Sorry, but this chapter's a little bit shorter than some of the other chapters. Next one hopefully won't be too long in coming.

They had never taken a car trip together.

And that was rather funny, since they had been on the Surface long enough to have had more than enough opportunities. Then again, with all the meetings and government negotiating, there really hadn't been time. And that was just at the beginning. Now, mostly, it was because none of them owned a car. Until now, the Ebott bus system had served them well enough, but there were no buses that shuttled between Ebott and the Outer Borders. Thankfully, a few quick arrangements by a few of Undyne's friends soon got them a rental large enough to carry six monsters and a human child.

Seating arrangement was a little difficult, with a lot of going back and forth on who should sit where. There was a lot to consider, taking into account things like size and who got more car-sick than others. Finally, after much debating and a few false starts they decided on Undyne and Alphys being in the far back of the not-so-mini van, where they could chat as much as they liked about anime without distracting the already excited Papyrus. As the only one among them with a valid license, he had been designated as the driver, with Asgore sitting in the passenger seat as navigator, his lap wallpapered with maps and directional-based notes that Alphys had printed off the internet.

That left the three quieter individuals, namely Sans, Toriel, and Frisk, to sit in the middle of the van. Toriel and Sans each took a seat near a window, with Frisk comfortably sandwiched between them. It was a comfortable arrangement, and one of which Toriel especially approved. It gave her a good vantage point from which she could keep an eye on both Sans and Frisk, give driving comments to Papyrus and Asgore, and, when needed, turn around and shush Undyne and Alphys to a more bearable volume whenever they got too wound up.

Toriel was rather surprised with the diligent carefulness with which Papyrus drove. He was very by the book, as Sans had always pointed out, and had truly memorized the driving manual backwards and forwards long before he had ever gone in for his test. He had passed it with flying colors, being perhaps one of the best testers the driving instructor had ever seen. Of course, after having sold his car in order to help pay for Redemption, he was now a little out of practice. That was why they had had him drive around an empty lot for a while the day before the trip had been planned. That had brought everything rushing back to the skeleton and booted out any doubts he, or anyone else, might have had.

The morning of their trip had been a flurry of activity, occupied with running around and packing what little they would be able to fit in the van's trunk. Pillows, some snacks, a few blankets, some puzzles for Papyrus and Frisk, a bottle or two of ketchup, bathing suits, various changes of clothes and pajamas, and two lawn chairs. It was a tight fit. Some of the items had to be taken out of the trunk altogether because they had piled up until Papyrus could no longer see out the back window. Since that was deemed too dangerous of a risk, and against the law as Papyrus pointed out, they distributed some of the less invasive objects throughout the car. Undyne complained briefly about the ketchup bottles that kept rolling around under her feet, but once she had pulled her legs up to sit cross-legged in her seat, they no longer bothered her.

As they set off, the gentle lines of Redemption fading behind them as they traveled down the long, dirt road to the highway, Sans felt a weight fall from him like a heavy burden. It shuddered out of him, as he gazed out the window of the van, the world passing in a blur. It was pleasant and mindless, and he just let his eyes wander over the rapidly changing scenery, before he closed them, allowing the feeling of peace to fill him, letting it take over and hold him like an embrace.

It had been two days since that nightly talk, when the decision to take a vacation had gone from idea to considered-plan to definite-plan. It had all happened so quickly, it had left him in somewhat of a daze. The minute Sans had given in, the others had leaped at the chance, wanting to help him, and Sans couldn't help the warm feeling of fondness wash through his soul. They were so set on doing their best for him, and he was both relieved and self-disgusted by it. Relieved because, even if he didn't think he did, he needed their help, and some deep sub-consciousness within him knew that. And self-disgusted because he felt he didn't deserve it. But they thought he did, and, in Sans' mind, they deserved it too, after all he had put them through the past few weeks. They needed this; wanted it. Undyne and Papyrus were so excited it was a wonder the house was still standing under their enthusiasm. Sans wouldn't do it for his sake. But he'd do it for theirs. And once he had decided on those principles, Sans found he was rather excited about going himself.

Though there had been one problem. One he had had to handle himself.

Hornbern.

The day Toriel and Asgore had decided they would all leave was the exact day that Sans was supposed to be going back to the Institute for another session with the professor. When Sans had realized his mistake, his soul had felt like it had stopped in his chest, an incredible wave of stress sweeping over him as he lay in bed that night. He had lain awake most of the night after that, trying to figure out some way or other that he could either get out of the trip, or get out of the 'appointment'.

