Mable: Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Twenty
Charlie awoke disoriented and with an uneasy feeling left behind by whatever dream she had been having. The more pressing manner was where she was, and it took her a few moments to right herself enough to recognize the garage. Things started to sink in, and she started to settle back into her little pallet of blankets, pillows, and a couple of spare rugs. Normally she didn't require this much but usually she was sleeping on the couch, not the garage floor.
She regretted not trying to squeeze in beside Baby, but she doubted that would've been much more comfortable. Besides, Baby needed her sleep, and her internal clock was telling her that it wasn't morning just yet. Pulling the comforter up to her neck, she curled tighter onto her side and drew up her legs to ease back into sleep. She was missing one of the blankets and opened her eyes for a second to find it.
The garage door was open.
Charlie felt her heart drop, or the animatronic equivalent- possibly her music box from how tight her chest suddenly felt. The garage wasn't open all the way, instead only about a foot off the ground, but it was very clearly open, and it hadn't been when she went to sleep. Then again, she couldn't remember her or Baby checking if it was locked after Scott left, and he hadn't done so when he came back.
Suddenly that feeling crept into her again and Charlie slowly turned over to look up at Baby's bed.
Something slender and gruesome was leaning far over the head of the bed and staring directly down at Baby. Its long neck angled so they were face to face. Coils of wires tangled up with broken limbs hanging down around the dryer.
"Baby!" Charlie screamed as she shot upright.
Baby's eyes opened and took in the sight of a once pretty face now cracked, crushed, eyes rolled back without focus, its mouth stuck wide open and mere inches away from touching her. The other Baby had come for her. She screamed as well.
It began to whine back through scratchy, skipping lines. That mouth an empty pit into darkness and in the very depths of it she could hear the murmurs of a familiar little girl. It was devastating.
Then a hand lashed out and grabbed ahold of the animatronic, yanking it by the wires jutting out of an empty shoulder socket and dragging it to the floor. It was Charlie, but she had to release the wires right afterwards, recoiling her hand that stung from the contact and trying to shake off what felt like a low-grade current.
Suddenly the other Baby rolled its head and its wobbly eyes fixated on her. Charlie flinched back and pulled out her taser right before it shoved itself forward and onto her legs. That pain returned in full, now climbing her legs as readily as the doll was. The wires clumped together and wrapped around her, its remaining hand reaching up to grab onto her jacket, a jagged finger poking through and ghosting across Charlie's exterior. It would've easily sliced through if it was still skin.
Charlie was struggling. At first she tried to kick a little, but then stopped when she realized what would happen if she fell. She had to stand there and take it as the pain and weight increased, beating back the other Baby with her free hand as she poised the other with the taser. She had an open shot for its head and the only thing holding her back was knowing that she would shock herself in the process.
Though perhaps that was the more preferable fate. Shoving its head back with one hand, she stuck it across the face with the back of the taser and broke loose the already dented plate from its cheek, revealing the needle teeth hidden within her stretched mouth. The animatronic barely reacted, merely bobbing its head back on its neck as it continued climbing her. A distorted gargle of a song at the back of its throat; something once bubbly and now broken.
Then, without warning, it squeezed around her like a constrictor and that burning pain suddenly shot up her spine and down her legs, which gave out instantly. It had to be a shock, Charlie noted, because nothing else would've caused everything to fail as quickly. It was a fleeting thought before she hit the concrete floor and had the broken animatronic quickly overtake her. As though it was swallowing her into itself, trapping her there.
It was Charlie's fall that snapped Baby out of her horrified trance and caused her to shoot forward. She brought her claw back and spread its jaws wide before slamming it down on the back of the heap and clamping tight on its waist, immediately crunching through the remaining plates, and closing on the clump of innards beneath. Then she began the painstaking process of trying to lift it off of Charlie, only moving at a steady pace as to give her a chance to pull free.
Charlie managed to scramble back until it only had her by the legs. She ripped her jacket from its hand and in the pull back managed to free a leg, which she used to kick down into its face. She could feel the teeth rubbing against the end of her leg and shoved back as hard as she could, dislodging herself enough to get her second leg free.
Baby rolled back away from Charlie before she swung her arm and released her claw to throw her malformed duplicate to the floor. Except it stayed attached, it back and body falling heavily while its wires stayed looped in her claw and up her arm. She could feel its wires wriggling around her metal and it gave her disgusting memories of amalgamation and expulsion.
"Ugh, let go!" She swung her arm and clawed at the wires as she backed up enough to run into the washer and dryer. Almost losing her footing on her skates before they caught on the body at her feet. With one yank of her claw, it fell forward against her with its head flopping against her leg, bent to stare up at her. Its voice crackled to life with a soft, faux-innocent coo.
"D-Da-DadDadddy issn't-t-t waaaa-atcccchiiing."
And that was all it took. Baby snapped.
