I Don't Own Fnaf

Goldie was almost relieved to know that he would be going back to the warehouse when the day ended, because Foxy was a bit too... energetic about the show. Sure, he did appreciate the fox, though he really didn't feel like it was quite worth as big of a deal as the animatronic was trying to make it be. Marionette seemed to recognize that at least as he only gave him a few glowing compliments about the show, before leaving, though, frankly, the puppet might have only been that brisk because Goldie was the wrong Afton Marionette was looking to spend time with after his day at work.

As it stood though, for himself, he was still just feeling the strange ways of... satisfaction? Maybe not the best word, but the one that came to mind to best explain just how he felt, it wasn't some incredible life changing thing or anything, but he could see the appeal at the very least that the others claimed to get from performing. It was nice, fun even, a somewhat new feeling given he didn't really do much in ways of active entertainment, the most he got was usually from playing one of the few arcade games at the warehouse, which admittedly got boring fairly quickly when it was either that or watch tv. And he's watched a lot of tv, so it was a refreshing change of pace.

Goldie wasn't blind enough to not realize that what this really meant was his coding, as little as he had, was obviously playing some part in the enjoyment he had gotten out of acting out on the stage with Foxy. And... That was a strange thought, code, programming, as being the only possessed springlock suit still around, he had thought that was one of the things that he was just above. He wasn't Foxy, who practically lived through the persona he was programmed with, nor held back by his code like Marionette was through things as simple as certain types of music.

Maybe a small part of him had thought in a weird way himself better than that, even for all the pains of his model, the creaking and often painful springlocks, the worn down and frankly unrepairable parts he still had inside, the sheer age of the suit itself years older than all the others that made movement at times creak and ache in a way he had become so adjusted to that he didn't even notice it anymore, he didn't have to deal with anything that affected his mind in such a way. But apparently there were still hints of it around somewhere in this old suit, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it.

Because Goldie knew that Evan would have never liked to be on the stage, he had been terrified of even talking to strangers, much less making a much more literal show of himself for dozens of kids. Frankly put, he didn't care much about the kids, he just... Had liked performing, the act itself had been a rush that he hadn't thought he would get. The bear really did think it would have been a one and done deal kind of thing, it's why he hadn't bothered to tell his brother and had wanted to keep it a secret, because once wouldn't have meant anything, and Michael was probably better off not knowing that this suit ever joined the stage again.

But... But that wasn't the case, because while he still thought he held the same amount of interest in the whole deal of having to go out and practice and coming up with new acts, the idea of performing... It was enticing in a way the bear wasn't sure he was comfortable with because of the connotations of his code, nor was he even sure he was supposed to care. The others clearly didn't, hell, Foxy himself had mentioned basically to the bear that he expected it to be the case. Built for the stage he had said, and Goldie couldn't find an answer that proved that wrong.

It was... conflicting, to not really be sure in the act if he should be enjoying it or not to give into those built in instincts that came from the thing that had killed him, or if he was just being dramatic and simply overthinking it to the point of willingly stopping himself from continuing something that he might just enjoy doing.

No matter the answer that he would eventually come up with, as it stood, he knew he wasn't going to be getting it anytime soon, and instead would have to probably have a conversation or two about it, which... wasn't something he was looking forwards to, given the animatronics were biased one way, and his brother the other. It was going to be a pain, but one he should probably get over with.

Fritz was not so quickly freaking out to himself as he paced back and forth in front of his car, having no idea just what the hell he was supposed to do now. He had only just managed to escape from the conversation with Janet, saying he needed to talk to Mike and Jeremy, and while that was very much not a lie, he was much to busy panicking at the fact that he needed to talk to the two, along with everyone else, because he practically promised his girlfriend that he would explain the secret that out of everyone in the know, he had the least amount of validity in being the one to spill the beans about.

Needless to say he was stressed, and feeling not at all great at just about everything. From lying to his girlfriend for so long and having it lead to this in the first place, to the fact he was about to have to convince basically every friend he had to put themselves in an incredibly uncomfortable and not at all required situation. Given just how... private some of them, such as Mari and Goldie were, Fritz had no idea just how he was going to manage this, but he did know something, he really needed to make a few phone calls.

Grimacing as he looked at the time, he really hoped Mike hadn't gone to bed yet, that was a whole other thing to feel guilty about, the man really didn't need this on top of everything else Mike was dealing with, but he still found himself pulling his phone out, before making the call.

