A/N: Sorry I'm late! Got a bit sick, then I got a bit unmotivated with my entire existence.
Some of the parts have may or may not been written while I was half asleep and it may or may not shows.
But ayyyy, here I am! That's what it's about after all, right?
Hah. I love you guys, I really do. You reading the stuff and leaving comments or anything to show it and that you enjoyed it is just a real life saver sometimes. Especially with rough patches like these, heh.
ENJOY!

-


The silence in the room was deafening.
Nobody was moving.
Phone Guy looked like a deer in the headlights of an approaching car.
He radiated terror, so intense that it washed over Mike, flooding his brain. It was as though the feeling was so much that it now attempted to spread out into other bodies, just to continue existing.
Automatically, without any further hesitation he stepped in front of his friend. "Over my dead fucking body."
He was clearly serious.
She raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever considered using less... profanities? Especially such a confusing one as fuck."
"Fuck you."
Softly she sighed.
"It was an idea to consider. Perhaps it will avoid... odd misunderstandings in the future." Softly she leaned to the side to look at Simon again. "Now, you should go home to gather whatever belongings you think you would need, your stay will be anything from three days to a full week."
His shivering didn't seem to deter her.
Jeremy was confused and kept quiet for that reason. Obviously there was something going on here, but if he wasn't exactly sure why, he shouldn't interfere. Not someone like him, who was so prone to mistakes.
"I already told you, you would have to kill me to let me allow this shit." Even more aggressive, Mike stepped backwards, closer to Simon who gently put a hand on his back.
"Mike- Mike, I-"
"You shut up too. Before you say something fucking STUPID again. Something fucking RETARDED like saying that I shouldn't fucking sacrifice myself, I swear to god I will knock you out if you say something like that."
"... I, uh- I wasn't about to-"
Juliette scoffed. "Of course you were not about to. That would be rather inconsistent with your disposition. Phone Guys are prone to... self-preservation. As they should be."
"You- they aren't though, are they? You fucking force them to care about NOTHING but this shitty, self-destructive restaurant!"
Her face shortly became ridden with anger, before becoming neutral, albeit hard, expression again. "Of course. But they NEED the restaurant to stay alive too. Not only them, but others too." Looking away she shook her head. "Even the most cowardly person can sacrifice themselves to the greater good if they realize the gravity of the situation."
"Gravity of the situation, greater good, do you know how many people fucking DIED for such a shitty concept-?"
"Who knows how our reality would look like if people never managed to look past their own direct benefit?! Making the current day a little more miserable to help build up a better future is the only sensible step!"
"A LITTLE MORE FUCKING MISERABLE!? THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE CALLING THIS?!"
Phone Guy was frozen as he listened to the exchange. Every part of him screamed out to get involved, to help Mike in some way- but he couldn't move and didn't know what there was to do.
Juliette didn't let this phase her, as surprisingly she became calmer and stern again, as though she had been discussing with her rebellious teenager and now decided to draw the line and cut the argument short. "Yes. A little misery for a being that is not alive. Not to mention-"
Mike tried to interrupt, but she wouldn't let it happen.
"- not to MENTION that he certainly will nothing but benefit from the upgrade we will install. From the data we COULD collect, we had the ability to make a few educated guesses about his current state, including now the revelation of his self-harming tendencies, which all together led us to the conclusion that the specialized update is our only choice."
"Self-harming tendencies?" The poor angry guard had been hit out of left field by this, worryingly turning to look at the miserable Simon behind him, who just shook his head.
"What else would you call ripping open your own head for no apparent reason without a professional attending?"
For a second Mike was quiet, still looking at Simon with something just below fear in his eyes, but then he turned back to the factory lady, anger burning up again. "You have NO fucking clue what you are talking about, do-"
Suddenly, the scene got interrupted though by the heavy footsteps of a giant animatronic bear.
Funtime Freddy had entered the room and DELIGHT flashed up in his face as he spotted the new vict- visitor and rushed over. "WH-WHoooo IS F-FIgHTing HERE?? My-y FR-friends ShoulD NOOOOOOT! FIGHT!"
Instantly everyone stepped away, aside from Juliette, who looked up at him and Bonbon and smiled. "Oh my! Hello there, you two! Aren't you precious!"
