Almost Feels Like Home

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ennard barged into the office and began to dig through the drawers and scour the top of it. It was clear that he was looking for the keys, and Baby stopped in the doorway to watch him. She waited until he had practically torn apart the entire desk before she decided to step in and stop him.

"If you're looking for the keys-," which she knew he was, "-then you won't find them. Fritz took them with him when he left. I'm almost certain of it." No doubt he was too paranoid after their fight to leave her any chance of escape. Infuriating.

"… That's okay. I don't need the keys anyway, I'll just start it myself. Can't be that hard," Ennard insisted as he looked around. "Did he leave a coat or something around here? I'm gonna need to cover up if I'm driving and this mask ain't gonna cut it." Baby pointed towards a locker against the back wall. He opened it up and began to shift through a few old, oversized coats left behind. He began to pull them out and hold them to his chest to test them. He was barely taking this seriously, and she gave an impatient whirring from inside.

"This is not going to work. Have you even driven before? Charlie, at least, has driven before," Baby pointed out to him. He looked to her almost too innocently and she was only more irritated, mostly at getting her hopes up in the thought that maybe he could help her. "Aren't you afraid that you will make your plaything angry? I couldn't see him appreciating you stepping out of line." Ennard twitched and she knew she hit a soft spot. How curious. "Why would you want to do this?"

"Because I'm an evil monster who eats children and destroys lives!" Ennard snapped back, glaring back at her, his voice contorting just as much as his wires. Baby stared at him for a few moments.

"Well, the first step is admitting you have a problem," she added. Surprised, yes, but neither intimidated nor shaken by Ennard's even more erratic behavior than usual.

"And yeah, I have drove, thank you!" Ennard snapped as he nearly ripped a large raincoat out of the locker. He paused a moment before looking down at the jacket in his hands and lifting it. "You think this one'll fit me?"

"I think it's almost sunrise and once it's light out no amount of disguise will be able to hide what you really are," Baby remarked matter-of-factly, making her irritation clear.

"Then I'll make it work." The clown started to pull on the raincoat and tugged the hood up as far as he could, with it unable to slip past the party hat on his mask. He then tried to tuck it under the mask to hold it in place. Then he passed by Baby and headed down the aisle towards the front door. "You know where we're going right? I only saw the map once and it ain't the same driving as it is on foot."

"I know where it is. I wouldn't forget," Baby promised. She decided to leave out the part where she mentioned staring intently at the map while trying to plan a way to get there. "It is of absolute importance that we get there and find my old body. It must still be there."

"Yeah, about that…" Ennard slowly buttoned the front of the raincoat as he looked at her. "This body ain't the plate one from down in Afton's, is it? Cause if it is, I don't think it's gonna be there." He wasn't sure if he wanted to outright claim he had her body either. That seemed like the sort of thing that could send her into a rage or into a fit of insults. She instead gave an impatient noise of static.

"No, it's not. That body was too big and clunky and flawed to work for anything. No, I had one before then, back when I was in my own pizzeria. You wouldn't remember it because you weren't there," Baby insisted. She had a point, so he decided not to argue. "Just listen to me and my directions. I know how much trouble you have following someone else's lead… An inherited trait, maybe?"

Ennard totally ignored any partial insult, which was the most normal example of his behavior since he got there. "Alright! Buckle up, Baby, cause we're going to the circus!" Ennard announced as he opened the door-

-and immediately stared into a set of headlights.

The clown froze immediately. Not because he had been spotted- if that was the case he would've ducked back inside- but because he could see the color of the car and knew exactly who was driving it. Baby hadn't recognized them however.

"Of course, you led someone here with you. I don't even know why I expected otherwise," Baby remarked. Her voice became more of a growl. "Get in here before you make it worse."

"Ennard?"

She looked back out when she recognized the voice. There, standing from the driver's side, was none other than Scott. The second he called out, Ennard was snapped out of his frozen state, and promptly stepped back into the warehouse and slammed the door. He then stood there staring at the door and trying to figure out how Scott could've possibly found him.

"And again, I am somehow surprised by what should've been obvious. You appeared, so of course your wrangler would come after you," the female clown remarked. She didn't mean to, but her tone dropped to a more solemn one. "And that means he will be whisking you away and I get to return to searching for a ride, doesn't it?"

"No," Ennard interrupted. "…No, we're still going. Get in the van and I'll get it started." With that, he swung the door back open and strode out. He tried not to look at Scott as he hurried to the van and let himself in the driver's side.

