Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay everyone. It's been a rough couple of months. Going to try and get back to regular updates but it might be a while. Sorry about worrying everyone and thank you for the nice comments. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 164

Interrogation

The clip shut off and paused on the first frame of the next one.

The camera was innocently showing a living room the humans were all familiar with. It seemed to be hidden under a pile of magazines on a side table or a shelf. A little girl was on her knees staring at a table covered by paper with a blank expression as she drew something.

Hedy stared at the frozen image for a moment.

The video didn't play, though, wanting them to talk and waiting for Jeremy to return.

"Your dad didn't stop," Hedy said softly in the empty quiet. Everything seemed too loud in the silence. She could hear her own heart, Ruby's breathing, and the soft whirring of the bots' systems making micro-adjustments. The ghosts didn't make any sounds. "I do appreciate that, Ruby."

Ruby tensed a little at the mention of her dad and gave a stiff nod. She honestly wasn't sure how she wasn't breaking down right now. Actually, she was feeling a bit numb. The freak out would come later, probably.

"D-Dad always was stubborn." She stumbled on the first word.

Jeremy cracked out a laugh from the doorway, startling them by his return. It was a bit hysterical but he couldn't help thinking about a few particular moments of Stone's stubbornness he had to suffer through years ago.

Everyone gave him weird looks, Foxy looking annoyed at the man for a moment, but Ruby looked like she might understand. She kept her gaze down, let go of Hedy, and gripped her knees tightly, nails digging in, the sting grounding her again. She couldn't fall back into memories, not right now. This wasn't her story anymore that the building was telling. Maybe it never really was.

She was so mad at the building, but at the same time, she felt like she couldn't be mad at it.

It was just…trying to help. Wasn't it?

It wouldn't do this just to hurt them. Her nails dug a little deeper at the reminder of the alternative being cruel, ironic ignorance.

The girl on the screen began to move, the slight static of the audio starting up and drawing their attention again. The little girl continued her drawing.

Hedy was almost unrecognisable. Her eyes were blank but bloodshot from crying all her tears out. They looked hollow and the dark circles underneath looked like bruises. A real bruise was across her neck and another was on the side of her face, stretching into her hairline, blue and edging on purple and making her skin look even paler. She blinked rarely.

Breathing was clearly difficult, and she hugged a pillow to her chest, taking in shallow breaths.

Hedy didn't comment, but she did frown. She was angry for this child, who was clearly in pain. It didn't feel like looking at herself. She'd never seen how badly she had been hurt physically. It wasn't like there were pictures taken that she could see and she didn't remember looking in a mirror for a while.

There were adult voices in the distance, but too quiet to make out.

Ruby had gone completely still, barely even breathing. This reminded her a little too much of Michael almost killing Hedy before.

She wanted to make him hurt.

The bots were all throwing venomous glares at the adult ghost while Timmy simply looked sad.

Michael was interested, but didn't dare show it. He just stared blankly, mimicking Hedy's expression on screen. Internally, there was a morbid curiosity as he studied the girl. He had tried to get close afterwards but never was sure if she had recognized him. It drove him nuts. He had wanted to know how the investigation was going. But it was always too risky to get too close.

Joseph came into the frame and stood behind his daughter for a moment.

In a doorway leading to elsewhere in the house, was Derrick and another officer, hanging back.

Hedy stiffened at the sensation of someone nearby and turned so her father was less behind her. She pressed her back against the couch.

Joseph knelt beside her.

"Hedwig. Baby girl, look at me? Please?" He gently brushed hair out of her eyes, avoiding the bruise.

Hedy didn't respond and continued to draw, leaning away from him.

Joseph looked heartbroken and hesitantly pulled back his hand, shaking. "Hedwig, love, you're safe now. I promise…"

Hedy still didn't look at him but she turned her head away slightly and ducked.

"What are you drawing, sweetheart?" Joseph asked, after trying to clear his throat. He still sounded like he was a moment from crying.

He reached for her drawing, but she moved it away and started drawing on another piece of paper.

"Alright," Joseph said shakily. "H-Hedwig..Mr. Stone wants to speak to you for a minute. Is that okay?"

Hedy didn't look up or respond, but confusion flashed across her face as she stared at the paper. It was gone after a second and she had the blank expression again.

All the bots looked concerned now.

Derrick walked in, giving Joseph a sympathetic look. He knelt down by Hedy and Joseph.

"Hello Hedwig," he murmured softly, giving her space so she didn't get threatened by a stranger.

Hedy glanced at him. She looked back with no other reaction. She tightly gripped the purple crayon in her hand.

"I'll be right over there, okay, Wiggy?" Joseph whispered.

