I was already running low on steam, and the animatronics were closing in.

"We've got you now." Chica grinned.

"You can't escape." Roxy taunted, her ears low and her tail swishing side to side menacingly. A green clawed hand reached out for Gregory. I pulled out my gun and sent a warning shot into the ceiling.

"Don't fucking move!" I yelled, putting the boy on the floor and tucking him behind me. Monty's voice box glitched as he pulled back. His body was poised to attack but in his eyes... fear...

"Monty!" Freddy pleaded. "You can fight off the glitch!"

"T-trying-" Chica confirmed, lunging forward, her hands digging into my shoulders. Hissing in pain, I slammed the butt of the gun onto her head. She pulled back. "Get- g-g-g-get out!"

"Freddy, we need to get them out!" Gregory pleaded. "We need to bring them with us!"

"We need..." The bear scanned the scene before him for a moment, ears twitching in anticipation. "We need to go. Quickly." He was right; things weren't looking so good. My eyes darted around, searching for an escape. A shining red button caught my eye. With the activation of the fire alarm, the emergency door release had shown itself. All I had to do was get to the other side of the atrium to press it while avoiding fire, debris, and three glitched animatronics...

"You keep Gregory safe. See if you can open the grate to get him out. If you can escape, Gregory, run and get help." The pair nodded seriously as I gently pushed Gregory into Freddy's waiting arms.

"But what about-" I knew that Freddy would try to talk me out of it, so I didn't give him the chance to speak. Instead, I ran. "Olive!"

"Move out of my way!" My shoulder collided with Chica, knocking her off of her balance. As long as I could use my size and agility against the animatronics, I could make it to the other side of the atrium. I might even be able to make it back again.

"Where do you think you're going?" Roxy snapped, taking chase. I glanced over my shoulder to see Freddy straining against the metal sheet covering our escape route as Gregory brandished a wrench threateningly, trying to keep Monty and Chica away. Distracted, I stumbled on some debris, nearly slamming straight into the large statue of Freddy. My hands shot forward, making contact with the burning base. Before I could pull away, something large and solid smacked into my back, my face pressing against the scorching metal. Without thinking, I threw my elbow out behind me, hearing a dull thud as I connected with Roxy's face. A sharp pain shot through my arm as the stitches snapped and my old wound was once again exposed to the hot air.

"My eye! My eye!" Roxy howled as I ripped myself away from the golden cast and pushed forward, ignoring the numb pain spreading across my jaw and the blood dripping down my forearm. Clashing metal filled my ears as Freddy cried out in shock.

"Get the fuck off of him!" Gregory shouted, the fear evident in his voice. I knew what looking back had led to, so I kept my eyes down, dodging around clumps of flames and melting decor. The building rumbled, the sound deep and ominous.

Time was running out.

I lunged forward, making contact with the glass case surrounding the button just as Roxy got within range, her claws brushing the fabric of my loose top. Yanking on the case desperately provided no results so, when Roxy crouched down, her mechanics creaking under the heat and pressure, I beckoned her forward. With a grunt, she jumped. And so did I.

I hit the floor, rolling clumsily. Behind me, I heard a smash followed by a string of curses. Roxy was dazed, shaking her head and brushing glass out of her hair. I unceremoniously shoved her aside and punched the bright red button with indisputable force, daring it to fail. To my relief, a tinny scraping filled the atrium as the security system sprang to life and opened the shutters.

"Gregory, go!" Freddy and I screamed in unison, prompting the boy to abandon his stand off with Chica. He tucked his emotional support wet floor sign under his arm and ran, practically throwing himself through the two foot gap into the real world.

Roxy took advantage of my distraction, grabbing me and pulling me headfirst towards her gnashing jaws. Between fight or flight, my body chose to fight, acting before I could even register what was happening.

BANG!

My eyes went wide. Roxy took a few steps back. She tripped. She fell. She didn't get back up.

The gun in my hand sent a thin stream of smoke up into the already soot filled air.

