I Don't Own Fnaf

Jeremy was more or less accosted when he got back to the apartment by Bonnie, who only waited about as long as it took for him to shuffle into the kitchen to pull out a tupperware fill with whatever it was Mike had shoved into his hands on his way out of the Cove yesterday held, before asking questions.

"What did you find out?" Jeremy probably shouldn't say anything that wasn't answering the rabbit's questions, he was much more invested than he was sure the animatronic realized, he always prodded about it, Jeremy didn't mind, but when he mentioned that Mike was going in to get some information out of the place, Bonnie hadn't seemed all that vested in the moment, mostly because Mike was mentioned, and he shouldn't press that, but frankly he was worried about how little Bonnie socialized, he was worse than Goldie had been at first, and it was clear Mike was a big part of that. So even if it wasn't really the time, he still rephrased the question in spite of himself.

"Don't you mean what Mike found out?" Bonnie bristled and shut down the attempt immediately.

"Yeah, whatever, group effort, go write an after school special about teamwork if you want, later. What happened?" Jeremy was pretty sure that all this tv was making the rabbit more and more sassy, especially recently, but Jeremy also figured that was a part of the nerves of it all. He knew Mike joked more when stressed and Goldie got a lot more blunt and a bit rude, so it was probably something like that. He decided to not let it get to him, and instead just got with it.

"Not too much, just visited the place for a bit, got some more information, it looks like the place is already hurting for spare parts from what he saw, and not enough staff yet either. It's going to be a bit of a struggle to get Ennard out though, Charlie's going to be going in soon to see if she can get a job there for just long enough to figure out a way to get them out, Mari is not happy about it" Bonnie blinked, slowly, to himself, before asking suddenly.

"Who the hell's Charlie and why does Marionette care about her?" Jeremy was suddenly hit with the idea that he really needed to get Bonnie out of the apartment more, or at all, sure he didn't really talk about his day much, Bonnie called it boring the few times he tried, and Mari was a no go topic in general between them, but still.

"She's... Well, I guess it'd be a bit hard to explain, it happened a little while ago-" Bonnie was already getting annoyed by the time being wasted in not being answered, as he interrupted.

"What? Is she his girlfriend or something?" Bonnie obviously said it as an exaggerated blunt hammer of a statement, but still the fact that Jeremy heard it... Well, that... made Jeremy vaguely ill to think about, as he shook his head sharply.

"No! No, not in the slightest, she's his sister and Mari-" Jeremy was actually very grateful this time for Bonnie's slightly to loud interruption, he had no idea just what he was about to say in an effort to overcorrect, but whatever it was, was most certainly not his business to just say out to someone else without permission.

"What? He- He- What?!"

"Y-yeah, she found out during... Halloween I think? I wasn't told the whole story, but she kind of ambushed Mike about it, and one thing led to another and Mari confirmed it for her, so... That's been happening?" Jeremy winced a bit at what felt like a really under-explained explanation as Bonnie made that feeling worse by just staring at him, before finally just huffing with annoyance.

"And when was I going to be told about this?"

"I mean, you usually... Don't act well whenever Mari's brought up in conversation, so it kind of just... slipped my mind, and it's not like you talk to any of the others to have been told about it either" Jeremy was really beginning to worry about that, Tv can't be the only thing a person does right? And Bonnie's been here for months now, that just can't be great for him.

"But that doesn't-... I mean... Just... Shut up!" Jeremy just blinked now, confused as he asked back.

"...I hadn't said anything?" Bonnie just huffed, snapping back at him.

"But you were thinking about it!" He... really didn't think what he had been thinking about was the same thing Bonnie was getting angry about, as he asked carefully and admittedly a bit hesitantly.

"About... what?" Bonnie crossed his arms over his chest and clearly planned on not saying anything, which... Like usual, it lasted about ten seconds of Jeremy standing there silently, for the talkative rabbit to break and say mulishly.

"About how I would have known that if I was talking to the puppet. Like I need to get over being angry at Marionette or something equally dumb. You're all about that forgive and forget crap" Jeremy... Okay, maybe he had been thinking something along those lines, in a circular sense, but it did open up a bit of a doorway to talk about something as he shifted a bit, uncomfortable, just a tad, with not knowing how this was going and not really wanting to push Bonnie either, but it was hardly like anything would get done if they never talked about it right?

"What's wrong with that?" Jeremy held up a hand to try and ward off whatever scathing retort the animatronic already had in mind, and surprisingly Bonnie seemed to withhold from saying anything right away, as he quickly continued before the rabbit decided to speak up anyways. "I mean, obviously some things are unforgivable, I'm not asking you to forget what happened to you, and I certainly don't expect you to forgive everything, some things are just too far to do that, but... What Mari did, out of not knowing anything was wrong, truly make him unforgivable?"

