NOTE: This is not my story. I am working as a beta reader for it and the author gave me permission to repost it here. Please visit the author's AO3 and give them lots of love. Their username is adorablelilshit on archiveofourown. The link to this story is:
archiveofourown org/works/10227923/chapters/22694996
Warnings/Spoilers: Depression, Sorrow, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, Homicide, Minor Character Death, Neutral Run, True Pacifist Run, Genocide Run
"Heh, can I get another?" Sans asks, looking to Grillby. The Flame monster glances at his glass, empty again, and gives a silent sigh.
"He says you've had enough!" Another monster at the bar speaks up instead of Grillby. It was getting pretty late anyway, but he still felt that he should get at least one more drink in before Papyrus shows up to collect him.
It was always easier when his brother came to get him. He didn't have to walk home, didn't really have to think much. Sometimes his past would come up and haunt him when Papyrus would carry him back home, but only when he thought about it first.
The memories love to flood in when he thinks back. They always hurt, always haunt his dreams.
They were always there, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. He would know, he had tried many, many times. He was trying right now.
"Just one more, for me? Please?" Sans keeps his glass held up, hoping that Grillby will cave.
Grillby makes a show of putting the bottle away. It's clear he's not going to serve Sans any more alcohol for the rest of the night.
"He says you should go home, Sans." The same monster from before relays again. "Say hello to Papyrus for us."
"Heh, okay, I'll go." Sans twirls away from the bar, slipping off the stool and onto the floor with his slippers. He stumbles a bit, but manages to make his way out of the bar. Two steps heading for home, and he falls face first into the snow, passing out.
Sans and Papyrus had just arrived in Snowdin.
"Welcome to our new home, Papy." Sans comments, striding towards the boarded up house. Prying the wood off the door with a crowbar, he opens and walks through. Sans looked a bit like he belonged at the house. He wore a dingy light blue sweater, grey shirt underneath, black gym shorts that were not weather appropriate, mid calf socks that were once white, and some faded red street shoes.
Papyrus follows after, picking up a heavy looking backpack filled with some spare clothing, blankets, a pillow attached on top, and food. Papyrus was about Sans' height, wearing a striped sweater, pants with a hole at the knee, and similar faded street shoes that were a scuffed up blue instead of red.
"You sure it's okay to be here, Sans?" He asks, looking around the dark house before actually entering into it.
"You saw the door. It was boarded up, so we won't get caught." Sans stumbles about, checking for anything that might actually be dangerous for both of them. Two bedrooms, a decent looking sink, even a table was against the wall. The place looked amazing, and it now belonged to both of them.
Sans hears Papyrus walk to the kitchen, giving a sneeze from the built up dust. Who knows how long the place has been abandoned, but Sans figured it was pretty much long enough for everyone else to have forgotten about it.
Sans decided to check out the upstairs area. "Stay down here, Pap. I'll let you know if the upstairs is safe."
"But what should I do if I see a human?"
"You can hide under the kitchen sink. If the human doesn't see you, they won't get you."
Honestly, rumors of a dangerous human in the underground was why Sans sought out a home away from the danger. To protect Papyrus. The human was reported to be tiny, wearing a cowboy hat and carrying around a gun. Though small, humans have always been a danger to monsters. He knew it ever since he learned in history about how monsters were forced to live underground because of humans. How humans had killed Prince Asriel. Even how fragile their lives were when both the King and Queen had adopted and lost the first human to fall into the Underground before Prince Asriel's own end.
Humans are dangerous, fragile, and terrifying creatures. If it means protecting Papyrus, Sans would be happy to kill every single one that showed up. However he couldn't. Like all monsters, he was told to alert the Royal Guards if a human was ever spotted. To let them handle the human. King Asgore said he needed seven souls to destroy the barrier, which drove Queen Toriel away from him. She left, and was never seen again.
Sans opens the first bedroom door, peeking inside. More dust, and another table. He walks further into the room, checking out the closet to see that it's empty inside. Safe, now for the second room.
Sans cracks the door open slowly, thinking he heard something rustling on the other side. To his surprise, there was a flower with a face on it sitting next to a treadmill. Both looked at each other for a brief moment, only for the flower to make a hasty retreat out of the house through a broken window. Aside from that, the room was empty.
"Okay Pap, you can come up now," Sans calls down to his brother. He makes sure both bedroom doors are open. He can barely make out the silhouette of his brother walking through the living room to the stairs. The creaking from the steps was the giveaway that Papyrus was climbing them.
Once at the top of the stairs, Sans points to the doorway closest to Papyrus.
"That's going to be your room," He tells his little brother.
