Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a normal morning. Nightmare got up first, like always. The gang needed their sleep. He understands.

He would go downstairs, make sure no uninvited guests other then Error or Fresh came inside. He would always look for magic, and always felt nothing.

Then Nightmare would check the air around him for negativity. That way he could sense if someone was having a night terror. Mostly nothing

Killer was always first to wake up. It's a fact. Like Nightmare, he didn't need that much sleep. That morning went away like any other: He would get up, wash his face, clean his room (not that there was much to clean) and then go downstairs and watch tv or something.

Then Horror would wake up. After cleaning himself, he would start making breakfast: Not that he minded. He enjoyed cooking, and it reminded him that he wasn't in his au anymore. He wasn't dying. He wasn't starving. 

Dust and Cross.. Were heavy sleepers. Horror could be like them though. If he didn't want to wake up, it was nearly impossible to wake him up. Dust and Cross needed much more sleep, and everybody was fine with it. 

Dust would wake up, clean himself, and then just sit on the couch sleepily with Killer.

Nobody understood why Cross, the one who was 'not trained to be lazy' always needed more sleep then the others. Well, they didn't know he was soulless. That robbed a lott of his energy, so he needed a lott more sleep then the rest.

Once everybody was awake, they would just eat the breakfast Horror made, and then go on with their life. They would do things together, or cause havoc. Or, they would train.

Killer felt like he needed to train. Last time his knives had been a bit slower. So when eating breakfast, he asked: "Hey, I think it may be fun to train today, maybe even have a tournament or something. Anybody wanna join?"

Horror looked up. "Sure, I'm down for it."

Dust agreed. "Yeah, it wil be fun!!"

Nightmare humed. "You boys have fun, I'll maybe join later"

Cross acted a little different. "Actually, I don't feel like training today. Is that fine with you guys?"

The gang looked up. Cross who doesn't want to train? Thats new. Though, Nightmare didn't worry, not feeling any negativity coming from the younger. 

"Ofcourse Cross, whatever suits you" Nightmare said.

Cross smiled. While training, he saw a lot of opportunities to draw a cool scene, and he wanted to surprise the gang. He really wanted to draw them in action.

"Okay, let's first finish breakfast, and then we can go and spar outside a little" Horror said.

~~~

Breakfast finished, and the gang went outside. Nightmare said he wil cause some negativity first, then come spar with them.

"Hey! Thats not fair!!" Dust said. "Negativity makes you stronger!"

Nightmare winked. "A fight is never fair" and with that, he jumped in a random portal.

Killer chuckled. "Alright, so, who are first?" He asked.

"I would really like to try against Horror for once" Dust said.

"Alright" Killer said. "Then you two can go first, and I wil then go against the winner. Everybody okay with that?"

Horror and Dust nodded.

Cross had his sketchbook and pencils, sitting on the side. He found a really pretty flower he wanted to draw.

"Magic or weapons?" Horror asked.

"How about we try weapons for once?" Dust said.

Horror nodded, summoning his battle axe, while Dust got 2 of his knives.

~~~

After 20 minutes, Dust became victorious. He managed to beat Horror!! He was cheering internally.

Horror saw the proud look on Dust face, and chuckled. "Good job Dust" he praised.

Dust smiled proudly.

Killer laughed at the scene in front of him. Adorable.

Cross smiled. He was almost done with the sketch of the flower, he now just needed to shade it. Then it came to his mind again. He came here to draw the gang! Not a flower! He sighed, then scooted a little closer to the gang to see them better. He giggled when he saw Dust's face. He looked really proud!

"Alright then, me against Dust" Killer anounced.

"Alright" Dust said. "Weapons or magic?"

Killer thought. "Go all out" he said.

Dust smirked. "Okay, but remember, you chose this."

And so, they started a fight.

Cross looked when he hears noise, and saw that Killer and Dust were now against each other. He got his sketchbook and pencils, starting to try and draw Dust.

Killer and Dust were both nearly the same. They both have knives as weapons, and both were forced to kill monsters in their au. Their magic was also nearly the same: they both had gaster blasters and knives, and both could teleport. Though Killer also could make portals to other au's.

Dust threw 3 knives at Killer, who avoided all of them.

Killer made a gaster blaster apear, and shot at Dust, who dogded easily. 

Dust teleported behind Killer, and swung his knife at him.

Killer teleported just in time. He was starting to get out of breath.

Horror looked at the duo carefully. He wanted to make sure nobody accidentally hurt themselves. All of them forgot about Cross by that point.

