Mable: Here we are again. Enjoy!

The Butcher's Traps

Chapter 2: Rehomed

As expected, Charlie's house wasn't the only one hit by the storm, but there had been minimal damage to the town considering the ferocity of it. Or at least, that's what Marla had said when she came by to check on her. Jessica had gotten stuck at the university trying to sort through post-tornado panic, so it was nice that Marla and Carlton had drove by to check in. She couldn't say they were making things much better though.

"Yeah, I'd say you're looking at a couple grand at least," Carlton said casually as he stared over the damage to the workshop. Marla preceded to give him a sharp jab in the side with her elbow. He quickly changed course, "But you can get it fixed. It's not something they'd tear down the house over. Money's just money."

"Money's just a lot of money, and it's a house not in my name," Charlie lamented. She sighed wearily. "I'm going to have to call Aunt Jen."

"Maybe she'll understand…" Marla led in gently. She cam forward and put an arm around Charlie and a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "You just tell her that if she gets the work done that you'll pay her back. We'll even pitch in too! This house is kind of like my long-term investment for if I ever decide to run away." She gave Charlie a smile and received a slight one back.

"How's… Sammy taking this?" Carlton dared to ask. It was a lot more awkward asking about Sammy when he knew he was somewhere listening. He swore he could feel those glowing eyes staring him down.

"He's taking it okay, all things considered… But we have another problem. I know once I call Aunt Jen and tell her about the situation, she's going to want me to come home and stay with her while we work this out. Especially once I tell her about everything that's going on. I've got to find a place for Sammy to go, because I can't leave him here and I won't take him there," Charlie explained and looked back to the others.

Both Carlton and Marla had silent stares. That finally got some amusement out of her.

"Nice faces," she teased. "Don't worry, I'm not asking either of you to take him in. No offense, but you're both too risky. I'd either be putting him with the chief of police or a house with a curious kid, and we still can't risk people seeing him move… And I don't think Jen's is going to be much better." Charlie pursed her lips at that thought, but then shrugged. "I'll figure it out later."

Sammy had been listening in from the office doorway. He and Charlie had already discussed this so it was no surprise that she was bringing it up with her friends. Though he was relieved to hear that neither of them were offering their place to stay. While he knew he needed to go somewhere- Charlie insisted he didn't and he wasn't going to argue with her- he didn't really trust anyone enough to go with them. Especially not with the redhead. He could go a lifetime without being stuck in that basement again.

With a wispy sigh, Sammy turned from the door and hovered over to the desk. All his neatly stacked drawings had been blown all over the room. This place that almost became like a sanctuary of memories was now just another messy reminder of the storm.

He started to stack them back together when he brushed a drawing of a familiar face. He pulled it free from the others and studied it, and then his smile returned in full. Sammy had an idea.

Carlton and Marla stuck around for a while longer to help her get the house a little more put together. Specifically, helping her get the glass up off the floor, put up the curtains and the pictures that weren't broken, and other tasks that were a help but couldn't make up for the severe damage in the garage. Charlie assured them both she would be fine as she led them to the front door and gave Marla a hug goodbye. They walked out and she shut the door behind them-.

Only to find Sammy standing behind it. She jumped with a slight gasp but recovered fast enough to give an unamused frown. "I thought you were going to stop doing that."

The Puppet gave an apologetic tilt of his head before eagerly offering her the drawing clasped in his grasp. She took and looked at it.

"Schmidt?" Sammy nodded eagerly. "I'm sure he's okay. I can call him if you want and check in just to make sure," she offered, assuming that was what was wrong. He shook his head and pointed to the picture a little more insistently, then pointed between him and the man on the picture. Now she started to catch on. "You and Schmidt- Wait, you're saying that you want to… Want me to ask Schmidt if you can stay with him?"

He nodded eagerly and she seemed a little skeptical, pushing the door closed the rest of the way and leaning on it with crossed arms.

