Frisk breathed in, then out, as they gathered themselves. Their SOUL thrummed in their chest rapidly, still racing from the adrenaline of dying. They raised their still shaking hands and wiped away their tears, letting out a shuddering breath as they did so. Their legs were shaky as they pushed themselves to their feet, and unsteadily made their way a couple steps forward. Just a few steps forward.

Their legs buckled underneath them, and they crumbled to the ground, knees first. Frisk, no longer having the willpower or determination to carry on, knelt on the ground, their unsteady arms being the only things that kept them from crumbling face first.

They stayed there for a bit, arms trembling all the while, and eventually, the emotional exhaustion caught up to them, and they crumbled onto the Hotland grounds.

.

Undyne blinked, the feeling of coming to a LOAD as unsettling as ever. Her hands trembled, and she dropped her phone. Alphys' voice could be heard calling, but Undyne didn't care. All she knew, was that her bestie had just killed themselves. Again. And she was there, but she could do nothing to stop it!

Her SOUL shuddered as she realised what the LOAD meant.

Frisk could still be back at Hotlands. And they could be heading to fall off the ledge again.

She steadied herself, and sprinted to the Hotlands, praying to whatever higher being there was that she wasn't too late.

.

Sans watched, face pale, as Undyne dashed out of the room.

Toriel's eyes turned to him, and he gave a sheepish smile, before shortcutting away.

The volatile magic thrust him back Underground, back in Snowdin, in fact, and eventually, he figured that he'd be better off sleeping on the situation, as he curled up on the stairs and drifted into a restless sleep.

.

"Frisk!" Undyne screamed, eyes panicked, but determined to find her bestie. "Frisk?" A lone figure decked out in blue and purple lay in front of the Labs. "Frisk!"

Undyne rushed over, and gently, lifted said human up. "Hey Frisk…"

"Mm…" Frisk mumbled, curling into Undyne's touch, clearly out of it.

Undyne hummed in slight amusement, and gently, carefully, stood up, and CHECKED their friend.

"Frisk"

LV 18

HP 88/88

AT 44

DF 14

*Didn't mean to hurt you.

*Wants you to know that they aren't worth the effort.

*Also just wants to be loved

Undyne sighed - she would need to have a serious talk with Frisk about getting help when she needed it - , but trudged into the Lab, really not wanting to suffer the Hotland's heat anymore than she already had to.

She looked around the darkened and empty laboratory, and eventually remembered that everything had been moved to the surface, and sighed.

She found a corner, and settled down, letting Frisk rest on her lap, and fished (she growled at the pun in her head, Sans would have loved it, unlike her. Her expression hardened even further at the thought of Sans and what he did to her bestie. Good thing he wasn't here) out her phone, dialling Toriel's number.

"Hey Toriel?" She said as the call was answered.

"Undyne? Where are you?"

"Heh. At the Hotlands right now, camping out at Alphys' old Lab. The punk's with me, don't worry. We'll head back when they wake up."

"Of course. See you later."

"Naturally."

She clicked the call off, and stared blankly at the phone in her hand. She had a lot to think about. Like how her bestie had EXP and LOVE that evidently wasn't from killing, but rather from, dare she say it, self-harming.

She knew that it must've happened, having walked in on the punk's eventual suicide in multiple timelines, but seeing the evidence of the EXP and LOVE… It was a different experience all together, and not much of an easier pill to swallow.

She took a deep breath in and out, then ran her fingers through Frisk's hair, smiling softly when they curled into her, and eventually fell asleep.

.

Frisk slowly blinked their eyes open, taking in their surroundings.

First and foremost, every muscle and bone in their body was aching. Secondly, they were definitely curled up in Undyne, as evidenced by the mop of red hair in their face as they got up. Gently brushing away the hair, they glanced around, taking in the look of the empty lab.

"Mm… Frisk?" Undyne murmured, stirring.

Frisk froze in place, glancing back at their fishy monster friend, that definitely reminded them of a Siamese fighting fish.

"Un-dyne?" They asked hesitantly, their voice cracked slightly from the lack of water.

"You feeling alright there?"

They nod. They feel slightly sore but that's about it.

"Yeah well, we need to have a talk before we head back to the surface."

Frisk looked visibly uncomfortable.

"I'm… I'm not sure where I'm going with this," Undyne scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "But I just wanted you to know, that… whatever drove you to do this… wouldn't it be better, if you just confided in someone?"

Frisk gave her a deadpan stare.

"Woah! I'm not asking you to confide in me, I sure as hell ain't qualified for that shit, but you should let out your feelings every once in a while. This… This was building up for quite some time, wasn't it? And what Sans did… It pushed you over the edge, didn't it?"

Frisk looked away and scratched their arm - a nervous tick - and wondered when they got so easy to read.

"It's just… It hurts. It hurt watching you slip off the edge, it hurt watching you slip from magic's grasp, it hurt watching fall into lava and burn."

Frisk flushed, still faced away from their friend. They hadn't thought about how their suicide would impact their friends.

"I just- " Undyne choked back a sob, which did not go unnoticed by Frisk. "I just don't want to see you die again!"

Frisk slowly, gently, inched closer to Undyne, and wrapped their arms around her waist. Undyne stayed there for a moment, wiped away her tears, them turned slightly, and embraced back.

Eventually, Undyne pulled back, however reluctantly.

"We should head back. Toriel's worried about you."

Frisk smiled serenely, let themselves be pulled up by their bestie and, hand in hand, walked out of the Lab, headed for the Surface once more.

Word Count: 1069 words

(A/N: So there was a comment on Ao3. And I wrote. A lot. Instead of sleeping. This is what you get. I'm tired. Time to sleep. Let's hope I don't delete this tomorrow. ~Summer)