Here we are again, for another installment of The Misadventure of Mike Schmidt~ You can check my profile for the next stories in the series, but I am quite open for suggestions (please note that The End? ends with a question mark for a reason).

Anyway, Scott Cawthon owns all things FNaF, I am just borrowing the characters for the meantime. On with the show~

Mike rolled his eyes at what was displayed on the screen in front of him. It had been a few weeks since he and the animatronics had gotten on friendly terms, so this job was much more relaxed than it had been before, now that it no longer held him in a cycle of terror. He'd just peeked inside Parts and Services to see that Bonnie had moved things around again. He had a habit of doing that, which absolutely drove Freddy up the wall, because things were being put 'out of order'.

This time, he had arranged all the empty heads into a totem pole, all staring right at the camera.

"Whatcha doing?" a female voice said to his right, and he jumped slightly before looking back at Chica, who was leaned against the doorway.

"Please stop doing that," Mike groaned, leaning back against his chair. Even though he knew they weren't going to kill him, they still freaked him out when they snuck up on him out of nowhere. The only one he could count on knowing when he was coming was Foxy, and that was because his suit's feet had long since worn away, leaving just the endoskeleton underneath.

"I'm just standing here," the chicken said, even though she knew exactly what the guard was talking about.

Mike decided to ignore her for the moment and look back at the screen. The heads were still stacked, staring into his soul. It gave him chills, though he'd never admit it. Especially knowing what happened there so often.

He usually helped Freddy when it came to straightening up, but actively avoided Parts and Services. He wouldn't even go near the door, because he couldn't stand to see the empty suits in person, knowing how close he could have come to be stuffed in. And all the suits that previous guards had been shoved in. He shuddered involuntarily, catching Chica's attention, though for the moment, she said nothing.

Mike set the tablet down as soon as he saw Freddy enter Parts and Services, looking quite annoyed. After all, Bonnie had taken literally every head to make the totem pole. Mike wanted to help, he really did, but… he couldn't. Especially not with an animatronic there.

He had long since accepted that they weren't going to kill him, but he still had an occasional involuntary reaction, such as when Foxy came to visit, he still sometimes closed the door without thinking. Of course, then he'd open the door and apologize repeatedly to the fox. Freddy sometimes hummed the Toreador March while cleaning, and even though it was humming instead of playing the audio track, it still chilled Mike to the bone.

And Bonnie never helped matters. It seemed like, at the start, he had followed Chica's lead with the pranks. Nowadays, he sometimes took things a little too far. Both he and Freddy could remove their eyes, though Freddy hardly ever did. Bonnie, though, as soon as he saw the camera light go on in Parts and Services, pulled them out and stared straight into the lens, which left Mike staring at his two least favorite things: and eyeless Bonnie and that dreaded room. Mike knew that if he never fully recovered from the trauma he'd suffered that first month, it would be Bonnie's fault.

"Alright, just what are you staring at?" Chica asked, annoyed. Mike had not only completely ignored her, but poured all his focus into the tablet.

Mike blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "What? Oh, no, I was just thinking."

"About?" the yellow animatronic queried.

"You don't need to know," the guard answered quietly. They probably did, though. He really should tell them the truth about the previous guards. But he'd grown accustomed to Chica's sass, Foxy was a giant puppy, essentially, and Bonnie, despite his pranks, adored Mike just as much as the rest.

And of course, Freddy. Mike had surprised himself when he realized that he looked up to the leader of the animatronics. But the bear (when he wasn't trying to stuff anyone in a suit, anyway) was very polite and proper, and actually a pretty good role model.

And if the animatronics knew that they'd killed living people… They'd be crushed. Especially Freddy, most likely. The bear would probably blame himself for not seeing it sooner and stopping the others. Mike really didn't want to do that to any of them. But if he was fired, injured, or had to move… If Management had to hire someone else, even temporarily, as the night guard… The animatronics would be on him in an instant. The poor guy would have no hope.

Mike knew he had to tell them. But how could he?

He subtly shook his head, trying to get those thoughts off his mind. He really didn't want to think about that here. They would all pick up on his change in mood, they'd ask what was wrong. And he would either have to lie or tell the truth, and he still hadn't figured out a way to break it to them gently yet. Of course, how do you gently tell someone 'Oh yeah, by the way, you've been killing people for at least ten years.' And considering how fast this place went through night guards, usually… These guys had to have a body count of at least hundreds. He shuddered once again at the thought.

"Are you alright?" Chica asked, concern finally weaseling its way into her voice.

"I'm fine," he lied. "Could you, uh, leave me alone for a little while, please?"

The bird paused, staring at the guard. Finally, she shrugged. "Alright," she replied, leaving. Of course, it was Chica, so he knew the matter wasn't dropped…

X

"Michael?"

