Content Warning: Suggested Violence, Depictions of Blood, Depiction of Panic Attack

Vanessa has never had to care for a kid before. Sure, whenever she had her lucid days at work, which was whenever she did the dayshift guard position, she had to make sure that kids didn't fall into Gator Golf pools or into the fountain that's under the Daycare Attendant's statue. Or she'd get onto some teenager's cases for harassing the mapbots and S.T.A.F.F. bots, but they'd all be returned to their actual caregivers. She's never had to keep one… Well.. Keep one for long…

Vanessa rubbed at her eyes as she stared at the computer screen, filling out her tenth resume of the day. She doesn't have a college degree but considering how much money it takes to get any kind of degree, it's probably best that she only has her high school diploma. She leans back as she stretches her back and she sighs. She looks up at the clock on the wall and it says its 3:30pm. The library will close in thirty minutes.

She looks over her shoulder to look for Greg and Freddy. She finds them close by on the floor. Greg is using a beanbag chair like a pillow as he is laying on his stomach reading a book about mechanical engineering for dummies. Freddy is right beside him, with a book propped up next to his face. An untrained eye would see it as Greg playing pretend with a Freddy Replica, but the blond woman knows that he is reading whatever book he has.

With a sigh, Vanessa turns back to the screen and finishes the resume she's working on. She then goes to her online bank account. She has $8,000 in savings to her name. She knows that with that kind of money, if she was on her own, she'd be able to last on that for about a month and a half, but with Greg it may be cut down to three weeks. She sighs into her hands again; she really hopes to find a new job soon.

She makes sure that she's logged out of everything before getting up. She walks around the building, in no rush to get out of the heated building now that it was evening outside and much colder. The library was made from an old opera building. Old, exposed bricks and tall ceilings being an echo of its past. Now filled with potted plants and tall bookshelves. She nodded to the old men and women that work at the counter, all of them smiling at her with happy familiarity. She smiled back, but she couldn't hold the lie on her face for long and had to look away as she went to the parenting advice section. She's had Greg for a week now. She tells everyone that asks that he is her little brother, but despite that, she suspects she still must mother him in some way. All she knows about raising kids is how she would have wanted to be treated when she was his age, and it can't be that easy.

She picked out a book that the library had the most of and took it to the front desk, hoping to hide it from Greg. She didn't need him making fun of her when she was only trying her best. After she checked it out, she put the book into her inner jacket pocket. Then she went up to Greg and Freddy.

"Okay, Greg-y boy. Is that the only book you want to check out?"

"I have another one I want to get. Hold on." Greg quickly said as he jumped to his feet and ran towards a small shelf of books at the back of the library.

Vanessa bent down and picked up the book from Freddy's face. She jiggled it and asked him with her eyes if he wanted it. He moved his eyes up and down as his version of a nod. She kept her finger in place of where he was reading and saw that the cover of the book was a cookbook. She smiled at the thought of having Freddy at his full glory, wearing one of those silly "Kiss the Cook" aprons while wearing oven mitts. She kept her finger in place on the book, then went to the front desk to take a free bookmark, then she closed the cookbook around the bookmark before setting it on the front desk's counter. Greg soon joined her, carrying Freddy in his backpack and laying the two books down on the counter before the man at the check-out.

The old man, Vanessa knows him as Venni despite his nametag saying Frank, he gasped at what books Greg brought to the table. "A History of Animatronics and Mechanical Engineering for Dummies, you must be so smart! Your big sister must be so proud of you."

Vanessa saw Greg level the old man with a sneer, then he said, "Don't patronize me, Old Man."

Venni laughed at that, but that just deepened Greg's scowl. Vanessa heard Greg's faz-watch buzz, but he just hid it behind his back.

"Greg, I don't think he was patronizing you," Vanessa chimed in, "He was being genuine."

"Who talks to people like that when they're being genuine," Greg huffed up at her.

"Adults who like children sometimes can't help taking that kind of tone with them, because they think they're cute. It's just a side affect of being a kid."