Cross was done sketching Dust, and now started with Killer.

Dust threw 5 knives at Killer this time, Killer getting hit by 2 of them.

Killer teleported behind Dust, panting heavily. He got his magic ready, stil trying to dodge Dust.

Dust now stood in front of Cross.

Killer got two gaster blasters, and shot them at Dust.

Dust teleported out of the way, dodging easily. Now he stood besides Horror. He gasped when he saw Cross.

Horror's eyes went wide when he saw Cross. "CROSS LOOK OUT-"

Too late.

Chapter Text

"CROSS LOOK OUT-"

"Huh?"

Cross had no time to panic, and yelped when he got hit by the beam of light.

He got slammed against a tree.

The gang looked in horror as they saw Cross disappear behind the powerful blast.

When the light finally disappeared, they ran straight towards Cross.

Cross was slammed a few cm further then that he sat. He was under a tree, lying on his chest, clearly not conscious. He had a huge crack on his skull and from what they could see, it was bleeding.

"CROSS!" Horror screamed, checking the younger. He kneeled down, and turned the smaller to lay on his back.

His jacket was ruined, having burned of a little. Horror got with some of Dust's help rid of the jacket. 2 ribs were cracked, and a little burned aswel. His right arm was the worst part. Not only burned, but also completely broken.

Killer gasped when he saw the revealed damage. He did that. He hurt his brother.

Horror's eyes widend at the damage. Probably because he was slammed against the tree. He must have landed with his right arm and skull.

Dust got tears in his eyes. How did 2 blasters do so much damage?!

Horror looked at the other 2. Killer was near having a panic attack while Dust was silently crying. 

Okay. He needed to stay calm. Stay calm. Stay. Calm.

Deciding staying calm was not working, he checked Cross' stats. He gasped when he saw them.

X!Sans (also known as Cross)

HP: 2/15

LV: 0

ATK: 10

DEF: 20

- cracked skull, cracked and burnt ribs, broken arm

-loves his family dearly.

-???

-???

"WHY IS HIS HP SO WEAK?!" Horror screamed.

The other looked at the stats and gasped. This made Killer feel more guilty then he already did feel.

Dust felt sick.

"Okay, okay, okay, stay calm. Just stay calm, it's alright" Horror kept repeating, mostly to calm himself down.

"HOW IS THIS ALRIGHT?!" Killer screamed. "I HURT HIM HOW COULD I HURT HIM I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON-"

Dust hugged Killer to make him shut up. "It isn't your fault, we should have been more careful" he said.

"Okay, don't break down" Horror said. "Killer, you grab healing gel, some towels, water. Dust, you call Nightmare and then get some clothes" 

They both nodded, then flew inside.

Horror gently picked Cross up, making sure he was comfortable in his arms, and then brought him inside, laying him on the couch.

He then started getting rid of Cross clothes. Why are his clothes so complicated?

~~~

Dust went to the kitchen and grabbed his phone, typing Nightmare's number in. Please pick up..

"Dust?" Nightmare asked. "Can this be later, I am busy in the au-"

"Cross is injured. Badly" Dust said.

Nightmare froze. What?

"What happend and how bad?" Nightmare asked.

Dust had tears in his eyes. "Me and Killer were just sparring, we forgat Cross was there. And then Killer fired 2 blasters at me, and I teleported away, but Cross was behind me drawing and then he got hit instead" he explained.

"He has a crack on his skull, 2 cracked ribs, that are also a little burned of, and his right arm is completly broken."

Nightmare gasped. How did they do that with just 2 blasters?!

"I'm coming." He said, and then hung up.

Dust sighed, trying to calm down. Then he got up to get some clothes for Cross.

~~~

Killer was in the bathroom, trying not to breakdown. He hurt his brother. he hurt his brother. 

It happend again. He had promised himself it won't happen again. But it happend again. First he killed his real brother. Papyrus, the only one who believed in him. His dear brother who he loved so much. He killed him. 

And now.. It happened again. He hurt him. He hurt his brother. How long until he went insane and killed them aswel?

