0-0-0-0-0
Sans dragged himself through the doorway, feet shuffling as he forced himself to remain upright. The chirrup of crickets outside serenaded him as he carried the flowerpot inside, numbly gazing upward to the old gently ticking grandfather clock.
A little past three in the morning.
Sans sighed to himself, wearily placing Flowey on his regular place on the mantle before collapsing face down onto the sofa, eyes buried deep in the cushions to block out what little light there was. He let out a long, uneven and tired breath, finally giving in to the overwhelming fatigue and letting sleep take him at last. He slept a calm, dreamless sleep, the deep kind of slumber that one can only attain through sheer exhaustion. It felt as if it were only a short ten minutes, but subconsciously he knew when Papyrus was gently shaking him awake it must have been at least half past six.
"Mornin' Paps," Sans yawned widely, popping his back and straining to work out the sore kinks in his bones that had developed from his awkward position.
"Good morning, brother," Papyrus said curtly. "I'm glad to see you're finally home. When you said you'd be at the lab for a while longer, I didn't think you meant two days."
"Sorry 'bout that," Sans sat up, pulling his jacket a little tighter around himself and giving a small shiver. "Phone must have died. I, uh, got kinda caught up helping Al with her project. Took a little -*yawn*- longer than I expected."
"I'm just glad you're back home without any more explosions," Papyrus breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, I'll make you some breakfast and you can tell me all about it."
Sans dragged his feet, eyes half open as he followed his brother into the kitchen, where, much to his surprise, Frisk and Toriel were already sitting at the table and chatting amicably with one another about something in low tones, occasionally hiding a small giggle behind their hands. Part of him was curious as to what they were chuckling about and wanted in on the joke, but it was paltry compared to the tiredness he felt.
"Here you are, brother!" Papyrus carefully placed a steaming plate of omelets and bacon with a cup of hot coffee before him (in his favorite Aperture Science mug no less) and set about making waffles and a side of eggs for Toriel and Frisk. Papyrus paused as he adjusted his white chef's hat, staring over at Sans.
"... Brother?"
"Hmm?" Sans blinked slowly, slumped in his seat.
"Are-are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, yeah. 'Course I am," he nodded once.
"You didn't even make a 'bone-appetit joke," Papyrus frowned slightly. "You must really not be feeling well."
"Uncle Sans?" Frisk looked up at him, her smile fading. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Psh," he flipped his hand lazily. "I'm as chipper as a chipmunk in a box of nougats."
"You look..." Toriel started, biting her lower lip. "You look... uhm, pretty terrible, to be honest."
"Take this to heart kid," Sans took a small sip of his hot coffee, letting the bitter taste kick him awake. "Science is awesome and all, but never let it determine your sleep schedule."
Frisk nodded a couple of times in serious contemplation.
"Well, at least you're finished," Papyrus cheerfully served up Toriel's and Frisk's breakfast, setting a small plate for himself as well as Sans poured heaping spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee. "And now we never have to worry about it again-"
"We have to go back tonight."
Papyrus was halfway into his first bite, and slowly, deliberately placed his fork down with a little clink.
"... What."
"We've gotta go back tonight," Sans yawned. "It's the final process and Flowey's kinda got to be there for the fireworks."
"Huh?" Frisk stared from across the table. "What's happening to Flowey? Is it important? He isn't sick, is he? Is it because I sprayed him with ladybug repellent?" she wailed. "Oh no is he dying?!"
"Kid, kid, calm down," Sans chuckled. "Everything is fine. Alphys just needs him for an experiment that she's been working on in cognitive translocation."
"Perhaps Frisk and I should come as well," Toriel chimed in. "It would do her good after not seeing her Uncle and friend for the last two days."
"O-oh, um, I-I don't think that's such a g-good idea," Sans suddenly felt as if there were a golf ball stuck in his throat, mentally kicking himself for letting so much go at the dining table.
"It sounds really cool!" Frisk threw up her arms. "We should totally go cheer doctor Alphys on! We can be like her super neato moral support team!"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Frisk," Toriel patted her head and Frisk's cheeks glowed warmly. "I haven't seen dear Alphys and Undyne in quite a while, we've got so much catching up to do."
"It-it really- I mean, maybe it isn't such a good idea," Sans forced the words out, fighting not to stutter.
