Chapter Text
First thing in the morning, June was on the phone with her brother. She tried to tell him what Ben told her last night, but she couldn’t get a word in edge wise.
“Juney! Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him?”
“Yeah, but-“
“No “ buts”! He's extremely dangerous.”
“I-I know-“ she was getting frustrated. He wasn’t listening at all.
“No, you don’t know!” Henry hadn’t yelled at her like this since they were kids. “You've only seen a fraction of the things he can do.”
“Henry please, just listen to me!” June knew she sounded desperate, but she didn’t care. “I really don’t think he wants to hurt me or Jason and the girls. He likes to scare me-“ she said under her breath, “but he hasn’t done anything to physically harm me.”
“June, you can’t trust him!” She winced as he raised his voice. “You’re like a new toy to him. Once he grows bored of you…” he trailed off and took a few deep breaths. “I don’t want you guys to get hurt. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”
June's shoulders slumped at the concerned tone in his voice. It's not like they had never disagreed before and she even understood why he was so worried, but she knew she was right. He just won't listen. The line grew silent for a few moments before Henry broke it with a tired sigh.
“So far, Norman hasn’t been able to find anything in Joey's books. They aren’t exactly easy to get through.” June just shook her head. She really didn’t trust anything that came out of those books. “Look, I'm coming up there.”
June tried to argue that he didn’t need to, but Henry would hear none of that. “Juney, I'm coming whether you want me to or not.” June heard a soft chuckle on the other end of the line. “Besides, would you tell your nephew that he can’t come to visit you?”
She grumbled softly, “Now you're playing dirty, old man! You know I could never tell my nephew he couldn’t come over.”
“Heh, I know.” She could almost hear him smiling over the phone. “See you tomorrow, Juney.”
June just shook her head. Henry knew how to play dirty when he needed to. “Yeah, yeah. See ya later old man.” She hung up the phone then slumped down in her chair. She just hoped Ben wouldn’t suddenly show up until she could get her brother to calm down.
“I don’t think I’m gonna be that lucky.”
-The Next Day-
Henry wasn’t fooling around when he said he'd be there the next day. He must have been driving all night to get to her house early enough for breakfast. That made Beth and Sarah very happy. They loved to spend time with their toony cousin before heading off to school. Breakfast was very lively that morning.
When the school bus arrived, June and Bendy walked the girls to the bus. Jason stayed behind with Henry so they could talk.
“So Norman and the others couldn’t find anything in those books?” Henry sighed and shook his head. Jason looked as frustrated as he felt.
“There were a few chapters on how to bind the demon and enslave it-“ Henry grimaced at the thought of anyone doing that to Bendy. “but nothing on how to repel the demon.” He glanced down at the pentagram etched in his hand. Norman was still searching, but hadn’t found a way to remove that either. “It’s typical Joey. So busy figuring out how to summon a demon, he put little thought into a way to keep it away.”
Jason chuckled at that. Sounds like the man was full of big ideas, but rarely thought of the consequences. He sobered up when June and Bendy came back to the house. “Bro, we need to talk to her.” Henry agreed.
June and Bendy walked back into the house. She was laughing as the little toon told her about a giant plastic cow he saw on the side of the road. As soon as she saw her brother and husband’s face, she knew she was in for a stern talking to.
So, here she was, sitting on the couch, and being lectured to like a child. They were practically ganging up on her. She understood why both men in her life was being so overprotective, but it was starting to get on her nerves. They weren’t listening or taking what she had to say seriously.
“Guys, c'mon! I know how dangerous he is, I really do-“ she took a few deep breaths to keep from loosing her temper. “but I don’t think he's going to hurt anyone.” Both men looked at her like she lost her mind. She hated that. She wasn’t some naïve child. Ben had plenty of chances to do something and he didn’t. Sure, he enjoyed causing mischief around the house and sneaking up on her, but that was about it.
“Aunt June?” she grew quiet as Bendy got her attention. It was odd to see such a serious look on his normally cheerful face.
“I’ve watched ‘Bendy’ hurt Henry over and over and over again. He was so relentless as he chased us through the Studio, that Henry often dropped from exhaustion.” The toon lowered his head and stared at his gloved hands. “He made me turn on my best friend…” He looked back up at her. His pie cut eyes glistened with unshed tears. “He’s evil and he will try to hurt you too. I won’t let that happen.”
