Continuity
Pairing: Sans/Female Reader
Rating: Explicit
Warnings/Tags: Heterosexual pairing, Smut, Switch in POV, Grey!W.D. Gaster, human/monster experimentation, Magical Appendages, Gene Splicing, Language, PTSD, Soul Magic, Human has magic, Frisk is not your character, Frisk has they/them pronouns, Time Travel, possible additions in the future.
Summary: Time lines were always the same, predictable when Frisk falls to the Underground. It either ended with everyone living, about to pass through the barrier or with his own death in the Hall of Judgement. Upon visiting W.D. Gaster's old lab, Sans discovers a door that has never, ever been there before. He digs up some old research notes and finds the thing that he has never known he had been missing.
(First chapter is in third person Sans, switches to reader's POV in the next chapter)
"SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! GET OUT OF BED, WE NEED TO RE-CALIBRATE OUR PUZZLES!" Came the nasally and scolding loud voice of his younger brother and Sans the skeleton's eye sockets slowly opened, the white lights that served as his visible pupils dim. His ever grinning mouth was slanted downwards in a frown as the skeleton tried to piece himself together for yet another timeline, trying to keep his bones from shuddering in remembrance of Frisk's sometimes innocent features flashing in triumph as his body crumbled to dust.
He adored his younger brother more than anything in this world, but that exact phrase was the thing that reminded him that everything had been reset. That he had to live through all of this again. Trembling, the whites grew a little stronger as the short skeleton sat up in bed, staring at his phalanges as he slowly came to grips that he was doing this...again.
It was hard to care and even when he did... It was useless.
"SANS!? ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?" Papyrus called loudly through the door and Sans took one more moment to steel his resolve.
"i am up, bro. don't wait up for me." Sans prided himself that his deep voice echoed without the distress and emotions he was being wreaked by.
"IF YOU AREN'T AT YOUR STATION IN HALF AN HOUR, I SWEAR I WILL DRAG YOU THERE MYSELF! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MUST MAKE SURE MY BROTHER DOES HIS DUTY!" Sans could picture the flourish his taller skeleton brother pulled before leaving the house.
Once he was certain that he was alone, Sans allowed liquid to pool in his eye sockets and trail down his face. He had used to be angry when he found himself at the beginning of yet another time line, using his magic to trash his room. But hopelessness had set in after so many times and all Sans allowed himself was silent tears.
After a few minutes, the short skeleton pulled himself together. Sans had one day before Frisk left the Ruins and he had made it a tradition of sorts to return to W.D. Gaster's lab for reflection before he had to watch the human child's every move. Granted, there were only so many variations that occurred, but if it leaned more towards LOVE in Frisk, Sans had to prepare to hold the human off if only for his own peace of mind.
His left socket flared a brief bright teal before he teleported directly to the lab. Shoving his skeletal hands in the pockets of his blue parka, Sans let out a sigh as he viewed the broken down remnants of his 'home' earlier in his life. Papyrus didn't remember ever living here, as he had been too young. Sans was infinitely grateful for that.
Gaster hadn't been the nicest in his treatment of them but even though he had been young at the time himself, Sans sort of got the vibe that Gaster didn't have a firm grasp of right and wrong when there was a greater, more important cause for what he had been doing.
The white points of light in his sockets took in the familiar surroundings as the skeleton allowed himself to reflect, roaming the familiar lab. He had nearly hit the thirty minute mark by the time he had reached the deepest level and Sans turned to leave before freezing, his pink slipper scuffing the cracked tile as he halted abruptly. His skull slowly turned back to the end of the hallway, eye sockets growing wide at the impossibly sight there.
There was a door at the very end of the hall. A door that had never been there before. Sans was certain of it and from the decimated security and overall look of the door itself, whatever was behind it was considered important enough to guard. He blinked into existance right before it, phallanges touching the surface to confirm that it was truly there.
"...this is impossible..." He murmured, deep voice echoing in the dead silence of the lab as his gaze darted about to take in everything about this anomaly. Because that was exactly what it was. This had never been here, in any timeline before.
An unfamiliar feeling resonated within him. Sans sucked in a few panicked breaths before he was able to recognize what emotion had gripped him so strongly. He had nearly forgotten what it had felt like...to hope.
Something was different in this timeline. Even if it turned out to be a bad time, it still was something new. Using his bony index finger, Sans aimed a precise amount of destructive magic at the door's heavy hinges, the metal shrieking as his magic tore the door from the wall. The short skeleton lowered the door onto the tile, out of the way and he peered into the bared entrance. Instead of the expected darkness and smell of decay, Sans realized with shock that there was still emergency power being supplied to this mysterious part of the lab.
Pushing away his unease, Sans walked through the long hallway that had the yellow emergency floodlights casting eerie shadows on his form. When he came clear of the hallway, the sheer size of the room had him pausing. One half of the room was covered in blueprints and notes all written in Gaster's native Wing Ding or Hands language. There seemed to be medical equipment and some unidentifiable machines as well. The other side...
Had a small bed, a dresser with some clothing and toys. Sans felt his bones shiver in response and his grin turned into a worried grimace. Someone lived here?
...were they still here? Sans scanned the room and saw a small staircase leading down and he paused. As much as he wanted to take his time and read the notes Gaster had left behind, Papyrus was expecting him. Now that he knew the location of this place, the skeleton could slip between space and time to teleport directly here.
Still, leaving here without the notes and exploring the entire wing left Sans feeling unsettled. He quickly walked over to the side with all of the files and gathered them up hastily. The files were thick and he rolled it up with deft movements and shoved all of them into his deep jacket pockets.
Turning his bright glowing pupils back on the staircase, Sans took them slowly; the hum of power here louder but the lights dimmer. His feet hit the floor and the skeleton froze at the sight that greeted him.
Inside the dark lab was a glass cage that was halfway full of liquid, with many wires and tubes going through the glass to converge on someone trapped within. Even though it was dark, Sans could not pull his gaze away from the thing hovering in front of the limp figure.
It was a dim, flickering shape of a heart, cracked in multiple places, the same shade as Sans' magic when it was able to glow. Panic and concern gripped the Skeleton and he was pressed up against the glass before he had even willed himself to teleport.
This was a human! The sight of the damaged soul tore Sans to pieces in ways he had never felt before.
"can you hear me? hey!" Sans urged in a gentle but frantic deep tone. He froze when the human's eyes opened the barest amount.
There was a soft glow of teal in the human's left eye that had nothing to do with the color of their irises. His phalanges trailed up to touch his own left eye socket before he realized that the human was shaking.
"hey," his rumbling tone was excessively gentle now, "i won't hurt you. you don't need to be scared."
It had been so long that you had heard another voice. Even longer since you had heard anything remotely kind.
