Chapter Notes: Okay, this chapter was delayed since I ended up getting sick, sorry about that everyone. But it's up and we hope you enjoy it. Thank you to Ghost and Panda for all the help with this arc.
Hope everyone enjoys this arc and also, please remember that we do not follow the games' canon. This story started before the canon was sorted out and we're still getting comments nowadays about how we're getting stuff wrong. The only thing we really kept is the characters in all honesty. So just enjoy the story for what it is. Most canon didn't exist when we started.
Chapter 178
Hotel
"How are you doing, Ruby?" Hedy asked without taking her eyes off the road.
"Terrible," Ruby ground out, looking like she couldn't decide whether to cry or throw up. Her breathing was shallow and she gripped the handle above the window until her knuckles turned white. "Why does this place have to be so far away?" She complained, near-hyperventilating.
Hedy didn't answer and both their eyes drifted to the needled syringe sitting in the compartment between them.
"You can make it," Hedy said calmly.
There was the slightest whimper that Hedy wasn't sure she actually heard. "...I can't."
"Breathe."
"Watch the road!"
"I'm watching."
"That guy behind us is way too close," Ruby panicked.
"He's passing."
"He's not using his blinker!"
"I'm watching him," Hedy said, still with utter calmness. She wouldn't dare snap at Ruby right now, no matter how irritating her constant freak outs got. She couldn't help but feel worried too. The last times Ruby forced herself into a car, it was Jeremy's and her trip to the prison to see Black and before that, a short trip from the hospital to the restaurant. Both of those were emergencies to Ruby. More obviously in the case of the coma week, but the need to face the man who killed her parents was a crisis that outweighed the phobia that stemmed from his actions. This was different, and it hurt to see the teen genuinely scared like this.
Ruby stared out the window with wide eyes for a couple more seconds, bouncing her knee up and down. "I can't take it!" she declared after a beat of silence. Hedy winced at the scared crack in her voice. At least it was just them. Ruby was more comfortable showing her weaker side to Hedy now, but she was still going to be mortified when it was all over.
"I can't give you the injection while I'm driving," Hedy said, her voice gentle. "Want me to pull over?"
Ruby shook her head sharply, "I'll run off...you'll never get me back inside." She'd barely managed to get inside in the first place, pacing around the car anxiously before forcing herself into the passenger seat as Foxy looked on from the door of the pizzeria.
Hedy briefly considered whether she should have put a child lock on her passenger side door, but quickly concluded that would have really sent Ruby into a panic if she couldn't get the door open.
"You're going to have to do it yourself," Hedy said. "Remember what Dr. Cecil said about bubbles and not going too fast?" She didn't get a response after a minute—neither complaining or outraged. She glanced over at Ruby.
The teen was out like a light, the empty syringe back in the compartment with the safety cap on the needle. Apparently, her fear of cars outweighed her hatred of needles by a large margin.
She'd lasted ten minutes. That was longer than Hedy expected.
She sighed, glancing at the sky. Four more hours to go...
"I think you missed a turn..."
Hedy screamed and swerved a little. Moments later, she pulled off the side of the road a little breathless and checked on Ruby.
Still out cold, surprisingly. The sedative was one Dr. Cecil knew had a strong effect on Ruby while still safe, so long as she was monitored. Hedy still expected her to wake up for a moment before passing out again. Luckily no, but she still seemed upset. Being jostled around in the truck probably wasn't good for whatever nightmares she might be having. She didn't doubt there were nightmares. Ruby had warned her beforehand. Apparently, she'd had nightmares for a week after the taxi ride.
Hedy looked in the rear-view mirror at the terrified little boy in the backseat.
"Timmy!" she scolded. "You can't scare me while I'm driving."
"I'm sorry!" he stammered, frightened by the near crash."I thought you knew I was here!"
"No," Hedy said, turning around in the driver's seat, "You haven't said a single word in two hours, Timmy. How was I supposed to know you were here? I'm just a normal human outside of the pizzeria. I can't sense ghosts." She paused before muttering. "Can see them though…. How are you even here in the first place?"
"Y-you and Ruby are still connected to the building," Timmy said nervously, as he tried to get his pseudo-hyperventilation under control. "I'm kind of...piggy backing..." He swallowed, "You...can't feel anything, but you might have caused an earthquake at the restaurant."
"But I..." Hedy was interrupted by a ringing phone. She sighed. She couldn't avoid it even this far from the pizzeria.
"This is Hedy. Hi Jerry."
"Hedy! What just happened?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The building shook and scared a bunch of people and I got some bots freaking out over here. Freddy said to call you and see if you're okay. Not sure how those connect, but are you and Ruby okay?"
"We're fine. Are the bots in earshot?"
"Uh. No. I got the speaker system?"
"How many customers?"
"Kind of slow right now. Morning you know..."
"Alright, put me on," she waited for a slight feedback whine. "Hello hello, it's your resident mechanic checking in to remind all you adventurous types that sitting completely silent in the back seat on a long car ride is a recipe for disaster. Careful kids, your parents, or older siblings, don't always have magical powers that allow them to sense your presence. Make a little noise every once in a while, but don't wake up the other older sister who hates cars. That's my daily advice kids. Make some noise on the way home today."
"What the heck, Hedy?" Jerry complained, not even questioning the weird things she said. "You're going to annoy some parents." There was a pause. "Here's Freddy."
"Hedy? Everything alright?"
Hedy smiled at the concern in the bear's voice. "We're fine. Ruby's out and sound asleep."
"...How long did she last?" Freddy whispered.
"Ten minutes."
"What?" Freddy seemed surprised.
"I know, longer than we guessed huh?"
"Timmy's with you?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, Goldy was looking for him right before opening. She got worried."
"Yeah, he's tagging along."
"Is that a good idea?"
