Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You pulled your black trench coat tighter around yourself in an attempt to ward away the chilly night air that had fallen over the city. Your breath come out in small clouds of white every time you exhaled, which meant that it was much too cold for you to be wandering around in a dress at night. The sound of your heels on the grubby cement seemed to echo through the silent streets of Ebott City. Despite the fact that wandering around after sunset in the city was a dangerous endeavor, you found yourself doing it once more after a long night at work.

The clicking of your heels stopped as you reached a familiar bench with a bright light above it. As the only well lit place on the entire street, the bus stop was hard to miss. You took the bus to and from work to and from work every day. You didn’t have the money for a car, but it didn’t really matter when you lived in the middle of a city.

You didn’t mind walking either, though you would prefer not to when it was late at night. The problem with that, though, was that you often found yourself walking to the bus stop from a late night at work. Or, ungodly hours into the morning in your case.

You really enjoyed your job. It didn’t always pay well, and you had to deal with drunk assholes more often than not, but you still loved it. You loved doing your job, and you loved the people you worked for. They were a lovely middle aged couple, who, at some point, you had become very close with.

The scuffling of shoes next to you brought your attention to the figure that had walked up to the stop. The unmistakable scent of cigarette smoke hit you before the odd features did. You had to crane your neck slightly to look up at the cat-like monster. He let out another puff of smoke, staring tiredly at the street in front of him. You looked away from him. It was rude to stare, after all. It’s not like monsters were big news anymore.

They had been above ground for almost 5 years now. Despite them being a bit rough around the edges, you had never had any qualms with them, but you weren’t naive. You had seen all of the fear and hate that people showed towards them. There were even groups adamant about putting them back into the mountain, or worse. You scowled slightly. You couldn’t understand how some people were so hateful. Most monsters you had met weren’t that dangerous. While there were a number of them that you would not like crossing paths with, the number of humans that have some unwarranted hate for monsters is far greater.

But then, you also knew about the mafia. While humans most certainly had already set up an underbelly to the city, monsters had their own ‘businesses’ that they quickly set up in the city. But, could you really blame them? The rights for monsters were not… fantastic. Honestly, you were a bit surprised that there were only a few groups of monsters that resorted to crime when most of them didn’t even make ends meet. Especially at this time of the year, when the weather gets colder and food gets more expensive. Winter was truly your least favorite season. Your ‘uniform’ didn’t really make it easy for you, either. With flashy dresses came mostly bare legs.
As if to prove your point, a particularly cold rush of air blew past you. You shivered almost violently and wrapped your arms around yourself.

“You alright there, Lady?” He asked. You looked back over at the monster. His brows were pushed together in confusion. “Why the hell aren’t you wearing any pants?” You let out a breathy chuckle at the question and shook your head. His face only scrunched up more.

“I ask myself the same question on a daily basis. And yet here I am. Pantsless in winter.” You gave him a once over. He was wearing a nondescript black polo shirt and slacks. His shoes looked well-worn. He was probably a solid six inches taller than you, even though he was slouching. He narrowed his eyes at your obvious inspection, and you gave him an unapologetic shrug and continued with your explanation.

“I work at a bar down the street.” You gestured to the direction of said bar. He only gave you a noncommittal hum in response. You stared at each other for a few more seconds before tearing your gazes away. You both looked in different directions, trying in vain to find something to rest your attention on. Well, you had already started an awkward bus stop conversation. Might as well keep it up to fill the empty air.

“I’ve, uh,” He looked over to you as you began speaking, “never seen you around here before. What brings you to this neck of the woods?” He held up a bag in his hands that you had failed to notice, but didn’t answer you otherwise.

“Shopping? At-“ You looked at your phone, ”two in the morning? Why?” He shrugged irritably. Whatever the reason was, he seemed a bit peeved about it. It felt like he didn’t want to talk about it though, so you dropped the issue. That, however, put you at a loss for any more conversation topics. You leaned forward and looked down the street. Still no bus. From the corner of your eye, you noticed him roll on his feet.

“You a bartender?” His question surprised you slightly. You looked back at him in surprise.

“No, actually. I’m a singer.” You gave a quick explination. He nodded, and you were put back into awkward silence. Then the telltale sound of an engine grew nearer, signaling the bus’s approach. It stopped in front of you and the monster and the doors swung open with a swoosh. You gave a nod to the driver as you stepped onto the empty bus, scanning your card as you went past. You took a seat in the front and watched as the monster stepped in. The driver narrowed his eyes as he passed.

“Bus pass?” The driver asked.

The monster stopped, mumbling softly to himself before patting his pocket. Then his eyes widened. He tapped his other pockets before looking in his bag and groaning. “Look, I-“

“No card, no bus.” The monster looked as though he was going to argue, but thought better of it. He gave a huff and turned to leave the bus. You quickly stood up and pressed your card against the scanner once more. At the sound of the small ding that the machine emitted, the monster turned around and stared at you with a curious look. The bus driver scoffed.

“Whatever, lady. ‘S your money.” He turned back to the wheel with a sour look on his face. A glare settled on your face but dropped as you sat back down. You smiled at the orange cat as he passed you. He let out a quiet chuckle.

“Thanks, little buddy, I owe you one.” With that, he sat down at the back of the bus. It lurched forward and you turned your attention to the city as it passed out the window.

The bus was quiet, as per usual. Only the soft sounds of the engine and the occasional car horn could be heard. You found your thoughts wandering to the monster sitting in the back of the bus. You wondered what his story was. You had gathered that the underground had not been a particularly nice place. Despite that, most of the monsters seemed nice, if not a bit standoffish. He seemed to be no exception.

You felt the bus lurch to a stop. You turned to see him pass you in the isle. You gave him a smile as he left the bus, getting a nod in return.

Chapter Text

With a heavy slam, you pulled the door shut behind you and threw your purse on the floor of your apartment. It may have been small and run down, but it was yours. You fell back onto the lumpy old couch and flipped on the T.V. There weren’t very many channels, so you were stuck between news and reruns of old soap operas. Deciding that you despised both of those options, you sighed heavily and turned it back off. News was all the same nowadays, anyhow. It was all about corrupt government officials and murders. You would pass on both of those.

You rolled back off of the couch and moved to the kitchen to grab the ever healthy meal of a Pop-tart. It may have been out of laziness or it could have been the fact that you were tired enough to collapse on the spot, but cooking just didn’t sound appealing. You pulled open the wrapper and stuffed on in your mouth before heading to your room. You supposed that you could make an attempt to sleep instead of watching the same episode of Days of Our Lives that you had seen way too many times growing up. You hadn’t been getting nearly enough sleep over the last few days, anyways. You glanced at the mirror hanging on your closet door. If the bags under your eyes were any indication, you knew it was starting to show. Besides that, it would start affecting your work soon if you weren’t careful.

Finishing off your food, you pulled your blankets over your head. Despite your eyelids fluttering shut, your mind was still racing with thoughts. You sighed and turned over... but you still just couldn’t manage to relax enough to fall asleep.

With a heavy sigh, you tossed the blankets to the foot of your bed and moved to the window. Your arms found themselves wrapped around your torso in a pseudo-hug as you looked at the city around you.

You could see a few windows lit up, but at this time, it was not surprising that there were only four or five of them. You could hear the faint sound of a dog barking somewhere in the distance. It was paired with the occasional car horn that most likely came from a mile or so downtown, where the streets were always much busier.

As you focused on the noises of the city, your ears picked up on the unmistakable echo of a gunshot. You looked in the vague direction that it came from, but were otherwise unperturbed. It wasn’t that rare of an occurrence in your neighborhood, or your city for that matter. You found your thoughts wandering to the crime syndicates that practically ran the city.

Despite living in a shitty neighborhood, you were lucky enough to find a place that remained relatively neutral to mafia activity. There were a few ‘factions’ that you knew of in the surrounding area, however. You knew that there were several drug cartels run by humans just off of your street. You also knew that there were two or three other… less savory businesses run by humans nearby, as well. For the monster mafias, however, your intell was a bit spotty. The only way you knew so much about the happenings of the mob was through your work. Much to your dismay, there are many people involved that speak about their ‘jobs’ freely in bars. While the bar you worked in welcomed both humans and monsters, monsters were few and far between. What you did know of monsters came from secondhand stories from the opposite side and news stories. Neither if those were very reliable sources, though.

But despite your curiosity, you had no desire to look further into any of it. God forbid you do that and someone finds out about how much you know. You were not looking to get shot up by some shady marksman, or worse. There were some monsters that made you shudder at the thought of even crossing paths with them. Some of them sounded more like urban legends than actual people.

The one in particular that came to your mind was known as ‘The Judge’. That’s the only thing you knew other than the fact that he’s a monster. But the stories that you’ve overheard about him… well, you’d rather take your chances with the marksman. One night you had overheard a group of patrons talking about some revenge plot gone wrong. Apparently, the Judge incinerated the entire top half of a man. And if any of them caught wind of you… You shivered at the thought. You would prefer to stay in one piece, thank you very much!

The rest of your night was spent in much the same way, sitting on your windowsill and staring out in quiet contemplation. Eventually, you began drifting off to sleep, not concerning yourself with moving from your spot.

When you came to the next day, you blinked the sleepiness out of your eyes and groaned at the light filtering through your window. You sat up off the floor, which was where you had ended up in your sleep last night. With a yawn and a stretch, you moved into your kitchen and stared blankly at the fridge. Maybe you’d eat when you got to work. There was no doubt in your mind that Marilyn would feed you, provided you got there early enough. You glanced at the clock. Holy shit! Was it really that late? What time had you fallen asleep last night? Your posture went rigid as you rushed into your room.

You pulled a random dress out of your closet before yanking it over your head. You ran your fingers through your hair and rushed to the front door, grabbing your purse as you moved to grab the handle before stopping. You turned back around. You had almost forgotten your coat. You shook your head and threw your coat over the dress. You grabbed your make-up bag as an afterthought and pushed open your door.

With your hands now full with your bags and shoes, you nearly sprinted down the hall, slowing now and again to strap your favorite heels on. You jumped slightly as a door swung open in front of you. With an almost clumsy twist, you stumbled around your little old neighbor.

“Excuse me, Ms. Josevine! Have a lovely day!” A small chuckle came from the woman as you ran down the hall. You took the stairs two at a time and nearly slammed into the door to your building. Once you were outside, you composed yourself slightly and began speed walking to the bus stop. The bus was already there! Maybe if you ran, you could still catch it before…

Shit. Shit! With a heavy groan, you watched as the bus pulled away. Okay, plan B. You pulled your phone out of your purse. Dead. Of course it was. Well, it looked like you would be walking to the main street so that you could hail a cab.

You rushed down the street, keeping an eye out for any of the yellow cars. In your distracted state, you didn’t notice the man in front of you.

You proceeded to plow heavily into the man. There was a moment of stunned silence as a full cup of coffee hit the ground.

“Shit. I am so sorry!” You looked up to see a skeletal face glaring down at you. You studied him for but a second before stepping around the tower of a monster.
“If I weren’t already late, I would buy you another one! If I see you again, I promise I’ll do just that!” You increased your voice towards the end as you hurried away from him. The suited skeleton didn’t get the chance to reply as you rushed down the street. Your eye caught the bright yellow you had been looking for.

“Taxi!” Hey pulled to the curb in front of you. Well, at least you’d have time to do your makeup on the way. Sadly, you doubted you’d have enough time for food at this point. You told the driver the address of your work, and he drove off.

After paying the man, you rushed through the doors of your work.

“You’re late.” Silas Stood at his usual spot behind the bar, giving you a playful smirk.

“I know, I know.” You made your way towards the back room. “And I’m suffering because of it.” You pulled the door open and looked back at your boss with a hand placed dramatically on your forehead. “If my punishment is to starve, then so be it.”

He shook his head at your dramatics, “Whatever. I’ll have Marilyn cook you up something. Just get to work.”

“You’re my hero!” He chuckled and turned back to the shelf he had been organizing.

You pulled off your coat and put it down next to your bag. The clipboard that held your set list sat on a table in the center of the break room. What was on the set list for today? You looked the papers over before nodding in approval. Looked like you were doing requests tonight, as well. You enjoyed requests because they gave you a chance to sing something a bit different, plus some of the songs that drunk people asked you to perform were ridiculous. That meant that you got to have fun with them. You grabbed a water bottle from the mini-fridge in the room and made your way out to set up your stage. You filled the clipboard with blank paper and hung it on the side of the stage, taking your list and setting it where it wouldn’t be noticeable.

You nodded to the couple behind the bar. Marilyn smiled and moved over to your spot, a plate in hand, “Glad to see you decided to show up.” You rolled your eyes playfully.

“Yeah, well, getting here was quite the chore this morning.”

“You miss the bus again?” She smirked at you.

“...No?”

“I don’t believe you.” Well, it was worth a shot. You gave her a shrug. She chuckled and handed you a plate of food. Thank goodness for this beautiful angel of a woman!

“Thanks! Now get outta here so I can do my job.” You threw a wink at her. As she turned to leave, you called out to her, “Do you need me to stay late today?” She shook her head, looking sheepishly away from you. She never really liked it when you asked about taking extra shifts without pay, but they really needed the help. 

“No, not today. We have a waitress in later today, so I can work in the kitchen instead of serving.” You smiled at her and nodded. She returned your nod and left you to your devices. You made yourself comfortable and prepared for the day.

Chapter Text

After a few more songs, you stepped down from the stage and wandered over to the bar. Wordlessly, Silas tossed you a water bottle. You gave him a nod in return and sat down at the remaining unoccupied bar stool. You were supposed to take your breaks in the back room, but you didn’t really like doing that. It was too quiet back there. You much prefered the quiet murmurs of conversation and the occasional clinking of the glass dishes. Although, being out in the front did sometimes warrant you some… unwanted attention.

Like tonight, which seemed like it was just going to be ‘one of those days’ if your missed bus and coffee mishap were anything to go by. The offending man in the stool next to you spun around to face you. Oh, he was much too close. You could smell the alcohol on his breath before he even opened his mouth.

“Well, how are you doin’, babe?” Yuck. You rolled your eyes and refused to look over at the intoxicated man.

“Don’t call me babe.” He leaned a bit closer to you.

“Aw, come on. I’m just sayin’ that you’re fuckin’ hot. Take a compliment, babe.” His words slurred worse towards the end, “N’ I’m just lookin’ for a good time.” You scowled at the water bottle in your hands. You looked up behind the bar to see Silas holding your gaze. His head made a small motion in the direction of the man. You shook your head. You could handle a drunk idiot by yourself. If you couldn’t, well, you were in the wrong business.

“So, what you’re saying,” You looked over at the man with a hard glare, “Is that you think I look like I’d open my legs for any drunk idiot who tries to make a pass at me.” Through his sputters of surprise, you sighed dramatically. “This dress isn’t even short.” You looked down, “and it really doesn’t show that much cleavage.” You looked back at the man. “So, I would like for you not to treat me like an object for you to ogle at.” You gave the bartender a nod and stood up, leaving the man making vague responses of denial as you walked to the kitchen door. You peeked your head into the door to see Marilyn balancing several plates on her arms.

“Hey there, lady. Need any help?” You asked. She looked scandalized, Despite the fact that you offered your help to her almost nightly.

“On your break? Most definitely not!” You smirked as she put another plate on her arm in defiance. Your smirk grew into a grinds she looked at the last plate on the table. You both knew that she couldn’t carry any more at once. She bit her lip in contemplation and then turned to you. “Fine. One plate. Then you’re done.” You nodded gleefully and took the plate of fries. She led the way out into the dining area. Before you could follow her to her table, however, she stopped you.

“That’s For a different table,” She pointed to a corned booth across the room. You nodded and made your way over to the table. When you reached the table, you set the plate in front of the patron sitting there.

“Can I get you anything else?” You asked, without really paying any attention to the person sitting there. With the way they were sitting alone and in the shadows of the booth, you figured they didn’t really want to be noticed, anyways.

“So you double as a waitress?” You recognized that voice. Your eyes focused on the man in to booth. It was none other than the monster you had met the previous night, or morning you supposed. You noted that he was situated so that he could see most of the bar without an issue. You gave him a grin.

“Only when I’m on break,” you explained. He let out a chuckle. 

“Sounds to me like you work too much, little buddy.” He seemed to think for a moment. “I know a few people who would kill for an employee like you.” You shrugged and gestured to the seat across from him.

“You mind? I am still on my break, after all.” He didn’t make any move to stop you, so you fell into the seat.

“You’re actually pretty good.” You tilted your head at him in confusion. His eyes moved over to the small stage. It was more like a raised platform off to the side of the bar, but it fit both you and a upright piano, so you supposed it worked.

“I see. I should hope that I am, considering the fact that I get paid to do it.” He gave you a smirk and you continued, “Thanks, though.” He nodded and took a few bites of his food. You didn’t bother taking your eyes off of him, as he didn’t seem overly uncomfortable with your gaze.

“So, I doubt that you being here is a coincidence. I’ve never seen you here before, so it’s odd seeing you twice in one day.” He moved his gaze away from you, but you could tell that he was still keeping you in his peripheral vision.

“Well, you told me where you worked, so I figured I would… never mind.” He looked down at the table, glaring at his fries like they had personally offended him.

“That you would what? I’m curious now.” He shook his head.

“It’s stupid. I didn’t even think you’d see me… or care that I was here.” You frowned, but it quickly turned into a smile.

“Well, whatever the reason was, I’m glad you showed up.” You extended a hand across the table, “Name’s (Y/N).”

His eyes wandered between your outstretched hand and your expectant look a few times before taking your hand, “BP.” You nodded and gave his hand onefirm shake before dropping it.

“Did you get home alright this morning?” He gave you an odd look.

“I wasn’t going home. I had to finish something for my boss.” You nodded and relaxed back into your seat, folding your arms over your chest.

“I see. And you say I work too hard.” He shrugged, and you continued, “So, you have the day off today, then?” He continued giving you that odd look. “What do you do, anyways?”

“I work weird hours. You ask a lot of questions.” His claim threw you off a bit. Were you bothering him? You hummed to yourself and found your eyes moving back to the bar.

“I suppose I do,” You looked back over to him with a small smile, “ Sorry if I’m prying. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” He eyed you for a second before shaking his head. His posture shifted to mimic your own.

“Y’know, you’re something else, little buddy.” A grin spread across your face.

“You’re a pretty cool cat, yourself.” You watched with glee as his eyebrows raised. His expression fell into a deadpan glare.

“No.” You let yourself giggle and stood from the table. A wink was sent in his direction before you made your way back to the bar.

You noted that the drunk man wasn’t there anymore. There was no doubt that he was still at the bar, though. Silas, who was shaking some sort of drink, caught your attention and moved over to you.

“Well, I’m going back to work.” An eyebrow was raised on the other side of the counter.

“You do know that your brakes are supposed to be longer than five minutes, right?” You shrugged.

“So are yours.” You shot back. He grumbled a bit at that, but let you go on your way. With one last wave at the cat monster, you moved back up to the stage. You glanced at the clipboard. A smirk fell on your face when you read the familiar messy handwriting. What would you ever do without that woman? Starve, probably. But who knows? You certainly didn’t. But what you did know was that you could sing her favorite song. Marilyn ad done so much for you (Including feed you), it was the least you could do.

You confidently sat at the upright piano that sat on your stage. Man, what you wouldn’t give for a full grand piano. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though. You were still pretty happy with your set-up. You wiggled your fingers a little before hitting the first few notes on the familiar ivory keys. A gentle smile found itself on your lips as your mind focused solely on the music. Your voice quickly followed the melodic sound of piano.

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me,
Why are you still so afraid?

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day.

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight

Too bad, but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right

You got your passion, you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
Why don't you realize... Vienna waits for you?

When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?

By the end of the song, you could see a small crowd in front of your stage from the corner of your eye. A soft clapping brought your attention to the few patrons that had gathered. You grinned down at BP as he smirked at you. After standing from your bench, you made a small curtsy and hopped down from the ledge.

“Why thank you, kind sir.” You bowed slightly with a flourish.

 He gave you a playful grimace, “Ugg. Don’t let the praise get to your head.”

You chuckled, “Me? Never.”

You felt a hand fall onto your shoulder before it squeezed uncomfortably. Your eyes followed the hand to an unfamiliar jacket. You twisted your body around to face the person. Almost instantly, your expression fell. It was the man from earlier. You knew he was still around. His eyes were not on you, however, but the monster behind you.

“You may have been a bitch, but I’d bet you’ll change your tune after I get that thing away from you.” Oh, hell no. You shook his hand off you.

“Look, dude. The only thing that’s bothering me is you. I told you no.”

He looked between you and BP a few times before scowling at you, “I see. You’re just another dirty monster lover. You people disgust me.” You held your head high as he spoke, a challenging spark in your eyes.
“Last time I checked, I didn’t care what racist assholes thought about me.”

He audibly growled,” How can you sympathize with those- those, animals?!”

Your fists clenched at your sides, “That’s funny, the only animal I see is a pig.” You punctuated your statement with a jab to his chest. Without much warning, the man lunged forward to grab you. You quickly took a few steps back, nearly walking into BP. As soon as the man's eyes made contact with your again, you launched your fist directly into the man’s nose. There was a satisfying crack that almost seemed to echo through the bar. One of the man’s hands came up to cover his now bleeding nose.

Your eyes caught the movement of his other hand. It was moving behind him as if-

You both froze as a booming voice shouted over the commotion that you had created.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Silas made his way over to the two of you. The man seemed to shrink under the bartender’s glare. You crossed your arms, and your attention moved over to your friend. You couldn’t blame the man, really. Silas was intimidating when he wanted to be. He had the whole ‘gruff biker gang’ look going for him. He met your gaze before looking back at the man. “What is going on?”

The man was quicker to speak than you were, “She fuckin’ punched me!” You smirked slightly, muttering a ‘damn right, I did’ under your breath. Your boss gave you a side eye, and you shrugged.

“He was being an ass,” you complained.

Silas rolled his eyes, “You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific.”

You held your closed fist in front of you, “Well, he’s been hitting on me, which has been very much unwanted,” You held up a finger, “he was being discriminatory towards other patrons,” another finger went up, “He attempted, unsuccessfully, I might add, to attack me,” another finger. “And, I’m pretty sure he has a weapon that he was just reaching for.” A fourth finger. Your boss gave you a curt nod and gestured to the door.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Despite his calm tone, Silas was glaring at the man.

The man angrily pointed at BP, “So, you’ll let vermin in, but you’re kicking me out?!” If the man thought your boss had been mad before, he was sorely mistaken. He was now absolutely livid.

“Out.” The word came out quiet, but it held more weight than any of his previous ones. The man looked between you and Silas before turning angrily towards the door.

“You’ll regret this.” With that, he slammed the door behind him.

You stuck out your tongue in the direction the man had left, “Good riddance!” There was a surprised chuckle behind you. You turned towards the monster, who was giving you an almost disbelieving look.

“You’re crazy, lady.” BP stated, as if it were common knowledge. Silas nodded in agreement with him.

“Maybe it’s not the best idea to taunt people with weapons.” You shrugged at your boss and the cat monster.

“I know, but I don’t like jerks. Weapons or not.” You boss scoffed at your statement and shook his head.

“You’re going to be the death of me one day. I swear it.” You chuckled as he walked back to his bar. Your focus turned back to BP. He looked around awkwardly for a few seconds, shifting his weight from foot to foot. You chuckled again.

“This has been fun and all, but I’ve gotta get back to work, dude.” Your words must have caught him off gaurd, because he seemed to stumble over his words for a second.

“Yeah, I- uh.” He stuttered. You raised a brow. “I should probably, y’know-“ he gestured to the door.

“Alright. If you’re going, then be safe,” you requested. His face scrunched up in confusion.

“Sure?” It was phrased as a question, but it was still good enough for you.

“See you around some time?” He nodded at your question.

“Sure, little buddy. See you later.” You smiled and waved as he made his way out.

As soon as the door shut behind him, a deep frown found its way on your face. You really hoped that the fight wouldn’t come back to bite you in the ass. With your luck, though… Well, you supposed it was never a good thing to dwell on ‘what ifs’. You took a deep breath and moved back to your stage to finish your shift.

Chapter Text

A deep inhale came from you as you sat up from your nest of blankets. The morning sun filtered through the curtains, casting your room in a dim light. You exhaled. Your feet hit the cold ground and you stood, blinking the sleep from your eyes.

Ah, Mondays. Also known as, your day off. You, quite honestly, loved having Mondays to yourself. It meant you could get you errands done without having to fight any crowds. Plus, it was understandable that you had no work on mondays. You were a lounge singer, after all. Fridays and Saturdays were the more busy days for you to work. Not that you would have minded working on Mondays, but Silas and Marilyn practically kicked you out of the building the last time you showed up on a day off. You chuckled to yourself. They truly were good people… and those weren’t easy to come by nowadays. A gentle smile found its way onto your face as you got ready for the day. You don’t know that you have ever really deserved their kindness, but it was always appreciated nonetheless.

You shook off your thoughts before they could get too dark, and pulled on your favorite pair of heels. Man, you really needed to go out and buy something to wear that wasn’t a dress. Maybe you’d do that today. Or… maybe tomorrow. You would get around to it eventually.

For now, though, you found yourself wandering down from your apartment to the streets below. You checked the time on your phone and sighed. 8:15. The bus had just left, and there was not another one for another half hour. That was alright, though. Maybe you would go take a walk through the park. There was no doubt it would be empty this early in the morning, and you could use a bit of peace.

You made your way through the streets of the city with little issue. It was a fairly calm morning, and there weren’t many cars or people out and about. You smiled as you made your way through the only real green area in the city. The only people you noticed were a little old lady sitting on a bench, and a couple relaxing in the grass. You gave the woman a small wave as you passed by, which she happily returned. You felt yourself relax as you let your feet carry you down the path. You did have grocery shopping to do, after all. So, as much as you were enjoying the morning, you passed through the park. You knew that there was a grocery store not far from the opposite side of the park, so you could still walk through the park on your way back. You knew it would be a bit more crowded by then, but you didn’t really mind. It was a pleasant break from the dreary city streets.

You made your way to the store and quickly rushed through the aisles, occasionally picking up food and tossing it into your basket. You knew that you didn’t need too much. You were just one person, and you worked at a restaurant. Plus, you didn’t particularly feel like carrying ridiculous amounts of food through the city. So, you would make do with the essentials, and… maybe something for dinner. You were feeling Italian. Yeah, that sounded good. With that thought, you made your way to the checkout, grabbing what you would need for your dinner on the way. You gave the cashier a quick thanks as you shoved your bags full of food. With four bags balanced in your arms, you made your way back to the park.

You shifted one of the bags in your arms as you made your way back down the central path. They were a bit heavier than you had expected them to be. It was no matter, though. You would just have to spend less time meandering through the park than you would have liked. You shifted them once more, rolling your shoulders slightly as you continued down the path.

You passed by the bench that the old woman had been sitting on, noting that she was no longer there. As you did so, You heard the loud barking of a dog behind you, followed by an even louder shout.

“GET BACK HERE, YOU MUTT!” The sound of paws hitting the pavement quickly approached you from behind, “STOP THAT DOG!” The voice shouted from nearly halfway across the park. You spun towards the commotion. Your eyes widened as a large dog was rushing towards you, a bundle of red fabric in its mouth. In that instant, a rash decision was made.

You let out a small squeak and dropped your bags as the dog got within reach. With a small grunt of effort, you lunged down and grabbed the dog’s neck in a pseudo bear-hug. In a very unsurprising turn of events, you were knocked over, and the dog ended up dragging you with it for a few feet. In an act of stubbornness, however, you refused to let go of the canine. A low growl came from him as he attempted to shake you off. You had a feeling that he would have bitten you if it weren’t for the item that he was already clenching in his jaws.

“Woah, down boy. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” You tried to comfort the dog as the sound of footsteps quickly made their way over to you. From the bits of your vision that weren’t overtaken by dog, you could see a pair of nice looking dress shoes and the bottom of what seemed to be black slacks. So, it was a fancy man, then. A gloved hand grabbed the base of the dog’s muzzle as he continued to growl.

“Drop. It.” Another gloved hand fell expectantly beneath the dog’s mouth. The growling stopped, but the canine continued to hold the item. “NOW.” The dog almost seemed to have a begrudging expression as he spit it out onto the man’s hand. When the dog’s attention was purely on the man, you slowly dropped your death grip on the animal. When you saw that he wasn’t going anywhere, you gave him a gentle pat on the head. The dog looked back at you for a split second as you did, but his gaze promptly moved back to the man that you assumed to be his owner.

With a loud sigh, you stood up and brushed yourself off. Your eyes caught the bags on the ground, and a deep frown fell on your face. Man, you had eggs in one of those. The man next to you cleared his throat, bringing your attention to him. You blinked up at the skeletal face.

“Well, damn. What are the chances?” You were surprised that you once again run into the familiar monster. He eyed you for a second, but made no effort to answer your rhetorical question. You tore your gaze from him and looked down at the sad piles of groceries, and then away from both of those things, “I am still very sorry about your coffee, and my offer still stands.” When he didn’t say anything back, you continued, “to, uh… get coffee, I mean. I’d have to bring my groceries home first, though. Unless you don’t want to, which I completely understand. You don’t even know me, after all, and-“

You were interrupted by a bag being pushed into your arms. You looked to the skeleton with a raised brow. He had, at some point during your tangent, picked up your bags. You gave him a small smile and a nod. Taking that as an affirmative for your invitation, you began down the path towards your home once again.

“Thank you for your help.” He gave you a noncommittal hum in response. He followed you down the street in relative silence, the dog trotting at your heels. “I’m (Y/N), by the way. May as well know my name before you know where I live, right?” He scoffed, and you looked over at him. He caught your gaze and narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not doing this to be helpful, or to be your friend. I simply do not like being in debt to people.” He finally responded, but it was not what you were expecting. You blinked a few times in confusion.

“But, I owed you something. So if anything, wouldn't it just cancel out?” He huffed and adjusted one of the bags that he was carrying.

“It did. A dropped coffee for some dropped groceries. However, you also managed to stop the mangy mutt. Not that I would have had any problems doing it myself,” he explained. You nodded, smirking at his volume and the confident way he held himself.

“I see. An eye for an eye kind of guy, huh? I can respect that.” He made no response, and you continued in an awkward silence. You decided to continue to try and start up a conversation to fill the empty air, “So, is that your dog?” What a dumb question, of course it’s his-

“No.” Oh. “I detest dogs. It belongs to my brother.” You looked back at the large white dog that seemed content to follow the two of you closely. Looking from the dog to the skeleton, something clicked in your mind.

“Do… Do you not like dogs because you’re made of bones?” He tensed up, and did not answer you for a second, but that was all you needed to know.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” You chuckled under your breath. He gave you a side eye, and you returned it with a smirk and a wink. He almost immediately broke the eye contact and began walking faster. At the speed he was going, you began having to lightly jog to keep up. Curse this man and his damn long legs.

“So, you got a name, or should I just make one up?”

“Of course I have a name! What kind of stupid question is that?” After another beat of silence without him adding on to that statement, you decided that it was unlikely you would get a name. You sighed slightly and quickened your pace once more to match his.

“Y’know, I should probably be walking in front of you, considering the fact that you have no idea where you’re going.” You said while slowing your walk slightly. He scoffed, something he seemed to do often.

“I always know where I’m going, insolent girl!” You stopped walking, but he continued forward. You let him walk another twenty feet or so with a smirk.

“Hey, Columbus? You passed my building.” He stopped walking, and you could hear him grumble something under his breath, even from where you were standing. He turned and made his way back to you as you leaned back on the door to open it. He followed with little hesitation, eyeing your run-down building with obvious distaste in his expression. You found yourself frowning at that, but led him to the elevator nonetheless. Once you made your way down the hall, you stopped at you door and turned to the skeleton and the dog.

“Do you want to come in, or-“ You were, once again, interrupted by bags being pushed into your arms. You barely had any time to voice your confusion before the monster turned to leave.

“Wait!” He hesitated slightly, but still didn’t face you. You took a brief second to think. Why were you calling out to this complete stranger? He could be on his way, and it was very likely that you would never cross paths with him again. Sure, he helped you, but he already told you that he was doing it to pay you back for catching the dog. Plus, his personality seemed prickly, at best. So why did it matter to you what this skeleton did?

“If you give me your name, I’ll call us even.” Why did you say that? It seemed to catch his attention, though. He turned around and scanned your figure. His gaze stopped at your legs, and you tilted your head in curiosity.

“You’re bleeding.” You looked down. One of your knees did, in fact, have a good sized smearing of red on it. Now that you had noticed it, you also noticed the slight stinging that came along with it. It was nothing you couldn’t deal with though, and it most likely looked much worse that it actually was.

“Oh. So I am. Must’ve happened when the dog pulled me down.” He looked at you in contemplation for a few seconds.

“Papyrus.” He then promptly turned down the hallway before you could say anything else to him. You shook your head and made your way to the kitchen, bags in hand. Papyrus, huh?

What an odd monster.

Chapter Text

You smiled and gave a small twirl as you stepped off of the stage. You waved to a small family as they left. Marilyn met you as you made your way to the bar, and smiled as she held out a plate of fries.

“Good job out there, hun.” Marilyn was always one for complements. You continued to smile, and took one of the fries off of the plate. You cheekily took a large bite out of it. She sputtered a bit in surprise.

“Hey! Those aren’t for you!” She scolded. You gave her a wink in return.

“Well, you handed them to me, so I just assumed.” You took the plate from her hands, “and I’m sure he won’t mind. I’ll end up eating half of them, anyways.” She sighed in resignation.

“Even if he is your friend, he’s still a paying customer,” She looked away from you, mumbling to herself about how he actually got you to take breaks, but now you’re stealing food.

“Yeah, Yeah. Get back to cleaning your tables, lady.” Your banter was punctuated with a gentle shove. She shook her head at you. 

“Be nice to my wife!” You rolled your eyes at the barkeep, who had decided to playfully join in the conversation.

“But if I’m too nice to her, she might just choose to marry me, instead. I am the prettier of out the two of us, after all.” Plus, you had the snappier come backs. You heard Marilyn bark out a laugh behind you. Silas crossed his arms and let out a huff.

“You got me there, I guess.” He went back to cleaning his glass before you could say anything else to him. You chuckled as you made your way to the corner seat, which also happened to have the last customer of the night. Without a word, you heavily fell into the seat across from the orange cat monster.

It had been about two weeks since BP first showed up at the bar, and he had seemed to make a habit of stopping by everyday, even if it was just for a few minutes. You honestly didn’t mind the company. And, as far as company went, he was one of the more tolerable guests at your bar. He hadn’t attempted to make a move on you, which for sure put him in the top 20%, just by itself. Not to mention, he had a way of telling stories that made everything sound dramatic. You took another fry from the plate.

“You would not believe the day I’ve had, little buddy.” You had quickly found that he often started his stories with those exact words. You leaned forward, tossing your elbows on the table and resting your head on your hands.

“Oh? Do tell.” You were always up for another story. He then began a very animated retelling of all of the strange customers he got at work, as well as all of the tasks his boss threw at him. You happily listened to him, nodding along to his story. Before you knew it, thirty minutes and a plate of fries had gone by. You leaned back in your seat and crossed your arms over your chest.

“So, how about you? Any wild new stories to tell?” You blinked at his question. Your days were never as interesting as his. It was always the same routine for you. Your mind wandered to the run-in with Papyrus that had happened a few days ago. That was really the only recent thing that had happened that was out of the ordinary. But you weren’t one to gossip usually… Eh, screw it. What were the chances of seeing him a third time?

“Well, the other day, I ran into this guy.” You paused. He raised a brow and copied your posture. You could already see where he was going.

“A guy, huh?” You rolled your eyes. Called it.

“Not like that.” He wiggled his brow at you, and you scoffed playfully.

“I caught his runaway dog, who made me drop all of my groceries on the sidewalk.” You explained. He chuckled at your misfortune.

“Sounds like a mess.” Well, he wasn’t wrong. You groaned dramatically in reply.

“It was! I was carrying eggs and everything!” You made small hand gestures, just to get the point across that you were upset over the spoiled food. He picked up a drink that had been put in front of him by Marilyn at some point during your chat. He began twirling it gently.

“So, what’d you do?” He asked. You leaned onto the table once more.

“Well, that wasn’t even the half of it. When I actually saw the guy, I realized that I had literally ran into him, like, a week before then. I made him drop his coffee everywhere, so I figured I couldn’t really say anything about the groceries.”

“You figured that it made you even,” He stated. You nodded.

“Exactly! But then he insisted on carrying all of my stuff back to my apartment.” You regretted how you had phrased that when his mouth turned up into a slightly sinister grin.

“Was he hot?” You let out a chuckle in surprise. Was he? You hadn’t really thought about it.

“I guess? He sorta had a fancy bad boy look going on. He pulled it off pretty well.” Your face scrunched up a bit, “kinda uppity, though. And prickly as a damn cactus.” He let out a laugh.

“He was prickly? Must’ve been really bad if that’s coming from you.” You gasped and put your hand up to your chest in mock hurt.

“I’ll have you know that I was nothing but polite with him!” He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to give you a retort. But it never came. His posture went rigid as his eyes glazed over. His ears perked up and began twitching slightly. You raised a brow at him.

“You alright?” You were slightly worried. Was that normal? He shushed you, and you blinked in surprise. What was he doing? You looked at him wearily, noticing his fur beginning to stand on end. You looked behind you, following his blank eyes, only to see the large window front. There was only an empty street on the other side of the windows. You shot his a questioning look, but he continued to ignore you with that thousand yard stare. His ears began twitching wildly.

“Um, what-“

Suddenly his eyes snapped back into focus. They immediately landed on you. He let out a loud curse and jumped over to your side of the table. Before you could even process what was happening, he shoved you under the table.

“Get down!” What the hell was he-

A loud bang was followed by the unmistakable sound of shattering glass. You instinctively curled down onto the floor, making yourself as small as possible. You felt BP follow you under the table. Another bang echoed through the bar, this one followed by a piercing scream. You winced and brought your hands up to cover your ears. There was another single loud shot, and then the single eardrum shattering shots turned into a string of them in rapid succession. Each shot was paired with a dull thud or the sound of of more glass breaking. There was a loud shout that you couldn’t quite make out over the ringing in your ears. You could barely place that it was coming from outside. Something about ‘dirty monsters’? Then, there was a loud squealing that your brain registered as tires on the street outside.

And just as quickly as the noise came, it was gone. You waited for a few seconds in the dead silence. You felt a slight shifting next to you. Hesitantly, you pulled your head away from your hands and blinked open your eyes. You weren’t sure when you had closed them. You were met with a concerned gaze that you knew belonged to BP. He was practically hovering over you with how close he was.

“Are you alright, little buddy?” You shifted away from him, wiggling your fingers a bit out of instinct. You didn’t feel like you had been hurt. Your ears were still ringing a bit, though.

“I think… I think I’ll be fine. Are you?” You gave him a quick once over as you asked. He gave you a brisk nod and turned is attention to the bar. He winced as he looked out from under the table. You grimaced and slowly pulled yourself out from underneath the table, nervous to see the damage. Your eyes immediately fell on the bar in the back. It had been trashed. The counter itself had been littered with bullet holes. All of the bottles that had once been neatly lined up along the back wall were shattered and knocked al over the place, with puddles of liquids dripping off the shelves. It took you a second to process that there wasn’t a bearded face smiling at you from behind the counter. There was nobody behind the bar. It was empty. There wasn’t anyone there. But, there was always someone there. Where was…

You took in a ragged breath rushed over to the bar. You vaguely acknowledged that BP tried to grab you, but you needed to make sure that everything was okay. You ignored the crunch of glass under your feet, and launched yourself around the side of the counter. Your breath caught in your throat.

“No, no. It’s not-“ You fell to your knees, your brain not registering the pain of glass shards digging into your skin. You brought your hands up to your mouth in shock.

A familiar burly figure was lying on the floor in front of you. You shook your head, seeing an already expanding puddle of red extending from his head. You couldn’t seem to tear your eyes away from his face. His eyes were still open, but his gaze was empty. Blood ran down his face from the bullet wound in the side of his forehead.

“No, you can’t-“ Your breathing became harsh, and you shook your head once more. You could hear the sound of footsteps hesitantly coming up behind you, followed by a curse from BP. You paid him no mind. You hung your head in defeat.

“Silas, please, you can’t do this to Marilyn. She’ll be-“ Your eyes widened more than they already had.

“Marilyn!?” You shot up from your position, and your eyes wildly scanned the rest of the bar. A weak cough sounded from the opposite side of the building, seemingly in reply to your call. You climbed back over the counter and rushed to where the sound had come from. BP followed behind you. You stopped breathing altogether when you saw her figure on the ground. She moved her head slightly in your direction.

“(Y/N).” Her voice came out soft, and it sounded like it was almost painful for her to say the simple word. You fell down to her side, your hands hovering over her. Your eyes quickly moved over several dark spots in her usually immaculate clothes.

“Marilyn, I-“ She shushed you. You let out a sob and moved to cover one of the wounds on her stomach, putting pressure on it.

“I’m… so sorry that-“ She coughed, “That you have to go through this again.” She spoke between short breaths. You glared a her through your tears.

“No! Don’t you dare say that!” Another sob escaped you, despite your best efforts to keep it in. “I can still save you! I can- I can…” Your words trailed off into the sharp breaths and hiccups of your crying. She gave you a soft smile and took your now blood covered hands in her own. You felt warm tears run down your cheeks as you watched the focus leave her eyes.

“Please don’t do this to me.” Your voice came out as barely a whisper as her eyes completely glazed over and her hands went slack. You slowly pulled your shaking hands away from her, holding them as far away from your body as possible. You took another shaky breath before a gut-wrenching wail escaped from you.

You felt a pair for hands grab your shoulders. You barely understood what you were doing as you buried your face into the chest of the monster that had been gently pulling you away from the body of your friend. Your family.

Your brain went into shut down mode as you were sat down outside of the building. It stayed that way, even as the sound of sirens came closer. Even as the police began questioning you. Even as you numbly gave BP your address. Even as you were walked into your room and gently sat down on your bed. Even as you heard the front door shut.

You were alone again.

Chapter Text

You jumped slightly at the sudden noise that pulled you from your thoughts. Your eyes wandered over to the opposite side of your bed. It was your phone ringing again. You leaned over slightly to see the screen. It was your mom calling you again. You blinked slowly at the name on the screen before looking back at the blank wall in front of you. You… weren’t ready to talk to anyone just yet. You would send her a text later to let her know that you were fi-

...That you were still alive. And you were still alive. You could still feel the rise and fall of your chest as your lungs took in air. You could still faintly hear the dull thud of you heartbeat in your ears. You were still vaguely aware of the gnawing pain that your stomach was in. You simply wrapped your blankets tighter around your shoulders, and continued to stare at the wall. That had been the routine since…

You knew that what you were doing was not healthy for you at all, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You knew that focusing on the past was he worst possible thing that you could do in your situation, and yet, here you were. You hadn’t been able to think of anything but the incident for the last few days. How long had it been? Three days? You had no idea anymore. Time had escaped you as you sat unmoving in the same spot that BP had set you down.

You briefly glanced down at your shaky hands. There was still blood caked under your nails. You quickly tore your gaze back up to the wall and clutched your blanket tightly.

They were really gone. You would never get to hear Marilyn scold you for working too much, or see Silas’s half-grin as he teased you about something stupid. You knew this whole song and dance, though. You knew that you would eventually come to terms with what happened some way or another. Then you’d function again. You’d function until you met someone else to get attached to, and then you’d lose them. That’s how it always went, didn’t it? Especially with you. And, to top it all off, you knew what happened last time you lost somebody. You know what you do.

You push everyone else away. You never could help but close yourself off when situations get bad. You know that you have always done that, and the worst part is, you never did anything to stop it. You let everyone you care about walk out of your life. But, it was better than the alternative.

People die, and you couldn’t change that. But, maybe if you kept your distance, the loss wouldn’t hit you so hard. So, you kept people away.

At least, that’s how you wanted to see it, what you wanted to do. And yet, you let people in so easily. Hell, you hadn’t know BP for more than a few weeks, and you would have been devastated if he would have gotten hurt because of you.

And… what happened at the bar was your fault. It hadn’t take you long to connect the dots, even in your state of mind. The man you had gotten kicked out was the one that came back. You were the reason BP was there. You were the reason that the man came back with his stupid posse. Maybe if you didn’t run your mouth like a damn idiot, things would have been different.

You just… want to be happy. You wanted them to be happy. But now, they’re dead, and the business that they worked so hard to build is gone. It’s all because of you. Maybe happiness was simply too much to ask for nowadays.

...No, that wasn’t true. There were plenty of people who have found happiness.

So… what were you doing wrong?

You slowly released your death-grip on the blanket and your posture fell more than it already had. Your eyes fell to your hands once more. You stared blankly at them for a few seconds. You… really needed to get out of your thoughts. You just weren’t ready to face anything yet.

It was another few minutes before a soft knock sounded on your front door. You looked towards the noise, but made no move to answer it. You already knew who it was, after all. He had stopped by more than once since the attack. The knock came once more.

“(Y/N), I know you’re in there. The old lady across the hall said you haven’t left.” BP’s voice came through the door. You didn’t bother replying. There was a heavy sigh on the other side of the door.

“You need to come out eventually.” You could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon. You prepared yourself for the lecture that you knew was coming.

“I know what you’re doing, and you need to stop. When’s the last time you took a shower? The last time you ate? Slept? Have you even changed your clothes?” His voice had gotten louder with each question. You looked down at yourself. You knew he was right, and you were sure that he knew it, too. You weren’t wearing the dress from that day. It was covered in… It was dirty. But, you also hadn’t changed out of the sweats and t-shirt that you had thrown on after you took the dress off. But… he didn’t need to know that. Why did he care, anyways? As if he knew what you had been thinking, he continued talking through the door.

“I just don’t want-“ He interrupted himself, and you could hear him start to pace outside of your door as he tried to find his words. “Listen, little buddy, what you’re doing is-“ His voice was bordering on frantic, and he still hadn’t stopped pacing.

“You’re killing yourself!” That… wasn’t what you were expecting him to shout, “You’ve locked yourself in there, and you probably haven’t moved from you damn bed since I put you there! You’re gonna rot away in there if you don’t get off your ass!” You were a bit shocked at his outburst, but remained quiet.

That wasn’t what you were trying to do at all. You would never let yourself get that far.

Except… you almost had, hadn’t you? Your lips were chapped from dehydration, and you stomach was begging for food. You had been so lost that you hadn't realized what was happening. You hadn’t realized what you were doing to yourself. You leaned over to look at your front door through the doorway of your bedroom.

“Just,” There was a pause as he seemed to think, “Let me know that you’re still alive in there.” His voice had lowered, and he had slowed the pacing. “I know that what happened hurt you a lot… but this isn’t what they would have wanted for you.”

Almost immediately after his last sentence, your eyes narrowed on the door. What they would have wanted? How dare he use them against you! He didn’t know them! He didn’t know what they’ve been through, what you’ve been through! He barely knew anything about you! He doesn’t have the right to decide what they would have wanted! You pushed yourself off the side of your bed, your feet hitting the ground with a dull thud. The heavy blankets were tossed carelessly back onto the bed behind you as you stormed over to the door. You reached your hand out to the door, ready to yank it open and give the monster on the other side an earful. But, you stopped.

He was right. They wouldn’t have wanted this. Hell, you were getting angry at the one person who’s been trying to help you just because he said something that wasn’t all that bad to begin with. You were an emotional wreck, and he was just trying to help you. You couldn’t be mad at him. You took a deep breath. There was no reason to loose your temper. He hadn’t meant anything by it.

There was a tense silence on both sides of the door. You assumed that he heard you storm up to the door. With a heavy sigh, you made up your mind. It was time to stop pushing people away. A soft click sounded as you turned the lock on your door.

Almost immediately, the door swung open, and BP looked you over with worried eyes. You took a step to the side and gestured him in. His look became sympathetic as soon as he realized that you were still alive.

“You look like shit,” he stated as he passed.

“I know.” Your voice was rough, and your throat was scratchy. “I really wasn’t expecting company today.”

He made a small hum in acknowledgment before wandering towards your kitchen. You followed and stood in the doorway as he pulled open your fridge. There were a few sharp clangs as he rummaged through your food.

“What are you doing?” He didn’t answer, but he did pull out a package of bacon and set it aside.

“You don’t have any eggs?” You shook your head at his question. Was he making food for you?

“No, I haven’t gone back to the store since the dog incident.” He looked back at you for a second before turning back to his search.

“Alright, toast then. Where’s your bread?” He shut the fridge and turned to face you.

“You don’t have to do any of this.” He shook his head at you.

“I want to. Now, where do you keep your bread? Oh, and your pans?” He waited patiently for you to answer as you gathered your thoughts. You pointed to both items, not moving from your spot in the doorway. He quickly grabbed them and began making food. It was silent while he stood in front of your stove. You broke the silence.

“Thank you.” Your words were quiet, but sincere. He turned to look back at you with an unreadable expression.

“For everything,” you continued, “ Really I mean it.” He gave you a small nod before turning back to tend to the bacon. You wrapped your arms around yourself as you watched him. The only sound was the steady sizzle of the pan as he cooked.

“It was the mafia, wasn’t it?” He seemed to freeze in place at your words. The silence that followed went on for longer than your were comfortable with. After a few more seconds, his tense posture deflated back down to normal.

“Yeah. Yeah, it was.” He didn’t say anything more about it, but you weren’t expecting him to.

You took a second to think. It really wasn’t a question of whether or not they did it, but rather which one. There were several in your city, after all.

If you could figure that out, then maybe you could at least find justice for your family.

Chapter Text

You took a bite of the food that had been set in front of you. You hummed slightly at the taste, before promptly stuffing food in your mouth. It was arguably the best meal you’d had in a long time. Or, maybe it was the fact that it was the first meal you had eaten in three days. Regardless, the plate was empty before you even knew it.

You heard a soft chuckle, and looked up to see BP’s smug face, “I didn’t think my cooking was that good.” He gave you a cocky grin. You sheepishly shrugged at him. The room fell into silence as you looked down at your plate, distractedly spinning your fork around on it.

“So,” He broke the silence after a few seconds, “what are you doing next?” You felt yourself tense up. Next? You didn’t even know what you were doing right now. You slowly moved your head up to meet his gaze. You held it in silence for a few seconds.

“Honestly?” You let out a small bitter chuckle and ran your hand through your hair. “I have no clue.”

He made a small hum in acknowledgement before looking away from you in thought. You sighed softly and stood up, taking your dishes and setting them in the sink. You saw BP drum his thumbs on your counter a few times before his posture straitened suddenly.

“Well, you can’t be a hermit forever.” You looked over to him and waited for him to continue. He sighed sadly and looked over at your door. “The old lady across the way seemed really worried,” He pulled a few envelopes from his back pocket and held them out to you. You tilted your head at him in curiosity, a small frown remaining on your face.

“She had been collecting your mail for you and asked me to give it to you. Said something about people stealing mail out of the boxes recently? I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” You slowly took the papers from his hand and looked down at them.

It was a stack of about seven envelopes, and with a quick glance, you could see that they were all addressed to you. You saw a few familiar return addresses that made your stomach drop. Bills. You still had bills. Of course you did, why wouldn’t you? You knew that you had enough money from your last paycheck to cover this month… but what about the next? And after that?

“I think,” You spoke slowly, and BP looked over at you as you continued, “that I need a new job.” You winced slightly as soon as the sentence left your mouth. It just felt… wrong. You knew that it wasn’t that big of a deal, that it shouldn’t matter if you get a new job. It wasn’t like you would be forgetting about them. But… they were your family, and it felt like you were moving on and leaving them behind already. It felt too soon. But you didn’t have that much money even when you were working at the bar. You couldn’t afford to stay without a job. You couldn’t lose your crappy apartment. It didn’t matter if it hurt you, you needed to do it.

“That’s a good place to start,” BP said, leaning on the counter. He looked to the floor in thought before looking back, “I might, uh.” He hesitated for a second, but continued just as quickly, “I might know a guy if you wanna stay in the same line of business.”

You raised a brow, “You just happen to know someone that needs a bar singer?”

He nodded, “What are the chances, huh? He’s got a nice bar with a stage and everything, I’m sure his regulars are tired of listening to the same two songs from his broken old jukebox.” You sighed and threw the envelopes onto the counter to deal with later. You weren’t sure how much you wanted to work at a bar again, especially so soon after what had happened. Hell, it had only been three days! But… If BP was really friends with this guy… And you could really use the money.

“Do you trust him?” You asked bluntly. He let out a small hum of confusion, and took a second to figure out what you meant.

“He’s definitely rough around the edges, but yeah, I trust him.” He seemed sincere. You crossed your arms and looked away in thought. As much as you didn’t want to work in a bar again, maybe you could use it to your advantage. It was possible that you could find more information on the group that…

“I’ll do it.” There was a soft gleam in your eyes as you made up your mind. You looked you over for a second before giving you a nod.

“You’d better get dressed then, lil’ buddy.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he spoke. You blinked a few times in confusion.

“Wait, you mean right now?” You hadn’t meant that. You hadn’t showered or anything!

“Well, yeah. Not like you’d be doing anything better today.” He gestured you away, “Go get ready. I’ll wait.”

You sputtered slightly, but left for your bathroom anyways. A few grumbles passed your lips as you quickly hopped in the shower. You could barely hear BP speaking on his phone over the sound of rushing water. You let out a sigh as you slowly relaxed under the hot water. You had a feeling that this was a bad idea, and yet, you knew that you would persevere through whatever life decided to throw at you.

After you felt pleasantly clean, you had found yourself standing in front of your closet wrapped in a fluffy towel. You had no idea what to wear. Was this place fancy, or was the dress code more casual? You ran your hand along a few different dresses. It had to be something nice, at least. You would be wearing it in front of a potential employer, after all. You groaned to yourself. What were you, a high schooler going on her first date? Why was this such a hard decision for you? It didn’t even matter that much!

Your eyes fell on a long red dress in the back of your closet. You made a small hum to yourself as you pulled it out and held it up. The slit down the side prevented it from looking too formal, but it still looked classy. You tossed it on and gave yourself a once over in the mirror. Deciding that it looked good, you gave yourself a half-hearted smile before it quickly fell. You cleared your throat and left your room.

BP looked up at you from his seat on the couch as you wandered into the living room. He looked you over before giving you a small nod of approval. You awkwardly rubbed your arm.

“I guess we’re doing this, then.” You could tell that your tone sounded just as enthusiastic as you felt, which was, to say, not at all. He gave you a brisk nod and you both made your way out the door.

Almost as soon as you shut your door, the one across the way swung open.
“Was she-“ The feminine voice stopped as soon as she noticed you.
“(Y/N)! I was so worried about you, dear!” Mrs. Josevine rushed forward and gently grabbed your upper arms.

“Well, I’m sorry that I worried you.” You had hoped that your voice sounded sincere. Her expression was soft as she looked you over.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, dear! With everything you’ve been through…” She trailed off, but quickly began again, “How are you doing?” You winced slightly at her words. You quickly looked for a way to change the subject. You couldn’t think of any good conversation topics. Well, there was always plan B, and that was to get out of there as fast as you could. 

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Mrs. Josevine, and thank you for the mail,” you continued to talk quickly, not giving her a chance to say anything else, “We do have to leave though, sorry we can’t stay and chat a while.” You began moving down the hallway, giving her a rushed wave.

“Oh. Well, alright dear. Don’t be a stranger!” She called out to you as you pressed the call button to the elevator. You didn’t bother turning around to respond to her. There was a soft sigh before you could hear the sound of her door closing.

You took a deep breath as the elevator doors slid open. Without a word, you stepped in and turned to face BP. He gave you a look that you couldn’t quite place as he stepped in next to you. Feeling a small amount of guilt, you looked away from him and busied yourself with jamming your thumb into the lobby button.

“Is it close enough to walk, or are we taking the bus?” You didn’t pull your eyes from the buttons.

“I called a cab while you were getting ready.” You turned and blinked up at him. He was really committed, wasn’t he?

“Oh. I see.” The doors slid open and the pair of you left the building to wait for your car. It wasn’t long before it showed up, and you quickly jumped in.

“Where to?” The gruff voice of the driver caused you to look over at BP expectantly. He quickly mumbled out an address, and the driver pulled away from the curb quickly.

The drive there was almost completely silent. You watched the city pass by from your tinted window. It was only about five minutes before the driver pulled over, announcing that you had arrived. You quietly thanked him and pulled your bag closer to you to search for your wallet. BP narrowed his eyes at you and handed the man money before you could  pull your wallet out. You shrugged slightly and stepped out of the car. You would pay him back some time.

You turned to the building behind you. It was a fairly nice looking tan storefront with a large window in front. There was a warm orange glow pouring out onto the street. Your eyes moved to the neon sign above the door that read ‘Grillby’s’. BP walked up to the door and pulled it open before looking back at you.

“You just gonna stare, or are you going inside?” At his question, you gave the building one last glance before taking a deep breath and throwing a smile on your face.

He gestured you in, and you moved past him as he held open the door for you. You were immediately met with a pleasant warmth that reminded you of a room warmed by a fireplace. The second thing you noticed were the beautiful dark mahogany tables that surrounded you. You heard the door close behind you. As it did, a few sets of eyes fell on you. You took note of the fact that, while there were one or two humans, most of the patrons were monsters. None of them were giving you a very welcoming look. You glanced back at BP, who flicked his head towards the bar in the back. You gave him a small nod and made your way over.

You cringed slightly at the lack of a person behind the bar. You tried shaking it off before your mind got where it was inevitably going. This was a different bar. Silas wasn’t behind it because he didn’t work here. There weren’t any bodies behind the bar. There’s no need for a panic attack. You are fine. Everyone is fine. You took another deep breath and turned to your friend.

“So, who exactly are-“ You trailed off as a door in the back , you assumed it was the kitchen, swung open. Your eyes widened slightly. He was on fire! You opened your mouth to say something as the man calmly stepped behind the bar. He seemed to notice you and tilted his head at you slightly. You blinked a few times in a near panic, your eyes never moving from him. Everyone was calm. No, you were wrong. He wasn’t on fire, he was made of it. Magic fire, most likely. Otherwise, his clothes and glasses would most certainly be gone.