Papyrus looks to the open door, making a pouty face.
"Why do I have to be so close to the stairs?" He asks, clearly not wanting the room.
"It's going to be the safest room for you. You can sleep in there. If a human shows up, you have a closet to hide in. My room doesn't have a closet, but don't worry about me bro." He slaps Papyrus' back with an open palm. "I can take care of myself."
Sans could see the irritated look on his little brother. He gives him another pat on the back.
"C'mon, Paps. I'm bone tired and need to sleep. You too."
"Oh my goodness, Sans!" Papyrus screeches, his voice cracking in annoyance at Sans' pun. Sans couldn't help but giggle under his breath at Papyrus' reaction.
"Sleep well, bro." Sans kisses the top of Papyrus' head, sending him off into the bedroom to set up the blankets and pillow to rest. Sans himself has a lot of work to do with the house.
When Papyrus was asleep, Sans went downstairs to work on the kitchen first. He located a fuse box, flipping them all on. He heard the fridge hum to life.
Good, power was still working in this house. He doesn't know for how long, but it's a promising start. Looking around the kitchen, Sans sees the mess he is now stuck cleaning up.
A busted faucet in the kitchen sink, a fridge with a freezer door missing, stove with the oven door and a burner missing, and all the cabinet doors missing. There's a thick layer of dirt covering everything he can see. With the very few supplies that flow from the surface to the underground, it's going to be a long nightmare to repair.
Sans gives a deep sigh, moving to the pantry in the back. He opens the door. What he sees inside shocks him into a total stand still.
A cowboy hat was sitting on top of a low shelf with a curled form sleeping on the ground right behind the door.
Papyrus was just in this room less than an hour ago.
Papyrus was less than 20 feet away from what looks to be a human.
Sans's soul drops. The warning about the human was the reason why they moved here to begin with. He has no idea how this human got into the house, and feels incredibly stupid for not looking over the kitchen better the first time.
He could have lost Papyrus.
He could have ended up with a pile of dust.
Sans stands dumbstruck in the doorway, looking down at the sleeping form.
Papyrus is asleep upstairs, and waking him to get the Royal Guard in to remove the human seemed like a bad idea. He didn't want to scare Papyrus. But he couldn't just leave Papyrus alone with this human, in case the human woke up and found Papyrus sleeping in his room. The possibility of it killing him while he slept, while Sans was away… Sans was terrified at the thought of what could happen. He couldn't risk being so careless, not again. Sans was sure Papyrus would hate him for leaving him alone and so close to a human. Sans would hate himself, too. He didn't know what to do.
As he contemplates, the sleeping human starts to stir. Stretching all four limbs, it opens a huge set of eyes with a slow blink. It smacks it's jaws together several times before looking up at Sans with a grin.
Sans freezes, watching the small human grab their hat and place it on their head before pulling out their weapon and taking aim at Sans' body.
"Bang!" It giggles, the voice much higher than Papyrus' own at the moment. This human was a child? The whole Underground is currently in panic mode because of a child? "I GOTTU, I GOTTU!" It sings, running around Sans while laughing.
It was playing? Sans watches the human run around him in another circle, giggling and screaming. Thank goodness Papyrus was a heavy sleeper. Though he couldn't have the human child staying in the house. He really couldn't leave Papyrus alone either.
"Hey, uh... why don't you go and hide outside?" He asks, thumb pointing to the house's only entrance that he knew of.
The kid stops screaming, looking to the door then back up at Sans. They come to a complete stand still, frowning before clinging to Sans. They point at the door with their gun.
"Monsters gon eatted me."
Sans really didn't know what to do now.
What could he do? This is a human, the very thing that is needed for Monsters to be able to get out from the Underground. Even leaving with the human in tow might bring unwanted attention to him, or worse, separation from Papyrus. Papyrus, who could barely protect himself with Sans wouldn't be able to survive without him.
This is a very bad situation.
Sans takes a step back, away from the kid and to the living room entry from the kitchen. The kid takes two steps, following him. Sans takes another step back, and the kid again follows him.
"Hey, uh, h-how about I go look for those monsters for ya, kid?" He asks, inching further from the child. Making it to the living room. "Just wait here." Sans points to the ground where the kid stands, backing away to the door.
The kid doesn't listen. They follow after Sans up to the door with a worried look Sans can recognize from Papyrus' face. He gives a sigh, turning to open the door and peek out.
Dead silence, no doubt because of this kid being in the Underground. Though, that means no one is going to be around, right? Sans looks to the kid, giving a grin.
