Chapter 196
Home?
At the hotel, Goldy had to wait with the others while Hedy gathered her and Ruby's belongings and Will collected his. She did her best to be completely non-threatening to the ghost staring at her. That included trying to let Alex only sense calm and kind emotional feedback from her.
Ruby stayed in the trailer, instructing Goldy to hold on to her so she didn't bolt when Will opened the trailer to let Hedy out. They would never have gotten her back in. Timmy had disappeared again when they stopped so she'd lost her emotional support ghost child.
"What's taking them so long?" Ruby hissed out, her entire body tense.
Goldy didn't let go of her. She floated slightly so that Ruby couldn't get leverage with her feet. "They might be talking to more police. Hedy will be back soon with the medicine, Ruby. Just hold on a little longer."
She didn't say anything about how the teenager was trembling and she wished they had a better option.
The trailer opened up and Hedy climbed back in with a sour expression and pulled her chair in after her while folding it up. They could hear Will put the bags in the bed of Hedy's truck.
"What happened?" Goldy asked, not relaxing her grip since she knew Ruby too well.
"They went through our stuff. Took pictures," Hedy said. "They got an emergency warrant for Alex and Andre's stuff but the front desk mixed up our rooms and they ended up with our stuff too. I think they're lying and it was an excuse to look through our stuff without a warrant. Mr. Afton chewed them out. He's a little pissed."
That news broke through Ruby's anxiety somewhat and she growled. "If one thing is missing from my stuff then I'm suing."
At least Ruby's main bag had been with them. They'd probably be immediately arrested if anyone saw what was in there. And possibly marked as terrorists.
Will came around the back of the trailer to close the door again as she spoke. "It was feigned incompetence. They knew exactly what they were doing. Nothing they found in your bags will hold up in court."
Goldy frowned. "What did they find?"
"Some of Ruby's explosives," Hedy muttered.
"What? You weren't joking about that?!" Alex asked.
"It was just the, probably, illegal fireworks. Luckily…"
"Hmm, not good at the searching thing then if that's all they found," Ruby muttered. "So some genuine incompetence there."
Hedy just shook her head at Afton when he looked like he wanted to ask. She was almost certain that the building did something to Ruby's bags in general. But trying to imagine it made her head hurt. Physics was a thing that Ruby generally loved to ignore and the building enabled her constantly.
Goldy winced. "What about the sedatives?"
Hedy put the medicine on the bench as she sorted through the smaller bag she brought with her. "I had to call Dr. Cecil to prove the prescription was real. She… uh… she knows something is wrong."
She'd also been very angry that the police wanted to confiscate it when it was a very necessary prescription. A threat to report them for harming a minor had shut that situation down very quickly. Hedy had managed to convince her not to contact Alice or Clint and directed her to Jeremy instead. Cecil wasn't happy. She didn't legally have to respect Ruby's patient confidentiality because Ruby was a minor and Alice and Cecil were the guardians but she trusted Hedy enough to wait.
"Great," Ruby sighed. "She's going to demand a check-up." Which was going to lead to questions about her shoulder. She'd have to come up with a reasonable explanation by then.
Afton closed the door again and they could faintly hear him trying to deflect Andre's questions over his belongings as he climbed back into the driver's seat. He was going to wait for the go-ahead from Hedy before turning the engine on. Hedy was a little surprised by how he just accepted that and didn't ask questions aside from whether Ruby would be alright.
"Hedy," Alex asked as Hedy prepped the sedatives. "Are my parents going to get my stuff?"
"Depends on how fast they close the case," Hedy said honestly.
Alex nodded, staring as Hedy flicked the syringe and looked at Ruby questioningly. Goldy had lowered back to the floor but still had a good hold on the teenager.
"You sure you want to be knocked out this time?" Hedy asked the teen. She wasn't worried about any danger while Ruby was out. Goldy could handle it. And she also knew this was necessary, but she always wanted to give Ruby that choice. She never wanted to force a sedative of all things even if it was logically the best option.
Ruby grimaced as she looked at the needle. "I'm not in a good mental state to deal with the panic," she grumbled. She squirmed to get her arm out from Goldy's hold and held it out stiffly.
Hedy sighed and ignored the disturbed but morbidly curious stare they got from Vixen as she prepped the needle.
The inside of a trailer wasn't the most safe or comfortable place to pass out so Goldy wordlessly pulled Ruby closer until the teen was in a position to fall asleep on her.
She was still more tense than usual. Normally she loved Goldy's hugs. It was a small bit of comfort at least.
She stubbornly looked away from the needle until Hedy was done and it wasn't long before the teen went limp as she was knocked out.
"Humans can be shut down?" Vixen asked, incredulously.
Alex blinked and frowned in confusion at the question.
A small hysterical chuckle escaped out of Hedy's mouth as she texted Afton to let him know they could leave. Timmy cracked a little smile too as he reappeared.
It was a shockingly innocent question.
"In a way," she answered as she tried to make herself comfortable but still able to work. The trailer jerked as they started moving and she only really had her flashlight as a light source to work with. Timmy climbed up to cuddle with Goldy and watch Ruby too. Her ability to keep ghosts solid was passive and Timmy had cuddled with her more than once while she was asleep. They had photos that Ruby had demanded for a scrapbook.
"She's asleep because of medicine," Goldy explained. "Ruby... doesn't handle cars very well."
"...but this is a trailer," Vixen retorted with a frown.
"Vehicles," Hedy clarified. "She can't stand traveling like this."
The fox stared at her. She then scoffed and leaned back against the rumbling wall as her eyes settled on Ruby. "Humans make a lot of things then don't even want them."
Hedy looked at her in pity, which made the fox stiffen. Hedy just continued working on reattaching Ballora's head to the rest of her. The Funtimes were mostly whole and she wanted them as least loosely put together before they got to the pizzeria.
It took approximately ten minutes before Ruby was wrapped around Goldy like an octopus, Timmy also stuck. He didn't mind too much but he also couldn't turn intangible while in contact with her which was a double-edged sword. They'd always known she was a cuddler and there was a reason she liked plushies. But she accepted little ghosts as an acceptable cuddle target too.
Vixen carefully watched the gentle way Goldy took it in stride, petting the teenager on her hair and back like she was soothing a small child or cat as she held the two kids. Her eyes kept drifting to Timmy as well.
There was a loud click that made Alex flinch as Hedy reattached a piece of plating to Ballora's head and immediately moved on to Baby. She ignored Vixen's intense staring.
"Will you wake them up?" she asked the mechanic.
"Not here," Hedy said honestly. "Not in a small space like this." She couldn't imagine that going well, or being safe.
Goldy nodded in agreement. "It would be better to do it at the pizzeria. The building can help."
"Well, I should still probably get them in a state where they can wake up in the first place," Hedy murmured, looking exhausted already as she focused on sorting some wires in Baby's arm. "Six hours, give or take depending on Afton's driving." She sounded like she was mostly talking to herself. "Yeah, that should be enough time to get everyone in one piece at least. I'm not going to suggest moving around much though."
She glanced up at Vixen. It wasn't a clean break for many of the pieces. A lot of casings were ripped and punched through with jagged edges. That scooper really tore them up. The damage was going to take more than one night to fix. A lot of parts needed to be scrapped and replaced. They were going to look worse than Spring or Foxy for a while.
Exactly how often had this happened to them? How often were they ripped apart? How often did they watch it happen to each other?
