A/N: Jokes on y'all! This chapter was published two days early mwhahaha! Sorry the chapter image isn't more creative, but I was/am way too tired to go hunting for the perfect one.
Weeping.
That was the first thing I heard when I regained consciousness.
Although I was much too tired to open my eyes, I was still awake enough to listen.
Where was I? Had I died? Was I in hell?! That would explain the crying...
But why would I be in hell? Sure, I'd done some stupid things in my life (some more than others), but nothing too serious.
So I kept listening.
I heard beeping first. That was the second loudest thing in the room. Outside, or some distance away I heard footsteps. There were lots of them, so I must've been someplace busy. Then a lightbulb went on in my head.
I was at the Pizzaplex!
The beeping was from the arcade games, and the footsteps were all of the different people who had come to visit! Yes, that was it.
But that didn't explain the weeping...
So where was I?
I finally opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was...
I groaned, "A hospital? Seriously?"
Just from looking at the ceiling I knew where I was, and I wasn't happy. But others definitely were.
"Y/N!" someone exclaimed. I looked to the left and saw the two people I wanted to see most in the world.
"Mom! Dad!"
Even though I was too tired to sit up, I was very happy just to see them.
"Don't forget me!" another voice said.
On my right was Gregory.
"Gregory, you little survivor! How are you doing?"
"Better than you," he said, "You've been in bed for three days."
My eyes widened, "Three d-" I had bit a coughing fit and continued, "Three days?!"
"Honey, take it easy!" my mom told me.
"Mom, I've been resting for three days, didn't you hear?" I said skeptically, "I think I'm fine."
My mom wiped her eyes, I assumed she was the one who'd been crying, "But sweetie..."
My dad came in, "N/N, you were in a fire."
The memory came flooding back. I had been at the Pizzaplex after hours with Gregory and Freddy... Then- then we found the office underground, and there was Vanny and Glitchtrap- no, Afton. Then there was fire. Lots of it. The roof fell, and then... What had happened next?
It was worse than a cliffhanger. How was I alive?! Who had-
Freddy.
It had to have been him, I just knew it!
So where was he?
Oh no.
"The Pizzaplex!" I shouted, "Oh my gosh, the fire!"
I sat bolt upright, "Mom, Dad, Gregory! What happened? Is the Pizzaplex still..."
My mom placed a comforting hand on my arm, "It's still intact, honey. They're just going to be closed for a little bit."
I sighed and flopped back down on my hospital bed, "That's a relief," then I added cautiously, "Um... What about the animatronics? Are they, like-"
Gregory oohed, and I shot him a look, telling him to shut up. He stopped, but then burst into giggles.
I rolled my eyes as my dad said slowly, "We only saw Freddy, but we don't have any info about the others, so..."
I jumped for joy internally since Freddy was okay, but I was still very worried about the rest of my friends. Had they made it out? If they had, did people recognize them? If so, what did they do with them?
They repaired them, I hope.
"Gregory?" I asked, "Did you see any of the others?"
He shrugged, "I know as much as you do. I was inside of Freddy will he was carrying yooouuu."
I groaned. Did he really have to say that out loud?
But my stomach did a bit of a flip-flop (the good kind) when I heard it. I would ask Freddy about the details of the night when I next saw him. Speaking of which...
"When am I allowed to leave?" I asked hurriedly, "I really need to see the Pizzaplex. And I swear, if I don't get back before they reopen and Dave has to fill in for me again, I'll-"
"Woah! Hold your horses, hon," Dad said, "You're allowed to leave tomorrow, but I don't think you'll be able to go to the Pizzaplex anytime soon."
I nodded and eased up, "Right. Got it."
I turned my head and winked at Gregory, hoping he got the memo.
That's what they think.
. . .
"Come on Gregory, we're almost there!" I whispered over my shoulder.
He nodded, a big smile plastered on his face. I could tell he was excited to see Freddy, almost as much as I was to see the rest of them!
After... yeah... I was both excited and nervous to see Freddy. I'd actually made a new word to describe how I was feeling. 'Excervosus,' because it was a mashup of excited and nervous in Latin, so it made sense.
I am excervosus, I reminded myself for the thirty second time (yes, I counted). Something about saying how I was feeling helped me calm down. It cleared things up a bit.
Before we walked into Parts and Service (which I technically had permission to go to), I put my hands on Gregory's shoulders and told him, "Okay, so when we walk in, I don't know who will or will not be in there. Chances are whoever's in there is very... uh..."
"Broken beyond repair?" he suggested.
I winced, "Let's hope not."
Opening the door, I was greeted by the (not-too) sweet sound of my friends.
"y/N!" they chorused with broken voices (all except Chica, who couldn't really... talk).
Observing the area, I barely noticed that everyone still looked destroyed, because I saw a familiar face.
"Foxy!!!" I squealed, running up to him. I hadn't been as happy to see anyone since Freddy and I found each other the night when...
His casing was just as cracked and dirty as Freddy's was, but he wasn't shattered like Chica, Roxy, or Monty.
"Oh my gosh, where were you?!" I asked, shaking him (as much as I could. He was still heavy).
"That, lass, is a tale for later," he faced Gregory, "First, tell me 'bout this brave explorer I've heard so much about!" then he spotted my bandaged wrist, "Ooh! Is that a battle scar?"
I saw Freddy's eyes bulging from the other side of the room. I guess he hadn't actually seen my injury.
Gregory looked really shy, but also kind of defensive, as if he wasn't ready to trust anyone but me and Freddy yet.
"Who's he?" was the first thing he said, gesturing to Foxy.
My jaw dropped. "You don't know Foxy?!" I exclaimed. I'd always known in the back of my mind that Foxy wasn't the most popular member of the animatronic band, but the fact that Gregory didn't know of his existence?! That was something else entirely.