Worried Phone Guy moved on the spot. "U-uh- miss? Would you- would you mind stepping away a little from Freddy? He's a bit, uh- passionate when it comes to, uh- playing-"
Mike shot him a glare. "What gives? Just let Freddy handle this shit."
"No, Mike- if we, uh-" Shortly he made a vague hand gesture, before dropping hand and head down in defeat. "I, uh- let's talk about that later, miss, would you PLEASE-"
But she was busy petting Freddy's muzzle, smiling enchanted. "When you presented the blueprints, I could not have imagined them actually ending up so well! He is such a beautiful boy! With such a sweet companion! What do they call you, little Bonnie?"
"Uhm-" The small bunny was a bit overwhelmed, but Freddy happily answered.
"I- IT'S BONBON! S-Saayyyyy HE-HELLo, BonBON!" Shoving the little animatronic in her face, Bonbon laughed embarrassed as she petted him over the ears, trying again to answer himself.
"Lady! Maybe you should listen to the nice Phone Guy over there! Freddy can get veeeery wild!" Obviously, he tried to be cheerful, but nervously was eyeing Phoney behind her, who could only really shrug.
Sure, he didn't want her to get hurt, but granted, he wasn't willing to get into the line of fire for it.
She kept oblivious to the tension around her and simply scratched under Freddy's chin, who seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.
Phone Guy had turned to get Jeremy to the door- the day was over, he should get home and get some rest.
Whatever was going to come next wasn't really for his non-visible eyes.
And just as he came back, it happened.
Freddy's eyes flickered and he laughed.
"C-COME, g-GIVE FR-FreDDY a HUG!" It lunged forward and grabbed her, pulling her closed, before crushing her ribs in his grasp, putting more and more pressure onto the woman in his arms, her feet leaving the ground as she struggled in his grasps- to no avail of course, not in this metal cage masquerading as arms.
She went limp as Freddy cuddled her.
Aside from his giggling, it was quiet.
Then Juliette spoke up again. "What is so funny, dear?"
Shocked, downright APPALLED Freddy dropped her and a bit wonky she managed to stay on her feet.
Stepping away from her and staring at the humans around, he pointed at her accusingly. "Why is she still moving?"
Phone Guy rubbed his dial, too tired for this shit. "You can't ask people why they are still moving. That's, uh- not very polite."
Freddy groaned. "Th-This SUCKS!"
Slightly Juliette tilted her head. "... you seem angry, dear. Is everything okay?"
"MeeEE? A-AngryyY? Nooooo!" Suddenly he switched, looking all smiles and sunshine. "I'm n-never angryy! Right, BOONboN?"
If Bonbon could turn pale, he would, sadly being metal came with certain challenges. "... are you okay, lady?"
"No worries, I am fine." Friendly she smiled and reached to pet Bonbon again, but he was pulled away by Freddy, who scoffed.
"N-no. You'll- L- be a bAAAAAAAAAAAAD influence o-on Bon. BoooRING!" And with that he walked off, to everyone's confusion.
Mike inspected Juliette with a new level of distrust in his eyes.
So, it wouldn't be so easy to get rid of her, huh?
For a moment it stayed tense, then Simon finally stepped up.
"We, uh- I can't leave yet."
"Pardon?" Juliette smiled confused.
"... the police, uh- they need me as their contact in here. If I just disappear all of a sudden, then, uh- that will probably look suspicious, won't it?" Anxious Simon showed his open hands.
Her eyes hidden behind the glasses, it was still clear she was staring him down, considering what he said. Then she slowly nodded. "I suppose you are right. That is a good point. But do gather what you will need to travel, I will try to help resolve matters with the police quickly."
With that she turned and looked at the stage. "You are dismissed. All of you. Please, do not worry about the nightshift... I would like to inspect the place for a little and I would like it to be quiet for that time. Farewell, until tomorrow!"
Nobody really protested.
As they wandered off, Mike grabbed Simon's arm and dragged him away. "First of, what the fuck IS she, secondly, why did you almost fucking STEP IN THERE like an idiot?"
Tired out Simon just gently dragged him softly towards his car. "What would you have expect happens if she dies?"
"Well, she dies and is out of our hair? Well, not that WE have to worry about hair, am I right- Nevermind." Mike make an aggressive hand movement. "From all the people who died at this fucking place, she won't be one of the people I will mourn."
"They will send someone else. And then someone else. And then maybe TWO others. Three others. You don't kill a hydra by chopping off the heads." A tad hopeless he sighed. "You don't kill a hydra."
