Baby awoke feeling groggy and kinda out of it, not having the best sleep because of her head buzzing so much since her scream at the food fight. Even though it's been two days, she was still held up about it, and had not left the tent since. Looking down, she saw she had a blanket over her, and internally smiled lightly.

Which made her realise her two friends were MIA. Most likely thing was they were just going to get breakfast for them, least likely was they went to go on a simple walk. Both options means they both would run into the others at some point, and get caught up with awkward conversations.

Baby sighed and rubbed her hand over her face, remembering how yesterday after Bonnie and Molten got all three of them lunch, the wire amalgam complained that people were constantly stopping them just so they could ask how Scrapy was doing. Baby moaned at the memory and turned her body so her feet were on the floor.

She had a headache starting to form, and sighed heavily as her shoulders slumped. Her eyes remained closed as she just dealt with her busy and clouded mind, taking slow, deep breaths to steady her pretty much always higher than normal blood pressure.

"I'm a mess…" She whispered to herself, looking upwards. She blinked slowly, and looked back down again. "Get a grip, Baby. It'll be okay. You've got Molten and Bonnie backing you up! Sure, you already screamed at someone not even a week in, but that's just because you're adjusting. Everything will be okay- AAHH!"

When she tried to stand up, her legs got tangled in the blanket, and she fell onto the floor as a result. Luckily, the blankets and pillows below saved her. She huffed and lifted her upper body, a disgruntled look on her face. She kicked the blanket away, and stood up properly this time.

"Okay, now everything will be okay", she said quietly, taking a few deep breaths. "You. Just tripped, that's all. Just relax, Baby. You're okay…"

She stood there for a while, then whined and sat back down on the couch. "Oh who am I kidding, I'm a walking disaster. This place has been nothing but torture on me!"

She slumped in sadness, staying silent. The only sound there was to fill the void was the sound of the AC going off. But soon it was joined by a quiet song, one Baby recognised. Lifting her head up, she felt some sort of shaking in her body, and she gasped. She reached inside her body and pulled out her phone, looking at the screen to see she was getting a call.

When she saw who it was she answered instantly, and pulled the phone up to her ear.

"Caleb?" She asked, wondering if this was just a dream.

"Hey Baby!" That familiar voice she missed so much called out, filling her with relief. "I'm just checking up on you, since it has been a few days… I miss you and everyone else."

Baby's mechanical heart broke. "I miss you so much too, Caleb. Same with Laney, and Iz, and Majima, and Zomboss… Man, I could do for a coffee, too…"

"Why don't you come over then?" Caleb asked innocently. "Some of the others have popped over already, heck Steve is coming over later. We could do a Mario Kart game or something!"

"I'd love that so much, but I just can't right now…" She said quietly. "See… I'm in an afterlife of sorts. I don't know what else to call it."

"So that fire really left its mark, huh?"

"Actually, it's because Golden Freddy, aka the golden shower brat", that got a choked laugh, "Made up this whole place where we all live and stuff. But come midnight, we have to do a night shift to torture Afton."

"Wait… he's there?" The boy sounded panicked.

"Yes", Baby spat. "And now every midnight to six AM is a randomly selected number of us being forced to be forced to attack him like what night guards of the past had to put up with."

"Minus the over 50 of you gunning for him?!"

"Trust me, I think it's unfair too. And I have to be physically abused to be stopped."

The other end of the line was silent. "Oh my god, Cassidy has it so you need to be shocked…"

Baby nodded. "It hurts so much, but me, Molten Freddy and Nightmare Bonnie are a trio who hate this sort of stuff, and want a better life. So we're going to defy Cassidy by helping Afton during the night shift."

Caleb whistled. "Damn, that's the ultimate form of disrespect. I'd love to see that play out if I could."

Baby's eyes took on a dimmer appearance. "You really wouldn't, Caleb, trust me."

There was a confused hum. "Baby, is something wrong?"

