No. No. It couldn't. The gate couldn't be opening again. It couldn't be opening again.
Pressing his hand over his forehead, Sans fought a ripple of panic that shook him to the core. The sound was exactly the same; the creaking, the rumble. How could this happen again? It wasn't supposed to happen at all! He did everything to avoid triggering the same events! Was the human so determined to come through and kill everyone that they would ignore the rules Sans was trying to impose on reality?
He dropped both hands to his sides, his expression stuck in a rictus of terror. Images played over the back of his vision, images of dust everywhere, monsters pinned and left to die, the librarby burning, burning, burning-
Ow, his eye! He recoiled as the fierce heat returned to his left eye in full force, bursting with energy he'd never even known before. He knew he'd gotten stronger, somehow, but never had his eye bothered him like this. It seared. He stumbled back to his sentry post, gathering his wits about him as best he could, willing himself to calm down so that the pain would stop. Even as the glow receded, his bones rattled.
Soft little crunches in the snow approached, and he wheeled around to face the source. The human. They were the same human from that nightmare, that timeline that he'd forced from his mind, the timeline he'd pushed to bury under newfound appreciation for his brother. The same rounded features, the same helmet of hair.
He glowered, feeling the hot anger bubbling inside him again, and prepared to launch at the human- fuck capturing this beast, he was going to kill them before they had a chance to do it all again- when he stopped, gripping the desk of his post with the realization; the eyes were different.
The human searched around them with wonder, arms huddled in front of them as though to shield them from anything that might be lurking in the shadows. Their posture was faintly stooped, almost cringing, and their steps were shorter than he remembered the human ever taking. And the sleeves... no dust. No dust clung to their sleeves.
No, no, this wasn't how he remembered it... had he remembered wrong? Had he imagined the whole thing? Had his vision been nothing more than a highly intuitive dream? Just as he fretted his understanding of reality, the human spotted him with a small jump of surprise.
After a moment of regarding each other warily, the human beamed broadly, giving a wide wave and calling, "Hello!" in a voice so sincerely warm, it melted the chill left by the last words the human had said to him in his nightmare.
His eyes narrowed. No, the human had been cunning before. They'd done everything to win over everyone in the town, only to seed destruction and pain everywhere they went. He wasn't going to fall for it again, not again, he couldn't do it again-
"Uhm, uh... s-sorry to bother you, mister..." the human child had drawn closer, their finger tugging the corner of their lips shyly. "You look like a skeleton! Are you a skeleton?"
"...yes... yes i am." he started, guarded, fighting to keep his expression neutral. "and you look like a human. Are you... a human?"
The child giggled, and nodded. "Goat-Mommy told me that there were lotsa creatures around here that might be scary, but are probably really nice. Are you nice like she said?"
"depending on who you ask, i'm not a very nice person, no," he grinned reflexively. "but i'd like to think i'm not that scary, either."
The human nodded firmly, the hair helmet shifting with the movement. "You don't look scary to me! I'm not apposed to talk to strangers, but..." they tilted their head, giving him a sweet smile. "You don't feel like a stranger to me!"
Sweat trickled from his crown, and he thanked his lucky stars that he was able to keep his grin going. Was this child playing some sort of game with him? Could the human remember everything? If they did, then if Sans slipped up, he could trigger the very thing he wanted to avoid the most; unleashing the human on the rest of the Underground.
His thoughts swirled in his head, interrupted only when two tiny hands gripped at the sleeve of his coat. Their eyes stared up at him with quiet wonder and joy, a warmth shared between them that only befuddled him further.
"I like you, Mister! You've got a round head and a big smile! You're like a cartoon, but even better, because I can touch you!"
"that so? huh. never thought of it that way. say, kid, you got a name?"
They did. Sans told them his name, too; it felt only fair, given how quickly they'd shared theirs with him, and with a genuinely innocent smile to boot.
"I like you, Sans!" the child giggled, rocking back and forth on their toes and heels, tugging his sleeve along with the movement. "I can tell you're a nice person... to the bone!"
They let out another burst of giggles at their own pun, and Sans joined in with a faint chuckle despite himself. The fear was draining out of him through their touch, and his grin was becoming more genuine by the second. The other human, the one who looked exactly like this one, hadn't bothered with jokes. A smile, perhaps, and compliments, but not once did they bother with a joke.
"well, i'd love to keep jawin' with ya out here, but you look like you're gettin' cold, kid. how 'bout you start making your way thattaway, and get someplace warm?"
They shook their head vehemently. "D'wanna. Wanna stay with you. Can you come with me, Mr. Sans?"
The grin faded a bit. "'fraid not, kiddo. i've got a lotta work to do, and i don't think my brother would be pleased seein' me hangin' out with a human, given that he wants to capture you and all."
"Capture? Me?" The human stared blankly. "Why? Did I do something wrong by coming here?"
Yes, yes you did, you disgusting creature, you murdered everyone- Sans stopped the running dialogue of fear from escaping his grin. "you're not hurting anyone by bein' here, kiddo, 'least so far as i can tell. but humans aren't exactly well-liked down here. it's part of the history."
"Oh." The human frowned thoughtfully. "But I didn't do anything to any monsters? In fact, I really like you!" They snuggled Sans' bony fingers to their face with a contented sound. "I want to get to know more n' more of you!"
