The occasional flickering lights paired with the off-tune singing of the on-duty police officer did nothing for the declining morale in the cells. The morose atmosphere was a weight crushed onto the shoulders of all who were trapped. Sans rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and lay his head against the stone wall. Across the cell, Muffet stared into the distance with eyes the dullest he had ever seen them. Second to Papyrus, she always tried to keep a positive outlook on things on the Surface. Now Sans found himself staring at a hollow shell of his once peppy friend. Through the hours, he had tried talking to her, but she had merely brushed him off wanting to 'be alone with her thoughts'. Sans understood in a way, so he hadn't pushed it. While waiting for some sort of deus ex machina, his thoughts had wandered as well frantically wanting to focus on something—anything other than his current predicament. To his home. To his brother. His friends. Life in the Underground compared to life on the surface. Fall. Frisk. When his thoughts fell on the young woman with the shining brown hair and the deep blue eyes, he dug the heels of his hands into his closed sockets and let out a deep groan of exasperation from deep in his person. He pictured her smiling at him from the top of the small tree she had climbed outside of Tori and Asgore's house. She had smiled at him—and him at her—many times during the years. In spite of his own desires, he recalled the first time her smile had changed. Sans stood up swiftly, ignoring the shocked expression across Muffet's face, and began to pace. Why did his mind have to take him there of all places? Wasn't he already having a hard enough time? His strides became faster and ferocious across the concrete floor. One of the last things he needed to do was live in the past. Each tap of his foot against the concrete rushed more thoughts into his brain. The first time he had heard her laugh on the Surface. The first time he had seen the stars; she had sat on his lap and pointed out the many constellations. It had become something of a tradition. Each year they had returned to that spot and star gazed. His hand twitched. Although it was one of his favorite collection of memories; no, correction, it was one of his favorite memories. Now it was tormenting, and he refused to let himself go there.

His memories though… they had other ideas. A fierce montage of memories presented themselves; demanding to be remembered determined to not be forgotten. They had started out sitting together, the little girl on his lap. With each flip of the metaphorical book, something happened. She sat cross-legged on his lap. When Frisk had gotten too big to sit in his lap, she had sat right next to him. As Frisk continued to grow older, they laid down and watched the stars. It hadn't mattered to him that the small village of Ebott was growing into a larger town just below the cliff where they were enjoying the sprawled-out cosmos. It had just been them enjoying one of the many wonders he had come to know in the time of living on the Surface. Sometime during the years, he found himself looking at her more than the stars. Frisk sat up. Sat further apart. Left sooner.

"hey kid, can i uh… talk to ya for a minute?"

The last picture of the flip book—

"Keep that up Dearie and you're going to dig a trench in the floor."

Sans jumped and looked around. Muffet. The cells. The depression and hopelessness in the air. That's right. This is where he was. Sans' sockets met Muffet's many eyes and shook his head, waving away her concerned look.

"just thinkin' that's all."

Muffet opened her mouth to speak, the grinding of the metal prison door interrupting. A tall man came into the room and headed to the desk where the asshole with the cheap mustache sat, continuing to sing off tune. By the 10th song, Sans was almost positive the officer was doing it just to grate on their nerves. Heads peeked between the bars, making sure not to touch the metal as they all watched the man drop a sizable manila file onto the desk. The off-tune singing stopped as the officer picked up the papers and began reading them. The continuous smug smirk Sans had come to associate with this human faded into something between a frown and a snarl. He stood up and unhooked a large ring of iron keys from his belt.

"Sans!" The tired skeleton turned to the voice and blinked, seeing Fall.

"fall. didn't i tell ya to leave?" Fall's demeanor was a complete 180 from what he had seen before. Fall smiled and nodded, interlocking her fingers in front of her.

"Yeah, but… I wanted to come and pick you up."

pick me up?

