#help wanted and security breach are dreams in this too i just have to figure out how they work

[and-stir-the-stars]

dream theory au sister location out here implying that Evan thinks it's normal for siblings to hurt each other. mike hurts evan, so in Evan's mind, ofc Liz would hurt Mike when they see each other again

[paingoes]

Crash Out

Nimrod I

see attached graphic here :)

(Content: royal whumpee, whumper turned whumpee, immortal whumper, blood, stabbing, a gun, death?, drugs, paranoia)

The whole planet was an experiment. They really weren’t supposed to be there. It was ecologically irresponsible. Her curiosity was too piqued to just drive by it, though. The conservancy didn’t have the budget to secure the entire perimeter; it was too easy to get inside. 

The climate was held in permanent stasis. The whole environment was in permanent stasis. The displaced grass quickly replaced itself. The daisies sprung up again wherever they were plucked. The energy that went into maintaining the project was extravagant. By her own estimate, Lorelai guessed it wouldn’t last another year before shutting down. Then the rock would be barren again. The thought helped her to justify the breach; nothing like it would ever exist again.

The ship was tucked safely beneath the treeline, obscured from any drones. They were halfway in between it and the hot springs — deathly heat, the kind that’d melt all your skin off if you ever dipped into its waters. She’d skirted the edge of it nonetheless. Her dress was damp at the edges. The sky was still bright. 

She was taking notes in the field journal, the same one she’d saved from her school days. She wished she could send the revised version back to her advisor, but that would raise more questions than it was worth. She was content saving it for her own personal record. She glanced up at Paris, who was visibly disinterested in the experiment. He yanked out the grass and the flowers restlessly, watching as they were regrown each time. He ripped out one dandelion over and over again, tying all of its clones into a chain. He had the start of a crown in his lap.

“Who taught you how to do that?” Lorelai asked, her voice heavy with suspicion. No other girls, yeah, totally.

Paris looked up guiltily. “…My mom?”

She shrugged and looked back out to the horizon. Four legged and horned creatures with legs taller than her entire body walked about the tall grass. Slow-moving. Easy. She wondered if the regenerative effect would work the same on the animals. She readjusted the shotgun on her back, hearing it thud against the soil.

“Is it weird that I want to go hunting? My dad offered all the time when I was little, but I always said no. I should’ve.”

“What, you have a taste for it now?” Paris asked.

He was joking, but he’d been dangerously close to the truth. She thought of death a lot — death and violence. All her childhood, she had dreamed of the things she did not see. By now, that gap had been closed with no abstraction. She was on the other side of it – and she wanted to be good. She wanted to see that she still had control of it, to make sure she could roll it around in her fingers and see it without flinching. Without crying afterwards. 

Not that she herself was violent. Never sadistic. Two bullets straight through the heart. She could not have been more efficient. She kept thinking about CTRL.

“Little bit.” She smiled and adjusted her hat to cast a shadow over her face. 

“I don’t know how to close it.” Paris looked down at the long chain of flowers in his hand. 

“Just knot it?” She took it from him, trying to knot the stems together. They were weirdly slippery. 

“Fuck,” she said.

His laugh cut off mid-breath. He had straightened up so abruptly that made her flinch, his expression turning deathly serious. His eyes were set on the forest, each line of his body drawn in sharp tension. She looked over. A figure was emerging slowly from among the rows of trees.

“Warden?” She raised an eyebrow. They’d been surprisingly good at not running in with the law, all things considered. You don’t break the law while breaking the law, as the old adage goes. Even a minor trespassing charge would be major trouble just as soon as the cops realized who they were dealing with. They’d have to flee. 

Paris didn’t even hear her. His hand slowly withdrew the sword from its sheath. Her eyes widened at the escalation. But when she looked back to the figure, she realized why.

Two long braids, two leather gloves, pacing unbidden and unhurried. Lorelai recognized her from her gait more than anything else. The girl from the show – many, many shows back. The one who’d gotten her torso slashed through and the one who’d been walking around again straight after. The one who had waved goodbye at them so unselfconsciously, without any finality at all. The bounty hunter.

Mechanically, Lorelai slid the gun off her back. She aimed it square at Johanna’s heart.

“Do you want me to take the shot?” She asked Paris. He looked at her with his brow furrowed, no doubt remembering last time. It would not be like last time.

“I said I’d do it.”

It was almost hysterical how slow the threat was approaching. It had to be deliberate, Lorelai thought. Her way of drawing him out. And he did move out. Lorelai scooted back some, putting space between herself and the coming carnage.

“Hi-i-i.” The voice rose and fell strangely. Close enough to see the whites of her eyes, then to see them winking. She was unarmed again. What did she expect, really? 

It wasn’t immediate, to be fair. Johanna danced away from the first lunge, her boots treading surprisingly lightly against the soil. She did a needlessly showy back handspring, inverting the pursuit, drawing him in closer. Cartwheel — meaningless. Even from a distance, Lorelai saw Paris’s nose wrinkle in disgust at the frivolity of it all. He cleared the distance between them and stabbed her through the heart, just as gracefully as if it’d been a drill. 

Johanna fell like a play actor. The sword was briefly the only thing holding her up — and then it wasn’t. She crumbled into the grass without having landed a single hit.

The fall had not been very convincing, despite the grievousness of the injury spelling certain death. When he stepped closer to the body, she almost warned him to stay back, as though the dead hand would spring out and grab him like in a monster movie. He too wavered before he touched her. But when he felt at her wrist, he shook his head. Dead.

Lorelai felt it too. There was no pulse in her arm or in her throat, not even a faint one. Dead.

Johanna was still smiling when they turned her limp body over.

=======

Old Fort Kroll - stabbed through heart - seven days to reappear

Aloquois - multiple bullet wounds - four days to reappear. paris got lightly stabbed.

Mercollie - punched in face, not downed - two days to reappear. broke my nail.

Gilynigh - stabbed through heart and neck 

two weeks of absence

=======

Paris felt his hair stand on end only seconds before the blow came; she must have been moving very quickly to trip up his alarm like that. Not that he’d seen it. The first he saw of her, he was already on the ground, just glimpsing the worn leather of her boots. He rolled forward, pushing back with the hard side of his forearm when she tried to kick him back down. She was briefly off-balance –  not enough to fall completely, but it gave him enough space to stand. He could draw the sword again.

She was holding a chain.

He gave a short, choked laugh. The joke was lost on her. There wasn’t any time to explain it.

It was a common enough weapon, but unsophisticated enough that he’d never been taught to fight against it. The closest thing he’d fought was the net. In that case, he needed to have the advantage of proximity. His body desperately resisted this, having a deep instinctual urge to get far away from her. He suppressed it.

She dodged just the same way she had the first time, neatly dancing aside. She pushed him back with surprising torque, but she’d had to expose her arm to do it. The blade drew blood. She seemed excited by it. 

“Your H-i-i-i-ghness,” her breath was all sing-song. Her veins twitched right beneath the skin, squirming around like worms, “You always fight the same.”

A little frown, like she was bored of him. He was fucking exhausted of her.

The chain came down fast and hard over his weapon hand. The impact of steel on his knuckles alone would’ve made him lose his grip, even if she hadn’t yanked the chain back. His own fingers slipped out before they could be broken, but the shock of pain had made them useless. 

She was happy to let the sword clatter to the ground rather than keep it, so she still had one weapon instead of having an offhand. It was still unfavorable. Even if she was unarmed, it was still unfavorable. They hit with the same amount of force. Her injuries would heal before the bout had even ended; his wouldn’t. 

She must’ve thought he’d be easier to handle if he was on the ground, because that’s where she kept forcing him.

She was on top of him again, trying to pin him down by the shoulders. He guessed he should count himself lucky that she was only trying to subdue him, not actually hurt him, but she was quickly learning she could not do the one without the other. He thrashed around too much, ready to injure himself against the restraints if she was too slow to do it herself. It was a bloody business.

It was interrupted as one heel cracked straight into the side of Johanna’s head. He rolled out from under her, using the chain to garrote her. It was only partly successful; she’d managed to slip a few fingers in to protect her neck. Lorelai watched just a few feet away, blood on her shoes. She had the gun on her, but it was no use with their bodies intertwined so close. 

Johanna slammed the back of her skull into Paris’s face. He had to release her to avoid repeated impact. Enough distance was created. Lorelai pistol-whipped her.

Paris moved for the sword again. Johanna growled. Lorelai waved him back. He listened; his nerves were spent. Johanna somersaulted back onto her feet, pushing herself up.

“Who are you again?” She squinted at Lorelai, her arms held out with a gymnast’s posture. 

“Back up.” Lorelai leveled the gun. “Don’t follow us.”

“You look expensive!” Johanna replied.

Lorelai must have interpreted the hands up for surrender, which Paris never would have. She got into the ship without firing, but without ever losing her target. Johanna folded her arms, looking very annoyed as the ship pulled away.

Paris pressed the already bloodied handkerchief tight against his nose — not broken this time. Just painful. He felt the blood in his throat when he spoke.

“Don’t get involved,” he said.

Lorelai’s eyes shifted right, “If I didn’t get involved, you’d be dead ten times over.”

“No I wouldn’t,” he shook his head, then it made him dizzy, so he stopped, “She isn’t trying to kill me. There’s nothing stopping her with you, though. I don’t want you in the middle of it.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that.”

=======

Drea - hand cut off, not downed - three days to reappear

Epsilon-55 - shot in head - seven days to reappear

Baleen - false alarm - paris cut himself :(

Perseye - shot through chest - ten days to reappear. burnt my fingers.

Lutal - stabbed in heart and stomach - five days to reappear. not doing well.

======

Paris was falling apart. He was trying not to show it, but the anxiety revealed itself in each twitch of his fingers, each jump at sudden sounds, each flinch at sudden movements. His hands moved up to protect his chest whenever Lorelai so much as reached into the backseat too quickly. 

He had been paranoid before. It seemed impossible that he could get any worse. Apparently, that assessment was premature. The knot of tension was so tight in his body that Lorelai was sure he would drop dead of fear before anyone else ever got their turn with him. Maybe that would have been a mercy.

She supposed she could understand. She too was always waiting for the eruption, even if her body didn’t bear the marks of it. She only slept while he kept vigil. When she awoke, he still kept vigil. She guessed it had been days since he last slept.

Out on the motel balcony, she found him with the pills in his hand.

“Don’t take that,” she said tiredly.

“Fuuuuuuck you????” He’d already taken it. He looked at her crookedly, red-eyed. His neck was bleeding through the bandage, though he hadn’t noticed yet.

“You are too wound up to be taking meth pills. Your heart’s gonna stop.” She almost begged him. He did not need to be tweaking any harder than he already was. 

“It’s not meth.”

“Then what is it?” She hoped against hope it was some kind of downer, anything to cool him out some.

“I don’t know, but it sure as shit wasn’t meth,” he laughed.

A car alarm went off in the parking lot. He jumped so bad he knocked the side table over, breaking glass onto the balcony, spilling the cigarette ash. A thin cut appeared on his calf. He took a deep breath.

Paris freaked out. He said he’d earned it. Truth be told, she was surprised it had taken this long. She didn’t see the meltdown, but she could hear it through the open window. It amazed her just how long it could go on. How long he could sustain the yelling. How much he could find to break. The abruptness with which it stopped.

He came back in out of breath, ready to leave again. 

…………

tags:

@catnykit @snakebites-and-ink @vivulapom @scoundrelwithboba @whatwhump

@pumpkin-spice-whump @deluxewhump @fuckass1000 @fuckcapitalismasshole @defire

@micechomper @writereleaserepeat @aloafofbreadwithanxiety

[conspicuous-clown-car]

lemme ramble for a bit

so i have this story in my head of my self insert and the bs they go through while working at the pizzaplex for like 2 years as a night guard

and originally they were gonna die at the end of it before the events of security breach, smth about them finally getting what they wanted bc that’s one of the reasons they wanted to work there in the first place. but i thought that was way too sad, despite, yknow, it being a horror and if i was in their place id definitely be dead before then. plus there are some things worse than death in the fnaf universe. so i decided to veer away from angst for this story and go for a more thriller horror (maybe psychological) type thing yknow? makes it more fun

THEN i was like yo what if ghosts kids start haunting them to help them find their killer and there’s like 1 for each pizzaplex animatronic (excluding freddy and roxy bc they got gregory and cassie). and it could be super angsty bc 2 of the kids were inadvertently killed because of moon and one was killed by moon, and my s/i is super close with moon right? so it would be like a moral dilemma, bc they want to help the kids but they still want to be friends with moon, but they’re also horrified that he killed a kid. and my s/i would start dreaming and sleepwalking, forced by the ghost kids to relive their deaths to try and find who killed them. but then i started thinking about the timeline of that, and it would mean moon would’ve had the virus or whatever years before this story takes place, which isn’t what i wanted nor did it make sense. so after a while i was just like nahhhh, and it didn’t really mesh well with the story of security breach anyways, its more sci-fi than supernatural now, and including the ghost kids would just be too much crammed into self insert story i have. the kids designs im still gonna use tho lol

NOW after getting back into fnaf after like a few months of not really caring about the lore, i’ve been watching more theory videos and book summaries and stuff like that and it made me shift my whole view on security breach’s story

so i’ve decided that i wanna stick as close to canon lore as possible and make gregory and vanessa/vanny more present and important. i want to focus more on the issues with ai, and show the slow downfall and problems with depending solely on them. i also need to figure out why my self insert has plot armor bc anyone in their situation would’ve been fired or killed by now (i don’t have to stick that close to canon for this i guess). but im just gonna justify it as they’re a pushover who doesn’t ask any questions and just does what they’re told, which is pretty much what got the other employees fired or killed bc they did the opposite (they’re also a huge nerd about robots so they end up being good friends with all the animatronics which is a HUGE plot point in this story, friendship is the real magic love conquers all etc. etc.) don’t get me wrong, they are fully aware of how wrong things are in the pizzaplex and how some things vanessa has told them don’t add up, but they are a good little employee (they are a severe people pleaser) so they feign ignorance to it all.

my self insert being autistic and having adhd is also a big thing i wanna include, bc there’s some really specific shit about their autism that would affect how they survive and stuff. things like trauma responses, masking, unmasking, meltdowns, and shutdowns that will affect their relationships with the others and will domino affect over time and lead to them surviving. idk ive just been thinking a lot lately about social interactions and experiences i have that are negatively or positively impacted specifically because of my autism. choices choices

i also want to make sure that it’s clear how neglected all the animatronics are. not just the dca since it is intended to be a s/i x sun and moon story. but there’s a lot of issues the in game messages have talked about with the animatronics that seem to happen because no one is bothering to help them. they just put a bandaid on a situation but they don’t fix the root problem yknow. also, my s/i doesn’t think the animatronics are sentient at first, and i want that to be a big thing that gets explored several times throughout the story bc i love thinking about robot sentience.

at first i was gonna have monty sort of start to be nice to my s/i, and maybe they could be friends or even have a sibling type relationship (red hair lol) but then i was like nah, monty being an asshole is what makes his character interesting. plus his behavior is a nice contrast from the rest of the band. though i think it would be funny for some characters to think monty is my s/i’s favorite at first bc their hair is dyed red

i also want sun and moon to be as close to canon as possible. while i love love LOVE pretty much every dca x reader fic i ever read, i have a preference for canon depictions of sun and moon lol. no hate to fanon depictions of sun when i say this, but ive been lost in the sauce of fanon sun for too long, and i wanna make him passive aggressive, and sarcastic, and picky, and fussy!! but still an anxious wreck and a people pleaser perfectionist. i’ll admit im still struggling with this. it was kinda hard to get a gauge on his personality at first because until help wanted 2 we had only seen how he interacts with kids. and even though in universe that isn’t the real sun it’s the only indication we have of how he interacts with adults, so im taking it. moon is still gonna be mischievous, creepy as hell, and won’t talk much, but he’s not gonna be killin anyone (yet), he’s just gonna be kind of a stalker lol. also the dca and freddy have beef for some reason, it’s a personal head canon of mine but im adding it to this story hehe

lots of physical injuries, several concussions, a migraine so bad they loose the ability to communicate properly (smth i experience) will all happen to them, bc i am throwing them through the ringer. they will be stressed more often than not. get projected on idiot (i say that as if this isn’t my self insert and is literally me)

tbh this story would mostly be just a slice of life, shenanigan, character driven thing for most of it. but then little things brought up in the past will become important to the plot later on.

like how copyright music can’t be played in front of any of the animatronics or else they will freak out :]

that’s all lol

[theluckywizard]

In the Shattering of Things, Ch. 74: Departures

Chapter Summary: With an alliance with Celene secured, Rose departs Halamshiral, hoping to turn her attention toward the Wardens and operations across southern Orlais. Unfortunately, there's a minor hiccup.

Fic Summary: Lady Rose Trevelyan's idle, aristocratic life blinks out in a haze of irrelevance when the breach destroys the Conclave. She may be soft and coddled when she joins the Inquisition, but there's a fierceness inside her she's yet to fully recognize. Armed with only a few relevant skills and the mark that makes her a legend, she is thrust onto a path delivering hope where it’s long been scorched away and finds comfort in the grumpy, handsome stick in the mud charged with her protection and training. As she stumbles her way across southern Thedas, she begins to realize she's tangled at the center of machinations she barely understands, and she's not alone in that. Enter Hawke.

Excerpt under the cut 👇

The remnants of frothing waves wash past my feet, hollowing out the space beneath them until they sink comfortably into the sand. It’s a colorless day, banks of fog mostly swallowing the Waking Sea, the gloom of the sky and the murk of the sea mingling in a sort of lost horizon. The shore to my left is littered with limp clumps of black seaweed and white slivers of bleached shells in want of collection. A tall sandy escarpment, half-devoured by the whims of the sea, runs the length, hiding my home up above. It’s all gray, but it holds me like sunshine.

The pull of the sand around my feet firms up, each step sinking deeper. 

And then it doesn’t let go.

I laugh at first and then begin to dig, but the sand just fills back in. My feet won’t budge. A flutter of panic becomes beating wings inside my chest. I’m trapped. Caught. Just like the avalanche.

And then the water creeps higher. Foam streams past my shins and then sloshes at my knees as I continue to claw the sand away from my feet. The water deepens until I have to draw a breath before plunging beneath the surface to fruitlessly scrape away the tenacious sediment. When I surface again he’s there.

A mist dulled red fox staring at me with golden eyes safe above the tide line. I’d dug myself free the last time he’d been so close. I draw another breath and plunge in, shuddering sobs tugging at my lungs as I try to free myself. Standing again, the waves splashing up at my waist, I wipe saltwater from my face and blink. Solas stands on the shore beside Jaime. Staring.

When I look down I’m bleeding from two open stab wounds, brilliant red wicking in the sodden weave of my dove gray dress. But I was healed .

“Solas!” I choke, but I already know that he won’t help me.

He only leans on his staff watching with grave interest, his gray unblinking eyes fixed to mine. The fox sits, settling in for this show.

The water inundates the bleeding wounds but the salt doesn’t sting. It’s a dream . Merciful Maker. It’s only a dream.

Down the beach the air ripples, a figure made of light pierces the landscape, the world wobbling all around them and then leaves a trail as everything sloshes back together behind them. They approach, walking straight for me into the grasping sand, cutting into the lacey surface of the sea, their radiance far too intense to make out much of anything. 

But I know them.

I just do.

My fear settles even as the water laps at my chin when they stand before me, the sea and air shimmering and warping around the edges of them. They’re in this dream but they’re not of it. And as a wave crests past my mouth, they reach out and brush my forehead with a gentle finger. And I don’t hear it but I feel it, the same way I’ve felt it before.

Rose. Wake up.

DAFF Tag List @warpedlegacy | @rakshadow | @rosella-writes | @effelants | @bluewren |

@breninarthur | @ar-lath-ma-cully | @dreadfutures | @plisuu | @ir0n-angel |

@inquisimer | @crackinglamb | @nirikeehan | @oxygenforthewicked | @about2dance |

@exalted-dawn-drabbles | @blarrghe | @delicatefade | @leggywillow

[angelofrainfrogs]

Break My Mind: Ch. 3

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Gregory must be dreaming this time. No sooner had he come to accept this strange reality where everyone is alive and well, than he’s sent back through time and space to the weekend he got trapped in the Pizzaplex. He’s supposed to help his family get on track for a better future, yet… didn’t he already succeed in his own timeline? Confused but relieved, Gregory drops back into his new life in the mega mall. In fact, who should be waiting for him but Michael, clad in a security uniform and searching for his missing family! Only—the night guard seems a bit more withered than when Gregory last saw him. Not to mention that cold look in his silver eyes…

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Gregory sighed in relief at the sight of the familiar bear. Much to Charlie's dismay, Gregory unhooked his hand from hers and shouted: “Freddy! You're okay!”

Tonight, Gregory made far too many assumptions. He figured Michael would be the same, his jokes and manner of speaking to be just as he remembered—but even when proven wrong, he couldn’t believe that his dear Freddy could’ve suffered the same twisted moral fate.

Charlie quickly snatched Gregory's hand and start backing up. Simultaneously, William forced his way to the front and shielded the pair of them with his plush chassis.

“Don't talk to him, Gregory. Just another proxy for Michael,” he warned, wondering if the kid even had time to meet the more ruthless of the twisted Glamrocks.

At William's words, Gregory's heart sunk. It couldn't be true—Freddy was good. That glitch he had at the show should’ve saved him from any virus!

But… had any of that even happened in this world?

A deep-set frown invaded Gregory's expression as he looked to Freddy; there couldn't be any faults to him. It was impossible for him to lose two family members in the same timeline...

The ever-so-slight dip in Freddy's expressive eyebrows was the only sign of his annoyance. Otherwise he kept his face passive, that pre-programmed smile still curving up his jaw as he peered around William's shoulder.

“I do not appreciate your insinuation, Bonnie,” the bear remarked, hissing the name with a bit more venom than he'd ever used before.

Even though his stunning AI might not be able to handle the concept of possessed animatronics and ghosts without having one in his own head, he knew this old model of his companion was wrong. He hadn't needed Michael to tell him that—the look in Bonnie's eyes was full of nothing but sadness and anger, and Freddy knew the real bunny would never look at him like that.

“I am no proxy, rest assured,” Freddy continued, taking a step towards Gregory. When Henry stepped in his path as well, he let out a sigh. “Please move along—my child safety protocol dictates that I must take Gregory out of harms' way, and if you bar me from doing so I will have no choice but to consider you a threat.”

“Greg, do not listen to him,” Henry insisted, sparing a glance over his shoulder to the confused kid. “Remember what we told you? The Glamrocks are very advanced—their AI can be ruthless when put to the wrong use—”

“Again with the backhanded insults?” There was a hint of something in Freddy's tone—if not Michael's soul itself, then his programmed influence, surely.

And in this universe, that was a very bad thing.  

“No worries Fredbear!” William said, backing his friends towards the door. “As you can see, us and security guard Charlie are on the case! We’re already taking him back to the security room...”

William attempted to soothe in the southern twang he always put on for Bonnie, regardless if the accent change may mess with Freddy's friendly interaction sensors. Not that it mattered at this point; he clearly wanted Gregory, Michael’s influence washing over him with all its tainting toxicity.

“In fact, we were just leaving to take him there!” God everyone, William thought stubbornly, take the hint and get the fuck out of here!

Charlie only had one arm to work with; there was no way she would let go of Gregory's without this one being ripped clear off her body.

