to Pastelpandabear99: thanks! well that's the big question, isn't it? though I wouldn't put it past Bonnie to be extra snarky if Thomas's stepdad walks into Freddy's in the future.

enjoy the story

Spring snaps his eyes open back at the restaurant, that hit he received knocked him back and although he is unsure if he can keep the controls feeling like this. He owes her an explanation. So he closes his eyes and after have gotten control over the human body again, Martin opens his eyes. As expected, he finds himself on the floor. Thomas is doing a good job keeping Tim from beating up Annabelle's new boyfriend. He turns his gaze and finds Annabelle staring at him with pure shock and horror in her eyes.

Jeremy is just standing there.

Poor guy has no idea how to get out of this mess they accidentally got themselves into.

One thing first. "Can you get Tim out from here?" Before the hospital security does that for them.

That snaps Jeremy out from his stupor, nodding to his still floored brother, Jeremy turns to Tim who is shouting profanities at the just as pissed but also confused Rasmus. "Tim, cut it out. " He snaps at the usual rabbit and tears him away from Annabelle's boyfriend, Tim stops but still send the man death-glares. Jeremy then turns to the man himself. "Take a walk, Rasmus."

"You can't be serious." The man sneers, clearly pissed by that request, as, in his eyes, he protected his girlfriend, to then get chewed on by some hippie-looking man. His frown does disappear when Annabelle tells him in a quiet tone: "Please do it..."

"You sure?" He asks her, eyeing the Jeremy look-alike suspiciously. She nods and reluctantly he leaves the room.

One look at the scene and knowing what is about to happen, Thomas signs Tim; 'let's go' the robot nods and leaves along with him. "Your stepfather left a bad impression on me." Tim growls and Thomas can see why; he's also quite pissed that Rasmus punched his father out cold.

With those three gone, Jeremy then helps up his brother, musing only for Martin's ears, "I didn't know." his brother nods, a sign he doesn't blame him for this unwanted reunion.

With one deep breath, mostly to calm his pretty much-shredded nerves. Martin turns to his former wife. "... I have a lot of explaining." She only nods, still too shocked to properly speak.

"Mom, why did Rasmus hit Jeremy's clone?" April asks utterly confused about the whole thing but also a bit startled from how that muscular man looked ready to tear her stepfather a new one. Martin and Annabelle give the girl a look, both not sure how to explain this.

Groaning, Jeremy facepalm and starts guiding April out with, "I'll keep an eye on the kid." to the two parents, thinking they got enough on their plate at the moment.

"Thanks," Martin muses and with his wife, leave the room as pretty much everyone is staring at them. They find a recluse spot to talk in peace.

About that time Annabelle finds the voice to speak, "How- How is this possible?" she asks shaken and without really thinking, puts her hands on his arms. "I saw your- I saw what that suit- Martin, how can you still be—" She is unable to finish her words, this is far too surreal for her.

Martin gently takes her hands, hearing she saw his body after what the suit did to him. The former owner of Freddy's surely didn't know the word of tactful, he knows from the trauma he is still dealing with that his body must've looked something from a horror movie. And still, the management let her see him? Cruel bastards... "Annabelle, I know it's hard to believe but it is really me." He starts, not sure how else to start his very complicated story how he's still around even though his body long has been turned to dust. Martin gently touches her cheek, exactly like he would when she needed comfort. However, this time, he is the cause of her breakdown.

She starts crying and although part of her mind tries to convince her this isn't her dead husband. Her heart tells otherwise. Thrown back to their years together, Annabelle seeks comfort in his arms and like a twisted but much a wanted dream come true. Martin wraps his arms around her, kissing her hair softly, exactly as he would in the past.

It takes her several minutes to get herself enough together to asks her surfacing doubts that what she saw that day was really him. "That wasn't you in that suit?"

It breaks his heart for doing this, but Martin doesn't want to lie, not to her. "I'm sorry, but... it was me..."

"...How?"

He sighs and while gently stroking her close to silky hair, "It is incredibly complicated. I do at times forget my situation, but..." another sigh, heavier this time. "Let me start with: I am dead. This body you see here is just a robot." He doesn't try to hold her back when Annabelle jerks away from him. Still breaks his heart thought. He lifts up his sand-colored shirt and pulls away the covering to his batteries, showing her he wasn't joking with his statement.