"... so you mean we need to blow up the factory and everyone who is in there?" It stayed quiet before Mike rolled his eyes. "I was kidding. There are plenty of innocent fucks in there, I know, I know."
Worried Mike looked over at his friend as he stepped into the car with him, not even thinking about the action.
They sat there, driving through the dark, trying to come up with a solution.

Approximately at LEAST three bunny lengths away fromthese happenings on the other side of town, a car drove EXACTLY the acceptablespeed over the speed limit.
Baby had her head on the space in front of her, while Ethan was discussing withthe teen behind the wheel.
"Slow down! It is only a little slower and you would NOT break the law."
"Technically speaking I'm not breaking the law enough to get in trouble! Also,do you know how suspicious a teenager is who drives EXACTLY the speed limit?Like- yo, if I pass a teen like that, you can BET they're on their way to rob astore or kidnap some girl and want to be as unsuspicious as humanely possible-which is very suspicious. Only true psychos actually listen to ALL rules- theygotta, because if they get caught then they can't pull off their bomb plans or-whatever!" Animated he waved his hand around.
Ethan nervously checked out of the window for any hard to see passerbys thatthey could accidentally crash into. "... are you even OLD ENOUGH to drive? Do youhave a license?"
"Dude, I'm like-" He paused and looked down, doing the math.
"KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE STREET, HOLY SHIT-" Both Baby and Ethan weren't verypleased by it, their voices weirdly echoing as they were talking together.
"Huh?" He swayed around nothing, pressing them into the side of the car. "What?Did something happen?"
Ignoring their groans he picked the conversation back up. "Yeah, so I'm like-basically literally mentally around thirty or something. I'm old enough todrive."
"Basically literally mentally thirty. Which online test told you that...?" Ethanrubbed his ghostly face, not willing to deal with this nonsense, while Baby wassnickering, drawing a grin out of Nemo's usually so blank face.
Soon enough they left the city and arrived at the outer outskirts of the place,where Nemo stopped and looked around, before leading them down a hill, towardsa rather hidden door in the ground.
He bowed down and struggled to get the heavy steel hatch open, fumbling to tryand get something in-between so it would stay at least a partially open.
Then Baby picked it up by the handle with ease.
"... fucking show-off." Nemo mumbled before placing the little hook that wasmeant to keep it in position where it belonged.
Stairs led into the darkness, wide enough for machines to use it, into a metalcage of some sort. No- an elevator. There were posters on the sides, but theyweren't really recognizable anymore. Nemo stared at them blankly for a moment,as though he saw something on there that the others could not.
Then he pressed the red button and the thing sprang to life.
Uncomfortable Ethan looked down. The place didn't look too well maintained.
"... it looks like the place where dad built us." Baby remarked, seeminglycheered up by that fact.
Nemo nodded. "There are a few of these around. But I wanna guess that where YOUwere built there was a lot more... stuff. These are mainly storage."
Flabbergasted Ethan looked at him. "Why does nobody KNOW of that?"
"I dunno. Why does nobody know what the rich and powerful are up to? Money,blackmail, getting rid of loose threats. The Phone Guys know, but they wouldget dismantled before telling someone untrustworthy about it. Some of them playit off as though it's fully normal and not worth to mention, so nobody does.And yeah, who would believe you? The city is hollow underneath! Everybody!Run!" Loudly he laughed and the metal shaft echoed it around in a way that madeEthan wince. He didn't feel quite safe around here.
But then the thought hit him how much more scared Evelyn had to be.
He straightened himself, feeling Baby swaying a little.
Tastes like jealousy.
Worried he tried to reach out to her in order to see if everything was alright,but before he could the elevator abruptly stopped and Nemo pressed the redbutton again. "So... we're here or whatever. Time to go out! Or we could stay inhere if you want, I don't care."
The teen was still grinning and in the darkness it looked actually unnerving.His white make-up made his face look sunken in and dead.
Ethan shivered.
Slowly they made it down the hallway, ending in a big factory hall, with doorsgoing into different rooms away from it.
For a second he wondered where they could lead, but then the clicking ofmachines interrupted him.
Eyes lit up in the dark from the doorway, staring into the main hall, slowlycreeping up with mechanical grinding accompanying every movement.