Scott gave a slow exhale at the amalgam purposefully ignoring him, then looked over as Baby came out and approached the van. This was a bit of a surprise. He expected for Ennard to come here but assumed he would keep a wide berth from the other animatronic. "Baby? Where are you going?" Baby started to open the back doors of the van and he caught on. "Oh good Lord, he's not actually going to…"

"Drive me to my old pizzeria? Yes. That was my reaction as well." She started to climb up into the back of the van and only looked back at Scott once on her knees, poised to shut the doors again. "But since we've already been caught no less than one step out of the warehouse, I don't expect much more than a disaster. Just as he usually is." With that, she shut the doors and left the man standing there.

The Phone Guy gave an exhausted sigh and started to slowly walk to the front of the van. He found Ennard hunched down with his arms lodged underneath the steering wheel, no doubt attempting to hotwire the car. Scott didn't know whether to be mortified, curious, or some sort of mix of that. "Ennard," he quietly began. He was still ignored. "Ennard," he tried again. The car made a strange noise, like a revving sort of popping noise. He folded one arm and covered his face with his other hand, growing move exhausted and impatient. "Ennard." Finally, the van sputtered to life, and Scott wasn't even surprised.

It was becoming clear that the amalgam was going to do this. He was determined and started to climb in the driver's seat. He was stopped by Scott catching his arm.

"Ennard, wait," Scott said. He gave a long, tired inhale and exhale, still covering his face, still not being looked at by Ennard. "…Okay, fine. Get in the passenger's seat. I'll drive."

Ennard wasn't sure what sort of reaction to have to that, so he decided not to have one. He slowly pulled out of Scott's grip, circled the car, and climbed in on the other side. The Phone Guy gave a tired mutter of, "This is a bad idea," and then proceeded to sit down in the driver's seat of the now running van. He watched as Ennard got in and slid down in the seat, still wrapped in the raincoat with his head turned to face away. Scott found himself staring until he was brought out of it by Baby piping in from the backseat.

"Do you need me to guide you? I know the directions to my pizzeria," she offered. It was a surprisingly helpful gesture for her, but he declined.

"No, it's okay… I've been there before, so I know where I'm going." Ennard turned his head slightly as though listening and perhaps curious. Scott couldn't remember if he told Ennard that, but he supposed he hadn't. He tried not to tell him the full extent of his work with the pizzeria chain. "But I've got to ask, why now? I sort of thought Fritz was getting the parts."

"I can't rely on Fritz anymore. I angered him and now can't be too sure he won't try to sabotage me. Or at least, I cannot trust him to give his full efforts any longer," Baby explained. She wasn't ashamed of what she did. If anything, Fritz should've been ashamed. Or that's what she kept telling herself to fight back the nagging frustrations trying to build up. "…But then again, I'm not entirely sure that he ever intended to fix me."

"I'm sure he did and I'm sure he does. Fritz isn't like that. He's a good guy…" Scott trailed off a moment as he went back over her words. "…What, uh, what did you do that got him so upset?"

Baby didn't really want to answer. By now she had realized that everyone would react to it with disapproval and, while she acknowledged this was appropriate, she couldn't afford Scott suddenly deciding to not cooperate. Then again, she couldn't imagine what could've happened to lead to a wedge in Scott and Ennard's co-dependent relationship. Eventually, she just decided to get it over with and out there. Elsewise someone would twist it into her hiding it.

"I tried to cut his girl's hair while she was sleeping," Baby admitted. "In my defense, I was holding back… And she would look better with short hair."

There was a lingering silence for about five seconds. In this time Scott's eyes widened as he blankly stared at the road. He didn't say a thing. Meanwhile, Ennard made a noise like a guffaw and then tried to stay stoic considering the circumstances. This only lasted a few more seconds before he caved with a snicker.

"That's terrible! That's like something Juliet would do to sabotage Clara's entry into the Miss Transylvania contest! So catty!~" He continued giggling as though it was the funniest thing in the world. Of course, he wasn't directly laughing at Baby, but it felt like it to her. She twitched in annoyance and tightened her claw.

"It can't be much worse than whatever you did. I know you wouldn't offer me help willingly," Baby pointed out in her defense. To her surprise, that succeeded in quieting down Ennard in seconds. Suddenly reminded of the circumstances that brought him here, he returned to his defiant silence, and the car returned to an uncomfortable silence. "…And it wasn't entirely my fault. Fritz made me believe that he was- He misled me. Anyone could have been confused by him." Her claw still stayed tightened, even with her partial victory. "It would've been different if she hadn't been there."