“I think I'll take the long way 'round!” Charlie said, the Puppet and Gregory both clinging for dear life as she twisted on her heel and sped off down the corridor they came from. William blocked the hallway, knowing he was no match for a pissed off Glamrock alone.

Freddy's eyes narrowed. Instead of chasing them however, he watched them go with a cold glare that he soon turned on William and Henry.

“You are going to regret that decision,” he remarked, his tone icily flat. “If you think a pair of original models stand a chance against us, you are severely mistaken.”

“Freddy, we're not trying to compete with you,” Henry insisted, knowing it was a lost cause to reason with the peeved bear. At least he could buy Charlie and Greg some time. “We all have the same goal, right? To keep Gregory safe?”

“Yes, and the way to do so is to take him to Officer Michael,” the Glamrock bear stressed.

Henry blinked at him, a lightbulb of understanding going off in his head. So they weren't just blindly rampaging—at least, Freddy wasn't. He was still working off his original programming, though it'd been warped by Michael's influence when he sent out that damn virus. At least it didn't seem like Freddy wanted to outright kill Gregory...

“We'll take him there,” Henry reassured, starting to back off now to join the others. He hated the thought of leaving them alone, although he was hesitant to turn his back on Freddy as well. “Just... trust us.”

The rockstar's head tilted at an odd angle before he let out a staticky sort of laugh. “Trust you?! I am not a human—I do not deal with things like trust. I will find that boy again, and when I do he is coming under my protection immediately.”

“Try it, Fredbear. See what happens.” Henry's voice was cold now, all false pretenses of kindness out the window. Grasping William's arm, he tugged him backwards towards the doorway.

Still, the newest Freddy didn't move, simply staring after them with that wide-eyed look of cleverly-composed mania.

William watched the tense exchange. It was obvious Michael put Freddy there to guard the supplies. Now they would have to scavenge tools and parts elsewhere.

Finishing their tense conversation with a very concerned Freddy, the two diner animatronics bounced from Rockstar Row. Painfully, William dragged himself just behind Henry, fearful of the bear following them. Michael certainly knew where they were now, and William's only hope was that both Charlie and Puppet were smart enough to run and find some cover.

***

The sound of light footfalls echoed, clicking hard against the tiles of the Pizzaplex. They dashed, unsure of where to go or where to hide.

“Gregory! It's, like, going to be totally okay!” called an airy valley girl's accent. There were more in pursuit of him; it was as if they all communicated silently to one another, letting one know where their target was heading. “We need to take you to Officer Mike! Like—please stop running from us!”

Charlie's brain raced, knowing she would only be harassed until Gregory let go of her hand. After all, they couldn't stop her when she was already escorting him. That was until Gregory snapped and stopped in his tracks.

“I'm hiding inside the hamper,” he said, but Charlie tried to pull him along.

“Gregory no! We have to keep running—” she attempted, but the shadow of Chica loomed just around the corner. In a hushed tone she looked to Puppet for help as Gregory dislodged his hand and crawled beneath costumes and rags in one of the utility room hallways.

The others had a good head start, but with Gregory stalling at the sound of the bird Henry and William soon caught up. Throwing out an arm to stop the rabbit, Henry froze at the sight of Chica coming around the bend. She barely paid them any mind, simply casting her gaze over the pair with a slightly disgusted look before moving on.

“We need to get away from here,” Henry murmured, catching sight of Puppet raised on Charlie's shoulders and looking around. “Ugh, but we need supplies, too... shit.”

So much for carefully-laid plans... Closing his eyes for just a moment to gather himself, Henry tried to come up with something else. “Okay, I think... one of us needs to be a distraction. If Chica and Freddy are here, it won't be long 'till the others show up.”

“Gregory won’t come out of the hamper!” Charlie would say, pointing then as Chica’s shadow grew closer. She would completely distance herself and the Puppet from the hamper as Chica approached.

The chicken thought Freddy said the kid was with the other security guard, but here they all were with no child in tow.

“Oh my goodness, what happened now?!” Chica asked without any shred of patience left. Since her last ‘tune up,’ she’d been acting differently. Some might call it giving others attitude or sass; she called it being assertive. “Like, really? You can’t hold onto ONE child’s hand?” She sighed, attempting to radio Mike to update him. “Mikey… They lost him. Again.”

William looked to Henry, then back to the bird with a nervous demeanor. If Michael showed up and searched the hamper, he would be the only one capable of defending their little group. So, acting fast, William gave Chica a stilted wave.

“He headed back towards the West Arcade faster than a speedin’ twister!” he attempted to convince, watching as Chica eyed the older model with high scrutiny. “Fredbear an’ I are far too slow now to keep up. You and your friends could still get him!”

“Yeah, we saw them heading towards the main atrium—you can make it, I’m sure, Chica!” Henry corroborated, putting on his best affect of the goofy Fredbear voice that matched this model. Encourage his friends, that’s what Freddy was supposed to do…

Chica considered this for a moment, trying to determine if they were lying… but she didn’t seem as in tune to their deception as her Glamrock bear counterpart. She turned slowly, making her way for the door and picking up speed as she summoned the others towards the West Arcade. Henry followed her to the exit, peering around a corner to make sure she wasn’t lingering behind. With no sign of Freddy either, he meandered over to the hamper and tapped it with a paw.

“Gregory!” he hissed, leaning close so the kid could hear his voice without him having to shout. “Coast is clear; come on, I’ll carry you for a sec.”

Gregory popped up, throwing rags and clothes everywhere to scramble back up into Henry’s waiting arms. With his good arm slung around Henry’s shoulder, he huffed.

“I’m sorry—I got tired of running,” he excused, jostled slightly as the group broke back into a run.

“Great. There goes our plan. I doubt Freddy's going to leave his post unless…” William stopped briefly in his jogging pace, the gears turning in his skull. “If we offer a distraction… We could lure him, away. Then, maybe we could lock him out as soon as we’re past him.”

There really wasn’t time for debate. Whether they chose to go with this half-baked scheme or not, they had to decide now.

There was the perfect opportunity to sneak back towards Rockstar Row as a split in the hallways came back up. A handy directional sign pointing them back towards the “fun” would guide them in a big circle essentially. William folded his knuckles into his opposing palm, cracking the joints much to Gregory's confusion. “Leave the distractions to me, everyone.”

It was all a matter of knowing your strengths, and William knew exactly how to get beneath people's skin. Luring Fazbear would be a cake walk. Sighing heavily, Charlie shook her head and exchanged a look with Puppet. She was going to be stuck with Will making sure he didn't kill himself while distracting Freddy, wasn't she?

“Guess that means we've all on watch duty. If things go south, we can meet up at El Chips—Gregory should probably eat something after our heist. Right, little man?” Charlie asked, steering the group in the right direction as she looked to her friend.

“Please. I need two everything burritos, like, yesterday,” mentioned the hungry kid. He could wait, of course; he’d gotten very good over the years at ignoring the hollow growling in his stomach. But after being on a pretty steady diet for the past week, the pain tolerance had ebbed away slowly.  

“Kiddo, when we get out of this you can eat burritos until you pop,” Henry promised, lifting the hand not supporting Gregory's weight to ruffle his hair.

Regardless of them being undeniably bonded because of such dire circumstances, Henry really liked this kid. He was spunky and somehow still retained a relatively positive outlook, even when the situation was dire. In a way, Gregory reminded him of Charlie before everything went wrong...

“Okay, this is where we split,” Henry announced when the time came. He reached out to give Charlie a hug—and Puppet, still clinging to her back—then gripped William's shoulder. “Good luck.”

This plan was going to work. It simply had to. William hardly cared that a Fredbear's mask was now permanently apart of Henry's face; the way he held Gregory reminded him so much of the good old times. Before the grave mistakes they both made, regrets they both shared... More so on William's end. He saw how they all could be happy again, even as their window of opportunity grew smaller and smaller with each passing day trapped inside the Pizzaplex.

“No need for luck, Hen; I've got it handled,” William replied, grasping Henry’s forearm in solidarity, a potentially empty promise depending on whether or not Freddy could catch up to him. Looking to Gregory—the kid who inexplicably resembled his Evan—he bent down a little to see him eye to eye. His floppy ears lilted to the side as William cocked his head.

“You've grown up so much...” The hint of something serious he was trying to communicate was lost as he smiled. “For now, you're the man of the group. Keep Henry in line, will you?”

At this, Gregory would crack a smile. Perhaps in another life, he and William could’ve been good friends... His chest hurt thinking about it this way. Giving Will a lazy salute, he assured: “Don't worry, I've got this on lock.”

With a final nod of determination, the group parted ways. Henry tried not to linger on how much William's words sounded like a goodbye.

But... it's not like they could really die, after all. In the worst scenario, he'd be incapacitated and unable to help take down his crazed son. Although, Henry doubted he'd let that happen—William had quite a few things to say to Michael before he left this plane of existence, after all. The old Brit always came back.

***

As Henry and Gregory snuck around to lay in wait for the distraction, Glamrock Freddy was currently pacing in the same spot he'd been at before. The bear was... well, annoyed wasn't quite the right word—he couldn't have that sort of emotion. But he was certainly feeling something about being put on guard duty.

His other bandmates were, to put it lightly, rather incompetent compared to himself. Bonnie had been on par with the leader, but ever since his decommissioning Freddy had been left to deal with the scrap. Chica was alright most of the time, though she tended to get distracted easily, but wrangling Monty was a chore—and Roxy drove him up a wall sometimes with her whining about being “the best.”

These thoughts ran on a loop through Freddy's mechanized mind as he swept the floor, no longer kicking up dust due to his frequent movement. Somehow, he had to get Michael to switch him out with someone... He doubted the others would be able to catch that kid without his help, and the longer they waited the angrier the night guard became.

Then, a familiar, amiable voice fluttered through the air. William had come to the threshold of Rockstar Row, big fuzzy ears peeking right around the corner.

“Freddy? Oh Freddy-Eddy!” he called. William could always slip right back into character. Maybe a part of him dearly missed performing with Henry; if he closed his eyes, this was almost like those little comedy skits they would do between shows for the kids. “Fredbear, where’d you go and run off to?”

He finally poked his head around the corner, finding Freddy alone in the hall. He could get Freddy to move; all it would take was some careful convincing. He stepped into the room, the slightly off-color fur on Bonnie's body shifting as he placed his hands upon his hips.

“Mike said that you were on guard all by your lonesome,” he remarked sympathetically, implying that he may have spoken to Michael in a non-confrontational way. Freddy locked onto the rabbit with a confused stare, stopping in his tracks and turning to face him.

“I thought you and Michael were not on speaking terms,” he said, his tone measured and smooth as always. “He told us not to pay you any mind, nor my old model.”

Blinking rapidly, Freddy searched his glitching database for the conversation he'd had with Michael about this scenario. Unfortunately, the virus took a big toll on the Glamrocks' internal systems, and some of his recorded memory banks were inaccessible. Still, Freddy couldn't deny that this rabbit was suspicious. Why in the world they'd chosen to allow such decrepit suits into his shinning Pizzaplex, he had no idea...

“...I do not recall anything that indicates that I cannot speak to you,” Freddy eventually added with a curious tilt of his head. “Although as you stated, I am performing a task that does not lend well to distractions. Please, tell me what you wish to say and move on so I can focus.”  

Smiles. William was all smiles as he posed against the busted glass of a display cabinet, trying to look casual despite the pained way that he moved.

“You're a real diligent man, Fredbear. You remind me a lot of my Freddy. Kind...” He strolled in further, moving slow as he didn't want to come off as threatening. “Dependable. Always looking out for the kids. That's why I'm here!”

It was a sad fact that Michael had learned such manipulation skills from watching his father. Another regret of William’s was being such a bad person throughout his eldest’s formative years. Looking at Freddy, he knew that tonight he was on the right track to making it better.

“I saw Mikey; he an' I got to talking. Y'see, my central processor needed a lil’ updating. Apparently I just didn't have enough CPU to understand what Mikey needed from me! I'm gonna help you out now, as per his orders,” he explained. “Right now he's looking for Gregory in the West Arcade. So he's asked me and Chica personally for complete radio silence. Poor kid's startled by the static!”

Though this Freddy's AI was certainly the most advanced in the business, he was still just a machine at his core. He didn't have the gut, human instinct to tell when someone was lying. Sure, he could determine it based on facial and body cues, though this was only useful on humans and animatronics like himself. These older models, with their static faces and limited movement... they were much harder to read.

Bonnie's explanation did make sense—perhaps the reason he and old Fredbear had been so difficult was because they simply hadn't been updated with the proper software.

“The West Arcade?” he echoed, glancing past the rabbit's shoulder as if he could see the attraction from here. “Ah, Michael should have contacted me before going dark...” Freddy let out a little simulated huff, his gaze soon drifting back to Bonnie. “Does he require my assistance finding Gregory? I believe the child has taken a liking to me, so I may be able to lure him out easier than the others...”

Maybe this was his chance to actually do something instead of standing around. This sort of job was much better for the likes of Monty than Freddy Fazbear.

William had to hold in the urge to laugh out loud. Oh, this was a cakewalk. Besides, it was better than coming in here aggressively and risk being brutalized by the larger, stronger machine. What did the American Southerners say? You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar...

“Say, that's a great idea Fredbear!” Bonnie encouraged, hoping the animatronic would process this as his own idea rather than William's. “Well, I'd be chuffed to watch Rockstar Row in your absence. After all, I'm no spring chicken anymore; I couldn't catch moss if it was growing on my knees.”

Which... William honestly thought there might be moss growing on him these days. But that was beside the point. Bonnie looked up to Freddy with an innocent look—one that mirrored the kind and thoughtful expressions of his later Glamrock model.  

Despite his older look, this was still Bonnie, and Freddy always valued his best friend’s opinions. His face lighting up in a bright grin reminiscent of the expression Gregory would see on his own non-infected bear, Freddy started for the door.

“Thank you, Bonnie; I would greatly appreciate it!” he told the rabbit, patting him on the shoulder as he passed. His brow furrowed at the squishy texture of the suit—it was a far cry from his sleek, metallic model. Still, it wasn't Bon's fault he was made like this. Times had been very different, back then—those suits were even designed to hold people, Freddy recalled, doubling as costumes when the owners decided they were better actors than the animatronics themselves. No wonder they were so odd.

“I will be sure to update Michael on the situation when I find him,” the bear called over his shoulder, then broke into a jog as he crossed the threshold of the door.

Nearby, Henry was clutching Gregory in a tight grip and watching slack-jawed at how flawlessly William's plan had worked. He remained in the shadows for now, waiting for either Will or Charlie's signal that the coast was totally clear before emerging.

Charlie was just as flabbergasted as her father. Now that Freddy was gone, they could work to fix the broken connection in her arm and patch up Gregory! Peeking out from behind one of the oversized potted planters, Charlie checked for a clear coast and came out.

“Dad? Gregory, come on!” she encouraged, hightailing it to the elevator behind Roxy's room. 

William nonchalantly leaned with his arms poised behind his head, looking pleased with himself that he had tricked Freddy so easily. It wouldn't be long before the irony set in: this wasn't the first time he'd manipulated his friend—or in this case, a rather diluted extension of his former best friend's personality. He opened an eye when Charlie asked in astonishment:

“How did you get him to leave?”

To this, William thought for a single moment, his content smile fading away into as hard of a frown as Bonnie could muster. “The way I always get people to do what I want. Come, Charlotte; we need to get you fixed up...”

He beckoned, working on helping her gather all the supplies necessary to fix herself as they made it to the treasure trove of Parts & Service. Gregory made sure to lock the magnetically sealing doors that led to Rockstar Row. He'd hate to think of someone disturbing them while they took this much needed rest.

“Henry?” Gregory asked, looking up to his newest guardian. “What... exactly are we going to do with Mike when we finally get the upper hand?”

Surely, even after everything they weren't going to kill him… But then again, if Michael hurt people the same as William had in another lifetime, would he not deserve similar punishment? Gregory had been wracking his brain with this puzzle for some time now.  

It was the same game board, just with shuffled pieces. Like Gregory’s own reality, there was one ruthless killer Afton and everyone else trying to take him down. To the Gregory this world belonged to, this was the only reality he’d know. Though he might balk at the thought of killing someone, after learning all that Michael had done—all the pain and torment he’d put his friends, family, and innocents through—he would accept that perhaps he did deserve such a fate.

…Unfortunately, this was not the correct Gregory Henry was speaking with. This was the immortal counterpart brought in to help push things along so Michael could be defeated and his alternate self could lead a semblance of a happy life after this traumatic weekend. This Gregory got so used to Michael as a caring brother—even a dad in another lifetime—he was having a hell of a time replacing him with the William in his mind.

Henry might not know these details, but he could tell Gregory still had a soft spot for Michael for some inexplicable reason. Therefore, he chose his answer carefully.

“We’re going to take him down, whatever that entails. We can’t let him hurt anyone else, Greg—and we’ve tried to stop him so many times before, but failed. That’s why we’re all here right now… but we’re tired of fighting. Once we get the upper hand, we’re going to end him.”

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[tenebraevesper]

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story/Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie Review) (Masterlist)

A tetralogy which encompasses the following stories: Five Nights at Freddy's: Masterpiece, Five Nights at Freddy's: Salvaged, Five Nights at Freddy's: Nothing Remains & Five Nights at Freddy's: Obsolete. Taking place after the events of Pizzeria Simulator, it features William Afton/Springtrap's return and confrontation with his past decisions, the people involved in the tragedy he caused and his influence over the events of Help Wanted and Security Breach.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Masterpiece

Who are we, Henry? Do you understand what we have created? What I have created? There are so many questions that need to be answered, old friend. However, unlike you, I am not afraid of the consequences of my choices.

Night 0: Masterpiece

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Salvaged

Even after escaping Hell, William is still haunted by his past. Back as Springtrap, he's forced to confront his past self, accepting either atonement or annihilation. To his surprise, he gains unexpected assistance from Sam, who is investigating the rumors surrounding the new Fazbear location…

Chapters

Night 0: Undone

Night 1: Replay Your Nightmare

Night 2: Salvaged

Night 3: Visit The Past

Night 4: You’re Not Alone

Night 5: Our Little Horror Story

Night 6: It's Never Satisfied

Night 7: Obsolete

Night 8: Carry On

Night 9: Salvage Dreams

Night 10: Can't Get Away

Night 11: Disconnected

Night 12: Just An Attraction

Night 13: It's Time To Die

Night 14: All Is Hell

Night 15: Under Lock And Key

Night 16: My Curse

Night 17: Not Here All Night

Night 18: Lockdown

Night 19: Is It Something Out There?

Night 20: Left Behind

Night 21: I Can't Fix You

Night 22: Machinations

Night 23: Not The End

Night 24: The Big Bad Wolf

Night 25: Circus Of The Dead

Night 26: Bad Dream

Night 27: I'm Still Alive

Night 28: Dream Your Dream

Night 29: Spring-Loaded Trap

Night 30: The Hunt

Night 31: The Story's Not Over Yet

Night 32: Freddy's Horror Show

Night 33: It's Been So Long

Night 34: Madness

Night 35: Mechanical Instinct

Night 36: The Monsters I've Created

Five Nights at Freddy's: Nothing Remains

William Afton, as Springtrap, is enjoying his life as Sam's best friend and father figure. However, as they explore the recently opened Freddy's location, not only are the ghost of his past preventing him from finding redemption, but are also seeking complete annihilation of his mind and soul, until nothing has remained of him…

Night 0: Searching For The End

Night 1: We Will Always Be Together

Night 2: Welcome To Freddy's

Night 3: After Show

Night 4: Haunting My Dreams

Night 5: Remains

Night 6: Instruments Of Nightmares

Night 7: They're Calling My Name

Night 8: Awaiting My Fate

Night 9: After Hours

Night 10: Like It Or Not

Night 11: The Demon Inside Me

Night 12: Just Sleep, Just Dream

Night 13: My Deeds Sent Me Too Far

Night 14: Dead But Not Buried

Night 15: The Clock Ticks

Night 16: Beware Of Us

Night 17: All Inside My Head

Night 18: Follow Me

Night 19: Make Your Move

Night 20: Unfixable

Night 21: Defects

Night 22: Showtime

Night 23: They Rise

Night 24: Living In A Memory

Night 25: Outcast

Night 26: Synthetic Agony

Night 27: An Ill Omen

Night 28: We Know The Ending

Night 29: Connection Terminated

Night 30: Nothing Remains

Night 31: Shattered

Five Nights at Freddy's: Obsolete

This was his final performance and he knew that he wouldn't return. Still, the glitch he had created remained, forcing William Afton, alias Springtrap, to confront what he had left behind. Even Sam is troubled by his return, aware that, beside her, there is another person who decided to carry on his murderous legacy…

Night 0: The Final Bow

Night 1: Thanks For The Memories

Night 2: Darkest Desire

Night 3: We're Not Monsters

Night 4: Help Wanted

Night 5: Can You Hear Me?

Night 6: Picking Up The Pieces

Night 7: Under Construction

Night 8: Hallucinations

Night 9: Haunted Reality

Night 10: Into The Pit

Night 11: Stay The Course

Night 12: Such Sweet Sorrow

Night 13: The Show Has Just Begun

Night 14: The Game Continues

Night 15: Rewind The Memories

Night 16: Secrets That You Keep

Night 17: The Storyteller

Night 18: Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex

Night 19: The New Generation

Night 20: In Your Shadow

Night 21: Brought This On Yourself

Night 22: Five Nights at Freddy's: Restart

Night 23: The Talk Of The Town

Five Nights at Freddy's: Purple Glitch

William Afton has the perfect life, having a daughter, Sam, who takes interest in his creations, and working his dream job with his close friend Henry. Except, this is not the life he used to live. Not only was he a murderer, but he was also dead, his spirit residing inside the Springtrap suit. So, why was he seemingly given a second chance and why are the shadows beckoning to him?

Night 0: So Many Questions

Night 1: Family Business

Analyzer

Tales From The Pizzaplex Preview (Five Nights at Freddy's: Obsolete)

Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie Review)

Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie Review, Part 1)

Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie Review, Part 2)

Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie Review, Part 3)

[aquariius-rising]

Studio Sessions - Chapter 1

pairing: Musician!Deidara x Popstar!Reader

warnings: 18+ (minors dni), alcohol use, drug use, sexual content, explicit language, mention of weight loss/working out to lose weight

wc: 4k+

This is my very first fanfic since I was a teenager, I hope you enjoy <;3 

Deidara stormed into his record label, dressed in the same clothes from the night before and with a screaming hangover. He’d woken (at 1 PM) up to several news outlets reporting that his record label greenlit a collaboration between him and the hottest name in pop music right now, [y/n].

Deidara had several problems with the news, but the fact that he had no idea about the collaboration sent him over the edge. He knew his label wanted to change his image after his most recent EP didn’t chart, but this was too much. 

He passed the receptionist without sparing her more than a withering glare when she tried to ask him to swipe his ID card. The security guard almost stopped him but hesitated when he saw Deidara’s clenched fist. He knew Deidara was an artist, so he’d let the breach go this time. 

He slammed the glass door to his manager’s office open, startling everyone. 

“Itachi, tell me you’re fucking joking, yeah,” he said. Itachi Uchiha, ever the stoic, barely registered the blonde’s fury. 

“People have been loving cross-genre collaborations, Deidara,” he said simply. “Your album sales were among the worst across the entire label. We need to broaden your fanbase,”

“No,” Deidara seethed. His band had a cult following for their underground edge, so to collaborate with someone so mainstream would destroy his relationship with his most dedicated fans. 

