Core Issues: Season Five

by Nicolle

Cross and Shooting Star are plagued with nightmares of other Frisks in serious danger while Dragoon Sans attempts to rebuild his timeline by stealing people and things that rightly belong to others.

3. Ep 2: Connections

Core Issues: Season 5
By Nicolle

Special Disclaimer: AsylumTale Sans belongs to Furgemancs and was requested by saphire000000. This story is copyrighted to me.

Episode 2 :Connections
(Bones is our narrator!)

I relaxed, hands in the pockets of my bomber jacket, watching Sophia, Brandon, Princess, and Dead Sass have one last, good play time together at their favorite park. One of the local at-home parents groups were there for their weekly playdate so several other children of both the human and monster variety, filled the playground with screams of delight and crazed laughter.

"How long has it been since their mother passed away?"

I sighed, shoulders dropping. You know? I hate that question. I get it a lot when I'm out with the kids, like the only reason a dad would be motivated to be a parent is if mom had died. There were plenty of dads in the group, and still, all of us got hit with this question.

I smirked, leaning back a bit and cocking my skull to the side to give the woman next to me my full attention. "I just texted her, and didn't need a Oujia board, so unless the cell carrier expanded their map to the afterlife when I wasn't looking, my wife's fine."

The woman's jaw dropped.

Kristen Rivera snorted loudly. "Oh my God, Bones!" She put a hand on my arm to keep from falling as she laughed.

The alarm on my phone went off and I whistled for the kids. "Sophia! Brandon! Frisk! Chara! It's time!"

There was a general groaning to be had. Not specifically because we had to leave, but because it was the last time many of the kids would ever get to see Princess and her ghostly Chara. Today they went home to their timeline. Yesterday, we'd thrown a goodbye party for them and among the many presents was a small version of the large plaque at Site Alpha commemorating Princess' construction of the locking mechanism. During the ceremony for the installation of the original, she'd been nervous and 01 read her thank you note for her. Now, she was a very confident twelve year old with a penchant for pranks.

After a full ten minutes worth of hugs, goodbyes, and a few gifts, I short cut with the kids back to the hallway outside the equipment room. They waited patiently while I put my things away and locked the door behind me.

So-So was five feet tall now, and I suspected that she would be taller than Frisk before she was done growing. She'd been developing a distinctly relaxed style, wearing graphic tees and leggings with the occasional tunic if she felt like she had to be dressed up. Brandon really didn't care what he wore so long as it fit regardless of whether or not he was wearing skin. Right now he wore a shirt with his zombie plan on it and a pair of grass stained jeans.

Princess bounced along with them in a dress of lace and frills. She loved looking like a 'real princess' and having her hair braided every day. She'd gotten taller over the past two years, and she'd let her hair grow all the way out, a long braid swinging like a tail behind her. Dead Sass appeared to have grown too, looking less like an ambiguous child and more like a teen girl. They'd left the striped sweater in their ghostly countenance behind about a year ago when another ghostly Chara taught them how to change their appearance. They now flitted around in whatever outfit they found the most pleasing at the time.

Toriel waited at the top of the stairs. "Frisk! Chara!"

"Mom!" They dove into their mother's arms, burying themselves in the white fur while Frisk and Sans Ossein watched, with wistful smiles. Mrs. Ossein was holding her mouth set tight, forcing a smile despite the shine in her eyes.

"Are you ready to go home, my children?"

Princess and Chara both nodded, but at the same time, both looked like they just as equally wanted to stay.

Mrs. Ossein laid her hand on Princess' head. "Go down to the lab and say goodbye to your sister before you leave. And don't worry, there will be plenty of visits. You're going to have to come back to help Star with her 'super secret mission.'"

Toriel looked at them, and getting nothing but conspiratorial giggles, looked at me. I shrugged and gave her the impression that I had no idea what Mrs. Ossein, Verdana, Abigail, my wife, So-So, Princess, Dead Sass, the Queen Toriel from the cyber fell timeline we found Shooting Star on, and Fell Chara were all doing with Star at some point in the next three or four months. No idea whatsoever. It totally had nothing to do with a dress.

Before they could be questioned further, Princess and Chara went back down the stairs for Asriel's lab and came back up a few minutes later, Princess carrying a gift bag I knew to be a present from the goat king. After a last round of hugs with So-So and Brandon, and little kisses for baby Marigold's cheek, the two disappeared with their mother and Sans.

Brandon hugged me around the waist and I picked him up, holding him tightly for a little bit. Frisk Ossein turned into her husband's arms, shuddering as she attempted not to cry. After a moment, he led her back into their apartment, the door closing behind them.

Sophia's smile fell and she sniffed. Looking around, she spotted D. "I'm not really up for lessons today."

He nodded. "I didn't have anything planned for today. Your uncle does have his regular lesson today."

Sophia nodded. "I won't skip that."

Frisk put her arm around our daughter, the other arm carefully holding Marigold close. "How about we bake some cupcakes?"

Sophia nodded rapidly and Brandon squirmed to get down, following his mother back into our apartment. D and his brother stood there in the hall for a moment, staring at the door into the Ossein apartment.

"*It's going to be strange not having Princess and Chara around." D looked a little lost.

I nodded. "We'll see them again. They have the super secret mission to handle."

"ABOUT THAT. EXACTLY WHAT IS THIS SECRET MISSION? AND DO NOT TRY TO SELL ME THAT YOU DON'T KNOW. I AM AWARE YOUR WIFE IS INVOLVED AND SHE IS NOT ONE TO HIDE ANYTHING FROM YOU."

I gave them my best smile. "Sorry, guys, but Shooting Star asked us to keep it under wraps."

My phone rang and just as I pulled it out of my pocket, it answered itself, Fase's voice of cheery doom falling from the speaker. "Hello, Father! I have a mission for and Agent Lucida. I have detected an anomaly in the dreams of a Sans currently being cared for at Site Sigma, and I have reason to believe that it involves Dragoon Sans. Dr. Bluevale is expecting you."

"Got it." I shrugged and shoved my phone in my pocket. "Duty calls. If you hurry, you might get to see my wife's chiffon recipe in action."

Papyrus looked at his brother for a moment before disappearing into Frisk's apartment. I gave D a wave before heading down the stairs.

Asriel's personal lab, despite having four people in it, was quiet but for Alphys tap tap tapping on her laptop, entering values for the latest round of test results. Shooting Star worked slowly over the bank of test tubes in front of her, carefully adding the proper chemical to the proper tube and using a small, plexiglass sheet to keep drips away from the other tubes. Crow leaned in next to her, looking like my old friend rather than the bulky ninja, watching with complete fascination. While he was versed in many scientific subjects from centuries of study, the medical research Asriel performed was not something he was very familiar with. This led to him crowding Star in the lab. Not that she ever seemed to mind.