"I don't know Freddy. He didn't exactly ask."
"Oh...well drive safe and get there before Ruby wakes up."
"Okay."
"Hedy?"
"Yeah?"
Freddy hesitated. "You know you sound a lot like Scott over the phone right?"
"Oh," Hedy said, quietly, "I didn't know." She cracked a weak smile. "Do I sound like a man or did he sound like a woman?"
That got a strained startled laugh out of the bear. "Er..heh..no. Your tone, I mean, not your actual voice. When you joke on the speakers like that."
"Good to know."
"Mike says hi..."
Hedy resisted the urge to sigh. The bots had noticed how upset Mike had been. How could they not? They were upset with her and Ruby for the same reasons.
Jeremy, of course, was pissed. They only told him what was happening this morning, just as she and Ruby were leaving. And they didn't tell him where they were going, so he couldn't intercept. He probably wouldn't be very kind to Mike or the bots for not stopping them.
"Give him a kiss for me," Hedy snickered, cracking up at the immediate groan on the other end of the line.
"I think I'll pass," Freddy grumbled.
"In that case, make sure he gets some sleep so he can hang with you guys tonight."
"Will do."
"I got to get back to driving, but I'll call everyone when we get to the hotel."
"Ok. Goodbye, Hedy."
"Bye Freddy."
Hedy put her phone down and looked at a sheepish Timmy. "What are you doing, Timmy?"
"I want to help...and I'm the only one who can leave," he sniffled. "A-and... I'm hoping..." he trailed off.
"To see your dad?"
Timmy nodded.
Hedy stared for a minute before she sighed. "Ruby's out like a light. You think we can get her in the backseat?"
It was a mess of heaving and sliding and limbs sticking out, but eventually, knocked-out Ruby was buckled in in the back seat, laying out under a blanket and muttering to herself.
Timmy sat in the passenger seat.
"Timmy, if I get pulled over for not having a car seat for you, you better go invisible," Hedy warned.
Timmy giggled as she started the truck and got back on the road.
Hedy looked at him. "We're never telling Ruby I almost crashed."
"Agreed."
It was an awkward drive to say the least. Timmy sat silently for the most part, occasionally fidgeting in his seat. And it was pretty clear that Ruby was having nightmares even if the sedative decreased their severity.
Hedy finally got the whole story of when Ruby took the taxi after her coma though. Timmy had been with her when she did it.
"The taxi driver was super nice." he explained. "I think all she managed to say to him was 'car trauma' and 'Freddy's'. But he got the general idea that it was an emergency and that she was terrified of cars. She held onto the door handle the whole way there and he didn't drive too fast and he talked to her the whole way, telling her stories of all the weird people he's driven before. He said she'd make an interesting future story and she actually laughed a little. She barely waited long enough for him to stop to jump out of the car. He didn't even let her pay cause he said that was the bravest thing he'd seen in a while."
That was the most he spoke during the trip though, choosing to instead stare out the window.
About half an hour away from their destination they got another phone call from the bots. Mangle had got the phone off Mike and was demanding to know if the two girls were alright.
She had to pull over for ten minutes to calm the stressed out fox. In the end Teddy and Mike had to physically separate her from the phone.
She finally made it to the hotel though, just in time too. Ruby was showing signs of waking. Hedy wasn't really surprised that the teen practically threw herself out of the car when she was coherent enough to realize where she was.
Thankfully the car wasn't in motion. She should have put the child lock on.
Timmy had faded out of sight by then since the teenager had caused a bit of a scene with her strange behavior and death glare towards the car. By the time Hedy was out of the vehicle and heading towards reception she was convinced that some of the spectators were muttering about Ruby being a kidnap victim. No one knew about her in this area apparently. That anonymity wouldn't last long. So much for keeping a low profile.
While Hedy was checking them in, studiously ignoring the twitchy teen who had dropped onto one of the couches in the lobby, the receptionist voiced her concerns.
"Is your...friend alright?" she asked, glancing at Ruby. It really was a testament to how much driving messed with her that she didn't even notice the glance. She was currently fiddling with the fidget cube Mike had given her. It worked to keep her from scratching at herself.
Hedy peered up at the lady as she rooted through her bag before hanging it back on her chair.
"Nervous traveler," Hedy said simply, "She's got a car phobia. Ruby? You good?"
All she saw of the teen was a shaky thumbs up that appeared over the back of the lobby couch.
"Oh, poor dear." The woman moved away for a few moments before she came back with some tea.
While Ruby had never been fond of tea, it gave her something to do that wasn't shaking or rapidly pressing the buttons on the cube.
She offered some to Hedy as well with a kind smile.
Hedy accepted it hesitantly and thanked the lady as she picked up their key cards and handed one to Ruby.
"Do you girls need some help with your bags?"
"Please," Hedy started.
"I got it," Ruby interrupted.
"Are you sure?" the receptionist asked, looking at Ruby's smaller form. Not to mention that she was still shaking.
Ruby looked a little annoyed and opened her mouth but Hedy interrupted. "Let them help Ruby. I've got to park the car.
She didn't want Ruby to bite the poor woman's head off. She was always more aggressive when off kilter like this.
"I put my supplies in both of my bags," Ruby muttered, leaning toward Hedy as the lady looked confused by the argument. "Plus I ran out of space and put some in your travel bag."
Hedy froze and glared at an unrepentent Ruby. If her clothes were covered in glitter and paint because a bottle or two spilled, she was going to kill the teen. As she thought about it, she didn't want someone to accidentally drop her work bag either. She brought some animatronic devices with her. "...Thanks but we'll handle it," she conceded after a moment and Ruby smirked triumphantly. It was distracting her from her still shaking hands at least.
