Mike's New Ghostly Family

by Archcommander Tenebros

Freddy Fazbear's tale has come to a close. Mike and the girl inside the Puppet are the only two left who know the full story, and the older man has adopted the last pizzeria's sole survivor in all but name. But neither of them expected the ghosts of the murdered children to return, nor did they expect their family to expand so dramatically in such a short time. Now on AOx3.

35. Chapter 35 - The Puppet's Family Part 1

A/N: Finals week is done, everything's turned out all right! And now I can relax and proceed to not give a shit about life for the next couple of weeks. That is going to feel very, very nice indeed. And thanks for all the support you've given me on this fic, I really appreciate it and it keeps me motivated to keep writing!

I promised you more lore and character exploration chapters, and you're about to get them! This time we'll be focusing on the Marionette and Henry, two of the most important characters in the entire franchise and the main enemies to William Afton besides Michael Afton himself. Just like before, the other ghost kids will not be featured since the focus should be and will be entirely on Mary. Although we may not be calling her that for much longer…hint hint 😉

Now despite what I've just written, there won't be that much lore exploration in this specific chapter per say. This is more of a deeper insight and revelation into the Marionette's thoughts and why she seems to act so calm and confident compared to the rest of the ghost kids. The bulk of the lore exploration will begin next chapter.

Chapter 35 – The Puppet's Family Part 1

Ever since her death, Mary had dreaded the dreams about Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and its many incarnations. So many times, the pizzeria would plunge into a nightmare clawing its way up from the past, forcing her to relive either the deaths of the children that she now called family or the many murders that she and they had committed in the name of misplaced revenge. So when she found that her dreams had landed her once again in a Freddy's pizzeria, Mary closed her eyes and started bracing herself for the latest of many tormented nights.

But the sound that reached her ears was not the screams of children or adults about to be murdered. The sounds instead were of children laughing and enjoying themselves, with 2 animatronics singing in the distance. Mary opened her eyes and carefully looked towards the stage. She could see Fredbear and Spring Bonnie standing proudly on the stage and singing to a group of kids seated in the dining hall, looking exactly like they had been when her father had first created them and before the Fazbear franchise had been corrupted by tragedy and evil.

"To think that something so innocent could have fallen so far…" a voice spoke quietly from behind her.

Mary froze. That voice…it couldn't be…

"I wish that you could have joined me in Paradise, my precious daughter…but I understand why you chose to stay behind. Being with you here in your dreams is enough for me, at long last…Charlie…"

Charlie got out of her chair and rushed towards the source of the voice. Two comforting arms enveloped her in a warm embrace as she grabbed tightly at the man who had appeared in the entryway. "DAD!" she sobbed as buried her head in her chest. "I can't believe it! It's…it's really you!"

Henry smiled gently at his daughter as he stroked her hair. "It is, baby girl…I'm here with you at long last," he murmured, assuring her that he really was there with her. "If I could have visited you in your new home even a second earlier, I would have done so." He shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, Heaven's rules regarding visitations to Earth are incredibly strict."

"It doesn't matter," Charlie brushed her tears from her eyes. "I'm just so happy to see you again, dad!" she blinked as she realized that she had indeed been crying tears and could feel her father's hand on her hair. She looked down at her hands…her human hands. "Wait a minute. I'm…I'm…"

"Human?" Henry placed a hand over hers. "You always have been, baby girl, no matter how long you have assumed the mantle of the Marionette as your own."

At the mention of the Marionette, Charlie's smile faded. "Dad…" she choked out. "I'm…I'm sorry…"

Henry gave her a puzzled look. "Whatever you could be sorry for?"

"I…I…I let my rage get the better of me," Charlie confessed, and now tears of regret for flowing out of her eyes. "When I died out in that alley, I was so…angry…and because of that, I…I killed innocent people. I've killed at least two Night Guards, dad! Night Guards who never did anything wrong, Night Guards who could have been fans of Freddy's like we were!" She collapsed onto her knees and started crying in earnest. "Oh, God…" she wept. "I'm a murderer like him! I…I…"

Henry reacted immediately, drawing his daughter tighter into his embrace. "Listen to me, Charlie," he commanded, soothingly but firmly as he stroked her hair again. "You are nothing like William Afton. You might have strayed into the darkness at one point, I won't deny that, but you found your way back to the light before you lost yourself completely. And from what I've been told, you realized your wrongs and tried to correct them the earliest out of all of his victims." He looked into her eyes. "Didn't you try to stop the others from chasing after their vengeance in the 90s version of the pizzeria?"

