Chapter 14

The three monsters piled up near the river in Waterfall were frozen in shock. They recovered quickly though and Papyrus along with Undyne got shakily to their feet. Alphys approached them, large energetic grin on her face. Sans was still sitting on the ground but quickly rose to his feet standing slightly behind the two larger monsters.

"Act natural." Papyrus said just loud enough for the small group to hear.

Undyne nodded her head but Sans just smiled

"Let me handle this." The smallest of the group said pushing his way past the two stunned companions.

Papyrus was about to protest but Sans was already waving a dangling sleeve in the air.

"ALPHYS!" He cried in an energetic voice as if none of the events of the past few hours or even days had ever happened.

It wasn't long before Alphys head reached to small group grabbing sans under the arms and pulling him into a bear hug.

"WHAT are two of my favorite people doing hanging out in the open WHEN THERE IS A HUMAN ABOUT!?" Alphys yelled the last six words right by Sans head but he didn't even flinch.

"Two?" Papyrus asked in his normal lazy tone.

"Yes two" Alphys replied shooting the tall lanky skeleton a glare. They hadn't spoken since he had said some not so nice things about Sans. Clearly she was still very angry but seeing her friend and trainee in such high spirits made Alphys hold her tongue.

While all this was going down Undyne was a nervous wreck. Putting Sans down Alphys walked over to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay! Don't worry about the human. We have our best people on the case!" In a loud whisper she added "I don't even think there is a human down here."

"Y-y-y-you don't?" Undyne asked.

"Well maybe there was a human down here." Alphys said returning to her normal speaking voice "But they are probably dead by now. Humans don't like the cold. In fact long periods of exposure can cause them to die."

"Really?" Sans asked sounding intrigued and Papyrus had to stifle a laugh.

"Yup! Humans are strong in soul, there bodys persist after death but all in all they are rather weak! Sometimes a human will fall and we will just find a body. Of course that hasn't happened in at least a hundred and fifty years."

As Alphys spoke the river person's boat finally pulled into the Dock.

"W-well that's our r-ride." Undyne pointed out sounding way to relieved.

"Mind of I catch a ride with you guys? I am heading over to the Capitol to get some drinks with the guard dogs."

"Sure." Papyrus cut in before Undyne blew a fuse.

"Of Course you can!" Sans cheered happily.

"Good to hear!" Alphys said following the small group onto the ferry and taking a seat next to Undyne.

Even though it was clear Sans was trying to keep up his energy it was waning quickly. The rocking of the boat combined with the warming air caused him to doze off leaning against Papyrus' arm.

As they were getting closer to Hotland Alphys broke the awkward silence that had been hanging over the group.

"So how are things going with you and your brother ?"

Papyrus cracked an eye socket and shrugged " things've been good." he responded casually.

Alphys didn't look satisfied with the answer.

"Then why is Sans covered in muck, soaking wet, without his 'battle body'?"

Papyrus honestly didn't have a good response to that one. The captain of the royal guard didn't get her position by being slow or unobservant.

"A-a-actually that w-was my fault..." Undyne cut in "I a-asked Sans and Papyrus to g-go g-get some echo f-flowers. I n-needed them for an experiment."

"Ya" Papyrus cut in seeing Undyne struggling to come up with the next part. "Sans fell in the mud and I wasn't just going to let him wander around in wet clothes so I gave him my jacket."

Alphys opened her mouth to respond but Undyne cut her off "Oh l-look! I-it's our stop!"

"we're here?" Sans asked groggily having woken up when Papyrus gently shook him.

Alphys looked about ready to blow a gasket at this point but to her credit kept her mouth shut.

"Ya we're here." Papyrus said deciding to strategically not deal with the situation in front of him.

Alphys ended up walking with the group to the Labs. Since it was on her way. Sans seemed dead on his feet during the short walk but refused help, wanting to walk on his own. On Undynes end she seemed relieved to be back on her home turf and eager to get out of the dry heat. Papyrus kept up his cool uninterested attitude.