Animatronics didn't feel pain any less than humans. It just was focused in different places. She had actually asked the day staff about that after the body swap incident. For the comparison. It was just that all the sensations were focused on wires and whatever else got electricity to it. They couldn't really feel the suits, but they could feel pressure on the wires under the suits.
Hedy was having a difficult time imagining the pain the Funtimes would have gone through. It was one more thing that made her sad and angry on top of everything else. She glanced at Alex but quickly looked away before she could start crying again. Now was not the time.
The trip was awkward and quiet. Tense in that way that made conversation near impossible. Unexpected traffic stretched the trip on much longer, which made Hedy very worried about how long Ruby's medicine would last. Her true exhaustion was helping. At this rate it would be dark again by the time they arrived with how early the winter sun had been setting.
Alex didn't offer to help Hedy with the Funtimes anymore and honestly Hedy understood why she'd rather avoid it. Alex just leaned back and closed her eyes. But she couldn't really sleep. Her mind wouldn't quiet.
Absently, she hoped Hedy would try to sleep. She looked exhausted. It was a futile hope though.
She jolted "awake" as the trailer turned into, presumably, a parking lot. How long had it been?
The small space was suddenly more crowded. She looked at the figures slumped over, sitting on the benches near Vixen. One, or two actually, were lying on the floor. The little rabbit animatronic seemed to have the least damage.
Hedy had been very busy. She did all this? The Funtimes still weren't whole in any meaning of the word but there were mostly complete torsos and the plating of limbs strung together.
Ruby was groggily sitting up, and also twitching in a rather unsettling way as Goldy tried to soothe her. Timmy had disappeared as soon as she sat up.
The vehicle stopped, and it was silent for a moment before the door opened.
Afton let out a startled yelp when the teenager almost bowled him over in her rush to escape. She stumbled further into the loading dock area and braced her hands on her knees, muttering to herself about vile death machines. The grogginess from the sedative probably didn't help and Hedy wouldn't be surprised if she was also nauseous. She hadn't eaten properly for hours. She probably should have before the medicine, but they hadn't thought of that.
The loading bay door was closed, but Vixen froze at the sight of two men standing up on the deck. One was taller and standing very stiffly, staring at Will with tightly crossed arms. The other was leaning on the railing, his gaze focused on the trailer. His eyes widened when Ruby burst out, but he ran down the ramp the moment he saw Hedy.
He didn't seem worried about Vixen and the offline Funtimes as he climbed in the trailer. He kissed Hedy on her forehead and cheek as he pulled the engineer into a hug.
"Mike..." Hedy murmured into the man's shoulder as she hugged him back, Vixen watching, a little confused. "Not now. I have to-"
"Doll, just shut up for a minute," Mike whispered, hugging her tighter. He glanced at Alex sadly out of the corner of his eye, before looking outside at Ruby. He didn't let go of Hedy though.
Alex forgot her existence for a moment and really couldn't help cracking a weak grin at the affectionate display.
Hedy relaxed into Mike but still sighed as if she was annoyed, but there wasn't much effort in it. "I need my chair, Mike. I need to get out, eventually."
Mike huffed and pulled away, looking her in the eyes.
Hedy cracked him a smile. "I'm okay."
He frowned and squinted a little. He brushed the hair out of her face and looked even more worried when she looked away from him. After a second, he climbed back out and got her chair for her while Jeremy stayed up on the dock to survey everything.
He let Mike help Hedy for the time being, deciding that he needed to put his attention elsewhere until he was sure everyone was safe. It was a great deal of progress from when he would have pushed everyone else aside to focus on Hedy. He could trust Mike to take some of that responsibility now. He stepped closer to Ruby, watching her carefully as she just breathed deeply for a few moments.
After a minute, he judged it safe enough to move closer, raising an eyebrow at some of the very creative swears she was muttering under her breath.
"I hated everything about that," she finally said, straightening up and looking at him. He was alarmed to see exactly how tired she looked. "Fuck, how do you guys do that every day? Multiple times a day at that!"
He crouched down to pick up the orange shock blanket that had fallen in her flight from the trailer.
"Ignorance," he offered as he held it out. "Convenience."
Ruby scowled, accepting it after a moment and wrapping it around her shoulders. "You're all stupid." He noted she was favouring her shoulder but didn't ask for the moment.
She glanced back at the offending trailer to watch Mike and Hedy talk for a moment after she got settled in her chair.
"At least I missed the sappy reunion," she huffed.
"Lucky," he said dryly before starting to walk toward the others. Ruby reluctantly followed, but she kept a fair distance away from the truck. She just stood close enough to hear the conversation.
"You two are as nauseatingly romantic as ever," she told them.
Mike didn't even acknowledge the words, eyeing the teenager as he tried to judge if she was injured or not. She bristled under the attention like an angry cat as usual but he was worried to note how she swayed on her feet. She was gripping the blanket tightly enough that her knuckles were white. Hedy was watching her too but Mike took his cues from her and she didn't bring it up.
"Guys, this is William Afton and Vixen. Everyone, this is my brother Jeremy and my boyfriend Mike," Hedy introduced tiredly.
Vixen had scooted back a bit in the trailer and was watching the new people with visible fear. Goldy patted her on the shoulder comfortingly but she didn't know if it helped or not.
"It's okay. Mike and Jeremy are nice," she assured. "They won't hurt you."
Mike gave Vixen a two-thumbs-up and a smile while Jeremy rolled his eyes at Mike and waved at Vixen with a polite nod.
She didn't look convinced and Alex was watching everything from inside the trailer, not sure what she was supposed to be doing.
The fox startled badly when the door into the pizzeria slammed open hard enough that it bounced off the wall. Ruby was off like a shot when Foxy stalked through and she hit him at full speed, the fox bracing himself so that he didn't lose his balance.
"Was that necessary?" Puppet asked as he slipped past the two. "We don't want to break the door."
Foxy ignored him in favour of wrapping his arms around Ruby and leaning his head down to talk quietly to her. Puppet left him to it and approached the railing to look out at all of them.
"You were supposed to stay inside," Jeremy called in annoyance. They hadn't wanted the aggression from the bots towards Afton causing trouble with keeping the new bots calm.
"My kid," Foxy growled in response and Ruby let out a weak and alarmingly watery laugh.
Puppet gestured at the pair with his arm. "A futile attempt."
Foxy returned his attention to Ruby almost immediately and murmured soothingly to her. "Hey lass, it's okay. You're okay, you're home."
Ruby mumbled something inaudible against his chest and Foxy held her tight as she clung to him. He hadn't seen her this upset in a long time. The negative emotions pulling her frame tense put him on edge.
After a moment, the fox looked up to scan the rest of them. There was a flash of wary sympathy as he noticed Alex but he focused on Vixen who stared at him like she didn't recognize him.
"Foxy?" Vixen murmured.
He smiled at her and the other fox was floored by just how him his smile was, despite how rough he looked. She was sure he was even missing teeth. She was not expecting to be in better shape than him, even with how Ennard kept them looking 'pretty' for any new visitors before being scooped. What happened to his suit? She jerked forward as if her body wanted to run at him for a hug, but Ruby's presence stopped her.
Her mind ground to a halt when she couldn't figure out what to do. Why was Foxy so affectionate to the teenager? It rubbed Vixen the wrong way, especially after seeing the rage in the human's eyes as she caused the pain Vixen was still feeling throughout her body. What was she supposed to do?