"It's safe to be out here. No monsters are going to get ya." Sans chuckles at the irony in that statement. "Well, maybe excluding me."
He watches the kid tiptoe out of the house. They glance around with their empty gun in tow, as if to verify that what Sans is saying was true. When the kid seems to relax, Sans points over to the woods.
"You need to hide to not get caught," He warns the small child, who just looks up at him. Instead of heading the direction Sans pointed, the kid walks over to the outdoor storage shed. Opening the door by just a crack and they rush in.
Chains clatter against one another in the motion, bringing Sans' attention up to how the door remains locked. Best to leave those up for now. He's too big to fit in, so there's no way Papyrus could get in as well. Sans thanked his lucky stars the human actually listened and left the house.
"Okay, kid. You stay hiding in there, as quiet as possible during the day time. I'll bring food over here for you at night time." The child must have heard him, running further into the shed and making all sorts of gun firing sounds. Sans couldn't help but chuckle at this. If both the human and he play their cards right, he might let the human back into the house and slowly introduce him to Papyrus. Right now, he just has to make sure that the human is no threat. For Papyrus' sake.
For almost a week, Sans went to the shed every night with a bag of food to slip it through the door. He would hear the kid run up, grab the food and dart off to play some more. He never broke the chain on the door, keeping it shut tight.
Monsters were slowly returning to the small town of Snowdin shortly after Papyrus and Sans asserted themselves in the quaint community. With everyone returning to their peaceful lives, Grillby's reopened. Sans happily shares this good fortune with the kid, upgrading their nightly meal to burgs and fries.
People didn't think the threatening human could still be in Snowdin. Rumors spread that it had went into hiding in Waterfall instead. Several of the residents from Waterfall moved into Snowdin as a result, trying to keep safe from the human. Sans understood their fear, it's why he first moved to Snowdin with Papyrus. To survive. He didn't really have much to complain about with them doing this, but some of the pre-existing residents were upset about the small population boost. Sans figured most were likely to move back to Waterfall in a few weeks time anyway, driven away by the crisp, cold air and lack of jobs. That'd be when everyone forgot about the human or assumed they moved on to Hotland next.
On some of the nights when Sans went out to the shed he'd hear the kid crying. Sans guessed they were missing their family. Other nights, the kid would be so quiet. Sans could hear them sleeping. And then there were nights where the kid would jabber on. Sans couldn't understand much. But he wouldn't leave the child while they talked. Sans would sit next to the door, listening to them go on and on about mindless... garble.
"You do know I can't understand a word you're sayin', right?" He says, turning his head to glance up at the fake night sky.
It doesn't stop the babbling. Oh well. Sans leans against the door, waiting to hear more of what the child would say, even if it didn't make any sense to him.
"Tomorrow Papy starts school. He's so happy about going. I'm happy he's going." The conversation felt one sided as he continues to hear the child chatter on. "Since he starts school tomorrow, I'll bring you back into the house. Take care of you, and protect you from other monsters."
"Monsters?" That's something the kid understood.
"Yeah. Monsters."
Sans almost couldn't believe what he'd just said. He hadn't thought about the words, they'd just come out. A promise to go against the word of King Asgore, to protect a human's soul. If the Royal Guard knew he was harboring a human, knew how selfish he was being knowing full well that human souls were needed to get out of the underground, what punishment would Sans face? At least the human's soul would be collected. What would happen to Papyrus? He didn't want to think about what his brother would suffer through without him being there for him.
It was heartbreaking to try and imagine. He almost took the words back. But it had become obvious it wasn't right to leave them in the shed, or turn them over to the Guard, when they were just a helpless child.
"Okay kid, I'll see you tomorrow. After I drop Papy off at school." Sans gets up and heads inside for the night. Leaving the kid outside again for one more night. In the shed for one last night. Tomorrow, the kid comes in. The more he thought it, the more it sounded like the right thing to do instead of some crazy traitorous idea.
Sans was thinking of naming them Justice. Just so they had a name to be associated with, and maybe a little just cuz it'd be easy to come up with puns. But mostly, it seemed to fit the child and Sans's new resolve to help them.
Morning comes in the form of Papyrus jumping up and down on top of Sans, urging his big brother to wake up.
"School's today, Sans!" Papyrus' voice shrills then cracks.
Sans pulls his blankets up higher. It's too damn early for this.
"SANS! School is today!"
"Just five more minutes..." Sans mutters, trying to get a bit more sleep.
"But school is today! I'm going to be late!"
No sleep for Sans. He groans, and starts to shift more on his bed.
"Okay, I'll get up when you get out then."