With a disgusted cry, she brought her claw down and smashed it straight into the other clown. Numbed by her anger, she forcibly spread her claw against the wires laced through it, hearing popping and snapping as she did, and then brought it down again. Another blow, ripping back a claw filled with wires, her other hand coming down to snare in as she lifted and slammed it against the concrete over and over, and over, and over again.
All she could think about was how angry she was, how ready she was to move on and how every time she did, she was reminded of something else that drew her back into that past. She couldn't escape these memories, but she wasn't going to be mocked by them by some mirror of herself. She stopped thinking, she just fought, and felt the wires coming apart in her fingers.
It wasn't until the wires started slipping off her arm that Baby finally came to her senses enough to pull herself away. She stood upright abruptly, dropping what was left in her grasp onto the twitching bundle on the floor. The back of her legs were still flush to the washer and dryer as she stared down at the broken animatronic at her feet, looking like little more than rejected wires on the floor.
Baby would've been panting if she could but instead was just shaking in place as she felt the heat pulsing through her finally cool down. Only then did she remember Charlie and looked to her.
Which was when she realized that it was not just them in the garage anymore. At some point in her assault on the clown, Scott, Ennard, and Springtrap had all came in and had been silently watching the scene. It was humiliating, but that feeling only reignited the anger she felt towards this whole situation. She reached down and caught the doll in her claw, too wound up to feel anything, and hoisted it once again.
"This time-!" Baby cried, body shaking with pent up energy, "we BURN it!"
Then she threw it to the center of the garage floor, causing wires to spill about and plates to fly off in all directions. It was a deafening amount of noise for a moment before returning to that dead silence once more.
Scott started to slowly approach her. He held his arms out, signaling that he was going to reach for her, and after little consideration she gave a consenting nod. She closed her eyes as he embraced her, trying to offer what support he could before he looked back over his shoulder. "Ennard-."
"On it!" Ennard was across the garage in a second and shut the door in one smooth motion. He turned back to deal with the remains when he spotted Springtrap coming towards the body. "No, no! I'll handle it. You just go be with Baby, I'll fry her up," he insisted. Springtrap looked doubtful, Ennard doubled down with a point towards Baby, and finally he relented and turned to help Scott and Charlie comfort her. Purposefully standing to block her view.
The sight of all the wires was enough to make the amalgam feel deeply uncomfortable. If he had saliva his mouth would've been watering, but he wasn't sure out of hunger or sickness. He ignored the feeling and mentally assured that this would be just like last time. Only difference was that there was no need to hold back at all. No soul, no person inside, just a crazed machine.
He could feel the familiar burn on his fingers as he wrapped them around its stretched neck. Though right as he did, the false Baby spoke again. Its voice broken and low, with him barely able to make the words out past the static. Yet he still did.
"LLLeeeeet-t-t-t-t-t meeee goooo to gooo to t-t-to h-h-h-errrrr."
It didn't matter what it was trying to say, it was the voice it spoke it through. It was just like the apology it choked out in the bedroom, the one Baby had reacted to so violently, soft and young. Ennard knew it wasn't her, but hearing it speak through words she likely said filled him with a strange feeling. Guilt for something he didn't do, remorse for hearing something he wasn't supposed to.
He readjusted his grip, moving from its neck and instead pushing his fingers into its chest in an almost gentle way. He covered its eyes with his other hand before administering the shock. This time was different, he could smell burning only a few seconds in and suspected it was the extreme amount of damage done to the body more than the controlled shock itself. By some short mercy it didn't say anything more. It didn't sing, it didn't gargle, it didn't apologize.
All it did was shut down, and yet Ennard still felt vile afterwards. He remedied those feelings by getting back to Baby, nudging his way through to overtake the hug for himself.
Scott stepped back and looked at the remains left strewn across the garage floor.
"I think," he began shakily, cutting off with a thick swallow. "I-I think I've got to make another call…"
"What were you saying earlier?" Baby asked. Scott furrowed his brow and looked to her briefly. She was leaning in between the seats like Ennard frequently did, with him quietly sitting in the back alongside Springtrap. Both of them exhausted, as was Charlie, wherever she was back there. "Much, much earlier. Back on the couch, before it showed up. Something about God's plan?"
"Oh! Oh, right, yeah. Sorry, I'm still half awake," Scott apologized. His eyes returned to the road. "So, what I was saying is that I don't know if God really has a plan or if he lets us make our own plan, and for years I've had to think that way because of some of the stuff I've seen. You start thinking that there can't be a reason for all this. But what I was getting at was that I don't know if there's some kind of plan in place, but… I kind of think there must be because we all came together like we did. You, me, and Ennard- and Michael and Charlie too. Maybe the circumstances weren't great, but we've got each other now and… You know, I'm blessed. I'm blessed to have you in my life."