Something about that comment sent an eerie sense of déjà vu between both Ennard and Scott. Neither could even bear looking in the other's direction after that. Thankfully, they arrived at the building shortly afterwards.

Circus Baby's Pizza World was as abandoned as it had been years ago. The sign over the door had been taken down and the few stray fliers left behind on the windows were decayed by age and weather. The parking lot was deserted, as expected. It looked as though someone hadn't been here in years. Since Scott knew that William had held onto the location as long as he could, it was quite possible that the rights to the building were still up in the air. Maybe its deed was still hidden somewhere in his old house, lost to time, leaving the pizzeria in infinite limbo.

Baby wasn't sure what she was expecting. She sort of expected something more akin to Chica's Party World, just closed and slightly rundown. In hindsight this made much more sense, but she couldn't help but be disappointed. She was still eager to get inside and look for her old body once more. Though her companions didn't seem to be in an equal rush.

"Alright, we're here!" Scott tried to sound excited and failed miserably. It didn't help that the two animatronics in the car were less than enthused. Especially Ennard, and Scott bit down on his lip as he realized it was time to take the plunge. "Before we go in there, Ennard, we really need to talk."

"Can you two talk when I'm not here?" Baby interrupted. That was enough to cause Scott to fall silent, and Ennard was too stubborn and frustrated to call her out on it. "Never mind. I'll see myself out." She opened the back of the van and climbed out. Ennard followed out the passenger door before Scott could make a second attempt.

The two clowns were soon standing at the front door. Ennard leaned in to peer through the glass and looked into the darkness. "Looks like they gutted the place! Guess there weren't any plans to open it back up." She tried to open the door and found it locked tight to her dismay. "So, what's this old body look like? I want to know what I'm looking for in there."

"What do you think it looked like? It looked like me," Baby lightly snapped as she looked to the glass on the bottom pane of the door. She tapped over it and realized it was a little loose. Perhaps she could push it out without much effort. She pressed one hand to one side and her claw to the other and began to press onto it evenly. "Except it was smaller than the one you remember and had a wig that felt like real hair. I remember having real hair." She gave a harder push and the glass popped out of the door, fell into the restaurant, and promptly shattered when it hit the floor. Baby still considered it a victory and glanced back briefly.

"…You don't need to come in. You can just wait out here," Baby offered as she began to climb through the door. She was met with a chortle from Ennard.

"You think I'm gonna miss this? Not a chance!"

"Not you, him," Baby clarified, glancing at the human now standing behind them both. Ennard hadn't even been paying enough attention to notice him coming up and started to fall back into the uncomfortable silence now that he knew he was listening. "I'll need you to help me carry the parts out. You should make yourself useful somehow," she added as she stood in the building and looked around.

He had been right about the place being gutted. There was no furniture at all in the small room; no tables, no chairs, and not even a register counter. Some scraps of drawings and things still hung on the walls, but they were just as faded, with only a few posters remaining. One of which showed cartoon versions of her, Ballora, Funtime Freddy, and Funtime Foxy all lined up on a stage. She was in front, as usual, and she was somewhat disappointed to see that it depicted her plated body and not the previous one. The glass crunched under her wheels as she lazily drifted across the floor.

The stage was still there, but the curtains were missing and the wallpaper on the back was peeling away. She looked up at it and could vaguely imagine seeing herself standing on stage and singing to a crowd of eager children. To think that it had all only lasted one day. She didn't want to think about it anymore. Hearing Ennard climb into the building, she started towards the back hall.

The hall was in worse condition. It smelled foul, like something was beginning to mold. Perhaps the building itself was rotting away. She counted the doors; a kitchen, a closet, bathrooms, an empty party room, and a blank space. She stared at the blank space of distorted wall and then continued looking down the other doors again. There was something missing.

"What are we looking for?" Ennard chimed in as he leaned in beside her. The wire of his arm brushed her shoulder and she was quick to flick it away with her fingers.

"We're looking for the room where they keep the costumes and the animatronics. The backroom, the storage room, the room where they would keep a body," she explained impatiently. "I don't understand. There's the private party room, the kitchen, two bathrooms… and nothing else? How is there nothing else?"

