Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grief.

Pain.

Insanity.

Despair.

The only four emotions poor Mike Schmidt were accustomed to.

Grief.

Mourning the death of his loved ones everyday.

Pain.

Attempt after attempt at taking his own life, wanting to finally rest in peace and finally be with his other family. It's no use, he can't die. He can only feel the pain. The noose strangling him as his body resists to give out, the multiple bullets wounds in his head, yet it still stay intact; piles and piles of empty pill bottles, yet his body remains unwavering. 

Insanity.

Knowing that there's no way out of this horrific way of living. Mike can feel himself slowly forgetting his family's faces. Slowly forgetting his own face. He's slowly rotting, but isn't at the same time. It's maddening.

Despair.

Mike comes to the realization that this is his fate. His family dead. Friends wouldn't recognize him if he tried to talk to any if them. He's a rotting corpse for fucks sake! He can't go out it public without people hiding from him! He's a freak! A FUCKING MONSTER!!

Mike realizes that he might be living in hell.

Nights are restless.

I mean, what's the point of sleeping anyways? It not like I can die from insomnia or anything, I can't die at all. 

Mike gets up from his bed, the feeling of the hardwood floor cold on his feet as he stalks around the house.

I have to... I have to...

*Ring, Ring.........Ring, Ring.*

The distant sound of a telephone blares in Mike's ear, ringing in his head. 

Mike heads into the living room, finding his phone vibrating on the couch. He picks it up reading the name of the caller.

Henry.

The last time Mike had ever talked to Herny he used to still be known as Michael Afton.He definitely doesn't know about his current state, both physical and mental. 

Hesitantly, Mike answers, bringing the phone to his ear. He takes a deep breath before speaking, "H-Hello?" 

"Michael? I haven't heard from you in so long, how are you? Are you oka-"

"It's Mike. Mike Schmidt." Mike quickly cuts of Henry, his voice shaking slightly.

"Mike." Henry corrects himself, "Sorry, how have you been?" 

"I'm...Fine. How about you?" 

"I'm holding up pretty good. Just thought I'd check in on you, y'know?" 

"Yeah..." Mike takes a deep breath before continuing, "Uh..Hey, Henry?" 

"Yes Micha-" Henry clears his throat. "I mean...Mike?"

"I'm...Uh.. Well, I'm..." Mike stammers, trying to find the right words. I mean, it's not everyday you have to your uncle figure that you're actually a rotting corpse.

"Mike. It's okay, I understand." Henry says suddenly.

Wait. What?

"Huh?! You do...?!"

"Yes... I always knew you were gay. It's okay Mike, I accept you."

"NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT AT ALL!!" Mike shouts, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and slight frustration.

"Oh... Well, what is it?" 

Mike takes a moment to recollect himself again, "I'm...well, dead..?" He chuckles awkwardly, a small hint of nervousness in his voice. "Y'know, a zombie basically."

 ...

"Henry? You there?"

...

"Henry...?"

"Michael, I'm coming over." 

"Hey, it's Mike-" The call ends before Mike gets the chance to correct the other man.

Y'know what? Maybe it's not as bad as you think, Mike. A face to face talk is all you need!

Mike tries to reassure himself.

Sure, Henry will see what a freak you really are, so what!? Yeah, he might not ever what to talk to you ever again and you'll loose the only family you have left! Big deal!

Calm down Mike! You're spiraling again! Deep breaths, Mike. DEEP BREATHS!!

*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.*

Henry knocks on the door of Mike's house, "Michael! Open the door! I know you're in there!"

How long had it been since he last seen Michael? A few weeks. No, definitely not. Months? Years!? Henry honestly didn't know, which is why he felt so guilty. He should've known that not being in touch with Michael would've impacted his mental health, especially with the death of his family members.

"I'm dead." Like, what was that supposed to mean? Was he implying something? Was he planning something? If that was the case, Henry just hoped he didn't make it too late before the boy did anything stupid.

"Michael!?"

Henry knocked louder.

"Michael, are you alright!?" 

...

"Mike?" 

Henry hears the door unlocking from the other side, opening just a smidgen to where he could see a pair of eyes staring at him from behind the door.

"Michael...er, I mean, Mike. Are you alright?" Henry asks, a look of concern spread across his face. "Please, talk to me."

"Henry..." Mike begins, sighing heavily, "Please don't judge me." 

Mike's voice is hushed and shakey, like he's on the verge of tears.

