"Alright, kid, let's cut formalities. Where's my brother?"

Chara stared at Papyrus, a nervous quizzical look on her face. "Uh, I don't know what you mean."

The tall Skeleton Monster sighed, flicking away his spent cigarette. His eye socket began to glow faintly as he spoke, "Don't make me repeat myself again. Where is Sans?"

The human child continued to stare at him apprehensively until her expression gradually turned to one of annoyance. "Look, I know we have this thing where we don't talk about the Resets, so this must be important, but I don't know. I haven't seen him."

Papyrus lifted his hand into the air.

"Honest! I haven't seen him!" Chara panicked, taking a couple, rapid steps backwards. "Check my stats! I haven't dusted anyone on this run." Yet, Frisk added. Chara pushed the specter away mentally. Not this time.

Lowering his hand, Papyrus did as suggested and found out the kid was telling the truth. He felt the growing pit in his 'stomach' grow larger. "Fine. So you're innocent. Sans is still missing and if it wasn't you, then where is he?"

Chara shrugged, tapping her stick against her thigh. "I couldn't tell you. I thought I was the only one who was able to change the Timeline around here."

"You are," Papyrus replied, staring blankly into the distance before Shortcutting away.

Feh, so rude, Frisk muttered.

Chara rolled her eyes. "Go away."


Sans wrapped the blanket tighter around him as he padded softly to the living room. Even the warm glow from the fireplace failed to reach the dark spaces of the high ceiling, the thick shadows cocooning the lit area like the blanket around his shoulders. Scribbling sounds and soft mutters came from the desk where Papyrus worked, hunched over as a bronze, foldable lamp illuminated his paperwork.

He glanced up as Sans settled on the lone couch, as near to the fire as possible. Quietly, he stated, "You're still awake."

"Yes, I couldn't sleep." The small Skeleton answered the unasked question, tracing a fingerbone over the embroidery on the armrest. "What are you writing about?"

"Nothing interesting, I'm afraid," Papyrus answered drolly, setting aside his pen and joining him on the couch. His research could wait for now.

Sans smiled at him, scooting closer so he rested against him. "I'm so cold for some reason. I thought we couldn't get cold, brother?"

"It's your body diverting energy to heal your skull." He touched Sans' head tenderly, gazing in frustration at the thin, jagged opening. The crackle and pop of the logs in the fire filled the silence as they pondered.

Papyrus fought off a simmering anger, wrapping an arm firmly around Sans' shivering shoulders. 'It refuses to close,' he didn't say aloud, for fear of upsetting his little brother. At this rate, he was going to have to feed Sans HP boosters just to keep from collapsing. He couldn't understand why but the wound negated any attempts to mend, regardless of the amount of magic he forced into it. It was undoubtedly connected to Sans' memory loss, if it could be fixed, Papyrus was sure his memory would return completely.

Sans' thoughts wandered in a different direction, his shuddering no longer just from the cold. Flashes of unfinished memories had overwhelmed him in his dreams. He heard the repetitive sound of snow crunching under his boots and the hoarse, fierce shout of a woman's voice, encouraging him to try harder. He saw the geometric pattern of a brightly lit puzzle and the glitter of false stars above him as he breathed out a laugh of delight. They were wonderful memories and they filled him with hope and joy, but they were not what had roused him from his sleep and brought tears to his eye sockets.

A warm orange had filled his mind's eye with the both comforting and hateful smell of cigarettes. A sob in his throat, he jerked awake as a lazy grin stretched across another Skeleton's skull, opening as if to call his name.

Leaning against his brother's side, Sans observed Papyrus discreetly. He was frowning, focused on the fireplace but not seeing it. There was no smile on his face and Sans felt alarm bloom in his chest at a abrupt unwanted notion. Feeling him tense next to him, Papyrus turned back to his brother, arching his browridge questioningly.

Sans beamed at him, weakly but genuinely, and a slow, languid smile stretched across Papyrus' face in return. The heaviness in his soul disappeared and Sans felt like crying in relief.

