Chapter Text
Ashe sat in the living room. She looked at the ceiling. Jack's coming home from his mystery restaurant. He refuses to let her have any information. She couldn't help but look at the pictures on the walls even closer, truly taking in their appearances.
Jack had very short hair, the sides shaved off with curly brunette on the top. He had a bit of facial hair and glasses. He wore a light blue hoodie with orange fingerless gloves. He looked tired, with deep eye bags under his bright green eyes. He also had golden earrings on, and his face was spotted with freckles.
The man next to him on his left also had green eyes, but his hair was more dirty blonde and short in the back. An undercut. He also had glasses. Peter looked even more tired than Jack, but he also looked a bit older. He donned a light blue button up, the one Jack wore to work.
To Jack's right was Dee. She wore a light pink dress and had ginger hair in pigtails. She had a big smile on her face, with a bright red scarf on. She was missing her front teeth. She looked far younger than Jack and Peter, and far less tired than them.
Ashe couldn't help but wander around, looking for a pair of nail clippers in the drawers of the kitchen in the junk drawer. Suddenly, she found a piece of paper. She looked at it, the handwriting was unfamiliar. It was to 47_01, Peter. It was a paper explaining how to work around the factory. It was signed by 14_01, Harry. She set it back in the drawer.
She closed the drawer, looking at the picture of Peter and Caroline. Caroline had brunette hair, bright chocolate brown eyes, and a dull green sweater. She had an arm wrapped around Peter’s waist, pulling him close. They both looked happy.
The door opened behind her, “Hey, you’re here already.” Jack beamed, waving at her. He refuses to tell her any information about his restaurant he opened.
“We ready to go back?” she asked him.
“Yep!” Jack smiled, “We need to talk to Steven about his boyfriend anyways. Let’s go.”
Ashe pointed at the purple sweater Jack was wearing, it was oversized. “Where’d you get that?”
“Oh, Dave gave it to me when I was hiding from Davetrap.” Jack shrugged. She smirked at him, and he blushed, “Oh shush, you’re as bad as Steven and Dee.”
“Welcome back, Jack, hello Ashe!” Dee beamed at the sight of the duo.
Jack pulled the sweater off, revealing a white t-shirt, and handed it to Dave, “Good to see you.”
“Give me that.” Steven yanked his blazer out from Dave’s hand and put it back on, “Good to see you two, we’ve… We’ve got an update.”
“What’s up?” Ashe asked curiously.
“Peter’s on the next level.” Dee explained, and the duo’s posture shifted, “We want to go get him, but…”
“Something’s there with him.” Dave recalled, “Something purple.”
“Do you think it’s a trap?” Dee asked her brother.
“It is.” Jack nodded, “But we need to go there.”
“Steven, may I speak to you?” Ashe asked, and the phone head nodded, following her to somewhere private.
“May I help you?” Steven cocked his head to the side.
Ashe pulled her wallet out, handing him the picture Charles had given her of the two of them, “Your boyfriend stopped by asking if I could find you.”
Steven took the picture, his shoulders falling with his dial as he stared at the picture. ”He remembers me…?”
“Do you want a hug?” she looked at him.
He froze up, before silently nodding. She gently pulled him closer in a hug, gently patting his back. He pressed a button on the back of his head, and she heard him sobbing.
“I’ve fucked up so much.” he mumbled in his real voice.
“You’re not.” she sighed.
The two of them stayed silent for a little bit.
“I’ve done so many shitty things.” he mumbled in her ear. She knew he was talking about Peter.
“You regret all of it, right?” she asked, and he nodded, “That’s all that matters.” she looked at him, “Peter may not have forgiven you. You need to understand that so it hurts less.”
“I hate how you’re right…” Steven looked at the ground, “Why do you have to be right?”
“Listen, change doesn’t come immediately. You’ve done something irreversible, that’s undeniable.” he nodded in shame, “But that doesn’t mean you’re unforgivable. You didn’t want him to die.”
“I didn’t, that’s why I sent him to the factory.” Steven mumbled.
“Then you need to make sure he knows that.” she gently hugged him again, “Have you seen him since he became a phone head?”
He shook his head, “I was at Colorado my whole time as a phone guy.”