So what if his last show had to be moved to a downtown bar because they only sold a fraction of tickets at the original venue? In Deidara’s opinion, he’d rather be an unknown than sell out. 

“I’m not collaborating with some goddamn corporate, brainless, incel’s wet dream–”

“I’d like to think I’m more of an e-boy wet dream myself,” you said, twirling a lock of your (h/c) hair. Deidara froze and turned to face you. “But that’s just my opinion,”

Gods. He hadn’t noticed you. Without your usual glam, you looked different. Good different. Though you were in a simple lounge outfit, the fabric clung to your body perfectly. His gaze briefly dropped to your cleavage before his gaze snapped back to yours. 

Of course, you’d seen everything, which somehow made him angrier. There was amusement in your eyes that made it clear that you thought the situation, and therefore Deidara, was a joke. 

At that moment, he knew you’d be a pain in his ass. 

“Anyway,” Itachi continued. Deidara tore his eyes from you to look back at his manager. “With [name] working on her second album, she’d be the perfect match for a collaboration,” 

Itachi watched the artist’s reaction to the news. He figured he’d be pissed because that was Deidara. He had a horrible temper and a habit of becoming destructive when angry. 

His anger and penchant for starting fires helped fuel his sound, so there was a tense acceptance of his horrible public image. 

Lately, his outbursts began to escalate. A journalist panned his work online? The next day, his car exploded mysteriously on his way to work. A concert venue canceled on the band at the last minute to book a comedian? The place burns down the night before the performance. It became a bigger problem than Itachi bargained for. 

Over the years, Itachi advocated for Deidara to the C-suite more than once. The man was an artist in the purest sense, and with refinement, he could become a household name. 

He’d get over the embarrassment of working with someone new because there wasn’t another option. 

Collaborating with you would place Deidara in front of millions of young fans. It was a brilliant marketing move and an easy win for you, Deidara, and Itachi. 

When Itachi first contacted your team, you were conflicted. Unbeknownst to anyone, you’d been a fan of Deidara for years. You knew his reputation from the dozens of tabloids featuring him and a rotating cast of models, actresses, and other singers who’d been unfortunate enough to think they could change him. 

He was known for being a heartbreaker and a menace, someone you’d never be foolish enough to bring home, not even for a night. 

So, why did your skin feel electric when he checked you out a few minutes ago? 

You continued to assess him silently. His ice-blue eyes were sharp with self-righteous anger. You swore you could see the faintest smudge of black liner on his lower eyelids. 

His long blonde hair, tousled from the abrupt start to his day, fell just below his collarbone. You almost wanted to touch it, to feel it between your fingers. 

The man was beautiful. Beautiful and off-limits. 

You cleared your throat, gaining everyone’s attention.

“I’m happy to work with Deidara if he’s agreeable,” you said, looking Deidara, then Itachi in the eyes. Itachi nodded, the faintest hint of a smile playing on his lips. 

“I’m so glad to hear that, y/n. I’ll contact your team later today with the next steps,” Itachi said. You bowed your head in acknowledgment before turning back to Deidara. You wondered what his next move would be, given that his display didn’t scare you. 

Deidara, outnumbered, flopped into an empty chair across from you. “Fine,” he huffed, scowling back at you. “I’m letting you know right now that I won’t make some shitty teenybopper anthem, yeah,” You laughed. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your manager rented studio time for you and Deidara a few days after your first meeting with Deidara in a pretty townhouse downtown. It wasn’t too far from your apartment, so you took advantage of the nice weather and walked. 

Itachi told you he’d be stopping by to check in but never gave you a time. So, here you were, alone - 15 minutes after you’d agreed to meet Deidara. 

The room was silent. You checked your phone for at least the 10th time, disappointed that there were no new notifications. 

Rather than wallow in resentment, you began to scroll Deidara’s Instagram. It was a collection of random moments with no intention, and you wondered if the record label even had access to his account. 

His posts ranged from videos with his tattoo artist to backstage pictures with his band. You zoomed in on a picture of him from about eight months ago. He was performing at a small venue. He held his mic stand above his head, his impressive shoulders on display. You zoomed in on his left arm to look at the tattoo. 

To your horror, a red heart floated in the center of the picture before fading away. You dropped your phone as though the mistake burned your fingertips. 

‘What the hell do I do?!’ 

You’d simply pretend nothing happened. You doubted Deidara even paid attention to his Instagram likes. 

‘No harm, no foul,” you thought to yourself as you began to write.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deidara’s bedroom was also quiet, besides the lewd sound of sucking. The starlet he’s been fucking on and off wanted to stop by, and he was more than happy to send a car to pick her up. 

They’d seen each other much more frequently after her latest movie was the subject of harsh criticism. It didn’t matter that the critics were correct. What did matter was how her pretty mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ as she struggled to take his length.

She struggled to keep his precum and her saliva from making a mess on her face. He continued to push her head down anyway, reveling in the feeling of her very talented tongue on the underside of his cock. Deidara didn’t care if he ruined her makeup. It wasn’t like he needed to preserve her reputation. 

Bucking his hips, he felt the tip of his cock touch the back of her throat. She gagged, tears beginning to well in the outer corners of her eyes. She looked so dumb, letting Deidara fuck her throat. 

She was kneeling between his legs, one hand pumping his shaft as she sucked him off. He noticed her rubbing her pussy in a vain attempt to make herself cum. Poor thing hadn’t even worn panties underneath her tiny black skirt. He knew she was desperate to be fucked.

“Such a bad girl, touching yourself while you suck me off like a little slut” he spat. She moaned in response, and the vibrations sent shivers down his spine. He continued to bully her mouth, forcing himself deeper into the tight cavern of her throat. 

When she released his length with an obscene pop to lick his balls, Deidara thought he just might die. His nostrils flared as he tried to control his breathing to no avail.

Somehow, his thoughts drifted from the woman in his bedroom to you. The way you seemed to be amused by him drove him insane. He thought of how you laughed at his (benign) threat and tensed.

His grip on her hair tightened as he felt pressure build at the base of his stomach. 

Before he could refocus, he felt himself cum all over the woman’s face and hair. He checked his clock. It was the time he was supposed to meet you. Oops.

“I have somewhere to be,” Deidara said to his companion, who began to protest, much to his annoyance. 

He ignored her complaints as he grabbed a towel from his bedside table, cleaned himself, and tossed it to her.  

“I can’t do this anymore, Deidara,” she whined. “You’ve ruined my hair!” Deidara rolled his eyes. Somehow, this woman was more dramatic in real life than onscreen. 

“You texted me, remember?” he asked, barely looking at her as he changed clothes. He grabbed his phone and checked his notifications. Nothing unusual.

 Nothing, except a new Instagram like from you. 

‘Interesting,’ he mused. 

Deidara hated social media for the most part. It was only good for picking a groupie to fuck when he was on tour or to contact his dealer. The only reason he even made an Instagram account was because Itachi forced him to. 

When he clicked on the notification, he was surprised to see which photo you liked. It was an older photo that would have required you to scroll for a while. 

‘Very interesting,’ he thought to himself. It seems that you were more curious than you let on this morning. 

“-Are you even fucking listening to me?” Deidara was brought back to reality by his guest, whose face was bright red. Her eyes were nearly bulging from yelling at him. She was on the verge of tears. Again. 

He grabbed his keys and jacket and opened the front door, motioning for her to leave.  

“Whatever, Sakura, I’ll pay for your Uber home, then we can call it even,”

“MY NAME IS INO, ASSHOLE,”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------

You were beginning to lose patience. It was an hour past your agreed-upon meeting time, and you were ready to call it a night. You considered calling Itachi to explain what happened when you heard a knock. 

You hesitantly opened the door to see Deidara leaning casually against the door frame. He looked more rested than this afternoon, relaxed even. He’d changed into a fitted white t-shirt and low-rise dark jeans. His bomber jacket, which had become somewhat of a signature look for him, was slung over his shoulder. He looked good. 

Unfortunately, you didn’t enjoy taking time out of your day to wait on someone who didn’t even have the decency to let you know he’d be late. 

“What took you so long? You’re over an hour late,” you asked. Deidara raised an eyebrow. He was always late to his sessions. It was his trademark. Frankly, he was irritated that you’d rather waste time arguing about this. 

“I’m always late. You can get over it or leave,” he replied, walking past you. You glared at the back of his head. You were hopeful that you’d be able to work together, but this was not getting off to a good start. 

 “I got started while I was waiting. You can look at what I’ve got,” you mumbled, motioning toward your workspace. Deidara picked up your notebook and read your writing silently, his face expressionless. 

“S’pretty good so far,” he said after a few minutes. You sighed in relief. 

“Pretty good for some fucking advertisement, un,” he chuckled, tossing the notebook aside. The nerve of this guy! You sat back down, shell-shocked at Deidara’s audacity. You took a deep breath to control the anger that was forming. 

“Well,” you said carefully. “What were you thinking?” 

‘Put the ball back in his court, make him feel special. Guys love that’ you thought. 

Deidara thought for a moment before he pulled what appeared to be a rolled cigarette and lighter from his pocket. He took a deep drag and exhaled toward you. 

‘Is that – ?!’ Drug use was an inevitable part of being in the music industry. While you weren’t one to judge, you didn’t partake in anything besides alcohol. 

You fanned the foul-smelling smoke from your face. Deidara chuckled at your discomfort and offered the joint to you. 

“D’you smoke, un?” he asked, pretending he didn’t see your horrified reaction. You shook your head. 

“I don’t, but thanks anyway,” you said, smiling weakly. “Did you have any ideas for our single?” you asked, trying to change the subject. Deidara took another hit.

“Nah, I prefer to let inspiration hit me, yeah,” he replied. His eyes looked far away. 

You didn’t want to ruin his vibe, but your patience had worn thin. If he had shown up on time, or at least let you know he was running late, you might be more amenable to his “creative process” 

You stood from the table. “I’m going to take a quick break,” you said curtly, grabbing your phone and jacket before walking outside. You didn’t wait to hear a reaction or response.

The sun had set, draping the city in a deep violet color. You loved how nighttime transformed everything about where you lived. The buildings twinkled, reflecting headlights and neon signs. The city slowed down as people were no longer rushing to get to and from work. 

Running your fingers through your hair, you pulled out your phone and called your manager, Sasuke Uchiha. 

“[y/n]? Is everything okay?” he asked. Sasuke had been the person to discover you. He’d been a great friend and a steady presence in your rapidly changing life. 

“No, Sasuke, everything is not okay,” you said, finally allowing your voice to break. “Deidara is the most arrogant and disrespectful asshole I’ve ever met. He came an hour late, without calling, and called my writing ‘advertisement music’! I don’t know if we can work together,” you said. Sasuke was silent for a minute before sighing. 

“Go home for the night. I’ll speak to Itachi,” he said. “Please don’t give up on this until we talk again, okay?” You took a steadying breath.

“Okay,” you affirmed. Sasuke has always maintained your best interest; if he wants you to try to stick it out, you could do that for him. 

You glanced back at the brownstone apartment, unsure for the first time in your career. This feature wasn’t necessary for you, but you wanted to work with an artist whose discography you admired. It would be a creative exercise, a challenge. It was so disappointing he couldn’t try to be cordial. 

You returned to your shared space with a meek smile. Deidara was leaning back in his chair, on his phone. He looked immune to the tension between you. 

“I think you’re right,” you said, packing your things. “I’m going to head home tonight. Maybe we can do some brainstorming on our own before we meet up again,” 

Deidara was a little taken aback. He hadn’t meant to upset you; his antipathy wasn’t toward you; no, it was toward his label for coming up with such a stupid idea in the first place. 

He watched you silently as you packed your bag and left, refusing to make eye contact with him. 

“Night,” you said, opening the front door and walking out. You didn’t bother to close the door behind you. 

Deidara watched you from the threshold as you disappeared into the night before his vision focused on a particularly irritated Itachi Uchiha, who stood in front of his black car across the street with his arms crossed. 

His eyes, the color of freshly spilled blood, bore into his blue ones. Deidara could feel the anger rolling off of the quiet man as he approached. Itachi stalked into the studio and pulled the door closed behind him. 

“Itachi I–,” Deidara began weakly. Itachi held up a hand, silencing the blonde artist. 

“I think you forget the situation you’ve created for yourself,” Itachi began. “You sent a journalist to the hospital because he called your EP unfocused, which it was. You should be in jail, but I put my career on the line for you. Now, you can’t even try to work with [y/n]?” 

Deidara flinched. He knew Itachi pulled strings for him and was eternally grateful for that. 

“[y/n] seems nice, but I don’t understand why I should be happy about this. I didn't sign up to become some puppet for the label, cranking out songs with no soul, un,” 

Itachi rubbed his temple. “Deidara, you have talent, but talent alone doesn't pay the bills. Your last project didn't do well, and Uchiha Records has invested a lot in you. They expect a return,” Deidara sagged his shoulders. 

“You will make this right, Deidara,” Itachi warned. “You will stay here tonight and work, reach out to [y/n] tomorrow, and apologize for wasting her time. If you don’t, the label will drop you,” 

Deidara nearly choked on his spit. To be dropped by his label would mean his hard work these past years would have been for nothing. He nodded stiffly. Sensing Deidara understood the severity of his situation, Itachi began to leave. 

“And, by the way, Ino’s manager called me earlier. Please try not to kick her out of your place while she’s crying next time. I had to pay good money to keep photos of her from leaking,”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you returned to your apartment, your roommates were already enjoying their weekly reality TV binge. The living room was extra cozy, with pillows and throw blankets covering the couch. Snacks covered the coffee table, and a bottle of wine sat open and within reach. 

You ran to your room, dropped your things onto the bed, and changed into your pajamas before joining them on the couch. 

“You’re home early,” Jun noticed, worry noticeable on her delicate features. She paused the episode just as a woman was about to confront her frenemy for planning a rival charity gala. Your other roommate, Sara, brought an extra wine glass and poured a healthy amount before handing it to you.

“Your time with Deidara…?” she started. You groaned and took a large swig of wine. 

“He showed up an hour late, told me I had no talent, and then started smoking weed,” you said. Your shoulders sagged as the weight of today finally caught up with you. Sara whistled, and Jun’s eyes went wide. 

“What the hell is his problem? It’s not like you’re on the same level, you’re doing this as a favor to him!” Sara said with a scowl. You shrugged and resumed the show, settling in for an evening of trashy TV and girl time. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You’d finally relaxed after a few glasses of wine and a half sleeve of cookies. You didn’t want to think about what your trainer would inflict on you when you met with her again. 

The frustration of the day had finally dulled enough for you to enjoy the messy storylines of the women on screen. 

Sara and Jun were committed to turning your evening around, so they kept you laughing with irreverent jokes and funny videos on their phones. When your cell phone vibrated, you didn’t think anything of it. 

[maybe: deidara]: hey, this is deidara 

‘What the hell?’ you re-read the text. You must be hallucinating from a combination of wine and a lack of sleep. Jun, sensing your change in mood, leaned closer to you. Her eyes went wide when she read the text. 

“Sara, you’re going to want to see this,” she said, nudging your red-haired friend. Sara climbed over Jun to read the text and shot up from her place on the sofa. 

“The best he can do is: Hey, this is Deidara?” She yelled, pointing a finger at you. “No apology? No Venmo notification for coffee?” You looked down at the message again. 

“My read receipts are on, so I kinda have to respond,” you said sheepishly. Sara rolled her eyes. 

“This is why I told you to turn those off,” She said smugly.  She took your phone, typed a message, and gave it back. 

[you]: what do you want? 

You quickly typed a follow-up, not wanting to appear rude. 

[you]: sorry, that was my roommate. What’s up?

His response came quickly. 

[maybe: deidara]: no worries, i didn’t know you had a roommate. i just wanted to let you know i had some ideas that could use your feedback. i’m free this friday.

“He wants to meet on Friday,” you muttered. This time, Jun took your phone to respond before handing it back to you. 

[you]: i can be free if you apologize for today 😉

You felt your face get warm. What if Jun’s response made their relationship worse?

[maybe: deidara]: fair enough. What if i bring takeout? i know a great spot for Chinese food. Do you drink?

Feeling emboldened, you took a selfie with the empty wine bottle. 

[you]: I do indeed

You watched him type his response. 

[maybe: deidara]: i’ll get us a bottle of wine

[maybe: deidara]: cute pjs btw. You should post this on Instagram. I can like it and return the favor. 

‘Fuck,’ you thought to yourself. So Deidara did look at his likes. You wanted to be embarrassed, but you felt a little giddy. 

You felt your face get hot. Sara and Jun exchanged looks with each other. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deidara left the studio about 10 minutes after he knew Itachi was gone. He felt the smallest amount of guilt for how he treated you. It wasn’t your fault his label was forcing him to do this. 

He needed a drink. 

He took a cab to one of his favorite bars, the Hideout, and sat at the bar. His server was a pretty brunette with the sexiest tattoos he’d ever seen. They’d had their share of fun, but he learned she was married when her husband showed up to his place and busted his lip a few months ago.

She smirked and handed him his usual before turning her attention to the other patrons. 

“You look like you’ve got a stick up your ass,” his drinking buddy, a religious fanatic named Hidan yelled. The silver-haired man was already intoxicated, a deep flush on his cheeks as he leaned too far in Deidara’s direction. 

“It’s nothing, un,” Deidara replied curtly, taking a drink. He just wanted to forget the past few hours. Between whatever her name was’s meltdown and the knowledge that his career was on the rocks, Deidara felt drained.

“You will stay here tonight and work, reach out to [y/n] tomorrow, and apologize for wasting her time. If you don’t, the label will drop you,”  Itachi’s words rang in his head as he ordered another drink, then a third. 

He checked his phone. He had a text from Itachi with your contact information. 

‘I’d better reach out if I still want a job,” he thought bitterly. He sent the first text as he finished his third drink. 

He was surprised when you responded twice in a row. He chuckled. 

As it turns out, talking to you wasn’t too bad. You weren’t a drag, and you seemed pretty funny. 

Maybe this wouldn’t be so painful. 

[laughterfixs]

It’s been a year since security breach came out and a year since I started fixating on these goobers…

Boy do I got a story for y’all.

I was actually really excited for security breach. I thought the game looked good and I bought it on release day and spent the whole day downloading it cause my internet is shit lol.

I played it the next day and of course got to the daycare fairly quickly.

When I first met Sun I will admit it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Freddy was my favorite at the time cause like many others who love Glam Freddy, I have daddy issues XD. But he quickly grew on me the more time I spent in the daycare trying to figure out what to do. (My first playthrough was completely blind so I had no clue what I was doing lol)

I remember my brother was watching me and I said word for word. “Oh he’s kinda cute in an odd kind of way!” And that got my brother to give me such a look XD

Meeting moon was a little different. He spooked me of course but his giggles had me laughing at him cause I just thought they were adorable. Seeing the jumpscare of course was what got my brain thinking as I’ve been in this community for a long time…

I wanted more of the boys. I started to love them and finding so many others did too made me happy.

I stuck to close friends rpin with the boys and showing art of them to my close friends only. I want to thank them for puttin up with my shenanigans too as I met them through fandoms like ninjago and hazbin XD love you guys.

But sun and moon gave me something new…they gave me courage. I made this blog and I started showing off t art of them cuz that’s what I’ve been fixated on. People liked it. They got me attention that I’ve never really had on my art. It was new and encouraging.

That courage only grew. I made my server, I’ve met amazing people, and now? I got two new friends to add to my nutty lil family.

@coy-lee @afloofwithmultipleinterests these two goobers right here?? They helped grow the courage in me. And support of my other friends made it burn ever brighter.

Laughterfix now has a YouTube channel with over two thousand subscribers. A comic dub with over 200 thousand views…and people are loving some original content as well.

I’m apart of something bigger. I’ve reached toward my dream of creating and entertaining people with ideas. I’ve learned to become a better artist and edit videos.

And to think

It all started. All of it happened…all because of two celestial jesters from a video game.

It’s so crazy to think about…but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s been a rough end to the year. But I’m happy with what I have. Good friends, good fun, and there’s a bright shining light ahead.

Happy birthday boys. Thank you for all you’ve done for me…

[nineliabilityrisk]

hiiiiii i dunno whats going on with the twt fans rn but. i will say that my interpretations of canon are loose at Best with almost every single one of my characters at any given moment. so dont expect me to keep up with all that

i literally have no clue whats going on over there so i dont know which of my portrayals any of the changes might affect, if any at all, so im just kinda. gonna ignore them

i will say that i saw fnaf 4 as like. evans fever dreams while he was in a coma after the bite and i figured that he flatlined at the end of the game. i never even considered michael being involved like. at all. other than in the little 8 bit cutscenes. idk where that whole thing with it being michaels nightmares came from but it may very well be a more,, recent fanbase thing? i lost interest in fnaf for a long time after the hype for fnaf 4 died down because it was marketed as the Final Chapter and all that. i wasnt there for anything past that, i only just came back and started catching up on the games once i heard that they were making the movie. so maybe im missing something important i dont know.

also i will state that my consideration for the "main" canon with the afton family storyline kinda ends with pizza sim? like yippee willys in hell in ucn that can stay in canon too but like. everything gets so confusing after that it hurts my brain i kind of just. say thats that. yes, there is glitchtrap in help wanted. maybe its a virus/ai that will programmed to act like him. maybe its wills actual consciousness. maybe its the mimic. i really dont fucking care. all i know is will is dead, all the aftons are dead, and theyre gonna stay that way. things like help wanted, special delivery, (which may not be Canon canon but its still fun to see fazbear entertainment scrambling to replair their image,) and security breach are. separate. the aftons are dead, while everyones still battling with williams influence and trying to shake it off and fazbear entertainment is trying to continue in his absence, he is GONE.

also this doesnt mean im inflexible and unwilling to adapt to others' interpretations ofc im just. laying down what mine is

[selfawarejester]

So, someone requested a fic where Blue Team rescues a Child!Reader from a war zone, but unfortunately Tumblr ate the ask. If you’re the one who requested it, please enjoy!

EDIT: found a screenshot! @simp-for-fictional-men-only, hope you like this!

Blue Team x Child!Reader (Halo)

It’s been a long “day”, even by Spartan standards.

Blue Team had been trying to repel Covenant forces on an Outer Colonies planet for over a week… but it hadn’t been enough. Command had called an evacuation, and after destroying a base to help the efforts, Blue Team had been ordered to help with final evacuation calls in the nearest town.

On the Pelican ride to town, there was a brief moment where they thought it was a waste of resources to send Spartans for an evacuation op, especially because the other Spartan teams were still doing the best they could to strike back at the Covenant; not necessarily to stop them anymore, just to hold them back long enough for the civilians to escape and maybe a little revenge. The events of the week, coupled with the guilt of their brothers and sisters still risking their lives, weighed on them heavily.

But at the end of the day, they’re glad they did: they found a group in the Rec center, a dozen people in the boroughs, twenty in an apartment complex — the Marines wouldn’t have been able to lift most of the wreckage that blocked them from escaping.

By the time they’d gotten to the outskirts of town, Blue Team had been left alone to sweep through the dead town. Chief considered just going to meet up with the Marines — surely, they could match the pace of the overloaded Troop Transports — and this area was just dilapidated factories and shady looking establishments that had long since been stampeded.

But a need to fulfil his task to completion stayed his hand… and thank god it did.