Gently resting the dropper on the counter, she leaned over and kissed Crow's temple. The exemplar tore his eyes away from the tubes to look at her, the face of his skull flushing a soft violet. She gave him a bright smile and he smiled back, one boney hand coming up to touch her head before he went back to watching the tubes.

Asriel, working over a different set of tubes, snorted softly, amused. Star leaned over and kissed his jowl for good measure. He raised an eyebrow at her, but his annoyance was feigned at best. Returning to her work, she made a few notations on the paper clipboarded on her lap before switching droppers and continuing with a new set of variables. Her smile fell, and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before sighing and continuing with her work.

Asriel's phone rang from where it sat on the counter and Alphys reached over to tap it with one claw so the goat king wouldn't have to put down the test tube and dropper he had in his hands. He leaned over to get a look at who was calling. "Hello, Black."

"Asriel! Darling!"

Alphys rolled her eyes and continued to type away at her laptop while Star mouthed 'darling!' at Asriel.

He resisted the urge to laugh, but I could plainly see his chuckle rumbling in his chest. "What do you need, Black?"

Black's typical lilt died away to be replaced with his clinical tone. This was different from his 'Sans' tone. The clinical tone was reserved for medical discussions. His 'Sans' tone came out when he had to be Sans instead of a double dealing, blackmailer. "I have three patients that need placement and Site Epsilon is best suited to handle them."

Asriel looked surprised. "Give me the rundown."

"The first patient is Charlotte Featherstone, a Swap world Chara from a steampunk, Hollow Earth style universe. She was hit with a magical attack that slowly poisoned her to near death. She's stable and the poison is out of her system, but she needs recovery care for the next six months. IV fluids on top of regular food and some physical therapy. She's a sweetheart and a genius in the same way Steam's kiddos are. She has occasional, but very intense nightmares from a kidnapping. Typically, her sister Loren would sleep with her, but Loren needs to be home right now to transfer Dr. W. D. Gaster's brain back into a physical body, and you have plenty of night staff to help calm her."

Alphys shook her head. "Steam worlds."

Asriel shrugged while capping the test tube. "Sounds easy enough. Will I need to house anyone with her?"

"No. Her skelebros, the other Dr. Gaster, and Frisk will simply visit. Her Frisk is not as much of an ass as your typical Chara, but they're engaged and he does not like it that they are so far from each other while she's unwell."

"Other Dr. Gaster?" Alphys asked.

"Lucida." There was a sound like a half choked sigh. "You know how there are some really strange Gasters out there? If it were a competition, she'd be in the top five. I learned very quickly not to leave her and Papyrus in the same room without a third person. There's all sorts of wrong there."

Asriel frowned for a moment before shrugging. "I'll take her. Patient number two?"

I heard papers shuffling on the other end of the phone, meaning that his Frisk, Angel, was sitting with him since, well, he can't touch anything without expending the magic to do it. "The next one is a vampire Frisk and she's pregnant."

"Babies!" Star cried, shaking her butt a little in her chair, the sadness in her eyes retreating a little.

The oh-so-happy lilt came back. "Hello, Shooting Star! Are you feeling up to another session on the channel?"

She stilled so as not to upset the solution she was working with. "Since Church and Cross are doing Bloodborne, can my partner and I do Dark Souls?"

"While Dark Souls is positively infuriating, it isn't exactly horror. How about the two of you play the second Evil Within?"

She nodded, and her hair fell in her face. Crow gently reached over to smooth it back, and re-band it at the back of her neck. "Sounds good. Tell us about the second patient."

The clinical tone returned. "Frisk Luna is from a timeline in which vampires are not undead, but they do rely on human blood to provide essential nutrients to their diet. Typically, a male vampire will breed with a human female to continue their family line. Female vampires do not generally breed because pregnancy requires more nutrients than the human parent can provide. I have her on a specialized diet to keep her and the baby healthy without her needing to drain her human husband."

Star leaned over the bank of tubes in front of her, working through the next set. "So what's the problem?"

"They are unable to maintain the diet on timeline and the birth itself is likely to be complicated."

"Then I'm looking at feeding and housing for two?" Asriel asked.

"Her and her Chara. Frisk is a night owl, of course, but very nice. Chara will be all over you with questions, but he isn't questioning your expertise. He's just trying to know as much as possible about his wife and child's condition."

Alphys tried to stifle a chuckle and it came out as a cough. "So, is Chara a vampire hunter?"

"Yes. It's how they met. And he's very aware of how cliche his situation is."

Alphys and Star both snorted over their work.

Asriel shook his head at them with a false chide. "I'll take them. Number three?"

"The third case is Frisk Tamanna from a colony ship very similar to the Delta. Instead of being found floating in space, she is the last living human on the ship. When a prion made its way onto the ship, the monsters of the ship were resistant to it, but it nearly killed her. The prion is out of her system and she's okay to be around others, but needs long term care and physical therapy. Even before infection, she was malnourished."

Alphys looked up from the computer and mouthed 'malnourished?'

Ariel's mouth pressed into a thin line for a moment. "Who would I be housing with her?"

"No one. You won't even have visitors."

I blinked. What? That couldn't be right. No one?

Star's head lifted. "That's not right."

Black cleared his throat. I'm not sure how a ghost does that. "Her file indicates that she trained all her life to be an artificial intelligence engineer and work with the ship's artificial intelligence, CHARA. When the second to last human died, she was expelled from university, fired from the job she worked while in school, and evicted from her apartment. CHARA's main terminal is abandoned, so she lived in an old office in the terminal, and worked on keeping the AI running."

Asriel frowned deeply. "How is she not dead?"

"Ah. It appears that when she was infected, CHARA notified Asriel, who found her, and took her to a medical bay. Dr. Gaster was unable to expel the prion from her system, and CHARA put in the call to Fase for help."

"No," Asriel's voice rumbled darkly. "That wasn't what I was asking and you know it."

Alphys leaned back in her seat and quickly moved to give Black an out. "There's a bigger story there."

"There is and it isn't a happy one. It seems that CHARA needs Frisk to continue functioning, but there is serious opposition to her even being on the ship. Even though all the humans who once inhabited the ship are descendents of the original humans who left Earth with monster kind, the majority of monsters see her as an invader."

Star frowned. "So... What? We heal her and send her back? I am not okay with doing that." She gasped. "Forced isolation seriously messes you up! She has hallucinations, doesn't she? With a helping of anxiety and paranoia on the side!"

