The lab was quiet when he entered it. Everyone else was either celebrating or getting much needed sleep and he envied any of the latter. He turned on the terminal he had been at as a half thought crossed his mind. Would there be any others suffering from the events of the day? Heck, the Incident itself - Incident? Really? That was the best he could come up with? - had been less than 24 hours ago and for a large number of those in the Lab it would have been the first severe attack they would have been subjected to. Things like that just didn't happen in the Underground. Sure, a bar fight or a brawl broke out occasionally, and there's always the random bloke that just ups and loses it but nothing like-

The chirrup from the terminal brought his spiraling thoughts to a halt. He stared at the screen completely lost for a brief moment before his mind found itself back on the task at hand. He could spiral his way into a panic attack later. Right now, there was work to do.

It wasn't till someone placed a plate donning a fat, hot burrito that he became aware of the people in the space around him. He grinned up at the person offering him food and offered some words but whoever it had been and whatever he had said were gone from his memory as soon as he focused back on his terminal. He rubbed at his face feeling raw but the sounds of the lab now had his attention and he couldn't seem to isolate from it like he had been.

The burrito was delicious but he lacked the appetite for it. It should probably concern him - he was sure his magic was in desperate need of a refuel - but he just couldn't seem to care enough about it to look into it. So he put it out of his mind and focused on the lab around him in order to eat as much of the burrito as he could without being aware he was doing so.

There wasn't a single face he recognized, not that it meant much. With the previous night having dragged on till four in the morning, he wasn't surprised to see people who had not been present or who had gone to bed far sooner. Though he had a sneaking suspicion that a few of the folks were from the previous night even if he couldn't remember them; the clock did read three in the afternoon.

Time could certainly fly when he was lost in his work.

Papyrus interrupted his work a good four hours later with a worn expression. "Come on," the lankier skeleton offered. "Let us get some dinner in you and the both of us off to bed."

A smile pulled itself across his face. "You cooking?" he asked, doing his best to distract himself from the dread that had settled over him.

Papyrus chuckled. "I can if you are willing to help. I am...too strung out to do it on my own tonight."

Guilt and empathy twisted his soul. Of course he wouldn't have been the only one to suffer from yesterday's events. Papyrus had been on the front lines with him, had witness and even recovered-

"Always willing to help, Pap," he nearly spat even as he tried to keep his faux happy mood. "Just tell me what to do."

The smile Papyrus returned looked dull and Sans was immensely grateful that the dining space and attached kitchen were bustling. The crowd there greeted the two of them warmly, happily, and while he easily went with the cordial nature of the space, his muted awareness of Papyrus had him unaware of how withdrawn Papyrus became in the midst of it.

Sans lost himself in that haze of friendly people and happy conversations so much that the view of his door shocked him; Papyrus's words curled around him, soft in the nearly empty hallway. "Sleep well, Sans."

Panic shattered the good mood he had been in and he clamped down on it, words tumbling from his tongue in something that sounded almost carefree. "You too, Pap. Don't let the bedbugs bite."

He gained a huffed laugh for his efforts but nothing more. Papyrus patted his shoulder before walking away.

Sans couldn't get himself to move from that spot till Papyrus was out of sight. He entered his room and closed the door, gaze roaming over the small space even as the panic started to slip out of his grasp. One night. He could get one night of good sleep. It wouldn't kill him.

It shouldn't kill him, he amended.

He shot awake barely an hour later. His magic scraped at his bones, churned in his chest, and it was all he could do to swallow back the wails of despair that wanted out. His hands shook as he pressed them to his face. He sucked in air that he didn't need with the desperation of someone drowning. The blankets seemed to tighten around him and he shoved them off, stumbling to his feet into the middle of his room. No, there was no way he was sleeping. Not a chance.

He shoved a fresh change of clothes on but couldn't get the lab coat on; what he was already wearing felt too tight on his bones and magic that even the thought of pulling the coat on made him want to tear at his clothing.

He did a cursory glance of the hallway before he dashed back to the lab. If he was kicked out, he'd go to his personal one, but there was no way he was going to try sleeping again anytime soon.

The dream hadn't stuck around once he had woken but the residual effects lasted for hours. As long as he didn't remember whatever horrors his mind had conjured, he would take the side effects.

