CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: GOING HOME

SEPTEMBER 21 2038 - 4 WEEKS LATER*

I sat in the Lobby, waiting patiently for my mother with Roxanne sitting beside me to my right. I was wearing the same clothing I'd worn on the night of the fight against William Afton. They were dirty and slightly torn, which was expected after what happened. To top it off, I no longer had that annoying cast on my leg, which was removed about 30 minutes ago.

It was crazy to think that it has been over a month since the fight against William Afton. The scratches that Roxanne gave me while she was under his control had partially healed, getting close to turning into a scar. While I was fine physically, I wasn't fine mentally. For the last four weeks, I'd been plagued by nightmares of the fight against Afton where he successfully killed me. It was the worst, especially since my screams would scare the hell out of Roxanne, and worry the doctors. I felt bad that they had to deal with that.

But, the nightmares weren't the only terrible thing. Because of the horrible extent of the injuries, my mother had to be put into a medically-induced coma. I asked the doctors and nurses who came to my room about her condition. They reassured me that they were doing all they could. It wasn't until yesterday I was told my mother had woken up. I was relieved when they told me that. It was made better when they said that she and I will be free to go tomorrow at noon.

So, here I was; sitting in the Lobby with Roxanne by my side waiting for my mother to walk through those doors, looking alright.

'Where are you, mother?' I thought to myself.

The sound of a door opening snapped me out of my thoughts. Roxanne and I looked to see my mother stepping into the Lobby. A warm smile formed on her face the moment she saw us. I smiled as tears built up in my eyes. I got up from my seat and ran over to her. I wrapped my arms around her.

"Mom, I'm so glad that you're okay," I whispered, relief washing over me. I felt her wrap her arms around me.

"You don't have to worry anymore, Mihael," she whispered. "It's all going to be okay."

We remained that way for a moment longer. I didn't want to let her go. I was afraid that if I did, she would disappear and I would wake up in my chair. I felt my mother release me from the hug. I knew she was waiting for me to let her go. I let out a sigh before I let her go.

After taking a few steps back, I noticed something different about her. I looked… and my eyes widened slightly.

Unlike her right leg, her left leg was more artificial in nature. From the looks of it, this must be the prosthetic leg the doctors decided to give her. It took literally everything I had to not go into a full-on rage.

"So, I see you got your prosthetic leg," I said as casually as I could.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I woke up to find that I got one. I asked the doctors and they informed me of what happened. I got to say; if there was ever a moment for you to go psycho, it would be that."

"I guess," I said with a shrug.

"Well, you two have a nice day," the doctor said behind my mother. We looked at him. "Just be careful from now. Remember what I told you, Mrs. Patel."

"I won't forget," she said. The doctor nodded and with that, the door closed. We looked at each other for a moment before she looked behind me. Her eyes widened slightly. "Mihael, can you explain to me what Roxanne is doing here?"

"That can be easily explained," I said. "But, I rather whisper it in your ear, if you don't mind."

"Is it something very private?" she asked.

"More like something I prefer not speaking about out loud, Mom," I said. She nodded before turning her head to the left. I leaned forward a little and cupped my left hand over the corner of my mouth.

I began to whisper everything to my mother. I made absolutely sure to not leave anything out, including the fight against the monster who did all of what happened at the Pizzaplex, the things Roxanne had told me, me going apeshit on Cress, everything. As I told her, I heard her let out small gasps. I had no idea how she was taking it, but I had to assume that it had to be somewhat like how I took it.

I finished my narration. I straightened my posture, taking a good look at her face. Shock was plastered on her face, the color gone from her face. She stared at me for a moment before she somewhat snapped out of it.

"Is that so?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied. "Do you know Leon?"

"I do," she replied. "Leon Wesley's an old friend of your father. He was still a cop when the kids went missing. He became deputy six years ago. I still kept in touch with you. Your father talked about him on a few occasions, though you never met him personally. That's why you don't know or remember him that well."

'Well, that explains everything,' I thought to myself. "So, shall we head on home?"

"Yes, let's head home," my mother said. With that, we all exit the hospital.

I sighed in relief as fresh air hit me in the face. It was nice to finally be free than being stuck inside a huge facility for a whole month. Even being hit by the hot heat of the Sun was bliss.

As I took in deep breaths, something clicked in my head. I looked around the parking lot for any signs of a familiar car or truck, but there wasn't a trace of any of that anywhere.

"Um, Mom, you know what I just realized?" I said.

"What's that, honey-bear?" she asked. I gave her a deadpan look.

"First, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," I began to say. "And second, if what Kyle said is right, my truck is at home. I hate to say this but someone or something smashed your car, which means we will have to buy you a new one."

Her eyes widened at that. She stared at me for a moment before she began rubbing the bridge of her nose with the index and middle fingers of her right hand.

