Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I… do not come up here anymore. I miss him…”

Gregory looked up at the small stage in the corner of the ice cream parlor in the bowling alley, where thick red drapes had been pulled closed. A sign explaining that this “attraction” was closed and that Fazbear Entertainment apologized for any inconvenience was posted on a small metal stand in front of them. “What used to be here?” He asked as he turned to look up at Freddy, who stood with a sizable gap between himself and the stage. “Who is he?”

“His name was Bonnie.”

“Oh! The purple rabbit guy on the signs for the bowling alley?”

“Yes. He was… a very close and long time friend of mine. We used to perform together. In fact, he was the original bass player for the Glamrock show before Monty took over.”

Gregory frowned, “Why did they replace him?”

Freddy shook his head a little, frowning. “I… do not know. He was quite popular with the kids and performed very well with the rest of us. Chica knew him as long as I did, so they got along very well. He even grew on Roxi and they would play together after hours.” He glanced away, out towards the lanes of the bowling alley. “Then one night, he just disappeared, and no one could tell us what happened. Monty was introduced to take his place in the band soon after and everything continued as though nothing had changed at all, but the band did not feel the same after that.”

This knowledge didn’t sit right with Gregory. It was strange that Bonnie just disappeared and was suddenly replaced with Monty, without any sort of warning. He supposed the management of this place didn’t feel the need to explain to animatronics what was going on, just expected them to follow instructions and perform. Before he met Freddy, he would have agreed with this mindset, but now the bear felt far too human to be brushed off and treated like an object. 

Looking back up at Freddy, he saw how sad he looked, his eyes gazing unforced at something far away. It made Gregory press his lips together as his heart sank. “I’m sorry, we can leave. I didn’t know this place held bad memories for you.”

Startled out of his thoughts, Freddy blinked and looked back at him, then smiled, even if it didn’t quite light his eyes. (Figuratively speaking, of course. His eyes always glowed.) “On the contrary, I have many fond memories here, but… I suppose that is why being here makes me sad. I wish it was not so. Oh, but do not apologize! You were unaware.” He knelt down as his chest panel opened for the boy, and waited patiently as he crawled inside before standing. “Where to now, superstar?” He asked as he headed towards the exit.

Gregory shrugged in the limited space, half in the conversation. “I don’t know. I guess we can check out one of the arcades, maybe find those Princess Quest games.”

“Understood!”

After a moment in his thoughts, Gregory spoke up once more, “Hey Freddy? Do you think Bonnie is still around here somewhere? I’ve seen lots of endoskeletons down in the basement and in Parts and Services.”

“I… do not know. It has been quite some time since I last saw him. If he has not been recycled, then I fear what his condition will be like from lack of updates and maintenance.”

The boy hummed in thought, but was quiet the rest of the trip to one of the many arcades in the complex.

Chapter Text

Gregory found himself wandering through the halls of the expansive pizzaplex by himself, flashlight in hand. He had separated from Freddy to explode the arcade located near the dance floor, where he did in fact find one of the Princess Quest games, located in the back. Beside it had been a cardboard cut out of Bonnie in some kind of pirate get up, and it reminded him of what Freddy had said before about the rabbit disappearing so suddenly. After setting it upright, because leaving the cutout on its side just felt weird, Gregory descended to the lower levels of the complex to see if he couldn’t find the bun in question. He didn’t tell Freddy where he was going. He didn’t want him to tag along. A hopeful part of him wanted it to be a surprise if he did manage to find Bonnie, but if he was destroyed or mistreated, he didn’t want Freddy to see his friend like that.

Trying to stay in a positive mindset, Gregory first ventured into the basement where he had seen all the endoskeletons before. He didn’t like it down here. The last time he was here, they all came to life and it became the most deadly Red Light, Green Light game he had ever played, but thankfully they were still as he quietly entered the area. He would just have to be careful not to startle them. 

As he walked around and studied each one, he started to realize how impossible this task was. If Bonnie was one of these naked endoskeletons, there would be no way he could tell. It wasn’t like they were branded with the name of the animatronic they belonged to. Turning his attention to the many offices and storage closets, he searched for any clues that might mention the bun. Maybe there was a log stating which one of the skeletons was Bonnie, if any. Unfortunately, he didn’t find anything helpful. What notes he did find were just about miscellaneous stock and maintenance reports. None of them mentioned the rabbit. 

Gregory frowned and did one last, slow sweep of the room to make sure he didn’t miss anything and to double check the skeletons didn’t actually have name tags on them. He wondered why there were so many of them, if there were only four animatronics walking around. Did these used to be animatronics in past attractions or from different locations? Some of them did look pretty old. Deciding it didn’t matter, Gregory left the basement as quickly and carefully as he could. Unfortunately, if Bonnie was one of the many haunting forms in the darkness, there was no way for him to tell just by looking at them and there were no records in the area. He would just have to hope the rabbit was somewhere else.

His next stop was Parts and Services. He took the stage lift down, deep into the complex, then stepped through the first set of double doors. This was yet another place he didn’t like for several reasons. He could still hear Moondrop’s haunting laugh as he stalked the halls and see him dragging Freddy away like a hungry spider. Gregory shook his head to rid it of the images and instead focused on his self-appointed mission. 

He first explored the halls and offices just outside the actual work area, which was an absolute mess. Honestly, how did such a big company function like this? It was so disorganized! He did find work orders for the four main animatronics in one office. Monty came in for a broken hand a few times, making Gregory wonder if that was what prompted them to upgrade him with stronger claws. Chica was in a few times for having food gunk up her internal systems, which didn’t surprise him. He even found one for Freddy, who required a paint touch up after a child colored all over him in permanent marker, but so far, no mention of Bonnie.

“Come on, man…” Gregory grumbled as he shoved another filing cabinet draw shut. “There’s gotta be something. Even if they decommissioned him, you’d think there’d be a work order for scrapping parts or something…” Sighing, the boy left the office and trudged to the next one, which was even worse than the last. “Honestly, the things I do for other people…” 

The boy was in his sixth folder filled with reports, now wearing two band-aids around his fingers from where he had been sliced by papers (one with Freddy’s face on it and the other with Chica’s.) He lazily flipped through the reports, quickly glancing over the words for any mention of the rabbit in question. He blinked slowly as the words blurred together, but an alarm went off in his head when a capital B zoomed by. Gregory sat up quickly and flipped back, eyes wide. He scanned the last few pages and sure enough, Bonnie’s name was on one of the reports. “There he is!” He cried. “Holy shit, I was starting to think he didn’t even exist.”

WO 385023: BONNIE BUNNY

Location: Storage Cell 6

Reason for Visit: Repairs

Condition Status: Poor

Problem Areas: Both hands are mangled and unusable, complete replacement recommended. Eyes and area around them appear to be shredded, replacement recommended. Voice box completely crushed, replacement recommended. Chest cavity and arm shells appear to have several dents in them, replacement not required, can be hammered out. One ear needs to be reattached, but seems in good condition. Paint touch up needed in several places.

Notes from Attendent: Someone found Bonnie mangled up in the back areas of the Monty Golf attraction, poor thing. They said they don’t know how he got there or what happened to him, they just found him stuffed in a closet. He’s in pretty rough shape. Not sure if management is going to want to pay to have him fixed. They might just install the bass playing talent in Monty and call it a day. I’m going to do what I can though. I grew up watching Bonnie play, he’s a classic! Can’t just let him rot away down here.

Gregory’s eyes scanned the paper’s details like a starving man would look over an all you can eat buffet. “Cell 6?” He looked up. “Where’s cell 6?” The boy yanked the page from the folder and folded it up to stuff into his pocket, then hurried out of the room. He remembered seeing small rooms off to the sides of the main repair one, where he found Freddy after Moondrop took him away, but he hadn’t been too keen on checking them out, worried he might get attacked by some broken animatronic. He vaguely realized that this could still be a possibility as he cautiously approached the area with his blaster out. The red light at the end of it casted an eerie glow over the area.

“I’m too nice of a person…” He grumbled quietly to himself as he peered into one of the windows of a cell as he searched for cell six. “For all I know, Bonnie could have gone crazy down here and will kill me the moment I step in the room.” He moved to the next cell and peeked into the window, finding it empty. “If I don’t get the biggest thank you for this, I’m never doing anything nice again, I swear.”

Gregory made his way through the cells carefully, all of which were empty so fair. He did find one where the door was locked, but the side wall into the next cell has been smashed to pieces, which sent a new wave of dread and fear down into his stomach. Thankfully, it was not cell six, so hopefully that meant it hadn’t been Bonnie. 

Some of the numbers on the walls were missing and once again, Gregory wondered how this place functioned like this, but if the way the numbers were running was any clue, then six would be on the other side of the room. After some exploring and a moment to pause and read a few papers he found, Gregory finally found a door with a number six over the top of it. He bit his lip nervously and peered into the window. Inside, slumped against the wall, was the purple rabbit he had seen on posters and cutouts. He was a little different than the cartoonish depictions of him, a little slimmer and more defined. He wore a colorful striped vest with 80s style shoulder pads, a black bowtie, and a studded band around one arm. He had a blue star painted over one eye, one ear, and on the arm the band wasn’t around. There were also a few studded piercings in his ears and a single hoop on one. However, regardless of how colorful he was, he looked like he had been through hell and back. The vest had tears in it and Gregory could see several dents in his chest, arms, and one in his face. In quite a few places, paint had been carved away to show the gray metal underneath. His hands and eyes were indeed gone, but it looked like the attendant who made the work order had managed to put his ear back on. Other than that, it didn’t appear as though much had been done to fix him. Maybe management didn’t approve the repairs after all and he was forced to be abandoned.

Gregory frowned as he looked at the state Bonnie sat in. It honestly looked like he had been attacked, and last he checked, kids couldn’t tear into metal like that, or rip off limbs, or gouge out eyeballs. What the hell happened to this guy?

“Ok, Freddy said he hadn’t seen Bonnie in a while.” He started to murmur to himself. “So that must mean he’s been down for the count for a while, which should mean he doesn’t have any power, so he shouldn’t be able to attack me.” He swallowed hard. “That’s just a theory though…” He watched Bonnie for a long moment, waiting for any sort of movement or spark to show the animatronic was still functioning, but he sat absolutely still. So after taking a deep breath, Gregory entered the room.

Cautiously, he made his way towards the bun. His body was as tight as a rubberband, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. When he was close enough, he reached out a slow, shaky hand to poke his shoulder, then snatched his hand back and stumbled away, expecting the animatronic to come to life, but nothing happened. Gregory sighed, letting out a breath he had been holding, then approached again. He poked Bonnie a few more times, then slowly relaxed when it was clear he wasn’t active. 

“Well… alright then. Off to a good start I guess. At least I found him. Now let’s see…” The boy pulled out the work report to look over again. “It says he needs new hands, eyes, and a voice box. Where am I supposed to get these parts?” He glanced back up at Bonnie, then to the list. He remembered seeing reports that Chica, Roxi, and Monty all got new parts, just the parts Bonnie needed. He was originally thinking he could maybe give them to Freddy so they could get to closed off sections of the complex, but maybe he should give them to Bonnie instead. If he was a friend of Freddy’s, maybe he could help them figure out what was going on around here. That was… if Bonnie didn’t try to kill him the moment he turned him back on. 

Gregory tipped his head back and groaned, before shoving the list back into his pocket and leaving the room. “I guess if Bonnie does try to murder me, I can just crush him and take the new parts to give to Freddy anyways.”

Chapter Text

Gregory figured he would tackle Chica first. Not that there were many “good options” when it came to this kind of thing, but she did seem like the easiest to manipulate, with her frightening love of food. He figured he could maybe lure her into the trash compactor in the kitchen with some pizza or ice cream and activate it. With the way she destroyed the pizza attendant the one time he got locked in a security office, it was clear she was crazy for it. Gregory was pretty sure the animatronics didn’t need to eat anything, so he wondered if it was a bug in her programming or if it was an oddly human quirk she picked up all on her own.

Heading back up to the bowling alley, Gregory hurried to the ice cream parlor, ignoring the attendant behind the counter as he made a beeline for the back door. If they were storing ice cream up here, he bet it was in the back. No way would they just keep it out front after hours. (Though with how dumb the people running this place was, he wouldn’t be surprised.) 

It didn’t take him long to find the freezer, but he wasn’t sure what flavor he should pick. Did it matter? Did Chica have a preference or a dislike? He frowned as he studied the containers, then did a double take when he saw a tub with a note attached to it in the back corner. He moved a few to pull it forward and read the note: 

“Under no circumstances will the Monty’s Mystery Mix be served in the ice cream parlor or anywhere else in the building. Chica has developed a glitch that causes her to go haywire if she detects its present. All Mystery Mix should be destroyed in the appropriate manner. Thank you, Management.”

Gregory blinked at the note. “Well that’s convenient. Also, why didn’t they just fix the glitch in Chica instead of getting rid of the ice cream?” He wrapped his arms around the tub and pulled it out, then shut the door with his butt. “I’m like ten and even I know that’s an ass backwards way of doing it.”

With his prize in hand, the boy hurried back to the kitchen. If what the note said was true, Chica would quickly know the ice cream was out, so he had to be quicker. Sneaking around the security bots was easy, though nerve wracking with the ice cream slowly melting in his arms. He didn’t want to waste too much time with them. Once at the compactor, Gregory pulled off the lid and chucked it inside, his heart racing. For a vague moment, he wondered if this was what it was like to pull the pin out of a grenade.

“Do I smell ice cream?” 

Gregory’s head whipped up at the sound, astonished Chica had arrived so quickly. Had she been nearby or were her senses just that sharp? Either option was terrifying. Scrambling out of the compactor, he dove under a table next to the activation button and waited, holding his breath. Soon he could see Chica wander over, pause to sniff around, before looking into the compactor. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the open tub and she dived in to devour it without a care for the bags of garbage she was stepping on. Quickly, Gregory grabbed the remote and fumbled with the buttons, looking for the one that would activate the compressor. 

However, at this moment, a security bot was moving by and caught the movement. It turned its flashlight into the cubby and alarms went off. Gregory dropped the controls and froze, staring up at it with large, surprised, and horrified eyes.

“There you are!” 

The boy saw Chica had turned her attention from the ice cream to him. He let out a scream and darted out of the cubby, then towards the door. Chica’s heavy footprints thundered behind him as he stumbled and slid across the tile floor. His feet almost came right out underneath him as he tried to take a turn too quickly, but he put his hands on the ground to push himself forward and just managed to dodge Chica, causing her to hit the wall. He pushed through the double doors and ran down the hall, looking desperately for a place to hide now that he broke her line of sight, but as he turned another corner, he ran right into her waiting hands. He let out another scream and tried to turn around, but she snatched him up by his arms and lifted him off his feet, turning him to face her. “Your parents are looking for you!” Chica sang to him sweetly, her head jerking to the side sharply.

“Let me go!” Gregory shouted as he struggled against her, feeling a fire raise in his chest. He made it this fair and he wasn’t going to be caught now. He didn’t know what Chica was going to do with him, whether she was going to take him to that mean security guard or just off him herself, but neither option sounded great. He had important things to do! Not only was he trying to escape, but he had to find out what was going on here, had to save Freddy, and now had to save Bonnie. Dying here was not an option.

Chica giggled and turned to start carrying him down the hall. The entire time, Gregory struggled until he felt bruises forming on his biceps. He looked around the hall, then did a double take when he saw Chica pass an open electrical panel on the wall. An idea popped into his head and with his mouth set into a determined line, he kicked Chica as hard as he could in the chest with both feet. This startled her into dropping him and stumbling back. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he rushed back towards the panel and grabbed a large wrench laying near it.

“That wasn’t very nice!” Chica turned back towards him, holding up her hands, poised to grab him again. Gregory turned and held up the wrench like it was a baseball bat, widening his stance. The animatronic gave one twitch, before she was rushing at him. The boy gripped the wrench hard enough to cause it to bite into his palms then as soon as she was in position, he swung it as hard as he could. The sudden force knocked Chica off balance and sent her careening into the open panel. As soon as her metal body hit the wires, she screeched and lit up like a Christmas tree, sparks flying everywhere. The lights in the hallway even flickered. Gregory’s eyes widened as he took a few steps back and dropped the wrench. Eventually, Chica’s body dropped to the floor and she leaned back against the wall. Her head was lulled to the side as her eyes flickered, then dimmed.

For a moment, all Gregory could do was gulp down air and stare at her. This was not how he thought he was going to decommission Chica. Also, why was that electrical panel opened with live wires showing? He supposed it didn’t matter now. Chica was out of the picture and he could take her voice box. Cautiously, Gregory inched closer and stared at her beak. He hoped the shock didn’t fry the part he needed. His fingertips just brushed the piece when light came back to Chica’s eyes. Quickly, the boy darted back as he gasped and fell on his butt.

“System restarting. Please wait.” A voice sounded from the animatronic, though her mouth never moved. A moment later, Chica sat upright and blinked a few times. The brightness of her eyes adjusted up and down, before settling on somewhere in the middle. She lifted a hand to her head as she frowned and looked around. “Where am I? Is it showtime already?” She asked, then paused when she saw a terrified Gregory in front of her, small tears forming in the corners of his eyes. She gasped and lifted her hands to her mouth. “Oh my stars! Are you alright, dear? You look absolutely terrified! Were you separated from your parents?” She then paused. “Wait, it’s after hours, the pizzaplex is closed. What are you still doing here?”

Gregory stared at her, feeling as though his own brain was having a system reboot. “Wh-what?” 

“Are you hurt, little boy? Lost maybe? Oh definitely lost. These back walkways are off limits to guests. How did you get back here?” Chica frowned and put a finger to her chin, then shook her head. “No matter! I can help you to the main office, where we can wait together until the doors open at 6am.” She shifted her feet underneath her to stand, then moved forward to help Gregory up, but as soon as she did, the boy let out a cry and darted back, holding up an arm to protect himself. This startled the chick into stepping back, her eyes widening. “Darling, what’s wrong? Are you scared of… me?” She knelt down again and held up her hands, smiling. “You don’t need to worry! You will be absolutely safe with me. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”

Gregory’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. Not going to hurt him? Did she forget about chasing him just now? Carrying him off to his doom? Actually… The thought caused him to pause and really look at her for a moment. Chica was definitely different now. She wasn’t twitchy and deranged looking, but instead seemed genuine, like Freddy did. He glanced back up at the open electrical box, then back at her. Had the shock reset her completely? 

“Or we can just sit here until you feel comfortable enough to move.” Chica shifted to sit on her butt and wrap her arms loosely around her knees. “What’s your name, little boy? You don’t seem to have a guest profile.”

“I-I… I’m Gregory.” The boy stuttered out as he cautiously shifted his knees underneath him, so he could make a quick exit if this went sour.

“Gregory! What a nice name you have. It’s very cute. Did you have fun today in the pizzaplex, Gregory?”

“To be honest with you, this place is a fucking nightmare and I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Chica’s eyes widened and now it was her turn to gap in surprise. “I- you… That isn’t a word little boys should be using!” She then frowned. “And I’m sorry to hear you didn’t have fun.” She leaned back and looked down as her chest cavity opened. She reached inside and produced a colorful, pinwheel lollipop then held it out to him. “Here, have some candy. Everyone loves candy. Maybe I can make your experience here fun and enjoyable before you have to leave in the morning.”

Gregory eyed the dessert cautiously, before slowly reaching out to take it. He glanced between her and it a few times, before studying the treat to make sure it didn’t look rotten or poisoned. The packaging around it was still sealed, so he opened it and gave it a curious lick. It was delicious! An explosion of fruity flavor across his tongue. He felt his jaw ache from how quickly his mouth filled with saliva and eagerly took another lick. He glanced back up at her to find her smiling. Curious and a little bit more relaxed, Gregory looked at her fully. “Do you… not remember anything that just happened?”

Chica frowned and tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“You were just chasing me and then you grabbed me and started carrying me away.” The boy pushed up his arm to show already darkening bruises. 

Upon seeing these marks, Chica gasped as her hands flew up to her mouth. She looked absolutely horrified. “I… I did that to you?” Gregory nodded. “No! I-I couldn’t have! We’re programmed not to hurt guests! I…” The light in her eyes flickered as she glanced away, sometimes changing color. “My memory bank is corrupted. The last thing I remember was tonight’s performance and… Oh! Freddy! He collapsed on stage!” She looked back at him. “Do you know if he’s alright?”

Gregory studied her as she spoke. This was completely different from the zombie that was chasing him before. That version couldn’t rub two brain cells together. This one seemed much more organized and genuine in how she acted. Maybe the shock to her system did reset her and break her free from whatever had come over her. “Yeah, I think so. I heard that Parts and Services has him on reduced power until they can figure out what’s happening with him, but he seems fine to me. I’ve been with him most of the night and he hasn’t had any episodes or glitches.”

Chica sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall. “Thank goodness. He scared all of us pretty bad when he went down like that. It’s just so unlike him, you know? He’s always on us about our regular check ups and updates.” She was quiet as she rolled her thoughts around in her head. “Well, if you’ve been with Freddy this whole time, then you’ve been in good hands. No one is better with kids than his is. Well, no one but Bonnie but… Bonnie isn’t with us anymore, so…” She glanced off, looking sad.

The mention of the bun caused Gregory’s eyes to widen. He had completely forgotten why he had searched Chica out in the first place, because he needed a voice box and was going to take hers. Well, that option was off the table now because Chica seemed to be back to normal, and he would sort of feel bad to smack her over the head and take it now. He groaned and threaded his fingers into his bangs to tug.

“What’s wrong? Are you ok?” Chica asked.

Gregory frowned at the ground. “Well, it’s funny you mention Bonnie, because uh… well I found him in Parts and Services.”

The chick’s eyes widened as she shot forward. This caused the boy to flinch back and raise his arm again, letting out a cry. Quickly realizing her mistake, Chica scooted back to press her back against the wall behind her. “Sorry, sorry! I-I didn’t mean to, I just got… You said you found Bonnie? He’s in Parts and Services? Are you sure?”

Gregory nodded as he eyed her cautiously, then dug the paper out of his pocket to hold out to her. She gently took it to scan, light shooting out of her eyes to run over the surface. “Oh Bonnie…” She sniffled, then hugged the paper close to her chest as she closed her eyes. Gregory was shocked to see what looked like tears coming from her eyes. Just how life-like were these animatronics? She wiped her eyes and looked down at the paper again. “Oh you poor thing. I can’t believe he’s been right under our noses this entire time, and in such poor condition. I wonder what happened. It must have been so traumatic to experience this kind of damage. We’re built to withstand quite a bit, you know. I wonder how it happened…”

The boy nodded again as he took a small lick of his lollipop. “Yeah, I noticed. I’m uh, I’m trying to put him back together. Freddy sounded really sad talking about him earlier so I figured it would be a great surprise.”

Chica’s eyes lit up as she looked at him and leaned forward a little. “Let me help you, please! Bonnie is my friend too. All three of us go way back. We were all in a band before this gig, ya know. We’ve been together as long as I can remember.” She smiled softly for a moment as she glanced away. “Of course, Bonnie and I never had what he and Freddy did. Those two were soulmates, I’m convinced of it.” She paused and looked back at Gregory as she chuckled. “Which sounds pretty silly, given we’re just animatronics, but we feel too, ya know? We’re more than just a pretty metal shell that can dance and sing.” She looked back down at the paper.

Gregory frowned at this and pondered her words. Nothing about this place made any sense to him, especially the animatronics. Why make them so life-like if they were just to sing, dance, and attend birthday parties? He could maybe understand giving them problem solving abilities and being able to think, but this was on a completely different scale. It seemed to him that they felt genuine emotion, had real wants and desires past what their programming told them. This place just got more and more disturbing the more he learned about it. 

“So,” Chica started, causing Gregory to come back to the real world and look up at her. “It looks like Bonnie needs some replacement parts. He’ll need new eyes, hands, and a new voice box.” She smiled at the paper, then at the boy. “Well lucky for us, I just had my voice box upgraded, so my old one should still be somewhere in Parts and Services. It’s still good! The one I have now can just reach better pitches and volumes. Bonnie doesn’t sing on stage, so we don’t have to worry about the sound range.” She held the paper back out to him then carefully stood up. She leaned over, placing one hand on her knee and held out the other towards Gregory. “I can help you find it. Please, I want to do everything I can to get Bonnie up and running again. I miss him dearly and I know he would move mountains to do the same for us.”

Gregory leaned away when she stood and eyed her hand, then her face warily. She simply smiled and tilted her head. If this was an act to get him, it was very convincing. Eventually, he sighed. “Fine, but I don’t completely trust you yet.” He told her as he carefully took her hand and stood.

“I understand. If what you said about me chasing you and acting crazy is true, then I can’t blame you. I’ll just have to work extra hard to make up for it.” Chica held his hand lightly, so he could pull it away if he wanted to, then started for the exit.

Chapter Text

Walking around with Chica was different than Freddy. The bear was loud and clunky, and the ground shook under his feet when he ran. Plus, he was kind of a himbo. Really nice, caring, and protective, but definitely a himbo. Chica, however, was smaller than Freddy. Her steps were quieter, lighter, and she seemed to have more grace. Gregory wondered if it was a programming thing, because all the endoskeletons he had seen so far all looked the same. 

As they made their way to Parts and Services, Chica lightly held his hand, swinging it a little bit, and hummed one of the show tunes quietly. When Gregory had finished the lollipop, she gave him a few fun sized chocolate bars to munch on, which he eagerly accepted, after making sure the packaging was intact. He hadn’t eaten all night. Maybe he could squirrel away a pizza or something at some point.

“Here we are!” Chica declared as they walked into to Parts and Services through her back entrance door, raising one of her hands in a flourish. “Now, give me just a moment to find that part. I’m not entirely sure where they put it, but there’s a backroom where they keep stock of parts that break more frequently.”

When she let go of his hand and moved to the side of the room, Gregory followed. “I’ll help you look.” He told her. Honestly, he didn’t want to be left in this creepy room by himself, even if his trust in Chica was only at a 25%. Plus he figured two sets of eyes were better than one, and maybe he could find replacement eyes and hands back there too.

“Oh you’re such a good little helper, aren’t you?” Chica smiled and gently patted his head. Gregory grumbled under his breath about being patted like a little kid and ignored the pleased spark caused by praise that tried to form in his chest.

The pair ventured into a room Gregory hadn’t seen before, one tucked back in the corner and with a security clearance he didn’t have yet. Inside were boxes of parts and with, once again, no rhyme or reason to their placement. Gregory glared at the boxes like they had personally offended him before starting to dig. He found lots of scrap metal pieces, screws, bolts, spar hinges, cans of oil… lots of small things. There were a few that had bigger pieces he didn’t recognize, and asked Chica about them, to which she would explain to the best of her ability. 

It was the chick who found the part they were looking for first. “Ah ha! Found it!” She cried from where she was hanging over the side of a large metal container, the top part of her torso completely inside it. When she pulled her head out, she knocked a few random parts to the floor, but didn’t pay any mind to them. She hopped down and held up the small gray voice box she had been searching for to show the boy. “See? Just like new!”

Gregory reached out to take it and study, turning it around in his hands. “Wait, if this is your old voice box, does that mean Bonnie is going to sound just like you?” 

Chica laughed and waved a hand. “Don’t be silly, sugarcube! We all have our own voices. The box just takes the programming input and outputs it into the correct wavelengths.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Gregory studied it a moment longer before looking around. He grabbed a box off a shelf half full with parts and dumped it out onto the floor, because why not? It’s not like this place was organized. He placed the voice box inside then looked up at Chica. “That just leaves the new hands and eyes. Did you see any while you were digging?”

Chica frowned. “No, I didn’t… Oh! But Roxi just got new eyes not too long ago. Maybe she knows where her old ones are and we could use those! We should go ask her.” At the mention of finding Roxi, Gregory paled as his eyes widened. The chick looked surprised and quickly held up her hands. “No, it’s ok! Don’t worry! Roxi just looks really tough and mean, but she’s actually really nice.”

“Uh… y-yeah, about that… I think there’s something wrong with her, and Monty too.” Gregory paused. “It was the same for you until you got zapped.”

Chica’s eyes widened as she lifted a hand to her beak. “What do you mean? What’s happened to them?”

“I don’t know, but every time they see me, they try to catch me and hurt me.”

“What? B-but that’s impossible! We’re not supposed to hurt guests!” Gregory just shrugged at this, causing the chick to frown. “Something must be wrong with their programming, a glitch maybe.” Chica put her hand to her chin and hummed. “What happened to me earlier? What happened between my wild behavior and what I can remember?”

“Um… Well I knocked you into an open electrical box and you got shocked pretty bad. After a few minutes you started to boot back up and you were like this.”

Chica snapped her fingers and smiled. “That’s it! It makes so much sense! A hard reboot can reset several systems and knock out most glitches! Maybe that’s all the others need to feel like themselves again.”

Gregory frowned, “But how are we going to do that?”

At this, the chick paused, then frowned too. “I’m not sure… Oh! Maybe we can ask Freddy! He knows this place like the back of his hand. If there’s a place with enough power to shock the daylights out of our friends, I’m sure he’d know.” She giggled. “He’s a bit of a worry wart like that, knowing where all the dangerous places are so no one goes near them.”

The boy sighed, “That sounds right. Ok, let’s head up to the lobby and give him a call. I don’t want him to come down here and see Bonnie.” He pointed at the other with a firm look. “And don’t mention anything about this either. If Freddy asks why we’re together, just say you came to your senses and you’re helping me look for stuff.”

Chica grinned and gave him a mock salute. “Yes sir! You can count on me, sugarcube.” She told him, then slowly her smile faded, until she looked a little unsure. “Ah, actually, before we leave… Where is Bonnie? Can I see him?”

Gregory nodded. “You don’t need to ask me. I’m not your dad.” He pointed behind him with his thumb. “Come on, I’ll show you. He’s in cell six.” The child led the animatronic out of the back room and across the expanse of the repair area to the small holding cells. He opened the door to Bonnie’s cell for her and watched as she paused in the doorway. 

Chica lifted her hands to her mouth as she stared down at her friend, her eyes watering once again.  Slowly, she entered the room and knelt down beside him, then placed her hand against his jaw to lift his face so she could see it better. “Oh Bonnie…” She murmured in a watery tone as she lifted her other hand to the other side of his face. Tension grew in her shoulders as they rose up and her head lowered. Quiet little sobs came from her form as it started to tremble ever so slightly. Gregory’s eyes widened at this, completely taken aback by the emotion she was displaying. Chica shook her head then wrapped her arms around Bonnie to pull him from the wall and hold close to her. “I’m so sorry! You were here this whole time, broken and alone, and we didn’t even know! How many times did I come down here, walk past these rooms, walk past you? A-And I had no idea! I’m so sorry…!”

Gregory watched quietly from the door, turning to almost hide against its edge. He felt like he was intruding on something very personal here. If there was any doubt in his mind that Chica had changed due to the shock to her system, it was gone now. She may be an animatronic, but that was raw emotion she was displaying. It showed in her body language and her voice, she felt real sorrow at seeing her friend in the state that he was in. She truly felt guilty for never finding him here, sitting right under their noses this whole time. Gregory glanced back at the Protective Cylinder in the middle of the room where he found Freddy with his head detached. It wasn’t that far away. Sure this cell’s door and window were sort of tucked into the corner, the last in the row, but it could be seen from the work area. The boy felt dread at the thought of the kind of sorrow and fear one could feel at being so close to salvation, to their friends, and never being able to do anything to get their attention. He now hoped Bonnie was indeed offline since he was damaged and he had no idea what had been going on around him.

After a few moments, Gregory heard Chica sniffle and looked back into the room. She had carefully set Bonnie down on the floor so he was laying on his back, rather than being slouched against the wall, and was now wiping her eyes with a napkin. She sighed and tucked it away in a different compartment in her thigh, then looked back down at the rabbit. “Don’t you worry, we’re gonna get you fixed up.” She told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “And I’m gonna find the bastard who did this to you, and make them suffer.” Gregory shrunk back at the tone her voice shifted to, almost a growl, a deadly one that left no room for doubt as to if she meant her words or not. He was very glad that the tone wasn’t turned on him, and hoped it never would be.

Chica took a moment to collect herself before getting to her feet. Gregory backed up as she stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind her. When she looked down at him, he shrunk back a little nervously, but she gave him a little smile. “Sorry to startle you, little one. I guess seeing Bonnie like that after all this time of not knowing what happened to him really got to me.” She frowned as she looked back through the window. “You were right not to bring Freddy down here. Seeing Bonnie like this would destroy him, and… there’s no coming back from that kind of corruption, that kind of… heartbreak.” 

Her chest expanded as she simulated a deep breath, then finally turned away from the cell. “Right, ok. Let’s go top-side and find Freddy. We’ve got work to do.”

Chapter Text

Once in the main Lobby, Gregory used his Fazwatch to contact Freddy, who came hurrying over in the same loud, clunky manner he did. The sight honestly made Gregory smile a little. It was nice to see something so… normal after everything that just happened.

When Freddy saw Chica, he paused in surprise, but had no time to say more than her name before she was hurrying forward to give him a hug. “Freddy! You’re alright!” She then pulled back to punch him hard enough in the arm that he stumbled to the side and grabbed the offended limb. She pointed at him and glared halfheartedly. “Don’t scare me like that! You just dropped on stage like that and it really scared the stars out of me! What am I going to do if you just suddenly stop working? What if they replaced you?” She punched him again and earned a sound of protest from the bear. “Unforgivable!” She turned her back to him and crossed her arms, putting her beak up in the air. “I’m not talking to you for the next five seconds!”

Freddy’s mouth moved like he was trying to form words, but nothing was coming out. He looked to Gregory for help as he rubbed his poor arm, but the boy was just grinning ear to ear like the little shit he was. “Chica, I-” Freddy started as he looked back to her, but didn’t get to finish before she was turning to throw her arms around him again in another hug.

“Don’t do that again, ok?” Chica said in a quieter voice this time.

The bear finally softened and hugged her back. “I apologize. I have no idea what came over me before, but I assure you, I am operating at satisfactory levels. The low battery volume is… unfortunate, but nothing that cannot be worked around.” He pulled back to put his hands on her small shoulders. “And you! How are you feeling, my friend? You seem different now, a good different! Much more like yourself than before.”

Chica smiled at him and nodded. “Yes, I’m much better now, thanks to your little friend here.” She looked down at Gregory. “From what he’s told me, I wasn’t acting much like myself before, but a sharp shock to the system caused a complete system reboot and flushed away whatever glitch was causing me to act like that.” She frowned as she looked back up at Freddy. “I hope I didn’t cause any trouble.” Gregory glanced off to the side and rose his brows as he crossed his arms, which still ached a little from when she had grabbed him and tried to take him away.

“Nothing that time cannot heal, my friend.” Freddy told her with a smile then looked down at Gregory. “This is wonderful! With the three of us, we should be able to discover what has been going on around here. Perhaps the glitching is related to that.”

“Speaking of glitching.” Gregory spoke up as he looked up at the bear. “Chica and I were talking and we think we might be able to knock the others out of their murderous rampage with the same kind of shock I gave her. It was a big one, had the hall lights flickering and everything. Do you know any place where there’s enough energy to shock the others?”

Freddy hummed in thought as he brought a hand up to his chin. The colors in his eyes flashed as he processed the question. “Oh! Roxi RaceWay has been under construction for quite a while. It is a very dangerous place to be right now, with equipment and boxes all over the place. I am sure there will be high voltage generators there to power said equipment. It should be enough to force Roxi to hard reboot.”

“Perfect!” Chica cheered, smiling at both of them as she held up her fists. “I imagine she’s probably already there too, since it’s her area of the pizzaplex.”

Gregory frowned, “Which makes it even more dangerous because if she sees me, she’ll try to kill me.”

The chick frowned at this then looked up at Freddy. “Is it true? Have our friends really gone crazy? Gregory keeps telling me that we weren’t right in the head, a-and I believe him, but… to actually want to murder a guest…”

Freddy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I am afraid so. I have seen it with my own eyes. Roxi stalks him like prey, as does Monty. There was even a close call where Roxi was chasing him and was almost able to catch him, had I not shown up to hide him away. But fear not, for I know this is just a bug in their programming. I do not think they are in the right frame of mind at the moment. Hopefully this electrical jolt will be just what they need to come back to their senses. It seems to have worked well for you.”

Chica hesitated, then nodded and smiled, putting her hand over his. “Right, you’re right. Gotta stay positive. We can totally fix this.” Almost like a comforting gesture for herself, the chick reached into her chest compartment to pull out another lollipop to hand to Gregory, who had been fiddling with his watch. He paused and eyed it for a moment, before accepting it, ripping open the packaging, and sticking it in his mouth.

“I’ve got da security camfras up.” The boy told them around the candy then turned to show them his Fazwatch. 

“You have access to the security cameras?” Chica asked in confusion.

Freddy chuckled, looking a little sheepish, “It has been… quite the night.” The chick looked up at him, frowned, then looked back down at the small screen. Gregory flipped through the different cameras until Freddy pointed at it. “Hold on, that looks like the generator we need.” He said, indicating to a large generator tucked in the corner near some heavier equipment and crates with a clawed finger. “If we can get it working and set the wires up somewhere where Roxi will step on them, it should give her enough of a shock to have to restart, and hopefully get rid of whatever glitch is making her act so violent.”

Gregory nodded, memorizing the items around the generator to hopefully be able to find it when he got there. “I’ll handle the generator. I can put the wires here in this walkway,” he pointed to the screen, “so she’ll have no choice but to step on them. Then, I can get her attention and have her chase me through there.”

“No way!”

“Absolutely not!”

Gregory looked up in surprise when both animatronics protested at the same time. “That is far too dangerous.” Freddy shook his head. “Roxi is very fast, what if she catches you before you have the chance to lead her down the hall?”

“Yeah, and what if you touch the wires instead?” Chica added. “A shock like that to a human child would kill you. It’s too dangerous.”

The boy made a face at this. “Fine, then what do you suggest?”

Chica stood up straight and put a thumb to her chest. “I’ll lure Roxi down the hall. You two just worry about the generator and let me know when it’s ready. Roxi and I are friends, I should be able to get her to follow me without any problems. She shouldn’t have any suspicions that I’m trying to lure her into a trap.”

Freddy frowned, “But Chica, you have already been shocked once. I do not know what will happen if you are hit with another jolt of electricity at that level. It could potentially fry your systems.”

The chick elbowed her friend. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. I can be pretty nimble, ya know, unlike you.”

The bear looked a little embarrassed by this comment. “It is not my fault. You are lighter than I am, built slimmer than me.”

“Exactly why it should be me who lures Roxi to the wires. Trust me, I’ve got this.” She put a hand on Freddy’s shoulder. “We’re gonna fix our friends.” He frowned and stared at her for a moment, but eventually nodded his agreement. Chica turned back to Gregory and squatted down to be more eye level. “Let me see your watch real quick, sugarcube. I’ll set it up so you can contact me, and vice versa.” The boy held out his wrist for her and watched as she touched her finger to it. The screen changed to a thinking face of Freddy, then it smiled and held up a thumbs-up. 

“Congratulations! You have unlocked Conversations with Chica and are now allowed to talk to her during your stay with us! Additionchargesmayapply.”

“There! All set.” Chica stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Now, let’s get going, no time to waste!”

Chapter Text

With Gregory nestled inside Freddy’s chest cavity, the group made their way to Roxi RaceWay. Traveling this way was nice for Gregory, since he didn’t have to worry about being spotted by the security bots and could instead focus on a plan to get that generator running. He should probably set the wires up first before turning it on, that would just be safer and make more sense. With everything trying to kill him tonight, he’d be pissed if he was offed by an accidental electrocution. They’d have to be careful Freddy didn’t get zapped either. He wasn’t sure what caused him to collapse on stage last night, but his gut just told him that shocking him with so many unknowns in the works was probably not a good idea. 

They had to pause outside the raceway so Freddy could charge for a moment, then headed inside. Chica turned to look at them. “Ok, I’ll lay low until you give me the all clear that we’re ready to move. When you do, I’ll bring Roxi down that hallway of boxes and crates you pointed out before.” She put a hand on Freddy’s shoulder and Gregory’s. “You two stay safe now, ok? I don’t want to hear either of you got hurt.” 

Freddy put a hand on top of her’s. “We will. You do the same, Chica.” 

The chick stepped back and waved a hand as she grinned. “Oh please! I’m always careful!” The strained smile on Freddy’s face said otherwise. With a plan set, Chica disappeared into the back hallways of the raceway while Freddy and Gregory headed for the generator. 

The entire place was almost like a maze. There were boxes and crates of parts everywhere, as well as heavy equipment looming in the dimmed lights. More than a handful of times, Freddy had to lift Gregory over an obstacle so he could worm his way around to a locked gate or push something out of the way so Freddy could follow him. As if this wasn’t enough, Roxi was also prowling the area. There were a few close calls where Gregory almost walked out in front of her and Freddy had to pull him back behind a box.

“I can hear you… I know you’re here, little boy.” Her low, taunting voice had Gregory’s heart racing, but he did feel a little better with Freddy and Chica there to back him up, should this whole thing go sideways. 

When he was originally going to destroy the others to get their parts, he didn’t want to bring Freddy, he didn’t want him to see the destruction of his friends. Now they were working to potentially save them, which Gregory liked a lot more. Yeah they were trying to capture him and kill him at every turn, but after seeing Chica after the glitch that made her crazy disappeared, to see how human and real she acted, after watching her mourn over her decommissioned friend in that lonely room in Parts and Services… he couldn’t do it. They were too alive, too real to just murder like that. If he had to, if this didn’t work and Roxi tried to kill him, he would do what he had to to survive, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Both Freddy and Chica already lost one friend. He would feel terrible if he was the cause for them losing another.

