A/N: So I had trouble writing this for some reason. And it's not nearly as good as I want it to be, so I think I'll split it into another chapter. I hope you all enjoy it anyway!

You stood inside of Undyne and Alphys's house carrying your bag of sleepover supplies. Such supplies included your bathroom necessities, some clothing, your phone charger, a portable fire extinguisher (that your mom insisted you take to anybody's house during a sleepover, not just Undyne's), your laptop, and your cosplay. So far Undyne had abandoned you to go get changed while you were left with Alphys. The woman smiled at you and you smiled back. It had been a while since you had spent time with Alphys.

"Would you like to, um, put your stuff in your room?" Alphys asked and motioned to the spare room upstairs. You nodded, but first put the fire extinguisher next to the couch. It needed to be in a place you could get to it quickly. Alphys didn't protest the fire extinguisher even though she had one already in the kitchen. It was a robot charged with putting out fires. It was a little faulty.

Both of you walked up stairs and you heard the shower running as Undyne bathed. "I-I wasn't really expecting company." Alphys explained as she glanced around the somewhat-messy house. There were bits and pieces of technology and anime everywhere. Undyne had left some of her weights out and her spears leaning against the wall. "Undyne didn't tell me you were staying over."

"Surprise." You said with a shrug.

"S-Surprise?"

"To both of us." You nodded. Alphys's lips twitched in amusement. You both entered the spare bedroom and you put your stuff onto the floor. You took the time to explain how this situation had come about and Alphys appeared surprised.

"Sans and Papyrus FUSED?" She tapped her bitten nails against her mouth. "I thought Sans stopped that after Ga-" She suddenly cut herself off, wide-eyed. "I-I-I MEAN...! WOW. SANS AND PAPRYUS CAN FUSE! HAHAHA I HAD NO IDEA!" She fell silent realizing just how horrible her lie really was and she sweated nervously.

You wondered not for the first time if you should tell her about Gaster. Alphys was the only other person who knew about the scientist, and Papyrus had a point in saying that she could help. Or at least deserved to know. But if you did tell her, would she ask for an explanation as to why he wanted you? Did she know anything about your powers? Sans had told you that, no, she did not. But it was more because she wasn't interested in the time stream rather than because she couldn't understand. If Alphys had taken the time to read the reports Sans had looked at down in the True Lab to track anomalies, she would've been able to put the pieces together.

You didn't want to get into that conversation now. It was hard enough with Papyrus knowing. Alphys...had come to hate you in a lot of timelines. And you had inadvertently caused her death in many more of those. She may not have fallen at your hands, but you had killed her nonetheless with your actions. The thought still chilled you. Did she dream about it? Papyrus confirmed that he dreamt of past timelines but...

The awkward silence was getting louder. You decided to try a middle ground. A way to set the path for yourself without actually traveling down it yet. "I...know about Gaster."

Alphys gaped and then her mouth snapped closed. Her demeanor, like last time you had talked to her about Gaster, had changed. She seemed sadder and much more serious. You understood that reaction now. "S-Sans...told you?" You nodded. She turned to the side and twiddled with her fingers nervously. "I...I didn't expect him to...of all people...I thought I would cave first." She turned back to you. "Wh-what...What do you...think?"

You considered her words. What did you think about Gaster? Or, what did you think about the things they did? Or, what did you think about Alphys now? You didn't know what she was asking. "...I don't like Gaster..." You confessed softly. "Or...I don't like what I've heard about him..." You didn't hate Gaster. You pitied him. A part of you still wonders what would have happened if you had allowed Gaster to take your soul. "But...I'm not judging you...or Sans."

She watched you impassively and seriously. You couldn't recall a time Alphys looked so serious. She seemed to be waiting for you to say more, but you didn't know what to say. So you just stared back at her. Finally she broke and her face crumbled because she turned away. She took off her glasses and covered her eyes as her body trembled. You were alarmed. You hadn't wanted to start off your sleepover like this! It was supposed to be a fun night! Why did you even bring this up?

Alphys sniffled and gave a watery laugh. "Y-you...you don't really know...how much that means to me, Frisk." She peeked at you from around her palm. "But at the same time...it doesn't change much anything. I've still...I still helped do terrible things to humans...And monsters...But." She dropped her hands and fully turned towards you. Her eyes were reddened but she was no longer crying. There appeared to be a type of weight that had lifted off her shoulders. At least a little bit. She smiled weakly. "But...it helps. Th-Thank you, Frisk."