Charlie shook her head and let out a bitter laugh. "Not that that did any good," she muttered. "I should've done more than just refused to help them. I should have stood my ground, I should have done more to stop them or help the night guards, I should have…"

"Don't lament over the "what ifs" and the "could haves" of your life, my daughter," Henry advised. "I spent far, far too long shedding tears over the course of history. It was only after I decided to take action, to end the nightmare with my own hands, that I could finally find peace." He gave her an encouraging smile. "Your new life with Mr. Schmidt is helping you leave all that sadness behind, is it not?"

Charlie gave her father a smile of her own. "Mike is…absolutely amazing," she glowingly praised. "He's done so much for all of us. My friends…I never realized how much they needed a father until he accepted them into his home. We might not ever be able to have our lives back, but Mike has given us the next best thing."

Henry nodded approvingly. "If I'm ever allowed to do so, I must greet Mr. Schmidt and thank him personally," he vowed. Then, his eyes narrowed in the scrutinizing fashion that Charlie recognized so well. "But…there's something that bothers me. You call him Mike. Not dad, father, or any variation thereof. May I ask why?"

"It wouldn't feel right calling him that," his daughter explained. "The other children don't remember their old families, their memories all but gone as the years passed. In every sense that matters, Mike is the only father they've really had. And Liz…" she shuddered, "I don't think I need to say WHY Liz has rejected her original father in favor of Mike."

Henry let out a dry chuckle. "I don't blame her in the slightest."

"But…I remember you," Charlie continued. "You're my dad. We worked together to bring all the corrupted animatronics to our trap and burn the nightmare down. No matter how much I love Mike for his kindness and generosity, I can't just replace you like that!" she protested. "I'd be spitting on your memory!"

Her father shook his head. "The thing is, my daughter…I couldn't disagree with you more." To Charlie's surprise, tears started flowing down his eyes too. "I…I let you die. One of the most fundamental responsibilities of a parent is to keep his child safe, and I…I failed in that duty completely. If I had seen William Afton for who he truly was, you would never have died in the dark, without anyone to comfort you in your last moments." He brushed away the tears with his arm. "My actions since then have been to rectify that mistake, but no amount of action will ever undo your death. No…Mike Schmidt has done more for you as a father than I ever have."

"But…"

"You wouldn't be doing me a disservice, baby girl. You would be giving him an honor that he deserves more than anyone."

"I…if…if you say so…" Charlie murmured, though they could both could tell that she wasn't entirely convinced. "Dad…I…I have a question."

"Anything, my daughter. All you need to do is ask."

Charlie looked up at her father. "For the longest time, I thought…I thought that everything was my fault," she confessed the thought that had been troubling her mind ever since the children had appeared at Mike's house. "Not William Afton's killing, but me giving the animatronics life. I thought for the longest time that I enslaved my friends to their cursed existence. Jeremy even accused me of this at one point, and I told him that I wasn't the only or even the main reason why they haunted the animatronics. But, that was only because you told me this, dad…back when we were working to stop Afton once and for all. I didn't…and still don't…really understand."

Henry frowned. "Ah, yes…I meant every word I said, Charlie. You were not the main reason why the animatronics became haunted as they were. Maybe if it was only the Freddy Fazbear animatronics that became possessed, then yes, the blame would likely fall on you. But if that were the case, how can you explain the possession of Springtrap? And of Baby? You had nothing to do with the spirit of Elizabeth possessing Circus Baby, and you most certainly did not have anything to do with William Afton's return as Springtrap. No, my daughter, the true cause of the possessions lies deeper than your involvement. You see…"

He opened his mouth to say more, but suddenly stopped and tilted his head, as though he were receiving instructions that Charlie couldn't hear. Then, Henry looked back at his daughter and sighed. "It appears that the Heavenly Father does not wish for me to divulge all of these secrets directly. He has requested that I instead direct you to where you will be able to find them."

"I'm not going to argue with anything Heaven says, but why would He want me to find out the long way?" Charlie asked, confused.

Henry shrugged. "Who can say? Personally, I believe that it is so that you can strengthen your bond with Mike even more as you uncover the secrets together. As we have touched upon before, your relationship, as close as it already is, could be strengthened further." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be afraid to call Mike father, Charlie." He suddenly smirked. "And for the love of God, tell him your real name."