Foxy looked down and said something to the teenager. She didn't react for a moment before suddenly swinging around him and climbing onto his back. She rested her chin on his shoulder and looked content for the moment. The new position allowed Foxy to cross the space between the loading ramp and the trailer to get closer to Vixen while still comforting the teen.
The other fox stepped back, her eyes wide. But not enough. One second she was panicking, trying to get away on instinct, the next she was enveloped by a hug, Foxy's endoskeleton hand clicking against the plastic and metal of her casing. She sagged and hugged Foxy back with a sob, forgetting about the scary teenager inches from her snout for the moment. Ruby just tucked her face into Foxy's neck and did her limpet thing so that he had his arms free to hug Vixen properly. Foxy nudged Vixen's ear with the curve of his hook and Vixen relaxed a little more, the tiny action one more note of familiarity that she had forgotten.
Goldy sighed quietly in relief. She hadn't hugged Vixen because she knew it wouldn't be welcomed, but Vixen had always gravitated to her older brother in a way that Mangle never got the chance to when she was just "woken up." Ruby was showing some surprising growth in being unbothered by it since she used to hate sharing Foxy with anyone.
Puppet watched, some part of him hoping Mangle actually listened and stayed inside with the others to wait. It hurt something deep in whatever facsimile he had of heart that the Toys never got used to this sort of affection when they were so young. He had tried, but he was broken at that point and hadn't given them the attention they deserved. That coupled with the Manager's sabotage of whatever relationship they might have had with the Originals set them up for failure. They were still catching up, no thanks to the man whom Puppet could feel trying to strangle some words out of his mouth.
"… " the faint beginning of some greeting didn't get much further from Will.
Puppet didn't look at the man, pointedly studying Vixen instead, noting the damage Hedy hadn't had the chance to do anything about. That was a lot of oil. His eyes roved over the pieces still in the truck and the young woman's ghost who hadn't moved. Her lack of breathing and stillness made her resemble a corpse at first glance.
There was a growl in the back of Foxy's throat, but he had enough self-control to just glare at the man without letting it out.
"Foxy..." Will murmured.
Before Foxy could bite back and possibly start a fight, Ruby grabbed his snout and pushed it forward. "Hug your sister now, Foxy. Leave that for later."
Puppet did a double-take as the night guard cut the argument off before it could start. That was odd. Usually, she cheered them on or got involved. He shared a look with Goldy, troubled by how pained she looked.
Jeremy took the moment to step between Foxy and Afton to help prevent the fight. And he wanted to talk to the man anyway. He broke Afton's line of sight and held out a hand. "Mr. Afton," he greeted.
Afton took the hand on instinct. "H-hello, Jeremy. You've grown."
Hedy looked surprised, looking at her brother questioningly.
Goldy flinched. She had almost forgotten that Jeremy had been there in the early days, old enough to remember Will and the rest of the Aftons. They never brought it up. She wasn't even sure how much Jeremy could remember.
Jeremy let go. "The others are inside. The Toys and the Originals. I think it's fair to warn you that they're not going to be happy to see you. Are you prepared for that?"
Puppet finally glanced at Will when the man didn't hesitate.
"Y-yes. As best as I can be," the man said quietly. "I didn't really expect anything else."
Foxy gave him a grumpy glare out of the corner of his eye, but he was more focused on Vixen. "Let's get everyone inside, huh?" he asked her quietly, nudging her away from Afton.
Vixen looked toward the pieces of the other Funtimes in worry.
"I'll get them," Goldy assured her.
"What on earth..."
Some of the group was startled by Andre's voice. He was by the car door, looking frustrated. He had probably taken forever trying to figure out how to open the door. He was out at the moment, seemingly not realizing how he exited the vehicle. He stared at Foxy in suspicion and frowned at Puppet.
It was awkward for a moment as everyone waited for him to say something. Foxy looked especially uncomfortable about the new ghosts.
"Mr. Afton, I have some notes about your designs."
Alex covered her mouth to stifle a startled half-hysterical laugh that was the product of both surprise at his words and stress.
"Foxes reign supreme," Ruby muttered into Foxy's shoulder where only Vixen and Jeremy could hear.
"You can't expect me to believe that thing doesn't frighten children," Andre scoffed.
Afton stammered but couldn't formulate a response while Puppet didn't react in the slightest.
Hedy expected Puppet to be more offended. Instead, the lanky bot just stared at the man. It was hard to guess what he was thinking but Hedy almost could imagine Puppet had a mix of both irritation and…pity? He still didn't express much empathy for adults in general so that might have been her projecting. She was usually much better at reading his body language. For once, Puppet's blank face was just that for her.
Someone else was offended regardless of his reaction (or lack of). Ruby planted her hands on Foxy's shoulders to push herself higher.
"Take your opinions and shove them up your ass, Andre. He's one of the favourites in the pizzeria."
She got several disbelieving expressions at the defense, including from Puppet.
"I did a poll. He's third," Ruby continued.
"When did you do a poll?" Foxy asked, thrown off by this new development.
"Two weeks ago. I do them monthly."
"How often do you stuff the votes in Foxy's favor?" Mike asked.
"I don't commit election fraud," Ruby said in offense. "Besides, Foxy came second consistently every month, despite my personal opinion and excellent campaign management."
Goldy seemed just as bewildered by this news as everyone else. She'd never seen this poll so Ruby was clearly being sneaky about it. "Who came first?"
"Freddy. Duh. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. He's got a marketing advantage."
Hedy let out a weak chuckle. She was tempted to ask who came in last but maybe that was a little unfair. BB was the only one who wouldn't be offended if it was him. Spring might pretend he wasn't bothered but he'd be a little hurt.
"Top three spots are usually the same in every survey, although they sometimes switch positions. Spring dethroned Freddy once when we had a large batch of teenagers visiting. Otherwise, he hovers around fifth and sixth," Ruby continued. They weren't sure if she was rambling to try and deal with her own stress or just rambling from exhaustion.
"What on earth are you talking about?" Andre stressed. "Exactly how many of these robots are here?" He asked Afton and the rest of them had to wonder what the conversation had been like between the two during the drive. Exactly what was the explanation Will had given the ghost to explain the trip or why Andre was there?
Hedy and Ruby hadn't tried to come up with a story for him. Maybe that was a little unfair. He seemed so deep in his denial that he might explain anything away in his head. He hadn't mentioned going home or when the job was over. He just seemed to accept where he was. Or just not question it.
"Mr. Gibson," Jeremy spoke up when he saw that Afton wasn't about to answer. "How about you and… Alex." He glanced at his sister's friend. "Head inside and get familiar with the place. It's bigger than it looks."
Hedy had no idea how her brother sounded so calm.
Alex nodded, grateful for some instruction. She climbed out of the truck, unsteady as if she expected to just float away, which was fair.
Andre looked irritated that his questions weren't being answered but he followed, skirting around Puppet and the foxes as he walked up the ramp to the loading door.
Alex stopped at the door, staring in a bit of frantic confusion. She didn't know what to do.
She yelped and jerked back as the staff door opened on its own. It definitely wasn't electric or automatic.
Andre walked through, not even registering it as strange, like he thought it had been open the whole time. He did cast Alex a confused glance though before he was out of sight.
"Hedy–" Alex sounded like she was about to cry again.
"That's the building," Hedy explained. "It won't hurt you. It's just trying to be helpful."
It didn't look like that comforted the poor woman at all, but she reluctantly headed inside. Goldy followed after them to help out. The look she shot Puppet very clearly said 'play nice'.