Hedy tensed at her nickname and shut her eyes suddenly.

Both Joseph and Derrick noticed.

Joseph looked like he might say something, but he didn't know what. He settled for shakily taking his daughter's bruised hand and gently kissing it before standing up and walking out of sight, reappearing in the doorway behind the couch.

Derrick sat down on the couch, staying on the other side as far from Hedy as the seat would allow but still beside her instead of across the small coffee table.

"It's good to see you again, Hedy," He said, not using her nickname. He didn't seem put off by the silence or how confused she looked as she glanced at him with seemingly no recognition. He'd dealt with children in cases before. "Did I ever tell you my name? I'm Derrick. I'm a police officer. It's my job to catch bad people."

Hedy nodded, though she still looked confused, staring back at the paper, which was more than Derrick appeared to expect.

"You don't have to say anything you don't want to. Alright? Can we talk about what happened yesterday?"

Hedy shrugged, but the movement was listless.

"You're doing great, Hedy," he encouraged. "Can I ask you something easy first? Tell me about your morning. What did you do when you woke up?"

Hedy looked at him.

"Mr. Derrick," she said. Her voice was raspy and barely above a whisper, and so painfully soft. "You don't care about my breakfast."

If Derrick was surprised, he didn't show it. "Yes, I do, Hedy. Was it a good breakfast?"

But Hedy didn't respond. She stopped drawing for a moment, as if thinking.

"Are you looking for my friends?"

"Yes, sweetie."

She finally met his eyes out the corner of hers. "They're dead."

Joseph covered his mouth and turned away, leaving toward the kitchen quickly.

The other officer was shocked and looked at Derrick for what to do.

Jeremy stared. "This is not how cognitive interviews with kids usually go," he said quietly.

Derrick was supposed to walk Hedy through the day, asking open ended questions, then have her recount things again in chronological order. Ideally, she'd recount from someone else's point of view but that step was often skipped with little kids.

Hedy just shrugged slightly. She barely remembered any of this, anyway.

They saw a third officer appear from the kitchen.

Most of them tensed. Ruby practically went rigid and bit back a snarl.

Black leaned against the doorframe with an unreadable expression.

Derrick was caught off guard by her bluntness, but it was barely a flicker across his features.

"Why do you think that Hedy?" he asked gently.

Hedy looked at him, confused. Silently, she pulled a drawing out from near the bottom of her pile. They barely caught a flash of red on the paper.

"They don't know they're dead. They're scared and I can't tell them. I'm too far away." It was disturbing hearing such a young voice speak like that.

Some of the bots couldn't help their shudder at her tone.
Mangle glanced at Hedy, as if she expected the mechanic to be offended, but Hedy didn't seem to notice or care.

Hedy spoke like she knew she didn't sound sane and just didn't care. She sounded older, understanding things with clarity a seven-year-old should struggle with.

Ruby was frowning at the screen. How much did Hedy know as a kid? Before she grew up and forgot about it all?

Hedy looked equally disturbed.

Derrick kept a carefully neutral expression while the other cop looked confused and concerned. Black just studied Hedy carefully.

"Do...you remember who hurt you Hedy?" he asked gently.

Hedy waited a moment before nodding but she seemed to struggle with the words. "It...wasn't Spring. He was crying. He's still crying. Timmy said it was his brother. He hurt Spring. It wasn't Spring's fault. H-he wouldn't…he wouldn't hurt me. He wouldn't hurt my friends."

Spring was so caught up in the guilt from the pain in Hedy's voice that he didn't even hear the other thing.

Hedy's sinking apathy at what she was watching halted for a moment. "What?" She looked at Timmy in confusion.

Timmy winced.

Everyone else looked confused, too.

Wiggy was speaking quickly and stammering, so it was easier to assume in the moment that she said something else besides what they thought. The video didn't pause long enough to let them consider it.

"Who's Spring, Hedy?" Derrick tried, but Hedy was in the middle of a thought.

"It wasn't Spring though. I think. I...know it was..." she trailed off. Her eyes widened, and she stiffened, staring at the paper. "I can't say. I can't say. It isn't safe. I can't say. It doesn't want me t-to say. It isn't safe. It won't let me!" She looked up. She looked at Derrick for a moment, before whipping around in fear to look at the other two adults, lingering on them for a moment before she covered her ears with her hands and looked back at the paper on the table. "I can't say! I can't say!" She looked at Derrick, so frightened. She screamed at him. One of her hands went to her throat. "I can't say. It won't let me say! It isn't safe to say! I can't say! Don't make me say!"

Derrick soothed her gently while the other cop in the room looked a bit freaked out.