As it stood, Mike hadn't quite been asleep just yet, having had a nice and soothing time simply with his puppet when the call came with a flustered and stressed sounding Fritz saying he had something important he needed to say and that if it was ok for him and Jeremy to come over. Needless to say, whatever sleepiness in his body that had been there was long gone at that point. Important usually didn't mean good news for Mike, and Marionette clearly seemed to know that just as well, given he looked a bit uncertain as well.

But before long, Mike was hosting the two guests as he stood awkwardly next to a not so pleased puppet. Mari apparently wasn't the type who took interrupting cuddling time well, something Mike had made a very pointed note to himself for future reference. As it stood, he was mostly just ignoring the ways the two men shared a look when they caught sight of him. He knew he wasn't really looking his best, being stuck inside for the last week meant that he hadn't really put too much effort into keeping his appearance up.

Frankly he just couldn't care to put in the effort right now, wearing a very baggy long sleeved shirt and sweatpants didn't give a flattering image. Add in the way his skin was very clearly greying with his veins looking more and more visible giving his skin a weird tint to it hopefully just from the lack of consistent sunlight, and the bags under his eyes seemed to grow in spite of the fact he was probably sleeping twelve hours a day, he knew very well he looked like a mess even if he had made a pointed effort in avoiding mirrors even more than usual.

Then Fritz finally explained the issue.

Fritz took a second to get it out, admittedly he was a bit worried about just how they would react to the news, he knew he had already talked to Jeremy about it, but he hadn't with the others, everything else, from Mike's... health scare, to using his free time on repairing Bonnie to keep his own mind busy, he just had been ignoring the issue, and now he was dropping it on them without any warning when it was too late for them to really be able to think it over.

So as he finally explained, he was fully ready for some kind of annoyance if not just a straight up argument about it, at least from Mike and probably Mari, but instead the man seemed to almost slump in relief as he said.

"Oh thank god! I thought you were going to say Bonnie was missing or a new pink foxy had showed up somewhere" Marionette let out a not so pleased chime by the seemingly a bit too casual dismissal of the issue, turning to give Fritz a look that he fully had been expecting from the two.

"I don't think that's a good idea, the more people that know the more dangerous it is for us" Jeremy spoke up quickly enough to defend the point, which Fritz was incredibly grateful for, because he had a feeling his own thoughts and feelings on the matter wouldn't be taken quite as serious with how close he was to this.

"That's only the case if it's someone we can't trust, it's Janet. I know you haven't had much in way of interactions with her, but she's a good person. I don't think she's liable to tell anyone" Fritz quickly nodded, speaking up to add onto that point.

"Right, she just... She just needs to know, we've not been nearly as inconspicuous as we thought we were, it's only been harder on her recently because of everything. But I don't think she's going to run or anything. I mean, she straight up asked me if we were criminals, like, mob kind of stuff, the truth might be stranger but it's not nearly as bad as that" Mike huffed at that.

"I wonder where she got that idea" Yeah, Fritz winced a bit at that, though it seemed that the relief from the situation of it not being some murderous animatronic had worn off on Mike as he kept speaking, "I don't like it, but..." Fritz had been worried up until that point, but then Mike just sort of stalled, a frown marring his face as he clearly thought something over in the back of his mind for a long moment before just sighing, as he seemed to end up more resigned than anything at this point as he continued his thought, "She's asking questions and if we shut her out then she'll either go to the cops like any rational person would, or start snooping around, and let me say, that's about the worst possible way to get an introduction to the metal afterlife"

"That doesn't mean we should tell her anything! She's not entitled to know anything about this!" Marionette clearly was not happy with the situation, his arms crossing defensively over his chest as Mike's eyes shot to the puppet's form, the man's face melting just a bit from his normal calm and reserved look into one that was much more understanding as he reached up and placed it on Mari's shoulder as he said.

"We knew it was a risk from the start Net that whoever we hired would start to ask questions, it's why we all agreed back when we started looking for help that it had to be someone we could trust in case something like this happened in the first place" Fritz has almost forgot about that, and clearly the puppet hadn't quite remembered as well, as he still did not look at all interested in the idea, even if he did have to concede the point, as Mike cheekily added in, "Besides, if we really are looking to get her into the Fazbear secret, maybe we can have Foxy do one last run, give her the proper nightshift experience"

That got a startled laugh out of Mari and a very concerned look from Fritz, who quickly broke the moment by saying clearly, "That is not happening!" Mike just rolled his eyes a bit, but there was a faint smirk on his exhausted face.

"What? Give her a flashlight and I'm sure she'd be fine" His face shifted quickly to seriousness as Fritz felt himself straighten just a tad as the man spoke a bit more sharply, "She's dead set on this right? You are too aren't you?" Fritz just nodded.