They reached the door of the labs, Alphys gave her friends good-byes as they went into the cool metallic building. That was until it was Papyrus turn and a scaliy hand was placed firmly on his shoulder. Alphys had to reach up and stand on her tiptoes to do it but the look on her face would make the laugh die in the throats of much braver monsters then Papyrus.

"Not you."

Sans and Undyne both turned back concerned but papyrus just gave them a half hearted wave.

" I'll be there in a moment." He said and Undyne put a hand on Sans shoulder leading him into the labs and closing the door behind them.

"When it was all clear Alphys finally removed her hand.

"Listen I don't know why you guys are lying to me but"

"We're not lying."

Alphys let out a frustrated breath of air "If you guys want to lie do a better job! If you and Sans were out gathering echo flowers why didn't you bring any back? If you gave Sans your jacket because his clothes got dirty, I mean seriously, why would you give him something just as wet and dirty to wear instead? and above all" Alphys said pointing a claw at the taller monsters chest "Why the hell would Undyne be there if you were running her errands!?"

When Papyrus didn't say anything Alphys just shook her head and turned away.

"I don't know why the three of you are lieing to me but just make sure those two don't get hurt."

"That's what I'm trying to do." Papyrus said in a serious tone Alphys had never heard him use before.

"Good." She said coldly before walking off.

Wow that is one pissed off monster Papyrus thought to himself as he went to pull a cigarette out of his hoodie pocket. Only to realize he was just wearing his black tank top instead. Well those smokes were probably gone forever, which really sucked because he could really use one about now.

Sans was almost asleep when Undyne walked up. Her head was bent and she was playing nervously a bag she was carrying. Now that Alphys was gone he couldn't keep up his normally cheery attitude anymore and his empty eyes sockets were staring at one of Undynes colorful posters as his mind wandered aimlessly.

"I'm sorry." She finally whispered.

"It's okay. I know you were just trying to help." Sans said sounding completely exhausted.

"I shouldn't have b- been so forceful. I k-know you were uncfortable b-but I just-"

"It's okay, I forgive you. Undyne you just wanted to help. You might have been a bit to forceful but it came from a good place."

Sans eyelights came back. They were dim and much smaller than usually but they were back and that was a good sign. "What's that?" he asked pointing to brown paper bag Undyne had set down on the floor next to her feet.

"Food?" she said meekly.

The permanent smile etched into Sans mask turned up at the edges a bit at that.

After the three had eaten their food Sans agreed to a very minor examination. There were conditions though. First Papyrus would be by his side the whole time, for moral support. Two no mirrors, both Undyne and Papyrus found this strange but Undyne agreed regardless. Three no needles or blood drawing. Fourth no photographs. Finally fifth no sterile environments, the examination would take place somewhere casual like Undynes living space.

Eager for knowledge of course Undyne agreed.

Basicly the only thing she could really do was a visual assessment and measure height and weight. Still that would be enough to update the files. Most people underestimate the importance of records. However anyone who knows anything about scientific research knows that recording your findings is the most important thing.

If she kept a good record of how Sans growth was going she could keep an eye out for irregularities. This was so important and she was so relieved. Undyne had almost forgotten earlier that this was her friend and not just a subject. She had the tendency to very analytical but she couldn't let herself fall into that again.

She was determined not to make Sans uncomfortable. Even though they weren't as close as they could be Sans was still an important friend and she needed to keep that in mind.

So that's how they ended up in Undynes sudo apartment. Sans and Papyrus sitting on her unfolded bed as she sat across from them on a computer chair. Papyrus had blipped home to grab some new clothes for the two of them. Papyrus was in his "fresh" set of clothes but Sans was sitting there wearing nothing but his boxers. His new set of clothes were set neatly at the foot of the bed along with his mask.

They had already weighed and measured Sans growth at this point and Undyne was comparing this new information with the od.

"So you use to be about 55 inches , or about 4 and a half feet tall, and 94 pounds. Now you are about 58 inches tall. or 4 feet and 8/10ths of an inch and 102 pounds. So you have grown."

"Wow a whole 3 inches." Papyrus said giving Sans a light shove.

