Staying in the Ruins with Toriel was bittersweet. On the one hand, the two days he spent with Toriel were better than any he had spent on the surface. Perhaps it was because Toriel had not yet been betrayed by Asgore, had not yet had to watch Frisk walk to their possible death, or perhaps it was because Sans had never lived these days before, be it once or a thousand times. Everything was new, a surprise, and while some things were the same, it was still completely different.

But on the other hand, those two days were harder than any lived in the sunlight above. Every other time Sans had been with Toriel, she was happier, satisfied. Those times they had spent on the surface, their relationship had flourished. It wasn't the same down there, and even if it was, two days wasn't enough for whatever was growing between Sans and Toriel now to become anything more than friendship.

But it's the times you want to last an eternity that move the fastest. Two days was never that long to begin with, and especially not when Sans felt as though he'd lived an eternity already.

"Good morning, Sans," Toriel said. Sans rubbed his eyes, fighting back a yawn. Today was the day, he didn't have time to be tired.

"Morning, Tori." The skeleton smiled to the goat monster.

Toriel was sitting in her chair with a mug of coffee and a book on the uses of snails. She had been trying to get Sans to read it over the past two days, though he still held claim to his condiment-based diet. The house was warm around them, despite the damp, dusty smell of the rest of the underground. It was homely. It could be home.

"It is strange to see you up so early," Toriel remarked.

Sans shrugged. The real reason he was up so early was because today was the day. But Toriel didn't know that, and she didn't need to know. If everything went according to plan, nobody would ever have to know he had found a human today.

See, Sans had figured out a plan. He would be there when the human fell, take their soul and teleport straight to Asgore. Toriel would never need to know that it had been Sans who had delivered the seventh soul to the king. Things between them could go on as they had been.

"I think I'm gonna take a walk, explore a bit," Sans said. He feared Toriel would attempt to come along, but thankfully she seemed content to sit in her chair and read for the time being.

"Do be careful, there are many puzzles deeper in the ruins," Toriel said. She looked over the top of her book at the skeleton. "I shall have breakfast ready when you come back."

"Geez, Tori, you're spoiling me," Sans said. He even managed a smile for her, in the wake of what he was about to do.

Sans knew where the human would fall. The bed of golden flowers where the first human had been buried. He remembered others, some of the the six souls now residing in jars at New Home, speaking of those flowers. And Toriel, before she had left the capital so long ago, had promised to bury her fallen child in the flowers they had fought so hard to see.

Sans didn't remember a lot from those time. Never mind the countless resets filling his brains, he'd been younger then. Barely grown. Working in the labs, with Alphys and…his father. He'd still been a child himself when the first human had fallen, still adjusting to his new life, in this universe. His new life as a monster.

Sans shook his head, clearing those thoughts. They were for another time, another life. Those memories were of no use to anyone now.

It didn't take long to get there. The Ruins were big, a whole city locked away and abandoned, but the level Toriel inhabited was quite small. The flowerbed was only a few minutes away, even at Sans' leisurely pace.

The skeleton had expected to beat the human there. He'd expected to see them fall, to see them crash into the underground filled with hate and rage and murderous intent.

The flowers were crushed when he got there. The human lay on top of them, body splayed across wilting petals and broken stalks, unmoving. Brown eyes stared upwards, expressionless, lost.

Sans' resolve faltered. This was the same monster he'd seen murder his brother, time and time again…and yet, it wasn't. This was not Frisk as Sans knew them. This was Frisk…without their determination.

"You idiot."

The voice right behind Sans would've made him jump out of his skin, if he had any. As it was, he jumped around to face the source of the voice, only to find himself alone.

"You didn't honestly think that wimp could've done any of that on their own, did you?"

Sans had turned in an instant, but again the owner of the voice was nowhere to be found.

"All that time, you were blaming Frisk…"

Sans looked all around the cavern, searching for the source of this voice that seemingly only he could hear.

"…when you should've been blaming me."

And then there she was. For a moment he thought it was Frisk, they were so similar, but those red eyes gave the impersonation away. Yellow and green striped jumper, darker skin, sinister grin.

Sans knew this face. He recognised this voice. It was the first human. It was Chara.

"You're dead," Sans snarled, acutely aware that Frisk was behind him and so far had done nothing to indicate that they could see or sense Chara.