Asriel's growl cut through the conversation. "How was she feeding herself?"

Crow put his skeletal hand on top of Star's head and she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Angel's voice came over the phone. "Calm down, Azzy. She's been with us a while so we've got a bead on her. Fase said Frisk hacked the system to give her enough money for some food, but it wasn't the best in quality. She does hallucinate, but the hallucinations are not antagonistic to her, and she interacts with them. She is still very anxious but isn't paranoid."

Asriel frowned. "Was she even functional enough to do the work she trained all her life to do?"

Angel sighed. "The AI has been rather cagey about that. I think CHARA is worried that if it says no, she won't be allowed back on the ship, and no one else is capable of helping it on the ship."

I could almost see Black shaking his head. "Asriel said he had a plan for her return, but refused to elaborate."

The goat king mulled that over. "Are you hoping I'll get more out of him?"

"Yes, actually. He'll be the one picking her up."

Alphys shifted in her chair. "What about her Sans?"

Black's tone was as dark as his name. "Her Sans doesn't exist."

Asriel rolled one long strand of hair between his fingers, staring at the purple tips. "So what else aren't you telling me?"

Black groaned. "You're too smart sometimes. Dr. Gaster put her in a coma and we left her in it until we had the prion out of her system. When we brought her out of the induced coma, she panicked, and attempted suicide."

Alphys jaw dropped, slit pupils completely dilated in wide eyes. "What?!"

"After we had her somewhat sedated, she said she couldn't afford the medical attention."

Star looked to Asriel. "We'll take her."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Frisk."

She wasn't cowed in the least, which wasn't surprising. She had some immunity to his presence that others didn't. I wasn't sure why when my Sunshine wasn't even immune to it. Then again, this was an argument over a Frisk and there was no way any Frisk was going to leave another Frisk hanging. It wasn't as if Epsilon didn't have the necessary people to handle it. It was the unknowns. She'd been abandoned by everyone, and needed significant mental healthcare. That could make for a very bad time when combined with a Frisk's ultimate determination.

"I'll take her." Asriel sighed and pointed at Star. "You're on first watch with her."

She stood and saluted, and in doing so caught a glimpse of me in the doorway. I gave her a wave.

"Hey, Bones! Mission?"

I nodded. "To Site Sigma."

Star nodded. "Give me a minute to finish up here and we'll head over to the equipment room. C? How long until our patients arrive?"

C's voice filled the room from a speaker hidden in one corner. "Charlotte Featherstone will be here later this evening. Frisk Luna overnight. Frisk Tamanna will be transferred tomorrow."

"Thank you!" She made multiple notations on the paperwork on her clipboard before capping the test tubes in front of her. She glanced over at Asriel. "All four sets are ready here. My dishes in the incubator won't come out until tomorrow, so they don't need fussed with. Larry is on first thing tomorrow morning."

Asriel nodded, smiling a little as he took her clipboard from her. She gave Alphys a wave after pulling off her gloves and tossing them in the biohazard disposal box.

Hanging her safety goggles on a hook just outside the door, she stepped up to me with a smile. I gestured for her to take the lead and we walked down the hall. The sun shined brightly in the tall windows that lined our left, filling the hall with a warm, hazy light.

"Have you ever been to Site Sigma?"

Star nodded. "Black took me a few times, so I'm familiar with it. The Toriel who runs it is very nice." She stopped at the door to the equipment room, tapped a code into the hidden keypad on the underside of the lock and stepped in when the door popped open.

Inside, she stripped out of her blue scrubs and into her green and black field uniform. Grabbing her equipment bag, I tossed it to her before arming myself and grabbing my bag. We stepped out of the room and I pulled the door shut, checking the lock behind us.

"Is there a problem on site?" she asked.

C burst to life on my shoulder. "Dr. Bluevale says it's nothing but Fase keeps getting anomaly indications from one of the Sanses there for treatment. He can be less than communicative sometimes so we'll be talking to his Frisk, who is mute."

Star nodded. "Okay."

I chuckled a little at her complete acceptance of something that anyone else would consider strange.

I eyed the hologram. "Coming along?"

C nodded. "Fase gave me the specs and I'm bored."

I smirked. "Too much baby time?"

Chara chuckled, appearing to sit down on my shoulder. "No." He looked deeply happy, smiling warmly at some thought. He was still a little star struck at Marigold having been named after him.

I put my hand on Frisk's shoulder, stepping us into the void. Rather than hanging there, I chose an instant arrival and put us down on the brick laid path to Site Sigma's facility.

Site Sigma consisted of a four story tall and quarter of a block wide building covered in green copper sheeting. Copious windows of mirrored glass reflected the surrounding landscape which was made up of large gardens. All in all, a very peaceful place. Which is what you would go for when you were an inpatient, mental healthcare facility designed to care for monsters and magic wielding humans. A few of the residents were walking the gardens under the watchful eyes of many caretakers. Most of the patients here would never leave, much like the many anomalous people at Site Alpha.

We walked into the building, the main doors opening into a hallway. Like Site Epsilon, Sigma did not have a lobby or reception area. If you were here, you either knew where you were going, or were in the company of someone who did. To the right of the hallway was a wall covered in all sorts of art tacked up by the residents. To the left was a long set of shatter resistant windows into the library. Going all the way past the library windows led you to an intersection where the entrance to the library was located, and a large open space surrounded by frosted glass made up a classroom area.

Taking a right at the intersection, we headed down a hall of offices and knocked on Dr. Toriel Bluevale's office. In this particular world, there wasn't an Asgore or Dreemurr royal family. Monsters had not been trapped underground and were well integrated into a human population of similar size. A mental health facility had always been here, though it's current size and scope came from 01's recruitment of Toriel into the Seraph Foundation a long ways back. She liked 01 immensely, but I think that's just because he look like her late, adopted, human son whose picture still rested on her desk. Her son's name wasn't Chara, by the way. It was George.

"Come in."

Star opened the door. "Hello, Dr. Bluevale!"

The goat woman smiled. "Hello, Frisk." She stood to shake hands with us, prim, navy blue suit perfectly in order. "Are you sure this is anomalous? All Sans is saying is that he keeps having strange dreams. That's not unusual for this particular Sans."

I shrugged. "Fase says there's something anomalous to them, so we're here to check it out. If it is nothing, we'll figure that out pretty quick."

"Follow me then. His Frisk is here with him right now."

Ossein turned to trail after her. "What's his medical record say?"

