Chapter Text

“Change can be one of the slowest things you’ll ever experience, but it will always be good.” The advice had been given to Charlie after she’d first moved in with her Aunt Jen, a feeble attempt to counsel a young girl who’d just lost everything. It hadn’t made sense then, and in the years that followed Charlie had concluded it was still terrible advice.

Winching as some rain managed to get onto her face, she pulled the collar of the coat she'd borrowed from John even closer. A furious rainstorm had formed the day before and was now depositing water wherever it could reach.

'What I wouldn't give to be able to crawl back into bed.’ Charlie shivered but continued slowly carrying on. The streets were as unfamiliar as they were rain-soaked and from beneath her umbrella, Charlie kept making mental notes of landmarks as she walked along.

The last thing she wanted was to get lost in a very unfamiliar city; seeing as Brookhaven New York was a world away from the places she’d grown up.

'Better get used to it though; you’re here for a while.’ Charlie rolled her eyes at the remainder as the memory of the advice about change once again came forward. Like an insistent child wanting to be proven right and in this case, she had to coincide at least a little. Her current change in location hadn't been a bad thing at all, but it was how fast the changs had come that threw her off.

Throughout her life, she’d become accustomed to sudden and huge changes which were then followed by periods of nothing happening. Usually, it took a few years before the massive changes came forward, but this time it’d come faster than all the others. Sometimes it only felt like a month ago she and John had started up their relationship and when the nights wondering if the other felt the same way turned into a constant reaffirmation of their feelings.

It had all flown by fast for them both and before they knew it, graduation had come which lead to the announcement that John had received a scholarship for his writing at the college in Brookhaven New York. But Instead of making their relationship long-distance, both Jen and John had offered her to go with him and move in together.

What had really helped them out was the fact that when she turned 18 the money her father had left became available to her and much to everyone’s surprise, the total amount ended up being both more than Charlie ever could have expected or needed. Which combined with the money she’d received from selling her childhood home, made moving a mercifully easy process physically.

But despite settling in and having enough money to attend school alongside John, Charlie found herself lacking in motivation to attend classes.

She was capable of picking up a class thanks to her own grades, but there hadn’t been much of anything that had held her interest enough to pursue it as a career. She couldn't craft robotic creations like her father, cared enough about history like Jessica, or have a creative mind like John. None of them even came close to competing with Lamar, who’d just made the honor roll at Cornell.

At first, she’d opted to simply hang around the apartment but that quickly grew tiresome as well as boring. Which was why she'd begun looking for jobs so she would at least have something to do and besides,,a bit of extra spending money couldn't hurt. Thus why she was walking through the cold and rain to a job interview instead of curling up and waiting for John back at their apartment.

‘If it wasn’t going to make John late to class, I’d have asked him to drive me here.’ When they’d gotten moved in she’d felt that John’s classes were something which he needed to have a reliable car for. As a result, she’d passed the blue Honda Jen had given her over to him for use driving too and from his college. He’d protested but had eventually given into it with her as she was capable of walking to whenever she needed to go.

Something that she was now considering taking back when it came to rainy days like this. Charlie suddenly had to close her eyes as the wind blew more raindrops into her face and after wiping them she looked up to see the sign illuminating the darkened sky. “Saver Saviors” It called out in bold, colorful letters.

Breaking into a jog, Charlie passed the sign and made a beeline for the store that lay just behind it and across a parking lot. Wanting to finally get out of the rain if only for a little while. She reached the doors and hastily closed her umbrella before stepping inside and finally getting out of the rain.

Charlie shivered upon entering and pulled down the collar of the coat as she took in her surroundings. The store wasn’t anything special, though it was rather decently sized for a discount retailer. There was however a noticeable lack of customers but that was probably due to everyone wanting to stay home because of the rainstorm outside.

Her eyes wandered about a little bit until they settled upon a pair of employees that were standing at the checkout area. The one closest to Charlie was a woman a few years older than herself with brown hair and large earrings. The other employee was a boy one or two years younger than Charlie with curly brown hair. Both wore a black vest with a name tag. Charlie walked over to the woman, who gave her a warm, if a little forced, smile.

