A/N: So the family has finally come back to Chicago, and everything is back to normal. So we might as well take things easy for this next chapter with some good old fashioned filler that doesn't really have any major significant on the plot, right?
…Right?
Marshall Davis: Thank you very much! I hope I continue to deliver on the quality of this fic.
Guest: I have not seen Joy of Creation Story Mode and I don't have time to watch any new games right now.
Guest: Among Us? Huh…maybe I can do that one.
RicAlberquerque: That's a very interesting idea, although I'll say right now that Charlie didn't have her powers fully developed yet back then (she would still have only been a teen if she had a natural lifespan), and even if she was stronger, the rage of her was too great for her to control them by force even if she wanted to.
FracturedSpark: …not very well, to say the least. Although considering that Mike himself is very street smart given his childhood, the chances that he would let himself be caught in such a situation in the first place are remarkably low to begin with.
PassingBy: Mangle isn't Susie's dog in this fic. I only made reference to that theory through the short that introduced Nightmare Mangle as a hellhound-like animatronic created by Nightmarionne (a non-canon Greater Nightmare creating a non-canon Lesser Nightmare, and even then that was largely a joke).
Guest: Not in this fic. Here, Mike Schmidt and Michael Afton are different characters (even though they're probably the same in the canon universe).
CrisisBorn: She's meant to be more of a "Big Sister" figure, which will become clearer later on the fic. I can tell you right now she's NOT in a romantic relationship with Mike at any point.
BarcodeMan47: I'm going to be saving that particular chapter for later because…reasons.
AlchemyWriter: Cool ideas! Both of those could be possible.
Chapter 112 – Laid to Rest
The weeks after the vacation to Chicago seemed to pass by in a blur, the Schmidt family electing to spend the remaining days of summer taking things easy after the excitement and wonder of exploring one of America's biggest and most iconic cities. The ghost kids would do the things that they usually do while doing their best to avoid the scorching sun's rays, while Mike would either join them or do some work either in his study or in his garage.
As the end of August transitioned to September, Mike suddenly gathered the ghosts to him for a family meeting in the dining hall.
"What's up, Dad?" Gabe greeted him as they gathered around the table.
"I have some…rather special work that I need to take care of," Mike announced. "Something that I should've taken care of a while back but I kept putting it off."
"What're you going to work on, Dad?" Susie wondered curiously. "Does it have something to do with Eisensteel and Melody?"
Mike shook his head. "Nope," he denied. "Actually, it has nothing to do with Eisensteel."
"Is it anything we can help with?" Charlie asked, ever the helpful young woman.
"This is something I have to do myself," Mike gently but firmly rejected the offer. "In fact, it's important that I handle this myself. There are going to be times when I'll be out for a couple of days, possibly even the whole day depending on how things pan out. I just wanted to let you know so that you don't start worrying if I leave and you don't see me for huge chunks of the day."
The ghosts nodded. "Gotcha," Jeremy acknowledged.
Mike gave the ghosts a level stare. "DON'T follow me," he ordered. "Normally I don't mind tagging you guys along whenever I do something, but this is a special case where you'll only get in the way. I won't be very happy if I see you trying to sneak around," he warned.
By now, the ghosts had lived around Mike long enough to recognize when he was exerting his authority as a parent and giving a rare but unmistakable order. "We won't," Liz promised.
Mike smiled at them. "Good!" he declared. "Now let's go do something fun tonight!"
The man introduced them to more different games, giving the ghosts plenty to do in the days to come. At first, there were only a few hours during which he left the house, and the children barely noticed as they were too absorbed in their new video games to notice. However, as the next two weeks passed, Mike's absences became more frequent, and the ghosts started to notice.
"What do you guys think Dad is doing?" Susie wondered as they finished a round of UNO, Jeremy having won the game after laying down a Wild Draw 4 as his final card and pissing off everyone else in the process.
Jeremy shrugged. "He really didn't tell us anything at all. Really makes you wonder, doesn't it?"
"That's not entirely true," Liz countered. "He told us that it didn't have anything to do with his old job at that robotics company he mentioned."
"Oh yeah!" Cassidy realized. "Do you think it might have something to do with the Rockstars?"