Maybe he was pressing a bit too much, Bonnie's grip on himself with his crossed arms tightened to the point that the man could hear the faint sound of creaking plastic. It made him uncomfortably aware of how surprisingly fragile the animatronics around him actually were, even to themselves. The Toy line had been the most fragile, the shells made out of just plastic, easily broken, and while their endo's according to Fritz's ramblings, were a bit more tough size ratio wise to the originals, they weren't as strong and much smaller than said four animatronic's. Bonnie's ears only made his height go up to Mik's chin.

Bonnie wasn't exactly small, otherwise Jeremy would have to admit to himself that he was kind of short, but compared to the height he was used to dealing with, with the others, it... Admittedly made it a bit easier to worry more about Bonnie, and to see him as the kid he really was... The habit of acting like an angsty teenager helped as well, but that was a secondary point to all of that, as the rabbit, after a long moment, just finally said.

"You wouldn't get it" Jeremy frowned.

"Why not?" Bonnie huffed, like Jeremy was just being dense, as he said with a tone like he was explaining to something to a kid. Jeremy chose to ignore the fact that he was over a decade older than the teenager in front of him.

"Cause you've never been hurt by someone you cared about" Now Jeremy found his frown growing, because that... wasn't exactly a nice thing to be told, especially when it was obvious Bonnie didn't really know what he was saying, as Jeremy just continued to ask questions.

"And why do you think that?"

"You're just too... You"

"And what's that mean?"

"I don't- What do you want me to say?" He was staring at Jeremy suspiciously now, as the man just shrugged.

"Nothing, whatever you want to say, I'm just asking for more clarification so I can figure out more about just what it is you're feeling and thinking"

"Sounds stupid"

"Maybe, but that doesn't answer my question, you don't have to, but I won't understand if you don't" Bonnie grumbled something about that, going quiet for a moment, and for a second Jeremy was sure he had made a mistake, ready for the animatronic to just stomp off again, but instead he finally sighed, sounding incredibly put out, but answering Jeremy's question all the same.

"You're too... nice, it's kind of gross just how easy it is to step all over you" Jeremy actively worked on not taking too much insult from that, and instead just asked instead.

"And, what, you think being kind is some kind of disqualifier for being let down by someone you believed in?"

"I- I guess?" Bonnie shifted a bit more, his arms crossing suddenly looking a whole lot less like annoyance and more like self-consciousness. Jeremy really didn't want that... But at the same time, maybe it was a good thing that Bonnie realized that he didn't need to be angry and frustrated all the time to still be valid in his own emotions, and no matter how that was approached, it wouldn't really be an easy conversation. After a small internal debate, he decided to bite the bullet.

"It's not really the same, but when I got bit, when I woke up in the hospital everything was... Wrong, everything didn't look right, nothing felt right, and my own feelings felt like they were being blistered and burnt by just the sheer energy and weight of everyone else... That was before suddenly doctors were coming in and marveling over me, how I was still alive and even awake. Telling me all these things, asking me questions, demanding answers and asking questions I just couldn't answer. I could... I could barely talk, I had to relearn how, like with a lot of things, but I could still understand them. Could still be told all the many, many things I might not ever be able to do again, speak, move on my own, think clearly, see properly... control myself and my thoughts" His breath hitched for a moment, just remembering it all... But soon he continued.

"I was terrified, the entire thing was so scary, I was barely twenty, and the last thing I could remember was Freddy's about being scared about something I couldn't even remember, and before then the night shifts... And some chiming mess of noise in the back of my mind and this just... Knowing... Nothing made sense, everything and everyone was wrong, everything I was being told, about how I'd never be normal again, how my injury made it that I would probably never be a real person again. Just having to sit there and listen, not even having enough control to nod, just being talked at without control... I- I think that was more terrifying than anything else"

He wasn't looking at Bonnie anymore, didn't really want to see whatever expression the rabbit was making, instead choosing to stare at the far wall, shifting a bit as his voice choked up a tad, as he continued after a moment.

"Then my parents were there, my siblings were there, everyone was there, and I- I always felt safe with them, they were my family, they should be able to make everything better right? No... No they listened to the doctor, made me re-listen to it all, just sitting there unable to ask them to leave, and it was... Awful. Months passed by, I was visited, but it never felt like I was... there with them, even as I got steadily better, could start talking again, could think again more clearly, learned how to use my legs again, and got to go home, it... It never felt right whenever I talked to them, they never saw me as anything more than that mess on that hospital bed. Something that needed to be looked over and after, loved but not trusted... It felt like I was some glued together vase on the mantle, watched with worry but never interacted with out of some fear of breaking it again... It never got better, I don't talk to them much anymore even when it hurts to put that distance between us, they don't get what I mean when I tell them that, it's not their fault, but even if I can forgive them, I can't forget it, and it doesn't mean I'm always willing to deal with them when they won't learn to deal with me"

Jeremy took a deep breath, he was shaking a bit, he... He hadn't really ever gone into that much detail about it all, only talking about his past after Freddy's in brief fragments and loose ideas, but... But this was a lot more than that. Finally he gathered himself to finish off the point he had wanted to make and the reason why he had gathered his courage to speak about this all in the first place.

