Chapter Text

Chapter one,

William Afton’s smile was all charm as he placed his hands politely on top of the table, one finger tapping a familiar beat. “I must apologize.” He said with an almost sheepish smile. “I will admit that the design choices I made were a joke, one that was obviously in bad taste. I did not intend for those particular blueprints to see the light of day – you see, it’s an inside joke of sorts.” He turned his lilac eyes towards Henry, who had remained silent up until that point.

“I want to assure everyone that the blueprints you saw are indeed a joke.” Henry said as he got to his feet, moving to stand in front of the screen. “As you can see from the blueprints included in your package today, changes were made to the animatronics. I assure you that they are perfectly safe, and the opening of Fredbear’s family diner, and Baby’s Circus World, will continue without so much as a hitch.”

“We were told,” Mr. Silas said, his eyes drifting towards William before moving to settle on Henry, “that the… joke blueprints were actually made a reality. So tell me, how can you promise us that these robots are safe when they include features such as… child luring?”

“Because the features are named that as a joke.” Henry assured him, “Child luring is actually a voice sync that is able to calm children down when they are scared. You’ve seen how large our animatronics are, now imagine being the size of a small child. Obviously they may appear a bit frightening until children become use to them. These features are simple jokes.”

-

“Will, I could kill you.” Henry said as they sat across from each other in the small diner near the office building where the meeting had taken place. “What the hell were you thinking, I mean seriously… what the hell were you thinking?” He reached across the table and flicked his business partner on the forehead.

William closed one eye before sighing, loudly. “It really was a joke, Henry.” He said, for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. “Don’t look at me like that,” he added when Henry leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “No one was supposed to see those blueprints. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about how they even saw the light of day?”

“No, Will.” Henry sat forward again, unfolding his arms. “I’m actually more concerned about you right now.” His head cocked slightly to the side. “What’s going through that head of yours right now?”

“What do you mean?

“You aren’t even sorry.” Henry accused, “There’s not a single bit or remorse in your face right now.”

“What are you even going on about, Henry?” William demanded. “What am I supposed to feel sorry about?”

“I covered for you today, Will, but you and I both know that those features are not what I said they were.”

William looked down at his untouched sandwich. “Henry…”

“We’ve been friends for years, Will. You’re the closest thing I have to a brother… and I know damn well I’m the only family you have left. So please… tell me the truth.”

-

"Daddy!"

Anna was five. Her hair was gold, like her mothers, and she had more energy inside her tiny body than any child William had ever encountered – including her two brothers. William barely knelt in time to catch her in his arms as she flung herself at him. She was dressed in a nightgown he’d bought a few days ago, one designed to look like a Princess dress. Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck as he lifted her up, cuddling her close. She smelled of children’s shampoo, and the natural body soap his wife had bought a few weeks ago.

“Did you bring me a surprise?” Anna asked.

“I was only gone for a couple hours, love.” William laughed as he carried her into the family room, where his wife, Maria, was curled up on the couch with the two boys, a large storybook sitting across her lap. “Hello, dear.” He greeted.

“How did the meeting go?” Maria asked as she lowered the book, much to her sons’ disappointment. Michael, Anna’s twin brother, reached out and tried to take the book away, only for it to be snatched out of his reach by Michael.

Vincent was fourteen already, and William wasn’t quite sure what to make of his eldest son. Before Vincent had come along, William had sworn off not only marriage, but also children. Vincent had turned Maria from a fling into a wife, and eventually William had caved to his wife’s demand for more children. She felt empty as Vincent grew older and less reliant on her.

Maria was one of those women who was simply meant to be a mother. She was happiest when she had someone to care for – and William would never deny her the praise of saying that she was a fantastic mother to his children.

“Fredbear’s will open in a month.” William told her as he sat down next to Michael, Anna wiggling her way free from his arms to sit with her older brother. Vincent liked to pretend that he didn’t like his younger siblings, but it was obvious that he had a soft spot for Anna.

“Does that mean Baby’s circus will open, too?” Anna asked eagerly. “Can I go when it opens? I want to see her!”

