Chapter Text
Gregory held onto Freddy’s large hand as they walked across the balcony. Not that he needed to. He wanted to. He wouldn’t admit that to anyone but the built bear himself. If he heard heavy footsteps or rumbling voices, he would let go. He doesn’t want the other animatronics to see him. He still hadn’t fully accepted them. If they thought he was weak, maybe they would be more bold in attacking him. Either way, he decommissioned them once, and he would do it again if they threatened his life, though Freddy did insist they had been rid of the virus that made them mindless weapons targeted at his destruction. They had all apologized profusely. Turns out, they are actually quite nice.
Freddy stopped and knelt down before his human cub outside the wide double doors, so they could have a last moment’s peace before the manic daycare attendant pounced on them. “I hope you enjoy your time here,” Freddy rumbled, looking down at the boy with fondly glowing optics. They were always brighter when they laid on Gregory.
“Why can’t I go to practice with you?” It was an understatement to say Gregory had separation anxiety. He only felt safe with Freddy’s hip by his head or his deep artificial voice in his ear. It was strange; no human voice was able to bring him comfort now. The closest voice to Freddy’s in the pizzaplex was Monty’s, but even then, the alligator animatronic had a stark southern accent, and his voice may be a note deeper than Freddy’s. If they had intended Monty to come off as friendly, they had failed miserably. He was quite literally a big, mean, green, fighting machine. Especially that night… Roxy and Freddy were modeled after predators as well, but they didn’t sound like one. Didn’t act like one so carnally in the way Monty does. He didn’t even have fur like they did, the last possible Hail Mary to save his image. Nothing was comfortable or redeemable about Monty’s form according to Gregory. He’s not sure he’ll ever be capable of trusting the reptile. Hey, little guy!
Upon taking notice that Gregory’s eyes were glazing over in thought, he laid his hand on the human’s shoulder. Freddy brought him back. “Is something the matter? You don’t want to see Sundrop?”
Gregory crossed his arms and looked away. “As long as the lights stay on,” he muttered.
Freddy tilted his head, parting his metal jaws. “Gregory, Moon really is a nice fellow. I’m sure he’d like to meet you properly and apologize as well.”
“You said that about the DJ,” he scoffed. Freddy sighed softly, a habit he had picked up from Gregory. He nudged the right door open with his knuckle just a crack. There was just about no use in trying to argue with the child. Not a moment later, the doors flew open.
“My favorite Sunshine!” Sun hummed happily. “Freddy told me you were coming to play with me. Good thing, I get so lonely on days we don’t have children.” Sun was programmed unwilling to leave the daycare. His social interaction was at the mercy of whether the other animatronics or human staff decided to visit.
Gregory shot a cold glare to Freddy that really meant nothing before walking around Sun into the daycare. Sundrop could be utterly unbearable at times, but at least he kept Gregory occupied. The boy couldn’t hear himself think over Sun’s rambling.
Freddy waved at Gregory in that embarrassingly goofy manor Gregory was sure he hadn’t picked up from a human. It was a code in his systems. “I’ll be back soon, Superstar. You can always reach me on your fazwatch.” Gregory couldn’t help but smile each time Freddy called him that. Each time, he tried to hide it as well.
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Monty absently tuned his bass. It wasn’t needed, so any movement of the tuning pegs were by a fraction. He used his claws carefully, as his fingers were too thick. Gentle vibrations came up through his tail from the riser as the heaviest animatronic made his way to the door. There was a twitch in his lips. Freddy’s attention hadn’t been solely tuned on Monty since before the kid showed up. He never thought he’d say it, but he missed the bear’s annoyingly polite remarks and persistent effort to make conversation with the antisocial alligator. Monty had always brushed him off or even snapped at him during the times he was in an off mood. It was a game to him though. There was an expectantly hidden smile full of mirth under every grimace. Monty had learned to hide his emotions shortly after he was created because they hadn’t expected him to have his own. He was expected to live up to someone he had never met. When he let his personality out, they were disappointed, so he bottled it all up. Everything he presented was fake. He felt as fake as an AI could.
What Monty was unaware of was Freddy enjoyed their game as well. He had never met someone, human or not, who could look at his soft, friendly face and be crude. He was enamored by Monty. He seemed to have more free will than any of them. He wasn’t even sure what the base code in Monty’s programming spelled out. He wasn’t predictable. Freddy walked into the practice room. It was never this quiet. “Where are the girls?” Freddy asked, turning his dimly lit cyan eyes gaze onto Montgomery laid out on a riser in the corner.
“Ain’t here yet. Where’s your kid? He in the hatch?” He didn’t look up from his instrument.
