Chapter Text
Your alarm goes off loudly beside you, you turn it out without much care. You were already awake anyway, far too excited to stay asleep for longer than you had to. You hop out of bed and start getting ready. The rain outside sounds awful but you just tell yourself it'll have to clear up at some point.
Breakfast doesn't start out much better, Gabe crying and Lisa complaining about there being too much milk in her cereal bowl. You solve both issues with a smile on your face and a hummed tune on your lips. As Helen Chase passes you in the drop off line you give her a polite wave that you think scared her half to death.
You almost skip into the Plex in the torrential downpour, twirling around with Gabe and your umbrella a few times while you're at it. You're in one of the happiest moods of your life.
Why? Because today is the first day of the Daycare Shutdown.
You're absolutely delighted about it.
You've been trying to make this happen since October, it's the end of March. There is nothing that could ruin today for you. Absolutely nothing.
You march into Fazbear Theater, where Bri told you to meet her this morning so she could spend the day watching Gabe for you like the saint she is. Though she was getting paid for it since she was still clocking hours for her shift, but nonetheless, you appreciated her for it.
You'd hate to be one of the parents who were still scrambling last minute to find someone to watch their kids this week. You'd given plenty of warning this time however, and no one, not even Sarah could say a single thing about it. Especially not now, when you walked by you could see and hear and the crew already hard at work.
Besides the cable install, you were having them do general renovations on the place. Inspecting the playsets, replacing the old windows. Adding some lovely glow in the dark features your sister had helped you pick out. They were going to need the full week to do it and you were more than happy to let them-
Bri is not in here.
You check your watch, you know you agreed on 8:45 am, so where was she?
Just as you're about to give up there's a loud thump behind you. Coincidentally your phone buzzes at the seconds later. You decide to look at it first.
'Hey! Came down with a bug over the weekend so I don't think I should watch the little guy anytime soon. Sun offered to do it in my place tho and he knows more than me so I'm sure it'll be fine!
I'll see you later this week or next o7'
Oh no.
You flip on your heel, "Sun. What a, surprise."
"Hello Starshine. So nice of you to drop by~" He bends down so he's more eye level, "And good morning Gabriel! How are we this morning?"
Your brother sneezes in response.
"Were you hiding in the f*cking rafters?" You look up, trying to figure out where exactly he came from.
Sun's cheer drops, focus back to you, "Now friend, let's try to be a bit more considerate with what we say while in the company of those much younger than us, hm?"
"He's a baby. And like usual, there's no other children around to hear it."
Wrong choice of words.
The Attendant's rays spin as he straightens, hands clasping in front of him, "That's right. There are no other children. You got rid of them all."
"You're acting like I've done something terrible, you knew this was coming!" You say.
His tone is rather even, given his body language indicates he's a bit peeved, "No, Bright Eyes. You forgot to tell me. Or maybe you purposefully didn't, one can never tell with you."
The one thing that could ruin your great day has become a reality.
You forgot to remind the Attendant about the closure. And now he's going to be watching your brother all day long.
Every day this week.
Unless Bri got better quick, but even then it wouldn't make sense to anyone else besides you for her to monitor Gabe instead of the-annoyingly-trained robot. This was his entire gig. You stood no chance.
While wallowing in your defeat something that the animatronic said comes to your attention.
You adjust your bag strap, "Wait a minute, I thought you'd like the vacation. I didn't think you even liked kids!"
The bot just stares at you, "You really do know nothing about me."
"Excuse me?"
"You're excused. Now, the child, if you would," He makes a beckoning motion, "I have a full schedule planned out for us and I won't have you going and ruining it. We're already five minutes behind."
"I-no," You step back, hand on Gabe, "I never agreed to letting you watch him this week."
"And who exactly are you going to have do it instead?" Sun's words drip with annoyance, it eggs you on.
You shrug, "Dunno. I'll make it work. Besides, you're not supposed leave the Daycare zone, and they'll be starting work in here anytime now."
You'd tacked on a few extra things when you got the all clear for the shutdown. Again, you were fully violating any trust Sarah might have given you, purely out of spite. While Bri was meeting you here, the intention was for her to take him to one of the staff rooms or somewhere else safe once they started work in here.
You were not going to mention to Sun that work wasn't due to start until tomorrow, again out of spite.
His eyes narrow, "That's it?"
"Yeah," You nod, assuming the conversation was now over and you need to scramble to find a new sitter.
You underestimated his own pettiness it seems. As with that confirmation, he moves, going over to where you see a small pile of toys, craft supplies, blankets, etc. With a sweep of his arms, he collects it all up and neatly deposits it in a box. Walking back over to you, he nods once, then strides out of the theater in the direction of the rest of the Plex.
You follow after him, stopping when he does to turn and face you.
"Well? Where will you have me watch him then? You're lucky I make special exceptions for favorite patrons, isn't that right Gabriel?" He coos to the baby some more and in response your little brother giggles.
You blink, "You're serious."
Another mood drop, "Aren't you? We both know you have no other options, and if here is not suitable I will find somewhere else. Wherever would please you most even. Since I'm so generous."
Another shriek of laughter from your sibling at Sun's antics.Not helping you out in the slightest to make an argument against the Daycare Attendant.
Dammit Gabriel.
You sigh, defeated for good this time, "Follow me. There's an empty space across the hall from my office you can use."
You don't know why you even tried to fight this in the first place, it's not like you had a choice. Maybe you were just feeling argumentative, the problems of today sinking below your skin more than you wanted to admit.
When you get downstairs, you drop your things off in your office without so much as a greeting to your team. Instead you flash them a brief wave and ignore the looks they give to you and Sun-who was looming just outside the door-and fish in your pocket for your keys.