Sans just rolled his eyes. Even though his eye light's gave a rather interesting impression of his mood. The bright blue eyes of his human form also had a sort of expression to the as well that made it very clear that he was both amused and annoyed.

"G-guys be serious." Undyne cut in amusement lacing her voice.

"I am always serious." Papyrus said feigning hurt.

That got a laugh out of everyone.

Until the door to the labs swished open and a loud yell was heard from downstairs.

"UNDYNE! SANS!PAPYRUS! SOMEONE BETTER GET OUT HERE RIGHT. THIS SECOND."

Chapter 15

"Shit." Papyrus said as he looked at Sans sitting on the bed. Undynes eyes had gone comically wide and some of the color had drained from her face.

"SOMEONE BETTER GET DOWN HERE OR I AM GOING TO START BREAKING STUFF!"

That got Undyne up and moving.

"W-wait! Not my computer!" She yelled running down the stairs.

Undynes sudden dash broke the other two from there shocked daze.

Sans wiggled himself until he was under the blankets and nothing more than a lump in the bed. Papyrus patted the lump where he assumed Sans' head was and got up to give the now completely covered human more room to wiggle into the center of the bed.

"Stay quiet Sans, I'll go see whats up."

"Okay." Sans replied from under the sheets.

Papyrus waited a moment for the lump in the bed to stop moving and when everything was still he blipped downstairs.

The commotion was louder down here, the sound of items of all shapes and sizes being tossed around would probably be intimidating under other circumstances. Everything considered though it just made Papyrus think of a child who hadn't gotten what they wanted.

Casually walking out from behind a pile of boxes Papyrus dodged a tissue box that tried to make contact with his skull and laid eyes on the scene before him. Undyne was desperately trying to stop Alphys from smashing a small metal gizmo against the floor.

You would think that because Alphys was so small and Undyne was so tall it would be no trouble. Alphys was proving to be a difficult opponent though. That was until Papyrus walked up behind the unsuspecting monster and plucked the item out of her hand while the lizard monster was distracted.

He handed it back to Undyne who seemed extremely happy.

"Why don't you tell us what the problem is before you destroy something important."

"You three are hiding the human here!" The enraged monster accused.

Undyne didn't say anything, thankfully, letting Papyrus take the lead.

"We are not" Papyrus said casually " the three of us were just enjoying a nice sleepover, watching movies and the such, before you so rudely barged in an interrupted us."

"Where is Sans then?" Alphys asked eyes narrowing.

"He went to go grab some snacks from the store."

"I bet he is hiding with the human. I know you have it here and you guys just need to hand it over!"

"W-w-we don't h-have a human h-here!" Undyne cut in.

"You may not have them here but I know you've been in contact with them! When I went to the bar, to have a couple of drinks with the dogs, they told me I had the humans sent all over me! They've been tracking it all day, there is no way they would make a mistake like that!"

"How do you know you got that smell from us?" Papyrus pointed out.

"YOU GUYS ARE INSUFFERABLE!" Alphys yelled out "I am trying to help you three out. Apparently you don't know how much trouble you would be in if other monsters found out you were hiding a human here! If you don't cooperate I will have to call in the K-9 patrol to investigate."

Papyrus and Undyne shared a look.

"I know you think it's harmless but humans are dangerous, just hand it over. I promise they won't suffer and then we can all go to the surface together!" The small captain sounded desperate. She was clearly pleading as much as her pride would allow. It wasn't good enough though, nothing would ever be good enough to get them to give her what she thought she wanted.

"No," Papyrus said firmly.

"What?" The guard asked sounding baffled.

"No, even if we had a human, which we don't by the way, I wouldn't hand them over to you. "

That caused Alphys to growl baring her sharp teeth.

"Alphys y-you don't k-know what y-you're asking!" Undyne said sounding panicked at the sudden show of aggression. Papyrus on the other hand was ready for a fight. His body was loose and ready to dodge at the first attack.

That was until one of Undyne's human history books hit Alphys square in the face.