Greg turned back to look at the old man and said, "Well I don't like it."

Venni wiped at his eyes as he settled his laughter, then he said, "I'm sorry young man. I truly didn't mean anything by it accept to complement you. I'll be better about how I talk to you in the future."

Vanessa heard his faz-watch buzz again and she saw him look at it. He sighed as he looked to the ground. Then he said, "Okay. Thank you… And… I'm sorry I called you an old man."

"It's alright. I am old after all. No shame in that. Let me just check all these out for you… Under your name Vanessa?" He turned to look up at her. She nodded.

Vanessa chose where the two of them were going to eat. A little burger and bar place called No Man's Land. She's sat at this night bar all night once and never got kicked out, so she felt safe to bring Greg here. The place was relatively new. It didn't have those same cracks in the seems that well warn establishments have; like cracked leather seats, water stains on the tables, or a huge memorial of past customers on the walls. It was a nice place to be at, even if it wasn't entirely child friendly with the indoor smoking and loud cursing as rowdy customers played pool. Greg was wrapped up in a blanket as he got a cheeseburger, fries, and a large mountain dew. Vanessa only got fries and a small cup of AC cola.

As Greg took his first big bite out of his cheeseburger, he made a face and spat it out into a napkin. "Ew, I told them no tomatoes!"

"Just take it off your sandwich and give it to me," Vanessa said as she pushed her plate of fries over to him.

"But my sandwich is ruined now. The taste lingers."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Look, the taste lingers because you just had it in your mouth. Take off the tomatoes and then rinse your mouth out with your soda. I promise the taste isn't as strong as you think it is."

He puffed out his cheeks in a pout, but he didn't argue. Vanessa took her plate back when she got the tomato slices and Greg fixed up his sandwich. He took a drink of his soda like advised then went back to eating. As he continued to eat the pout on his face slowly morphed into a neutral look. Satisfied, Vanessa started to stare off into space her eyes wandering aimlessly as she ate until her eyes focused on the tv. She read the subtitles as it was forecasting the weather. It was going to snow sometime during the week. She rubbed at her eyes, the two of them can't keep sleeping in her car with how cold it's been getting. Even the cheapest motels aren't really that cheap, and if she was by herself, she could have survived just fine sleeping in her car in the cold, but with Greg and only so many blankets, she can't risk his life just to save some money.

Vanessa looked at Greg as he finished his meal and pushed it aside so that Freddy's head had room on the table and so that he could read without accidentally getting his library books dirty. A waitress came over and asked if they wanted a refill, Venessa told her to give them only water as a refill.

"I want more mountain dew though," Greg complained. His faz-watch buzzed, and he looked down at it. Then with an annoyed sigh, he said, "Okay. Fine. Water then…"

The waitress nodded as she took their empty plates and to go get a pitcher of water. Greg was reading his history book as Vanessa continued to think. If she can find the cheapest motel in the city and then only eat every other day, then maybe the two of them can last with the money she's saved up until she gets a new job. Life would be so much easier if there was a free food exchange or something like that. And sure, they have homeless shelters, and she's used them before, but they don't exactly treat people in those nicely nor would they let her keep Greg close by, separating the two of them into a boy's and girl's section.

She continued to contemplate her decisions until it became late into the night and Greg had fallen asleep on the chair. Vanessa stayed for as long as No Man's Land's workers would allow. The bar-like eatery slowly drained of people until it was her, Greg, Freddy, the seven odd workers and a couple that were talking quietly with each other on the far side of the building. She felt Freddy's eyes on her for the entire night as she stayed up reading the parental advice book she got. Eventually even she couldn't stay up any longer, feeling her eyes burn as she tried to keep them open just to read. The words on the book only blurring together against her will. Closing her book and putting it away, she grabbed Freddy's head and stuffed him into his backpack along with Greg's books. Then gently as she could, she kept Greg wrapped up as she picked him up.

Greg jerked awake. "What's going on?..."

"Sorry Greg. I was moving us back to my car. I didn't want to wake you up."