"I'd rather tell you in person", she said quickly and sharply. She flinched. "Sorry, I didn't-"

"Baby, it's okay. I get it. You're stuck with a lot of people you hate… You know how I feel about that."

Baby's heart broke further. "I promise I'll tell you later. Okay?"

"Okay." Caleb sighed. "Listen, I need to get going. We're doing the last finishing touches on the hallway, because I want it to be our space. Be sure to come over soon, because I just know you'll love it."

"I will Caleb…"

"Love ya', Babs."

Baby would blush if she could, but she did smile. "Love you too, Caleb…"

The call was cut, and the clawed animatronic let out a relieved and relaxed sigh as she leaned back, pressing her phone against her chest. That was deadly needed, and already she felt so much better than before. More awake, more alert, more happy. She closed her eyes and let out another sigh before putting her phone away again and standing up. Her face twisted a steely gaze of determination, showing she was ready to face the day with her head up and strides strong.

So she went over to the tent entrance, pulled open the curtain door, and jumped back a bit in fright when she saw Molten and NightBon with their food right there. In fact, Molten was reaching to open the curtain himself.

"Oh, morning Baby!" The wire amalgam said happily as he slipped inside. "Sorry we took so long. Something was going on in the kitchen, and based on the sounds, I assume it isn't good."

Baby blinked, then shrugged, moving back to sit on the couch. Bonnie placed the three pizzas down on the table, and when he sat down, he shot Baby a curious look.

"How come you opened the curtain for us, Baby?" He asked.

Baby shrugged as she grabbed the topmost pizza box and opened it. "I just had a really long and hard think about everything, and I realised I needed to just… try. Try and be happy, I don't know. Thinking happy thoughts really helped, and I forgot you two would be getting food, so I was gonna head out and just spend my day not holed up in here."

Molten beamed, pausing the complete travesty he was doing on the pizza in his hands. "That's great, Babydoll! I was worried you'd never leave here again, so I'm glad you're not gonna let a punk like RWQ keep ya' down!"

Baby beamed at the praise, and took a bite of a pizza slice. She looked between her two friends and felt even more content with things than before. She had friends now, she had friends at home waiting for her, she had a whole world to explore that was still so new.

She smiled brighter, continuing to eat her pizza. Not only was she confident…

But this pizza was really good.

~X~

After they ate and cleaned up, the trio left their storage room and headed down the hall to wherever they felt like. Molten suggested the arcade, and Baby agreed immediately because she didn't visit it after seeing Toy Freddy raging against one of the cabinets.

While Bonnie was a bit uncertain, the trio decided the arcade was the best first stop. Heading down the hallway, they were surprised to see how… empty and quiet things. It was somewhat unnerving, especially since it was only around 10 AM, so why everyone had seemingly vanished made everything very eerie.

Luckily, the trio soon ran into someone eventually, and that happened to be Phantom BB, the most mature of the BB's. The spirit looked at the approaching trio, and waved as they stopped beside them.

"Good to see you back out and about, Baby", he said kindly, his voice having an eerie reverb to it. "After the food fight, I was worried you'd never step out again, and we'd only get to see you at the night shift."

Baby tilted her head. "Well… thank you, Phantom BB… I just… I just needed some time to cool off and think, that's all."

"I get that, and I'm glad you're okay."

Baby smiled as Molten moved forward a bit. "Hey, BB, where is everyone?"

The phantom shrugged. "Eh, they're around. Everyone's been kinda blah because Cassidy cracked down a lot after the whole food fight incident. So everyone is off doing more quiet things to not face her wrath."

"Did you ever hear what happened withRWQ?" NightBon asked professionally. "Molten and I didn't hear anything yesterday, so we assumed he was grounded or something."

"Oh, I know what happened to him, and it's a lot worse than that", Phantom BB said, wincing. "The Puppet told us Phantoms what happened, but after a massive amount of shouting from Golden, RWQ was locked up in an arcade cabinet that's in the storage room behind the office."