"M-maybe I could talk her out of it, but... But I want to tell her. I've been lying to her for our entire relationship and it..." Fritz didn't need to finish it seemed as Mike just turned and gave a long look to the puppet who was still looking a bit irked about the whole thing, but finally just huffed, looking down for a moment before saying.

"I still think it's silly, but I guess it's fine. I'm not talking to her though! Make Foxy do it" Mike just smirked as Fritz felt his shoulders drop in relief as Jeremy, who had mostly just moved into the background for the conversation, gave him a pat on the shoulder. While Mike just huffed.

"Like the fox doesn't already have a whole speech planned out for new crew members. I bet he'll be ecstatic about being able to use it" Mari just let out a faint chime at that before nodding along, seemingly trying to not let his anxious mood be too obvious about the whole thing. It wasn't easy for Fritz to read the puppet's state of mind, but it was clear just mostly from past context that he was not at all comfortable with this. It just made the man more grateful, though the idea that it was Foxy that would be breaking the news as their proof... Fritz wasn't sure if he was the best or the worst given just how much energy the teen had which could be kind of overwhelming. He'd just have to take it as he nodded in relief.

"R-right, uh, in that case, I told her that we'd explain it tomorrow, before we opened... I hope it doesn't distract her too much" Jeremy spoke up then.

"Maybe wait until afterwards so we can have a talk after we close? It probably isn't a good idea to drop it all on her and then expect her to act normally right after" Mike followed that up quickly.

"Yeah, don't do that, tell her afterwards, the kitchen is one of the few things that we haven't had to fix something in, in months, and I do not want that to change because your girlfriend nearly burned my restaurant down" Fritz just huffed, now that the seriousness was out of the way, it felt easier to let himself laugh a bit at the idea of it, before just nodding.

"Right, uh, what should we say?" Mike just shrugged, as he moved over, and gave Fritz a solid pat on the shoulder.

"No idea, I won't be there, good luck. In the meantime though, it's late and I'm missing out on my show so..." He not so subtly moved to push Fritz a bit towards the door, which the man figured was his clue to leave as he was suddenly doused in nerves again, as he stumbled a bit before just rolling his eyes as he moved to the door with Jeremy, only to pause for a moment as he asked.

"Uh, what should we tell Goldie? I mean, I was already planning on stopping by the cove to let Foxy know but..." But Fritz had no idea how to broach the topic to the bear, he seemed even more private than the puppet. Mike just raised an eyebrow, looking confused for the most part.

"What about him? She's never seen Evan before, so just don't mention him, I can talk to him tomorrow if he wants her to know about him, but he's got nothing to worry about" Fritz felt himself tense a bit along with everyone else in the room at the not so subtle memories of the day at the Cove coming back, where a golden bear had been performing out in the open for anyone to see. Janet would have had to be blind to miss that. The only issue... They had all promised Goldie throughout that day that they wouldn't tell Mike until the bear was ready. So with that Fritz decided it was really time to leave, as he grabbed the arm of Jeremy and moved quickly to the door, calling over his shoulder a bit hastily.

"U-Uh, right, bye!"

Leaving a very confused Mike and a nervous and faintly betrayed feeling puppet in the eldest crew member's wake, but Fritz was sure Mari would be able to handle it.

Thankfully though, while this meant that he had to be the one that had to break the news to the bear, given the springlock animatronic had seemed at the very least, not uninterested in continuing to perform at the Cove, the bear himself seemed largely uninterested in the whole drama. Telling Fritz without care, when the man had called up to the warehouse, that he didn't care about Janet knowing as long as she didn't pester him any.

Fritz, personally, wished to one day have that level of blunt disinterest in the things that happened around him. As it stood, he was much too busy having to spend the drive over to the Cove to talk to Foxy, doing his best to come up with some semblance of a plan on just how the hell he was supposed to break the news of ghosts to his girlfriend.

At the very least, Fritz was pretty sure no matter what, Janet wouldn't have been able to have guessed this being what he was hiding.

Darting left and right, rushing and moving, she couldn't stop, if she stopped then she would be dead, the things in the halls would get her. It was getting harder to remember everything she had to do, she had been here for so long, it had been getting harder and harder to focus, the more tired she got the worse it was.

