Hey guys. So, after a long period of inactivity, this is where I end up. In the Undertale fandom, just like pretty much everyone else I talk to. I have not perused this fandom's stories yet, however, so I don't know if this has been done or not. Sans may seem a bit OOC, but I did my best to keep him reacting like I thought he would in this situation. Anyways, gimme some feedback if you'd like. This may or may not become a little universe all on its own.

Also, let me know if I should go back and edit Sans' speech to fit grammar rules. I can't decide if I like it or not.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Undertale. I wish I was genius enough to come up with such awesomeness though.


"SANS. IT APPEARS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WAS UNABLE TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN. THAT IS OKAY. THE HUMAN IS QUITE THE FIGHTER, THOUGH I, PAPYRUS, WAS VERY MUCH ABLE TO TELL THAT THEY WERE TERRIFIED. I COULD TELL SO ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY COLLAPSED BESIDE ME AFTER DEALING THE FINAL BLOW. THEY REFUSED TO CEASE THEIR APOLOGIES UNTIL I REQUESTED A PIECE OF PAPER.

I DID NOT THINK TO ASK FOR A PEN.

LUCKILY, THEY ALSO HAD ONE OF THOSE TUCKED AWAY IN THEIR POCKET, ALONG WITH THIS 'HOMEWORK'.

HOWEVER, I AM RUNNING OUT OF TIME TO FINISH THIS LETER.

THE HUMAN IS A GOOD PERSON, SANS. SO PLEASE. TAKE CARE OF THEM. THEY CERTAINLY DID NOT MEAN TO FINISH ME LIKE THIS. I MUST HAVE PRESSED THEM TOO HARD. THEY DO NOT KNOW THEIR WAY AROUND THIS WORLD. THEY DO NOT KNOW THE ANIMOSITY THE HUMANS OF THE PAST HAVE FACED.

PROTECT THEM FROM THAT.

PROTECT THEM FROM UNDYNE.

I KNOW YOU ARE PROBABLY VERY MAD AT THE HUMAN. SO, IF NEED BE, PROTECT THEM FROM YOURSELF.

AND COME SOON, SANS. I DO NOT THINK THE HUMAN CAN WITHSTAND THE COLD MUCH LONGER.

AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE BEST BROTHER A SKLETON COULD ASK FOR.

PLEASE FINISH OFF THE SPAGHETTI IN THE FRIDGE.

-IN AWESOMENESS,

THE GREAT PAPY"

Sans's fingers curled around the paper in his hands, crinkling the edges. The soft sound of the human's sobbing met his ears, and his gaze, one bright blue eye burning in rage, turned towards the prone form. The human was wrapped up in Papyrus' tattered cape, probably under the younger monster's insistence so the brat didn't freeze. The red- so close to the crimson of blood- was stark against the white of the snow around the two. The human- Frisk- was sobbing and shaking, mumbling apologies under their breath. Sans slowly exhaled, and, glancing at the note left from Papyrus once more, turned toward the human. He gingerly folded up the letter and stuck it in his hoodie pocket.

Frisks' whimpering quieted as Sans approached and they instinctively ducked beneath the flapping cape, squeezing their eyes shut. Sans crouched beside the human, giving them an appraising once over. Their lips were pale, icy blue and beads of ice and snow clung to their hair. Their body trembled in Sans' arms as he picked up the kid. He sighed, firmly repeating Papyrus' words to himself as he readjusted the human to a more secure hold.

"c'mon, kiddo. let's get you warm."

Frisk buried their head in Sans' hoodie, continuing to cry. He managed to keep looking straight ahead as he charged through the snow.

keep the human safe. yeah right. they obviously don't need protection if they could take you out…

It would be so easy to just crush the little shit right there, right then. Just a quick squeeze and bam, no more human, no more kiddo, last soul obtained let's go through the barrier Sans is the hero that saved the Underground all hail the brotherless monster.

damn…

It took all of Sans' willpower to make it back to Snowdin without further harm to the kid, even though they had fallen worryingly silent about halfway back to town. He kicked open his front door and stood in front of the couch for what seemed like ages, debating whether to lay Frisk there or not. The couch was pressed right up against the wall and, while it was usually no problem for a bunch of bones, having the human right beneath one of the draftiest parts of the house wouldn't really help the kid get warm at all. Which left his bed or… Papyrus'. And while Sans knew the kid was completely capable of understanding the complexities of his room (they were the one doing all the resetting, after all, though whether they remembered it or not would be determined later), he wasn't really up to explaining the intricacies of time travel at the moment.

