Author's Note:

Update schedule will be a bit wonky until after Christmas probably.

Chapter 154

Hedy's House

Back at the beach, Hedy was soaked, fighting a losing battle as she sat in the shallows splashing Goldy.

Most of the bots had relaxed by now. Jeremy was still wound up tight after his skydiving experience and Mike was getting a good workout, keeping an eye on everyone while staying close enough to Hedy to help if she needed it.

The afternoon was stretching on.

Mildly, Hedy wondered if Ruby remembered to ask Ricky to pick up Olivia's son. She wasn't worried. Ruby wouldn't forget something like that and she doubted Olivia would let her.

Hedy looked at Teddy as he came next to her, his shirt ladened with a pouch full of seashells. He crouched next to her and tried to wash off the shells without dropping any into the water.

Mangle leapt over the two, landing into a splashy roll.

"Hey!" Teddy said, holding his bounty protectively.

Mangle rolled and bounced up, resembling a sugar cookie. The sand covered her.

Hedy grimaced at the idea of all these wet and sandy people in the cars. It couldn't be helped though.

At least they all seemed to be having fun.

But she was almost certain that BB was getting covered in sand on purpose just to annoy Henry...

"We should probably go to my house to clean up some before heading to Puppet's stop," she mentioned when the group was more or less gathered and looking a little tired. She looked at Freddy. "Did you get your library visit yet?"

Freddy smiled. "We stopped by after the skydiving. It's so big. So many books."

Hedy smiled. "Glad you enjoyed it."

"Goldy and I picked out some books for everyone. Jeremy used his library card. They're in the trunk of his car." Freddy squinted at Foxy. "Foxy says he helped, but he stayed in the comic book's sections the whole time."

Foxy sniffed with a half-indignant smirk. "No, I went to the children's section too. Got Mangle a new book she can use for her story time."

Mangle clapped her hands in glee and jumped up to hug Foxy around the neck. "Thank you!"

Foxy grunted and rolled his eyes as she pulled him down by the neck. Marion was much taller than Izzy.

Jeremy snorted at the frankly adorable display of siblingship. "So long as they get returned on time. I don't want to be paying late fees."

Freddy nodded while everyone stood up and tried to brush themselves off as best they could.

Jeremy was grimacing at the thought of all that sand getting into his car.

"Sure," Mike agreed, just looking tired.

Everyone reminded Jeremy a bit of children. They were so tired from running around playing in the surf that there were only mild grumbles and wistful goodbye looks toward the sea that they might never get to experience like this again. There was no arguing about seat placement as some rinsed out with outdoor showers near the parking lot before climbing in.

Hedy was lucky enough to have some old blankets, so those were laid out. Mike happened to have some trash bags, so he and Jeremy used those.

A few even started dozing off on the drive. The bonus would be that they would hopefully be too tired to snoop around her house too much.

Foxy ended up riding with Hedy this time and she couldn't help but think it looked childishly adorable how he quietly snored curled against the passenger door and head tucked. It was a sharp contrast from the tough air he usually had up.

Most of them looked innocent in their sleepiness in a way that wasn't really witnessed when they shut down as animatronics. All of them except maybe Spring, Puppet, and Goldy slept standing up.

Even Puppet looked "cute." He sat as straight as he could in Mike's car with his arms crossed, fighting the urge to pass out, his head tipping.

Mike was a little saddened how stressed the bot looked even when dozing off during the ride.

Surprisingly, the only one who actually stayed awake completely was Spring. He quietly observed the others in the car with him as he rode with Jeremy.

"You seem happy," Jeremy commented without looking away from the road.

Spring hummed softly. "It's peaceful."

He did technically have the most relaxed day, so that probably explained why he wasn't as tired.

"Did you put any thought into what you wanted to do?" Jeremy asked. "It's getting pretty late."

Spring leaned back. "I get to see my friends...my family," he corrected. "Happy and exploring without Michael even a mile near me. That's way more than I could ever have asked for."

Jeremy was quiet for a moment.

Spring did have a point.