“Hm, no. I handed him off to Sundrop. I greatly appreciate your patience and acceptance of Gregory, but I don’t want to overwhelm you all with him.” Freddy’s thumb brushed the fur on his belly under the blue lighting bolt. He may have some anxiety too, but they must get used to being apart. The pizzaplex would be open again soon. “He is my responsibility.”
Monty snorted. He had clearly not been patient. The kid absolutely hated him. He apologized. He didn’t know what else to do. It wasn’t even his fault. “Good. Don’t remember the last time he wasn’t at your hip.” Or the last time they were alone. He hated being alone with Freddy. Their game was tense without a bemused audience. It became too real for something so fake.
“Montgomery…” Freddy started, coming to sit on the riser below him. It creaked under his weight. Freddy seemed to lose his thought as Monty’s thick tail brushed against Freddy’s thigh in the process of lifting to the other riser.
Monty examined Freddy’s face. The fur on his cheeks had bristled up in the slightest. The closer Freddy was, the greater Monty’s envy. He was so jealous of that fur. The kids loved it. Monty didn’t get hugs from them like the others. Just high fives and fist bumps. He had only felt that fur on his shoulders as Freddy would pat them or along his tail when he touched him by accident. He wondered what it would feel like in his hands, where his receptors were more active.
“Gosh, who killed the mood in here?” Chica chirped, prancing in ahead of Roxy.
Thank God. Monty smiled charmingly and got up from the riser. The audience had arrived. He was a performer after all. “Freddy. With kindness, of course.”
“I believe it.” Roxy leaned over to plug in her instrument to a speaker.
“How is Gregory today?” Chica rubbed the fur on Freddy’s head between his hat and ear.
Freddy looked up at her, humming. “He is well.”
“After practice, let’s pick him up and go grab some pizza! We’ll all be starved by then,” she said, though she was the only one of them to claim they felt hunger.
Freddy smiled widely. Sometimes he felt he had a heart due to the energy surge he felt in his chest. Extra electricity buzzed through his wires. He would think he has a metal heart, but Gregory had confirmed Freddy was empty in terms or organs. A purr emitted from his chest. He was thrilled Chica is so taken with Gregory. “Yes, of course. I’m sure he would love that.” He stood up and fixated his microphone.
Monty growled softly and got up on the highest riser while the rest of the group remained on the base floor. “I have better things to do than watch Chica stuff her fat beak with greasy garbage pizza.”
Chica pouted in his direction. Roxanne laid a paw on her shoulder. “Don’t let him ruffle your feathers. He’s on his man-period.” Monty has been extra cranky since they got fixed. “Maybe he’s still sick.” Or they incidentally cut the mood stabilizer in his processor.
“I am not sick,” Monty snapped.
“We are all better now. Please do not fight. Monty, we would love for you to join us, but if you have other things to attend to, we understand.” Freddy looked at Monty with kind cyan eyes.
Don’t look at me like that. “Ask your kid, Fazbear. I’ll come if he wants me to.” Monty looked back at him, his gaze an opposing, deep red. It suited him.
Freddy could only look away. Monty’s gaze is the only one he struggles to keep. Most everyone looked away from his own optics first, likely because he didn’t understand the concept of awkwardness as well as humans. He hoped that the reason wasn't because they found the 7’6 robotic bear intimidating. Sometimes, he found himself intimidated by Monty. “Let us play. I don’t wish to leave Gregory longer than I must.” Freddy ignored the hot glare in the back of his skull. His ears lowered ever so slightly. He tapped his foot to get the song started.
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A couple hours later, rehearsal came to a close. The bear praised his friends. Monty slinked off to his room as soon as they were finished, knowing that he wouldn’t be needed. Or wanted, rather. Freddy watched him go with dim, lidded eyes. He knew what Monty was thinking. He and the girls grabbed Gregory, then took him to lunch. After that, they played Fazerblast together. Girls against boys. The girls one, and Freddy would never hear the end of Gregory’s scolding. Once that was over, Freddy mused they should play a game in Monty’s golf course. That would animate the gator. Gregory said golf was boring, so the idea was quickly dismissed.
Later, Freddy tucked Gregory into the couch in their room. He felt Gregory’s brunette hair. The boy looked up at him. “No glitching this time either?”
Freddy hummed softly and nodded. “I’m all fixed up.” They fixed his glitch at the same time they recommissioned his band mates. “Tomorrow, though, just in case, we are doing a dress rehearsal. With all the lights and speakers to see if it will overload my system. Would you like to be our audience?”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “Watching you guys play is awesome.”