Henry's frown deepens. What could possibly be troubling the boy? "I would never. Now, will you please tell me what's going on?"

"I'll...show you..." And with that the door opens further, allowing for Henry to step inside.

Show him?? Michael wasn't hurting himself, was he?

Henry's stomach sinks at the thought, slowly stepping inside the house. His stomach sinking even further as he sees Michael. If he could even call him that anymore.

The boy was taller than he last saw him, about six feet tall, skin all purple with random wires sticking out and about. His hair was still there, but is was slowly falling out in small strands, his eyes were no longer blue; taking on a purple color and they also glowed a bit in the dark.

"Michael...?" Henry looking up at the purple zombie.

"I told you, it's Mike." Mike corrects him, crossing his arms and looking to the side.

"Mike... What happened?" Henry couldn't help but ask. How did this happen?? 

"I was...scooped." Mike chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"Scooped? Mike, elaborate please." 

"Ugh, fine...it's a long story though..."

After about forty-five minutes of explaining, Mike felt a whole lot better. Henry was very understanding about the situation and for the first time in a long time, Mike felt a bit at ease.

"So...let me get this straight. On you're last night, you were tricked into the scooping room, scooped and possessed by the animatronics?" Henry enumerates curiously, the concern and shock both evident on his features.

Mike nods, "Yeah, then I regurgitated them into the sewers and now I look like this and I'm also pretty much immortal." 

"What?!" Henry looked both astonished and confused. "What do you mean immortal!?"

"Oh, uh, I can't die..?" Mike shrugs his shoulders awkwardly. "I mean, when I disgorged ennard, I died and then within a few minutes, I was alive again.." 

For some reason, Henry felt like Michael wasn't telling the full truth. "Michael."

Mike swallows nervously at Henry's tone.

"Michael, is there something you're keeping from me?" 

...

"It's Mike..."

"Michael, what are you hiding?"

"My name is Mike..."

"Michael please talk to me-"

"IT'S MIKE!! MIKE SCHMIDT!!" 

Henry jolts a bit from Michael's－ Mike's. Sudden outburst. Okay, he should definitely stop using the name Michael, seems like an obvious touchy subject for the poor guy.

"Okay, okay. Mike. I got it." Henry says, putting his hands up in surrender, not wanting to upset the boy any further. 

...

"I tried...to uh..." Mike stammers, having trouble getting the words out.

"Yes? You tried to what?" Henry's expression shifts from concerned to curious. 

"I tried...taking my own life multiple times." Mike finally gets it out, breathing heavily with anxiety.

...

"Mike-" 

"But I couldn't, because I'm immortal and... No matter how many times I tried, I still lived."

"Mike-"

"I just want to be with my family, man! I'm going insane and I don't know how much more I can take it! IT'S INSANITY!" 

...

"Are you done Mike?"

...

"Yeah.."

Henry and Mike just sit in an awkward silence.

Henry was at a loss for words, he had no idea that Michael had changed so much and he certainly didn't know about the demons he was battling.

On the other hand, Mike was feeling a whole bunch of things. Despair, anxiety, anger, nausea and oddly enough, relief. It felt good to talk to someone about his problems, he would've booked therapy sessions. That is, of course, if he ever looked normal.

"Mike, I had no idea you were struggling, I should've checked in on you sooner." Henry says apologetically, placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.

Mike sighs shakily, his shoulders dropping. He turns his head to look Henry in the eyes, his own welling up with tears.

Henry notices the tears in his eyes, even Mike's tears were different. He watches the peculiar sight of the tears rolling down the boy's face.

"Do you cry oil?" 

"Shut up and hug me already!!" Mike shouts, wrapping his arms around Henry and sobbing into his shirt, getting his oil tears all over his shirt.

Henry hugs back, gently rubbing Mike's back. "There, there. Let it all out. I'm not going anywhere." 

"Why? Why me?" Mike murmurs quietly into Henry's shoulder.

If only I could change the past.

...

If only I could change the past...

Mike jolts up in an instant, "I could change the past!" 

Henry just stares at Mike, thinking that he's officially lost it. "...What?"

"I can make a time machine, go back in time and change the past!" Mike explains, a hopeful yet deranged look in his eyes.

Yeah. He's lost his marbles.

"That's a...awesome idea Mike!" Henry says, trying his hardest to be supportive.

Mike just glares at him. "I'm not crazy, Henry. I know what I'm talking about." He crosses his arms, getting up from the couch with a determined look. 