Looking to where the projectile came from a small head with bright blue eyes and wild black hair could be seen peeking over the railing. A raised arm holding another book ready to be thrown was also in view.

"You" the aggravated guard said with a dangerous edge to her voice.

The small human was gone in a flash, causing Alphys to take off for the stairs leading to the second floor.

Papyrus and Undyne took off after a moment of shocked silence. But as they were headed up stairs they could see two flashes coming down the other set. The small human in the lead, but not by much. He was making a dash for the elevator that lead the lower floors.

Papyrus made a split second decision and blipd into the elevator opening the doors from the inside so Sans could save precious time. The younger of the two didn't have to worry though. Sans had been training with Alphys for quite some time. The captain never went easy on her friend always pushing him to be better. Sans knew all of her tricks and was able to easily avoid her attacks as he made it to the open elevator doors.

Papyrus had timed the whole thing so when Sans made it to the elevator the doors were already halfway closed. Alphys hadn't stood a chance. An angry screech could be heard from outside as the two brothers began their descent into the depths of the labs.

Chapter 16

"Oh god, that was stupid." Sans said as crouched down on the elevator floor holding himself.

"It wasn't stupid" Papyrus said putting a hand on the shaking human's shoulder "You probably stopped a big fight from breaking out. I think that was very brave."

Sans just shook his head "What do we do now? She knows there's a human down here with you! She'll never trust us again, even if we get away with this, what if she kicks me out of the guard-"

"You're not even in the guard."

"Exactly and now I never will be! Al probably won't even talk to me after this! That is if she doesn't throw us in jail for treason!"

"Calm down. We'll think of something." The elevator doors opened but neither brother walked out. Papyrus sat so his leg was extended keeping the elevator where it was as he put a comforting arm around Sans shoulders.

"You know Alphys better than most monsters down here. If there is anyone who could think of a way out of this mess it's you."

They could only hold the elevator for so long before Alphys probably got frustrated and tried to jump down the shaft, or something equally dangerous. Sans knew he had to move but it seemed as if all the energy had been zapped out of his body.

"Okay buddy we should probably get moving..." Papyrus said getting to his feet and grabbing Sans around the waist. Shocked Sans grabbed onto his younger brothers shoulders and wrapped his legs around his midsection.

"If this is such a big deal I could just teleport us somewhere where she can't find us. We could just hide out until this all blows over."

"NO!... no we can't do that." Sans said resting his head dejectedly into Papyrus shoulder.

"Why not?"

"We can't run from this. I've been running from this for years and now it's come back to bite me in the butt. If we run away now it'll just come back later and cause us more problems."

"So what should we do?" Papyrus asked. This was Sans show, Papyrus would do what the older of the two wanted. He couldn't force Sans into safety, he could just stand by him and make sure he come out the other end of this missadventure in one piece. God help whoever tried to hurt the little human he now held in his arms.

Papyrus was pulled out of his thoughts when Sans spoke up.

"We have to distract her, if we can keep her chasing us she won't have time to call the K9 unit. Then after she has chased us around a bit then I can 'escape' into Hotland. If she focuses her search to this side of the underground we can go back home."

"We can give it a try." Was all Papyrus said "Are you ready?"

Sans nodded his head not moving until Papyrus went to move away from the elevator door. Suddenly Sans perked up and lifted his head.

"Wait." Suddenly the air crackled with magic before Papyrus heard the dull thud of something hitting metal. Looking back he saw a white bone attack wedged into the open door.

Papyrus gave Sans a questioning look.

"That should buy us a little time." Was all he said as he put his head back into position not even volunteering to walk on his own.

"How long can you hold that?" Papyrus asked as he set off in a random direction.

"Long enough."

Papyrus made a humming noise of confirmation as he continued his trek down hallways that had been disused for years. He found himself wandering into a familiar direction. His feet followed a path that he himself hadn't followed since he was a small child. His memory of his childhood in the labs were fuzzy at best.

"Do you ever miss him?" Sans asked out of nowhere.

"Sometimes, I was kind of young when it happened though. Do you miss him?"

"Sometimes... He was nice."

