The Hotel . . .

Sans started to stir when he heard knocking at his door. "Whoozat?" He moved away from Frisk and answered it. "Hey." He chuckled. "I didn't order room service yet." He couldn't help himself as he eagerly shook Undyne's hand. "What are you two doing here?"

"Good," Undyne said. "You didn't read the text messages. I don't know what's real or not, but just know, that Papyrus is fine."

"Undyne cried on me," Asriel said. "However, we don't know what is what, so read them. We need to figure out what happened."

Sans moved over toward his cell and picked it up. He scrolled, hearing panic in Papyrus' words. He felt dread as he read how Alphys lost track of him. Then, he got a message spread out between. "Tori."

"Mother texted you?" Asriel asked. "What does it say?"

Sans looked uncomfortably at his phone. He read how King Asgore thought Papyrus was dead, how Alphys said he wasn't and then nothing. Like they didn't remember. He didn't know what to believe either, but it was Tori's message that bugged him the most. "Um." His voice kind of squealed.

"Um, what?" Asriel asked. "Sans, what did-oh!" His attitude changed. "Oh, of course. I have no intention of fighting you for my sister, and I am very sorry that-"

"Hey, hey, It's fine," Sans insisted. "I get it. The magic reached far. We're all good." He looked back at the message again. "Uh, all good."

"Sans?" Undyne asked. "What did Queen Toriel tell you?"

"Um." Sans looked at her words again. "I forgot about something. Something illegal, but it can save the Underground. Something only ancient monsters cared to do." Sans showed Undyne the phone, making her funny fishbrows raise.

"Oh. That would work," Undyne said."You and Frisk did say you'd do anything to save the Underground."

"Not a time to tease," Sans said. "So, hotel is great. Better go get a nice room while you can."

"And you can 'save the day' while you can," Undyne said. "How far along is she?"

Sans covered the front of his skull. He didn't want to say. "Oh. Uh. Three weeks?"

"Is that a solid three weeks, or three and a half? Or how do you even know for sure?" Undyne asked. "You shouldn't waste time. Do you want me to go run out to the store and get some brew? Maybe some wine or something heavier?"

"Stop," Sans warned her. "Just, go get your own room. Frisk needs sleep."

"If you wait too long, the chance will pass and you'll have no choice-"

"I get it, okay?" Sans said. "Just, go."

"Uh huh. You can talk the talk, but you're not quite walking the same walk," Undyne said.

"Walking what walk?" Asriel asked as they started to head down the hall.

Damn it. Tori gave permission. She came up with the solution they needed, but how was he going to do this? He moved over toward the bed, and checked her soul again. Undyne was right. Three or four weeks? Three and a half? Maybe it even was four. And what if someone did reach her in that time?

If they were going to save the Underground, they had to do it now. "Uh, Frisk?" He gently woke her up.

Frisk batted her eyes awake slowly, seeing Sans beside her again. What was wrong? She looked toward the hotel alarm clock on the side of the bed. It had only been five in the morning. "What is it?"

"Frisk, we need to do something," Sans said. "There's not much time."

That part scared her and she looked down at her stomach.

"Not for that, ladykid." Sans scratched his skull. "Frisk. Something may or may not be happening, but we might have no choice but to sacrifice our kid."

"What?"

"Monsters could be dying if we don't do something," Sans said. "If we don't sacrifice it to the barrier. Or, that might be in the Underground's head, I don't know. Neither does Undyne."

"Undyne?"

"Yeah, Undyne and Asriel are still out. They just came to see us. But, uh. We might."

"But . . ." Frisk was still getting used to the concept of even having a baby, but. Sacrifice?

"It might be it, or all of monster kind," Sans said.

No. No! She couldn't believe that.

"Unless . . . we kind of do something," Sans said. "Even if it's not real, we could still save the Underground. Either way, we gotta."

"Got to what?" Frisk asked.

"Tori reminded me of something ancient monsters did. Most just want one kid, but we need two. We need a pair of twins, Frisk. One dominant, and one recessive. The recessive will be human. It can open the barrier."

Twins? "I only have one extra soul in me. Right?"

