Chapter 194
Cover Up

Hedy was drained of tears far too soon. She was sniffling with the occasional hiccup as she stayed curled against Goldy and didn't say a word. It worried Goldy. Hedy was fighting so hard to shove it all down, probably convincing herself that there were more important things to take care of before she was allowed to grieve. Goldy didn't like that. All that did was let it fester. But there wasn't much she could do about it.

It was quiet for several minutes with just the two of them before it was abruptly broken.

Alex's angry shout shot from down the hall and Goldy felt Hedy's breath hitch and stutter.

"You're fucking insane, Ruby!" she snapped. "Hedy! Where are you?!" she called moments before turning the corner.

Goldy wasn't sure how Alex got past Ruby, unless Ruby let her, but she didn't disappear as the young woman's ghost saw her. Goldy felt Hedy faintly shaking and she refused to leave her.

"Get away from-!" Alex started to shout, before she realized Goldy wasn't hurting Hedy or anything. She didn't seem to know what to do for a moment. "Uh… sorry," she said awkwardly, staring at the yellow bear, really confused about the sources of the feelings she was getting.

Goldy knew she was more confused than frightened about all the sorrow swirling around the room, not knowing where it was coming from or maybe even how to interpret it.

Ruby trailed after her and it became clear why Alex got past pretty quickly. The teen was pale and looked about ready to faint. It wasn't a look they saw on Ruby often and worry gnawed at Goldy. Things rarely bothered the teen but this had shaken her badly from what she'd seen. She wished they could get Foxy here somehow, but that wasn't possible. She wasn't sure she could bring someone else this far with her and now was not the time to risk it. And she couldn't leave Hedy right that moment.

Ruby shot an apologetic glance at Hedy before her gaze drifted back to Alex and she shuddered, her gaze dropping again. She rubbed her face and visibly worked to keep her breathing even. She was keeping a distance between her and Alex.

Andre was hanging back, well behind Ruby and still so utterly confused despite what Ruby might have told them.

"Hedy?" Alex tried, crouching in front of Hedy and Goldy. "Heds?" She tried softly. "Come on. What happened? What's wrong?"

Hedy stared at her in horror and choked on a couple more tears. Her face was streaked, the tears leaving tracks in the dust, grime, and a smear or two of blood that somehow ended up on Hedy's face.

Goldy couldn't help thinking it was a blessing that Hedy hadn't seen what the bodies looked like, so the image of the ghost her mind put together wasn't horrific. It was just her friend.

Hedy and Alex stared at each other for a moment.

Alex's voice was soft and fearful when she spoke. "Ruby said… she said I wasn't 'here.' I think she was trying to say that I'm dead." She cracked a forced smile. "I think working at Freddy's is getting to you, Hedy. You both need a break before you end up in a mental ward."

Hedy whimpered and Goldy tensed, knowing something about Hedy's past that Alex apparently didn't.

Alex shifted, alarmed at the reaction. "Hey hey I'm sorry. Hedy you… you gotta talk to me."

When Hedy wasn't able to say anything, Goldy spoke, startling Alex.

"Hello Alex. I'm Goldy. I'm one of the bots from the pizzeria back home," she said, still holding Hedy close and glancing behind the ghosts to check on Ruby. The teen was leaning against the wall now and staring at the ceiling, mostly removing herself from the conversation and letting Goldy take over.

"Uh… hi?" Alex said, unsure. She tried to remember if she saw this animatronic back then. Hedy's birthday was months ago. How was she here?

"Hedy is having a very hard time right now. She needs a few minutes. Can you back up a little bit and give her some space?"

Alex didn't get a chance to comply.

Hedy mumbled out a few words. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Alex."

"H-hey! What do you have to be sorry for?! You're scaring me. Hedy I–" She reached out to place a hand on Hedy's knee.

Hedy whimpered and tried to strangle out a warning or ask Goldy to stop her friend, but neither of them moved in time.

Alex's hand passed right through Hedy's skin.

Hedy could feel the icy gel-like sensation brush against her bone before Alex jerked back with a gasp.