Gabe shook his head. "I don't see how. The Rockstars have been working fine. Besides, the Rockstars were outright destroyed last time thanks to a certain asshole we won't name in this house, and Mike just shipped them off to Eisensteel," he reasoned.
"Maybe he just wants some time to himself?" Susie suggested. "I mean, I know he loves us and all that, but maybe we're just a little too much for him sometimes and he just wants some time off from being our Dad all the time?"
Charlie shot that idea down. "If Dad wanted to take time off from parenting, he would have just told us. Remember a couple of months ago when he went to hang out for a few nights with his adult friends? He straight-up told us what he was doing, and I don't see why that would change now."
"Part of me wants to try and follow him around to see what he's doing," Fritz admitted.
"No," Charlie retorted with a glare. "We're not doing that."
"I know, I know!" the former Foxy inhabitant held up his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying…"
Jeremy looked at a clock. "It's 7 PM," he noted. "Dad's really been gone for a long time today, hasn't he?"
Gabe was about to say something in response when the doorbell suddenly rang. The former Freddy inhabitant jumped into the air. "Dad's here!" he exclaimed.
The laptops and consoles on the ground lay forgotten as the ghost kids flew over to the front door, which opened just as they got there. Mike walked in, looking exhausted but happy as he greeted his children. "How's it going, you guys?"
"We're doing great!" Liz replied eagerly. "What about you?"
Mike yawned. "I'm pretty tired to be honest," he admitted, "but I did get a lot of work done, so I've got that going for me I guess."
"That's great!" Charlie beamed at him. "We've missed you."
Mike smiled back. "Same here, kiddo. I ate dinner early today, so I think I'm going to just take a nap for an hour or so. Wake me up later, okay?"
"Okay!" the ghosts cheerfully replied as their father climbed upstairs to change into his pajamas and take his nap. Once he was gone, the ghosts looked at each other with confusion and anticipation.
"Seriously, what IS Dad doing that is taking up so much time?" Susie questioned.
"I really hope we find out soon," Liz added. "Hopefully whatever he's working on involves us in some way."
As it so happened, they would find out the next day.
"Morning guys!" Mike greeted them cheerfully at the dining table as he ate his breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage, looking a lot more energized and rested than he had been the previous night.
"Morning! You look a lot better than you did yesterday," Charlie commented.
"I feel a lot better too," Mike agreed with a chuckle. "And besides, I finally got that business that I've been working on for the past couple of weeks taken care of."
The ghosts' eyes lit up. "That's great!" Gabe exclaimed. "Are you gonna tell us about it now?"
Mike winked at him. "It's a surprise," he replied cryptically.
His children groaned in frustration. "Aww, come on, dad!" Fritz sulked. "You've been out of the house for weeks now! What could it possibly be that you can't even tell us about it?"
"You'll find out soon, Fritz," Mike promised. "All I'll say for now is that you'll find out later today, and it involves all of you."
His words seemed to appease the ghosts and rekindle their excitement as they whispered to each other about what Mike's surprise could possibly be. Mike refused to divulge any more information until earlier afternoon, when he suddenly announced to the kids that they would be going on a little road trip.
"Stop what you're doing, kids!" Mike declared. "We're gonna go out for a little drive."
"Is it time for our surprise?" Cassidy asked excitedly.
"You guessed it!" Mike confirmed, earning himself several grins from the children. "Let's go!"
The children wasted no time in following their father out the door and into the car, whatever they were working on previously abandoned and immediately forgotten for the promise of finally getting answers.
"Are we going somewhere fun?" Fritz guessed once they were all in.
"Not…quite…" Mike replied evasively as he drove out of the driveway. "In fact, I can safely say that the place we're going to isn't anything like anywhere we've been to before. But it's very important that we go there."
The ghosts looked at each other in bafflement as Mike drove away from his mansion grounds and into the town proper. Having already given up on their quest to preemptively discover what their father had been doing, there was little they could do but watch as the buildings of the town flew by. Eventually, they found themselves at a Church that seemed to be at the base of a series of small hills, with a large cemetery behind it.
"We're going to Church?" Cassidy asked in confusion. Their father had never taken them to a church before, and while they knew their father was Christian (a faith that had been reinforced by confirmation of the existence of Heaven, Hell, ghosts, and demons), he had always preferred to read his Bible, meditate, and pray in his study quietly. "It's not even Sunday."
