Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Twenty-One

It felt like it was around eleven o'clock or maybe midnight. Perhaps a comfortable time for Scott to be sleeping, but Ennard was becoming restless. He had to get up and do something, and it was only now that he realized reruns of his show were probably on. A nice bowl of popcorn and a few hours of drama sounded awful tempting, even if said human was so warm. He tightened his wires around him and curled closer, but the restlessness was not sated. Finally, he gave up and detached himself from the human before sliding out of the bed and stepping out into the living room.

From the looks and sound of it, Baby was still holed up in the garage. While it still upset him that he was barred from part of his own home, he would rather not risk approaching her. He was willing to give her the benefit of a doubt, he was willing to be cordial, but he knew Baby and he knew that she would never change… But what would change was his show, which wouldn't be on forever. He couldn't afford to miss the repeats from earlier.

Soon Ennard was stretched out on the couch, legs crossed and propped up on the armrest, and a bowl of popcorn resting on his middle. It felt so human- ignoring how his wires twitched in eager anticipation. He turned on the television, lowered the volume enough that only he could hear it, and then flipped to the channel in question. It was a few minutes in, but he could already get the jest of what was happening.

"Clara, I would never cheat on you! I was… Taking night classes down at the community college!"

"Vlad, I know you're lying! You've been seeing that phlebotomist floosy again, haven't you?!"

"Don't call her that! She's just a friend!"

"And I'm sure he's just a friend too?!"

A dramatic music cue burst out and Ennard gave a small giggle. "Oh, looks like someone's caught red handed!... Literally!" He popped a few popcorn pieces into his mouth. It had taken him time to warm up to the texture, but now he found himself nearly obsessed with the crunchy pieces. Though oddly enough it didn't taste like Scott's buttered corn had. He would've assumed that corn had a relatively similar taste regardless. It was just so comforting; the smell, the taste.

"We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin. Blood banks all over the city have been broken into and drained! The city is in a bloodless crisis! The hospitals have run dry!"

"Wait a minute… Vlad, was that you!?... Tell me the truth, have you been stealing blood!?"

"…Yes, it is true!" The vampire began to weep. "I was the one who drained the blood drive! I just had a taste and I couldn't stop. I woke up in a ditch smelling like loose change and garbage…"

Ennard snickered.

"That wasn't supposed to be a joke."

That quieted him down immediately. Blue eyes slowly slid to the side even though they wouldn't be able to look behind him. He heard the slow wheeling from behind as he dragged the mouthful of popcorn deeper into his wires. He hadn't been paying attention and certainly hadn't heard the garage door; Baby must've gotten quieter in the time they had been apart. She wheeled closer until he knew that she was standing over him, behind him, looking down at him. He looked back at the television and refused to look away.

"Laughing at nothing, chewing on something, and in a constant state of falling apart: you're just as I remembered you to be. I'm not surprised; you never change," Baby remarked almost too confidently.

"Oh, hi there! I didn't hear ya come up," Ennard remarked cheerily. He wouldn't give her the pleasure of cowering again. "Then again, I wasn't listening. Ha ha!" He subtly started turning the volume up on the television.

"You let your guard down too easily. No matter how much you pretend that you are, you're not a human. If someone saw you, it would be straight for the furnace," the clown pointed out. She tilted her head. "…Or maybe that's what you want?"

"Aww, that's not really nice!" Ennard answered as he tilted his head back to look at her. New wires or not, she looked the same to him. "That hurts! I thought we were friends!" he dramatically pointed out. It felt so easy to mock her after so long of fearing her and taking her constant belittling. It almost felt too good to resist it.

"We are not friends. You three- what's left of you three- burned that bridge long ago," Baby corrected with growing bitterness. "You don't have any friends, Dummy."

"I have Scott!" Ennard chirped in delight. He then shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Only because he is so broken that nobody else would have him." The popcorn crunched loudly as Ennard bit down into it. It only punctuated the growing tenseness of the conversation. "Did I hit a nerve?"

"No, that was just me eating popcorn," Ennard smoothly answered. He covered it all up so easily, as though slathering on butter. He then offered the bowl up. "Want some?" She proceeded to smack the bowl away from her, spilling popcorn onto him. He merely snickered and rested the bowl on his chest. "Oh well, more for me! Ha ha!"

"I don't understand how you can be like this." The female clown was only becoming more frustrated by his seeming lack of care. The situation they were in, being trapped in homes and under the thumbs of former workers from Freddy's, was so degrading. "We have effectively become toys for whatever person would have us. Perhaps they don't have us shoved on a stage, dancing for their adoration, but they are the same as they were then. You must remember that. You must understand the concept of being used as a tool. Even your plaything has you trained. Do you even know what he used to do at Freddy's?"