Alex fell backwards, scrambling back until she "solidly" rammed her back against the wall.

Passing through walls could be a tossup...

Ruby closed her eyes, staying still. She was clearly not interested in providing physical contact to ghosts at the moment.

"Ruby has an... ability, to touch... ghosts," Goldy murmured, thinking it was best to be kind, but direct. Dragging it out would help no one right now. "That's why she could touch you. And why Hedy... can't." She wasn't going to go into the details of semi-ghosts right now.

Hedy closed her eyes. She couldn't look her friend in the eye. "I'm sorry, Alex," she managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper while it still cracked. "I'm so sorry. R-ruby wasn't… she wasn't lying."

Alex was pulling at her hair and shaking her head. "N-no. I..." Tears pooled in her eyes. "I'm not dead. I can't be dead. Hedy I can't... my mom. Lisa. I can't leave Lisa."

"Alex. Alex. I know," Hedy stammered as the temperature dropped again and the dimly lit hall flickered. "I know, We have to… One thing at a time."

"How are you so calm!" Alex shouted, tears streaming.

Hedy tucked tighter to Goldy who sent her reassurance but it was immediately lost in a little storm of pain and other emotions Hedy was trying to hold down.

Goldy flinched as something snapped a little within the mechanic.

"I'M NOT CALM!"

A light shattered in the already dim hall.

The sharp pop of broken glass cut through their words. It was quiet for a moment, except for Alex's frightened sobs.

Ruby still had her eyes clenched shut and now her hands were forming fists, nails drawing blood as she tried to use the pain to ground herself. She was entirely blocked off to them and Hedy couldn't sense anything from her except for a solid, blank mental wall.

"You're dead Alex," the teen said dully after a moment. "You and Andre. You're... You're dead." her breathing hitched. "Why couldn't you have just listened..." There wasn't anger in her voice this time. Her tone was closer to resignation than anything else.

Alex shook her head, too stunned and overwhelmed to even try to respond. So many conflicting feelings…

Andre interrupted. "Listened? What on earth are you talking about? Of course we're not dead. You clearly watched too many movies. We're right here." He scoffed a little and rolled his eyes, "And why would I even listen to-"

Alex stared at him dubiously. "Did… d-did you not just see..." She jerkily waved her hand. "I just… My hand just..." She broke down in another sob.

It wasn't fully hitting her just yet. The confusion was too much. Goldy just had to hope they were ready when it truly sunk in for the young woman.

Andre looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

Did he not just see? Did he… forget? That quickly?

He genuinely didn't understand that he was dead. Or he was in a very deep denial.

Ruby still refused to look at them but Hedy could tell from the way her breathing sped up slightly that she was getting agitated. At this rate, she was either going to have a breakdown or punch Andre in the face.

"We told you how to stay safe. How to stay alive. It wasn't even that hard. Just stay away from the bots when we weren't there. We know how to handle them." A hysterical laugh bubbled out of her. "We should have a degree for dealing with murderous animatronics by now. You saw that we knew what we were doing. I saved your fucking ass from Vixen before. Was it just that hard to believe a teenager knew better than you? Why couldn't you have at least listened to Hedy?!"

Andre looked irritated. "What-"

Ruby cut him off though, abruptly pushing away from the wall and her voice rising slightly as she gestured aggressively at both of them. "Why couldn't you have just listened?! Three sets! We got through three sets with no one dying! Then a whole week with all of them and still no one died! Why couldn't you just listen?!" she inhaled, the sound suspiciously close to a sob. "You can't undo this. Can't fix it. It's a done deal. No take backs with death. Why didn't you just listen? You could have at least trusted Hedy. She's an adult and educated in the same shit as you. Why couldn't you at least listen to her?"

Alex started sobbing harder at Ruby's words and they all could sense the pain and fear and guilt flowing off her in waves. The teenager's walls were too strong at the moment to sense it but she could see it on the woman's face well enough.

Even Andre might have felt it but whatever emotions and aura he had was mixed with a wall of denial he somehow built in his subconscious. It was more of a haze around him rather than a solid barrier like what Ruby had up. He didn't answer, his expression hard to read.

