:):

Thank you for all of the Awesome reviews!

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It's been 65 chapters and at last Frisk is finally here!

(I'm slightly embarrassed that it took so long...)

That being said, let's start. :)

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Deja Vu

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Frightened hazel eyes filled his vision as he readied his blasters. "not again." Sans heard himself say as the snow settled in around them. He wouldn't let it happen again. But even as he said this, he could hear the banging from the other side of the door.

"Sans?" Papyrus asked through the door as he gave a light knock.

Jerking awake, Sans almost fell over from where he had been resting next to the bed. Had he fallen asleep?! Snapping his eye lights over to his window, the early morning Core light streamed through the glass to greet him. Oh hell, he really had fallen asleep...

"Sans? Are You In There? I'm Going To Meet Up With Undyne Today In Waterfall. We're Going To Search HIGH and Low For Miss Fearia's Stolen Soul." Papyrus hesitated for a moment before continuing his one sided conversation. Sans might not even be in there but he had to get this off of his chest.

"She... She told me everything - About the mean flower, about how you were injured, and even how little Fearia was attacked..." Lifting his gloved hand to the wooden door, Papyrus let his mask of confidence slip as hurt filled his words. "Why do you always hide things from me? Do you really think I am incapable of handling these types of things? ...I am no longer a child, Sans. You don't have to sugarcoat the truth for me anymore. I'm stronger than you think."

Ending his speech with a bit more confidence, Papyrus gave a small nod before turning away. He felt a little better now. Even if his brother wasn't really here to listen to what he had to say, his bones still felt lighter now that it was off of his chest. Maybe one day he'll say this to Sans for real, but for right now, this would just have to do.

From inside his room, Sans sat there in stunned silence as the guilt slowly seeped into his bones. Of course Undyne had told his brother everything. She never could keep a secret. But really, he'd never asked her to, so the blame was completely on him this time. Still... This wasn't how he had wanted Papyrus to find out. He had planned on telling him the truth later. Once things got better. ...If things got better.

Leaning back onto the side of the bed, Sans released a quiet groan of frustration as he ran a bony hand over his aching skull. Flinching slightly as his phalanges accidentally glided over the fractured bone, the skeleton quickly ceased the action as his dispirited grin fell flat. God dammit... He had a ton of apologizing to do...

He'd have to save the apologies for later, though, because right now, he had to check on the kid. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, it was a huge freakin' mistake! Who knows how many hours he'd wasted? Hopefully it wasn't too late...

Forcing his slightly rejuvenated body up from the floor, Sans hesitated for only a second before letting his eye lights fall onto the sleeping child. She was still there... Still alive. The breath he hadn't known he was holding released slowly as Sans felt some of the tension leave his bones. He still had time. How much time? That, he did not know, but for now, there was still hope.

Curled up next to the soulless child, Poff whined softly as he watched his friend reach down and gently lay his bony hand to the little girl's forehead. She had gotten colder over night and the little dog was doing his best to keep her warm, but he could only do so much. Resting his head on her small chest, Poff snuggled closer in an attempt to share as much of his body heat as he could.

Sans felt a frown settle over his features. He couldn't feel her warmth at all anymore and her breathing had become shallow and raspy. He knew with absolute certainty that this was going to be her last day. He only had one last chance to find her Soul - one last chance to save her life. He couldn't mess this up. There were no do-overs in life and the kid was counting on him.

The flower had to be hiding out around Snowdin. He'd already checked nearly everywhere in the Underground except for the snowy wilderness west of town. It had to be out there somewhere, there wasn't anywhere else to look.

Unless...

The skeleton's eye sockets widened slightly as something finally dawned on him. Maybe the reason why nobody had seen the damn flower was because he was hiding out in a place nobody could get to. An area that had been long forgotten, sealed off from the public by a pair of heavy stone doors.

Cursing under his nonexistent breath, Sans quickly teleported himself deep into the Snowdin Wilderness. With a small burst of cool flames, he appeared in front of the door leading down into the Ruins. It was still tightly sealed. If the flower had gone into the Ruins, it was unlikely he used the door anyway. Being a plant based monster, Flowey had probably just burrowed underneath the door or something. That made sense, right?