Maybe she was just feeling sentimental considering that her malformed duplicate dragged itself out of the trash to watch her sleep, but his words had some kind of an effect on her. Religion itself was rather foreign to Baby, the idea that someone chose for her to be like this devastating, but just hearing how much it meant to him that they, that she, was there made her feel good, and sad. A melancholy happiness.
"I thought you weren't going to preach to me," Baby said. Her tone did a fine enough job getting across that she was joking, and Scott smiled more honestly at it. "…I do understand. All things considered, and as awful as this whole night has been, I'm glad you were there for me. Thank you."
"Happy to be here, Baby," Scott said. He sent her another smile and she knew he meant it. As exhausted and possibly traumatized as he was, he meant every word. She truly was glad that he was here.
"…Though I do wish I wasn't there." Apparently Ennard must've heard as he suddenly broke into laughter. "Oh, be quiet."
This was absolutely the last room Baby wanted to spend the night in. This whole ordeal had been one reminder of her broken relationship with her father after another, and this room was the pinnacle of that. Her childhood bedroom, the last room she saw- or heard- her father, the room where he tried to use her one last time, and tonight the room she was sleeping in. If it wasn't for Charlie being there with her, she would've slept in the hall.
Charlie was insistent that Baby took the bed. It took a while to convince her, what with Baby standing at the foot of the bed sending it a wary look, but eventually she coerced her into agreeing. The Security Puppet made herself a palette on the floor, this one comprised of Mike's sleeping bag and significantly more comfortable than the last. Only once she was laying down did Baby climb onto the bed.
When Ennard had repaired her skirt, he had added plates amongst the pleats. While it looked mostly the same, a dark orange skirt with a little gap in the front, the plates could be pushed up or down so she could sit or lie down. This had made beds and chairs leagues more accessible, and this bed was no different. Ignoring the context behind it, it was just as soft as hers and sizably bigger.
The issue was that Baby tended to lie on her back, but now with the mental image of that deformed animatronic poisoning her memories, she didn't feel comfortable doing so. Even with the headboard against the wall she didn't feel like laying in that position and risk triggering nightmares. She tried to roll on her side and immediately remembered why she didn't when she rolled onto a pigtail.
She tried to adjust the pigtail, shoving around the stiff but somewhat malleable wires to lay comfortably, but even the most comfortable position was noticeable. She tried to shuffle forward to lay on the unction between the two pillows, but her head just sunk between them, and the pressure of the wires returned. With an audible huff, she pushed herself upright and reached around to claw at the wire wrapped around the base of the pigtail.
The wires weren't nearly as soft and manageable as hair. Some of them even connected so deep that they could move independently, which she absolutely did not enjoy because it looked freakish. Instead, those wires were regulated to keeping the others in line, held down so they wouldn't twitch of their own accord. Getting the tangle to look like hair had been hard enough, especially routing everything to suit pigtails.
Yet here she was pulling it all apart just out of frustration. Once the wire was uncoiled, she scratched at and flattened the others down. She imagined it looked like a mess, but it was either this or sleep with the lump under her head.
"Having a hard time up there?" Charlie quietly asked the floor.
Baby gave a little 'hmph' as an answer as she continued to push down her wires. "Every time I expect an end to this night, something else pops up. This time it happens to be my hair," she lightly vented.
"'Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in'."
"Yes, that exactly," Baby replied to the impression. She continued working at the wires, no longer smoothing them for comfort but now trying to somehow make them look more presentable without a mirror or much patience.
Charlie pulled herself up to look over the foot of the bed before leaning against it, crossing her arms on the foot. She watched the clown work for a few more seconds before speaking up. "I didn't know you could take your hair down."
"I prefer not to. It's so hard to manage, to make it look normal," Baby lamented.
"I don't know, it looks good to me."
Baby scoffed a little, "You're being nice." Charlie smiled, recognizing that little head turn as a substitute for blushing. "Get a good look while you still can, because it's going back up in the morning," she forewarned as she went to lay back down.
Charlie jingled lightly and followed suit, curling back up in the nest on the floor. The bedroom fell into quietness again as Baby rested on the pillow a little more comfortably. She stared across the bed at the nightstand and the alarm clock sitting upon it. It was much closer to morning than nightfall. She knew she could just stay up if she wanted to, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to wait alone. Her eyes dropped to the bed, then looked over the bed, then she sat up.
"Charlie, get off the floor. There's more than enough bed for us to share," Baby called down. She almost sounded a little insulted, as that was the main excuse Charlie gave to take the floor. The Security Puppet popped back up.
"Are you sure? I don't want to crowd and make you uncomfortable."
"I slept against the wall of a garage for months. That was uncomfortable."
"Having just slept on the floor of that same garage, yeah, don't I know it," Charlie said. She got up and made her way through the dark to the unoccupied side of the bed. She slid in under the blankets unlike Baby who just laid atop them.