Charlie giggled. "It was going to be a long practical joke," she admitted. "I wanted to see how long it would take Mi…er, my new dad…to realize I was screwing around with him." She sighed. "In hindsight, I feel like I've been insulting him this entire time."

Henry chuckled. "From what I've heard about his character, he'll take it all in good humor." A clock suddenly chimed somewhere, and Henry looked around. Already, the background was beginning to disappear, the singing of Fredbear and the laughing children starting to fade. "I do not have much time, left, baby girl, so I must tell you the most important things now," he decided, and Charlie instantly stood at attention. There was no way she was going to miss even a single word of her father's instructions. "Do you remember the house where we used to live?"

"Yeah…" Charlie nodded, "I remember."

"Back when we were orchestrating our plan together, I had originally planned to burn every secret along with the two of us inside the trap pizzeria," Henry explained. "But at the last moment, I had a change of heart, and I sent copies of some files that contain my innermost thoughts and darkest secrets to a very close friend of mine, the only one whom I could trust this knowledge with. I left the house to him in my will, and at this moment he is the only guardian of the secrets surrounding Freddy's. Go to the house and tell him who you are. He will let you access those files and take anything else that you need. Do you know how to get there?"

His daughter nodded. "I do, dad. I understand completely."

Henry smiled approvingly at Charlie, and as he did so his body and the rest of the environment began to fade. "One more thing, baby girl. I know that you still feel regret over the deaths you caused and your perceived failings. But don't forget that you took your first steps towards redemption when the rest of your friends were still lost in the dark and have walked the path of the light longer than they have. Continue being the guide, the mentor, the big sister that your friends need. Keep being the dutiful and loving daughter that Mike deserves. And the road to your future will remain bright and clear."

Charlie blinked back tears and waved at her dad, who returned the gesture even as the last of his body faded into nothingness. "Thanks, dad…" she murmured as the last of the dream faded and she was forced back into reality. "I promise, I won't let you down."

Her head snapped up as she awoke, nearly hitting the top of her music box as it did so. It took her a few seconds to get oriented and to remember that she was still inside the body of the Marionette. She pushed open the top of the lid and floated out of the box and through the house until she was in Mike's room.

"Dad?" she called out to him. The man groggily rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, Mary?" he mumbled, having just been woken up by his alarm clock.

"Can I talk to you about something, dad?" she asked. It felt a bit odd calling Mike "Dad"after so long, but to her surprise, it wasn't nearly as jarring or uncomfortable as she'd expected. "It's really, REALLY important."

Mike yawned as he struggled to fight off the lingering traces of sleep. "Sure," he muttered, "meet me in my study in a bit while I get freshened up."

"Thanks, dad!" Charlie gratefully replied as she left the bedroom. Mike yawned again and got up from the bed to get ready for the day. It wasn't until he had taken a shower that he realized that, after a year and several months, the girl inside the Marionette had finally called him "Dad."

A Few Days Later…

"We're going to be going out for a bit," Mike told the ghost kids as Charlie stood beside him. "This is kinda like the same thing I did for Liz a while back. It's for something important that the two of us need to do."

"Good luck with whatever you're doing!" Jeremy answered as he put his book down.

"Can we go over that list of vacation spots we gave you when you come back?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah, that'll be next up on the list of priorities," Mike promised as he opened the front door. "Remember kids, no destroying the house while I'm gone," he joked.

"Pfffftttt…" Fritz snorted as he and everyone else rolled their eyes. "You've told us that a million times and yet we haven't done that once. We'll be just fine."

Mike chuckled as he left the door. He and Charlie got into the car and started driving off towards the address that the Puppet had given him.

"You know, I still can't believe that it took me THIS LONG to realize that you had an actual name besides Mary," Mike deadpanned as he drove on. "I mean, God, you've been living with me for over a year now!"

Charlie let out a small giggle. "I thought it would be funny."

"The only humor I'm getting from this is laughing at how dumb I am," Mike commented dryly. "Melody and Ryan told me that I'm the smartest person they know, but I honestly just don't fucking see it. I mean, my God. Could you imagine if some random guy just walked up to your face and told you 'oh hey, I have a daughter that's been living with me for a year and a couple of months but I don't even know what her name is.' First thing out of my mouth would be 'you're a fucking moron.'"