"I don't know about this. He might know about Freddy's, but he hasn't exactly had good experiences around living animatronics… And we don't know him that well," Charlie said. She had never been this suspicious of Schmidt, but the thought of having Sammy stay with what was a stranger made her uneasy. "What if he tells someone? Or worse, what if he has me bring you over just to try and deactivate you?"

Sammy hesitated only a moment, looking off to the corner thoughtfully, and then seemingly regained his confidence. He pointed down at the Schmidt picture before reaching up and quickly clasping his neck aggressively. "If Schmidt attacks me-." He then released his neck and made a mock throat cutting gesture with his fingers. "-I'll kill him." But from the particularly smug look, she didn't take the threat seriously.

"I don't see how that could have any lasting consequences," Charlie said sarcastically. Then finally caved with a sigh. "I'll call him and lead in that direction and see how it goes. Okay?" Again, Sammy eagerly nodded.

Charlie had to fish Schmidt's number out of the kitchen drawer where it had been spared from the storm. Then, sitting at the dining room table, she quickly dialed the number. Sammy listened from beside her.

"Hello, hello?" Schmidt answered dryly. He sounded half exhausted, which wasn't a good way to start out this precarious conversation.

"Hey, it's Charlie. I-I was wondering how you're doing." She winced at her own stutter. If she was this nervous talking to him then how was she supposed to handle Jen?

"Hey, Charlie. Long time no word. Doing fine, survived the tornado- even if my apartment looks like the point of impact. How've you been holding up?"

"Fine, up until last night. The house suffered storm damage and I'm going to have to figure out a way to get my aunt on board to fix it." She took a deep breath. "…That's kind of why I called you. See, I might be staying somewhere else until the roof is repaired, and my brother needs somewhere to stay."

"Huh. Sorry to break it to you, but if you're looking for someone with a guest room- Wait, your brother? I thought your brother went missing. This is another brother?"

"No, I mean Sammy," Charlie confessed.

"…The brother who disappeared?"

"That's him… I found him. He's at home with me now."

"You found him? So, after all this time, he just showed up-? There's something you're not telling me." Schmidt caught on as quickly as she expected. Especially when he added, "Alright, what's wrong with Sammy?"

"He's…" Charlie looked to Sammy before turning aside and lowering her voice. "He's not human anymore."

"…Ask a stupid question,"Schmidt muttered. "So, just to clarify, he IS an animatronic?"Charlie agreed with a quick 'right'. "And he's living in your house, right now."This time a 'yes'. "Okay… And with my history, where exactly did you get the impression that there was any way I wanted to be anywhere near an animatronic again? Or that it's a good idea to go telling people he's there. Do you know what could happen if someone like Fazbear Entertainment found out you had one of their bots? If they weren't, you know, completely defunct?"

"I know it's a risk, but I knew you wouldn't tell… I have too much dirt on you," Charlie lightly joked. He huffed without amusement. "I didn't want to bring you into this but I was low on options… And, uh, this might freak you out a little, but it was Sammy's idea to ask you."

"He knows who I am?"he asked in surprise. He quickly changed tone, "Which one is he? Freddy? Bonnie? Is it Foxy? I always thought Foxy was watching me."

"It's Lefty. Or he was Lefty."

"Oh, I knew he was watching me."

"You have every right to say no. I know you've been through so much with Freddy's and it's crazy of me to ask you to take one in, but Sammy is different. Trust me, I've seen what animatronics are capable of. My friends and I were attacked by some for no reason other than us being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I've been living with Sammy for months and I can vouch that he's not like them."

"It's not that I don't trust you, Charlie. You've been honest with me up to this point, but I'm a danger magnet. I walk out the front door and there's a good chance I'm winding up in a hospital. If it wasn't for my crushing debt, I'd probably be a shut-in by now. You understand."

"Right. Never mind, I'll find someone else. Or somewhere else… Just to be clear, you won't tell anyone, will you? You said yourself that it's important that nobody finds out about Sammy."