At first, it was just soft sniffles that sounded from the inside of the rundown factory. Chief and Kelly, who’d partnered up to search this side of the district, thought it was one of the many Jackals that had been posted in the previous sector wandering, or a Grunt that had been left behind after the Jackals had entertained themselves (in which case, they should probably put the thing out of its misery), so they go inside.

Chief goes first, moving carefully through the debris so as to not dislodge the wreckage, or disturb the corpses of the few soldiers and more civilians. He retrieves their dog tags, securing them in one of the compartments of the MJOLNIR, and Kelly follows, stepping where he does.

Slowly, the sound becomes louder and louder, wheezing and snotty sobbing. Definitely an injured Grunt, he thinks. It’s coming from under a slab of concrete propped up against a wall. Kelly flanks to the right, while Chief goes to the left. He signals that he’ll lift it on the count of three, and grips the edge of the slab. When the slab gets tossed aside, Kelly raises her shotgun, pointing directly at the small figure.

You shriek and bury your head in your knees, pulled up to your chest. You couldn’t believe that after all the gross, awful things you’d had to sit through, holed up in this corner, you were just going to die.

But when nothing happens for a solid five seconds, you chance a peek over your knees and gasp. S-117 and S-087 are emblazoned across the chests of the armored giants… Spartans.

Kelly and Chief exchange confused gazes, having no idea how to deal with children. The last ones they’d had any interaction with was the Castoffs on Netherop, but they were more feral gremlins than they had been children.

(Kelly and Fred still aren’t entirely sure that the whole incident wasn’t a heat-induced hallucination.)

John really doesn’t want to go through another episode like it, but on the other hand, it would be easier if you were pelting rocks at them.

Kelly, being the more personable of the two, kneels to your height (or as close as a Spartan could get) and softly calls. “You don’t have to be scared. We’re here to help.”

You knew that — they were Spartans! The greatest heroes Humanity ever possessed! You were just shocked that you were getting rescued by them.

“Y-you’re Spartans.” You whisper dumbly, but you couldn’t help it! How are you supposed to be cool when you grew up with Master Chief’s action figure on your nightstand. “Like Master Chief.”

You can’t see it, but John can sense Kelly’s smirk as she looks over at him and points. “Well, that’s the man himself.”

* Oh no. By the way your wet, moved eyes stare up at him, it seems you’re a fan.

OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!! You hope your pterodactyl screeching wasn’t external.

“Whoa.” This couldn’t be real. You’d passed out from exhaustion, and were dreaming all of this. That could be the only possibility!

John knows that this is the part where he says something witty or inspiring… but he really doesn’t know what to say, so he just awkwardly clears his throat. “Are you hurt?”

You shake your head violently, a burning need to not disappoint your childhood hero, and clamber up to your feet… only to wince and lean against the wall, something sticky on your leg.

Now that you’re standing, he can see the dried blood around your ankle. “Hold still!” All the softness is gone from Kelly’s tone as she works on bandaging you up, but you don’t mind, appreciating how careful she’s being.

Co-ordinating with Linda, who informs him that there are patrols scouting the areas — probably only to get any survivors, and not to catch them, but they should still move — and Fred, who tells him that the convoy is flying off-planet via Pelicans in half an hour, John makes some quick calculations.

With the pace you’d set, hobbling alongside Kelly, whimpering every time you put your weight on your left foot, it would take them at least an hour. Too long.

“Whoa…” The sound comes unbidden from Fred when Kelly emerges, with you clutching at her hip, all bloody and dirty. A pang of sympathy strikes as he looks around and realizes all that you must have seen. He was well aware that normal children weren’t nearly as resilient as he and his siblings had been.

“….” He stays silent as you arrive in front of him, staring up at him with slight apprehension, heart racing as he tries to think of something to say — and for some reason, he lands on an awkward, weirdly Southern-sounding. “Hey champ!”

John and Kelly both shoot him weird looks, and he wants to dig a hole and die, when they hear it.

A small giggle falls from your lips, tiny hands covering your mouth as you try not to laugh. Fred sighs in relief, but his anxiety returns when Kelly’s joking voice comes over the comms saying “Well, I guess we know who’s taking care of them.”

Linda drops out of nowhere, and nearly scares you to death as you shriek and bump into John, holding his leg tightly. You don’t really notice how he freezes, confused again.

“…sorry.” She doesn’t sound sorry, you think with a pout and drop from Chief’s leg, careful of your own busted ankle.

“That’s Linda, that’s Fred and I’m Kelly. You can just call him Chief. What’s your name?”

“Y-Y/N.”

“Alright. We won’t be able to make it if you’re walking, so you need to get on one of our backs.” Chief tells you, straight to business. “Which one of us do you feel comfortable with?”

He’s really hoping you pick Kelly or Fred. It wouldn’t exactly be a burden, you’re much tinier than the full grown people he’s had to carry out of a war zone, and you’re handling it much better as well, even though you’re barely ten years old.

“Um…” You look shyly up at Fred. “If you don’t really mind…”

*Aw. That’s… actually kind of sweet. Fred beckons you over, and hoists you up between his shoulders, giving you the rundown on what to do if people start shooting, and to hold on tight when he tells you to.

*You’re much more considerate than the freaked out VIPs he’s had to extract. But he still feels you twitch every time the wind causes something to clatter, so he decides to strike up conversation.

“So how did you wind up there?” It’s not until afterwards that he realizes that, unlike soldiers, civilians aren’t comfortable discussing stuff like that. But you answer that it was your dad’s factory, explaining that it was Bring Your Kid To Work Day.

The Spartans, specifically Kelly, asked you questions about it, having never heard of it themselves. After all, military settings rarely allowed such breaches of protocol.

You only trailed off as you got to the part where he told you to hide, and Fred lets it be.

When you finally get to the convoy, a nurse hurriedly tries to pull you away from the Spartans to help out, apologizing for not doing it sooner when Fred tells her it’s fine and that you can stay. After all, Kelly had fixed you up well, and you seemed terrified at the prospect of being left alone.

All that was left to do was fly up to the ship in outer orbit, with the rest of the survivors. Since there were such few Pelicans, everyone had been crammed into them, military and civilians alike. You’d simply wandered onto the one they’d been on, sandwiched between Chief and Fred.

Chief watches you picking at your shorts, and suddenly remembers the chocolate bar Sgt. Johnson keeps giving him - “you’re not yourself when you’re hungry, Chief” He’d snicker and then leave, Chief just standing there, not understanding the reference - but hey, chocolate was chocolate.

“Here. You did well.” Your eyes go wide, and for a second he thinks you’re going to refuse, but then you snatch it out of his hand and snarf it down. This is how it must feel to watch him eat.

“You’re going to like it up there.” Fred chimes in when your gaze starts getting distant again. “Space is really cool.”

In a twist of fate, you find one of your best friends when you arrive on the ship. Their parents promise to take care of you, and thank the Spartans.

When they start directing the survivors to their quarters, you hug every Spartan, even Linda… or their legs, since you couldn’t reach anything else. (Thankfully, you telegraph it pretty well, so they don’t accidentally smack you or something.)

John just stiffens and then nods, Fred pats you on the head awkwardly and shuffles away (he was very shocked by the affection), Kelly laughs and claps you on the shoulder, and Linda just hums and pets you on the head like a dog, walking away afterwards.

You go on to be a Marine yourself, finding yourself on the Halo campaign, where Chief and Cortana save you once more. You’re surprised he still remembers you.

You leave a bar of the same brand he gave you at his shrine, giving a heartfelt eulogy and catching up momentarily with the other members of Blue Team before you all leave again.

You almost faint when he shows up at Requiem, though. Don’t feel bad, as Lasky fanboys behind Chief for the whole campaign.

Palmer corrals you and Lasky into a break room to make fun of your behavior after it’s all over.

[crumbledcastle28]

Chapter 11: A Squeeze

Warnings: mentions of violence and anxiety, people getting shot, reader gets tense, Mando is extremely touch starved, and softness.

Author’s Note: Chapter 11! This one is one of my personal favs, so I hope you enjoy!

Gif by bestintheparsec

As you traveled with the crew near the outskirts of town, you couldn’t stop thinking about what the child had done the night before.

Your entire life, death has plagued you. Everywhere you went you carried the guilt of death and knowing that there was nothing you could do to stop it. You had heard legends of a Sith named Darth Plagueis who had the power to stop death, but he was deep in the dark side.

You were never going to go down that road.

All you knew was this little kid was powerful. More powerful than you realized, and definitely more powerful than Mando realized. He had been so concerned about keeping this child safe for so long, when in reality, the kid had the ability to keep Mando safe the whole time.

But at the end of the day, the Empire was still around. They would figure out the child’s powers eventually if they kept coming after him, and you were not going to let what happened to you happen to him.

You had been in deep thought for so long, you barely noticed Mando giving a little tap on your elbow. You were a little startled, but relaxed at Mando’s voice.

“You ok?” he asked, and you nodded.

“Yeah… I’m ok,” you respond. “I just… never knew that was possible,” you say, referring back to the child.

You looked down at his sleeping form in the pram next to you, and you smiled at his vulnerable state. What could such a little brain like that dream about?

Mando went quiet after you responded to his concern, and you knew it was because there really isn’t a good way to respond. He obviously didn’t know the kid’s potential either, and he was probably in even more shock than you were.

“Thank you, for checking in on me,” you say, finally turning around to meet his gaze. You had been riding on the same blurrg for a while, but you were trapped in your own head. His closeness to you was starting to make a blush crawl up your neck.

He nodded in an understanding way, and you headed on.

~~*~~

After some time, you noticed that Karga and his two bounty hunters were talking in whispers as they walked in front of you, and that obviously rubbed Cara the wrong way.

“You guys think they’re having second thoughts?” she asked in a teasing tone, and you returned a breathy laugh.

You tried to hide your smile, but that had been the first time she acknowledged you in days, and she was even joking with you? You didn’t want to get her hopes up, but maybe Cara was having second thoughts as well.

“Could be,” Mando replied. “I need you two to help me keep an eye on them.”

You and Cara nodded your heads, and scanned the hunters’ bodies with your eyes for a few minutes. The three of you had switched to being on foot while Kuiil took the only remaining blurrg.

All of a sudden, a bluff overlooking the town appeared, and Karga was gazing down at the city below.

“I guess this is it,” he said, but he was still facing the view.

The other two bounty hunters had stated to make their way behind you, and the alarms in your head were blaring.

You heard every step, every ruffle, and every breath they made. And it was driving you crazy.

They were at your backs, but you had your longspear in hand. You had better skills than these two by a long shot.

Suddenly, Karga spins around, and fires at the two bounty hunters who instantly hit the ground.

You drew your own weapon, while Mando and Cara approached Karga from either side with their weapons drawn as well.

You knew it. This man was not to be trusted. He could have shot the kid!

“There’s something you should know,” Karga says, and you try not to roll your eyes.

“Please. Enlighten us,” you say sarcastically, but you have venom in your voice. Karga can feel it, so he immediately transitions into his explanation.

“The plan was to kill you and take the kid,” Karga says, and your blood boils.

“But after what happened last night… I couldn’t go through with it. Go on, you can gun me down here and now, and it wouldn’t violate the code. But if you do, this child will never be safe.”

Your weapon was still at the ready, and Cara and Mando didn’t seem convinced either.

“We will take our chances,” Cara says.

“Perhaps you should let him speak,” Kuiil says, and you glance over your shoulder to look at him. This poor man had been though a lot, yet his voice exuded such gentleness. It reminded you of Mando’s voice when he talked to you.

“We both need the client eliminated,” Karga said, “let me take the child to him, and then you three…”

“No,” Mando interupts. He lowers his blaster, and glances at you to lower your weapon.

Your eyebrows knit together in confusion, and Cara seems to have the same reaction.

“What are you doing,” she asks, and you are wondering the same thing.

“As long as the Imp lives, he will send hunters after the Child,” Mando says, and you are starting to understand what he’s getting at.

“Bring me. Tell him you captured me. Get me close, and I’ll kill him,” Mando says to Karga, and you hate the gleam of excitement that flashed in Karga’s eyes.

“That’s a good idea,” Karga responded. “Give me your blaster.”

“This is insane,” Cara said, turning to look at you. You see Mando giving his blaster to Karga, and you honestly don’t even know what to think.

Karga just openly admitted to betraying you and trying to kill Mando, so there was no way you would trust him in the slightest. But at the same time, what other choice did you have? The child had to be safe, and Mando was right. The hunters won’t ever stop.

You give Cara a look of pity, but you lower your longspear. Your shoulders slightly relax, and you feel your grip loosening.

“What else can we do?” you ask her, and she looked away in disgust.

“Well, I’m coming with you,” Cara said. “I’ll tell them I caught you.”

“Then she can bring the child,” Karga said, and Cara started to relax a little.

“No,” Mando said firmly. “The kid goes with y/n back to the ship.”

You and Mando were normally on the same page, but you had to admit, that didn’t really make any sense.

“But without the child none of this works,” Karga said, and you hated that you agreed with him.

“I have a plan,” he says to the two of them, and then he strides over to you.

“I need you to ride to the ship with Kuiil and the kid and seal yourselves in. Engage ground security protocols. Nothing on this planet will breach those doors,” Mando says to you as he guides the Child in his pram over to your arms.

You look into Mando’s visor, trying to find his eyes, but an evil, anxious part of you starts to awaken.

This could be the last time you stare into that helmet.

If this goes wrong, Mando and Cara would be almost laughably outnumbered by the Imps.

You continue to search for his eyes, and you sigh quietly. You have to keep yourself together for him.

Mando breaks the eye contact to rub the child’s ears, and you long for him to look back at you. The trance you guys enter when you look at each other is so cheesy, but it feels real. You wanted to stare at him forever.

“Be careful,” you murmur, only loud enough for him to hear.

He looks back at you and nods, but you notice he is squeezing his fists at his sides again.

He keeps trying to stop himself from something, and you are too impatient to figure out what it is, so you take his hands in yours and give them a gentle squeeze.

He looked down at your hands in his. You didn’t know it, but Mando was soaking in the fact that you were showing him more kindness in your touch than he had experienced in decades. Mando struggled, he managed to meet your eyes again.

“You too,” he says, rubbing your knuckles, and you smile at him.

He lets go of your hands gently, and you pray to whatever God was out there that he would not leave them permanently empty.

~~*~~

After Mando gave you your assignment, you and Kuiil immediately got a move on back to the Razor Crest with the child in your arms.

You hold the child close to your chest as Kuiil drives the blurrg behind you, and you give the child a little squeeze. Your nerves are starting to get the better of you.

Before, you could have worked with a crew like this and never felt a thing. They were going in outnumbered, so what? You were in the safe position and you had the prize in your arms? What did you care?

But now, your very hope at being happy again was walking into an imperial guarded death trap, pretending to be taken prisoner.

You hated this plan. Mando and Cara were smart, so you decided not to question their decision, but that didn’t mean you didn’t still have your doubts.

The only thing keeping you sane was the cooling air hitting your face as you rode, and the little gurgles from the child in your arms.

This is all you could control at this moment. You could control his safety, and you were not going to fail.

Tag list:

@leahkenobi @farfromjustordinary @pinkninja200 @bookloverfilmoholic @440mxs-wife

[joonie-beanie]

The Demon Brothers + their reaction to you having a nightmare

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Lucifer:

Is surprised to hear a knock at his door a little past one AM. He’s still up going over documents for RAD, and doesn’t bother looking up

“Come in,” he says simply, too tired to be mad at whoever is interrupting him at this late hour

He hears the door open, but no one greets him. After a moment, he finally looks up and finds you standing there--shyly clinging to the door frame

You’re dressed in your pajamas, bottom lip caught between your teeth

Lucifer is immediately concerned, all of his attention shifting to you.

It’s not like you haven’t paid him late night visits before to check on him when he’s working, but this time something is clearly amiss.

“Y/N, come here.” He holds out a hand, beckoning you closer, and you finally enter his room--the door clicking closed behind you.

Once at his side, Lucifer takes your hand and presses to his feet. He hooks his other hand gently beneath your chin--flashing you a tender smile as you meet his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I...it’s stupid,” you mumble, but when Lucifer only stares patiently.

You sigh and continue. “I had a nightmare...”

Knowing you, Lucifer bets that you’re feeling childish for seeking him out, but he cannot blame you. As powerful as he is, it’s not like he hasn’t been afflicted by bad dreams.

“Would you care to stay with me, tonight?”

You glance up at him, and he sees the relief in your gaze. Nodding--too shaken up to think about saying no to company--and lean into him, and Lucifer immediately sweeps you off to his bed.

“Sleep,” he speaks against your hair, pressing a kiss to your head, and you nod. With Lucifer nearby, you’re not scared to go back to sleep.

You spend the night safely in his arms--with his warmth on your back--and no more nightmares plague you.

Mammon:

Happens to pass by the library at 5am, because man that was a long ass night at the club, and sees you huddled by the fireplace.

He immediately pauses because uhhhhh...it’s Saturday. Why the fuck are you awake at 5am?

“Oi,” he greets as he walks into the room, catching your attention.

He can tell that you’ve barely slept--dark circles beginning to form under your eyes.

“Why the hell are you up?”

You muster up a small smile, your legs still tucked to your chest. You’ve managed to drape yourself in a soft blanket, and Mammon can only guess that you’ve been here for a while.

“I, um...had a bad dream.”

Mammon frowns, not liking that your brain decided to make you scared for no good reason.

Is it possible to fight a brain?

“How long ya been up for?”

“Since 1,” you admit, laughing softly. You’re exhausted.

Despite being a little hungover, Mammon can’t stand for this. It’s only 5AM--you’ve still got a chance at getting some good sleep! After all, it’s the weekend!

“Come to bed with me,” he mumbles--his cheeks pink as he sheepishly rubs at his neck. “I’ll make sure no more bad dreams come your way...”

Your eyes widen in surprise, but after a moment, you press to your feet and Mammon is quick to take your hand.

He sheepishly leads you to his room, grumbling about how he doesn’t necessarily care about you and your dreams until the moment his head hits the pillow on his bed.

Then he finally shuts up.

By the time you both wake up that day--snuggled together beneath Mammon’s sheets--it’s already afternoon.

Levi:

He’s a light sleeper--so he jumps awake the moment his door clicks open

Startled, he flings himself into a seated position--wide eyes sliding to look at the door

When he sees you standing there, his brain pauses. He figured it would be Mammon trying to break in and steal his stuff.

“I...,” you can see how you’d made him jump, and immediately feel horrible. “Sorry, I can just--”

You start to back out into the hall, and Levi quickly reaches out his hand as if to stop you.

“No! N-No, you can stay. I just...you surprised me.”

Nodding, you step back into his room, and he regards you curiously. You...seem a little...off

“Are you okay?” he finally asks, sitting cross-legged in the tub as he stares at you. You avoid his gaze.

Levi is suddenly reminded of one of his shoujo games, but he pushes that thought to the back of his head.

“I had a nightmare, and...I don’t know, I guess I just ended up...here.”

The demon tries to ignore the way his heart goes doki doki. Luckily, he’s more concerned for you than he is flustered over your comment.

“I-I mean...you can stay here, if you want.” His eyes fall to the mess of pillows and blankets in his tub. “I don’t know if it will be weird, since this is the only bed, but...”

You smile at him, and he can see the remnants of fear etched into your face. “As long as you’re ok with it.”

Levi nods, and within seconds, you’ve climbed into the tub.

Levi decides to sleep with his back to you (because how much space is he supposed to give you?? Will you be bothered with him so close?? He’s not prepared for this kind of situation at 3am!!)

However, by the time morning rolls around, he’s managed to entangle his limbs with your own--his arms around your waist, and his tail slung securely over your hip.

If you notice his clinginess in your sleep, you clearly don’t mind. 

Satan: 

Legitimately opens his door the moment you intend to knock--and you both startle

As you drop your hand to your side and struggle to find your words, Satan regards you with scrutiny

Satan, for one, is confused and concerned at your appearance. It’s nearly 2am. He’d gotten wrapped up in reading, but you have no reason to be up this late.

“Is everything okay?” he ends up asking when you don’t speak. 

When you look up at him, your eyes are like that of a scared puppy dog, and he feels something tug at his heart.

“I...had a nightmare. I saw the light on under your door, and...”

You glance to the side, and Satan suddenly understands why you’re acting all guilty. However, it’s not like you’re imposing.

“Why don’t you come in?” he asks with a smile, hoping to ease some of your worries. “I’m not much company, but I’d be more than happy to be in yours.”

At his words, and tiny smile lights up your face, and he sees a bit of the remnants of fear dissipate from your eyes.

“Thank you, Satan.”

Once inside, he invites you to take the bed--letting you know that if you fall asleep, it’s no big deal.

You’re determined to not fall asleep and hog his bed, but...after about half an hour, Satan looks up from his book and finds you passed out beneath the covers.

Breathing a laugh, he closes his book, and moves to the edge of the bed--regarding you for a moment. Then, he carefully maneuvers himself to join you--one hand moving to wrap around your waist.

He feels your body relax against him and, for once, Satan feels at peace as well.

Asmo:

Is walking to his room one night when he passes your door and hears a little strangled cry from inside

Immediately concerned, he knocks on your door, and enters your room when he doesn’t get a response.

He finds you in bed, thrashing around. Your eyes are squeezed closed--sweat beading on your brow--and he knows you’re having a nightmare.

“Y/N--wake up,” he gently rocks your shoulder back and forth--reaching out to hold you when you shoot awake--chest heaving.

“Wha--Asmo?” 

Once you realize it’s him--the Avatar of Lust hugging you softly and cooing reassurances into your ear--you instantly cling to him

As you ground yourself, Asmo seats himself on your bed and curls you into his lap--his hand petting against your hair as you calm down.

“Asmo, I...” your weak voice breaches the silence after a few minutes, and Asmodeus can hear the unsaid plea in your voice.

“Would it be okay if I stayed with you tonight?” he questions sweetly, asking so that you don’t have to. “I just don’t feel right leaving you alone.”

“Sure,” you respond with a nod and smile, and Asmo dedicates himself to putting you back to bed.

He tucks you in and brushes your hair out of your eyes, and when you grab his shirt--seeking more comfort--he curls up in front of you so your forehead and knees knock together

Between your bodies, he slots his fingers against yours.

“If you have anymore bad dreams, I’ll fight them, okay? Pretty humans having bad dreams is not allowed!”

That gets you giggling, and he presses a sweet kiss between your brows.

“Now~ No more thinking, just sleeping.”

And, as if his words are magic, you’re out within minutes.

Of course, Asmodeus stays with you--snuggled in bed--the entire night.

Beel:

Some days, his stomach wakes him up in search of a 3AM snack, and today is one of those days.

Dressed in his pajamas and still half asleep, he makes his way to the kitchen--pausing in surprise when he sees someone sat on the kitchen counter.

After a moment, he realizes that it’s you--nursing a glass a water, and staring blankly at the wall.

Beel frowns with worry. “Y/N?”

His voice startles you out of your thoughts--quite literally causing you to gasp, and jump. Your head whips towards him, fear in your eyes, and you lift to press a hand against your heart when you realize it’s only him.

“Are you okay?” he immediately asks, making his way to your side. It’s clear that something is wrong.

He gingerly raises his large hand to cup one of your cheeks, his heart cracking a little when you instinctively flinch away. Thankfully, after a second, you sigh into his touch--your hand lifting to cover his.

“I had a bad dream.”

Beel nods in understanding, because he knows how shitty it can be when your brain plagues you with a nightmare. 

