Multi Fandom One Shots And Short Stories

(FNAF-FANGLE) In The Valleys (3/4)

Alright, this will be the last update for at least the next 7 days. Finals week is upon us and as a senior in college, I cannot afford to screw this up, lmao.

So yeah! Enjoy this part, I'll finish writing the last chapter while avoiding my final essays, and then we'll be good to go!

TW's: Abduction, avoiding relationship problems

Word Count: 1320

<p>For the next few days, Mangle did everything she could to avoid Foxy. They knew they were making things worse, but she just couldn't find it in her to sit down and explain what was going on. </p>

<p>They just wished she had been more careful that night. Maybe then this whole thing could have been prevented?</p>

<p>Most of all, she just wished she could go back to how things had been before. Curling up beside Foxy when she didn't have the energy to move; listening to the vast collection of stories he had memorized through the years; sitting with the people they had come to consider her family, without any awkward tension permeating the very molecules between them. </p>

<p>It was infuriating, and frustrating, and discouraging- and it was all Mangle's fault. This whole fiasco had started because they hadn't been careful enough with their deepest, darkest secret. </p>

<p>So then, by extension, it was also their fault that the relationship she had meticulously built with Foxy was now falling apart before her very eyes. </p>

<p>And they had no idea how to fix it. </p>

<p>Four days after The Incident, Mangle was slipping through the hallways of the restaurant, looking for Mari. Since everything had happened, she had been spending a lot more of her time with the puppet and xer human friend. Mangle had even begun getting invested in the strange and wonderful world of true crime documentaries, courtesy of Lex's Netflix account.</p>

<p>They were passing by Pirate's Cove on their way to the security office, trying very hard to avoid looking at the purple curtains. It was no surprise, then, that they failed to notice the person sneaking up behind her. </p>

<p>She jumped sky high as an arm wrapped around her waist and a hand covered her mouth, pulling her backwards and lifting her feet off the ground as they were dragged into the darkness of the cove.</p>

<p>She tried to cry out, their mismatched eyes wide as they were pushed back against the wall, their abductor's hand still pressed over their mouth. </p>

<p>"Hush, lass, <em>síocháin,</em>" an accented voice pleaded, "please, I'm not going to hurt you." </p>

<p>Mangle finally focused on the person who had dragged them into the dark. His single golden eye was staring directly into her own, wide with a desperation she had never seen in him before. The hand normally grasping his hook was empty for once, his palm resting against her abdomen. Enough pressure to keep her pressed against the wall, but not enough to become painful.</p>

<p>"Mangle, please," he whispered. "You don't have to tell me anything, you don't have to tell me a single thing if you don't want to. Just please, <em> please </em>, listen to me." </p>

<p>Slowly, Mangle nodded. He had scared her, sure, but she knew that he would never hurt her. That had never been a concern in her mind. </p>

<p>"I'm gonna step away now, lass," he said, "please don't run."</p>

<p>Mangle shook their head. "I won't," she tried to say, but their words were still muffled by Foxy's hand over her mouth. </p>

<p>He looked a bit sheepish as he drew his palm away from her, taking a small step back so Mangle could move away from the wall of Pirate's Cove. </p>

<p>"I'm sorry," he murmured guiltily, his pointed ears pinned back to the sides of his head. "I didn't know how else... You've been avoiding me, and I don't blame you, but- I needed to talk to you and I couldn't figure out any other way-"</p>

<p>"Foxy," Mangle said softly. He broke off mid-sentence, staring up at her, his mouth hanging slightly open. "It's alright."</p>

<p>He broke their gaze and stared down at his hands, his shoulders hunching as his tail swished behind him. He started picking at the sides of his fingers, a nervous habit he'd picked up from Freddy. </p>

<p>"It's not," he said. She opened her mouth, but Foxy kept going before Mangle could get a word in. "I just kidnapped you, mate, nothing about this situation is alright."</p>

<p>"Technically," Mangle broke in, "kidnapping entails taking me to a separate location. You just moved me a few feet into a different room."</p>

<p>He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. "Why is that something you know?"</p>

<p>Mangle shrugged, their ears flicking. "True crime is cool?" It sounded more like a question than a statement, even to her own ears. </p>

<p>Foxy snorted, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. For a moment, it felt... Normal. It felt like how they had acted around each other before all of this happened. It felt like they were having a normal conversation. It felt like Mangle was home. </p>

<p>But that feeling faded as Foxy dropped his hand, his only visible eye taking on an infinitely morose edge to it. "Kidnapping or not, we still need to talk."</p>

<p>Mangle pursed their lips and sighed, dropping their head to stare at the scuffed ground at her feet. "Suppose we do, huh?" They pulled the long sleeves of their jumper over their hands, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. Resigned, she asked, "Where do you want me to start?"</p>

<p>"Nowhere."</p>

<p>Mangle's head shot up, confused. Is this not what he'd wanted to talk about? Her scars? If not her mutilated body, what else could he want to discuss? How she'd been avoiding him? What else was there to talk about?</p>

<p>"What?" They asked, her brows pinching as they tried to determine where this conversation was going to go. </p>

<p>"I don't want you to start anywhere, Mangle," Foxy reiterated. "If you don't want, or if you <em> can't </em> tell me what happened... <em> It's alright </em>."</p>

<p>Mangle must have looked like a fish for a few moments after he'd finished, their mouth opening and closing as she tried desperately to figure out what to say.</p>

<p>Finally, ever the eloquent fox, she mumbled a confounded, "<em>What </em>?"</p>

<p>Foxy smiled slightly, his head titled to the side as he studied her. "Mangle, it's alright," he said again, "I don't expect you to tell me everything right now. <em>Ifreann</em>, I don't expect you to tell me anything, <em> ever</em>! If it's not something you're comfortable talking about, then I'm not going to make you talk about it!" He took a step back, away from her. "It's a <em>teorainn</em>, lass," he said, "A boundary. I'm not going to cross that."</p>

<p>"Mangle, I didn't bring you back here to make you tell me your darkest secret," Foxy tentatively explained. "I brought you back here..." He trailed off before taking a deep breath and murmuring, "I brought you back here so I could tell you mine."</p>

A/N- Look, I know this chapter is short... But I mean, just LOOK at that last sentence. I couldn't possibly pass up that cliff-hanger opportunity! What kind of author do you think I am, a self-respecting one? Certainly not!

I am currently working on the next and final chapter, so stay tuned for that lil bit of juicy drama...

GAELIC TRANSLATIONS:<br />
Síocháin- peace<br />
Ifreann - Hell<br />
Teorainn - boundary