Maria laughed softly. “William, you’ve ruined our daughter for normal toys.” She chided him, “What are we to do for the twins birthday when you’ve shown them such fantastic things!”

“Will simply have to have all their birthdays at Fredbear’s.” William said with a wink at Anna. “Henry’s wife makes an amazing pizza.”

“I wanna go!” Michael said suddenly. “I wanna go see uncle Henry!”

“You’ll see him this weekend.” William laughed. “We’re throwing a party to celebrate everything working out in the end.” He leaned back against the couch, and Maria noticed how exhausted he looked.

“I think it’s for bed.” Maria announced, getting to her feet. “Michael, can you help Anna brush her teeth?” she asked.

“Got it.” Vincent hoisted Anna into his arms and then shot Michael a look. “Come on, squirt, let’s go.”

“Mom said Anna, not me!” Michael argued.

“Doesn’t matter.” Vincent jerked his hand towards the stairs, “Let’s go.”

Once the three kids were gone, Maria turned to look at her husband. “Did everything really go alright?” she asked.

“Everything went fine, Anna.” William still had his head back against the back of the couch, his eyes closed. “You worry too much.”

“You look exhausted.”

“Henry and I had to have a long talk about our plans for the future.” William admitted, “I ended up telling him a lot more than I planned to tell him…” he trailed off. There was one secret that he had kept his entire life – Henry was the first person he’d ever told about what went on inside his head. The voices, the ideas and the horrible, twisted fantasies he came up with when the world around him was simply too quiet.

If he could stay busy – he could outrun his demons – but when the world was silent, everything crashed down on him and there was no saving him from the monster that seemed to live inside his very soul.

“I see…” Maria put on a pretty smile, once William saw when he opened his eyes to look at her. “How about I make you feel better tonight?”

William smiled faintly. “Sounds like a very good idea to me, love.”

-

It was two days until the party, and William was annoyed. Vincent had headphones in and was doing a fantastic job at pretending his father didn’t actually exist.

“Explain.” William ordered as he yanked the earbuds out of Vincent’s ears.

“It’s not my fault that he freaked out!” Vincent hissed as he turned in his desk chair to look at his father. “He said nothing scares him, so I showed him something that would scare him.”

“What did you show him exactly?”

Vincent looked away.

“Vincent.”

“It was a stupid video someone at school was talking about… it was bloody, that’s all.”

“Bloody?”

“Some kids killed a damn puppy.” Vincent still wouldn’t meet his eyes.

William felt as though someone had dropped ice into the pit of his stomach. He hesitated before speaking. “D-Do you enjoy watching stuff like that?” he asked.

“No!” Vincent shouted. “Why would I enjoy something like that?” he stared at his father for a moment.

“I only ask because… if there’s problems, Vincent, we can find someone who can help you work through them.”

“I’m sure it’d be a big help, dad.” Vincent snorted. “If there’s people out there, how come you never had anyone help you work through your problems.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not stupid.” Vincent narrowed his eyes – the same shade as William’s own eyes. “I see the way you look at us sometimes. It’s like we’re not even people. You do it to mom most of all. It’s like you’re just going through the motions, which is weird because everyone else does this stuff naturally, and you have to stop and think about it.”

William hissed quietly before shaking his head. “I’ve never been an emotional person, Vincent.” He explained. “I don’t express myself very well, but that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with me. You know I love your mother very much.”

“Maybe if you tell yourself that enough, you might believe it.” Vincent mocked. “You don’t love her – you don’t love me… hell, I’m starting to think that the only person you actually love is Uncle Henry.”

-

William mused over everything as he took a sip from his wine glass. The party was in full swing, and children were constantly running up to the animatronics, amazement written all over their small faces. His gaze constantly found Anna, who had parked herself directly in front of Baby. His daughter was staring at the robot with complete awe written over her face, and occasionally her small hand would reach up as if to touch, and then it seemed she remembered the warning William had given her before they’d even reached the location where the party was being held.

“They are not toys, Anna. They are robots, and that means there is a lot of complicated things working inside of them that make them function. If you touch them, you might break them.” William had warned as he bent down to help her put her shoes on. “You must promise me that you will never get close to one of them…” he hesitated, lifting his gaze to stare up at Anna’s delicate looking face.

