The door slammed shut.

The wooden bar swung down, locking into place.

Bendy and Mary stumbled back a few paces. Eyes on the door. Praying the bar held. Bendy wasn't sure if he had a functioning heart, but he knew if he did it'd be going a mile a minute. His head swam, his throat constricted as he threatened to melt into ink.

Mary scooped him up in her arms, holding him like a living teddy bear. Eyes on the door.

One second. Two. Three-

The door shook, hard, with impact.

Mary's grip on Bendy tightened, her eyes squeezing shut as she held her breath. Bendy twisted around to wrap his arms around Mary's head – he'd left her just for a minute once, and it got her tied up in one of those damned circles he'd be damned if he didn't protect her now-

But the door held.

Whatever was on the other side (what was he thinking, 'whatever,' he knew what was out there!) slammed against it a few more times, making the bar rattle. Mary held him tighter, backing up further into the room. A tiny sob escaped her throat.

But the thing – the inky, monstrous him – lost interest. After a few more pounds against the door, there was a slithering-crawling noise, as if it were pacing. And then silence as it slowly moved back down the hall.

Bendy let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding – didn't even realize he could hold. Mary's grip on him slackened, and he slipped down to the floor while the little girl collapsed in a heap.

"Thank goodness," he breathed, one hand on his chest.

Mary had a far less eloquent response. The child sat there, legs drawn up to her chest, hands on her head, sobbing quietly into her knees. Though she was being as quiet as she could, her shoulders still shook violently, and the tears fell so fast and so many it was as if she'd never run out.

Bendy supposed he couldn't blame her, as he turned to look at her in sympathy. She was just a little girl. A little girl shouldn't have been enduring all of this. This kind of thing would terrify a grown man, he couldn't imagine what it must be doing to a child.

...a grown man.

"Hey. Hey, Mary, kiddo? Pumpkin? Ma-ry?" he coaxed gently as he edged closer to her. "I need ya to stop cryin' for a sec, sweetheart."

Mary didn't stop, but she did lift her head to look at Bendy.

Ohhh, those huge, wet eyes made his chest clench painfully. Kids weren't supposed to be crying when they looked at him. They were supposed to be smiling. Laughing. They were supposed to be happy!

He had to fix this.

"Hey! Hey, Mary!" he suddenly cried, setting his initial intentions aside for the moment. "You ever wonder why I don't have a neck?" To demonstrate, he moved his hand back and forth in the space between his head and bowtie.

Mary shook her head wordlessly, sobs subsiding as curiosity began to take over again.

"Watch this!" Bendy grinned widely, placed his hands on either side of his head...

...and lifted it high into the air.

Mary yelped, straightening up.

"But wait, there's more!" Bendy crowed. His body bent at the waist, his arms spreading out. One hand held his head gently, then released it so it rolled down his arm, across his shoulders, to his other hand... Whistling a jaunty little tune, he allowed his head to drop off his other hand and bounce on the floor. He caught it as it came back up, and began dribbling it like a basketball.

"Owwwww ow-ow-ow! Can't do it for long though! Gives ya a whopper headache!" he laughed, holding his head in his hands. Literally. With a short hup! he threw his head high into the air and jumped up as it began to descend, neatly replacing it atop his shoulders.

As Mary stared, eyes wide, Bendy allowed his feet to move rapidly when he hit the floor, doing an impromptu tap bit. It wasn't the same without a little cane or top hat, of course but...

"And ta-da~!" he cheered, finishing his dance with one final jaunty tap and a pose.

It seemed to work. Mary sniffled wetly and wiped at her nose, but a smile crept across her face and that familiar, wonderful laugh was heard again. It was a little shaky and she was clearly still scared out of her mind, but there it was.

"Thank you, little lady, you're a terrific audience!" he said, taking a bow and Mary's hand. Briefly he lifted her hand to kiss the back of it (and laughed himself when Mary flinched and laughed harder). He'd done his job beautifully.

"Okay," he said, sobering up. "Now...now lemme see your head, sweetheart."

Mary didn't need to ask why. She just ducked her head, sitting quietly while Bendy walked around behind her.

"Where'd you get hit? Here?"

"Uhm, a little low – ow!"

"Oops! Here?"

