AN: This one takes place soon after Skin Deep.

Julie Stein quietly opened the door to her parent's house and hid the spare key back in the potted plant. She wasn't supposed to be here, her dad had insisted that there was no need for her or her siblings to visit. He insisted that whatever he had experienced during his missing time was being dealt with and they would come and visit when the time was right. But she couldn't wait any longer, not when she knew there was something more going on with her dad then what he was telling them. So she'd driven all day to get here, planning to crash on the couch for the night and find out what was going on in the morning.

Putting her coat away and shouldering her overnight bag, Julie headed for the living room. Dropping her bag down the couch, she went to the closet to pull out the spare blankets and pillows. To her surprise though, the closet was empty when she opened it. She didn't have time to think about her discovery when she heard someone coming down the stairs.

"Dad?" Julie called softly as she headed to the stairs. She froze in the doorway when she saw a tall creature made of darkness and an impossibly large grin that seemed familiar in a twisted way. They both froze for a second before Julie screamed, stumbling backward back into the living room. The monsters flinched back for a moment before coming towards her. Julie searched around for a weapon as she continued to retreat from the monster. Her hand closed around an umbrella handle.

"S-stay back you monster!" Julie shouted, waving her makeshift weapon in front of her. The monster hissed, making Julie pale in fright but refused to back down. "If you've done anything to my par-!"

Julie cut off with another scream as the monster lunged at her, easily shrugging off a blow from her umbrella and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Let me go!" Julie shouted, kicking her feet as she was lifted into the air but the monster held her too far away for her to hurt it. "You put me down right now!"

"What is going on in here?" Henry asked in bewilderment, flicking on the living room light. Julie and the monster froze and looked at him. "Julie?"

"Dad?!" Julie asked in surprise and relief, causing the monster to snap back to her and it's horns to straighten up in surprise.

"Bendy put her down," Henry said, looking at the monster. "She's not a threat. She's my daughter."

"Bendy?!" Julie asked, reeling from this sudden turn of events. "This monster is Bendy ?!"

The monster, Bendy, hissed again and dropped Julie onto the floor. He ignored her as she scrambled to her feet and strode over to Henry's side.

"Yes this is Bendy," Henry replied, putting an arm around the Ink Demon to comfort him. "And please don't call him a monster. He really hates being called that."

Bendy growled to emphasize Henry's words, making Julie flinch slightly.

"Bendy, be nice," Henry scolded lightly before turning back to Julie and pulling her into a hug. "It's great to see you again. I missed you and the others so much…"

"But… Bendy… What… How…" Julie stuttered, trying to wrap her head around everything. "Dad! I think you need to explain what all… this is…"

"I know," Henry sighed, smiling sheepishly. "But how about it waits until morning. It's a long story and you should rest after your trip here. I'll grab you a pillow and blanket from upstairs."

"Okay…" Julie said slowly, sinking onto the couch as she watched her father and the Ink Demon head upstairs. She swears the Ink Demon glared at her before he went out the door. She shuddered and did her best to ignore her fears as she got ready for bed. Accepting the pillow and blanket from her dad, she curled up on the couch. She didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep, but she eventually drifted off.

Julie woke to the sound of soft piano music. Yawning and stretching, Julie sat up and glanced over at the piano. She froze for a moment at seeing a completely strange, one that seemed to be purely black and white, before groaning and dropping her face into her hands.

"It wasn't a dream…" Julie muttered into her hands.

"Believe me, we all wish what went through was a dream," the stranger snorted bitterly as he finished the song and turned to Julie. "You're one of Henry's children, right?"

"I'm Julie," She nodded, getting up to better introduce herself. "And you are?"

"Sammy Lawrence," he replied, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you, though I do wish it had been under normal circumstances, that ship sailed long ago."

"I've heard that name before…" Julie replied, wracking her memory.

"I was the music director at the Joey Drew Studio's," Sammy replied with a hint of anger. "And unlike Henry, I didn't get out before everything went to $#% ."

