Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"HUMAN!" Papyrus was just as boisterous and excitable as ever, a living ball of joy and excitement, he wore the widest smile, a pure and honest glee at simply meeting a human for the first time. And, if Papyrus' rants were to believe, an unbelievably adorable human at that, though Sans found himself pretty...biased, hiding his scowl behind a casual grin.

To be fair, the kid was behaving themselves for now, and Sans didn't smell any dust on them, not to mention the most dangerous thing they were armed with was a stick. Even then, they had dropped the stick the moment they had seen him. Still, just because they were behaving NOW didn't mean he trusted them as far as he could kick them.

"HUMAN FRISK, COME! YOU SIMPLY MUST TRY MY PUZZLES!" The little human toddled along quietly behind the skeleton, never touching Papyrus but always trying to wear a warm smile.

GOD, it looked so fake, they were just so...BAD at hiding their emotions. That smile was so phony, Sans was surprised it didn't slide off their face. Papyrus...Papyrus could see it too, and on occasion shot worrying glances at Sans.
The kid devoted their attention to each puzzle in full, struggling to get through them, the human just lacked a lot of common sense in solving what should have been grade school-level puzzles. The button puzzle was difficult enough for them to figure out, stumbling all over the place and tripping over obvious rocks, showing just how clumsy they seemed to be. Then came the sliding puzzle, the kid kept falling and wincing or sliding into walls or stones and tumbling over, and though Sans found himself chuckling at it, there was a twinge of guilt. The kid WAS trying to make Papyrus happy...that much was clearly obvious.

"are they alright Sans?" Papyrus wrung his hands, watching the human crawl to one of the safe areas, Sans shifted uncomfortably, watching it play out.

"eh...probably" The kid smiled up at them and stood, rubbing a bruise on their cheek from the slip, Sans felt that uncomfortable tingling sensation again.
They managed to cross again and moved onto the next puzzle, an easier one this time...Junior Jumble! No slipping, no sliding...no buttons, just a little word puzzle, nothing too challenging. Sans stood next to his brother, hands in his pockets and an easy, lazy grin on his face while Papyrus looked on, pleased with himself.

Yet still...there was something wrong, as The Anomaly's face fell, as they gripped the sheet of paper, tilting their head up to look ahead then turning so she was looking in the rough direction of the monsters, her expression melted into sadness.

"...ah...kid, you okay?" Sans ventured slowly, making the human jump and shift nervously.

"S-Sorry," their voice was soft...very soft, "I just..." the little human slumped and offered the puzzle page back to Papyrus.
"I can't read..."

Papyrus stared for a moment while Sans felt a coldness rush through him. The kid was old enough to be able to read, so why couldn't they? There was something about that revelation that just...BOTHERED Sans in a way he couldn't immediately or easily identify. Something about it that just...didn't feel right, like it was an important piece or clue to some bigger puzzle, but Sans couldn't figure out what.

"I-It's okay human!" Papyrus soothed, "Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong! Come on, we can try another puzzle!" A ball was placed in Frisk's hands

"This is an invisible maze, just get through it holding the ball, it should be easy enough!"

Frisk nodded and took a step, then another...and another, and she screamed as the ball released an electric shock, one that sent them tumbling down.

Sans felt himself lurch, while Papyrus rubbed his hands together nervously, the shock wasn't that strong but...but...

Frisk was shivering in the snow, eyes wide with fear, tears running down her cheeks. Sans knew that far away look, that glazed expression, the child wasn't here, they were...their mind was somewhere else, somewhere far away. What they were seeing, Sans couldn't be sure but it wasn't happy it wasn't-

Papyrus was moving, long strides through the snow to the little human.

"P-PAP!" the shorter skeleton cried out, "WAIT, DON'T!-"

But Papyrus ignored him, kneeling and encircling the trembling human with his long arms.

"It's okay little one," the normally boisterous skeleton's voice was soft, comforting, "It's okay...I'm here, your friend Papyrus is here. You are not alone, little human. You are safe."

The little one's pale blue eyes squeezed together, tiny arms taut with restrained emotion; their body shaking as they clung to Papyrus; trying so hard to fight back their own feelings, to keep their expression stony and neutral and completely failing.

"I...I think that's enough puzzles for today" Papyrus looked heavy, weighed down with something as he turned to regard Sans, "Let's...let's go back home, Sans. I'm sure the human is cold and tired, they could use a good meal and a nap."

Sans stared stupidly for a second, then blinked; the kid was wearing just a pair of shorts, ill-fitting shoes, and a ratty old sweatshirt. Stones, the kid was probably freezing! How did Sans not notice that before!?

The trio shuffled off, Sans refusing to look at the kid, he was already feeling confused and conflicted enough, and he didn't like it. Some deep dark, twisted part of him hoped that the little brat would pull a knife and start swinging, dusting monsters left and right. That at least was easy to deal with, that was easy to understand. That little beast he could hate without feeling guilty about it, but seeing them so hurt and vulnerable didn't sit well with Sans.

A flash of yellow caught Sans eye socket and the skeleton turned in time to see The Weed disappearing under the snow and scowled to himself. Now, what did Flowey want here? And why did Sans have a sickening feeling that evil little salad had something to with all of this.

Sans shoved those thoughts aside and focused on the hill they were approaching, no; he didn't want The Anomaly to start dusting anyone. Easier though it may be to understand, he specifically killed them to make them reset, to make them not kill anyone. So he SHOULD want this, and-and he did...but he didn't want the confusing feelings all of this came with.

Papyrus, gentle Papyrus was stroking The Anomaly's head and back as they made their way towards the house, on occasion the kid lifted their face to look at Sans, and the smaller skeleton expected to see a vicious smirk or a nasty little grin, but he only saw regret, shame, depression...emotions that while he wanted them to feel, he wasn't sure how to process them actually seeing it.

The kid was put down on the couch and a warm blanket wrapped around them, they were shivering, trembling like a leaf. But they didn't complain, not even once did they complain...they just shivered and looked up at Papyrus with an expression of sheer gratitude, like their tiny heart was going to burst from his simple act of giving them the blanket.

"TH-Thank you" they stammered, sounding a little like Alphys.

"It's okay, human. You stay here and get warm. I, the Great Papyrus, am going to begin some spaghetti, you...you look like you need it." Worry tinged his voice, and immediately the kid tried to stand while shaking their head.

"N-No, I'm okay, I-" Papyrus ruffled their hair and gently but firmly pushed the smaller human back onto the couch.

"No, you stay here, let me just..." the jovial skeleton turned and retrieved the tv remote, putting on one of Mettaton's tv shows, "Here we go. Watch some Mettaton okay? We'll get you some dinner. Sans? Can you give me a hand?"

Immediately, Sans felt suspicious; Papyrus never asked him to help; this had to be a ploy, a cover so Papyrus could talk to him. But Sans felt a twisting sense of disgust; it was Papyrus, his wonderful little brother, being sneaky. Papyrus was NEVER sneaky. Damn that little brat for changing things!

"Yeah, sure bro" Sans ambled by and rubbed the kid's head, enjoying their mild flinch as he passed, it was just a nice way of reminding them that he was here.

Papyrus began to pull dishes out, pans and pots, making more noise than necessary, but Sans could see the distress on his little brother's face and noticed the way Papyrus kept wringing his hands.

"...alright bro, what's wrong?" Sans began to fill a pot with water for the noodles.

Papyrus looked at his elder brother, expression swimming in worry

"It's the human, Sans. They're very...light."

Sans blinked, THAT is what was bugging him? Of all things for Papyrus to be worried about, it was the kid being a bit light? Sans sighed in relief and allowed a genuine little grin to crease his features.

"Heh, I'm sure it's okay bro, they're just a li'l kid. They're gonna be light"

But Papyrus shook his head and rounded on Sans, his expression still worried

"No, no no, that's not what I mean Sans. They're light, too light...I could feel their bones. It was like they were just like us; a little skeleton with skin stretched over top."

the shorter skeleton rubbed his neck, ignoring that uncomfortable itching feeling.

"Bro...that's normal, that's what a human kinda is; a skeleton wearin' skin."

The taller brother's face bore a look of frustration and exasperation.

"No Sans, not like that. I mean...I could feel their bones through the sweater and my gloves. They are so light Sans, lighter than even monsters their size. I don't think they've had a lot to eat."

Sans squirmed uncomfortably, placing the pot on the stove and grabbing a package of spaghetti noodles to pour into it,

"What, so they didn' eat much, that's why we're feedin' 'em, right?"

But Papyrus again shook his head,

"No,I don't mean just today. Sans I don't think they've had much to eat, ever. Sans...I think they're starving."

The water began to bubble, as Papyrus began to prepare the sauce, his bones rattling slightly. Sans felt a chill pass up his spine.

"Okay...so...I.."

"there's more," Papyrus saved his brother from having to formulate a response, "I saw...I saw markings on their face Sans, like scratch marks on the side of their head and bite marks on their hands. "

Sans was now well into deeply uncomfortable territory, the picture his brother was painting was a grim one indeed.

"y-ya sure bro?" Sans' mouth felt dry as he retrieved plates for dinner.

"Yes, very sure."Papyrus looked up from the food and back towards the living room, "Can you check on them? Please, Sans...I'm worried about them."

Sans swallowed, and nodded, but nabbed a bottle of ketchup from the fridge. Papyrus didn't scold or protest, merely turning back to the pot, and stirring the sauce.

The kid was curled up on the couch, breathing heavily and shallow; their eyes wide and unseeing; and sans could see that they had the first joint of their thumb shoved into their mouth, and were biting...hard. Hard enough that he saw blood seeping out between their teeth, their eyes were staring at the wall ahead of them, their entire form trembling.

shit

"He-Heya kid, how're ya doin'? Ya hungry?" he ambled across the living room floor, trying to look as casual and non-threatening as possible. Frisk jumped in surprise, head twisting about in shock, while the girl whimpered and then treed to withdraw into herself. Sans sat heavily on the couch, and threw back the ketchup, pretending he didn't see them about to bite their own thumb off, "Paps is cookin' up a delicious meal in there, it smells pretty good, y'know?"he wracked his brain for a joke to help soothe the situation, but he had none; his brain was too full of questions being marinated in ketchup.
Frisk didn't answer, they just shifted nervously and lowered her head, Sans couldn't blame them; he didn't feel any more comfortable than they looked.

Awkward silence dominated the room, broken up only by Mettaton being...well...Mettaton, somehow managing to dominate half of the living room in spite of merely being on a television program. Sans stole a gaze over at Frisk and frowned very slightly, turning his expression neutral. Papyrus was right; there were scratches on the girl's temple, like fingernails. A LOT of scratches, some looked fairly fresh while others were scabbed over. It was just one more question without an answer.

Thankfully, Papyrus called them for dinner not that long later and the pair made their way into the dining room. They sat, Sans across from Frisk and Papyrus at the head of the table, where he poured spaghetti into three plates, along with sauce and parmesan cheese. IT was surprisingly plain spaghetti, no unusual additions to it.

"Human, your hand..." Frisk had stretched her hand out to accept the plate, where Papyrus spied the bite marks on their thumb, blood trickling down to their wrist.

"Eh, the kid was so hungry they couldn't help themselves, right?" Sans winked at Frisk, who seemed desperate for an escape and nodded quickly

"I-I'm sorry, I was hungry" again, their voice was frail, weak and judging by his expression, Papyrus wasn't buying it. But the tall skeleton didn't say anything more, simply nodding and ensuring Frisk also had a large glass of juice to go with the food.

"Eat as much as you want, there is plenty" Papyrus urged, the following 'please' was almost imperceivable, Sans caught it but it didn't look like Frisk did.

Dinner was somewhat quiet...and awkward, Frisk fumbled around the table, as if she couldn't find the fork, but when she did she grasped it like one would a knife. The brothers exchanged another confused look as the kid gripped the plate with their free hand and stabbed the fork into the spaghetti, struggling to eat such a simple dish. Papyrus eventaully cleared his throat, making the little one jump again and look scared, fingers tightening on the edge of the plate as if they expected it to be ripped away, while pale blue eyes filled with worry.

"S-So, human, tell me; what is your family like. I bet they're very worried about you" Papyrus tried desperately to sound enthusiastic, but Frisk's hollow look melted Papyrus a little.

"My...mommy is dead. Daddy says I killed her when I was born, it's my fault Mommy is gone." a cold ball settled into Sans gut, while Papyrus' expression began to harden,

"I see...well what about your friends at school? Surely they miss you"

Again, Frisk shook their head

"I don't go to school. School is only for good kids who don't ruin everything"

Sans swallowed a thick mouthful of ketchup to drown the hot, numb feeling building in his belly.

"...Little one...Frisk," Papyrus ' voice was soft but overwhelming, "How old are you, little one?"

Frisk put her fork down and looked at her hands, then held up all the fingers on her left hand, and two o the right.

"Seven, I'm...seven. I think."

Sans felt sick, but he hid it well with a plastic grin as he finished off the ketchup.

"Well, little seven-year-old Frisk," Sans felt ill, "You have as much spaghetti as you want, eat all you can okay? This is your very own special 'welcome' spaghetti!" Papyrus found a new well of jubilation to power his voice.

"Please...eat as much as you want"

Obediently, Frisk took to the plate, stuffing her mouth with a forkful of pasta. Her handling of the fork was awkward as if she wasn't comfortable or used to using the simple tool, but she ate with gusto, smearing sauce across her mouth and slopping it down the front of her sweater. Whenever the plate looked empty, Papyrus would simply refill it, and give it a dusting of parmesan.

Frisk managed three plates before looking full and very, very tired.

"I'm sorry," the human mumbled, "I'm sorry, I ate so much...."

Papyrus cradled her head as he carried the little human out to the couch, "It's okay, little one. We wanted you to eat a lot, it's your own special spaghetti after all."

Sans followed, feeling awkward as he watched his brother being so...nurturing. This whole scene was just so very surreal.

Papyrus bundled Frisk up under the covers and placed a pillow under her head

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry" the little human mumbled over and over, as Papyrus lovingly shushed her, easing the girl off into a food-induced sleep.

Papyrus met Sans on the second floor, the shorter skeleton looking at his brother's back, as Papyrus stood between their rooms, staring at the wall.

"...I'm not sure what to say Sans, this is...it's a lot to take in. I think I need to sleep on t his first, It's....it's a lot" Papyrus' voice cracked slightly on the last word.

Sans felt burdened by guilt in his gut, the more he learned about the kid, the more complicated they became, and a clearer picture he got of some pretty horrible things. Things that sans didn't feel sober or drunk enough to face.

"...look bro. I...I don't know what to think about all this, let's talk in the mornin'...okay?"

Papyrus heaved a sigh and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, you're right...good night brother, and please...keep an eye socket on Frisk. I'm worried about them...a lot"

A golden hall...

A beautiful day outside.

And a human.

"Sans..." their voice was unreadable, making the skeleton snarl, a wicked and sadistic grin creasing his face. "You don' learn very easily, do ya?" he taunted, his magic suspending them from the ground, "I guess ya haven't gotten 'nuff of what I can give, have ya? Ya filthy brother killer!"

He slammed them against the pillars, smashing them off the ceiling and floor, "Heh...you really are durable, aincha? Must be all that determination and love."

"Sans, I'm sorry" they begged, "I'll make it right."

A nasty grin spread across Sans' face as he ambled towards them.

"Please....I...I wanna be good, I promise I'll be good" they sobbed.

"Ya? is that so?" he knelt slightly, "Alright..tell ya what? Ya want mercy...okay, I'll give ya mercy."

And there it was, that thin fragment of hope, "The same mercy...you gave Paps."

Confusion...then fear,

"Wait, Sans I-" and whatever else they were going to say was choked off in a bloody, wet gurgling as bones tore through their body, skin splitting and muscle ripping.

"Get. Dunked. On...?" Sans trailed off, there was something wrong. The tile floor of the Judgement Hall felt soft, and there was a bed in the corner. Wait, since when did the hall have a bed? Since when did it...

HIs gaze tore back to the little murderer.

Not the hall.

No beautiful day.

It was a bedroom.

It was his bedroom.

And in front of him was a little human, impaled six times by his bones through their chest and belly, blood spilling out onto the carpeted floor, head limp and staring at the ground. A small human, a tiny human. Just a kid, a baby.

Seven Years Old.

"Sans...?" His head whipped up, to the horrified gaze of Papyrus, his younger brother's eye sockets wide with tears and stunned, mute horror, the younger skeleton's expression imploring Sans, begging his older brother to make him understand.

"Sans...what have you done?"

Then the world fell again...twisting and churning, Sans felt ready to puke, as he ripped through time. Snow...snow falling from the sky, standing beside his brother.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus crowed joyfully, "HUMAN I...human, what's wrong?"

Sans struggled to smile as he looked across from them, at the face of little Frisk. It was the face of someone who had just been murdered. Sans was certain he felt SOMETHING crawling on his back

Chapter Text

The Anomaly was once more in Papyrus’ arms, being carried slowly towards the house, the tall skeleton’s scarf wrapped around them in a meek attempt to keep the little girl warm. Sans had offered his jacket too, but the visible cringe from the child had put a stop to it quickly. Worse, Papyrus had scolded Sans for offering such a filthy, smelly jacket. Sans had tried to make a joke but it had hurt, just a little.

Or maybe Sans was just being sensitive.

That sickly feeling returned, like tar or oil poured over the skeleton’s spine, clinging to his bones and dripping down his back. An uncomfortable, smothering feeling that Sans hated, accompanied by a heaviness in his non-existent gut; like he had swallowed a lead ball. He hated it, it was putting off the short skeleton’s mood, making his grin look more like a pained grimace.

As they entered the house, the little human began to fuss a little, shifting and shivering as the heat hit her cold skin, naturally, Papyrus took immediate notice.

“Little human!” He gasped, “You’re shivering...oh this isn’t good, let’s get you a bath, warm you up, shall we?” The little girl whined softly, trying to form words but she wasn’t able to, not around rapidly chattering teeth. Papyrus regarded Sans with a slightly strained grin.

“Brother, could you put together some food for our guest? I’ll get her into warm and proper clothes, nyeh heh heh!” Papyrus was trying to be enthusiastic about the situation, but as the previous reset had shown Sans; his brother could be remarkably insightful, and it was not likely that the taller brother had missed the bites and scratches this time around. Sans was searching for a reason to take over for Papyrus, to be the one to wash the kid instead...but he couldn’t find a single reason or justification. Frisk clearly was scared of him, terrified and with good reason. She looked like she felt safe around Papyrus, and yet Sans was almost certain that this was going to end poorly.

Without waiting for an answer, Papyrus turned and marched up the stairs, leaving Sans grinning at the taller brother’s back, while Sans’ hand trembled in his pocket, bones rattling softly. The entire situation had become one big mess, and as much as he desperately wanted to blame the little brat he-

Seven years old.

Sans pinched his nose bone then sighed and made his way into the kitchen...hot dogs. He could cook more than that, of course, but he was pretty certain that nobody was going to be that hungry tonight, even though Papyrus was likely going to urge Frisk (that was her name right?) to eat as much as she could.

It could. IT could. Just an anomaly.

Seven. Years. Old.

Sans retrieved a bottle of ketchup from the fridge and drank half in four deep gulps. Maybe if he drank enough, he could forget that little fact...he took another drink.

********

Skeletons could feel temperature. In spite of Sans’ constant jokes about the cold ‘going right through him’, skeletons could, in fact, feel hot and cold. They just weren’t overly affected by it, it had a minor effect of course, but nothing too dramatic, unless the temperatures got very extreme in one way or another. Hotland made both brothers a little uncomfortable due to the heat, while Snowdin made them a little chilly.

It was because of this that Papyrus felt confident he could choose a proper temperature for little Frisk’s (She said her name was ‘Frisk’, how peculiar)  bath, said human seated quietly on a chair that Papyrus had brought up to help in washing the child, a towel draped around their shoulders acting like a makeshift blanket. The poor thing looked terrified, pale blue eyes staring at the ground in fear. She had been wearing shoes without socks, shoes that were too large for her small feet, and after removing them, Papyrus found scabs, abrasions, and frostbite along her ankles and toes.

Now, Papyrus was internally bracing himself for what else he may find under that ratty old sweater and shorts. The girl kept biting her thumb and index finger, her breathing uneven as if she was expecting something horrible to happen.

“Okay Little One,” Papyrus stated soothingly, “Let’s get you out of this and into the water, okay?” the tall skeleton reaching out and gripping the bottom of the ugly sweater in his hands and lifting. Frisk began to whimper and shiver, tears welling up in those soulful, broken blue eyes, pleading with Papyrus for...for something, but the tall skeleton wasn’t sure what. What did she not want him to do?

“I won’t hurt you, I promise” the monster soothed, “But we need to get this sweater off of you, okay?” Papyrus was trying to be as soothing as he could, and it seemed to work as Frisk reluctantly raised her arms, letting the sweater slide off.

Papyrus wasn’t ready, not for this.

He could see little round burns on her chest and stomach, her body so thin that he could count each rib through the skin stretched over them, even see her heart beating rapidly by the rising and dropping of the skin over it.

There were bruises around her throat, bite marks on both shoulders, and thick heavy bruises all over, with the occasional long, thin welt. There were other marks, scars that he couldn't make sense of, some around her throat, some splashing out over her chest and a large, ugly burn right on her right calf. Gods above and below...who...no. No, he had to be calm, he couldn’t scare her even more, Gods she was already trembling.

“Oh li-little one,” Papyrus’ voice cracked, and he had to clear his throat, “Can you t-turn around, please?”

The poor dear misunderstood, and her expression turned empty...blank, as she slipped off the chair, her fingers hooking around her shorts and dropping them as she turned around and bent over the seat. Papyrus physically recoiled at what he saw.

Her back was covered in long, angry red welts, with small round burns and flat, wide bruises. Her hips were bony and bruised, with more of those welts and burns on her thighs. But like her chest, there were even more unexplainable markings, thin markings that could almost be missed and had no rhyme or reason to them. She was trembling...and all at once, Papyrus understood why; he realized what she was expecting him to do.

Papyrus blinked hot orange tears from his eyes, his breath ragged and heavy, as the skeleton grabbed the child and pulled her against his rib cage, his form trembling with waves of violent emotion. His vision was unfocused and wild, the gentle monster terrified and...and FURIOUS .How could someone..how could ANYONE do...do…

It was warm, soft...and it took Papyrus a moment to refocus on it. The little human, Frisk...she was cupping his cheekbone, her teeth-marked thumb brushing away the hot tears beading there; pale blue eyes looking slightly passed him, but full of emotion regardless.

She was worried about him.

She was worried about HIM.

“Oh...oh…” Papyrus squeaked, then cleared his throat, a smile stretching his skull slightly, “I-I’m okay Little Frisk,” assured Papyrus, “I’m just...I’m glad I met you. You’re a very wonderful girl.” he planted a toothy kiss on her greasy hair, “Come on, let’s get you washed up.”

She hissed in pain as the tall monster gently set her in the warm water, and squirmed as her injuries stung red hot, but she didn’t try to escape the water, Papyrus wasn’t sure why and wasn’t going to argue with it...she needed this bath; if only for sanitary reasons. Papyrus had always scoffed at Sans for his insistence on getting shampoo; certain it was part of some long-running gag.

In all fairness, he still thought that.

But right now, the younger monster was silently thankful for its presence; as he lathered up Frisk’s hair with the floral goo, and then dipped her back, rinsing it slowly. The girl flinched and twitched in pain, her pale face scrunching up as small cuts were agitated by both the shampoo and hot water.

“I’m sorry,” Papyrus murmured, “I’m sorry, I’m going as fast as I can.” he helped her back up, trying to ignore the pinking of the water and how red most of her body was turning, from the agitated injuries. The tall, kind skeleton hummed a song he had heard somewhere in waterfall nervously, as he grabbed a cloth and soap and began to clean the girl with as gentle a strokes as he could manage.

She was crying...softly, but it was there; body jerking with little hiccups of emotion, as the tall monster scrubbed her body clean, but she seemed to be calming as he hummed the melody and for the briefest moments; the tall skeleton could have SWORN that he saw her baby blues turn a deep red. But that wasn’t possible...must have just been a trick of the light.

“Good girl,” Papyrus soothed, plucking the tiny human from the water and wrapped a towel around her body, giving the tiny human a hug. Inside the kindly monster was in turmoil, fighting to keep his emotions from overwhelming him.

“I…” the skeleton swallowed, refusing to cry, “I’m going to get you some nice, warm clothes, b-but first, we need to get you some medicine, okay little one?”

Those pale blue eyes lifted upwards, looking slightly passed Papyrus, and the small human, Frisk, lifted her fingers to touch the skeleton’s face again, tracing her digits across his cheekbones once more, before dropping back down to her sides, and the little human gave a nod.

Papyrus tried to keep a warm smile on his face, as the monster scooped the tiny, thin human into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom and into his room to rest on the bed, safe under a warm blanket.

“I’ll be right back,” the skeleton promised, “Can you wait up here for me?” at the affirmative nod from the human, Papyrus planted one more bony kiss, and then made his way downstairs to where Sans was waiting.

********

“Brother…” Papyrus allowed the weight he was feeling to show, his body slumping heavily and eye sockets drooping, “Brother, I-I need,” the tall skeletons’ voice cracked again, “I need the first aid kit.”

Sans stared at his brother for a moment, then threw back the rest of the ketchup, before tossing the bottle in the sink. Taking a deep breath, the elder skeleton turned to his brother, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his blue jacket.

“Alright bro, how bad is it?” Sans tried to read his brother, and it wasn’t hard to. Papyrus was shaking, hands gripping the edge of the sink, magic flaring violently in his right eye. Many would assume that Papyrus was a pacifist. Many would be wrong.

Papyrus was not a pacifist, he just didn’t believe in needless violence or suffering, but he was absolutely not a pacifist.

The tall monster’s shoulders were trembling as he hunched over the sink, tears dripping down his bony cheeks, teeth clenched and grinding.

“...Someone hurt her Sans,” Papyrus’ voice was tight and hard, as the normally boisterous skeleton fought to keep his voice down, “Someone...someone DID things to her. Bad, terrible things.” Sans’ bones began to clench tightly, his soul burning.

Blood, soaking into the carpet, a little girl impaled upon six bones, empty blue eyes staring up at him.

Papyrus swallowed a lump in his magical throat, “I...I don’t know what to do Sans. She’s hurt so very, very badly. I...I…” Papyrus crumpled, his body trembling, hands gripping his skull.

Sans had never seen his brother like this...so helpless, so...so hurting! Hot orange tears splashing into the metal silk as Papyrus uselessly wrestled with emotions that he had no real control over, silent sobs wracking the kind monster’s body. Some of Papyrus’ innocence had died today, but only time could tell if this would make the sentry stronger...or weaker.

Sans sighed and reached out, pulling Papyrus in close, making soothing noises as he embraced his younger brother tightly, the magic tears soaking into the front of the judge’s jacket. Now was not the time for Sans to have a pity party...Papyrus needed his big brother right now, not a whiny, selfish grump.

Seven years old.

Sans swallowed, his arms tightening protectively around Papyrus, his own breathing turning ragged.

“I,” Sans cleared his throat, “I think you should call Undyne, alright bro? If there’s anyone who could help, it’s her. She ah..she knows a lot about takin’ care of injuries. But you’ll need ta talk with her first, jus’ so she don’t do somethin’ stupid.”

In spite of himself, Papyrus managed a wry grin, wiping tears away from his cheeks with the back of his hand. “I don’t think we need to worry about that Sans, Undyne would never hurt a child, even a human one.”

Sans kept his remarks to himself and just shrugged.

“Eh, regardless...kiddo’s pretty jumpy right now, wouldn’t wanna have ‘em get scared, would we?” Well anymore scared than they already are!

Papyrus nodded, and stood, thankful to be given some direction, some instruction. Even the illusion of forward progress was better than nothing at all; a sentiment Sans could fully appreciate.

“Alright, I’ll call Undyne, can you take the food up to Frisk, please?” Sans grimaced at Papyrus’ entirely reasonable request, he had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well at all, but couldn’t find a way out of it.

“Yeah...alright bro” reaching out, he collected the tray of food and turned towards the stairs, beginning the slow descent up, and trying to ignore the knot growing in his belly.

He paused by the doorway to Papyrus’ room, his gut feeling heavy and his bones tense. The short skeleton’s jaw clenched, and he took a slow breath.

It was just an accident, that’s all, I’ll just explain that and it’ll be fine.

Squaring his shoulders, Sans nudged into the room and peaked around, only to find a small toweled lump on the bed; it looked like the ki...the ANOMALY had fallen asleep while waiting for them, and even though they had a whole bed to use, they were only making due with a single wet towel.

That clenching feeling in Sans’ gut returned, making the skeleton feel very uncomfortable, but he tried to shake it off, ambling forward and reaching for the towel.

“Heya kid, dinner time.”

Taking the towel between two fingers, he lifted it up and froze, eyelights winking out. The child was curled up, cuddling themselves, part of their thumb shoved into their mouth, and he could see...burns...bruises...lacerations and welts. Sans’ breath quickened as he stumbled back a step.

The plate rattled against his fingers, then slipped and crashed to the ground, causing the girl to jerk and sit up, pale blue eyes opening, and small hands rubbing the sleep from them.

“P-Papyrus?” her voice was tiny, soft…”I-I’m sorry, I fell asleep. I-I’ll be good” there was a hint of resignation in her tone as if she expected the kind skeleton to haul off and slap her, maybe she did. Oh, Gods, so many scars covering her tiny body, so many burns and bruises...how...who? Who would do this?

Six bones, drenched in red, his coat soaked in blood.

“H….” His voice refused to come normally, his hands still rattling. The child was getting frightened, sitting up and pulling the towel up to cover her body, trembling slightly in the darkness.

“P-Papyrus?” she whimpered again, pulling the front of the towel up beneath her chin, pale blue eyes wide, “P-Papyrus?”

“It’s me” Sans managed, “Just me kiddo, don’t worry you’re-” The girl whined and recoiled, pulling back farther and farther along the bed, those soft blue eyes wide with pure terror, tears flowing free down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” She babbled, “I’msorrypleasedon’tIwon’tI won’tI’msorryI’msorry” the brunette sobbed, cowering with her hands above her head protectively, legs curling up to her chest as the little girl tried to curl up into a ball. This should have made him happy, it should have made him happy to see the little beast terrified of him, this is exactly what he wanted, right?

“It’s okay kiddo” Sans tried to sooth, taking a step forward then feeling something smush under his slipper, glancing down he saw he had stepped in one of the hot dogs. He knelt and gathered up the remaining two and inched forward, not wanting to scare the little girl any more than she already was.

The human had devolved from incomplete babbling to simply just sobbing whimpers, curled up in front of him like a turtle. It would be funny if it wasn’t so depressing to see if it didn’t make Sans feel so..so...ashamed.

“I’m...I’m gonna go back downstairs, squirt, I left ya some hot dogs on the bed. I’ll bring ya up some water too if ya need it. I ...umm...y...yeah” he finished lamely, not even able to construct a pun for the situation.

So many bruises...so many welts, so many burns and...and...gods what happened to her!?

Sans stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, feeling confused and uncomfortable with the situation, feeling very strangely...helpless. But what did he have to feel helpless for? His brother was safe, the little anomaly was too scared to do anything bad, and Sans had put the fear of the Gods in her...so why did he feel like there was something sticky on his spine, dripping slowly down his ribs. Something heavy and gross that clung to his body, that he couldn’t be rid of, no matter how badly he wanted to be.

Sans hesitated then scooped the broken plate and crushed hot dog up from the ground, heading back out through the door and closing it behind him. The short monster looked down at the mess he was carrying, his mind a whirlwind of confusion.

Seven years old.

********

“Brother, is everything alright? I heard a crashing noise down here”. Papyrus looked worried at Sans who entered the kitchen, dropping the remains of the hot dog and plate into the garbage. What was Sans to say? That a little girl was scared of him? That the injuries all over her shocked him? His brother needed him to be strong...Sans was the older brother, he had to be the one to help Papyrus!

“It’s fine bro”, Sans gave a plastic grin, “Kiddo jus’ startled me, but don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll RELISH their dinner”. Papyrus’ look was one of suffering, the tall skeleton sighed and slapping a bony hand against his face.

“Sans, your puns are just the worst!” The tall skeleton lamented, “I’m certain that they are some kind of divine punishment for some horrible thing I did in a past life!”  Sans grinned widely at his brother, who scowled down at the smaller skeleton.

“I dunno bro, what could you have done to deserve such PUN-ishment?” Papyrus groaned in response, his phalanges rubbing against his temples. Any further scolding, however, was cut short by a knocking at the door, making Sans tense for a reason he couldn’t immediately understand.

“That’ll be Undyne, I haven’t told her what’s going on, just that we have a problem,” Papyrus explained. Sans tried to relax and gave a nod, hands thrust into his jacket.

“Sounds good bro,” Sans knew he was dodging the issue, again but that kid (ANOMALY!) made him so confused, the situation with them was never as it seemed. Papyrus though, for his naivete, had good instincts when it came to caring for others, far better than Sans’ were, so the shorter monster felt inclined to follow his younger brother’s lead.

Answering the door, they found Undyne’s face marred by worry, scowling slightly at them, hands twitching. She was dressed in a heavy coat, pants, and boots; indicating her dislike of the cold, hence the reason she preferred to stay in Waterfall.

“Paps, what’s going on?” she demanded, stepping in and shutting the door, her eye darting around the room to find some evidence of the problem that Papyrus had called her to address.

The tall skeleton gestured to the living room with one bony hand, his gloves and battle armor having been removed and put in the wash as a result of the bath, Frisk’s injuries had opened in a few places.

“It’s...a tough situation” Papyrus explained with slight weariness, “It will take some explaining” Papyrus’ tone and general body language did nothing to make Undyne relax if anything it only put her more on edge, her lips parting in a slight grimace.

But as hot-headed as the captain of the guard could be, she also knew when to sit down and pay attention, a variety of skills had lead her to become the captain of the royal guard; not just strength alone.

Joining the brothers in the living room, Sans clutching a fresh bottle of ketchup, the fish monster impatiently waited for Papyrus to begin his explanation, said skeleton rubbing his skull slowly as he gathered his thoughts.

“We...found someone,” the tall monster began, “They were badly, badly hurt,” if Papyrus noticed Sans’ body stiffening slightly at the mention of the injuries, he didn’t show it, “All over. Burns, bruises...bites, o-other markings.” Bites? Sans didn’t remember seeing those, then again he wasn’t looking too closely, but Papyrus had gotten a good look. Undyne’s breath became faster, slightly deeper, her nostrils flaring, but she gestured Papyrus to continue.

“They had frostbite on their ankles and feet, so I brought them back to be cleaned up, it was...it was awful Undyne, someone hu-hurt them,” Papyrus’ voice was cracking with emotion, and it was tough for the other monsters to watch; gentle and kind Papyrus didn’t deserve to see how...ugly the world could become.

“It’s a human.” Undyne had made a statement, not asked a question, causing both monsters to sit up in shocked surprise at how quickly she had jumped to that conclusion, “Monsters don’t do that to each other, and not many monsters can get frostbite in Snowdin, we all live where we are most comfortable.” The fish woman slumped, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, while the brothers shared a look; worry written all over Papyrus’ face while Sans’ expression was unreadable.

“...Yes,” Papyrus admitted, “They’re a human...a little one, a little one who is very scared and very, very badly hurt. Wh-When I had them upstairs, Undyne…” Undyne had stood and had her arms crossed, her expression crossing the entire spectrum of emotions. Sans knew that look, that stance; Undyne adopted that frustrated look when she wanted to do something but wasn’t sure exactly WHAT to do. Her strong sense of honor and personal morals clashing against her desire to be a hero, to save the entire underground.

“Papyrus, you know what I have to do, they’re a soul we need human souls to get out, just one more. Papyrus-”

“I took their shirt off,” Papyrus continued, plowing through Undnye’s sentence, “They had burns on their chest, little round burns and welts like someone hit them a long, bruises, and they were so...so thin. I could see their heart through their ribs.” Undyne swallowed as she listened, Sans’ eyelights winking out, “When I asked her to turn around so I c-could see her back she...she…” Papyrus gripped his skull, slumping, hot orange tears dripping down his cheeks, “She pulled her shorts down and bent over. Like she w-was expecting me to...to…”

Blue, muscled arms encircled Papyrus, who hiccuped a broken sob into the fish monster’s chest, Undyne murmuring soothingly, her good eye swapping between sorrow and outrage, her breath unsteady. Sans had never seen her like this before..no, not true, he had seen her like this once. When they were young and Papyrus had been bullied at school, Undyne had protected him, fighting everyone else to shield the kind skeleton. No matter how much they made fun of Undyne for not having a mother, she wouldn’t fight back...only to protect Papyrus.

“How old?” Undyne asked after a moment, “How old is this kid?” Papyrus shook his head, he had no idea; he hadn’t had a chance to ask them. The night had gone so fast after seeing their injuries that it-it…

“Seven,” Sans provided, “She’s seven.” Undyne whipped around to face the shorter skeleton so fast, her ponytail actually coiled around her neck; her eye wide.

“Seven?” she hissed, Sans nodding wearily in response. Undyne’s mouth opened and closed as if trying futilely to form words, eye looking around the room, as her hands continued to stroke and comfort her best friend. She swallowed a heavy lump in her throat, her stomach feeling cold.

“I...I need to see her,” Undyne finally managed, Papyrus’ head snapping up, emotion hot in his eye sockets, “Don’t worry, I aint gonna hurt the punk, I jus...I gotta see them. Please, Papyrus…” The tall skeleton didn’t hesitate, nodding and wiping his cheeks with a wrist.

“Yes, alright; she’s upstairs in my room, I’ll show you” the skeleton stood and lead Undyne up the stairs, Sans bringing up the rear, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. They came to Papyrus’ door and the trio paused, the tall skeleton opening the door to peek inside.

Frisk was curled up and whimpering, her hotdogs untouched, she looked absolutely terrified; shuddering in the corner of the room, and it made Papyrus’ heart just...melt. The tall monster slipped into the room, crossing over to the bed and sitting, drawing a startled and terrified yelp from the child, who sobbed and withdrew to the corner of the bed; covering her head with both hands and shaking.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the child babbled, “I was good, I didn’t touch it, I was good, I was good.” Papyrus scooped her up into his arms, shushing the child gently, his phalanges stroking her back; feeling the bumpy scars, burns and…

“It’s okay, it’s alright” Soothed the tall monster, “Your friend Papyrus is here, it’s okay, you’re not bad. You’re not bad” his hands held the girl tightly as if he could somehow keep her from falling apart, as Papyrus rocked the human back and forth in his lap.

Once more he hummed that little song, the one from the waterfall, though this time in the dark, he couldn't’ make out whether or not her eyes flickered but that wasn’t important right now, instead he focused simply on calming the poor child.

Undyne stood by the door, rubbing her neck watching the surreal scene play out before her, a monster comforting a human, and said human clinging to the monster for protection. Papyrus had said they were hurt though, so...at least that gave her somewhere to start. So with that in mind, Undyne took a breath and stepped into the room, approaching the human as non-threateningly as she could.

“Hi,” she began lamely, “Uh...my name’s Undyne, ‘pyrus said you were hurt, I came t’help.” the girl jerked and cringed in fear, pale blue eyes staring wildly out at the doorway, jaw trembling. Was there something greater than fear? If there was, that kid was caught in the grips of it.

“No, no it’s okay, it’s okay” Papyrus’ fingers rubbed over Frisk’s neck, “Undyne’s a friend, she was worried, she wants to help you, right Undyne?” The fish woman took her cue and nodded quickly.

“Yeah, Papyrus said one of his friends was hurt, y’know? So I decided ta see if I could help” Undyne tried to sound as casual and concerned as she could, the same way she would approach a terrified puppy. “So ah...how ‘bout we start with yer name, okay Punk? You okay with that?”

The human whimpered and clung to Papyrus a little tighter, but nodded, slowly. She swallowed a little, small legs pulling up to her chest slightly. Undyne couldn’t make out much, but what little the light cascading onto her body showed was...grim.

“Alright let’s try this again,” Undyne knelt and put on the kindest smile she could, offering a clawed hand, “My name’s Undyne. Captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne Percidae. What’s yours?”  The girl swallowed, her eyes never moving to look at Undyne, her breathing slightly uneven.

“Frisk...I-I’m Frisk.”

Undyne nodded, good...she seemed to be relaxing, even if only a little. Undyne allowed a playful chuckle, and let her hand drop to rest on her knee.

“Well Frisk, I hear from Sans an’ ‘Pyrus that yer a pretty brave seven year old.” Her eyes and mouth widened at that, surprise painted in her features, a surprise that Sans mirrored in his features from where he stood awkwardly by the door.

“She’s right” Papyrus chimed in, “Very brave! But...you’re a bi-bit hurt, so I called Undyne; she’s an expert at healing people. We...we’re just going to turn on the light, okay? So we can see what we’re doing. Sans, did you bring the first aid kit?”

The shorter skeleton snapped out of his stupor, oh right...first aid kit; he turned and headed back downstairs to retrieve it...and a glass of water for the kid.

“Alright, let’s see what we’re workin’ with here, okay punk?” Undyne reached out and flicked the light on, Frisk didn’t flinch though Papyrus did slightly as his eye sockets adjusted, Undyne, however,

was staring, jaw agape.

Papyrus’ warnings hadn’t fully prepared Undyne for what she was going to see, then again, what could? Her tiny body was a terrible mess, that much Undyne had been expecting. But the placement of the marks, the...the thinness was what hit Undyne in the gut, made the grin on her face slide off, replaced by solemn shock.

“...I…,” Undyne wasn’t even sure what she was trying to say, what could she? Fortunately, she was spared when Sans ambled into the room and froze, his grin drooping slightly and eye sockets empty as he beheld Frisk’s body in the light for the first time, the glass of water starting to slip from his digits.

Undyne moved quickly, retrieving both the glass and the first aid kit from the short skeleton, who barely had enough presence of mind to hand them over. Sans’ breathing had quickened slightly, confusing emotions swirling through him, conflicting and contradicting each other. It was too much, and the smaller monster took a half step back, then teleported away, leaving a confused Papyrus to scowl in confusion at his brother’s sudden and unexplained departure. Frisk flinched at the noise, causing Papyrus to hug her a little tighter, as Undyne joined the human and monster, popping open the first aid kit and digging through it.

While Undyne fished out various bottles, bandages, scissors and other items she’d need. Papyrus noticed that Frisk’s food was still untouched, now slightly cold on the bed, and his brow wrinkled in confusion.

“Frisk, were you not hungry?” the skeleton inquired, worried, “You did not eat your dinner”. The girl sat up a little and her small hands began to reach out, her tummy growling. Undyne spared a moment to watch the girl struggling, before Papyrus plucked one of the hot dogs from the bed and placed it into Frisk’s hands, the brunette fidgeting with the bun before bringing it to her mouth and taking an experimental bite, one that drew a soft groan in her throat. Undyne frowned in confusion, there was something...something was off about all of this. Undyne collected up a bottle of some unknown green gel and squeezed a dollop out onto her finger, eyeballing Frisk, then the bottle before finally looking up to Papyrus.

“Umm, Pap? Do you guys have any more of this stuff? I don’ think one little bottle’ll be enough.” Papyrus looked at the human and reluctantly nodded in agreement, extracting himself from Frisk’s grip, causing the tiny girl to whine and cling tighter.

“I’ll be back, tiny human,” Promised Papyrus with a warm a smile as he could manage, “I just need to get more medicine, okay? You’ll be safe with Undyne.” Frisk whimpered again, but reluctantly released the tall monster, who patted the girl’s head and left to scrounge up more of the gel, but was reasonably sure he would have to go to the store to grab some.

“This is...it’s gonna sting but it’s gonna help ya heal,” Undyne used her left hand to hold Frisk’s ankle and brought the gel to the frostbite and began to spread it. As expected, the child flinched, inhaling sharply as the gel went work, creating a healing barrier over her wound. Undyne murmured an apology as she spread more of the gel, slowly working her way up Frisk’s leg.

The human child’s calf didn’t have as many injuries as Undyne would fear they would, the occasional welt or scar, but nothing overly severe...but this changed the farther up Undyne went. The royal guard managed to finish both feet and ankles by the time the tube ran dry, fortunately, Papyrus had returned with a second bottle and started to wrap Frisk’s feet and legs.

“Nyeh heh heh, you’re going to look like a little mummy when we’re done!” teased the skeleton playfully, “A cute little mummy!” the little human allowed herself a little smile, which made Papyrus cackle happily that he had finally drawn even a small smile out of the tiny human girl. Undyne continued to spread the gel up Frisk’s legs, but paused at the thighs, glancing over at Papyrus, who cocked his head in polite curiosity.

“Uh Paps, can ya get some clothes fer the lil punk? From your brothers room, your stuff is too big.” While Frisk would definitely need clothes, Undyne wanted to get the monster out of the room so she could tend Frisk’s more...private areas, without a boy monster around. When Papyrus had gone off, grumbling about the perpetual mess of Sans’ room, Undyne buckled down and got work, grimacing at the sight of finger marks and teeth marks along Frisk’s thighs, she tried to ignore them for now; getting angry wouldn’t help the little one afterall.

Then wrapped the bandages around her, before moving onto the child’s chest and back as Papyrus returned. The two monsters took a few minutes to slip Frisk into a pair of shorts, Undyne making a mental note to hunt the child down some underwear later, and then a pair of socks, already she was looking warmer.