Regardless of how he got down there, if Flowey truly was in the Ruins, he had probably found the best possible hiding place in all of the Underground. Sans couldn't stop metaphorically kicking himself for not thinking of this place sooner. He'd wasted so many freakin' days when the damn flower had most likely been right here this whole time.

"and here i thought i was good at figuring things out." Sans chuckled bitterly in spite of himself as a sharp grin spread across his skull.

Running his phalanges over the cold stone surface of the door, Sans estimated that with enough force, he could easily break his way in. Two blasters should be able to do the job. Pulling his hood over his aching skull, Sans concentrated harder than he should've had to before managing to summon one blaster. Huh... Well, maybe this will be enough.

Placing his bony hand to the large floating canine skull, he silently gave his orders. It looked at him sidelong for a second or two before finally redirecting its attention to the task at hand. Stepping well out of the way of the blast range, Sans braced himself as his blaster opened its mouth and began charging up.

*BOOM*

As if by some bizarre coincidence, the doors were indeed blasted open, but from the opposite side. Sans watched in bafflement as dark clouds of smoke billowed out from the gaping doorway. What the hell had just happened?! A few seconds ticked by as the reverberations of the blast slowly faded before the sound of dry coughing could be heard. From out of the clouds of noxious smoke, a human staggered into view.

Completely caught off guard by the strange turn of events, all Sans could do was stare awkwardly. This human was a lot bigger than the kid, which really wasn't saying much. And from what he could make out, she appeared to be female, but to be honest, it was kinda hard to tell through all of the soot and ash she was covered in. Her clothes were burnt and she had various cuts and burns scattered across her body. The most severe injury by far, however, had to be her left hand. It had somehow been blackened, probably by something extremely hot. To put it bluntly, this human looked like she had just stepped out of a burning hot oven.

Once her coughing fit had finally subsided, the girl lifted her injured hand to her chest protectively as she took a look around. It was only now, did she notice the large blaster floating above her head. She stared at it in silence for a moment before turning her gaze to the skeleton, a questioning look on her face.

Sans stared into those hazel eyes as a feeling of deja vu crept up on him. Had they already met? Why did this human feel so familiar? It was odd, but he was certain he'd seen her somewhere before. Wait... Was this the kid's sister?

Before Sans could even begin to ask his question, a strange noise interrupted the moment. The sound was so obscure, he couldn't quite place what it was. It was caught in-between the noise that was made when something heavy was moved underwater and the sound of something sharp and metallic being dragged over rock. "the hell is that...?" Sans wondered aloud as his attention was brought back to the damaged doorway.

A nearly inaudible gasp escaped the human as she snapped her terrified eyes towards the sound. Turning back to the skeleton, she reclaimed his attention before issuing a silent plea in the form of a single mouthed word.

*RUN!*

It had happened so fast, Sans barely had time to acknowledge what he was seeing. Shooting out from the smoking doorway, darkened vines quickly seized the injured human, wrapping around her tightly as sharp crystalline thorns dug deep into her skin. Unable to stand, she fell to the snow with a quiet thud. Sans felt his metaphorical heart sink when she shot him a desperate look with those hazel eyes before she was forcefully dragged back down into the Ruins.

...

"Sans?" Papyrus asked through the door as he gave a light knock.

Sans gave a sudden start as his eye sockets shot open. What just happened?! Looking around his room dumbly, his nonexistent brain tried its hardest to process where he was. He was at home in his room. But then, why did it feel like he wasn't really here. Or, rather, like he hadn't been here a moment ago? Wait... That didn't make any sense...

"Sans? Are You In There? I'm Going To Meet Up With Undyne Today In Waterfall. We're Going To Search HIGH and Low For Miss Fearia's Stolen Soul."

Turning his eye lights towards his door, Sans felt a sense of unease fill him as he listened in silence. Had Undyne told him about what happened?