Baby's eyes were glowing dully with the soft green glow illuminating her facial features. They were lidded tiredly; she was probably mentally exhausted after everything, but still silently watched Charlie in the dark. Perhaps she just asked for her to come up so she would have something to look at other than the wall. It wouldn't be the first time Baby had watched her so closely, but by now Charlie had started to become used to it.
Baby always seemed to have this air of mystery around her. Even though Charlie knew her well enough to know what she was thinking and find the meanings she hid behind carefully laid words, she didn't always know what she was thinking behind those faux lashes. This was likely how Baby wanted it too, to keep her emotions and reactions controlled. It was a defense mechanism from her life up until now.
This was not the same Baby she first met. That Baby was selfish and insecure, only a shell of what she could be held back by pounds of baggage. This Baby had just gone through this admittedly terrifying ordeal, and she hadn't relapsed. Charlie envied that amount of change. She admired that she could change and still not lose who she was.
Ironically, the changes on the inside just happened to fall in line with the changes on the outside. Baby had always had a fascinatingly designed body. From the moment they met, as intimidated as she was by her, Charlie was also quite curious of her. A feeling that was apparently mutual. Even in her most broken state Baby was just so interesting to look at. So many parts that someone might find terrifying, but functioned together to make quite a picture, like a somber painting.
Though there was no denying that Baby looked significantly better than she used to. There was so much broken when they started and yet now all that was left from her days of being partially scrapped was the claw, but Charlie was glad it stuck around. Maybe she was weird- Jessica always joked that she was the weird one of their friend group- but she thought the claw was too cool to lose.
It didn't detract from how improved everything else looked. Baby went from looking like a scrapped robot to almost doll-like, like she could be displayed in a glass box at the antique store. Her features were softer, her expressions easier to read, even with that purposeful attempt to keep others in suspense, and her eyes were haunting. Not necessarily in a frightening way, but like illuminated emeralds staring straight through her.
Speaking of which, Charlie realized she had been staring unabashedly this whole time.
Her face grew heated, and a low jingling made it through her chest before she knew it was coming. Maybe it was better she didn't know what Baby was thinking as from the slight shift of her eyes, down and back again, she had heard the sound. It wouldn't been hard not to when one foot apart in a quiet bedroom.
Baby always brought out such weird sides of her. Unsolicited jingling included.
"Don't say anything creepy…" Charlie warned herself. She tentatively tried with, "Sorry for staring."
"Mmm… It's fine," Baby answered. She closed her eyes further as she turned her head slightly into the pillow, now only peeking out with one eye. "What are you thinking about?"
"Not much… If you were comparing yourself to that other Circus Baby at all, don't. It didn't look anything like you. It was downright ugly."
"Tell me something I don't know," Baby murmured, but she sounded a little amused.
That was the moment when Charlie spoke before she thought it through. All she considered was that challenge and Baby's own insecurities before it tumbled out. "You're beautiful, Baby. You just don't give yourself enough credit."
Baby's eye widened and she gave a surprised little 'hmm!'. The unsolicited compliment took her completely by surprise. Realizing her assumed mistake, Charlie was quick to try to amend it.
"That might've been a little too far. Sorry," she apologized. "Again, not trying to weird you out."
"Umm… No… No, you didn't. Thank you," Baby answered, obviously flustered. "You're wonderful, as usual."
Charlie smiled and slid her hand out from under the blanket to offer it to the clown. Baby hesitated for only a moment before bringing hers up to meet it, resting her own on Charlie's and gently coiling her fingers around it. She looked up to Charlie again, the glint of a smile in her eyes, before closing them and allowing herself to rest. Or at least, mercifully letting Charlie off the hook.
She even pretended she didn't hear the soft tinkling of bells after she did. She just finally let go of the evening and slipped into blissful stillness.
"Four beds in this house," Mike repeated for the third or fourth time that evening. He stared up at the dark ceiling, half of his vision obscured by the wall he was laying up against and made his disappointment clear. "And we give up ours."
"Oh, come on. It's not the first time we've slept in here," Marionette reminded. He sounded relatively amused with the whole thing, even though he wasn't exactly fitting comfortably on his childhood bed either. One of his legs resting off of it, as was half of the arm he had bent underneath his head. It might've not been the first time they slept in this bed, but it was never really comfortable. "Think of it like an adventure."
"The most adventurous thing about this bed is the risk I'm going to knock you off," Mike muttered. Suddenly, Marionette turned over and snared him in a quick embrace, wrapping his arms and on leg around him.
"I'm taking you with me," he warned. His mask pulled into a mischievously playful smile, but the clinginess suggesting that he was all but joking. He finally got a smile out of Mike.
"You're going to be cushioning my fall then," he retorted. He managed to easily slip an arm under the Puppet's slender waist and pull him close. Marionette trilled and he could feel the pleasant vibrations through his hand and chest.