Moving breezily to the other side of the hallway, you find the right one and put it into the lock for the door, it creaks open moments later. The lights come on as you flip the switch, stepping inside.
"Welcome to your home away from home for the week," You gesture with one hand, "Feel free to do as you please, nobody uses this space. There's a maintenance closet in the left corner, and beside that is a private bathroom. Ironically, this was supposed to be the mandated 'maternity' office. But no woman in her right mind would work for Fazbear Entertainment while she's pregnant, or while breast-feeding. I'd hope not anyway."
You can hear the strain in Sun's voice, "How, quaint."
"Isn't it just?" You lift Gabe out of his carrier, turning him to face you, "Alright buddy, you know the drill. I'll see you at lunch."
You press a quick kiss to his forehead and then give him to the Attendant. As you leave, they dance around the room together, the bot either intentionally or unintentionally snubbing you about spending the day with your brother while you're stuck just across the way working. You already knew how little time you got to spend with him, and Lisa, but it seems having it put right in front of your face made the fact ten times worse.
Out of curiosity, you take a look inside the box Sun brought with him.
You jab it with your foot, "What is all of this, anyhow?"
"Tools of the trade," He sing-songs as he guides Gabe towalk across the carpeted floor, allowing the baby to grip his silicone fingers for support. Another hit to your wounded pride.
You pull one of the items out, "This is an entire bottle of glitter glue."
"Your point?" He asks, then shakes his head, "You go do your job, and let me do mine. Okay, Sunshine?"
You drop the bottle back inside, "Yeah, alright."
The day drags on torturously slow. While not loud by any means, you can hear Gabriel's shrieks of joy, compounded with Sun's cheery disposition every so often and it irks you in a way you can't describe. Is it just because you don't want to be writing up the formal report for the DJ's upgrade plan for corporate? Perhaps. Or is it because as stated before, having to witness time slip through your fingers while you're helpless to stop it gives you a sense of melancholy and frustration you haven't experienced in a long time? No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous.
Besides, you get to spend lunch together, right? You always at least get some part of lunch time to sit with the baby, and Bri as well.
Except that Bri isn't here, and you lost most of the lunch hour to a heated call with Accounting. Apparently, they thought it was their business to approve your project budgets now, which it isn't. Nor has it ever been. And no, you will not be sending a log of your purchase history over the past five years-most of you haven't even been here that long-until they provide written proof for why such an arduous time-wasting task is necessary. To sum it up, you told Jenny Burbank she could eat your shorts, to the stunned surprise of the Parts & Infrastructure Office.
This was ultimately going to backfire on you eventually, but you were prepared for it and will figure out a plan after lunch. You snatch up your lunch bag as Pete is still laughing and cheering in disbelief, as the others attempt to get him to 'shut the hell up'. Going across the hall, you find you're interrupting story time, not snack time.
You double check the clock. It's twenty minutes past lunch.
Sun doesn't look up from reading 'The Little Prince', "Bit late, friend."
You feel your eye twitch, "I'm aware," You take a better look around the room, "You've certainly been busy."
The cubicles and desks have all been shoved to the furthest edges of the room. Scattered across the floor are various toys, stuffed animals, puzzles, and what have you. Christ, he's even decorated with drawings your guessing Gabe made this morning.
Against the wall opposite from you the playtime Attendant sits with your brother in his lap, sucking on a pacifier with little care in the world. At least, until he sees you.
It melts all your anger away as he hurriedly crawls across the room to you, sitting down once he makes it. He lifts his arms and you reach down and scoop him up with a laugh that removes any remaining stress from your body.
You glance back over to Sun when he speaks, "It's no Superstar Daycare, by any means. But it will do for a temporary location."
"Glad it all worked out for you," You move a little further into the room and sit down, releasing Gabe to venture over to some blocks.
Sun stands, moving to collect up art supplies, "Should I ask why you're joining us so abruptly? I had assumed you wouldn't be back until it was time to leave for the day."
You groan, "Well if you really want to know-"
"I don't," You send him a glare as he waves his hand, eyes crinkling, "But continue."
You resist the urge to give him a gesture of your own, instead digging into your bag for your sandwich, "Accounting's decided to all of the sudden get up in our business down here, and I'm not about to stand for it."
You state your opinion about the matter as the Attendant listens, or you assume he does. You hear little hums from him every so often, small clicks as he nods his head. You realize you'd never picked up before, the Daycare's theme usually filling the space instead.
"And I told her that unless she has written proof stating that we need to send them our entire purchase history, which mind you is thousands of emails to look through for itemized receipts," You take another bite of your sandwich, "I'm not giving her anything," You swallow, "I mean seriously, it'll take us weeks to try and figure it all out. We don't have that kind of time!"
Sun is playing a matching game with Gabriel, voice humored as he speaks, "Did they give you any reasoning for the sudden demands?"
"No!" You crumple your napkin up after using it, "That's the worst part about it. They won't tell me sh*t,I mean a thing."
"Hm. On the topic of withheld information, have you given any thought to our discussion from the other night?"
You nod, "I have, and it's too risky right now. We need to wait until things calm down again. In the meantime we need to figure out what, if anything, the stuff we do have can tell us."
The Attendant scoffs, "You're far too optimistic, as far as I can analyze, our first trip was a bust, admit it."
You open your mouth to counter, but never get the chance to. You hear yelling coming from outside in the hall, and register that the consequences of your actions has arrived sooner than anticipated. You quickly pack up and say goodbye to your brother, heading back to your office to deal with Jenny and the cronies she brought with her.