Papyrus came for him every night for dinner and every night Papyrus bid him goodnight at his door. Sans would step in and piddle around for an hour before slipping back to either the lab or his personal one. How his brother hadn't caught on after two weeks of him ditching sleep was beyond him.

In hindsight, Papyrus probably knew from the beginning but that would mean Sans would have to face why Papyrus had let him get away with it for two whole weeks.

But as he entered his lab after bidding his brother goodnight for the fifteenth night in a row, he found Papyrus waiting for him with arms crossed and looking as tired as Sans was pretending he wasn't.

"Oops," rolled off his tongue. An involuntary grin spread across his face as the word. "Guess you caught me."

"Sans," Papyrus started, the word heavy and disappointed and it snapped something in Sans that he hadn't even been aware had being taut.

"Oh, come on, Pap," he cut in, the words heavy and unnecessarily sharp. "I'm a grown skeleton. I can handle a few nights of little sleep. It's not harming any of my work."

Papyrus clenched his teeth as Sans caught the barely suppressed flicker of orange magic in his brother's sockets. The other's entire form had tensed despite the exhaustion that curled the long spine forward and hunched the shoulders. "No, but it is harming you and I am done standing aside and letting you wear yourself down for something that can wait."

That…stung. That stung in a way that Sans had not been expecting from his brother. It poked a hole in the little bubble he had managed to shove the worst of his emotions into causing it to leak. "Can wait," he parroted, unintentionally baring his teeth as he did so. "Something that can wait. Papyrus, I don't know what rock you've been living under but this work cannot simply 'wait'."

Whatever shift happened in Papyrus's expression, he didn't understand it. "There are others that can handle it long enough for you to take a much needed break."

"Break from what!?" he barked, feeling as if his brother had just shoved him to the edge of a dangerous cliff. "I've barely been able to do anything for the last four months and now that I'm finally being of use, I need to take a break? No!"

Papyrus actually rolled his eyes at that and it infuriated him. "Sans, that's not-"

"That's not what you meant?" he challenged. What little magic wasn't holding him together coiled around every bone, around his face, and it left him with the urge to scrape at his bones till it faded. "Then what did you mean, Papyrus. What in the stars above did you mean."

That was the last thing he could clearly remember of the argument. Whatever his brother had said to counter his challenge, whatever words had followed, he couldn't remember. All he knew was that whatever had been said had been bad. Really bad. The wounded, betrayed expression on Papyrus's face before the other skeleton had turned and stormed off had left him unable to focus on his work. Whatever had been said had those that had been witness to the fight watching him with apprehension and unease.

It was also the last point in time that he had been able to keep track of time.

The rough patch left by the argument hadn't lasted and Sans was quickly swallowed by the mountain of work that had to be done. Every hour of every day there was something to work on, something to keep him busy. When they finished crunching numbers to see if they had enough of the neutralizing agent - if the volume of the planet's atmosphere was still close to what they were using in their calculations, they barely had enough - focus shifting into plans on how to distribute the neutralizing agent. Countless brainstorming sessions led into working out three different plans, expanding upon them and seeing which one would have the highest rate of success with the fewest amount of people being exposed to the atmosphere of the Overworld.

If he slept during any of it, it was due to exhaustion. Sometimes he would sleep deep enough that he got a good four or five hours of actual sleep before the nightmares woke him. Most of the time, though, he was barely lucky enough to get a full hour before he was up against his own volition. Luckily eating hadn't been his sole responsibility like sleeping was but that didn't mean he was eating enough, let alone well enough to keep his magic levels above the bare minimum.

It didn't take a genius to make the conclusion that his lack of self care was probably why he found himself groggily waking up on the lab floor surrounded by far too many people. An odd sort of numb resolve stuck around as the world around him drew his attention.

"Easy Sans," Undyne's voice urged. It was unusually gentle and low, wrapping around him as if it could block out the rest of the lab. Or maybe he was just too tired to be able to focus on more than one thing. "We've got a medic on the way to check you over before you start moving around." He heard her weight shift above his head. "Do you know where you are? What happened?"

"I passed out in the lab," fell from his mouth in a fat tongue slur of words.