Sans' sockets widened, and brow bones furrowed when the smug officer, now looking defeated unlocked his cell and opened it. He heard Muffet clapping all her hands behind him. Determination was renewed with each cell that was opened. He felt arms wrap around his neck and looked at Fall who had buried her face in his chest.

"I was so worried." Fall said, and Sans could hear her voice cracking. With a small smile of his own, he wrapped an arm around her waist which only earned a tightening grip. They had all been brought to jail with no promise of a trial or a jail sentence in due time. Of course she had been worried about him. He rubbed her back and she parted seemingly pleased that he was—in fact—here and well.

"Oh Dearie, I think you should wait until we're at least out of here before you get all lovey-dovey. Don't you think?" Muffet said and looked at Sans with a coy smile. He heard Fall's melodic laugh from next to him. Sans shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. Muffet's laughter stopped and Sans noticed her gaze focused on the door. When he followed her gaze, he saw nothing but heard uneven footsteps getting more distant with each passing second.

"We're going to fill out the paperwork in order to finalize your release." The man that had delivered the papers stated. Even though that meant that they were going to remain in the prison a little longer, they would be out soon.

Thankfully, the officers had moved rather quickly and within the next hour, Sans was out. He had never been so happy to be outside in his life. He took a deep breath, basking in the crisp, cold air. Above him, almost taunting him to remember, was the shining beams of stars. He tore his gaze from the ether when he felt an arm wrap around his. Fall's smile brought him back down to reality and Sans found himself smiling in response. His footsteps fell in time to Falls and they walked on the sidewalk. Every now and again he noticed a few humans glancing at them while Fall chirped merrily, oblivious to the looks they were receiving. Perhaps he was just imagining things because of what happened. They crossed through the middle of town towards the outskirts. Fall lived on the part of Ebott City that had been there for years, even before the monsters had come to the Surface. It was on the side of where the small village used to be before it grew to its current size. The trees were healthy, and the smell of nature merged with the air, noticeably cleaner than what was in the city. Ebott was very ecofriendly, but nothing beat the original. Many times, Sans had wondered if she had moved here or if Fall had lived in Ebott for the years and saw Ebott grow to the metropolis it was today, but it really wasn't his business. He knew himself well enough to realize that he would end up asking more questions and didn't want to think of where they could end up.

Fall's house was small, almost bordering on a cottage. It was a brick home with a tan roof with material he was unfamiliar with. It had a small chimney and white windows. It was simple and sweet, like Fall herself. He walked to the door with her and stood at the door.
"I could always walk you home…" Fall suggested and watched Sans with a small smile.

"you're already freezing as it is." Sans said and smiled. "it takes me longer to get cold, you know that."

"I—"

"i can tell how cold you are."

Fall blushed and shuffled her foot against the stone walkway. Sans could see that she was shivering and trying to hide it. He held her head and leaned down, kissing her forehead.
"go inside." He said. "i won't leave until you do."

Fall's blush grew, reaching the tips of her ears. She nodded and dug in her jacket pocket to get her key. Just as he promised, Sans waited until she was inside, had locked the door, and turned on a light before he left. Sans usually would take the long way home but decided to take every shortcut that he knew of—excluding teleporting—to get back home. Those metal bars at the prison had sapped him of all magic. A monster's magic was tied directly to their physical status; his lack of it was leaving him exhausted. As much as he wanted to stay outside and stare at the stars, his legs quickly took him back to his home. A large part of him had been terrified that something would've happened to his home, but when he came over the small hill that slightly hid his home from the northern view, it was just as it had always been. A light was on and he could see the silhouette of people inside. From the shapes, it was Undyne and Papyrus. The closer he got to his home, the rustling of leaves belonging to the nearby bushes caught attention. Out of the corner of his sockets, the leaves stopped swaying. He scoffed slightly and had his hand hovering over the doorknob when he heard it again. Quickly he turned and headed towards the bushes. The pattern of the swaying leaves was not from the occasional breeze. In addition, it was much too cold for any animal residing in Ebott or its surrounding area to be wandering around. A figure moved from the bushes and he saw the form run from its position into the night. Sans ran a step forward but restrained himself. He was in no position to be chasing after something in the night. He narrowed his sockets and turned back to his home. He waited for a moment, listening to the person's return. When he heard nothing, Sans opened the door and entered his home.