This seemed to make Papyrus happy, as he gives a high pitched squeal and bolts for Sans' bedroom door. So much energy; a small part of Sans can't wait for Papyrus to get older and take care of himself, if for no other reason then so Sans can sleep a little longer. Plus Sans knows that his little brother would be the best at whatever it is he puts his mind to and he really wants to see just what he'll throw his boundless energy into accomplishing.
There's a low groan from the short skeleton as he rolls off his bed, onto his feet, then stands up to stretch out his bones and joints. His lower back hurts a little, probably from his crooked sleeping position. He shuffles to the landing just outside his room, then proceeds to head down the stairs to the kitchen.
Papyrus is eating a bowl of... something. Sans couldn't see what it was, but he was eating. Sans himself heads to the now just barely empty pantry to get a bag of chips to munch on. He was content in eating the junk food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"Why do you eat that stuff? It's unhealthy for you."
Sans doesn't even know where this kick about healthy eating came from. As far as he could recall, he always enjoyed the taste of junk food. He shrugs for most of his answer. He couldn't really explain why he likes junk food so much. It earned him a scoff from his little brother.
"That's it, when I get older, I'm going to take care of you." Papyrus grumbles, shoveling a spoonful of his own meal into his mouth. "I'll become an amazing person."
"Yeah?" Sans asks, taking a seat at the table. "That'd be real cool. You'll be my amazingly cool little brother, the coolest person I know."
Sans starts to wonder about the human kid hiding in his shed next to the house. As far as he could see the kid, Justice, was no real threat. Playful, even chatty, but not as dangerous as monsters have made 'em out to be. Doubt about monsters' depiction of humans as a whole had developed after sorta leaving the kid in the shed. Justice is clearly not a bad human, and is still young enough to be raised to not harm monsters.
Although exposing him to Papyrus will still take some time. Both Justice and his little brother will have to adapt, adjust with each other in the beginning. Keeping a close eye on both of them will be a bit tiring, but if Justice ends up becoming the human Sans knows Justice can become, then the effort would be worth it. Maybe even after a few years he can plea to the King about how humans are not bad, and allow Justice to live as a residential monster? It's a good chance that King Asgore would allow that, if he sees how well Justice behaves around monsters of all types. The King isn't that heartless after all.
Still, one step at a time. Justice and Papyrus would need to be monitored together, to make sure that neither killed the other. Mostly that Justice is in fact the harmless human he's come to know. His uncertainty about having Justice back in the house had started to lift from the first encounter, not to mention the guilt over keeping the kid out there all this time. With nothing to do, no one to really talk to during the day time, only getting fed once a day… yeah, Sans thinks he has some things to make up to the kid.
Sans feels a hand on his bare arm. He looks down, seeing Papyrus all dressed up and ready for school. Complete with backpack, papers, and other supplies needed. A grin spreads on his face, seeing his little brother's enthusiastic smile.
"I hope you never change," Sans couldn't help but let slip out. He loves his little brother very much, and would risk his own life for Papyrus to succeed.
"You know that I will though. It's part of growing up! Now come on! I don't want to be late on my first day!" Papyrus pulls on Sans' arm, trying to encourage Sans to get up so they could go already.
"Okay, okay." Sans stands, grabbing the bag of chips and stuffing it into the fridge haphazardly. He heads to the front door, where Papyrus waits with Sans's sweater. Sans plops on the ground and pulls his shoes on before adding the sweater to his own attire.
"You take forever in getting ready!" Papyrus mutters the complaint. It gains another shrug from Sans.
"Guess you'll have to make sure I get ready faster when you take care of me, huh?" Sans teases, getting up to his feet, shoes tied to prevent any tripping hazards along the way.
"If it means you'll be ready when we're suppose to leave, then I will have to!" Papyrus takes up a serious looking pose: Confident, hands on his hips and his legs shoulder width apart. "And I will also befriend as many monsters as I can! You'll see as I become the greatest monster known throughout the Underground!"
It was admirable how Papyrus kept his sights on his goals. "Yeah? You'll be the coolest little brother."
Sans gives himself a once over, heading out the door with Papyrus practically dragging him out by his hand. Paps barely lets him pause to close and lock the door behind them. He gives a glance at the shed, absently noting how the door appears slightly open from this angle. Those chains will have to go, he decides, and he'll have to clean out the space. See if there's anything they can use to furnish the place better after adding Justice to their home.
The walk to town is pretty short, though it feels like forever with Papyrus having to stop and say hello to each monster he meets. A lot of rabbit monsters live in Snowdin, Sans notices. Must make the place quiet then? Or busy, with how fast rabbit monsters tend to populate.