Annabelle covers her mouth seeing wires and metal behind the skin. He is really a robot. She looks horrified at him, it does soften from the heartbroken look in his now ice-blue eyes. She recognizes that look from her husband, and still, "How can I be sure you're him?" she asks, for all she know he can just be an incredibly advanced robot thinking to be her former husband.

Martin lowers his gaze, for as much as he hates it. "No words will convince you, for my memories of us together. My childhood, everything could just be programming. I admit I did at a time merely thought myself as a robot, but," He let their eyes meet again, "my soul knows I am human. My personality and my memories." he hesitates, but he takes the chances to reach out for her, to his relief Annabelle doesn't step away, allowing him to touch her. He gently pulls her close to him, their faces inches from one another, "My feelings towards you: they all belong to that soul of your husband." He knows it is wrong now she has found another, but he just can't stop himself from stealing a kiss from her. It's not as he remembered it, this human body doesn't have enough sensors for the whole experience but it is good enough to satisfy him.

His tone, the way he moves when talking, and that kiss did it for her, Annabelle knows this is her husband, Martin. No robot- she doesn't care how advanced it is, it cannot copy all of that, all of those emotions.

This is Martin, but like for him: the reunion is bittersweet. "Oh Martin... you have no idea how much I wanted to be with you again. But..."

He knows... deep down he has always known, and that has been partly the reason why he never tried to contact her after he realized who he really was... "I know honey." Martin whispers somberly, resting his head onto hers and is not sure how to feel that he never gave this form the ability to cry. "You have moved on, found yourself another man... I have no right barging into your life..." He steps back so he can look into those tearful eyes of hers, "especially not after what I have become... and to be honest." a light but far from happy chuckle escapes him. "It just wouldn't be the same..."

She nods slowly, it breaks her heart, but like Martin. They both know they are no longer meant to be together. No matter how much they both want to. Annabelle loves Martin, she really does but she just can't live with him like this. That and she has found another, it's not fair for Rasmus if she leaves him for her former husband. And what about the kids? Now that she thinks about it; "Thomas wasn't shocked seeing you." in fact, he seemed more fearful that they were in the same room, like expecting a scene would happen.

Martin smiles sheepishly, "Yeah, about that... remember when Jeremy made him work at his working place for a whole summer?"

"Yes, he said it was a punishment, but he never said what Thomas did." Annabelle points out, and speaking about her former husband's brother. He too acted like he knew about this, "How long has your brother known?"

"I revealed myself to him two Christmas past," Martin briefly explains, quickly turning to the topic about Thomas. "and Thomas discovered the truth of me about a year back. He did it by breaking into my new working place— it's Freddy's," He quickly tells before she asks. Annabelle nods in understanding, although still confused why she never saw him back when she was there. "and let's just say I got quite angry at my son doing such shady things. So I figured I should punish him- I am his father after all."

"He did pull his act together when he began working there." Annabelle says, that has been mainly the reason why she let him continue working there, that and her- their son does look happier. "I presume you're cause of it."

Martin nods, "Yeah, you're okay I do some parenting?" He asks unsure. He does, in a way no longer have a say in his children's upbringing.

And for the first time in this incredible strange situation, Annabelle laughs. She has forgotten how naïve her former husband could be at times. "He's your son, of course I'm okay with it. Thomas adores you." Martin smiles for that praise. Annabelle's smile fades slightly in her next thoughts; "How do I explain this to April?" and only now realizes that Martin died before he ever saw his second child. "Oh, I completely forgot. Martin, April is your daughter. She's the child I was pregnant with before—"

"I know," Martin gently interrupts her. "Jeremy told me. And I have been around her twice before."

Annabelle blinks, "You have?" and he nods with the thought this is going to sound weird for her as well. "First time it was at Halloween. The second was at her own birthday."

"But... I didn't see you—I can see the difference between you and Jeremy." She points out, would be offending if she would fall for the twin trick.

Martin grins at her last remark, it's true he and Jeremy could only fool her in the start. But now to the complicated part, "Um... well, you did..." he scratches his neck sheepishly. "you weren't aware it was me though..."

Why is he so vague? That's not like him, Annabelle thinks confused. Less so that she didn't see any person other than Jeremy and some young rascal looking man interact with April. Well, the animatronics were—hold up. Martin now has the same eye color as Spring bunny. No, no, he couldn't be.

"Martin, are you saying you're Spring bunny?" The look he gives her is enough, Annabelle claps her hands up to her mouth in shock. That gold-colored animatronic rabbit was her husband?!

"Honey? You alright?" Martin asks worriedly from how long she has been standing in shock.

