Author's Note:
Phew... well... It's a long chapter today lol. Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 159
Old Friends
The tape clicked, then went silent. There was a constant whirring as the camera adjusted but nothing played for a second.
Hedy was not an easily violent person but she still chucked her notebook at the tv with a ferocity that made it rock backward on the dolly wheels for a moment.
"This doesn't make any sense!" She shouted at the damn thing. At the building. "Fucking hell."
Jeremy didn't really know how to react. He just rocked back in his seat staring at the screen with a haunted look.
"I hate this…" he said as if he needed to make that more obvious. He glanced at Ruby. At least with Hedy he had time to adjust to the trauma (not that he wasn't still in the process nearly fifteen years later, and terribly at that) but knowing that Ruby had been around was not a pleasant idea. He just hoped Derrick and Rose didn't bring her around very often. Had he met her back then? No…He definitely would have remembered. Maybe? Actually, there was a lot of that time that was fuzzy. What the hell?
Mike was utterly silent. He felt like this was something he shouldn't be watching, like he was invading their privacy. He had nothing to do with this past. Yeah, it was a surprise to see Ruby, based on what he knew of the story, but obviously not like it was for the others.
"Should I leave?" he asked hesitantly.
A few of them looked at him in confusion. Why would he need to leave?
"Of course not," Hedy said softly.
Mike was part of the family now. This involved him.
Mike nodded slowly. He couldn't sit next to Hedy with Jeremy and Spring in those spots, so he settled for dragging a chair over to behind her. He hesitantly touched her shoulder, not sure if he could even offer the right kind of comfort. He relaxed a bit when Hedy reached up to hold his hand, assuring him she didn't mind his presence.
"Maybe this isn't real," Toby suggested, glancing at Puppet who hadn't moved from his stare at the frozen screen, then at Ruby who was sticking close to Foxy. "Maybe the building made this up somehow. Like a movie?" His conviction to the idea wasn't the strongest.
Puppet shook his head with the barest movement. "I remember Wigg–Hedy finding that old storage room where Spring hid. Not…very well," he admitted. "But I remember that."
Ruby didn't say anything. She just stared at the screen with a nearly unreadable mix of emotion. There seemed to be some confusion in there so at least Hedy knew Ruby hadn't shut down.
Hedy whined, "But Mari..."
"Go give Jeremy back his camera, Wiggy," Puppet said, slightly sternly. "You're leaving soon."
"I'll hold on to your book, okay?" Spring said, ignoring Puppet's reproachful look in response to him encouraging Hedy to come back.
Hedy nodded and darted to grab the camera, not forgetting it this time, then went and grabbed Puppet's outstretched hand.
"Bye Springy!"
"Goodbye, Wiggy. Bye Ruby."
"Bye bye bunny."
"Go find your brother, Wiggy," Puppet said when he had taken them back to the main room, as evident by the noise of other children.
"Okay," Wiggy said, running off. "Bye Ruby!"
"Bye-bye," Ruby cooed, waving cutely.
Hedy didn't turn off the camera so it spun and bounced and they couldn't make anything out. They could have sworn they heard some of the Toy's voices...
Suddenly, they heard a shout and Hedy pulled up short as someone jumped at her.
"RAH!"
Wiggy, screamed and kicked at someone. "Quit it!"
"I got you!"
Foxy froze at the voice.
"No, you didn't!" Hedy argued.
"Yeah, I did. You should have seen your face."
"Leave me alone, Felix. Or I'm going to tell your mommy." Hedy lifted the camera to point at his face.
They all stared at the kid, clearly disturbed.
Hedy found herself slightly hoping none of the kids decided to come investigate. Although that was unlikely with how they had been avoiding everyone.
"Aw. Are you still mad at me?"
"You pushed Benji and called me stupid. That was mean."
"I said sorry!" Felix pouted and crossed his arms. His eyes lit up at the object Hedy was holding close. "Ooh. Is that Jeremy's camera?"
"Yeah," Hedy said, pulling the camera closer.
"Let me see it!"
"No! You're gonna break it!"
"No I'm not. Give it."
"NO!"
The camera was wrenched from Hedy's hands and she was screaming, chasing Felix down.
"Give it back!"
"Hey, Benji! Look what I got."
"What?" a shyer voice answered and they saw a flash of the speaker sitting in a group of other kids, the ghost kids, colouring.
"Felix! Felix, give it back!" Hedy shouted, getting louder as she caught up.
"You're supposed to share, Hedy."
"No I'm not! Mari said it's nice to share pizza or candy but I don't need to give anyone anything if I don't want to. It's Jeremy's stuff! And you taking it is stealing!"
"I'm gonna give it back."
"Give it back now!"
"Give it to me, Felix," Jeremy's voice cut through, startling the kids, though he sounded much younger and clearly less patient.
"Jeremy!" Hedy cried.
"But she stole it first!" Felix complained, but he sounded embarrassed at getting caught.
"Hedy isn't going to break it if she gets mad," Jeremy sounded annoyed.
The camera was taken away and turned off but as Jeremy pulled it away they got a snapshot of the whole group.
The clip suddenly stopped and they stared at the screen showing that last frame in silence for a minute. Jeremy tore his eyes away and glanced at Puppet, then Spring, and finally Ruby.
Spring mostly looked confused. He'd expected to see him interacting with Hedy, but Ruby? They were all watching the teen for some kind of reaction.
"What the hell?!" she finally blurted out. "I don't remember that!" she actually seemed flustered.
"Well, you were very young Ruby." Foxy pointed out, a rare desperate tone in his voice.
"And clearly already getting in trouble." Freddy sighed without looking away from the screen.