Toriel frowned. "Fase indicated that he suffered serious trauma at the hands of his father. Papyrus sacrificed himself so Sans could escape. This precipitated a complete mental breakdown. He was in a care facility on his timeline and deteriorating rapidly when Fase received a call asking for him to be moved to Site Sigma."

"Who made the call?"

Toriel smiled a little. "Oh that's where the plot thickens. Papyrus made the call." She paused and turned toward us.

I raised a brow bone. "Papyrus is a ghost, I take it."

Toriel nodded. "It seems that ghosts on that timeline are not immediately visible. They need a vessel to inhabit. Papyrus may or may not be in the cell when we get there. He is free to roam the facility and often chooses to be elsewhere when Frisk visits. He tends to be suspicious of others, which is understandable. Frisk has grown on him though."

We followed Toriel back into the hallway and up a flight of stairs, the entire interior of the stairwell covered in more resident art, to the second floor. This floor was filled with patients who needed physical separation from other patients for various reasons. Sitting at the plexiglass window into one room was a Frisk who appeared to be around fourteen years old. She giggled soundlessly at the antics of the Sans on the other side of the glass, both clearly enjoying each other's company.

They both caught sight of us at the same time and turned. Sans frowned, retreating a little.

Star sat down on the floor next to Frisk. "Hi! I'm Frisk!"

"Me too!" Frisk signed back, her smile big and bright.

Ossein turned and waved to Sans. "Hey Sans! I hear that you're having weird dreams. Wanna talk about them?"

Toriel elbowed me. "Does she always just dive right in like this?"

I snorted. "If her partner isn't here to stop her, yes." I smiled. "On the other hand, this is the sort of thing she's trained to do."

Sans huddled in on himself, the unbound sleeves of his straight jacket flapping around him. He blushed deeply, looking away, and then covered the face of his skull.

Frisk gave him a patient smile and turned to Ossein. "He's just really embarrassed about it. He keeps having dreams about a Sans and a Frisk who are married. But we aren't like that, so it's really weird for him."

"All right then. Let's focus on other facets of the dreams. Do you sense that they are in danger?"

Sans stood suddenly, and turned to the window, leaning against it so as to press the face of his skull to the glass. "Yes! There's this Sans I've never seen before. He's in this shiny, military uniform." He motioned with his arms, his sleeves swinging. "And he rides this big, skeletal horse!" He sat down, frowning deeply. "He's looking for something there. A scroll of some sort."

I shrugged and jumped in. "What can you tell us about the Sans on timeline?"

Sans turned and took a long look at me. "He's like you! No… that's wrong… He's like you with skin on! Wait… That's not right either. You're all dark haired and swarthy. This Sans is really pale. Even his hair is white!" He trailed off for a minute thinking. "He's got these weird, hazel eyes that are more yellow than brown."

Sans paused and looked up at me, and, just for a moment, we saw the Sans who existed before his sanity collapsed. "He's from one of the edge of it all timelines. One of those places where any part of the original story is long gone and something completely different is in its place. I don't believe anyone there knows or understands the danger they're in."

His skull dropped to his clavicle and he blinked a few times. Sitting down in front of his Frisk he leaned against the glass for a few seconds before his skull shot back up, wide smile back in place.

Ossein smiled. "Can you tell us anything else? Something about Frisk? Or maybe another person from the timeline?"

At the mention of Frisk, Sans blushed heavily again and hid his embarrassed smile behind his flapping sleeves.

Frisk giggled soundlessly before turning to us. "It's too much for him now. He did tell me a few things though. No one calls him 'Sans.' They call him G. Frisk is short and really pretty. She and Sans have three kids. Chara and Papyrus live next store, but Papyrus is a girl and I'm pretty sure that 'Papyrus' is a nickname for her. She and Chara have children. Chara works with Undyne in some way, but I don't think Sans knows enough about what either of them do other than to say they're coworkers."

She looked between the three of us furtively. "That's all I've got. Is that enough to help?"

I nodded. "I think so. It will help us narrow down where to go. Now we just have to figure out what Dragoon is after."

"Will Sans be all right?" The child frowned, lips twisting in a thoughtful way, before waving her arms. "I mean, specifically, will he stop having the dreams?"

Star shrugged. "I'm not sure what's causing the dreams, but if we take care of the problem, the dreams may go away too. It's not like it's weird for us to dream about each other. It's just that this time, the dream is really significant."

"You mean like the Frisk staring at the sunset with the barrier behind her? Or the Frisk holding the baby?"

"Yeah. Like them." Star frowned. She stood, looking deep in thought for a moment before shaking it off. "Thank you both very much!"

Frisk nodded exuberantly while Sans waved a shy goodbye. We followed Toriel away from Frisk and Sans and back down the hall.

Toriel hummed thoughtfully. "So there was something going on after all. But I don't get it. Why the sudden significance?"

I shook my skull. "I don't know. It's just as likely that it's a one off. Something about him connects with them. Fase is monitoring the anomaly so maybe acting on what he's dreaming will help her figure out what's causing it. Do you always keep him in a straight jacket?"

Toriel snorted. "It's not that we keep him in it. He won't take it off!"

Star stopped at one of the windows, looking in on an Asgore in a dark blue Hawaiian shirt and black shorts. He sat in a rocking chair, staring at his bare, white feet. She stared at him sadly. "What happened to him?"

Toriel sighed. "He murdered his Chara. The only details I'll give are that Chara knew how to open the barrier and the barrier had to remain closed." She shook her head. "It's a story for another time."

Star nodded and we continued back down to the first floor. After making our goodbyes to Toriel, I pulled out my phone and dialed Fase.

C popped over to Star's shoulder. "Hey. You got that really frowny face you make when she mentioned the two Frisks. Have you seen them too?"

She nodded. "The first? A little girl, standing facing the sun? Does Church see her?"

C nodded. "Yeah. Asriel and an adult Chara wait on the other side of the barrier, hoping she'll open it."

Star frowned. "I see her attempting to navigate a horrific maze of traps. The second one is a mother."

C nodded again. "Frisk sees her with her family."

"I see her working on something under duress. It looks like a set of equations that make a model on a computer screen. It's very similar to the equations we use to travel the void, but I don't know enough about what I'm seeing to say for sure."

I paused. "Those dreams typically mean that you'll meet those Frisks at some point in the future."

"I know." Ossein shivered. "We should ask Cross about it. When he dreams, it's always the worst stuff. Maybe…" She bit her lower lip, finger tips bouncing against each other furtively. "Maybe we can save them."

C reached out, the hologram not quite touching her face. "They are Frisks. They may not need saving."