It was surprising that Marionette was doing as well as he was. When Mike got the call that the other Baby came back again, the panic was immediate. Both had threw themselves out of bed expecting to drive- or teleport- over there for a fight only for this to be diffused in an instant when Scott explained that the bot was down for the count. Neither of them were very confident that it wasn't going to get back up but agreed for Scott to bring the others over to stay the night.
This in mind, Marionette had recovered quickly and was acting relatively normal. He could've been putting on a brave face, but Mike had a feeling it had more to do with having everyone in the house, being able to watch over them. If he heard anything he could be there in a heartbeat to take care of it. It gave him a sense of security.
Mike was still expecting for the Baby doppelganger to break down the front door at any moment. That was why he was sleeping with a taser underneath his pillow.
But as his mind wandered- and it did since he wasn't sleeping- he started thinking about the doll's connection to Baby again, and that led to the similarities that finally led to Marionette's telepathic efflux of emotion.
A quick glance to Marionette showed that he wasn't asleep. In fact, his eyes were only partially closed, seemingly just enjoying laying there on this cramped little bed. He was calm and mostly comfortable, regardless of the night before. Mike hated the idea of breaking that peace, but he knew that was the price of putting it off for this long. He would just have to treat this conversation delicately.
"I hate to bring down the party we've got going on, but we've got to talk about something," Mike finally spoke up. Marionette nuzzled closer and gave a 'Mmhmm'. It actually hurt hearing how relaxed he sounded and knowing that he was going to have to ruin that by talking about this. "Remember when we got that news about the rabbit chick back at Foxy's?"
"Of course. It wasn't that long ago," Marionette said. He still held a tone of playfulness, a better sign than if his voice immediately plummeted.
"You got pretty upset about it."
"I know…" The Puppet sighed and reached up to gently comb his fingers through Mike's hair. "But I'm alright now. There's no need to worry."
"…Well, actually there is this one thing," Mike began with false casualness. "There was this thing that happened when you got upset. I didn't bring it up then or later because I thought you knew about it, and it wasn't until today when you were talking about touching that creepy Baby and hearing things that it dawned on me that you didn't know about it."
"…What are you talking about?" Marionette asked slowly. Now he was starting to sound concerned.
"Don't freak out. It's no big deal," the man immediately downplayed. "Like, remember when we first started playing around with telepathy and it would give me a headache? Better yet, remember that time we were in the bedroom, and you had the nightmare, and I grabbed your arm and was hearing voices? That sort of happened again."
"Sort of?" the Puppet tentatively nudged.
"Back at Foxy's. See… When I first grabbed your arm, I got this sharp pain in my head and suddenly I was hearing things. I wasn't really seeing anything, but between the shooting pain and the florescent lighting everything was looking a little blurry. It wasn't a big deal at the time, because I knew you were upset, and it just made sense to assume it was like that time with the nightmare. I wasn't even planning on bringing it up again until you told us what you felt with her."
"Oh dear…" Marionette's voice was quiet and nervous. "Do you… Do you think I could've…?"
"Possessed the clown? No. I don't think there's any way you could've sent psychic waves halfway across the state and brought that thing to life," Mike quickly deflected.
"Maybe not, but… Oh, this can't be good," Marionette worried. He unconsciously hugged him a little tighter. "This is not good at all."
"Maybe… or maybe you just haven't gotten this upset before. There's been a lot piling on and this bunny broad is just the last straw in a long line of garbage luck stretching back even before getting news about Freddy's. It's just been one thing after another and just when we're thinking Afton's gone- after he miraculously returns from the grave long enough to tell us he's been spying on us for two years- we've got a new super Freddy's AND another psycho in a bunny suit to deal with. If Baby was upset enough that it somehow brought another animatronic to life, then what says you can't get upset enough to give me a major headache?"
"Mike, those are two completely different levels of insanity."
"Yeah, yours lasted only a few seconds and nothing else happened," Mike reminded. Marionette was quiet. "I used to get headaches from the telepathy before. What's to say it wasn't just too much for my fleshy brain to handle?"
The Puppet was still quiet. Mike pulled him in closer and pressed a kiss to his cheek, receiving a trill in response. Marionette nuzzled his face against Mike's before catching his cheek and guiding him to turn just enough to kiss him. It was at that moment that Mike knew, uneased by the conversation or not, that Marionette was going to be alright. They separated a few moments later but kept their foreheads touching, with Marionette petting Mike's cheek.
"I love you," Marionette said, voice vibrating into the trill that accompanied it. Mike smiled and gently ran a hand up and down the leg hooked around him.
"Love you too, Doll," he said. He let his eyes close, not expecting to fall asleep but simply relaxing into the moment.
Marionette's eyes partially closed as well, though a soft frown settled on his face once more. He thought back to that moment when he had touched the animatronic and what he had witnessed once more, and he sighed.