They were a bit disturbed though. Ruby had been there at the same time as the other children. It could easily have been Ruby who got...
Goldy looked over at the Toys, but specifically Puppet. "Do you remember her?"
Puppet had a disturbed look. "No," he said a bit snappishly and touched his head as if checking his own memories, disturbed. "I don't...I-I..." The others stared, never having seen Puppet so confused or flustered, worse than Ruby. "I don't think...Maybe I do...I can't..."
He always thought his memories were the most infallible. He remembered everything, or so he thought.
The Toys were thinking hard.
"I don't..." Mangle said, unsure. "I can't remember much besides..." she trailed off. She shook her head frantically, scared of the missing information. The murders stood out but specific children besides Hedy and the ghosts didn't. That was wrong! They...they were always supposed to remember every child.
It was the same for the others. Teddy guessed Hedy talked to them and was there so often that she got stuck in their memories, but the events that happened...blurred everything else.
The tape started playing again and Jeremy fought with the camcorder, trying to stop it. He shouted at the ceiling. "You shut up! We're not done!"
The building protested and the tape played on regardless.
"Jerk."
"You're arguing with a building," Hedy pointed out, trying to crack a joke but it came out weakly.
It was Jeremy recording this time. Older him looked at the screen in surprise and they finally properly saw teenage Jeremy. He didn't look much older than Ruby was now. And he wore glasses.
"Nerd," Ruby managed but Jeremy ignored her.
"Hey hello," Jeremy said.
"Helllo hello!" Hedy squeaked as Jeremy picked her up and put her in his lap. They looked like they were in a bedroom.
"Oh my god, you all talk like Steve," Ruby gushed happily.
"Habit," Hedy grumbled.
"I'm Jeremy Reginald Fitzgerald. Introduce yourself, Wiggy. Full name."
"Helloooo! I'm Wiggy."
"Full name."
"Ugh. I'm Hedwig Lamarr Fitzgerald. My name is stupid. I'm almost seven!"
"And what are we doing?"
Wiggy shrugged.
Jeremy sighed and poked his head over Hedy's shoulder. "I'm making a video diary for you to watch when you're older."
"Oh."
"So say hi to yourself."
"Myself?"
"Yeah, your future self." Jeremy hugged Wiggy tighter and pecked her on the cheek.
Hedy shrieked and tried to squirm away, giggling. But she did what she was asked anyway. "HI! Hedy!"
"Hi..." Hedy mumbled on instinct without thinking.
Jeremy was wearing a slight sad smile, the nostalgia getting to him. He missed how carefree Hedy had been as a little girl. She had been so scared to let anyone touch her after what happened. Even him. Even their dad. It broke their hearts that she wouldn't let them comfort her for so long.
"What do you want to be when you grow up, Wiggy?"
"A robot doctor, like Daddy!"
Jeremy looked surprised. "I thought you wanted to be a reporter."
Ruby was honestly only half watching. Her mind was still reeling from the fact that she'd met Hedy as a child. She had met the Toys and Puppet first! And she didn't remember any of it... her parents had never mentioned taking her to another location. And there weren't any pictures from there either.
She didn't like it. She felt like she was missing valuable memories. She cherished her memories of the bots. But there were some out of reach apparently.
The video suddenly paused then fast-forwarded a few minutes, skipping over parts of Jeremy and Wiggy talking that the building didn't find interesting.
It stopped just as a man appeared in the doorway, interrupting whatever conversation Jeremy and Wiggy were having.
The Originals stiffened, Bonnie letting out a tense whimper as Hedy winced at their reaction.
"Hi Daddy!" Wiggy said, turning around and kneeing Jeremy in the chest.
"Hey Dad," Jeremy said with a cough as his air was knocked out by Wiggy.
"Hey kiddos. How was school?"
"Fine," Jeremy shrugged and he frowned suspiciously.
"Great...uh...can I talk to you for a minute, Jeremy?"
Jeremy didn't seem too sure but he got up anyway and set Hedy down in his seat. "Stay here, Wig. Don't mess with the camera."
Hedy stuck her tongue at him, already distracted by a pen and paper on Jeremy's desk. She immediately started doodling as Jeremy and their dad left.
They watched Hedy quietly drawing for a minute before there was the sound of raised voices coming from the other room. Hedy didn't look up at the yelling.
Jeremy in the present winced. He and their dad fought a lot. Too often. He regretted every minute of it that was in front of Hedy.
The tense voices rose in volume a couple of times and it was clear Wiggy was too used to it.
Hedy frowned. She knew Jeremy and their dad fought a lot, but it wasn't very often, was it?
She looked up at the camera, suddenly looking tired. It was a shock from the usually happy-looking little girl. For the briefest of moments, she almost looked like Hedy now, as unflattering as that was to admit.
"Maybe I want to be a spy. Or a ninja," she whispered and picked up the camera.
They watched as she went to a hallway and crawled along a wall on her belly, Jeremy and her dad's voices getting steadily louder. Eventually, Hedy was looking around a corner and watching the two over the back of a couch.
"Jeremy, I just want the truth," Mr. Fitzgerald sighed.
"I'm telling you the truth! I didn't mess with them!"
"There are three people at the pizzeria who would know how to manipulate the facial recognition, not to mention the memory chips," Mr. Fitzgerald scolded. "Me, Scott, or you if you read my manuals."
"Then go ask Scott!"
"Scott doesn't...Scott wouldn't do anything to them..."
"Oh but I would? How could I though? Doesn't that take work?! Aren't I a lazy good for nothing? I'm pretty sure I'm too lazy to work a calculator, much less mess around with some creepy robots."