Killer couldn't stop a sob, as he fell onto his knees, crying silently.

~~~

Dust was in Cross' room, looking in his closet. Why are al his clothes so complicated?

Finally finding something comfy and easy, he went downstairs to Horror. He stopped when he heard a sob. It sounded like it came from ths bathroom. Killer..?

Dust opened the door, and was shocked to see Killer on his knees, crying. 

"Killer? What's wrong?" He asked, putting the clothes on a table and kneeling down beside the taller.

Killer didn't look up. He doesn't deserve comfort. Not after what he did.

Dust hugged him gently, just sitting there with him.

After a while Killer calmed down enough to stop crying, still trembeling a bit though.

"Feeling better?" Dust asked, still hugging him.

Killer nodded a bit. He still didn't think he deserved that.

"Alright then, let's go downstairs, Cross needs our help." Dust added. "And Killer, remember, it's not your fault."

Killer nodded a bit, not believing him, but he was right about 1 thing: Cross needed their help. Now. 

~~~

Horror finally managed to get rid of Cross clothing. Damn, his clothes are impossible.

Now he was just waiting for the other two. He couldn't do anything more except check the damage.

The crack on Cross skull wasn't too big, and not deep at al. A bit of healing gel and bandages should be enough. His ribs also seemed fine. Just a bit cracked and burnt. His right arm though...

His right arm was shattered.

Horror seriously wanted to know how his arm became that bad. He gasped when he saw Cross skull bleeding a little. His arm was bleeding aswel.

Maybe he got slammed across the tree? And landed with his right arm? With the power and speed of the blast, that would make sense.. 

He checked Cross again, because something was on his mind.

X!Sans (also known as Cross)

HP: 2/15

LV: 0

ATK: 10 

DEF: 20

- cracked skull, cracked and burnt ribs, broken arm

-loves his family dearly

-???

-???

Strange.. there were 4 facts when he checked, but he can only see 2...

A check box normally doesn't do that...

He looked up when he heard Killer and Dust coming down the stairs, along with clothes, healing gel, water, and towels.

"How bad is it?" Killer asked shakily.

Horror looked at him. "Not that bad. Only a crack on his skull and 2 cracked ribs. His arm is shattered though.."

Killer looked down looking guilty. He did that..

Horror saw the look on his face, but Dust was faster. "It's not your fault Killer" he said.

Killer looked at him and nodded.

Horror smiled at him, then took the healing gel. He started with Cross skull. 

He scooped up some gel, then gently applied it on his skull. The crack started disappearing a little.

The sound of a portal could be heard. They turned around and saw Nightmare's shocked face.

Killer looked down, feeling guilty.

"HOW DID JUST TWO BLASTERS DO THAT?!!!" Nightmare asked shocked.

Dust looked at him sadly. "He got slammed against a tree. Probably got hit by his arm" he answered.

Nightmare sighed. "His HP?" He asked hesitantly

Horror looked down. "Ehh.. You won't believe me.." he said 

"Try me" Nightmare answered.

Horror sighed, and checked Cross again.

X!Sans (also known as Cross)

HP: 4/15

LV: 0

ATK: 10

DEF: 20

- cracked skull, cracked and burnt ribs, broken arm

-loves his family dearly.

-???

-???

Nightmare gasped at seeing th stats, looking horified. His HP was healing, he could see.

BUT WHY WAS HIS MAX 15?!!

And... His facts.. 2 facts are hiden.. Strange..

Horror sighed in relief when he saw the healing gel was working. He took some bandages and started wrapping up Cross'es skull.

Nightmare looked up when he felt negativity. Killer.

Oh.. He feels guilty. Nightmare would talk with Killer later, now he needs to help with the youngest.

~~~

Nightmare gently laid Cross on his bed. They had put healing gel on all the cracks, and then bandaged them. He got rid of the ruined clothes and dressed Cross in new ones. His right arm though..

It had been half an hour later now. Cross had yet to wake up. I mean, with how weak his HP was...

Nightmare didn't understand why Cross never told them about that before. But that is for another time. Now his boys needed him.

He got the blanket from Cross' bed and layed it over his shoulder, being careful about his arm, that was now in a cast. He gently tucked the covers off the blanket around him, making sure he was comfortable. He took a moment to look at the skeleton, before planting a soft, gentle kiss on top of his skull.

When he walked out of the room, he closed the light, and let the door a little open. He just hoped Cross would be okay..

Killer, Horror and Dust were in the living room, waiting. Killer still felt guilty about what happend. If he had been more careful..

Dust was leaning against him, and hugging him a bit, trying to comfort Killer.

Nightmare came down the stairs, looking at the gang.

"Would someone mind explaining what happened?" He asked.

The room was silent for a while, before Killer was the first to break the silence.

"I-Its my fault.." he looked down. "I should have b-been more careful" tears collected at the corner of his eyesockets.

Nightmare looked at him softly.

"Killer, Dust already told me what happened. I want you to know, it's not your fault." He explained gently.

Killer started shaking a bit. "B-but I h-hurt him. I always h-hurt others. I am d-dangerous.."

Horror gasped silently. Dust's eye's widend. Nightmare expected this. He felt guilty, not only because he hurt Cross.

He sat down beside Killer, hugging him. "Shhhh.. You didn't have a choice Killer.. What happened in your au is in the past.."

Dust became pale. Oh... that.

Killer tried hard not to breakdown, he really did. The gang shouldn't have to put up with him, they should help Cross. Ofcourse, he forgot Nightmare can feel negativity. He frowned when that thought hit him.

Nightmare looked worried at Killer. "Don't keep it bottled up inside.." he said softly. "That wil only make it worse.."

It became too much.

Killer didn't breakdown, stil trying to fight it, but he couldn't keep the tears anymore, as they silently fell down. Nightmare noticed and hugged him a bit tighter, rubbing his back to try and comfort him. "Shhhh... It's okay, it's not your fault.."

"I-it is!" Killer chocked out. "I-I am dangerous.. I-I hurt him!"

"Shh Killer... Shhhh.."