"When I touched that fake Baby it felt just like slipping into that red lake," he murmured. Not thinking of the context that would be read from that until Mike's eyes popped open in alarm.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Oh! No, wait. I didn't mean like it really felt like the lake. I just compared that sensation. The pain, the fear, the hopelessness… and all the while hearing him and feeling like you cannot escape," Marionette confessed. "…You see why I didn't make that analogy on the scene."
"That was a good judgement call, I'll admit, but I get it- that sinking feeling. Doesn't help that that's the last feeling you had with him, no wonder you associated the two," Mike sympathized. He started to relax again.
"As unpleasant as it was, it was the end. That brings me a little comfort," Marionette admitted. He slid down enough to rest his head on Mike's chest, cuddling in and listening to the thumps of his steady heartbeat. His trill slipped into a lower warble as Mike readjusted his arms around him and held him in a comfortable embrace.
"You'll tell me if it happens again?" the Puppet asked.
"As soon as it happens, if it happens, since it didn't happen during your fight with Michael. Just try to not bottle up your feelings. I've got a working theory that that's what sets it off," Mike said. He slowly exhaled before mumbling, "…It's a shame that I say that knowing good and well that we're going to get zero sleep and are still expected to do something tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is another day," Marionette cooed. After a tender pause though, he tacked on, "Or at least a few hours away."
Mike scoffed at the thought and got comfortable against the pillow. He could make it work; somehow, he always did. For now, he would just let himself be lulled by Marionette's lullaby of chimes and shut out the world as long as he could.
Baby woke up as startlingly quickly as she always did. She knew she must've moved in her sleep too because instead of facing Charlie she was now lying face down on the pillow. Probably having turned at some time to block out the light or was just dragged down by her remaining pigtail. She didn't feel Charlie's hand anymore and turned her head to see her gone and Theodore, her rabbit, left in her place.
Then Baby turned her head a little more in time to see Charlie stealthily creeping out the door. Considering that she didn't realize she was there until now, Baby had to admit that she did a good job. She didn't stop her and let her leave before pushing herself up and turning over to side on the edge of the bed. She found herself looking out the window at the bright, sunny day outside and realized only then that she was still exhausted.
She didn't want to go back to sleep, but before she could join the others, she had to do something about the loose wires. She reached with her left hand and started to bunch them back up into a pigtail. It took longer with one hand, but she had done it before, carefully hooking wires with her fingers and pulling them together. Yet once she had the bunch ready to be looped together, she found herself hesitating.
It was funny how that other Baby had been broken into a mess of parts barely holding together and still had its scruffy pigtails intact. It was equally odd that something built to look so mature had still been given pigtails, though she supposed that was because that was the Circus Baby trademark. It was her father's design choice, and a choice he stood beside so much that even a freakishly outlandish Circus Baby would have the same hairstyle.
It was a little degrading to think that she was permanently stuck with childish little pigtails just because it was what her father wanted. Which seemed odd considering that she had taken on the identity of Baby somewhat willingly- at least, at this point in her life she could've decided to change her identity, go back to her human name or another one entirely, just like when she shed and replaced her broken plates. The hair was a peculiar hang up.
So, maybe it didn't have to be. She released the bunch of wires to hang there again. She could just take them down and leave them down, couldn't she? Though it wouldn't exactly look great unless she moved some wire placement around, and it hanging loose might lead to it getting in the way. Imagine if she had all this wiring loose when that decrepit doll appeared. Lose wires could be grabbed, yanked, ripped, a problem, and a visual mess.
Baby sat there a while thinking before she finally got an idea. She wasn't sure if it was going to work but was determined to at least try. She pulled the loose wires back once more and held them back with her claw as she took apart the second pigtail. It took longer than expected to get everything where she wanted it to go. Some wires had to be lengthened, some had to be twisted to fight their stiffness, but soon they were all pulled back.
With only a slight struggle to bind them with a wire, Baby soon had them styled in a short, low ponytail. Or the best she could make with the means she had. She ran her hand down the side of her head and it felt weird to not find anything there… but it also felt satisfying. Validating that she could take control from this aspect, even if she wasn't sure that it looked good. Well, that was fine. Charlie said she was beautiful, and she doubted she was focusing on her hairstyle.
She got up and rolled around the bed to the door. The sooner she faced the world, and their reaction, the sooner they could get back home. Which was fine by her because she had a hat that needed placing.
It was the warmest day of the year so far and here they were in a cold basement watching a furnace broil the metal it held inside.
It was a somber, eerie process, but Mike was handling it pretty well. That was, he was way too tired to overthink anything. Scott on the other hand had been staring at the furnace with a melancholic look ever since it came out that this was the one Ennard had almost died in. That was better than the tense anxiety he had walking through the door, but not by much.
Neither of them were awake enough for this, so thankfully they hadn't come alone. Fritz and Jeremy were also standing there silently watching the fire. Mike supposed this was technically another one of their 'guys day out', just less fun and perhaps even a little less dangerous. Afton Robotics wasn't what it used to be. Down here was the same, he thought, but the top floor was all but gutted.