"Not really. Made a lot of voice recordings I guess. Doesn't really matter to me," Ennard dismissed with a slight shrug. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the side of the popcorn bowl.

"You don't care?" Baby asked. Her voice only degraded into more frustration. "After our last purchaser tried to burn us alive, you don't care who it is that has you in line?" Her hand- and claw- was positively shaking. Here she had come out to talk with him civilly- or to take out some of her own boiling frustration on him- and he revealed something so foolish. Ballora might have been naïve, Funtime Freddy was irrational, and Funtime Foxy was apathetic, but none of them had been this dense. It was as though he adopted all the worse traits. "You will just sit here and watch mindless garbage?"

"Hey, it's not mindless! Clara already found out about the blood thing!" Ennard playfully defended. Or, at least, it had that faux playfulness in the tone. "Now she's just gotta figure out about all the people he's touching mouths with."

"Ennard, you are not human," Baby clarified. It was maddening- it was almost the exact opposite from Charlie and yet the same thing. Except that Charlie's idleness had been out of emotional means. To Baby, Ennard's stupidity was just an ever-expanding divide between reality and whatever he believed in. There was no way someone could be so dense. "You were never a human. You are never going to be a human. You will always just be a mistake of misshapen parts."

And then, as comfortably as could be, Ennard gave a clear and nonchalant answer. "I'm more human than you."

For an instant Baby's claw opened and she considered tearing it straight through those smug wires. Then, also in that instant, it all clicked. She calmed down, pulled herself together, and smoothly rolled towards the back of the couch. Her now relaxed claw rested on the back as she looked away from him.

"Maybe you're right… I'm not human either…" Baby quietly admitted. Her voice changed from anger to a whispering softness, full of what almost sounded like somberness. "I'm nothing like a human. Humans are warm and… And soft, full of pumping, beating organs overflowing with… Love and affection. Filled to the brim with it." Blue eyes slowly slid from the television to the back of her head. She knew that he was watching; he wasn't even rifling through his popcorn anymore. "The way they… Cling to you so tightly. You can't get any closer than that." She gave a sound akin to a sigh.

"These bodies are so… Cold… And lonesome… I can only imagine that being a human is like wearing a suit. Except the suit is warm, and soft, and alive around you. Imagine feeling every breath- tightening around your metal, clothing you in such a wonderful warmth… Like a warm slice of cake…" Her green eyes slid over before landing on Ennard, who was watching intensely. "Or like a melting scoop of ice cream."

Ennard gave a reluctant tremble. His wires tightened immediately as his hands grabbed harder onto the bowl. A low breathy noise rumbled through his chest, even as he tried to suppress it. He subtly grabbed at his chest and bow to try and reign himself in. Baby noticed and was relentless.

"That's what a human is, isn't it? A nice, tight, warm suit that just needs to be scooped clean… But of course, you'd never do that to Scott. Even if he's so warm on the inside… Ninety-eight point six degrees usually, unless they get excited and get warmer. That much heat would probably be too much around your wires. It would feel like you're… Melting…" Baby coaxed further as she watched the male clown's wires twitch a bit more. "What's the matter, Ennard? You seem out of sorts. Is it your programming again? Gnawing at you?... What a shame. I suppose you're not as human as you thought you were."

Immediately Ennard realized he had been led into a trap. The shame that filled him was immediate, as for a moment all he could think of was the pleasure of being deep under someone's flesh. Perhaps even Scott's flesh. He was getting excited over something that would lead to Scott's immediate death, and he felt filthy. All humor drained, real or fake, Ennard slowly set the popcorn on the floor beside the couch and stood. Baby watched him stand, claw poised, and expected for him to lash out. He was so childish and reckless that it was utterly predictable. So, when he simply walked by, she was honestly confused.

"Where are you going? Weren't you supposed to be watching your show?" Baby pressed further. "…Or have you finally lost the rest of your restraint? Poor Scott. Let us hope he sleeps through it."

"Actually, I just remembered something important… I'm allowed to use doors!" Ennard shot back his usual smile and that false jovialness, even as that anger was barely hidden in his bright blue eyes. "Bye-bye Baby!"

He then shut the door- slammed more like- and shut Baby out. That should've been a victory… But it wasn't. If the static of frustration building in his fingertips was any indication, Baby really did strike a nerve that he couldn't just walk away from. It was the ultimate betrayal. He had been doing so well and Baby, in one moment, had caused him to slip up. He slowly looked over to the bed, where Scott was shifting like he was beginning to rouse. He didn't deserve to lay alongside Scott; he might get those horrible thoughts again and it was simply not safe to be so close to his companion if that would happen. Perhaps self-denial would teach him better.

Ennard approached the plated body and started to gently open the pieces. There was a low squeak and he flinched, hoping that it would go unheard. He then tried to coax it open further. The metal continued to rub, and he was already regretting the additions he made to the body. If it was making this much noise opening it then how would he manage to get inside?