"Mari's not like my family, he wants to do better, he knows what he's done wrong, and it's alright to need time to figure out if you can accept that as reason enough to see if you can forgive the mistakes he's made, willingly or not, and give him another chance. But until you make your decision, I'll be here in the meantime if there is anything you want to talk about" Bonnie hadn't said anything in a long while, and eventually he had to turn to look and was surprised just a bit by the fact that Bonnie was looking away from him, just staring off as he had been. Admittedly he was a bit worried about that, but before he could do anything like calling out to the animatronic, Bonnie finally let out a huff that didn't quite have the same energy to it as the ones before had.

"I... You're a sap, giving out your tragic backstory like that trying to make me reform or whatever"

"You don't need to be anyone else Bonnie, I just want whoever you want to be, to be happy"

"Ugh, you have such a bleeding heart" The disgust was put on, Bonnie's voice was thick with emotion, but he was very clearly trying to act like it wasn't, as he shifted a bit, as Jeremy managed a small smile, as he said back.

"So I keep being told" Another huff, he really liked doing that, before saying.

"I- I'm going to go watch tv, feel free to eat or whatever" Jeremy just nodded as Bonnie stomped past him to the living room, as Jeremy himself let out a small huff to himself as well as he realized they had that whole conversation in the kitchen of all places, as he took a long deep breath in to keep his own emotions in check which were admittedly running free and wild all around his chest. That had been a lot harder than he thought it would be, and Jeremy hadn't exactly expected it to be all that easy in the first place. His thoughts were interrupted as a small call from the living room caught his attention, "When you're done, if you want to watch something, then you can join... if you want or whatever"

Jeremy blinked to himself again, before feeling a warm smile pull on his face that no one else could see as his heart this weird thing where it felt like it melted just a bit.

Evan wasn't sure this was a great idea, frankly it was probably not a great time for this, but everyone had already left, including Marionette who had decided to go off with Charlie for a while, probably to pester his sister about all the things to keep an eye out on and what to not to when in the face of a potentially feral animatronic, all good advice, but given it was Marionette, he would probably go overboard with being protective... Then again that was his thing... Evan was distracting himself, Michael was still here, that was good, he needed to talk to the man.

He knew he probably shouldn't bring it up now, but it was constantly on his mind, and he felt like there needed to be some kind of progress here, so with that he had asked his brother to not leave just yet. The man seemed exhausted, he couldn't hide that from him like he could the others, the weight on his shoulders looked heavier, today had taken a lot of out of him, more than the bear knew, but he still complied.

Michael was like that. It made Evan feel a bit, but he just... Needed some kind of answer, another perspective, and while he liked and trusted the others, this was more personal to him, and the idea of opening up in that kind of way was... He didn't want to say scary, because that meant he was scared of anything, but he wouldn't lie and say it didn't make him uneasy either. He wasn't close to them like that, he was only really close to Foxy and his brother, and the idea of bridging that gap didn't feel... easy.

And this was not how he wanted to deal with figuring out how opening up worked.

"So, what did you want to show me?" Oh, right, Michael, admittedly Evan might be a bit more tired than he thought he was.

"I- I've been getting some calls recently, or, rather I had been" The man's eyebrows rose a bit, but he didn't seem too concerned.

"Oh? Are you getting scam callers? The house line get's those too occasionally, you can just hang up, or if it's bugging you I can call the phone company, could probably get it switch or take the number of the list or something"

"No, not that, it's something else... Someone, well..." He trailed off for a moment, before finally gathering himself as he explained everything to the man, starting from the first call, to learning her name, to the strange things they talked about... to finally her disappearing, and the things that he had Foxy had found out. Michael's eyebrows had been steadily rising throughout the entire explanation, though he didn't look overly phased by it all, that didn't really mean much given who it was.

So, Evan found himself worrying just a bit, wondering just what reaction from the man he was going to get, it felt ridiculous to worry, but a small part of him remembered the way Michael, when they had been younger, yelled at him for talking to strangers without knowing who they were, and the way that the man could be callous at times as well... What if he just didn't care? He had a lot of stuff going on after all, this was hardly something that was actually important in the grand scheme of things, and Michael was always the pragmatic type, so what if-

"I'm going to start this off with saying we're going to talk later about appropriate responses to being worried for someone, because stalking them down to find where they potentially live after a dozen conversations is just... No, on so many levels" Evan refused to feel chastised... It was really hard though because Michael was using that voice that made it very hard to try and find something to say in defense of himself, thankfully he started speaking again before Evan had to figure it out, "So, let's just say that's that for right now, and move on to me being a hypocrite immediately, you said they called from here? In Hurricane?"

Evan, taking the exit he was being given, nodded as he moved over to a table, before reaching in under his side and pulled out the map he and Foxy had put their work on, unfurling it out onto the table, as Michael moved over, a frown already marring his expression, as his eyes traced over the marks and circles.

