Note: Ugh, sorry if this chapter seems... off. Been feeling unmotivated lately so this has probably been effected by that. Hopefully the next chapter will be better and less fillery.

Papyrus burst through the front door of his house, kicking snow off his boots as he called his brother's name.

"SANS? SANS, ARE YOU HOME?" Then he thought better and told himself, "IF HE IS HERE, HE'LL SURELY BE NAPPING IN HIS ROOM."

So he headed up the stairs, and knocked on his brother's door. "SANS? C'MON LAZYBONES," he knew he probably wouldn't answer if he WAS asleep, but it didn't hurt to try, "ALRIGHT, I'M COMING IN..."

He pushed the door open, and lo and behold, there was Sans, sleeping on his bed wearing wet clothes. "ARGH, SANS," Papyrus said with agitation, "NOW I'LL HAVE TO WASH YOUR SHEETS."

He moved over to him and removed his slippers carefully, so he wouldn't wake him, then he unzipped his jacket and, after a struggle, managed to drop the soaked piece of clothing to the floor.

"SANS, IT WOULD ONLY TAKE YOU A SECOND TO-" He broke off, for as he turned back to his brother, he spotted his bandaged arms, blood now seeping through the cloth.

"BROTHER!" He exclaimed, worridly, grabbing his arm to look at it, "WHAT HAPPENED? WHO HURT YOU? OH, WHAT DO I DO, WHAT DO I DO?"

Then he realized, "I SHOULD CALL A DOCTOR, DR. ALPHYS! SHE'LL KNOW WHAT TO DO!" He whipped out his phone and dialed the number with shaky hands, staring down at Sans with concern.

HP: 0.5/ 01

Now at the lab, Papyrus sat talking with Alphys. She had already treated Sans, and he was asleep on a cot in a room nearby.

"DR. ALPHYS?" Papyrus asked, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BROTHER?"

"N-n-not exactly," she admitted, "B-but considering his injuries, I h-have a few ideas."

"LIKE WHAT?"

"W-well ," she fiddled with her claws as she spoke, "The c-cuts are very d-d-deliberate, so it suggests two ideas. The first, and m-most likely is that someone attacked your brother, and th-that he didn't, or, that he c-couldn't fight back."

"BUT THERE'S NOBODY IN SNOWDIN THAT WOULD DO THAT!" Papyrus objected, "SURELY, THERE'S ANOTHER REASON."

"W-well, the other possibility is something that has only occurred to h-humans as far as I know," she admitted, "B-but, there is a chance that Sans d-did those cuts himself."

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE," Papyrus looked doubtful, "WHY WOULD SANS HURT HIMSELF?"

"W-well, it's something c-called self-harm," Alphys held up a book that she had next to her, "Th-this is a human ps-psychology book and there's several reasons listed for why s-someone would hurt themself."

"BUT THAT'S-" Papyrus was still in shock, "SANS ISN'T DUMB! HE WOULDN'T DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"

"P-p-papyrus," Alphys stuttered, flipping through the book, "It's not a m-m-matter of how smart someone is, it's about how your brother is feeling."

"BUT WHY?..." He seemed almost defeated now, "WHY WOULD HE?"

"Well, there's n-no guarantee that this is the r-reason," she admitted, "But it can be a w-way to release tension, or t-to stop feeling numb. O-or to even punish yourself. D-do you think Sans would have any of these reasons?"

"I DON'T- I DON'T KNOW..." he stared at the floor, "I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HE WAS HURT UNTIL NOW... HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN HAPPENING? WHAT IF I NEVER EVEN FOUND OUT? SANS COULD'VE- HE COULD'VE DIED BECAUSE I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"P-papyrus, calm down," Alphys moved over to him and awkwardly patted his shoulder, "W-we need to, to figure out who exactly was hurting Sans, whether it be h-himself or someone else. Please, I n-need your help with this."

Papyrus took a moment to gather himself, then he asked, "WHAT DO YOU NEED ME TO DO?"

"W-well," Alphys stammered, "I s-suppose you should go through Sans' stuff and m-make sure he doesn't have anything sharp. If he does, it m-might mean he really is hurting himself," then she muttered, "But this has never been seen in monsters..."

"DR. ALPHYS!" Papyrus announced, hopping to his feet, "I WILL GO AND COMPLETE YOUR MISSION, THEN I WILL BE BACK WITH ANSWERS! DO NOT WORRY, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CANNOT FAIL!" Then he bolted out of the lab, aflame with hope and determination.