Bon and Molten shared a horrified look, while Baby looked curious. "There's a room behind the office?"

BB nodded. "I never went in myself, but it apparently is a lot like the safe room from the old '87 location. So no one except The Puppet, Golden and Afton can head inside. And I think the shadows too? They're both weird…"

Baby nodded. "Thanks for telling us this, BB. That means a lot."

"Ah, don't mention it, Baby. I'm sorry things have been hard for you. Just know that a few more of us are getting a bit… we're starting to dislike everything right now."

That was a surprise to the trio. "Wait, really?" Molten said.

Phantom BB nodded. "Apparently that's what Foxy and Freddy were arguing about. Foxy was growing tired of how their show was just a cheap copy of Classic Foxy's, and wanted things to be different because they had no hate in their heart anymore. Meanwhile, Freddy liked everything, and was siding with Circus Baby more with things, which is really surprising to me…"

"Interesting…" Bonnie pondered. "It's good to know we are gaining more allies for this side of things. Even if it's a small number."

"Try to make Golden crack down more", BB said. "Yesterday made people realise that what she says goes, and it's clicking that all of this was because she wants revenge. I'll try to keep you three posted." The phantom waved goodbye as he flew down the hall and phased through a wall.

The trio waved back until he was gone, and then continued along their original path towards the arcade. As they walked, they talked about a variety of things, and Baby was feeling happier and happier by the second. Especially because it felt like she was getting so much closer to NightBon. She would feel this spark whenever he addressed her by her name, and she was considering making it so he was allowed to call her Scrapy like Molten.

Speaking of the wire amalgam, he was always giving Baby teasing looks whenever Bon wasn't looking, which made her so embarrassed and want to smash him. But she never had the heart to, because she knew it was all because he supported it and wanted to see them flourish together.

When the trio finally found their way into the arcade, they split up to go and play the games of their own choosing. Baby skated off and started to look over all the machines she passed. There was a wide variety of games, from platformers to classic quarter munchers and even some ticket-earning games.

Some other animatronics were around, like BB and JJ, Nightmare Chica, and even Ballora watching the Bidybabs and Minireenas play a game. It was somewhat nice, to just have a bunch of the other animatronics all just relaxing and having fun on their own accord.

As she looked around, she caught sight of what seemed to be a weird game called Sit'n'Survive, so with her interest peaked she skated over and pressed the play button. The game was extremely simple, with you just sitting on your butt and stopping various creatures of the night from getting to your camping equipment. It was pretty fun, if simple and very much the kind of game to make you waste quarters for a change at a high score.

As she played, she caught Bonnie out of the corner of her eye playing a lottery wheel to try and win the ticket jackpot. He had his arms crossed, ears at attention, and back straight. She was so entranced by him that she lost her game, making her look around flustered. When she glanced back at NightBon, she was horrified to see him looking at her.

In a flustered panic she skated off, and NightBon found himself looking back at the wheel as a weird jolt shot through his body. His eyes were wide, and his posture was a lot more rigid.

From afar, Molten had seen all of this, and he smirked, knowing things were about to get a whole lot more fun. He watched where Baby went, and decided to follow after her.

Back with Baby, she was outside of the arcade, back pressed against the wall, as one single thought rushed through her head.

I can't believe that just happened.

She was completely dumbfounded with herself, wondering where and why this was coming out now. Was it because she finally got a taste of love, and was putting the pieces together? Yeah… Yeah that made sense. She was so starved for love for the longest time that experiencing it for the first time made her understand it.

And she felt deep, true love when she was with NightBon.

Groaning, she buried her face in her hand, only to look up when someone walked past. Lefty stomped past, their bored gaze not even looking at her.

"Hey, Lefty", Baby began. The black bear stopped and turned to face her, their expression blank. "I wanted to thank you for backing me up and saving me from the blame after the food fight."