She suddenly stood up straight and looked to him. "Not the point."

C chuckled. "Well, let's work on saving the Frisk we're on mission for first."

Fase's voice of cheery doom suddenly filled the air. I'd forgotten that I'd dialed her.

"Hello, Father! What have you discovered?"

"It's one of the edge timelines. We are looking for a human timeline with a Gaster Sans who is white haired and married to his Frisk. Papyrus is female and may likely be a nickname rather than her actual name. She is married to Chara. Dragoon is there and looking for a scroll of some sort."

"That's actually an easy narrow down then."

I blinked. "Really? With all the timelines out there? This one is easy?"

"Oh yes. I just need to know how many children Frisk and Sans have."

I raised a brow bone. "Just that?"

"Well, yes. Sanses like you, Father, that are also human are not common and ones that are married to their Frisks even less so. I can narrow it down based on the number of children and the presence of a female Papyrus."

Star shook her head as she smiled. "Three."

I could almost see the smile on Fase's digital face behind my eyes. "Excellent! I will have equations for you in a moment."

"Any details on the world? Besides my needing to have skin?"

"Yes! It appears that science is the prime paradigm, but several magical artifacts exist with the prevailing theory being that these items are hoaxes and not truly magical. You do have the occasional person who figures it out. Avoid using magic. Also, Midnight Collapse once made a run on the timeline, but were stopped by law enforcement and members of Site Gamma posing as law enforcement. Frisk never knew she was in danger."

"So if Dragoon is looking for a scroll," Star mused, "It maybe one of the magical artifacts on timeline. Would any of those artifacts be adjacent to Frisk or Sans?"

"Adjacent? How about right on top of! Frisk is an archaeologist and studying an artifact scroll from Ancient Egypt."

I thought about it for a minute. "What happens to the timeline if Dragoon steals the scroll?"

Fase suddenly went quiet and Techno picked up the conversation. "Those scrolls only appear on timelines where magic is purported not to exist by the majority of the population and anyone who believes in it is often treated with derision. Worlds where most are completely unaware of the existence of the more magical things going on."

"Like how we didn't know there were vampires on my timeline until a few years ago?" I asked.

"Exactly like that. Which means you should be prepared for something similar to crawl out of the woodwork for the scroll. Artifacts like that will not harm the timeline if removed. However, they do exist to protect the people on timeline from the creepy crawlies."

Star tapped her chin, thinking. "Do you think the scroll is causing the connection to Sans here? Like, it's trying to find someone to help?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I'll have a better idea when I see the scroll. Equations, please."

"Certainly!" Fase droned off the numbers, filling my head with the familiar buzz.

Star hooked her arm in mine and we stepped into the void. I hung us their for a few moments to get an idea of how far away the timeline was. It was a small shimmer far from the bigger timelines that made up original variations, but wasn't far from Site Gamma. Relatively speaking. Everything in the void was relatively speaking. It was very near the World War III timeline Frisk and I met 01 on. With the removal of non-timeline humans, the relations between humans and monsters had dramatically improved.

I stepped us onto the timeline and the change from bone to skin was immediate. I paused for a minute, inspecting my hands, and feeling the softness of the skin.

"Before we start, I want a pic of you with skin on." Star dug out her phone.

I flashed her a smile, relaxing into it. "And my wife totally didn't request the photo."

Frisk snorted as she tapped the phone. "Oh please! I'm not even going to pretend that it's not for her!" She looked over the shot for a moment before nodding in satisfaction and texting it to my wife. "I think she's asked everyone you do missions with to take a photo if we go somewhere you need to wear skin."

I shook my head and looked around. We stood on a university campus and with the masses of people starting to pour out of the buildings around us, the most recent class period had let out.

C's voice came over my comm. "We're looking for Professor Francesca Aster. Frisk is her nickname. Fase said she'd be in the museum in the Comnena Building."

Star trotted over to a pedestal on which sat a campus map. After fiddling with the abc/123 grid for a minute, she found the building. "It's just behind the library. Any easy hoof from here." She turned and led the way through throngs of students rushing this way and that between classes. Fall was setting in, turning the entire campus bright yellow and fiery orange. Flower beds were filled with hardy, red chrysanthemums and violet, autumn lettuces.

Finding the library was easy enough. It was one of the biggest buildings on the campus, which is always a good sign. A college or university with a small library was not likely to have the resources anyone, let alone grad students and faculty, needed to produce quality research. The massive stone and glass building took up an entire city block and was six stories tall. Rather than walking around, we followed the students, and found an underpass on one side. Once up the stairs on the other side of the building we saw the Comnena Building and a large sign for the College of History. While the library had been tall and wide, this was an old fashioned dormitory from the days when they looked like classy retreats and not like boxy apartment buildings. The front door to the building, a lovely art glass piece, led directly into the museum.

There wasn't a reception area for the museum, you were just suddenly standing in the exhibits. A box for donations stood next to the door. Glass cases under lighting made to show off the best parts of the items inside, lined the room on either side. Inside each case were items found by various archaeological expeditions made by the university and arranged in chronological order from era of history.

Star paused for a moment, gazing at a statue of a ram standing on its hind legs with it's forelegs hooked in the branches of a tree. "Hey, C? Any idea how public knowledge the scroll is? Any reason for us to be here and be curious about it?"

C's voice tumbled from the memory core attached to the lapel of her jacket. "Yeah. Go for the 'I'm all into the paranormal.' You're excitable in general so pulling it off won't be that difficult."

She pursed her lips for just a second before smiling. "Project on my shoulder please."

"Whyyyyyyyyyy?"

"So I can flip you off."

C snorted. "I'll pass."

I waved for Star to follow me and we headed deeper into the museum. After walking for a few minutes we found a set of staff offices and workrooms. The door on the second workroom was wide open, revealing a long table strewn with multiple books around a woman bent over a scroll. A scroll I'd seen before. It was the same scroll Frisk had come home with after completing a favor for her former command.

Star grabbed my sleeve, yanking on it to get my attention before signing. "It's the Book of Thoth! Do you think it's like ours?"

I shrugged. And honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell if it was or not. Our version of the scroll reeked of magic and only allowed members of the Dreemurr family to touch it. Since Asriel had claimed Frisk as his sister, and our children as his nieces and nephew, all of them could touch the scroll without having it suddenly burst into flames and disappear, only to reappear whole and unblemished in the place Asriel kept it. But even beyond that, the scroll, when opened, appeared to be blank. Or at least, it was for Frisk. I had a feeling Asriel saw something when he looked at it. And maybe Sophia did too.