Ruby fell silent, shaking slightly. She was still completely blank. Hedy couldn't sense anything from her. She rarely could but usually Ruby at least let her get something from her even if it was just her presence. But now Hedy could feel absolutely nothing, like the teenager wasn't there. It didn't help her anxiety in the slightest.

"The night isn't over yet," Hedy said, clearing her throat of tears. The switch in her tone was a little startling to Alex. It worried Goldy but didn't surprise her. "There are things to do. We need to figure out a cover story, deal with Ennard, take care of the bots, and call the police. Then we… figure out what's next."

"Cover story?" Andre's voice was sharp and Ruby twitched. She was dangerously close to breaking. Whether that was into tears or anger wasn't clear yet.

Hedy was tempted to ignore Andre. He was just going to get in the way if he didn't even know he was dead. He didn't even seem to fully register Goldy was even there. It was bizarre how out of touch and yet coherent he was being.

Hedy was in a different mode now. They needed to fix everything before she could let herself grieve properly and process what had happened.

At least that was the lie she told herself.

Goldy let go of her so the mechanic could get to her chair. She resolved to keep an eye on her and Ruby. They were still very much not okay.

"We need an explanation for how you died," Hedy said, voice almost cold while she settled. "We can't have the Funtimes blamed and confiscated."

The words seemed to stir Ruby back into action. "Shit, they'd destroy the bots. We only really know Vixen and Bon Bon, and the minireenas. But I don't think any of them actually wanted this to happen."

Hedy had to squash down the realisation that she was going to have to tell Ruby about the state of all the other bots before she saw the scooper room.

Scratch that, she wasn't letting Ruby near the scooper room with the amount of blood there was.

"They'd just scrap the bots and that brat's spirit will stick around and possess something else," Ruby ran her hands through her hair in agitation. "Shit. Hedy, how the fuck do we do this? We can't have another missing case…"

Hedy was relieved. Some guilty part of her expected Ruby to not care. To let Andre and Alex disappear like Scott and countless others... "One thing at a time. Ruby…the other Funtimes…I think Ennard hurt them. Goldy is confident they're still alive–"

"I am," Goldy said firmly. Bringing up her reasoning was not a good idea. Ruby didn't need to be told about when Michael destroyed the Originals with an axe, if she didn't know about that already.

"They're dismantled. I-in pieces. Vixen and the little bots are the only ones conscious and in one piece right now."

Ruby's sharp surge of anger at that news briefly broke through her walls and Alex and Andre reeled back as it slammed into them. Goldy and Hedy had been expecting it and had already braced themselves. Hedy wondered if it was strange that the fiery burn was almost soothing in its familiarity. If Ruby was angry, then she wasn't about to break like she'd seemed so close to doing the last few hours.

Alex let out a whimper. "H-how did..." She sounded like she wanted to throw up.

Hedy couldn't answer for a moment. "There's a machine. I-in one of the other rooms." She glanced at Ruby. "It looks like it was made for…dismantling the bots. It got one of you, then..." She took a breath. "Then one bot was forced to kill the other one of you. She...she didn't have a choice but the police aren't going to understand that."

Ruby had paled again and she swallowed hard to keep the bile down, refusing to look at Andre. What kind of machine could do that- She shoved away that thought for the moment and focused on the conversation again. "It's not her fault," She said. "She was forced." It took a moment for Hedy to realise the teenager was looking to her for confirmation on that point. She hadn't been there for the aftermath with Vixen after running off to deal with Ennard. Hedy nodded to the silent question and some tension drained from Ruby.

Andre didn't respond, stuck in his own little world. He looked confused and irritated about his confusion.

Alex squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to respond either. She didn't want to think about who's fault it was. Those emotions felt too complicated to handle. She wanted the blame on someone or something, but that would mean admitting that this was real and there was no going back after that. This didn't feel real. Not yet. She dreaded the moment when it would.

"What can I do?" she asked Hedy, the only anchor she had at the moment. "Is there something I can do to help?"