He considered feigning illness, which wouldn't have been too far-fetched. But he had a feeling that, even if he had been at death's door he would still be going on this trip, under the belief that he was probably better off with his own kind when he was unwell. That would be Toriel's thinking. That would be all their thinking. And there probably was something to that.

And then he had considered just skipping his meeting with Hornbern without a word. But quiet threats about the deal being broken stopped him from doing that.

Sans settled for leaving the man a long message explaining what had happened. He would have preferred to tell Hornbern in person, or live over the phone, but he was unable to reach him and the risk of being heard by the others was too great. So a message it was. He explained that he wasn't well, and that his family had noticed and had decided to do something about it. They were planning to be gone for four or five days, but Sans promised that he would turn up at the Institute the night they got back. Then he left his cell phone number, silently pleading that he had worked everything out so that the deal wouldn't be absolved.

"This isn't a breaking of the deal," he had insisted to the professor's answering machine, locked away in his room so no one would overhear his words. "This is just a delay that couldn't be helped. If I tried to get out of it, then they would know for sure something was up. We should be back Tuesday night. Yeah. Thanks."

And he had hung up.

It was all he had been able to do, and it was both a worry and a relief, and the two emotions warred it out within him. Finally he had reconciled his mixed feelings by convincing himself that it would be better to ask forgiveness than ask permission. Had he asked Hornbern, the man might have done something to stop him. This way, by the time Hornbern got his message, Sans would already be long gone. The man would have no choice but to wait. And Sans hoped by all the right in the world that that was going to be okay. But, despite that worry, he was just relieved to be going away for a while, no matter how short. Anywhere that didn't have a loud, commanding voice telling him to exhaust his magic until he was so close to passing out he thought he was going to die. Anywhere was better than that.

Sans shivered slightly, coming back to himself just in time to feel two, small arms wrap around him. Opening his eyes, he looked to his right, where Frisk was firmly hugging him, her eyes staring into his with love and a hint of concern. He smiled, reassuring her, and that seemed to do the trick. Frisk settled in that way, resting up against him. It wasn't long before the kid was asleep, breathing deeply with her hands fisted gently in the fabric of his jacket. Between the warmth, and the gentle rocking and humming of the vehicle, Sans soon followed, drifting into a calmer, more satisfying slumber than he had had in a while.

Toriel smiled, watching as all the tension bled from Sans as the skeleton gave in to Frisk's determined cuddling. Turning backwards slightly, the boss monster asked Undyne to pass up one of the blankets from the trunk. Undyne did so, giving the sleeping duo a glance herself as the handed the object over to goat monster.

"Huh. He's kinda cute when he isn't cracking off those stupid puns," she commented, voice low and amused.

Toriel chuckled in agreement, taking the blanket and lovingly draping it over her daughter and friend. "Do not let him hear you say so. I doubt very much that he would appreciate such a description."

Undyne gave a sharp-toothed grin. "Artillery for when he's being a jerk," she smirked.

The other laughed, shaking her head. But then Toriel's smile dimmed a bit. "I really hope this trip helps him. He is taking what happened at the Negotiation far too harshly. It all worked out in the end, but I fear that while we have forgiven him, he has not forgiven himself."

Alphys scooched closer, also getting a look at their sleeping friend from over the back of the middle seat. She smiled fondly. Man, when Sans was out he was out. Most people would have been awakened by their hushed voices, or felt some sort of feeling wash over then to tell them they were under the attention of others, like when you get the feeling you're being watched. Not so with Sans. His eyes closed and wide smile relaxed into slightly smaller oval, his soft, gentle breathing spoke of complete unconsciousness. The kind he needed so badly.

"Sans has always been very hard on himself," Alphys agreed, before she wondered how in the world she knew that. Sans had...been an acquaintance, before, in the Underground. Of course, just about everybody knew everybody back then. How could they not? It was one of the results of living trapped together in a place that only really stretched a few miles. But it wasn't like she had been a good friend of the skeleton...that she could recall. At least not on her part. Sans knew everything there was to know about everyone, and that was only natural when he had lived countless resets to gain such an understanding. He even knew about the stuff she was ashamed of, and that no one else knew about.

He knew her better than she knew herself.