"Not a soul. Not that anyone would believe me anyways. Good luck with that, sorry I can't be more help."

"No problem. Just glad to hear you're okay. Talk to you later, Schmidt."

"…You know what?"Charlie perked and for a second, she thought maybe he was about to change his mind, but instead he said, "Call me Mike."

"Mike? That's your real name?" Charlie got a slight smile. "Seems like a popular name."

"In the Freddy business, yes. For clarification, no connection to any other Mikes, Michaels, etcetera."It wouldn't be the first time they had talked about Michael since the fire, since they had come to the conclusion that it was he who had been the elusive manager, but in the few phone calls they had they spoke of him only in brief references. "So there. Now we have real dirt on one another."

"If you say so," she said. "See you." Then she ended the call, gave a tired sigh, and looked towards Sammy. "Looks like we're going to need a plan B."

Sammy seemed disappointed by the turn of events but was willing to compromise. He collapsed onto the other dining room chair limply, then dragged his arm up to grab a pen she left out from earlier and scribbled a note on the edge of the Mike drawing, then showed it to her.

"Hide at Aunt Jen's."

"I… Don't think that's a good idea," Charlie admitted. She looked down at the table almost shamefully, rubbing her hands together. "I don't think Jen's going to take the news about the house well, and I'm sort of afraid that things might start coming out if it doesn't. Not to mention that you'd pretty much be stuck in a closet. You shouldn't have to go through that." Her fingers laced and tightened. "You wouldn't like it."

The Puppet hummed and loosely played with the pen in his three fingers. Charlie separated her hands to tap her own on the table.

"…Okay, Carlton and Marla are both out, but what about John or Jessica? Lamar's parents are a little… They're nice, but I think they'd notice something's up. Besides, I don't think I could convince Lamar to do it. John might. His place is small, but I'm sure-." But Sammy shook his head. "And Jessica's dorm would be as bad as staying in my room at Jen's…"

She wasn't surprised in his lack of interest in staying with her friends. Sammy listened to stories about them and observed them when they were here, but he didn't take interest in meeting them and became very defensive if they so much as tried to climb the stairs. Charlie could just feel the twitching dread that resonated off him whenever they came too far into his comfort zone.

Finally, Sammy gave a sound like a sigh, though hollow and metal. He turned back to Charlie and pointed a hand to himself, she looked to him attentively, and then he pointed straight down. "I'll stay here."

"I don't want you to have to stay alone here," Charlie insisted. Even if he acted fine about it now, she could tell that he didn't want it either. It was one thing staying the day apart, but night was something entirely different. Sammy barely could stand being in a separate room once night fell, and he became restless from midnight onward. She couldn't leave him here with that.

But he was adamant about it. He pointed to her, tapped the edge of his mouth, and then dropped his finger straight down underneath Jen's name. "You talk to Aunt Jen." Then gave a sweeping gesture towards the house. She wasn't entirely sure what it meant except that it was about the house. Maybe something about her talking to Jen about the house. "Something something our house."

"Sammy, come on. You don't want to be here alone," Charlie said.

He stared at her for a moment before giving a somewhat carefree shrug. She read a distinct, "Well, what are you going to do?"

And for a long moment Charlie didn't know what she was going to do. Until she finally made her decision and picked back up the cellphone and redialed. After a few moments, there came an answer.

"Hello?"

"I'll pay you fifty dollars."

That managed to lead to a long silence. If there were two things that Charlie knew for certain, it was that Sammy would not be a threat to Mike, and that Mike very desperately needed money. The last thing she wanted was to twist his arm, but these circumstances were dire. She waited with bated breath until finally-.

"How long would he be here?"

Finally, there was headway. "If all goes well, only one night. Maybe less." Mike gave a tired groan over the phone. Charlie tried to make it easier for him and continued, "How about I bring Sammy over now for you to see him? It's the middle of the day, your neighbors are going to be all awake, and I can show you that he's safe. And if you still aren't sure, then we can just forget about it. How about that?"