"Iiiii… can walk," he slurred as he got out of her soft hold and swayed on his feet.

Vanessa chuckled softly, then said, "Okay, Greg-y boy. Off we go then." She kept a soft but firm grip on his shoulders as she guided him out into the blistering cold and into her car.

Her car wasn't any warmer than outside, it just kept the wind off of them. She turned on her car and blasted the heat, then she made sure Greg was comfortable in the back. He was curled up into a tight ball, with only his nose poking out of the blanket. His head was practically engulfed by the soft pillow he was nestled against. She sighed at the sight, then she took Freddy out of his backpack and placed him in the passenger seat as Vanessa waited for her car to warm up.

Soon Vanessa found herself blinking several times as she saw a blue-white light pass over her. Confused she looked at Freddy. "Did you just scan me?"

"I did. I apologize for disturbing you. I was worried about your health."

Vanessa snorted and gave the orange bear head a tired smile. "I'm not going to just suddenly turn into Va— Turn into that… thing."

The mechanical eyelids on his face pointed downwards over his eyes and his ears stood up tall on his head, giving him the best proxy of a scowl. "It is true I am a little worried about that, but I was referencing your lack of sleep. Out of the week we've been with you, you have only slept 35 hours. That is five hours a day. You need at least nine hours for your body to properly function."

Vanessa rubbed at her eyes as she yawned. "It's fine. I'm fine. It's just my coffee dependents kicking me in the ass."

"Please don't cuss."

"He's asleep Freddy," she growled softly.

"It is still a bad habit to have, especially with a child around."

Vanessa groaned as she rested her head against the cold leather of her stirring wheel. "I can't do this with you right now. Just buckle up. I need to find us a motel."

"I can't."

Vanessa raised her head up to look at him, wondering what does he mean he can't. Then she sees him flailing his ears up and down, his one earring lightly clicking against the side of his head with each pass of his ears. She sees him give her a look that made her think he was reprimanding her for forgetting he didn't have a body.

"… Right… Let me just…" She reached over and buckled him into place.

"Thank you," he said softly as she pulled away. She gave him a noncommittal hum as her only acknowledgement.

The next morning, Vanessa woke up on the couch to the sound of loud cartoon gunshots ringing. The sudden jerk of her head made a crick in her neck appear. The nightmare she had already fading away as she blinked away the sunlight that was glaring at her through the half-closed blinds. She turns to see that Greg was sitting on the bed eating dry cereal as he had his eye glued to the screen watching a rerun of an old Freddy Faz-Bear cartoon. Freddy's head was right next to the boy. The cookbook propped up by his face. She heard the signature buzz of Greg's faz-watch and without looking at his wrist, the boy moved his hand over to the bear's book and flipped the page.

She sat up with quiet chuckle breathing past her lips as she rubbed at the back of her neck. She looked around at the simple room; the stained carpets, the fresh and now rumpled linen of the bed with its flower-patterned comforter, and the old lights that reminds her of her childhood home. She takes a moment to take the nearest lamp shade and skew it slightly, just to make it not remind her of her childhood. Then she stands up and stretches.

"Good morning, Vanessa. Glad you got some proper sleep," Freddy said, one of his ears was pointed towards her. She figured this was his best approximation of a wave or physical acknowledgment towards her… She really needed to figure out and help Greg get this poor bot a body.

"What time is it?" She asked. It shouldn't be that late in the day.

She turned to look at the analog clock and as she saw its face Freddy said, "It's 12pm."

She sighed as she rubbed at her face. "Where did you get the cereal?" He didn't answer immediately. "Greg?"

"Hmm?... Oh. They have a breakfast bar here. I took a lot," Greg said, having not turned away from the tv.

"… Isn't the breakfast bar a pay to eat place?" Greg didn't answer.

"Greg," Freddy asked.

"Huh? Oh. Uh. It's fine. I handled it."

"What do you mean you handled it? Where'd you get the money Gregory?" Vanessa asked, her voice raising an octave.