You felt an elbow in your side. You tore your eyes from the bartender and lightly cleared your throat.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just not everyday that I come across someone as hot as you.” As soon as the words left your mouth, you recoiled back. Why would you say that? Could you be anymore of an idiot? No, probably not... Well, you supposed that being a hermit wouldn’t be so bad anymore.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a groan coming from the cat monster, as well as a deep chuckle from one of the patrons at the bar. You gave a sheepish smile to the barkeep, who was shaking his head at you.

“My, uh. My humor is not usually that bad, I swear.” You let out a breathy chuckle, “but if it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure that joke took at least five years off my lifespan.” That earned you a small chuckle from the man that had a small crackling noise underneath it. BP cleared his throat.

“Anyways,” He leaned on the counter casually, “we’re here for a reason. You need a singer.” Despite not being able to see the fire monster’s eyes, you could feel them narrow on your friend. Before he could say anything, BP held up a hand to stop him, “and don’t say that you don’t need one, Grillby. That jukebox has been broken since before we left the underground.”

“No.” You blinked a few times in surprise at his reply. You open your mouth to say something, but BP continued.

“Just let her perform one song for you.” You felt him begin to push you towards the stage before the barkeep, Grillby you had gathered, could reply. You scrunched your face up and planted your feet before he could move you.

“Stop, BP. He said no. If he doesn’t need a singer, then he doesn’t need one. It’s fine.” He began to protest, but you sternly shook your head.

“I think,” A baritone voice came from the same patron sitting a few stools down, “you should give ‘er a chance. ‘sides, I wouldn’t mind havin’ a songbird round here.” You turned to the voice to see a man in a suit. His face was hidden by the brim of his hat. He looked up at you, and you could see his features. It was a skeleton. Did he just wink at you?

“‘Specially one as fine as her.” He did. He winked at you. You scoffed and crossed your arms, giving the monster a once over. He seemed much rounder than Papyrus, the only other skeleton you had seen. But, his teeth were definitely just as sharp. You had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes at him. Expensive suit, gold tooth, cocky smirk. How typical. He must think that he’s hot shit.

“Thanks, Casanova, but I can fight my own battles.” Your words came out sharp and you narrowed your eyes at him.

“Oh, so the songbird’s got talons?” You ignored his taunt and turned back toward the bartender.

“Thanks for our time, and sorry to bother you.” You curtly turned to leave, heels clicking along the floor as you weaved expertly through tables and customers. As you reached out to the door, you were stopped by a voice calling out to you.

“Wait.” You turned back to the trio at the bar. With a sigh, Grillby gestured you back to the bar. With a bit of exasperation, you made your way back to the bar. He held up an finger, “One song.”

You hesitated before giving him a nod and turning to the stage. You slowed only for a moment as your eyes met the gorgeous ebony grand piano that was set up on the stage. You shook it off quickly though, and stepped up onto the stage. You felt a few pairs of eyes on you as you quietly thought about your song choices. If you only had one chance to prove yourself, you would need something that would impress.

With a small nod to yourself, you sat at the piano, a giddy feeling hitting you as you ran your fingers along the smooth keys. You played a few notes, the intro to your song. As you did, the bar slowly fell into silence. Then you played the familiar notes, and let your voice carry across the bar.

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow

Oh, but God, I want to let it go
Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone
Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show
Never wanted it to be so cold
Just didn't drink enough to say you love me

I can't hold on to me
Wonder what's wrong with me

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow

Don't want to let it lay me down this time
Drown my will to fly
Here in the darkness I know myself
Can't break free until I let it go
Let me go

Darling, I forgive you after all
Anything is better than to be alone
And in the end I guess I had to fall
Always find my place among the ashes

I can't hold on to me
Wonder what's wrong with me

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow

Stay in love with you
Oh, I'm gonna let it go.

As you finished your last note, you slowly pulled your hands away from the piano and stood up. The bar was quiet as you made your way back to the bar. The skeleton was giving you a wide-eyed stare, while BP looked at you smugly. You let out a small chuckle.

“Should I have picked something more upbeat?” At your question, Grillby held out his hand to you from across the bar.

“Alright, I’m sold. When can you start?” You smiled and took his hand. You flinched a bit as it made contact, but were pleasantly surprised that he didn’t burn you.

“When do you need me to start, Boss?” You let a playful smile fall on your face. He matched your expression with a bright smirk that cracked along his face.

“As soon as possible, my dear.”

Chapter Text

With a heavy sigh, you pushed the stack of papers across the desk. You watched with a hint of curiosity as Grillby picked them up with no problem. He briefly flipped through them before giving you a nod of approval.

“Need me to sign anything else?” You had begun to get antsy, and signing your life away was not something you were fond of. Although, you had to say that you were impressed with how thorough his paperwork was.

“I apologize, but in this line of work, there are a lot of,” He took a second to consider his next words,” incident possibilities that must be accounted for.”

You winced slightly and nodded, “I’m… aware.”

He regarded you carefully before replying. “I am sure that you are. However, you must also consider that this is a monster owned business. Being affiliated with it may paint a target on your back.” He spoke slowly, as if he chose each word with care. You knew what he was doing. Whether it was in consideration of your wellbeing or not, he was giving you an out. But, you had never been one to back down once you made up your mind.

You reached your hand out across his desk. “I’m a bit tougher than I look. I can handle it.”

He stood and took your hand, “Well then, congratulations Miss (Y/N). You are officially the first paid employee of this establishment.” You blinked in surprise.

“First? How long have you been open?” He couldn’t possibly have been running the bar for very long, then.

“Two and a half years.” He seemed amused at your stunned expression. “I have never needed nor wanted to hire anybody.”

You let out a low whistle, “Well, color me impressed. But, why now? And why me?” You were genuinely curious. If he had been well off for years, then why had he bothered hiring you?

“Your friend made a very compelling case in your favor.” He gestured back to the main room, where you knew BP was sitting at the bar, “and you seemed to manage Sans well. Maybe you could keep him off my ass while he’s here.” Sans? Who the hell was Sans? You hadn’t really talked to anyone accept for him, BP, and the skeleton monster. Was that who he was talking about? Most likely. You supposed you would find out if you were to deal with him regularly.

You gave Grillby a small smile. “Well, I’m nothing if not fair, so if it doesn’t work out or whatever, feel free to send me on my way.” He gave you an out, so the least you could do was return the favor. Plus, you didn’t particularly want to stick around somewhere where you weren’t wanted.

He seemed surprised at your words, but quickly fell back into a neutral state. He gave you a nod as you stood up. He turned and pulled a picked of paper out of the printer behind him. You watched as he scribbled something down on it before handing it to you.

Damn, even his rushed handwriting was immaculate. You quickly looked it over to see days and times. It was a quickly hashed out schedule.

“Let me know if you have any issues.” He began ushering you out of his office as you looked it over.

“No. No problems,” You thought for a moment, “Any specifics on the type of music?” You still weren’t very sure what kind of music you should perform, and, as you were now expected to provide your own music, you needed to know.

“I do not have any particular music in mind. Just read the audience, and go from there.” Despite being slightly exasperated at his suggestion, you nodded. You could do that. Reading the mood wasn’t too hard, but having literally any guidelines other than ‘do what you want’ would have been helpful.

With no more questions, you followed your new boss back into the dining area. Grillby quickly made his way back to the bar, and you followed behind at a slower pace.

As you approached, you saw BP at the bar. He didn’t notice either of you, seemingly too distracted by his conversation with the skeleton monster next to him. Once Grillby took his spot behind the bar, however, he spun around to look for you. He quickly spotted you and gave you an expectant look. Knowing what the silent question meant, you gave him a small smile and nodded your head as you walked up to the bar.

“Good job, little buddy. I never doubted you for a second.” He congratulated you as you took a seat on his unoccupied side. You shot him a wink.

“Thanks,” You let your expression fall into a more sincere one, “I couldn’t have done it without you.” You had been thanking him for more than just helping you get a job. He seemed to understand as he smiled and gave you a gentle pat on the shoulder.

“Well, I did tell ya that I owed ya one.” He had? When? You looked at him in confusion.

“The bus,” he reminded you simply. You let out a small ‘oh’ in realization. That felt like it had been a forever ago.

“You didn’t need to pay me back for that.” He really didn’t owe you anything. You knew that any semi-decent person would have done the same. “Besides,” you continued, “You’ve already done more for me than you know.” After that statement, you quickly shook off the somber mood and changed the subject.

“So, do you come here often?” BP chuckled at the sudden playful tone in your voice.

“Nah, I just know the owner.” He gestured to Grillby. You made a small hum in acknowledgement. Leaning forward, you looked around your friend to the burly skeleton on his other side.

“Hey, Casanova?” He gave you a side glance at your call.

“You gonna keep callin’ me that?” You saw him raise a brow. Huh. Magic bone was apparently much more mailable than you expected it to be. You ignored his question.

“You’re a regular here, yeah?” You figured that he was, especially if Grillby knew him by name.

“What’s it to ya?” He answered your question with another question, much to your disdain. But, you figured you had been correct in your assumption.

“Any suggestions for the music? I don’t know this place too well yet.” Yes, you knew how to read a crowd, but you wanted a regular’s opinion. He would probably have a better idea of what the mood usually was.

“What, Grillbz is lettin’ ya do your own thing?” At his question, you shrugged. He seemed to think for a moment.

“Grillbz likes jazz,” he briefly glanced at your boss, who had wandered off to serve tables in the dining area. “Or anythin’ with soul, really.” You nodded, making sure to remember the information for later.

“But I,” He continued, a sly smirk covering his face, “ wouldn’t mind anythin’ as long as it’s comin’ from your lips.” Man, he really was trying to lay it on thick. You eyed him with distaste.

“Yeah? I’ll be sure to stick to instrumentals while you’re around, then.” You leaned onto your elbows, weaving your fingers together in front of you. He blinked in surprise before his smirk came back with a vengeance.

“Gonna show me what you hands can do, eh? Can’t wait, Songbird.” You tilted your head at him. He really was relentless, wasn’t he? You wouldn’t let him win, though.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Bones.” You crossed your arms and raised a brow at him, fully expecting him to have a comeback.

“Oh, but I like a challenge,” he gave you a wink, “ and you really strike a chord with me.” You fought back a chuckle and narrowed your eyes at him.

“That’s enough.” BP interrupted, “I should have known that you two would be a match made in hell.” He exasperatedly took a swig drink in front of him. You scoffed and rolled your eyes, mumbling an ‘as if’ under your breath.

You heard the skeleton chuckle, “Well, if you-“

“Sans. Do not harass my employee.” Ah, saved by the bell. Or in this case, the fire.

“I can’t believe that you actually hired help, Grillbz. There a reason?” Sans didn’t seem to mind the interruption as he quickly moved his attention to the fire elemental. Grillby turned his gaze to you, and stared at you for a few seconds before answering.

“Revenue.” His gaze remained on you. His answer was not exactly what you had been expecting, but you couldn’t exactly say that you were surprised. It was as good a reason as any, you supposed. You heard Sans bark out a laugh.

“I shoulda fuckin’ known.” He continued chuckling to himself, despite the look that the bartender was shooting him. A small smile found its way onto your face as you watched them.

Sans was an… interesting character. You doubted that he really meant any harm in his shameless flirting, despite it being annoying. He would probably back off if you asked him to. You weren't sure that you would ever try to do that unless he got too over the top, though. You would never admit it out loud, but you enjoyed the banter. It wasn’t often that you found someone that could keep up with your attitude, and you could respect him for being able to. Although, you got the feeling that you would never live it down if you told him that. And… for some reason, you couldn’t shake the feeling that there was much more to him than he let on. But, wasn’t that the case for everybody?

Your new boss, on the other hand, was a bit easier to understand. After the mountain of paperwork, you knew for a fact that he was a man that did not like taking risks. Hell, you could even hear that in the way he spoke. He was careful. He was greedy. And that was perfectly fine with you. Who were you to judge if his motivations were selfish? You weren’t there for completely selfless reasons, yourself.

A shrill ringing brought your attention back to BP. He fumbled slightly as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He cursed as he saw the name on the screen and quickly answered it.

“Hello?” His voice sounded strained. You could vaguely hear a voice snapping a him on the other side of the phone. You awkwardly cleared your throat and looked away as the voice on the other end continued. BP’s expression fell into a deep grimace.

“Of course, I-“ He only had time to say a few words before the voice cut him off. You hid a chuckle behind a cough at his pained expression. He leveled a glare at you as the called droned on.

“Alright, I’ll be there,” he deadpanned before hanging up.

“Your boss?” You questioned, knowing that he always wore the same expression of contempt when he talked about his job. He groaned dramatically and dropped his head into his hands.

“I gotta go,” he grumbled out. You chuckled and stood up.

“Well, we’d better be on our way, then.” You turned to Grillby, “See ya tomorrow, Boss.” You shot him a mock salute.

“Gonna leave me hangin’, then?” You raised a brow at the skeleton. He tapped his cheek. “How’s about one for the road, hm?”

You grinned and leaned in close to him. You could smell the cigar smoke that lingered on his coat, along with something that reminded you vaguely of winter. He tensed up at your approach, and followed you carefully with his eyelights. Your grin fell into a cheeky smirk as you reached up and gave him a few heavy pats on his cheekbone.

“In your dreams, Casanova.” You took a step back and admired your work. There was a cherry red tint across his face. Apparently, magic skeletons could sweat. Who knew? You winked at him before turning to the door. BP was waiting for you, looking at the pair of you with mild interest.

“I don’t think I caught your name, Songbird.” You didn’t look back at him as you began to make your way to the door.

“That’s because I never threw it.” You heard a deep chuckle as you walked away.

Oh, this job was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

You awoke to the shrill sound of your phone ringing. A groan escaped you as you slammed your hand onto your nightstand to look for it.

“Shut up,” It was much too early for phone calls. You groggily sat up once you found your phone. You didn’t even check the caller ID before answering, prepared to give whoever was calling you an earful. 

“Hello?” Your words sounded foggy, even to you.

“(Y/N)! I have been trying to get a hold of you for days!” Ah, shit. It was way too early for this.

 “Oh, hey… sorry, Mom.”

 “Me and your father have been worried sick about you! When we saw what happened at the bar, I- we-“ she took a ragged breath.

“Woah, hey! Ma! Calm down! I’m alright. I meant to call you. I’m really sorry, I just forgot.” The argument was weak, but true. You did feel really bad for worrying them, though. 

“We were so scared, (Y/N). We can’t lose you.” There was a stretch of silence as you both sadly looked for words. She was the first to find some. “I just wish… you’d talk to us more.” 

You sighed at her words, “I know you do, but you know why I don’t. I can’t.” 

“Sweetie, you know we don’t blame you for what happened. It was just hard for all of us.” 

You frowned deeply, “Wow, this is a conversation that I’d rather not have at five in the morning.” You knew she meant well, but you really didn’t want her to pull up bad memories.

“I know, I just-“

“Look, I’m fine, alright?” You shook your head and calmed yourself down, “sorry, but I have to go. I have work today.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, you just didn’t need to go in until much later.

She sighed, “Alright Sweetie, I’ll call you later, then. Just stay safe and take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will. I know I can call if I need to.” 

“Of course you can! Me and your father will always be there!” There was another pause before she continued, “I’ll let you get ready, then.”

“Thanks, Ma. Love ya.” You really did. She had always been there for you, even when you tried to push her away. She was one of the kindest people you knew. 

“I love you more!” 

“Doubtful,” you teased back in a sing-song voice.

“Oh, hush up, young lady!” You were happy to hear the playful tone back in her voice. You chuckled and gave her a quick goodbye before hanging up.

With a heavy sigh, you fell heavily back onto your bed. You covered your face with your hands and groaned once more. Well, you wouldn’t be getting back to sleep anytime soon. Might as well get ready for your day. And what a start to you day that had been.

——

You pulled the door open and quickly stepped into the bar. You awkwardly grinned at some of the patrons as they eyed you with mistrust. They just continued to glare at you. You cleared your throat and made your way to the back, where Grillby was wiping down a glass. At the sight of you, he tilted his head.

“You’re early,” he spoke once you got to the bar. 

“You’ll get used to that,” you pulled your phone out of your bag, “besides, I need to get used to a new instrumental set-up. Gotta know my tech, y’know?” He gave your explanation a small hum before nodding you off towards the stage. 

You gave him a smile before making your way to the electrical equipment. For someone who had never hired anyone before, he certainly was prepared for it. You gave the equipment a once over before you began fiddling with the wires and plugs. You hummed softly to yourself as you changed all of the settings to you liking, and hooked up the speakers and other things you would need.

“What ‘cha up to?” You didn’t need to turn around to recognize the baritone voice. 

“Stuff,” you answered simply. “Can I help you with something, Sans?”

“Nope. Just admirin’ the view.” You could hear the shit-eating grin in his voice. You shook your head.

“If you say something about my ‘assets’, I swear to god I’ll punch you in the jaw.” Your threat got a loud chuckle out of the skeleton.

“You got me, Songbird.” You felt him watch you in silence for a few more seconds before he spoke up again, “So what songs are you doin’ for me tonight?”

You spared him a brief glance, “Not sure yet.” 

“Whaddya mean, you ain’t sure? Aren’t you supposed to know beforehand?”

“Depends.” You stuck to a simple answer, but he didn’t seem to like it, so you continued, “Sometimes I like to get a feel for the atmosphere first.” 

He snorted, “tha’s not the only thing I want you to feel.” 

You rolled your eyes, “Hardy-har. Get better material or you’ll be feeling yourself, Bones.”

“That’s real harsh, Songbird. And, here I thought we were bonding.” You finally finished and looked back at him with a raised brow. 

“Is that what you thought? Interesting.” You smirked, “you must be-“ You stopped talking as you felt the temperature raise. Sans seemed to notice as well, and you both turned to look at the bartender. He was fuming.

“Aw, shit. Not again.” Sans began making his way over to the elemental. You gave the pair a concerned look before following. They were both glaring at a set of men sitting in one of the booths.

“Those the same guys as last time?” Sans never took his eyes off of the pair as he asked. Grillby nodded in response. Sans growled and violently turned back to the bar, “‘s not fuckin’ fair.” You tilted your head at his words.

“I’m confused. What’s the problem?”

“Humans.” Sans’s answer only confused you more. You had seen humans in the bar yesterday, and they weren’t getting death glares. Maybe it was those particular humans? Or was it humans in general?

“Some clarification would be nice.” You looked between the humans and the two staring them down. Sans tapped his phalanges on the counter in thought.

“They came in here last week. They’re shitty people, probably only here so that they can cause trouble,” Sans explained. “If I had been there, they would’ve-“

 “Sans.” Grillby snapped at him before looking over to you, “They are particularly rude, and ‘accidentally’ dumped a plate of food onto one of my usual patrons.” You winced and looked back at the men, now with your own glare.

 “Why not kick them out, then? You have a good reason.”

Sans scoffed, “that’s the dumbest thing that’s come out of your mouth.”

 “What he means,” Grillby gave Sans a pointed look, “is that we cannot do that. A monster kicking a human out of an establishment is enough to get it shut down if it’s the wrong people.” You frowned at him.

“‘N those two look like the type to pull the ‘discrimination’ card,” Sans added. 

You looked between the two groups in thought. So, they couldn’t kick them out? You stopped yourself from sighing. You were thinking of doing something stupid and reckless again, but you couldn’t just sit around and let your friends be walked over. You hadn’t even had this job for a full day, and you were already planning on putting it in jeopardy. How did you always get yourself into these situations?

“Have you served them yet?” 

“No.” Grillby’s short answer was exactly what you were looking for.

“Gimme a menu.” You held out a hand to him.

“I’m sorry?” 

You gave him a small smile. “I just need one. Please?” He hesitantly did as you asked.

“What are you doin’?” You turned back to Sans and answered the question with a wink. You got up and made your way to the table.

You put on your best peppy smile and addressed them in a voice that was a few octaves higher than normal, “Good evening, gentlemen! Can I start you of with something?” You held out the menu, and one of them roughly snatched it from you.

“Took you long enough.” You didn’t make any move at his harsh tone. He looked down at the menu and began scanning it with disinterest. You felt the other man’s eyes on you.

“What’s a fine dame like you doing in a shit hole like this?” The man without the menu asked you, much to your displeasure.

“Working!” You continued to use the friendly voice, “Have you two decided, or would you like me to come back?”

“I might have you come back, just so I can watch you go.” No- menu raised his brows at you flirtatiously. You felt a shiver run down your spine as you fought a grimace.

“I would rather you didn’t,” your words were still laced with false sugar, “Have you decided on drinks, at least?”

No-menu didn’t look like your comment was going to stop him. “I’ll have a-“ 

“We just want water.” You turned your attention to Menu, “but I want him to be our waiter.” You looked back to where he was pointing and immediately tensed up.

Oh, hell no. You may not have known much about monster anatomy, but you did know that that fire and water were not a good combination. You knew malicious intent when you saw it, and both of these men were bad news.

“I apologize, but he is busy right now. I will be happy to continue to serve you today!” You had to fight to keep the smile at this point. He crossed his arms and glared at you, but made no more arguments. 

“We want fries, too.” No-menu added. You nodded.

“Of course! I’ll be right back!” You turned to leave, but felt a hand harshly grab your wrist and pull you back.

 “Hold on, Doll.” You grimaced before throwing the smile back on and turning to No-menu. “How’s about after this, you and I get outta here? I’m much better company than these freaks.” He actually had the audacity to wink at you.

 “I’m flattered,” you weren’t, “but I’m gonna have to turn that down.” He narrowed his eyes at you as you wiggled out of his grip. “I’ll be back with your food!” You rushed back to the bar. Your companions were eyeing you with curiosity.

 “Could you make up some fries? Oh, and I need you to burn them, please.” 

Grillby gave you an odd look at your request, “Burn them?” 

“Just a little,” you elaborated, “not enough to make is look like you did it on purpose.” He still seemed confused, but slowly nodded and made his way back to the kitchen nonetheless. 

“What the hell are you doin’?” You smirked at Sans as you made your way behind the bar.

 “Well, if I can’t kick them out…” You trailed off and busied yourself with filling a pitcher with water. A look of realization flashed across his face.

 “You’re chasin’ em off.”

“Damn right I am.” You put the pitcher to the side and picked up a bottle of ketchup. Once the lid was unscrewed, you put that to the side as well.  Sans watched you intently.

 “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” He sounded genuinely curious.

 “I’ve been working in bars for a while. You learn a few tricks along the way,” you explained without directly admitting that you had, in fact, done it before.

 He smirked at you, “You’re somethin’ else, Songbird.” A small smile tugged at your lips as you gave him a shrug.

 Grillby came back in and dropped a platter of fries in front of you. You looked them over and nodded in approval before looking back up at him.

 “Just know that I don’t usually do this,” you took a fry off the plate and bit into it. Despite the slight burnt flavor, they were still very good. That just wouldn’t do. You reached over and grabbed a salt shaker. Your gaze moved between Grillby, the fries, and the salt. With a smirk, you popped the top off the shaker and dumped salt over the fries.

Grillby seemed scandalized. “What are you-“

 You held up a hand and ate another fry. It was just barely tolerable. Perfect. You grabbed the tray and put the ketchup bottle onto the side of it. With careful balance, you put it on your arm and grabbed two cups. You left the pitcher. Without another word to the monsters, you made your way back to the table.

 “I’m sorry for the wait! Here are your fries,” you dropped them unceremoniously onto the table, “and your cups! I’ll be right back to fill them for you!” you didn’t give either of them a chance to reply as you rushed back to the bar. You casually leaned on it, making sure you were in sight of the men. 

“You gonna bring them the water?” Sans gestured to the pitcher.

“Eventually. Give it a minute.” You glanced back to see one of them eat a fry and make an overly dramatic face at it. He picked up the ketchup and tied to put some on the fries to mask the flavor of salt. You watched with amusement as the lid fell off, and a puddle of the condiment splattered across the plate. A devious smirk crossed your face. 

“Hey, lady!” One of them called you back.

You looked back at the two monsters,” Sorry gentlemen, duty calls.” Once again leaving the pitcher, you took you time in returning to the table.

“How can I help you?” 

Menu glared up at you, “The ketchup ruined our god-awful food.” He pushed the plate towards you.

You pretended to be surprised, “Oh dear! I’ll take that back for you!” You scooped up the plate. 

“And what happened to our water?” Well, at least No-menu wasn’t flirting anymore.

“Oh! How silly of me! I’ll drop this in the kitchen and bring that to you!” With that, you sauntered back to the bar. You dropped the plate next to Sans and picked up the pitcher.

“Sorry in advance,” you apologized to your boss before going back to the table for, hopefully, the last time. Without a word, you set the pitcher on the table. 

“Finally, you do something right. They obviously didn’t hire you because of your brain.” Menu, at that moment, you had decided would be your target.

As you reached for the cups, you slammed your elbow into the pitcher, sending it on Menu’s lap. He shot out of his seat.

“You bitch!” You had to hold back a laugh as water dripped down the front of his suit.

 You made a show of gasping, “I am so sorry, sir!” You made sure that your volume was loud enough to catch the attention of the whole bar. With an over dramatic fumble, you grabbed napkins off the table.

“Here, just let me-“ you began to roughly pat him down. He grabbed your wrists and pushed you away. He glared down at you, and you let your act fall away as you leveled a challenging look back at him. He opened his mouth to shout something at you, but closed it as he noticed all of the eyes on him. He settled with a scoff. 

“Whatever.” He turned to the door and stormed out, No-Menu at his heels.

“Thank you for stopping by! Please don’t come back!” You called after them. 

There was a deep laugh behind you. You turned away from the door and winked at Sans. 

“Holy shit, Songbird. I knew you were a spitfire, but that?” He laughed again, “Genius. You and I ‘ll get along better than I thought.” You scoffed and looked back at your boss. 

“Sorry, sir. I should’ve let you know what I was doing.” You felt a bit guilty that you hadn’t, but you weren’t sure that he would have given you permission if you had. 

He gave you a nod and gestured to the stage, “you are still on the clock, Miss (Y/N).” He sounded… amused? He wasn’t mad? You grinned. He wasn’t mad! 

“(Y/N), huh?” Sans gently elbowed you. “Cute name, but I think I’ll stick with Songbird. Don’t want ya to think I care enough to remember your name.” You shook your head at his playful tone.

“Whatever you say, Sams.” At your comment, he flipped you off. You let out a chuckle and made your way to the stage.

You had a job to do, after all.

Chapter Text

On your second official day of work, you were not met with any harsh glares, much to your surprise. As you made your way to the back of the building, you even got a few nods from the patrons that you passed. While there weren’t many that payed you any attention, you smiled at the ones that did.

“Hey there, Boss.” At your greeting, he gave you a nod. You sat on one of the barstools and began twisting back and forth, “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

He set down the glass he was polishing and moved on to the next, “I do not believe my clientele know you well enough for you to take requests yet. Therefore, it is up to you, my dear.”

You stopped spinning and raised a brow at the term of endearment. It definitely caught you off guard. Grillby just didn’t strike you as the type that gave out nicknames, especially to someone he had only known for a few days. But, then again, you could’ve been wrong. You had barely known the man for a few days, after all. You decided that it wasn’t important either way, and shrugged it off.

“I was feeling something more… jazzy,” you made half-hearted jazz hands. Grillby let out a small chuckle and gave you a nod of approval. You grinned up at him from your seat and glanced around the bar. Despite the bar being almost full, it seemed quieter than you remembered. You instinctually glanced at the empty stool next to you.

“Hey, where’s Sans?” You had found that while Grillby’s was always crowded, the skeleton monster often caused most of the noise.

Grillby stopped his busy work at your question, “Work.”

You tilted your head, and raised a brow, “You mean he isn’t here all hours of the day? Who would’ve guessed?” Your sarcastic mood quickly turned into curiosity. You had figured that he had some kind of job. Looking back on it, he was wearing fairly nice clothes the first time you had met him. But… for some reason, you just couldn’t imagine him doing much more than sitting around on his lazy ass.

“Do you know what he does?”

Grillby quietly stared at you for a moment. After a few more moments of him looking you over, you began to get uncomfortable. Then you got insecure. That was a dumb question. Why would you ask that? Sure, Sans may have been a regular, but that didn’t mean that the fire monster knew anything about what job he had.

“Family owned business.” Oh, so he did know. The answer was more vague than you would have liked, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, you supposed. It still left more questions than answers, though.

“Family owned?” You knew what that meant, obviously, but maybe he would be able to tell you more about it.

“Yes. He works with his brother and father.” His tone told you that he was starting to get snappy with you. Maybe it would be best if you stopped trying to get information from Grillby. You had a feeling he wouldn’t say much more, if he even knew much more, which you weren’t entirely sure that he did. You could always ask Sans himself next time you saw him.

You smiled at the bartender. “I see. Sorry if I was prying.” The tension in his shoulders dropped slightly at your apology.

“It is alright, dear. I suppose I am not surprised by your curiosity.” He spoke softly, but then cleared his throat and gestured you away, “Now get to work. I don’t pay you to stand around and ask questions.”

You chuckled, “Maybe not, but you do pay me to stand around and look pretty.”

You could practically feel the eye roll you received from the elemental despite not knowing if he even had eyes. His glassed led you to believe that he did, to some extent. When he crossed his arms, you held your own up in surrender.

“Alright, alright. I’m going.” You made your way to the stage, song at the ready.

You turned to face your audience and put on a playful smirk as the instrumentals flared up.

Come on babe, why don't we paint the town,

and all that Jazz
I'm gonna rouge my knees and roll my stockings down
And all that Jazz
Start the car, I know a whoopee spot
Where the gin is cold but the piano's hot
It's just a noisy hall, where there's a nightly brawl
And all - a-that - Jazz

You stepped off the stage with a confident sashay. A wink to one of the dog monsters playing poker -you had already accepted the irony in that- earned you several whistles from the patrons

Slick your hair and wear your buckle shoes, and all that jazz
I hear that Father Dip is gonna blow the blues, and all that jazz
Hold on hon, we're gonna bunny-hug
I bought some aspirin down at United Drug
In case we shake apart and want a brand new start
To do - a-that - jazz

You continued to make your way around the bar, adding a few flourishes and shimmies to your little number.

Oh, you're gonna see your sheba shimmy-shake, and all that jazz
Oh, I'm gonna shimmy till my garters break, and all that jazz
Show me where to park my girdle, oh, my mother's blood'd curdle
If she'd hear her baby's queer
For all - that - jazz

You held out your arms as you held the note, a smile on your lips. With a small spin, you continued to the next verse.

Find the flask we're playin' fast and loose
(Oh, you're gonna see a shiver-shimmy-shake)
And all that jazz, and all that jazz
Right up here is where I store the juice
(Oh I'm gonna shimmy till my garters break)
And all that jazz, and all that jazz
Come on babe we're gonna brush the sky
(Show me where to park my girdle)
I bet you lucky Lindy never flew so high
(Oh, my mother's blood'd girdle)
'Cause in the stratosphere, how could he lend an ear
(If she'd hear her baby's queer)
To all that jazz

For the last lines, you danced your way back to the stage, and looked back at the bar.

No I'm no-one's wife, but oh I love my life

And all... that... Jazz...that Jazz.

You smiled broadly at the applause as you finished. After taking a small bow, you made your way back to Grillby’s counter.

“You certainly know how to work a crowd, (Y/N).” Grillby told you matter-of-factly as he mixed a drink.

“I could teach you, if you want,” you teased back. He scoffed at you as he continued with his job. You watched with mild interest until he finished.

“Are you gonna let me wait tables tonight?” Grillby had told you that he didn’t want you to, but that was yesterday. He had said that he didn’t want to raise your pay for extra work, but he didn’t let you even after you told him that you’d do it for free. You supposed it could’ve also been that he didn’t want you to serve his customers after watching you dump a pitcher of water on someone.

“You aren’t going to stop asking, are you?” He deadpanned.

The question was rhetorical, but you answered it anyways with a ‘Nope.’

He shook his head with a sigh, “Why do you want to help so much, anyways?” His eyes fell to your chest. You fought the instinct to cross your arms over it. Monsters had been on the surface long enough that most humans knew about souls. They were an important part of monster culture, and you had heard that certain monsters could get quite a bit of information by just looking at a soul. If that’s what he was doing, then you would let him. You were sure that it wasn’t the first time he had done it.

But, you weren’t sure why you felt the need to help. You thought about his question. It wasn’t as if he needed your help. He was more than capable of doing it all on his own. He had been for years. But… you couldn’t just sit around and let him do all of the work while you were here. It wasn’t very fair for you to let him do everything while you sat around between songs and sets.

“It’s not like I’m doing it out of the kindness of my heart, Boss. I just don’t like sitting around doing nothing. I’ve been told I’m a bit of a workaholic.” You shrugged at him. He looked you over with a soft hum of thought.

“Fine.”

You blinked up at him before a grin split across your face, “I’ll be the best waitress you’ve ever had!” Never mind the fact that you would have been the only waitress he’s ever had. Your grin turned cheesy, “but I guess the title of ‘hottest employee’  still goes to you, hm?”

He groaned, “I’m already regretting this.”

You laughed and got to work.

*****

The next day, a few of the regulars acknowledged you happily as you entered. One of them, a bunny monster that always seemed to be drunk off her ass, even gave you an enthusiastic wave. You gave her a tired one in return as you made your way to Grillby. Thank god for make-up, otherwise you were sure that you would look as tired as you felt. You wouldn’t let a few sleepless nights get to you, though. You never had.

“You really weren’t lying when you told me that I would have to get used to you being early.” Grillby seemed unenthusiastic about your stellar punctuality, as per usual. You hoped that he wasn’t bothered too much by you being there so early, but you just couldn’t stand being alone in your house for long.

You hopped onto a barstool, “Can I get a glass of water?” He raised a brow at you. You couldn’t tell if it was because you avoided his comment, or because of your request. Maybe it was both.

“Just water?” He was already pulling out a glass despite the question.

“Well, yeah. If I got anything else, you’d probably charge me for it.” You smirked at him.

He regarded you for a second before chuckling. “Get to work before I kick you out for loitering.” He slid you the glass as you laughed.

You looked over to your side, a snarky remark prepared, but you never said it. Sans wasn’t there again. Was it normal for him to go missing like that? Grillby didn’t seem concerned. Sure, he may have been a pain in your ass, but you couldn’t help but feel worried for him. It was a dangerous city, especially for monsters.

You shook your head. You were probably overreacting. You had no reason to think that something bad had happened. He was fine. You were sure that he’d be back soon.

But, when the night finished and you made your way home without any sight of the grinning skeleton, you couldn’t help but feel that there was something wrong.

Chapter Text

The loud blaring of your T.V. echoed through the house and into your kitchen, overtaking the soft sizzle of cooking food. It was left on a news station, but you weren’t really listening. It was just on to drown out the silence of your tiny apartment. You let your mind wander as you stared blankly at your dinner.

Grillby had made you go home early, much to your chagrin. He had told you that you seemed tired. While he wasn’t wrong, you somehow doubted that he was looking out for your wellbeing. After all, you had been just as tired the day before, and he hadn’t said a word about it. Plus, he had seemed more on edge than usual. You had no idea why, though.

Maybe it was because of Sans. It had been the fourth day that he was gone. You hadn’t mentioned his absence to Grillby after the curt answers he gave you the first time. But, from his fleeting glances back to the empty stool that was Sans’ spot, you figured he was just as concerned as you were.

And, while you weren’t sure why you cared about him so much, your concern had only grown throughout the week. At first, you thought your concerns were unwarranted. But, then you overheard one of the dogs mention Sans was never gone for that long unless there was ‘a problem’. They didn’t say anything else about it though, and even though you were immensely curious, you didn’t ask.They didn’t seem like they’d take too kindly to eavesdropping. They were starting to warm up to you, and there was no reason to pointlessly ruin that.

A knock at the door could barely be heard over the sounds of your apartment. You shook your head to pull yourself out of your thoughts.

“It’s unlocked!” As soon as you called out, the door swung open. You didn’t bother glancing back at BP. “Hope you like stir-fry. I woulda cooked something else if I knew I was having company.” You had to shout somewhat.

He wandered into your kitchen and leaned onto your counter with a smirk, “I did tell you.”

“You texted me ten minutes ago. That doesn’t count.” You gave him a small glance before turning back to your stove. “What are you doing here, anyways? I know you didn’t just stop by to hear my voice. You woulda called me.”

He rolled his eyes, “I can’t just drop in to say hi?” At the look you gave him, he relented, “Alright, fine. Your boss told me to check in on you.”

You stared back at him in surprise, “Grillby? Are you sure?”

He nodded, “Unless you’re employed by another monster made of fire that goes by that name.”

You felt yourself get slightly riled up, “Why the hell’d he do that? He already sent me home early!” You pouted slightly. You weren’t a child! You were more than capable of taking care of yourself. Grillby was just being unreasonable! There wasn’t even— you couldn’t just— Ugh!

You shook your head and grumbled under your breath. BP didn’t comment on your anger, and instead quietly watched as you pulled a pair of plates from one of your cabinets. He sighed as you handed him one of them.

“Listen,” he began, “Grillby wouldn’t send you home if it wasn’t important.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. The longer you stared, the less he was able to keep eye contact with you. He seemed nervous.

“You’re hiding something.” It was more of a statement than a question. When he looked away, you clicked your tongue. “I figured. But, if you won’t tell me, I won't force you.”

He looked back at you with curiosity, “That’s… kind of surprising.”

“Why?” You scoped food onto your plate,” I would like to know, but if you aren’t going to tell me, you probably have a good reason. I trust you.” When he looked at you like you had sprouted a second head, you scoffed, “Dude. You literally saved my life. There’s no way in hell that I wouldn’t trust you.”

He chuckled in disbelief, “Whatever you say, little buddy.” You gave him a smile and moved to your living room.

You sat and quickly turned the T.V off. It had only been talking about more gang violence, anyways. BP followed you shortly after and sat on the other side of your couch, tucking his feet underneath him. You ate in relative silence until the muffled sound of a gunshot echoed from somewhere in the city. You winced slightly, and judging from the way BP’s ears drooped, he noticed it.

“How are you doing?” He asked your least favorite question. It always felt like there was no way to answer it unless you actually were doing fine. Which you weren’t, but did you really want to let him know that?

“I’m fine.” You answered curtly with a small smile before turning back to your food.

“Yeah, you look fine. But I don’t think you are. Not really, at least. I just think you’re a better actor than you know.” When you didn’t have a reply, he continued, “When’s the last time you slept?”

You sighed and dropped your fork, “Last night.” He gave you a disbelieving look. “I did! I slept! Just… not well.”

He hummed and crossed his arms, “Well, you’re going to sleep tonight, even if I have to force you.”

“No offense, BP, but you aren’t pretty enough to be my mom.”

“Was the ‘no offense’ because you told me that I’m nagging, or because you called me ugly?” He flicked his ears back and gave you a playful glare. You chuckled softly. With a shakey breath, you pulled your knees to your chest and looked over to your friend.

“Hey,” your voice was quiet, “thanks for, y’know, caring about me. You don’t have to, so… Thanks.”

He frowned and gently shoved you, “Course I care about you, little buddy. You make it hard not to.” He smirked, “Besides, who else do I have that’ll listen to me complain for hours? Speaking of which, you would not believe what happened today.” You chucked at him and rested your head on your knees.

It had been so long since you last let someone care about you. It was nice, but… you couldn’t let yourself get used to it. You watched BP animatedly talk, and a melancholy smile found its way onto your face.

Then again… Maybe it was about time you stopped shutting everybody out.

____________

The next day, you found your feet dragging slightly less as you wandered up to your work. As soon as you pulled the door open, your eyes scanned the bar. You quickly found Grillby talking to a familiar figure at the bar. There was a sigh of relief when you recognized Sans slouching over the counter.

You made your way over to the bar, and took the seat next to him. You glanced over to see him tightly clutching an empty glass. Then, you noticed the smell on him. How long had he been here?

“You smell like whisky and regret,” you pointed out to the skeleton.

He didn’t look up at you, but he let out a dry chuckle, “I feel like whisky and regret.”

You laughed, “Well, you don’t seem too drunk yet. Though, it does look like you had an early start.”

He finally looked up at you with tired eyes. “Not nearly drunk enough, Songbird.”

You grimaced at that, giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Your week was that bad, huh?”

He just groaned and dropped his head onto the counter with a dull ‘thud’. You couldn’t help but laugh. His response was a middle finger in your direction. You laughed harder.

“Good to see you well rested, Miss (Y/N).” Grillby spoke up from behind the bar.

“I’m not a fan of being sent home early,” you began bitterly, but you let the edge fall out of your voice, “But thank you. Glad to be back.” You gave him a smile before standing.

You looked back at Sans, who had buried his head in his arms. What had gotten him to that point? Was his job just that stressful, or was it something else? You didn’t know anything about his job, so you had no clue. And… you felt like now would be a bad time to ask. You glanced towards the stage and back. The least you could do was try to cheer the guy up.

“Good to see you again, Casanova.” He looked up at you slightly, and you shot him a wink, “a bar is the best place to remedy a sheet week, after all.”

“Why do ya think I’m always here?” His tone was playful despite the downer words.

“Honestly? I just thought you were a drunk.” You chuckled when he gave you another finger. Even the bartender chuckled at the two of you.

“Ouch.” Sans’ simple reply caused you to laugh harder.

“As touching of a reunion as this has been,” Grillby interrupted with a flat tone, “you do have a job to do, (Y/N).”

You smiled and nodded, “Course! You’re the boss.” You gave one last fleeting smirk to the skeleton and made your way to the stage for the day.

The music for your song started, and you instantly fell into a more sincere mood.

Clipped wings, I was a broken thing
Had a voice, had a voice but I could not sing
You would wind me down
I struggled on the ground, oh
So lost, the line had been crossed
Had a voice, had a voice but I could not talk
You held me down
I struggle to fly now, oh

You pulled the microphone a bit closer to you as quiet overtook the bar. The patrons watched as you softly began, only to continue with a more amped up volume and confident tone.

But there's a scream inside that we all try to hide
We hold on so tight, we cannot deny
Eats us alive, oh it eats us alive, oh
Yes, there's a scream inside that we all try to hide
We hold on so tight, but I don't wanna die, no
I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, yeah

As you sang your verses, you had no idea how much your words were affecting the crowd. You did, however, notice the rapt attention that they were giving you.

And I don't care if I sing off key
I find myself in my melodies
I sing for love, I sing for me
I shout it out like a bird set free
No, I don't care if I sing off key
I find myself in my melodies
I sing for love, I sing for me

You let your posture straighten, and a confident smirk fell onto your lips.

I'll shout it out like a bird set free
I'll shout it out like a bird set free
I'll shout it out like a bird set free

Out of the corner of your vision, you saw the door crash open. You vaguely resisted the sound of it slamming as a large figure entered the bar. You didn’t let that stop you from what you were singing. You paid them no more mind as you continued.

Now I fly, hit the high notes
I have a voice, have a voice, hear me roar tonight
You held me down
But I fought back loud, oh

There's a scream inside that we all try to hide
We hold on so tight, we cannot deny
Eats us alive, oh it eats us alive, oh
Yes, there's a scream inside that we all try to hide
We hold on so tight, but I don't wanna die, no
I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, yeah

The further you got into the song, the more you let the music carry you away. You closed your eyes as you hit all the notes, but you could still feel the eyes of the patrons on you.

And I don't care if I sing off key
I find myself in my melodies
I sing for love, I sing for me
I shout it out like a bird set free
No, I don't care if I sing off key
I find myself in my melodies
I sing for love, I sing for me
I'll shout it out like a bird set free
I'll shout it out like a bird set free
I'll shout it out like a bird set free
I'll shout it out like a bird set free
I'll shout it out like a bird set free
I'll shout it out like a bird set free

The bar watched you in silence for a few seconds as you finished. As you bowed your head slightly, there was a wave of applause and whistles. You gave the bar a gleeful smile and a small wave. As everyone turned back to what they had been doing, though, you still felt a pair of eyes burning into you. Almost as soon as you began glancing around, the feeling went away.

As you stepped down, you looked over to the large figure that had barged in. You tilted your head in curiosity. He was standing over Sans, and it looked like the two of them were quietly arguing over something. Well, one of them was quietly arguing, at least. The other seemed to have a problem with volume control.

Wait… you recognized that voice. Loud, scratchy, harsh, commanding, and a greater-than-thou twinge to it. That was Papyrus! But… why was he here? You glanced between him and Sans before making your way over. Neither of them seemed to notice you as you stood next to them. You didn’t bother paying attention to what they were saying.

“Well, hey there! What’s up?” You nonchalantly butted your way into their conversation. Both of them silently turned their attention to you. You cleared your throat as the two of them blankly stared at you.

When neither of them said anything, you rolled your eyes and continued as if they had answered you, “Really? That’s great! How’s the dog, Papyrus?” Said monster tilted his head at you before recognition flashed in his expression.

It was Sans, however, that answered you, “How the hell d’ya know about Killer?”

You raised a brow, “Killer? Is that his name?  Papyrus just kept calling him ‘Mutt’ or ‘my brother’s no-good flea bag’.”

Sans looked you over for a second before his eyes widened,” Holy shit!” He began laughing, much to your confusion. “That was you ?” You didn’t answer, mostly because you weren’t entirely sure what he was talking about.

Between his laughs, he turned to the taller skeleton, “Bro.” Bro? Were they related? You had thought that they might be, but would it have been rude of you to assume? “ She was the one Killer plowed over?” Suddenly, you understood why he was laughing. “That’s fuckin’ hilarious.”

Now it was your turn to connect the dots, “Oh! It’s your dog! You are the brother! He’s a very cute dog.” You added the complement on as an afterthought.

“Cute? I think you are sorely mistaken, human. He is a dangerous beast!” Papyrus attempted to defend Killer’s honor. The reason why he was doing so evaded you, though.

“Sure, a vicious, horrible creature that just so happens to like belly rubs,” you cheekily responded. Despite the pup nearly taking your hand off when you first ‘met’, you could tell he was a precious puppy pushover if you knew how to handle him.

Papyrus stuttered out an offended reply, “Wh- I- He does NOT enjoy such-“

“No, she’s right.” Sans interrupted his brother.

Papyrus groaned dramatically, “I’m constantly surrounded by a bunch of soft pushovers.” You giggled at the statement that definitely sounded like it was more for himself than anyone else. He gave you a glare, “What are you doing here, anyways?”

Your face scrunched up, and you tilted your head, “Um… I work here?”

“Ha-ha. Very funny, Human.” His bitingly sarcastic tone only added to your confusion.

“She’s being serious,” Sans argued. Papyrus glanced between the two of you before looking over at Grillby. The bartender gave a nod to his silent question.

Papyrus looked back to you with a thoughtful hum, “I suppose I’ll have to keep an eye on you then.”

You blinked up at him, a confused look still plastered on your face. “Uh, sure. If it helps you sleep at night, I guess.”

You were beyond confused at his behavior. Maybe he was just being protective. Of his brother? Of Grillby’s? Did he think you were dangerous? You weren’t going to do anything, but he didn’t really know that did he? He had no reason to trust you. Other than meeting you one other time, he had never really met you. You doubted he even remembered your name. It didn’t matter though, you supposed. Even if he didn’t end up liking you, he would have to learn to tolerate you.

You weren’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

Chapter Text

You leaned over your old coffee table and distractedly held the end of your marker between your teeth. The city map that was unfolded in front of you had begun to look like a hot mess with the amount of notes and scribbles it was covered in. Despite all of the marks on it, you hadn’t gotten very far in narrowing down the gang that could have been responsible, much to your annoyance.

Now, you weren’t stupid, and you certainly were not naive. You were looking for them, but you knew you couldn’t do much beyond that. You were just one person. There was no way that you could take down an entire mafia. And you couldn’t just go to the police, either. There was a reason that any of the mafia groups were so prevalent in the city, after all. You knew you had at least a few officers at your side, but… there wasn’t much they could do. But, you hated passively sitting around. You had to do something.

With a heavy sigh, you dropped your head into your hands. You were getting nowhere. You hadn’t made any progress for at least an hour. At that point, the only thing you’d managed to rule out were the monster mobs. Which admittedly did not help you. At all. The news and articles about any attacks or fights that had happened had already been sorted through, which left you with no other leads for the moment.

Maybe… maybe you just needed to get out of the house for a while. It was your day off, and you were spending it giving yourself a headache. You needed fresh air.

You stood up and pulled your eyes from the map that you had been staring at all day. Maybe you could make yourself some food and take it to the park. With a nod to yourself, you wandered into your kitchen and pulled open your fridge. You stared blankly for a few seconds.

“Well, fuck.” Looked like you really needed groceries. Well, even if it was just a trip to the grocery store, you supposed that you’d still be getting out of the house. You could even walk through the park on your way… even though that didn’t work out well for you last time. What were the chances of it happening again, anyways?

You nodded to yourself and made your way out of your little apartment. Your walk to the store was peaceful, if not completely uneventful. It was just what you had needed to clear your head.

The shopping itself was even more uneventful. That was, until you heard a familiar voice from the isle over. You were honestly a bit surprised that you heard it at all.

“Whatever ya say, pal,” the low timbre was followed by a quieter voice that you definitely couldn’t hear. Without much thought, you quickly made your way around to the isle that the voice had come from. You may as well bother your favorite customer if you just so happened to cross paths with him.

When you turned the corner, your eyes met the sight of a suited man standing close to Sans. Very close. Despite his relaxed posture, Sans looked like he was wound up to strike at the man, a warning in his eye sockets. When you caught a glimpse of the man’s face, your whole body froze.

You knew that face. Of course you knew it. How could you possibly forget? He was the cause of your headache. He was the reason that your friends were dead. And, by the way he was squaring up to Sans, you could tell he was still actively making your life a living hell. But you couldn’t just walk up to him. There’s a chance he won’t remember you, but if he does? Things escalating in a grocery store would not help your headache.

Sans glanced around at his surroundings, and his gaze almost immediately found you frozen at the end of the isle. The staring and slight shift in his expression was enough to get the man to look in your direction. As soon as you noticed his gaze moving away from the skeleton, you ducked out of view.

… you couldn’t believe that you had just done that. Why had you done that, you idiot? Were you really going to let that man threaten Sans? It wasn’t like you to sit back and watch when something like that happened. Were you afraid of the man? Why? It wasn’t like he could do anything to you. You were in a grocery store for fuck’s sake. But… then again… how close had he been to pulling out a weapon in a bar? And after he had been kicked out?

“Fancy meetin’ you here, Songbird.” You jumped as Sans’ voice came from right beside you.  “Ya look like you’ve seen the dead.” Apparently, Sans had handled it while you had been lost in thought.

“Hardy-har.” You crossed your arms and stuck your tongue out at him, but your eyes scanned the store for any sign of the man. When you saw none, you focused on Sans again, “did you, uh… know that guy?”

… of course he didn’t. Why the hell-

“Do you?” Sans raised a brow at you.

“I-“ shit. How would you answer that? Did you trust Sans enough to tell him the truth? “Not really. But I know he’s a really bad guy,” you lowered your volume to a whisper, “He’s dangerous.”

“You say that like you have firsthand experience.” When you silently looked at without an answer, he let out a curse, “how dangerous are we talkin’?”

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair, “he’s the kind of dangerous that gets good people killed.”

He seemed to understand what you had meant by that, “shit. Okay. How much more shoppin’ you got?”

You scanned your cart, “Not a lot. Why?”

He began glancing around the store, “d’ ya think he’d know ya if he saw ya?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? Probably? I did break his nose, so I’m leaning more on the ‘yes’ side.”

“I feel like that should surprise me, but after knowin’ you? It doesn’t.” He stood next to you and began leading you away.

You chuckled at his claim, and the two of you began quietly making your way through the isles. Your eyes never rested on one thing for too long, paranoidly bouncing around. Eventually, you looked over at Sans. He had a relaxed look, but by the way his smile was tense and his eyelights darted around, you could tell he was on high alert. Why was he doing this? Sure, you considered the two of you to be friends, but did he? What would he even be able to do i things got out of hand? Despite all of the questions that his behavior raised, you got the feeling that he knew what he was doing.

Yes, you decided. You could trust him. How could you not at this point?

Once you had finally pulled the last thing you needed off of the shelf, you sighed in relief. You got through the store with no issue. You quickly made your way through the checkout, Sans at your side the whole time.

Bags in hand, you began your way home, giving Sans a nod, “Thank you.”

His smile fell for a split second as he grabbed your arm, “do ya want me to walk ya home?” He was still concerned? You couldn’t help but smile at him.

“No, I think I’ll be good from here.” You hefted your bags into your arms to hold them better as he looked you over. When he gave you a small nod, you waved and turned towards your house. You glanced back briefly to see that he was already out of your sight. He must have been much faster than you thought he was. You shook your head and began walking.

You decided not to take the route through the park. Getting bowled over by another dog was not on your to-do list for the day. Going through the city streets was slightly faster, anyways. The faster you got home, he faster you could get back to work.

About halfway through your walk, you heard voices in an alley that you were about to pass. Your steps slowed slightly. Did you really want to stop? You would potentially be getting yourself into even more trouble. But… what if someone got hurt because you walked past?

You glanced down to the groceries in your arms before looking back a the alley. You really have been seeking out trouble lately. A heavy groan escaped you as you sat the bags down and peeked down the alley. There were three figures dressed in black surrounding a smaller one on the ground. You scowled. Why were people so horrible? And why did you always end up being the one that did something about it?

You began making your way down the alley with careful steps to muffle the click of your heels.they most likely wouldn’t have even noticed the sound, though.

“Hey!” You called out to them, and they quickly spun around to face you. You ignored the three men, and looked down at the figure on the floor. They looked up at you as they tried to stand up. They were a small yellow monster in a red and black striped shirt. Your posture immediately went rigid, and you rolled your shoulders as you looked back at the men.

“Are you assholes seriously beating up a kid?” You already knew the answer, and you weren’t fond of it.

One of the men took a step towards you. You watched him carefully and rested one of your hands on your purse.

“What’s it to ya? It’s just a monster.” One of the other men stepped forward, “and what do you think you’re gonna do about it, sweet cheeks?”

You rolled your eyes at the tone of his voice. You could think of a few things that you could do. Slowly, you reached into your bag and wrapped your hand around a small can. They didn’t notice your movement. You began stepping closer to the group. When they made no move to stop you, and watched with confident and easygoing smiles, you smirked. They were underestimating you. Good.

Once you were only a few feet away, one of them began stepping towards you.

He got close enough to be almost directly in your face before he began speaking, “I think it’s cute that you-“ his words were cut off by his muffled screams as you pepper sprayed him. He fell to the ground, rubbing furiously at his eyes, and the other two lunged for you.

You dropped the can as one of them swung his fist at you. You ducked under his swing with practiced ease. The other continued to charge at you for a bull rush. You sidestepped him and used his momentum to bring your fist into his stomach. He let out a shallow ‘oomph’ of noise. As he doubled over, you roughly grabbed his head with both of your hands and rammed it into you knee. The crack of a nose echoed through the alley.

You tossed the man away from you and onto the floor just as the other one swung at you again. His fist connected with your jaw, and you stumbled back a bit. You licked your lips and were met by the familiar taste of iron. The man glared at you and pulled a flip knife out of his pocket. You narrowed your eyes and cracked you neck.

Before you could move, a hand wrapped around your ankle. You didn’t have time to process it before they pulled your feet out from underneath you. You landed hard on your hip, but you would have to deal with the pain later. You rolled to face the man that had grabbed you. When you couldn’t shake the hand off, you smashed your other heel into the man’s already bleeding face. He dropped your foot and you scrambled backwards. You tensed up as you hit another body. Your eyes flickered upwards to see pepper spray guy glaring down at you. Or, he was trying to, at least. Apparently he had recovered enough to think he could fight you.

You glanced back at knife guy to find where he was. Oh, that was much too close for comfort. Pepper spray guy grabbed you by the upper arms before you could move away. You only had a brief moment to think. If you didn’t find a way to move or stop the knife, you would be-

“That. Is. ENOUGH.” All of you froze at the voice.

“I Suggest That You Put Her Down. NOW.” His voice left no room for arguments, and apparently, the men felt the same way, or at least they decided the voice was a bigger threat. They turned to the voice at the opening of the alley. You watched them carefully as they turned their backs to you before you looked up at who was talking. Why was he here? Well, you wouldn’t complain. You made eye contact with Papyrus and gave him a nod.

The two men that were on their feet began stepping towards him. He noticed and quickly summoned a weapon. You noticed the familiar motion of Pepper spray man reaching around himself. Then you noticed the glint of metal in his waistband.

You acted quickly and lunged forward to grab it from him before he could reach it. He spun around to face you only to be met with the barrel of his gun between his eyes. For a few seconds, everything was still.

You looked the men in the eye one at a time before flicking your head towards the opening of the alley, “Scram.” You didn’t want to shoot anybody today.

You were relieved when the one with the gun at his head slowly nodded and began walking away. Your eyes never left them as the other two followed carefully behind. You didn’t put the gun down until the footsteps long faded into the distance. You dropped the weapon in your purse and spun around to face the kid.

They sat propped up against the wall, watching you carefully.

“You alright, kid?” They nodded at you slowly. “Do you need me to call anyone?” They quickly shook their head.

“Don’t tell my parents! Please, lady!” The begged, struggling to get back on their feet. You took a step towards the kid to help them up, but were stopped when a gloved hand grabbed your shoulder.

“There is no need to call anyone. I will take him back.” You looked over your shoulder at the tall figure of Papyrus, “He should not have been so far from home.” He pointedly looked down at the kid.

“But Papyrus,” they argued, “I can get back on my own!”

“I’m sure you could. But you won’t.” Papyrus wasn’t budging. You looked back and forth between the two. The kid obviously knew Papyrus, and it would be much safer for them to go with him. They looked up at you with pleading eyes, and you shrugged at them.

They groaned, “Man!” But they didn’t argue any further, and instead began pouting to themselves.  

You looked back at the skeleton, “thanks for the help.”

He nodded, ”You aren’t too horrible at fighting. I’m sure you would have handle it just fine if I hadn’t stepped in.”

You eyed him for a second, “Was that a genuine compliment? Because it kind of sounded like one.” He scoffed and looked away from you. You let out a chuckle and continued, “What are you doing here, anyways?”

“I did tell you that I would be keeping an eye on you.”

You raised a brow, “Wow. That sounds exactly like something a serial killer would say.”

Before he could reply, the kid shoved his way between the two of you, “Yeah, yeah. You two can flirt when I’m not here.” You chuckled at both the comment and Papyrus’ stuttered denial.