Eventually, the two man team (figuratively speaking, of course) made their way over to the generator tucked away in the back of the raceway. Gregory hurried over to fiddle with the controls, but found it was empty. “Shit, it doesn’t have any gas!” He hissed as he glared at the needle resting against the E on the dial.

“Gregory…” Freddy said in a warning tone at hearing him swear, but the boy just waved him off as he looked around.

“There’s gotta be some gasoline around here somewhere. This is an active construction site.” He looked up at the bear. “Do you remember seeing anything while we were working our way over here?”

Freddy paused as he scanned through his memory, the color of his eyes shifting to green as he did. When he blinked and looked back down at him, they went back to blue. “I do not. If there is any in the area, it is probably stored somewhere in the back maintenance hallways.”

Gregory sighed and rubbed his face. “Great… Wait!” His head shot up, eyes wide, “Chica is hiding in the back maintenance hallways!” Quickly he grabbed his watch and toggled to the conversation mode. “Chica, can you hear me?”

“Gregory! Hello, sugarcube! Are we all set?”

“No, the generator doesn’t have any gas in it, it’s completely empty.”

“Oh no! What are we going to do now?”

“Freddy thinks there might be some gasoline in the back maintenance hallways, where you’re at now. Have you seen any containers?”

“One moment please!” There was a moment of silence before Chica’s voice came back through the watch. “Yes, I saw a few in a storage closet back here, near the security office! Do you want me to bring them to you?”

Gregory grinned up at Freddy in excitement, who smiled back and gave him a thumbs-up. Having more hands to help him was so much better than him just running around by himself. “No, stay hidden. I’m worried that if Roxi sees you acting so normally before we’re ready, she might get suspicious. Freddy and I will come to you and get them.”

“Okie dokie! I’ll send you the closet’s location, it should appear on your map momentarily.”

“Thanks, you rock!”

Chica giggled, “Glad I could help! Let me know if you need me for anything else!”

“Will do.” Gregory closed the call then swiped over to the map feature. Sure enough, a marker had appeared in the back tunnels. He nodded, “Ok, I’ve got it. Let’s go.”

The pair worked their way back to the maintenance halls running behind the scenes of the raceway. They had to do some more weaving through objectals, but at this point, they had gotten their method down flat. Soon they stepped inside the tunnels, causing Gregory to let out a sigh. There weren’t usually animatronics and security bots back here, so hopefully he could relax a little bit. They made their way through the halls with Gregory at the front guiding them. They did see Chica kneeling behind some crates and she waved with a smile, then gave him two thumbs-up. Gregory smiled back and returned the gesture.

It didn’t take long to find the closet, with it being marked on his map. Gregory opened it and saw two large, red cans sitting on the floor beside cleaning equipment. He went to grab one, but it was way too heavy, filled all the way to the top. “Here, allow me to carry them.” Freddy offered as he stepped forward to take one can in each hand.

“Thanks.” Gregory closed the door behind them, then glanced at the open security office nearby. “Go ahead and take the jugs to the generator and get it filled up. I’m gonna grab the security badge here first.”

Freddy nodded, “Alright, just be careful on your way back.”

“I’m always careful.” The strained smiling on the bear’s face spoke otherwise.

Hurrying down the hall and into the security office, Gregory looked around, then went up to the desk where he saw the Freddy head case holding the next level security badge he needed, which should bring him up to lvl 6. He opened it and scanned it with his watch, then fiddled with the device for a moment, until alarms suddenly went off, causing his head to shoot up. Damn it! How did he forget about that? The system always freaked out when he got a new upgrade!

“I know you’re here…”

“Come on out, little guy!”

Gregory’s head jerked towards one of two doors in the office when he heard Roxi and Monty speak, fear and dread shooting into his system. Quickly, he fumbled with his watch to call his animatronic helpers. “Freddy, Chica! I forgot about the alarms! Roxi and Monty are on their way to the security office!”

“Oh no! I’m coming to you!” Chica exclaimed, followed by the sound of running feet.

“Chica wait!” Freddy shouted, causing the sound to stop. “Stay where you are, I will find you. We need to turn off the alarm so Roxi and Monty will stand down and wander off. If we work together, we should be able to shut down the alarm much faster than if it was only me.”

“But what about Gregory? What if the others get to him before we can turn off the alarm?”

“Do not panic, either of you. Gregory, you have experienced this before. There should be locks on the doors to the security office and you have access to the cameras in this area. Can you hold on while Chica and I work to turn off the alarms?”

Gregory looked up at the doors and saw the switches in question, next to the energy bars that showed how much power each one still had. “Yes, I see them!” He took a deep breath and hurried over to one. “Ok, I’ve got this. Just work on stopping the alarm, and do it fast! I only have so much juice in these doors before they won’t close anymore.”

“That’s my superstar! You can do this. We will let you know when the alarm is turned off.” 

“Superstar?” Chica chimed in, sounding a mixture of surprise and delight. “Did you just call him ‘superstar?’ I thought that was Bonnie’s nickname for y-”

“Now is not the time for this, Chica.”

“Right, right, sorry! I see you. Let’s do this.”

The connection between the three of them disconnected and Gregory didn’t have time to think about what was just said before he could hear thundering footsteps outside. He quickly switched to the security camera mode and scrambled over to the other door to shut it as Monty made his way down. He listened to him growl and snarl as he banged on the door, watching him through the camera, before switching to see where Roxi was. As soon as Monty moved away, he opened the door and ran to the other side in preparation for Roxi. He wasn’t sure how long this back and forth continued, but suddenly the alarm shut off and he could hear Roxi and Monty grumble something as they wandered away. Gregory leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor as he tried to catch his breath and calm his racing heart.

“Gregory, are you alright?” Freddy’s voice came through his watch.

The boy lifted his wrist to answer the call and nodded, even if he couldn’t be seen. “Yeah, yeah I’m ok. Thanks, guys.”

“You’re absolutely welcome, sugarcube!” Chica spoke through the same connection Freddy was on, which told him they were still together.

Gregory dragged himself from the floor after a moment and peered outside the door. “I’m gonna head back to the generator. Let’s get it filled and get this nightmare over with.”

“Understood. I will meet you there with the gas canisters.” Freddy spoke.

“And I’ll continue to hang out back here until you’re ready. I have a lock on Roxi’s location.” Chica added.

“Awesome, good job you two.” The boy hurried out the door and moved as quickly and carefully as he could back to the generator in the raceway.

When he arrived, he found Freddy was already kneeling beside it and filling it with the cans of gas they collected. He emptied the one, then the next. Due to the size of the generator, it only brought it up to a quarter of a tank, but hopefully it would last long enough for Chica to lure Roxi in. After, Gregory grabbed a pair of jumper cables to attach to the machine, then dragged out into the hall. He set them down, but frowned.

“What is the matter?” Freddy asked, peering over at him.

“Well… it’s just this is a very small point of contact.” Gregory explained, motioning to the clamps in front of him. “What if she misses them? Hmm…” Gregory looked around, then hurried over to a plastic cooler sitting off to the side next to a small crane. He opened it and found it was full of water, though no drinks. His eyes lit up and he closed it again to drag it over to the cables.

“What are you doing?” 

“Casting a bigger net.” Gregory pushed the cooler into place, then opened it and dumped it over, spilling the water all over the floor and the cables. “I saw this in a movie once. It should electrify the water so all Roxi has to do is touch it and it’ll be transferred to her.”

“What if it just short circuits the generator?”

Gregory paused at this, then shrugged, “Then we’ll do something else. I already dumped the water. We’re in this now.” He hurried back over to the other side of the generator to hide and lifted his watch to call Chica. “Ok, we’re ready.” He told her. “Just to warn you, I dumped some water on the floor around the cables to hopefully increase the range of electricity, so be careful not to touch it.”

“Oh that’s so smart! Look at you go.” Gregory smirked up at Freddy, who just shook his head, a little amused looking. “I’ve got a lock on Roxi. I’ll grab her and head your way. Stay hidden.”

“Will do.” Gregory hung up the connection and moved to switch the generator on. It hummed to life and he heard some popping a sizzling from the puddle he put down, but it soon evened out to silence. He was glad it didn’t actually short circuit the machine. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do if it did.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before they could hear Chica’s voice in the distance. “When was the last time we just went for a walk around the raceway?” 

“Since it was actually open and not under construction.” Roxi replied in a grumble.

Chica just giggled, “That’s because you’re so competitive that you keep messing up the track! You gotta relax, babe. Give the kids a chance. You’ll still be the best racer even if they win because you didn’t put in your all.”

“And give up my speed record? Never.”

“Oh please, they’re just kids.”

Their footsteps got closer and Gregory shuffled back a little more, holding his breath.

“Wait.” Gregory froze when Roxi spoke and their footsteps stopped. “Are those wires live?”

“Oh my goodness, you’re starting to sound like Freddy, all worried and protective and cute. It’s just some mess left behind by the construction crew.” Gregory glanced up at Freddy to see his reaction to her comment, and he looked a little embarrassed, which made him grin. “I mean, don’t tell me you’re only a fearless badass in front of little kids.”

“Fuck you! I’m always a badass, but I’m not stupid. I think those are live and I ain’t going anywhere near them.”

Gregory swallowed and tensed. What were they going to do if Roxi didn’t step into their trap? He didn’t think she would be able to think so clearly in her curtain state, but apparently she was a little more put together than Chica had been.

“Roxi, babe, would I ever lead you wrong?”

“Considering I spent a week in Parts and Services getting my gears cleaned because you insisted I try pizza for the first time, yes, I’d say you would.”

Chica gasped at this, sounding offended. “So mean! I am nothing but nice and supportive and this is how you treat me.”

“Yeah yeah, cry your crocodile tears around someone who cares.”

Suddenly footsteps started in the other direction, followed by a hurried set. “Roxi, wait!” There was a clang of metal on metal, a pause, then Chica murmured softer. “I’m sorry, babe, but this is for your own good.”

“What do you-?”

Gregory peered around the generator to watch as Chica grabbed Roxi and in one, smooth motion with force applied at just the right moments, she turned her friend back towards the puddle, stuck a leg behind hers, and shoved with all the force she could muster. With her legs tripped up, Roxi went tumbling back with a surprised cry and landed right in the puddle.

The moment her metal body touched the electrified water, sparks went flying. Roxi screamed as her body jerked and twitched, the lights in her eyes flashing then turning red to signal severe damage, before she suddenly went still. Gregory quickly shut down the generator so she didn’t get fried then hurried out. Freddy scooped him up before his sneakers could touch the water and he held him under his butt and against his chest. “Hold on, that water could still be reactive. Give it a few seconds to completely discharge.” Gregory looked at him, then down at Roxi, and saw small sparks jump to Roxi’s metal body every now and then. He swallowed hard, realizing how close he had been to serious injury.

The three of them waited until the electricity dissipated before Chica moved forward to shake Rocki a little. “Come on Roxi, reboot. You can do it.” She murmured, looking concerned as the seconds ticked on. Then finally, Roxi’s eyes lit up to flash a slow green.

“System rebooting, please wait.”

Chica gasped and looked up at Freddy and Gregory, who were watching intently. Eventually the light in Roxi’s eyes dulled, then came back to her usual color, and she blinked. “What…?” She started and slowly sat up to rub her head. “What’s going on? Ugh, why am I wet?” She looked around, then paused when she saw the three of them staring down at her. She narrowed her eyes defensively. “What? What are you staring at?”

“Roxi!” Chica cried as she threw herself into her friend and wrapped her arms around her neck. This earned a squawk of protest from the wolf.

“H-Hey! Knock it off! Let go of me!”

Chica eventually pulled away to kneel in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulders. “How are you feeling? Is everything normal? What’s the last thing you remember?” She fired off.

Roxi made a face at her, but paused as her eye lights flickered. She frowned and looked confused. “I… I don’t know. Something’s up with my memory. The last thing I remember was the show and Freddy totally bombing it.”

The bear looked a little sheepish, lowering his head. “I am sorry. I do not know what came over me.”

The wolf looked up at him, then glanced him over. “Whatever.” She replied, but Gregory should see the way her eyes scanned Freddy’s condition intently. If he wasn’t mistaken, he’d say she was just as worried about him as Chica had been, but just showed it differently. “Who’s the squirt?” She nodded to Gregory, then looked around and frowned. “And what the hell is going on?”

Chica simulated a deep breath and put a hand on Roxi’s shoulder. “There’s a lot we need to catch you up on, but let’s get you out of here and dried off first.” 

Freddy smiled down at Gregory while Chica helped Roxi to her feet. “Great job, superstar! Two down and only one to go. Before you know it, we’ll have the entire group back together!” 

Gregory smiled up at him and thought, “Yeah, the entire group.”

“Superstar?” The pair looked up at Roxi, who had one hand on her hip and a smirk on her face.

“Uh…”

Chica touched Roxi’s shoulder and giggled as she gave Freddy a teasing and playful look. “I know right? Isn’t he just the cutest?”

Freddy frowned as he dipped his head, looking embarrassed again. A light even came on around his snout that cast it in a red glow, like he was… blushing. “I do not like it when the two of you team up with each other and pick on me like you do.”

Roxi grinned and crossed her arms, flashing fang. “Then maybe you shouldn’t make it so damn easy.” Chica giggled again beside her.

Gregory grinned at her. Now that Roxi was back to normal and showing her true personality, he had a feeling he was going to like her a lot.

Chapter Text

The group left the raceway and went back to Roxi’s room to catch her up to speed. When she heard that she had been rampaging around like a bloodthirsty monster and almost got Gregory a few times, she looked surprised, then glanced over at the boy. She almost looked a little… apologetic. “That’s a pretty shitty thing to do.” She said with a frown. Gregory raised a brow and nodded in agreement. She then sighed and rubbed her face with both hands and moved to plop down on the sofa. She propped her elbows up on her knees and held her chin as she glanced between Chica and Freddy. “Alright, so now what? We gotta free Monty from this hell glitch or something? Give him a good zap to the system?”

Freddy nodded. “Yes, I believe that will flush the problem out of his programming, just as it did for the two of you.”

Roxi raised an eyebrow, “And what about you, big guy? You haven’t had any issues lately?”

The bear frowned and shook his head. “No, I have not. It is very odd that I am the only one out of the four of us who has not had this glitch implemented into my programming. Or perhaps, my disruption on stage last night was how that glitch affected me and I shut down before it could take full effect.”

Chica put a hand to her chin. “I guess that makes sense… Or your issue could be something completely different and while you were shut down, the glitch was uploaded into the systems, but you never got it because you weren’t active at the time.”

Freddy nodded, “That is a possibility as well.”

Roxi groaned and leaned back into the sofa. “This sucks. What a damn mess everything is right now.”

Gregory made a face and thought, “Yeah, and it’s about to get messier.” He glanced over at Chica and when their eyes locked, he raised his brows, glanced at Roxi, then back at her. The chick blinked at him for a moment, before her own eyes widened in understanding.

She turned to Freddy and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I think before we dive too deep into how to save Monty, Gregory should eat something. I’ve been giving him candy for a while, but that’s not really food. What about… oh, how about you go down to the food court and get him some cheesy fries and a soda? Can’t save the pizzaplex on an empty stomach! Growing little boys need to eat, ya know.”

“Oh! You are absolutely correct.” Freddy looked down at Gregory, who sat in an armchair off to the side. “I apologize, Gregory. With everything going on, your need to eat has completely escaped me. I will fix that right now.”

The boy perked up. He was more than ok at this distraction. While the candy was nice, something more substantial in his stomach sounded amazing. “That’s ok, but make it a super size! I’m starving!” Freddy smiled and nodded, before he turned and left the room.

There was silence for a brief moment, before Roxi leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at Chica. “Alright spill. What aren’t you telling me and why are you keeping it from Freddy? Is he like, super broken or something and you just don't want to let him in on it?”

Chica looked back at her in surprise and waved her hands. “No no, nothing like that! Well I mean… I guess something like that…”

“Out with it, birdbrain.”

Chica hesitated, messing with her fingers. The look in her eyes was enough to get Roxi to frown and sit up a little straighter. “It’s Bonnie.” The chick started, a shaky smile coming to her face. “Gregory found him. He’s in a cell in Parts and Services a-and we think we can fix him! But we didn’t want to tell Freddy yet, just in case we couldn’t.”

The wolf’s eyes widened as she sat up completely straight. “What?” She looked over at Gregory. “You actually found him? And he was in Parts and Services this whole time?”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, he’s… not in that great of condition. He’s missing some parts and pretty banged up.”

“It looks like someone attacked him, Roxi.” Chica added.

Roxi looked between both of them, shocked into silence for a moment before she shook her head and her hands. “Wait wait, hold on a fucking second here. You’re telling me Parts and Services has him right now, and he’s just been sitting there this whole time? He’s been gone for months! And he’s still in bad shape? What’s taking so damn long to fix him?”

Gregory frowned, “I don’t think they were going to fix him.” The wolf turned to look at him, ears perked. He dug into his pocket and handed her the work order paper he had found. She snatched it and quickly scanned the contents. “The attendant who made the work order didn’t think management was going to want to pay to have him fixed, so it looks like they just replaced him and put the bass playing talent into Monty instead.”

“That makes no sense!” Roxi cried, gripping the paper tighter. “Bonnie was popular! Everyone loved him! He had everything going for him; the merch sales, the fan base, the talent, the experience! He ranked even higher than I did in the last popularity poll. There was one month where he even beat Freddy! I remember when the bowling alley first opened, all the other attractions were dead for a solid week because everyone wanted to go check it out. So why didn’t they fix him? Why did they just replace him?!”

Chica frowned and moved to sit beside her friend on the sofa, placing a gentle hand on her back, running up and down slowly. “Roxi… Bonnie is badly damaged, like… really bad. It wasn’t just like he developed a glitch they could flush out real quick or broke a joint spring they could just replace.” She lightly tapped the page in the other’s hands. “It sounds like he was attacked, like someone had it out for him.” She glanced up at Gregory, then back at the wolf. “We don’t know for certain if that’s what happened, but if it is, then it would make sense why no one ever fixed him, why he was just abandoned down there to rot.”

Roxi sighed and lifted a hand to cover her eyes as she rested her elbow against her knee. She was quiet for a long moment. Chica just quietly continued to rub her back while Gregory frowned and messed with his fingers in his lap. Eventually, Roxi simulated a deep breath and looked back down at the paper again, blinking away a dampness that had developed in her eyes. “This is a lot to take in…” She said quietly.

“I know…” Chica replied softly.

“I mean…” The wolf started, paused, then sighed again. “If this can happen to someone like Bonnie, who had everything going for him… then it could happen to any of us. At any moment, we could be completely destroyed and thrown away like scrap metal.”

The chick’s eyes widened as her brows came together, and she quickly shook her head. “Don’t think like that!” She wrapped her arms around her to hug her from the side. “Even if something like this happened to you, or Monty, or me, or even Freddy, the rest of us wouldn’t just let them disappear.” She squeezed a little tighter, as though she was trying to get smaller, looking guilty again. “I feel terrible about what happened to Bonnie, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for not looking more into his disappearance. But never again will I just sit by. I promise, if something happens to you, or Freddy, or Monty, I’ll come looking for you, and I won’t rest until I find you. If you’re broken, I’ll put you back together again. Please don’t worry about something like that, Roxi. You have friends that care about you. It isn’t just you against the world, ya know.”

Gregory bit his lip, fiddling with his Fazwatch a little, before speaking up. “I… don’t know if my opinion matters at all to you two,” he started, earning their attention. “But I think you’re pretty cool, Roxi.”

This caused the wolf’s eyes to widen and for Chica to smile. “Are you serious?” Roxi asked. “Even after all the shit I did to you tonight, you still like me?”

The boy shrugged. “I mean, yeah that was a pretty dickish thing to do.” Chica made a choking sound while Roxi’s ears perked in surprise at his choice of words. “But it wasn’t really you, was it?” He looked down at his sneakers. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s clear that something is making all of you act differently than you normally would, so I can’t really judge you as a person based on actions you didn’t have any control over. Yeah I’m still a little weary. I’m worried something will happen and you guys will go crazy again, but from what I’ve seen so far…” He pressed his lips together and frowned. “You guys are actually really nice people and way more human-like than I originally thought. At first I thought you guys were just really good robots, and I guess maybe you still are, but there’s a part of me that keeps forgetting you are because you just feel so genuine to me. And… as long as you keep showing me through your actions that you are actually a nice person and you’re trying to do the right thing, then I’ll continue to like you. Maybe not… trust all of you completely just yet, but I don’t mind hanging out with you.” He paused and shrugged again, feeling awkward. “Plus I like how badass and unapologetic you are, Roxi.”

Roxi was silent as she took all this in, glancing down at the floor. She was quiet for a long moment, thoughts rolling around in her head, she before simulating a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. “I am pretty great, aren’t I?” She asked with a small grin. Gregory could see there was still a thin line of concern that ran through her body, but he thought (and hoped) that his words helped a little to make her feel better.

Chica laughed and hugged her again. “Of course you are! You’re Roxanne Wolf, the embodiment of awesome and female power!”

The wolf scoffed at this and rolled her eyes, but patted one of the arms around her shoulders. “Thanks, man. Now get off me!” She shook her shoulders to dislodge Chica from around her and scooted away a little. The chick didn’t look bothered and continued to smile as she folded her hands in her lap. Roxi focused back down at the paper intently. “Right, ok… So Bonnie needs new eyes, huh? Well lucky for him, I’ve got a spare set.” She stood and handed the paper back to Gregory before disappearing through the backdoor of her room. A minute later, she came back out with a box and handed it to Chica. The guitarist opened the box to find a set of polished eyes that stared right back up at her. Gregory made a face at this, feeling a chill go down his spine. He was glad they weren’t staring at him.

“This is great!” Chica closed the box again and looked back at Gregory. “We’ve got two of the three! Now we just need replacement hands and we should be good to go.”

“Well kind of.” Gregory held up a hand then waved to the paper. “Bonnie still has all those scratches and dents in his outer shell that need to be taken care of and a lot of paint is missing. It’s a lot more work than just putting in the new parts and turning him back on.”

Chica frowned and set the box down in her lap. “Hmm… you’re right. How are we going to get all this done before 6am and not clue Freddy into what we’re doing? He’ll want to free Monty next, which is totally something we need to do for a few reasons, but if we say we want to hang back, he’ll want to hang with us, like the cutie pie he is.”

Roxi made a face and crossed her arms. “Wait, why does all of this need to be done before 6am?”

Chica looked up at her. “Because that’s when the gates will open and Gregory’s parents will be coming to pick him up.”

“Actually…” Gregory frowned and awkwardly rubbed his sneakers together. “There isn’t anyone coming to pick me up.”

The two animatronics looked at him in surprise. Chica scooted to the side of the sofa that was closest to Gregory and set the box aside. “What do you mean, darling? Surely you have someone looking after you.”

“Yeah.” Roxi added. “If not parents then maybe just one, or grandparents, or some other kinda relative or guardian.”

Gregory shook his head and looked down at his feet as he felt his body tense, growing uncomfortable with the sudden topic, even though he was the one that said something. He should have just kept quiet and let them believe he had someone coming to get him in the morning. “There’s no one out there waiting for me, no home to go back to.”

Chica and Roxi shared a surprised and concerned look before turning their attention back to the boy. The chick reached out to place a gentle hand on Gregory’s shoulder. “Sweetie, are you saying you’re homeless? Have… have you been living on the streets this whole time?” The boy just shrugged and didn’t meet her gaze. “Oh sugarcube…”

Gregory pushed her hand off his shoulder and glared at the floor. “It’s fine. I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I’ve gotten this far without parents, so clearly the whole thing is overrated.” He looked back down at the work order he was holding. “We should just focus on fixing Bonnie and figuring out what the fuck is happening around here that’s causing you guys to bug out. We can’t just ignore that. What if it happens again?”

Chica and Roxi shared another glance. It was clear the chick didn’t want to drop the subject, but the wolf just shook her head. Sighing softly, Chica nodded. “Alright, sure. Maybe… one of us should stay behind and work on the cosmetic stuff while the other goes with you and Freddy to help out Monty.”

The boy thought this over for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, ok. That could probably work.” He looked up at the two of them. “Which one of you is better at fine details?”

Roxi pointed at Chica with her thumb. “Definitely Cavity Queen over here. I ain’t got the patience for it. Besides, you’ll be goin’ up against Monty next, and he’s pretty strong. You’ll need someone fast with great senses to help you out with that.” She grinned and flashed her fangs at him.

Gregory gave her a little smile and nodded. “Ok, sure.”

Chica smiled and waved a hand. “And don’t you worry about Bonnie, I’ll patch him up good as new, so by the time you come back to me with new hands, we’ll be ready to assemble and hit the power switch.” She clapped her hands together and looked up at Roxi with literal sparkling eyes. “Oh, isn’t this exciting? It’s been so long since we’ve gotten to talk to Bonnie! I’m so excited to show him what’s changed.”

Roxi snorted and raised a brow at her, smirking. “Yeah right, if Freddy even lets you squirrel him away for two seconds. I’d be surprised if he ever left his side after this.” Chica lifted a hand to her beak and started giggling. Encouraged, Roxi grinned, put a hand on her hip, and pointed at Chica with her free hand. “Oh my god, do you remember when Bonnie got his new Glamrock look, complete with those stupid star sunglasses, and Freddy over heated and we had to reboot him?”

Chica’s giggles turned into a full blown laugh as she put her hand on her chest. “Of course I remember! How could I forget? He face-planted into the floor from the short circuit and broke his nose!”

The wolf soon joined her in laughing, a sound with random higher, squeakier pitches in places. “Yes! Shattered his face all the way back to his ears! Oh my god, he avoided us for a week after that!”

“Because you kept laughing every time you saw him!”

“You’re damn right I did! It was fucking hilarious!” Roxi stood up straighter, puffing out her chest, and lifted her hand to the top of her head like she was holding the brim of a top hat. “I’m Freddy Fazbear and I can do everything perfectly! Oh no, is that the hot bass player? I-I-I-I-” She then started twitching like she was short circuiting. Chica leaned back into the sofa and laughed even harder, her whole body shaking as she waved her hands desperately.

“Stop! Stop! My voice box can’t take it! I’m gonna pop a wire!”

Gregory started to relax as he watched them laugh, a grin slowly spreading across his face. “Wait, so Freddy… has a crush on Bonnie?”

Roxi crossed her arms again and scoffed. “Oh my god, yeah. It’s so ridiculous and disgustingly sweet, I wanna hurl. 

“Does Bonnie know?”

“Absolutely. Everyone does. And it’s hilarious to watch Bonnie fuck with him.” Roxi waved a hand. “It isn’t in a mean way. He totally feels the same and they could be together, I don’t know, don’t care. I just like watching Bonnie purposely do something that causes Freddy to eject steam out of every socket.”

Gregory raised an amused brow. “So Bonnie is a little shit?”

“Oh abso-fucking-lutely. More so than any of us. He was always pulling little pranks. Once, he put a can of those fake jumping snakes in Chica’s makeup drawer and it exploded when she opened it and she screamed so loud, it shattered the viewing window, and this was before she got the voice upgrade.”

“It scared me!” Chica defended herself.

“Scared everyone in the complex too!”

Gregory chuckled at this. Just from what he was hearing throughout the night about Bonnie, he had a feeling he was gonna really like him. Hopefully when they turned him back on, everything went smoothly and his personality hadn’t been corrupted. After all the work they were putting in to fix him, having him go haywire and try to hurt people would be heartbreaking.

Just then, the sliding door to Roxi’s room opened to show Freddy standing there. All three of them turned to look at him, and there was a moment of silence, before Roxi snorted and started laughing. Chica couldn’t help but join in and tossed her head back. At this Freddy’s eyes widened as his shoulders rose a little. “What? What are you laughing at?” He asked as he entered cautiously and walked over to Gregory. He opened his stomach hatch to pull out a massive container of cheesy fries and a monster size soda. The boy’s eyes lit up as he eagerly took them and started to devour it all.

“Nothing, nothing!” Chica insisted as she wiped a tear away from her eye and tried to calm down. Up until Roxi held one palm up, and slowly moved the other down to hit it as she made a cartoonish sound effect of falling. This caused both of them to roar into laughter again.

Completely lost, Freddy looked down at Gregory for help. The boy swallowed his food, licked the cheese sauce off his lips, then smirked up at him. “You’re a bit of a himbo, aren’t you?”

“A what?”

Roxi hit a higher pitch in her laugh and stomped her foot a few times. “Oh! Oh I like him!”

Chapter Text

With the plan for Bonnie sorted out, the group’s attention turned to Monty. Not only would it be better to have him sane again so Gregory didn’t have to worry about being jumped in a random hallway, never to be heard from again, but secretly, three out of the four in the group were hoping he could help them come up with the spare hand parts they needed to fix the rabbit in Parts and Services. If the theme continued, Monty should know where the hands he had before his newest upgrade were.

“There are a lot of water courses in Monty Golf.” Freddy pointed out from where he sat on the floor beside Gregory. “Perhaps we can implement the same trick we used for Roxi to shock Monty.”

Chica tilted her head, “That’s a good plan, but where are we going to get that kind of electrical power? There aren’t any large generators there like there were in the raceway.”

The group fell silent as they pondered over this. Gregory flipped through the camera feeds he had for the Monty Golf area to see if he couldn’t find anything to help them. “Hey wait,” he spoke up, earning their attention. “There’s a recharge station on the ground level near one of the water courses! Do you think we could rig something to that and stick it in the water to charge it?”

Freddy hummed in though, bringing a hand to his chin. “I suppose it is possible. We could take the jumper cables we used in the raceway to the golf course and hook them up, then activate the station. However, it will probably put that particular station out of commission and potentially blow a breaker fuse for the complex.” He looked up at Gregory. “Remember, the daycare attendant can move freely through the complex if the lights are off. The fuses for the breaker will automatically turn back on after fifteen minutes if the system does not sense any faults down the electrical line, but that is fifteen minutes you will need to be extra careful.” The boy shuddered at the thought and pressed his lips together.

Roxi raised an eyebrow. “The daycare attendant? What does that matter? And why is he a factor in this? Just tell him to fuck off.”

Gregory rubbed the back of his neck. “I sort of… upset him earlier. I was trying to get to the other side of the daycare and accidentally flipped the lights off, and he changed into this creepy moon character and tried to ‘punish’ me. Now he’s got it out for me.”

Chica hummed and nodded. “Ah yes, he does tend to hold grudges.”

Roxi waved a hand. “Who cares? If that dude shows up after the lights flip off, I’ll punch him into next week. And if we can get Monty back on his feet before he shows up, I’m sure he’ll help out. He’s always looking for an excuse to use his fists and claws on something.” Gregory frowned at this comment, lowering his watch as he slipped into his thoughts.

“Well, it sounds as though we have a plan with a high probability of success.” Freddy smiled at the group. “I suppose Chica and I can go grab the cables from the raceway while Gregory and Roxi get the recharge station ready to divert power.”

“Uh, actually,” Chica piped up, lifting a finger. “I think I’m gonna sit this one out. I just.. This is so important, what if with so many of us involved, something goes wrong? Besides, I’m not as fast as Roxi or as strong as Monty. I’m not sure what help I could provide you with. However, if you need me for any reason, I’m just a buzz away.” She motioned to Gregory’s watch.

“Speaking of which, gimme that thing.” Roxi made a motion with her hand for Gregory to get closer. He set his fries aside and hopped up to walk over to her, then held out his wrist. She pressed her finger to it and unlocked the communication channel for her.

“Are you sure, Chica?” Freddy asked, frowning. “Please do not think you will get in the way. You are a very valuable member of this team.”

The chick smiled at him and tilted her head, her eyes soft. “Thanks big guy, but I’m sure. Like I said, I’m still here if you need me, but I’m gonna hang back for now. Don’t you worry about me though, you go out there and slap Monty back to his senses.”

Roxi smirked and crossed her arms after she finished. “With pleasure. I call dibs on shoving his ass into the water.”

Gregory held up his hands as he walked back to his seat. “Be my guest. I have no desire to be anywhere near him while he’s still batshit crazy.”

“Gregory!” Freddy scolded.

Roxi waved a hand, “Eh leave him alone. A few swears are good for a growing boy.”

The bear frowned at her, but sighed and turned back to the topic at hand. “Alright, then I will go to the raceway by myself and get the cables while you two get everything ready.”

The wolf gave a mock salute. “Aye aye, captain.”

When Gregory finished his meal and soda, Chica took the cartons for him and handed him a few pieces of candy for the road, which he unwrapped eagerly and shoved into his mouth. The group bid the chick farwell, though the boy hung back as the other two left, and looked back up at her. “Lemme know if you need anything while you’re working on Bonnie.” He whispered.

She smiled and ruffled his hair, causing him to make a face. “I will, sugarcube, but you just focus on Monty for right now, ok? Go get me those hand parts.” The boy lifted a hand to his hair to smooth it out again, but nodded and hurried after the others.

With Freddy splitting off to go and fetch the electrical cables from the raceway, Gregory had to be careful sneaking over to the golf course. Roxi was too small to hide him away like Freddy could. However, she proved to be great at distracting the security bots so he could slip past them unnoticed. When they arrived at the elevator to the course, Roxi produced an extra party pass and handed it over to the bot on standby, who gave a little dance before disappearing in a blink of an eye.

“Wh-where did that thing go?” Gregory asked as he looked around. 

Roxi ushered him into the elevator. “It’s best just to not question these things.”

When they reached the golf course floor, Gregory stepped out carefully and glanced around before looking down at his watch to pull up a map of the area. Together, the two worked their way down to the first floor of the course, with Gregory directing and Roxi distracting the security bots.

“There it is!” The boy murmured when he saw the station then hurried over to it.

“Any idea how we’re gonna make this work?” Roxi asked as she crossed her arms and looked down at him. 

“Not a clue, but I figured we could start taking panels off and see what happens.”

The wolf grinned, “Destruction of public property… I like it.”

Gregory pressed a button on the outside of the machine to get the door to slide open then climbed inside to feel around the walls for any kind of hatch he could pull off to expose the wires inside. Roxi tackled the outside. As they worked, Roxi’s earlier comment still buzzed around the boy’s head and eventually, he paused to sit back on his ankles. “Hey… Roxi?”

“What’s up, squirt?”

“You said earlier that Monty liked to hit things… is he usually prone to violence?”

“Eh, I guess. His room is a wreck and always shut down, so guests can never visit him there. I heard they were having a problem with him busting through security gates around the pizzaplex too. Dude’s got anger issues, I think, and it comes out through physical destruction. He should really take a boxing class at the gym or something to get it out of his system instead of destroying shit. It gets old real fast.”

Gregory frowned, “Do… well…”

“What? Spit it out.”

“It’s just… the work order report said Bonnie was found mangled in a closet somewhere in the back halls of the Monty Golf Course. His damages look as though someone had attacked him. He’s covered in claw marks and dents like someone had punched him. And then with Monty suddenly taking his place in the band as the bass player, the role Bonnie had before…”

The tinkering outside the charging station abruptly stopped. There was silence for a heavy moment before Roxi moved back to the opening to look down at him, putting her hands on either side of the opening. “Are you saying… Monty is the one that hurt Bonnie?”

Gregory held up his hands as he turned to face her. “I-I don’t know for certain, but it’s suspicious, ya know? I mean, Bonnie suddenly disappears and really soon after, Monty takes his place? Even Chica said it looked like someone had it out for him. A child or even an adult human can’t do that kind of damage to an animatronic, and why would they? He was really popular with guests. If he was mangled into pieces, like he fell into a piece of equipment or something, that’s one thing, but… I mean with all those dents and claw marks… and Monty’s violence history…”

Roxi stared down at him then glanced away as the color of her eyes flickered, signaling she was deep in thought. She was still for what felt like a very long time, before her face twisted into a snarl that had Gregory shrinking back a little. She punched the charging station wall hard enough to cause the lights on the inside to flicker. “That bastard! I should have known. I should have known the moment he became the new bass player that something smelt like shit! I remember him joking around, ya know? Saying how good he would look on that stage with the rest of us, all decked out in a Glamrock appearance. I guess it wasn’t really a joke, was it? Oooo when I get my hands on him, he’ll regret the day he was made!” She gave a dark laugh as she met Gregory’s eyes. “Oh-ho, and if Freddy finds out Monty was the one that put Bonnie out of commission and gets to him before I do… well, haha, there won’t be anything left of him to put back together. If you thought the damage done to Bonnie was bad, you have no idea what Freddy is capable of when he gets really pissed. Bonnie was his everything, he was crushed when he disappeared.” She tilted her head and smirked. “On second thought… maybe I’ll just stand back and watch Freddy take care of him. I think it’ll be a satisfying experience for both of us, Chica too.”

Gregory frowned and glanced away. It was hard for him to imagine Freddy being violent and hurting anyone, no matter how upset he got, but he supposed finding out the guy who had been smiling at you and playing in a band with you this entire time, like everything was fine… finding out he had actually decommissioned the most important person in your life, would lead to a very understandable level of betrayal and anger. “We don’t know for certain though.” The boy spoke up as he lifted his eyes back up to hers. “We can’t just attack Monty and tell the others he did this without solid proof. If he’s innocent, then we’d be no better than the person who damaged Bonnie.” He shook his head a little. “It’s just an idea. A lot of what I’ve seen and heard suggests Monty might have something to do with Bonnie’s disappearance, but I’m hoping once we get him fixed up and turn him back on, Bonnie will be able to tell us who attacked him.”

Roxi balled her hands into tight fists and growled as she looked away, tension lining her body for a few moments, before she sighed and forced herself to relax. “Fine.” She looked back and pointed down at him. “But we’re gonna have to keep an eye on Monty just in case. He could act like he wants to help us get Bonnie back up and runnin’, but could put him down permanently when we’re not looking.”

Gregory nodded, “I agree.”

The wolf nodded back, then tilted her head as she studied him. She smirked and crossed her arms. “Ya know, you’re pretty wise for such a young brat.”

“It’s about damn time someone noticed my genius.”

This made the wolf laugh before she went back to fiddling around with the back of the machine and Gregory turned to investigate the inside. Unfortunately, not long after, Roxi let out a swear from the back of the machine. “What, what did you find?” Gregory asked as he stood and walked around to her. She pointed at a sticker on the back of the charging station.

“Congratulations on installing the latest model of animatronic charging stations! We promise a fast and powerful recharge! Now with a 30% lower chance of accidental death by electrocution when monthly maintenance is required! This model also comes with an automatic safety shut off in the case of a power surge, so rest assured that a fire will not be caused.” In much smaller print below that, so small that Gregory had to get closer and narrow his eyes to read it. “Warning: Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for explosions, sickness, or fires caused by this machine. If you have already installed and hooked this machine up to a power source, you have voided the warranty included with purchase.”

The boy stepped back and made a face at this. “What kind of shit is that? The warranty is voided when you hook it up to actually use it for what it was made for?”

Roxi shrugged, “With as many lawsuits this company goes through, I’m shocked they’re allowed to even breathe the word ‘sales’, but that’s not the point. They all have an automatic shut off if there’s a power surge, so if we run a line to the water or anything else that will suddenly suck up a ton of power, it’ll turn off. So this plan of ours ain’t gonna work.”

“Damn…” Gregory frowned and crossed his arms. “Now what?”

Just then, thundering steps could be heard down the hall and in a moment of panic that it could be Monty, Gregory ducked behind Roxi and peered out from behind her. The wolf raised a brow at this, but also shifted her weight in a stance to rush forward if she needed to. However, their fearless, if not a little doppy, leader appeared at the end of the hall with the jumper cables slung over his shoulder. Freddy smiled and waved at them when he spotted them. 

“Freddy!” The boy cried and hurried out from behind Roxi. 

The singer knelt and patted him on the head. “Hello, Gregory. I have retrieved the cables we need to continue. Have you and Roxi figured out the recharge station portion of the plan yet?”

Gregory frowned. “Bad news. All the stations come with a surge protector. So even if we did hook everything up, it’d shut down the moment the cables touched the water.”

Freddy frowned, “That is unfortunate, though an understandable design choice.”

“I guess, but where are we gonna get the power to shock Monty now?”

“Hold up.” The pair looked back at Roxi, who was holding up a finger as she stared forward at nothing, her eyes flashing green as she accessed her memory. “The bucket at the top of the golf course…” She blinked, eyes settling again, then moved to the end of the hall. She looked up towards the ceiling and pointed to a massive bucket hiding in the shadows. “I remember Monty saying it was broken, that’s why kids can’t ride that stupid rollercoaster thing that goes around the top of the course, where they shoot all the targets. Instead of turning on and dumping all the balls inside it, he said it freaks out and sparks go everywhere. Fried one of the work bots one time.” She looked back at them with a grin. “If we hook up the cables to the bucket, then to the metal catwalk around it, and charge it up, it should have enough juice to light the whole thing up, so all Monty has to do is touch somewhere on the catwalk and he’ll get shocked.”

“But it won’t fry Monty, right?” Gregory asked as he looked up at her.

For a moment, she meet his gaze and her mouth twitched. The boy narrowed his eyes at her. “No.” She finally replied. “We’re built a lot tougher than the worker and security bots. What would fry them would not be so life threatening for us, but it’ll still hurt.” She crossed her arms and looked back up at the catwalk area. “Hope he falls right on his face when he shuts down…” She grumbled.

The boy sighed then looked between the two animatronics. “Alright, so how do we get up there and how are we gonna get Monty to show up?”

Freddy looked down at him. “There is a section of vent that leads to the upper portion. The entrance is in Mazercise. I am afraid the elevator to that area has been shut down, since it is out of service. There is a maintenance tunnel on the other side of the catwalk, but it is locked and the only person I know who can bust through it is Monty himself.”