Cronies was probably a bit harsh, but you didn't trust anybody that dressed so nicely to go to their job at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. Or the Accounting & Finance division in general. Maybe it was because their leader was a creepy piece of garbage, but they gave you bad vibes.
Regardless, you spend the next thirty minutes arguing once more with Jenny and those who decided to join her. Thankfully your team coming to your aid. You tried to come to some sort of compromise, saying you'd get them the purchase history you had on file already for the past two years at least. But anything beyond that was going to be near impossible, and you think they knew that.
Furthermore, you brought it up once more that approving your purchases was not in their scope, and that it's solely between you and corporate for a reason. You had nothing to hide, but what you did know is that those pencil pushers didn't know a thing about the material costs to keep the machines in this place up and running and evolving. At least with corporate there was an ETM on staff who could explain everything with ease. You doubted things would go as smoothly here, and it would just be a waste of your time.
The, discussion, ended with you kicking them out after they refused to comply with the agreement, and you told them to eat your shorts, again.
Besides that, the rest of your day wasn't too bad. You'd still consider it a win. Somewhat.
On Tuesday, you're in bright and early. You find a note taped to the door from Accounting, wanting you, specifically, to come upstairs for a meeting. You crumple it and throw it in the trash, sending an email to your guests from yesterday that you don't have the time and if they want to meet again they'll have to come see you on your time. Not the other way around.
Before you do so, you deposit your brother with Sun, who's taken it up another notch in the mirror office. There's a bean bag now, and a few strings of lights. You don't comment on it, a bit too upset to converse, and simply go on your way.
The day is filled with calls to corporate about the Accounting fiasco, as well as trying to figure out a new material for the West Arcade tunnels when you're due have work start on it in less than two weeks. You love it when things get backordered for 3 months and the manufacturer didn't bother to tell you until after you placed the order. Not to worry, Liv was working on a refund right this moment.
You miss lunch again.
You storm into 'Superstar Daycare: Basem*nt One Branch' hand clutched into a fist around your lunch bag.
"Late again~ Or are we changing the lunch schedule?"
You drop to the ground with a growl, "Don't even. Let me see my brother and eat my lunch in peace."
"You'll have to wait. We're very busy-Gabriel!"Sun is interrupted as Gabe makes his way over to you, in the process partially destroying the puzzle they were working on. You think it's of Yosemite.
You snort, opening your arms wide and clapping your hands, "Thatta boy Gabe! Here, you want a snack? I think I've got some carrot sticks for you."
The Attendant scrambles to get up without ruining the puzzle any further, "No, snack time is over. You'll ruin his appetite!"
"Oh, he'll be fine," You offer a mushy stick to your brother, who greedily accepts and starts gnawing on it, "Babies stomachs are a lot less temperamental the older they get."
"I know, friend. But Gabriel in particular has had an upset one the past two days," Sun scoops him up, starting to pat his back, "And I've yet to determine why."
You open up your salad container, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"You seemed rather too busy for something so minor. If it were to continue however I would have notified you swiftly."
You take a bite, "Fair enough."
As you eat, you watch Sun go through the motions with your brother. Going back to their puzzle after a few minutes. You listen to how he speaks to him, trying-you assume-his best to constantly be engaged and watching signals from Gabriel on what he needs right at that moment. An ever-watching presence, but not an overtly suffocating one. At least, not for a one year old.
You don't think you could get better childcare than that. Definitely not for free.
"What."
You comprehend that you've been staring, and now Sun's attention is on you.
You play it off, "Nothing. Guess I'm just surprised you actually enjoy taking care of kids."
"Well friend, it's what I'm programmed to do," He glances back down to Gabe, handing him another puzzle piece, "It's not as if I have much choice in the matter if I didn't."
"Yeah I know it's just, not what I expected of you."
His gaze it back to you, rays spinning a few times, "You speak as if you know me, and you don't."
You huff, "Yeah you've made that loud and clear. Several times for that matter, and I think we both know I'm not just talking about this week."
White eyes narrow, "Still upset, are we?"
"Should I not be?" You question, "I mean, let's be honest, Sun. There's a lot to be upset about. A whole laundry list worth, even."
He breaks eye contact, "I would have thought you'd learn to move on and let things lie. I've done such with your mistakes and misgivings."
"Your tone implies that anything you've done to me is hardly a mistake," You mutter, "And have you though? Because it sure doesn't seem like it."
"Would a heartfelt apology make you feel better? Would that ease your fragile little ego?" His words are far to sweet-sounding for their context.
"It's not about ego, it's about so much more than that. You tricked me. Hurt me. And then when I was down for the count you blackmailed me into a corner I had no choice but to fight myself out of," You sound more upset than you want to be.
Sun's faceplate clicks harshly to the left, "You're not blameless either, Bright Eyes. What right do you have to feel hurt over me? When my actions are simply a reflection of your own."
"I gave up! I quit! Right before everything went down, I said the hell with it! Because I-" You stop, frozen as you discern the noise you're suddenly hearing is Gabriel crying, "Oh Gabe, I'm sorry buddy."
You crawl over to him, bending down to his eye level and starting to shush him softly. You ignore the robot watching your every move for the time being.
Once he settles you wipe away his tears with your thumb pad, "I shouldn't have gotten upset, not in front of you anyway."
Gabe yawns, and you smile, holding out your finger for his tiny fist to grab.
"You do care about your siblings, don't you?" Sun's timbre is low, you don't think he intended for you to hear him.
You keep your focus on Gabriel, "Of course I do. I love them."
"Love," Sun huffs, "Seems to be more trouble than it's worth."