“Here,” he walks over to the fridge, and pulls out a tub of ice cream--snatching two spoons from the cupboard on his way back to you. “This will help.”

You giggle, leaning against him and taking a spoon when he hops up on the counter beside you.

Since Beel’s appetite is much bigger, he gets a little lost in devouring the dessert. He’s not sure how much time has passed, but at some point, he pauses and looks over to find that you’re asleep against his shoulder.

Carefully, he leans over and curls you into his strong arms--making his way back towards his bedroom. 

Tonight, you’re saying with him. He’s sure he’ll keep the bad dreams from coming back (and besides, he just really wants to hold you).

Belphie:

Since Belphie’s sleeping schedule is basically ass-backwards, he tends to go to bed just after his brothers and you have left for RAD.

He’s used to having the house to himself--complete peace and quiet--so when he walks past the lounge and finds you tucked into a chair near the fireplace, he pauses.

You’re nursing a mug of coffee between your palms--dark bags hanging beneath your eyes.

“Why are you here?” he asks, walking up beside you. His first question was honestly “why do you look like shit”, but that seems a little mean. Especially considering you...unfortunately look like shit.

“I had a nightmare, and couldn’t get back to sleep,” you sigh, not turning to look at him. “I’ve been up since 2.”

“You should have come and found me,” he blinks. “You know I’m up that late.”

“Yeah, but...,” you fingers curl tighter around the mug. “It just a stupid dream. I didn’t want to be a bother...”

Belphie frowns. He wants you to be able to rely on him--to let him be there for you when you need someone.

You pause as he grabs the mug from your hand and sets it aside.

“C’mon,” he says, grabbing your wrist and tugging you to your feet. He slots his fingers through your own, gripping tightly, and you glance up at him as he starts leading you through the halls.

“Belphie?”

“I’m going to bed anyway, so sleep with me. You need rest.”

“But--I was planning on going to RAD later--”

“Taking care of yourself is more important.” His words leave no room for argument, and you fall silent. Moments later, you find yourself beneath the warm sheets of Belphie’s bed--his arms wrapped tightly around your middle.

“Is this okay?” he mumbles, and you nod--your eyelids already drooping. Within minutes, you’re fast asleep, and Belphie joins you soon after.

He’s right, sleep (especially when it’s in his arms) is way better than school.

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[writingblock101]

Still Insufferable (Damian Wayne x Reader)

This is a part two to Insufferable! I had an anon request this a while back and found some prompts that gave some great inspiration! Hope y’all like it! You don’t need to read part one, but it does make the transition smoother. For reference, you and Damian are 17. 

Words: 2,800 

Tags: @idkmanicantenglish @mayahoelland2013

Warnings: None

“Do you ever follow directions?” A familiar, condescending voice asks you from the ground. 

You spot an annoyed Damian Wayne from your upside perch, staring up at you with crossed arms. You grin, a little too excited to see someone who looks so annoyed with you. 

“I’m creating an extensive target practice!” You claim, gesturing with your bow to the targets down range

“By hanging upside from the rafters?” Damian raises an unimpressed eyebrow. 

“You’re questioning my methods.” 

“I’m not questioning it,” Damian corrects. “I’m saying it’s stupid.” 

You gasp in mock offense then unhook your legs and flip to the floor. 

“Your words wound me!” 

“You’ll recover,” Damian says dryly. 

“I thought you would approve of me making a more comprehensive training.”

“You were hanging upside down from the rafters. How is that more comprehensive?” Damian questions.

“Because I don’t always get the pretty shot with the perfect set up in the field!” You argue. “Sometimes, I’m making the shot while hanging upside down with a broken toe!” 

Damian pauses, his eyes flickering to your feet. 

“Is your toe broken?” He asks.

He almost sounds concerned. It’s kind of sweet. 

“No,” You admit. “But what if it was?” 

He blinks. The concern is gone. 

“You spend too much time with Roy and Jason.” 

“Well, Roy is basically raising me at this point, so yeah, kind of,” You point out. 

Damian rolls his eyes. 

“Mission briefing.” 

“Aw, you came all the way here to tell me yourself,” You tease Damian, aware of the various intercoms around the Tower.

He scowls at you, but doesn’t dampen your good mood. 

“I was the closest to the range. It made the most sense for me to come tell you.” 

“No need to make excuses,” You shrug. “I get it, I’m amazing and you can’t resist being around me.” 

“You’re insufferable.” 

“You know, that line didn’t fool me when we were 12 and it’s still not fooling me now.” 

Damian’s scowl deepens. 

“Mission briefing, now.” Then he walks off before you can make another smart ass comment. 

Sometimes, Damian makes it too easy. You hit the switch to pull the targets back in, figuring you’ll get your arrows later. 

You’ve been an official Teen Titan for a few months now. After Roy talked you into tagging along with the team for a mission, you were hooked. The rest of the team agreed to extend an invite to you, which you happily accepted. You love the team, including Damian. Despite your constant bickering, you and Damian work well together in the field, enhancing each other’s skills. 

In all honesty, you really enjoy being around Damian. While he’s a bit uptight, when he relaxes, he’s fun to be around. You’ve enjoyed getting to see the more relaxed side of Damian. Besides, it's fun to have someone who keeps up with every sarcastic remark you make, even if it includes him calling you insufferable. It’s a bit of a long shot, but you know Damian likes you more than he makes it seem he does. 

You head to the main conference room of the tower and settle in for a long presentation. While the briefings are long, and rather boring, they’re in depth. You have to give Damian credit, even when things go wrong on missions, his extensive briefings prepare your team for almost every possibility and help make adaptations to the plan on the fly. 

You fiddle with a pen, unscrewing it, laying out the pieces then put it back together as Damian talks. As you get more fidgety the longer the meeting goes on, Damian wordlessly slides a new pen over to you with a slightly different composition. You smile at him and busy your hands with taking part the new pen. Damian’s cheeks darken slightly, but before anyone can notice, he’s back in leader mode. 

Damian pulls up the blueprint, running through everyone’s role and position for the mission.

“And Black Falcon, you’re with me, handling guards on the roof and additional security measures.”

“The dream team,” You grin with a wink.

Damian rolls his eyes and ignores your remark. Instead, he fields any questions then dismisses the team. You glance down at the file briefing in front of you then remember one last question for Damian. As a few Titans clear out, you wander to the front of the room where Damian is studying the blueprint from the presentation. 

“Hey, boss man,” You wave your file at him. “This building is using the Kingsley Security system. What are your thoughts about debuting the new hacking arrows?” 

Damian frowns, flipping to the page with the schematics concerning the security system. 

“How effective is the firewall on the arrows?” 

“If you’re worried about them tracking back to us, the arrows’ firewall should be strong enough to erase our trail.” 

“Should be?” Damian raised an eyebrow. 

“They’ll be fine, but I don’t like to make guarantees.” 

“And why is that?” 

“Because sometimes, shit happens.” 

“I don’t like variables.” 

“Well, Dames, I’ve got bad news for you about how life works.” 

You cross your arms, leaning your hip against the table. 

“I don’t like variables on my missions when lives are on the line,” Damian says, scanning over the Kingsley credentials. 

“We’re connected to a computer with the highest level of security to currently exist. Even if they manage to trace back the arrows, they won’t get far.” 

Jon and Colin watch you two bicker about arrows and security.

“He likes having someone to argue with way too much,” Colin mutters to Jon. 

Jon nods along. 

“You’re telling me. He’s not going to do anything about it though.” 

Colin cracks a grin. 

“He’s just gonna roll his eyes and tell her she’s insufferable.” 

Jon and Colin snicker, catching Damian’s attention. He narrows his eyes at the two who sit innocently. 

“Listen,” You bring Damian’s attention back to you. “It’s your mission and I’ll respect whatever you want to do, but the only way for me to improve the arrows design is to test them.” 

“I’ll consider it,” Damian says. 

His phone lights up with notification on the table. Your eyes dart toward the light and your eyebrows go up. Damian catches your eye and snatches his phone off the table with red cheeks.

“Am I your lock screen?” You ask with a small grin. 

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” Damian shoves his phone in his back pocket. 

“Really?” Your grin grows as your eyebrows move higher. 

Jon and Colin watch with shit eating grins. 

“Grayson set it,” Damian growls. “I haven’t bothered to change it.” 

“Sure, he did,” You nod. “It’s a cute picture.” 

The picture is after Damian and Bruce got into a huge argument, bad enough that Damian called Dick to get him out of the Manor. Dick figured it would be a good day to give Damian a childhood experience he missed out on and decided to take Damian to a theme park. Knowing you were in town with Jason while Roy was handling some business in Gotham, he talked Jason into bringing you. While at the park, Dick insisted you and Damian needed to try a funnel cake since neither of you had ever had one. 

You and Damian decided to split one since Dick warned you they were pretty sweet. When you and Damian tried your first bites, Damian’s face instantly scrunched up which made you laugh and Dick managed to catch the moment on camera. 

Damian scowls at you while you just grin. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone and ruin your reputation,” You laugh, leaving the room. 

Damian scowls at you as you leave and returns his attention to collecting his files. 

“Ah Dames, get that look off your face, we all know how you feel,” Jon teases. 

Damian turns, scowling at Jon. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Sure you don’t,” Colin rolls his eyes. “We can all tell you like Y/N.” 

“She’s--”

“Insufferable,” Jon finishes. “Yeah, we know. You know, just because you keep saying it, doesn’t mean it’s actually true.” 

“And you know, we get it, you’re a condensing, uptight dick--” Colin starts to rattle off. 

“Why does everyone assume the worst of me?” Damian scowls at Colin. 

“It saves time,” He grins at his friend. “But, despite those things, you can be charming when you want to be. And if you actually acted on that charm, Y/N would agree to a date with you.” 

Jon stares at Colin for a minute, looking unimpressed then turns to Damian. 

“My advice is much more subtle. Stop being an ass.” 

“I didn’t ask for advice,” Damian growls. 

“We are aware and we also are aware that you never will,” Colin nods. 

“Why not let yourself be happy, Dames?” Jon asks. 

“I am happy,” Damian glares at the two of them then walks out of the room, tired of hearing their advice. 

“Think he’ll listen?” Colin asks. 

Jon shrugs. 

“Who knows.” 

. . . 

Your back hits the ground but you roll to the balls of your feet, breathing hard. You tighten your grip on your bo staff, ready to lunge for another hit when you notice Damian walk into the training room. As he walks toward you, you straighten up and grab your water, figuring it’s time for a break. Damian raises his eyebrows at your bo staff. 

“That’s not your normal choice in weapons,” He observes. 

You shrug, taking a swing of water and ignoring your cheeks heating up. While you wanted to expand your training, you’ve seen Damian using a bo staff a lot. He seems to like them so you figured you’d give them a shot. Besides, Tim has given you a few pointers. 

“Decided to try something new,” You say casually. 

Damian quirks an eyebrow, but says nothing else. 

“I’ve been thinking--” He starts. 

“A dangerous pastime,” You nod solemnly. 

Damian glares at you but continues, as if he didn’t hear your sarcastic comment. 

“We have a strong enough firewall on the computer in the Tower that if your arrows malfunctioned, we could detect and fight a security breach.” 

“So, I can bring them on the mission?” You finish. 

“Yes.” 

“Sweet!” You grin, pumping your fist. 

Damian rolls his eyes again at your celebration, but you can see him trying not to smile. He turns to leave, but you look back at the bo staff you were training with. 

“Wait! Damian!” You call. 

He turns, looking at you with raised eyebrows. 

“You’re better with a bo staff than I am,” You admit. “Wanna help me out?” 

Damian’s eyes flicker between you and the bo staff. You see a small smile fighting its way onto his face. 

“I’ll change into something more suiting for training.” 

You grin, spinning the staff around you then go into a mock solute. 

“Yes, commander.” 

Damian rolls his eyes again, but leaves to change. 

. . . 

You swing your staff up hard, but Damian blocks it and swipes at your legs with a low kick. Grinning as he falls into the expected move, you flip your staff around and hit Damian’s side. He grunts and moves again, this time, landing a hard blow to your arm. You grimace at the force, but swing your staff around again and manage to knock Damian’s legs out from under him with a move he showed you. 

Damian hits the ground hard with a grunt, but instead of rolling to his feet for another hit, he lays on the ground, looking a little dazed. 

“I got it!” You cheered as Damian sits up, watching you with a small smile. 

“Drive your hips more so the power doesn’t come from your arms as much,” He instructs. 

“You know, with all the archery I do,” You flex a muscular arm. “I’m pretty sure my arms are stronger than my hips at this point.” 

Damian rolls his eyes as he pushes himself to his feet. You swear you sees his eyes lingering on your flexed arm. 

“Basic anatomy,” He claims. 

“Right, your definition of “basic” and a normal person’s is pretty different.” 

Damian raises an eyebrow at you. 

“How do you mean?” 

You narrow your eyes. 

“You know what I mean.” 

“I don’t,” But the slow start of a shit eating grin on his face tells you Damian knows how you meant that statement. 

You groan, throwing your hands up. 

“Okay, fine, Wayne. I’ll give it to you, you’re pretty smart.” 

“Am I now?” Damian full on grins, making your heart flutter. 

You roll your eyes again, despite your raised heart rate. 

“I’m not going to say it again.” 

“I didn’t think you would. It doesn’t change the truth.” 

You sigh, shaking your head. 

“Why do I still like you, knowing you’re a total asshole?” You question as you walk toward your water. 

Damian freezes for a moment, your words slowly mulling over in his head. Before he can say anything else, his watch beeps. Damian looks down at it with a scowl.

“Duty calls?” You ask, handing Damian his water. 

He looks up from the notification and nods. 

“Get dressed, we leave in ten minutes.”

. . . 

Following your normal post mission tradition, you relax on the roof with a few boxes of take out. You dig into your box of fried rice, enjoying the view as your legs dangle over the edge of the huge tower. The roof access door opens and someone sits next to you but you don’t have to turn to see who. Wordlessly, you hold out Damian’s vegetarian Lo Mein which you took the courtesy to grab while he showered after the mission. 

“Your arrows worked,” Damian comments, accepting the box from you and digging in with his own chopsticks. 

“Mmhm,” You hum with a smirk. “Told you.” 

Damian rolls his eyes. 

“Of course you wouldn’t be able to resist making a childish remark.” 

You grin, nudging Damian’s shoulder. 

“You knew I already knew the arrows worked. You just wanted to hear me say it.” 

“I absolutely did not.” 

“Sure you didn’t. I’m irresistible.” 

“You’re insufferable,” Damian corrects. 

“I still don’t believe that line.” 

“Your belief does not change the truth.” 

You laugh, leaning against Damian as you both continue eating, enjoying the view and each other’s company. After the first time Damian joined you on the roof, it became both of your traditions to enjoy your post mission meals together. Later, you would rejoin the team for game night or movie night, but for now, you two enjoy your quiet meals and unwind peacefully. 

Once your meals are finished and the boxes are discarded to the side, you scoot closer to Damian, resting your head on his shoulder. He slowly places a hand on your knee, seeming a bit uncertain. You smile to yourself and squeeze his arm, scooting a little closer to encourage him. He leans into you, seeming more relaxed by the affection. 

“You know,” You finally say after a few minutes of silently watching the sun set. “I turned out liking you a lot more than I originally planned.” 

“How much did you intend to like me?” Damian asks.

You feel him starting to go stiff. 

“Well, given you insulted me when I first met you,” You point out with a shrug. “I didn’t expect to like you very much.” 

“And now?” Damian asks hesitantly. 

You lift your head from Damian’s shoulder to look at him, your noses inches away.

“Now, you’re pretty alright,” You tease, admiring his pretty green eyes. 

Damian rolls his eyes with a small laugh. 

“Just alright?” He asks, squeezing your knee lightly. 

“Well,” You shrug again, feeling your heart pound. “Maybe a little more than alright.” 

You stare at each other for a long moment until Damian’s eyes flicker to your lips. Here goes nothing. Before you can bring yourself to regret, you close the small distance between each other and press your lips to his. He’s hesitant for a moment, stiff against you. Before you can pull away, Damian’s fingers sink into your hair, pulling you closer as he kisses you back. 

You melt into the kiss and grip his shirt tightly. As he shifts his head to deepen the kiss, a voice yells from behind you: 

“It’s about time!” 

You and Damian jump apart, still holding a hand on each other to see Jon standing by the roof access door. Damian scowls at him while Jon grins like he’s just won the lottery. 

“You have no idea how annoying it was so watch you two pretend like you don’t like each other,” Jon rolls his eyes. “Come on, we’re starting game night.” 

He disappears back through the door as you look back at Damian. 

“Well, duty calls,” You joke, sliding off the ledge. 

Damian turns, catches your wrist, and tugs you back to him.

“They can wait,” He mutters to you, kissing you again. 

You happily melt into the kiss, your hands on Damian’s chest as his hands slide to your hips. 

“Am I still insufferable?” You tease against Damian’s lips. 

He smirks, standing to his feet and pulling you close by your waist. 

“Yes,” He kisses you again. 

I’ve been writing things as I get inspiration. I think I’ll be compiling a prompt lists soon because I have some request... They are really big ideas and I don’t think I can take on any projects that big right now. I hope you enjoyed! 

[sketchnskribbles]

To Overcome

Frightbear Crew AU [AO3]

Chapter 1: Homebound Pt 1

Word Count: 4k

Genre: Adventure, Angst, Family Angst, Found Family, Horror, Mystery, Humor

Character(s): Springtrap/William Afton, Henry Emily, Charlotte Emily, The Puppet, Marionette, Foxy, Golden Freddy, Crying Child, Evan Afton, Ballora, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Original Character(s)

Summary: The semester is almost over and the summer is coming quickly. Jennifer Acker needed to figure out what she was going to do for a job. Thankfully, her cousin calls and offers her one. Not as fortunate, she'd be helping design the props and rooms for his upcoming horror house based on all the myths and legends surrounding a particularly notorious failed restaurant chain. Despite her easily frightened nature, she accepts and is brought into a whirlwind of mystery surrounding the bloody past of Fazbear Entertainment. 

Welcome to Fazbear’s Frights, where the scares are fresh and the rabbit is out to get you.

A FnaF 3 AU, inspired by said game as well as FnaF: Security Breach

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with the FNAF franchise. I merely own my own OCs and my silly little AU.

To add on, I am only aware of the basics of the incredibly confusing lore behind the games. Never have I read the books or graphic novel. My AU has its own in-universe history of my own design with hints of what could be considered the “canon” history. The series of events have been ordered to what works with my AU and personal headcanons and will be explained in bits as the main characters learn more about what happened. There will be some “miscommunication” of Fazbear’s history when certain characters give their two cents about the myths and legends. Anything spoken out of the mouth of Henry will be Certifiable FactTM. Anything out of anybody else’s mouth… *cough*William*cough*, is up to chance. But what do you expect out of a child murderer?

Any questions or want of clarification about my AU or even just to talk/theorize, don't hesitate to invade my ask box!

