Authors Note

I'm back! Ugh, getting sick sucks. This was supposed to be up last week but yeah... Anyway, another chapter will be up later today or tomorrow as well.

Chapter 46

Truce

Ruby passed out in the cove not long after she arrived. Foxy was relieved to see her again and was maybe slightly overprotective when anyone approached the table she'd curled up on.

"Relax Foxy." Freddy told him after he growled at the fifth employee to walk 'too close'.

"She could still take Toy Bonnie down, even with a broken arm. She can handle herself."

Foxy sighed and rubbed his face.

"I know, I know. It's just…" he glanced at her, curled around Betty happily. "Sometimes we forget."

Freddy frowned and tilted his head. "Forget what?"

"That she's not invincible. That she can get hurt…" he spoke softly. "She's capable, ridiculously capable. And confident. But she's still technically a kid Freddy."

He looked up with pained eyes.

"She's sixteen Fred and she spends her time getting hurt 'cause of us."

His ears drooped.

Freddy sighed and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I know. We do tend to take her for granted lately."

The two moved closer to the table to check on her and make sure that she didn't roll off.

"And you know what makes it worse?" Foxy asked softly. "We did it to her too. We hurt her and judged her like the Toys do. We aren't any better…"

He fell silent as Freddy opened his mouth to comfort his friend.

"Don't be a dumb fox. " Ruby's voice cut in as she kicked him playfully, and waved Betty around slightly. "There's a big difference and that's not just my bias talking."

She looked up at them sleepily.

"You guys accepted change. The Toys haven't. Well, except Mangle but foxes are naturally awesome." She gave a lopsided smirk. "That might be my bias talking there. But seriously, stop beating yourself up about it. You were trapped in a really sucky situation. Besides, you hardly hurt me. It was the ghosts on the last night."

They couldn't help but smile at her. She was always so confident in what she said that it was hard not to believe her.

"Sorry for waking you up lass. " Foxy murmured as Freddy pushed her errant bat away from him.

She shrugged. " More dozing that anything else. Simmering rage makes it hard to sleep."

Her eyes flashed dangerously.

Freddy patted her on the shoulder.

"You can deal with that tonight." He told her kindly.

He did wonder when he had become so unconcerned with her violence. Was it just a matter of too much exposure?

"And you'll have a lot of help." Foxy half-snarled. "Bonnie and me both want to give him what he deserves."

Freddy rolled his eyes while Ruby grinned.

"Aw Captain. You guys are so sweet."

"As sweet as one of your sugar rushes." Freddy muttered as he left them to their plotting.

"Hold still." Teddy snapped as Toby moved again. "Do you want me to get your ear right again or what?!"

"Where's Hedy?" he whined petulantly.

"She doesn't live here you idiot." Toy Chica rolled her eyes.

He shot a glare at her.

The Toys were taking a break to check on Toby after Ruby's little stunt.

"She's dangerous." Toby returned to complaining about what was becoming his favourite topic it seemed.

Even Mangle was getting annoyed with him and his whining.

Heck even BB was starting to get irritated. Being annoying was his job after all!

"Oh shut up." Chica groaned.

Mangle signed something and they had the feeling that she was saying the same thing.

He opened his mouth, probably to say something stupid when a new voice joined the conversation.

"Why do you insist on not giving her a chance?" Goldy asked, floating above them.

She'd always been more neutral than anything towards them even though she was on the originals' side.

It probably had to do with not being made with either of their groups.

The Toys didn't even really know much about her origins actually.

But seeing her glare so fiercely at them was a new experience, making them flinch backwards. She was always so nice, a little shy around strangers and mischievous with friends but very nice.

This hostility… was new.

"You've judged her on literally everything but herself!" she waved her arms, clearly frustrated with them.

"So how are we supposed to judge the arrogant, violent, unpredictable night guard?" Toby snapped.

They may not be interacting with Puppet anymore but some things still stuck.

"You still don't get it!" Goldy yelled, startling them.

"Oh yeah, just because she's got some childhood history with you guys making her like you more. If she didn't have an attachment she would have hated you too." Toy Chica sneered at her.

Goldy paused and stared at them incredulously.

"You're kidding right?" she asked in disbelief.

Mangle was trying to get away from the confrontation while Toby and Chi glared back at Goldy, confident in this assessment. BB was just glad that Toby wasn't whining anymore and played with the battery he had found.

Teddy…

Well, Teddy's eyes had widened as realisation hit him. Goldy noticed and focused her attention on him.

"Ruby didn't know about me. She idolised Foxy and loved Bonnie. She got along well with Chica and Freddy." Goldy spoke softly now. "But she didn't even know that I existed until like night three or something."

Mangle turned back to look at her.

Goldy laughed softly as she thought back.

