Chapter Text
Gregory stood frozen, completely in shock as his friends and their families roared in applause. It wasn’t until Liam tackled him to the ground that he finally seemed to come back to reality, letting out a squawk of surprise. The other boy laughed and hugged him, before grabbing his shoulders to shake. “Dude, we did it!” He shouted, his eyes alight with stars. “We actually made it to the semi-finals! Ahhh! Holy shit, I can’t believe this! We rock!” He punched him in the shoulder, earning a small protest. “Nice shot, center forward!”
Gregory blinked up at him, then slowly started to grin as his surprise was replaced with excitement and realization kicked in. Everything happened so fast tonight. He had been so focused on their soccer match, that he hadn’t even realized it was over until this moment. It had been so close. The entire game, they had been tied with the Lakeland Barracudas, who came at them with everything they had. They were really good, Gregory had to give them that. He knew he’d be sporting a few new bruises come tomorrow morning and probably reeked of sweat, but none of that mattered right now. It had honestly been the most intense game he had ever played, due to it being the deciding game on if they went to the semi-finals or not. Of course he knew winning wasn’t everything, he played for more reasons than just that, but damn did it feel good! Especially when he was the one that managed to get the winning goal.
Soon, laughter was bubbling up Gregory’s chest and he was surging forward to hug his friend. Liam returned it and let out another cheer, before standing and grabbing his wrist to drag him over to the rest of their team, where they were clustered together chatting excitedly. Liam took them right into the fray fearlessly and held up Gregory’s wrist, shouting something about him being their “star player.” The other kids let out whoops and cheers as everyone exchanged high-fives and patted Gregory on the back. The brunette grinned at them and elbowed a few, congratulating them on their good plays, but also sucking up some of the praise a little in a playful way.
“Alright, alright. Line up!” Their coach, Winry, called from the sidelines, causing his team to scramble over to her and form a line. They moved past the other team, who had done the same, and thanked them for a good game, as they did after every match. The other kids looked a little disappointed, of course, and Gregory felt for them, so he tried to pat a few on the shoulder and give them some words of encouragement.
Afterwards, Winry gathered them up at the side and gave them an excited speech about how proud she was of them, ending it with a surprise trip to the Mega Pizzaplex to celebrate. The kids gasped in delight and looked at each other, then cheered. Gregory grinned too, thrilled he didn’t have to actually take the city bus home tonight. “I’ll meet all of you there at seven o’clock!” She said before dismissing them.
“Hell yes! Pizza party!” Liam shouted, lifting a fist into the air then yanking it down as he kicked one leg out. “I’m starving.”
Gregory laughed and walked with him off the field. “You’re always hungry.” He replied.
“I’m a growing boy! I don’t know what you want from me.”
Liam’s mom was waiting on the other side of the fence, already having the cloth chair she brought with to every game packed up and hanging over her shoulder. “Congrats, boys!” She told them, clasping her hands together. “That was an awesome game. You should be very proud of yourselves.” She turned and patted Gregory on the head. She was usually more affectionate than this, but he knew he was nasty, so he didn’t blame her for not wanting a hug. “Nice shot, Gregory! I was screaming at the top of my lungs!”
The brunette chuckled and rubbed his arm a little. “Thanks, Ms. Winchester.” He perked up a little then. “Did you manage to record the game?” He asked.
The raven-haired woman nodded and patted the camera bag that was also hanging off her shoulder. “I sure did! I’ll send it to you as soon as we get home tonight.”
Gregory grinned. “Awesome, thank you! I really appreciate you recording the games for me, and so do my parents. They really like watching them.”
“Of course, sweetie! It’s no trouble at all.”
Liam nudged his friend with his elbow. “Too bad your dads can’t come to the games in person. Sucks they gotta work all the time.” He said.
Gregory shrugged and pushed his lips to one side. “It is what it is. I get it.” He told him, regardless of the fact that he agreed with him. He really wished Freddy and Bonnie could come to his games in person, maybe bring the whole oddball family with them, but he knew that while they were still tied to the pizzaplex, that would probably never happen. Maybe one day he could sneak them out again, preferably without them getting in trouble for it. “Um, Ms. Winchester?” Gregory spoke up. “Is it ok if I ride with you guys to the pizzaplex?”
Ms. Winchester waved her hand. “Of course you can! Any time. Do you need a ride home too?” She asked.
Gregory smiled and shook his head. “Oh no, that’s ok. My parents should be done by then and will come get me. I’ll text them and let them know where I’ll be.” He answered.
