Chapter Text
MIKE
***
For the first time in a long time, things were going good. Not perfect, just good. Sure, each week had its ups and downs, but the ups outweighed everything else.
Mike was waking up every morning in a full-sized bed, in a room that was not at all suited for anything larger than his old twin-sized mattress. When he got dressed in the morning his only option was to crawl over Ness in order to reach the dresser. As a heavy sleeper, it wasn’t a problem for Ness. He remained snoring no matter what. And even if Ness was still snoring, dead asleep, Mike would still whisper, “have a good day,” before leaving the room as quietly as possible.
Ness slept in until his afternoon shifts at the diner. And when he wasn’t at the diner, he was searching all over town for job openings. Summer was right around the corner, and it was only a matter of time until applications were flooded by teens looking for their first summer gig. After weeks of searching, Ness still wasn’t having much luck. For now, he was stranded at Sparky’s until further notice.
Despite no longer being a full-time babysitter, Ness was spending just as much time with Abby as before. She tagged along to Sparky’s after school, where she was allowed to sit in the corner booth and color on the kid’s menu to her heart’s content. There were some days when Mike would stop by after work to drive her home. Those were also the days he and Abby joined forces to score some free milkshakes from Ness.
When spring arrived, it was time to discuss who would supervise Abby once school was out. In a few months, Max would be out of state for college. Ness recommended the day camp he used to attend for theater lessons when he was a kid. Knowing his sister, Mike dismissed the idea.
“You said it yourself,” Ness argued from the other side of the table, trying to keep his voice low in hopes that his co-workers wouldn’t notice he was taking an extra thirty minutes for his lunch break, “Abby’s been making great progress.”
Mike kept half of his attention on the basket of fries at the center of the table. Even if Ness hated his job, at least it still came with the perks of free food, and Mike was more than happy to take advantage. Just as he grabbed another fry, Ness shot him a disapproving glare and pulled the basket away, forcing Mike to make proper eye contact.
“Maybe she’s ready to step outside of her comfort zone.”
“You couldn’t pay her to be in a room with more than five people.” Mike pulled the fries back to his side of the table and shoveled several into his mouth. “She wouldn’t last five minutes.” He stopped when his hand ran out of fries to grab. He tossed the last one into his mouth and held up the empty basket with a raised eyebrow. To Mike’s disappointment, Ness pushed the basket aside.
“When was the last time she played with kids her own age?” Before Mike could respond, Ness raised a hand in the air to cut him off. “Outside of therapy.”
Mike wasn’t that oblivious. He knew Ness had a point. He thought back to every play date, birthday party, and field day that he could remember. All the times Abby called him and begged him to pick her up. And he gave in every single time. The consequences were inevitable, but there was no way Mike could listen to his sister sob over the phone and not do anything about it.
“Why not let Abby decide?”
“Alright, fine,” Mike dismissed with a shrug. “But don’t get your hopes up.”
Later that day, he was astonished to be proven wrong. Abby actually agreed. Mike rolled his eyes when Ness shot him a smug look from his side of the kitchen table.
“Are you sure?”
Abby nodded. Her expression was neutral, mostly indifferent. “Yeah.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“It sounds fun.”
Mike knew the only reason she said yes was because Ness was the one who asked. If Mike had been the one suggesting the idea, it would be an entirely different story. Putting aside the embarrassment of being proved wrong, he was honestly relieved. It was the best alternative to a babysitter, and at half the cost. Bottom line: as long as Abby was happy, so was Mike.
As for his personal life, Mike was kept busy with a new job at a local construction business. He was just a runner, assigned with the tasks of organizing files, taking calls, and putting in supply orders. The shifts started unnecessarily early, and half of the work seemed pointless, but Mike had no complaints. It wasn’t exactly a dream come true, but it was close enough.
Mike still couldn’t believe he had been hired in the first place. The interviewing process wasn’t like the past interviews he had endured. He was expecting the typical atmosphere of a stuffy office or a makeshift desk with folding chairs in the corner of a warehouse. Instead of being offered a seat, he was invited for a walk.
