Epilogue Time y'all~

You've all been so amazing to me, and I can't put into words what finishing this means to me. He'll never see it, but Scott Cawthon: you're one hell of a storyteller and one of the best devs I've ever seen. Thank you for letting us in on your universe.

Thank you all so much.

Xxxxxx

The blaring red lights were like a seizure; his hands were shaking as he clung to his phone in his hand and began looking around wildly. He couldn't see movement, but then again it'd be near impossible to see anything in this room. The faintest of noise began twinkling and he bit his lip, eyes staring into the darkness from where he'd ducked into and waited to see if the flickering lights would give anything away. When nothing happened, he dove back into his phone.

It was near impossible to get service down here of course. Only one place in the entire facility had service. And the idea of sneaking in there...but he knew he had to give it a shot. It was likely his only chance. Finger on the send button, he took a deep breath and ran.

'I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm so dead'

He heard the twinkling getting louder, the faintest sound of something metallic scrapping against the tiled floor. His shoulder met the door finally and he all but threw himself into the next room, leaving the melodic notes of a music box behind. Panting he glanced down at his phone and saw that his message had been sent and he heaved a sigh of relief, wanting to collapse down against the door when a faint noise was heard in the room.

"I see you over there in the dark!"

Xxxxxx

"Mike! Sorry you had to come in early."

Mike yawned as he waved his hand. "It's fine, Mark. I know how crazy things have been here lately."

The man grinned at him, putting on a jacket over his new shade of purple. "It's been hectic. And Jeremy's pretty pissed at me since I have to keep on his back all day. I know he's working hard but I have to keep up formalities."

Mike perked up. "You got your promotion already?!"

"Just went through. I'm not a fan of this purple though, I think the darker shade looks better..." Mark rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "It's weird though...People keep calling me for things, and I certainly have way more to do now."

"I can imagine." The Head Guard chuckled. "So, Manager then? You just remember how well I trained you when you start making all that management money."

The younger man gave him a look, snorting. "Don't worry. When we all hang out this Sunday, drinks are on me."

"Mike, Jeremy sent me out to tell you that you're taking too long-Oh!"

Mike blinked as Springtrap appeared next to him, tripping over a table leg. The gold bunny quickly grabbed his arm and helped him back up with a sheepish grin. He saw Mark rolled his eyes next to him but ignored him. "Oh, sorry about that. I'll head back now."

"Spring, next time Jeremy tries to order you around, tell him to get to work." Mark grumbled.

Springtrap cocked his head to the side. "I did! And then I dodged the wrench he threw at me."

Mike left them behind quickly, grinning as he ducked into the back room. He gave the door a loud shut to make sure Jeremy heard him since the man's back was to the door as he tinkered with what looked like was Mangle's tail.

"There you are. I'm not fucking working on that thing without someone with me, and Fritz can't get in here for another hour."

Jeremy turned away from the item to greet him. Mike smiled despite his stomach churning. The blond's eye had been covered by a white patch, making his good eye look oddly pale. He'd adjusted to his limp but he usually had troubles with depth perception even more than before.

"Sorry. No one told me Mark's promotion went through."

"Oh shit really? I didn't tell you?" The engineer looked surprised a moment. "Well fuck. My bad."

Mike shrugged. "It's fine, you've been busy. So, are they going to be ready?"

"They'll be ready, functioning and no longer my problem." Jeremy mumbled. "Go grab it will you?"

Mike patted his shoulder and headed out for the office area. He weaved through the groups of children on the floor and tables until he finally got into the hall. He heard clanking around and knew where he'd find Mangle hiding as he kept walking.

"Mangle, Jeremy's ready for you." He called.

Fritz looked up from the camera, Mangle dangling from the ceiling over his shoulder. "Hey Mike. You helping Jeremy then?"

"Yeah, came in early. You mind bringing us pizza when you swap with me?"

The red haired man nodded. "Yeah, course."

Mangle pulled themselves up into the ceiling. "My t-turn then huh? I'll meet you there, Mr. Mike!"