"I'll use one of those dolly things," Ruby said brightly, a little more colour in her cheeks. She cracked a grin and Hedy suddenly got a really bad feeling. There was a familiar glint in the teenager's eyes.
"Alright. Would you like me to send someone to park your car as soon as you get your luggage out?"
"That would be great, thanks," Hedy said in relief. It was annoying to climb in and out of her truck so many times at once.
A few minutes later Ruby went ahead to their room, pushing the fancy cart with their bags while Hedy waited for the hotel worker to bring her the car keys back. She finished off the tea quickly, even though her tongue burned. She couldn't drive her chair with one hand.
She found herself muttering a common prayer as she approached the elevator. "Don't be out of order." Maybe she should have asked for a room on the first floor just in case...oh good. The elevator was working.
She heard a rattling noise as she steadily approached their floor and that bad feeling sunk deeper. She could already feel a headache forming.
The elevator doors opened and Ruby almost took Hedy's head off as she streaked by, riding the damn luggage dolly.
"Ruby!" Hedy snapped, "Don't you dare get us kicked out!"
Ruby smirked as she hopped off her vehicle and dragged it back toward Hedy. Apparently, this was a wheeled vehicle she was fine with. "What took you so long? What's our room number again?" She picked up the bags and put them back on the dolly. Betty balanced precariously atop the bags.
Her bags still looked too small to contain her usual supplies and Hedy once more wondered about the seemingly bottomless bags Ruby owned. She was sure the building did something.
Hedy rolled her eyes and answered. "Feeling better?"
"Eh," Ruby grimaced as she pushed the cart in the direction Hedy indicated.
"Let's hope the second location is in walking distance," Hedy sighed. "Dr. Cecil only gave us one vial and it's mostly for the trip back."
"Which was a little mean of her."
"It's a hospital grade sedative, Ruby. She can't just give us a lot of the stuff. We had to sit through two hours of her training about proper dosage! I had to go through an extra week of training to be certified."
"Is that what that was?" Ruby joked.
"Ruby!"
The teen laughed as they got to the door of their room. She paused and stared at the lock for a second, not sure what to do. Hedy doubted Ruby had ever been in a hotel before. It had taken a while before the teen had warmed up to the idea of naps at Hedy's house. She didn't like sleeping in unfamiliar places.
Hedy reached around her and used the keycard and went through as Ruby held it open.
She jumped as she felt Timmy before she saw him sitting on one of the beds. Well, then… apparently she didn't need to be in the pizzeria to sense ghosts. She supposed that made sense. She had her own brush with death too. She must have just been distracted in the car.
"Hey Timmy," Ruby greeted as she closed the door behind them, not surprised at all of course. "This place is boring. Wanna help me set up some pranks?"
"What did I just say about getting us kicked out?" Hedy scolded, fighting back a yawn as she rubbed a palm into her eyes. It was noon and she didn't usually get tired until after 3pm but driving for four hours straight takes it out of you, especially if you're used to staying up all night.
"Not to," The teen grumbled petulantly.
She was clearly hyper now. The bonus of being sedated during that long drive. She was going to be a menace for at least an hour.
"What time do we have to be there?" She asked, glancing at the time. "Oh, by the way, I almost ran over someone before you got here. Seems like a real stuck up rule follower. So if there's a complaint, that's why."
Great...
Why did she attract trouble just by stepping into a place? Hedy was sure the teen did it on purpose now.
"Sharing a room with Ruby is the worst decision I've ever made," were Hedy's first words the second they picked up the phone a few hours later.
Foxy cracked up at the mechanic's deadpanned statement.
"Hello to you too, Hedy," Mike snorted.
"HI HEDY!" Chi shouted.
"Hi Chi. Ruby put coffee in the shower head," Hedy's voice snipped. "And decided to sabotage the waffle maker in the hotel's breakfast room to spew out whipped cream. I think the hotel staff are onto us...And she won't stop prank calling people from the room's phone."
There was laughing in the background.
"I was trying to sleep!" Hedy snapped.
"I thought the coffee shower woke you up," Ruby's voice came from the background.
"Well, it's about time she actually pranked you on a regular basis," Bonnie snickered.
"Ah yes, without the rest of you to use as cannon fodder, I'm the only one she can actively mess with who isn't a stranger," Hedy said. They could practically hear her eye roll.
"Have you met Will yet?" Chica whispered and the tone of the conversation dropped.
"Not yet. His flight got canceled. But he said he would do his best to meet us on time. That's the last we heard of him. Ruby met one of the other mechanics, I think. She nearly ran over him."
"With what?" Bonnie asked curiously.
"A luggage dolly."
"So she can't tick it off her bucket list yet since she didn't get him," Foxy mused.
"I almost did!" Ruby yelled back while Hedy choked.
She didn't know if that was a joke or not, to be honest. Those two were so damn good at their banter and they never told anyone if they were joking or talking about something real.
They all knew that there was a bucket list. They'd never seen it but they knew it existed.
"Anyway," she continued, "The guy complained to the hotel staff and that's how we learned about him. His name's Andre." Hedy paused, a note of dread in her voice. "He spent five minutes trying to lecture Ruby about hotel etiquette and rules. I don't think she even heard him."
Doubtful. She tuned out everyone's lectures. Hedy just got good at giving lectures that didn't sound like lectures. No one else had quite managed that yet.
"Did you get in trouble?" Goldy asked worriedly.
Hedy snorted. "No. Ruby pulled out the innocent act, and the lady fell for it."
"I tripped," Ruby said sweetly.
"The lady in reception loves this gremlin and I don't know how that even happened," Hedy sighed.
"I'm lovable," Ruby complained.
"As a cactus."
"...fair argument."
Suddenly, the teen hissed and bit out a curse.
"Ruby! I've told you not to look away when you're doing wiring!"