Nemo crossed his arms. "BoyznGirlz! Lookwho's back! Back again! He hasn't abandoned you." Shortly he turned to Babyand the detective. "I sure hope they will recognize you or we may or may notget ripped to shreds. Darkness isn't good for their sanity. All kids are scaredof the dark."
Ethan didn't move for a moment, wondering if growling was in their voiceboxrepertoire or if the souls have already adjusted so much to their animalisticbodies that they only could express themselves with noises like that.
Then he spotted Evelyn limping up and with that the questions were washed fromhis mind.
Quickly he ran up, trying to hug his child-
He was pulled back harshly and as he turned he realized Circus Baby hadn'tmoved in the slightest, staring him down unamused.
"What is wrong?"
"Nothing." She answered, prompting Ethan to shake his head in disbelieve. "...perhaps I'm just a little concerned about MY safety."
Guilt washed over him as he realized it was a good point. "They won't hurt us."
"You say it with a certainty that I cannot believe." She turned to spot Foxycowering in the corner, twitching as the light of her eyes fell onto him. "Theyare not trying to talk to me, do YOU hear anything?"
"No, but- they don't even know it's us yet. Let them take a good look." Heretreated back to his position floating behind and above her as they watchedthe other's approach.
Nemo had just left it seemed.
Ethan fearfully wondered for a second that it was a trap- but then again, whatbenefit would he get if Baby would get destroyed here with him?
No.
Evelyn and her friends wouldn't harm them.
They were just scared children. And they could tell he wasn't a threat.
Freddy stepped forward and the others stopped.
Agonizingly slow he came forward, before he leaned closer to Baby.
She was scared, even as Ethan put his hands onto her shoulders, but outwardsher expression was almost disinterested and she even slightly opened thefaceplates in a threatening gesture.
Evelyn stepped beside him, her eyes clearly laying on Ethan.
"You can see me." Oh, he was close tocrying. "Evelyn... I'm back."
Sobbing came from the dirty yellow machine, before a ghostly hand reached fromout of Chica's neck, holding out for him.
Quickly he grabbed it and held it tightly, feeling his heart breaking about howcold she seemed to be.
Then again, he was probably cold too.
The others looked on, expectantly and Ethan stepped away from Baby to open hisarms and hug them all in their mechanical shells.
They didn't have one in a long time, did they?
"... Jacob. Timmy. Paul. I promised I would help you, didn't I? I hope you didn'tthink I was going to just disappear..."
Sobbing echoed through the place, but it was okay.
Ethan himself couldn't help himself to shed a few tears too as he held the kidsthat put so much trust into him.
Perhaps he couldn't help them when he was still alive, but that only meant hewould have to put everything into it now.
He would save them.
He had promised this to himself.
Baby watched, her faceplates clicking annoyed.
Even more it bothered her that the detective instantly looked up and at her.
She hated how vulnerable she felt with him attached. That he could seeminglypeer into things she felt without even meaning to.
Nobody had the right to do that.
Again she looked over the group.
It looked like a family.
That stung a little. Oh, sure she was just projecting, she had learned aboutthat in school... when you saw something you wanted to see for one reason oranother. Or something along those lines.
Sure, her dad was very loving, but often away to... play with her other dad... soit was a little lonely at times. The others weren't as great companions as shehad hoped them to be.
Softly she sighed.
She probably should just work harder to befriend them. She was self-aware enoughto admit that she wasn't quite putting in the effort that she should.
Quickly she turned to see Nemo wandering back into the room, a bag of chips inhand, crunching it loudly.
All they would have to do is to help them move on, right?
Then she'd be rid of the whole lot.
They didn't seem to be bothered by the constantly crunching and wrinkly of thechips package, so finally Nemo spoke up.
"So... we're done yet? Can we do what we're actually here for?"
Confused everyone looked at him, not quite sure what he was referring to.
Quickly he jumped onto the nearest maintenance table and dramatically openedhis arms for an announcement.
"Welcome to "Make a demand"! It's like "Make a wish",except you get pretty much actually everything and people who are in thisprogram gotta be already dead!"
There was no reaction.
... the kids were probably too young to know what Make a wish was.
Most parents don't like about dying children out there.
Nemo dropped his arms and rolled his eyes. "Geez, what a tough crowd. I guessyou were... disarmed by my wit!"