Ruby dropped back to her previous position, trying to hide the wince. She shouldn't have put that much pressure on her shoulder.
Goldy reappeared. "I told the others to keep them busy by introducing themselves." She put a hand on the crate with Ennard. "Where am I putting her?" She would have liked to get the Funtimes and little bots inside first but the sooner the building could help contain Ennard, the better. She frowned. "And am I letting her out inside?" She didn't sound pleased with the idea.
"No," Ruby said immediately. "Just put her in the guard office. I'll deal with her there and she won't be able to scream at anybody. Just keep any of the ghosts away from her. I'll explain later."
The box was still eerily silent.
"She'll get her introduction to everyone soon enough."
Goldy nodded. "The others?"
Hedy swallowed. "Put them in the main room for now. No wait, the Toys' room. We don't want the little ones running outside."
Goldy nodded in agreement.
"Should we help?" Mike asked.
Vixen shifted as Foxy looked at her questioningly. After a moment she nodded and let go of Foxy to head back to the trailer, Foxy following with Ruby still clinging to his back.
Mike and Jeremy stood there patiently.
Vixen picked up what looked like half of Baby's torso and handed the large piece to Foxy who accepted it carefully then backed up to give the guys room. Ruby seemed determined to just exist as a human backpack and not help at the moment.
Hedy watched Vixen sort through the other Funtimes parts for a minute before she finally picked up a pair of limbs and hesitantly placed them in Mike's waiting arms.
Mike grunted and had to readjust his footing, shocked at just how heavy the pieces were. Vixen and Foxy held them so easily they looked as light as a small child. Jeremy jerked forward to help in case Mike was about to drop the pieces. Foxy shifted but he was already holding something and didn't want to jostle Ruby off.
"Don't drop them!" Vixen snapped at him, fear bleeding in along with a growl at the man. Being dropped wouldn't cause much more damage but she was feeling paranoid.
"Sorry," Mike said automatically, through his teeth. "I think, uh, I can only carry one."
Vixen was immediately distracted by the lack of fear from the man. She'd never growled at a person without them being frightened. Except for the insane teenager but she was clearly an exception.
"I got it," Jeremy said, reaching to take one of the body parts while trying not to necessarily think of them as body parts. "May I?"
Vixen nodded hesitantly with a worried glance at Foxy who just nodded assuringly.
Jeremy also looked shocked as he and Mike split the weight. The arm was larger than a human's but he still had to cradle it. "Hedy! How in the hell do you do this?" He was surprised Mike hadn't immediately dropped the two arms. He must have been close because Mike looked relieved.
Foxy snorted as Hedy rolled her eyes. "She doesn't exactly carry us around."
"I've seen her pick up Chica's arm to reattach it!" Jeremy said, looking at his sister in shock.
Hedy rolled her eyes again. "First of all, Chica's arm is mostly foam. Second, leverage. Third, I ask someone else to help when I can't lift something myself. They're all a lot stronger than you think. Even BB. You haven't seen him crush old baking pans Frank was throwing away and play with them like play-dough. I had to get on his case about him cracking the plastic on his hands doing that."
Jeremy and Mike both looked a little frightened by the image.
"You should get those inside before you get tired of holding them," Goldy said, having returned to get the crates of the little bots.
That was a good idea so the guys headed inside, sweating by the time they got up the loading ramp. They were going to have to make a few trips.
Hedy looked surprised as Vixen held out most of Bon Bon to her.
"Bon Bon liked you," Vixen muttered quietly before turning away to hand out more pieces.
She gave Goldy Ballora and Fred's torsos at some prompting because Goldy could just teleport and just needed to touch the pieces to take them. Then Vixen handed Will Baby's head, but immediately took it away because of how obviously Will struggled despite trying to hide it.
Will looked a little dejected at the reminder he was older and hadn't exactly been taking care of his body for a long time. He used to be able to lift all these parts on his own, only the torsos requiring some assistance. He was handed a box of smaller pieces, which he still accepted readily.
After checking that Vixen was handling her chosen task, Foxy headed inside with Ruby and his piece, Hedy following and Will silently trailing far behind.
Puppet stayed with Vixen so she never had to be alone, even for a minute.
Foxy was back a minute later without the girls or Will but with the men and another face whom Vixen hadn't seen in years.
Mike and Jeremy held back for a moment at Freddy's request.
"Hello Foxy," the bear said with a little smile, clearly addressing her despite Foxy standing beside him.
Vixen looked at him for a long moment as if she couldn't believe it was really him, just the same as Goldy, Puppet, and Foxy. "Freddy…" she greeted him. She allowed him a hug, though not as tightly as Foxy. She immediately felt a little guilty that she hadn't let Goldy hug her yet. That probably hurt the yellow bear a lot. Vixen just hadn't been able to handle it yet. Even letting Freddy hug her felt strange and depressingly unnatural. But not necessarily unwelcome. She just wasn't used to it. None of them were used to being touched anymore in a way that didn't include pain. "Don't… tell them… but the kid's nickname is growing on me…" she admitted awkwardly.
Freddy didn't mind and let her go after a moment and hummed as Puppet snorted in amusement. "Heh. Don't call her a kid in front of her. She gets mad. And her name is Ruby. The other girl is Hedy. She's Scott's niece. And I'm glad. W–Mr. Afton did a terrible job naming us."
Vixen leaned back and looked at him in confusion. "Since when did you call Will 'Mr. Afton'? We only did that when there were customers."
Freddy paused and glanced at Foxy who just scowled while Puppet didn't react. "He's been gone a long time. This is the first we've seen him in almost 20 years. He left us not too long after you were sent away."
Vixen blinked, noticing how Puppet subtly clenched a hand at Freddy's words. She had figured out something like that had happened, but it was hard to believe and she wasn't expecting it to be such a long time. "It's… it's been twenty years?" she asked quietly.
Puppet stilled. "You didn't know," he stated, bothered by the news despite managing his tone. "About seventeen since most of us have seen him. Twenty since we've seen you."
Vixen looked down as she thought about the news. How old was she now? Did she count the three years Will had her and the others off? "Our clocks broke. Or got fried." She shrugged shakily. "I didn't realize it's been so long. Will… he really never came back?"
"No," Freddy said, a short response letting Vixen know he didn't really want to talk about it but knew she deserved an answer. "A lot happened. We'll explain inside when the others are awake. There's a lot."
Foxy snorted. "That's an understatement."
Vixen looked down.
"What's wrong?" Freddy paused, then huffed apologetically. "Sorry. A lot's wrong. What specifically right now?"
Vixen glanced into the trailer guiltily. "Does everyone really want to see us?" she whispered. "We… Freddy w-we did a lot of bad things…" She crossed her arms and tucked her hands away as if to hide bloodstains no one else could see. "I…"
"We know," Freddy said gently. "You had to hurt people. Goldy told me. We'll tell the others. She told you what happened with Scott?"
Vixen flinched and nodded, still not looking up. "I'm not sure I actually believe it…" She scoffed in pain.
"Hey, look at me, " Freddy said firmly but still gently. "We understand. I know you don't believe it but you aren't responsible for whatever… whatever Lizzy made you do. You had to survive."
Vixen didn't respond. She looked at the last few silent pieces of the other Funtimes. "This is it…" she picked up half of Fred's face and held him close in comfort. She looked past Freddy and Foxy at the doors, realising that she had been putting off going inside and facing everyone that was apparently waiting for her. She had stayed outside the entire time, accidentally taking charge of handing her friends to others to carry inside. She hadn't even thought to look at the sky. She looked up, catching a glimmer of a few stars.
