Gaster was rushed to hospital, both breaks were really bad and he'd probably be limping for a long time, if not forever but the doctors and healers did what they could. The stay in the hospital wasn't too long but it would be a long time before Gaster could get back to work. However, there were more important things than getting back to work and Gaster's health; Sans was traumatised. He couldn't sleep at night from the nightmares of the fallen human and how close he and his family had came to death. Sans seemed to withdraw from the world, lost in his thoughts as he tired to process what had happened. He just seemed to drift along through the days.

He didn't understand the human, he didn't know why they wanted his dad dead so badly. Badly enough to point a gun at a frightened toddler. They had wanted revenge for the fallen humans, for the humans who died in the war but Sans didn't understand; they didn't know the humans who died and the monsters were justified in their actions. Weren't they?

Killing is wrong but war is war, they were trapped and they just wanted out. Gaster was trying to find another way. Sans just didn't get it. It sounded like so much effort and in the long run it didn't matter; even if they killed Gaster, monsters were still there, still tapped, still killing humans, still experimenting on souls. Everything they would have done was for nothing.

"it's all pointless," Sans said to himself as he stared at the ceiling of his and Papyrus's shared room, "what's the point in trying? we're never getting out of here and if we do humans'll kill us. we all get forgotten in the end anyway, everyone does."

He closed his eyes, he wanted to just sleep away all the problems and never wake up. It was all to much for an eight year old, he was a child who'd seen too much. He should've never been involved with a human like that, he was a child he shouldn't have had to fight to protect his father.

Papyrus woke up and began to cry. Sans sighed, with a broken arm and leg it was much harder for Gaster to tend to Papyrus. Gaster was shuck in bed as much as it annoyed him, he wanted to get back to work but Asgore had insisted he recover first. He couldn't really work when he couldn't walk and only had use of one arm. It also left all the house work to Sans, which he hated since it meant actually putting effort into things that weren't science but he didn't complain, he had to help his father.

Gaster, to, was traumatised. He'd seen a human threaten his children and he'd been badly hurt, how could he not be totally traumatised? The whole thing also triggered past traumas and he was back to having nightmares of the war, of all the humans he killed, of his family dying in front of him. He thought he was long since past the nightmares but they were back and worse than ever. He kept it from Sans, he didn't want Sans to know and worry about him. He was the father, he had to protect his son, it wasn't meant to be the other way around.

But Sans knew about his nightmares. He heard him screaming in the night but he chose not to say anything about it. If Gaster wanted to talk about it then he would, there was no point in pushing it and making things worse. Besides Sans had his own nightmares to worry about.

Sans sat up and picked Papyrus up as he tried to shush him. Papyrus was clearly having nightmares as well, Sans was just glad he was too young to remember any of this and that he'd grow out of it, at least that's what he hoped. He didn't want his very happy little bro to be as traumatised as he was.

"shh, pap, it's ok. big bro's got you, it was just a bad dream. let's not wake dad, alright? I haven't heard him screaming tonight, he needs a good rest."

Papyrus sobbed a little quieter, slowly calming down, he sniffled out a quiet, "S-SN... SNANS!"

Sans sat down on the floor and hugged Papyrus close to him, "i'm here bro, i'll always protect you."

Papyrus and Gaster were the only things stopping Sans from truly giving up, the only things that made him want to keep trying. He used to want to get out of the Underground to see the stars, space fascinated him and his father told him all sorts of things about the sky but all that seemed trivial now. He wanted to see the surface because he knew his dad missed it, he wanted to see the surface not because he wanted to know what it was like but because he wanted Papyrus to see it. So he told himself he'd keep trying, he wouldn't give up even if it was pointless, even if he was just dancing uselessly in the palm of some higher being's hand for nothing but that being's entertainment. He'd try because his father and brother deserved the best because they were the best. The greatest.

Gaster woke up the next morning, it had been two weeks since the human fell and he was stressed and angry and scared. Sans was scarred for life, there was only one more soul left to get and he was stuck at home while he healed his wounds.

He felt so useless, he couldn't even clean his house with the way he was, he couldn't stand for long enough to cook. He was walking slowly with aid of a crutch and he couldn't even walk far. It was getting better but it was too slow for his liking.

He struggled to get out of bed and stand, he cursed under his breath at the pain. He tried to tell himself the pain was worth it, after all he was in pain because Sans wasn't, he taken the bullets for him and he knew even one wound like this would be way more than enough to kill Sans. So the pain was worth it but it was still damned annoying. He just wanted to go back to work, he had to open the barrier before the last human fell. He had to study the yellow soul of the human who attacked him.