Repeating to himself reassuringly, Sans thought, 'It's him. It's definitely him. He has to be.'


Reaching up a shaking hand, Papyrus put his fiftieth cigarette in between his teeth. He had checked every person's LV in the Underground once, then again, and then a third time just to be sure. It'd been a full day and he still couldn't find Sans.

Lifting his lighter, he flicked it with uncharacteristic clumsiness until snarling and tossing it away with a shout, "Dammit!"

Huffing, he collapsed against the nearest tree, letting his face fall into his hands. This was worse than the Timelines in which Chara, or Frisk depending on your point of view, dusted everyone. At least then he knew that once all the heartache and bloodshed passed, everything would Reset and he'd have his brother back. This was new and for once he did not like the dissimilarity.

Soon, the other Monsters were going to start asking about Sans, some of them already were, like Alphys. Papyrus didn't have answers. He didn't have anything. Not a clue, a hint, or even the slightest inclination of where Sans could possibly be. He had searched everywhere; even the places he knew Sans wouldn't or couldn't go. It was impossible for him to be gone but not dusted.

A thought came unbidden to his mind, making him pause uneasily.

Papyrus remembered the Waterfall. Staring down at the churning white foam at the bottom as the roar muffled out any other sounds, he had stood at the precipice. It had been inviting, so tempting despite its futility. If he jumped, he would just Reset, wake up back in his home as if it didn't happen.

But Sans didn't know that, he knew nothing of the Resets. To him, the jump would have been a permanent act. 'He couldn't have,' Papyrus reasoned, 'Sans isn't like that, he isn't like me.'

Wind whipped through the pines around him and he shivered, feeling unusually cold.

"I'll ask Chara to Reset tomorrow and wait at the house. He'll have to be there then," Papyrus said, pulling his long legs to his chest. "He has to be."


"Don't worry, I won't be long." Papyrus replied, placing his hand comfortingly on his younger brother's shoulder. Sans clung to his side, tugging at him imploringly, "Please, take me with you. I don't want to be alone."

Sighing, Papyrus gently pulled away and held his brother's smaller hands in his. "Sans, it's really nothing exciting, you'll be bored in two minutes and want to come back home."

"I don't care, I want to be with you," he replied immediately, trying to press his feelings into his tightening grip. "Papryus," the blue stars in his eyes flickered as he spoke. "Please."

A strained moment passed before Papyrus groaned and Sans knew he had won. Squeaking excitedly, he leaned up onto his tiptoes to hold Pap's face between his hands, pulling him down so he could place a skeletal kiss on his forehead. "Thank you, Papy! I'll go get ready!"

Skipping off, he missed the miserable expression passing over his older brother's face.

'It's too soon, he's still weak and his memory hasn't returned,' Papyrus thought, clenching his jaw in worry. 'The townspeople won't recognize him; they will ask him questions he won't understand. I need to keep him hidden until I can get to Townhall.'

He stepped slowly out onto the front porch, lifting a hand as his eye briefly glowed orange. A clunky clamor started in the shed near the far side of the Manor before it evened out into a thrumming purr and the shed doors were pushed open. A long, sleek copper-colored vehicle drove forward, following a marked path onto the main road before rolling to a stop in front of him. Papyrus hoped that Sans remembered automobiles at least, otherwise this was going to be a long day.


"Alright. Do it." Papyrus braced himself, holding his breath in his non-existent lungs.

Chara reluctantly pulled up the Reset option, hovering her hand over it. "You're lucky I like Sans, because I worked really hard in this Timeline and I'm going to lose-"

"Chara." He warned.

She jolted in place. "Okay, okay! Here it goes." She pressed the Reset button, fading from his living room and appearing back in the Ruins. Papyrus stood still as the world rearranged around him, nauseous making his bones quiver. Upstairs, Sans would be asleep in his motorcycle bed, ready to start another day of patrol duty and Royal Guard training.

He forced himself to walk slowly upstairs and paused before his little brother's bedroom door.

