A/N: So a while ago, after that trailer for Chapter 3 came out, Tumblr user squigglydigglydoo drew a picture of "Bendy" hiding behind Henry during a livestream and I made a joke about wanting to write a thing inspired from it, and, uhh, I finally finished it. I actually started this way back in September but stopped when Inktober rolled around, but it's here now. Hope y'all enjoy!

Original word count: 1355

There were a number of things Henry was expecting when he returned to the old animation studio he was certain he would never see again. His mind was a grab bag of what-if scenarios during the whole drive to Joey Drew's Sillyvision Studios, and even as he got out of the car he found himself listing off possible ways his conversation with Joey would go. But what Henry was not expecting was how empty the studio was when he entered. He was not expecting the strange machine in the back room, nor the ink monster it seemed to spawn when his curiosity got the better of him and he turned it on. He was not expecting to be chased through the studio's depths and hunted down by the old cartoons he used to animate.

Above all, he was not expecting the very thing that had wanted him dead to now be trailing close behind as a companion rather than an enemy.

Whatever the spell that Joey had Bendy under was, it seemed to have broke during Henry's first face-to-face encounter with the man in thirty years. Henry thought it was a spell, or something of the sort at least, because he wasn't certain what else to call it. It had to be magic of nature, yes, what with the massive pentagram and the ritualistic setup, but the truth was that he didn't know the first thing about magic, dark or otherwise. All he knew was that he had to work backwards from Joey's god forsaken book while simultaneously trying to fight off Drew and keep him from stopping him.

And it worked, somehow. Henry managed to fix up what Joey fiddled with and it ended up releasing Bendy from the thrall he was under.

He looked down at the black cover of the book in his hands, letting out an exasperated sigh. The copy he used as a sacrifice to start up the Ink Machine had disappeared with the rest of the donated items, but as much as he wanted to be rid of the one he was currently holding, Henry knew he couldn't lose it. The spell might have been broken, but there was still another problem in the shape of Bendy's current monstrous form. Fixing that would involve operating the Ink Machine, and the only instructions for it that he found were in Joey Drew's The Illusion of Living.

Henry continued to frown at the book as he walked. Bendy, true to his curious cartoon self, leaned over his shoulder to see what was distressing the old animator.

That was another thing that Henry found interesting: the apparent change in character and attitude Bendy went through after the "spell" broke. Before, the macabre cartoon had been angry, vengeful, and hellbent on killing him. When Henry found him after squaring off with Joey, Bendy seemed to have lost much of his aggressive edge, and the grin that was once filled with malice had been twisted into a distrustful frown. It had taken a lot of persuading from Henry's end to get him to come with him, and even more convincing to get him to believe that the old animator truly did not want to hurt him. But, even then, Henry took note of how cautious Bendy was in his presence. He couldn't blame him, he supposed, especially so after encountering Joey and seeing how he acted…No, he really couldn't blame him.

He was beginning to understand what the scribbles of "THE CREATOR LIED TO US" he'd seen earlier on the walls meant.

He was also very, very glad he got to clock Joey Drew in the face.

Trying to reassure the inky mess of a cartoon, Henry paused to look up at Bendy and give him a half-hearted smile. "It's fine, buddy," he said, and then tucked the god forsaken book under his arm. "I'm just thinking, that's all."

Bendy let out a strange noise, something that was somewhere between a gurgle and a growl. Henry wasn't sure what it meant (the poor thing couldn't speak, and most of the time he had to guess what Bendy was trying to communicate to him), but the cartoon didn't press any further on it. Instead, the two of them continued down the hall, and the old animator found himself wandering in his own thoughts again.

They still needed to find and meet up with the others. He'd told them to wait back in the safe house, but that was a long while ago. Boris and Alice were probably getting antsy with how long he was taking, but Henry couldn't help but wonder what their reaction would be once they found out what he'd gone through. Boris, the excitable pup that he was, would most likely be ecstatic to have his ol' pal back, that much he was certain of. And Alice, oh, she would probably be full to bursting with questions, and overly concerned with their well-being–

A creak in the pipes interrupted his thoughts. Henry looked up and so did Bendy, who let out a curious chirp at the sound. It wasn't odd, not by a long shot. After all, the system of pipes and gears and whatnot that fed to and from the Ink Machine was ancient and, according to the tape recordings, unreliable a good majority of the time. The old man took a breath and tried to put his worries out of his mind.

"They're just old," he reassured himself. "Thomas was right. Joey could've afforded to–"

There was an impossibly loud bang. Henry jumped and lifted his arms over his head, heart racing and nearly panicking as he looked around. But his concerns were unfounded when all he could see was the now-burst pipe. Ink was splattering onto the floor from it, forming a black puddle that was slowly spreading. Henry let out a shaky breath and forced himself to relax. Just a burst pipe. It was fine. He was fine. Bendy was…

Bendy was clinging onto him, trying to hide away from the offending noise. Henry could feel him trembling from where he was holding onto him, and when he looked over his shoulder he noted the frightened frown that was now etched onto the cartoon's white face. It was almost ridiculous, in its own way, what with the giant macabre monster trying to hide behind such a short man. If he didn't know any better, and if it weren't for the fact that they were deep underground in an abandoned animation studio, Henry would've said that the whole scene looked like a…

Like a moment straight out of a cartoon.

He stifled a laugh, but was hopeless to stop the smile from creeping across his lips.

"Hey, it's alright, buddy," Henry started at last, placing the hand that wasn't holding the book on one of Bendy's in order to comfort him. "It's just the pipe. See?"

Bendy perked up, looking at the animator and then up at the pipe. Upon realizing what made the noise, he straightened and let go of the old man, making a sound that Henry ventured to call embarrassed.

Just a burst pipe. That apparently happened a lot, according to what Wally Franks and Thomas Connor and even Sammy Lawrence had said on the tapes. Henry should have expected this happening at some point or another, really, but he wasn't expecting Bendy to give a reaction like the one he just gave. Nonetheless, he took it as a sign of things calming down. After all, Joey was no longer a threat, and they could avoid whatever was left of the abomination on level nine, not to mention that the searchers seemed too nervous to approach with Bendy around. All that was left was to find Boris and Alice, get back to the Ink Machine, fix whatever else needed to be fixed, and leave.

The thought helped ease him.

He was going to get them out of here. He would make sure of it.

"C'mon, bud," Henry said, and then started once more through the hall, walking around the ink puddle.

Bendy followed close behind.