Between the pair of them, they exhausted the bottle of green monster medicine and two rolls of bandages, but Frisk was properly wrapped up, and now wearing a pair of Sans’ black shorts and a t-shirt that had a box from the periodic table on it with ‘Um’ in the middle and a description beneath reading; ‘The element of confusion’. Undyne hoisted an eyebrow at Papyrus who shrugged in annoyance.

“It was the least punny shirt my brother had that was actually clean.” the tall skeleton provided, earning an eye roll from Undyne. Few could tolerate Sans’ jokes at length, and Undyne wasn’t one of them. Still, a shirt was a shirt, and a clean one as well.

“There ya go, punk” Grinned Undyne, “How do ya feel? Better?” Even Papyrus was looking happy, as evidenced by his delighted cackle while Frisk beamed up at the pair with the largest smile yet and joy shining in her pale blue eyes.

“It feels nice Mrs. Undyne,” The little one responded, “Thank you for helping me.” Undyne rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, a grin on her face and shame bubbling in her gut. The royal guard had initially intended to kill Frisk, but this situation had rapidly gotten out of hand, and for a few minutes the monster had forgotten that the girl she was tending wasn’t a monster, but a human. Undyne wasn’t sure how she was going to explain this...this mess to Asgore or Alphys or anyone else, she really should just-

“Miss Undyne?” the human pulled the fish woman out of her introspection, “May I ask a question, please?” Undyne was thankful for the momentary excuse to ignore the ever growing problem this little human presented.

“Yeah punk, sure. What’s up?” Undyne dropped into a squat so the human and herself were eye-to-eye, as Frisk tilted her head slightly.

“Your skin feels very weird, it’s smooth but has little hard lines in it, why is that?” Undyne blinked very slowly; certain for a few minutes that the kid was teasing her, but the patient expression the child wore suggested that the little human was being very serious.

“Uhh…” Undyne shot a glance at Papyrus, “I’m a sea monster Frisk, y’know...like a fish. Aincha ever see a fish before?” Frisk tilted her head in what looked like genuine confusion, pale eyes still staring straight ahead.

Undyne felt a cold ball settle into her gut, as she leaned forward and waved a hand in front of the bandaged human’s face, but Frisk’s calm gaze never changed; the girl didn’t blink or flinch away, she just remained still; eyes staring forward, motionless. Almost as if…

“Tiny Human…” Papyrus asked as lightly as he could, “Are you… y-you… can see us, right?” Frisk turned in Papyrus’ general direction, as if trying to stare at what she thought would be his face and gave her head a shake, hair swaying as she did so.

“No…I was...bad,” the little one explained, eyes dropping to look at the floor.

A knife moves...dust, hot dust, a skull shattering under a shoe.

“I was really...I was really bad,” she looked back up to the two monsters before her, “Th-the person who did it...they were really upset. They…,”

“Dirty brother killer.”

“It’s okay. They were right.”

“Get dunked on!”

“But I’m learning to be a good person...I just have to try.”

Papyrus’ eye sockets widened while Undyne froze, her mind replaying that simple sentence over and over...trying to comprehend it, trying to make sense of it. Someone would… some heartless DEMON of a creature… would harm this… this small, sweet child...?

Seven. Years. Old.

Frisk continued to smile at them, utterly oblivious, with her pale blue eyes. Those blue eyes that used to shine with happiness, but now seemed so… bleak to them. Distant.

...Guilty?

Chapter Text

Grillby’s was warm, a combination of bodies, food, and the owner itself, but there was also the alcohol. Sans was unique in many obvious ways, such as his diminutive height, in spite of being fully grown, and his low HoPe meant that he was rather fragile. There was of course also his disproportionate power, his ability to shortcut and the curse of remembering timelines; a curious capability that he didn’t fully understand himself.

Flowey’s multiple resets had provided the short skeleton plenty of opportunities to experiment with his newfound...well it wasn’t really an ability, sure as hell not a ‘gift’...curse was really the only description Sans could come up with. Papyrus had a very minor ability to remember, but it wasn’t conscious memory, more instinct and a sense of deja-vu, Undyne was much the same. But neither could recall specific events, the way Sans could.

Then there was the ketchup.

A curious tick of Sans’ magical biology, magical ketchup could make him drunk, and as far as Sans knew; he was the only one with that odd quirk. Granted plenty of monsters had small oddities about them; it just sort of came with the territory of being magical beings. Sans’ abuse of this personal oddity had also given the short skeleton quite the capacity for drinking, so even regular bottles of ketchup weren’t able to do much more than give him a mild buzz.

The resets had allowed Sans to build up quite the resistance to alcohol, and ketchup as well, and these days...day? Days? He found himself relying more and more on liquid strength to get himself through the resets. It provided a comfortable numbness, and it was one of the very few things that Sans could actually control, something that had become a rare treasure to the short monster.

Control.

He knew he either was or had developed an unhealthy fixation with control, but the skeleton felt justified; seeing how much of his life was in the hands or leaves of others. Seeing his kind, loving brother murdered time and time again, the same days on repeat. Sans would be the first to admit that the resets had blended together in his memory, he couldn’t recall one timeline from another, which at first wasn’t any real issue.

Then The Kid fell. The Anomaly. Kid.

What the fuck ever.

The HUMAN had complicated matters significantly, somehow...resting control away from Flowey, not that it wasn’t entirely unwelcome, considering what that terrible WEED had done to the monsters. But then the kid had reset...Sans didn’t know how the mechanics of how it worked, just that when it happened it felt like his feet were being pulled out through his mouth. It was deeply disorienting and nauseating, and sure as hell did nothing good for his temperament.

He still wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but he knew that at a minimum that there was a mini reset...a...a LOAD? God this was so confusing, but there was this ‘mini-reset’ whenever the kid died, pushing them back to a safe zone before that death. Why? How? Well, those were more questions without reasonable answers.

In all fairness, he was pretty sure the kid didn’t know how it worked either because they usually appeared a little disoriented afterward themselves, but he didn’t like admitting to himself that the kid, anomaly, DIRTY BROTHER KILLER  may not be in full control of this strange ability either.

So the kid had reset...he wasn’t entirely sure what had triggered it the first time, he only had presumptions, guesses and theories, and Sans hadn’t really kept much track of them either. The woman behind the door had asked him to keep an eye on the kid...but given their ability to reset, Sans didn’t particularly feel motivated to do so, and watched them with the bland disinterest and plastic smile he always wore. It was just so goddamned HARD to care when he knew it was all going to be taken away.

He must have seen that kid come out of the doors at least a dozen times, he wasn’t sure what was happening back there and if he was to be honest with himself; he didn’t much care. The kid always looked so...sad when they left, and a big part of him got a sadistic thrill out of it; knowing that whatever it was back there was causing the BRAT some real distress.

He could usually track roughly where the kid was based on the number of resets he was forced to endure, Waterfall was a particularly fun place, if only to see the kid struggling with Undyne; swinging sloppy attacks with their knife and stumbling out of the way. They died a lot there...reset a lot, can’t really say ‘die’ when the person comes back to life.

But then something changed...the short monster wasn’t fully sure WHAT, but whatever it was when the kid emerged after their latest reset, they had dust on them and a strange expression. It was Flowey all over again, the little BEAST carving through the Underground, swinging that knife around, dust coating their body.

Then they killed Papyrus...and Sans just…

He waited for them in the hall, it gave him time to prepare his speech and issue the little threat. Of course, it didn’t matter if the kid took another step, he would have killed them anyway, but Sans wanted the added bit of justification for what happened next.

And it. Felt. GOOD .

Like a dam broke in his head or his soul, and all the frustration, hatred, pain and rage from countless resets poured out, fueling each attack, turning the battle into a vicious one-sided slaughter. He massacred the little ki-KILLER! He butchered the little brat over and over, eventually, he didn’t even let them fully recover from the reset before he was all over them; bones blasters and blood. More than once, Sans managed to wrestle the knife away and used it himself, it felt so...liberating to kill that red-eyed...wait...red-eyed?

“Sans?”  a voice shattered the skeleton’s line of thought before he could notice what was wrong with it, the shorter monster jumping in surprise and looking up to see Grillby. Sans glanced around the bar for a few minutes and noticed that the other patrons had left, the lights had dimmed and it was likely the front door was locked; it was just them now.

“Heh...sorry Grillbz...lost in thought, had a bit of a day, y’know?” The fire elemental frowned and Sans felt a small spike of nervousness; unlike Papyrus, Grillby was more direct in dealing with Sans and less prone to accepting the short skeleton’s excuses.

“I can tell” Grillby slid onto the stool next to his friend, eyes flicking to the three empty glass bottles that had most decidedly not been ketchup.

“You don’t normally drink actual liquor Sans, not unless something there is a real problem bothering you and judging by the amount you’ve put away, I’m starting to wonder if that problem isn’t capable of swimming” Was that a JOKE? From GRILLBY!? Sans chuckled weakly to himself and polished off the rest of his glass.

“I’m going to presume it has something to do with Papyrus’ human.” ventured Grillby, making the skeleton gag, somehow, on the drink and start coughing as he cleared his magical airways.

“Damnitt Grillbz,” Sans drunkenly complained, “Warn a guy before you...you...do that.” Grillby just raised an eyebrow at the complaint and continued to wait as Sans collective his thoughts and what was left of his dignity.

“...Yeah…” the skeleton wiped his mouth with the back of a sleeve, “How did you know?” Sans wasn’t positive, but it looked like Grillby was giving him a deadpan expression, not unimpressive considering that most of Grillby’s features were pure flame.

“You two walked through the middle of Snowdin, your brother carrying what was clearly a little human to your house, and then Undyne comes tearing down from Waterfall. You two weren’t even remotely subtle.”

Damnitt, was it that bad?  

“Huh…,” Sans responded intelligently, “...well, yeah. Paps picked up a kid, a lil human kid. We brought ‘em home an’ they were pretty messed up Grillbz.” Sans studied the glass in front of himself, almost glaring at the drink that had failed to wash away the memory of the little human’s body, so thin and malnourished and covered in...markings.

“Pretty messed up?” Probed Grillby, brow furrowing, “I’m afraid you will have to explain what you mean, Sans.”

The short skeleton sighed, rubbing the sides of his skull, he absolutely didn’t want to but at the same time, Sans needed to talk to SOMEONE. Besides, what did it hurt? All this would be gone in the next reset anyways.

“They uh...they were pretty thin, too thin. They looked like a babybones with a skin-coloured sheet stretched over top. They had bite marks, an’ bruises, an’ scars all over ‘em. Paps said that they also had these lil burns on ‘em an’...Grillbz?”

The fire elemental’s body temperature had skyrocketed, flames straining against his fireproof clothes, eyes glowing like the heart of a forge. The barkeeper stood up from his stool and began to walk around the bar, hands stuffed into his pockets and eyes locked onto the ground.

Sans watched in confusion, his own skeletal brows knitted together as he tracked Grillby’s path around the bar, starting and stopping at arbitrary points to look out the window or study a booth. After three circuits, Grillby’s shoulders sagged slightly and the barkeeper made his way back to rejoin Sans.

“Uh...what was that ‘bout?” the confused skeleton inquired, causing his friend to exhale a hot breath.

“I apologize Sans...it’s a grim picture you are painting and as a father it’s...hard to imagine. Please,” The elemental gestured, “Continue my friend.”

Sans shook his head, pinching his nose bone between a thumb and finger.

“It aint gonna get any prettier Grillbz, nevermind I-”

“It gets WORSE?” interjected the barkeeper, “Sans...tell me. Now.” The short skeleton shook his head, his grin slipping slightly as he looked to the barkeep.

“Nuh uh, if you reacted like that, then you really aint gonna like what comes after Grillbz, trust me.”

But the fire monster wouldn’t be deterred glowering at the smaller monster and folding his hands in his lap.

“Tell me, Sans.”

The skeleton exhaled through his nose bone, giving his head a shake.

“Fine...you aint gonna like it, but fine. The kid they uh...Paps said that when he took ‘em to have a bath, that they uh...bent over. Like they were waitin’ for him ta-”

Grillby’s fists slammed onto the bartop and for a moment Sans was worried the elemental was going to actually explode, judging by the dark reds and violets starting to kick up in Grillby’s flames.

But all at once, the fire cooled back to normal and the monster stood, taking a deep breath, Sans shrugging idly.

“Told ya.”

Grillby ignored him and stepped away from the stool, heading around to the coat rack and retrieving a jacket, Sans’ eyebrows raising as he grew confused once again.

“Uhh..?”

“Come on,” Grillby stated, buttoning up the jacket, “We’re going to go see this human.”

“Now?”

“Yes. Now.”

********

Papyrus had some guess who was at the door, based on the orange glow behind the window, and so he wasn’t surprised to see Grillby accompanying a clearly drunk Sans. How the shorter skeleton didn’t burst into flame was anyone’s guess.

“Mister Grillby,” Papyrus greeted as welcomingly as he could, “Thank you for bringing my brother back, we weren’t sure where he had run off to.” Well, not altogether true, Papyrus was reasonably sure it was to get drunk, and while he could understand the sentiment it was still a horrible thing to do given the situation.

“It is no problem,” rumbled the fire elemental, “May I come in? I heard you had an injured guest, and I wanted to offer my help.” Papyrus was surprised but welcomed the offer, stepping aside so that the two could enter; and shot Sans a disapproving look, one that the shorter skeleton ignored.

Frisk was sitting on Undyne’s lap, a bowl of Nice Cream held between her hands with strawberry and chocolate smeared across the girl’s lips; pale eyes looking somewhere behind the tall fire monster.

“Grillby, this is Frisk. Frisk, this is Mister Grillby.”

The little girl smiled softly, muttering a quiet “Nice to meet you” as a greeting as the fire elemental removed his coat and placed it on a chair, then knelt in front of the petite human.

“Hello Little One, Sans was telling me about you.” her flinch wasn’t lost on anyone in the room, nor was the way her brow knit together into an obvious sign of worry, and she fidgeted nervously with her bowl, her previously pleasant expression vanished without a trace.

Grillby’s eyes flicked to Sans who ignored his friend, standing huffily with his hands thrust into his pockets, a pained grin on his face. It was clear to everyone here that Sans would rather be just about anywhere other than here, but given the circumstances, they couldn’t really confront the short skeleton monster about it.

“I heard that you were hurt little one, burned...I came to see if I could help.” Undyne perked up at this; she hadn’t considered Grillby but if there was anyone who was an expert in burns and how to treat them, it would be a fire monster.

“Hey, that’s a great idea, we jus’ got the lil punk all wrapped up, put some of that green gel on ‘er too. We could take her upstairs if ya want.” It wasn’t truly necessary, but the idea of removing little Frisk’s bandages in the living room just felt wrong to Undyne somehow, almost voyeuristic.

“Use my room,” suggested Papyrus, “I need to have a talk with my brother.” His voice had a hint of steel in it, the kind that Sans recognized as meaning that this might be one of their louder talks, and just when the short monster had gotten himself nice and drunk too. Sans shot a burning look at the human, one that the little girl didn’t acknowledge as Undyne stood and carried her up the stairs, Grillby bringing up the rear.

“Come on, brother, we can do the dishes while we talk.”

Papyrus was troubled by Sans’ behavior and the little human’s visible flinching at learning that Sans had told Grillby about her. There was something going on here, but the little human didn’t want to talk about it. However, to Papyrus, that was acceptable considering what the child had already been through. His brother, however?

Sans ambled after Papyrus, shoulders hunched defensively. The elder skeleton was already feeling combative after the day he had endured, and if Papyrus was looking for an argument then he’d sure get one.

The two skeletons filled the sink in silence, Papyrus taking the role of washing the dishes while Sans grabbed a dish towel, scowling at the dish rack as if it had personally offended him while breathing slowly. He felt like the core; ready to erupt.

“...The Little Human has been through a lot, Sans.” Papyrus began slowly, and Sans snorted somewhat involuntarily. Sure his brother wasn’t wrong...but he didn’t know the half of it.

“Yup,” Sans responded neutrally, “Wonder who they pissed off ta get like that.” A plate was put in the dish rack, Sans snatched it up and dried it as angrily as possible.

“It doesn’t matter who they ‘pissed off’, brother,” Papyrus scolded, “They are a child, I can’t think of anything a child could do to warrant that kind of abuse.” Sans gave a shrug as a glass was put into the rack, he snagged it and dried it off, placing it into the brother’s cupboard.

“I dunno, I can think of a few things. Killin’ a lot of people for starters.”

Shut up, shut up, shut UP!

“Brother,” Papyrus shook his head as he washed another plate, “If a child decides to kill you have to learn why, children don’t kill for no good reason. It’s up to us as adults to guide them, to help them be better people.” Sans allowed a small, genuine smile to cross his features as he accepted the plate from his younger brother.

“Eh, you can see the good in everyone Paps. That’s yer gift to the whole Underground, makes ya pretty darn special if ya ask me.” Papyrus gave a slight smile at the praise, but wouldn’t allow Sans to change the direction of the conversation.

“Thank you Sans, but that doesn’t change the fact that we need to guide children, not judge them. Not...h-hurt them.” Another glass was deposited into the dish rack for the smaller skeleton to dry.

That inky, sticky feeling returned, and Sans struggled to ignore it. It made the elder monster’s back feel sore and his shoulders sag and dragged the grin from his face. Instead of responding to Papyrus comment, Sans opted for silence, the clink of glass as it passed from monster to monster dominating the kitchen for several minutes.

“...I saw her flinch when Mister Grillby said you had been talking about her, do you have any idea why, Brother?” Sans gave what he hoped was an indifferent shrug in response, as he put another glass away.

“No idea bro, maybe she’s jus’ scared of skeletons.” the shorter skeleton offered a grin, but Papyrus shook his head, passing Sans the final plate.

“No, that can’t be it at all, it was specifically when Mister Grillby said that you two had been talking.” Sans frowned, why was his brother clinging to this? How was Sans supposed to know?

“I dunno bro!” The shorter monster snapped in agitation, “Maybe she’s jus’ not used ta seein’ monsters, she coulda been surprised or somethin’, how am I supposed ta know?” Papyrus heaved a heavy sigh, passing Sans one last glass.

“...She isn’t scared of how we look Sans.” there was a solemness to Papyrus’ voice that the elder brother pointedly chose to ignore.

“Yeah?” Sans challenged, “An’ how do ya know that?” Why was he picking a fight with his own baby brother? It wasn’t Papyrus’ fault that the little anomaly had-

“Because she’s blind, Sans, she can’t see us.”

The glass shattered to pieces on the ground, fallen from Sans’ trembling fingers, his eye sockets blank and an artificial smile plastered across his face.

“...What?”

********

“You’re warm,” Frisk smiled as Grillby gently cradled the little human’s ankle, earning a little chuckle from the barkeeper. They were in Papyrus’ bedroom again, Frisk seated on the bed and Undyne standing uncomfortably by the door, uncertain if she should be on the bed or not. This situation was already very confusing to the captain of the guard.

“Well thank you, I am made of fire after all.” Grillby rumbled as he carefully began to unwrap Frisk’s ankle to get a look at the damage while being as delicate as possible. Undyne had brought the first aid kit up with them, in case they needed more specialized care for the burn on the little human’s calf.

“Mister Grillby,” the child inquired, “May I ask a question?” the tone reminded the barkeeper of his own daughter. Fuku could be equally inquisitive about many things, especially at that young age, always looking to her father for answers.

“Of course Little One,” he chuckled, but his expression fell as he began to get a look at her foot, covered in frostbite. She had blisters on her toes, and small cuts from poor footwear. It tugged at the monster’s heartstrings to see such unnecessary pain, and the elemental found himself wondering just how a parent could allow their child to endure such injury.

But just as quickly as he wondered it, Grillby realized that he didn’t want an answer.

“How come you don’t burn anything you touch?” the curious human inquired, head tilting to the side. The simplicity of the question made Grillby laugh, a rumbling sound that was friendly to hear, and caused the little human’s smile to widen very slightly. She really was like Fuku; his daughter had asked that very same question!

“I’m wrapped in a magical barrier, it forms my entire body,” explained Grillby, as he took the packet of green magical gel and began to heat it carefully, “In addition, my fire is also magical, so it doesn’t burn anything I touch unless I want it to. I promise you’re quite safe in my hands.”  The human nodded as Grillby smeared some of the gel onto his finger and spread it over the frostbite, the crystalized magic going to work.

“Heating the gel helps with frostbite,” Grillby explained, “But you need it warm, not hot.” Undyne nodded, mentally taking notes, but it was Frisk who responded.

“What’s Gel?” The question was innocent enough, but struck Grillby as an odd question, causing the elemental to pause and glance up at the human. It was then that the barkeeper noticed that the human’s pale blue eyes were staring straight ahead.

Grillby turned towards Undyne who was leaning on a wall near the door. She nodded silently, trying not to sadden the child with a conversation about their no longer functioning eyes. The fire monster took the hint, sighing quietly before returning to the child’s wounds.

“Well...it’s like a hard, slimy liquid I suppose. This one is made from magic, water, and some healing herbs that grow down here.” Frisk nodded, fascinated and curious, “This is going to help your legs heal.” The human’s expression softened her smile somewhere between melancholy and grateful as she listened to the explanation.

“Thank you, Mister Grillby. I don’t...I don’t deserve this.” Grillby felt as if a knife had been twisted in his gut. How many times had this poor thing been told that? How many times does a child need to hear those spiteful lies, before they start believing them? It made the fire elemental feel absolutely sickened inside.

“You absolutely do deserve this, Little One,” the bespectacled barkeeper stated firmly, “You deserve someone who cares about you, who loves you. Every child does.” The little one’s expression became pained, tears building in unseeing blue eyes, her tiny form shaking. Little Frisk didn’t even know how to respond to that simple reassurance without breaking down into tears.

Undyne’s teeth ground together as she watched Grillby trying to comfort the human, this situation was just so...so fucked up. She was supposed to capture humans, so that their souls could be removed and used to destroy the barrier, not bandage little baby humans up, not comfort them as they cry and-

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Frisk babbled, pressing the heels of her tiny palms into her eyes in a futile attempt to staunch the tears, even as the child’s tiny frame shook with wild emotions. So much pain...so much hurt…

And I’m supposed to take this little kid to die? To be murdered so we can take her soul?

It didn’t sit well in Undyne’s chest, her shoulders shaking with some unknown emotion, alien feelings welling up inside of the fish monster. Undyne had always prided herself on protecting the Underground, like a hero should, but against evil humans. Not against a little blind human child who had been... damaged.

For the first time, a different desire was born inside of the Captain of the Royal Guard, a desire to cross the room and hold that little girl, to make her stop crying and smile instead.

To protect her.

Undyne bit down on her thumb, heat pricking at her own eye as she watched the helpless human, struggling to get her emotions under control, despair and pain spilling out of the child with each broken hiccupping sob.

“Hey, hey, hey…” Undyne crossed the room in three strides, and joined Frisk on the bed, pulling the tiny human close, “It’s okay punk, it’s alright. Ya don’ have nothin’ to apologize for,” her words were soothing as she wrapped blue scaly arms around the child, Frisk’s head sinking into Undyne’s chest, “If ya need ta cry, then cry. But you aint a bad kid, ya aint...yer a good lil girl. I promise.”

The child sobbed quietly into Undyne’s arms, as the powerful captain of the guard rocked her back and forth, fingers running through chestnut hair. This was treason, she knew it, what she was doing was treason to the entire monster race, to her king and to the dream of an entire people to see the sun again. But Undyne didn’t care about that right now, in fact it was the farthest thing from her mind. All the fish woman cared about was comforting the sobbing little human in her arms.

By the time Grillby had unwrapped the bandage up to the knee, Frisk had stopped sobbing and was now just breathing slowly into the protective embrace of Undyne Percidae. Grillby studied the burn splashed over the calf with a frown and a slowly sharpening sense of anger.

“...This is magical,” murmured the fire monster, “I don’t know who did it, but it was recent.” Undyne sat up a little straighter at that, arms tightening around the human bundled in them.

“Wha? Ya sure?” Grillby nodded, glowing white eyes tracing over the marking carefully, noting how the magic in the healing gel had only just started to try to patch the wound, but there was still plenty of ambient magic emanating from the burn itself, the intent to harm clearly present.

“Yeah, it’s full of magic. It looks like Frisk was trying to jump out of the way when a fireball hit them, this…,” Grillby shook his head grimly, “It will heal but it’s going to scar.”

Undyne became alarmed; most magical injuries could be healed fully with an application of green magic or magical food, it was rare that something actually scarred, unless there was intent to truly harm and even kill behind the attack.

“Whoever did this didn’t want her to leave,” Grillby concluded grimly. Undyne noticed how Frisk clung tighter to her body and shot a glance at the elemental, one that was returned. Both monsters had questions about exactly who in Snowdin could use fire, outside of Grillby himself, but neither had any sort of answer; most fire monsters lived in Hotland after all. However, judging by the human’s reaction, it wasn’t a story that was going to come out easy. Reluctantly, they decided to drop it, for now.

“You should keep the bandages cool and damp,” Grillby instructed, “Along with a lot of green gel. This will do for now, however.” The fire elemental applied another coat of the green gel and wrapped Frisk’s leg back up slowly.

The human giggled, her foot twitching as the bandages wrapped around her leg and foot; tickling her sensitive skin. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Grillby smiled; it was good to know that the little one could still laugh in spite of everything she faced. That was a rare inner strength.

“Will you be taking her?” Grillby stood, looking to Undyne who looked up at the barkeeper startled, the awkwardness of this entire situation once again settling in. Undyne knew what her duty was; she was under explicit orders to bring the human, any human, to King Asgore where they would be executed and their soul harvested to be utilized in breaking the barrier to free the monsters.

It should have been simplicity itself, but there was just one problem with that; a problem that had pressed up against Undyne comfortably, as Grillby slipped a sock onto its foot.

The human was a CHILD.

A child snuggling up against Undyne, its tiny frame huddled in the Captain of the Guard’s arms. This...tiny human, underfed and scar marked...clung to Undyne, had sat in her lap being spoon-fed Nice Cream. Just a kid...a blind little girl, who had calmed when the large monster had cradled her.

And she was supposed to take her to be executed.

Murdered.

The aquatic monster twitched, her lips twisting into a small snarl at the thought; killed for no other reason but than they were a human. Isn’t this the exact injustice that monsters were fighting against? Punished for the so-called “crime” of living, of being something different than others.

That wasn’t justice, that barely qualified as revenge.

No little kid, no...no SEVEN-year-old child deserved to bear the weight of such a punishment, simply for the circumstances of their birth. For simply EXISTING and wanting to live.

“Let’s...uh…” Frisk yawned and curled her head up against Undyne’s shoulder, eyes closed and arms encircling the fish woman’s neck for support; as exhaustion began to claim the little human. Grillby smiled at the adorable display of trust that only children could manage, while Undyne felt her resistance crumble further.

Slipping one arm beneath the brunette’s legs and using the other to support her back, Undyne stood, letting Grillby pull the covers away and then Undyne slipped the human under them, the girl shifting a little to get more comfortable, the covers pulled back up.

She all but disappeared into the bed, which only further emphasized her tiny body.

“Aren’t you going to kiss her goodnight?” Undyne’s eyebrows shot up and she shot a half glare at Grillby, who seemed unperturbed by the glower, “No child should go to bed without a kiss goodnight.” Was all the fire monster said in response.

“Bu-But I’m...y-you know what I’m expected to do!” Undyne hissed quietly, eyes flicking back to the little girl to ensure she hadn’t been awoken during the exchange. Grillby nodded gravely in acknowledgment but did not back down.

“I am aware, but I also know that there is a little girl who trusts you an awful lot. Trusts you to do what is best for her. Are you really gonna send her to bed without a kiss?” Undyne turned to look at the blind little girl, curled up safe in the bed, and felt her chest tighten at the sight.

Slowly, the Captain knelt and gave a little kiss to the human’s forehead, and was rewarded with a soft, happy moan, and a tiny smile.

“Good night...Frisk.” Undyne choked out, fingers stroking the child’s hair. Quickly enough, Undyne caught herself and yanked her hand back as if it had been burned, standing stiffly, still feeling the little one’s warmth on her lips.

Grillby didn’t say anything, he just smiled approvingly as the pair turned and left the room, heading downstairs to have a very grim discussion about the future of the little human child.

********

“Is she alright?” Papyrus inquired as the other two monsters descended the stairs to join the skeleton brothers in the living room. Sans had yet another alcoholic drink, much to the intense disapproval of everyone in the room, a disapproval he was pointedly ignoring as he took another sip.

“She’s asleep, the burn on her leg is magical,” Grillby reported, taking a seat on a chair, “I’m not sure who would have done it, but it looks like she was trying to escape someone when they burnt her.” What went unsaid was that the attacker was clearly a monster. Sans lazily raised his head just enough to acknowledge the others talking, remembering a certain monster from the Ruins he’s acquainted with.

“Lil Punk’s been through a lot, we put her on your bed Paps, hope ya don’t mind.” Undyne flopped onto the couch next to her best friend, Papyrus waving it off. None of them noticed the momentary hot flash from Sans’ left eye, as if having the human in his little brother’s bed was somehow offensive, and his grip on the glass tightened.

“It’s fine, Undyne,” Papyrus dismissed, “Human Frisk needs the sleep and a good hearty meal.” The younger skeleton was still trying to hold on desperately to some kind of jovial mood, trying to believe that the best could still come from this situation.

Sans sipped his drink, suppressing a grim chuckle.

“What will happen to her now?” Grillby probed, “The Little One needs a lot of care if she is to recover. Her bandages will need to be changed regularly, healthy food, warm clothes-”

“Aren’t we all forgettin’ somethin’?” Sans broke his silence, a lazy expression on his face, “They’re a human. We kinda need their soul.” The room fell silent, he could feel Grillby glaring at him, and Papyrus’ deeply disapproving expression.

“Absolutely not, brother!” Papyrus scolded, “They’re a good human, a little human! They need our help! We can wait for another human to come down.” Sans’ grin widened, his eye lights flickering slightly.

“Really Pap? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure that the king said ta bring any human that falls ta him. Didn’ say ‘jus’ the bad ones’ or nothin’.” Sans took another sip of his drink, while Papyrus rubbed his bony hands together anxiously.

“Well that’s true but...but maybe not this one? This is a nice human.” The younger monster pleaded, his sockets searching his drunken elder brother for some modicum of understanding.

“I’m with Pap,” Undyne agreed, a look of relief crossing the younger skeleton’s face, “Killin’ a lil’ kid just don’t sit right with me.” Sans drained his drink, and when his glass returned to the coffee table, the elder skeleton’s eye lights had winked out entirely.

“Oh really? They’re still a damn human! They could dust all of us without even tryin’!” that sickly feeling returned, like oil sticking to the back of his ribs, his rib cage tightening.

“Sans! Please,” Papyrus begged, “The little human is trying to-” Sans jumped up making a slashing motion with his hand, anger filling the smaller monster.

“For fuck’s sake Pap! I thought you wanted ta be in the Gods damned Royal Guard! Yer supposed ta capture the damned human, not play nursemaid! An’ you,” he rounded on Undyne, “Yer supposed ta be protectin’ our Hopes an’ Dreams aincha? So why do you care if it’s just one damned human!?” Undyne leaped to her feet, pointing accusingly at Sans.

“Because I don’t like the idea of killing a lil helpless KID!” She roared back, “It’s pretty FUCKED UP that you think that it’s okay!”

Blood stains the carpet, wheezing breath...six bones puncturing through a tiny chest. Just seven years old.

Sans’ insides ached, and he tried to drag the image of Papyrus’ scarf blowing lazily in the wind back into his skull, a little murderer coated in dust, clutching a knife. A vile little beast, evil little demon.

Dirty Brother Killer!

“Just a human!” Sans fired back, “One damned human, one human that could carve up the entire fuckin’ Underground! God damnitt, why don’t any of ya see? She’s dangerous!”

Undyne took one step forward, Grillby and Papyrus desperately trying to calm the two hot-headed monsters.

“Are you saying that you’d kill the lil Punk? IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE SAYIN’!?” she challenged, light flickering from under her eyepatch. Sans met the glare defiantly, the rage and pain and confusion from the day spilling out in one loud booming yell.

“YES!”

The gasp was a tiny one, an easy one to miss. Yet for all the power it held, it may as well have been a bomb in the room. Four sets of eyes whipped about to the staircase, where they beheld a child, clutching the railings, eyes wide with shock...and fear. Tears cut a trail down pale cheeks, a thin body trembling.

The short skeleton could almost feel his eyelights go out when he noticed - the girl’s eyes were a bright scarlet.

And they were staring directly at him.

“Kid…” Sans stammered, his anger doused and replaced by a numbness, a cold shock and guilt. It felt like he swallowed a rock, struggling to even call her out, let alone explain himself. But the sheer shock, the dread, the betrayed look in her eyes didn’t leave any room for explanation. He took a step forward and the girl flinched, recoiling from the short skeleton and shielding her head with her arms, eyes squeezed shut. As if she...she expected him to…

To finish what he started.

“Frisk.” Undyne was up the stairs in seconds, pulling the tiny human safely into her arms, the child sobbing softly as they clung to Undyne desperately for safety. The fish monster looked down at the human, so small...fragile, so hurt and scared, then back to her friends, and made a decision.

“Sorry Paps, but I don’t think Frisk would be safe here, I’m takin’ her with me.” Papyrus’ face fell but when he glanced at his elder brother, standing stock still, the younger skeleton’s expression hardened and he nodded to Undyne.

“It’s alright, I understand. You...will take care of Human Frisk...right?” worry crept into his voice. Undyne nodded reassuringly, shifting so that the tiny human was straddling her hip, arms wrapped around the tall monster’s neck for support while Undyne held them with one arm.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. I’ll take her to Alphys to get checked up, don’t worry about it.” She stepped down the stairs and lowered the human to the ground, stroking the child’s head, “Come on Punk, I’m taking ya to my home, you’re gonna love it!” The fish woman grabbed a coat and slid it on. Papyrus hurried over, retrieving his own winter coat.

“Tiny human, use this! It will keep you nice and warm.” He helped Frisk into the coat, the girl looking torn between depressed and grateful as she was bundled up nice and warm.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any boots that will fit you, Human Frisk,” Papyrus lamented, looking up at Undyne who waved him off, scooping the brunette back up into her powerful arms.

“It’ll be fine Paps, I’ll carry the little punk. After Al gives ‘em a clean bill of health, I’ll take ‘em to get some new clothes.” Undyne declared with all the confidence she could muster, adjusting the small human so that they were more comfortable.

“Don’t worry, Tiny human.” Papyrus reached out and ruffled Frisk’s hair, “You’ll be safe with Undyne, and I’ll come by a lot too! You’ll see plenty of The Great Papyrus, Nyeh heh heh!” The blind human nodded, a fragile smile on her tear-streaked face.

Her eyes were blue.

Sans wasn’t sure what to do...what to say, he felt like a stranger in his own home, standing still at living room entrance. His own words...that tiny little gasp still echoing in his skull, the terrified and pained look that Frisk had worn...and he felt so...so…

Filthy.

A hot hand clasped his shoulder, the short skeleton glancing up to see Grillby. In all his time knowing the barkeeper, Sans had never seen him look so...disappointed. The short skeleton felt a hollow, painful weight in his gut, as Grillby moved past him, and put his own coat on.

“I should be heading home as well,” the elemental stated, slipping his shoes on, “Papyrus...take care of your brother, alright?” Papyrus nodded, stepping forward to see his friends out.

“..I’m sorry” Frisk whispered, then turned away, shoving her face into the crook of Undyne’s neck, the fish monster sending one more volatile glare at the short skeleton before seeing herself out, followed by Grillby.

Papyrus shut the door behind them, locking it and sighed, the house feeling… emptier, larger than it had been this morning. He turned around, Sans was still standing stock still; looking like the weight of the entire Underground was bearing down on his shoulders. With a soft sigh, Papyrus knelt, and embraced his elder sibling tightly, and hoped he could fix all of this.

The shorter skeleton, however, could barely feel his brother’s embrace. The only thing in his mind were the human’s eyes. Those piercing, red eyes filled with hate, fear, regret, and betrayal. Those eyes he saw in the hall. Those eyes that haunted his nightmares every single time he dared doze off, waking him up in cold sweat and with his ribcage feeling like it’ll split open any second, a painful itch going through it diagonally like an old scar reminding itself of its existence.

And that awful, dark feeling returned yet again. It wasn’t sudden, oh no. It was slow and deliberate, dripping from his mind and covering his soul, smothering him and drowning his existence in dull, agonizing pain until he would suddenly startle back to consciousness, struggling to comprehend the reality before his eyes.

For a moment, Sans truly felt like he was gonna regret saying what he did.

Chapter Text

Shit, shit, SHIT! Undyne thought desperately as she made her way back through Snowdin, clutching a tiny bundle in her arms. Snow was crunching under her feet as she stomped away, adrenaline gone from her blood after the argument as the reality and the weight of her decision finally hit her in the face.

She was actively committing treason.

Strange, she thought that would feel worse, not strangely… liberating? Satisfying? She couldn’t really pinpoint the feeling, but it wasn’t guilt, no. The dread was not so much from the realization of her actions; Undyne wasn’t sure if that had fully kicked in yet. Sure, she was betraying her kind but...she was more worried about her own predicament.

Can I really raise a kid?

Shouldn’t rebelling against the King of The Underground make her feel more worried, more anxious? It really should...yet the only thing Undyne felt worried about was if she really was capable of...damnitt! She really should have thought this out more, instead of flying off the handle.

Well too late now, you really opened your big mouth and-

Frisk shifted against the fish woman, mumbling softly and pulling her legs into the oversized coat. Undyne paused and looked at the child curled up in her arms, clinging tightly to the Captain of The Guard for warmth...security.

Clinging to the one monster that would have killed her not a full day earlier.

That throbbing tightness returned as she watched the little human, shifting around and yawning. Like a baby bird, safe in its mother’s nest.

That thought sent a strange electric thrill through Undyne, evoking emotions that the fish woman wasn’t quite ready to examine. Instead, Undyne continued onwards passing Snowdin and into Waterfall. Fording some of the crossings wasn’t as easy with a child, but she managed; not wanting to awaken Frisk, nor dip the tired human in the water; so the strong monster resorted to carrying the tiny human over her head. It wasn’t easy, but Undyne managed.

The more immediate question the guard monster faced was whether or not to take her human (her human?) to Alphys’ lab now or in the morning. Frisk was in need of proper medical attention from a skilled doctor, as Humans were a lot more complex than monsters were. However, in the same breath, Frisk was also quite tired and a medical examination was probably going to be tiring in its own right.

Ultimately, Undyne decided to carry the human back to her home for the night. She briefly considered calling Alphys to have the lizard monster prepared for the morning, but ultimately decided against it; the cute lizard’s anxiety would ruin the poor scientist’s sleep. She would need the rest for tomorrow.

They all would.

Passing through the Echo Flower Fields, Undyne found herself making a mental note to return here when the tiny brunette was in better condition; being blind meant that television wasn’t really an option but music was, and the echo flowers would be something great for the human to experience.

Frisk was fast asleep by the time they entered Undyne’s house, and the fish monster couldn’t blame the kid; the day had been one hell of an emotional roller coaster already. The red-headed monster placed the small human onto the table, then removed her own coat and boots before retrieving Frisk and heading into the bedroom.

She can sleep through anything. Undyne realized with amusement, removing Papyrus’ coat from around the girl and shifting her into bed. The fish monster’s mind flashed back to earlier in the night...her yelling match with Sans and his angry declaration that he would kill Frisk. Undyne felt a twisting in her gut and a bubble of anger welled up inside her.

Well...almost anything.

Undyne slid the little girl under the covers properly, before joining her; her mind a whirlwind of emotions. Had she made the right decision? Was she even capable of helping a child who had so many needs? Undyne had no parents of her own, the closest was Asgore who had acted like a father but he wasn’t REALLY her dad.

And that had been the operative word; acted. He ACTED like a father, but never fully assumed the role. So what did an orphaned monster know about raising a blind, abused, malnourished, scarred baby human? What had possessed Undyne to-

Frisk turned and curled up against Undyne’s chest, and sighed softly in her sleep, lips moving but not saying anything the monster could make out.

Oh. Right. That.

“...Goodnight. Little Punk.” Undyne planted a little kiss on Frisk’s head and then closed her eye to sleep.

********

It really was a beautiful day.

Pity that Sans wasn’t in the proper mindset to enjoy it. His face frozen in a death’s head grin, left eye blazing with azure magic, power pouring out of his socket to match the blind FURY in his soul.

Before him, the source of his hatred and rage...a red-eyed little BRAT!

This demon had carved a path through the Underground, massacring every monster they came across without pity. Dust covered this abomination’s hands and the oversized sweatshirt, and that damnedable knife clutched in one hand. Their eyes flickered on occasion; from deep red to soft blue, but that may have just been a trick of the light or a hallucination, Sans was too enraged to really care at that point.

Sans summoned another wave of bones, the child bobbing past the two aimed at their head, then hopped to the side, swinging the knife to shatter two oncoming attacks with disturbing ease. The kid was good at memorizing, scary good, but Sans had quickly learned that while he couldn’t dodge forever, neither could they.

Exhaustion took its toll, they were pretty small after all and being a small monster himself, he knew that running, jumping and diving was tiring, especially if one was forced to do it repeatedly in a short period of time.

“Heh…” Sans chuckled, using the time to give himself a little breather and gather his magic, “You, uh, really like swinging that thing around, huh?” he let his left eye wink out, while he built up his power, “You know… I’m really getting… tired here. And as I see, so are you. Dying… over and over. Ain’t that a pain, eh?” The short monster pulled a mockingly sympathetic grin over his face, staring down the human as one would their prey.

“...kid… I… ya might not believe me, but… I can feel it. Deep inside, there’s still a faint memory. A memory of someone who was… a friend?” Sans spoke with a faked exhausted tone. He was almost feeling bad for tugging on that little atrocity’s heartstrings. Almost.

That thing does not have even the faintest semblance of a heart.

The human’s hand was trembling. The reflection in the knife was flickering slightly. His little speech was working. Heh, turns out practicing this little pow-wow while the little sick fuck was butchering his friends was worth it after all.

“...kiddo? Please… if ya remember me… put down that thing. Let’s… let’s jus’ forget all of this.” The little demon flinched, their composed emotionless facade cracking a bit.

Yeah, we’ll forget this. When I fry your brain until you can’t remember your own name.

The short skeleton opened his arms, closing his eyes. His whole being was ready to blast this kid as soon as it dared come a single step closer, bones already conjured up under the floor and simply waiting for the signal. And, to his surprise, Sans heard a quiet “clank”.

The kid… no, the Anomaly dropped its knife. This… this murderous unhinged imp was actually giving up? Sans’ vertebrae felt cold and sticky all of a sudden. He pushed the feeling back into the depths of his mind, keeping the image of Papyrus’ scarf blowing gently in the dust-filled wind as the little fiend stepped closer.

“Heh...I know how hard it must’ve been. To go back on everything you’ve worked up to. But… I assure you. It was worth it.” Sans looked at the little bastard, a genuine smile on his face. “C’mere, pal.”

The little child practically ran into his arms, something sparkling under their eyes as they ran forward blindly, trustingly.

Only to let out a yelp a moment later as sharp bones protruded from under the tiles, piercing their flesh and breaking their legs with a wet splintering sound.

The cries, the confused look on their face… the screams, oh god the SCREAMS that little BITCH wailed, just like a pig to the slaughter. Sans felt so morbidly… exhilarated. Hell, he was almost happy this piece of shit dared kill his brother because this singular moment just felt so damned rewarding.

Sans wasn’t sure whether to feel repulsed or embrace it.

The human looked up to him with tear-filled crystalline blue eyes, sobbing some kind of apology before he cut them off, two more bones dropping down on them like a guillotine and pinning their arms to the floor, earning another strangled cry of agony from the anomaly.

Embrace it is, then.

The skeleton’s smile stretched wider, his eye lights snuffed out, his hands falling down to his side, stuffed into his pockets. He didn’t laugh, he didn’t mock...he just stood there. Smiling, enjoying these moments. This was no longer about justice, this wasn’t him doing his job, his real job as The Judge. This was personal, this was strictly from an older brother who had lost his innocent younger brother.

This was REVENGE.

“S-Sans… p-please,” the child choked, blood pooling beneath their fragile body, “I’ll b-be good, I promise. P-please, I’m so sorry…!” The only sounds the exhausted human could force out of themselves was a hushed, shaky mumble of an apology. It sounded like it was on the verge of crying. Sans’ grin stretched wider; his dark sockets locked onto the helpless murderer.

He walked right up to the little hellspawn which was by now reduced to a sobbing mess, and reached down towards the devil-child and grinned wickedly down at them, the kid sobbing softly but not struggling as he gently held their face in his bony hands, thumbs brushing tears from their eyes, but never saying a word.

He wanted to savor this feeling. Control...he finally had some small semblance of control over this… beast.

“...I know ya are,” the skeleton allowed, “But sorry don’t bring my bro back, now do it? Sorry don’t undo all those murders, do it now?” His voice was hushed, soft and almost comforting, in total contrast to the meaning of his words.

“Ya killed him, buddy, ya killed the nicest damn monster in the entire Underground… No. The world itself doesn’t have anyone. ANYONE who would even hold a CANDLE to what he was like. You robbed me... of everything. Now...ya gotta pay for it.”  

Then there was a loud, wet cracking noise, the girl gagging loudly as a bone ruptured through their back and out their chest; just missing their lungs and heart. The little BEAST gagged, blood spurting out of their mouth and all over Sans’ nice blue jacket, the skeleton sighing softly, and patting their cheek.