"It's okay, Hedy, I won't make you say anything. It's okay, you're safe here."

Ruby's gaze flicked to Hedy in confusion as she panicked on screen.

"N-no I'm not safe. I'm never safe. I can't tell you," she cried. "I want to. I do! I promise!"

"The...building," Hedy said, still sounding distant, like she was calmly commenting on the trauma of a stranger. "I was already a ghost and sensing things. It knew about Black. Somehow. It was protecting me...keeping me silent." She suddenly looked mad. "Michael got away because it didn't let me tell anyone."

The building hummed softly, apologising.

Hedy was suddenly hit by a small wave of barely managed rage at the building. What made it think it could physically control her free will like that? And how? It never intervened unless it was a deal. She glanced at Ruby, careful about her expression. She wondered if it was just Derrick she hadn't been able to speak to and swallowed the sudden lump of resentment she felt. No. You can't blame Ruby. Don't do that. You can't do that. She blames herself already when she shouldn't.

Ruby patted her arm gently, unaware of Hedy's thoughts. She wasn't looking Hedy in the eye. "They'd have probably covered it up, anyway. Or killed my dad earlier." She just barely kept her voice steady as she said that.

Hedy looked at her sadly and put her hand over Ruby's. "I-I know. I just...It's one more thing on top of everything."

"Yeah," Ruby sighed, her shoulders sagging. "It's just one thing after another." The exhaustion showed on her face for just a moment before she straightened up and went back to acting like she was fine.

No one else commented.

"Alright, Hedwig. It's alright," Derrick said as Hedy sobbed. He instinctually pulled her to his side protectively and hugged her, clearly reacting and not really thinking it through. A moment later he realised what he did, and they could see him regret the action, afraid of how the little girl might react to being touched by a man who was practically a stranger.

Hedy stiffened as she sobbed, but she didn't immediately pull away and Derrick looked incredibly relieved his mistake hadn't triggered her.

"Shh. It's alright." He gently ran his hand down her hair. "You wait right here, okay? I'm going to talk to your dad. Is that okay?"

Hedy didn't answer but didn't cling to Derrick as he gently pulled her arms away.

He gestured for the other two to follow him as they went into the kitchen.

Black glanced at the little girl before following.

Hedy felt Ruby tense and could almost hear the teen grind her teeth until the man disappeared.

Jeremy looked pained, both at the affection Derrick had shown Hedy without a second thought and the fact Black had just been there. Watching his sister. He tried not to think about it.

Some pained and selfish part of him was hurt that Hedy hadn't really let anyone, including him, touch her for years following. Or at least, she rarely initiated contact and anything else clearly set her on edge. She was better now.

Goldy told him she had seen her and Ruby on the couch in the staff room together after the coma week.

Jeremy glanced at Mike, letting through the rare, begrudging thought that Mike being physically affectionate to Hedy was a healthy thing, even if the thought made him tense.

Hedy just hugged her pillow and cried with her head bowed. She shivered. "Cold... It's cold," she mumbled to herself, curling her fingers into her fists. "Too cold." Her breath misted.

"I didn't know the building had that much influence outside," Ruby admitted softly.

The bots also looked surprised at how far it could apparently reach.

Timmy fidgeted, bracing himself. He wasn't quite sure how they'd react.

"Timmy, it's so cold," Hedy whispered with a whine in her voice.

"I-I know, Wiggy. I-I'm so sorry. That's my fault."

Everyone jolted in shock and turned to look at the ghost.

Michael looked stunned as well.

"You really just are full of secrets, aren't you?" Ruby muttered, shaking her head.

"Heh," Timmy chuckled nervously.

"You can leave?!" Michael blurted, but his brother ignored him. Everyone did. They couldn't really deal with the overwhelming desire to punch his teeth in while seeing the state he had left Hedy in.

Puppet couldn't quite ignore him. His cold stare landed on the man for the first time in a while that night, but he looked away as BB tugged the elbow of his suit.

BB knew Puppet was really more interested in the video and would be mad if he let himself get distracted by how much he hated Michael, especially now. The small bot could be observant when he wanted to be.

"Why?" Hedy sniffed.

"I think it's just an absence of body heat," Timmy explained, coming into the frame. He didn't sit next to her. The older kid climbed up onto the couch behind her and, with more effort than it would have taken if he was alive, kicked the blanket there off and onto Hedy.

The other kids were dumbstruck at what was happening. They were maybe a bit surprised Timmy could be corporal, even if it clearly took a lot of effort.

The blanket fell on her head and Timmy, with a lot of concentration in his eyes, practically had to hit it to make it fall in the right place on her shoulders.