She hadn't survived however long it had been to give up now, not even as her breath didn't feel right in her chest. The way her heart couldn't stop racing and every nerve in her body was heightened past a point of just strain built from what felt like an eternity of nights, or perhaps just a single infinite darkness. Left, right, forwards, the closest, the thing in there showed up at random times and she never had time to figure out just how it got there, but she had to keep it at bay just like the rest otherwise-

A creak behind her made the little girl freeze, a panic welling in her heart as she only had the faintest of moments to realize she had forgotten about the bed.

She only had time to turn and scream as the monstrous being made of faces wearing the guise of a nightmarish bear reached down an-

"AHH!" Mike shot up, his eyes going wide as he stumbled up and away from a threat that wasn't there, his eyes flashing around wildly looking for something, that thing wearing a form twisted it felt like directly from his childhood.

Only to gasp a bit soon after as a pair of familiar inhuman but infinitely calming long thin arms found themselves wrapping around his body in a hug as his mind continued to race for a long moment before realizing just where he was. Anchored back into the present, standing in his bedroom, the bed in front of him tossed into a mess, with Mari holding onto him, a concerned look adorning the mask of the puppet, as Mike just took a long moment to just realize what had happened before feeling a bit like an idiot. It had been a long time since he had woken up like that without prompting from a random nightmare.

"Are you alright?" The calming question from the puppet just made Mike tense as while his initial reaction was to say he was fine, he knew he wasn't and that made him actually have to stop, if only for a moment to take in just what the hell had just happened and check himself over. It couldn't have been close to the first nightmare he's had, not even the first since he returned from the hospital, but normally he didn't do much more than just wake up normally from them unless he was startled awake. Besides, those nightmares were usually just the replays of either the horrifically traumatizing things that's happened to him or the things he's done that made him a terrible person.

Nothing like... that. His dreams didn't need creative freedom, they were horrible enough as they were thank you very much. Still, something about the nightmare, even as it was already beginning to leave his mind itched at something, another... memory perhaps that... It was strange, he felt like he had had that dream before, but it was gone too soon to build a connection.

Before he could try to hard to figure out if it was even worth spending more time about trying to figure out the weird feeling in his head, the pain in his chest made itself known, protesting a bit late about his little stunt as Mike could only end up grimacing, as he looked down a bit, his head ending up resting on the slim shoulder of the puppet, as he mentioned perhaps a bit to casually.

"I think I ripped one of my stitches" Needless to say neither figured they would be getting much more sleep after that.

Mike chose to ignore just how little the main wound had healed, as he let the puppet fuss over him as he dragged his night shift over his head to look at the damage. As a whole, given it had been about a week and a half since he had returned home, he didn't hurt nearly as bad anymore, but popping a stitch could still hurt like hell, not that he needed the reminder.

He just sighed as he waited on the bed as Mari was kind enough to retrieve the medical bag from downstairs, mostly because he had been too lazy to bring it up here to do in the mornings once Mike had felt good enough to be able to manage the stairs well enough without any issues. Or at least once he was allowed on the stairs once Mari was certain the man wouldn't break his neck by somehow cartwheeling down it or whatever insane thoughts that went on in the puppet's mind about Mike's level of care for his own health.

During that time he looked down and just grimaced at the sight of his chest. It... He had never been very... happy with his looks, a lifetime of looking like his not so kind father did a number on his opinion on his face, but his body showed a rough life as well. A number of scars were dotted all over him, his arms were hardly the only place he had marks, they were the only ones up until recently that had been... self-inflicted.

The newest ones were the long line that went up the bottom of his chest that had started at his stomach along with the not so small hole in his chest and lower back that had apparently needed skin grafts. They still had pads over them to lower the chance of infections while the wound healed. But even with that, there was a good chance the skin there would never look the same.

It was one from the surgery that had a stitch ripped, he just sighed and looked it over before frowning suddenly as he... lightly reached down and pressed on the wound. It hurt, because of course it did, but... Something was off, as he pulled his hand away... Nothing changed... He wasn't bleeding any. Mike felt a faint wave of nausea pull through him as he did his best to keep his stomach from rolling at whatever it was that was supposed to imply and instead just took a deep breath in.

Right, just another thing then, he didn't bleed anymore, sure, whatever. Better than being dead, so with that he just took a long moment holding that breath, focusing on his unnaturally slow heartbeat, before frowning as something else twisted at the back of his mind that felt... off. Before he could question it Mari had reappeared, bag in hand as Mike just shot the puppet a grateful look before beginning to work on sight just in case, maybe he didn't have to worry about healing then? Apparently bleeding out wasn't on a list of things he had to worry about.

"What woke you up?" Mike blinked a bit to himself at Marionette's question, before replying simply.