"Okay, how would that even work though?" Henry questions, raising an eyebrow.

Mike just shrugs, "I don't know. But how hard could it possibly be? My father could make killer animatronics, I'm more than sure I can make a time machine!"

"You're rambunctious." 

"I know. In fact, rambunctious might just be my middle name." Mike says, beaming with a newfound spark of pride and self-confidence.

Mike was currently in his basement, sitting at his desk with a blueprint in front of him. He had been brainstorming for hours. He had managed to get down a sketch of the time machine he was planning on building. He already had the necessary materials for building said time machine, it's just a matter of having patience to build it.

Mike was powered by both determination and devotion to get this machine built and change the past for the fate of the future, his future, his family's future! 

Sighing softly, Mike takes out a picture of his family, back when they used to be alive and happy－ actually, on second thought, happy was quite a stretch, but you get the point.

"I'll save you. I'll save all of you." Mike whispers to himself as he peers down at the old photo.

Heck. He'd even safe Henry's daughter too. And the missing children from the incident! He'd save them all, he just knew it! 

"Time to get to work."

Chapter Text

Mike worked long and hard, three and a half months to be exact. But even then, after all that time, Mike's determination burned fiercely. He was going to change the past, and not a single thing was going to get in his way.

"Finally, it's finished." Mike says, stepping back and marveling at his creation with pride, he had built this all by himself. He couldn't help but be proud of himself.

Giving himself a small pat on his back, Mike exits the basement and heads to his room to prepare himself for the journey that awaits him. He goes to his wardrobe, pulling out some clothes and laying them on the bed. 

Mike removes his current clothes and tosses them carelessly onto the floor, he takes the clothes lay on his bed and put them on. A black, long-sleeved shirt, a black pair of pants, some black combat boots, and to finish it off, a black cloak.

Mike goes into the bathroom to see himself in the mirror, immediately frowning at the sight. 

Wow, he looked stupid. Really stupid.

He looked like an egotistical jerk with a god complex.

...

"Whatever." Mike sighs with slight irritation that his vision didn't come out as he'd like. He pulls on the hoodie of his cloak and stalks downstairs, back into the basement. 

Once inside, Mike makes a beeline for his desk, he grabs a paper and pencil. "Better write Henry a quick letter before I leave." 

Dear Henry,

If you're reading this, just know that I'm perfectly fine. I've been working on a time machine as you already know, and I've taken it to the past successfully. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone or if you'll even remember this letter when I'm finished with alter the past and whatnot. If you find this, make sure to hide the letter in a good place, I want to see if it's still existant once I make it back.

From, Mike Schmidt.

Mike leaves the letter on his desk, knowing that Henry will probably stumble upon it while searching for him. And with that all sorted out, Mike heads to his time machine, taking a deep breath before stepping inside.

"Here goes nothing." Mike says before turning on the machine. It boots up in an instant, kind of like how a car would. Mike reaches out to the panel before him and types out the year, day and location.

The machine start shaking violently, the turbulence almost making Mike sick as the machine zaps away in the blink of an eye.

Vanished.

Henry heard the loud noise from inside the living room, he had been staying with Mike for the past few months, offering him support and being a therapist whenever the boy needed.

Henry gets up from the couch and heads down to the basement without hesitation, concern and worry flooding his system, thinking that something bad might have happened to Mike.

Upon enter the room, he sees nothing. The only thing in the room was Mike's desk and there was a note laying on it. Henry warily approaches the desk, taking the paper and reading it carefully.

After reading it, Henry couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Oh Michael, a determined fellow you are." He says fondly, slipping the letter into his pocket and heading back upstairs.

April 18th, 19XX.

Circus Baby's Piazza World, one of the most popular and beloved pizzerias of it's time. I mean, what's not to love about it? The bright, vibrant colors, the delicious food and desserts, the arcade games, etcetera. The main attraction though were the giant, singing animatronics!

There was Funtime Foxy, Funtime Freddy and his hand puppet, Bonnie! Ballora, with her graceful ballet skills! 

And the most popular animatronic of the rest, Circus Baby! The kids absolutely loved her and the birthday cake aroma that she produces.

Although there's one specific kid that loved Circus Baby the most.

"Please daddy, I want to go see her!" Begged a little, ginger haired girl, commonly known as Elizabeth Afton. She was at the pizzeria to celebrate a friend's birthday but the while time she had been more worried about being able to get close to the birthday cake scented animatronic. Her father had restricted her from going anywhere near it though, as it was "too dangerous" to approach. Which was confusing to her.