"The Great Papyrus also agrees with Asgore's clone!" Papyrus interjected, causing Sans to flinch for some reason.
"Sure," Sans said resignedly. "Why don't we just ask the flower what he thinks while we're at it?"
"That's a great idea Uncle Sans!" Frisk beamed at him. "Hey! Hey, Flowey!" she darted off through the kitchen toward him, rambling away about taking walks and Alphys and part of a joke about a wooden leg named Smith, but Sans couldn't catch the rest.
"I was... actually kidding about..." he started, but only sighed and shook his head, small little grin forming on his face. He mentally shrugged and resigned himself to what would inevitably come next, taking a small bite of his omelet. Might as well go with the flow. He was simply to tired to fight against it anyway.
"Alphys would probably be glad to see you anyway," he sighed. The omelet actually wasn't half bad for Papyrus's cooking, and he helped himself to more, much to Papyrus's delight. "But I'm not entirely sure that she'll want company watching her work. It's kind of a, uh... sensitive project that she's been working on."
"Understandable," Toriel nodded thoughtfully, watching as Frisk dragged a severely irritated Flowey into the kitchen and plopped him on the table. "The poor dear always did seem like the nervous sort. I think being with Undyne has really helped her come out of her shell, even if only a little."
"I don't care what you're talking about," Flowey said loudly, clearly annoyed at having been brought into the conversation. "I don't know, I can't be bothered, leave me alone. Put me back on the mantle."
"Weren't you just complaining the other day about how you never get to leave the mantle?" Sans poked him, earning a furious look.
"I changed my mind," Flowey said flatly. "I could not possibly care less about what trivial boring mundane garbage you're blathering about this time."
"We were talking about you, actually..." Sans finished up his omelet and took a long drought of his coffee. "So, yeah, trivial boring mundane garbage."
Toriel snorted, and Flowey's cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson.
"Don't you have anything better to do than talk about people behind their backs?" Flowey glowered at him.
"Aww, poor little guy," Sans grinned. "Do you want us to just leaf you alone?"
"Sans," both Flowey and Papyrus deadpanned.
"But what in carnation would you do then?" Toriel snickered.
"Oh god," Papyrus bowed his head and covered his eyes with one hand, sighing. "Not you too."
"We should totally columbine our jokes!" Sans beamed at her, earning an absolutely revolted look from Flowey.
"What a clover plan," Toriel giggled.
"See?" Sans crossed his arms, smiling. "Iris my case."
"You two are horrendous," Flowey harrumphed.
"At least they finally stopped with the skeleton puns," Papyrus said sympathetically.
And then they resumed with the skeleton puns.
0-0-0-0-0
It was not a long drive to the home of doctor Alphys and Undyne. The air seemed positively charged with electricity, and Sans's hands were shaking as he knocked on the door. Undyne greeted them inside, slightly surprised to see them all. Frisk carried Flowey inside, looking about at the photographs on the wall as they removed their shoes, hardly listening to the raucous conversation being carried on without her.
"... This is it," she heard Flowey say under his breath.
"What's it?" she asked absentmindedly, gazing up at a relatively new picture of Undyne and Alphys at the beach.
"This is the night that everything goes down..." he muttered, earning an odd look from Frisk.
"Flowey?" Frisk turned him around to better look at him. "What exactly is going on?"
"It's supposed to be a secret," he looked over his shoulder to ensure that everyone else was still distracted. Papyrus had a hand on Undyne's shoulder and was laughing with her about something, whereas Toriel and Alphys were in deep conversation. "You'll find out in a little bit whether it worked or not."
"Whether or not what worked?" she urged him with a little smile. "Come on, Flowey, you can tell me."
"Alphys wouldn't like it if I told anyone else about it..." he turned a bit away from her. "But if you really must know..."
"Yes?" she was practically dancing back and forth, waiting for an answer.
"Frisk," Flowey said slowly, not looking at her as he spoke. "Do you remember what happened last year?"
"That's pretty vague," Frisk dropped onto the living room sofa, carefully placing the flower beside her.
"I mean when when the barrier was broken."
"Oh."
Frisk held a hand over her mouth, thinking.
"You mean, when you..."
"Yes." he nodded once. "When, from all the power of the souls, I temporarily developed a habitable body."
