Car Lot with Undyne and Asriel . . .

"I like that one."

"I don't."

"Well, we need to decide," Undyne insisted as she looked at yet another car. After Papyrus' plan was set into action, they were smartly dropped off at a car lot, and left to rot to figure things out on their own. It sounded half silly, but Papyrus insisted they follow about an hour behind Sans and Frisk, without telling them.

Undyne did not understand the 'not telling them'. If Sans knew everything was okay, wouldn't it be fine? But, Papyrus seemed certain that Sans shouldn't know the whole plan. If the humans caught up to him, it's not like they would trouble him for the plan, they would just take Frisk.

Papyrus wasn't telling her something, and it annoyed her. It was a good plan, but why keep it secret? The only secret keepers would be inside Mount Ebott. "Bigger than the little one. We still have the stupid kennels to lug around. I guess we could put them in the hood. I personally like the bigger ones. More power."

"Smaller is more discreet," Asriel said, "and Papyrus wants us discreet."

"Which still makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Asriel insisted. "If you are the brother of someone who just became a father accidentally, what is the one thing you want?"

"Uuuhh . . ."

"Connection, a connection. He wants Sans to build a closer connection." Asriel snorted. "If Sans knows we are out here, then he is still technically being 'watched'. He watches his actions. He watches his jokes. He watches what he says, almost timing it all just right. Haven't you noticed that? Sans is . . . a very big act."

"Oh, I think I get you, sort of," Undyne said. "Once Sans thinks there's no one but Frisk."

"No monsters to judge him-"

"Then he has to honestly face . . . face what? Frisk?" Undyne 'meh'd'. "I guess I still don't get it."

"Yeah. Don't think about it too much," Asriel said. "The blue car would be fine. It's bigger than a regular car, and we need to get moving. If any humans come after Frisk, they must meet us first."

"True. I will take on any who are trying to hurt the punky princess," Undyne said.

"I . . . don't think I have much to worry about," Asriel said. "When it comes to fighting, I don't, but, I have this feeling that I will be just fine with it."

"You?" Undyne questioned. "Oh yah, don't worry about that. You'll hold your own there, Prince Asriel. Blue car will work."

"Blue car is a very nice choice," The human that had been following them around, trying to be stealthy said. "Good mileage, good age, and-"

"Let's just pay for it and get out," Asriel insisted. "How much?"

"How much can be worked out with-"

"Just tell us so we can give the full amount to you already, we have got a schedule to keep," Undyne insisted.

"Oh? Well, this won't take long at all then, don't worry. Come with me and we'll have you out of here in no time."

To Frisk and Sans . . .

Frisk woke up, feeling a bit groggy. Did she go out again? She saw Krisp E. Cream on her lap and her dog Papyrus on the other side of her. She looked toward the front, and Sans was driving again. From the look of it, it was evening. "Sans?"

"Up again? You're worse than a deflating balloon," Sans joked. "Better?"

"Yeah. Yes, much better, but what happened?" Frisk was getting tired of losing track of time, and her stomach was tired of missing food too.

"Um. Well?" Sans seemed to take a minute. "Everyone's gone. It's just you, me, Krisp E. Cream and Papyrus. Your Papyrus."

Everyone was gone? "What do you mean?" Frisk asked. "Sans?"

"The power got to them all. They wanted to go back to the mountain. I got us out. Speaking of which." Sans pulled over on the side of the road. He turned around and showed her soul. "Good. Not an inch of progress."

Not an inch of progress? Frisk looked at her soul. "Sans?" Wait. "That gray?"

"Yes, dear?" Sans chuckled. "Yeah, I know. It's bigger. You went all funny for awhile too, that's why you lost track of time and went out again. They were pushing your age up, so the little guy or gal would be born faster."

"What? That's terrible." Frisk looked toward the gray. She looked toward her stomach.

"Aw, no worries. Nothing like that. Looks like . . . three. Maybe, and I think we've broken free by now."

"Are you sure?"

"Been riding so much, you can't even see the mountain anymore."