Freddy and Foxy took the last of the large pieces. "Jeremy and Mike can get those boxes," he said, gesturing at the few old, water-stained cardboard boxes Will and Hedy had to use to store the smaller pieces like stray wires, eyes, pieces of hands, and other pieces that would get easily lost if not put in a container.
Vixen nodded and moved out of the way to let the two men by, who moved when Foxy gestured that they could come closer.
Vixen followed behind as they all went inside. She hesitated at the door but stepped through to stay close to Foxy. She shuddered involuntarily. What on earth was that? Her side and overly strained joints suddenly didn't hurt as much and she noticed that Freddy and Foxy seemed to move with a little more energy and Puppet walked a tiny bit faster. It was freaky but she wasn't sure what to make of it. "Are you the police officer?" she asked the back of Jeremy's head.
"Yes, I'm a detective,"Jeremy said with a nod without looking back so he didn't trip and accidentally drop the two boxes he was carrying.
"What kind?" It was a little surprising she knew that there were different departments. She was very young when the Funtimes were sent away to their location. The Toys hadn't really known anything beyond 'policeman' and the word meant nothing good to them.
"Homicide. Murders," Jeremy said. "Sometimes missing persons."
No one interrupted as Vixen struggled with something during the short walk to the Toys' room. She forced out her words, frantic to speak before the others could hear. "There were a lot of technicians…" she said. "I… I don't know how many. But I know what some of them looked like. Can you… find out who they were?"
"I can try," Jeremy said honestly, just a little surprised by the request. "I don't know how far I can get. It's not my jurisdiction and it will look suspicious if I'm not careful. I don't want to draw too much attention until it calms down."
Vixen nodded. "Ms. Hedy… uh… your sister. She said she didn't want her friend to go missing. But there were others and I just thought…" she trailed off. She shrugged a little.
"No, I understand," Jeremy corrected. "I would love to give people looking for them closure but we can't risk you guys getting in trouble. I just haven't figured out how to get around that yet." He hesitated. "Scott is still technically missing. He hasn't been gone long enough. Hedy and I have been trying to get him declared dead but it hasn't been long enough and we need to provide a judge with either proof of death or reason we believe he's dead."
Foxy and Freddy shared a surprised glance while Puppet shifted his weight as he continued walking. Neither of the siblings had mentioned this.
"We had to back off. I think they thought we were trying to get his stuff or helping him commit fraud somehow." Jeremy couldn't help but chuckle. "I know Scott put us in his will but no one knows where it is. Not sure what he would have left for us anyway. He didn't have anything."
Vixen stopped walking for a second. "What do you mean he doesn't have anything?"
The others paused to look at her, even Mike who was curious to hear more about Scott.
"He just didn't," Jeremy said. "His whole life was this place. He just had an apartment and a car, both of which are gone."
"But he…" Vixen just sounded confused, but she could hear voices nearby now. "Nevermind…" She debated telling the man to check with Will. She was sure she remembered something. But it was so long ago and it wasn't like she knew very much back then, but she remembered another member of her group helping Scott with some confusing paperwork that just came naturally to that animatronics. She didn't know what became of him or the other Funtime that never got to "their location." She didn't want to think of how much she missed them either, even if they had annoyed her in different ways. She still missed that.
Will would probably know about those papers.
Jeremy and the others looked confused but didn't press her. Now wasn't the time. Foxy headed into the Toys' room and beelined for Ruby after placing the part he was carrying down on a table.
Vixen was very confused. She knew what it looked like when Foxy cared about someone and he very obviously cared about the crazy little teen. She was sitting on a table and answered something Foxy said with a shrug. He didn't look too pleased with the answer but didn't say anything else, turning his attention back to the room at large.
Most of the noise was from the Toys who couldn't stop asking questions despite Hedy promising that they'd get explanations soon. It got awkwardly quiet for a moment as she entered and Vixen found herself checking on where Foxy, Goldy, and Will were in that order.
Five.
She flinched. She was used to just counting the humans, lots of practice allowing her to ignore the little bots in their boxes. Will was in the room, along with the four other humans. He was quietly standing out of the way and close to a door as he looked through the parts and wrote in a notebook. He was drinking in the sight of his bots although he couldn't look most of them in the eye. The others in the room either stared at him or ignored that he was there. She immediately knew where Ruby was too. The teen tiredly watched her while leaning against Foxy again.
Vixen was rudely jerked out of her thoughts as something pink and white and very loud got in her face.
"Hi," a smaller fox who looked very similar to her said, her tail swaying. She stood on her tiptoes to look at Vixen snout to snout. "I'm Mangle."
Vixen really couldn't help it, already off balance from someone she didn't know so close to her face. And her teeth. "The fuck kind of name is that?" She was pretty sure this was Toy Foxy. Seriously though, "Mangle" sounded like a very unfriendly name.
Some of the bots sounded startled by her response. Might have been the swearing.
"Mine," Toy Foxy/Mangle replied with a grin. She scowled and glared at Foxy as he laughed. "Shut up."
"Not until you can swear," Foxy retorted, still grinning. "Which means I'm gonna be laughing for a long time."
Ruby cracked a smile as well although she looked a smidge more sympathetic than the fox.
Mangle growled and turned back. "Still unfair!"
"Stop encouraging her," Freddy scolded Foxy.
Mangle ignored him. "Now the real question is which one of us had the color design first," Mangle said with a friendly tone. She pointed at Vixen's speaker in her chest, about to poke it in curiosity.
Vixen stepped back and snarled. "Me. Will shut us down and took a break from us to work on you. I remember seeing your pieces in the shop."
Mangle sobered at the mention of Will. But she was ecstatic that Vixen actually answered her. "Shoot, I'm jealous now. I want creepy extra face pieces."
Vixen blinked then squinted, confusion crossing her face, unsure if she should be offended or not. "Creepy!?"
Mangle just smiled but there was a hint of mischievousness in her eyes.
"Wait, we're still the youngest?" Toy Bonnie spoke up from across the room. He actually sounded upset.
"That's a stupid question, Toby," Toy Chica said dryly. She looked mostly resigned.
"You want to be the middle child?" Mike asked. "Trust me, you're better off as the babies."
"Eh, I don't know," Ruby mused. "Being the oldest means you win all the arguments usually. Better logic."
The confusing conversation and Vixen's internal debate on whether to ask Mangle to get out of her face was interrupted. Her head snapped to the side when she heard more footsteps and the rest of the Originals walked in.
"Hey go to your own room," Toby automatically complained without the heat it used to have.
Bonnie rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
Chica was watching Vixen with wide eyes. "Oh no…" she mumbled at the sight of all the parts in vague groups around the room. She jumped as she noticed Will in the midst of them and immediately looked away.
"BATTERIES!" BB shot into the room, making Vixen jump in fright.
Ruby frowned then patted her pocket, her gaze suddenly turning dark. "BB you little shit!" she shouted. "Give me my cellphone battery back!"
The others looked shocked. How the heck had he managed that? Puppet was a little concerned how BB was able to pick-pocket her in the short time he was in the room before he had run off to fetch the other Originals. Also, how had he managed it at all? Ruby usually caught him before he could.
No doubt the little bot was trying to make Ruby feel better in his own way. But she was wound too tight to appreciate it. She moved to get up but Foxy stopped her and they had a whispered argument briefly.
