Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Abby giggled as she walked home with her friends. “Bye!” She waved as they turned down another street.

She walked another block or so when a familiar looking man approached her. “Abby, was it? I was hoping we could talk.”

“Ew, you’re that creep from before. You tried to hurt me and my friends.”

“And I am so, so sorry about that. I wanted to bring you a gift, as an apology.” He held out a box to her.

“It’s heavy. What is it?” She glared up at him, his smile creeping her out.

“Open it.”

She carefully undid the bow, then lifted the lid off.

“It’s an endo skeleton head.” He said, “I noticed you had an interest in robotics and thought you’d might like to toy around with it.”

She ran her fingers across the cold metal. “I don’t know if Mike would want me to have this.”

“You two are close, huh?”

“I guess. It’s always been just me and him.”

“I was never close with my sibling.”

“Vanessa?”

He nodded. “I do miss her though. Say, do you know where I could find her?”

She shook her head. “We stopped talking to her after last time.”

“Do you think your brother knows?”

“He might…”

“Could I talk to him?”

“Ummm, maybe. I don’t think he likes anyone in your family.”

“Ouch. It’s not nice to judge someone based off of their relatives.”

“You tried to kill us.”

“Well, yeah, but do you think I can talk to him?”

Abby looked at the robot in her hands. She did really appreciate the gift, and maybe, if this guy could stick around, she could get more. “Yeah, come on. He should be home by now.” She started walking again.

“So, who’s your favorite animatronic?” Michael asked her.

“I like Chica. She’s the one I was closest with before they went to heaven.”

He nodded along.

“Although she did try to stick me in a springlock suit before. I don’t know that one’s name though.”

“What did it look like? Maybe I know.”

“She had a hat, curly hair, and red cheeks.”

“Ahh, that sounds like Ella. My dad’s business partner built that one for his daughter.”

“Partner?”

“Yeah. He was also pretty smart, but they had a falling out.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.” She sighed. “Do you have a favorite animatronic?” Abby asked.

“Foxy. I like his hook. And he’s fast. I always wanted to run fast, but I could never seem to be quick enough.”

“Where were you trying to run to?”

“It was more of what I was trying to run from.” He paused, “This is your house, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. And it looks like Mike’s home.” She pointed to the car in the driveway then ran up the front steps. “Mike! I’m home and I brought someone!”

“Is it one of your friends?” Her brother asked without looking up from the TV.

“Not exactly.” Michael entered the room.

“No.”

“I just want to talk.”

“Get out!” He stood to look more intimidating, but being 5’5 compared to this tall and lanky man, he wasn’t sure he was doing a good job.

“Mike, he just wants to know about Vanessa.” Abby interrupted. “Look what he gave me.” She held up the endo head.

Her brother sighed, realizing she would keep pressuring him if he didn’t give in, not to mention wanting this guy out of his house as fast as possible. “I haven’t talked to her in weeks. I don’t know anything about her.”

“Do you know where she lives?”

“I’m not gonna tell you that.”

“Listen, Mike,” He took a step closer and Mike took a step back, “I never had a good relationship with my sister, and seeing how you and Abby interact made me want that. I’m just trying to fix my relationship with her.”

“I’m worried that you’re going to hurt her. You act just like your dad.”

Michael’s smile faltered, dropping for a moment before flicking right back up. “I didn’t realize it was a crime to be like our fathers.”

“It’s a crime when it’s yours.”

“Well, I’m trying to change myself for the better, and I’m starting with this. I just want to apologize to her. And to you. I’m sorry, Mike.”

“Well, it’s gonna take a lot more than that to get me to forgive you.”

“Can you at least tell me where my sister is?”

“No. Get out.”

Michael nodded, then left.

“That wasn’t very nice.” the girl said.

“Abby, he tried to kill us.”

“He was also hurt by the yellow rabbit, shouldn’t we try to help him?”

“That’s awful and I do feel bad for him, but we shouldn’t have to deal with their family drama, Abs. We have enough going on.” He looked down to the robot in her hands. “Don’t hurt yourself with that thing.”

“So you won’t make me get rid of it?”

