She inhales deeply.

The aroma is tantalizing. Golden fried potato wedges, salt, and the light seasoning of ketchup.

Comforting. Just like the colour of warm wood and glittering bottles reflecting the light of the fire elemental, Grillby. She sees him across the bar, shining a cup. And beside her, a familiar presence.

"so, you've met my bro, papyrus. he's pretty cool, right?"

Frisk smiles, dipping a fry in ketchup. "Yes."

Sans grins. "well, you'd be too if you wore that outfit. He never takes it off, except for when he washes it. and by that, i mean he wears it in the shower."

Frisk laughs. "Sounds like Papyrus."

Sans chuckles, then his eye lights flicker to the wall. "uh, kid…"

"do ya mind if i grill ya on a few questions?"

They both burst out laughing, light-hearted noise filling the bar.

Frisk nods, "Yes, uh, I'll answer my best."

Sans closes his eyes, then looks at her knowingly. "judging by your expression, it looks like you're having a bad time."

Frisk's voice catches in her throat. The warmth is gone, replaced by cold cement walls. She looks down and sees jail orange bleeding out of her purple-striped sweater.

"Sans, I—" She looks up, Sans eye lights inches away from her. A shadow darkens his face.

"do you think I'll forgive you this time?"

...

Frisk wakes to bright lights and the smell of sterile equipment. Empty gurneys run along the wall beside her with medical machines, and in front of her is a closed, steel door. She sits up, jostling metal as she tries to move. Looking down, a tight handcuff locks her to the gurney.

The door slams open. Undyne walks in, teeth bared. "Punk, you better be ready to explain yourself."

Papyrus winces, appearing behind her. "PERHAPS, A LITTLE NICER, UNDYNE? AFTER ALL, NOTHING IS QUITE AS RESTFUL AS A NAP IN THE GREAT PAPYRUS' ARMS."

Undyne growls, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. "Papyrus, Frisk just broke the rules and escaped. The one thing I told them to not do."

Sans speaks up as they stand around Frisk's gurney. "tibia fair, paps did say they didn't resist a-rest."

Papyrus and Undyne facepalm in unison.

"BROTHER, PLEASE," Papyrus says.

Frisk, however, giggles, earning stares from her guardians.

Papyrus's surprise turns into a full-blown smile. "HUMAN FRISK! YOU SOUND HAPPY," he puts a hand on his broad chest, "NYEH-HEH-HEH, NO ONE CAN BE UNHAPPY IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

Sans looks up at Papyrus. "you're so cool, bro."

Undyne stares, then sighs, hands moving to her hips. "Okay, punk. Give me one reason why I shouldn't have you mopping the entire jail for the next year."

Frisk looks down, struggling for words.

"I, uh… well." Her eyes hover over to Sans. "I don't wanna be in trouble with you. With any of you."

Frisk rubs the back of her head, staring shying at the warden. "Undyne. I think you're really cool. I just got uh, scared."

Undyne folds her arms. "Of what? Three of your best friends?"

"Yeah."

"... You're not convincing me," Undyne says, eyes drawing out in a thin line.

"But it's true. It's not that I want to escape. I just… I just can't…" Frisk says, sweating as her hands fidget.

"Can't what, kid?" Undyne says.

"..."

"You want me to make that two years of mopping?"

Frisk's face goes white. "N-no! I, uh. It's just—I'm scared of messing up, of losing your respect. And I feel like the longer I'm here, the more you'll begin to see the real me… and hate me for it. I can't stand it, so I used a fork—I, uh, I mean—"

"A… fork?"

Frisk's head drops, and she sucks in a staggering breath.

"Undyne… I… I…" She begins to shake, eyes welling up. "I've escaped before. S-sans… sans knows..."

Undyne shoots Sans an angry look, before looking at the shivering human. "Kid, hey… relax. You're uh, you're not in trouble. I just…" She rubs the back of her neck, looking for words.

"I'm upset at Sans for not telling me, but I'm really proud of you, ya know? You came clean, even though I can tell you're really scared. That takes guts." Undyne says, pounding her fist on her chest.

"So, don't sweat it, Frisk. We're still besties. As your Warden, I have to teach you a lesson about rules. But!" She holds up a finger, "I'm not gonna go hard on ya."

"You… you mean it?" Frisk asks quietly.

"Not on a patient. C'mon, what kind of warden do you take me for? Your ankle is in rough shape and I want you to heal quickly so you can do laps with Papyrus again. Alright?"

Undyne turns, eyes bearing on Sans pointedly before addressing the skeletons. "You two keep an eye on Frisk. I'm going to make some food."

Papyrus lights up, "OH, CAN I COME ALONG? I WANT TO HELP."

"Hmmm. Alright, Papyrus. Sans, you look after the kid. We'll be back."

The door swings shut, and Sans eyes flick over to Frisk. She looks away, rubbing her face in her hands.

"Are… are you in trouble because of me?" she asks slowly.

Sans doesn't answer right away, instead, he pulls up a chair and sits beside Frisk. "i think that question would suit you more than me, kid."

Frisk gives him a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"heh. well. for you, you're right about the first part." He says ominously.

Frisk begins to feel a sinking feeling in her chest. "I'm uh, not following."

"well, you know what they say about promises?"

"Where are you going with this, Sans?"

Sans' sockets turn hollow. His voice is barely a whisper. "there's not much point in keeping a broken promise."

The guilt from her dream swells in octaves. Frisk sweats, holding up her hands, pleading. "I… I can make it better. I just—"

"no kid. you made it perfectly clear. you don't wanna be here. you don't wanna be with us. and maybe… maybe you're right."

Fresh tears start to bead in her eyes. "Sans… that's not what I mean. You, Papyrus and Undyne mean the world to me. I would never hurt you."