"Nightmare"

"What was it about? You never talk about them" Mike just shrugged.

"They're usually nothing to talk about, just a lovely compilation of my biggest fuck ups... I don't know, this one was weird. It wasn't my nightmare if that makes sense" He remembered that much, he had been... What, a girl? A child at the very least, in some room he knew he had never seen, keeping... something out. It was weird certainly, but if he occasionally had nightmares about his time on the night shift at Freddy's, then maybe his mind got twisted about and added some new twist to it. The pills he had been taking made him exhausted enough for it and made his dreams already kind of weird so it wasn't unexpected it worked in the other direction.

Mari on the other hand stilled for a moment before saying a bit too casually.

"It does, it sounds like a dream visit actually" Mike just hummed, saying soon after.

"Well, if it was, then they didn't have much to say. She was a bit too busy running for her life... I don't think she made it" Mike remembered it ending... badly, something about a bear? Another tick to it just being a weird dream about Freddy's, given he's had a nightmare or two about the original three he never got to know finally catching up to him.

"She?" Mike just shrugged.

"It's nothing, just... A really weird dream" Mari slowly just moved closer, placing a hand on Mike's shoulder from where he was still sitting on the bed, and said softly.

"Mike, your dreams might not just be dreams anymore" Mike frowned at that, before shaking his head as he said back with a bit of a grin.

"I- I mean, what could it be then?" Marionette still looked worried, it was making it very difficult for Mike to keep playing this off as nothing, but maybe he was just being willfully ignorant, given he really liked it a lot more when he was on the not supernatural side of the line. If that was the case, it left something of a bad taste in the back of his mouth.

"A memory, someone could be trying to make you realize something" Mike just raised an eyebrow.

"That's a thing?" Mari just nodded.

"Yeah, it's how I communicated with the others back in the day, I would show them what I wanted them to do through showing them myself doing it" Right, Mari used to keep himself on mute, something that was hard to remember these days with how talkative the puppet was, but still something to remember. Mike thought he might even remember the puppet talking about something like that before a while ago. Still, he just said.

"And who would be trying to get in contact with me?" Mike didn't need an answer to that, he knew. Mari knew that too as he just placed a hand on the man's shoulder in silent comfort, as he just let out a shaky breath. "I-... I'm... Am I being a coward Mari?" Mari let out a surprised chime at the question, not having expected it as he only could watch as Mike placed his face in his hands, as the puppet quickly asked.

"What do you mean?" Mike just let out a pained laugh.

"You know, I- I should be demanding answers, I should already be half way through tearing into everything I can find about Afton Robotics to try and figure out what happened there, who was responsible, who those animatronics were before... Before Ennard, dealing with Ennard. I should be seeing if we can recover those animatronic shells to use at the Cove, or dealing with... anything, but instead I've done everything in my power to not think about it, about-... I-... I'm scared" It felt forced, like the words were genuinely painful to drag out from the man.

Marionette could only just lean in, pulling the man into a solid side hug as he just let himself lean into the crook of the puppet's body. It should have made him feel worse, he wasn't used to be on this side of the comfort, being held like he was something fragile and delicate when he should be anything but, and yet it just made it easier to sink into the touch and just feel... safe, for just that moment, for the first time since he... Since he died, he felt safe.

"You are not a coward... Mike you're the strongest and bravest person I've ever met, but that doesn't mean you haven't gone through something that has yet to leave any other the same, it's okay to need time" The firm yet gentle words from the man made something that had been twisted and knotted tight in Mike's chest slowly loosen as he felt his chest shake with raw emotions that he had been trying so, so very hard to keep down. And just like that it felt like everything began to slip out as he spoke before he could stop himself, feeling- no, needing, to tell Mari, to just get the crushing weight off of his chest.

"I- I'm-... I feel wrong" Mari could only let out a faint chime of questioning before Mike felt like he was exploding as words began to tumble out, "My chest doesn't feel right, like I'm hollow, my heart doesn't change, I don't bleed, my hair doesn't grow, my hands and face are purple and I can't stand to even look at myself anymore because the rest is turning grey!" Mike felt like he should have been hyperventilating already, he's dealt with at least a few panic attacks at this point, but no, his chest didn't change, his breathing didn't change, even as it felt like his mind was being dragged under a crushing wave, and that made something break in him, as he let out a pained and pitiful laugh as he said almost desperately, "I- I don't even know if I need to breath! I'm a walking fucking corpse!"