"Jeremy," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "I don't know what you're thinking, but if this is some ploy to get out of work, let me be very clear. Scott pulled a lot of strings to get you that job and I am not letting you get him in trouble. So you've got two choices. You either work your ass off as the night guard next week, like we agreed, or you move out."
"You're not going to kick me out."
"Jeremy, I have to! I need you to work! I need you to get a job and help out."
"I could get a different job."
"Fine, do that last week! Or in two weeks after you work this next one. But you are showing up for the night shift like you agreed."
Jeremy stiffened. Next week…
"I still didn't touch the animatronics."
"Well someone did. You're lucky it's nothing major. They haven't even noticed."
"How did you?" Jeremy scoffed.
"Scott said Puppet–The Prize Puppet–forgot the name of a couple of kids. Treated them like new customers. Didn't even notice. Same with a few of the staff. Didn't recognize Zia until she told him her name. Toy Freddy did the same with Harrison."
"She's been there for three months," Jeremy said, crossing his arms. "Harrison...well...he's always been there."
"I know. The Puppet remembered after they said their names. Point is, I need those chips. So if you happen to know where they are, make sure they get back to me."
"Ask Michael. He's been pulling a lot of overtime. He's always watching people, like a weirdo. If someone messed with the robots after hours he would know."
Mr. Fitzgerald was quiet for a minute. "Sure..."
Puppet was staring, angrily gripping the chair he was sitting in as he realized what the building was telling them in this strange roundabout way.
Jeremy looked mad too. Hindsight was a painful thing. How were they so blind...
"Michael damaged your memories..." Hedy said with a breathy hiss. "He was planning ahead..."
The building shook a little, irritated at her words for some vague reason, and Hedy shut her eyes for a moment.
Mangle growled, low and continuous. She felt violated and it was clear the other Toys felt the same.
Forgetting Ruby was a freaking side effect. How was that fair? It wasn't. None of this was fair.
Toby looked back and was shocked to realize he remembered very few children from that time. It wasn't something that ever occurred to him to check, to his shock. It just...wasn't. It hadn't caused a problem so it was never, not once, brought to his attention that there were gaps in his memories. He remembered playing with kids. He knew he did. But he had never had a reason to call the memories of a specific child to the front except for the ghosts and Hedy, so he never realized they were some of the few memories that even existed from that time. It was a disturbing sensation to realize you knew so much less than you thought you did. Was this why he hadn't recognized Hedy until so much later too?
Ruby twitched. "I want to hunt him down and beat him within an inch of his afterlife." she muttered before raising her voice. "Can those memories be recovered? Are they on separate memory chips or something that might still be around?"
She looked between Hedy and the ceiling, directing the question at both of them. Ruby was developing a weird habit of talking to the building like it was a person standing in front of her. They knew why but still...it was weird to watch.
The building rumbled almost sadly, if that made sense, and Hedy had that far off look when the building was "talking" to her. Or through her. They couldn't tell but it was really weird and a little creepy.
"I can try..." she sounded angry and depressed. "But...I think Michael took them. They're gone unless he hid them somewhere not at the restaurant and didn't destroy them. These tapes..." Hedy looked at the television. "It's the building trying to make up for it and giving us something else instead."
Ruby nodded slowly. "Makes sense." she still didn't look happy. And felt disturbed that she'd met and apparently liked the Toys and Puppet so long ago. "I..." she faltered, looking uncharacteristically hesitant. "I should look through my parent's old photos. Mom...she was always snapping pictures."
Hedy glanced at her. She wanted to say something but she was spinning in her own head dealing with her own emotions. She understood that the building was trying to help with their memories but now it was one thing after another. She would have thought the building was only doing this for Spring before toddler Ruby showed up.
She glanced at Mike.
He hadn't said a single word or made any sort of loud reaction.
"Mike?"
Mike jumped and looked at her. "I'm...just...watching," he said slowly. "This is all..." He swallowed. "It's like watching a horror movie. I'm just waiting for..." he trailed off and glanced at them.
Another clip played and by this point Jeremy had given up trying to stop the camcorder.
Goldy didn't say anything while they reacted to the implications Jeremy and Joseph were discussing. That could be why they don't remember Ruby or the general fuzziness, but there was something missing. Something was…off. This wasn't right. She couldn't remember either. She hadn't had chips for Michael to tamper with for a long time…
She didn't want to bring it up just yet. There was something comforting in a possible explanation and she didn't want to rip that away from the others.
"Say hi, Ruby!"
"Hi!"
"Hello hello! I'm Wiggy and this is Ruby and we're going to give a tour."
Ruby looked bewildered. "How often did I go there?" She mumbled to herself.
Most of them were wondering the same.
The toddler was looking very comfortable with the younger Hedy and there didn't seem to be adults with them, although there were many nearby voices.
On camera, Ruby was practically clinging to Hedy, clearly pleased to be with the older girl.
"Tor?" She asked, curious about the unfamiliar word.
"Yeah. We're going to give a tour. Like a commercial," Hedy explained (poorly). "This is the main room, where all the big parties are and people eat. There's the stage."
That explained the noisiness.
"Beh!"
"Yeah, that's Toy Freddy," Hedy dropped to a whisper. "I call him Teddy but don't tell him that. He doesn't like it."
"Kay! Teddy beh!"
"Shhh! He's working. Come on," Hedy took Ruby's hand and pulled her down the hallway.
"We see blue bunny?" Ruby asked as she followed Hedy, barely keeping up with the older girl but not seeming the least bothered.
"Later. I want you to meet Mags," Hedy said. "She's super nice, even when kids are really mean to her. Promise you'll be nice?"
"Uh huh."
"Oh no..." Mangle murmured with a wince, not sure if she was ready to see herself.
