"Alright, looks good, kid," Sans said, patting the top of Harry's skull.

He lived at the lab for almost a whole month now, and he'd lost all his skin and flesh. He still wasn't sure how he'd lost all his internal organs though. He'd gone to bed with a strange tingling in his belly, and when he woke up, he was a full skeleton with no trace of his squishy parts anywhere.

"I-is my SOUL good now?" Harry asked nervously.

Sans chuckled and showed Harry the pale, nearly white upside down heart floating over his palm. Harry smiled. It was almost identical to Sans's own SOUL. If Harry still had lips, he'd be grinning happily, but now with his perpetual skull-grin, the only change in his expression was the glittering of the white dots in his eye sockets.

A week earlier, Sans and Alphys had extracted – Harry had finally learned what the word it meant – the Determined human SOUL piece and it would be used to save monsters that had 'fallen down', though neither wanted to explain to Harry what that meant. And now, Sans had finally succeeded in hiding Harry's SOUL color.

"Does that mean I can leave with you now?" Harry asked hopeful.

"Sure does," Sans chuckled fondly.
"Go say goodbye to Alphys and pack your stuff."

Harry nodded eagerly and jumped off the table. He liked Alphys, but he couldn't wait to leave the creepy lab and Hotland. He didn't really like the extreme heath. He came from Britain, after all.

The room he'd been given in the lab was barely more than a supply closet with a bed and a coat hanger, but it was still bigger than his old cupboard. It had made him miss Toriel's home, which in turn made him feel guilty because he was being ungrateful to Sans and Alphys for giving him this much. They had, however, given him toys, books and new clothes.

"Put on something warm!" Sans called out.

"Okay!" Harry called back cheerfully.

He'd bloomed in the past month. He was still shy, sure, but he was more confident and playful and he no longer expected harsh punishments for little mistakes. He knew these monsters wouldn't hurt him, and he was starting to learn that they wouldn't abandon him either…

Harry slung his backpack over his shoulder and skipped back out of the 'room', where Alphys was waiting for him with tears in her eyes. Harry blinked in surprise, but instantly hugged back when the Royal Scientist leaned down and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I-I'll miss you, Harry!" she wailed.
"Who'll watch anime with me now?!"

"Don't worry, Alph. The kid can come visit as often as he wants," Sans said amused.

Harry brightened up again and looked at the skeleton he could from this day forward call his big brother.

"Really?" he asked.

"Within reason of course. And with someone coming with ya," Sans replied shrugging.
"You're not gonna be running around the Underground on your own just yet, kiddo."

Harry giggled and nodded his head. He stepped back a little from Alphys and leaned up to press his teeth against her cheek in an imitation of a kiss.

"Bye, Alphys! I'll visit soon, promise!" he said.

With that, he ran over to Sans and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go home, baby bones. C'mon, I know a shortcut."

...

Harry stared at the small house he was standing in front of. They were in the outposts of the capital, Sans had told him. The place was a little over crowded, so they only had a small house, but it was enough for three of them. Harry hoped he wasn't going to be too much of a burden.

"Stop overthinking kid," Sans said, squeezing Harry's hand and grinning at him.

"B-but what if I'll just be in your w-way…" he muttered reluctantly.

"Heh. That's what brothers are supposed to do, baby bones," Sans chuckled.

Harry blushed and looked away shyly. Sans was really nice to him. he was happy he wanted to be his brother. He hoped that Papyrus would be just as nice.

"Let's go in and meet Pap, alright?" Sans suggested.

Harry nodded his head and tightened his bony fingers around Sans's hand. He was terrified that Papyrus wouldn't like him and send him away again. Sans just chuckled and pushed the door open.

"Yo, bro!" Sans called as they entered the house.
"I brought the kid! Come meet him, Pap!"

Papyrus stepped out of the kitchen, looking a very intimidating figure to the small boy. He was very tall, almost twice as tall as Sans even and he wore an orange turtleneck sweater and jeans. Harry swallowed nervously and hid behind Sans, who laughed at the way Papyrus's face fell – figuratively, of course.

"C'mon, baby bones. Go say hi to your now big bro," Sans coaxed.

Harry took a deep breath and peeked out from behind him, staring up at Papyrus, who just stared back for a few moments.

"… H-hi… P-Papyrus," he whispered.

Somehow, an orange blush appeared on Papyrus's cheekbones and he pressed his hands against them.

"NYEH HEH HEH! YOU ARE SO ADORABLE!" he shouted, making Harry flinch back.
"WORRY NOT, LITTLE HARRINGTON. YOUR NEW BIG BROTHER WILL NOT CAUSE YOU HARM!"

Harry scowled.

"I-it's just Harry," he mumbled quietly.

"It's a skeleton thing," Sans explained shrugging.
"We're all named after the font that fits us best."

"Font?" Harry asked confused.

"Just go with it, baby bones," Sans laughed.
"Besides, Harrington kind of fits ya anyway."

Harry scowled, but he didn't question it further.

"How about I show ya where you'll sleep?" Sans suggested, grabbing Harry's hand again.
"This place only has two bedrooms, so you'll have to share with me. Hope that's alright?"