“Well alright, but let me know if that changes, ok?”
“I will.”
Liam tossed an arm around Gregory’s shoulders as they started towards the car. “Heck yeah! Let’s go get some pizzaaa!” He cheered, causing his friend to chuckle.
The ride to the pizzplex was filled with excited recaps of the game, mainly from Liam, who was very animated when he spoke and could honestly carry the conversation all on his own if they let him. At one point, Ms. Winchester straightened, like she had just remembered something, and glanced back at Gregory through the rearview mirror. “Gregory, remind me what your parents do again? I think you told me once, but I can’t for the life of me remember.”
Liam leaned to the side to grin up at her from the backseat. “Mom, you would forget your head if it wasn’t attached.” He told her.
“Hush, you.” She replied with a narrowed eyes look that held no heat.
Gregory smiled a little at their banter before replying. “They’re in a band. Their gigs are usually in the evening, that’s why they can never make it to the games.” He replied easily, having practiced these kinds of answers in case they came up. He didn’t want to be caught unprepared.
Ms. Winchester wiggled her finger at the rearview mirror. “That’s right! I remember now. You told me this once before.”
The brunette chuckled, “I did, yes.”
Liam looked at him as he leaned back in his seat. “Your parents are so cool. I really wanna meet them some time and see one of their shows.” He told him.
Gregory smiled at this, glancing down at his knees. Little did his best friend know that he had already met them and seen them perform lots of times. He just never introduced them as his parents before. The thought tugged a small, sad little string in his chest, wishing he could show Freddy and Bonnie off as his parents, but no one would believe him if they were in the animatronic bodies. “Yeah, that’d be really cool.” He told him as he met his gaze.
“Maybe we’ll get to meet them tonight when they come to pick you up.”
“Maybe, I guess we’ll see what happens.”
When they arrived at the complex, the two boys jumped out of the car and made their way up to the entrance, where some of their teammates and the coach were already waiting. Gregory and one other boy had entry wristbands they scanned to get in then waited while Winry paid for the others.
As they made their way through the complex and towards the elevators to take them to the restaurant level, Gregory caught something white out of the corner of his eye, and did a double check to see Chica walking by. Smiling, he lifted his Fazwatch to his wrist, which he had slipped back on in the car, and opened a line to her. “Chica, look to your left.” He whispered. He saw the chick stop and her eyes widen, before she did just that, scanning the area for him. When she spotted him and his team, she lit up like a thousand watt bulb, then hurried towards them.
As she approached, other kids noticed and soon the whole group’s attention was on her, waving and shouting greetings. “Hello, everyone!” Chica replied as she gave a little wave. She then clasped her hands together and tipped her head to the side. “Aww don’t you guys look cute in your little uniforms! You wouldn’t happen to be Branford Tigers, would you?”
“Yeah!” One of his teammates replied as an excited energy went through the group.
Liam grinned and elbowed Gregory. “Dude, Chica knows our team! We’re already famous!” He whispered loudly.
The younger boy rolled his eyes at this, but couldn’t keep from smiling. “Oh yeah, definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that it’s on our uniforms.” He replied, then thought, “Or the fact that she’s watched every one of our games with the others with the same level of energy someone watching the Superbowl would have.”
“We just got into the semi-finals!” Another child told her, causing her to gasp and lift her hands to her mouth. Chica’s eyes locked with Gregory’s and he could just feel the near overwhelming desire to scoop him up in the biggest hug, complete with a few spins. In fact, he was kind of surprised and impressed that she was able to keep a hold of herself in front of everyone. Just like the other animatronics, she had to pretend that he was just like every other guest that came in, which meant no random hugs or calling his name from down the hall in greeting. Nobody liked this rule, including Gregory, but he supposed it came with having an unconventional home and family.
“That’s wonderful!” Chica praised as she hopped a few times. “We should celebrate. Come on, your first two pizzas are on me!” This earned a cheer from the group.
“Thank you so much!” Coach Winry told her. “That’s so nice of you.”
Chica waved a hand, “Don’t worry about it! You guys deserve it.”
The chick moved to the front of the group to escort them to one of the many pizza restaurants in the complex. The entire time, she chatted to the eager children following her, looking engaged and curious in everything they were saying, like the amazing caretaker she was. Plus, she looked genuinely happy doing this. Gregory knew how much all of the animatronics loved kids and interacting with them. He was glad they enjoyed what they did so much, regardless of the shitty circumstances.