"Do you have a time frame? And at what times did these calls come in?" He was leaning over the table now, actively studying the map, his eyes zooming around the paper, like he was trying to connect something in his mind.

"I don't really know, there wasn't a date log on the phone calls, just the numbers, it's what tipped me off. Something was weird, no one has that many numbers, it was once every few days though. But it was always pretty late when the calls came in, sometimes they woke me up" Michael just frowned, his hand reaching out and tracing the lines from the first call to the second then the third, speaking as he did so.

"Something's here, something... I can't put my finger on it though, but-... Oh" He froze suddenly, his eyes staring at the final location, his hand coming up and tapping on it, as his eyes shot up to look into the bear's own, as he asked carefully but seriously, "Are you sure this is the right spot?"

"Yes. Why?" Michael's voice was soft, an exhausted quality to it that spoke to just how much what he had noticed had rattled him.

"Because this is a payphone that's right outside of the new freddy's" It felt like a weight had been crashed onto Evan's back, like an unmovable stone pressing itself tightly into the space between his shoulder blades, wedging themselves in between the space inside him that was separated by metal to be allowed to be pried open. "Tell... Tell me again just what you talked to this 'Samantha' about?"

"I-... We just... talked, she mentioned a brother she was trying to reconnect with, but said something about it being... difficult, and then in our last talk about how there was a complication that she had thought had been... resolved" What he was saying was suddenly shoved and forced to fit into a new context as he asked carefully to confirm, "You think she's an animatronic?" Michael just continued to stare ahead, his hands gripping tightly on the table for a moment, before saying with a sigh.

"I wouldn't be surprised, look how this pattern is, she started at the top left of the town, and moved slowly around the edges, and only at night were the calls came in, that means that's when she was out. The only reason someone would do that consistently is if they didn't want to get seen, these places... They're all mostly out of the way, the one in the center was the one that's the strangest, it's out of the way of the others, like... Something got her there and she made a call before..." He didn't need to explain further, Evan knew what Freddy's did to animatronics. He was mostly beating himself up about it though.

"How could I not have seen that?" Michael shot his brother a mostly calming look as he explained easily just why Evan had failed so spectacularly at something the man himself noticed in seconds.

"You don't exactly spend a lot of time in the outside world bud, you wouldn't know these were out of the way unless you spent time driving around Hurricane and knew about these locations ahead of time, I only got the idea because for a while I had to rely on payphones to make calls. And I have a habit of knowing how to spot something shady going on from past experience. Not to mention sometimes being close to something or someone can blind you from seeing all the pieces at play, that's why new eyes can be a good thing" That... helped more than he wanted to admit at easing his nerves about being unable to piece two and two together, but still, it did annoy the bear more than he wanted to admit, but this wasn't the time for that, as he instead moved back to the animatronic at hand.

"Who could it be then?" Michael just sighed, reaching up and rubbing his head.

"I don't, well... I couldn't make any guesses, Mari's told me before there were kids that had... 'gone missing' that he tried to give a gift to, but you know just how many side attractions and models went in and out of Freddy's at the drop of a hat. There's no way to tell just how many stray animatronics could be out there, frankly it was something I was trying to not think about" Evan could think of a way, asking the puppet, but that wasn't the point here. It wouldn't help either, not without knowing what animatronic she was, because Michael had a point.

"What do we do? We need to get her out of there" Michael just grimaced, Evan realized a second to late he sounded a bit to demanding, as he thought about backtracking, but held himself back from actually doing so, he- He couldn't explain it, but this was important, they had to help her, Samantha needed their help, and wasn't that the whole purpose of this whole thing? Giving help to those in situations like this?

"For right now we just need to stay the course, we're already working on everything, rushing it isn't going to do us any favors, it just means we have another animatronic we need to pick up once we figure out a way to get Ennard free and whatever goal this pizzeria has in store"

"Goal? It's a soulless cash grab"

"...Maybe, I... I'm not sure though, the picture isn't clear yet, but I think... I think I might start being able to piece this mess together"

"Want to share with the class?"

"It's nothing yet, just thoughts, I'll let you know if it becomes anything more" Michael was as vague as ever, and Evan wanted to push, but instead Michael continued on, looking a bit concerned for a second, as he asked, "Was she... Did she seem dangerous?"

"What? From her voice? She sounded like anyone else I guess... Sometimes she sounded weird but that doesn't really mean anything" Evan sounded more annoyed than he wanted to, but he was, as Michael just sighed, shaking his head.

"Right, it's just unknown elements... We both know what happens when someone's backed into a corner and threatened, that goes double for an animatronic in a place like that" Evan wanted to have a point to defend against that, but he knew too well just what point Michael was making so instead he just chose to not say anything at all. Of course, that's when Michael managed to say something even worse.