"Better?" he said, getting down and sitting next to her.

Hedy shook her head.

Timmy looked a bit dejected. "Yeah...I know. Just thought I'd try."

"It's always so cold when no one's around, even when you aren't here."

Timmy frowned. He looked down.

They were quiet for several minutes while everyone just stared.

"Wiggy... can you try something for me?" he asked hesitantly.

Hedy curled tighter into the blanket.

"It's easy...I promise. Can you..." Timmy paused. "Can you try to tell what I'm thinking?"

Hedy looked at him. She looked back at the coffee table. "Is this a game?"

"N-no. I'm just...curious. Just try, please?"

Hedy was quiet for a minute. "I can't hear anything."

"O-okay. That's okay." He actually looked very relieved.

"You're sad," Hedy said. "You're very sad. And angry?"

"No I'm..." Timmy trailed off. He stared at Hedy in a little bit of fear.

Ruby turned a look on Timmy.

"Yeah, we're talking about this later," she warned.

The bots just seemed shocked.

Goldy looked at Timmy with a complicated expression.
He couldn't look her in the eye, already knowing what she might be thinking?

Why didn't he warn Hedy?

Why didn't he do something?

Why didn't he show himself and get help?

Was he aware of what was going on when Michael attacked the kids?

Why did he reveal himself to Hedy and not his bot?

Maybe the last one was what she was really thinking while the others were just his own anxiety and guilt...

"You're afraid..." Hedy seemed worried. She shakily took his sleeve and looked at him.

Jeremy looked at Timmy. He recognized that look. Hedy looked at him like that when she was worried about him but unsure. It was the look of a worried younger sibling. He hadn't seen it from her in a long time

How often did Timmy and Hedy speak? They clearly seemed to know each other.

Timmy shouted in fright and wrenched away his arm. He stood up quickly, nearly floating away. A light flashed.

"How...?!"

Timmy winced. That was such a terrible reaction. He had just not been touched by anyone in a long time and it was a shock.

"Timmy?" Hedy whimpered. "Me? W-why are you afraid of me?" Tears welled in her eyes.

"No friends left," Hedy whispered.

They looked at her in alarm.

"What?" Ruby asked.

Hedy blinked. "That's what I was thinking. No friends left."

Timmy looked down. "I'm sorry, Hedy."

Ruby stared at her for a moment.

"It's not true anymore though," she pointed out, looking away.

"I know," Hedy assured. "Things are so different now. But it was what I was thinking. I didn't have anyone left. I didn't think even Dad or Jeremy loved me."

Jeremy frowned at that.

"I was too scared to go back to the pizzeria, so Mari couldn't help. Or the Toys. Or the Originals." She glared at nothing for a moment. "I knew all of you at one point." She laughed a little. "Okay, except maybe Goldy. Then she was ironically the one who remembered me first."

"I should have recognized you, Hedy," Puppet said. "I don't know why I didn't."

"I do," Hedy said. She didn't sound insulted or angry at all. She was still dissociating with the past. "The last time you saw me I was so little. Even with my name, your programming wasn't going to connect what it thought were two faces to one person unless someone outright told you to. It never occurred to your programming that I grew up."

"And the deal probably didn't help at all," Ruby muttered, crossing her arms and looking irritated. With the situation and herself.

"I've got a very good memory. Plus, I snooped through your file when no one was around," Goldy admitted.

Hedy gave her a confused little glare at that, breaking the blank expression that was starting to look a bit too close to Ruby's for anyone's liking.

"...Are we going to ignore the thing about Timmy apparently hanging around Hedy all the time?" Toby snapped.

Goldy winced. "We can talk about it later." There was a note of warning, although it was directed at Toby and not the ghost.

The rabbit wisely shut his mouth.

"You're not..." Timmy said. He landed and grounded his feet. "Oh no, Wiggy. This doesn't make any sense. You shouldn't..." he reached out but his fingers sank into her arm like mist as she weakly gasped and pulled away, shivering.

Hedy didn't seem surprised at all by the ghostly things, but she was still frightened by Timmy's reaction.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Wiggy. I never thought you... I'm sorry I scared you. Are you okay? I wasn't afraid of you. I promise."

Hedy seemed to have calmed a little. She still seemed shaky and ill. "What are you afraid of, Timmy? Because I'm very scared of...a lot of things right now."

"Oh that's okay. I'm afraid of a lot of things. A real cry baby. I'm just afraid of ghosts too."

"You're a ghost, silly." Hedy still sounded reserved and depressed, but there was a tiny thread of amusement.