"I know I know," Ruby muttered. "It was just a little zap."
"I swear I don't know how you haven't electrocuted yourself yet."
There was a beat of silence.
"You haven't right?"
"No comment."
The bots were snickering as they listened to the familiar bickering and most of them relaxed a little.
There was another pause. "Ruby, that glitter bomb better not go off in here." Hedy added after a moment.
"Can't room service get it?"
"They're not like the cleaners at Freddy's, Ruby. They'll charge us for damage."
"Harrison wishes," Mangle snickered.
"Fine. I needed to make more cookie streamer bombs anyway. Hey, do you think stuck up guy likes chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies? He seems like an oatmeal raisin guy."
"We just have a microwave, Ruby. And his name is Andre."
"I was going to break into their kitchen for the oven. He's probably an oatmeal guy."
"You're going to get us kicked out."
"Only if I get caught."
Hedy sighed. "Ugh. Anyway. Afton sent us pictures of some blueprints. Old. Faded. I'm trying to make heads or tails of it and the receptionist said that Andre was glaring at his own copies along with whoever else is here to help. Apparently, the other tech made herself scarce when he was complaining. Doubt she even heard most of it. I hope they've got some ideas for these blueprints."
"You have an advantage," Freddy pointed out.
"An advantage that's not going to be any use in keeping them alive if they don't listen to me. I don't think Andre will, at least. He's older and more experienced than me. I'm pretty sure he's going to be difficult. He's not going to be happy about Ruby being here either, considering the almost hit-and-run incident."
"So close."
"Ruby!"
They could hear the sullen silence over the phone and snickered.
"Anyway, I explained to Afton already, so he knows I'm bringing an assistant." Hedy said, leaving out the part about not telling Afton her assistant was a minor. "Hopefully, he let the other two know. Andre seems more stuck on following some sort of 'rules' than Freddy and Teddy combined."
Rules like 'don't engage in child endangerment'… She had a feeling that one might come up. As valid as that rule was, Ruby was very insistent on it not applying to her. Every other kid and teenager alive, yes. Ruby Stone? Looked like you'd just sworn in church if someone applied that to her.
"That's a bad thing, beary boos," Ruby called from a distance.
"The walls aren't soundproof Ruby. Don't yell. Do you realize how crazy we sound to neighbours?"
"Who cares? Hey you want a taser pen, Hedy?"
"Oh god, you made another? Mike has one. Jeremy has one. You made one for Amelia, tried to give some to the twins and Goldy has one. You have a problem with giving taser pens to people you care about. It's like giving out candy for you!"
The teen spluttered denials, caught off guard and highly embarrassed. The bots were surprised to hear that she was coming around to Amelia's occasional presence.
Mike just smiled, still pleased over getting his own taser pen weeks ago.
"Your normal taser is too bulky! This is faster to pull out and easier to hide," she defended.
Toby shuddered.
"Why didn't we get tasers?" Chi whined.
"The rest of us cannot be trusted with tasers," Foxy deadpanned, not even offended.
"You'd zap yourself to see if you could take it," Mangle said.
Hedy squinted at the phone. "Foxy isn't going to necessarily do the same thing as you, Mags."
Mangle got very quiet. "...I'm not a masochist," she pouted.
Hedy snorted and rolled her eyes. "No, you just want to see how much your body can take." She turned to Ruby. "Alright. Gimme."
"You just cli-FUCK!"
"Did you just shock yourself?" Bonnie snickered, even though Freddy muttered "language."
"...no?"
Hedy growled. "She did."
"It's on the low setting," Ruby pouted. "You should probably turn that up." She paused. "For Mr. Stick-Up-the-Ass."
They could hear the glare from Hedy. Even Freddy's "language" couldn't drown it out.
In the room next door, a random businessman listened in horror. He requested a room change the next day. On the other side, a couple and their young daughter listened in interest and confused amusement. This was better than TV.
Hedy let most of the bots chat with her and Ruby for a bit before eyeing the teen and taking it off speaker.
Ruby immediately scowled at her but didn't demand she listen in just yet, which was progress on her trust issues. She just stared petulantly from the other bed beside Timmy, who glanced between them before turning his attention back to the television. He hadn't said anything besides a brief check in to assure Goldy he was okay so far away from the building.
"We have to say goodbye in a minute, guys," Hedy said. She hesitated. "Did Jeremy show up?"
The voices on the other side went quiet for a minute.
"He's mad," Mike said in a neutral tone, and Hedy winced. Her brother could be mean when he was scared. And that tone meant that Mike didn't completely disagree with whatever Jeremy had said.
There was another silence.
"I turned off the speakerphone," she said, knowing they were hesitant to say something where Ruby could hear.
Ruby's scowl deepened. She could guess why Hedy didn't want her to overhear.
They all knew how protective she was of the bots, even when they didn't really need her to be.
"Jeremy was really mad," Mangle grumbled, although she didn't sound too upset with the older brother either. "Went off on all of us. And Mike. For like, ten minutes."
"He was very angry with us for not stopping you," Foxy said, a light growl in his voice. There was a note of guilt there too.
Hedy could imagine her brother might have said something specific to the fox. Ruby was Foxy's kid after all. Even if that relationship was hard to grasp sometimes, Jeremy knew how the bots felt about protecting "their kids". He saw how Spring was with Hedy and the guilt the rabbit carried with him.
Hedy faintly heard someone mutter, "he was right though" before someone else shushed them.
Spring cleared his throat. "We know he was just scared," he assured. "We didn't take it personally. He and Puppet got into an…argument. Um…Goldy put them in the Staff Room and asked the building to lock them in until they calmed down."
Hedy blinked in surprise at a few parts. "Both of them?"
Ruby frowned.
"Yes," Goldy said, shortly.