“And with the entire catwalk being made out of metal, it’s probably not a good idea for us to be up there anyways.” Roxi added. “You’re gonna have to set the cables up yourself and get out of there before the power turns on. You should be able to escape through the vent you entered from. They’re metal, yeah, but they’re all insulated in a thick rubber coating to keep air from escaping. Once you got that all set up and give the all clear, Freddy can remotely turn on the power and I can trick Monty into going up there to investigate. He doesn’t know I’m not still working with him to capture you. If I tell him I caught your scent up on the catwalk, the dumbass will go up there to try and find you.”

Gregory nodded as he took a deep breath, then sighed. “Ok, I can do that. Just make sure he doesn’t find me before I’m done. If this is his area of the pizzaplex, he could be hiding anywhere, just like you were stalking the raceway.”

Freddy smiled and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Do not worry, we will do everything we can on our side of the operation to make sure you do not experience any harm. You can count on us.”

Chapter Text

“You are going to need a Mazercise pass to get into the complex. There should be one in the security office in this area. There should also be a Fazcam inside. Flash photography is not allowed in Monty Golf, so they are usually confiscated and left there. The flash on the camera can be quite powerful. It might have the capability to stun the security bots for a brief time.” Freddy told the boy. “Of course, once you set off the alarm by taking the upgraded security pass, Monty will come looking for you. However, I imagine with only one person trying to get inside, it should be easier to manage. Roxi and I will work together to get the alarm disregarded as soon as it starts up.”

Gregory nodded at this. “Pass, camera, security badge - got it. Hold those cables until I get back, I don’t want them to slow me down.”

“Understood! We will wait right here for you to get back.”

Roxi flashed a rock sign at him and grinned. “Give ‘im hell, squirt.”

Gregory nodded again, smiling at both of them, before hurrying off to the back hallways of the golf course. There were definitely more security bots in this area than what he saw in the raceway, so he made sure to take his time and use his blaster when he could. Sure there was only one evil animatronic running around now, but Monty was big, strong, and his sunglasses made his blaster useless, so he would just avoid the entire encounter all together, thank you.

It was quiet in these back halls with, thankfully, not a lot of security bots roaming around, which seemed a little backwards to him. Back here is where all the important stuff was, like controls for the course, work offices, and the security office which had access to this area’s system. He would think they would want to patrol more here than they did out in the golf course, but then again, nothing else in this place made sense, so why mix it up now?

He found the security office easily enough and paused at a recharge station nearby before heading inside. He grabbed the camera first and looked it over, then set it beside the Freddy head holding the badge so he wouldn’t forget it. In the corner he found a duffle bag and inside was the pass he needed for Mazercise, as well as some sneakers and a towel. He figured someone was using this as a gym bag, but they made the poor choice of leaving it behind, so it was his now. He tossed the shoes and towel aside then stuffed the camera in. Finally he turned to the security badge, lifting a hand to open the case, but paused. There were a few filing cabinets in here and for the time being, he had access to past camera footage. He decided to poke around a little to see if he couldn’t find any clues about what was going on around here before he tripped the alarm.

Turning back to the cabinets, Gregory pulled them open and flipped through them causally, scanning the forms to see if he couldn’t find anything of interest. Unfortunately, there were just random reports about things happening in the golf course, like kids cheating or climbing on top of things they shouldn’t be. He frowned and moved to the next case when his watch went off.

“Gregory, are you alright? The security alarm has not been activated yet. Were you able to find the correct office?” Freddy’s voice came through the speaker.

The boy paused to answer it, lifting it closer to his mouth. “Yeah, I’m already here. I found the pass to Mazercise and the camera. I’m just taking a second to look around and see if I can’t find anything useful. Ya know the security in this place sucks, right? None of these filing cabinets are locked and someone left their password to the computer on a sticky note beside it.”

He could hear Roxi laughing in the background before Freddy’s voice covered the sound. “That is indeed not a very wise choice on their part, but it is on yours. Perhaps the security office will have a record of any strange occurrences lately.”

“That’s the hope. I’ll let you know before I grab the badge.”

“Understood. You are doing great, superstar!”

“Superstar, huh? We’re just giving that name out now? What would Bonnie think of that?” The boy could hear Roxi tease in the background before the connection was abruptly cut off. Gregory grinned and chewed the corner of his lip a little. The way Roxi and Chica picked on Freddy all the time felt a lot like older sisters picking on their little brother, and it was hilarious.

Turning his attention back to the filing cabinet he hadn’t gone through yet, Gregory flipped through pages of just random stuff. Again, no rhyme or reason for placements, which was annoying as hell. However, when a capital B zoomed by, he paused and flipped back to pull the page out. 

Incident Report #804

Date: 3/15/21

Incident Level: Beta

Potential for Lawsuits: Low

Description: Today one of the custodians found Bonnie shoved in one of the cleaning closets and beat to high hell. Looked like something chewed him up and spit him back out. We transported him down to Parts and Services and left him with one of the attendants, then did a sweep of the area, but came up with nothing. The whole thing was pretty weird. Those animatronics are tough. I wondered what happened.

Gregory’s eyes widened and he looked over the report, reading it over three times to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He then hurried over to the security computer and jumped into the rolling chair, pulling himself up to the keyboard. Using the password the guard left behind, he logged in and pulled up the security camera archives. This piece of paper he just found was by far the most important he had read that night, because it gave him a date of the night Bonnie went missing. With all the cameras this place had, they had to have caught something that night. He typed in the date and hit search, then combed through the logs for any sign of purple. He narrowed it down to after closing, because the animatronics would be in their respective areas during business hours. Then around 4:12am, Gregory finally found it.

He watched as Bonnie walked into the Monty Golf entrance and looked around, then wandered deeper down the walkways, until he ran into Monty, who had been leaning against one of the fences around a water feature with his arms crossed. It looked like he had been waiting for him. Bonnie grinned and greeted the gator by knocking his elbow into his shoulder. Gregory could see his mouth move, but there was no sound recorded with the video. The two stood there for a few minutes chatting, mostly Bonnie talking, waving his hands as he did, and Monty laughing. Finally the gator stood from where he was leaning and motioned for him to follow him down the path. Gregory traced them walking through the golf course, chatting as they went, then went through an arched doorway into the back portions of the course. Not quite the maintenance halls, but close. Gregory flipped through the other cameras in the area, but never saw them again. About an hour or so later, he caught the gator walking through a different area of the park, but Bonnie wasn’t with him. Gregory combed through the other cameras in that hour slot, but the only thing he found was a corrupted video file for the maintenance halls. “Oh yeah, that’s not suspicious.” The boy muttered as he frowned at the screen.

So it looked like Monty was the last person to see Bonnie before he disappeared and there was no video of the closet in which the bun had been stuffed into. All of this wreaked of a set up to get Bonnie out of the picture and for whoever did it to get off scot free. Gregory still wanted to ask Bonnie who had been his attacker, just in case someone different was waiting where he couldn’t see, but the evidence was starting to stack, and definitely not in Monty’s favor.

With a sigh, Gregory pocketed the new report and stood, then shot Freddy a message that he was about to take the badge. As soon as he got the ok, he opened the box and the alarms started blaring.

“Come on out, little guy. I only wanna help ya.” Monty’s voice came soon after.

Gregory scoffed as he pulled up the cameras for the area on his watch. “Yeah, I bet you do. Help me right into a grave.”

This time around, holding Monty back was a lot easier. All Gregory had to do was trace one animatronic as it stocked the halls and hit the switch when he got close. No crazy back and forth and close calls. Plus, with Freddy and Roxi working together on the alarms, the charade was over in no time and Monty was wandering off. “Don’t go too far.” Gregory murmured as he watched the gator on the camera. “Your time to shine is coming up very soon.”

Chapter Text

With his new gear, Gregory returned to Freddy and Roxi and loaded up the jumper cables into the duffle bag. Freddy and he made their way to the Mazercise portion of the complex while Roxi stayed back in Monty Golf so she could lure Monty into their trap. Gregory exchanged his pass to the robot outside the doors, who disappeared in the blink of an eye once again. Man he hated that.

Once inside, they made their way towards the maze, but Freddy paused and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hold on, I believe there is a control panel around here somewhere that will allow us to move the walls inside the maze. It should make it easier to find your entry point.” For a moment, his eyes flickered green as he thought, then turned and headed down a different hallway, Gregory close behind him. Soon they stepped into a control room with buttons and screens on one side and lockers on the other. “Ah, here it is! Just use this control panel and it should move the walls for you.”

Gregory set his bag aside for a moment before he went over to investigate the panel and the screens. He pressed a few buttons and watched the walls move, but frowned when they snapped back to their original placement when he pressed, supposedly, a wrong button. “Freddy, this is gonna take forever! Do you know what the right combination is?” He turned and looked up at the bear, who frowned.

“I… do not. I do not come up here very often. Oh! But Chica does. She has a dance class up here for membership holders. Maybe she would know what the correct combination is.”

Gregory nodded and fiddled with this watch. Man, he was glad he had friends who could actually help him do all these impossible tasks instead of having to hunt lost combinations left in random places. “Chica, can you hear me? Freddy and I need your help.” He made sure to add the singer’s name into the message so she didn’t accidentally say anything about Bonnie, though he was curious as to how the cosmetic work was going.

“Oh hello, Gregory! How might I be of assistance? Did you manage to free Monty yet?” The chick’s sweet voice came over the speakers.

“Not yet. We ran into an issue with the original plan, so we had to change it up. Right now, I need help with the maze combination in Mazercise.” Gregory told her then turned his gaze back up to the board. “I’m standing in the control room. There are a ton of buttons on one side and screens on the other side. There is a vent in here that can take me to the upper portions of Monty Golf, where the catwalks are.”

“Oh, alright! One moment please while I map out the correct combination to get you where you need to go.” There was a brief silence, though sometimes Gregory could make out faint sounds, like the chick was murmuring to herself. “Ok got it! Are you ready, dear? I’ll walk you through exactly which buttons to push.”

“Ready.” Gregory said, moving over to the buttons.

The combination was long and they had to start over once because Gregory accidentally pressed the wrong button, but soon, an open vent in a far wall was revealed on one of the screens. The boy grinned, “That did it! I can see the vent. Thanks Chica, you rock.”

The girl giggled, “Any time, sugarcube! Good look out there, and stay safe, ok? I’ll see you soon.”

“See ya.” The boy closed the connection and turned to pick up his bag again to pull over his shoulder, then the two made their way into the maze. When they reached the opening, Gregory looked up at Freddy. “I’ll let you know when everything is all set, then you’ll flip the power and tell Roxi to do her part. I’m gonna try and be back in the vent before all of that happens.”

Freddy nodded, “Understood. Careful and make sure you have plenty of clearance before telling me to turn on the power. I do not wish to catch you in the shock.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The bear smiled and ruffled the other’s hair, earning a face. “I know you will, superstar.”

“Cut it out!” Gregory halfheartedly swatted at his hand, ignoring the happy, buzzing feeling that started to grow in his chest for the moment, before turning to crawl into the vents with his bag, grumbling. He heard Freddy chuckle behind him.

The vents were large, but the route to Monty Golf was slower than he would have liked, with this bag of cables in tow. He was worried one of those little spider guys would come after him like they had before, but then he heard a bang on the vent behind him. He whipped around, afraid of what was going to be there, but saw nothing.

“Gregory, I caught one of the vent cleaners. It was disturbed when you started moving through, but I was quick enough to catch it, so it will not give chase.”

Gregory sighed and dropped his head. “Oh thank god. I hate those damn things.”

The boy continued forward until he reached the end, where he carefully took the screws off the cover to lower down to the floor just outside the opening. He slipped out first, then pulled his bag out to sling over his shoulder. Curiously, he looked around as he headed towards the bucket Roxi had pointed out before. There were little pods here hanging from a metal track with a fake blaster attached to the front. From what Roxi said, this used to be a game where guests would ride in the pods and try to get enough points to cause the jackpot bucket to go off and dump all the balls it had collected, but after the device started acting up, they closed the ride until they could fix it. Gregory wondered how long ago that was. With the way the work orders were just stroon randomly about the complex, he wouldn’t be surprised if it had been done for months.

Gregory climbed his way onto the overhead catwalks and paused to look down. Surprisingly, he could see Roxi on the ground floor, leaning up against a wall… filing her claws? Was that just an idle thing or did they actually need to be maintained? “Psst, Roxi. Look up.” Gregory murmured into his watch. The wolf’s ears perked then she stood and looked up, scanning the ceiling until she saw him. Gregory smiled and waved. He saw her grin as she gave a small wave back.

“Be careful up there, brat. Don’t wanna peel you off the railing.” She replied.

“As if!” The boy stuck his tongue out at her, which earned him the bird. He laughed at this before turning back to his task. 

The bucket was easy to find, because it was honestly massive. Gregory climbed up onto the service platform that had been installed around it for the construction crew and had a look around after setting his bag down. The power was off, so he felt ok poking at it. Just underneath it, where the hydraulics that raised and lowered the bucket were, he saw a thick electrical cable running from it and disappearing into the darkness. That had to be it, it was the only power cord he could see. He turned and grabbed the jumper cables out of his bag to attach to the cable, really wiggling it in there so the teeth bite past the rubber coating and got into the wires themselves. He zipped up his bag, now much lighter than before, and pulled it to rest across his chest, then grabbed the other end of the jumpers. He hopped down from the service platform and looked around for a good place to attach the other end.

“I smell a trouble maker…”

Gregory’s head jerked up so fast, he felt his neck pop. On the other side of a black gate, illuminated by an eerie red light, stood Monty. The gator chuckled deep in his throat as he dipped his head and lowered his star sunglasses to wink at him.

The boy’s heart finally started beating again, racing faster than ever before, and he let out a scream. At the same time, Monty smashed through the gates with a laugh, then started rushing towards him. The boy dropped the cables and turned to dash away and round a corner on the walkway. The entire suspended bridge system shook as Monty thundered after him. Vaguely below him, Gregory thought he heard Roxi shout his name.

“Hey, little guy! Where ya goin’? Don’t chya wanna play?”

Gregory scrambled up a set of stairs and let out a cry when the toe of his shoe got caught on the lip of one of the steps. He hit the metal hard, his knee stinging, but he got right back up onto his feet and kept running. He had to put some distance between him and Monty. If he could, it might give him just enough time to get those cables hooked up and get back into the vent so Freddy could turn on the power and zap this jackass into submission. However, with Monty’s quick and heavy footsteps behind him, the bridges shook, causing the boy to stumble and grab onto the railing every now and then, which completely destroyed his speed.

“Gregory!” The boy paused for just a moment to look up and see Roxi at the entrance to the catwalks Monty had just used. Her eyes were wide, but focused. She motioned frantically towards herself. “This way! Hurry!”

The boy hesitated. If he left now, they lost their chance to shock Monty. Not only would it hopefully knock the guy back into his senses and eliminate the bass player as a possible deadly end to his existence, but they also needed him to fix Bonnie. Apparently, he took too long to think about it, because Monty came roaring up behind him. Gregory screamed and dived out of the way as the other came flying it and crashed against the railing between him and Roxi, causing the entire structure to quiver and lunge. The boy grabbed onto the railing to stabilize himself then looked up. One of the beams connecting the catwalk to the ceiling had broken off at the top. He quickly realized that he had even less time than he had originally thought.

With Monty momentarily dazed from running into the railing, Gregory hurried back over to where he left the other end of the cables and grabbed them. Without putting too much thought into it and just hoping for a miracle, he attached them to the bars in the floor towards the side of the walkway, then scrambled back up as Monty got his footing and rushed after him once more. “Freddy!” The boy cried into his watch after fumbling to open a connection.

“Gregory! What is the matter? Are you alright?” Came the bear’s concerned voice.

“Monty found me sooner than we wanted! He’s chasing me around the catwalk!”

“Oh no! I am on my w-”

“No! Listen to me!” Gregory hissed as he stumbled from the shaking walkway, but pushed off the railing to make another turn. “Turn the power on as soon as I tell you to! Don’t hesitate!”

“But what if you are not out of the way completely? A shock like that will be lethal to you!”

“Just trust me!” Gregory looked back over his shoulder and watched Monty knock into the railing behind him to make the same turn and the whole structure shook. They were going to have to do this soon, or risk the whole thing coming down and Monty getting damaged from the fall. Yes, if he went down, he could just take his hands and give those to Bonnie, and if he had been the one to hurt the rabbit to start with, then he deserved it, but they didn’t have solid proof. He wasn’t going to condemn a potentially innocent person to death.

“Alright, I will do what you ask, but please be careful, Gregory.”

“I’m always careful.” Turning back around, Gregory saw Roxi was still standing in the entryway to the platforms, hesitating to step off the solid concrete and onto the metal after seeing it shake the few times it had. “Stay off the platform!” He shouted to her, waving a hand wildly. If she got out here and started running around too, the bridges would surely come down. “Get ready!”

She looked at him with big eyes. “Ready for what?” She called back.

“To catch me!”

“What?!”

Gregory looked back at Monty, who was still hot on his heels. This was going to be close. The boy turned, darting through a few more turns to get him a little more distance between him and Monty, then made a beeline for Roxi. She bent her knees and widened her stand as she held out her arms. When he was a few feet from the edge, he lifted his watch to his mouth and shouted. “Freddy, do it now!” And jumped.

Roxi leaned forward and snatched him out of the air then pulled him close to her chest. The combined momentum caused her to take a few steps back, but her arms were like a vice grip around his small, shaking form. At the same time, Gregory could hear a pop, then a whine as power was directed to the ball bucket. He lifted his head to look back as he gulped down air. Monty heard the sound too, glancing back over his shoulder with wide eyes. He suddenly started running faster, the bridge shaking with the force of his steps. Roxi gasped and took a few more steps back when she saw her friend coming in hot, figuratively and potentially literally. 

Much to the shock of both the boy and the wolf, Monty’s feet hit the concrete just as the bridge erupted into sparks, popping and sizzling. The gator looked behind him, his chest heaving to simulate being winded, then looked back at the two of them.

“No!” Gregory cried. They had been so close!

“Phew, that boy can move.” Monty said in his southern tone as he grinned and pushed up his sunglasses to look at them. “Great catch, Rox. Now why don’t chya hand the kid over, nice and easy?”

Roxi’s hold on Gregory tightened further as she turned away from him and snarled, baring fang. “Or what, big guy? You gonna off me too?”

Monty looked surprised at this, his jaw working for a moment, but no sound came out. “What’re you talkin’ about, baby doll?”

“Don’t you baby doll me, you jackass! I know what you did. I should skin you and shove you head first into a cleaning closet, how’s that? Real dignified soundin’, isn’t?”

Gregory put his hands on the wolf’s chest. “Roxi, don’t! We need him, don’t forget!” He murmured, causing her to glance down at him, then glare back up at Monty as she growled.

“What on earth are you talkin’ about? What crawled up yer ass and died this mornin’?” The gator countered, crossing his arms as he stood up straighter.

Roxi was quiet for a moment, her eyes flashing between green and yellow as thoughts ran through her mind, then finally she turned and set Gregory on the ground. She stepped between him and Monty as she marched up into his face to hook her fingers over the edge of his breastplate. Monty’s eyes widened as he tried to lean back, but she yanked him forward so their noses were inches apart. “This is for Bonnie.” She snarled, earning a shocked look from the gator, before she pulled her fist back and punched him as hard as she could in the face, knocking his glasses off and to the floor. Monty let out a surprised shout and stumbled back, then toppled back onto the electrified catwalk. 

Gregory hurried over to watch as Monty let out a cry and started to seize and shake, hiding partially behind the keytarist with his hands on her leg. Roxi glared down at the other animatronic as she lifted her nose into the air slightly and placed a hand on Gregory's head. It didn’t take long before the frantic flashing of red in Monty’s eyes dulled to black and he laid still on the metal walkway. “Freddy, cut the power.” Roxi spoke, and soon after, the whining and buzzing from the broken bucket stopped, and there was silence. Glancing down as they waited to see if Monty would reboot, the wolf saw the starglasses laying on the concrete and bent over to pick them up. She opened them then placed them on Gregory’s head, tucking the frames behind his ears. Confused, the boy looked up at her and touched them. “Bonnie had a similar pair.” She explained. “I don’t know if those were his or not, but I think they’ll work just fine for him now. Hold onto them.” Gregory didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded. Roxi nodded once in return before looking back down at Monty.

The pair watched Monty closely, waiting for that tell tale sign of life in his eyes. It took longer than Gregory expected, and he was afraid they had actually fried him, but a few minutes later, green slowly started to flash in the bass player’s eyes. “System reboosting, please wait.” The boy let out a relieved sigh.

Slowly, Monty came back online and he groaned as he sat up. “What… what happened? Where am I?” He rubbed his face slowly a few times. “Why do I feel like I went through a bangin’ party I don’t remember?”

“Well…” Gregory spoke up, “you’re not completely wrong.”

The gator looked at him in surprise, “What?”

Roxi jerked her head to the side. “Get up, asshole. A lot of shit’s been going down you weren’t aware of and we got some questions for you.”

“O-ok?”

“Gregory, did it work?” Freddy’s voice came from the Fazwatch all of a sudden, earning the boy’s attention.

“It did!” Gregory confirmed as he lifted his wrist to his mouth. “It looks like Monty is back to normal. Doesn’t seem to remember anything that happened.”

Monty blinked at him as he stood. “Wait, what happened?”

“Shut up, we’ll talk later. For now, just follow.” Roxi told him, then turned to start back down the service tunnel she came up, guiding Gregory to walk with her by a light hand on the back of his head.

“Yer real sour today…”

“I said shut it!”

“That is great news, Gregory!” Freddy continued. “Now that all of our friends are free from the glitch, we will be able to focus on figuring out the secrets of the pizzaplex.”

M: “Wait, what glitch?”

R: “Am I gonna have to break your jaw so you’ll shut up?!”

Gregory nodded, even though he knew Freddy couldn’t see him. “Yeah totally. I wanna check in with Chica first though. Why don’t you-”

Suddenly the lights shut off and for a moment, they were blanketed in darkness before the backup emergency lights kicked on. Gregory froze as his breath was caught in his lungs. “Fr-Freddy, the lights!”

“They are off here too! The power surge from the ball bucket must have flipped the fuse we discussed earlier. It should automatically turn back on in fifteen minutes, but this means-”

Gregory shuffled closer to Roxi’s leg as he scanned the area intensely. “The daycare attendant is out…”

Chapter Text

“Gregory, do not be scared. Roxi and Monty will keep you safe. In fifteen minutes, the lights will come back on and all will be well again.” Freddy paused. “Well… to a point.”

Gregory nodded as he scanned the area around him, not liking how many big pieces of equipment were in this maintenance hall. There were a lot of places one could hide in here. “Y-yeah, we’ll be ok.”

“That’s my superstar! I will go find Chica and together, we will wait for you in the lobby. You can do this.”

“Ok, we’ll find you.” Gregory spoke before closing the call.

“You better warn Chica to get out of Parts and Services.” Roxi told him as she glanced down at him, then back up, scanning the area. If what the reports said were true about Roxi’s new eyes being able to see through walls, Gregory was incredibly grateful to have her with him right now.

The boy nodded and established a connection to Chica. “Gregory!” Her voice came through suddenly. “Is everything alright? We lost power down here in Parts and Services.”

“Yeah, we’re ok. Freddy thinks the sudden power surge from the ball bucket in Monty Golf tripped a fuse somewhere, but it should be back on soon.”

“Wait, why did the jackpot bucket turn on? It’s broken and very dangerous.”

“We had to change tactics in fixing Monty. But listen, there isn’t much time. Freddy is in Mazercise and is making his way towards you. You need to get out of Parts and Services before he finds you.”

“Oh! Oh my goodness, ok, not a problem. I just finished the paint touch-ups, so this would be a good time for a break anyways. Aww Gregory, I’m so excited for you guys to see him! He looks so much better now. I knew all those arts and crafts programs I picked up would come in handy in more ways than one!”

Gregory smiled a little, “That’s great. We can’t wait to see him.”

“Oh hey by the way, have you gotten the replacement hands yet?”

“Uh, not yet. A lot is going down over here. We haven’t had time to talk about it.” A clatter came from somewhere in the darkness, causing Gregory to nearly jump out of his skin. “What was that? Roxi, did you see anything?”

The wolf shook her head, scanning the area. “No, there’s a lot of machinery around here that’s too thick with metal and lead for me to see through. We should get outta here like, now.”

The boy couldn’t agree more. “Chica, I gotta go. Just get to the Lobby, ok?”

“Gregory, are you ok? Is something wrong?”

“I gotta go, talk later.” Gregory quickly cut off the connection just as Roxi leaned down to scoop him up into her arms, tucking them under his butt, and moved a little quicker down the hall.

Monty followed right on her heels. “Will someone please tell me what’s goin’ on? Who are we runnin’ from, the daycare attend? What’s so scary about him?”

The boy peered over Roxi’s shoulder to answer while she focused on looking around, her ears rotating on her head. “I kinda broke some rules and pissed him off and now whenever the lights go out, the moon guy leaves the daycare to try and find me and ‘punish’ me, and considering how all the animatronics have been trying to kill me tonight up until recently, I’m pretty sure he isn’t gonna make me just sit in a corner for ten minutes then send me on my way.”

The gator frowned, looking confused. “What? Kill you? That’s just crazy talk. We ain’t capable of such a thing.”

“Yeah well, all of the animatronics in this place besides Freddy have been freaking out and trying to get me, but we found a good shock to the system gets you guys to reboot and clear out the bug. Let’s just hope it stays that way.”

“Both of you, shut it. I’m trying to listen.” Roxi snapped quietly.

The group traveled in silence for a while, weaving their way through the tunnels until they popped out in the Monty Golf Course. Gregory let out a small sigh of relief to be out of that area. He thought by now the lights would come back on, but supposed time moves slower when he was scared for his life. Both animatronics looked around as they made their way towards the exit, before Monty paused, then smiled at Gregory.

“Hey! Ain’t those my sunglasses, little man?” He asked, nodding to the frames stilling on Gregory’s head. “Ya keepin’ them safe for me? Tha’s real nice of ya.” He reached out for them, but Roxi rotated away quickly, causing Gregory to throw his arms around her neck to keep steady.

“Don’t touch them.” She snarled at her bandmate as she glared at him. “Those aren’t for you, not anymore.”

Monty’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in annoyance. “What’s yer deal, man? You’ve been snappin’ and growling at me this whole time! You got’a problem with me or somethin’?”

“As a matter of fact, I do!”

“Oh yeah? Then what’d I do, huh? Ya gonna tell me or am I gonna have ta guess?”

Gregory glanced around, then back up at the wolf. “Roxi, don’t. We don’t have solid proof yet.”

Monty threw out his arms in frustration. “Proof of what?!”

“You killed Bonnie!” Roxi snapped, stunning both her companions into silence.

“I did what?!”

Roxi set Gregory back down on his feet then turned to shove her finger into Monty’s chest. “Did I fucking stutter? You jealous, egotistical bastard! How many times did you come up to me and say oh, ya know how cool I’d look in that Glamrock get up? Or the stage is where I belong, Rox! I should be up there with you guys!” She shoved him with both hands, causing him to stumble back, but she advanced to close the distance again. “I can’t believe you! How could you do something so fucking vile? Murdering someone so goddamn nice in cold blood and stuffing his body into a fucking cleaning closet, just so you could take his place on the stage! You and Bonnie were friends! How could you do something like this? You disgust me!”

Gregory looked around the dark golf course nervously as he dug out his flashlight. “Uh guys? Can we do this later, please? Or not at all?” He asked as he slowly swept the light beam around the room. It was silent besides the two animatronics standing beside him. No longer were there sounds of alligators hissing around the park or water rushing down a fall. He also noticed all the security bots were gone, which couldn’t be a good thing.

“Kill Bonnie? Bitch, I have no idea what yer talkin’ about!” Monty argued, standing up straighter to loom over her, but Roxi straightened too, and even though she was shorter than the gator, her presence was just as tall. “Bonnie disappeared months ago. I only got upgraded with that bass talent because no one could find him!”

“That’s bullshit and you know it!” Roxi roared, throwing out her hands. “I read the work report from Parts and Services-”

“Wait, he’s been Parts and Services this whole time?”

“Don’t you fucking interrupt me when I’m talking!”

In the distance, Gregory heard a faint laugh under the loud shouting of the two behind him and he gasped, jerking his flashlight in that direction, but he didn’t see anything. “Guys!”

Roxi shoved her finger into Monty’s chest a few more times. “You made damn sure to do enough damage that management wouldn’t want to fix him, cause it’d be too expensive. And with him permanently down, they’d need someone to play the bass in the show, and the very next day, you’re gettin’ a new look and a new talent and have the goddamn audacity to wear star shaped sunglasses just like he did! Like you were walkin’ around with a trophy!” She ran her fingers back through her hair before throwing her hands back out, laughing with no humor in her voice. “I can’t believe I didn’t even realize it until now! Is this fun for you? To just crush and destroy the hopes and dreams of others because of your own greed and jealousy? If you wanted a different position in the band, would you kill that person too? Me, Freddy, Chica? Any of us? Are we just so disposable to you?!”

“Roxanne, I got no goddamn clue what yer talkin’ about! I never touched Bonnie! The last I saw him, we were all in the atrium together, hanging out after closin’ and you were there too, so don’t tell me ya don’t believe me!” Monty put his hands on his chest. “And I didn’ pick my look! Management did!”

Gregory’s eyes widened at this and he turned to look up at him. “Wait, what? What did you say? A-About Bonnie.”

Monty looked down at him, making a face. “The last time I saw Bonnie was in the atrium. Everyone was there, any of ‘em can confirm I was there too!”

Roxi shoved him again, gaining his attention in the form of a glare as he stumbled back again. “I read that report, Bonnie had gouges all over his body, on his face, and his throat was crushed! All of us are strong, but Bonnie would have fought back, and you’re the only one strong enough, besides maybe Freddy, to hold him down while he was torn apart!” She threw out her hands again. “It had to be another animatronic to do that kind of damage and you know damn well it wasn’t Freddy or Chica!”

“And what about you, huh? Where were you the night he went missin’?”

“I was with them the whole night! Try harder, jackass!”

Gregory glanced off to the side as Monty’s words ran through his brain. He said the last time he saw Bonnie was the performance the night before, but he had seen video evidence of them together in Monty Golf. Was he just lying to cover his tracks? He couldn’t tell. He didn’t know Monty well enough yet and energies were very high right now. Even a terrible liar could be convincing with enough passion thrown in. But if he was telling the truth, if he really meant what he said, then he either forgot about meeting up with Bonnie later in the morning, or the memory just wasn’t there at all.

Gregory didn’t notice the danger lurking behind him before he was snatched around the waist with another hand coming up to cover his mouth. His body tense and froze in an instant as he gasped through his nose. “Naughty children must be punished…” That creepy voice came from behind him before his feet left the ground and he was being carried away.

Gregory started to scream and kick his legs, trying to break himself free. Eventually he thrashed enough to knock the hand away from his mouth. “Roxi!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “Help me!”

Shocked out of their argument, both Roxi and Monty turned in his direction, their eyes wide. “Gregory!” The wolf cried and rushed after them.

Moondrop growled when he saw Roxi rushing towards them and shifted his hold on Gregory to carry him under his arm so he could start running. In a flat foot chase, Roxi would beat him easily, but with his spider-like limbs, he easily crawled up some of the decorations on the first floor up to the second. Roxi stopped at the bottom and snarled. Moondrop just stuck his tongue out at her and made some taunting sounds, before hurrying away.

“Let me go! I already apologized for turning the lights off earlier! Let it go, man! Move on!” Gregory shouted as he continued to struggle and thrash.

“You think your crimes are as simple as flipping a switch?” Moondrop asked then chuckled darkly. “Oh how naive you are, little boy. Your crimes have far surpassed that. You have been very busy tonight, haven’t you?” Gregory’s eyes widened at this. “Do you have any idea what happens to naughty children here?”

He didn’t know for certain, no, but he wasn’t too keen on finding out, and started fighting even harder. Wiggling his arm downward, Gregory was able to grab the phaser blaster in his pocket, then kicked the back of Moondrop’s leg as hard as he could. The animatronic let out a surprised sound as his leg buckled and his grip on the boy momentarily loosened, just long enough for him to wiggle away. Gregory dropped to the ground then scrambled to put distance between them. “Why you little brat…” Moondrop growled. The boy quickly turned, aimed his blaster, and shot him in the eyes, earning a shrill. The attendant put his hands to his face and shook his head, and while he was blinded, Gregory turned to book it through the door in front of him.

He found himself in the back halls for Monty Golf once again and hurried back to the security office. He was surprised to find this room still had power. Perhaps it was on a different grid than the lights for the building, but he didn’t put much thought into it before slamming his fist into the switches to lock both doors. The power cells were full, so he hoped they would last until the lights came back on. Moving to curl up in the corner beside a filing cabinet, Gregory opened a connection to Roxi with shaking hands. “Roxi! Can you hear me?” He whispered.

“Gregory! Are you ok? Where are you? Did you escape?” Came the wolf’s concerned tone.

“I’m in the security office behind Monty Golf, the one I was in before! I-I managed to blind Moondrop for a moment and escaped. I have both the doors shut, but they won’t stay closed forever!”

“Ok stay there! We’re coming to you. We’re not fair, so those doors should hold until we get there.”

Gregory’s head shot up when he heard that same chuckle coming down the hall, small tears forming in his eyes. “Hurry, Roxi! He’s here!” He then quickly turned off the watch and scooted back as far as he could so he could hide himself from the windows.

“Where aaaaare youuuuu?” The daycare attendant sang out in the halls. There was a pause, before the sound of claws being dragged down the metal door closest to his hiding spot could be heard. Gregory pressed his hands to his mouth to keep a whimper from escaping. “Now is not the time for hide and seek, little boy.” 

Once more he heard a giggle as it left the door and traveled down the hallway. With the power out, he couldn’t trace the animatronic through the halls with the security cameras, so he had no idea where he was or where he was going. It was silent for a long moment, long enough to where Gregory thought he might have moved on, but then a loud bang came from the other door and he couldn’t stop the scream that jumped out of his throat. Moondrop laughed at this. “Oh what a fun little room this is! So small, so secure… and so far away from everything else. The perfect place to… rid of someone without anyone knowing. You could just… disappear and no one would know what happened to you.” He chuckled again and moved away from the door. 

Gregory peeked out of his hiding spot to check the door charges. They were already at fifty-percent, and he felt his heart drop. He had only been in the office a few minutes, and the power cells were already so low. What good were security doors that could only be closed for such a short amount of time? Moon’s comments did ping a small alert in his head though. He put so much emphasis on the words ‘rid’ and ‘disappear,’ saying no one would know what would happen to him. Maybe he was overthinking, his mind running on overdrive in his panic, but… was he just trying to scare him or was he hinting at what happened to Bonnie back here? Did he know something about it?

When a bang came against the door closest to him, Gregory gasped and pressed his hands to his mouth as he scrambled back into his hiding hole. “These doors don’t last long, do they?” The animatronic just outside asked sweetly. “Oh, this is so very exciting. I bet the anticipation is thrilling for both of us.”

The boy put his hands over his head as he buried his face into his knees. “Roxi, hurry!” He begged in his mind.

As if the thought itself had summoned her, Gregory heard a roar from down the hall and a startled sound from Moondrop. “Come’ere you bastard!” He could hear Roxi shout as she thundered down the hall. Gregory quickly got to his feet and ran to one of the windows to look out. He couldn’t see her, it was too dark, but he could hear her. Then, all of a sudden, a blue light came flashing and sparking down the hall. He saw Roxi rushing towards the security room with something hanging by her hip, secured by a strap over her chest, and two devices in her hands that were producing the sparks and electricity. 

“Clear!!” 

“No no no no no! Wait!”

Roxi bent her knees and pounced hands first past the window. Gregory shifted to watch her go, but had to shut his eyes and look away when a bright blue light shot through the hallway and flooded the security office. He could hear zapping and popping as Moondrop let out a high pitched scream. Then as quick as it started, it stopped, and there was silence, before a small knock came at the door. Gregory let out a shout and stumbled back.

“Gregory! It’s just me, Monty! You can open the doors now, it’s safe.” To prove himself, Monty appeared in the window beside the door and waved.

The boy hesitated a moment, before moving to press the open switch and just as he did, the lights and power for the complex came back on. Gregory made a face and blinked a few times, before looking up at Monty, who was now kneeling in front of him. “You ok, little dude?” He asked as a light shot out of his eyes and he scanned him over. They widened when they landed on his knee. “Yer knee is totally busted and bleeding.” Startled, the boy looked down at his knee and for the first time, felt pain as it stung and ached. When did that happen? “Don’t worry, I’ll getchya patched up.” He told him then stood to walk into the security office to find a first aid kit.

Gregory looked back at him, then moved to peer out the door. He saw Roxi was squatting over Sundrop, watching him intensely, her tail moving slowly behind her idly. In her hands, he could now see, was a defibrillator set. That must have been what the light was. “Is… is that a defibrillator?” He asked. “And it had enough juice to knock him out?”

“Moon- er, Sun is a little different than the band mates.” Monty explained as walked back to kneel in front of the boy again and open the box of standard medical supplies. “He ain’t expected to do anything too crazy in the daycare, so his outer shell ain’t as strong. Plus, Roxi broke the safety features on that thing so it would give one, full powered shock. Knocked his ass right out. Here, sit down real quick.” The boy turned his attention back to Monty and did as he asked, propping his knee up. He watched him tear open a disinfecting wipe and tossed the paper packaging aside. “This gonna sting a little.” He warned before gently touching it to his knee to clean away what blood had already started to crust against his skin. Gregory jumped and hissed, then rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand as they started to water again, sniffling. The tears weren’t all from the pain. The whole experience had been terrifying, more so than when he got stuck in a security office before, because he had been alone during it. There had been no Freddy talking him through the whole experience while he worked on turning off the alarm. Roxi and Monty had been on the way, but what if the doors gave out before they got there? He would have been done for! 

“Alrigh’, enough of that now.” The boy moved his hand to look down at his knee as a Freddy themed band-aid was smoothed over his scrape. While he did like the picture on it, it made his chest ache with longing. “There, good as new. Didn’t even need ta cut it off.” Monty tapped the side of his knuckle under Gregory’s chin, causing the boy to look up at him. The comment drew a little smile from him as he sniffled again. The bass player gave him a wink, then closed the box and stood to put it away.

Turning his attention back to the pair outside in the hallway, Gregory stood and cautiously wandered over to look down at the daycare attendant. That’s when he saw that the light in Sundrop’s eyes was gone, but quickly came back up after a moment. “System rebooting, please wait.”

Roxi sighed as her shoulders sagged, then she pushed herself up and pulled the device off to toss it to the side with a clatter. She then turned her attention to Gregory and knelt down in front of him, putting her hands on either shoulder. “Hey kid, you ok? Nothin’ broken?”

He looked up at her. “N-no, no, I’m ok.” He bit his lip then, after a moment of hesitation, he rushed forward to wrap his arms around her chest in a hug. Roxi’s eyes widened as her ears perked, jerking a little in shock, but slowly, she lowered her arms to wrap around him, then a little tighter. “Thanks for coming like you said you would.” Gregory murmured quietly. 

Roxi was quiet for a moment, not really sure what to say. Eventually, she nodded a little, “Yeah, yeah of course, little dude. Can’t let the little superstar get swept away, now can we?” Gregory smiled and chuckled at this.

“Wow, ya got soft, Rox.” Monty snarked from where he leaned against the door frame to the office, arms crossed.

Quickly, the wolf pulled away to stand and glare at him. “Shut up! I’m still not happy with you.” She looked back at Sundrop when he groaned and sat up, rubbing his face. “But right now, we have a guest.”

Chapter Text

“Start talking, Sun!” Roxi demanded as she crossed her arms and leaned forward to loom over the daycare attendant. “What’s up with you and your other half? Why are you trying to kidnap Gregory?”

Sundrop still sat on the floor, but curled his limbs closer to himself when Roxi put on the bad cop act. “I don’t know!” He cried and lifted his arms to drape up over his head, as though that would protect him if the wolf got violent. “I-I really don’t, I swear! I only get bits and pieces when Moondrop comes out!”

“What do you mean, bits and pieces?” Gregory asked curiously.

Sun looked at him and held out his hands. “W-Well when Moon takes over, it’s sort of like I’m just taking the backseat while someone else is driving, but I can still see out the windows, I can still see where we’re going! B-But lately, pieces are fuzzy or they don’t make any sense, or I get nothing at all.” He wrapped his arms around himself as his shoulders rose. “And it honestly scares me.”

“So… just now, you had no control over what was happening?” The boy asked and the animatronic shook his head quickly.

“No! Not at all! Why do you think I so desperately didn’t want you to turn off the lights before? Once it gets dark, I can’t stop him!”

Roxi waved a hand and glared. “What the fuck, man? And you’re allowed to take care of children?”

Sundrop looked up at her and shook his hands. “It wasn’t always like this! Moon and I are partners. I take care of the kids when they’re playing in the playground sets or doing arts and crafts. Moon tells them stories and handles nap and quiet time. We’re a team and used to be able to switch so effortlessly, but then… everything changed a few months ago. Moon started to… mumble to himself about things, giggling and saying ‘yes, of course’ or ‘yes, sir,’ but there was nobody there.” He wrapped his arms around himself again and frowned as he looked away. “Then there were moments where I couldn’t see or hear anything when he was active. It was like my sensors were completely shut off. Sometimes, he’d be out for hours, and when I came back to the front, we would be covered in dirt. I tried to ask about it, but he always told me to mind my own business.” He shook his head, looking up at them with big, water eyes. “I don’t even know who he is anymore!” He then dropped his head into his hands and started to cry.