Warmth washed over his bones and instantly set him at ease. The inside of his home was exactly as he had left it. If it wasn't for his tired and aching bones and the clothes he was wearing, he would've been inclined to believe that it might've been a dream. Sans had just closed the door behind him when hurried footsteps slammed from the kitchen.

"SANS!"

"Sans!"

Washed over with relief, his face relaxed into a smile. Both Papyrus and Undyne were unharmed and safe. On the way home, he had been sorting through each bit of torture the humans could've done to his brother and friends had they been caught.
"heya…" Sans exhaled and rubbed his head. His cranium was throbbing and he was hungry.

"SANS! I WAS SO WORRIED!" Papyrus shouted, tears gathering in his sockets.

"paps…" Sans patted his brother on the shoulder. "thanks for worrying about me, but i'm fine." In his peripheral vision, he could see Undyne's features change. "i'm actually a little hungry."

"NEVER FEAR BROTHER! MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS WILL COOK YOU SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE YOU LESS HUNGRY, AND EVEN FULL!"

When Papyrus was content in the kitchen, humming, he looked over at Undyne. It was clear that she knew there was more to the event than he was letting Papyrus in on. Taking a seat on the couch with a grunt of pain, he gestured for Undyne to take a spot next to him.

"…"

". . ."

"Where's Muffet?"

"she went home." Sans said. "… how is everyone else?"

"The rest of us got away. For some reason, none of them chased us. I think if it wasn't for you, we would've been followed." Undyne sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"honestly, i still can't figure out why they let us out so soon. with everything that had happened, i was sure that they would have us in there for years."

"They just let you out?"

"yeah. some guy came in and handed this officer with a cheap mustache our release papers. where he got them and who processed them… they wouldn't tell us."

Back in the booking station after many of the monsters had tried to press the guard for more information, it left Sans and Fall alone with the man. Muffet had wanted to stay with, but Fall insisted she go since the spider monster was barely able to keep her eyes open. No matter how many questions Sans had asked either of them, no one would tell him anything. It was like it was a secret.

"…"

"no." Sans said and watched Undyne roll her eyes and look away, leaning her arm on the rest beside her. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the primary suspect for the deus ex machina was Frisk. He refused to believe it though; after everything that had happened between them, Frisk wouldn't want to help them. She had made it pretty clear with recent actions that there was a clear distinction between humans and monsters. No matter how long and how fiercely they all advocated for peace and equality, that blatant line refused to disappear. There wasn't any room for negotiation.

"How was it in there?"

Sans looked forward, not really focusing on anything in his field of vision. The cries from the other cells filled brain, the off-tune singing of the officer. The scorching that reached into his marrow from the iron bars stinging and branding him. The exhaustion that exuded from him.

"it was a prison." Sans said. "it wasn't exactly a sleepover. but it's all over and we're all fine now."

liar.

"Is that so?"

"yeah. of course."

you're such a liar.

"Alright." Undyne said and stood up just as Papyrus had come into the living room with a bowl of spaghetti and an oddly perfect looking garlic bread loaf. He looked up at Papyrus and raised a brow bone.

"GRILLBY WANTED TO MAKE SOME AND BROUGHT IT OVER. SINCE I AM THE BEST BROTHER EVER, OF COURSE I'M GOING TO SHARE IT WITH MY ONE AND ONLY BROTHER."

"heh. thanks, paps." Sans said and took the small tray.

"Well, I'm going to get going. Alphys is ordering takeout and we're going to binge watch anime." Undyne stretched and waved at the two skeleton brothers before leaving.