"Wonderful," she said sarcastically.

So, what happens now?" I asked.

My mother thought about it for a brief moment before she looked at me. "I could call Leon, but I don't have my phone. I have no idea what happened to it. Do you have your phone on you?"

I didn't reply. I began searching the pockets of my shorts. I could only hope that my phone was there. The last thing any of us needed was for me to discover that my phone was missing. If that were to happen, it would be one of my worst nightmares coming true.
My eyes widened, my heart jumping into my throat when I couldn't find traces of my phone. I looked at my mother, who had a look of shock on her face.

"My phone's missing," I whispered. "I don't know what could've possibly happened to it. Now what?"

My mother thought about it for a moment. I couldn't think of a solution. All I could think about was my missing phone. I remember putting it into my pocket after the call. Something clicked inside my head. It must've slipped out of my pocket during the fight.

I felt a rush of anger flow throughout my body. If that sack of shit destroyed my phone while I was unconscious and Roxanne went to go find Kyle and my mother, I would tear him to pieces the next time I saw him.

"Hold on a minute," Roxanne said. My mother and I turned to look at her. "I have your phone, Mihael. Let me just get it out of my hair."

I watched as Roxanne stuffed her right hand into her hair. She began digging around in her hair for a bit before a smile formed on her face. Her hand emerged out of her hair, clutching something. She held out what it was.

"My phone!" I exclaimed as I retrieved it from her.

"I found it lying on the floor several feet away from you," Roxanne explained. "I stuffed it into my hair for safekeeping. I completely forgot about it until now."

"You're a lifesaver," I said before handing my mother the phone. She took it without hesitating.

She turned it on and pushed the green phone app. She pushed a set of numbers before bringing the phone up to her right ear. After a moment, my mother began talking.

"Hi, Leon." A pause. "I'm doing alright. Listen, me, my son, and Roxy are leaving the hospital, but we don't have a way to get to my house. Is there any chance you can come over and pick us up?" Another pause. "Oh, thank you, Leon." Another pause." Alright. See you later, Leon. Bye."

She lowered the phone away from her ear and hung up the call. She looked at Roxanne and I, a smile forming on her face.

"He's on his way," she said.

"Alright," I said. "Looks like we have to play the waiting game."

We stood outside of the hospital, waiting for Leon to come pick us up. The Sun beamed down on us, heating up our bodies. Small beads of sweat kept forming on my forehead, which I wiped away with the back of my right hand.

It's been 10 minutes since my mother called Leon. At this point, the bliss of the fresh air and Sun were now becoming bothersome. I wanted to be at home and take a nice shower, considering I haven't taken one for the past month. It was one thing to skip a shower for one day, but to do it for a month was another thing entirely.

The sound of a car coming snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked to see a police cruiser coming our way. I sighed in relief.

'Oh, finally,' I thought to myself as the cruiser came to a stop. The driver's side window lowered, revealing the driver.

It was a man who looked to be around in his late 40s wearing a deputy's uniform and a pair of sunglasses. He had slightly tan skin and a bushy gold beard. The man also appeared to be very muscular. I had a feeling that this was a guy that you didn't want to be on the bad side of.

He smiled a friendly smile, removing his sunglasses.

"Howdy, Rebecca," the man said in a deep, tough voice. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long."

"You didn't, Leon," my mother said. She looked at us. "Come on. Hop in, you two. It's time to go home."

Leon turned his attention to Roxanne and I. He stared at Roxanne intently. I had a strong feeling he was probably wondering why an animatronic was coming with us.

"Roxy's with Mihael," my mother said. Leon looked at my mom for a moment before he nodded.

"Alright, hop on in," he said, gesturing with his head for us to come in. My mother walked over to the passenger side door. She opened the door and stepped inside.

I walked over to the car door, Roxanne following close behind me. I opened the door fully. I looked at Roxanne for a moment before I gestured with my head for her to get in first. Roxanne stared at me for a moment before she stepped inside. I could hear the sound of struggling, no doubt Roxanne trying to get comfortable.

"Okay, you can come in, Mihael," Roxanne called out.

I stepped inside, slamming the door shut. I sighed as the cold air hit me, cooling me off instantly. I looked to see Roxanne sitting in the center, her elbows propped on the compartment that was in-between the driver and passenger seats. I buckled my seat. As soon as I did, the cruiser began to move. I watched as the hospital grew smaller until I could no longer see it.

"Glad to be away from that place," I said.

"You and me both, Mihael," Roxanne said. "I miss being at home."

"I don't blame you," Leon said. "Being stuck at the hospital can be one of the worst moments in your life. The only thing keeping you entertained is the TV. Nothing else."

"Yeah, that was fun," I said sarcastically. "The only thing that was fun to watch on TV was Looney Tunes, SpongeBob Squarepants, The Fairly Oddparents, you name it."