Charlie's smile disappeared. "I'm sorry, dad…" she apologized, "I didn't mean to insult you with this."

Mike brushed it off. "Eh, I'm just fucking with you right now. Don't worry about it." He smiled at her. "I'm really happy that you've finally started calling me dad after so long."

She sighed. "It's not that I didn't love you from the beginning, dad…it's just that I still remembered who my original dad was. I didn't want to just throw him to the side like he didn't mean anything, you know?"

Mike affectionately stroked the back of her head. "Hey, I get it, Charlie," he gently assured her, dropping the humorous tone. "I'm not offended. I probably would've done the same in your shoes."

Charlie leaned her head back into Mike's hand. "Thanks, dad."

The man grinned. "Don't you worry about a thing," he told her. "Heck, I'm honored that Henry thinks I'm good enough to be your father. I wonder why he thinks so highly about me?"

"Geez, let me take a guess…" now it was Charlie's turn to deadpan. "Maybe it was the fact that you gave me a home for over a year now? Maybe it was the fact that you forgave and welcomed a group of ghosts who tried to murder you with barely a moment's hesitation? Or how about that time when you single-handedly brought Liz out of her depression or effectively stood your ground against a demon lord for all our sakes and basically told him to fuck off?"

"All right, all right, I get it, I'm the ideal family man," Mike joked as he turned the car around a corner. His smile suddenly disappeared. "In all seriousness, Charlie, there is something I do want to talk to you about, though."

"About what, dad?" she asked.

"Charlie…I've noticed how you've acted around the other kids," Mike explained. "You're so calm and collected, so confident in everything you do. I guess the best way for me to describe it is, you act like you've 'got your shit together' all the time. Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it's great that the other kids have such a strong anchor to depend on if I can't be the person they need. No matter how good of a father you guys think I am, I just can't relate to the rest of the kids on the same level you can."

"I sense a but coming…" Charlie muttered.

"But because of this, you've also been keeping all of your issues to yourself," he continued. "Bottling them up, not wanting to share your thoughts and things that are troubling you with other people. You might be able to convince the other kids that everything's all right, Charlie, but I see through it. I was very much the same when I was younger. And I can also tell you that even having a few people to share your secrets with makes things so much better."

"I'm scared to, dad…" Charlie admitted after several seconds of silence. "Back when we were in the pizzeria…I was the only one who could watch over them and protect them. I wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination – I tried to stop them from killing more innocent Night Guards like you and I failed completely. But apart from that – they looked up to me, dad. As long as I was there to comfort them and assure them that everything was going to be all right, that was the closest thing they had to happiness." She lowered her head. "I was their bedrock, their one sense of security. If they learned that I was dealing with just as many problems as they were…"

Mike shook his head and pulled over to a parking lot. This conversation would require his full attention. "I get what you're saying, Charlie," he said gently as he put an arm around her shoulder. "But here's what I have to say. Building up that emotional wall, trying to be tough and strong, that might have been necessary back when you were all trapped in the Fazbear tragedy. I'm not sure I would have agreed with that, but I can't say anything since I wasn't there. Now, though…everything is different. The bad times are finally over. You don't have to hold in all your problems anymore. The others might still look up to you, but they don't need to depend on you as much as they once did. And there's no shame in turning to the people you care about for help."

Charlie sighed. "I know, dad. It's just…I still don't feel all that comfortable with spilling out my troubles to them. A good chunk of them don't even have anything to do with my brothers and sisters, not really. I feel like the only thing I'll be doing is making my problems their problems, and that's not fair to them."

"One could argue that that's the whole point of family though," Mike pointed out. "We help solve each other's problems together. But I won't force you to do anything you don't want to, Charlie. That's your call to make. But I do hope that if you aren't comfortable with talking to them, you can at least come and talk to me. I'll be there."

Charlie nodded. "I know, dad. And thank you…" her voice trailed off. "Can I…can I tell you something now?"

Mike spread his arms across the car. "Speak!" he declared dramatically, "and ye shall be heard!"

She giggled and rolled her eyelights before quickly sobering up. "Do you remember back when Nightmare attacked us? How I tried and failed to fight Nightmare off while the rest of you were talking about your nightmares?"