She slowly lowers her hands, admitting: "No... you are a robot rabbit."

"I'm actually a golden hare." He points out in matter of fact. He takes his hands up in defense from the look she gives him that his small smartass comment is not appreciated. "Sorry, it was tactless of me; I blame it on Tim. But yes; I'm that animatronic."

"But it killed you."

He sighs but nods, "That it did..."

"But how can you look human now?"

"Radio control," Martin grossly simplifies this whole human body thing. "battery only lasts for twelve hours. We only use the human forms when we—"

"We?" Annabelle asks, is there more like him?

Martin nods, "You remember my co-worker Calem?" she nods. "Well, he is like me too. All the animatronics of Freddy's are like me. The young man who got at your new boyfriend's throat, he's a robot too. "

"How did the others die?..."

Martin drops his gaze. "It's a long and very bittersweet story..."

"Like ours."

Martin nods in agreement, "Yeah, like ours..." a long and bit awkward silence between them. Annabelle breaks it with a hesitant; "Maybe... It's best we head back."

"Yeah," He agrees and quietly heads back to the room. On their way, Martin asks, "would it be alright I get the children every second weekend?"

She stops slightly, not that she minds the request. Martin has every right seeing his kids; it's just... "Can we discuss this later?"

"Of course." He forgot she is still wrapping her head around what he has been dealing with for over a decade.

They return to the room, the others have returned. Her boyfriend looks annoyed, but her attention is on her youngest child, who seems so confused. Annabelle decides to tell April what little she thinks is logical in all of this now surrounding Martin. "April, this is Martin. He's your biological father."

Rasmus gasps at what he heard, but before he could say what Annabelle told him, April speaks those thoughts. "But you kept saying dad is dead." April turns to Martin, surprised hearing this clone of Jeremy is her real father. More so when they often visit his grave, turning back to her mother. "So why is he here?"

Martin decides to take over, for it looks like Annabelle has reached her limit in this. "It's complicated beyond belief." He lets his ice-blue meet her green, "I admit I wasn't planning this meeting would get this... awkward. But... well, here I am." He chuckles sheepishly.

April titles her head, "Why is you being here so complicated? I can take it." blinking when Thomas writes to her that even he finds the whole deal with their father being around complicated, adding: 'trust me sis, just don't think about it and be happy he's around.'

April knows that if Thomas finds something too complicated to explain, then there is something to it. "Um, okay." But she doesn't move from her spot, her biological father is still just a stranger to her.

Martin doesn't blame her for not knowing what to do, and if he isn't as mentally overloaded of what just happened himself. He would've gladly interacted and gotten her to know better. He glances at Annabelle's new boyfriend. The man is staring at him as if he's a threat but Martin is not in the mood to clear up the misunderstanding between them. It can wait. he turns to Jeremy, feeling bad, but he's having trouble keeping up the link. "I really need to rest now."

Jeremy simply nods.

With that done, Martin gives Annabelle one look and with: "Take care." he leaves along with Tim.

Outside Tim asks; "So, that was your wife?"

Martin doesn't answer right away, only when they are on the next bus back to the restaurant. Here he can have his attention less on controlling his human body and focus on what has happened inside the hospital. "She was understandably confused and scared, Annabelle needs time to think what I told her over. But I say we left on good terms."

"I figured as much," Tim must admit, eyeing his brother with a bit awkward attempt cheering him up. "at least she didn't run screaming for the hill. "

Martin quirks a weak smile. "Yeah... maybe this was for the best." He turns his gaze out the window; the meeting was bittersweet but did grant them both some closure. "She wasn't the only one who needed to move on. We both have our own lives now... "

"She's not going to make Thomas stay away from is she?" for Tim does like having this sort of little brother to him around.

"No, and we will talk about our shared custody of him and April when she has gotten used to the thought that I have become the very suit that killed me in the first place."

Tim sends his brother an exaggerated look of disbelief, sure he often makes dark jokes, but even he has a limit. "Don't tell me you told her everything."

Martin returns it with his attempt of a glare, "Of course not, I told her I am a robot, and partly I am Spring. The rest she figured out on her own."

"I'm surprised she took it that well." Tim says, Martin only nods in agreement. After a moment of silence, "Do you want to go out in town for a while?"

"Yeah, I don't think I can take the others right now." Martin admits, right now, he has reached his limit and needs time to recover from this unwanted but necessary heartbreak.

One chapter left, after that, I am unsure when I will have more.