The other kids were close to Circus Baby and didn't seem hurt at all. So why couldn't she go near her? It's so unfair.

"I've already told you many times that it's dangerous. Stay away from it." Says Elizabeth's father, William Afton, also known as the owner of the pizzeria. "Now lets go wish Charlie a happy birthday."

"But daddy, I want to-"

"No buts, Elizabeth. Let's go wish Charlie a happy birthday. Now." William says sternly, taking Elizabeth's arm and dragging her away.

Not fair.

Everyone was gathered around a table, singing happy birthday for Charlie, who stood happily in front if her cake.

"Blow your candles out and make a wish!" Henry says to his daughter with a smile, gently rubbing her back. Charlie takes a deep breath before blowing out her candles.

"What did you wish for, Charlie?" Elizabeth asks curiously.

"For a new pair of roller skates!" The brunette girl exclaims happily. Which made sense, Charlie did have a passion for roller skating, even if she wasn't really good at it.

"Well, that just might come true." Henry says softly with a small smile, gently ruffling Charlie's hair. "Now, let's open some presents!"

"YAY!!" Charlie squeals happily as her father goes to retrieve her presents, shortly returning with a few wrapped gifts him his arms.

"Here you are!" Henry places the gifts in front of the excited girl, who immediately reaches for one and starts tearing the wrapping paper off.

After ripping off all the paper, Charlie opens the box to reveal a Springbonnie plush, just like the one she wanted! "Yay! Look Evan! I have a Springbonnie plush, now I can match with you and your Fredbear plush!" She says excitedly.

"Uh, I already have a Springbonnie plush..." Elizabeth nudges Evan in his shoulder roughly. "Uh, just kidding Charlie! We're matching!"

"Yay! Best birthday ever!" Charlie chirps happily as she continues to open up the rest of her gifts.

So far she's received a Springbonnie plush, a coloring book, a little toy kitchen set with a little chef's hat, and the pair of roller skates she had wished for earlier! 

And now everyone had went back to their own business, Henry and William were serving customers, Evan was attempting to play some of the arcade games, he wasn't really good at any of them. Elizabeth was sitting at a table with Charlie, both of them coloring in Charlie's new coloring book.

"Hey Elizabeth," Charlie begins, grabbing a green crayon and coloring in the leaves of a tree, "How come cousin Michael didn't come?" 

"Oh, he said that 'he wasn't going to no baby party,' or something like that." Elizabeth replies with a shrug, "And then daddy scolded him and stuff." 

"Ohhhh..." Charlie finishes her page of the coloring book, looking down at it with a bright smile.

"Wow that looks good!"

"Thank you! When I grow up, I'm gonna be an artist!"

"But I thought you wanted to be a chef?"

"I can be two things at once, Elizabeth!" 

The ginger haired girl rolls her eyes at that statement, "Whatever you say." 

Elizabeth looks away, her eyes landing on Circus Baby singing in the other room. Oh, how she desperately wanted to see her. Suddenly, an idea comes to mind.

"Hey Charlie, you're really good at drawing and all." Elizabeth says sweetly, "So I was wondering, maybe you could make daddy and uncle Henry a portrait!"

Charlie beams with delight at Elizabeth's suggestion, "That's a good idea!" She says excitedly, grabbing her coloring book and crayons and running off to where Henry and William were.

That should keep them distracted.

Elizabeth hops out of her seat, making her way to the room Circus Baby was in, she had never made it in this far without her father snatching her away and scolding her about how "dangerous" it was.

Wow. She was even more beautiful up close. Elizabeth slowly steps closer, stopping in front of the stage to look up at the animatronic with wide eyes full of fascination.

All of a sudden, Circus Baby stopped singing and a hatch in her stomach opens and icecream comes out.

Seriously!? She made icecream too!? Best animatronic ever!

Without hesitation, Elizabeth climbs onto the stage, making her way over to Circus Baby, her hand slowly reaching out for the icecream.

Suddenly, Baby's face opens up, revealing her terrifying exoskeleton, her head falling back and a large, scissor-like claw darts out and reaches down, aiming for Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth was terrified by the sudden change of events, unexpectedly becoming paralyzed with fear and she stands helplessly in front of the claw about to seal her fate.