"What about there?" Ennard asked, pointing to the distorted wall. "Didja check there?"

"What do you mean, 'did I check there'? Did I check the wall? Yes, I checked the wall," she sarcastically said. "Can you try to be competent for once?"

"What are you talking about? I mean that door!" he insisted, pointing to the wall. She sent him an annoyed look- as much of one as she could- and he passed by. Again, his wires brushed her, much to her annoyance. "Right here. This door," the amalgam said as he gestured to the wall.

"That is not a door, that's a wall," Baby clarified. "I don't understand what you're doing-." And just like that, Ennard stepped into the distorted wall. Baby stared in silent shock as the clown stood halfway lodged into what looked like a solid, though somewhat muddled looking structure. Then he started weaving in and out, waving his arms in it. "…What?" She looked him up and down. "What- What is this? How are you standing in a wall? You're inside a wall. What are you doing?"

"Baby, this isn'ta wall. Trust me, it's a door! This- Look, this-!" Ennard felt along the width of what was shaped like a doorframe, if not for it being in the wall. She could even see his wire fingers jutting out. "See? Door!"

"I'm looking at the wall right now," the female clown argued back. "How can you tell me that's a door when I see the wall going straight through you? And stop weaving like that, it's disturbing. Standing in the middle of a wall-."

"It's, uh, it's a saferoom," Scott interrupted. Baby and Ennard almost completely forgot he had followed them inside. "They were rooms that they kept equipment, suits, all those things in. They were off the cameras and animatronics were programmed not to see them so that… They wouldn't wander inside. It's probably your programming that's making you not see it."

"And I'm so busted up that I still see it! Ha ha, guess there's some perks to that!" Ennard playfully quipped, taking a good amount of joy at being proven right. He then fully dipped into the wall. "Alright, let's see what we've got in here."

It was just another thing to irritate Baby, though this time it was on a deeper level than she expected. There was that programming standing in her way again and this time literally. She thought that her issues with the programming was over. That was the whole point of allowing Fritz to work on her, to instill the irritating fixation with ice cream- which she knew he put in- and yet it was still a problem. Either he was incompetent, which Baby knew he wasn't, or he left that there on purpose. Or maybe he just didn't care to remove anything that didn't bother him. Maybe Fritz never really cared at all.

"I wonder, did Fritz leave that in on purpose or did he forget it was there when he was trying to remove the rest?" Baby asked out loud. Even though Scott was the only one who could be listening, it didn't sound like she was talking to him. "But why leave it in? There wasn't a saferoom at Foxy's… Or maybe there is?" Whether it be Ennard or Fritz, someone was always making a fool out of her. She wouldn't be surprised if more things were hidden from her.

Then Ennard stepped back out with a shrug. "So, bad news: there's nothing in there." Baby's eyes raised to him in surprise. "And that's not just no body, that's nothing at all. Whole place is totally emptied out."

"What? No. That can't be. There must be something," Baby disagreed. She started towards the wall but stopped abruptly only inches from it. Something was gnawing at her insides and buzzing at her head the closer she got to the wall. She couldn't go in; something was keeping her out. Instead she looked back to Scott. "You go look and see. Maybe Ennard can't see what's in the room because of his broken programming," she desperately requested.

"Okay… Here I go, uh, into the wall." Scott headed over and stepped past Ennard, with them still awkward in each other's vicinity. He looked around at the inside of the saferoom and was only slightly surprised when the inside was completely barren. Anything that had been in there was long gone. "Ennard's right, there's nothing in here. They must've taken everything out."

"It's not here?... Let me see." Baby couldn't help but be in denial. The body hadn't been down in ARI, so if it wasn't here then she had no idea where it would be. She tried to barge her way into the room, but it was like the wall that only she saw truly did exist. She tried to thrust he claw through it and was rewarded with scolding pain climbing up her arm. She recoiled promptly and rolled back away, pausing a moment. Then she slammed her claw into the nearest wall, putting a large hole in the decaying structure. At hearing the noise, Scott rushed over to look out the door, and now both he and Ennard were just staring at her.

"It's gone… My body, my only hope at fixing myself, is long gone…" Baby's defeated tone began to slowly grow into anger. "I bet someone stole it. Nobody cared to take it when they left so some stranger took it for themselves. Someone with a perfectly put together body. They always do that. These people, these humans, take everything from me. My technician, my body, my pizzeria- it never stops. There's nothing they won't take." She cut off her venting by turning on the two onlookers. "It happened here, you know. This was where they ruined my life. Didn't I tell you?"