“No.” He sighed.

She smiled wide and ran off to her room.

Chapter Text

Abby, Mike, and Jeremiah walked through the mall. It was loud, and teeming with life.

“Where to next, little lady?” The taller guy asked.

“Hmm, how about the toy store? Then ice cream!” She squealed.

“Alright, alright, but not a big one. I want you to eat your dinner later.” Mike sighed.

“Ok!” She ran off to the toy store.

“Abby, wait up!” Mike and Jeremiah had to jog to catch up. When they did, they saw the girl holding three stuffed animals and looking at more. 

“Mike, look!” She held up a stuffed bunny, bear, and fox. “I’m looking for a chicken!”

“You can pick one.” He said sternly.

“But-”

“You have too many toys already, little miss.”

She dropped her shoulders and continued looking. “Gasp! I found one!” She shoved the ones already in her hands onto the shelf and grabbed the yellow chicken toy.

“Is that the one you want?” He asked.

She nodded excitedly. “Are you sure I can’t get the other ones?”

“No, Abs. I’m not made of money.”

“If he was, he wouldn’t be askin’ me to come help paint your house everyday.” Jeremiah chuckled.

“Yeah, well, it’s almost done finally.”

The three continued to walk around the toy store until Abby decided she was done and headed to the counter.

Mike paid and the three were off again. The trio continued on to the food court where they found the ice cream shop. “What can I get ya’?” the friendly lady working the counter asked.

“I’ll do a scoop of the rainbow swirl in a waffle cone!” Abby said.

“And, uh, a scoop of vanilla in a bowl. And I’ll get his, too.” Mike pointed at Jeremiah.

“Mr. Big Bucks, huh?” He teased.

“You drove us. I’m just paying you back for that.” He stuck his hand in his pocket but his wallet wasn’t there. “Maybe.” He frantically patted down his other pockets to the same. “I just had my wallet, where did it go?”

“So now I’m coverin’ you?” His friend asked.

“I’ll pay you back. I probably just left it at the toy store. Hopefully someone turned it in.”

They all got their ice cream with Jeremiah covering the cost and retraced their steps back to the place where Abby got her toy. The three of them scanned the ground intently until they got to their destination.

“Hi, I was just in here and I seem to have lost my wallet. Did anyone turn one in?” Mike asked the cashier, who was the same one from before.

“No, sorry. I can take down your name and a good phone number and call you if we find it though.” She offered.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Abby came up behind him with Jeremiah, “We looked around, but we didn’t find it.” She shook her head.

“You don’t have to worry about the ice cream, Mike.”

“No, I’ll pay you back. I just hope it turns up.” He sighed. “We gotta get home, Abby has homework she’s gotta finish and I need to make dinner. But now I have to figure out breakfast for tomorrow, there’s nothing in the house so I was gonna run to that donut place in town.”

Eventually, they made it home. Abby was working on her school work at the kitchen table while Mike was cooking some pasta. “So what do you think happened to your wallet?” She asked.

“I don’t know. I just hope no one takes all the money out of my account before I get the chance to cancel the cards.”

“What money?” She teased.

He turned and glared at her. Just then, there was a knock at the door. “Can you watch that? Just yell if it starts to boil.”

She nodded as he walked to answer the door.

He looked out of the glass but he couldn’t see anyone. Opening the door, there wasn’t a person in sight. Looking left, right, then down, he saw his wallet sitting on the welcome mat with a note that read ‘You dropped this :)’. He picked it up and opened it. All of his money and credit cards were in there, not a thing misplaced. He picked up the note and could see that the ink was purple. He flipped it over and on the back read ‘-M.A.’.

He stormed back in. “Abby, are you messing with me?”

“What?”

He slammed the wallet on the table, not aggressively, but enough to get his point across. “Are you messing with me?”

“Hey, you found your wallet.” She smiled.

“It was left on the front porch with a note from ‘M.A.’. Who is that?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Michael?”

“Why are you calling me by my full name?”

“No, Michael Afton. Did he find it?”

“Why would it be him?”