“I am so happy you enjoy it.” The gears in his chest whirred, creating the purring sound in his chest again. He’s realizing he should bring Gregory along more. They don’t have much longer before the pizzaplex will reopen, and Freddy would be busy for most of the day. He wasn’t sure how safe it would be for Gregory to be out in the open with all the human staff here. What would they think if they found him living here? Freddy, the singing and dancing animatronic bear, adopting an orphan human child and raising him in an arcade. They would take him away. Freddy wouldn’t survive that. He would rip out his own precious voice box, whatever he had to do to get them to decommission him and cease his pain. “Goodnight, Superstar.” Freddy rose to his feet and shut off the lights.
“Goodnight, Freddy.” Gregory yawned.
Freddy backed into his charging tube. Any knots or aches he felt in his endo faded as he began to recharge. They were given many sensations. They could feel “tired”. They could feel pain. This was for damage control of course. This way they wouldn’t let their battery die or let themselves sustain damage. The more expensive the part would cost them, the more pain they let when something interacted harshly with it. It was convenient for the maintenance staff and money-saving for the company. Freddy knows that when they rebuilt them, they specifically upped Monty’s pain reception in hopes it would keep him from destroying things around the place. Each punch to a wall would spike pain to his core. Each rake across his couch would feel like his claws are being ripped from his fingers. Monty refused to talk about it, but Freddy knew it only made Monty more frustrated, and the destruction didn’t stop. With that on his mind, he came to realize it was quiet on rockstar row. It was unsettling. Was Monty out of his room this late? Freddy looked to his boy. He found it strange too. Monty’s destructive habits had become white noise for Gregory. It lulled him to sleep.
Freddy stepped out of his tube. “I’ll be back in a moment; try to sleep.” He walked to the door. Gregory just nodded. The animatronic’s heavy steps sounded hollow in the quiet hall. Freddy walked up to the gator’s door. The silence didn’t sit right with him at all. He knocked, but there was no answer. He opened the door. Normally he wouldn’t invade someone’s privacy, but he was worried. It was very dark inside. Freddy could hear a noise now, a clicking sound from Monty’s vocalizer. It was high pitch. It almost sounded like the noise a fazerblaster made when shot. He had only heard it very few times before. He had initially thought it was a malfunction, but he later reasoned it was a trait of the animal he was modeled after. It was like how Freddy purred, Chica cooed, and Roxy howled. Typically when they were pleased or showing affection. This would explain why he rarely heard it from Monty.
Freddy thought of the sound fondly, happy to know Monty was content. Maybe he was recharging. He turned up the luminescence of his optics up to find Monty. He wasn’t in sight. His charging tube was empty. Freddy took a few steps through the mess on the floor around the couch.
The several hundred pound alligator managed to look small curled up on the floor in front of the couch. His jaw was parted as the noises continued popping out from deep in his throat. It was apparently an attempt to soothe himself. The light from his optics were so dim they almost seemed off. Monty wasn’t shut off though, That was clear.
“Montgomery..” Freddy frowned and knelt down beside Monty. “What happened?”
The little sounds stopped. “I can’t see,” he whispered. He could form no rational thoughts in his head.
Freddy moved his hand under Monty’s snout to get a better look at his optics. As soon as he was touched, he jerked away. Freddy leaned back to give him some space even though he didn’t want to. “They must be power-saving due to low energy. Do you need help getting to your recharge cylinder?”
“No! I can’t… Freddy..” Monty murmured desperately. “I can’t do it anymore.”
Freddy’s ears moved back. He doesn’t know what’s happening to his friend. “I want to help, but I do not know what is wrong. I would take you to parts and service, but we don’t have any humans on the night shift now.” Not since… Vanessa. What could he do for Monty? “Shut down.”
Monty laid silently for a moment before nodding briefly. The other animatronic sat back on his haunches and waited. “Talk to me…” He wouldn’t be able to shut down if he focused on his pain. Freddy’s voice… that he could focus on with ease.
Freddy looked down at his paws in his lap. “Hmm…” he thought. Monty let his eyes shut. He loved when Freddy made that noise. It sounded like it was created for his vocalizer. That and his purr. Oh, his purr. “I’m sorry if… you think Gregory does not like you. He only… doesn’t know you. I’ll make sure he will know you. Like we do.”
The last thought in Monty’s processor was that none of them knew him. With Freddy’s soft murmurs as his lullaby, he was able to calm himself down enough to shut down. His pain finally subsided. Once Monty was off, Freddy lifted him up into his arms. He gently placed him in his charging tube leaning against its walls. He gave Monty a last longing look before he returned to his own room.