Mike watched them head into a vent and disappear. Fritz shook his head. "Are you sure you're okay with transferring, Fritz? I mean, even if things are okay now it's still the Toys..."

"Hm? Eh, it's fine." Fritz shrugged easily. Mike was amazed at how calm he was now that he was sure the animatronics wouldn't hurt him. "And besides, the toys themselves kinda asked that I do it..."

"Really?" Mike raised an eyebrow. He hadn't had much time with them since they had been stuck in the back until very recently.

"I guess...they had very different ways of remembering the old restaurant." Fritz explained softly, sighing. "So Jeremy and I are all that's left. And no offense to you Mike but I think they want someone familiar."

He nodded. "Makes sense. I don't think the others would be very happy if I tried to transfer anyway."

"Are you kidding? I'm surprised Freddy didn't throw Mark out the window when he took the promotion and not you."

Mike shrugged easily at that, giving a wave before he headed back to the Back Room. He knew Jeremy didn't want to be alone around Mangle; the fact that the man could handle the fox moving around the pizzaria at all was miraculous. Mike had to gently break it to him at dinner when the man was released from the hospital, and it was only the promise of him never being alone with it that let Jeremy come back to work.

"When are we moving everyone?" Mike asked as he entered the room.

"Friday. Closing for the day, sending them off, and then I can actually get a full night's sleep." Jeremy said, only flinching slightly when Mangle crawled through the vent into the room. "You got a name you wanna be called? Once you're fixed we can't really call you Mangle."

"Hmmm...pretty sure b-b-back in the day I had a name but it has since been taken." Mangle said as they settled themselves on the table.

"Taken? Really?" Mike looked at Jeremy in confusion but the blond man shrugged.

Mangle nodded; the guard noticed that the second head mimicked their movements. "The ol' files called me uh," they froze for a moment thinking and Jeremy stiffened. "Ah! There it be, I was called the Funtime Foxy!"

"Funtime? And someone else got the name?" Mike asked curiously.

Jeremy began moving around, grabbing some tools and a box full of pristine white parts of the animatronics's new shell. Mike kept his attention on the fox in front of him. Mangle was certainly aware of how Jeremy felt about them being around and tried to do their best to keep the man comfortable. Even so, the Head Guard didn't want Mangle feeling left out or awkward.

"Another model. I was p-put away and all." Mangle tried to shrug to the best of their ability. "Need a new n-n-name I do..."

"All of the toys have distinct names from their counterparts..." Mike mused softly, thinking. "But it's hard to go off of Foxy since...well, he's named after himself basically."

Jeremy pulled out an odd looking wrench. "Maria."

Mangle perked up as Mike looked at him surprise. "What?"

"Maria. I assume they like the name Mangle, so it's more similar to that. Plus you're very different than Foxy so you going off his name is weird." The blond glared when they continued to stare. "If you don't like it then fucking think of your own."

The fox smiled. "Why, J-J-Jeremy I'd love to have a name from you."

The engineer made a noise as he plugged some kind of drill into the outlet. "You're making it weird. It's a goddamn name."

"Maria's Kids Cove..." Mangle whispered to themselves. "Oh I l-like it! Will you come visit when I have my cove banner?"

"I'll think about it and then pretend I didn't remember." Jeremy mumbled. "Now hold still, if I hit anything sensitive tell me. Your parts are all in odd places so I'm not sure what'll hurt."

Mangle giggled. "You forget, I'm used to the l-l-little ones pulling on in all! You be fine, Jeremy."

Two hours later, Mike followed Jeremy out to the main area for a break. Mike quickly grabbed them both a soda, seeing that the engineer was sweating and looking exhausted. The pizza Fritz had brought them was sitting on a table as the cleaning staff wiped down the other tables.

"You...doing okay?" Mike asked hesitantly as he sat back down.

Jeremy paused from chewing on a piece of pizza. "...I had a child molester inside my head."