Star knocked on the door jamb. "Hello? Are you Dr. Aster? Is this the place with the Book of Thoth?"

The woman's head immediately shot up, her long brown hair flying, and she turned slightly to look at us. Fase was right. This Frisk was really pretty in a very innocent way. She smiled brightly and easily at Star, that thing with Frisks kicking in.

"Yes! Do you want to see it?"

Star nodded and rushed over, pulling the seat up next to her.

Dr. Aster scooted over, handing Frisk a pair of gloves. "Here. Put these on. That will protect the scroll." She continued as Star pulled on the gloves, "You know the old legends about how we're all descended from animal people? This scroll is only supposed to be read by those who descend from the goat king's line, and to prevent just anyone from reading it, the text is supposed to be complete gibberish to the wrong person."

"So if you get something other than gobbledigook, you're a descendant? Woah! Where was this even found?"

Dr. Aster waved her hands excitedly, blue eyes shining brightly. "In the ruins of the ancient city of Manaris! It was in the middle of this huge puzzle mechanism and when the moonlight hit it just right it opened up! It was so cool!"

Star bounced in her seat. "Did you film it?"

"Of course!" Dr. Aster turned and grabbed her phone.

A university police officer with the reddest hair and palest skin I'd ever seen, White excepted, knocked on the door of the workroom. The name 'Gardner' was embroidered over the breast pocket of his dark blue uniform. He gave us all a warm smile. "Hey, Frisky-Bits. Papyrus is waiting for you."

Frisk looked up from the scroll. "Waiting for… Oh my God… I forgot about lunch!" She shoved her phone in her bag and stood hastily. "I'm very sorry! I'll have to show you later! Uh… Is fourteen hundred okay?"

Star nodded and stood with Dr. Aster, helping her move the scroll back into a temperature controlled box. We followed Dr. Aster as she dashed out of the office, into the museum proper, and out the front door. The officer smiled, shaking his head as Frisk ran toward the library and the underpass.

"I swear, every time she gets her hands on a new artifact, it's like nothing else exists." The officer turned to us, one hand on his hip. Now that he was up close, you could see the red gleam in his brown eyes. "Why are so many Seraph agents here? Is Midnight Collapse making another run on Francesca?"

Star shook her head. "Midnight Collapse is long gone. This is about the scroll Frisk is... Wait." She blinked at him. "You know about us?"

He nodded. "I was one of the people who drove Midnight Collapse off when they came around." There was a bitter taste to the statement.

I raised an eyebrow. "They tried to recruit you."

He frowned deeply, eyes narrowed. "And I want to know where they got the idea that I'd be willing to murder my cousin."

Star's eyes saddened. "Some Charas are like that." She looked away for a moment before her smile returned. She held out her hand. "I'm Frisk Ossein, Frisk isn't a nickname, and this is Bones Gaster. Bones is a nickname. We're from Site Epsilon and we deal with anomalies."

The officer took her hand. "Charles Gardiner. Chara for short. Though I'm betting you figured that part out. So why are you all here?"

"All?" Frisk looked to me and back to Gardiner. "There's more than just Bones and I?"

He nodded. "Another me. Well, I take that back. He looks like me, but damn if he doesn't act like G. He's looking for a Sans named Dragoon. What's wrong with the scroll? Does it not belong here?"

I shook my skull. "The scroll belongs here. The issue is Dragoon. We believe he's looking for the scroll. His world is gone and he got the idea that if he steals the pieces of other worlds that match his, he can rebuild what was lost."

Gardiner sighed deeply, hands on his hips. "And it doesn't work that way, does it?"

"No."

"Great." He yawned deeply, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry."

Star looked him over. "Are you all right?"

He waved it off. "Yeah. My kids had me up all night." He pulled out his phone, dialing. Whoever was on the other end picked up before the first ring even finished. "Hey. There are two more Seraph agents here and they think your quarry is going after a scroll."

Chara Tarsus, a Shift Chara who worked for Site Gamma, appeared next to Star. He was of your average height for a Sans with light brown hair and burnt sienna eyes. "Hey, Shooting Star."

She turned and hugged him. "Chara Tarsus! I haven't seen you in ages!"

He hugged her back. "It has been a while. My little brothers ask to see you all the time."

Star sighed. "I'm so sorry. I've just been so swamped. So how'd you know Dragoon was here?"

Tarsus held up a hand and turned to cough into his sleeve. "Sorry." He took a breath, sniffing, and rubbing his temples like he had a bad headache. "I was coming back from a mission and just happened to see Dragoon bee line for this place. I'm pretty sure he's wearing skin, otherwise we would have found him by now. And…" He blinked at me. "Oh my God… Bones?"

I smiled. "In the flesh."

Star snorted, covering her mouth with her hand.

Gardner groaned. "So, it is a thing with Sanses, huh? God dammit."

I put my hands in my pockets. "Dragoon will retreat if given a reason to believe that the thing he's trying to steal is well protected. Hopefully, us being here before he's appeared will mean that one confrontation will be enough."

Gardner frowned. "You aren't going for capture?"

Huh. His first thought wasn't elimination. Interesting. "If we can manage it. Our standing orders are to disable and capture, but he's given to running at the first sign of a real fight."

Star jumped in. "Based on previous experience, he will go after the person he assumes is the weakest in the group. Typically any female opponent." She sighed, shoulders dropping. "Which, after my last run in with him, won't be me."

She smiled again. "I'm not really keen on the potential damage to the museum or the campus should he show up here. Is there anyway to move the scroll somewhere a fight wouldn't cause unnecessary damage? Wait! Better idea! Is there a way to fake the scroll?"

Gardner crossed his arms over his chest, one hand covering his mouth and chin while he thought. "We aren't going to be able to move the scroll without Frisk going with it and attempting to move it without her knowledge is just going to lead her to panic when she can't find it. As for faking it, I'm not sure how we'd do it."

He hummed thoughtfully for a moment before sighing.

Tarsus elbowed him with the kind of smile you'd typically see on White's face. "You've thought of something!"

"Unfortunately." Gardner frowned. "The scroll is a magical artifact, something that people don't really believe in anymore."

"But you've seen one work," Star provided.

He nodded. "I watched Frisk use one once. I won't go into the details, but it was insanely effective. She's made a life's work of finding and studying these things. She might actually know how to copy one."

Star smiled. "Well, I have a date with her at fourteen hundred. I'll ask if it's possible to copy the scroll."

The comm attached to Gardner's shoulder crackled to life. "Calling all units! We have an in progress at the Peach Blossom."

Gardner stiffened before dashing off.