You pluck your brother off the bot's lap, letting him cling to you for a bit before you have to go back to work, "Depends really. Sometimes it's not, other times you spend entire lifetimes dedicated to love, and it doesn't pay off," Still holding onto Gabe, you lay back, letting the baby rest on your chest, "But when it does? God, what a feeling that is. To love and be loved. Doesn't matter if it's platonic, familial, romantic, the payoff is all relatively the same. Makes all the hardships, the sacrifices, the trouble, priceless."
"I can't understand that."
Your gaze is focused on the ceiling, "What can you understand?"
"Hurt." The word seems carefully chosen, handpicked.
"You'd be surprised how often love and hurt go hand in hand," You sigh, "Maybe even alarmed."
"From personal experience I can assure you it's not. Children, adults, they each experience it, but how they experience it, that's the interesting part about it," You hear a few clicks from over where he sits.
"Mm."
You lay there for a bit, feeling your eyes start to droop ever so slightly. Going closed at some point.
"Friend, napping in the Daycare during playtime is strictly forbidden."
You open your eyes, grimacing at the rude awakening, "Alright, fine."
You sit up, bringing your brother with you. He yawns again, but otherwise doesn't protest. You have less than five minutes left of your break, so you start to collect yourself and work on becoming a real person again. You stand to leave, and after contemplating it for a moment decide to ask the question that was on your mind.
"So tell me then. What's the difference?"
Sun sets a piece of paper down, you assume for Gabe, along with some crayons, "Why should I, what's it your business?"
"Because this is one of the few opportunities you have to share your true thoughts and feelings. Candidly." You adjust your hold on Gabriel sticking your tongue out to get him to smile.
You catch the hesitation in the animatronic's movements. Hand paused just momentarily while reaching for another piece of paper. It's gone as soon as it appears.
"Children are not the same as adults." Sun sets to work on his drawing, hand flying across the blank sheet and rapidly filling it with a sketch, "They're kinder, easier to understand, oblivious to even the idea of harming others. Children don't intend to hurt you when they do."
"Have you been hurt before?"
No delay this time, "No. But I've seen it happen enough to know to avoid it."
"Not even by me?" The inquiry slips out before you can stop it.
Sun's rays turn idly for a moment. His answer holds an emotion you can't place, a mixture of humor and unreadability, "No. Not by you."
You don't know what you expected from his answer. Whatever it was, you don't think you got it.
Once he's finished, he sets the page aside and stands, walking over to you, "Don't fret, Starlight. You have no need to feed into your own guilt complex." He takes Gabriel from you swiftly, lifting the child high as he giggles in response, "I expected the worst out of you the moment I saw you."
"Could say the same to you. Guess I'm just lucky then that you can't do anything to my siblings even if you tried," You say, partly under your breath.
"How could you insinuate such a thing?" He's shocked, based on his tone,"If I wanted to cause you grief Bright Eyes that would not be the way I do it. Ever. I can assure you of that."
"You've given me little incentive to think otherwise," You sneer, then exhale, "But I realize that was too far. I apologize."
Sun sets Gabe down, handing him a crayon, "Full of remorse today, aren't you? It won't help your case, but I'll take it I suppose."
The moment's well over now, lost with the countless others before it.
"Just take care of my brother."
"It's my job." He bites, turning towards you.
You scoff, "Good."
"Good." He repeats.
"Fine."
"Fine."
You growl in frustration and start to leave, "I mean it. And don't give him the FizzyFaz formula either. I know you brought some down here with you."
Sun bows, "As you wish."
You shut the door, resisting the urge to open it up and get in one final comment. No one says anything as you come back into the office and sit down. You assume that means that either they didn't hear any of that ordeal or they don't care. You'll pray for the former but at this point, either works for you.
There rest of your day is spent helping Tyler duke it out with Accounting via email, and then a little bit of time on actual work. You take out the majority of your aggression on the heavy bag later that evening, helping you at least a little bit to de-stress. You're almost glad Bri was sick still, if she had seen you tonight she probably would have asked if you were doing okay.
You weren't, but you didn't want her to know that. Not right now, anyway.
"Ever the risk-tasker, aren't you, Icarus?"
You know what Moon means. It's your late shift, and you're currently in the under-construction Daycare. Scaffolding and power tools litter the space, drop sheets cover any tables, toys, or otherwise that hadn't been removed from the space prior to the crew starting. While not an unsafe environment with everything shut down for the day, still wasn't 'the' safest place around either.
"I had to come in here and check on their progress at some point," You glance up, searching for the naptime attendant, "I won't be staying long."
"Mm. You said that last night, too." You hear him somewhere to your upper left, bells giving away his position just ever so slightly.
You wave your hand, "That was different, we needed to review those documents and if I had to force him to do so, so be it."
You'd spent the previous evening reviewing notes and files again with Sun, in the hopes that you could potentially piece together something with what information you had gathered. Your results weren't great and had ultimately proven him right that you'd likely need to try again. But, at the very least it had provided you a potential lead into where else to check next, which would be in some of the other engineering offices around the Plex.
The incident reports, while detailed, seemed to be missing some documentation. That of which you would suspect would be in the remaining offices, which would potentially be a bit easier to get into compared to the Records office since most were located in the lower levels like yourself. There, you could potentially get to work on accessing the more, encrypted servers while you're at it.
You turn around, jumping back when you find Moon is right behind you, hanging upside down from some scaffolding.
"There are other, more important things, you should be making him do." His eyes narrow.
You look down to your notebook, writing down that all the playsets seem to have past inspection or been updated, "Maybe. But I've got quite the list to get through as it is."