A calm silence fell over the two as they made their way through dust cover halls. That was until Sans flinched violently.

"You okay?"

"My attack was shattered. I think Alphys is on her way."

"Shit, how'd she do that! It's been like ten minutes!"

Sans let out a tired breath. "Knowing her she probably just got tired of waiting. Maybe she jumped down the elevator shaft..."

"I would say that's bull but knowing Alphys you're probably right."

"Well we better get ready. She will probably find us really quickly."

Papyrus nodded and tightened his his hold on Sans. If Alphys found this deserted part of the labs it would be a piece of cake to follow Papyrus' footprints in the dust.

The only thing that could be heard in the silence was his own footsteps echoing back at him. The thwap thwap of his convers was slowly layered with a more metallic tink tink and he knew the game was almost up. He looked over to see how Sans was doing only to see light blue eyes looking back at him. Concern filled his soul when he noticed they didn't seemed to be quite focused.

"Hey little guy."

Sans eyes seemed to focus in as he heard Papyrus speak.

"yes?" He said words slurring a bit.

"I think you need to lie down."

" 'm fine" He said unconvincingly.

Now that Papyrus really looked he could tell Sans didn't look like he normally did with his mask off. He was a little paler than normal. Most of the monsters he knew in snowdin had fur or were made of stone but he still knew that skin tone changes were not a good thing.

"Come on just take a little nap. I'll wake you if anything important happens." Papyrus said as he put Sans into his bed covering the smaller of the two in his snug confiter. It probably wasn't good for the little guy to be wandering around in nothing but a pair of pants anyways. Sans was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Papyrus waited a moment to make sure Sans really was asleep before he made his way back to the point of the labs he had teleported away from. Luckily he appeared just in time, Alphys came stalking into view following the trail he had left intently. Taking the opportunity he lit up a cigarette and leaned casually up against a nearby wall.

The click of his lighter was what alerted Alphys to his presens.

"You." She snarled that single word managed to carry so much venom in it a lesser monster might have flinched or bolted. To his credit Papyrus just stood there smoke slowly drifting out of the cracks in his teeth before he opened his jaw and allowed the smoke to dissipate into the air.

"Me." Was all he said as he took another drag.

"Where is the human!"

"What human?" Papyrus knew he could be a smart-ass. In fact he took pride in it. This was a golden opportunity to show off his skills.

"Oh my GOD! PAPYRUS WHERE IS THE HUMAN YOU CAME DOWN HERE WITH!?"

"Ohhhhh that human?"

Alphys walked forward and grabbed the front of his hoodie forcefully dragging him down to her eye level.

"Yes, that human."

Without taking his eyelights away from the Captain Papyrus inhaled some smoke and let it loose in Alphys face.

Immediately he was free as Alphys coughed up a lung in front of him.

"I don't know they went the other way. Said something about heading to the capitol."

"The Capitol! AND YOU DIDN'T TRY AND STOP THEM!?"

"Why would I? That kid seemed harmless enough..."

"Humans are not harmless!" Alphys hissed out "They are dangerous murders who show no remorse for their actions. They fear monsters and that fear breeds hate in their hearts. That human may seem nice but if they wanted too they could kill every one of us and you don't even seem to care that... that, thing is headed to one of the most densely populated areas in the whole underground!"

"If you think that they are going to be a problem why don't you go stop them?"

Alphys froze "...What's your angle?"

"Hmm?" He hummed as he took a final long drag before dropping the butt on the tiles and stepping on it.

"You've been trying to keep that human safe. Why tell me where they are now? Is... is it because of Sans?"

Papyrus' soul dropped but his face stayed neutral leaving Alphys fill in the silence herself.

"Is he with the human? Do you think I won't arrest him because he is my friend? Do you think he can stop me from doing my job?"

"I don't know. Do you think he can stop you from doing your job?" Papyrus threw back.

The Captain of the royal guard turned her back to the tall skeleton monster as she started to jog off in the other direction.

"I will do what I have too for my people." He heard her say before she was too far away.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Papyrus mumbled under his breath as he teleported back the their home in Snowdin.