BB stopped in the middle of the room, the cellphone battery in one hand as he stared up at Afton.
"Hi?" the bot sounded so uncertain for once it made Hedy's heart ache as she turned her attention away from Baby's head to watch the exchange.
"Hello Balloon Boy," Afton said softly, hesitantly as he knelt down. "Are you still stealing batteries?" He looked tense and uncomfortable with all the staring. He hadn't even been able to process what happened or the fact that his dead daughter was somewhere in the building.
"Yeah. I have a lot now. The building lets me hide them. But it also throws a lot out when they start to leak. It's annoying."
Afton struggled to find something to say for a moment. He glanced up at the ceiling, looking utterly confused and concerned, then back down at BB. "I told you the acid can really damage you."
"...Okay, but that makes them more fun to collect."
"You're not still trying to eat them are you?"
"That's what he does with them?!" Mike blurted out.
BB scoffed. "I don't," he told Afton.
"Oh. Good..."
BB glanced at everyone who was being awkward and hostile. "The building is alive. That's what I meant when I say it hides them and throws them out. I forgot you didn't know."
"What?" Vixen asked.
Afton opened his mouth, although he did not know what he was going to question first. Then he decided better of it and rubbed his face wearily. "What next..." he whispered to himself, probably not intentionally aloud.
BB tried his hardest not to wince, knowing Hedy and Ruby probably didn't explain a lot to the man.
Like Michael and Timmy. Or all the night guard deaths.
Hedy shifting out of the corner of his eye and how Will was still standing (for now) kinda implied that.
"Give me my phone battery back you, little gremlin. I have to call Alice," Ruby's voice broke the tense silence.
"Before the building does it for you," Foxy said dryly. That had happened once. Ruby had consoled the bot for an hour and scolded the building. It was a fifty-fifty on whether the place actually listened to those scoldings.
BB froze for a moment before he dutifully walked away from Will and towards Foxy to hand Ruby her battery. She didn't look too annoyed anymore as she took it back.
"Nice pick-pocketing," she told him. "You're getting better."
"Stop teaching him," Foxy muttered under his breath.
Will slowly stood back up.
"Right..." Hedy muttered. "We can deal with the tension later. Right now, Afton needs to help me get the Funtimes back together. I want them awake before the day shift get here so we can get them calmed down and in a room."
Leave it to Hedy to work to avoid feelings.
Vixen glanced at her. "A room? You're not… separating us."
"Of course not," Hedy said earnestly.
Vixen stared at her for a moment before taking her suggestion seriously. "Let the minireenas and bibybabs out." She looked out at the mess of parts, recognizing that a lot of it was mixed up despite the efforts of the others as they brought it inside. "This is their job."
Ruby hopped off the table and strode across the room to wordlessly undo the latch on one of the crates, dragging Mike with her to get the other one. Foxy trailed behind, clearly in hovering mode.
The bidybabs practically threw the lid off the second there was any give and glared at Ruby as they climbed out, immediately running to Vixen while staring at the strangers in the room.
The minireenas were a little more curious.
"U-uh can I get some help here?!" Mike asked, a little panicked as at least six of the minireenas immediately climbed up his clothes and started inspecting him.
Hedy frantically snapped a picture with her phone.
"Aww," Chi cooed. "They're so little!"
"They're not really dangerous but one did stab Hedy," Ruby told him helpfully, making no move to help.
Two minireena ran over to study the Toys while a couple more looked at the Originals.
One got a little too curious and stuck her little hand in Mike's mouth which startled him and made him accidentally jostle a couple of the bots off his arms as he jerked back and spit out the little hand that tasted like wood and dirty machine oil. They squeaked and ran for Vixen like startled cats.
"Hey!" Vixen scolded. "No touching. Come here. It's time to work."
Suddenly more subdued, the entire gaggle of minireenas came over to Vixen, looking at her for a second before turning their attention to the parts.
One stayed behind to stare up at Vixen.
"New home?"
"...Yes."
The minireena shifted, looking nervous about the idea. "New." She pointed at the large group of strangers, half of whom were cooing at her. "Good?"
"Yes."
The minireena looked unsure. "Fix too?"
Vixen hesitated for a moment. "No. You don't need to fix them. And you don't need to work on the others alone anymore either." She pointed at Will. "He made us. The big ones. He'll help."
The minireena shifted looking at the very quiet Will for a moment before looking at Hedy. "Technician?"
"Yes?"
"Nice. She help. I hurt but she helped." She raised her hand and waved it as she pointed at Hedy.
"What?" Vixen asked, very surprised the minireena was requesting Hedy's help. She knew the mechanic was going to help with or without the little bots' approval but she was surprised at the willingness. "What do you mean you hurt?"
Hedy spoke up. "I think she was the one who snuck into my bag yesterday. We found her in our room. I accidentally scared her and she stabbed me with a pen."
Vixen stiffened, looking down at the minireena. "You left?!"
The minireena eeped and ran away toward the parts and the other little bots.
"Oh no you don't!" Vixen moved fast and snatched up the little bot, making Alex who was hanging out in the doorway jump and duck out of the room in fright. Vixen held the squirming little bot. "Did Ballora know?" she asked sternly.
Minireena whined and shook her head as she uselessly tried to pry at Vixen's fingers. "No…"
"What if they hadn't been nice? Hmm? What if you couldn't get back?"
"Got back before!" Minireena complained, while the others were watching a little nervously. Foxy looked ever so slightly amused by something.
"Because Ennard brought you back when she was done outside!" Vixen said, very stressed. "She could have left you!"
"Wait what?" Puppet muttered, a little worried at the implication that Elizabeth could have left that place and had done so.
Goldy was frowning in even more concern. Unlike Puppet, she had actually seen what Ennard was capable of, not to mention how she looked.
Vixen and all the little bots flinched and looked very freaked out for a second.
"Ennard made a suit…" a Bidybab whispered. That was just more confusing.
Vixen didn't say anything for a moment before she knelt to put the Minireena down but held her still by her tiny shoulders for a moment. "Listen. Listen very closely. You cannot leave. You stay here with Ballora. You do not know this place. It is not safe to leave. It's never been safe to leave but more so now. No exploring. Understand?"
"Technicians?"
"People. Humans. Technicians are humans but not all humans are technicians."
"People bad?"
Vixen hesitated.
"Sometimes," Puppet cut in, stepping closer. "But the problem is that a lot of people aren't going to know they can hurt you and can do so accidentally or steal you away so you can never come back. There are other ways you can get hurt."
The minireena looked back at Vixen who nodded. "Okay." She looked at Puppet. "Why you have our face?"
"I'm older. Yours resembles mine," Puppet said, not really sure either.
"Okay," the minireena said before squirming away and running to help the other little bots, grabbing a piece and dragging it to another pile.
While they had been talking, the little bots had been shockingly efficient in sorting the parts, Will so stunned that he just had to stand there and stare.
Hedy felt a little useless and like she wasn't welcomed yet with how focused the little bots were. They clearly knew what they were doing. They didn't ask for help.
It was a curious sight for almost everyone in the room. Bonnie looked very ill from all the twisting metal and wires though. It was bringing up very bad memories but he wasn't willing to run off yet. Will's presence that hadn't been acknowledged yet did not help.
Ruby had a carefully blank expression. The others knew she was bothered by the sight. She never liked any of the bots looking wrong. She held out for a few minutes before turning and heading over to the Originals, subtly ducking behind Bonnie and talking to them. Chica gave her a hug which was still a privilege that only the Originals had. She allowed hugs from Mangle occasionally and initiated them with Spring, but that was all really. Foxy stayed behind although he did glance at Ruby to make sure she was with the others.
