Hey, everyone! Here's another little fic for the Toon Henry AU by squigglydigg/squigglydigglydoo (Psst, go check it out at tumblr!) This one's a bit on the shorter side, and I'm not especially convinced with how it turned out. But it was a scene I thought that wouldn't leave my head, so here it is I guess! Also a little mention to the fic "Seeing Double" by lnicol1990 at Tumblr and Deviantart (which is awesome and you should totally read.)

Oh and it's in Tumblr if that's more your style!

I hope you like it!

Henry couldn't even draw a single breath in before his knees failed him. His attention immediately went to the throbbing pain of the old bullet wound above his knee, being the strongest he'd felt it in years. Hissing, he tried to dull the ache by applying pressure with his hand.

"Henry!"

Three pairs of hands were hastily placed on his shoulders and back. Taking his eyes off the floor, he could see the worried faces of Bendy, Boris and Alice. They seemed afraid of trying to move him, and the looks they were giving him were starting to make him nervous.

"What is… it?" He found his voice sounded much quieter than he had intended. He realized it was because he felt utterly exhausted. "Did… did something go wrong?"

They all looked at Bendy. He stood confused for a moment before seeming to realize that, unless they brought a mirror or something, he would be the only one there to know the answer to that. With a frown, he walked around Henry analyzing him carefully, stopping in front of him to try to find anything weird. The scrutiny was a tad awkward, but Henry needed to know if it had worked.

"Doesn't seem like it," he concluded with a shake of his head. "You look exactly like when you first arrived here."

Henry sighed in relief. It wasn't a complete guarantee of their success, but Bendy had been the one to chase him into the ink pool that turned him into a cartoon, so at the very least he would know if something looked off. His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach producing a tremendous growl, to the point it was almost painful. He clutched at it, remembering that indeed, he had entered the studio not having eaten anything. Through the feeling of starvation, he wondered if maybe there was a limit of time during which he could have returned to being human. He was afraid that maybe not eating real food all that time may have had rendered his real body useless if he had waited any longer.

When the feeling subsided, he realized Alice was trying to push him into leaning against the wall. Agreeing that it would be a more comfortable position than kneeling, he did as she wanted. He rested his head and closed his eyes. Gosh, he felt like he had run a marathon… which he probably had, considering all the times he had had to flee from either Bendy or one of Joey's attacks. And dealing with the man's half-baked copies had been a real workout, not to mention being on edge the whole time he knew they were out there. Also, the fact that being a cartoon meant only feeling old when it served a gag probably didn't help. He just hadn't thought that the exertion of the whole ordeal would carry over to his human body. He could have drifted to sleep right then and there if it wasn't for the nervous chatter going on around him.

"What should we do?" Alice asked the other two. "He looks so tired… Do you think he is…?"

"I-I don't think so!" Boris scratched his head. "Everything went how it was supposed to, didn't it? Maybe the change is always a little rough?"

"Old man?" Bendy poked Henry on the face. "How ya feeling? Can you stand?"

Henry sighed. Could he? The hunger was definitely not going away on its own, so for whatever time he still had in the studio he would have to ignore it. And no way he was trying one of those bacon soup cans again. It would probably not end well for him now that he wasn't a toon. But aside from that, the feeling of going back to normal was finally settling in. While the pain in his leg would mean a slight limp for maybe an hour, it wasn't unfamiliar at all and dealing with it was easier every second that passed.

"I think I can," he declared.

Seeing the cartoons' unsure faces, he supported himself on the wall to get to his feet. Dizziness took over him halfway through. When he wobbled a bit too much, Alice and Boris quickly grabbed him by an arm each. Even Bendy was trying to steady him by a leg.

"Sorry, sorry," Henry said. "Must be the change in proportions. Gotta get used to this again…"

"Don't worry about it, Henry! Take your time!" Boris said. He didn't miss the subtle wag of his tail. Seeing Henry stand probably cheered him up a little.

"So… so we really did it?" Alice asked, eyes filled with hope and halo shining bright. "Are you really completely human again? Are you gonna be okay?"

Instead of answering, Henry made them let go of him and stared at his arms. He stretched them upwards, knowing full well which joints were going to pop beforehand. He took a step forward. Then another. He walked to the other end of the room, the dizziness wearing off as his body remembered how to balance according to his old height. He took the deepest breath he could, and it felt right. It felt so right. It was like it was just hitting him how right everything felt, even the hunger and the exhaustion. Henry hadn't realized how much he had missed feeling like himself, knowing what everything was. He felt real. No more surprises, or worrying if his body would be able to change into something it wasn't a moment ago. He knew he'd technically lost a lot of abilities by becoming human again, but he found that he didn't care at all. He was now in full control, and that thought alone brought a smile to his face. Henry turned around to look at the rest with a confidence that hadn't been there a second ago.