~~~

After that the day went by, and when it was late, Cross still didn't wake up. The gang started to become scared.. Maybe he had a concusion? 

Anyway, it was midnight when Horror woke up. He felt thirsty. He checked the desc besides him, and saw that his water bottle was empty. Grabing it, he made his way to the kitchen to fill it again.

When he got to the kitchen, he smiled. He wasn't starving. He wasn't in his au.

He filled the bottle with water before drinking it. After that he filled it again and took it upstairs with him, back to his room. A weird sound made him stop walking.

Had he heard that right? Or was he imagining things? No, he heard that good. A sob. Someone was crying.

Horror's eyes widend, trying to find out where the sound came from, when he saw that the bathroom light was on. He sped towards it. Opening the door, he saw Killer inside. He was sitting on the ground beside the sink, sobbing quietly. He had a towel around his arm, the normally blue towel was slowly turning to red.

God please no..

Horror's eyes widend when he saw Killer. D-did he..? God, he did..

"Killer?" He asked.

Killer flinched when he heard Horror, and looked up at him, feeling ashamed.

"Killer.." Horror said. "Please, tell me you didn't.."

Killer said nothing. He deserved it.

Horror sighed. They had gotten better! Why-?!

He didn't show his anger though. Killer needed suport.

"You felt guilty about hurting Cross, didn't you?" Horror asked, sitting besides Killer.

Killer didn't answer. He didn't want to lie.. So he nodded.

Horror sighed. He looked softly at Killer, rubbing the arm that was not wrapped in the towel. "It wasn't your fault.." he murmured softly. "It could have happened to all of us. We all forgot he is there, it's not your fault."

Killer was shaking. He knew that if he would talk he would break down.

Horror looked at him. "Please.. say something. Anything." He pleaded

"I.. I.." He couldn't hold it anymore. He broke down.

Horror looked at Killer, then hugged him, gently rubbing his arm. "Killer it's okay. It's not your fault."

"I-It is!" Killer said between his sobs. "I should have been more careful, and now I hurt him, and he isn't even waking up.. Just like how I hurt them."

"Hurt who, Killer?" Horror asked softly.

Killer looked at him, before taking a shaky breath, and then answered. "M-my au.."

Horror looked shocked at him. Welp, didn't expect that.

Killer looked down. "I.. I hurt them. I killed them. All of them. Even my b-brother. And n-now, I did it again. I hurt my brother. Again. W-what if, I become insane again? W-what if I hurt any of y-you guys..?" Killer was sobbing heavily at this point.

Horror's grip on Killer tightend, slowly and gently rubbing his arm. "Killer, except Cross, we all killed." He said. "I killed, Nightmare killed, Dust killed so much he can't even kill anymore because he has too much DETERMINATION. Or Error, he killes of au's!"

Horror looked at Killer. "Whatever happened in your au Killer, it wasn't your fault. If we should blame anybody, it's the Frisk there. Not you. Today was an accident. You didn't want to hurt Cross right?"

"Ofcourse not!" Killer said

"See? It was an accident, and they happen. We all forgot Cross was there. But you didn't mean it Killer. It was an accident."

Horror turned Killer's face so he would be looking at his eyes. "Please, don't blame yourself for what happened today, and don't blame yourself for what happened in your au. It's in the past. It wasn't your fault. Understood?"