"Some churches have their own special services outside of Sundays," Mike pointed out. "But that's not why we're here anyway."
"Is there were your mom's grave is?" Jeremy asked, but a different thought suddenly occurred to Liz. Even though it had happened longer than a year ago, she still remembered the day when she and Mike had found the bodies of her siblings, left alone to rot in that secret room with only Shadow Bonnie and her brother to guard them. She stole a glance towards Charlie, and she could see a similar thoughtful expression on her older sister's face. Could Dad have possibly, after all this time?
Mike drove his car into a parking slot in front of the church and stopped. He got out of the car, but instead of walking towards the church he stood in front of his car, waiting for the kids as they followed his lead. "Remember a long time ago when I said I'd be holding off your birthday present?" he asked quietly. "A real birthday present, not just me throwing money at you for you to do whatever the heck you want."
Mike pointed towards the hills before anyone could say anything. "Your present is over there, you guys. Go ahead and find it."
The ghosts stared at him in incomprehension, save for Liz and Charlie, whose suspicions were only growing, even though they didn't vocalize them. "You left our present out at a cemetery?" Gabe asked skeptically.
"You'll see," Mike promised.
"Won't you come with us, Dad?" Susie asked, growing even more confused when Mike shook his head.
"This is something that I think you guys should experience alone," Mike answered with surprising solemnity in his face. "And I have other people I need to visit here too."
"Okay…" The ghosts were still uncertain about what Mike wanted to show them, but they accepted Mike's wishes and began to fly towards the graveyard as he had suggested. There was no laughter, no playing around here like in other places they had visited. This humble lawn covered in tombstones was a sacred place that belonged to the dead, and even though there were no ghosts in the area to witness their arrival, even the youngest and most playful among them knew not to make a mockery of the dead and their rest.
"Do you know any of the names on these tombstones?" Susie quietly whispered to Charlie, who shook her head.
"No," she replied, her expression just as serious. "None of them."
"I don't know what Dad wants us to find," Fritz admitted, forcing a lid on his frustration.
"We're not at the hills yet," Liz reminded him. "That's where Dad said he left his present for us."
"Kinda morbid, isn't it?" Jeremy mumbled. "Leaving a birthday present in a cemetery of all places?"
"He has his reasons, I'm sure," Gabe answered sagely. "Dad always does."
With no clues hinting to the location or nature of their present, the ghosts had little choice but to move further into the graveyard. The sun was shining brightly down upon them, the warm light balanced nicely with a cool autumn breeze to create a pleasant and comforting environment. As they slowly reached the first hill, Cassidy suddenly let out a huge gasp of shock and disbelief. Her eyes bulged and her jaw dropped. "Guys…" she whispered. "G-guys…"
"What?" Susie asked immediately, worried about her little sister's sudden change in demeanor. Her concern only increased when tears began to flow out of Cassidy's eyes.
The former Golden Freddy inhabitant didn't say anything. Instead, she slowly lifted a trembling finger and pointed shakily at a set of gravestones that sat on the first hill. The ghosts could see another tombstone just a few feet away, settled neatly underneath a large tree that granted it shade with its branches. One by one, the ghosts saw what was written on those tombstones, and one by one they too let out gasps of shock and disbelief. Some of them started crying unconsciously, their tears falling freely down their cheeks. Others kept their composures better, but even they were stunned by what was in front of them.
Arranged neatly in front of them was a row of tombstones, separated a short distance from the rest of the graveyard. Although they weren't the most decorative or beautifully crafted stones, it was clear that they were freshly made, and had been well cared-for since being placed in the graveyard. But none of that mattered to the ghosts.
What mattered was the fact that each of the gravestones had their names on them. Gabe. Fritz. Susie. Jeremy. Cassidy. Liz. Each name had been written with a different style of handwriting, though each style of handwriting was beautiful in its own way. And at the foot of each gravestone was a plushie that represented each of the animatronics that had once defined their existences. The plushies themselves had been cleaned to be in the best condition possible, and even though they were old and worn-down from the passage of decades, they still had enough of their shape and color to be unmistakable. Even Baby had one, despite not being directly connected to the Freddy Fazbear franchise.