“Well, I’ve had a pretty eventful day, so… I guess I should be on my way,” you glanced at the entrance of the alley, where your groceries still sat, thankfully. “Thanks again for the help.”

You began making your way back, scooping up the food as you passed, “See ya later.” He didn’t reply, but you didn’t expect him to.

You made it home without any other issues. What were you even doing anymore? Getting yourself into a whole lot of trouble seemed to be high on your list nowadays. That and running into skeletons. You shook your head and made your way back to your coffee table. Your shook off your scattered thoughts and focused back on your task.

You stared down at the map, a newfound flicker in your eyes. Distractions aside, you would find them.

Chapter Text

“Dude, just go talk to her. You guys have been giving each other bedroom eyes for the past twenty minutes.” You glanced between Sans and the woman at one of the tables. She looked just barely drunk enough to make horrible decisions, and based on the way she had been unabashedly staring at your skeletal friend, you knew exactly what decision it would be.

Sans tore his gaze away from her to glare at you, “ ‘s none of your business what I do.”

You put your hands up, “sheesh. No need to get mad at me. I just thought I heard her swoon from all the way over here last time you winked at her, Casanova.”

He glanced between you and the girl. “Oh, I see what’s goin’ on. You’re jealous.” He smirked at you.

You responded with a scoff, “As if. You aren’t exactly my type.”

At that he seemed more interested in the conversation, “and what is your type, Songbird?”

“Not you,” you gave him an unimpressed look, “you’re too much of an ass, and you sleep around too much. Plus…” you gestured to all of him, “you’re a skeleton. Do you even have-“

“(Y/N).” Grillby interrupted, “That seems like a very personal question. it’s frankly not a conversation I’d like to hear.”

Sans ignored your boss and leaned closer to you, “Would you like to find out?”

You laughed and shoved him away, “Nope. This conversation is over. Go bother someone else.” You gestured to the drunk woman across the room. He chuckled, and followed your gaze.

Without much more thought, he left your side at the bar. You watched with slight curiousity as he slid into the seat across from her. He must have said something stupid, because her face scrunched up. 

You turned to Grillby, “Five bucks says he strikes out.”

Grillby regarded you for a second before smirking, “Alright. I’ll take that bet.” He slid you a glass of water. It was the only thing he’d give you for free, the cheapskate.

And then, you watched. You gently spun on your stool and blatantly stared at the pair between drinks. Eventually, the woman stood up. You smirked slightly, but it quickly fell when Sans followed her lead… right out the door.

“I’ll just take it out of your paycheck.” Yeah, you were sure he would.

You groaned and let your head fall onto the counter. You spent a few minutes wallowing in your pity. An entire five bucks just went down the drain. You could have bought a lot with that!

You picked your head up, and instead dropped your elbow on the counter with a muffled ‘thud’ and rested your head in your hand. You sighed and glanced around the bar. You found yourself subtly glancing back to Grillby. He caught your eye, and looked you over. Once he seemed satisfied, he quickly made his way back to the kitchen.

He come back not long after and dropped a plate in front of you. The pair of you sat in silence. Your glances at him started becoming more frequent as your mind wandered. He caught on to you fairly quickly.

“What do you want.” He phrased it as a statement. Awful bold of him to assume you wanted something. You did, but still. Maybe you had just been admiring him. He was made of literal fire, after all. But, that wasn’t the case and apparently he knew it. There was something that had been bugging you, and you wanted to figure it out.

“Can I ask you a question?” You asked, after taking a bite of one of the fries Grillby had made. You didn’t appreciate having to pay for them, but they were just too good to pass up.

“Can I say no?” The fire elemental asked from his spot behind the bar.

“I guess? It’s just something that I’ve been curious about for a while.”

He sighed, “Fine.”

“Okay, so,” you situated yourself so that you were leaning over the bar, “I’ve been here for a while now. Not, like, super long, but long enough to notice a few things.” When he said nothing, you continued, “You don’t trust people. Like, at all. Unless maybe it’s Sans, but even him I’m still working out if you trust him or not. So… why did you hire me? I know you don’t trust me, so was it really just because I bring in revenue?”

He stared you down, “I didn’t trust you.” He paused and glanced around. After a second, he continued, “BP owed you. I owed him. I dislike being indebted to people.” Was that a thing with all monsters? Now that you knew a few personally, you were starting to notice a pattern.

“Is that really all?”

“... BP vouched for you. He told me what happened at your previous employment.”

You winced at the mention of the incident. “So, because I got my last job shot up, you hired me? That’s some… interesting logic.”

He scoffed at you and pulled your now empty plate away, “It was one of the human mafias that did it, correct?” The question was apparently rhetorical, because he didn’t give you a chance to answer, “that means the chances of you working for one of them are zero to none.”

Your face scrunched up in confusion, “Is that something that you have to worry about often?”

“As the owner of a bar? Yes. As the owner of a monster business? Definitely.”

“Oh. I see.” Well, that mood went sour fast. You smirked. You were nothing if not good at lightening the mood, “For a second there, you had me worried that I was unknowingly working for a front.” You wiggled your brows at him, “You aren’t selling any… unsavory things out back, are ya?”

He stared blankly at you, “You are insufferable.”

A wink was sent in his direction, “If ya ask me, I think I’m growing on you. Before you know it, we’ll be besties! Just imagine! We could watch movies, and go to the mall, and-“

“I would rather douse myself in water.”

You put a hand over your heart in mock hurt, “Wow! A simple no would have been fine!”

He crossed his arms, “Will you ever just go home after your shift ends?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” You shrugged, and a smug grin fell on your face, “There’s no one at home that I can get so fired up .” Another brow wiggle was added at the end.

He glared at you and pointed to the door, “Out.”

You laughed and slid off of your barstool. You supposed it was getting to be pretty late, or early, you supposed. You knew that Grillby’s would only be open for about another half hour. Only a few lingering patrons remained, most of them regulars.

“Alright, alright. I’m outta here. Have a good night, Grillbz.” You gave him a wave that he promptly ignored. You had done this enough times to know that he most likely wouldn’t respond to you, so you made your way out.

The city was quiet. Well, as quiet as the city could be, anyways. You were just thankful the weather was starting to get warmer. At least now you didn’t look like a crazy person when you walked around in a dress at one in the morning in the freezing cold… you were still that crazy lady walking around at one in the morning, though. You had owned up to that at this point. Because of working in bars for so long, you had a certain confidence about walking around in the streets at night.

It really helped that you had the know-how, as well. The parts to avoid, the safest areas, fastest routes. They were all seared into your memory from years of practice.

It also helped that you knew how to defend yourself. People have always been horrible, and shitty, and it’s bullshit that knowing how to break a guy’s fingers came with the job, but you had to say… knowing it had helped you out quite a bit.

Admittedly, you knew a bit more than the average bar employee. Your father was definitely the reason for that. He had never really been enthusiastic about your choice in careers, but he had been supportive, and what more could you have asked for?

En quote, “If you really want to sing at some grubby bar in a bad area, you’re going to let me teach you how to handle unsavory customers.”

And teach you he did. Though, looking back on it, he may have gone a bit overboard. You really hadn’t needed the entire police academy shebang, but you had gotten it anyways. You couldn’t help but smile at the memory. It quickly turned melancholy.

You wished that you could still see your parents as often as you used to. They always tell you that they don’t blame you for what happened, but… they do. You can see it in their eyes every time they look at you. You couldn’t really fault them for that, though. It was your fault. If you hadn’t-

An almost unnoticeable shuffling pulled you from your thoughts. You tensed up, but kept walking.

… how long had you felt like you were being watched? Had you really been in your head that much? You idiot! You knew better than that! Even if the noises were nothing or ‘just your imagination’, that shouldn’t have caught you off guard.

You shoved your hands in your coat pockets and continued as if you hadn’t noticed. As discreetly as you possibly could, you scanned the dark streets. You weren’t sure if you were relieved or not when you didn’t see anything odd.

...not relieved. You decided that you were very unnerved by it.

You sped up your pace, but just barely. If someone really was watching you, you don't want them to know that you were aware of them. You dropped your hand in your purse, and searched around. Wait. Where was-

...Shit. You never picked up your can of pepper spray from that alley. You settled for resting your hand on your phone, instead.

Despite the feeling of eyes following your every move, you got home after a few more blocks worth of walking. Once you opened the door to your building, you dashed up the stairs when the feeling didn’t leave.

The lock of your door was clicked into place, and you felt safer, if only slightly. Your eyes scanned your tiny apartment. Everything was the same, it was all exactly how you left it. But then… why did it feel so… off?

You shook your head. It was probably just paranoia. You were fine. Your house was safe. ...As an afterthought, you rushed around and shut all of your curtains. Better safe than sorry.

You were left with an uncomfortable feeling for the rest of the night.

Chapter Text

You twisted the key to your apartment out of your lock with a sigh. The feeling hadn’t gone away, but, whether or not you felt uncomfortable, you still had a job to do. Your work would wait for no creepy feelings.

“Ah! (Y/N)! Good afternoon, dear!” You jumped slightly at the sound of miss Josevine’s voice.

“Oh! Uh, hi!” You spun around to face her. When she gave you an odd look, you quickly continued and changed the subject, “Did you catch the mail thief yet?”

She hummed and glanced up and down the hall to search for potential eavesdroppers, “Not yet, but I’m getting close!” She dropped her voice, “It think it may be the hooligan in apartment 5, but don’t let him know that I’m on to him.”

“Of course”, you chuckled, “Well, I wish you the best of luck. I’m sure you’ll catch them!” You shot her a wink.

She gave you a nod, and you began making your way downstairs. As you swung open the door to the building, you made sure to look around at the seemingly empty street. You didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so you began the trek to work.

The walk was unnerving, but still just as uneventful as it was any other day. That didn’t mean that you were any less thankful when you reached the building, though. You pulled open the door and threw one last glance over your shoulder before you quickly made your way to the back of the bar.

“You okay? You’re lookin’ like ya got someone followin’ ya.” You glanced distractedly at Sans.

“Hm? Oh.” You shifted uncomfortably on your feet before sitting on the barstool. “Uh. Yeah. It’s nothing.”

He raised a brow bone, “Sure doesn’t seem like it’s nothin’.”

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair,” It’s just, last night I felt like someone was watching me when I went home. I wouldn’t normally be so jumpy because of that, but the feeling still hasn’t gone away.” You shrugged and forced a chuckle, “It’s probably nothing, though.”

He hummed in thought and turned back to his drink. You took that as your cue to move your attention over to Grillby.

“So, what’s on the agenda for the day?” He didn’t answer, and instead stared at you expectantly. It took you a second to figure out what he wanted.

“Wha-“ you groaned in exasperation, “Oh, come on! I told you guys it was probably unimportant, just my imagination! Nothing even happened.” Were they really going to make a big deal about it?

Grillby glared at you, “And it was still enough to put you on edge.”

You bit your bottom lip, “Well…” He wasn’t wrong, so you couldn’t really argue with him.

You sighed, “It’s not like I can really do anything about it.” You shook your head and crossed your arms, “Besides, I can handle myself.”

He stared at you for another few seconds before turning to Sans, “Walk her home.” The pair of them seemed to be having a mental conversation that you were far from understanding.

“Wait, hold on-“

“Alright.” Sans turned to you, “Looks like I’ll be takin’ you home tonight, Songbird.” He winked.

“Okay, first of all, ew. Don’t say it like that. And I don’t need to be escorted around like a child! I’ll be fine!”

“Yes, I’m sure you will be, when Sans walks you home .” Grillby gave you a pointed look. This was going to be a fight that you weren’t going to win, wasn’t it?

You groaned, but relented, “Alright, fine. Dad. ” You spun off of the stool and made your way over to the stage, grumbling as you went. If you were lucky, maybe Sans would leave before your shift was over.

You did your performance with little issue, though you were still a bit annoyed with your boss and Sans.

But, you supposed that you were a bit touched that they cared. Or… maybe they didn’t. Maybe it would just be bad for them if anything were to happen to you. You could already see the headlines:

‘Girl works for monsters, now missing. Who’s to blame?’

Yeah… you imagine that’d be pretty bad for Grillby’s business. But, you’d like to think that it was that they cared about you.

You stepped off the stage one last time for the night, and begrudgingly wandered over to Sans, who was, in fact, still there. He gave you a cocky grin and held out his arm, as if he were some kind of gentleman. Heh. Yeah, right. You glared at him, but linked your arms together nonetheless.

“Lead the way,” he gestured towards the door.

“Oh, of course!” Sarcasm soaked your words. You made sure to yank him along as you made your way out the door. You couldn’t fight the smirk that came with his stumbling after you. A wave was sent in Grillby’s direction as you reached the door and pulled it open.

Immediately after leaving the building, the feeling came back, and your mood plummeted. Sans seemed to catch onto it as well, as he stood at attention and began scanning the seemingly empty streets.

“C’mon,” you pulled your arm out of his grip, “If you just stand there looking around, we’ll be out here all night.”

He didn’t look back at you, but he did begin to follow you as you started walking towards the direction of your apartment.

You walked a couple of blocks in silence, before you glanced back at Sans, “See? I told you guys. Nothing happened before, why would anything happen now?”

As if the universe itself heard your words and decided to laugh at you, something did, in fact, happen as soon as you had said that.

There was a shuffling in a nearby alley followed by the familiar booming sound of a gunshot. Just behind you, the clang of the concrete told you that the bullet had barely missed its mark.

“Fucking really?! Of course you would, you ass!” You cursed at the man for choosing to prove you wrong. You ducked down and looked in the direction that the noise came from. Before you could look around, a hand pressed down on your back, preventing you from standing all the way up again.

You looked up at Sans who put himself between you and the shooter. You heard him lowly curse as he summoned a magic wall of bones in front of him, effectively blocking the two of you.

“Shit. Alright, Songbird. You gotta get outta here.” There was a splintering in the wall as a bullet lodged itself into it.

“No shit, Sherlock!” You shoved his hand off of you and reached into your purse. Shit. You still didn’t have your pepper spray, but then your hand brushed against metal.

You still had the gun from the fight in the alley way. You had almost forgotten that you still had it in your bag. If you hadn’t felt the cold metal while looking for something that could help you, you doubt you would have remembered it. You wrapped your hand around it, but didn’t pull it out. You would like to avoid shooting anyone if at all possible, but you still wanted to be prepared.

Sans looked back at you, one eye socket lit with red magic, “Alright, I’m ‘bout to grab ya, then you’re gonna feel real weird.”

You let go of the weapon, “Wait, what?” Your question was left in the air as he pulled you to him.

“Hey! Wha-“ you stopped.

You felt your stomach drop as an absolute black overtook your vision. It seemed as though there was nothing but cold, dark, emptiness. You were filled with dread. Had there ever been anything else? The pressure around your waist told you that yes, there was more. It seemed that the only thing keeping you tethered to reality was the feeling of arms wrapped around you.

Though it felt like much, much longer, you couldn’t have been in the inky blackness for more than a millisecond.

Once the light hit your eyes again, it took you a second to figure out which direction was up.

“Woah there, Songbird.” Sans still hadn’t let go of you. If he had, there was a very good chance that you would quickly find yourself on the floor.

“Hey, you need to breathe.” Oh. Had you been holding your breath? You inhaled greedily, and your eyes finally focused, even though you could still feel yourself swaying slightly.

You blinked at Sans. Once. He was holding you at an arm's length.

Twice. Where were you? You didn’t recognize this place at all.

Three times, and the fog from your mind fell away.

“Sans, what the hell?!” You pushed his hands away from you and wobbled slightly, but kept on your feet. “You can’t just-“ a groan, “-Some warning would have been nice! What did you even do?!”

“I did warn you.” You gave him a look, but he ignored it and continued, “We took a shortcut to my house. The first time is always the worst.” That gave you more questions than answers.

“A shortcut? Your house? What? Why?” You felt a headache coming on.

He gave you a nonchalant shrug, “Didn’t know where your place was. Even if I did, they’ve been followin’ ya to and from work. They know where you live.” Shit. He was right.

You shifted on your feet as your anger melted away, “Okay,.” You took a deep breath, “Okay. What do I do now?”

He looked you over, “You can stay here for tonight.”

“And after that?” He just stared at you. You weren’t really sure what you had expected him to say. It really wasn’t his problem what you did next. You were just thankful that he was letting you crash for the night.

“Right, I’ll… figure it out.” You let the silence stretch on for a few more seconds before continuing, “Thanks for, uh. Helping me out. And also, for future reference, you might want to word your ’warning’ a bit differently. It sounded creepy as hell.”

He nodded, “yeah, whateva. Don’t make it a regular thing. And shuddup. At least I warned ya.” You shook your head at him, but that sounded like a good plan. You didn’t want to be in these situations any more than he did. You nodded in agreement before looking away from him and instead found yourself examining the room.

It was obviously some a living room. Everything looked clean and rather expensive, which surprised you a bit, knowing Sans. It wasn’t very personal, though. No pictures, no mail, no… anything that suggested it was lived in. The front door sat at one side of the room, and across from it was a staircase that lead up. There was another doorway that lead to what you assumed was the kitchen.

You glanced back at Sans to see that he had been watching you. He didn’t bother looking away when he was caught. You stared back. You wanted to say something to him, but a door slamming in the kitchen stopped you.

“SANS!” You turned to look at the booming voice as it came from the kitchen, “Have you seen-“

As soon as he saw you, Papyrus froze like a deer in headlights. You couldn’t say that you were any better once you processed his appearance.

He had on a maroon button up and some black suit pants, both covered in red splatters. You gaped slightly at the red speckles that dotted his face. The red across his clothes, though, was nothing in comparison to the red soaked femur that he had summoned in his hand. He didn’t move, and neither did you.

It didn’t take a genius  to figure out what that was.

“Aw, shit.” Sans’ voice didn’t pull your eyes from his brother. You couldn’t help but agree with his words, though.

You might have just figured out what the family business was.

Shit, indeed.

Chapter Text

It might have been smarter to just leave right then and there, but you found yourself completely frozen. The brothers began yelling at each other, and you couldn’t help but hope that maybe they’d completely forget you were there.

“Boss, what the hell?” Sans glared at his brother.

“WHAT THE HELL, ME?! WHAT THE HELL YOU?!” If you weren’t in such a serious situation, you probably would have snickered at that. “Why is she here?!”

“Why are you walkin’ around covered in blood?!” Sans gestured wildly at him.

“I SHOULD be able to! This is our safe house, Sans!” The bone in his hand dissipated so that he could jab a finger at his brother, “You know what we do! So why the hell would you bring a stranger here?!”

“Is she a stranger? We both know her!” Sans pointed out.

“Yes, she is. What do you actually know about her!?” He turned his attention to you, who was still frozen in spot, “Other than the fact that she knows too much.”

He began taking steps towards you, but you remained in your spot, only moving to put your hands up passively. “Woah, hey. I can- I can go. There’s no need to do anything crazy.”

He summoned another bone in his hand, this one significantly cleaner than the previous. You let out a nervous chuckle and finally began moving backwards.

“It’s quite a shame that I have to do this. You were just beginning to grow on me.”

“Wait, you don’t have to do anything, I-“

He pulled back for a strike, and you looked a way. You knew that there was most likely no getting out of this one. Life just really enjoyed fucking you over, didn’t it? You waited for the hit.

“Sans, get out of my way.” That… wasn’t what you had expected to hear. You looked up to see that Sans had, in fact, put himself between you and Papyrus. The taller of the two glared down.

“I will not ask again. MOVE.” His tone caused you to flinch slightly, but his brother remained stoic.

“I can’t do that, Papyrus.”

“And why is that, exactly?” He leaned over Sans threateningly.

Sans glanced back at you before glaring at his brother, “Because I promised Grillby that I’d keep her safe. She’s under my protection.” Aw, shit. You knew exactly what that meant. That meant that you were involved.

As if the words had physically hurt him, Papyrus took a step back, a stunned expression on his face. “You didn’t.” When Sans nodded in return, Papyrus quietly moved him out of the way and towered over you.

“So, it seems as though you have fallen under our charge.” He held the weapon up to your neck. “If I ever find that you’ve stepped out of line, I will not hesitate to skewer you.”

You quickly nodded, “Yeah, that- uh. That seems fair.” What had you gotten yourself into?

He dropped the weapon, and it disappeared, “Good.” As he stepped away from you, you put your hands down and gestured vaguely towards the couch.

“I’m just gonna- yeah, okay.” With only a slight tremble, you quickly found yourself collapsing onto it and burying your face in your hands.

“Can I just go one day without getting shot at?” You groaned, “I need a nap.”

There was a deep chuckle as the couch shifted next to you, “You okay, Songbird?”

“Honestly? I don’t know how I didn’t figure out before. I’m kinda disappointed in myself.”

“Of course you couldn’t figure it out!” Papyrus was apparently still nearby as well. Huh. He seemed to switch tones pretty quickly. Maybe he wasn’t lying when he told you that he didn’t want to kill you.

“Are you kidding? Mysterious family business, missing for days at a time, vague answers, wandering around at night. C’mon, you guys, it was pretty obvious.”

Sans gave you an odd look, “Well, damn. When you put it like that…”

“You seem to be quite the detective.” Papyrus crossed his arms, “You… aren’t actually a detective, are you?”

You scoffed, “No. of course I’m not. I couldn’t even figure out that you two were obviously…” you hummed, and decided not to finish the thought.

Sans shoved you lightly, “Maybe not, but it takes a lot to notice all a that.”

“Indeed. You are quite observant.” He leaned over you, “So, are you a spy?”

You raised a brow, “No, but I’d probably make a damn good one. I am just a bar singer. A bar singer with hella bad luck, but a bar singer nonetheless.”

He hummed and backed off, but remained in the room to watch you. The room fell into awkward silence as the two of them stared at you.

You were thankful when Sans broke it, “You seem… pretty unaffected by all this.”

You shrugged, “Yeah. I’m kinda at the point where I’ve just accepted that this is my life now.” No, that was a lie. You were panicking inside.

“Huh.” He left it at that, and the room fell back into silence.

You looked around once more, and cleared your throat, “So… Where’s your dog?” Dogs were good distraction. You needed a dog.

Sans looked around distractedly, “My room. Probably.”

You stood up and smoothed your dress out, “Great!” You began making your way upstairs, “Well, a dog sounds significantly less awkward than you guys right now, so I’m gonna go find him.”

Sans stood up and followed you up the stairs, “Uh.. maybe it’s not the best idea to wander around in someone else’s house.”

You chuckled, “If I find a half-alive man in one of the rooms, I’ll close the door and pretend I never saw anything.”

“He’s actually in the basement.” You chuckled at the joke, but it turned nervous when he gave you a look. Oh. He was being serious.

“Uh. Noted. Any other rooms I should avoid?”

“Yeah. The old man’s room. ‘S the last door on the right.” He pointed down the hall.

“Alright. Which one’s your room? I will find the dog.”

He chuckled and pulled open a door that lead to a dark room. Sans made a low whistle, and almost immediately, a large white dog rushed out. He sat at Sans’ feet and looked up at him alertly. Sans flicked his head in your direction, and the dog’s attention turned to you.

“Well, hey there, pup. Long time no see, eh?” You dropped a hand down for the dog to sniff at, not that you really needed to. The dog was very large. Once he seemed content with you, you carded your fingers through his fur. Holy shit! He was so soft!

He leaned into your hand and you couldn’t help but smile down at him. You mumbled a ‘good boy’ to him, and his ears perked up. You pulled your hand away as he stood up and spun around. Once he was done, he sat back down, tail wagging wildly. You couldn’t help but squeal lightly.

“Right. Get outta here, Killer.” At Sans’ words, the dog went back into serious mode and wandered away.

You hummed and nodded, “Huh. He’s trained really well.”

Sans followed your gaze and watched as Killer strutted down the stairs, “Yeah. Paps did most of that.” You were a little surprised at that.

“Really? I thought he hated dogs.”

He smiled at you, “Isn’t my bro the coolest?” You tilted your head at him. Even though he had threatened to skewer you and attempted to murder you, you were inclined to agree. But that could have just been the fear talking.

“So,” Sans continued, “you still planning on staying?”

You looked away from him, and fought the urge to fiddle with your fingers, “Yeah. I… Don’t really have anywhere else to go.” You shrugged, “besides, I don’t know how to get home. I don’t know where I am.”

He chuckled, “I’ll take ya back in the morning.”

“Speaking of.” You jumped slightly at Papyrus’ voice and spun around to face him, “Where is she supposed to sleep?” Papyrus held up a hand, “And if you say your room, I am going to throw you out the nearest window.”

You scrunched up your face, “I’m not trying to argue, but, what’s wrong with his room, exactly?”

“It’s an absolute disaster. I may be great and terrible, but I am also a good host. He most likely doesn't even have any sheets on his bed, and I doubt he has ever washed his blankets.”

“Oh.” You bit your lip in thought, “I can just crash on the couch if-“

“NO. You absolutely will not.”

“That’s a bad plan, Songbird.”

You tilted your head at their insistence, but decided not to question it, “Okay, then. What do you want me to do?”

Papyrus looked you over for a second before a begrudging expression fell on his face, “You may stay in my room.”

You blinked up at him, “Oh! Are you sure? I don’t really want to intrude, and I hate being a bother, so-“ you trailed off at the look he was giving you, “Right! Your room! Lead the way.”

He rolled his eyes, but gestured you to a door and lead you inside. You looked it over and gave a small nod to yourself. That seemed to be enough for him, as he began to make his way back out.

You stopped him, “Wait.” He glanced back at you. You looked down at yourself. You really, really weren’t prepared to be sleeping anywhere but your own home.

“Do you, uh. Have a shirt I could borrow?” He raised a brow at you, “No, wait, hear me out. This dress is really uncomfortable to sleep in, and you’re a damn tower, so if I borrowed one of your shirts, it would be plenty long on me, and-“ you were interrupted by fabric hitting you in the face. You caught the garment as it fell, and before you could thank him, the door was shut.

Without much more thought, you changed into what had turned out to be a deep red turtleneck that was surprisingly soft. You hesitantly sat on the bed and looked around.

It felt… weird being in an unfamiliar room. Even more so when you considered the fact that the room’s owner had tried to kill you. You groaned and let yourself fall back.

You knew you should be significantly more concerned about what was happening, but you weren’t. You were exhausted. Your day had been shit, and all of your ‘friends’ had been keeping a huge secret from you.

...and yet… you still trusted them. A really dumb move on your part, but you couldn’t help it. You supposed that was what you get for finally letting people in. Just accepting that you would get hurt in the end made everything a lot easier to swallow for you, though.

… When had your outlook on life gotten that bleak? Damn, you had issues.

With a frustrated sigh, you shook off your thoughts and closed your eyes, slowly forcing yourself to find sleep.

———

With a heavy sigh, you finally decided that there was no way you could sleep anymore. You blearily blinked open your eyes to realize that you weren’t in your own bed. Where…

Oh. You knew exactly where you were. You were at Sans’ house. You groaned as you sat up.

What a dumb, stupid day yesterday had been. First, you were shot at, then you were accidentally put in a position where you most definitely involved with the goddamn mafia. Your father would be so disappointed in you.

With that thought, you stood up. You could only hope that today would be infinitely better. But… When had anything ever gone the way that you planned?

You peeked your head out of the door, and looked back and forth quickly. There was no sign of life. That must have meant that they were downstairs. So, following that train of logic, you were also free to roam downstairs… but maybe you would avoid the basement.

You couldn’t help but look over the halls once more before you stepped out and closed the door behind you. You picked up on a voice coming from downstairs, telling you that you were right about both of the boys being down there.

You padded downstairs with little hesitation. Why would you hesitate? They knew you were there, after all. And, you were making yourself nervous with that train of thought.

You cleared your throat as you entered the living room.

Much to your surprise, you were met with a figure that you didn’t recognize. He turned as soon as you made the noise, and stared at you with wide eyes. You barely had a moment to examine his skeletal features before the stare turned into a harsh glare.

“Papyrus!” He called into the kitchen. You winced at his tone.

Papyrus almost immediately showed up into the room. His eyes fell on you, and an emotion that you couldn’t quite place passed his expression before it went stoic and he looked back to the other skeleton.

“I must say,” the skeleton began, pointedly ignoring you, “That I am quite disappointed in you. I have come to expect this kind of behavior from Sans, but you? And with a human?”

Wait, wait, wait… did he think that you were-

You subtly glanced down at yourself. You looked a bit messy, and you were still wearing his shirt… Yeah. You supposed that you could see how he would jump to that conclusion. That didn’t mean that he was right, and you were a bit peeved that he was refusing to talk directly to you.

You looked back up just as Sans came into the room as well. You ignored him in favor of speaking with the skeleton that had the deep cracks on his face.

“Oh there seems to be-“ you trailed off as you caught Sans’ small head shake from the corner of your eye. Looking back, it occurred to you that the man was not listening, anyways.

“I thought we agreed that there would be no…” he briefly gave you a side eye, “bringing anything home off of the street. She’s probably dirty, and I want her out of my home immediately, before she starts sticking her nose in things that don’t concern her.”

You felt your fists clench at your sides. A glance at both of your friends stopped you from doing something rash. Both of them were looking at you with a warning in their eyes. You looked back at the man. They were trying to stop you from correcting him. But, why?

Sans probably knew that you wanted to punch this mystery skeleton. Hell, he had told you he’d keep you safe. Sans had… Sans had promised that he’d protect you. And… you supposed that Papyrus had as well, in his own roundabout way.

So, that meant that this man was dangerous. You would play along. But you still wouldn’t play nice. He was being rude and unfair, and you wouldn’t stand for it.

You loudly cleared your throat. When me made no move to look at you, or pay you any mind at all, you stepped up to him and gave him a glare.

“Listen here, pal. I don’t care who you are. I am a person, and you are going to fucking treat me like one.” You turned and looked back at the bros and spoke in a much softer voice, “Would one of you go get my stuff from Papyrus’ room?” You didn’t wait for an answer, and instead turned back to the man, “I don’t take kindly to uppity assholes that decide that someone is below them based on their job.” You made a point to get much closer to him than you needed to.

A low growl sounded from deep in his chest, “ Get. Out. Of. My. House.” Oh… his house? So… this was… oh.

You didn’t back down, despite the new information. You made a point to never break eye contact with him, even though you really, really wanted to. This guy was really intense.

It was the voice of Sans that finally pulled you out of your staring contest, “Here’s your stuff.”

You took it and gave him a small nod before storming past all of them and to the door. You threw one last glance behind you before slamming the door and stomping down the driveway.

You stopped for only a second when you realized that you still had no clue where you were. You cursed lightly and continued with your head held high.

Once you made it a bit further down the street though, you pulled out your phone. With a quick dial, you pulled your phone up to your ear.

God, you really hoped that he could help you figure out where you were.

After a few rings, he picked up, “(Y/N)? What do you want?”

“Good morning, Boss. Sorry to bother you, but uh. I just left Sans’ house, and I have no clue where I am.” He seemed like the safest bet. There was a good chance that he knew, after all

There was silence for a few seconds, “And you called me? Why?”

“I’m really not sure, but I figured you’d know where they lived.”

“...Why?”

“Grillby. I know what the family business is.”

There was an even longer moment of silence that caused you to pulled your phone away and make sure that the call was still going.

“Give me a few minutes. I’ll be right there.”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t long before a black car pulled up alongside the sidewalk. You stopped walking and looked over to the car as a window rolled down.

“That was fast.” You rolled on your heels slightly, but made no move to pull open the door. It would have felt rude to do so without an invitation from the fire elemental.

“Are you going to make me wait here all day?” And with that, you quickly found yourself in the passenger’s seat of your boss’s car. He pulled away, and began heading towards what you had assumed to be the bar. There was an awful silence that fell over the vehicle as you drove.

“Thanks.” You mumbled lightly.

He grunted and turned slightly towards you, “What happened?”

As expected, he was straight to the point. You twiddled your fingers slightly trying to figure out where to start. You supposed the beginning would be the best place. So, you reaccounted your tale starting from when you left the bar. He listened with rapt attention, but didn’t say anything until you finally finished.

“You are lucky to be alive, my dear.” He told you.

You tilted your head, “Yeah, I guess.”

“I do not think you understand. Sans and Papyrus can easily protect you from outside forces, or themselves I suppose, but if you hadn’t played along with Gaster’s conclusion, you would be dead. If he had known about who you really were, and what you knew... ” He explained, trailing off at the end.

You found yourself swallowing lightly at the thought. So you had been right. Gaster was much more dangerous than you knew. Maybe… maybe you would do your best to avoid him then, even if you still wanted to punch him in his stupid smug face.

“In addition,” he continued scolding you, “It was very unwise of you to call me under the assumption that I already knew.”

You tensed up, “You, did know, right?”

“Of course I did. Do you truly think that I would be this calm about it otherwise?” At his confirmation, you let out a sigh of relief. “But you seem to be taking it much better than I would have expected,” He pointed out as an afterthought.

You hummed, “Yeah, well. That’s just my luck, I suppose.” You looked over to him sadly, “And it’s not like I’ve never seen death before, either.” You left it at that.

There was another stretch of silence that neither of you attempted to fill until you had another question.

“So,” you began, “What now?”

“What do you mean?”

You glanced over at him for a second before looking out the window, “It’ll be different now that I know things. Now I’m involved in what ever the hell it is that you guys are doing. And… I’m not sure if I can go back home.”

Much to your confusion, Grillby pulled the car over and turned to you, “I know you are a smart girl, so I don’t need to give you this warning, but I am going to anyways.” His gaze bore into you, “You cannot tell another soul about any of this.”

“Well, yeah. Obviously. I-“

“I was not finished.” Oh. Okay, then. “You should be okay to go back to your apartment. Sans and Papyrus will be keeping an eye on you, no doubt. They will take care of any trouble that should happen to find you. You are their charge now, no matter if you like it or not.”

You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest, “They have to protect me now because I’m a liability. ” You were only a little bitter

… That was a lie. You were very bitter. You hated feeling like you needed to be protected.

“Maybe. Or maybe they are keeping watch over you because they want to. It would have been very easy for them to let Gaster kill you back there,” He reasoned.

The conversation ended there as he pulled back into the street. You made no more attempts at talking to him. Instead, you found yourself getting lost in your thoughts as the city blurred by.

What had happened that had suddenly tossed your life into such a downward spiral? Was it your attitude? No. While it probably didn’t help your situation, you had always had a bite to your words. Was it just a wrong time, wrong place type situation? If so, you really did have the worst luck. That didn’t come as a surprise to you, though. You already knew that your luck was shitty.

It was shitty enough that you were now involved with the godamned mafia. That was the exact thing that you had worked to avoid. You had to stop yourself from groaning at the memories of last night. Now, there was a good chance that you could be considered accessory to murder. Fucking fantastic.

There was no way that you would turn any of them in, either. Your concerns weren’t really with your safety, but…

You couldn’t do that to any of them. Suffice to say, you’d grown a little bit attached. Plus, Sans and Papyrus had both gone out of their way to help you multiple times. So, you would just have to deal with it. You’d stay as far away from all of… that as you possibly could. Maybe it’d be easiest to just pretend like nothing even happened.

You passed by a familiar building, and you barely proceeded what it was through your thoughts.

The windows were boarded up. Or, what was left of them, anyways. You hadn’t gone anywhere near the bar since the incident. You tore your eyes away from it. It didn’t belong to them anymore. There was no reason the sight of a damn building should upset you that much.

You let out a bitter chuckle, and Grillby glanced over at you.

“‘S nothing.” You were just being emotional. But, who could blame you, really? With everything you had been through recently? You weren’t even able to get any further in your search.

… Wait. Your search… for one specific mafia. One specific mafia that you don’t have any information on.

But, now you know people that might.

… You don’t want to get involved, though. You were already way too deep.

With a small glance at Grillby, you made up your mind. Maybe a little digging wouldn’t hurt. They’d understand, right? It was just a matter of finding the right way to ask about it. You grimaced at the thought.

Oh, are most definitely going to get yourself killed.

You turned to your boss, “We’re going back to the bar, right?”

He looked you over, “I was planning on taking you home first. You are not dressed appropriately.”

You glanced down to the turtleneck that you were still wearing and hummed, “I guess not.” You smirked up at him, “But I keep a spare dress at the bar.”

“...Why?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve had it there since you let me wait tables. What if someone spills something on me? You want me to perform with someone’s meal down the front of me?”

“I suppose not,” he admitted. “We will go to the bar, then.”

You nodded in return and went back to staring out the window until you got there. You didn’t mind the silence, and neither did Grillby.

As soon as he parked, you hopped out of the car and meandered up to the entrance. You weren’t sure why you were in such a rush, you couldn’t even get inside without Grillby. He was the one with the key.

You rolled on your feet impatiently as you waited for him to make his way to the entrance, which he did a few seconds after you. As soon as he unlocked to door, you made your way through and rushed to where you had clothes stashed away.

After getting dressed, you neatly folded Papyrus’ shirt, only to toss it on top of your bag. You would have to remember to give that back to him next time you saw him. You had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long at all before that happened. In fact, you knew that you’d be seeing a lot more of the pair now.

You cleared your throat as you stepped back into the bar, which had begun to get the usual early customers. You gave a small nod to the group of dog monsters and a bunny monster who always seemed to be drunk off her ass. While only a few of the dog monsters returned the nod, the bunny gave you a sloppy wave. You couldn’t help but chuckle softly as you made your way to the bar.

“So,” you leaned on the counter, “am I on waitress duty this morning?”

Grillby stared at you for a second before glancing behind you. “Usually, my answer would be yes, but it seems that you currently have a visitor.”

You blinked in confusion and spun around to face the door. A familiar monster was making his way over to you.

“BP!” You happily called out to him, only to grow concerned once you realized that he looked upset, “What are you-“

“Are you crazy?!” You were taken aback b his tone.

“I’m not sure what you-“ while you tried to figure out what was happening, he glanced around the bar before turning to your boss.

“Can I use a back room?” BP asked, already grabbing your arm. Grillby nodded, and you were dragged off. You let him shove you into the back room, and he closed the door behind him.

“What?” That was all you could manage. What was he even mad about?

“You are an absolute idiot.” He probably wasn’t wrong, but it was still a bit harsh, especially considering the fact that you didn’t know what you had done.

“How many times are you going to try to get yourself killed?!” He exasperatedly gestured around, “If I would have know that you would have been so much godamed trouble, I would’ve just left you the hell alone!” Okay, that one really hurt, but you refused to let that show.

“I’m sorry I’m such a problem.” At your bitter tone, he froze, and then quickly went lax.

“Look, I didn’t mean that.” He rubbed the back of his neck and continued, “You just make it really hard to watch out for you when you’re constantly getting yourself into trouble. We can only do so much to look out for you.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t need-“ you actually thought about his words, “Wait, we? Who’s we?”

He couldn’t possibly be talking about who you thought he was. There was no way he could know. But… it would explain his frustration with you if he did.

His expression softened, “You’ve got a lot of people looking out for you.” You couldn’t quite figure out if he was trying to be cryptic, or was blatantly skirting around the question.

“How do you know?” You questioned.

He broke eye contact and glanced back towards the door to the main room. “Sans, uh.” He rolled on his feet, “Sans called me this morning. He wanted to know if I had seen you anywhere. Told me he’d been looking for you after you left his place.”

You tilted your head in confusion. He had been looking for you? You opened your mouth to respond, but promptly closed it again. How much did BP know? He may have known that you were at their house, but did he know what you were doing there? Did he know about their occupation?

“I imagine he’ll stop by too. Probably sooner rather than later,” He continued when you had trouble finding something to say.

You nodded and followed his gaze to the door. “If you’re done scolding me,” you pulled open the door and shot him a small smile, “I’ve got a job to do.” He nodded and followed you out.

You were met with the bar being slightly more crowded than when you left it, but you were unsurprised. Grillby’s was one of the few bars you had worked in that seemed constantly busy. Maybe it was because he made kick ass food, or maybe it was something else. Now that you knew that there was a good chance that Grillby himself may have been involved with the mafia, you were leaning more towards the ‘something else’ side of that. But, you digressed.

A rap on your shoulder brought your attention back to BP. He gestured towards the door with a flick of his head, “I gotta work today. Will you be alright?”

You playfully raised a brow, “Psh. What am I? Made of glass suddenly?” You shook your head, “I can roll with the punches just fine.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, I know. You ‘roll with the punches’ a little too easily, if you ask me.”

You shrugged, “Well, I didn’t ask you.” With a small wink, you began back towards the bar, “Now get to work before your boss kills both of us because you’re late.”

He nodded and followed your advice with a wave. Your eyes followed him out the door, but didn’t remain long once it had shut behind him. It struck you as a bit odd that he would go out of his way just to stop by and scold you for a few seconds, but you supposed you appreciated it nonetheless.  

You found yourself sighing gently as you began another day of work. As you had thought, It was a bit too early for you to perform, so Grillby put you on waitress duty until he felt there was enough of a crowd. From previous experience, that wouldn’t take long, though.

It wasn’t until the bar was almost at its maximum capacity that Grillby took your menus and notepad away from you. Just as you were getting ready to get to your actual job was when you were pulled to the side yet again, this time by the monster you had been expecting.

You were halfway to the stage when Sans grabbed your arm.

“Well, heya. I didn’t see you come in.” You smirked, “But, then again, I never really do.”

He looked at you with confusion for a second before shaking it off. “I know I got a lot to explain to do.”

You shrugged lightly, but before you could argue, he continued, “but first I gotta tell ya that I really was planin’ on taking ya home.”

“Yeah. Being kicked out in a neighborhood that I don’t really know kinda sucked. But, it’s fine. I managed to get here alright, didn’t I?” A smug look fell on your face, “besides, I think it was sweet of you to look for me afterwards. Thanks for trying.”

A light dusting of red fell on his cheekbones. Was he… blushing? How did a skeleton blush? You… decided to just chalk it up to magic. Any deeper thoughts into the details of how Sans the skeleton worked, and you’d probably get a headache.

“Whateva’.” He shrugged off your comment.

You chuckled, “Okay, well, you can explain later if you really want to. I have work right now.” You gestured back to the stage. “But you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

He hummed and glanced around, and you had a feeling that he wouldn’t be letting you off the hook that easily.

Once you figured that he wouldn’t say anything else, you sighed, “Alright. When I’m done here, you can walk me home. This isn’t really the best place to talk.”

He thought it over for a second before nodding at you. He seemed to be content with that solution, and made his way over to the bar, where you knew he would sit until your shift was over.

You sighed, and continued to the stage.

Hopefully you would avoid getting shot at this time around.

Chapter Text

The warm lighting of the bar always made for the perfect atmosphere when you preformed. The patrons, though they were rough around the edges and a bit prickly, were always very well mannered when it came to the performances. Even if the world gave you hell, you would always find yourself relaxing on your stage.

And that was where you found yourself. You sat on a stool in front of the sleek grand piano that you had already considered yours, along with the stage itself. All of the troubles seemed to melt away with each breath you took. You forgot about last night, and the following morning. You forgot about the near-death experiences, and Sans, who was waiting for your shift to finish. Even if it was just for the length of a song, you let yourself forget.

You let the feelings you were trying to convey settle themselves into the music you played. You prided yourself on getting each song to have an emotion, a meaning .

So, a soft expression settled on your face. You took a deep breath, and began dancing your fingers along the ivory keys. The beginning notes of your last song for the day were the only thing holding your attention.

I am a question to the world
not and answer to be Heard
or a moment that's held in your arms
and what do you think you'd ever say
I won't listen anyway
you don't know me
and I'll never be what you want me to be
and what do you think you'd understand
I'm a boy no, I'm a man
You can't take me and throw me away
And how can you learn what's never shown
Yeah you stand here on your own
They don't know me
Cause I'm not here

With a soft smile you carefully ran your fingers along the keys, hitting the notes that you needed. Your voice was soft, but you let it raise in intensity and volume as the song reached the chorus.

And I want a moment to be real
Wanna touch things I don't feel
We want to hold on and feel I belong
And how can the world want me to change
They're the ones that stay the same
They don't know me
Cause I'm not here

And you see the things they never see
All you wanted I could be
Now you know me and I'm not afraid
And I wanna tell you who I am
Can you help me be a man
They can't break me
As long as I know who I am
They can't see me
But I'm still here

In the space between words, you glanced out at the crowd of people gather in the bar. Strangers. Regulars. Friends. They all listened with seemingly rapt attention.

They can't tell me who to be
Cause I'm not what they see
Yeah, the world is still sleeping
While I keep on dreaming for me
And their words are just whispers and lies
That I'll never believe

And I want a moment to be real
Wanna touch things I don't feel
We want to hold on and feel I belong
And how can they say I'll never change
They're the ones that stay the same
I'm the one now
Cause I'm still here
I'm the one

Cause I'm still here
I'm still here
I'm still here
I'm still here

The last lines of the song finished, and so did the sound of the piano. You slowly pulled your hands away from the keys and stood up. There was a round of applause as you stepped off the stage, which you smiled and nodded your thanks to the praise.

You stopped in front of the bar, and by extension, Sans. “Let me grab my things, then we can go.”

He gave you a nod, “I ain’t gonna stop ya, songbird.” A wink was sent in your direction. “We got a skele-ton of time.” You scoffed, but a grin broke out on your face despite that.

Without any further words, you grabbed your stuff and came back. As soon as Sans saw you, he bid Grilly a quick goodbye and slid off of his stool. You gave your boss a wave as well as the pair of you made your way outside.

Sans grabbed you by the arm as soon as the door shut behind you.

“We’re gonna take a shortcut.” He didn’t give you any time to respond, as you were suddenly pulled into a horrible black nothingness.

Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. And thank goodness for that.

Sans had to catch you from falling yet again as your legs wobbled beneath you. As soon as you found your footing, you pushed him away.

“Would you stop doing that?” You pinched the bridge of your nose, “I’m actually pretty sure that it’s more terrifying than being shot at.”

He chuckled, “Well, I did warn ya this time.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Even you were having trouble figuring out if that was meant to be sarcastic or not.

You shook your head, and looked around to find that you were now in front of your building.

You gave Sans a side-eye, “And, why, exactly did you not just magically teleport me home yesterday?”

“Didn’t know where ya lived. I have to know where I’m goin’ for that to work.” He explained with a shrug.

You hummed, and glanced up at the building. It was a bit surprising that he hadn’t been to your building before, if you were being completely honest. You began making your way inside without much concern for the monster behind you. He would follow you in whether he was invited or not.

He followed you into the rickety old elevator, and down the worn halls. You quickly unlocked your door and made your way to the couch. Sans closed the door behind him.

Unceremoniously, you flopped down onto the cushions. Sans followed your lead, but slowed once he saw the map that was still spread across your coffee table. You tensed up as he looked from you to the map.

He shook his head, “I don’t know you, Songbird.” He took a seat beside you, “I don’t know shit about you. And you don’t know me, either.”

He shifted so that he was leaning against the arm of the couch and facing you, “That bein’ said, I think we’ve both got a bit of explaining to do.”

You nodded, “That’s fair.” You glanced over at the map. How could you have forgotten that you left it out?

“Can I ask you… why the hell didn’t ya just call the cops? Any sane person woulda.”

“I value my life,” you only half-joked. “And I wouldn’t do that to you guys.”

He hummed in thought and his expression became grim as he stared you down. “You can’t tell a soul anything that you know, or are about to know,” he warned.

You reached a hand out across the couch, “I may be reckless, but I’m not stupid. I promise that whatever you tell me will stay between us.”

“Deal.” He took your hand and shook it once before dropping it.

“I gotta know that I can trust you.” He glanced at the map once more, “what’s this for?”

You bit your bottom lip in thought. “It’s… It’s a map of the city.” He gave you a look, and you continued, “It’s because of the bar I used to work in.”

He gave you an odd look, “all this bullshit is… because of the bar you used to work in?”

You sighed, “I had been working there for a couple of years,” you began. “The couple that hired me were really great people. I had known them beforehand, so it wasn’t too hard to get a job there. The husband, Silas, used to work with my father.”

You chuckled bitterly at the now bittersweet memories, “They worked so hard to get that place.” You frowned and looked down at your feet, “Then I had to show up and screw it all up, like I always do.” You shook your head and clarified, “It wasn’t long before I was hired at Grillby’s that I may or may not have gotten the bar shot up by another mafia.”

He looked surprised for a second, before he shook his head and chuckled, “Damn. You really are alway tryin’ to get yourself killed.”

You shrugged, but a deep frown had settled on your face, “The guy walked away with a broken nose, and I left the place with two less people that I cared… care about.”

Sans’ smirk dropped slightly at that, and a thoughtful look fell on his face, “Broken nose, huh? Was it, by chance, the same sleaze you were hidin’ from in the grocery store?”

You stared at him a couple of seconds before slowly nodding.

He looked down at your chest for a second before giving you a look that you couldn’t quite place, “Heh. You’re lookin’ for justice, aren’t ya?”

You nodded slowly once more.

“I can respect that. What ya told me probably also explains why you were so unaffected when you found out.”

You shrugged, “I guess. That wasn’t the only reason, though. I know it’s extremely stupid of me, but I still trust you guys.”

He was surprised at that, “Both of us? Me and Paps?” You nodded, much quicker this time.

“Both of you.” You confirmed.

He sighed and looked away from you, “You’re right. That is stupid of ya.” When he looked back at you, there was something in his gaze that wasn’t there before, “Guess it’s my turn to talk, huh?”

You made no move to answer, so he continued. “I wasn’t expectin’ the old man home this morning. I wasn’t really expectin’ you to be there, either. He, Gaster, that is, is not known for his kindness.”

He pinched the spot between his eye sockets in frustration, “Songbird, even though you don’t know shit about what we do, you know enough to getcha killed. The only way I coulda gotten you outta there in one piece was to lie to him. He can’t know that you know. Not yet, and probably not ever.”

“And if he finds out?” You had a feeling you already knew the answer to that.

“Don’t let him find out. He hardly ever leaves his office or the labs, so it shouldn’t be too hard.” He said it, but he didn’t sound too convinced himself.

You groaned and buried your head in your hands, “I never wanted to be involved in any of this shit!”

You felt a hand awkwardly pat your back. “I know, Songbird. No one really asks for any of it. ‘S just… the family business.”

You glanced up to see him looking down at you sadly. “I’m sorry.” You weren’t sure what you were apologizing for, but he nodded at you nevertheless.

The two of you stared at each other for a moment too long, so you quickly stood up and cleared your throat. “Well, that was a great chat. Super fun.”

He looked at you curiously as you held out a pile of dark red fabric. Once he realized what it was, he chuckled.

“Keep it. It looked better on you than him. Then again, you’d look good in anything. Or nothing.” He winked at you.

You sputtered and tossed the fabric at him, but he easily dodged it and it ended up somewhere on the floor. You felt a slight heat in your cheeks.

“Gross. No thanks.” Why had that gotten you so flustered? He had never gotten to you like that before. “You are insufferable.”

A deep laugh came from him and you watched in quiet thought.

“Yeah, you’ve told me that before.” He smirked at you as he made his way back to the door.

“It’s obviously true,” you retorted, “Now get outta here so I don’t have to put up with you anymore.” You smirked at him.

“Nah, you know you love me.” He joked. You tensed up at those words, but quickly shook it off and rolled your eyes.

“Slow down there, Casanova. We’re not there yet, but I do love when you leave me alone.” You playfully shoved him the rest of the way out of your house. “Good night, Sans.” You slammed the door behind him. You could hear him chuckle for a second behind the door before there was silence.

You took a deep breath and leaned against the closed door.

You were glad that was over with. Hopefully no one else would come knocking down your door to question you. You weren’t sure how much more answering you could do before your emotions got the better of you.

Your stupid human emotions that made you feel stupid things. And when you felt stupid things, your stupid friends got all concerned and asked you stupid questions.

… You needed to go to sleep. So, you pushed yourself up off of the door and made your way to the bedroom to do just that.

Chapter Text

When you finally rolled out of bed in the morning, you weren’t in a particularly better place. In fact, you had to fight going back to sleep. Your bed looked so inviting, and you were still mentally exhausted. You just needed a break. Was one day where you weren’t being questioned or put in danger too much to ask? Probably.

You let out a heavy groan and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. You knew that you had a few hours until you needed to go in to Grillby’s, but you didn’t really feel up to going anywhere else. You just wanted to sleep.

But, you rolled yourself out of bed anyways, only slightly prepared to face what the day had in store for you. You went through your morning routine as if you were on autopilot. Hair. Teeth. Clothes. Shoes. Don’t forget your keys. Lock the door on your way out.

You found yourself numbly wandering downstairs, lost in your mind, but not thinking of anything in particular. You wandered directly out of your building, and down the street. You didn’t really have a destination in mind, content on aimlessly wandering. It wasn't a surprise when your feet carried you to the park.

It was a warm day, and there were a few children running around on the freshly mowed grass. Their parents watched in amusement from benches near the cement walkway that you were wandering down. You began searching for an empty bench to fall back on, but were unsuccessful.

It was more crowded than you had seen it in a long while. You weren't particularly surprised, though. It was the weekend, and a beautiful day to boot. The perfect day for a walk.

You didn't particularly want to deal with any people, though. You just wanted to… you weren't sure what you wanted.

Everything was confusing, and you hated it. Couldn't things just go back to the way they were before? Before the mafia, before the shootings, before you left home. You would give anything to have that.

But… you couldn't change the past. It was stupid how much the past could change everyone else, though. You were no stranger to time’s cruelty,  and you had a feeling that the two of you would continue to be well acquainted.

You shook your head with a heavy sigh. The the past didn't matter, and it hardly ever did. What did matter was what you chose to do with the now and later.

You decided that right now, you were hungry, which meant that food was defiantly food in your foreseeable future.  Looked like you’d be going to work early, even though the food there was overpriced.

So, you began making your way to your work, cars passing you by as you blankly wandered through the city. You were there before you knew it, and found your way to the usual barstool.

“You’ve been early before, but this is getting a bit out of hand,” Grillby addressed you from his side of the bar.

“I mean,” you began your argument halfheartedly, “you usually seem pretty opposed to turning away money, but if you want me to leave,” you trailed off at the end.

Grillby raised a brow at you, “You were actually planning on paying for food?”

You glared at him, “har-dee-har. Fight me, Sparky.”

Despite not being able to see his eyes, you could tell he had rolled them at you. He watched you for a moment in contemplation, “Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why?’ Why does everyone keep asking me that?” You were beginning to get frustrated with all of the questioning you had been under recently.

He seemed a bit surprised at your outburst. “Are you… okay?”

“I'm-” you ran a hand through your hair with a heavy sigh, “I'm not. Not really. It's just a lot, y’know?” Even though you had been vague, he gave a look that told you that he did, in fact, know.

“So what are you doing?” You weren't sure that you knew what he meant by that.

“Currently? I'm getting food. Somehow, I don't think that's what you're talking about, though.” You leaned over the counter and plucked a menu off of the shelf, despite knowing the list of meals by heart.

“You are right. That was not what I meant. You do not strike me as a woman that sits by idly when things get difficult,” he pointed out.

You hummed and distractedly stared down the menu. Maybe you should tell him. He already knew about what had happened at the bar, after all. Hell, it had been half the reason he had hired you in the first place. You tapped your fingers on the menu I'm thought before dropping it into the table with a muffled ‘plop’. You shot a glance around the bar to make sure that there weren't any people too close to the two of you.

“After what happened to the last bar, I’ve been looking into a few things. More than once now they’ve hurt people I care about, and it’s about time I stop letting it happen. I’ve been trying to find them, or who they are, at least, but I don’t have much to go on…” You pause, looking back at him. How much did he know? You may never get any further in on your search if you don't ask. “But… do you? Know anything else, I mean. As much as it hurts my fragile pride to ask for help, I could really use a hand.”

He stopped and stared at you. There was a tense moment of silence where neither of you moved. You realized you were asking a lot from him, and knew you were likely to be shot down, but it was at least worth asking him, considering the connections you now knew he had.

“You are asking me for information?” He asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

“Not if it's an issue,” you quickly amended. It was dangerous asking such a thing, from your boss no less, and you were not looking to get fired. Or worse.

“What do you know?” He lowered his voice, surprising you with his acceptance.

“Oh,” you began dumbly, “I didn't honestly think I'd get this far.” You nibbled at your lip in thought.

What did you know that wasn't already obvious? It was a human mafia or mob family that had a problem with monsters. The man with the broken nose had only visited your bar one time before the shooting, so you couldn't know whether or not he was local. Considering the fact that you had seen him in the grocery store, you would wager that he was at least from the same side of the city.

You quietly relayed all of that back to Grillby, and he listened with rapt attention. Once you seemed to be finished, he gave you a small nod.

“That’s not a lot to go on.” He sounded as though he was still on the fence about helping you, and you really couldn’t blame him.

“I saw him arguing with Sans in the store. I know what he looks like. There’s no way I could forget.” You added with a grimace.

That seemed to grab his attention, “Sans saw him?” You nodded, and he hummed in thought, “There may be hope for your revenge mission yet, my dear.”

You smiled hopefully at him, “Really?”

“I'll see what I can do.” He he didn't give you any time to celebrate, as immediately after his words, he pulled the menu away from you and held it up. “Now, I believe you told me that you were here to buy something.”

You chuckled at him, “Just make me up some fries, bestie. You can take the cost outta my check.” He regarded you for a moment, and you could tell he was trying to decide if he wanted to serve you or kick you out. In the end, his greed won over his annoyance with you, and he gave you a nod.

As he left for the kitchen, you slouched down onto the counter with relief. He would help you, and you would be able to finally figure it out. From there… well, you were still working out what to do from there. At least now you knew that getting to that point was a possibility. And a possibility was all that you needed.

When he came back with your food, you were in a significantly better mood than when you had wandered in. The plate was set in front of you, and Grillby wandered away from the bar to tend to his patrons. Your eyes only followed him for a few seconds before you turned to your plate and began slowly nibbling at your fries. He didn’t bother you again, knowing that you would call him over if you needed anything. You let him do his job, and loitered around until it was time for you to do your job.

You stood up from the stool and dusted the crumbs off of the front of your dress. You glanced around the bar to see the usual amount of people crowded around the tables. To your surprise, there was a lack of skeletons. You had expected at least one of them to be there to ‘keep an eye on you’. Or eye socket, as you would have imagined Sans would say. You chuckled to yourself and shook your head. They had been around often enough recently that you were questioning their absence. It was hard to believe that the pair of them seemed like they were very quickly becoming a constant in your life.