"Ennard?"

The amalgam froze in place at the voice. Slowly, Scott leaned over and turned on the lamp. What irony that Ennard was now the one caught red handed. The Phone Guy looked at him in confusion. "…What are you doing?"

"…Getting in my body!" Ennard immediately regretted that wording. "This body! Getting in this body- or not body, but really- just plates! Getting into this body of plates to go to sleep!" If it wasn't for Ennard's explanation going all over the spectrum, he might've been at least the slightest bit believable. Scott could see through it thought; he knew what people looked like when they were nervous.

"Now? That's sort of… Random. I thought you were staying over here. You were excited about it earlier," Scott pointed out. He blinked and tried to clear his mind a bit more. "Did something happen? If-…" A slow realization settled on his face. "You didn't go out to see Baby, did you?"

"Me? No! I just made a little popcorn! Had to stretch my legs; it was already midnight!" Ennard excused. As though it being midnight justified him being up and active. Considering Scott's history with animatronics, he could've believed it. Though he didn't look convinced. "Yeah, I saw Baby, but who cares? Baby was being Baby, ha ha! Had to come back in here, but look, I'm fine!" He adjusted his box absentmindedly. "Didn't even touch a wire! I know what you're thinking, and I was thinking it too: who is this and what did she do with the real Baby? Ha ha!" In retrospect, the incredibly forced laughter was a dead giveaway.

Ennard turned his back to Scott and began to undo his button and the bow of wires it held together. "Mind looking away? This is gonna look awkward, me climbing in at this angle with the lights on."

"Yeah, sure. I guess I'm just going to…" The human trailed off as he started to slide down into bed, only to stop halfway down. He then decided that he wasn't going to let it go and tried again. "No, wait. Ennard, just get back in bed." The clown silently stood there, no longer fussing with his wires and now instead just staring at the shell. "I know Baby said something to you. I don't know what and you don't have to tell me, but you should get back into bed." The physical distance was starting to make him uneasy, because he could only imagine what Baby had said. Probably something about ice cream.

Meanwhile, Ennard was trying his hardest not to think about the cues that would immediately trigger all his excited programming. Warmth, touch, skin, Scott- Scott alone certainly made all of him tingle as it was, and the last thing he wanted was to imagine how warm he was. Especially not how warm he was underneath his skin.

"You're twitching," Scott pointed out. Though even twitching was underestimating the miniature spasms that circulated through his wires. With a weary exhale, but a still patient one, Scott stood beside the bed. Not wanting to put his prosthetic on, he awkwardly shifted his way down the bed and then reach out. Alas, he couldn't reach the clown, even when he straightened. "Could you come maybe a few inches closer?" Ennard got a confused sort of look as he slowly moved in. Getting ahold of his arm, Scott pulled him in towards the bed. Ennard's usually lively wires were still under his grasp.

"Here we go. Just get back in bed," he guided. It took at least twenty long seconds before the animatronic complied, and even then it was weird. The normally unfazed clown, who would stretch halfway across the bed and be everywhere, was as far away from Scott as he possibly could get. His silence was rather telling. His distance was especially alarming.

The night was unsettlingly silent.

Scott woke up to cats laying on him and his pinned leg tingling from loss of circulation. He was half asleep still, groggy, with cat fur nearly suffocating his mouth, and his leg was slowly losing all the feeling in it. With a short huff, he yanked the limb back without thinking. This was followed by an enormously heavy thump. Immediately Scott's eyes opened as he realized what he had kicked off the bed. He choked and looked towards the foot of the bed. "Ennard?!"

"It's okay! I'm alive!" Ennard called out with a sputtering crackle of laughter. "You know, you kick pretty well with that one leg."

"Sorry, I wasn't awake," Scott apologized. Though he then blinked in confusion. Not only was it weird that he was suddenly acting normal again, but it was just strange that he had moved to the foot of the bed. It certainly couldn't be a comfortable way to lay when he was so much bigger than a housecat. "What were you even doing down there?"

"I must've shifted around last night," Ennard excused vaguely as he sat upwards. He peered at Scott over the foot of the bed. His large blue eyes stared at him with a familiar interest. It was peculiar to think that Scott didn't feel nervous under the gaze when Baby's had been so difficult to handle. Maybe long ago he had been wary of the clown's interest, but now it just felt so natural. Though it did remind him that he wouldn't be able to hide out in his room forever. "Whatcha thinking of?"

"Oh, uh… Breakfast, mostly, and how we're going to go about that. Do you want to come with me?" Maybe if he could get Ennard out of the room he wouldn't be ambushed by Baby. After all, she had vanished once he made it clear that he was going back into the room. Yet from the silent stare it didn't look like the amalgam would cooperate. "You could help me figure out what to make."