On another note, Goldy never asked the building for stuff like that. Things must have gotten pretty nasty between Jeremy and Puppet.
Hedy wasn't sure she wanted details yet. She sighed. "Tell Jeremy I'll call him when we get back in the morning." She wasn't looking forward to the conversation.
Mike hummed. "Is there a reason this job is a night shift, too? Why can't Afton have you come during the day?"
Hedy frowned. "He said something about 12 to 6 being the only time the company would let him send technicians in. He said it's so they don't conflict with the bots' work, although I'm not sure if he believes that. He's still arguing with them about it, apparently, but the people who run the place said the security system wouldn't even let them in the service areas until midnight."
"All of this is really weird," Bonnie said and his voice held a pleading note. "You guys knew what you were getting into with us at least. You knew who we were. You don't know who you're going to meet."
"I've got some ideas," Hedy told him gently.
Everyone flicked a glance at Goldy who stayed quiet. Puppet had refused to talk about anyone but Goldy didn't have the same aversion to talking about the other bots out there.
The Originals all had their personal feelings on who they hoped was there. The Toys on the otherhand, didn't. They hadn't met one group at all and the other they barely knew. The Originals had known both groups and… well, some of them had been close.
Mangle glanced at Foxy who was staring at nothing, ears flicked back. He'd looked nostalgic and sad since this entire thing started. Freddy was the other one who seemed the most torn up about it all. Chica and Bonnie had admitted to knowing the other groups but not being particularly close to them.
Goldy looked like someone had kicked her puppy anytime the other groups were even hinted at and Puppet grew snappish, more so than usual.
It left the Toys feeling off balance and out of the loop. The other groups had clearly had a very different kind of relationship with the Originals. Some of them felt a little… jealous maybe.
The tone was a little more depressed as they ended the call and Hedy could tell. The bots were a mess of emotions right now and she'd seen the lost expressions on the Toys' faces before they left. The Originals were very affected and the Toys (and Spring) didn't know the specifics of why.
Ruby was still staring at her when she put the phone down.
"I know he's scared," she said softly. "Jeremy is scared of losing you. But I don't like it when he upsets everyone."
Hedy didn't say anything for a moment. "He and Puppet got into a fight apparently. The others didn't tell me specifics."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "They're both scared and control freaks of varying intensities. I'm not really surprised. They've also both got daddy issues."
That got a startled snort out of both Hedy and Timmy. Timmy covered his mouth and looked sheepish.
Ruby smirked a little before sighing.
"They'll worry. We can't do anything about that. Most of them don't have good ways to vent their anxiety either. They're all either aggressive or bottle it up. Mike is the only one who has a healthy coping method. There's nothing we can do until we're finished here. They know we won't leave."
"Mike is upset with me about this," Hedy admitted quietly.
"I know," Ruby said, a hint of sympathy in her voice. "He's not good at hiding it." She cocked her head to the side. "He's a good guy. And he never tries to make your decisions for you. He's just sad he's never involved in the big ones."
The teen looked away from Hedy and back down to her work.
"You two are sickeningly sweet together and a good couple. He still has to adjust to how independent you are. You're very protective over your life decisions cause of everything that happened to you. And he understands, but it makes him sad sometimes."
Hedy sometimes hated how much of a therapist Ruby could sound like when she actually got serious.
"You guys should talk when we get home," Ruby flicked a mischievous glance at Hedy. "You know, the great big sappy reunion. And then the 'oh fuck I can't believe I'm alive s-"
"RUBY!"
The teen cackled while Timmy abruptly vanished. He was NOT sticking around for Ruby's teasing.
Ruby was so glad that the so-called 'sister location' to Freddy's was near the hotel. She would not have handled another car ride. The walk to the place was thirty minutes, so the teen left a little earlier, leaving Hedy to meet the other employees at the hotel entrance for their carpool idea.
It was probably better that the early meetings were just with Hedy, since she was the mechanic. Ruby was just there to make sure nothing happened. And to keep an eye on this Afton guy. He was meeting them all at the actual place later.
Honestly, she was also there for whatever was going to go wrong. Because something always did. It was just a matter of time.
Ruby expected Hedy to be annoyed by the total strangers they were going to have to work with. She didn't expect the blank stare Hedy met her with when the three engineers piled out of the car at the weird almost shack-looking building in the middle of some place that might have been a bustling shopping center at one point. It was a ghost town now.
It was doubtful customers actually came here. It was a sketchy looking. So why was Afton (or the company, so he claimed) making them work at night? Suspicious. Not that she was really complaining. She and Hedy were used to this schedule. The two people with Hedy clearly weren't, although she didn't really care at the moment.
Ruby was immediately on alert. She could tell Hedy was trying really hard not to show her emotions for some reason. Her grim stare was enough to get Ruby's hackles up.
Someone had upset the mechanic. A lot. She was picking at the rubber of her wheels and chewing her bottom lip.
Ruby couldn't quite tell if Hedy was pissed off or not. That seemed like the logical assumption. The man they'd met already was fairly aggravating. The teen zeroed in on him, eyeing him for a clue of what he did. She didn't even acknowledge the other person until they froze upon noticing her, which caught her attention. The woman looked familiar and Ruby tilted her head as she tried to place her.
The teen narrowed her eyes. Wasn't that the dumbass who offered her alcohol during Hedy's birthday? She couldn't remember the name and wasn't sure if she cared enough to try. What was she doing here?
"Ruby," Hedy said, her tone carefully neutral. "You remember my friend Alex, right?"
Ruby's gaze flicked to Hedy at the subtle tone she used.
Oh. Hedy was scared.
The other two definitely couldn't tell. Was it their weird ghost thing? Did she just know Hedy that well? It didn't really matter in the end though. Hedy was worried for her friend and her concern was entirely valid.