“It’ll be over soon, kiddo,” He promised lightly, and stepped back, looking at the human; it was staring up at him with such helplessness. He wanted them to remember this moment, when they inevitably reset, Sans wanted this moment to be seared into their brain. He wanted every second, every broken bone, every drop of spilled blood to be etched into their mind.

He wanted them to know exactly what happened to anyone who fucked with his family.

He formed the blaster slowly, magic swirling upwards to solidify into the towering draconian skull, its eyes glowering down at the helpless murderer, energy coalescing in its mouth.

“No...please Sans, no, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” They sobbed and begged, tears and blood mixing on their sweatshirt, as they struggled to breathe around the bone piercing through their body.

“...Ya. I know.”

They didn’t even have time to close their eyes before the violent burst of pure, raw magic burned itself into their skull, their dying scream drowned in the screech of the magic burning through their head.

It really was a beautiful day.

Their body slumped to the ground, the bones retreating into tiles, and the short skeleton turning around and leaning against a nearby pillar to await the inevitable reset.

“S...Saans…” The skeleton froze, a chill passing down his spine, that voice...there is no possible way! He turned around and stared in mute horror as the kid pulled themselves up, their face ruined but...but they were alive! Blood flowed free from ruined eye sockets, their face burned horribly, open injuries from the bones leaving trails of gore as not-dead kid stumbled forward.

“Wh-Why Sans?” Her voice was broken, so hurt as she pleaded, “It hurts...it hurts so much. Sans...you hurt me!” How the HELL was that thing still alive!? Their hands reached out for him, like a child reaching for an embrace.

“Please Sans,” she begged, “It hurts...it hurts, please...make it stop hurting!” The short monster summoned a second blaster and unleashed a torrent of magic into her, the room filling with a wail of pain as the human was blasted back into the ground.

Silence, Sans stood panting...staring at the unmoving and bloody body on the ground. That had been…

“Saans…”

Behind him? He whirled around...and there was that goddamn kid again, stumbling down the hall where she normally started, eyes empty and weeping bloody tears onto a purple-striped shirt.

“It hurts...my legs…” a second Frisk pulled herself out from beneath a collapsed pillar, dragging pulped legs behind her as she crawled towards sans, also missing eyes, blood dripping from her mouth.

“It hurts so much, my tummy, Sans my tummy!” There was yet another Frisk, who tore herself up from the ground, four bones protruding from her belly.

“Why...why did you kill me? I said...I’m...I’m sorry.” The first Frisk, the one who was double Gaster Blastered was on her feet again, her body badly burned, staggering unsteadily towards the rapidly retreating skeleton.

“No...No...YOU’RE DEAD! YOU’RE FUCKIN’ DEAD!” the monster screamed, bones ripping into existence, and flying out at the stumbling humans. He summoned a row of blasters to tear their bodies apart, then another wave of bones. A hand gripped his ankle, the skeleton summoning bones up to burst through the ground...not ground, blood spraying over his chest.

Except...it wasn’t the hall...it wasn’t the golden tiled floor of the Judgement Hall. It was his bedroom...and there was a little girl impaled on six bones, her hand outstretched to him.

“Oh...Oh Stars no. Not again, Frisk!” Sans unsummoned his bones, the girl collapsing to the carpet, a hideous red stain stretching out from her tiny body.

“I can fix this, I can fix this. Oh God just hang on kiddo, stay with me here.” Sans gripped her gently, turning the girl over...and staring into hollow, bloody eyes.

“Why?” She whispered, “Why did you kill me!? WHY SANS!?” Her hand reached up to his face and began to shake him.

“SANS! SANS! SANS!” Wait...that wasn’t…

The hollow accusing eyes of the dead girl morphed slowly into a snow-white skull and the worried eye sockets of his younger brother...Papyrus. The taller monster was gripping Sans by the lapels, worry written across his face.

“Brother!” the tall skeleton called again, “Brother, are you alright?”

The elder skeleton was soaked in sweat, his covers bunched up around his legs, chest rising and falling rapidly, mouth dry and his teeth clattering against each other. It took Sans several minutes to fully gather his wits, eyes scanning the room; half expecting to see a dead child crumpled on the ground. The shorter skeleton gripped at his white shirt, but saw no red stains, nor were there any on his hands.

Then why did they feel so filthy!?

“Paps…” he whispered, looking back up at his brother, the younger skeleton’s face a mask of worry.

“Brother, I was so worried...you were screaming and...crying in your sleep. I have never heard you make such terrible noises, I-I was worried.” Crying? Sans’ fingers shot to his cheeks, where they came back moist and hot; his cheeks damp.

“I…” The shorter skeleton tried to cobble together some kind of pun, a joke, anything to put his brother to ease. “...it’s okay, bro. I jus’... jus’ had a nightmare is all. Nothing ta worry about.” God, his head was pounding and he could barely force out words that were coherent and not just slurs or tearful hiccups. In the back of his mind, Sans made a note to not drink before going to sleep.

His mind was a blur, he knew the dream was about the kid...about...something, it was important, but the details were already fading. He was pretty sure that he had been dreaming about the hall when he finally managed to stop them, or...did he? Gods his mind was a mess. The only thing he could fully remember was a pair of blood-red eyes.

Staring...hatefully, judgmentally...fearfully.

“Brother, are you going to be alright?” Papyrus was concerned and desperate to help his brother, somehow. Sans understood that he understood that feeling of helplessness, wanting to help someone you didn’t know how very well.

“Yeah bro, I’ll be fine, dun’ worry ‘bout it.” He shifted, gently breaking his brother’s worried embrace, “Jus’ need some water, clear my head of that dream, y’know?” Papyrus didn’t look convinced, eyebrows still knit together in concern.

“Hey, trust yer big bro, ‘kay?” Sans urged, giving Papyrus a pat on the shoulder. Reluctantly, Papyrus nodded and stood,  fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Alright, brother...if you say so, but if you need me I’ll be right down the hall, alright?” Sans waved him off with a grin.

“Yeah, alright Paps.”

After Papyrus had left, Sans allowed himself to slump, body shaking. He still wasn’t fully sure what he was dreaming about, but he remembered gold and white, usually, that meant the damned hall. Pulling himself from the bed, the shorter monster made his way out of the bedroom and downstairs to grab some water from the sink. Hangovers could be a bitch and while Sans was used to them, that kind of nightmare was new. All the alcohol and the difficulty from last night...last night?

The short monster glanced up at the clock they had on the wall, it read 3 Am.

Yeah, last night. All that happened yesterday and last night was probably not going to help anything. His bones still felt sticky from sweat, and his back ached. The short monster grumbled as he refilled his glass and made his way back upstairs to the bathroom to grab some tablets. They were mostly just powdered green magic, but he’d take anything if it helped clear this damned headache.

Popping open the bathroom mirror, he grabbed the bottle and tapped two pills into his bony hand, washing them down with the water, and giving a soft sigh as the magic went to work. Switching on the hot water, Sans washed his face and arms, drying them with a hand towel hanging near the sink before stashing the bottle back into the medicine cabinet and closing the mirror.

Dirty Brother Killer!

He stared at the face looking back at him; a short, round skeleton with a near-permanent grin plastered onto his face. What was the last thing that the kid had seen, just before he…Sans hesitated then banished his eye lights and tried to picture his brother’s scarf, lazily drifting through the dust and snow...his grin widened and the left eye socket ignited.

It was a fearsome look; a death’s head if there ever was one.

Seven years old.

No wonder the kid was so damned terrified of it, he looked...evil, even bloodthirsty.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry!

Sans lifted his fingers to touch the glass, studying his reflection. This was the last thing the kid would have seen; this pitiless mask of death, grinning down at them, with a giant floating skull filling up with magic next to it. They begged for mercy, they begged for their lives...they promised to be good.

Six bones, a bloody carpet.

His fingers trembled against the glass, making a soft rattling sound, the light in his eye growing brighter, hotter, his socket aching from the magic pouring out of it. The kid had a lot of scars on them, like...bite marks. Finger marks...scars. Long scars, like someone had...had…

She’s blind, Sans, she can’t see us.

Sans’ reflection spiderwebbed as his fist collided with the glass.

********

Morning, or what passed for a morning in the Underground came with the awkward screeching of Undyne’s alarm clock, earning a soft groan from the fish woman. Once more she weighed the possibility of smashing the damned thing, but ultimately just stabbed the off button with a vengeful finger.

Something shifted against her side, the woman jerking upwards; now fully alert; a blue magical spear crackling into existence to defend herself with.

It was a child...a tiny human child, with a messy mop of chocolate hair hanging limply in their eyes, the sides of their head covered in scratch marks. They mumbled something in their sleep, shifting their body and little fingers reaching out and grasping the monster’s thigh. The tiny human sighed and relaxed, the corner of their lips turning upwards as they settled back down to rest.

Undyne relaxed, banishing the spear as the events of last night came rushing back. She was really doing this, wasn’t she? Of all the challenges Undyne had faced in her life; from growing up without any parents, to becoming Captain of The Guard, this one seemed to be the most daunting. There was no one here to tell her what to do, what kids needed; monster or otherwise. She couldn’t really do what she had done growing up; she had made a lot of stupid mistakes and picked a lot of stupid fights. She was forced to get tough because there was no other choice, but that didn’t make it fun.

And she was born a monster, not a human. How hard would it be for a blind, little human down here, all alone? A blind, abused human?

Undyne clenched her teeth, then forced the thought from her head for the moment. She’d talk to Alphys about that, but getting mad right now didn’t help anyone, especially not the one who needed the most help. Undyne shifted an arm down, scooping the human up into her lap.

“Heya babyfish, come on; time t’wake up.” little eyelids fluttered open, and pale unseeing blue eyes filled Undyne’s vision. The tiny human yawned, stretching small arms upwards, and then she gave her head a little shake.

“U-Undyne?” slurred the sleepy girl, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with tiny fists. Undyne felt that tightness return to her chest and a grin tugged at the corner of her lips. It wasn’t unpleasant; that tight feeling, it was warm and almost made Undyne feel a little giddy. She wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Yeah little Punk, it’s me.” the woman swung her legs out of the bed and carried Frisk out into the kitchen. The house was pretty small, all things considered; Undyne had no real need for a lot of space.

But that was about to change; children needed space to run around, and Frisk would want her own room, she wouldn’t want to sleep with Undyne all the time in her bed.

Right?

“Ya hungry Punk?” the red-headed fish monster sat Frisk down at the table, the little one shifting to get comfortable, hands lifting to futilely brush down her bedhead.

“Uh-huh...if that’s okay” Undyne felt a pulse of anger shoot through her, but forced it down and managed an awkward, stilted grin.

“Well, of course, it’s okay Babyfish, if yer hungry, ya gotta eat, right?” Undyne grabbed a pan and placed it on a burner, then went hunting in the fridge for some eggs and milk.

“Even if I’m bad?” the child gasped, surprise colouring their voice. Undyne lifted her head in surprise so fast that she ended up smacking it against the roof of the fridge.

“Ah, Fuu...er...f-funny fishes!” Undyne choked her curse into a silly word, remembering at the last moment that there was a little kid in the room, the odd, hasty curse earning a little giggle from Frisk.

That tightness returned to the Captain of the Guard’s chest, and in spite of the throbbing in her head, she grinned. The fish woman chuckled, rubbing the soreness from her head as she walked over to the small human and knelt, placing a hand onto the child’s shoulder.

“Babyfish, you’re always gonna have food, even if ya bad, I ain't gonna stop feedin’ ya. Ya always gonna have three meals a day, alright?”

The little blind girl’s face filled with distress, her fingers lifting to scratch furiously at her temples, tearing open the scabs forming there.

“B-But if I’m bad, I d-don’t get food. O-Only good girls get f-food, good girls never s-say no, they a-always open th-their mouths when t-told to and sp-spread their legs wh-when daddy says so an-”

Undyne’s eye patch began to tremble, golden light crackling from beneath it, her lips twisting into an enraged snarl, arms trembling with fury. The soldier monster reached out and grabbed the small human into a tight hug, her chest trembling, and hot tears beading at the corner of her golden eyes.

Frisk was shaking, tear-soaked apologies spilling out of the poor little girl, tiny hands clutching Undyne’s shirt with such fierce desperation; as if the monster was going to disappear. Undyne closed her eye and forced the magic building within her to dissipate, focusing instead of the shaking child in her grip.

“Hey, hey...it’s okay Babyfish, yer okay.” The blue-scaled woman soothed, “Ya don’ have ta listen ta that anymore. H-he ain't here,” Undyne’s voice cracked slightly, “It’s jus’ you an’ me, okay? Jus Frisk an’ Undyne.” the redhead stroked the child’s back slowly, letting the little one cry as much as she needed to.

Gods above and below what did they DO to her!?

Breakfast was momentarily forgotten in favour of calming the child, who progressed from half-choked sobs to quiet sniffles, broken up by unnecessary apologies.

She probably doesn’t even know why she’s apologizin’. Undyne realized grimly. Frisk had mentioned ‘daddy’, it wasn’t much but it was a start. However, the blue-scaled woman just filed that little tidbit away for now, it was something she could bring up with Alphys and Asgore later.

For now, she had to focus on getting the kid right again.

“I need ta,” Frisk sniffled, “I need ta be good, be a good girl-”

“And ya are,” Undyne interjected, the little girl’s head snapping up in shock, pale blue eyes wide. It was like she had never heard that said to her before, But considering what the little one had just said, she likely hadn’t.

“Yer a good kid, an’ I’m gonna keep sayin’ that till ya listen ta me.” Undyne explained softly, “An’ ya don’t need ta apologize fer cryin’. If yer sad or scared an’ need ta cry, then cry, ‘kay? Nobody’s gonna make fun of ya. I promise.” Little Frisk didn’t trust herself to speak, so instead just gave an emotional nod, and embraced Undyne again, clinging tightly to the muscular monster, head buried in a scaly shoulder.

Undyne sighed softly, and hooked an arm beneath the little one’s thighs to cradle her, and went back to preparing breakfast; she couldn’t be as...enthusiastic as she normally was with cooking; and not just because of the child clinging to her chest.

The fish monster’s mind was a whirlwind of thought: someone who called themselves Frisk’s “daddy” had hurt her, was it her real dad or someone who just called themselves that? They had...raped Frisk, beaten her...starved her if she didn’t do as they said; brainwashed her. Were they the ones who also blinded her?

And you were going to kill her.

Undyne squashed that little inside voice viciously; she had no intention of harming the kid now, quite the opposite. What she was going to do wasn’t nearly as important as what she was doing now .

“So, d’ya like cheese with yer eggs?” Undyne fought to distract Frisk, get the human focused on something other than the terrible bastard who had abused her.

“I-I haven’t had cheese or eggs before” the girl mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

Undyne let the apology slide and instead managed a weak chuckle as she added some shredded cheese to her concoction, along with pepper, salt, and some garlic powder.

“Then yer gonna love this. It’s cheesy an’ gooey!” there was a sizzling as the mixture was poured into a pan, the smell hitting the little one’s nose and making her tummy growl. It wasn’t human food though, but monster food; all the ingredients crafted through magic. This recipe was actually one she had picked up from Asgore a long time ago, it was one of the handful that always came out right.

Gotta be more careful in the future, the fish woman realized as she hunted for some bacon in the fridge and began to cook it up, Can’t afford to burn my house down with a little kid in it. Maybe Grillby can give me some pointers, he never burns his place down, and he’s made of freaking fire!

Undyne wasn’t above asking others for help, and while cooking lessons and experimentation with Papyrus were fun, it tended to end explosively, not something she could afford to have happen now.

Kid’s gonna need clothes too, underwear and everythin’ else.

The fish monster popped some bread into the toaster and began to set the table, setting Frisk down at one of the places.

“Sorry Punk gotta pour the eggs now,” Undyne explained, and quickly put breakfast out. She knew the brunette couldn't actually see the food, but judging by the angry snarling escaping from the kid’s belly, it at least smelled good.

“Go on,” the red-headed monster urged, “Try it.”

The little girl fumbled for a few moments, before awkwardly collecting a fork and stabbing the scrambled eggs, bringing it to her mouth for an experimental bite. Frisk gasped, a hand shooting to her mouth, and Undyne felt a sharp stab of panic.

“What’s wrong? Is it too hot? Didja burn yerself is it-”

“It’s...it’s really good,” the blind human whimpered, “I-I’ve never...I’ve never had anything like this before. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

The Captain of The Guard slumped in relief, a wry grin on her face; this kid was a wild ride.

“Well then, eat up! There’s plenty more where that came from!” Undyne collected a glass from the cupboard and poured some orange juice, placing it down in front of her human’s, (there was that ‘her human’ again) plate.

“I poured ya some OJ, it’s in front of yer plate.” The girl cocked her head and reached out, fingers locating the glass and slowly bringing it to her lips.

“Ya good?”  

Frisk nodded as she sipped at the juice experimentally and then moaned happily, taking another mouthful before replacing the glass. Undyne chuckled and sat down next to the human, digging into her own breakfast.

Frisk’s reaction to the eggs was heartwarming and the orange juice was adorable, but it didn’t hold a candle to the sheer bliss that filled her face when she took her first bite of the bacon. Undyne wished she had her phone handy so she could capture that look and keep it as a wallpaper, that sheer joy at tasting Undyne’s cooking was just so…

Heartwarming.

I could get used to this.

The fish woman chuckled again as she drank some coffee, watching as the blind girl grew more comfortable with her meal. When the toast popped, Undyne put butter on one slice, then peanut butter, jam, honey and other spreads she could find on other slices, placing them down for Frisk to experiment with.

In spite of her small size, the little one was ravenous yet also somehow still delicate and polite. She was constantly shooting out tiny ‘thank you’s as she tasted so many new foods. Well...new for her.

Undyne felt that agitating nagging again; they shouldn’t be new. But the monster woman mentally shoved the thought away; this meant that she had a whole new range of experiences she could share with the kid!

“Ya full?” Undyne laughed as Frisk sat back, the little human flushing but giving a satisfied nod, crumbs, and jelly still splattered on her lips.

“Yes, thank you.” Frisk chirped, “That was really, really yummy. I’ve never had anything like that before.”

The fish monster decided not to ask what Frisk normally had for breakfast; she had a feeling it would ruin the light mood, and the last thing she wanted was to upset the small human.

“Yeah? Well, I have that pretty regularly. Tell ya what, tomorrow we’ll have pancakes.” the girl tilted her head in adorable confusion at Undyne’s declaration.

“What are pancakes?”

The blue-scaled monster wasn’t surprised, if the little one hadn’t had something as basic as bacon and eggs before, then there is no way she would have ever tasted pancakes.

“Yer gonna love ‘em punk.”

Frisk couldn’t help cleaning up from breakfast, so instead the little one sat and hummed softly as Undyne put everything away; she’d do the dishes later. Then, she scooped the human up under her arm, earning a peal of laughter from Frisk that made the blue-scaled woman’s chest tighten up and that smile re-appear.

“Alright Babyfish, let’s get ya cleaned up an’ over ta Alphys. She’s gonna make sure yer all healthy, alright?”

The blind child gave a little nod as she was carried, tilting her head once more as she often did when curious about something.

“Undyne, what is a ‘babyfish’?”

Undyne smirked as they went into the bathroom, and she ran the water to clean Frisk’s face.

“It’s a baby fish monster, y’know? I was a babyfish once too. Baby skeleton’s are called ‘babybones’ accordin’ to Papyrus. Lotsa monsters have little names for their babies.” Frisk nodding, standing patiently as Undyne wiped her down, then began to clean the child’s hands.

“So if I’m a babyfish, does that mean I’m your baby?”

Undyne’s eye nearly bugged out of its socket, and the woman choked on her own tongue for a moment, sputtering as she struggled to produce an answer. Her face burned for some unfathomable reason, and her heart was slamming against her chest like a hammer. The scaled woman struggled to form words, any kind of words, as Frisk stood there patiently waiting for an answer.

“I..th-that is..I mean...y-yer a human b-but...um…” Undyne swallowed, “If y-you wanna be, that’s ah...th-that’s okay. Su-Sure, yer m-my...b...baby. Fish.”

Frisk’s breath came up short, the human’s mouth falling open a little.

“R-Really?” the tiny girl squeaked, hope and terror filling her voice in equal measure. Undyne swallowed again and forced a grin.

“Ye-Yeah, sure. Really. You’re my babyfish.” She sounded a lot more confident than she felt.

But the smile that split Frisk’s face was the most dazzling thing the Captain of the Guard had ever seen in her life. It was so...bright, so hopeful and innocent. It had such joy, such innocence, and delight that Undyne forgot to breathe for a second.

“Th-Thank you!” stammered the child, “I-I promise I won’t disappoint you, I promise! I sw-swear!” Undyne had to gently calm the girl before poor Frisk had a heart attack.

“It’s okay, don’t worry Punk...babyfish. If it makes ya happy, then that’s all that matters.”

Frisk sniffled and lifted her arms up, Undyne kneeling to embrace the tiny girl again; feeling those little arms wrap around her neck with a needy, honest affection.

‘Thank you” the girl hiccuped once more through tiny sobs, “Thank you.”

“Heh...no problem kid” Undyne chuckled.

Oh my god, what have I done?

Chapter Text

“C-Coming!” most entered the lab without even bothering to knock, just barging in and calling for Alphys, which was actually very rude since it also doubled as her home. In fact, there were only two who bothered to knock...well no, three but Sans rarely came over so he didn’t really count as a likely candidate.

So...Alphys was guessing it was either Asgore or Undyne, both knocked with about the same level of force too, despite Undyne being smaller. The reptilian scientist scurried down the hall and tapped a control panel, the door sliding open to reveal that it was Undyne...with a human?

“Uh…” Alphys blinked in confusion, “H-Hi Undyne.” the scientist stammered, pushing her glasses up her nose. What in the world was all of this about?

The little human was sitting in Undyne’s arms, dressed in a sweatshirt that looked too big and a pair of shorts, with no shoes on but clean feet suggesting that Undyne had carried them here. They were relaxed, eyes closed and leaning against the fish woman who was also dressed casually; no armor or signs of combat.

So...what was going on?

“Uh...Heya Al, uh...gotta bit of a situation here.” Undyne rubbed her neck with her free hand, “Can I come in?” Alphys blinked again, and then stepped out of the way, letting the tall fish monster step into the cooler lab.

“Wh-What...wh-what do you need?” the nervous reptile inquired, her claws tapping together anxiously, as she watched Undyne carry the human to a seat and place them on it.

“Y’alright, babyfish?” the soldier monster was checking the human’s body, and the little one yawned, giving a nod.

“I’m fine.” judging by the voice, it was a girl...a little human girl. Wait...babyfish? Did...this human was...and Undyne...had she…?

When the redheaded monster turned back around, she found herself staring into the glimmering eyes of her girlfriend, the golden reptile wearing the most excited expression that normally was reserved for Mew Mew Kissy Cutie marathons.

“Uh...y’okay Al?” Alphys leaned forward, eyes boring into Undyne’s.

“Is th-this your...your ch-child, Undyne?”

Loud coughing resounded through the lab as Undyne felt herself choke on her own breath at the sudden blunt question. Her cheeks were burning up and for just a split moment she was concerned about them being as bright red as her hair. Meanwhile, Alphys just looked at the scene unfold before her eyes with mild confusion and a hint of amusement, as seeing Undyne Percidae her one and only self becoming EMBARRASSED was for sure a sight not witnessed by many.

Thoughts were racing through the fish monster’s head at absolute light speeds, jumbling together and only adding to her flustered state.

Shit shit shit what the hell do I say? “Hey Al, just picked up this human kid and she’s mine now”?! God, Undyne, you’ve really fucking outdone yerself this time around, might as well change water into shit because you’re swimmin’ neck deep in it right about now--

“Undyne?” The Captain’s eye opened wide as she felt a jolt go through her entire body, her heartbeat quickening as she searched for the source of the weird sudden sensation. And when she looked down, what she was met with are two blue eyes looking at her with visible concern, a small warm hand on her cheek.

“Are you okay?”

Way to go, dumbass. Startle the kid as well, now would ya.

Undyne felt her initial shock slowly melt away as her puzzled expression turned into a warm smile. The sea monster faced the little girl in front of her and nodded, putting her own scaly hand over the child’s.

“...yeah, babyfish. I’m okay. Sorry for scarin’ ya.”

Undyne turned towards the lizard scientist, now calmed down, and took a deep breath before finally responding. “Yeah. Some… things happened and… yeah. This is my babyfish, Al.”

The absolute ear-destroying squeal of delight that the fangirling reptile let out Undyne took as a rather straightforward and prominent sign of approval.

“So uh...Al? We kinda need yer help?” Undyne fought the flush down, but Alphys was too far gone at this moment, grabbing her cell phone from a charger and hurrying back, fingers flying across it.

“Pi-Pick her up, I w-want a picture, Undyne!” The blue-scaled woman knew better than to try and reason with her girlfriend at this point; Alphys could be remarkably stubborn at times, and the only way to move on was to indulge it. So, Undyne scooped the little one up, and held Frisk against her hip, a bit of an awkward smile on her face as Alphys lifted the phone up.

“C-Can she lo-look at me?” requested the eager scientist, Undyne shifting uncomfortably but reached up to...her human and tilted Frisk’s head in the proper direction. Alphys suddenly wore a curious expression, but it was replaced by an even wider smile and she snapped a picture.

“Backgroooouund!” the reptile monster squealed happily, Undyne sighing and giving her head a shake, and...then Frisk giggled and Undyne felt a smile, a genuine one, cross her features.

“Alright Al, calm down...I needja ta give the kid a checkup, they’ve had a bit of a rough time, y’know?” Alphys tapped a few keys on her phone then stuffed it into the pocket of her lab coat, appearing to calm down, if only just a little.

“Wh-what’s the problem?” the easily excitable scientist asked, leading Undyne and her human into the examination room. Undyne put the kid down on the table, the little one shifting, “Aside from her b-being blind, I mean”. Undyne twitched, Alphys had absolutely no tact, but she was very observant.

“You ah...you caught that, eh?” Alphys rubbed her neck again, as Alphys wheeled a tray of instruments over to the pair.

“Yes, Sh-she...umm...what’s her name?” Alphys had paused by a computer terminal and looked to the pair questioningly.

“Frisk,” Undyne provided, “Her name is Frisk.” Alphys blinked, and slid her glasses up her nose, murmuring the word ‘interesting’ as she typed ‘Frisk Percidae’ into the ‘name’ column on the new Patient Record. Undyne blushed seeing that and wasn’t sure why.

“O-Okay Frisk...y-you’ll have to take y-your shirt off. I n-need to m-measure and w-weigh you.” Alphys had a stutter but she also stuttered when anxious or nervous, so it could make reading the reptilian monster a bit tricky at times.

“Wait.” Undyne put a hand on Frisk’s shoulder, the blind human pausing, tilting her head curiously while Alphys looked patiently up at her girlfriend. Undyne knew that Alphys was very empathic and tender, even by monster standards she was considered especially compassionate. There was absolutely no way that just springing Frisk’s injuries on the reptilian scientist would end well for anyone; she had to at least give some warning.

“Well ya see Al, it’s like this…”

********

Sans was seated at his sentry station in Snowdin, fingers drumming against the wood. Last night he hadn’t gotten much sleep and today hadn’t gotten any better. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face... that terrified face, and it gnawed at the short skeleton’s bones.

But why? He had done the right thing! Okay so he had messed up a little and caused a reset, but that wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t murdered Papyrus and left him with PTSD. Besides, the kid was fine...they had come back so what was the issue, why were they so damned afraid!?

“Are you saying you’d kill the lil’ punk? IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE SAYIN’!?”

“YES!”

The skeleton sighed and let his head fall into his arms, why did he say that? He hadn’t really meant it, he was just fed up and frustrated and...well drunk. Being drunk didn’t help at all, and then he had just blurted it all out. No, he wouldn’t have actually killed the red-eyed bra--... the kid... he just wanted a fight, he wanted to fight SOMETHING other than the kid. Or himself. One of the two.

But he understood Undyne’s decision and even applauded it; keeping the kid away from him was probably best for both of them right now. Sans hated to admit it but...he was getting a bit unstable, all these resets…

“Heya trash bag!”

Of fucking course.

Sans lifted his head, plastering a fake grin on it as he beheld the small yellow flower, the bane of his goddamned existence. Now, THIS thing he had no problems hating; there was no moral grey area here; just an evil little weed with too much time on its...petals? Leaves?

“Heh...shouldn’t you be hanging out with your friends?” Sans let his eyelights wink out, grin widening ever so slightly, “Oh right...you don’t have any.” Flowey just scoffed, rolling his eyes then smirking at the skeleton.

“Oh please,” the flower spat, “I’m not like Frisk, that kinda shit doesn’t work on me. I. Don’t. Care.” Sans snorted, it was worth a shot, but he also knew that Flowey wouldn’t get into a direct conflict with him, not unless it had the SOULS. No, this would be a war of words...but Sans was okay with that.

“What do you want weed?” Sans let his eyelights wink on, smile falling into the bored range as he watched the flower, head resting on one hand.

“I wanna know what your game is.” The flower glared, “What are you up to, trashbag? With the kid?” Sans honestly had no idea what the little freak was on about, and so the grin that the plant monster pulled was slightly unsettling.

“What are you talkin’ about, weed?” Sans demanded, “Y’know me, I don’t really do that schemin’ thing...too much work.”

“Wait...you don’t know?” Sans’ grin slipped further, a glare starting to appear as the Flower, confusion temporarily washing over his bony features. The little abomination broke out into a cackle, one of its petals mockingly wiping a tear that wasn’t there.

“Oh, Gods above and below this is going to be GREAT!” Sans had rarely seen Flowey this excited, wobbling about on its stem as it grinned up at Sans with undisguised psychotic glee, “I’m not gonna spoil it for you. Oh, this is the best game EVER!” and with that, Flowey disappeared back underground, leaving Sans alone to puzzle in agitation over what the plant monster had been talking about, a growing pit in his stomach.

The skeleton monster glared at the spot Flowey had been in for several minutes before standing abruptly and shortcutting back to the brother’s house. Briefly, he considered grabbing a bottle of ketchup but ultimately decided against it; last night’s fiasco had him still a bit...wary of alcohol.

Fortunately, it wasn’t his only vice.

The short skeleton ambled up the stairs and into his room where he pulled open a drawer and rooted around in it. Where was it? Where did he put...oh...there it was. The skeleton produced a plastic bag and retreated to his bed, tearing it open. Inside were dog biscuits...special dog biscuits.

Tugging a lighter from within the bag, Sans light one end until it was red hot, then leaned back against his headboard, his chest filling with smoke and then exhaling.

********

Alphys finished off a bottle of water, then looked nervously into the examination room, where Undyne was reading a storybook to Frisk, the human girl listening with rapt attention, little feet kicking away.

Undyne’s explanation had been...sobering; Frisk was covered in serious injuries. Undyne hadn’t gone into detail, but now that Alphys was looking, she saw bandages around the little brunette's legs. The reptile had excused herself to go have a drink of water to calm her trembling nerves, so Undyne had snagged one of the children’s books that she had brought with her. Papyrus apparently had given her a few from ‘when he was a babybones’, and thought that Frisk might enjoy the stories therein too.

Alphys steadied herself and then stepped out into the room to watch, a tiny human child cuddled up under the powerful fish monster’s arm, blind eyes staring at the book unknowingly as she listened to the bombastic Undyne rendition of a bunch of kids and a witch. Of course, being Undyne; voices were included, and whenever the red-headed monster did the witches cackle, Frisk burst out giggling. Undyne clearly was fond of the sound, judging by the broad grin stretching across her face and so she did it again, Frisk tittering and cuddling up to the blue scaled woman.

Alphys...smiled. In spite of herself, in spite of the seriousness of the situation, watching the two getting along just felt so… right. Natural, even. Like it was something meant to be. She chose not to interfere letting the story finish before stepping fully into view.

“Oh hey Al, ya ready ta start?” Undyne asked casually, and Alphys nodded in response, a second bottle of water clutched between her claws.

“Y-Yes, I am. S-Sorry, I ne-needed a dr-drink.” she shuffled over to join the pair, and took a calming breath, before turning back to face them, “Al-Alright Frisk, I’m g-going to need y-you to remove your sh-shirt.”

The tiny human nodded and lifted her arms up, allowing Undyne to pull the sweatshirt off, and then the t-shirt. Bandages...so many bandages, Alphys shuddered but waved off Undyne’s concern. She needed to do this and nodded once more to Undyne who reluctantly reached out and started unwinding the bandages.

Alphys wasn’t prepared, but she knew she wasn’t prepared. Fortunately, Undyne unwound the bandages slowly enough that Alphys was able to drink each group of injuries as they came, the bite marks, the bruises...the welts and cuts. The bite marks on the child’s hands were odd, as were the scratches on her head next to her eyes, but they seemed unimportant in the broad spectrum of things.

More and more the bandages unwound...and Alphys lifted a clawed hand for Undyne to pause, the fish woman hesitating, allowing the kind scientist a few moments to process, before continuing, leaving the young human topless, her horrid markings exposed.

Alphys didn’t trust her voice, not at first and so just quietly walked around the little one, claws clicking against the metallic floor as she drank in the horrifying markings; a grisly tale of abuse, neglect and flat-out torture etched into the skin of an innocent little….

Alphys removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose; she would not cry. She would NOT cry! Undyne warned her that the young human was very sensitive to others pain, extremely empathic and the last thing Alphys wanted was to make the girl upset...she was clearly dealing with enough already.

Wiping the wetness from her amber eyes with the back of a coat sleeve, then slid the glasses back on, clearing her throat and taking a shaky breath. She could do this...if this tiny child could endure wearing these marks then by the gods Alphys could look at them, and try to help them heal.

There were more, of course, Alphys knew there would be more. Undyne had said the child had been...violated. That fact alone had taken Alphys several minutes to process and the bottle of water to wash the sick taste out of her mouth.

“...Th-These..,” Alphys cleared her throat again, fishing around in her pocket for the bottle of water, and draining it in a few gulps before trying to speak again, “These marks ar-are very serious.” The scientist stated obviously.

“I-I want to ta-take some X-Rays, ch-check her s-soul and I h-have other tests I n-need to run.” Alphys scrambled around to a desk and grabbed a clipboard, scribbling furiously across it. She had Frisk lay down, and brought a machine over and activated it. Monster X-Rays were magical, so there was no fear of radiation, though the effect was still the same. While most monsters didn’t require X-Rays, there were just enough that did to justify the creation of the machine.

Besides, it gave Alphys something to fiddle with.

“Th-Those will take some t-time to develop,” The reptile explained, and gathered up her more extensive medical supplies to start helping Frisk. She had studied human medicine as a basis for Monster medical treatments, as sometimes green magic didn’t quite cut it.

“S-So...Fr-Frisk...how a-about we play a ga-game?” Alphys suggested as she spread a blue numbing gel over one of the cuts, “A w-way to ge-get to know ea-each other, okay? D-Does that s-sound like fun?” The little human nodded eagerly, a smile stretching across her face as Alphys readied a needle and thread to begin stitching some of the injuries closed.

“O-Okay, so t-tell me the fi-first words th-that come to your m-mind, can you do that, Fr-Frisk?” the little girl nodded once more, shifting slightly and eager to play.

“O-Okay...F-Favourite F-Food?” began the scientist, the little girl smiling broadly.

“Eggs!” the blind child giggled happily, making Undyne flush a little and Alphys smile at the enthusiasm.

“Wh-What about...F-Favourite song?” She continued to close up one of the nastier injuries, smeared with blue and green gel to help it heal as best as possible, fortunately, the blue gel was doing its job and Frisk didn’t seem to feel anything.

“Oh, umm...there is a nice one I heard in Waterfall,” Frisk explained, and hummed a few bars of a sad, nostalgic song; Undyne knew the one, she occasionally heard it coming from the area of that strange statue.

“That is a ni-nice one,” Alphys agreed with a warm smile, “Wh-what about...favourite co-colour? Oops!” She gasped, having asked it without thinking, only remembering after the fact that Frisk was blind, and likely didn’t know-

“Red!” the girl declared happily, kicking her feet, both monsters staring at the human in surprise. That meant that she wasn’t born blind, something Undyne vaguely remembered the little one saying, but it was news to Alphys, the scientist mentally filing that little note away.

“Ho-Home?” Alphys continued as she smeared green gel over the closed injury and moved onto another one, this one was a burn and so she was putting the green and blue gel on it, combined with a bit of cream to help speed the healing.

“Wet.” Undyne’s eyebrows lifted and the fish woman wore a little grin, but it was nothing compared to Alphys’ broadly-stretched smile, the human child was so sweet and Undyne was clearly taken with them. But as cute as it was...Alphys needed to start to inch into harder questions, to get some idea of what had happened to cause these injuries. With a deep breath, Alphys tried a question that she was certain would have a bit of a stronger reaction.

“So, ho-how about...Fire?” internally, Alphys braced herself, but the human just cocked her little head.

“Grillby?” Undyne laughed at the response, and Alphys blinked; so she had met Grillby...it was nice that she was associating fire with such a kind and caring monster like the barkeeper. But that wasn’t really what Alphys was going for...so she tried something more direct.

“..B-Burn?” Frisk went silent, her legs stopped kicking and she tensed, Alphys pausing in her care of the abused child’s back to look at her, the little one swallowing.

“...Daddy… and Toriel.” the answer was barely whispered, Frisk hunching her shoulders in some unseen pain.

Undyne tensed, her good eye widening as a cold fury built in the fish woman at the name. Grillby had mentioned that the burn on Frisk’s leg was magical, but Undyne hadn’t considered that she would actually get a name for the monster who had burned the child.

“Wh-Who is ‘Toriel’?” Alphys asked softly, almost afraid of the answer, Frisk starting to shake with emotion, heat building in those pale blind eyes.

“The Queen,” Undyne blurted out, “Toriel’s the Queen...you sayin’ the Queen burned you?” the small human’s body tensed, legs pulling up to her chest, arms wrapping around her calves as she tried to wad herself up into a little ball. It was a defensive technique, trying to minimize her body’s presence, trying to hide from...something, trying to protect herself from being...being hurt.

Undyne’s instincts were screaming at her, had the Queen of The Monsters hurt Frisk? Surely that wasn’t possible, the Queen was supposed to be kind and caring, full of love and empathy...what had happened?

“Hey Babyfish…” Undyne pulled the little human over onto her lap, letting the child cling to the soldier monster’s chest, head buried in her neck as her body quaked with emotion. The fish woman could feel the hot tears sticking to her scales, and realized that this was at least the second time in as many days that she had to hold the girl.

Frisk didn’t like to talk, she just...turned off, curled up and tried to wait out whatever attack was coming, and she’d cry. She’d cry as silently as she could like someone would ...hit her if she was too loud. Then, Alphys saw it: Frisk lifted her left hand to her mouth and bit down on her thumb joint, but she only managed it for a second before Undyne tugged the small hand free and held it tightly in one of her own.

“No, no, no...don’t do that,” the blue-scaled woman stated firmly, “Don’t bite yourself, don’t hurt yourself babyfish...ya don’t need to do that. I’m here, Undyne’s here...it’s okay...you’re safe. It’s okay...nobody’s gonna hurt you.” Undyne rocked slowly, cradling the child close, and hummed that song from the Waterfall, the one that made the little one calm, even just a little.

Frisk gripped the red-headed monster tightly, while Undyne looked at Alphys helplessly...frustration flashing in that golden eye, as they both waited for Frisk to calm back down.

Alphys put the medical equipment down and scurried upstairs to her lab where she hunted through a mini fridge. It was poorly managed, but soon enough she found what she was looking for; a can of Grape Monster Soda, and she hurried downstairs, offering it to Undyne who smiled thankfully at her girlfriend.

“Here ya go, Punk.” Undyne cracked it open and placed the can at the girl’s mouth, gently tipping it back to allow her to drink. Monster food was all made with magic, but Frisk seemed to respond well to it regardless. Undyne made a mental note to ask Alphys later if it was okay for Frisk to just have a diet of Monster Food, or if the kid would need human food.

Regardless, the magical drink seemed to be helping, the little one slowly relaxing as she sipped the drink, and leaned into the tall monster, Undyne’s face full of worry.

“There ya go...good girl…” the new bite bruise on her hand faded slightly, but not much; the child simply had too many injuries covering her body for the magic to heal anything quickly. Frisk seemed calmed enough, a combination of humming that song, the drink and just a long embrace in Undyne’s arms helped the girl to relax enough to visibly unwind, though she didn’t want to move from the fish woman’s arms.

Alphys couldn’t blame her.

“...Okay Punk,” Undyne placed the can into Frisk’s hands, now that the human seemed more relaxed, allowing Frisk to sip the drink on her own, “Do...Do ya mind if we ask some more questions?” Frisk looked uncomfortable, and Undyne noticed it, but pushed on regardless, “I know you’re scared. But ya aint bad, okay? You aint bad at all, we just gotta find some things out in order to help ya, alright? Don’t worry, you aint gonna get punished by nobody.”  Alphys swallowed and stepped closer, nodding even though she knew Frisk couldn’t see it.

“Sh-She’s right, you’re one o-of the best ki-kids I’ve m-met, inc-including monster children t-too. W-We just want to help you, th-that’s all.”

Undyne shot Alphys a grateful look, and Alphys smiled back; it was the truth after all, she genuinely wanted to help this girl; it was clear why Undyne was so taken with her. Frisk squirmed a little, then swallowed another mouthful of the grape-flavoured soda before nodding shyly.

“Alright Punk...the lady behind the door, y’said her name’s Toriel?” Frisk nodded in acknowledgment, taking another mouthful of soda and then pouting when she realized she had emptied the can, placing it down on the examination table.

“She burned ya? Why?”

The little girl gulped and took a deep breath before responding quietly, her voice trembling.

“I t-tried ta l-leave… S-she was good ta me and I w-was bad and I t-tried ta leave and she didn’t want me to… s-she said I’d d-die out here a-and that s-someone would try ta take my s-soul and--” The girl’s voice ceased suddenly as she felt Undyne’s grip on her tighten, the monster shaking in anger. Toriel… she wasn’t wrong. Monsters out here would indeed try to kill Frisk. Just to take their soul to rid themselves of that wretched barrier. Undyne felt her guts twist when a thought passed her mind, whispering into her ear.

Until not too long ago, you were no different from them.

Her golden eye traveled down to the shaking, terrified girl in her arms, and the fish woman tightened her grip ever so slightly, Frisk resting her head on Undyne’s chest.

Yeah, but I changed pretty damn quick.

“Sh-she…,” Frisk sniffled, “Told me not to come back...and...and…” Undyne felt a hot stab of fury that she fought down. It was abandonment, pure and simple; maybe Toriel thought she was being kind about it, but she abandoned a blind girl that she had a responsibility to. If she knew that monsters would try to take Frisk’s soul, then she should have escorted the kid, protected them.

That’s what a mother is supposed to do!

Undyne silently made a vow to herself; Queen or not, if she ever met Toriel she was going to punch her. No wonder Frisk was so clingy; she was scared of being abandoned since it had already happened once!

“...Ya did good Punk” Undyne let the child rest a tired head on her shoulder, “Ya did good. I’m proud of ya, it takes a lotta guts ta do what you did, yer a good kid, babyfish.”

The little human murmured something as she shoved her face into Undyne’s shoulder, eyes closing, she felt emotionally drained from all of this...yet somehow she also felt kinda...good. But would Undyne still think that when she found out what she had done? How...bad she had been?

“You okay ta continue babyfish, or do ya wanna stop?” Frisk felt a twisting in her gut, but nodded, though she didn’t pull her face from where it was resting in the scaley shoulder; she felt safe here...protected.

Loved?

No...nobody could truly love a despicable beast like her. An evil Dirty Brother Killer.

“Al-Alright...s-so…” Alphys pulled back on the questions, as she hurried to finish patching Frisk with generous globs of green healing gel and stitches, “B-Bed?” That fragile little smile returned, the child nuzzling the powerful fish woman.

“Warm.” It was clear what was being implied there, Alphys smiled a little, and put the last bandages on Frisk’s shoulder, covering a cigarette burn.

“Mommy?” Alphys prodded, Frisk’s head tilted in response, arms tightening slightly around Undyne, as if afraid, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

“...Un...dyne…?” she whispered so quietly, it was almost swallowed up by the silence of the lab. Alphys’ eyes were sparkling, full of shimmering delight, while Undyne wore a hot blush on her face, glancing up at Alphys then back down to the child.

“Heh...yeah, I guess so Babyfish.” she ruffled Frisk’s hair. Admitting it out loud wasn’t nearly as hard as she thought it would be...a Mom. Her...she had taken the child in, fed them, brought them to a doctor and was planning on giving them fresh clothes...well...yes. She was essentially Frisk’s mother at this point.

It was just more surprising that Frisk had latched on so quickly, though what she said about Toriel made it obvious that the little human so desperately craved affection, of any kind really but the kind of affection a parent can give especially.

The kind of affection a parent SHOULD give.

Now that Undyne thought about it, she realized that all this girl had for her life was an abusive piece of shit of a father and one mother who was non-existent and another who had rejected her. The little girl was just so... desperate to be loved.

For Undyne...well she had been raised without parents, she didn’t remember what happened to them. The closest she had was Asgore, and even then there was always a distance between them, he never truly became anything other than a mentor to her. Seeing this little girl who was abused by...by…

Spread their legs when Daddy says… .