"So this is what he was up to…" Liz was the first one to break the silence. The other ghosts slowly turned to her, realizing that she knew something that they didn't. "Do you remember a long time ago, when I had my major guilt and depression issues?" The ghosts nodded hesitantly, fully remembering how Nightmare had singled Liz out and nearly destroyed her already fragile self-respect. "My mind was in a really bad spot, so Dad took me out on a mission to help me feel better. And that mission…"
The pieces began to click into place, and the kids' eyes widened as the realization hit. "Dad…he tried to find our missing bodies, didn't he?" Gabe murmured.
Liz nodded, earning even more awestruck looks from her siblings. "We found them in the 1987 Freddy Fazbear's, the one before where Dad had his night shift." The ghosts looked at each other uneasily, remembering the broken bodies that they had once inhabited before their bodies had been repaired for the 1993 location. "That was also the place where I met my younger brother for the first time in years…"
"That Shadow Freddy guy, right?" Fritz asked. "The one who took that asshole's attacks like a pro?"
"Yeah," Liz confirmed, smiling slightly at the description of her younger brother, "but I didn't know who he was at the time. Anyways, my brother and his…friend…" she still didn't know how to describe the shadowy version of Bonnie, although she knew for a fact that he was not like his brother, "they showed us a secret compartment in the Parts/Service where your bodies were hidden. Dad called the Police to report your bodies, and…we ended things there, to be honest."
"Wow…" Cassidy breathed, captivated by her story.
"I honestly thought Dad just left it at that," Liz admitted. "He called the Police and let them handle things. I thought he might've forgotten about this…I know I did."
Jeremy looked down at the row of tombstones. "But he never forgot…" he murmured, trying not to burst into tears. "He wanted to give us a proper burial, even after all this time."
"Where's Charlie's gravestone?" Gabe suddenly pointed out. "I don't see it here!"
In response, Charlie pointed to the lone gravestone located farther back on another hill, underneath the tree. Though the writing on it was hard to read since it was far away, there was little doubt that the gravestone was Charlie's, standing proudly at a distance as though it were watching over the six gravestones in front of it. "Like a guardian protecting the people under its care," Charlie mused with a small smile on her face. While others might have been insulted by the fact that her tombstone was farther away from the rest of her family's, the former Marionette knew the significance of its placement and silently approved of it.
"That's why Dad must have been out for so many days," Susie commented quietly, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. "He had to have been talking with the police, then with the church to finally get us all buried in the cemetery." She gave the plushies another look. "He might've even gone back to the old Fazbear location to find some plushies for our graves."
Liz shook her head noncommittally. "I don't remember ever seeing any plushies back when we visited the locations, but then again, we never really looked for them either," she admitted.
"Wait, there's something else!" Fritz declared, pointing at the tombstones themselves. "These tombstones…they're different than the other ones we've seen!"
The ghosts took another look at them, and realized that the former Foxy inhabitant was right. Most of the tombstones had the name of the deceased, along with a range of dates that delineated the lifespan of the person in question. But there were no dates on these tombstones. Instead, each of the tombstones had an inscription written on it. The ghosts separated from each other and each approached their respective tombstone, all of them wondering what message Mike had left for them.
Susie was the first to reach her stone, and she knelt down to read what was written. "A golden-haired girl with a golden heart," the first line read. And underneath that was a single quotation. "A happy family is but an earlier Heaven. -George Bernard Shaw."
There were just two lines. Just two simple lines...that told Susie everything she needed to know. A description of who she was…and a message from their father that told them exactly how he felt about the family that had so unexpectedly become a part of his life.
"Dad…" Susie whispered, and now the tears flowed freely from her cheeks. Not the vengeful black tears of her murdered and ghastly form, but true tears of pure, overwhelming emotion.
The other children were reacting very much the same to the messages they found.
"The oldest brother amongst us, wise and mature,"Gabe read on his tombstone. "My family is my life, and everything else comes second as far as what's important to me. – Michael Imperioli."
"Rambunctious and energetic, bringing smiles to all," Fritz's tombstone read. "Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter. – Brad Henry."
