Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.

Michael Schmidt had never thought himself to be anything special. He was as average as anyone could be, blending into the background and never sticking out. Being quieter than most, perhaps a little bit on the shy side, hadn't ever helped him make friends or land the better jobs. It could be said that his tendency to be a wallflower was the reason he was in the position he was; friendless, jobless, and unable to change that fact. Sometimes he wished he could be more like his twin sister, who looked so much like him, but was far better at interacting with others. The funny thing was that while she was able to be sociable she often chose not to, but at least she had a job to pay her rent.

He sighed as he went back to reading through the paper's job ads, going through each column with a sigh noting that three of the ads were actually jobs he previously held… before being fired that is. Running his hand through slightly greasy dark brown hair he let out another sigh. He was just about to admit defeat for the day when he saw a familiar image above an ad for a night guard.

Help Wanted

Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria

Family pizzeria looking for security guard to work the nightshift.

12 am to 6 am.

Monitor cameras, ensure safety of equipment and anamtronic characters.

Not responsible for injury/dismemberment.

$120 a week.

To apply call:

1-888-FAZ-BEAR

Mike remembered the old pizzeria his family used to frequent quite often. Their mother was sick, and so in an effort to cheer up his children every few weekends they would go to the Pizzeria. Other children in their grade would have their birthdays there as well, so they'd go quite a few times in a year. Both himself and Morganna, his sister, loved going there. Being naive children they talked to the animatronics and believed them to be sentient, to be their friends. Of course as they grew up they realized it hadn't been true, but the memories were happy none the less, bright moments in the darkness of their childhood.

With their mother being ill and her health only declining they watched as she got worse and worse up until the day of her death. Money issues were a large concern as well, their father working as much as he could while still visiting his wife and taking care of their children. There were nights they went to bed hungry, days when they didn't have a lunch to eat during school, but they made it through. So Mike wasn't new to being impoverished and barely getting by. After their mother's death the family had moved to a small rundown apartment in the next town over, so they never went to Freddy Fazbear's again. Eventually their father died too, literally working himself to death with multiple jobs as he attempted to pay of the accumulation of debt while still keeping himself and his children fed.

Mike shook his head of the thoughts, there wasn't any use dwelling on the past when he had his own current problems to worry about. Pulling out an old worn Nokia phone he punched in the number and hit send.

"Hello. You've reached Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria, a magical place for children and adults alike. Business hours are between 9 am and 8 pm. How can I help you?" A tired teen voice sounded on the other end. Faintly he could hear some screaming children in the background, he winced, not envying her one bit at that moment.

"A-Ah yes, Hello. I was calling about the Night Guard position advertised in the paper," he stuttered, hoping he didn't sound too pathetic.

"Oh. Umm… Alright one moment," the girl on the other end said, pausing as if she wanted to say something for a moment before leaving him on the line.

"Hello? You're inquiring about the Night Guard position?"

"Yes, sir. I can come in for an interview at any time," he replied, again hoping that he didn't sound too pathetic or over eager.

"Oh, no need. You've got the job. Actually can you start tonight?"

"What? Oh, yes. I'm available to start tonight."

"Good, if you can get here by nine I can show you around the place, make sure you've got a handle on the basics of the job and draw up your contract. Just wear something casual for tonight. I'll give you a jacket to wear over it and you can wear the required uniform tomorrow night."

"Y-Yes sir, I'll be there at nine then," Mike finished, a grin on his face. It was a little strange he'd been hired so quickly, but he wasn't complaining. He needed the money, and getting to see the place after so long as sure to bring back some good memories. Checking the time he knew he had a few hours before he needed to get ready, but it didn't hurt to get an early start, he thought to himself as he headed to his bathroom.

"Alright, you'll just want to sign there, there, and finally initial there," The man in front of him said, pointing out the lines to sign. Mike tried to skim the contract, but was assured that it was standard stuff and not wanting to make the man more irritated than he already seemed to be he just signed where he pointed.

"There we go! Welcome to the Freddy Fazbear Family. Now just so you know you have to work all five nights in order to be paid. Also anything regarding the company is not to be shared with any outside sources of course, unless you want to be risked being sued. Now, follow me and I'll show you around the restaurant," the larger man, who had introduced himself as Mr. Becker the current manager of Fazbear Entertainment, ushered Mike out of the room.

Mike on one hand was glad to get the job and everything, but honestly couldn't believe how strange the whole situation was. Meekly he followed the man out into the hallway, listening has he pointed out the various rooms with cameras and mentioning that the kitchen had one, but only the audio was working currently.