"Do you think you'll be okay?" he asked. "At the cemetery?"

Spring nodded. "I'm more worried about Goldy and Puppet. I don't remember them. I mean I'm sad they're dead. But I don't remember."

Jeremy could understand that. "What about the others?"

He thought about it for a moment. "I think the Originals will be pretty sad. But I don't know if the Toys really understand death properly yet. I mean they know when someones dead. But I don't think they understand it all."

Jeremy didn't say anything as he sorted through his thoughts. "I suspect the permanence of it hasn't hit them. They were so young when the kids died that ghosts are just common knowledge for them. The finality of death isn't something they've actually had to confront. All they know is that it happens to hurt, and I don't think even that's fully grasped."

Spring nodded quietly. He hoped that this would help Puppet a little, at least.

Teddy didn't say anything to reveal he was awake. As they kept driving and Jeremy and Spring were silent, he drifted back to sleep.

He was only startled awake by Chica's voice. "Hedy lives here?"

They all looked at the house curiously. Jeremy wondered what they'd imagined in their heads before today.

Mangle tilted her head so far it looked like it was going to fall off as they walked to the front door.

Hedy eyed their expressions as she unlocked the door. "Take your shoes off," she instructed, pointing at a small pile of shoes beside the door.

Toby jumped at the creak of his weight on a floorboard. "Weird..." he muttered.

"Shoes," Hedy insisted.

They obediently pulled their shoes off and followed after her.

"You grew up here?" Chica asked.

"...For a while," Hedy said. "Before we moved away. I didn't know dad kept ownership. We didn't have very much money so I always assumed he had to sell it. I guess he couldn't let it go." She shrugged a little and backed up into the doorway of a room so they could all get inside. "He and mom built it when they got married. Built it or restored."

"I think they built it," Jeremy said. "Most of this neighborhood didn't exist when I was a kid."

"They built their own house?" Goldy sounded surprised.

"I bet they had help. But Dad was a crafty sort of guy." Hedy shrugged. She pointed in different directions. "Showers upstairs. Toilet down the hall. Kitchen here. Living room that way. There are probably Ruby traps still around so...you know...step with caution..."

Most of them grimaced.

"You let her put traps in your house?" Toby asked.

"No one 'let's' Ruby do anything," Foxy snickered.

"I think I've gotten subconscious about avoiding them. Just turn the cold water in the shower on before the hot. She figured out that I turn on cold water first and the other girls turn on hot water first and put some device on my hot water tank that releases koolaid in the water pipe if it detects the hot water coming on before the cold."

Mike shifted, hoping Jeremy wouldn't remember that time his ears were purple because Hedy hadn't warned him about that.

They all stared at her for a moment.

"You still let her into your house?" Chi asked in shock.

Hedy smirked. "You still let her into yours."

None of them had a retort to that.

"How are your roommates still here?" Freddy asked.

"I suspect it's spite on Sarah's part. Don't know about Rena. I'm also the best landlady either could ask for so it must be worth it," Hedy said, "I don't charge them for much else beyond a little tax, groceries, and utilities."

"Uh..." Mike said, "Are they home today?"

"I don't actually know."

Mangle looked abruptly mischievous as she glanced up the stairs to where the bedrooms were.

"I don't think you thought this through very well..." Freddy grimaced as he saw the curious expressions on a few bots' faces.

"I'm realising tha—" Hedy was cut off as Mangle made a break for the stairs and sprinted up on all fours. "Don't go in my room!" Hedy shouted in a mild panic, "Or the others!"

Mangle's head poked over the banister upstairs. "What? I've never even seen a real bed. You'd deny me this intrinsic human experience?"

"Mangle."

Mangle whined. "Aw! I want to see where you and Mike cuddle." She grinned, knowing exactly what she was saying.

Oh, you bitch, Hedy thought tiredly. She didn't expect Mangle to be feeling so mischievous today, but she really shouldn't have been surprised.

Toby then promptly started following Mangle because he was a little shit like that. Goldy looked thoughtful. "Huh, they never did see a bed."

