A/N:

apologies for not updating sooner! i was super busy, but i'm about to be on spring break, so i'll have more time to write.

please be sure to leave a review and let me know what you thought! any feedback is appreciated :)

-Han

Silence falls between you and Sans, heavy and oppressive. You sit on one side of the couch, your head still pulsing with a lingering ache, and he sits on the other side, though closer to the middle than you. About six inches separate the two of you, but you wish it was more.

The silence is really getting to you. You can't stop hearing voices – Flowey's voice, mostly, but others as well, monsters that you'd killed.

"We'll be so powerful… All you have to do is kill them. Kill them all…"

"If you think I'm gonna give up hope, you're wrong. Cause I've… got my friends behind me."

"In this world, it's kill or be killed."

"I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO! I… I PROMISE…"

"Let's destroy everything in this wretched world. Everyone, everything in these worthless memories… let's turn 'em all to dust."

"on days like these, kids like you… Should be burning in hell."

Abruptly you sit up straight, body jerking, and Sans jumps a little at the sudden movement. "uh… you ok?" he asks.

"I'm bored," you mumble, annoyed. You hate this feeling, the way you can't decide if your actions were justified or if you're repulsed by yourself. "Can't we do something other than just sit here?"

Sans winks at you. "ok. why don't we talk?" he says.

You have a bad feeling about this. "Talk?" you repeat suspiciously.

The skeleton slides closer to you, and you lean away, uncomfortable. "tell me about yourself, _. your hopes, your dreams…" His eye sockets darken. "your previous timeline…"

You roll your eyes. "You can't get me to talk about it, Sans," you drawl. "Anyway, with how smart you are, I thought you'd have figured it out by now. Guess you really are a bonehead."

"yep," Sans agrees cheerfully as the lights come back into his eyes, leaning back into the couch cushions again (to your relief). "i'll get it out of ya eventually."

"You really won't," you tell him dryly.

"just watch me." He winks at you again, and you feel your face heat up with irritation.

Another minute or so of silence passes, and when you hear Sans's voice in your mind whisper, "do you wanna have a bad time?" you snap again.

"Can't we just, like, God. I don't know," you say. "Turn on the TV or something?"

"wow, you must really be bored." Sans chuckles. "sorry i'm not the best company."

"I asked you a question."

He shrugs. "sorry, pal, but you're technically my prisoner. i dunno if you have any television rights."

You grit your teeth, trying to rein in your frustration but failing; it bleeds through into your speech. "If you aren't going to let me do anything, why keep me here? What if I get really bored, Sans?"

There's a pause before Sans laughs incredulously. "are you threatening me?"

Are you?

Sans takes your lack of an answer as a yes. "kid, that's really not a good idea," he says. "if you try to fight me… you're gonna have a bad time."

You freeze, your fists clenching by your side. "I know," you say without thinking.

He goes still, and you glance over at him with a growing sense of dread to see a grimace pulling the corners of his grin downward. "i see," he says.

Fuck.

"Yeah, okay," you blurt out, growing increasingly flustered (and, by extension, angry). "We fought. So what? It doesn't mean anything." You stand up quickly, glad your head has stopped spinning – you're prepared to get out fast if things start to go south.

Sans gets to his feet as well, shoving his hands deep into his hoodie pockets. "heh. i might've guessed," he says. "i mean, i figured you must've killed somebody i cared about in the other timeline, like paps or maybe that lady in the ruins. but i didn't figure you to be genocidal."

The inside of your mouth feels dry, and you swallow reflexively. How the hell does he… "What are you talking about?" you say.

His eyes are pitch-black, grin wide, and oh, that is not a good sign. "promised myself i'd only ever step in if things got bad. real bad. otherwise, it was all gonna get reset, so what was the point, right? but if you had to fight me…" The short skeleton lifts a shoulder in a half-shrug. "so tell me, kid. why'd ya come back? didja get bored of killing, maybe had a change of heart? heh heh heh… nah, it's more likely you killed every single one of us and came back to do it again. don't you have anything better to do than slaughter innocent monsters?"

His speech makes your Soul throb with guilt, and you push the feeling away, scowling. "Shut up," you say. "I came back because… well…"

Sans waits, watching you with pupil-less eyes, as you struggle to come up with an excuse that isn't "you beat me up and I was a coward and didn't really want to kill anyone anymore". None comes, and at last you sigh, defeated.