"Which is scary as hell and I wanna know that you're doing okay." Mike said.

"M'fine, Mike."

The guard hesitated, not sure if he should push the issue. "Jeremy, the guy hurt you. And, well, being who you are we all kinda...expected something..."

"You all thought I'd go fucking insane and throw a huge tantrum." Jeremy cut in, drinking his soda. "Dunno. I think I should really, I want to, but..."

Silence. From the corner of his eye, Mike noticed Fritz with the Toys and Foxy slipping into the Back Room to see Mangle. On stage, the band was turning themselves off for a few hours before Mike began his job. There were fliers on the walls and doors, explaining that Freddy Fazbear's would close for a week in preparation for it's revival and renovations. It was the first time in many years that the place could really begin expanding.

"It's not your fault." Mike all but hissed suddenly, making Jeremy jump. "You're one of the best people I know."

"If I hadn't saved him-"

"Then a lot of stuff could've been avoided. But that doesn't mean anything. Jeremy, you saved someone's life. You threw yourself in front of a robot that you knew would kill you." Mike sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You couldn't have known."

Jeremy stared at the tabletop with his good eye for a moment. He glanced up and Mike was surprised when the man managed to smile. His mind briefly went over the research he'd done when meeting Jeremy, remembering that the man likely couldn't feel any form of real fear or anxiety and worried that maybe this was really messing with his head. But he smiled back anyway, knowing he'd just have to keep an eye on him.

"You mentioned wanting a roommate."

Mike flushed, nearly choking on his pizza. "Whoa, hey! I was thinking you'd move in with Jessica."

"Who?" Jeremy paused to think before glaring at him the best he could. "Jessica? She gives me some brownies and you think we're married? Fuck that. Can you imagine the fucking fights we'd have?"

"Never crossed my mind." Mike smirked.

"Shut your stupid fucking face. And we're going to do this soon got it? My roommates are all assholes." He then paused and looked horrified. "There aren't like, posters and plushies of these assholes everywhere are there?"

The guard snorted. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Sorry I took so long, BonBlu got smudged and you know how well that goes." Fritz suddenly plopped down next to Jeremy. "How's Mangle going?"

"It'll take me a bit, but if I can get that fucker Fredbear working I can do anything." Jeremy shrugged.

Fritz caught Mike's eye and the brown haired man nodded. Looking relieved, Fritz began eating his own pizza. "So...Mark's the manager now."

"If that asshole comes into the back room one more time, he's going to have parts of his own fucking brain missing-" Jeremy grumbled.

"Why didn't you take it Mike?" Fritz went on like Jeremy hadn't spoken. "I know they offered."

Jeremy paused in his rant mid sentence. "They did? And you didn't take it?"

Mike shrugged. "Well, I mean...I already got a pay increase and...I dunno, I like being a security guard."

"Gonna be rough when I'm moved though. It's just you here."

"Maybe but that's okay. It's not like I got anything to worry about." He shrugged easily.

Jeremy stared at him before sighing and rolling his eye. "You're such a fucking sap."

With Foxy's help, Jeremy moved his tools into the main room so he wouldn't get cramped into the Back Room. Mike needlessly grabbed the tablet and only stopped to gently put a hand on the now empty music box on his desk. As soon as he entered the stage, Chica pounced immediately.

"Hurry hurry!"

Mike yelped as she grabbed him and began dragging him towards the kitchen. "Hey what's the rush? Is something going on?"

He groaned in annoyance when Bonnie picked him up. "It's a surprise!"

Looking back, he saw Jeremy smirking at him as Fritz watched passively. He glared back before being hauled into the kitchen. Freddy was waiting, and after a few loud footsteps, Foxy joined them all. Mike straightened his clothes, about to demand what was going on, when Freddy revealed a large cake from behind his back.

"Happy one year anniversary Mike."

The man froze, blinking. He then stared at the cake, seeing Foxy's elegant penmanship with his name and the date he's started working. A single candle was on the top; a purple candle amid the green icing. He felt Bonnie and Chica putting a hand on his shoulders and realized he'd started crying.