"So you've said."
You cringe at being reminded of earlier that day, "I just meant, in general, but yeah. I really need to um, work on my temper," You scratch the back of your neck, "Doesn't matter that it's that time of year, I'm stronger than that. Try to be, anyway."
"You're grieving," His mood shifts, eyes widening again.
You chuckle softly, "Been grieving, Moon-man. It's just, a bit worse these days. But it's fine. It's, good, for me to acknowledge it. Work on dealing with it. Even if I don't want to."
"All of us struggle with our emotions, Diana. You aren't alone in that," There's a few jingles as he shifts, twisting so that he's upright now.
A shake of your head, "It's no excuse. Sure, I have a right to be upset, but there are better outlets, better ways. Also get off of that, it's for trained professionals only."
"What will you do if I don't?" His face plate spins.
You shrug, turning and heading deeper into the Daycare, "Send a report to OSHA I guess."
Moon moves again, following behind you as you make your round. Leaping between sections of the playset, your only way of tracking him is looking for the red of his optics and maybe a twinkle of bells or shifting mechanics every so often. He does avoid the scaffolding after your request, however.
You finish up about ten minutes later, and checking the time you see you still have a plenty left in your shift. Fortunately, or maybe not fortunately, you have plenty of work to catch up on with Accounting having put you so behind the past few days. You think you'll head over to the staff room-
You bump softly into aluminum casing. A soft bonk occurring as your nose collides with it. You scrunch it, hearing a soft apology from the chest in front of you. You look up.
"Moon."
"Andromeda."
You lean back on one foot, "Can I help you?"
"If I may be so bold, I think it's you that requires assistance," His face plate twists.
"Oh?" Now you're curious.
Moon nods, "Your heartrate has been elevated since you arrived, as has your blood pressure. Both indicators of chronic stress."
"Chronic implies continuously for long periods of time, you been monitoring me without my knowing, Moon-man?"
He chuckles, "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?"
"Suppose I was hoping for a different answer," You shrug, "What's the solution then, doc?"
A muted click then, he's thinking. Then, his arms come up and gently, he envelopes you in a hug.
You hesitate for a moment yourself, then do the same. You can feel the thrum of machinery underneath your fingers. It's a bit awkward hugging someone so much taller than you, and made of metal, but the sentiment is what matters you surmise.
"Pretty good diagnosis," You say after a minute or so.
"Past experience with handling children tends to make you knowledgeable in these scenarios," Something shifts below his casing, "And programming, of course."
"Of course."
Another bout of silence.
"Could we talk about-" You cut yourself off.
Moon pulls back, hand reaching to cup your chin, "Another time. Another night. Focus on one task at a time, Diana. You'll destroy yourself if you don't."
"I'm starting to realize that," You sigh, stepping back, "One task at a time."
You go your separate ways after that, taking the time once you do arrive in the staff room to sit down and attempt to get your life together. Using a spare page in your notebook, you write down everything that's on your mind in the form of a To-Do list. Is it the best way to go about things? No, not likely. But is it what works best for you and makes you feel a lot better after you do it? Yeah, and that's got to count for something.
At the top of the list is calling Bri's Uncle, near the bottom is having the Will issue entirely resolved. At the very very end is scheduling at least one session with a therapist. It was a start.
The next day, you're hopeful to things out right. Gabe slept the entire trip through dropping off Lisa at school and then to the Plex. Which was, weird, but you'll take it. You drop him off to Sun with a quick bit of polite-shocking for you-small talk and then head back upstairs to have a formal discussion with the manager of the construction crew, bringing up the points you had from your list last night.
All things considered, the first half of your day goes pretty well. You can't say the same for the rest of your team.
Or Sun for that matter.
When you finally make it back downstairs you can't figure out what the noise down the hall is or where exactly it's coming from. Initially at least. As you confusedly make your way to your office it becomes quite clear that it's coming from the opposite side of the hall, and that it's Gabe crying.
You don't go inside, instead assuming it must just be a random outburst. However once you actually go to sit down you realize quickly that it's not. Inside your workspace, you find your coworkers, well working, but everyone has adorned bright blue and red headphones. No one even looks up as you shuffle into your seat, setting your bags down unceremoniously.
You have to tap on the top of the cubicle to get Savannah's attention.
She looks up, pulling off one of the cups, "Oh hey, how was the Daycare?"
"I, fine. What's going on here?" You log into your computer. You've changed the password, so hopefully what occurred last week doesn't happen again anytime soon.
"Gabe's been upset, I guess. We sent Pete over to look but there's a big 'Come back later' sign on the door, so not really sure as to why."
You cringe, "Geez. I'm sorry."
Your teammate shrugs, "It was pretty bad a first, but then Tyler found a box of these stuffed in the back corner storage room," She shakes the set of headphones now around her neck, "Now it's just background noise."
"What?" Tyler asks, voice loud. Turning you see that he does not have the headphones on himself.
You sit up in your seat a bit so you can speak over Pete's head, "Why aren't you wearing any?"
"Say that again, broski?"
"Why aren't-never mind," You shake your head, twisting back in your seat again, "How long has he been crying?"
Savannah turns, "Jesse," He looks up after she waves her hand a few times, "How long has he been crying?"
"What-oh!" He checks his watch, "An hour or so."
You feel your brows shoot up, "An hour? Why didn't anybody text me?"
"'Cause isn't it that thing's job to deal with it?" Pete jabs his thumb to the door.
"I-yeah but still," You shake your head, "I'll be back."
You can make out Tyler asking, "What are they doing?" as you shut the door to your office.