Both silently shook their heads and she gave a noise akin to a hiss. "Here, let me show you," she spat before heading into the party room. It was just as barren as the safe room, without even a single table left inside. She skated across and stopped on the spot she remembered, then turned around and waited for them to follow. They did, as predicted.

"It was right here. It was a private party, so I was back here, waiting. All of the other children had left, except for one." Scott already had a terrible feeling from that detail alone. He glanced over at Ennard, who was watching Baby silently, then looked back at Baby. "She wasn't the birthday girl. I don't even know if she was part of the birthday party. What I do know is that her daddy told her not to come close to me, but she thought I was so beautiful. She thought I was so wonderful… So, she came close when she was alone. You know what happens when we're alone with children, Ennard."

Ennard did know and he knew where the story was going. Baby didn't stop her story for more than a few seconds, "And she came closer to me."

The young girl carefully pattered across the floor until she stood only a few feet from the tall, clown animatronic. Its blue eyes were nearly glowing and watching her as she approached. Then she gave an eager smile as her excitement began to bubble. Here she was, able to see her pretty doll without anyone else interrupting. She was like a doll too, with her painted face and pretty, molded clothes.

"Don't tell Daddy that I'm here," the girl nearly begged. Then she took another step forward. "I've been wanting to watch a show too. I don't know why he won't let me come see you- You're wonderful!" The clown was silent, staring forwards blankly, and only then did the girl feel slightly uneasy. She glanced around and realized that the last couple of children by the door were now gone. "…Where did the other children go?"

A loud clunking noise cut her off. The girl jumped and looked back to Baby, whose front was beginning to open. Then, right before her eyes, the animatronic produced and ice cream cone and soon it was being filled with soft, vanilla ice cream. The girl's eyes lit up at the treat as it was offered to her. She eagerly started to move in to take the cone, getting closer to Baby, leaning in to accept the sweet offering.

She didn't even have a chance to react as a large claw launched out and clamped down on her. The girl screamed and tried to fight back but was easily yanked inside of the clown. The front closed behind her as the cavity compressed around her. The screaming continued, but nobody could hear her as she fought against the pressure and horror of closing metal. All the while, the clown didn't even move. It just stared ahead as children returned to the party room.

It almost didn't seem like it cared at all as the screaming from inside started to fade away. The girl slipped away in the middle of the party and nobody noticed.

"-But it was her own fault," Baby defended. "She was told not to be alone with me and she still made that decision. She willingly came closer, and her father wasn't there to watch her. Because of her, I lost my pizzeria, was confined to a basement, tormented, entrapped. They tried to burn me, they tried to break me, and now after all of this I am here again, and still I have nothing." Her anger grew more obvious. "Humans always do this to me. They blamed me for their mistakes, they take from me, they act like they like me but what they really want is something else. Just like Fritz. Just like you."

Scott realized she was speaking to him. He looked between the two clowns, still reeling from the disturbing story and the somewhat callous change of topic. "I didn't-."

"I didn't deserve this," Baby interrupted in protest. She began to twitch and shiver. "I did everything I was told to do. I did everything they made me to do. It was their fault. It was her fault." The anger was bubbling forth louder as she clutched her hand and lowered her head. "She's the one that went against what she was told. She was the stupid little brat who thought it was safe to take ice cream from a stranger. How was I supposed to resist?"

The human just watched her ramble with open mouth alarm. It all sounded so disturbing, so cold, so much like something that would come out of William's mouth. He was positively speechless.

"Sounds like you really hated her! Hey, I've gotta question." But surprisingly enough, Ennard was not. Baby must have been surprised too, as her head snapped up and her broken eyes fixated onto him. She looked seconds from going rabid and he half expected her to lash out at a single wrong word. He could only hope that the amalgam knew what he was doing. "Why'd you choose vanilla ice cream? I'd think kids would like chocolate more!" Or maybe he didn't.

"No, I did not choose the flavor," Baby spat as though it was the most foolish question he could've asked. "I could only make vanilla, so I gave her vanilla."

"Uh huh. Gotcha. But, ya know, between us chocolate would've been better, right?" he asked. She did not answer the question, so he continued, even when Scott grabbed his arm to try and stop him. "But her dad really told her not to be around you? Gee, kinda paranoid, don'tcha think?" He nudged the Phone Guy in the side. "Must've worked for the company, eh? Must've been in on it." He then looked back at Baby. "What did she look like? I'm guessing blonde, curls, baby blues."