The shower turned off. It wouldn't be long now until Undyne joined you two. She just needed to get dressed first. "We all have done terrible things." You told Alphys. The scientist stared at you with wide eyes, but you wouldn't elaborate on this part. She was still silent as you smiled at her, and then turned away to unpack a few of your things. From what Undyne had told you on the way over, you all were going out to eat. So you wanted to wear something a little bit nicer than your dirty jeans and tee shirt. Maybe you could wear some slacks and a ribbon in your hair. Of matching colors. Would that be too dressy?

"Uh..." Alphys said to get your attention back. "We're...um...getting sushi. Did Undyne tell you?" You blinked in surprise and shook your head. Would it be weird for Undyne to eat sushi? "Undyne doesn't really know what it is." Alphys informed you with a small sadistic smile before it relaxed into something a little more sincere. "But, uh, she's eaten fish before. And fish eat fish...right? It should be fine."

You shrugged and nodded. Your stomach growled. Frankly just getting some food sounded nice. You had never tried sushi before, but you had seen your human parents eat it before. You weren't totally sure you would like it, but you wouldn't be against trying it. You picked up the clothing you were going to wear and held them up to show Alphys. She understood and left the room so you could change.

When you were done, Alphys and Undyne were out in the living room. Undyne was putting her shoes on. She was a bit better dressed than expected, and she looked nice in her sweater dress and leggings. Undyne, despite being very much a tomboy, really knew how to dress. She looked extremely pretty. Her hair was left loose and it covered her eye. She wasn't wearing her eyepatch. You hurried to join them.

"You all ready then, squirt?" Undyne asked. You nodded and sat down to yank on your boots -you didn't have anything nicer- before you followed the two of them out. Undyne actually had a car of her own now. It was rather necessary especially if she was currently living in Ebott. Nobody wanted to rely on Papyrus as their only friend with transportation (because Sans didn't count). Alphys was currently waiting for her small car because she wanted to use her own money to buy it. The three of you climbed into Undyne's truck and buckled up before heading out.

"Alphys, you won't BELIEVE what the heck happened today! Papyrus freaking fused!" Undyne said.

"Ah, uh, Frisk was telling me about it. It's pretty astounding!"

"Yeah, no kidding! That skeleton...sometimes I really don't get what's going through that adorable skull of his!" Undyne paused and her voice lowered to a more serious tone. "...You know how Pap isn't good at keeping secrets?"

"Um...yes?" Alphys agreed hesitantly seeing her girlfriend's change. Alphys shot a look to you but you kept your face impassive.

"He seems to have gained a lot. And suddenly he's tight-lipped! NnnngaAAAHHH! THAT'S SO FRUSTRATING!" She raged and hit her steering wheel. "It has GOT to be a great secret if Papyrus won't even slip a little bit!"

"W-Well, I mean...everybody has secrets." Alphys said.

"Yeah, but still...I wanna know!"

"Sushi?" You asked in an effort to change the topic.

"It's in the next town over!" Alphys said. "I-I thought it would be fun! Undyne didn't believe me when I said that humans really do eat sushi and it wasn't just on anime and Undyne was super psyched to try it and I couldn't resist either because I haven't tried sushi made by actual Japanese people and-" Alphys rambled on until Undyne cut her off,

"So we're gonna go try it! Hey, you ever have it before, Frisk?" You shook your head. "Heck yeah! Let's try it together then!"

"I-I've made it for myself before." Alphys continued. "But...they always fell apart. I don't think I made the rice sticky enough."

"If it's as good as you say it is, then we'd better learn how to make it right! I'll even teach Papyrus how to cook it!"

"No cooking involved." You said. Well, except maybe the rice. You weren't too certain about that.

"Great! No chance at fire!"

As it turned out, the sushi place had been a great idea. It was a fairly small place without a lot of customers, but the servers were kind and polite. They only seemed fascinated to see Undyne and Alphys rather than scared. It was a relief. All three of you had a basic grasp over the Japanese words written, and you found it good practice to read the English translations next to the Japanese words. You had been tempted to get a bento, but you had come here for sushi so that was what you would get.