"She... She told me everything, - About the mean flower, about how you were injured, and even how little Fearia was attacked..." Papyrus revealed through the door.

The guilty skeleton stayed quiet, unable to bring himself to interrupt his little brother's rant. This wasn't how he wanted Papyrus to find out. He had planned on telling him later, himself. Damn it, Undyne. Sans found himself privately cursing at the suspended Captain. She never could keep a secret.

Wait... This felt... Familiar.

Sans' train of thought slowly derailed as he was overcome with another wave of deja vu. He didn't know what was happening, but he needed to clear his mind. Forcing himself to his feet, his attention was drawn to the window where early morning Core light was streaming into his room.

It was morning... Already? Wait! The kid!

Panic surged inside of him for a nanosecond until his eye lights landed on the sleeping child. She was still there. Sans released a quiet improbable breath as he felt his shoulders slump a little in relief. Somehow, in the back of his mind, he knew she would still be there, but he still held the very real fear that she also might not have been.

After checking on her condition, Sans took grim note of the urgency and began to formulate his plans for the day. He needed to check west of Snowdin. That was the last place the flower could be hiding.

No... That was wrong... Flowey was hiding out in the Ruins... Sans couldn't understand why, but he was certain of this fact. He also felt as if he needed to get there quickly for some reason.

Leaving the kid with Poff, Sans teleported himself straight to the door to the Ruins. It was still sealed up tightly and it didn't appear as if the door had been used in quite awhile. Still... he was sure it was about to open. Standing a safe distance away from the door, Sans stuffed his bony hands into his jacket pockets as he waited.

Minutes ticked by in silence as nothing happened. Frustrated, Sans reached up and ran a bony hand over his aching skull as his patience began to dwindle. What the hell was he even waiting for?

Walking back over to the door, the skeleton stared at it in contemplation before leaning in to listen. From somewhere deep inside the Ruins, he could just barely hear the sounds of a commotion. The ruckus continued for a few more seconds before a low rumbling could be heard that suspiciously sounded like a cave-in.

...

"Sans?" Papyrus asked through the door as he gave a light knock.

Opening his eye sockets, Sans looked around in confusion. He had just been standing in front of the door to the Ruins. Just a second ago. He was absolutely sure of it. What was happening?

Not bothering to answer his brother, Sans only half listened as he got back to his feet and turned to stare absentmindedly down at the sleeping child. Something... Something wasn't quite right here... Reaching up, he winced slightly as he put a bony hand to his throbbing skull.

"She... She told me everything."

Wait. What?

Snapping his attention back to the door, Sans listened to the strangely familiar speech. Undyne had told Papyrus about everything that had happened. Somehow, he already knew this but that didn't mean he approved of it. He should have been the one to tell his little brother the unpleasant details of that horrible event. Now he just felt guilty for not telling him the truth sooner... Why couldn't he have just told him the truth when he had had the chance days ago?

This was an error in his judgment and the fault was his own. Too bad he couldn't go back and change things... If he could do that, he...

The skeleton's train of thought slowed to a stop as a pair of frightened hazel eyes flashed inside his mind for a blink of a second. His eye sockets widened just a little as another scene replayed in his head, this one of an injured human being dragged by dark vines down into the smoking Ruins, while the sound of a cave-in seemed to echo like a lost memory.

Poff cocked his furry head in confusion as he watched his friend's strange behavior. It seemed like the skeleton's mind had gone elsewhere for a moment as he silently stared off into space. Then. Just like that. He had vanished. The dog monster didn't know what was going on, but he hoped his friend would return soon. The little girl needed help badly and he wasn't sure what else he could do but keep her warm and protected. Resting his head lightly on the tiny human's chest, Poff gave a low growl as he eyed the empty corner of the room.

They were back... Why wouldn't they just give up already?

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In this AU, Gaster does not yet have the ability to interact with anything.

A vengeful spirit, on the other hand, just might have the Determination to try...

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In the next chapter, Sans finally gets to speak with Frisk.

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Sheii Bae~