Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Crazy eyes’ brother? What the hell is it with you and that family, man?” Jeremiah looked at Mike from across the table, arms crossed, and expression not pleased in the slightest.

Mike picked at his lunch, a wave of deja vu ripping through him as he thought about himself in a similar position a year or so prior. This time he had a new job, but once again, Jeremiah was questioning his thought process. That wasn’t very surprising though. It was certainly deserved.

“It has nothing to do with the family.” Saying that didn’t seem very convincing. He had gotten caught up with every single Afton family member – the living ones at least. It was as though he had a strange connection with them that he couldn’t shake. That sounded absurd.

Then again, so did giant robots possessed by ghost children but Mike had already lived through that. Twice now.

Jeremiah shook his head. “I thought you were done with all this Freddy’s shit? You finally cut your ties with all of that. You don’t have to deal with any of this.”

“It isn’t about Freddy’s.” As soon as the words fell from his mouth he wanted to swallow them back down. It had been a few weeks since he had started talking and meeting up with Michael, always at inopportune hours and just for short periods of time. Ever since Michael showed up on his doorstep bleeding and near death, Mike’s fixation with him grew.

Mike found himself wanted to talk to the other more and more – not just about Freddy’s or whatever that Afton owned sister location was, not just about the hauntings and the scooping; Mike wanted to know about who Michael was as a person. He learned plenty.

Michael loved bubblegum, especially Hubba Bubba tape gum. He was quite the artist, though he’d yet to show Mike any of his drawings. He was the oldest of four, though now it was just him and Vanessa – and seeing as their relationship wasn’t great it was as though Michael was on his own. The more they spoke, the more human Michael seemed. That was likely because now he really was fully human, a far cry from the first time when he’d been used as a skin suit for a ragtag group of animatronics.

The image still made Mike want to gag. He was glad he didn’t see the entire scooping process or the aftermath.

Jeremiah sighed. “If it’s not about Freddy’s then what is it?”

Mike looked down at his fingers. He couldn’t tell Jeremiah what it was actually about. He couldn’t tell anyone. If he was being completely truthful, he didn’t even want to admit it to himself. Michael wasn’t just a problem to solve, a thing to fix, he was someone that Mike wanted to spend more and more time with – someone he could see himself beside.

That was terrifying.

“Don’t say what I think you’re thinking.” Jeremiah raised a hand to stop him though Mike hadn’t said anything.

Mike decided to keep quiet.

“You’re my best friend man,” he said with a sign, “so please think this through before you get in too deep, alright?”

Mike cracked his knuckles. He could say that he wasn’t deep in already, that at any point he could cut all ties with Michael and leave the other to rot – or whatever it was his body was capable of doing now that he was slightly dead but mostly not. But too much time had passed. Mike had already grown attached.

He waited for the other’s calls, the letters he left in the mailbox under a different name – Fritz Smith, just in case Abby ever went through the mail. Mike adored any kind of time he was able to get with the other. Most of the time that was in some parking lot in the back of Mike’s car since, in Michael’s own words, the other was between places at the moment. If Mike was a little less competent, a little less fearful that this would all bite him in his ass, he would offer up space for Michael even though he didn’t really have it.

What would likely happen was that the two of them would share a room. That wouldn’t end well.

The clock ticked on though, which meant he and Jeremiah needed to get back to work. Mike stood from his seat without another word, mostly because he didn’t trust himself to keep himself sounding smart. Getting involved with Michael Afton of all people wasn’t a smart idea at all.

***

When Mike got home, there was a letter from Michael in the mailbox. He tried to keep the dopey smile off of his face as Abby bounded across the lawn to the front door, struggling with the front lock a little. “I got it, Abbs.” He plucked the keys from his sister’s hand and tucked the letter under his arm.

He should have put it in his pocket, that would have been the smarter idea, because as soon as Mike turned his attention to the lock, Abby snatched the letter away and held it behind her back. She took a step back. “You’ve been getting a lot of letters.”

Fear coursed through Mike’s veins. “Come on, give it back. That’s not for you.” He went to grab the letter, and Abby took another few steps back, almost stepping off the porch. Mike really didn’t want to go chasing her along the lawn.

“Is it from a girl?” Her eyes widened at the thought that it could possibly be from a girl.

Mike huffed. “No. Abbs, seriously, just give me the letter.” The sound of paper ripping made him want to rip his hair out. “Come on, just give me the letter.” Mike tried to grab the letter once more, but Abby was horrifically quicker than him. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing. After realizing that he wasn’t going to get the letter back, Mike slunk back and waited for the worst of it to pass.

Abby’s face fell as she read over the letter.

The only thing Mike could hope for was that it wasn’t too intimate. Michael usually wasn’t very overt in his letters, because they were always a little nervous that somebody was going to find them. Mike hadn’t really thought that his letters would ever be intercepted, mostly because nobody went through his mail – there wasn’t anything there worth stealing – so he hadn’t thought about Abby picking up on the letters.

