Rain's Writing Archive

guys, please, gregory is not a flag, dont use him as one to play capture the flag

Originally posted to Ao3 on 2/19/2022.

Gregory checked his watch, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.

It was already 9:19, and Freddy still hadn’t shown up yet. Usually it only took five to ten minutes for him to get to their meeting spot - wherever it may be - after the last performance of the day. This time, the meeting spot was in the rehearsal room, which meant that it was close to Rockstar Row and the bear should be there sooner rather than later .

But, apparently, the universe decided that Gregory was the perfect candidate to get screwed over today. The digital face on his watch ticked over to 9:20 and there was still no sign of Freddy. Not even any approaching metal footsteps.

He sighed and flopped backward on the riser he was sitting on.

He was bored out of his mind, and he resigned himself to counting the missing ceiling tiles for the millionth time.

He already knew that there were supposed to be four-hundred eighty three tiles, but twenty four of them were missing, so there were actually only four-hundred fifty nine. And yes, he did have those numbers memorized.

Groaning in frustration, Gregory draped an arm over his face, covering his eyes.

He laid there for what felt like an eternity before he finally heard something.

Footsteps. Maybe Freddy had finally shown up?

But no, that couldn’t be right. Freddy’s footsteps shook the entire floor, but these did not. They were too light, and they sounded like rubber soles rather than metal feet.

These footsteps were human. And they were heading towards the rehearsal room.

Gregory, in a panic, dove under the riser he’d been sitting on just as one of the day shift security guards came into view.

And, of course, it was the one guard that he’d been extremely careful about avoiding. Emily Hemlock. She was about Vanessa’s height, but had significantly more muscle than her, and rather than keeping her auburn hair in a ponytail, she left it loose, just barely brushing her shoulders. She wore the standard security uniform, but with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the pants cuffed.

Gregory was, to be frank, terrified of her. He’d seen how serious she was at her job, and he did not want to get caught by her. He’d be booted out the door and banned for life before he could even call for help if she ever got her hands on him.

With this in mind, he hunkered down under the riser and watched her pull out a flashlight to search the dark room.

He was really glad he left the lights off.

Emily checked the smaller room off to the side first, making Gregory nervous since he couldn’t see her. There were no cameras in the rehearsal room, and even if there were, he didn’t want to chance her seeing the light of the watch.

After a few minutes, she reemerged and Gregory’s eyes locked on her again.

She began to search the main room, pointing her flashlight in places that would make good hiding spots. The flashlight’s beam passed over the riser he was under once, but by some stroke of luck, Emily didn’t see him.

It looked like she was about to leave the room and move on, but then the worst thing that could have possibly happened, happened.

His Fazwatch played the notification tune and lit up. 

Fear shot through Gregory’s chest, piercing his heart. 

He fumbled for a moment, trying in vain to cover the watch with his hand.

Fearfully, he glanced up to see if Emily had heard it. Surely , it couldn't have been that loud, could it?

She was staring right at him .

With a panicked yelp, Gregory lept up from under the riser and made a mad dash for the exit. If he could find Freddy, or any of the animatronics, he would be safe-

A hand latched around his wrist, yanking him backwards.

He turned around.

Emily stood there, his wrist in her grip, with a sour look on her face.

"You, young man," she sneered, "are coming with me."

A group of five kids crowded around Freddy, asking him questions and generally babbling at him. He knew he had to leave soon to meet up with Gregory, but he couldn't just brush all these excited kids off.

He was hyper aware of the minutes quickly ticking by, but the children showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.

So, he sent Gregory a message telling him that he would be late.

Not five minutes passed before he began receiving frantic pings with Gregory's location.

Why was he in the stage control room?

Freddy told the kids that he had to head back to his room, which made them all deflate and boo. He apologized, but said that he was very tired before speed walking toward Rockstar Row.

The second he was out of the Atrium, he broke into a run. Every step he took practically caused an earthquake.

Freddy stormed through a door labeled "stage controls" and up the staircase behind it until he was just outside the office.

But the automatic door refused to open when he came close.

He tried the other door, but faced the same result.

He growled, a guttural sound he didn't know he was capable of making. He took off down the stairs and tried the doors on the other side of the office. This side was no different. Both doors remained firmly shut.

He got more pings, urging him to get to his boy by any means necessary.

Freddy began wailing on the door. He punched it, kicked it, slammed his shoulder into it, and scratched at it with his claws. He made sizable dents and marks, but to no avail.

The door remained shut tight, even as Freddy threw everything he had at it.

Over the loud banging and scraping sounds he was making, he could hear Gregory calling out to him, pleading. He could also hear Emily, telling him to shut up.

Gregory didn't stop his pleas, and Freddy heard a harsh slap through the door, followed by Gregory abruptly cutting off.

The guard had hit Gregory. She hit him .

Freddy had enough.

The bear crouched down on one knee and sunk his claws under the bottom of the door, deforming it enough to fit his fingers under.

Once he had a good enough grip, he braced himself, and pulled .

The door started to slide open, inch by inch, with an unholy screech.

Freddy heard Emily say “what the fuck.” and fought off the instinctive urge to scold her. It was not the time.

Little by little, the door opened, Freddy used every ounce of protectiveness he held for Gregory to force his body to push a little harder. To go on a little bit longer. So he could save him.

His boy needed him, and Freddy was not going to let him down.

His metal endoskeleton protested, and he could feel his casing cracking.

Still, he kept pushing.

With one final heave, the door was open enough for Freddy to bend down and step into the room.

Once he stood back up to his full height, Gregory slammed into him at top speed, wrapping his arms around his waist and burrowing his face into his side.

Freddy scooped the boy into his arms, holding him close to his chest.

He scanned the kid for any injuries. He found a bruise forming on his left wrist and a red mark in the shape of a hand on his cheek. Freddy fought to not let out another growl, despite the pure rage that had exploded in his chest.

He turned his attention to Emily. He found her cowering with her metaphorical tail between her legs, staring nervously at him.

She looked terrified, and for good reason. Freddy was sure the expression on his face right then was nowhere near the happy one he had on most of the time. In fact, he would go as far as to say that the look he had was downright murderous.

“Miss Hemlock,” he addressed her, tone low and dangerous. 

“Y-yes?” she squeaked, cowering even further.

“I will let this slide this one time,” he told her, “but only this once. And you will apologize to Gregory for the pain you have put him through.” The woman gulped, glancing between the child and the robot holding him.

“I-I-I… I’m s-sorry, uh, Gregory.” The boy didn’t acknowledge the apology, preferring to make himself more comfortable in Freddy’s hold.

“Good. Now, if I ever, and I mean ever , catch you anywhere near Gregory, I promise you I will not be so forgiving.

“ Do you understand ?”

The girl nodded vigorously, before making a break for one of the other doors. She struggled to open it for a moment before darting away the second she could fit through.

Freddy’s tense form relaxed significantly now that the threat had retreated. He looked down at Gregory, who was smiling at him with half-lidded eyes.

“Thanks for saving me. Again.” Freddy chuckled. Him coming to Gregory’s rescue had become at least a once-monthly occurrence, if not more often. While Freddy thought it concerning, Gregory only found it funny.

The boy was lucky that him needing rescuing was usually not this serious.

“You are welcome, superstar.”

A/N: Thank you so much Minatos_Legacy for the comment on my other fic and for the inspiration! I was kinda stumped on what to write next and your idea really helped ^.^

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