Goldy leaned over to Jeremy and whispered so Hedy couldn't hear. "Is it illegal for the management to hire a PI to look into their employees? Cause some of the stuff in those files borders on really really personal."

Ruby flicked a glance at Timmy. Was he talking about being afraid of the ghost kids?

Jeremy answered Goldy seriously. "It's not. Employers can run background checks on anyone if they please and while it isn't ethical to look into anything beyond what's necessary for work, it's not illegal. Blackmail and coercionare though."

Goldy looked puzzled. "Why do they need to know Hedy's bra size, though?"

"WHAT?!" Hedy snarled as the men suddenly looked horrified and confused.

Mike had a conflicted expression that mixed a pissed off scowl and very red ears, while Jeremy looked shocked.

The bots looked at them, clearly confused about the anger.

"I'm going to beat someone up," Jeremy deadpanned.

Mike chuckled but there wasn't any humour in it.

Hedy looked at them, still angry, but unimpressed. "I appreciate the spirit, but that's not good enough. Also, Jeremy. Stop thinking about my bra size."

"I'm your brother! It's not like I didn't take you shopping when you were thirteen!"

Mike coughed, the anger faded to a simmer as he covered his suddenly very red face and dearly hoped Jeremy didn't turn on him. He didn't exactly miss Hedy not mentioning that he should stop thinking about it.

Ruby looked somewhere between amused and annoyed. "Do they have any idea of boundaries?" she asked.

Goldy shook her head. "There's pretty random stuff in there too. I don't know how they'd know how Hedy likes her eggs for breakfast."

Ruby was silent for a moment. "That's just creepy."

"Is my house being watched or something?!" Hedy snapped, clearly feeling violated by this. She shuddered. "I'm getting a dog. Or a gun," she muttered. "Or maybe I'll just let Ruby design my security system. Oh, they'd love that."

Mike stilled and had a far off look. "Why did that escalate to the point I feel like Ruby is worse than a gun?!"

Ruby gave him a sweet smile.

"They've got a file on you too Mike. I didn't know you liked soap operas." Goldy added helpfully.

Mike glared. Actually glared. "Don't say another word."

Hedy giggled at him. It was nice to hear a genuine laugh from her.

Goldy looked pleased her distraction broke through the constant negativity for a moment.

"Yeah but I don't like it when other people are ghosts."

"I'm a ghost?"

"I think so. A little bit of one."

"I'm dead," Hedy said. She looked away and put her face in her arms. "Good. I don't think I'm supposed to be alive."

"Don't say that!" Timmy snapped. He got in her face to make her look at him. He looked a little mad at her. "L-listen to me. You're okay. You're still alive and you gotta promise me you're gonna stay alive."

Hedy shrugged. She froze and seemed to make herself smaller. "Are...they ghosts too?" she asked, her tears coming back.

Timmy stilled. "...yes...I can't talk to them right now. They're too sad...a-and angry..."

"At me?" Hedy looked up with pained eyes.

"N-no. No, not at you. But...they won't listen," Timmy's voice was a little hopeful. "M-maybe if you came back and talked to them they might..."

"NO! I...I can't..." Hedy covered her face. She started sobbing and Timmy recoiled in regret.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, Hedy. Don't cry. Please?" he begged the younger child.

Everyone watched in silence. This had been a rollercoaster for their emotions.

"Well..." Ruby trailed off, not actually sure what to say for once.

Timmy winced again. "I'm sorry."

"I don't remember you, Timmy," Hedy said softly.

"I...well... I figured out that kids don't usually remember anything before they're six, so I'd sometimes talk to kids if they were really little. Then when they grew up, I was just an imaginary friend if they remembered anything at all. But...you were there all the time and we just..." he shrugged a bit. "We talked more, even after you figured out what death was and what a ghost was."

"So you've been watching this stupid thing this entire time and didn't think to mention that part?"

"You were going to see it, anyway. I saw the camera. Oh..." he winced again.

"Timmy..." Hedy had a note of warning in her voice. "Were you the one who moved the camera around?" She was wondering how it kept being lost or forgotten at the building and yet she always ended up with it again. Until then, she supposed. She didn't think she ever saw it again. She vaguely remembered Jeremy looking for it sometime later, but it was lost.

Timmy grimaced. "Sometimes. I felt like the building wanted me to leave it in different places. Not all the time, though. It's really hard to pick stuff up."

Most of them just looked shocked.

"How come you can touch stuff?!" Felix demanded.

Timmy shot the boy a look. "Practice. Concentrating. And keeping control of my emotions."

Felix glared at him.

"Is that everything?" Ruby asked in a pained voice.

When the tv just switched to a view of the office, she let out a vicious swear.

"Of course not."