The last word came out more as a spat as his entire body shook with an overwhelming sense of panic and grief and so much more that he had been desperately trying so hard to not let it affect him. Had spent the last week practically pleading with his own mind to just be grateful that he was alive. But he wasn't, and he just couldn't manage to keep that lie alive because he wasn't.

Michael had always been bad at lying to himself, even when he needed it, for his own sanity.

Nothing was said for a long moment, as Mike was forced to cling to the other man's body because it was the only thing keeping him from truly breaking down, falling into a mess of nothing but broken thoughts and memories, when Mari finally shifted, just a bit, moving his long slender arm around from where it was pulling Mike into the hug until his hand rested over the upper left side of the man's chest. It was a minute before the puppet spoke, but when he did, it was as soft and as caring as Mike had ever heard.

"It's alright, you're still here Mike" He just let out something of a pitiful sound.

"I should be dead, but I'm not. How... How is it alright?"

"It's okay to grieve for yourself Mike, but please, never think you are doing something wrong. None of us are, no matter how we come back, different or changed in any way, we're still here, we're still together. Your body might have changed in a way you're not used to, but you will be okay, your heart might beat differently but it beats all the same. You will adjust, we all have" Mike let out a huff.

"I shouldn't complain, you had to deal with a bigger change than just this" Mari just tightened his hug as he said back quickly.

"I've had years to adjust, Mike, to learn myself again, to be whole, and I'm still not, we still don't know who I am. We all have gone through this, we all understand. No one is expecting you to just be fine, you get to have as much time as you need"

"I don't want time, I just... I want..." Mike trailed off, under sure of just what he was supposed to say, before finally just sighing, leaning a bit more into the puppet's hold as he muttered quietly, "I- can you just hold me for a while? That's... That's all I want right now" He just didn't want to think, just for a bit longer. Tomorrow he wouldn't be able to lie to himself, tomorrow he would have to address it all, tomorrow he would do something, but tomorrow was another day, and for right now, just for a bit longer, he wanted to keep feeling safe in his boyfriend's arms.

"Of course"

"Thanks... I love you, Mari"

"I love you too"

Jeremy wasn't quite sure just how he had ended up being the... middle man in this situation, but he was the only one willing or able. Mike wasn't up for travel just yet and Jeremy couldn't blame the man for wanting to not deal with the Janet situation in the first place, and given it was the only three of them that were human enough to be here to be any level of comfort... He was kind of the only person who could vouch for the situation he was about to put himself in without Janet freaking out even worse than they were already expecting.

Given that Marionette and Goldie were the other two options... Jeremy honestly figured Mari would have been the best to introduce Janet to this kind of thing, Goldie was just... No. And Foxy was clearly way to interested in making a whole show of it from what Fritz had told him. Mari on the other hand was... Well, not to be mean to the others, but the puppet was the oldest among the animatronic trio, and that showed in both maturity and understanding. But he had no interest in talking to Janet, much like how he had been with Jeremy himself and Fritz for the first few months, and had seemingly no interest in bothering with trying either. Something Jeremy also couldn't blame him for, it was honestly just a good thing no one had held out much reservations on the matter beyond simply not wanting to get to know the woman.

So Foxy and Jeremy it was the support, and frankly put, Jeremy was nervous about that, this was a big deal, and if the supernova of nerves rolling off of Fritz was any indication, he clearly realized that as well. This could go wrong in a large number of ways, and he really just hoped that this wasn't going to be one of those things that blew up in their faces sooner or later, like everything else seemed to like to have a habit of doing in their lives. Fritz deserved for this to go well in the shorter man's opinion, he just had to hope that it would work out like that.

While right now, he could do his best to ignore the feelings on the sets of eyes on him as he moved over and flipped the door sign over to proclaim them close, before holding back the admitted morbid sense of amusement as he moved to pull the curtains closed over the main window in the front so that no one would be able to see into the Cove. It was something that they always did, but something about the act with Janet here made it somehow feel even more secretive.

Taking a deep breath for himself, he turned around and moved back as Janet, who was standing off to the side of the tables in the center of the dinning section turned to look at Fritz, who was standing next to her, looking incredibly awkward and unsure, his eyes flickering about, from Jeremy then to the stage, clearly having no idea just where he was suppose to start. Janet clearly didn't care much about stalling this out anymore though, as she said.

"Well... Am I finally going to get on the big secret? Five bucks says it's a thieves guild" She was doing a great job at remaining calm on the outside, joking as she was, but Jeremy knew better, she was like Mike, she covered herself with humor. He could feel the nerves rolling off of her, could see the way her eyes shifted about, she wasn't scared though, and Jeremy had to give her credit for that. If this was before... everything, he was sure in a situation like this he'd be scared out of his mind, trusting the people around him or not, secrets were scary.