That was the turning point...even if Sans hadn’t opened his big mouth, Undyne was still sure she would have tried to take the girl with her. No child deserves what this kid went through...and if Undyne ever got her hands on the ‘man’ who did this...no, WHEN she got her hands on the ‘MAN’ who did this….

Frisk sniffled, eyes closing again, and once more Undyne felt the familiar warmth of tears dripping onto her chest.

“I’m sorry,” the little one whimpered, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” Undyne shut that down immediately, fingers stroking through the little human’s hair, while her other hand wrapped around the child’s waist.

“Babyfish if you wanna call me Mom...I-I’m okay with that” she spat out quickly, “It’s okay...I mean i wasn’t expectin’ this...but I’ll try my best.” Undyne took a calming breath, and pulled the small child to her chest, letting the sound of her heart calm the terrified little girl.

“No...nobody deserves ta be alone, ‘specially not good little girls like you.” Every time Undyne acknowledged it, it got easier to say. The fear of what she was committing to slipped a little further and further away.

Frisk seemed to calm, even just a little in Undyne’s arms, it would probably take a lot more reassurance before the young girl would really start to improve. Yet Undyne couldn’t help but feel like she crossed the first major hurdle; accepting the child when nobody else would or could.

A smaller clawed hand placed itself on Frisk’s back, the blue scaled woman looked up in surprise and smiling; Alphys. The scientist had reached out to help comfort the little one, amber eyes all but glowing with pride for her girlfriend. Undyne gave a nod and lifted one arm, letting Alphys join the embrace.

Undyne wasn’t sure what to make of the feelings that warmed in her chest...but she knew that she liked them.

She liked this.

Alphys and Frisk, safe in her arms...was this what a family felt like? Were her arms strong enough to hold and protect those who were important to? No, they WOULD be strong enough, Undyne would make goddamn sure of it.

She was Undyne the Undying, hero of the Underground, and nothing would harm them. Ever.

After a few minutes, they mutually broke the embrace, Frisk was looking a lot better and wearing a warm smile. It wasn’t quite a grin, but she at least looked happy...safe.

“I-I have one more s-set of t-tests to run, b-but they’re umm...d-down there.” Alphys stated as delicately as she could, “Th-They’re a bit invasive, b-but they’re important.”

Undyne grimaced, but she knew that Alphys was right; these tests were to help ensure that Frisk was healthy and safe. The fish woman believed that Frisk had been raped, and so...she would need those tests just to be sure that she was alright; it wasn’t going to be nice...but it would be necessary.

“It’s okay babyfish, I’ll be right here, alright?” Undyne squeezed the girl, who nodded; anxious but understanding. Frisk proved herself to be brave, dressed in a surgical gown and with her legs lifted up and Alphys working as quickly as she could. She prodded the burn on Frisk’s calf, mumbling to herself; the burn had mostly healed by now; thanks to Grillby and Undyne but it was still a little tender. The frostbite was also looking a bit better but still healing; Frisk would need plenty of care and lots of monster food and green magic to help this along.

“Y-You can put her legs down, th-that was very b-brave of you, Frisk” Alphys patted the human’s thigh, as the little one thankfully pulled her legs in; relieved to no longer be in such a vulnerable position. Alphys rewarded the little one with some candy from her stash, the child happily chewing on it while Alphys prepared a machine.

One again, Frisk had to lay down, and the machine flashed; like it was taking a picture of the girl’s chest, the process repeating twice before the machine was pulled away.

“A-Alright, we’re going to go t-take a look at your x-rays and s-soul scans. W-Will you be okay here, F-Frisk?” The little one nodded, she was currently re-dressing herself, and they would only be gone a few moments.

“We’ll just be ‘round the corner, ‘kay babyfish?” Undyne grinned and patted the human’s head, earning a happy hum from the girl, who nodded.

The two adult monsters went to check on the readouts and have a private discussion about what Frisk had said, and what Alphys had discovered, as the blind girl pulled herself back up onto the examination table, feet kicking away. In spite of everything, today had been a very good day; she had a good night’s sleep, a delicious breakfast, candy and Doctor Alphys was making sure her body was okay! Maybe she’d get some new shoes too...it was all going to be alright.

“She is nice.” a voice in her mind agreed, the girl smiling wider and nodding in agreement, Undyne had been unexpectedly nice...and let Frisk call her mom. She had cooked yummy food for her and carried her all the way back to Waterfall.

“She killed us before, you know.” The Voice reminded, but Frisk shrugged. While that was true, it was also true that they had killed a lot of monsters themselves, all things considered; it was fair. Besides, if Frisk could be good in spite of that, couldn’t Undyne be good too?

“Yeah, you have a point.” Frisk smiled again, and nodded happily, this was a good day; maybe they could get more clothes later or-

“FRISK, LOOK OUT!” the child gasped and leaped off the table seconds before it bent in half, a pink boot resting upon it.

“Oh my! I was trying to be nice, make it quick and painless,” an electronic voice sighed, “But if you want to do it the hard way. Then darling...let’s dance!”

“...Ah shit.” Frisk couldn’t agree more.

Chapter Text

Sans exhaled, his mind slowed and muddled, a pleasant numbness washing over him. He knew that this was unhealthy; that this sort of coping method was habit-forming, but since when did he make good decisions?

He needed this...just some quiet in his mind, just some...silence.

What did that goddamn flower mean?

Sans was utterly lost, he knew he didn’t have enough facts and after last night the odds of him talking to Frisk were pretty much blown, at least in the short-term. Sans sighed, folding up the baggie and tossing it back into his dresser. He couldn’t really blame Undyne for what she did; the alcohol and stress had unlocked a very strange and very unstable side of himself, and saying that he’d kill a seven-year-old kid was considered pretty fucked up, even if it was a human kid.

She killed the kid too, his mind reminded him smugly and that was true...she had killed the human, a LOT. So what changed? Why did Frisk suddenly go with her? What had happened in that short period of time? Sans could tell that somehow Undyne had reached the kid in a way that Sans never was able to, and in such a short period of time too. What the hell had happened?

Downstairs, Sans heard a door shut and a voice call out ‘Brother, you here?’ The short skeleton spat a curse and opened his window to let out the smell of the smoke, tossing his jacket into a hamper and grabbing a fresh one; he had three of these in total and wore them down before washing them.

“Yeah bro, comin’ down now.” The elder brother opened the door and ambled down the stairs to meet Papyrus’ worried expression. Worried, but not judgemental.

“Brother...you alright?” Papyrus asked, “You don’t look well, are...are you going to be okay?” Sans could hear his brother’s concern...of everyone last night, Papyrus was the only one who hadn’t said he was disappointed in him.

The tall skeleton just hugged his elder brother...that’s all.

Sans had ended up going to bed while Papyrus cleaned up the house, and the shorter skeleton pretended to sleep instead of staring at the ceiling for an hour before the events of the day slammed into the smaller monster, along with the exhaustion and he drifted off into that terrible nightmare.

He had been afraid to sleep since then; every time Sans closed his eyes he saw those terrified red eyes looking back, or the empty, ruined blue ones.

What the HELL had happened?

“I...I aint sleepin’ that good bro,” Sans admitted, Don’ worry, I’ll be okay.” Sans said with his regular grin, but Papyrus didn’t look assured, eyebrows knit into an honest expression of concern.

“Brother...maybe you need something to help you sleep, I could go see Doctor Alphys and see if she has some medicine.” the taller monster offered, but Sans waved it off lazily; not wanting to trouble the taller monster...and not wanting him anywhere near that little brat.

Seven years old.

“Naw it’s fine bro, I’ll jus’ grab some hot cats an’ be fine. B’sides, y’know how lazy I am, I’ll get ta sleep soon enough, don’ worry ‘bout it.” Sans stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked out the door, heading to Grillby’s.

Hopefully, his best friend wouldn’t be too upset, and Undyne was probably too busy to even notice that Sans was taking most of the day off anyway, so the short skeleton was pretty sure he’d get to slack off in peace.

Papyrus, however, watched his brother leave while nervously wringing his hands together. While it was true that Sans was very lazy, Papyrus also knew that the shorter monster didn’t normally have dark rings under his eyes. His elder brother drank a lot, and in spite of his best attempts to hide it; the kind monster also knew that Sans had his biscuits; he just pretended not to notice as they seemed to help his brother combat whatever inner demons he was facing.

But whatever it was took a turn for the worst last night.

Sans’ nightmares were nothing new, Papyrus had awoken to his elder brother screaming at least once a fortnight but rarely was it as...violent as it was last night. Then there was the bathroom mirror this morning; his big brother was getting worse, not better.

Straightening up, the Great Papyrus decided upon a course of action; he would head to Doctor Alphys and talk to her about Sans’ problems and get a sleep aid, then he’d talk to Undyne about giving the shorter skeleton some time off; Sans clearly needed it.

With both a plan and a goal in mind, Papyrus set off to accomplish his self-imposed mission.

********

“So...what’s up, Al?” Undyne followed her girlfriend around the corner into a more private area, where a machine had spat out some plastic sheets. Alphys slumped, allowing her body to tremble and shake; tears sliding down her cheeks as choked-sobs escaped the gentle golden monster.

Immediately, Undyne was next to her; arms embracing her girlfriend tightly, murmuring softly as she stroked the reptile’s head, Alphys pouring out her pain and horror into Undyne’s shirt. The fish woman was very impressed with Alphys; the yellow-scaled scientist had really held it together out there, showing her gentle and caring nature. She hadn’t cried, though she had clearly wanted to and instead had simply forced herself to endure and help the child; bandaging her injuries and offering a few snacks.

Alphys had been the epitome of patience, kind...compassionate, and Undyne was so proud of the scientist for going above and beyond what anyone could have wanted. Frisk had been cared for in the best way possible, and Alphys had handled a delicate situation with the utmost care and professionalism. What could have been deeply traumatic was instead just another test in a small line of medically-important examinations.

“Ya did good Al, you did good by the kid too. I’m so proud of ya.” Undyne soothed gently, “It’s okay, ya can cry.” Alphys bawled into her girlfriend's arms, fingers tightening around powerful biceps.

“H-How...H-HOW!?” the reptile screamed, “H-How could a-anyone do s-such a horrible th-thing!?” Undyne had no answers, at least no answers that were satisfying. She didn’t know, she didn’t know how anyone could do this to any child, let alone their own. How could a father rape his daughter? She had no answer...other than one.

Because he’s evil.

While it may be true, it was certainly not satisfying.

The scientist partially collapsed, Undyne holding her gently, tightly, letting the woman cry, bawl for Frisk...for what the little one had endured, had been forced to endure. All the while, Undyne rubbed the woman’s neck and back, painful sobs filling the small room. Eventually, the sobbing melted into soft, sad mewling; the scientist sitting between her girlfriend’s legs as the pair cuddled together on the floor.

“...You’ll...y-you’ll take c-care of her..r-right, Undyne?” Undyne knew better than to be insulted; Alphys’ kindness was well known, and she was only ensuring that someone who had already suffered so much did not need to suffer needlessly anymore.

“Yeah...yeah kid’ll be okay. I’ll make sure if it...an’ you’re gonna help me.” Alphys’ head shot up so fast that Undyne was surprised the girl didn’t get whiplash. The reptile’s face ran the gauntlet of emotions; shock, fear, excitement and worry before finally settling on nervous anticipation. She didn’t outright reject the idea, however; likely due to her own concern over the child’s well-being, and to be fair given what Sans had done the night before, it was well founded. But it would also ensure that Frisk had much-needed ready access to medical care, which Undyne would be certain the girl would need going forward.

“So ah, Punk’s probably gettin’ a bit worried waitin’ for us, we should probably hurry, y’know?” Alphys nodded in agreement, pulling herself up then helping Undyne to her feet, before reaching over and grabbing the plastic sheets that had been printed by some kind of large, bulky machine.

The reptilian scientist wiped her eyes dry, then cleaned her glasses, Undyne waiting patiently as Alphys finally stuck the plastic pages against a lamp and turned them on, what the pair saw shocked them both.

Marks. Cracks. Injuries.

SCARS.

Frisk’s body was festooned with cracks all over her skeleton, some smaller than others...and some looked downright fatal; such as the splintering around several ribs near the heart. Others included some kind of ugly inwards fracture that spiderwebbed across the ulna and radius of both arms. The middle of her spine had a crack that spread out from the middle, like something had slammed into it, hard, from behind, with a diagonal line of small circular cracks going along her clavicles, ribs, and reaching all the way to her pelvic bone. Multiple smaller cracks across the ribs and both legs, an ugly fracture running through her pelvis. The worst one by far, however, was the damage to the skull.

If Undyne had to choose a crude way to describe it, she would say that it looked like Frisk headbutted a bomb. The top and sides of the skull were covered in small cracks and trenches, that got more intense the closer it got to the front of the skull. Painful looking marks, like a dozen cats had clawed away at her face, her forehead and nasal bone looking like they were shoved into a sheet of rough sandpaper, the worst around the eye sockets where there was actually small chips missing from the orbits.

Undyne felt sick...Alphys was sick, vomiting into a bucket nearby, twice. The fish monster couldn’t blame her; neither of them was prepared for this. Hurting flesh wasn’t hard, scarring it even wasn’t that hard...but to do THIS? How...how…?

“How is she even...even alive?” whispered Undyne in horror, eye wide. She was too shocked to even be angry, no other emotion could make its way into the woman, just stunned, horrified shock. These wounds...she should be dead; at a minimum, crippled and in breathtaking agony. Not only blinded.

“...I...I don’t kn-know,” stammered Alphys from where she was bent over the trash can, “I ha-have no id-idea.” The scientist wiped her mouth and forced herself up, shuddering at the images on the screen; the marks alone were goddamned horrifying but to try and imagine what the poor thing would have had to endure to get these marks was soul-crushing.

“H-Her soul scan…” Alphys murmured, booting up a computer console and tapping a few keys, the image of some cat girl appeared on screen; Alphys’ personal favourite Anime. Undyne didn’t tease her this time, the situation was too...what was that?

“Was that a bomb?” Undyne blinked and looked to Alphys who shrugged idly.

“M-Mettaton uses ex-explosives in his sh-show so-sometimes. You g-get used t-to it.” reptilian claws flew over a keyboard, bringing up menus that the scientist navigated through.

“Yeah, well that sounded pretty close Al.” groused the fish woman, “I’m worried Frisk will get nervous or scared.”

Alphys dismissed it with a wave of a clawed hand, then double-clicked on something on the screen and waited for it to load; this program was not very user-friendly, then again Alphys liked things that were complicated.

“Sh-She’ll be f-fine. M-Mettaton is pr-probably just pr-practicing something.”

The screen flickered and an image popped up, the two monsters recoiling at what they saw; it was what could be generously called a soul, if you stretched the term a bit. It was the heart-shape that they were all used to, but it was a deep blood red, so intense a colour that in some places it looked more black than red, while others were dim and almost transparent. Chunks were missing from it around the sides; chipped away by something, and other places were outright cracked in ways that, much like the body, should be entirely fatal. Neither monster knew what to make it, it was so difficult to comprehend that somehow the soul was in far worse condition than the body was. What had happened? What had caused the soul to degrade like this? How was she even still alive?

Who did this!?

Undyne felt a spike of cold fury pass through her, her eye burning with barely-controlled rage. It took all the fish woman’s strength not to smash the monitor; knowing that it would be a useless act of violence that would only upset and frighten Alphys. This poor child, just when Undyne thought she had seen the worst, somehow they unearthed even more damage, more scars...more suffering that Undyne wasn’t sure she knew how to cope with, how to...heal.

Could this even BE healed?

“Al…”

The reptilian scientist visibly shuddered, stepping away and stumbling; falling onto her tail and staring up at the screen; her face warring between mute horror and physical revulsion. This soul...this helpless soul had been mutilated, tortured. Who would be cruel enough to...to... VIOLATE a soul like this? Could this be a result of the father’s torture of his daughter? Was her soul responding to so much damage in the body? Gods above and below Alphys had no answers, there was simply no data on anything like this. Monsters and Humans had vastly different bodies in most ways, so how the body and soul of a human responded to damage was largely unknown.

But if she was a monster? She would be dust already, or very close to it.

“...I…” Alphys didn’t even know what to say, what could she say? The short scientist turned to her girlfriend, eyes full of emotion and despair, Undyne’s face a mask of pain and rage; resolve filling her chest. Alphys knew that if there was any doubt left in Undyne, it was now gone; Frisk would not be hurt anymore, she had already suffered far too-

A second explosion shattered both monster’s concentration and pushed Undyne just that little bit too far.

“That is fuckin’ IT!” she stormed out of the office, Alphys following as fast her smaller legs could carry, trying to keep up with the Captain of The Guard’s long gait, calling for Undyne to stop but the taller woman had a full head of steam and was looking for a fight.

Then they heard the revving of an engine and a terrible, blood-curdling scream.

Power walking turned into a full sprint, Undyne rocketing down the hall and around the corner just in time to see a chainsaw sink into the back of a blind human child.

********

Sans pushed the door to Grillby’s open and ambled in, sighing in relief at the smells and sounds of one of his few sanctuary’s from the timelines, from the resets and confusion that they brought. As hard as everything was, at least Grillby’s was always the same.

“Heya Grillbz,” Sans greeted lazily, stepping up to his regular seat and sitting; arms resting on the bartop, “How’s the ketchup t’day?”

The barkeeper glanced at his best friend for a few moments, then turned to the mini fridge, the one with a picture of San’s smug face hanging from a magnet on the front, and retrieved a bottle of ketchup from inside; placing it in front of the short skeleton.

“That’s what I like ta see.”

The fire monster sighed, not even bothering to write Sans’ name on the tab again. Over the long years the two have known each other, Grillby has slowly accepted the fact that the short skeleton would likely never pay it off. Fuku asked him many times why he lets the ketchup lover keep coming to his place when he never pays, and Grillby honestly didn’t know how to respond to that query. Sometimes Sans would joke that Grillby is a masochist. The man literally made of fire in an establishment made of wood couldn’t exactly argue.

“So, how are you doing?” Grillby leaned on the bar top, watching as Sans took a mouthful of the ketchup. Grillby was aware that he was basically an enabler at this point, but at the same time, alcohol was one of the few ways to loosen Sans’ ghastly blue tongue. Otherwise, the skeleton would just stonewall with a grin and deflect with bad jokes and puns.

“Oh y’know…” Sans waved a bony hand, he wasn’t sure if Grillby would have even let him back in after last night, at minimum the skeleton knew that he wasn’t going to get away from this without having a talk about it; he came here at least somewhat prepared for it. The short skeleton, however, was quite grateful that Grillby was allowing him to get tipsy first, make it easier on the both of them.

“No, I don’t,” Grillby admonished, reaching into the mini fridge to collect a second bottle and placing it on the counter, “You were stressed out last night, agitated. I’m worried about you, Sans.”

The short skeleton delayed his response by drinking more ketchup, and Grillby was called away by one of the other regulars, forcing the fire elemental to retreat to retreat to the back room to make food. Who knew that having people worried about you could be so tiring? Sans had always prided himself on being able to deflect people’s concern; enough resets had given him enough practice at it.

But it was always The Anomaly, the kid. They somehow managed to get under his non-existent skin, rattling his self-control and making Sans become so...emotional. They unlocked feelings inside of him that he had stored away, things he had learned to ignore. God, the damned weed had dusted Papyrus how many times? And Sans didn’t hunt him down and torture him, but the kid did it just once and Sans just…

The skeleton sighed and hung his head, lacing his fingers behind his neck. He was definitely not acting normal, hell he wasn’t even sure what normal was for him now. Drunk? Was that his normal? Drunk and high?

Gods Papyrus deserves better than me.

“So, what happened last night?” Grillby asked, leaning back over his friend, “You were acting...strange, and it wasn’t just the alcohol either. I know you, Sans, you’re not an angry drunk.”

No, according to everyone who had seen him, Sans was actually a depressed drunk, enough alcohol in him and the short comedian’s mask slipped. Grillby rarely made a fuss about it, and sometimes Sans wasn’t sure what he said to the barkeeper, but it didn’t seem to change Grillby’s opinion of him.

“I dunno Grillbz,” Sans evaded, finishing his ketchup and reaching for the second bottle, “I guess I just wasn’t m’self last night.” No, he was himself...he was scared and drunk, but he was himself. Sans had grown used to The Script, or how things were supposed to progress in the Underground. Sure the kid deviated slightly from time to time, but ever since The Hall things had gotten...weird.

They had only done one attempt at dusting everyone, and Sans genuinely had no idea why nor did he really care to know why; but it had changed his opinion of the little brat quite quickly. Instead of seeing them as an odd but mostly harmless child, Sans saw them as a dangerous menace, a heartless murderer butchering all their friends.

But then they showed up blind...had they always been blind? God he had no idea...and the more he saw of them, the more confused he got; heartless murderers don’t cry like they did, they don’t look for affection and cuddles.

This whole situation was now so far off the script that Sans was no longer sure how to respond to anything; he had no clue what he was supposed to say or do. They were now into the second day of total unpredictability and instead of enjoying it, Sans was terrified.

“I can agree to that,” Grillby allowed, “The Sans I know is one of the kindest monsters I know, with the worst sense of humor. He wouldn’t even consider killing a child unless there was something else going on.”

The shorter monster’s spine felt sticky again, that tar-like sensation of something...awful clinging to the back of his ribs. The skeleton shifted, glowering at his drink, hands tightening, while a sick sense of shame crept over him.

“...I love my bro,” Sans responded, “He’s the coolest guy around.”

Grillby lifted a flaming eyebrow, uncertain how to take that...odd non-response. Nobody would ever question Sans’ devotion to Papyrus; in spite of how often the younger skeleton scolded his brother, it was clear that the two loved each other.

“I know,” Grillby ventured, “We all know that. You raised him into who he is today, you would never harm anyone, unless we count your jokes. So what happened?”

Sans looked up at him and didn’t have an answer. Not an acceptable one, not one that he’d understand. He tried so many times already to explain everything, but nobody understands. They try, but… Nobody TRULY understands.

All of a sudden the skeleton felt so… alone.

No...not alone. There was one person who had some idea of what he was going through, one person who knew him very well. The kid had seen her fair share of hell, their body was covered in scars, bites, and burns. As hard as it was to imagine, as vicious as Sans had been to them, someone else had been worse. Someone else had done worse.

Worse than kill them?

The shorter monster remembered Papyrus’ description, how the human had turned around and waited for tall skeleton to...to…

“...I dunno Grillbz…,” Sans sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I jus’...I dunno.” It was a lame response and he knew it, a total non-answer, but Grillby didn’t push it. The fire elemental just sighed, standing up straighter and crossing his arms.

“Be that as it may, you owe the little human an apology my friend. You should also talk to Papyrus, he’s your brother; he wants to help you.”

The skeleton sighed, playing with the red plastic bottle as he worked over Grillby’s words. He wasn’t tipsy, the ketchup had just enough kick to make him relaxed. Maybe the barkeeper was right, maybe he needed to just...talk to someone...the kid? Well, he could talk to the weed but Flowey was a dick at the best of times and completely untrustworthy.

Goddamnitt, why couldn’t things just go back to normal, at least he knew what to do then.

“Thanks fer the drinks, Grillbz,” Sans pushed away from the counter, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walked away. As he was retreating, he heard Grillby call out ‘I’m serious Sans’, the short skeleton waving in response.

No, he couldn’t talk to Papyrus...but maybe...maybe he could talk to the kid, that could be a starting point...better than any other idea he or anyone else had. With that in mind, Sans tore open a shortcut to Waterfall and fell into it, the darkness gripping his mind and turning his guts insides out. God, he’d never get used to this feeling.

Now… to find Papyrus.

********

Roll back! Frisk rolled away as another glamorous pink boot slammed into the spot where she had been, then she hopped to the side and ducked, nimbly dodging another kick and a stomp.

Go to the left...back up, again!  Frisk leaped to the side then jumped back, easily dodging three rapid stomps that left dents in the metallic floor. The little human was trying desperately not to panic as she listened to the instructions, knowing that they were the only way to keep her alive.

Magical attacks were...a bit easier to dodge; the human child having a strange sixth sense for them, but Mettaton was only trying to kick and stomp, and outside of having a vague sense of where he was, Frisk didn’t know what he was doing.

But she did, she could see. She wasn’t limited by Frisk’s ruined eyes.

Chara.

“Oh my~” The robot chuckled, “Aren’t you a feisty one. This all could have been over already darling, why prolong the inevitable?”

She could almost see his amused face in her mind’s eye, that smug smile while the glamorous robot posed dramatically.

“I-I don’t want to fight you,” the blind girl whimpered, “Please? Can’t we just be friends?” The little one offered a hopeful smile where she thought Mettaton was standing, though she couldn’t be entirely sure.

“Oh darling,” the dramatic robot sighed, “Even if I wanted to be friends with you, I can’t. You see, I need your soul, so I can break the barrier and go on to be the biggest, brightest star the Humans have ever seen!” She could easily imagine the robot posing with one hand on his chest and the other outstretched to the heavens, “And for that, I’m afraid you need to die. Now just stand still...and I’ll make this painless.”

Move!

Frisk dodged backwards as Mettaton leaped and stomped down, crashing into the ground with both of his powerful legs.

Keep going, Chara instructed, run there is a table in front of you; jump over it. Frisk bolted, and at Chara’s signal, dove; clearing the table and tucking into a roll as Mettaton made a tackle for her, then rose into a kick; his pink boot finding nothing but the metal table.

Good, you’re doing great.

“What an annoying brat,” pouted Mettaton, “Well, I guess if you’re going to make things hard for me, I have no choice but to call in my co-stars.”

The robot posed dramatically once again, a hidden compartment in his back opening and letting loose a swarm of small robots that flew at Frisk blindly.

Ah shit, run! Go right! Frisk turned and bolted, hearing the sound of the robots smashing against the wall behind her, the good thing was the robots were fairly predictable and could only fly in a relatively straight-

Pain blossomed in the human girl’s body as she flew backward, one of the robot’s had been fired ahead and hit her in the chest, sending Frisk to the ground breathlessly gasping for air.

“You really are intent on making this difficult for me, aren’t you?” lamented the self-styled idol, heaving a second dramatic sigh which had the side effect of giving Frisk a few precious moments to pull herself up and gather her wits, “How unfortunate. But...I don’t need your body, do I? Just your soul.” there was an undeniable menace in the way Mettaton was speaking, the blind girl swallowing in terror.

“P-Please, I don’t want to do this, I just want to be friends!” she pleaded, tears of pain and fear in her ruined eyes, but the robot was unswayed, and just chuckled.

“Sorry dear, but you’re standing in the way of my glorious hopes and dreams!”

Bombs! Frisk ran, diving as an explosion echoed behind her, the shockwave leaving her dazed and disoriented; head ringing from the mighty blast. She barely had enough sense to hear Chara call for her to dodge again, but as dazed and tired as she was, Frisk didn’t quite make the second leap and felt white hot pain lance through her left leg.

The human girl choked out a scream as she landed on the ground, her left leg bleeding from the shrapnel dug into the tender flesh, her hands clasping around her knee as tears flowed down her cheeks. She could hear Mettaton approaching slowly, each step creating a resounding clang as he walked to her.

Desperately she reached out and began to crawl away, sobbing in fear and agony; where was Undyne? Didn’t she hear that? She said she’d be right around the corner!

“Oh don’t cry sweetheart, you’re about to become an important step in my journey to stardom! Awww,” Mettaton smiled sweetly down at the bleeding child, dragging herself away from him, “I know it hurts, but sometimes one has to suffer for their art. Or in this case, you have to suffer for mine.”

Mettaton’s right hand folded into itself, revealing a chainsaw that the robot revved, a satisfied smile on his face as he lifted it over his head.

“Now darling, I’m afraid your time is up, it’s time for the final curtain. Don’t worry...I’ll make it quick and beautiful!” He swung down, the blade slamming into the child’s shoulder and spraying him with blood.

Somehow, the girl didn’t pass out immediately but she did scream; a blood-curdling sound as the chainsaw cut into her body.

********

“Heya Paps!” Sans grinned wider as his younger brother screeched in surprise, jumping away from the older skeleton as Sans appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Papyrus’ indignant huffing and foot-stomping made the forthcoming temper tantrum entirely worth it.

“Sans!” Papyrus yelled, “Stop doing that! You scared my soul right out of my bones! How many times do I have to tell you!?” Sans laughed heartily as his younger brother pouted, the taller skeleton’s arms crossed in indignation.

“What are you even doing here?” demanded the younger brother, glaring at his elder sibling, who continued to laugh at Papyrus’ mini-tantrum.

“Sorry bro,” snickered Sans, grinning at Papyrus’ sulk, “I came ta join ya. I knew you were goin’ ta Al’s, even though I said ya didn’ have ta.” The other skeleton ignored his brother’s disapproving look, but Sans softened his expression somewhat, “But uh, I thought that ya might be right, so I decided ta come along.”

Papyrus’ brow knit; while he was happy his brother had agreed with him, the simple fact remained that Frisk was still scared of him. Sans realized what the younger monster was worried about, and gave a dismissive wave.

“Eh, don’t worry ‘bout the kid. I’ll apologize an’ show ‘em they don’ have ta be scared of me.” the comedian winked at his sibling.

Papyrus rubbed his chin, that was good, but what about Undyne? The fish woman may not trust Sans was sincere and would demand the shorter monster leave, but Sans did need help and Papyrus believed he was sincere. So he would just have to convince his friend of Sans’ sincerity!

This was sure to work out!

“Alright brother, I believe you.” The kindly skeleton shared a broad smile with his elder brother, and the two set off, heading towards the lab.

“I could shortcut us y’know.” Sans offered lazily, but Papyrus made a cutting motion with his arm, dismissing the suggestions entirely.

“Absolutely not, you barely get out enough as it is, I will not encourage your brand of laziness.” Sans shrugged as they two continued along the path. In truth, Papyrus suspected that his brother’s runaway laziness was actually exhaustion; a result of having such a weak body. Sans likely needed the rest, yet still managed to have three jobs. But the tall skeleton kept on hoping that with enough working out, Sans would get stronger.

“Ah well, I guess you’ll just have ta put up with me then.” In spite of his words, Sans grinned up at Papyrus who smiled back.

This would work.

It had to work.

********

Undyne stared for only a brief moment; the little one laying on the ground, the room devastated, and Mettaton standing over them; holding a chainsaw that was buried in Frisk’s shoulder, blood pooling out underneath them.

Undyne’s eyepatch burst off her face, golden light erupting from the socket and her armor exploding into existence as a spear materialized in her hand. There were no fancy words, no posturing, no declarations. Just one word screamed so loud that Alphys was sure that the entire Underground had heard it.

“DIE!”

The spear flew true and struck an unprepared Mettaton.

His body was made of the best metals and engineering Alphys could manage, a testament to the scientist’s patience, skill, and technical know-how. Mettaton had gone through countless upgrades over the years, his carcass refined and refined again, turning it into a body that was both functional and beautiful, able to withstand the rigors of battle and look absolutely gorgeous in the process.

It crumpled like paper.

Mettaton’s right arm was torn clean off by the first spear, his lefty by the second, the robot spinning and reeling from the force of attacks. Confused and alarmed, the glamorous monster took a few surprised steps back, staring dumbfounded at the raging Undyne, who summoned another spear of magic in her hand.

“W-Wait, Undyne! What’s going-”

But the furious fish monster was not listening and hurled the spear with an enraged shriek at the beautiful robot. Mettaton tried to dodge out of the way, but he was neither as nimble as Frisk nor did he have his arms, the spear finding its mark and ripping his entire lower half away, sending the monster spinning to a stop in the corner of the room, sparks shooting.

“W-Wait! What’s going on!?” Mettaton was now truly terrified, staring up helplessly at Alphys’ girlfriend advancing upon him with deadly intent.

“You’re fucking DEAD you narcissistic fucking TOASTER!”  howled the redhead calling up another spear.

Mettaton had never been so scared in his whole life, lying helpless on the ground unable to do anything to protect himself. He was confused over what he had done to enrage the hot-headed woman, and why she was going to dust him. All he knew for certain was that if nobody stepped in, that this would be his end.

And it wasn’t even a beautiful one.

“UNDYNE!” The voice ripped through the fish lady’s crimson murderous haze, the blue-scaled monster turning around to stare at Alphys, whose claws were gripping Frisk’s shoulder, coated in blood.

“H-Help.” It was almost whispered, but it was enough to snap the raging monster out of her frenzy, and Undyne ran back to assist her girlfriend, armor, and weapon dissipating as she forgot about Mettaton.

“Babyfish!” the two pulled the human up onto a table that Mettaton hadn’t smashed, ripping her shirt off, “Oh God Babyfish, I’m so sorry!” sobbed Undyne, tears cutting down her face as she gripped the wound closed, trying futilely to hold the blood in.

Alphys had busied herself on the other side of the room, grabbing various objects and throwing them onto a cart. She had her claws full of a bag of green gel when a new voice rang out; “What is going ON!?”

It was Papyrus, standing shocked at the entranceway with Sans next to him; the comedian’s typical grin completely absent, as were his eyelights.

“Sa-Sans, Papyrus!” Alphys called, “G-Get in here, we ne-need your help! G-Get in here, NOW!” Sans stared at them for a moment, stumbling in slightly, eyelights empty and bones trembling.

Papyrus was saying something.

Golden hall.

Undyne was yelling.

Blue and purple sweatshirt.

Alphys gestured wildly, stuffing something into the cart she was manning and then going to a wall to grab some kind of instrument.

Blue eyes.

Mettaton yelled something, Undyne screeched at the broken robot like a banshee.

Blood.

Alphys yelled again, Papyrus took a step forward, speaking to the reptile.

So much blood.

Undyne turned back, sobbing as she gripped the child, blood staining her hands.

Seven years old.

Papyrus turned back, yelling down at Sans.

It’s a beautiful day outside.

Papyrus grabbed Sans and shook him, the short skeleton snapping out of his stupor, staring up at his brother for a moment.

“B-Bro?” he rasped in a dry voice, his eye lights searching his brother before trailing to the scene behind him...Frisk, gushing blood from a wound in her shoulder; half-closed eyes, flickering crimson; a destroyed robot and a broken chainsaw splattered with blood lying discarded on the ground.

Sans moved without thinking.

The comedian pulled off his jacket, dropping it on the ground and reaching for the cart, grabbing a needle and filling it up with green fluid before hurrying over to shove it into Frisk’s neck, injecting pure green magic into the barely-conscious little girl.

“S-Sans,” stammered Undyne, but the short skeleton ignored her, mumbling to himself as Alphys and Papyrus wheeled the cart over. She was full of relief, but her eye screamed with concern and worry. She was afraid - afraid of what this skeleton was thinking. This short monster that not so long ago said that he was willing to kill the little girl, even if while inebriated.

Sans turned around as he heard his name, his eyelights softening a little as opposed to the sharp slits they were before.

Undyne was at a loss for words now that she had his attention, her mind refusing to create a sentence, so she only whimpered, half-whispering under her breath.

“Please… help her.”

The skeleton sighed, turning back to the injured little girl before him. His eyelights slowly went out as memories of her mutilated body rushed back into his conscience, memories of the hall and the wretched battle that would never end. Sans felt the viscous feeling on his spine yet again, growing thicker and thicker--

“Brother?”

He felt a hand on his shoulder. A red glove, a single touch of which was enough to make that feeling vanish without a trace. In his eye sockets, a question.

What are we going to do?

Sans took a deep breath and walked over to grab a white robe and threw it on before turning around. Four pairs of eyes looked at him with hope. The human, only barely conscious, looked at the short skeleton with scarlet eyes.

The oh so familiar gaze was directed at him, he could feel it in his bones, but this time… there was no malice. Just a small, withering glimmer of hope. Her lips moved shakily, gasping for a breath in desperation as her arms spasmed slightly due to blood loss.

Don’t mess this up.

Sans’ eyelights quickly ran across the expectant faces. He gave a small nod to himself before cracking his neck and taking a step towards the injured child.

“Al, grab me an anesthetic. We’ve got a human ta save.”

Chapter Text

The reptilian scientist and short skeleton were a whirlwind of motion, Alphys setting up some kind of metallic pole and shoving a large bag of liquid green magic onto the end. Sans was shoving a needle onto the end and pressing it into Frisk’s neck, above the wound.

“Paps,” The shorter monster called, “If I tell ya a number, I want ya ta remember it,” Sans moved around to Frisk’s other side, touching her neck and growling softly to himself, muttering under his breath and then glancing up as Alphys began to pile bandages to soak up some of the blood.

“Why brother?” Papyrus inquired with that gentle confusion, but Sans wasn’t in the mood at the moment, this was stressful enough as it was.

“Jus’ do it Paps!”

Alphys sprayed the wound with some green magic, it slowed the bleeding somewhat, but Frisk was still losing a lot, still half-awake and aware, unmoving due to weakness. The anesthetic was going to work, combined with deliriousness and dizziness. Unfortunately, they had no other drugs that they knew would be safe to use on humans right now, so Frisk would have to try and tough it-

“One.”

Tough it out, as best she could. Sans checked the injury for broken bones; grimacing at what he saw; the chainsaw had made a mess of the entire area. At the same time, Papyrus had been ordered down to the tiny human's legs, where he was using a pair of forceps to pluck shrapnel from injuries.

“How is it?” Alphys asked, glancing up at the skeleton, who gave his head a frustrated shake.

“The Clavicle and Scapula are downright fucked, and he got the first two ribs. Didn’t get the vertebrae, but there are shards bloody everywhere. The lung is partially bruised, too. Gonna start filling up soon, we need to do something about that.” Alphys began to work on the lung, trying to drain it of the blood pooling inside, while Sans checked to ensure that an artery wasn’t-

“Two”

Wasn’t hit, fortunately, it wasn’t. The kid was going into shock, they had to keep that alone from killing her. Miraculously, the chainsaw had somehow stopped just short of splitting open her lung and hadn’t come near the heart; a rare bit of good luck in this whole messy situation. The skeleton grabbed a second bag of green magic, hooked it up to the tree and attached it to Frisk’s other arm, letting the healing magic flood into the girl’s chest.

“Undyne!” Sans called, “There’s a bag of white powdery shit on the cart, get it out, open it up, put some into one of the dishes”

It was basically dust, artificial dust created for assisting monsters who had suffered a severe injury, and right now it was the best they had. The artificial dust had a grainy consistency, it reminded Undyne vaguely of salt or sugar and she poured some out into a kidney dish.

“Now, mix in some green magic from a bag, mix it in real good like yer makin’ pancakes!” Sans called, passing Alphys a-

“Twelve”

A spray bottle that she spritzed onto Frisk’s lung wound, then passed the bottle down to Papyrus who sprayed it generously onto the shrapnel embedded in Frisk’s leg, before tugging out another jagged piece and dropping it into a dish with a soft clink.

“Sans, we-we’re losing h-her!” Alphys called, scurrying around to start performing chest compressions like she had read about in one of her books. Sans struggled to recall what he had read all those years ago, how human biology worked; how was this kid still even alive after all of that? They were unbelievably tough!

“Undyne, g-grab that p-pump and br-bring it over!” called the golden reptile to her girlfriend, “P-Put it over her m-mouth and sq-squeeze it, it wi-will give her ai-air.” Undyne did as instructed, grabbing a bottle-like device and beginning to pump it over Frisk’s mouth.

Sans grabbed the kidney dish that Undyne had been using and began to smear the green mud-like concoction onto Frisk’s damaged bones.

“Papyrus, get up here, I need yer help!”

The tall skeleton scurried over to assist his brother, forceps in bony hand and looking into the gushing wound in the child’s shoulder.

“Fifteen”

Papyrus began to pluck bone fragments out, dropping them into a dish, as Sans used his own magic to forcibly bond the dust-magic combination to Frisk’s human bones. It HAD to work! It HAD to! They had nothing else down here for her! Gods above and below there was so much BLOOD! She was turning paler already, blood bubbling at her lips as the girl moaned.

“...birds...singing…” she murmured, pale blue eyes twitching behind thin eyelids.

“Frisk, keep it together.” A girl’s voice called out, the person in question shaking the little human’s shoulder.

“...h-hurts…” The child’s voice was trembling, barely a whimper, unseeing eyes fluttering open and closed in delirium.

“It’ll be okay, just breathe. You’ll be fine. Okay?” the voice was getting more desperate than comforting as if trying to convince itself that everything will be fine.

“...everything… okay…” Sans glanced up as the little human spoke, confused as to who she was speaking to, but he didn’t have time to puzzle over it, eye lights turning back to the gaping injury that was still spilling blood onto the operating table, and calling for Undyne to clean the blood up where he was working so he could see.

“That’s right. Everything will be okay. You can get through this, you hear? We’ve gotten through worse, it’ll be fine. Just don’t forget to breathe.”

“...o… kay....” Frisk’s breathing was raspy, their chest rising slowly to take a deep breath before she broke out into a violent cough, Undyne trying to hold her down so she wouldn’t shake so much.

“...Twenty-two. It’s not much longer, partner. Stay calm, it will stop hurting in a little bit, okay? I’m right here.” The owner of the voice squeezed Frisk’s hand tightly, the girl’s fingers curling up to respond in kind but failing, her hand falling limply back onto the cold table.

“...it’s… dark… s-so dark…”

“Frisk? Can you hear me?”

“...s-so cold…” Someone yelled something, they couldn’t make out who or what but they sounded panicked and scared, vaguely the little human hoped that they were okay; she didn’t want them to be sad or hurt. Especially not over her.

“Frisk! Keep it together, you’re gonna be alright!”

“...where…” The shining blue eyes opened slightly, looking to the side as if searching for something, but all that greeted Frisk was darkness, endlessly oppressive darkness, crushing down on all sides, and that voice. That sweet, beautiful voice that had been her companion through so much.

“...Frisk?”

“...w-where… w-where are you… d-don’t leave me…” Fear filled the child, and she coughed, something hot and sticky spilling out over her lips. A cloth wiped it and she groaned; immediately disliking that terrible coppery taste.

“Frisk?! I’m here, can’t you hear me?!” the grip on the little girl’s hand has gotten slightly stronger.

“...e-everything’s… s-so dark… w-why aren’t you… s-saying anything…?” Frisk’s bright blue eyes closed completely, tears streaming down her cheeks as her expression was one of complete horror.

The girl’s scarlet eyes looked at the small human girl in disbelief, the same salty liquid welling up in their corners. Never before had they felt so damned helpless, so frustrated and worthless; a disembodied voice unable to do anything.

“Twenty-nine.”

Sans could see the green goop was starting to take hold, the green beginning to wash out, turning an off-white colour, and so he packed more of it onto the child’s ruined shoulder bones, using his own and Papyrus’ as a guide as to how it was supposed to look, but he was running out of the goo!

“How we doin’ over there Al?” the short monster called, as Alphys pulled her claws away from the child’s chest.

“Thirty-one.”

“W-We got her,” Alphys yelled, Undyne removing the mask, Frisk appeared to be breathing on her own again, though it was pained... labored. Undyne went back to mixing the dust and green magic together, the soft clink of Papyrus’ forceps as he dropped bone fragments into the dish following Sans as he moved down to check on the ribs.

“Check her airway Al!” Sans called, “I dun’ like all that bubblin’ in her mouth.” Alphys obediently pried the girl’s lips opened, and slid some kind of tube into Frisk’s mouth to help clear her airways, and make the already labored breathing easier.

Undyne placed the kidney dish on the child’s chest, Sans snagging it and bringing it down to his side to start to patch the ribs there.

“Ch-Changing bags!” Alphys called, removing one of the empty bags of green liquid magic and replacing it with a second, she then sent Undyne to grab a cloth and clean some of the blood up so they could see what they were doing.

“Sho-Shoulder beginning to close!” Alphys warned, Sans glancing up; a faint green tinge in the corners of the injury; that was good - it meant that the soft tissue was trying to heal itself, he could visibly see some of the blood vessels beginning to knit closed, but it would need a lot of help.

“Al!?” Sans called, Alphys didn’t need instruction as she grabbed a bag of green gel, and ripped it open, smearing it into the wound. The human whined softly in pain, but calmed again, the green magic gel clinging to injury, while the reptile added more dust into it, to give the magic something more substantial to cling to.

Sans had left Frisk’s side, and hunted through the lab until he found a needle and thread, returning and dipping it into the green magic and beginning to thread Frisk’s lower part of her injury closed, while Sans put the thread into the green fluid to ensure it was well saturated by the time it got to his older brother.

Alphys followed behind, spreading dust over the stitches in thick, caking layers, and Undyne behind her, stretching bandages soaked in green magic over the dust to seal it all together.

“Check her soul!” Sans called, “All this will be for nothin’ if it shatters now!” Undyne reached out and called up the soul, the damaged, cracked heart floating lazily above the human, looking so...worn out, just as injured and broken down as its owner. Sans spared a moment to stare at it, mute and horrified by just how...how broken it looked; a reflection of something truly terrible etched onto the most personal place of a living being.

Just a child.

“Thirty-five.”

Sans jerked and looked up, eyelids heavy as he stared at his brother, uncomprehendingly. Frisk was asleep on a makeshift recovery bed, a tube attached to both arms, feeding her a constant supply of green healing magic, in place of the blood that they simply didn’t have to offer. It would have to do, otherwise...there was nothing else they really COULD do. Undyne was sitting on a chair near the child, arms now clean of blood but her shirt splashed and stained with red, her face so distraught...Sans never wanted to see the strongest monster he knew look like that ever again.

Mettaton was nowhere to be seen, Alphys must have collected the glamorous robot and stuffed him somewhere to keep Undyne from dusting the idiot who had started this whole ugly mess, though it was just as possible that the angry reptile had disassembled her greatest creation in a fit of rage.

