//A/N Yup, I'm including Mike in this chapter, finally. And he's a fair bit nicer than the fandom portrayal. In this, he's still gruff and untrusting at first, but is a bit jumpy and is a nice person at heart, plus he's got a little bit of engineering knowledge. Ok, on with the chapter!//
After the hellish night, the atmosphere of the pizzeria was calm and collected, brought by the golden rays of sunlight at dawn.
It would be a little while before the morning shift had to come in, and it hadn't been long since the night guard left, meaning that -for now- the animatronics were on their own.
The four of them had managed to get back to their original places, all except one, of course.
Freddy and two of his cohorts were still awake, just relaxing, stretching out and moving their bodies to ease stiffness and to reduce the likelihood of potential rusting, Freddy dusting off his microphone, hat and bow tie to make sure he looked presentable.
Chica was laying on her back on the main stage, playing with Carl the Cupcake, who was squeaking and bouncing around happily. If he could smile, Carl would be wearing a very pleased grin.
As the sun rose further and further into the sky, Chica looked over to see someone creaking open the "Employees Only" door, hearing footsteps stumbling out.
A purple hand curled around the edge of the door, pushing it open.
"Bonnie?!" Chica gasped, watching the purple robotic bunny make his way towards them. His joints creaked, and his glassy eyes were half closed, body posture giving away that he was both lacking in sleep, and unable to stand up straight, though he was trying to, and failing miserably.
"Bonnie, oh my gosh! Come sit down, you're about to fall over" Chica fussed, gently taking hold of Bonnie's wrist and leading him to a chair; thankfully the ones at the tables of the pizzeria were sturdy enough for both humans and animatronics.
"Chica, I-I'm fiiiiine. Jus' give me a few minutes an' I'll be aaaaaall good" Bonnie replied, his voice soft and a little slurred, not to mention husky from the events of the night prior.
"Oh my God! Hold on, lad, I'll be right back" Foxy exclaimed, dashing out of the cove before coming back with a ceramic mug that had steam lines coming out of the top of it.
"Wha's in there?" Bonnie asked, a small giggle escaping him. Gosh, he really WAS delirious!
"It's hot oil, lad. Thought you could use a pick-me-up" Foxy replied, setting the mug onto the table.
With a nod of thanks, Bonnie picked it up and sipped at it. The feeling of the oil slowly flowing down his throat pipes were just marvellous.
Freddy folded his arms, a concerned frown on his face, the animatronic bear watching the scene unfold. He glanced up at the clock, seeing that -though it was early morning- the manager wasn't there just yet. They had just a little bit of time before the staff would get there.
"Bonnie, can I speak to you in private?" Freddy asked, making Bonnie raise his head slowly, sleepy gaze fixed on the blue-eyed bear.
"Uuuuh...sure?" Bonnie replied, getting up.
Chica and Foxy looked at each other, then at the two remaining members of the band, then back at each other, both with an unsure expression.
Freddy gestured for Bonnie to follow him into the "Parts And Service" room down the hall, the bunny following him like a shadow, closing the door behind them.
"Ok, Bonnie. I need to speak to you about what's been happening" Freddy told him, looking at the slightly confused purple animatronic bunny.
"What? what's up?" Bonnie asked, leaning against the wall and staring at Freddy. The robotic bear in question breathed a closed-eye heaving sigh, and opened his eyes only to stare directly back at Bonnie.
"Look, Bon. I appreciate all that you're doing for us, I really do. You're a great friend and the kids love you, but-" Bonnie cut him off.
"But? w-what do you mean 'but'?" he asked, semi-impatiently. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, no, you've not done anything wrong, don't worry" Freddy reassured him, hands open. "But I am concerned about what's been happening with you lately. We know that you've not been sleeping too well these past few days, and I'm just a bit worried."
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm fine, it's nothing I haven't dealt with before" Bonnie protested half-heartedly, an anxious frown on his face.
"Nothing you haven't dealt with?" Freddy repeated, while cocking an eyebrow and folding his arms, causing Bonnie to mirror the expression though his stance remained the same. The star attraction was getting more and more concerned by the minute.
"Yeah" Bonnie replied with a small nod.
Freddy sighed, his head in his hand, as Bonnie gave him a small squint.
"Why are you getting so worked up about it? not like it's happening to you" Bonnie commented with a wry smirk, Freddy looking up at him.
"Bonnie, I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't sass me" he responded firmly. He knew that Bonnie was snarky at times, mainly in a playful way, that was what added to his character. But he'd not been directly sassed by the robot rabbit, and -to be completely frank- it was both out of line and it shocked him a little.