Ruby shot a wide-eyed look of shock at the ghost, clearly thrown by the offer. Why the hell would Alex want to help the bot who had killed her?

Hedy wasn't nearly as surprised. That was just who Alex was. She wasn't sure if this was healthy for her at all, and judging from Ruby's expression, it wasn't. The teenager was very familiar with bad coping mechanisms and too much experience in therapy to not doubt how bad this was.

She nodded anyway. She wanted to give Alex some choice. Some idea of control over her situation. "The animatronics. Most of them are in...bad shape. If you think you can handle it, you can help me. But don't…don't force yourself. Please."

"But I can't…" Alex glanced down at her pale, still shaking hands.

"You've always had a good eye," Hedy said. "You can help Afton and I keep track of everything."

Alex nodded, looking faintly relieved. Technically Ruby could provide an anchor, but Hedy knew that the teenager wasn't up to that right now. The only ghost she'd be willing to touch was TImmy at this point.

Which brought up the question, where was Timmy? She couldn't sense him nearby and that was alarming because he never left them when out on this field trip.

She reached out hesitantly and Timmy acknowledged her. He didn't give Hedy a lot of answers to how he was feeling but he was holding on, deciding to stay near his father for once after Goldy informed them…his sister…was in a box.

"You're still going to fix those monsters!" Andre suddenly snapped. "After they attacked us?!"

Hedy looked at him cautiously. "You know they attacked you?"

Andre stammered, stepping back. "Of course. I -I mean no." The poor man was confusing himself. "Yesterday. After what happened yesterday. You saw what that thing did to my arm. I...I meant that." He didn't seem so sure.

Hedy took a shaky breath. "Come on." She started heading back to the room, Goldy watching both her and Ruby carefully.

Ruby visibly braced herself before following after Hedy, her steps quick as she caught up. She didn't say anything but Hedy felt the faintest brush of the teen's presence past her walls. That eased some of her worries. Ruby was willing to offer that instead of completely locking herself down. That was the only positive news she'd received today.

Alex ran beside Hedy on the other side. She whispered. "Hedy… why is Andre... Why doesn't he realise we're..." Her voice gave out. She couldn't say it.

"I don't know," Hedy admitted quietly. "I think he's in denial and he's blocking out everything that would give it away. It's messing with his perception. That's my guess."

"But he saw… he saw me try to… your knee. My hand, Hedy…"

"I think he immediately forgot it."

Alex stayed quiet for a moment. "Why… am I not like that?"

"I don't know… Everyone's different, Alex. Everyone processes the pain differently."

"I want to forget," Alex admitted weakly, wrapping her arms around herself. "This doesn't feel real…"

Hedy could only nod. She couldn't even look at Alex.

Ruby suddenly darted ahead of them, disappearing into the room up ahead. The abrupt movement startled them all and Goldy almost followed before deciding to stay with Hedy and keep an eye on Andre so he didn't wander off.

The reason why Ruby ran off became clear when they entered to find the stagelight was off and the curtains around the stage shut. The teenager was leaning against the stage, looking more than a little sick, but she'd reached it in time at least.

Afton was confused as the teen ignored him, taking deep breaths so she didn't throw up again.

Hedy couldn't even look in that direction. She froze in panic before Afton noticed her and the rest of the small group.

He knew ghosts were real now, with Elizabeth. But he was still in shock with that news, not able to process it fully yet. He wasn't prepared for Alex or Andre.

Although, as morbid as it was to think about, would he handle the recent ghosts of two employees better after meeting his long dead daughter? Or would it be worse because he's had so long to accept his daughter was gone so Ennard created a disconnect and he hadn't quite emotionally connected the two?

That cliche of "like he had seen a ghost" was overused enough, but for once the literalness of such a description crashed down on Aftons's expression and there was no better way to describe the horror in his eyes.

Goldy and the girls felt Timmy leave, not wanting to deal with this either. He needed to get away, just for a minute. Timmy could deal with a lot. He had dealt with a lot. But even this was too much for him. He needed a minute. Ruby wanted to do the same in all honesty, but she couldn't just yet.