Without much more pause, you picked up a pile of menus and set about your task of waiting tables. You gave Grillby a nod as you passed him, and he went back to the bar, no longer needed in the restaurant. You glanced around, assessing which tables still needed to be served. Once you had your route figured out, you rushed off, zigzagging between customers as you went.

It wasn’t long before you were pulled aside by Grillby, who waved you off the main floor, and up to your stage. You happily obliged, and began your set for the day. Your entire shift passed by before you knew it, and you quickly found it close to closing time.

Once you stepped back down, you made your way to the where Grillby stood polishing a glass idly. You considered asking more about what he knew, but decided that would be unwise, especially because he had already agreed to help you. He was looking at you expectantly, and you quickly came up with something else you had been meaning to ask him about.

“I think that I should start taking requests now.” You began, flicking your head in the direction of the stage. “It’s been long enough that all of your regulars know me.”

He nodded slowly, “If you think that would be a good idea, then I will look into getting the things you need to do so.”

“No need,” you gave him a smile, “All I really need is a set list and a clipboard, both of which I can easily bring in myself.”

“If you say so. I trust that you’ll figure it out.”

You gasped dramatically, “You trust me!? I’m honored.”

“That is not what I said,” he argued.

You chuckled, “Well, that’s what I heard.” You sent him a playful wink, and rested a hand on your hip.

“Your shift is over. Now get out of my building and go home.” He gave you a pointed look.

you turned to leave, but spoke over your shoulder as you began making your way out, “You aren’t denying it.”

“See you tomorrow.” He dodged your observation, and you laughed, already pulling the door open.

“I look forward to it, Boss.” And with that final quip, you began the trek back home.

Chapter Text

It was a fairly quiet night, the only noise was the clicking of your heels on the pavement, and the distant sound of a siren somewhere in the city. You were a bit unnerved by the silence, but the feeling was outweighed by the relief that the feeling of being watched was gone. You were immensely glad about that. With the past few days being what they were, you would not have been able to handle it very well.

But, you supposed it was unwise to look a gift horse in the mouth. Speaking of, you supposed that sticking around in your apartment building when someone knew where you lived was an extra stupid plan. Especially when said person had tried to shoot at you not even a few days ago.

You decided that you’d begin looking for a new house in the area once you got home. Maybe now that you weren’t as… neutral as you once were, you could nab a house closer to the more monster heavy parts of the city. You could even get a place close to Grillby’s and cut the walk time in half.

But… you still didn’t have a lot of money… so wherever you went would not be an upgrade. In fact, the only reason you could afford the shitty apartment you were in was because the landlord grew up with your mother. Living in the city was expensive, but you couldn’t find it in you to leave. It was your home.

Your dangerous, crowded, loud home. You wouldn’t trade it for the world.

You smiled to yourself and began humming a gentle tune to fill the silence. The silence didn’t last very long though.

You watched indifferently as a fire truck passed you by. Your eyes followed it until it turned the corner a few streets ahead of you. You tilted your head in curiosity. That was odd. It turned down the same street you needed to go down. What were the chances of that?

…You tensed up. What were the chances of that? You began frantically scanning the already smog covered skyline for a plume of smoke. It didn’t calm your nerves any when you finally spotted it.

No. You refused to believe that your life was that shitty.

Your pace quickened, and you threw all caution to the wind as you ducked in and out of alleyways that had been dubbed as ‘unsafe’ in order to get home quicker. Though you couldn’t see your building rom any of the back streets you were taking, within a few blocks of it, you hit the potent smell of smoke. You quickly stepped onto the main road in front of your building only to stare blankly at it.

A crowd of bright red trucks surrounded it, along with an ambulance and a police cruiser. You slowly stepped up to the line that the firemen had surrounded the building with. The blaze was still burning, despite the efforts being put into stopping it. A familiar window that you had regularly spent hour looking out of was beyond engulfed in bright red flames, most of the area near your apartment in particular throwing off glowing embers from its charred remains.

You barely felt the nails digging into your palm from how hard you had clenched your fists. You watched as a wooden beam fell on the inside of your room, causing another shower of sparks to shoot up.

Apparently, that had been the thing that set you off. “Are you fucking-“ you jammed the heels of your hands into your temples, “ FUCK.” A frustrated scream came from you as you tore your gaze away from the building to find the nearest piece of rubble. One you saw it, you kicked it away from you with all your might. Even though it went skidding across the road, it didn’t help you.

You just felt red hot anger that rivaled that of the flames in your window. You had enough of this.

They were actively trying to ruin your life, and for what? Because of a broken nose? Because you associate with monsters? Could people really be so horrible over something so inconsequential?! Did they not think of all of the other people they were putting in danger?

A warm droplet rolling down your cheek alerted you to your tears. You wiped it away before it could get very far. You took a trembling breath before trying to grab the attention of one of the officers that stood near you.

“What happened.” You kept your voice as level as you could.

The man looked back at you, “Do you live here?” When you nodded, he began giving you the details, “A fire. We believe it started in that apartment.” He gestured to yours, unsurprisingly. “Sadly, we were not able to get here before the entire floor was beyond saving.”

You blinked slowly at him, processing the last bit of information. “You… was there anyone on that floor?”

He gave you a look of pity, “We can’t be sure until the fire’s out. None of the men could even get to that floor to check.”

You swallowed heavily and found yourself stumbling back a few steps. You rested your head in your hand with wide eyes. What about the nice old woman who lived across the hall? Was she home? Was she still alive?

“Ma’am, are you alright?” The officer reached out for you, but you quickly waved him away.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! Am I Alright?! Of course I’m not!” You snapped at him, but immediately felt guilty. “I’m sorry, I- I” You shook your head, not able to find any more words.

A hand falling on your shoulder caused you to jump and quickly swivel around. You were more than surprised to see Papyrus towering over you.

“What are- why are you here?” You were really struggling to keep your voice steady with the onslaught of emotion that had plowed you over. He glanced at the cop, who had moved away to talk to one of the firemen.

“I was out. I noticed the smoke, like any competent person would, and came to investigate. Usually fires have nothing to do with my job, but I could not let anything go unnoticed. And who do I find here but you, Songbird. ” He spit the nickname out as if it pained him to do so. “I suppose this particular fire is my business, after all.”

You quietly stared up at him, even after he finished talking. You opened your mouth to say something.

Instead of words, like water dousing a flame, you broke down into messy sobs. You brought your hands up to wipe at the mess that was your face.

“I-“ you couldn’t get anything out between the hiccups and sobs. You looked up at him with blurry vision to see him looking very uncomfortable with your response.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized between another hiccup and a sniffle. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I- I- I’m-“

You were more than a little surprised when you felt his hands wrap around your upper arms. Before you could do anything, you were yanked harshly towards him. Without much hesitation, you wrapped your arms around him and buried your face in his chest.

He awkwardly patted your back, “There, there.” You doubted that he consoled people often, not that that surprised you.

“I’m sorry” you murmured once again into his chest.

“Why the hell are you apologizing? Are you really that pathetic?” He scoffed, “You can’t even handle a house fire. How disappointing.”

“Shut the hell up before I break your arm.” Your words were nearly incomprehensible between the sobbing and the shirt your face was still pressed into. The threat was empty, and both of you knew it.

“With you sniveling around like that, I doubt you’d even be able to grab my arm.” You found yourself going silent at his words. He was right. He was insulting, but he was right. Crying would get you absolutely nowhere.

You pushed him away from you, and a new fire lit your eyes up. You turned away and began walking, making sure to keep your old home out of your sight. You didn’t bother talking to the officer anymore. You didn’t want anything else to do with that building, and it was better that you had no idea what happened to Ms. Josevine, lest it break you down even more.

Papyrus was quick to follow behind you, “Where are you going?”

“Not sure yet. Just gotta get myself away from there.” You didn’t bother looking back at him.

He hummed and continued to keep pace just behind you, “I must say, your soul is very… potent.”

You finally glanced back, wincing at the orange glow cast over him from the building, “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.” He clarified absolutely nothing for you.

“Can you tell me about my soul?” You asked after a while of silence.

“What? Why the hell do you want me to do that?” He only seemed moderately scandalized.

“I want a distraction, mostly. But I also see you guys glancing at it every now and then, and I’ve never bothered to ask anyone.” You wrapped your arms around your torso protectively, but continued your aimless walk.

“Why do I have to do it?”

“You’re the one that mentioned it.” You pointed out.

He was silent for a second, “I don’t know as much about souls as my brother does,” he admitted, “but if you really wish for me to, I can tell you what I know and what he has told me.”

You waited silently for a few seconds, letting him continue. You glanced back once more to see him concentrating on where you knew your soul to be.

“(Y/N) (L/N),” he began, “Attack 15, Defence 5, HP 142. ‘In desperate need of a break’.”

You blinked up at him, “Did you just Check me?”

He ignored you, and continued his assessment, “your attack is moderately high for a human, especially one with a Level of Violence like yours. Your defense is below average, and your HP is in the range it should be for someone of your age and size.”

“Uhh.” You weren’t expecting a textbook assessment. You supposed you couldn’t complain though. It took your attention away from other things.

“That is what I could gather from a Check. However, my brother has told me more, as it has long been his job to see souls, and therefore, he can gather more data than most.” Papyrus only seemed slightly bitter at someone being better at something, and you assumed it was because Sans was his brother. In fact, you think you may have heard a glimmer of pride in his casual boast.

“Your EXP is at zero, which is unsurprising. Most humans don’t ever get any EXP. Your LV, however, is at a two, which is also unsurprising after watching you attempt to single handedly take down a group of ruffians in an alleyway”

“Gee, thanks for all that.” You were only slightly sarcastic, but you don’t think he noticed. “ I was hoping more for the trait or color or something. I hardly know what half of that means.”

“Would you prefer your primary or secondary trait first?”

“I have two traits? Two colors?” You glanced down at your chest.

“Yes. It is not uncommon.” He clarified. He seemed to think for a moment, “After I found out what they were, it made perfect sense. There is no other combination that would suit you better.”

You scrunched up your face, “Thanks, I think?” You waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t you turned to look at him once more.

He sighed dramatically and stopped walking, “What are you doing?”

“... What?”

“You are not fine, so stop acting like it.” He gestured in front of you, “You don’t even know where you are going, and you’re asking me to humor you with something as trivial as your damn soul color?! You have to stop doing what you’re doing.”

You looked away from him, and shook your head, “What am I doing?”

“THAT! You are doing that. Pretending like nothing happened, when it did.” He jabbed a finger at you in frustration. “You aren’t that unaffected by your shitty life! I refuse to believe that you are!”

You turned to him angrily, “What are you talking about?! Of course I react to everything!”

“You don’t ever seem to worry when your life is in danger. I tried to fucking skewer you, and you just shook it off. That’s not healthy , you idiot. You can’t have all of that happen and only have to cry for, what was it, five minutes?!” He took a breath and his anger faded, if only slightly, “You aren’t supposed to be numb.”

Your anger melted away with those words. He was right. Why was he always right? You did do that. Instead of facing your feelings head on like any rational person would do, you let yourself go numb so that you didn’t have to feel any of it. Apparently, he saw that in you. Hell, he had read you like a book.

You deflated and turned back to Papyrus, “Alright.” You looked around the street, “Okay. I need to find somewhere to sleep tonight.” You sighed and looked up at him, “Know any good hotels?”

He looked you over thoughtfully, “I can think of a few.”

Chapter Text

Once the two of you had walked to the nearest hotel, which wasn’t far at all, you realized something.

Hotels costed money. Money that you didn’t have before, and you most certainly didn’t have after all of your things caught fire. You weren’t even sure if you could replace all of your things, let alone spend seven hundred dollars a week to stay in a hotel.

You slowed your pace and looked up at the monster that you had been following. “So, uh,” You began, and he turned to look at you with a raised brow. “I don’t really have the money for a hotel right now.”

Papyrus stared blankly at you for a few seconds, “You could not have told me this before we walked all this way?”

“Well, I didn’t really think about it until just now. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been a bit busy being traumatized to worry about that.” You argued, crossing your arms.

He turned away from you, “Sounds very much like something that is not my problem.”

“But walking me to a hotel was your problem?” You raised a brow.

“Of course it was! You are my responsibility!” He gestured towards you, “As you are prone to getting yourself into trouble, it is necessary that I make sure you get where you are going, wherever that may be, mostly unharmed.”

“Oh, I’m your responsibility now.” You snapped at him. You hadn’t asked to be a part of anything. You didn’t want to be constantly followed, and were frankly a little offended that they doubted your ability to take care of yourself so much. “I’m not a child that needs a babysitter,” You pointed out bitterly.

He stopped walking and turned to face you with a harsh glare set on his face, “Do you think I want to follow you around and deal with your bullshit?” He took a step towards you, “I am taking time out of my day to make sure that you don’t do something idiotic, or that the scum that started a fire in your building don’t try and finish what they started.” He crossed his arms and scowled down at you, “So you can get over yourself, or I can leave you to whoever has been following you.”

“Wha-“ you sputtered slightly before shaking your head, “Look, I get it. I do. We’re both in shitty situations that we really don’t want to be in. It’s not my fault, and it’s not your fault, so can we just agree to stop fighting over it? What happened has already happened, and you can’t change the past.”

He took a step back and glared at you for a moment more before backing off, “I suppose you are right.” He began walking once more. “It is interesting, though, that you seem to believe we are trying to ‘babysit’ you,” Papyrus spoke over his shoulder.

You began to follow after him, though you had no idea where he was going. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” there was a pointed tone in his voice, “that I am not in the business of babysitting, or rescuing helpless maidens, nor are any of the others. If we truly thought you were as pathetic as you seem to think we do, you would not be in this situation, and you most certainly would not be working for Grillby.”

You took a second to think about what he was saying. You were very unsure what to make of his words, but you didn’t want to argue anymore. In the end, you just muttered an ‘okay’ before changing the subject.

“I really can’t afford a hotel right now, though.” You bit your bottom lip in thought, “Do you think BP would let me crash at his place for the night?”

“How the hell would I know?”

You frowned at him, “You wouldn’t, I guess. But do you think I should call? It’s pretty late.”

He raised a brow at you, “Why do you care how late it is? If you’re going to call him, then do it. I don’t have all night, and neither do you.”

“I guess,” you grumbled, pulling your phone out of your purse and dialing the number. It rang three times before there was a muffled click, and the sound of shuffling came through the receiver.

“Hello? (Y/N)? What’s up? Why are you calling me at-“ there was more shuffling, “-really fucking late?”

“Hey there BP. Sorry if I woke you up,” you began. “I have a bit of a favor to ask you, though.”

There was a second of silence over the line before he finally answered you, “Uh. What do you want?”

You sighed, “Something happened and I-“

“Something happened?” He interrupted. “Are you okay?”

“I’m,” You hesitated, “I’m not hurt. Not physically, anyways.” Before he could comment, you continued, “That’s not why I called. I was wondering if I could possibly talk you into letting me sleep at your house? It’ll just be for tonight, then I’ll-“ You looked to the skeleton that was watching you in thought. “Then I’ll figure it out from there.”

“You need to- Oh. Uh. Yeah. Yeah, sure.” You couldn’t help but smirk at his stumbled words, “But I don’t have a spare room or anything. You’ll have to use the couch.”

“That’s fine. I’m sure it’s better than sleeping in ashes.” You joked.

“Ashes?” He was more confused than anything by your odd request, “Y’know what, never mind. Just tell me what’s going on when you get here. I’ll text you the address.”

“I will. Thanks, BP. I’ll see you in a while.” You hung up, and not a minute later, your phone got a new message. After reading the address and realizing that it was too far to walk, you looked up at Papyrus.

“So, do you know how to get here?” You showed him the screen, but he didn’t bother looking at it.

“I know where he lives.” He sighed and pulled his own phone out of his pocket. “I will call you a car, but after this, don’t get into any more trouble,” He growled out as if you were being a huge hindrance on whatever he had been doing, which you probably were.

You gave him a small smile, “Thank you. Really. I know I can be a bit difficult, so thank you for putting up with me.”

His expression softened for a second before he scoffed, “Whatever. Normally, I would tell you not to make a habit of things like this, but it’s a bit late for that. You can’t seem to find yourself without trouble.”

You chuckled, “Yeah. Seems that way, doesn’t it?”

The two of you didn’t wait long before a slick black car pulled up alongside the curb. You hesitated, and when you did, Papyrus sighed and pulled open the back door and impatiently gestured you in. You  slid in the backseat, and he slammed the door shut behind you. He said something to the driver, and the driver pulled off without a word.

You watched the city go by in silence, the driver never addressing you as you made your way towards what you assumed to be BP’s house. The driver pulled up next to an apartment building, and waited for you to get out. You did so quickly, and he pulled away as soon as you shut the door.

You glanced up at the building and then back down at your phone to find the apartment number. Once you knew it, you made your way up to the door and pushed on it. When it didn’t budge, you stepped back and gave it a confused look. It was then that you noticed the large, button covered box next to you. Your mouth went into a strait line as you jammed your thumb into the appropriate call button.

You leaned towards the speaker, “Heya, BP.”

That was all you needed to say before a loud buzzing sound signaled that the door was unlocked. You pushed your way past it and into the apartment building, sighing as you saw the set of stairs you were going to have to scale. You did so with a grumble to yourself when you finally reached the right door. You only needed to knock once before the door swung open.

You glanced into his apartment before he stepped aside and let you through the doorway. Just from a quick once over, you could tell that his house was very similar to yours. Or, at least, similar to how yours had been. It was a small one bedroom with bland white walls and a lumpy couch.

The lumpy couch was where you found yourself collapsing and burying your face in your hands. You felt the furniture shift next to you, but BP didn’t say anything, choosing instead to wait for you quietly.

“It’s gone.” You said, your voice barely above a whisper.

“What?” He hadn’t understood what you meant, not that you had expected him to.

“Everything is just… gone.” You shook your head angrily, “They took everything from me.” You were having trouble actually saying what had happened, lost in your own emotions.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” he tried to assure you, but he still had no idea what you were talking about.

You took your head out of your hands and looked up at him grimly, “BP. They set my house on fire.” You settled on the bluntest explanation possible.  

He blinked at you as he processed what you had said. He looked away from you with a quiet, “Oh.” You watched as a wave of expressions crossed his face. Confusion. Disbelief. Anger. It finally settled on one of concern as he quietly looked at you.

“I’m just-“ You sighed, “I don’t know what to do anymore.”

He looked thoughtfully at the floor, “You’ll figure it out. If I know one thing about you, it’s that you’re perseverant. You can take whatever they throw at you.”

You shrugged sadly, “If you really think so.” You had your doubts, though you appreciated the sentiment.

“I know so.” He stressed, and you just shrugged once more before going silent.

He broke the silence after a while, interrupting your picking at your nails, with a question that you hadn’t thought of yet.

“Are you going to work tomorrow?”

Were you going to work tomorrow? It was a simple question, and yet the answer seemed more difficult than it ever had. Work was important. Work gave you money. You needed money, and you liked your job. You liked what you did, and you had come to like all of the people that you had met through it. But, right now, you needed rest. You just wanted one day where everything was normal, where nothing went to shit. You hadn’t caught a break in a long time, and by the looks of things, you weren’t about to anytime soon.

“Yeah,” You mumbled. “I have to go to work.” You looked away with a soft sigh. “I’m safe at work.” You added softly.

“You’ll be safe wherever you are.” You knew he was talking about the ‘protection’ you were under, but you still found yourself worried. You had still been shot at, and your house was still gone. They weren’t able to do a thing about either one of those things.

You let out a bitter laugh, “I wish that were true.”

With a sad smile, he stood up without another word and left you on your own. You sat in the silence, not thinking about anything in particular, until he came back and tossed a blanket and pillow at you. You mumbled out your thanks, and got yourself situated on the lumpy sofa for the night.

The light was off, but you found yourself struggling to sleep. Your mind wandered until hot tears once again streaked down your face. You buried your face in the pillow you had been given, and sobbed quietly until sleep finally overtook you.

Chapter Text

The next morning, you were woken up much too early by the sound of movement. You shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Your eyelids fought you as you tried to blink them open. Once you had succeeded in your task, you stared blankly at the dinghy ceiling. Your brain was still all over the place, and somehow not working at all at the same time, but there was one thing you knew for sure. You felt like absolute shit.

You groaned and sat up, the slightly too heavy blanket falling off of you as you did. You winced as you stretched, attempting to fix the damage that had been done to your back overnight. You were probably stiffer than the couch itself, which was really saying something.

“Did you get this couch at the damn dollar store?” You mumbled out to BP, who had been shuffling around behind you.

“Shit. I woke you up, didn’t I?” He sounded apologetic, as he should have.

You decided to ignore his obvious question, instead asking one of your own. “What time is it, anyways?”

He hesitated, “It’s uh. It’s five.”

You finally looked over at him with a harsh glare. “Are you kidding me?! I’m supposed to be to work at twelve thirty!”

He winced, “Yeah. Sorry. I really didn’t mean to wake you. I was gonna leave a note.”

You softened slightly, “I know you didn’t mean to.” You shook your head and stood up, popping your back as you did so. “Where are you going this early?”

His expression became that of someone who had worked customer service his entire life, “Work.” His voice was strained.

You raised a brow at him, “Do you ever sleep?”

He just gave you an uncomfortable look before taking a large swig out of the mug he had in his hand. You shook your head at him as he tossed the empty mug in the sink, making a loud clatter. He glanced at you as he made his way to the front door.

“Go back to sleep. You look like hell.” He snickered at you. You flipped him off in response, and he laughed as he pulled the door open. “Make sure you lock up before you leave, yeah?” You didn’t get a chance to answer before the door was slammed shut behind him.

You took a moment to absorb the fact that you were alone again. The house was quiet, and the fact that it was not yours was adding to your unease. You pulled the blanket back up off of the floor and wrapped it around your shoulders. It didn’t provide as much comfort as you had hoped that it would. In fact, despite keeping a comforting weight on your shoulders, it was too scratchy, and smelled unfamiliar to you.

You sighed and pressed yourself into the corner of the couch. You just wanted your own blankets back. But your blankets were gone, along with your bed, your clothes, and your home.

You leaned down and yanked your purse up off the floor. You were lucky that you still had that, at least. That an. your favorite black coat, anyways. It was unsurprising that you had both of those with you, though. You never left home without them.

You pulled your wallet out of your purse and flipped it open. As a force of habit, you fingered through a couple of cards until your fingers brushed against a the slightly worn edges of a photograph. You knew it was kind of stupid to carry around something that meant so much to you in your wallet of all things, but you couldn’t help but want to keep it close. You didn’t bother pulling it out. Just knowing it was in its proper place helped ease your mind. It helped enough that you found yourself falling asleep once more.

When you woke up this time, it was just as abrupt as the last time. You didn’t wake up to the sound of birds, or the warm sun on your face. No, you woke up to a heavy thud, hitting the ground after rolling over just a bit too far.

You cursed to yourself and quickly stood up from the ground. You looked around a bit, still a bit jared from the experience, before shaking your head and reaching for your phone. Ten thirty. A much more reasonable time to be awake, if you did say so yourself.

So, you began about your usual morning routine, and decided to call a cab to take you to work. (You hadn’t really been paying attention to where you were going on the car ride to BP’s house, so it was for the best, really.) Locking up was an easy task, and once you had finished you made your way down to where the car was waiting for you.

When you got to work, you were relieved by the normality of it all. The drunk bunny monster sat in her booth, one table was crowned by the usual dog monsters, and a few other familiar faces skirted around Grillby’s. Some of them greeted you as you walked back to the bar and took a seat on your usual stool.

It wasn’t long before Grillby came out of the kitchen. As soon he noticed you, he made a beeline in your direction, order still in hand. He glowered down at you without saying a word. There was no doubt in your mind that he knew what had happened last night.

You gave him a small wave, “Heya, Grillbz.”

He set the plate on the bar counter so that he could cross his arms. In that moment, he reminded you very much of a parent about to lecture their child. He seemed to have a bit of an internal debate with himself bore sighing and dropping the tension in his shoulders.

“Are you-“

“Am I alright?” You interrupted. “No, not really,” you answered bluntly. “But I think I’ll get there.”

He eyed you for a second before nodding slowly, “Let me know if you need anything.” He picked up the plate and gave you one last glance before rushing off to do his job.

You sighed and sunk down onto the counter, staring distractedly at its meticulously polished surface. You had gotten there a bit early, and there was no way you could start working early due to your boss’s reluctance to pay you overtime. Be at your work was significantly better than being anywhere else, though. It was loud and familiar.

“Heya Songbird,” speaking of familiar, “What’s got you skull king?” You glanced over at Sans as he slid himself onto the stool next to you.

You looked away, “I think you know.”

“Yikes. Not even gonna roll your eyes at that one?” When you didn’t answer, he sighed. “Yeah. I know what happened. If it helps any, me n’ Paps are lookin’ into it.”

You guys don’t-“ you were going to argue, but stopped yourself halfway. You knew that it wouldn’t get you anywhere arguing over something that trivial. Instead you settled on a lame, “Thanks.”

“You’re stayin’ with BP, yeah?” He asked, though he already knew the answer. “How’s that going for ya?”

You sighed, “Honestly? His couch is the worst, and he wakes up early enough that it should be illegal.”

He laughed at your predicament, “I know you an BP are friends an all, but you couldn’t have picked a worse place to stay. Just wait till he starts bringing his boyfriend around.”

You groaned and let your head fall onto the counter dramatically. “I’ve only been there for one night. One night!” You stressed before sitting back up, “I appreciate what he’s doing, but-“ you stopped yourself and shook your head in frustration.

“But you don’t want to be there,” he finished for you.

“Kinda,” you admitted. “I know he doesn’t mind, but I can’t help but feel like I’m being a bit of a nuisance to him. And his house is just…” You hesitated, “It’s too much like mine was, y’know?”

“Yeah. I get it.” His smile fell a bit, “I’m sorry ‘bout what happened.”

“Why? It wasn’t your fault.” You shrugged off his apology. He didn’t answer you, but from the look on his face, you could tell that he thought otherwise. It was a look you were very familiar with.

He looked at you thoughtfully for a second before pulling out his phone and sending a message. You both were quiet until he got a reply. Once he had, he grinned at you, which made you eye him suspiciously in turn.

“So, what if instead of BP’s house, you crashed at mine for a few days?”

You gave him a deadpan stare, “That is legitimately the worst idea I have ever heard. Last time I stayed at your house, I was almost killed. Twice. And that’s not even counting the guy who shot at me before we got to your house.”

He chuckled, “aw, c’mon, Songbird. The old man’s gonna be outta town for the next week for business. You’ll be safe. You can sleep in my room, and he’d never even know that you were there.”

You raised a brow, “Are you sure you aren’t just trying to get me into your bed?”

His eye lights brightened and he let out a laugh, “I can’t say that’s not what I’m tryin’ to do.”

You scoffed playfully, “Well in that case, I’ll just assert myself into Papyrus’ room again.”

He let out a low whistle, “You really do enjoy dancin’ with danger, don’t ya?”

“Actually, I’m a terrible dancer. I don’t enjoy dancing with anything.” You quipped back.

“What? You’re a singer. You can’t be that bad.”

You chuckled, “There’s a reason that most of the songs I pick require me to sit my ass down at that piano.”

He hummed, “And what a nice ass it is.” Of course he would. You weren’t even surprised at that response.

“You know, I’ve never told you this, but a good ninety percent of the time, I really want to punch you in your stupid smug face.” You replied.

“Can’t say you’d be the first one,” he joked, and you had a very strong feeling that you were very far from the first one. In fact, you were sure it was a fairly regular occurrence for him.

Your smile turned a bit more serious, “You’re sure that it’s okay for me to stay with you?”

He nodded, “I wouldn't have offered if it wasn’t okay.”

“Just for a couple of days,” You clarified.

“Yup,” he agreed. “For about a week, then I gotta kick you to the curb.”

“Really?” You asked skeptically. “I don’t want to get in the way of your...job.” You thought back to when Papyrus had barged in the first time you were at their house. While you weren’t queasy, you would still rather avoid all of that. You were already in way deeper than you wanted to be.

“Avoid the basement.” He told you bluntly. “It’s not used all that often, but it makes for a good interrogation room. S’ soundproof.”

You weren’t sure what to say to that. “Uh. I’ll keep that in mind, I guess.” He grinned at you for a while before giving you a nod and turning back to the bar.

That was when Grillby decided to come back to the bar. He began making a drink, and you watched him move about the bar disinterestedly. He slid something towards Sans, and another one in your direction.

You raised a brow at him. “I can’t have alcohol before a performance. It wreaks havoc on vocal chords,” you explained.

“Good thing it’s not alcohol, then.” He replied.

You eyed the drink curiously before wrapping your hand around the cup. Whatever it was, it was warm. Taking a small sip told you that it was spiced cider. And it was the best spiced cider you had ever had in your entire life.

“Holy shit, Grillby. This is amazing!” You complimented him between sips of the drink.

“I know,” His smug reply was more or less expected. “It’s on the house.”

You nearly choked, “I’m sorry? I think I might have heard you wrong.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Grillbz?” Sans added.

Grillby gave him a look, “Yours is not. Pay off your goddamn tab.” Sans gave him a sheepish shrug.

You snickered at the two of them. “I should mark this day on a calendar, ‘Grillby gives something out for free’.”

“Keep that up, and I’ll just take it out of your paycheck.”

You poked your tounge out at him childishly before taking another sip. Sans snorted at you before chugging his own drink. You drank the rest of yours as well before standing up.

“Guess I have a job to do, huh?” You glanced at the stage, “Sorry for not having the stuff for requests prepared.”

Before Grillby could respond, Sans butted in, “Oh? You takin’ requests?”

“From everyone except you, specifically.” You smirked at him.

“A good choice, really.” Grillby’s addition made Sans put his hands up in mock surrender. The fire elemental ten turned back to you, “It is alright, my dear. I do not blame you for things that are out of your control.”

You gave him a nod, “I’ll try and set it up as soon as I can.”

When he gave you a wordless nod in return, you made your way to the stage. Time seemed to go by quickly as you made your way through your set. At some point, you noticed Sans disappear after telling Grillby something. You shrugged it off and continued, though you were definitely nervous about what the future would have in hold for you. Though you had been through a lot in your recent past, you had a feeling that the ride wouldn’t be any less bumpy from here on out.

Chapter Text

Life was an interesting thing, really. It was complex and complicated, and that was a nearly indisputable fact to anyone that was asked. What was it really? Was it just a series of events that led to one inevitable outcome? Fate was a touchy subject for many people. How much control over your own life did you really have? You, in particular, did not seem to have much.

In fact, a series of events had led to your life spiraling completely out of control, and you found yourself once again in the living room of a trio of mobster skeleton monsters, at least one of which who would rather you not be there. On the bright side, they had a cute dog, you supposed.

“Should I drop my stuff in your room?” You asked Sans, who was the only one there with you at the moment.

He eyed the your purse and the coat you had draped over your arm, “Yeah, sure. I’ll get ya somethin’ to sleep in.” He began up the stairs, and you followed him to the bedroom you remember belonging to him.

“You call BP yet?” He asked as he pulled open the door.

“Yeah, I texted him. He didn’t seem too hurt by my leaving.” You said before stepping into his room and quietly taking in your surroundings and Sans rummaged through a closet.

His room was somehow not really what you had expected it to be. Sure, it was a bit messy, there were clothes scattered across the floor, and his be was unmade (Though, you couldn’t really say much about that last one. Your bed was never really made up either.), but it felt the most lived-in out of all of the rooms you had seen so far in the house. It felt comfortable.

Your assessment of the bedroom was interrupted as a shirt landed square on your head, covering your vision in white. You heard a chuckle from the guilty party as you pulled it into your hands.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, bone boy.” You rolled your eyes at him.

“What? You’re not even gonna thank me?” He joked.

You raised a brow, “Sure.” You dramatically fell back onto his bed, “You’re my hero. Whatever would I do without you? Etcetera, etcetera.”

He laughed once more at your lack-luster tone. “Wow. You’re the shittiest damsel in distress I’ve ever met.” You were handed a pair of grey sweats.

“You’re damn right I am.” You shot him a wink before finding your way to the bathroom to change.

The clothes he had given you were, unsurprisingly, much too big on you. The tee shirt was plain white, and while it was big on you, it was nothing compared to the shirt Papyrus had given you. You frowned at the thought of that shirt. It had burned with the rest of your house, so you really hoped that he didn’t want it back.

When you opened the door to the bathroom, you nearly face planted as your feet caught on something in front of the door. You managed to catch yourself and glare down at the white dog that had taken it upon himself to lie right at the doorway.

Your face softened as he looked up at you with bright eyes. You sighed and bent down to pet him. He responded by jumping up and attempting to lick you.

You laughed as you tried to hold him away from your face, “Alright! Okay! Hello to you to, Killer.” He yipped happily, a sound that didn’t quite fit his massive stature. You stood back up and ruffled the fur between his ears. “I’m glad you don’t hold out first meaning against me,” you told the canine, “I’d be sad that you didn’t like me.”

“Are you kiddin’ me? Looks to me like that dog’s putty in your hands, Songbird.” You glanced up at Sans, who was leaning against the wall with his hands shoved in his pants pockets. He smirked at you and gestured to the dress that was in your hand, “You can throw that in a laundry basket. Though I would suggest Pap’s. If ya put it in his, It might actually get washed.”

You raised a brow at him, “I can’t just go put it in the wash myself?”

“Be my guest. Just so ya know, laundry room’s down in the basement. I dunno where my Bro’s been all day, but if ya wanna risk it, go ahead.” He shrugged.

You winced, “I think I’ll pass.” You resigned yourself to putting it in Papyrus’ room like he suggested.

You knocked on his closed door, and when there was no answer, you pulled it open. It was empty. You glanced around in search for where to put your dirty clothes, and once you spotted where he kept his, you added to the small pile. You then wandered to the other skeleton brother’s room and collapsed on his bed.

“What ‘r you doing?” Sans asked with a raised brow bone.

“Time for sleep,” you mumbled back before burying your face in a pillow. It had been a long day, and you were beyond tired.

He chuckled and you felt the bed shift as he sat on it. That made you look back up at him with narrowed eyes.

“What are you doing?” You asked suspiciously.

“Uh. You just said it was ‘time for sleep’,” he kicked off his shoes and continued making himself comfortable. He stopped as if he were just realizing something, and looked over at you. “I’m not gonna try anythin’. ‘M not that kinda monster.”

Your gaze moved down to the bed for a split second. It’s not like it was a small bed by any means. There would be more than enough room for both you and Sans to sleep on it, and he would never need to go anywhere near you. Plus, you felt kind of bad for taking his bed. It would have been shitty of you to kick him out of his own room. You considered going to sleep on the couch briefly, but you knew that that was a recipe for disaster.

So, even though you hadn’t really expected to be sharing the bed, you sighed and relented. “Alright.”

At your acceptance, he continued making himself comfortable. You rolled over onto your side, facing away from him. There was a small clicking noise, and the light turned off, leaving the two of you in both darkness and silence. You took a deep breath and tried to relax.

When Sans began lightly snoring, you furrowed your brow. Apparently, he fell asleep very quickly. If you were being honest with yourself, you were a bit jealous of that. But… how did a skeleton snore? Did he even really need to breathe?

You shook your head to clear the thoughts away. That really didn’t matter right now. You just needed sleep, and you wouldn’t be able to get it if you stayed up all night trying to figure out monster physiology.

You closed your eyes and began counting your breaths until you began fading into a dreamless sleep.

You were pulled out of it feeling like no time at all had passed, but the sunlight coming through the window told you otherwise. You rolled over in the bed to find that you were the only person in it. After a few confused seconds, you sat up and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes.

You glanced to the closed door that separated you from the rest of the house. It reminded you of the last time you had woken up in the house and immediately gone downstairs. It hadn’t ended well. Sans had told you that Gaster would be gone for a week, but you couldn’t help but assume the worst.

After a small bit of back and forth, you decided that you had nothing to lose. You’d just have to be extra cautious until you safely made it downstairs.

You creeped open the door and peeked your head out. A quick glance in both directions told you that the hallway was empty and safe for travel. You stepped out and padded your way to the stairs, which you also glanced down. You felt a bit ridiculous sneaking around.

With a sigh, you straitened yourself and cracked your neck before stepping down the stairs. The living room was empty, but soft talking from the kitchen gave away where the brothers were.

You peeked your head through the doorway. The two skeletons sat at a table, conversing quietly over plates of breakfast. Killer, who was sat at Sans’ feet, noticed you before they did. His ears perked up, and he trotted over to you.

You gave him a pat before entering. “Morning, guys.” You gave them a small wave and pulled out one of the chairs at the table. As you sat, the dog rested his head happily in your lap, and you continued to pet him.

“Heya, Songbird.” Sans pushed an already prepared plate of food in your direction. You glanced curiously at the eggs and bacon.

“You made this for me?” Of course it was fo you. That was a dumb question. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that,” you continued.

“Don’t thank me,” Sans shrugged at you. “I didn’t make it.” He gestured vaguely to his brother.

You gave Papyrus a grin, “well, thank you then. It looks delicious!”

He grumbled slightly and looked away from you, “Of course it’s delicious. I made it.”

You chuckled and happily began munching on a piece of the bacon. To Papyrus’ credit, it was really, really good. You hummed and shoveled some of the eggs in your mouth as well.

Movement in your lap caused you to look down at the dog, who had rested a paw on you. He had really big paws, and really big eyes that were giving you the saddest look the dog could muster. You glanced at the brothers, who you found had stopped paying attention to you, and back to Killer. You slyly handed him a piece of bacon.

“So, what’re you up to today?” Sans’ voice caused you to jump slightly, as if he had caught you doing something you shouldn’t have. He didn’t say anything, but he had a cheeky look that told you he knew what you had done.

“I’m- uh.” What were you doing today? You had work, but not until much later in the afternoon. You did have some replacements that you would probably need to go get. “I think I need to go shopping.”

He nodded, “Alright. Me n’ Paps are gonna be workin’ today, so we probably won’t be home.”

“Which means that it would be best if you stayed out of the house.” Papyrus added.

You nodded, “Alright. I’ll make a day of it then. I can just drop whatever I get in the back room at Grillby’s.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sans agreed before standing up. “Ya need me to drop ya off anywhere before we go?”

You thought for a minute before nodding, “I wouldn’t mind that. I can get a car to go to work.”

He gave you a nod, and your group split off to go get ready for the day.

Chapter Text

As soon as you got home, you made a beeline for the stairs, only slowing to give Papyrus a wave. He gave you a nod of acknowledgement, but promptly left to what you had assumed to be the basement. Sans looked between the two of you before following his brother. You shrugged and decided that it didn’t have anything to do with you before pulling open the door to Sans’ room.

You sighed and shoved the new suitcase full of clothes into the corner of Sans’ room. You had figured that getting a suitcase was the best way to move your clothes around until you settled down, and you really didn’t want to take over any more of his room. You already felt bad enough taking half of his bed.

In your opinion, the skeleton brothers were being unreasonably nice to you. They were letting you stay at their house, they were feeding you, they were taking you places. And what had you done? Stuck your nose where it didn’t belong? Get shot at a couple of times? You just couldn’t understand. Was their need to keep you safe that strong?

Maybe you would find a way to make it up to them. It’d be hard to think of something, but you were sure that you could.

After a long shift, though, you didn’t really want to think about anything other than sleep. So, you found yourself collapsing once again on a mattress that didn’t belong to you. You were asleep before Sans could finish whatever he had been doing, though you had stirred slightly when the bed shifted, only to fall unconscious once more.

It was still for a while, but then the shifting began again. You grumbled in your half-asleep state, but didn’t do much else. It calmed down for a second.

You really woke up when you heard the thud of a body hitting the floor, and all the blankets were tugged to the ground with him. Your confusion only lasted a second before you had processed that Sans had flung himself out of the bed.

You quickly sat up and peeked over the edge of the bed, “Sans?”

He didn’t answer you, seemingly still asleep. He tossed himself around on the floor violently. It looked like he was beginning to sweat, or at least the monster equivalent. It looked to you like he was panicking for some reason.

Your eyes widened a bit. A nightmare. He was having a nightmare. You rolled off of the bed and bent down, gently shaking him.

“Sans,” instead of waking up, he seemed to get more violent. “Sans!” You shook him a bit harder.

He gasped and shot up, nearly head butting you in the process. You scrambled back as he stared at you with empty sockets. He held up a hand to you as one of his eyes lit up a bright red. There was suddenly a strange pressure in the air, and a heavy weight in your chest.

He was using magic on you. You tensed up, afraid of what he might do. You took a slow breath to calm yourself down. Don’t panic. Panicking would be the worst thing that you could do in your situation. He had a bad dream, and you really didn’t want to set him off any more than you already had just by waking him.

“Hey. You okay there?” You made sure your voice was soft, and slowly held your hands up in defense as he stared through you. Thankfully, your words seemed to finally reach him. The red light faded, and his normal eyelights finally came back, although they were dim and fuzzy. He stared blankly at you for a moment before standing up and completely ignoring you.

“Was it a nightmare?” You were determined to get at least some information on what had just happened.

“What th’ hell d’ ya think?” His words were slurred together, but still had a sharp bite to them. He seemed beyond shaken at whatever had happened.

You decided that you would ignore the attitude he was throwing you. “What was it about?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He sat back down on the bed and dropped his skull into his hands.

“If it’s affecting you this much, then yeah, it kind of does matter,” you sat beside him.

There was a moment of silence before, “You wouldn’t understand even if I told ya. So fuck off.”

“Even if I don’t understand, it might help just to talk about it.” When he ignored you, you rested your hand on his arm, “Look, I know that bad things happen, and if you really don’t want to talk about it, I’d understand. But, I just want to help you.”

He shot up from his seat, anger clear on his face, “You don’t get it! You’ll never fucking understand because you don’t know what it’s like! Even after all this goddamned time, I still wake up every morning afraid that I’m back in that hell of a place! Do you know how many times I’ve woken up to be back in that place?! Of course you don’t! No one does! You don’t know what it’s like to relive the same fucking days over, and over, and over !” His voice broke as his monologue went on, “To- to see the same day! To have everything you have taken away again, and again! We were so close to a happy ending so many times! You’ll never know what that’s like! You’ll never know what it’s like to watch your brother die.” He finally finished, wiping at his eyes.

Your eyes widened slightly. He was right about most of that. You really didn’t know what he meant by a lot of it. But… he wasn’t right about all of it.

You looked sadly down at your hands in the sudden tense silence of the room. Your voice came out soft, “I… can understand some of that better than you think.”

His anger faded away slightly as curiosity began taking over. He sat next to you on the bed. “What do ya mean?” You winced slightly at the question. It wasn’t a secret, per say, but you hated telling this story.

You trusted Sans, though. You trusted him more than you probably should.

You let out a bitter chuckle as the blocked out memories came back, “We were fighting over something so stupid . I don’t even remember what it was in the first place. But I just remember being so angry at her… and I… I said something horrible. I hadn’t meant it, and I regretted saying it the moment it came out of my mouth.” You looked back up at Sans, blinking away the tears that had begun to build in your eyes. “I’ll never forget how hurt she looked. How… how betrayed she looked. She ran out of the house, and I followed her. At that point, I just wanted to apologize. I just wanted to…”

You sighed, “We used to live next to a highway, and-“ your voice cracked, but you shook your head and continued through the story, “I wish I could say that she died on impact, and I wish I could say that the car stopped. But… they didn’t, and she died in my arms.” At this point, you couldn’t hold back the tears or the occasional hiccup, “I’ve watched too many people die in my arms. And they aren’t… They’re never coming back. I got my little sister killed, and do you want to know the worst part?” You didn’t wait for an answer, “She apologized to me, as if it was her fault that she was dying. She told me she was sorry, and then she told me she loved me.”

“Shit, Songbird, I didn’t-“

“Didn’t know? Yeah, not many people do. It’s not really something you just bring up in a conversation. ‘Hey weather’s nice today! By the way, I got my little sister killed!’” You remarked bitterly.

You let a pair of arms wrap around you, and you were pulled to Sans’ chest in a hug. Without much hesitation, you leaned into him. The room was quiet for a bit, only broken by your occasional sniffle.

“What was she like?” He finally asked softly.

A melancholy smile broke out on your face, “She was amazing. The sweetest person you would ever meet. She wanted to be a doctor, y’know? Only in her second year of high school and she had already been well on her way. I was so proud of her.” A sob escaped you, “Fuck, I miss her so much.”

He pulled you tighter to him, and you buried your face in his chest. You weren’t sure why you had told him all of that. Maybe you thought it would help him in some way? Or maybe, like him, once you had started talking, you just couldn’t seem to stop. Maybe it was both. In reality, though, you supposed it didn’t really matter why you had done it.

You felt him rest his skull on top of your head. “I know there’s not a whole lot I can say to help,” Sans murmured, “but it’s pretty impressive that you’re still around, and still so… you.”

You shrugged a bit, “If you say so.” You took an unsteady breath, “Sorry to have bothered you with all of that. I’m sure it’s the last thing you wanted.”

“No. It’s fine. You’re…” he trailed off, and you could feel his fingers tapping against you. “You’re fine.”

You mumbled a soft thanks to him, before your breathing began to even out. Your rampant thoughts were being calmed by the soft humming sound that came from Sans’ chest. Despite being a skeleton, you were finding that he was warm and rather comfy, and you quickly found yourself fading back to sleep in his arms.

“It’ll be alright, Songbird. I promise.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, you were the first to slowly come back to consciousness. Half asleep, you buried your face into the warmth that was against you, your fists clenching a bit more at the fabric that they had been resting against. You fell back into an unmoving silence while slowly trying to bring your mind of of the bleary slump that it was in.

Eventually, you shifted slightly, only to notice a weight around your waist. As soon as you had moved it pulled you tighter. Your face scrunched up in confusion as you finally began attempting to process what was happening.

And just like that, you quickly blinked your eyes open and took in what was happening. You brought your face a bit further away from the shirt it had been pressed into. Sans, who had been resting his chin on your head, grumbled slightly in complaint, but didn’t seem to wake up. You attempted to move, only to find that he had an arm around your waist, keeping you planted there. It also didn’t help that your legs had, at some point in the night, gotten tangled with his.

Your face scrunched up as you attempted to hold in an exasperated groan at the situation. You really didn’t want to wake him, but you also really didn’t want to be there. Maybe you could somehow figure out a way to sneak out of his grip. He seemed to be sleeping pretty heavily, so you didn’t think it would be that much of an issue.

You, of course, were wrong. He wasn’t waking up, but he was also dead set on keeping you there in his sleep. No matter which way you twisted or turned, he just seemed to pull you closer. It was when he finally rolled over onto his back, brining you with him so that you were on top of him that you had had enough.

“Sans,” you complained. “Let me go or get the hell up.” There was no response. “Sans!” He was still asleep.

You sighed and wiggled until you you could reach an arm up to jab at his rib cage. You did so harshly, one of your nails catching on his ribs before going between them.

Much to your shock, that quickly woke him up, and he promptly shoved you away. You fell of the edge of the bead with a loud curse and a dull thud as you hit the ground.

“Dude!” You called back up to Sans, “What the hell?”

“What did you just do?” There was a growl to his voice, but you ignored it in your own annoyance.

You stood up, “What did you expect me to do? You weren’t letting me go!”

Now, you could see the red tinting on his face, “You can’t just go sticking your fingers in people’s ribs!”

You gestured around wildly, “How the hell was I supposed to know it made you uncomfortable?!” Did he really think that you poked at skeletons for fun? The only ones you had ever met were him and his family, and you doubted that he thought you were having tickle fights with his father.

“Shit, Sweetheart, if you wanted to jump my bones so bad, you coulda said something.”

You stared blankly at each other for a few seconds, before you began laughing at the situation. “You’re such a bonehead.”

He shrugged and began laughing along with you, and whatever strange tension that had been in the room was gone. Eventually, you took a breath and smiled at him. He smiled back, and gave you a nod.

“So,” you began, “About last night.”

He shook his head and held up a hand, “I won’t bring it up if ya don’t want me to.”

“Thank you, Sans. I…” you looked down at the flooring though before looking back up at him. “The same goes for you. I won’t say a thing.”

He nodded in thanks, but didn’t say anything more about it. You took that as your cue to go downstairs. You quickly did so, and did not hesitate in making your way to the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, that was where you found Papyrus. Instead of cooking like you had expected him to be, he was leaning against the counter, an unfolded newspaper held up to his face.

“Uh. Morning.” At your voice, he dropped the paper down for but a second to look at you before bringing it back up. “Right. Well. I won’t bother you too much, then.” You glanced around the kitchen. “Do… uh. Do you guys have any cereal or anything?”

He dropped the paper once more, this time looked at you with a raised brow, “Cereal? It’s nearly twelve o’clock.”

You tensed up at that news. “It’s… I’m sorry, what?”

“Breakfast is over. Maybe you would prefer something more suited for lunch?” He asked, though he was very obviously uninterested in helping you.

You shook your head and began rushing out of the room, “No thanks! No time!” You ran back up the stairs, and bursted through the door to Sans’ room. You saw him jump slightly at your entrance, and he fumbled with the button to his shirt that he had been working on.

You made a beeline for your clothes and pulled out a random dress. “I’m gonna be late for work!” You answered the question that hadn’t been asked yet.

“Do ya need me to take you to Grillbz?” Sans asked, once again going back to the buttons on his shirt.

“Could you? That would be amazing!” You didn’t let him answer before running out to get ready for your job.

You adjusted your dress slightly before tossing your shoes on and grabbing your purse. Sans wasn’t in his room anymore, which meant that he was most likely down in the kitchen with his brother. Your heels clicked down the stairs as you made your way to the pair.

“Why is it that you always seem to be late for work?” Papyrus asked you as soon as he noticed you.

You shrugged, “I like sleep. And I’m not always late for work. In fact, I’m pretty early most of the time.”

Sans nodded as he made his way over to you, mug in hand, “Yeah. She’s only late on days where she’s around you. You’re a pretty bad influence on her.”

Papyrus seemed to be offended at that notion, “I do not promote laziness and lateness, unlike you! If anything, it is you who is a bad influence!”

You chuckled and grabbed a hold of Sans’ arm. “You’re both terrible influences, really. Now, can we go so that I’m not late?”

Sans nodded and teleported away before Papyrus could argue any more. You found yourself in the familiar back room of Grillby’s. Sans let go of you and took a step back.

“See ya later.” And just like that, he was gone. It was just as disorienting to see him teleport as it was to actually teleport. You shook your head and hurried out of the room.

Grillby didn’t seem very confused that you hadn’t used the front door. He did, however, gesture you over as soon as he noticed you.

You walked up to the bar, “Hey! I’m, uh sorry if I was a little late, I-“

“You were not. That was not what I wanted to speak with you about.” You looked at him curiously as he glanced around the bar. There were a few patrons sitting close to the two of you, so he shook his head. “If you would be willing to stay for a while after hours, I have a… proposition for you.”

You tilted your head at him, “Oh? Alright. I think I can do that.” You were beyond curious, though it seemed like he didn’t want any eavesdroppers listening in on whatever his ‘proposition’ was.

You couldn’t help but wonder if he had found any information on the mob. You perked at that thought and gave your boss a resolute nod. You rushed off and began your job without another word to the elemental.

Much to your frustration, you couldn’t keep the questions out of your head in anticipation for whatever Grillby was going to talk with you about. With your anticipation racking your brain, the day seemed to drag on forever. You had found yourself picking easy songs, and rushing through orders until finally the bar was getting close to closing.

You let out a breath of relief as the last few patrons wandered (or stumbled for some) out of the bar, leaving only you and Grillby. Said elemental stood behind the bar, polishing a glass. You found yourself sitting in your usual spot as you leaned over the counter.

“So?” You asked curtly.

He raised a brow at you before going back to a neutral expression, “How would you feel about attending a gala as my plus one?”

You were a bit taken aback by that. Was he asking you on a date? That… was completely unexpected, and you felt a bit weird about that.

“Uh. I’m not sure that-“

“Let me explain,” He stopped you. “This gala is the biggest one that the city puts on. They do it once a year, and everyone who has any importance in the city shows up.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Okay… wh- uh. I mean. I don’t.” You stopped talking, trying to figure out what was happening.

He let out a small sigh, “Listen to me. If there are important people all gathered together in one place, you will also find people looking to get on the good sides of the influencers.”

What he was asking you to do finally clicked. He was offering to take you to gather information. He was helping you find the mob you were looking for. “You… And you have a way in?”

“The gala is put on by the city council and the Queen of monsters. I have a lot of connections. Getting in will not be a problem.” He set the glass down and moved on to the next one.

“When is it?” You asked, a grin already on your face.

“The end of next week.”

You blinked a few times. That wasn’t long at all. You would have about a week and a half to prepare yourself for it. You would need a fancier dress, and you would need to think of how you would go about gathering information.

“Alright,” you told him. “Thank you.” You grinned up at him and briefly considered giving him a hug. Would it be weird if you gave your boss a hug? Yes, you decided. It would be.

… You did it anyways. You gave him your thanks once more she he stood there awkwardly. You let him go before it could get too awkward.

“It’s no problem, my dear. I never really go to those things. It will be an experience for the both of us.”

You nodded, “Yeah. Thank you again. Thank you for helping me.” You looked up at him with a small smile.

“You have been through a lot. It’s really the least I can do.” The flames atop his head crackled slightly as he looked away from you. “If I am being completely honest, you seem to have grown on me.” He cleared his throat, and loudly amended, “I mean, I would be very inconvenienced if anything horrible were to happen to you.”

You could practically feel the sparkle in your eye as he said that. He really did care about you, didn’t he? When had that happened? Maybe he had always been a big softie. Or… maybe you were just an exception.

You gave him a cheeky grin, “So… we’re besties?”

“No. No, definitely not. You are too much like a rowdy, headstrong, difficult child for us to be ‘besties’.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Your grin grew at that, “so, you’re saying that I’m more like your least favorite child?” He grew quiet at your claim, causing you to chuckle. “Don’t worry, Grillbz, I’ll try to be a better daughter from here on out.”

He groaned in annoyance, “Your shift is over. Just get out of my bar.”

“Aw, but Dad ,” you complained. “You always kick me out!” You made sure to whine dramatically.

“I’m closing now. Out.” He pointed at the door.

You chuckled and turned to leave, throwing a wave in his direction as you crossed the dining area. “See ya tomorrow, then . ”

“See you tomorrow, (Y/N).” You almost froze as he acknowledged that you were leaving. Instead, you settled on smirking as you pulled the door open and left for the night.

“Sheesh, Songbird. Ya took forever.” You jumped and spun around to face Sans, who was leaning on the wall just outside of Grillby’s.

“Don’t scare me like that, you asshole.” You chastised, though you were chuckling to yourself about it. “Anyways, yeah. Sorry ‘bout that.” You didn’t tell him what you were doing. You weren’t sure how wise it was to try to hide the fact that you were actively hunting for a specific mob with the help of his favorite bartender. Sans knew you were looking, but he really had no clue what ends you would go to in order to find justice.

There was no doubt that he would find out eventually, anyways. So, you pretended that everything was fine, and grabbed on to Sans before he took you back home.

“Why were you waiting outside, anyways? You could’ve just gone inside,” you pointed out as he let you go. You took a step back, now in the skeleton’s familiar living room.

“I coulda. You were still there after closing, though. Grillby needed to talk to ya or somethin’?” Oh. Well, you hadn’t exactly expected him to ask about that.

You scrunched up your face, “I’m pretty sure he told me that I was sorta like a daughter to him? Well, he didn’t say that, but I think that was what he meant.” You hummed a bit to yourself before continuing, “Anyways, then I jokingly called him dad, and I left.” It wasn’t a lie . Plus, you were going to brag about being Grillby’s pseudo-daughter to anyone who would listen.

He eyed you, “That so?” You weren’t sure if it was suspicion that you were hearing in his voice. You shrugged, and he seemed to drop the subject.

You sighed and brought up another one, “So, I’ve only got a few more days before Gaster comes back, right?”

He nodded,” Yeah. That’s a bit of a problem. We really are gonna haveta kick ya to the curb.”

You groaned, “I know. I guess I’ll have to suck it up and get a hotel for a while, huh?”

He chuckled, “Why’re ya so against them?”

“Because they’re expensive, and they always have this weird smell, and the walls are always too thin, and other reasons!” You complained.

He gave you a look, “Other reasons? Really?”

“They are usually filthy. You never know who, or what, was in there before you.” You turned slightly as Papyrus added to your list from the living room.

You gestured wildly in his direction, “See! He gets it!” You sighed and deflated a bit, “But I gotta do what I gotta do, I guess.”

You resigned to pulling out your phone, dreading the next few days, when you would be looking for a new place to stay. You supposed that holding up in a hotel for a while would be better than hanging out with Gaster. At least in a hotel, you wouldn’t have to worry about him. Probably.

“You guys have any suggestions?” You asked, already beginning to look through the list of nearby hotels your phone gave you.

They both seemed to think for a second, and then Papyrus looked questioningly at his brother, “What about MTT’s?”

Sans scoffed, “She was jus’ complainin’ about how expensive hotels are.”

“Yes, I know. But she would be safe there.” Papyrus glanced at you, “Well, safer, at least.”

Sans followed his brother’s gaze, and you felt mildly uncomfortable as the two of them stared at you. Sans sighed and rubbed at his temples.

“Alright, fine. I’ll see what strings I can pull.”

“If it’s going to be a problem for you guys, then it’s fine. You don’t have to worry about it.” You knew that it really wasn’t their problem in the first place.

They ignored you, and Sans pulled out his own phone before wandering out of the room.

Papyrus continued to stare at you, “We have already made up our minds. It would be safer for you to stay with someone that we… are affiliated with.”

Your face scrunched up. Did you not get a say in what happened? They seemed to come to the decision of where to put you without even asking your opinion on it. You decided to ignore the part about keeping you safe altogether. You still hated feeling like you needed to be protected.

You crossed your arms, “And where exactly is it that you guys are sending me?”

“The MTT Resort. It’s not far from here,” He told you nonchalantly. Yes, you knew about it. You knew that it was one of those places that was extremely hard to get into, and even harder to pay for.

Your arms immediately fell to your sides as you gaped at him, “Uh. Papyrus. I know I look like a million bucks and all, but I don’t actually have that kind of money laying around.”

“Yes, we are aware,” he looked you over, as if assessing your statement about how you looked. “The easiest way to get in is through Mettaton himself. Lucky for you that he just so happens to be indebted to us.”

