Chapter 4

Sans stared after the retreating girl. He had been sure that Ruby had been lying about being an orphan, but now he didn't know. She had seemed so blasé when she told him that she didn't have parents sans figured it was just a lie so he would stop talking to her. He would have never asked such insensitive questions if he thought, even for a moment, that she had been telling the truth.

"shit." He muttered, scratching the back of his skull. He felt bad, but he was still suspicious of the girl. From day one she had seemed to be dodging his questions. At first he was merely curious about her. He always liked to check up on Grillby's new hires; one couldn't be too careful when one was tied to the mobs. The fact that the newest hire had a cute face had been an added motivator. It was only after sans started questioning the waitress that he actually grew suspicious. He wouldn't put it past the Roughs to try and put a spy in the Groundskeepers favorite bar.

Snapping back to the present, sans took a deep breath and stepped sideways into a shortcut. He came out behind a dumpster at the end of an alley close to Ruby. He quickly closed his blue eye, shrouding himself in darkness. He saw with his open eye the look of fury and hurt etched across Ruby's face. A pang of guilt struck through sans but he pushed it down. He told himself that what he was doing was for the safety of his friend. And he wasn't hurting the girl. Not really.

He watched as Ruby checked behind her and visibly relax when she noticed that sans wasn't outside the restaurant anymore. Sans was surprised when, instead of taking the alley he was hiding in towards the main road, Ruby continued down the dark alleyway she was in. sans narrowed his eyes in suspicion. This wasn't exactly what one would call a "safe" neighborhood. It wasn't the worst, but everyone knew better than to walk in the alleys after dark. Ruby was either incredibly stupid… or she knew something sans didn't. Something that gave her the upperhand in the alleys of Ebott City. That made her dangerous. sans knew he had to follow her.

He didn't want to think about what his friends would say if they knew that a girl like Ruby made him nervous. Nervous enough to follow her. His suspicions only grew as he followed the waitress. She kept stopping and looking around her, as if searching for something. Twice she almost caught sans before he could cover the blue magic that leaked from his eye. She was fast to react. And sans didn't fail to notice that she kept her hand in her purse.

He followed her all the way to an old apartment building. He watched as she walked into the building, waiting a moment before he took his own shortcut in. He remained one flight below her as he followed her up. He made sure not to make a sound as he crept up the old staircase. It wasn't as difficult as it sounded, he had mastered the skill of sneaking years ago. He watched from the shadows as Ruby unlocked the door to an apartment. He had to stifle a chuckle at Ruby's confusion as she watched her neighbor flee down the stairs. The flustered girl didn't even notice sans in her escape, cheeks red in embarrassment. Unfortunately, sans was at a bad angle and couldn't see into Ruby's apartment. She shut the door behind her too quickly for sans to move into a better position. sans gave out an annoyed sigh and checked his watch. It was a little past 11. Papyrus would, no doubt, be in bed already. sans glared at the door, as if it was to blame for everything.

Resigned, sans left the building in favor of the nearest bar he could find. Luckily, there was one in the basement of the next building over. sans moodily stomped down the stairs to the entrance of the bar. He was by no means surprised to find the place to be a total dive. Cigar smoke polluted the air, the radio was more static than music, all the patrons were hunched over their drinks, as if afraid that someone would try to steal them, and in general the bar was just dirty. sans grimaced as his shoes stuck to the floor with every step. He sat down at the least disgusting seat he could find. The bartender slowly walked over to him and waited for sans to order.

"you wouldn't happen to have any ketchup bottles, would ya, pal?" sans asked, already knowing the answer. The bartender just blinked slowly. "i thought not. i'll just have a double shot o' whiskey. top shelf."

The bartender put a rocks glass in front of sans and poured out the double. sans tried to hold back a scowl. What passed as top shelf at this bar would be considered bottom shelf at Grillby's. Nevertheless, sans made sure to tip the bartender well. The man had given him what looked to be the only clean glass in the joint.

sans took a sip of the disappointing whiskey as he checked his watch again. 12:13. He sighed. Sometimes being a good friend really did suck.