"HEY KID, WATCH OUT－" 

Elizabeth is immediately shoved out of the way by a stranger, the claw scooping down and practically chopping the man in half. The poor girl having to watch in terror as the man falls limply on the stage, weird black substances painting the hardwood of the stage.

But out of nowhere, the man's body is reattached, regenerated and by some miracle the man is alive again, gasping for air. "AUGH!! Son of a bitc-" The man stops himself, realizing there was a child in front of him.

Elizabeth stands there, mouth and eyes wide with shock and confusion, "What!? H-How did you...?"

"I'm...magic..?" The man smiles awkwardly.

"Really!? That's so cool!" Elizabeth exclaims excitedly, too astonished and bewildered by the magic statement to realize that the man had oddly purple skin with wires sticking out of him and glowing purple eyes.

"What happened in here!?" William rushes in suddenly. Elizabeth turns to her father, the shock and amazement still evident on her face. 

"Daddy, he saved me!" 

"Saved you...?" William looks up from his daughter to look at the man, who was still lying on the stage awkwardly.

"Yes! He's a magic man!" Elizabeth exclaims with excitement.

William hesitantly approaches the man, "Uh...thank you. Are you alright?" He stops in front of the stage, getting a good look at the man and his appearance. 

...

What the hell...?

The man didn't look human at all. And William was pretty sure he's never seen this guy around town at all.

"Who are you?" William doesn't hesitate to ask.

"I'm...Mike. Mike Schmidt." The man replies, sitting up on the stage, his expression blank. 

"I don't think I've seen you around, Mike." William says, crossing his arms.

"I...just moved here." 

"Why do you...look like that?"

"It's...a birth defect. It's pretty rude to ask those type of questions, y'know?" Mike narrows his eyes at William.

"Oh! Uh, I'm terribly sorry." 

"Daddy!" Elizabeth runs over to William, "I told the others about the magic man!" 

"Yeah, what about this 'magic man'?" Henry asks, walking into the room, Evan and Charlie following behind him.

Mike's eyes widen and he jumps off of the stage. 

Elizabeth, Charlie, Henry...Evan.

Mike takes a deep, shakey breath and steps forward.

Don't make a fool of yourself Mike.

He repeatedly reminds himself as he approaches Henry, his eyes darting between the man and the two other kids behind him. He can't believe it. 

Mike can't stop the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Hey? You okay?" Henry asks curiously.

"Uh, yeah! I just...you guys just look like some people I know." Mike says, quickly recollecting himself.

"You saved Elizabeth!?" Charlie asks with amazement.

"Oh, yeah." Mike nods, an awkward smile on his face, his hand slightly fidgeting by his side with anxiety. His eyes dart over to Evan.

"Thank you for saving my sister." Evan speaks up and Mike almost starts sobbing, he takes another deep breath before replying.

"You're welcome, Evan." 

"Woah! How did you know my name!?" Evan asks with astonishment.

Mike's eyes widen, his heart dropping down into his stomach. He turns around to see the skeptical look on William's face and swallows nervously. "Magic!" He chuckles awkwardly, making jazz hands.

Henry and William's eyes both narrow with suspicion. How would this strange man in all black possibly know Evan's name. 

Henry leaves the room, going to the security office to look over the footage from when the man had saved Elizabeth.

William watcher cautiously as Mike talked to the kids, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. He didn't trust this man at all.

"Hey Will? I think you might want to take a look at this." Henry says, walking over to William, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Is something wrong?" 

"It's about him." Henry nods his head towards Mike.

William raises a brow, "Mike? What do you mean?" 

"Just come on." Henry takes William's arm, pulling him into the security room. "I took a look at the footage of when Mike saved Elizabeth and.." 

William takes a look at the footage, his eyes widening with shock as he sees the moment where Mike is split in half and then miraculously comes back to life. 

"Interesting..." William mutters to himself, "Very interesting."

William exits the security room, going back to where Mike and the kids were, Henry follows behind curiously.

"Mike." William starts, clearing his throat, a large grin on his face.

"How would you like to join me and my family for dinner?"

Chapter Text

Something happened. I was a little boy, about six of seven, who knows. I vaguely remember being at my grandparent's house, watching TV with Grandpa, Evan and Elizabeth were only a few months old at the time so I doubt they remember anything. My father had dropped us off for the weekend, he said that it was so we could "Get closer with our family," But I think he was lying.

My mother had been in the hospital during that time, she's been there for months, I didn't know why and still don't to this day, my father refused to talk about it. 