...Then again, he was fairly confident Janet could kick both him and Fritz up and down the street, so maybe that's where that confidence came from. She could handle herself. Maybe that's why Mike didn't fight so hard about it, the two were honestly more similar than Jeremy thinks anyone else has noticed, given out of everyone in their friend group of friends, Janet was the one that stook out a bit.

Thinking about it, none of them really knew her that well, besides Fritz of course, they hung out, but never all that often. She couldn't exactly be invited over to Mike's when the man liked to put some kind of meal together, or during any of the hours of work they all put in during the reconstruction for obvious reasons, which was where most of the time they spent together usually came from.

The secret that they kept made something of a barrier between them all. But if everything went well, that was the part that was going to change, something Jeremy hoped a bit more and more as the seconds ticked on by as Fritz finally managed to get his words in order as he started... With his usual level of tact.

"Uh, so... Ghosts?" Jeremy... Jeremy just sighed, before moving a bit closer as Janet stared at her boyfriend in just bland confusion.

"What?" Fritz sputtered a bit before clearly doing his best to calm himself as he said a bit more coherently.

"Uh... Ghosts, it's... That's the secret, the Cove is haunted, and it's not something we can just let get out, but it causes a lot of... issues sometimes, like, wrecking the place a bit, and Mike getting hurt... Though that wasn't here, but was also at a different haunted place" Janet just stood there for a moment, confusion melting into shock, before finally her expression broke into an almost exasperated look, as she just huffed before saying sharply.

"Oh, ghosts huh? Yeah, sure, the place is haunted! Just, tell me the tru-" Whatever else Janet was going to try to say was interrupted by the familiar sound of a curtain being drawn back and a booming rakish voice coming out from behind her, loud enough that Janet let out a squeaking sound, while jumping a bit, while the two men, just sighed in acceptance, to used to the fox's antics.

"The scallywag be telling the truth, ye be the deckhand without any eyes to see it!" Janet spun around to look at Foxy, who, of course, was standing in a pose, hook up in the air and a hand on his hip, as the two men just gave the fox looks. Of course Foxy wasn't deterred in the slightest, and frankly Jeremy figured they should just be glad for Fritz to have said anything before a dance number was started.

Janet... reasonably didn't take that well, just staring up at the fox, who was still holding the pose, before turning around and blankly saying to Fritz.

"So... Did you time that or something" Fritz himself looked like he was in a not so minor amount of pain, as he just continued to stare up at the fox for a long moment before reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"No... Nope, he decided that was a good idea" Jeremy wasn't sure just what to do, but he kind of had to do something because it was clear Janet didn't believe them, and Fritz was obviously lost at just what the hell he was supposed to do next... So Jeremy just called out to the fox, figuring it was already out in the open.

"We said to wait a bit before you came out" The fox finally dropped the pose, and instead just huffed.

"We said, I heard, bah! You said the main thing, now it's time for proof! Whattaya think?" Janet just continued to stare, clearly not yet believing this was anything more than a very strange joke, before she suddenly just said up towards the Fox, but clearly not speaking to him.

"So... I'm supposed to believe the fox is a ghost?" Jeremy could feel the confusion turn into a wariness as Foxy nodded, clearly answering her as he spoke.

"Aye! Dead as a doornail! Met me end a while ago, but decided to stick around, pirate a ship or two!" Fritz just was looking back and forth unsure what to say before mentioning with a sudden understanding dread than anything.

"Uh, he's... Foxy likes his role, so he stays in it, the others aren't so invested, but they're a bit more... shy?" Jeremy held back from snorting at the idea of Goldie being shy, but suddenly had to realize that while he and the others were more than used to Foxy being... very invested in being Foxy the Pirate, to anyone else... Well, Jeremy had to admit the oversight as he said quickly.

"It'd be more accurate to say the animatronics are haunted instead of the Cove, apparently that's not a thing that can happen unless it's under... unique circumstances" Jeremy held back from sounding off as he spoke, but he couldn't help the faint chill he got from remembering the Shadow Bonnie Incident. He still had nightmares about it, or rather, being attacked by Shadow Mangle.

Back to the conversation she just looked back at the two men with a look of just absolute disbelief, not that he could really blame her, even now he could feel the strain this was having on her, from fear for both their sanities, to the concern of maybe it being real, to so much more, it was like a storm, but it was one that would only continue on as long as she kept fighting what was in front of her, and it was clear Fritz wasn't sure how to take that leap, so Jeremy had to make the decision for them both as he spoke up, back to Foxy.