Roxi made a face at this and stepped back, but Gregory moved forward to kneel beside him and pat his shoulder. He searched through his newly acquired duffle bag and found some napkins that he handed over to him to use. Sundrop thanked him, patted his eyes, then blew his nose in a very loud and cartoonish fashion. It had to be simulated, Gregory was pretty sure. If it wasn’t, then this would be the weirdest and most unnecessary detail he’s seen in an animatronic yet. “I’m not totally sure, but I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that happening anymore.” Gregory told him.

Sundrop looked up from where he had buried his face into the tissue. “Wh-what do you mean? Is he ok?”

The boy nodded. “I think so. It’s been happening to everyone here, other than Freddy, it seems. Something has been affecting the animatronics and turning them crazy, but we’ve found that a sharp shock to the system flushes it out. I don’t know if it’s a permanent fix, but it seems to be working for now.”

The daycare attendant’s eyes lit up brighter at this, looking hopeful. “That’s wonderful! Oh I’m so glad to hear he’ll be ok, and that everyone else is gonna be ok too!” He sprung to his feet and did a hop, throwing up his hands. For a second, it looked like he was going to go in and give Roxi a hug, but she snarled at him and he squeaked, wisely deciding to turn that hug on Monty, which startled the gator, but he gave him a few pats on the back. Spinning back around to face Gregory, he put his hands together and leaned forward. “Do you know what might be causing this problem?”

The boy shook his head, “No, not yet, but we’re working on it. We’ll keep you posted.” He frowned and paused, then asked. “Do you remember anything right now? Anything that could be helpful?”

Sun put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment. “Hmm… well, other than what I already told you, I know he’d leave the daycare a lot after hours and head west, but I didn’t get to see much before I was cut off.”

Roxi frowned, “That doesn’t really narrow it down. There are a ton of things west of the daycare.”

Gregory hummed. “Yeah, but it’s a start. We can potentially eliminate half of the pizzaplex now.”

“I guess.”

Sun gave theme an apologetic smile as he messed with his fingers. “Sorry I don’t remember more right now, but if anything else comes up or if Moon wakes up and is willing to talk, you will be the first to know. Oh, here, let me see your little watch real quick. I’ll give you my number.” Gregory held out his watch and with a flourish consisting of a spin and a dip backwards, Sundrop touched the screen of the watch, unlocking communications for him. At the mention of this, Monty stepped forward to do the same. 

As this was set up, Gregory slipped into his thoughts, rolling over what Sundrop said. He caught Moon talking, like he was speaking to someone who wasn’t physically there, and even said “yes, sir.” Who was the “sir?” Was it a program? Another animatronic? Or maybe a person pulling the string? Vanny came to mind for the first time in a while. So much had been happening, that she honestly slipped his mind. He wasn’t certain if she was a human or an animatronic yet, but he was leaning towards a person, since her face never moved and her outward appearance was very patchwork-like. Did she have something to do with the animatronics acting funny? That could explain why none of them could see her like he could. She could have just implemented a code that hid her appearance in the suit. But then, Moon said “sir,” implying a man. Could Vanny be working with someone? And where had Moondrop been going off to after hours? Unfortunately, he felt like he had more questions than answers at this point.

“Also, I have officially unbanned you from the daycare!” Sundrop spoke, knocking the boy from his thought train. “Please come back anytime you like, though… I guess maybe after everything goes back to normal. I feel just awful about what happened before. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me, and Moon.”

“You? Yes, I can forgive you. Moon is gonna have to work a little harder.” Gregory told him.

Sundrop nodded. “That’s fair, I understand.”

Suddenly, Gregory’s watch beeped and Freddy’s voice came through the speakers. “Gregory, the lights have been back on for a while now. Is everything alright? We do not see you in the lobby.”

Roxi rolled her eyes at this. “He’s such a dad.”

Monty tossed her a half grin. “Sounds about right.”

Gregory lifted his wrist to answer the call. “Yeah, I’m ok. I bummed my knee at some point, but Monty patched it for me. We’re here now with Sundrop. Turns out his other half has been acting crazy too.” He grinned and looked up at Roxi as he said, “You should have seen Roxi though. She came rushing down the hallway with an overcharged defibrillator and tackled him to the ground! It was pretty cool.” The wolf’s ears perked at this, then she tossed him a grin and a rock’n’roll hand sign.

In the background, he could hear Chica giggling. “That is great news! Not the part about Moon, of course, but hopefully that concentrated energy will work just as well as it had for the rest of our friends. Will you be heading to the lobby now?”

“Uhh…” Gregory glanced up at Roxi, then at Monty, who tilted his head. “I actually have to make one more pit stop before I head your way. You guys just do whatever.”

“Oh, very well. I will see you when you get here then.” If the boy wasn’t mistaken, it almost sounded like he was disappointed, and the other animatronics picked up on this too. Roxi rolled her eyes, Monty grinned, and Sundrop clasped his hands together to hold near his chest in an adoring gesture.

“I’ll see you soon, don’t worry. And maybe if we have time before rushing off to uncover those secrets, we could find another one of those Princess Quest games together.” Gregory offered.

Freddy’s voice brightened considerably at this, sounding almost excited. “Yes, I would like that very much!”

“Oh my god.” Monty murmured as he rubbed his face with his hand, still grinning.

“He’s like a puppy, I swear.” Roxi added quietly, waving a hand.

Gregory was grinning too and shook his head. “There ya go. I’ll talk to you soon.” He said, then hung up the call.

Sundrop wrapped his arms around himself and squeezed, “Isn’t he just the cutest thing? Makes you wanna hug him!”

“Yup, delightful.” Roxi made a sweeping motion with her hands. “Come on, we need to get going. We’ve got shit to do.” She then pointed at Sundrop. “I’m putting you on lookout duty. If you see anything suspicious or learn anything of use, you tell us right away, got it?”

The attendant stood up straight, clicked his heels together, and saluted. “Yes ma’am! You can count on me!” He leaned down to give Gregory a little pat on the head and bop a gold star sticker to his chest, before he danced off and back towards the daycare. The boy held his shirt out to study the sticker for a moment, then carefully peeled it off to stick to his duffle bag instead. “Monty.” The gator looked down when Gregory stepped up to him. “Do you still have your old hand parts? The ones you had before you got these upgraded versions? Bonnie needs new hands and we were hoping you might know where yours are. Chica and I looked in a storage closet in Parts and Services, but didn’t find anything.”

The bass player made a face and thought, simulating the sound of sucking in air through his teeth. “I dunno. I’ve had these for a little over a month now. Hands break all the time, they might’ve recycled ‘em all ready.”

Roxi glared at him. “Your hands break all the time because you’ve got anger issues and just love to destroy shit.”  

Monty glared right back at her. “This again? I told chya I didn’t hurt Bonnie!”

The wolf turned to face him. “And I still don’t believe you! All the evidence points to you!”

“And what, suddenly my word don’t mean nothing to you anymore? Where’d all that friendship and trust go, Roxanne?”

“I think it shattered the same time you shattered Bonnie’s voice box!”

“Enough!” The two animatronics looked down at Gregory, who was glaring up at them with his hands balled into fists. “Will you two stop fighting?! I’m tired of listening to it!” He shook his head. “Do you have any idea what just happened? Are you both that brain fried that you already forgot? I almost got kidnapped to have who knows what done to me because you two started shouting and fighting in the middle of the golf course and it led Moondrop right to us! It’s both your fault for what just happened!” The eyes of the others widened and they glanced at each other, before away in opposite directions. He pointed at Roxi. “You need to stop provoking him and accusing him when we don’t even have solid proof. Yes, Monty looks suspicious. I checked the camera archives while I was in the security office and it shows that you,” he pointed at Monty, “were indeed the last person to be with Bonnie around four o’clock in the morning and they found his body a few hours later.”

Roxi looked at him with wide eyes. “Then-!”

“I’m not done talking!” Gregory shouted, glaring up at her. She made a face, but clicked her mouth shut. “I checked the camera for the maintenance halls and the file was corrupted. About an hour later, it shows Monty back in the golf course without Bonnie. So yes, it’s fucking suspicous, but we don’t know what happened when they got there, and until we do, Monty is innocent of the crimes you’re accusing him of!” He rounded to the gator, who looked confused and shocked. “However, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook either. We’re all gonna be watching you closely until we figure out what really happened, because you are the main suspect right now. Once we get Bonnie back up and running, he will be the deciding factor. He will be able to tell us who attacked him. Then, and only then, will we talk about guilt.” Gregory lifted his hands then threw them back down again. “Are we at a complete understanding here?”

Gregory was panting when he finished his rant, feeling exhausted. Both Monty and Roxi were quiet for a moment, before Roxi simulated a deep breath and a sigh. “Fine.” She reluctantly agreed. “I see your point…”

“You said…” The boy looked up at Monty when he leaned closer. “Ya said ya saw me on the security cameras with Bonnie? A few hours before he was found?” Gregory nodded. “Can I see it?” Sighing, the child turned and walked back into the security office to hop in the desk chair and pull the file up. Both animatronics followed him inside and watched the screens above the computer play back the footage. Gregory glanced over his shoulder at Monty, watching his face as he stared at the cameras. “This- I… I don’ understand. I don’ remember any of this.” He shook his head and looked at the other two. “I swear to you, the last time I remember seein’ Bonnie was in the atrium that night, and before that I was watchin’ y’all perform that night’s show. The course had died down so I went topside to watch it.” The color of his eyes flashed as he accessed his memory. “I was standin’ by the stage controls on the top floor. The last song y’all played was Rebel Yell. After that, I went back to the golf course to clean up.” He turned back to the screens. “Do ya got that? Ya got me comin’ back?” Gregory looked back at the computer and rolled the footage back a few hours. Monty did indeed walk back into Monty Golf around ten-thirty and walked around helping janitorial bots clean up. “Yeah, yeah, see? That took a couple hours, then after that, I went and met up with you guys in the atrium, remember?” He asked Roxi, who now stood with her arms crossed, eyes narrowed at the screens.

“I remember.” She agreed reluctantly then glanced over at him. “I also remember you pulling Bonnie aside and talking to him before you left around 2:30am, and then he left short after to hit one of the arcades.”

“I…” Monty paused, eyes flashing again, before he frowned. “I don’t remember that. In fact, now that I think about it… I don’t remember leaving the atrium after.”

Gregory turned to look up at him, “What is the last thing you remember that morning?” He asked.

Monty paused for a moment as he thought. “The last thing I remember… is walkin’ out onto the golf course to get it set up for the day around 6am.”

“Oh my god!” Roxi put her hands on her head then turned to face him and threw them down. “And you never thought it was odd that you couldn’t remember four hours of activity?”

He looked up at her desperately. “I didn’t know I was missin’ four hours of activity! I never looked back at that night’s events in a time stamped order like that before! I sorta patched together that I was with all y’all, then I went back to the golf course to hang until 6am when I went out to start workin’ again!”

“Monty!”

“Look, I’m sorry!”

Gregory put a hand on his chin as he thought about this. “Ok, so you don’t remember leaving the group, but you did after talking to Bonnie…” He spun back around and dug for the atrium camera archives. “Let’s look at that.” He sped through the video file for that day until he got to after closing hours. Several of the cameras showed the band and Monty hanging around the main stage talking, sometimes playing with their instruments. At one point, Monty turned to the group and seemed to ask a question, because three out of the four shook their heads, but Chica lifted a hand and nodded. He then turned and left the stage “Where are you going?” Gregory asked.

“I went to get soda for me and Chica.” Monty explained.

Gregory made a face and turned back to look at him. “You guys can drink soda?”

“Yeah.”

The boy stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “Never mind, not important.” He looked back up at the screens above the computer before his brain could dive too deeply into that one. They watched as Monty walked off to the side where some small food venting stands were set up and went behind the counter to grab two bottles from a glass display fridge. He turned to go back to the group, but paused. He stood very still for a long moment, enough to where Gregory was worried the feed had frozen, before finally moving back towards the stage.

“What the hell was that?” Roxi asked. “Did you forget what you were doing or something?”

Monty narrowed his eyes at this. “No I… I don’t know. I don’t have any memories of this moment.”

“Ok, so that’s where the blank starts.” Gregory rewinded the footage and played it back slowly so they could scan it for details. It took a couple run throughs, before Roxi leaned forward, one hand on the desk, and pointed at the screen. “Wait, what’s that? Can you zoom in on that back door? I think I saw it move.”

Gregory nodded and pulled up that file on the computer. He fiddled with it for a moment, before double clicking on the door, zooming in closer. That was when he saw it too. The door was the swinging kind that pushed in and out. They watched as fingers grabbed the edge of the door from the inside and pulled it back just a few inches, hardly noticeable from far away and from where Monty was at the fridge. Then it felt like ice water had been dumped down Gregory’s entire back as one, red eye and part of a smiling face could be seen in the crack.

“Who the fuck is that?” Roxi asked as she narrowed her eyes at the screen, leaning closer.

“Who?” Monty asked as he stepped closer too, studying the shot. “I don’t see anyone, just the door wigglin’. “

Gregory looked up at Roxi quickly, his eyes wide. “Wait, you can see her?”

The wolf blinked down at him. “The chick with the red eyes and creepy smile in the doorway? Yeah. You know her?”

“That’s Vanny! She’s been trying to get me too! She prances around in a bunny suit. I saw her before and asked Freddy about it, but he said he didn’t see anything, even though she walked right in front of us.”

Roxi narrowed her eyes in confusion as she tilted her head. “Why does everyone wanna kidnap you so badly?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Gregory looked back up at the screen. “But if Vanny was there right when Monty stopped recording memories, then I have a feeling she’s got something to do with it.”

Chapter Text

Gregory turned to look up at the animatronics. “We need to tell the others about this right away.”

Roxi crossed her arms and looked down at him, raising an eyebrow. “You wanna unload all this shit about Bonnie and Monty onto Freddy? Did you forget about what I said about Bonnie meaning the world to him?”

Monty straightened and looked nervous at this, simulating a gulp. “Uh… could we maybe not tell Freddy ‘til we talk ta Bonnie?”

The boy frowned, “Can we afford to wait? What if Vanny uploaded that glitch and she’s the reason you guys have been acting crazy? What if she does it again? We don’t know how long you'll be in the clear.”

The gator pointed at him with both hands. “Ya make a great point, little dude, but if we tell Freddy that Bonnie was brutally murdered and then mention I was the last one ta see him alive and I can’t remember anything that happened, he’s gonna lose his shit and kick my ass. And then it won’t matter if there’s a glitch or not, cause you’ll be down two animatronics, potentially more if someone tries to step inta the fray and stop the fight.”

Roxi nodded, “He’s right. Freddy’s gonna get real emotional when he hears we found Bonnie. There’s a lot of unknowns here right now. We could flip the switch and Bonnie either doesn’t turn back on or is too damaged and freaks out and someone has to put him down.” She shook her head. “We can’t do that to him. He lost him once, don’t make him potentially lose him again.”

Gregory frowned at this and glanced down in thought. He could understand their points, and when it was put that way… he could agree. He didn’t want to hurt Freddy with this, but he was just so worried about Vanny and all of the sudden unknowns that were added to the table. He didn’t want any of the animatronics to fall to the glitch again, partially because he didn’t want to have people hunting him again, but also because in just these past few hours, they became his friends. He didn’t want to see anything happen to them. The boy rubbed his face, suddenly feeling tired from everything that had been happening tonight, but nodded. “Ok, you’re right. We’ll hold off for a little while longer, but our next priority needs to be getting Bonnie back online so we can hear his side of the story.” He told them.

Both animatronics nodded in return. “We’re gonna need ta come up with some kinda excuse as to why Freddy can’t be with the rest of us while we’re workin’ on Bonnie.” Monty pointed out. “If we’re all down there, he’ll wanna come with us.”

Gregory shrugged, “I could stay with him and we could go around the pizzaplex looking for clues and stuff.”

Roxi shook her head. “No, we’ll need you to replace Bonnie’s old parts. Only one animatronic is allowed in the Safety Cylinder at a time while it’s functional, so we can’t do the repairs ourselves.” She shrugged. “It’s a safety precaution to make sure we can’t make more of them or something.” The boy remembered when he had to work on Freddy, how nerve wracking it was, how he said he didn’t feel quite like himself in the moment. He wasn’t looking forward to having to do the whole thing again, and with multiple parts.

Monty looked over at his bandmate. “Ya think we could just give ‘im a task ta do while we’re all away?”

Roxi made a face. “I don’t know. We did that once already. He’s gonna get suspicious at some point. Or dejected, thinking we don’t wanna be around him, which is oddly worse than him being suspicious.” 

Gregory looked down at his sneakers in thought, before his eyes widened as an idea popped into his head. He looked up at them. “Why don’t we just tell him the truth?”

The keytarist gave him a look. “Kid, we’ve been over this already.”

The boy shook his hands. “No, not like that. I could just tell him that I’m working on a surprise for him and I need to borrow you guys to help me. Do you think that would buy us the time we needed? It’s not lying either, it will be surprising for him.” 

The two animatronics glanced at each other as they thought about this, then Roxi nodded. “Yeah, ya know, I think it will. He’s a huge sweetie. I think he’ll eat that right up.” She pointed at him. “Make sure you’re extra cute saying it though, really sell it.”

Gregory crossed his arms and sat up straighter. “Joke’s on you, I’m always cute.” He boasted, earning a laugh from Monty and an eye roll from Roxi.

With a plan in mind, the group finally made their way out of the security office in the golf course and back towards the Lobby, where Freddy and Chica were waiting. Monty was a little surprised to see so many security bots walking around and opted to lift Gregory up onto his shoulders to keep him out of sight line for the much smaller robots, delighting the boy with a higher view of the area. When they stepped into the lobby, Gregory could make out the other two animatronics standing near Chica’s green room, and he waved when she saw them. 

“Put me down.” He told the gator as he wiggled on his shoulders a little, earning a chuckle as he was lifted and placed back on his feet, then he ran over to them.

Freddy had turned around when Chica started waving and looked delighted at the sight of the child. “Gregory! There you are.” He knelt down and easily caught him when Gregory came plowing into his chest for a hug. For just a moment, the boy closed his eyes and buried himself into the other as he relished in his presence. He enjoyed spending time with the others and getting to know them, but he missed being with Freddy. He felt safe when he was with him, like he didn’t have to constantly watch his back for the next thing that was going to try and kidnap him or hurt him.

“I missed you, little superstar.” The bear confessed. “You have been very busy tonight, and successful it seems too. I am glad. You have freed all of our friends from the terrible glitch that had overtaken them. This is good. Now we have a full group to dig into the secrets of the pizzaplex, discover what is happening, and hopefully put a stop to it.”

Gregory nodded, staying in the hug a moment longer, before taking a deep breath as he stepped back to look up at him. “And we will, I promise. I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. But um… I need to borrow them for a second, I need their help.” He poked his fingers together a little and smiled up at him. “I’m making you a surprise.”

Freddy’s eyes widened at this and his ears twitched. Slowly, his eyes actually started to sparkle. “A surprise? For me?” He asked.

The boy nodded again and couldn’t keep from grinning at the look on his face. “Yeah, but you can’t have it yet, I need to put some final touches on it and I need everyone’s help to do it. It’s super amazing and special and I wanna make sure it’s absolutely perfect before I give it to you, so you can’t follow me and sneak a peek, ok? You gotta promise.”

“Alright, I promise not to peek. I would not want to ruin your surprise.” The singer shook his head a little. “But you do not need to give me anything.”

“Shut up, will you? I wanna do this. Besides, I just know you are going to absolutely love it.”

Freddy smiled and poked him in the stomach, earning a jerk as the boy twisted away. “Of course I will. I will love any gift you give me, no matter how big or how small, because it came from you.” Gregory blinked up at him in surprise, then looked back down at the floor as he felt his face warm and butterflies start moving around his stomach. Freddy chuckled as he stood. “I will wait here and explore the area. It can never hurt to have a second pair of eyes to double check everything. Let me know when you are ready to continue.”

Gregory nodded a little, then walked over to Chica, who had literal stars in her eyes from watching them. He huffed and moved past her to start towards her green room, where they could take the elevator down to Parts and Services.

When the group was away from their fearless, if not a little dopey leader, Roxi gave Gregory a shit eating grin as she knocked the back of her hand into his shoulder. “Very cute, kid.” The boy reached up to bat her hand away, but then was suddenly scooped up by Chica, who gave him a hug.

“Oh! You are just the cutest thing, aren’t you?” She gushed, “I just want to keep you!” She pulled back and tucked her arms under his butt to hold him in front of her. “Can I keep you?”

Gregory made a face, “I’m not a plant or a dog, dude. When you say ‘keep me,’ it sounds creepy. And put me down!” He started to wiggle when Chica moved to walk down the hallway with him still in her hold. “I’m not a baby who needs to be carried all the time!”

“Aww… ok.” Chica set the boy back down on his feet, which allowed him to hurry ahead of the rest of the group to get to the repair area.

When he rounded the curve of the cylinder, he was surprised to see Bonnie laying in the repair chair inside it, and he looked way better than he had the last time he saw him. Chica had managed to fix the scratches as best she could, smoothing them down so they weren’t raised and sharp, but he could still make them out faintly under the fresh coat of purple paint she had applied. His vest and bowtie looked brand new as well. If it hadn’t been for his missing hands and eyes, he would have thought he was just resting there, simulating sleep.

“Chica, he looks amazing!” Gregory gushed as he stood on his tiptoes to peer in through the viewing window. “He looks almost brand new!”

The guitarist put her hands on her hips and stood up proudly. “Thank you! I’m quite pleased with the outcome as well. You can still make out some of the deeper gouges in some places, but from far away, they’re hardly even noticeable! I thought about just painting some of them a little lighter and making them look like really cool scars, but I wasn’t sure what Bonnie would think of that, so I just stuck to the original color palette.”

Roxi walked over to admire her handy work as well. “Nice job, Cavity Queen.”

“Thank you! Now all we need are the hands and we can start putting him together.” Chica laced her fingers together to hold in front of her excitedly, but slowly a tension grew in her body and she lifted those hands to her beak as her eyes grew misty. 

The wolf noticed this, ears perking, and walked over to her. “Hey come on, don’t cry. He’s gonna be fine.” She told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to give her a sideways squeeze.

“I know! I know.” Chica wrapped both of her arms around her friend and rested her head on her shoulder. “These are happy tears, I promise. I just hope this works.”

“Yeah me too, but ya know what? If it doesn’t, then take some comfort in knowing you put your all into tryin’ to fix him.”

The chick simulated a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, absolutely.”

Gregory smiled at them, then looked up to catch Monty entering the back storage closet. He hadn’t even come over to check out Bonnie, though he could understand why. It couldn’t feel good to know he might have had something to do with Bonnie’s destruction and had no memory of it. He hurried to follow him as he looked up at the girls. “I’m gonna help Monty look for spare hands! You guys get Bonnie ready for surgery.”

Chica stood up straight to watch him go. “Ok, good luck!” Then she gasped and looked up at Roxi. “Oh! What if we wore cute little nurse outfits like this was an actual surgery? Wouldn’t that be fun? I wonder if they have costumes in the back.”

Roxi narrowed her eyes at her. “I am not wearing a nurse costume.”

Gregory pushed the storage door open and looked around, finding Monty digging through one of the boxes. “Hey, I came to help you look.” He told him as he entered carefully. “But um… Chica and I searched through this room before looking for a spare voice box and I don’t remember seeing any… hands…” He trailed off when Monty turned around, holding up a spare set of hands held together with a rubber band. He stared at them, then glared. “I hate this place. This is the worst place on the face of the planet.”

Monty laughed and walked over to place the bundle in his hands. “Yeah, it’s kinda chaotic in here. Ya just gotta check the last place you’d think they’d be and chances are, that’s where someone threw them. Now, you ready ta get Bonnie up and runnin’?”

Gregory studied the devices in his hands, then looked up at him. “I think a better question is if you’re ready.”

The gator hesitated, then frowned. “Not entirely, no. A-And I know that sounds bad, but I don’ mean it in a bad way.” He rubbed his eyes and sighed. “What if he wakes up and says I did that shit to him? I ain’t worried so much of what the others will do if that’s the case. I mean… I am, I don’t wanna lose my friends or go through the ass kickin’ they’ll give me, but then I’ll know for sure that I’ve got the guy’s blood on my hands.” He said as he held up his hands to look at, then paused and looked down at Gregory. “Figuratively speakin’, of course. I mean, Bonnie was my friend too! I was real upset when he went missin’.” He sighed and put his hands over his face. “I just don’ know what I’m gonna do if he tells me I did that to him…”

Gregory frowned as he listened to him and watched the emotions play across his face, a concept he didn’t think was possible until tonight. He hesitated, then stepped closer to put a comforting hand on the other’s hip. “Well… if it means anything to you, I think you’re innocent.”

The bass player looked down at him in surprise. “What? Are you serious?” The boy nodded. “But… all the evidence points ta me and I don’ even got an alibi for myself because I don’t remember what happened. How can you be so sure I didn’ do it?”

“Because of everything else I’ve seen tonight.” Gregory explained. “All of you were going crazy before, but turns out it was a glitch that was making you act that way. It wasn’t like you really wanted to hurt me deep down, it was just what your scrambled programming was telling you to do. And now that that’s out of the way, none of you want that at all. You’re all really super nice to me and came to help me when I needed it.” He took a few steps back and pointed to his knee. “You took the time to clean my knee and put a band-aid on it. If you were really a terrible person set on death and destruction, you would have snatched me up and ran away while Roxi was dealing with Sundrop, but instead you patched me up. Besides, after seeing Vanny in that video file, I know for certain she had to be the cause of it. When all of you woke up from the shock theory today, you didn’t remember chasing me. And when you walked out onto the golf course that morning, you didn’t remember what you had done a few hours prior. It’s the same thing.” Gregory shrugged. “I don’t know for certain and I don’t have any proof, but I think if you did hurt Bonnie, I don’t think it was really you who did it, but someone bypassing your morals to force you to do it.”

Monty stared down at him for a long moment as the colors in his eyes shifted, progressing his words. He glanced away, “I… I don’t know what ta say.”

Gregory moved to grab his hand and started towards the door. “Come on, you don’t need to say anything right now. Instead, think about what you’re going to say to Bonnie when he wakes up. It’ll be the first thing you’ve said to him in a long time, so make it good.”

The pair made their way back out to the main area of Parts and Services, where Chica was bent over a table working on something and Roxi had her arms crossed, looking very annoyed. When they approached, Chica turned and hurried over to Monty to slap a folded paper hat with a red cross on it onto his head. The gator blinked in surprise at this. Gregory discovered Roxi was also forced to wear one and she wasn’t happy about it. “Ta da!” The chick declared as she grabbed her own from the table and put it on. “We are ready for surgery, Dr. Gregory!”

The kid snorted at this and grinned. “I guess you are.” He held up the parts. “We found some spare hands. And you know where they were? In the fucking storage closet we dug through.”

Chica’s smile fell to be replaced with a look of shock and disbelief. “But we turned that place upside down looking for the voice box!”

Monty pointed at her. “Maybe that’s why ya missed it, cause you were throwin’ stuff lookin’ for somethin’ else.”

“Hmm… that does make sense.”

Gregory moved over to their box of parts, sitting on the shelf under the computer used to upgrade the animatronics and pulled it out. Inside were the new eyes, voice box, and now the new set of hands. He took a deep breath, then sighed and looked back at the others. There was a tension in the room now, regardless of the playful tone just moments before. It was the moment of truth, the moment they had been working towards. This started off as a simple assembly mission to make Freddy happy and give him back someone special he had lost, but it had turned into so much more. Bonnie could potentially hold the answers that could throw this whole mystery wild open. He would know who attacked him and could condemn a person tonight or free him. However, he could have also gone completely insane from being offline for so long and have to be put down permanently, crushing the hearts of everyone in the room. Gregory looked back down at the box and pressed his lips together. Now he had the responsibility of going into that protected room and putting him back together again. Right, no pressure or anything…

A gentle hand touched his shoulder, causing him to look up and see Chica kneeling beside him smiling. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna do great. We’ll be right here with you the entire time. We may not be able to go inside with you, but we can give you tips through the speakers. If at any time you want to take a break, you just let us know, ok?”

Gregory chewed on his lower lip, his heart still racing, but her words give him a little bit of comfort. “Y-Yeah, of course.” He looked down at the box one more time, before taking another deep breath. “Alright.” He stood and turned his attention to the waiting computer in front of him. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter Text

Gregory chose the first option on the list, replacing the voice box. “Thank you for selecting your upgrade.” A voice came from the speakers inside the cylinder. “Please enter the Protective Cylinder to get started.”

Gregory grabbed the voice box from their parts box and looked back at the others one more time. Chica gave him two thumbs-up, Roxi nodded once, and Monty gave him a much more nervous thumbs-up. Gregory returned the gestures with a nervous smile of his own, then turned and entered the room.

The metal door slid shut and locked behind him as a robot arm reached down to pluck the new voice box out of his hands. “To access Bonnie’s voice box, please open the chest and throat cavity by removing his bowtie.” The voice directed.

“At least I get step by step instructions for this.” Gregory murmured as he walked over to the chair. He was too short to reach the bowtie, so just as he had done when he helped Freddy out before, he carefully climbed his way up onto the chair and placed a knee on either side of the rabbit, ignoring the sting from his injured one. Bonnie wasn’t quite as big as Freddy, so this proved to be easier to do. Once situated, Gregory touched the new bowtie Chica had given the bun and an arm came down to remove it.

“Great job!”

Gregory rolled his eyes, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Now remove the chest and throat plates.” The boy scooted back a bit before touching the areas so the robotic arms had plenty of room to reach down and pluck them off. With the endoskeleton now exposed, Gregory made a small face. There had been a part of him that forgot these animatronics were completely robotic, just like those things in the basement. They were all so full of life and even simulated human gestures like breathing effortlessly. He had to give props to whoever programmed their personalities, because it really made them more than just… this.

“Good job. Now disconnect the throat wires.”

“Be careful, Gregory!” The boy turned to see the group now standing by the side window. Chica put her hands on the glass and shook her head. “You do not want to get these combinations wrong. It can sometimes startle us into lashing out. Bonnie doesn’t have any power right now, so we might have some more wiggle room, but try to get every combination correct. We’ll watch it too, so if you forget, just ask.”

Gregory felt his heart race spike for a brief moment, before he took a deep breath to slow it back down. He nodded then turned his attention back to what he was doing. The part in question was completely destroyed. It looked like a tin can after someone closed their hand tight around it. Some of the throat wires were already disconnected and didn’t light up when the combination played. It was only three colors, but Gregory made sure to go slow so he was hitting the button and not knocking into something else. When an arm came down to snatch the part out of the way, the boy jumped and gasped, leaning back, then glared up at it. He murmured some choice words under his breath as he watched the area be cleaned of any extra debris before the new box was placed inside.

“Great! Now, reattach the wires in the order the colors appear on the device.”

These second set of buttons didn’t have colors to them when at rest. Only when the combination played did they light up, so he had to memorize the placement instead. They were only three at a time, so Gregory wasn’t too concerned at forgetting it. Once the wires were connected again, the assisting arms went to work reattaching the chest and throat plates, as well as Bonnie’s bowtie.

“Good job. Bonnie’s voice box is good as new. He’ll be singing with the band again in no time.”

The boy sagged as he sighed then rubbed his face.

“Good job, kid.” Roxi called to him. “You wanna do the next one? Just to warn you, the voice box was the easiest. As the device gets more complicated, so will the installation. Those combinations are gonna get longer.”

Gregory carefully climbed off the chair and exited the room to grab the parts box. “Yeah, I wanna get these done and out of the way as quickly as possible. The sooner they’re on, the sooner we can get Bonnie charged again and turn him back on.”

Monty walked over to grab the box out of his hands and replace it with a gatorade bottle instead. Gregory blinked at it, then looked up at him. “A drink will help yer nerves.” He explained. “Plus it gets hot in there. Gotta stay hydrated.”

Chica giggled, “Now you’re starting to sound like Freddy.”

“Shut up! This is important work the kid’s doin’.”

Gregory twisted the lid off the bottle and took a few gulps, paused, then took a few more. He didn’t realize how thirsty he was until this moment and the drink really hit the spot. He handed it back with a smile. “Thanks, I didn’t know I needed that until now.”

“Yeah see, I gotcha back.” Monty gave him a sideways grin and tapped him on the shoulder with the bottle. “Now go get ‘im kid.”

The boy nodded and grabbed the box with the eyes in it next. He went over to the computer to complete the voice box change, opened the operation for the eyes, then stepped back inside.

Once again, a voice through the speakers directed him on how to remove the faceplate and skull housing, and Gregory quickly decided that he hated it. Bonnie looked friendly before, if not a little strange with no eyes. But with nothing but his teeth showing, he looked down right terrifying. The sight distracted him enough that he almost pressed the wrong button, if Roxi hadn’t called out to stop him. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she did.

“Focus, Gregory.” The wolf told him. “The correct combination is yellow, red, blue, red, green.” She listed these off slowly so the boy could press each button as she was saying them. Once the old eyes were removed, or what was left of them, Gregory shook his head to get his mind back into what he was doing. He did not want to find out if Bonnie had any juice left in him to give him the scare of his life. 

He didn’t make the same mistake twice, but Roxi had been right. The combinations were getting longer and more complicated. He would need to stay in the moment if he wanted to get this done right. Just before the faceplate was reattached, the arms came down to fiddle with some very small buttons and dials on the side of the eyes and he watched as the yellow color melted into fuchsia. “Cool…” He couldn’t help but murmur. After, the face was closed and Bonnie’s eyes were shut.

Next came the hands. Gregory finished off his gatorade and took a moment to collect himself. Chica offered him a hard candy for his nerve, but he declined. The last thing he wanted was to either choke on it from being startled or accidentally drop it into Bonnie and mess something up. After ripping the rubber band keeping the hands together off, he went back in to do the last replacement.

As he followed the instructions of the voice over head, he noticed another set of arms were doing the same work on the other side, which made him sigh in relief. That meant he would only have to do this once and he would be done. This replacement was the most complicated thus far and with them being so close to finishing, Gregory didn’t want to mess this up. He made sure to ask the others if he wasn’t sure on a color compilation, since they were getting longer now. Soon, the old, twisted hands were being removed and the replacements were set in. He took his time reattaching the wires, before the forearm plates shut once more. Gregory took a few steps back, wondering if that was it.

“Great job! With those new hands, Bonnie will be strumming the bass like a pro.” The voice came from the speakers. “Hmm… it looks like these hands don’t match his preapproved color scheme. Would you like me to correct that?”

“Uh… sure?” When the arms overhead came rushing down, Gregory scrambled out of the way, then ducked out of the cylinder before paint could be sprayed and the fumes filled the area. He didn’t know what that thing was called a “Protective Cylinder.” There was nothing about that thing that protected the user.

“Paint job complete.” 

Gregory stood on his tiptoes to look back inside the room. The fumes were sucked away through a vent above and the arms retracted back to their resting position. The new hands they had found were now the same shade of purple as the rest of the bun, but blue had been painted around his hands to make it look as though he was wearing fingerless gloves. “So… is that it?” He asked as he looked over at the others. “That’s all we had to do? Is he ready to be charged?”

Chica nodded, “Yes, that was the last bit. There should be an option on the computer to give him a quick recharge. The same operation will turn him back on once the recharge is complete.”

“Ok.” Gregory took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then sighed as he walked over to the computer. He finished the hand replacement operation, then paused over the recharge one. He looked back at the others. “What’s the plan if… if this doesn’t work? What do you guys wanna do if he turns back on, but is absolutely batshit crazy? I know we don’t wanna think about it, but it’s something that could happen.”

A collective sigh went through the group as the animatronics glanced at each other. None of them wanted the worst to happen, but the boy was right. Anything was possible now. “If…” Chica started. “If he wakes up crazy like we were before, I think we should shock him and see if that works.”

Roxi shook her head. “He’s been down for months. There’s no way he got that glitch everyone else had. If he wakes up mad now, then his systems are broken.”

The chick looked up at her with big eyes, clasping her hands together. “But can’t we just try it first? It can’t hurt, right?”

“It might.” Chica turned to look up at Monty when he spoke. The gator frowned, looking a little pained as he crossed his arms. “I got no idea what his systems are like right now. Hopefully the… damage… was just external and the computers are fine, but I’m worried if we suddenly jolt and overload him, it’ll break ‘em, and we can’t fix a computer issue on our own.”

“So what, you guys just wanna put him down again if something goes wrong?” Chica demanded, narrowing her eyes at them.

Roxi sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “Babe, calm down. None of us want Bonnie to be out of commission forever. Look, if this goes sideways, we can just turn him back off again and tackle the problem later. If it’s something we can’t fix, maybe we can trick management into fixing it for us. Most of the work is already done, so it shouldn’t cost them much and we can say it’ll bring in more money. You remember how popular Bonnie was, and you know how much management loves profit.”

Chica sighed and relaxed again, putting a hand over the one on her shoulder. “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get snippy with you all. I just miss him so much and to be so close to getting him back, only to have it taken away again, would be heartbreaking.”

“I know… It’d suck for all of us.”

Gregory frowned and kept quiet while they discussed this. He didn’t feel right putting in his two cents right now since he didn’t know Bonnie as well as the others. So he waited patiently, until Chica finally simulated a deep breath and nodded. “Ok, alright. If Bonnie isn’t himself when he wakes up, then we’ll turn him back off, drain the battery, and put him back in his room to tackle the fixes another day.”

The boy glanced around at all of them. “All of you are good with this? I wanna be on the same page.” Monty and Roxi nodded their agreement. “Alright.” He turned back to the computer. “Here we go. Cross your fingers.” Chica did this quickly, glanced at the other two, then elbowed them a few times until they were also crossing their fingers. Gregory moved to the recharge and reboot option and double clicked it.

“Recharge and reboot process starting. Please wait.”

The boy turned to watch as panels were lowered from the ceiling and placed on either side of the bun resting in the chair. They lit up much in the same way the recharge stations topside did. There was a humming sound in the otherwise deathly silent room as Bonnie’s batteries were wirelessly refilled in a matter of minutes, as shown by a battery display on the side of each panel. When the bar reached the top, the panels ascended back into the ceiling and another arm came down to touch his chest, sending a small jolt into him that caused his limbs to twitch.

“Process complete. Bonnie should be feeling much better now and ready to hit the stage!”

The group outside the cylinder gathered at the windows and watched. Gregory held his breath as he gripped the bottom edge of the window tight enough to turn his knuckles white. Bonnie was motionless in the chair, just as he had been when they walked in.

“Why isn’t he moving?” Chica asked as she glanced at the others desperately. “Should he be up by now?”

“Maybe he’s reestablishing a connection to the network?” Roxi suggested, but her voice shook slightly, showing her uncertainty and worry. “I swear to god, if he’s pausing for dramatic effect, I’m gonna strangle him.”

Monty hit the window with the side of his fist, eyes locked on the rabbit. “Come on, Bonnie… wake up.”

“Come on…” Gregory murmured, pushing up higher on his toes, his heart racing.

What felt like hours ticked by with no sign of life, before finally, Bonnie opened his eyes.

Chapter Text

The group watched as Bonnie blinked a few times. The plates around the pupils of his eyes grew larger, then smaller, before settling somewhere in the middle. His facial features twisted and shifted, and soon he was making a face like he had a headache. “Ugh man…” He said, his voice coming through crystal clear with the new box installed and it honestly sounded just like Gregory thought it might. The bun rubbed his head. “I have got to stop drinking so much Mountain Dew. I said I would quit.”

“Bonnie!!” Chica shrieked loud enough to startle everyone and for Gregory to cover his ears as he winced. The chick didn’t seem to notice or care, because she was rushing over to the door to hurry inside, hardly waiting for it to open wide enough for her to slip in, then she threw herself at the bun, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Bonnie let out a surprised squawk, then flailed as he slipped off the chair and both went crashing to the floor.

“Oh my god, be careful!” Roxi shouted, holding up her hands, eyes wide. “We just fixed him! If you break him again so soon, I will smash your guitar!”

“Hi Chica.” Bonnie said as he patted the girl on the back and grinned. “Um, great to see you too. Glad to see your level of energy hasn’t- oh and now we’re crying, ok. Careful where you shed those tears! I don’t wanna short.” He joked.

“It’s been so long!” Chica sobbed and squeezed him tight, then pulled back to look at him. She placed her hands on either side of his face. “You’ve been gone f-for so long and we missed you so much! I am so sorry!”

Bonnie blinked. “For what?”

“You were down here this whole time and none of us knew!” She explained. “We’d walk right past your room when we came for m-maintenance and we never saw you! I should have searched the entire pizzaplex for you. I knew you couldn’t have just disappeared, b-but I didn’t!” She hugged him again. “I am so sorry!”

“Aww Chica, come on.” The rabbit patted her back a few times, smiling. “It’s not your fault! The pizzaplex stops for no one, you know that.”

“I don’t care! You’re our friend and I should have done more to find you.”

“Well I mean, you did eventually! Here I am!”

Chica sat back and started wiping at her face as she sniffled. “A-Actually, we weren’t the ones that found you. Gregory did.” She turned to look at the boy, who was standing with the others and grinning ear to ear, but when she said this, his eyes widened. She motioned him forward and he hesitated, but then slowly made his way over to them. “Gregory, I know you’ve seen Bonnie and we’ve been working on him, but now you get to actually meet him! And Bonnie, this is Gregory, our bravest little helper! He was the one that sought you out and orchestrated this repair effort to get you back on your feet.”

The rabbit smiled and held up his fist for a tap. “Hey there, kiddo. So you’re the one who found me, huh? Nice detective work.” Gregory smiled and tapped his fist against his, then chuckled when Bonnie spread his fingers in an explosion gesture and made a sound effect for it. The bun’s eyes then drifted up to his head. “Nice shades! They look real similar to mine.” He motioned to the starglasses still resting on the boy’s head.