"Roxy? Roxanne?" She didn't so much as twitch. I looked up, taking in the destruction around me. Freddy had thrown off Monty, and was working on subduing him. Chica was standing completely still, staring at me in disbelief. I broke eye contact to step forward and crouch over my fox friend. There was a clean hole going from the roof of her mouth and through the top of her head. There was no activity from her, not even the whirring of her fans against the rising heat around us. I took a deep breath, closed the lid of her undamaged eye, and stood.

"Chica?"

"Roxanne..." She took a few uncertain steps forward before falling to her knees. It felt bad, but being crushed by falling, flaming chunks of this building wouldn't have felt much better, so I breezed past her, calling out as I went.

"Freddy, I'm going to Daycare."

"You can't possibly get all the way there in your state. The roof is unstable-"

"But the twins are-" The building groaned once again. "I promised to go back for them!"

"Ollie, listen to reason." He grunted as the crocodile beneath him thrashed and writhed. "You will get injured. They would rather you be safe." I took my bottom lip between my teeth, chewing anxiously. He was right, they would never forgive themselves if I got injured going to get them. Freddy must have sensed my nerves because he added. "You get out and wait in safety for Gregory to come back with help. I will contact the twins. They will be able to follow their fire safety protocol. They will be safe." I nodded, turning on my heel to go. As I did, the building gave one last creak before dropping a large piece of ceiling, sighing in relief as it did. The ball of fire, metal, brick, and plaster dropped down, heavy and uncaring of the animatronics beneath it.

"Freddy!" I coughed, attempting to wave the dust away from my mouth and eyes. "Freddy, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you." Came his eventual reply, voice box crackling but still strong. Once the dust had settled, I managed to pick my way through the wreckage and find him, half crushed, but looking as chipper as always.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, but I appear to be stuck." I inspected the damage. He had a leg caught under the rubble, but any other damage seemed to be superficial. "I don't think I can lift this."

"It's okay. You would have to leave without me regardless of this incident." I tensed, slowly turning to face him.

"What?" He at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"Animatronics cannot leave the Pizza Plex."

"And when were you planning to tell me this?"

"I was hoping that it wouldn't come up." He admitted, not meeting my gaze. Wordlessly, I hooked my arms under his arms and pulled, seeing if I could free him with my dwindling strength.

"You're wedged in pretty tight." I frowned.

"Just leave me here, it's okay. It's not safe for you." I inspected the wreckage, pointedly ignoring him. When I pressed on the charred rubble, which had luckily been blown out by the impact, it didn't move at all.

"If you switch forms, you might have enough wiggle room to get out. This is all pretty secure."

"Ollie-" But I cut him off with a hard glare. He sighed and shook his head. "Are you certain?"

"I'm certain." I replied uncertainly. He allowed himself to change. As soon as he did, I yanked him backwards, freeing his leg just as the rubble fell in on itself.

"Thank you." He muttered, gently pressing and prodding his foot. "I cannot walk on this."

"I'll help you. Maybe you can get out as a human."

"I have never tried." He admitted.

"Then let's go. The alternative is leaving you in here." I helped him to his feet and hooked his arm around my shoulders, trying not to put too much weight on me, despite being unable to even put his damaged foot on the floor. I did my best to hide the blood around my wrist, and he did his best to avoid the burnt skin on my cheek and palms.

"I have not yet heard back from the twins." He announced as we limped across the atrium. I looked over my shoulder. The rubble was blocking the fastest route to the daycare, and who knows what I'd find on my way there if I took any side paths. Humming thoughtfully, I pushed down the sickly feeling that resided deep within my gut.

"Maybe... Maybe they're out already."

"Maybe..."

"Guys!" Gregory waved as he ran over, Pat still held tightly in his arms. "I went to the payphone and called emergency services."

"Good." Freddy frowned. He put an experimental food outside of the plex's boundaries, almost as if he expected the CEO to appear out of thin air and drag him back inside. Nothing of the sort happened. Nothing happened at all.

So we left.

As soon as everyone was settled on some nearby grass, I sprinted back to the building, ducking into a side alley that housed the daycare's emergency exit.

