Ten: Like A Boat Into Oblivion
When she heard the news about Iggy, Frisk was furious. She remembered him from substituting at the school, as well as working with Toriel. She was so angry that she was warned by Dr Thicke that if she didn't calm down, she would be sedated. Asriel tried to calm her down, but she was still furious.
"Who did it? I'll find them, and I'll..." She coughed, putting a hand to her chest.
"Frisk, stop, or I'm getting the doctor," Asriel warned, though he kept holding her close to him. She nodded, gritting her teeth and taking a few deep breaths, and he relaxed, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "They don't know who did it, yet, but doesn't Iggy have a cop in his family? His brother? They'll find out in no time, I'm sure."
She glared at him, but he knew it wasn't personal. "I need to get out of here and get back to work. I need to make things right, Asriel."
"Stop," he begged, stroking her hair gently. "There's still plenty of time. You need to recover, first. You can't do a damned thing if you're still hurt, yourself, Frisk."
"This isn't the world I want for us, or for Nicky," she whispered, leaning into his side and shutting her eyes. "I want her to be free and fine, Asriel."
"Me, too," he agreed. "But it looks like it's still going to take some work."
"Then I have to work harder."
"We," Asriel corrected gently. "We have to work harder."
She opened her eyes and looked up at him sadly, but he smiled. Wordlessly, she reached up and kissed him, one he returned gladly, knowing she was relieved to have him there, and therefore not alone - because it was how he felt whenever he thought of her.
At night, when everyone but Asriel had to leave the hospital until tomorrow, Frisk dreamt while in his arms. They had fallen asleep, to the annoyance of Dr Thicke, together on Frisk's bed (Asriel and the doctor had argued about this from the start, but Asriel refused to leave every time. It was only when the doctor saw how much better Frisk seemed to be with him there that she finally gave up.), when she had the clearest dream she'd ever had in her life.
She stood at the podium again, her speech spread out before her, Asriel beside her, Asgore, Undyne and Alphys beside her, and sans behind her. Before her was a sea of people, filming and waiting for her to speak. When she tried, all she could do was mouth the words, until suddenly all she could taste was blood. She looked up from her papers, and the room was now empty, save her and, of all people, Carlson. He stood holding a gun, and she realised her chest was bleeding, though she felt no pain, nor had she heard a gunshot.
She stared at him, and he spoke. "Within you is the final thread that will connect everything together. You, and she, need to die. And so does anyone else who may plan on carrying future threads that would make that tapestry I - and many like me - do not want."
Suddenly, she felt a hand take hers, downy and small. She turned to look, but only caught a glimpse of light hair and small horns before everything suddenly went white. Then, she heard a song, the lullaby she had first heard Underground. Slowly, things shifted from white to reality, and she found herself at home in Solace with Asriel. She sat with him on the couch, watching the news on TV. It was of herself standing at the podium, blood pouring from her chest. She spoke, but all she said was, "We need this Treaty," over and over.
"No wonder it failed," Asriel said, though he sounded cheerful. "You didn't even mention children."
"Why would I?" she wondered. "They're impossible."
"No, they're not. But everyone thinks they should be. Do you?"
"No. Why would I?"
"Because everyone thinks they'll just cause chaos, but we know better, don't we? We know they'll be peace."
When she heard the second gunshot from the TV, they turned back to see Frisk fall from the podium. "Oh," she said calmly. "I'm dead."
And she woke up with a sudden gasp, coughing, which in turn woke Asriel. "Easy..." he said gently, holding her up and rubbing her back slowly, as she struggled to slow her breathing and her heart.
"As... Asriel," she said hoarsely, grabbing onto one of his hands tight. "Asriel, I need your help..."
"You have it," he said immediately. "What can I do?"
"Call... call City Hall," she said, her eyes meeting his and glinting like steel. "We need... another press conference."
"But, now? Here? Frisk... I don't understand."
She swallowed, grabbed his other hand, and told him her plans.
The next morning, Undyne awoke and found Alphys asleep, still sitting in her chair but also lying halfway on Undyne's bed, her hand clutching Undyne's in her slumber. Undyne stared at her, swallowing hard, being careful not to make any sudden movements lest she wake her up. With a full heart, she reached down and gently brushed her fingertips over her wife's forehead, easing the slight frown from her slumbering face. Undyne smiled faintly, unable to help feeling a stab of tenderness at this. She leaned down and carefully rested her cheek against Alphys's head, closing her eye and sighing deeply, her arm going around Alphys's shoulders. Alphys stirred, sighed, then relaxed, her claws flexing a bit on Undyne's hand as she did so. But she didn't wake up, and Undyne was relieved. She knew that that meant Alphys had stayed up most of the night, and was so tired, very little would wake her. So Undyne stayed right where she was, her eye closed, listening to Alphys breathe deeply in her slumber.
She must have dozed off, because she woke next to a hand gently shaking her shoulder. She opened her eye and raised her head and found Mettaton's hand there, his other hand holding breakfast with a wide smile. "Ah, a wonderful sight, indeed," she said, as he handed her a bagel. "The food, not you, diva." Which earned her a pout.
Alphys stirred again when Mettaton shook her shoulder, next, though she was much slower to wake. She sat up with her eyes still closed, hunched over and rubbing at them sleepily. "What time is it?" she murmured.