Julie blinked at the sudden fog horn noise that came out of Sammy's mouth. He just sighed angrily, mutter under his breath about stupid toon logic. Before Julie could question Sammy further, her mom came in and happily greeted her. Julie and her mom soon ended up in the kitchen as they prepared breakfast for everyone. Julie did her best not to stare at the various… cartoon?... creatures came down to join them at the table, but some of them were harder than others. One was a walking projector for crying out loud! She was also shocked to find out Bendy wasn't always a giant monster, but could also be a cute little toon. But while the others were very friendly to her, if a bit shy, but Bendy did his best to ignore her. (A part of her was glad for that.)

After breakfast, Henry finally sat down with Julie and explained what happened during his months missing. How Joey Drew had invited him into the Studio only to trap him there. How he had been chased by ink creatures, only to realize they were victims as well. Of eventually working together to break out of the Studio and the recovering they've been doing ever since.

"No wonder you didn't want me or the others to come over yet," Julie commented as thought over everything they learned. "But you know you're going to have to them eventually."

"I know, but I want to wait until everyone's well enough to handle it," Henry replied, glancing over at the kitchen where the Butcher Gang were helping Linda with the dishes. "They have all come so far… but there is still much more recovering they need to do."

"Alright," Julie agreed. "I'll help cover with the others. At least until they're ready."

"That's all I ask," Henry smiled, pulling her into another hug. "I really am glad to see you though. Now come on, you should get to know the others."

Julie spent the next few days trying to get to know the various new residents of her parent's household. It was a little slow at first, as both sides were nervous of the other and weren't really sure how to act. But they eventually warmed up to each other and even started enjoying each other's company. All except for Bendy that is. Ever since the night they met, the little Ink Demon had been avoiding Julie even leaving the room when she came in. When she asked about it, her dad explained how Bendy had been rejected by pretty much everyone when he had been first created and Julie's reaction had stirred up a lot of bad memories. Julie felt really bad about it and wanted to make it up to the devil darling, but he wasn't giving her a chance.

Finally, one afternoon, Julie happened upon the little Ink Demon alone in his room. He hadn't noticed her yet as he was concentrating on some shifting ink in his hands. Ink Blot did notice her and came over to her and meowed softly. Julie petted the kitten on the head and moved closer to see what Bendy was doing. He seemed to be forming the ink into something with wings.

"That's amazing!" Julie praised once Bendy had finished sculpting the ink into a hummingbird drinking from a flower. Bendy jumped slightly at suddenly realizing she was there, fumbling the statue. Julie instantly reached out to steady both him and the statue.

"Easy there," Julie smiled slightly as she helped him, getting a wide-eyed stare from the toon. "You did a great job with this, the detail is amazing. All it needs is a little color… can you make color with your ink?"

Bendy just gave a confused shake of his head.

"That's alright, I'm sure we can add color now," Julie suggested, helping Bendy to his feet. "Come on, I'm sure dad still has some of my old paints around. Come on…"

Bendy just let Julie pull him along, really unsure what to do about this situation, as Ink Blot followed after them. Julie leads Bendy into Henry's drawing, sitting him at a mostly table while she got the paints. She gave Bendy a brush and began demonstrating how to paint the figure and explaining the subtle shades of color to help the sculpture be more lifelike. Bendy watched with rapt attention and very carefully followed her instructions. They were so absorbed in their work that they were surprised when Henry had to get them for dinner.

Bendy was a lot more friendly after that and really enjoyed the continued lessons on color as they worked to paint his sculptures. Eventually, though, it came time for Julie to head back to her own home. She got a lot of heartfelt goodbyes from everyone. And right before she walked out the door, Bendy slipped her his latest creation. Julie examined it once she got in her car. In her hand was a Bendy plushie, though instead of looking like the old ones her dad used to get her, this one was a perfect match to the little Ink Demon now living with her parents. Smiling, Julie tucked it carefully into her bag. She loved the new additions to her family…