Sans found that he didn’t care.

“Wha?” the short monster looked up at his brother in open confusion, heavy circles under his eyes, the taller skeleton offering his elder brother a cup of coffee, which Sans gratefully accepted.

“Thirty-five, brother. You asked me to remember that number... thirty-five. Why?” Sans got a haunted look on his face, an empty and broken expression, eye lights winking out and empty sockets staring into pitch black coffee.

Thirty-Five?

Sighing, the short skeleton pinched the bridge of his nose, his whole body shuddering with a deluge of emotion that crushed down upon him in an overwhelming wave, tears sliding down his cheeks.

Thirty-five.

Frisk had died on that operating table, thirty-five times.

He had failed Undyne thirty-five times, heard her horrified scream as the child went limp, fingers clutching her head; body collapsing. Thirty-five times, Sans had seen his brother wearing a hollow, broken expression as he reached out and close Frisk’s eyes, only for the short skeleton to feel his head spinning, his skull feeling like it’ll shatter and his mind will spill out onto reality’s twisted parchment before he finally found himself there again, standing in front of her bleeding carcass and putting on the white coat.

Thirty-five times.

The short skeleton drank his coffee in one gulp, the drink burning all the way down his non-existent throat, and he shuddered, dropping the cup to the ground, wiping his cheeks with the back of his sleeve.

Exhaustion.

He was totally spent, nothing left inside except...soreness. Pain. Yet the kid had given him countless chances, time after time...to save them, to continue this timeline. Why? God he was too worn out to know, to even consider it.

“Un-Undyne…” The fish woman looked up as Alphys returned without the lab coat, and pulled up a chair and joined her girlfriend to look over the human child; breathing softly with only the occasional moan.

“...Bravest one down here,” Undyne murmured, reaching out one hand to brush chocolate bangs from closed eyes, “Strongest too, got through it in one piece, somehow. How’re the x-rays Al?”

Alphys gave a half-hearted shrug, her own exhaustion showing.

“They’re st-still developing ri-right now, al-along with her s-soul scan. I’m worried b-but I think sh-she’ll be alright. She’s as str-strong as her Mommy.” Undyne allowed a small smile at that, one full of pain and fear...but it was still a smile, and the first one in the…

How long have we been at this?

Sans’ phone said it had been a twelve-hour operation...twelve hours with nothing but green magic and blood flowing everywhere. Did the kid even have any blood left in their body? Suddenly the short skeleton felt a new worry gnawing at his bones; no human had ever had that much magic pumped into them, as far as he knew, so...what would happen to the child? Would all this be for nothing?

Stars and stones we’re in uncharted territory.

They had been in uncharted territory for two days now, three? Three days, that sounded about right. Gods, the kid changes one damned thing and now they’re half dead on a recovery table pumped up full of green magic and artificial dust.

“I think,” Sans lifted his head lazily and saw his brother looking at Undyne and Alphys with a firm expression, “That we need to discuss if Human Frisk really is safe with Undyne.”

Oh Gods, not now Pap.

“Paps,” Sans pleaded, “We’re all tired right now, we all need sleep. B’sides...look at ‘er, ya don’ wanna be pickin’ a fight with ‘er right now.” Papyrus huffed in frustration, but he could see Sans’ point. Emotions were high right now and Undyne was definitely on edge, bringing it up right now was a great way to start a fight.

“...Alright, brother.” Papyrus reluctantly admitted, “But I’m staying here for the night.” Sans sighed in agitation, but he wasn’t surprised; Papyrus was determined to protect this child. The short skeleton rubbed his nose bone but gave a nod.

“Alright bro, there’s an MTT resort nearby, we can stay there the night an’ check on the kid in the mornin’, alright?” Papyurs looked ready to argue, but Sans waved the younger skeleton off, “Bro, the kid aint gonna be doin’ nothin’ until tomorrow at the earliest. They aint goin’ nowhere. Come on, let’s get some sleep and we can talk t’morrow, see what the kid wants.”

Papyrus’ jaw worked but the younger skeleton only reluctantly nodded and went over to join the female monsters, looking over the human they had fought to save. The child whimpered again and shifted; her breathing slow and shallow, it likely hurt to breathe and would for a while as she recovered.

“...I’m gonna dust that robot.” Undyne’s voice was firm, unyielding; it wasn’t a threat but a promise, a decision of action. One That Sans knew he had to shut down in a hurry, or it could just cause problems down the road.

“No ya aint,” Sans stood wearily, stepping in front of the furious fish woman’s path, “That aint for you to decide, that’s up to the kid. If she wants ya ta dust ‘im then I aint gonna stop ya...but wait for her ta weigh in on it.”

Alphys looked visibly relieved at Sans’ suggestion while Undyne only looked angrier. She knew Sans was right, of course; Frisk had been the one to be injured in the attack. But that didn’t make it any easier, nor Undyne any happier.

“C-Come on, Un-Undyne,” soothed Alphys, “H-Help me br-bring the couch over, we-we can st-stay ne-near Frisk, t-tonight.” Moving the child wasn’t an option that anyone wanted to risk, not when they finally had her stabilized. Alphys had even managed to rig together some kind of heartbeat monitor that beeped away steadily, Sans had no idea how Undyne would sleep with that thing going constantly.

Then again, she might not be sleeping at all tonight in the first place. Likely wouldn’t be. Damnit, that was going to make dealing with her tomorrow difficult; regular Undyne could be bullheaded enough, but sleep-deprived and emotional Undyne?

Welp...tomorrow’s gonna be fun.

Nobody would dare challenge him for getting drunk tonight at least, hell he half-expected that Undyne and Alphys were going to get sloshed, but if they did then it would be sleep-deprived, emotional and hung-over Undyne they’d have to deal with…

Yeah, on second thought how about we DON’T?

Deciding that was a problem for Tomorrow Sans, the short skeleton gave a nod to the door.

“Me an’ Paps are gonna stay at the resort nearby, Paps wants ta make sure the kid’ll be alright, an’ I’m pretty goddamn tired, most I’ve worked in days.” he gave a little wink, making Papyrus roll his eyes in annoyance.

“Days? Try years.” The tall skeleton griped, earning a little giggle from Alphys and even a small smile from Undyne, second in ten minutes...not bad.

“Alright, you two go ahead, I’m stayin.” Undyne said, but as she stood Sans could see just how...worn-out the fish woman looked, normally well-kept hair now rested in a tangled mess, her shirt was disheveled and bloodstained and her remaining eye was bloodshot from crying. Even Papyrus, despite his misgivings towards Undyne’s ability to raise the human, showed concern in how he fidgeted nervously before reaching out to give his best friend a hug.

“Make sure you eat something, alright?” he begged, and earned a tired grin from Undyne, who hooked her arm around his neck and furiously rubbed her knuckles against the top of Papyrus’ skull, earning a high-pitched wail and desperate flailing from the helpless monster.

“Please don’t noogie the skeleton!” Sans actually laughed at that, even as Undyne released his brother, Papyrus’ face torn between a sulk and a snicker. They hugged once more briefly, and Papyrus left to wait by the door, having a quick talk with Alphys.

“Ah...Sans?” The short skeleton turned, a lazy grin stretching across his features, what did Undyne want now? He had saved the kid, and-

“Thanks.” The short skeleton’s brain short-circuited, his grin slipping slightly as his eyes widened; his mind racing to catch up and process what the tall fish woman had just said, face flushed and hand rubbing the back of her neck.

“...Uh...what for?” the short skeleton responded intelligently, genuine confusion written across his face. Undyne looked mildly annoyed and gestured to the sleeping human.

“For savin’ the little Punk, of course,” the woman snapped, “What did ya think I meant?” In retrospect, it was a stupid question, and Sans felt rather silly for asking it; he would later blame it on the exhaustion and lack of food or alcohol. Sobriety tended to make him act...weird.

Then again, so did drunkenness. Perhaps he was just weird as a status quo?

“Heh...no problem, yer pretty attached to ‘em, aincha?” he thrust his hands into the pockets of the lab coat, shifting to a lazy stance, a grin stretching back into place as Undyne rubbed her neck again.

“Yeah...I mean, I’ve only known in for a few days, but it feels like I’ve known ‘em a lifetime...y’know? Like...I knew ‘em in another life or something. Ha, pretty stupid, I know.”

Sans could almost feel his bones creak, and was glad his hands were in his pockets for how badly they were shaking. There it was again; signs that the resets weren’t perfect. He had always assumed that a reset was exactly how it sounded; just a rewind back to a previous point in time, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was...was something else. What if it was like an eraser roughing up the paper, leaving signs of its previous presence on the parchment. What if…

A chill passed up his spine, and the skeleton kicked the blossoming thought away; he was too sober and too exhausted to be entertaining these kinds of thoughts right now.

“Yeah well...I’m sure it’s nothin,” Sans tried desperately to sound dismissive instead of panicked, and wasn’t entirely sure that he sold the act, but he could pass it off as the exhaustion. The fish woman chuckled and gave an awkward smile, one that she also wasn’t really selling.

“Yeah, I guess, don’ worry about it. You go get some sleep, ya lazy nerd.” Sans took the opportunity to escape the increasingly uncomfortable conversation and ambled over to join his brother with as much forced casualty as he could muster, his mind whirling.

“Ya ready ta go Paps?” Sans asked as he approached, just in time to hear Alphys thank them again for helping save the little human. Papyrus gave Alphys a hug and the two skeletons set out to go to the MTT resort.

Nobody had really talked about Mettaton, outside of Undyne repeating her desire to dust the self-indulgent robot. Sans was very concerned about how his brother must be taking it, as Papyrus was a very big fan of Mettaton, perhaps even the biggest fan; this couldn’t be easy for the kind skeleton.

At the same time, it was also a good lesson for the taller skeleton brother, a good and safe way to learn that sometimes people you believed in could be bad, they could disappoint and even fail you.

“Are you doing alright, brother?” the taller monster inquired, “You worked very hard today.” Sans grinned up at his brother and shrugged indifferently.

“Eh, I’m okay bro, no need ta worry about me, you know I’ll get a lot of sleep.” Sans dismissed with practiced ease, but Papyrus still wore that odd warm smile that Sans wasn’t all that used to seeing.

“Still, I’m proud of you, brother. You did a very good job today saving Human Frisk, nyeh heh heh.” It had been a long time since Sans had heard his brother’s signature cackle, he had missed it. More than that, hearing Papyrus actually praise him felt...it felt good, it felt really good.

“Heh, thanks Paps. That means a lot to me”

The two brothers walked to the resort and for the first time in three days, Sans actually felt very good.

********

“Chara? Are you there?”

The warmth flooded the little human’s chest, a familiar if slightly alien warmth, something tender and loving wrapping itself around her in the darkness. It was comforting, the constant and gentle pressure of her partner, someone who knew her intimately.

“Yes, I’m here.”

Frisk relaxed a little, taking another shallow painful breath.

“How are we?” She didn’t like referring to it as ‘her’ body, as she shared it with someone else, someone who had gone through great pains to make sure that they both survived as much as possible. In the little blind human’s mind, it was as much Chara’s body as her own.

“We’re hurt pretty bad,” Chara admitted, “But Sans saved us, along with Doc Alphys and Papyrus, oh and your Mom.”  The ghostly girl grinned at Frisk’s flush, the intense heat burning her cheeks.

The difference between the two girls largely came out to age, Frisk using the word ‘Mommy’ while Chara preferred ‘Mom’. Chara was older, though by how much the blind girl couldn’t tell, not that it was important to either of them. Quietly, Frisk suspected that it was only a year or two at most, but it didn’t really matter.

“It hurts to breathe…” Frisk whimpered, the ghost mentally nodding in agreement. Even though she couldn’t really feel it since she didn’t take the wheel, Chara knew that the blow couldn’t NOT hurt like hell. Honestly, she was rather surprised her partner was still alive in the first place.

Oh. Wait.

The thirty-five agonizing times they had to endure the torrent of pain. Even in their little mindscape, Frisk was struggling to stay conscious, struggling to even breathe. And when she couldn’t hear Chara anymore… the red-eyed girl could feel her stomach flip. She was doing all that, going through all of that… just so her partner wouldn’t be forced to take over and feel all the pain.

At this point, Chara honestly wasn’t sure if she should be mad at Frisk for being this kind. This selflessness would get them killed. Hell, it DID get them killed, Mettaton half a day ago being case and point. But the kid was just so… stubborn. Like a little idealist, they believed that everyone had some good in them. They could justify anyone’s actions, and even if they couldn’t - they’d try anyway. It was just in their nature.

To be the person who is so starved for kindness that they share what little love and hope they have in hopes of receiving the same in return. Love and be loved was a practice they were preaching.

“You should have let me take over more.” The red-eyed ghost scolded without expecting a response, and felt Frisk wilt in response, such a tender and gentle child. The blind human girl tried to shield others from suffering, even if it meant she had to be hurt, that made the whole genocide attempt very...traumatic for the gentle-hearted girl.

It had been such a stupid idea, one borne out of desperation and Chara’s own anger. They had wanted to revive Asriel, to give everyone a perfect happy ending, knowing that he would just go back to being Flowey after a short period of time.

They knew that they would need to get a soul for him and so Frisk had tried to make her soul strong enough...to give to him. The idea was that since DETERMINATION persisted over time, then maybe it would allow Asriel to stay alive in a reset.

A desperate move, one that required a strong soul to even have any chance of working, and Chara only knew of one way to make a soul strong.

L.O.V.E.

Frisk couldn’t do it. She had cried at the dummy, unable to bring the branch down and damage it, it broke Chara’s heart to see her innocent partner in so much raw pain, that Chara took over. Each killing made it ...easier.

That first one was the hardest, it left a lump in Chara’s throat, a coldness in her gut. Frisk had gone into shock, but Chara had mentally pushed it away and forged onwards, reminding herself, reminding themselves that this was for Asriel.

Then...Toriel.

Chara had hesitated enough during that fight to die, but before the pain of death came, Frisk forced herself into the forefront, taking that final blow herself. It had horrified Chara, infuriated the ghostly girl. Her own MOTHER had become this...this…

Chara saw red.

And then...dust.

It had been so...so easy! So simple, and she didn’t even feel remorse afterward, no pity...no sadness. But rather, a sense of accomplishment, even elation; she had saved Frisk. No, more than that...she had AVENGED Frisk, for all the rejection, all the pain...the sadness and sheer hurt Toriel kept inflicting on the gentle human. Now she couldn’t hurt Frisk again...now she wouldn’t hurt Frisk again.

Chara felt DETERMINED, she would save Asriel...and punish everyone along the way who had hurt Frisk. Hurt her partner.

Monster after Monster, dust after dust...it gathered on their body, on the knife that Chara had come to be fond of. In the beginning, she didn’t strike first; letting them make the first attack, but after a while, Chara was fed up with them inflicting pain on poor Frisk’s body. She took initiative and struck them down, showing them the same mercy they had shown the little human girl.

There were only two points that had caused them to pause, the first...the first was Papyrus. Gentle and kind Papyrus...Chara hadn’t wanted to do it, Frisk had especially not wanted to. But they had to...it would be worth it, then they could undo all of this and everyone would be happy. Papyrus would understand...right?

Crushing his head also crushed something inside of them...like something important was...broken. It took Chara a while to realize that it was Frisk, it was herself. They had come this far already...destroying innocent lives to save one.

The second time...the second time it was Undyne. Frisk always liked Undyne; her loud and proud way of talking, her honesty and straightforwardness...the two had made a quick connection. Unlike Toriel who seemed to be trying to mold Frisk into a new Chara (she had even been planning on using Chara’s old school books to teach Frisk), Undyne had just...accepted Frisk for who she was.

The fish woman laughed loudly, and honestly...taught Frisk to cook and was always eager to talk to the little human, ready to share advice or insight whether in person or on the phone. Toriel had never accepted a phone call from the lost human.

That fight had been brutal...bitter, painful.

And afterward, Frisk grew more and more distant; disappearing farther and farther into her own mind. Chara had hated herself for it, she knew that she had just caused her partner an unbearable amount of pain...but they couldn’t stop now, or it would all be for nothing.

But there was one person that Chara felt no remorse for...in fact, she anticipated it.

Sans .

The self-righteous bastard, he was so content to sit back and loudly proclaim how good he was at protecting them...reminding them that without that promise he would have killed them. He had hurt Frisk by his inaction, his indifference. This little girl who was trying so hard...and he…

Oh but he made her work for it.

And then...Frisk had come back, she had wanted to forgive him...to stop the hurting, to stop the pain. Unexpectedly, Frisk had surged to the front of their mind and just begged Sans...begged him for mercy, for kindness.

And Sans, he…

She remembered that reload vividly as if it only happened a few seconds ago. An ear-deafening blast, right to the face. And then, when she came back, Frisk’s eyes were ruined... her vision was gone. Forever. No reloads, no resets, NOTHING could fix her anymore.

Frisk had shrieked in terror and pain, and that screaming didn’t stop when they reset, no. It just kept hurting, it kept piling up with each and every try. Every death had added a new mark, a new scar, a new pain. Neither girl could understand why was it that every time a monster killed them, the attack that killed them left them sore in that spot. A phantom pain with no injury, but with a barely seen scar that healed slowly, if at all.

And now… a blast to the eyes filled with so much… hate. So much intent to kill, to annihilate the poor girl off the face of the earth... left them more than simply “aching”.

“It’s okay,” Frisk smiled tenderly, “I can take it. Don’t worry about me, Chara.”

The red-eyed ghost felt another hot spike pass through her, but she forced it down.

“You shouldn’t have to Frisk.” But it was a futile argument, Chara knew. Frisk didn’t care she was blind, not really… The only times when she did were her panic attacks when she desperately needed someone to soothe her… only to have darkness all around her, her own shrieks deafening her to the words of compassion said by others.

Or the nightmares. The thrice-damned nightmares that haunted them every single wretched night. The worst ones weren’t always of that Hallway, rather it was of her father. That man, Chara had etched his face into her mind, every wrinkle, every grey hair, every strand of his beard and those sharp, cruel grey eyes.

Chara would never forget any of it and had promised herself that he would pay. One way or another.

“Switch with me,” Chara no longer asked. She demanded , “You need to sleep, if you’re not rested tomorrow, then there might be trouble. I can take it, switch with me and rest. I’m not taking a no for an answer.”

The red-eyed ghost wasn’t going to allow a discussion and forced her way into the body.

Jesus fucking Christ her body felt like it was BURNING.

Immediately pain assaulted her, and Chara’s eyes burst open, a deep blood red as raw agony burned through her, Chara’s thoughts numbed for several moments as she struggled to bring the suffering under control. Hell, she almost passed out because the initial shock barely let her even take a breath.

How had Frisk dealt with this for twelve hours!? No, twelve hours doesn’t even nearly cut it. Thirty-five fucking reloads, she had to deal with this for hours without pause or end.

Chara grit her teeth and mentally shoved back at Frisk’s attempt to retake control, she would endure this...if Frisk could withstand this for Thirty Five reloads, then Chara could handle it for a few hours. Frisk would get some well-deserved sleep, Chara would have it no other way.

For the first time in a long while, she felt like her entire being was filled with DETERMINATION.

Chapter Text

Morning came too quickly for the short skeleton, too quickly because for the first time in longer than he could remember, he had not had any nightmares. Just blissful even restful sleep that Sans desperately needed, not that it would prevent him from having long naps later.

He would have liked more of it.

Papyrus was already awake, of course, the short skeleton found him eating breakfast, which Alphys assured would be entirely covered by MTT along with their stay, which was fine with the shorter monster.

Sans grabbed a cup of coffee and ambled over to where Papyrus was enthusiastically waving, odd...Papyrus seemed pretty relaxed for someone whose idol had just put a kid into intensive care.

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, now would it?

Sans shoved the thought away because the circumstances were entirely different, the kid hadn’t actually done anything wrong this time, so it made the attack entirely unjustified. Sans piled eggs and bacon onto his plate and some toast and slid into a seat across from his brother, who was happily plowing through his meal.

“Brother,” Papyrus greeted, “Did you sleep well? It looked like it!” Sans felt a grin stretch across his face, it was rare that the younger skeleton allowed him to sleep in, but these were special circumstances.

“Well, as a matter of fact...” Sans slid into his seat, taking a swig of the coffee, it was actually pretty good. The short skeleton winked. “...yes. I slept really well. You could almost say I slept like a dead man.”

That little notion earned a groan from Papyrus near instantly, the taller brother facepalming at this ridiculously forced joke. Sans remembered seeing a movie, Star Battles or something, his brother had been very fascinated by it, Undyne too actually.

If that one was any more forced I’d probably be a Jedi by now. Heh.

Okay, Sans had liked it too, though he’d never admit it out loud; the idea of space travel was fascinating for a monster who loved astrology.

“After breakfast, we shall see Human Frisk,” Papyrus declared to the surprise of nobody, “Take them something to eat too! They will need their strength after such a long day yesterday.”

Again, Sans noted that his younger brother was ignoring the fabulously sequined elephant in the room; the fact that it was Mettaton who had attacked the child. The shorter monster felt conflicted; should he bring it up? Should he say something? It wasn’t an issue that could be ignored, they’d have to address it sooner or later after all. If only because the robot had proven himself to be the biggest threat to Frisk’s safety.

And here I thought it was me.

Sans splattered his eggs with ketchup then bit into them, the slight buzz would help keep him relaxed when they went over to see the human. He had briefly considered asking Grillby to swing by with some food, as the skeleton didn’t really trust Mettaton’s food, but ultimately decided against it; it wouldn’t be easy for Grillby to cross Waterfall safely, and it wouldn’t be right to ask him to do so for a human he barely knew.

Then again, he did seem invested in Frisk.

Sans remembered Undyne’s comment from last night, how the fish woman had mentioned that she felt like she knew the tiny human, which just added to the short skeleton’s growing suspicions that the resets weren’t perfect. Whatever mechanism allowed them to even occur didn’t fix everything entirely, it was imperfect. It always left small… distortions. Remnants of past variations of timelines.

So why was Sans the only one who was immune to this? Why did he remember things in their entirety or near entirety when others couldn’t? What was the key to all of this?

The shorter monster felt an uncomfortable gnawing; he had originally tried to figure out how and why Flowey was constantly resetting...but never got anywhere; the stupid WEED would always reset and destroy his work.

But if only Frisk could reset, then Sans may actually have a chance at figuring some of this out.

And I know where to start.

“You go on ahead bro, I got some stuff I gotta check first, important stuff. Don’ worry, I’ll see the kid after.” Sans placated, taking another sip of his coffee and trying to ignore his brother’s disapproving look and taking another bite of his breakfast.

“Well...as long as you promise brother, you worked very hard to save them after all, they probably want to thank you!”

That sickly feeling returned, like tar clinging to the back of his ribs, dripping down his spine slowly. Sans could feel his grin becoming more plastic, more strained and stretched, his eyelights flickering as he fought off memories.

He took another sip of his coffee.

“Y-Yeah dun worry bro, I’ll be there. Heh...I wouldn’ wanna miss sleepin’ beauty wake up.” Immediately the nickname felt strange, though hastily applied the story of a Princess who was awoken by a Prince’s true love’s kiss was…

He refused to think about it.

Papyrus had finished his meal and stood, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“Very well, Brother. I, The Great Papyrus, shall go on ahead and wait for you! Maybe I could take some food to The Tiny Human, no doubt they would enjoy some of Mettaton’s delicious food, though not as delicious as breakfast spaghetti! Nyeh heh heh!” Papyrus was back in his jovial form, certain that everything would work out for the best.

A lonely red scarf blows in a dust-choked wind.

“Heh, you’re the coolest bro.”

********

“I’m sorry” Frisk murmured, pale eyes closed.

She had retaken her position in the body as the one in control. She had managed to rest, though sleeping when you don’t have a body to control was a very strange feeling indeed. It was like floating in darkness where time had no meaning, memories, and thoughts coming and going like water through a sieve.

It was...soothing, though she missed the omnipresent pressure of Chara’s...mind? Soul? Neither were really sure how it worked, and they had many discussions and theories about it, but nothing concrete.

Though to the girls, it wasn’t all that important, though explaining it to someone else would be difficult if even they weren’t entirely sure of the mechanics behind the...possession? Reincarnation?

“It’s fine, you had to endure worse than this.” Chara responded lightly, though the ghost-like girl had no desire to go through that particular hell again. Frisk had been under some anesthesia but it was designed more for monsters than humans, so while it had an effect, it wasn’t much of one. Yet in spite of this, Frisk had found the DETERMINATION to stay in control, to keep Chara from taking over for more than a second or two.

Chara had her suspicions why...but didn’t argue with her partner; it was clearly something Frisk felt that she needed to do and even though the rosy-cheeked girl wasn’t happy about it, she tried her best to support the blinded human.

“Was it...bad?” Frisk whimpered, “I’m sorry. I should have-” Chara’s pressure suddenly loomed, as it always did when the dead girl was frustrated with her partner, Frisk likened it to a mental scowl or maybe a frustrated stomp.

“No! You needed rest! You need to take care of yourself!” Immediately, Chara regretted loses her temper, as she heard the other girl sniffle in shame; not because she wasn’t caring for her own body, rather because she had made someone upset. That last attempt had really left severe emotional scars on the little human. In addition to physical ones.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-” the human stammered, curling up slightly then yelping as pain burst through their body; shoulder and side protesting; sending sharp spikes of pain radiating through the tiny body.

“No, it’s fine...calm down...calm down shh...I’m not mad at you, shhhh...I’m just worried about you” Chara coaxed, silently cursing her inability to physically embrace her partner, to hold her tightly and banish those terrors and fears away. This was her fault, if Chara hadn’t pushed for them to try and make a ‘strong soul’ then Frisk wouldn’t be even worse off than they already were.

The girl sniffled, her body trembling; sadness and fear roiling inside but she tried to be brave, to be strong...for Chara. When she was fully recovered, she was...she wasn’t sure what she would do. Giving up her soul wasn’t a possibility anymore, otherwise, she would just go to Asgore right away and hand it over so the monsters could be free of the Underground and of her.

But thanks to that last attempt to save Asriel, handing her soul over was no longer an option and so for the first time in a long time, Frisk was completely lost on what to do.

“Don’t move around, okay? Wait for Undyne and Alphys, you need to heal...you also need some food in you.”

The little human sniffled and nodded obediently, settling back against her pillows; hopefully, she hadn’t torn any of Sans’ hard work, though with the constant throbbing pain, it was hard to tell.

She was hungry.

“...Sans tried really hard to help us” Frisk noted after a moment and felt Chara nod in agreement. She knew that Chara absolutely did NOT like the short skeleton, though the blind human did...she thought his jokes were really funny and that he had a very nice smile. She hoped that he was still smiling...and that he’d tell her more jokes.

Even if he was kind of...scary.

The rose-cheeked Chara knew that Frisk liked Sans, however, and so usually held her tongue, referring to him as ‘comedian’ or ‘smiley trashbag’. The blind girl wasn’t sure why her partner disliked the pun-loving skeleton, it’s not like he did anything wrong; he just protected and loved his brother.

It was FRISK who had done everything wrong.

“Oh no, don’t you start with that,” Chara scolded gently, “You are good, Frisk. You are very good and very kind.”

“But I do bad things!” Frisk whimpered, “I’m bad, I’m a bad, stupid, filthy Brother Killer. I deserve it, I deserve it I-” the blind girl descended into shame-filled sobs, her body wracked with misery and despair, guilt crashing down upon the child like a wave. It was like she was drowning in an ocean of bad memories, it felt like she was going to suffocate--

She felt a jolt of shock go through her body as a clawed hand gently touched the human’s arm.

“Y-You’re not a b-bad person.” Alphys spoke gently but firmly in spite of her stutter, being careful not to touch the little human’s bandaged side and shoulder, “You’re v-very brave. Un-Undyne said sh-she was very pr-proud of you. I-I’m proud of y-you too.”

“How long has she been here for?”

Alphys smiled at the blind girl, even though she knew that Frisk couldn’t see her. It was true; somehow the little one had endured through surgery, a very painful surgery with minimal anesthesia; fading in-and-out of consciousness. She couldn’t have imagined what the child was going through even in her worst dreams. To endure it in reality… the little girl was incredibly tenacious, clearly.

The reptilian scientist allowed silence to reign for a few minutes, so that Frisk could consider what she had said, and it allowed Alphys to gather up some breakfast for the child; toast mostly. Alphys had been meaning to go out and get groceries but as usual, had gotten caught up in her work, and after yesterday she was too exhausted.

“She knows.”

“Wh-Who were you ta-talking to, if y-you don’t mind me as-asking” Alphys placed a plate down on Frisk’s lap, then gently helped the recovering human into a sitting position, being as delicate as she could. The little human winced, Alphys uncertain if it was because of the pain that must be shooting through her injured body, or from the question...or both?

“Don’t tell, don’t tell, don’t tell, don’t tell!”

“I…” Frisk tilted her head slightly and chewed on her bottom lip, before giving an awkward laugh, “N-No one, it must have been a dream.” Alphys was completely unconvinced...but didn’t push the issue for the moment.

Their little human had issues, that much was apparent, but for now, they needed to focus on healing and recovery, the other problems could be dealt with as they arose.

“Is Mettaton okay?”

Alphys stared in shock at the human; stunned at the question, so innocently and honestly delivered. Mettaton had used a chainsaw and bombs to hurt the little girl, and she was...she was worried about him!?

“Ah...w-well, Mettaton is f-fine. Un-Undyne only d-did light damage, h-he’ll recover wh-when I have t-time to fix him” Neither monster noticed Undyne sitting up on the couch, tiredness in her eye, yet she listened to the pair intently.

“That’s good,” Frisk visibly relaxed, “I hope he is able to move around again soon.” the reptilian scientist was touched by Frisk’s kindness, and...concerned; this child deserved justice and as much as Alphys loved Mettaton, she knew that this unprovoked attack was indefensible.

“Y-You’re not angry a-at him?” the scientist probed, helping Frisk find the plate of buttered toast, the girl taking a bite of it and all but purring in pleasure at the taste, a smile splitting her face; just something as simple as buttered toast was able to bring joy to this little one...and of course her body desperately needed the food.

“Oh no,” Frisk shook her head, hair swaying, “He made a little mistake but he can do the right thing, I believe he can. But if he gets hurt...he won’t be able to do it, and that wouldn’t be right.” It was the logic of a child, but it was also concerning that the blind girl seemed to be dismissing her own injuries.

“But yo-you were hurt,’ Alphys pointed out, now noticing Undyne who stood and was straightening her clothes, “B-Badly, you a-almost died.”

The girl’s lips twitched, eyebrows furrowing, though neither monster could figure out exactly why.

“It’s...it’s okay,” Frisk explained, fiddling with the empty plate, “If my getting hurt helps him become better, then I don’t mind,” the little one smiled, “Sometimes...sometimes being hurt can help others heal.”

Undyne shared a worried look with Alphys; that kind of statement betrayed very low self-worth...and a very kind heart. The question of whether or not she would want Mettaton punished had been more or less answered.

“W-Well, I-I have something I n-need to do, b-but Undyne’s here n-now, and P-Papyrus and S-Sans will be o-on their w-way soon.”

Frisk perked up and her head tilted as if she was trying to listen for the fish woman, Undyne’s worried expression melting into an affectionate grin.

“Heh, I’m here Babyfish.” The little human’s face lit up and she made a happy little gasp, as Undyne’s arms wrapped around the girl affectionately but very gently as to not agitate her injuries.

Alphys’ face stretched into a small smile, and she toddled off, she had seen Frisk’s x-rays and soul scans last night and they were...well they weren’t any better, but she had to prepare them to show Sans at least, one more scientific-minded person would be of great use in this puzzle.

“HUMAN!”

The little girl jumped in surprise at the voice, Papyrus entering the room with a full platter of breakfast he had brought from the resort, still hot and fresh thanks to the heat in the core and Hotland itself.

“I’m glad you’re awake, The Great Papyrus has brought you breakfast! Nyeh heh heh!” In spite of how loud he was, Undyne couldn’t help but smile while Frisk giggled a little, he was in high spirits in spite of yesterday, and anything that made the little human laugh couldn’t be bad, as far as Undyne was concerned.

The platter was placed down, along with a thermos of orange juice for the little one to enjoy, the tiny human shifting back and forth in eager delight, but she didn’t touch the food, not until Undyne patted her head and told her she was allowed to.

Then the little one dug in with gusto.

Papyrus shot his friend a questioning look, but Undyne waved it off; now was not the time to be discussing the little one’s oddities, especially not in the face of such a bright and warm smile.

The magical food appeared to be doing its job, Frisk looked a little more relaxed, though she had a lot of healing ahead of her and she also looked a bit tired, too; not surprising considering how much blood she lost yesterday.

“You are looking much better, Little Human!” smiled Papyrus, the blind girl’s expression flushing and she squirmed a little, not certain how to accept even that casual observation.

“Th-Thank you Papyrus” The child agreed, “I am feeling better too, the food is delicious, thank you” she swallowed some orange juice and shifted; half her plate of food still resting on her lap.

“But ya didn’t eat it all, babyfish, come on...jus’ a bit more, okay?” Undyne urged, and the girl shifted in distress; should she eat it? She was still very hungry but-

“Eat it, you need it.” Chara scolded, “And it’ll make Undyne happy...and me too.” the last part was added a little quieter and to be fair it was probably at least a little bit of manipulation...but it worked. The brunette bobbed her head, and finished the rest of her meal, finally feeling full; a sensation she was most certainly not used to.

The skeleton and fish monster showered Frisk with praise, making the girl squirm more, growing distressed at what they were saying it; she didn’t deserve all this! She just ate food, that was not deserving of praise at all! That wasn’t big or important, it was just food, just eating, there was no reason for them to say all of this!

“I...I…” Frisk began to shake again, tears wetting her eyes, shame and guilt wadded together into a cold, heavy ball in her gut, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry-”

Undyne was there in a second, letting the tiny human fall into her embrace, sobbing softly against the muscular fish woman. Undyne’s expression was a helpless one; tinged with fury...not at Papyrus or the little girl though.

No, she was angry at whoever had done this to an innocent child, whoever had...had mutilated this child’s mind and body for some unknown crime, leaving them in such a fragile state.

“It’s okay babyfish,” Undyne soothed, “Ya didn’t do anythin’ wrong, we’re proud of ya. It’s okay...yer okay.” Undyne didn’t know why the girl had started to cry, she could only guess that it was some voice twisting inside of the little one’s head, some vicious thought that clawed at her mind and tore her down.

And how do you fight something you can’t see or hear?

Undyne had no answers.

All she could do was hold the sobbing little girl in her arms and hoped that they didn’t fall apart any more than they did.

Papyrus remembered his thoughts from last night...his protests about Frisk’s safety in Undyne’s care, and felt a stab of guilt for them. For any criticisms he may have had for his friend, it was clear that the fish woman genuinely cared for the little human girl.

In the short time they had come to know each other, the two had bonded quickly, Frisk bringing out the best, the deepest of Undyne’s protective instincts. He didn’t know why or how...but the two had become very close.

The tall skeleton allowed himself a little smile, but it had notes of sadness in it because he knew that these two had a long road ahead of them, one full of pain. As much as he may want to try and protect Frisk, he knew that trying to take her from Undyne would just lead to unnecessary hurt. No...he wouldn’t bring it up, instead, he would just have to be the best friend he could be to both of them.

Such a thing should be easy for The Great Papyrus.

Watching the pair embrace, Papyrus found himself thinking that red eyes really did suit the little human as much as blue.

********

The hall.

It was still early in the morning, but the birds were still singing, the beginnings of light cresting in through the windows to splash across the golden floors, the pillars casting long shadows across the tiles.

Sans felt a chill pass through his bones, in spite of the fact that he wasn’t particularly susceptible to the cold, just being here made him feel...uneasy. This was supposed to be a kind of final destination, where he rendered judgment upon those who deserved it... though, in all honesty, the short skeleton rarely was given any opportunities to fulfill his role.

Yet somewhere along the line, the hall had become a place of beginnings and Sans wasn’t sure he knew how to pinpoint it. The uncomfortable pressure returned, a swelling in the judge’s rib cage that he didn’t like, an itchy feeling like something was being dragged over his bones.

The short monster sighed and walked down the hall slowly, hands stuffed into his pockets and grin faded from his face, his breathing was uneven and a heavy sense of dread hung in the air. He kept expecting to turn around and see a child there, a human child wearing a broken grin and empty red (red?) eyes.

He stopped in the middle of the hall and took a slow breath, steadying his nerves; nobody else was here; just him. He didn’t have to pretend to be calm, collected and indifferent, he could let the mask drop a little...he could let himself feel.

The skeleton took a step and stopped when he heard something crack underfoot, brow wrinkled in confusion, Sans took a step back and knelt. The tile here was cracked outwards as if something had broken up from beneath it.

Sans’ mouth felt dry.

Bone dry.

He couldn’t even laugh at his own joke, that uncomfortable pressure beneath his ribs building.

...calm down, bonehead. Could… could have been the weed, right? It crawls out from the floor, right?

The skeleton shook his head, and stood, forcing a smile onto his face as he looked around, that was the only oddity; just a crack on a single tile, it’s not like...it’s...there was faint fracturing along one of the pillars.

Sans ambled over to it with a forced casualness and reached out, fingers touching it fault; like something had smashed against it...or it had fallen. But stone cracked all the time, he should know; he lived under a mountain! Lots of stone was always cracking, this didn’t mean anything. Just wear and tear from time.

Sans moved again, walking down the hall, eye lights now searching and lingering on flat crack on the opposite wall, he moved over and stared at it for a moment; it looked like something flat had struck it, digging into the stone.

Like a knife.

Sweat began to run down the skeleton’s skull; it had to be a coincidence, it just had to be! There was no way, just no way he...he couldn’t. Sans swung about, noticing more cracks, more damage that was simultaneously alien and yet so familiar and each one was harder and harder to dismiss. Yet his mind continued to rebel; refusing to accept it; this was just all circumstance, there was nothing here to prove definitely anything!

Sans looked left and right, but something caught an eye light; not a crack or fracture...but a hole, sitting out like a shallow grave against the brightly-coloured tile. The short skeleton walked unsteadily towards it, breath caught in his throat; choking him.

It was an irregular shape, but...but it couldn’t possibly...could it?

Sans knew that there was only one way to know for sure.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, the skeleton monster summoned a bone into one hand, and knelt; gently inserting it into the hole in the floor, fear chewing at his bones like a dog.

The bone clicked to place inside, resting perfectly straight up; as if the hole had been designed with the femur in mind. It looked like the femur had burst up from the ground...to pin a little hand to the floor, leaving a child helpless to be executed.

To be dunked on.

Sans felt bile well up in his throat, a coldness settling into his gut, his head was spinning. His breath came in short fast pants, eyes wide and bones rattling. The short skeleton fell to his knees, staring at the bone, unable to stop his body trembling or the horrible sticky feeling that clung to his ribs, as black and putrid as...as hatred itself, like blood dripping down his body.

Slowly, the judge looked up, bony brows pulled together into a pained look of shock; at the cracks, faults and fractures that were haphazardly sprinkled about the room, wounds from another time, defiantly unhealed by the reset.

He didn’t know what to do...his mind struggling with the possibility; had he...had...well..no. NO! There was no way, okay so the hall was still damaged, but that didn’t mean he was responsible for the kid’s blindness; they could have been blind when they first fell down here, that was not his fault!

His bones creaked as he stood.

That...that just meant that he would have to help them, as long as they behaved, it would be okay, nothing else bad would happen, it would-

“It’s a beautiful day outside,” Sans stiffened at the voice behind him, “Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like these,” Sans turned around and glared, “Trash bags like you...should be burning in hell. ”

Flowey.

“You little fuckin’ weed!” Sans spat viciously, earning an amused grin from the flower, “What are you doin’ here?”

The little flower monster laughed, the sound was like metal scraping against metal; a disjointed and ugly noise. Sans hated that sound almost as much as he hated the flower monster itself, the sadistic little creature grinning openly at the pain of others.

Did she ever do that?

“I’m just watching this little play unravel, it’s so INTERESTING!” Flowey screeched the word with sadistic glee, eyes shimmering with cruelty. No, the Ano...Frisk was never like this, try as he might, Sans couldn’t picture her with that same wicked sneer.

Sans glared and picked up the bone, letting it float up into the air next to him to menace the flower, unsuccessfully. The little flower monster just cackled again, knowing he was getting under Sans’ proverbial skin. This was a far better game than Flowey could imagine, Sans was all rattled and off-balance, he was so easy to provoke like this and watching him slowly being consumed by guilt and shame was endless fun.

It totally made dying in the last reset absolutely worth it.

“Get outta here weed, I aint in the mood.” Sans snapped and let the bone fly at the flower, not expecting it to hit, it didn’t as Flowey just wobbled out of the way.

“Or you’ll what, Dunk Me!? ” It had the desired effect, Sans’ eyelights flickering out, guilt and anger mixing together into a violent maelstrom of emotion within the short skeleton monster. The flower had never before managed to destabilize Sans this badly, not without killing his brother at least.

What did this thrice-damned flower know that Sans didn’t!?

Sans rounded on the plant, knowing that no matter what he did, he would be giving the little weed the satisfaction of a response, he couldn’t even walk out without doing it at this point, so it was best to at least give a response that would make Sans feel a little better.

The magic coalesced into a large floating skull that unleashed a blast of blue-tinged magic, of course, the flower shot back into the ground before the beam could hit, and Sans swore that Flowey had been laughing the whole time. He hadn’t really expected the beam to hit, so the scorch mark on the tiles was only mildly disappointing.

Sans turned and left in a hurry; he had to go talk to Alphys; hopefully to put this growing sense of anxiety away for good and wipe that smug smirk off the damned little flower’s face.

This was not my fault, I did nothing wrong.

And maybe, if he kept repeating that to himself, he might start to believe it.

Maybe.

********

Frisk was being examined by Undyne when Sans arrived, he had shortcutted to the outside of the lab, then walked in, not wanting to startle the kid and having a feeling they may not respond well to the tell-tale hiss of magic when he did a shortcut, all things considered.

Besides, if Papyrus started yelling at him for being insensitive, it would put him in a bad mood, well, a worse one anyway. He couldn’t afford to tip anyone off to what was going on, and at this point, he wasn’t even sure if the...if Frisk knew what was happening.

The short monster paused by the entrance and just observed for a few minutes, watching as Undyne gently manipulated the child’s arm while Papyrus took pictures of Frisk’s unbandaged legs.

Sans was momentarily baffled by Papyrus, until realized that Alphys may have instructed the tall monster to take the pictures for records keeping, so they could track the girl’s recovery...that wasn’t a bad idea actually, if they had a record of it, they would know how well she was responding to treatment and if they needed to change anything.

In spite of how meek she was, Alphys really did know her stuff.

“Heya guys, how’s it goin’?” Sans ambled in, the other monsters waving at him as he entered, though most interesting was how the little human perked up, head tilting around as if to try and figure out where he was.

“How’re ya doin’ kiddo?” Sans stopped by the foot of the bed, Papyrus starting to rebandage the leg with a fresh cloth and green gel; she was healing well but it would be at minimum two more weeks until those marks were gone, maybe longer. Green magic tried to heal everything at once, so making it target a single area was tricky.

Frisk visibly flushed at the kiddo comment, hips shifting from side-to-side as if excited and pleased. Sans had no idea why it was just a random nickname he had plucked from the air, he hadn’t meant anything by it. Then again, with how he had been treating them the last few days, maybe any sign of friendship on his part would have made her excited.

That guilty feeling returned again, but he kicked it away; he had other things to worry about at the moment.

“I’m okay.” The child responded gently, biting her knuckles for a moment before Undnye plucked the girl’s hand from her mouth. The short skeleton noticed other bite marks around her thumb and joints, indicating that this was an ongoing problem for this little one, that feeling of guilt was harder to push away this time.

“Heh, well I’m gonna go talk ta Doc Alphys, I got some questions for her, okay kiddo?” Sans reached out and gently squeezed her thigh, the girl didn’t flinch and just nodded. Sans couldn’t immediately see any scars that he recognized from his bones...but that didn’t mean anything.

He rubbed the back of his neck and stepped back, and made his way into the back room, where he found Alphys studying some pictures on a screen.

“Knock knock” the skeleton lazily called, “ya here Al?” The reptilian scientist jumped in surprise and turned to face Sans, a smile on her face.

“S-Sans, you’re h-here!” Alphys beckoned her friend in, the comedian stepping inside to join her. Sans plucked a bottle of ketchup from his jacket pocket and took a swig from it, enjoying the slight burn of the magic as it went down his non-existent throat.

“I-I was j-just going o-over Fri-Frisk’s x-rays an-and soul scans. H-Here, take a l-look.” The reptilian scientist hurried over to a backlit screen for displaying the x-rays, and turned it on, placing the pictures on display for him to inspect.

“A-As you can see, h-her x-rays are v-very confusing, to s-say the least.” Sans didn’t respond as Alphys continued to gesture, pointing at the odd scrapes and scratches, and scars covering Frisk’s bones, yet the child apparently moved about with ease, in spite of these...marks.

“Th-This one is the m-most alarming th-though.” Alphys brought up the skull x-ray, and gestured to the obvious scarring across the top of the skull and around the face, marks that should have been incredibly painful, marks that-

“S-Sans?” Alphys looked at her friend in worry.

Sans’ eyelights had winked out entirely, a painful grin stretched across his face, his body standing rigid and still.

And he just...stared at the x-rays of Frisk’s skull, with a painful, painted grin.