This chapter is a lot of world building and everything spoken about the past is merely the assumption of these certain characters.

~~~

The door of the shared dorm room slammed shut as one Jennifer Acker flung her bag onto the end of her bed and dropped face first into the plushness of her pillow. That week had been long and hard as she struggled to do her assigned work. As well as panicked as she studied all that she could for the ever near finals tests. The semester was nearly over and she had absolutely no idea what she was planning on doing for a summer job. As sad as it was, living was expensive. Plus, she would need to save up whatever she could for any future purposes. 

Her roommate, as immaculate as ever, had planned out every step she was going to take. So, the other girl felt no pressure other than to study hard. It probably helped that she had a family well off enough to help in any finances. Harper Tobin was living the dream. Studies in the day, parties in the night. 

Jennifer had no such luck, unfortunately. Nor did she have any hard feelings over it. Her mother worked hard to keep a roof over her brother's head and food on the table. It was all on her to ensure she had what she needed for college and needs. Anything left over she typically sent in through the mail back home to help in whatever way she could.

"Hey, hon. Rough day?" Harper's voice cut through the air, clear as day, as she looked over to her drying nails at her roommate. Beautifully cut golden hair, impeccable makeup, and a color coordinated outfit. Harper truly looked the part for Legally Blonde. Most didn't look past the physical to see the truly gifted mind underneath. It was all too common for people to treat her as dumb but she'd grown to endure it. The girl had been relieved when she'd struck gold with her roommate and, dare she say, the most best friend she'd ever had.

A groan was Jennifer's answer. The brunette reluctantly turned herself around and glared wearily into the artificial lighting above.

"That bad, huh?" The other continued, blowing onto her newly coated polish.

"I both can't wait and dread when this semester is over." The brunette finally said. "Finals week is going to kill me but I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do for the summer."

"You could always come with me. There's always some job in need of more employees back where I'm from. Plus, my family would love you. You'd fit right in." Harper's offer was sweet but Jennifer would only feel like a burden. Still, she didn't want her friend to feel bad.

"I'll think about it." She had absolutely no intention of accepting. Although, a small week trip might be in the cards if she timed things right and was able to save up enough. 

Jennifer jumped when her phone began to vibrate and ring. Picking it out of her pocket, she took one glance at the Caller ID and answered it.

"Hi Quinn, what's up?" 

Quinton Bixby was both her close childhood friend and cousin. Older than her by a year, he was the big brother she never had. Despite the fact that it had been years since his parents had decided to move them over to Oregon, they stayed as thick as thieves. From penpals to text buddies, they kept in constant touch.

"Hey there, Jenni! I was wondering if you had any plans for your summer break? If not, I have an offer that you certainly could not— nay! Should not refuse." Her eyes rolled at his exuberance. He was always the more lively and excitable of the two. There was never a moment with him that was boring. The textbook definition of "life of the party". Quinton annoyed the heck out of her but she loved him for it. If it weren't for him, she probably wouldn't be nearly as sociable as she was now.

"Okay… shoot." She immediately regretted her words when he began to make stupid little "pew, pew" noises on the other side of the line. "Oh, c'mon. Stop."

"Okay, okay." He laughed before pulling himself back together. "So, just this recently I've had the most awesome idea—"

"That's dangerous." Jenni snickered and was countered by a staticky raspberry from the other side of the line.

"Shut up. Anyways, my genius brain cooked up the most wonderful of business opportunities! Wanna guess?" 

"Not really." 

"Guess!"

"Fine, fine. You've just recently moved back to Morgan, right?" 

"Mhmm." He hummed in agreement. Sitting up, her eyes glared down at her lap as she thought hard about his supposed success. She knew that the last thing he'd been trying to get started had to do with some type of attraction or entertainment. Which was to be both expected and probably smart. Considering the majority of her hometown's revenue came from its parks and other fun activities. If he could figure out his own perfect niche, he'd probably be set. There was lots of money for such things in Morgan City. What was something that she felt her hometown could probably benefit from? 

"I don't think we have a go-kart arena. Maybe… a cool little mini golf course? Those sound fun and right up your alley."

"No, no. But both are valid." There was something thoughtful in his tone. "Although, they don't sound half bad, either. Gotta remember to include you into the think tank, squirt."

"I'm only a year younger than you. Where'd "squirt" come from, old man?" Jennifer bit back with a laugh. Her cousin gave out another raspberry. Something that he always did when struggling for a response. She certainly missed him and his antics. "Okay, okay. What was your oh-so-amazing latest business venture?"

"Imagine it!" His voice took on his best attempt at an announcer's tone and, honestly, he wasn't half bad. "Freddy's Frights! The place where your nightmares become reality!"

"Ugh, what?" Her nose crinkled in distaste. "Like some scary haunted mansion thing? You know how I get about that."

Unbeknownst to her, Harper had perked up on the other side of the room. Intrigued, the blonde walked over and decided to perch onto her roommate's bed. Jennifer silently scooted over to give her more room until both were leaning against the wall side by side, their feet hanging off the side. The phone was placed on speaker.

"I know. But this place doesn't have much to come by for things like that. I mean, maybe the school and local church does some childish spooky mazes and stuff during October but… what about the teenagers? It'd be a gold mine of taking advantage of the hilarious teen affinity for dares."

"Okay, but Freddy? Like Freddy Krueger? The guy who murders a whole camp of people in that one movie?" At Jennifer's words Harper covered her mouth with a giggle. The brunette gave her a sharp glare and poked her with an elbow.

"Wow. That was all sorts of wrong." Quinton huffed. "First off: Freddy Krueger is the one who kills people through their dreams. You're thinking of Jason Voorhees."

"Whatever." She frowned and ignored another round of chortles beside her. "You're the horror enthusiast, not me. I couldn't even last a second in our favorite Pumpkin Patch's "haunted castle" attraction."

That caused him to laugh. She could imagine him pretending to wipe away a tear. If she could, she'd punch him.

"Look, I'm just in need of someone to oversee props and design. You won't even be heavily involved in any of the "scary stuff". I need someone really good with the creative aspect and, well, Jenni you are really good with stuff like that."

As flattered as she was, that didn't stop the angry twisting in her gut.

"I figure that it wouldn't be as bad for you because you'd be the one behind the scenes, making it happen! You'd even be paid." He continued to plead at her prolonged silence.

"You really want me on this with you." Jenni softened up considerably, mulling it over. 

"Well, of course. We do everything together. The dream team!"

"We haven't properly seen each other in years, Quinn." She argued but reluctantly gave way. Unconsciously, she messed with the sleeve of her shirt. "I'll think about it." 

"That's all I could ask for." He sighed.

"Going back a couple steps… you said "Freddy's Frights. There's only one other Freddy I know..." The brunette cringed and hoped she was wrong. Probably the one thing that marred her city’s background. It created an entire phobia of animal-esque robots out of the majority of its citizens. It was both a source of gossip and fear. It was honestly surprising that no one had used that to their entrepreneurial advantage before.

"Now you've got it! Freddy Fazbear. Honestly, the name's still pending. Your bout of confusion was a good eye opener." 

"Freddy Fazbear?" Harper blurted out in confusion, then gasped and covered her mouth again. She hadn't meant to speak up. Her eyes glanced over to Jennifer as if checking to see if she overstepped her bounds.

"Oh, hello!" Jennifer's cousin happily greeted. Count on him to be excited to make a new friend. 

"Hi…" The blonde nervously waved despite the fact that Quinton couldn't possibly see it. Jennifer smiled.

"It's always good to see —or in this case hear— a new pal. You must be, Harper. Jenni's roommate that she talks so much about. How are you doing?"

"You must be Quinton, her favorite cousin. It's been a pretty nice day today. Cloudless and sunny, but with a cool breeze to balance it all out." She happily reported before her previous confusion took over. "Now who's "Freddy Fazbear"? What's that all about?"

"Oh, no." The brunette rolled her eyes and groaned. Harper shot her friend a confused glance before focusing back on the phone when a hyper giggle sounded out from its speakers.

"Now, do I have a story for you! One of terror and tragedy." Her cousin's "spooky voice" along with his addition of sound effects did little in soothing Jennifer's rising irritation. On the other hand, the goofiness only served to make the blonde smile. Her roommate's cousin seemed like a fun guy to be around and she hoped that maybe one day she'd get to meet him in person. "A long time ago, in the year of 1974, a fun little restaurant known as Fredbear's Family Diner opened up. This diner, however, wasn't like any other. No, the owners of this fine establishment were mechanical geniuses and wished to bring fun and joy into the lives of all the kids of Morgan City. By doing this they came with the fantastical idea of creating animatronics that could also shift into wearable suits."

"Wait, what?" Harper blinked. Jennifer also raised an eyebrow. The brunette had known that they were animal-based robots, but they were also wearable? That… was actually impressive.

"How does that work exactly?" Jennifer asked. "It kind of sounds like something that came out of a fiction novel or comic book."

"Obviously, I'm not entirely certain on the details but from things I've looked up, they're sometimes called "springlock suits". I guess there was a special crank that you could connect to one of the gears and by turning the handle, it would essentially shift parts of the inner mechanics to give enough room for someone to wear."

"That actually sounds really cool. Also, kind of creepy. I don't think I'd want to be in such a small space with working robot parts." The blonde shuddered. "Although, I am kind of surprised that this is apparently something that can actually be done, yet this is the first I've heard of it."

"It's actually apparently pretty dangerous. According to Henry Emily -one of the two men that created these suits-, his partner and co-owner, William Afton, died due to a "springlock error". I guess even a drop of water onto one of the springs could cause all the parts to snap back into place and, well… squish." Harper looked at Jennifer in horror. She only looked back, just the same. "In fact, the owners were quite aware of this flaw. So, they made sure that they were the only ones allowed to wear them."

"And you're sure this is all real? Not some made up story?" The brunette bit her lip. 

"Oh, yeah. I've actually gotten lunch with Mr. Emily and he showed me the blueprints for these things. Heck, he even invited me over one day to his house to get a good look at his old Fredbear suit."

"You've gotten lunch with this guy?" Harper's jaw dropped. "That's so cool!"

"Hah, yeah. I kind of need his permission in order to make my horror house based on his old diner a reality."

"That makes sense." The blonde nodded. "So, what, your place is going to be based on that Afton guy's death?"

"It's actually based on the stories of the animatronics going crazy in the night, after they had a remodel."

"Okay, I'm lost again." Harper sighed, causing her roommate to giggle.

"And back to the story! The animatronics they created were designed in the form of a lovable duo, a bunny and a bear. The bunny, Springbonnie, was a natural at the banjo. While Fredbear had an amazing voice. It didn't take very long at all for the town to catch wind of this new hoppin' dive and soon the place was packed nearly all days of the week. 

"Everyone wanted to get a peek at the robots who could not only perform on the stage but move around and even interact! The popularity didn't even stop there. People that were only visiting sent word back home about these fantastical machines and would come back with friends and family. Heck, they had even made the news!

"Afton and Emily couldn't have possibly asked for anything better. Except, just a year later, Afton had gotten married and eventually had a child. A couple years later, Emily had adopted a baby of his own. It was truly a joyous time for the Emily-Afton family."

"Aw, this is actually a really nice story." Harper cut in with a bewildered smile. 

"Just wait." Jennifer muttered with a sullen frown. "Things will start to get really muddled and confused, from years of rumor and here-say."

"You know about this?" The blonde tilted her head.

"Everyone who's lived in Morgan, Utah all their lives like us knows this story. Multiple versions really."

"Ah."

"Anyway, like Jenni said, things will start to get hazy. However, all can agree that underneath all the cute happiness and cheer, there was a darkness to the place. You see, it all started with the Bite of '83."

"The what?!" Harper rasped out with a shrill.

"The Bite of '83. Where a lone child was happily watching the robots sing their programmed songs, as all the other children and adults were off doing their thing." Jennifer wrapped her arms tightly to her person with a frown. "When suddenly Fredbear bends over and just chomps down on this poor kid's head!"

"Nuh-uh, no way!" The blonde gasps and covers her ears. "That's so freaky, what the heck?! This actually happened?"

"Oh, yeah. The Bite happened for sure. There's old newspaper clippings and other stuff about it. I even tried to clarify it with Mr. Emily. He said yes but wouldn't go into detail about it. His eyes gained a haunted look to them, I'm pretty sure he was there that day."

"That poor man. Must have been so hard to see that." Harper shook her head. Then a crease appeared between her brows. "How could that have possibly happened, though? They wouldn't be programmed to do such a thing, right?"

"That's a good point. It kind of sounds deliberate, huh?" The brunette hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, no matter how it happened, it did. And the kid died a few days later due to medical complications." 

Jennifer gave Harper's shoulder a comforting squeeze when she saw tears begin to well up in the other's eyes. The blonde always had such a huge heart for people. 

"And with that horrifying incident on the forefront of everyone's minds, Fredbear's Family Diner was forced to shut down. Nobody wanted to come back and possibly become another victim to the bear.

"Until four years later… by the time 1987 came around, people had mostly forgotten about the Bite of '83. Save for parents who wished to use it as a warning tale to frighten children into some common sense. The owners, previously downtrodden by the harsh words of the public, refused to be entirely beaten down. They quickly got to work and decided to completely relocate.

"A chain link fence was put up in a newly bought plot of land, construction vehicles of all sorts drove in and out. People were beginning to talk. Many were beginning to even get excited. The older kids had started to regal the younger about their memories of an amazing place filled with yummy food and singing animals. The residents of Morgan were actually excited.

"Then it finally came: Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. And this new place had not two, not three, but four animatronics."

"Where did "Fazbear" even come from?" The blonde wrinkled her nose. Jennifer only smirked and shrugged.

"Good question. Haven't the slightest, it just is."

"Alright then. Continue."

"Where was I— that's right. Fredbear and Springbonnie were things of the past! In their place were Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie Bunny, Chica Chicken, and the dread pirate Foxy."

"I thought it was Captain Foxy?" The brunette interrupted her cousin.

"Nah, there was this whole thing where the fox would simply call all the kids "captain" and declare himself their "First Mate".

"Oh."

"That's actually pretty cute." Harper smiled. "Man, I know it ends badly but I kind of wish I got the chance to visit during its prime."

"Same. And the kids were absolutely wild about Freddy's pizza. If people hadn't yet forgotten about the incident, they certainly did upon viewing the unadulterated joy on their kids' faces. Unfortunately, this wasn't anywhere near the end of the terror. As not too long after reopening, there began to be a series of missing children reports. 

Now, one probably wouldn't normally attribute a pizza parlor to child theft. Except that there came a point in the investigation that they realized all the cases had one thing in common. They had all been there during the Bite of '83."

"Shut. Up." Harper squealed, hiking her knees up to her chest. "You're sure you aren't just reading the plot of some horror film?"

"Couldn't make it up if I tried." Quinton chuckled. "Now, it was at this point in time where the investigation was then taken to Freddy's. One night, after closing, they searched the place high and low. Within every crevice they could. There was nothing. The place was clean. Though those sent to search admitted to getting a sick feeling in their stomach, as if they were doused in fear. 

"Ew, like they could sense something was wrong?" At Harper's words, Jennifer decided to scoot closer and cling to her roommate's arm. No longer comfortable. Was it just her or was the room darker than it was before? 

"Not only that but the next night after they searched, the pizzeria's night guard came screaming into the station about haunted animatronics trying to kill him. He had long gouges going down his arms that looked like they came from claws and his shoulder looked like something decided to take a bite out of him."

"No…" Jennifer's skin was beginning to crawl. She was definitely reaching her limit. "Okay, we're done! Long story short: the robots were normal during the day but rabid by night. They'd constantly be trying to kill the night guards. Many liked to think that it was the vengeful ghosts of the kids that were killed. That theory is disbanded by the now released police statements explaining how Mr. Afton had been attempting to make a security-mode feature in the robots, which didn't read the guards on shift as "friendly". Which then leads into the Bite of '87, where a security guard lost his frontal lobe to one of those things."

Jennifer sucked in a deep breath, then flinched when she realized that Harper was gaping at her. There was also a thick silence from the phone. 

"...I thought Afton had died from the original Bonnie suit?" Harper asked, feeling some pity well up at the jittery mess that was her friend. 

"Sorry, no. He did but not until after the reopening. I'm not entirely certain why but he had decided at one point to place on the old suit and then squish."

"Please stop saying that." The brunette ran a hand down her face. She was mortified at her outburst but thankful it was over. And it was, she'd make sure of it. "You see, this is why I don't think I'd be cut out for outfitting your horror house. I can't even handle the story."

"It'd probably be no different than going on a movie set of a scene in the imagined future of a Terminator movie. At least, that's how I view it in my head… plus, y'know. Some blood and gore or something."

She sighed and slumped, rolling her eyes. Harper gave her a tiny nudge with a smile.

"You should try it before you quit. It's not everyday you get to do something as exciting as design pieces for a horror house. I mean, you love being creative! The fact that it's out of your comfort zone should make you feel thrilled. It'd be a challenge, for sure."

"You should listen to your roommate, Jenni. She's obviously smart." Her cousin added unhelpfully.

"...I'm keeping my answer at: I'll think about it." Jennifer gave a pout.

"Okay, I have one more question about the story— if you're okay with that!" Harper put up her hands in the air in an effort to fend off the glare she received.

"I'm okay with it!" 

Jennifer's glare moved to the phone.

"Did they ever figure out what happened to the kids?"

"Nope. Not even a single strand of hair was found. Just. Vanished. The children were no more. It's probably both the biggest mystery and calamity of our city."

"That's so awful." Harper wiped underneath one of her eyes. With a sniff she gave the phone a curious glance. "How do you know all of this, anyway? That was a lot of information."

"Ha. Ever since Quinn learned about the story of Freddy's, he's been obsessed with paranormal stuff. Our family used to do a camping trip every year and he'd always insist on going Bigfoot hunting with me or something." The brunette shook her head with a fond smile. "He'd always tell me every crazy story he came across, no matter how much I told him to stop."

"Not my fault you're a big baby."

"Not my fault you're so weird!"

Quinn blew a raspberry, which sounded staticky coming out of the speakers. This caused the girl's to laugh. Not too long after that, Harper had said her goodbyes and made to get ready for bed. After a little bit more catching up, Jennifer said her own goodbye and hung up the phone.

"He seems really nice." Harper stated as she walked out of the bathroom. She was brushing her hair. Jennifer, herself, had just finished getting dressed and was fluffing up her pillow.

"He's probably one of the nicest people you could ever meet. I don't know if he's even capable of being mean." The brunette stopped and then blinked. "No, wait. Nevermind. He used to throw sticks at me and I knew to stay away whenever he had gum, because he'd try to stick it into my hair when he was finished chewing it."

The blonde laughed hard at that and wondered why the world couldn't have let her meet these two sooner. They were so… lively and fun. She was just glad they were in her life now.

The two crawled into their bed, lights now out. After a beat Jennifer turned over and faced where she knew Harper's bed was.

"Hey." She whispered despite the fact that they were the only two in the room. "Would it be weird if I asked if I could sleep over there? I don't think I'm going to be able to keep from thinking about...uh…"

"Hop in, fam." She didn't even hesitate in her answer. She tugged up the covers and it wasn't long until her best friend was snuggled up right next to her.

"Goodnight."

"Night, hun."

[samanthadalton]

The Bodyguard (AU) PART 1

pairings: Poppy x Bea

Wanted to write a fic based on this post, thank you @alexlabhont for showing us that tik tok. Going to be a series so i don’t know how many parts. Also this is a slow burn and I’ll add more context as the story progresses so it makes sense (i may steal some names of counties from PB 😅👀)

warnings: mentions of blood, violence and death in this chapter

taglist: @cloud9in @somewillwin @alleycat97 @baexpoppy @save-me-the-last-dance @helpconfusedpersonhere @dopeyouth @alexlabhont @thedaft1 @veenast @cloakanddaggerthings (added people from my usual poppy taglist if you wanna be added or taken off just let me know ☺️☺️)

word count: 5.1k (wasn’t expecting it to be this long)

also i was using my phone to copy and paste from google docs so i apologise if the layout of the fic is weird, it kept cutting off sentences and paragraphs so hopefully they’re actually here and the story makes sense 😅😅

2 weeks earlier

Poppy stands, paralysed with fear, as she watches her assailant point the gun at her. The tears threaten to free fall as her eyes move towards her father’s dying body, blood sprouting from his mouth. He clutches at his chest, his hands and chest painted red as his breaths come out short and harrowing. Poppy balls her hands up into fists, her lip slightly trembling as she watches the aggressor yell, her mind too overwhelmed to articulate the words coming out of his mouth. She watches the evil glint in his eyes as he watches the life drain of her father’s body; how his lips twist into a viscous scowl as he screams at her, the gun in his hand wildly flying around. A deafening gunshot pulls Poppy out of her reverie, her hands moving to grab her body, looking for the wound, but when she hears the assailant’s body hit the floor, seeing the blood oozing out of his mouth, she turns back to see the royal guards pouring into the room. A sigh of relief comes out of her, before realisation hits her and she slides her body over to her father, her hands uselessly hovering over him and the dam of tears break through.

Present

Poppy gasps heavily, her sleep immediately breaking as her body jerks upwards. She brings her hand up to wipe the slick cold sweat that breaks out on her forehead, steadying her excessive pants. Another night where her sleep is broken by the same nightmare, she shudders at the thought of the man who killed her father invading her thoughts, recollecting the way he broke into a malicious grin as she lamented for her father’s life. She lets out a shaky breath as her hands subconsciously grip the blanket, her brain going haywire as she squeezes her eyes shut.

“It’s just a dream,” she whispers to herself, “it’s just a dream.”

Unsure of how much time has passed, she sharply inhales, opening one of her eyes to glance at the window, the sunlight barely peeking through the curtains as she groans throwing her head back onto her pillow, a groan escaping her lips. Just as she feels the sleep about to consume her, her bedroom door flies open, immediately alerting her.

“Why are you still in bed?” Her mother raises an eyebrow, her tone stern, yet lacking any emotion.

Poppy sighs rubbing at the temples of her forehead, agitated “I was hoping to have a few more minutes to myself.”

Her mother dismissively waves her hand at her, “get up. We have business to deal with.” She turns and walks out of the room, leaving Poppy on her own.

After a while Poppy makes her way to the Great Hall, her lady in waiting greets her with a warm smile, “good morning your Royal Highness,” she slightly tilts her head as she bows, her brows slightly creased with worry as she gazes at the eyebags under Poppy’s eyes.

“Goodmorning Taylor,” Poppy scans the room, “where is my mother?”

“Her Majesty requested that you have breakfast in the garden today.”

Poppy hums, “she hasn’t been in the garden since father passed.” Taylor gives Poppy a sorrowful smile, struggling to respond to Poppy’s blunt admission. Poppy waves her hand, “I’ll meet her now.” She walks through the palace until she reaches the garden, she closes her eyes, feeling at peace for a few fleeting moments until it’s broken by her mother’s voice, calling out to her.

“Poppy quit dilly dallying, take a seat we have much to discuss.”

Poppy obediently follows her mother’s orders, carefully sliding into her seat, keeping her posture upright as one of the servants pours her out some tea while she glances expectedly at her mother, “so why all the urgency today?”

“There’s going to be some changes at the castle.”

Poppy raises an eyebrow, “oh? Do tell.”

“There will be an increase in security, we won’t have a breach like last time.” As Poppy gazes at her mother, she sees her face fall for a few moments, grief swimming in her eyes before she quickly masks it, her usual stoic demeanour taking over, making Poppy question whether she actually saw her mother show some emotion. “The Royal Guard are putting in some more extreme measures to ensure our safety here. Speaking of which, I have someone I would like to introduce you to.” She lifts her hands, beckoning someone and when the figure comes into appearance, Poppy can’t help but stare a little.

The woman is young, she looks slightly rough around the edges, but still quite beautiful. Poppy’s gaze darts down to her arms, they’re heavily toned, meaning she’s very strong. She assesses her uniform, her suit looking more polished than her usual guards, and when their eyes meet, her gaze pierces into Poppy’s, momentarily taking her breath away at the sheer intensity.

“This is your new bodyguard.”