Even so, the town is still relatively small with the school happening at the Librarby instead of a school house. Sans walks up to the doors with a now suddenly nervous Papyrus at his side, glancing at everyone in the building.
"Ah! You two must be new here!" A blue male monster looking very much like a wingless dragon spoke up, waving them in.
"Hey." Sans gives a wave in return, watching the people around them silently look at both he and his brother. "I'm Sans, Sans the skeleton. This here is my cool brother Papyrus." He gives a nudge to Papyrus, trying to give silent encouragement.
"H-hi..." Papyrus mutters out.
"Yeah, Paps is really excited to learn here, so I hope you all can help him bone up on his education."
There's a soft chuckle from the group while Papyrus stomps on the floor.
"SANS! THAT WAS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR PUNS! WHY DO YOU TORMENT ME SO?"
This encourages more laughter from everyone.
"Go and make some friends, Pap. Remember, you are the Great Papyrus."
This garners Papyrus to stop stomping his foot, instead looking back to all the strangers in the room. He gives a grin, and proudly marches forward where all the other kids sit.
"Hi! I am Papyrus! Papyrus the skeleton!" He holds his hand out with confidence to a blue looking monster, bundled up in more coats and scarves than Papyrus himself.
The monster grabs his hand back.
"Hey Papyrus! I'm Undyne!" She seems just as enthusiastic as his own brother, and probably a good match for a friend. This helped to relax Sans more, and he slips out of the Librarby, making his way back home. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, starting with removing the chains and pulling Justice into the house, and cleaning out the storage shed. Another mouth to feed means he'll have to get a job as well.
Not even halfway home, Sans stops in his tracks. Seeing the very human, seeing Justice, outside of the shed. Way too far from the house. Why was Justice outside already?
Justice was clearly terrified, crying while looking up at two lumbering monsters clad in black armor. One was clearly a rabbit, the other might have been a dog? It was hard to tell with how the ears looked and the helmet sat.
Another monster, clad in the same black armor, spots Sans staring wide eyed at them.
"Sir, we found and are currently trying to contain the human. For your safety, we ask that you do not go any further." He holds a hand up, keeping Sans from advancing. "Please wait until the human is captured before proceeding."
Justice, with tears in their huge eyes, glances in Sans' direction. Justice drops their gun in the snow and dashes to him, overcome with clear panic on their tiny face.
"GRAB HIM!" One of the guards shouts.
The guard who was between Justice and Sans twists quickly, snatching the terrified child by their arm.
"The human is captured." The guard confirms. Justice is freaking out, crying, screaming their incoherent words. He pulls the frightened child away from Sans, causing an even bigger fuss from the terrified kid. He drags Justice to a solid container with no real visual way to look out and see the world.
All Sans can do is watch, helpless to stop them. He can't risk everything trying to stop them. He stands stock still, up until Justice disappears into the containing device. Only then can he make his shaky legs approach them.
"Is the human going to be alright?" He asks, voice so weak it sounds like a whisper. He needs something, someone, to tell him that Justice will be fine. That Justice was not blatantly caught right before his eyes and stuffed into a pitch black box.
That Justice will survive the soul extraction.
The rabbit in black armor, now obviously recognizable as a Royal Guard, looks over to Sans. The emotions of the monster cannot be clearly seen with the heavily obscuring mask covering their face.
"You know as well as any other monster that the human will be killed once the soul is extracted. The sacrifice this human is making will be remembered."
It's too matter of fact to try to deny it. Sans's soul drops like a rock into his non-existent stomach. The eye lights that would normally make up his pupils vanish. Justice won't survive.
Justice wouldn't grow up.
Justice won't ever get to see anything beyond total darkness. Experiencing nothing but complete loneliness, fear, betrayal for however long it takes to get him to Asgore.
Sans stumbles away from the scene. He doesn't want to hear the mutterings about how lucky everyone in Snowdin is to still be alive. How they were fortunate enough to capture the human before Justice could harm or even kill any of the monsters. How they have a hope of breaking out and going to the surface.
Sans doesn't want to hear their words. Not when Justice isn't going to be alive. Not when Justice hasn't got a hope of escape. The guilt is eating holes into his soul. The look that Justice had given him when trying to seek his help keeps flashing before his eyes.
HIS help.
Terror, betrayal, fear. Why?
Why didn't Sans let Justice stay in the house? The kid would have survived and not been captured. Why did he wait so long? Why did he try to abandon the child in any fashion? If he could do it again, Sans knows he wouldn't have let the human outside the house at all. He'd have kept Justice safe from the monsters looking for them, hunting them. Threatened by them.
Why?