Chapter Text
Red droplets coloured the snow near the Afton’s home. Well, it was Michael’s at this point, considering that his father was dead, his mother had left years ago and Vanessa was…dead to him, as she had made her choice and turned her back at him. Fine. Whatever. He never needed her around anyways, in fact, he was much better off alone.
Yeah, he had an open gash on his arm. And did he NOT care about this as well? Obviously. It didn’t hurt one bit and he totally didn’t feel like a complete dumbass for the way he got it (turns out, fixing a washing machine wasn’t the same as fixing an animatronic, who knew?).
Michael had more important things to care about, like keeping the front of the house presentable. Their- his Father was always particular about keeping things in order and clean, and those piles of snow mixed with dirt were unacceptable to His book. Michael could fix his arm later.
The Afton heir kept glancing the other slightly distant houses, all decorated for Christmas. One might think that his Father, William Afton, would hate Christmas and the festivities alike. And maybe He did. Father was a man of many highs and lows, and during the festivities, His lows were significantly lower.
But He also seemed to adore that time of the year when Michael was younger. Each year, He would set up more and more elaborated decorations, as if it was a competition with their neighbours. The workers at Freddy’s would get surprisingly nice gift baskets, and he would also get genuine gifts from his Father (see? He did care after all!). And the banquet? Oh, the banquet! It was at these moments that Michael remembered that his Father could cook really, really well.
As the years passed, and specially after Freddy’s closed down for good, things dwindled. Still, Father would slightly decorate the insides of the house and make a nice dinner.
This would be the first year where Michael spent Christmas truly alone.
And he was fine with that, obviously.
Although, hearing the families talking and laughing and being all happy sappy with each other was making Michael feel-
“Ah, fuck it.”
Michael dropped the shovel and went inside, picking up his flip phone and dialling Vanessa’s number. He was still mad at her, obviously, but that traitorous snake was still his sister.
And…he was greeted by a pre recorded voicemail message. Whatever, clearly she was busy and Michael wasn’t going to bother her.
~~~
Michael decided to bother her, but just a little bit, just to see what she was up to. Okay, he just wanted to rip the bandaid off and see her playing happy family with other people. He was never opposed to embracing pain.
Vanessa was either at her apartment or that the Schmidt’s house, so that’s where he was heading. Michael even prepared some ‘Christmas-ish’ food, as a peace offering. Kinda. On the likely possibility that she was with them, Michael wasn’t going to stick around, obviously, but maybe by leaving something nice for his sister, she would remember that her real family was still around (and was much better than that fucking loser and his dumbass sister).
Michael never formally received Vanessa’s new address, something that still pissed him off to this day. But he managed to figure it out without much hassle, just a bit of snooping around. Michael never did anything with that information, as a courtesy (even though she really didn’t deserve it).
His sister was now living in an apartment on the ground floor. Michael immediately noticed that she had finally placed some curtains on the windows.
Good. You finally noticed that weirdos could watch you. He thought to himself. Could be better placed though, I can still see bits of the inside.
The second thing he noticed was how dark and messy everything seemed to be on the inside or, well, what he managed to see of it. All lights were out, quite a few furnitures were broken or out of place, and Michael was sure he saw some trash just lying around.
Their father wouldn’t have allowed this. And neither should’ve Vanessa.
Something was very wrong.
Her front door was locked. At least you’re protecting yourself. Not that a locked door would stop him. No, Michael knew his away around locks and animatronics (and a few other things).
Yep, the apartment was a real mess. If it were his personal space and his Father saw this, he would’ve been severely punished. But, since he was a very nice brother, he’d help her clean it up later.
Michael heard some clicking noises and hushed voices, probably coming from the kitchen. There was a strong smell of burned turkey, though not smoke. Michael knocked on the door and showed himself in before he heard any answer.
“…Vanny? You there?”
Obviously she was, but Vanessa still didn’t answered. This was getting worrisome.
“Vanessa?”
Michael reached the kitchen, and there she was, trying to make scrambled eggs. She turned her head and looked at him with…pitch black eyes and bright silver irises, dark tears running through her cheeks.
Oh.
“…Well, nice seeing you two.” Micheal said, trying play off as nonchalantly as possible.
The possessed blonde’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing here?” They asked, letting go of the whisk.
“I mean you no harm” Michael responded, raising his empty hands. “Both of you, that is. Speaking of which, could you, uh, let my sister go for a little bit?”
Quiet. And then, the blonde sighed deeply. The pitch black eyes softened, as did their facial expression. Vanessa’s knees buckled, but Michael managed to grab her before she hit the cold floor. She looked disoriented, confused and noticeably tired.
No, Vanessa looked exhausted. It was clear by her sunken eyes that she hadn’t been sleeping properly, and she seemed too light for a woman of her height. Not to mention her hair- it was rather oily.
His sister looked awful. Unlike himself who, despite also not eating, sleeping or showering properly, still looked absolutely handsome.
“…you look like shit.” Vanessa said, her blue eyes analysing his face in it’s entirety.
“I see that the pot is calling the kettle black.” Michael rolled his eyes. “Thought you’d be happy to see me but clearly that’s not…”
He noticed that Vanessa was sobbing. Hard.
Michael pulled her into a tight hug, and his big sister hugged him back. And while Vanessa cried on his shoulder, completely physically and emotionally exhausted, Michael was staring back at the Marionette.
“…I don’t know why you’d…I thought you wouldn’t want to see me too.” Vanessa mumbled.
“Well…guess I couldn’t help but worry about you…” that seemed to get Charlotte off his back, literally. Michael saw her retreating into the dark corner of the kitchen.
“You’re the only family I have left.”
“…Yeah…I could say the same about you” Vanessa gave him a weak smile. For a moment, it was like she was 10 again, and he was 8. “I missed you.”