"I don't like her," Papyrus muttered into the cloth of Undyne's tank top. "She keeps asking me questions. Really...personal ones that I only want to tell Sans. I don't like her." He said with a sniffle at the end of his sentence.

Undyne frowned and began to rub Papyrus's back soothingly. "I know that it's not fun having to see someone about stuff this personal," She began as she continued to carry Papyrus to the nice cream stand that couldn't be further than a mile away, "but she's just trying to help. If you want to get better-"

"I'm not going to get better." Papyrus muttered. Though Undyne was not wearing her battle armor, her tank top provided enough cloth to muffle any sounds that came from Papyrus's voice, but it wasn't enough to keep Papyrus's entire sentence inaudible. When she heard what he had said, she stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't dare move. She hardly dared to breathe. This person that has admired her for as long as she could remember, this creature who she had watched give his first steps, this monster who Sans had attempted to protect for ten years, this child who was merely a child and had not yet experienced the best parts of life, believed that he wasn't going to get any better. The thought angered her for mainly one of many reasons.

She was mainly angered that it was Papyrus.

While he had been growing up, she had never once seen him cry aside from when he was but a baby bones and was in need of his many necessities that Sans always catered to and managed, no matter how or where they were financially. Whenever Undyne had gone to see the small child he would always run up to her with the biggest grin on his face and his arms spread out, expecting for her to pick him up and play with him. Whenever Undyne came over, she knew that Sans was more than grateful. Normally, Undyne would watch the child for two or three hours while Sans had either went out to get food-which required either buying or stealing them-or took a nap before his next shift. She knew that he worked two shifts, which the second one would typically transpire while Papyrus was asleep. Sometimes, Undyne would come over during the night and use the house key Sans had so graciously given her. She'd sleep on the couch and watch over Papyrus while Sans was at work. She used to do that a lot when Papyrus was around three or four years old.

Just thinking about the old times that they had made her heart ache. Though emotions had always been fairly difficult for her to express around others, Papyrus had always had a soft spot in her heart. And to know that he had tried to kill himself in such a manner made the matter at hand even worse than it already seemed. And much more bleak at that. She put Papyrus down on the ground and knelt before him, placing a hand onto his shoulder. "You are going to get better, Papyrus. I promise."

"How do you know?" Papyrus shot back, his arms lying limply and motionless at his sides.

Undyne opened her mouth to speak her response, only to realize that she did not have one. So there she stood, her hand placed upon Papyrus's shoulder, mouth opened wide as if she was speaking, but her lips remained stationary and her voice silent. To any by passers, Undyne realized, she must have looked like the biggest idiot in the entire underground. But she kept thinking of what to tell the broken and scared skeleton. He gazed at her, awaiting the answer that she seemed to have, but when he realized that she was remaining silent, his tiny glimmer of hope had been quickly destroyed. His empty eye sockets fell from Undyne to the ground that they each stood on. Though, Undyne felt more as if she had her head in the clouds. Granted, she was uncertain of what clouds really looked like, but she had been told stories and had seen pictures in books that fell from the surface world. All in all, she knew that her head was anywhere but underground, much less her feet on this ground.

What was she to say?

"Because..." She began, unsure of what she was going to completely say, "because Sans and I will make sure of it."

"But how do you plan to do that?" Papyrus inquired.

Undyne placed her index finger near the skeleton's teeth, in a manner most people would do to another's lips in order to ensure their silence. "You don't worry about how we'll do it. Just...know that we will. At any cost. I promise, Papyrus," Papyrus looked ready to debate when Undyne's finger fell from his teeth, but before he could protest, Undyne grabbed his hand. "C'mon, bud," She said as she began to trudge, Papyrus following her, "let's go get some nice cream."

OoOoOoO

"Thanks for taking Pap out so I could talk to Alphys." Sans greeted when he met Papyrus and Undyne up at the nice cream stand.

Undyne smiled. "No problem, punk. Anything for my favorite kid in the entire underground." She said, giving Papyrus a bit of a noogie on the top of his skull, earning a small and quite laugh from said skeleton.

Sans looked to Papyrus and then to Undyne then back to Papyrus. "You ready to go back home, bud? I have something I kind of want to talk to you about when we get home." Sans said, his left hand finding his way to the back of his neck in a fit of nervousness. Papyrus could tell that Sans was growing nervous, which concerned the troubled skeleton greatly. Sans rarely ever got nervous, but...lately he had been more nervous. But, Papyrus gave Sans the benefit of the doubt. If he had seen Sans about to jump into the lava that Hotland had, he would be pretty nervous the days to come afterward as well.

Papyrus nodded gently. "Y-Yeah. I'm ready to go."

Sans smiled lightly, a mirrored image of Undyne's. He stuck out his hand which Papyrus gladly took and latched onto. But that wasn't enough for the child. Instead, he let go of Sans's hand and stuck his hands out towards the older skeleton, opening and closing them. Sans chuckled lightly at Papyrus's childish and by far innocent action that he could not deny. He picked up his little brother and held him comfortably in his arms. Papyrus leaned his skull against Sans's shoulder much to the other's amusement. Papyrus had adopted that action a long time ago when he had been just a baby bones. He still pulled the action on occasion, and Sans found himself unable and unwilling to deny the action, need, and want that the younger would pull out.