Hedy pushed open a door with her shoulder and immediately shouted in fear, letting go of Ruby's hand abruptly. "Hey!" She sounded mad. The camera was quickly put down and all they saw was Ruby staring at something off-screen in curiosity. She tilted her head at whatever Hedy was doing.
THWACK!
A kid shouted in pain. Moments later Ruby was shoved to the side as a bunch of older children and a few others not much older than Ruby rushed by crying and yelling.
Ruby fell down. She seemed shocked for a second then started crying when she realized what happened.
Hedy rushed by, chasing after the strange children with what looked like a small plastic chair just small enough for her to pick up. She was yelling incoherent things (and maybe a few words she probably shouldn't know) and swinging the chair at the escaping other kids.
She disappeared out the door and there was the faint sound of the chair being thrown and colliding with a person who screamed in pain. Then the clatter of the chair skidding across the floor as six year old Hedy screamed at the top of her little lungs.
"AND STAY OUT, YOU ASSHOLES!"
"HEDY!" Half a dozen bots turned to scold the mechanic who was looking very red in the face.
Mangle was trying to look reproachful, while struggling through her giggles.
"Huh." Ruby stared at the screen, grasping for a distraction. "So we can blame my violent tendencies and early swearing on Hedy? After all, children are very easy to influence when they're young."
"Looks about right." Bonnie snickered.
"Really Hedy, you're supposed to be an example for the younger children!" Chica scolded.
Meanwhile Foxy looked legitimately distressed at the sight of Ruby crying on the screen.
Big brother instincts were very difficult to ignore.
The blood in Hedy's face didn't dissipate while Jeremy was trying not to laugh.
"You can't blame...this...!" she vaguely gestured at all of Ruby. "On me!" Hedy shouted, embarrassed.
"You did get in trouble a lot for beating kids up if they messed with your friends..." Jeremy said unhelpfully, cracking up at her expression. "I think I kind of remember this..."
"That sounds familiar," Mike jokingly wondered.
"Shut your mouth," Hedy muttered. She seemed to get redder and covered her face, peeking out between her fingers at the screen, eyes on the still crying Ruby.
"Shhh shhh...It's okay..." a soft raspy voice interrupted Ruby's sobs. "H-hh-hello, sweetie. Don't c-c-cry." Static interrupted the voice every so often.
Mangle gasped a little as her head snaked into the shot. She glanced at Ruby out of the corner of her eye.
Mangle nudged the little girl's hand with her nose. "Don't cry, sweetie. It was jj-ust a l-l-little fall." Mangle seemed to have a slight accent but it could have just been the warbling.
Ruby sniffled a little before moving her hands to wipe her cheeks free of tears.
"Meanies..." she whimpered before taking a proper look at the damaged bot. "Fox?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her fright.
"What's to bet she was already obsessed with foxes?" Bonnie asked with a smirk, glancing at Foxy who gave him a playful shove.
"There is nothing wrong with my fox obsession." Ruby automatically responded.
"At least she doesn't deny it's an obsession." Freddy muttered, amused.
Mangle was just sort of...staring. Losing her voice couldn't have been much later.
Mangle giggled softly. "I'm Toy Foxy. Nice to meet you."
Hedy's head ducked into the room. "Hi, Mags!"
"Wiggy, that was-s-s mm-mean. It's-s-s not nice to hh-hit people."
"They were hurting you!"
"Foxy! Foxy! Foxy!" Ruby suddenly SCREECHED, suddenly over her tears as she jumped up on top of Mangle's face.
Mangle's main head jerked back in curious surprise, falling over a bit but careful not to jostle the toddler or her sudden hug. "N-no. Toy Foxy...or well...M-Mangle," she sounded unsure about the name. He crossed her eyes to look at the girl on her snout.
"Yup. Fox obsession." the Originals all said simultaneously.
Ruby studied her curiously for a moment. "Toy Fox? Mags? Mags." she nodded her head, deciding on the name that Hedy used. "Mags is fox!" she looked utterly delighted with this. And still didn't move.
Foxy couldn't even feel jealous. Ruby looked so happy on the tape. He remembered his own first meeting with a five year old Ruby.
It had gone pretty much the same. She'd practically bowled him over while screeching 'fox' at the top of her lungs.
"Are you okay, Mags?" Hedy asked, leaning over and mostly ignoring Ruby for a minute.
"I'm f-f-fine, Wiggy," Mangle lied to the little girl while the smaller one was still attached to her face like a barnacle
"Are you hurt?" Wiggy tilted her head much like she did now when she was particularly worried and confused.
"I'm okay."
"But you didn't say 'no'."
"Wiggy..." Mangle made a childish noise, almost like she was whining.
"I'll go get Daddy! He can fix you."
"No...it's-s-s okay."
"Be right back! You watch Ruby!" Hedy ran out, but came back a minute later and got the camera.
She was humming as she ran down the corridors, knowing the place like the back of her hand. She didn't even look where she was going most of the time, busy fiddling with the camera and humming. She ran past the guard office and they caught a glimpse of Scott talking on a phone. She bounced up to a large closed door in a poorly lit corner of the building.
"Daddy?" Hedy called, knocking on the door.
They assumed she knew he was in there. They could see lights under the door.
However, Fitzgerald didn't seem to hear her so she reached for the doorknob. As she did, the camera tilted up to show the sign.
Parts and Services.
Hedy stiffened.
Oh no... she didn't want to see this. Not for her sake.
Jeremy swallowed. He remembered this, somewhat. The aftermath at least. He glanced at the Originals.
The Originals on the other hand were eyeing Ruby who had a carefully neutral expression.
Bonnie also refused to look at the screen. The Toys were looking worried and guilty. They knew what they'd likely see.