His spine and ribs felt sticky, like blood dripping down his back.

Slowly, very slowly...he lifted the bottle to his mouth and drained it.

This is gonna be a long day.

Chapter Text

Frisk yawned a little, shifting in Undyne’s arms. The little human had protested softly that she was able to walk on her own, that Undyne didn’t need to carry her, but the large fish woman would not be deterred. The blue-scaled monster was taking no chances and was determined to see Frisk pampered until the little human had fully recovered.

What about Asgore?

Undyne tightened her protective grip on the child, she had no answer. This was active treason, she was knowingly breaking the king’s greatest decree. Even if he had sort of raised...at least mentored Undyne, there was no guarantee that he’d show her any sort of mercy or understanding, not in the face of the desires of the monsters.

She did have a plan, it wasn’t a great one, but there was a plan of sorts. Undyne had thought it up after Mettaton’s attack, but hadn’t had time to really-

“I-I can walk…” The cyclopian guard glanced down and smiled at the blind child who wore a little pout and crossed little bandaged arms, already eager to start walking again even if Alphys had stated that she should take it easy. Undyne could sense that the girl was developing a stubborn streak, she would really be a lot like Undyne.

Like her Mom.

Both human and monster were still struggling with that title...though it seemed Frisk was more cautious to use the word, more hesitant..judging by those marks, Undyne could understand, the kid wasn’t used to having any consistent, caring female figures in her life.

In a way, Undyne was a little relieved; she was still getting used to her role in this too, that Frisk was taking it slow meant that they both were being cautious and careful; not pushing too hard or too fast.

“I know babyfish,” chuckled Undyne, “But ya heard Al, guess you’re jus’ gonna have ta deal with me carryin’ ya, if that’s okay with you.” Undyne adored the blush that stretched across the little girl’s face and the way Frisk leaned into Undyne’s chest and didn’t argue the point. Undyne suspected it was an inner struggle between the human’s fear of being a burden and longing to be held and accepted.

God Undyne could understand that.

“I don’t mind…” The corners of the little human’s lips curled up into a small, fragile smile. Undyne hoped that one day she could make that face split into a huge grin, the kind that the fish woman herself often wore.

They walked in silence or rather Undyne walked and Frisk snuggled, her legs hurting a little from the bouncing, though she knew the fish monster couldn’t help it so she didn’t say anything and just enjoyed the tender contact with a gentle sigh.

“Yo! Undyne!” The monster woman stopped and looked around for a moment before spying an enthusiastic reptilian monster running towards them. He looked very familiar to Alphys; same yellow colouration and amber eyes but wearing a sleeveless yellow and brown-striped shirt, the stripes indicating that he was a child.

I need ta get Frisk more striped shirts.

“Hey Punk!” Undyne greeted with a wide, toothy grin, the fish woman stopping politely and turning to face him. His name was ‘Kid’ which was probably going to cause him a few problems when he grew up, but Kid didn’t seem too concerned by it, he was the kind of monster who lived in the moment, and didn’t worry about the future.

“I didn’t see you around the last few days, I was...yoo, what’s that!?” Kid hopped and bounced, trying to get a good look at what Undyne was carrying, his amber eyes wide and sparkling.

Undyne knew that she couldn’t keep Frisk a secret forever, it simply wasn’t feasible by any measure. But to a degree, Undyne had been prepared for this; and had intended to slowly introduce her human to monsters, monsters she knew she could trust and that would take time to understand the little one so that way when they inevitably encountered Asgore, she’d have backing from others to help protect the blind child.

That was the plan anyway.

In truth, Undyne hadn’t intended for Kid to be the first Monster for Frisk to meet, but he wasn’t a bad choice either. The little girl would need friends, after all, friends her age. The last thing the fish woman wanted was for the little one to grow up before her time; Undyne knew personally how difficult that could be.

“Ya ready to meet someone new, Babyfish?” The blind child cocked her head, worry creasing her features; considering how her last meeting went, Undyne could understand the anxiety that they were feeling, “They aint like Mettaton, they’re nice and right about your age too.”

The reptilian monster kid puffed up with pride at being called ‘nice’ by Undyne. Sure it wasn’t ‘cool’ or ‘awesome’ or ‘amazing’ like he would have liked, but nice was pretty good too, and if Undyne said he was nice, then he would be the nicest monster ever!

“Yo, I’m pretty nice! I won’t bite you or hit you or nothin’, I don’t even have arms ta hit anyone!” Kid grinned broadly, his pride at this little fact only cemented Undyne’s belief that Frisk needed the little reptile as a friend. Undyne’s grin broadened as her human perked up at this fact; they both had handicaps...so maybe they would actually be nice. With a nod from the small human, Undyne knelt, and shifted Frisk so that she was sitting facing forward so the two could meet.

Frisk actually remembered the Monster Kid, he had seemed pretty nice though very fixated about Undyne...though it had been nice to talk to him, she didn’t really know him. She wasn’t even sure what the monster child’s name was, so she wouldn’t really have to pretend for this meeting at all.

“H-Hi,” the blind girl stammered, “I’m Frisk…” she wasn’t sure what else to say; the little human had not really socialized much before and saying what Daddy told her to say to new people didn’t seem appropriate.

Undyne probably wouldn’t be too thrilled if she said ‘please fuck my little pussy and mouth as much as you want’.

“Oh wow, are you a human?” The reptile gasped, the little one wincing and whimpering; clearly afraid, Kid hopped in the air, eyes wide with glee, “Wow that’s so cool! You’re a human and you’re with Undyne? Oh man, I’m so jealous!”

The human’s eyebrows shot up in surprise; she had been expecting any other response, not awe and delight, maybe..

“Y-Yeah, Undyne’s really nice.” Frisk kicked her feet a little, “She is warm and strong and I feel very safe with her.” The human couldn’t see it, but Undyne’s cheeks coloured while the fish woman’s soul felt ready to burst from joy and pride, but there was also a shadow of guilt and shame looming over it; because the blue-scaled monster had failed to protect the little girl from Mettaton, and had been helpless to do anything during the resulting surgery.

Never again, Undyne silently swore, I will be deserving of that smile.

“Frisk is jus’ like you, Kid,” Undyne said, but before she could explain further, the armless monster adopted a confused expression, looking intently at the human’s arms.

“But she’s got arms! I don’t, how is she like me?” Frisk giggled lightly, covering her mouth with small fingers politely.

“It’s because I’m blind,” The little one explained, waving a hand in front of her pale baby blues, “I can’t see anything.”

Kid’s jaw fell open, his amber eyes studying the human’s milky blue ones, then his expression melted into a squeal of joy and he hopped a few times in delighted excitement.

“Oh YO! You really ARE like me! That’s just...THE COOLEST!”  The monster boy hopped from foot-to-foot, excitement obvious on his face at meeting someone who had a disability like he did, “Oh yo, yo! Can we be friends? That’d just be so cool! Can we?”

Frisk tilted slightly as if waiting for Undyne to give her permission.

“If you two nerds wanna be friends, I have no problems with it, it’d be good for babyfish ta have some friends around here who can help her and hang out with her when I’m at work,” Undyne smirked, and Kid looked even more excited, as Frisk nodded.

“Then...yes, I’d like to be friends with you too, Kid.” Undyne had said his name was Kid...right?

“Oh man, this is just so cool!” Kid squealed, hopping around again, Frisk giggling innocently, it was a warm sound that Undyne enjoyed hearing. However, the little reptile finally noticed the human’s bandages and the way the Captain of The Guard was cradling her, and his brow wrinkled into honest concern.

“Hey, you’re all wrapped up yo, what happened? Didja get hurt or somethin’?” Frisk squeezed her thighs together, arms hugging her own body self-consciously, but she gave a little nod.

“Yes, I had a little accident.” The human dismissed, “But it’s okay, Undyne saved me.” The younger monster completely missed Undyne’s pained look, though the fish woman recovered quickly, and just chuckled.

Little accident... LITTLE ACCIDENT.

Frisk still wanted to see Mettaton, and Undyne knew she really couldn’t stop it, she would insist on being there. She also wanted to have her own little talk with the robot beforehand to make absolutely sure that Mettaton understood that Frisk’s kindness was the ONLY reason he wasn't scrapped.

“Oh wow!” Kid gasped, then grinned again, “Well you’ll be in good hands with Undyne! She’s so awesome!” Frisk giggled and nodded in agreement.

The fish woman stood, chuckling and shifting so that frisk was once more seated in her arms, she did have to get home after all but that didn’t mean that the Monster Kid couldn’t join them.

“Come on nerds, let’s get back to my place, you two can hang out there, alright?” The two children cheered and headed back towards Undyne’s fish-shaped house, Kid chattering in excitement the entire way.

********

Fissures.

Greenstick fractures.

Transverse fractures.

Simple fractures.

One or two oblique fractures.

And a few of what looked like they could be comminuted fractures.

Sans sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking at Frisk’s x-rays on the display. The injuries alone told a gruesome story, and he knew just from looking at them that they all couldn’t be from her time on the surface, no. Too many of them looked nearly or absolutely fatal.

Hell, the linear and hairline fractures and scratches on the skull were bad enough, and also he sadly recognized them as damage from his blaster. Others he could only guess at, and of course, there were the multiple compound fractures in her shoulder and ribs from Mettaton’s chainsaw.

How are you still alive kiddo?

Sans finger traced over the x-rays slowly, he knew he was missing something here, a major puzzle piece but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. The short skeleton knew that the resets were involved...and he guessed that many of the other wounds were from magical attacks, but why had that blaster been the only one to actually cause blindness? Or had it been the only one to leave scars on the skin as well?

The skeleton monster shifted, looking at the pictures of Frisk’s skin, the ones that had been taken to help track her recovery. The kid was going to have some very nasty scars, especially from the chainsaw, yet they had just said that they weren’t angry at Mettaton, and believed he could be a better person if he just tried.

Reminds me of someone else I know.

He should have seen the attack as justice; after all the kid had attacked Papyrus too in a similar situation and with much the same result, so shouldn’t this outcome be making Sans feel even a little bit better?

So why did it make him so...so…his hands tightened, the paper crinkling.

Angry.

Sans wrestled his emotions back under control, and scowled at the pictures once more; this whole situation was growing more and more confused, yet he found himself unable to blame Frisk for it, the anoma...the kid had done everything right so far, they had done everything he could have expected of them.

As hard as it was to admit it, they weren’t responsible for this mess, not this time at least. While he could and absolutely did hold them responsible for what happened in the last timeline, they hadn’t done anything even remotely similar in this one.

The short monster reached across his desk and plucked the bottle of ketchup from it, and took a swig to help calm his emotions and the itching in his mind. He intended to try and match injuries on her skin to the ones on her skeleton, but that may be difficult, there were just so...many, it wasn’t something that could be done without a lot of patience...and perhaps alcohol.

Then there was the matter of her soul.

The skeleton put the ketchup bottle back down and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, then reached out and plucked a page from the stack on his desk; it was the soul scan.

A red soul covered in splinters and fractures, held together by white threads and a pale ivory light; the kind of thing that also asked more questions than it answered.

Alphys was right to be disgusted and horrified; no healthy soul should look like this, how was it even still together? What were those white threads? Were they magic? He hadn’t seen any magic that looked like that and he wasn’t eager to go poking at her soul either.

It just looked so...so fragile.

Just like the rest of her.

A mystery, how could he have spent so much time with her, yet know so little about the tiny human? How could he have fought them so many times, yet not seen any of these markings? Any of these scars? Or had he seen them and simply not cared?

That was less of a question that didn’t have an answer and more of a question he didn’t want to answer, he already felt guilty enough as it was.

“S-Sans?” The comedian glanced up from his work to the door where Alphys’ head had poked in, “I-I’m going to b-bring Mettaton b-back out, d-did you want to help m-me?”

Sans’ grin took on a vicious glint and he pushed away from the desk, standing and stuffing his hands into his white coat pockets.

“Sure Al, not a problem.”

At least this he knew how to handle, Goddamn robot had caused enough hurt and pain in the last half day, it was time for some of his own.

Papyrus was there, of course, his bright grin marred by worry, a well-justified worry; Mettaton had some questions to answer and Sans was not in a playful mood, even Alphys was looking serious. The robot’s only saving grace was Undyne wasn’t here, or else this wouldn’t be a discussion, it’d be an execution.

The robot in question was wheeled out on a trolley, looking pretty pitiful indeed; reduced to just a head and a torso. His arms and legs were on the bottom half of the trolley, along with a collection of gears, wires and other pieces torn off in Undyne’s assault. The glamorous monster was looking around with worry as best as he could but still managed a smile, even if it was a worried one.

“Well hello darlings,” he chirped, “I was wondering when someone was going to come and get me, I have been rather confused.”

Papyrus waved from his seat, eyes brightening at seeing his idol, even if it was in this sorry state.

“Greetings Mettaton! I am The Great Papyrus, I never miss any of your shows and I have them all taped! I’m so happy I finally get to meet you...even if it isn’t in the most ideal of circumstances.”

In spite of the situation, Mettaton visibly brightened and shot Papyrus a thousand-watt smile, the kind that he was known for on TV.

Sans found the robot’s display obnoxious, once again completely baffled by what Papyrus actually saw in the narcissistic microwave.

“Ah! A fan!” Mettaton beamed, “It’s so good to meet you, I’d get up to shake your hand but..well…” the glamorous robot chuckled, oblivious or ignoring Sans’ sneer.

“M-Mettaton, we didn’t c-come here for th-that,” Alphys scolded, pushing her glasses up her nose, “W-We have something v-very serious to d-discuss.” The reptilian scientist’s tone was as grave as Sans had ever heard it, a fact that did not escape the fabulous self-styled idol.

“Oh dear, is this about that little misunderstanding yesterday? The one with the human.” Mettaton tried his award-winning smile again, but it’s luster didn’t work on his creator, nor on the comedian, Papyrus, however, found himself grinning back; still star-struck.

“Misunderstanding?” Sans didn’t quite manage to keep the growl out of his voice, “You nearly sliced her in half with a goddamned chainsaw!” Mettaton did his best to shrug without any arms.

“A misunderstanding dear, I saw a human and lost my head, so to speak,” Sans twitched at the phrase, “What kind of monster wouldn’t want a human’s soul? Especially one like me; to be able to leave the underground and become a true star of the whole world! That’s my dream, and I guess I let it get away from me. But no harm done, right? She will recover.”

Sans nearly exploded at the robot’s casual dismissal of the entire incident, furious at the gall the robot was showing.

“Me-Mettaton, sh-she’s Undyne’s child, y-you’re lucky sh-she didn’t do worse t-to you.” Alphys scolded, earning a surprised look from the robot in question.

“Undyne’s? Really? That would certainly explain her dodging, girl was like a dancer!” Did he really not understand what he had done? The weight of the entire situation?

“Mettaton…” Papyrus stood, rubbing his hands together nervously, “What my brother and Doctor Alphys are trying to say it...well...you attacked a little blind girl who has already been badly hurt, very badly hurt. They’re very upset you see….” The kind skeleton trailed off, Mettaton looking at him with a confusion that slowly melted into shock.

“Are you...are you serious darling? That the human is...blind?” When Papyrus nodded, Mettaton got a very troubled and confused look on his face, blinking and furrowing his shiny metal brow as if trying to comprehend what was just said.

“Yeah he’s serious, Shiny,” Sans spat, “Ya threw bombs and chainsaw’d open a kid who was fucken’ blind. What kinda psychopath attacks a goddamn blind seven-year-old kid!?” Sans had a head full of anger, fueled by ketchup, and Mettaton had just made himself a nice, big target.

“N-Now brother, please calm down. I’m sure Mettaton is very sorry for what he did.”

Mettaton nodded enthusiastically, eager to have the enraged Sans away from himself, while Alphys didn’t so much as raise a claw in his defense.

“Sorry? SORRY!?” Snarled Sans, who then turned and stomped across the room and threw open a small specimen fridge, and pulled out two kidney dishes and brought them back over, thrusting them under the robot’s nose. In one was a collection of irregularly shaped white fragments, most of which were smeared red. In the other were black metallic fragments, also red with bits of...something clinging to them.

“Do ya know what this is, pal?” the monster growled, “These are the bones we had ta pull out of her ‘cause they were too broken ta be put back in. And the others are shrapnel Papyrus had to take outta her legs, from your goddamn bombs!” Sans was breathing heavily, his eye lights flickered out entirely.

“I’ll b-be good, I promise. P-Please I’m so sorry…!”

“We had ta clean her blood up with a mop! We went through four bags of green magic, do ya care? DO YA CARE?”

“I know ya are. But sorry don’t bring my bro back, do it?”

Mettaton’s mouth was trembling as he stared up, wild-eyed at the enraged short skeleton trying to formulate words, clearly terrified of Sans’ fury.

“...I...I’m sorry. What more do you want from me?”

“Ya killed him, buddy, ya killed the nicest damn monster in the entire Underground...no. The entire WORLD doesn’t have anyone who could hold a CANDLE to what he was like. Ya robbed me of everything...now you gotta pay.”

“...Sorry don’t cut it, buddy.” Sans stated icily, “She’s gotta live with that goddamn scar on her shoulder, she’s gotta live rememberin’ you cut her open every time she hears a chainsaw, every time she hears yer voice, she’s gonna remember that,” Sans’ grin widened, “An’ Undyne? She’s gotta live with the mem’ry of seein’ the kiddo on that table, bleedin’ goddamn everywhere an’ unable to do a fucken’ thing about it. Completely fucken helpless.”

“It’ll be over soon kiddo.”

Mettaton swallowed, even though he was a monster soul inside of a robot, he was pretty sure he could feel the room’s temperature plummeting as if it was the middle of a Snowdin blizzard.

“But you? You jus’ get a coupla new arms an’ legs an’ yer good as new. That aint fair at all, pal. You get off without anythin’ while they gotta live with what you did.”

“No...please Sans, no. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

All eyes were fixated on the pair, and even though Sans was far shorter than Mettaton, the short comedian seemed to loom, his presence filling the room.

“That’s the thing, pal...you can’t undo what you did, ya can’t make it better. But if you so much as look at ‘em in a way I don’ like, well…,” Sans’ left eye flickered to life, casting an eerie blue glow across the now terrified Mettaton’s face, “Buddy...you’re gonna have a bad time.”

Sans turned and left the room, the footsteps from his slippers echoing as he went back into the office, and closed the door behind him.

The short monster collapsed, and vomited into his trash can, his bones felt sticky, his head ached, and ice blue tears began to collect in the corners of his eye sockets.

“...Ya, I know.”

He didn’t even know why, but the small skeleton wept silently into his bony hands.

********

Peanut butter and jelly was on the menu this afternoon, a nice simple lunch for the two children in the bedroom. Undyne wanted to try something fancier, like spaghetti or hamburgers or something with more substance, but considering that this was the fourth house she was on, the fish woman wasn’t about to tempt fate.

Damn, I really need to see Grillby, I can’t afford ta let the place burn down again, not with Frisk here.

It wasn’t just her life anymore, she had a child with special needs to consider, and while Undyne could easily live going back and forth from the brothers’ house when needed, she wanted Frisk to have stability and regular, healthy meals.

That meant learning to cook from someone who actually knew how to do it, not just winging it when Papyrus was around to have a good time. That didn’t mean that the three of them couldn’t have a good time of course, just that the end result would have to be a lot less...flammable, for the kid’s safety.

I wonder if she likes music?

Undyne poured two glasses of milk, one into a sippy cup for Kid and placed them onto the tray of food, along with a few cookies and then picked it up and headed into the bedroom.

Frisk was sitting on the bed with Kid sitting between her legs as Frisk held a book up for him to read. As he reached the end of a page, the reptilian monster would pause for several seconds, and Frisk would apologize then flip the page.

Kid would always say ‘it’s alright, yo,’ then continue reading out loud. It was...heartwarming, neither child allowing their disabilities to prevent them from enjoying something and they had even managed to turn it into an activity they could both have fun with.

Undyne desperately wished she had her cell phone, so she could take a picture.

“Yo, Undyne, is that lunch?” Kid inquired, both kid’s tummies rumbling. Frisk had a large breakfast, true but she also was still recovering from a major surgery and so her body desperately needed the food to help aid in the recovery.

Of course, the little human turned red in embarrassment and tried to hide her face, but Undyne hurried over and placed the tray down, reaching out just as Frisk began to furiously scratch at the side of her head and stopping the child before she could open up any scabs.

“Hey, hey it’s okay Babyfish, if yer hungry then yer hungry. That’s why I made food, so make sure ya eat it all, okay?” Frisk had an eating disorder of some kind, though Undyne wasn’t sure exactly what caused it but unless prodded she wouldn’t eat all her food. Instead, the human child would take it and store it somewhere for later. Undyne was still not sure how to handle that, so was instead just gently trying to make sure the little one would eat everything.

“Here, you two eat, an’ I’ll keep readin’ for ya nerds.” Undyne placed the tray down for the two and plucked the book from Frisk’s hands, sitting on the bed with crossed legs to keep an eye on them while they ate.

“Whatcha got here...The Angel eh?” The Angel was a popular story Underground and one of the few entirely original works created by the monsters. It was a fantasy telling of the prophesied ‘angel’ coming down to save everyone, it was a good story and a great place to start introducing Frisk to what it was like living Underground.

“Alright...let’s see…” Undyne began to read, making all sorts of wild voices, which made the two children laugh as they ate. Kid would drop his head down to the plate and tear a section of food off, or grab the spout of the sippy cup between his teeth and tilt his head back to drink.

Frisk, on the other hand, was cautious and patient, using her fingertips to locate her food and ate carefully, or to pinpoint her milk and cautiously bring it to her lips to drink.

This is nice.

The moment, however, was ruined by a knocking at the door, Undyne looking up in surprise and a tiny hint of fear; what if it was Asgore?

“You kids stay here, I’m gonna see who that is.” Undyne tried to force as much casual pleasantness into her voice as possible

The fish woman crept to the front door and opened it quickly, a magical spear snapping into existence as she prepared to face whoever might take Frisk away from her.

Understandably, she startled Grillby, who stood stock still with wide flaming eyes.

“...Well at least I know you’re taking things seriously, Miss Undyne.” Undyne sagged in relief, banishing the spear away with a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of her neck.

Grillby had a large box in his arms, and standing next to him was a shorter green fire elemental, Fuku, his daughter, her emerald hair in flaming pigtails. She was also carrying a box of some kind. For a brief moment, the fish monster wondered how they were managing to carry cardboard without it bursting into flame, but recalled that Grillby answered that very same question a few days prior.

“Hey Grillby, Fuku. Sorry ‘bout the spear, it’s ah...well been a hell of a day. What’s with the boxes?” The one-eyed fish lady nodded to the boxes the pair were carrying.

“Well, let us in and I will show you,” Grillby responded in a mildly chastising tone. Undyne quickly stepped to the side, allowing the elementals inside, and shut the door behind them.

Clothes.

The boxes had clothes in them.

They ranged from panties to socks, t-shirts, skirts, and shorts. All manner of clothes, and all sized for someone very small. Undyne looked up in surprise at Grillby who was helping Fuku sort them into piles. While it was very common for monsters to hold onto things to reuse them, clothes were a rare exception that were often sent somewhere else to be recycled.

“They’re Fuku’s old clothes,” Grillby explained the obvious, “I realized that Frisk probably doesn’t have anything that fits her, so we dug these out of storage. They’ll have to be washed, as they’re pretty dusty, but they’re still good and more importantly; fireproof.” Undyne could immediately see the advantage of that.

“Heh...thanks Grillby, I was gonna ask you about some stuff anyways, this is pretty convenient.” Undyne knelt to join them, sorting through the various clothing...she’d need a dresser for Frisk, this was a lot of stuff.

But it would ultimately save Undyne money, not having to go out and get an entirely new wardrobe, though even doing that much was not just pricey but time-consuming due to how difficult it could sometimes be to get clothes.

Naturally, almost every monster could sew and hem to resize anything they had; monsters had gotten extremely good at recycling and reusing.

“I even included her spare Ebott Elementary uniform.” Grillby held up a small red skirt and white blouse with a blue sweater, with a pair of black shoes.

School...that’s right, Frisk would have to go to school, Undyne hadn’t even considered that. Ebbot Elementary and Ebbot Academy were both very good at adapting for different children’s special needs, that wouldn’t be any sort of issue at all, but the fish woman was still concerned; Frisk was a human...how would other kids react to going to school with a human?

“Could I meet her?” Undyne was pulled out of her introspection by Fuku’s question, “Frisk, could I meet her? Daddy has told me a lot about her, and I really want to see her.” The fish monster had no idea why she was so surprised by the question or the fact that Grillby had shared his experience with his daughter.

But then again...Fuku seemed like a pretty nice girl, she had brought over spare clothes for the little human child as well so…

“...Yeah, alright punk, they’re in the bedroom. They’re probably readin’ if you wanna say hi, I need ta talk to yer Dad anyways.”

With a nod of permission from Grillby, Fuku stood and made her way across the room and peaked into the bedroom. The two children had finished their food and were back to reading, it was just as Grillby had said; the little human was blind.

“Hi!” Fuku stepped in, Frisk jumping in surprise, while Kid grinned widely; Fuku was absolutely not a shy girl and always eager to make new friends.

“Yo!” Kid greeted, “I’m Kid, this is Frisk, who’re you?” Fuku crossed the room, hopping up onto the bed to join the pair.

“I’m Fuku, Fuku Fire, Grillby’s my Daddy.” Frisk’s brow wrinkled; she couldn’t remember a ‘Fuku’ at all, so this was an entirely new experience. But...not a bad one, it could be fun to make a new friend.

“Nice to meet you,” Fuku made a half-bow, “Daddy said Frisk was very nice but was also blind, and I think I remember you from school, Kid.” Kid grinned wider; pleased that she had remembered him.

“So what’re ya doin’ here?” Kid cocked his head as Frisk partially closed the book, as Fuku reached out to examine it.

“I brought some of my clothes over with Daddy, I don’t wear them much anymore so we’re going to give them to Frisk.” Frisk was touched, this other monster who didn’t even know her had brought clothes? That was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her.

“Th-Thank you” The human child stammered, fighting off the heat prickling at her eyes unsuccessfully. Fuku exchanged a worried look with the other monster kid, she was smart enough to realize that something must have happened to make the human cry at this simple gesture. She could see the bandages as well and guessed that the little girl had been in through a rough time.

So, as the eldest, it was up to Fuku to make sure she was okay and show Frisk that she’d be safe down here, that’s what good monsters did!

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Fuku soothed reaching out to hug the human girl, “You’re okay, don’t worry. This is what friends, do, right? They help each other!” Friends already? This nice fire monster had only just met her and was ready to call Frisk a friend. She didn’t even know how dirty, awful, mean and evil Frisk truly wa-

“Stop that,” Chara scolded internally, “Right now, you stop. You’re not bad, now hug the nice fire girl and make a new friend.”

Trembling, Frisk’s arms extended and she gently wrapped them around Fuku, who patted her new friend’s back soothingly.

The heat from the elemental’s body felt good on Frisk’s sore muscles and still-mending injuries.

“I-I’m sorry,” The blind girl stammered, “I’m just not used to anyone doing things like this for me, I don’t even have anything to offer you.”

Fuku wanted to tell her new friend that they didn’t need to give her anything, but the clever little fire elemental could tell that this was important to Frisk, and hastily looked around the room before her eyes settled upon the book the pair had been reading.

The Angel.

“How about you share your book with me? We could all read it together, I think I’d like that.” Before the little human could respond, Fuku had snuggled up with them and scanned the page.

“Where were we?”

Kid was naturally, very excited to have someone else to have fun with and shifted so that Fuku was on Frisk’s left and he was on the right, sandwiching the little human in the middle.

“The Angel was about to save some monster kids from a snowstorm in Snowdin!” The reptilian monster provided. Fuku found the spot he was indicating and dove in, reading all the girl voices out loud while Kid provided the boys.

They were so engrossed in the story that none of them saw Undyne and Grillby standing by the door, taking pictures.

“...kids are precious,” Undyne muttered, the fish's toothy mouth stretching into a smile.

Grillby couldn’t agree more.

Chapter Text

“Alright Kiddo, I’m jus’ gonna lift yer arm up like this, a’right? You tell me if ya feel any pain or anythin’. “ Sans gently gripped Frisk’s arm and gently lifted, working the joint, when the arm was about halfway up, she winced a little. Sans nodded to himself and lowered the limb, jotting something down on his clipboard.

It had been three weeks since Mettaton’s attack, and Frisk had enjoyed a quiet life so far. Her days largely consisted of napping, reading with Monster Kid and Fuku, and doing light exercises with Undyne. They hadn’t gotten to swimming, yet, but it was only a matter of time. Undyne, however, wanted to wait until Frisk’s shoulder had more time to recover so she wouldn’t have an accident in the water.

The fish woman was being very cautious, all things considered.

Grillby made regular visits with Fuku, almost daily in fact, helping to teach Undyne how to cook as well as accompanying Fuku through the waterfall so that nothing happened to the little fire elemental.

The three children had become fast friends, Frisk slowly starting to relax more and more, not being quite as withdrawn as she usually was, thanks to her very outgoing friends. Papyrus also made regular appearances at the house, though usually just to read and not to cook. Sans wasn’t entirely comfortable with the setup, but the kid was blind and Undyne was right there.

If the worse happened, he could always force a reset, right?

“Yer range of motion’s gettin’ better kiddo,” Sans noted and the girl blushed in a cute way, as Sans shifted around to check the scars and take pictures. Her bandages were removed, new ones pending, but she didn’t need as many; most of the smaller injuries were healed, including that burn on her leg, leaving only a slightly discoloured patch of skin.

“Y-You’re looking g-good, Frisk,” Alphys Praised, “W-We can b-barely see a-any of the marks!” Sans almost had a double-take at Alphys’ words; the marks still looked pretty obvious...at least to him, or was he being sensitive again?

God, he wanted a drink.

“Heh, you’re pretty sturdy kiddo,” Sans remarked lightly, “An’ that food agrees with ya too, yer puttin’ on a bit of weight.”

Frisk looked worried and fidgeted, the little human child didn’t seem to realize that putting on weight was actually a good thing.

It felt like an itching at the back of his skull, this simple anxiety over gaining weight was like a symptom of something bigger and nastier, but Sans couldn’t put a phalange on exactly what.  Fortunately, Undyne caught the expression and moved from the chair she was sitting on to the examination table to cradle the tiny human close.

“Hey babyfish, it’s a good thing, y’know? You were pretty underweight b’fore, but now you’re lookin’ a lot better!” She gave a toothy grin, even though the child couldn’t see it, yet Frisk responded with a weak grin, more for Undyne’s benefit than anything else. The little girl wasn’t fooling anyone, and Sans himself cringed slightly at how...fake the smile looked, it was almost painful to look at.

“Well, let’s get a look at the rest of ya,” Sans shifted around behind the little girl, Undyne crouching down to hold the little girl’s small hands as Sans opened the back of the surgical robe and peered at the marks.

They were fading into thin lines, but most were still very obvious and ugly, not to mention the gnarled, uneven mass of flesh on the shoulder from that chainsaw, maybe they could do some cosmetic surgery later to try and pretty up the scar a little. They couldn’t remove it entirely, but they may be able to make it less...obvious?

Why do you even care?

Sans’ grin became slightly strained as he kicked the mental question away; as the answer wasn’t any better than the question.

It was guilt.

He was responsible for them being blind...they hadn’t been blind before, he was reasonably sure of that, but after he dunked her… after he mercilessly gaster blasted her straight in her face, she had become blinded...somehow.

Then he had shouted he would kill her, and she overheard him.

In spite of this, she hadn’t told Undyne anything...though to be fair nobody really asked how this had happened, though Sans suspected that was more out of politeness, and nobody really knew HOW to ask about it, or if they truly wanted the answer in the first place.

At least for now.

Sans lifted his phone and snapped a picture of her back, then her shoulder and side.

“Yer lookin’ better all over, kiddo,” Sans praised, moving to pick up a bottle of the green healing gel and slather it generously onto her back, “Yer frostbite’s all gone too, so you can probably be a bit more active if Undyne’s okay with it” The short skeleton resisted the urge to refer to the fish woman as Frisk’s ‘mom’.

Even though she totally is.

“Heya Undyne, Al had some questions fer ya, how ‘bout you got with her an’ I’ll finish up with the kid here, a’right?”

Undyne gave Frisk a gentle squeeze.

“Would you be alright with that babyfish? I’ll just be ‘round the corner an’ Sans’ll be here to keep anyone from hurtin’ ya.” Frisk nodded, shifting as Undyne left to speak to Alphys, Sans helping the girl get re-dressed.

“So...how’re ya doin’ kiddo?” The short skeleton asked as he untied the surgical gown and slid it off, the girl wasn’t entirely naked, she was wearing a pair of yellow panties, Alphys having done her more...intimate examination.

The notes had said that she showed signs of previous injuries, likely vaginal tearing, though it was still too early to know if this would impact her reproductive abilities. Frisk hadn’t complained of any pain, which was good though not entirely indicative; the girl rarely complained of pain, forcing Undyne to be very alert.

“I’m fine.” The blind child explained, lifting her arms up so that Sans could slide her blue t-shirt on, then a new blue and white-striped sweatshirt and blue skirt.

Lots of blue.

“Yeah? Well, that’s good kiddo,” Sans helped her back up onto the examination table, and slid her socks on, the short monster trying to build up the courage to ask a little blind girl why she hadn’t told Undyne about-

“Darlings!” Frisk screamed and leaped into Sans’ arms, her body trembling, tiny arms gripping him for dear life.

Sans instinctively curled an arm around her back and stepped back as the most Fabulous monster in the entire Underground made his entrance, strolling in with all the flair and grace of a fashion model.

Mettaton had a bag hanging from his arm with the MTT logo on it and seemed to ignored the terrified child as she clung to the skeleton for dear life.

Sans’ arm held Frisk tightly, while several bones snapped into appearance, wavering lazily in the air between the skeleton and the robot. Mettaton looked positively offended, planting one hand on a metallic hip and huffing angrily at Sans, who ignored Mettaton’s indignant glower.

“Heya Pal,” Sans hissed through a forced grin, “Apparently ya didn’t learn yer lesson th’ first time.” Frisk was starting to cry, mumbling something over and over as hot tears dripping onto the skeleton’s shoulder.

She’s terrified.

Sans grit his teeth, his grin warping into a pained grimace and phalanges tightening around the sobbing child, the skeleton taking a slow step back to keep the distance between himself and Mettaton.

Where was Papyrus!? The tall skeleton had been spending a lot of time with Mettaton, teaching him to ‘be a better person’, because if anyone could do it, it was Papyrus. But the taller monster also was acting as a sort of shield, keeping Mettaton from racing off to find Frisk, so how the hell had this happened?

“Oh puh-leeze,” scorned Mettaton, “I am not here to cause problems, quite the opposite! I come with gifts for the little human!” Mettaton fished around in the bag and produced a tiny copy of himself in an obnoxious pose.

Sans had to fight the urge to put a bone into it.

“Ta-da!” Mettaton declared, “One of MTT’s new line of action figures! Wouldn’t this be a good gift for the little human?” Just when Sans thought that he had reached the pinnacle of narcissism, the robot managed to find a new peak to climb to, Sans couldn’t fathom what the fabulous robot was thinking beyond being in love with his own image...and voice.

What did Papyrus SEE in him?

“I’m sorry,” Sans made out what the tiny human was chanting, “I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’llbeagoodgirl.” Over and over, a constant chanting, the frightened human begging not to be hurt...promising to behave, to be good, if only they wouldn’t hurt her.

“Ya, I know.”

Sans’ bones felt sticky, and he felt a painful weight come to rest in his non-existant gut. The short monster took another step back, then tore open a shortcut, re-appearing with a rush of air and the hiss of magic in Waterfall. The short monster had almost gone home to Snowdin, or the skeleton brother’s house out of reflex, but had remembered his tiny passenger and so had chosen Waterfall instead.

Frisk was shaking, but the crashing and rushing sound of the water seemed to be soothing the girl a little which was fortunate since Sans had no idea what to say.

Hypocrite.

The skeleton winced at the thought, it wasn’t wrong and he knew it...but he didn’t have time for that right now; Undyne would be wondering where Frisk went if he didn’t call her, and soon.

“Alright kiddo, yer safe, Sansy’s gotcha,” Sans rumbled, sitting down on a patch of grass, the human child still clutching to his chest. The short monster fished around in his jacket pocket, recovering his cell and stabbing Undyne’s auto-dial.

“...Heya Undyne, it’s Sans...no we’re not, Mettaton showed up….yeah, she’s okay. I short-cutted out of there and inta Waterfall...no, she’s fine. He didn’ touch her, said he had a gift for her, but the kid was too freaked out….yeah. Yeah alright, I’ll take ‘em there, don’t worry. Yeah...okay,” Sans shifted the girl slightly so she was resting in his lap, one bony hand still cupping her back, “Ah, it’s Undyne, she wants ta talk t’ya babybones, ya up for it?”

Babybones? Where the hell did that come from?

Frisk accepted the phone gingerly, still sniffling and trying to choke off a sob, but didn’t quite succeed as she spoke a broken ‘hello’ into the phone.

“...I’m okay, Sa-Sans got me o-out of there….No, I wa-wasn’t hurt,” Frisk swallowed, “H-He just startled me, th-that’s all, I’m okay, sorry….okay, w-will you be ho-home soon? ...Okay, I’ll wait. Th-Thank you...alright...here’s Sans.” she handed the phone back, and the short monster stood, cradling Frisk back against his chest.

“Yeah, ‘sup Gillfriend?” Sans began to walk towards Undyne’s house, the little human’s head resting on his shoulder. Undyne was asking Sans to call Grillby, Fuku should be out of school soon so Undyne was going to pick her up and bring her to play with Frisk. After something that frightening, the little blind girl would need her friends, and no doubt Grillby would want to stop by as well - the fire elemental was strangely protective of Frisk, and was always in the top three people Undyne called when something came up with the child or if she needed advice.

Not that Sans could really blame her; Grillby really was one of the best dads out there.

“Yeah, alright, I’ll give ‘im a call, hurry back, kay? I think that yer babyfish needs ya.” He hung up and sighed, his hand stroking Frisk’s back as he continued walking towards the house.

“...so what’s yer plan this time ‘round?”

He felt the child stiffen in his arms, her little fingers tightening around his ribs, but the little one didn’t speak, even as Sans continued to trudge towards the fish woman’s house. The skeleton let the question sit for a few seconds before sighing and giving his head a shake, resignation settling in.

“Look, I don’t really care, alright? I gave up a long time ago, so long as ya don’t my bro, I aint gonna do nothin’.” It didn’t have the calming effect he had hoped it would, the little one whimpering softly, but not saying anything else.

The skeleton wasn’t sure what else to say so he just continued to walk, carrying the little girl in his arms.

He noticed her shift, lifting one hand up to her mouth and biting down on a knuckle, hard. He wasn’t sure what to say.

So, he didn’t say anything.

********

“So...Al, ya had some questions for me?” Undyne turned a chair around and sat in it, leaning forward across the back of the chair with her arms folded. The shy reptilian scientist hopped up into her own chair, it was slightly too large for her, and so the yellow monster looked positively adorable in it.

“Y-Yes, I w-was wo-worried ab-about Frisk,” Undyne’s girlfriend stammered, “I h-had some qu-questions th-that I was ho-hoping y-you could an-answer so w-we could tr-track her pr-progress” Undyne smiled, good ol’ Alphys; always coming up with good ideas that everyone else seemed to miss.

“Sure Al, what’s up.”

Alphys turned to her computer and opened Frisk’s medical file, scrolling through it and selecting the part she wanted, under the title of ‘mental health’.

“Al-Alright, Frisk h-has a problem with s-self h-harm,” Alphys swallowed and Undyne’s brows furrowed in worry; of course Alphys would be worried about that; she had struggled with it too, though nobody knew about it but Undyne.

“Yeah...I’ve been keepin’ an eye on ‘em, but I still catch ‘em doin’ it now an’ then,” Undyne admitted, “They bite their fingers and thumb, or they’ll scratch their head. I’ve kept their fingernails trimmed short, that stops ‘em from scratchin’ but they still bite a lot, ‘specially when they’re stressed out.”

Alphys’ claws tapped over the keys, the reptile nodding along with Undyne’s explanation. It was basically what Alphys had assumed, unfortunately stopping the biting would be much harder than managing her scratching.

“Yeah I-” Undyne’s phone rang, the fish woman digging around in her pocket and pulling out a beat-up phone, flicking it on and answering it.

“Hello? ...Sans? Is that water I hear? Are you in Waterfall? ...WHAT!?” Undyne jumped to her feet, eye flashing brightly beneath the eyepatch, “IS FRISK ALRIGHT!?” Alphys turned to watch in surprise, trying to work out what was going on, Undyne slumping back to her seat, “...Thank Asgore,” relief was written all over her face, “...Stupid shiny narcissist, I’m going ta rip off his legs and beat him with ‘em.” Alphys sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose; of course, Mettaton.

Mettaton had said he was ‘trying to make it up to Frisk’, but was being his usual self-absorbed self about it. It wasn’t that Mettaton had no sense of empathy, but rather he was just very fixated on his career and a bit in love with the persona he had crafted; he was the biggest superstar of the Underground afterall.

He wasn’t as bad as Undyne and Sans saw him as, just self-absorbed and living in a bit of a fantasy world, hopefully, Papyrus would help to ground the exuberant monster.

“Look, jus’ take the kid home okay? She’s had enough excitement for one day, I think she could use the rest. Can ya put her on for me...please?”

Alphys’ smile warmed, not many thought of Undyne as the maternal type, yet here it was; the fish woman was reshuffling her whole life for one human child, learning the skills needed to not only care for a child but a blind child; one with special needs. One with trauma and a history of being abused.

“Heya Babyfish, Sans told me what happened, y’alright squirt?...Naw, you have nothin’ to apologize for squirt...yeah I’ll be home soon, I jus’ gotta head over ta Ebott Junior an’ get Fuku...alright, good girl, hey can ya put Sans back on? Thanks, babyfish.”

Undyne’s hand was clenching slowly, she wanted to be there, to run and protect Frisk but had to remind herself that the little one was with Sans, she’d be just fine. Undyne would grab Fuku and bring her back to see Frisk, Grillby would be there too so this would be fine.

She just...had to be patient.

“Hey Sans, I’m gonna pick up Fuku, can you call Grillby an’ have him come over?... Thanks… bye.” she hung up and slumped, squeezing the bridge of her nose, emotions fluttering around inside like infuriated butterflies.

“...Gonna kill that glorified microwave.” Undyne stuffed the phone back in her pocket and stormed out of the office, Alphys toddling along behind her.

Mettaton was in the examination room with Papyrus there, sighing and rubbing his head, the skeleton was speaking as Undyne stormed into the room.

“Mettaton, you scared her, you can’t just burst into the room like that. Frisk is sensitive, fragile...you have to be more careful, she’s easily scared” The robot looked appropriately chastised, clutching the action figure with a pout on his shiny metal face.

“But darling, I just wanted to give her a gift to show how sorry I am!”

Undyne held back her urge to smash the robot and instead just pinched the bridge of her nose, and heaved an anger-filled sigh.

“Stay the hell away from Frisk, you bolt bucket.” The fish woman stormed out of the room, leaving Alphys and Papyrus to try and explain the situation to Mettaton.

In truth, the blue-scaled woman had far harsher insults she could have tossed out, but she was making a conscious effort not to swear as much for Frisk’s sake; she didn’t want the child picking up a bad habit. So this meant using ‘funny fishes’, ‘bolt bucket’, and other odd made up inoffensive substitutes for curse words.

Hotland wasn’t nearly as bad outside of her armor, and Undyne had a bottle of water just in case she needed hydration. Ebott Elementary was located not that far from the core, the core itself being considered an acceptable place for the children to gather while waiting for pick up from their parents, due to the safety and shelter it provided.

It wasn’t all that uncommon to see children wandering about the core, getting drinks, talking or sitting near the guards or scientists or just playing on the computer terminals set up to keep them entertained while they waited for their caregivers.

“Fuku!” Undyne called, looking around the small pool of kids, “Ya here?” It only took a moment, but she spied a little green inferno wading through the other school children and popping out in front of the mass of little monsters.

“Yup, yup! Here I am!” the outgoing little emerald elemental declared, reaching up with one hand to snag Undyne’s, and giving the fish woman a thousand watt smile. Undyne couldn’t help but chuckle, ignoring the other children’s gasps and envious looks as the captain of the guard herself came to collect the little elemental.

“Hey yo!” Kid bounced out from the group, wearing a bright grin himself, “Can I come with you?” Undyne chuckled and gave a nod.

“Yeah okay Punk, I’ll call yer parents an’ let ‘em know where to pick you up.”

Kid’s parents were named ‘Guy’ and ‘Lady’ Undyne wasn’t sure if it was an odd naming convention amongst their particular monster race or just an oddity of the family itself. It didn’t really matter though, Kid was proud of his name and his status, something that Undyne wanted Frisk to learn too.

Frisk…

That name...she thought it was a cute name, but in and thereof was a little problem with that name; Frisk.

It was a monster name.

Humans had different names, some more peculiar than others, but the name ‘Frisk’ was a distinctly monster name, Undyne was even pretty sure it might be historical, but hadn’t really put any effort into looking. So why was there a human child with a monster name?

Undyne had theories...disgusting, disturbing theories, but theories nonetheless.

“Come on punks, Frisk had a bad day and is looking forward to seeing ya both.” and so she shepherded them off towards Waterfall, being mindful of Fuku’s sensitivity to water and Kid’s natural clumsiness.