You, admittedly, were a bit impressed at that. Those two really had racked up some favors, hadn’t they? They certainly had enough to be able to ask an actual celebrity for favors. Though, you supposed that you had become one of the people that owed them something.

You just hoped that whatever they asked of you wouldn’t be too ridiculous.

Chapter Text

You glanced around the empty room before launching yourself onto the bed. You nearly bounced right off the side of it. You may have hated hotels, but the blankets were just so soft , and the bed was so comfy. Not to mention the fancy ass shower, or the speaker system that was set up throughout the entire suite. Mettaton must have owed Sans and Papyrus a lot .

Which, in turn, meant that you probably did too. You had been nothing but trouble from the moment they met you, and yet, they continued to put up with you. Hell, they even let you stay in their house for a (thankfully uneventful) week! And now, you were staying in a room that they had gotten for you for who knows how long.

But, that wasn’t your fault! You didn’t ask them to, and you most certainly didn’t burn your house down! Why would you have done something like that? It wasn’t like you would’ve gotten anything out of it! You didn’t even have insurance! You hadn’t been able to afford it since you move out of your parent’s house.

...Your parents… shit. You hadn’t talked to either of your parents in a long while. You wondered if they knew about your apartment. You were betting that they did, though.

Only slightly begrudgingly, you pulled your phone out and dialed the number. It only rang once, before a light click could be heard on the other end. There was a silence before you broke it.

“Hi, Ma.” There was another stretch of silence. “Mom?”

“(Y/N) (M/N) (L/N).” Oh no, not the full name! Shit, you were in trouble. “I cannot believe that you would pull this! Again! Would it kill you to give us a call?!” Your mom yelled at you through the receiver, and though you were nowhere near her, you could practically feel the rage radiating off of her in waves.

“I know, I know. I-“

“No! You don’t know! You can’t keep doing this to us! When we heard about the fire, we at least expected a call telling us that you were okay! But we got nothing! Not even a text! We didn’t know where you were, or if you were- if you were-“ she cut herself off in a huff.

“I know, Mom. I’m okay. I’m still here, and safe, and alive. And I’m so, so sorry. I shoulda called you sooner, I just had… I had a lot going on, Y’know?” You began fiddling with the edge of the blanket as you spoke.

There was a sob that was poorly covered by a chuckle on the other end of the line, “I’m sure you did. Where have you been staying?”

“Well, I was staying with a friend, but he kicked me out. Then, I stayed with another friend, and they kicked me out. But, Mom. You’ll never guess where they set me up at.” If there was any way to calm her down, you knew it would be through getting the subject far away from where it had been, and subtly telling her that you were safe.

“I have no idea, where?”

“I’m staying at the MTT Resort ,” You made yourself sound appropriately excited about it.

“What?! But isn’t that place top notch?!” You were about to reply, when you heard her pull away from the receiver and shout something. There were a few lines of muffled conversation the you couldn’t quite understand. It was another second before, “Hold on, I’m going to put you on speaker phone, okay?” There was a click before her voice came through again, though it had more of an echo to it than before. “How in the world did you end up there?”

“Like I said, my friends, the ones that I was staying with, they know Mettaton. I think they felt kinda bad that they had to boot me out, so here I am.” As an afterthought, you added, “The beds are so soft.”

“You were staying at a friends house, huh?” You nearly rolled your eyes at the new voice. You knew exactly where that question was going. “Who, exactly, are these friends of yours?”

“Don’t worry, old man, I’m a big kid now. I can take care of myself. No big bad boy is gonna phase me.” You joked with him.

“Hey, that’s my girl!” he chuckled, “ But, really. I would like to know a bit about them.”

“Well, if you must know,” your sarcastic tone dropped into a more sincere one as you continued, “They’re monsters. I’ve known them for a while, and… they’ve done a lot for me. I trust them.”

He hummed, “Alright. I trust your judgement. If you trust ‘em, then so do I.”

“Now,” your mother interjected, “What’s MTT’s like?” You could hear the child-like excitement in her voice. You could recall that she was quite the fan of Mettaton when the monsters first came up from the underground, and you supposed you weren’t surprised that she still was.

The rest of the phone call went in much the same way. Your mother asked you questions, and you gave her the best answer you could. Your father continued to ask you different things, as well, mostly about you, and how you were doing. Eventually, you hung up after saying your goodbyes. You may not have had any work, but you would be damned if you weren’t going to spend your day off exploring the hotel.

After a double check that you still had the key card to the room, you began to do just that.

Just from walking to your room when you had first showed up, you could tell that the entire building was just as extravagant as you had expected it to be, if not more so. Now that you were getting the chance to actually stop and take in the details, you could really see how much time and effort was put into the hotel. It was over dramatic and gaudy, but it was impressive nonetheless.

You made your way to the elevator and jammed your finger into the call button. With a pleasant ping sound, the doors slid open with no wait. You stepped in and pressed the button for the lobby. The door slid shut, and you took a moment to appreciate the fact that the elevator music seemed to consist of guitars and synthesizers rather than the usual jazzy piano cover of an overplayed pop song. It fit pretty well with the black, red, and silver theme the entire building had.

The door slid open, and you began wandering aimlessly around, just to explore a bit. There was a restaurant- you needed reservations to get in- that you glanced over in favor of looking towards a club area. You glanced around to see that there was a large crowd gathered in that area. There was a stage set up with a single microphone, and some kind of machine that you hadn’t seen before.

There was a young green fire monster singing into the microphone. Her voice was soft, and there was an odd sort of crackling noise that would happen occasionally. It was pleasant to listen to, even if there were a few flat notes every now and again. Her song was backed by music that emanated from the box. It didn’t take you long to figure out what the box was.

It was a karaoke machine.

You grinned to yourself and weaved through the crowd. Without too much trouble, you got to the edge of the stage just as the fire elemental finished her song. She gave a tiny, unsure curtsy, and you clapped along with some of the other patrons. She noticed you waiting for her, and gave you a nod as she stepped off of the stage. You returned it before she got lost in the crowd.

“Hey,” you directed your words to the monster in a black uniform with a hat covering his face, who you assumed to be manning the stage for the night. “Would you mind if I went up there?” He was leaning against the wall directly next to the stage, and if you had to wager a guess, he did not want to be there at all. That, or he was just excessively tired.

“It’s called open-mic night for a reason.” His reply was gruff, but you instantly recognised it.

“BP?” You weren’t sure how you hadn’t recognized him before. Despite the fact that he had most of his features hidden, he was the same height, and had the same ‘done with this bullshit’ aura that always radiated off of him.

He glanced up at you, “Yeah, that’s me. Now, are you gonna get up there and wow a crowd, as per usual, or do you wanna stay and chat with me?”

You grinned at him and stepped onto the raised platform. “Well, when you put it that way.” Before taking center stage, you added, “don’t think you’re getting out of talking to me, though.”

You made your way to the machine and quickly looked over a touch screen. It had a search index. Well, that made everything easy for you. You had honestly been a bit nervous that it would only be Mettaton songs. Admittedly, you didn’t know many of those.

It took you a second to settle on a song, and once you did, you typed it in, and selected it. The beat of the music began playing almost immediately.

I love myself, I wanna see it
When I turn around, look in the mirror
And if you don't like it, you can leave it
'Cause it's my own and I'll keep owning it
If you don't like what I'm wearing
Well, you're only bothered 'cause you're staring
And you'll never talk me into caring
'Cause it's my own and I'll keep owning it

You swayed your hips along to the beat, and threw a wink out to the crowd. That had gained you a couple of whistles from the crowd. It was your job to entertain, and you were planning on doing just that.

I'ma do just what I want on the regular
And it's really not my fault if you're scared of a

The beat had slowed down, and you took the opportunity to grab the microphone from its stand and held it up dramatically as it picked back up again.

Sweet little unforgettable thing, unforgettable
Sweet little unforgettable thing, so incredible
Know that I'm not sorry, I'm just loving my body
I don't care if you scared of a sweet little unforgettable thing

You did a fancy twirl with the mic (thankfully, it was wireless) as the next verse hit.

I love my ass, I wanna shake it
You can thank my mama 'cause she made it
Don't you waste your breath tryna change it
Just mind your own and I'll keep owning it
We gotta learn to stick together
Love your color, gender or whatever
'Cause your happiness don't need a censor
Just mind your own and we'll keep owning it

You were a bit surprised when the lights began to flicker and pulse with the beat of the song. The crowd went wild with it, and you grinned at the turn of events.

I'ma do just what I want on the regular
And it's really not my fault if you're scared of a

Sweet little unforgettable thing, unforgettable
Sweet little unforgettable thing, so incredible
Know that I'm not sorry, I'm just loving my body
I don't care if you scared of a sweet little unforgettable thing

Shame, shame, shame on me, shame, shame, shame
Shame on me, baby, I ain't gon' change
Shame, shame, shame on me, shame, shame, shame
Shame on me, baby, I ain't gon' change

At the front of the stage, you noticed the same fire monster singing along happily to the song. You grinned and walked up to the edge of the stage. She looked at you curiously. You reached a hand out to pull her up onto the stage with you, and her eyes lit up. She took your hand with a giddy laugh as you got to the final chorus of the song.

Sweet little unforgettable thing, unforgettable
Sweet little unforgettable thing, so incredible
Know that I'm not sorry, I'm just loving my body
I don't care if you scared of a sweet little unforgettable thing

She obviously knew the song very well, and kept up with you, singing and dancing along with the music.

Shame, shame, shame on me
Shame on me, baby
Shame, shame, shame on me
Shame on me, baby
Sweet little unforgettable thing

At the last note, she made a point to shoot up a shower of green sparks that harmlessly fell around the two of you. You couldn’t help but marvel slightly at them as they glittered to the floor.

The entire room went up in cheers. You chuckled and looked over at the fire monster. She was glowing brightly and took another curtsy, this one significantly more confident. Your grin widened at that, and you followed her lead.

As the cheers continued you took a moment to introduce yourself to her, “Thank you for playing along with that!”

She grinned at you, which was a bit odd to see a fire elemental do. “Are you kidding?! That was so much fun! I’m Fuku, by the way!”

“It’s nice to meet you!”

As the cheers began to fade away, the two of you stepped off of the stage. She gave you a wave before running off into the crowd once more, but you lingered near the stagehand.

“So, how was that?” You asked him smugly.

“I think,” you blinked in surprise at the new voice, “that it was stunning, Darling!” You watched as BP sunk further into himself as he looked over your shoulder.

You spun around to see a familiar face that you hadn’t met yet. “Oh! Well thank you.” The robot was looking you over with a morbid scrutiny that made you a bit uncomfortable.

“And what might be the name that I can put to such a lovely face?” His grin seemed fake to you. You gave Mettaton your name anyways. You were staying at his hotel, after all. He repeated your name to you before humming in thought, “I am not sure why, but that sounds awfully familiar.”

“I’m sure it does.” You shot back, “I’m, uh. Friends with Sans and Papyrus.”

His grin dropped a bit as he seemed to connect the dots. Once realization flashed in his expression, the grin returned, but seemed a bit more sincere, if not a bit maniacal.

“Oh,” he purred out, “So you are the songbird that I’ve been hearing so much about. It’s lovely to finally meet you, Darling.”

Your face scrunched up, “You’ve heard of me?”

He let out a boisterous laugh at your confusion, “Of course I have! When you went into Grillby’s employment, you were the hottest gossip topic.” Somehow, that made you feel worse. You could only imagine what bits of gossip were spread around.

“Oh,” was your lackluster response.

“And,” he wasn’t done talking, “I must say that when Sans came begging  to me in desperate need of assistance-“ that was definitely an exaggeration,” -I told him that I, of course, would let you stay here! I must know if any of the rumors are true, after all.”

“Right. Well, thanks for that.” Even if his motivations were a bit iffy, you appreciated it.

He reached out a hand, and you raised a brow at him. You gingerly took it, and he brought your hand up to his mouth to press a kiss to it. “Of course, Darling. I have business to attend to, but please do not hesitate to come find me if you need anything at all.” He gave you a wink and dropped your hand. You wiped the back of your hand on your dress subconsciously as he sauntered out of the room.

You glanced back at BP, “He’s your boss?” When he nodded, you looked back in the direction that he had gone. “Yikes.”

You could hear BP groan through his hands behind you. A chuckle escaped you as you turned to him once more. “How come you never told me that you worked here?”

“I have my reasons,” His reply was purposely evasive, but you went along with it anyways. “What about you? I thought you were with Sans and Papyrus?”

“I was. Gaster’s not so fond of me, though. We figured that it’d be best if I made myself scarce before he got back.” You were only mostly joking.

“Yeah, I remember. That was probably smart of you guys.” He smirked at you, though he wasn’t able to say anything else before an unfamiliar monster began trying to get his attention. “Look, I love our little chats and all, but I gotta get back to work.”

You grinned, “Alright, well have fun then.” He groaned once more before plastering on one of the fakest smiles you had ever seen, and turning to the monster. You took that as your cue to leave.

You managed to dodge your way back out of the crowd and into the lobby of the building. You felt as though you were pretty happy with your exploration, even though you hadn’t really done much of that. But, now you still had the rest of your day off to do whatever you wanted.

Maybe you would go get a dress for the Gala. It was only a few days away, and you were getting more and more nervous as the date got closer. What if you messed something up? What if you didn’t get any information, and it was all a waste of time? What if you ran into more trouble than you could handle?

No, you would be fine. If the worst were to happen, you were sure that you could handle it. You wouldn’t be alone, either. Grillby would be there, and you were positive that he wouldn’t have invited you without a plan. You didn’t want to rely on him to get you out of a bad situation, but you would if you needed to.

Hopefully you wouldn’t need to.

Chapter Text

The day of the Gala came around quicker than you had anticipated, and while you were ready for it, your mental preparedness could still use work. It seemed that you wouldn’t have any time for that, though.

In fact, you barely had any time to finish putting your hair in a stylish updo. If you were going to a gala to gather information, you were going to make sure that you looked your best doing it. If you learned anything in all of your time working in bars, it was that your best chance was to flirt the information out of them.

There was a knock at your door just as you shoved the last bobby pin in your hair.

“One second!” You called out, doing one last double check of yourself before rushing to the hotel door and pulling it open.

“Are you ready to go?” Grillby stood in the doorway, and looked you over.

“Yeah. Whaddya think of the dress?” You did a little twirl with a smirk.

You already knew the answer. It had taken you at least three different stores and five hours to find the perfect dress. It was a black off-shoulder, floor length dress that hugged all of your curves until about mid thigh, where it flared out. The shape and color were nice, but what had really sold you on it was the delicate sheer lace that covered the open back, and wrapped your arms, ending about a quarter of the way up your arm.

“I believe that it will do nicely.” He gave you a nod of approval and stepped out of the doorway, gesturing for you to follow him.

You trailed behind him wordlessly as the two of you made your way out of the hotel, and into the parking lot. Once you reached his car, you hesitated a bit. It always felt weird getting into your boss’s car. He quickly noticed, and scoffed at you.

“Do you want me to hold the door open for you?” You could hear the subtle playfulness in his voice.

You smirked and grabbed the handle before pulling it open, “What do I look like, a lady or something?” You dropped yourself in the passenger's seat of his car. He wasn’t far behind you, and the two of you pulled off into the city.

You stared out your window, watching as the buildings of the city passed you by. The orange hue of the afternoon sun glinted back at you from any windows that could catch it. You noted that everything looked a bit cleaner than what you were used to, but you hadn’t really expected anything different. Both the hotel and the building that the gala was taking place in were in the better, more expensive, part of the city. Just as the sun began to dip behind the skyline, the car lurched to a stop, pulling your attention back to the driver.

“Are we here already?” You asked, looking out the driver side window.

“We are,” Grillby said thoughtfully, “but it is valet parking.” He glanced at you before sighing. “I am going to ask you to get out here.”

“What? Why?” You didn’t mind walking, and now that you were actively looking, you could see the entrance from where you were, but you were genuinely confused at his request.

“It would be better if we did not enter the building together,” he explained, “The less you seem like you associate with monsters, the more likely you are to get the information you are looking for.”

“Yeah.” You nodded to yourself, “Yeah, okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

As you pushed open the door to step out, he stopped you, “You are on a guest list. When you get up to the doors, just give them your name.”

You turned to give him a resolute nod before shutting the door behind you. Your gaze slowly moved to the large set of doors that had a small gathering of people in front of it. The doors opened just enough to let a couple in. You steeled yourself with a deep breath before heading over there yourself.

The other group of people had been let in as well by the time you had gotten over there, leaving two men standing on either side of the doors. One of them, the one with a clipboard in his hand, watched you stop in front of them.

“Name?” He asked simply, and you quickly gave it to him. He looked down at the clipboard and flipped a few pages back before he looked back up at you. “Thank you. Enjoy your night.”

You gave him a small smile, “You too, I guess.” As the doors opened up, you stepped in without waiting any longer.

You found yourself straightening up as you walked down a short hall that had a few groups of people along the side. The end of the hall opened up into a huge ballroom that was housing most of the people that had been invited, which appeared to be a lot of people. In the very back of the room, you caught a glimpse of a small orchestra playing a classical song that you didn’t know the name of. Several people danced gracefully in the center of the room. With a quick scan of the room, it seemed like the majority of people were human, though there was a smattering of monsters here and there. You would most likely be able to get more information as you moved around through the crowd.

You moved over to the edge of the room, doing your best to skirt around the center and asses the guests to the best of your ability. The mental checklist for what you looking out for replayed in your head on loop. You doubted that they would look too obviously shady. It was a gala, after all, and everyone was dressed to the nines. But they were an anti-monster mob, which meant that there was a good chance they’d be avoiding any monsters. They’d likely be trying to interact with anyone who had influence or money, as well.

About halfway around the room, you realized that this would not be as easy as you had hoped. There was no one in particular that was standing out to you. On the other hand, you weren’t really standing out either.

Maybe you’d have a better chance of getting information if you changed that. Who would talk about anything important with some random nobody? You needed to make an impression.

Your eyes quickly scanned the room. You took in everything, from the servers weaving around, to the guests chatting amongst one another, to the musicians. You tried to formulate some kind of plan as you continued skirting around the crowd.

And that was when an opportunity hit you square in the face.

Your eyes landed on a tall monster talking to a woman. The monster was very obviously frustrated with something. You recognized both of them. Not only had they put the entire event on, but they were also the high councilwoman and the queen of monsters.

They stood next to the orchestra, and you took note of the fact that Queen Toriel continuously glanced between them and the door. The woman was doing the same, but seemed more concerned than frustrated.

You took the opportunity to get closer. Toriel’s voice became clear to you once you did, though you were careful not to get too close.

“I cannot believe the audacity of that woman! We told her to be here early!” She complained.

“I know, I know. She is late, but we should give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s not set to go on for another few minutes.” Was she talking about what you thought she was talking about? If so, you were the luckiest goddamned person in the entire room.

“Yes, but we paid her to be here! You would think that a ‘professional singer’ would at least send word that they’d be late!” Oh, hell yes.

“Um, excuse me?” You gained both of their attentions as politely as you possibly could. When they both looked over at you, you continued, “I know you don’t know me, and I know I really shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear that you guys are down a singer? Is that right?”

The two glanced at each other skeptically before looking back at you. The councilwoman narrowed her eyes, “What of it?”

You thought back to Mettaton’s reaction at hearing who you were. You supposed you would really be seeing how much gossip was spread about you sooner than you thought.

You gave them a smile, “I’m sorry! I guess I should introduce myself, shouldn’t I? My name is (Y/N), and I happen to be a singer.”

You received a pair of skeptical looks. “How convenient.” Toriel deadpanned, “but I’m afraid the if we let everyone who thinks they have a semi-decent voice give an attempt at singing, then we would surely regret it.”

“No, no,” you shook your head but kept the smile, “It’s actually my job to sing! I work at a monster owned bar in this city. It’s called Grillby’s.”

The name drop got Toriel to look at you in curiosity. She hummed and began circling you. “Yes, I believe that I have heard about you. I have known Grillby for a very, very long time, and I was skeptical when I heard that he had hired someone. I will admit that I am very curious.” She looked over at the councilwoman, who was watching in confusion.

Toriel stood up straighter. “It would be in out best interests that we have a backup, in case that wretched woman does not show up in the next,” she looked at the time on her phone, “one minute.”

“Are you sure?” The councilwoman glanced between you and the queen.

“I am.” Toriel turned her gaze to the door. “I hope you know what you are doing, child.” She told you offhandedly.

You followed her gaze, and the three of you stared at the door. No one came through it. The music slowed to a stop as the song ended. You would have done something to celebrate your victory if you weren’t at a fancy gala.

As soon as Toriel gave you a nod, you ducked under the velvet rope that separated the rest of the room from the orchestra. Your grin became giddy at the sight of the grand piano at the front of the ensemble. You made your way over to it, and gave a small smile to the man that sat in front of it.

“I’m sorry, I know this is an odd request, but would you mind?” You gestured to the piano. The man gave you an odd look before glancing around you. When Toriel nodded, he stood up and gave you an unsure nod.

“Thanks. I’ll give it back in just a second.” That only seemed to add to his confusion as he wandered away. The entire orchestra was giving you questioning looks, but you just smiled at them.

You took a deep breath and let a soft smile rest on your face as you began playing the piano. Your eyes scanned the keys as you played, and then you began singing.

And another one bites the dust
But why can I not conquer love?
And I might've got to be with one
Why not fight this war without weapons?
And I want it and I wanted it bad
But there were so many red flags
Now another one bites the dust
And let's be clear, I trust no one

You did not break me
I'm still fighting for peace

Well I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
But I may snap when I move close
But you won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart
I've got an elastic heart
Yeah, I've got an elastic heart

And I will stay up through the night
Let's be clear, I won't close my eyes
And I know that I can survive
I walked through fire to save my life
And I want it, I want my life so bad
And I'm doing everything I can
Then another one bites the dust
It's hard to lose a chosen one

You did not break me
I'm still fighting for peace

Well I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
But I may snap when I move close
But you won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart

Well I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
But I may snap when I move close
But you won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart

Well I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard
But I may snap when I move close
But you won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart

I’ve got an elastic heart

Yeah, I’ve got an elastic heart

You slowly pulled your fingers away from the keys, and your eyes moved up to the rest of the room. As a round of polite applause cam from the crowd, you stood up and took a small bow. With a friendly grin in place, you stepped back under the velvet rope and wandered towards and area of the ballroom that seemed to have less monsters than the rest. That had seemed to be the right call, as you were stopped as a group of men in pinstripe suits called you over to them. You made sure to put a subtle saunter in you walk as you made your way over.

“That performance was stunning. I can’t wait to hear you sing for us again,” one of them gave you an offsetting grin, but you pretended to be oblivious to it.

“Oh! Well thank you. I’m afraid I won’t be doing any more songs for the night, though.” You smiled at him, “I was just a stand in for the singer they hired. She was late, you see.” You over explained to the man in an attempt to get him to trust you.

“That’s really a shame, babe,” you had to fight a wince as another one addressed you, “But I’m sure she won’t be nearly as talented as you.”

You giggled, “You’re too kind. But it is my job to sing, so I have to be good at it.” You gave them a playful wink.

“Oh? Where do you work? Maybe me and the boys can stop by sometime to hear you again.” Another one that hadn’t spoken yet looked you up and down. You felt a shiver go down your spine, but you chose to ignore it.

“It’s just a little hole in the wall place. Y’know, family run and all that. Doesn’t pay well, but It’s a job,” you weren’t exactly lying. You had worked at a place like that. You had until the owners died, at least.

The same one spoke again, “Well if you’re looking for… other arrangements, maybe we can strike up a deal, huh?” If you were to wager a guess, you would say that he was the one in charge of the other two.

You acted as though you were very interested in the idea, “Oh? What kind of arrangements were you thinking?”

“We got this bar we frequent. We basically own the place. Me and the boys wouldn’t mind having a pretty face making sweet music there,” you would like to pretend that he didn’t just tell you an innuendo. “We’d pay ya well, and keep you safe.”

Jackpot. If that didn’t sound like some kind of underground activity, you didn’t know what did. But, you still couldn’t just assume that these were the people you were looking for. You had to do a bit more digging.

“Well, I-“ You were interrupted by a tap on your shoulder. You watched as the men looked between you and whoever was behind you. Their faces set into scowls and they wandered away, giving you one last fleeting glance.

Shit! You had been so close! You were going to give whoever interrupted you a piece of our mind! You spun around with a deep frown, and froze in your tracks.

You were sure that you were making an odd face, because the figure towering over you cleared their throat. You fought down a wave of panic, and smiled politely. Maybe the best way to get out of this was to pretend that nothing was wrong.

“Hello,” you greeted him. “Can I help you?”

W.D. Gaster smiled down at you, “Indeed you can.”

Chapter Text

It was probably for the best that your internal monologue remained just that, internal. If it didn’t, you would have found yourself repeatedly shouting the word ‘fuck’ very loudly in a ballroom full of people.

“Oh?” Your voice cracked slightly, causing you to draw back.

“I apologize. Where are my manners?” Much to your confusion, he reached out a hand, “My name is W.D. Gaster. I am afraid that we have not had the pleasure of meeting yet. It is rare that I come to one of these events and find a face that I do not recognize.” You had to stop yourself from letting out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t recognized you? Apparently not, if the his outreached hand was telling you anything. Light treading would be needed if you wanted to keep it that way.

You dropped your hand into his, knowing that it would seem odd if you didn’t. “Charmed,” You mumbled out to him.

He brought your hand up to his mouth in a kiss. “What may I call you?”

“(Y/N) is fine.” He dropped your hand and you pulled it back to your side. You were absolutely certain that your heart rate was through the roof.

“Ah! A lovely name for an equally as lovely lady.” He was flirting with you and you weren’t sure how to handle it. “Tell me, what brings you here tonight?”

There was no way in hell you were going to be able to get away with lying to him. He was observant. You could tell from the way the lights in his eyes looked you over. He was thoughtful. No, thoughtful wasn’t the right word. He was calculating, and you didn’t like the way he kept studying your face as if he were trying to place where he had seen it before.

“I actually came here with Grillby.” You explained.

He scanned you once more, “Grillby, hm?” Do you think he would mind if I asked for a dance?”

Your mouth quirked upward into a smirk, “I don’t know. He doesn’t really seem like the dancing type. I could be wrong though.”

He let out a chuckle, “I do not wish to dance with him. I meant you.”

“Well, in that case,” you crossed your arms over your chest. “Grillby is not in charge of who I dance with. That being said, I’m afraid I’m not a very good dancer.” You were really hoping that you could just get him to leave you alone.

“Nonsense!” He reached out a hand to you once more, “I’ll lead. All you have to do is follow.” You weren’t going to be able to get out of this, were you?

You took his hand, but before he could pull you towards the center of the room, you held up a finger. “One dance.”

“Of course,” he smiled and began towards the other dancers. As he walked, he glanced back at you. “You are here as his date, then?”

“He’s my boss,” you explained quickly.

He stopped and looked back at you once more, this time with obvious surprise. “Oh! I see! That must mean that you are the illustrious songbird that everyone has been talking about.” Damn. It really was impressive how quickly rumors spread among monsters. But, then again, you had been working at Grillby’s for just over two months.

“Yeah, that’s me. The one and only.” You gave him a smile that felt more than a little forced to you.

He stopped walking and set himself up. You, who had never really ballroom danced before, clumsily followed his lead as he began stepping to the music. You had to stare down at your feet to keep yourself from stepping on his toes.

Despite your concentration being obviously placed on your footwork, he continued to talk to you. “Are you and he involved?”

“What?” That question nearly made you stumble over the hem of your dress, but the monster easily caught you and righted you once more. “No. I think he just invited me here because he figured I’d have fun. He’s concerned that I don’t get out enough. Honestly, he can be a bit overbearing, but it’s sorta endearing in a paternal way, I suppose.” You decided that the best route was simply to keep the whole truth to yourself.

“That is very interesting. I have heard Grillby being called many things, but paternal is not one of them.” He spoke easily, as if the dancing while talking wasn’t affecting him at all. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t.

“You say that like you know him personally,” you played along with the small talk. You knew that Gaster and Grillby know each other.

“Yes. He and I have known each other for many, many years.” You got the feeling that there was more to that. You also got the feeling that he wasn’t willing to share any more about that.

You smirked, “Really? Well, if you have any embarrassing stories about him, I would love to hear them.” That certainly wasn’t a lie.

Gaster chuckled, “You are very charming. I can see what all of the fuss is about. You are just as lovely as your voice.” His smile turned thoughtful, “Although, you do seem familiar. I just can’t quite seem to place how.” Red alert! Red alert! Calm down, and act natural.

“Do I? Maybe we’ve me in passing before?” You suggested to try and throw him off.

He eyed you, though the smile was still in place,”Perhaps.” You didn’t like that answer. You didn’t like that answer one bit. You could hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears, and it was taking everything for you to keep calmly smiling at him.

“If you work at the bar, you must have met my son.” You thanked every deity that you could think of when he changed the subject.

“Son?” You inquired. You weren’t supposed to know anything about him, including the fact that you knew who his children were.

“Yes. My son Sans frequents the bar,” He explained.

“Oh!” You acted surprised. “Yeah, I know him. He is quite the handful.”

“Hey, I resent that.” Oh, thank fuck.

You chuckled, partially because of Sans, and partially out of relief, “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”

Sans hummed before looking to Gaster, “Would ya mind if I borrowed her for a sec? Grillbz was lookin’ for her.” He gestured to you, and Gaster let you go.

You took a step towards Sans, and watched cautiously as Gaster’s eyelights flickered between you and Sans. There was a moment where his expression quickly shifted from curiosity, to confusion, to surprise as if he had made a realization. You really hoped that he hadn’t. His grin came back, though it felt much more insincere, and significantly more predatory than it had before.

“Yes, I suppose that would be acceptable. I am sure we will be meeting again soon.” Something about the way he had said that worried you. He turned and gave a wave over his shoulder, “Until next time.”

After watching him disappear into the crowd, you let out a sigh of relief. It was short lived, though, as you were yanked in the opposite direction by Sans. He pulled you out of the main ballroom and back into the entrance hall. Once you were unceremoniously shoved into an offshoot, you turned to Sans.

“Thanks for that, I-“

“You’re a fucking idiot!” You blinked at him in surprise. “Why the hell would you think it was a good idea to draw attention to you?! You know that there are people looking to see you killed, and you just-“ he interrupted himself with a frustrated groan.

“Look, I didn’t think-“

“No, ya didn’t”

You shook your head and scowled at him, “I wasn’t done talking, you ass. Let me finish. I didn’t think that you or Gaster were going to be here. Nobody told me, and if they would have I definitely wouldn’t have done that. And I don’t think that the one mob that I angered would do anything at an event like this. If anything, they’d try to get me to leave, which was exactly what I was expecting to happen.”

“You weren’t just doin’ Tori a favor, then. You wanted them to notice you.” He said, finally catching on to your plan. He then shook his head and sighed. “It was a smart plan, but you didn’t have all the information. You coulda gotten yourself killed.”

“Yeah,” you slumped against the nearest wall. “I seem to be putting my life in danger a lot lately.”

“I know. I’ve been the one that has to deal with your ass.” His expression lightened a bit as he teased you.

“Oh, but what a nice ass it is. It’s really worth all the drama, if you ask me.” You shot him a wink.

He chuckled, “Now that’s something I can get behind, Sweetheart.” You couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

You glanced back out into the hallway, only to see that there were a few onlookers that had seen Sans pull you into the room you were in.

You sighed before turning to him, “Well, I think my chances of getting anyone to talk have gone downhill in the last ten minutes.”

He grinned, “I think ya might be right. What’s say we get outta here?”

You eyed him, “As much as I would love to, it’s a no from me. I’ve gotta talk to Grillby.”

The corners of his smile twitched downwards. “You’re goin’ back in there? Are ya sure?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I at least have to tell Grillby what’s happening before I disappear.”

“Alright. I’ll wait here. Come get me when you’re done, and I’ll take ya back to the hotel.” He leaned against the wall, apparently ready to wait for you.

You looked at him in thought for a moment. “Thank you,” you told him before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, “for everything.” You stood back and admired the red that took over his face as he looked at you in surprise. “I’ll be right back.”

You left Sans to go find your boss, quickly spotting him in the crowd. Fire was admittedly a bit hard to miss. As you approached, you noticed that he was speaking with Papyrus. Grillby noticed you before Papyrus had, the later a bit distracted with whatever he was ranting about. If his brother’s reaction was any indication, you got the feeling that it may have been you. At Grillby’s lack of attention, he followed the elemental’s gaze.

You stopped in front of them, and they both silently stared you down.

“Hey guys,” you greeted sheepishly. The silence continued.

Finally, Papyrus sighed, “I don’t think that I’m even surprised.”

Grillby crossed his arms, “I am disappointed in you.” Ouch. That hurt a bit.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, “I made a decision that didn’t exactly work in my favor…” You crossed your arms, “but it would've worked if it weren’t for you meddling skeletons!” The reference seemed to be lost on the two of them, but you managed to make yourself smile.

“I will admit that you know how to make quite the impression when you want to.” Papyrus smirked at you, “It’s a trait we seem to share.”

You raised a brow, “Oh, do we now?” Looking back on it though, he was right. Both your first and second meetings with the skeleton were memorable. It was hard to forget being trampled by a dog.

“Anyways,” you began, “I don’t think that I can do much else here, so I’m gonna hit the road before your dear old dad decides to behead me.”

“Do you need me to take you back home?” Grillby’s question was more of an offer.

“No, Sans offered to drop me back at the hotel. I just thought I should let you know before I left.” You smiled, “Thanks, though.”

You gave the two of them a wave, but before you could turn to leave, you were stopped by Papyrus, “I trust that my brother will take care of you, but I am sure that you have managed to put yourself on many people’s radars. Please be careful.”

His sincerity almost surprised you. It took a second, but you gave him a resolute nod. You weren’t looking to die anytime soon.

Chapter Text

Sans liked to think that he was a smart man. He had to be in his field of work. He had to be observant, and careful, and he had to think two steps ahead. There was a lot of things that Sans had to be or do, and there were very few things that could catch him off guard. He wished he could say that there was a good reason for any of that, but he couldn’t. There were only horrible reasons.

The underground had taken almost everything from him. His kindness, his innocence, his compassion, his hope. The surface hadn't been much of an improvement . He couldn’t say that he wasn’t trying to be better. He was, it just wasn’t working out for him. It had been years that everyone had been on the surface, and all of the monsters were trying to shake their old habits, even if it was only a little.

But Sans still found himself in a rut. They had come to the surface, and it was beautiful, but it was also unfair. The monsters had moved from one life of violence and crime to another. This was especially true for the skeleton brothers.

The reappearance of their father hadn’t helped much. Gaster was a prideful, twisted man who was too blinded by his hatred to understand what they could’ve had on the surface. Gaster didn’t want to change. That was something that really bothered Sans. He wasn’t bothered by what his father had done, or what he chose to do on the surface. He was bothered by his father’s refusal to see anything other than what he wanted to see. While most monsters did their best to get better, Gaster only sunk farther and farther into a hole of his own making, and he was dragging Sans and Papyrus along with him.

Gaster fell into an odd grey are for Sans. Gaster may have been a ruthless mob boss, but he was still Sans’ father. Sans didn’t hate him. No, it was quite the contrary. Sans cared about him. He wouldn’t have spent hours on end helping him get all of the remnants of the void off of him if he didn’t. He knew that Gaster cared about him and his brother, as well.

Gaster was an odd man. He showed that he cared in ways that would make some people question his sincerity. But Sans and Papyrus had both been around him long enough to understand the mystery of a man that is W.D. Gaster. They knew that they mattered to him. He just had a strange way of showing it.

Neither Sans or Papyrus had really wanted to be a part of any of this when they reached the surface. But, Papyrus followed Gaster, and Sans followed his brother. Sans would follow his brother anywhere. Even if said place happened to be Gaster’s office.

He had called the two of them in there not five minutes ago, and Sans had barely wandered through the door. Both sets of eyes stared at him as he stood over his father’s desk. Being used to his punctuality, Papyrus and Gaster quickly moved on.

“Now that we are all here,” Gaster looked pointedly at Sans, “I have a very important bit of information that I have happened upon. You two would be wise to listen.” While Papyrus seemed to be raptly invested in whatever Gaster was going to say, Sans only listened with mild disinterest. If Gaster was going to give him a job to do, then he would do it. He didn’t need all the backstory as to what mob wronged him this time.

Gaster stood from his seat and glared at the two of them, “Last night, I ran into a very interesting guest at the gala.” Sans payed a bit more attention when Gaster mentioned the gala. “There was a woman there. I had not seen her there before, but she seemed familiar somehow.” Oh, this wasn’t information on another job. This was something else entirely. This was a buildup to a secret. It was a buildup to a very, very bad day on your end.

“It did not take me long to place her. She was in my house, after all.” Gaster spoke calmly, but each syllable was coated in venom. “So, I can only presume that you two are familiar with her as well, are you not?” He looked between them for an answer. Sans was still trying to find one.

“You are talking about the woman that left our house? She was not-“ Papyrus began trying to explain it away, but Gaster interrupted him by raising a hand.

“I will have none of that. The two of you have lied to me enough. She works for Grillby, and I think she knows something.”

The room fell into silence. Gaster was right, of course, and the brothers knew it. She knew a lot . How were they supposed to tell him that she had seen one of them covered in blood? Now matter how they put it, Sans already knew the outcome of this conversation. Maybe he could talk him down, though.

“Look, she hasn’t done anythin’. Sure, she knows some things, but I don’t think that she’s workin’ for anybody,” Sans already knew that he couldn’t get away with lying, so he didn’t bother hiding the fact that she had found things out about his family.

“Perhaps not,” Gaster concurred, “But if she gets captured? If I am understanding correctly, she knows not only what we do, but also where we live. She is a liability.”

“What about Grillby?” Papyrus spoke up, crossing his arms.

“I do not see how he matters in all of this.” Gaster raised a brow at his youngest son.

“She works for him,” Papyrus explained, “She is under his care.” Sans was, admittedly, a bit happy to hear that his brother was willing to try to protect you. He wasn’t entirely sure why that was, though.

“Yes, I have considered that. Grillby is a smart man, and would not put this woman above the monsters he has known for years.”

Sans wasn’t so sure about that. Grillby may have been smart, but he was also greedy and possessive. In the end, Sans wasn’t sure how it would end with Grillby. On one hand, Grillby may understand the reasoning and let the issue go…

But on the other hand, Grillby had become attached to you. If any of them tried to do anything to you, he might lash out. Grillby was one monster that Sans knew better than to mess with. He figured that killing an employee counted as ‘messing with him’.

“You two seem awfully thoughtful over this. The woman is a stranger. She is…” Gaster trailed off. He had a look on his face that Sans recognized to mean that he was on the edge of a breakthrough. “Why was she at the gala?”

Sans and Papyrus spared a glance at each other. He wasn’t sure if Papyrus knew, but he most certainly did.

“It-“ Sans sighed, “She was tryin’ to get information.”

Gaster looked at Sans curiously, “Interesting. Why was she doing that?”

Sans found himself shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. “Not really my place to say.” He found himself even more uncomfortable at the thought of sharing your story with his father. Gaster didn’t care. Gaster was either going to have you killed, or exploit you and then have you killed. Judging by the way his questioning was going, Gaster was leaning towards the latter.

“So you do know, but you do not want to share.” Gaster glared at Sans before turning to Papyrus, “Why was she gathering information?”

Papyrus shifted on his feet, “She was- She’s had some run-ins with some of the humans.” Papyrus gave a vague explanation.

“Ah, so her motives are revenge based.” Gaster concluded, though he had mostly spoken to himself more than them.

“I am assuming that the girl trusts you two, does she not?” Gaster turned to Sans, most likely already resolute in whatever plan he had made.

The question was one that he didn’t want to answer. You trusted him. You told him that you trusted him, even after everything. Now here he was, plotting your murder. Sans felt disgusted with himself. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before. Exploiting someone and then killing them was not an unusual occurrence. But, he never really knew any of the people.

In the end, you wouldn’t be any different. Just another set of numbers to add to his already astronomically high EXP count. He didn’t care about you. He couldn’t care about you.

“I will take your silence as a yes. I would like for you to invite her back to the house this afternoon. She and I will be having a chat.” Gaster sat back down in his chair, and did not wait for a response before gesturing him and his brother out of the room. They walked out in silence.

As if on autopilot, the pair of them walked down the stairs and into the living room. The slice was settled heavily over them as they gathered their thoughts.

Papyrus was the first to speak, “Should we do something? She’s under our protection.” Papyrus’ quiet voice had gotten much, much better since they reached the surface.

“Not much we can do. What the old man says goes.” Sans shoved his hands in his pants pockets.

“I’m-“ Papyrus seemed to fight himself mentally. “I’m having a bit of trouble with this one. I know it will end the same way they all do, but I just need a moment to think about it. I think...” Papyrus sighed and shook his head, “I think I might have let myself get attached,” He admitted.

Sans found himself agreeing with the sentiment. You were quite a woman, and from the moment he saw your soul, he knew you would be trouble. As he quickly found with you, justice and perseverance made quite the duo. He hadn’t really had any clue how strong your perseverance was until he had learned more about you and your past, but he had honestly begun to fell a bit intimidated by your ability to get back up after you are knocked down. And your sense of justice? Well, it drove you. It wasn’t hard to spot the spark of justice in your eye when you felt especially passionate about something.

But you weren’t just your traits. You were so much more than that. You were…

No, he needed to stop that train of thought. He didn’t care about you. It was fun while it lasted, but it needed to come to an end. You were only going to be around for one more job. A few more days, and you’d be gone. You’d be gone, and he and Papyrus could move on with their lives. He didn’t care about you.

...But… If he didn’t care about you, then why did his soul hurt at the thought of losing you?

Chapter Text

“I’m never taking you anywhere ever again,” Grillby mumbled as soon as you wandered up to the bar.

You couldn’t help but chuckle at his exasperation. “I’m not entirely sure what you expected.”

“You’re right. It was all my fault,” he deadpanned. “I should have taken your idiocy into account when planning.”

Your chuckle turned into a full laugh, “Nice to know you think so highly of me.”

He shook his head at you, “Do you ever take anything seriously?”

You hummed, “I dunno. I think I internalize all of my seriousness and use sass and rash decisions as a coping mechanism.” What you had said was fairly accurate, but you said it in a joking manner.

“...That actually makes a lot of sense,” He tilted his head at you.

You raised a brow at him before shaking off the conversation with a heavy shrug. He shook his head at you before going back to what he had been doing before you showed up.

You leaned onto the counter and distractedly scanned over all of the bottles of various kinds of alcohol that lined the back of the bar. Your thoughts wandered to the gala that had happened just last night. You had gathered a total of zero information, much to your chagrin. Not only had you gotten no information, but you also probably got yourself found out by Gaster, who was the one person that you had been trying to avoid.

You honestly weren’t sure why you had been trying so hard to avoid him in the first place. The two run-ins you had with him had left you unscathed. You had been told so many times by so many different people that he was dangerous, so you had expected to be dead on the spot the next time you saw him. You were, very obviously, still alive and kicking. Maybe Gaster wasn’t as bad as they were making him out to be. Or, maybe he was and you were just extremely lucky. Either way, you were alive, and you would like to keep it that way.

Though, if you kept going the way you were, that might be asking for an awful lot.

“Careful little bird. If you get too lost in your thoughts, you might have trouble finding your way back.” You glanced back in confusion at the familiar voice.

“That’s awfully poetic of you, Papyrus.” You spun around to face him, “What brings you to a dive like this one?”

“Am I not allowed to be here?” He snapped at you, crossing his arms over his chest.

You put your hands up in a placating way, “No need to get snippy. I just thought that you didn’t like Grillby’s. And Sans isn’t here, so I know you aren’t here to drag his drunk ass back home.”

He narrowed his eyes at you before he softened, of only somewhat, “You are right. I am here for you.”

You blinked at him in surprise, but then a devious smirk fell onto your lips, “Oh? How forward of you.”

He sputtered slightly at the insinuation, and you watched in amusement as he regained his composure, though his cheek bones still had a light tilting of red to them.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I just need you to come back home with me.” He attempted to amend what he had said before. You tried to fight a chuckle as you raised your brow at him.

He caught on before you could make another quip, “You are the absolute worst, and are making this more difficult than it needs to be!”

You chuckled softly to yourself, “Right. Well, you’re a functioning adult, so you know how jobs work. As much as I’d love to go with you on your mystery adventure which may or may not be completely platonic,” he groaned at your jab at him,” I can’t just leave in the middle of work.”

Papyrus seemed to consider that for a second. He then turned to Grillby, who didn’t bother to pretend like he hadn’t been listening to the two of you. “I need to borrow your songbird.”

“Why?” Grillby asked curtly.

Papyrus glanced between you and Grillby before sighing, “Gaster wishes to speak with her.”

Grillby physically recoiled, and threw off a few sparks. You weren’t fairing much better. Did he actually want to speak with you, or did he want to “speak” with you? You were literally just thinking that you weren’t really looking to die.

Your slight shock turned into a confused betrayal. Papyrus was really here to take you to him? You didn’t want to believe that Papyrus would willingly walk you into your death. Maybe it really was just a talk? But, what did Gaster have to say to you? You knew who they were and what they did, and if he truly knew that you knew, you would imagine that it would be less words and more excruciating pain. You really, really hoped that he was significantly less murdery than you were thinking.

“ Why ?” Your attention was snapped back to Grillby, who was practically bristling at the skeleton.

Papyrus looked between the two of you. He must have easily read the concern in your features and the anger in your boss’, because he shook his head. “It’s not the kind of talk where someone gets hurt. I can assure you of that.” When neither you or Grillby were very convinced he sighed. “You trust me, right?”

That felt like a very loaded question. Yes, you trusted Papyrus. He hadn’t given you any reason not to trust him. He had even helped you when you needed it, and you couldn’t really see him doing that for someone that he was about to herd off to the slaughterhouse. But, at the same time, even if the two of you were friends, Papyrus was Gaster’s son. You knew that you would do anything for your family, so why would he be any different?

“I-“ you began, glancing between your boss and the skeleton, “Yeah. I do.”

Both of them seemed monetarily stunned at that bit of news. Papyrus quickly shook it off, “Then believe me when I tell you that not showing up would be a very bad idea.”

Now it was Grillby’s turn to glance between the two of you. Eventually, he let out a sigh that was accompanied by the soft crackling of flames, “I hope your trust is not misplaced, my dear.”

You looked over at Papyrus, who was studying you with an expression you couldn’t quite place. “Yeah, me too.” You thought you saw Papyrus wince at that, but it was quick enough that you weren’t sure.

You sighed and slid off of your stool, “Alright, fine.” You turned to Papyrus and gave him a pointed look, “If I die because of you, you’d better believe that I’m going to haunt your boney ass.”

Papyrus raised a brow at you, “Are you now?”

“For sure. Full on Poltergeist style.” You confirmed with a nod. Then you turned to Grillby, “Guess I’ll be back. But, uh, if I’m not, it’s probably safe to assume the worst.”

The flame on Grillby’s head flared, “Do not joke about that. Your safety is no laughing matter.”

You found yourself sinking into your coat that you hadn’t even gotten the chance to take off, “Yeah. I know, Boss. I’ve kinda dug myself into a hole on this one, though.”

Grillby stared at you for a few seconds before letting out a resigned sigh. He went back to what he was doing, tearing his gaze off of you and Papyrus. “Just be careful.”

You nodded and turned to Papyrus, “Well, I guess my schedule just got a whole lot clearer for the day.” You began making your way to the door with Papyrus tailing you. You turned to give Grillby a wave, “See ya later.” He didn’t reply.

You frowned and let Papyrus lead you to his car. The walk to the car was just as tense and quiet as most of the car ride there. The only sound in the car was the anxious tapping of your fingers against the car door. You couldn’t help but feel like you were being carted off to the gallows.

Eventually, you sighed and broke the silence, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Papyrus gave you a confused glance before looking back at the road, “Why are you apologizing?”

“I know that I’ve caused you and Sans a lot of trouble, so I’m sorry for that. I didn’t mean to.”

Papyrus was quiet for a second. “I know you didn’t.” That was where the conversation ended. You didn’t mind that, though. You had already said your piece.

The drive was significantly shorter than you wanted it to be. You spent a few seconds sitting silently in the car after it stopped, attempting to gather up your nerves. You could do this. You had already met him twice before, why couldn’t you do it again?

You stepped out of the car and followed Papyrus out to the door. You struggled for a second to plaster on a fake confidence, but Papyrus seemed to understand what you were doing, so he waited. You gave him a nod once you were as ready as you were going to get, and he let you into his house.

The living room was empty. You weren’t sure whether you were relieved, or angry that the anticipation was going to continue. After a second of consideration, you decided that it didn’t really matter.

You followed Papyrus up the stairs. He stopped at the one room you had yet to be in. He knocked on the door.

“Come in,” a voice sounded brought the door. Papyrus wasted no time in doing just that. You took a deep breath, and followed behind him.

Your eyes immediately found the biggest threat in the room. Gaster sat behind a dark wood desk, and was glancing at you and Papyrus from behind a stack of papers that he had been holding. You subconsciously took a step towards Papyrus as Gaster stared at you. Your eyes caught another figure leaning on the wall opposite to Gaster.

So, the gang's all here.

Gaster set the papers down on his desk and stood up, “Ah. Miss (Y/N). Thank you for joining me today.”

You eyed him warily, “And what, exactly, is it that I’m joining you for?”

He smiled at you, but it felt off putting, “I have a proposition for you.”

You crossed your arms, “A proposition ?”

He stepped out from behind his desk and folded his arms behind him, “Trust me my dear, if I wanted you dead at this moment, you would already be dead.” For some reason, that didn’t make you feel any better. “However, that is not in my best interests at the moment.” At the moment?

“Alright, fine. Cut to the chase. What do you want from me?” You stood your ground as you attempted to stare him down.

“Well, it has come to my attention that you are looking for a certain someone, are you not?” You glanced at Papyrus and Sans. They had to have said something. He continued talking, “Well I believe that we can come to an agreement. You see, I am looking for information, as well. In order to avoid an all out turf war, I have decided to enlist your help to gather it.”

“And if I don’t?” You felt like you already knew the answer. That was confirmed when he answered by grinning down at you. You shifted uncomfortably, “I see.”

“If you are successful,” he continued, “I would be more than happy to help you with your little revenge plot.” The way he said that made you feel like he was lying, or at least had ulterior motives. But, what choice did you have, really?

He grinned and reached a hand out,” So, do we have a deal?”

You glanced between him and his hand. You could already tell that you were going to regret this.

You reached out and took his hand. That particular moment felt very much like You were selling your soul, or what you imagined that to seek like, at least. You felt… doomed. But, at least you weren’t dead.

Well, you weren’t dead yet, anyways. That had to count for something.

Chapter Text

“He’s expecting me to do what, now?” You were a bit offended at what Gaster was expecting you to do. Then again, you recalled what he thought of you the first time he saw you. But, just because he assumed that you were some kind of back alley hooker, did not mean that you were! You found yourself growing more and more bitter with him. He didn’t even bother to tell you the plan himself!

Sans shrugged and fell back onto the bed of your hotel room, “Tha’s what he said. I figured it’d be an easy job for ya.”

You groaned, “But I don’t wanna do that!”

He chuckled and raised a brow, “Wasn’t that your exact plan at the gala? Chat some random mobster dudes up so that they would tell ya everything?”

You crossed your arms defiantly, but broke eye contact, instead preferring to look at the black carpet. “Yeah, but it was my idea then. And then, I was just trying to get them to let their guards down. He wants me to somehow manage to get back to his bedroom. His bedroom, Sans. I’ve gotta pretend that I want into a stanger’s pants, and I just really don’t know if I’m that good of an actor.”

“Well, you’re gonna haveta try, Songbird. I’m rootin for ya,” Sans gave you a cheesy wink as you flopped down beside him.

“Do you know how many cheesy pet names I’m gonna have to suffer through? I hate pet names, dammit!” You dropped your voice a few octaves and put on your best generic mobster accent, “How’s about we go back to my place, Doll?”

Sans let out a deep laugh at your impression, “Hey! Are you mocking me?”

You found yourself giggling, “I might be.”

He acted offended for a second before looking away thoughtfully. “So do I get a free pass with the whole ‘I hate pet names’ thing? You don’t really seem to care when I call ya sweetheart,” he asked, giving you a questioning glance.

“Dude,” you smirked at him, “You’ve saved my life about fifty times at this point. I think you’ve earned it. You can call me whatever the hell you want.”

His grin grew, “Anythin’, huh?”

“Nope. I take that back. You can call me absolutely nothing, ever.” You had a cheesy smile on your face, happy to have a distraction in your banter with him.

“Nah, ‘s too late, honey. You’ve given me the go-ahead. You’re gonna get so many pet names now, babe.”

You rolled your eyes and resisted the urge to playfully smack him, “Oh no. What a tragedy. Really, a terrible fate has befallen me on this day.” You looked over to Sans with a grin on your face. It remained even as the room fell into a comfortable silence. The grin fell into something more sincere as the two of you just looked at each other. You took a second to take in the appearance of his skull.

...You had never really realized how pretty his eyelights were. They reminded you somewhat of a pair of stars gently flickering in an inky blackness. They never moved away from your face as you examined him further. He seemed tense, though a relaxed grin stayed on his face, his single gold tooth glinting in the light of the bedroom.

Through some kind of thought process that you weren’t quite ready to address yet, you realized something else and covered your face in your hands with a heavy groan. “I’m gonna have to kiss him, I just know it!”

Sans was quiet for a moment before you felt the bed shift as he sat up, “What are you, five? Why the hell does it matter if you gotta kiss him or not?” He snapped at you. You were a bit surprised at his sudden change in tone.

You slowly sat up, giving him a curious look. Why was he so grumpy all of the sudden? Was it something you had said?  

“You’re upset with me,” you pointed out.

He looked over at you with a frown, “What? I’m not-“ he sighed and shook his head. “Nah, I’m not upset with ya, Sweetheart. I’m just…” he trailed off and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.” He stood up, “Look, I’ve gotta get goin’. You’ve got work, and I’ve got somethin’ I’ve gotta do today.”

You blinked at him, “Oh.” Was that disappointment? Why the hell were you disappointed? You stood up and followed him to the door.

“Maybe I’ll stop by Grillby’s later, but I’ll probably have a bit of a crowd with me,” he rolled on his feet awkwardly.

“Oh. That’s okay. The more the merrier, I guess.” You gave him a small smile.

“Right,” he looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped himself. He gave you a nod before promptly disappearing out of the hotel room.

You stared at the spot that he had just been in. What was that all about? The more pressing question, though, was why you felt so disappointed that he had left. As you stared at the spot he had been in in confusion, you subconsciously brought your hand up to run a finger along your bottom lip.

“Aw, shit.” The realization hit you like a truck.

You really knew how to pick ‘em, didn’t you? You found yourself falling back onto the bed once more as you re-examined all of the life choices that had gotten you to the point you were at. How in the hell did you get a goddamned schoolgirl crush on Sans?

You really were an absolute idiot. Completely ignoring the glaring issue of his profession, he was a skeleton! A skeleton that you somehow found attractive? Hell, his whole family were a bunch of suave fuckers. How would you even…

Nope! That train of thought is going right into the garbage, never ever to see the light of day ever again. You were just going to keep the entire ordeal under lock and key. Hopefully if you ignored it, it would stop.

Though, with your luck, you were sure that it was all going downhill for you.

You sighed and stood up, pushing all of that to the back of your mind. That was something that you could be worried about when… if you got out of this whole debacle alive.

But for now, you had more important things to focus on than a crush. Like, work, for example, which you were going to be late for if you didn’t leave right away.

With that thought, you wasted no more time in rushing out the door. He could have at least offed to take you back to work, the jerk. But, no. Now, you have to dash all the way down to the lobby and out to the street, where you then have to pay a car to take you to work.

...Which was exactly what you had done before you met him. Maybe you shouldn’t be relying too heavily on Sans like that. Sure, teleportation was nice and all, but didn’t have to do that for you. Hell, he didn’t have to do anything for you. They didn’t have to set you up in a hotel, they don’t have to take you to work, they don’t have to protect you…

And, yet, they still do it. Most of the time, they do it without question. That confuses you more than you would like to admit. Did you really seem that helpless? Or was it something else?

It didn’t really matter why in the end. What mattered was that they had done all of that. You owed them a great deal for everything they had done for you. In fact, you doubted that you would even be alive if it weren’t for them.

You just hoped that you would have enough time to make it up to them.

You weren’t stupid. If you kept going down the road you were on, you most certainly would not lead a very long life. You just couldn’t find it in yourself to stop what you were doing. What did you really have to lose at this point, anyways? You had accepted your mortality a long time ago. Everyone had to die at some point, and you were oddly okay with that thought.

For now though, you were fueled by a burning sense of justice. You couldn’t give up. Not when you were so close to getting to where you needed to be. There was a feeling in your gut, as well, that told you that you needed to keep on going. Something that said that there was more for you, if you could just persevere through whatever your shitty life decided to throw at you.

So, that was exactly what you were going to do. Your gut had gotten you this far, so you may as well continue to follow it.

You reached out to wave as you spotted a familiar yellow car. “Taxi!” You shouted, successfully gaining the driver’s attention. As it pulled up, you quickly hopped inside and prattled off the address. He took off, and you quickly found yourself back in your thoughts.

You were just going to have to take it one day at a time, you supposed. Today just happened to be another day at work. At least, you hoped that it was going to be ‘just another day at work’. You could really use one of those at this point.

Chapter Text

You smiled and dropped the plate on the table. There was a bark of appreciation from one of the last patrons of the day. You gave him a wink in return before wandering back to the bar.

You usually didn’t stay past closing time, but tonight seemed like a special occasion. Grillby had yet to ask you anything about the situation, and you still hadn’t seen anything of the skeletons since Sans had disappeared on you that morning. There was a sort of unspoken agreement that you would wait out the rest of the customers in hopes that both Grillby would get a chance to speak with you, and one of the skeletons would show up.

You didn’t mind doing that. It wasn’t often Grillby asked you to stay later, and it wasn’t like there was a lot of work to be done after everyone left. Even while there was still people there, it wasn’t that difficult. After all, there were only a few regulars left, and they all looked like they were about ready to leave, anyways.