And yet, there were times when she felt she should know more about him. Not 'should' like it was something she was supposed to have already done, but 'should' as in it was something she once had and no longer did. There were days thoughts would come to her, little tidbits of information, like the fact that Sans was good with numbers and equations, long before the skeleton had made it known to the others, and it drove her crazy because she couldn't for the life of her remember how she had known. She shrugged it all off, attributing it to the resets. Maybe some alternate timeline knowledge had crossed over somehow. Maybe she really didn't know any of these things about him, but some other version of her somewhere did. It hurt her head just thinking about it. Timeline science was really more up Sans' alley.

Thankfully, neither Undyne nor Toriel seemed to notice her slip up, because they all knew Sans was, indeed, far too hard on himself.

"Maybe this trip will help that," Toriel whispered gently, tucking the blanket closer over Frisk's shoulder. "Frisk has been very tense these past few weeks as well." She gently ran her large fingers through the child's light brown hair, mindful to make sure her claws didn't scratch her. She smiled fondly. "She is very fond of Sans."

Undyne gave a light huff, once again looking down at the two sleeping friends. "Looks like the feeling is mutual. I've known Sans ever since I met Papyrus, just after I became captain of the Royal Guard. I've never seen anyone get this close to him. Outside of Papyrus."

Asgore, hearing their conversation, twisted slightly in his seat in the front to look back, his eyes softening at the sight. "It is really quite remarkable. After all they have..." He frowned. "All they have been through."

There was no need to explain that statement. Frisk and Sans had both given their accounts of the resets, and if there was one thing that was harder to imagine than time skipping backwards over and over, people dying and then being alive again without ever remembering it, or Chara taking control of Frisk, it was that Sans and Frisk had been enemies. That they had killed each other, repeatedly. In horrible ways. There were days when Sans was particularly distressed that he would grip at the fabric of his jacket, pushing his fingers against his chest as though some hidden wound still pained him. And there were days that Frisk, in Sans' presence, would flinch if the skeleton moved too quickly, which, thankfully, was rare. It made the others' souls twist in sympathy. They wanted so hard to understand, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't. Not really.

The thoughts Asgore's words rang through them wiped the smiles from their faces. The reality of the resets painted this innocent scene into something much deeper; into something much darker and more heart-rending. Toriel's hand stilled, pulling back slightly to hover uncertainly over Frisk's head. Alphys closed her eyes before opening them again, focusing them on anything but her friends. Undyne, the very embodiment of Alphys opposite, stared hard at Frisk and Sans' lax forms, all of the smirk and amusement gone from her face. Asgore's eyes rose slowly to meet Toriel's emotionally pained gaze, and in the driver's seat, unnoticed by the others, Papyrus' fingers gripped harder at the steering wheel.

Undyne finally broke the tension with a sigh, flopping back into her seat in the back. "That's why we're going on a vacation, right?" she supplied, almost softly, for her. "There's apparently a lot of hurt still in need of some healing."

The others all nodded in agreement.

Sans woke up to someone gently shaking his shoulder. He cracked his eyes open, before blinking against the bright sunlight streaming in through the car window. It hit him with an instant headache he was not expecting.

"Aw, geez..."

He started to sit up, discovering that sometimes during his slumber he had sunk to the side of the seat, his skull slipping down between the window and the seat belt. It might have been comfortable when he had first drifted off, but after probably more than an hour of riding like that, his neck had gotten terribly stiff. The skeleton winced, extricating his head from the car restraint, before finally turning to whoever had woken him.

Turned out it was Papyrus, the tall skeleton having to duck and lean in, almost lying across the middle seat of the van just so he could reach Sans, who was stuffed into the corner like a bundle of blue fabric and bones. Papyrus smiled as Sans' eyelights focused, removing his hand from his brother's shoulder.

"HELLO, SANS," he spoke up gently, or as gently as he could for all of his boisterous personality.

Sans smiled back, his gave a grin still reflecting his drowsiness. "Hey, Pap." He paused, taking in the fact that the car was no longer moving and that it was completely void of any occupants other than he and his brother. "Uh...Where is everyone?"

"WE ARRIVED HERE, THE OUTER BORDERS, A LITTLE WHILE AGO," Papyrus supplied. "AND...WELL, YOU WERE SLEEPING SO SOUNDLY, WE DECIDED TO LET YOU SLEEP FOR A LITTLE WHILE."

The smaller skeleton pulled himself up so he was sitting up a little straighter. "We're at the Outer Borders?"