"Do you have any idea just how she knew to call the warehouse? Because if she had an idea that you were there..." That made Evan freeze in place, because that had never been something he had considered, hadn't thought about really, about... About the fact there was no way another animatronic out there just happened to call Golden Freddy of all people, by accident. The tension and silence from him seemed to be answer enough, as Michael let out a long sigh, before giving out an empathetic, "Fuck"

Scott wasn't sure just how he found himself here. But... But he knew he couldn't leave, not yet, Circus Baby was the one that had gone missing, he remembered talking about it with the others, not Eggs, they... Didn't like to talk about her. But that didn't change the fact that she was alive... and very dangerous.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly moved to sit down, she hadn't done anything, if someone had already died then there was no way that whoever was in charge of this place would have let it continued, there would already be rumors of someone missing, Hurricane kept a very close eye on it's people after what happened in the last decade. Scott would have probably heard about it, he kept a close eye on the news... So as long as she didn't think of a reason to think him a threat then he should be fine.

That meant playing the part of the hapless and hopeless fazbear drone.

He was good at that.

So with a deep breath, he reached out and picked up the paper, just enough to angle it so he could read but without taking his eyes fully away from the animatronic still just sitting there in front of him, in the corner of his vision.

It was a simple sheet, six prompts with check boxes to mark responses, and a small second at the end for additional notes, as he slowly placed it back down, noting the pen that he hadn't seen enough that was resting next to it, by the recorder... Reaching out careful, he pressed the play key, as a lightly static filtered voice spoke up covered by the now whirling of tape.

"Hello and welcome volunteer and or employee who has taken this risk and salvage assessment position. This position is inspecting and salvaging any animatronics found in the alley outside the backdoor. Things are found here quite often, and while we aren't sure why, what we do know, is that they can be used for parts, which can mean a much-needed revenue boost before our doors open. Of course, as with everything else in this line of work, those benefits come with risk, this is of course already covered by you being here now, you accept this risk. It is your job to complete the maintenance checklist before claiming it as salvage. During this testing and assessment phase, check on the animatronic frequently. If you feel that it is becoming unstable, use the taser provided to you. You can use it three times without damaging the hardware. Every use over three, however, will decrease the item's salvage value"

There was a faint pause, as Scott was given a moment to think, his head buzzing with some kind of recognition, the voice... He knew it from somewhere, a past employee if he had to guess, but Freddy's had gone through so many, some being able to get away with their lives, and the few above him in his time at Fazbear Entertainment that hadn't bothered to talk to the people on the floor, to spare themselves of their own guilt. He didn't know who it was, but he was sure he had met them before, not surprising, another recycled cog in the machine.

His eyes found themselves focusing on Circus Baby again, staring without wanting to, the words of what had been said also catching up with him, assumed liability, because he was here that meant he understood the risks, that had been an old favorite of Freddy's to dodge responsibility. Just hearing the similar words to what he had once said almost constantly made his skin crawl. And that was before it was just casually stated that this was some kind of test to determine if the animatronic had anything more to it, and if it did... They would rip them apart for parts. It made something in Scott's chest ache with revulsion.

Before that wouldn't have meant anything to him, but this was different, because he already could see, just from here, that Circus Baby was alive, and now he knew better than most just what that meant. It made him disgusted with himself in the past, allowing that to happen to the originals. He did his best to avoid conversations with Foxy, or any of the animatronics from Freddy's for many reasons, but that was one of the bigger ones, just that... Knowing what he had allowed to happen to them.

He didn't have time to really think anything more, as the tape continued.

"You have chosen to proceed with the Maintenance Checklist. Remember, use your company issued taser to return the animatronic to a neutral state if you feel it is becoming unstable or aggressive" Scott balked at that, because he certainly didn't have a taser on him nor was he provided one, much less could bring himself to use it unless he really needed to, but the tape didn't care, as it continued on anyways, "Once more, you can only use it three times before it begins to damage the animatronic, and decrease its value... Begin audio prompt in three, two, one-"

Scott flinched as a loud distorted mess of warbling sounds suddenly played as his eyes shot up to look at Circus Baby, who's eyes were directly on him, as he watched as the eyes twitched, just a bit, before her head slowly tilted, almost seemingly unwillingly, was... Was the audio prompts doing something? Activating some kind of inbuilt code perhaps? If it was hurting her... then...

"I-Is it hurting you? I- I can stop it" He wasn't sure if his words surprised her, as the sound continued, she didn't react for a long moment, but as the tape concluded and the man on the other end asked for him to log his response, which he didn't instead reaching over quickly and hitting stop on the tape, when suddenly a soft feminine voice spoke up.

"You're not who I expected to see..." Scott jumped a bit, as she continued to speak, sounding almost amused, but it felt too fake to be what she was really feeling, "Did I catch you off guard?" Scott gulped, before slowly nodding.