"Daddy? Mags got hurt, can you..." Wiggy cut off with a startled choke.
The camera hit the floor and a crack appeared on the lens.
Jeremy winced. He had been so mad at her for that. He hadn't even understood what she was upset about at the time. Hindsight is twenty twenty…
The shot was tilted now but they could still clearly see Bonnie right in the middle of the frame. What was left of him…
Mike hitched a breath. Where the hell was Bonnie's face?! He'd heard vague references to why Bonnie didn't like his maintenance sessions, but this was far worse than he'd expected.
Foxy was beside the rabbit, offline and looking just the same. Thankfully.
Mike was shocked Foxy could look even more run down than he did during his week of working as the night guard.
Ruby let out a soft growl but didn't react just yet.
"Foxy? Bonnie? Wake up! Wake up!" Hedy said, running to them frantically but they didn't respond when she pushed their arms. She was wrong about her dad being in there. The light was on though.
She ran across the room out of sight. "Freddy! Wake up! Bonnie is..." She sounded a bit panicky now. "Are you hurt? Chica? Chica?! Where are your arms?"
"Hey Wiggy, what are you doing?" a familiar voice said as someone blocked out the light in the door.
"Mister Michael! Where's Daddy? They're hurt!"
"What, these?" Michael said, coming further into the room. He flippantly kicked Foxy's leg and it immediately fell off, the bolts already loosened.
Now Ruby snarled, gritting her teeth and tensing. She dug her nails into her palms to keep herself from running off to attempt another murder attempt on a ghost.
Hedy freaked.
"Foxy?!" she cried, turning on the man. "Why'd you do that!?"
"Aw, he didn't feel it, Wiggy. It's fine." Michael seemed particularly uncaring about her tears. He seemed amused even.
"It's not fine! It's not fine! They're hurt."
"Nah," Michael chuckled, crouching down. He wiped Hedy's tears with his thumb. "They're just like big toys, kiddo. Eventually, they get old and the only thing they're good for is parts. So your pop's just taking them apart so we can use the parts for the Toys. You want the Toys to keep working don't you?"
"I want them all working!" Hedy screamed at him. "Don't kill them!"
"Hedwig!" a voice snapped and a foot appeared in the frame.
Hedy ran over, crying. "Daddy! They're hurt! Why are they..." Hedy yelped as Mr. Fitzgerald suddenly stooped down and gripped her arms.
"What the hell are you doing in here?! Michael, what is she doing here?" he sounded almost as frantic as Hedy, though clearly for some different reasons.
"Hey, I just saw her wander in here," Michael said with a shrug. He chuckled, "Heh, you should keep a better eye on your kid, old man."
Fitzgerald ignored Michael as the young man left, walking past them.
Hedy stared at him, tears in her eyes. "What happened to them, Daddy?"
Mr. Fitzgerald ignored her. "Answer the question, Hedwig!"
"I...I was looking for you," she was sobbing. "What did you do?!"
"Get out. Don't you dare let me catch you in here again. Do you understand?"
"Dadd-"
"Do you understand?!"
Hedy sniffled, shocked and cowed at being yelled at. He sounded mad. "Yes..."
"Yes what?"
"Yes, sir..."
"Good girl, go play with your friends."
Hedy was abruptly pushed out the room, the camera shoved in her arms harshly.
"Daddy, please! D-don't hurt them!" Hedy shouted, but the door was slammed in her face.
She banged on it, "Daddy, please! Please! Don't hurt my friends? Please? Please?1"
"Hey, kid."
Hedy looked up at Michael. "Can you make him stop, Mr. Michael?"
"Yeah sure. Hey, let's get this back to Jeremy a'right?"
Hedy nodded, teary-eyed, and gestured for Michael to pick her up and hold her.
He did, taking the camera and turning it off as he balanced Hedy on his hip and he let her cry into the sleeve of his uniform.
"I'm going to be sick," Jeremy murmured.
A trash can appeared in his face and he glanced at Puppet, who honestly didn't look much better.
"I can't throw up," Mari pointed out with a level tone. "Hedy's going to need it after you."
"I'm fine," Hedy lied.
Ruby was crossing her arms now, nails digging into her skin so hard it drew blood through her shirt as she took deep breaths. The lights were still flickering madly while the building rumbled around them. At least there wasn't a whirlwind this time.
"Lass?" Foxy tried to get her attention but she continued glaring ahead of her. That familiar protective look was burning in her eyes.
"Ruby, we're fine now. Calm down," Freddy tried next but she ignored them.
Hearing about it and seeing it were two completely different things. She could feel her temper getting away from her but there wasn't anyone in the room she could take that anger out on.
The light above her shattered, making them jump.
Suddenly she took in a sharp breath as she thought of something.
"Hedy. Where is Michael right now?" she asked, forcing her voice to remain calm.
Hedy's voice was angry, but soft and simultaneously depressed. She knew the only reason she'd just go after Michael was because her father was dead and gone. Ruby didn't know about the company using her and Jeremy to threaten their father.
"Fright. Eastmost hallway in the back corner under the camera."
Ruby vanished and minutes later they heard screams echoing out from Fazbear's Fright.
Ten minutes of yelling later Ruby returned, much calmer.
"Apparently you can still break ghost bones," she said, still angry but more under control.
"I'm jealous," Jeremy said tightly. He scoffed. "We sure I'm not a ghost too? I faked my death."
"No. Ruby and Springtrap's deal affected you, remember?" Goldy reminded him.
"Damn."