The teenager glanced up at the ceiling suddenly as Betty rolled into her arm from under the curtains. She squinted suspiciously but Hedy hadn't noticed it. She grabbed the bat and pushed away from the stage.

She'd left Betty on top of Ennard's box. The building had a habit of moving the bat though. She'd ask Goldy to check just in case though. She doubted the- that thing, could get out after exactly what she'd done to it, but she was feeling a little paranoid. The thought of why the building could be more connected to this place now wasn't a line of thinking she wanted to pursue now.

She absently wondered what Hedy would think when they retrieved the crate. She hoped Hedy would find a little amusement in it. She thought she'd really refined her technique since BB's craft box incident.

She did need to refill her glitter glue supply now though.

Vixen had frozen in fear when Ruby darted into the room. At the sight of the rest of them, she took a step back in shock and almost tripped over the leg of a table. The movement drew unwanted attention. Ruby's gaze skated over to her and then away.

It was more satisfying when Toby had looked at her like that in the beginning. Seeing it on Vixen was… different. The oil and crumpled plating (and occasional spark) diminished the satisfaction. Plus, most of the Toys had been asking for it. She'd just heaped more violence on an abuse victim this time and she felt like shit over it.

Alex saw Vixen a moment after they entered. The two locked eyes and Hedy watched as some primal terror struck the ghost while equal levels of horror filled Vixen's glowing eyes.

"I can't..." she shook her head and backed up. "Oh shit… Hedy. Hedy. Hedy, I-I can't do this. I can't. I need to go.."

"Okay," Hedy said quickly. "Okay, That's fine. Just go. I-I'll come check on you."

"I'll... fuck… I'll be in the h-hallway."

"Okay."

Alex bolted past Andre. She didn't remember, but somehow she knew the second she saw the fox.

Vixen made a strangled noise. She was panicking. "No no no…"

Goldy teleported next to the fox, making Vixen jump and swipe at the bear. Goldy gently caught Vixen's arm and whispered something to her. It seemed to make the fox calm down for a moment, although she continued to tremble and looked out the door in terror.

Ruby pushed away from the stage, unusually unsteady on her feet. She absently reached up to touch her shoulder and found her jacket wet with blood. She must have torn the stitches when she went after Vixen. Seemed about fair for what she'd done.

She shook her head sharply after a moment. No, she wasn't going down that path again. Getting hurt was bad and she didn't need Hedy to hammer that into her head during another intervention. She'd make it up to the bot without hurting herself in some kind of penance.

She might ask Jeremy to help her stitch it up again properly when they got home. She'd endure whatever lecture he'd give her over making Hedy do it right now. Hedy didn't need to be exposed to any more blood. Seeing Ruby hurt would probably set Hedy off somehow.

Will looked sick. He bent over his knees, and dry heaved on an empty stomach not knowing he had a similar response as Ruby. He glanced between Andre and the stage, looking ready to pass out.

"I hate this I hate this I hate this," Ruby was muttering to herself as she started pacing.

Vixen's gaze was darting between the teenager and Hedy frantically like she didn't know where to look.

Hedy couldn't disagree. "Focus," she said quietly. "Mr. Afton, what do we do with the rest of the Funtimes? Do you think we can get them in one piece tonight?"

They all needed something to do, and there was all the time in the world (that was a comforting lie) to work and figure out what to do about the two dead engineers.

And Alex needed a moment...

Vixen had settled on staring numbly out the door, looking rather shaky and putting on hand on a table. All the people who came here… all the people she…she hurt…none of them… stayed before. Not like Ennard.

Ruby suddenly stopped and turned sharply, stalking out of the room. Apparently she needed some space too...

Despite how capable she was, she was still just a teenager. No. She was still human.

Hedy let her go, moving over to a table where Will had put some parts to start working. Ruby was still letting her sense where she was again so that eased any worry she had.