"I… couldn't beat you," you admit, looking away. "You killed me too many times, and I was getting exhausted. I was tired of it. Then you asked me to stop."

"and ya did?" Sans laughs darkly. "thought you hated me or something."

You glare at him. "I do hate you," you insist. "But you said you'd destroy the SAVE point if I didn't reset, so I had no choice."

Sans's eyes widen, the white lights shining again. "huh. really? i must've seen somethin' in you after all," he says.

Your face flushes slightly, and you turn your head away. "Besides," you say, "I didn't really want to keep killing monsters anymore."

"and why's that?" Sans tips his head, looking at you in a way that suggests he can see straight through to your Soul. It's more than a little unnerving, and you stiffen.

"It was boring and took too much effort," you say and purse your lips, once more shoving your guilty conscience under the metaphorical rug. "So it's honestly kind of refreshing to come back and not have to worry about it, even though it was a setback to my original plan."

Sans opens his mouth, but you never get to hear his reply, because another voice from outside interrupts him."

A very loud voice.

"SANS!"

The skeleton beside you freezes. "shit. papyrus is home," he says, as if that wasn't obvious. "he must've seen that i wasn't at my post and came to look for me."

"SANS, YOU LAZYBONES, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"get in the kitchen," Sans says suddenly, turning to you.

"What –?"

"go. now." He puts a bony hand on your shoulder, giving you a little nudge. "there's a cupboard under the sink, should be empty. hide in there."

"But –" you splutter.

Sans's left eye glows blue. "don't make me put you there myself, kiddo," he growls. "thought ya didn't want to get caught. go hide."

You clench your jaw and glare at him as vehemently as you can, refusing to budge, until –

"SANS! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" The doorknob jiggles, but Sans must have locked it. "I DEMAND YOU LET ME IN!"

Sans gives you a look. "i can't ignore him forever, kid. make your choice."

You huff, your survival instinct overpowering your stubborn nature, and turn away from Sans. You slip into the kitchen, pulling open the (fortunately roomy) cupboard under the sink and concealing yourself inside, and just in time, too – you hear the front door open mere moments after you shut the cupboard.

"SANS!" Papyrus is even louder once he's inside. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU LAZYBONES? YOU'RE SLACKING OFF WORK WHILE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM FORCED TO WORK TWICE AS HARD!"

"hey, bro." Sans sounds utterly relaxed, with no hint of the intensity he'd just displayed with you. "sorry. just came back here to take care of some things."

"WHAT 'THINGS'?" Papyrus sounds more annoyed than you've ever heard him. "WHAT IF A HUMAN APPEARED WHILE YOU WERE HERE? WE COULD HAVE MISSED THEM! I MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN SO I CAN –"

"so you can become a member of the royal guard. i know, paps," says Sans. "but look, what if i told you that i found a human?"

Your eyes widen. That little…

"WHAT?! YOU DID? WHERE ARE THEY?" Papyrus sounds like he's practically bouncing up and down. "CAN I CAPTURE THEM?"

"sure, buddy. but, uh, they aren't here right now. i captured them and put them somewhere else. why don't we bring them over for dinner and you can make them some of your spaghetti or something?"

"REALLY?!" Papyrus sounds elated. Well, at least one of you is excited.

"really, bro."

"IT IS DECIDED, THEN. SANS, YOU WILL RETURN TO YOUR STATION, AND TONIGHT YOU WILL BRING THE HUMAN HERE SO THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN MAKE THEM MY SPAGHETTI AND CONFOUND THEM WITH MY PUZZLES. THEN, THEY WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LET ME CAPTURE THEM! UNDYNE WILL BE SO PROUD! NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH!" The door opens and then closes again, indicating Papyrus's exit.

Undyne. Just the name makes you sweat a little. The fish-like monster had been particularly difficult to beat. She had been almost as determined as you were. You remember feeling nothing but relief when you finally defeated her, but now the memory just makes you uncomfortable.

The cupboard opens suddenly, pulling you out of your thoughts, and you yelp, looking up to see Sans grinning at you.

"well, kid, looks like you've got a date with me and my brother tonight."