“Then this may be a bit overdue.” she noted, “It’ll be okay, we’re here for you.”
He hugged her tighter, “Thank you…”
“Please, you’re my friend, I want to help you.”
Steven let out a choked sob, before taking a deep breath, “If possible, tell my boyfriend I love him.”
“Will do.” she nodded, gently rubbing his back as he caught his breath, backing out of the hug slowly, “Are you gonna be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Thank you so much.” he nodded as he turned his faux voice back on, and the two of them reunited with the other three.
Dave was saying something in German to Jack. Seems like the siblings had no idea what he was saying. Dee saw Ashe, “Everything okay?”
“Yes.” Steven nodded, “All’s well.”
“Well, are we gonna go?” Jack asked.
“Mhm!” Dave gave a thumbs up.
“Well, make the portal!” Dee beamed.
“Portal?” Steven cocked his head to the side.
Suddenly, the familiar portal appeared in front of them all. “That one!” Dee pointed at it.
“THIS IS A VILE, WICKED HIVE OF SCUM AND VILLAINY.” Steven screamed in horror.
Jack laughed, “Well, ladies first.”
Dee and Ashe stared at each other, immediately resorting to rock paper scissors. They kept getting tied, so Dave just picked Jack up and jumped in. Steven timidly stepped inside as well. Dee and Ashe sighed and followed them.
Ashe wasn’t expecting to land on a carpet instead of tiling. She looked up.
“Why the hell are we in Jack’s house?” she looked at the orange haired man.
“You house looks even cooler from the inside, sportsy!” Dave beamed, looking around.
Jack looked at the familiar family photo above the couch. Or, it would be, but the three figures were replaced with the way they looked nowadays. “That shouldn’t look like that.”
“Can’t say it’s more accurate now.” Dee shrugged, standing up.
“Been a while since I’ve seen this place.” Steven stood up, “Not much has changed.”
“You’ve been here?” Jack seemed a bit shocked.
“Well, I was pretty good friends with Peter before he died.” he explained, “When his wife was out at work, he’d invite me over and we’d just hang out together.” Steven chuckled at the memory.
“Dude that sounds like you were banging my brother.” Jack stared at the phone head.
“I wasn’t!” Steven protested.
“The only sex talk I want to hear is from Sportsy above me, now come on!” Dave casually beamed, and Jack stared at him, completely flabbergasted.
“What!?” Jack gawked, face turning redder than Steven’s head.
“Dave!” Ashe pointed to Dee, who’s posture was slumped in pure confusion, “Not in front of the kid!”
“I haven’t been a kid in 40 years.” Dee shrugged.
“You get her point, Dee.” Jack covered his face as the five of them walked out the room. They stepped upstairs, the door at the end of the familiar hall was open. One of the pictures of Dee had changed. She was still alive, but now she was posing with a purple dog. Ashe recognized the dog a little bit.
“Which room is yours, Sportsy?” Dave looked at the shorter man.
“That one.” Jack pointed at the middle room on the right.
“Hey, old sport, what’s long, hard, and smells like Foxy’s left testicle?”
Everyone went dead silent.
“Dave, I swear…” Jack rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
“The sock under your bed!” Dave smirked.
“Dave if you don’t shut the fuck up I’ll make sure your mouth is too full to speak.” Jack deadpanned as he walked over to the open door. Dave’s face went red as his jaw dropped, “Just like that, already a pro.”
Dave’s face went bright red, “Well, you wanted sex talk from him.” The phone laughed as he followed Jack through the door with Ashe and Dee, leaving he black haired man hornswoggled.
They stepped into a room that had a few tables and posters. Ashe looked at the posters, they were of a man with pale skin, cheeks bright pink matching his long, pink hair. His blue eyes practically stared into her soul. Steven walked over to the poster and ripped it off the wall. “Thanks.” Jack nodded.
“I’m not staring at him, sorry.” Steven shook his head, stomping on the poster on the ground as they continued walking.
“Seems like reality doesn’t quite know what it wants to be.” Dave’s voice came from behind them. “Someone needs to iron the wrinkles out of the space time continuum.”
“Dave, spell continuum.” Ashe looked at the black haired man.