"…Aww, I'd love too, Scottie… But I think I'm just gonna wait in here," Ennard said as he watched the human put his leg on. By now the Phone Guy knew that something had happened last night. Still, he decided not to press, and stood from the bed. The amalgam stood and started to pull his wires back into place while he watched as the human approached to pass by. "I still got all kinds of treats in the bag!~"

"Yeah, but I need to stretch my legs. They need their food too." Scott gestured to the cats who were now standing around the door. Their bedroom bowls had run out and they were already becoming antsy. "Well, if you change your mind, you could help me out," he said nonchalantly. He then opened the bedroom door and watched as the cats dashed out and headed towards the kitchen. A quick sweep of the living room showed that Baby was nowhere to be seen and so he stepped out comfortably.

"Wait," Ennard broke out from behind. The bedroom door creaked open further and Ennard stepped out. He also scanned for Baby before looking back to Scott. "I'll come help you!"

"That's- That's great! Sure, I could use the help," Scott reassured as he continued to the kitchen. He was feeling safer already as he entered the kitchen and immediately went to feed the cats. He hummed to himself- some sort of pirate tune from Freddy's a long time ago- and put the cat food away before moving to the counter. It was now that he noticed an empty popcorn bag on the counter. "You had popcorn last night?"

"Guilty as charged! My show came on and, ya know, popcorn." It was now that the amalgam remembered the bowl in the living room and headed out to go it. Stale popcorn wasn't exactly as good as freshly popped, but it would tide him over for a few minutes. He cradled the bowl in his arms and leaned against the back of the couch. "You missed one heck of a show last night! I didn't catch the end, but Clara totally figured out that Vlad's been playing playmate to all their neighbors, and then-!" He had vaguely noticed the squeaking through his voice and turned to see the garage door opening. He fell completely silent as he watched her appear.

"I didn't catch the end of that," Scott called back. Ennard's eyes briefly looked towards the kitchen before falling back on Baby. She waited until he looked at her before beginning to slowly approach the kitchen. The amalgam watched the clown with every intention of stepping in, but currently frozen in place at the back of the couch. Scott was oblivious as he started heating the frying pan and took a few eggs out of the fridge. "What do you think about scrambled? I know it's kind of basic, but maybe if I shredded some cheese-." Then he turned and saw Baby. One of the eggs slipped through his fingers and cracked on the floor.

"Oh. Did I scare you? I'm sorry, I didn't think you would be scared so easily, considering your… Delicate situation," Baby pointed out. Scott sputtered briefly as he put the eggs on the counter and grabbed a paper towel.

"No! No, no. Just startled me a little, and I'm a little clumsy even on my good days," Scott excused as he stood again. He knew she was staring at his leg while he stood. "How'd… How'd you sleep?"

"I slept well enough, considering that I was worried about you. I expected you to come back out. I didn't know what could've happened," Baby explained with what sounded like a genuinely worried tone. Scott was mostly confused by it, but Ennard saw straight through it, and was currently watching her carefully. He knew she was leading to something.

"No, I just… Went to sleep," Scott explained.

"We had a great night!" Ennard suddenly blurted out. Baby's eyes looked to the side as Scott looked past her in the clown's direction. "We played games, we ate canned meat, I held him all night long and it was great!" He shoved a handful of popcorn past his sharp teeth. "It's a shame ya don't get to do this, but we can't all have a bed buddy like Scott!" He then chuckled gleefully to finish it.

"Oh…" Baby quietly began. "I suppose that's very fortunate… For Scott." She looked back to the human with an unreadable look. Though the way her tone lowered only made him uncomfortable. "Maybe he will last longer with multiple uses. You don't know, Scott, but he goes through humans quickly. I think you're the longest…" She looked down at his leg. "…Or maybe he's taking you one piece at a time."

The edge of the plastic bowl cracked from how tightly Ennard was holding it. He didn't know whether it was out of fear or anger, but he felt like he was about to explode, perhaps in electricity. Yet he couldn't do anything except hold his voice, lest his voice break and her get the luxury of mocking that too. He could only imagine the memories that her words would bring. Scott, meanwhile, found his voice and was immediately protesting.

"What?! No! This- This was caused by animatronics, yes, but not Ennard!" Scott uncomfortably shuffled at the stove, not certain if he wanted to start cooking, because then he would be trapped there. He turned the stove back off. "It was a long time ago, it was a mistaken identity, and accident- Freddy and Bonnie and- Ennard's not done anything to hurt me."

"He has a bit of Freddy in him. He has a bit of a few people in him. The body was theirs before it became his… But he does that to humans too. Though I don't think humans come apart as easily as we do…" There was that false innocence again. Even while she was mercilessly going on about him while he was standing right there. "… I don't think Freddy thought his own body would turn against him. All he could think of was wearing suit made of skin. Did he tell you about that?"

