Papyrus woke up the following morning dreading what he was going to have to endure. He laid in bed for as long as he could before forcing himself to get up and get changed. He put on his armor, threw on his scarf and pulled on his gloves. After finally stepping into his boots, he made his way downstairs and started preparing breakfast. When he walked into the kitchen, he jolted at the sight of his brother asleep on the table, "Uh- Sans?" he called and gently shook him awake, "Sans, what are you doing down here?"
"I got hungry…" Sans mumbled sleepily.
Papyrus rolled his eyes and picked up Sans with ease, "I'm going to make breakfast, okay? You just rest up. Did you sleep okay?"
"Better than most nights…" Sans grunted, his eyes stayed closed, for all Papyrus knew, Sans could just be responding in his sleep.
Papyrus sighed and rested him on the couch in the living room. Undyne was typically up very early and was most likely on her way over. He quickly checked the time, finding that it was 8:35. "She's definitely on her way." Papyrus breathed,
"You got this, bro…" Sans muttered and sleepily clenched his fist victoriously, then dropped his hand and began snoring again.
Papyrus only smiled for a split second, only knowing how much trouble he was going to be when Undyne found out that the human 'escaped'. And in even more trouble if she discovers somehow that he released them. He sighed and started for the kitchen, preparing something to cook and bouncing on his toes to get himself motivated and pepped up. If he seemed to be the slightest out of character, she'd figure everything out. She knew he wasn't too good with lying. He was too much of an honest person, he knew this. His thoughts were interrupted when the door knocked. As he started for the door, Sans had already answered it, "Undyne, you're here early." He yawned.
"Where's the human?" she asked curtly.
"Sheesh, good morning to you too." Sans sat up at rubbed his eyes, "They're in the garage, go talk to Paps." He said.
Papyrus met with Undyne at the doorway to the kitchen, "Morning, Undyne! Would you like some-"
"Cut the crap, Papyrus, how me the human." She growled.
Papyrus was hurt that she interrupted him in such a way, but he had a feeling she would. He sighed and turned off the stove. He led her to the garage and mustered the confidence, "Behold, the human!" he swung the door open and showed her the empty garage.
She stepped in and looked around, checking around the thick bars and even studied a pile of blankets, "There's nothing here." She said flatly, "Papyrus, you said you had a human, where are they!?"
Papyrus looked around the cell, pretending very well that he was shocked, "Th-they were just here! I saw them!"
"Did you have a human in here at all?!" Undyne asked with rage.
"O-Of course! I wouldn't have called you otherwise!" Papyrus backed away.
"This is why you're never going to make the Royal Guard!" she snapped, "How did I expect you to keep track of a human that can escape when you can't even keep track of your own brother who's too lazy to take care of himself?"
Papyrus flinched, "But- Undyne…"
"But nothing!" she barked, "You had one job, Papyrus, and you even managed to fuck that up! You've let your standards and morals get in the way of your job, and what's worse? Your own brother's safety." She growled, "I don't know what Sans did to piss off the humans, but you're doing an outstanding job at protecting him." She said with every bit on venom in her voice.
Papyrus' eyes watered, "I- I'm.." he began shaking.
"How can we trust someone to protect the kingdom if he can't even protect is brother?" Undyne asked.
"That's enough!" a voice barked as Undyne was thrown against the wall.
Papyrus turned around and saw Sans standing behind him, his hand was raised to his left, in the same direction in which Undyne went flying, his left eye glowed brightly while the other was vacant. "S-Sans?"
"Paps, go to your room, I'll meet you there."
"Sans…?" Papyrus asked, having only seen Sans like this once.
"Please?" Sans clenched his fist.
Papyrus nodded and walked off.
Undyne groaned, "It's been years since you've done that." She forced herself up after Papyrus was gone.
"It's been a few hours." Sans corrected, "I captured the human. How they escaped is beyond me." He growled, putting his hand down at his side. "Now… back to the topic at hand…" he raised his hand and quickly brought it down, his eye glowing brighter. Undyne was pressed to the ground, "You promised, you'd keep him happy."
"You're bring this up now?" she grunted.
"Listen, twelve years ago, a little boy told me that he wanted to be in the royal guard. You promised me that you could make that happen." Sans' tone was beginning to harden.
"I didn't realize how soft your brother was!" Undyne growled, "He's too soft! You know this, Sans!"
"At least he's not like any of your 'guard' dogs!" he snapped, "At least he's got the attention span!"
"I wonder sometimes."
"Yeah? Well sometimes I wonder if you even know how to care for someone other than your own goddamn self!" Sans snarled.
Undyne struggled under Sans' telekinetic hold, "It's because I care about Papyrus that I don't want him in the royal guard!" Undyne snapped back, "He's too nice, Sans. And with those humans after you, they'll kill him just to get to you! Think about that! Whatever the hell you did to piss them off, has the entire underground in danger!"
"I don't know what the hell I did to piss of the humans. The last human I interacted with was the one the Mettaton killed when he went haywire. The same human, by the way, that Papyrus loved so much, that he couldn't treat them as his prisoner, he treated them as a friend."
"He was supposed to follow orders!"
"You're asking too much of him!" Sans barked, then he sighed, his hold on Undyne began to weaken, "Papyrus has always been a nice guy… he's… he's always seen the good in people. He never wanted to hurt anyone…" he sat down and held his head, letting her go completely. "I just wanted him to be happy." He said, "If being in the Royal Guard will make him happy, then let him be in the Royal Guard. If he wants to be a chef, then let him… whatever makes him happy is what I want for him…" he said, his tone had softened drastically, "I'll do anything for him."