“C-U-“
Jack made an error noise, “Wrong.” He suddenly walked into a table, knocking the air out of him. He looked up, there was a picture of a bright yellow bear with a golden bow and top hat. It was running.
“Oh, the bear itself!” Dave beamed, before looking at Ashe, “That’s Fredbear.”
“That’s the thing that is keeping me alive.” Jack elaborated, “That bear deity I mentioned that bit Dave.”
“I see.” Ashe remembered him mentioning that when she first met him.
“Steven, what emotion does this photo invoke in you?” Dave looked at the phone.
“Fear.” Steven mumbled.
“Why?” Jack seemed genuinely confused.
“Because the BEAR is in MOTION.” Steven pointed out as he walked away. The others followed him.
“God, that fox had a good…” Jack randomly said out loud. They looked at what he was looking at. It was some sort of picture of Foxy with lingerie on.
Dave’s jaw dropped, Dee went silent, and Ashe sighed. “...Pffft-” Steven stifled a laugh.
“What!?” Jack raised his hands defensively.
“Really, Sportsy?” Dave cocked his head to the side.
“Oh come on Dave, we all know you’ve had sex with Foxy at least once.” Jack pointed accusingly at the man in purple.
“Yeah, well, Dave’s a well known degenerate.” Ashe shook her head.
“It’s just shocking when it’s you.” Dee snickered.
“I swear, you better not hold me up to this.” Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose as he quickly rushed away. The others snickered as they followed, eventually calming down from the humor that ensued.
They stepped into a room. It resembled an area of Jack’s house. Ashe stared at the only figure not in their group. He wore a light blue, untucked button up, with black formal slacks and black shoes. The most notable thing, however, was the bright red phone as a head, brighter than Steven’s phone.
“Peter!” Dee gasped at the sight of the man. He jumped slightly, spinning around.
“Dee? Jack?” the lighter phone sounded a bit shocked. Ashe took note of Steven cowering behind her. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re here to save you.” Jack waved at his brother.
“You idiot, that’s exactly what he wants.” Peter gripped his phone head in stress, “Why the heck would you come!? This was a trap, and I was the bait!”
“I knew from the start that it was a set-up.” Jack shook his head.
“Also, what the heck is Dave doing here?” he pointed at the black haired man, who just waved politely at him, “And who is she?” he pointed at the blondie.
“Dave’s helping us.” Dee explained, “He’s different, that may come as a shock.”
“This is Ashe, she’s my friend.” Jack looked at the woman, “Ashe, this is Peter.”
“So, you’re the Peter that Jack’s said so much about?” Ashe waved politely, “Pleasure to meet you.”
“It sucks that we had to meet this way, but it’s nice to meet you too.” Peter nodded, waving back.
“How are you here?” Dee asked.
“Well, you know how after Henry-”
“Who the fuck hasn’t Henry fucked over!?” Dave shouted, gripping his hair in annoyance.
“Ashe.” Dee responded.
“Uh uh, Henry came up with the phone guys, she lost her grandfather.” Jack shook his head.
“Yeah, he’s a bit of an a- hole.” Peter shrugged.
“Wait, who is the ‘he’ that led us here?” Dave asked suddenly. A valid question.
“Oh come on.” Jack sighed, before standing up straight, “Come on out! Show yourself!”
Nothing happened.
“Stop being a coward for once and come the fuck out!” Jack shouted into nothingness.
Suddenly, a familiar purple dog appeared. It had a golden tophat and tie. It was the dog that appeared in the restaurant that bit Ashe. It’s also the dog from the photo with Dee. It said… something. No one could understand it.
“I knew you couldn’t stay away.” Jack said to it.
The dog responded in the same gibberish.
“What accent is that!? Speak English, you mutt!” Dave shouted suddenly, “The language we speak in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
“Very well.” the dog suddenly spoke, his voice echoey and corrupted. Ashe felt a shiver of guilt shoot down her spine as soon as the dog spoke.
Guilt.
“This is weird…” Dee mumbled to Ashe.
“What is this thing anyways?” Dave asked.
“Some sort of shadow dog.” Steven mumbled in response, trying to keep his presence hidden still.
“That’s what I am now, but I wasn’t always this way.”
The dog stared at all of them, “At least one of you knows my name.”