Hedy hadn't reacted to Ruby leaving or Michael's screams. She didn't seem to hear the others talking. She had quietly folded in on herself, staring at the floor with her arms wrapped around her as she struggled to pull out memories another side of her violently protested. She had sunk into her chair, looking very small. The lights had been constantly fluctuating at various times throughout the tapes, courtesy of either her or Ruby. At the moment there was a steady pulse, settling from Ruby's shattering. Hedy didn't look at anyone, though her eyes slightly lifted up to blankly stare at the screen, the last scene still turning around in her mind.
Her reaching up for Michael to carry her, trusting him to hold her.
The lights reacted but she had much better control than Ruby when it came to emotions and they settled from her distress quickly enough, though they still waxed and waned in brightness.
Someone softly poked her side.
"Hedy, take a deep breath," Spring said gently.
She didn't seem to hear him and continued to stare at nothing, unmoving.
"Wiggy, breathe," Spring tried again.
Hedy sucked in a gasp on instinct, not realizing she had been holding it. "Don't..." she sounded pained.
"I'm sorry. I won't. Everyone's okay."
"I could have stopped him."
"Dad?" Jeremy said. He shook his head. "No, you couldn't. He never listened to either or us."
"You couldn't have done anything," Freddy murmured while Ruby sat between Foxy and Bonnie again. "The company had a tight hold on all the employees."
"They never had anyone who bit back," Chica added, glancing at Ruby who was still silently fuming.
"I think I should visit the board again," Ruby muttered darkly to herself.
"Can I go?" Jeremy asked, the older man almost sounding like a begging child.
"They'll get you fired from the police somehow," Hedy pointed out, still rather muted and staring at the screen. "What would you even do?"
"I just want to punch someone in the face," Jeremy said calmly, "Since I can't punch Michael."
"Soak a wooden rod in salt water and let it dry," Hedy murmured. She knew Jeremy would only really go after the board if he had legal stuff to throw at them. He wasn't violent like Ruby. With Michael though...
"Maybe a couple of board members should go missing for a few days again," Ruby mused, eyeing first Goldy and then Puppet thoughtfully.
Freddy turned to look at her. "Again?"
She gave him a sweet smile. "Why do you think they stayed out of the whole mess when I was in the coma? They learn better than the manager."
The video began to play again.
"Oh, what now..." Hedy mumbled quietly. The murders weren't on camera she was sure, thank goodness. Michael couldn't have been dumb enough to let her bring it with her. And she was pretty sure there was more that happened before that.
The first thing they noticed was that the camera was in the guard office positioned somewhere behind the desk on a shelf of some sort with a view of the whole room. The framing was strange, as if the camera was sitting on a shelf hidden underneath something. There was a vignette around the edge as if the lens was looking out through a hole and there was a steady soft red blinking reflecting off of whatever the camera was inside.
Despite that, they had a clear wide view of one vent to the left, another hinted at the right, piles of boxes in the corners, and a massive opening right in front, not to mention the desk had a familiar set up.
"Wait..." Jeremy said. "I had my camera back after that. I didn't leave it in...Who the heck pushed the recording button?"
His questions were cut off at the sound of footsteps.
Scott appeared in the doorway and immediately walked to the desk chair, not noticing the camera. He sat down a little hard, rolling and having to scoot back up. He put his elbows on the desk and was quiet. They couldn't see his expression, only the back of his head now, but he seemed tense. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of a busy working day.
They all watched in concern and more than a hint of sadness and guilt. Knowing this man never hated them even as they hunted him down...
"Stupid layout of an office. What were they thinking?" Ruby was muttering under her breath.
Silence fell for a beat.
"Would have been fun to play whack-a-bot with anyone coming through the vents though."
The bots flinched at that image. They could all see her doing that.
Toby and Chi shared a glance and winced.
Scott shifted, reaching for a coffee cup only to realize it was empty. He huffed and set it down as he pulled the keyboard for the computer closer. He fiddled with something, flicking through a few cameras so fast they couldn't tell if he saw anything before pushing the monitor away and picking up the phone and dialing.
"Hello. Hello hello? Yes, Manager," he said the title with a hint of distaste. "Yes, I know you're just in your office. I'm too lazy to get up and walk ALL the way down the hall. Could you tell Fitzgerald one of the cameras in the vents that go to the guard office is out? He needs to check it immediately. Yes, right now." There was a pause. "Me? Oh, I'm not in the office right now. I just noticed it earlier. I'm in the front room. Someone with a water cup keeps trying to steal soda when I'm not looking," he lied.
"Steve Steve." Ruby shook her head but she was grinning. "Didn't know you were so sneaky."
"Are you always going to call him that?" Teddy asked.
"He sounds like a Steve. Even looks like a Steve. So therefore, he is a Steve. Not my problem his parents gave him the wrong name." she shrugged.
"What's a Steve even look like?" Bonnie wondered.
"Like that." she pointed at the screen and they all rolled their eyes.
Hedy chuckled, despite her feelings at seeing Scott again. Or 'Steve'.
'Steve' got up and went to the right vent. He reached inside and fiddled with something before there was a click. He pulled his arm out and hit the light button above it.
To Jeremy's shock, a vent door slid shut over the opening with a loud clang.
Scott went to the other side with a determined look and the sound repeated out of frame.
"Excuse me...what?" Jeremy deadpanned. "There were freaking doors? What the hell Scott? What the actual hell?!"
Scott moved to the computer, hit a few keys, and the cameras in that room (except the one secretly recording) turned off. Then he went to stand by the door, hidden from sight from anyone just walking in. He rested his hand on the wall under what seemed to be a few hanging wires as he shifted a few boxes out of the way with his foot.