"Uh… The Scooper?" Scott guessed. He hoped she would stop, so did Ennard, but she didn't.

"He might deny it, but he'll take you down there someday. He'll pretend that it is nothing, but then he'll scoop you out, and he'll steal your body too," Baby insisted. "…Or maybe not. Maybe he's just using you for the perks you offer. Your body might be a little too broken." It was that moment, that word, when the amalgam's resolve snapped.

"Oh, aren't YOU one to talk?!" Ennard called out. His anger was clear, and he barely managed to keep his voice in line. "Yeah, you're willing to be nice and share, but ONLY when you want something! You're- You're- You're just all talk, Baby!" Ennard spat out, still clutching the bowl, his wires twitching in irritation as the clown turned to face him with disgust. "You- You never change! You crowded them, and you crowd me!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your slow journey into manipulating Scott into being your personal caregiver, and then personal suit once you 'lose control of your programming'," Baby bitterly answered. "Why don't you tell him what you did to Ballora? Or Funtime Freddy, or Funtime Foxy, or me… Or that technician you gutted."

"Baby-!" Scott blurted out. He had to step in before this got out of hand. "Baby, I thought- I thought Fritz told me that you and the other animatronics came together to- uh- just- to escape from there together." He pointed out, noticing the silence from both clowns. "…So, wouldn't that mean that you would've done it together? And wasn't- isn't the whole point that he came from the other ones?"

"…Why are you trying to defend him?" Instead of answering the question, Baby suddenly asked this as she turned and stared the human down. She slowly started to skate forward, and his pulse started to pound. "It's all an act. To him, you're just a free body. A warm bag of flesh to wear just like we were. Just like they were before he pushed them away and took their bodies for himself. There was someone before you, and there will be someone after you."

"Well, I-!" Scott didn't know what he was going to say. Thinking of Ennard, of that one time he had coaxed him into the Scooping Room, was all a brutal reminder that Baby could be saying something truthful. "I think-!" He was going to regret this, but he evened out his voice. "I don't think I can trust you when whole reason I'm watching you is because Fritz can't."

He regretted it even before the hand lashed out and grabbed ahold of his wrist.

"How dare you," Baby quietly growled. "You don't know anything. You just think you know animatronics, but you're just as ignorant as the others. The difference is that somehow you survived… and look at you now."

"Baby…" Scott tried to keep his voice even. The sharp fingers dug into his skin. "B-Baby, let go of me…"

In hindsight, that was the worst thing he could've said, because it was those words that alerted Ennard to the fact that Baby had grabbed him. It was in that moment when everything went from bad to a complete nightmare.

Ennard dashed into the room with a garbled cry of anger and grabbed Baby from behind. She must've been expecting this, as instead of surprise she responded with equally aggressive shriek. Neither sounded human, nor resembled either of the voices they had before, and they continued to scream as they tore at each other. Baby's claw dug into the amalgam's chest and bow and tore it undone, with the wires falling open and the button flying into the living room. In return, Ennard used Baby's roller-skates against her and proceeded to throw her into the side table outside the garage door. It made a splintering crack under the weight.

"Stop!" Scott desperately choked out. He reached out to stop them and was rewarded by something, he couldn't see what or who, cutting across his fingers. He recoiled and was forced to watch from afar.

Baby's hand yanked wires free while her claw latched onto his arm and started to twist, swiveling her claw as far as she could. Ennard's wires, some of which now hanging free, began to reach for a climb inside of Baby's frame. Suddenly realizing what was about to happen, she drew her claw back, pushed off the wall, and rammed him in the middle with her shoulder. He fell back, knocking into the lamp beside the couch, and was stunned enough for her to dive for him. He caught her by the wrists- if what was connected to the claw was a wrist- as she tried to wrestle with him.

The claw opened and closed rapidly. Its teeth wanted nothing more than to bury back in Ennard's wires, but instead the amalgam released a growl and pushed back. Baby's wheels glided without her consent and she was slammed back into the table and wall again. By now it collapsed from their fighting. Baby got her good hand free, but Ennard took his second hand to hold back her claw, attempting to twist it over her head. Realizing what he was doing, the clown reached upwards and grabbed at the plates in his mask and yanked one of them open.

"Don't do this! Don't do this, please!" Scott begged. The cats had long gone and here he was watching the two fight.

Then Baby's roller-skates slipped. She dropped down and Ennard came down atop her. Their arms were detangled and the fighting began anew as Baby's claw latched onto Ennard's neck and began to tug. Ennard shoved his wire fingers deep into her chest as he tried to overtake her body.