It wasn’t long before everyone had finished and left. You gave the group of dog monsters a wave as they wandered out. And, just like that, you and Grillby were the only ones left.

You wandered over to the bar and took a seat. There was a long moment of silence before Grillby finally broke it.

“What happened?” He asked curtly, setting down the glass he had been polishing.

“Well, I-“ you were interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open. It was unsurprising when you turned around to see the skeleton brothers. It was significantly more surprising that they had a kid with them.

“Heya, Grillbz. Sorry we’re late, but we figured you wouldn’t want any customers around,” Sans wandered up to the bar and took a seat on his usual barstool, which, at this point, may as well have had his name engraved onto it.

You ignored him in favor of eyeing the child curiously. They were tucked behind Papyrus, holding tightly to the hem of his coat. They looked to be about seven or eight at most, and they were looking up at you through their lashes cautiously.

You let a small smile settle on your face as you gave them a little wave. They tensed up and moved behind Papyrus more.

“Don’t take it too personal, Sweetheart. The kid’s been through a lot.” Sans must have noticed that your attention was on them.

You let the smile stay as you slid off of your stool, “That’s okay. No harm done.” You kneeled down so that you were closer to their level, “Do you want anything to drink? Or a snack, maybe?”

They stared at you thoughtfully for a second before nodding. They let go of Papyrus in order to move their hands in specific patterns. Your confusion only lasted a moment before it registered that they were using sign language.

You glanced up a Papyrus uncertainty. He had been watching the interaction, much to your relief.

You looked back down at the kid, “I’m, uh. I’m sorry, kiddo. I’m afraid that I don’t understand.” You stood up, “Did you catch that, Paps?”

He raised a brow at the nickname, “Frisk asked for fries and a milkshake.”

You nodded before looking back down at the kid, “Well, that’s a pretty tall order, but I think I can manage it.” You gave them a wink, and they grinned sheepishly back at you.

You turned around to the bartender, “Hey, do you-“ you then noticed that he was already gone, presumably to the kitchen. “Oh, okay. Maybe he’s got it, then.”

Sans chuckled and patten the stool next to him. The kid, Frisk, left Papyrus’s side to rush over to Sans. They happily pulled themself up to the counter and began swinging their feet.

“They get the same thing every time. Grillbz has their order down pat, isn’t tha’ right, kid.” He gave them a pat on the head as they vigorously nodded. You couldn’t help but smile at the interaction.

Grillby came back from the kitchen, fries and milkshake in hand. He set them on the counter before looking to the skeleton brothers.

“Would you mind wiping down the tables while I have a chat with Sans and Papyrus?” He didn’t even look in your direction as he tossed a rag at you.

“Sure?” You managed to catch it, “I mean, yeah. I can do that.” You glanced between the three of them before wandering over to the other side of the building.

You decided that, while you could hear murmuring from them, you wouldn’t listen in. You didn’t really need to, and you felt like you shouldn’t listen in. So, you did exactly what Grillby asked you to, and began wiping down the table furthest away from the bar. As you focused on what you were doing, you found yourself humming a few tuneless notes.  

You moved onto the next table, and the notes finally became some semblance of a familiar song as you continued. It quickly became the instrumentals of the beginning of the song, though you tried to keep it at least somewhat quiet so that you didn’t disturb the conversation at the bar.

You were stopped by a tug on your dress. You looked down to see the kid looking up at you with a big grin. They were excitedly bouncing on their feet, much to your confusion. They tapped their throat.

You blinked a few times, and Frisk waited patiently. “Do you… want me to sing a song for you?” You tried. Apparently that was the right answer, because they vigorously nodded and signed something in excitement.

You grinned and chuckled, and then began humming the intro right where you had left off.

You began quietly, still trying to let the others finish what they were doing.

“Three little birds sat on my window
And they told me I don't need to worry
Summer came like cinnamon, so sweet
Little girls, double-dutch on the concrete”

They swayed happily along with you, and you found yourself grinning. You couldn’t help but wonder why they had seemed so closed off before. You certainly hoped that whatever they had ‘been through’ had nothing to do with the job that Sans and Papyrus found themselves in.

“Maybe sometimes we got it wrong, but it's all right
The more things seems to change, the more they stay the same
Oh, don't you hesitate”

You left the rag abandoned on the table as you reached a hand out to the kid. They took it with a toothy grin, and you waited no time in spinning them.

“Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down”

You kneeled down once more to ruffle their hair, which they let you do. You gave them a wink, followed by a gentle smile with the next words of the song.

“You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow”

You stood back up with a twirl, letting your dress flare up. They copied you, and even though they didn’t have a dress on, they seemed happy about it.

“Blue as the sky, sunburnt and lonely
Sipping tea in the bar by the roadside
Don't you let those other boys fool you
Gotta love that Afro hairdo”

You continued to sing, though you were slightly confused when they ran back to the bar, a spark of determination in their eyes. They glanced between Sans, who was still sitting on his stool, though it was now turned around so that he was watching you and Frisk, and Papyrus, who stood next to his brother with his arms crossed. When you saw that their attention was on you, you gave them an apologetic look, though you didn’t stop.

“Maybe sometimes we feel afraid, but it's all right
The more you stay the same, the more they seem to change
Don't you think it's strange?”

After a moment of consideration, Frisk must have decided that the easier target would be the one that was already standing up. You watched in mild amusement as they grabbed the taller brother by the edge of his jacket once more, and began dragging him towards you. He gave them a look, but didn’t fight them much. A hint of a chuckle escaped you.

“Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down
You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow”

They shoved him towards you meaningfully, though he didn’t budge. Papyrus looked back at them as they sighed something.

He scoffed, “ Dance? Why would I want to do that?” At his words, you smirked. He glanced quickly between you and the kid.

You extended a hand out to him with a smirk. A light red tinting covered his cheekbones as he crossed his arms and looked away. You grinned and continued singing, this time very much attempting to regain his attention.

“Just more than I could take
Pity for pity's sake
Some nights kept me awake
I thought that I was stronger
When you gonna realize that you don't even have to try any longer?
Do what you want to”

He stared at you in amusement as you struck a dramatic pose and reached your hand out once more. With an eye roll that was completely unnecessary in your opinion, he took your hand and spun you away, much in the same way you had done for Frisk. You grinned at him as he pulled you back. You could hear Frisk clapping happily at the turn of events.

“Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down”

Papyrus was actually a fairly decent dancer, as you quickly discovered. You, on the other hand, were certain that your dancing was a hot mess in comparison. But… you found that you didn’t really care. You were having fun. Plus, you had yet to step on any toes, so that was a win in your book.

“Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down
Oh, you're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow”

Papyrus let you go as you finished softly. He stared down at you for a second before his face lit up in a blush once more. He scoffed and crossed his arms.

“There. Are you happy now?” He took a step away from you, scowling at Frisk, who nodded in return. You didn’t miss the sly grin that they gave you.

You couldn’t help but laugh. “I think they’re extremely happy.”

They nodded at you before holding up a finger and spinning it in a circle.

You chuckled, “Again?” When they nodded, Papyrus groaned.

“I am not doing that again.” He began stomping back towards the bar.

You stuck your tongue out at him, “Don’t be a spoilsport, Papyrus!” When he didn’t answer, you looked over at Sans, “Fine, you want a turn, then, Casanova?”

He stared at you thoughtfully for a second before shaking his head, “Sorry, Songbird. Dancin’s not really my thing.” He shrugged, “ ‘sides, it’s the kiddo’s bedtime. We gotta head out before Tori chews us out for keeping ‘em up.”

“Yes. I think getting to sleep would be a good Idea for all of us,” Grillby leaned over the counter, “From what I hear, you have a long day ahead of you, my dear.”

You groaned and pinched the bridge of your nose, “Don’t remind me. I’m not looking forward to it.” You dropped your hand with a sigh, “But I guess you’re right. Sorry, Kiddo. Maybe next time, okay?”

They frowned, but nodded nonetheless. Their face scrunched up in thought for a second before they turned to Sans and Papyrus. Frisk signed something.

You didn’t know what it was, but it must have been something serious judging by the way the expressions of the other three in the room shifted. None of them said anything, so you were left out of the loop.

Before you could question it, Sans stood up. “Let’s head out.” He barely even acknowledged you as he walked over to the door and pulled it open, he looked over his shoulder, “Come on.” He snapped. Frisk and Papyrus gave each other a look before following.

Frisk gave you a wave as the door shut behind them. They had given you an oddly somber look.

You stared at the door quietly for a second before turning to Grillby, “Sans has been testy the last few days,” you pointed out needlessly.

He nodded with a soft hum, “Yes. I think I know why, as well.”

You raised a brow, “Oh? Do enlighten me.”

He shook his head, “It’s not my place to say. Sans’ business is his own. Besides, it’s just a hunch.”

You sighed and rubbed your arm, “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you around then?”

He stared at you for a few seconds before giving a single nod. “I hope so.”

You left work that night with a sense of foreboding. You hadn’t liked the way that anyone was acting. Especially at the point of giving your goodbyes for the night. They all felt too… final.

Or, maybe you were just reading into things too much. You really wanted that to be the case. For some reason though, you had your doubts.

Chapter Text

It wasn't even a day later when you found yourself on the doorstep of the skeletons’ home once more. You knocked in a rhythm, not only to tell them that it was you, but also to avoid the horrible knock-knock joke that would inevitably happen if you didn’t. Though, there was still a good chance that Sans would try to give you one before you went inside.

Thankfully, it was Papyrus that opened the door. He raised a brow when you held up a tray of drinks.

“I brought coffee,” you grinned at him, “I promised that I’d bring you some, and I decided that today would be that day. I didn’t really know what kind you like, so I got a few. I’m sure Sans will drink whatever you don’t.”

He took the tray from you with a thoughtful hum, “Yes. I’m sure he will.” He lead you inside and upstairs, right to Gaster’s office. Okay, you were getting right to business then.

Gaster and Sans were both already inside. When he noticed you, Gaster gestured to the chair in front of him. You decided not to put up a fight and sat, glancing cautiously between the skeletons.

Gaster’s gaze remained on you for a bit longer than you were comfortable with before it finally shifted to his son, who had yet to set down the tray of drinks.

Gaster took one of the drinks off of the tray, “Thank you.” He sipped at it as Sans and Papyrus grabbed on as well.

A smirk took over your face, “Oh, you’re welcome. I promise they aren’t all poisoned.”

Gaster began choking on his drink. You heard Sans snort in disbelief, and Papyrus took a large drink of his, already used to, and probably fed up with, your shenanigans. Your smirk grew into a grin as he abandoned the cup on his desk.

Gaster cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he gave you a very pointed look before it shifted back into a neutral stare, “for joining us. I am glad you could make it.”

You raised a brow at him, “I don’t think I really had much of a choice.” You thought for a second before amending, “Well, I mean, any other choice that kept me in one piece.”

Gaster smirked down at you, “You seem to catch on very quickly, my dear. Maybe I was wrong about you, and you will be able to pull this off.”

You weren’t sure why that offended you as much as it did. If he didn’t think you could do it, then why the hell did he ask in the first place?! He continued before you could protest.

“Now, I believe you already know the plan, and if you do not, then I’m sure you will figure it out.” He tucked his arms behind his as he fell into what you were going to call, ‘business mode’. “We have managed to track the schedule of your target, and will be leaving you within his vicinity. All you must do from there is gain access to his personal room, where he is likely keeping my blueprints.”

“Right,” you quipped, “That’s all.” After you took a second to process the information, you bit at your lip, “And you’re sure that this guy has whatever the hell I’m looking for?”

“It does not do you well to doubt your superiors in this business, my dear.” He eyed you, “But, yes. I am quite certain. He is the don’s son, and it is his job to not only keep track of the papers, but to understand them, as well.”

“Understand?” You asked. What needed to be understood? Mob paperwork couldn’t be that difficult.

“Yes. My paperwork in particular is understood by very few. In fact, the only three beings alive that can read it are in the room with you.” He gave you a smug look.

You took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of your nose in irritation, “Right, okay. So, if I’m understanding this right, you want me to attempt to infiltrate a rival mob and get access to their home. At which point, you’re expecting me to somehow be able to get paperwork, which they can’t even read in the first place , without being noticed.”

He stared at you for a second, before an insincere smile split across his face, “Yes. That seems correct. Do you have any more idiotic questions?”

“Yes, actually,” you crossed your arms, “Why can’t Sans just teleport in and grab what you need?”

Gaster glanced between you and his eldest son in momentary surprise, “I see. You know about Sans’ magic, then. Interesting.” That seemed more pointed towards Sans than yourself. He continued, “To answer your question, Sans can only ‘shortcut’ to places that he has been before. And, even if he were to have access, it would mean war if he were to get caught.”

“And it won’t matter if I get caught?” You quirked a brow.

“You are human. More so, you are a human that nobody knows in this business. They will not immediately know who you are connected to if you are caught. However, if they happen to find out-“

“Yeah, yeah. I know, you’ll kill everyone I love and then me, or maybe you'll make my life hell? I dunno which you were going for. Either way, you don’t have to worry about that. Sans and Papyrus are my friends. I won’t put them in danger.” Your quick switch from blasé to a more convicted tone seemed to give him pause. He stared at you in thought for a second.

Gaster sat down at his desk, “You may leave now. My sons will take you to where you need to be. I look forward to your safe return.” The last sentence was very obviously far from sincere.

You sighed, “You called me all the way here for that ? Couldn’t you have just, I don’t know, called me? Or had one of them tell me? You certainly didn’t seem to have a problem with doing that yesterday.” Maybe mouthing off to a mob boss wasn’t your best decision, but you just couldn’t help it.

He gave you a look, but didn’t say anything. Sans and Papyrus seemed to take that as your cue to leave. Papyrus grabbed your arm as he walked past, effectively dragging you out of the room. Sans followed close behind.

It wasn’t until you reached the living room that Papyrus spoke to you, “Do you ever stop running your mouth?”

You pondered on the question for a second, “Sometimes.”

He shook his head in exasperation, and continued to drag you outside. He didn’t slow until you reached his car, which you were then unceremoniously shoved into. You decided to internalize all of your complaints about that as you got yourself situated.

Once both of the boys were in the car as well, the three of you took off towards… wherever it was that you were going. After a few minutes, you had a thought.

“Hey, do you guys think we could stop somewhere along the way?” Both of them gave you an odd look.

“Why,” Sans asked, leaning forwards so that he was between you and his brother.

“Well, obviously if I’m going to do this, I’m going all out and doing it the smart way. Basically, if I’m about to try and infiltrate a mob, I don’t exactly want to look like myself, y’know?” You pulled out your phone and began messing with google, “So I was hoping we could stop at, and stay with me now, we could stop at some place that sells wigs.”

“You want us to try and find a place that sells wigs?” Papyrus asked incredulously, “Where would you even find-“

“It actually says that there’s one not far from here.” You explained, already getting directions, “Pretty convenient , huh?”

Sans chuckled and looked over your shoulder so that he could see the screen as well, “tha’s pretty smart, Songbird.”

You smirked back at him, “I know. I think I’d make a pretty good spy, don’t you?” He seemed to sense that the question was rhetorical, and responded with a thoughtful hum.

“Fine,” Papyrus agreed, “I suppose we have time for that.”

“Hell yeah,” you joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Papyrus followed your instructions to the shop, where you promptly ran in and grabbed something that was the furthest you could get from your natural hair, before rushing back out.

“ Now can we just get this over with?” Papyrus complained as he continued to drive.

“Yeah, I think I’m good now,” you said while pulling your hair up and pinning it back. You dropped the wig on and glanced back at Sans, “Whaddya think?” You gave him a wink.

“I think you spent way too much money on somethin’ that you’re gonna haveta ditch anyways.” He grinned at you with a raised brow.

“The two of you are no fun.” You slumped back in your seat and crossed your arms. “Or, maybe you’re just jealous of my new hair do. You should’ve said something, and I would have gotten you guys wigs, too.”

Sans chuckled, “Damn. I’ll have to take you up on that next time.”

Your playful smile dropped a bit as he said that. Next time. Instead of responding, you turned your attention away and stared out the window as the city passed you by.

A somber mood had fallen over the car once more as Papyrus pulled up to a curb and parked. You looked between the two skeletons in question as they seemed to have some kind of silent conversation with each other.

Finally, Sans spoke, “We’re right around the corner from where he’s gonna show up.”

You nodded and grabbed the door handle. You clutched it without doing anything for a second in nervous anticipation, until finally, you flung the door open.

“If…” Sans began, looking away for a second before looking back at you with an expression that you couldn’t place. “If you get into any trouble, just shout and I’ll be there.”

“Yes,” Papyrus added, “I will try to keep an eye on you, as well.” After a second of consideration, he continued, “Don’t do anything stupid to get yourself killed.”

You looked between the two of them once more before giving a resolute nod. You could do this. With a deep breath, you shut the car door behind you and began making your way around the corner.

Knowing that the brothers have your back fills you with bravery.  

Chapter Text

“Excuse me, sir!” You called out to the man in a freshly cleaned suit, quickly approaching him as he walked up to his car. He stopped and looked back at you, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

Once you were only a few feet from him, you continued, “I’m so sorry to bother you, it’s just that I haven’t lived here for very long, and, well,” you sheepishly rubbed at the back of your neck, “I think I managed to get myself lost.”

He looked you over for a second, a smirk crossing his features. He gestured back to his car, “I can’t leave a little lady like you in danger. Why don’t you tell me where you’re off to, and I can take you there, Doll?” He winked.

And, there it was. You had called it. You forced a giggle and looked up at him through your lashes, “I’d like that.” You really, really wouldn’t.

He opened the door for you, and you pretended to be unperturbed about getting into a stranger’s car.

“So, where were you headed?” He asked you as soon as he got in.

“Well,” you began, giving him another smile, “I wasn’t really headed anywhere in particular.” That sounded stupid. You needed to add more to that. “I mean, my apartment is under renovations right now, so I had to leave for the day.”

He looked you over for a second before a sleazy smirk settled across his face, “Well I guess it’s my lucky day, then.”

Yuck. You were already prepared to launch yourself right out of the car, “Oh?”

“I get to show a lovely lady like you a good time. Seein’ as though you don’t have any plans and all.”

Okay, okay. You could work with that. “I see. And what exactly did you have in mind?” You made sure to drop your voice an octave.

He glanced over at you, “I was thinkin’ that I could treat you to lunch. Then, maybe if you’re still having trouble with your house, I could take you back to mine.” Ha! Yes! Score!

“Are you sure you want to buy lunch? I already feel like I’m being a bother. I don’t want you to have to spend money on me, an absolute stranger.” Honestly, you would rather just get this over and done with.

“And what if we weren’t strangers? Would ya let me buy you lunch then?” He asked slyly. He was planning something, you could tell. But, then again, so were you.

“I wouldn’t be opposed,” you answered with a smirk.

“Well, how would you feel about going to my place first, then? Then instead of lunch, I can get you dinner.” He offered, very obviously insinuating something with the suggestion.

“I think I might just be okay with that.” As soon as the words left your mouth, he gave you a grin that made you feel more than just a little uncomfortable.

He rested a hand on your leg, and you had to fight the instinct to push him away. Instead, your gaze moved out the window as you took a few breaths to calm yourself. You couldn’t let something as dumb as this blow it for you. Not when you were so close. So, you resigned yourself to suffer through your discomfort as he drove you to, presumably, his house.

It wasn’t long before he pulled up in the driveway of an admittedly nice looking house. There was another car already pulled up, so it was obvious that someone else lived there as well. You supposed that was in your favor. It would be easier to convince him to let you into his room if there were other people in the house.

He opened the door for you once more, giving you his hand. You took it and stepped out before following him inside the house. You were glad when he began leading you upstairs without prompting.

“I hope you don’t mind going up to my room. My brother lives with me,” he explained.

“That’s alright,” you let him lead you to a door that was quickly pulled open.

You took a second to examine his bedroom as best as you could. The first thing you noticed was all of the baseball memorabilia that cover the walls and the shelves. In one corner of the room, there was a desk that was littered with papers. The other had an unmade bed.

You began wandering over to the desk, but made sure to look up at the newspaper clippings that were hanging above it rather than the desk itself.

“Baseball, huh?” All of the clippings did, in fact, have something to do with the sport.

You felt a pair of arms snake wound your waist as he stood behind you. He rested his head on your shoulder as he looked them over as well. He smelled very strongly of expensive cigars and cheap cologne, much to your distaste. “Yeah. I’ve always liked it since I was little. Me and my Pops used to play all the time.”

You took the opportunity to glance down at the papers on his desk. Most of the ones on the top were certainly not what you were looking for, but you caught a glimpse of blue under a phone bill. Of course they were actually on blue paper.

You glanced back up before you were caught snooping. “Really? That’s sweet of him. Me and my mom used to sew when I was little.” You pulled away from him so that you could turn around and face him. “Then again, I think she did most of the sewing. I just bothered her the entire time.”

He stepped towards you once more and hummed, obviously getting bored with the conversation. You matched his steps going backwards until you hit the wall. You glanced around in a slight panic in an attempt to get yourself out of the situation you had found yourself in. Your eyes swiftly darted between everything in the room as you worked on a plan.

Finally, your gaze settled back on him as you made up your mind. He was grinning down at you, resting his hands on either side of your head.

You smirked and leaned forward, crashing your mouth against his. He wasted no time in returning the kiss, which you played along with for just another few seconds before pulling away.

You played with the fabric of your dress, “Turn around.”

He raised a brow at your request. “What? Why?”

You made it a bit more obvious that you were messing with the dress, “Just- Please?” You looked up at him with a small smile, giving your best puppy-dog eyes.  

He smirked, but complied, much to your relief. You found yourself shuddering as soon as you were sure that he wasn’t looking. Your attention moved to the signed aluminum bat that hung just within arms reach.

“No peeking,” you playfully teased in order to mask the sound of you pulling it off the wall.

He chuckled, “Whatever you say, Doll.” You scowled at the pet name.

Well, you supposed that sometimes the best way out of a situation was to punch your way out of it.

As he stared at the opposite wall, you raised the bat above your head, only to bring it down as hard as you could. It hit the back of his skull with a dull clang, and he dropped to the floor like a rag doll. You took a second to collect yourself before flinging the bat across the room and looking him over.

Aw, shit. He was bleeding. You let a small sigh escape you as you glanced between him, the door, and the desk. You decided that leaving an unconscious body in the middle of the room would probably be a bad plan, so you grabbed his hands and dragged him across the room until he would be hidden by the bed.

With a decidedly dumb idea, you yanked one of the throw blankets off of his bed and tied it around his head, hopefully to help prevent him from bleeding too much. He may have been hit over the head with a baseball bat, but that didn’t mean you wanted him to be injured too seriously, even if he had just invaded your personals space way beyond what you were comfortable with.

You stood up straight and nodded. After a few seconds of blankly staring at him, you shook your head. You needed to move quicker. With that thought, you hurried over to the desk and began rummaging through the papers.

Who the hell kept this much important paperwork out in the open? Apparently, he was a mobster, just… not a very good one. How how he even gotten the blueprints in the first place?

You had managed to find what you assumed to be the blueprints you were looking for. They were folded up, but you could see symbols scrawled across the side of it. Gaster was right, you had absolutely no clue what that was. But, you found that curiosity was starting to get the better of you. What could possibly be so important that he had sent you to get it?

You glanced at the unconscious man, before staring back down at the paperwork, pulling your lip between your teeth.

Screw it.

You unfolded the paper and scanned it over, only to find yourself with even more confusion.

There was a large sketch of some kind of animal skull in the center. It was surrounded by a bunch of notes in that same language. The whole thing looked as though it was done by hand, with at least two people working on it if the difference in handwriting was anything to go by.

While the words remained a mystery, you could definitely read the numbers that also covered the page. Some of them looked like measurements, and others looked out of place, like they were scribbled down as an afterthought.

What was this? You flipped over the paper, looking to see if there was any kind of explanation, only to come up with a blank page. Well, except for the small name written up in the top corner in a messy scrawl.

‘Gaster blaster’. That… was a very uncreative name. You were willing to bet that Sans had come up with that one. Of course he would name something a Gaster…

Wait, Blaster?! Was this thing a weapon?! You quickly flipped the paper back over and frantically looked over the plans. This thing was massive! If it really was a weapon, then it was beyond dangerous.

The paper crinkled at the edges as your grip on it tightened. If this was as dangerous as you were thinking it to be, then did you really want to give it back to a mob boss? What if it got taken again? What if these were mass-produced?! Guns were bad enough, but this thing looked like it was liable to level a building!

The sound of shifting caused you too freeze. You glanced over at the man, who seemed to still be out cold. He was starting to move, though, and you didn’t like that at all. It was time for you to go. You could figure out what you were doing with the plans after you were out of immediate danger.

You folded the paper back up before looking down awkwardly. Where were you supposed to put this thing? It wasn’t like this dress had pockets. That would have been too easy. You settled for shoving it down the top of your dress, and into the waistband. That would have to do for now.

You decided to tousle the wig a bit before you pulled the door open, just in case. You peeked out into the hallway, only to see that it was empty. The door made a soft click as you shut it behind you.

With as much stealth as you could muster, you made your way down the stairs ad to the front door. You were beyond relieved when you reached it with no issue.

You were doubly as relieved when you made it outside and down the driveway. With a quick glance back, you began heading in the direction you had come from. Thankfully, it was close enough to the city that it wasn’t long before you started getting closer to areas where you could duck into an alley if need be.

You decided that you would wait until you were sure you were safe before calling one of the brothers.

No, that was a lie. You wanted a moment to yourself to decide what you were going to do. Now, you had blueprints to something that was potentially very dangerous. What were you supposed to do? Were you supposed to hand them back just like that? You weren’t stupid. You knew what would happen if you kept them, but… you couldn’t help but feel conflicted about all of it.

Well, at least you had done what was asked of you without too much of an issue. The only thing that got hurt was your pride. And a mobster, you supposed. But he would be okay. Probably. It went better than you thought it would, at the very least.

You sighed and shook your head. You really had gotten yourself into a mess.

You pulled out your phone and sent a quick text to Sans, telling him where you were.

As you passed a trash can on the side of a building, you glanced around before getting rid of the wig. You wouldn’t need it anymore, anyways.

It was a few minutes before a car pulled up alongside you. You gave the tinted windows a weary look until the window rolled down just enough that you could see Sans and Papyrus on the inside. Why did mobsters all insist on having the exact same car?

That was a question you could ponder later. For now, though, you hopped in the backseat, mentally preparing yourself for what was going to happen.

...Whatever that happened to be.

Chapter Text

Much to your disdain, the entire car ride was spent in a tense silence. Neither of the guys had said a word, and you were having trouble thinking of any good conversation topics. All in all, you would say that it was a rather unpleasant experience to follow your moderately successful job.

It could have been worse, though. At least they weren’t asking you a million questions. You were sure that was going to happen eventually, but, for now, you were content, if not slightly unnerved with the quiet drive back to the Skeletons’ house.

Although, you thought that you would rather have an awkward car ride then have to face whatever was waiting for you in that house. You were really dreading walking in that door.

There was a ninety nine percent chance that you were going to do something extremely stupid, but what was new? At least this time, the stupid had a very solid reason backing it.

You let out a quiet sigh as the car stopped. The brothers didn’t waste any time in getting out. You, on the other hand, sat for a few more seconds. For once, you didn’t know what the best thing to do was. Either way seemed to be a bad decision.

Your hand rested on your hip, where the plans still sat secured in the waistband of your dress. You took the time to awkwardly pull it out while you were alone. With one final glance at the paper, you got out of the car.

Sans and Papyrus had already disappeared into the house. They had left the door open for you.

You followed after them.

As you made your way through the door, you caught movement in the corner of your eye. You glanced over to see that everyone was in the living room, seemingly waiting for you. All eyes were immediately on you as you walked up.

Gaster gave you a disarming smile, “Ah. I see you made it back in one piece.”

“It, uh, was actually a whole lot easier than I was expecting it to be, if I’m being completely honest.” You were very surprised at that. You had been expecting a complete disaster.

Gaster looked you over, as if assessing what you had said, “Wonderful. Then I suppose I can safely assume that you found my blueprints, yes?”

You found yourself withering slightly under his gaze, “Yeah. About that…” you trailed off as his expression shifted to mild irritation.

“It was a simple question, my dear. Did you find them or not?” He took a few steps towards you, only to stop when he was standing over you.

You let out and uncomfortable chuckle, “Well, I just have a couple of concerns?” He scowled and raised a brow, but was silent, so you continued. “It looked kind of like the blueprints were for a weapon… and I’m not entirely sure what your plans are for it? I mean, it’s just that something called a ‘blaster’ really can’t be very… uh. Safe.” You tried your best to explain, though you found yourself getting nervous despite your best attempts at keeping calm.

His expression went blank for a second as he looked down at you, “You looked at them?” A spark of amusement lasted for only a second in his gaze, “And you also seem to be trying to keep them from me. You are just full of surprises, aren’t you, Songbird ?” He spit out the nickname as if it were venom.

“Listen, I just-“

“No, you listen. I don’t think that you quite understand what you are doing right now. You will give me the blueprints.” He glanced down to the paper in your hand. You found yourself taking a step back, pulling your arm behind you.

“I see,” he gave you a malicious grin, “I was planning on waiting until you were out of my house at least. But you’re being difficult.”

In a sudden rush of movement, you found yourself held above the ground by your neck before you could even process what was going on. You feet dangled helplessly as you flailed at the sudden movement.

“It’s quite a shame that I have to get my hands dirty,” Gaster’s grip on your throat tightened, and your hands instinctively grabbed at his arm. The paper fell to the ground as you sunk your nails into the fabric of his coat in a half-hearted attempt to get him to break his hold.

“Wait, maybe we should-“ Papyrus took a step forward, a hand held at the ready to do… something.

Gaster’s attention turned to his son as he gave him a harsh glare. Papyrus stopped talking, but both him and Sans began walking towards you cautiously. You watched as one of the lights in Gaster’s eyes flared a bright red. He lazily flicked his hand, the one that wasn’t holding you. Sans and Papyrus were pushed to the opposite side of the room effortlessly.

“You two know better than to intervene,” he growled out before turning back to you.

He grinned as his grip tightened once more, and you found yourself gasping for breath. That was when the panic set in. It didn’t matter how, but you needed to get him to stop. If you didn’t, you were absolutely certain that you would not make it out of this house with your life.

You hit his arm with the palm of your hand. He didn’t budge. Instead, his grin only seemed to grow as you attempted to escape his hold. He was playing with you. He wasn’t even fully crushing your windpipe yet, seemingly getting some sort of twisted enjoyment from watching you squirm.

You couldn’t quite see Sans and Papyrus anymore from the angle he was holding you, but judging by the way Gaster’s eye was still glowing, neither one of them would be able to do much without attacking their father. You didn’t think they would do that. So what were you going…

You got an idea.

You forced yourself to calm down in his hold. He tilted his head in slight curiosity. His grip was just loose enough that you could manage to speak, but just barely. You took in as much air as you could.

Please, please let this work.

Using the last bit of breath he was allowing you, you let out a sharp whistle.

Gaster gave you an unimpressed look before his grip finally closed around your throat, effectively cutting off any flow of air that you may have had. You blinked up at him a few times before your instincts kicked in, and you began fighting him with a renewed vigor.

You barely heard the sound you had been waiting for over the sound of your heartbeat loudly thrumming in your ears.

A low growl came from just next to you. From the corner of your eye, you caught the form of the white dog. His hackles were raised as he glanced between you and Gaster.

Gaster seemed very surprised at this turn of events as his focus shifted from you to Killer. His surprised morphed into annoyance as he glared down at the dog. Despite the distraction, you still couldn’t seem to claw your way out of his grip.

Your vision began to blot out as the lack of air began to get too much for you to handle.

A loud barking was followed by you being dropped to the ground.

You gasped for breath, not bothering to stand up as Killer put himself between you and Gaster. He had very obviously lunged for the man before, which lead to you winding up on the floor. Gaster looked shocked at the dog, which quickly turned into a seething anger.

He flicked his wrist once more, and the dog slid harmlessly across the floor. He then turned his attention back to you.

His gaze felt like it was about to burn a hole through you as he began towards you once more. Naturally, you began to scramble backwards. He continued forward, taking deliberately slow steps.

Gaster tucked his arms behind his back as you hit a wall. You frantically looked around for a way out. You didn’t want to die. You didn’t want-

The light coming from his eye seemed to flare, and you could only watch in a silent horror as a large white skull appeared out of thin air. The inside of its maw seemed to hold some kind of magic as it burned with a blinding white. You could feel the magical energy radiating off of it in waves.

You didn’t have to be a genius to figure out what that was.

It was a Gaster blaster, and it was absolutely terrifying . You couldn’t help but wonder if this goddamn monstrosity was going to be your downfall. You had been faced off with so many threats, and yet you hadn’t even really batted an eye at them. And now, you were staring up the snout of a fucking energy cannon in the shape of a dragon skull.

Wait… if he had that all along, then why did he need the blueprints for it?

You found yourself growing more and more bitter with the skeleton that was staring you down. You hadn’t needed to do any of that. You were about to die for absolutely nothing. Your rage must have shown through in your expression, because Gaster suddenly seemed very entertained with something.

“Wait!” Somehow, you managed to hear Sans over the humming of the blaster and the frantic barking of the dog. “You can’t kill her.”

Gaster’s eyes never left you as his grin grew crooked. “I can’t ? And why exactly is that?”

You peeled your eyes away from the danger in order to glance at Sans. He seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle with himself, “Because- because,” he stumbled over his words while trying to find a good reason.

Gaster let out a dry chuckle when Sans couldn’t seem to think of anything worthwhile. His eye flared one more, and you flinched as heat began to drift off of the skull. You scrunched your eyes closed, knowing that whatever that thing did would not be pleasant. Magic energy popped and crackled in the air around you.

“Fuck! Stop! You can’t kill her because I’m in love with her !”

The whole room instantly fell into a perfectly still silence. All eyes turned to Sans. Even you, who had been prepared for the worst, blinked your eyes open to look at him in shock.

...Admittedly, that was not anywhere near what you had expected his reason to be. Gaster seemed to have the same train of thought as you as he stared at his son. Even Papyrus seemed surprised, if not slightly confused.

Sans stood nervously under the scrutiny of the room, sweat beginning to bead at his temples. He refused to make eye contact with you, and instead held the gaze of his father, who seemed to be searching for some kind of lie on Sans’ face.

There… there was no way he was serious, right? That had to have been something he decided to shout on the spot because he knew it would get Gaster to stop. It was just a means of keeping you alive, which was something he seemed fairly determined to do.

His plan seemed to have worked, at least somewhat, as Gaster turned his attention to you once more. Unlike before, he gave you a completely blank look as the light in his eye went back to normal. You almost let out a sigh of relief when the blaster disappeared as well.

Gaster stared down at you for a few more seconds before turning and leaving the room without a word.

It worked! You were still alive! You don’t know how Sans knew that would work, but you probably owed him big time for that. For now, though, you took time to revel in the fact that you were still in one piece.

You let your head fall back onto the floor with a dull thud letting out a shaky, “Holy shit.”

Chapter Text

You took a second to breathe, not bothering to open your eyes. During that time, there was a bit of movement from the brothers, though you could tell that neither of them left the room.

A soft smile fell on your face as you felt a very distinctly dog head-shaped thing lie on your stomach. Killer let out a soft whine, to which you buried your hands in his fur.

“You’re the best boy,” you mumbled out to him while giving him appreciative pets.

He whined again when you finally decided to stand up. You let out a sigh and brushed yourself off before looking over to the skeleton brothers. Both of them looked away as soon as they noticed.

You looked over tho Sans in particular, looking him over curiously, “That was pretty quick thinking, Casanova.”

He looked back at you in surprise before his gaze fell to the floor once more,”Heh. Yeah.” You weren’t sure if that was confirmation that you were right about what he shouted being made up in order to help you, well, not die.

The room fell into silence once more. You looked at the ground as well, only to see a single folded piece of blue paper on the ground. You scowled and picked it up. All of that for this dumb thing. He didn’t even care enough to grab it on his way out!

In your anger, you tossed it across the room, “What was the point of all of that!? I didn’t even need to do any of that, did I?!” You didn’t mean to snap at the brothers, but you found yourself directing the last bit to them.

Neither of them answered you, though Papyrus decided to finally look at you, only to pull his gaze away once he saw your seething expression.

You deflated slightly as you finally started to piece together what had them feeling so uncomfortable.

“You-“ You interrupted yourself with a heavy sigh, and ran a hand distractedly through your tousled hair. “You guys knew, didn’t you?”

Both of them seemed to flounder for a response, but Papyrus was the first to speak, “I have no idea what you are-“

“Don’t,” you stopped him. “Please don’t play dumb with me. Not right now. I was never supposed to make it out of that alive, was I?”

Papyrus stared at you for a second before shaking his head. Yeah, you figured. You weren’t entirely sure what emotions you were feeling as all of them clashed together in a way that left you confused and almost breathless.

On one hand, you had very nearly died. It could have been easily avoided if either of them would have told you about the plan. It definitely hurt that they had gone along with it in the first place, but you supposed that you understood in some kind of twisted empathetic way. It’s quite literally their job to make sure that all of the family secrets stay, well, secret.

On the other hand, you were still alive, and it was because of, once again, Sans and Papyrus that you were. Could you really stay mad at them? Even when, in the end, they decided to help you?

You shook your head, “Look, what you guys did was- Well I can’t really say that I forgive you exactly. It wasn’t an okay thing to do. But,” they both turned their attention to you at the word ‘but’. “I don’t think you guys are beyond forgiving eventually. And, I know I’m an absolute idiot for still having any amount of trust in you two, but, well, here I am, chastising you two like children instead of leaving.”

Sans shook his head in disbelief, “Sweetheart, you really are fuckin’ crazy if you’re sticking around after all a that.”

You groaned and rubbed your eyes, “Yeah, I know. Guess I just have shitty luck and a death wish, huh?” You joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

You didn’t want the tense atmosphere anymore. You just wanted a normal day, where you could forget that you nearly died and banter around with your friends.

… Maybe that was why you were so willing to trust the brothers still. Over the time you had known them, they quickly became your friends. You really did care about them. Despite everything, that fact still stood.

You rubbed at the back of your neck out of habit, only to wince and pull your hand away. Damn, that hurt.

You smirked and looked over at the skeletons, who’s guilt only seemed to have increased.

“So, how bad is it?” You asked playfully, making light of a bad situation. If there was anything that you were particularly skilled in, that would be it.

Papyrus seemed to not only catch on to what you were doing, but appreciate it as he returned the smirk, “Depends. Is this one of those times when you want me to lie in order to protect your delicate human emotions?”

You pondered that for a second before shaking your head, “No. I’ll let you know when I want you to do that, though.”

“In that case, it’s already starting to bruise. I believe that by the end of the day, your entire neck will likely be purple and black.” Well, he definitely didn’t sugar coat it. You could respect that honesty.

“Aw, damn. That sucks,” your wording made you chuckle to yourself, “You don’t think I could pass it off as hickeys, do you?”

“Nah,” Sans interjected with a snicker, “But you could probably explain it off as some kinda kinky shit.”

“Sans!” Papyrus immediately smacked his brother on the chest with the back of his hand, “You can leave if you’re going to be lewd!”

Sans’s grin grew, “What? I would never! I would never ever-“

“Oh, that is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard!” Papyrus crossed his arms.

“Aw c’mon, bro! Can’t you throw me a bone just this once?” Sans winked at his brother, who seemed to be holding back a scream. He instead settled for burying his face in his hands with a groan.

You hid a chuckle behind your hand as you watched the brothers banter. The mode of the house had effectively taken a complete one-eighty, though there was still an underlying feeling that made the atmosphere feel forced.

...It was definitely forced.

You smiled anyways, “I do have to hand it to your brother on that one, Sans.” That time, Papyrus did in fact shout, much to the amusement of both you and Sans.

Your grin faltered as you glanced between the two of them. What now? Were you supposed to just keep on pretending like that never happened? And what about Gaster?

“Sans, how did you know that would work?” The question came before your could stop it.

The grin on Sans’ face twitched downwards as he stared at you for a second. “Gaster’s not… he’s not exactly a good person. But, he cares about me n’ Paps in his own way. I know he cares about our happiness, and wouldn’t hurt anythin’ that would hurt us too much, y’know? After everythin’, he’s still our dad.”

You nodded. That made sense, you supposed. It was still a bit unclear whether or not that meant you were completely safe from him or not, though. A smirk twitched on your mouth once more.

“Does this mean we have to fake date now?” Much to your amusement, Sans tensed up and sputtered at your question.

“Well, I-“

“He obviously didn’t think that far ahead. It’s something that both of you desperately need to work on,” Papyrus interjected, an annoyed look on his face.

Sans cleared his throat, which was something that you doubted you would ever stop finding odd considering the fact that he really didn’t have one. “I think you should go stay at MTT’s for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll work on setting you up here again.”

You gave him an incredulous look, “Really? You want me to stay here again? That’s kind of what got me in this mess in the first place.”

Sans shrugged, “I dunno. I think it was a lot of things that got ya here. But, that’s not what I’m worried about. I’d rather not needlessly pay for a room at MTT’s when I don’t haveta. Plus, I really don’t want to owe that bucket of bolts any favors.”

“I have to agree with Sans on that one. Mettaton is, without a doubt, the worst person to owe.” Papyrus concurred. Both brothers took a second to recall something, and judging by the expressions on their faces, you really didn’t want to know.

“Besides,” Sans added after shaking his thoughts away, “You won’t have to worry about the old man anymore. He’ll leave you be.”

You sighed, but nodded nonetheless. Sans was right. You couldn’t possibly afford to stay at the hotel on your own. You weren’t stupid, though. You knew that there were more options than ‘stay with Sans and Papyrus or live on the streets’. Strangely, you found yourself wanting to be around them.

You wanted to fix this. You wanted them to stay your friends, because, as it turned out, you cared about them.

“I think I might have to take another day off of work. I’m sure Grillby will be thrilled.” You thought out loud. You just hoped that you wouldn’t get fired for missing a few days.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll give him a call after I drop you off.” Sans held out a hand for you as he spoke.

You took it without much hesitation. All you could do was give Papyrus a wave before the familiar feeling of a shortcut caused you to close your eyes. You only opened them again when you were certain that you could feel solid ground beneath your feet.

“Thanks,” you mumbled to Sans, pulling your hand back.

“No prob,” he rolled on his feet before giving you a nod, “I’ll make sure to call up Grillbz. See ya tomorrow, Songbird.” And just like that, he left.

You found yourself confused at how abrupt that had been. You supposed that is was completely understandable if he had enough of you for the day, though. You chuckled to yourself as you shook your head. You had enough of you for the day.

You found yourself sluggishly making your way through the bedroom, only to freeze when you caught sight of your reflection. You looked just about as good as you felt. It was probably best that you were skipping work tomorrow after all. The already forming bruises around your neck were in the shape of obvious handprints, and for some reason, you doubted that they would make for an easy cover up, no matter how much makeup you piled on. Plus, you were pretty sure that you’d rather jump off a bridge than sing for the next few days.

You sighed and shook your head before making your way over to the bed. You proceeded to face plant into it, exhaustion hitting you like a wave after the day you had.

However, it seemed like sleep would be escaping you as a knock sounded on your door. You groaned loudly and flipped over onto your back.

“Well, damn. If you didn’t want room service, they you could've just said so,” The familiar voice of BP came through the door.

“Door’s unlocked. Even If it weren’t, I’m sure you have a key,” you pointed out blandly while bitterly sitting up.

BP pushed the door open, a large mug steaming in one hand, “Sans stopped by. He said you’d need this.” He froze when he actually looked at you, “And now I see that he was right.” He held the mug out to you, “It’s tea. It’ll help.”

You took it from him and immediately took a sip. It burnt, but you could still tell that it was some kind of floral flavor.

“Thanks,” you drank more before continuing, “It’s been… quite the day.”

“I could tell,” his eyes fell on the bruising around your neck. “I don’t think it’s smart to ask a bunch of questions, but tell me,” he looked closer, “Was it Gaster?”

When you nodded, he shook his head at you, “I told you!”

In return, you stuck your tongue out at him, “You tell me a lot of things. I only listen to maybe… twenty five percent of them.”

“Nice to know that I’ve gotten so invested in the life of someone that doesn’t even listen to my garbage advice,” he chuckled, but the sighed. “I’ve gotta get back to work. Besides, with who I work for, the less I know the better.” He ran a hand down his face, “I’m sure he’ll already be on my tail or the rest of the day.”

You chuckled, “Go do your job, Whiskers. I’ll still be around, probably.”

He flipped you off before leaving you with silence and a mug of warm tea. You took another sip before scooting across the bed and setting it on the nightstand. The tea was nice and all, but sleep sounded better.

You dove into the blankets and wrapped them around you until you were satisfied. A deep breath escaped you as you closed your eyes.

The sound of your phone ringing caused you to fling all of the blankets to the other side of the bed.

“Oh, Goddammit!” You quickly found your phone only to see Grillby’s name flash across the screen. You took the time to mumble a few more profanities to yourself before answering.

“Yes, sir. What can I do for you?” You tried really hard to even your voice out, but you knew that it sounded strained and tired.

“Sans told me that you would be needing tomorrow off.” He stated after a second.

“Yes. That would probably be for the best.”

“Alright. I just wanted to make sure that you were…”

“That I was what, Grillby? Alright? I don’t really know that I have a good answer for that right now.” You hadn’t meant to get mad at him over something so silly, but you were fed up with people asking if you were okay.

“Still alive. I wanted to make sure that you were still alive.” At his clarification, you found yourself deflating down onto the bed.

“Oh. I’m… I’m still breathing.” You winced at your choice of words. They weren’t wrong, per say, but they made you want to rub at your neck.

“I’m glad. Feel free to take the rest of the week off,” you were surprised until he added, “Without pay, of course.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, “I might have to take you up on that. I’ll try to keep you updated.”

“I would appreciate that. I will let you get to sleep.”

You nodded, but quickly realized that he couldn’t see it, “Yeah, okay. Thank you. I’ll talk to you later.”

You dropped the phone as soon as he ended the call. It wasn’t even a minute before you found yourself tangled in the blankets once more, fully prepared to sleep fo the rest of the week.

Ha. As if. Nevertheless, you were content to deal with the future in, well, the future. For now, your biggest problem was sleep. You would be damned if you let anything else stop you from that.

It wasn’t very long before you shoved your muddled thoughts to the back of your mind and let the darkness of sleep overwhelm you for the night.

Chapter Text

“Are you kidding me?” Sans gave you a look, “You really only have one suitcase full of clothes?”

You crossed your arms over your chest with a heavy frown, “Sorry I want to be practical.”

“Oh, now you want to be practical.” Sans grinned at you, one brow raised.

“Shut up,” you shot back before picking up your suitcase, “I thought you were here to help me, but if you’re not going to do that, then I can just call your brother.”

He frowned at you, “Is that a threat?”

You reached for your phone, “You know it.”

The two of you stared each other down for a few seconds. You were the first to let out a chuckle, which promptly turned into a laugh. He was quick to follow. You looked back at him with a grin before shoving the bag in his direction.

“If we’re going to go, then let’s go already. Keeping me here with a comfy bed is cruel and unusual punishment.” You noted, giving the bed a longing look.

Sans chuckled and shook his head, “You got some strange priorities, Songbird.”

“Oh, shuddup. You lose half a bed out of this too, remember?” You crossed your arms and raised a brow, “Your genius ass decided to claim that you’re in love with me, so now we have to play the part. Couldn’t you have told him, oh I don’t know, literally anything else that wouldn’t have resulted in us sharing a bed again?” You shoved at him playfully as he rolled the lights in his eyes.

“Y’know, I did save your life. Again. The least you could do is thank me.” He offered you a hand.

“I could. But, then again, I’m still a little bit bitter that you knew about it.” You took his hand as he looked away from you. Your expression softened a bit, “Thank you. I know that wasn’t easy for you.” Admittedly, you felt bad for holding that above his head. You hadn’t really meant it in a malicious way, but you could tell that he felt bad about it.

Before you could say anything else to him, you felt the shift to a shortcut. He, unsurprisingly, brought you to his living room. Then, you blinked and he was gone with the suitcase full of your stuff. You sighed. Things were… complicated. You hated complicated.

“It it normal for humans to have air leaks, or are you just a special case?” Papyrus didn’t bother glancing up at you from the book he was reading. You smirked and collapsed on the sofa next to him.

“I don’t know, Papyrus. Is it normal for skeletons to be so narcissistic?”

He eyed you for a second before looking back at his book, “Fair enough.”

You chuckled and tilted your head, scanning over the title of the book. “Papyrus,” you began trying to fight back a chuckle, “Are you reading a romance novel?”

He promptly shut it, “Can I help you with something?”

You stared at him. He stared back. Eventually, you smiled at him, to which he gave you a confused look.

“Can I borrow another one of your shirts?”

Your amusement only grew as a red tint covered his face, “What?! Why?!”

“Well, the other one burnt, obviously. But it was hella soft. And just a forewarning, even if you say no, the chances of me eventually stealing one is at a high hundred percent.” You explained nonchalantly as you asked for his clothing.

Much to your surprise,  he looked away with a heavy tsk, “Yes, I know it did. That was one of my favorites, too.”

“Aw, geez. I’m sorry Paps, I should’ve given it back.” You rubbed at your arm, a bit guilty about losing that, even though you knew that it wasn’t really your fault.

You felt a pat on your head. Now, it was your turn to be very confused.

“No harm done, little Bird. It was not your fault,” was he trying to comfort you? That seemed very strange and off.

“Okay, where’s Papyrus? What have you done with him?” You joked, crossing your arms over your chest as you eyed him suspiciously.

“What, you don’t think that I can be helpful?” He turned to you with a suddenly serious expression, “Please tell me all of your menial human woes, and I will pretend to care about them.”

You raised a brow, but a smile overtook your face. “Are you sure I wouldn’t bore you? My problems are meaningless and petty to someone as great as you, after all.”

“Oh, I am very aware. Listening to all of your problems would be my charity work for the week.” He grinned at you.

You rolled your eyes and scoffed, “Charity work, huh? How considerate of you.” That sentence was followed by a chuckle as you picked up the book he had been reading.

It looked cheesy as hell. That made you smile as you looked over the cover, which was complete with dramatic art of a long-haired muscular man posing dramatically in the wind with a woman hanging off of him. The frame was bordered with roses, and the title was in a ridiculously loopy red font.

You giggled, “‘Secret Soulmates: a Tale of Star-crossed Lovers’.” You handed it back to him, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. I just never really had you pegged as a romance kinda guy.”

“Don’t tell him I told you this,” you glanced back to see Sans leaning on the banister with a grin, “but Papyrus is secretly a big softie.”

“Sans! I will not stand for this kind of slander!”

You glanced between the two of them, “You’re right. You’re already sitting and everything.”

Papyrus slowly turned to look at you again. Then, he stared. After a few seconds of staring at your shit-eating grin, he stood up and walked out of the room without a word. You watched in an ecstatic silence as he made his way up the stairs until you lost sight of him, at witch point, you heard a heavy door slam.

“You guys are the best,” you mumbled to Sans with a large grin still present on your face.

He raised a brow, “The best, huh?” You could see a bit of doubt flicker in his expression. Oh, no. That wouldn’t do at all. You pulled yourself off of the couch and made your way over to him.

“Don’t question my opinion, Bones.” You threw your arm over his shoulders, though it was a bit awkward since he was taller than you, “Here’s a bit of a life lesson. Your girlfriend’s opinion is always right. Unless, of course, she’s an idiot.”

“Does that mean you fall into the second category, then?” To your surprise, he leaned into you just enough for you to notice.

“Jury’s still out on that one,” You smiled up at him.

There was a second where the two of you were content to just look at each other. That was, of course, until you realized how weird you were being. You broke the eye contact and dropped your arm with an awkward chuckle. Sans let you take a step back, but you could see something akin to disappointment flash across his face. Why would he be-

Your train of thought came to a screeching halt as you looked to the stairs.

Gaster stood at the bottom of the staircase, eyeing you with distaste. He must have been waiting for you to notice him, because as soon as your eyes caught his, he began towards you. You could feel yourself tense up out of instinct, but you held your ground. He stopped a few feet in front of you. He may have made you nervous, but you refused to be the one to break the eye contact that you had initiated.

Much to your surprise, he held out a yellow Manila folder without a word. You glanced at it briefly before looking back up at him in silent question.

“Are you going to take it or not?” He snapped, shaking the folder at you impatiently.

“What is it?” You asked the question as you took it from his hands, though you were still suspicious enough not to immediately open it.

“It’s a list,” he replied blandly.

“A list? A list of what? And why are you giving this to me?” You didn’t trust anything about this. Though, who could blame you really? It had barely been a full day since he’d been trying to kill you, and now he was giving you things.

“It is a list of places frequented by rival human mafias. I cannot tell you exactly who you are looking for, but there is a good chance that you will be able to find them through one of theses places. I am a man of my word, and I did tell you that I would help you find the people you are looking for.” He tucked his hands behind his back.

“Was that before or after you decided to kill me?” You asked bitterly, finally deciding to flip the folder open.

“After. I do not like loose ends, my dear. I would not have needed to give you information if you were dead, which was the original plan.” He spoke about it so casually, as if he were talking about the weather or what he had for breakfast instead of his plans to murder you.

You narrowed your eyes, “That’s a pretty dirty trick,” you concluded, glancing down at the papers.

It did seem to be exactly what he told you it was. There was a list of places, some that you recognized and some that you didn’t. Most of them consisted of street names, bars, and clubs, not that you were expecting anything different out of a list of where you can get information on mafias.

You glanced back up at him, “What’s the catch?”

He seemed a bit surprised at the question, but that quickly turned back into the neutral expression of dislike he seemed fond of using around you. “There is none. We made a deal, and I am holding up my end of it, as you did yours. After this, I owe you nothing and will not be doing you any favors.”

You scowled and shut the folder before tossing it onto the coffee table, “That’s good, because I wasn’t about to ask you for any favors.”

He narrowed his eyes at you, and opened his mouth to say something. He glanced at Sans and shut it, promptly turning around and going back up the stairs. The room was quiet until you heard the sound of a door shutting. You let out a breath that you hadn’t realized you’d been holding.

“No offense, but your old man’s pretty much the most confusing enigma of a wild card that I’ve ever met.” You went back over to the couch and collapsed on it once more.

“Sweetheart, I think that sentence was more confusing than he is,” Sans followed you and sat beside you, pulling the folder closer and flipping it open. “He’s pretty simple once you figure him out. Though I will give you the wild card part.”

You scoffed, “If you say so.” You scooted closer and looked at the papers.

You hated to admit it, but this was immensely helpful. Before, you had absolutely no idea where to start looking, but now you had an entire list. You noted that the places you recognized seemed to be scattered throughout the city, giving you plenty of options.

“Hey Sans,” you glanced over at him, “Do you guys happen to have a map of the city?”

He gave you an odd look, “Hell if I know. What would I need a map for? And what is it with you and maps?” That’s right. He had seen the map in your living room.

“Planning. They help me sort out my thoughts when I’m planning things like this.” Your mind was already going a mile a minute, even without a map in front of you.

“Damn, you’re even planning things now? I thought you always just rushed into everything headfirst,” he joked, though he was pretty on the dot with that.

“Oh har-dee-har. You’re hilarious.” You countered half-heartedly, your focus already somewhere else.

Sans stood up with a chuckle, “I can go look. Paps might have one.”

You thanked him before looking over the paperwork once more. You may have been staying out of your actual job for a few days, but that was fine. That gave you time to work on this.

Your little side project may have just become your biggest concern thanks to Gaster. You weren’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Either way, you wouldn’t let the opportunity pass you by.

It wasn’t long before a map of the city was dropped in front of you. You smiled up at Sans before turning back to the paper and trying to figure out some kind of system.

You felt the couch shift as Sans sat next to you. He leaned against your side, reading over your shoulder. Much to your confusion, he didn’t say anything, but seemed content to watch you as you drew on the map. You shrugged it off. He could stay if he wanted. He would probably be helpful if you had any questions about, well, anything.

You drew a heavy circle around Silas’s bar. Then you paused to stare at it for a second. You shook your head and moved on. Now was not the time for that. Your eyes moved over the map, occasionally making down the places that Gaster had listed.

Once you were finished with that, you sat back and looked over the map in thought, “If he was at the bar, then there’s a good chance that he, at the very least, lives on this,” You drew a light line through the map, “side of the city, right?” You asked out loud, though it was mostly to yourself.

“You’d be surprised. I wouldn’t rule anythin’ out.” Sans pointed out.

You groaned, “I’m gonna have to go to all of these places one by one, aren’t I?”

Sans gave you a pat on the shoulder, “Good luck with that.”

You glanced over at him, “How many do you think I could hit in a day?”

He thought for a second, “If you actually want information? Two at most, and you’ll probably have to go back to some of them more than once.”

You let out a heavy sigh and let your head fall back onto the couch.

“I’ll tell ya what,” you looked over at Sans as he spoke, “I’ve to work to do tomorrow, but Paps is just doin’ rounds. Tag along with him and have him take ya to some of those places, yeah?”

That… was actually a very good idea. Going at it alone would probably be about twenty times more dangerous, and if Papyrus was going to be wandering around the city anyways…

You nodded, “Yeah, okay. I’ll do that.”

You stood up, happy with the outcome, and stretched. A sharp pop came from your back as you did so, and you let out a small breath at the feeling.

“Guess I’m gonna go make food,” you turned to Sans, “You want anything?”

He was looking pointedly at the floor, seemingly uncomfortable about something. “Nope,” even his voice sounded strained.

“Uh, are you okay?” You gave him an odd look as he shook his head and began towards the stairs.

“Yup. Great. Just fantastic. I’ll be upstairs.” He mumbled while rushing away.

That left you standing in the living room in complete confusion. What was that all about?

Whatever, you decided. The entire skeleton family were hard to understand. Who knew what Sans was deciding to freak out about suddenly. You could bother him about it before you wine t to bed, anyways.

With that thought, you nodded to yourself and made your way to the kitchen so that you could eat before you went to sleep.

Chapter Text

You found yourself nestled in the back corner of an unfamiliar bar, a menu lifted in front of you. You didn’t bother reading it. Instead, you glanced around at the tables around you.