"H-hey, uh, Foxy?" The fox glanced over, just in time to be caught off guard to not start another act to introduce Janet if Jeremy had to guess, as he just gave the animatronic a pained grimace before saying, "Could you do the, you know, eye thing?"

"Aye! Lassy take a look at me good eye!" Janet uncomfortably glanced back, confused, before, understandably, screaming, as on stage, Foxy's normally amber eye voided out into a dark abyss before her eyes as a single spectral mote of light appeared, floating in the darkness, in its place. There was no way to fake that.

"What the actual hell!" Janet had stumbled back a few feet, looking up at the sight of the animatronic in shock and horror, as Foxy just 'blinked' and just like that the eye was back to being normal, as he said cheerfully.

"That be me real eye! I can't exactly see out of this hunk of plastic now can I?" He reached up and tapped the eye in question, and that seemed to be the final tipping point as Janet just sort of seemed to just sway for a moment before muttering.

"Ghosts... I- I wasn't expecting that" Fritz just moved over, placing a hand on her shoulder, as he said softly.

"Trust me, none of us exactly took this with grace" Jeremy added in.

"I'm pretty sure I spent my first night dealing with them screaming actually, so..." Janet just let out a shaky breath, before after closing her eyes for a long moment, snapped them open back with a sharpness to them as she reached forwards and jabbed a finger into Fritz's chest as she said.

"You are explaining all of this right now mister! How does something like that-" She gestured at Foxy, who just waved again, "Happen?! And you mean there's more? How many? Who were they? Oh god, are all the machines here people? Is that why they kept breaking? Are things trying to get out!" This... This was going to be a long conversation, and not an easy one, as the two men spared a glance at each other...

And began to tell Janet the story of Fazbear Entertainment, and the man behind the slaughter.

First things first... Hi, welcome everyone to the longest story I've ever written... Holy hell that's wild, but we're past my second longest now by a few thousand works now, and that's wild, so... Yeah, this is just me acknowledging that the freaking fnaf story I started a few months ago is now nearly 60 chapters long and honestly is only about half way done. And, like, what the fuck?! That's crazy right? I think so at least... Anyways, back to the actual chapter notes.

Oof, this chapter... This one was a doozy, took a while to get through, but... But I think I really like it. And I have a few things I want to say about it, so let's get into it shall we?

The first part, a small little internal dialogue from our favorite bear, Goldie is dealing with something he's never had to deal with or even really thought about before, and has to deal with the understanding of an interest of his not really being his own, and wondering just how he's suppose to feel about it given... Everything really, it's an obviously complicated situation and one that is going to require a lot of thought, but... We'll see what conclusions he comes to in the end, but for now, bear's gotta think.

Then there's the Janet situation, which was broken into two parts, so I'll go through that first. I had a much longer plan in mind for this reveal, but as I mentioned before, it just felt... bad once I started setting it up and really thought about it, and it just didn't feel genuine to the characters, especially Fritz, to hide this from Janet. Communication remember? All these characters have been learning a lot about it over the last year that this story has taken place over, and it's something that they'll take with them. Fritz is no exception, and in this case, he'd want to tell Janet, especially if she pressed him on it, it would be all it would take, but he had to address the situation with the others, because it's not just his secret to tell. Then there was the reveal, it was stunted and awkward, but that's okay, we got there in the end, and that's what matters, and now everyone get's to see a bit of what I've been working towards with Janet, she's a very minor side character, but she's still here, and deserves to be treated like an actual person in this world, with questions, concerns, personality, and more. And now she get's to really begin to join the group properly, and that's nice.

And then there's Mike and Mari. Those two... That scene was hard, for a ton of reasons, so much of everything was apart of it, foreshadowing, trauma, break downs, and more. Mike is an incredibly strong man, he bulldozes through everything in his way and clears a path for those behind him to set up a path for others to follow. But he's not perfect, and he's certainly not unbreakable. He's gone through a lot of shit, and has never really had the time or willingness to process it. That's not without mentioning the massive change in his life, and the repercussions he's still feeling from it even now. He's been strong for a long time, and he's held on after everything admirably, incredibly even, but it couldn't last. Thankfully Marionette was with him, knew what to say, and what to do... Even though it is heartbreaking to even think about the puppet having to do this, say these words and do these comforts he's done so many times before to others, on Mike. But... That's a perspective for another chapter. In the mean time, I won't say anything more, so... See ya.