"Yeah, but, you see . . ." Sans was really slowing down, and there was manifested sweat on his face. "It's more or less growing in your soul first, before the body really gets to growing. We can add another soul. We can make twin souls."

"Twins?" Really? "Well, how do we do that?"

"Awkwardly," Sans confessed. "But you are at three or three and a half weeks, maybe. I don't know, I can't be exact, but we've only got to four weeks, or we're ****ed."

Frisk's mouth dropped a little. She. She had never heard Sans cuss before. Ever. He did say dirty jokes now and then, but he never actually used that word before.

"Trust me. I will do my best, okay?" He moved his bony hand beneath the hem of her pajamas and upward.

Frisk felt her heart beating rapidly. What was he doing? Her eyes were wide, she could feel they were wide, but tried not to move. Can save the Underground. Can save the Underground. Can save the Underground.

"Just watch the alarm clock. Okay?"

Oh geez. Frisk turned and watched the alarm clock. Okay, he has his hand up my pajamas. Okay. This is Sans. Yeah, but he has his hand in a . . . on my back? Why do I feel his bony fingers on my back?

"This is going to hurt. I'm sorry. I'll try my best, I really will to get this right, so we don't have to do it ever again. Deep breath, okay?"

Frisk took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, ladykid."

And then screamed involuntarily.

Sans covered her mouth as best he could as he stabbed her in the back, straight through to her belly. His magic, since it would sense his own baby, would stop before hitting it. "Bite my finger if you have to Frisk." She needed to scream, and he didn't blame her. He just literally stabbed her in the back with a magic bone from his attack! It was as thin as he could make it, almost paper thin, but it pierced and was just as long as it had to be.

Undyne was wrong. He could walk the walk. He could save the Underground as much as he claimed he wanted to, but it was far from easy. He could feel the agony pulsing in her. He watched her soul above, throbbing, and watched the small soul within. "One more time and this is over, I promise." He flooded the bone he pierced inside her with magic, and she bit so hard on his finger, he swore she might have actually chipped some of his bone, which meant her mouth would be bleeding.

He watched her soul impatiently, watching for it. It was throbbing, hurt and obviously in pain as much as her body. Please. Please. Then, he saw it. The tiny soul was starting to split. "Almost over, almost over," he whispered. "It's almost over, I swear." As soon as he saw the small soul separated into two within her, he dissipated the bone.

He quickly texted for help and he heard Asriel banging on the door. "Almost over, just hang on." Sans moved from the bed, a bloody mess now, and opened the door as quick as possible. Asriel practically leaped into the room to reach Frisk.

"I got you, I got you, Frisk!" Asriel cried lying his hands over her bloody back. "I'm here now, I'm here. I'll take the pain away." After he numbed her pain, he crawled to the other side of the bed, cradling her back.

Sans leaned against the wall. "Okay, I got it done." He tried to act stiff, like it was no big deal what he just did.

"You stabbed her," Asriel said, his eyes still filled with tears. "You really did it."

"I had to," Sans said again. "It's alright now. Hey, I didn't hit any organs. She's healthy and organic. She will be okay. Just, make sure you heal her well, okay?"

"I'm doing what I can," Asriel said as Undyne came in and closed the door.

"You did it?" Undyne asked. "Did it before you got cold feet?" She tossed him one of the beers she brought.

"Of course I did. No cold feet or warm hands. Don't have neither of those," he tried to joke. "Just da bones, which work well for these." He tore off the cap and downed it as fast as possible.

"Is the punky princess carrying twin souls now?" Undyne asked.

"Yep. Yep, yep." He was trying to keep his cool, but it wasn't easy. "It was the most barbaric thing ever," Sans said, gesturing for another beer. He downed it too. "No wonder I didn't think of it. How could anyone really do that to someone just to get twins?"

"Sometimes books say they did it twice to get triplets," Undyne said.

"Barbaric." Sans wiped his teeth. "No wonder it became illegal. I can't believe I had to do that to Frisk."

"How'd you prepare her?" Undyne said.

"I didn't. She'd say yes, and then she'd have the dread of knowing she'd be boned. Bad enough with a bad date, let alone me. So, I just did it as fast as I could. Easiest way." Sans covered his eye sockets, trying to keep it together. "Make sure her mouth is okay. She chipped my finger slightly, so she might have chipped a tooth. Heh. I guess now the kids really will be chip off the old blocks."