"We did it, guys," he announced.

Boris's ears perked up in an instant, and without a warning, he picked up both Alice and Bendy in a crushing hug. Henry had no doubt he would be included had he been in arms reach. Bendy didn't resist, but Alice was returning the hug full force. He chuckled.

"Let's not celebrate just yet, buddy," Henry told Boris, although he couldn't make himself drop the smile. "We're not out of this problem just yet."

"But we will be!" the wolf said, running to his side. "Just- just look at you, Henry! You're just so, um, that! And you're colored! I've never seen someone with colors!"

Oh, yeah. Henry had missed colors too. He guessed he had been too busy worrying whether he had managed to return to normal safely. But he could understand his excitement. Henry was certain that Joey Drew had never intended the work of his life to be reversed, and seeing Alice with her hands together in delight, and Bendy's grin, he knew they were thinking the same thing. This was a round they had won against his old colleague.

Another pang in his stomach made him double over. Alice was the one to catch him, making sure he didn't quite fall down.

"Maybe we should rest for another bit?" she suggested.

Henry nodded. If he couldn't eat, he might as well rest his eyes for a while. He once again sat against the wall, knowing his neck was not going to be happy with him when he got up, but it was better than wandering in his current state. Both Boris and Alice stayed right beside him, while Bendy, restless as he was, decided to mess around with Henry's ax. The silence that followed told him the mood of the toons had plummeted down, and he felt a bit guilty that he was the most probable cause. He wasn't exactly an optimist, but he felt the need to cheer them up.

"Hey," he tried. The cartoons didn't look at him, but he smiled nonetheless. "Just a little more. Just a last effort, and it'll all be over. Don't know how long it will take us, but we'll make it."

They didn't respond, but Boris' ears stopped flattening against his head and Alice returned a little smile. It was something.

"Well," Bendy said getting closer. His eyes were still fixed to the ax he was holding. "We've been here so many years I don't even know if I can tell time apart anymore, so…" he grinned. "what's a few more hours? A day? A week? Pssh! Nothing! That's what it is! This is what I think of stinkin' time!"

To make his point, Bendy pulled out a cuckoo clock, placed it on the ground and hacked at it with the ax. Chips of wood started flying everywhere, making Alice take out an umbrella to protect them from the little projectiles. When Bendy was finally done, the blade of the ax had a thin column of smoke flowing from it and the clock was barely recognizable.

"Huh, weird," Bendy said inspecting the device "when you mess with one of these the birdie usually pops-"

"CUCKOO!"

Right on cue, the wooden bird launched forward hitting Bendy in the middle of his face. Boris lost it then and there, completely drowning the sound of Alice trying to stifle her snickers. After rubbing his face a little, Bendy started laughing too.

Henry shook his head. He couldn't say he hadn't been expecting it, so it didn't get him as the others. He also had the smallest of suspicions Bendy had been waiting for it too.

"Heh, heh, guess you are better than me at swinging this thing, huh?" Bendy said, offering the weapon to Henry. "Good thing ya didn't give me a nose!"

"I don't know. You sure showed that thing." Henry placed a hand on the ax's handle. The mild trembling of his hand told him he wouldn't be able to lift it at the moment. Bendy seemed to notice too, not letting go of it himself.

"Still, suits you better." Bendy shrugged. "I'm more of 'drop a piano on your head' guy."

"Don't I know it."

"Hey, hey!" Bendy said wagging a finger at him. "Don't tell me you're tired already! We still got stuff to do! Or is poor gramps not ready to keep going now that he's human?"

Bendy's mocking tone was betrayed by the genuine smile he was giving his old creator. Henry put his other hand on the handle of the ax and smirked.

"We'll see about that."

You might notice, the description of the environment is vague as fudge. That's because I have no idea what the AU canon events are for Henry turning back and I don't know if they're in the room with the machine or what, but I still wanted to explore a bit what the immediate feeling of changing bodies (even when both versions are your own) would feel like. We know it wasn't particularly awful when turning into a toon, but that might be because it wasn't supposed to be. Maybe going against that would be a little more complicated? (Or maybe I just like hurting Henry, who knows?)

To be honest I almost scrapped this one, because I felt maybe just this scene didn't make something decent enough to post it, but I think I managed in the end? Maybe?

But anyways, I hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think, constructive criticism is always appreciated!