The owner, Frank, carried the mannerisms and cadence of an elderly man, despite only recently entering his late forties. His voice had been reduced to a gritty rasp after a long decade of yelling over the sounds of machinery. As they walked along the outskirts of the property, Frank scribbled on a clipboard in between questions.
Mike answered most of it with a simple nod or shake of his head. Half way in, he had already come to his own conclusion. There was no way he was getting this job. He was unqualified. And it was clear that Frank was uninterested.
“Have you ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor?”
This was the part where it usually went downhill. Mike stared ahead as he spoke, “yes.” He didn’t hear much scribbling that time. He glanced at Frank, waiting for the follow up questions, and mentally preparing to answer them. But Frank never did.
“Experience won’t be necessary in your case, but we could always find some time to get in some training later on. Just in case we need an extra set of hands.”
Mike lifted an eyebrow. “What would I be doing, then?”
Frank shrugged. “Whatever we need help with around the office.”
So, basically an intern? Mike struggled to hide his grimace. Now wasn’t the time to let his pride get in the way. Regardless of the position, getting so much as a foot in the door could be life changing. No hyperbole.
“I wouldn’t be working on site?”
“Not until you get a little more experience.” Frank handed the clipboard and pen to Mike, “the rest is yours to fill out.”
Mike flipped through the pages. It was employment paperwork. He looked up at Frank with widened eyes. “I got the job?”
Frank laughed. “Not just yet,” he tapped on the clipboard, “you gotta do your paperwork first.” He continued back toward the main office building. Mike jogged to catch up.
“When do I start?”
“How about noon?”
“Tomorrow?”
Frank laughed again. His laugh was hearty, and loud enough for everyone in the building to hear. “Thirty minutes from now.”
Mike blinked. At a loss for words, he responded with a vigorous nod, then looked back down at the clipboard to quickly finish filling out the forms.
Frank paused in the doorway. “Got any questions for me?”
“No, sir.”
Frank nodded back. He began to leave again, but turned on his heel to face Mike once more. His expression was almost amused. “Are you sure?”
Mike clutched the pen tighter in his hand. There was a golden opportunity here. He had a chance to let his record go unnoticed for once. All he had to do was say nothing.
“I um. . .” Mike tapped the pen against the clipboard to fill the silence in the room, “shouldn’t we go over my record?”
“Record?”
Mike was careful to avoid the terms “infractions” and “misdemeanors.” He searched for a word that sounded a little less incriminating. After a moment’s pause, he responded, “terminations.”
Frank slowly nodded in quiet understanding. “I’m guessing people give you a hard time about that?”
Mike gave no response. Frank looked back at him with a soft expression of empathy.
“My son used to get into his fair share of trouble, but he was never a bad kid.” Frank looked down and heaved a sigh. He didn’t speak for a long moment. “Everyone deserves a fresh start.”
From day one, Mike had a good feeling about the job. With every casual conversation he had with Frank as they sipped black coffee in the break room, he could sense a promotion. Dale was getting close to retirement, and Jake was the obvious candidate to take his position as Frank’s right hand man, which would move Howard up, then the next spot would be wide open. The promotion was practically waiting to be handed to him on a silver platter.
As the months went by, Mike no longer found himself staring at the ceiling late at night. He finally stopped dwelling on the memories that had previously made it impossible to sleep. Though, there was no full proof way of moving on entirely.
The memories would come rushing back every now and again whenever he caught a glimpse of some of the old newspaper headlines that were still floating around town. The disappearance of Steve Raglan and the reveal of his true identity came as a massive shock to the entire county. Raglan was a stranger to most people, but everyone recognized the name in the headlines: William Afton. After a whole decade, he was once again the latest news.
For weeks, Mike kept seeing his face. He didn’t like the photo they chose for the front page of the local paper. William’s smile almost looked convincing. He almost looked human. After weeks of seeing the image plastered all over town, Mike began to recognize some of the similarities to his own face. One day he could’ve sworn that he woke up with a few strands of gray hair. Maybe it was just a nightmare. Regardless, he forced himself to turn a blind eye to the newspapers, out of fear that he would soon be permanently disturbed by his own reflection.