"Taking life in stride, a lover of nature and the beauty of the world," Jeremy's tombstone read. "The bond that links the true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. – Richard Bach."
Cassidy's tombstone was somewhat hidden by a particularly tall pile of grass, and she had to move it aside to read hers. "The youngest among us, with an excitement towards the world that makes her adorable beyond measure," it declared, followed by: "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you were to them. – Desmond Tutu."
As the others read their tombstones, Liz approached hers with a trembling anticipation. She knew that, unlike the other children, her remains had never been found and would probably never be buried, given who she had used to be. But she didn't care. Her father and new life were the only things that mattered to her now, and she would gladly accept any gift Mike gave her with gratitude and love.
And when she finally read her tombstone, she wasn't disappointed.
"A loving, kindhearted girl who found her way back into the light from the depths of the darkness," her tombstone solemnly proclaimed. "No matter what a waste one has made of one's life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, however partial. -Charles Frazier."
Liz's mind went back to everything she had experienced. Her murderous nature as Scrap Baby, Nightmare's brutal revelation of her wickedness and her treachery against her brother, Mike personally taking the time to help her find redemption and happiness (including the very quest that had led to this moment), her battle alongside her siblings to protect her new family from William Afton's demonic rampage...she knew better than anyone that the quote Mike had left for her on this stone was the fundamental, indisputable truth. And that filled with her a happiness and a resolve to continue on that newfound path.
Further behind the row of gravestones, Charlie was reading her own tombstone. Out of all the ghost kids she arguably had the strongest relationship with Mike, having spent a full year with him after the destruction of her original father's trap pizzeria before the rest of the children showed up at their doorstep. And the description on her tombstone was a perfect representation of that bond.
"A devoted sister, protector, and loyal friend to all," Charlie's tombstone read. "Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what."
Charlie smiled softly as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "You know me so well, dad…" she thought as she knelt down on the ground at the foot of her grave. The other ghosts did the same, not saying a word as they absorbed the magnitude of the gift that their father had given them, silently re-reading the descriptions and quotes on the tombstones over and over again. A gift that none of them had ever expected, one with a value that couldn't ever be put into words or money.
After several moments, Jeremy finally broke the silence. "This was the best gift Dad ever gave us, but…"
Liz knew what her brother was thinking. "…Why didn't he join us?" she vocalized the question out loud. "He could have easily led us to these hills, and show us these graves himself."
"…this is a place for the dead," Gabe suggested after thinking for several seconds. "Maybe…Dad didn't feel like it was right for him to be here, even though he was the one who gave us the gift in the first place."
"Do you guys think Dad might've had another reason to come here?" Charlie wondered. "Besides showing us that he gave us the best burial that he possibly could?"
The ghosts looked at each other uncertainly, for none of them could come up with an answer.
/
Far away, in a different, distant corner of the cemetery, Mike wandered past the rows of gravestones, striding towards a specific set of them with purpose and determination. He had wanted to join his children in showing them their graves more than anything, but something deep within him told him that that wouldn't have been the right decision to make. This was a moment specifically for his children, and him being there would have detracted from that.
And even without that being factored in, there was another reason why he had wanted to come to the cemetery. Just as the revelation of the graves was meant to be specifically for his new family, so too was this moment reserved for his old family. The three adults who had shaped the entirety of his early years, for better or for worse, and made him into the man he is today.
He first stopped in front of Oskar's grave. Though the old war hero had been respected by the few who knew him, he had been given a quiet, humble funeral and grave. Something that he imagined would have suited the old man quite well. "I owe you more than you can possibly imagine, Oskar," Mike mumbled. "When I was just a scared and frightened child roaming the streets, you gave me everything that I could possibly have wanted and needed. A home to keep me safe and healthy, a place with you as part of your family even though you barely knew who I was. And most importantly, you gave me your morals and values. Courage. Compassion. Love. Integrity. Humility. I don't know what kind of person I would have been like if I hadn't ever met you, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that without you, I would have been a far, far worse person than I am today. You taught me how to be a good person, and that's a debt I'll never be able to pay no matter how hard I try."