Mike was a little busy scooting away from Jeremy warily after Mangles comment.

"Guess not," Puppet said.

"I'm gonna jump on it," BB announced.

"No!" Hedy snapped.

BB outright ignored her and ran up the stairs.

Someone was going to trip at this rate...

"You're supposed to entertain children, not actually be children," Hedy growled, unable to quickly get upstairs. She heard a faint noise. "Mike! Keep her out of the dresser!"

Mike sprinted up the stairs two at a time.

"Mangle! No. Bad robot." He meant it jokingly, but there was still stress in his voice.

The Originals watched in mild amusement. They'd never really realised how young the Toys tended to act.

"This reminds me of the time Puppet-"

"Don't." Puppet cut her off. "I don't care which story you were about to tell, just don't."

"I'm sure Hedy has a toaster. You do have a toaster don't you?"

"Yes?"

"What did I just say?"

Goldy gave him a cheeky smile and stage-whispered to the others. "I'll tell you later."

"You will not!" Puppet immediately said.

Mike came back down, awkwardly dragging both Mangle and BB with him, BB only half-heartedly struggling while Mangle grinned like a fool.

"I didn't realize beds were so squishy," she said.

Spring chuckled, mostly at Mike's warning expression.

"Hedy is going to make you pay for this all next maintenance session," Goldy smirked. Naturally she'd never hurt them, but she could insist on all the unpleasantness of a full checkup.

"I'm not worried. I'm her favorite," Mangle said with a teasing smile.

Hedy squinted.

"I think I have an excellent case for favoritism," Spring said, cracking a smile. "I behave better."

"I'm not playing this," Hedy said dryly and left for the living room. "I don't have favorites."

"Well, that's a lie," Puppet deadpanned.

"Shut up, Mari," Hedy called from the other room.

"Hedy has favourites, but she's still willing to make your life miserable if you deserve it," Goldy corrected. "Ruby has favourites who can get away with anything."

Mike looked at Jeremy. "Are we allowed to have favorites?"

"You don't want me to answer that question, Mike," Jeremy said dryly.

"Of course you can, Mike," Goldy told him sweetly. "But then you have to deal with the bots who aren't your favourites."

Mike hesitated. "...I'll pass."

Goldy was scary.

Hedy laughed from the other room.

"I'm really curious though," Puppet said, leaning against a wall like he lived there. "Who did you each like the least before?"

"When I thought I was going to die?" Jeremy snorted. "I fricking hated all of you, but you? Fuck Puppet. Ruby was not the first person to consider a woodchipper."

"Noted."

"I'm pretty sure everyone considered a woodchipper at some point," Goldy pointed out dryly. "You make yourself very easy to hate sometimes Puppet."

Mike eyed her. "Why do I have a feeling there's a woodchipper in your poster?"

Goldy just blinked innocently back at him.

"We can't stay too long, guys," Hedy called. "Clean up if you want, then we have to leave before it gets dark."

There were a few grumbles, but they did get moving. They were mostly too tired to argue.

Hedy took a bath and changed clothes while shelling out some of her clothes to the bots that were more uncomfortable in salt and sand than they expected. They wore the spares while most of the day staff's clothes were thrown in a quick wash.

The only one who was insistent on tracking sand and dealing with the itchiness was BB. He wasn't done tormenting Henry.

Goldy watched BB for a moment. "Always knew you were an evil little brat," she muttered.

Mike and Jeremy cleaned up too, but not as extensively.

Mike, however, did appear in a fresh set of clothes and had to suffer Jeremy's suspicious gaze.

"Got a change of clothes here?" Foxy asked Mike with a smirk, just to cause trouble.

"Maybe," Mike defended. "My roommates broke our washer so Hedy let me wash my clothes here."

"You should just hurry up and move in with Hedy if your roommates are so awful," Mangle said bluntly, smile widening at Jeremy's frown.

Jeremy wasn't stupid. He was just trying his hardest not to say anything. He could tolerate it. He could.