When they were first approached by the authorities, Mike and Ness kept their answers short, as recommended by Vanessa. They requested to remain anonymous in every facet of the investigation. After everything he had been through, the last thing Mike wanted was to be associated with the Afton name.
All things considered, he was doing pretty well. Once the first month passed since the events of that night, Mike had already moved on. At least, he liked to think that he did. The memories rarely ever surfaced. And when they did, Mike didn’t feel any rise of any certain emotion.
More than anything, Mike felt burned out, which was probably why he felt numb to it all. All of his nerves and anxieties had peaked weeks ago, and short circuited in the process. All of the worrying had disappeared because it was simply gone. It ran out. And that meant it wasn’t his problem to deal with anymore.
In spite of it all, Mike woke up every morning with a newfound agency. The sound of his alarm had nearly the same effect as caffeine. Every day he got up, got dressed, and hit the ground running. There was so much that could happen in such little time, and he wanted to be ready for it. He was determined to be ready for anything.
Today, Mike woke up to an empty bed. No snoring, and no Ness. Mike squinted through the morning sunlight as he sat on the edge of the mattress and popped his back, listening for any sign of life past the bedroom door. Giggles drifted down the hall from the kitchen.
It was 5:00 a.m. He couldn’t fathom why either Ness or Abby would be up so early. He brushed aside his curiosity and went about his business as usual. With a grunt, he lifted himself onto his feet, then dropped to the floor for ten sets of pushups. In between heavy breaths, he could hear Abby’s laughing and Ness’s hushing.
Following a shower, Mike changed into jeans and polo shirt with the company logo, Chip and Sons embroidered on the pocket.
“Morning,” his voice croaked as he made his way to the kitchen. He stopped in place when he entered an empty room. Before he could process what was happening, Abby and Ness launched their attack.
“Surprise!”
Mike’s confusion was quickly overridden by surprise as Abby jumped on his shoulders. He stumbled around, struggling to catch his balance before leaning back to shake Abby off. She fell onto the couch in a fit of giggles. After regaining his composure, Mike retaliated by tickling.
“Happy birthday!”
Birthday? For a second Mike wondered if he was forgetting a fourth person who happened to live under the same roof. Maybe it was their birthday. Mike turned to see Ness holding a tower of pancakes, adorned in candles.
“I couldn’t find the right candles anywhere, so we had to do it the old fashioned way,” he shrugged, “so if anyone happens to be turning two, six, or twenty-six, they’re out of luck.”
Mike stared at the cluster of candles, which altogether looked like a small fire. He was still in a stupor. It had been so long since he had a formal celebration, with the traditional birthday cake, presents, and the works. He remembered when Max delivered cookies in a ribbon-wrapped tupperware container two years ago. Other than that, the only things he could consider “gifts” were those annual birthday coupons from fast food joints.
In his daze, Mike didn’t realize that Ness and Abby had been singing the birthday song. He tuned in just as they finished singing the last off-key note of “yoooou!”
Ness held the plate up closer to Mike’s face, just enough that he could feel the heat of the flames. “Better blow these out before the fire alarm goes off.”
“And don’t forget to make a wish!” Abby added.
Mike sighed. He took his time to ponder, mostly just for show. He never believed in the superstition surrounding birthday wishes, but he let himself humor the idea.
Mike considered what he would wish for in the event that a genie appeared, because for some reason that sounded more feasible than a vague birthday wish. Promotion? A real house? But all of that was too boring for a birthday wish. He had to think of something more fun, in the spirit of birthdays. What would he have wished for if he was twelve? Probably baseball cards or a dirt bike. Both would still be pretty cool, but not practical. Maybe a wish for more wishes?
Mike glanced between Abby and Ness. Life was going as good as it could possibly go. He didn’t want to risk somehow making the wrong wish, and screwing it all up over something as stupid as a new car, or a million bucks.
After one last pause, Mike shut his eyes.
A weekend off would be nice.
He blew out the candles.