He limped over to his bedroom door, Sans hadn't come to wake him so he was probably still sleeping and they had things to do. He hated the limping, it made everything much harder and he had been told he'd probably always have a limp.

After shrugging over to his sons' room he knocked on the door and got no answer. "SANS! TIME TO WAKE UP!"

A faint and sleepy "uh," was heard from behind the door.

"I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN, LAZYBONES, IT'S ALREADY NOON!"

"not now, dad," Sans's very sleepy voice called, "five more-"

"ONE... TWO..."

"ok, ok! i'm up."

Gaster opened the door to see Sans was very much not up and was in fact laying on his back on the floor, Papyrus was sitting on his chest and pushing his face. It looked like Papyrus was also trying to get Sans up.

"DID YOU BOYS SLEEP ON THE FLOOR?"

"didn't mean to. pap woke up and wanted hugs. we kinda just fell asleep here."

Gaster sighed and shook his head but he couldn't hide the smile. He was so thankful that his boys were okay, they were alive and things were slowly going back to normal, his pain really was worth it, just seeing them like this made it worth it.

"COME ON, THEN. WE HAVE THINGS TO DO TODAY."

Sans frowned, "like? i thought you were still meant to be taking it easy. ya know? doctor's orders."

"I WAS ALSO TOLD TO GO FOR WALKS TO STRENGTHEN MY LEG AND YOU COULD ALSO USE THE EXERCISE."

Sans gasped sarcastically, "dad, are you calling me fat?"

Gaster laughed and shook his head, "YES. YOU REALLY NEED TO STOP SKIPPING P.E."

Sans groaned and carefully pushed Papyrus off of him. "fine, it'll be a short walk anyway." He pulled himself up off of the floor and stretched.

Papyrus stood up as well and copied his brother, then ran over to Gaster, he grabbed his good leg in a tight hug.

Gaster wished he was well enough to bend down and pick Papyrus up but he couldn't so he simply smiled down at the child and said gently, "GOOD MORNING, PAPY. LOVE YOU TO."

Papyrus blinked up at Gaster and smiled, still holding onto his leg tightly he looked him in the eye and said, "DADA!"

Gaster gasped and smiled wider. It was the first time he'd said that and the word made him all the happier. He loved having kids. "AWW PAPY... YOU'RE SO COOL! WELL DONE."

Papyrus giggled at the praise and went running out of the room.

Gaster hopped to turn around and call after his son, "CAREFUL, DON'T FALL!" Papyrus seemed to listen and slowed to a walk. "SANS, GO AFTER HIM AND MAKE SURE HE WON'T TRIP, WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER ONE OF US TO SUFFER BROKEN BONES."

Sans nodded and began to follow his brother. "what about you? can you get down alright on your own?"

Gaster nodded. "YEAH, I'LL BE FINE, IT'LL TAKE A WHILE BUT I'D RATHER YOU MAKE SURE PAPYRUS IS ALRIGHT."

"ok."

Gaster and Sans walked through Snowdin forest after dropping Papyrus off at the babysitter's. Sans didn't know why Gaster was insistent on him coming with but he was glad he was there to help his father. Gaster walked really slowly with his arm and leg in a cast. He may have been told to exercise but Sans was fairly certain they didn't mean so soon and not for as long.

It didn't surprise him, however, he knew his father hated doing nothing, he just had to be doing something and there was nothing anyone could do to make him sit still. They walked through the forest together in silence the only sounds were of their footsteps and the occasional hiss of pain from Gaster when he tired to put his foot down fully.

"do you want to rest?" Sans asked, "or turn back? you seem like you're in a lot of pain."

Gaster looked around and shrugged but he made his way to a tree stump and sat down slowly. "OKAY, I REALLY NEEDED TO SIT DOWN..."

"are you going to be ok?"

Gaster laughed and waved Sans over to him, "I'LL BE FINE. I DON'T NEED MY SON WORRYING ABOUT ME AT THIS AGE. SAVE THAT FOR WHEN I'M OLD."

A cheeky grin spread on Sans's face, "but dad! you are old! you're like what? a thousand?"

"SOMEWHERE AROUND 500 OR 600 ACTUALLY, PROBABLY. I STOPPED COUNTING LONG AGO."

"still super old!" Sans teased. Gaster was certain that if Sans could he'd be sticking his tongue out at him.

"NOT FOR A BOSS MONSTER! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I'M STILL VERY YOUNG!"

"keep telling yourself that, old man."

Gaster playfully pushed his son as he laughed with him and then using his good arm he pulled him in for a hug.