I had a great time with my grandparents though, they were very nice and gave us a lot of candy. Although, when my father came to pick us up later that night, he looked so sad. I was confused about why he'd be so upset, maybe he missed us? 

He didn't say anything, he just went with my grandparents into the kitchen to talk to them. A few minutes later, they came back into the living room and now both Grandpa and Grandma were sad as well, Grandma was crying.

They all sat down around me, I was still so confused and a little sad as well, even though I didn't know what was happen. My father looked at me and told me something that probably may have changed my life.

"Your mother, she's passed."

I was feeling so many things, sadness, confusion and most of all anger. I was angry at my father because he never let me go with him on his trips to visit my mother, no even once. And now, I'd never see her again. 

I cried a lot that night, I couldn't even sleep either. i felt bad for Evan and Elizabeth, the only time they've ever seen mother was at birth, and even then, they didn't have enough time to really connect with her. I'm pretty sure they don't remember anything about her now. Even I was starting to forget how she looked, and it bothered me so much. 

Something that also bothered me was how my father was taking the whole situation. I mean, he was upset at first, but in a day he immediately went back to acting like everything was automatically normal again. Like, are you not sad that your own WIFE died!? You had to have felt something, right? He didn't even cry. 

It irked me how I've seen my father cry over more insignificant things and yet he wouldn't shed a single tear for the woman who I would assume was the live of his life. I mean, you had kids with her, you had to have loved her. 

I don't know, that thought stayed with me for a while. As I grew older, I became more skeptical of my father and who he really was as a person. Hell, I think I even became a bit of a conspiracist at the age of fifteen!

Mike walked down the sidewalk, he was on his way to his house? Childhood home? Past self's home? Wow, this is confusing. It was currently 6:30 PM. Mike had decided to wear something not too fancy but not too casual either. He had a couple hundred dollars in his wallet from that horrific job he used to work at. He had to start his own restaurant, manage everything, etcetera, etcetera. With the money he managed to save, he was able to buy a nice, button up and some black dress pants, he was still wearing the cloak. Obviously.

Mike makes his way to the front porch, taking a deep breath before knocking on the front. It takes a few minutes before the door slowly opens, revealing William.

"Mike, so glad you could make it! Come on in, I'll show you to the dinning room." William greets with a wide grin, stepping aside and allowing for Mike to enter. 

As Mike enters, William closes the door behind them, leading Mike to the dinning room, where Evan and Elizabeth where already seated. 

"Evan, Elizabeth, I'm sure you remember Mike from earlier? He's some to eat dinner with us tonight." William says to the twins, who just nod and wave at Mike in response. Mike smiles awkwardly, waving back at the two.

"Sit down, make yourself at home." William ushers Mike to one of the empty seats at the table. "I have to get my third child down here, even though I've told him to be down here earlier... Teenagers." 

William heads upstairs, grumbling something incoherent. Now it was just Evan, Elizabeth and Mike at the table and it was awkward. 

Mike watched as Elizabeth whispered into Evan's ear, probably talking about him.

"So... How was your day?" Mike asks sheepishly with a crooked smile.

Elizabeth and Evan just stare at him, then at each other. "Good." Elizabeth says with a nod.

*THUD, THUD, THUD*

Loud noises could be heard coming from upstairs. 

"Wow, I wonder what that could be..." Mike says, more sarcastic than anything. He already knew what is was.

"That's daddy and our brother, Michael. They don't get along well." Elizabeth explains, "At all." 

"Ah..." 

After a few minutes, William comes downstairs, dragging Michael with him. "You're too old to be acting like a brat!" He scolds.

"YOU'RE RUINING MY LIFE!"

"I am not, stop acting out while we have guests around!"

William pushes Michael into the dinning room. "Mike, this is my oldest son, Michael. As you can see, he's a handful." 

Michael scoffs, crossing his arms. "Neat, we said our hellos. Can I take my food and eat in my room?" 

"No. What you can do is sit down at the table and eat with the rest of us." William says with a smirk.

"This is so stupid!" 

"Have a seat, Michael." 

Michael reluctantly takes a seat at the table, his arms crossed and a annoyed look on his face. William also takes a seat as well.

Everyone began eating quietly. After a few minutes, William clears his throat, breaking the silence.

"So Mike, tell us a bit about yourself. Do you have a job?" 

"Uh... I'm a night guard." Mike says with a awkward chuckle, "Well, I used to be a night guard..."