“Oh sweetheart…” June reached out and took the little toon into her arms. While she comforted him, one thought ran through her mind, ‘Damn you old man! Using my nephew against me. I really hope Ben doesn’t show up…’
June knew she needed to choose her battles wisely. There was no way she was going to convince them that Ben meant no harm. Not now. They were all too worried about her to see what was really going on. She'd have to find a way to convince them without a fight breaking out. The last thing she wanted was for someone to get hurt. So, she stopped arguing her point, for now.
Henry narrowed his eyes at his sister. He knew she was up to something. She gave up a little too easily. He watched as she helped Bendy calm down and promised that everything would be alright. But when she made eye contact with him, she gave him a look that screamed that this wasn’t over.
OoOoOoOoO
The early afternoon went by rather quietly until the girls got home from school. June made sure they sat down and did their homework before they could play outside. Bendy was more than happy to try and help them so they could finish faster. Once they were done, Bendy, Beth, and Sarah rushed out the front door to meet up with the other neighborhood kids.
The adults sat out on the front porch to keep an eye on them. At some point, the children loosely organized a game of stick ball in the street. More adults gathered to watch the kids play and watched out for oncoming cars. This proved to be a good opportunity for the parents to catch up with one another as well.
Henry could feel happiness flowing through the bond as the little toon interacted with the children. Bendy was standing on a makeshift base with a stick in his hand. One of the boys tossed the ball at him and the toon hit it, sending flying straight into the air. He took off like a shot around the other bases as the children scrambled to catch the ball. Henry knew that as a toon, Bendy could zip around those bases in no time, but he often ran at a somewhat normal speed to make things fair for the others. It always amazed him that the toon had such control over his abilities.
Sarah, being as timid around others as she was, tried to get into the game like everyone else. For the most part, the other kids understood, but there was one little boy that liked to tease her for it. She didn’t cry, but everyone could see the way she shied away from him as he got closer. Beth and Bendy were at her side before the boy's bullying could escalate. The little boy backed off at the sight of the toon and ran back to the house across the street.
Bendy really didn’t like bullies and seeing his cousin upset was making him very angry. Before he could say anything, June marched right past him and was having a rather angry conversation with the boy's parents. From the look on the other parents’ faces, Bendy was glad he wasn’t the one getting yelled at.
Jason came up to them. He picked Sarah up and asked if she was okay. She sniffled a little but nodded. He told Bendy and Beth that he would keep an eye on her and to go back to the game. They were a little reluctant to go back, but they did as they were told and finished the game.
June had already wandered into the house to get dinner ready. By the time it got dark and the kids headed home, she had a hot meal prepared. After everyone cleaned up, they all sat down to a piping hot plate of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and baby carrots.
After a few funny stories at the dinner table, Sarah practically forgot about the bullying indecent. It was good to see her laughing and completely relaxed. Jason even joked about teaching her how to box and maybe she'll become the next heavyweight champion of the world! That made them all laugh but from the look on her husband's face, June knew he wasn't completely joking. He wanted his girls to be able to defend themselves if he wasn’t around.
The rest of the evening was spent playing games and watching a little television. Soon it was bath time for the girls and after that, bed time. Plus, the girls couldn’t stay up too late because they had school the next day. They weren’t too happy about that, but Bendy promised to be up in the morning with them to have breakfast. Jason took them by the hand and lead them upstairs.
“Oh boy. The older they get, the harder it is to get them to go to bed.” June chuckled.
“Hey, we were just as bad, remember?” Henry shot her a knowing glance. “We made dad chase us around to house to keep from going to bed. We're lucky he was such a good sport about it.” June smiles warmly as she remembered that. Leave it up to her brother to bring up how mischievous they were growing up.
“I have to go out to the car and get my bag.” Henry headed for the front door.
“Well, the guest room is ready for ya.” June headed for the kitchen to wash a few dishes. They both left Bendy in the living room. He was totally engrossed in a wild west show on TV. A tap dancing elephant could waltz through the room and he wouldn’t notice.
‘So far, so good!’ June thought. If Ben stayed away for a few days, that'll give her more time to talk to everyone. She stepped through the kitchen's archway and any hope she built up, came crashing down.
Ben was standing in the corner by the backdoor. He was holding the cookie jar in his large, gloved hand and digging into it with his smaller, ungloved one.
“BEN!?” The ink demon’s head shot up and his grin grew wider. He literally got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. June winced and looked over her shoulder. She signed internally. Henry was outside and Bendy was still watching TV.