"Yeah," Mike nodded, "At first, I did find it a bit strange that Nightmare didn't try to screw with your mind first before going for the direct attack. I assumed that he just didn't want to waste time and that he wanted to quickly get a hostage to force the rest of us to come down. Granted, I didn't have a nightmare either, but I made peace with my own dark past a long time ago, so Nightmare didn't really have much to attack me with."

"The truth is, dad…Nightmare DID attack me in my dreams first before he attacked me in real life."

Mike was instantly alert. "He forced you to relive killing Night Guards again, didn't he?" From what he remembered, Charlie's body count was much lower compared to the other ghost children, but it wasn't zero. Even the guilt from killing just two people would give Nightmare plenty to work with.

But to his surprise, Charlie shook her head. "No…it was much worse than that…"

The Night of Nightmare's Attack...

From the moment her eyes opened, Charlie knew that something was terribly wrong. The very air and atmosphere of her surroundings was tainted by darkness, a hint at the nightmare that was yet to come. She was in a music box, not the one that Mike had set up for her to rest in, but her original music box from the early days of Fredbear's Family Diner and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.

Back when she had been consumed by the same murderous rage that would continue to dominate her friends long after she had broken free of it.

The familiar tune of "Grandfather's Clock" suddenly stopped playing and "Pop Goes the Weasel" replaced it. Charlie sighed as she knew what was about to come next. Her body acted out of its own accord, climbing out of the music box and floating towards the office even as she tried to resist it. Part of her wanted to look away as she inevitably delivered a gruesome death to an innocent person, but the stronger part of her refused. She had already destroyed this person's life once, whoever he was. The very least he deserved was for her to look him in the eye and see who he was without the filter of revenge clouding her mind and soul.

She forced herself to look towards the Office as she approached it…and her heart would have stopped if she still had it. Sitting in the chair was an old man with a bushy pile of white hair on his head and a carefully trimmed beard to match. A man that Charlie couldn't possibly forget.

"Dad...?" her voice came out as a whisper, but inside she was anything but calm. "No, no, no, NO, NO!" she screamed in her mind. She could already tell what was about to happen. "NOT HIM! PLEASE, NO!"

"Hello, baby girl…" Henry's voice sounded so utterly tired. "It's so good to see you again after so many years, but something tells me that you don't feel the same way."

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Charlie wanted to shout. "This place is dangerous! Get out while you still can!" But that wasn't what came out of her mouth. What came out instead was a menacing hiss filled with rage. "You let me die…" was the hateful snarl that left the Puppet's mouth. "You failed me, father!" Charlie wanted to throw up the moment she heard those words come out of her mouth. Was this really the kind of person she had been back then?

"I know…" Henry bowed his head in shame. "Everything you've said is true, Charlie. I did fail you. I should never have let you die. If anybody should have died that night at Fredbear's Family Diner, it should have been me. I should have been the one to pay the price for so blindly trusting a monster." He brushed away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I wasn't even there to hold you in your arms as your life seeped out of you. I have failed as a parent in every single way."

"That's not true!" Charlie tried to speak, but once again no words came out of her mouth. The only miniscule comfort was that there was no malicious whisper to replace them this time. "You did everything you could to right those wrongs, wrongs that were never your fault to begin with! I still love you, dad! I never stopped loving you! Don't give up, dad! Not like this…"

Henry shook his head and sighed. "I can sense it even now, baby girl. You want revenge. Revenge against William Afton for the many crimes he has committed…and revenge against me for letting all this tragedy happen. I understand you, Charlie. And I accept your judgment. There can only be one punishment that is fair and just for my failures."

"No!" Charlie wordlessly protested. "There's nothing fair or just about this at all! You don't deserve to die for the sins of another person! I know that now!" she tried to struggle even harder, to stop the kill that she knew was about to happen. But it was no use. Her body floated ever closer to her father, ready to kill him just like she had killed the Night Guards before him.

Henry bowed his head and waited for the inevitable. "The time has come, then. I hope my death will be enough to satisfy your rage, my daughter. I had wanted to put myself in a final sleep long before today…and there can be no end more fitting for me than death at the hands of the one I should have protected with my very life." Charlie could only scream as the Marionette leapt at her father with a roar, wrapping her hands around his neck and squeezing it with unholy fury, just like she had done to others in the past. And as the life drained from his eyes and he breathed his last, she could hear demonic laughter echoing around her and a malicious voice taunting her from the shadows.