“I promise, Daddy.” Anna smiled at him.

“Don’t be alone with them.” William said quietly. “If the other kids leave and you’re alone in with one of them, I want you to promise me that you’ll follow the other children.”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t matter why.” William narrowed his eyes.

“I promise.” Anna sighed, her bottom lip poking out. “But I really want to play with Baby.”

“You can see her, Anna, isn’t that enough?”

“I guess so.”

William reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had never imagined that having children would turn out to be so damn complicated. Was he attached to them? He wasn’t sure of his answer in regards to that question. It was easy to say that he had some form of attachment to the lives he had helped create. He enjoyed spending time with them, but there were also times when he found himself wanting nothing to do with them – those were the times when he wandered into his lab at home and locked the door, ignoring the annoyed look Maria sent his way.

He wasn’t normal. William had realized that a long time ago. The thing inside his head wasn’t normal – his thoughts weren’t normal – and the way he regarded his children wasn’t normal either. He knew that most parents absolutely treasured their children. For him, his children were simply things… he cared about them only because they were his – and it would be horribly difficult to explain to everyone if anything ever did happen of his children.

If the monster in his head ever took control and his fantasies became a reality – anything happening to his children would raise a red flag – drawing every eye straight to him. No. It was better for everyone if his children remained safe and sound- growing the way they should.

William started in surprise when he opened his eyes and found Henry standing directly in front of him. “Sorry.” He blurted out.

“You were completely zoned out.” Henry said softly. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine.” William lied. “I was just thinking about Anna.”

“What about her?”

“She doesn’t listen at all.” William laughed. “How do you handle it?”

“Mine twins are still a lot younger than your kids, Will.” Henry laughed. “They haven’t started getting into much trouble yet… Though Sammy did manage to walk his chubby ass to the end of the couch last night and bump his head when he fell… Though I think Charlie may have helped him.” He added with a grin.

William laughed, he couldn’t help it. He adored Henry’s children in a way he didn’t his own. He had felt guilty at first when Henry’s wife gave birth to the twins, and then the guilt turned into delight when he saw the way Henry’s face lit up when he talked about his children. Seeing Henry happy was one of the very few things William enjoyed in life that didn’t have to do with the mess inside his mind.

Everyone knew that they had been friends since middle school. Both had been social outcasts, too caught up in the strange ways their minds worked to make friends who stood no chance of understanding them. Meeting each other had been the best thing that ever happened to them. Henry was a foster kid, and William was the son of a wealthy businessman. Both lacked any real form of love until they met each other – they’d even gone so far as to have a double wedding when they both decided they’d found a woman worth marrying (though in William’s case, Maria was pregnant).

“Charlie sounds like she’s going to be a handful.” William chuckled. “We should have a get together soon.” He added thoughtfully. “Michael’s…”

“Michael is a teenage boy.” Henry laughed, “Will, he’s going to get into just as much trouble as we got into. It’s been a long time since you and I were his age, so don’t even pretend to know what’s going through his head. Let him figure it out, and he’ll come to you if he needs help with anything.”

“Yeah, yeah.” William waved his hand dismissively before turning back to look at Baby. Anna was gone. He frowned for a moment before shaking his head, returning his gaze to Henry. “I was just thinking… The animatronics for Fredbear’s might need to be reworked a bit.”

“Why do you say that?”

William pointed to where Funtime Freddy was being swarmed by children. “These ones are barely holding up to being touched constantly. The ones are your place are supposed to walk around and interact with the kids, right?”

“That’s the idea.” Henry looked slightly concerned. “You don’t think they’ll be up to it?”

“I didn’t say that!” William laughed, “What I meant is that they’re probably going to require more repairs than the Circus Baby robots.” His eyes searched for Anna again, still not finding her. “Where is Anna?”

Henry turned, following William’s line of sight. “I don’t know.” He admitted. “Wasn’t she just there?”

“I thought she was.” William shook his head. “I’m going to go see if she’s with Maria, will you excuse me?”

“Sure, no worries.”