"I LOVE YOU AND PAPYRUS VERY MUCH, YOU KNOW THAT RIGHT?"

Sans nodded, "how could i not? you say it all the time."

Gaster nodded and looked into the distance, his arm around Sans's shoulder. "I KNOW. I PROBABLY CODDLE YOU BOYS TOO MUCH BUT I DO IT BECAUSE I CARE. I DON'T WANT ANYTHING BAD TO HAPPEN TO YOU. EVER."

"dad? where are you going with this?"

Gaster looked back at Sans, he was still too young to be having the conversion in Gaster's option but he felt it was necessary. "THAT HUMAN SCARED ME MORE THAN ANYTHING, SANS. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO LOSE YOU, I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE. I ALREADY LOST MY FAMILY TO HUMANS, I LOST AN EYE, THEY MESSED UP MY FACE AND HANDS AND NOW... I'M BEAT UP AGAIN."

"but you'll get better, broken bones heal, you'll just have scars... and that's pretty cool!"

Gaster sighed, "SANS, ONE DAY WE WILL GET OUT, WHETHER WE FIGURE IT OUT OR ANOTHER HUMAN FALLS, WE'LL FACE HUMANS AGAIN. I'M A WORN OUT, OLD VETERAN WHO ALWAYS GETS HURT. I CAN'T LOSE YOU BOYS... BUT I WON'T ALWAYS BE AROUND TO PROTECT YOU."

Sans looked upset and scared at that thought and grabbed onto his father's coat. "dad, what are you saying? stop talking like your dying!" pure terror washed across Sans's face as he looked up at Gaster, "you're not dying... right?"

Gaster moved his hand and stroked his son's skull, "I'M NOT DYING, SANS. ALL I'M SAYING IS THAT I WON'T LIVE FOREVER AND CHILDREN SHOULD ALWAYS OUTLIVE THEIR PARENTS. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN DEFEND YOURSELF IF NECESSARY."

Sans looked shocked, "you're going to teach me to fight? i thought you only showed me the blasters for fun."

"I DID. I DON'T WANT TO SHOW YOU HOW TO FIGHT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU FIGHTING, BUT WHAT HAPPENED SHOWED ME THAT THERE MAY COME A TIME THAT YOU HAVE TO AND I WOULD AT LEAST LIKE TO KNOW YOU CAN DODGE AND DEFEND."

Sans nodded slowly in understanding at what his father was saying but quickly looked down, "i don't think i'd do very well in a fight no matter how much i train. with my HP and DEF i'm as good as dead the second a human looks in my direction."

"THAT'S WHY I WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN DODGE AND RUN AWAY. I'M NOT ASKING YOU TO FIGHT A HUMAN. IF THE SITUATION OCCURS AND A HUMAN ATTACKS YOU I WANT YOU TO RUN AWAY BUT WE'RE BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. I'M GOING TO TRAIN PAPYRUS TO AS SOON AS HE'S OLD ENOUGH. YOUR BROTHER CAN PROTECT YOU."

"alright then, how're we doing this? are you going to throw attacks at me?"

"OH HEAVENS NO! I WILL NOT RISK HURTING YOU. INSTEAD..." Gaster lent over and picked up a pile of snow, trying to form it into a ball with only one hand, "YOU'LL DODGE THIS!"

Sans giggled, "a snowball fight, huh?"

"IT'S TRAINING. I'LL THROW SNOWBALLS AND YOU DODGE AS MANY AS YOU CAN!"

"why do i have a bad feeling about this?"

"OH SANS, RELAX OR THIS WILL BE SNOW FUN!"

Sans laughed hard at that one, "hey, that was a really good one. i guess it will be 'ice to try."

"LET'S GET ON WITH IT THEN!"

Sans ran a little bit away from his father and Gaster threw the snowball at him, Sans dodged it easily and then another was thrown in his direction, dodged. They kept coming and Gaster kept missing. Just as Sans was thinking that this was really easy and he'd been worried about doing actual work for nothing, Gaster changed it up, he summoned ten magical hands and scooped up snow in each before throwing it all at once. Sans wasn't ready and got hit.

"LESSON ONE, NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. IF THOSE WHERE REAL ATTACKS YOU'D BE DEAD."

Sans shook off the snow from his clothes. "you cheated!"

"NO I DIDN'T. YOU MERELY FORGOT I COULD DO THIS."

"humans can't do that!"

"THEY CAN DO OTHER THINGS. YOU NEED TO BE FAST SANS, ONE HIT AND YOU'RE DEAD. TRY AGAIN."