"That's fine," Harry whispered.

...

It had been five years since Harry had entered the Underground, but he had barely aged two years since his arrival. Sans had explained that monsters had longer lives than humans because their bodies were mostly made up out of magical matter instead of biological matter.

"Hold it steady, kid," Sans instructed.

"I'm doing that," Harry muttered.

He focused on the stone he was levitating using Blue Magic, which Sans had been teaching him the past few weeks. This was the first time he could get something to fly this steady and for longer than just a few seconds!

"You're doing great, kiddo," Sans said, leaning against the side of their home, both his eyes closed.
"Before ya know it, you'll be better at it then me. Which is great 'cause that means you can bring me stuff."

Harry dropped the stone and glared at his oldest brother.

"You're so lazy, Sans!" he whined.
"You didn't even look at how great I did!"

"I looked," Sans replied amused.
"It was really good. Now all you gotta do is practice some more and bam. Blue Magic Harry."

Harry chuckled and sat down next to his brother, laying his head on the elder's ribs and closed his eye sockets too. almost immediately, Sans wrapped one arm around Harry to pull him closer.

"Can you next teach me to use shortcuts?" Harry asked hopeful.

"Not until you're a bit older, kiddo," Sans replied lazily.

"Oh… How about using Gaster Blasters?" Harry tried.

"Not until you're a lot older, kid."

"BROTHERS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE GREAT NEWS!"

Harry opened his eyes again and looked curiously at Papyrus, who approached them rapidly.

"Yeah? what is it, bro?" Sans asked, not opening his sockets at all.

"I HAVE DECIDED TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!" Papyrus announced proudly.
"WE WILL HAVE TO MOVE TO SNOWDIN SO I CAN START MY TRAINING AS A SENTRY THERE."

Harry sat up with a scowl.

"But isn't Snowdin like, really cold?" he asked.

"We're skeletons. We barely feel any cold," Sans pointed out.
"Besides, if it's Pap's wish, who are we to say no? Unless ya really want to stay here?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. He wasn't very popular around the capital, but he wasn't disliked either. The Underground didn't have a lot of kids, but the kids that were in the capital and at Harry's school, were all pretty nice. He wouldn't call any of them close friends, but they were alright at least. Though he had to admit that Bratty and Catty, who were a few years older than him, were maybe a bit over the top and they rarely left him alone because they thought he was 'like, super-duper cute'.

"No. I'm good," Harry replied.
"It's just moving. Nothing to rattle my bones about."

Sans chuckled and patted Harry's head while Papyrus gave a long-suffering sigh.

"WHY DO YOU AND SANS KEEP INSISTING ON PLAGUING ME WITH BAD PUNS?" he asked.

"C'mon, bro. Don't ya have a funny bone?" Sans asked amused.

"I SWEAR, IF I DIDN'T WORRY ABOUT YOU TWO SO MUCH, I'D LEAVE YOU HERE AND LIVE ON MY OWN."

"Thanks bro," Sans said.

"We'd probably die without you, Pappy!" Harry said cheerfully.

"I KNOW, LITTLE BROTHER," Papyrus sighed.

Neither of them saw the way Sans looked away with a sad scowl.

...

Their new home in Snowdin was a lot bigger than their old house. It wasn't anything special, but they now had three bedrooms, a separate kitchen and a nice and spacey living room. Harry was excited to live there, though he'd miss sleeping with Sans. His big bro could always chase away his nightmares.

"Want to go check out your new room, baby bones?" Sans asked.

Harry's eyes sparkled with happiness and he jumped a little in excitement.

"I never had a room to my own before!" he said happily.
"I mean, I slept in a cupboard with my relatives, and the lady in the Ruins gave me a room when I stayed with her, but it's not the same."

Just like always when Harry mentioned his human relatives, Sans's expression darkened momentarily before brightening again and he patted Harry's skull with a fond chuckle.

"Well, you've got one now," he said.

"YOU MAY CHOSE ONE FOR YOURSELF FIRST, HARRY," Papyrus suggested, giving Harry a gentle push towards the stairs.

Laughing in excitement, Harry ran up the stairs and looked at all the rooms separately before making his decision. Sans and Papyrus had followed him and were patiently waiting for Harry's verdict.

"I want the middle room!" he announced happily.

"Really? The smallest one?" Sans asked shocked.

"Yeah. It's the best fit, right? I mean, I am the smallest," Harry shrugged.
"Besides, that way, when I need to reach one of you it's the easiest. I'll feel most comfortable in the middle."

"THEN THE MIDDLE ROOM IS YOURS!" Papyrus said, pulling Harry in a hug.

"I'll take this one," Sans said, pointing at the room in the farthest corner.

"I'll be the one to leave the room the least, so it makes sense."

"Which leaves the biggest room for Pap!" Harry said grinning, looking at his brothers.

"IT HAS BEEN DECIDED!" Papyrus announced proudly.
"THIS WILL NOW BE OUR NEW HOME!"

Harry and Sans looked at each other, mischief dancing in their eyes as they thought of the same thing.

"Our skele-home," they said in unison.

"ARGH! WHY MUST THE GREAT PAPYRUS SUFFER LIKE THIS?"