Alex glanced up at Ruby. She hadn't gone far, sitting next to the hallway wall right outside the room so that she could hear Hedy's voice. She had kind of collapsed against the wall, sliding down it as her legs felt like they couldn't hold her up anymore

Ruby marched right past her, expression pinched.

As she went, Alex caught a glimpse of red dripping from her hands. She'd clenched her hands so hard that she'd cut her palm again.

Alex didn't dare follow. She barely had enough emotional capacity for herself. She buried her head in her arms, singing a faint lullaby to herself. Anything so that she wouldn't be left alone with her thoughts. Or with the foreign emotions that kept hitting her... The pain almost didn't make it worth it though.

"Ally Bally, Ally Bally bee….sitting on mama's knee…" she tried.

That wasn't right. She couldn't remember the exact words for the song. Her mom sang it to her when she was little. It had been a long time. She was a grown woman. She never asked her mom to sing to her anymore.

"T'buy me some Coulter's Candy…" What was the next part?

When she got home…she…was going to ask her mom how that song went.

Alex cried, even as she tried to make herself believe that sweet lie.

"M-Ms. Fitzgerald..." Afton looked pale and his eyes kept darting to Andre.

Andre wasn't really paying attention. He was looking over the parts Will had brought out of the scooper room to place on the table. He couldn't quite keep his sneer to himself, keeping a suspicious glare on Vixen out the corner of his eye.

"He's a ghost," Hedy said softly. "He… he doesn't realize he's dead..."

"What..."

"He just… doesn't," Hedy said lamely.

Will shook his head, "Ghosts..." he breathed.

"Yeah," Hedy mumbled. "I-I know this is a lot but… we need to figure out what to tell the police."

At his confused expression, she swallowed. "I'm not leaving Alex here," she insisted.

Afton blinked. "N-no. Of course not." He glanced at Vixen.

The fox was silent and subdued, no doubt waiting for them to decide her fate.

"This place needs to be condemned anyway," Afton said. "Perhaps we can make it so that contraption in there is to blame fully." There was plenty of blood around the scooper to be believable, but the blood on the stage would be a problem, not to mention some of Alex's fatal injuries. But he didn't exactly want to bring those up with Hedy. "And we found them and tried to move them out of danger, perhaps."

Hedy swallowed thickly. "I… I need to call my brother."

Afton looked confused.

"He knows," Goldy explained softly, looking at Afton awkwardly. "And he's a police officer. A homicide detective."

"Are you sure?" He asked, uncertain.

It was an odd idea.

Hedy nodded. She looked at Goldy. "You don't suppose..."

Goldy frowned. "I don't know if I can teleport a person this far. It makes you and Ruby super nauseous just going around the building. It could be dangerous. I'm not comfortable risking it."

Hedy nodded as her phone rang.

Jeremy picked up immediately. He'd probably had it out since the last call.

"Hedwig. What happened?" he thankfully didn't sound panicked. Puppet had probably explained what likely happened, and Jeremy knew he needed to be calm.

"We have two dead bodies," she almost couldn't get past those words. "And... and we need to know how to stage the scene so that the bots or us don't get in trouble when we call the police." She felt dirty saying it. She looked at the footprints of blood Ruby and Will had left and the streaks of her wheels. "There's… a lot of blood, Jeremy."

It all sounded awful and she felt like a horrible person to be doing this. But the police wouldn't understand that the bots were victims themselves. That Ennard was the puppet master and was a ghost inhabiting a shell. They'd scrap them, free Elizabeth and achieve nothing but more murder.

What other choice did they have if they wanted to save them? Was it selfish to want to save them? She glanced at Vixen as Jeremy gathered his thoughts.

This was the only option she could ever imagine taking. The others weren't acceptable.

They were on the phone for a while. He knew it was bad and he was unbelievably patient… She was going to need to find out if Ruby had a contact who could make this a bit easier but she didn't want to follow her just yet.

Will stayed quiet, listening as he worked on the parts.

Jeremy talked Hedy through the scene, listening to every word as she described what they did. What they had interacted with. That they touched. How long it had been. How the bodies had been moved around. Then he carefully asked what they looked like.