"Watching them was fun," Roxanne said, chuckling lightly. "I loved the pink starfish. Patrick, right? How someone that dumb can be so funny is weird, but cool at the same time."

I rolled my eyes humorously. Patrick Star was one of my favorite characters in SpongeBob. He was the kind of character that would make you laugh and roll your eyes with a smirk on your face. In all honesty, if Stephen Hillenburg had never come up with a character such as him, I don't think the show would be as funny as it was.

"I still watch those shows from time-to-time," Leon said. "Those shows were the best at that time."

"Yeah," I said. "At least they kept me busy, doing their part as to keep myself from dying from boredom."

"The important thing is that it's now over," my mother said. "No need to dwell on it when we can focus on the future."

"I know," I said. None of us said anything for a moment. The only sound being the air conditioner blowing cold air throughout the cruiser.

"I almost forgot, how's Peter?" Leon suddenly asked.

"He's fine," Roxanne replied. "He came to visit Mihael and I about 5 days after Kyle. Turns out he just recovered from a coma the day prior. He came to see us a few times over the past few weeks, telling us about how he's been watching a construction crew doing some renovations on Mihael's house. He came to visit every two days."

I smiled at that. I was relieved when Peter came to visit us that day. Before he left, he promised that he would make an effort to come see us. At first, I was annoyed with him visiting me all the time, but as time went by, I grew to like it. In all honesty, I was blessed to have a neighbor like him.

"That's great to hear," Leon said. Roxanne nodded. We all went into silence again.

I looked out the window to keep myself distracted. I watched as cars drove by, whooshing sounds following after. I smiled slightly at the sight. You have no idea how great freedom feels until that moment comes. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off of you. I felt like a new man.

'Can't wait to be home,' I thought to myself as we got closer to the small neighborhood where the house was located at.

It took at least 20 minutes for us to get to the house. Leon pulled into the driveway, parking behind a familiar old truck. He turned the ignition off and we stepped out of the cruiser. We shut the doors as I kept my attention on the house that I once lived in 10 years ago.

The house was two-stories tall made out of fine gray blocks fitted with a chimney, a garage, and a small front and back porch. It had that old historic look to it due to being built in the 1950s, according to what my father told me when he did some digging for some history on the house. This was the house my mother still lived in.

"Is this the family house?" I heard Roxanne ask.

"It sure is," my mother replied. "Harold and I bought the house in 2010, months before Mihael was born. We both fell in love with it the moment we saw it. Nothing in the world will ever get me to sell the house."

"That sounds awesome," Roxanne said.

I smiled. The house was awesome and good memories were made while living there. It was honestly a blessing in disguise. The rooms were big enough for there to be a good amount of furniture to be propped in them. My favorite was the living room due to there being a lot of space for me to play with my toys when I was younger.

"Let's head on in," Leon said. We nodded and walked up the front porch.

I was the first to approach the door. I grabbed hold of the knob and turned it. To my surprise, there wasn't any resistance. My mom was the type who made a habit of locking the front door whether we were home or not.

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. I was expecting to find the living room nice and clean, like it always was since my mother was one that didn't like living in a dirty house. I so wasn't expecting what awaited me.

The living room was completely trashed with many empty beer cans lying all over the floor, numerous stains littering the walls. Many of Roxanne's belongings were placed in random parts of the living room and the dining room, which was connected to the living room by a doorway at the north wall. The stairs, which were to the right wall and part of the living room, looked to be soaked with stale beer. The worst part was that many of the family pictures were all smashed.

My eyes widened, my mind hoping that it was all an illusion. I heard the others step inside. I heard them gasp at the sight.

"What the hell happened here?!" my mother demanded angrily.

"Well, look who finally decided to come home," came a familiar voice. We all looked to the left where the voice came from. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw who it was.

Sitting on the large beige couch were the technicians Ben and Ian. They each had a can of open beer in their hands, sadistic smiles on their faces.

"We've been wondering when you were going to show up, isn't that right, Ian?" the man with the messy coal-black hair said, which I quickly identified as Ben.

The man with the shaved head, whom I now identify as Ian, nodded. "That is correct. You've got a lot of nerve for having us and our fellow employers bring all of your ugly shit into this house. I got to say; this is a very nice house. Too bad it looks like shit now and you have to clean it all up."

I glared at them, rage boiling inside me. I clenched my hands into tight fists. They began shaking violently. The sadistic smiles on their faces grew slightly.

"You sacks of fucking shit," I growled angrily. "How long have you been here?"

"Since August 13th, the day after we had to move all of your stuff into this house," Ian sneered. "We've been coming in and out of here as we pleased."

"Nice job leaving a spare key under the rug," Ben mocked. "Maybe you need to do a better job at hiding the key."