Well, wasn't this an unpleasant coincidence?
Hedy was probably thinking something along the same lines, though with more fear and probably a hell of a lot more internal cursing.
Ruby pushed away from where she was leaning against the wall and walked closer.
"Yeah, I remember her," she said, eyeing Alex but not bringing up how they met. Causing problems now wouldn't help anyone. Hedy definitely didn't need more stress. They haven't even started yet! "I remember him too," she jerked her thumb in the guy's direction.
Hedy's eye twitched and Ruby raised an eyebrow. Her mechanic was already annoyed with the guy then. Enough to show past her fear over Alex being here.
"Hi," Alex said, looking a little anxious around the teen. Ruby gave her an absent nod as she watched the guy.
"How'd the meet and greet go?" the night guard asked, tone light.
"Well," Hedy answered and Ruby could see the irritation behind the smile. "Ruby, this is Andre. Engineer. He's worked on satellite designs and control circuitry for military aircraft." Hedy didn't look as impressed at that as she might be normally. "He gave us two students a very educational summary about his entire career and expert experience."
The teen didn't even try and hide her eyeroll. Oh he was going to be an absolute delight wasn't he?
Alex was darting glances at Hedy, seemingly just as surprised they were working together, but she held her tongue for a minute. It wasn't exactly a secret that Hedy was a genius at artificial intelligence and robotics. She almost wasn't sure if she should be here herself; if Hedy was here, it must be pretty advanced. Still, she wasn't going to turn down such an amazing opportunity. A lucky one too, given how their school was the nearest to this place.
Although, despite the initial friendly smile Hedy had managed for her friend, Alex seemed much more excited to work together than Hedy did.
Their meeting at the hotel had gone something along the lines of "Hedy?!" with an excited shriek and a hug overlaid with Hedy's startled stammer as she blurted out, "What the fuck are you doing here?!" with her pitch going up half-an octave. Alex didn't have a lot of time to decode her friend's tone since Andre interjected about being "late" and told them to save the gossip for some other time.
Ruby looked back at Andre who was frowning at her.
"What is a kid doing here?" he asked Hedy in an annoyed tone, not even bothering to ask the teen herself. He was probably irritated to have to deal with her again after that morning.
Ruby twitched slightly and Hedy visibly braced herself. She gave Andre that smile Hedy recognised as her 'I'm imagining all the ways to make your life miserable' smile. "Hello braggart, I'm Ruby. It's definitely NOT a pleasure."
Andre jerked back in shock at the blatant disrespect from the teenager.
Hedy took it in stride, more than used to being the buffer between Ruby and other people. "I told you, I have an assistant with me."
"You didn't say it was her," he argued. "I can understand bringing family along on a work trip for a vacation for them, but not actually making them work with you."
Hedy didn't bother correcting the "family" assumption. "She's not just tagging along. She's actually my assistant. She's getting paid and everything. This counts toward her school for an engineering class." Which was true. It took a lot of convincing and maybe a few bribes to school officials, but it was the only way to convince Alice and Clint to let Ruby go. They were still disturbed and confused why Ruby was so insistent, especially since they knew this little "internship" involved car travel.
Ruby also had to agree to extra homework over the fast approaching winter break to make up the week of missed classes. So that was a problem for later… Hedy knew the teen would have gone regardless of what anyone said, even Alice and Clint. More bots in trouble was probably the only thing she was willing to really upset them over. Thankfully, she'd managed to talk everyone into it with some help from Mike being his likeable self.
Andre scowled at Hedy. "Bringing a teenager to such a complicated job is irresponsible. Besides, the entrance to the area we need to work in is through the vents. How are you even going to get in?" Maybe it was rude, but Afton had been clear about there being some kind of risk. Andre wasn't about to care about feelings if there was a safety issue. He didn't seem the type to care about feelings period though.
Ruby's eyes flashed with anger and she tensed. It was also obvious that Andre was trying to set himself up as their superior when Afton wasn't there. Hedy was mildly surprised that the teen didn't snap back and start a fight. She restrained herself and let Hedy handle it, although her body language still screamed her true feelings.
An interesting choice. It suggested the teen would follow Hedy and not this man.
A blatant lie since Ruby didn't do listening and orders on the best of days. But an interesting move to make Andre believe it.
Hedy couldn't help smile a little but Alex was frowning at the obvious slight towards her friend.
"Andre," Hedy's voice was slightly colder, but somehow still polite-ish. "One of us actually asked Afton beforehand if he had any maps of the place. I did. I happen to know the way around the facility through customer access and facility back paths. It will take a little longer, but that's what Ruby's for. She'll go all the same places you do." She said it like a warning. "She knows what to look for. I don't appreciate you assuming I wouldn't try to accommodate for my own handicap with Mr. Afton."
"This is a serious job," he finally decided. "I'm not working with a child."
Ruby growled, startling them both. Her patience was still a very limited resource. "I'd prefer not to work with an asshole, but the world doesn't work like that."
"She's as much of a child as you are going to be easy to work with," Hedy said dryly. She ignored his angry jumble of words as he was about to chew her out for being unprofessional and checked her watch.
Ruby followed her lead and turned away from the man, looking up at the building behind them. It was strange and looked very dodgy. It wasn't even slightly similar to Freddy's and there wasn't even any advertising around the place.
All her internal alarms were going off.
Alex snorted, earning a glare from the man mid-lecture. She knew working with Hedy could be easy. Just respect her and she'll respect you. And if you want to be in charge, you better have it on paper from someone else who says so, not to mention earn it if you're not the one who hired her. She glanced at Ruby, wondering if the teenager knew Hedy that well or was surprised by any of this. The girl didn't acknowledge the look but Alex had a feeling that she knew about it. She was still a bit of an enigma despite hearing about her from Hedy.