"…Fine. Alright, fine, yeah. I need the money," he said defeatedly. "At least if he turns on me, I'll be able to watch TV while I'm being crushed to death." He then gave her quick directions to his apartment.

The relief Charlie felt was just enough to override the guilt for coercing him into this. "Thank you so much, Mike. You're not going to regret this. I promise it's totally safe."

"Gee, where have I heard that?" he asked dryly. "Just bring him over, and make sure he's up to speed on the whole not killing me thing."

"I'll make sure of it. Thanks again." They ended the call and she took a moment to get her thoughts together. Then turned to Sammy and said, "…I probably should've offered him less upfront." Sammy chimed a little and mask shifted like raising a brow, still beaming wide. "I don't trust that look. If I find out this is an elaborate scheme to prank your secret mortal enemy or something, you're going to be paying me that fifty back."

Sammy waved his hands in denial; still playful, still smiling. She could tell that he was relieved though and she was too knowing that she didn't have to leave him alone here. She stood from the table. "Well, let's get you over there. Then I can talk to Jen and see where we go from there." He nodded and went to get his sketch book, not needing to back more than that.

Charlie grabbed her bag and helped get Sammy fully covered in the throw blanket. It would be the first time taking him outside since they had gone to see what was left of the pizzeria and the first time taking him close to where people would be. It wouldn't be a big, empty parking lot at dusk, but an apartment complex in broad daylight. They could manage but they would have to be careful.

She opened the door, started to usher Sammy through, and then promptly shoved him back inside when she found John coming up the front steps. She stepped ahead with a tight smile.

"Err- Hey stranger! How long have you been out here?" Charlie greeted in a much less awkward manner. He noticed the weird moment, but still gave her a smile, one hiding a concerned look.

"Just pulled in. Carlton told me about what happened and I came to check in and see how you were holding up," John said. He noticed her blocking the door and gave a quizzical look. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, just… Would you mind turning around for five minutes?" she asked with an uncomfortable smile. That confused look remained, but he got a touch of an amused look and did as asked.

Charlie opened the door and began to quickly usher her brother, who remained floating in place, crouching down with the blanket still on. She had to physically grab his arm and pull him out, though taking care to lead him to the car. She could feel how rigid he was under the blanket and sympathetically patted his back. He slid into the car and knelt in the floorboard, cocooning himself in the blanket as she shut the door.

"Thanks for that. I'm taking Sammy over to Schmidt's to stay with him while I sort out all this with Jen," Charlie explained. John turned back to her and briefly glanced at the car window.

"Nobody else could take him?" he asked.

"Not really."

"You know, if you two needed someplace to stay, you could always come to my place. I know Sammy's not exactly comfortable with me, but we could work something out," he offered. He got a coy smile and added, "And before you get the wrong idea, I'm fine crashing on the couch if you two want to take the bed."

Somehow this innocent suggestion still caused Charlie to feel a little more flustered than she would've liked. That just seemed like a border she was not ready to cross yet, having her would-be boyfriend see her in the morning, possibly in her night clothes, with bedhead and disheveled. Not ready to breach that gap yet, but that was fine because she didn't need to.

"That sounds great, but I don't think I'm going to have a choice in the matter. Whenever Jen gets worried about me, she insists I come home. That's pretty much the whole reason she pulled me out of school and since I'm going to be giving her some- uh- troubling news, I expect the same thing. That's the whole reason I'm taking Sammy to Schmidt's. Apparently, they have a little bit of a history and he's got the space."

"The option's always open if you change your mind," John assured. They stood alongside each other and looked back at the house. Other than some of the branches of the collapsed tree poking out, it was hard to see the true extent of the damage from here. John eventually broke the silence, "I was worried about you. You were right in the worst of it."

"I know, Marla told me."

"You could've called. I could've helped you out."