It had been nice chatting with the girls, but the talk with Alphys earlier and what Undyne had mentioned in the truck reminded you of Sans. Was he alright? You still had questions about monster sickness, but the way Undyne made it sound, it was just a temporary thing. Like when you became too fatigued and collapsed and took a while to recover. You had sent a text to Sans earlier to check on him, but he hadn't responded. Contacting Papyrus had just resulted in a quick assurance that he would handle everything.

You continued to worry, but you were distracted by your friends. They suggested taking pictures instead, so you pulled out your Snapchat app. It was fun taking the pictures. You could grow to like using cameras, which was good because you still had a whole scrapbook to fill.

Sushi was okay, you thought. You weren't sure how you felt about the raw fish, but you liked the texture of it all. You especially (though it was kind of rude to do in public) liked to take the rolls apart, eat the fish, then scrape the rice off of the seaweed to eat, and then eat the seaweed last. It gave you a feeling of unexplainable satisfaction. Undyne and Alphys had tried as well, but their pointed teeth made it a bit more difficult with the thin seaweed.

The highlight of the night, however, was when Undyne tried the little green ball of wasabi. You and Alphys already knew about the dangers of wasabi from anime and the manga you read. You had sniffed it and tried a tiny bit, but the stinging of your tongue had been unpleasant so you didn't try it again. You also had mixed feelings about the ginger. You both had tried to warn Undyne about the wasabi, but Undyne, being Undyne, took it as a challenge and ate the whole thing.

Through your laughter and her screaming you had managed another snapchat picture to send to all of your friends. Its caption read: Undyne ate wasabi. It spiced her life up too much. The blur of Undyne rushing by the camera behind your selfie with Alphys only made the whole thing all the more hilarious.

You all hadn't been allowed to stay in the restaurant much longer than that, but you were politely asked to leave. It seemed most of the servers had been more amused by Undyne's reaction than anything.

When you all made it back to their house, you were sent upstairs to bathe. Despite the house being rather large, there was only one bathroom with a bath in it, and that was the one in Undyne and Alphys's (now shared) room. It used to contain a toilet as well, but Undyne broke that. Alphys had tried to fix it, but it ended up becoming a talking toilet and you just weren't comfortable with the amount of sentience your porcelain throne would have. So you used the tiny bathroom added to the guest room whenever you needed to relieve yourself.

After you were squeaky clean, you went downstairs to discover a strange set-up. The smaller version of the cube bed was laid out in the living room with Undyne and Alphys on top of it. They were surrounded by little bottles of nail polish. There was also a dangerous-looking metal file that looked like it would be more useful in a prison break than in a manicure. Because it was so toasty in the house (considering Alphys was used to the heat and Undyne hated the cold) both women were dressed in summer pajamas. Alphys had on a nightgown and Undyne was wearing her shorts and a tank top. She was grinning broadly.

You felt a little threatened.

"It's time for some SLEEPOVER STUFF!" Undyne declared as you crawled onto the bed. "GET OVER HERE AND LET ME DO YOUR HAIR, PUNK!" You hurried to her and turned around to let her grab your hair. You closed your eyes momentarily and prayed to whoever that you would still have hair after this.

"Sensitive." You warned her.

"I know how hair works!" Undyne shot back as she started to dry your hair with a nearby blow dryer. On the closest table was also a straightener.

"Um...can I see your hands?" Alphys asked. You held out one of your hands to her. Your nails were clean, but they were uneven because they kept breaking. You only gave them the minimum amount of care. Alphys picked up the nail filer and narrowed her eyes at it, displeased.

"Too big?" You asked.

"W-well, we use this for our nails." She explained. "But it, uh, might be too strong for your nails. They're really...thin."

Your head jerked with a particularly sharp tug and Undyne muttered a curse under her breath. "Sorry. You've got knots. Do you even USE conditioner?!"

"...No..." You admitted. It felt like an unnecessary step to you. You were used to two-in-one shampoos, but your parents no longer got you that.

Undyne gave a cry of disgust. She yanked your hair again by accident. "Start using conditioner! We all know you have some kind of weird hair-petting fetish, so make sure your hair doesn't have knots in it! Conditioner will make that thing SMOOTH AS ONE OF MUFFET'S SPIDER WEBS!" You had to admit, Muffet's spider webs really were smooth. Even when you were getting stuck in them.