I frowned. "Ten bucks says that's where Frisk and Papyrus went for lunch."

We ran after Gardner, dodging packs of students as the next class period let out. He led us through a series of short cuts through campus to a large cafe with a semi circular, decorative glass wall facing the street side. One police car stood outside, but it stood empty and silent. Foot traffic on the sidewalks continued as if nothing was wrong. The view from the windows revealed everyone inside having lunch, including the officer who likely belonged to the car parked outside. Frisk and a female Papyrus sat at a bar, eating sushi together.

Star sighed, head dropping. "We just left the scroll alone."

Tarsus groaned. "Yes. Yes we did."

I held up a hand. "Let's be smart about this. Tarsus, stick close to Frisk and Papyrus. The rest of us will head back for the scroll."

Tarsus nodded and headed into the cafe. Gardiner led us back to the museum. Hearing noises from the room where the scroll was stored, we approached cautiously. Gardner and I leaned against the walls on either side of the door, cautiously looking inside. A woman with long, black hair, in a long, black dress, just dripping with silver jewelry was carefully fitting the scroll into a briefcase.

Gardiner crept up behind her and waited until the scroll was safely in the case. And then laid a hand on her shoulder.

"And where do you think you're going with that?"

The woman spun around suddenly, a knife shining in her hand. The knife hit his uniform shirt and merely scraped against the armor underneath. Gardiner grabbed her wrist, yanking her around so that her elbow was locked. She dropped the knife as he grabbed her other arm, yanking it back to handcuff her.

The woman hissed, "You can't arrest me! You have no right!" It was the same voice that had previously called him to the Peach Blossom.

"You were caught in the process of stealing a piece of university property. And impersonating a member of the police is also a crime. And since you knew that the researcher working on the scroll would be going to the Peach Blossom, that means you have an accomplice or two. So where might they be?"

I felt a gun being pressed to the back of my head just as Star was being pushed into the room past me. Another woman, also dressed in black and dripping with silver jewelry, stepped in behind Star. Instead of a gun, she held a ritual knife to Star's back.

She grabbed Star's hair. "If you'd like to keep your friends alive, Officer, I suggest you let my friend go."

Well, I guess a fight in the museum wasn't going to be avoided. "You got this, Star?"

"Yeah. I'm good." Star grabbed the arm with the knife in it, snapping it back hard, before spinning the woman into the wall next to the door, smashing her against it.

I dropped down and kicked the legs of the woman who'd stood behind me. She was also dressed in black and dripping with silver jewelry. She hit the floor, smacking her head on the tile under our feet. I plucked the gun from her hand while she blinked up at the ceiling, dazed and groaning.

The woman in front of Gardiner screamed and pushed backward, knocking Gardiner off his feet. As he hit the ground, she said something unintelligible, but the tone was recognizable. She was casting. The handcuffs glowed red for a moment and she wrenched the chain, snapping the metal links. Hands now free, she grabbed the briefcase, and dashed for the door.

Star let go of the woman between her and the wall to follow. We made a mad scramble for the door, chasing the briefcase down a hallway of offices and deeper into the building. The woman with the case must have known where she was going. She made a sudden right turn into what appeared to be an office and turned out to be a hidden stairwell. She jumped the short flight of stairs to an exterior door, heading out the back and into a small, grassy lawn strewn with autumn leaves.

Only to bounce off the chest of a dark haired man in a long, black and gold, military coat. He reached down and took the briefcase from her. A tall, brown war horse whinnied next to him. Seeing Star and I, Dragoon gave us a wry smile and saluted. But before he could disappear, Dr. Aster came out of nowhere and slammed into Dragoon.

He didn't let go of the briefcase, but neither did she attempt to take it. Instead, she flipped the locks open and pulled the scroll out. Dragoon dropped the case to grab the scroll and Dr. Aster spun away. The scroll case opened and the papyrus unrolled in the air in an arc around her. She and the scroll began to glow with the same golden light.

Dr. Aster lifted her arms, chanting in Ancient Egyptian, before pointing at Dragoon. The golden light struck him in the chest flinging him against a tree. He hit the ground, groaning. The three women in black rushed her, only to be wrapped up in the golden light and held fast.

"I am really getting sick of you Illuminati idiots interrupting my work!"

Gardiner quickly handcuffed the three, Star and I helping him secure them. The glow around Dr. Aster died and the scroll rolled itself up, coming into her hand. She cradled it against her chest with a sigh.

One of the women continued to struggle. "You can't arrest us! What police chief is going to believe any of this?!"

Gardiner snorted. "Who said you were going to the precinct?"

The woman paled. "You! You are one of them! One of the Dreemurrs!"

"No. I'm a Gardner. Just like my father and brother." He pulled out his phone and hit a button, calling someone without actually leaving a message.

The sound of feet pounding the ground alerted us to Dragoon having sorted himself. He jumped at Dr. Aster. The familiar shing of blue magic filled the air. Well, the 'shing' was familiar, but the color wasn't blue. It was red. Tarsus held Dragoon immobile in the air, but also appeared to be struggling with it, pale.

Dragoon cut the magic and disappeared, his horse disappearing as well.

This world's Papyrus, a tall woman with very pale blonde hair, put an arm around Tarsus, helping him keep his feet. "I don't think he's well. He really struggled to teleport Frisk and I over here."

Star rushed over, touching Tarsus' forehead, before sliding her bag off her shoulders to dig in it. She pulled out an insta-thermometer and ran it across his forehead. "A hundred and four. Oh hell. We need to get you to Epsilon."

He put an arm around Star, leaning into her as Papyrus let him go. "My brothers. I can't leave them alone."

I looked to Gardiner. "Will you be fine from here?"

He nodded. "My back up will be here shortly. Thanks for the help."

I smiled. "I don't really think you needed it."

He shrugged. "If G had been here instead of away on business, I wouldn't have."

I turned to Tarsus. "I'll pick up your brothers."

Tarsus nodded. "Our code word is Sunkist."

Star gave Dr. Aster an apologetic smile. "Sorry to run. Mind if I come back later to watch the video?"

Dr. Aster gave her a blinding smile. "Not at all!"

Star disappeared with Tarsus. I pulled out my phone and looked up the equation for Tarsus' timeline before stepping into the void.

C's voice came over my comm. "I got some good shots of Dragoon with skin on and sent them to Fase."

I nodded, flexing my phalanges now that the skin was gone. "Thanks. So how much does this world's Book of Thoth match ours?"

"Fase has one of her AI children figuring that out right now. I've already calculated for Dragoon making an attempt on it regardless. A thought occurs to me: Do you think the Sans back at Sigma was having the dreams because this world's Sans' was worried about being away from home? I mean, we have it documented that Frisks dream about each other. Maybe Sanses do that too."

