Author's Note: Hey look! An update! :) Don't worry guys. We're going through a bit of hiatus with everything but we'll get Sister Location moving as soon as possible. Until then, enjoy.

What if...Ruby was Being Rhetorical

Part 10

Timmy

Ruby watched from the couch as Goldy and Puppet continued to have their minor breakdowns. Spring was great at keeping them mostly grounded though.

Timmy had planted himself on the teenager's lap and she knew it was because he could sense how out of sorts she was. It was both annoying and endearing but she did curl an arm around the kid.

"I honestly didn't mean to break Puppet," he was telling him.

"I know. You just suck at being nice about delivering bad news."

"...fair," Timmy admitted. "So... did you punch Michael?"

Ruby shrugged, disappointed. "No. But Spring squished his arm."

Timmy pulled a face. "Ewww."

"Total mincemeat."

"Ruby."

"Like cherry red jello with pineapple bone chunks."

"Ugh. Stop," Timmy groaned, elbowing her in the stomach while both grossed out and oddly amused by her choice of words.

Ruby hummed. "He's probably going to lose that arm," she commented.

Timmy sobered a bit and considered his next words. "He's lucky. Spring really didn't want to kill him," he explained. "He probably had to concentrate really hard to set off just his arm. It would have been way easier to just release all of the springlocks at once." He glanced across the room at the bots. It was bittersweet. They changed so much over the years. He wasn't hurt that Goldy hadn't hugged him yet or spoken to him. He knew she wasn't angry, just too shocked and overwhelmed to really process his presence. She had only had five years to grieve so far and attempt to work through the trauma of how he died. Five, not twenty.

Even after twenty years, she'd still struggled to process everything.

Ruby hummed, poking Timmy in the side and getting a surprised yelp when he squirmed at the tickle.

"How're you holding up kiddo?" She asked softly. She glanced at the others. "Didn't expect the building to drag you into this."

"I'm not the one needing to face a very insistent father," Timmy said pointedly and Ruby looked away. She knew he was deflecting but it still got her.

"He's stubborn," she muttered.

"You had to get it from somewhere," he said dryly.

Ruby flicked his ear. "I'm a terrible influence on you."

She glanced at the others, then back at him. "Where's the other you?" she asked. She frowned. "And how weird is it talking to yourself?"

And how did the other Timmy take all of this?

Timmy paused, then shrugged. "I'm not super good at ghost stuff at this point," Timmy said, frowning at the confusing way they had to talk about this. "I think he...I will be okay. I made a paradox, though. Showed him how to turn a TV on. There's one in Un-... " Timmy tripped on his words. "In…Steve's office."

Ruby gave the kid a sympathetic squeeze. "So you're here to make sure I don't lose my mind on someone?"

Timmy's frown deepened. "I was really hoping that you were going to punch her." He squinted in the vague direction of the Manager's office where the woman was currently huddled away in terror.

Ruby snorted and barked out a laugh at that. It caught the attention of the bots since they hadn't heard her laugh or even seen her smile much. She seemed softer with Timmy though.

Also, with their attention on her, how was she actually touching a ghost? Was that normal?

Goldy looked jealous. Just a little. And guilty about it. But she was too scared to say anything to Timmy. They thought they would never see him again. She would never see him again.

She wasn't so sure she deserved to.

Spring hugged her awkwardly with one arm as he hummed a silly tune, knowing she was fighting some spiralling thoughts.

Puppet felt awful. Physically and emotionally. He had never just…shut off like he had. He fucking fainted?! And now Spring was the one comforting them when the rabbit was the one who needed to be taken care of! He was still covered in blood, damn it!

It upset Puppet but he couldn't do much except glare at Spring as the younger bot casually checked over Puppet's gears and cabling to make sure that fall hadn't severely hurt him. His head was killing him and everything felt stiff. Puppet was very careful not to look at Timmy for too long.

His death had been the hardest on Goldy, but they all suffered. They all missed him so much...

After a few more minutes, Ruby suddenly stood up, hauling the ghost up with her.

"Okay, I can't Timmy. I'm feeling Goldy slipping through my walls and I can barely deal with my own emotions."

"Cuddle pile?" Timmy asked, sounding amused.