Her hands fell. There was a slight frown to her lips. “Why are you talking to Michael?” Mike took a breath and swallowed. “We’ve been working together.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” That was that part that seemed to hurt the most.

Mike knew that secrets weren’t good, especially secrets about big things, but he thought this was one that was best to keep. He tried to explain that to Abby, but the younger didn’t seem to care. “Abbs, please. I’m only working with Michael to fix everything.”

Abby crumpled the letter. “You’re lying, Mike.” She raised the letter. “This isn’t just working with him.”

Though Mike hadn’t read the letter, he was quite sure that it showed a lot more than just swapping notes about where Charlotte could be and what the next steps with Vanessa were. That’s what the other letters were like anyway. “Abby-”

“Do you like him?” Her voice cracked as she said it.

Mike wanted to scream, not at Abby – that was the last thing he wanted – but just in general. “Like” didn’t even begin to cover how he felt towards Michael, it was something deeper, something stronger. “Can we talk about this inside, please?”

Begrudgingly, Abby followed Mike inside. She dropped her school bag on the ground beside the couch and plopped down onto it with a hmph. Mike sat in the armchair and tried not to lose his mind. Alright, try to explain whatever it was his and Michael’s relationship was to his sister without sounding insane. That was a lot easier said than done.

***

One month later, Mike laid in bed with Michael, the man’s head on Mike’s bare chest. It was one of the nights where Michael stayed over, a change that had only recently been made after several long conversations with Abby, and the man spending some time at the Schmidts’ home during the day – only ever for an hour or two at a time.

They’d graduated to sleepovers now. Big improvements were being made.

Mike ran his fingers through Michael’s hair. Since the scooping – a terrible yet accurate verb – his hair had grown at an increasingly slower rate. Michael was nervous to cut it for fear that it wouldn’t ever grow back. The length it was at now was the perfect kind for Mike to run his fingers through. He could feel his heart beat against Michael’s cheek.

The other’s heart had slowed down considerably. Sometimes Mike thought that one day it would just stop beating entirely. He didn’t know what they would do if that happened. But that was a future problem, for now, they were in their little bubble of bliss. It caused a smile to grow on Mike’s face.

“You’re grinning again,” Michael said.

“Is it a crime to smile now?”

Michael leaned up, his hand splayed across Mike’s chest. “Only one of us is the criminal in this relationship.”

“A reformed one.” Michael had cut back on crime, at least the violent sort. Once again, improvements.

Michael pressed his lips to Mike’s mouth. His lips held a faint chill to them, but Mike had grown attached to the cold. Even though it meant bundling up under blankets when they spent nights together, Mike wanted the man in his arms as much as possible.

Their lips moved together in a long perfected dance. Well, perhaps it hadn’t been that long. He and Michael had snapped together like two puzzle pieces, quickly and efficiently. No time wasted.

Mike raised a hand to cup Michael’s jaw, being careful not to disrupt the scars there much – even though Michael liked it when it hurt a bit. The freak couldn’t really be trained out of him. Mike adored that too. “I can’t believe I got lucky enough to have you.”

Michael rolled his eyes as he usually did when things got mushy. “Yeah, I know, I’m quite the catch.” He leaned in for another kiss, this time attacking Mike’s lips a bit more.

Mike pressed a hand to the other’s chest and pushed lightly. “We’re not going further tonight.”

“Because you’re boring.”

“Because my sister’s still here.”

Michael huffed and laid back down, this time nearly completely on top of the other. He ran his finger along Mike’s collarbone. A few beats passed. The only sounds were from the rush of the wind outside. “I’m not supposed to get used to this,” Michael admitted.

Mike took a breath. It wasn’t often that Michael spoke about these kinds of things, the things that his father had beaten into him from a young age. From what Mike had gathered over the past few months, William Afton was an even worse man than he had originally thought. It was a wonder that Vanessa had turned out to be a decent person – prior to the possession of course – and that Michael was able to slowly adjust back into a normal life, a loving life.

He pressed a kiss to the man’s hair. “But you deserve it, Michael. You deserve it more than anything.” Mike would say those words until his voice went hoarse, until he couldn’t speak anymore. It wasn’t that he was fixing Michael, Vanessa had taught him that wasn’t the path he should take in circumstances like this. Michael had to want to change before anything else, but he’d proven himself. Now, Mike had to be there for support – and he freely gave that. “Everytime you have a thought like that, talk to me. Call me, come to the house, send a letter, and I’ll remind you that those things aren’t true.”

Michael paused in his movements. “You’re so good; it’s disgusting.”

Mike smirked. “And yet you stay with me.”

“It’s more entertaining that way. “ Michael’s eyes fluttered shut.

Mike stayed awake for a few minutes more. He hadn’t expected to be in this position when he first met Michael, and even after the first few weeks of getting to know the real Michael he hadn’t expected it. But now, months down the line, he couldn’t imagine a better life than falling asleep with Michael in his arms. This was exactly where he was supposed to be.