Papyrus nodded, and Sans quickly reached for the buckle of his seat belt. He was glad they had let him get a little rest. In all honesty, it was probably the best sleep he had had for the last few weeks. But if they were back with the their own people he wanted to enjoy it as much as he could, without it all going by in a flash because he had been asleep. As Pap scooched back out of the van Sans followed, collecting his sneakers that must have slipped off his feet during the trip.

The minute he stepped outside into the sunlight Sans felt warmth flood all over him. It was a beautiful day. Like one of the ones in the picture books he used to read to Papyrus...Still read to Papyrus. If Redemption was in the countryside, the Outer Borders were even more so. The air smelled of dew-covered grass, warm dirt, and fresh leaves. Far from Mount Ebott's towering shadow, there was an unobscured view of the sky, and it stretched on and on endlessly in every direction.

Sans blinked up at it, his headache thankfully dissipating with every breath of clean air he took. He felt a gentle weight on his shoulder once again, looking up to his brother as Papyrus began to lead him.

"COME ALONG, BROTHER! THE OTHERS WILL BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU!"

And by 'others' Sans knew he meant more than just their little gang from Redemption. He'd get to see a lot of old friends today, and he was quite honestly excited.

Papyrus must have parked the van a short distance from the monster settlement, seeing as, when Sans looked back, it was parked under the shade of a maple tree, and there wasn't a monster building in sight. Sans gave his brother a questioning look, which Papyrus caught.

"WE THOUGHT IT BEST TO PARK THE VEHICLE OUT A WAYS," he said in explanation. "ASGORE WAS CONCERNED THAT SOME OF THE MORE CURIOUS MONSTERS MIGHT GET A LITTLE TOO...UM, CURIOUS."

That made perfect sense. There were still a good handful of their people who had not even caught a glimpse of Ebott City yet. They would be almost desperate to gather any information that they could, taking the car apart piece by piece if necessary. Which, in all honesty, might have been fine if they knew what they were doing and knew how to put it all back together again. Which they didn't. Sans had made that mistake with the scooter he had bought a short time after they had arrived on the Surface. It had been a clunky old thing, barely worth the few bucks he had paid for it, but it had worked and gotten him from place to place that first week or so. But then he had brought it to show Grillby, and a few monsters had got at it when his back was turned. He had shrugged it off, not really caring either way. Though he had been rather surprised at just how many pieces the thing had been made up of, and left in.

Sans nodded. "Gotcha."

The forest was so pretty here. Flowers waved in the slight breeze, coming in so many different colors it still sometimes managed to make Sans dizzy with the beauty of it. The sun filtered through the vibrant green leaves here, casting shifting patterns of shadow and light on the worn, dirt path they were treading. It was calming, and quiet, other than the birds singing in the boughs above. It felt great. And Sans started to find himself already beginning to unwind from the last few weeks. Hornbern was just a wisp of a problem in the back of his mind, and Sans was more than fine wit that.

Papyrus watched his brother; he took in the calm, relaxed expression that slowly crept into his features, feeling a sense of gratitude shift into his own emotions. As naive as he could be, Papyrus had grown to be very perceptive, especially of Sans. When they had come topsoil, and the whole thing with the resets had been explained to him, Papyrus had felt horribly guilty. Guilty that he hadn't read Sans better, and figured out that he was in trouble. That he was suffering and hurting. Sans had told him more than once that it wasn't his fault, but Papyrus had a different opinion.

To him, Sans had just suddenly woken up one day and been, what he know understood to be, depressed. For him, it had been a strange fluke that just all at once came into being. But for Sans, it had been gradual. Reset after reset had slowly worn away his hope, until so little of it remained Papyrus was sure the only thing keeping Sans from falling had been the short term of each reset. Chara never gave him time to fall, if what Sans had told him was correct. To Sans, it had been an ongoing theme in his life, and the descent into that pit of despair had been slow and painful.

And he, Papyrus, the supposed 'Great', had missed it.

After that, Papyrus had taken it upon himself to keep the closest eye on Sans that he could without giving himself away. He began to study the ways that Sans expressed himself. The subtle way he tended to sink into the safety of his coat when he felt uncertain or nervous. The way he buried his hands deeper in his pockets when he didn't want anyone to notice how badly they were shaking. The way he craned his neck when he was curious, or when his attention snapped to something, making his eyelights constrict slightly if it was something that worried him. All these things Papyrus had always known to some degree, but he had never put that knowledge to use. Now, he did so every chance he got.