"Hey what's with those warning signs above the door?" Mike interrupted Jeremy, oddly more interested in those than whatever weird thing the phone guy was doing. "The triangle caution signs." He had mixed feelings about seeing the guy who had basically saved his life the first time through. It made him sad to remember that this guy, someone close to Jeremy and Hedy, was long dead. Yet here he was, moving around, doing something weird and closing off the guard office.
Ruby scowled as the footage paused and chucked a glitter bomb at Mike's head which exploded on impact. "Shhhh! I want to see what Steve's doing!"
Toby inched away from Mike who was coughing and waving at the cloud of glitter.
"You just interrupted a moment ago?" Chi pointed out and got a faceful of glitter bomb for her trouble.
"Yeah but now it got interesting." she huffed.
Foxy and Bonnie were snickering while Toby pointedly held his own mouth shut so he wasn't tempted to say anything that would get him hit with a glitter bomb next.
They knew she was being overly aggressive to hide how upset she still was about this entire thing. And anyway, Mike never minded the glitter bombs. He was used to walking around with sparkly hair by now.
Jeremy on the other hand, still hated it and gave the teen a warning glare.
After a minute or so, Hedy and Jeremy's dad appeared in the door. He walked into the room, not noticing as he walked right by Scott. He set his bag down on the desk and scratched his head as he looked at the covered vents in confusion.
"Come here often?" Scott asked in a sarcastic tone.
Fitzgerald screamed and spun around to see Scott leaning against the wall staring at him, hitting his hip on the edge of the desk. A moment later Scott hit a button that was hidden underneath the wires and a freaking massive pneumatic door slammed down across the hallway opening. It was just like the current office doors, just way bigger. It crushed two unlucky boxes that hadn't been moved
"Ah," Ruby mused. "That's what the caution signs were for…"
Jeremy stared in disbelieving silence.
The doors slammed down hard enough to shake the hidden camera and the loud boom was startling, but Scott didn't even react. He just stared at the other man expectantly.
"THERE WAS A FUCKING DOOR?!" Jeremy snapped, jumping up and ignoring the familiar scolding over his language.
Ruby was giggling. "I wonder if Steve just forgot to mention them?" She wondered.
Foxy looked confused. "Don't remember those. Then again that whole time is kind of fuzzy."
Bonnie looked at the Toys. "Did you know about the doors?"
"No!" Teddy said, just as surprised, "Jeremy just used that stupid mask trick."
"What stupid mask trick?" Mike asked.
Mangle tilted her head. "There was a weird slot thing I had to climb over to get in the room, but I didn't realize it was a door.
They looked back at the screen at the sound of shouting.
Fitzgerald was hyperventilating, leaning on the desk in fright. "Scott, what the hell are you doing!?"
"Soundproofing."
"You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"See...that would require you had a heart, Joseph..."
"Ooh! Steve has claws!" Ruby grinned. "And he sounded so timid on the phone too. Who knew?"
She sounded so proud of him.
"What. The. Hell. Are you doing to the animatronics?" Scott demanded, stepping closer to Joseph.
Joseph winced. "Scott...Scott! I can explain. The company..."
"The company wouldn't have you taking apart assets without a reason," Scott said, poking the other man in the chest. "They have a special place in people's hearts here so they need to be treated with respect, even if someone made a stupid mistake and WHOOPSEY DAISY forgot to build a whole new location for the new ones! So explain to me like I'm six years old and walked in on you taking apart my friends. My family! Hedy was crying! I didn't think anything of it when management said I wasn't allowed in Part and Services anymore. I just said, 'sure, fine. I'm supposed to be doing my job instead of chatting anyway. I'll just talk to them later'. But no." Scott waved his hand. "'Oh Scott, can you go pick up more paint? Hey, Scott, some kid threw up on the slide. Oh Scott, the manager forgot my paycheck. Can you take care of it? Busy busy busy."
"Scott..."
"And of course, EVERYONE knows I just can't say no to anybody!" Scott said, throwing his arms up, his voice cracking. "But what am I supposed to do when your daughter comes to me crying like someone murdered her friends?!"
"...that's a choice of words..." Hedy muttered.
"So give me ONE good reason I don't call Afton right now!" Scott pointed at the phone.
Surprisingly enough, that threat seemed to make Joseph anxious.
"The company doesn't want Afton told of it..." He pointed out weakly. "And he left the board in charge."
"If he heard about this he'd come straight back and fire you." Scott sounded very sure. "And then sue the asses off of everyone else involved. The only reason I haven't called Will is because I don't want Hedy and Jeremy suffering from you losing your income and getting dragged into one hell of a lawsuit."
The bots all stiffened up at the mention of the man and looked away. Except for Spring who looked intrigued.
Ruby frowned however. It almost sounded like Afton was being kept in the dark about what was happening with the bots. Scott seemed pretty certain he'd take action if he heard about the Originals. It made her wonder…
The bots were too upset to notice that though and she didn't doubt that they'd deny the idea. They never spoke about Afton, but it wasn't hard to come up with some theories.
Hedy frowned but didn't comment yet.
Joseph panicked as Scott reached around him for the phone.
"Please, just listen," he said, stepping in front of him.
"Get out of the way," Scott ordered. "Or give me a reason."
Joseph caught Scott's arms and Scott immediately tried to shove him away. The phone got knocked off the receiver.
Joseph found himself on the floor and Scott had the phone, holding it to his ear warningly. He'd already dialed.
"SCOTT!"
Scott froze at the fear in Joseph's voice. They stared at each other for a moment.
"Explain. Now!"
"The kids...Scott. I have to do what they say or they..." he shook his head. "You can't tell Afton... they'll hurt the kids. Jeremy. Hedwig."
"How... They care about the money but they aren't that stupid. They wouldn't stoop that low."