With a few quick steps you're yanking open the door to the faux Daycare. Completely ignoring the message written in yellow crayon with a happy sun in the corner.
Inside it's, worse than you expected. It's certainly much messier than you've ever seen the Daycare upstairs. Toys and coloring pages strewn about, a few spilled or knocked over containers of glitter and paint. You think the light strings are dropping a bit, even.
In the middle of the room, rocking back and forth in what seems to be an attempt to calm the crying baby in his lap, is the Daycare Attendant. By his constant hushing and strain speech you can tell he's struggling.
You shut the door, walking over to the two, "What's going on?"
"Nothing, friend. Everything's fine, fine, fine!" Sun responds, stress leaking into every word.
You kneel down so that you're eye level with your red-faced little brother, "It certainly doesn't look fine, or sound fine for that matter."
"I have everything under control. Gabriel is just a bit upset right now, but he'll be calm once we read a story. He has to, I can't, I can't think of anything else," The bot shakes his head, rays shrinking and expanding.
"What do you mean? What are you talking about, right now is supposed to be his nap time-" And then it hits you.
Sun must realize that you know, as he rays shrink, "No, no, no. This isn't- this wasn't-"
"Sun." You warn.
He goes quiet.
"When's the last time he had a nap?"
His faceplate clicks a few times, "Not. Recently."
"Oh you've gotta be, come here Gabe, I've got you," You grab hold of him, adjusting your hold so that he's up against your chest and start patting his back, "He must be exhausted. Were you just trying to keep him up for the hell of it?" You can't help the irritation that slips in as you speak.
The Attendant looks down, rays shrinking again, "I, I didn't realize he needed it."
"Sun, he's a baby. Babies have to take naps. Are you saying you didn't let him sleep all week long?" You shake your head, tsking, "No wonder he's been so damn cranky. What kind of babysitter doesn't let an obviously tired kid have a nap?"
"I'm programmed for fun, fun, fun! All day long, Starlight," He seems to struggle against the forced cheer at the beginning of his sentence, snarling the last bit, "Naps. Aren't. Fun."
You hesitate, knowing the double meaning to his words. But you don't feel like giving sympathy. Not this time. Not with this. "Maybe not to you, but they're essential to him."
You would have thought that there'd be something in the Attendant's programming for this, but then you remember where you're getting your paycheck from. Honestly, you almost wonder if it's an intentional lapse. Or, they simply assumed the AI they created wouldn't have an agenda of its own. Maybe a combination of the two. At the very least, you understand now why the Daycare is on a day-night cycle.
After a few more minutes of walking around and shushing, Gabriel has calmed down for the most part. Still some sniffles here or there, but not outright bawling like before. You sneak a peek and see his eyes are starting to droop. Good.
"So then, I suppose this is the end of our time together then, for this week. Can't trust in me to do my job properly, right?" You've heard Sun when he's defeated before, you can't deny this it outright worse.
You see the opportunity to twist the knife in further. You don't take it.
You sigh, "No. I'll just, check on you guys the rest of today and tomorrow. Make sure he's getting his winks," You pause, "If that would be helpful."
Sun's rays spin, once, twice, "It would."
"Alright then," You nod, "Well, his schedule has been shot at this point so might as well just try and get him caught up."
"Right, go ahead." His stare is focused down at his hands, which clench and unclench periodically.
Fine. Maybe a little sympathy.
"Hey."
The bot looks up.
You wave Gabe's hand in his direction, "He's saying bye."
Sun's gaze softens, lifting his own hand, "Goodbye, Gabriel. Sleep well."
You flick the switch, watching as Moon appears. He stands once the change is complete, walking over and standing in front of you.
"You could have said something," You look up to him.
A jingle from his hat as his faceplate shifts, "I did."
"You could have said something, directly."
"And he could have turned off the lights," Gently, he takes Gabe from you, a soft melody beginning to twinkle, "I am not responsible for his mistakes, Andromeda."
"No, you're not."
The Attendant steps back, cradling your brother and you can see his eyes have closed now, "I will ensure Gabriel receives his usual amount of rest for today. My suggestion to you would be to retain as normal a schedule of possible, allowing additional sleep as necessary."
You nod, "Heard. If you need me, you know where I am."
With that, you leave, door shutting behind you with a soft click. You let out a deep breath as you lean back against the wall. There was, a lot to unpack there.
Unfortunately for you, now wasn't going to be the time.
"Y/N! So nice to see you. My people left you a note yesterday about a meeting."
You look up. Standing to your left with a few others, is David. You glance to your left and see your team crowded around the doorway to your office, headphones off and various levels of displeasure across their faces.
Great.
Back to David, you straighten and clear your throat, "And I sent an email back telling them if they want to meet they needed to do it when I had free time. Not the other way around."
"What? You engineering folks too good for us?"
Pete answers for all of you, voice deadpan, "Yes."
"Ah, come on, don't be like that, after all," David closes the gap between the two of you, voice lowering slightly when he makes it, "It's important to set an example, being in the positions we're both in, right?"
You swallow, taking a step to the side but still facing him, "Right."
He smiles then, "Great! So, how about we go upstairs, grab a coffee, and discuss this like adults?" His hand goes to your shoulder, it makes the frown on your face deepen.
"I'd rather not, we have a lot to do and I don't want to drag this out more than I have to."
"Not as privileged to free time as you guys," Pete adds.
"It'll be quick, promise! It's on me, even," With his free hand he lifts his wallet. The action makes your skin crawl and your blood boil. He planned this. You knew it.
You glance over to your team, seeing that they're waiting on you now. You don't know what to say.