"She's got good instincts though. She could tell that she was being watched. And she didn't like it. When I first showed up she sent me running back to my poster for the rest of the week. She was terrifying. So we didn't exactly make the best first impressions. But you know what? She apologised. That same night too. She asked Foxy to pass along the message. She felt bad about it because she just got a fright." She paused, a slight smile on her face. "I liked watching her. She made the place lively and fun. She even gave me her bedazzler to say sorry. She started bringing movies after night six. She found out what we like, what we didn't like. She brought me the Harry Potter books. She got Bonnie a lightsabre because he likes Star Wars. She got pirate movies for Foxy, we've got this huge stack of them now. She got all the Lord of the Rings for Freddy, even the Hobbit series! She gets all these cooking shows and books for Chica. She knows exactly what we all like! She loves horror movies but she doesn't bring them because they freak us out. And she doesn't have to! That's the crazy thing. We'd all be happy if she just kept the ghosts at bay. But instead she cheers us up, plays with us and cares. She became the best friend we could ask for. You have no idea what you're missing out on."
Before they could say something angrily or otherwise, Mangle gave a happy crackle. She smiled up at Goldy who gave a grin in return.

"Or most of you anyway." She glanced at Teddy for a moment before disappearing, having said her piece.

Mangle left as Toby and Chi bust into indignant yelling. BB ran off to annoy someone while Teddy stared thoughtfully ahead of him.

He slipped into the hallway, massaging his temples. While he had an issue with the originals, Goldy didn't really fall under that. They could actually get along pretty well. Or could in the past.

She wasn't the type to lie about something like this.

He sighed. After what Puppet did, he was questioning what he believed more and more.

Puppet said that the Toy were better than the originals but the children liked them equally.

Puppet said that he was the only one that they could trust but he betrayed and hurt Mangle while the night guard helped her.

No, not the night guard. Ruby. She had a name and it was demeaning to not use it.

He sighed again. Hedy had been trying to get that through to them since the beginning. They were just too stubborn, like always.

"Well, don't you look deep in thought?" he could hear the smirk in her voice and turned to look at the girl.

She had a glass of water and a bottle of pills balanced in her usable hand.

Ah, he must have caught her just before she took her pain medication again. The slight haze that had been in her eyes before was gone for the moment and she looked significantly calmer.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, do I have something on my face?" she asked and he realised that he was staring at her.

He shook his head and sighed.

These thoughts were inevitable he supposed. He could only hide behind flimsy excuses and reasons for so long before his logical mind found him.

"Hey! You're not glaring at me!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed. "That's new."

Her excitement had a childish quality and Teddy suddenly saw the appeal that the originals did in it.

She cocked her head curiously. "What? Did a head injury damage your circuitry?"

"Goldy came by to yell at us." He mumbled.

Ruby looked surprised. "Goldy yelled? That's not common."

Teddy shrugged.

"But what does that have to do with the lack of a glare? You've been yelled at plenty of times." Ruby asked.

He let out a tired sigh.

"Coming to terms with the fact that everything you believe is false is kind of difficult." He told her dryly.

Her annoying, teasing tone dropped from her voices as she spoke again.

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrow again, medication forgotten for the moment.

He glanced up to meet her eyes for a moment, swallowing his pride. His stupid pride that was the reason he felt miserable in the first place.

"It seems…we were wrong in blindly following Puppet." He admitted. "In both judging you and the original animatronics."

He mostly expected her to gloat or something but instead she just asked a question.

"Why did you believe him?"

He looked at her in surprise. Her gaze was steady, not leaving his face.

"He was the first person we met." Teddy shrugged. "Guess we didn't know any better."

"Hmm, though so." Ruby nodded. "Then it's not really your fault."

He stared at her, stunned. She grinned at the expression.

"When I figured out that you were all essentially teenagers, I decided to bug you until you learnt a lesson. Hedy already got through to Mangle and now looks like you finally get it too."

All he could do was blink.

"I'm not your enemy Teddy. Never was. I protect those that I care about, that's all. If you're not mean to them, then we're cool." She grinned at him.

He was surprised at the use of his nickname as well as her words.

"So?" Ruby's gaze held his. "Are we good now?"

It was hard to believe that she was so willing to just forgive and forget. It only strengthened his faith in his decision further.

He offered a small but genuine smile to her.

"I suppose it is time we grew up." He held out his hand.

She grinned and shook it.

"Good. Now I'll focus on irritating the lesson into the other two." She smirked confidently.

Teddy's eyes strayed to her cast.

"I should also apologise for Toby's actions." He murmured guiltily.

Ruby waved it away. "I'll get revenge tonight and then we'll all move on."

She walked past him and waved cheekily.

"See ya around Teddy Bear." She called before she turned the corner.

He sighed and wondered what she was planning now. And why she insisted on teasing everyone about everything including their nicknames.

Although…

He felt a lot lighter after that conversation.

Smiling slightly he went back to his job.

Author Note

Hope you enjoyed that. Its the nicest thing that's going to happen for a while unfortunately.