"Vixen," Hedy prompted. "Can I check your side while they're… busy?"
Vixen looked down at the massive dent in her side that was still slick with black oil. She took a small step away. "I'm fine. Baby needs to wake up first."
Hedy wasn't sure if she should insist or leave Vixen alone for a little longer. The damage was making her nervous. The bot was walking crooked and Ruby always looked so guilty every time she had to look at the fox. She wasn't happy with herself for losing control and being too rough with the bot.
Baby's parts were almost completely in place in the shape of a whole body despite how disconnected everything was.
One of the bidybabs let out a frustrated noise and looked around. Before anyone could ask what the problem was, she walked over to Hedy's bag and opened it without asking.
Toby was expecting the little bot to be swiftly corrected with a sharp tap from a wrench.
"What are you doing?" Hedy asked, surprised by the lack of respect for property or personal space.
"I need a thingy," the Bidybab said without looking at her. She pulled out a screwdriver that was the same length as her arm.
"Please ask to use my tools," Hedy said.
"Then you help," the Bidybab said rudely.
Hedy looked at Vixen for confirmation, then Afton. Afton was just confused while Vixen just stared at her a little blankly.
The Bidybab shouted as Hedy followed her and snatched the screwdriver away. "Hey! I need that!"
"You can have it in a second," Hedy said. "But you need to ask for it. You can not take my things without permission."
"Why not?"
"There's no other reason needed besides it belonging to me. You can't take things that aren't yours without asking."
"We take all the other technician's stuff. They don't need it anymore. We need it."
Alex made a weak noise that Hedy had to ignore for a moment. All the bots shifted uncomfortably at that comment and exchanged glances which Vixen couldn't help but notice.
"Grab my bag," Ruby murmured to Toby who was the closest to where she'd left it on the table.
He was quick to comply. The little bots getting in her bag would be much more of a disaster than a scolding from Hedy. He passed it to Bonnie who handed it over to Ruby. She started fiddling with the zipper to improvise a lock.
"We're going to have to toddler-proof the place," she told them, sounding a bit annoyed at the prospect.
Bonnie considered saying that they had done that before, but mentioning when they did so for toddler Hedy would inevitably bring up that Puppet probably had to have done the same thing when Ruby was around as a toddler. That was some added tension and discomfort they didn't need.
Jeremy found the idea funny, especially after he and Amelia had run the gauntlet of doing the same for the twins. He didn't mention that though or else risk being dragged into the little-bot-proofing project.
Meanwhile, Hedy and the Bidybab were in the middle of a staring match. BB looked between them nervously. He'd had this lecture multiple times before it sank in.
"It's still mine," Hedy said. "I take care of my tools. I bought them. They are mine. You need to respect things that belong to other people."
"But I need it," the Bidybab said angrily. Looking at the mess that was Baby and the other bidybabs who were watching the exchange. "You don't want us to fix her."
"I do," Hedy insisted. "I would let you use my tools if you asked first. But you can't be expecting me to hand them over. I can say either yes or no and you have to respect that. So let's try this again. Please ask if you can use my screwdriver."
The Bidybab didn't move. "That's what it's called? That's a stupid name."
"Bidybab," Hedy said firmly. "I'm not budging on this."
"Then you're stupid like all technicians," Bidybab said, she glanced pointedly at Alex.
Foxy let out a quiet growl at the words that startled all the little bots. Vixen had learned it from somewhere after all.
It made the Bidybab second guess her words. Glancing around showed that no one in the room agreed with them. They ranged from disapproval to discomfort to anger. Even Vixen looked upset, which was bizarre to her.
Hedy needed to recover for a second and she couldn't look at the ghost frozen in the corner.
"I want to let you fix the others because it's clear you know what you're doing," Hedy said, taking all her willpower not to sound angry. "But I will do the work myself if you're going to be stubborn about this and I promise you, you won't be able to even touch my tools if I don't want you to."
"You're going to do it wrong," another Bidybab spoke up from the small group still slowly working. She sounded more nervous about the idea but annoyed like the other Bidybab.
"I would like your help," Hedy said.
The thief Bidybab just glared at her. Then in a burst of speed, she lunged for the screwdriver, scaling up one of Hedy's wheels and about to swipe the tool and run.
Hedy just let go of the screwdriver and the Bidybab shouted in shock as her hand grasped thin air. The momentum carried her over Hedy's lap and she hit the ground hard with a heavy thud.
Hedy just looked at the little bot as the screwdriver dropped out of nowhere from the ceiling to land in her lap. "Don't try that again, please," she warned seriously.
Mike looked both mildly disturbed and equally amused. His girlfriend could be very scary when she remembered she had a nearly all-powerful entity at her beck and call.
"Oof, Hedy pulled the building into it…" Chi muttered with a wince.
Ruby glanced at her. "That Bidybab is lucky the building didn't deal with it first. It's upset." That was all she said and Goldy nodded quietly.
Hedy and Ruby were upset, and the building didn't like that. There was a reason Foxy warned BB earlier. They expected that the building would be a bit trigger-happy in trying to 'help'. Ruby was pretty sure Hedy had asked for this specifically to avoid a minor disaster. Hedy's warning to the Bidybab was for the bot's own sake.
"Foxy!" the Bidybab cried, confused about what happened and frustrated that she (and by extension all the little bots) wasn't getting her way. This was what they were supposed to do!
Vixen shifted. Morals were not something she and the others really had the luxury to teach the little ones. It was very hard to explain why stealing was wrong when their only access to tools was those left behind by those unfortunate enough to come along. "No. She's right."
The Bidybab looked shocked. "What?! But w-we need to work!" Her voice wavered, the worry and fear she had been hiding breaking through the attitude she had put up. She couldn't understand why Funtime Foxy was agreeing with the technician. It didn't make sense. Nothing was making any more sense.
"Then apologize and ask for the tool. And she might still let you use it."
The Bidybab's frustration didn't abate. "But…" she trailed off, looking back at Hedy.
Vixen was quiet for a second, thinking. To the others, they were probably seeing defiance. But the fox could see that the little bot was considering it, but genuinely didn't know what to do. "You say this. 'I'm sorry for taking your screwdriver without permission. May I please borrow it?' Just like that."
Will had a distant expression, possibly remembering when he had to do something word for word to explain the same thing to one of the bots. They were always too intelligent and too fast for their age. Too much intelligence and complicated emotions but not enough experience in how to handle it at first unlike a human who had more time to gradually figure it out. He was staring at Vixen in a little bit of awe. Maybe some pride too.
The Bidybab shifted. After a minute she made a decision and Vixen bit back a groan of defeat and tipped her head back in exasperation. She couldn't expect them to roll over and listen on the first try. They were too much like Baby.
"No," the Bidybab said, crossing her arms.
Hedy huffed. "Fine. Thank you for putting Baby's parts together. Mr. Afton and I can finish helping her. You can keep putting the others together as far as you can get without tools if you want."
The other little bots were looking at the Bidybab, seemingly having decided that she was speaking for all of them. They reluctantly stepped away from Baby as Hedy came closer. The minireenas looked more uncertain but they followed the bidybabs as they turned their attention to Ballora, a few of them going to Fred and Bon Bon.
Foxy moved to stand next to Vixen and she was immediately suspicious of the smug smirk he was sporting.