While Sans was snacking on the food Papyrus—and Grillby—had made, his lids became heavy. He had only made it barely halfway through when Papyrus' voice cut through the air.

"SANS! YOU MUST BE TIRED! I'LL PUT THIS IN THE FRIDGE FOR YOU AND YOU CAN EAT IT TOMORROW. THEN I'LL MAKE MORE FOR YOU." Papyrus said and took the tray. "DO YOU WANT ME TO READ YOU A BEDTIME STORY?"

"next time paps."

"OF COURSE, BROTHER!"

Sans stood up, slightly unsteady. He walked up the stairs, passed the painting that was in their old house in the Underground and went into his room, closing the door behind him. He frowned and looked down at his clothes. They were dirty and messed up. Upon closer inspection small holes littered the pants and the hem of the shirt. So much for the only pair of 'formal' attire he owned. Sans tossed them onto the floor and donned his regular nighttime attire. He looked around his room and snapped his fingers. He blinked and looked around. The same messy room. The same floor and walls. It was rather disconcerting. Monster food was pure magic, dissolving into the monster's system to fuel their powers. Worry set in and he actively tried to push it away. He snapped again; not even a spark of magic. He sat on the edge of his bed and exhaled. It must be because of how much he had come into contact with those bars combined with how exhausted he was that sapped him of his abilities. Not to mention, he didn't eat a lot, so he was probably passed empty. He chuckled and shook his head. Sans crawled into bed and closed his sockets, turning on his side. His mind wanted to wander but was overpowered by his fatigued form and before he knew it, Sans had fell into the embrace of slumber.

The sun, high in the sky filtering through the curtain roused him from his astonishingly peaceful slumber. He stretched, his bones groaning in response to the sudden movement. The brutality from the officers the previous day was finally sinking in. His typically comfortable bed touched all the wrong places, making it painful to move. Taking a deep breath, he threw his legs over the side and squinted in pain. He pushed himself off the bed and stood for a few moments. Sans rubbed his sockets and headed downstairs, leaning on the staircase for support.

"SANS! ARE YOU AWAKE?!"

Sane stood up, internally agonizing over the pain, as Papyrus rounded the corner.

"YOU ARE! GOOD! I MADE FOOD! COME EAT! YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING FOREVER! I COUNTED!"

Feeling comfortable and wanted, he headed into the kitchen and sat in his spot. Sans blinked, shocked at the spread before him. Spaghetti, garlic bread, orange juice, potato chips, fries, and a burger engulfed the table top. He looked from the mound of food to where Papyrus was, a smile so wide covering his face that Sans had to admit he was a little worried would break his brother's jaw.

"I WENT AND TOLD Grillby THAT YOU WERE HOME AND HE MADE A LOT OF FRIES AND A BIG BURGER FOR YOU! I ASKED HIM IF HE WANTED TO COME OVER, BUT HE SAID HE HAD TO WORK TODAY."

"thank paps… you really didn't have to go through so much trouble."

"THIS IS NOTHING FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SANS!" Papyrus beamed. "NOW EAT! EAT."

Sans had to admit he was hungry. He hadn't eaten anything in over 24 hours, minus the little bit of food he ate when he got home. Every bite he took, he relaxed more. Even though Papyrus' cooking had just passed the acceptable level, it tasted and felt like home. Grillby's food was amazing as always, and within a few minutes, almost all the food from the table was gone. It had relieved some of the aching in his bones and he was able to move around without feeling like his spine was going to break.

"AMAZING SANS! I WILL MAKE A LOT OF SPAGHETTI FOR DINNER TONIGHT!"

"thanks, paps… for all of this."

"OF COURSE, SANS!" Papyrus said still holding his bright smile. "BROTHER! WOULD YOU GO TO GET GROCERIES!? BEING THE WONDERFUL CHEF I AM, ALL I HAVE TO DO IS PREPARE THE FOOD."