"Sunny? Moon?" I called, using my cupped hands as a megaphone. "Twins? It's me, Olive. Can you hear me?" There was no reply. I ventured further into the alley, unhooking my flashlight and sweeping it around the dumpsters. I knew it wasn't smart, but I approached the fire door and pushed hard. It opened no more than what can only be described as 'a smidge', blocked by some sort of debris. The flames licked at the sides of the soft play, but didn't encroach too far upon the plastic of the daycare walls, whatever easy-clean chemicals treating the plastic clearly doing their job. However, much like the atrium, the place was scattered with piles of plaster, boards, beams, and other building materials. I took in a deep breath before shouting into the smoke. When there was no response, not even a rustle or a glimpse of movement, panic set it. That's when it really hit me, I think. The boys, my boys, were missing somewhere in a burning building. Blinded by panic, I rammed my least injured shoulder into the door, grunting at the heavy impact but not deterred.

I was getting in there one way or another.

"Ollie? Are they here?"

"Gregory?" I panted. "N-no so-so just go back to Freddy and-and wait for me to find them."

"Are you having a panic attack?" I stopped short at his blunt words, finally paying attention to just how much I was shaking. "I can hear sirens. We should leave." I looked at him dumbly.

"Sun and Moon are still in there somewhere-"
"We. Need. To. Go." He spoke through gritted teeth, grabbing me roughly and pulling so hard that I stumbled backwards. "I'm not letting you get killed on the off chance they're still in there. They might have escaped already. They're probably just hiding." And he said it with such confidence that I believed him.

"Are you sure that you should be driving?" Freddy asked nervously as we piled into my beat up little car.

"Do you know how to drive?" I drawled, the effects of adrenaline still being felt throughout my system.

"I do!" Gregory chirped. We turned to look at him for a second.

"Why am I not surprised."

"Put your seatbelt on." Gregory obeyed the bear dutifully before strapping in Pat. After sparing one last glance towards the ignited building, I pressed my foot on the gas and sped off.

"P-please drive safely!" Freddy cried, his hand gripping the grab handle as if his life depended on it.

"I am." And I was. Mostly.

The roads were mostly clear at this time of night - or rather, morning - and that typical uncanny valley feeling settled in my gut. I glanced over at Freddy, the streetlights momentarily lighting up his face. His face was a mask of serenity, but his shoulders were high and his knuckles were white. I sighed, picking up his attention.

"Other than Freddy's foot, are any of you injured?"

"I am in fine health."

"A couple scratches and bruises but nothing crazy... How's your bite? It's bleeding." I glanced at my arm and inspected the red, angry looking skin, puckered and raw at each stitch-hole. Two of the threads had indeed snapped, but the other two were intact and holding the largest puncture safely closed.

"It doesn't really feel like much."

"That's probably from the adrenaline. I am concerned that you will become exhausted when we reach safety and that it will bother you. You haven't even seemed to notice the burns on your palm or face."

"I'll live, Fred." I found myself sighing again, pulling down the sunvisor to inspect the damage. The skin was red and radiated heat, but the lack of blistering told me that it was surface level damage and nothing more. He was right though. It would hurt like a bitch in the morning. But what could I do? "Gregory, do you know your address?"

"No." He answered too quickly. Too tired to really argue, I offered to take him to my apartment until the morning.

"As much as I would like to take you home to your parents... It would be nice to know that you are safe tonight." Freddy admitted softly, almost like he felt guilty for being attached to the kid. Without speaking, I took one hand off of the steering wheel and squeezed his wrist comfortingly, internally cringing as some blood transferred onto his sleeve. He smiled weakly, the action not reaching his dull eyes, and we all fell into comfortable silence.

"Wow, you live in a fucking dump."

"Get fucked, squirt."

"Language!" We trudged into the lobby of my apartment and, to my dismay, I realised that Gregory was right. The walls were chipped and yellowed from age and cigarette smoke, and the floors were always at least slightly sticky and stained with God knows what.