Gregory blinked, having completely forgotten they were on his head this whole time and kind of surprised they didn’t fall off in the chaos of earlier. “O-Oh um… you can have them.” He said as he took them off his head and held them out. He felt weird giving away Monty’s glasses, but Roxi did tell him to give them to Bonnie, so…

“For real? Sick.” Bonnie took the shades from him and put them on. “How do I look?” He put a hand on his chin and gave him a mock smoldering look that just looked silly, and the boy couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Like…” he paused, then smiled. “Like a superstar.”

“Hey!” Bonnie lifted the glasses to look at him as literal stars appeared in his eyes. “That’s my line, sir. It’s copyright pending. Only I’m allowed to bestow the superstar title onto people.”

Roxi grinned where she was leaning against the doorframe to the cylinder with her arms crossed. “Then you better have a word with Freddy, because he’s given that nickname to the kid.”

Bonnie’s jaw dropped as he looked up at her and put a hand to his chest like he was highly offended. “He’s done what now? The very nerve! And I thought he loved me.” He crossed his arms and turned his nose up into the air. “I feel so betrayed.” Chica laughed at this as more tears came to her eyes and she shot forward to hug Bonnie again, nearly tackling him back down to the floor with her force. “Gah! Chica, baby, a little warning please!” Bonnie chuckled as he patted her back again and glanced up at Roxi, but paused when he noticed Monty standing beside her awkwardly. Slowly, his smile fell and he patted Chica in a way to signal he wanted to be let go. She moved back and stood when he did. “Hey Monty.” Bonnie greeted the gator, eying him carefully.

Gregory looked up at Roxi and bit his lip. There was a fine tension in the wolf’s body now as she glanced between the two, watching the situation carefully. Chica also picked up on the strange energy in the room and looked between all of them, confused.

“Hi Bonnie.” Monty replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh ya look… good.”

“Thanks, I had a little work done.” Bonnie tilted his head as one of his long ears straightened and turned towards the other. “How ya feelin’ today? Everything… good?”

“Uh yeah, yeah. Um… I’m told I, and I guess the others too, weren’t really actin’ like ourselves earlier tonight, but a sharp shock from the kid fixed that, so that’s cool. Back to my usual self.”

Chica touched Bonnie’s arm lightly. “I’m afraid we have a lot to catch you up on.”

“Uhh that doesn’t sound good.” Bonnie replied as he glanced over at her, then back at Monty.

“It’s not. Apparently, a glitch worked its way into all our systems and caused us to act… crazy and violet.” She motioned down to Gregory with her free hand. “We’ve all been trying to hurt this little guy for some reason, but with a powerful shock to the system, it forced a reboot and it flushed the glitch out. None of us can remember what happened during our time under this glitch though.”

At this, both the bun’s ears perked and he turned his full attention to her. “What about Freddy? Was he affected?”

Chica shook her head and gave him a little smile. “No, for some reason, he’s the only one that hasn’t been affected.”

Bonnie let out a relieved sigh and put a hand to his chest. “Good good, I’m glad to hear it. But uh, this glitch you mentioned, it’s gone now? You guys are all back to normal?” He glanced around at all of them.

Roxi nodded. “Yeah, for the time bein’. We don’t know if it’s a permanent fix yet, but so far so good.”

The rabbit brightened right back up at this and grinned. “Fantastic! That’s what I like to hear.” He moved forward to hip check Roxi, who stumbled in surprise, then punched Monty’s arm a few times lightly. “Glad you’re feelin’ better, mate! Now!” He stepped out of the cylinder and looked around. “Where is Fred Bear, by the by?” Gregory noticed his fluffy tail started to wiggle side to side a little.

Monty stood dumbstruck for a moment, then turned around, shaking his hands as he made a face. “Whoa wait hold up. That’s all ya got ta say to me?” He asked.

“Hm?” Bonnie looked back at him, eyebrows raised, then smiled and waved a hand. “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about it bud. I don’t hold anything against you. It was clear you weren’t yourself anyways. But that other chick, hooo she is a piece of work, and needs work for that matter. Seriously, the creepy rabbit face? Really? Gives us rabbits a bad name and I take full offense.”

“Don’t hold what against me?” Monty questioned.

Gregory stepped forward too. “Wait, are you talking about Vanny? The girl in the patchwork bunny suit? You’ve actually seen her?”

Bonnie paused, seeing the confusion and fear in Monty’s expression. He glanced around the room at his friends, finally seeing the tension in Roxi, the curiosity in Gregory, and the confusion on Chica’s face. “Oh. Oh I see. Ok this makes sense now. The whole memory thing- yup ok this makes sense now.” His chest expanded in a simulated deep breath, then he pushed it out slowly. “Right well, I would really like to only say all this once so I’d rather you all were here at the same time.”

Monty shook his head and walked up to Bonnie, looking down at him. “No, I want you ta tell me right now. Did I have somethin’ ta do with yer disappearance?”

“What?” Chica spoke, her eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. Roxi put a hand on her shoulder, just in case.

Bonnie frowned up at him, studying his face for a long moment, then sighed. “There’s a lot to that question.”

“I’ve got time.”

The rabbit went quiet again as he glanced to the side, his eyes flashing between fuchsia and green as he thought. “I’ll give you the short of it, ok? And not cause I’m trying to make light of what happened, but I really don’t want to have to say all of this twice, ya know, tell you guys then tell Freddy.” He looked back up at Monty. “Yes, you did, technically.” The gator’s eyes widened. “You asked me to meet you at the golf course later in the morning, said you wanted to show me something. I could tell right away something was up with you. There was… a harsh undertone to the way you spoke and acted. I went to see if I couldn’t figure out what was going on, because I’ve had this suspicion something was happening under our noses. When I got there, you took me to the back maintenance halls and that’s where I saw that rabbit girl and Moondrop. They were waiting for us. The girl had some kind of remote with her and she commanded you to destroy me with it, and… you did.”

The room was dead silent. Gregory’s jaw was hanging open as he stared at the rabbit, then glanced around the room to gauge other reactions. Roxi looked just as shocked as he felt and Chica’s eyes were flashing as she frantically tried to wrap her head around what was happening. Monty looked… absolutely horrified. His mouth moved, but no sound came out for a long moment.

“I-I…” The gator started then took a step away from Bonnie as he looked down at his hands.

“Hey, no no no.” The rabbit stepped forward and grabbed his hands. “Monty, it wasn’t your fault! You were being controlled by that girl. I could see it in your face and your eyes, you weren’t in there! It might as well have been a complete stranger wearing a mask that looked like your face.” He shook his head. “I don’t blame you for what happened. Something’s been happening and moving behind the scenes and you just… got caught up in it.”

“I knew it!” Gregory cried, earning the attention of the group. He pointed at Monty, “Remember when we checked the camera feed of that night and you went to get Chica a soda, and that’s when we saw Vanny pop up by the back door?” The gator nodded weakly. “That must have been when she took control of you, because you can’t remember past that point! She made you invite Bonnie to the golf course because it would only be the two of you. No one else would have a reason to be there at that hour.” Gregory glanced away as pieces started to click together in his mind. “And Moon, when he was stalking me, he talked about how someone could disappear in those back hallways and no one would ever know what happened to them. He was hinting at the fact that he had been there when Bonnie disappeared, he had something to do with it too!” He looked back up at Bonnie. “But why? Why did they target you specifically?”

Bonnie grinned, “Look at you putting pieces together! I have an idea, but now we’re venturing too far into the rest of this nonsense and if I tell you guys everything now, when I tell Freddy, I just know I’ll forget something important, and no one likes that feeling.”

Gregory made a little face at this, but turned his attention back to Monty instead. He smiled at him, “See, I told you you were innocent. You had nothing to worry about.”

“But am I?” Monty spoke then looked down at Bonnie. “It was still my hands that ripped you apart.”

Bonnie shook his head, “But you didn’t choose to do it. Like,” he glanced away and thought for a moment, then looked back up at him. “If I tripped you and you fell into a birthday cake, it wouldn’t be your fault the party was ruined. It’d be mine because I was the jerk that tripped you, make sense? So in this case, this rabbit girl, uh… Vanny, she was the one that tripped you, she was the one that took control of your body and mind and commanded you to attack me. It wasn’t a conscious decision on your part, so no, I don’t blame you for what happened and I won’t accept an apology because of this.” He grinned and punched him in the arm again. “Come on man, we’re partners in crime. I know you’d never actually wanna hurt me.” He paused and glanced away in thought. “Well, unless I fill the water courses with water beads again, but that’s a topic for another time.”

“Again?” Gregory asked as he started to grin and raised a brow. “As in, this is a thing that’s happened before?” Bonnie wrinkled his nose and waved him off. The boy snorted.

Monty stared at the floor, looking deep in thought. He sighed and met the rabbit’s eyes. “I’m gonna apologize and try ta make it up ta ya anyways.”

Bonnie groaned and tipped his head back. “Ugh fine! If it’ll make you feel better.” He waved a hand towards him. “Ok, let’s hear it.”

“I’m real sorry for hurtin’ ya, Bonnie. And it might’ve been outta my control, but I’m gonna try real hard not to do it again.”

The rabbit smiled up at him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I forgive you.” 

Monty smiled a little at this and stood straighter as some of the tension finally started to leave his body. However, he soon found himself on the floor when Chica came flying over to punch him in the face with a grunt.

“Holy shit!” Roxi shouted as she put her hands on her head.

Gregory’s jaw dropped and he looked back at her. “I thought you were holding her back!”

Roxi waved her hands in front of her frantically. “I was but I thought we were good!”

Chica pointed down at the gator. “That’s for hurting Bonnie.” She then simulated a deep breath as she raised her hands up, then sighed as she lowered them. She smiled back at everyone. “I’m good now. I need to get that out of my system.”

Monty a face as he rubbed his jaw. “I guess I deserve that.”

Bonnie started down at Monty, his long ears perked straight up, then grinned at Chica. He held up his hand for a high-five. “Damn girl! If I was straight, you’d have me shooting steam out of my collar! You are a catch!” Chica slapped her hand against his with a grin. He turned to help Monty back up to his feet. “Alright, come on big guy. You might as well get ready for some backlash, because we still got one person who doesn't know what happened.”

The gator looked nervous again. “I wish we didn’t have ta tell Freddy any of this. He’s gonna fly off the rails when he hears what happened.”

“Possibly, possibly, but no one here is at fault so if he does go flying, it’ll be in someone else’s direction. Hopefully.” Bonnie made a show of brushing the other off then turned back to the group. “Now, I’ll ask again and nicely this time.” He lifted his sunglasses to make eye contact with each of them. “Please take me to Freddy.”

Chapter Text

“Freddy, can you hear me?” Gregory spoke into his watch as their ever growing group made their way down the back hallway that would lead to the elevator that would take them up to Freddy’s green room.

“Hello Gregory! How is your project going? Are you all finished?”

The boy couldn’t help but grin when he saw Bonnie’s ears perk at the sound of the bear’s voice. “Yup, I sure am! Meet us in front of your room, ok? I’ll give it to you there.”

“Understood, I am on my way now. I will be there in ten minutes.”

“Alright cool, see you then.” Gregory ended the call. 

“Oooh!” Chica sang as she wrapped her arms around one of Bonnie’s. She was grinning and had stars blinking in and out in her eyes. “This is so exciting! I feel like I’m going to pop a fuse! How are you doing, honey? You ok? Everything working right?”

Bonnie chuckled a little as he looked at her and pushed his new sunglasses to sit on the top of his head. “Baby I’m fine! You guys did an awesome job fixing me up. Just relax.”

“I know, I know! I just- I can’t believe we finally have you back!” Chica hugged the arm she was holding and knocked into the other a little.

“Yeah, it’s been pretty boring around here.” Roxi chimed in with a smirk. “No exploding cans of snakes or whipped cream canons in doorways.”

Bonnie gasped and looked back at her like this news was the worst he had heard so far. “This is a catastrophe that needs to be resolved right away! Put the highest level of importance on this. Gregory! Write this down, bud. We need more canned snakes and water beads. Don’t ask why.”

Gregory snorted. “Yeah ok, I’ll get right on that.”

After a short elevator ride up to the ground floor, the group made their way through the back halls and into Freddy’s green room. Gregory paused when he noticed Bonnie had stopped to look around, then studied pictures kids had drawn of the bear tapped up on the wall, while the others had gone on ahead of him. His eyes moved down to the vanity and he ran his fingers over it slowly. When he caught himself in the mirror, he stopped and studied the reflection, turning his head side to side. He even fiddled with his bowtie a little. Gregory grinned and hurried back over to grab his hand, startling the bun out of his thoughts. “Come on, you look great. He’s gonna be so excited to see you.” He told him.

Bonnie’s eyes widened, but he grinned and tossed him a wink. “Of course I do. I always look good, but more so now, after my facelift.”

“It’s ok to be nervous, ya know.”

“Who me? Nervous? Pssh never. I’m an unshakable force.” The bun paused. “But uh hey, why don’t you let me hold your hand so you don’t get lost on our way out front? Lots of twists and turns, ya know. Those velvet ropes can be tricky.”

Gregory snorted at this and raised a brow. “Yeah, ok, sure.”

“Great!”

The two made their way out of Freddy’s room and out to the main area where the others were waiting. Gregory looked around then pulled Bonnie towards one of the plant features in the middle of the room. “Wait here until he gets here, ok? It’ll totally ruin the surprise if he just sees you out in the open and I wanna see his face.”

Bonnie lowered to rest his arms on his knees, more eye level with the boy now. “Oh good idea. Should I jump out and shout ‘surprise!’ and throw my hands up in the air?”

“Is that what you want to do?”

The rabbit glanced away in thought as his mouth twisted. “Hmm… nah. Too cheesy.”

“Well you better think fast, because here he comes.” Roxi spoke up.

Bonnie’s ears perked as he turned his head in the direction Freddy was coming from, even if he couldn’t see him. Gregory watched them twitch and turn, no doubt hearing the bear approach. Freddy wasn’t known for his stealth. “How about we just go out there together?” He suggested, causing Bonnie to look back at him.

The rabbit smiled and nodded. “Ok, sure. Sounds good to me.”

“Hello everyone!” They heard Freddy greet the others when he got closer. “Where is Gregory?”

The boy poked his head out from behind the plants and waved. “I’m right here! Are you ready for your surprise? You gotta close your eyes first.”

Freddy brightened at the sight of the boy and smiled as little sparkles appeared in his eyes. “Ok ok.” He closed them and even put his hands over them.

Gregory turned back and grabbed both of Bonnie’s hands to pull him forward, positioning him right in front of the bear. “Ok, ready?”

“Yes.”

Roxi grinned and leaned over towards Chica, who was hardly containing herself. “Oh he’s so not ready for this.” She murmured, earning a quiet giggle in return.

“Ok, open your eyes!”

Freddy did as instructed, but they widened and his smile disappeared at the sight of Bonnie standing in front of him. His whole body froze up as his jaw went slack. The rabbit grinned. “Hey, be careful there, big guy. You might catch flies like that, and no one wants that.” He told him as he placed a finger under the other’s chin to push his mouth closed.

Freddy’s head moved back a little as his eyes flashed quickly between green and blue. “Bonnie?” He asked weakly, quiet enough to almost be a whisper. “Is… is that really you?”

Bonnie grabbed both sides of his bowtie to wiggle like he was adjusting it. “The one and only! Do not accept any imitations. Quality will not be guaranteed.” He replied in jest, but Gregory could make out some tension in his shoulders and back.

The singer was silent again as his mouth moved, but no sound came out. Almost cautiously, like he was worried the person in front of him would disappear, he lifted his hands and placed them on the other’s shoulders, then his biceps, making sure he was real, solid. A light shot out of his eyes as he scanned him over head to toe, then he blinked and walked around him to study. Bonnie grinned as he watched him, wiggling his tail a little then bumped his hip into his as he came back around. “Like what you see?” He asked. “I can strike a pose, if you want.”

Freddy stopped in front of him again and the realization seemed to settle in as his ears rotated back and his big, blue eyes started to get a little watery. Bonnie’s eyes widened as his own ears perked. “Oh no. No come on man, don’t cry.” He spoke. He dipped his chin a little as his confident grin turned into a smaller, softer smile and his own eyes grew misty. “Cause if you cry, I’m gonna cry.” His voice wavered ever so slightly.

The singer lifted his hands to place them on either side of Bonnie’s face and the rabbit placed his own over them. Freddy just looked at him for a long moment, before he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug, burying his face into his neck. A light laugh escaped the rabbit as he melted into Freddy, tension leaving his form, and he quickly returned his hug, holding on just as tight. He wrapped one arm around his back and placed his free hand on the back of Freddy’s head. He sniffled, “Oh you big softie.” He murmured then turned his face to bury it into the space where his neck and shoulder connected.

Gregory watched the scene with a grin, his chest filling with a giddy happiness that started in his chest then washed into every inch of his body. He looked back at the others to see Chica was hugging Roxi and crying too, a big smile on her face. Roxi had an arm around her shoulders, but looked the softest he had seen her. Monty also looked touched by the scene as he shifted to cross his arms and smiled. Gregory looked back up at the pair and decided that yes, tonight had been terrifying, stressful, and a lot of hard work, but this moment right here made it worth it.

“I-I cannot believe this!” Freddy finally pulled back to put his hands on Bonnie’s cheeks again. “It’s really you! What- how…?”

The slightly shorter one laughed and wiped the tears off the singer’s face with his thumbs. “One question at a time, babe. You’ll overload your systems.” He turned to look back at Gregory, who straightened a little. “I’m told I owe my rescue to this little fella right here. He’s the one that found me and rounded the others up to patch me up.”

“Yeah!” Chica chimed in after wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “Gregory was the one that took it upon himself to find him and the parts we needed to put Bonnie back together.” She waved to her other two bandmates. “All we really did was supply the parts. Gregory was even the one who went into the repair cylinder to do the actual replacements.”

Freddy’s eyes turned to the boy and if he hadn’t been filled to the brim with that giddy happiness before, he was now. The way the bear looked at him in wonder, with stars dotting his eyes, made Gregory feel like he was going to explode. He had never wanted to make a person so happy before, he never really cared about other people, but Freddy was different. The singer really cared about him, even at the beginning, and was genuinely happy to see him all the time. So when he was scooped up and given the biggest and best hug he had ever received, complete with a spin, Gregory couldn’t help but laugh as he wrapped his arms around the singer’s neck.

“Gregory, you are amazing!” Freddy gushed when he pulled back to look at him, holding him up by tucking his arms under his butt. “I always knew you were extraordinary, capable of incredible things, but this surprise is far beyond anything I could ever dream of! You are so special and I am truly the luckiest person in the entire world to have met you tonight. You mean so much to me.” He pressed his forehead to the child’s as his ears rotated back. “Thank you so much.” Gregory blinked in surprise. No one had ever said such nice things to him before or praised him this much. He didn’t know what to say or how to handle it all. It felt like his heart was going to burst right out of his chest, or he was going to suffocate from the emotion rushing through him. He looked down and bit his lip, then decided to wrap his arms around the singer in a hug instead, hiding his face in his arm as his eyes prickled with happy tears. Freddy chuckled and returned his hug.

“Oh!” Chica gushed as she shook her hands, her own eyes watering again. “I’m gonna cry! This is too much! Too sweet!”

Roxi raised a brow at her. “Babe, you’re already crying.”

“I’m gonna cry more!”

Monty snorted. “Yer gonna short if ya keep that up.”

After a long moment, Gregory pulled back to quickly wipe his face as he sniffled, a little embarrassed he too had cried in the moment. “I-It’s no big deal.” He said, looking back up at him. “I’m just glad I could find him.”

“It is a very big deal!” Freddy protested.

Bonnie came over to rest his elbow on the bear’s shoulder and place his other hand on his hip. “Yeah! You’re like Dr. Frankenstein, dude. You brought someone back to life. How is that no big deal? What, do you bring people back to life all the time? Is this just a normal Saturday afternoon for you?” He narrowed his eyes at him as he leaned a little closer. “You got a closet full of zombies I should know about?”

Gregory sniffled again but laughed. “Well I mean, I keep telling you guys I’m a genius and no one believes me.”

Bonnie waved a hand and scoffed. “They’re just jealous.”

“Absolutely.” Freddy agreed with a nod. “You are so smart and very talented.”

The boy could only take so much praise and being adored for so long. He pushed against the singer’s chest and wiggled as his face warmed. “Ok ok! I’m amazing, thank you. Now put me down!” Freddy chuckled, but did as he asked and set him back down on his feet then ruffled his hair affectionately.

The singer turned his attention back to Bonnie afterwards and took both his hands to hold. “I am still reeling over the fact that you are here, standing right in front of me! It does not even feel real.”

A look that was equal parts adoring and mischievous came to Bonnie’s face as he leaned a little closer. “Oh yeah?” He closed the distance between them to press their snouts firmly together as he closed his eyes, causing Freddy’s to widen. Bonnie pulled away to look back up at him. “How about that? Did that feel real, superstar?”

Gregory watched as Freddy’s shoulders raised and a fine tension grew in his body, that red light around his snout flickering on. Little red hearts of various sizes popped in and out of his blue eyes then abruptly, steam shot out of the plates around his neck, startling everyone but Bonnie, who just watched with a smirk. Up until the dazed singer started to teeter on his feet. The rabbit’s eyes widened as his ears perked straight up and he scrambled to pull Freddy forward as he started to lean back. “Oh geez! Oh my god, no come on. Stay with me, love. Don’t shut down now!”

Roxi busted out laughing, a sound that had higher, squeakier pitches in places, as she put her hands on her stomach, leaning backwards, then forwards. She wheezed and put her hands on her knees. Monty joined her with a loud laugh of his own. Chica had her hands cupped around her mouth, but there were sparkles in her eyes. Gregory just grinned. He thought the others were exaggerating when they told him that story of Freddy shorting and falling flat on his face. Apparently they weren’t.

After a few good pats to the cheek and a second to cool down, Freddy was steady on his feet again, though a little embarrassed by his reaction. Bonnie looked ridiculously amused, but very fond. “Oh I’m glad some things haven’t changed.” He commented as he brushed his thumbs against his cheeks as he cupped them. Freddy smiled down at him then placed his hand over one of the bun’s and turned his face into it as he closed his eyes. Bonnie softened even more and kissed the cheek facing him now.

Roxi and the others had settled down too. The wolf simulated a few deep breaths, giggling every now and then, before standing. “Phew, alright. I’m good. God that doesn’t get old. Ok.” She grinned and crossed her arms. “If you’re done torturing him for now, I think this is a great time to jump in and say while all of this is very heartwarming, we’ve got shit that needs discussing.”

The rabbit’s ears perked as his eyes widened a little. “Oh that’s right! Thank you for reminding me.” He gently pulled Freddy’s head down and closer to his, his eyes locked on the red hoop earring hanging from his ear. When he touched it, Freddy looked at him.

“I still have the earring you gave me. I have never taken it off, just as you asked.” He told him. 

Bonnie smiled at this as he seemed to check something on the piece of jewelry, before turning his eyes to the blue ones watching him. “I see that! I'm so proud of you, love. You did such a good job.” He put his hand back on his cheek and proceeded to rub both affectionately. Freddy looked delighted with the praise and affection, little hearts even appeared in his eyes as he closed them slightly. “And do you want to guess as to why it was so important that you didn’t take it off?”

“Uhh… because I could lose it if I did?”

Bonnie closed his eyes for a moment as he simulated a deep breath. Before he had, Gregory caught little hearts popping up in his eyes too. “Oh my god, I love you so much.” He told him when he opened his eyes again, earning another delighted look. “Yes, you are absolutely right, but that isn’t the answer I was looking for.” Bonnie poked him in the nose, earning a little honk. “Because if you had taken it off before shit hit the fan tonight, then I fear I would have a very different Freddy to come back to. One perhaps that wasn’t as sweet? One that was a little more violent?” Freddy blinked large, blue eyes at him, those hearts disappearing again.

Startled by this, Gregory moved to look up at him. “Wait, are you saying that earring is what kept Freddy from getting that glitch tonight?” He asked.

Bonnie let go of his singer and took a step back, placing a hand on his chest. “Well I mean, I don’t wanna brag or anything, but yes, it did.”

Chapter Text

The group moved to Freddy’s green room to have this conversation instead of standing out in the large, open lobby. Gregory sat on the sofa with Chica while Roxi leaned up against the wall beside it. Monty and Freddy sat on the floor, though Gregory noticed the gator had put some distance between him and the bear. The happy fuzzy feelings were gone at this point and the nerves were back. It was time to get back to the mystery at hand.

“Ok.” Bonnie sighed and crossed his arms, moving to stand in front of everyone. “Where to start…?”

“You mentioned something about Freddy’s earring.” Gregory spoke up as he motioned to the item in question, causing the bear to reach up and touch it.

“Ah, yes! Pretty neat, right?” Bonnie grinned. “It’s kind of like a… fire sprinkler system, if you will. It was programmed to remain dormant until it detected the presence of a harmful virus, then it would activate, shut the systems down for a brief moment, and reboot everything in safe mode. While he’s in this mode, he’s basically cut off from the network. Nothing can get in to mess with his safety protocols.” He crossed his arms and stood up straight, looking pretty proud of himself.

Chica’s eyes widened as she leaned forward. “So that’s why he collapsed on stage tonight?”

The rabbit made a face and hissed. “Oooo you were on stage when it happened? Talk about bad luck. Hope the fallout wasn’t too bad.”

Freddy rubbed the back of his neck. “Parts and Services put me on reduced power until they could figure out why I collapsed. I also heard the audience was very alarmed by my sudden malfunction.”

“Yeah, I bet they were.” Bonnie walked over to him and knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You said you were on reduced power? That’s no fun. Here, lean forward for me.” Freddy scooted away from the wall and glanced over his shoulder when he felt him touch his back. Gregory scurried over to the side of the sofa to watch. 

“Where’d chya even find that thing anyways?” Monty asked as he leaned to the side and watched Bonnie fiddle with something behind the singer. “And how’d ya know Freddy would need it?”

“I made it.” Bonnie replied in a casual tone, as though he was commenting on the weather.

Everyone in the room looked shocked. “You made that thing?” Roxi asked.

“Yeah. Programming it was easy, the hard and time consuming part was finding the parts and fitting them into such a small vessel. That’s why I only had the one. I wanted to make all of you something, but I uh… ran out of time I guess.” A light shot out of the bun’s eyes as he scanned over Freddy’s back, then blinked it away. The boy watched as Bonnie pressed three fingers into it, causing them to sink in slightly, revealing they were very well hidden buttons. This caused a panel to lower slightly, before sliding away to reveal a power cell that was only a quarter of the way full. There was a red line that sat between the green cells and the gray ones. He looked at his hand. “Now which one of these is…” He mumbled to himself as he checked each finger to see what it could do. One was a lighter, another offered a guitar pick, which he was surprised by, then one started to spark and pop with a small electrical charge. “Ah, there we go.” He pressed his pinky into the battery cell then dragged up. This caused Freddy to jerk and straighten with a startled sound, but Gregory watched as the red line followed the rabbit’s finger all the way to the top, causing the empty cells to blink once, before settling back down to gray. He moved to look at Freddy’s face and saw his eyes go from the lighter shade of blue they had been all night to a more saturated, crystal blue, like water in a colder climate.

“There ya go!” Bonnie declared as he closed the back panel back up. “Good as new. You’ll need to spend a little time in a recharge station to fill the battery back up though. Can’t help ya with that.” He patted his shoulder and stood.

“What just happened?” Monty asked, tilting his head.

“You…” Freddy started as he looked up at the bun. “You restored my power level. I am now at full capacity.”

Roxi’s eyes widened. “He did what? I thought only Parts and Services could change our settings.” She shook her head and her hands. “Ok hold the fuck up. Where did you learn to do all this shit?”

Bonnie shrugged and smiled. “The battery thing was easy. You learn a thing or two after so long of watching other people do it. Besides, I’ve- well we have-” he motioned to Freddy and Chica, “been around for a long time with plenty of visits to Parts and Services. You pick up a few things after a while. As far as the earring… I don’t know, I’ve just always been good with tech. I like taking things apart and seeing how they work then putting them back together again.” He pointed at them. “But don’t tell management. They don’t like it when the animatronics can work on themselves. It’ll freak them out and I’ll get in trouble.”

“That’s incredible!” Chica exclaimed as she looked up at him. “You can recall all your visits to Parts and Services?”

“Well not all of them, not the uneventful ones. But if they take something apart or replace something, those usually stand out and stick pretty well.”

Roxi crossed her arms and shifted against the wall she was leaning against. “Well that explains one thing. It doesn’t explain how you knew Freddy would need it.”

“Ah, yes.” Bonnie moved back to stand in front of all of them. “Well, a while ago, I noticed things started to… shift within the pizzaplex.”

“Whaddya mean, shift?” Monty asked.

“Like someone threw a switch and gears started moving.” The rabbit explained. “It was very subtle at first. Sometimes at night, I could hear footsteps I wasn’t familiar with, ones that were light and muffled. Then I’d notice the security camera acting funny, like they would move side to side or even turn off then back on, but for this I just thought it was some kind of bug the security team was trying to work out. It wasn’t until I saw Moon outside the daycare after hours that I realized something was indeed happening.”

Gregory leaned forward. “We talked to Sundrop today. Moon tried to kidnap me, but Roxi shocked him pretty good. Turns out Sun knew something was up, but he couldn’t see or hear anything Moon was doing. He said sometimes he’d step forward again and find they were covered in dirt. He also heard him talking to someone who wasn’t there and said ‘yes, sir.’”

Bonnie’s eyes lit up curiously at this as a smile slowly spread over his features. “Really? Interesting…”

Freddy frowned and looked over at the boy. “Do you think perhaps there is someone else working behind the scenes besides Vanny? Or maybe they’re working with her.”

“Or she’s working for him.” The rabbit added as he pointed to the singer, earning his attention again.

Roxi raised a brow. “Do you know who ‘he’ is?”

Bonnie’s smile turned a little bitter. “I have an idea, but uh… I’d rather not talk about until I know for sure.”

Chica leaned forward. “Did you ever catch Moondrop doing something or confront him as to why he was out of the daycare?”

Bonnie shrugged. “I tried, but I never got anything out of him and he was always so careful. I think he knew when I tried to follow him because he’d loop back to the daycare, like he had just gone out for a walk or something. When that didn’t work, I went to check the security cameras to see if I couldn’t see where he was going, but on nights I knew for a fact I had seen him out, the cameras didn’t show anything.”

Gregory frowned, “Like… they cameras just didn’t pick him up?”

“No, like the footage was altered with a blank one of the same area.” The bun waved a hand. “It’s really easy to do. Anyone who knows something about video software could do it, but here’s the really interesting part.” Little stars appeared in the rabbit’s eyes as he held up his hands, looking a little excited. “I checked the live feed just outside the daycare and saw Moon walk out, but then he disappeared. Not physically disappearing, but the video was being altered in real time.”

Monty tilted his head in confusion. “Uh… what’s that mean?”

Gregory’s eyes got big. “It means there was a program set up in the computer, in the security cameras, that automatically cut to clean footage either at the same time every night or whenever they picked up Moondrop entering an area!”

“Yes!” Bonnie turned those sparkling eyes to him as he grinned and rushed forward to hold up his hand for a high-five. The boy returned it excitedly. “Exactly! And if they were in the security cameras-”

“Then they were in the network.” The boy finished. “And had access to everyone’s system.”

The rabbit pointed at him. “Exactly. Almost all of the animatronics are wirelessly updated now. There’s no need to go to Parts and Services for a talent upgrade or to learn a new set of songs. They just upload all the information digitally. So one smack of an enter key and that virus that turned everyone crazy and murderous was uploaded to every animatronic on the network.”

Roxi hummed as pieces started to click into place for her. “So that’s why you gave Freddy that earring, just in case a virus was uploaded.” She looked up at him. “But what about you? Weren’t you worried about getting the virus too?”

Bonnie shook his head and grinned. “Nope! You are looking at the only animatronic left in the entire pizzaplex that is on a closed network. I don’t receive wireless updates. I have to physically plug in to get new information.” He shrugged, “A little old fashioned, but we all used to be that way. The wireless thing is pretty new. I’ve gone to great lengths to keep it that way, for moments just like this.” He shrugged. “I guess you can call me a little paranoid, but I like picking and choosing what I add to my system nowadays.” Then he looked a little sheepish as one ear flopped forward and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry I didn’t have time to make all of you guys something to protect you from this thing. Hopefully after we settle all this, I can get on that and prevent something like this from happening again.”

Chica smiled and reached out for him, causing the bun to take her hand. She squeezed it. “It’s alright, honey. The important part is that we’re all together now. With all of us, we’ll be able to figure out what’s going on and put a stop to it.” Bonnie smiled back at her and nodded.

Monty sighed and crossed his arms as he leaned back against the viewing window. “Alright, that explains a couple things.” He looked up at the rabbit. “Did chya ever figure out what Moon was doing? Or who was messin’ with the network?”

Bonnie stepped back from Chica and shook his head. “No, I tried. When I saw there was a program set up for the cameras, I tried to get rid of it or follow it back to its origin, but it was pretty intense and nestled deep into the code, and I didn’t have the time to sit there and mess with it. So instead, I went to work on protective measures.”

Roxi shook her head, “Why didn’t you just tell us all this was happening?”

“I wanted to.” The bun told her. “But I wanted some facts before I did, maybe a lead or two. All I had was a program messing with security cameras and Moon acting suspicious. I wanted to finish that safety measure as soon as possible so I tried to really focus on that. Then I just… ran out of time.” He looked over at Freddy. “Babe, do you remember when I gave you that earring?”

Freddy nodded, “Yes, it was our two month anniversary. You said the earring was a gift for that.” He looked sheepish. “I… did not know such a thing was celebrated and was caught off guard.”

Slowly, Bonnie grinned and little sparkles appeared in his eyes. “So what did you give me in exchange? You gave me something, despite your floundering.”

“I… I gave you a song. It was the only thing I could think of on the spot like that.”

Bonnie walked over to him and put his hands on either side of his face to rub his cheeks then booped his nose with his own. “Yes you did, and I loved it.” Freddy brightened at this. He smiled and leaned into the touch as those little hearts appeared in his eyes again. Bonnie chuckled and stepped back to look at the others. “So that song I Love You Baby by Frank Sinatra is mine now. Not even Franky owns it anymore. Totally mine.” Chica let out a delighted gasp as she looked over at the singer and Roxi gave him a wicked smirk. Freddy looked a little embarrassed when their attention turned to him. Bonnie let him stew in his embarrassment and the teases for a few moments before he spoke again, his smile turning a little sadder. “Freddy,” the bear looked up at him. “What happened the night after that?”

The singer blinked, then frowned, his embarrassment quickly replaced with sadness. “You disappeared…”

Bonnie nodded. “I think they caught onto me, because the next night, well…” He trailed off and glanced over at Monty, who tensed as his shoulders rose.

“Oh no.” Chica breathed, looking sad as her shoulders lowered.

Freddy glanced around the room, “I feel as though I am missing a piece of information everyone else has.”

Bonnie waved his hand forward. “Freddy, baby, come here.” He held that hand out. “Hold my hand.” The bear stood and walked over to do just that, without question, though he did look curious. Bonnie turned to face him and took his other hand to hold. “I want you to promise me that you will listen to everything I say before you do anything else, alright?”

The singer nodded a little. “Yes, I can do that.”

“Good, good.” The rabbit paused as he thought about his words, then met his gaze again. “So you remember the next night.”

Freddy’s ears lowered as he glanced away, his expression turning sad again. “Yes, of course I do. It was… the saddest day I had ever experienced. I doubt I will ever forget it.”

Bonnie tilted his head as he lifted his hand to nudge his chin up so he would look at him again with his knuckle, never letting go of his hand. “Aww come on love, don’t be sad. That event is in the past and in the current, I’m standing right in front of you, so you don’t need to be sad anymore.”

This seemed to perk the bear right back up, because soon his frown disappeared and his ears stood up straight again as he smiled. “Yes, you are correct.”

“Ah see, there’s a smile.”

From the sofa, Chica hummed quietly and reached over to nudge Monty’s shoulder as she murmured, “He’s like a little puppy. I’m going to need him to stop being so cute all the time.”

Monty glanced up at her and let out a short, nervous laugh. “Oh yeah, real cute.” He glanced back at the two in front of him as he lifted a hand to chew on his thumb nail. “Just give him a few minutes and he ain’t gonna be cute no more.”

“So,” Bonnie continued, “That night we were all hanging out on stage after hours.”

“Yes.” Freddy commented. 

“Well before he left, Monty came up and asked to talk to me about something. He said he wanted to show me something cool he found on the golf course. Now, I noticed Monty had been acting a little funny since he had left to grab a drink. Did you notice anything?”

The singer frowned as he glanced away. His eyes flashing green, before returning to blue. “I did not.” He met his gaze again. “How was he acting funny?”

“I could hear it in his voice. He sounded different, a little harsher than usual.” Bonnie leaned forward. “And that’s odd, right? Because Monty is usually just a big softie, isn’t he?”

“Yes, children are always saying how nice he is to help them around the course if they are having trouble with one of the holes.” Gregory snorted and glanced over at the gator, who had crossed his arms and grumbled. Freddy continued, “But he does have a tendency to lash out and break things in fits of anger.” Monty’s grumbling stopped and he was tense again, all of them were.

Bonnie hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, you’re right, he does tend to break things in random fits of anger, but he never hits his friends, right?”

Freddy shook his head. “No, he has never struck any of us in a violent manner, only playfully.”

“Exactly! So remember that, ok? Remember that detail. It’s important.” The rabbit continued. “I went to meet him to see if I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him and we chatted for a little bit before he led me to the back hallways.” He paused and leaned forward again. “Now, what did I just say?”

“That Monty led you into-”

“No sweetheart, the important detail I told you to remember.”

“Oh! That while Monty tends to break things in random fits of anger, he has never hurt his friends.”

“Yes! Exactly! So when I tell you that Monty was technically the one that destroyed me, that would be really weird, wouldn’t it?”

Freddy blinked down at Bonnie and was silent as he processed his words. For a long moment, his eyes flashed between blue and green, before they settled on red, a startling color Gregory had never seen before. His gaze snapped to Monty as his ears rotated back. The gator flinched back but slowly moved to stand, holding up his hands in a non hostile gesture. “Freddy.” Bonnie spoke, leaning to the right to try and get back in his line of sight. The bear was very still for a solid moment, before he took a sharp step towards the gator, his stiff body moving very fast. Bonnie scrambled to stop in front of him and put his hands on his chest, but slid back a little when the bear pushed forward. Roxi hurried over to brace herself against Freddy’s chest and shoulder as she planted her feet.

“Freddy!” Gregory cried, but Chica grabbed him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to keep him on the sofa. He looked up at her, but she just shook her head a little.

“H-hey, let’s just calm down, alright?” Monty spoke as he slowly inched his way out of the corner he had been sitting in and closer to the door. Freddy’s eyes never broke contact with the other’s as he moved, honed in like a bird of prey would be on a small woodland creature. His body turned as the gator moved, always keeping him in front of him, which caused the two animatronics holding him back to scramble to keep their balance and resistance. “There’s no need ta get violent, man. It’s all just one big misunderstandin’!”

“Freddy!” Bonnie shouted as he turned to press his shoulder and forearm into the other’s chest while his free hand went to the shoulder Roxi wasn’t braced against. “I think you’re jumpin’ the gun here a little! I said technically! Monty wasn’t himself, he was being controlled by Vanny!” Bonnie looked up at him, “You know her, right? You haven’t seen her, but Gregory told you about her. You mentioned her earlier.” He glanced over at the child, whose eyes were wide and body tense, then back up at him. “Plus the kid is sitting right there. You don’t really wanna do this in front of him, do you? Come on, love. You’re not that kind of person anymore.”

That seemed to snap the singer out of his trance and he blinked as he took a step back, his eyes changing from red, to green, to blue, then back to red, rotating through the three. He simulated a deep breath as he pressed his hands together and held them near his snout. He closed his eyes for a moment and was still long enough for Roxi to ease back, though she continued to watch him, her body tense and ready to rush back in if she needed to. Bonnie watched him with a sharp eye as well. He made no move to step back or get closer, didn’t lift his hands to comfort him, not yet. Finally, Freddy sighed and opened his eyes, revealing they had settled back down to their crystal blue color. He looked a mixture of emotions, ranging from anger to sorrow to shame. He glanced away from the three in front of him and to the floor. The tension hadn’t left his body yet, but he made no move towards Monty, who had made his way to the door in preparation to run. At this, Roxi took a few cautious steps back.

Seeing the shame in his face, Bonnie finally reached up to place a hand on his cheek and turned his head towards him, where he guided it down to rest their foreheads together. “There ya go…” He murmured.

Slowly, the tension left the singer's form and he sighed, leaning into the touch. “I’m sorry.” He spoke softly.

Bonnie pulled back to look up at him, giving him a little smile. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. I think you scared the oil outta Monty.” He glanced over his shoulder at the gator, who was standing a little straighter now.

Freddy lifted his head to look at Monty as his ears rotated back, then forward again. “I apologize, Monty. For a moment I… I lost myself to my emotions. I did not let Bonnie continue and tell me the whole story before I took action, and that was wrong of me. I hope you can forgive me.”

Monty held up his hands, eyes wide. “Hey man, I should be apologizing ta you! I’m the one that, ya know…”

Bonnie whipped around and pointed at him, narrowing his eyes. “No you shouldn’t, because you had no conscious choice in what happened. You were manipulated by a very sick girl in a rabbit costume.”