Two in the morning found sans glaring at the apartment door again. He listened closely for the sound of movement on the other side, but was pretty sure he didn't hear anything. prob'ly shouldn't a had that third double. He rubbed the back of his skull absently. better get this ov'r with, then.

sans took a deep breath as the hallway was bathed in the blue light of his magic. On the exhale, sans took a "short-cut". On step and he was in the apartment. He kept his magical eye glowing, certain it was too faint to wake the slumbering human. He could in the dark much better than humans, but even he needed some light sometimes. sans took a quick 360 of the room and was somewhat disturbed by sight. He knew some homeless people that had more stuff in a shopping cart. sans' guilt for breaking in eased slightly. Clearly there was something suspicious about the girl. Moving as quietly as he could, sans inspected the apartment, looking for anything incriminating or suspicious. Or even something personal that would give him some clues on the human's past. His face heated when he neared the mattress on the floor and found that the human was sleeping sans clothes. He looked away from her sleeping form while he carefully slipped a hand under the mattress, looking for papers she may have hidden. He held back a frustrated growl at finding only what seemed to be her savings. stupid, that's tha first place someone'll look for cash.

He searched the entire apartment as best as he could, but had nothing to show. The human didn't even have a mobile phone! sans sighed. The entire night had been a waste of time and energy. He could have been sleeping! Or at the very least, he could have kept drinking. sans cast one final glare at the human sleeping before stepping sideways into a shortcut and disappearing.

Frisk woke with a start, barely keeping in the scream that had tried to escape her. She clutched at the sheets over her chest and looked about her apartment frantically. Light escaped out from behind the blanket she had over the window.

Frisk tried to slow her breathing. Just a dream, it wasn't real. She repeated silently. It took her some time to calm down, and once she did, she immediately made her way towards the shower, checking the clock as she passed. A little past ten. I wonder what time Emily wants me over for lunch? Once in the bathroom, Frisk turned on the shower and set the water to hot.

Frisk jumped when someone pounded on her apartment door.

"Ruby! Ruby! Are you in there? You didn't forget about lunch, did you?" Frisk relaxed when she heard Emily's frantic voice. She put down her book and made her way over to the door to greet her enthusiastic friend.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was worried that you had gone out! I realized this morning that I didn't give you a time! Duh, Emily! Hahaha! I mean, it was such a hassle to walk all the way over to your apartment to check!" Emily joked as soon as Frisk opened the door. Her red curls bounced as she spoke too quickly for Frisk to get a word in edgewise. Frisk smiled. "But anyways! I was thinkin' we could just do sandwiches! I got them all made up already! And i got some snacks, too! I think you'll really like these pastries I got! They're the bees knees! Are you ready?" She asked, it took Frisk a moment to respond, surprised at the abrupt question. She simply nodded and stepped out into the hall, closing and locking the door behind her. Frisk looked up to see that Emily already had her door open and was waving her on in.

"I'm so happy you're here!" Emily began as soon as she closed the door behind her. "I told you before, but I'll say it again, the man in that apartment before you was a real bore. I mean, I've only lived in this apartment for three months, but I only ever saw him twice! I tried to greet him both times but he just ignored me! What a jerk! I'm so happy you're my neighbor now! We should go out on town some night! I know of some really fun drums! Here, sit down! I'll grab those sandwiches! I stuck them in the fridge in case you weren't home and I had to wait for you!" Frisk sat down at Emily's table and casually looked around the apartment, it was the same layout as Frisks', but Emily had a lot more personal belongings. Her apartment actually looked like something an adult would live in. Frisk stomped on the tendril of jealousy she felt. One day, she would have an apartment like this. Emily put a plate down in front of Frisk. "I hope you like egg-salad sandwiches! I just learned how to make them the other week and I haven't been able to stop eating them! They're so yummy and easy to make! Oh! And here," Emily put down a paper bag on the table, Frisk looked at it with a raised brow, "They're the pastries I was telling you about! I got them from this cute little bakery down the block. You'll have to try them! They're to die for! All the girls at work have been raving about them! I went into the bakery and almost screamed! There were spiders everywhere! At first I thought the girls were pullin' my leg! I thought to myself 'No way this is that amazing bakery!' But then I saw the woman who owns the joint and I realized that the spiders in the shop weren't actual spiders! They were monster spiders! And the owner? She's a giant monster spider! She's got six arms! Six! And she has five eyes! I know it sounds scary, but she was actually very cute! She had on this gorgeous dress! I don't know how she kept it so clean! She was super friendly, too! At least, she was to me! Some dummerer come in, lookin' to beg and she was downright vicious to him! As soon as she realized he wasn't there for her wares, she had a whole bunch of spiders collectively throw the guy out! Right onto his bum outside! It was crazy!" Emily paused in her tirade to take a bite of her sandwich. She grunted in approval.

