He sent a sour look up at Dylan. "I didn't do anything."

"You snuck in without a ticket," the security officer countered. "Now you're coming with me, and I'll call your parents and we're going to have a good talk about stealing."

"I didn't steal anything!" Gregory snapped.

The man's grip constricted a little further. "This wristband doesn't belong to you," he stated.

Gregory stumbled after him, hissing and spitting and struggling. The man's grip didn't slack.

How do I get this guy off me?

"I don't know!"

"Let me go! I'm not doing anything!"

"You're somewhere you're not supposed to be," the man countered. "Do your parents even know you're here?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh really? So, when I call them, they'll say they forgot to give you a ticket and the right wristband?" the security officer asked.

Gregory decided to keep his mouth closed. His arm was sore by the time they went back through the atrium and entered the elevators. He threw a morose look back at the grand dining area.

The elevator doors shut behind them.

The cheerful voice said over the speakers, "Did you know that birthday wishes only come true at Freddy Fazbear's? It's true! Kids who have home birthdays have fewer friends and parents who don't love them. This has been another Faz Fact!"

Gregory rolled his eyes. His grip on Bonnie tightened a little. The irony hurt.

The elevator doors opened.

The man led him down the steps, through what looked to be some sort of service desk and locker area–Gregory cringed a little at the shrill tone the lady at the counter took on with the frazzled worker–and through a locked door.

The man stopped before entering one of the doors. Instead, he looked up upon hearing a set of shoes walking down the stairs. He stated, "Hey, Maria. This kid was running around the Plex without a ticket and an expired wristband. Probably stole it."

"Nuh-uh! It's mine!"

The woman, Maria, looked at Dylan and then at Gregory and back again. She sighed. "Dylan, the kid's like, nine. Don't get onto him like that."

"I'm eleven," Gregory corrected.

"Eleven," Maria corrected herself. "I'll take the kid. You go file a report."

"I'll take him," the man countered. "You know where the report files are. You can do that."

"I'm sorry, officer, but I happen to be the one whose shift in the Daycare just ended. You don't even like helping lost kids," Maria stated. "I'll handle the kid."

Dylan bristled but let go of Gregory. He stalked past her. "Fine, go talk to that creepy jester."

Maria watched him go.

Now that she'd stopped and Gregory no longer glared at Dylan, he saw the woman in the same white shirt with black pants and pauldrons with a silver badge. The difference was a pale blue nametag stating "MARIA, SHE/HER" with a smiling sun and moon on either side and clouds. Dylan's was dark violet with lightning bolts and stars. Maria smiled. "Hey, kid. Sorry about Dylan. He's got a stick stuck somewhere."

Gregory couldn't help a snicker. Got that right.

"Come with me." She held out her hand. "We should probably leave before he comes back. He's kinda right. I'm supposed to be off duty."

What a jerk. Gregory still didn't take her hand. "If you're off duty, then I can just go, right? The doors are right there."

"Kid, it's freezing out there. I can't let you go if I don't know where your parents are, much less go out in that."

"I have a jacket."

"Jackets only do so much. Come on. What's your name, anyway?"

Gregory, upon being prompted again, sighed and reluctantly took her hand. She led him back out of the small hallway and through the service desk area. "I… I'm Gregory."

"Okay, Gregory. We're going to the Daycare, alright? You're going to have to stay there until we find your parents. Do you know your parents' phone numbers?"

Daycare? The thought shook him from his exhaustion and dreary hopelessness. The one with Sun and Moon?

"That would make the most sense; you are a lost child."

Gregory shook his head. He wrinkled his nose. "Why do I have to go to the Daycare? Isn't that for babies?"

"Well, most of the kids there are on the younger side, but sometimes very, very young kids or older ones can stay there if they need some place to stay."

"You mean baby jail?"

She chuckled. "I haven't heard that one before! I know you don't want to be here, but don't worry, Gregory. I have a friend who works there. He's really nice. "

"I'm still too old for a daycare."

"Heh! You haven't even graduated middle school and you're already too old for playgrounds, huh? You're one of the older kids, but it's better than sitting around in Lost and Found with some cheesy crackers, hmm? They won't even let us put cartoons on the TV in that old place."

Gregory bit back a sigh. As much as he wanted to argue, she was right. He glanced down at Bonnie, who he still held loosely to his chest. "What about Bonnie? Little kids always try to take him."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Bonnie's yours! The other kids have to learn that some stuff doesn't belong to them. Plenty already have, but it's harder for some kids than others. Even so, Sun will make sure no one steals Bonnie from you."