'He's in here, without a doubt,' Papyrus told himself, but he couldn't make his hand turn the handle. Inhaling deeply, he finally opened the door and walked in. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darker-than-usual darkness.

The bed was empty.

"No. No, no, no, no, no," Papyrus breathed, spots dotting his vision as he grew faint. "Sans! Sans, where are you?"

He stumbled to the bathroom, the kitchen, and every time he looked and failed to see Sans he felt his hope die further. Collapsing onto the couch, he sobbed, clutching himself around the shoulders. "Please, Sans. Come back." A rasping breath tore from his throat as he begged. "I'm sorry, I'll be a better brother, I promise, please, just take me with you. I don't want to be alone."

The house remained silent.


During the drive to the City, Papyrus began to carefully detail what Sans had forgotten, giving him a brief but illuminating outline.

"I hope this will spark some recognition for you, but if not there is no rush. We have plenty of time," he clarified soothingly at Sans' uneasy fidgeting. "It will come back to you eventually, brother."

He began with the basics, the history of the person they were going to meet: Chara.

A close friend of both of them, Chara often would entertain Sans with stories of the Overland, the endless sky filled with flying machines, ranging from preposterously huge balloonships to swift crafts that cut through the air like birds. Being one of the few humans that have lived in the Overland and Underland, she had plenty of stories to tell to the Monsters she befriended. Sans and Papyrus were her favorite companions, aside from Asriel.

The Underland, Sans was shocked to learn, was located literally upside down and directly below the Overland. However, due to their magic, everything is right side up for Monsters; only Humans are affected by gravity. Speaking theoretically Papyrus believed this was because Humans cannot do magic and thus can't enter the Underland, ordinarily. They do have Determination and that is the only way they can stay in, or rather ON, the Underland since gravity would take effect and they would fall into the Abyss, the yawning chasm beneath (or above) their world.

Possessing a great amount of Determination, Chara had found her way down to the Underland through the Ancient Ruins, a vast maze that connected the two worlds together. Toriel, an advocate for respecting the Ruins and maintaining them, was the one who found Chara and she continued to regularly check them to see if any other Humans have fallen through.

"No one else has, as of yet," Papyrus was quick to add, seeing Sans' alarmed face.

As the adopted child of the Mayor Asgore and his wife, Lady Toriel, Chara could be considered the stepsister of Asriel. However, recent negotiations with the Overland have resulted into a proposal to connect the two worlds by marrying the Mayor's son to the Human ambassador when they became of age. Neither of Chara or Asriel saw a problem with it, so far.

"Time will tell," Chara intoned cheekily, smiling at her seemingly unamused betrothed.

"Indeed, it will," he replied just as insolently.

In this way, Chara has secured herself to the Underland Upper-class Society, as Lady Chara the Human and Ambassador of the Overland, after running about as a no account street urchin. Mayor Asgore handled the gatherings with both of them present as a symbol of unity. Busy with the Orphanage to run and the Ruins to care for, Her Ladyship Toriel is not often available for these meetings, although she attends when she can.

"Wow, you know so many interesting people," Sans murmured, staring starry-eyed up at his brother. "You must be really important!"

"We're important, Sans," Papyrus corrected amicably. "Truthfully, I'm just a scientist."

"The Chief Scientist of Underland," Sans protested, "Brother, you shouldn't downplay your achievements. That's an incredible accomplishment!"

"Maybe, but it wouldn't be worth anything if I didn't have you," he replied softly. The car shook faintly as they crossed the bridge Sans once fell from, a knowing silence rising between them. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, Sans gasped as they made it to the other side.

He hadn't appreciated the view when he had been pulled from the freezing water, but now the city was laid out before him and he gazed upon it with wonder. It towered over them, colored in shades of bronze, glinting with metal and foggy with steam from countless ventilation shafts.

"New Home," Papyrus announced, guiding the vehicle down the smooth cobbled streets with ease. His jaw quirked into a wry smile, glancing away from the road to give Sans a heartfelt look. "Welcome back, Sans."