"Hey," Undyne said. "It's okay. Settle down. It's over, you did it, Sans. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but even Toriel said you had to. There's no greater permission than that. I can go somewhere and get something harder?"

Sans didn't answer as he approached Frisk slowly. "Ladykid?"

"Get away, not now," Asriel warned him. "I know you had to, but she's my sister. Be secure in the knowledge you made your twins."

Sans couldn't stay away though. He just couldn't. He bent down near the bed, toward her head. "Ladykid, I'm sorry. Probably have a splitting headache. I didn't want you to dread it." He grabbed her hands with his bony ones, trying to comfort her. "So, hey, you okay?"

She seemed out of it, probably from the loss of blood. Asriel was almost done patching her up already. Still. "You stabbed me?"

"Yeah. That's how they used to make twins," Sans said, "I thought I'd take a stab at the procedure. I did it the best I could. If I had a choice, I would have had Asriel here the whole time, but it can't be interrupted until the soul splits into two. It might have had split personalities." He patted her hand. "You get some rest. Sleep with Asriel. I'll go with Undyne." He hated to leave her, but he couldn't stay.

He stabbed her. He hurt her immensely, and then hurt her worse by splitting the tiny soul inside of her into two. He physically hurt her body, and he physically hurt her soul. "In the morning, we'll do that daycare thing you want, and the place you want to eat. Everything you want, it's your day, okay?" He patted her hand again, but his bones were rattling slightly. Anyone could hear it.

He felt her hand squeeze his back though.

"It's okay," she managed to say. "I understand."

That? That . . . "Get some rest. I'll do the same. I'll see you soon. I'm sure Asriel will take good care of you." Sans headed out of the room with Undyne.

"That was a brave thing you did," Undyne said. "Not many would have that courage."

"I stabbed a friend in the back. I don't consider that courageous," Sans said. "It had to be done. Where's your room? I need sleep. Badly."

"A couple more rooms up, number 15." Undyne unlocked the door, and Sans immediately headed for one of the two beds. "Okay. Night then." Undyne headed toward her own bed, but heard the sound of crying from Sans bed.

Yeah, that whole 'it was easy' with the jokes were far from real. He was trying to hide the truth. "You had to, Sans."

"I know." Sans tried to wipe away the manifested tears.

Undyne had seen Papyrus manifest tears many times, but Sans? She'd never seen it. Sans had always kept himself in better control. He was a lousy guard, but he'd always been good at keeping himself in check. Not letting anyone too deep inside. He and Papyrus even accidentally hurt Frisk, she remembered knocking on the door and Toriel saying that to them. Accusing them of hurting her.

Sans response had been a shrug with a 'you said a week, we gave it a week.'

It was apparent during the time he got to know Frisk as a human woman, instead of just a kid, he'd grown closer. He wasn't just going to be able to shrug this off. "You were too close," Undyne said. "For all we know, she could have been at four weeks. You did what you had to in the line of duty to save the Underground, and your future legacy."

Her words didn't seem to help. Undyne wasn't real good at comforting, but she doubted Sans would be wanting a hug anyhow. That was a Papyrus thing, not her thing. "She'll be fine."

"Will you stop talking already?" He wiped his eye sockets. "I know. I was getting close to four weeks, I know." It didn't help though. "I hurt her, and she forgave me. Right then, probably only vaguely aware of what I was even saying. I stabbed her and she forgave me."

"That's Frisk," Undyne said. "She forgives everyone. Like I said once long ago, everyone's tried to kill her at least once. She has a big forgiving soul. Even Asriel remembers how much time he spent with the actual Frisk now, and even she managed to touch his heart. She's a little amazing that way."

"Why me?" Sans asked. "Why did a stupid idiot that doesn't ever do much but sleep and eat ever end up with . . ." He stopped himself.

But Undyne noticed. "How did a waste of breath end up with her?" Undyne got beneath her covers. "You're not a waste, Sans. You're about to go down in history as one of the monsters that helped to free the Underground too. You accomplished a lot down there."