Savannah juts her head down the hall, "You go, we'll deal with these ones in the meantime."
Another clap to your shoulder, "Glad that's settled, play nice now, guys," His hand moves, shifting to now sit above your hip. Before you can do anything he twists you both around, grip tighter on your waist than you'd be comfortable with anyone doing.
You catch Jesse's arm as David starts leading you upstairs, "Give 'em hell."
He nods, "You too," Is what he murmurs back.
Once you get in the elevator you push David off of you, "What the f*ck is wrong with you?"
"Oh, you're being dramatic. I was just trying to show some comradery between departments. We're all on the same side here."
You scoff, "Bullsh*t. Comradery doesn't involve putting your hands on me like that."
"What'd you have to say to Eeyore?" He changes the subject, pressing the button to the third floor.
"Don't, call him that. It was nothing important. Why do you even care?"
David shrugs, moving back to stand beside you, "I just figured you'd have a better taste in men, is all. Surprised he'd even like you at all after you stole his job out from under him."
You whip to look at him, mouth agape, "We're coworkers. Christ is that really what you-" You shake your head, "And I didn't steal it from him. I earned this position fair and square. He knows it, I know it."
"Sure, sure. Lot must've happened in the past few months."
"Few months, it's been over a year since we last talked, David. I would think after so long you'd take a hint," You bite.
At that David turns to face you, shifting to reach back and press the button for the first and second floor, a trick you showed him on a whim one time way back when that you now deeply regretted. Slowly, the elevator halts, "See, that's not fair. You're not even giving me a chance."
"I don't like you!" You clap your hands together, "I don't want to try, I don't want to give it a shot, I don't like you."
"I thought that you did-" He raises his hand before you can say anything, irritated, you comply for the time being, "And then everything with your parents happened so I gave you some space, thought it would help. I know things have been tough for you, but you could've had support all this time, and you chose not to take it."
"Maybe I didn't want your support. Maybe I have others in my life for that," You lean back against the wall, shaking your head.
Sometimes it amazes you that he's still interested in you after everything. But you know better than to let your guard down with a guy like David. You let your left hand fall down to beside your pocket, where your taser resides. Your right hand hugs your left arm, both as a comfort and to distract from the movement.
You don't think he noticed. Instead, he laughs, hard, "Who? The security guard? She's got her own life, so does the e-girl. They can't give you the time and help that you need and you know it. I doubt you actually tell them anything, anyway. Admit it, you might act like you're put together but inside you're crumbling, and you've been crumbling for a while."
You really wish you had just minded your business two years ago. Taken Jesse up on his offer for lunch instead of chatting with the guy standing outside George's office. Because at least then if David still somehow became interested in you, he wouldn't have known how to hit your weak points like that.
You meet his stare, gaze stern and teeth gritted, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't tell you to f*ck off and go back downstairs right this second."
"Because you can't afford to. Do you really think that if it were to come down to it, George will take your side?" David pouts, faux innocence smothered across his face, "You think he of all people is going to have your back?"
You bite your cheek.
"I offered this chance to talk as a way for you to show some sincere regret for what's been going on the past few days and maybe, maybe give you a way out of it, but I can't make that choice for you, Y/N. It's all on you." Finally, he releases the buttons, and the elevator finishes its ascent to the third floor.
You hide your relief at the action, "What you're asking is ridiculous and you know it."
"Alright, convince me then. See if you can't change my mind," David steps off as the doors open.
You follow suit, unhappily, "Seriously?"
He spins to face you lifting a finger, "On one condition, of course."
"What?" You groan.
"If you can't convince me, I get one, one, coffee date. That's it."
You stop walking for a moment.
"That's it?" You confirm slowly.
He nods.
You consider the offer a bit longer.
"Alright, deal."
David grins, "See? Not so bad."
You scoff, but hold your tongue. For now.
Instead, you spend the next twenty minutes giving David a full rundown explanation of why this is the stupidest idea you've ever heard of, it's a complete and utter waste of time for your division and his both, and you hate his guts and if you could get him fired you would. You don't actually say that last bit allowed, but god if you don't want to. Especially because you have to repeat yourself two or three times because he either is looking at his phone, or tries to change the topic.
You want to be anything but reasonable right now, but you refrain from doing so because of what's at stake. You just want to power through the rest of today and then go home and take a shower. Even just being in his presence makes you feel, gross. Someone else might just tell you to be grateful that he never takes it any further, but you for one, don't think he deserves a lick of anything from you. Gratitude or otherwise.
Based on how coffee goes, you can tell that no matter what David's going to try and force you on a date. You start thinking of ways to get out of it on the ride back downstairs, ignoring the man beside you as he chats your ear off.
As you're walking back down the hall you hear someone calling your name. Getting close you see it's Liv. She's waving her phone, and behind her you can see the team is much happier than when you left them. The accountant look pissed, frankly.
It sparks hope in you, and you walk faster to meet your intern, "What's up?"
"Corporate responded!" Liv clears her throat, "They said, and I quote, 'Hi Olivia, As long as the final order is approved by the Operations Manager, there is no need for approval from the onsite Accounting & Finance Division. Since Accounting & Finance only handles purchases regarding the commercial aspects of Freddy Fazbear's Mega PizzaPlex, including merchandise, food, ticket sales, etc. having them review the Engineering Division's budget, which is handled by the Division on its own, would be a problematic use of Accounting & Finance's resources and time, as well as Engineering's. Hope this clears some things up, have a Fazzerific day! Connie.'"
"You contacted corporate?" David hisses.
You turn to him, raising a brow, smirk slowly growing on your face, "Didn't you? That would be my first step after checking all documentation that's available. To confirm or deny any assumptions made about Plex regulations."