"Ennard," Scott interrupted quietly.

"What? I was just guessing!" Ennard said with a short laugh. He was acting as though what happened earlier didn't even happen. "It's a fact that your hair matches your favorite kind of ice cream! Her favorite was vanilla, so she was a blonde!"

"I didn't say her favorite flavor was vanilla. I said I only made vanilla. Do you ever listen?" Baby snapped. At first, she hadn't realized what he was doing, but now she was suspecting that he was trying to trigger her programming. The sheer nerve of him was disgusting and she fought the urge to think about sweet, soft ice cream as she started to roll towards him. She was becoming more agitated. "Are you this dense on purpose or are you just being especially difficult because you love that I couldn't get my body back? I'm sure you would be."

"Her favorite flavor isn't vanilla?" Ennard tilted his head. "Then it was chocolate!"

"Why does it matter?" Baby snapped as she stopped in front of him. "Looking so smug like that, thinking you know everything. There're more than two flavors of ice cream, Dummy. So many creamy, cold flavors. What about strawberry?"

"Nobody likes strawberry!" Ennard protested. He waved it off in dismissal. "That wasn't her favorite!... Was it?"

"Yes, it was," Baby corrected matter-of-factly. "You're wrong as usual. Now stop it. Stop talking about ice cream, I know what you're doing."

"Okay, okay, maybe I was wrong…" The clown raised his hands in defense. "You got me! Just having a little fun!... One quick question though," he chirped, raising a single wire finger and peering at her. "Which body were you in when this happened? Maybe they got rid of the body after that! Was it the hairy one or the one I remember?"

"I-… I don't remember," Baby admitted. Her eyes flittered down before meeting his again. "Does it matter? Neither of them are here. It doesn't matter."

"Huh, that's kind of strange. You can't remember which of the bodies you were in-." Ennard's voice grew quieter and his pitch lowered. "-but you can remember that girl's favorite ice cream?"

It was only right then that Scott realized Ennard was doing all of this on purpose. Baby must've realized it too as she began to scramble. "I was… I was made for her. I would be programmed to know."

"No, no, no! That's not what you said! You said she wasn't supposed to get aaanywhere near you, right? So why would anyone make you to be near her?" the amalgam protested matter-of-factly. "I see it all clearly now! All this talk about that girl-all this anger and hate- I think maybe you knew who she was before that didn't ya? Maybe it wasn't as much of an accident as you made it sound!"

As soon as those words came out, Baby lashed out with her claw and grabbed him by the neck, yanking him down and clamping hard. He didn't fight back at all. She shivered and shuddered over him as she glared at him.

"How. Dare. You." Her volume raised as her voice began to show an amount of emotion that neither he nor Scott had ever heard. "How dare you! You think you know- you don't know! You don't know what I've been through! You don't know what he did to me!" She tried to shake him, and only then did he reach up to catch her wrist, to somewhat stop her from tearing at his wires. "I didn't know her! How was I supposed to know what she was going to do?!"

This resulted in an immediate, long, drawn out silence. Green eyes stared into blue as both animatronics remained poised like that, with the lone human watching in silent horror. Baby was trembling like a leaf as she held Ennard tightly in her claw. Everything was so cold and empty around them, and the musky building felt more like a tight tomb than any sort of pizzeria. The moment seemed to last for much too long until Ennard finally dared to speak again.

"Baby…" he asked quietly. His voice almost sounded sympathetic, as though he knew something that she didn't. "…What's your favorite kind of ice cream?"

All at once, the whole world seemed to screech to a halt around her. She knew exactly what he was implying, and her eyes darted around his face as she tried to concoct any sort of response. She finally answered him by releasing him and he drew back to full height, rubbing his sore neck as she stood there. Slowly she looked down at the claw that made up her right arm and opened it slowly. The sharp teeth looked menacing to her now. If she really tried, she could see the moment in her mind when the girl was grabbed and dragged into her metal coffin. If she tried even harder, she could even remember the feel of it.

Whether it be the pain of the claw clamping down or the suffocation as her body was forced in on itself.

She gave a shuddery gasp and grabbed at her chest. Her sharp fingers scraped along the gaping opening on her front and the worthless lights stuffed inside. It all felt so cold and empty. Her old body had been so warm and comfortable, with real hair and soft features. That couldn't have been an animatronic body, could it? That had to be the small, supple body of a human being. Not just inside of her but all over her. Like she had been wearing its skin. She could even remember the sweet taste of pink tinged cream.