“But Bonnie…”

“No buts! We’ve been over this and I’ve already forgiven you, remember? We did all this before we even came up here, so just- god man take a breath, will ya? It’s all good.” The rabbit walked over to punch him lightly in the arm again and give him a grin. 

Monty unconsciously rubbed the limb and sighed. “It’ll take a while for me ta forgive myself, ya know.”

“Maybe, but hopefully knowing I don’t hold anything against you will help. I still consider us friends, man.” Bonnie moved to prop one elbow on his shoulder, leaning into him, and put his free hand on his hip. “I mean, who’s gonna help me break into the daycare and rearrange stuff enough to drive Sun apeshit if it isn’t you? Roxi? Please.”

The wolf tossed him a look. “Don’t you drag me into your hair brain schemes.” Bonnie stuck his tongue out at her. This earned the bird from Roxi and a small smile and chuckle from the gator, who seemed to start to relax a little bit again.

At this point, Gregory wiggled away from Chica and hopped off the sofa to run up to Freddy, looking up at him as he took one of his hands. “Freddy, are you ok? I’ve never seen you look or act that way before.”

The singer’s eyes widened in surprise when the boy appeared in front of him, then he looked a little shameful and regretful. He knelt down and took his other hand to hold gently as well. “I am sorry you saw me like that, Gregory. I do not like being angry, but this… was very surprising and all of this is a lot to take in.”

Gregory nodded. “I know, and we had a feeling you would react negatively when you learned what happened.” He smiled then. “But I’m proud of you for pulling yourself back and acknowledging your mistake. That’s the important part. Now just work on not making that mistake again, ok?” Freddy smiled at this as his negative emotions seemed to fade. He nodded then pulled the boy into a hug, which he returned.

Roxi let out a loud sigh and flopped down on the sofa beside Chica, resting her elbows on the back of it. “Alright, so lemme see if I got all this straight so far.” Bonnie looked over to her. “Someone, possibly this Vanny girl and someone else, is digging around in the network and injected a virus that turned all of us except you and Freddy into murderous monsters. Freddy was fine because of that safety program thing you gave him and you obviously didn’t get it because well, you were dead.” Chica elbowed her for this comment and Roxi elbowed her back. “What? It’s true!” She rolled her eyes and continued. “Moon has been sneaking around doing god knows what, was probably also infected with this virus.” She pointed at Gregory when he moved to wiggle into the space between her and Chica. “We need to check on them.” The boy nodded his agreement. Roxi looked back to Bonnie. “And they got rid of you becauuuse… you were sticking your nose where it didn’t belong.”

Bonnie grinned. “Yup! That Vanny chick even told me so herself when I stepped into those back halls.” He made a snooty face as he mocked her voice. “You should have kept your nose out of our business, rabbit boy. You could have lived a little longer.” Bonnie waved a hand. “And then she made a comment about my closed circuit and I insulted her suit and it was just great fun all around. I honestly think she was trying to intimidate me.” He looked up at Monty with a grin and poked his arm a few times. “Can you believe that? Me? Be intimidated by a wannabe thing like her? I’ve seen scarier things at birthday parties for eight-year-olds.” Monty snorted at this and grinned.

Roxi shrugged. “I’d believe you were offed for being annoying. You can be like a fucked up wheel on a shopping cart sometimes.” The rabbit couldn’t help but laugh at this, tipping his head back. He even snorted, which caused Chica to start laughing.

Gregory looked up at the group, took in their grins and laughs as they joked around with each other, despite the topic at hand. He turned his gaze back to Bonnie as he threw a remark back at Roxi and smiled. That had to be what Bonnie’s gift was; the ability to make people laugh and make any situation feel lighter. He just had that energy and way of talking that put people at ease. He thought it was the perfect final piece for their collection of the lost and found.

Glancing up at Freddy, who was still kneeling beside him, he noticed he was watching Bonnie too with a fond look on his face. Every now and then he’d catch a small heart pop up before fading away. Gregory grinned and patted his cheek to get his attention. “Hey, I’m gonna need you to focus.” He told him, startling the bear into looking at him. 

“I am focused.” Freddy argued.

“On the task at hand, dude, not your boyfriend.”

Freddy’s ears perked at this and his eyes widened, looking startled, but also a little embarrassed. “Am I distracting you?” He looked over to Bonnie, who was still leaning against Monty’s shoulder with an elbow, hand back on his jutted out hip and a smirk on his face. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, one ear flopping forward. “Am I being a distraction?” He asked, clicking his tongue on the last word of his sentence. Freddy quickly lowered his gaze back to the floor as his ears rotated back, then forward again, staring at the carpet with vicious intensity. Bonnie laughed at this.

Roxi grinned and stood from the sofa. “Come on, lover boy.” She spoke as she smacked Freddy upside the head playfully when she passed him. “Let’s go talk to Sun and Moon and see if they remember anything.”

Chapter Text

Before they set out, Freddy went into the back storage room to step into the charging station and bring his battery back up to full capacity. Then they set out into the lobby and made their way towards the daycare. Upon seeing all the security bots roaming around, Bonnie whistled. “Wow, I didn’t even know we had this many bots on the grounds. That’s so annoying.” He glanced down at Gregory, then leaned over to be more eye level with him. “You mind?” He asked as he pointed to his shoulder with his thumb. Gregory wasn’t quite sure what he wanted, but he shook his head. Then before he knew it, Bonnie was scooping him up and depositing him on his shoulders and resting his hands on his knees. “There, now they won’t bother you.” He tipped his head back to smile at him, then flicked his sunglasses down over his eyes. 

Gregory gave him a smile then looked around as they walked. It was amazing how just being taller kept him out of sight for the security bots, who all had their flashlights pointed down, looking for someone of child height. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head and he looked down at Bonnie. “Hey, you wanna see something funny?” He asked.

The rabbit tipped his head back again and grinned. “Hell yeah I do.” The boy pulled his blaster from his pocket and held it up with both hands, aiming it at one of the security bots, then fired. The thing jerked and stopped, then spat out something about tempering and memberships. Bonnie gasped in delight as his eyes lit up with little stars. “Oh my god, I need one of those!” He looked up at him. “Did you get that in Faser Blast?”

“Yeah, I beat the game and this was my prize.”

“That’s so sick. You think they come in purple? Kinda my thing. No wait! Maybe blue as a contrast and throw back to older designs.”

“What about purple with blue stars?” 

“Perfect!”

Roxi rolled her eyes. “Ugh, don’t encourage him, brat. He doesn’t need it. Bonnie can be obnoxious all on his own.”

The rabbit pouted at her as one ear flopped over. “That’s so mean, Roxi. I am nothing but the spitting image of good and purity and- pfft!” Bonnie snorted half way through his sentence and fell into a small fit of giggles. He shook a hand. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I couldn’t keep a straight face.”

Monty laughed, “Yeah I was about ta call bullshit on that one.” 

Bonnie reached over to punch him in the shoulder and earned one in return. “Hey hey! I’m carrying precious cargo here! What would our fearless leader think of you damaging the second most important person to him? Behind me, of course.”

Gregory rolled his eyes, but couldn’t keep from grinning. “Of course.”

“What, you don’t believe me?” Bonnie looked up at him. “Here watch. Fred Bear!” He abruptly turned to walk backwards, causing Gregory to wobble and place his hands on the top of his head to keep steady. “Settle this for me, will ya? Who’s-” He stopped when he saw Freddy wasn’t paying attention to the conversation or really anything else going on around him. Instead, he was watching the two of them with a mixture of little stars and the occasional heart in his eyes, looking a little dopey.

Gregory raised a brow and glanced down at the rabbit. “Is he usually like this?” He asked.

Bonnie opened his mouth, then closed it, then proceeded to make several yes, no, and maybe sounds as he made different faces. He finally settled on, “Not usually this much. Could be because this is the first time we’ve seen each other in quite a while, but it feels like something else…” He trailed off as his eyes started to flicker green as he thought about something, then he gasped as those fuchsia eyes widened and realization settled over his face. This seemed to knock Freddy from his thought and he blinked, clearing his eyes as he looked at him curiously. A knowing and wicked smirk appeared on Bonnie’s face and he said nothing. However, Freddy’s eyes widened as he glanced away, then back. Gregory watched as they had a silent conversation with just facial expressions. The singer seemed to get more embarrassed as the ex-bass player looked more smug. 

Finally, Freddy sighed and gave him a very weak glare as his face gained a bit of color. “Stop making fun of me.” He said.

Bonnie grinned and tipped his head back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, honey bear. I didn’t say anything.” He protested.

“You did not need to.”

The rabbit snickered and turned around as they neared one of the escalators up to the second floor. “What was that about?” Gregory asked, looking down at him.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Fred Bear’s just being a big softie, as usual.”

The trip to the daycare wasn’t very long. When they reached the large wooden doors, Bonnie set Gregory back down and knocked on it in the “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm. “Honey, I’m home!” He called out. The door suddenly flew open, startling everyone but Bonnie, who just grinned. Sun was standing on the other side, his eyes wide. “Hiya, Sunny! Long time no see. How’s the husband?”

Sundrop just stared at him for a long moment, before he brought his hands up to his mouth and his big eyes became watery. “Bonnie!” He cried and zoomed forward to wrap his arms and legs around him in an all consuming hug. 

The rabbit stumbled back a little and patted his back. “Whoa, hey now! Careful! I just got out of the shop, man. At least allow me a full twenty-four hours before hitting me with that kinda force.”

“Oh, I missed you so much!” Sun continued as he shook his head. He pulled back to look at him, but didn’t detach himself from his front. “The day you disappeared was one of the darkest days I’ve ever experienced. It’s like you took the light of the pizzaplex with you! It just wasn’t the same without your jokes and little pranks and just- your energy!” He looked him over, putting his hands on his shoulders. “Where were you? What happened? Why were you gone for so long?”

Bonnie patted his back a little more. “All in due time, my man. We’ve got some questions of our own, if you and the hubby are down.”

Sun blinked, finally catching that H word, then narrowed his eyes down at him. “We aren’t married! I told you to quit that!”

The rabbit grinned and held up his hands. “What really? I had no idea.”

The daycare attendant leveled him with a look, but it broke out into a grin and he was hugging him again. “Stars, I missed you and your silly ways.”

Eventually Sundrop dislodged himself from the front of the rabbit and invited all of them to come inside. He scrambled to put a table together with enough chairs and produced a tea set seemingly out of nowhere, complete with hot tea. Gregory stared at this then looked up at Roxi for an answer, but she just shrugged. He ushered for everyone to sit down and filled everyone’s cups. “Oh it’s been so long since all of you were here at once!” He gushed as he set the pot down and sat.

Chica smiled and nodded, glancing over at the rabbit. “Yeah, we haven’t stopped by as a group since Bonnie disappeared.”

“Hey, don’t blame your rudeness on me, sweet cheeks.” Bonnie replied as he lifted his cup to his mouth. “My absence is not an excuse for you to stop hanging out with each other.”

The guitarist looked a little embarrassed and waved both her hands. “No no, that isn’t what I meant! It’s just, things definitely felt different when you were gone. It was an adjustment for all of us, and it took quite a while. I think we all sort of just… fell into routines that felt comfortable and didn’t think to do anything else.”

Bonnie softed a little and reached out to squeeze her hand. “I know, babe. I’m just teasing you.”

Chica chuckled and returned his gesture. “You always do.”

“Of course, gotta keep ya on your toes.”

“Sun,” Monty started, earning the attendant’s curious attention. “Has Moon remembered anything from when he was under that glitch? Anything suspicious or any details that stick out? Bonnie says he caught him sneakin’ around before everything.”

Sun hummed and wrapped his hands around his cup. “I’m not surprised to hear that.” He paused and glanced down, like he was listening to something, then shook his head. “No, he says he only has bits and pieces of the last couple of months. He can remember what I did during the day, but it gets fuzzy and dark when the pizzaplex closes.”

“Can we talk to him?” Chica asked. “If he’s willing, of course. I know it’s a little jarring to realize you were forced to do things and not even remember it. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to miss entire months worth of memories.”

Sun was quiet as he seemed to have a silent conversation with his other half, even nodding a little at times. Finally, he smiled and stood. “Yes, he’ll tell you what he knows. Just a moment please.” He left the table and walked over to the light controls by the entrance. 

Gregory watched as the lights dimmed low, but not enough to be considered dark or hard to see. Still, as it grew darker, he felt his heart rate spike. He balled his hands into fists against his shorts and glued his eyes to the table. He tried to calm down with a few deep breaths, knowing Moon wasn’t going to be the same person he had interacted with up until this point, but as he heard footsteps make their way back to the table, he just felt his heart beat faster as adrenaline dumped into his system. 

“Hello, everyone.” Came a soft and quiet voice. It lacked the hunger and hissing it had before, but the sound was enough to get Gregory to look up. Moon looked exactly the same, of course, though he noticed his eyes glowed a soft gold now instead of red and his expression was soft and relaxed. He watched as those eyes looked over everyone at the table, then he sucked in a breath when they landed on him.

Suddenly Gregory was standing so fast, it knocked his chair to the ground, startling everyone at the table.

“Gregory, sweetie, are you ok?” Chica asked.

“I-I can’t-” The boy started as his body started to tremble, panic setting in before he could stop it. He watched as alarm, then concern came to Moon’s face. He reached out slowly, like he was going to touch his shoulder, but Gregory stumbled back, nearly tripping over his chair, then booked it out of the daycare. He heard someone call his name, but he didn’t stop to turn around. He pushed one of the large doors open and slipped out.

He soon found himself sitting on a set of stairs not far from the door with his knees up towards his chest and his arms resting on them. He buried his face into his arms and tried to calm his racing heart. He felt silly and embarrassed for the way he reacted, but the panic just set in, regardless of logic. Moon had been different from the others. He could see Chica, Roxi, or Monty coming for him. He had watched them for a good portion of the night and knew how to avoid them, but the attendant had been different. He only came out at night and no matter how well he hid, he had always been found. He had tormented him by giggling in the darkness where he couldn’t see him and stalked him like a hungry animal. He toyed with him instead of just rushing after him like the others had. He knew Moon was different now after Roxi had shocked the lights out of him, but his body just wouldn’t listen to reason.

“Gregory?”

The boy jumped when he heard a voice, his head shooting up to see Freddy standing at the bottom of the stairs. He relaxed instantly and sighed, then rubbed his face roughly. He heard and felt the singer carefully walk up the stairs and settle beside him, then gently rub his back. “I-I’m sorry.” Gregory spoke as he shook his head. “I don’t know what came over me. I know Moon is better now, I know he wasn’t himself before, b-but…”

“But he still hunted you throughout the night, even if he did not choose to.” Freddy finished for him. 

The boy rested his mouth against his arms as he folded them over top of his knees again and nodded. “He was… different from the others… I was scared of Chica at first, after I shocked her, but that fear didn’t last as long when we got Roxi, and it was even shorter when we saved Monty.” He shook his head. “But Moon… he didn’t chase me like they had. He…” He trailed off as he felt his eyes burn and he curled up even tighter.

“Oh my little superstar…” The singer scooted closer and gently pulled him into his side so he could hug him. Gregory turned to bury himself into his form. “It is alright to be afraid of someone who mistreated you, even if they are different now.” Freddy told him as he ran his fingers through the boy’s mess of brown hair. “Moon and the others were not themselves with the virus in their systems, yes. However, that does not mean you need to be ok with everything that happened during it right away. You can take your time coming to terms with it and allowing Moon into your life, if you decide to.”

Gregory frowned, pressing the side of his face into the singer’s chest. “But… But Bonnie forgave Monty right away. He wasn’t even a little mad or upset with him, even after everything that happened.”

“But you are not Bonnie. He has always been that way. He does not hold onto many things, a trait I am very jealous of.” Freddy shook his head. “Do not compare yourself to others. You are unique in everything you do. If you feel as though you cannot see or talk to Moon right now because of what happened tonight, then you do not have to. If you decide you never want to forgive him, then don’t.” He moved his hand from his hair to his back to rub slow circles into. “That is all up to you. Of course, you are not alone in your recovery. I will always be here for you, should you need me.”

Gregory was quiet as he listened to this, little tears rolling down his cheeks when he blinked. Freddy gently brushed those away, but remained silent now. The boy shifted a little to get more comfortable leaning against the other, then closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. He could feel his heart rate slow now and the panic leave his system. His chest ached a little from the verocity of how hard his heart had been pounding and he felt tired. Before he even realized it, he started nodding off, dozing lightly against the singer. He vaguely realized he smelt like vanilla birthday cake and something richer he couldn’t place his finger on. He wondered how that even worked, which melted into thoughts of birthday cake and different flavors as his drowsy mind wandered off.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, flickering in and out of consciousness, but soon he could hear Chica’s worried voice shouting his name, startling him into jumping and sitting up quickly.

“Oh!”

Gregory rubbed one of his eyes with the heel of his palm as he looked down and saw her standing at the foot of the stairs with her hands cupped around her mouth. “Oh sorry, were you sleeping?”

“It’s ok.”

Freddy looked down at him as he pulled away. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

“A little tired, but better.” Gregory looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “Thanks for… all that.”

The singer smiled in return and ruffled his hair. “You are very welcome.”

The boy made a little face, but allowed it. He then looked down at the others as they gathered to look up at him, all looking a little concerned in their own way. “You good, little dude?” Monty asked. “We can take’a break if ya need it.”

Gregory shook his head and stood to stretch. “No, it’s ok. What did you guys find out?” He didn’t want to stop now. What if they were on borrowed time with this whole virus thing? Whoever was controlling the animatronics had to know they lost connection by this point. They could potentially be on a deadline to figure this thing out before they’re taken over again. He could sleep and take a break after they figured all of this out and stopped it.

The glance that passed through them all told Gregory they didn’t believe him, but Roxi spoke up first. “We got some information. Moon doesn’t remember a whole lot of when he was sneaking around being a creep. Said it wasn’t all the time and he remembers when he stayed in the daycare, but can’t recall anything when he left.”

Chica put a hand on the wolf’s shoulder, looking a little excited. “But we have a lead! He said one night, a couple of months ago, he saw a heat signature move past the daycare after hours, which is weird because no one should be walking around at that hour, ya know? And he said it was in the vague shape of a rabbit, so it had to be our girl!”

Gregory blinked, “I didn’t know Moondrop could see heat signatures.”

Bonnie nodded, “Yeah, they gave it to him because he’s usually working with kids in low light.” The boy nodded a little. Now he understood why Moon had always found him, even if he was hiding or it was dark in the room.

“Yeah, but so,” Chica continued, “he followed it into the raceway, but he can’t remember anything once he got there, and said his memory was intact before that, so that had to be where his corruption started. We were thinking about going back to take a closer look around and see if we couldn’t find anything weird.”

Gregory nodded again. “Ok, that sounds like a good plan. There’s so much stuff in there right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if something was missed. Not that we really gave it a thorough look before.” He walked back down the stairs and looked up at them. “Let’s go check it out.”

Chapter Text

Searching such a large area cluttered with large boxes and heavy equipment was rough, but thankfully, having so many pairs of eyes looking around made it feel a little less impossible. The place was still crawling with security bots, but Freddy watched them as the boy looked around, crawling into smaller places the others couldn’t get to. The boy did find a few notes about the construction, mainly supply orders and reports of progress being slow. However, one did stand out to him.

“Freddy, look at this.” Gregory crawled back out of the cubby he had been exploring and held up a paper he had found. The bear took it to scan. “It says the construction crews were noticing a serious drain of power coming from below the raceway. Was there something else built here before the track?”

The singer frowned and shook his head. “Not that I know of. When Chica, Bonnie, and I got here, they had already finished construction.”

The boy took the report back when he was handed it and studied it again. “Hmm… I think we should check it out. It says they put together a small team to go down and check it out, which means there has to be an excavation tunnel somewhere.” He lowered the paper and opened a connection to the rest of the group. “Hey guys, I just found a work report stating something underneath the racetrack was sucking up energy and a team was gonna go down and to see what it was. Try seeing if you can’t find any excavation tunnels.”

“What the fuck?” Roxi said. “I don’t remember there being talk of digging and power usage in here.”

“Maybe it came up halfway through the construction and they just decided to dive in.” Chica offered. “They don’t really think to tell us these things because we’re just performers to them.” Roxi made an unhappy sound, but didn’t comment again.

Gregory stuffed the note into the duffle bag he was still carrying then turned and held his arms up to Freddy. The singer scooped him up and placed him on his shoulders. “Come on, let’s keep looking. A hole big enough to send a team of people down has to be noticeable.” He told him.

With a target in mind, it helped to focus the group, and soon, Roxi’s voice was coming through Gregory’s watch. “Guys, come to the left back corner of the racetrack. I found something you’re gonna wanna see.” Gregory and Freddy looked at each other curious before the bear headed in that direction.

One by one, the group found Roxi waiting for them in the back by a set of stairs. She was standing in front of a door that had been hidden in darkness and shadows. She pointed back to it with her thumb. “I think I found your entry point.” She told Gregory.

The boy was set back on his feet so he could walk over and open the door. He gasped at the sight of a large hole on the other side with metal scaffolding leading deep underground. “Whoa…” He murmured then looked back to the others. “Come on, let’s go see what’s at the bottom.”

Monty made a face and pointed at him. “Ya didn’t happen ta find the report of the workers gettin’ back topside safe and sound and what they found, did chya?” The boy shook his head, earning a sigh. “Of course not.”

Bonnie grinned and punched his arms a few times. “Come on, mate! Where’s your sense of advantage?”

“Sorry, I must have left it in my other pants.”

Freddy walked over to the boy and knelt down. “I think you should ride down in my stomach hatch, just in case the supports are not up to code. It would be safer that way.” Gregory nodded and pulled off his duffle bag to hand him, then climbed inside the hatch when it opened for him. When he was settled, Freddy stood and pulled the bag’s strap over his shoulder then stepped inside, the others close behind him.

Slowly, they made their way down several flights of stairs until they reached a room made entirely of concrete and massive pillars supporting the ceiling. “These are supporting the racetrack.” Bonnie commented as he looked around curiously. “But why is it hollow? You’d think it’d be more supportive if the foundation was solid.”

Roxi put a hand on his shoulder and pointed forward, causing him to look up. “Because there’s something else down here.”

Not fair from the bottom of the stairs they found a thick metal gate that was chained shut with the thickest chains Gregory had ever seen. “Now that’s interesting.” Bonnie said as a smile grew on his face. “Who are they trying to keep out? Or in?” He touched the chains, lifting them to study, then turned to look at Monty, grinning now. “Hey big guy, you think you can bust through this fence for us?”

Monty returned his grin. “Course I can.” Bonnie took a few steps back as he approached. The gator laced his fingers together to crack his knuckles then in a quick, slashing motion, he sliced through the thick chains and the lock on the gate like they were butter. 

Gregory blinked in surprise as he watched on a small screen located Freddy’s chest plate that connected right to his eyes, so he could see what he was seeing. Those hand upgrades were no joke. No wonder he read so many reports of Monty easily busting through gates around the complex. “Those claws are no joke.” He commented to Freddy, who shook his head.

“No, they are not.”

Bonnie held up a hand for a high-five, which Monty gave, then he pushed through the gate to continue, the others right behind him. This area was a lot messier than the previous one. There was rubble and debris down where, as well as toppled metal supports. Gregory was very glad he didn’t have to walk through all of that himself, especially when Chica stumbled and Roxi had to steady her.

It was a bit of a trek before they reached their next fence, this one armed with a voice passcode receiver. Behind it looked to be elevator doors. Bonnie poked at it a little curiously, then his ears perked when an idea came to him. He turned and looked at the guitarist. “Hey sweetie bird, you think you can bust this receiver with a high pitch note? Doesn’t gotta be loud, just high.”

Chica’s eyes widened, but then she smiled. “Sure, I can give it a shot. You all might want to turn off your sound settings though. If this is gonna fry that machine, it might fry you guys as well.” She walked over to it and studied it, then looked back at the others. Bonnie took a few steps back to join the rest of the group.

“Gregory, cover your ears.” Freddy told him, which the boy did quickly. 

When Chica received a ready thumbs-up from her friends, she turned back to the box and cleared her throat. She placed a hand on her chest, then sang a high pitch note, the highest she could go. The box sparked, then exploded in a pop, dropping to the ground where it started to smoke. Chica stepped on it a few times just in case it caught fire, then turned back to the others to give them her own thumbs-up. 

Bonnie stepped forward to peer down at the broken device, then gave Chica a high-five, which earned him a giggle. “Now, let’s see what we have here.” He pushed the gate open to study the elevator, putting a hand on his chin.

Gregory climbed out of Freddy’s stomach hatch to scurry over and look at it too. “Where do you think it goes?” He asked Bonnie, looking up at him.

“Hmm… no clue. Clearly down.” The rabbit ran a hand over the doors. “It’s in rough shape though and it doesn’t really have a great source of power.” He eyed the small generator nearby like it had offended him. “In my opinion, you can probably get one ride down for sure, and maybe a ride back up. Might have to fiddle with the power though. Hopefully there’s something down there we can tap into.”

Freddy stepped forward and shook his head. “Gregory, if you want to go down there and investigate, I am going with you.”

Bonnie tossed him a grin and he tilted his head, an ear flopping forward. “Aww what, babe? You don’t trust me to keep the kid safe?” He teased.

The singer looked at him, then moved to put a hand on his cheek, startling the grin off his face. “I just got you back.” He told him. “I will not let you walk into potential danger alone and risk losing you again.” The bun softened at this and lifted his hand to cover his as he turned his head to press his nose into his palm. Freddy then knelt down to be eye level with Gregory. “And you, my little superstar, are very brave, capable, and smart, but you are…” he reached out to take one of the boy’s hands, “small. I do not wish to lose you either. If I am with both of you, then I know for certain that you will be safe.”

“Well…” Bonnie started softly as he crossed his arms and smiled. “Nothing is ever for certain, but yes, our odds of success do go up much higher with you in the equation.”

“So it’s settled then.” Roxi walked over to prop her elbow up on the fence and lean against it, putting her free hand on her hip. “You three will go check it out and we’ll hang out up here.”

Gregory looked up at her in surprise. “You guys aren’t coming with us?”

Chica shook her head and smiled. “I don’t think that’s a great idea. That elevator can’t hold all of us and we want to give you the best odds for getting back up here.” She walked over and scooped him up into his arms to squeeze. “Oooh! But I’m gonna get another hug before you do! Oh, and take this.” She dug a hand into her own chest compartment and produced a chocolate lollipop to give him. Gregory’s eyes lit up as he took it. These were his favorite, but he decided to save it for later and pocketed it instead.

Monty leaned against the other side of the open gate and pointed at Bonnie. “Hey, you better get that damn thing workin’ so all y’all get back up here. And don’t do any stupid self sacrophising bullshit, ya read me? Or I’ll fix the elevator and go down there to kick yer ass and bring ya back up.”

Bonnie grinned, “You? Fix the elevator? Monty baby, please. We’re trying to have a very heartfelt moment here. Your jokes are not funny.”

“Oh yer just a shit.”

“Guilty!” The bun moved to take Gregory out of Chica’s arms and set him back on his feet, earning a sad little sound from the girl, but he just patted her on the shoulder. “We gotta get going, hun. I don’t like how all of this feels like a final goodbye. You guys go topside and wait for us there. We’ll be back in a little bit.” Chica rushed forward to give him a hug, which caused him to pause, but he returned it, smiling a little. “Alright.” Bonnie stepped away and turned to press the elevator call button. The doors slid open a moment later. “Let’s go see what’s at the bottom of this rabbit hole, shall we?” He ushered Gregory inside and Freddy followed after. Bonnie stepped inside and pressed the down button. Their friends waved as the doors closed.

It was a long and shaky ride to the bottom, causing Gregory to scoot a little closer to Freddy and take his hand to hold. The twisted and slowed version of the upstairs elevator music definitely didn’t help ease his nerves either. When they reached the bottom, Gregory let out a sigh of relief and quickly exited.

The group stepped out into what looked like a mined out cave with wooden supports on the walls and overhead. There were also some portable lights set up and generators sitting off to the side. Gregory cautiously ventured forward and looked around, noting where the generators were in case he needed to get to them later. Strings of weak lights dangled over head and debris was collected in the corners. As they continued down the path, it grew dark enough for Gregory to grab his flashlight from his bag Freddy was holding and turned it on. 

“What is all this?” Freddy asked quietly as they continued. “It looks like a mining shaft that was abandoned abruptly.” Bonnie didn’t comment as he glanced around and listened carefully to their surroundings, his long ears perked and rotating. 

Gregory rounded a corner up ahead of them, but gasped and stumbled back when he almost ran right into an endoskeleton. He put a hand on his chest and sighed as the other two quickly caught up. “Are you alright?” Freddy asked.

The boy nodded and shined his light onto the skeleton. “Yeah, these guys just scared me, that’s all.”

The singer looked up at the endoskeletons hanging from the ceiling as they passed them. “What are these doing down here? Did they dig these tunnels?” Gregory glanced up at the very still skeletons and shuddered, then quickly moved on. 

When they rounded the last corner, they came to a stop. Gregory clicked off his flashlight as he stared up at a large neon sign lit up high on the wall with a set of double doors below it, like it was the entrance to a restaurant. “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place” it read. “What the hell?” He murmured as he walked closer to it, but paused when he saw a security bot running back and forth in front of the door. It was old and worn, as though it had been down here for a long time. “What even is this?” When he didn’t get a reply, he turned around. “Guys?” He stopped when he saw the looks on their faces. They were staring up at the sign with a mixture of shock and horror.

“This… this is…” Freddy started after a moment of his mouth moving, but no sound coming out.

“The original restaurant…” Bonnie finished for him.

Chapter Text

“Wait, you guys have been here before?” Gregory asked as he looked up at the two very tense animatronics that had come with him down into the tunnel.

“Yes.” Freddy answered as his eyes ran over the glowing sign. 

Bonnie shook his head. “No way. This can’t be the same place. How the hell did it get underground?” He marched past Gregory to the doors and yanked, but they didn’t open. That’s when he noticed the meter on the wall wasn’t lit up. He turned to look at them, “We need to go back and turn on the generators to get in. I need to know if this is the same place.” He turned to flip the switch on the generator near him then started back down the tunnel to find the others. Gregory hurried after him while Freddy stayed behind and worked through his thoughts. It thankfully didn’t take them long. There were several generators, but the tunnel wasn’t that long. When they came back and Bonnie tried the doors again, they opened and he stepped inside. Gregory grabbed Freddy’s hand to follow, but the bear didn’t move, causing the boy to look up at him.

“Hey… are you ok?” He asked.

Freddy blinked and shook his head, then rubbed his face with his free hand. “Yes, I apologize. I just… lost myself to some unpleasant memories.”

“Are you ok to go inside? You can take your time, ya know.”

The singer gave him a sweet smile and squeezed his hand gently. “I am ready. Besides, we should not leave Bonnie in there by himself for too long. I am sure it is not pleasant for him, either.” The little boy frowned, his curiosity peaking, but nodded and walked with him into the restaurant after the guard had passed.

Once inside, they didn’t see Bonnie right away, but the bun soon emerged from a door off to the side and paused when he saw them. He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut and turned to walk across the main room to disappear through another door. Gregory turned his attention up to Freddy, who was looking around the room carefully. “What is this place, Freddy? Have you guys been in here before?” He asked.

“I am uncertain.” The bear started. “I cannot tell if this is the original restaurant or just a replica, but it looks… very old, judging by the water stains and signs of decay.” He let go of the boy’s hand and moved towards the stage towards the middle of the room slowly, looking around at overturned tables and chairs as he went. Gregory followed close behind him. When he reached the stage, he hesitated, then reached out to touch it as his eyes flashed between green and blue for a moment. “When we were very young, fresh to the world, we performed on a stage just like this for the very first time.” Freddy explained. “Chica and I sang while Bonnie played the guitar. We did not know much of the world at that point, but we liked what we did and liked each other, and that was enough for us.” 

He paused as he looked up at the ragged curtain towards the back of the stage, then turned, searching for something else. “We had another friend back then.” Freddy gave the child a little smile. “You would have liked him, and I know he would have liked you. His name was Foxy, and he was part of a pirate show in his own section of the restaurant. He would tell the kids stories of epic sea battles or play the accordion for them and sing. The children loved him, but he was always having issues with his parts and broke down quite often.” He tilted his in thought. “Come to think of it, perhaps you have seen posters of him around the pizzaplex.”

“What happened to Foxy?” Gregory asked curiously.

At this, the bear frowned, ears rotating back, then forward again. “He was replaced by Roxanne. Management said the pirate act was… dated and they wanted to do something new.” He shook his head as he looked down at the child. “Please do not tell Roxi about this. She does not know she replaced him, and I do not wish for her to feel as though she had something to do with it. This was a long time ago, and there is no sense in opening closed wounds.” The child frowned at this, but nodded a little in understanding.

“Unbelievable!” The two jumped when Bonnie came stomping back into the room through a different door than the one he disappeared into. “It’s exactly the same! From the back rooms, to the security office, to Foxy’s stage. Either this is a very good replica, or… or this is the original restaurant.” He put his hands on his head as he stared at the chipped tile beneath his feet. “But what’s it doing underground? Even if a sinkhole opened up and swallowed it up, it wouldn’t still be intact like this. And there was rock just outside, so it couldn’t have been buried! None of this makes any sense.” His nose wrinkled in disgust as he looked around again and dropped his hands. “They should have just let this place rot instead of saving it or rebuilding it.” 

Gregory stared at the rabbit in surprise. He hadn’t seen him this upset before. Even when he spoke of his own disappearance and what he had found snooping around, he never once looked bothered. Instead he just laughed it off and poked fun at the others. Now he stood in the remains of something long dead and looked like he’d rather see it burn than be in its presence. “Why don’t you guys like this place anymore?” Gregory asked as he looked up at Freddy. “Did something happen here?”

Freddy opened his mouth, but hesitated. Bonnie looked down at Gregory, then up at Freddy. They seemed to have another one of their silent conversations, before the singer knelt to put a hand on Gregory’s shoulder. He gave him a little smile. “It is not something we talk about anymore. We have put it behind us at this point and talking about it would just bring up unwanted emotions.” He then took the boy’s hand as he stood and turned to explore more of the restaurant. “Come, let us see if we cannot find anything that will help us solve our current mystery.” Gregory opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but closed it instead. He supposed now wasn’t really the time to push this subject, but he felt frustrated. There was something going on here that the others weren’t telling him. Bonnie hinted at knowing something earlier too that he didn’t want to tell them, and now he was getting vague answers, or none at all. Out of everyone here, he thought that he deserved the most explanation, after everything he had gone through tonight.

They searched the restaurant, but only found decaying tables and decorations, as well as some tools and gas tanks. However, towards the back of the restaurant, surrounded by plastic barriers and other junk was another hole that had patchwork wooden platforms with no stairs leading down. He moved towards it, but Bonnie quickly grabbed his shoulder. “Wait.” He told him. The boy looked up to see his ears were perked towards the hole, listening. “I can hear something down there. I think you better ride with Freddy, bud. Just to be safe.” A little worried of what they were going to find down there, Gregory nodded and moved to climb into Freddy’s stomach hatch when he knelt and opened it for him. Once he was settled, the two started to descend.

Not two platforms down and Freddy hesitated, causing Bonnie to stop behind him curiously. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I…” The bear’s eyes scanned the area. “I remember this place.”

“The restaurant?”

“No, this tunnel we’re in now. The others and I… we dug this hole.”

“What?” Bonnie’s eyes widened, “When? You shouldn’t have been able to be controlled, not with that device I gave you.”

Freddy shook his head and turned to look up at him. “This was before that.” His eyes flickered green as the memories slowly started to come back to him. “She brought us down here, ordered us to dig. She used the bowling tournament as cover for the noise and so no one would look for us. They would be too busy with that.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened as he knelt to be more leveled with the singer. “I remember that event. I was there all night.” He shook his head. “She was right to. I didn’t hear anything past the music, the pins, and people cheering, so I wouldn’t have come over to investigate.”

The bear reached to lightly take one of the other’s hands. “She could not control you like she could us. You would have tried to stop her. You would have gotten hurt.”

“Can you hear this far down, Bonnie?” Gregory asked, amazed.

The ex-bassist smiled a little. “I can, but it’s a real strain on the systems and it has to be dead silent upstairs, which it hardly ever is. There’s always the air conditioner or idle music playing or something else.”

Gregory hummed in thought at this. That had to be a really handy talent to have. He then turned his attention back to Freddy, glancing up. “Who is she, Freddy? You keep saying she.”

“Vanny.” Freddy glanced off to stare at nothing. “I remember what she looks like now. I could see her then, but now I cannot.”

“It might have been part of an update you received after I was gone.” Bonnie told him. “It’s easy to program us not to notice or see something, or someone. They’ve done it before.”

Gregory shifted as he frowned. “Freddy, what’s at the bottom of this hole? What was she having you find?”

The bear was quiet for a long moment before answering. “Our friends are down there, old ones, and they are angry. Their anger keeps them going, even after all this time.” He placed a hand over his chest, where Gregory sat. “We need to be very careful.”

Bonnie simulated a deep breath then pushed it out slowly. “Alright. Let’s go. The sooner we figure out what’s going on, the sooner we can leave this nightmare behind.” Freddy nodded his agreement and continued down the hole.

They made it down a few more inclines before the wood underneath them gave away and soon they were falling. Gregory let out a startled shout as he braced himself. When Freddy hit the ground, it sent a jolt up the boy’s spine, but was glad he didn’t hit the floor himself. “Surprise…” Bonnie mumbled as he rubbed his head and made a face. The singer stood first and held out a hand to help him to his feet, before looking around. It looked similar to the pizza place up above, with the same checkered tile and wall color. There was a charging station in the corner, a desk with several computer monitors on it, and two doors on either side.

Bonnie took a few steps forward as he looked around curiously, but whipped back around when Gregory let out a shout as he was suddenly ejected out onto the floor. The boy hit the ground on his hands and knees and hissed as pain zinged up his knees, then looked up at Freddy in question. That was when he noticed he started to twitch and jerk. The bear’s eyes were flickering from green to blue frantically and he lifted his hands to grip his head. “Freddy?” Gregory spoke as he stood, but stumbled back when Bonnie grabbed him and to step in between him and the singer.

“What’s wrong?” The rabbit asked, putting his hands on the other’s forearms.

“I-I can feel someone trying to get into my head.” Freddy forced out through gritted teeth. “They are trying to take control of me.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened. “What? How is that possible? No one should be able to access you right now!”

“Stop him.” The singer opened his eyes to show they were still flashing, but now red had been added to the mix. “Please.”

Gregory’s eyes widened as this and he quickly turned to look around the room for anyone they had missed hiding somewhere. He ran to check down the hallways leading to the room and even in the charging station, but didn’t see anyone. When he came back to the center of the room, he finally noticed movement on one of the monitors. He rushed over and saw someone, something standing in the darkness near a charging station of their own. It looked like some kind of rabbit, but not like Bonnie or Vanny. This one looked bad. He was missing parts and some seemed to be holding on by a thread. The lighting was poor and he couldn’t make out much detail, but he could have sworn he saw flesh clinging to very human-like teeth in its mouth.

A chill went down Gregory’s spine as adrenaline kicked back in, his heart now racing with the familiar feeling of fear. “Bonnie! There’s someone on the monitor!” He cried.

The rabbit rushed over and put a hand on top of it to tip it back, then gasped, his eyes wide. His shock lasted only for a moment before it was replaced with a determined and hate filled look. “I fucking knew it was you.” He growled then snatched the keyboard up to pull closer and started to type viciously. Gregory watched as he pulled up some kind of program on a different monitor, something he didn’t know or really understand. Bonnie typed in different shorthanded commands, which the computer seemed to accept, before prompting more questions. Finally, he smashed the enter key and looked back at the figure in the video. Gregory saw the thick black cables on the floor start to move, before they lunged at the figure and gave him a powerful shock that lit up the room. He heard a scream that sounded a mixture of robotic and human as the figure arched their back and jerked. When the electricity faded, the figure hunched forward, but didn’t drop like the other animatronics did. Instead, it looked like he was trying to catch his breath. “I’ve set up a program to give him a shock, but it’ll need to recharge between uses.” Bonnie explained, then pointed at the computer and looked down at Gregory. “If that bastard moved, do not hesitate to make him regret his existence.” The boy nodded a little then watched as he hurried back over to Freddy.

The singer was now leaning over with his hands on his knees, simulating being winded. Bonnie put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you ok? Do you feel him anymore?” He asked.

Freddy shook his head and looked up at him with a weak smile. “No, thank you.”

The rabbit gave him a little smile in return, but then guided him to the back of the room. “I want you to sit down here. I’m going to shut you down for the moment, ok?”

The bear turned to look at him with alarmed eyes. “But what about you and Gregory? If you turn me off, who will protect you?”

Bonnie touched his cheek. “Don’t worry about us. I can’t be hacked and Gregory is sharp. Between the two of us, we’ll figure this out and get you back online in no time. But for now, it’s too dangerous. He’s trying to turn you back into a monster, one that will hurt Gregory. I know you don’t want that to happen. If you’re shut down, he can’t get to you.”

Freddy’s eyes widened at this, looking fearful and horrified. His eyes started to flicker from thought as he set his jaw firmly, but then nodded. “Ok, go ahead.” He grabbed both of the rabbit’s hands and bumped his forehead into his. “But please be careful, and keep Gregory safe.”

Bonnie smiled and rubbed his forehead against his a little. “I will.” For just a moment longer, they stayed like this before Freddy pulled away to lower himself to the ground. Bonnie followed him and positioned himself in front of him. “Lean against me.” He told him, which the bear did. Given access to his back, Bonnie worked quickly. Gregory couldn’t make out what he was doing from where he stood, but he watched as Freddy closed his eyes, then slowly grew heavier as his limbs relaxed. Bonnie leaned him back against the wall when he finished and pressed a kiss to his forehead, before simulating a deep breath.