Which left only Papyrus' room as an option.

Sans glared half-heartedly at the kid, who hadn't responded to the warmth of the house at all, and laid them on the couch with a blanket draped over them while Sans left to prepare his brother's room for Frisk.

Now. Sans was not a hardworking guy. Anyone who had met the skeleton would tell you that, and Sans would be the first to make sure you knew. However, with his brother's plea racing through his head, Sans went through all the motions of setting up the room- he changed the sheets, dug out several blankets (although he admittedly did not wash them, despite their slightly musty smell), and he cranked up the heating to help Frisk thaw out.

He strolled back into the living room (he wasn't that concerned for the brother killer, after all), and hoisted the human into his arms once more, and tucked Frisk in to his brother's racecar bed. He pulled the covers up to the child's chin and (ugh) tucked them in, making sure they would soon get warm.

Sans took the chair in front of Papyrus' computer and, removing Papyrus' note from his hoodie, sat down to wait.

He put his head in his hands and cried.


A small groan startled Sans from his slumber. He lifted his head off his arm and stared bleakly at the computer screen, which had woken at the pressure of Sans' face and, having been opened to an unfinished status update on one of Papyrus' social media sites (I HAVE FINALLY SPOTTED A HUMAN. SOON I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE OF THE OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND EVERYONE WILL-), had entered in a loooooong line of "NNNNN"s onto the status. Sans quietly turned away from the computer to look at Frisk.

They looked utterly confused and very, very frightened. Perhaps, Sans reflected as the kid began flailing about, tucking in the covers so tight they couldn't move had been a bad idea. He stood and stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket as he ambled to the human's side. Frisk froze as Sans approached. Sans forced a grin.

"hey, kiddo. you look bone tired."

They slowly relaxed when time made it apparent that Sans wasn't going to harm them- immediately, anyways. Frisk managed to work their upper body free of the blanket taco and sit up. They licked their chapped lips nervously as Sans- his expression without his usual grin- sat at the foot of the bed.

"I… I didn't mean to… I just… he came at me and I didn't know what to do," Frisk sniffled, beginning to tear up. Sans watched solemnly. "So I just… My teacher at school said to always try and defend myself, so I did, and I hit him, but he kept coming at me and I just… I did what they told me to do and kept defending myself but I never thought I would kill him I swear!"

Frisk pulled their knees up to their chest and sobbed into the blankets. Sans' thoughts began waging war with themselves- though one side sounded an awful lot like Papyrus. On one hand, this simple kid had killed his brother. Robbed him of the only person Sans really bothered to care about (aside from his knock knock joke buddy). On the other, they looked really freaked out whenever they so much as looked at themselves and studiously avoided Sans' gaze. The child- for all the havoc they had wrecked in Sans' life- was clearly horrified by their own actions, and it was, no matter how absurd it sounded to accidentally kill someone in battle, an accident.

"Sans, I'm so… I'm so sorry," Frisk all but wailed into the blanket. "I'm so so sorry… I would have turned tail and run if I had known that was how it was going to end. I-I swear…"

Either way, hearing the broken, spastic sobs emanating from the small frame was really beginning to tug on his heartstrings.

"hey." Frisk's head snapped up. "calm down. i'm not going to get revenge or do anything else drastic like that."

"…You should," Frisk muttered, though they obligingly stopped crying. "It would make it a little better."

"not really," Sans returned, reluctantly beginning to feel a bit of pity for the kid. The metaphorical blood on their hands must really weigh then down, especially if they never meant to kill Papyrus. "your death wouldn't bring him back."

Frisk looked up, seemingly startled by the statement. "N-no, but… I wouldn't be able to… to go on and kill anyone else…"

"that's not gonna happen either," Sans shrugs. "cuz i'm here to keep an eye on you. i don't think you would really do anything regarding battle hastily anytime soon though."

Frisk firmly shook their head.

"there you go then."

"…" The human clearly wasn't going to let go of their brooding that easily, but Sans could only reassure the child with words he himself didn't one hundred percent believe for so long. He stood, suddenly desperate to be away from the intruder.

"rest some more, okay kiddo? i'll check on you later."

He was almost out the door when Frisk's soft voice reached him.

"I really am sorry…"

Sans paused.

"…I know."

He firmly closed the door behind him.