Nothing happened again and he grumbled. "Mike and the moldy Orange would havelaughed." Stepping down he leaned against the table instead. "Anyhow, I thinkyou got what I mean. Or whatever. We're gonna free your souls 'n shit. Right?Right. Good. So what do you want? Disney world? The blood of your enemies?"
Still nothing but confusion, but Ethan finally let them go to get back into hisposition. It became increasingly uncomfortable to stay away too far and long.
Like when you were forcefully stretching out your leg, eventually it felt likeyou were being torn apart.
"Getting you out of here is our top priority." Ethan said reassuringly. "Iwon't rest until you do."
Wordless murmur was going on, filling the air with a quiet buzzing.
They... stepped away, but in a natural way. Allowing everyone space.
They still seemed fearful, but less... feral than before.
Or perhaps that had just been how he felt towards them. For a moment Ethan feltdisgusted with himself, but he knew that expectation could make things lookmore dangerous than they were. Or less. Both was incredibly dangerous incertain situations.
Mournful he retreated a little, dismissing Baby's creeping up curiosity.
Everyone made mistakes they weren't proud of and couldn't change anymore, andsnooping in other's people private life would only lead to bad things. Babyknew that.
Nemo looked around, raising an eyebrow.
"Soooooooooooo... anyone wanting to start the freeing process? Anyone know whatwould free them?"
More silence from all sides.
Groaning again- it seemed to become his trademark at this point- he stood upstraight and stared them down.
"Buddies, pals, chums. Mah BOIS. I can't work with you like this. TALK TO ME! ICANNOT B E A R THIS SILENCE ANYMORE! Okay,the pun made me want to die again. Why have I been born. This must be thedumbest and most ov-"
Baby sounded desperate. "Can you be QUIET for just a minute?"
"Oooooooh, sooooooooorry missus, I didn't want to offend your poor ears! Yes, Ishould not interrupt your clearly important task of sinking into self-pity."
Bothered she clicked. "I am not doing that! I'm trying to think."
"You aren't used to that, are you?"
"Listen here, if you be more of a nuisance, I will tell my dad to get a newwaiter, because the old one sadly perished due to mysterious circumstances."
"OooOOOooOOOOOOOooOOOh nOOoooOOOoooOOOOOOooOoO. Girl, all I want is to actuallyget this done-"
"Quiet you two." Ethan's voice was calm, but firm. "Neither of this will leadus anywhere. Be nice to each other, we all want the same after all."
Both of them seemed really displeased, but not really willing to beak out intoa full-fledged fight.
Looking around again, the detective paused and considered the situation again. "Idon't know the ins and outs of... souls... I don't know what would be the best wayto remind them of their past so they can pinpoint something that could helpthem. Is it just that they need to be happy...?"
Baby shook her head. "I'd say I'm pretty happy and I'm still firmly in thisbody."
"... well, you don't want to leave, do you? I... guess that has something to dowith it?" It was clear he had no real idea. "Is there anyone around that hassaved souls before? Did the Marionette actually ever save any souls or is... iskilling the murderer really the only way to do it?"
The animatronic sighed. "You ask as though you think we would know."
"We need to at least try." There was no argument happening. Baby would notallow him to do anything to her "father". Either he would manage to convinceher to let go of her delusion, or-
The problem seemed endless.
Of course he had to snap her out of it. But he preferred for his girl and theothers to be save and free if he would try to go against the only personcurrently able to help him.
... if he was honest, he was scared.
Scared of whatever would happen to him when Baby stopped being benevolent, tellon him- what that device was the guy had been carrying around would do to him-
"... Can you hear me?" Baby snapped him out of it. "... I said we should perhaps atleast ask him."
Nemo snickered. "Oh, the old man can't hear us anymore. He's deep in hispersonal hell."
"Are you ominous on purpose or do you mean it?"
"I'm being ominous on purpose." Nemo looked at the spirit. "I think. You stillthere?"
"I'm- yes. I'm here. I was just considering- perhaps we should retrieve my casefiles. There could be something about them in there that we could use to puttheir souls to rest."
"Probably!" Nemo stretched himself. "Who's gonna get it?"
"... you'll have to. Now, I don't want you breaking into a place, but I don'tthink that me and Baby CAN go. Heavy metal isn't the best material to sneakaround with."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get it. What do I have to look for?"