"I- I uh, wasn't expecting you to... you know"

"What? Was there some way you expected me to act? You have no means of defending yourself. I have no means of wishing you to be safe, I see no reason to pretend any further and... deal with such a loud racket" Scott... The realization of just where he was and just how precarious it was crashed onto him harder than he thought it would be, as he felt himself stiffen and edge back just a bit, further into the seat and just a tad bit further away from Circus Baby. Even as she still hadn't done so much as twitch past where she had been originally sitting, he got the distinct impression that she could still get to him before he could so much as get himself out of his chair.

And from the sounds of it, she had no plans of letting him even attempt it, as he felt his hands, at his side tense up, gripping almost dangerously tight onto themselves as he managed to speak up.

"I- I won't play it again, I can just record the responses, say you didn't do anything. I can leave, I- I wasn't supposed to be here anyways, I was... I need to be here" He knew that she didn't get along with the others, Eggs had talked more than a small amount about how little they had gotten along with Circus Baby, and he was getting the feeling that if anything they had been underestimating just how... bad it had been. She still didn't move, but he could feel the faint shift from building action to an almost faint curiosity that came from her tone with her next words

"Oh? It's a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I'm curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this...willingly" He let out a faint uncomfortable laugh from sheer nervous habit, before saying back. Unsure what to say still, but knowing that if she was here then maybe she knew about the others.

"Ha- I'm not, not really here willingly... I just... There's... others here, one's that I'm closer to, and... And someone asked me to be here, Mike... I-uh, well I hear you've... meet him?" He felt a bit bad for throwing the other man under the bus, but he did not want the murderous animatronic to think him responsible for anything at the moment if he wanted to be able to get out of this alive, even if he was responsible and probably justified in her actions against him. It seemed to have some kind of result, though he wasn't sure if it was good or bad, as her whole body twitched at the mention of Mike's name, as she stared at him for a long moment, before finally saying.

"You don't really know who your employer is...do you"

"M-Mike? I- I'm not really an employee, and... And I know who he is, do you? I- uh... Heard about what happened" Circus Baby didn't really move, but her eyes flickered, like the light in those bright green eyes dimmed just a bit, it was... weird.

"Yes, I suppose you would have... He is alright then?" Scott had the feeling he was quickly losing grasp on just what it was they were talking about, but as long as they were talking then he wasn't being attacked, so that was probably a good thing...

"Uh, yeah, well enough. He's... Been helping look into what's been going on here"

"He shouldn't. Leave now. Tell Michael to stay away"

"I- Why?" The animatronic was quiet for a long, long moment, before finally saying.

"Sometimes I don't understand why people do the things that they do. I-... I don't understand why I do the things I have done either, but I needed to do them, I still do. This place... It called to me, I do not wish for him to be called to where I am again, I suppose. So, he should stay away" Scott didn't want to say anything, because he knew nothing he said would make her happy, but he did have to say something, and he didn't really have the time to come up with a lie, as he muttered out the truth in spite of himself.

"I- I don't think he'll go for that- AH!" Before he could blink, Circus Baby had lurched, her entire body springing forwards as her claw hand shot out, as he stumbled back the chair screeching back but not fast enough, as the hand clamped down around his throat, the thing pressing tightly into his flesh in a way that he was sure was just on the edge of causing cuts, if they hadn't already as he whimpered, as the animatronic leaned in, those green eyes staring right into his own.

"I wonder if Michael will learn to leave well enough alone if I simply kill all those that he sends to investigate..." She didn't say it like a question because she had no interest in an answer, as the entire table screeched against the floor as she leaned in more, causing it to shift under her bulk, as Scott just stared with terrified eyes as she seemed to consider him for a moment, before suddenly the pressure was gone as he collapsed into the chair, as she shuddered for a moment, before leaning back, into her own chair, going slumped again, positioned just as she had been when Scott had first entered the room.

The air was silent and tense for a long moment, as Scott listened to the sound of his own heart pounding in his chest as his entire body was alight with nerves and adrenaline that had nowhere to go in the face of the still present threat, before she spoke once more.

"I suppose it would do no good if he kept sending pests, and for me to be revealed... Set the tape to the end, mark your responses, and then leave" Scott was only too eager to comply, doing as he was told before fleeing out of the door faster than he had moved in months. Finding himself rushing through and slamming the heavy door behind him, locking it out of panic before suddenly he was in his car, as he found himself needing to sit there for a long moment, before his eyes trailed up just a bit to the rear view mirror as he strained himself a bit to catch his neck in the reflection, grimacing as he did so.

He... He needed to talk to Mike soon, but first he was going to have to go get a tetanus shot... Probably a few, and a few bandages. Scott... wasn't going to be having a fun time when the adrenaline wore off and the pain came in.

Charlie admittedly had no idea what she was really expecting when she drove home with Sam in the passenger seat... Well, in the seat was a bit of a stretch, he was on the floor where one's feet normally sat, curled up with his long legs bent up at the knees with his long arms wrapped around and pulled them into his chest. Charlie honestly hadn't really been certain that the puppet had knees before he had gotten into the car given she mostly saw him floating.