"And here we have the stars of the restaurant," he said, waving his arm to the three animatronics. "Freddy Fazbear himself, Bonnie the Bunny, and Chica D. Chicken, they bring hope to many children Mr. Schmidt, so be sure to make sure nothing happens to them."

Mike nodded, "Of course sir."

"Good good, glad to hear it son. Now your office is this way. You should have no trouble figuring out the security system. You youngsters always know how to use the new technologies and all that. Oh, but be careful not to use too much power. Budget cuts have to be made, and so for the night we only allot a small amount of power to be used. The doors are precautionary for your safety, but they open if you use up on the power, so don't use them if you don't have to. And that's all you need to know. The day manager will be here at the end of your shift, so just let them in and you can leave. Good luck son. I'm sure you'll do great," The man listed off information so fast that it took everything Mike had follow it all and at the end he had a strange feeling. Everything about this job was just so strange so far. As soon as he was done the stuff he'd need was practically shoved into his hands before the man was out the door, the last one to leave for the night that Mike knew of, since he'd seen the cleaning crew leave about ten minutes ago.

He sighed, struggling not to drop everything as he made his way back to the security office. Dumping the pile of stuff in to the chair he sorted through it quickly. He pulled on the hat over slightly curly dark hair, but hung the jacket and rest of the security uniform on the back of the chair. It was summertime, and rather hot in the building. Thankfully a fan was already running on the desk to keep the air flowing at least. He pulled the new belt through his pants next, securing it and putting the torch and Taser in the correct spots. Looking at the clock he saw it was only 11:30, not even midnight yet. He pulled of the messenger bag he'd brought with him and pulled out his water bottle. Noticing it was empty and knowing he still had half an hour left before his shift even started he went to the restrooms to fill it up with tap water.

On his way back to the office he stopped outside of Pirate Cove for a moment. Reaching out to the curtains he started to pull them back before dropping them with a sigh. There was no more Foxy he was sure, not after that day in 1987. He was sure that the pizzeria had gotten rid of the Pirate animatronic if only to try to prevent any further backlash from the public for that day. He didn't want to think about it anymore and moved back to his office.

When the clock struck midnight Mike jumped as the phone blared loudly. "Hello? I'm sorry but business hours are-"

"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay? …. . Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."

The message seemed to go on and on, with Mike increasingly feeling a strange cold spread through his being. What did he mean the animatronics wandered? What kind of programing would even tell them to stuff a person into one of their suits? How the heck could their programming not recognize that a person was a person regardless if it was day or night? Was this just a joke? He knew about the bite of '87 that the guard had mentioned… but everything else. It had to be a joke, it sounded far too surreal, but then… there was all the strangeness surrounding the job. The way the manager hadn't even asked for a resume and hired him over the phone, practically forced him to sign the contract without giving him a chance to read it. The whole situation was screaming something was very wrong.

Checking the cameras he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he reached the camera covering the stage.

"What!? Where's Bonnie. Is this… What is this?" He muttered under his breath as he flipped from camera to camera not finding Bonnie. Finally he found Bonnie in the supply closet, staring right at the camera. He shuddered, "What are you even doing in there Bonnie?"

An increase feeling of dread hit him as he heard shuffling in the hallway of some kind. Checking the cameras again he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, until he realized that Chica was nowhere to be seen this time. He checked the lights by the doors, not sure if the cameras had blind spots or not and was greeted with the animatronic chicken's face staring at him through the window. He froze for a moment, eyes wide before he slammed his fist over the door button.

He let out a choked noise as he continued to stare into her eyes before pressing the light button again with a shaking hand. He took a deep breath trying to calm down. Losing his composure could cost him his life. He had to treat this like… like a video game. He hadn't the time to play one in a long time… but he used to quite often. He could do this. Checking the clock he saw it was 3 am. Only three more hours of this, he could do it.

He checked the cameras often, making sure he knew where everyone was. The doors were open most of the rest of the night, Chica presumably in the kitchen for the rest of the night and Bonnie visiting three times before 6 am popped up. Checking the feeds he saw that the animatronics were all back in place and with a sigh of relief he wiped the sweat from his brow. His hands were trembling badly when he grabbed his stuff and headed towards the front door, only just glancing at the trio as he walked by. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he watched the day manager walk slowly from her car.

He opened the door for her, noticing the incredulous look that crept onto her face.

"A-Ah Good morning… how was your night?" She managed to cough out as she entered the building.