"A brown folder, everything should be wrapped up in there. They're numbered andthe date as well as location of the incident is noted on there also, so youshould easily find the folder you need. Just take it... it wouldn't be good ifsomeone figures out it's missing. I don't want to be responsible for anotherperson getting sucked into this, because they're trying to figure out whathappened to it."
"Will do, chief!" Curious Nemo looked at Ethan for a moment longer. "... smallquestion; are you actually stuck to her? Like- you can't just go into somethingelse metal?"
"I- huh?" Confused Ethan stared back at him. "... no, I don't think so. It hurtswhen I try."
Baby chimed in. "It hurts BOTH of us, so no silly "try this" stuff, understood?"
"Hm. Weird." Nemo casually said as he finally picked up his bag of chips again.
"What do you mean weird?" Finally he had the chance to address this topicagain. "You clearly aren't a normal person. So what are you and why are youeven here?"
"I'm a teenager! We knows things! And can things. Or whatever. Maybe we justdon't care about the logic of the world. What is the world gonna do, tell mymom?" He laughed, carelessly.
"... perhaps. Where IS your mom? Your dad? Why can you see ghosts? Nemo, I wantanswers."
"You won't get shit from me. Not talking to the P O P O !" His voice wasjoking, but the expression on his face was tense, not a smile, but more himbaring his teeth.
"I can't trust you like th-"
"Listen up, big guy. You have no choice, do you? You wanna go to the others andask them for help? You can do that. I don't HAVE to help you. I don't HAVE todo shit. I'm here because I WANT to be, get it?"
Intimidated by his sudden anger, Ethan stepped back. "... I want to understandyou, Nemo. And this whole situation. I'm worried something bad will happenbecause I don't know enough. If I don't know enough, maybe I won't act- act howis necessary."
A bit calmer Nemo crossed his arms. "I'm looking- I'm pretty much just helpingbecause I don't have anything better to do."
"... so when you find... this "better thing to do", will you simply leave us to ourown devices?" Ethan calmly asked. "Knowing that means I can prepare myself forthat."
"It's not like you can't deal with this yourself anyways. But... I dunno."Somewhat he shrugged. "It depends a lot."
"On what?"
"On my DICK." He rolled his eyes. "I dunno! Things! I can't look into thefuture. Get off my back, old man. Let's just get this done and then worry aboutthe rest."
Finally Ethan gave up, earning a snicker from Baby who had watched thisexchange with great interest.
It was embarrassing, but he had bigger things to worry about.
"... we should return to the restaurant." Worried he looked back at Evelyn whonodded slowly. "... I can't get you in trouble."
Baby huffed. "You wouldn't. I can do whatever I want, nobody can bring metrouble."
"We don't want to risk anything, right? Do the right thing and let's go home."Shortly he paused. "We all rely on you. If something happens to you, we are alldoomed."
Putting so much weight onto a child felt bad, but sadly he had no choice. Thiswas the unfortunate truth.
She paused at the gravity of his words.
"... okay. Let's go home."
Ethan slightly shook his head at her calling that awful place home, but... notworth the discussion.
One last time he hugged the kids, Evelyn last and the most tightly.
"We will be back soon. I promise."
Nemo had already walked to the exit and waited for them to follow.
With heavy heart Ethan let go of his daughter and they proceeded to leave.

Meanwhile, the car far away had stopped driving.
Mike and Simon paused and continued the silence for a moment.
Finally, Mike talked again. "... I still think we should try it. Kill them offone by, ALL of them, no matter how long it takes. I don't think these shitheadshave a right to live if they earn their money by fucking up others."
Simon just shook his head again, not even commenting it.
They entered the house and quickly the Phone Guy flipped the lights on.
It wasn't that he felt safer in the lights, but the cold dead light the lampsradiated made him more willing to accept his gruesome fate.
Nothing was more nightmarish than reality.
Slowly he sat down at the table, wincing as suddenly a glass of water appearedin front of him.
Mike stared down at him. "... you looked like you could use this."
"... thanks." Grateful he poured some of it down his receiver, it helped himclear his head. "Mike... we somehow have to convince her that the "update" isn't necessary.That everything is in order at the restaurant. That... that shouldn't be so hard,right? The restaurant itself doesn't have much trouble. No children wentmissing, most lawsuits can be settled out of court and- the only reason why we'rein trouble now is because of the detective going missing. Perhaps we canexplain to her that we didn't have anything to do with it?"