"I've kind of been in panic mode since 2AM. Calling you would've required a little more brain power than that," Charlie quipped. She reached out to take his hand and squeezed. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"You being fine never stopped me in the past," John teased back. He separated their hands to instead put an arm around her, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. Such a simple gesture sent light flutters through her stomach and a comfortable warmth over her skin.

"I don't know. If this is how cuddly you get when you're worried, maybe I should keep you on your toes," Charlie said. John chuckled before holding her a little tighter. Charlie wasn't sure whether to return the gesture or what to do with herself, but the comfort was needed, and she stayed like that as long as she could. Only drawing back once she knew she had to get moving. "I guess I should go."

"You don't want to keep Schmidt waiting. It's not every day he gets to babysit a mime," John said as he released her. She playfully rolled her eyes.

"It helps that he's getting fifty dollars to do it… Yes, I offered too much, I know." He walked her back to her car and she opened her door and tossed her bag into the passenger's seat before hesitating. He still looked worried, so she had to say something. "…I'll try to call you later if I get a chance. I'm not entirely sure how this is going to go with Jen, but I'd like to meet up if we can. I might need rescuing."

"I think I can manage that. You know where I'll be," John said. He winked at her and she playfully waved him off before getting into the car to leave. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

It wasn't until Charlie quickly glanced into the backseat that she noticed Sammy was peering out from under the blanket. She was about to apologize for taking so long when she noticed his obvious smirk.

"Don't give me that look, he was worried about us. And he was the only one who offered to take you in without a bribe," Charlie defended. She turned away before her cheeks could heat up, fueled by the playful chimes of laughter in the backseat. She focused on driving and tried to ignore him.

Schmidt's apartment was about halfway across town but wasn't what Charlie had pictured. She expected closely set doors lining a few floors connected by outside stairs, but instead found three identical brick buildings. They were all only a single story, surrounding by a few trees and bushes, with some having flowers growing out front. The one he told her to go to had minimal décor, but the grass was clean cut.

Charlie parked alongside what must've been Mike's car before turning off her own. "I'm going to go make sure this is the right place," she said. Sammy nodded, and she got out, headed up the walkway and steps to the concrete porch, and knocked on the door before she could second guess herself. The door opened to reveal a very exhausted looking Mike Schmidt.

"Oh hey. Didn't expect you this soon," he said. He then glanced back towards the car and furrowed his brows. "Where is he?"

"In the car. I just wanted to make sure I was at the right place before I brought him inside."

"Huh. He's a lot smaller than I thought he was." Mike's shoulders seemed to loosen at this realization. He propped open the door with his foot. "You can go ahead and bring him in."

It was clear that there was nothing sketchy going on so Charlie went to go do so. She kept a close eye out as she escorted Sammy out. He stayed so low to the ground that the throw blanket dragged along it, so there was little chance of anyone seeing anything underneath. Still, it was risky if anyone took notice, so she rushed to guide him up to the front door. Mike seemed much less concerned.

"The apartment next door is empty, don't worry about it," he said as he watched the blanket be led into the house. He shut the door behind them, the blinds and curtains already drawn. Mike got straight down to business, "Alright, so I'm going to need to know exactly how he works and what sets him off-." It was at this moment that Sammy abruptly shed the blanket and unfurled himself, to Charlie's slight surprise. Mike staring silently for a few seconds before asking, "Any way I can call this off?"

"Schm-Mike, he's fine. I know he doesn't look as… Unassumingly dangerous as some of the other animatronics, but he's completely aware. He's more human than any of the others," Charlie reassured. She looked to Sammy to back him up only to find the Puppet floating stiffly and staring directly at the man. She added after a beat, "He freezes up a little when people look at him."

"Same." Mike stared pointedly back before getting an uneasy look. "Yeah, that's definitely Lefty. How exactly was he able to fit inside that bear?"