Killer looked at Horror with teary eyes, before nodding. Then he chuckled. "Since when do you give speeches like Nightmare?"

Horror smiled, happy that Killer was feeling better. "I don't know, guess I learned it from the master?" He answered playfully. His eyes caught sight of Killer's arm. "Let's get that arm bandaged up" he said.

Killer looked at his arm with the towel, then nodded. He stood up.

Horror added something else. "and please, stop hurting youreself."

Killer looked at him. "I'll try."

Unbeknowing to the 2 skeletons in the bathroom, a 3th was listening from just outside the door, woken up from feeling so much negativity. Horror fixed it. But he felt sad. Doesn't Killer trust him..? 

Ugh, he should stop being selfish. His boys didn't always need him. Yet he couldn't help feeling hurt..

~~~

The next morning dawned quickly. Nightmare ofcourse, first to wake up. When he finished checking every place in the house to make sure no one was there, he spoted Killer on the couch, one of his arms bandaged.

Killer looked up. He was surprised Nightmare didn't question about his arm.

Nightmare smiled. Killer wasn't wearing a long-sleeved hoody like he always did. He was wearing something that showed his arms. Killer always had been concious about his scars. Seeing him wear something else then long sleeves was big improvement.

"Glad to see you are feeling better then last night" Nightmare said.

Killer started coughing. Then he looked at Nightmare with big eye's "How do you-?!"

Nightmare chuckled. "Come on, you were filled with negativity. You really think I won't feel it?"

Killer wanted to slap himself. Ofcourse. Ofcourse he would know. How did he forget?

Nightmare looked amused at Killer, before turning concernd. "But please, don't hurt yourself anymore" he added sadly.

Killer looked up, before noding.

~~~

Everybody had woken up. Well, almost everybody. Cross still layed in his bed, yet to wake up.

The gang started to become woried. He didn't get hit that hard right?

None of them wanted to eat breakfast without Cross, but they needed to eat something, so Nightmare made a quick sandwich for everybody, sitting in the living room. At around 11 am Cross finally woke up.

Walking hurt. But why? He looked at his arm. In a cast. Was it broken? He stumbeled downstairs, wanting to know why he felt so dizzy, not remembering anything from the day before. Nightmare looked up when he heard a noise, and his eye's widend when he saw Cross. He quickly got up, helping the younger walk to the couch.

The gang looked up when they heard Nightmare getting up and gasped when they saw Cross. They quickly made room so that they could sit.

"Hey Cross." Nightmare murmured softly. "How are you feeling?"

Honestly? His head hurt. And it felt like there was something on his head aswel. He was thankful for Nightmare helping him walk. He would have collapsed if he would need to walk on his own.

"I.. I don't know" Cross said, voice way too silent. "I-I feel.. dizzy.. and h-hurt.. What happend..?"

Killer looked down. He didn't feel that bad about it anymore, thanks to the gang. They were right. Everything in his au was the past. But he still hurt Cross.

"Do you remember what happend yesterday?" Dust asked.

Cross winced. Way too loud.

Dust saw Cross' pained expresion. "Sorry.."

"It's okay.." Cross answered. And then he asked. "Something happened yesterday?"

Horror looked at him. Maybe it was better he didn't remember. "We were sparring, but you wanted to draw. When sparring we totally forgot you were there, and then you got hit with 2 blasters, getting slammed against a tree, cracking your skull and breaking your arm." He explained.

Cross' eyes widend. 

"I-I'm sorry" Killer said silently. "I should have been more carefull with my blasters"

Though Cross felt dizzy, he didn't want Killer to feel bad. He tried to stand up and walk to Killer.

Killer's eyes widend when he saw Cross walk towards him.

Cross hugged him. "It's okay, it was an accident." Cross said. "I should have been careful too. Not the best idea to draw on battle field" he added.

Killer chuckled. He looked at Cross.

"You are not mad at me?" Killer asked.

Cross smiled. "No, I'm not."

Nightmare smiled at his boys, remembering Cross' stats 

-loves his family dearly

He felt a warm feeling in his soul. Family.. Cross sees them as family..

He closed his eye's, smiling happily. That smile fell though. He wished he could be with his other family.

He then rememberd Cross' stats.

-??

-??

He looked at his boys again. Cross was hugging Killer, while Killer did his best not to touch his right arm. Horror was above them, hugging their skulls, while Dust hugged Cross' free side, gently getting rid of the bandage on his skull.

He smiled. Those matters could be looked at later. His boys were more important.