Mike took out an army pocketknife and laid it down gently on Oskar's grave, before moving on to his mother's grave a few feet away, a small smile appearing on his face. Though her mother had originally been buried in the city where they had grown up in, Mike had paid a handsome sum of money to have her moved and reburied in this small cemetery, where he could easily visit her. "You've always been looking out for me, mom…" he said quietly. "Even back when I was a kid, before that terrible day…you always showered me with love and affection whenever you could. It's been many, many years since I've last seen you…well, not counting last year, of course," he added with a dry chuckle that quickly faded. With a sigh, he continued. "I hope I've made you proud, mom. I hope that I'm the kind of parent you were to me, the kind of parent that other people wish they've had. My kids don't deserve anything less, after all the terrible things they've been through."
A gentle breeze flew through the air. It was like an invisible hand, caressing Mike's cheek…and directing him in the direction of one last grave. With a heavy sigh, Mike laid a single beautiful flower on Serene's grave and moved on to the final grave. And unlike the first two, the person buried underneath had caused him a great deal of emotional turmoil during his life. But the lessons Mike had learned from him had been just as crucial in their own way and couldn't be disrespected.
"Hello, Dad…" Mike mumbled. The grave gave no response, not that he had expected any. "There was a time, back when I was younger, when I hated you more than anyone else on Earth," he admitted. "Heck, so many times I sarcastically thanked you for teaching me how to NOT be a good parent, cursing you every time I did so."
Mike took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "But then I realized you weren't ever a truly evil person," he sighed. "I knew that when you tried to make things right with me at the end, but even back then, you were just broken by Mom's death. I've seen pure evil with my own eyes, and I wasn't kidding when I said I'd rather spend 10 years with you at your worst than a single day with him." His lips curled in distaste before he smoothed his face back into a wistful expression.
"Mom and Oskar might have taught me how to be a good parent, but you taught me how to be a bad one," Mike continued. "And one of the biggest reasons why I try so hard to be a good parent to my kids is because I don't want to make the same mistakes you did. I don't want to end up like you. No offense," he added with a humorless chuckle.
The grave remained silent, and Mike sighed. "Because of what you did to me in the past, I've been so careful in how I've treated the kids. Obviously I'm never gonna do anything to abuse them, but it's been hard trying to balance having fun and putting in discipline when I need to. Not to mention looking after seven kids, you know? But I'd like to think…I'd like to think I'm doing a good job, all things considered. So thank you…" Mike concluded, closing his eyes. "Truly. Thank you for showing me what NOT to do. Because that turned out to be just as important in the end."
Mike leaned down and placed a single wineglass down on his father's grave. Though it might have seemed like an insult to those who knew about his past, Mike intended nothing of the sort. It was a solemn representation of the lessons Mike had learned from his father, as well as a reminder of the promise he had made to himself never to drink alcohol around his children unless it was for very special occasions. Mike got up from the grave and looked at the three graves one last time.
"I love you," he murmured, so quietly that not even the ghosts would have been able to hear it if they had been in the vicinity. Then, Mike turned and left, walking back to the hills where he knew his children would be waiting.
His old family lay behind him, and his new family awaited him. The family that mattered most of all.
/
A/N: I bet none of you were expecting THAT now, were you?
The quest where Mike and Liz went to the old Freddy Fazbear locations happened many, many chapters ago, and it would've been easy for you to assume that I forgot all about it or decided to leave it alone. But no. I never forgot. This chapter was something that I'd always had planned, even before arcs such as the destruction of the Marionette and William Afton's escape from Hell. I just didn't know where to put it…until now.
If you're wondering why Mike didn't include the last name Schmidt on any of the gravestones, it's for practical reasons. Keeping the existence of his ghostly children a secret is his first and foremost priority, and putting his last name on the tombstones would blatantly give the game away for anyone who decided to snoop around. Hell, the descriptions of the children, the quotes on the gravestones, and the plushies on their graves are already more of a risk than Mike would be comfortable with, even if they wouldn't make sense to any outsiders. In this case, though, there are more important things than secrecy and survival.
I'll leave the details surrounding how Mike pulled all of this off to your imagination. Suffice to say, it took him quite a lot of time, and more than a few "generous donations" to pull it off. Mike isn't a greedy or corrupt bastard by any stretch of the imagination, but he knows the value of money and how to take advantage of it.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed!
