Freedom Lost [FNAF/UT] (Freedom AU Book 11)

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪-ℕ𝕚𝕟𝕖

  Walking into the employee breakroom with her knapsack slung over her shoulder, Sophie stopped in the doorway when she saw not just her co-worker Julie, but surprisingly, Richard. Julie noticed her arrival, and gave Sophie a look which clearly meant to say, "ikr?" Sophie blinked. Richard then spotted her. He grinned. "Oh, hey there, Soph'!" Holding back a scowl, Sophie asked, "I thought you didn't work here anymore." He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Last position didn't exactly stick. Got transferred back."

"Ah. They got sick of you?" Richard half chuckled, but shook his head 'no'. "Nah, nothing like that. There was a bit of an 'incident', place got closed down." Upon hearing that, a thought came to Sophie. Her eyes narrowed a little. "Your last post didn't happen to, maybe, burn down, did it?" Richard gave Sophie a suspicious look, while Julie laughed awkwardly. "That's eh, little dramatic." She commented. Sophie almost nodded in agreement. "Well, maybe. But, didn't you hear that another Fazbear location burnt down?"

"Oh, I didn't, no." Julie replied, then looking to Richard. "Did you work there?" Richard rolled his eyes. "Not to be rude, but the last time I checked, this was none of your ladies' business." He replied, obviously ignoring the question. Saying nothing more, Richard left the breakroom. Sophie huffed, shaking her head as she went to set her knapsack down nearby. "Okay that was strange." Julie commented. At that, her co-worker scoffed. "Yeah, what else is new."

"Good point." Julie agreed. Standing from her seat, she then said, "Welp, my shifts about to start." Sophie nodded, and Julie left.

━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━

Two friends were walking down the sidewalk of Newer Home, making their way to the bus stop—both returning to their homes from the Guard Station. The Royal Guard was nearing being done questioning all the Anthros of every detail they could share of their abduction. The evidence was slow to pile, even with all these testimonials, but Undyne was confident that—with some patience and determination—a solid case could be pit against Fazbear Entertainment.

Their walk had been quiet silent, and Gold's stride came to a stop so he could address Springtrap. "Somethin' botherin' you?" The rabbit looked to his friend. "Other than all this crap? Not really, no." Gold shook his head a little. "You sure?" Springtrap looked elsewhere. "Cause it doesn't seem like it to me." The bear noted. His friend shrugged. Deciding to take a guess, Gold asked him, "Is it the fire that happened?"

"What?" Springtrap's reply seemed to come a little too quick. "I mean, well I wasn't there. Was that fire pretty bad when y'all escaped? Y'know, if it was, I was thinkin' that maybe it brought back some bad memories." Hearing that explanation, Springtrap mouthed an 'oh'. Gold raised a brow. "Did it?" Springtrap shook his head 'no'. "Nobody noticed the fire when we left... it had just been lit." Gold hummed. "I'm guessin' that was Lolbit's explanation?"

"I... well..." Gaze falling to his feet, Springtrap let out a sigh. He briefly glanced around, before taking a small step closer to his friend. "... I have a confession, Fredbear..." Gold blinked. "What...?" Springtrap found himself unable to meet his friend's gaze as he spoke. He nervously crossed his arms in front of himself. Lowering his voice, the rabbit then said, "I started that fire..." The bear's eyes widened. "You did...?" Springtrap rolled his eyes a little, now seeming a bit fidgety. "I lit a match... left it in the basement... then ran with everyone else, out to the bus."

Gold was silent for a minute, maybe two. He had no idea what to say. For his oldest friend to resort to arson... It truly caught him off guard. Springtrap continued talking. "And, the thing is... I would hate to know what the Guard would do if I told them this." Gold shrugged. "I'm not sure, but aside from that... I very much doubt you're the only one who wanted to see somethin' of the company's go up in flames, Bonnie." Springtrap nodded. "I know. Guess I was just the one with the backbone to actually do it."

"Frankly, I wouldn't have realized you had that in you."

"Me neither," Springtrap admitted, taking a bit of a shuddering breath. Gold thought for a second. "Do you regret doin' that?" Springtrap laughed a little. "Do I regret costing the company however much that restaurant was worth to 'em? Not at all. They deserved to have some kind of hit, after all we've been put through." He replied. "That does seem like some sort of justice, in a way." Gold agreed. "But, if the public outside of Newer Home caught wind that an Anthro set fire to the building, I don't think that would sound all that good..."

"You're right... I hadn't realized that." Gold shrugged, and shook his head a little. "Listen, for now, maybe keep this to yourself." Springtrap seemed a bit surprised by this answer. "... Like, not tell the Guard?" Gold nodded. "Wait until I say to tell them." Springtrap's eyes narrowed a little in intrigue. "Why...?" Gold subtly smirked. "I'm just gonna try 'n see if I can vouch for you, first." The bear simply answered. Springtrap hummed. "If you say so."

As both friends finally continued their walk to the bus stop, something seemed to suddenly don on Gold. "You didn't happen to... cause the last fire, did you?" In a somewhat casual manner, Springtrap shook his head 'no'. Gold gave him a look, only half believing him. The rabbit then nodded upwards a little—his marred ear turning backwards halfway. "If I'd set that location on fire, I would've made sure I could get out in one piece."

"Ah, right." Springtrap sighed a little. "Besides, you can't say you don't remember that building's horrible wiring job in all the places customers couldn't see." At that, Gold chuckled. "Y'do have a point."

Both friends fell silent again, as they came up to the bus stop.

━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━

He sat on the bench of the bus stop, not far from the house he'd been watching. The home that once again kept his family, where they should be. Py sighed, inwardly scolding himself. He knew he was being ridiculous. Afterall, his son knew he was in town. And he knew where his son lived. He would just have to walk up the front walk, knock on the door, smile and... well, most likely, Py assumed he'd have the door slammed in his face.

Dragging a hand over his masked features, the Marionette quietly groaned. These mixed emotions—the anxiety, the guilt, the shame—it was tearing him apart inside. He couldn't bring himself to see his own son. It was as if some invisible force was keeping him from just walking across the street.

Maybe tomorrow. He'd come back tomorrow. Or he'd leave town, go back to wandering aimlessly—or until his other family reached out to him. If they even could reach out to him. Py shook his head, stood up, and watched as the bus pulled over to the stop. He got on. Nearby, a monster was watching him—dark eyes narrowed in confusion. The flower's leafy hand was pressed to his chin. What is up with him? Flowey thought to himself, before huffing, rolling his eyes and leaving this small part of town. Before Frisk could notice his absence.