"How interesting, did you quit or get fired?" 

"The establishment..burnt down." 

...

"Really? Where you inside it?" Evan asks suddenly.

"Evan! Watch your mouth!" William hisses immediately.

"What!? It would explain why he looks like that! I was just curious!" Evan says quickly, putting his hands up in defense.

"I thought he said it was a skin condition?" Elizabeth asks, scratching her head.

"No, he definitely got burned from the fire-"

"That's enough, you two." William says sternly, turning to Mike with a wide grin, "Please, forgive them for their ignorance." 

"It's fine, I don't mind at all." Mike shrugs.

"Hey, you said you were a magic man back at the pizzeria? Don't you have any tricks?" Elizabeth asks curiously.

"Elizabeth, don't start this again-"

"What!? I want to see a magic trick!"

"Me too!" Evan exclaimed excitedly. 

"Kids, settle down. There will be plenty of time for tricks after dinner." William reassures.

Everyone continued eating their food, they were currently eating spaghetti, which Mike was NOT a fan of. And from what he's seeing, neither were Evan or Elizabeth. Michael, on the other hand, was just now finishing his fourth plate of spaghetti.

Speaking of which, Mike hadn't heard Michael speak a single sentence since they started eating. It was almost hard to believe that this is what he used to act like. But in all fairness, he was a moody teenager. Extremely moody...

"Kids, why don't you tell Mr. Schmidt about how your current accomplishments?" William suggests. "Michael, why don't you start?" 

Michael groans and slumps back in his seat. "Ughhhh..."

"That's not an answer, Michael." William turns to Mike. "You'll have to excuse him. You now how teenagers can be."

"I have all A's..." Michael mutters.

"I'm not surprised. You're a smart boy, Michael, you're just always goofing off." William says with a slight nod of approval. "You get your intelligence from me."

Michael's eyes widen slightly before going back to normal, returning to his "I don't care" state.

"Evan, Elizabeth, which one of you would like to share an accomplishment next?" William looks over at the twins.

Elizabeth perks up immediately, almost falling out her chair. "Me! Me, me, me!" 

"Well, go on."

"At school, my teacher was giving out awards and j got 'nicest kid award' because I'm so nice!" 

"Wonderful. Your turn Evan." Everyone looks at Evan.

"I was able to improve my impressions." Evan says quietly.

"Impressions?" Mike asks curiously. He never remembered Evan doing impressions of other people.

"Yes, Evan likes to do impressions of us sometimes! Especially Michael!" Elizabeth explains.

"Yeah, Michael's like, 'Stop looking at me! Don't talk to me. You guys are such babies, grow up!'" Evan says in a high-pitched voice, which was supposed to represent Michael's.

Michael groans and rolls his eyes. "That's not how I am, and stop giving me that voice! It's stupid." 

"That's stupid! That's stupid!" 

"Shut the hell up, Evan!" Michael slams his fist onto the table.

"That's enough! Both of you! I'm very disappointed that you two would act such a way with guests around." William says coldly. "To your rooms, both of you. I'll deal with you two later..." 

Michael grunts and storms off to his room, "Good, I didn't want to be here anyway!" 

Evan crosses his arms and goes to his room as well. William sighs and turns to Mike.

"They have no manners. Elizabeth is the only one I can count on...half of the time." 

Mike nods his head slightly. Wow, this was awkward. Mike clears his throat. "Uh, how often does this happen..?" He asks, already knowing the answer.

"Almost everyday." Elizabeth answers, turning her head towards Mike. "They pick on each other all the time."

"Ah..."

William sighs, standing up and pushing in his chair. "Terribly sorry for such an unfortunate dinner, Mike." 

"It's okay." Mike reassures with a firm nod of his head. 

"You should go on ahead and get going home." William suggests. Mike chuckles awkwardly, he didn't exactly have a place to go home to, so he had no idea where he was going to go from here.

"Ah, alright. Goodnight William." Mike says, getting up from his seat and heading towards the door. His gaze shifts to Elizabeth, "Night, Elizabeth."

"Goodnight!" Elizabeth exclaims with a wave.

"Night, Mike. You could maybe swing here in the morning, if you'd like? I have something I'd like to discuss with you." William offers with a grin. Mike nods before opening the door and leaving.

William walks to the door locking it as soon as Mike leaves, peeking out the window, watching as the man walked down the sidewalk.

"I have a feeling there's something more to Mike... Something...interesting."