He turned to look at her with a dark scowl and said, "Don't worry about it. I handled it."

Vanessa groaned to the ceiling. "Greg, please don't just steal things. I don't have money for bail or for extra surprise expenses."

"I didn't steal!"

"Oh? Then where did you get the money, huh, Greg?" Vanessa walked to stand between him and the tv as she took a wide stance before him and planted her hands on her hips. Scowling back just as darkly. The sound of playful fighting from the tv juxtaposed the standoff the two humans were having.

"That's for me to know and for you to mind your fucking business."

"Gregory!" Freddy scolded, sounding aghast.

The brown-haired boy turned to the robot bear head and said, "It's true! She should!" The book that was propped up by the bear fell backwards onto the bed.

"You better watch it, Gregory. We're not nearly desperate enough to start stealing, and if I find out that you did—"

"—Oh! Or what?!" Greg spat back as he turned back towards her and got on his knees so that he was at eye level with her, "You're going to kick us out? Huh!?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes as she leaned away from him. "You wish." She started to walk away towards the bathroom, "No. I'll just take away your cartoon privileges."

"You can't do that! You don't even own a tv!"

"Yes, she can. And so will I," Freddy announced, his ears were lowered in disappointment.

"What are you doing taking her side?!" Greg complained as he whipped back to the bear.

"This isn't about sides, Gregory. This is about your safety."

"I said it's fiiiiine," Greg whined up to the ceiling.

"It is so long as you don't get caught with whatever you're doing," Vanessa stated as she paused at the bathroom's entrance, "so don't get caught." Then she walked in and closed the bathroom door behind her.

Through the closed door she could hear Freddy lecturing the boy. She pressed her back against the door as she slid down it and took deep calming breaths. She looked at her hands as they shook. She clenched her fists and took multiple sharp breathes as she held her arms and knees close to her chest. She took in the smell of roses and faded bleach. After a couple of more breaths, she stood up on shaky legs. Then she moved over to the sink and stared at her reflection in the mirror above it. She examined her eye bags and hollow cheeks and frazzled hair. She didn't even look like she was in her twenties anymore.

She pointed at herself in the mirror and said in a small voice, "Stop it. Why are you shaking? I don't have time for whatever this is. So stop it."

She picked up her toothbrush and went through the motions of taking care of her hygiene. It was a little hard as her hands refused to keep steady, but she managed. It wasn't the first time she started shaking for no apparent reason since the fire at the pizza-plex.

She stood up straight from spitting out her toothpaste when she saw a large imposing body behind her. The yellow rabbit suit, that the figure was in, was so ratty that the yellow fur had turned a sickly green and it highlighted the brown blotches that covered its body. With a sharp gasp, she whipped around and threw her toothbrush behind her, but all she did was throw it at the wall.

She whipped back around to the mirror to see the figure still there. The smile on the bunny rabbit's head was smug and dominating. Quickly, she grabbed for the largest towel in the bathroom, pulling all the other towels down to the ground in her hast, and threw it over the mirror.

After she threw the towel over the mirror she couldn't stand anymore and collapsed. It was hard to breath no matter how fast or hard she breathed in. Her chest hurt and no amount of scratching at her chest could make it stop. Her ears rang with a high pitched tone and her vision blurred. She moved her hands away from her chest, just to grab onto something, anything to ground her, but through her blurred vision she saw red on her hands.

She couldn't breathe as she stared at her hands, blood covering her down to her forearms, dripping down and pooling on the bathroom tiles. Child shaped shadows danced in the blood and the ringing in her ears sounded more and more like screaming. She dared to look back up to the mirror and to her horror a part of the towel had dropped. She could see his face leering down at her with a mocking smile on his felt face.

She quickly looked away as the pressure in her chest throbbed painfully. Ducking her head under her arms and between her knees. In a small, breathless voice, she pleaded, "Leavemealoneleavemealoneleavemealoneleavemealone..." She sat there on her knees, on the cold tile floor, rocking herself, for she doesn't know for how long, but it felt like she was in that moment for forever.