Archive of Our Own ^beta

Gregory was used to being alone, that much was for certain. 

A part of him wondered why he even tried to escape the Pizzaplex at all, knowing full well there wasn’t much waiting for him on the other side. A dusty box in an alley, perhaps. 

It wasn’t as if he had no friends, flashes of a curly-haired girl he would do anything to talk to right now were echoing in his mind, but he was used to being fairly self sufficient for his age. A strong stubbornness and an affinity for trouble often left him in less than ideal situations that he dared not to bring anyone else into.

This loneliness, however, was different.

He likened it to a biting cold, seeping through his skin and into his soul, no matter how much he refused to acknowledge it. It froze him to the core, both his body and mind moving slowly and hesitantly under its weight. 

This time he was completely, utterly isolated- 

and nobody was coming for him.

A tear slid down Gregory’s cheek, splashing onto the paper below him.

It was his fault, after all. Or, at least he thought it was. Something deep down inside him had urged him down the sinkhole, pulsing with an urgency more intense than anything else he had felt that night. Why exactly? He couldn’t be sure. All he knew was he had to get down there, despite multiple exits being available to him now. 

Why had he listened?

He didn’t know what he was expecting to find. He frankly didn’t even understand what he did find, but he had come too far to turn back now. Besides, Freddy had warned him that the elevator wouldn’t survive another trip. It wasn’t like he could turn back even if he desperately wanted to.

So he went through the motions, closing doors and slamming buttons, fueled only by adrenaline and the guidance of a newfound friend. He dodged tentacle after tentacle and even found himself hopping on the crusty bed in the corner for ages when Chica’s voice box didn’t do what it was supposed to do. Over and over he burned that thing on the other side of the screen just because it seemed like the only option. What else was he supposed to do? It knew he was here now and didn’t seem keen on letting him leave. 

The fight was agony. Not only was he forced to fend off attacks from the animatronics he had shattered in an attempt to complete this quest, forced to face directly the damage he had done, but also from Freddy. His Freddy, who had gone from a means to an end to something like family in the span of one night. Gregory would never forget the fear that overtook him when he took just slightly too long to hit a button and the bear lunged at him. By some miracle he had been able to duck out of the way and reach the computer before the monster was able to do anything worse, but that feeling, that sting of betrayal, would be forever fresh in his mind.

His hand shook at the thought of his friend, a line that was supposed to be straight instead curving across the page.

It seemed like there would be no end to this cycle of burning and cowering, but then, when exhaustion began to overtake him, everything began to crumble. 

The ceiling fell above him as the walls trembled and cracked. Fire crept through the halls and quickly spread, dancing over the black and white tiles of the defunct pizzaria. The monster he had tried so desperately to destroy was released and quickly set its sights on Gregory, reaching out with a clawed hand to grab him.

Unexpectedly, the mass of animatronic parts that he had been sure was trying to kill him turned out to be his savior. (For the moment, at least). The mass, clad once again in the same pink and white Freddy head it wore in the destroyed restaurant, swooped down and grabbed the monster by its neck, lifting it up into the air and clearing a path to escape.

Wordlessly, Gregory and Freddy had taken off running. Where exactly, they weren’t entirely sure. Towards the elevator perhaps? It wasn’t as if it could carry them, but it was something. A goal they could reach for. A beacon of hope in the dark underbelly of the sinkhole.

Debris rained down from above, both before and behind them. The ground shook underneath and it was difficult for Gregory to keep himself on two feet. Part of him wanted to run over and plead with Freddy to carry him, but there was no time. Not when both of them could be crushed with any unlucky step.

He pressed down harder on the crayon in his hand, causing the wax to crumble under the pressure.

Before they could get to the elevator, however, the ceiling decided to cave in in front of them. A massive tumble of earth and rock spilled from above, blocking the only path forward. Hope of a potential escape quickly shifted to desperation to survive even the next few seconds, and the two pivoted back towards the restaurant in search of any kind of shelter.

The landslide behind them incessantly followed, the sounds of soil crunching and wood splintering reverberating through Gregory’s bones. Even if Freddy had been trying to tell him something, he wouldn’t have been able to hear it. 

The child’s eyes had widened when he watched the big metal sign on the building, still proudly advertising “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place”, break free from its hold and slam into the earth with an ear-splitting crash. A wave of dust from the impact hit the two of them in the face, but still they kept running.

Or Gregory kept running. Quickly he had noticed that Freddy was no longer beside him. Immediately fearing the worst he spun around, and noticed the animatronic had briefly paused just a few inches behind him, a look of calculation on his face.

That must have been it, Gregory thought as he scribbled furiously. The moment when he decided.

It was difficult to hear exactly what Freddy had said, but between his gestures and the broken bits of speech he was able to hear, Gregory determined that Freddy was guiding him in the direction of the fallen sign. After a nod of understanding, the two once again were running for their lives, hope of a potential sanctuary once again fresh in their minds.

The sign, on one side, had fallen on a rather large rock, leaving a gap just big enough for a person to squeeze under. As everything continued shaking, Freddy had urged Gregory under the sign. Putting all the skills he had gained from crouching through vents and hiding in places he reasonably shouldn’t have been able to, Gregory was able to get underneath quickly. More dirt, rocks, and various other objects thudded against the sign, but it didn’t budge- the weight above it only held the sign more firmly in place. 

With the tightness in his chest releasing ever so slightly, Gregory had scooched himself over as far as he could to make room for his companion. Reaching a hand out, he was prepared to help the animatronic down beside him.

