Chapter Text
Life threw a lot at Cassie during that night. She was certain that she'd break under all that, but she didn't.
Life after that night didn't just go back to normal, oh never. It has already been a year and they're still adjusting to their new lifestyle.
"Seriously, Mike, how did you live like that for a decade or two?" Marcus huffs.
"Desperation." Mike shrugs, keeping his eyes on the endo skeleton arm that he's fixing. "And I also thought it was a punishment of sorts."
"Not again." Roxy groans.
"Hey, Mike." Marcus coughs awkwardly. "I thought we were over that? It was an accident, okay?"
"Marcus, if you think I'm the type of person who forgives themselves easily, then you're wrong." Mike rolls his eyes. "I'm what's called 'a very self-berating person with countless mental issues, but refuses to get professional help because they tell themselves they're fine and others have it far worse, and thus they don't need the professional help as much someone else does, and that they can handle it on their own just fine, because otherwise they'd be attention seekers'."
The room goes silent. Chica looks at the pizza in her hands and seems to have lost her appetite, Cassie didn't even know that was possible. Roxy stares at Mike with wide eyes, probably from disbelief. Marcus clears his throat quietly and looks at the wall. Cassie looks between her dad and Mike, unsure of what to do. And Mike just gives a strained smile.
"...You okay?" Marcus asks just as Roxy speaks as well. "I didn't know you were self-aware."
Mike just shrugs. "Roxy, I fixed your arm, get over here."
Roxy rolls her eyes very dramatically, but goes over to Mike anyway.
The house that they're currently living is just some random abandoned house in an old neighborhood. Not a lot of people live in that neighborhood, so no one really called the cops or something when Cassie, Roxy, Chica(and Mike), and a rotting corpse walked down the street.
After they somewhat got settled down, Mike went out of his way to repair Roxy and Chica the best he could. All he actually did was give Roxy new eyes, mess with their battery thingy a bit so they could recharge using just basic two dollar batteries from the nearby store, and make them a bit more sturdy so they won't constantly crumble. Honestly, Cassie is impressed that Mike was able to do that without any specific instructions.
And because Marcus had a lot of trouble controlling rotting corpse, Michael went back to the Pizzaplex and stole an old Staff bot, repaired it to his best abilities, and now that's just what Marcus is nowadays. For some reason Marcus made a joke about getting very uncomfortable sense of déjà vu when seeing the Staff bot. Mike had snorted at the joke, but Cassie didn't get it.
Cassie does go to school, both Marcus and Mike were quite against the idea of her just dropping out at the age of eleven.
"I'm a high school drop out, and look how my life has turned out." Mike had said after Marcus gave a very long and heartfelt speech about the importance of education.
Cassie hasn't tried connecting with Gregory. She isn't sure if it was the Mimic that somehow caused the elevator to drop, or if it was the real Gregory, but to be fair, she doesn't really care. If it wasn't Gregory and he's worried and wants to reconnect with her, then he'll eventually find her, one way or another. Cassie knows Gregory, if he wants something, he can get it quite easily. But if it was Gregory, and for some reason he wants her dead, then he'll believe that she is dead in the basement, and won't look for her.
Either way, Cassie is content with the way her life is going now.
"...Hey, Mike?" Marcus slowly spoke. It was midnight, Roxy and Chica were turned off, and Cassie was asleep. Now was the time to talk about this. "Are you one day gonna move on?"
Michael was silent for a while. "I honestly don't know. I kinda want to, I'm tired... Buut.... if I did, who would repair your Staff bot, or Roxy or Chica?" Mike let out a quiet and stiff laugh.
"...Look, Michael, if you want to move on and go over to the otherside with the others, then it's fine. You don't need to keep living for us." Marcus sighed. "You might want to move on eventually, you still need to reunite with David and Elizabeth, right?"
Michael stiffened and shook his head. "Mark, if you think I'm going to where they are, then you think too highly of me. And even if I somehow did, Dave wouldn't want me around him. I literally killed him, he hates me."
"The prank was mine and Jeremy's idea, you and Lucas just went along with it. If anyone's to blame here, it's me and Jeremy." Marcus said sternly. He still feels quilty for suggesting that prank, and seeing Mike take the blame just makes it worse.
"I was his brother, it was my job to protect him. And I failed at that." Mike buries his face in his hands. "And Lizzie too. I was supposed to watch her, and I didn't. Their deaths are my fault. And so is everyone elses. If Dave and Elizabeth hadn't died, William probably wouldn't have lost his marbles and killed all those kids. At the end of the day, I'm just like him."
Marcus doesn't know what to say. He isn't used to comforting people. He knows how to comfort kids, having Cassie teached him that skill naturally, but he has no idea how to handle traumatized adults. "...Look, I know you feel quilty. I don't know exactly know how you feel, but I can imagine the feeling. But you need to accept that you aren't like your bitchass father. That bastard was probably insane from the start."
Mike doesn't say anything. He has kept avoiding thinking about William for a long while. Because he fucking hates that man, but also because he still hasn't fully processed something.
"...Marcus."
"Yeah?"
Michael takes a deep breath. "When we were still locked in that basement, at one point the Mimic caught us, and I used myself as a distraction so Roxy could take Cassie somewhere safe."
"Mike-"
"Let me finnish, you can berate me for being a suicidal and self-sacrificing bastard later."
Marcus rolls his eyes, but nods, allowing Michael to continue.
"...I still don't fully know what happened in that moment... but when the Mimic caught me, instead of ripping me apart like I assumed, instead... it talked, using William's voice." Mike remembers how he just froze when hearing the voice of the man he was forced to call his father. He never wanted to hear that voice again, yet he heard it during probably one of the worst nights of his life.
"...Did he say something William did?" Marcus asked. "The Mimic can only use the words it has heard, and I doupt William has spent enough time near the Mimic for it to speak in full custom sentences."
"...No, I-I've never heard William say the shit that the Mimic did." Michael shook his head.
Marcus has never seen Michael so... shaken and terrified. Mike was always the loud and brave one, the one who didn't get scared no matter what you did. "...Then what did it say?"
Michael hesitates. He isn't sure if he should tell Marcus, to burden his already tired friend with this.
"Hello, my son."
"It's been a long while. You look quite different since I last saw you."
"Oh, you're hurt."
"How sad..."
"Come with me, Michael, I'll help you."
"Come with your father, I'll protect you. I failed in the past, I won't do so again, I promise. "
"Don't look so afraid, I won't hurt you."
"Come on now, join me, we'd make the perfect team."
"It's not like you can help that girl much anyway. You'd be more useful with me."
"That's what you've always wanted to be, right? Always so eager to please others, be useful in some way... To the point of killing your own brother."
"Admit it, Michael. You felt good when Fredbear's jaw snapped shut."
"It's in your blood, Michael. You are my son, after all."
"Elizabeth was like you, but much more eager. But she has moved on, changed her mind."
"You were a bit jealous of her, weren't you? I saw the stare you used to send her at the dinner table."
"You don't need to worry about that anymore, my son."
"Come over here, Michael, and I'll show you what you really are made for."
Mike shakes his head and let's out a shaky breath. "It just called me by my name and taunted me." He couldn't let Marcus bare this burden, he wasn't part of this.
"...Are you alright?" Marcus asked.
"...Yeah." Mike nodded. "The Mimic is trapped in the basement, and won't get out. We should be fine."
Marcus nodded slowly. Yeah, they should be fine.
He hoped so.