“Welcome to Saver Saviors, where our prices save you lots! My name is Rebecca, how may I help you today?” Rebecca said once Charlie was close enough to the counter. Charlie returned Rebecca’s smile and pulled a note from within her coat pocket.

“Hi! I was called back by Mr. Fitzgerald about a job, is he here right now?” She turned the note for Rebecca to see. As the older woman looked it over, Charlie could just see the younger employee eying her intently. She looked away from him when Rebecca began talking again.

“Yeah, Jeremy’s in his office, I can take you there-”

“I can do that.” The young boy suddenly appeared beside Rebecca and in front of Charlie. Still looking at her curiously, but now giving a somewhat cocky smile. His name tag seemed to proudly display the name “Arty.”

“There’s something I need to talk to Mr. Fitzgerald about, anyway.” He looked from Charlie to Rebecca, who rolled her eyes.

“Is it really that important Arty?

“Oh! Uh, yeah! It’s something about my hours, so I figure I can just take our potential new co-worker with me.” He looked back at Charlie and she took a half step back. Arty’s sudden enthusiasm to escort her to the office reminded her of John, but not in a good way.

“Alright, but just make sure she does her interview first,” Rebecca looked away and back at Charlie a little apologetically. “, she shouldn't deal with Jeremy's already sleep-deprived butt in a bad mood.”

Arty rounded the counter without acknowledging Rebecca and motioned for Charlie to follow him, which she did silently. However, it was soon broken, because just as they were out of Rebecca’s earshot he began asking questions.

“So, since we might be working together what’s your name?”

“Charlie.”



Arty’s face scrunched up, and his tone became a mixture of confusion and snarky.

“That's not really a name girls tend to have ” He muttered, only to backpedal once he noticed Charlie was giving him an annoyed look.

“But it makes you sound like you are a very responsible person.”

Arty didn’t have the chance to ask any more questions, not that Charlie wanted him too. They’d already found themselves standing by an office at the back of the store. Next to the door was a nameplate that read “Mr. Fitzgerald.”

Arty reached out and rapped two of his fingers against the door. When the knocking went unanswered, Arty turned back to Charlie and sarcastically chuckled.

“Guess Rebecca was wrong for once.” He said before the door behind them swung open.

“Or you could actually take the effort to open up the door.” The man who stepped from the door was lean and very tired-looking which all made him look somewhat older than he actually was. He wore the same vest as Arty and Rebecca, with a loose shirt and slacks. In his hands were a cup of coffee and a clipboard through the coffee didn't seem to be doing much as he used the clipboard to cover a yawn before his sleepy gaze focused on Charlie. He looked her over then glanced down at his clipboard.

Are you Charlotte Baker?” He asked as Arty glanced over towards Charlie, who ignored him while giving an affirmative. Jeremy nodded back before taking a took a long sip from his coffee before giving her a somewhat tired smile.

Right on time, come in and let’s talk.” He said and stepped aside to let her pass. Charlie walked past him and Jeremy looked back to Arty. “As for you Arty you may return to your previous duties."

“But I also needed to talk to you about something,” Arty trailed off when he looked past Jeremy and at Charlie before asking, “, could I just wait out here until you’re done?”

“No, I need you out there in case someone comes in.” Jeremy pointed back at the front of the store. “Come back after I’m done, and then we can talk, but for right now can you please get back to work?”

For a brief moment, Arty looked ready to argue before he stuck his hands in his pockets and turned and slowly walked away. Throwing one friendlier look towards Charlie before Jeremy closed the door.

Much like the store itself, Jeremy’s office wasn’t anything amazing. A simple desk with two chairs on either end of it, and a computer amidst the piles of papers that Jeremy quickly began to shift and push away, as he gestured for Charlie to sit in the chair opposite his. Behind the desk was a filing cabinet on which sat a coffee maker.

Once they were both seated Jeremy put down his clipboard and pulled out a copy of Charlie's resume that had been sent to him the week prior.