"I-I don't know..." Hedy said, her voice cracking.

Afton silently held his hand out. He didn't want her seeing it or Ruby having to explain it.

Hedy hesitated before handing the phone over. She looked down and switched places with Afton at the table.

"Hello… I'm William. Afton."

"Jeremy. We've… uh… met, Mr Afton," the man on the other end said with slight awkwardness.

Afton blinked. "Ah. Yes. Jeremy." He desperately resisted the urge to ask if the boy kept in touch with childhood friends. Then again, Jeremy and his eldest were never as close as he once believed. "It's been a while. I'd say it's a pleasure, but..." Afton paused. "I've seen them. I would rather your sister not, Detective." He walked out of hearing range across the large room.

Vixen's eyes trailed him. She glanced at Hedy as the mechanic studied Baby's left arm for a moment before expertly splicing the wires into the damaged piece of a torso.

By the time Afton handed the phone back, he was looking a little shaky from explaining it all.

"Hedy?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm here," she muttered.

"Listen to me very closely. I'm going to go get some supplies and then bring them back to the pizzeria. You need to ask Goldy to come pick them up."

"Okay."

"I told Mr. Afton what to do. Just do what he says, okay? It won't be pleasant. You're going to need to ask the building for help. Can you handle that?"

"Yes."

"Hedwig. Foxy said they were ghosts. Is that true?"

Hedy's silence was enough of an answer.

"Hedy…"

"I can't do this right now," Hedy said coldly.

"...Okay. We are talking about this later. And you promised Puppet you would call after shift. Now, I need you to listen very carefully. Do not write any of this down. I need to talk to Goldy. Ruby too when she gets back."

"She walked out a few minutes ago. I don't want to drag her back yet. She's… she's hurting too."

"When she gets back," he assured. "On her time."

They both knew she'd be back fairly soon. She just needed a moment to pull herself together again while alone. Hedy hated that she might have to shake what composure Ruby was rebuilding with what Jeremy needed them to do.

She hated that there wasn't another choice.

Ruby leaned against the large crate, listening to the muffled screams and threats coming from inside. She wanted to ask Elizabeth if all this was worth it. She wanted to use something worse than glitter and a bat on Ennard until something in the universe declared that everything balanced out again.

She knew none of that would fix anything. There was no fixing this. It was all damage control now. All they could do was make sure no one else suffered anymore after this disaster.

She looked up over the crate to where she knew Timmy was standing in the corner. He hadn't said anything and he was hiding himself too well for her to even sense him. She just always knew when someone was watching her and she'd felt his eyes on her for a long time before he finally revealed himself to her.

She wished the kid hadn't felt the need to hide away like this again. She wished he'd stayed home so he didn't have to see any of this.

She wished it wasn't his sister inside the crate.

Ruby rested her forehead on the top, feeling the vibrations from Ennard attempting to thrash out of the situation she'd put them in.

"Michael is going to be so proud of you," she said, just loud enough for her to hear.

Timmy disappeared and Elizabeth fell silent.

Ruby closed her eyes.

"One out of three isn't the worst. But it also isn't fair. Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy." She took a breath. "I'm going to make your life hell."

It was silent for a second. Then a sound.

Elizabeth was laughing. This time not in demented glee or sick amusement at what she had done. It almost sounded derisive. Almost pained. "What do you think this place is? Where do you think I've been all this time hmm? There's nothing. NOTHING. Nothing you can do that's worse than ..." She stopped. The maturity in the voice contrasted with the sickly sweet childish act she had been putting on.

Ruby took another breath. "Trust me when I say that it can always… it can always get worse. And it only stops when you choose to make it stop. You just kept digging, sweetheart." She sounded almost gentle. And sad. "Little Lizzy, this wasn't hell yet. This was purgatory. This was where you were waiting for your ride down to hell. And I'm the lucky little devil that gets to deal with you."

She pushed up from the box, leaning her weight on her arms. She'd never felt such a lack of satisfaction after a game before. Her anger had burned out and she just felt empty now.