"Shut up," she muttered.

Before the bots could really process, Ruby dropped into Goldy's lap, twisting to kick her legs over Spring's legs.

Timmy didn't even hesitate. He just stood up on Ruby, getting a quiet 'oof' when he stood on her stomach, and hugged Goldy as best he could.

Goldy stiffened in shock.

After a moment she hugged Timmy back and her tears started anew, these ones having no anger like the others. She wept.

"The other me is going to need a hug too," Timmy said. "He's just…very scared right now."

Goldy nodded shakily as she sniffled.

Spring didn't say anything. But he reached out his hand to touch Timmy, crestfallen when his fingers brushed through the boy's misty form. He and Puppet shared a pained look. Both wanted hugs too.

They supposed that was another silver lining to Goldy's strange state. Best to look for the positives where they could…

Puppet shifted as if to move away and give the others space, but yelped when Spring threw his arm over Puppet's shoulders and pulled him close, ending with Puppet in a headlock.

Ruby snorted in amusement, surprised by Spring's action. "You can hug him when Goldy's done," she told them. "Generally, if he's in contact with me, he can touch other people. But yes, we're just focused on Goldy at the moment."

The teen couldn't help but use Puppet's forced position to her advantage by poking his mask with her foot. Her gut twisted a little as he just jerked a little and squirmed in Spring's hold. If he was her Puppet, he'd already be cussing her out by now.

Timmy's appearance had, strangely enough, managed to relax the teen. They were definitely seeing more of that toddler in the girl now.

"Spring, let me go," Puppet ordered.

"Nah."

Godly snickered through her tears. She couldn't help it.

"Spring! I-I feel better now!" Puppet struggled. "I need to help Scott."

That made Spring pause. He considered Puppet's argument for a moment before shaking his head. "Scott will come get you if he needs you."

Puppet groaned in his uncomfortable position and gave Spring another token struggle before giving up.

Spring shot the others a shit-eating grin.

There was the sound of an old (to Ruby) camera going off.

Scott smiled. "Sorry. Couldn't resist." He came into the room and stared at Timmy as he busied with the camera.

"Hi Uncle Scott. Sorry for scaring you," Timmy greeted, the happiness at seeing the man covering up a tremble that he really couldn't hide from Ruby or the bots. He swallowed it down with a smile and ignored the worried look he was getting from Puppet, Spring, and Goldy.

The last time he saw Scott…

The very last time, Timmy had to run away because he couldn't help the man. He couldn't bear to just sit there and watch. It made him feel ill thinking about it. Ginny had refused to listen to his desperate cries to stop.

To let Scott go. To…let him live.

That was a bad night. One of the worst he ever had as a ghost.

He gave up on talking to the other kids after that... For a long time he thought they were lost causes. He still hadn't really forgiven them, much like Hedy.

"How are they?" Spring asked in concern.

They couldn't help but be worried about their younger siblings. The Toys were likely being distracted but the Originals were painfully vulnerable.

Ruby leaned back against Goldy's arm as she listened to them. They couldn't help but think that she looked perfectly comfortable and like she sat like this alot.

Scott didn't say anything for a moment. He was staring at Timmy with a pained expression.

"Scott?" Spring prompted again.

Scott blinked. "Oh uh. I started the boot up on Freddy and Foxy since they're in the best shape. They're waking up but it's taking a while. I didn't want to wake up the others until we could make sure they're not going to be hurting too much. I need to call Joseph." He frowned. "I know you don't want him to touch you, and I want to respect that, but I need help."

"I will-!" Puppet started to get up.

"Marionette," Scott scolded. "You need to get looked at too. I don't want you moving around much. You don't sound good. I know you slammed into the back room door."

"Full speed," Ruby felt the need to add. There was a small frown on her face though. "Wait, the clown actually lets people look at him? As far as I knew, you hated maintenance more than Foxy did."

"Not always," Timmy dropped onto her stomach and she shot him a glare. He still had some weight. "Puppet didn't mind it much."

Ruby rubbed her face. "This is weird Timmy. I'm used to the bots being one way and I don't like change."

Timmy just smirked at her. "But you still love them," he pointed out.