“So,” He started as he stood. When he turned back around, he was grinning with a wicked and dark look to his pink eyes. “You’re still around, huh?” He started back towards the computer set up. “I’m impressed! Not a bad organization of events, for a corpse.” He roughly grabbed the computer monitor and jerked it back. Gregory saw the figure had finally seemed to gain enough strength to straighten. It was looking into the camera feeding them video and it felt like it was looking at them directly. “But there’s one thing you didn’t take into consideration. You are in my house now, Mr. Afton.” Bonnie leaned closer to the screen and for just a moment, his eyes flashed to a deep red. “And I don’t tolerate trespassers."

Chapter Text

Gregory was speechless at the display of malice in the rabbit’s face and eyes. Bonnie had been so cheerful and humorous before. Who was this person, to pull something so dark to the forefront? “Do you know him?” He asked eagerly. “Who is he? Does he have something to do with why you guys didn’t like that restaurant above us anymore?”

When Bonnie looked at him, his eyes flushed back to their usual fuchsia color. “Unfortunately, I do, but I’m afraid anything else is classified.” He tossed him a wink, but Gregory wasn’t having it.

“No!” He shouted, startling the bun. “I want some answers here!” He threw out his hands. “All fucking night I’ve been chased by animatronics who wanted to hurt me and take me away to some place bad and do something terrible to me and I want to know why!” He pointed to the computer. “Who is that guy? What does he want with all of you? If this is the guy running the show, then why does he want to kidnap me? If you know something, tell me!”

Bonnie stared down at him in surprise for a long moment, listening to his rant, then he frowned. He moved to squat down in front of him and put his hands on the child’s biceps. “Sweetheart, I know this is a lot for you, and I can’t begin to apologize for everything you’ve gone through tonight.” He paused, his mouth moving for a moment, but no sound came out. He clamped it shut firmly, then shook his head. “Who you see on that screen is a very, very bad man, and right now we need to focus on stopping him, or no one is going to be safe here at the pizzaplex; not Freddy, not the other animatronics, not any of the guests, and most importantly, not you.”

Gregory shook his head. “You’re not going to direct me away from this again. Who is he and what does he want with everyone? Why is he trying to hurt people? What even is he?”

“Gregory…” Bonnie pleaded. “I… I can’t tell you anything.”

“Yes you can! I don’t believe you!”

“I can’t!” The rabbit gripped his arms just a little tighter. “I can’t tell you because I made a promise with Freddy and Chica that we would never talk about what happened! We-” He stopped abruptly as his ears perked, rotating slightly as he picked up on something. He stood and moved towards one of the doorways with Gregory hot on his heels.

“It isn’t between just the three of you anymore!” The boy argued. “We’re all in-”

“Gregory!” A voice came from down the hall, singing his name.

The child turned and looked to see Chica at the other end of the hall. His eyes widened and he took a step towards her, but Bonnie grabbed him and pulled him back. “What are you doing?” The boy asked, wiggling out of his grip. “That’s Chica!” Thundering footsteps came rushing down the hall, causing Gregory’s head to snap forward. He saw Chica rushing towards them with the same zombie look to her face and eyes she had earlier in the night before he had shocked her. He gasped and stumbled back. Bonnie reacted quickly and reached over to slam his hand into a switch by the opening, causing a thick steel door with a plastic window to shoot down from above and seal her out. The chick ran into the door with a thud, then started to bang against it. Bonnie scooped the boy up and carried him away so they would be out of her sight line. He set him down and hurried back over to the computer to check  something on the one running the program he set up, then struck the enter key. Jolts of electricity pulsed into the figure still tangled in the wires, earning him another horrible scream of pain. The banging on the door stopped and Gregory peered over to see Chica had paused, then turned and started to walk away. 

“Gregory.” The boy looked back as Bonnie knelt in front of him and took both his hands. “I know you want answers. I know you’re frustrated and angry and scared. No child should have to go through what you have tonight.” He pulled his hands to press the tops against his chest. “And it honestly breaks my heart to know that you’ve experienced all this, but right now isn’t the time to talk about this.” He paused and simulated a deep breath. “All I can do is swear to talk to Freddy and Chica and see if I can’t give you something. I won’t go back on my promise to them.” His brows knitted together as he tilted his head. “Please , Gregory. Just for the time being, drop this topic, come back to it after all of this, because right now, you and I are quite literally fighting for our lives. If Afton succeeds here tonight, he will kill you, I’ll be ripped to pieces again, and we’ll lose all of our friends.” He shook his head. “Not just Chica, Roxi, and Monty, but Freddy too. They’ll turn him back on and disable the safety protocols and have him under their control too. We can’t let that happen.”

Gregory frowned as he felt some of his resolve diminishing. He glanced up at the camera feed, at the figure leaning against a desk nearby as he tried to compose himself. He pressed his lips into a firm line, then sighed and looked back at the rabbit. He nodded. “Alright, but I’m not going to let this go.” He told him.

Bonnie smiled a little. “I know.” He then stood and went to open the door he closed before. “Now, we only have so much power down here. We need some to run the computers, but Chica will be back. And if she’s been taken over again, then I fear the others have too.”

“Can’t we just shock them again?” The child asked.

Bonnie looked over at him. “Again?”

“That’s how we freed them from the virus before. We shocked them with a lot of power and it forced a hard reboot of their systems.”

“You did what?” The rabbit’s eyes grew large and horrified. “And they survived it? Man you are one ballsy kid.” He couldn’t help but laugh as he shook his head. “No, unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to work a second time. You’re lucky it worked the first time and it didn’t completely fry their systems. If we do that kind of thing again, it’ll start to melt shit, and we don’t want to put them down permanently.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well.” Bonnie moved back over to the computer system. “If we take Afton down, then he can’t control the animatronics anymore.” For a moment, that wicked look came back to his face as he smiled. “Plus, it’s fun to see him suffer.” He looked back at Gregory. “All we gotta do is survive until then.”

Gregory looked a little nervous. “You make that sound like an easy thing.”

“Eh, it’ll be fine!” Bonnie went to check the other hallway. “We’re plenty capable. I can hear them before they approach. We’ll just have to time the doors accordingly and shock Afton when the charge is ready again. It’ll be like a game!”

Gregory made a face and turned to check the other hallway. “This is a terrible game.”

“Well it will be with that attitude.” Bonnie went back to the computer to watch the figure on the screen, then paused. Gregory looked over to see his ears twitching as he picked up something, then he looked up at the vent overhead, causing the boy to look up as well. A moment later, he could hear it. Heavy thumbling and snarling coming their way. The boy’s eyes widened and he hurried over to a switch on the wall, but Bonnie held up a hand. “Wait! Wait until Monty’s almost to the end. He won’t have the momentum to bust down the grate.”

The child looked up at him, “But couldn’t he just rip it apart with his claws like he did that chain?”

Bonnie grinned and chuckled. “I love that guy, but he’s not the brightest crayon in the box sometimes. I don’t think he’s going to remember he can do that. Or at least, that’s what I’m hoping for.”

Gregory frowned and looked back up. “That really boosts my confidence in this plan.” He murmured, then quieted down to listen. The sound of heavy thumps moving closer and closer to the opening sent his heart racing, but he waited until the snarl sounded as though it was right by the open vent. He then pressed the button and a metal door slammed down to close the vent off from the room. Not long after there was a bang against it and he held his breath as he watched, waiting to see if Monty remembered he had claws. Bonnie stared up at it too, before looking down at the computer again. When his program was ready, he sent another shock into the figure and the banging on the vent door stopped. Slowly, Monty started to retreat. When he was far enough away, Gregory opened the vent again.

“What about Roxi?” He asked Bonnie, but the bun held up a finger, listening. 

He then turned and hurried over to the door to the left. He grinned as he peered inside. “There she is! Speak of the devil herself. Hey girly girl! How you doing?” Gregory heard a roar then thundering steps as Roxi rushed towards the opening. Bonnie rested his hand against the switch and waited until she was almost to him before casually pressing it. The door slammed shut inches from his face and Roxi slammed against it. She snarled and banged her fists against it. 

Bonnie just chuckled. “Oh you’re gonna have to do better than that. I’m afraid I know this trick already.” He turned and walked back to the computer set up to look at the rabbit figure as he pushed himself up with help of the desk near him. “This is a pretty sad attempt on our lives, Mr. Afton. Did you forget in your old age that I know all these tricks already?” He bent at the hip to prop his elbows on the desk and lace his fingers together to rest his chin on. Gregory saw his tail wiggle a little. He was actually enjoying this. “Nothing new to show us? I’m disappointed you’re not putting up more of a fight.” That wicked look was back as his eyes shifted to red and he grinned. “This would be much more fun if we got to kill you after you gave us your all, threw your everything into trying to stop us, only for you to fail. Can you feel it, yet? That sensation of failure and hopelessness that comes when you realize you’re not good enough to stop someone?” He leaned a little closer to the screen as Afton straightened again and looked back at him. “How does it feel to be on that side of things, hmm? Are you scared yet? How does it feel to be the one looking into the eyes of the person who’s going to kill you?” Gregory stared at the ex-bassit then glanced at the screen. He saw the figure narrow his eyes in a glare filled with hate and hunger. Bonnie laughed as his own lit up, looking delighted. “Yes, yes! Get angry! Get passionate! That’s what we like to see. Give us your everything, Mr. Afton. I want to hear your last song before I put you down for good.”

Suddenly, Gregory could hear Chica’s singing voice down the hall and a snarl from the vent. His eyes widened and he rushed over to the hallway to look down. Chica was making her way towards them with a crazed giggle. “Bonnie, both Chica and Monty are here!”

The bun straightened and looked at him, his eyes changing back to their normal color, giving him a much nicer smile than the one he wore before. “Just relax, Gregory. Remember, hit the switch when they’re close to getting in and it’ll stop them. You cover that door and the vent and I’ll watch the computer and this door. We’ve got this. Just make sure you don’t keep the doors shut for too long, or they’ll automatically open. Weirdly enough, it’s actually a safety protocol.”

Gregory looked back as Chica started to rush towards the door. “That does nothing to make me feel safe!” He slammed the switch when she was feet from the door then hurried over to hit the vent switch. Banging came from all three entry points, but as soon as Bonnie hit the enter key on the keyboard, the sound stopped and was replaced with that terrible scream. Gregory watched as Chica wandered off and moved to open all the doors again.

“I know, it’s kind of backwards. I guess whoever made them didn’t think people would be hiding from killer animatronics.” Bonnie replied with a chuckle. 

“Your ability to laugh in the face of possible death amazes me.”

“I like to think of it as a talent.” 

This trend continued, where their friends, taken over by a mad man, would come rushing towards their room. The two worked together to close the door before they got there, even while they started to come back faster and sooner. Gregory was glad Bonnie was here with him, regardless of that look he would get in his eyes sometimes when he looked at that rotting rabbit figure on the screen. He couldn’t imagine doing all of this himself. It felt like hours they did this, until finally, Gregory watched as Chica stumbled and paused, touching her head as she made a face. For a moment, she blinked with clarity, before she jerked and twitched, her eyes dulling again.

“Bonnie!” Gregory cried when he said this, feeling hope rise in his chest. “I think it’s working! I think Chica came back to herself for a moment there!” 

The rabbit grinned over at him from where he was standing in front of a very pissed off Roxi, who was clawing at the closed door in front of her. “That’s great! Just a little more then.” 

Gregory slammed his hand into the switch beside the door to close it in Chica's face, then turned and gave him a smile. He turned his attention back to the guitarist and watched her, waiting until she lost interest and wandered away so he could open the door again. Then behind him, he suddenly heard two, very soft sounds hitting the floor and Bonnie as he shouted in surprise. Gregory turned around just in time to be grabbed by the arm and yanked forward. He tried to struggle and break free, but froze stiff when a knife was put to his neck, letting out a whimper.

“Well, this is a fun little party we’re having down here, isn’t it?”

Chapter Text

Gregory didn’t dare move his head, but he didn’t need to. He recognized the arms around him and the hand holding the knife. It was Vanny. She moved back a little, pulling the boy with him. He looked over at Bonnie with big, fearful eyes. The ex-bassist was glaring at the girl, closer than he was before, but was now still. He must have tried to catch her before she could make her move, but he hadn’t been fast enough. “You just don’t know when to quit, do you, little rabbit?” Vanny spoke.

Bonnie smiled and shrugged. “Where would be the fun in that? Come on Vanny, no need to be shy. I know you missed me.”

“You’re a nuisance, that’s what you are.” Vanny spat, gripping Gregory’s shoulder tightly. “I should have gotten rid of you the moment you became curious. Would have saved us a lot of headache.”

“But again, not as much fun.”

“Hmm… I suppose.” Gregory couldn’t see the girl’s face, but he heard her voice dip to something lower and full of malice. “But this time, I’ll make sure there’s nothing left of you so you can’t be put back together again.”

Gregory watched in horror as the security doors opened. They must have reached their limit for how long they could be closed. He watched as Monty appeared in the entrance to the vent with a wicked grin. He put his hands on the wall and dug his claws into it, leaving marks. Roxi shot forward the moment her door was open and went straight for Bonnie. The rabbit whipped around and leaned back to avoid a claw swipe. He did this a few times, performing almost a dance with the girl in front of him. He tried to inch his way towards the computer, but backed right into Monty, who grabbed him and chuckled darkly. Bonnie looked back at him and couldn’t stop from looking amused. “Well this is awfully familiar, isn't it, big guy? Something tells me you aren’t about to rough me up in a fun way.”

“You talk too much.” Vanny sneered. “We'll destroy that voice box fist, but keep your eyes until the end.” She knelt and lightly grazed her knife against Gregory’s neck, earning another whimper as tears came to his eyes. “I want you to see little Gregory’s face as he watches you be ripped to pieces.” She then gasped in delight. “Wait, even better!” She looked to Chica, who had entered the room, but stood waiting for some sort of command. “What if we changed this up a little.” She jerked her head to Freddy, who still sat slumped against the wall. “Get the bear back up and running.” The guitarist giggled and turned to shuffle over to him.

“Freddy!” Gregory cried as he jerked, but Vanny yanked him back, squeezing his shoulder painfully. 

Bonnie’s eyes widened too as he took in a small gasp. He started to struggle against Monty and Roxi’s hold on him, jerking and throwing his head back, but the two didn’t seem fazed. He couldn’t break the death grip they had on him, so he watched as Chica walked over and knelt in front of Freddy. She reached out and removed the red earring off his ear and set it aside, then pulled him forward to get access to his back.

Gregory stared in horror, his heart pounding against his ribs. She was going to take control over Freddy and… and have him tear Bonnie apart instead! If Freddy ever came back to himself, the knowledge that he had done such a thing would destroy him. Chica’s voice suddenly came ringing back into his head, “You don’t come back from that kind of corruption.” Freddy would never be the same after this. Would he even want to keep functioning, knowing what he did to the man he loved? Gregory didn’t want to find out. He couldn’t lose him. Freddy was such an important person in his life now, even if he had only known him for one night. He cared for him when no one else wanted to. He was not going to let make the biggest mistake of his life. He just had to wait for the right moment to make his move.

Freddy’s eyes suddenly opened and the boy saw they were the same red he had seen before. Slowly, he stood up and scanned the room, then his eyes locked on Bonnie. The rabbit took in a small gasp as the singer approached him, then flinched when his hand latched around his throat like a vice grip. Freddy turned, causing the others to let go, and slammed him into a nearby wall, earning a wince as fine cracks appeared in the concrete. “Bonnie!” Gregory cried.

Bonnie made a face and lifted his hands to the other’s wrist. “Ugh man,” He started, his voice strained from the impact. “If this wasn’t a life or death situation, this’d be pretty kinky.” He couldn’t help but joke as he gave the other a tight smile. “I always knew you wanted to manhandle me, big guy.” He tried to wiggle his fingers in between his hand and his neck to pry it open. “Can I request a gentler foreplay? Or at least a safe word?” He gasped when the hand around his neck grew tighter. “Is that a no? Baby come on, you’d never wanna hurt me!” He paused. “Against my will! Look at me, I’m adorable! You love me and you have for a long time.” He gave him a softer, sideways grin. “Took you sixty years to finally do something about it, but that’s ok. I think it’s cute.”

There was stillness for a long moment, causing Gregory to hold his breath. Vanny growled behind him. “What are you doing just standing there? Destroy him!” She barked.

Bonnie’s eyes widened a little as his ears slowly perked up, watching the singer closely. Gregory couldn’t see Freddy’s face from this angle, but he did see his hand loosen enough to be resting around his neck, rather than seconds away from crushing it. The boy’s eyes widened as he gasped, feeling hope thunder through his veins. 

“What are you doing?!” Vanny demanded. “Do as I command!”

Gregory glanced down when he saw the hand holding the knife to his throat move away slightly in her outrage, enough where he felt comfortable enough crushing her foot under his heel with all his weight. Vanny let out a scream and dropped her knife. The boy was quick and scooped it up as he darted away from her.

“Gregory!” Bonnie called out to him as he pointed to the computers. “Shock him! Hit the key!”

Gregory made a beeline for the deck, but Vanny recovered quickly. “Stop him!” She cried.

The other animatronics turned to face him at once and Gregory stopped, staring up at them in fear. “Oh no you don’t!” He quickly glanced over when he heard Bonnie shout and a loud thud hit the ground. He saw the bun had somehow managed to knock Freddy down onto his stomach and was now sitting on his back, holding his arms tight behind his back. “You’re not going anywhere, big guy. I’m not lettin’ you do something you’ll regret later.” He paused then added with a smirk as he leaned forward. “Ya know, this is a good look for you.”

With one animatronic down, Gregory turned his attention back to the other three as they slowly closed in on him. Then an idea popped into his head. He scurried away from them and looked back at the rabbit. “Bonnie! My camera!” He shouted.

The rabbit’s ears perked and he quickly scrambled to dig into the duffle bag Freddy still had hanging off his shoulder. With his hands free, Freddy moved them to push himself up to his knees, startling the bun as he was lifted off the ground while still sitting on his back. “Freddy, baby, I’m gonna need you to stop feeding into my fantasies for like two seconds while I look for this thing. I’m trying to focus here.” He said casually then grabbed the camera when he found it. He held it up and tossed it to the child just before Freddy turned and threw the bun off him. Bonnie let out an ‘oof’ when he landed, but scrambled to his feet to grab the bear as he turned towards Gregory. He kicked him hard in the back of the knee, causing his legs to give out and for him to land on his ass with a thud. Bonnie put his full weight onto Freddy’s back and he grabbed his arms to yank tight behind him. The bear moved his legs, but couldn’t get enough traction to stand.

When the camera came flying towards him, Gregory dropped the knife for a moment to jump up to catch it. “Watch your eyes, Bonnie!”

“Got it!”

The child turned to the other three animatronics as they approached him and held up the camera. With a press of a button, the powerful flash blinded all three. Gregory was suddenly very glad he gave Monty’s sunglasses to Bonnie. The three let out shouts of surprise and pain as they were stunned into stopping. The boy rushed between them, snatching up the knife again as he moved, and darted to the computer desk, but when he was just within inches of hitting the key, Vanny grabbed him and yanked him back. He let out a cry and turned to face her. Her eyes glowed in the dim light, glaring down at him. “Don’t you dare!” She shouted.

The boy took a swing at her with the knife and she yanked her hands back, which he was kind of glad for. He honestly didn’t want to kill someone tonight, even if the girl was very ready to kill him. “Stay back!” He shouted as he held the weapon in both hands.

Vanny growled and darted forward again, going for one of his wrists, but the boy swung his knife at her. He had to hurry. That flash he hit the others with would only last for so long. So he reached blindly behind him when he bumped back into the desk and grabbed a coffee mug that had been long abandoned. With all his strength, Gregory swung the mug and shattered it against the side of Vanny’s head, earning a shout as she stumbled to the side.

“Nice shot!” Bonnie shouted with a grin.

Gregory didn’t pay him any mind and turned towards the computer to slam his finger down on the enter button. He watched as the rabbit figure, who had been forgotten in the light of over things, seized as jolts of electricity shot through him. He screamed and jerked, but when the power shut off this time, he dropped to the floor and sat still. Gregory could make out a faint groan from where he lied. At the same time, the other animatronics hit the floor as well, startling the boy into whipping around.

Bonnie looked down at Freddy when he went limp and slowly let him go as he sighed. Then his eyes snapped up to Vanny, who was rubbing her head as she sat on the floor, wounded and defenseless. His eyes shifted back to red as he stood and stalked over to her. The girl gasped at the sight of him and scrambled to get to her feet to retreat, but Bonnie grabbed her by her shoulders and turned to slam her into the wall in one smooth motion. She let out a cry of pain from the impact. The animatorinc then got in her face. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, little girl. Coming into my house, enslaving and twisting my friends, trying to turn the love of my life against me, and threatening an innocent child like that… It’s people like you who I really can’t stand.” He got a little closer, causing Vanny to turn her head away as she whimpered. “Do you know who I am, who I used to be? Or did you walk into this blind, thinking we were just some stupid robots fresh off the convator belt?” He lowered his voice to a tone so quiet, Gregory had to strain to hear it over the sounds of the computers whirling behind him. “I used to… pursue people like you, adults who thought they could do whatever they wanted to innocent children… Do you know what I used to do to those adults, Vanny? Do you want to take a guess?” The girl whimpered again and shook her head a little. The ex-bassist gave her a wicked grin filled with teeth. “Why, we played games together, of course. We played until they couldn’t play anymore. Would you like to play with me, Vanny?”

“N-No…!” The girl said quietly, weakly, as she shook her head again. “No.”

“Are you sure? It’ll be a lot of fun. We could play hide and seek, or maybe tag? Which of us do you think is the fastest?” Bonnie moved his hand to rest on her throat as he pushed her chin up with his thumb. “I have to warn you though, I’ve been told I’m so quick…” he tipped his thumb forward to dig his nail into her chin a little, “that I just… disappear.”

Vanny started to tremble and shook her head. “Please…”

“Huh? Where did all that confidence go, Vanny? You were so sure of yourself before, when you were holding a child at knife point. When you had my friends under your control to force into doing whatever you liked.” He tilted his head. “But now all that’s left is just… you - no weapons, no minions, just you and your soft body working to keep you alive - and it isn’t fun anymore, is it? You don’t like being scared for your life like this. It doesn’t feel very good, does it?” The girl shook her head a little. “No, it doesn’t. Now, how do you think that made a ten-year-old boy feel, hm?” He paused and Vanny didn’t say anything. He dug his nail into her chin a little harder, causing her to tip her head back to try and relieve some of the pressure. “I didn’t hear you answer me, Vanny.”

“Not good!” She cried.

“Not good at all. Now, I happen to like that little boy a lot, and so does Freddy, so I take it pretty personally when someone threatens him or frightens him, you know.” Bonnie watched her with his sharp, red eyes, letting her squirm and mutter out pathetic little pleas and whimpers, before he leaned back out of her space as his deadly grin turned into a smile. “But lucky for you, I’m actually a pretty nice person, so I’m willing to give you a second chance to right the wrongs you’ve done here tonight, turn over a new leaf and better yourself.” He put his hands down her shoulders as though he was brushing her off, causing her to turn her head to look at him cautiously. “However, there is someone who needs my attention right now, so I’m gonna have to knock you out. And since I’m feeling so generous tonight, I’ll even be nice about it.” He closed his eyes in a sweet smile. “I could crack your skull against the wall, but that just feels like overkill at this point.” He held up the same pinky finger he had used to disable Freddy’s battery lock before, but it sparked more violently now. He touched it to the shoulder’s shoulder, causing her to jerk and let out a cry. It was a very quick shock and soon, Vanny’s body went limp and started to fall, but Bonnie easily caught her then lowered her down to lay on the ground.

Gregory looked over at her. “Is… is she ok?” He asked.

“Oh yeah.” Bonnie answered. “It wasn’t much stronger than a taser.” He paused, then nodded. “Ok no, it was a little bit stronger than a taser, but it just knocked her out. It won’t have any long term damaging effects.” Once Vanny was taken care of, he turned his attention to Gregory, his eyes melting back to their normal pink color. “Are you alright?” He gently touched his shoulder as he moved to kneel in front of him and study his neck. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

Gregory swallowed, “Were you… really going to hurt her? You sounded like you were…”

“What?” Bonnie lifted his eyes to the boy’s, then shook his head. “No, of course not. I mean, I wanted to.” He laughed and glanced away. “I really did, with what she did to you.” He simulated a deep breath then smiled at him. “But I think she’s learned her lesson.” He gently touched the boy’s chin. “Now how about you? Are you ok? No nicks I need to be worried about?”

For a long moment, the boy just stood there and looked down at Vanny, then looked down at the knife he had a death grip on. Almost startled that he still had it, he quickly tossed it aside, then held his hands close to his chest. Slowly, his shoulders grew more and more tense as they rose up to his ears. He felt his face grow hot as his eyes began to water and his lower lip quivered. Bonnie’s eyebrows knitted together as the boy ducked his head and started to cry. Gently, he pulled him into his arms to hold him close. Gregory wrapped his arms around his neck lightly at first, then clung to him as he sobbed and buried his face into his neck. His body shook with the force of his tears as everything from tonight just rushed out at once. A lot of terrible things had happened to him tonight, but Vanny holding that knife to his neck had been the last thing that broke the dam. He clung to the rabbit tightly as soothing circles were rubbed into his shaking back and just let everything he had been holding in for the sake of their mission and everyone else’s wellbeing, out.

Bonnie held him through all of this, resting his head lightly against his as he worked himself out. “I’ve got you…” He murmured quietly to him. “No one is going to hurt you anymore, little one. I’ll make sure of that.” He then started to hum a quiet little song to help soothe the boy as he cried.

Gregory wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, but when the tears finally started to fade, he felt tired and empty inside. He shifted to rest his head against Bonnie’s shoulder and sighed. The ex-bassist ran his fingers through his hair. “There… How are we doing?” He asked.

The child sniffled, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” He told him.

Bonnie pulled back a little to look at him and wipe his tears away. “I know, sweetie. I don’t want to be here anymore, either. However, I just need to check on a few things first before we can leave, ok? Then we’ll make up the comfiest bed in the whole world for you to take a nap on.” He paused, then shrugged as he smiled. “Well, at least something soft.”

Gregory nodded a little and rubbed at his eyes. “Ok.” He agreed easily.

“Hello Bonnie.” A voice came behind the child suddenly.

The boy stiffened, put back on high alert in a matter of seconds. Bonnie was faster and scooped him up to hold protectively in his arms as he stood, taking a few steps backwards. Hanging out of the hole they had fallen through earlier, hung a massive collection of wires and animatronic parts, with a single face at the front, pointed towards them. It had seams throughout it and Gregory could see some of the plates shift as it looked at them. The face was similar to Freddy’s, though not as defined, like it was a much older version. A lot of the paint had worn away, showing silver metal underneath, but he could make out some white, pink, and gold here and there.

Bonnie let out a huge sigh in relief as his shoulders sagged. “Good lord.” He muttered. Gregory looked at him with wide eyes. Why was he relaxing in the face of something so terrifying? They should be running away or getting ready to fight! “Geez, don’t scare me like that. You have no idea what kind of night I’ve had.” Bonnie rubbed his face for a moment, then looked back at the creature. “Cassidy, so good to see you. Love the new look.”

Chapter Text

The creature with the shifting bear face stared at them, slowly tilting its head. Gregory wrapped his arms tight around Bonnie’s neck and leaned closer, terrified of the thing. “D-Do you know them?” He asked the other quietly.

Bonnie smiled down at him, “I do. Gregory, this is Cassidy. She’s an old friend of ours. Cassidy, I’d like you to meet Gregory. He’s had a pretty rough night, but Freddy and I are gonna take care of him.” He paused. “And the others will too.” Pause. “I think.” Pause. “You know what, details don’t matter right now. I can guarantee I will take care of him.”

The creature moved a little closer to study the boy, causing him to duck his head nervously. “Hello.” The thing spoke, though its mouth never moved. Its voice sounded like that of a little girl, but was twisted with something robotic. 

“H-Hello.” Gregory replied quietly.

“I recognize the look on your face. You are his newest victim, aren’t you? He tried to hurt you tonight.” The boy stared up at her, but nodded a little. Some of the wires and parts making up the creature started to slither over each other, gaining speed as they continued. “Bastard.” The thing hissed with such a deep seeded anger inside it. 

Gregory shrinked back a little, causing Bonnie to wrap his free arm around him. “Cassidy, sweetie, you’re scaring him.” He told the thing. 

Steam shot out of a few different places on the creature, but the angry movements slowly settled down again, until it stilled. It was quiet, the creature just watching them for a moment as its face plates shifted ever so slightly. When it finally spoke, it was directed at Bonnie. “I assume the child is the reason you’re here.”

Bonnie nodded as his eyes shifted to red again and he tilted his head. “Afton’s been pretty busy, hasn’t he? He’s fucking up the good thing we’ve got going here, Cassidy. Had to shock the shit out of him before he finally left my friends alone.” He glanced down at Vanny laying nearby without moving his head, as though he were looking down his nose at her in disgust. “And I think it freed the girl, too.”

“Yes, but wasn’t that fun?” The creature asked in a crazed voice that echoed like it was coming out of an old radio.

The rabbit grinned and looked back up at her. “Well yeah, and I hope it hurt too, but I’m gonna need him to quit being such a fucking nusense and leave my family alone.”

A haunting giggle came from Cassidy as the faceplate slowly spun in a full circle. “I like to let him out every now and then, let him try to claw his way to salvation, before dragging him back, kicking and screaming. It’s so much fun to watch him put his little plan together and work so hard to escape, to continue where he left off, only for it to all come crashing down.” It suddenly got into Bonnie’s face, startling Gregory as he let out a surprised sound. Bonnie didn’t even flinch, though. “Would you like to try it, Bonnie? I’ll share him with you, for just a little bit.” Gregory watched as those plates pulled farther apart, showing an endoskeleton face and teeth. “Play your games with him, for old time’s sake. I miss watching you play.”

Bonnie moved his hand to Gregory’s head to toy with his hair in an attempt to comfort him. He gave the thing a smile, but shook his head. “No, I don’t do that anymore. But hey, thanks for the offer. However, there is one thing I want out of all this.”

Cassidy pulled back as the faceplates slotted back together. “And what’s that?”

“I want Afton out of our business.” The rabbit told her, his red eyes seemed to shine a little brighter as he spoke. “If you’re here, then I understand why he’s still alive. I can’t blame you for what you’re doing. Hell, enjoy it! However, if I have to come back down here again because he’s messing with the others or, devil save him, touches a single hair on Gregory’s head…” He grinned, looking just as wicked and twisted as before, “I’ll put him down for good, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

The creature hissed and growled at this, wires and cables starting to thrash again as its form grew bigger, almost filling up half of the room now. Gregory gasped and clung tighter to the ex-bassist, staring up at it in horror. Bonnie never looked away from Cassidy’s eyes though and didn’t back down. He seemed to stand just as tall as the thing before them, regardless of the fact that he was much smaller. The creature’s faceplate jerked one way, then the other, its body coiled like a snake ready to pounce, but it finally broke eye contact to look at the trembling boy in Bonnie’s arms. It seemed to pause, then let out another growl. “Fine.” It spat, its voice dripping with annoyance, as its form started to pull back in on itself, growing smaller once more. “I will keep him on a shorter leash.”

With a blink, Bonnie’s eyes returned to their usual fuschia color and he smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad we could come to this understanding. Now, I’ll collect my friends and we’ll leave you be.” He paused and glanced around, then back at the thing. “Actually, how do we get out of here? We fell through the ceiling.”

“You will have to return the same way you came down, for I’ve barred all the doors on this level. There are other holes in other places where the ceiling has collapsed. Your friends came in that way, but I think the easiest way for you two to leave would be the way you came in. I will help you get the others out, just so you will leave us alone.”

“Fine by me. I think we’re both really done with this place.” The rabbit replied as he looked down at Gregory, who nodded quickly. He wasn’t as scared of the thing as he had been before, but he definitely didn’t want to stick around and risk pissing it off again. The boy watched as tendrils came from the creature and slowly wrapped around their friends lying nearby, still offline from that last shock they gave Afton. 

“What about this one?” Cassidy asked as a tendril moved towards Vanny. “She isn’t like us. She is a human adult.” Suddenly her face was back in theirs and Gregory flinched. “Ooo, can I keep her? Surely you don’t have need for such a wretched creature.”

Bonnie looked down at Vanny for a long moment, his eyes flickering green as he thought. Gregory touched his chest to get his attention. “Don’t hurt her. You said you’d give her a second chance, didn’t you?”

The rabbit sighed, “I know, I know. I did say that.” He then looked back up at Cassidy. “No, I want that one. Take her to the top with the others. And don’t break her. I mean it, Cassidy. I want her alive and unharmed.”

The creature let out a displeased sound at this. “Fine, but if she wanders down here again, then I get to keep her.”

Bonnie shrugged. “Fine by me. She can’t put up to much good if she’s trying to get back to Afton. But you can’t have her any sooner than that. She’s ours until she decides to do something stupid or tries to hurt my family again.” This seemed to satisfy Cassidy and a tendril wrapped around Vanny as well. She pulled all of them back up through the hole in the ceiling as she retreated.

Bonnie sighed as his shoulders sagged, “Ugh, what a night to come back to.” He said then smiled down at Gregory. “Let’s get you out of here. Don’t worry about the others. Cassidy won’t hurt them, she wouldn’t.” He paused. “And I’m sure Vanny will be fine. Cassidy doesn’t go back on a deal.”

Gregory nodded a little then looked up at him curiously. “Where did you even make a friend like that?”

“Ah well, she didn’t always look like that. That’s definitely new. We met her a long time ago, back in one of the many restaurants we played in.” He walked over to where Freddy had been sitting before and snatched up the duffle bag to pull over his shoulder, then went to grab the bear’s discarded earring and stuff it into the bag. He looked back up at the hole in the ceiling and hummed. “Ok, I’ll give you a boost up there then follow after you, ok? Be careful and make sure to stand back.”

Gregory nodded. He was a little tense as Bonnie shifted him to stand on his shoulders, wobbling a little, but reached up and snagged one of the wooden beams above. He grunted as he pulled himself up, then climbed up higher on the platforms to give Bonnie room to join him. He looked down to watch the bun widen his stand and bend his knees, his tail wiggling a few times, then he pushed off with a powerful jump that shot him up into the ceiling. He landed on a platform with a thud and grabbed hold of some of the beams to keep steady. The two slowly made their way back up, then out of the restaurant above. When they reached the elevator, Bonnie gave it a once over, then dragged over one of the generators to divert power to it, causing it to light up once more.

“There we go.” He brushed his hands together. “Should give us enough juice to get to the top.” He pressed the button and with a pleasant ding, the doors opened for them. He ushered Gregory inside then pressed the up button, causing the doors to close and shakely take them back to that sub basement floor they were on before. It was quiet this time in the elevator. No creepy music played through the speakers. Gregory rubbed his face as he tried to process everything that just happened. None of that was what he was expecting when they went down there.

“So…”

The boy looked up at Bonnie when he spoke. The rabbit had his head tilted as he looked down at him curiously. “Do you still want to know about our past? I know you heard what I said to Vanny. I’m afraid some of it slipped out when my anger got the best of me. Plus Cassidy mentioned a little bit.”

Gregory looked away and frowned. He thought back to what Bonnie had said, how he used to go after adults who had hurt children and… probably did some terrible things to them. Then that Afton person… he had such a hatred for him, and so did Cassidy. If everything the ex-bassist had said went together, then that… thing on the computer screen had hurt children before, in one way or another. As a child himself, he didn’t like the thought of a crazy person running around hurting kids. He didn’t need more nightmare fuel, after everything else that happened tonight. “Not… right now.” Gregory eventually admitted. “I will at some point, I think. Maybe sometime soon, or much later.” He rubbed his arm and looked down at his worn, dirty sneakers. “For now, I… I think I’m good. I’ve got a lot of other stuff to process right now.”

Bonnie gave him a sad little smile and rested his hand on his head. “You do, don’t you?” He sighed. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through tonight, Gregory. I really, really am.” He turned and knelt to be eye level with him, causing the boy to look up at him. He took both his hands to hold. “I meant what I said though. I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe and make you the happiest little boy on the planet.” He paused and glanced away in thought, then looked back up at him. “For the rest of your time here, which… isn’t much, if my internal clock is right.”

Gregory’s eyes widened a little in surprise. “It’s almost 6am already?” He asked.

Bonnie nodded. “It is. That must be very exciting for you. You’ll finally be able to leave this place and go back to your family.”

The boy glanced away and frowned. He had totally forgotten about the doors opening at 6am, that he would be able to escape like he had originally wanted to, but the idea didn’t feel like a bright, beacon of hope like it did at the beginning of the night. Instead, it just added to the emptiness he felt inside right now, and he closed his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” The rabbit asked. “You don’t seem very happy.”

Gregory sighed and shook his head. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” The elevator gave a little chime just then, causing him to look up and watch the doors jerk open. “Where do you think Cassidy put our friends?” He asked as he took his hands back and exited.

Bonnie was quiet for a moment as he frowned, but stood to follow him. “Somewhere nearby, I’m sure. She wouldn’t want to go too far up.” He paused and turned back to the elevator to study it, then held up a finger. “Hold on, two seconds.” He looked up at an access panel towards the top, then around. He grabbed some crates nearby and pulled them over to use as a step so he could reach it. He yanked the panel off and tossed it aside, then scanned the inside. Gregory watched him fiddle with something inside. “Watch yourself!” Bonnie called to him, then he heard something snap. A roaring and screeching sound came from the elevator shaft that got farther and farther away, until there was a loud crash. Bonnie hopped down and pried the doors open a little to peer inside, revealing the car was no longer on the other side. “There. That should keep anyone from getting down there and making a mess.” He said, then turned back to Gregory. He smiled and held out a hand for him to take. “Now, let’s go find our friends.”

Chapter Text

Bonnie and Gregory found their friends laying on the ground just outside the first fence they had entered when they came down what felt like hours ago. The boy let go of Bonnie’s hand to run over to Freddy and kneel beside him, putting his hands on his chest. He shook him a little. “Freddy! Are you ok? Can you hear me?” He said.

“He’s powered down.” The rabbit explained as he came over to kneel beside him. “They all are. Give me just a second and I’ll have them all rebooted.” With a grunt, he pushed Freddy over onto his side so he could get to his back.

As he did that, Gregory went to check on the others, making sure nothing was broken. Thankfully, other than just some dirt smudges, they looked unharmed. He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head for a moment, then looked around again. That was when he saw something white laying off to the side. Frowning, he stood to investigate it. Laying on the ground, he found a white rabbit mask, the same one Vanny had been wearing. He gasped and grabbed it, then looked around for any sign of the girl, but didn’t find any. “Bonnie!” He cried as he hurried back over. The rabbit looked up from what he was doing in slight alarm. Gregory held up the mask to show him. “I found Vanny’s mask laying over there, but I don’t see any other signs of her.”

“Hmm…” Bonnie studied the mask for a quiet moment, then met his gaze again with a little smile. “Well, let’s take this as a good sign.”

“What do you mean?”

“She took off her mask. She’s no longer hiding who she is. For the first time in who knows how long, she’s out in the world as just herself and only herself. She’s a free woman now. Let’s hope she does some good with that freedom.”

Gregory thought about that as he turned the mask around to look at the face. “I… guess you’re right. If she was still trying to do something bad, she’d want to hide her face, right?”

“That’s usually the case, yes.”

The boy was quiet again as he turned the mask in his hands to study, then looked at the rabbit. “Hey, one of your fingers is a lighter, right?”

Slowly, a grin spread across Bonnie’s face. “Oh my, do you want to do a bit of arson, little superstar?” 

Gregory’s eyes widened at the nickname as he held the mask to his chest. For a moment, all he could do was stare at him. Bonnie hadn’t called him that before. A number of different nicknames, yes, but not that one. He had made such a fuss before about Freddy using it, saying it was only his to give out, but he had just used it for him. It caused a little spark to light in his chest that filled it with a bit of warmth, chasing away that emptiness for just a moment. “Um,” He started as he glanced away, hearing the rabbit chuckle quietly in his throat. He then looked back down at the mask. “I just don’t like it, and I feel like burning it would be a good close to this portion of the story. Plus it would feel pretty good, I think.”

“I bet it will!” Bonnie laid Freddy back down on the ground and patted his chest. “Hang on a second, babe. We gotta burn some personal property real quick.” Gregory chuckled at this and smiled up at him. The ex-bassist took the mask from him and moved to a clear section of the room, with the boy on his heels. He held it up with his finger just below it. “Should we say something ceremonial before we light ‘er up?” He asked the child.

Gregory hummed in thought, putting a hand to his chin, then smiled up at him again. “How about… Fuck this shit, I’m tired of it.”

Bonnie tipped his head back and laughed. “Oh my god, I couldn’t have put it any better than that!” He grinned as the tip of his finger flipped back and a small flame appeared. He held it to the cloth until it caught and started to burn, then dropped it to the concrete floor. 

Gregory watched the mask go up in flames, lighting the dim basement floor they were standing in a light wash of orange. He stood there until it was scorched, until the cloth was nothing more than ash. “Good riddance.”

“Do I detect smoke?!”

The two whipped around to see Freddy was sitting up on the floor and scanning the area, then looked over at the two of them with wide, concerned eyes. “Are you two alright? Is something burning?”

Bonnie stared at him for a long moment, then grinned wildly. “Oh my god, how intense are your dad instincts?” He walked towards him and waved a hand. “Relax! Everything’s fine.”

