our hands."

Douglas nodded, mostly to himself. Technically, them saving him from Blake's attack outside was a breach of the rules. He wasn't complaining at the time, but this was different. Was it really a good idea to let an animatronic go that far from the restaurant? Brunette looked human, but still…

"Golden, can't you just…use your powers to communicate with him from a distance or something?" Bonnie asked.

"I could…" Golden looked to Douglas.

"Too extreme," Douglas said. "No illusions; Blake is paranoid enough already."

"What if I just visits him in his dreams? Maybe…nudge him in the right direction?"

"He'd ignore it," Douglas said. "Mr. Griffiths did, when you tried to convince him not to destroy the protos. By the time Blake starts listening, Mortar might've already caused irreversible damage."

A brief silence fell. Douglas felt a little guilty at just mentioning that without thinking; Golden had lamented how her newfound illusion power might've convinced Griffiths earlier, had she learned it before the incident with the protos.

Golden didn't seem too fazed by his comment though. "Then what do we do?"

"I still think I should go with Douglas," Brunette said.

"Then I guess we'll have a vote?" Golden proposed.

Douglas opened his mouth to protest. I'm going to meet with him no matter what, he wanted to say, but nothing came out. He didn't dare make a commitment like that. Not when dealing with someone like Blake.

"All in favor of Douglas and Brunette meeting with Blake." She raised her hand. Brunette followed suit, and Mari did the same. Spring seemed to hesitate for a moment, but she didn't move.

Neither did anyone else.

"Nope," Foxy said. "Yer outvoted."

"Oh yeah?" Brunette challenged. "Then let's hear your idea."

"Enough," Freddy said. "Golden will try her dream-invasion strategy; we'll keep Mortar at arm's length until Maxwell gives in. Now, unless there are other announcements, this meeting is over."

Before long, everyone was leaving the room.

Douglas sat down on the stage, sighing. That didn't go according to plan, but part of him was relieved that the meeting was over and done with, at least.

"Still don't like bein' the center of attention, eh?"

He looked up at Foxy, who had approached. She sat down on the stage beside him with her usual smirk, her black leather jacket crackling softly as she moved. She looked around the now-empty room.

"Y'understand, right?" she finally said. "Why we're not lettin' ya meet with 'im?"

"Sure."

From the corner of his eye, he saw her looking at him skeptically. "Wow. Ya do suck at hidin' what ya really think."

He frowned at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just kiddin', I'm kiddin'." She glanced back at the room.

Douglas kept his gaze on her intently.

Finally Foxy sighed and turned back to him. "Don't suppose yer gonna let that one go…"

He didn't respond.

She sighed again. This time it sounded more derisive. "Ya don't think I notice how everyone 'ere's been lookin' at me?"

"What are you talking about…?"

"Huh. Where ta start? Freddy's been even more polite than usual lately. Chica's jokes take the backburner when I'm 'round. You, Bon and Mangle…" She glared at him. "…are way, way too careful with yer words."

Douglas inched back under her angered gaze. "What do you…"

"Ya know bloody well what I mean," she snapped. "This whole shtick started as soon as that thing with the protos got wrapped up. I don't need any o' you handlin' me with cotton gloves just 'cause o' what we learned! It ain't helpin'."

Douglas said nothing.

"What?" Foxy grumbled. "Ya ain't denyin' it."

He found his voice. "I…just thought… I wasn't sure how…"

"'Course ya weren't." She stood up. "Yer just lookin' how others do it and follow from there."

She started away. Douglas stared at her. He considered calling out to her, demanding that she return, but what was he going to say?

She brusquely left without sparing him another glance, leaving the room completely empty.

Douglas sat in silence for what felt like hours, resting his arms on his knees. His head felt…weirdly scrambled.

Foxy… He'd only ever seen her really angry once: when Blake attacked him. When she and the others came to his aid.

They protected the person whose job it was to keep them safe. They even did that now, telling him to stay away from the only person who could help them—risking their own safety and secrets in favor of him.

His mind wandered further, and for some reason he remembered the jealousy he felt when Zach—social, charismatic Zach—charmed the girls in his usual way…for one day. One day. And later, it had been Brunette who told him to be his own man, to ignore his father's judgements.

All Douglas had ever really done was place the protos in danger…by telling Griffiths about them.

With memories running through his head, one thing became apparent. One thought that made him wince, but, oddly, provided some strange sense of comfort too.

Foxy was completely right.