It was still weird, Sam was really tall, maybe not giant, but still tall, at around six feet in length from head to... peg? Stump? Sam didn't have feet which was... Not the point she was trying to make to herself, that point being she had no idea he could make himself take up so little space, but she supposed it made sense given the puppet was supposed to be stored in a box. He didn't look like he minded any, even when she mentioned it was late so no one would probably notice, she just got waved off.

Sam hadn't really said anything since the whole... mess back at the diner, it made her uncomfortable, but she also had no idea just how to turn her brother down, so here they were. She really wished he had just moved into the seat, something about him being curled up like that, looking almost relaxed, was just... Uncomfortable to look at. He acted like a person, or, well, he didn't have some of the ticks the others had, he was very... normal, human-like, but sometimes he did something that just... didn't mesh with her view of reality in a way that was a bit too much.

She tried to ignore them every time, because it wasn't fair to Sam, and right now was very obviously not the time to bring it up, so she had let it go, it was pretty obvious that Sam was still annoyed at her, and seemingly down right irritated with Michael, which wasn't something she actually thought possible for Sam, he was just... He never seemed to have anything but a kind... bone? Bracket? In his body.

It was weird, she didn't like it.

Soon enough though they were home... Charlie was home, this wasn't and hadn't been her brother's home for a decade now. She did her best to ignore the burning at the thought of Sam seeing this place again, maybe it would jog something? He had still been struggling with the remembering thing even though Charlie was trying her best to bring up whatever she could think of whenever she could. It didn't seem to help, but Sam still seemed to like to hear about the stories, which made it a bit more bearable to deal with the slow progress.

Getting out, she looked around for a moment, unsure just how Sam was going to get himself out to the house itself only to half stumble back when by the time she got up onto the porch to unlock the door, in the shadowed corner the puppet stood, floating above the ground, patiently waiting, before giving a soft apologetic gesture... Yeah, him just showing up in a new place the second she turned her line of sight away was still... deeply unsettling.

Charlie sometimes felt like she really wasn't handling this supernatural ghost thing well, even after months of time to adjust, it just... wasn't easy, sometimes the surrealness of the situation hit her a bit too hard and knocked her out back into realizing nothing about all this made sense. Then she remembered if she didn't have to deal with it, then she wouldn't have known about her brother and as such just dealt with it all anyways.

Unlocking the door, she moved in and quickly turned just in time to see Sam float in quickly behind her, moving around and staring out into the darkness as she fumbled around for a moment before hitting the light switch. Nothing seemed to change really, but Sam still let out a faint chime sound, as she closed the door behind her, moving around to try and figure out what to do next.

"So, uh... Why did you want to come with me? I don't mind of course! It's just... a bit sudden, you never really expressed any interest in seeing the house before" She knew that wasn't the reason, Sam probably didn't even realize at first just what he was asking would lead to, the way he was just staring ahead at the living room, which the front door directly led into, showed that to her only to clearly. Thankfully it seemed her words knocked him back to his senses, as he let out a faint if slightly too sharp to be easy on the ears, cord of sound, spinning around quickly.

"Right! Sorry, just... caught off guard a bit, I didn't really mean to come back here, it just... I figured a bit of privacy would be nice and it felt like too much to ask for you to come over to Mike and mine's to talk about it all when I can just be there once we were done talking" Charlie just nodded, right, that made sense, even if she felt a bit uncomfortable, before finally deciding to just get it over with.

"Look, if you're just going to try and convince me that I shouldn't try and-"

"No, no it's not that.. I don't agree with the plan at all… I want that to be very clear, but... But I can't say I can hold it against you for trying either... I'm just..." Sam fidgeted a bit, uncertain himself it seemed, before he continued before Charlie could figure out what to say to try and figure what that meant, he had started speaking again, "I'm worried, I know the chances of something actually dangerous going on is slim, everyone's more worried about our reputation more than anything and I get that, but I've... I've seen what kind of monsters came from Freddy's without Purple Guy needing to be involved"

Charlie knew that there were things that were held back from her, she hated it, hated that her twin treated her like a kid who couldn't handle the harshness of the world, when it had been her that had to be the one who found him dead, found her dad dead, a knife through his own chest from-... She had seen more family members die than she ever cared to think about, she could handle the darkness of the world, but it felt like no one trusted her to bear that weight. It was insulting in a way, and it bothered her, as she felt herself speaking before she could help it.

"I'm not some child who doesn't know what they're talking about"

"I- I know that, but-"

"No, it's... This whole time, it's always felt like you don't understand that I can handle myself. I've- We've both been burned by Freddy's, and sure maybe in different ways, but that company took you from me, took our dad from me, our mom left because of them, only Jen was left and even then some days it felt like... I- Stop treating me like I don't understand just how dangerous this is or that I don't know what I'm getting myself into, I spent months looking into Freddy's before we reunited, I know what they've done, I know how dangerous this can be without anything haunted involved" She had asked questions, talked to Clay, Carlton's dad who happened to be the police chief, looked into newspapers, reports, everything, painting the picture of horror that place had inflicted on the world, and that was before she heard about it from a first hand account from her own brother who had been trapped in those damned walls.