"Uh-huh..."

Bendy gently ran his hands through her hair, checking for any visible lumps or discoloration. His toon physics were quite different from a human's, but he knew what to look out for. Sometimes. Sure enough, there was a bump on Mary's head, on the back and near her ear, and a bit of redness. Bendy fought the urge to curl his hands into fists. What kind of...What kind of monster hit a child like this?

He'd said it minutes ago, as he'd frantically tried to untie her binds before swinging the ax it them instead. And he was thinking it again now: What kinda sick creep does this? To a kid, no less?!

Sammy'd gotten what he'd deserved, Bendy thought with hot anger in his gut. He didn't care how gruesome it'd sounded, how much it might've hurt. Whatever it was it was too good for him!

But that wasn't important right now. Mary was. Bendy patted her on the back, between the shoulders. "You'll be okay," he said. "Prob'ly gonna be sore for a while. Just don't touch it and you'll be fine."

Mary nodded, sniffling again.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bendy cried out, seeing the danger signal. He ran around to stand in front of Mary, hands held up in supplication. "No tears now, no tears! You're safe, Sammy's gone, and...and you're with me! You're the luckiest kid in the world right now, you know that?" A pause. "Welllllll maybe it doesn't seem like it, but hey. Mary. How many kids can call Bendy their best friend, huh?"

There was that smile again. Mary sniffled and nodded. "I – I guess so..." she mumbled.

"Yeah. And you know what, Bendy's gonna help you get outta here, and you'll go back home to your uncle before he even knows you left!" The mention of her uncle gave him slight pause.

Why wasn't Henry here? Didn't he like him anymore? Why did...

No. No, no time for that. He had a kid to look after.

Bendy sighed, hands on his hips as he cast a glance around. "Well...I guess we should stay here for a bit," he muttered. He didn't recognize this place, not exactly...Which meant he didn't know which way it was to the exit now.

He was getting sick of rethinking their routes. First the fall down several stories, now Mary being dragged down here by Sammy.

"Besides..." His cartoonish eyes darted towards Mary, taking in how her head drooped. "You need to sleep."

"Noooo..."

"Mary. Pumpkin." His serious tone made her look at him. "You need to be wide awake if you're gonna get outta here. And you've been through a lot in the past twenty-odd minutes. Lotta runnin' and swinging a wrench at ink things and stuff... I think you need to sleep a bit."

She stared, eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'll be here!" he reassured her. "I'll look out for ya!"

There was a long pause.

Finally, she sighed, shoulders slumping as all the energy seemed to drain out of her. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear even Mary's bow was drooping. "Yeah...yeah, okay..."

Bendy scurried off to a corner of the room to look for a blanket. He found one on one of the shelves, under an assembly of Bendy dolls. "You guys don't mind, do ya?" he asked as he pulled it out. "We got a kid here, and I know you guys like kids."

He took the silence and smiles for agreement.

Mary was already lying down, curled into a little ball with her hands as a pillow when Bendy got back. He lightly tossed the blanket over her, tucking it in around the edges, then walked around to sit near her head.

"G'night, Mary," he said, reaching out to touch her hair. "I'd sing ya to sleep, but I think we've both had enough of singing now."

Mary's tired, weak laughter was worth the memories of Sammy's scream, the memory of a bastardized himself running after them.

"...hey Bendy?" she mumbled, already half-asleep.

"Yeah?"

"'m real glad you're here..."

Bendy stilled for a moment.

(Seeing Joey slowly change, become someone else. The way he treated the animators. The voice actors. How he treated the cartoons themselves. Boris. Alice. How he'd somehow ended up in that pipe – not remembering why. Wishing for Henry to come back. Come back. Please come back. Please-)

(And finally. After all these years. Hearing a child's voice, hearing a child's laugh, making someone smile again. Seeing this kid and wanting nothing more than for her to be home and safe.)

(...what would have happened to her, he wondered? If he hadn't shown up during Sammy's 'summon?' Mary Had A Little Lamb was already ruined for him, thanks a lot, but what if he'd been just a second too late?)

His hand stroked her hair again. "Yeah," he whispered, voice hoarse. "Yeah, I'm real glad I'm here too..."

But she was already asleep, leaving him alone to watch the door.