"yet you hurt tori?"

"I didn't—I mean, I—"

"it was out of a moment's frustration—"

"Never! I would never do that!" She cried.

"so there was someone else involved?"

The detective's light shines on Frisk, and she's helpless. "I..I—"

Sans presses, knowing he's right. "someone else got involved, and left you in a situation you couldn't fix."

"Please," Frisk says, "if they find out you know, t-they'll…"

Sans leans forward, voice hard. "who's they?"

"I…"

"who, frisk."

"Sans, I—"

"tell. me. who."

"I, I can't." Frisk whimpers, hiding her face in her hands, ragged breathing through her teeth.

Sans watches her with a grim expression, then leans back, "okay kiddo, take a break. don't want paps to walk in here and find you," he winks, "pasta-way."

Frisk splutters on her tears, "that's not funny."

Sans shrugs, "ya still laughed."

They both look toward the opening door. Papyrus is standing there with a plate of spaghetti. His smile is quick to disappear when he sees Frisk's red, tear-stained face.

He glares at his brother, hysteria in his voice. "SANS, WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Sans plays casual, smiling at his brother. "whaddya mean, bro?"

Papyrus waves his hand at frisk. "THE HUMAN-FRISK IS CLEARLY UPSET, AND YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE HERE."

"nah bro, they're fine. see, kid?" He glances at Frisk, pointing with a thumb toward Papyrus, "pasta-way?"

Both do their best to hold it in, but their snickers turn into uncontrollable laughter, and Papyrus gives Sans a hard time about his inappropriate jokes before pulling a chair on the other side of the Frisk, offering her the spaghetti. She eats well while the brothers talk casually over here, and that's when she notices the bandage wrapped thick around the foot she hurt.

"Who treated my ankle?" She asks, hand hovering with another mouthful of spaghetti.

"YOUR ANKLE WAS FIXED BY MY BROTHER - HE'S A VERY GOOD DOCTOR." Papyrus says.

Sans waves him off. "nah, i know a thing or too. nothing too fancy for a bonehead like me."

"BROTHER," Papyrus says irritably.

"Thank you, Sans." She says, flushing a bit. "It's feeling, uh, much better…"

Sans smirks. "don't sweat it, kid, just a pulled muscle."

She finishes the food, thanking Papyrus as he takes it from her. Sans hums, pulling a square of chilled, wrapped plastic from his pocket.

"here." He offers it to Frisk. "have this 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off. that should keep it ice and cold."

"SANS. REALLY?" Papyrus doesn't look impressed.

"sorry, bro." Sans says, chuckling. "the kid's had it rough, we should probably let 'em sleet."

"SANS!" Papyrus yells.

Frisk is quietly giggling.

Sans smiles, patting Frisk's head. "we'll let you rest before you have to sit through more of my puns, kiddo. just holler if you need anything. we're not far, ok?"

Frisk nods. "Okay, Sans."

Papyrus gives an embarrassed smile. "FORGIVE MY BROTHER, HUMAN-FRISK. GET BETTER SOON. WE WILL BE BACK TO CHECK ON YOU LATER."

"Bye, Papyrus." Frisk says.

The smile wanes, then slowly fades from her face as she stares at the closed door, and she wraps her free arm around her, feeling the dread creep in around her heart.

...

Sans is slouched back in a swivel chair, feet up on the console. Displayed on the screen ahead are video feeds of the security cameras in the prison. He's paying particular attention to one up on the right section of the screen.

Undyne opens the door behind him, walking in. "Sans, how's the little punk doing?"

Sans looks back at Undyne, hesitating. "uh… i guess you could say the kiddo's having a bad time, without me."

"Without you?" Undyne asks.

"sorry. bad joke." Sans says, looking back up at the screens.

The feed from the medical wing shows a line of gurneys, one of them with a small Frisk curled up on her side, shaking.

"What're they doing?" Undyne asks, squinting up at the monitor.

Sans holds down a button. Over the speakers, a quiet, continuous sobbing is heard. He pauses before releasing the button.

Undyne grows concerned. "How long have they been like this?"

"'bout a half-hour," he says.

"Ugh, Sans! You're supposed to tell me when behaviour like this shows up!"

"heh. sorry, bass." Sans winks.

Undyne presses a hand to her face, growling to herself. She then turns away, opening the door.

"i don't know if talking to them will help," Sans says, eyes still on the screen.

"Well, I'm gonna try anyway. That's what besties are for." Undyne says before leaving, the door clicking shut behind her.

Sans sighs. He looks up at Frisk, still sobbing. His expression is a little pained.

"kiddo… why haven't ya called for help?"

...

"Sans, wake up."

Sans comes to with a start, not having realized he fell asleep at the console. He rubs the back of his head, sweating a bit under Undyne's disapproving glare.

"heh, you're lookin' at me like i'm a person of into-rest," he says, winking.

Undyne rolls her eyes, sighing. She slumps down in a chair beside him, her mouth pulled in a frown. He raises a bonebrow.

"how did it go?"

"Awful! That little punk refused to open up about why they're so upset! Ugh, I'm so frustrated—I just want to help them. And they won't let me! NYAAAAAHH!"

"...that bad, huh."

Undyne sighs. "... Yeah."

Sans look up at the screen. "welp. on the bright side, ya got them to stop cryin'."

"What?" Undyne quickly stands, squinting at the screen. "Oh my god, you're right! Hah! I'm a great friend after all. I gotta tell Papyrus!"

Undyne runs from the room, yelling Papyrus' name.

Sans grins, then turns back to the screen. Frisk is sitting up on the gurney, drying her eyes on a sleeve. The faintest smile crosses her face.