Someone jumped in at the tail end of his statement. "More like dropped dead." He frowned. That was one of the new - to him - humans on the project. What was their name again? "You collapsed without any warning. Right in the middle of tasks." Conner? Cooper? "Nothing like your normal napping."

Tanner. That's what it was. Smart, if not a touch more insecure than normal newbies. Most were to some extent in the beginning and Tanner was green enough to still have the insecurity that came from a simple lack of knowledge. Hopefully both insecurities the human housed would fade the longer Tanner stuck to it.

Undyne's voice brought him back to center. A small part of his mind prodded at the idea that he should be concerned by that. "Looks like the medic's here."

There was chatter over him but he couldn't care less. Despite the open sockets, he had no magic to pool into eyelights to see clearly what was going on. For a brief moment, it brought his thoughts to Papyrus wearing glasses while reading and he wondered if his brother needed them since the forced trait shift. Surely he had plenty of magic to spare now to keep his eyesight exceptional without thinking about it.

A cool hand curled around the base of his skull and top of his spine. "Sans? Are you still with us?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," he offered. The words still came out fat tongue slurred but it seemed understandable enough.

"Good. I'm Dr. Hendrix. I'm going to check you for injuries and see if we have to brace anything before moving you. While I work, I want you to hold a conversation with Undyne."

Annoyance rolled under the numbness that had yet to leave him. "Do I have to?"

There was a heavy pause before Dr. Hendrix stated plainly, "Yes."

"Fantastic," had more bite to it than he had intended and he was sure he felt the roll of Undyne's magic as she rightfully took offence to that.

"Well, lucky for you I actually have things we need to discuss," Undyne all but growled at him.

"Don't rile him up too much, Captain," the doctor warned, though it came across more like a drawl than an actual warning.

"Not planning on it." She shifted her weight and he got the distinct impression she was glaring at him. "Though, if talking about his brother riles him up, that's on him."

"The heck we need to talk about Papyrus for?" He mentally winced when the words slurred together horribly.

"You haven't talked to him in four months."

He wanted to deny it had been that long, that they had only just had their argument last week. "So?"

"Sans," she berated. But instead of continuing with whatever she had planned on saying, she sighed instead. "Look. I gave Papyrus that first two weeks off because I had to. It is literally expected that family is allowed time to grieve the loss of a loved one. I wanted to give him more than that but he fought me even on the mandatory two week minimum. But then I hear you don't even show up to the fucking funeral only to have a verbal brawl with him over it after promising you would be there…" He heard her suck air through clenched teeth, holding it before she released it in a sharp breath. "He refused work at the Lab after that." His soul dropped at that as he finally forced his magic to make eyelights. A crisp view of the lab from the floor assaulted his mind. He ignored it for the sake of looking up at her as best he could lying on his side. She met his gaze with a glare that seemed wounded somehow. "I've been forced to put him on probational patrols in the same neck of the woods your house is in. He's been there for a little over two months now and you haven't even fucking noticed."

Dr. Hendrix's voice was jarring. "Alright. Nothing broken, nothing we have to brace. See if you can't sit up on your own, Sans. Carefully."

The noises of the lab slammed into him and he flinched from them. It seemed as if his fall had barely created a pause in the chaos.

He sat up with surprising ease, though that was more relative than accurate. His magic was taut around his bones and soreness and fatigue followed the actions. The doctor was watching him like a hawk as he got himself standing before anyone could say otherwise.

Dr. Hendrix's expression tightened but they didn't tell him off for it. "I'm making you ride on the stretcher."

"I can-" he started but the doctor held up a hand.

"Don't care. You're riding on the stretcher."

He swallowed the desire to push the subject. He was fine, he was standing. He could walk to the medical ward.

But then he walked the short distance to the stretcher and nearly collapsed a second time. Undyne's hands suddenly appearing under his arms was the only reason he didn't hit the floor. Dr. Hendrix helped Undyne get his situated on the stretcher. His face burned in shame but he conceded. He turned his focus onto counting the lights they passed under, ignoring those that walked with him and those that they passed in the halls.

"Hey," curled gently around his thoughts and he found himself blinking awake to find Undyne was looking at him with her hand on his forehead. They were still walking. "Gotta stay awake, Sans."