“Whenever something weird happens to us, it’s always because of Freddy’s, so maybe it was him. You did say it would take more than an apology to get you to forgive him. Maybe this is his way of getting on your good side.”

“He’s not getting on my good side, Abby, he tried to kill us.”

“Ok.” She said. “Your water is boiling.”

“Shit!”

After dinner and putting Abby to bed, Mike was watching TV when there was another knock at the door. He opened it to see a white box sitting on the porch. He opened it to find a box of pastries. “Michael.” He yelled, “Michael, I know you’re out here!” Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move around to the side of the house. Chasing after it, he wasn’t sure what this encounter would bring. But when he stopped, Michael was just standing there. “What are you doing?” Mike asked.

“I’m just trying to make it up to you and your sister so that hopefully I can make it up to mine.” The strange man replied with a smile on his face.

“We don’t want you to make it up to us. You need to leave us alone.” Mike growled.

“Would you have found your wallet without me?”

“Someone would've turned it in. Believe it or not, there are good people out there, just not you.”

“It was stolen.” He replied. “You dropped it but a guy picked it up and pocketed it. I got it back for you.”

Mike paused. “What did you do?”

“What I had to do to get it back.”

“Did you kill him?” Mike started to panic.

“No, as much as I wanted to, I figured you wouldn’t be happy about that.” He giggled.

“I’m not happy that you hunted him down-”

“You got your wallet back, didn’t you? Now you don’t have to call the bank to get replacement cards and all your cash is safe and your pictures of you and Abbigail.”

“Her name is Abby.”

“Of course.” He grinned, “Abby.”

“Leave. Don’t come around here again and don’t try to help us. We don’t want anything to do with your crazy family.”

“Tell me where Vanessa is and I’ll leave you alone.”

Mike contemplated for a moment. “No. Leave or I’m calling the police.”

Michael put his hands up dramatically in defeat and walked off. “I have to get to work anyway.”

Mike went back inside when he knew it was safe. Opening the pastry box, he noticed that inside were his favorites along with Abby’s. Either this guy was extremely good at guessing, or he had been watching them for a while. It sent a shiver down Mike’s spine. Before going to bed, he triple checked all the locks and made the decision to get a security camera for the front porch.

Chapter Text

It was becoming normal in Mike Schmidt’s routine for at some point in the day, there would be a knock at the door, and a present left on his doorstep for either him or his sister, always at least one in the morning, and sometimes one later in the day. It has been going on for days now. He opened the door around 3 pm to find a gift bag with a tag on it that read ‘For Abbigail.’ He sighed. “Abby, he left you something, again.”

“Oooh what is it this time?” She grabbed the bag excitedly. Inside were four plushies. They were a vintage Bonnie, Chica, Freddy, and Foxy. “Gasp! These are so cool!”

“Let me see them and make sure there’s nothing weird about them.” He grabbed the Foxy one and examined it, not noticing anything strange except for the fact that it had a bit more wear and tear than the other three. “And that robot head-”

“Endo skeleton.”

“Right, the endo skeleton head hasn’t done anything weird or supernatural?”

She shook her head. “I can’t get it to move or anything. I think that’s because the power source was in a different part of the body, but I don’t know without looking at the whole thing.”

“Hmm. Well, I need to run to the store and pick up the cameras I ordered, you wanna come? See if you can find a battery or something for it.”

“I don’t think I can but I’ll come anyway. Why do you even want cameras? We know who’s leaving the stuff.”

“I know, but just in case he breaks in or something.”

“I think he’s just trying to make up with us so you tell him where Vanessa is.”

“I’m not telling him where Vanessa is. I know I told her to stay away but that doesn’t mean I should send her demented brother after her.”

“Demented is kinda mean.”

“He tried to kill us and half the town, Abs.”

“Well, maybe he’s turned over a new leaf.”

He shook his head and chuckled, “Are you coming with me or not?”

“Sure!” She smiled and ran out the door to the car, stuffed Chica in hand. 

Mike followed her but paused for a moment for he could swear that he saw something move out of the corner of his eye and duck into a bush. ‘I’m just paranoid.’ He thought. 