After a moment, Gregory felt Freddy’s hand in his, but noticed the animatronic had not otherwise moved.

“Come on!” the child had yelled. “This place isn’t gonna last much longer!”

“Gregory…” Freddy’s hand tightened in his as the bear stooped down to a kneeling position.

With this came an awful realization. Freddy was far too large to fit under the sign. And it was immediately clear that Freddy had known that all along. 

Gregory screamed for Freddy anyway, tears now streaming down his face. There had to be a way to make this work! The two of them had survived so much together, there was no way that this, the literal sky falling on them, would be the end. Desperately, the boy pulled, using all the power he could to try and drag him under the sign alongside him.

Freddy said something that Gregory tried so desperately to hear, but he couldn’t make out anything over the rumble of his world falling apart around him. Nothing else mattered. There was only the two of them, hands interlocked, fighting against an inevitable fate. 

Gregory had tried to crawl out from under the sign, why exactly he still wasn’t sure. Maybe he was afraid of being alone as he is now. Maybe he just wanted one last hug.

Freddy, however, was quick to stop this, pushing back against the child with all of his strength, but still keeping one hand in his. How long this went on, neither of them knew, but it felt ten times longer than the rest of the night.

At some point during the constant destruction, Freddy disappeared. One second he was there, and then he was gone. Gregory hadn’t seen it happen, nor had he heard anything, it was simply as if he had blinked out of existence behind a cloud of dust.

He had sobbed. He had buried his face in the ground and wailed the way only a child could, an ugly cry where his tears mixed with the dirt covering his face and snot ran out of his nose. He stayed like that for ages, creaking and crumbling still constant around him, a twisted lullaby as he cried himself to sleep.

No, no, wrong! It was all wrong! Gregory crumpled up the sheet of paper and tossed it as far as he could. Still not good enough.

Eventually, when the noises finally stopped and the destruction had settled around him, the sleeping child woke. A small tan, brown, and blue blur with shoes that used to be the brightest shade of red sat under a massive metal sign that somehow still wasn’t big enough to save his friend. He dared not move at first. Hoping he had somehow fallen asleep on the couch in Freddy’s room and everything would be fine when he opened his eyes.

The feeling of the cool metal above him broke the illusion too soon. As his surroundings finally registered in his mind once again, so did his panic. Immediately, he brought his wrist to his face, desperately checking the now-cracked screen of his Fazwatch. 

A single unread message from Freddy. It was a voice message, sitting at just a mere few seconds long.

“Keep going, superstar.”

Once again, Gregory broke down. His fingers fumbled over the buttons, desperately hitting the one to call Freddy over and over, despite continually hearing the noise that meant he was unavailable. Tears once again flowed from his amber eyes, blurry vision hindering his attempts to replay the message again and again and again. Only after about a hundred replays did the meaning of the message finally sink in. 

Freddy wouldn’t want him to lay here crying under this sign for the rest of his life. He saved him for a reason, and that sacrifice shouldn’t be made in vain.

So Gregory got up. He had crawled out from under the sign, covered in dirt and scrapes and tears, and managed to get himself together enough to make it the rest of the way to the old pizzeria. Any shelter was better than none, he figured.

There, in a drawer of some old desk half buried in rubble, he had found a few crumpled coloring sheets and several partially-broken crayons, which would become his saving grace in this hall of destruction.

Instead of coloring in the goofy cast of characters on the front of the pages, Gregory had his own idea. He took to sketching out other possible scenarios on the backside of the papers, anything to escape his reality. 

What if he and Freddy had managed to escape before the rubble blocked off the elevator? Gregory thought as he drew him and Freddy sitting on a grassy hill.

What if they had left through the fire escape? A small grin formed on his face as he added a bright orange flame shooting out of Freddy’s finger.

What if they had stolen a van and ran over that awful map bot in the process? Gregory found himself chuckling at the thought.

So he drew. He drew and drew till his fingers were sore, venturing through the restaurant to find more paper. He ignored the hunger building in his stomach and the thirst causing his lips to crack. Maybe, just maybe, if he willed enough good things to happen, something would. 

When he wasn’t drawing or searching, he tried calling for help on his Fazwatch. Calling for someone, anyone to come save him. He was trapped down here, didn’t anyone care? 

Yet as hard as he tried, none of the signals seemed to be getting through. Or maybe nobody even cared, he began to think. Who knows how long he’s been missing for at this point? Maybe everyone had forgotten him.

Eventually, he gave up on contacting the outside world, and opted to use what was left of his limited battery to listen to Freddy’s final message, desperate to hear any other voice besides his own. 

And slowly, just as the world around him had, he too would find himself falling to pieces. 

His comics got more desperate. The endings got less hopeful, less exciting. Anything would be better than this. Anything at all. Locked away, deep below the surface, without a single soul knowing he was still down here. Forever alone in a place scorched in the aftermath of sins not his own. 

A ping from his watch finally moved his eyes from the paper he had thrown across the floor. 

Low battery.

No.

This was the last thing he had! The last connection to anything beyond death and destruction. The final foundation keeping him from total collapse.

Desperate, he sent one final plea to anyone who would listen, begging a friend through the static to please please come save him. 

Then, able to say he did all that he could, Gregory replayed Freddy’s message over and over again until the screen went dark, leaving him completely disconnected from the last thing that mattered.

And so with no other option he took up his crayons once again, just a mere child searching instinctively for some form of reprieve in a world of his own creation.