"M'tired," was the only thing he managed.

The left corner of her lips upturned in a smile. "I'm sure but right now the doc needs to finish up checking you over before allowing you to sleep. Concussion is still a real possibility."

He didn't reply and Undyne's little half smile fell.

"So why haven't you been sleeping?"

He made a face at her question, hating that she apparently knew, hating that she was still touching his forehead, hating that he was answering anyways. "Don't care for the nightmares."

"Papyrus said he tried to get you to go see a grievance counselor."

That...he didn't remember that. "I've been busy."

"How? You were supposed to be barred from working the first two weeks."

He shrugged. He couldn't remember if anyone had or not. The prospect of a solution coming in a human lifetime had been far more potent than some grief policy.

"You do realize I will be speaking with Asgore and Toriel about this."

He tensed at that. He knew it had only been sheer luck that the two boss monsters had been busy with other things that they hadn't come and forced him to face that two weeks without distractions. "Leave them be, Undyne," he tried despite knowing it was futile to try. "They've got their hands full with those three. No need to drag their attention away quite yet."

To his surprise, Undyne's expression tightened. Apparently the Dreemurrs taking in Chara along with Frisk and Flowey hadn't sat right with the Guard Captain. He hadn't really paid much attention to what had actually happened. All he knew was that Chara had been found within that first week after the Incident and that the Dreemurrs had taken them in right along with Frisk and Flowey. He knew that none of it had been an easy process but he didn't know to what extent nor how many of those challenges still existed. Undyne looked down at him with an expression he couldn't understand but the words to ask her about it stuck in his throat. "You know I can't, Sans. This is serious and they have to be made aware of it."

The bed turned and Undyne's touch left his forehead. A conversation started somewhere beyond his head but the small room he was pushed into muddled the words.

According to the clock on the opposite wall, it was an hour later when Dr. Hendrix sat down at his bedside with his file in hand. Unease weighed on his soul as the doctor rubbed at their eyes with a heavy sigh before looking up at him. "I have contacted your brother and am simply waiting on his arrival before going over the following information." Their hard gaze scrutinized his face as they threatened, "If I find out this behaviour was done with prior knowledge of your current condition, I will be having words with several people and you will not like any of it."

His sockets widened at that even as he frowned, confused. "What-" barely made it out of his mouth before he was cut off by the door opening a second time.

Papyrus slipped in looking as tense as the last time Sans had seen him. Some of that tension eased when their gazes met. Papyrus crossed to his other side, looking to Dr. Hendrix. "I was told this was something dire."

Sans glanced at Papyrus. Why had his brother been told it was dire? All he had done was pass out and he was sure that was from a lack of sleep and eating properly.

Oh.

He could see how that would be considered dire.

"In more ways than one." Silence fell heavily over the room as the doctor looked between the two of them. Sans wanted to say something to get the doctor talking, to find out whatever this horrible news was and face the consequences of his actions so that he could go back to drowning himself in his work but he couldn't get the words out. Papyrus's hand found his shoulder and gave it a squeeze as Dr. Hendrix looked briefly at the file before meeting Sans's gaze. "From what I've gathered, you have not been eating properly nor sleeping regularly. Is this correct?"

He offered a confused, drawn out, "Yes." Hadn't he already admitted that? Hadn't others?

"And are you aware of how little magic that has caused you to have?"

He gave a half shrug. "I've kind of figured."

"Right." Every bit of him hated what that one word held within it. "And are you aware that you are carrying?"

Wait. "What?"

"What do you mean 'carrying'?" Papyrus asked before he could. He could hear the same confusion he was feeling in his brother's words.

That tight, berating expression on Dr. Hendrix's face eased with surprise, though the disbelief stuck around when only one of the doctor's eyebrows rose. "As it sounds. Sans, for all intent and purposes, is pregnant."

Pregnant.