Of course, sneaking in here in broad daylight would've been trespassing. Their cover came in the form of Clay Burke, who was standing on the other side of Scott watching the furnace just as the others were. Mike wasn't sure exactly what Scott told Clay when he called him except that he didn't tell him the Baby-like clown had been fueled by Baby herself, instead suggesting the original story, that it had followed him- and him alone- home from the park.
Mike wasn't alert enough to pick apart Clay's reasoning, but he was guessing that he was here for observation above all else, to make sure this threat was completely neutralized. Considering he wasn't feeling in top shape, he appreciated backup from a man with a gun, and the lack of any kind of lecture or intense interrogation. He either believed Scott's story or believed this was enough to handle the situation.
Things had been mostly quiet since they entered Afton Robotics. Nobody really felt like talking, except Fritz and Jeremy who occasionally spoke to break the ice. Mike being too tired, Clay being tense, and Scott being tired and tense left them quietly going through the motions until they got the remains of other Baby into the furnace. Ennard had done a number on it, they had been able to carry it in doubled-up in a white garbage bag.
By time they were finished, and had given the furnace adequate time to cool, they opened it up to find that while some metal pieces remained, the coils of metal wires had melted into a liquid. It almost looked like liquid silver. Mike wondered if it was by design for these wires to burn so easily, thus getting rid of any evidence that could've been on them. An animatronic made entirely of them could disintegrate into nothing.
Scott must've realized it too, because when Mike checked his reaction, he noticed how he was staring at that puddle. He almost looked a little sick, with this probably being yet another wake-up call to how vulnerable Ennard was. Springtrap survived that fire longer than any of the other animatronics, but Ennard wouldn't have. He would've melted into nothing, just like he would've if he had been trapped in the furnace with the Funtimes.
Mike reached out and gave him a pat on the back. He didn't say anything- he didn't know what to say but whatever it was probably wouldn't have been good to say in front of the police chief- but just showed his support. Scott seemed to appreciate it, but that look didn't leave his face even after the furnace was close once more.
Soon they were piled back into Clay's car and driving back into town. It was at Clay's request that he drive them, probably because it would look less suspicious than having a bunch of unidentified cars clogging up the parking lot. This meant Mike, Fritz, and Jeremy were stuck squeezed into the back while Scott mercifully got the passenger's seat.
The silence was, as expected, painfully awkward. Fritz was leaned forward in the middle like there were words biting at the tip of his tongue, either waiting for someone to break the tension or just waiting to do it himself. It felt like the kind of moment where if he opened his mouth someone else would start talking. This was likely the reason why he was eventually beaten to the punch.
"Anyone feel like grabbing a coffee and discussing what exactly happened last night?" Clay asked. His voice held no malice, just the typical directness that he usually had when involving them. Trying to amicably nudge out some answers.
"I could go for some pancakes," Fritz agreed. Ah yes, Mike remembered, the stress eating. "Guys?"
"Fine by me. I had a handful of cereal for breakfast, I could eat," Jeremy agreed.
"Yeah, okay," Mike agreed, scratching his neck before attempting to stretch back against the seat. "Scott?" He laid his head back and crossed his arms on his chest, waiting for an answer. He didn't get one. "…Scott?"
"He's asleep," Clay said.
That explained why he had bent against the window like that. Mike might've noticed that with a clearer head. Fritz nudged him in the side.
"Sounds like he could use some coffee," he said with a cheesy grin. Mike sent him an unenthused side glance. Fritz got one look at his face and added, "Looks like you could use some too." Mike didn't argue with that.
It didn't take them long to find a place. Clay parked before daring to wake Scott, who jolted with a panicked, "What?!" before getting brought up to speed. Maybe a meal and some caffeine would do him good, Mike as well.
Besides, it wasn't like he had to get back to Marionette quickly.
…
Foxy's Pirate Cove was closed for today. There wouldn't be familiar coming in for parties and pizza, but that didn't mean that the restaurant didn't have its share of guests. Such as the Afton siblings, Foxy included, who were now seated at a table in the midst of the dining room and dealing with some very important business.
"I suspect Peacock in the study with the candlestick."
Foxy gave a quiet hum of dismissal. Baby hummed as well, in disappointment, and looked to him. "Which do you have?"
"None of 'em. Just call it a hunch," Foxy said vaguely. She blinked at him in disbelief. He then gave an obvious glance over towards Springtrap. She side glanced him and picked up the hint, slightly shifting closer.
"Person, place, or thing?" she quietly asked.
"Don't help her," Springtrap interrupted. "There's no teams here."
The two stayed poised in that position. Baby leaned forward, Foxy leaned back, and both leaned towards each other, watching Springtrap who was still staring at his notepad. Foxy finally hissed out one word, "Peacock."