Gregory still felt a little doubtful. His eyes fell on something shiny and gold hanging off her neck. At first glance, with the color and context, he might have thought it was a medallion of sorts which would be incredibly out of place for a Fazbear Entertainment employee. But on closer inspection, it turned out to be a Sunnydrop candy attached to a thin chain necklace around her neck. He looked up at her. "Are you… wearing candy?"

"Sorta!" She picked up her necklace and held it out so the candy dangled freely under her fingers. "It's resin, but made using a real wrapper. I love the color yellow. Normally, we're not allowed to wear jewelry, but since this is technically promotion or advertising, management let it slide." She set down the necklace, stuck her free hand into her pocket, and pulled out her keys, where a Moondrop candy and Carrotdrop candy bumped against a few other colorful objects on her keychain. "Hey? Heh. I've also got a bit of a sweet tooth." She put her keys away. "What about you? Have you ever tried them?"

Gregory shook his head. "Nope. I've seen a whole bunch of posters for them, though."

"Well, then. How about this: once we get there, if you behave, I'll give you one of my Sunnydrop candies? A real one, not a resin one."

Make a break for it as soon as she lets go?

"She's a security guard, Gregory, and she's being nice . Do you know how rare that is? She'll also catch you, or someone else on duty who is less nice will."

Yeah, I know. Gregory nodded. "Okay."

She led him up the stairs and through an archway with "SUPERSTAR DAYCARE" written above in big letters on clouds and rainbows. A smiling sun and sleepy moon flanked the logo above the giant doorway and on a small sign in front of it. Some people milled about, but not nearly as many as in the atrium or even the front area.

Gregory watched the elevators as they passed to get into the dark hallway with brick walls and stars speckling the ceiling. "Hey, can't I just go watch the show? I-I'll come right back. I really want to see Freddy."

"Oh, kid. I'm sure you'll get to meet him," she said, her voice softening. "I'd bet that Freddy would love to meet you, too. But he can't do that right now, okay? We need to look for your parents, and Freddy is busy getting ready for the next show. You know how rockstars are; they take forever to get ready to do anything."

They passed up a few bathroom doors on the right and a big step fountain flanked by palm trees on the left. Water cascaded down the steps. Giant pictures were painted directly on the bricks. Some were directions to or from the Daycare, and some were advertisements for candy. One was a poster with a stylized portrait of Sun and a giant piece of orange candy beside it. "SUNNYDROP" drooped across the bottom of the picture. "THE ENERGIZING CANDY" decorated the name of the candy. The next was a darker poster with a cartoonish Moon with closed eyes and a piece of blue candy. "MOONDROP" was the name of this candy. "THE SLEEPY-TIME CANDY" accompanied it.

At the end of the wide hall was another doorway to a blue room.

They passed through a small, sleepy room with a few people dominated by two giant golden statues, Sun bright and shiny in front facing the parents and Moon crouched down in his little dance facing the Daycare.

They passed the "SLIDE INTO FUN" entrance. The staff member pushed the half gate open and led him through the short walkway to the stairs down. "This is the Superstar Daycare," she said. "You'll be staying in the play place with the other kids until we contact your parents."

Gregory asked, "What happens if you can't find them?"

"Well… I hope we do," she answered. She stopped in front of the giant double-doors leading into the play place. "But don't worry about that, okay? Just sit tight and have fun." She took a piece of yellow candy from her pocket and held it out.

Gregory took it from her with a quiet "thanks" and pocketed it without breaking eye contact.

With that, she lifted a fist and knocked.

Within seconds, one of the gargantuan doors opened inward just enough to show the yellow jester. Bouncy music and the screams and laughter of children drifted into the hall. Sun stooped down somewhat so he was close to the staff member's height. "Hello, Mrs. Seaver! Who's our new friend?"

Maria smiled. "Hello, Sun! Gregory here is a little lost. While we look for his parents, he needs to stay here."

Gregory's grip on Bonnie tightened again and he doubled down on his glare.

The bells on Sun's wrists jingled as he clapped his hands together. "It's really nice to meet you, Gregory. I'm sure we'll have a ton of fun! The staff here are really smart. They'll figure everything out in a jiffy."

Maria let go of Gregory's hand and guided him inside. "Have fun. If Steve gives you a hard time, just call me, okay?" She chuckled to herself. "Good night, Sun."