Their route took them up a floor and past a quieter portion of the complex. Gregory could see the Daycare and make out Sun chasing younger kids around while they squealed in delight, causing him to shake his head a little in amusement. Liam leaned in close to him and murmured, “I don’t know, man. I think the Daycare attendants are pretty creepy.”
Gregory shrugged and looked at him. “They’re not so bad, once you get to know them.” He replied, genuinely meaning it too. It had been a slow process, healing from what Moon did to him his first night here. They had taken several small steps that led to big change. Just recently, he had been able to see the night time attendant in person and speak to him for the first time since that night. Freddy had been there with him for comfort and support, he wasn’t quite ready to be with him by himself yet, but Gregory felt proud of this development. It also made him feel good when he saw Moon’s genuine happiness at being able to speak to him directly, instead of through Sun, so that helped.
Liam tilted his head curiously. “How do you know? Have you been in there before?” He asked.
“No,” the brunette lied, “but I’ve talked to them when they’re outside of the daycare. They don’t spend all their time there, you know. It’s just kinda rare to find them anywhere else because there’s always kids that need to be watched.”
The other boy thought about this for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Chica!” Gregory looked up when one of his teammates called the guitarist’s name. He was pointing at a room off to the side. “What’s this place? I’ve never seen it before.” He asked.
Gregory saw they were now standing in front of The Pirate’s Cove and the boy’s question halted their progress forward. He frowned, feeling his heart sink a little, and glanced up at Chica in concern. He forgot this attraction was over here, or he would have tried to maybe detour them another way to avoid this exact situation. The cove was closed, abandoned really, so it didn’t gain much attention, but children were curious in the face of something new, yet old looking.
The chick was looking at the doors to the cove now with a startled expression on her face, like she hadn’t even realized they were passing it on this route. Maybe she hadn’t. It was easy to turn a blind eye to something that causes pain and longing. Gregory watched as a cheerful mask slipped into place as she turned her attention back to the group.. “This is The Pirate’s Cove!” She explained to them as she tipped her hand towards the door. “This used to be an attraction for my dearest friend Foxy. He was a fearless pirate with an epic show and stories to tell.”
A confused murmur went through the group as they glanced at each other. “I’ve never heard of him.” One kid stated, looking back up at her.
For just a moment, Gregory caught her smile falter. This couldn’t be easy for her. He hadn’t heard a lot about Foxy from her, but the whole thing had to be just as painful for her as it was for the others. They were all so close to each other. Then Management took Foxy away for a stupid reason. Gregory couldn’t imagine what that must have felt like, to know you were going to lose someone so close to you and have no power to stop it. His chest ached just at the thought.
Quickly, he moved through his team to the front, where he grabbed one of Chica’s hands with both of his. She blinked down at him in surprise. “Come on, I’m starving! Can we get pizza already?” He asked her as he tugged her forward a little, hoping to distract his team and get them away from this area of the complex.
“Yeah!” Another one of the other kids added and soon the conversation had shifted to what kind of pizza everyone wanted. Thank goodness for the short attention span of middle school kids. Chica glanced back at them, then down at Gregory, and gave him a sweet smile. “Thank you.” She signed to him subtly. The boy smiled back at her and nodded a little in return. Chica didn’t let his hand go as they continued forward and Gregory didn’t protest, hoping the gesture helped comfort her some.
He did glance over his shoulder as they left The Pirate Cove behind, though, and found himself slipping into thought. Foxy had to still be around somewhere, right? This damn place threw nothing away. He knew this for a fake. He had seen the offices littered with unorganized documents and a basement packed with stuff. He knew they had replaced Foxy with Roxi and there was a pretty good chance they recycled some of his parts to build her, but his personality hadn’t been transferred into something else, not that he knew of, anyways. If it had, then the others would have figured it out. They would have found him or Foxy would find them and there wouldn’t be this sad air around it.
Gregory decided that he just had to check, had to know if Foxy was really gone or just lying around somewhere, abandoned like how Bonnie was. If he was lucky, maybe he could find his old body and his personality would still be intact. Maybe he could put him into a different vessel. He knew how to do that now, after Bonnie had explained it to him that first time when he was transferring Freddy into the android body. If he was really lucky, he would be able to do all of this by himself, keep it a secret, and surprise everyone. If Foxy wasn’t completely trashed, he should be able to figure out most of the replacements. He was pretty sure at this point he had seen Bonnie replace most of his parts. It would just be a matter of remembering how he did it and a little bit of luck.