BATIM AU: An Angel With Wings

The Cycle

A/N: Sorry for missing out on updates, I'm trying to find the inspiration, as I want this story to finish with a bang!

Anyways, onto the story. (Sorry it was a bit rushed hehe)

Susannah was slowly falling asleep, listing to the steady beat of Henry's heart.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

It was quiet in the safehouse as everyone reminisced over the studio.

They would all slightly miss the creaky floorboards, the constant sound of ink running, and the small safehouse. Even the smell of the sour liquid, wood and dirt.

Alice laughed from the speakers.

"Did you really think I'd let you get away from me?"

Henry shook in fear and from the elevator, he looked at the Boris next to him.

He suddenly had massive deja vu, hadn't this happened before?

Didn't Alice say something different?

"Did you really think I'd let you steal from me?! Did you really think I'd just let you go?!" she had growled.

"No, Henry! I know who you are! And I know why you're here!"

He remembered pulling out the Seeing Tool for the first time.

There were hundreds of tally marks over the poster on his right.

Suddenly his mind seemed to push through an incoherent thought.

Hadn't he met Alice several times before?

And Boris?

Tom?

Allison?

Sammy?

Is he repeating the same thing over and over again?

It seemed like he had broken through a wall and burst a pipe, as thousands of thoughts bombarded him at once.

Is he stuck in a loop?
He remembered watching Boris cower in the elevator, knowing there was no way to save him.

He remembered watching from underneath Sammy as Tom threw an axe into his head.

He remembered watching Bendy sprint at him, then killing him.

He remembered watching the giant hand in the ink river drag him down.

He remembered walking through the door of Joey's apartment, only to be back in the studio.

So why did all of this come back to him all of a sudden? Why didn't he remember all of these previous loops?

He then remembered what he had done last time.

"You have questions, you always do!" Joey, who wasn't facing him, exclaimed.

"Why? Why should I keep doing this?" Henry sighed and sat down.

Joey continued on with his monologue. "The only important question is this: Who are we, Henry?"

Henry stayed quiet as he waited for Joey to finish, heartbroken that this broken man in front of him used to be his best friend.

"The truth was," Joey turned around and sat down with a small huff. "You were always so good at pushing, old friend... pushing me to do the right thing."

He narrowed his eyebrows. "You should've pushed a little harder. Henry; come visit the old workshop... there's something I need to show you." He gestured to the door.

"No."

Joey seemed stunned. "What do you mean?"

"No. I won't do it."

Nevertheless, Henry was somehow forced into the doorway.

Why had everything changed?

Henry's green-blue eyes drifted down to Susannah.

That's it. He thought.

She broke the cycle.

Henry's deep thinking was broken when Sammy collapsed onto the couch next to him, the ink person rolled his head towards him.

"What?"

"Just thinking," Henry responded. He didn't want to alarm anyone about being in a loop, he didn't want anyone to doubt themselves and stress that they'll just be back in the loop.

Especially Sammy, he seemed to already stress enough.

Sammy looked around.

"Ah, Mister Lawrence, ya finally snapped out of ya thoughts!" Wally beamed at him.

"Uh, y-yeah," he was sitting in the break room, he looked down at his hands.

They were human again.

He looked to his left and spotted Susie sitting right next to him.

"Are you alright, Sammy?" she questioned, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she sipped on her mug. "You seem very... Distant lately."

"I-I'm fine," he tried to smile.

Norman plonked onto a chair next to Wally. "Afternoon," he greeted, dipping his head a little. "Anything new?"

"Nah, not much drama for you to enjoy," Sammy said, then snapped his mouth shut guiltily.

Norman smirked. "Thanks," he stole a potato chip from his packet and chucked it into his mouth.

Wally also nicked one. "Say, Sammy, have you seen Jack?"

"Um, he was in his office the last time I saw him," the music man lied.

His vision faded out, then he was in the recording studio.

"Ready to count me in, Sammy?" Allison asked from behind the booth.

"U-uh, yes. Three, two, one."

A jazz tune started to play, Sammy listened to Allison's beautiful voice as she started to sing, hitting every note just right.

Meanwhile, Bendy was dreaming of the outside world, imagining how the grass and sun would feel on his head.