It wasn’t a very busy night. The bar itself only had a few patrons ordering drinks, and there were a few empty tables scattered here and there. This place struck you as a bar that didn’t get too much traffic, especially with how shady it felt.

You had been lucky enough to find a table in the corner, close to a group of gentlemen in suits. It was very strange how obvious some people were with their occupations. Or… maybe you were wrong, and they really were just a bunch of businessmen. You seriously doubted that was the case, though. If they weren’t mobsters, they would likely be eating in a place that was significantly seedier that the one you had found yourself in.

By the time you had gotten there, it was safe to assume that the men were already a few drinks into their night, and they didn’t seem like they were planning on stopping any time soon. That worked out perfectly for you. In your experience, drunk men talked more, and you were in the perfect position to hear them.

You were just hoping that they continued to not care about you. As much as you wanted to call Sans or Papyrus in case of an emergency, you really didn’t want to do that. Sans had left early in the morning to do something nondescript and most likely dangerous, and Papyrus had told you that he had things to do for the next few hours as well when he dropped you off. You didn’t really want to ask Papyrus for anything else anyways. You already borrowed one of his turtlenecks that morning in order to cover the ugly black and purple bruise around your neck.

You doubted that you would need them, anyways. You were perfectly capable of fending for yourself. The weapon in your purse that you decided to bring along for emergencies didn’t hurt your confidence, either. A stolen gun makes for a good deterrent if needed.

You leaned back in your seat, glancing once more at the table. They were laughing about something that you didn’t particularly care about. You looked back at your menu, scanning it over whilst you eavesdropped on what they were talking about.

After about twenty minutes and a plate of fries had passed of listening to them ramble on, you began to get disheartened. None of them had said anything that set off any bells, and you were beginning to doubt that they would. You bit at your bottom lip in thought. If you decided that this spot in particular was a waste of time, you could leave. But, what if you left, and they began talking about something worth your while?

The decision was made for you when one of them lowered his voice to speak, “Did you fellas hear about the boss’s son?”

“What, you mean that he got his ass kicked by some dame that he brought home?” Another pitched in, a note of humor to his voice. “He was probably doing something stupid, as usual.”

No, there was no way that they were talking about what you thought they were. You refused to believe that decision would come back to bite you in the ass so quickly.

“Well I’m not gonna dispute that, but I heard that she was there for a reason,” the first one spoke again. “Supposedly, she took somethin’. The boss was all up in a tissy over it.” The dread built up in the pit of your stomach the more the man spoke.

“What’d she take?”

“You remember those plans we had to get?” Aw, shit. You knew exactly where those plans were.

“You mean the ones Boss had us get from one of them monster groups?” You didn’t look to see, but there was a small pause in which you assumed a nod took place. “Shit, man. We’ve been having to avoid the goddamned Judge for weeks now, and that moron lets some lady just walk in and take it?” Well, that was new information. And more so, it was information that you weren’t quite ready to deal with if you were being completely honest.

“And whaddya think the chances are that they’ll leave us be now that they have the plans back?” One of them asked, though you could hear sarcasm in his tone.

Another one scoffed, “They got some floozy doin’ all the dirty work for them. Probably got somethin’ above her head.” The others murmured in agreement.  It wasn’t long until their conversation fell back into something you didn’t care about.

Well, you had gotten some amount of information, but it was very far from what you were looking for. In fact, you were one hundred percent certain that you could cross this place off of the list. It was a mob you had run into before, but just not the one you were looking for, and you doubted that two of them would be occupying the same place on a regular basis.

You pulled cash out of your purse and dropped it on your table before getting up to leave. There wasn’t anything else you needed here, so you didn’t have a reason to stay any longer than you needed to. You didn’t want to stay longer than you needed to.

You felt someone watching you as you made your way to the the door. You didn’t look around to see who it was, but instead, you stopped and quickly pulled your phone out of your purse. You held it up so that the screen was facing away from the table of mobsters.

“Hello?” There wasn’t anyone on the other side, obviously, but if you could make them think that there was, maybe they’d move on. “Yeah, I’m on my way now.”

It felt very strange to be talking to no one, but it seemed to do the trick as the feeling of being watched went away. You hurried out the door once it had. You put your phone down once you were sure that you were out of view of the bar’s patrons.

You let out a sigh and shook your head. Great. Now you were in a neighborhood that you didn’t trust by yourself. You began walking, contemplating just sucking it up and calling Papyrus. You knew that the most he would do was give you mild complaints, but every time you reached for your phone, your pride got in the way. You were fine. You could handle yourself. Besides, it was the middle of the day! What could possibly happen in the-

“Hey there little lady.” Of course. Why wouldn’t you be approached by some creepy man in an alleyway? You may as well have had ‘Please come bother me’ written in neon colors on your forehead, it seemed.

You continued walking, deciding that your best course of action was to pay the man no attention. This, as it turns out, had been the wrong choice.

A hand wrapped around your wrist, and you had to fight the urge to groan in exasperation. “Hey. I was talking to you.”

You turned around and gave him an unimpressed look, “Yes, I heard. I was ignoring you.”

“That’s very rude of you. And here I was, trying to be polite.” He grinned, and you could smell the heavy twinge of alcohol on his breath. Double great. That was exactly what you wanted to deal with.

“Well, then, I guess you need to work on that, because let me tell you,” you yanked your hand back, “grabbing random women in the street is not really considered polite.”

His grin turned sour at your words, “What do you know? You’re obviously just an uptight bitch.” He made another grab for you, and you took a step back, successfully avoiding the clumsy movement.

“You’d better fucking not,” you warned the man. You watched as his eyes slowly scanned you. You had to repress a shiver at that. You decided in that moment that this man would not be getting whatever it was that he wanted from you.

You took a few steps back, not daring to turn away from him. He seemed to take that as a challenge, and matched all of your steps with his own. This kept going until you were effectively backed into an alleyway. You knew that it was bad news to be out of eyesight of people in this situation. You didn’t trust this man enough to turn and dash down the other end of the alley, though. Something about him just made you feel off, and you didn’t like that.

The man’s grin returned as he continued towards you. Your hand went to rest on your bag. What was it with you and getting into alley fights lately?

This time, when the man lunged for you, he managed to get a hold of your upper arm. You quickly retaliated by smashing your heel into his shin. He stumbled back and gave you the dirtiest glare he could muster.

And then he pulled out a knife.

You took a few steps back as a precaution, “Dude, you need to fuck off.”

Naturally, he didn’t. He took another step towards you, knife brandished. You supposed that this counted as an emergency, so you reached your hand into your bag to search for the cold metal of the gun. Coincidentally, it was the gun you had gotten in the last alley fight you had been in. You supposed the irony was lost on the man as you held the weapon up at him.

“Stop. Turn around and leave.” You left no room for arguments.

The man seemed momentarily shocked, but his shock quickly turned into a smug superiority, “You won’t do it. You probably don’t even know how.”

You gripped the gun tighter and glared at him, “Buddy, with the week I’ve had, you don’t want to test that. Walk away.” You clicked the safety off.

Once again, he didn’t. Instead, he stood his ground, issuing you a challenging smirk. You found your frustration growing. Did he really think you were playing with him? You just wanted to go back home, but no. This goddamn stupid man had to stop you. You escaped mobsters, only to run into this douche who though you owed him something.

He was right though. You weren’t planning on actually firing it unless it was absolutely necessary. You really, really didn’t want to add shooting someone to the list of fucked up things that’ve happened to you. In fact, you weren’t very keen on adding anything to that list.

The man moved, and you tensed up. You found yourself relaxing as he raised his hands. “Okay, okay.” He shifted as though he were going to turn and leave.

Needless to say, it was very much a surprise when he lunged for you.

You panicked.

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the alley way, leaving your ears ringing. It took a second for your brain to catch up with your instincts. You had… you had just shot someone.

The man still stood in front of you, clutching his shoulder in shock. You had just shot him.

“I- I didn’t mean-“ you floundered a bit, unsure about what to do.

“You just fucking shot me!” The man exclaimed. Your eye caught movement at the side of the alley that you and him had come from. Apparently, he noticed it to as he looked over at the figure.

“She just-“ his shout was cut short when something blunt struck the man over his head.

You hadn’t moved, your eyes still locked on the man who ragdolled to the floor. Your knuckles were white with how hard you were clutching the gun.

“Give me the gun.” The voice brought you out of your stupor, if only somewhat. Your only reply was to blink up at Papyrus in a stunned silence. “(Y/N), give me the gun. Now.”

You took in a sharp breath and flung the gun away as if it had burnt you. Papyrus gave you a look as it clattered to the ground.

“Shit,” you mumbled to yourself, brining your shaking hands up and clutching them against your chest, “I just-“

“Shut up.” Papyrus garbed you by the shoulder and gently shook you, “Listen to me. You are going to walk out of this alley way the way you came, and you are going to call Sans once you are sure that you are far enough away.”

“Wha- Wait, why?” You made no move to leave, so he shoved you in the direction he had just come from.

“GO, you absolute idiot!” He snapped at you.

You numbly followed his instructions until you heard the sound of sirens from the next street over. Oh. Oh, that was why. As you turned the corner, you saw Papyrus’s weapon vanish from the corner of your eye.

He wasn’t planning on fighting them. Papyrus was going to take the fall for what you had just done, and you had a feeling that if you stepped in right now, he still would.

What were you going to do? You had to do something! You had to-

You had to…

Shit. You knew what you had to do.

Chapter Text

You followed Papyrus’s instructions and walked away from the alley. You didn’t stop when you heard the shouting, and you didn’t bother listening to it. You already knew what was going on. You just hoped that he didn’t say anything .

Once the sirens sounded distant enough, you picked up your phone and dialed the one person who you really, really didn’t want to talk to. He’s going to be pissed, you just know it.

“Can I help you? I thought I told you I was busy today,” Sans complained from the other side of the phone.

“I know you did. I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t an emergency. And, well, I’m calling.”

“What happened?” His voice was suddenly much more short with you.

“Papyrus-“

“Shit! Where are you? Is he okay?” You could hear the sound of things clattering and clanging to the floor over his panic.

“He’s, uh. He’s alive.” You looked around, and prattled off the name on the closest street sign. You immediately felt the familiar shift in the air that came with a shortcut.

“What happened?” He repeated as you hung up the phone.

“Well, do you want the good news, or the bad news first?” You knew you were beating around the bush, but how in the hell were you going to tell Sans that you had gotten him into trouble?

“(Y/N). What happened?” He growled out.

“He’s not hurt. He’s perfectly safe.” You shied away from his gaze, “He just maybe kind of got arrested?”

The lights in his eyes vanished as he stared at you, “How?”

You stuttered, “Wha- maybe this isn’t the best place to be talking about this?” You gestured around at the open street.

To your surprise, he grabbed your arm, and your vision shifted without warning. The daylight shifted to a dimmer light that was cast by the lamp in Sans’ room. It took you a second to get your bearings, even though Sans insisted once more.

“How? My brother doesn’t just ‘get arrested’. What happened?” He stood over you, a glare set into his expression.

“Well,” you began, wandering over and falling back onto his bed, “It’s very possible that I may have accidentally shot someone.”

“Accidentally?! How do you accidentally shoot someone?!”

You shook your head and rubbed at your eyes, “Look I don’t know! I don’t know, okay? I was- he came at me with a knife! What was I supposed to do, let him stab me?! I didn’t want to shoot him!”

His expression softened at your words before he shook his head and rubbed at his temples, “Fuck now we’ve gotta… shit! I don’t know!”

You shook your head, “I can fix this.”

“I think you’ve done enough,” He snapped bitterly. Admittedly, his words hurt you a bit.

You persisted, “No. you don’t understand. I can get him out without too much trouble for you guys.”

Sans’ door swung open. You must have looked very similar to a deer caught in headlights as you stared up at Gaster. He scowled down at you with his arms crossed. Didn’t he know it was rude to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations?

“You are more trouble than you are worth. I doubt you ability to do so, but you made the mistake, and it would be naive of you to assume that I would not expect you to fix it.” He stepped forward until he was standing over you, “Just know that I will throw you to the dogs if I have to.”

Oh, you didn’t doubt that in the least. In fact, you were a bit skeptical as to whether or not he would do it anyways.

You stood up and stepped around him. You sighed and wandered downstairs. The faster you could get this over with, the more likely it was to work. You pulled your phone out once more to dial another number.

It rang once, twice, three times before there was a click followed by a voice.

“Hello?”

“Hey there. Listen, I really need to talk to you. It’s very important,” you knew that the best way to go about this was to get right to the point.

“Right now? I’m at work.” He needlessly reminded you. Yes, you were aware of that.

“I know, I can meet you there. It’s really, very important. Code red life or death important.”

There was a moment of silence at your words before he finally spoke, “Okay. I have a break in ten minutes.”

You nodded, even though you knew he couldn’t see you, “Perfect. I’ll be there.”

You turned around, and weren’t very surprised to see both Sans and Gaster giving you expectant looks. You turned to the former of the two.

“Can you take me to the police station? I’ll see what I can do, but just know that it’ll be really difficult if Papyrus said anything.” You explained.

“He knows not to,” Gaster told you with a confident certainty that you hoped was justified.

“Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” You looked over to Sans, “You guys can go if you’d like, but it’d probably be best if you guys stayed away from the station.” Before either of them could argue, you continued, “There’s a little cafe right across the street from it. I’ll need some time, and hopefully I’ll meet you back there with Papyrus.”

Sans linked his arm with yours, “Alright. If you run into trouble-“

“I won’t,” you gave him and assured nod, “Not with this one.”

He gave you a look before shaking his head, “Whateva. Let’s go.”

At least he warned you this time before the world shifted once more. You found yourself in a nondescript alleyway.

“Station’s to the right about a block. Figured that takin’ a shortcut to the front of the building would have been a bad plan,” he explained.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” it was for the best that he had done that. You dropped his hand and glanced around. You knew where you were. You looked back at him and gave him a nod. He took that as his cue to disappear.

You began towards the station, a certain confidence in your stride. You knew what you were doing. In fact, you knew that Sans and Gasters’ doubt in you was completely unfounded. Though, you supposed you never really gave them a reason to think that you had the situation handled…

Oh well. What they didn’t know wouldn’t kill them. Not in this instance, at least.

You pushed open the door to the building, and a small buzzing sound alerted the woman at the front desk of your presence. You glanced up at you from the paperwork she had been looking over and gave you a small nod.

“Nice to see you again, dear. Go on ahead,” she looked back down at her paper and went back to reading and clicking her pen absentmindedly.

You mumbled out a small thanks as you made your way through the building. You got a few curious glances from some of the people in the building as you strode directly through to the back office. No one tried to stop you, not even as you pulled open the glass door marked ‘Commanding Officer’.

The man who sat at the desk glanced up at you before standing up. He tucked his hands behind his back as you shut the door behind you. You took a second to close the blinds on the window that separated his office from the rest of the precinct.

Finally he addressed you, “You showed up sooner than I thought you would.”

“Well, I know how much you care about your punctuality.” You crossed your arms over your chest, a spark of a challenge in your eyes.

“I thought I told you I was available in ten minutes. You know how much you could have inconvenienced me with being early?” His neutral expression didn’t deter you. You had been through this same song and dance with him enough times to know that he was looking for a challenge.

You smirked, “Well I’m sorry I’m such an inconvenience to you then.”

He stared you down for only a second more before his resolve broke, and he gave you a small smile, “Aw, you know I always have time for my girl.”

You playfully rolled your eyes before shaking your head at yourself. You didn’t have time for this. You were here for a reason, and you needed to finish what you were doing.

“I know, old man,” you pulled your gaze away from him in favor of staring at the floor. “I have a really, really big favor to ask of you.”

He gave you a resolute nod, “I’ll do what I can. Just tell me what you need.”

“Off the record?” You asked, giving the room a quick look over. As you expected, there was a security camera in one corner of the office. You wanted to avoid that. Even asking your father to do something like this was dangerous for the both of you.

He followed your eyes and stepped between you and what you assumed to be the view of the camera. His back was to it, so you knew you were safe to speak.

You took a deep breath, “I need you to release one of the suspects you have in custody.”

He blinked at you in surprise. Apparently, that hadn’t been what he was expecting.

“You want me to… what?” He gave you an odd look. “Who…” you watched in mild wonder as the wheels in his head began turning. No matter how many times you watched him puzzle something to get her like that, it was always impressive.

“The skeleton?” He asked, hitting the nail on the head with his assumption.

You weren’t surprised by that. Your father had always been very good at his job. He always remembered the most seemingly insignificant details, and had an uncanny knack for knowing which ones were important. He had worked hard to earn his title among the other officers, and was well deserving of it.

He shook his head, “It would be a lot more complicated than just letting him walk free. The man who was in the alley with him is unresponsive. It’s very likely that he will remain that way. We have just barely started the investigation, but it is leaning heavily towards him being the culprit and way you twist it.”

You bit at your lip and looked at your hands as you nervously picked at your nails, “Unresponsive? The man… he’s in a coma, you mean?” He didn’t need to answer. You already knew that was what he meant.

“Yes, and the skeleton, who has refused to say a word, by the way, was standing over him with a discarded gun several feet away. Most of my detectives are calling this a pretty cut and dry case. All that they need to do is go over all of the evidence because he wouldn’t tell us anything. They didn’t even manage to get a name outta him.”

“You aren’t going to like what they find,” you answered truthfully, finally looking up at him with a heavy guilt. He waited for you to continue. “He didn’t…” you glanced around needlessly before lowering your voice, “I took that gun from a man in an alley fight. It had been sitting in my bag for months. I didn’t really plan on using it, but I didn’t know what to do with it, so I kept it.”

It seemed that you had taken him by surprise for the second time that day, “Are you telling me that you shot him?”

“He came at me with a knife, and I panicked. I didn’t mean to, I swear.” You wrapped your arms around your middle in a poor attempt to comfort yourself. Sure, the man may have been shitty, but that didn’t mean you had wanted to shoot him! You had never shot anyone before, and you felt really bad about it. Knowing that the man was in a coma because of you did nothing to help either.

“Papyrus helped me. He took the fall for something he didn’t do.”

Your father seemed to take a second to weigh his options before taking in a sharp breath and pinching at the bridge of his nose.

“Alright. Okay,” he gathered his thoughts, “Listen to me. You are very lucky that your friend hasn’t said anything yet. You are also really lucky that most of these damn detectives are dirty. I’ve turned my head for them, so they’ll do the same, if only this once. But you can’t expect me to be able to do anything like this again. Next time one of you ends up in here, that’s it.”

You nodded. He was going to help you. That was more than you had hoped for. He sighed and shook his head before moving past you and pulling the door open. He didn’t say a word as he made his way to the holding cells. You followed. Still, no one in the precinct said anything.

He stopped at a door and pulled it open before gesturing you in. You stepped in and he shut the door behind you, leaving you alone in the room. You wandered over to the window that separated it from the room next door.

It was unsurprising that Papyrus sat at a metal table, one hand cuffed down to it. He was tapping impatiently at the table, his eyes scanning the window. Except you knew that it wasn’t a window to him. It was a mirror.

He glanced over as the door opened, and you father made his way inside. Papyrus didn’t flinch as the comparatively smaller human stood across from him. If anything, Papyrus seemed bored with it.

It wasn’t until your father started talking that his interest piqued. You were lucky that the speaker was on, and his voice came through with a soft static.

“Alright, skeleton,” he began as he turned off the recording device that was next to him, “Listen to me and listen well.”

Your father crossed his arms and made eye contact with Papyrus. The monster however, was still looking at the camera with confusion. He turned his attention to your father as the man shifted, distrust written all over his expression.

“This is what happened,” Your father’s words only served to confuse the skeleton more. “You just so happened to be in that alley way when that man was shot. It was a drug deal gone wrong. The assailant fled the scene, and in exactly two weeks from now, he will have fled the city. You were going to help the man when the police arrived on the scene. They assumed the worst and brought you into custody. Any questions?”

Papyrus narrowed his eyes, “What?”

“I am going to choose to believe that was a ‘what’ of confusion and disbelief, and not a repeat everything you just said kind of ‘what’.” He pulled the key to the handcuff out of his pocket and quickly undid it.

Papyrus didn’t speak as he hesitantly pulled his hand back. Your father gave the window a quick tap before heading to the door. You took that as you cue to leave the room and follow him out. Papyrus didn’t seem to quite get that memo as he stood staring at your father.

The man sighed, “Are you going to leave, or not? I don’t have all day.”

Papyrus followed him out. You left the room you were in right after you saw the door close behind them. You peeked out into the hallway before stepping out fully. When he heard the door close behind you, Papyrus’ attention snapped to you.

It took a second for him to process what was happening. “Wha- (Y/N)? What are you-“ his confused expression began melting away as something else took its place. If you hadn’t of known any better, you would have almost guessed that he was looking at you with a certain affectionate wonder. “You came to get me.”

You snorted, “Of course I did, you numbskull. Did you think I was just going to leave you to the dogs?” You gave him a wink, “You didn’t do anything wrong, after all.”

His expression didn’t change as he glanced between you and the man next to him, “How-“ he opened and closed his his jaw a few times, the last of which had an audible click to it.

“You two should get going. I have a mountain of paperwork to do now, and I still need to walk you out.” Without waiting, he began towards the exit of the building.

You gave one last glance to Papyrus before following him. You could hear Papyrus step in time behind you as the three of you made your way back through the precinct. A few of the detectives looked at you questioningly as you passed, but they quickly went back to minding their own business at your father’s harsh glare.

The receptionist glanced up from her paperwork once more as you walked by her, “Oh! So long, miss! I do hope you’ll stop by and visit some time soon.”

You awkwardly nodded at her, “Er, yeah. Have a nice day ma’am.”

She gave the rest of your party a small wave as you all filed outside. It wasn’t until you had walked away from the building a good ways that your father finally stopped and turned to you.

“I’m so sorry for causing you any trouble,” you began, “and I really can’t thank you enough.” You took the initiative to step forward and pull him into a hug. Much to your amusement, you could hear a confused sputter come from Papyrus. You elected to ignore him for the time being.

Your dad returned the hug, “You don’t owe me anything. Though, maybe you could stop by for Christmas this year. I’m sure your mother would be absolutely ecstatic if you did.”

You took a step back and gave him a small nod, “Maybe I will.”

At your assurance, he gave you a small smile. It swiftly dropped as he turned his attention to Papyrus. “You are very lucky that she did this for you.” He narrowed his eyes at the skeleton, “I can’t say that I know what you’re about, but I’m sure I could wager a guess or two.” He took a step towards the monster and, despite the height difference, glared at him in a silent threat, “You’d better not let anything happen to her.”

Papyrus stared down at him. He glanced briefly in your direction before crossing his arms over his chest, “I don’t intend to.”

Your father took a second to scan the Papyrus’s expression before he found what he was looking for and nodded. He glanced back at you and gave your head a quick tousle, much to your annoyance. He chuckled before turning around and leaving back to his office without another word. You waited until the door to the building shut behind him before turning to Papyrus.

“Well, that was fun. Let’s never do any of that again.”

“Agreed.”

Chapter Text

You and Papyrus were quick to walk away from the station. You began silently leading him in the direction of the cafe you had sent Sans and Gaster to. Hopefully they were actually there. You wouldn’t be surprised if they had decided to fly off the handle and do something drastic. You knew Gaster’s faith in you was astoundingly low, but you hoped that Sans would have waited up for you.

You gave a brief glance back to Papyrus, who was looking at you thoughtfully as the two of you walked. He didn’t bother looking away from you when he was caught staring. You raised a brow at him, but didn’t say anything. You didn’t really mind, anyways.

You looked back to the building you were walking up to. The cafe was relatively empty, which didn’t surprise you. It was getting kind of late, and not many people were looking to get coffee. That wasn’t to say it was completely vacant, though. On the contrary, there were a few patrons sitting in the patio. None of them were who you were looking for, so you headed inside.

“Do you really think that it is a good time for coffee?” Papyrus asked, though he followed you up to the door.

“Not really, but they have excellent cake here. Oh, and I told your brother to wait here for me.”

He scoffed, “One of those things is much more important than the other.”

“You’re right. The cake is really, really good.” You snickered as you pulled open the door and scanned the little coffee shop.

You quickly caught sight of two familiar figures nestled up in one of the corner tables. Neither of them were paying attention to you, both seemingly caught up in whatever conversation they were having. You smirked.

“Hey, Papyrus?” When he let out a small hum, you continued, “You should wait there for a second.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it’ll be more dramatic that way.” You didn’t wait for any answer before you wandered up to the table.

As you did, Gaster finally noticed you before Sans did. He stopped talking and glared at you as you approached. Sans turned around to look at you as well, but unlike some kind of deep seated hatred that you got from his father, his expression told you absolutely nothing about his emotions towards you.

“Hey guys, I-“

“I should have know that you wouldn’t be able to do anything,” Gaster interrupted you, “Actually, I am unsurprised. I figured that this would be the case.” He turned back to Sans, “Now, as I was saying, I know it would be unwise to call Undyne, but-“

You cleared your throat and crossed your arms. Gaster scowled and shook his head.

“Do not interrupt me. You’ve already proven that you have absolutely no use in this,” he turned to look at you once more and trailed off.

“I think she was very useful in this particular situation,” Papyrus’ voice came from just behind you.

You found yourself grinning smugly as Gaster tried to formulate some kind of response, “Well I- You still don’t- How?”

You winked, “Guess you’ll never know, will ya?”

Papyrus moved around you and took a seat next to his brother. At your refusal to give him any information, Gaster looked to Papyrus. Sans followed his father’s lead and did the same, though it was less of a demand and more of a subtle curiosity.

Papyrus looked at you in question. When you shrugged at him, he spoke.

“Her father is the police chief.” After he said that, there was a moment of silence where all attention was turned back to you.

It was broken by Sans’ laughter. You couldn’t help but smile as you looked over at him. It was the real kind of laughter. The kind that came from the pit of your stomach and made you want to double over. The kind that brought a genuine smile. You weren’t sure exactly why he seemed to think it was so funny, but you found that you didn’t quite care.

“Are you kidding me?” Gaster looked miffed. “Out of everyone, it had to be her?” He groaned, “Why is it that you two can never make anything easy for me?”

That made you chuckle. “Well if I were easy to handle, then I would be boring, old man.”

“Don’t sass me.” He snapped as soon as you finished speaking.

Sans managed to speak through his wheezing laughter, “Oh, fuck sweetheart. Of course you’re related to the goddamned police chief. I shouldn’t even be surprised!

“Well I’m glad you think this is amusing,” Gaster deadpanned.

“I think it’s hilarious,” Sans shot back, his grin only helping to support that.

Papyrus took a second to look at his brother before shaking his head goodnaturedly, “You never seem to fail to make light of any and all situations.” He glanced up at you, “It would seem that both of you are good at that.”

You rolled your eyes before giving him a cheesy grin, “Oh, but you know you enjoy it. I’m the brightest part of your day, Bone Boy.”

He scoffed and crossed his arms, but didn’t say anything to rebuke it. You snickered and gave him a wink. He looked away with a tinting of red across his cheekbones. Aw! You knew he cared!

A thoughtful hum came from Gaster. You looked over to him in question. Unsurprisingly, he did not answer, instead choosing to stand up. He glanced between his sons before stepping away from the table and past you.

He cleared his throat, “Well, either way, I suppose you did what was asked of you. Thank you.”

Now it was your turn to be surprised, “Wha- er. Yeah. Of course. I was kind of the one to get him in that situation in the first place anyways.”

He looked back at you with a raised brow, “You did not think I was going to thank you?”

“Honestly? No, I didn’t. Don’t take it to personally, but you never really a gave me a reason to think that you would.” You gestured vaguely to your neck, which was still covered in bruised that very obviously resembled large handprints. You knew he couldn’t see them through the thick red fabric around your neck, but he knew perfectly well what you were referring to. “In fact, I’m pretty sure that after the first time I met you, you have done pretty much the complete opposite of that.”

He stared at you for a second, “You seem awfully comfortable around someone who has attempted to kill you,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I know it’s pretty reckless of me. Your son’s seem pretty confident that you’ll leave me be, and I trust them.” You glanced back briefly at the skeletons in question. “You, on the other hand, I trust about as far as I can throw you.” You gauged the night difference between you and Gaster. You doubted you could throw him at all.

He seemed to come to the same conclusions his subtle shift in expression was anything to go by. He didn’t say anything else to you before tuning and heading for the door.

You didn’t follow. There was still cake to be had, after all.

You glanced over at the two that remained at the table, “You guys hungry?”

Sans snorted and shook his head, “Sweetheart, you never stop surprisin’ me.”

You shot him a grin, “If I don’t keep you on your toes, who will?”

“Well you do very well at your self-imposed job in that case,” Papyrus pitched in. “I’ll take whatever you recommend.”

You gave him a nod before turning and wandering over to the counter. You quickly ordered and went to sit back down with the boys.

“Alright, so, listen. Maybe we should all avoid getting arrested from now on? I mean, I can only save your boney asses so many time, y’know?”

“As I recall, we’ve saved you as well,” Papyrus pointed out with a raised brow.

You shrugged, “I never said you didn’t. We seem to have a pretty symbiotic relationship.” You took the seat across from them.

Sans winked, “if ya say so. At this point though, I wouldn’t be surprised if ya just used us for cleanin’ up your messes.”

You put a hand to your chest in mock offense, “How dare you make fun of me? I thought I was the love of your life,” you teased. At his flustered expression, you decided that making skeletons blush was your new favorite pastime.

“Shuddup,” He replied ever so wittily.

You grinned as plates were set on your table. You slid two of them to the monsters across from you before taking a large bite of the dessert that was on your own. You hummed in appreciation of the flavor.

“So, are we just going back home after this?” You asked after swallowing.

Papyrus gave you a look, “As opposed to?”

“Well I know we aren’t going roller skating,” You sassed him. “I just thought I’d ask. I know that I kind of interrupted whatever it was that you had been doing.”

“No offense Sweetheart, but that’s somethin’ you do all the time.” Sans spoke through a mouthful of cake.

“I do have to agree with my brother on that. You have horrible timing.” You were fairly certain that Papyrus was referencing the time you had seen him leaving the basement covered in blood. Or… maybe he meant the first time you ran into Gaster. Okay, he was probably right. Your timing was shit.

“Hey! I can’t help it if trouble seems to seek me out. Especially lately.” You took another bite with a small pout.

“Well it certainly not our fault that you don’t know how to choose your battles,” Papyrus pointed his fork at you accusingly.

You chuckled, “Well my mom always used to tell me to pick my battles, so I decided that I’d just pick all of them.”

“You can’t-“ Sans snorted and shook his head, “Y’know what? Actually, that explains a lot.”

“You implying something, Casanova?” You playfully glared at him.

“I’m implying that you’re a scrappy little shit who tries to punch her problems away. Don’t even get me started on your coping mechanisms.”

“Well damn. I can’t even claim that as slander,” you dropped your fork on the plate with a loud clang, “I know it’s true, but you didn’t have to come for me like that.”

He rolled his eyes at you before pushing his empty plate away from him. “Sometimes the truth hurts, Babe.” He gave you a wink, “Now are we gonna sit around here all day? I got shit to do.”

You found yourself getting flustered at the new nickname. It seemed that Sans had an excessive amount of pet names at the ready at all points in time. This was dumb. You were a grown ass adult. There was absolutely no reason you should be so affected by a dumb name.

You cleared your throat and stood up, choosing to look at the taller of the brothers for the time being. “Right. We should probably head out.”

Papyrus stared at you before giving a nod, “Maybe that would be best.” His expression had fallen back into something that you were having trouble reading. He stood up from his seat and looked over to his brother.

Sans gave his a questioning glance, but stood up nonetheless. He wordlessly held out his hands, one to each of you. You took it with no hesitation. Teleportation really was the easiest way to travel, even if the aftermath of it always left you with a bit of a headache.

Once Papyrus took his brother’s hand, the three of you were shifted to another place through whatever magical means Sans had access to. You didn’t really think it would be best to question how exactly his ‘shortcuts’ worked. The eplaintion would likely go over your head, as you weren’t some kind of quantum physicist. Unsurprisingly, you appeared in the skeleton’s living room.

“You should take a break from searching for a while,” Papyrus told you. “In fact, I believe it would be best if we were all to lay low for a few days.”

“Yeah,” Sans agreed, “You should think about goin’ back in to work, Sweetheart.”

You sheepishly rubbed at your arm, “You’re probably right. I’ll just have to wear, uh.” You gestured to your neck. “I mean, it’s be a bad idea to show up with this around my neck.” You can only imagine what your boss’ reaction would be.

Papyrus looked you over before sighing and moving over to their sofa. He took a seat and gestured for you to follow him. You shot a glance at Sans, who just shrugged at you before leaving for the kitchen. How insightful. You raised a brow, but decided to go over to Papyrus, dropping yourself onto the cushion next to him. You were confused when he grabbed you by the shoulders and turned you so that you were facing him.

“Uh, what-“

“Shut up,” he snapped at you, though there was no real bite to it.

You let him grab the collar of your dress, or rather his shirt, and pull it down enough to see the bruises. He stared at them for a second before you felt his hands rest gently on either side of your neck.

“Papyrus, what are you-“ You trailed off as a soft warmth began emanating from his hands. It was accompanied by an odd tingly feeling.

Papyrus stared down at his hands in concentration before glancing up to meet your gaze. He held it for a second before looking away from your inquisitive expression. The warmth slowly faded away, and the pressure Papyrus’s fingertips put on your throat caused you to tug back, expecting pain.

But none came.

You reached a hand up and prodded at your neck. There was no pain. It was almost as if there had never been anything there in the first place.

You blinked up at Papyrus, a glimmer of wonder in your eyes. “Did you just heal me?”

He nodded, slowly dropping his hands back down, “You should be fine to go back to work now.”

“But,” you began, taking a second to gather your thoughts, “Why didn’t you just do that earlier?”

He seemed to get lost in thought for a second before he shook his head and quickly stood up, “It does not matter. You are healed now, so it is no longer an issue.”

You raised a brow and crossed your arms. He had very obviously avoided your question, but that was okay you supposed. You didn’t really want to dig on something so silly, and the guy was allowed to have secrets.

“Well thank you either way,” you gave him a smile.

He had seemed a bit surprised that you had thanked him. It was quickly shaken off as he cleared his throat, “Of course.”

“Yeah, it seemed like that was a real pain in ‘er neck,” Sans called from the kitchen.

“SANS!” Papyrus shouted back at his brother.

You hid a giggle behind your hand. Sure, these were a bunch of dangerous mobsters, but above all else, that were a bunch of dorks. Despite all of the bumps in the road, you could safely say that you were glad you had stumbled into their lives.

Chapter Text

You pulled open the glass door to the bar and were immediately greeted by the warm air that smelled vaguely like campfire smoke and whisky. It had a pleasant familiarity to it. You weren’t entirely sure when you had come to regard that scent as fondly as you did, and yet, it brought with it an almost calming warmth as you wandered into the building.

The patrons of the bar minded their own business as your heels clacked against the hardwood floors. At least, they did until the regulars noticed you. You weren’t sure if you were uncomfortable or unsurprised at the sudden silence that fell over the usually noisy bar. Either way, you made your way back to the bar, where your boss was not present, but you knew it would only be a matter of time before he came back to his usual spot.

You tapped your fingers awkwardly on the bar, still feeling eyes on you as you waited. You were quickly finding that rumors spread impressively fast between monsters.

“Where’ve you been hiding out?” You turned around to face the voice. You found that he table of dogs was looking at you in question. It was Dogressa that had asked, much to your surprise. She had never really spoken to you much.

“I heard she had a run in with the Doc,” one of the others, Doggo pitched in.

“Yeah right,” she scoffed, “A human surviving a run in with the Doc? I don’t think so.” The Doc? Did they mean Gaster? Was… was he a doctor?

“You might have to be a bit more specific. If you’re talking about Sans’s family like I think you are, then boy do I have news for you.” You shook your head, “It sucked. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.”

They blinked at you in surprise. Dogressa tilted her head at you and gave you a small nod, “If you really mean what you’re implying, then I guess you’re less of a yappy pup than I thought you were. How’d you get out of. It?”

Did she just call you a yappy pup? What was that supposed to mean? Monsters were so strange.

You shook your head and shrugged, “Sans.” That really was what had happened. You were absolutely certain that your ass would be toast if Sans hadn’t stepped in. Probably both literal and figurative toast, you lamented to yourself, recalling the heat of the blasters.

The entire table seemed vaguely unsurprised at you answer. It also seemed to satisfy them enough for them to turn back to the game of poker they were playing.

“(Y/N)?” You spun around at the sound of your name.

Grillby was staring at you from the other side of the bar, a plate of food in hand. He set it down on the bar to come back to later as he shook his head at you.

“Are you alright?” He looked you over, most likely scanning you for some kind of injury. Your hand went up to your neck. You rubbed at it lightly, even though you knew that there was nothing there anymore.

“Well, I’m not dead, if that’s what you mean. I don’t really plan on dying any time soon, either.” No, not after everything you had survived so far. There was no way you were going down without a fight.

“I’m surprised to see you back at work so early. Or at all, really.” As usual, the confidence that people had in you was astounding ly low.

You crossed your arms, “Yeah, well, here I am.”

He hummed, “Yes, so I see. It would be very inconvenient for me if you would have stayed away.”

“Aw, I knew you cared!” You shot him a wink. “Told ya we’d be besties.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get to work before Sans shows up and I have to deal with your flirting.”

Despite your best efforts, you could feel your cheeks heat up, “Wha- I don’t flirt with Sans!” Okay, maybe he flirted with you a little bit, but you knew he didn’t really feel like that towards you, right? That was just how Sans was.

You could practically feel the look his was giving you sear into you as he let out a disbelieving, “Mh-hm.”

You rolled your eyes, “Oh, shut up, Sparky.”

You could hear a crackling chuckle come from him at your weak rebuttal. You huffed and turned away, making your way over to the stage to start your job. It wasn’t like he was paying you to stand around to be poked fun at, after all.

Your shift went by fairly quickly, and to your surprise (and relief) without a hitch. You had decided only to do a couple of songs for your first day back. You knew that Papyrus had healed your throat, but you figured that you were better safe than sorry. You got through your set with no problems before stepping off of the stage and making your way back to the bar.

You weren’t surprised to see Sans sitting in his usual seat. You wandered over, but slowed before you took your spot next to him.

Did… did it really seem like you were flirting with him? Were you flirting with him? You weren’t even sure at this point. It was pretty apparent to you that you maybe might have had some kind of feelings for Sans, and while you really wanted them to pass, you doubted that they would at this point. No, you knew that they wouldn’t.

It was just- well, why did it have to be him? Out of everyone that you could have possibly gotten any kind of attachment to, it had to be that idiot. The same idiot who both could and would flirt with pretty much anything that moved, and the same idiot that had the bright idea to get you involved with everything, even if it was an accident. He was… he was the same idiot who had saved your life more than once, and he was the same idiot who helped you through a lot. He… you… When had Sans become so important to you?

“Hey, earth to dumbass,” a hand waved in front of your eyes. You blinked a few times and shook yourself free of your thoughts as you looked over to Sans, who was looking at you with a raised brow. “You okay there, Sweetheart?”

You must have really spaced out judging by the way they were looking at you. You felt your face heat up for the second time that day.

“Yeah, uh. Sorry. Guess I just got lost in thought for a second.” You hopped up onto the barstool next to Sans, though you found the counter more interesting than your companions. Or, maybe you were just trying to avoid the odd looks they were giving you.

“What’s your issue?” Sans shoved you gently in an attempt to bring your attention to him.

You glanced up from glaring at the counter, only to find yourself glaring at the fire elemental’s smug face. He had quickly caught on to what the problem was.

“Nothing. No issue. I think I’m just kind of tired,” you lied through your teeth. Sleep was the last thing you wanted right now.

“Ya want me to take you home?” Sans leaned over the counted and tilted his head so that he could meet your eyes. He was worried. Well, now you just felt like shit for making him worry about your dumb ass.

“Home?” Grillby asked, “Is she saying with you?” He was completely unperturbed about your predicament. In fact, he seemed to be pretty amused.

Sans nodded, “Yeah. For now, at least.”

Grillby looked back at you, the smugness increasing tenfold. Your face only grew hotter as you shot him another glare. This was his fault, and he knew it. If he hadn’t of made that comment, your mental state wouldn’t be going completely off the rails. You shook your head at him and stood up.

“Yeah, that’d probably be best,” you ignored Grillby in favor of taking Sans up on his offer to bring you home. You weren’t sure how much more of Grillby you were willing to handle for the night, especially when he was giving you that look.

Home. Huh. You briefly wondered when it had become that. Was it just because you were staying there, or…? Your gaze moved over to Sans.

You shook your head at yourself before taking his arm, “See ya later, Grillby.” You gave your boss a small wave.

“Unfortunately,” he sassed back. You took the liberty of flipping him off just before you felt the familiar shift of a shortcut.

You took a step away from Sans, though you were still a bit disoriented from the shift to his living room. At least they were getting easier, you supposed. You could stand on your own, which was more than you could say for the first time you had been brought along. That had been a pretty long time ago, hadn’t it?

“Seriously, are you sure you're doin’ okay?” Sans pulled you from your thoughts once more. You were overthinking all of this. The irony of that wasn’t lost on you. You hardly ever seemed to think things through, and this was tripping you up more than anything else that had happened.

“No,” you quickly shook your head, “Wait, I mean yes. Yes I’m sure.” You would be better if the stupid blush on your cheeks would go away.

Sans chuckled, “You’re a shitty liar.”

“I beg to differ,” you told him indignantly. If you weren’t at least a halfway decent liar, you wouldn’t be there at all.

He snickered and poked at your cheeks, “Sweetheart, you’ve got a dead giveaway.” You swatted his hand away, but he continued anyways, “So I think that either you’re not feelin’ well, or somethin’ else is botherin’ ya.” He gave you a wink and took a step towards you.

Well, fuck. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bones.” You looked off to the side, avoiding meeting his smug gaze. There was no way you were about to tell him that he was spot on. He was bothering you.

“Oh, but I think you know exactly what I’m talkin’ about,” he took another step towards you so that he was almost flush against you. You looked back up at him as his hands came to rest on your waist.  “Am I right?”

You frowned up at him, absolutely certain that your entire face was flushed a deep red. You shook your head, “Alright, that’s enough, Sans. It isn’t funny.” He had no clue what he was doing. There was no way he was doing anything but teasing you. That was just what Sans did.

His smirk twitched downward for a split second before it returned, “Who says I was tryin ta be funny?”

You blinked up at him in surprise. The lights in his eyes dilated faintly as he scanned over your face. You didn’t miss how his attention lingered on your lips before flickering back to your eyes. You opened your mouth to speak, but the words were lost before they could escape you. Your own eyes caught the glint of gold in his smile, which had slowly shifted into something a bit more sincere.

His smile was almost gentle as he reached up to brush a stray hair out of your face. His hand lingered at the side of your cheek, and he thoughtfully ran his thumb along your jawline. It was a surprisingly gentle moment between you and the mobster that was leaving you more than a little confused.

He caught your eyes once more, and as if it had broken some kind of spell, he tensed up before swiftly pulling away as if you had burned him. You frowned at his sudden scowl.

“Go get some sleep if you’re tired. I’m going out.”

“Sans, what-“ and, he was gone.

You were left alone in the living room with a flushed face and about a million questions. As you glanced around and distractedly attempted to calm your blush, you found yourself coming back to one question in particular.

What in the hell was that all about?

Chapter Text

You shifted in the bed, tossing the blankets around as you tried in vain to fall asleep. Your brain just wasn’t letting you. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened earlier.

After making his escape, Sans still hadn’t come back home. That in itself wasn’t very unusual for him, but you couldn’t help but feel like this particular situation was your fault. In fact, you were certain of it.

You weren’t dense. You knew that what had happened was… well, something . You just wished that Sans had stuck around long enough for you to figure out what that something was. Sure, you knew that you liked Sans more than you were willing to admit, but you still weren’t sure what he was thinking. It was obvious that there was something there, but you just…

You didn’t like the thought of ending up as just another one night stands. You had seen him take women home before. Hell, you had helped him pick up women before. You had never seen any of them after that. You didn’t want to end up like that. You didn’t want to end up kicked to the curb because Sans decided that he didn’t like toying with you anymore.

You rubbed at your chest as the thought occurred to you. That would hurt you a lot more than you would like for it to.

Sans had run from whatever had happened. You were willing to be that he wasn’t going to want to talk to you about it when he got back. Actually, scratch that. Knowing Sans, you were willing to bet that he wouldn’t want to talk about it ever.

You didn’t think you were in the mood to pry, either.

You sighed and sat up. Maybe it would be best if you just slept down in the living room. One night on the couch wouldn’t be too horrible on your back, after all.

You made your way over to the door to the hall. Before you could pull it open, you were stopped by a hand grabbing at your waist.

“Where ya goin’?” Sans’ voice came from behind you. You didn’t bother turning around.

“Down to the living room. I don’t really want to impose.”

“Impose? Sweetheart, I’ve never had a problem with you sleeping in here. What makes you think I’d start now?”

You turned to face him, only to stop when you felt a tug at your shirt. You froze and looked down in confusion. You yelped as Sans tried to tug his hand away from you. It didn’t get very far.

One of his rings had gotten caught on your shirt.

When he tugged again, it was accompanied by the sound of thread snapping, and he still hadn’t come undone. You grabbed his arm and shifted your attention so that you were glaring up at him.

“If you rip my shirt, I’m gonna shove my foot so far up your goddamn coccyx, you won’t be able to walk for a week.” You threatened, tightening your grip on his arm.

“Shit, I’m just tryin’ ta get loose,” he snapped back.

“Well you’re doing it wrong,” you moved your gaze back to the ring and let his arm go so that you could unsnag it. “Why the hell do you even where these tacky ass things, anyways?”

“Wha- They aren’t tacky!” He sounded genuinely offended.

You looked up at him with a deadpan stare, “Sans. Your rings are the tackiest things I’ve ever seen, which is saying something considering the fact that I’m a bar singer.” You managed to unhook yourself as you looked up at him.

He yanked his hands back as soon as you had let them go before looking down at them. He stared for a few seconds, the lights in his eyes flickering over the collection of gold rings that he wore. One of them had a thread still snagged onto the prongs of it, much to your chagrin.

“You really think they look tacky?” His eye lights were dim, and his voice was soft as he asked you.

You stared at him in disbelief for a second before you snickered. He gave you a sad look, which amped your snickering into full-blown laughter. You took a step towards him and dropped your head onto his chest.

“Oh my god. You’re such an idiot.” You looked up at him through your laughter as he hesitantly dropped his arms around you. “They really, really are tacky. But, so are you, so I guess you pull it off pretty well.”

His cheeks gained a red tint as he scoffed and pushed you away. You just laughed and stuck your tongue out at him.

“Yeah. Ha-ha. Really funny. Go to bed you fuckin’ asshole.” He flipped you off before pointing to his bed.

You put your hand to your chest in mock-hurt. “ Me? An asshole? Oh, no, I think you’ve got us confused, sir.” You made your way over to the bed and stared down at it for a second before falling back on it. You really didn’t want to sleep on the couch. It was really lumpy.

Sans sat on the opposite side of the bed, flicking off the light as he went. The two of you shuffled about until you were both awkwardly lying next to each other wordlessly. You knew that neither of you would be sleeping anytime soon. Not with things being the way they were, anyways.

You so badly wanted to ask him about what had happened between the two of you earlier. But… you didn’t want him to run away again. No, one rejection a day was more than enough for you.

So, you settled on a different question. “Sans? Can I ask you something?” You glanced over in his direction.

He was giving you an uncomfortable look, “Bout what?”

“You do smoke, right?”

His discomfort turned into confusion, “What?”

You chuckled, “Well, it’s just that you kind of always smell a little bit like some kind of fancy cigars, but I’ve never actually seen any evidence. I mean, your room kinda smelt like smoke the first few times I was in it, but it, uh, doesn’t anymore. Not really, anyways.”

He raised a brow at you and shook his head, “You suddenly an investigator or somethin’?” He shrugged, which was a very strange looking movement, considering the fact that he was lying down. “But, yeah, sometimes. Paps don’t like it much though, so I don’t do it around around him. Used to smoke in here every now and again. That was ‘till you showed up.”

“Why’d you stop smoking in here when I showed up?”

“Bad for ya. You humans have all these weird squishy bits that get all kinds of messed up from the smoke,” he explained.

You blinked at him in surprise, “Oh. That’s… oddly thoughtful of you. Thanks for that.”

He chuckled, “You sound like you’re surprised that I did that. I’ve had to deal with more of your issues than I know what to do with. You really think I’d put you in danger of somethin’ stupid as secondhand smoke?”

You clicked your tongue and looked away from him, “No, I guess not. But, how do you know that I don’t smoke anyways? If I did, it would be kind of pointless to keep your room smoke free or whatever.”

“Do ya?” He asked, though you got the feeling he already knew the answer.

“I’m around enough of it at work.” Though, you did have to say that the patrons of Grillby’s smoked very… odd things. Before you worked there, you hadn’t even know it was possible to smoke a dog treat.

He sighed and turned over so that he was facing you. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before shaking his head and flipping back to his other side. Was he really doing that right now? You had to repress a groan.

“What?” You asked him. There was obviously something he had wanted to tell you.

“Nothin’. Go to sleep.” He didn’t even bother looking at you.

You poked him in the back, “ What ? C’mon, I know that you wanted to talk to me about something.”

“Doesn’t matter.” What a weenie. You would get him to talk, even if it meant that you had to be a pest.

“Yes it does. Just tell me,” You pestered. “I’m not going to stop bothering you until you do.”

He sighed and turned around to face you once more, “Fine just-“ he shook his head, “Just forget about what happened earlier.”

Was that what he wanted to ask you about? He really just wanted you to forget about what had happened? And something had most certainly happened. You weren’t entirely sure what it had been, but it was obvious. And, well, you were a bit surprised that he brought it up at all.

You bit your lip in thought before addressing Sans in a quiet voice, “What if I don’t want to forget?”

He tensed up as he looked you over. “You don’t-“ he let out a humorless chuckle, “That’s asking too much of me, sweetheart.”

You shifted closer to him, “Why’s that?”

“You’re nothin’ but trouble.” You didn’t miss the way his eyes scanned your face, as if he was taking in the details of it.

“So I’ve been told,” you kept your voice soft, feeling like if you spoke any louder you would shatter the moment.

“I don’t think ya understand,” he murmured, though he was obviously just as caught up in the sudden moment as you were. He leaned closed and stared into your eyes. “I can’t afford to care about ya anymore than I already do.”

The two of you were close enough that you could feel the air rush out as he exhaled. His hand found its way to the base of your neck as he looked at you, phalanges weaving their way into your hair. The strange sensation sent a shiver down your spine.

“I wasn’t supposed to care about you at all,” he continued. His deep baritone made the whispered words sound as though there were a rumble coming from his chest. He dropped his forehead against yours and shook his head, “Guess I really fucked that up, huh?”

Your eyes fluttered closed as you let out a breathy chuckle, “If it’s any consolation, so did I.”

A soft sigh escaped from him as he pulled back, only to pull you to his chest. Your arms found their way around him in turn. As you buried the side of your face into his chest, you heard a gentle hum coming from the inside of his rib cage. You pulled one of your hands away from him to rest it near where the noise was coming from.

“What is…” you trailed off.

Sans seemed to know what you were talking about, “tha’s my soul.”

You blinked in surprise, “Really? It sounds,” you took a second to think, listening to it all the while, “pretty.”

His grip on you tightened. You glanced up at him to see that he was looking at you with a flushed face. He shook his head at you, “Ya can’t just say shit like that.”

You chuckled and tucked yourself back into him, “Why not? ‘S not like I didn’t say anything that I didn’t mean.” You voice came out muffled as you spoke against the fabric of his shirt.

He let out a disbelieving chuckle, which you could feel rumble in his chest. “You’re gonna be the death of me, ain’t cha Babe?” He pressed his teeth to the top of your head in a pseudo-kiss. To your surprise, when it connected, you felt a spark of energy.

You couldn’t help but grin into his shirt. There was no doubt in your mind that a blush had covered your face. But, you found that you didn’t mind as Sans shifted so that his chin was resting on the top of your head. His grip around you tightened as he pulled you closer.

No, you didn’t mind at all

Chapter Text

With a yawn, you blearily blinked open your eyes. They focused on the dark grey fabric on Sans’ shirt, which was closer to your face than you had anticipated it to be. You shook off your sleepy state as you glanced up at the skeleton.

He was still asleep, not that you were surprised by that. If Sans could sleep all day, you were absolutely certain that he would. You chuckled at the thought. The grip around your waist tightened as soon as you did, bringing you closer to his unconscious form. Your cheeks grew warm as you realized just how tangled together the two of you had gotten at some point during the night.

You tried separation yourself to no avail. Great. You were doing this again.

“Sans,” you tried, “C’mon, we’ve gotta get up.”

He grumbled and scrunched himself up, burying his face in your shoulder, “Five more minutes.”

You rolled your eyes and patted his side, “No, dude. I gotta work today.”

“Too comfy,” he answered sleepily, “Stay home.” His breath tickled your neck as he spoke.

“I already missed a shit ton of days. I can’t miss anymore or Grillby will probably mount my head on a pike as decoration.” You joked.

“You kiddin’? With tha mouthful he gave me about what happened? Nah. Grillbz cares about ya too much. Cares ‘bout ya more than he cares ‘bout me, anyways.”

You snickered, “I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve seen your tab, and I’ve gotta say, I’m a bit surprised he even lets you in the bar anymore.”

He mumbled something incoherent into your neck and nuzzled you. You tensed up at the sensation before slowly relaxing in his hold again. You let out a soft breath and let yourself indulge for a second, gently rubbing your thumb against the fabric of his shirt in thought.

You really were an idiot, weren’t you? Here you were, with one of the most dangerous people you knew, and you were cuddling with him. And, well, the more you learned about Sans, the more dangerous he seemed.

It had taken you embarrassingly long to piece together that fact that he was probably more than likely the Judge. It just hadn't really clicked until you had overheard the mobsters in the bar mention it. Sure, you had seen the terrifying disintegration rays before that, but you just hadn’t really connected the two.

...You’d make a shitty detective.

Loud voices from outside of the bedroom pulled your attention away from your thoughts. Papyrus was up and speaking with who you could only assume to be Gaster. You couldn’t quite figure out what they were saying, though.

Papyrus shouted something before the door to the bedroom slammed open, and promptly shut one more. You hadn’t seen anyone in the doorway, so you chalked it up to magic. But, even if it was magic, you were still a bit confused as to what the point of that was.

If it was to wake up Sans, well, it had failed tremendously.

Or, at least you had assumed that it had. It was a safe bet considering the fact that Sans didn’t stir at all at the noise. But you quickly found that it wasn’t the noise that was supposed to wake him up.

No, it was the dog that launched himself onto the bed, and by extension, the two of you. Sans let out a groan as a paw landed squarely on his rib cage. You were mercifully spared from getting stomped on by the massive canine.

“Fuck.” How eloquent of him. Sans let you go in order to try and shove the dog off of him. “Get offa me fleabag.”

You took the opportunity to sit up and give Killer the appropriate amount of pets. Needless to say, it was a lot of pets.

“Good morning Killer.” The dog let out a playful sneeze at your greeting. “Well, aren’t you just a ball of sunshine?” His tail wagged furiously as he went in to lick your face. You laughed and held him at bay, “Woah, hey! Down boy.”

He hopped off the bed, and you promptly followed before Sans could get his hands on you again. You padded over to the door and pulled it open, making sure to let Killer out of the room first. You watched as he disappeared back downstairs.

“Hey, Sans? I’m ninety percent sure that your dog is actually a ghost.”

He sighed and sat up, rubbing at his sockets, “Why’s tha?”

“I know that he’s always here, but I hardly ever see him.” You explained tossing the door open all the way once you made sure that the hallway was empty. You pressed your hands above your head and rolled to your toes in a satisfying stretch.

“Yeah,” Sans begrudgingly pulled himself out of the comfort of his bed, “Paps put the mutt through boot camp when we got him as a pup. If he doesn’t want to be seen, he won’t be.”

You let out a low whistle and nodded at the explanation. “You already told me that Paps trained him. It’s kind of impressive that he’d spend so much time with a dog like that.”

You recalled the first time you and Papyrus had met. He was certainly not a dog person. Cats, on the other hand, were a whole other story. You could see Papyrus owning a cat.

You began to head downstairs, Sans following behind you as the two of you chatted, “I think it’s ‘cause he spent so much time with Killer as a puppy that he’s okay with him now.”

“Makes sense,” you mumbled before hitting the bottom of the staircase.

You slowed before you reached the kitchen, your nose scrunching up as the smell from the kitchen hit you. It was very tomato-esque. You peeked your head in the kitchen to see Papyrus standing over the stove. He didn’t notice you, seemingly too caught up in whatever he was cooking. He wasn’t the only one in the kitchen, though.

You sauntered over to the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room and took a seat next to Gaster. “Whatcha reading there, Doc?”

Gaster scowled at the sound of your voice and gave you a side eye before looking back at the pile of paperwork that was in front of him. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you suck at smalltalk?” You leaned on the counter, occasionally giving curious glances to the stove.

“Not to his face,” Sans answered as he stepped into the kitchen. You watched in mild amusement as he made a beeline for the coffee maker. He took a drink directly out of it before shaking his head, “It’s cold,” he pointed out blandly.

“If you ever woke up at a decent hour, it wouldn’t be.” Gaster didn’t bother looking away from his paperwork as he addressed his son.

You shook your head in amusement and turned you attention to Papyrus, “Mornin’ Paps.”

He glanced back at you, “ Afternoon , actually.”

You blinked in surprise. Really? You had slept in that long again? Well, you guessed it didn’t matter when your shifts started later.

“Cool, cool. What are you making?” You asked. Whatever it was smelled really good.

Gaster answered before he could, “It’s likely Italian food. Papyrus enjoys it, and he’s the one that insists on cooking. We have it more often than not.”

Your expression dropped as you stared at Gaster. Your attention slowly moved to Papyrus, a glint of disbelief in your eyes.

“Really?” You didn’t stop looking between the skeleton monsters.

“Uh… yeah?” Sans gave you an odd look.

“Oh my god,” You began laughing into your hand.

“Are you going to enlighten us?” Gaster finally looked up from his paperwork to glare at you.