Mike looked up from his tablet again, which had been focused on Pirate's Cove, to see Freddy in the doorway where Chica had been about an hour ago. "What's up, Freddy?" he asked, feigning calm.

"I would like to ask you the same question," the bear simply replied. "May I come in?" At the guard's hesitant nod, he entered. "Chica tells me that something's been bothering you."

"Of course she did," Mike muttered bitterly. "I really don't want to talk about it," he informed Freddy. And you don't want to know. Not yet.

"You know we worry about you, Michael," Freddy told him. "You're the first human night guard we've had in a long time." Mike bit his lip discreetly, resisting the urge to correct him. "If there's something bothering you, we'd like to know. And if we've done something… Don't be afraid to tell us. We won't attack you, I promise."

We won't attack you… The words rang through Mike's mind repeatedly as he stared up at the bear. If only Freddy knew how much that thought went through his mind.

He sometimes wondered how it was that the animatronics never realized that they were stuffing human beings instead of endoskeletons. How did they explain all the blood? And the 'squelch' of crushed muscle and bone that was probably made? How did they not know?

Mike's gaze toward Freddy turned slightly fearful as the thoughts ran through his head. What if they'd known all along and didn't care? What if they were just biding their time with him, playing with their prey before going in for the kill?

"Michael?"

Mike snapped out of his thoughts once again. Freddy wore a very concerned expression, and his voice revealed the same amount of worry. "You're still afraid of us, aren't you?"

The guard didn't want to answer. He had definitely grown to like the animatronics, that was for sure, but… He couldn't truthfully tell them that he no longer feared them. "A little," he admitted, not wanting to lie more than he had to. He knew that Freddy would understand his fear. What he did not know, however, was what the bear's reaction to the truth would be. How would he handle it? He might turn on Mike for delivering such bad news. Then again… that was just a stupid thought. Out of all four animatronics, Freddy was the most reasonable, and thus, would most likely have the most reasonable reaction. Of course, that didn't mean the reaction would be good. Hell, Mike hoped the reaction wouldn't be good. Then, at least, he'd know that there was regret there. And regret meant that he was safe. It was a selfish thought, but it was there.

"I understand why you would be scared," the animatronic said with a small, sad nod. "I'm honestly quite surprised that you aren't still terrified of us, closing the doors every time we get near, after a month of terror."

"Well, it's been a few weeks, and you haven't stuffed me yet, so there's room for trust, right?" Mike replied, sounding surer than he felt.

"Will you promise to let us know if we do something that scares or upsets you?" Freddy asked, giving him a serious look.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, I promise." Finally, something he could say truthfully.

"Since it appears that you would rather be left alone, I leave you to your work," the leader of the animatronic band said, tipping his hat. "Good night, Michael."

"Night, Freddy," the guard replied, going back to checking the cameras. Hopefully, he would get lucky and Foxy would leave him alone. But, just in case… He pressed the button that closed the left door.

X

"What be this about?" Foxy asked, staring at the closed door. "Mike?" he called through the window, but when he received no response, he backed up and stared into the camera with a questioning look, hoping that Mike would check it. A few seconds later, the red light of the camera came on, signaling that Mike was looking at him. Foxy turned to look through the window once again and tilted his head questioningly. Mike simply shook his head and pointed down the hall, a clear indication that he wanted Foxy to leave him alone. But why?

Foxy's shoulders slumped as he went back down the hallway, but he didn't stop at Pirate's Cove. He kept going to the Dining Area, where Freddy was. Mike had clearly taken a liking to the bear, so if anyone were to know what was up, it would be him.

"Ahoy, there, Freddy!" the fox called once he caught sight of the other animatronic.

"Hello, Foxy," Freddy greeted back.

"What be the problem with the lad?" the pirate asked. "Th' doors were shu'."

"Michael wishes to be left alone for the moment," Freddy told him.

"Why?" Foxy pried.

"He still fears us a little," the bear answered solemnly.

"But we be treatin' him righ'," the fox pointed out. "We found ou' he's human an' stopped tryin' to stuff him."

"Yes, and while that pay be true, we were after him for an entire month," Freddy pointed out. "One can't go through all that and be expected to not have any emotional scars. It will take time. And even then, we may never earn his full trust."

"So, wha' do we do?" Foxy asked.

"Hope, Foxy," Freddy told him. "All we can do is hope."

Okay, a little shorter than I was hoping. I wanted to break 2,000 words with the body of the chapter, but that didn't happen. Oh well. Next ones will (hopefully) be longer. Last installment was almost all humor with a few looks into the darker past. This time, shit gets serious. There will be humor in future installments, you can be sure of that, but there's not going to be much this time. So if you're looking for a laugh… you might wanna go read Introductions again.

Please review, and I'll see you all next time~