She wasn't making some reckless and rash decision, or at least if she was, it was still one that she was informed enough to make, and the idea that she was some outsider to this all, that didn't understand or had no weight in this situation hit harder than it had any right. She wasn't one of the animatronics, she wasn't Michael who dragged the diner back and forced it to be everything he knew it could be, but that didn't mean she hadn't been there, hadn't grown up there, hadn't been there when those kids went missing, when her friends and family went missing, hadn't been one of the kids who was stared at and pointed as one of the owners' daughter.

Sam leaned back, looking shocked, just a bit, but more than that contrite as he glanced away for a moment, seemingly regretting it because the only thing to look away towards was the things around them, which he still seemed to just zone out and stare at, but even as his gaze jerked away from the living room to the ceiling, he seemed to take a long moment before finally saying.

"I'm... I'm sorry Charlie, I know this hasn't been easy on you either, it's just been... Easier to get myself wrapped up in my own memories and that's not fair to you or any of the others... I do trust you, I'm sure you can take care of yourself, you've... I'm sure you've had to do that for as long as I've had to, and I'm sorry you had to go through that... But I still worry, I can't just not stop worrying about this. I, heh, I guess this is what it was like for Mike"

"What do you mean?" Sam quickly shook his head, seemingly banishing whatever he was thinking about as he tried to change the topic.

"Nothing, just... I had a bit of a dumb idea myself and he talked me out of it, and it feels like I'm failing in some way that I can't talk you out of this one, but if everyone else thinks it's a good enough idea and you can handle it... Maybe I'm just being paranoid" Sam clearly didn't seem to think so, but was willing to make the admission that it was possible, which was enough for Charlie to feel some of the tension in her chest to lessen just a bit. The worry in his tone was quickly making Charlie go from annoyed to concerned herself, and more than a bit sympatric.

"I get it S-, Uh, I mean, I do get being worried and scared and all that, it... I spent a while not being able to not be scared of something awful happening, but just because something could happen doesn't mean I can't let that get in the way of doing anything I can to help, and I already agreed if anything goes wrong then I'll get myself out first before anything else" She wasn't sure just how well she'd be able to keep that promise, if someone really needed help... But that wasn't important right now, reassuring her brother she would be fine or if not, capable of getting herself safe was more important.

"Right, sorry, it must seem a bit silly... Sorry for getting all worked out, not sorry for caring though" Charlie let out a small laugh at that, shaking her head, cause that sounded so much like Sammy.

"Yeah, yeah that's fair... Let's not worry about it right now, we still have some time right? Do you want to look around a bit? See if anything jogs your memory some more?" Sam glanced around for a moment, observing the living room again, before finally nodding.

"We can, I- I don't recognize any of this really, there's some faint blurs of knowing I should know this place, but it's all... muffled, like a sheet covered a picture I guess? Like, if I squint and the light catches it right I can make some colors out through the cloth, but none of the details or anything" Charlie... did her best to not frown, but she wasn't sure she had succeeded all that well. It hurt sometimes just how hard it seemed to be for her brother to remember anything, it wasn't his fault, but sometimes it still felt like she was doing all the hard work. A thought she quickly banished from her mind as she gave a quick nod.

It was fine, he'd remember her later on, she had to be sure of it, and even if it took a while, Sam was still with her in the meantime.

Oh things are happening now aren't that? Well, to be fair, they've been happening but now we're getting into the gritty personal stuff. For one Bonnie is slowly and continuously coming out of his shell and opening up more to Jeremy which is definitely a good thing for the bunny's mental health... But mental health is boring in comparison to the awful parts, so let's focus on those ones shall we?

For one, Evan has finally roped Mike into his detective game, and Mike helps to begin to build out the puzzle in front of them. That was fun, Mike out of all the characters is definitely the best at detective work... Fun fact, as a though experiment, if Freddy's hadn't turned into a hellscape and everyone lived somewhat normal lives, Mike would have become a forensic police sketch artist, or perhaps even an actual detective. Anyways, clues about this Samantha are all coming together now.

While on the opposite side, Scott has a talk with Baby, who is of course in no way related to anything happening with any other part of this chapter... Totally...

Still, that scene was fun, very tense, Circus Baby nearly popped Scott's head off, and she clearly has something of an idea of what's happening both to the place she's at, and as well to herself... Oh, it was very fun reusing a lot of Circus Baby quotes for this chapter, refitting canon lines from Fnaf is always a treat to figure out where I can shove a reference into.

Beyond that, just basic sibling bonding from the twins, that's fun, and only slightly awkward, with only some horribly repressed memories popping up, nothing to big or anything. So, with that in mind, See ya!