"yeah paps."

Sans stood up, the previous agonizing pain dulled to a mere throb. It would be easier to keep Papyrus in the dark about the situation and his pain this way. He zipped up his jacket and closed the door behind him as he left. A quick glance at the mail boxes caught his attention, each of them had mail. He went and opened each box. In Papyrus' neat box, a simple red envelope laid in the middle. It was a little more crowded his Sans', but even still the red envelope lay on top of all his other letters and other pieces of mail like a blood stain. He yanked the stain from both boxes and ripped open the top. In each, an identical letter was placed. It was another warning of the increasing taxes and their impending due date. Sans looked at the shadow of his brother merrily working in the kitchen and quickly returned to the letters. Sans flipped to the second page and his breath hitched in his trachea. Not only were the taxes increasing, but the rate of the bills as well. Even though it wasn't clearly stated, Sans knew that this only applied to the monsters. This district was primarily monsters, dotted with a few human homes every now and again. At the time of the Arrival, it had been a way to keep all of the monsters in one place as they slowly integrated into society. With the letter he held, Sans could only wonder if this had been the humans' intent the whole entire time.

The numbers on the papers matched with an almost 200% increase. Quickly he ran some numbers and the average amount of G their bills were, the difference was astonishing. With the current income Sans was receiving from an odd job now and again, there was no way that they would last one month with these increases. Already switched to big brother mode, Sans shoved the letters into his jacket pocket. Even if Papyrus did see the letter, he wouldn't understand what it was stating. That would only bring about more questions that he wasn't prepared to answer. All the same, he didn't want Papyrus to have one worry in the world. He closed the boxes and headed to the store, attempting to rid his mind of the numbers that had seared themselves in his mind.

The destination Sans had changed. He snapped his fingers, but remained where he was standing. He went rigid. He had rested and eaten, but he still was unable to use his magic? Fear coated every bone in his body. What if he was unable to use magic again? No. No. He wouldn't think of that. It would come back. Of course. It was just going to take a little bit longer. Maybe once he was all the way healed. Refusing to dwell on the dismal subject, he headed towards Grillby's.

The first thing Sans noticed when he entered the bar was how empty it was compared to how it usually was. There were fewer monsters in the bar than he had ever seen. The empty spots set the typically merry bar to an eerie feel. He noticed his best friend desperately shining a glass, gripping onto it with such a force Sans would practically see the glass straining to stay composed. He went to the counter and took his seat which must've drawn Grillby from his thoughts because he stopped before he shattered the glass and pressed his glasses up on his face.

"Sans."

"i'm fine… thanks for the food yesterday. it really helped."

"I'm glad. Papyrus told me you came home last night. As did the other monsters."

"yeah… it was a dismal night."

"Yes, I would imagine so." Grillby said and looked at Sans from over the rim of his glasses. "Everyone got home safely I assume?"

"yeah. as far as i know."

"… This is alarming." Met with Sans' slightly confused face, he continued. "It is very calm in here today."

"… yeah. hey uh, grillbs. have you checked the mail today?"

"No, I can't say I have. Why?"

Sans took the envelope out of his pocket with the letter sticking out and slapped it on the shining bar. He watched his friend eye him for a moment before reaching and grabbing onto the envelope. Sans looked at the table as Grillby read the letter. He jumped slightly when Grillby slammed the glass onto the bar, shattering it.

"hey! watch it flame head." Sans exclaimed. "are you crazy?" From the look behind Grillby's glasses, Sans could very clearly state that yes; at this moment he was crazy. The monster community was rather tight knit and what affected one, affected all. Even more so between the groups of friends within the already knit community. Sans watched and sighed when the paper was incinerated in Grillbs' hand and the small ashes fell to the floor behind the bar. "cool down."

"…"

Sans smirked and shrugged his shoulders.
"you've always been a cool-headed guy. don't change that now."