"I remember," she looked away, crossing her arms. "You looked... you looked so sad when we had to leave. I-I hated when you turned back into a flower."
"It couldn't be helped," Flowey grumbled. "But that's not important."
"So why did you bring it up, then?"
"... Alphys recreated my body."
Frisk opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, repeating the process several times before finally managing to regain her composure.
"Is-is that- how?" she balked. "How is that even possible?"
"That's what fatb- I mean Sans and doctor Alphys have been working on," Flowey explained quietly. "They've been recreating my body and making an artificial soul so that I could be returned to life."
Frisk ran a hand through her hair, her eyes wide as she stared at him.
"This-this is huge," she breathed. "Oh, man, mom is gonna flip-"
"You can't tell her!" he interrupted, only to flinch and lower his voice, looking back to ensure that nobody heard him. "Frisk, no, listen to me – under no circumstances can you tell her about this. Not until we know."
"Until we know... what?" she stared at him, confusion plain on her face. Flowey shifted uneasily in his pot, uncertain of how to respond.
At long last he looked back at her, abjectly frowning.
"Frisk, can you... promise me something?"
"Of course," she nodded instantly.
"If-if something happens..." he tapped his leaves together. "If something were to go... wrong. Promise me you'll take care of Mom for me."
"Why would something go wrong?" she blinked, looking as if she were going to cry. "Flowey? Come on – is there something you're not telling me?"
"Frisk..." Flowey rubbed the side of his petaled head. "I'm just asking in case of a worst case scenario. I'm not going to die or anything. I don't even have a soul, I don't think I can properly die. Just... just hurry up and say yes already-"
"Say yes to what?"
Flowey nearly jumped out of his pot at the sound of Sans's voice directly behind him, and it was clear from the look on Frisk's face that she was equally shocked to see him.
"Kidding, of course," Sans flipped one hand cheerfully. "I heard everything."
"Dirty eavesdropper," Flowey scowled at him.
"Am not," he pointed to the side of his head. "Don't even have eaves to drop. Or ears, for that matter."
"Is-is Flowey gonna be okay?" Frisk asked worriedly. Sans looked at her with an odd expression for a moment, but it was gone the second she tried to identify it.
"Yeah, of course he's gonna be okay," he grinned. "As a matter of fact, he'll be so okay that by the next time you see him he'll seem like a completely different person."
"That's what worries me," Frisk tapped her fingertips together uncertainly.
"Come on, bucko..." Sans picked up the flower pot and made for the basement. "Machine's ready. Time to get crackin'."
0-0-0-0-0
Flowey shifted in discomfort in the containment chamber, the lights seeming slightly dimmed behind the glass.
"Are you sure that this is going to work?" he asked Alphys as she adjusted a row of dials on the side of the device, his voice slightly muffled. Sans was busy doing the same on the opposite side, where his duplicate body lay across from him in an identical chamber. It almost appeared to be sleeping, hands folded over its chest with a tranquil expression.
"I've identified the necessary power requirements and run the diagnostics two dozen times," Alphys reassured him as she stood, cleaning her glasses with the edge of her lab coat. "We have an approximately seventy-eight percent chance to make this work."
"W-which still leaves a twenty-two percent margin for error," Flowey finished uncomfortably, looking back and forth between the doctor and the silent skeleton, who was busying himself with the contained artificial soul.
"It's the highest percentile that we're going to attain," Alphys placed a hand over the glass, trying to comfort him. "We're going to make this work, no matter what."
"If you say so, doc."
"The transference pod is ready, Al," Sans informed her, attaching the artificial soul to an extension of wires and tubes on the opposite side.
"Okay." Alphys shakily began flipping a row of switches, and the lights above them slowly began to dim. "Okay. We c-can do this."
"I hope so, doctor," Flowey said, too quietly for anyone to hear. "God I hope so."
Flowey's vision slowly began to fade as darkness crept in from the corners of his sight, sleepy little tendrils that wove this way and that, permeating his mind and overwhelming his thoughts until only an exhausting sensation remained. He managed to slowly raise a leafy appendage upward to graze the glass, weary smile on his face. He could just barely hear Sans's voice, almost sounding as if it were coming from two different places at once.
"... Catch you on the flip side, buddy."
The last thing he saw was a smiling black and white skeletal figure, standing tall behind the scientists as the whole world went dark.
0-0-0-0-0