********

Grillby’s raincoat was getting quite the workout.

Not that it rained in The Underground, rather he had it for treks into Waterfall, which used to be twice a day, once to drop off Fuku, then to pick her up. The fire elemental was used to traversing Waterfall, and therefore not overly concerned with the possibility of falling in, though he was slightly more worried about Fuku.

Being doused in water would, in spite of what many believed, not instantly dust him. But that didn’t mean it was fun. Fuku, however, was not as resilient as her father, so it was possible that falling in could snuff the little one out.

But lately he had also been making regular trips to teach Undyne how to cook and monitor the girl’s playtime. The fact that Frisk was a human didn’t even factor into the elemental’s mind, to him she was just a child who needed affection, care and to be raised like any other child.

To that end, it was no surprise that the elemental was a staunch and vocal critic of Asgore’s human policy; the paternal monster believing that human children deserved the safety and security afforded to any other child of The Underground. He wasn’t alone in this view either, those who supported the anti-human policy were dwindling as it simply wasn’t in Monster nature to want to harm others as a general rule, so there was a lot of those who were uncomfortable with even the idea of attacking a child.

It’s probably one of the reasons why Frisk hadn’t been exposed yet, the monsters in Waterfall simply didn’t have any desire to endanger the little one and with Undyne as a near constant presence, it also wasn’t worth it.

Undyne’s protective instincts when it came to Little Frisk were well known, in fact, most Monster mothers were extraordinarily protective of their children, and it seemed that didn’t matter if the child was a monster or otherwise.

“Heya Grillbz” The barkeeper was only a little surprised to see Sans, carrying Frisk in his arms. Sans’ relationship to the little human was perplexing at times; he seemed to weave between being overprotective of her and barely-concealed aggression and distrust. However, this didn’t seem to be reciprocated; the little human clung to the skeleton in spite of this, as if she desperately wanted or needed...something.

“Hello my friend,” Grillby greeted with a nod, “Your message said that Frisk was hurt and that Undyne would pick up Fuku, what happened if I may ask?”

Sans shifted his grip on the girl and sighed and fell into step next to Grillby, giving his skull a shake.

“Mettaton,” Grillby shook his head, of course, it was Mettaton, “He pops up outta nowhere, scares the kid half ta death, gives her a panic attack an’ tries ta give her an action figure of himself.”

Grillby was certain that if he rolled his eyes any harder, they’d disappear into the back of his flaming head. He wasn’t that surprised, the robot had been desperately trying to reach Frisk for days now, hanging out at Grillby’s bar and pestering Sans and Papyrus both. The elemental suspected he had also been bothering Alphys for a chance to speak to the human he had used his chainsaw on.

“Well, she’s alright now,” Grillby glanced at the girl, Sans noticing his friend’s look and smirked.

“You wanna carry her? My arms are killin’ me.” It was an excuse, but one that Grillby would accept, and so the barkeeper gently plucked the little human from Sans’ grip. Frisk barely shifted as her face pressed into the living flame’s neck, and she sighed softly; enjoying his warmth.

“Heh, the kid likes ya Grillbz.” Sans folded his hands behind his neck lazily, grinning up at the taller monster. Grillby flushed, a hot blue stretching across his features, yet he continued to cradle the little girl as the pair walked towards Undyne’s house.

“Has she called ya Daddy yet?” Sans teased, though he wouldn’t be truly surprised if the little girl did at some point; the tall fire monster was kind and gentle and Frisk clearly enjoyed his touch and felt safe around him.

“No,” Grillby responded smartly, “But she hasn’t called Undyne ‘mom’ yet either,” The skeleton noted both the defensive tone and the use of the word ‘either’, it seemed that the fire monster was anticipating it at some point.

Sans wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Grillby knew where the key was to get in, as did Sans, so entering was no problem, the pair weaving through the house. They saw a few books on the table, it looked like Undyne was looking over the paperwork to get Frisk into Ebott Elementary, and there were some half-filled forms.

There were also storybooks scattered near the piano and Undyne’s oversized sword was missing entirely; probably removed to help keep the child safe. The fridge was covered in pictures, detailing the last 3 weeks well; Frisk asleep cuddling Undyne’s side, sitting with Fuku and Kid as they read, Fuku helping Frisk learn how to read braille and one of the trio eating a lunch that Undyne had prepared.

Just an ordinary child.

Grillby made his way into the bedroom and placed the half-asleep child onto the bed, Frisk shifting and mumbling. There was a large stuffed fish nearby that Grillby snagged and tucked into the little girl’s arms, before giving her a hot little kiss on her forehead.

“Sleep well, little one”

Sans glowered from the doorway as Grillby tucked the human in.

The skeleton wasn’t even certain why he was so angry, perhaps it was just the anxiety and fear of another reset or his frustration at his own helplessness in the face of the situation; even when she was blinded, he still couldn’t stop the resets.

Or maybe it was the guilt.

Gods I need a drink.

He already knew that Undyne didn’t keep any alcohol in the house, and all the knives were kept out of the little one’s reach, though again that was for the child’s safety rather than anyone else’s. Undyne was taking this whole ‘mom’ thing pretty damn seriously, even though both her and Frisk were still edging around actually using the word itself.

“What’s bothering you?” Grillby gestured for them to leave the girl to her nap, and Sans stepped back, ambling over to sit at the table and try and organize his thoughts.

Frisk Percidae was written at the top of the application form, Age 7.

Seven Years Old.

Sans’ guts clenched, and he fought off the image of That Night.

“I dunno Grillbz, maybe I’m jus’ not used ta havin’ a human down here,” Sans sighed, looking over the paperwork, “It’s all so surreal, y’know? Undyne raisin’ a kid, sendin’ ‘em to monster school. This aint sustainable G, Asgore’s gonna find out an’ he aint gonna be happy ‘bout it.”

Weight 30 pounds , Frisk was still underweight, though she was much better than before. Monster food agreed with her, surprisingly though the long-term effects on a human eating a lot of magical food was yet unknown.

“Yes, Asgore will find out,” Grillby agreed, rolling his sleeves up and opening up the fridge to begin making a snack for the children and Undyne, “But we are preparing for that. Frisk will not be hurt by him, I think Undyne has made that clear.”

Height 3 feet , still small but growing she had gained a little bit of height but not much. That much was good, she also seemed a bit more energetic today, though regular doses of green magic were still being used to fix those wounds.

That’s a lot of magic being pumped into a kid.

Sans felt that itching in the back of his skull return like he was almost looking at an important puzzle piece, but he wasn’t quite getting it. He hated that feeling, he hated not knowing everything; and he couldn’t even blame that on the constant resets either. It was just part of his inquisitive personality, he wanted to know how things worked and how they all fit together.

“Yeah, I know but what’s she gonna do? Fight him? This is already treason, would she really fight King Fluffybuns?”

Eye colour blue , Sans frowned slightly; something about that didn’t seem right. He was certain he had seen them flashing scarlet, but maybe it was just a trick of the light?

“Well, what would you do to protect the ones you loved, Sans? If someone wanted to dust them, how far would you go to protect them?”

Red scarf.

Dirty Brother Killer.

Sans didn’t have an answer for his friend, so instead turned back to the papers to buy himself some time to consider what the elemental had said.

Hair Colour Brown , her hair had been changing colour a little lately growing lighter in hue. Probably in response to being underground without access to the sun...or was it from the magic? Gods he had no clue, there was so much ambient magic in the underground that it was hard to say how it was or would affect the small girl.

“I’d do anythin’ to protect Paps, you know that.” Sans managed an indignant sound and tried not to remember how he had failed to protect his brother in a previous timeline, only managing to avenge him.

Papyrus would be beyond disappointed.

Grillby had a knife in his hands and was using it to cut up sandwiches with meat, cheese and lettuce, all made from magic. The kids would have orange juice to drink with it, though Frisk’s would have an extra dose of green magic mixed in to help aid her healing.

That is an AWFUL lot of magic we’re puttin’ in her.

Sans felt that maddening itch, as he studied his friend; he was on the cusp of some kind of realization, he just knew it. But what was it? What was the missing piece?

“And I would do anything to protect Fuku...and Frisk,” Grillby added firmly, “She has been harmed by us monsters, yet she wants to live down here with us in spite of that. Putting aside that she is a human for a second, she is still a child and as adults we have a responsibility to teach children, to nurture them. Our every action shapes them, our every word...we have to treat them with kindness.”

Grillby put the snacks into the fridge, along with the orange juice and cleaned his hands with a burst of flame, before opening a cabinet and retrieving the first aid kit and popping it open, pulling out bandages and green gel, as well as a pair of scissors.

Something suddenly jolted in Sans, who stood his eye lights winking out.

“Nice talkin’ to ya Grillbz, but I gotta do somethin’.” Before the elemental could ask anything, Sans tore open a shortcut to the lab and launched himself at his desk, hands pulling up Frisk’s x-rays and stuffing them onto a viewing light.

His eye lights searched over the images, noting the breaks, the cracks and then he grabbed the pictures snapped of her recovery and held them up next to the pictures of the x-rays.

The skeleton turned back, dropping the pictures and bringing up the saved files of the x-rays, then fed the images into a filter, and slid a sliding bar on the side of the screen, Frisk’s bones slowly growing fainter and fainter and...and...

There it was...his missing pieces, he had finally found it...and he wished to the gods he hadn’t.

The skeleton sat heavily in his chair, his mouth feeling dry and his grin stretched outwards into a painful grimace..how could he explain this? How was it possible? It shouldn’t be yet...here it was.

The reason Frisk was still alive, the reason why she wasn’t simply dying over and over despite all these horrible injuries in her skeleton. Frisk’s bones weren’t broken...they only looked that way if you used an x-ray to look at the purely physical parts, and why not? She was a human, humans were sturdy and more physically complex than monsters.

Yet...there it was, the answer.

She had magic.

Her bones...the broken halves were repaired by long structures of magic, weaving through her body, replacing, reinforcing all the shattered pieces of her, keeping her alive.

Like...like…

Some kind of Monster.

Sans vomited into his garbage bin.

What have we done!?

Chapter Text

The alarm again, and once more Undyne weighed the options of actually smashing it through the window versus just pressing the off button.

She tapped the off button but was not happy about it.

“Ya still asleep babyfish?”

Frisk mumbled sleepily from where she was laying on Undyne’s chest, her head nestled into the fish woman’s neck, arms clutching the redhead gently but firmly. Undyne genuinely had no idea how the little human managed to enjoy sleeping on her bony, muscled body but it was clearly the little human’s favourite place; Frisk would even place her head on Undyne’s lap for naps, though the red-headed monster didn’t mind in the least.

“Hey...ya gotta wake up, nerd.” Undyne teased lightly, poking a finger at Frisk’s side and making the little human giggle and sit up, hair wild with bed head and blind eyes half-lidded. It was an adorable sight and one that the captain of the guard wasn’t yet tired of.

The child rubbed the sleep from her blinded eyes and then stretched upwards and slid off the bed to get dressed as Undyne made the bed and dressed herself.

Again, the fish woman considered asking Frisk how the heck she managed to sleep on top of someone who was all muscle, bone, and scale but knew how the little girl would answer; ‘your comfy’.

It seemed...silly to Undyne, how could she be comfortable? Yet the proof was in the well-rested human girl who had pulled open a drawer and was pulling on an Ebott elementary school uniform.

The uniform consisted of a white blouse with navy blue stripes on the sleeves and hem and a navy blue collar with white stripes. A red scarf gathered at the front and held in place by a navy blue ribbon of cloth bearing the delta rune in white on the front, a navy blue skirt with white stripes around the hem, black socks and black shoes.

The stripes denoted that the wearer was a child, due to the size differences some monsters and basically served as a giant ‘do not touch’ sign, if there was one thing to help keep Frisk safe, it was that outfit.

“Alright Nerd,” Undyne teased lightly and shepherded the girl into the bathroom and began to tame her wild mane of hair, it had definitely warmed from its original dark chestnut colour, and the girl seemed insistent on letting it grow out, ‘just like yours’. So it was now in a small ponytail, with bangs framing her face. Undyne didn’t like covering the girl’s eyes, and Frisk didn’t seem to have strong feelings one way or another, so her eyes were left uncovered.

“Paps is comin’ over with Grillby t’night for cookin’ lessons,” Undyne explained as the pair left the bedroom, Frisk heading over to sit at the table and wait patiently. The girl had a good handle on where everything in the house was supposed to be, and it really had pushed Undyne in these last few weeks to get and keep the house clean so that the little one wouldn’t accidentally trip over something.

“So Fuku will be walking me home?” Frisk inquired, listening to the rattle of pans as Undyne began to prepare breakfast. It had been a month since the little human was accepted into Ebott Elementary, the fact that she was a human had caused little concern for the principal and vice principal; Guy and Lady Monster.

Kid was their...well...kid and had been born without arms, a weird quirk of his magical body, so accessibility was important to the Monster family, it’s one of the reasons Undyne had chosen the school; they had comprehensive plans for students with special education needs. It also helped that Guy and Lady adored Frisk and so being a human at the school was not a concern from an administrative standpoint, though the girl may have issues with bullies like any other kid.

Frisk’s special education plan called for an assistant, and when Undyne had been talking to Grillby about it during a cooking lesson, Fuku had immediately piped up, all but begging to be her best friend’s assistant. So it had been settled; Fuku had all the same classes as Frisk, to assist her where the blind girl needed help and unofficially to help the little human learn how to socialize.

Of course, Kid was there too and was a good friend as well, but Alphys had suggested that Frisk and Fuku have some classes different from the energetic reptile, as Frisk would need to interact and socialize with others and not just stick to her normal group of friends.

“Yup, Fuku’ll be here in ‘bout half an hour, so eat up, alright?”

Breakfast was Frisk’s favourite; Bacon and Eggs, the girl was developing quite the love of meat.

One might argue she was just rediscovering it.

That person would be a dick.

Pun not intended.

Well, anyhow it meant that Frisk and Undyne shared the same taste in food which would make cooking a whole world easier for the fish woman.

“Alright, yer lunch is all packed, I included somethin’ special that Al suggested, make sure ya stop by her lab on yer way home, okay babyfish?” Undyne grinned and Frisk gave a cute little grin back, her pointed canines almost glinting.

“Yes ma’am.” she stood and took the plate to the sink to be washed later, then made her way to the front door, Undyne packing Frisk’s backpack up and helping the girl to slide into it. Their timing was perfect, just as the little human slid her feet into her shoes, there was a knocking on the door.

“That’ll be Fuku,” Undyne noted, the door swinging open to reveal the emerald fire elemental who bounded in and wrapped the human in a tight, fiery hug. Fuku was a hugger and while Undyne had been concerned about how Frisk would respond to physical touch, it quickly proved to be a non-issue; the little human seemed to love the hugs and being touched by Undyne, Grillby and others, in fact, she almost seemed to crave it.

Undyne chalked it up to another example of her “father’s” abuse, the little one craving affection that wasn’t sexual in nature.

Frisk was still having weekly meetings with Alphys and Sans to check on her physical and emotional health, and according to Alphys, they were making progress. Slow progress, but it was still progress.

But the sad reality was that the little brunette would never be fully free of her father’s cruelty, those scars would always linger, no matter how much therapy and healing she did.

“FRISK!” Fuku squealed, the emerald fire elemental’s light warming the room, the blind human giggling and patting her friend on the head.

“Hello Fuku, ready for school?”

Undyne was certain that if the fire elemental was capable of it, she’d be purring, come to think of it, maybe Frisk too.

“Yup, did you get your homework done?”

The two separated and stepped out the door, Undyne following and locking it behind her. Frisk’s homework was based on braille reading primarily; learning math and literature. The girl was woefully behind but catching up fast; she was very smart and had a great hunger to learn, Undyne couldn’t help but be proud.

“Uhuh,” The blind girl nodded, “Undyne helped me, she’s really smart!” the blue-scaled woman flushed but allowed a grin, scratching the back of her head.

“Eh don’t sell yourself short, babyfish; you’re really smart yourself.”

The little blind human blushed and squirmed a little, uncertain how to take the compliment but Fuku and Undyne didn’t push the issue, knowing that it would take the little human time to be able to accept the simple things they’d say. The red-headed monster knelt and straightened the little human’s clothes before sliding the backpack onto the seven-year-old.

“You an’ Fuku can go ta Al’s place after school, alright babyfish? Sans’ll be there ta help ya with yer homework, an’ he’ll bring ya some hot dogs too, so go right there, alright? Grillby an’ I will swing by after my shift’s done.”

The two children nodded, Undyne knew she really didn’t need to say all this, but it made the human child feel better knowing what the schedule was, even if it was the same as the day before and the day before that and so on and so forth. It also helped to reassure Undyne as well, so she’d always know where the small girl was.

“Fuku, take care of her, alright? If anythin’ happens, call me.”

Fuku gave the most serious nod a seven-year-old child was capable of. The little emerald fire elemental cared deeply for Frisk, Undyne suspected Puppy Love but didn’t do anything to discourage it; after all Frisk enjoyed having Fuku around even if the blind girl was oblivious to the monster’s feelings, and needed someone to help her do things that she wasn’t able to do herself.

Plus, the two of them were absolutely adorable.

“Alright babyfish, I packed yer lunch with a special treat, I think you’ll like it,” Undyne ruffled the girl’s hair, “You two have fun, an’ I’ll see ya later”

Undyne planted a kiss on the child’s head, and ruffled Fuku’s...er...fire hair, and watched as the two began making their way down the bridge towards Hotland, a smile on her face.

This was all so...damned corny.

And gods above and below, she loved every single second of it.

********

They sizzled nicely, so he turned them over on the grill.

...How do I fix this?

Sans’ smile was hollow as he watched the hot dogs cook on the grill hidden beneath his Hotland station. He had one in Snowdin too, but Frisk often stopped near here on her way to school to grab a hot dog, he wasn’t sure if she always ate it but the girl was clearly trying to do...something.

He wasn’t sure what, but she’d always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and ask about his brother, hoping he was doing okay.

She was just so damned... nice .

It just added to the pile of questions that Sans had no answer for.

Like why, if she would act so nice (was it really just an act?) did she kill everyone he knew and loved? Why did she kill his brother? Why did she show Sans himself mercy?

Why didn’t she hate him?

The skeleton sighed and pinched his nose bone between two phalanges, reaching for the ketchup to try and drown some of the anxiety bubbling up.

He had been keeping an eye on Frisk’s weight, skeleton, and soul since he had made that discovery three weeks ago; and the changes were still coming.

Her weight had gone up to what was more normal, which might have been good on its own, except for the fact that the weight gained exactly mirrored the number of her bones, muscle, and tissue that had been changed into magic.

Sans had no clue how this was possible, he had never heard of anything like this happening before, there were no history books on it, nothing in monster biology could reconcile it, in fact, there was only one thing in all of this that could possibly explain it.

Determination.

And Sans hated that.

He hated how much of a handwave it felt like as if DT was some kind of big galactic cheat code or a universal excuse for ‘I get what I want’. It broke all logic, defied reason.

It gave a seven-year-old child the power of a god!

No, Sans refused to factor Determination into it, in part because Determination was almost like a poison to most monsters, and also out of sheer bullheaded stubbornness. He’d be the first to admit that it was a terrible and juvenile excuse, but he’d also defend his decision as a need for things to make sense; for actions to have a logical reaction.

Frisk will want cheese.

The skeleton removed a package of cheese from the cooler, sliced it and placed some onto the hot dogs. Two slices of cheese for two hot dogs, plus ketchup when they were put onto the bun, and then stuffed into a paper bag for Fuku to carry and feed to Frisk as they headed to school.

“Saaaaans.”

The skeleton glanced up and relaxed as he saw the emerald fire elemental in question walking towards his stand, holding Frisk’s hand, the blind girl looking just as adorable as ever in her Ebott Elementary outfit.

Hair was longer too, losing its chocolate hue and heading towards a more auburn. Was that a result of their changes, too? Probably? Maybe? Gods, he sure as hell didn’t know.

“Heya pipsqueaks,” he plucked the two dogs from the grill with a pair of tongs and pushed them onto a pair of buns, sliding the buns into a bag and offering them to Fuku who plucked it gratefully from his hand.

“Thank you.” Frisk made a little bow with her head, “How much do I owe you?”

She always asked this question, every single day and every single day he would respond the same way.

“Eh it’s free this time.” The skeleton gave a disinterested shrug, “So you kids off ta school, how’s that goin’ for ya?”

Frisk perked up, a brilliant smile on her face, and she danced from foot to foot, yet never letting go of Fuku’s hand.

“It’s really nice! Everyone is super nice to me, and I get to spend all day doing math and learning stuff. It’s really fun…,” then the human’s expression fell and Sans caught a hint of sadness in her eyes, “I’m...I’m really grateful, I don’t deserve any of this.”

Sans felt... uncomfortable and his grin felt so plastic and forced. For a moment he hoped that neither girl noticed, but then again, Frisk was blind and Fuku was too busy trying to comfort the depressed human to notice.

Some part of him wanted to agree, readily agree and snarl at how awful and evil she was for dusting so many innocent monsters.

Yet a thought fought back; pointing out that this time the child hadn’t done anything to anyone...and had still ended up dying on a surgical table because one of those ‘innocent monsters’ had thrown bombs at her, and tore her shoulder up with a chainsaw.

And another had thrown fire at them, resulting in burns, plus gods knew what the other scars were from, not all of them were from that human that called itself her ‘father’ after all.

And then there was Sans himself.

She doesn’t hate you, why doesn’t she hate you?

“...heh,” Sans felt that tightness in his ribs and he leaned forward a little, resting his arms on the top of the sentry station, “I’d say ya deserve it kiddo,” Frisk lifted her head, sorrow in her expression, while Fuku rubbed the human’s back, ”I mean ya make a lotta people happy. Lookit Undyne; she used ta spend almost all her time jus’ patrollin’, sure she had the odd day with Paps but that was maybe once a week. But since you’ve been livin’ with her, she’s been doin’ all sorts a things, she’s got a life outside of work, Grillbz too.”

Fuku nodded, joining in.

“Sans’ right, Frisky. Dad used to spend most of his time in the restaurant, but now he’s out doing more again, it’s nice to see and that’s thanks to him needing to teach Undyne stuff.”

The only time Grillby had gone outside was to do something with Fuku, and even then he had been very protective of his child - it was all because of his wife falling down. Grillby had coped by throwing himself into his work, and somewhere along the road it had just had become a lifestyle; just work and Fuku. Sans was his only other real contact with the outside world, the two monsters having formed some sort of strange co-dependency on each other.

Then Frisk.

In the stagnation that was The Underground, the little human girl had caused quite a stir, a lot of monsters taking interest simply because she was something new, unexpected and well...interesting. Many of the monsters hadn’t even met a human before and only knew what to make of them from stories told by their parents.

Maybe that’s why they attacked her...maybe she did the same because she only knows about us through stories? But wait, she didn’t attack us the first time.

Sans kicked the thought away; it would do no good right now.

“R...Really?” Frisk asked softly, somehow managing to look innocent and hopeful...much like Papyrus had when he had been her age.

Don’t go down that road pal, this is already confusing enough as is.

“Yeah kiddo, yer doin’ good an if school makes ya happy...then that makes us happy too.”

The little girl stared straight ahead, eyes moving though she couldn’t see anything (could she? Magic was changing her body, so why not that too?), as if she was trying to build up the courage to ask him something...he could appreciate that.

He still hadn’t managed to ask her why she didn’t hate him.

“Even...even you?”

And with those two words, Frisk had shown more courage than the older skeleton monster had managed since all of this had begun. More than that, Sans knew she was asking something , not necessarily if her going to school made him happy but something more, but the comedian wasn’t exactly sure WHAT she was asking.

“Heh, yeah babybones...even me.”

Shit, you had to call her that, didn’t you?

He kept trying to stop himself from doing it, but like in Waterfall a month ago, he had slipped up and the word just tumbled out of his mouth; it was just too easy to call her that.

Tears welled up in the little girl’s eyes, but she looked so...so happy and sobbed out his name as she somehow managed to leap up and embrace him, sobbing into the skeleton’s shoulder, as Sans gently rubbed a bony hand up and down her back, patting her and murmuring softly into her ear.

She was so warm, her soul pulsing beneath his chest.

He could dunk her, so easily right now...they both knew it.

Yet she didn’t care; she embraced her executioner, the skeleton monster who failed to save her life thirty-five times...and she cried into his arms.

Fuku watched, worry in her emerald flaming face, but the little monster said nothing as she watched them, the little girl smart enough to realize that something more was going on here than what she was seeing, but not entirely sure exactly what it was.

“Yer alright babybones...yer alright.” he patted her back gently, and slowly lowered the girl back down to the ground, Frisk wiping tears away from her sightless eyes.

Eyes you blinded.

“Th-Thank you...I-I’m sorry Sans,” The skeleton gave an awkward shrug, trying to kick away that guilty feeling that was threatening to crawl up his spine.

“Eh, it’s okay kiddo; tears will wash out jus’ fine.”

The little auburn-haired human shook her head, hair flapping as she did so.

“No, I mean...I’m sorry...for...for everything.”

Sans’ eye lights winked out, his smile stretched...and he felt that strange stickiness clinging to the back of his ribs, a feeling like blood dripping down and pooling beneath him.

Like a child dying in front of him after begging for mercy.

“It’s...eh...don’t worry about it,” he choked out, not even able to raise enough courage to forgive them...not openly forgive them. Because he knew if he did, he’d lose the one thing that he was even now barely clinging to…

He pictured Papyrus...his scarf in the snow, blowing away lazily...except it wasn’t Papyrus.

It was a little human...a little human smiling up at him, lifting her tiny arms up for a hug as they wore the biggest, most gentle and warm smile that he had seen. It was a tiny girl struggling to breathe, red foam bubbling up at their lips as he worked frantically to save their life, even as it slipped through his bony phalanges. It was a small child, thanking him for saving their life.

It had small, milky white eyes, totally blind, sitting above a warm and honest smile...one that was completely devoid of rage, of hatred or accusation.

A little girl in a torn, ruined sweatshirt, begging for her life in a golden hallway.

“We gotta get to school Frisk,” Fuku gently tugged on the girl’s arm and the human nodded, turning back to Sans.

“I-I’m sorry, we have to go.”

Sans was yanked out of his reverie and managed to widen his smile, the forced casualness of it wouldn’t have fooled anyone.

“You go on kiddos, I don’ think yer teachers would like it if you were late ‘cause of a bonehead like me.”

Frisk giggled at the pun and waved in his direction as the two headed off towards the school, the skeleton yearning to reach out in hold the girl...to try and just do...do something. To promise to fix it, to just...do anything.

To ask why she didn’t hate him.

Sans didn’t know why he cried when they were out of eyeshot.

But he did.

And he hated himself for his own worthless cowardice.

********

“Yo, was that really your first time eatin’ chocolate?” Kid gasped, staring at the other two children.

It was the middle of the afternoon, just after lunch and the kids had gotten changed for gym. The Ebbott elementary gym uniform was a pair of small blue shorts (Bloomers? Was that what they were called?) with socks, shoes and a white t-shirt with black stripes across it and the Ebbott Elementary crest on the back.

First period had been reading, Fuku and Frisk sitting up near the front, and Frisk had showcased her growing skills with braille, barely needing any help at all. The teacher, Miss Modest was a reptilian monster with a snake-like lower body and small snakes for hair, she had been absolutely thrilled at the blinded girl’s progress and had given the child a golden star on her homework.

Then came math, something the little girl wasn’t so good at yet, but tried her level best at, Fuku was a little better but Kid was exceptional at it and helped them both when needed. The teacher was a Froggit named Mister Gren and he was patient with them.

Afterward was lunch, and that is when the little human had made a delightful discovery; a little hard bar of something in her lunch bag, nestled in next to the sandwich, crackers and cheese and the bottle of green magic-infused orange juice.

Its feel was strange and confusing and at first the human thought there was some mistake until Chara started squealing in delight in their shared mind; the word ‘Chocolate’ over and over again.

Frisk had offered to switch yet curiously, Chara had insisted that Frisk eat all of it, to ‘indulge the poetry that was chocolate’. The blind human was cautious but did as instructed; eating her sandwich and fruit...then taking a big bite out of the chocolate.

If she was capable of it, the little girl was certain she would have just...PURRED.

The sweetness, the taste...it was indescribable, beyond ‘delicious’. It had a deliciousness that Frisk could easily get addicted to, and immediately the blinded human understood why her partner was so obsessed with the stuff; it was really, really good.

It was only a few seconds later that Frisk noticed that Fuku and Kid were giggling, politely but giggling nonetheless; it wasn’t cruel but the girl couldn’t help but feel embarrassed regardless, had her reaction been that funny?

“Yes, I’ve never had chocolate before, it was really good...sorry if I made a scene,” Kid moved and nuzzled against his disabled friend, the closest the monster could get to a hug due to his lack of arms.

“It’s cool yo, you didn’t make a scene at all! We thought it was cool how much you liked it!” A warm hand touched Frisk’s shoulder, one that she immediately identified as belonging to Fuku, who gave an affectionate squeeze.

“Kid’s right, we were just happy to see you smiling, you were pretty cute.”

The little human flushed, but a happy smile stretched across her face, this day had been going really good so far and so-

“Alright, stop talking and start running laps!”

“Oh, goodie,” Chara growled, and Frisk’s smile melted into a resigned frown; it was Mister Bigby. Lupo Bigby was a wolf monster who had a part-time job in Snowdin, throwing large ice chunks into the water, Frisk wasn’t exactly sure how that was a job but someone was paying him for it.

But this was his ‘real’ job, working as a gym teacher at Ebott Elementary, the students called him ‘Big B’ behind his back, and Frisk could see why. The wolf monster almost never gave out A’s, and he had a real problem with constant yelling and ignoring the special needs of the monsters.

And Lupo Bigby did not like Frisk.

Maybe it was because she was blind, or because she was a human, the three friends couldn’t be sure, but he clearly was no fan of the little girl. He only allowed Fuku to be alongside Frisk for activities because Kid was one of Frisk’s friends and the child of the Principal and the Vice Principal.

But even then, the wolf pushed the envelope on what he could get away with.

“Come on, let’s go!” The large wolf called, clapping his large paws together, “Get running, I want you all to run ten laps around the gym.”

“Come on.” Fuku gently took Frisk’s hand and the pair began to lightly jog, making a slow circuit around the gym while Kid ran just ahead of them. Kid had remarkable balance for being born without arms, but he still had a tendency to fall, though it never seemed to bother the reptilian monster much, but this way the two girls could help him back up and continue running.

Suddenly, the little blind human let out a cry of shock as something slammed into her shoulder from behind, sending her sprawling and tripping Fuku along the way. The two girls landed in a heap, the auburn-haired child whimpering while the fire elemental looked up.

It was Jerry.

The squat monster sneered at them, then continued his waddling run around the room while the fire elemental helped her friend up.

“Yo, what happened?” Kid had returned and was hopping from foot to foot in worry, Fuku scowling in response.

“Jerry.” She spat the word like a curse, and it was the only explanation that they needed; the biggest bully in the entire school and he always got away with it. The only teacher who actually liked him was Big B, and so Jerry got away with being a little jerk to everyone in his class, but especially to Frisk.

And by extension, Fuku.

“You okay Frisk?” Fuku could see a few small bruises forming on the girl’s knees and arm, but the human child nodded and gave them her brilliant smile.

“Who said you could talk!?” Roared Big B from across the room, Fuku rounded to the teacher and pointed at Jerry who was coming up behind them again.

“Jerry tripped Frisk! We were making sure she was okay!”

The mushroom-shaped monster scoffed and scowled in faux indignation.

“I did not! Little clutz probably fell ‘cause she’s too fat from eating all that candy!”

Frisk visibly flinched, one hand curling to her tummy, was she fat?

“I don’t care who did what,” The teacher shot back, “You AND Frisk just earned another ten laps for arguing!”

It was blatantly unfair, and Fuku’s flames exploded upwards in a show of enraged emotion.

“WHAT!? How is THAT fair!”

It was just what the teacher was looking for, as he crossed his brawny arms and scowled down at the defiant green elemental in front of him.

“Fine, now it’s FIFTEEN,” The grey wolf snapped back, “And if you keep it up, it’ll be twenty!”

Frisk gently tugged at Fuku’s arm, expression gentle, and shook her head; it wasn’t worth arguing with the teacher; they’d never get anywhere. The hot-headed fire elemental growled again and tugged on Frisk’s hand; the pair returning to run as Jerry snickered.

The two girls were still running slow laps when the teacher began the activity; dodgeball, Fuku was immediately suspicious about his reason for choosing that but kept quiet for Frisk’s sake. The little human girl was looking winded and panting heavily.

“Shouldn’t have eaten all that candy, fatty!” Called Jerry, seeing the blind human’s distress, Fuku snarled but again; her friend squeezed Fuku’s hand. Frisk’s patience was awe-inspiring...not that she really COULD do anything even if she did get mad.

Balls began to shoot back and forth, making a noisy ‘bang’ as they struck the stone wall, the kids couldn’t really throw that hard so it wasn’t like anyone was in any danger. Most of them stopped as the girls circled behind the opposing group so that they wouldn’t accidentally tag them...except...of course…

Frisk...felt something, and actually SAW something!

It was like a small electric pulse, but it didn’t hurt, and out of the corner of her eye the little girl saw a marvelous and shocking sight; a soft white glow that started as a roughly heart-like shape before travelling outwards in one direction and up into a ball before suddenly launching itself at them.

The girl was alarmed and confused but most of all; intrigued, what was that?

The human girl got her answer a moment later when the ball collided with her face, sending her reeling and stumbling into the nearby wall with a meaty thwack!

“JERRY!” Fuku sounded ready to kill her flames exploding upwards like a volcano, as Frisk fell to the ground.

The dodgeball was supposed to be soft so it didn’t really hurt, but Jerry had flooded it with magic, so getting hit in the face was like getting hit by a stone.

The little girl’s nose was bleeding and there was an...impressive bruise forming.

“JERRY YOU JERK!” It sounded like Kid, yelling angrily and running at the saucer-shaped monster, who was declaring that it had been ‘an accident’.

Frisk’s head was ringing.

The little human felt a warm hand she recognized gently grip her hand and shoulder, pulling her upwards. Frisk tried to apologize, but it just came out as a mumbled slur, her head was spinning and it ached something fierce.

Fuku had pulled Frisk’s arm over her shoulder and was gently helping her friend leave the gym.

Mister Bigby was yelling something, it hurt her ears.

They moved slowly, Frisk’s whole face was hurting and she could feel blood dripping down from her nose onto her chest; her body kept sagging heavily as dizziness and drowsiness tugged at her.

It would just be so easy to…

********

Undyne was FURIOUS.

She had gotten a call from Ebott Elementary, and it had been Lady, The VP who had explained that Frisk had been in an ‘incident’. Fuku had been put on the phone and explained what was to be called ‘her version of it’, though Undyne believed that it was likely the truth; Frisk had gotten smashed in the face by a ball during gym class by some little PUNK who had it out for her.

The fish woman knew that not all monsters, especially monster children, would be accepting of the little human, but that didn’t make her any happier about it. Now Frisk was laying in the school office, bleeding while the VP tried to heal her up with green magic.

Undyne broke a land speed record getting to the school.

Fuku looked frustrated, angry with herself as she sat next to her best friend, trying helplessly to mop up the blood with a few paper towels. Nearby sat Frisk’s bag and uniform; the girl’s head sagging from side to side.

Undyne knelt and gently cupped the human’s head, lifting it gently to check how bad the damage was.

Red eyes.

Frisk had a black eye forming and an ugly bruise on her cheek and while the bridge of her nose didn’t look broken, it probably hurt something fierce.

“I’m so sorry Miss Percidae,” Lady lamented, the golden reptilian monster ringing her claws together, “Guy is in with Jerry right now, I promise that we will be speaking to his father about this.”

Undyne clicked her tongue; Josephine and Gerald, Jerry’s mother and father were just like him so it probably wouldn’t do anything, but the school staff was pretty limited in what they could do.

“I should’ve beaten the heck out of him!” Fuku’s fire burst again, and in spite of the situation, the red-headed monster cracked a small smile. She liked Fuku already and this only solidified her belief that the fish monster had made a good choice in Frisk’s school tutor and assistant.

“Naw, ya shouldn’t do that Punk, if ya did then you’d be in as much trouble as that funny fish is gonna be in too.” With time and some practice, it had gotten a lot easier to strangle off the curses into silly words that were not nearly as offensive.

“I’m gonna take Frisk home, you stay here alright? You can visit later if yer dad allows it,” Undyne gently picked Frisk up, placing the human against her shoulder, as Fuku wilted.

“I’m sorry, I-I should’ve-”

Undyne ruffled the elemental’s flame reassuringly.

“Naw, ya did yer best kid, I’m sure Frisk feels the same way.” Undyne gave a winning smile, which seemed to help the little girl relax and return a small but hopeful one.

Cute kids, the three of them.

Gathering up Frisk’s belongings, Undyne made her way out of the school and headed towards home, sighing softly.

“You okay?” She asked after a moment, earning a soft groan from the human; that must have been some hit.

“We’ll stop by Al’s, getcha looked at jus’ ta make sure there aint any damage.”

The girl didn’t respond verbally beyond giving Undyne’s neck a little squeeze.

Silence.

Undyne sighed softly and shifted so that the human was straddling the fish monster’s hip, allowing them to look at each other.

“..So, outside of that...did Frisk do okay today?”

The human girl gave a quick though sleepy nod.

“Yeah...she..er...I-I did.”  

Red eyes widened slightly as she tried to catch herself but it was too late, Undyne had caught the verbal slip up; her suspicions now confirmed. Neither said anything for a moment, the red-eyed girl holding her breath.

“Huh...that’s good...so are you the one who she talks to at night when she thinks I aint lookin’?” Undyne was as gentle as she could be in the questioning; this wasn’t an interrogation, but Undyne was hoping to get a few answers.

The red-eyed girl swallowed, eyes shifting around, Undyne noticing that the pupils dilated a little meaning that this girl could see while Frisk could not, curious.

“I-I don’t know what you mean?” Undyne had to give her props, the girl was trying.

“Come on kiddo...I know you aint Frisk. Babyfish acts different than you, an’ she has these white-blue eyes, yers are red an’ I checked; human eyes don’t change colour like that….,” When the Other Girl didn’t say anything in response, Undyne shook her head, “I aint mad, jus’ worried. I wanna make sure she’s okay.”

The red-eyed girl hesitated, then let out a heavy sigh and nodded once more.

“Yeah, she’s fine. Just out cold, the ball hit her hard so I ended up taking over while she sleeps.”

Undyne breathed a small sigh of relief; she hadn’t been entirely sure but at least her babyfish was safe, and this Other Girl seemed a lot more forthcoming than Frisk normally was.

Maybe...Undyne could get some information out of her? The kind of thing Frisk wouldn’t normally share?

“That’s good...so...you got a name? Or should I just call you Frisk Two?”

The Other Girl pinned Undyne with a strange look, biting her lip in consideration for a few moments, rolling around something in her head; would she give a pseudonym? That would be alright with the fish monster, she just needed something to-

“Yeah, I have a name. In fact, it’s one you already know...Undies.”

Undyne froze mid-step, her golden eye going wide and her fanged mouth hanging open, her mind stalling as it struggled to comprehend the Red-Eyed Girl’s words. Slowly, she turned her head towards the human, her arms feeling numb and a cold sensation settling into the pit of her stomach.

“Wh-What did you say?” the one-eyed fish monster whispered, staring into those deep ruby eyes.

“I said...you know my name already, or at least you should, fish sticks.”

Undyne’s mouth was dry, her jaw trembling as she tried and failed to form words for several moments, but only one would come.

“Chara…?”

The child in her hands smiled softly, flicking the sea monster’s forehead in a playful manner.

“...long time no see, old friend.”

Chapter Text

Sans took a long sip of his ketchup and sighed, leaning on his bony hands.

He had to tell her.

Realistically, he knew he couldn’t keep this a secret for much longer, in fact, he was rather impressed that she hadn’t figured it out yet, but she would; Alphys was smart like that. She had been rather busy all things considered, and Sans had done a good job of steering her away from the x-rays by having her focus on Frisk’s soul scans...but that would only keep her distracted for so long.

No, he could see that the longer he waited to talk about this, the more fallout there would be, he just...wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. What do you say in a situation like that? How do you keep it from being...disturbing, or distressing?

There was also the matter of his own pride, as it was difficult to admit...he had no idea how this was happening.  He had theories, sure...but he was missing something, a key piece...and gods above and below he had no clue what it was.

He had exhausted all realistic theories, at least those that made sense but with Determination, you never knew exactly what was nonsensical and what was realistic; after all, it gave a kid and a damned flower the power to alter time as they saw fit, so what else could it do? There were whole legions of tests run by Alphys, and none of them had any real connecting thread.

Sans had poured over the experiments, the research notes and had only come away with one answer: Determination does whatever the hell it wants.

There was no sense, no commonality to it, just Determination being added to various objects in a variety of forms and ...and...STUFF happened, just random and arbitrary STUFF.

It was so unscientific and unpredictable, like chaos in liquid form, Sans absolutely hated it on principle alone, nevermind whatever else the Universe’s Cheat Code was doing to Frisk. Sans had even considered asking the girl some pretty blunt questions, but ultimately discarded the idea; if he couldn’t figure it out, it was probable that the kid didn’t know much more.

Hell, during The Hall…

Sans took a swig of his ketchup, polishing off the plastic bottle and tossing it into the trash.

During The Hall the kid kept on dying and begged him for mercy. Looking back now, Sans realized that they probably didn’t really understand their own powers...which meant that they had little to no experience with it.

So they probably didn’t have this until they got to the Underground...but then what triggered it?

And back to square one.

Sans sighed and rubbed his face into his bony hands.

He was getting nowhere.

The skeleton sighed and pulled himself up from his chair, taking another mouthful of ketchup to bolster his courage, Sans ambled out of the office and went to find Alphys. It didn’t take long, the reptilian scientist was pouring over scans of Frisk’s soul, muttering to herself and running a series of calculations on a nearby computer.

But it looked like she had slammed into the same wall that Sans himself had; a missing piece somewhere in all of this. Her desk was beginning to look a lot like his own; a mess of papers, scans, and food all scattered about in a chaotic mess.

“Ah, Al? Can we talk?” The short skeleton inquired awkwardly, shuffling uncomfortably with his hands thrust into the pockets of his lab coat. Alphys glanced back, her claws clicking together as she offered a nervous smile, in spite of her own awkwardness she was actually reasonably skilled at reading people’s body language, and Sans was broadcasting his own discomfort pretty loudly.

“S-Sure…” The scaly scientist waddled over to join Sans, who lead her back to his office. It was also a mess, but more disorderly than Alphys’ own work area, his workstation had various pictures tracking Frisk’s development on them, a mini fridge partially open to reveal bottles of ketchup and snacks inside, and a light that backlit all of the x-rays they had been taking.

Sans sat heavily in his chair and stared at the monitor for a second while Alphys watched nervously, uncertain why her friend would call her here.

After several minutes of awkward silence, she piped up.

“Ah...s-so what’s th-this about, S-Sans, is everything okay?”

The words escaped the short skeleton before he had given them permission, just tumbling out of his mouth, likely helped along by the extensive amount of ketchup he had been consuming.

“Frisk’s turnin’ into a monster.”

Silence.

Alphys blinked and looked at Sans, as if waiting for him to leap up and waving his hands while yelling ‘gotcha’ but he didn’t, the short and tired monster just sighed and stared at his monitor while Alphys processed this information.

“O-Oh…” Alphys wasn’t quite sure what to say, obviously, this fact bothered Sans for some reason, but would it be rude to ask him for proof? They were both scientists so naturally, he wouldn’t make this kind of claim without some sort of proof but...it was just so fantastical, it was so hard to believe!

“Here, look.” Sans turned to his workspace and brought up Frisk’s x-rays for Alphys to examine, the bespectacled scientist moving in close and looking at them carefully.

“A-Alright...so…,” Alphys scrolled through the pictures, noting that there was very little difference between them all, just one more oddity about the girl. Her bones still looked broken yet she moved around without any issues, Undyne hadn’t reported any complaints of pain and Frisk appeared to have mostly recovered, in spite of how serious her injuries were.

Odd...though the farther along she got, the more the bones seemed to...vanish? Was that the right word? How strange...

“Yeah...weird right? Well, look at these.” Sans clicked about and brought up a second set of image files for his reptilian friend to examine.

In contrast to the x-rays, these ones were QUITE different, they were curious white patches that grew and grew, starting as fragments of disconnected white lumps but growing into large white masses.

Alphys really wasn’t sure what she was looking at, or how it related to Frisk; clearly Sans was trying to showcase something but...exactly what was it?

“Mmm...now…” Sans aligned the two image sets of image files and the reptile once more peered over them, her eyes widening and jaw dropping open.

Frisk’s bones weren’t broken.

The white masses lined up perfectly with the missing segments of Frisk’s bones, and as they spread outwards, they consumed the bones that seemed to vanish in the earlier x-rays, but what in the world was she looking at?

Wait...Sans had said that Frisk was turning into a monster...monsters were composed of dust..and magic.

Was this…?

“S-Sans...is th-this what I th-think it i-is?” Alphys demanded of her co-worker who took a long drink of the ketchup before nodding idly.