She walked over to Ben quickly and snatched the jar out of his hand without saying another word. June put the jar down as quietly and quickly as she could. She flung open the backdoor before reaching out and grabbing his smaller hand.
Ben was so shocked that she willingly touched him that he let her pull him outside and onto the back porch. He stumbled slightly as she pulled him away from the door. June stopped and stared from the backdoor to the driveway then back at him. Ben wasn’t the best at reading human facial expressions, but he knew nervousness and fear when he saw it.
“Ben. You can’t be here right now.” She spoke in rushed, hushed tones and it peaked the demon's curiosity. “Please, you need to leave!”
“Wwwhhhyyy? He tilted his head slightly. He wondered why she was so afraid. He knew he hadn’t done anything to scare her, this time.
“Please! You need to leave…” She ran her fingers through her hair as her eyes darted towards the backdoor. “Look, Henry and Bendy are here. I-I just need some time to talk to them-“ June stopped talking when the mood from the ink demon grew very dark.
“Henrrrry…” Ben growled the man's name out. He hunched over and slowly turned his head towards the backdoor. Ink snaked out from his body and spread like shadows across the ground and against the side of the house.
June took a few steps back when she realized what was going on. She remembered all the stories her brother and nephew told her. About the things that happened between them and the pain the demon caused them. June shuddered at the anger and killing intent that was rolling off his inky body in waves. She needed to stop him before something bad happened.
June ran in front of Ben before he could take a step and placed her hands on his chest. “Ben, please. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt!” The ink demon looked down at her and hissed angrily. The sound made her wince but she wouldn’t back down. “Just go!”
Ben's gloved hand shot out and he grabbed June's upper arm. She gasped then whimpered as he pulled her closer. His grip grew tight enough to hurt as she tried to push him away. He growled in her face, “I…wonnn’t…leeeaaave!”
-Meanwhile-
Henry walked back in the house and immediately felt a dull ache in his palm. The pentagram in his hand began to throb and he knew why. He looked around the living room but June was no where to be found. He remembered her heading towards the kitchen-
“Henry? What's wrong?” Bendy’s show was long forgotten when he felt the massive amount of concern streaking through their bond. He was by Henry's side within seconds.
“Bud, I think HE's here.” Henry stared down at his hand before balling it up into a tight fist. “We need to find June.” They both headed for the kitchen. She wasn’t there but the backdoor was slightly open. There was also something dark moving against the window and blocking the light from the porch.
A sense of dread seized his heart as he moved quickly towards the door. He pushed the door open and stepped out. “June?” Time seemed to freeze at this point. Henry saw the ink demon's hand gripping his sister's arm. It looked like he was pulling her close while she was trying to push him away. His inky veins were crawling around them on the ground and even up the side of the house. But what really made his blood boil was the look of terror on her face.
After a heartbeat of silence, time seemed to start up again for Henry. There was a flash of rage through the bond that didn’t come from him, a strange splashing sound, and a huge shadow fell over him. The next thing Henry knew, Bendy had rushed passed him in his monstrous form and barreled towards the ink demon.
Bendy's roared caused Ben's head to snap in his direction. Henry called out to his friend, but he was too angry to listen. He was afraid June would get hurt if Bendy hit the demon head on. But the demon did something that shocked him. Ben...pushed June out of the way just as Bendy tackled him and both ink creatures ended up sliding several feet across the yard.
Bendy ended up pinning Ben to the ground with one of large hand. He loomed over the ink demon as they hissed and growled at one another. Ben thrashed about but Bendy just held him tighter. The thought that this creature was hurting June was too much for him. He swore he wouldn’t let ‘Bendy’ harm anyone in his family!
Everything happened so fast that Henry was left standing on the back porch in shock. A moan from June snapped him out of his daze and he ran to her.
“Juney! Are you alright?” He knelt down and slipped his arm behind her back to help her sit up. She didn't seem hurt. She just had the wind knocked out of her.
“Henry?” Her voice was a little shaky and she looked very confused. “Wha-what happened?” Snarls and screeches caught their attention. “Oh, oh no-“ Henry helped her as she struggled to get to her feet.
Bendy lifted his other arm and curled his hand into a massive fist. He intended to pound the demon's demented grin into the dirt. He wanted to end this once and for all.