...

Harry lay on his bed, using drumsticks on his ribs to make some music for himself while quietly humming along. He'd been living in the new house with Sans and Papyrus for two years now and he started to notice some differences in his brothers. Papyrus, for one, seemed to become even more excitable than ever before and a bit of a control freak, but Harry was more than okay with that.

It was Sans that started to worry him. Sans had never been very active, in fact, he'd been lazy all his life, as far as Harry could see at least, but it seemed to get worse over time. He slept almost constantly and he seemed to become very apathetic, excluding when it involved him or Papyrus. He really cared about them, and Harry was sure that would never change.

He sighed and rolled out of his bed, dropping his drumsticks again. He was bored. Maybe he could convince Sans to take him to see Alphys and they could watch anime together. He hadn't seen her very often anymore in the past three years or so. He was getting worried about her too. She was isolating herself, which couldn't mean anything good.

"Sans?!" he called out, knocking on his brother's door.

There was some shuffling before Sans stood in front of him, rubbing under his eye socket. Harry sighed and shook his head. It was already three in the afternoon and Sans was still sleeping. This was getting out of hand.

"Whatsit, baby bones?" Sans muttered lazily.

"I want to go to Alphys's," Harry announced.

Sans gave a loud sigh and nodded his head.

"Lemme get my jacket and I'll pop us over there," he said.

Harry brightened up instantly and bounced on his heels while Sans went back into his room to collect his trademark blue jacket. His room was a mess, making Harry wince. He wasn't much of a clean freak, but he preferred it when everything had its own spot. Seeing Sans's room made him want to tidy it up some.

"Alright, let's go," Sans said, pulling the door to his room closed.

He patted Harry's skull and held out his hand. Harry quickly put his own hand in it and closed his eyes as Sans's teleportation magic pulled them into one of his 'shortcuts'. A moment later, they stood in the lab.

"Alphys?! I brought the kid by!" Sans called out.

There was no answer, making both skeletons scowl. Alphys usually answered right away, mostly with scolding Sans not to just appear in the middle of her lab unannounced, but never were they answered with such eerie silence.

Tightening his hold on Harry's hand, Sans started to explore the place. First the ground floor, but as no one could be found, the duo carefully made their way up the escalators. As soon as they reached the top, they could see it.

"No!" Harry whimpered, hiding his face in his brother's jacket.

Sans wrapped an arm around the younger skeleton to protect him from the sight. Alphys's white coat was lying on top of a pile of dust…

"Surprised? You shouldn't be…"

Harry tensed at the high-pitched, gleeful laughter. He shakily looked up, his eyes widening when he saw a golden flowers with a face, grinning teasingly at them.

"You!" Sans growled hatefully.

"Golly! You look angry!" the flower laughed.
"Not happy with me, smiley trash bag?"

Sans held Harry tighter as his left eye lit up. Harry recognized the familiar gust of wind as a Gaster Blaster appeared behind them, ready to attack. His eyes widened and he jumped out of his brother's arms in a panic.

"Wait!" he yelled.

Sans tensed and the Gaster Blaster disappeared again.

"Baby bones…" he murmured.

"That thing dusted Alphys…"

"How can you know that?" Harry demanded.
"He's just a flower! How can he have hurt Alphys, and why?"

"Cause he's done it before! Now get away from it!"

Harry blinked and scowled. Done it before? But a monster could only die once, and Harry hadn't heard about anyone else dying lately.

"What do you- ARGH!"

His chest exploded with pain midway his question, making the young skeleton scream out in agony.

"Idiot! You should have listened to your big brother, brat!" the flower laughed cruelly.

Harry swallowed and looked down shakily. To his horror, he found a large, thorny vine protruding from his chest. As he slowly lifted his head again, black spots now dancing in his vision while his body slowly went numb, he saw Sans standing petrified a few feet away, the lights in his eyes gone as he stared at him in horror. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but only a gush of blood escaped him.

The vine pulling back out was more painful than when it went in. Harry groaned softly and his eye sockets closed as he fell forward. Before he fell on the floor, he was captured by his brother.

"B-baby bones! Hang in there!" he heard Sans call out frantically.
"I'll fucking kill you for this, you weed! You won't get away with this!"

"And if you succeed, I'll just reset and play all over again!" the flower laughed.

Harry gasped and went slack in his oldest brother's arms. He had lost all the feeling in his bones by now. He could almost literally feel his own life slowly draining from his SOUL.

"S-Sa-…"

Then everything went black.

...

Harry lay on his bed, using drumsticks on his ribs to make some music for himself while quietly humming along. He'd been living in the new house with Sans and Papyrus for two years now and he started to notice some differences in his brothers. Papyrus wasn't a problem, no, it was Sans that started to worry him.

He sighed and rolled out of his bed, dropping his drumsticks again. He was bored. Maybe he could convince Sans to take him to see Alphys and they could watch anime together.

"Sans?!" he called out, knocking on his brother's door.

No answer came. Harry sighed again and walked down the stairs. Sans was probably out at Grillby's or something. He'd ask again later. Meanwhile, maybe Papyrus could use some help making puzzles.