Undyne smiled at the familiar act that Papyrus pulled out like he had as a young child. It seemed as if it was only yesterday that Papyrus was still wearing his orange onesies and needed his diaper changed. But it had really been several years since he's needed something like that done or since he had worn onesie pajamas. "I'll see you later, Pap, ok?"

Papyrus nodded into Sans's shoulder, not giving a verbal response like Undyne had been hoping that he would give. She gave out a gentle sigh out of frustration, but tried desperately not to let her frustration show. She gave a defeated wave towards Sans. "See ya later, bone head."

Sans smiled tiredly at Undyne. "See ya fish stick."

And they parted ways.

While Sans walked, Papyrus found himself growing sleepier and sleepier, the movements of Sans's walking lulling him deeper and deeper into a willingness to fall asleep. But before he lost consciousness, Papyrus noticed that Sans's jacket sleeve had rode up on his arm a bit due to him holding Papyrus. What he saw shocked him. But in the end, he decided that his head was simply playing tricks on him. He was so tired that surely he had to be seeing things.

There was no way that Sans had a scar similar to his own.

OoOoOoO

Sans trudged around Snowdin for a bit, Papyrus lying in his arms. Sans's baggy, worn out jacket reached down to his knees. In any other circumstance, the jacket would have provided at least some assortment of protection from the cold and bone chilling winds, and that jacket would have to if it wasn't for the many holes that were cut into the jacket from it being so old and worn out. But it was the warmest article of clothing that he owned for himself. He had decided to head to Waterfall where Undyne lived. Maybe she would offer some assortment of shelter for at least the night. She had never met Papyrus, so he was uncertain if Undyne or her parents would allow the two monsters to stay for a night. If it was that much of an issue, Sans could sleep outside, so long as Papyrus got to sleep inside where he was safe. But if the trouble was so great, Sans decided that he and Papyrus would just head to Hotland for the night. It wasn't exactly the safest place in the world, but it was much warmer than any other place, though he was beginning to consider Waterfall as a possible candidate for their night stay. Waterfall was generally fairly warm due to the humidity that the waterfalls gave off.

Honestly, either of the choices were better than Snowdin, which lived up to its name.

Unfortunately, the trek often took the better half of an hour or two. Especially since Sans had not the foggiest idea of where Waterfall or Hotland lied. He had assumed that the destinations would be fairly easy to find considering that the underground didn't seem terribly spacious. But, then again, his entire life had transpired right in the heart of Snowdin. He had never once set foot out of the snowy area, hence his surprise and complete shock when Undyne had mentioned that she lived in an area called Waterfall.

Eventually, Sans found the entrance that lead to Waterfall. Immediately after setting foot over the border he felt a climate change. The snowy remains on his jacket melted away to pure water. The snow that had once surrounded his slipper-and now numbed-feet melted away, leaving his feet now numb from the sudden temperature change. He began to feel a bit feverish from the sudden change, but he still pressed on.

Papyrus began to squirm a bit in his arms, opening his jaw to let out a gentle yawn before it clacked back shut. Sans stopped for a second, looking down at the small bundle of joy that trusted Sans with his life. Sure, for the short time Sans had taken full responsibility of Papyrus, he had loved him with all of his soul, but he had never once realized what Papyrus truly was to him.

He looked down at the two month old baby in his arms that slept peacefully. With the way that the baby acted, you would never believe the unimaginable horror that the child had been forced to go through nearly for his entire life. Yet, this child was now the reason that Sans continued to press on. With the injuries their father had inflicted on him, he'd much rather be dead in this instant. He'd rather not feel the burning sensation in his leg each time he moved it. He'd rather be able to see out of both of his eyes. He'd rather both of his HP's to not be as low as they were. Both his health points and Hope had dangerously gone down to the point where neither were repairable.

He'd rather give up.

Yet, he didn't.

Because of only one reason.

And he was staring at that reason while it slept soundly and obliviously.

Sans felt tears build up within his eye sockets. He tried to push them back, but they only got stronger and stronger before Sans found himself unable to breathe. He fell to his knees, sobs wracking through his small frame, and Papyrus held closely and safely to his chest. Papyrus gave his life meaning, he realized. Papyrus was all that he had left. This child, this infant, his brother was all that he had left. And this child, this bundle of joy, this miracle that Sans had been gifted with was dependent on Sans for protection.

"I'll protect you, baby bro," He began to sob, shaking his head, tears dripping from his eye sockets and down his cheek bones. "I'll protect you. I'll preserve your light; your innocence," He placed his teeth against Papyrus's forehead in a manner that mimicked kissing. His hands were trembling. Hell, he was trembling in general. Never once had he realized just how much this child meant to him. But now he knew. "I'll protect you, Papyrus. No matter the cost." And just two more words to seal the deal. Two more words that he hated to say.

"I promise."

OoOoOoO

The trek seemed a bit longer than what it was, even with the assistance of the river boats man. But no matter the circumstances, Sans had forced himself to awake his brother at the arrival of Snowdin to ensure that he was awake enough when they got home so he could speak to him.

When they reached home, Sans pulled Papyrus to the living room and down to the couch. "Pap...bro, we need to talk." He said seriously, the pupils in his eyes fading away. The seriousness that Sans held made Papyrus quite nervous.

"A-About what, brother?" He asked, concern dripping from each word he spoke.

Sans was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath for a moment before exhaling and revealing a weary expression. "W. D. Gaster."