There was no way Ben was going to lay on his back and let this giant ink spot tear him apart. The fingers of his ungloved hand formed into long, sharp claws. He drove them into the hand that was holding him down and relished in the pained roar he managed to drag out of his counterpart. Bendy’s grip on him loosened enough for him to roll out of the way just as the toon's fist came crashing down where his head once was. Ben shimmied back on all fours before straightening up and brandishing his claws at his much larger foe.
Bendy stared at him with a visible eye that was almost completely black. He shook his injured hand and rolled his massive shoulders as he got ready for round two.
This is what she tried to avoid! Both ink creatures were standing a few feet from one another, growling and hissing like two angry cats. Hell, even the ink on their backs looked like raised hackles. June needed to do something before someone got her.
“Henry, we have to stop them!”
“What?!” he was shocked when June tried to pull him towards the fight.
“They will hurt each other over a misunderstanding. We can't let that happen!” June was a little unsteady on her feet, but she refused to let that stop her.
“Juney…” He wanted to argue. He wanted to keep her away from the impending fight so she didn’t get hurt. But after what he saw, maybe she was onto something. Besides, if things were going to get hairy, he'd be sure to pull her out of the way.
The siblings approached the standoff cautiously. “Ben! Bendy!” She called out to both of them but was completely ignored. Her own temper started to flare up as she left her brother's side before he could stop her. June marched up to and stood between to two angry creatures.
“BEN! BENDY! YOU STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!” Henry was a few inches from yanking his headstrong sister out of the way, but stopped when both ink creatures grew silent. They were both looking at her in complete shock. She turned towards the ink demon with a stern look on her face.
“Ben. This is my home and you are a guest here.” June stabbed a finger in his direction. “I will not stand by and watch you hurt my brother and nephew! If you try this again, you will no longer be welcomed here. Do you understand?”
Now Henry was readying himself for the violent reaction he was sure the demon was going to have. What he wasn’t expecting was for said demon's head to lower. His shoulders sagged and all the fight seemed to drain out of his body. Even his inky veins slowly faded. After a few moments of silence, Ben answered her. “Yessss, I…undersssstand.”
Satisfied, June turned towards Bendy. As massive as he was at the moment, he looked incredibly nervous. He was rubbing his large hands together and didn’t take his visible eye off of her.
“Bendy. I know you just wanted to protect me, but a lot of people could have gotten hurt!” She sighed and rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. “I know what it looked like, but he wasn’t trying to hurt me…not on purpose.” June crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at him. “The point is, I will not allow any fighting in or around my house! Do you understand?” Her nephew nodded vigorously before lowering his head, looking thoroughly chastised.
Right at that moment, Jason busted through the backdoor. He had a bat wrapped in barbed wire in his hand and he looked like he was ready to use it. “Juniper!”
Henry chuckled and June ran her hand down her face. “It’s alright Jay.” June sounded very tired all of a sudden. “I don’t think we'll have to worry about a fight breaking out. Right boys?” Both ink creatures nodded.
Jason walked up to Henry and June. He was a little confused by what he was seeing. When he heard all the noise outside, he thought for sure he was going to find someone torn apart in his backyard. “What happened out here?”
“Well, believe it or not, June used her “Mom Voice” to stop these two from fighting…and it worked!” Henry chuckled at the heated glare his sister shot his way. He was still surprised by how effective it was on Ben.
A soft hiss from June caught everyone’s attention. Jason wrapped an arm around her waist as she leaned against him. Henry noticed she seemed to balance on one foot. “My ankle is bothering me again.” She grumbled.
“Hey Jay? Why doncha take June-bug over to the table so she can get off her feet.” Jason agreed and lead her over to the wooden picnic table that sat close to the house. Once his sister was resting at the table, Henry turned to Bendy. The large toon was eyeing the lanky demon but he made no move to attack him.
“Hey bud, I want you to go over and keep an eye on Jason and June. I need to have a word with…’Ben’.” Bendy whined and shook his head. He didn’t want to leave Henry alone with the demon. “It’ll be alright. I'll be fine, trust me.” Henry reached out to pat Bendy on his arm as he flooded the bond with reassurance. The toon relented. He shuffled off towards the table but made sure he was watching the demon at all times.
Henry was now face to face with the demon that nearly killed him and Bendy so many times. The same demon that kidnapped his family and dragged them to that hellhole of a studio. Henry almost lost everything because of him and he was still very angry because of that. He watched as the demon straightened up and hissed at him. Henry didn’t miss the way Ben’s clawed hand twitched as though he wanted to take a swipe at him. The man just sighed and shook his head.