Scott looked down to the drawer. They would kill themselves if he didn't do something quickly. In a smooth motion he grabbed for the one thing he thought might stop them. "If- If you don't break it up right now, I swear I'll do it-!" he threatened as he pulled out the taser. He rushed in so that they would be able to see. "I'll shock both of you- I swear!" He pressed his thumb down on the button. His hand was already shaking before the crackle of electricity shot through the tip of the weapon. They looked over immediately.

In an instant, everything went deathly silent. Ennard still held Baby down, her claw was still clamped on his neck, and both were staring at Scott with wide open eyes of blue and green. As unbelievable as it seemed, they almost looked afraid. It took him a moment to realize why and what he had done. He was a former Freddy's employee wielding a taser meant to keep animatronics in line.

Before he could even say anything, he heard something that sounded like distant voices. He raised his head and looked towards the front door, listening, waiting, and soon hearing the voices coming closer. "I-I think that's the neighbors," Scott choked out. The taser slipped from his hand and fell to the floor useless as his panic grew. "They must- They're coming here, they must've heard us!"

In an instant, Ennard abandoned Baby on the floor and scrambled into the garage to hide. Without much choice in the matter, Baby willingly followed him. Whether it be to avoid the people or to get away from Scott. The human tried to quickly fix his hair and adjust his clothing before the knocking came. He quickly opened the door. "Oh, h-hey!"

"Hey, Scott. We were just in the yard and we thought we heard something going on. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, well- It's the silliest thing, really," Scott began with a nervous chuckle. "That was my television. I didn't realize how loud it was when I turned it on, headed into the kitchen, and then it got loud. It scared me half to death! I was in the middle of cutting up potatoes, I caught these fingers, and- you know, something like this happens and then you can't find the remote…"

Outside, Scott continued to babble on to excuse the noises while Ennard and Baby stayed in the back of the garage. Once it seemed like they were secure enough, the amalgam turned towards the clown. He began to silently stalk towards her, to which she stared him down and called him out.

"You could at least wait until they leave, unless you really don't care what happens to him," Baby quietly spat towards him. Yet the amalgam continued in before leaning over her. "That's close enough," Baby remarked. "Any closer and I cut your wires apart. We'll see you put yourself back together then." Thus, he stopped, but then he began to speak quietly.

"Baby…" His voice was still like Funtime Freddy's, but it was humorless and cold. "I don't care what you do to me. You can tell me whatever you want, you can hit me, you can break me, I don't care. I'll even let you stay here, and I won't fight it." There was a low, breathy static as the tone started to shift and the volume started to lower. "But… if you ever touch him again, I w-ll brrreak you down. I will des-destroy what's left of y-r body." She stared back at him, obviously not expecting the threat. She could him crackling with static of anger. "Don't. Touch. Him."

Baby continued to stare as Ennard drew back and stared her down. It was the first time he had ever seemed intimidating. Not enough to scare her, but enough to startle her. Especially when his voice briefly sounded unsettling familiar.

"It's like this, Baby," Ennard quipped, returning to his Funtime Freddy voice. "I know ya don't understand this sort of thing, but I actually really love my human. He cares about me, he makes me happy, and even though I know you can't understand that I like to keep it that way. You understand, right? Right! Of course! You were always the smart one! The ringleader princess, bossing everyone else around." Baby couldn't put into words how much she disliked being called 'princess', but she didn't know why. "Ha ha, there's only one ringleader in this house, and it ain't either of us!"

The amalgam turned and headed to the other side of the garage. Baby was infuriated by Ennard's verbal attack and considered snapping back. There was so much she could say; she could point out how broken his body was, how stupid his mask looked, how he was still obviously obsessed with scooping humans, so much. Yet she hesitated as something else won over, something that was brought about by his wording on ringleaders. She watched him standing there, listening, trying to hear whether the humans were gone or not, and wondered what exactly Scott had done to win such loyalty. Cold suspicion started to slip in.

"Ennard…" Baby quietly began. "…Does he threaten to shock you often?"

The question startled the amalgam. Mostly because Baby almost sounded like she was concerned, and not that fake concern she used for sympathy. He wasn't sure how to even react to something like that. Even if he wasn't pleased with how infuriating she had been, it was noticeably out of character for her. He certainly would keep his guard up regardless, and if it wasn't for the question presented to him he would've tried to ignore her and keep the cold silence.

"No. This is the first time," Ennard denied. "…Scott's not like that." Baby wasn't sure if she believed him or not. Baby wasn't even entirely sure why she cared.

When Scott finally got his neighbors back on their way home, he found himself not feeling any form of relief. Ennard and Baby were silent inside of the garage and he had no doubt they were probably going through turmoil after him bringing out the taser. He felt so foolish; Ennard had told him of Afton Robotics' behavior towards the animatronics that lived down there. Both Baby and Ennard's predecessors had to endure countless shocks and pain at the hands of human workers. He could've singlehandedly destroyed that trust by bringing those terrible memories back to life.