"The door's not closed yet," she felt the need to add. She didn't know why, but something about the situation felt just a little off. Michael had become a monster by his own choice. He'd used the tools and opportunities he had to seal his fate. But he didn't go insane. Not after death. Not like the children he killed. If anything, he was more true to himself as a ghost, not needing to put up a mask to hide who he was.

Neither of the Afton boys really went insane in death. So what made Elizabeth different?

One out of three ain't bad, she had said. There was a different meaning to her tasteless little joke.

How did Elizabeth end up in this place to do what she did? A vast underground compound built like a zoo that didn't seem to have any purpose but to be repaired, to be fixed, to send technicians to over and over and over again. With her in the centre pulling the strings.

How did Elizabeth Afton become the monster in this crate? And with the rage gone and weary acceptance in its place, Ruby found she could only feel pity for this screaming, hateful creature.

She bowed her head and fought with herself for a moment. She wanted to be angry. She wanted to rage against Ennard and make the cause of all this pain feel a sliver of what she'd caused.

She couldn't though. Not yet.

"The door isn't closed," she repeated. "You're going down to hell and trust me when I say it's going to hurt. And only part of that is going to be because of me."

She was going to see Michael and the irredeemable monster he was. She was going to see the bots she grew up with and their complete horror over what she'd become. She was going to see them try and undo the damage she'd done to the Funtimes. She was going to face Timmy's crippling despair over what he'd seen here.

"Fuck, it's going to hurt so much." Hurt all of them and Ruby wasn't going to be able to do anything. Because as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't think Elizabeth was irredeemable yet.

It was that small moment when Ruby first dropped a mention of the girls' brother. There had been genuine panic and fear in her voice over what she'd meant. She cared. There was something left in this hateful bundle of wires. And hell, if she could see some good in the ghost brats, then she could at least give that one little spark of potential a chance.

Michael was different. For all his little hints that he cared for Timmy, he never apologized for what he did. He never took responsibility. He caused so much pain in life and he never expressed remorse. Lizzy however? Ruby never found anything to suggest the little girl was the monster in life that she was now.

She dropped to her knees next to the box and slumped against it, feeling exhausted suddenly. "That door isn't going to stay open for long and you're the only one who gets to choose which side you're going to be on when it does. As much as I hate you right now, and that's a shit ton, you've got one shot. One fucking shot. So I'm leaving you with one question. And I'm asking you, not your Ennard persona. I'm asking you, Elizabeth. Do you care enough about Timmy to not make him watch you become a monster like Michael did? Do you care enough not to break his heart again? That kid's gone through enough, Lizzy. Don't hurt him more than you already have."

It was very quiet. Ruby was not an optimistic person but she had to take it as a good thing. The ghost in the box was thinking.

"Where is Timmy?" Elizabeth asked, almost hissing out the question.

Ruby let out a bitter, pained laugh. "He's been here the whole time, Lizzy. He's seen all of this. Fuck, I wished he'd stayed home but he saw everything you did here."

"No. No, you're lying. I see everything. I watch everything. H-he wasn't here."

"I wish I was." She braced herself as she stood up again. "I really do. You'll see him soon enough. He's hurt but he won't hide for long. I really hope you make the right choice, Lizzy. Even though it won't change what you've done. At least don't hurt him anymore."

"N-NO! Come back! Tell me where he is! Where is he?! Where's my little brother! Come back!" She screamed in frustration at Ruby's retreating steps and shook the box. "Answer me! ANSWER ME! TIMMY! WHERE—!"

The teenager didn't look back, leaving the room and making her way back to Hedy. She hoped the girl listened. It wouldn't fix what she'd done to the Funtimes and it wouldn't bring back the people she'd killed. But Ruby just wanted Timmy to catch a break. She didn't want to see him give up on his sister like he'd been forced to do with Michael.

She stopped halfway there, turning to face a seemingly empty spot. "C'mere kid," she whispered as she crouched down.

Timmy threw himself into her arms and she held him tight as he cried. She didn't say anything. He didn't either. She could only hold him as he grieved for his sister all over again.