Poppy’s face twists into a scowl, “a bodyguard? What am I twelve?” Her eyes dart back to the woman’s, anger boiling inside of her, “and she’s a woman.”

“With all due respect Miss Min Sinclair,” the woman speaks up, her voice smooth as velvet and her tone welcoming, a stark contrast to Poppy’s hostile demeanor. “I’ve had a lot of training. I graduated top of my class and I’m more than qualified to look after you.”

“Look after me? What are you, my babysitter?”

“Poppy!” Her mother calls out, admonishingly, “I apologise for my daughter’s enmity, she’s yet to learn the poise of a princess.”

The woman bows her head, “no need to apologize your Majesty. I understand the situation is overwhelming.”

Her Majesty speaks out, “as for Miss Hughes being a woman,” Poppy feels her heart beating in her chest a little faster, Hughes, it rolls off the tongue easily, “she will be able to guard you at all times, even in situations where you may be compromised. I think it’s only fitting that your bodyguard can keep a close eye on you.”

Poppy opens her mouth to retort but the bodyguard beats her to the punch, “Your Highness if I may?” Poppy gives her a small nod indicating her to continue, “I’m not here to intrude on your life, I’m here to ensure your safety. These people are ruthless, I know you’ve seen first hand what they are capable of. I’m here to make sure you don’t share the same fate as your father.” As she speaks, her voice is steady, strong, lacking in compassion but filled with promise. Poppy watches her with a careful gaze, unsure of what to make of her new companion.

“I don’t have a choice, consequences of being the royal heir I guess.”

Poppy stands and turns her back to walk into the palace but her mother calls out to her, “darling do me a favor and show Miss Hughes her chambers.”

“Am I her maid now?” Poppy retorts through gritted teeth.

“Seeing as she’ll be taking up accommodation in the room adjacent to yours, it's only fitting you show her where to stay. I’m sure she needs to do some preliminary security sweeps.” Her Majesty gives Poppy an authoritarian glare and Poppy sighs before walking off, her bodyguard trailing after her.

Poppy leads her bodyguard into her room, gesturing to the room, “well this is your room, but that’s already obvious. I’ll have one of the maids make up your bed for you.” She turns to the woman, assessing her, “so, do you have a name or do I call you Hughes?”

“Bea. But if you feel comfortable calling me Hughes, I won’t stop you.”

“I’ll feel more comfortable if my mother stopped treating me like a child and keeping me at bay from the rest of the world.”

“Well that’s why I’m here. So you can resume your usual activities but having someone watch over you while you do.” Bea walks out of the room, and goes into Poppy’s room, her eyes darting all over the room, as she begins sweeping the room.

“Excuse you? What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Poppy says, her voice filled with agitation.

“A security sweep. I have to make sure your room isn’t compromised.” Bea continues looking through her room, as she begins opening and closing drawers, her slender fingers feeling around the outside and inside making sure there is nothing suspicious.

“Well unless you’re secretly a pervert, there’s nothing there except my underwear.” Poppy rushes to close the drawer, a blush creeping up on her cheeks. Bea’s eyebrows shoot up but she steps away, her expression blank as she does. “Well. My friends are coming over, try not to get in the way.”

Poppy begins lumbering toward one of her living rooms, and squeals as two girls begin running up to her. Bea protectively stands in front of Poppy, signalling to the girls to stop. Poppy rolls her eyes, pushing Bea slightly to the side, “at ease soldier, they’re not going to kill me.”

“Can’t be too careful.”

Poppy responds with a scowl before turning to her friends, her scowl immediately diminishing. “Ladies, it’s been a while.”

A girl with ombre coloured hair wraps Poppy into a right hug, a solemn expression on her face, “I’m so sorry Poppy, I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for you.”

Poppy’s lip quivers for a few seconds before she bites down on it, slightly sniffling, “thanks Veronica.” Bea watches the interaction with careful eyes, observing the fall in Poppy’s expression as she pulls apart from the hug before being tackled into another one by a blonde girl. “Jesus Chloe, maybe my bodyguard should step in.” Bea steps forward, but Poppy smirks, “chill Hughes, I was kidding.”

“Right.” Bea’s expression remains serious as she watches the girls, but Poppy expectantly glares at her.

“Can we get some privacy?”

Bea nods, walking to the corner of the room, her eyes not leaving Poppy as she crosses her arms, standing guard. Veronica gazes at Bea, her eyes filled with admiration as her roams Bea. “She’s hot.”

Poppy scoffs, “don’t tell me your standards have dropped so low,” Poppy reprimands, taking a seat on one of the chairs.

“Not all of us are surrounded by gorgeous princes and aristocrats,” Veronica teases, “let me thirst in peace.”

“But she’s a bodyguard,” Chloe adds, a tinge of disgust in her tone.

“Classist much Chlo?” Veronica huffs, as her eyes return to gawking at Bea. Poppy sighs, but indulges in polite conversation until her obligations as a princess arise and she says goodbye to her friends before indulging in her chores.

Over the next few weeks, Poppy is still hostile towards Bea, still not fully comfortable with the idea of having a bodyguard. Tensions around the palace are at an all time high, as the number of guards have increased and are always at alert.

“Good morning your Highness.”

Poppy gasps, clutching at her chest, “jesus!” When she glances at Bea she swears she can see a hint of a smile of her face but it’s gone just as quick.

“Your mother is asking for you.”

“Of course she is. Well we shouldn’t let her Majesty wait.” Poppy climbs out of bed, her body still slightly sleep deprived as she stumbles towards the bathroom, Bea watches her with a frown before following her. “Excuse me? Haven’t you ever heard of privacy?”

“How long have you been struggling to sleep for?” Bea’s tone is monotone but her facial expression is worrisome.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Bea sighs, letting her usual icy demeanour drop slightly, “do you remember the old head of security, Marc?”

Poppy nods, “he was always so nice to me.”

“That was my father.” Poppy’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Yeah.” Bea gives Poppy a half smile, “before I took this job, I kinda resented my father, I used to think, how does a man who talks a big deal about the importance of family barely be in our lives? What job was so important that he could barely be at home with us? But I understand it now. I know I haven’t been working at this post long, but I get it.” Bea’s eyes pierce intensely into Poppy’s, forcing the strawberry blonde to let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. “My job is to protect you, Miss Min Sinclair, I won’t let anything get in the way of that.”

Poppy’s eyes search Bea’s looking for… something she can’t quite put her finger on, “that’s…. reassuring. Thank you Hughes. And you can call me Poppy, if you’re supposed to be always around me, we can drop the formalities.”

Bea gives Poppy a nod of appreciation, “of course, Poppy.” She gives her a small smile, “well I should let you shower.” Bea turns to leave but Poppy calls out to her.

“Hughes.” Bea stops in her tracks, turning to face her, “why did you take this job?”

Bea looks off into the distance, a pensive look on her face, “curiosity. I wanted to follow my father’s footsteps in terms of training but when your mother offered me the job, I felt compelled to say yes. Just to see how demanding it would be and now I see my father in a whole new light.” Poppy gives Bea a sad smile, “I can’t imagine what it feels like watching your father die in front of you, but give yourself time to grieve. Don’t be like your mom and lock away your feelings, because it will eat you up until it’s too late.” Bea pointedly glances away, training her gaze to the ground, “I’ll wait in the hallway, you should hurry, your mother was adamant about you meeting her as soon as possible.” Before Poppy can thank Bea, she’s already out of the bathroom. Once Poppy has finished getting ready, Bea greets her with a small nod, and Poppy can already feel the shift in their relationship, as she begins to feel more at ease with Bea being around her.

Once they enter the Great Hall, Poppy takes a seat at the table, and her mother greets her with a frown. “I thought that when I urged the significance of this meeting you would come faster.”

Before Poppy can reply, Bea intercepts, “that was my fault Your Majesty, I was going over the security guidelines for the dress store.”

Poppy’s mother turns to face Bea, a glimmer of humor in her eyes, “thank you Miss Hughes, and I told you call me Ana, you’re practically family.” Bea bows her head in gratification, as Ana gestures towards one of the chairs, “why don’t you take a seat and eat some breakfast and I won’t take no for an answer.”

Bea smiles and takes a seat opposite Poppy, before reaching out for some croissants, placing them on her plate before pouring herself some tea, not letting one of the house servants do it. “Thank you.. Ana.”

“Of course, also I’m giving you the day off for the gala next week.”

Bea furrows her brows in confusion, her eyes shooting to look at Poppy, “what about..” she clears her throat as her eyes meet Poppy’s, “security?”

Ana dismissively waves her hand, “I’ve hired the best security and I’ve personally gone over the plans with the Head of security, we’re safe. Bea hesitantly nods, as she pointedly glances away, looking down at her plate.

“Thank you.”

“As for you my dear,” Ana turns to Poppy, her expression emotionless, “this will be our first public appearance since,” she cuts herself off, “it’s imperative we make our guests feel at ease, so make sure you do your rounds and introduce yourself to all of our allies.”

“Yes mother,” Poppy says obediently. “May I be excused, I have an appointment at the dress store.”

“If you must, we will continue this conversation later. Also tell Miss Lombardi that the dress I received was beautiful.”

“Of course Your Majesty.”

Once Poppy reaches the dress store, Bea protectively goes in first and begins looking at the store, earning a confused glance from the owner. “Bodyguard.” Poppy retorts, earning a nod of understanding from the woman. Bea gives Poppy a nod of satisfaction earning an eye roll from the strawberry blonde who makes her way into the back of the store to greet her friends, Veronica and Chloe who look like they’ve been waiting a while based on how comfortably they’re sitting on the couch. Bea does a quick security sweep on the insides of the dressing rooms as the girls indulge in some small talk. Once she’s done, she gives Poppy a satisfied nod.

Veronica says as she pushes herself off the couch to stand, Chloe follows suit a few seconds later. “My mom left your dress in the dressing room.” Poppy smiles and makes her way inside while Bea stands in the corner of the room, patiently waiting as Poppy tries on her dress. The woman from earlier enters, holding some measuring tape and a box of needles, pins and thread in one hand while a few dresses are draped across the other, just as Poppy exits the room, wearing her dress. Bea casts a glance, unable to tear her eyes away from the strawberry blonde.

“Your Highness.” The woman says as she bows, earning a small but unnoticeable eye roll from Veronica. “If you just stand up on this, I can make the final adjustments. Veronica sweetie, take these dresses and you girls try it on while I do the final measurements for Miss Min Sinclair. Veronica grabs the dresses beckoning Chloe to follow her into the dressing room, Poppy stands on the platform, staring at herself in the mirror but she catches Bea’s eyes on her through the mirror, tilting her head with curiosity glistening in her eyes.

“Hughes, what do you think?”

Bea breaks her stoic demeanour as she gives Poppy a panicked look, breaking eye contact, “I don’t think it would be appropriate.”

Poppy sighs, “no need to be such a prude, I’m only asking for your opinion.”

Bea clears her throat, “you look..beautiful.”

Poppy breaks out into a wide grin, her eyes roaming herself, “hmm I do. You did an amazing job Ms Lombardi.”

“Thank you so much Your Highness.” Veronica’s mother replies, a smile on her face.

Veronica’s voice rings out, “I need some help zipping up.”

Veronica’s mother turns back to look at Bea, “if you won’t mind dear, I have my hands full.” She makes a show of displaying the needles and pins in her hands and Bea gives a polite nod before making her way to the dressing room.

“Someone needs help with a zip?”

“Yes.” Veronica opens the door of her dressing room, a small smile on her lips, “hi.” She turns, presenting her back as Bea steps forward to zip her up, placing her hand on the small of Veronica’s back as she begins pulling up the zip. “Poppy told me you’re not working the gala.”

“Yes I’ve gotten the day off,” Bea responds, her tone flat.

“Well do you have any plans for the day?”

“Considering I just found out I have the day off I haven’t made any sudden plans.” Bea steps back, finished with pulling up the zip and Veronica runs her hands down the sides of her dress before turning to face Bea.

“Thank you.” Bea gives Veronica a polite smile, “Be my date to the gala.”

Bea lets out a small laugh, “well aren’t you blunt?” She responds, a hint of a smile of her face.

“Well I didn’t grow up with everything being handed to me, so bluntness is kinda my thing. So will you?” She stares at Bea expectedly.

Bea sighs, slightly scrunching her lips, “I don’t think that would be appropriate. You’re one of Poppy’s closest friends and it wouldn’t be professional of me.”

Veronica raises an eyebrow, unimpressed, “so? Screw unprofessionalism. People like you and me are like at the bottom of the food chain. I love Poppy but at the end of the day, she’s still royalty and will always look down on people like me or my mom. So if you wanna enjoy a party, do it! Don’t let them dictate you like that.”

“Are you done?” Bea replies with a smile. All the while, Poppy steps into the dressing room but steps out of view, watching the interaction, only seeing Bea from the angle she’s standing at, but she feels a small pang in her chest as she watches Bea smile at Veronica, wondering why she’s never seen Bea smile like that at her. “If I say yes will you stop ranting?”

“Maybe,” Veronica retorts, suppressing a smile by pressing her lips together in a thin line.

Bea nods, “okay, I’ll be your date.” Veronica cheers, pulling Bea into a small hug before planting a kiss on her cheek. Bea slightly blushes before pulling away, her icy demeanour returning, “I should get back.”

“Oh of course. To be continued?”

“Yes.” Bea places a chaste kiss on Veronica’s cheek before walking out of the dressing room. Poppy panics as she sees Bea about to turn in her direction and runs back out to the room, pretending as if nothing has happened.

The rest of the day goes by and it’s as if the heart to heart between Poppy and Bea in the morning hasn’t happened as Poppy’s hostile personality returns and she begins pushing Bea away again, infuriating the bodyguard as the strawberry blonde makes her job harder.

….

The day of the gala arrives and Poppy is like a spawn of satan, rushing the servants around, screaming her head off as she barks orders at them. “Your queen has insisted that tonight goes perfectly, do not disappoint otherwise it will be all of our heads on a spike.” She glances around, fixing the decor, or making someone else fix it for her, before getting ready, slipping into her dress. She places a crown on her head, the jewels sparkling under the chandelier lights, as Poppy smooths down her dress, appraising herself in the mirror.

“Guess who?” A pair of hands cover her eyes, as the voice speaks low and playfully into her ear.

Poppy squeals, pulling the hands away from her eyes before turning, “Bradley! You came.” She greets him with a long kiss, before pulling away, wiping her forefinger across his lips, “sorry gif some lipstick on you.”

“That’s okay,” he laughs, as he pulls on the hem of his suit jacket, straightening it. “Shall we?” He holds out his arm as Poppy wraps hers around it, smiling up at him, “you look gorgeous by the way.”

“Thank you, you look dashing.” The couple make their way to the ballroom where the party is already in full swing, “we just need to make some quick introductions.” Poppy gazes around the room, noticing the increase in royal guards standing at their posts, and feels a tinge of satisfaction, no ones dying today, she thinks to herself as her and Bradley, introduce and mingle with the important people.

Simultaneously, Bea opens the door of the limo, before taking out her hand which Veronica gratefully slides her hand into as Bea pulls her out of the car. “You look radiant by the way.”

Veronica blushes, “thank you, and you clean up spectacularly well.”

“Thank you,” Bea says as she runs her hands across her dress. “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

When they enter the ballroom, Veronica offers to grab some drinks as Bea stands, scanning the room looking for anything suspicious. As she does she catches Poppy with her arm wrapped around an unfamiliar man, a wide smile on her face.

“Come in you’re off duty.”

“Sorry,” Bea replies, flushing with embarrassment, “habit.”

“That’s okay,” Veronica hands over one of the glasses to Bea, before taking a careful sip of her drink.

“Who is that with Poppy, I don’t think I’ve been debriefed on him yet.”

Veronica scans the room until her eyes fall on Poppy, “that’s her boyfriend Bradley.”

Bea raises her eyebrows in confusion, “boyfriend? I wasn’t told about this.”

“Well that’s probably because he hasn’t been here for the last few months. He was off building homes in a poor country or something.”

“Huh that’s charitable of him,” Bea replies flatly.

Veronica drains the contents of her glass before intertwining her fingers with Bea’s, “enough about them let’s dance.” Veronica pulls Bea onto the dance floor, and begins grinding on her, while Bea awkwardly stands, unable to apprehend what Veronica is doing. They’re interrupted by a familiar voice.

“So you two are here together?” Poppy’s eyes dart between Bea and Veronica, her tone nonchalant.

“Yes we are,” Veronica wraps her arms around Bea’s neck, pulling her closer. Poppy gives Veronica a weird look. Sensing the tension, Bea slightly pulls out of Veronica’s grasp turning to look at Bradley.

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” she holds out a hand which Bradley shakes, his expression warm and inviting.

“Bradley, and you are?”

“My bodyguard,” Poppy interrupts, her tone slightly mocking.

“Bea Hughes.” Bea brings her hand back to her side, a smile on her face, “it was nice meeting you.”

“Same to you,” Bradley gives the girls a small nod before pulling Poppy away, whispering into her ear, “I think we should get out of here, there’s something I wanted to show you.”

“How? This place is heavily guarded.”

“Follow me.” Bradley takes her hand as they slip away from the party, unsuspectingly.

Bea looks over at Veronica, a frown on her face, “is everything okay?”

“Yep. Did you hear the judgement in Poppy’s voice? God she can be so infuriating sometimes. I need a drink.” Veronica storms off, leaving Bea in the middle of the dance floor. Her eyes begin scanning the room and she feels alarmed when she notices Poppy not in the room anymore. She begins looking all around the room before Veronica joins her, confused. “Is everything okay?”

“Where’s Poppy?”

Veronica surveys the room, huffing, “she’s probably gone to hook up with Bradley.”

Bea frowns, “something doesn’t feel right, I’m going to go look for them, stay here.” Before Veronica can respond Bea is already gone, making her way through the crowd as she slips out. Bea begins looking around the palace until she sees the end of Poppy’s dress just as she goes into a room, hesitantly Bea follows. Just as she reaches the room, she twists the handle, opening the door and goes into a defensive stance as Bradley swings around, pulling Poppy against him, holding a knife to her throat.

“Hughes,” Poppy whimpers as Bradley harshly shushes her.

“Let’s all just calm down here,” Bea raises her hands, her voice low and soft, “let’s not do anything abrupt.”

“Let us leave and nothing will have to happen.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Bea takes a step closer promoting Bradley to push the knife against Poppy’s neck, making a small cut.

“Can’t do that I’m afraid,” the previous warm glint that shone in Bradley’s eyes are gone, replaced with a more hysterical one, insanity glimmering beneath the surface. “This is for the Sons of Veronica.” Just before he can do anything, Bea leaps forward pulling Poppy out of his grasp, stepping in front of her, just as Bradley’s knife wildly swings, slicing her, just under her chest. Bea groans slightly before grabbing his wrist, pulling it backwards, evoking a scream from Bradley as she snaps his wrist.

“Poppy run!” Poppy hyperventalies as she reaches the door but when she throws it open, she gasps.

“Hughes.”

Bea turns to see a wide, built man, standing in the doorway, anger written in his face. She throws Bradley to the side before, pushing Poppy away, throwing a series of precise punches at the man. Unfazed, he grabs Bea by the throat, throwing her against the wall, his grip tightening. Bea gasps as she clutches at her throat, feeling the air leave her lungs as she tries to muster up the strength to claw and punch her way out. Instead she feels dizzy, her eyes slowly closing as she feels herself losing consciousness. Out of nowhere, Poppy smashes a vase over the man’s head, causing him to loosen his grip around Bea’s throat. He angrily huffs, backhanding Poppy, as she hits her head against the corner of a desk. Bea calls out of her, anger filling up her entire body as she lets out a primal battle cry and swipes her leg under the man’s, resulting in him losing his balance. She then flips his body around, pressing the front of him to ground as her knee digs into his neck. A few moments later his body goes limp and Bea moves away, running towards Poppy who lays on the ground unmoving.

“Poppy!” She calls out, worried but she sighs breath of relief when she sees Poppy’s eyelids fluttering open. “Are you okay?”

Poppy nods clutching at her head, “my head hurts,” Bea reaches out, placing her fingers on a small cut that has formed on Poppy’s head.

“You’re okay.” A series of groans snaps her out as she looks up to see Bradley trembling as he holds out a knife, his hand violently shaking. Bea stands, kicking him square in the chest, causing him to crash into some cupboards, knocking him out. Bea pulls out her phone, calling the guards to put the palace on lockdown in case there are any more surprises.

After being checked by a medical professional, Ana rushes pulling Poppy into a huge hug, tears falling down her face, “thank god you’re okay. I don’t think I could handle losing your father and you.” She gratefully kisses the crown of Poppy’s head before turning to look at Bea, a grateful smile on her face. “And you Miss Hughes,” she pulls away from Poppy, pulling Bea into a hug, “if it wasn’t for you I-“ she begins sobbing as Bea rubs comforting circles on her back.

“Just doing my job.”

“Thank you,” Ana says, as she holds both of Bea’s hands in hers, “even when you weren’t on duty you saved my daughter’s life, thank you.” Bea nods as Ana pulls her in for another hug. Poppy watches as the police put Bradley and the other man into handcuffs, a frown on her face.

She turns to her mother, “what is Sons of Victoria?”

Ana stammers, “where did you hear that?” She gazes around the room, her expression careful.

Bradley mentioned it before he attacked us, what are you not telling me?”

Ana awkwardly glances around the room before lowering her voice to a whisper, “we have a lot to discuss.”

[angelofrainfrogs]

We Found Him, Superstar: Ch. 12

Fandom: Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Since starting his new afterlife at the Pizzaplex, Gregory has managed to befriend the Glamrock animatronics and made a surprising discovery—Bonnie’s been hidden in the basement warehouse this entire time, badly decommissioned but still powered on. Along with Bonnie are the endoskeletons that, no longer under the virus’s control, seem much more sentient than normal animatronics… Gregory and his friends are determined to get Bonnie back into commission and figure out the mysteries of what exactly these endoskeletons are—and how to help them, too.

Chapter Summary: Another disturbing dream only leads to more questions about what’s really going on underneath the surface of the Pizzaplex. Meanwhile, true to their word the night guards have already begun researching how the kids are stuck—and most importantly, if there’s a way to get them out.

Rating: T

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38728158/chapters/105706782

Freddy returned to his room with a spring in his step, happy to finally see Gregory. The boy must have been exhausted, since there’d been no sign of him all day. However, Freddy’s smile quickly faded when he opened the door and saw Gregory curled up into a ball underneath the blanket, very much awake and looking absolutely terrified.

“Gregory, what is wrong?!” Freddy asked, rushing over to crouch by the boy’s side and putting a gentle hand on his head. Upon hearing Freddy's voice, Gregory quickly sat up and leaned into his arms.

“I just... I had another weird dream! I-I didn't like it…,” he explained, shaking slightly as he clung to the bear.

“I am sorry; I am here now, so you do not need to worry,” Freddy reassured, holding him close. “As strange as they can be, dreams are not real and nothing within them can harm you.”

Gregory quickly shook his head, shutting his eyes tightly. “But this one was really real, Freddy! I was there!”

Freddy moved to sit on the couch, shifting Gregory onto his lap as he stared down at him in concern. “I do not understand—can you describe what you saw?”

Gregory laid his head on Freddy's chest, sighing softly. “You and me were by the elevator to the basement, but I was also down the hall looking towards us! You were holding me, but my... my body was facing us!” He explained as best as he could, trying to get his point across. “I was shaking you and telling you to do something; I-I couldn’t hear what I was saying, but I looked really scared! But when I turned to look in my dream, it went all black again... I don't know...” The boy sighed and shook his head, latching onto Freddy's neck. “When I couldn’t see anymore I heard the voices again—they were saying ‘she’s still here!’”

“‘She is still here’…?” Freddy echoed, then shook his head with a sigh. “Unfortunately, I do not know what to tell you this time, superstar; it may have just been a bad dream. You went through a lot of things that you have not had a chance to appropriately process yet.”

Gregory reached over to grab his blanket, wrapping it around his small body as an extra form of comfort. “I didn't like it… It felt too real.”

“You are safe with me. We do not have to go to the basement tonight, if it will distress you; you know Bonnie would meet us here if we called him.”

“Yeah… I want Bonnie to come up here…,” Gregory murmured as his breathing finally began to calm down.

“Alright,” Freddy agreed with a gentle smile. He blinked, connecting directly to Bonnie’s Fazwatch, which the bunny always made sure to keep by his side when down in the basement. “Bonnie, would you be able to meet us in our room tonight? Please tell the children that we apologize for not stopping by, but we will visit again soon.”

“You got it!” Bonnie responded after a few seconds, his voice going directly into Freddy’s head.

“He is on the way,” the bear said aloud, giving Gregory a comforting squeeze.

“Okay… I'll be okay to go tomorrow! Just... not today.”

“I am sure they will understand; how about we play a bit while we wait for Bonnie?” Freddy suggested, wanting to get Gregory’s mind off his nightmare.

“Yeah! I'll show Bonnie my toys now that he's coming!” Gregory said, already beginning to feel a lot better as he threw the blanket to the side and hopped off Freddy’s lap to go to his toy chest.

***

“It’s me!” Bonnie called through the closed door a few minutes later, and Freddy got up to let him in. The rabbit noticed Gregory sitting in the middle of the floor and immediately plopped down next to him, stretching his legs out and leaning back against the couch. “Ooh, look at all this cool stuff! You’ve got it made, bud!”

Gregory immediately climbed into his lap and got comfortable. He grinned and reached over to grab the Bonnie plushie, holding it up. “I got it all from the gift shop!”