And at the moment, Sans' posture and stance as they walked lazily toward the monster settlement was lax. His hands were in his pockets, but were resting there only lightly. His steps weren't hurried, and his eyes were closed slightly, completely at ease. It was the most relaxed Papyrus had seen him in a while. But there was still something off that the tall skeleton couldn't quite place. He looked a little harder, trying to make sure his brother didn't notice his scrutinizing.

Sans looked perfectly normal. He was a little thinner than he had been in the Underground, at least, he looked like it. Skeletons couldn't technically gain or lose weight, but their overall composition size could change slightly. Sans' bones were a little leaner, healthier than they had been. Not that Papyrus could see much of them, other than his legs, skull, and a bit of the side of his neck. Despite the warm day, Sans was still wrapped up in his...

Wait a moment.

Papyrus cocked his head to the side, realizing that Sans wasn't wearing his usual coat. It was blue, yes, and very similar in design to his other one, but it was significantly less puffy. Papyrus recalled that Toriel had bought it, but that Sans, despite appreciating the gesture, favored his old coat more often than not. It wasn't that big a deal that Sans was wearing it now...other than the nagging in the back of Papyrus' mind that told the skeleton something wasn't quite right. It was a faint feeling, but one that he didn't want to ignore.

"WHERE IS YOUR COAT, BROTHER?" He watched as Sans tensed, alarms going off in his skull as Sans' hands dug deeper into the pockets. "DID YOU LOSE IT?" Unlikely, but he wanted to press his question a little more. Otherwise Sans might manage to dodge around it. He was so very good at that, unfortunately.

Sans gave a shrug, but it wasn't nearly the same as the relaxed posture of before. "Nah. Just felt like wearing something different," he answered.

Papyrus frowned. "SANS, YOU HATE THINGS THAT ARE DIFFERENT. THAT IS WHY IT TOOK ALMOST GETTING HIT BY A CAR TO CONVINCE YOU NOT TO WEAR SLIPPERS OUT AND ABOUT THE CITY ANYMORE." His expression softened. "SANS, IS SOMETHING BOTHERING YOU?"

Sans mentally cringed, somehow managing not to let it show in his face. He smiled up at his brother, trying to come across as casual, but confused. "No? Pap, it's just a coat. It's not like I was showing up in a tutu or something." Now there was a funny thought.

But Papyrus persisted. "IT IS JUST THAT, EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME, YOU HARDLY EVER TAKE THAT RATTY, OLD JACKET OFF."

"It was dirty."

"I WASHED IT A FEW DAYS AGO."

"Huh? When?"

"WHEN YOU TOOK A NAP."

Sans tried not to chuckle at the thought of his brother stripping him of his coat, washing it, drying it, and getting it back on him without waking him even the slightest. Though, the more Sans thought about it, it really wasn't that funny. It attested to just how much Papyrus understood about him now. Pap knew he loved that coat, and that it made him feel safe and whole. Papyrus understood. So much so, that he was willing to go the extra mile and wait for him to fall asleep to wash it.

Sans swallowed a mixed emotion of love and pained gratitude, thankfully keeping his voice steady. "Huh. Thanks, bro."

"YOU ARE WELCOME."

They both lapsed into silence, in which Sans knew his brother was waiting. He was waiting for him to take the first step, and Sans wanted to. He wanted to more badly than he had first realized. But he couldn't let go. He couldn't tell Papyrus about Hornbern; not now. Preferably not ever. It was a hard spot he had gotten himself into, and he had done that before. He always got out of them just fine on his own. He didn't want Papyrus to worry.

Sans gave a sigh. "Listen, Pap, I'm fine. I...seem to have lost it somewhere. I took it off last night, and now I'm not sure where it is." Only a half lie. He did know where it was, but he had left it there by mistake. "I wanted to have something covering me up because...well, you know. And this was what I had." He smiled again, playing his roll to the hilt. "See? Simple."

Papyrus' expression softened, and Sans felt like a jerk for breaking the trust he saw there. "AH, I UNDERSTAND, BROTHER. WE WILL SEARCH FOR IT WHEN WE GET BACK HOME, ALRIGHT? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL FIND IT! NYEH!" With that, the tall skeleton scooped him up and shifted Sans up over his head and unto his shoulders. Sans was more than a little startled, before relaxing, taking in the ride. The relaxed calmness washed back over him again.

As long as he focused on what was around him, the troubles that plagued him stayed at bay.