Chapter Text
it'd been months since the night they first found gregory.
he'd been staying at the pizzaplex since, and everyone had fallen into that comfortable rhythm of living.
the event brought the bandmates closer to each other and gregory.
it was like their own sort of strange family.
but they liked it.
so, despite their now closely knit relationship, the question caught freddy very off guard.
"do you see monty as a replacement?"
freddy's endoskeleton seized within him, his joints locking in place.
"what do you mean?" there was a strain to his voice.
"bonnie used to play bass, didn't he?"
"yes, but..."
"n' you never met monty before he joined the band?"
"no." confusion and guilt bubbled through freddy's wires.
"do you see him as an individual?" freddy could not help but wonder why a ten year old could have such questions. gregory didn't fail to surprise even the most advanced ai.
"i do not understand..."
"he was brought in to replace bonnie. are you using him to fill a gap? i know you miss.. him ," gregory's expression softened.
the boy had sensed something off about his family dynamic.
no, not the fact that he was a human in a group of animatronic animals. well, that was kind of 'off' too, but-- that part was aside the point.
he sensed tensions, unresolved issues, and unease.
firstly, bonnie was dead.
monty was always blamed for it.
'you are aggressive and destructive.'
'one more wrong move, and your case'll be slapped on another endo, and you'll be scrapped.'
'the only reason you ain't gettin' replaced right now is because we don't have the funds .'
'why wouldn't he wanna decommission bonnie? now he has a place in the band.'
talk amongst mechanics was often, they even spoke to monty.
secondly, the plex lost a lot of business when roxy transitioned.
and to worsen things, she had copious amounts of mental turmoil that came with that.
she blamed every bit of it on herself.
finally, each animatronic had evident 'programming' issues.
they were truly showing signs of sentience, not glitches.
it was their feelings, thoughts, and emotions.
no matter how many times they would express their undeniable consciousness, the techs would brush it off as a 'bug they just couldn't fix'.
~
and another thing-- gregory's entire point for bringing his question to light.
the band missed bonnie. of course they had.
but it was especially evident with freddy.
the two had been practically inseparable.
they constantly teetered the edge of a more-than-friends relationship.
until bonnie was torn apart, destroyed, and shredded beyond repair.
freddy hadn't really thought about it this way, how gregory presented it.
yes, perhaps monty shared some similar traits to bonnie.
perhaps he wanted something to fill the bonnie-shaped hole in his metaphorical heart.
perhaps monty's role in the band was very similar to bonnie's.
and perhaps he was projecting.
oh, darn.
to say freddy felt bad was an understatement. he was finally forced to face how he felt and how it affected himself.
"freddy, it's alright." gregory tried to comfort him. "you prolly needed someone to talk to about it. that's why i forced it outta you." there was a long beat of silence.
"thank you, gregory. you are... a very observant young man." he felt guilty for letting his child pry him open in this way.
"thank you." the bear repeated. "i really appreciate having someone to talk to. i expect you know that i am here for you as well, yes?"
gregory nodded, and opened his arms. freddy's ears wiggled eagerly at his son's initiation of a hug, then he swept him up into his heavy, metal arms.
as freddy held gregory in his arms, a low beeping sounded from a speaker in his chest.
"we should go to sleep now. your battery is low, and i'm tired too." the animatronic bear gave one last nuzzle to the human's face, then hummed.
"you are right. goodnight, my superstar. i will see you in the morning."
"g'night, freddy."
~
monty pressed his head into the shredded cushion of his couch. in one hand, he gripped a polaroid photo.
" vous me manquez ..." he spoke in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. oil lubricant seeped from the corners of his optics, emotion crawling in his throat.
in the photo, gripped between sharp, purple claws, there were four animatronic animals. an alligator, a deer, a bobcat, and a raccoon.
monty pressed his wrist into his optics, scrubbing uselessly at the oily substance. a knock sounded at his door, and the gator jolted in place. he shoved the polaroid photograph underneath a cushion on his mangled sofa and sat up.
"comin'." he said, alerting his guest so they wouldn't knock a second time. he opened the door, and roxy stood in the doorway. she looked to be in a state of disarray. "oh, geez. c'mon in, roxx."
the wolf made her way into the greenroom, taking a seat on monty's pathetic excuse for furniture.
"what happened?" monty asked, shutting the door and taking a seat next to the wolf.
"'m just worried..." she said, opening her arms in a permissive question. the alligator quickly scooped his sister into his arms. she pressed her snout under monty's jaw.
"is it about chica?" roxy nodded into his neck, holding him a bit tighter. "what's wrong?" he put a claw up to her head, running fingers through her hair. if it were anybody else, she would've bit their hand off.
"i really like her but," she was interrupted by a wet sniffle. "even if she could find it in her to like someone like me, i could never be good enough for 'er."
"oh, roxx." monty spoke sadly. "i can tell she really likes you. she's real honest, and if she thought you was a bad person, she wouldn't hang around ya! she knows you're good." roxy whined lowly into monty's neck, pressing her wet snout against him. he shivered in response.
"hah. you're so good to me, mont. dunno what i'd do without ya." she chuckled weakly, then pulled away from the other animatronic.
she scrubbed away at the dark oil stains on her fur, then looked up to monty with drying optics.
"so, i heard you had a li'l golf session with freddy, huh?" a tremor shot up monty's endoskeleton.
"what!! how're you gonna change topics so fast!?" monty's claws had moved up to the wolf's elbows, and he grasped them frantically. internal vents kicked in as the other bot smirked at him.
"so you do like him!" roxy accused, cackling.
"no!!! what!!! i never said that!!" monty slapped his sibling with his tail, curling in on himself. "okay... yeah." he murmured from behind the pit of his elbow.
"aww..." roxy patted the curly red hair on monty's head. "so, you need advice tonight too?"