"Good night, Mrs. Seaver!"

With that, the staff member left. Sun shut the giant door.

Gregory watched the Daycare Attendant destroy his last glimpse of freedom with a shockingly quiet thunk, almost hidden beneath the bouncy music.

Sun turned to Gregory and trilled, "Oh, you're going to love the other kids here a-and all the things we can do! We can finger paint, tell stories, draw, play in the structures–oh! Some kids are playing tag! Maybe you can ask to join them!"

Gregory growled, "No, Sun. I just want to leave. Can't you tell them to let me out?"

Sun's shoulders slumped. "Oh, I'm sorry, New Friend–"

"I'm not your friend," Gregory warned.

"Sorry, sorry! Well, Gregory, I can't just let you out of the Daycare. That would be highly irresponsible of me! Don't you worry, I'm sure the staff will call your parents and have them over here before you know it. In the meantime…" Sun tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Do you want to play in the play structures or the ball pit? Oh, or do you want a snack? We have plenty of snacks!"

Gregory looked past him into the play area and then up at Sun. "You know what? I think I'll go play by the ball pit and pretend to time travel back to when this place was cool."

Sun chuckled, annoyingly perky despite the jab. "That sounds like a great idea. Be careful and have fun!"

Gregory stalked past him, eyeing the other children running amok in and around the play structures. He hadn't exactly memorized the place, but he knew there would be no place to think in the play structures. He stopped on the rainbow bridge leading into the ball pit, where a few kids floundered about, laughing and throwing balls at each other like they were in a swimming pool. No one was in the square netting structure around the ball pit, interrupted at times by castle towers. He walked into the structure at one end. Huge squares of light glowed over the soft ground. A spiral stairway led up each tower to the top. He climbed up the first one and looked over the play place–Sun stood with his hands over his eyes as a group of kids ran away from him–before climbing back down. Although there were others, he didn't bother climbing them.

Gregory stopped at a corner. He looked up. The giant mesh netting of the play area met the wall of the building. However, it wasn't clipped to it, so there was a good foot or two of distance. There was still the giant not-glass wall reaching yards high. Huge billowy white clouds obscured most of the wall, throwing a deep shadow over the corner. The tower also contributed its own shadow. A blue square of the wall created a corner and then jutted out in a half-moon to curl around the tower leaving a spot completely hidden from the hall's sight.

Gregory stepped behind the tower. He cocked his head, waiting. However, when no pushy Daycare Attendant came to scold him, he lay down with his back to the tower and Bonnie tight in his arms. Sure, it wasn't the most comfortable position, but a soft ground meant for kids who constantly tripped over themselves wasn't the worst place to lay on.

Evidently, his body thought the same, and hardly a minute passed before he was completely unresponsive.

Gregory held Bonnie close. He wanted to run, he tried, but his legs were tired. He'd been running for so long and so hard. He was quick and small, and he could climb and crawl through spaces adults shouldn't. But this time travel had meant that he'd been awake for days.

If the rabbit lady had been awake for days, she wasn't showing any signs of it.

Robots couldn't get tired.

He hid beneath the exaggeratedly lush plastic fronds of a bush in one of the many planters of the atrium balconies. Downstairs, Roxy prowled the atrium. Above him, he heard Chica thumping around. Maybe if he stayed still and quiet, he wouldn't need to run. He could wait and rest and then he'd make a break for the Salads and Sides vent.

"Oh, Gregory~!" Vanny cooed. "Are we still playing Hide and Seek? Because I believe I've found you~!" She let her voice break off into a giggle.

Gregory squeezed his eyes shut tighter. Don't let her trick you. Just a little longer.

Her soft paws patted the carpet near the planter and her synthetic voice chilled his bones. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…!"

…

The ferns crackled as Vanny's mask shoved through them. "Found you!" One hand went up, gripping the handle of her knife, and the other grabbed him by the shoulder. He twisted around to bite the offending appendage.

Gregory tasted blood.

Screaming–a child's scream, a boy's–rang in his ears. Something hit him hard in the left ear and stars burst into his dark vision. He bit down harder and threw his weight forward, grabbing at the offending fist to keep it from hitting him again. They hit a wall and then fell sideways to the floor. He coughed and gagged at the knee that managed to strike his stomach in all that flailing.