"YOU ARE NOT AS FAR FROM THE DARKNESS AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE, LITTLE PUPPET GIRL," the voice that she would later learn was Nightmare's hissed. "IT MATTERS NOT HOW MANY OR HOW FEW YOU HAVE KILLED, YOUR HANDS ARE STILL STAINED WITH THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS THAT CAN NEVER BE CLEANSED. HOW MANY LIVES WERE LOST BECAUSE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS WERE CONSUMED BY YOUR MISGUIDED AND MEANINGLESS QUEST FOR VENGEANCE? YOU KNOW, IN YOUR HEART, THAT THIS PARTICULAR MURDER, ONE THAT EVEN NOW FILLS YOU WITH SUCH HORROR AND DREAD, COULD VERY EASILY HAVE BECOME A REALITY."

The Present Day

"And he was RIGHT!" Charlie was openly crying now. "Everything Nightmare said about me was right! I could have killed my own father back when I was still seeking vengeance for my death and the deaths of my friends! I can see it happening!" She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Back when we were working to destroy all the remaining animatronics, we didn't cooperate at first. My father created Lefty to capture and pacify me, and it was only after I convinced him that I wouldn't harm him that he deactivated the traps inside Lefty and we started working together. He thought that I was still caught up in my murderous rage, and I CAN'T BLAME HIM!" she shouted the last few words, before burying her face in her hands. "What kind of daughter am I?" she mumbled between sobs. "My own father was afraid of me, and he had every right to be!"

Mike drew her into a hug as much as the space of the car would allow, and Charlie buried her head in his chest for several moments as she let her sadness and regret flow out of her. "Who would have thought that she and Liz could be so similar?" he thought as he pulled her in closer. "Different regrets and different personalities, but at the end of the day, they're both just kids who've lost their way and need help finding themselves again."

"Charlie…" he finally spoke up after she had calmed down enough and was now only sniffling into his shirt. "That dream Nightmare showed you…it wasn't like the others. It wasn't an event that happened in the past, twisted by evil but with a foundation of truth. Yours was based on a hypothetical, a premise that we both know is bullshit. You never intended to murder Henry at any point in your past. It doesn't matter what you would've done if you hadn't broken out of that murderous mentality, because the only truth that means anything in the end is that you DID stop. You DID realize that you were going down the same road as William Afton, and you pulled yourself away from the darkness before it was too late. And Henry recognized that too. He might have been afraid of you at first, but the only possible reason why he deactivated the traps in Lefty was because he trusted you to do the right thing, and you did."

"I can't take it back," Charlie lamented. "The people the others and I killed…they had their entire lives ahead of them, and we destroyed that."

"No, you can't," Mike admitted as he stroked the back of the Puppet's head comfortingly. "You might have done evil things, but who hasn't at some point in their life? I'm just as guilty of doing wrong as you are, and so is everyone else in the world. But you're not an evil person, Charlie. After living with you for an entire year, I can say that with absolute certainty. People who are truly evil at their core don't cry for the lives they've hurt. And you've made my life so much better in the year before the rest of the kids showed up, from simply being another person to keep me company after I retired to everything you've done to take care of me and keep me happy. You're not the same person you were thirty years ago, Charlie. If Henry knew just how well you've been helping me out for the past year or so, I'm sure he would be very proud of you."

Charlie leaned into her new father's body and snuggled close to him. "I'm starting to think Liz was right," she murmured. "You really are an angel in disguise. The way you make people like me feel better is almost magical."

Mike shook his head. "The only reason why I'm apparently so good at this is because I've dealt with my fair share of garbage in my own life. I definitely am not some kind of angel. Not even close." A dark look entered his eyes for the briefest of moments, but it quickly faded and judging by the fact that Charlie was still clutching contentedly to his shirt he assumed that she had missed it. "But I hope what I said helped."

"It definitely did, dad," she answered appreciatively as she righted herself back into her seat. "Thank you. For this…and for everything else."

"Always glad to help, Charlie," Mike smiled at her as he started the car up again.

They drove on in silence for a few minutes. Then, Charlie turned to Mike again. "Dad…what you've said about me opening up more…I think you might be right. But please don't tell anyone about what we've talked about today. I want to share my thoughts with the others when I think I'm ready."

Mike pantomimed zipping his lips. "Your secrets are safe with me, Charlie," he promised, before he suddenly grinned. "Forget night guarding and engineering. When it comes to keeping secrets, I am a goddamn professional with years and years of experience."