You bit back more laughter, “I’m sorry, It’s just that you guys are seriously the most cliche mobster family I could possibly imagine.”

Gaster raised a brow, “Care to elaborate?”

“Dude. You guys drive a black Lincoln. Your son is making pasta as we speak. I am absolutely positive that you have dramatically spun around in that chair in your office. There’s most likely a person tied down in your basement.” You leaned back and let out another chuckle, “Do you want me to go on?”

“I haven’t-“ Gaster began to protest.

“Oh you most certainly have spun around to talk to people just to be dramatic.” Papyrus smirked as he looked over at the two of you.

“Ouch. Outed by your own son,” you moved to give Gaster a patronizing pat, but decided against it. You’d like to keep both of your hands, thank you very much. You settled with awkwardly setting them in front of you halfway through the movement.

Gaster sighed irritably and shook his head, going back to his paperwork. You could hear him grumble something about manners under his breath, which didn’t fail to put a smirk on your face.

“I wouldn’ keep antagonizin’ him if I were you, doll,” Sans smirked and leaned against the doorway, mug of cold coffee still in hand. “HIs temper’s hella short.”

Gaster snapped his attention back up, “What?! My temper is not- “

There was a loud clatter as a plate was dropped in front of him by Papyrus. Gaster stopped his argument immediately and cleared his throat.

“My temper is perfectly fine,” he amended, to which you raised a brow.

“Alright, whatever you say, Doc.” You may have been a bit more sarcastic than was strictly necessary with the eldest skeleton. Pushing his buttons was quickly become your favorite pastime, even if it was extremely stupid for you to do so. You had to get your petty revenge somehow, even if it meant being a constant pest to the man.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” There was a genuine curiosity to his question. It was masked by about five layers of annoyance, but it was still there nonetheless. “You are not incorrect, but I do want to know where you came across that information.”

“The dogs in Grillby’s kept calling you that. I figured that it fit pretty well,” you explained as a plate of pasta was set in front of you. You didn’t waste any time in scooping some of it into your mouth. Your eyes lit up as you did so.

You ignored whatever Gaster had said in favor of looking up at Papyrus, “Holy shit ! I never knew that you were that good of a cook, Paps!” You took another bite and continued through a mouthful of food, “This is fuckin’ delicious.”

You watched in amusement as his cheekbones gained a red tint, “Wha- well of course it is! It was made by the great Papyrus! Anything less than perfection would fail to meet my high standards!”

You grinned at him and gave him a playful wink, “Well I’ll keep that in mind.”

He let out a surprised sputter, “What?!”

You chuckled, “Well I wouldn’t want to fail to meet all of your very high standards.”

His face went completely red, “WHAT?! Y-you-“ he opted and closed his jaw a few times as he gaped at you.

You laughed, “I’m just messing with ya. I know that I could never meet all of your standards, of course.”

He stared at you for a second, the blush never leaving his cheeks as he looked over you. He pulled his gaze away from you after a second, “Right. Of course.” He shook his head and began leaving the kitchen, brushing past his brother as he did so, “I have important things to do. I, unlike Sans, don’t spend all day sleeping and drinking.”

Both you and Sans watched him retreat with curious looks. What was that all about? You looked over at Sans in an unspoken question. He shrugged in turn, looking about as confused as you felt.

Gaster let out a thoughtful hum next to you, effectively pulling your attention over to him. He glanced quickly between you, Sans, and the doorway Papyrus had disappeared into.

When his eyes caught yours, he gave you a shark-toothed grin, “How interesting.”

“Yeah? Care to share with the class?” You raised a brow at him.

His look turned smug, “Actually, I would prefer not to.”

You frowned and turned your attention back to your food. Right. Of course he wasn’t going to tell you anything. That would just be too easy, wouldn’t it?

And, as you were very quickly finding, nothing could ever be easy in this household.

Chapter Text

“Right, but that’s not what he said.”

“I know! You already told me what he said! Now I’m telling you what I say. I say you-“

You found yourself listening in to the conversation that was happening next to you as you wiped down the bar. Both the rabbit monster and the woman had been there for quite a while, and both of them were way past tipsy at that point. It made for excellent entertainment as you finished up your shift.

“Are you planning on doing any more sets tonight?” You turned around at the question. To your surprise, it was Dogressa that had asked it. She was giving you an expectant look.

“Uh,” you tossed the cloth you had been using behind the bar as you turned to her, “No. I’m done for the night. Why?”

Your attention turned to Doggo as he tapped his fingers on the table. His eyes shifted over the bar before they landed on you. You made sure to sway slightly so that he would have an easier time seeing you.

“How much longer is your shift?” He asked.

“Er, I dunno? I’m off in about ten minutes.” You were very confused. While the dog monsters were friendly enough towards you, they rarely cared about when you worked. “Did you need something from me?”

Dogressa leaned over to you so that she could lower her voice, “Someone’s been hanging around here all day. They smell like trouble.”

Your face scrunched up. “What do you mean?”

“They haven’t come inside, but they’ve been here all day.” She explained, glancing quickly to the door.

“We don’t think they mean well,” Dogamy added, “You might want to call Sans to pick you up.”

This whole situation was odd. But, you found yourself nodding. The monsters you had come across hadn’t steered you wrong so far, and for once, maybe you’d try to be safer rather than sorry. You knew that chances were that the dogs were right. What a shame. You had almost had a completely normal and uneventful week.

You also knew that all three of the monsters that you lived with were busy for the night. Apparently, all three of them needed to be present for… something. They hadn’t really told you much else about it, but you hadn’t bothered to ask, either.  It hadn’t really surprised you that much, as all of them had been busy for most of the days previous, which was just as well to you.

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. They had made a point to tell you that they’d be busy. It looked like you’d end up bothering them anyways.

“Yeah, okay,” you gave the dogs a nod, “Thanks for the heads up.”

Dogamy nodded, but Dogressa was the one that spoke, “I don’t think Grillby would hire anyone else if something happened to you. If we have to go back to listening to the same three songs on that broken old jukebox, I might actually bite somebody.” She smirked, “Plus, you’re pretty okay. For a human, of course.”

You playfully rolled your eyes, “I’m so glad that I’ve grown on you guys.”

She snickered, “Woah there, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that.”

“Ouch. And I thought we were friends,” you put a hand on your chest in mock-hurt.

She seemed surprised, “You thought we were-“ Her surprise melted away into a smirk, “I’d say we’re acquaintances at best. ”

“Y’know, actually, that’s fair.” At your claim, she gave you a smile before turning back to the game of poker that they had been playing.

You began making your way to the back room, where all of your stuff was put away. It didn’t take you long to find your purse and dial a familiar number. You waited as the line rang. It continued for a while before a soft click told you that he picked up.

“Yo.” Eloquent as ever.

“Hey, Sans. I know you guys said you’d be busy, but I think I need you to come get me from work.” You picked at your nails distractedly as you spoke.

“What? Why? Do you really need me to walk you home like a goddamned five year old?”

“Of course I don’t, you fucking asshole. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t be asking, but the dogs said that I should ask you. Apparently they’re on edge about something or another.”

“They-“ you heard a groan on the other end, “Shit, alright let me just-“ you heard him pull the phone away so that he could talk to someone else. The unmistakable voices of Papyrus and Gaster came through, though you couldn’t quite put together what they were saying.

“Alright, look doll. We’ll be there in a bit, but you’re gonna have to come with us.”

“Us?” You questioned. “Sans, what do you-“ and he hung up. Jerk.

You shoved your phone back into your bag and shook your head, grabbing your coat as you made your way back to the bar. You found yourself sliding onto your usual barstool and tapping your fingers against to smooth wood counter.

“You’re irritated about something,” Grillby pointed out from behind the bar.

You looked up at him before shaking your head, “I’m not. I’m just waiting for Sans to get here.”

“I thought you were calling a cab tonight.”

“So did I,” you clicked your tongue before looking over at the door. “But it’s whatever. I just don’t like interrupting whatever mysterious things they’re doing.”

He let out a hum in acknowledgement, but didn’t say anything else to you. Instead, he picked up a glass and began polishing it. He seemed to do that often to seem busy so that he didn’t have to talk to people. That trick, of course, didn’t normally work on you. You were going to bother Grillby whether he was making himself look busy or not.

Now, though, you were content with leaving him be and spacing out while waiting for your skeletons. You just hoped that they weren’t too far away. As much as you loved sitting around in Grillby’s after closing, you really didn’t like doing it at all. Your boss didn’t like you sitting around when he could be going home and sleeping. You couldn’t really blame him. You were absolutely certain that you would get tired of dealing with yourself, too.

You sat like that much in the same way for quite a while. Grillby didn’t attempt to make any conversation, but neither did you. You were content with the silence.

Almost as soon as the thought passed your mind, the sound of the front door slamming open echoed through the bar. You nearly jumped out of your seat as you spun around to face the culprit.

You relaxed as soon as you did. “Oh, it’s just you.”

Papyrus clicked his tongue, “Just me? I will have you know that me is the best thing to be.”

You snickered and stood up, “Guess I’ll never know. I’m just a bland ‘ol human.”

His face scrunched up, “You’re not-“ he stopped abruptly. “I mean, what a shame. Truely, to never know what it’s like to be me must be the worst kind of existence I could possibly imagine.”

You physically couldn’t stop your eyes from rolling, “Woe is me.”

“Would you two shut up and get out?” Grillby snapped. “I would rather not sit around and wait for you to finish your banter.”

You put your hands up in surrender, “Alright, alright. No need to get heated over it.”

You laughed as he threw the cloth he had been holding at you. “Out!”

You made the extra effort to stick your tongue out at the fire elemental before leaving out the front door. You heard Papyrus follow behind you, and the two of you headed straight for the black Lincoln that was pulled up alongside the curb.

Not that you really had doubted them in the first place, but you immediately felt like the dogs were right as the familiar sense of being watched caused a shiver to run down your spine. You made a quick glance around, only to find that you couldn’t find anything.

“Get in the front seat,” Papyrus demanded.

You looked back at him with confusion, “What? Why?”

“Because me and Sans are working on… something.” He pulled open the back door and slid into the car before you could comment, but you didn’t fail to give him a look.

You grabbed the handle to the front door and paused for just a moment to look over the seemingly empty streets once more. You tugged the door open and plopped down into the passenger's seat.

“You are much more trouble than you’re worth, girl.” Gaster told you before he pulled away from the curb.

“Well hello to you too, Doc. How’s your day been going?” You leaned back casually in the seat as you glanced over at him.

“It was better before I had to deal with all of our problems.” He didn’t bother looking away from the road, “Suffice to say, it just went from bad to worse.”

“Aw, come on. We both know I’m your favorite human.”

“My favorite pain in the rear, maybe,” he grumbled to himself.

You chuckled and turned around to look back at Sans and Papyrus. In the seat between them, there was a pile of papers scattered about. Papyrus was holding another in his hand, and they seemed to be silently reading it.

“Whatcha got there?”

Sans held up a hand to stop you from talking more, “Not now, Sweetheart. We’re a bit busy.”

Your face scrunched up as you slowly turned back around in your seat, “Er. Okay then.”

You let out a soft sigh as your gaze wandered out the window. The streets were dimly lit by the streetlights that passed you in a blur. Most of the buildings looked like they had been closed down for the night. The streets were empty. It was actually kind of odd in your opinion. At least there was usually some kind of traffic, but tonight? Apart from a car behind you, there wasn’t really anything.

You caught a soft glint in one of the alleyways. You narrowed your eyes at it, trying to see what it was before you passed the alley altogether. Was that-

A loud bang echoed from somewhere nearby, and you reflexively ducked down, covering your head with your hands. You felt the car jerk a bit as Gaster tugged on the wheel.

“Was that what I think it was?” You didn’t even know why you bothered asking. You knew gunshot when you heard one.

“ Shit.” Gaster mumbled out, glancing along the street.

Another gunshot echoed from somewhere nearby. This time, it was followed by the sharp ping of the bullet coming in contact with metal.

That was about the point in which all hell broke loose.

A string of gunshots came from different directions. You couldn’t help but let out a small screech as a bullet lodged itself into your window. You briefly considered dropping to the floorboards, but decided against that when Gaster made a particularly sharp turn, flinging all of the passengers to the side harshly.

“Take the wheel.” Gaster’s voice cut through the constant noise. When you didn’t respond, he called your name. “Take the wheel!”

“Fuck! What?” You grabbed it despite your confusion.

Gaster let it go and turned back towards Sans, wordlessly reaching out a hand to him. Sans took it and you barely had any time to react, even though your brain was going into overdrive at your panic.

“Don’t die, you two.” Gaster warned.

“Wait, wait! Don’t you dare-“

And, just like that, the two of them were gone. What?? The actual fuck??? You held the wheel steady, but you could feel the car start to slow.

“Well?!” Papyrus’s voice broke you out of your stupor, “Drive, you idiot, or you’re going to get the both of us killed!”

You didn’t know it was possible to switch seats as fast as you did, launching yourself over the center console and immediately jamming your foot onto the gas. Papyrus was quick to follow, sliding his way into the passenger's seat and rolling down the window, much to your horror.

“Dude?! What the hell? Do you really think you need fresh air when we’re being shot at ?!” When he hung out the window, you nearly had a heart attack. “Wh- Papyrus! ”

“I can’t very well attack something I can’t see, can I?! Now focus on the road!” You gave him one last glance, seeing one of his eyes blaze with red.

You decided to take his advice. A glance in the mirror told you that whoever was in the car behind you had the same idea as Papyrus. You looked back to the road in front of you.

No, this was fine. You had most certainly woken up that morning and thought to yourself, ‘ Do you know what I’ve been missing in my life? A car chase. ’ Yup. This was exactly what you wanted to do today.

The sound of glass breaking cased you to duck once more. You tugged the wheel sharply as a knee jerk reaction. Papyrus had to grab onto the door to steady himself.

“BE CAREFUL!”

“Sorry! I’m sorry!” You quickly apologized and straitened yourself back up. “What do I do?!”

“Lose them, obviously!” Papyrus snapped at you. Lose them? Okay, you could do that.

“Get back in the car,” you waited until he pulled himself back in before doing anything drastic.

You took a sharp turn down one of the streets, the tires of the car screeching against the blacktop as you did. You could feel the weight of the car shift so that it was uncomfortably close to tipping over. Another bullet hit the car, so you didn’t bother taking your foot off of the gas. You were still being shot at, and you didn’t fancy making yourself an easy target, especially with the same car still chasing after you. Thankfully, the turn seemed to set them back a bit.

“I need you to slow down,” Papyrus murmured, looking back out the window.

“What? Why? I thought you told me to lose them?”

“I need you to trust me. I just need their car to be a little closer.”

You took a deep breath to calm your nerves and eased off the gas. Papyrus seemed to focus intently on something.

A few seconds later, you heard the heavy crash of a car impacting with something. You didn’t bother looking back. From the sound of it, you wouldn’t have wanted to anyways. You weren’t particularly fond of carnage.

You began slowing down once you were certain that you weren’t being followed. Despite the car being gone, you still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

Papyrus’s attention snapped in a different direction. “Pull over.”

“What? I- er. Okay.” He must have noticed something that you most certainly didn’t.

Before you even came to a full stop, He threw the door open and took off down one of the alleys.

“Wait! Where are you going?” You didn’t get an answer. “Papyrus?”

After waiting a few seconds, you let out a begrudging sigh and threw open the door. You didn’t want to stay there by yourself, so you supposed you would follow him… to wherever he was going.

Chapter Text

What in the world had possessed you to follow him? Maybe you just didn’t want to be alone. Maybe you were afraid of being caught unaware by whoever had attacked you. Or, maybe you were just an idiot. You were following a man who dashed off into a dark alleyway, after all.

You had realized how horrible of an idea that was when you realized that you did not, in fact, have night vision, and were relying solely on following the sound of Papyrus’s shoes as he ran. You could only hope that there was nothing for your to trip over.

Eventually, you did end up safely on the other side of the alley, and found yourself glancing around for your skeletal companion. You barely caught the tail end of him as he ducked into another alleyway. You fought back a groan as you dashed after him. You had not worn the right outfit for this.

“Dude! What the hell?! Slow down!” You shouted out to him.

Thankfully, the alley that he had gone down had better lighting than the last, even if it wasn’t by much. You could actually see him as you chased him down.

“Just go back to the car!” He yelled back over his shoulder.

You almost stumbled as you jumped over a trash can that had been knocked onto its side. You and him both already knew you wouldn’t do that. You had already started chasing him down. You were in this for the long haul.

“What are you doing?!” Your voice sounded more than a little strained as you struggled to catch up to him. You really wished that his legs weren’t so long.

He didn’t bother answering you as he continued to dash away. And you, like a complete dolt, continued to chase after him even though the space between the two of you wasn’t getting any smaller. When he turned around another corner, you were afraid that you had lost him completely.

That was until you heard the sound of a scuffle. You threw yourself down the same corner only to freeze in your tracks at the face you were met with. A man you didn’t recognize stood frozen in the middle of the alleyway, a single light blue bone skewered through his torso. He looked up at you with wide eyes, his mouth floundering as he tried to find some kind of words. You could imagine that you’re expression was as shocked as his was.

Papyrus, however, was already rushing forward once more, only slowing to mumble a “Stay,” to the man. You gave the skewered man who somehow wasn’t dying a wide berth as you followed Papyrus.

At least you knew what he was running after now. It was very likely that he was tailing somebody else, which in turn, meant that you were too. That was very bad considering the fact that you wouldn’t have a weapon if you needed one. Well, except your fists and disarming charm, of course. You almost chuckled at that thought. Your big mouth was more likely to get you shot than not.

But what option did you have other than to keep following? You didn’t want to go all the way back to the car by yourself, and you weren’t too keen on hanging out with the shish kabob that had most likely been trying to kill you. And, to top all of that off, Sans and Gaster were both MIA. So, that left you with chasing after Papyrus, which may have been a bad option, but it most certainly wasn’t the worst.

At least you would sort of have Papyrus if things were to go more downhill than they already had.

You tailed Papyrus for a few more turns until you watched him slam through the doors to a building. You slowed your run as you approached it. From a quick glance, you could tell that this building in particular looked to be about seven stories high, and it was made mostly of red brick and iron beams. It didn’t look like it got too much traffic. In fact, it looked fairly abandoned if the blown out windows and the broken door were anything to go by.

Everything about it just screamed bad news to you. But, you were absolutely certain that Papyrus had gone in there, and you weren’t sure that you wanted to leave him to your own devices. Not with him blindly chasing after someone, anyways. You just had this sinking feeling that you couldn’t quite shake.

So, you pulled open the door with significantly less force than Papyrus had moments before, and peeked into the building. Unsurprisingly, it was very empty, with only a bit of rubble littering the open floor. There was no one in sight.

You took a few steps in, only to stop at a large staircase. The sound of two sets of heavy footfalls echoed down from a few floors up. You peeked up the stairwell to see that it spiraled up all of the floors in the building. You were willing to bet that the two of them would wind up at the very top.

With a begrudging sigh, you began your own assent, though you were definitely not running up them. Stairs were yet another thing you most certainly hadn’t signed up for today. You stopped about halfway up, only to curse to yourself and continue. Forget the mafia and mobs, you were very quickly deciding that stairs were absolutely the worst thing in this city.

You reached the top floor with a dramatic groan, taking a second to regain your breath. Once you had,, you quickly glanced around in search of your skeletal companion. You spotted him stomping angrily towards one of the doorways, only to freeze and duck to the side of it. His movement was followed by the sound of a gunshot, which echoed impressively through the empty building.

You cautiously began making your way over, though you stopped when you were on the opposite side of the doorway from Papyrus. Another gunshot went off, and you winced as it hit the wall.

Papyrus leveled you a glare before pointed back towards the stairway that you had just come from. He mouthed the word ‘leave’ at you. You stubbornly shook your head, though you did glance back at the stairwell as you did so. There was no way you were going back down all of those stairs you had just climbed.

You froze and did a double take.

“Is that what I think it is?” You murmured, gesturing back to the corner of the room. Now, you had never actually seen one of those in real life, but you had most certainly seen enough movies to know what that looked like.

That looked like a bomb.

Papyrus followed your gaze, only to tense up when he saw what you were staring at. His gaze flicked between the doorway and the corner as he seemed to puzzle something together.

As the man fired off the rest of his rounds, it occurred to you that he wasn’t even trying to hit you. It was at that moment that a look of realization crossed over your face. Papyrus seemed to reach the same conclusion as the sound of a gun firing turned into the click of an empty cartridge.

“Uh, Paps?” You gave him a nervous look, “I think… I think we just ran right into a trap.”

“YOU THINK?!” He snapped at you, throwing any semblance of stealth or even subtlety out the window as he did so.

“Well, shit dude! And whose fault do you think this is?!” You shook your head, “It’s not mine, that’s for fuckin’ sure!”

“Would you stop running your idiotic mouth for five seconds?! This is NOT the time for blaming!” He was right. You were just being difficult. Papyrus took a second to look around, obviously forming some kind of plan in his head, “Listen carefully.You are going to-“

A quick succession of beeps interrupted him. His eye sockets widened, and in a blind panic, he made a grab for you. You were scooped up into his arms bridal style as he ran away from the bomb, and by extension, the stairwell.

You grabbed a handful of his suit, “Wait, what-“ your eyes widened as he made a dash for the window.

“Papyrus, we’re on the seventh story. Don’t you dare.” When he ignored you, you struggled in his grasp, “Papyrus! If you jump out the fucking window I’m gonna-“

He shattered the glass with a bone attack and didn’t stop. “PAPYRUS!” You weren’t entirely sure if you were more afraid of the drop or the loud sound of an explosion that shook the entire building. You couldn’t help but let out a small squeak as you buried your face into Papyrus’s chest.

This was it. That was how you were going to die. You were going to die because both you and Papyrus were complete idiots. Please, please don’t let them put that on your tombstone.

The explosion was quickly followed by a chain of other ones, an almost deafening noise against the late night of the city. You, however, were more concerned with the feeling of wind rushing past you as you plummeted to what was undoubtedly going to be your doom.

You felt a sharp tug in your chest. Was it just your imagination, or did the wind seem to get less harsh? It was still there, but it was… less. But, that didn’t make sense. The further down you got, the faster you should have been going. That's just how gravity worked. It wasn’t as if-

Your train of thought was interrupted as you as you impacted. There was a moment where all you could feel was confusion and pain . The world flip-flopped in your view as you were dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

But… it wasn’t as much pain as you had expected. You could tell you were absolutely covered in bruises, but… you didn’t think anything was hurt too badly. You didn’t even bother to wonder how that was possible. If you asked, the answer would most likely be magic or some bullshit.

You groaned and sat up, rubbing at you head. You looked up to the window you had just jumped from, only to see a billow of smoke coming out. In fact, it was coming out from most of the now-busted windows.

You looked over at Papyrus, who was lying a few feet away from you, and narrowed your eyes. “Dude. What the actual fuck were you thinking?”

He groaned and rolled over onto his back. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t my best idea.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” You pushed yourself to your feet, you legs wobbly thanks to the wave of adrenaline that had yet to pass. You took a deep breath and wandered over to Papyrus. You reached a hand out to him and wiggled your fingers. “C’mon. Let’s go before you get arrested again. Arson’s not an easy charge to drop.”

Papyrus stared up at you before chuckling and taking your hand. He began to pull himself up, only to let out a sharp gasp halfway through. He let your hand go so that he could grasp at his ribs. Well that wasn’t good.

You winced, “You broke something, didn’t you?”

“I’m fine.” He began pushing himself up, but you weren’t having any of that. You pressed down on his shoulders to keep him down, though you couldn’t quite get him to lie back.

“Really? Then I guess you won’t mind showing me.” You leveled him a challenging glare.

“You want me to show you my ribs?! That’s lewd, and I won’t do it!”

“Papyrus, you just jumped out of a building, and you’re obviously in pain. Now show me your ribs before I have to strip you down myself.”

He shoved you, “No! Get away!”

“Oh, don’t be such a wimp!” You made a grab for him, “I don’t want to hurt you so hold still.”

“No!” He tried pushing you away once more, but you had latched yourself onto his suit jacket with a vice grip. “I already told you that I’m fine!”

You shook your head, “Stop being such a stubborn dumbass and let me help you! I care about you, so let me make sure that you’re not gonna die because you won’t let me help you!” Your voice had cracked at the last bit. You… hadn’t meant to say all of that.

He looked at you in surprise, his grip loosening before his expression softened. “I’m… not going to die from a broken rib.”

“Ha! See?! I knew you broke something!” Your remark didn’t stop him from giving you that look.

He mumbled out your name, “Are you alright?”

You deflated a but and nodded, “Yeah. I’m a bit bruised, but I think-“

“That’s not what I meant.” He gave you a serious look, “I know you tend to internalize things, and I don’t think you’re really okay.”

You stared at him for a few seconds before slumping over, “I’m… I’m not sure that I know how to answer that.” You found yourself leaning forward and resting your head on his chest, taking care to avoid the area he had been holding. He draped and arm over you in turn.

There was a moment of silence as the two of you sat next to the smoldering building. You knew it was perfectly okay to feel like you weren’t okay after everything you had been through. In fact, you were fairly certain that it would be stranger if you were as unaffected as you let on.

“Papyrus, can I ask for a favor?” You looked up at him. He hummed in response, and you continued, “Do you… do you remember when you asked me if I wanted you to lie to me?”

He raised a brow, “That wasn’t exactly how I had put it, but, yes, I do.” You knew that. You knew that he had meant it as a joke. But… you found yourself taking him up on his offer.

“Is everything going to be okay?”

He looked down at you thoughtfully before pulling you back to his chest, “Everything’s going to be fine, Songbird.” He rested his chin on your head and wrapped his arms around you.

And… for a moment, you almost believed him.

Chapter Text

At the rate he was going, you were absolutely certain that Gaster was about to wear a hole in front of the couch from the amount of pacing he was doing. The fact that he was doing so only served to stress you out more as you stared up at him from your spot on the couch.

“Could you please just sit down? Even if it’s only for a minute? You’re giving me a headache.”

He stopped only to shoot a glare in your direction, “Take a seat?! Are you kidding me? In case you weren’t aware, there was just a hit hired on not only me and my sons, but you as well!” He gestured upstairs, to where you knew Papyrus and Sans to be, “They were almost successful!”

“You think I don’t know that?” You narrowed your eyes at him as you stood up, “I had to leap out of a goddamned building while you were off doing god knows what! Not to mention the fact that you left both me and Papyrus in a driverless car! How reckless could you possibly be to try something like that?!”

“I apologize for assuming that you were competent enough to drive a car! I can assure you that it was a mistake that I will not be making again!” He scowled down at you. “It was ignorant of me to entrust the wellbeing of anyone to you.”

You rose to meet him with the same amount of fire in your eyes, “Don’t you dare blame me for what happened to Papyrus. That wasn’t my fault, and we both know it.” You jabbed a finger in his direction, “If I wasn’t there, I don’t know that Papyrus would have even noticed the bombs lining the fucking building in the first place. His one broken rib could have been much, much worse.”

He opened his mouth to say something, only to close it once more as he looked at you in a stern contemplation. “You-“

“OUCH! WHAT THE FUCK, SANS?!”

“Well maybe if you’d hold still for more than three seconds!”

“I AM HOLDING STILL YOU ABSOLUTE IMBECILE!”

You gave Gaster a look, “Are you sure you don’t want to call someone? They’re going to tear each other’s heads off up there.”

“Maybe you should go up there and play nurse with them. I’m sure your presence would be most welcome.” He crossed his arms.

Your attention snapped back to him as you narrowed your eyes, “What are you implying?”

He put his hands up, though there was a sharp smirk on his face, “Oh, nothing. It’s just that you three are the densest beings I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.”

“Two out of three of those ‘beings’ are your actual children.” You raised a brow.

“Yes, I am fully aware.” Oh, okay. So he was just being a jerk. How in character for him.

You sighed and shook your head before marching up the stairs. While the pair of brothers weren’t yelling anymore, you could still hear the muffled sound of arguing through Papyrus’s door. They didn’t bother to stop when you pulled it open and wandered inside.

Papyrus was propped up on his bed, scowling down at Sans. Sans was scowling right back with a roll of bandages in his hand that he was brandishing as if it were a particularly dangerous weapon.

Papyrus’s hand was hovering just above his bare rib cage. You could just see what looked to be a spider webbing of fractures on one of his ribs peeking out from behind his hand. You felt yourself wince as you took a seat on the bed next to him in an attempt to get a better look. He, of course, shifted away from you.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’m not gonna touch it, just let me see.” You tried leaning over to get a better view of the injury.

As you did so, your eyes scanned over the rest of his usually covered bones. There were a few dark spots that would most likely be the equivalent of the bruises you yourself were sporting. What really caught you eye, though, were the scratches and chips that were embedded in them. Most of them looked old, and a few of them looked particularly gnarly. You pulled your eyes away from them in favor of finding the freshest injury. You gently took the hand that was covering his rib and pulled it away.

“Oh, shit dude. That looks really bad.” It wasn’t just broken. It was shattered . A red substance occasionally dripped down from the deeper cracks. “How are you still functioning with that?” It made your ribs hurt just from looking at it.

“I’ve had worse,” He answered you honestly. You wished he hadn’t.

Sans sighed and shook his head, “Wish we could call Tori. She’d have you fixed up in a jiffy.” Who was Tori? You supposed it didn’t really matter. As long as she could help, you didn’t care one way or the other.

“Well why don’t you, then?”

“Honestly?” Sans gave you a tired look, “It’s probably ‘cause the old man don’t want a lecture. If she finds out what happened and what we’ve been up to, she’s gonna be hella pissed.”

You scowled, “Seriously? He doesn’t want to ask for help because he doesn’t want to get yelled at?”

Papyrus scoffed, “That and asking for help is a difficult thing for him in the first place.”

“Yeah, well that one seems to fun in the family,” you gave him a look. He shrank slightly under your gaze. Good. He should be afraid of your scorn.

You shook your head at him before looking back to Sans, “Who’s Tori, anyways?” You were fairly certain that he had mentioned her before. It was back when you had met Frisk, if you were recalling correctly.

“The queen.” He supplied nonchalantly.

“I’m… sorry? Like, the actual queen of monsters? That queen?” There was no way that his connections that were that good. Sure, you had met her once, but that was at some fancy party. A fancy party that they also just so happened to be at.

“She is a very talented healer,” you gave Papyrus a wide-eyed stare as he told you that.

“You guys just seem to have all of the important connections, don’t you?”

“Could you maybe be amazed by us later, when I’m not leaking marrow all over the bedspread?” He gestured to the red that was still dripping down from his injury.

“Oh shit! Yeah, I’m sorry. What can I do to help?” Your hands hovered above his rubs before you quickly tugged them away.

He narrowed his eyes at you before scoffing and looking away. “Do whatever you want.”

“Unless you know how to set a rib though, you should probably move outta my way,” Sans begins scooting you back out of the way.

“Er. Right, yeah. I guess I don’t know how to do that.” You bit your lip and looked down at the bedspread. No, you didn’t know a whole lot about anything medical.

Your sister would have. You were absolutely sure that she would have had him fixed up in no time. But, well, your sister was dead, and dead people can’t fix anything.

“Do you want me to show you?” Sans gave you a look that told you he knew where your thoughts were going. “I mean, if you’re gonna stick with us, ya might wanna know how to anyways.”

You stared at him for a second before giving him a nod. You could appreciate what he was doing. The decision to tell him what happened had probably been a really good one, even if it had been a ‘heat of the moment’ kind of thing.

“Alright then doctor Sans, show me how it’s done.” You scooted back on the bed to give him more room.

“Doctor, huh?” He gave you a smug look, “Does that mean you get to be my sexy nurse?” You gave him an unimpressed look and a middle finger.

“How about you just get back to work on fixing your brother, you moron.”

“Yes, I would prefer if you saved your failing attempts at flirting until after I’m not in pain.” Papyrus snapped shortly to his brother.

Sans put his hands up in mock surrender before getting back to work. You watched as he unwrapped a length of bandages and narrowed his eyes as he focused on what he was doing.

He didn’t bother being gentle as he set the bone back to where it needed to be. You were pretty sure that you flinched more that Papyrus did. Sans wasted no time in wrapping the roll of bandages around his brother’s rib with a deftness that told you it wasn’t the first time he had done so.

You didn’t want to think about that, so you stared at what he was doing as he finished off wrapping the bandage and leaned away from Papyrus.

“There ya go. Was that so bad?” He gave his brother a patronizing pat.

“You are actually the worst. Get out of my room before I throw you out.” Papyrus gave his brother a deadpan stare. You couldn’t help but chuckle at their antics.

“C’mon Casanova.” You grabbed him by the tie and proceeded to tug him right out of the room, “your brother needs rest.”

“What do I look like, a damsel in distress?!” Papyrus called over to you.

You turned around and gave him a look, “You look like your hurt, and if I’m playing the nurse, I’m going to make sure that you get better.” You brandished a finger and scolded him as if he were a child, “Now get some sleep.”

You slammed the door shut behind you. You turned to see Sans giving you a shit-eating grin.

“Damn, I forgot how hot you are when you-“

“Nope.” You walked passed Sans, not even acknowledging what he was saying. “I’m going to sleep. It’s been a long ass night.”

“I’ll just come with ya, then. It’s my room, after all.” He wiggled his eyebrows at you.

With a small head shake, you narrowed your eyes at him, “What are you doing, dude?” Sure he could be flirty sometimes, but he hadn’t really been so persistent about it for quite a while.

His grin twitched downwards for just a second, “you looked like you could use some cheering up. I’m… kinda shit at that. Sorry.”

You stared at him for a few seconds. “You… you were doing fine.” You were absolutely sure that you had surprised him just as much as you had surprised yourself when you pulled him into a hug. “Thank you, Sans.”

You felt him relax in your hold as he draped an arm around your waist. “Not a problem sweetheart.” You were equally as surprised when hunched over so that he could bury his face in the crook of your neck. “Let’s get ya to sleep then, hm?”

You let out a small squeak as you were scooped up off of your feet. You instinctively grabbed handfuls of his button up as your feet left the ground.

“Wow this is super unnecessary.”

He began towards his room, “Just shut up and let me carry you.”

“Strangely enough, i think I’ve been carried more today than I have since I was a toddler.” You joked, casually tossing an arm over his shoulder.

“What can I say? We like spoilin’ ya.” He gave you a wink as you were toted off.

“Oh shut up, you cheesy dork.”

He shoved the door open before closing it behind him with his foot. You were unceremoniously tossed onto his bed, nearly bouncing off of the other side when you impacted.

“Sans!” You admonished him with a pout as you rolled back over so that you weren’t hanging off of the edge.

He gave you an unapologetic shrug. Great. You were so glad that these idiots were your friends.

While the thought had been sarcastic, you realized that it really couldn't have been any more on the mark. Sans and Papyrus may have been reckless, and rude, and rough around the edges, and… wait, where were you going with that?

Oh, right. They were your family. Hell, even Gaster was starting to grow on you now that he wasn’t trying to actively murder you. Though you were a bit bitter about that fact that he had left you in the passenger’s side of a still moving car.

At least you were still alive and fairly unharmed. That was more than you could say for Papyrus. And it was most certainly more than you could say for the man that was in the skeleton’s basement. It turned out that the blue attack Papyrus had used on the man in the alley only served to keep him from moving. It was Sans that had brought him back to the house. No one was very happy about the development, and it was probably safe to assume that the man himself was the least excited about the turn of events.

You knew that no one had gone down there since he was brought, but you figured that it was only a matter of time. You may have turned your head to a lot of things they did, but you weren’t stupid. You knew that the skeletons were not very… merciful when it came to things like that.

You were just glad it was him on the chopping block and not you. You would imagine that getting caught by a mafia that you had just finished attacking was not a fun experience in the slightest.

You wrapped yourself up in Sans’s blankets, happy to be able to get a bit of shut eye. What an eventful night.

Hopefully it’d be a while before you got another one.

Chapter Text

The living room was more than a little quiet. It had been that way all morning, not that you were complaining. The only complaint you had, really, was how terrible this book you stole from Papyrus was. You had fully expected it to be terrible and cheesy, but damn. You would have to complain to him about it when he wasn’t up to his eye sockets in the paperwork that Gaster had pawned off on him and his brother.

Apparently that happened when buildings blew up. Who knew that covering your tracks was the equivalent of an office job? Apparently it was… You should have just gone to work today.

That was out of the question though when Grillby himself refused to let you work for a while. You didn’t quite understand that when the least eventful days you had were days when you were working in the bar. But, no . You were supposed to have a few days of ‘relaxation’ after everything that had happened. You could have scoffed at that. Relaxation your ass. Nothing was relaxing with the idiots in this household.

They were the same idiots who had decided to put you on house arrest. It may have just been until they found whoever was after you, but that didn’t make it any less agonizing for you. To say that you were a little stir crazy was an understatement.

You slammed the book shut and sighed dramatically before tossing it onto the table. God, you were so bored. Maybe you could go bother Sans. You were sure that he wouldn’t mind an excuse to avoid doing work.

With that thought, you rolled off of the couch and began to trudge upstairs. You tossed open Sans’s door as if you lived there, which wasn’t too far from the truth. Said skeleton was hunched over his desk, rubbing at his temples. He completely ignored you, so you wandered over to his bed and fell back onto it dramatically.

“ Sans, ” You began, “I’m so bored.”

He hummed and continued reading whatever it was he was working on. Ouch. Rejected. You rolled over so that you were lying on your stomach. You stared at Sans as he worked for a few seconds before huffing out a sigh.

“Do I have to use my feminine wiles to get your attention?”

Wow. Still nothing. He was actually planning on doing his work? Color you impressed. You began tapping your fingers tunelessly on his bed frame as you stared at the ceiling.

“I’m busy right now, Songbird.” He looked over at you pointedly before looking back down at his paper.

“You’ve been busy all day,” you complained, “And you guys have me on house arrest! Unless I go invade your dad’s library, I have nothing to do!”

He sighed and turned around, “Fuck! What am I, your babysitter? Find something to do! Go watch something on T.V! Go practice your scales and apprishyoes for all I care.”

“Okay, first of all, it’s scales and arpeggios. ” You corrected him with a shake of your head, “Second of all-“ you paused before smiling, “That’s not a bad idea.”

He huffed and spun back around as your smile grew into a smirk. Once he began reading again, you took a breath.

“ Do re mi fa-“

“ Stars! If you wanna do somethin’ so badly, then go down to the basement and get me this file!” He scribbled something on a sticky note before crumpling it up and chucking it at you, “I didn’t wanna go downstairs anyways.”

The paper skittered harmlessly across the bedspread. You stared at it for a second. “You can teleport. How hard could going to the basement possibly be? And isn’t there still an idiot down there?”

“He’s gone.” Sans said vaguely, “You wanted to have something to do, and I didn’t want to do it. It’s a win-win, sweetheart.”

You rolled your eyes before grabbing the paper and standing up, “Fine. Whatever. I’ll go get your dumb file.” You stuck your tongue out at the back of his head before slamming the door shut behind you.

You weren’t mad at Sans. Quite the contrary, really. Sans was stressed out, and you didn’t blame him for being short with you. The poor dude could use a break. His brother probably could, too, now that you were thinking about it. Maybe you’d bother Papyrus next.

He was bedridden with a broken rib, so really, the least you could do was keep him company. Or, at least, you could try. He had already kicked you out once that very morning. Apparently, he didn’t want his bookshelves rearranged by color. In your defense, you were going to put them back. You chuckled to yourself.

You padded downstairs only to hesitate when you reached the basement door. You had never actually been in the basement before, and for a good reason, too. But… Sans had told you that there were no… captives in there, so you pulled open the door without any more thought.

You were greeted with the sight of a large empty room. Well, it was empty with the exception of the sturdy looking chair in the center. You also pointedly ignored the table full of various tools. You absolutely knew what those were for. This family continued to follow the pattern of ‘biggest cliche’ you had ever wandered into. There was a door on the opposite side of the room. That must have been where you were going.

You made your way over to it, giving the chair a wide berth. You were ninety percent sure that the mess around it had yet to be cleaned, and there was no way you wanted anything to do with any of that noise.

The room that the door was attached to was significantly smaller than the basement. A collection of cleaning supplies sat on one side, and on the other, a set of large filing cabinets were neatly lined against the wall. Bingo.

You unfolded the paper and quickly read off the jumble of letters and numbers that Sans had written down. As soon as you were satisfied that you had read his atrocious handwringing correctly, you got to work looking for the specific file you needed.

After about five minutes of thumbing through the Manila folders, you finally found the one you were looking for. You pulled it out and couldn’t help but take a peek inside. What interesting information was hidden away in the skeletons’ closet?

Building laws? Bleh. How bland. No wonder it was down here and not in Gaster’s office. You shut the folder and then the drawer it had been in with a loud metallic clang.

That was briefly followed by the loud slamming of the basement door. Your face scrunched up in confusion. Maybe Papyrus needed paperwork, too? You peeked out of the room and locked eyes with the figure across the room.

Wow, that was most certainly not Papyrus.

“HEY!” A feminine voice came from the fish woman as soon as she processed you. “What do you think you’re doing in here?!” A red glow came from her hand before a spear materialized in it.

You glanced between her and the door. She seemed to notice your gaze if her scowl was anything to go by. You gripped the folder to your chest and her gaze flickered to it at your movement.

Her scowl turned up into a malicious grin, “OH! I see what you’re doing!” She took a step towards you, “I don’t know how you got in here, but I’m sure the doc will be glad to know that a little mouse has been stealing his documents.”

You shook your head, “Wait, that’s not-“

“Save it! You can’t lie when you’ve been caught red-handed!” She took another step forward. You didn’t have to be a genius to know that this was a very bad situation.

“No, you don’t understand. I’m-“ you shrieked when a spear was hurtled in your direction. Gonna die. You were going to die.

“The next one won’t miss,” she growled out. You absolutely believed her.

Maybe being confined in this room wasn’t the best thing. You needed to get out. You needed to…

She took another few steps towards you. You felt yourself tense up as you subtly looked towards the door. It was very obviously a long shot, but maybe if you caught her off guard, you could get passed her.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. That’ll be Pap’s job once I bring you up to Gaster. I’m sure they’ll all be very interested to know what you were doing down here.” She summoned another spear as she spoke.

You got the distinct feeling that there was no way you were going to be able to talk your way out of this one. Running was your best option, and it was the one you were taking.

As soon as she made another movement in your direction, you booked it for the door.

Apparently you had done a terrible job of catching her off guard. Before you could even process what was happening, you were tossed over her shoulder in a flurry of movements.

“Hey! Put me down!” You tried your best to wiggle free. Who even was this lady?!

“Not likely.” She began back towards the door that lead back upstairs. She slowed only to scoop up the folder you had been carrying before trudging up the steps. She made short work of getting to the next set as you went limp in her hold.

“You’re making a mistake,” you pointed out. She wasn’t going to kill you. She was bringing you to Gaster. This was stupid and a waste of time.

“No, you dumb human. You did that when you snuck in to steal a file.” She jostled you uncomfortably.

You grunted as the two of you passed by the two bedroom doors, both of which were closed. Damn. Why did you have to slam Sans’ door? The fish monster didn’t bother knocking before entering Gaster’s office.

“You have a pest problem!” She announced.

Gaster spun around to look at the sudden voice. You sighed irritably as he looked over the stranger and you. He didn’t say anything for a second, though you could have sworn that you saw a spark of amusement in his gaze. What a smug asshole.

“And what was their offense, exactly?” He tucked his hands behind his back before striding out from behind his desk.

The monster dropped the folder on the desk with a loud ‘plop, “She was trying to make off with this!”

Gaster looked at you with a raised brow, “You were in the basement?”

“Well, yeah. I was asked to go get that,” you pointed at the folder. Gaster opened it to see what was inside of it before looking between you and the stranger.

“See! She admitted it! A hired spy, most likely.” The fish monster scowled at you through a set of intimidating teeth.

“Undyne,” Gaster addressed the stranger, “What are you doing here?”

She, Undyne, seemed taken aback by the question. “Wha- I heard what happened! Was it so terrible for me to check up on you guys?!” She shook her head and jostled you once more so that he shoulder was jabbing painfully into your side. “It’s a good thing I did! I hope whatever you were trying to take was worth it, you rat!”

Gaster gave Undyne a blank look as he held the file out to you, “Yes. I am very sure that those building codes will forever haunt her.” You took the folder back from him and gave him a nod. He didn’t bother returning it.

He did, however go back behind his desk. He took a seat and looked down at whatever he was working on.

“Hey!” Undyne shook you, “Are you kidding me?! You gave it back to her?!”

Gaster sighed, “You really need to work on your listening skills, my dear. I am sure that it is safe for me to assume you never gave her the chance to explain?”

Undyne growled, and her hold on you tightened, “WHAT?! Why should I?! She’s a thief!”

He didn’t look up from his work at her outburst, “Undyne, please put my daughter-in-law down.”

“WHAT?!”

“Wait, what?!”

Did he just say-

You were unceremoniously dropped to the floor with a heavy thud. In your attempt to catch yourself, you let go of the folder, causing a shower of building codes to rain down on you.

You sat up, completely ignoring both the mess and the lack of breath from hitting the ground.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” There was no way he could have just said those words.

“I believe you heard me correctly,” he seemed completely unfazed.

“No, she’s right,” Undyne looked between you and the skeleton, “Daughter-in-law?! What the hell?! Which one of your sons got hitched and why haven’t I heard anything about it?!”

That was a good fucking question. Why haven’t you heard anything about that? You stood up, ignoring the papers that fluttered to the ground as you did so.

“Um? I don’t remember getting married to either one of them?” You crossed your arms and looked to Gaster expectantly.

He finally looked up only to stare at you. After a second he smirked at you, “Do not be naive, my dear. You and I both knew from the second you got away from me the first time that this was only going to end in one of two ways. No matter how long you are around, that will not change.” He looked back down at his papers, “I will not have any loose ends.”

While you stared at Gaster, Undyne glanced between the two of you. A loud cackle startled you out of your concentration. It was followed by a rather rough slap on your back.

“Looks like it’s gonna be forever or it’s gonna go down in flames,” she cackled once more as you seethed. “Either way, you’re pretty screwed, human.”

You huffed and shook your head before storming out of the office without another word to either of them. Who the hell was he to decide your future for you?! You stomped down the hall only to stop when a door swung open.

“What the hell’s going on out here? And where’s that file?” Sans gave you a confused look. It was more than likely that he had heard the yelling from Gaster’s office. You were too mad to care about the fact that his file was scattered all over the floor.

“You can get your goddamned papers on your own. They’re in your stupid dad’s office.” You scowled before shaking your head and marching off.

He looked after you for a second before his gaze moved over to Gaster’s door. You didn’t see anything else as you stormed down the stairs and planted yourself on the couch.

After a second, you took a breath. You were acting ridiculous. Sans didn’t deserve your scorn. He didn’t do anything wrong. You took another breath. Gaster can’t decide the future no matter how much he wants to. You were your own person, and you didn’t have to listen to a word he said. You took one last deep breath before slumping down into the couch.

Marriage or death were both really stupid options, anyways. Gaster was dumb. You didn’t even want-

“You good, sweetheart?” Sans leaned on the doorway into the living room.

“Peachy.” You snapped back before shaking your head, “Sorry, I’m frustrated with Gaster.”

He chuckled, “I could tell by the mess in his office.” Seeing that you weren’t about to bite his head off, Sans made his way over to the couch and collapsed next to you. “What did he say ta getcha in such a huff, anyways?”

You glanced over to him and opened your mouth to answer him, only to shut it and stare at him for a second. A brief image of Sans in a fancy tux briefly flashed through your mind before you shook it off. You could feel your cheeks heat up as you looked away from him and sunk further into the cushions.

“Nothing important. He was just being an ass.”

“What’s new?” Sans gently nudged you, “and I thought you’d be used to it. Ya gotta deal with me all of the time after all.”

All of the time, huh? You glanced up at him, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. He just said something that really… got under my skin.” The joke was delivered very lacklusterly, but it was there.

Sans seemed to appreciate it if his grin was anything to go by. Your attention moved to his gold tooth as it glinted in the light. You quickly tore your gaze away from his grin once you realized you had been staring. You caught his eyes only to freeze there. He was staring right back at you with this soft expression that you seldom saw on him.

He let out a soft chuckle before reaching up and moving a story lock of hair away from your face, “Looks like Undyne roughed ya up some.” His voice was almost as soft as his expression. His hand stayed near the side of your face. Eventually, you felt him run his thumb along your cheek. It was an odd feeling, but it was by no means unpleasant. “Do you want me to beat her up for you?”

You smiled and shook your head, though you didn’t say anything. Instead, you brought your hand up to grab his as he held it softly against your cheek. You locked eyes with him once more. Your breath caught in your throat when you realized how close the two of you had gotten.

“Sans, I-“

He didn’t let you finish before he gently pulled your face forward. He wastes no time in capturing your lips with his, bringing his other hand up to cup the other side of your face. Despite not having lips, the kiss felt so natural , and there was an odd sparkling shock that sent shivers down your spine. Your brain could only just supply that the feeling was likely magic as you leaned into him, more than willing to return it.

The kiss may have been gentle, but you could feel the underlying passion that laced his movements. He dropped one of his hands so that it could fall around your waist and bring you closer to him. Your free hand found itself firmly planted on his chest as you hesitantly pulled back. You had to take a second to gather what had just happened, and the eruption of butterflies in your stomach was not helping.

You blinked open your eyes, even though you hadn’t been aware you had closed them, and met his gaze. This time, you were the one that leaned forward. You wrapped your arms around his neck as you deepened the kiss, ignoring the fact that you could feel him smirk before he returned it.

Shit. This wasn’t just some schoolgirl crush anymore. If you weren’t in trouble before, well…

You were completely and totally screwed.

Chapter Text

Killer huffed as you shifted on the bed for the forty-fifth time in the last five minutes. You gave him a pat on the head in apology. How much longer were they planning on keeping you stuck in here? You were absolutely losing your mind. You couldn’t even bother Sans and Papyrus! They were both gone for the day!

Even Papyrus, who was still healing, was gone! And you had most certainly tried your best to get him to stay. But in the end, your threat to hang off of his leg like a koala was brushed off.

Eventually, you let out an annoyed huff and stood up. You couldn’t do this anymore. You stomped over to Gaster’s door, Killer following right at your heels. No time was wasted in lingering outside as you slammed your fist into the door.

“Gaster! You have to let me leave the house or I swear to god I’m gonna start setting your shit on fire!”

The door was pulled open to reveal Gaster giving you a very unimpressed look, “You and I both know that you won’t do that.”

You scowled, “No, I think that’s exactly something that I’d do if I were stuck in this house for any longer.”

“You aren’t going to just take a walk ,” he shook his head, “That would be stupid, even for you.”

You scoffed, “Of course I’m not going to do that.” You crossed your arms, “let me go back to work at least! Nothing bad’s going to happen there with Grillby and the dogs around.”

He considered you for a second before glancing down at Killer, who had taken a seat just behind you. “Alright. Fine. But you’re going to take that dog with you.”

Your face scrunched up, “What? Why? That’s not really necessary, is it?” You reached back to give Killer a pat on the head, “He’s a great dog and all, but I don’t know what he’d be able to do if something were to actually happen.”

He gave you a look before glaring down at the dog. “Killer,” he commanded the dog who promptly snapped to attention at Gaster’s tone. Said monster pointed at you, “Guard.”

Killer looked up at you. You weren’t quite sure you had ever seen such a serious looking dog before. He stood up and bumped your hand with his nose. Gaster seemed satisfied by whatever that meant.

He nodded at you before going to sit back behind his desk, “You may go.”

You rolled your eyes, “Wonderful. How gracious of you, kind sir.”

“Get out of my office.” He snapped at you.

“Oh, but of course! Whatever his royal pain in my ass desires of me!” You snicker before ducking out of his room and shutting the door behind you. You could hear him grumble to himself on the other side of it, much to your amusement.

Now, you just had to figure out how to get to work with the massive beast of a dog Gaster had stuck you with. Grillby’s was quite a walk that you weren’t willing to make in your heels, so it seemed like you needed to call someone that allowed dogs in their cars.

That… might take you a while. You sighed and gave Killer a pat on his head before going downstairs, already dialing a number on your phone for a taxi. You eyes the dog who had gone into some kind of crazy extreme protection mode. You wouldn’t be surprised if you somehow ended up having to give some poor innocent person stitches by the end of the night. You hopped not. Playing doctor wasn’t really your thing. As much as you wished you were, you weren’t your sister.

You shook that thought off as soon as it had come and made your way out the door, Killer trotting right at your heels.

It had taken you quite a while to get a car that would let him in, and even longer to actually get the dog in a closed space with a stranger. But in the end, you had managed to get all the way to Grillby’s in one piece, no needles required.

You pulled open the door and were immediately greeted by a sudden rush of warm air and the smell of freshly cooked food and campfire smoke. It smelled familiar. A small smile fell on your face as you trotted inside. You made a beeline for the bar where not one, but two very familiar faces were chatting.

“BP!” Your shout caused the cat monster to jump slightly before swiveling around to face you.

“What the hell? You tryin’ to kill me?” His fur slowly flattened back out as he rested a hand on his chest.

“Nah. You have nine lives, anyways.” You joked as you reached the bar. You didn’t hesitate to take your usual seat, which, at this point was usually left empty for you.

“What are you doing here?” Grillby’s voice had a slight crackle to it that told you he wasn’t exactly stoked to see you.

“Hey, don’t get mad at me just yet. I got permission from the doc. He sent me with a tagalong and everything.” You flicked your head in the direction of the dog table, where Killer had made himself comfortable.

Grillby stared at you with narrowed eyes. “Fine. But if you’re here, you aren’t here to chit-chat.”

“Aw, but Grillby!” you whined dramatically, “I can’t even talk to my buddy BP for just a minute?”

“Whatever. But don’t expect to be paid for the time you’re messing around.” He shook his head at you.

“From you, Boss? I would expect nothing else.” You shot him a wink before spinning around to face BP. “And where have you been?”

He raised a brow at you, “Work.”

“Yeah? You wanna talk about it?” You grinned and waited for the inevitable flood that you had just unleashed.

He sighed and shook his head, “No, I’m sure whatever you’ve been doing is much more interesting.” When you gave him a look, he stopped. “But, between me and you,” there it was, “Mettaton’s been on my ass much more than usual lately. Do you know what he asked me to do?!”

“Do tell,” You smiled.

This felt nice. You hadn’t gotten a chance to sit around and gossip with your friend in what felt like a long time. It almost felt normal. If you tried hard enough, you could almost forget the fact that you had gotten yourself into more of a mess than you even knew what to do with. You could almost ignore the bad feeling that prickled at the back of your neck. You were going to get these people killed. You shouldn’t be here right now. How could you be so selfish as to-

“You alright?” BP’s voice brought you out of your thoughts.

“What?” You blinked back into reality, “Oh, uh, yeah. I’m good. What were you saying?”

He raised a brow at you, “What happened to you? You kind of completely spaced out there.”

You let out a humorless chuckled, “What didn’t happen to me?”

BP looked you over before a grin slowly crept onto his face, “I heard you’ve managed to get in the good graces of the entire skeleton family. Which one did ya sleep with to make that happen?”

You nearly launched yourself right off of the barstool, “What?! None of them!” You could feel your cheeks heat up at the insinuation.

He laughed, “Maybe, but you look like you’ve thought about it.”

“Wha- I haven’t-“ you shook your head, “Shut up.” You had to look away from him as his grin became even more smug than it already was. “So what if I have?”

He laughed, “Hey, I’m not judging ya.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You rolled your eyes at him, “I’m sure.” You slid off of the stool, “I have work anyways, so feel free to not judge me while I sing about something stupid, probably.”

“Ah, but at least it’ll sound pretty.” He joked, “we can chat more after. Well, assuming your entourage doesn't come to get you.”

You snickered and shook your head, “Honestly, I’m sure they’ll show up at some point.” You grinned and dramatically flipped your hair back. “After all, how could they possibly resist me? I’m a total catch.”

BP rolled his eyes at you and opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Grillby cleared his throat, “You’re a nuisance is what you are. If you’re here to work, do it before I send you back home.”

“Ouch, Boss.” You frowned, “and here I thought you liked spending time with me!”

“I am not sure where you got your information from, but it is false.” You could hear the slightly playful tinge in his voice.

“Alright, alright.” You chuckled, “I read you loud and clear. I guess I’ll just get to work then.”

You brushed off the front of your dress and offered both men a nod. They returned it as you wandered off towards the stage. It almost made you feel a bit like you were greeting an old friend when you stepped up onto the raised platform. You took a breath and smiled.

This was familiar territory. This was were you knew exactly what you were doing. It wasn’t like the mafia business you had gotten yourself tangled up in, and it certainly wasn’t like the confusing messes of relationships between you and said mafia family.

Getting lost in your songs was almost like its own magic entirely. There was a certain therapy in being able to express what you were feeling without having to directly express it to someone. You could sing your heart out about whatever you wanted, and chances were, no one would be any the wiser.

So, that was exactly what you did as you went through your set. You happily did a few piano songs, glad you have the keys at your fingertips once more. It wasn’t until about halfway through that you decided you needed to play something more upbeat.

You stood up from your seat at the piano and gave a small bow at the applause you received from the patrons. You grinned and made your way over to the sound system before fiddling with it. You… had an idea for a song, but you would need to get the instrumentals for it.

Once everything was situated, you glanced around the bar for a quick scan of the crowd. Oh, look. You were right. The brothers had, to no one’s surprise, showed up a the bar. You gave them a small nod and winked as the music to the song started up.

This was one you could have fun with, and you most certainly weren’t going give that up.

“ I'm in a little bit of trouble
And I'm in real deep
From the beginning to the end
He was no more than a friend to me ”

You grinned and swayed your hips to the beat of the song. As the next lines came up, you feigned being faint.

“ The thought is makin' me hazy
I think I better sit down
'Cause like the sweetest serenade
Bet he knows he's got it made with me
Twisting round on a carousel
This speeds' too much to stop
One second I'm thinkin' I'm feeling the lust
And then I feel a lot, ”

Before the chorus hit, you did a small spin, letting your dress flare up dramatically before stepping off of the stage. You gave the patrons a coy grin as a few whistles sounded through the crowd. You stepped to the beat as you weaved your way through the tables. You blew a playful kiss to the group at the bar that sat on the opposite side of the room.