The bear shrugged. "I wasn't doing it for you. I was doing it because Cassidy deserved to know the truth."

Baby felt a pang of hurt shoot through her. "But… Why? I mean… We haven't talked all that much recently…"

"Look, Baby, can I be honest?" Lefty leaned in closer and squinted a bit. "I tolerated you, but you honestly think I can really forget what you did?"

Baby leaned back in shock. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Look, you might have fooled everyone, but after being around Cassidy for so long, I know you do still have Elizabeth in you. No matter how much you try, you'll never escape it."

Baby was in utter shock at the accusations. Which brought out the rage. "Are you serious? I've done nothing but prove and act nothing like Elizabeth. I can't even stand in the same room with her without feeling ill. And here you are buying into the lies of some control freak bitch who only cares about her bullshit torture scheme."

"You know that isn't true, Baby. Cassidy cares."

"If she cared, why am I stuck getting shocked every night shift? Why are we all expected to kill our ears with the volume, bash our heads against the doors, lose our minds in increasing heat? How is that showing us that she cares."

"Because we have to sacrifice some things to punish Afton!"

"How does any of this punish Afton?! He already lost his family, died and reanimated as a corpse, and had to live through a fire! How does adding this actually help?! All it does is make us mindless beast, a man who's been punished enough is brutalised, and Cassidy gets to just sit at the top with Elizabeth and Charlie! How is that fair, Lefty, HOW?!"

The black bear was silent and she stared at the clawed animatronic. Yellow eye glared into green ones, and Lefty said one last thing.

"It's fair for someone who chose to be a monster, to be as angry as you and as hateful. How Molten and Nightmare Bonnie stick by you is beyond me. How you can live with yourself is beyond me. Charlie and Elizabeth have told me so much about you, and it's all I need to know. You're Scrap Baby, the side Elizabeth hates, the monster she became. You're just that reminder."

Baby was silent and still, completely unaware of Molten and NightBon standing in the open door with looks of pure horror directed at the black bear. Same with the others in the arcade. The black bear staggered at the attention, but then glared down at Baby again.

But Baby wasn't there anymore in her eyes, and no one else seemed to realise. Or they just could see what she did...

The robot now before her was shiny and clean, the locket around her neck and glimmering, all the plates fixed and vibrant. When Baby looked up at her, Lefty saw her eyes.

Shining blue, welling with tears, and showing so much life and change.

"You sure do make Cassidy proud, huh? She's not innocent in all of this either. I just…" She choked out a heart-wrenching sob. "I can't believe you."

That was the last Baby said before skating down the hallway at speeds no one expected her to be able to hit, heading right back to her corner. To her safe space.

As she dashed away, Bonnie exploded. "WHAT THE HELL, LEFTY?! I knew you were listening to Charlie, but this is just too far!"

"Yeah, what happened?" Molten snarled. "How could you say that to someone who helped you when you first showed up?! You threw that away when you bent over for that sock monkey!" The wire amalgam called after their friend, running after her frantically.

Lefty watched them go in shock, and when she glanced back at the rest of the small audience that had formed, they staggered as they all looked at her in disgust and shame.

As they left the arcade to do something else, each of them giving her one last glare, Lefty felt more hollow than she ever was when she first showed up. But then she thought about Baby, and how different she looked. The locket seemingly keeping her in one piece… And the photo inside… all those people…

The black bear looked towards where Baby ran off, and felt guilt take over her.

~X~

Baby scrambled into the storage room in a complete emotional disaster, slamming the door behind her and rushing towards the tent. She was a complete mess, and when she reached the shining light of the set up, she was in hysterics. She didn't know left from right or up from down. The whole world was spinning.

She needed security. She needed grounding. She needed… her family.