Skeptical Mike crossed his arms. "She is either a huge psychopathic cunt or thatwon't work."
"I- what?"
"Well, she sounded like she genuinely meant it as a reward. You know, how shesaid "you earned it". Either she's a fucking asshole or she thinks it's actuallysomething nice for you. The question is she delusional or is she evil?" Expectantlyhe looked at Simon, hoping he would know the answer.
"I- I mean... okay- if she's delusional- do you, uh... have a better idea than toconvince her that all is in order her to get her to stop?" Unsure Simoninquired.
"... no fucking idea. I guess explaining to her you're perfectly happy and ableto deal with the situation? I don't think we can outreason Crazy™, but we canprobably use her own logic against her...? Don't fucking ask me how though."
"... that would have been the important thing to know." Discouraged again, Simon staredat the wood of the table.
"Show her what she wants to see?!" Getting aggressive Mike flailed his arms. "Youcan contribute some fucking ideas too, you know?"
A soft, tired chuckle came from Simon. "... I think you're doing just fine onyour own."
"THIS ISN'T FUCKING FUNNY!" Mike exclaimed, but then sat down across of him. "...I'm spitballing here, but you know how it ends up when I try to come up withgood ideas."
The Phone Guy raised one of his metal eyebrows, but didn't really comment onit. "... but to show her what she wants, everyone would have to play along.Everyone would need to be happy and harmless and all that- I don't think Daveand Old Sport would care enough to do that for us."
"Guess we gotta lock them up for that time then." Again Mike stood up and beganpacing, clearly too tense to sit around. "... this all is bullshit, Simon. If wewant to leave, we will have to get rid of them."
Somewhat surprised Simon looked at him, but stayed quiet as he continued.
"Is there any way we can get Dave and her to destroy each other? That wouldreally be the best. Let them fight it out and fuck off."
"I doubt it. We'd just have both of them on our tail." Tense too, Simon tappedagainst the glass of his drink. "... perhaps we can... mess with the update? No-no. We can't. That would require to know what the h-heck they're planning ondoing and- we couldn't get there."
"So we're just fucked?" Mike scoffed.
"... I- perhaps we can... I don't know how the updates go! Perhaps- perhaps we canconvince her to try and do the update in the establishment itself and thensabotage it...? Uh..."
"So we generally have no idea what her plan is?" The guard's pacing was gettingmore frantic.
"... uh... you know, Mike... perhaps- we should just go to sleep. Try to find out abit more what she might be up to? And uh- y'know... perhaps pretending everythingis great will still convince her if we keep her away from Dave and Old Sportsomehow? We won't know unless we try- we can try multiple things at once...?"
There was doubt in Mike's expression, but he didn't voice it. Instead he wentback to sitting down, looking genuinely tired. "Okay. I fucking guess we haveno choice, huh? So... what exactly does that mean? Everything being great? Noscreaming at annoying customers anymore?"
"Preferably not." Simon had a small, helpless smile in his words. "... even ifthey deserve it."
Softly Mike laughed. "... so I guess for now you'd be better off without me."
The atmosphere of the room changed so sudden, it felt like whiplash to Mike.
Simon's hands were tightly squeezed into fists now, he halfway was standing,leaned over the table. For a heartbeat, he seemed scary. "Take that back this instant, Mike."
"I'm sorry, what?" Almost nervously laughing, he sat up a little. "It's just afact. You KNOW I will lose my shit and scream someone into a corner and that'sjust-"
"I told you to take it BACK." His voice was hard, and shivering.
"... I'm... okay, okay, I take it back." Trying to appease the Phone Guy, he raisedhis hands.
"Say it. Say you know that I would NEVER be better off without you."
"I'm-" He broke off, hesitating for a moment too long.
"I want you to SAY IT. I want to HEAR IT, MIKE. Say it, say that you KNOW thatno matter how hard things get, the fact that you're here with me is the ONLYreason it's even worth to keep going!"
"... You- I know you would not be better off without me, Simon." It felt so weirdto say that. Mike wondered silently why. He had helped out Simon a lot- well-from time to time, right? Sometimes. So... saying that should feel more justified,shouldn't it?
Simon on the other hand was slowly sinking back into his chair. His voice was weaknow, thinly, almost not there. "I'm sorry, I'm-"
Mike reached to grab Simon's hand. It just... felt bad. "... it's about him, isn'tit? I shouldn't have said that. It was stupid of me to say."