"Is this really the time?!"

"… of course." Sans retorted with a smile. "always a good time for my hilarious jokes."

Grillby sighed and slicked back the flame atop his head. He stayed like this for a few moments before exhaling and opening his eyes to look back at his friend.

"Does Papyrus know?" Sans merely raised a brow bone and Grillby chuckled and held his head. "Of course not. You know Sans… This is a severely drastic change. He will find out sometime."

"… i'll prolong that as long as possible." Sans said and looked at the bar, tapping a phalange against the polished surface. "… grillbs. it's my sole purpose in life to make sure paps sees the world with bright, innocent eyes. if i can't do that… then i've failed as a brother."

"Sans. The world isn't perfect. Wouldn't it be better for Papyrus to know that and adapt to it?"

"… paps is all the family i have left. i don't want him to become twisted and jaded, like me."

"There are other people here too, you know. You're not alone."

"heh. yeah."

Silence fell between the two. The tension was heavy. Each monster wanted to say something, but how and what effect it would have outweighed the curiosity of the answer. Sans exhaled and shook his head. This was one fine mess that they ended up in.

"Isn't there some way we can get this taken care of?" Grillby muttered, grabbing a broom and dustpan to clean up the cinders and glass.

"how? the last time we even attempted to talk to the humans about it, we ended up with a riot and a murdered monster."

"…"

"don't even—"

"You could always—"

"no—"

"try asking—"

"not happening."

"Frisk."

Both monsters stared at each other, willing the other to break first. They were the best of friends, but were each as stubborn and thick-headed as one could get. The ticking of the clock only echoed the time that passed. Grillby was the first to sigh and concede.

"At least tell me why."

"… i don't want to."

"What made you two like this?" Grillby asked. "You two used to be close. What made you guys this bad? What made you borderline hate humans in general?"

Sans gripped onto the edge of the bar and spun around a couple times to release some of the pent-up emotions that had bottled up. He explained to Grillby what had happened the previous year about where Jason had made fun of Papyrus and how Frisk hadn't defended him but had tried to stop Sans from intervening. The silence had fallen again before Grillby let out a incredulous laugh mixed with exasperation.

"You're serious."

"…"

"You two hate each other because of that?" Grillby shook his head in disbelief. "You've soured a decade of friendship because of something that could be misinterpreted? Frisk is a pacifist, she wanted to keep the peace."

"…"

"And you're just looking for a fight."

"…what?" Sans raised a brow bone and watched Grillby. "don't get so fired up." The flame elemental stopped immediately and glowered at the smirking skeleton.

"… But neither of you are so stupid to ruin a friendship over that. Did something else happen?"

"…"

"So there is." Grillby said and felt his mouth curl into a smile. "Care to share?"

"nothing happened. you're delusional. you've got heatstroke."

Grillby watched Sans, making him squirm slightly.

"So I was right?"

"what did you mean when you said I 'was looking for a fight'?"

"It wasn't so much that the whole incident got to you. It wasn't that Frisk defended Jason as a person. It was because Frisk defended her boyfriend."

Sans unconsciously bristled at that word. "… lies."

"That so?"

"yes." Sans said harshly. Right now, he was the one that was flaming. "it is."

"Have you truly convinced yourself of that?" Grillby had asked after a few ticks of the wall clock.

"there's nothing to convince myself of. there's just the truth."

"Indeed." Grillby whispered. "You and Frisk—"

"if this is all we're going to talk about, i'm going to leave."

Grillby held his hands up in defeat.
"Sans, all jokes and taunts aside, you really should try to figure out what's really going on here. Something's wrong."

"i know." Sans whispered. A paper was set down in front of him. He glanced up and saw Grillby nodding at it.

"Right now, this is all I can do to help." Grillby said. When Sans had walked to the door with the paper clenched in his hand, he continued. "… Sans. Think about what I said. Really think about what I said."