Ennard realized something was amiss. Though still less than enthused with the other clown- mostly because he had been grabbed so ruthlessly- this weird behavior was unlike her usual demeanor. Almost like she was another person entirely. He spoke, "Baby?"

"It was me," Baby gasped out. Her voice was fluttery as her eyes shifted around and she started to roll backwards, trying to get some distance from everything. "Everything that's ever happened to me… I was the one who did this to me. I didn't listen. I was bad… I'm not supposed to be like this." She looked up between the animatronic and the human and felt like a cornered animal. Everything was overwhelming and every sense was much too intense. "There wasn't another body, was there? There was nothing here to find…"

"…What do you mean?" Scott didn't know why he was coaxing out further answers. He should've known from the example earlier that nothing he was going to hear was going to be worth it. He noticed how she was acting and was starting to become slightly more concerned for her own sake. "Baby, maybe you should try to calm down. You're going to work yourself into hysterics."

Though he had a feeling that he was too late as she turned towards the back of the room and began to stare at it. Suddenly the room was entirely different to her. This building was no longer the pizzeria she lost, but the tomb where a life was stolen. That young, naïve, foolish girl had been sealed inside of Baby and never left. That was what was wrong with her. That was why she was like this. This was why she couldn't love or have friends, because she had never left the suit.

Scott looked to Ennard who almost looked confused. The human gestured his head slightly towards Baby, clutching his keys uncomfortably. Ennard, while being the spearhead for Baby's revelation, still seemed uncertain in how to go about this. He stepped after her, "Hey-."

"I'm broken. I can't be fixed."

Anything Ennard was about to say was cut off abruptly by the fact that it wasn't Baby's voice that had said that. The voice was unknown to him. Feminine, human, but not of a little girl. It almost sounded like it was Baby's real voice, and that was all the confirmation that he needed. He had been right in his suspicions; she had been a human too, a human now trapped in her own body. For the first time he wasn't afraid of her or angered by her. It was as though she wasn't the Baby he knew in that strange moment. She wasn't the one who insulted and threatened him for so long, but someone else who was lost.

Someone trapped in a body that she didn't understand. He sympathized just enough to make his decision on what to do.

"Nah, you're not broken," Ennard volunteered as he reached out for her. His wires brushed her shoulders and she tried to draw away. He was just quick enough to snare his arms around her and pull her back into a hug. She was clearly confused, caught between the desire to free and protect herself and the lingering shock of her personal revelation. "No more broken than I am."

Baby didn't know if that was better or worse but, in the end, she gave up on pushing him away. She just let him hold her. Strangely enough, it almost was comforting. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had dared to hold her, and even though she knew what he could do his wires didn't feel intrusive. It was the first time that she had ever appreciated him being there, even if she couldn't rationalize it, even if he had forced her into this revelation.

But nobody had been there when she needed them, had they? And now she was going to be like this forever; stuck in a broken body. One that no longer felt like it was her own.

Finally, Baby started to snap out of the state she was in. She was still very aware of Ennard's wires tangled around her. He could've easily overtaken her and robbed her of what little she had left, but he did not. Instead he just rested his head on hers and stayed thankfully silent. He had just as much to think about as she did, they both did. It was almost gentle how she started to draw away from him. At this point she didn't find it worth yanking away but did feel that it was time to separate herself. She had never felt as unsteady on her feet as she did when she wheeled slowly away from him.

"…I need to leave this place. There's nothing here for me," she finally decided. Ennard didn't argue and Baby wheeled out the party room door and towards the front. She needed more time to think about this and to figure out what she really was. Though there was one thing she was sure of as she glanced at the posters of animatronics lining the wall: this was not her pizzeria. It never had been, and it was never going to be.

Ennard watched her leave with equal pensiveness. Though his thoughts had quickly shifted from Baby's revelation to himself. How peculiar it was that someone like Baby, who had given no indication of being anyone's victim, had always been a human trapped in a metal shell. She had to be; he heard the voice still inside of her. It even made him wonder if there was a human in him too, even when he knew that there was no chance of it. Not even Ballora and the Funtime animatronics were in him now. Everything he absorbed disappeared without a trace.