"At least the inside is nicer." I mused, kicking my front door unstuck as I wiggled my key in that specific pattern needed to unjam the rusty old lock. Gregory pushed forward and ran into the flat before anyone else, no doubt to check the validity of my statement. Pat whizzed after him, a high pitched beep sounding almost like 'wheeee' fading out as he turned a corner. I slipped my heavy boots off and groaned in pleasure as the cold air hit my aching feet. Freddy removed his shoes politely and stepped into the living room, leaving me to close the door, slamming my shoulder into it so that it locked.

"Eh, it's passable." Gregory announced as I entered the room, not looking away from the rainbow macrame he was inspecting. "You arty?" He gestured vaguely to the arts and crafts covering my walls.

"Sunny made most of these. Moon made a few of them. He made this one." I pointed to a carefully drawn shark, painted neatly with cheap, watered-down poster paints. The boy raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead floating away to critique the rest of my home. I stayed where I was, staring listlessly at the wall of art. A hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"They'll be okay."

"They'd better be." I sniffed, fiercely rubbing my eyes with my sleeve. It smelt like smoke. "Let's get changed and... decompress." Freddy nodded solemnly.

"I am not wearing that." Gregory stomped his foot. Pat beeped in solidarity.

"Gregory, it's just to sleep in."

"It's for girls!"

"Who gives a shit?"

"Me!"

"Well you're a brat!"

I was trying to get Gregory to change out of his gross, sweaty, smokey, bloody clothes. To no avail.

"I don't care what you say!"

"Well I only have one set of boy clothes, and Freddy won't fit into any of my stuff."

"I'll just go without a top, it's fine. I can't stand this bickering over some clothes." Freddy sighed, pushing the shirt into the young boy's hands and practically shoving him into the bathroom to change. "It's not like I particularly want to wear your ex boyfriend's clothes anyway."

"Sorry." I'm not quite sure what I was apologising for, but it slipped out of my mouth before I realised what I was saying.

"Don't be. You're beautiful, and I would be naive to believe that nobody has ever courted you before." I stifled a snort behind my hand at the word 'courted'.

"It's okay to be jealous, you know." He stiffened.

"I'm no such thing! That's preposterous-" I cut him off by pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

"I only have eyes for you, Fred bear." His face flushed red as he stuttered incomprehensibly. "But there's not really anything else for you to wear."

"I'll live." He shrugged, still refusing to meet my gaze.

"I am here!" Gregory jumped into the room, the top hanging loosely off of his gaunt frame. He suddenly wilted. "And I am exhausted." I hummed thoughtfully as Freddy left to change.

"Me too, kiddo. How can I get a hold of your parents?"

"Good luck getting anything out of my dad." He snorted unkindly. "And my mum's working."

"You got a number for her?"

"No."

"One for her work place?"

"No."

"Where does she work?"

"No."

"Greg."

"Sorry, I mean, I don't know."

"Gregory." I repeated, softer this time.

"What?" He snapped, looking away and putting his hand on Pat's head.

"What's going on with you? Why won't you tell me anything? You need to go home at some point."

"Yeah. And I will." He frowned, looking much older than his years." Just... Not tonight. Not right now." I nodded slowly, biting my lip uncertainly.

"We haven't eaten since that pizza." Freddy entered the room, unaware of the settling tension. "Let's eat before we sleep."

"I don't have much in." I admitted, skillfully keeping my eyes away from his exposed chest.

"Do you have cereal?" At least Gregory sounded much more chipper.

And so, that's how we ended up; sitting cross-legged on the pulled out sofa-bed, eating off-brand cereal in semi-serene silence. At some point, Gregory had shuffled into my lap and closed his eyes as his head lolled onto my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him, his hair tickling my cheek. Reluctantly, I took him to my bedroom, tucking him into my bed with a kiss on his forehead. Pat chirped happily as he settled next to the bed, his lights dimming as he 'slept'. When I got back to the living room, Freddy was staring at my art wall, wringing his hands fretfully.

"He won't talk to me, Freddy. He just says that he doesn't know. He doesn't have a number, doesn't know where she works..." I sank down next to him onto the creaky sofa bed.

"I'm concerned about him..." A heavy feeling settled in my stomach at the thought of taking the boy back, images of what kind of woman we would find flashing through my mind.