Freddy shooed the two foxes off before they could get Mike too defensive and Jeremy too worked up.

Why was it that the moment Ruby wasn't around, they got worse? Like they were trying to make up for her absence.

Toby stared at the towel on Hedy's head in utter confusion after she appeared in the living room from taking her bath. "Nice hat?" he asked in confusion.

He immediately tried to take the towel to inspect it but yelled as Hedy yelped a bit and jerked away with glare.

"Your hair's inside there?!"

"I'm drying it, doofus," Hedy snapped, rubbing the now sore spot.

This really did highlight how little the Toys knew of the outside world. Goldy and Puppet knew the most obviously. With the Originals knowing a decent amount.

Jeremy wondered if there was some way they could get the bots out in the world more often. It seemed impossible, but this happened. Still, they couldn't expect the day staff to sit around as body doubles at the animatronics' whim.

Ruby mentioned it, but this whole situation was uncomfortably close to possession.

Maybe they could show them more movies that weren't animation or fantasy. Show them some of the world that way?

Puppet was the one who found Hedy's workshop in the garage, immediately hit by an uncomfortable feeling of nostalgia. He recognized some of the parts on the table as replaced parts from Mangle and Spring along with a journal full of coloured tabs. A quick flip through it revealed observations on all of them. Every squeaky gear or bit of rust. Even suit tears.

Hedy had a few pages dedicated to him but he skipped over those.

Goldy was watching him. "You should really let her check you over," she said softly.

Puppet wasn't really startled by her appearance in the garage doorway.

"This looks a lot like the workshop back then, doesn't it?" he said as if he hadn't heard her, turning the part from Spring over in his hands with a mildly disturbed look he quickly shook off. He chuckled a little. "Even the mess."

"Yeah..." Goldy murmured sadly. "Reminds me a lot of..." She trailed off and looked away.

Puppet frowned. "Sometimes I wonder where he is." He shrugged a little, trying to play off his stress about the upcoming trip. He set the part down and inspected a rusty can stuffed with wire clippings.

Goldy sniffled. "I miss him. I know you and the others never want to see him again. But I miss him."

Puppet's frown deepened as he turned the can around in his human hands, wondering at how sensitive the skin was. He could feel so many details he never expected to be part of touch. "Spring would too if he remembered. The three of us knew what it was like before everything went bad. The others were waking up while things were already going downhill." He picked up a small camera on the shop desk, holding it to his eye to look through the viewfinder. "The others may be angry, but personally, I don't think I'd care much either way if he showed up again."

Goldy sighed softly. "I know..."

They fell into silence as she watched him inspect the room.

"Maybe I should have told just Hedy where I wanted to go," Puppet admitted. "You don't have to come."

"I want to," Goldy argued. "Besides, you should have someone there who understands. And remembers."

Puppet tried to glare at her, but since he didn't have a solid reason why, it was weak and looked more pained than irritated.

She just gave him a soft, sympathetic look in return.

"It's pathetic I had to be drunk to admit where I wanted to go," Puppet said bitterly.

"You still drunk?"

"Goodness no. I remember every ridiculous thing I said though."

Goldy shook her head and sighed. "You're not pathetic, Puppet. You were honest. You should try it more often."

Puppet quietly scoffed but didn't say anything.

Mike came up behind Goldy, poking his head over her shoulder to see Puppet. "Hey, the dryer's done,' he said softly, recognizing there was some sort of emotional moment happening. "You want to get Jerry and Olivia's clothes back on before we leave?" He silently thought Puppet still managed to look dignified in his own weird way even with a baggy t-shirt and a pair of boxers Hedy randomly had a new package of.

Goldy nodded, pasting on a quick smile for Mike.

"Sure."

Mike smiled back, but she could see the sympathy in his eyes. He turned to leave.

Mike was a good guy. He didn't pretend to understand the sort of pain and past they went through, but he was kind and forgiving about it, almost to ridiculous levels. Perhaps it was good he was going to the cemetery with them. In a strange way, his lack of connection could be a calming influence for all of them.

