Of Death and New Life

Blackjack

Heaven was...

Well, it was Heaven.

Paradise.

It was crowded enough to remind William of New York, but at the same time the buildings there were farther away, not as clustered as he last remembered it. That made it easy to find things.

And so when he lost Blackjack, he panicked.

Ever since William and the rest of Faith's family had had their Happiest Day, Blackjack had started to act like a normal dog. He had stopped talking, and generally did most things an average dog would. It worried William to have Faith's soul like this. He wasn't sure what was going on when he walked into an alley and didn't come back when he called. So he followed him, and couldn't find him.

And, for good reason, freaked the fuck out.

He didn't call anyone. It didn't seem like Blackjack to run away, but he figured that he would come back.

He didn't.

He had been gone for days before William started hearing his barks from the same alley he had come from, and then scratches at his door. He let Blackjack in. The dog ran a few circles around him and ran off again, this time waiting for Dave to follow.

Dave sighed. Oh, well. Screw it.

He followed the dog through the alley, into the forest beyond it. The forest hadn't been there before, but that was normal. His ideas of paradise were typically ever-changing, the only constant being the apartment building that he lived in. Blackjack turned and William followed him, down a twisting path that disappeared at times. He shook his head and chuckled. "What have you got for me now, huh?"

Blackjack ran a few circles around him and dove through a bush. William did his best to follow. He temporarily misplaced the hound, but found him in front of a body.

Now, William Afton was no stranger to 'finding' dead bodies. Then again, he was the one who had put them there.

Then again, that was back in Freddy's, which was, decidedly, not Paradise. Not even close.

At first he didn't recognize the body. Then he saw the familiar scars, and realized that he knew its owner very well. Blackjack had found his body. It was Faith.

William stood there for a moment in blank shock and amazement. Then he leapt into action, shaking Faith's shoulders to at least attempt to wake her up. It didn't work. He checked her pulse. She was alive.

Thank God.

Blackjack lightly nipped at William's hand when he tried to pick Faith up. "dohee s edSndta..nSv nddom e eevb s tteeo esoeoebh"

William stood there for a moment at Blackjack's garbled speech. He hadn't said a word since his Happiest Day. "I- I can't understand you, mutt. But she has to go..." he looked around at the forest, which seemed like it was closing in on them. "Not here."

The hound paused for a moment, then spoke again. "t nneee aip . eliuseliFilwulh tS edne .rw"

William picked Faith up and Blackjack did not protest. "Thank you."

He took Faith to his apartment and put her on his bed. It was lucky that no one bothered him unless he wanted them to. That meant no one knocked on his door asking why he had an unconscious girl in his arms.

William took a moment to plan what he was going to do next, then realized he should probably tell Faith's siblings that she was there. He started to leave, but Blackjack started to growl and block William from the door. He frowned.

"What's going on, Blackjack? Why can't I leave?"

"La.t fte bS oei nhoeo lnset"

William crouched down to the dog's height, matching his purple eyes. "Look. I'm going to bring back Dee and Peter and maybe Steven if I have to. You can stay with Faith, but I need to figure out how to get her back to normal again. Okay?"

After a moment of pondering, the hound nodded and stepped out of the way.

"Good boy."