"Hey, I'm not the one who's prying into another's life" Bonnie added, his eyes narrowing more.
Freddy raised his eyebrows incredulously, adjusting his black top hat and bow tie.
"Look, all I'm saying is that, if you need us, we're here. We don't want you to randomly malfunction or shut off for no reason" he said, Bonnie glancing down at the floor.
"We're just worried about you, is all. I mean, you're one of my best friends. I don't want to find you damaged!" he continued, feeling the irritated energy being emitted from the other in the room.
"Ok, I got it!" Bonnie huffed, his gaze showing a cocktail of emotions, and none of them good. "Can we stop talking about this now?" he snapped, folding his arms across his chest. His wiring was going haywire, torn between different emotions, and it made him feel sick.
"Bonnie, calm down, bud. I didn't mean anything by it-" Freddy relented, his expression looking a bit more melancholy.
"Get off my damn case then!!" Bonnie growled, glaring with a defensive stance.
Silence reigned in the air around them, the two wordlessly staring at each other, neither sure what to say or do.
Freddy was shocked into silent awe, and Bonnie was still radiating with overloading fear and anger, guilt seeping in like smoke under a door.
"I.....I'm sorry, Freddy...." Bonnie mumbled, Freddy not replying to this murmured comment.
Bonnie 'gulped', feeling himself shaking. His endoskeleton rattled quietly beneath his chassis, his gears and engine seizing up temporarily. If he were a human, his breathing would be choppy, and his heart would have stopped beating for a couple of seconds.
Before anyone else could say anything, he ran from the room and barricaded himself in the supply closet, trying to regulate his ticking gears.
Freddy emerged after a good few minutes, eyes wide in shock, and voicebox too choked up to even utter a word.
Foxy, who had heard the commotion, came running to the bear.
"Freddy! What happened in there? are you ok?" he asked, to which he got no response.
"Come on, let's get ye back over to the stage, matey" he added, ushering Freddy towards the stage with his non-hook hand on Freddy's shoulder.
He could faintly hear the door open and close as the night guard came in, and gave another sigh as the hands on the wall clock ticked up to midnight.
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As if midnight couldn't come fast enough, the hour was announced by the slamming of the front door, followed by the keys jingling as the night shift locked the front door.
He managed to slip past the animatronics, and get safely into the back office, starting up the monitor and picking up the tablet to lazily flip through the cameras.
An unsettling feeling was present in Mike's stomach that night when he found the band on stage was short an animatronic; the rabbit guitarist to be more precise.
Maybe he was in the supply closet? or in the storage room? Maybe parts and service? He was unsure.
Looking up, Mike gave a startled yelp to see that a familiar purple rabbit was by the window glaring at him.
Bonnie was scowling into the room at the night guard, whose hand shot out towards the door button, sending it whooshing down and shutting with a mechanical "clunk!"
Bonnie growled, thumping on the door a few times, though he felt his body beginning to sway.
His impulses were growing slower, and his ears were twitching languidly.
His head ticked to the side harshly once, twice, three times, his paw sliding down the stainless steel door.
Mike's heartbeat was starting to slow down, the seizing in his chest beginning to un-clench.
All seemed good, until there was a sudden "CRASH!!" outside of his room that startled both him and the rest of the band.
"What the hell was that?!" Mike exclaimed, flipping through the cameras quickly to see that the remaining animatronics had vacated the stage and were all on the prowl.
He cautiously got up and opened the door to the back office, looking around, only to hear a couple of fizzes and robotic whirrs at his feet.
He looked down to see Bonnie face down on the floor, sprawled out like a murder victim. This, Mike thought wryly, would probably be my state soon if I don't get out of here!
This had to be a trick!
But what if it wasn't?
What if the robot was hurt or malfunctioning or something?
Who cares?! These things had been trying to kill him every night he worked for a good few weeks now, why should he care?!
Exactly, why should he care? Because he was there that night, and these animatronics were his responsibility.
Plus if he didn't try to do something, corporate would fire him quicker than he could say "pizza party."
With a heavy sigh, he carefully picked up Bonnie's arm, hooking it around his shoulders, and curled his own free arm around the animatronic's torso. If he got caught and killed, so be it.
"Come on, fella. Let's get you checked out, ok?" Mike murmured, half-walking, half-dragging Bonnie down to the Parts And Service room.
Talking to the animatronics now as if they were real, and as if they understood.
He had really started to go nuts, hadn't he?
No matter, he got Bonnie safely inside the maintenance room and closed the door, checking him for the potential problem, not caring to watch the cameras at that given moment in time.
The surveillance could wait. He had repairs to do...