While Hedy talked about Ruby sometimes, she didn't talk about her. She seemed a bit different from the disastrous party though. And it wasn't the new short haircut.
"Afton should have been here by now," Hedy sighed, studying her watch as she calmly talked over Andre.
"Well, we can't stand outside like weirdos," Ruby pointed out, looking over her shoulder at the older girl. "You picked up the keys from the receptionist so we should just go inside."
"I suppose so," Hedy didn't seem too pleased but didn't argue with that idea. "I would prefer we wait for Afton before doing anything."
"Normally yes. But we have a schedule that Mr. Afton…" Andre started. It was a good point but she didn't want to admit that after the very bad first impression he'd made. While he had made some valid points, his delivery and attitude were atrocious and he carried himself like he was used to people listening to him.
Hedy had dealt with far too many assholes like him who only saw the wheelchair and not the perfectly capable engineer in it.
"But it's freaking cold," Hedy finished, ignoring him and sharing a look with Ruby. They had no idea what to expect going in. The information they got from Goldy had been interesting but not super helpful. They didn't know which group of bots they were going to encounter or what state they might be in.
'Ghosts?' Ruby signed subtly.
Hedy gave a vague shrug. She couldn't sense anything but the faint presence of Timmy. Ruby gave the building another glance before flicking another sign at her as Andre continued to talk about a schedule and tried to demand the keys.
'Building?'
That got a small shake of her head. She didn't sense anything like their building here.
Alex watched them and felt both lost and a little left out. The pair were clearly used to communicating like this and they did it so easily. She'd never seen Hedy this close with anyone before. No matter how much everyone tried, there was a distance of some kind that they'd only really noticed after the party.
"Furthermore! If we can get started on a cursory evaluation before Mr. Afton–"
"I'll let you in as soon as possible. I memorised the maps. You got your taser?" Ruby asked, raising her voice over Andre.
Hedy sighed and pulled her sweater tighter. "Yes."
"Taser?!" Alex spoke up, genuinely concerned. What did Hedy know that they didn't? It felt like there was something bigger going on than a cool job.
"Stay with Ruby and you'll be fine," Hedy told her. She glanced at Ruby, silently asking her to look out for her friend. And Andre, but that was just basic human decency.
Ruby rolled her eyes but gave a slight nod. She spun around and started walking towards the maintenance entrance.
When exactly had that girl swiped the keys from her? Checking her pockets showed that she only had some of the keys for the other entrances now.
Menace.
Ruby threw her a smirk over her shoulder and Hedy had to smile a little. Same old Ruby. Somehow that was comforting despite everything.
She let her gaze drift over to the building again.
This entire place was an absolute disaster of a design. The architect must have been high when they made it. Both girls had been completely baffled by it when they studied the maps and Hedy had been tempted to call Afton to find out if they were actually accurate.
Navigating the building was going to be a nightmare.
Alex raised an eyebrow as Ruby walked away and looked at Hedy questioningly.
"Follow her," Hedy said, slightly scoldingly. She knew Alex didn't really know Ruby and their first interaction hadn't been very good. But it did annoy her that Alex did clearly doubt the teen already.
"The crazy girl? Hedy, what's going on?" Alex asked. "I know she's your friend, but I'm pretty sure she hates me."
"I don't know what's going on yet. But Ruby knows, mostly, what's she's doing. Just trust me on this. And she doesn't hate you. She just… dislikes you a little. She dislikes Andre more though."
"...does this have anything to do with Freddy's and your..." she glanced at Andre who was following after Ruby asking her what she thought she was doing. The teen was blatantly ignoring him.
"Maybe. Probably. Yes." Didn't Afton give the other engineers the same pitch? Did he tell them about the robots they were working on being alive?
Well, he didn't tell her either. She just already knew.
"I fucking knew it."
"Alex..." Hedy sighed.
"Alright, fine," Alex waved her off. "See ya in a bit I guess."
Alex watched Hedy's back for a few moments as she headed to the other entrance, then sighed and followed the others. She halted right inside the door that Ruby and Andre disappeared through.
"What the fuck?"
They were standing in a weird cylindrical room with no door and several wired windows. There was a small hatch across from them and near the floor.
Ruby was poking at it, but it was clearly locked.
"This can't be the entrance," Andre said, looking around. He frowned at a yellow control panel in the center of the room.
"You haven't seen the maps. This place is batshit crazy. Like some weird underground bunker thing." Ruby shrugged and stood up again. "Now where's the on button for this again?"
She poked at the yellow control panel and it flickered to life.
"Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career!" A voice came from the speakers, startling Alex. "Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad at Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities."
Ruby sighed. "I miss Steve." She called Hedy on a truly old, brick of a phone so she could listen in on what was likely going to be a weird introduction.
Alex thought those phones weren't even made anymore.
Hedy listened to the robotic voice and made a slightly disappointed face, figuring out what it was quickly without Ruby's prompting. Part of her was maybe hoping something of Scott's was here but if it wasn't even his voice they were using, she wasn't holding out. She gestured at empty air for Timmy to follow Ruby and the others before the elevator left.
Timmy shifted and the air rippled. He didn't like Hedy and Ruby splitting up. He'd rather be able to watch them both but that was going to be hard with this strange building's set up. "I'm staying with you for now," Timmy whispered. "Just in case." He glanced around at the creepy overgrown and empty parking lot. He hadn't been outside in a while.
Hedy didn't question him and they just listened to what was going on.
"Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful." The voice was far too chipper and set Hedy on edge. She just knew that Ruby was itching to find a mute button already.
Ruby was exploring the little elevator, having little interest now that she knew it wasn't Steve, so Andre stepped forward to do it with a haughty expression. "I'll do that as the only professional here." Ruby rolled her eyes and shot Alex a long-suffering look that pulled a slight smile from her. See? She could be nice to Hedy's friends.