He stared at the human, his smile dripping from his face. The memories of that life that time had abandoned lurked just behind the surface for him, but they were so incompatible with what he saw standing in front of him, what he saw cuddling to him, he doubted himself. He stooped, placing his free hand on their shoulder.
"hey, kiddo. you should be able to make it to town okay on your own, alright? i'll be out here, and if you really get stuck, maybe i can help you. no promises, though. 'specially because my brother is the one so adamant on catching you."
They weighed their options, looking sadly at Sans' hand, and released him with a sigh. "I guess humans were really mean to monsters a long time ago, huh? I was picked on a lot, back in school. S'why I ran away. An' it made me mad, so mad, I 'member wanting to teach 'em a lesson. But when I was mad, a part of my heart hurt to think of doing something to 'em. But..." they smiled up at him softly. "... I understand why someone who's been hurt might want to teach me a lesson, even if I didn't do anything."
Sans ruffled the kid's hair. "that's big of you, kiddo. i think any punks who gotta pick on someone else deserve some sorta dunkin', but i like that you're not interested in doin' anything about it."
They giggled in response, happy at his touch. "You're nice, Mr. Sans. Is your brother as nice as you?"
He paused, his grin vanishing in an instant. The human just had to wedge their words directly into the sore spot, didn't they? He forced out a chuckle. "he's a handful... but... he's probably a lot nicer than i am."
"Then..." they put both hands over their mouth in joy. "If I say sorry to him, do you think he'll be my friend, too?"
He didn't mean to pause for so long, but his thoughts kept circling in his head. They had to be planning something with his brother, didn't they? They would smile and pretend to love Papyrus' spaghetti, and be all sweet and charming, but in the end, this human had to be a cunning little thing, didn't they? Waiting for the opportunity to slip the knife between the ribs? They didn't give him the impression that they meant harm, and they were so different now, and there was no sign of dust or malice to be found, and yet...
The skull being smashed by their foot. The garbled scream of his brother as the last of him crunched out of existence. The dust scattering.
He grabbed their arm, frowning. "why do you want to be his friend?"
They cringed at the sudden grip, looking to Sans in surprise. "Because... because I want to be your friend, and if I like you that much, then I'll probably like your brother, too?"
He clenched tighter, bending further down, the light flickering out in his gaze. "i don't believe you. what did you come here for?"
Their eyes watered with tears. "I-I don't... I don't understand... why are you being so mean to me, Mr. Sans? D-did I make you mad?"
A pang in what undoubtedly would have been his heart if he'd had one stabbed at his conscience, and to keep it from spreading, he tightened his grip further. "are you telling me you don't remember what you did?"
Eyes widening, they watched Sans as he slipped even more into the paranoia that he'd earned after witnessing his brother's murder. They sniffled. "... What I did? Wait... was... wasn't that... wasn't that a dream?"
Sans threw the child to the snow, furious. "you do remember! you sick, sadistic little beast! how dare you pretend-"
They began bawling, curling up in the snow. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I was just scared and alone and-and-and i got so mad, and so scared, but-"
"that's no excuse for what you did!" He growled darkly, advancing on the human, feeling his eye burning again. "you killed my brother! you killed everyone! but i won't let you do it again, i won't!"
"B-but that's why I'm here!" They curled their hands over their face. "I hated everything, I hated so much that it hurt! I couldn't even breathe sometimes! It felt like someone else was pulling me along. And then I fought you!"
They pulled back one tear-soaked sleeve to meet Sans' ever brighter gaze. "You stopped me. And when it was over, I... I felt your pain! I felt you hurting so badly because of what I'd done! And I felt... I felt like you were connected to me after that."
The fragment. Sans glanced to his hand, which had started glowing with his magic. Hadn't he gained more power after that encounter? After he'd crushed the soul with his own hand? After that piece had entered him? He clenched the hand into a fist, renewing the power. "so you feel like you deserve another chance?"
"I coulda just brought myself back before you fought me... I've done it before... but I didn't wanna. I didn't wanna fight anymore. Your sadness, it made me sad. And when it touched me, I-I wanted to start over, to start all over. M-monsters weren't so bad, if any of them had the kind of warmth you had when you touched me!"
He shivered. "you... you want to repent?"
They retracted from their fetal huddle, just enough to get on their knees and look up at him. "I want to be good. I want to...to love like you love your brother. And when I tried again, and I stopped listening to that little voice, I was... was so happy. Like being wrapped in a blanket!"
He stepped closer, watching their expression for any sign that the earnest plea was insincere. Any sign that they were plotting. Any symptom of the murderer that they'd been before. But it was true; the hostility was gone. He couldn't see anything but innocence in their gaze, in the trembling. Their fear.
"hey kid... i believe you." He grinned.
They smiled hopefully, letting a few more tears slip down their cheeks. "You do?"
"yup. so i'm gonna help you make up for everything you did before." He reached out his hand to help them to their feet. They accepted his aid, happily cupping both hands around his again, a faint pink coming to their face in their relief.
"I want to do the right thing!" They agreed.
He yanked them close, his eye glowing and burning so intensely that even they could feel the heat radiating off of it.
"if you want to do the right thing..." His opposite hand was wrapped in his magic again, vibrating with his hate. "...then don't come back this time."
In the midst of patting the snow back into place after resetting the switch puzzle, Papyrus whirled around towards the direction of his brother's sentry post as a blood-curdling scream filled the air, cutting off abruptly.