“Aww, it looks just like me, don'tcha think?” Bonnie asked, taking the plush and holding it next to his grinning face. His gaze briefly shifted to Freddy as the bear sat on the couch near him. “Wait—you mean to tell me Freddy lets you take stuff from the gift shop?!”

“The Pizzaplex is Gregory's home, so he should be allowed access to the items he wants within reason,” Freddy replied, trying to justify the situation. He chuckled lightly. “Besides, you know how they mass-produce merchandise; I do not think the gift shop will miss a few toys or items of clothing here and there.”

Gregory smiled, quickly nodding his head. “And I can't go get my other toys from before I started living here! Well… I don't think I can.” He leaned to the side and grabbed an action figure of Freddy, holding it up to Bonnie to see. “This one’s my favorite!”

“It's awesome!” Bonnie agreed with a nod. “Looks like you've got a nice little place here, Gregory; I'm glad. I know Freddy takes great care of you.”

“I do my best,” Freddy said humbly. He opened his mouth to say something else, when there was suddenly another knock at the door.

“Hey, Freddy? It's us—er, Thomas and Leon,” one of the night guards called from outside. “You still in there?”

Gregory perked up as he heard Thomas’s voice. He thought for a moment before looking over at Freddy worriedly. What if they saw Bonnie?

“We didn't tell them... about you,” he told Bonnie slowly, setting his toys back down.

“If your charging pod is still in the back, I can hide there!” the rabbit whispered quickly, gently removing Gregory from his lap to stand up. Freddy nodded and Bonnie flashed a smile before quickly disappearing into the back storage area.

“I am here,” Freddy said loudly, moving to open the door as Gregory trailed along behind him. Thomas and Leon were standing just outside, their heads snapping up in unison as Freddy appeared—the animatronics always seemed so much taller in person. They hadn't seemed to hear Bonnie's whispering and assumed the loud footsteps were just Freddy walking to let them in.

“I wonder what they need...,” Gregory mumbled, watching the door open from his safe spot behind Freddy’s leg.

Leon cleared his throat, seeming a lot less uneasy than be had the day prior. “We needed to talk to you again... Nothing too serious, just wanted to fill you in on some stuff we found.”

“We tried to do some research last night like we said we would and came across some topics of interest,” Thomas explained, trying to look around Freddy as if the ghost boy would suddenly appear. The guard narrowed his eyes as he swore he caught a flash of fabric moving around just behind Freddy's leg, suspiciously like the same color palate as the shirt Gregory put on yesterday. “...Is Gregory here, by the way?”

“Yes, he is right behind me; you may come in, if you wish,” Freddy replied, stepping aside with a smile. He knew the guards would have no reason to check the storage area, so he wasn't worried about Bonnie being spotted right now.

“We, uh... we saw a lot through the web, and it was really difficult finding a clear answer on what might be going on with the kids and whatever items they’re trapped in,” Leon explained as he took a seat on the end of the couch, then held a few sheets of paper out towards Freddy. “Those are the theories with the most relevant information, at least from what we know, and instructions on how to possibly free the kids based on that.”

“Thank you,” Freddy said, gently taking the papers and looking them over. He didn't fully understand what he was reading, but before he could ask Leon to clarify Thomas spoke up.

“I was also trying to look into the disappearances themselves, but I didn't find too much; Fazbear Entertainment does a surprisingly good job of covering things up,” Thomas said, a sour note in his voice as he moved to stand next to Leon, having too much nervous energy to sit. He couldn’t believe the company got away with so many horrible things that people just… forgot about as time went on. “We did find the names and ages of all the kids, though.” He paused, looking at Freddy curiously. “Well, except Gregory.”

“As I stated before, he has no parents to look for him,” Freddy said, feeling it wasn’t the right time to go into Gregory’s backstory. Once the boy could communicate with the guards, he could decide if and when to tell them about his past.

Gregory folded his arms over his chest and looked away as he heard that his information wasn't found at all. It was as if he never even existed… But at this point he didn't mind all that much, since he now existed here in the Pizzaplex with his new family.

Leon leaned back in his seat, sighing softly. “It's as if this place takes no responsibility for the loss of children... Which is weird considering how uptight the security is during the daytime.”

“Day and night are quite different here—it is almost as if the building becomes a separate place during off-hours,” Freddy commented, placing a comforting hand on Gregory's back. He held the papers up again, tilting his head at Leon questioningly. “You said you found instructions—can you please elaborate?”

The boy gently tugged on Freddy's arm in an attempt to see, although he was met with complicated phrases he couldn't read and immediately pulled away.

“So, I found instructions online for different rituals when it comes to spirits attached to items,” Leon began, sitting up straight again as he explained. “The third page I gave you explains why spirits get attached to items. I've only found two potentially viable ways to actually remove spirits from items but... The others I've seen explain how to expel spirits, which is in a totally different ballpark. This means that worst case scenario, you'll have to let them pass on. Ideally we’d give them the choice, but if there’s no way to do that, then…” He shrugged, letting the implication hang in the air.

“No! Don't do that…,” Gregory insisted, quickly shaking his head and tugging on Freddy’s hand. Having the kids be completely removed to someplace else? Who knew where they'd end up?! Gregory didn't understand the afterlife except for what his own currently turned into—a happy home with a new family that loved him. If he were given the choice to move onto a strange place, he knew without a doubt he’d always pick the option to stay with Freddy.

“Do not fret, Gregory—he is worried about the children passing onto an unfamiliar place,” Freddy quickly explained to the guards. He placed the papers on his vanity and then picked Gregory up, settling him in his arms. Thomas tracked the movement of the small t-shirt, his eyes wide and fascinated.

“Yeah, don't worry!” The guard tried to give the boy a reassuring smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. “Like Leon said, that's a worst-case scenario; we're definitely gonna try and just get them out of... whatever they're trapped in.” He paused, frowning; Freddy never specified what exactly the spirits were tied to, which was crucial knowledge for any of these ritual things to work.

Gregory immediately clung onto Freddy as he was lifted up, wrapping his arms around his neck comfortably. He felt a bit more relieved knowing the guards wouldn't do anything that could potentially move the kids elsewhere unless it was a last-ditch effort, but on the flip side he now worried that they wouldn't be able to get them out at all.

“We haven't looked too hard into having them crossover for that reason—we're still on the lookout for any other information,” Leon added, then rubbed the back of his neck as he thought of what Thomas said. “So, do you know what exactly these kids are, uh... stuck to?”

Freddy remained quiet for a moment, knowing the guards were not going to like this answer. “Well... I presume you have seen what animatronics such as I look like inside—our internal skeletal structure, if you will?”

“Yeeeeah, I've seen pictures—it's really freaky, no offence... Why?” Thomas said slowly, instinctively stepping closer to Leon. Freddy's assumption was right—he wasn't liking the turn this conversation was taking. “D-Don't tell me they're, like... stuck inside the animatronics?!”

“Not exactly,” Freddy replied with a shake of his head. “In order to make sure that we can continue on with performances in the event of damage or a major malfunction, the company has created back-ups of these internal structures, commonly referred to as endoskeletons. These are mainly stored in a specific area of the basement.” Freddy paused, his gaze shifting between Thomas and Leon's. “These are what the children are stuck to.”

Thomas let out a little yelp, shutting his eyes for a moment as he tried to process this new turn of events. Leon grimaced, though otherwise seemed to take this information in stride. His mind was already wandering back to his research, trying to put together puzzle pieces now that they had a little more concrete information.

“Maybe... doll possession will be an easier search? It should be the same thing in theory, right?” Leon mused as he scratched the top of his head. “I searched up breaking the object, but that doesn’t really seem to do anything—they’ll remain stuck nonetheless. We need to either find some sort of spell or ritual to get them out, or completely destroy the object. Burning won't do anything I assume in this case, since endoskeletons can melt but not necessarily disintegrate...”

Gregory had begun squirming, so Freddy set him back down as the conversation went on. Moving back to his toys and taking a seat, he absently played with his action figures as he listened. He just wanted a clear answer already… When Leon finished speaking Gregory got up and made his way over to Thomas, showing off his Freddy action figure by holding it up over his head.

“Tell them I didn't get stuck 'cause I wasn't taken to the endoskeletons!” Gregory remarked as he waved the action figure around.

“Gregory says that he did not get stuck like the other children because he managed to get away before he was taken to the endoskeletons,” Freddy explained, smiling softly as he watched Gregory try to interact with the guard. “Also, he would like to show you his favorite toy.”

“Oh! Uh, h-hey, little guy!” Thomas said, trying not to shake as his anxiety spiked when the floating shirt and action figure suddenly moved towards him. He half-heartedly reached out a hand towards the toy, not entirely sure if Gregory wanted him to take it or not. “That's r-really cool, yeah! Also... I'm glad you didn't get stuck, too.”

Gregory let Thomas take a hold of the action figure before he returned to playing with the rest of his toys in the small pile. Leon hummed, studying the interaction for a moment. It seemed that Gregory really wasn't malicious at all—not that he necessarily thought he was, but the situation was so wild that he couldn’t help but have his doubts.

“I've read that you had to be very careful with releasing spirits,” he added, all the same. Gregory was one thing, but a whole crew of supposed ghosts tied to robots? They might not be so nice. “Some can have malicious intent and can even disguise themselves as children... Demons, I mean.”

Gregory looked up at Freddy and immediately shook his head. “I know they aren't demons! I can tell because they feel nice. William Afton did not feel nice at all.”

“Gregory can... sense their intent,” Freddy translated, watching the boy set his toys in a row. “We have encountered an extremely malicious spirit in the past, and the souls within the endoskeletons are nothing like that. I obviously do not have the same supernatural abilities as he does, but I will also vouch for them; they may be an unnerving sight at first, but they are good.”

“Well, that's... good, I guess?” Thomas said hesitantly, turning the Freddy action figure over in his hands before looking at Leon. “I don't even wanna know what a 'not nice' spirit is like...”

“At least we know exactly what we're dealing with as far as the kids go,” Leon mentioned with a chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest. “But we'll make sure to keep looking for a way to get them out.”

“Thank you; I cannot express how much we appreciate your help,” Freddy said in a tone full of genuine gratefulness.

“It’s fine,” Thomas said, waving a nonchalant hand. Slowly, he walked over to Gregory and carefully placed the Freddy action figure at the end of the row of toys. Thomas then stood up, smiling in the direction of where the boy sat. “There you go, Gregory; you've got a lot of neat stuff!”

“I know!” he answered simply, looking over at Freddy with a bright smile. He suddenly perked up, jumping to his feet. “Freddy! Ask them if they can figure out how I'm able to use my energy and stuff!”

“Good idea, superstar!” Freddy exclaimed, then looked to the guards eagerly. “Perhaps you could also do some research on how ghosts manifest their powers? We are still unsure of everything Gregory can do, and even the things that we do know were learned through trial and error.”

“Uh... sure,” Thomas agreed, raising an eyebrow at Leon. “We'll try our best...”

Leon looked over at Thomas, nodding his head. “We'll do what we can.”

Gregory jumped up with excitement, throwing his fist up. “Yes!”

Freddy picked him up with a laugh. “Gregory is very excited!”

“Good!” Thomas said with a grin. It was weird not being able to see Gregory, but it was clear in the way Freddy watched and interacted with him that, even though he was just a robot, the animatronic really did love this kid more than anything. Thomas shook his head, letting out a small chuckle. “God, this place is so much crazier than I thought it'd be...”

Leon slowly got up, folding his arms over his chest. It made his heart ache to know Gregory's fate, but it also made him happy to see that he was obviously in good hands. “Yeah... Well, it looks like we have a new job to do. At least this research shouldn’t be as creepy as ‘ritual ghost possession’ or whatever...”

“Thank you again,” Freddy said, turning as the guards made their way to the door. “We will let you know if we happen to come across anything that we think may help as well.”

“Sounds good,” Thomas replied, nodding. He gave Gregory a wave, his grin actually staying this time; he really was just a kid, in the end—nothing to be afraid of.

Gregory waved even though he knew the guards couldn’t see him as they walked out of the room. Peering out of the curtain, Freddy made sure the guards were sufficiently far away before opening the door to the back room and calling out: “They are gone now, Bonnie; you can come back!”

“They don't seem too bad!” the rabbit commented as he emerged from his hiding spot. “I only heard bits and pieces, but it seems like they genuinely want to help the kids, which is something I definitely understand.”

Gregory nodded, shooting Bonnie a grin. “Yeah! At first I didn't trust them but... Now I think they're super nice!”

“Hey, if you guys trust them, then so do I,” Bonnie replied. “So... what are we doing tonight? More bowling?”

“I wanna give you a tour!” Gregory insisted, offering him a bright grin as he reached out his arms for Bonnie to lift him.

“Lead the way, Commander Gregory!” the bunny said once Gregory was settled on his shoulders, walking out into the main area of Rockstar Row with Freddy trailing closely behind. Gregory laughed, immediately pointing down the long hall.

“You can see here, aaaaall the Glamrock rooms!” he announced excitedly. “Maybe when you come back, you can stay in Freddy's room, too!”

“Not that I do not enjoy Bonnie’s company, but it may be a bit crowded with the three of us,” Freddy said with a laugh. “Perhaps if Bonnie becomes part of the band again, they will build a new space for him as well.”

“Ooh, I hope so!” Bonnie agreed eagerly. “I don’t want to be switching between everyone’s rooms for the rest of my life!” He chuckled, then hummed in thought. “Hmm… now that I think about it, we’re eventually gonna have to find a place where all the kids can stay, too…”

“But Bonnie can stay on the couch with me!” Gregory insisted, smiling at his brilliant idea. He then tilted his head as Bonnie brought up the children, thinking of where they could possibly go. He let out a little hum and leaned over to look upside down at Bonnie’s face. “Maybe... They can be split up with the animatronics!”

Bonnie stopped in his tracks, staring up at Gregory for a moment before turning his head to meet Freddy’s gaze. “Gregory… That’s brilliant! I’m sure everyone has a favorite they’d want to stick with if they can, just like you and Freddy!”

“Yes… that might be the best option,” Freddy agreed slowly. “I know Sun and Moon can handle much more than nine children at a time, but even they cannot keep them all forever—and the children certainly cannot remain in the basement, either… I will bring the idea up to the others the next time we see them.”

“I'm sure they wouldn't mind!” Gregory said as he kicked his legs, continuing to mess with Bonnie's ears, moving them back and forth. “Then you'll have your own room they can hang out in, too!”

“Great plan,” Bonnie agreed, chuckling as Gregory messed with his ears. He couldn’t really feel it, not in the way Gregory would if his ear was tugged… but the animatronics were always subconsciously aware of what wires and parts were moving within their bodies, so Bonnie knew exactly which ones caused each appendage to tilt.

“Where to next, superstar?” Freddy asked at they entered the main atrium.

Gregory thought to himself before gasping. “The gift shop! I want Bonnie to see all the new stuff!”

And so they went, with Bonnie looking around the building in awe as they moved. Apart from the rebrand with Monty and some new advertisements, not much else had changed during his time away—a fact which he was grateful for. Soon they entered the gift shop, Bonnie spinning in a slow circle to see at all the merchandise. Now this stuff was certainly different!

Gregory smiled happily, looking around with excitement. He began pointing to different items, explaining each one in child-like detail. “I love the Freddy ones because they remind me of Freddy, of course—and I like looking like him!”

“Hmm…,” Bonnie hummed, tilting his head to look at Gregory upside down again. “Yeah, I can see the resemblance!”

“Thank you!” Gregory exclaimed, grinning at Bonnie before looking over at Freddy and giving him a thumbs-up. His eyes passed over another section of the gift shop, to which he quickly pointed. “Oh, and they have cool water bottles and backpacks!”

“We should get you a backpack,” Freddy said, turning to face the display. “Perhaps we can find a place to store it backstage—you can keep snacks in it and replenish your energy between our shows, just like we recharge.”

Gregory gasped before looking over at Freddy. “Yes please! I want the Freddy one!”

The bear zipped a water bottle securely in the chosen backpack, moving around to slip it onto Gregory’s shoulders. “It suits you perfectly, superstar! How does it feel?”

“Awesome! I love it!” The boy giggled as he reached his hands back to feel at the backpack. “It feels like I'm going to school!”

He’d never been to school, but he always wanted to go! He figured it was a lot of fun, getting to learn and make friends. Freddy and Bonnie shared a look, feeling identical tugs on their nonexistent heartstrings.

“Hey, maybe that’s something we can do with you and the kids someday?” Bonnie suggested with a soft smile. “Not actually sending you outside the Pizzaplex, but I’m sure we could set up a little ‘classroom’ somewhere and pretend!”

“Yes…,” Freddy trailed off slowly, frowning as he really thought about this. He’d been so focused these past few weeks on making sure Gregory felt safe and loved that he hadn’t given much thought to other important aspects of the boy’s life. Maybe he could ask the techs to install some educational software in his databanks the next time he went in for an upgrade…

“Yes! I want to!” Gregory insisted as he set his hands on top of Bonnie's head. Even if it was just pretend, it'd still be one of the closest things to “normalcy” he’d ever had.

Bonnie chuckled and gripped his legs firmly as the boy’s wriggling increased. “We’ll definitely make it happen, then! So… where to next?”

“Hmm... Oh! Can we show Bonnie Roxy's Raceway?” Gregory asked Freddy as he sat himself up straight.

“Of course!” the bear replied, leading the way out of the gift shop. Bonnie followed behind, ducking when they traveled through doorways and elevators and listening to Gregory chatter about everything and anything as they walked. Soon enough they were stepping under the gate leading to the main racetrack area.

“Looks like they’re revamping this place!” Bonnie commented, swiveling his head to take it all in.

“Isn't it neat?” Gregory pointed to the starting line. “Roxy took me out to the racetrack once but I teleported out of the car! It was kinda fun though!”

“Oh! Well… at least it was fun in the end, right?” Bonnie said, watching Freddy sigh at the memory.

“She goes much too fast…,” Freddy commented, shaking his head.

“You’re not talking about me, are you Fredbear?” Roxy called, suddenly emerging from one of the garages where the race cars were stored. She stared up at the group on the balcony, hands on her hips. “I don’t go too fast—the kid just wasn’t ready for the thrill of racing yet!”

Gregory perked up at the wolf’s voice, immediately leaning over and waving excitedly. “Hi Roxy! Yeah, it was fun and scary!”

“Hey, Gregory!” Roxy replied, waving back. “I’m ready to try another race with you anytime you’re ready—if your cranky ol’ dad will let you, that is.”

“I am not cranky,” Freddy said, shooting Bonnie a look as the bunny snickered. “I am merely being cautious as to Gregory’s well-being.”

“Eh, he’ll be fiiiine!” Roxy waved a nonchalant hand, and Freddy turned his gaze on her.

“That is what you said last time…”

“Maybe soon!” Gregory said as he looked over at Freddy hopefully. “Also, look at what Freddy gave me! My own backpack!” He twisted and turned his body in an attempt to show Roxy his new item.

“Nice!” Roxy said with a laugh as Bonnie turned to accommodate Gregory’s twisting. “It matches your shirt, too!”

“He’s gonna have all of Freddy’s merch soon,” Bonnie commented, peering over his shoulder to give Gregory a grin.

“Mhm—I’m gonna have all of Freddy’s merch!” the boy repeated, placing his hands on his hips.

Freddy beamed, a sense of affectionate pride overwhelming him. He never doubted that Gregory loved him, but it was still nice to hear him say things that proved this fact so nonchalantly.

“Urgh—you’re so cute…,” Roxy said, dramatically clutching her chest where her heart would be. “Freddy’s so lucky to have a kid like you—the rest of us only get to see super fans every once in a while!”

“Don't worry Roxy, I have a bunch of your stuff too!” Gregory reassured.

“Oh good!” The wolf paused, tiling her head. “…You have more of my stuff than Monty’s, right?”

“Man, you guys never stop competing, do you?” Bonnie commented with a roll of his eyes, and Freddy simply sighed.

Gregory giggled quietly before shrugging his shoulders. “I dunno, I haven't really kept count…”

“Hmph; well, next time you take stock, make sure my stuff takes up more space than that gator’s, okay?” Roxy asked with a grin.

“Speaking of Monty, do you know if he is wandering tonight as well?” Freddy asked. He figured if Roxy was hanging around her attraction, the others would likely be in theirs too. Sure enough, Roxy nodded and replied:

“Yeah, I think he’s playing golf, as usual. Oh, but—” She cut herself off as she started laughing, clutching her sides for a few seconds before recovering enough to speak again. “—but as I was coming up here I saw him scare the crap out of those night guards again! Thomas jumped like twenty feet in the air!”

“Oh goodness…” Freddy heaved another sigh, shaking his head. “They are just trying to help...”

“Maybe we can go see Monty next, then Chica!” Gregory suggested as he moved Bonnie's ears in a way to substitute his own hand gestures.

“I’m never gonna need to oil these ears again…,” Bonnie muttered quietly, though he was clearly more amused than annoyed with Gregory’s constant attention.

“Yes, let us do that,” Freddy agreed with a nod. He peered over the railing, waving at Roxy. “We are going to head out now; if we do not cross paths again tonight, then I will see you in the morning!”

“Sounds good; bye, guys!” Roxy waved back, then disappeared into the garage to continue whatever she was working on.

“Bye Roxy!” Gregory said, soon looking over at Freddy with a smile. “I wish we could show Bonnie everywhere we went when everything went crazy that one night! I'd tell him the whoooole story!”

“We certainly saw much more of the Pizzaplex than either of us ever wanted to,” Freddy remarked, grimacing at the memories. “Gregory even had to crawl through the ventilation at some points due to locked doors, not to mention we traveled to… less savory areas.”

“What?! That’s crazy!” Bonnie exclaimed, looking up to see Gregory’s face. “Geez, you’re a tough kid; I’m sure getting through that wasn’t easy…”

The boy seemed proud of his accomplishments, beaming happily. “It was pretty scary, but I did it all with Freddy's help!” He folded his hands over his chest. “I even almost fell down the trash compactor, but he saved me!”

“The… the trash compactor?!” Bonnie repeated, looking at the bear with wide-eyes.

“We were following Chica,” Freddy explained, trying not to think of what she’d looked like after being crushed. He never wanted to see his friends mangled like that again. “There was… an incident and she tried to go after Gregory as she was sliding down, but I caught him in time.”

Gregory nodded his head quickly, his eyes soon widening as the memories came back in quick succession. “Oh! And I got banned from the daycare only for a little bit! OH! And then I got chased by a giant spider thing and he tried grabbing me a lot. And at one point I got followed by the endoskeletons, which was pretty scary at first but now I know they won't hurt me or anything. They're super-fast.”

Bonnie could only listen as Gregory explained, growing more in awe of the boy as he spoke. He’d been through so much in one night and Bonnie had so many questions, but he didn’t want to overwhelm him by asking all at once.

“Wait—where is there a giant spider?!” he eventually settled on, an ear tilting down of its own accord.

“I believe he is referring to DJ Music Man,” Freddy explained, and Bonnie nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, him!” Gregory clarified with a nod.

“Oh yeah, he’s… really big.” He paused, trying to look to at Gregory again. “You got banned from the daycare?! I didn’t even think Sun was capable of that… what in the world did you do, bud?!”

Gregory hummed, smiling softly. “Well, I accidentally turned the lights off and then Moon started chasing me! I got scared so I was just knocking stuff down, and then when the lights came back down Sun was really mad!” He let out a small sigh, then added: “But Freddy explained what happened, so now I'm unbanned! OH! We also saw that gross bunny, and that was the scariest thing ever—I almost peed myself!”

This time Bonnie actually froze, slowly turning to stare at Freddy. Up until this point, everything that Gregory said could be chalked up to virus-infected animatronics, but that last comment… that was something else entirely.

“Is… is that what my parts were used for?” Bonnie asked quietly, meeting Freddy’s gaze. “Another rabbit?”

Freddy looked away, staring hard at the floor. None of this was his fault whatsoever, but he still felt so guilty about all that his friend had gone through. “…Yes. It was… it was the cause of all this. He was hiding underneath the Pizzaplex this entire time, slowly trying to regain his strength until he was able to—”

“I am William Afton, and I ALWAYS come back!”

Freddy flinched as the words echoed through his mind. It was just a horrible memory; William was gone for good.

He hoped.

Bonnie stared at the bear for another moment, before shifting his gaze up to Gregory. His voice was soft and full of concern as he asked: “…Did it hurt you?”

“It didn't hurt me, but he hurt Freddy and everyone else... He tried to control Freddy!” Gregory explained as he folded his arms over his chest. “He said he created Freddy, and he was gonna come back but... This giant blob thing took him and told us to leave and never go down there again...” He paused, then let out a little gasp as something in his mind finally clicked.

“Wait… Freddy?” Gregory looked to the protective bear, his eyes wide with confusion. “Um, now that I think about it… whatever took that bunny sounds like the voices I hear when I dream…”

Freddy’s stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw dropping open in absolute shock at Gregory’s realization. “What?!”

***

Masterlist of chapters on Tumblr here!

Please check out The Superstar Series on ao3 for all fics in this series: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2726401