They started again, Gaster throwing snowballs and Sans dodging as best he could. He got hit a lot but Gaster was impressed; he was doing much better than he thought he would. For a lazy, chubby kid he sure was fast and Gaster was very, very proud of him.

Once they were done with the snowball dodging. Gaster had Sans practice some attacks and he gave more instructions on the Gaster Blasters, demonstrating from where he sat on the stump, showing Sans how to make them bigger, how to have more than one out at a time. Sans was very good with the blasters. He then had Sans work the blasters into his bone attacks.

He shouted out advice and encouragement and praise as he went. Smiling as Sans shot out a wall of bone followed by two blasters. "VERY GOOD, SANS! NOW FASTER!"

"i don't think i can do it any faster!" Sans called, he was tired but he was enjoying himself.

"OF COURSE YOU CAN! BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN DEAL ANY DECENT DAMAGE IS TO GO SO FAST YOU BASICALLY COMBO LOCK THEM, GET OFF AS MANY AS YOU CAN BEFORE THEY ATTACK AND YOU HAVE TO DODGE."

Sans nodded and tried again, repeating the move but a little faster.

"EXCELLENT! NOW FOR THE NEXT ONE-" Gaster was cut off by his ringtone. He sighed and answered it using a magic hand.

"Ah, Doctor, are you alright?" it was the babysitter.

"YES I'M FINE. WHY?"

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just getting quite late. I was worried something happened to you, those wounds should not be taken lightly."

Gaster used another magic hand to pull back his sleeve and look at his watch, he cursed quietly under his breath, he was meant to pick up Papyrus half an hour ago. Time just flew by so fast and with no sun it was hard to judge the time by the amount of light.

"I'M SORRY. WE'LL HEAD BACK NOW. I'LL GIVE YOU DOUBLE FOR THE EXTRA TIME."

"Please, dear, I don't care about the money, just be safe."

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN. I'LL SEE YOU SOON," Gaster hung up and turned to Sans, "TIME TO GO HOME."

Sans let out a sigh of relief, "thank god! i'm so tired. that sure was a workout!"

Gaster chuckled and began to pull himself up. Sans ran over and helped Gaster to stand. "AH, I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I HEAL. THEN I CAN HELP YOU TRAIN."

Sans smiled, "i can't wait, this was a lot of effort but i did have fun."

"I'M GLAD. WE'LL DO THIS AS MUCH AS WE CAN."

Gaster would take Sans out to train as much as he could. He wanted the peace of mind that came with knowing that Sans could defend himself if the worst happened.

He very proud of his son, he was getting faster and more skilled every session and his improvement only went faster once Gaster had healed enough to move more freely and could help a lot more by demonstrating and actually moving around as the threw snowballs. He even managed to spar with Sans since Sans did so little damage and Gaster could simply pelt his son with snow. Gaster certainly wasn't what he used to be, now with a permanent limp and a cane helping him walk, he wasn't as fast and more clumsy but everything he did was still helping Sans get better.

They had a lot of fun training together and often ended up messing around more than actually training. Gaster lost count of how many times their training ended with them rolling around in the snow in a fit of laughter at something stupid one of them had said. He'd lost count of how many times Sans's laziness had gotten the better of him and they ended up at Grillby's eating junk food instead. Gaster was stressed, work was hell and he was often angry but when he was with his sons he couldn't help but feel like the happiest monster in the world.

As soon as Papyrus turned four, Gaster had him join in with them and Papyrus loved it far more than Sans did. He wasn't as fast as Sans was but he was stronger and his blasters were much bigger than Sans's, Papyrus was only four and his blasters rivalled Gaster's own. Gaster had no doubt that Papyrus would easily be stronger than him one day. Papyrus happily named his blasters his "SPECIAL ATTACK!" and Gaster could see why; they'd easily stop a human in their tracks.

He couldn't stop praising his boys and much like he had once referred to himself as "THE GREAT GASTER," he was beginning to refer to his sons as "THE GREAT SANS AND THE GREAT PAPYRUS," the former not really leading anywhere but the latter seemed to really stick and Papyrus was soon referring to himself as such.

He was so happy to know Papyrus could easily protect Sans and Sans could easily drag Papyrus away quickly if things took a turn for the worse.

Gaster smiled as he lay in bed, his mind racing over formals and theories but settled on his sons. "IF THE WORST HAPPENS, AND I DIE, THEY'LL BE OKAY," he said aloud right before he feel asleep.

The simulations and primary tests were finally done, he was sure it was safe. It'd been years in the planning but tomorrow he'd make a start on what he had planned to do ever since the attack, he'd inject DT into himself.