"Morning," Undyne replied, surprising the sleep out of Alphys. She looked at her, saw that she was looking well, and smiled, a smile so warm and genuine that Undyne again felt tenderness hit her heart, and she smiled back. Alphys smiled wider, then sat up and gave Undyne a kiss, one Undyne returned happily. This was the Alphys she knew, and seeing her back was a great comfort, to say the least.
"Darlings," Mettaton said, sounding irritated. "I adore you, but try to eat the food, please."
They broke apart, Alphys blushing with a smile, Undyne scowling at Mettaton, but he just grinned. He'd seen the change in Alphys, too, and was also happy to see it, happy enough to tease.
"Sorry," Alphys muttered, sipping her coffee, though she didn't look too sorry, and she still smiled. She felt better this morning, despite the lack of real sleep the night before. Something seemed to have healed within her, and seeing Undyne smiling so happily was an added bonus to that feeling.
Undyne's doctor knocked on the door and said, "Are we awake?" When he got a confirmation, he walked in holding Undyne's chart. "I've got some good news for you: if you feel ready to, you can go home today."
Undyne stared at him. "Really?" she cried. "I can leave this stupid place?!"
The doctor sighed at that, but by now was used to it from her, so he nodded. "Yes, you can be discharged as early as this afternoon."
Undyne threw her arms up in the air. "Fuck yeah!" she exclaimed happily - before she winced when the gesture brought a stab of pain to her side. "Uh," she added, blushing. "Ignore that."
The doctor again sighed. "Yes, well, about that. You need to take it easy. Just because you're going home doesn't mean you're completely healed." He looked at Alphys, who smiled. "I think you're the one who needs to hear how to take care of her, right?"
"Hey!"
"Most likely," Alphys agreed. Mettaton snickered, and Undyne glared at him.
The doctor went over a basic outline of daily care for Undyne's wound that would be necessary for a full recovery, and Alphys listened carefully. Undyne also listened, eating her breakfast rather aggressively, but she didn't argue with anything he said, which was a good sign.
When he was done, however, Undyne had one question, one she asked bluntly. "What about sex?" Both the doctor and Mettaton blinked in surprise, but Alphys did not. Rather, she was quite impressed that Undyne had managed to restrain herself from asking for so long. She just smiled, though her cheeks did heat up a bit.
"Well," the doctor said, "if you're gentle, and you avoid any unnecessary strain to your side, sex should be just fine after a few days of rest at home." When Undyne's eye shone, he narrowed his at her in warning. "I said gentle, and no strain, Undyne. Meaning be careful."
"Don't worry," Alphys said, still smiling, though her face was red, now. She couldn't help it; Undyne was now staring at her in that specific way that always made her go scarlet. "I'll make sure she doesn't go crazy."
Mettaton both snorted and made gagging noises, earning him a piece of bagel landing in his hair - something he did not like at all.
"You also need to come back for regular check-ups here, once a week for at least a month," the doctor went on. "And if you need it, we can give you pain medicine until you're more healed up and don't need it." He paused, looking very sombre. "I can't stress this enough, Undyne: you need to be careful. You can't risk infection or reopening the wound, or you're going to be set back even more. Understand?"
Undyne nodded, just as sombre, taking him seriously, now. "Yes, doctor. I'll be careful." But then she almost ruined it by looking back at Alphys with a grin. "Mostly."
More retching noises from Mettaton seemed to conclude this rather perfectly.
"I strongly advise against this," Dr Thicke said, her face stern.
"As do I," Asgore agreed, his arms crossed. "You're not well enough, Frisk."
Frisk was glaring at both of them. 'I don't care!" she snapped. "I need to do something! Other people... innocent people like Iggy... they're getting hurt while I lie around and do nothing-,"
"While you heal," Asgore broke in, but she shook her head angrily.
"Ambassador," Dr Thicke said, using the title on purpose. "Please, I understand the urgency you feel, but to risk your health-,"
"I need to do this," Frisk interrupted, both of her hands over her stomach. Asriel was sitting beside her, silent, but it was obvious that he agreed with her, and not the doctor or Asgore.
"Yes," said Toriel suddenly. "You do need to do this, Frisk." She had everyone's attention now, and she stood taller, her face serious. "You need to do this, right here, because otherwise, things like this and what happened to Iggy will keep happening. You need to tell them to stop, now, because they will listen only to you, my child. I'm sorry, doctor, but she's absolutely correct. She must hold his press conference."
"But it will be absolute chaos," Dr Thicke protested. "Not to mention it will disturb the other patients, hinder their friends and family-,'
"She didn't say 'hey, invite every single person of the press,' Doctor," Asriel broke in.
"Exactly. I'm saying bring in the one crew from City Hall, for one conference, to then be freely rebroadcasted everywhere else. That's all I need." Frisk looked to Asgore, now. "Please, Papa. I need to do this. It could save so many people."
Asgore's arms uncrossed, and he looked at both Frisk and Asriel. Asriel's arm was around Frisk, his other hand over hers. Both shared the same look of stubborn determination, and even though he wanted to, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop either of them. The longer he looked, however, the less he wanted to. Something deep in Frisk's eyes told him not to, and that she was right; this needed to be done, and now.
Toriel touched his shoulder. "Please, Gorey. Talk to the mayor, or whoever it takes."
"I still disagree with this," Dr Thicke said sharply. "But if you keep it small, I won't get in your way."
"Thank you so much," Frisk said to her. Then she turned to Asgore again. "Papa?"
He sighed. "Alright. Let's make this happen."