I felt my rage boil some more. It was bad enough to come home to find the house trashed, but it was an entirely different matter to know that these worthless scums had stayed and trashed it while my mother and I were at the damn hospital. It was only made worse when knowing that this was done to get revenge on me for making Cress pay for what he's done.

"You… little…" was all I was able to growl before the two brothers began laughing evilly. I felt the urge to go over there and beat the crap out of those losers.

"A-hem," Leon coughed out. The two brothers stopped laughing and looked to see the deputy standing beside me. I watched as the color drained from their faces.

"Oh, h-hello o-officer," Ben stammered.

"That's deputy to you," Leon said coldly. "Ben and Ian, you are under arrest for trespassing and destruction of property. Now put your hands behind your backs. NOW."

I watched as Leon walked over to the two brothers, who all got up from the couch. They put their hands behind their backs. Leon took out two handcuffs from his belt and proceeded to clip them around each of their wrists. Without another word, Leon dragged them out of the house. He opened the left backseat door and the two brothers stepped inside.

With the brothers now in the car, Leon slammed the door. He walked away and went back inside the house.

"That takes care of them," Leon said.

"I'm glad you did something, Leon," I said. "I would've gone over and beat the crap out of them."

"No need for that, Mihael," he said. Leon surveyed the trashed living room for a moment. "Looks like you guys have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah," my mother said slowly.

"Well, since I'm not in a hurry, how about I help you guys out?" he suggested. "I don't think those two wouldn't mind being trapped in the car for an hour or so."

I stared at him, his words sinking in. As much as I liked the idea of him helping us, I didn't want him to waste his time doing so. He was the deputy, for God's sake. He probably had better things to do than help us clean the place.

However, the idea of wanting to make Ben and Ian suffer by having them wait in the car for God knows how long was too good to resist. I felt the need to get even with them, so why not do that now?

I smiled, though I did my best to make sure it didn't show my true intentions.

"Sure," I said. I looked at Roxanne and my mother. "Mom, Roxanne, try to clean up as much of this mess as possible. Leon and I will get Roxanne's stuff into her new room. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," they said at the same time. I nodded before looking back at Leon.

"Alright, let's get to work," I said.

"Alright, let's set it right here, Leon," I grunted as Leon and I lowered Roxanne's couch down onto the floor in the far right wall of the bedroom. When the couch touched the ground, we straightened our postures.

The room of choice was one that once belonged to my sister. The desk was pressed up against the wall at the far end of the room, a go-kart stood idly next to the window, and the table that was left behind at the Pizzaplex was now in the center of the room. The arcade machine stood beside to the left of the vanity desk.

"That… was the last… of Roxanne's stuff," I said, gasping for air while wiping the sweat off my forehead. "Thanks for helping out. It means a lot."

"It was no trouble… at all," Leon said, not as tired as I was.

"I'll be honest…" I began to say. "I was going… to refuse your help… but the idea of making Ben and Ian… wait in the car… for God knows how… long… was too tempting to resist…"

He laughed. "I had a feeling you would do something like that. I saw it in your eyes."

I mentally slapped myself for thinking I hid my true intentions. It looks like I didn't do a good job at that. That's something I'll have to work on. Something told me that if I were to try, it would undoubtedly take some time. I didn't care, so long as I learn how to do it right.

"I'll try… better… next time," I said, slowly regaining my breath.

"Well, I better head back to the station," Leon said. "Got to get those two men to where they belong."

"Okay," I said. "Have a good day, Leon."

"You too," Leon said. He began to leave the room before he stopped in the doorway. He turned to face me. "You have fun with your wolf now. Just don't get… too naughty."

He winked before he left. I stood there, stunned at what he said. I couldn't believe he just said that. Why in God's name would he say something like that to me?! Doing anything like that with her was not on my list!

The sound of the police cruiser leaving the driveway hit my ears. I looked in time to see the cruiser driving down the road out of the neighborhood. Once it was gone, I left the room, which was at the far end of a long hallway, and walked down the stairs to the living room.

My mother placed a washcloth into a bucket and got back onto her feet. I watched her wipe the sweat off her forehead. Roxanne, on the other hand, swept up the last of the glass off the floor with the broom. She headed into the kitchen, the broom in her left with the dustpan in her right. I heard the sound of glass being dumped into the garbage, followed by the clipping of the dustpan. Roxanne walked out of the kitchen, letting out a sigh.

They all looked in my direction. We stared at each other for a moment before we smiled at each other. We piled into a tight hug, my smile growing some more. With everything in order, I had a gut feeling that everything was going to be okay from this moment on.

Author's Note:

Sorry for taking so long to update this story. I forgot about this account and didn't get to fulfill what I promised. I am currently working on Book 3 and have been for a while. I will publish it on here in a bit.

Hope you guys are enjoying your day and I will see you when I publish Book 3. :)