"In the past," Sans said.

"You were who you were. You are who you are." Undyne kept one eye closed and looked at him. "This is the only time you'll ever hear me say this. Go to sleep."

"I stabbed her," he said again.

"You almost killed her before," Undyne said. "You weren't half as whiny last time. It was on accident the other time, and this time, it had to be done to save the Underground. She forgave you. You got to give it a break."

"It was different."

"How so?"

"Gee, I dunno, maybe the fact she wasn't carrying my little monster back then," Sans said, coming unglued slightly. "Her soul throbbed, her physical soul throbbed." He turned over on the bed. "I protected her and her soul tonight. She was completely at ease with me. And now I just brought vast pain to her and her soul. I'm as bad as the ancient monsters of the past. Two-faced."

"No, this isn't going to work," Undyne complained. "You're pathetic, you're in despair and I can't take this side of you." She moved from the bed and pushed him out of his, letting him hit the ground. "Come on."

"Nuh uh," Sans said, but he was getting dragged out by Undyne anyway.

Undyne took Sans card as she stood him up and he hobbled around, gettin' his balance. She went in and looked toward Asriel. "Is she better?"

"As best as I can do," Asriel said. "The incision was small, making it easier." He left her side as she groaned lightly. "What's wrong?"

"Sans. Go back to your place," Undyne demanded. "Protect all three of those souls. It's what your best at. Come on, Asriel, let's get some rest."

Sans wanted to protest, but doing that in front of Frisk wouldn't feel right. Asriel didn't seem too keen on the idea either, but he said goodnight to his sister and left the room. Sans closed the door. "I got kicked out." He tried to chuckle. "Undyne was about to kill me for my puns I guess." Frisk tried to move, but he went over towards the bed. "Don't do that. Asriel probably won't be as fast as Tori at that kind of thing. Um. Honestly? That's . . ." Not his scene. Not his deal. He wasn't the kind to be caught in this situation. "When I had you turning blue, I was preparing you for bone on your skin, which probably lessened the pain, but I actually, I didn't know that that was what I-"

"It's fine, Sans," Frisk stopped. She tried to smile. "Look. The situation wasn't easy, and I know you didn't want me to dread it. What you did probably saved the one we were having, and now we can save the Underground too. You need to stop this," she insisted.

Sans climbed in bed on the other side of her. "No, you need to stop this. But, you won't."

Frisk tried to turn slightly, but Sans stopped her. What did he mean she needed to stop that? Stop what? "What do you mean, what did I do?"

"Nothing. Hang on." Sans lifted her pajamas again, and she felt him check her back. There was a little tender pain, but not much. "Good. You're okay still." He moved his bony fingers back to her belly. "We were cutting it too close, so I had to do it."

"I know," Frisk said.

Sans showed her soul again. It wasn't throbbing. It didn't look like it was in any pain at all, it just had two extra souls.

"I'm fine," she insisted, knowing what he was looking for. "Calm down, Sans. This isn't like you. I already told you that it's fine."

"I damaged you and your soul, and you are just fine?" Sans said. "Ladykid? I swear, is there anything you won't forgive?"

"Bad breath."

"What?"

"Bad breath," Frisk said. "I'll never forgive the kid in elementary school who breathed on me on purpose. There was no excuse, no misunderstanding, and I would never forgive that. It smelled like he ate rotten eggs and garbage for breakfast."

She felt Sans tremble against her. Actually, from his expression, it was probably more like laughing.

"Well. Didn't see that one coming, ladykid." He looked deeper at her. "Was that a joke or not?"

Frisk usually met his gaze, but it had been one awkward night and day. She was having trouble meeting it. "Can we go to sleep now?" He rolled his light guiders to the left, like he was considering something. "Sans?"

"Yeah. We'll sleep." He took the position he did before, concentrating a little bit more energy knowing he was covering another new soul. It was easier to sleep now. The guilt building up in him was fading fast. "You're as good as an angel, Frisk," he said before he started to drift off to sleep. "So good, you need a damn good devil paired up with you."

Frisk laughed softly. "Do skeletons make good devils?"

"More than you'll ever know."

End of Chapter