"I'm tired. I just... He's safe here for now, that's all that matters. We can deal with this in the morning." I brought my knees to my chest, hugging them tightly and suddenly feeling like a small child. "I'm so tired and so... Where are my boys?" My voice cracked pathetically as hot tears blurred my vision. A warm hand came to rest on my elbow, the gentle pressure causing me to let out a loud cry. Freddy didn't seem to know what to say, and neither did I. Instead, I pressed my face into my knees, hoping that the shudders of my sobbing body didn't wake Gregory.

"A lot has happened tonight." He eventually said. Despite myself, I laughed unkindly.

"I killed Vanessa."

"Well yes, but-"

"Our friends are dead. My boys are dead!" His hand gripped the blanket.

"Even if they are, they wouldn't be gone forever."

"You don't know that!" I stood up, pointing an accusing finger at his chest. "You. Don't. Know. That!" He wrapped his large hand over my fist, engulfing it completely.

"Maybe I don't..." My anger dissipated as quickly as it had risen.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, my bottom lip quivering. Freddy held his arms open, and I gladly crawled onto his lap, hugging him tightly. He held me close, pressing his face into my hair. His skin was warm and soft, and his heartbeat was unfamiliar compared to that low, constant hum of mechanical parts. "I'm sorry, I'm just-"

"Don't. Tonight has been difficult for all of us. I'm trying to be as positive as I can be. This is... I'm scared."

"Oh, Freddy..." I took his face in my hands. "We'll figure this out. I promise, we will." He leant forward, our foreheads bumping gently as he closed his eyes and exhaled heavily, his shoulders sagging as he finally let go of the adrenaline in his system. Then, he opened his brilliant blue eyes, meeting my gaze. And suddenly, he smiled his signature smile.

"I believe you, Olive. We can do anything together." I suddenly felt like I couldn't look at him, so I grabbed the cereal bowls on the counter and left for the kitchen, laughing tensely over my shoulder.

"You're too bright, Fred."

When I returned, I finally allowed Freddy to look at my injuries. He dutifully cleaned and wrapped my wounds and gently rubbed cream into my burns. Then, once he was satisfied, we both slipped under the blanket and I switched the TV on, the low volume filling the uncomfortable quiet. We were both on our backs, staring at the ceiling. Freddy was breathing deeply, but I somehow knew he was still awake. I rolled over, tucking myself under his arm to lay my head on his chest. He tensed for a split second before relaxing, putting his arm around me and pressing his cheek into my hair as he usually did.

"Forget about it all for now." He whispered. "Sleep. We'll fix it all tomorrow."

"We should go back to the Plex and look-"

"Sleep." He gently brushed his hand over my face, making me close my eyes. I huffed playfully but kept them closed. We were both still for a long moment.

"Freddy?"

"Yes?"

"I love you." He didn't respond for a moment, and I didn't dare to look at him. Eventually, he pressed a firm kiss to my forehead.

"And I love you, Olive."

I don't remember falling asleep. But at some point, I must have.

We'll fix it all. Tomorrow.

A/N:

I'm so sorry. I'm genuinely SO horrified that I left this fic without a true ending for almost 2 years. I took a break from writing once I finished The Other Side (my other fic) and simply never returned. This chapter was started a few months ago and has been the first thing I've written since 2022. Hopefully my rustiness doesn't show? Hopefully all my original readers didn't get so dissapointed that they left? It would be nice for them to finally get to see the end, especially after the abuse that was chapters 27, 29, and the worst ending! Another reason it took so long to write this after I started again was that I didn't feel ready to let go of it. What started off as a cringe, self-serving bit of fun for me to use up the nervous energy of my special interest, has kind of become my baby? TOS will always be my child, but this fic has such a special place in my heart. Between it being such a popular fic, having more regular commenters than I've still ever had on AO3, and how much joy it's brought me... Ah, I feel like I'm being too sappy over a fan fiction, but I love this little old thing!To the end of an era! Woohoo!To the end of Freddy, Olive, Gregory, the twins, and Pat Pat? Who knows?