She listened absently as Andre put in his name. The design of this elevator set alarm bells off in her head. It felt very… secure. It would be awfully hard to get out of if something went wrong.
"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome: Eggs Benedict."
The teen snickered in surprise while Andre spluttered. "That's not what I typed!"
Ruby heard a faint giggle from Timmy and smirked. He must be close to the phone as he listened and she was glad he was staying with Hedy. He clearly didn't like the man much either. He wasn't mean, but he wasn't very polite either. And it took a lot to gain Timmy's dislike.
"You can now open the elevator using that bright, red and obvious button. Let's get to work!"
Ruby snorted and, naturally, pressed the button with no hesitation. It was indeed big and red. Nice and inviting to reckless teenagers.
The door to the vents opened and Ruby felt that familiar excitement bubble up. Was this going to be a game? Was it going to be a good game? Only time would tell.
"Ladies first," Alex said with a cautious laugh but didn't make a move to go.
Ruby did a quick stretch and grinned before diving for the vent. This was what she lived for.
Of course, the Hand-Unit decided to break the lovely, ominous silence with another monologue.
Why didn't it have a mute button?
"Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter. Due to the massive success and even more-so the unfortunate closing of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, it was clear that the stage was set – no pun intended – for another contender in children's entertainment. Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning."
"Did Scott write the script for that? Cuz I wouldn't call that 'light-hearted banter'," Hedy said dryly. Ruby had switched the phone to speaker on the loudest volume. "That didn't even count as banter."
"Why is it talking like we're closed? It's the same company isn't it?" Timmy whispered so softly that only Ruby could actually hear him. And that was only due to practice at picking up his barely there whispers. "We have been closed, but..."
Very good point. Although if anyone tried to close the pizzeria, she'd be having words with them. Besides, Freddy's was actually doing really well at the moment. Business was great and Spring was a hit as the spooky attraction. The place hadn't done better in years.
Ruby exited out into a relatively small room with windows on either side looking into dark rooms and another vent on the opposite side of the room. Andre and Alex followed close behind.
"Awfully clean in here," she commented casually so that Hedy could hear. "I can't see much dust."
That was an odd fact that the others missed. Someone was keeping this place clean.
"You are now in the Primary Control Module. It is actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms. Now let's get started with your daily tasks. View the window to your left. This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light, and see if Ballora is on stage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left."
Ruby was too busy looking around and noting the lack of easy exits, so Alex and Andre moved over to the panel. It was technically their job anyway. Ruby wasn't here for the mechanic stuff.
She was here for the bots and she wanted to see what they were dealing with.
"Ballora?" Hedy asked quietly, straining a little to hear as the signal began to cut out.
Ruby hummed. So that meant the Funtimes then. She squinted into the dark room to try and see anything before heading to the door Hedy needed her to open.
"And here's the permanently locked door," she rolled her eyes and got started trying to find the right keys for it. There were a lot of keys for this building. And a lot of inconviently locked doors that were hard to get to and automatically locked when they closed again. This was going to be a pain unlocking them every single time. She was already taking stock of anything in the room that could be used as door jams.
Alex reached to press the blue button but Andre's hand got there first.
"Hey..." she was sounding annoyed now and Ruby just kept part of her focus on listening to the pair.
The light in the room that held Ballora flicked on, revealing an empty stage and no robot. Ruby glanced at the stage and cocked her head. As far as she knew, bots loved the stage. That was why the Toys had their own. Foxy was the only one willing to share and Mangle was the only one not too bothered by not having her own. She said it intimidated the little ones.
Spring was the only exception, being stage-shy and preferring the sneaky approach Fazbear's Fright needed. Even Goldy missed the stage. She liked helping Spring out in the haunted attraction though.
Maybe they didn't talk about it all the time but everyone was happy they found a way for Goldy to work. Even Goldy hadn't realized how…well…depressed she had gotten not interacting with people outside the other bots.
Alex frowned at the Hand Unit's words as well, picking up that something wasn't right.
"Uh oh. It looks like Ballora doesn't feel like dancing. Let's give her some motivation."
Ruby paused in her search for the key. Why did that sound so... ominous?
"Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put the spring back in her step."
It actually took a moment for those words to register in Ruby's mind before she spun around, dropping the keys. Andre was already pressing the red button though.
There was terrible loud buzzing from the left side room and Ruby saw red. She was going to kill him. Sure, she shocked the bots. As a prank or in self defence. When it was for fun, the shock was very minor. That though? That was a lot of voltage she was hearing.
Alex grabbed his arm without thinking.
"Hey, what the fuck are you doing? You don't think electrocuting the assets damages anything?"
She had to shout over the zapping, it was so loud.
"Our orders are to follow directions to complete the job exactly. If this 'hand-unit' tells us I'm sure it's fine. It probably a necessary—"
He didn't even get to finish in the quarter-second between Ruby's realization and the keys hitting the floor.
The teen physically tackled him. Alex had a moment to note that the move was graceful and practiced and Andre went down hard.
The teenager looked furious, her smaller frame not hindering her in keeping the man on the floor. She looked dangerous and Alex backed up automatically.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Ruby hissed, knee digging into the man's chest. It looked like it hurt and kept him breathless. A loud crackle drew her attention to the taser in Ruby's hand, unusually slim. Like a pen. When did she take that out? "Since you're such a fan of shocking others, then I'm sure you won't mind being on the receiving end hmm?"
Alex panicked at the sudden violence, grabbing the keys from where Ruby dropped them and somehow opening the door. She ran through the short hall to a much nicer (but still worryingly run down looking) elevator and frantically hit the button to take her up, trying to ignore the muffled yelling behind her.
She got the feeling that Ruby didn't bluff.