Slowly Simon started. "... I wonder if that's what he thought before he died. ThatI'd just be... better off. Even when I told him otherwise as much as I could. WasI so untrustworthy? Was I so unreliable? I told him he would be able to believeevery word coming from my mouth... oh, what would he think if he could see menow..." He laughed shakily. "I don't know what thought is morehorrifying to me- him being able to see what I've become for a inhumane guy orthe thought that wherever he is now he still thinks what he has done was- inany way right- good- that it didn't have an impact-"
Breaking off he was struggling with frantic hiccups in his pain.
Mike looked at him and a deep sadness ripped through him as he saw Simon likethis. Not the anger he had expect or the stress he would have to face when herealized how helpless he was in the face of such grief-
No, all he felt was the sadness and the weight of Simon's pain inside of hischest, without the need to push it away from himself.
He stood up to walk around the table and embraced Simon tightly and sincerely,burring his face in his neck.
Simon clung to him, his whole body still shivering and oddly cold against his."Whatever it was, he knew you loved him. It took only one moment ofweakness and... that isn't your fault. Sometimes everything hits at once, youblack out and... things that happen after that are never- you can't right thatshit. But- Simon, no matter what- he loved you just as much and I'm prettyfucking sure that he would have wanted you to be happy. Even in his mistake- hewould have regretted it if he could have changed it again. I'm sure he didn'tactually wanted to be separated from you- much less fuck you up. It seemsimpossible- but if you want to do him one last favor, be- don't give up on theworld. Don't let it burn through you forever."
A pause ensued before Mike grabbed him tighter, slight frustration in hisvoice.
"I know I'm probably just being a shithead, talking about a guy I nevermet and what he thought, fucking babbling about- but the way you talk abouthim- it- I just KNOW that Ian just would have thought like that. There's noother possibility. It feels so cheap to say, but please- fucking believe me.You know best that he cared about you, you don't actually need to hear it fromme."
The Phone Guy leaned against him, the cold metal from his face pressing againstMike's, establishing as much contact as possible, as though his life wasdepending on it.
"... you don't know how much I needed to hear that. I- I don't think it'sstupid. I- I'm just-"
"... you're just fucked up by that. And- fuck, I don't think there's a wayto not be. Stuff like that won't ever go away. Stupid thoughts and doubts willalways be there, because there's no way to disprove them properly. There'snothing that can lessen it really, except time and knowing that- eventuallythings will be done and over and you can talk to him again, because you'rewhere he is."
Simon suddenly laughed out. "Oh h-heck, I sure hope not! I'm- where I'mgoing after death- I hope he isn't, uh- there."
"You fucking- FINE. We'll probably get a visa for heaven at leastonce." Mike scoffed.
"We?" Softly the question came back.
"Listen, I'll make sure to get wherever the fuck you got, and if I have tofight gladiator style with Cerberus for the entertainment of some powerfuldemon cunts. I'd make it to you somehow." Letting his hands wander overhis back, assuring petting over him, the guard sighed, letting all the tensionand pain out. His boss did the same, becoming softer in his arms, almost asthough all the bones in his body had vanished.
Thankfully he was strong enough to hold him in place so he didn't sink to theground.
"Mike?" Quietly he called out.
"... I know." He didn't want to hear it. It would just fluster him.
Their moment was broken up unceremoniously by the chiming of the clock in thehallway, loud enough to cause them both to jump.
"It's uh- it's late. We should go to sleep so we can... uh- tackle tomorrow withenergy."
Awkwardly both of them hesitated.
Nothing happened for a few moments and then they both just headed off into thesame bedroom.
Nightmares were too scared to attack when there's two of them after all.

-

A/N:
Now that I'm done I feel the need to thank you guys again.
Always remember! It's never a waste to send something to creators you like! Nomatter what, it will mean the world to them! No matter how big or small theyare, it's NEVER a bother to receive kind words and comments! No, you're NOTover-invested in what the artist you like creates! Random acts of gushing areAMAZING to read to them!
So go out and do you favorite creator a favor, spread the kindness, okay?Especially in the dsaf fandom, because boy, they're all sure lovely.

Oh, and for me, I still take all kinds of ideas, criticism and just messages in general! Tell me about your own ideas too if you want to! Just go ahead and drop it in the comments, I love ALL feedback.
Have a nice month, until next time!