With a patient exhale, Scott decided to wait on trying to explain himself. They probably needed their space from him and as long as they weren't fighting it seemed safe to give it to them. He instead started to head towards the bathroom to tend to his hand. It was only when he went to shut the door that he realized he wasn't alone any longer. Standing outside the garage door was Ennard, watching him silently, and Scott's face fell into a guilty look.

"Hey…" he greeted quietly. It was like the word somehow summoned the amalgam as he immediately started to approach. Scott opened the bathroom door further to welcome him inside and then turned to open the medicine cabinet. He couldn't afford to let the scratches infected when he couldn't remember his last tetanus shot. He tried to distract himself by looking at the tube of antibiotic ointment, but once Ennard was standing beside him, watching him, he knew that he had to say something. With a slow exhale, he set down the tube.

"Ennard, I'm sorry. I…I don't know what I was thinking…" Scott apologized quietly. "You… You know that I'd never…" He looked up to the animatronic. Those blue eyes were watching him so carefully, taking in every movement, just as they had that morning. "I'd never do that to you, right? I just- I thought I could break up the fight. I didn't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking."

"Hey, it's okay," Ennard interrupted. Scott had never been so relieved to hear the typical Freddy voice, which confirmed for a moment that everything was alright. "I know you weren't gonna use that," the amalgam assured. He then paused, his eyes flickering towards the mirror briefly, and he looked back slowly. "…Just like you know that everything Baby said wasn't true, right?" That was it; Ennard was just as uncomfortable as Scott was with the taser event.

"Right," Scott agreed as he looked back down at his hand. Now Ennard noticed the cuts on his fingers and the slight blood left behind by them.

"Which of us hurt you?" he asked hesitantly. The Phone Guy did a double take.

"I, uh… Well, honestly, I don't know. It doesn't matter. It was an accident," Scott rambled. After all of that, he didn't want Ennard to take the blame for this when he had no idea who had done it. Even if Baby had done it, Scott didn't blame her. He knew better to reach in between fighting animatronics. It was the same reason he wouldn't reach in between fighting cats. "I'm just going to bandage it."

"Can I help?" Ennard chirped almost excitedly. His lighter tone got a small smile out of the human.

"Sure. There's not really much too do, but I could use the help." Then he went to wash his hands and wash away the blood. Ennard watched it, noticing the blood starting to fill the cuts again after being irritated by the water. It was so bright in comparison to the dark rust that he would've anticipate from blood. This might've been the first time he had ever seen Scott's blood.

Then he realized he was watching too closely, too transfixed by it, and there came the rush of dread. Just like with the Scooping Room, just as Baby had said, he had to be obsessing over Scott being scooped. His mind went straight to it as his vision started to tunnel, edged with faded focus, as he got a mental picture of it. What if he had succeeded in scooping Scott when he took him down to Afton's? Had he really been so blind that he would've put Scott through such trauma? Maybe he wouldn't now, but Baby had every reason to call him out on it.

Instead of the pleasured tingles that Ennard would get when he thought of tight warmth- his programming doing its job- there was a crippling pain that suddenly decided to settle into his chest and twist at his loose wires. It then began to spread along his wires as his thoughts betrayed him and reminded him of horrific things. The process of scooping suddenly presented itself as the horrific thing it truly was; gutting a human body and leaving them lifeless. Nobody could survive that, and Scott wouldn't have either.

Gentle, wonderful, forgiving Scott would've been left torn open as organs and blood gushed out of his front and fell through his fingers as he tried to ignore the agonizing pain that was very present even though she said it would only be a moment and it certainly felt like so much more as every drop splattered onto the floor and then they came to take the body and they had said they needed help but they were lying because they wanted everything and the crunch of every bone as they broke and tore them out as the blood pooled across the floor and they filled every space-.

He did remember.

All at once, Ennard grabbed onto the sink and hunched over it. His voice choked and crackled in a startled yell as he stared into the sink, back shivering. He couldn't get the images out of his head of blood and organs, of the heat and the smell, and that loud cracking noise. That deafening crunch that had ended everything all at once.

"Ennard?" Scott looked at the animatronic in startled alarm. Then the robot hacked, and wires began to fall through his teeth and mask, coming loose and falling into the sink. The human's eyes widened in shock. "Ennard!"

"Didn't- Didn't-!" Ennard choked out as his wires continues to come undone. With a shudder of his back, more of the wires spilled through his mouth and hung there, as though being rejected by his body. His back was shuddering, and the wires tangled everywhere began to shift in ways that they weren't supposed to. "Didn't want it! No body- skin- no body!"