Then something else was stuck into his mouth–hard and plastic. Gregory gagged and reflexively opened his mouth and jerked his head back as it tried to enter his throat. Coughing and spitting, he scrambled back, snatching Bonnie as he did so and kicking Sun in the face. But his little corner was still that–little. Sun barely occupied the entrance all folded into himself and he took up quite a bit of room. Never mind the now whimpering and still bleeding kid glowering at him who also occupied some of his space.

Gregory bristled and bared his bloody teeth at the kid.

Sun soothed, "Okay, okay, we can calm down. Let's get this bandaged up. You're going to be just fine, Sorrel. Come with us, Gregory."

Gregory shook his head and shuffled back a little further.

Sorrel whined, "My hand hurts!"

"Oh, and you're being so brave, my little sunbeam! Oh, yes, okay, let's get that hand looked at. Okay, you can stay there, Gregory. But do stay." Sun backed off into the tunnel. As there was no top, he could walk. Sorrel stuck his tongue out at Gregory and followed Sun, his hand held close to himself but not touching anything.

Gregory adjusted his glasses. Time to leave.

"Yep."

He looked up at the corner. Two clouds arched down at their lowest point at the corner. He threw on his jacket, stuffed Bonnie inside so his head poked out and freed Gregory's hand and walked up to the corner. Then, he crouched and threw himself up. His fingers slipped on the smooth clouds, but their thickness alone gave him enough room to get a grip. He did fall off once, but the second hop was successful. The clouds weren't up against the glass but had a few inches gap, so his toes and heels fell off either edge. He slowly bunched himself up so that he was pressed up against the corner, his palms against the glass like a lizard. He edged to the right, scooting his shoes rather than daring to pick them up.

Beep!

Gregory jolted and gasped as he nearly fell off. What the fuck? He shakily took one hand off the glass and tapped his glasses. The CAMS tab was empty. So, he went to his log.

[I see you on that wall! You get down right now! You could get hurt climbing those walls.]

Gregory slowly turned his head back. Sure enough, he could see past the tower and over the structure around the play area beside the ball pit. Sun, still working on calming Sorrel and tending his wounded hand, had positioned himself in such a way so that he was facing Gregory's exit. Gregory muttered, "How did you see me? A-and how did you connect to my glasses?"

Beep! [First: Please get off the wall before I have to tell you again.]

Gregory nodded. "Okay." He looked down and slowly, carefully, slid his hands down until he crouched, and he grabbed onto the cloud. Then, he dropped down onto the soft ground.

Beep! [Monty connected your glasses to the Mega Pizzaplex's main network, so anyone else connected to the main network can contact you. That includes me! I have a sense of when kids are up where they shouldn't be.]

Great. So now he has some sort of cameras or sensors somewhere I need to find. Gregory slunk back to his place–his secluded nap hideaway turned timeout corner. He pulled off his jacket and retied it over his shoulders. Gregory plopped down cross-legged with Bonnie on his lap and wiped off his face.

Bells.

Gregory kept his eyes on Bonnie. "I'm not gonna apologize."

"What happened, Gregory?" Sun's voice was… soft, patient. Not shrill.

Gregory glanced at him. The animatronic rested with his elbows on the ground and hands crossed under his head. Gregory sighed and looked down at Bonnie again. "I didn't mean to, okay? It was an accident."

"Well, accidents happen," Sun admitted. "The important part is when an accident does happen, we try our best to make it better."

Gregory's eyebrows furrowed. "You believe me?"

Sun made a quiet trilling noise. "Of course! I know you wouldn't bite Sorrel normally. But maybe you could tell me what happened before that? What might have caused it?"

Gregory scoffed. "Doesn't matter."

"How are we going to make sure it never happens again if we don't know what caused it?" Sun rationalized.

The boy petted Bonnie's ear. "You still wouldn't get it."

"Try me!" Sun tipped his head a little and his spokes shivered and followed. "I might surprise you! Again!" He chuckled.

"Weird robot," Gregory muttered and readjusted his glasses. He went back to petting Bonnie. "I was trying to sleep for a bit. I figured if I was going to stay here I may as well sleep. Your other half got onto me about that enough." Gregory sent a sharp look at Sun before going back to Bonnie. "Soapy woke me up. I didn't mean to bite him. But I thought he was–it doesn't matter."

Sun hummed and said, "I'm sorry you had a bad dream. Do you, um… do you want to tell me?"

"No."

"Well, that's okay! You don't have to if you don't want to! Now, Gregory…" Sun made a noise like a sigh. "You still bit Sorrel. It was an accident, and accidents happen, but you should still apologize."