I placed my hand on Foxy's shoulder, "This is Foxy the Pirate Fox! He's spent most of his life sailing the seven seas, and once he saw everything he wanted to sea (me and my puns lol), he came here to perform! Which was always his real passion."
I winked at Foxy, and he put his arm around me and shook me.
"I'm so glad to see ya, lass!"
"Me too!!!" I gave him a quick, tight hug before going back to Gregory. I could tell he was going to have a harder time adjusting than I originally thought.
I put my hand on his back and led him to the three shattered animatronics,
Chica first, "This is Chica. She can't talk right now because a certain somebody took her voice box and gave it to Freddy."
"She was trying to kill me!" Gregory protested.
She put a hand on her chest, and placed another one on Gregory's shoulder, as if saying she was sorry.
I really need to get her fixed up.
Gregory gave her a small smile, and we moved on to Monty.
"This is Montgomery, but we call him Monty. I call him Rockstar, though. It's my nickname for him, which he absolutely loooves!"
Monty scowled. Gregory was standing two feet taller than him, which I could tell he was mortified about, based on his grumpiness.
I patted his head, "It's okay, Rockstar. This is a judgment-free zone! Right, guys?"
Everyone nodded, but Chica looked like she wanted to laugh.
Last was Roxy. She actually looked worse than Chica and Monty, and I felt really sorry for her. I knew how particular she was about her appearance.
Roxy said she was sorry, but there was definitely bitterness in her voice. She asked almost immediately after if I could fix her first.
Promising her that she was the first one on my list, we went to Freddy.
Since Gregory already knew him, he had no problem running right up to him to give him a hug.
"I'm so happy to see you, Superstar," Freddy said, "Are you okay?"
Gregory nodded, "Yeah. You should've seen Y/N, though! She was so tired, she slept for three days!"
I blushed. Freddy would never let me stay up late again after the whole 'thing.'
Freddy let go of Gregory then turned his attention to me. I was not prepared for Freddy at all. Did he remember what I told him? What I did? If he did, what was he going to say, or was he even going to say anything? Was it all for nothing?
I tried to be casual, "Hey Fred. What's up?"
Oh my gosh, that was horrible. 'What's up?' Uggghhh.
"Um..." he seemed to struggle to find an appropriate response, "The last few days have certainly been... uneventful..."
Neither of us could keep our joy in. We threw our arms around each other.
"I am so relieved," he said, "I thought you'd... I thought you wouldn't make it! And I was so scared, what if he took control again? I-I could have hurt you!"
We let go suddenly. Did he not remember? Did that mean...
"So... you don't remember anything?" I asked cautiously.
He replied, with equal caution, "After he... well..." he hesitated, "I was not me, let's put it that way."
I let out a small laugh, "You already said that."
"I did?"
I nodded, hoping that wasn't a bad sign.
"Oh yes, I... It's coming back to me. You are right. I did say that."
I smiled, Whew.
I faced the rest of the animatronics and made an announcement.
"Okay! Here's the dealio. You three are my top priority right now," I said, pointing to Chica, Monty, and Roxy, "I need Freddy to stay too, because he has y'all's upgrades. I'm hoping they're still in good condition, as well as Freddy's old parts. Since Parts and Service seems unaffected, we'll do the procedures in here like normal," I look at Foxy, "You can stay here if you want Foxy, but if you would like, you can go to your old green room. It's closed off right now, but I'm sure you'll have no problem getting in."
"Already found it," he said proudly, "I'm a pirate for goodness' sake! I wasn't gonna just wait for someone to invite me in!"
I laughed, "Alrighty! Well, Freddy, get in!"
. . .
I'd gotten a lot more work done during the day than I'd anticipated. Roxy got her eyes back, new casing, and her hair had been brushed. Thankfully, no damage had been done to her endoskeleton. Chica wasn't exactly in perfect condition yet, but she'd gotten her voice box back. I would finish replacing her casing and cleaning her tomorrow.
Monty, well... I had some trouble finding parts to replace his legs, so by the time I did find parts, it was too late and I had to go.
I promised him that I would work on him tomorrow.
I walked to my car, Gregory at my heels. I was actually a little confused. Didn't he have a home to go to? Parents who were missing him?
Once I arrived at my car, I placed my hand on the door handle, then turned to Gregory.
"Do you... not have a place to go?" I asked slowly.
He looked down, like he was ashamed, then nodded.
"Oh..." I kneeled down, so I was level with him, "I'm sorry, kiddo."
He looked away, "It's fine. There are some places I can go-"
"I bet they're not the same as a real home," I told him. I smiled, "You know..."
He looked up hopefully.
"I've been really lonely since Vanessa left, so the apartment feels pretty empty now. Maybe if I had a certain kid stay with me, it would fill up the empty space."
Gregory was completely silent for a few seconds, then he threw his arms around me, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"
I squeezed him, "You're going to love it, buddy!"
I hadn't actually meant to call him 'buddy,' it had always been my special name for Jeremy. But after it slipped out, it kind of... well, it suited him.
"So are you, like, adopting me?"
"Pretty much!"
We got into the car (I hoped it wasn't against the law or anything to let him ride shotgun) and he said, "Wait, you and Vanessa knew each other?"
I nodded, "Yeah. Then the rabbit man came along and..." I made a silly face, which caused him to laugh.
Even though it hurt me to take the situation so lightly, I told myself that I had to face the truth. Vanessa had probably been freed from Afton's control, but it wasn't likely she'd made it out of the Pizzaplex alive.
It was a painful truth, but one I would have to come to accept. I had a kid living with me, and I had to take care of him. Heh, I basically had a son now.
Insane.