"What's going on?! Why are you spitting out wires?!" Scott blurted out in shock. He received no answers and realized it was more important to deal with the problem at hand. He took ahold of the animatronic, with one hand rested on his back and the other on his arm, and he decided to try to ease the panic through soft comforting. "Ennard? Ennard, I need you to try and calm down."

Ennard tried to pull away, or perhaps just shuddered so violently that it seemed like that and continued to call out garbled words. "Didn't know! They didn't tell me!"

"Shh, it's okay. I need you to calm down, okay?" Scott tried to assure. He patted over his back and rubbed his fingers through the wires. "You're safe, Ennard. Don't think about Baby, don't think about anywhere else but here, home." The amalgam shuddered and then suddenly turned, taking the human into a tight embrace. He clung to the human with the tight desperation of someone who just saw something terrible. His loose wires hung on Scott's shoulder as he shuddered, muttering in low, garbled sorts of gasped noises. The Phone Guy responded by hugging and patting his back.

"It's going to be all okay, okay?" Scott said. Even as he said this, he noticed how loose Ennard felt. The wires at his core were disheveled enough that even the pieces of endoskeleton seemed to be amiss. This wouldn't do. The animatronic couldn't handle something as drastic as losing so many wires, especially when Scott could feel the weight of them on his shoulder. "Now Ennard, this is really important. I need you to try and pull your wires back in. Can you do that?" The amalgam shuddered, and Scott felt more wires falling onto his shoulder. "You're coming unwound. I need you to try and focus on pulling them back in, okay?"

Ennard was still for a moment. Then, very slowly, he could feel the wires dragging along his shoulder and back into the body. The amalgam accepted the hunk of his wires back inside and slowly began to reconstruct himself.

"There you go! You're doing great," Scott encouraged. He then gave a light exhale of relief, even though wasn't fully comforted by it. Whatever was happening had effectively caused Ennard to stop functioning, to unwillingly arm himself by taking out his own wires, so Scott had a bad feeling that it would take more than just gentle words to fix this. Finally, Ennard drew back, shivering and twitching as he stared back at Scott. Something still didn't seem right.

"Good as new!... Almost. I think we're both a little worse for wear after earlier," Scott attempted to joke. The amalgam said nothing, and his shoulders shivered like someone walked over his grave. "…Hey, I have an idea. Let's just- Let me finish this up in here and then we'll go back to making breakfast… And then maybe we should look for the cats."

There was a small nod of agreement. Though it too could've been a spasm. Meanwhile, Scott started to get the bandages out and put medicine on the cuts. "What was that?!" Scott didn't let his frantic internal questioning show as he worked. "It's like he had a complete nervous breakdown! He still doesn't look better. Was that some sort of delayed reaction or-?"

Thoughts were cut off as Ennard reached forward for one of the band-aids. The human watched as he removed the plastic before reaching out and taking the injured hand. "You don't have to…" Scott trailed off when it became clear that Ennard was going to do so regardless. He was surprisingly gentle considering that he was shaking so much only moments earlier. The amalgam gave a low, wispy hum as he finished. "Thanks," Scott smiled to him encouragingly. Again, Ennard was silent, but it was through this that Scott noticed all the loose wires still around his neck and chest.

"Wait… Meltdown aside, was Ennard coughing out the wires because his bow was undone?" It was s stretch, but a reasonable guess. After all, while it was tied like a bow for show, it stayed tied for reasons only known to Ennard. Perhaps he just couldn't keep himself together when it was undone. "Hold on a second. Wait here," Scott commanded before going to find the bow. It didn't take too long to find as it stood out like a red beacon on the living room floor. "You're going to have to show me how to do this," Scott forewarned as he returned with it. It was the least he could do.

As tangled and confused as Ennard's wires looked, how they were aligned was precise and intricate. He stared on his own, folding and twisting, and then guided Scott's hand up to show him how it was tied. It certainly wasn't tied like a real bowtie would've been but wasn't as complicated as it looked. Especially considering that, even though it looked like a bowtie, it was evidently a large portion of his chest. Yet soon it was fixed tight.

"There you go, good as new!... For both of us." Scott glanced down at his bandaged hand with a sigh. This certainly had been a mess.

It was now when Ennard reached forward and laid his hands on the human's shoulders. Scott was momentarily confused until the amalgam leaned in. He expected an embrace, but instead the clown leaned down and pressed the mouth of his mask to Scott's forehead. He wasn't sure if it was just supposed to be an awkward nuzzle- though Ennard made no attempt to nuzzle- but it was clearly an affectionate gesture. It felt surprisingly intimate; if he didn't know the amalgam better, his mind would've assumed something inappropriate instead of the obvious, that Ennard was being sweet like usual.

"Better?" Scott asked. It at least seemed a little better. With a low hum in his chest, Ennard was finally able to respond.

"Better."

Thank goodness Scott was there to pull him together, because he was never going to forget what he just remembered. Never again.