“Security cameras?” The clerk asked as Mike brought his item to check out at the electronic store. “You live in a rough neighborhood or something?”

“No.” Mike replied, “We just have this issue. Someone keeps leaving stuff on our front porch.”

“Like a cat?” She asked.

“Oooh, he kinda is like a cat.” Abby responded.

Mike gave the cashier an insincere smile and paid before leaving.

That evening, after dinner, Mike set up the camera on their front porch, hiding it in the cushions of one of the chairs just to catch any suspicious activity their visitor might exhibit. When Mike went to bed, he couldn’t help but toss and turn at the thought of what Michael’s true intentions may be. Was he just trying to get on their good side so Mike would hand over Vanessa’s information, or was there something more nefarious at play?

6:33 am. The camera’s motion sensor went off. Groggily, Mike went to the door and caught Michael standing in front of him, bent half over about to leave something on the porch. The two made eye contact, and Afton stood up, towering over Mike.

“Good morning.” He said. “I brought Abbigail something.”

“Why are you doing this?” Schmidt asked.

He smiled, “I’m trying to make it up to you. I want information about my sister and you’re the only one who seems to know anything.”

“She clearly doesn’t want to make up with you. You just need to leave us, and her, alone.”

He deflected. “How does Abbigail like her new toys?”

“They’re fine.” Mike responded.

“Good. She told me Chica was her favorite. I’ll see if I have any more Chica stuff laying around. And, uh-” He handed Mike the box in his hands. “A battery for the endo head. I put in some instructions on how she can get it connected so she can play with the eyes and the mouth a bit.”

Schmidt looked at it, then at him. “Your face is bleeding.”

Afton reached up and touched his cheek. “Rough night at work.”

There was an awkward moment of silence before Mike spoke again. “Come in, let me get you a bandaid.”

He straightened his back a bit in surprise. “Really?”

“I’m still not telling you where Vanessa is, but you have been bringing Abby toys and stuff. I should at least repay you for that.”

He smiled even wider. “If you insist, Mike.”

Schmidt led Afton into the living room. “You can sit on the couch, I need to grab the bandaids and neosporin.”

Michael looked around the living room and saw many pictures littered about. Some of Mike and Abby. Some with Vanessa. There were even a few older ones of all the Schmidts together, before Abby was born.

Mike came back in and sat on the coffee table across from Michael. He leaned in and began cleaning some of the blood with a wet rag. “So, where do you work?”

Afton couldn’t help but blush and feel kind of flustered. Schmidt was so close to his face and he hadn’t known intimacy like that in years. “Uh, I’m working at another Fazbear location right now. Maintenance and the likes.”

“Another Freddy’s?” Mike asked, before putting some neosporin on a q-tip and gently rubbing it on the wound.

“No, more of a sister location. My dad would rent out some of his other animatronics that don’t have homes for parties and stuff. If she’d like, I could bring Abby some time.”

“No.” Mike applied a bandaid to his face and sat back. “I don’t want her going near another Freddy’s again.”

“I understand. Where is she, anyway?”

“Still sleeping, but I should probably get her up for school soon.”

“Then I’ll get out of your hair.” He stood and headed for the door.

“Michael.” Schmidt stopped him for a second.

He turned and cocked his head.

“Be careful. I know you know this, but those animatronics are dangerous.”

“Of course. I was raised with them. What happened this morning was just a slip up on my part.”

Mike nodded.

“Does this mean I can still bring Abbigail gifts?”

Mike sighed, “As long as they are not possessed.”

Michael raised his hands dramatically, “I will double check, but if I miss something, I apologize.” He turned and left.

When Mike went to get Abby up, she saw her sitting on her bed with a big stupid grin on her face. “So what was that all about?” She teased.

He furrowed his brow at her. “What?”

“Michael. You fixed his boo-boo.”

“Don’t say it like that.” He pushed her shoulder, “And were you spying on us?”

She grinned mischievously.

“Get ready for school. I have to go make breakfast.”

“Michael didn’t get it for you?” 

“No. He brought you something but you can’t have it until after school.”

“But-”

“No buts. Get ready.”