Gregory snorted. "Well, if he wasn't trying to grab me, he wouldn't have gotten bit."

"Did you think he was grabbing you?"

"Yeah."

"Well!" Sun leaned back enough to free his hands and clap them together, ringing the bells on his wrist. "Why don't we go talk to Sorrel and get this cleared up, huh? Do you remember what Chica said?"

Gregory shot him a look. "…yeah, which thing?"

Sun laughed and then said in a perfect impression of Chica, "Sometimes talking it out can help make things better!"

Gregory blinked and turned to him.

"I do pretty good impressions, don't I?"

"Yeah."

Sun dipped his head and Monty's growl replaced his voice. "C'mon kid, what'd'ya say we jump in the ball pit and scare the other kids?"

Gregory snorted. "That's not something Monty would say," he asserted.

"No, between golfin' an' runnin' 'round on the catwalks, I love swimmin' in the ball pit and grabbin' anyone that gets too close!" Sun continued in Monty's voice.

Gregory pouted in a furious effort to hide the smile fighting to make its way onto his face. " No. Monty–well, he does golf and hang out on the catwalks."

"Monty" cackled. "'Course I do! I also love runnin' around destroyin' things!"

"Okay, he does like destroying things," Gregory conceded. "I bet he doesn't like you making fun of him like that."

Sun raised his head again and resumed speaking in his own voice. "I'm not mocking anyone, Gregory! I'm acting~! How did I do?"

"Seven out of ten. You didn't talk like him, and it drew me out," Gregory stated.

Sun gasped and reared back. " Really? A seven? For that?" Gregory couldn't help snickering at the pure indignance in his tone. "And laughter. Now who's mocking who, huh?"

"You started it."

Sun tipped his head to the side and crossed his arms with a short huffy noise. "If you need reminding, you started this, young man! Speaking of which…" Sun pulled himself back and rolled onto his heels. "It's time we go talk to Sorrel."

Gregory's smile faded. He rolled his eyes. "Fine. If it'll mean you leave me alone." He pushed himself to his feet and followed Sun out.

Sun crawled under the opening of the next tower and hopped up outside so he could stretch himself out. "Whoo! You certainly found yourself in a tight space, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

Sun strode over to where Sorrel sat with a few other kids at a table eating snacks as they drew. Sorrel was among them. Really, the only reason Gregory recognized the curly-haired boy was due to his bandaged hand. The shadows had stolen his original ginger hair, and the abrupt wake-up into a fight had prevented him from really retaining any details of him, anyway.

Gregory stopped near the ball pit structure and waited for Sun to come back with Sorrel. Sorrel, dry-eyed, gave Gregory a wary look as they approached. Gregory willed himself not to bristle. Gregory was going to be stuck with Sun longer than Sorrel was.

Sun stopped between them. "Hello, Sorrel! Gregory here wants to talk and make things better. Would you like to tell your side of the story?"

"I was just trying to wake you up," Sorrel puffed. "You sounded like you were having a bad dream or something. I didn't know you were gonna bite me!"

Gregory looked up at Sun and then Sorrel. "Well, I didn't want you waking me up. I don't like it when people touch me and I don't expect it, especially when I'm asleep. But I didn't mean to bite you. So, I'm sorry." He managed to grate out the last few words. They weren't well-spoken, but they were spoken.

Sorrel puffed. "I was doing something nice!"

You're going to be stuck here with Sun longer than him.

Sun interjected, "And you had really good intentions! But some people don't like being touched. You really shouldn't touch people without their say so, especially if they're asleep. Next time, if you're really concerned, you could try talking to him."

The boy stared up at Sun. "I was just being nice."

"I know, my little sunbeam. But Gregory doesn't like it when people touch him when he's asleep. He told you that."

Sorrel looked at Gregory and then scuffed the ground. "Okay. Can I go back to my drawing?"

Sun looked at Gregory, who nodded.

"Sure! Have fun~!" Sun waved to the boy as he ran back to what he'd been doing.

Gregory looked up at Sun. "Are you going to try to put me in Time-Out, now, too?"

Sun put his hands on his hips. "Tsk! For that tone of yours, I should!"

Gregory snickered.

"Aw, no. I'll let you off with a very firm warning. Just don't go biting any more kids, mini-gator, okay?"

Gregory bared his teeth in a grin and adjusted his glasses. "Something about naptime and monsters just go really well together. So, I can't promise much, Sun." With that, he tromped off.