"This is supposed to be a happy affair you know." Freddy gently teased.

"I, I had no idea..." Mike choked out and furiously wiped at his eyes. "Guys thank you. I can't believe it's been that long already..."

"Ya think we'd forget sumthin' like that?" Foxy asked, nudging his cheek with his hook.

"I can remember your favorite color, toppings and how you like your crust but of course I'd forget when you started working here." Chica giggled as Mike flushed.

Bonnie laughed. "I don't know if you noticed Mike, but you're our favorite human. It's a big deal to us."

"Especially given all that you've done for us."

Mike jumped, turning towards the entrance. Fredbear stood there, with Springtrap peeking in on the side. The gold bear lumbered in and put a hand on Mike's shoulder. "Michael, you helped us in ways that cannot be explained. This is the very least we can for you."

"Is he going to blow out the candles or what?" BonBlu tried to rush into the now cramped kitchen but Springtrap grabbed him by his ears. "Ow! Spring stop that hurts!"

"I think you're intruding on their moment." Fredrick mused softly as he and Chirp peeked in.

"Maybe we should move this elsewhere." Freddy said, giving the toys a stern look that they withered under.

"I wanna carry the cake!" Springtrap cut in, dropping BonBlu.

"Springtrap if you want to keep your ears on your head you'll step back and let me move." Freddy growled.

The bunny whined but stepped aside to let Freddy through. Mike followed the huge group in a daze, only really coming to when they got onto the main floor and saw that Jeremy and Fritz were waiting for them with Mangle sitting on the table.

"You knew didn't you?" Mike grumbled, face red.

"Course we did. "

Fritz grinned sheepishly. "We weren't allowed to tell you Mike."

Freddy put the cake down. Mike didn't even flinch this time when he was picked up and put into the chair, sighing. He was getting too used to being manhandled by these robots. Freddy had produced a cake knife when the front doors opened and Mark ran in, panting.

"I didn't miss it did I?"

"You ALL kept this from me?" Mike demanded, pouting.

"Dude, you really think we wouldn't celebrate? You've been here a year. Not too many night guards make it that long right?" Mark chuckled and sat down as well.

The cake was cut and given to those who could eat it. Jeremy's hand was shaking and he had trouble with his fork but they all made sure not to bring it to his attention. When he almost stabbed himself though Foxy was quick to push his hand aside.

"Man...a whole year working here..." Mike mused softly.

"If you had told me anyone would want to be here that long six years ago, I would've fucking thrown your ass into a gutter." Jeremy added.

Fritz laughed. "It's certainly not what I was expecting at all."

"Things finally feel right." Springtrap said softly, mechanical fingers running over the new coat of fur that'd been finally added to his shell. "It's weird, feeling complete again."

"Things will only get better." Mike promised, smiling. He was surprised when the gold bunny grinned back.

"Oh, that's right!" Mark reached for his pocket. "I, uh, did some digging. Not to bring this happy moment down or anything, but I tried looking up stuff about Fredbear's Family Dinner when I was in class yesterday."

Fredbear perked up at that. "Most of the pictures and files were lost. Likely on purpose."

Mark nodded, pulling out what looked like a few photos. "It was pretty hard to find anything. But I did manage to find these, and thought maybe I should show you guys."

He hesitated a moment before putting them on the table for everyone to see. Mike, Jeremy and Fritz all leaned forward to look over them, and the guard noticed that even some of the animatronics were trying to get a peek. He almost froze when he saw them.

One was of the entrance to Fredbear's. The banner and doors with a waiter motioning for the photographer to enter with a smile on his face. Another was inside, showing Fredbear and Springtrap singing on stage with a group of kids in front of them. And the last...

Jeremy grabbed the picture instantly, green eye running over it. William was grinning, looking proud with a hand on two small boys. The older one had a mask on his head, laughing as he peeked out from under it. The smaller boy grinned shyly and clung to his dad's pant leg. They stood in front of a sign that read 'GRAND OPENING OF C-' before being cut off. And the small boy, Shawn, was something on to someone's hand but-

"Why is it ripped?" Jeremy demanded.