“Y’know, I didn’t believe her.” Ben tilted his head slightly. “June kept telling me that you didn’t want to hurt her or her family. I told her not to trust you. That you would turn on her…” Ben growled and his clawed hand twitched more. Henry ignored him and continued.
“Nothing she said could convince me otherwise. Then you did something that surprised me. You pushed June out of the way.” Ben grew quiet and listened. “You kept my sister from getting hurt when Bendy attacked you.” Henry shot a quick glance towards his sister before stepping closer to the ink demon. Ben snarled, but stood perfectly still. Henry lowered his voice so the others wouldn’t hear what he had to say.
“You and I both know that I have no way of keeping you out of her house. Not yet anyway.” Henry narrowed his eyes at Ben. “As long as you don’t try hurt my family, I won’t tear you apart where you stand.” Henry shook his head slowly and his green eyes flashed red for just a second. Ben thought he saw sharp fangs when the man spoke again. “But hell help you if you do. I will hunt you down and destroy you!”
Ben tilted his head and watched as Henry schooled his features back into a mask of calmness. He turned and saw June rubbing at her ankle. She made eye contact with him and she looked a little worried. The demon hissed softly and lowered his head. “I wonnn't…hurttt…herrr. She'sss…very...kinnnd.”
Henry blinked. He wasn’t expecting an answer from the demon. He definitely wasn’t expecting an answer like that. Maybe, just maybe, he could give the demon a chance. “Alright Ben.”
Ben shuffled over to the picnic table with Henry following close behind him. Jason and Bendy were weary of his approach, but June just smiled tiredly. He reached out but stopped short of touching her. He let his gloved hand fall limply to his side.
“Are…youuuu…okaaay?” June managed to stand as she reached out and lightly touched his arm.
“I’m fine Ben.” She pointed towards Jason. “Jay will let you come by as long as you don’t hurt anyone, okay?” He agreed. “Although…I'd appreciate it if you didn’t sneak up on me so much?” she smiled nervously.
Ben snorted and his smile grew a little mischievous. “Nooo prommmisess.” June chuckled and ran her fingers through her hair. She knew she was asking a lot with that one but she figured she'd give it a shot.
They all watched as Ben opened an ink portal and returned to the studio. As soon as he left, Bendy thought it was safe to return to his normal form. It would take a long time before he trusted the demon and Henry felt the same way.
Jason helped June back to the house and they all sat in the living room for a bit longer. They talked for a little while, mostly about how they were going to introduce Ben to the girls and how they might react to him. They all figured they'll handle it when it comes up.
OoOoOoOoO
Henry and Bendy stayed a few more days much to the delight of the girls. In that time, June hadn’t seen Ben once. She wondered if maybe she'd been too hard on him that night or maybe the fight with Bendy shook him up.
June tried not to think about it too much. It's not like she could control when he came and went. It's not like she was worried or anything…only, she was a little worried about him. But really, she knew she shouldn’t be. He was a big, scary demon. He could take care of himself. Right?
Henry and Bendy had to head back home, but they promised to come back. Soon, everyone in her household fell back into their old routines. It was kinda nice if a little quiet in the home without the little toon running around.
June stood outside on the front porch and waited for the school bus to pull up. The weather was finally getting cool enough that she had to slip on a light jacket. The bus pulled up and several kids hopped off, including Beth and Sarah. They ran up to their mom and gave her a hug.
June chuckled as both girls tried to tell her how their day was at the same time. They hadn't even taken off their coats and backpacks. June had to tell them to slow down as she helped them with their coats. She knew she would hear even more once they started their homework.
“Hey guys, how about I fix you a snack before you start your homework?” The girls cheered and they headed into the kitchen. They continued to chitchat until the girls saw a tall figure standing in the corner by the back door.
“Ben!?” The demon stood there with the cookie jar in his hands. He smiled sheepishly at being caught, again. June seemed to be getting good at that.
Beth and Sarah gasped and his behind their mother. They remembered seeing this scary creature in the studio. He didn’t like it when they stared at his funny leg. Plus he took that mean lady away. Both girls didn’t know what happened to her, but her screams frightened them.
June sighed and watched as Ben placed the cookie jar back on the counter. He stood very still and waited to see what she would do. This isn't how she wanted to introduce him, but there was no time like the present. June reached down and placed her hand on top of each girl's head.
“Beth. Sarah. I'd like you to meet, Ben.”