Or maybe she was expecting too much from him and wasn't being fair to the man. Their pain didn't dismiss the trauma he went through because of it.

Goldy left the room after glancing at Puppet one last time.

Puppet waited for a few minutes, looking at Hedy's space.

There was a light layer of dust in some places, which he wasn't so surprised with given how most of her work was at the pizzeria. Still, he wondered what hobbies she had given up for the sake of time. What did Hedy like to build for no reason except interest?

He didn't see answers there. He didn't want to look through the drawers or poke through any more journals.

He went back inside where Mangle was loudly complaining about bras.

Mike and Jeremy really didn't want to be present for this conversation...

Goldy looked amused too but Puppet could see she was still listening intently as Hedy explained the hook and clasps and goodness knows what else.

"Are we done yet?" Mike asked awkwardly.

Hedy shooed Mangle off to the other room to change as Chi came back before tossing Jerry's clothes at Puppet's face out of a laundry basket.

"Waiting on Puppet and Goldy," she said.

Puppet muttered and went upstairs to change in the bathroom, pausing at some of the pictures hanging on the wall beside the stairway.

Goldy went to change as well while those who were ready hung around downstairs.

Puppet ran down the stairs a few minutes later, skipping stairs two at a time.

Hedy was surprised he didn't trip.

There wasn't excitement in his speed. Hedy figured Puppet just didn't like them waiting on him.

Goldy followed a few minutes later. "Where's BB?" She asked.

BB appeared in the entryway of the kitchen.

"BB," Hedy snapped upon seeing him and his pink and gooey fashion statement.

"Bread," BB said, proudly holding up a bag of bread.

Jeremy facepalmed and groaned. "You already did your bread thing to Henry."

"Put it back. That's mine," Hedy said. "And what the heck is in your hair."

"Gum."

A lot of it.

"Why!?"

Everyone cringed. They'd had a lot of kids getting gum stuck in their hair at the pizzeria.

"Henry is going to need to go bald," Chica muttered in horror.

BB's smile widened while Hedy's glare sharpened.

"Balloon Boy," she hissed.

"He deserves it," BB shrugged.

"At some point, he doesn't," Hedy retorted. "He was forced to trust you enough to take care of his body. Destroying his hair crosses the line."

BB blinked, a little shocked she was defending Henry. He thought she hated him.

Jeremy sighed. "How would you feel if we returned and it turned out they'd done something to change your bodies? Painted them or damaged something?"

"I..." BB cut off because, unfortunately, Jeremy made a good point.

A couple of the Originals looked disappointed in him while the Toys shifted.

Mangle would be lying if she said she didn't think it was funny a moment ago, but with Hedy and Jeremy putting it that way she winced a little guiltily. She wasn't worried about Izzy doing anything to hurt her and Izzy had to trust the same of her.

Mike winced while looking at the mess in BB's hair.

"It's also not as easy for humans to just fix something like that. It'll take time for him to grow his hair back," he pointed out gently.

Hedy sighed. She shook her head. "Don't mess with it right now. We can try to get most of it out with olive oil and peanut butter at the pizzeria."

"This is just going to make him hate us more," Chica muttered.

BB scowled but there was a hint of guilt in his expression. "He should just quit."

Hedy rolled her eyes. "Maybe he has financial issues. Who knows. He's an ass. Terrible with children and doesn't even pretend to like them. He's not with us by choice. Point is..." she poked BB in the chest. "Boundaries. Go wash that gum off your hands and get in the car, BB."

BB grumbled a little but went to do as asked.

Even Ruby would likely admit it was a step too far. Her pranks never lasted more than a couple of days. The dye she used was always temporary.

Jeremy has to admit though, it was pretty funny seeing his little sister scold a grown man like a child.

Hedy handed Mike directions to the cemetery while folding up a few extra papers no one got a glimpse of into her bag.

Eventually they were all ready to go. It was like organising children. Honestly.

Hedy wordlessly directed Puppet to ride with her in the front seat, Goldy, Spring, and Freddy coming along.

This was going to be rough…