"Rough, b-but I'll be back tonight," he stuttered out before quickly leaving, not awaiting a reply. He didn't want to come back, but again he needed the money. If he was being truthful he was curious as well, as to why the animatronics acted the way they did at night. He was still terrified to come back and when he got home and went to bed, the little sleep he got was riddled by nightmares of being grabbed and ripped apart or stuffed into one of the suits by one of his childhood friends.

The next night was no better. By 1 am both Bonnie and Chica were wandering around the restaurant. At 3 am Mike realized he had forty percent of battery left because he'd had to keep the doors down so often. The phone guy left another message that hadn't helped him out much. He'd already learned of the blind spots, the information would have been nice the previous night. He hadn't listened to most of the message this time, too busy tracking Bonnie who had left the stage as soon as it hit midnight.

He was sweating and trembling as he looked at the cameras and check the door lights. Jittery and bouncing his leg up and down, he realized that perhaps it was a mistake to drink so much caffeine before his shift. He stood up and walked around the chair, hoping that the jitters would leave so they didn't impair his concentration too much as he leaned on the back wall trying to breathe deeply to calm himself down again. He taped the tablet checking the cameras again before lowering it and taping on the lights again

He slammed the door down on the left again when he saw Chica's face through the window for the umpteenth time that night.

"Please give me a break Chica, this is just the second night," he sobbed out, not above begging in his terrified state.

Opening the door when he saw she'd gone away for the moment he heard something moving rapidly in the hallway and slammed the same door down again before seeing a familiar face pop into the room from the other still open door. A screech emitted from the animatronic fox the same time that Mike let out a scream and dropped the tablet all together.

Panicking he grabbed the chair he stood in front of and swung it at the fox and let go, the force pushing the animatronic back enough for him to slam down the door. His knees trembled and he fell to the floor in a heap, loud sobs ripping out of his throat as tears poured from his eyes. He flinched as the fox slammed against the door.

"I'm sorry Foxy, but I don't want to die!" He yelled almost hysterically out as the fox slammed against the door again. Biting back more sobs he shakily reached towards the tablet again, thankful to note that the drop hadn't broken it. If it had broken then he'd be dead, unable to know where any of the animatronics were until it would be too late, the thought churned his stomach and he tried to push it from his mind. Righting the chair he took a seat again and quickly opened the doors once he saw no one was there.

The rest of the night went past in a blur as he just barely managed to keep himself together. When the manager pulled up in her car he didn't bother to wait for her, rushing out without a word this time, barley hearing her stuttered greeting.

The first thing he did when he got home was call his sister, while they were on speaking terms and had a very good relationship, he didn't like to bother her. His life was continuing in a downward spiral, while hers went up, he didn't want to drag her down, but he needed her at that moment.

"Hello?" He couldn't have been happier to hear her cranky, 'why would you ever be up this early' voice.

"Morganna, I need you. I really, really need you right now. C-Can you please come over no- sometime today?" He stuttered out.

"It must be bad if you've abandoned the nicknaming nightmare. You still live in that shitty apartment?"

"Yes."

"I'll be over in half an hour."

AN :: First allow me to thank you for taking the time to read my fanfic! This is my first time in a long while actually writing something and posting it up, but the words won't leave my brain alone and I thought why not. I actually told myself 'no you will not get into this fandom' and yet here I am enjoying ever depraved minute of it. I did want to warn those wanting to continue reading of a few things.

First off, I will most likely be putting Foxy and Mike in a romantic relationship. It's the only thing I ship for this fandom really and I know it's a bit strange for some people. 'He's an animatronic!' they say. I say I'm very attracted to GLaDOS and EDI, so yeah. Computers, animatronics, AIs, same thing, totally going ship it regardless, my fanfiction, my ship.

Secondly, there is an OC as you may have noticed! A female OC who will later be in a relationship with another female OC. Why you ask? Because it happened. I have most of the story prewritten, I'm just adding scenes and editing, and the pair seriously just kind of happened without me realizing it until they kissed. Yeah. So Yuri and Yaoi of sorts. So if you have problem with either I suggest not reading this story.

Thirdly, feedback is always appreciated. If you have a suggestion, comment, or concern, feel free to review or pm me. Thank you again for your time and have a wonderful day or night!

Edit to AN : I just wanted to clarify something. The Foxy x Mike ship is going to be a gradual thing and not very physical in nature. Think Garrus and Fem!Shep and their adorableness without much shown physicality. It'll be a while before it becomes a thing.