Chapter Text
After a long night performing with the band at the bar, Freddy walked out and let the door swing behind him. It was late and he was really starting to get tired, rubbing at the bags under his eyes. He took a moment to sort out the unruly mop of brown hair on his head before walking forward to meet the rest of the gang. He was the driver. He couldn't keep them waiting forever.
"Hey fleabag! You going to wait there all year?" Roxy remarked sarcastically from up ahead.
Freddy huffed and sped up a little, "Who are you calling fleabag?! Do you want me to kick you out of the band?"
Roxy only laughed at that and climbed into the van. The van they used to get from gig to gig was starting to look worse for wear these days. It was originally a very bright and fun purple, but it had faded a little. It was a more retro looking van now despite the modern decal of their band's logo on the side; Freddy and the Glamrocks. Under the decal image was a number that directed people to their manager so that they could book them for parties and gigs. They would travel in the van from city to city, doing kids parties in the fun animal costumes they had, and doing odd nights at bars for more mature audiences along the way. Dipping their toes in both ends of the business gave them a lot more opportunities.
Freddy got into the van, jammed the keys into it and started the old thing up. It immediately made a few awful sputtering noises before finally starting. Freddy slapped the dashboard and hummed jokingly,
"Purrs like a cat don't it?"
Roxy in the front only rolled her eyes, while Monty in the back humoured his remark, "For sure, whatever helps you sleep at night Fred. But this hunk of junk won't last another 5 years. I'm betting on it now!"
Chica stifled her laughter, and with the crew in better spirits, Frederic set the van on course back to their motel for the night.
***
The drive to the motel was uneventful, and everyone disembarked to rest for the night. As Chica, Roxy and Monty all got to the room door, Freddy called out to them, "Don't wait up for me, I'm going to stay here for a bit and make sure the van's spic and span,"
The group all nodded and grumbled their affirmations, knowing full well that Freddy was a bit of a geek when it came to the old hunk of metal. And with that, Freddy got to work. He cleaned the exterior of the van using some supplies he stored in the back, before heading inside to get things in order. He had installed a couch back there that folds out into a bed for when they needed to make especially long trips, and Monty and Chica would always manage to get it dirty with chip crumbs and whatnot. He pulled the couch away from the wall as he always did, but what he saw underneath made him nearly jump out of his skin.
Under the couch was a small kid, maybe only 12 years old. He was curled up on his side, dead asleep. He wore a striped blue polo that was a bit scuffed up along with some tan cargo shorts. Freddy panicked as he realized the kid was probably dead. His chest wasn't moving!
He immediately crouched down and shook the kid a little to try and urge him awake, "Hey kid! You alright down here?? How did you get back here?"
Freddy nervously examined the boy to check for injuries, but he didn't find any. Instead, he found marks and grooves along his joints with a faint silver sheen. He curiously prodded at his elbow and realized it was metal, as it was nearly colder than the van. Now even more concerned, Freddy rested his head on the kid's chest to try and hear his heart rate. Yet, with his head propped up against the blue polo shirt, he couldn't hear anything but the odd whirring of some kind of machinery. He originally thought it might have been a pacemaker, but that didn't make any sense either.
"Hey kid, you're freaking me out here! Can you hear me?"
Getting more and more anxious that this poor kid passed out in the back of the van and needed help, Freddy flipped him onto his back and tried to open one of his eyes to check his pupils. The kids eyes immediately shot open and he sat up, smashing his forehead into the burly man's chin. Freddy groaned and fell back onto his ass, completely sucker punched in the chin.
The boy, now clearly awake and well, sat up and looked at Freddy. He didn't say anything and just stared in horror while the poor man rolled around on the ground and groaned. Was this kid's head made out of steel?!
"Ugh... Fudge... who the heck taught you that move kid?" Fred groaned as he sat up and stumbled towards the kid. This seemed to startle him however as he immediately ducked under the couch again, with only his dirty red converse sticking out.
Thinking that he was scared, Fred moved over to the couch and called out to him. He made sure to soften his gruff voice a little while he was at it, "Hey it's alright buddy, I'm not mad at you. Come on out and let's talk a little, yeah? Or, you know... you could stay down there and I'll just talk to your shoes,"
A small, meek voice called out from under the couch, "option 2..."
Frederic couldn't help but laugh at that, "I see that you're at least well enough to have an attitude! Alright then, we'll take things slow. What's your name kid?"
"I-I’m Gregory..." The same meek voice called out, a little louder this time as he slowly gained confidence.