Frisk turned around. He was right. There wasn't even a trace. "How long have you been driving?"

"I . . . I just drove the limit, sometimes a little over, ever since I separated from Papyrus." His charming wit was gone in that statement. "Anyhow, you're fine now."

"Everyone headed back Underground?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah. We'll see them in about eight months or so," Sans said. "Maybe."

"My mom?"

"I don't know, Frisk. Everyone just headed back, and I didn't exactly get great explanations," Sans said, a little irritated. "They want to try something from inside Mount Ebott. So . . . was that your stomach?"

Frisk groaned lightly as she shifted in her buckle. "I'm sorry, that wasn't exactly the proper time for that, but . . . do we have any food?"

"Oh. I kind of didn't stop for any," Sans said. "Probably should have. Yeah, you haven't eaten since this morning, you better eat. We'll pick something up in the next town."

"Why?" Frisk asked. "Isn't this far enough? We can't even see the mountain. You seemed quite sure we were good." She sighed. "Look, I know you need a break, a desperately bad break, Sans. How are you still even driving?"

"Adrenaline to get away," Sans said.

"Then we're away."

"Yeah."

"Then, let's get some real food. If you want, I'll let you check my soul afterward," Frisk said. "If it hasn't changed any, then let's just book a hotel and relax. You need it. Badly."

"Um." Sans seemed reluctant to agree. "I want to be further."

Oh. Frisk understood. "We can take off again tomorrow. Everything will be fine. We can go as far as you want from the barrier, Sans. But, I need food, and you need a break. Tomorrow, maybe I can take over for you more too. As long as these spells are over," Frisk said. "What do you want to eat?"

"Oh. Yeah, well, you do need to eat," Sans said. "So, whatever you want to eat."

"Aren't you eating?"

"Whatever."

"What have you eaten?" Frisk asked curiously. Sans was not himself. He didn't feel like himself.

"I just . . . I just wanted to get as far away as fast as I could," Sans said, turning back around. "Name what you want, where you want."

There was her answer. Nothing. "Next town we come to then."

Frisk stayed quietly in the back while Sans drove. Everyone leaving has affected him. Unlike me, he has actually lived for years down there, knowing everyone. In fact, he lived longer than he even remembered Underground. She thought back to the memories she had had of his about his brother, Papyrus. Both of them, walking through the dust of monsters. He had been with Papyrus since then. Who knew how long he had known Alphys and Undyne? Perhaps ever since the barrier. He lost his family today.

Frisk knew he had come up to the surface the first time to help her pass the tests. He put everything on the line, and he even said he would spend months up there, but eight months? Would he have really spent eight months away that easily?

Even the time during the healing, most of the time he was just sleeping away. Every once in awhile, they ate, but it was mostly sleep. It's not . . . it's not so much his monster energy, he uses sleep as an escape. He said adrenaline was the reason he drove all that distance, and maybe it was, but even someone with boundless adrenaline would need a break between.

As they entered the next town, she saw a sign advertising Mount Ebott Tours and the distance it had been. No, Sans hadn't slept all right. In six hours, it will have been about twenty-four hours since she first fainted and they got the news she was pregnant with his little monster. Add to that the fact it was late at night, and he had spent that day with her and her suitors, not napping. So . . . Sans is going almost 48 hours with no rest? "Did you get any rest at all after the restaurant?" She asked.

"Huh?" Sans said. "Oh. Yeah, uh, about . . . almost an hour."

Yeah, that wasn't nearly enough, and he wasn't even thinking about food. Which Frisk understood. He knew everyone at least a hundred years, maybe longer. They were all gone now. He'd see them in less than a year, and he used to say time wasn't much of a factor for monsters. So. Something's wrong. Something's missing. He's acting like he might . . . might never see them again.

The barrier. Frisk was pregnant. Her soul still had the grey in it. She should still be okay, right? She needed to know, but flat out asking wouldn't be right. She didn't want to put him on the spot like that. Especially since she still didn't know the position he wanted with the little one that was his too. Stay or go? "However far you drive with me, I still have to come back in eight months. So, make sure we don't go so far away it'll take a real long time to get back," she said. "I won't be as ready to take care of myself."