"You little shit."

"You do! Doesn't matter if we're in the past. They're still your bots."

He seemed delighted to be teasing her. It would distract her from asking about him calling Steve "Uncle Scott." He had explained it to Hedy, in case Michael ever brought it up to scare her. They weren't actually cousins. He and Michael (and their sister) grew up thinking Scott really was their Uncle. He was just always there. But they weren't related, unlike him and the Fitzgerald kids.

"Which reminds me," he added thoughtfully. "You're not allowed to meet Joseph. Like, ever." He twisted to look at Scott. "Ever. Also, you need to give Bonnie a face or else Ruby will have flashbacks if she sees him."

"Oi!"

"You can't handle it when Chi takes her beak off!"

Ruby paled a little and pulled a face. She stopped arguing though.

Scott decided not to ask. He rubbed his face. He wasn't a mechanic. "I'll do my best but the facial...things are delicate. I'd rather not mess with anything too much."

"We can ask the building to try bringing Hedy again?" Timmy suggested. He didn't seem completely enthused about the idea though.

Spring perked up.

They all perked up in curiosity actually.

"Do not actually bring her!" Timmy scolded the ceiling. "That was a suggestion! Do not take it yet. You couldn't bring her earlier! She'll start crying and I know you don't like crying."

Ruby rubbed her face. "Bringing Hedy would not be a good idea. It would be like bringing me to the car crash, Timmy. Doesn't matter what logic you use, this is the location of her trauma. It would be cruel to bring her here just to make our lives easier."

Timmy pouted but nodded after a moment.

"I wouldn't mind the backup though," Ruby muttered. There wasn't a good option though. "Asshole mechanic will just need to fix what he broke. Or I'll break him," she said cheerfully.

She swept Timmy up unexpectedly before dropping him on Spring this time. She kept a hold on his shoulder this time so that he remained solid for them.

Spring gasped but automatically curled his arm around the boy and hugged him tightly with a whimper.

Goldy cracked a weak smile.

Puppet cautiously poked Timmy in the arm. "How..."

"Who cares, Marionette!" Spring said, squealing a little as he hugged Timmy tighter, so happy he could do so. He kissed the boy on the side of the head, which earned a squeak of surprise from Timmy as Goldy snickered. Kisses for them mostly looked like nudging someone with their exposed front teeth or nose while making the sound since they couldn't really move their faces that way.

Scott looked jealous of the chance to give the boy affection but he could wait. He was also very aware that this was his nephew's ghost from the future, although he didn't really want to think about it. Their Timmy was hiding away and would need just as much affection very soon, if they could get him to show himself somehow. For the moment at least, there were other things Scott needed to do first.

"Most of the police are gone. Derrick said they need to take pictures of you, Spring, and get some samples of that...uh...blood. But they're pretty much done. As soon as they leave and I can lock up, I'll go to the hospital and get Joseph. And Hedy if they can discharge her." Scott stiffened as he realised something. "Shit! Puppet, did you see Jeremy at all today?"

All of the bots looked panicked suddenly.

"He was being a rebellious teenager," Ruby mused. "Went to the mall with his friends. Don't know when he was supposed to get back though. Does anyone have his number or-" she groaned. "Wait, no cellphones. Dammit. You're all old. Oi! Building! Tablet please."

She caught the tablet with her free hand as it dropped from the ceiling and started flicking through the cameras.

She paused when she found the Toys entertaining her toddler version.

So weird...

She kept flicking through the cameras before Timmy could tease her.

No sign of Jeremy.

Wait. There was a lot of movement by the front door.

She went back a screen to look closer at the commotion.

She squinted. Even with the quality of her newer tablet, the cameras were a bit grainy. She could tell there looked like an argument at the front door between some officers and some people right outside.

A lanky teen was shouting at the officers, trying to push past them while a few other teens were trying to hold him back. Probably so he didn't assault one of the officers and get arrested.

Of fucking course. She was used to the building and its "coincidences" but that didn't mean that its timing was very convenient. Ever.

Ruby threw her tablet at Steve, absently impressed when he caught it with a yelp before scrambling to her feet.

"Don't get arrested!" Timmy shouted after her as she darted out of the room.