Mark shrugged. "That's how I found it. I thought it was odd, a scan of a picture being ripped, but I guess that's how it was submitted."

"I recognize that." Springtrap suddenly said, peeking over Jeremy's shoulder. The blond man only glared at him. "That's back before all the bad stuff happened."

Mike stuffed another forkful of cake into his mouth, thinking. "Did...did William have three kids?"

Everyone stared at him a moment. Before he could respond, Jeremy threw the picture on the table and went back to his slice of cake. "Like it matters anymore."

"Let's get back on track huh?" Fritz cut in nervously, laughing. "We're celebrating right?"

Mike nodded, grinning in embarrassment as Chica and Bonnie tried to ask about gifts. It was only when Freddy mentioned that getting said gifts would be rather difficult for children's animatronics that they pouted and stopped. Despite working all day, all four of the guys stayed there all night, talking and recalling the craziness that came from working at Freddy Fazbear's.

"I mean, pretty worth it right?" Mike cut in, grinning. "After all, I got myself a pretty great roommate out of all this."

Jeremy gave him a look, sighing when Mark grabbed him and began telling him how they'd all help him move. Mike grinned at him. As they began cleaning up, six am approaching fast, the Head Guard paused to see Fredbear and Springtrap laughing about something on their own stage, the Toys racing each other on who could clean the most crumbs with Mangle keeping track on the ceiling, Foxy carefully shadowing Jeremy in case he had any trouble, and finally, Mark and Fritz talking about maybe they should be roommates as well since it'd be easier if they were closer to both restaurants.

"Without you, none of this would have happened."

Mike jumped, face pink as he turned to Freddy. "I dunno about that-"

"Mike, you had children stuck in an eternal limbo finally get to move on." The bear said softly, putting a paw on his shoulder. "For the first time in many, many years I feel like we can be at ease. The others are happy, and they love you. I admit I even find myself fond of Mr. Fitzgerald."

The man chuckled at that. Chirp cheered when it appeared she won their contest with Fredrick trying to sooth BonBlu as he pouted. Jeremy called the fox down and revealed the tail he'd been working on, making Mangle cover their face in both amazement and relief. Sighing, Mike put his hands on his hips and nodded.

"Things will only get better..." He repeated to himself with a smile.

Freddy patted his shoulder and moved to helped Jeremy move Mangle's parts back into the room. Mike sighed again, a warm feeling in his chest. He was...really lucky, he realized. He had four great human friends, all that had been there with him as he planned his mother's funeral and helped him carry the casket. Been there with him as she was buried and afterwards in his apartment to help him come to terms with it all.

And to top it all off, he had these robots. Things that contradicted everything he'd ever thought about about them when he first started working here. He'd seen first hand how much they wanted to protect him, to keep him safe. Even Springtrap was warming up to him, having passed by and mumbling that he preferred Spring since it wasn't such a mouthful.

There were still things they needed to do. Jeremy kept stumbling, running into things on his left side and Mike could see something was festering in his head about everything that had happened. The damage from what William had done still needed fixing; just not only with the restaurant. But he knew he'd be there for him to help. The Toys were getting their own restaurant and he'd needed to adjust to being on his own as a guard again. But if that's all it took for this to happen, he was willing to tough it out.

He adjusted his hat and went to go help Bonnie and Chica put the cake into a box for him when his phone vibrated. Mike paused, frowning. No one texted him. No one except Jeremy and Mark, and both of them were obviously busy. Curious, Mike opened his phone and saw a text from an unknown number. His eyes scanned over the text and his hands began shaking violently, eyes wide as he stared at the message. Finished, he hesitated; his trials here in Freddy's, his journey so to speak, had finished. Was he really ready to meddle into something else? Jaw set, he typed out a reply before closing his phone.

It all could wait until dawn.

[The End]