"What?" she asked.
"Karma."
She stared at him in confusion.
"I still vividly remember when you stole those cards from Bonnie and wouldn't give them back. Karma. You're getting a taste of what you put us through back then. And you were the worst. Baby at least listened to logical arguments. Your argument was 'But I want it'."
He was still keeping an eye on what was happening as Hedy got working, but that was only out of habit. He'd long since started trusting Hedy when it came to their maintenance. Despite his own, very reasonable in his opinion, aversion to it.
Vixen looked offended but she just rolled her eyes and scoffed at Foxy. She felt a little warm. She had forgotten about that. It was nice to allow herself to remember something from the past without it being another reminder of something taken from them.
Hedy huffed as she got up to get out of her chair and onto the floor. She should have made them put Baby on a table first, then she studied the table legs that barely could hold the Originals and decided she was better off on the floor.
"Ms. Fitzgerald," Afton spoke up, making some of those in the room stiffen. "Is there a specific task you would have me direct my attention to at the moment?"
She looked up at him in shock. "Uh…?" Why was he asking her? These were his bots. Didn't he want to supervise her? What if she did something wrong? Someone else spoke before she could sort her thoughts.
"How about you leave? You're good at that."
Afton flinched as if slapped.
"Great. Here we go. Thanks, Mangle," Teddy muttered in irritation.
"Mangle," Hedy immediately snapped. "Not now."
Mangle shrugged. "Now. Later. Doesn't matter."
"It kinda does," a voice said from the door. Afton let out a choked gasp at the sight of Spring, eyes wide in horror at the damage and discoloration, unaware that a good portion of it was cosmetic after all the work Hedy had put into the rabbit.
Spring was standing just inside the doorframe, mostly out of sight behind the others. He arrived late, having been busy dealing with putting a very upset Kitty in her carrier at Goldy's suggestion when she brought the little bots in. "Being rude right now doesn't help the bots who are hurt. It's just a distraction."
Mangle turned on him. "You don't even care! The rest of us aren't lucky enough to forget him." She snapped her mouth shut, regret flashing across her face as she stepped back.
Spring just looked at her, his face twisted in hurt.
Even Jeremy couldn't hide the way he winced at the words and stared at Mangle.
"Spring. I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like…" Mangle trailed off with a panicked look at Goldy who just quietly looked at her in disappointment.
"Mangle," Ruby snapped this time, warning in her voice. "Not. Now. Your anger can wait. The bots in pieces come first. Take your anger out on Spring again and I don't care how forgiving he is. You'll be dealing with me and I don't have the patience or energy to be nice."
Which translated to 'I'm tired and upset, please stop'. That resulted in all the Originals shooting glares at the youngest fox, especially when the lights flickered above them.
Mangle backed up until she was against the back wall and wouldn't lift her eyes off the floor. Goldy swallowed back her anger and floated over to murmur quietly to the fox, hand on her shoulder in comfort.
Spring didn't say anything, just staying in the doorway although Puppet did take a step closer.
Hedy looked at them in worry, regretting that she really didn't have time to comfort Mangle or Spring (or any of the other bots that were probably just as upset). She looked up at Afton who was completely still and not looking at anyone.
"Mr. Afton? Uh… I can probably work on Baby if you help the little bots start on Ballora or Fred."
"Ballora," Vixen interrupted, shaking her head. "Fred is always last. And Bon Bon has to be before him." She said it with some warning like there was a very important reason for that. "I'll start on Bon Bon and Fred. Don't touch them."
Afton looked concerned but nodded instead of asking. "Very well. We should move them to the tables."
Hedy shook her head while she started on some wiring in Baby's face, before deciding to at least attach the mostly whole legs to the torso before anything else. "They're too heavy for these tables. I tried to have Foxy and Bonnie sit on one together and it collapsed."
Chica couldn't help the small snort as Foxy and Bonnie looked annoyed and embarrassed. It had been made worse by the fact that both Hedy and Ruby had also been on the table and the girls both got up with some nasty bruises and their lives flashing before their eyes for not the first time.
"Hedy?"
Vixen flinched at Alex's quiet voice.
Alex looked anxious as all the attention shifted to her. She felt like an interesting bug under a microscope. The mix of pitying and wary looks from the animatronics was especially disturbing. "Is… is there something I can do?" she pleaded.
Hedy looked at her friend, worried. "I could use extra eyes on the wiring again?" she suggested. "If you're sure… "
"I'm sure," Alex said firmly as she walked straight over. "I have to do something or I'm going to go insane." She laughed weakly, almost sounding like a sob.
She didn't like how Hedy flinched at her choice of words and the animatronics looked uncomfortable.
Hedy moved over so Alex could crouch beside her. The two of them began to quietly work, discussing things in hushed tones and ignoring that only one of them could touch anything.
"Hedy, this is the family reunion from hell," Alex whispered.
Hedy just huffed and spliced some wires together, not having the heart to tell Alex that this was not the worst they were probably going to get that night.
The rest of the bots and Ruby just watched, some unsure what to do, others just unwilling to leave even if they weren't doing anything.
Mike was debating whether he needed to create a distraction while they waited. The Main Room was still clear but whether the bots and Ruby would agree to a movie while they waited was a completely different question. He looked to Jeremy for a cue but the man was sitting on the Toy's stage reading his book again, positioned so that he could see the entire room if he looked up. Mike sighed.
After a minute, Afton had done his assessment of where to start with Ballora. He got up from his crouch and bit back a groan as his back protested. "Ms. Fitzgerald, I might need to borrow your equipment if you don't mind." He glanced at the sulking Bidybabs, hoping to set a good example.
"If I have what you need," Hedy said without looking up, focused now as Alex gestured at a connection she missed. "I don't have all my stuff right here. There's more in Part and Services."
Afton hesitated. "And where…" he trailed off.
Hedy ignored his hesitation. "Puppet knows where I put specific tools. Mari, suck it up and show him how I organized Parts and Services." She had the advantage of being able to ask the building to drop something next to her if she needed it. She couldn't distract herself by doing it for Afton every time he also needed something specific.
"Excuse me?" Puppet asked, warningly.
Hedy looked up and glared directly at Puppet without a word. He stared back.
The Toys knew he was going to lose.
"Very well," Puppet ground out. He looked at Will stiffly. "Follow me."
"Marionette–" Afton started.
Puppet spun on his "heel." "No. Do not speak to me. I will show you Hedy's tools. You will watch. You will listen. You will not say a word to me." He didn't even sound angry. Just deadpanned.
Will nodded and followed as Puppet turned and left without waiting for him.
Hedy watched. "Someone go make sure Puppet doesn't punch him in the face," she said dryly. "He's going to end up with two broken hands." She was still pissed knowing that Puppet had been carefully not using one arm very much the last couple of weeks, still probably broken from when he slammed it against the wall after Afton called.
"BB?" Ruby murmured softly. He was the most likely to immediately snitch and Puppet knew he couldn't talk the bot into staying silent and claiming that Afton tripped and fell on his face or something.
The little bot always liked when he was the one asked to do something so he trotted off after them eagerly.
Ruby leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling with a grimace. Her appetite had disappeared immediately once she was inside the building but she still felt sick if she looked at the Funtimes and she knew she needed to eat something. She was just worried she'd throw up again while watching the spaghetti show going on. Bonnie was keeping an eye on her while Spring was focused on Hedy. Everyone was worried over the two.
No one was willing to leave though.