“So Charlotte, first off do you want to be called that or do you have another preferred name?”

“Yeah, I like to be called Charlie, if that’s alright with you.” She lightly smiled, thankful that at least he was at least asking that question. Jeremy nodded and wrote something on his clipboard.

“Alright Charlie, mind if I ask what brings you all the way from Utah to our little store?”

‘Remember not to give him your life story; just make sure it doesn't sound like you’re some kind of criminal.’ She brushed off the reminder as her nerves rising little by little even as she gave her answer.

“I just moved into the area with my boyfriend, and I’m looking to work while he goes to his classes.”

“You’re not taking any classes of your own?”

“No, there wasn’t anything that I felt interested me.” Charlie watched as Jeremy made another note and looked up with a shrug.

“Nothing wrong with doing that, I waited a few years too.” Charlie sighed in relief; a lot of people had given her grief over her choice not to attend classes. It felt nice to have someone besides John and some of her friends reaffirm her position.

The rest of the interview went fine, with Jeremy asking a few questions, mostly what times would work for Charlie to come in, as well as what she would be good at doing in the store. Eventually, he handed her a small forum to fill out the size for her vest, which she did and handed back to him.

“Looks like we’re all good to go then,” Jeremy put the forum down with Charlie's other paperwork. “It'll take a few days for me to get the vest and nametag in so would you be able to start working Monday?”

“That works for me,” Charlie said as Jeremy reached across his desk with his hand outward. Charlie raised her own hand and they firmly shook them.”

“Welcome to the Saver Saviors sales team, Ms. Baker.”

----------

Another document hit the desk as Horace Ackley rubbed his temples. Night had almost fallen over the city of Baltimore and he was ready to leave for home. He wasn’t happy already with what he’d found out about his prospective client, and if he had to stay late he’d be in an even worse mood.

The client would pay well no doubt, and it would be a big boost to his company’s profits. But the sickening feeling brought on by the information he’d just learned would have to be assuaged before he took up their offer.

The sharp ringing of his phone cut through the silence of Ackley’s office. He snatched it up from the receiver and held it to his ear. The other end sounded a little staticky, and a voice called out from the other end.

“Hello, Uhm, can you hear me?'

“I can Mr. Taylor, nice to hear from you.” Ackley hid his mild frustration while addressing his potential client. “It’s a good thing you called when you did, I was about to head home.”

“Oh, uhm, sorry about that. The time differences caught me off guard.”

“Mm hmm, well, that’s understandable Mr. Taylor, but I wanted to talk to you today because of some… interesting information that’s come to my attention.”

“Now, I can assure you that my company has never been involved with any sort of illegal or immoral actions, we’ve always tried to keep a clean record.”

“It’s not your main company’s track record that concerns me, it's the past of your newest venture which caught my attention.” Horace and gave Mr. Taylor the chance to speak before he continued.”

“I’d rather not take the time to invest in putting out advertisements for something that may go under if the public finds out about the blood on its hands.” Again the other end fell silent until Mr. Taylor spoke up at last

“Um, I can promise you that nothing like Hurricane will happen again because we’ve taken a look at what allowed that tragedy to happen, and doubled our efforts to ensure that it can’t be repeated!”

“You’re certain you can avoid something, and deal with any negative PR should it come out?”

“Well New York is a very long way from Utah,” Mr. Taylor chuckled. “But you have my word that the new and improved Freddy Fazbear’s will be one of the safest places a parent can take their child.”

There was a confidence in his last sentence that impressed Horace. An assurance that Mr. Taylor knew what he was talking about and was confident in his venture's ability. While Ackley still wasn't certain, it seemed like Mr. Taytlor at least knew what he was doing. He began to write information down before addressing Mr. Taylor one last time.

“Alright, Mr. Taylor we'll give it a shot where do you want the first ads to be placed?"

“I think the best place to start putting billboards and fliers would be in Brookhaven, near any supermarkets and just get the word out to families.”

“An excellent and smart idea Mr. Taylor, I’ll have them ready in two weeks.