"How should I know?! They said they'd hire someone to kidnap them and make sure I never saw them again. O-or there would be an accident. They already covered up what happened to Will's kid! Just to keep the place from shutting down! And he doesn't even know!"
"They what? Joseph of course he knew. He asked them to keep Tim out of the papers."
Joseph shook his head frantically. "There's more. I thought I was crazy. I checked. There was a small fire at the hospital where Tim was. They...lost all the records."
"...That was an accident."
"No, it wasn't...Scott. I-I can't do anything... I can't leave either. I know too much. You know too much."
Ruby's eyes narrowed at the mention of Timmy. She didn't completely buy Joseph's excuse either.
He may have been forced into the job but he didn't have to hurt the bots that badly. Even with her limited knowledge she knew that.
It could just be her bias but…
Scott was quiet for a long moment until he slowly he put down the phone.
"We aren't done," he said stiffly, pointing a finger at Joseph with a squint. "Not at all." He ran a hand down his face. "I'll look into it. You just...don't hurt them too much..."
He sounded pained saying that. "You know, do the minimum. Come up with excuses why it's taking so long, that sort of thing."
Joseph frowned at Scott. "...Yeah...sure..."
"I'll ask Michael about Timmy...He's coming in over the next couple of days."
"Why?"
"We got a bit short-staffed. Fritz didn't show up. It's going to be busy with the party."
"Keep an eye on him," Joseph murmured. "I think he's messing with the bots during the night shift."
"What, him? You know the kid doesn't like them. He avoids them like the plague if he can. Don't blame him after what happened. What would he even be doing?" Scott asked as he walked back to the hidden door control.
Joseph didn't answer and picked up his bag. "The camera in the vent is fine isn't it?"
"Yep," Scott gave him a thumbs up and a cheesy grin.
"Asshole."
It was quiet for a moment before Ruby spoke up.
"I like him. Steve is cool. At least you had one cool relative." She said to Hedy, ignoring Jeremy's indignant 'hey!'
Hedy cracked a smile, the first they had seen in a while.
"He was cool..." Jeremy said. "Even if he didn't tell mE ABOUT THE STUPID DOORS!" Jeremy looked like he was going to have a stroke. Still stuck on that huh...?
Hedy patted his shoulder and sighed.
Ruby snickered at him.
"You shouldn't have sat in the office like a sitting duck," She pointed out with a smirk.
"What else was I supposed to do!?" Jeremy demanded. "I didn't have a freaking bat and I'm not about to go running around playing chicken with Foxy! And I did leave the office a couple of times. The first night I freaked out and made a break for outside but I was locked in."
"I stole your keys..." Puppet admitted.
"He stole my keys!" Jeremy shouted and pointed at Puppet. There was a beat as Jeremy processed that. "You what?"
"I stole your keys," Puppet repeated.
"You got close enough to steal my keys without me noticing and you didn't kill me?"
"I had some grand scheme of drawing the night out," Puppet shrugged. "I just met the children. I was angry and murderous. So sue me."
"You know." Ruby was looking at Puppet. "If we got along, we'd be an absolute nightmare."
"Thank goodness for that clown phobia," Toby muttered.
"Oh, I think that coma cured it."
"Crap."
They all turned to look at Goldy. Despite being able to swear, she rarely did.
"What? You don't know what a menace he was when we were younger!" She pointed accusingly at Puppet.
Puppet looked miffed.
"Don't compare me to Ruby. I was not a 'menace'."
Goldy glared at him.
"You dyed mine and Spring's suits green!"
"...it was supposed to be blue," Puppet muttered, looking annoyed. "It was Spring's idea."
"Blue plus yellow equals green, Puppet!"
"I thought it was funny," Timmy said, appearing next to Spring. "And you did kind of deserve it. You told Puppet bleach would clean his suit better in the wash"
Hedy snorted. "Puppet turned orange?"
Timmy nodded. "Splotchy orange."
"You should be more concerned about the fact that Ruby's taking notes," Foxy called their attention to the teen who was actually jotting down the ideas into a notebook.
Goldy looked horrified.
"You started it," Puppet said, getting ready to lunge for Ruby's notebook.
"Geez," Hedy sighed, "You actually sound like siblings."
Spring chuckled and watched a little sadly without saying anything.
Ruby pointed her taser pen warningly at Puppet as she finished writing in the notebook with her other hand.
Bonnie leaned over to take a peek at the book before jerking back with wide eyes.
"Please tell me you don't actually plan to do that?" He asked faintly.
"Which one?"
"Number 548."
"Oh. Haven't decided yet." She snapped the book closed and slipped it into her bag.
Puppet and Goldy shared a look
"If I wake up orange you are dead," Puppet hissed.
"Now hypothetically," Mangle said, "Would that be better or worse than when I ripped you out of your suit and you had to run around naked?"
That set Ruby off giggling again while most of the others chuckled. Relationships might be better with Puppet, but no one could deny that he'd deserved that.
Mike looked at them oddly, about to ask about this possibly hilarious story when he glanced at the screen and realized that it had turned off. The camera too.
"Jeremy..." he nudged the man and Jeremy frowned.
Jeremy looked down at the tape and fiddled with it. "It's not done. There's more tape."
"I think the building wants us to stop for tonight," Hedy said. She frowned. They were happy at the moment but something told her that the mood was going to be ruined if they kept going with the tapes tonight. The building picked up on that.
Ruby whined but didn't complain much. She accepted the building's decisions most of the time. The times she didn't usually resulted in a battle of wills, temper tantrums on both sides and a grudging compromise. Usually on the building's side.
Only Ruby could out-stubborn a literal building…
Hedy was grateful that wasn't the case right now. She…they needed a break.