"Gregory then. Why are you napping in my van? Are your parents around?"
"No... I ran away from them and hid here because the scary people wanted to hurt me. And I didn't want them to,"
Just as Freddy was starting to understand things, he was immediately thrown back into confusion. Scary people? Was he being chased? Was this some kind of failed kidnapping?
"Gregory, I won't let anyone hurt you, alright? Could you come out from under the couch now? I need to make sure you're not injured,"
After hesitating a little, Gregory slid himself out from under the couch. It was now that Freddy could get a good look at him. At about 4'5" he was a fairly short kid, definitely young. He had short curly light brown hair that had gotten messed up from hiding under the couch. As well as a round face, light complexion and caramel brown eyes. He looked completely healthy, aside from the weird metal around his joints. Freddy pointed at the metal on his elbow and asked the kid about it.
"Do you know what this is?" Freddy asked with a mildly concerned, but mostly curious tone. He had never seen anything like it before. People don’t usually have exposed bits of metal attached to their joints.
Gregory nodded, but he still seemed apprehensive of the adult in front of him, “I know what it is but… if I show you, you have to promise you won’t… you won’t give me away your the bad guys, okay?” He pointed an accusatory finger at the man, now getting a little more nippy with him.
Freddy raised his hands in a gesture of peace, “I swear, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, I won’t hand you over to anyone that will try to hurt you,”
Gregory narrowed his eyes at him to read his expression carefully. He really sounded sincere, and he hadn’t done anything to raise any alarm bells so far. Finally, he nodded and showed his elbow to Freddy. The boy placed his hand at the edge of the metal and slowly peeled away his skin. Underneath was shiny clean metal and a few stray wires. The skin skin wasn't covered in any gore either, the underside was almost plastic looking. Despite being a big, strong, independent man, Frederic nearly fainted at the sight.
"Oh heck put it back! Put it back!" Freddy shouted as he waved his hands frantically. He nervously watched the boy nod and slowly stick the fake skin back into place.
A torrent of thoughts raged through his mind. Was that a prosthetic arm? But he could also see there was another band of that metal at the base of the boy's neck... then what exactly was it? As he gave the kid a confused look, Gregory moved his hand to do the same with the skin at his neck, seeking approval from the adult in front of him. Before Fred could stop him, Gregory pulled up the edge to show the wires and pistons under his neck. Freddy quickly stuck the skin back on and lightly scolded the kid,
"There's no need for that... keep... 'it'... on for now, okay?" He scratched his head as he racked his brain, trying to calm himself down a little, "So... um... where did you get this stuff...? Are they prosthetics…?” He asked with a hopeful thought that they really were prosthetics and he was making a big fuss over nothing.
"No they… they aren’t prosthetics… It’s from Blue Bonnet Technologies. They made me out of metal... but I looked too scary.. they put the other stuff on me so that I wouldn't... that I wouldn't scare people..." Gregory commented as he started to lower his head and look downtrodden. He was worried that he might have scared him now, and after the man had been so nice to him! He was slowly preparing himself to book it again and find some other van or an abandoned building somewhere to hide in.
Freddy's heart wavered to and fro as he considered everything about this kid that he knew so far. Ford had started working at Blue Bonnet technologies as a janitor, and he kept telling him over coffee when they would meet up about all the strange and amazing new things the company was working on. They were the first company to make a fully functioning AI that could play chess way back in the day, and they had now evolved and soared to greater heights.
With that information, he could only assume that the kid in front of him wasn't actually a kid. Despite looking so real and acting so real. But, Freddy couldn't manage to look at the boy like some cold unthinking machine. He sighed and reached his hand out to fix the boy's hair. He must have some very expensive technology, so he would have to find a way to return him back to the company without damaging him or facing any trouble. He was also a bit confused on how the kid even got here, let alone into his van.
He sighed and cleared his throat, easing his nerves and his clearly shocked and bewildered expression, "Gregory, we're a long ways away from Blue Bonnet Tech's headquarters. So, just for now, you can stay with me. We've got a gig up that ways anyway, so you can hitch a ride. Is that alright with you?"
Gregory didn't look up at Freddy and could only nod. He didn't want to go back to Blue Bonnet tech… he had promised that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt him and he wouldn’t hand him over! However, the man would let him stay with him for a while, and that somehow made him feel a little warm inside. This couldn’t be so bad, right? He would just stick around with him until they got close to Blue Bonnet, and then, he would ditch him.