Freddy looked up at him, “But I detected smoke and booted back up to make sure everything was alright.”

“And everything is! Look, lemme get the others up for now. I promise I’ll explain everything, but there’s a couple things that need to happen first.” The rabbit walked over and placed his hands on either side of the singer’s face then bent at the hip to kiss him on the mouth. This startled Freddy into straightening, his ears wiggling a little as color glowed against his face. “Now go hug your kid.” Bonnie told him when he pulled away and moved over to Chica.

Freddy touched his mouth, momentarily distracted, but jumped when he suddenly had an armful of child. Gregory wrapped his arms around the bear’s neck and hugged him tight, burying himself in as close as he could get. The singer smiled widely and hugged him back firmly. “Gregory! You are unharmed!” He said happily. “Oh thank goodness. I was so worried about you. Not because I did not think you were capable of handling yourself, but because… well…”

Bonnie smirked at him over Chica’s shoulder. “Because you loooove him.” He sang teasingly. “Admit it. You’re soft for the kid.”

Freddy looked a little embarrassed when he was called out like that. “Um well… Yes, I suppose I am.” 

Gregory stepped back to look up at him in surprise. “You actually love me?” He asked.

The singer smiled, “Yes. It may sound strange, because you have only been here for one night, but honestly, it feels like so much longer than that.” He put his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “You are very special, Gregory. I mean that. I am designed to make children happy, but you are different. I want to make you happy, I want to take care of you. It is not just code in my system directing me what to do. I have developed this on my own, because of you.” He brightened again more, his ears wiggling a little. “So to see you safe brings me great joy!”

Gregory stared at him for a long moment as he processed what he had just said. He… he loved him. The boy couldn’t remember the last time someone said that to him, if anyone ever did. He had never met anyone who wanted to take care of him so much and make him smile. No one had hugged him so much before or ruffled his hair. No one had worked their way past the walls he had built around himself as protection like Freddy had. It was like those walls had never existed and he just slotted himself into an empty space inside him. How did he even do that? Gregory felt a tension rise in his shoulders again, a feeling that should have been familiar at this point, but didn’t bring any sadness or an emptiness this time. This tension was caused by happiness he didn’t know how to deal with. It rushed through every inch of his body, causing him to duck his head and rub at his eyes with both hands. He didn’t think he had any tears left after his breakdown before, but maybe these were different, since they were caused by joy instead of grief. 

Freddy’s eyes widened when the boy started to cry and tremble a little, but before he could ask if he was alright, he shuffled forward again and buried himself into his chest, sniffling. “You mean a lot to me, too.” Gregory said in a tiny and quiet voice. Freddy blinked in surprise, before it melted into something warm and fond as little hearts appeared in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around him and hugged him close as he hummed.

There was silence for a little while, save for Gregory’s sniffles and Bonnie tinkering, until Chica popped back up, looking startled. “Where am I?” She asked as she looked around. When she spotted Bonnie, she looked curious. “You guys are back already? Did I miss something?”

The rabbit patted her shoulder. “A bit, but that’s ok. I’ll explain everything to all of you in a bit.” He explained. Chica frowned a little, but nodded her agreement. As Bonnie went to tend to the others, she moved over to steal Gregory from Freddy to hug for herself and hand candy when she saw his puffy red eyes. The boy nibbled on a piece of chocolate as he watched Bonnie work, but found his eyes growing heavier. Before he even knew it, he had dozed off against Chica, his eventful night finally taking its toll.

The next thing the child knew, he was waking up on something soft and warm. He made a little face, then rubbed his eye as he yawned. “Hey, you’re awake.” Gregory sat up and blinked a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes then looked around. He was laying on a sofa in what looked like a cluttered office, used more for storage than anything else, with a blanket pooled in his lap. He noticed he wasn’t wearing his shoes anymore, and wondered where they went. Sitting in a chair nearby was Bonnie. He was holding a small screwdriver and fiddling with something inside his forearm.

“Where am I?” Gregory asked sleepily. 

“We’re in a storage room in the office area of Parts and Services.” Bonnie told him as he finished whatever he was doing and closed the panels on his arm again. He tucked the tool into a different compartment on his thigh, slotting it into a space beside a couple other little tools. Gregory wondered if he always had those or if they were new. “Did you sleep well?”

The boy nodded and looked around with more clarity. “How long was I asleep? Where are the others?”

“Mm… about six hours. It’s just about noon time right now. As far as the others, well I guess it depends on their schedules, but they’re currently making nice with guests.”

Gregory looked back at him with wide, surprised eyes. “The pizzaplex is open? They’re not gonna find me in here, are they?” He asked as he glanced towards the door cautiously.

Bonnie waved a hand. “Oh no, low chance of that. This is just a storage closet for documents that have already been digitized, so there’s no real need for anyone to come in here. Besides, I’ve been here the whole time to make sure no one came in.” 

The boy relaxed at this and sighed. “Good, good…”

Bonnie tilted his head as he studied him. “How are you feeling?”

“A little less dead on my feet.” Gregory told him with a little smile, then placed a hand on his stomach. “I’m starving though. The last thing I ate were some cheese fries and that was hours ago.”

The other chuckled. “I’ll message one of the others to bring you something to eat. I’m keeping a low profile for the moment until we can come up with a good excuse as to how I’m up and running again when no one wanted to fix me.”

Gregory nodded a little. “Do you have any idea what you’re gonna do now? Are you gonna start playing the bass in the band again?”

Bonnie made a little face and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, holding his chin in his hands. “I don’t know. Monty’s doing that now and it’d feel weird to just step in and take that from him. He wanted to be in the show so badly. I mean, I know he’d step down if I told him I wanted to play the bass again, but he’d miss it. I don’t blame him. I sure as hell do.” He smiled. “There’s nothing quite like standing on that stage with all those lights and people cheering you on in a massive crowd.” He chuckled and looked over at the boy. “You know, we used to play for smaller parties, at the very beginning. Fifteen people, thirty at the most. Now we’re playing for massive crowds of hundreds every night.” He paused and glanced away. “I mean, they are. It’s crazy how far everything has come.”

Gregory frowned at the longing in the rabbit’s voice and eyes as he talked about performing. “Well, why doesn’t Monty just play something else, so you can play the bass? That way, you can both be in the show. He could play the drums or something, that seems like a him thing.”

Bonnie’s ears perked at this and he looked back at him, eyes flickering green. “I mean, I guess that could work. It’d be up to him though.”

The child smiled. “You should ask him. Won’t know until you do.”

The rabbit chuckled. “I guess not. And what about you, hm? What are you going to do now that the nightmare is over?” He tilted his head, eyeing him curiously. “Are you going to leave the pizzaplex?”

Gregory’s smile disappeared at this, glancing away. He hadn’t even really thought about it. Logically yes, he should leave now that the doors were open, but he had no idea where he was going to go or what he would do. If he left, would he see the others again? Doubtful. He didn’t have any money to pay for entry and he was sure the watch he was given didn’t work outside the walls. Part of him wanted to leave the nightmare behind, walk away and never look back, but the other part of him ached at the thought of never seeing his friends again, never seeing Freddy again. He’d be alone out there, fending for himself once more. Yes, the past night was terrible and he knew he’d have nightmares for a while, but… the whole time, he had people with him who cared about him and helped him. He wouldn’t have that out there in the real world. He might have looked death in the eyes a few times tonight, but… he supposed he did that before he got here too.

“I… guess so.” He answered reluctantly. “I’m not sure where I’m going to go though.”

Bonnie hummed as he nodded a little, then stood to sit beside him on the sofa. He took one of his hands to squeeze. “Hey, don’t sweat it yet. You couldn’t leave right this second, even if you wanted to. The others would want to see you before then and would raise hell if they didn’t, especially Freddy.” He chuckled. “Honestly, I think he’d follow you if you did leave.”

Gregory looked up at him, jumping on the topic change. “No he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t leave you behind.”

The rabbit softened at his comment. “I don’t know. You’re his little superstar. It was hard enough to pry him away from you while you were sleeping this morning. I’m honestly surprised I haven’t seen him since, but he has sent me several messages throughout the morning asking how you were doing.” He then smiled and wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders to pull him into a sideways squeeze. “Besides, who says I wouldn’t follow him? I like adventure.”

The boy chuckled a little at this. “God, I have no idea how you guys would get away with it. You’re famous. If you walked down the street, people would stare and probably call the pizzaplex to come and get you.”

Bonnie laughed too. “Who knows? It would definitely be an interesting picture for sure.” He ruffled his hair, then put his hands in his lap. “So, what do you want to do now? If you want to leave this room, I can sneak you to the surface, but I won’t be able to go with you.”

The thought of being in a massive room crowded with strangers didn’t sound very appealing to Gregory at the moment, so he shook his head. “No, too many people right now.” He rubbed his stomach. “Honestly, I’d like something to eat, a bath, and to change into clean clothes.”

“Ah! Well I can help with two out of those three.” The rabbit told him as he stood then went digging into one of the many boxes stashed in this room. It took a moment to find the right box, but he turned to hold up a small black hoodie with a colorful design on the front and the words ‘rock on’ written in 80s style lettering. “Ta da!”

Gregory smiled. “Hey, two out of the three isn’t bad.”

They hung out in the storage room for most of the day. Gregory did sneak out to go to the bathroom a few times, but luckily this area of Parts and Services wasn’t very busy. Chica managed to make a quick trip down to pass off a large breakfast pizza she took from upstairs, and took a slice when Gregory offered after she stared at it longingly. She also gave him a hug and some candy, promising they would talk more after the complex closed for the night. She was too busy to stay very long.

After eating, the two passed the time with Bonnie teaching him a few things about animatronics as he made some adjustments to himself, like changing out what his fingers could do and heightening his hand-eye coordination. Gregory helped where he could, like if the rabbit couldn’t reach a particular part, but mainly watched with great interest. 

When the complex finally closed to the public and all the staff left, they made their way back up to the main floor and to the lobby, where their friends were waiting for them. Freddy lit up when he saw the boy and met them halfway to scoop him up into a hug.

“Hello, superstar!” He greeted him. Gregory smiled and hugged him back, just as excited to see him too. Freddy tucked his arms under his butt to hold him up then noticed his new sweatshirt. “You changed your shirt! I like it.”

Gregory looked down and fiddled with his new sweatshirt. “Thanks. My other shirt was dirty, so Bonnie gave me this one.”

Freddy nodded as he made his way back to the group. “We will get you some new clothes, and new shoes too. The ones you have now seem old and worn.”

The boy glanced down at his sneakers. “Yeah, I guess they are.” He couldn’t remember the last time he had new shoes. He then looked back up at the bear. “Do we even have time for that?” He glanced away again as that sinking feeling started to settle in his chest again. “Everything is fixed now, everyone is safe. That means I should probably go now.”

“Well it’s funny you mention that.” Chica piped up. Now that Gregory looked at her, she seemed like she was ready to burst with excitement. She laced her fingers together and glanced at the others. “We were talking before, when you were sleeping, and we came to a decision.”

Roxi crossed her arms and looked at the boy. “You don’t have anywhere to go, do you? If you left now, you’d just be living on the streets, all by yourself.” Gregory’s eyes widened at this, but he frowned and ducked his head while keeping eye contact. He didn’t answer her question, which in itself spoke enough.

Freddy shook his head. “We refuse to let that happen. It is not safe out there for a little boy with no one to take care of you, with no guaranteed shelter or food. What if it rains? Or when it snows in the winter time? You would get cold, and maybe even sick, and who would take care of you then?”

“Yeah!” Chica agreed. “So we all decided as a group that… Well we want you to stay here, with us!”

Gregory’s eyes widened at this. “Stay here?”

The guitarist nodded. “Yes! We already have an idea for where we could make a room for you, all your own, with a comfy bed and lots of cute little lights and fluffy pillows! And and, Bonnie said he can hack into the system and set you up a profile so the security bots will leave you alone at night and make you an all access pass for the entire megaplex, so you can go anywhere and do anything you want, and it grants you access to all the food courts and restaurants too, so you’ll never go hungry!” She reached out and took one of his hands to hold in both of hers. “We’ll order you some new clothes and sneakers and whatever you want. And all of us as a group will take care of you. You won’t have to worry about being alone anymore or whether or not you’ll be safe, because we’d make sure of all of that.”

Monty tilted his head and smiled. “What chya think? It’s gotta beat whatever plan ya had before, if ya had one at all.” 

The boy stared at them for a long moment, then looked up at Freddy. “Are… are you serious? You all want me to stay?” He asked in a small voice.

The singer nodded. “More than anything. You are important to us, Gregory. We do not wish to see you go, with no guarantee we would see you again. I do not think I could bear such a thing.”

Bonnie moved to lean against Chica and gave the kid a smile. “Come on. You don’t have anything to lose, only good things to gain. I know it might be weird to live in a place like this, it won’t be a traditional home, that’s for sure, and we are definitely not your standard guardians. It might take a bit of learning on both parts, and it might take some time to get everything situated, but I promise we’ll do everything we can to make it feel like a home for you.”

Gregory stared at him, then looked around at the rest of the group. They were all smiling at him, patiently and somewhat eagerly waiting for his answer. They wanted him to stay and live here at the pizzaplex with them. Bonnie was right, it definitely wasn’t a traditional house with the usual family, but even though the others weren’t made of flesh and bone like he was, that didn’t make them any less real and important to him. Plus, he had always heard people say that home was where you made it. Home… he never had one of those before, but the idea of having one here with Freddy and the others sent a happy little shrill through his body. Slowly, a small smile spread across his lips, then it grew bigger until he was laughing. “Ok!” He agreed, glancing around at them. “If you guys are sure you want me to stay, then I’ll stay.”

Freddy gasped in delight, stars appearing in his eyes. “Really? You’re staying?” The boy looked up at him and nodded. “I am so glad!” He gave him another hug, firmly squeezing him against his chest. Gregory hugged him back and laughed. “You will not regret this, I promise. We will take good care of you and you will be the happiest child in the world from this moment forward.” The boy didn’t say it out loud, but he already thought he was.

Chica let out a happy squeal and snatched the boy from Freddy’s arms to hug herself, spinning around a few times, causing Gregory to hold on to her tightly. “Yes yes yes! Oh I’m so glad!” She set him down on his feet and clapped her hands together. “We are going to make this the best home there ever was, just you watch!”

Roxi reached over to ruffle his hair, grinning. “Welcome to the crazy train, kid. Glad to have you aboard.”

Monty let out a loud laugh and scooped the boy up to set him on his shoulders. “Come on, little man. We gotta show ya the place we picked out for yer room. It’s a little rough, but with some elbow grease, we’ll get it lookin’ sharp in no time! What color ya want the walls? I personally think green’s a great color.”

Roxi crossed her arms and tossed him a look. “Of course you do. You’re green.”

“Exactly!”

Bonnie chuckled and patted Freddy on the shoulder. “Take our fearless leader with you guys. I’m gonna get started on the profile and such.” He tossed the boy a wink. “Glad you’re staying with us, kid.”

Gregory smiled brightly at him, “Me too.”

Chapter Text

After Chica had laid Gregory gently on the sofa and wiggled off his sneakers, she covered him with the blanket they had found, careful not to wake him. She smiled at how cute he looked, all curled up on his side, his face relaxed for the first time that night. She looked up at Freddy, who was also dotting over the boy, and watched him reach out to lightly brush a piece of his bangs out of his face with a claw. Chica hummed and touched his shoulder to get his attention, then nodded towards the door to the storage office. Freddy looked reluctant, glancing up at her then back at Gregory. It made the guitarist chuckle quietly. She grabbed his wrist and gave it a tug as she started towards the door. At first, Freddy didn’t move, then took one step, then another, never looking away from the child, until he finally exited the office and they closed the door behind him.

“He’ll be fine.” Chica finally told the singer, looking very amused.

Freddy’s ears rotated back, then forward again as he messed with his fingers a little. “I know, but what if he wakes up and he is scared because he does not know where he is?”

Bonnie grinned and elbowed him. “Babe relax, we’re all right here. And when the place opens, I’ll stay in the room with him. Can’t really walk around right now anyways. It’d be kind of weird to suddenly just appear out of nowhere.”

Roxi hummed as she crossed her arms. “Yeah, we’re gonna have to come up with a cover story for you to explain why you’re moving again.” The rabbit nodded in agreement.

Monty put a hand on Bonnie’s shoulder. “I think right now, we need ta focus on gettin’ a hold of the kid’s parents. We’re gonna be openin’ soon.” He said. “I got nothing on him, no profile or anything. Y’all having the same issue?”

Chica shook her head. “He doesn’t have one.”

The gator raised a brow at this. “What? That can’t be right. Every person enterin’ the mall gets a profile made for ‘em.”

Freddy frowned as he looked at him. “Gregory did not come in as a guest. I do not know how he got here, but when I awoke from my recharge cycle after last night’s show, I found him hiding in my stomach hatch. He said he was being chased.”

Bonnie wrinkled his nose. “Probably Vanny. Well, since the kid isn’t registered, we’ll just have to ask him for his parents’ information when he wakes up so the front desk can contact them.” Chica opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then shut it as she toyed with her fingers. She glanced up at Roxi, who was already looking at her and frowning. Bonnie raised a brow at this. “What? What’s with the looks?” He asked.

“Uh well, it’s gonna be a little difficult to get their contact information.” Chica started as she glanced at the others.

“Why?”

“Because…”

“Because the kid’s homeless.” Roxi told them, rather than beating around the bush.

A shock went through the three males standing in front of them, stunning them silent for a long moment. “He’s what?” Monty finally asked in a quiet tone, almost like a whisper. 

Bonnie pressed his hands together and lifted them to his mouth as he glanced down, dread slowly settling inside him. He remembered when he mentioned how Gregory must have been happy to leave and be reunited with his family at 6am, how the boy looked pained as he glanced away, and felt so freaking stupid. He sighed and rubbed his face slowly.

“He-He’s…” Freddy blinked in surprise, his eyes flashing between green and blue rapidly. He looked absolutely horrified. His mouth moved, but no other words came out. He then lifted his hands to cup around his snout as his eyes dropped to the floor, then glanced back at the door to the storage office. 

Chica frowned and nodded as she held her hands together in front of her. “Yeah. I had mentioned his parents coming to pick him up earlier tonight, but he said no one was coming for him, that he didn’t have a home to go back to. And from the way he talked about it, it seems like things have been that way for a while.”

“Fuck.” Bonnie swore as he ran his hands up his face and to the top of his head. He turned and slowly walked away from the group.

“Well shit.” Monty sighed as he crossed his arms. “That’s… I don’ even know what ta say. Tha’s awful.”

Chica nodded and dropped her gaze to the floor. “I know, it was very shocking and very sad. He’s such a sweet boy. It really breaks my heart to know he’s suffered like this, living with no one to take care of him and love him.”

“So… what do we do about this?” The gator asked, glancing around the others still standing there. Freddy was still in shock as he reran the entire night back through his head, but now with a different context. Chica rubbed her arm and glanced to the side. Roxi was frowning down at the ground, looking upset and frustrated. “Do we… I don’ know, call someone else?” Monty continued.

“Call who?” They turned to look at Bonnie, who was towards the end of the hall now, but turned to look at them. He had his eyes narrowed, not in a glare directed at anyone, but due to a mixture of unpleasant emotions rushing through him at once. He waved a hand out to his side. “The police? They’ll just take him and throw him into the system where he’ll be lost ‘til he hits eighteen.”

Monty held up his hands as his shoulders rose. “I-I don’t know! Look, I don’t want that ta happen either. I like the kid, but what else are we supposed ta do?”

“I will take care of him.”

The group looked up at Freddy in surprise. His eyes had finally settled back to blue, but there was a new intensity to them, a confidence and determination, very different from his softer self. He looked back at the others. “Gregory can stay here and I will take care of him.”

Roxi’s eyes widened. “What? You can’t be serious!”

The singer met her gaze. “I am very serious.” The intensity in which he spoke and the sureness in his face caused the wolf to back down just a little bit and frown.

Monty put a hand on Freddy’s shoulder as his eyebrows knitted together. “Buddy, I know ya like the kid, but that’s some serious shit yer talkin’ about. Yer talkin’ about raising a child.”

Freddy looked at him and brushed his hand off his shoulder. “I take care of kids every day, all of us do. I am very capable of raising this one.”

Roxi held up her hands. “Freddy, this ain’t like hosting a birthday party for four hours where you sing and serve cake. You’re talking about adopting and raising a child who’s gonna need your attention and guidance. When are you gonna have the time for that? The wait list to reserve you for a party is five months out! Gregory needs someone who can give him attention and love. You’ve got too much on your plate as it is, you don’t have that kind of time.”

“Then I’ll help him.” Bonnie spoke as he stepped back into the group. He rested his elbow on Freddy’s shoulder and tossed him a grin. “If there’s two of us, we can divide the responsibilities between us. For at least this next month, I won’t even be out on the floor. I can stay with him while he gets settled. I can even alter our schedules to put in some free blocks so one of us can be with him, if not both of us at the same time.” 

Freddy’s eyes widened a little at this, but then he grinned back and wrapped an arm around his waist. He looked back at the others. “None of you are going to change my mind. I refuse to watch Gregory walk out those doors and not be certain of his safety. If we were returning him to loving parents, that would be a different thing. I would miss him greatly, but I would be alright, knowing he was going to be well taken care of. That is not the case here. I see no better option than to do this ourselves. That way we know for certain he will be ok.” Roxi frowned, looking torn between logic and wanting to believe them. 

Chica hurried to press herself into Freddy’s other side, beaming up at him brightly. “I wanna help too!” She declared.

“Chica, you too?” Roxi asked.

The guitarist looked over at her and nodded. “Yes. It’s actually kinda funny, because I was thinking about having Gregory stay here at the pizzaplex after we learned his situation. When I was doing Bonnie’s paint touch ups, I thought… why not? Like Freddy said, we take care of kids all day long. And it’s not like Gregory is an infant. There's a lot of stuff he can do during the day if we’re busy, and we can all hang out together at night!” She looked up at her two long time friends. “We could get him a food pass too! That way whenever he’s hungry, he can go anywhere in the complex and get something to eat.”

Bonnie nodded. “I can set that up. I’ll make him a profile and give him access to everything - food, attractions, the shows, everything. He can have a run of the place. Anything he wants to do, he can do.”

“Perfect!”

“But where’s he gonna stay?” Monty asked. “We got room for him somewhere? Can’t just let him sleep in random closets. He’ll need a space of his own.”

Freddy looked at him. “There is a storage room off the back access to my green room. It has long since been abandoned and it is quite large. We can clear it out and clean it up for him.”

“And furniture? Where we gonna get that?”

“We order it, duh.” Bonnie replied as he waved a hand. “I do it all the time when I want new parts for me or something. You slap a Parts and Services Materials label on it and no one will think twice. We’ll just have to spread it out so we don’t raise alarm.”

Monty considered this. Roxi watched his eyes flicker, before he glanced at her and shrugged. “Sorry baby doll, but I gotta side with them. I don’ wanna see the kid go and somethin’ happen to him. If we got a solid plan that’s actually doable, then why shouldn’t we take care of him?” He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “The kid’s done so much for all of us tonight. We’d be fucked if it weren’t for him. It’s only right ta do something just as great for him in return.”

Roxi waved his hand away and crossed her arms. “I know! God, don’t make me out to be a bad guy here, man. I’m not saying I don’t want him around. He’s grown on me, ok? But all of you are fucking dreamers and someone’s gotta throw sense at you to see if it sticks. This ain’t like entertaining brats and then they go home at the end of the day. The kid’s gonna be here for a long time.”

Freddy untangled himself from his friends and stepped forward to take both of the wolf’s hands into his to hold up. “I appreciate you playing devil’s advocate for this situation, Roxi. You raise many good points that need to be thought through beforehand. You are correct, this is not a decision to be made lightly, but it is the only one I will accept. This is something I am 100% certain about. We can do this.”

Roxi made a face as he smiled at her, his eyes lighting up in determination and confidence. He spoke in a way that made it sound like all of this was already set in place and working perfectly, as though there was never a chance of failure. It was the leader in him coming through, promising everything was going to be alright and she didn’t have to worry about a thing. God, she hated that look.

“Alright, alright!” Roxi yanked her hands back and narrowed her eyes at him. “Enough with the eyes, man! God.” She crossed her arms again to keep him from taking her hands again. “If you’re that determined to make this work, fine. I guess I’ll help- don’t you dare hug me!” But it was too late. Freddy had already wrapped his arms around her to give her a squeeze, causing her to growl. Chica made an excited little sound and hurried over to join the hug, earning another protest from the keytarist. 

Bonnie crossed his arms and leaned into Monty’s shoulder as he watched them with a smile on his face. “It’ll be his choice though.” He spoke up, causing Freddy and Chica to finally let Roxi go, who quickly stepped out of hugging range. “We’ll present everything to him tonight, after the mall closes. We can’t force him to stay, so if he decides he has a better plan, we’ll have to respect that. I’m looking at you, Freddy.” The bear frowned at this and glanced away, but didn’t say anything in response.

Chica held up her fists in determination. “Then we’ll just have to make a really good case!”

This perked the singer right back up, causing him to smile and nod. “Agreed.”

Chapter Text

The group made their way to the back storage room behind Freddy’s green room and showed Gregory a door he had never noticed before, hidden behind some crates and shelves. Monty set the boy on his feet and opened the door so he could go inside and investigate. It had indeed seen better days. It looked like it had been a storage closet long forgotten, but it was large and once they cleared the extra stuff out of it, it would have plenty of room for everything he could need. Chica followed him in and waved her hands around as she told him about all the things they could get to decorate it, like strings of fairy lines and pictures and more pillows than he would know what to do with. It would take a lot of work to get it to the level she was thinking of, but they had all the time in the world now.

For themoment, they stole the sofa from the office in Parts and Services Gregory had used earlier to act as a bed, with promises of getting him something proper as soon as they could. Bonnie had guaranteed they could order him everything they needed and not raise suspicions from management, but they would need to spread it out over time, which was fine, because they had a lot of work to do cleaning the storage room out and painting the walls. Plus, progress was a little slow when the pizzaplex was open, since the others had appearances to keep up, but Bonnie helped the boy a lot in getting the space ready and livable. Freddy would go back to check on them every now and then and catch them messing around, covered in paint, or Gregory curled up fast asleep against his side while Bonnie tinkered with something. These moments were his favorite.

Proper furniture made its way in slowly. A bedframe and a mattress was first, followed by a dresser for all of Gregory’s new clothes, and a desk. The first night the boy slept in his new bed had to be the best he ever had. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept on a mattress, never mind a clean one that came with super soft pillows and a warm comforter. He had slept a full ten hours that day. They also got him a thick rug to cover the concrete floor, and with the addition of some fairy lights and posters, it really felt like a room of his own. 

Bonnie also made good on his word to get him into the system, so now when Gregory walked around at night, the security bots left him alone. He was given a card he could give to any bot or cashier in the building that granted him access to all the different attractions, including visiting the animatronics, and as much as he could eat at any of the restaurants. The boy decided he was going to work his way through all the menus and try every single thing, out of curiosity and because he could.

A few things changed within the megaplex as well. After their crazy, hellish night, the workers came back and discovered signs of things being altered and moved around. Suspicious that someone was sneaking in and around the complex after hours, they hired a night time security guard. What one human guard was going to do for a massive complex like this, Gregory didn’t know, but she seemed nice. Her name was Vanessa and this was her first time being a security guard. Of course Gregory couldn’t talk to her himself at the risk of blowing his cover of living in the pizzaplex, but what he had heard from the others was positive. She was nice and really seemed to take her job seriously, but she was apparently a little clumsy, having bumped into a display stand of toys on accident and knocked all of it onto the floor. She had been really embarrassed, but Freddy offered to help her clean it up. Gregory was worried at first with her wandering around. If she spotted him, the gig would be up and he’d have to leave, but thankfully the complex was massive and he never really saw her. If there was risk of him being spotted, he would just crawl into Freddy’s stomach hatch and wait until she left. Maybe one of these days, if it was decided she could be trusted, Gregory would introduce himself to her. Maybe they could be friends.

They also finally figured out a cover story to reintroduce Bonnie to the public. Gregory helped him to make a fake work report, ordering the animatronic to finally be fixed, then they put him in the Protective Cylinder to be found when the workers came in the next morning. There were a few questions about who had actually done the repairs, but amazingly, they just seemed to accept this. Gregory was still surprised this place could function the way it was, with no one doing any kind of back checking or reviewing, but hey, it worked in their favor for quite a few things and he honestly hoped it never changed. 

To reintroduce him, the company held a special event at the bowling alley, promising a surprise for their guests. This drew quite a bit of curiosity and the turnout was impressive. Gregory was glad he had arrived early to get a good spot in a booth in the ice cream parlor, right by the railing overlooking the bowling lanes. There were dramatic lights roaming around and an announcer setting up the room with anticipation, before Bonnie walked out onto the main floor. There were sounds of surprise that quickly changed into roars of applause and cheers. Gregory joined them and threw his hands up into the air. “Wooo! Bonnie!” He cried.

He watched the animatronic wave to people and gave a few polite little bows here and there with a huge smile on his face. He wouldn’t admit it, but Gregory could tell Bonnie had been nervous about the event and stepping back into the public eye. He had been gone for so long, what if the demand for him disappeared like he had? But the huge outpouring of excitement when he stepped out of the back room proved the people still loved him.

Grinning, Gregory fiddled with his fazwatch and brought it close to his mouth so it could pick him up through the chaos. “I told you, you had nothing to worry about. Just don’t let it go to your head.” He spoke once he had opened a communication line to the rabbit.

He watched as Bonnie’s ears perked in surprise before his eyes scanned the room. When he spotted the boy on the balcony, he grinned and held up his hands to form a heart that he put to his chest as stars appeared in his fuschia eyes. The people around him freaked, thinking the gesture was meant for all of them, but Gregory knew better. He felt those happy sparks rush through his body and he quickly returned the gesture.

With the guests receiving Bonnie’s return so well, questions of him being back in the Glamrock show came up too. It was one of the most popular questions he received when guests came up to talk to him and soon, social media dived into a debate of who was the better bass player, Monty or Bonnie, which the rabbit thought was amusing as hell. When he found a poll on Twitter about it, he couldn’t stop grinning. 

“Monty! You gotta look at this.” He said one night when they were gathered around the stage, hanging out. Bonnie rushed up the stairs, coming in hot, with no sign of slowing down.

Monty’s eyes widened and he held up his hands as he leaned farther back in his chair. “You better slow yer ass down!” He shouted, but the rabbit did no such thing. He turned and jumped to land in the gator’s lap in one smooth motion, but the momentum sent both of them tipping back. They slammed to the floor, causing Monty to swear, but Bonnie didn’t even look bothered, just shifted to lay half on top of him and half on the ground.

“Look what I found.” Bonnie continued and held open his hand, causing a holographic screen to flicker on, hovering a few inches above his palm.

Gregory hopped out of his own chair and hurried to join them, laying down on his back to rest his head on Monty’s chest. “No way, I didn’t know you could do that!” He exclaimed excitedly. 

The rabbit grinned and glanced over at him. “Oh, yeah it’s new. I just installed it a day or two ago.”

Gregory tipped his head back to look at him, holding up his wrist with his watch on it. “Can you do that to my watch?”

Bonnie made a face, “Duh, of course I can.”

“Yes!”

“‘Cuse me.” Monty interrupted, causing both to look up at him. He waved a hand. “Is there a reason why I’m layin’ on the floor and y’all’re using me as a pillow?”

“Oh! Right.” The rabbit turned his attention back to the holographic screen and pulled up the Twitter poll he found. “Check this out. Someone started a poll on Twitter about which of us is the better bass player.” He grinned and pointed to the screen. “Boom! I’m kicking your ass, man. 68 - 32!” He hit him in the chest a few times with his elbow. “You gotta step it up, young blood!” He then rolled over to prop his elbows on Monty’s chest and lace his fingers together to rest his chin on. He smirked as he kicked his feet back and forth. “You want some tips from an old pro, hm? I found my old bass downstairs, customized by yours truly to sing like an angel. I’ll let you borrow it, if you ask nicely.”

Monty just shrugged, not rising to the same level of play that Bonnie was at like Gregory had expected him to. “Eh, that’s ok. I was uh… actually plannin’ on tellin’ management that you should be put back in the band ta play bass again.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened as his ears perked. This news took the whole group by surprise. Apparently this information hadn’t been shared. “What?” Roxi spoke first from where she sat. “You’re joking, right?”

Monty shifted to sit up, causing Bonnie and Gregory to do the same. “Naw, I’m serious.” He looked at the rabbit. “Yer the bass player for the Glamrocks, and even well before this, not me. I was just standin’ in when you went missin’. And now that chyer back, you should take yer spot on stage too.”

Chica sat forward in her chair, her eyes wide. “But Monty, you love being in the band!”

“‘Course I do, but I don’ wanna be in it as a stand in. It ain’t my position to keep.”

Bonnie narrowed his eyes at him and leaned in closer. “You’re not saying all of this because you still feel bad about technically decommissioning me, which led to you taking my spot in the band, are you?”

Monty looked at him, glanced away, then back again. “No.”

The rabbit sighed and dropped his head into his hand. “My guy, we’ve been over this like a dozen times!” He looked back up at him. “You gotta let that go and move on. It happened months ago.”

“I know! But it still don’t feel right.”

Gregory turned a narrowed eyed look at Bonnie, pointing at him. “You never brought up what we talked about, did you?” 

Now it was Bonnie’s turn to glance away sheepishly. “Uhh… no. No I did not.”

“Seriously?!”

“Well how was I supposed to without sounding like a dick?!”

“Ugh!” Gregory tipped his head back and groaned. “Honestly, you’re so smart but so dumb. Get your shit together, man!” Roxi snickered at this while Freddy said his name in warning at the swear, but the boy just waved him off.

“Hey! I resent that!” The rabbit protested.

 Gregory looked at Monty. “How about this, ok? Why don’t you just play a different instrument like the drums or something? Pretty much every song ever has drums in it. That way, you can still be in the show like you want and Bonnie can take his place back as bass player. It’s clearly a win-win situation.”

Monty blinked in surprise and stared at him for a moment, before glancing away in thought, his eyes flashing. “That… that could work. I wouldn’t mind playin’ drums. Sounds fun, actually. But we’d have ta get management to go for it.”

Gregory smirked and dug out the phone he took from the lost and found he had claimed for himself. “Leave that to me.” Monty leaned over to watch his thumbs fly across the screen as he typed a message, then hit send. Bonnie perked when he received an internal notification and held open his palm to show the boy had just sent out an excited tweet about Monty looking cool playing the drums, and it was already catching traction.

The rabbit grinned and looked over at him. “You are so clever.” He held out his free hand for a high-five, which Gregory returned with a grin of his own.

“What just happened?” Freddy asked curiously.

“Gregory just rolled the ball down hill and it’s gaining speed quickly.” Bonnie explained as he looked back at the screen, watching the number of likes and retweets flick higher and higher. “I think we’ll be hearing from management about a change to the band line up here pretty soon.”

**

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...”

Gregory looked up as the lights in the atrium started to dim and the more dramatic, colorful lighting turned on to sweep across the audience and the stage. The room was packed, more so than any other night he had seen so far in the few months he’s been living at the pizzaplex, and for good reason too. He always liked the Glamrock shows, it always had such a fun energy, but he was looking forward to this one specifically. 

He gripped the bars of the metal barrier in front of him and bounced on the balls of his feet as music started to pick up and fog rolled off the stage. With his VIP pass, he was able to get right up to the front of the stage for every show, giving him one of the best views in the atrium. He had earplugs wiggled into his ears to protect them from the brunt of the loud speakers and wore one of many Glamrock band shirts he had been given or stole from the gift shop. They were comfy! Plus there was just something exciting about wearing a band shirt to their concert. Chica had also taken the time to paint his face for him, putting a blue star over one of his eyes. If he went to the show and wanted to go all out for the night, he’d ask her to do a lightning bolt, to match Freddy’s, but tonight was special, tonight was different.

“Fazbear Entertainment would like you to put your hands together for… The Glamrockers!” 

The music picked up as pairs of lights one by one rotated up into the air. Laser lights started to wave through the air, bouncing off the fog that had already been pumped out. Then the back curtains opened and one by one, each member of the band walked out and did their own little greeting. Chica bounced out with her usual energy and waved both hands towards the crowd before making her way over to her spot. Roxi was next and threw out a few rock-n-roll signs with her hands. Someone in the crowd whistled and Gregory snorted, knowing that person was lucky Roxi couldn’t walk off the stage and rip him a new one for cat calling her like that. Monty walked out after with the lack of a bass around his neck, and Gregory could make out confused comments from some of the people shouting near him. However, when the gator pulled out two drumsticks to spin around with his fingers, a surprised and excited cheer went through the crowd, the energy suddenly dialing up to eleven. 

It had been a very well kept secret as to why tonight was special. No one had mentioned Monty’s change of instrument anywhere online or in the pizzaplex, so everyone present right now were the first to learn of this adjustment. Gregory just knew the internet was going to explode after tonight.

Freddy stepped out next with his usual energy, skipping across the stage as he held his hands up in the air. He received the biggest welcome so far, being a fan favorite. Gregory loved to watch him when he was on stage, because it was almost like he was a completely different person. The shy and himbo-like tendencies disappeared to be replaced with confidence and boldness. He would grin, smirk, and dance with zero shame. He fed off the energy of the room and filled the stage with movement and life. Never would he stay in one place for long before moving to another, bouncing back and forth or trotting over to interact with the others while they played. Gregory knew they were all made to put on a good show, but he was convinced Freddy went the extra mile every time because he loved it so much.

The singer walked up and snatched the microphone resting in its stand to tip forward towards him. “Hello rockers!” He greeted, earning a roar of a greeting back. “Thank you so much for coming to see us perform again tonight! It means a lot to us.” He grinned as his blue eyes grew brighter. “We have something very special in store for you all tonight, and I hope you will be just as excited about it as I am.” He pulled the microphone out of the stand and skipped backwards towards the center of the stage. He held out a hand towards Monty, who was now sitting behind an impressive drum setup that matched his color scheme and vibe. “What do you all think of Monty’s new setup? Pretty nice, isn’t it?” The crowd cheered their agreement, causing Monty to hold up his drumsticks and grin. “I agree! I think he’s gonna kill it.” Freddy tossed the gator a grin and a wink before turning back to the audience. 

“There’s also someone I am just dying to introduce you to. I’m sure all of you know and love him already, though not as much as I do.” He tossed them a winning and charming smile, playing off the truth of his words into a joke. Gregory has since learned that letting the public or management know about the singer’s relationship status was a big no-no. Apparently, animatronics weren’t supposed to have the emotional capacity to fall in love without being told to. Of course that didn’t stop either of them from living on the edge and making hints and jokes about it where they could. 

“He hardly needs any introduction at all, but I’m proud to be the one who gets to announce his return to the stage after a long absence!” Freddy turned and held out a hand towards the back curtains. “Please help me welcome back the one, the only… Bonnie Bunny!”

Right on que, Bonnie walked out from backstage with his iconic red bass hanging around his neck by its strap. He held the neck of it in one hand and lifted his free hand to wave. Gregory was glad he was wearing the earplugs, because the crowd absolutely lost it when he stepped out. Cheers and whistles came from all directions. Gregory threw up his hands to wave as he let out his own cheer at the top of his lungs. Bonnie walked forward to take Freddy’s outstretched hand with a grin, stars dancing in his fuschia eyes. The bear grinned back then turned and held that hand up into the air, earning a renewed round of applause. The others clapped and cheered too, but Chica couldn’t contain her excitement. She hurried over to wiggle in between them and wrap her arms around them both to pull into a sideways hug. Bonnie laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist as he leaned into her, grinning at both of them. Freddy did the same and held the mic away from him as he leaned towards her to say something that had her beaming up at him with stars in her eyes. Chica leaned up to press a quick kiss to his cheek, then Bonnie’s, before she wiggled away to return to her spot.

The rabbit reached over to snag the microphone from Freddy to hold it to his mouth. “Alright, alright, you little mic hog.” He said, causing the bear to hold up his hands innocently. Bonnie turned his attention to the audience and smiled. “Thank you all so much for such a warm welcome. It feels amazing to be back on stage again, playing awesome music with my friends.” He turned to toss a grin and a wink at Monty. “This’ll be my first show with Monty and I’m pretty excited. You better keep up, big guy.” The gator returned his grin and pointed at him with one of his drumsticks. Bonnie looked forward again. “And I also wanna give a shout out thank you to a little boy named Gregory, who’s little tweet exploded and gave me the chance to be here, performing for you all again.” The rabbit’s eyes scanned the crowd until he found the boy standing at the front. He gave him a little wave as stars appeared in his eyes again. Gregory’s heart skipped a beat when he was mentioned, feeling his face warm a little, but he smiled and waved back. “Now that the sappy stuff is out of the way, do you all wanna hear some music?!” The crowd went wild. 

Bonnie held out the microphone to Freddy, but snatched it back when the bear got close and leaned forward to say something to him under the noise of the crowd. Gregory knew that playful look, the hooded eyes and raised eyebrow, the smirk spreading across his face. He could and could not believe the bassist was flirting on stage in front of hundreds of people, probably thousands, because there had to be a few people livestreaming the show in secret. Freddy was too high on the energy of the room and the stage to be flustered now. Instead, he leaned forward to pluck the mic from his grasp, though he held it away from him as he replied, even throwing in a wink. Bonnie gasped as his eyes lit up, looking positively delighted by this. He said something in reply as he tilted his head then moved over to his side of the stage, keeping eye contact until he got there. Freddy laughed then turned his attention back to the audience, stepping up to the microphone stand to set the device inside it. “Let’s rock!” He shouted into it as he threw a fist into the air.