Frantically, Baby reached into her chest and pulled out her phone, fumbling around with it and nearl;y dropping it a few times. But eventually she was able to steady her grasp and press the portal app, and quickly opened a portal into the empty wall next to the tent. When the shimmering ball of white light and other colours appeared, she instantly ran through…

And found herself on the balcony of the castle, the courtyard as beautiful as she remembered.

The portal closed behind her, and she almost collapsed when the relief smashed into her like a freight train. She looked out to the courtyard, and slowly made her way over to the railing so she could lean on it. The sky was a beautiful blue, the rustling leaves were harmonic, and the breeze was cool against her porcelain skin.

She stayed like that for a while, letting herself cool off naturally before she headed inside and probably screamed into her pillow for the next hour.

But she just couldn't calm down. She needed to be inside.

So, like the robot she was, she stiffly turned around and headed to the door, and opened it. As soon as she took in the smells of the familiar place, her tense joints relaxed.

As she rolled down the hall, she closed her eyes and faced her head upwards, opening her eyes again to see a bunch of new light fixtures were installed. They were styled off of stuff important to the group, and it made her smile.

Which made her stop and feel herself over. She was back to being fixed, like before she left, and that made her feel more at peace. Blinking as she took in the hallways newly painted walls, a door opened a bit away from her. She looked over, and her eyes watered as Caleb walked over, looking concerned.

"Baby?" He asked gently. "What's going on? How come you're here now?"

Baby blinked, and then lifted Caleb up and squeezed him in a tight, loving and firm hug. "Can I just have this for a bit?" She whispered in response.

Caleb wiggled around a bit and looked Baby in the eyes, his concern melting her barriers instantly.

"I'll tell you what happened. Just… Can we do it in my room?"

Caleb nodded. "Whatever makes you comfortable, Babs."

Baby let out a shuddering breath st the nickname, and she carried the bespectacled boy to her room, which was now marked with her name above it. Looking at it, she smiled as more tears threatened to fall.

"I just felt like it was a good idea since so many of you guys live-ish here now", the boy said with that smile she loved oh so much.

Baby sighed and headed into her room, setting Caleb down at the end so she could go and sit against the headboard, hugging one of her pillows close to her chest. "So… I have a lot of explaining to do…"

"Take your time, Babs", Caleb said reassuringly. "There's no rush."

Baby just sat there in silence for a bit, rocking back and forth as she used the pillow to help keep her relaxed. After she was ready, she sighed and started telling her best friend, her brother, everything that had happened over the past week since leaving the Capital. From her first waking up, to exploring the massive building, meeting NightBon, the night shifts, the food fight incident, and finally her argument with Lefty that made her come here in the first place.

As she told Caleb everything, the boy's expression warped from ever so slight joy, horror, sadness, anger, and a look of heartbreak. When she was done, Caleb looked up and thought over everything, processing all he heard. Baby was worried, but wasn't surprised when Caleb scooted closer and rested a hand on her leg.

"You need a few days here to rest up, I get that", he said reassuringly. "I'm positive that's what you need right now. So you hang tight, I'll get us some hot chocolate and we can just chill."

The boy moved to get off the bed, but was stopped when Baby grabbed his arm. He looked at her, and she had a somewhat shy look. "Can… Can you just stay here a bit longer? I just… I really need your warmth…"

Caleb smiled and moved closer, resting on Baby's lap as she hugged him close. The clawed animatronic leaned back letting out a content sigh as they both just soaked up each other's warmth.

Baby needed this so badly, and she couldn't be more happy with the outcome.

~X~

Woof, okay, that was a pretty hectic chapter huh? A big argument between Scrap Baby and Lefty leads to her going back to the Capital. This will play a big role in the coming chapters, which is a bit weird to say considering this story is only 15 chapters long.

But yeah, we're here now, and trust me when I say Baby will go through hell! Maybe moreso than Izzy in TIYCC, depending how you look at it.

Y'all ain't ready, I mean it.

Up next: Baby listens to her friends as she relaxes in the Capital, before she finds them strength to return…

~Caleb~