AN: Apparently I needed to do a little angst after the fluff...

Norman stood in front of the bathroom mirror carefully leaning dirt and ink from his projector lens. As he did so, he had no choice but to see his inhuman reflection staring back at him, filling his heart with grief. Henry had been working hard to help everyone as much as he could, but there had been little Henry could do to help Norman. Not only was his head was literally a projector, but machinery and wires were also connected to and running through practically every part of his body. While Henry was able to restore Norman's ability to speak and helped stabilized him mentally, Henry didn't want to risk messing with anything else in case he ended up hurting Norman rather than helping. Norman couldn't help but wonder if he was human at all anymore or just a mess of wires and ink.

Norman turned away from the mirror, resisting the urge to destroy it in anger. All of this is Drew's fault! That crazy son of a… if he hadn't decided to mess with things that he shouldn't… if he hadn't messed with the demons and rituals of all thing! If that psycho had an ounce of human decency… then Norma wouldn't be trapped in a body of a monster. Just because Norman had figured out what that slim ball had been up to, Drew had to silence him. Sacrifice him to the machine and force him into a life of mindless violence.

Norman stalked out of the bathroom and went downstairs, trying his best to push away all those depressing thoughts. As he looked over the other studio escapees, Norman couldn't help but feel a sense of pride for all that Henry's accomplished. Sure, they all still had their issues but as he watched Boris and Bendy try and convince Alice to sing along with Sammy's piano playing, Norman can't help but be stunned by how far they had all come.

Norman's gaze moved on only to pause at seeing a picture of Henry with his family hanging on the wall. Norman touched it gently, thinking back to his own family. Norman's light dimmed as his heart filled with sorrow, aching for his wife and children. His children would be all grown up by now, probably with families of their own. Did they even remember him? Did his wife move on and get remarried? Was his wife even alive?

"Are you alright their Norman?" Henry's asked, placing his hand on Norman's shoulder. Norman instinctively let out a screech at the sudden contact and turned to attack Henry, but managed to stop himself in time.

"Sorry about that Henry… " Norman apologized, glancing away in shame.

"Hey… it's no problem…" Henry assured, moving more slowly this time as he reached out to Norman. "Now why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"

"Just… thinking about my family…" Norman replied, looking over at the picture again. "Wondering what's happened to them after all this time…"

"Oh…" Henry murmured quietly before coming up with an idea. "You know… I could try and find out what happened to them. I could even get in contact with them if you want…"

"I…" Norman began slowly, thinking it over. He longed to see his family again, to hold them in his arms, to finally be back with them again. But as he could see his light reflecting off the glass frame… How could he come back into the lives of his family when he was barely an echo of the man he used to be. He would probably just be dragging up a lot old hurt and sorrow for them by suddenly returning into their new lives. He'd just be a constant source of pain and reminder of everything they had lost and could never truly have back.

"I can't…" Norman sighed sadly, turning away from the picture. "Time much time has passed… and I'm too… different… They've moved on with their lives and it's just better that it stays that way. It's better than they remember the man I once was… rather than the... Creature… that I've become…"

"Norman… are you sure?" Henry asked uncertainly, sighing when Norman nodded. "Alright… I'll respect your choice. But if you ever change your mind… just let me know…"

Norman nodded again and slinked off to a quiet corner. He really just wanted to be alone with his memories right now. He didn't get to wallow very long before Bendy came walking up.

"What do you want little guy?" Norman asked looking at the little Ink Demon. It was a lot easier for Norman to be around him when Bendy was in toon form as his instincts didn't recognize him as an enemy as it did for Bendy's Ink Demon form.

"Nor… (Whistle)… " Bendy smiled, holding out a piece of paper to Norman. The toon was still learning how to talk, but he was making a lot of progress. "…for you…"

"… thanks…" Norman said taking the paper. Bendy smiled again before scampering back over to Boris. Norman watched the toon for a moment before looking down at the paper. Bendy had drawn a picture of Norman as the Projectionist with Bendy riding on his shoulders. This incident had only happened a few days ago and the toon had been laughing and giggling the whole time Norman had been carrying him around. Norman chuckled softly and held the picture close.

While Norman still missed his old family, he was really starting to care about his new one…