Yeah, she swore she saw his bony finger twitch on the wheel slightly. "Yeah. You might not."

"Might not?" Frisk asked. "Why, is something wrong with me?"

"No. You're fully a hundred percent pregnant," Sans said. "It's just that, you might have to risk too much. Skeletons, if the kid is that . . . well, let's just say the baby's gonna be boned if we do that."

"Oh. It's dangerous for it. How dangerous?"

"Could possibly lose it's life in one of the worst ways known," Sans said. "If it's like you though, then it'll be great. So, yeah, that's where it all stands, Frisk."

Fate. If it's a baby skeleton, then he'll never see his brother again. He'll never see any of them again. Now it made sense. There was no way of knowing either until the body was there, and she was large enough for an ultrasound. She would never leave everyone Underground, but she would never risk another life. "I see. Then, if it's a skeleton, I'll have to have another."

Sans wasn't answering, just tapping his bony finger on the steering wheel. "Geez, women. Always expecting a guy to put out," he chuckled. "Really, Frisk? It ain't that simple. This happened cause of our damaged souls."

Oh, she knew that. "Of course," Frisk answered.

"Oh, so I'm a lucky guy?" Sans asked. "Let me just pull over and book a hotel room for about a year from now," he joked.

"This is the surface," Frisk answered him back. "As such, there are different ways around those things. I am sure with a little science, monsters and humans can have invitro done if necessary."

"In what O?" Sans asked. "Let me guess. Leave it to humans to develop a way to have a kid without sex."

"Nailed it."

"Kinda the opposite with that."

Oof. "I just mean, that I don't want you to think you'll never see your brother or anyone Underground again," she said. He didn't answer back. At first she didn't know if he even heard her, but she hadn't changed her tone at all, and he heard everything else. So, she waited a good five minutes before he answered back.

"Risking your life is one thing. Getting bamboozled into this is another thing. Physically putting yourself through this same kind of hell is stupid, Frisk. There wouldn't be any guarantee that the next one would be human. It don't work that way, and most likely, it wouldn't be." Ooh, that sounded cold. "Monster genes are going to override mere human genes because they are dominant. It'd do that every time. Truthfully? Honestly? There isn't a chance in hell this kid will be human, and they know it. That's why they are trying to get you back." She saw his grip on the steering wheel increase. "So, that kind of thinking is over. We aren't putting a babybones out there to die, so we aren't saving the Underground. Ever. The end."

Oh. The pin dropped. Now she understood. "Then we'll find a different way," Frisk said.

"There's no other way, Frisk."

"There's always a way," she said. "We just need determination."

"You keep determination, I'll take a nap and a burger instead. And we're in a town now, where do you want to eat?" Sans asked.

I never gave up on the Underground, and I refuse to now. But, her positive talking wasn't helping Sans. He was hurting, his hope was lost, and he must have really thought he wouldn't see any of his friends or family again. So, she did the only thing she could. Be honest, and find out what he really wanted. "I can leave if you want, whenever you want."

"What?"

"I can leave," Frisk said. "I can stay, or I can leave. I can stay with you with the child up here on the surface, and continue to look on my own for a new way to help the Underground. Or, you can drop me off. I'll find my own way again, take care of the child myself, and you can go back to the mountain and won't have to feel any burden or guilt."

She heard the car stop, a little too quickly. She watched Sans pull over and get out. She waited in the car. It might take time to make the decision. It might take time for him to accept the decision he wanted. It might even take time to figure out how to explain his decision.

Most likely if he went back to Mount Ebott, they would wipe his mind of him being a father, so there would be no guilt. It was not his fault. Explaining later on to the little one as it grew up might be harder, but it was a hard decision and they would have to see that. Hopefully, it held the same degree of forgiveness she did.

She heard Sans come back and buckle his seat belt.

End of Chapter