“You have a name?” Peter sounded a bit startled.
“Yes! Now say-“
“Blackjack.” Jack cut the dog off, “Your name is Blackjack.”
“So you do still remember.” Blackjack looked at Jack. “I even went to Ashe’s restaurant to get her attention, but she never confronted you.”
“Jack wasn’t there,” Ashe shook her head, “You just wanted to bite me-“
“Stay out of this.” Jack firmly commanded. That surely shut Ashe up. “Of course I remember you, you’re my soul. The part of me that abandoned me when I died.” Jack clenched his fists, “The part of me that is purely filled with guilt.”
“Oh, like a stray dog?” Steven connected, “That makes sense.”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you back there, Steven.” Blackjack snapped at the phone. Steven winced, but slowly came out. Ashe noticed Peter’s posture shift when he saw his old boss, “All of you in some way or another has been hurt by Henry.” Blackjack looked at the door that they all finally noticed, “Henry is locked behind that door. I’m keeping him trapped for all of eternity.”
“Like hell you are.” Jack crossed his arms, “The whole reason I came here was to kill that pink son of a bitch, and I’m not going to let some dog hung up on the past make Henry stronger.”
“He’s not stro-“
“If we leave him there, he’ll grow more spiteful.” Dee interjected, “He wants to keep living, and you’re giving him that!”
“The whole point of his whole Joy of Creation thing was to experiment with eternal life.” Steven finally stepped out of the shadows, “And you’re giving him eternal life.”
“You fools don’t get me.” Blackjack shook his head.
“Oh no. YOU don’t understand US.” Ashe crossed her arms, “I still don’t fully understand all of this, but Henry’s hurt so many people, he will find a way out.”
“Ashe is correct.” Dave nodded, “You don’t quite understand Henry. He loves spite, it makes him more powerful.” Dave clenched his fists, “I used to look up to him like a father, but even I want him done. He’s hurt so many people, myself included.”
“They’re all right, y’know.” Jack smirked at his soul, “We need to kill Henry. Please, work with us, Blackjack.”
The dog went silent.
“You really know how to pull my heartstrings, you lifeless zombie.” Blackjack groaned.
“Well, you’re me, you mutt.” Jack kneeled on the ground. Blackjack approached him, and the orange haired man picked the dog up, giving it a slight hug.
“Fine, I’ll work with you.” Blackjack rested his head against Jack’s chest.
“Thank you.” Jack nodded, “But we can’t kill him yet.” Jack handed the dog to Dee, “I have some unfinished business in the real world.”
“Well, don’t be away for too long!” Dave gave a thumbs up.
“Tie those loose ends real tight!” Dee waved at her brother.
“It was good seeing you again.” Peter approached and hugged his brother. Jack hugged him back.
“You too.” he nodded, looking at Ashe, “We’ve gotta go now.”
“Well, bye.” Steven nodded.
Jack disappeared, but right as Ashe was about to follow him, she was cut off.
CRACK!
She stared at the source of the cracking sound. Dave quickly ran and grabbed Peter, who looked pissed. She looked at Steven, who was on the ground with a giant crack in his phone.
“I’m tired of this!” Peter shouted, “You think you can just come back after making me a monster?”
“Well, I-“
“I don’t want to hear it.” Peter pushed Dave off, “I’m leaving. Goodbye, Mr. Cawthon.” And with that, the lighter phone left.
All of them immediately rushed to help Steven up. He was gripping the area where the crack was. Peter must have punched him.
“Forgot how short tempered he was.” Dee would have grimaced.
“I’m so sorry, mate.” Dave was able to grimace.
Ashe hugged Steven, “Are you okay?”
Steven stayed still, “I need some time alone. You should get going, Ashe.”
“I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay.” She gently rubbed at the cracks on his head.
“We’ll make sure he’s okay.” Blackjack told the woman. Dee handed the dog to Steven, who gently petted the fur slowly.
“And we’ll try and help them make up.” Dave added.
“Please do.” Ashe gave Steven one last hug, “It’ll be okay.”
“Thanks for being optimistic, at least.” Steven sounded like he was about to cry, “You should go, don’t want to worry Jack.”
Ashe backed up, “Please stay safe, all of you.”