Charlie giggled. "Can't argue with you there," she conceded.

Mike nodded, thinking that now was as good a time as any to change the subject. "So tell me something. What do you think we're going to find at your old house?"

Charlie shrugged. "I honestly couldn't tell you, dad," she replied, her calm and self-assured tone slowly returning. "The only thing Heaven let him tell me was that I would find the real reason why all the animatronics were haunted for so long…not just me and the Purple Guy's victims, but Baby and Springtrap too. I'm still not sure why he didn't tell me the answer before when he was still alive. Maybe he wasn't entirely certain that what he discovered was the truth behind it all. But he spoke with so much confidence when we were reunited in my dream a few days ago that I'm certain he has no more doubts about it now."

"I've gotta admit, I've been curious about that too," Mike agreed. "It still seems like a lot of work to drive all the way over there just for a secret that Henry could have told you directly in his dream. Yeah, I know he mentioned bonding time, but we could have done that at home. I can't help but feel like there's something else in the equation that we don't know about yet, something we're going to find in your old house."

"Well, it looks like we're about to find out," Charlie pointed out. Already, she could see the street leading to her dad's house in the distance. None of the houses were nearly as extravagant or fancy as Mike's mansion, but it was still in an area that was clearly inhabited by the more well-to-do members of society. "We're almost there." Her eyelights glowed more brightly in intensity as determination entered her voice. "It's time to see what my dad left for me before his death. Let's find the last of the Freddy Fazbear secrets and close this chapter of our lives once and for all."

/

A/N: Well, this chapter certainly has a lot in it. A combination of Heartwarming, Tearjerker, Nightmare Fuel (Nightmare's such a useful tool for causing angst and terror, isn't he?), and just a smidgeon of humor thrown in. And not to mention a much more detailed journey into the Marionette's thoughts and personality, including why she hasn't outright embraced Mike as her new dad in the same way the other ghosts had until now.

Up until this point, I have portrayed Charlie/The Marionette as the cool big sis, the calm and collected one, the leader, the person who has her shit together the most out of all the ghost kids. But this was a persona that I believe Charlie had to develop over the years so that her friends and fellow victims wouldn't collapse into complete and total despair. She might be a lot better at hiding it, but I think she has just as much emotional baggage on her head as the other ghosts and didn't want to force that burden on her friends. And even if she is genuinely calmer and more composed under normal circumstances, reuniting with Henry in her dream and remembering Nightmare's attack on her mind would almost certainly have triggered a few emotional buttons anyway. She's still a kid, even if she was forced to mature to a much greater degree than the others because of everything she's been through. And because she's spent so long acting as the emotional bedrock for the other ghost kids, she isn't used to relying on others the way someone like Liz is. I think the only two people she would really be comfortable sharing her thoughts with are Henry and Mike. Even with the latter there was still a bit of a barrier that has only now been completely shattered with her full acceptance of Mike as her new dad.

And after 34 chapters, we finally know the Marionette's real name. And yes, it is indeed Charlie as almost everybody has assumed. Originally, I was going to have this as a dramatic reveal where she genuinely didn't know her name until Henry revealed it to her in her dream, but I realized that this didn't make any sense since Henry would have almost certainly called her by her real name at some point while they were working on orchestrating the events of FNAF6. So I decided to instead have it as a long-standing joke that Charlie decided to play on Mike. Admittedly this is a bit of a cop-out, but at the same time Charlie hasn't been able to genuinely have fun for decades and this would be the first time she would finally be able to indulge in her more playful side after far, far too long.

As you may have noticed, my version of the Marionette has a bit of Adaptational Heroism being invoked. She was still caught up in a murderous and vengeful rage during the events of FNAF2 (otherwise keeping the music box wound up would have been a nonissue), but she snapped out of it by the time FNAF1 and beyond rolled around. This is my in-universe explanation as to why she was there in the FNAF1 pizzeria but did not participate in the murders of the Night Guards. Ironically, if you were to ask her, my present-day Charlie would not consider herself a true hero. Two is a much smaller body count than what the rest of the ghost kids have, but she still killed people and she has to live with that on her conscience.

Next chapter, we start delving into the lore of FNAF more thoroughly. And what Mike and Charlie will discover will have major implications not just in the past, but for the future. I hope you guys enjoyed!