“Yup, Frisk’s all fulla magic, it’s swallowin’ her up...somehow. I dunno how it got there, but when Mettaton tore her up, the surgery we did with the artificial powder an’ all that green healin’ magic started ta spread through her,” Sans gave a hopeless shrug, “I have some theories but…”

Alphys scrolled through the pictures again, shock giving way to amazement and her face spreading into a wide smile, delight shining in her amber eyes.

“Th-This is gr-great!”

Sans head snapped up so fast that he almost gave his neck whiplash and just...stared at Alphys for a moment. Did she not get it? Didn’t she understand what the actual HELL they had done!? They had taken a little human kid and...and STRIPPED her of her humanity, they had set in motion events that were changing her race to something OTHER than what she was born as! And this was somehow a GOOD thing!?

“Al...we changed her inta a monster without her permission, do you get how big of a deal that is!?” Sans snarled, Alphys immediately withdrawing with a visible wince.

“Y-Yes, I kn-know but I d-don’t think th-this will up-upset Fr-Frisk.” Alphys pleaded, “B-Besides, wouldn’t her b-being a monster s-solve the pr-problem of K-King Asgore?”

Some distant part of Sans was disappointed she hadn’t stuttered on Asgore’s name, it was always at least amusing to hear as it dragged it out to sound like “ass-gore” and being as immature as he was, the skeleton found that hilarious.

“That aint our decision Al, that’s up ta Frisk.” The skeleton shook his head, reaching out to pluck another bottle of ketchup from the mini fridge.

“Th-Then,” Alphys pushed her glasses up her nose with one clawed finger, “Sh-Shouldn’t b-being angry about it b-be her decision t-too?”

Sans froze, the bottle partially tipped towards his mouth; he hadn’t considered that. He only knew that if he suddenly woke up as a human he’d be royally pissed, but was there a possibility here where Frisk would actually be alright with it? That being transformed into something else wouldn’t upset her?

It’s not like it’s the worst thing that’s happened to her.

Sans viciously tried to drown that thought with a mouthful of ketchup, but it stubbornly lingered regardless. Goddamned thing could swim.

The skeleton sighed and leaned back in his chair, watching as his reptilian coworker clicked around the screen, printing off copies of the charts and images. It was probably so she could keep track of this herself and maybe find the cause.

“F-Frisk and Undyne w-will be by this af-afternoon, I’ll sh-share what you l-learned th-then.”

Or not.

The lazy skeleton sat up with a start, eyes going wide in shock and a tiny hint of fear as he imagined how Undyne might react. Given what had happened to the girl recently, Undyne was… fairly protective of the little human.

“Oh no, no, no, no. I don’ think that’s a good idea Al, Undyne might get a lil pissed off, don’cha think?”

But Alphys dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand, the scaled scientist gathering up the printed sheets and examining them to make sure everything printed properly.

“I-It’ll be f-fine, it’s n-not like we pl-planned for th-this to ha-happen. Wo-Worse case sc-scenario, we-we’ll try to f-find a way to ch-change her b-back, if we ca-can.”

Sans frowned deeply, taking an immediate dislike to Alphys’ uncharacteristic cavalier attitude, her casual dismissal of this whole thing just… bothered the shorter monster, the short skeleton was certain that their resident human was going to be furious.

The two scientists were so wrapped up in their conversation that neither of them noticed a shining metal body lurking by the door, an uncharacteristic frown on an otherwise fabulous face.

********

Mettaton was confused by all of this and wasn’t sure how to process it, he had briefly considered barging in and asking questions, but Sans wasn’t the… easiest person to talk to, especially after that unfortunate misunderstanding with Frisk earlier. So the robotic monster had left, sneaking out of the room and heading back out in the direction of the resort, a frown marring his beautiful features.

After that...little incident with the human, Mettaton had proven as good as his word and steered clear of them, he had offered to put the word out on his show about not attacking the little human but that was immediately vetoed by everyone involved. Not wishing to tempt fate, nor a small skeleton with a drinking problem, Mettaton hastily agreed not to disclose the existence nor the attack perpetrated on the little Frisk.

Frisk...what a terribly odd name for a human to have, he would have thought that they would have had a more human name, but that was easily a traditional monster name. How peculiar.

Naturally, the fabulous superstar wanted to ask more, but had enough sense to realize he was already pushing his luck, and so backed off and had kept far, far away from the good Captain of the Guard.

Alphys had agreed to repair Mettaton, but under the condition he spend time with Papyrus, it seemed like an odd request at first but the robotic monster readily agreed and so had started spending more and more time with the tall skeleton monster.

It was proving to be quite informative...Papyrus was a gentle monster, though loud and brash he had an undeniably sensitive and caring heart, one that yearned to help others. Mettaton found himself talking to the kind skeleton in his spare time, the skeletal monster’s insights were fascinating and helpful.

Sometimes Mettaton just liked to listen to him talk and hear the wonder and innocence in his voice.

Mettaton activated his built-in cell phone and called the monster, he was confused and curious about what he had heard and felt the need to talk about it with someone who had a little more emotional intelligence than he did.

“Papyrus, Darling?” the robotic monster smiled when he heard the other line get picked up, “Can you meet me at the Hotland resort? I need to talk to you about something I overheard, it’s...confusing me, and I would appreciate your insight.”

After the confirmation, Mettaton hung up and went to wait for the tall skeleton, all the while stewing on the situation.

Why was this so hard? If the little human, Frisk, had people down here who cared about her, friends and food and clothes. So why was Sans so upset about her turning into a monster? Why should that matter at all? It was such a confusing situation, the shiny monster thought that the answer would be very obvious.

Mettaton sat there puzzling over it and didn’t notice Papyrus approach until a red glove gently gripped his hand.

“Hello Mettaton, you said you wanted to talk?”

The robotic monster leapt to his feet with a purr of ‘darling’ and embraced the tall skeleton, most people didn’t like his tendency to hug but Papyrus didn’t seem bothered at all, in fact the contrary appeared to be true; the bombastic royal guard trainee was quite delighted by them, and returned each hug with gusto.

“Darling, walk with me,” The two monsters began to walk, neither one really concerned with where they were going, it was that odd situation where they were both following and leading each other at the same time.

“I was going to see Alphys about some upgrades,” Mettaton explained, “And while I was there I overheard something I probably wasn’t supposed to.”

Papyrus’ bony brow furrowed, normally he’d scold Mettaton for eavesdropping but...this sounded important, what had the shiny monster overheard that would have worried him so? Papyrus wasn’t sure but…

“Well…,” Papyrus frowned, “We’ll get back to the issue of you eavesdropping, what is it you overheard, Mettaton?”

The pair rounded a corner, Mettaton glancing at his friend, and feeling oddly...nervous? But that was absurd, he was METTATON, the shining star of the underground, what did HE have to be nervous about!?

“Well darling, you see it appears that little human Frisk is turning into a monster and this has Sans quite upset”

Papyrus’ eye sockets opened wide, if this was true then it was a very big deal, his first instinct was to honestly go charging over to Undyne’s and share the news...but he restrained himself for the moment, focusing instead on Mettaton’s confusion.

“Oh, I see. Well, that is surprising news.” Papyrus agreed, “But why would you be confused?”

Mettaton frowned and continued his explanation as the pair walked through the resort, the robotic monster gaining adoring looks from his many fans, but he didn’t acknowledge them, too busy with the monster next to him.

“I’m confused because… shouldn’t this be a good thing? Little Human Frisk is in grave danger down here, and even if a random monster doesn’t try to take her soul, King Asgore just might. So shouldn’t they be relieved that she’s turning into a monster?”

Papyrus could tell that his friend was approaching this from a logical position, and not an emotional one. Sans, for all his posturing and devil-may-care attitude, was actually a very emotionally-driven monster. He tried not to show it, but his emotions could easily get the better of him, compromising the short skeleton’s judgement. Strangely enough, ketchup and those dog biscuits that Papyrus pretended he didn’t know about actually helped the smaller monster regain his focus, in spite of all making hin inebriated, that was why Papyrus only scolded Sans but took no steps or made any effort to actually put a stop to his brother’s activities; they actually helped.

Which is why the tall skeleton was hoping that this small human would be a good force in his elder brother’s life; Sans really cared about them. Papyrus could take care of himself as a general rule, though the pair used each other for emotional support,  but little Frisk was not Papyrus, she was blind, she was needy and she was… hurt. Sans for how much he tried to put on an air of indifference, truly cared about the girl, even though he seemed to be confused by his own feelings at times.

That was something that Papyrus could fully appreciate.

“True, but from Sans’ point of view, he may see it as us having accidentally stolen her identity away,” Papyrus explained, “Imagine how you would feel if you woke up tomorrow as a human, you’d be very upset or at least concerned,” Mettaton frowned in thought as the kind skeleton tried to explain the other side of the problem to the robotic monster, “And that is what Sans is worried about, that they will feel like we took something important away, something that we can’t really give them back.”

Mettaton nodded slowly, trying to imagine what it would be like trying to live without his shiny, beautiful body if for some reason he just… lost it, how would he react to that?

Not well.

“I see… Well, should we tell little Frisk or Captain Undyne?” Papyrus was pleased, Mettaton wasn’t just running off now, he was asking questions, the idol genuinely wanted to learn and become a better person, make up for the attack he had perpetrated on Frisk.

What Sans said that day must be really bothering Mettaton.

“Mmm… no, let’s not. While I’m worried about young Frisk too, it’s really not our place to be saying it; we don’t know all the details. For now, let’s wait for Sans and Doctor Alphys to make a decision.”

Mettaton didn’t entirely like it, it felt like they were keeping important information from others but… it was hard to deny that the kind skeleton had a very good point; Doctor Alphys and Sans were the ones who had all the information about this, not him. If he were to try and tell the fish monster or Frisk what he had overheard without all the information, he could end up making things worse.

“Alright darling, I’ll follow your lead on this one. Thank you for the talk Papyrus,” Mettaton shared a warm smile, “You always know exactly what to say.”

The metallic monster gave his skeleton companion a kiss on the cheek, and then walked off with a happy little ‘ta-ta’ as he headed for the studio to record another show, Papyrus staring at the retreating star with a flush on his bones and a bony palm gently rubbing the kiss in a happy daze.

********

Chara had to reassure Undyne no less than six times that Frisk was alright, though just to be sure, the fish monster had used green magic on the human… humans? Gods this was so confusing.

Chara had said that Frisk was just… sleeping? It didn’t really make sense, seeing as her body was up and walking around right now, but with these deep, crystal-clear red eyes as opposed to the little girl’s normally pale, milky blues.

“Look, she’s alright,” the red-eyed girl repeated with a hint of exasperation, “She’s not even sore after you used that green magic, she’s just… tired.” The pair were back in their house, Undyne was boiling some hot tea; normally she would use chocolate but ever since the… incident, the fish woman just couldn’t bring herself to stock the red-eyed child’s favourite beverage.

“I…,” Undyne wasn’t even sure what she was trying to say, “This… this is a lot for me to take in… Red.” The old nickname tasted strange in her mouth, “I mean… you’re dead. Were dead… are dead?” The fish woman furrowed her brow and looked back at Frisk… Chara… whatever and the child gave a half-hearted shrug.

“Yeah… I-I know, it’s pretty weird, right? I don’t even really understand it myself. I mean Frisk’s blind, right? But I’m not, but it’s not my body, it’s hers. I don’t really get the rules of all of this, and I’ve been in here for… for a while.”

That didn’t answer many questions, frustratingly and in fact, it asked a whole bunch more, how long had they been together? Was she some kind of ghost or spirit? Was she like Napstablook or Mettaton?

For the briefest of moments, the Captain of the Guard pictured a little red ghost flying around with Chara’s hair and telltale grin and red eyes, it was a fairly ridiculous mental image and she snorted as a result.

Chara and Undyne had been old friends back in the day, the two had lost their families, so they had formed a quick and strong bond as children. Together with Asriel, the three had been inseparable, much like how Kid, Frisk, and Fuku were now.

But then… then Asriel and Chara had died and Undyne’s world shattered to pieces. In one day she had gone from having two close friends who shared everything, to having nothing, and the grief turned to rage and even hatred.

“Is… Is Azzie… ?” Hoping against all chances, even the faintest glimmer of a possibility that her other friend could still be alive in some fashion, because if Chara had come back… sort of, couldn’t the little prince?

“Kind of?” Chara’s expression didn’t give Undyne much hope, so the monster poured the hot water into the cups containing the buttercup tea bags before placing a cup down in front of the red-eyed child.

“He’s… ugh… how do I explain this?” Chara blew on the tea to help it cool, “You know that nasty yellow weed monster? The buttercup that keeps showing up everywhere and has the creepy grin.”

Undyne’s brow furrowed, she knew the monster that Chara was talking about, it was an odd monster, there wasn’t anything else like it in the entire Underground, but it was always up to something; always scheming always making problems for everyone.

“Yeah, I know the one, what does it have ta… no… is THAT Azzie!?” Horror swept over the fish monster as the human nodded gravely and looked into her buttercup tea.

Undyne Felt sick.

How did dear, sweet Asriel turn into that horrid, awful flower? They were nothing alike, where Asriel was kind, tender and very thought, that flower was cruel, wicked, just about the farthest thing possible from their Asriel.

What had happened? What happened to her friends?

Undyne gave her head a shake and focused on the girl in front of her, she had so many questions she had wanted to ask… now she had a chance and wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.

“Tell me everything.”

Chara exhaled, this wasn’t going to be easy… none of it was, where would she even start? It was all bad comedy, a poorly written tragic farce involving three children who didn’t know better, but they all wanted to save those who were important to them.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

“...Well…,” Chara sipped her drink, enjoying the pleasant bitterness of the tea, “I died. Poisoned myself with the buttercups in the garden so Azzie could take my soul and cross the barrier and… y’know, get all the souls we needed.” Chara paused, bringing the cup to her lips and taking a sip. “By the way, this is really good, you know that?”

“Wh...Wha? WHAT THE HELL RED!?” The fish woman roared, “WHAT THE ACTUAL FLYING FISHES WERE YOU THINKING!?” In spite of herself, Chara snorted; Undyne’s determination not to swear around innocent little Frisk had resulted in her substituting her curse words for variations of what could generously be called Fish Puns, and it seemed that it had become such a habit that the scaled woman didn’t even notice her failure to curse.

“I wanted to help, I... I was a stupid kid, Undies.” To hear that nickname again… to hear that slightly rough voice murmur that hated nickname.

Gods above and below she missed it.

But to learn that one of her best friends had committed suicide just to help the monsters escape placed a heavy burden on the fish woman’s shoulders and her mind, the cyclopean monster’s head sinking into her hands where she slumped, breathing heavily for a moment, feeling her gills uselessly flutter.

Wait… hold on…

Buttercups?

Chara sipped her tea.

“Damnitt!” Undyne leaped to her feet reaching for the cup to snatch it away, terrified that she had just accidentally fed poison to the human child, who knew that buttercups were poisonous to humans!? Gods she knew so few things, how had she not managed to kill Frisk yet!?

“No, no it’s okay now,” Chara protested, pulling the cup out of Undyne’s reach, “I have a sense for Frisk’s body, this stuff is actually good for her now, weirdly. It’s helping her, she’ll feel better when she wakes up.”

Undyne hesitated, worry filling her face, what should she do? What was the right thing to do here? Gods she didn’t know, should she not risk it and snatch the tea away, or should she believe the… spirit of her long-dead friend?

Now she wished she had alcohol.

“You’re… you’re sure?” Undyne pleaded, needing some reassurance, feeling vulnerable and uncertain. Then again, whenever it came to Frisk she was always uncertain, but the soldier monster put on a brave face for the little girl, knowing that if she didn’t that Frisk would become scared and anxious, the little one had such a big and tender heart.

“Yeah, I can already feel it helpin’ her, trust me she’s gonna feel great when she wakes up,” Chara assured, taking another sip of the tea.

Undyne reluctantly sat back down, her own tea ignored for the turmoil churning in her chest. She was so strong, she could lift boulders with ease, run across the entire Underground faster than anyone else, she had the strongest attacks of anyone outside of the king, and she was absolutely the toughest monster down here.

So why did she feel so weak, so helpless?

“So uhh… yeah,” Chara continued, “I dunno what happened after that, not fully. But I think Azzie couldn’t do it and got dusted, not sure the details what happened after that. I have no memory until I just… sorta… woke up.”

Undyne furrowed her brow, as Chara took another mouthful of tea, enjoying the taste. There was a certain morbidness to the act that the red-headed monster couldn’t deny.

“Wake up?” Undyne probed, and the red-eyed girl nodded back, putting the cup down on the saucer in front of her.

Chara set her cup down quietly, putting both of her hands on her lap, the fingers intertwining.

“Yes… waking up. More than anything… it felt like I woke up from a long, long sleep and couldn’t remember the dream. I could barely tell what was around me, I couldn’t remember falling asleep, and all I felt was… cold. Like dipping my entire body into Snowdin’s rivers as slowly as I can, but you never get used to it. It just gets more and more intense… until you can’t feel your body anymore.”

Undyne had to fight herself hard to keep her expression neutral and not to cry, to suppress her desire to just… rush to the girl and hug her as tight as she possibly could. She wanted her to finish.

“...Imagine, for just a minute. Being a child. Just… a lost kid among a big, dark, empty space. Nobody around you. No direction to go. No sounds, no echoes, no smells, no light. Just… alone. A little child sitting in the darkness.” Chara’s lip was trembling, her little hands clutching the skirt of Frisk’s uniform.

“...until someone finally remembered their name, and they woke up.”

This was Undyne’s limit.

Being around Frisk, having to help the little girl with many tasks and learning to read the little one’s emotions had awoken a powerful sense of empathy inside of the fish woman, and to see tears falling from those eyes, be they red or blue, to see that tiny body shaking with pain and despair was too much.

The glass shattering as it fell from the table startled Chara, who looked up as Undyne crossed over to where she was sitting and pulled the red-eyed child into her muscled embrace, filling Chara’s nose with the smell of salt, water, sweat, buttercups and an underlying scent that was just so… Undyne.

This is Frisk’s favourite smell, the smell of ‘mom’.

Chara cracked and began to cry, and when the dam broke, the pain flowed forth. Chara sobbed, she sobbed for her own guilt, her own shame, her own loss, and her own regrets. She cried for Asriel, for she had failed her beloved brother and had been the catalyst to turn the kindest monster into a cruel, soulless beast.

She cried for all the monsters she had dusted, she cried for all the sorrow and pain she had caused, but most of all she cried for Frisk. For kind and tender Frisk who was far too much like Asriel, and just like her brother, that kindness and tenderness had gotten them hurt, unjustly so. Even when Chara had pressured the girl, used her to try and fix her mistakes, Frisk never once resented her partner.

Frisk never hated the red-eyed child.

Was she even capable of hating?

Undyne let her own tears fall, though she wasn’t sure why she was crying… maybe it was out of guilt, for her failure to save her best friends, her inability to be there when they needed her. She had been so weak, so incapable of helping them when they needed her the most.

And she had ended up so alone.

After that day, she had promised herself nobody would ever have to go through that ever again, that she would be strong enough to protect everyone in the whole Underground, that she’d tear down the barrier with her own bare hands.

So the two cried in each other’s arms, though they didn’t know for how long they cried… they just did, letting all the pent-up grief, sorrow and pain flow out of their bodies.

It felt good to be hugging her again.

It felt good to hear her again.

At some point the two had stopped, a comfortable and welcome numbness washed over them, their jaws sore from crying and eyes red and puffy. Neither really knew what to say, so they said nothing for now.

That was fine.

They had a whole night ahead of them to talk, and a lot more tea to drink.

Chapter Text

Smoke rose lazily from a skeletal nose bone, eye sockets closed and a biscuit loosely gripped in a grinning mouth. Human music, salvaged from the dump joined the swirling smoke, along with the scent of whiskey, creating a nice, enjoyable dizziness that almost made Sans forget the current mess he was in.

And he thought things were difficult when the kid was rampaging, dusting monsters and collecting LOVE and EXP. This should have been everything he wanted - the kid was behaving, they were trying to make friends and nobody had been dusted.

Except… except that the kid had been attacked more than once, and had died many times as a result. They were battered, bruised and scarred, monsters were hurting them and yet they didn’t fight back. As a result, they had begun to change.

And still, they smiled, and looked forward… well, figuratively, they couldn’t ACTUALLY look at anything.

Oh yeah, and whose fault is that, I wonder?

Sans took another long drag on the biscuit, filling his soul with the magic then letting it out, trying to fight off the combined forces of guilt and confusion as the question bounced around in his skull, joining the ever-growing number which was already ricocheting about in his mind like pinballs.

Frisk hadn’t told Undyne, that much was clear if she had he’d be dust right now. But why? Why hadn’t they said anything yet? What were they waiting for? Hell, what was HE waiting for? Sans had continued to uselessly track the girl’s changes, noting though that her blood was not coagulating nor dusting for some reason, he wasn’t sure why.

Another question to join the others.

What was the answer? Part of Sans worried that it was staring him right in his grinning face, but he was too scared to see it. That he didn’t want to see it, that ignorance was preferable to knowing what the truth was.

He still hadn’t told Undyne or Frisk what he had learned and Alphys had cautioned him to do it soon. They deserved to know, and while Sans knew she was right, a combination of fear, anxiety and pettiness kept him from going to tell them.

He hated not having answers as to why, he felt like the world was taunting him.

Goddamnit, when did all of this get so confusing?

The skeleton sighed and pulled himself up, snubbing out what was left of the biscuit. He’d have to get more from Gerson; he was burning through them faster than normal, then again, given all the stress he was under…

He pulled himself up, ambled over to his closet, grabbed one of his three blue jackets out and threw it on, making his way downstairs. The drugs hadn’t had the pacifying effect he had hoped, too many feelings and worries were still breeding in his skull, along with a confusing anger that he couldn’t really understand.

It was snowing extra hard in Snowdin, so his journey to Grillby’s took longer, the plastic grin hiding an agitated scowl, bony hands clenching inside his pockets. There was so much going on here, so many questions that he had no answer to.

HE probably would have had an answer, or at least a rough idea, but HE had to go get himself erased from time, and Sans wasn’t so desperate as to try and contact him.

The short skeleton had his pride as a scientist to consider after all.

Grillby’s was less full today, Sans was a little relieved to see that, Grillby was talking idly on his cell phone, the pleasant warmth of his tone suggesting that he was happy to be speaking to whoever was on the other end.

“Bring her by and I’ll call Dogamy and Dogaressa, Kid and Fuku will probably be there as well.”

Ah… Undyne, that meant they were talking about The Kid, it seemed to be Grillby’s second favourite topic these days, next to Fuku of course. Proud father he was, Grillby was always ready to talk about his ‘little spark’, but now he was just as ready to talk about Frisk as well.

Sans had even seen the fridge normally dominated by pictures of the emerald fire elemental starting to get competition in the form of pictures of their resident human, some with her friends and some just the girl by herself, though Frisk’s tendency to keep her eyes closed meant that it was hard to tell if she was asleep or not.

Sans felt a strange and alarming spike of jealousy spear him, freezing mid-step. What reason did he have to be jealous over Grillby for? Frisk? It wasn’t like Sans couldn’t go see her whenever he wanted, it wasn’t like he didn’t see her every school day, so why was he so…

Envious?

The elemental signaled to Sans with a wave, who returned it tiredly, forcing the grin back onto his face as he resumed his lazy amble across the room and ended up sloppily into his seat, arms crossing. Without putting the phone down, Grillby grabbed a bottle of ketchup and slid it over to Sans, but the shorter monster shook his head and pointed at a clear bottle behind the barkeeper.

Grillby hesitated for a moment then shifted, pinning the cell phone between his shoulder and head as he poured Sans a drink of whiskey with ice.

“Look, Sans is here, I’ll talk to you later alright? Okay, see you soon Undyne. Bye.” The elemental hung up and looked down at Sans, who took a healthy sip of his drink. Grillby leaned on the bar top and watched his closest friend patiently, but Sans took his time draining the glass.

“... You done pouting?” Grillby’s words cut straight to Sans’ core, and the skeleton’s grin slipped to an awkward, unhappy grimace. Of everyone in the entire Underground, Grillby seemed to be able to read him the easiest, which was both a blessing and a curse.

“Sorry Grillbz, it’s been a rough coupla weeks.” Sans grumbled, resting his skull on a hand, fingertips drumming against the side of his head.

“It always is with you, Sans, but you only ask for Whiskey when something is truly bothering you” Sans gave a half-hearted shrug, his friend wasn’t wrong, sure, but that didn’t make it any easier to admit, “So what is it this time, Sans?”

The skeleton gave a dry, wheezing laugh, his face turning into a grim grin as the alcohol settled into his system.

“Oh nothin’ Grillbz, jus’ everythin’,” Sans responded glibly, “Everything’s all fucked up, an’ it’s all MY fault!” Sans went limp, his body shaking slightly. Grillby’s flaming face fell into an expression of worry. It was rare to see his closest friend so… so devastated like this, especially when he was sober. The fire elemental didn’t respond right away, instead letting Sans figure out how to explain it to him. Time, patience and experience had taught the bar keeper that it was best just to let Sans try and figure out how to talk instead of forcing him. Trying to force the issue was one of the fastest known ways of getting Sans to start fighting, though if worse came to worst, he wasn’t against using the tactic.

Sans threw back the drink then slumped; the alcohol blazing down his nonexistent throat before he looked back up, tapping the glass.

Well, at least he didn’t deny that he was an alcoholic.

Grillby refilled it, pinning Sans with an expectant look, that the skeleton ignored as he took another sip. Patrons had begun to file out, leaving their money on their tables, Grillby knew that they were trustworthy and to recognize when the skeleton and fire monster needed a moment alone.

The last patron out, a bunny girl, flipped the sign to closed as she left, the door ringing softly, leaving Sans and Grillby with some much-needed privacy. Grillby busied himself, cleaning glasses quietly as Sans poured himself a third drink; he was really going through it fast which was an excellent indicator of how stressed his best friend was.

“Frisk’s turnin’ inta monster.” Grillby almost dropped the glass at Sans’ grumble, “Wasn’t sure at first, but it’s hard ta deny it now. Her body’s turnin’ inta magic, her bones’re showin’ up on magic scanners, her injuries don’t heal without magic food... I jus’...” the skeleton raised his head ever so slightly, his empty eyeholes black as pitch “I fucked up Grillbz… I fucked up real bad.”

The skeleton swirled his drink, staring at the ice cubes at the bottom, and so he didn’t see Grillby’s expression, not that it would have mattered as even by the elemental’s standards, it was pretty unreadable.

“...okay,” Grillby took a moment to compose himself after Sans’ emotional outburst, “So… you think Frisk is turning into a monster, somehow.” The fire monster regarded the morose skeleton, “And… what’s the problem, exactly?”

Sans’ head snapped up and he just STARED at his best friend with stunned shock. Didn’t Grillby understand the weight of what Sans had just said!? Didn’t he get it? Sans’ permanent grin melted into a scowl and the skeleton stood, his expression now a frustrated sneer.

“The hell d’ya mean ‘ya think’? I aint a fuckin’ idiot Grillbz, I know what I saw! Her body’s turnin’ inta some kinda… kinda freak!”

Grillby leaned forward, his molten ivory eyes BORING into Sans’ eyelights, managing to choke the skeleton’s rant off into an indignant sputtering and finally lame mumbling. Sans wasn’t used to Grillby giving him such an intense look and wasn’t quite sure what to make of it or how to respond to it, yet Grillby didn’t speak until Sans had gone quiet for several minutes.

“... Sans my friend, disregarding the fact that you called a child a ‘freak’,” the skeleton visibly winced at that, “I find it curious that you have decided that this change is somehow bad without even asking Frisk what she thinks.”

The short skeleton sighed and leaned forward, hanging his skull between his bony hands, staring into the empty glass, the barkeeper taking the hint and filling it with more alcohol.

“Have you asked Miss Alphys about her opinion on it?”

Sans gave a dismissive wave, he knew he was being an ass but didn’t really care, as he took the glass and tilted his head back. They called it ‘drowning your problems’ but forget swimming, Sans was certain that by now he’d be the captain a goddamn Navy, complete with submarines.

The mental image provided a temporary distraction, and the skeleton gave an amused snort.

“I fail to see the humor, but I shall assume you have not.” Grillby sighed and ran a hand through his flaming hair in annoyance, “Sans, simply talk to the child, talk to her mother,” for some reason he couldn’t explain, hearing Grillby refer to Undyne as the kid’s ‘mother’ grated on Sans, for reasons he couldn’t adequately explain, “If what you’re saying is true then they will notice sooner or later.”

Sans leaned back and rubbed the base of his neck, trying to massage out the kinks, Grillby was right of course and Sans knew it, but that didn’t make the situation anymore tenable.

“You goin’ ta tell ‘em?” Sans felt mildly hopeful, and also mildly like shit for pushing the responsibility off on Grillby. The fire elemental didn’t miss either look and shot his friend a disapproving look.

“Not right now, no - they’d have questions I couldn’t answer. But if this takes too long then I will.” What was left unsaid was that Undyne would be none too pleased about learning that the kid was changing and that Sans had hid that information.

The skeleton sighed and slid off his seat and gave a little wave to his friend - he had a lot to consider and was in that comfortable zone of being not really drunk but not quite sober - when he was more clear-headed.

“Later Grillbz, I need ta take a walk.”

Grillby nodded sympathetically, sometimes Sans needed some space and sometimes he needed some tough love.

Sometimes both.

“Alright my friend, just remember what I said,” Then the elemental seemed to remember something and straightened, calling out after the shorter monster, “Oh and it’s Frisk’s birthday soon, so think of a gift you want to give her.”

The skeleton froze at the doorway, hand resting on the doorknob and face split into a painful grimace.

Shit, he almost forgot… the kid was turning eight.

Eight years old, an’ if it wasn’t for that weird power, they’d never have seen it.

The guilt returned like an infection to his bones and Sans slumped, slinking outside like a wet cat trying to find shelter from the rain.

********

“Oh my GOODNESS! WHAT A CUTE PAIR OF PUPPIES!” Dogaressa squealed, and Grillby chuckled as the canine royal guard knelt and rubbed her nose and cheeks against the two children’s faces, Fuku and Frisk giggling from her ticklish snout.

A small smile made its way onto Undyne’s face as she watched the scene unfold, the two adorable kids never failing to lift her mood, even if momentarily. Tilting her head, she could make out the form of Dogamy preparing some snacks for everyone - cookies and sweets, probably. The sea monster snorted when he looked almost hurt after putting the bone away from the tray.

Last night Chara and Undyne had had a long talk, a long and very informative talk but not an unpleasant one. It had been… sobering, the recollection of Frisk’s traversal through the Underground, and her… her deaths. Undyne was uncertain if Frisk had been aware of the talk - Chara explaining that sometimes she just took over as Frisk’s mental exhaustion put her asleep.

God, I wish I could talk to her about it.

Undyne had forced herself to grin this morning and be as cheerful and chipper as possible with Frisk - the girl, of course, responded wonderfully to it.

“Wait she died so much… and kept coming back somehow? Who killed her? I’ll - I… Chara?”

The red-eyed girl just gave one of her oldest friend’s a sad, sad look - one that said so very much without saying anything at all.

The fish woman felt her heart jump into her throat, her chest squeezing like a vice.

“H-How… how many times?”

Chara shook her head slowly, eyes closing.

“...a few dozen, the first time… after that? …sorry, too many to count. You were… you…” the red-eyed child looked up at Undyne, and saw the monster’s eye was red with tears and pain - despair and so many other emotions that Chara could not immediately identify. “...it wasn’t your fault, you know? You… you didn’t know. You couldn’t have known.” the un-child hopped off the chair, their tiny arms wrapping around the fish monster’s neck.

How could she? How could this little girl who Undyne had… had BUTCHERED so many times look up at her with a smile, could call her MOMMY!?

For a moment, Undyne could barely suppress the urge to cry, a single tear rolling down her scaly cheek and the woman’s voice hiccuping for but a single instant, but an instant that the child noticed. The sea monster felt her little warm hand wipe the tear away.

“...mommy? Why are you crying?” Guilt gripped Undyne’s heart like a vice, guilt, and shame. This little human - this darling little girl had no idea. She didn’t know that Undyne now knew, and… and still.

Still, those milky baby-blues looked up with genuine worry somehow being communicated through the blinded eyes.

Undyne was certain that Chara hadn’t told her everything - she could read people enough to see that much at least. But what was the young girl holding back? Undyne didn’t have the strength of heart to ask - she had too much to digest now.

“I’m jus’ so proud of ya, nerd.” Undyne grinned broadly and ruffled her little human’s hair.

Her human.

Frisk’s giggle was a delight to hear - like little ringing bells if Undyne was feeling poetic. But she wasn’t, so it just sounded like happiness.

“Come in little puppies!” Dogaressa urged eagerly, shepherding the two children into the house, Undyne felt that tightness return as she watched Frisk get ushered into the house.

“I’ll be back later, okay kiddo?” Frisk turned, face split into a smile even as those blinded eyes looked THROUGH Undyne.

Through the woman who had slaughtered her countless times on a waterfall - a seven-year-old child who was scared and alone.

For her soul.

Undyne felt filthy; disgusting, like her scales were coated in some unseen grime that she desperately wanted to scrape off, but couldn’t.

Then the little girl made her way back, hands lifted to feel, stumbling slightly and falling against Undyne, her tiny arms circling around the powerful fish monster’s neck.

“It’s okay,” Assured the small human, “I promise, I’ll be okay, mommy...”

Undyne’s heart jumped into her throat, and she struggled to swallow, her muscular body trembling. Somehow the strongest, mightiest monster in the entire Underground, the vaunted Captain of The Guard, had been reduced to tears by a tiny, underweight, blind human child’s hug.

“I know… I know babyfish,” the red-headed fish monster choked out, “I’m ah… I’m jus’ so proud of ya.” It wasn’t entirely a lie but Undyne couldn’t shoulder the weight of telling the child why, the real reason why, she cried.

“Heh, go on Frisky, I gotta see Al ‘bout some stuff.” The small human nodded and with some reluctance, broke the embrace, stepping back into the large doghouse-shaped home.

“Okay, love you Mommy!” and with that, Frisk let Fuku drag her off into the house to play.

That sentence… that honest, pure ‘love you Mommy’ had hurt Undyne more than any blade could. Not because it wasn’t true - of that, Undyne had no doubt that it was, but because she knew in her heart that she didn’t deserve it.

“You’ll take care of ‘em, right ‘Ressa?”

Dogaressa turned back and nodded vigorously, floppy ears flapping up and down.

“Oh yes Captain, you have nothing to worry about! We’ll protect the human puppy and monster puppy, you’ll see!”

The fish woman gave one last nod and turned away to head back towards Hotland.

Each step was a herculean fight not to turn and sprint back - to hold the tiny girl close and never let her go. How did this tiny child manage to worm her way into Undyne’s heart so fast?

That’s easy idiot, the warrior monster scolded herself, It’s cause she’s been down here a lot longer than it seems.

Maybe on some level, Undyne already knew her very well.

********

The reptilian scientist knew that she had a busy day ahead of her - she had to check Frisk’s scans and also see how her other non-Frisk work was going. Mettaton wanted… something, she wasn’t sure exactly what but with Mettaton it was easy enough to guess. Undyne would swing by soon, and they would talk about Frisk’s health and how well the small human was adapting to an all-monster Society. How she was faring away from the sun, the surface and other humans.

Alphys paused by Sans’ office and hesitated: the short skeleton had gone from a lazy do-nothing to an over-worker. While seeing the comedian working was far from a bad thing, this wasn’t healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

According to Papyrus, all Sans did these days was work and drink and… and follow Frisk around like a puppy. Or a bodyguard.

Or something... else.

The royal scientist was timid and socially awkward, but not stupid - not by any means. You didn’t get to her level of achievement by being an idiot.

Sans had found something, exactly what she wasn’t sure of, but whatever it was it had rattled the short monster to the core.

But what was it?

Sans was being very secretive, very withdrawn and defensive - even a bit combative about letting Alphys see Frisk’s readouts and his own research. Yes, he was DEFINITELY researching something, and she would bet her entire Mew Mew Kissy Cutie collection that it had something to do with Frisk.

For a brief moment, Alphys toyed with the idea of going into the lab to find the answers for herself, but quickly rejected that idea. Sans was quite defensive of his work and with the alcohol and lack of sleep he was purported getting (and not getting), the reptilian monster wasn’t eager to tempt fate.

At least not yet.

Turning back, Alphys began to sort the papers and pages and made sure the laptop was booted up and ready - Undyne would be asking a lot of questions.

It was… nice.

Alphys was afraid that Undyne would become completely consumed by her job, that she’d have no life outside of the Royal Guard - hinging her entire existence on that one position. But since the odd little girl had fallen into the Underground, Alphys had seen a change in her girlfriend.

Alphys grabbed a water bottle, and put a kettle on for tea.

Undyne had actually started using her free time, had started to socialize more and had begun expanding not only her personal knowledge but also improving her own behavior. The woman was now a lot less reckless, more concerned with the example she was setting for Frisk, and had begun reading any books she could find about child rearing.

She had been seen around the Capital outside of her armor, and been asking questions to learn how to best assist the small child.

In short, Undyne had begun to live.

“Heya Al!”

The reptile jumped in surprise and squealed loudly, whipping about with a mildly terrified expression at the grinning Undyne.

“S-Sorry,” the scientist stammered, “Y-You just startled m-me a little.” Undyne chuckled and rubbed Alphys’ head fringe, then sat into the prepared chair, while Alphys hurried to finish the tea and grabbed a few cookies.

“Frisk’s at Dogamy an’ Dogaressa’s place with Fuku. Kid aint there t’day tho; he’s helpin’ his mom an’ pop.”

Alphys nodded and placed the tray of drinks and snacks down between them and then took her own place behind the laptop, bringing up Frisk’s medical file.

Frisk’s incomplete medical file.

Sans wasn’t giving all he had about her, in spite of his claims otherwise - Alphys was absolutely certain of that much.

“W-Well, how is sh-she doing in school?” Alphys readied her claws on the keyboard to type, while Undyne poured some tea and grabbed a shortbread-flavoured cookie.

Undyne’s grin was reassuring as the captain of the guard took a big bite out of the treat.

“She’s doin’ great - she’s up to her readin’ level an’ gettin’ the hang of braille. She’s a little b’hind in her math, but really loves history - learnin’ our history. The only subject she’s strugglin’ in is phys-ed.”

Alphys shared Undyne’s frown at that news, while it made some sense that Frisk would lag behind in physical activities due to her disability, all other reports painted the blinded human as being quite active, in spite of it.

“I-I see,” the scientist made a note on the file - something to follow up with later, “Wha-What about her m-mobility?”

Undyne sipped her tea, then reached across the table to retrieve some honey.

“She’s gettin’ more adventurous, more confident with herself an’ where everything is. Sometimes she tilts her head as if listenin’, I dunno if that helps but... “ Undyne trailed off, taking another sip of her tea, while Alphys’ claws flew across the keyboard.

“Hmm, th-that matches my a-assumptions.” Undyne lifted an eyebrow, but waited for her girlfriend to continue, while still enjoying the tea, “Sh-She knows wh-what colour is, combined wi-with the damage on her sk-skull tells me s-something.”

Alphys chose this moment to pause, forcing the impatient captain of the guard to wait as the scientist sipped her tea and nibbled on a cookie.

“I think,” Alphys continued between bites, “Th-That Frisk l-lost her eyesight r-recently.”

Undyne swallowed heavily, and put the teacup down, pinning her shy girlfriend with a cyclopean stare.

“Al, what exactly are ya sayin’ here?” Undyne managed to keep her voice even and hard, which of course made the poor timid Alphys squirm.

“I-I umm… o-oh dear well… I-I… I think that s-something or s-someone blin-blinded Frisk. B-But I c-can’t think of a-anything th-that might do it… at least, not-nothing natural.” the reptile trailed off, but was left unsaid weighed heavily in the air.

Magic.

A monster.

Maybe the same one who had burnt her leg? Queen Toriel, right? Undyne’s teeth ground together as she fought to keep her temper even, and not frighten her high-strung girlfriend any further.

“B-But it’s not a c-certainty,” Alphys added quickly, “Sh-She’s a very unusual g-girl, s-so right n-now I can only theorize.”

Theory or not, it was the only one they had right now, and if Alphys’ body language was anything to judge by, then it was a theory that she believed.

Some part of Undyne was surprised that she hadn’t started snorting flames yet.

But getting angry wouldn’t solve anything - the fish woman knew that, and she knew that with how sensitive her babyfish was, that she’d have to approach this entire thing carefully.

“U-Umm c-can you t-tell me a-about her s-socializing?”

The question was a distraction, but a welcome one - Undyne needed to focus on facts right now, not presumptions.

“Uhh… uh yeah, umm…”  Undyne took a gulp of the tea - it’s burning heat helping her to focus on something other than the idea of that little girl being hurt so badly that she’d go blind.

But you killed her yourself, didn’t you?

Suddenly Undyne wanted to vomit.

“”She uh… sh-she’s pretty attached to Fuku an’ me, y’know? She hangs out with Kid a fair bit too, but she really don’t like bein’ far from us. Or from Sans.” the fish woman added as an afterthought.

What was their relationship anyways? Undyne couldn’t wrap her head around it at all and Chara hadn’t mentioned anything about Sans - in fact she had avoided talking about what happened after Hotland altogether.

Maybe that was the key.

“She’s also pretty fond of Paps, an’ you too.” Undyne grinned as the scientist squeaked, again, and flushed heavily. It was clear that Alphys hadn’t been considering the future - if the two monsters got serious about their relationship then…

Alphys gulped her tea while Undyne snickered.

Flustered, the scientist scrambled to grab some papers and charts and thrust them under Undyne’s nose.

“H-Hers-soulsc-scans!” Alphys somehow managed to blurt the entire sentence out as one word, which was a sure sign of embarrassment, if the hot flush wasn’t already a dead giveaway.

The soldier monster shook with laughter at poor Alphys’ expense, but accepted the stack and began to look through it.

Undyne’s grin slowly melted into a confused frown, while her flustered girlfriend desperately grabbed the teapot to refill her cup, and gulped it down just as fast.

“Hey Al, she’s got these white chunks all over her soul, that normal?” Alphys knew that question was coming, and wrang her claws nervously.

“I-I don’t know, I-I got a look at th-the human souls Th-The King has, b-but those weren’t in a h-human body. I… I’m s-sorry Undyne - we simply d-don’t have enough data right n-now.”

Worry gnawed at Undyne’s gut like a doggo with a bone.

“Mmm…” Undyne stared at the page intently, as if her glower would scare the picture into giving up its secrets.

“H-Has Frisk s-said anything a-about it?”

Undyne exhaled in frustration and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling in annoyance, the soul scan printout still in one hand.

“Naw, kid aint like that - they think that tellin’ me they’re hurt is them botherin’ me.” That guilty feeling returned - had she treated Frisk like that in those other… what, timelines?

“It’s a bit tough ta get ‘em ta tell me when they’re hurt.”

The resulting giggle was not one of the responses that Undyne had anticipated, and the fish woman lowered her head to look at her snickering girlfriend.

“What?” the redhead demanded, which only made Alphys giggle harder.

“She’s ju-just like her M-Mommy.” Undyne’s face turned the same colour as her hair, and the strong monster became coy, looking to the side and partially covering her face with the printout.

“Y-Yeah,” the fish monster stammered, ‘I-I guess she is.” the blush slowly faded while Undyne’s smile grew, “She called me that t’day, did I tell ya that? She called me Mommy.”

Alphys had to fight off a fangirl-esque squeal, but containing that energy made the reptilian girl bounce in her seat, joy shining in her amber eyes.

“Heh…” the cyclopean fish monster looked up at her girlfriend, “Yeah, yeah; yuck it up. I jus’... it made me happy, it made me really happy.” Undyne sighed and looked back at the soul scan - even the mystery of that picture couldn’t bother her right now.

The two monsters sat silently, Undyne in thought and Alphys in some mental landscape where she was imagining the entire exchange between fish woman and blind human - dramatized though.

Just like one of my anime’s!

“Hey Al, can ya help me with a lil somethin’?” Alphys was snapped out of her budding mental fanfiction but the request, looking at Undyne with a curious tilt of her head.

“S-Sure Undyne, b-but what do you n-need?”

Undyne’s grin broadened until it was almost shark-like.

“It involves Frisk’s upcomin’ birthday, an’ what I wanna get her for it.” Alphys leaned forward, and listened intently, a smile growing wider across her face, until Undyne had finished her explanation.

All the reptilian girl could think was: No, BETTER than one of my anime’s!

End Part 13

Chapter Text

Hello folks, thank you all for reading what is honestly my singularly most successful fanfiction. I am grateful and humbled by all the positive comments and feedback from people, and decided to give some information as to why the updates stopped.

Simply put: I burnt out.

Between my job and having to scramble to write every day, my severe mental health problems, emotional health problems, and finalizing my immigration into the United States, I was just... exhausted. I do love this story, and I do want to finish it, but my problem is that I'm not really sure how to end it, or really where to go from where I am at. I intended for Frisk to have her birthday, and for there to be a big maternal showdown between Undyne and Toriel.

There are parts of this story i'm not altogether happy with, like how I've handled Chara, while there are parts I'm honestly quite proud of, like the surgery debacle. However, I'm just sort of burnt out right now, and it's hard for me to push my stupid butt to start the next chapter, I also get easily distracted with endless 'what if' ideas. Seriously, my head doesn't shut up. Ever.

But I wanted you to all know that no, I haven't forgotten this story, no I haven't really abandoned it either, I'm just a bit...stumped.

My apologies

Licorice