He watched as the doctor's gaze moved to Papyrus, watched as the doctor's lips moved, but he couldn't hear what was being said. There was an odd roaring in his skull but he couldn't hear anything else. There was no way he was carrying. He couldn't be carrying. The last person he had done that intimate dance with was not only dead, they hadn't even been aiming for that. Skeleton monsters had the hardest time carrying, let alone conceiving. A new soul would have been absorbed before it could even properly form even if they had managed to accidentally sire one. He hadn't been maintaining it, hadn't been giving it the much needed magic all new souls required from the carrier. Stars, he wasn't even built for that! He would most likely dust before he even got to...got to see...

Familiar boney hands were cupping his face as the sound of his brother's voice cut through the roaring in his skull. He found himself desperately clinging to his brother's wrists not remembering grabbing at them. His brother's voice was nothing but a different kind of noise but it was enough to cause the dam to break.

He wept. Grief and fear churned through him and it was all he could do to not shatter in Papyrus's hold. Papyrus pulled him up against the other's chest and wrapped those long, strong arms tightly around him. He hollered into his brother's chest not wanting this, not wanting any of it.

He must have cried himself to sleep because when he opened his eyes, the room was much darker and his position on the bed had changed. Papyrus was still beneath him, an arm tightly wrapped around him. There was flickering light on the walls as if there was a tv on but he couldn't hear it. He felt lethargic; oddly enough, though, his bones felt lighter and his magic looser. He pulled his arm out from under himself and gently pushed at Papyrus's chest to sit up. The lankier skeleton met his gaze, arm remaining snug around him.

All the words were thrown between them unspoken, thickening the air as Sans floundered for something to say. Papyrus's jaw worked as if the other was chewing over his own words.

"Dr. Hendrix is keeping you overnight for observation," Papyrus offered finally, his voice low and barely above a whisper. "Undyne stopped by. She wanted me to inform you that you have been put on probation for the next six months by the Dreemurrs as reprimand for not taking the required two weeks off in addition to you refusing to work in a healthy manner during the time since. They are allowing you to do moderated work from home but you are not allowed back in the Lab for the next six months. Your probation starts when you are released from the medical ward and after the allotted six hours to gather personal belongings and the necessary materials for the moderated work."

"And the…" he found himself trying to ask but the words died in his throat. He couldn't ask, couldn't make it real. Not yet. Not till he saw it for himself.

Papyrus dropped his gaze briefly and for a moment his mind was filled with the worst meanings. Papyrus met his gaze again. "The new soul is still nested with yours." He let out a shuddering breath, the relief that rushed through him like adrenaline quickly followed by guilt and shame. "Dr. Hendrix has not shared the information with anyone and has stated the two nurses that had assisted will not gossip. Patient privacy notwithstanding."

"Is Dr. Hendrix...are they able to..."

Papyrus shook his head. "Dr. Hendrix only came across the new soul while they were checking for signs of Falling and other soul afflicting ailments. They have suggested a list of doctors but I think your reaction threw them off. The list is rather short."

"What do you mean?"

A slight frown pulled itself across Papyrus's expression as the other seemed to mull it over. "You started panicking," he stated plainly. "It took a while before either of us noticed but it may have been more due to the panic having to get through the shock of finding out first." Papyrus shook his head but Sans couldn't tell if it was dismissive or meant for something else. "You reeled back and Dr. Hendrix took one look at you before jumping to their feet, trying to calm you down. I hadn't even realized how panicked you were until I was on the bed getting you to face me." His expression tightened. "It's Alex's, isn't it."

His entire body flinched from that statement and the grief that had quieted shot to the surface again. He found himself engulfed in another tight hug and he clung to his brother as he let the grief rush over him. He lacked the strength to fight against it anymore.

He calmed down feeling worn but awake. Papyrus had a hand on his skull, thumb absentmindedly rubbing against the bone. He adjusted how he was resting against his brother, seeking a position that was more comfortable. Once he found it, he leaned his head back to look at his brother's face. "I feel like I should ask why you think it's Alex's."

Papyrus laughed at that, though the sound of it was breathy. He was grateful when Papyrus kept his gaze trained on the tv. "I would have been surprised if it had been anyone else's." Papyrus's arms tightened around him. "And concerned. Even before all of this you were never overly promiscuous."

Sans dropped his chin. He didn't want to say it, didn't want to make it real, but he was going to have to face it head on regardless of how ready he was for it. "Yeah," he offered in the silence between them. "It's," the words caught in his throat briefly, "it's Alex's."