The rabbit's ear twitched, more out of reflex than hearing, and he shot an annoyed glint across at Foxy, who proceeded to pretend like he was stretching.
"It wasn't Peacock, it was Green," Marionette remarked before thinking. His mask betraying his surprise at his mistake by sealing his smile tight. Springtrap covered one eye with his hand, propping his head with his arm.
"Now why would you do that?" he tiredly asked. Then he looked at his own cards and, seeing Mr. Green, looked across to Foxy. "And how did you know it was Green anyway? You didn't look at my cards."
"He saw me mark it off," Marionette said with an apologetic smile. Though Springtrap's gaze still zeroed in on Foxy, who shrugged as though innocent, still leaned back in his chair.
"Ey, we're solvin' a murder here. It ain't my fault if he ain't hidin' his hand," he defended.
Springtrap still looked unamused though for a moment his eyes widened thoughtfully, which went largely unnoticed before returning to his prior look. "Are you done with your move, Baby?" he asked.
"Yes, I suppose so," she sighed. Thanks to that kerfuffle she had entirely lost the plot and decided just to make another attempt on the next turn. At least she knew Green wasn't it.
Though it wasn't until Springtrap was hastily rolling the dice that she realized he hadn't necessarily ruled out Peacock. She watched him quickly tap his piece into one of the rooms and silently dared him to-
"I'm calling it: Peacock in the study with rope," Springtrap declared.
The look on everyone's face was almost validation enough, but not quite.
"This is why you don't share your leads. They might get into the wrong hands," he said smugly. He opened the little envelope and plucked out the cards, then validated his confidence with a quick show to the others. Baby rolled her eyes back.
"…Who had the candlestick?" Foxy asked. Marionette popped up his hand. "Ah."
"I thought you were looking at his notepad?" Baby asked tiredly, looking at him out the edge of her eye.
"Nah! That would be cheating! All's I did was judge where he be markin' off. He must've started with it," Foxy said matter-of-factly. She fought the urge to roll her eyes again. "We havin' another go?"
"Yes."
"I could win again," Springtrap remarked.
"The key word being 'could'," Marionette smoothly rebutted. He then helped reset the pieces as Springtrap began shuffling the cards.
Baby stopped pouting to herself and started considering the pieces on the board. She began to straighten up and tapped her fingers on the table before speaking up, "I know I just changed my hair, but what do you all think if I got a brunette wig? Be honest and don't laugh."
"I think it would get stuck in your plates and irritate you to death," Springtrap said sensibly.
"I think yer more a blond, Lass," Foxy offered honestly.
"This has nothing to do with Charlie, does it?" Marionette asked coyly. That was the one she gave a flat look towards.
"No, it does not, so don't look so smug. It doesn't look any better on you than it did on him," Baby said, nodding to Springtrap. "And don't say her name too loud. She'll think we're talking about her."
Charlie was currently at another table closer to the arcade playing Connect Four with Ennard and discussing some ideas for a future project. It started out with her describing building a small, functioning animatronic of her own, a project she never got a chance to finish in college, though the last Baby overheard was them discussing toaster repair.
"My apologies. I just thought maybe you two talked about it when you were sharing her bedroom last night," Marionette said with no shame.
Foxy pounced, head snapping to Baby with an interested glint in his eye. "Oh? What's this now?"
"It's not as dramatic as he makes it out to be. It was either that or sleeping on the floor, and Charlie was more than willing to do that before I convinced her not to." She then turned back to Marionette, pointedly ignoring the surprised look on his face, and partially crossed her arms in indignation. "For your information, I was merely asking because I was looking at Miss Scarlet." She pinched the token up between her fingers and held it up to emphasize her point.
"Oh… Oh, well, I'm sorry. I was just pulling your strings," Marionette apologized. He sounded a little flustered but still had a small, if somewhat restrained smile. "I agree with them, the orange matches your color scheme and wigs never work out when it comes to animatronics. Besides, I like your new hair! It fits the hat well."
"Don't buy it fer a second, Lass. He's just buttering ya up so you don't see him as a target," Foxy warned.
"I already don't," Baby remarked. Then gave an obvious eye motion over towards Springtrap. That being said, she couldn't help but relish in the compliment. "Thank you, Marion." Marionette chimed back.
"Here we are," Springtrap said before dealing out the cards. "And Gabe, if I catch you trying to peek, I'm throwing you out."
"You'd throw me outta the game fer that?" Foxy said, sounding more amused than anything.
"I'd throw you out into the street for that. Don't tempt me."
Foxy scoffed but restrained himself from challenging further. Baby clicked her teeth at them both. They were impossible, all three of them.
Yet for some reason she was considering making this a regular thing. Perhaps she was a glutton for punishment after all.
Mable: Nothing like a reverse tone shift in this direction. Perhaps we were in need of a happier ending, even if it's not quite the end. ^_^