"The same way he fit under the blanket. Anyways, here's what you need to know. Like I said, Sammy is completely aware and thinks and feels just like a human would. There isn't anything that will outright set him off, so just try to be nice to him and everything will go fine. And won't leave the apartment so don't be afraid of him wandering off while you're asleep."

"If I sleep," Mike corrected. "But if he's not a flight risk then why am I watching him?"

Charlie tensed and considered her next words. She looked back towards Sammy to see if he was listening and saw that he was drifting around and looking at the apartment.

They stood in the small living room and from it there were two doors leading out, one into a kitchen and the other to a hallway where a bathroom door could be seen. It was rather cozy. Still, she knew he was listening in by how close he stayed. She lowered her voice to a near whisper before answering.

"Because someone put him inside Lefty and tried to set him on fire. He can't be alone."

Apparently, that was enough of an explanation as Mike's features soften from questioning back to tired. Charlie took this time to pull out the money she had stuffed into her pocket earlier. She recounted it quickly and handed it over.

"Thanks. You know I wouldn't be taking this if I didn't need it," Mike said, pocketing it without counting. "Or, you know, might've taken less."

"How are things?" Charlie asked with genuine concern. She was starting to notice exactly how weary he looked.

"Not so good, actually. Nobody's looking for a full-time worker in this town and my car is two miles away from breaking down on the side of the road. I've even started looking for nightguard jobs again; no dice."

"I'm sorry to hear that… But this isn't like a handout. You're doing both of us a big favor here, and I rather pay and know Sammy's safe than have him alone at the house or hiding in a closet somewhere."

"So that means I can't lock him in the closet if he gets rowdy?" Mike flashed her a playful smirk.

"Oh, they're going to get along just fine." Charlie started to turn away only to turn back and add, "Just to forewarn you, sometimes he pops up when you're not expecting him." That smirk changed into a partial grimace and she faced her brother again. "Alright, Sammy. If you think you're going to be okay here then I should get going. The sooner I see Aunt Jen, the better."

Sammy's face didn't change- probably because they weren't alone- but he spun to face her rather quickly. His empty hand began to tighten, fingers twisting together anxiously; suddenly he was beginning to regret his decision to come here. Feeling the change, Charlie reached out for his shoulders to comfort him.

"Hey. If all goes well, I might be back to pick you up tonight. The house might be safe enough to stay in if we're both there… Or maybe a hotel's the way to go. Either way, you're going to hear from me. I'll call as soon as I figure out what we're going to do," she reassured him. Sammy smile seemed to become a little more honest and he nodded. She brought him into a hug that he returned with a chime. "Love you, Sammy."

Sammy trilled lovingly as they pulled apart. Charlie headed for the door, passing by Mike who had been watching with a slightly bewildered look. She smiled and said, "Take care of my brother, Mike. He's all I've got."

"I'll see what I can do," Mike agreed. He followed her to the door and watched her make her way down the steps before calling out, "Before you go…" She turned back quizzically and he lowered his voice. "…Take care out there. Just because Freddy's is gone doesn't make this town any safer. There's been cops out everywhere today."

"Probably looking for looters. I'll be careful," Charlie agreed.

Mike nodded and went to shut the door. Only to suddenly jump back from it with a quick, "Sheeze!" Charlie was startled for a second before having to suppress a snicker once she realized Sammy was probably waiting behind the door. Mike muttered an exasperated, "Just kill me now," before finally shutting it.

Charlie should've felt relief in this moment. Now she wouldn't have to worry about Sammy while she spoke to Jen and tried to get everything figured out. Yet instead, she felt jarringly alone standing out here. Sammy was fine and she would see him soon enough; it should've been just like when she left him for the day, but for some reason it wasn't.

"Maybe Sammy wasn't the one afraid of splitting us up," Charlie suggested to herself. She returned to her car and got inside. "I can't start getting weird about this now. I've got somewhere to be…"

After stilling her nerves, she took her cellphone out to call her aunt. She stared at it for a long moment before putting it back and starting up the car. News like this would have to be given in person.

"Just kill me now."