"But why one Sans and not another one? If you think about it, this Sans was one of my variation, but the connection hit a completely different variation." I shook my skull. "I think something else is going on." A light went on in my head. "What if the Sans from Site Sigma and Dragoon are the same variation?"

"Frisk says that's a very interesting idea. I'm sending it to Fase."

"Good." I landed on Tarsus' shift timeline just outside a log cabin that looked very similar to the one my brother and I had shared so many years ago. Knocking on the door got an immediate response.

"If you're here to cause trouble, you should know that this house is protected!" Asriel, a tall goat monster who was just barely an adult, in a blue hoodie, blue jeans, and a rainbow scarf threw open the door confidently, arms crossed over his chest, and head held high. I'd been a while since I last saw him, so it was a little strange to see his horns grown out.

His arms dropped on seeing me. "Bones? Hey!" He hugged me. "It's been forever! Is Church here too? How about Star? I really miss Star!"

Frisk, your average sixteen year old, in a striped light on dark blue shirt and jeans, rushed to the door, excitedly looking around.

"Neither are with me, but you'll get to see them soon. I ended up on a mission with your brother and he became really sick." I waved them both in close. "The code word is Sunkist."

Frisk and Asriel looked at each other, worried.

I patted them both on the shoulders. "Go pack a bag or two for a few overnights."

Both nodded and rushed to their rooms. I walked around the house, turning off and unplugging appliances that didn't need to be running while everyone was away, cleaning the kitchen, and washing up the dishes in the sink. As soon as both boys were packed, Frisk quickly cleaned the bathroom while Asriel dusted and vacuumed.

Once everything was done and the curtains closed up, Asriel and Frisk checked their bags one last time before locking the front door. I put my hands on their shoulders and we touched down just outside the equipment room. I paused a moment to put my things away before we headed down the hall. Alphys stood outside the lab with Star. Both boys rushed for them.

Asriel, despite being as tall as Alphys, looked small next to her, pawing at her lab coat. "Chara's gonna be all right… right?"

Alphys smiled softly, petting the white furred head. "It's okay, Your Highness. Your brother has the flu. We just have to keep him in quarantine until it passes."

Frisk frowned, wrapping his arms around Star. "Quarantine? Why?"

Alphys cocked her head back toward the lab. "Your brother is half human and half monster."

Star smiled, hugging Frisk. "When someone who is half human and half monster becomes ill, there's a chance that the virus can mutate and become something that can harm monsters. When that's a possibility, quarantine is the best option."

Frisk nodded and rested his face against Star's neck.

Asriel frowned. "So, what now?"

"While he's in quarantine, we'll put you with the Osseins." My Sunflower came out of her office and smiled a little sadly at Star. "Your parents could use the distraction."

Star sighed. "Yeah. Me too." She gave Frisk and Asriel a big smile. "Come on. You'll like my parents."

Frisk shook his head. "Azzy and I can take care of ourselves."

Star eyed him with a wry smile. "Even if Asriel is technically an adult, you're still in your stripes. It's okay to rely on others." She pulled him up the stairs behind her.

Sunflower motioned for Asriel to follow. He bowed his head to her before turning and chasing his brother. We brought up the rear, my phalanges interlacing with Frisk's fingers.

"Ready to go out?"

I nodded. "It's been a day. I could use some quiet."

At the stop of the stairs, the Osseins were welcoming the boys in and discussing where to bunk them, neither quite ready to take apart Princess' room. 01 waited next to the door, watching the boys with some amusement. He'd ditched his uniform for a very relaxed shirt and slacks.

Frisk turned, pulling on Star's jacket. "Can Az and I stay with you tonight?"

Star giggled. "Sure. We can move the spare bunk from storage into the third bedroom tomorrow. I have a date tonight and I'm on to move new patients into the medical bays, so no being up super late."

The boys nodded.

Mrs. Ossein waved the boys inside. "Come on. Let's get you both some dinner."

Star stared after them and her eyes came to rest on her sisters' room, still filled with their things, but otherwise empty. Her chin dropped to her chest and she sighed deeply.

01 put his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "They'll be back."

"They should be here. This is their home. And I don't care if I'm being selfish about it. Here they can just be children. Here they don't have to carry the burden of monster hopes and dreams."

He turned his head so his cheek touched her hair. "But isn't that what every Frisk and Chara is born to do?"

"I guess." She turned a little to look at Frisk and I. "I just need to grab my picnic basket from the fridge and I'm ready when you guys are." She lifted her face and placed a kiss on 01's jaw before heading back down the hall to her apartment.

Frisk handed baby Marigold to me and I carefully tucked her in the crook of my arm. Big, blue eyes looked up at me, concentrating on the face of my skull as I booped her nose before knocking on Cross' door.

"Come in!" D called.

I opened the door and found So-So and Brandon eating dinner with Cross. "You two being good?"

Brandon slurped a noodle. "Oh, we're just killing it, Dad."

D held his arms out for the baby. "When was her last feeding?"

"Twenty minutes ago." Frisk set a cooler I knew to be filled with bottles of breast milk on the table. "You'll be good for about an hour if she doesn't fall asleep first. We'll be back around ten." She leaned over to kiss So-So's head. "Be good, you two. And be in bed on time."

So-So turned her head up to kiss her mother's lips. "Yes, Mom."

"How did lessons with Uncle Az go?"

She nodded. "Good! I think I'm finally getting a handle on it. It's just kind of hard to see things that way."

Frisk nodded and gave her a hug. After a quick hug from Brandon, we rejoined 01 in the hallway, Star holding onto a large picnic basket. I don't remember when this started being a thing, but Frisk and I have been sharing a lot of double dates at Cherry Springs. Cross and Michelle, Shooting Star and 01, even the Osseins were just as likely to join us and spend time staring up at the stars.

I short cut us over to our regular place on the side of a hill, one that was just flat enough in one spot to set up a picnic dinner and watch the stars swing by overhead. 01 put down the blanket and started setting up the food after putting down a few flickering, LED 'candles' to give us some light to see dinner by. Star sat down next to Frisk, both watching the sky.

"Look! A shooting star! Make a wish!" Star squeezed her eyes shut tight for a moment and then giggled, looking up at 01. "Have you ever wished on shooting star?"

He smiled a little, sitting down next to her. "Just once."

She leaned into him a little. "Did you get your wish?"

His hand squeezed hers, causing the light from the candles to flash off the ring on her finger. "You said yes."