Breakaway

Breakaway is a Family Guy fanfic written by DecaTilde, based on hopeless-romance45's universe. It is an adaptation of the Season 12 episode "Christmas Guy". hr45's fan Brian4life and her friends wanted her to write this fanfic, but she lost interest in Family Guy and refused. So, she handed the rights to all her Family Guy fanfics and OCs to Deca, who finally decided to write it. This is the third fanfic adaptation of "Christmas Guy" Deca has written based on hr45's universe, as well as the official. The other two, which are now retconned, are "A Gift of Love" and "Until We Meet Again". It was also considered the official sequel to hr45's original fanfic, "Memories" until January 9, 2018, when hr45's former fan Brian4life didn't like this fanfic or the latter's original ending.

Plot

A month had passed since Barbara died (she had joined Brian in death), and the now-orphaned litter (Briana, Ollie, Jenny and Marcus) refuse to accept Vinny as their foster father. Out of the four, Jenny and Marcus have tried numerous ways to bring their parents back, even with Stewie's help, but unfortunately, they gave up. Finally fed up with Vinny, who tried to sit down watching a home movie of their late parents, the litter roughhouse him, prompting Lois to disown them (that was the last straw). It not only breaks the Griffin family's hearts, but also Vinny's as well. When the puppies get sold the next day, Stewie tries to calm Vinny down.

However, Vinny gets depressed throughout the week. He refuses to smile and eat properly, resulting in his health to get worse. One night, he writes a piece of paper and goes to sleep, thinking about Barbara and his now-broken promise to take care of the puppies, which he made to her after she died. Stewie can't help but feel sorry for him.

The following morning, Vinny gets called to a special meeting with the family. Lois convinces him to forget all about Barbara and the puppies, since they're no longer part of the family, and that they're his family no matter what. Vinny finally smiles in understanding, and eventually, he forgets all about Barbara and the puppies like Lois recently predicted.

Months have passed, and it's now December, close to Christmas. The family looks forward to the Christmas Carnival at the Quahog Mall, but they find that the festivities have been cancelled, prompting Stewie to go on a rampage, and Vinny to get worried.

In order to end the worry, Vinny checks and discovers that it was Lois' father, Carter Pewterschmidt, who cancelled the carnival. Peter confronts Carter, who replies that he canceled it because he hates Christmas. Peter vows to help him find his Christmas spirit, by trying a fake story letter, making him drink egg nog, and having him masturbate. Nothing works until Peter convinces him to smoke marijuana.

However, the now-brought-back carnival fails to raise Stewie's spirits. When he answers the Mall Santa's question on what he wants for Christmas, Stewie, after looking aroung him, realizes he wants Brian, Barbara and their puppies back, despite the Mall Santa's skepticism.

Vinny's heart breaks even more, thanks to Stewie's mentioning of the puppies, and nothing helps the two friends at all. The two then decide to go back to the mall in an attempt to raise each other's spirits. While at the toy store, Stewie spots a past version of himself buying a toy that he purchased a week before Brian got killed (the starting point of a chain of events), and finally realizes that he has to get his hands on the time machine return pad, enlisting Vinny's help. Appealing to Stewie's vanity, Vinny gets him to take off his backpack so Stewie can retrieve the return pad and prepares to save Brian.

As Stewie is about to say goodbye to Vinny and go back in time to save Brian, Jenny and Marcus, who have watched the whole thing from outside the toy store, intervene, and declare that they should be the ones to save him. Stewie and Vinny hit them with the guilt trip, with the latter begging them to give him a chance. Jenny and Marcus refuse, saying that he will never be there for them. As they steal the return pad from Stewie, Stewie halts them, giving them a letter Vinny wrote, along with a photo. They finally understand what Vinny did for them before vanishing with the return pad.

In the past, Jenny and Marcus arrive in time to save their father, and they explain what happened since he was killed. Stewie realizes that he failed to tell Brian and Barbara that he went forward in time to Christmas to buy the toy, and tells Brian about it before sending the return pad back to the present. Having altered the time line, Jenny and Marcus fade from existence, but not before telling Brian that he's going to become a father again, and feel guilty for not accepting Vinny.

Before the old timeline gets erased, Stewie and Vinny visit Brian and Barbara's graves, and accept their fate, but not before Vinny prays to God.

Back in the present, Brian, Barbara, and their second litter (Janet and Jonathan) are alive and well. However, Vinny, spared from getting erased, comes over with Death and tells the Griffins about himself and what would have happened if Jenny and Marcus haven't saved their father. Brian, feeling guilty that he and Barbara had been allowed to live, decides that he and Barbara should die in order for Vinny to be happy. Jenny and Marcus, after having their memories restored, decide to join their parents, along with Briana and Ollie, and finally accept Vinny into the family, along with Barbara, who gives Janet and Jonathan to Vinny out of love.

With that done, a new timeline is created similar to the one that has been erased, only this time, Briana, Ollie, Jenny and Marcus have joined their parents in death, and are content for their uncle (Vinny revealed to be Brian's younger brother through records of his family history) to be part of the family. And Brian, Barbara and the first litter begin a new life in the afterlife, together as a family.

Trivia

• Brian and Barbara temporarily return in this fanfic, and die again along with Briana, Ollie, Jenny and Marcus. However, Janet and Jonathan are spared.