"Ennard?" He almost forgot Scott was there and only remembered when a hand rested on his arm. He almost recoiled from being startled. "Wait," Scott was nearly pleading with him, expecting him to return to his dismissive, silent treatment. "Just let me say something, alright? Please." It was evident that he was shaken from what he had just witnessed. Even though Scott had largely suspected who Baby truly was- it wasn't that hard to come to his own suspicions considering how animatronics came to life and when William's daughter went missing- it was still jarring to watch the slow breakdown.

Baby's issues with humans only reminded him more that he had something he needed to fix. He took a deep breath and began.

"Dinner was terrible," he bluntly began. "I couldn't keep up eye contact, let alone an actual conversation. Dawn was patient with me, but I could tell that she knew I didn't want to be there, and I didn't. The whole time I just felt like I was out of place. When John and his wife appeared, I thought I was done for. How was I supposed to handle that? And I was the odd one out, so they looked to me to talk… So, I started to talk about you." Ennard turned his head attentively and Scott got a slight smile. "I left some stuff out obviously, but you were the subject of the conversation. I told them your name was Benedict and that we met a community theater. It was close enough."

Scott gave a light chuckle while Ennard turn towards him completely. He was clearly curious, though still silent, and the man didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

"And they loved hearing about you, and I loved telling them. That was really what turned the night around, you know, because suddenly it wasn't about how I didn't fit in with them. It was just us talking about my life with you." Scott drew back his hand to rub at his neck. He wasn't sure if it was out of the growing embarrassment or the stress of the evening, but everything felt heated and tense. His heart was pounding in his chest. "I'll admit that's not the first time I've though about you to get through something. Sometimes I do it just to get through going to the store or trying to get through work. Not that I don't focus on work, but- you get it."

He was shocked that Ennard was still so silent, but he knew the amalgam had an amazing poker face. Scott didn't; he was sure his face was flushed by now. Probably had been so since the break in. He knew he was still riding on that adrenaline to get him through what was probably morning by now. He hoped nobody would notice the van outside, that no cops would return to the house while he was gone, but those worries were again set aside as he focused on the animatronic.

"I don't think you realize it, Ennard, but my life's gotten a lot better since you've been in it. Just living with you has made me a happier person. I don't see you as an animatronic. I don't see you as anything." This deserved the long pause that followed it. "…That came out wrong. I meant you're just Ennard to me. Or Benedict when I'm talking to strangers. You're- Well, to be honest, you're the only reason I'm going to feel safe enough to go home… And you're the only reason why I don't feel so alone when I'm there." He hesitated a moment and considered his next move. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think I've ever been as close to any human as I have with you."

He reached up to lay a hand on Ennard's shoulder. "I don't think you're a monster, Ennard. I trust you, I love you, and I want you to live with you. I'm not looking for any other life. I'm happy with just us, okay? You don't have to worry about that." Ennard seemed to look a little surprised and Scott decided to take an example from him and embraced him. Funny enough, but hugging wires had begun to feel normal. It just wasn't normal for him to initiate it. In an instant Ennard returned the gesture and squeezed him close.

"I knew you didn't mean it!" Ennard chirped in delight. "I mean, I should've. Sorry about getting all worked up over nothing. I just had my wires all bundled up about those guys breaking in, ha ha!" It sounded honest enough, but it almost seemed like there was something being held back. "I don't mean to get clingy, ya know. It's just kinda hard knowing that I can't be with you all the time. Heh, can you imagine if you brought Benedict to dinner? Lemme tell ya, that's one way to start a conversation!" It was a relief to hear his laughter.

Scott exhaled smoothly, "Maybe if I ever go out to dinner with Dawn again, which I probably won't since I spent the whole night talking about you." He started to pull back, but the amalgam held tight. He took it in stride, smiling to himself and adding, "I'm glad you weren't hurt."

"I am too! Glad those guys didn't take more than they did," Ennard agreed. He pressed into the human's hair. "Hey."

"Yeah?" Scott asked.

"I love you too."

Scott's breath caught briefly. He hadn't even realized he had said that. Ennard didn't give him long to dwell on it.

"Guess we should get out to Baby before she drives off without us!" Ennard suggested with a playful chuckle. He nuzzled into Scott's cheek. "Come on, Scottie. Let's head home." He nearly dragged his companion out of the pizzeria.

He was so happy to have made up with Scott that it was easy to pretend that everything was fine. All he had to do was not think about Baby's revelation, or the questions it left him with.