"That's quite a story, Emily, and this sandwich is just as good as you said it was." Frisk said with a smile. Emily, mouth still full, gave a big, closed mouth smile and pointed at the bag of pastries, then to Frisk. Frisk immediately took a pastry out of the bag. It smelled amazing. She took a big bite out of it and was pleasantly surprised when a sense of warmth flooded through her body. Magic monster food. She thought, enjoying the feeling. She rarely ate magic food. Grillby offered it, but he also had regular human food. Frisk usually opted for the more boring of the two as it was cheaper.

"Aren't they the best?" Emily gushed, having finished her bite of sandwich. Frisk nodded eagerly in agreement. "I thought the girls at work were exaggerating, but it's true! Anyways, Frisk, where do you work? You mentioned working nights the other day."

"Grillby's," Frisk said after quickly swallowing her bite of pastry.

"Oooh! I went there once, to the bar, it's so nice! Do you like working there? What's the deal with the flaming monster? Does he actually have connections to the mob? Do you ever worry that there's gonna be a gunfight at work? How often do you work there? We need to have a girls night when you have off!" Emily fired off question after question. Frisk slowly chewed a bit of pastry, buying time to think about her answers.

"I just started working there a little over a week ago, but I enjoy it so far. I don't really ask about the gang stuff, but I've heard he used to be close friends with the Don of the Groundskeepers. So they frequent his bar. You would never guess, it though. It's just like any other restaurant. I've asked him to work me five or six days a week, but I don't work Friday night, just in the morning." Frisk replied. Emily's eyes lit up at her answers.

"Friday night is perfect! I'm supposed to work, but I'll just ask another girl to cover for me! Should be easy, everyone wants Friday shifts! Where do you wanna go? Wait, you're new here! Duh, Emily! I know a drum that would be just perfect! We could get ready together! Does that sound good to you?" Frisk nodded with a smile. "Perfect!"

The two girls spent the next hour talking, that is, Emily spent the next hour talking with Frisk answering questions every once in a while. Around two, Emily announced that it was time for her nap.

"I'm sorry to kick you out, Rubz, but I need my afternoon nap! I get so grumpy when I skip it! I'm excited for Friday! Just come on over whenever you want and we can do each other's makeup! It's going to be so much fun! Tootles, Rubles!" Emily called out as Frisk opened her apartment, Frisk waved goodbye at Emily and went inside. She let out a huge yawn and figured she would follow in Emily's lead. A nap sounded great.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took me so long! I hit a bit of a block, I have the story all planned out, but I have trouble fleshing out the story, you know? I get caught up in how to develop the characters and the world. This is supposed to be prohibition era, but the technology is way advanced and the actual prohibition never happened. Both of these are thanks to the monsters coming to the surface about fifty years prior to this story. I figure with their magic and with how good the monsters were with the garbage that fell into the underground, their emergance helped advance technology in leaps and bounds! Really the only thing all that true to the twenties would be style and some slang. Idk, maybe I'll just make it sorta ambiguous, like in Archer! hahaha!

Anyways, any feedback you have is much appreciated! And encouraged! I need all the advice I can get! Let me know if you have any questions! Oh, and if you read my other fics, don't worry, I've started working on Time and Time Again...again. I ran into the same problems there. Thankies! Later days!