Undyne pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled for a moment and watched Sans.
"R-remember that time… a few months ago where he couldn't come into work?" he asked.
"Yeah, he was injured, wasn't he?" Undyne asked, unsure as to where this conversation was going.
"Badly." Sans nodded. "That flower he was talking to… that stupid flower…" he sighed, "Was actually a pretty powerful monster." He said. The thing made Papyrus a deal and though Paps appreciated the offer, he said no. That flower attacked him with vines and roots…" Sans said, his expression beginning to harden, his eye started glowing, "If I didn't hear Papyrus' screaming, he'd be dust…" he took a deep breath, "Once I was able to get him free and untangled from the roots, I blew that little fucker out of the ground." He said.
Undyne was silent for a while, "Paps never told me about that."
"He was too embarrassed… he didn't want to tell you he got injured because a flower kicked his ass…" Sans explained, "I didn't like that damn flower…" He said, "After the human, Papyrus began coming home more and more nervous… to the point where he started having night terrors." He took a deep breath. "That flower was scaring him, and eventually I told Papyrus that… maybe he should stop talking to the flower if he was bugging him so much. And Papyrus listened. But that flower followed him." Sans smirked and closed his eyes, "That bud pissed off the wrong skeleton." He then opened his left eye and looked at Undyne, "Ya get the hint."
Undyne rolled her eye, "I get it, if I piss you off, I'll be dust and Alphys will be single." She sighed, "Alright…" she stood up, "Now I gotta go find that damn human that got away."
"I'll go talk to Papyrus." Sans stood up. "Sorry I attacked you like that." He apologized.
"I get it, you were only protecting your brother." She sighed, "Listen… When you talk to him… tell him that I'll give him another chance at getting into the royal guard. You're right… asking for him to kill a human is asking too much. The least he can do is capture them. I'll do the dirty work."
"Thanks." Sans smiled and started upstairs, "Give us a call if you find them, okay?"
"Will do."
Sans sighed and continued upstairs. When he finally reached the door to Papyrus' room, he knocked. "Yo, Paps?" he called.
There was only silence.
"Papyrus?" Sans called again, fining it strange that Papyrus didn't answer. He opened the door and looked around, "Papyrus? Papyrus?!" Sans gasped and ran through the room, only finding the window open, "Paps!" he called and ran to the window, looking below. Below the window, were tracks that indicated that Papyrus did indeed jump, but rolled as he landed. Footsteps led away from the disturbed snow, indicating that Papyrus began running after he landed. "Papyrus!" Sans yelled and rand down the stairs, out the door and almost into Undyne as she walked away.
"Sans?" she gasped, clearly getting caught off-guard, "What's wrong?"
"Papyrus ran off!" he called, turning around quickly and turning back to face where he was running.
He followed the footprints until he reached Waterfall, where the footprints vanished altogether. "Papyrus!" he called before collapsing to his knees, winded and exhausted. He coughed and wheezed as he grabbed his left side.
Undyne finally had the chance to catch up, "You okay?"
Sans gasped for breath, "Gimme a minute…" he coughed.
"Is that your injury? Or because you're out of shape?" she asked.
"Fuck you." He panted, using his free arm for support.
Undyne paused and looked around, "Something's kinda fishy around here…" she squinted.
"You sure it's not you?" Sans asked, forcing himself to his feet.
"Sans, make another joke and I'll hurt you." She said, "I'm being serious." Her phone rang. She sighed and answered it, "King Asgore." She answered, authority returning to her voice.
"We found another human." He informed her, "They had met Mettaton, so they were horribly mangled." He said.
Undyne cringed. A good majority of Hotland was evacuated just to avoid getting hurt by Mettaton. "Okay…?"
"Apparently there's three more… the human died before we can find out where they are."
"Great." Undyne sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked down to Sans and found him missing.
"And they're here for Sans?" Asgore asked.
"Apparently?" Undyne confirmed, slightly panicked and looking around nervously.
"Keep him hidden." Asgore commanded, "Don't let him leave your sight. Tell Papyrus the same."
"Uh, sir? Papyrus ran off and Sans went running after him." She explained, "I don't know where either of them are…"
"Find them and get them home. Make sure Sans if safe and Papyrus is watching him."
"Yes, sir." Undyne nodded. "I'll let you know when I find them." She said and hung up, "Sans!" she yelled and ran through Waterfall.
Sans turned a corner and sighed in relief, seeing Papyrus sitting on a bench holding the comforter they had given Hazel, "Papyrus!" he called and hugged the taller skeleton, "Thank god, you're okay! You had me worried!"
Papyrus only wrapped one arm around Sans.
"What's wrong?" Sans looked up at Papyrus.
"Listen…" Papyrus pointed to his ear.
The two fell silent, then they began to hear whispering.
There was a quiet groan, then there was a voice, "Hey, a whispering flower… hmm… Papyrus… If you come back to check on me, and I'm not here… I just want to thank you for sparing me. Though… sparing me is basically pointless. I… don't realy have much to live for here… nor do I have anything on the surface. The humans killed my mom… they killed my dad… escaping to the Underground was my only hope and even that was useless… My only objective now is to look for someone named Gaster… My mom said that he should be able to help me." There was a sigh, "Thank you, and I thank Sans, both for your hospitality. I'm going to Hotland, hopefully to find Dr. Alphys, who I'm told is the only one who can take me to Gaster… Thank you again, and I'll see you on the other side."
There was a silence, then the flower spoke again, "Papyrus! Thank god you're okay! You had me worried!... What's wrong?" it repeated the previous conversation, "Listen…"