Wait, how the heck did even Undyne know that you liked to get your hair played with? You narrowed your eyes at Alphys, and she gave you a nervous smile as she carefully tried to file your nails. "Papyrus." She explained, and it all made sense. All of the town probably knew, then.

"You don't like it?" You asked Undyne. "Having your hair played with."

Undyne didn't respond but her hands stilled temporarily. The pause was telling, but then she shouted, "Of course I don't! I don't have a stupid weakness like that! That's a human thing!" Alphys looked over the rims of her glasses at you and winked. You grinned. It was nice building a repertoire of blackmail against your friends. Not that you would ever use it maliciously, but it would even the playing field a bit.

Undyne switched to drying your hair and you all fell silent over the noise of it. You pulled your phone out of your pocket with your free hand and began to scroll through your messages. Sans hadn't responded at all, but Papyrus had snapchatted you back. It was a picture of him with Sans. Sans looked bleached and had dark lines under his sockets, but he was giving a weary smile. He had a bowl of soup in his lap that, according to Papyrus's words on the photo, wasn't made by Papyrus himself. Was it canned soup? It looked rather delicious.

In response you motioned for the other two to gather in close and you all took a shot together. That was a good one. You wondered if you could save it to your phone.

Undyne finished drying your hair and Alphys had gone to looking at the nail polish colors. "Anime?" You asked her.

"Actually!" Alphys perked up at the thought. "I found a good one! Madoka Magica! I've heard that it's sad but it's a good story to watch! I was thinking we can all watch it together!" She hesitated. "Even...Sans."

"What the heck is your problem with him anyway?" Undyne asked as she straightened your hair. She was actually pretty gentle with your hair after she toned down the pulling.

"I d-don't have a problem with him!" Alphys sighed. This didn't sound like it was the first time they had talked about this. "Sans and I just have a...complicated relationship. It's mutual."

"You say that, but how complicated can it be?" Undyne muttered. You and Alphys shared a look and then turned away at the same time. You wondered how little Undyne actually knew about Alphys's past. Everyone was aware of the determination experiments on monsters...but how many of them knew about the determination experiments with the humans? You weren't even sure how much your dad knew about the experiments. You were too afraid to ask.

Alphys finally decided on a light pink for your nails and started painting them. Her hands were shaking a little and caused some of the pain to go onto your cuticles. "It's...um..." She started softly. You hadn't expected her to continue, "very complicated." She looked to you again. You didn't say anything and watched her curiously. You wouldn't allow your reactions to influence her. "...Sans and I...have a history together..." Undyne suddenly stiffened behind you and you thought you smelled your hair burning. "N-N-NOT LIKE THAT!" Alphys cried, and you jerked away so your hair wouldn't burn. Undyne cursed.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She ran a hand over your hair. Luckily it was just damp enough that the strands didn't burn. She put the straightener aside and shifted over so she was sitting next to you instead. "How DO you mean, then?" She demanded.

Alphys nervously closed up the nail polish. You silently blew on the nails she had already painted. "Um...Sans and I...used to, um, work together..." She rubbed at her scales. "On the...determination...experiments...and other things..."

"Whoa whoa, wait. Sans was a SCIENTIST? IS A SCIENTIST?"

"Yes."

Undyne looked absolutely floored. She stared at the bed for a few long moments before looking at you. "Did you know this too?"

"Yes." You nodded.

"Why didn't Papyrus tell me?!" She demanded, suddenly upset.

"He didn't know." You quickly defended him, and now even Alphys was shocked. Then her face cleared in realization before she looked sad. "But now he does."

Undyne watched you for a few long seconds before it clicked. "Oh. So earlier today..." You nodded. "But...What the heck? Why was he being so personal about it?!"

"There's more to the story," You said, "that wasn't his place to tell." You looked at Alphys and then back at Undyne. The fish woman stared at Alphys now and you could practically see the pieces falling into place in her head. You didn't want to talk about this anymore. Undyne and Alphys should probably have this talk in private rather than with you. So you put your hand on Alphys's knee to draw her attention. You gave her a reassuring smile before glancing pointedly down at your nails. She took the hint.

"U-Um...so...Madoka Magica."