"You remember me?" She tiled her head, giving a half shrug. "Gotta say, I'm impressed. I didn't think you would. After all, I've killed you countless times by now. And who knows how long it's been since I was alive, for you at least."

Sans was speechless. Here was this impossible human, this ghost, a girl he hadn't seen in a hundred years even without the resets, and she was claiming to have killed him. But Sans had only died in other timelines, and the only one who'd ever killed him had been…Frisk.

"You're getting it now, aren't you?" Chara said, seeing realisation move across Sans' face. "It was never Frisk. They were just my puppet. My pawn. My vessel."

Frisk wasn't the one killing everyone. That was why things had gotten progressively worse. As Frisk had lost control and Chara had taken over, pacifist had turned to neutral had turned to genocide, without anybody ever knowing Frisk was fighting a losing battle over their own body.

"But now, you have the reset," Chara spat. "That loser can't even see me anymore. Without their determination, they're nothing.

Something wasn't right here. Chara was mad, that much was obvious, but it was the reason why that had Sans thinking.

"You can't take over my body, can you?" he said, finally getting it.

Chara grumbled and refused to answer, but Sans knew he'd hit the nail on the head.

"I might require a human soul to take a vessel, but it doesn't matter. I know you won't help me kill everyone either, but I can wait. Sooner or later, you'll realise just what you've done and you'll have to give up that power, and when you do, things will go back to the way they were before." Chara came right up to Sans' face, her empty red eyes mere inches from his own. "And I'll get to kill you again, and again, and again."

Satisfied that Chara was no immediate threat-after all, he was the only one that could see her, and it didn't seem as if she could interact with him on a physical level-Sans walked over to Frisk. A decision had to be made.

Before, Sans had no qualms taking their soul and delivering it to Asgore. But that had been when Frisk was still the one responsible for all the death and destruction. Worse still, not only were they now innocent, but they were now entirely without determination. Sans couldn't afford to give it back to them, not all of it at least. But without that power flowing through them, Frisk looked weak. They looked as though they had fallen, not just into Mt Ebbott, but fallen down.

"Come on, kid," Sans finally said. He stooped to pick up Frisk, only for them to flinch away. He paused, taking a step back. "Easy, now. I'm not going to hurt you."

Fear flashed through Frisk's eyes, but it was fear of the unknown. There was no spark of recognition, no memories flickering behind their lightless eyes.

"Without the power, they can't remember," Chara whispered, in the place where Sans' ear would've been.

"That damn flower remembers," Sans shot back, no longer caring that to Frisk, he must've looked like he was talking to himself.

Chara shrugged, flashing sharp teeth in a predatory grin. "He didn't have part of his soul ripped out of his body. He lost the RESET and the SAVE power because someone came along with a stronger soul. When you took Frisk's determination-" she spat the word, as if it tasted foul on her tongue, "-you took her memories of the past timeliens, too. They crumbled to dust just like all those stupid, pathetic monsters I killed."

Sans sighed, and stopped down to Frisk. They were still unmoving, though Sans couldn't tell if it was because they were injured, because they were too afraid, or because they'd simply given up.

Maybe Sans could give back just some of their determination. Not enough to give their power back, but enough that they wouldn't be so empty.

"Don't worry, 'm not gonna hurt you," Sans said as he scooped the child up in his arms. They were lighter than he'd expected, thinner than he'd ever seen them. He'd never picked them up in the underground before, only ever on the surface. He didn't even have to use his telekinesis to support their weight. "I'm gonna take you to someone who can heal you."

"You're pathetic," Chara mumbled. "Just and give up already. That's what they did." She motioned vaguely towards Frisk. "All that determination, and they couldn't even do the one thing they came down here to do. What a waste."

Sans ignored Chara muttering nonsense and spitting insults in his ear as he carried Frisk towards Toriel's house. He managed to tune her out pretty quickly, not even listening to her words. He couldn't kill Frisk, not if they were innocent. After all, a very long time ago, he'd made a promise to a woman through a door to protect the human that would soon come through. And though the Frisk in this timeline had not gone through those doors, their past selves had, and that was enough. Sans was going to protect Frisk, even if it meant putting up with Chara. He was not breaking his promise.