He turns his gaze away, you follow it to see it's landed on Jenny. You notice that everyone stares at her now, expectantly.
"Well I, um, wanted to wait and see if we couldn't handle it internally!" She stammers.
Savannah scoffs, "You call coming down here and interrupting our work day three days in a row, 'handling it internally?'"
"Personally I'd call that a waste of time," Pete says to Tyler, loud enough for the rest of you to hear, of course.
You snort as Jenny tries to defend herself, pleading with her eyes to her coworkers for help. Their answers coming out in a similar manner.
"Didn't seem necessary."
"Felt better to wait, you know, just to, to see what we could do."
"What you did," Jesse steps forward, "Was make a mess of this department by wasting it's time. Honestly, you'll be lucky if you don't get an email from corporate demanding an explanation for your utter lack of professionalism, consideration for others' time, and general malicious behavior."
"I, I-"
The man turns, pointing his finger at David now, who's gone dead silent, "And you, you call yourself a Division Head and you can't even make sure your own subordinates put in the leg work for something like this? It's pitiful, Dave. Just pitiful."
You hear Pete whistle lowly and it breaks you out of your own stupor.
Before Jesse can say more, you put a hand on his shoulder and move you both in the direction of your office, "That's enough, you've made your point. And I think we're done here," You glance back to look at David and his crew, "Lovely seeing you all, as always. Have a safe trip back upstairs."
"At this rate they're going to need a guide to get them there," Savannah murmurs.
"Maybe they should email corporate about it."
Genuine laughter erupts from you, and your team, as you head back inside your office. You feel a massive weight has been lifted off your shoulders. You still feel off from today's events. But at least for a few moments you can ride the high of being able to tell David and his lackies to f*ck. off. Metaphorically speaking, that is.
In the commotion of it all, a quiet sentence directed towards you stands out.
"You don't like him."
You glance up from your desk, making eye contact with Savannah across from you, "I, not really, no."
"Have you told him?" You feel that stare you're so familiar with but hate so, so much.
You scoff, then chuckle, "Several times."
Silence.
"You know you can-"
You sigh, reigning your feelings back in, "It's fine, Savannah. Really. He's just, incredibly annoying is all."
She opens her mouth, then shakes her head, "If you're sure-"
"I'm sure," Then you stop, realizing yourself and nodding slowly, "I'm sure."
"Y/N-"
She's interrupted by loud swearing and crashing in the hallway.
You stand up, rushing over to the door along with everyone else.
Opening it, you see it's your least favorite Division Head, his people nowhere to be found. Looking closer, you find that he's opened the door to the Daycare, which now has the lights on again.
"What the f*ck!" David scrambles backwards, tripping and falling while he's at it, "What's wrong with that thing?!"
Sun emerges from the doorway, Gabe in one arm, and his other hand to his face, "Oh! I'm so sorry, friend! Without a security guard to assist me in monitoring, my security protocols have been put on high alert to ensure nothing happens to little Gabriel here! You understand, right?"
"Security protocols?" David asks, turning to you with a hiss, "You gave the damn thing security protocols?"
You stare at him for a moment, glancing briefly at Sun. His eyes narrow just a tinge, waiting. You look back to David and shrug, "Whoever built him did, yeah. But we keep 'em up to date per requirements from corporate. Pretty invaluable thing to have, wouldn't you say so?"
The man blusters, as he starts to get up, "But I, I'm an employee!"
You speak up, "Ah, but you're not on the Daycare's registry. That makes you and frankly, anyone else who enters either this temp set up," You nod to the door, "Or the real digs upstairs an automatic threat. You know how much Fazbear Entertainment cares about safety and all."
"That's right! A child's safety is of upmost importance. As well as providing the best of care for their wellbeing while residing within the Pizzaplex."As if to emphasis his point, he holds Gabriel closer, faceplate spinning as your brother giggles.
"So you see? No big deal, he was just doing his job," While not happy to, you pat David on the back, leading him toward the elevator, "Now, with all that settled, why don't you go write a nice email to corporate about how you want to waste their time with this little idea of yours, alright?"
David jerks out of your grasp, frowning. He twists slightly to look back at Sun, sending another scowl his way. The Attendant simply waves, smile giving away nothing.
With that, he's gone for good and you let out a sigh. As your team returns to their desks, you walk over to Sun and your brother.
"Hey Gabe, have a nice nap?" You ruffle his hair.
He babbles back at you, causing you to smile softly.
"I'm surprised how calm you are about this."
You peer up to the bot, "You have no idea." If you could express how, tickled, you are at David running out of there with his tail tucked between his legs, you would.
"You're not, upset? It's not my place to say anything but I would think-Think that Gabriel is ready for a nice long rest after the day he's had!" You glance behind you and see that Savannah is standing in the opposite doorway.
"I think we all are," You say, twisting more to face Savannah, "You need me?"
"Yeah, when you have a sec. Wanted to get your opinion on some casted worm gears."
You give her a salute, "Give me a few and I'll be right there," After she disappears again, you look back to Sun, "What'd you do to scare him so bad, anyhow?"
"Oh, that."
You wait for a moment or two.
"Well?"
Sun's rays click, voice cheery and in-character as ever, "Don't worry about it, friend. I simply just, did what I had to. As I'm sure you know!"
You can't tell if he's being sarcastic, or serious, or what that even really means. You keep your focus on him a few seconds more, then break his gaze, "Yeah, sure."
If you had the time, you'd sit and think on that longer. But you don't.
One task at a time.
Unless you wanted to prove Moon right.