Papyrus curled around him, those arms pinning him to the larger chest. "Oh, Sans." He clung right back. After a long, comforting pause, Papyrus assured him, "You won't be alone in this. I will help in any way I can."

He shook his head. "You shouldn't have to deal with my mistake."

Papyrus moved back, forcing him to look up and meet his brother's gaze. "This is not a mistake, Sans. Things like these are not mistakes." That determined, compassionate expression fell. "But it will be hard on you in so many ways and I would understand if you chose to say no to this."

A pain of something sharp shot through his soul as the implication behind Papyrus's words registered. He shook his head, offering adamantly, "If I can bring this new soul into the world, I want to, Pap." He realized his hands were shaking. "If I can carry it to term, I want to if for nothing else than selfish reasons." He tore his gaze away from his hands, seeking out Papyrus's gaze again. There was a lump in his nonexistent throat trying to choke him. He managed to speak around it. "I want to hang onto the last piece of Alex I have with all my soul."

Tears streaked down Papyrus's long face but the other didn't seem to notice. Instead, Papyrus pulled Sans's head to his shoulder. "Then rely on me. You're going to need magic until either your magic levels back out or the soul is born and I am more than happy to help in any other way you need. You just have to ask."

Sans laughed. It was light and barely had any sound to it, but it carried his relief and grief and whatever else he was feeling. "That's not an easy thing to do."

"I know." Those long arms tightened around him. "At least try? If not for me then the soul you carry?"

Sans buried his face more into Papyrus's shoulder. "Yeah. I'll try."

That night wasn't the best of sleep but it was more than he had had in the previous four months. Even Dr. Hendrix had commented on it as they came in to discharge him before diving into the discharge orders.

"This," Dr. Hendrix gestured with one of the pill bottles; it sounded nearly empty, "will give you a night of deep sleep. I am only giving you one week's worth and no, I am not giving you more. The only reason why I'm even giving this to you is because your body needs the rest but going too long without dreaming will be harmful to your psyche." They passed the bottle to Papyrus as if Sans wasn't to be trusted. Sans mentally shoved the assumption aside. Dr. Hendrix was giving everything to Papyrus because Papyrus was the one actively reaching out for the materials he was being sent home with. The decent sleep seemed to only make his bones feel heavier so he let Papyrus take the burden of remembering all this because he sure wasn't going to at this point. The doctor held up the second bottle. It sounded full. "This is to assist with sleep when that is empty. It's natural and far less addictive. I am giving you six weeks worth. I will only refill it once and only at the request of a therapist you have been seeing at least once a week. If they say you are making good progress but need the assistance for another six weeks, I'll allow a refill."

He nodded under the doctor's sharp look. They had discussed the need for him to have a therapist and to actually go through with the grief counseling before the meds were even brought out. Papyrus had made him a therapy appointment for later that day before the doctor had even shown up. Papyrus had been ready to fight him on it but Sans knew he needed help - professional help. Sans wasn't sure what he thought about seeing the same therapist as his brother but Papyrus had stayed with this particular therapist even after the grievance counseling so they had to be a good soul for Papyrus to stick with for so long.

The final bottle was presented but it made no sound. "These are nutrition supplements. This will help your physical form regain some much needed strength. Unfortunately we only give enough for four weeks per prescription so you will have to either pick up the refill every month or arrange for it to be shipped to you. There are five refills lined up but the last two may not be required. You don't have to come back to me but I want you visiting your physician in four months for a wellness check. It will be up to that check whether you need the last two refills or not."

"Thank you Dr. Hendrix," he offered warmly.

The doctor nodded. "I did not reach out to your previous providers about any of this since I was not sure who you were seeing now so when you do see your doctor - and the one specifically for the new soul - inform their office to reach out to me. I'll pass on your files."

"You are not one of the regular doctors in the Lab, correct?" Papyrus put in as the doctor stood.

"Correct," the doctor parroted. "I took on a few shifts here for a colleague but I can leave my information if you think coming to see me in four months will work better than your normal physician."

"Our last one retired a couple of months ago," Papyrus informed them.

The doctor nodded. "I'll be back with my information, then. Give me five minutes."