Frisk took a deep breath before backing away from Sans a bit and wiping her eyes off. "Where should we go? I don't think you want Papyrus to watch or hear us with how we've been acting..."

She was right. That was definitely a bad idea considering the circumstances. Sans got up from his seat and motioned for Frisk to follow him outside. Once there, he thought for a long moment.

"we can talk back at my sentry station, should be private enough." He extended his hand towards her. "come on, i know a shortcut."

As they walked out of the bar, Frisk suddenly did a double take. They were just at the bar, and now... And geez, that felt odd. Like one moment they were there, then they just... weren't. And suddenly, they were at Sans' station.

"Well, that wasn't disorienting at all!" Frisk exclaimed, using more than her fair share of sarcasm. The only response was a laugh.

"Why are we acting like this though? I don't think you're the type of person to just snap like that... It's almost like... We forgot something." Frisk said, with a growing sense of horror as she realized what that might mean.

"that's an excellent question. to which i have no answer." Sans replied, leaning against the wooden station, feeling suddenly exhausted.

That outburst of emotion shook him more than he'd like to admit. He stuck his hands inside his jacket's pockets while looking at Frisk intensely.

"i feel like maybe this isn't the first time we've met… is it?" He didn't give her time to even answer. "if you're going to come out and ask me to end you if you lose control without even knowing what i can or can't do something just isn't right. and if you actually know what i can do, then, kid… i don't know what to tell ya."

"W-What if that means I did lose control? But why would we forget? I don't even know who I am anymore!" Frisk seemed overwhelmed, or just plain scared.

"I can't even trust myself to be a good person anymore. Because if our emotions are anything to go by, I probably can't say I even have any good left in me." The light in Frisk's eyes seemed to vanish.

"hey, don't say that. i mean you've made Paps happy, you've spared everyone as best you could, and when you didn't, you…"

Sans looked at Frisk's face and felt horrible. If anything she was the nicest human to stop by the underground, and this, whatever it was, seemed to be breaking her spirit. It almost looked like she had no hope left in her.

He stepped closer to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "you talking to me right now is proof that there's good in you. you could've hurt me, or anyone, but you didn't." He paused when she didn't say anything, trying to think of how he could make her feel better.

He couldn't come up with anything useful. Feeling defeated himself, he said the only thing he could think of.

"i'm sorry."

Frisk looked up to Sans, somehow with a tiny glimmer of hope in her heart.

"Y-You don't hate me?" She asked, voice raw with emotion.

"no. i think you wormed your way into a heart i don't even have, kid." He said honestly, and looking away. "i didn't know what to think of you at first, that's true. but i kept my eye on you. and each and every one of your actions was merciful. how can i hate someone who made my bro so excited?"

Sans kept his eyes on the snow covered ground. "you even made me happy too."

"Made you happy? Hah, we've barley met, at least as far as I can remember, and you're... Heck, you've been nicer than my own parents ever were. You somehow already got to the point that you care even after a few days." Frisk said, almost ranting as she stated how she felt he treated her.

"that's just the thing isn't it?" He chuckled slightly. "we've only just met and i kind of feel like… maybe that's not the case? it's strange, now that i think about it. after i saw you breaking down in the snow i just… i felt responsible for you."

He placed a hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair. "look, this isn't going anywhere, i don't think. let's just get some badly needed rest and we can figure it out together."

"Yeah, ok." Frisk said, yawning at the mention of sleep. "Geez, with all the agains, today has been so long... I guess I'll go over to the inn, then. Although... Could you do another of your shortcuts with me? I... I don't want to deal with the sentries or the others right now..."

Looking at her expression, Sans immediately got a thought. "actually, i'll do ya one better. Papyrus would love a sleepover." He winks at her before taking her hand in his. "so what do you say?"

Frisk knew her expression said it all, but she still chimed in with a squeaky "Really?"

Sans simply smiled at her, not even bothering to answer such an obvious question. He teleported them right outside their house. "do you wanna tell him the good news or should i?" He asked with a smirk.

"Ohhhh, I'd love to!" Frisk said, practically jumping towards the door. She went in, loudly saying, "Papyrus, Papyrus, Sans said I could sleep here tonight!"

"HELLO HUMAN, you're here for a sleepover shall we make more spaghetti!" Papyrus asked with enthusiasm abounding. "Or shall we watch a movie before bed."

Papyrus then noticed that the human was falling asleep on it's feet. "Maybe we should just head for bed instead." He said as he lead the sleepy Frisk to the couch to sleep. "Good night little human"

Dark. The darkness was well, very dark. Somehow, It was darker than anything Frisk had dealt with before. Except...

"Did I die again?" Frisk asked herself, somewhat confused.

The darkness seemed to say"Hello young one I see you have learned to touch the void, how do you feel?" It came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Uhhh..." Frisk mumbled as she tried to describe the feeling. "Honestly, I feel the same as I do when I die. Surrounded with black and frozen from time."

"Interesting, very interesting, the void seems to have given you temporary control over time. You must avoid using in or the void may capture and hold you" The strange voice said. As a face appeared out of the darkness it looked skeletal with large cracks near the eyes.

"I didn't ask for this! It just... happens every time I die. If what you saying is right, though, its a good thing Sans said he'd help me out. I mean, its kinda silly to me. I'm just this random kid that fell, and in just a short time he seems to care about me a lot. Kinda like I imagine a father would, if they bothered to be one.

Sans was startled by Frisk's voice. Most of all, Frisk's words. A warmth that he hasn't felt in a long time settled in his chest and he wonders why. "Frisk?" He called. He couldn't exactly see her, but he was sure that he heard her. And what she said… Would he bother to be that for her? The question kind of hurt. It felt like she thought he didn't care about her like that. He realised that he did.

"Da-Sans?"

He looked around for her, but all he saw was darkness. He wanted to reach out to her so badly but he didn't know where she was. "F-frisk i'm…" The words died in his mouth.

"Sans you have found your way here as well this child's influence is stronger than I feared my son you both must leave as soon as possible" the voice said as he suddenly caused hands with holes in them jumped out of the darkness flying at Sans and Frisk.

"Aggh!" Frisk shouted, jolting awake. Her heart racing, she sat on the corner of the couch, trying to calm down. For some reason, the terror seemed to linger, and she started to cry for what felt like the millionth time recently. She tried to keep quiet, but found that it was very hard when she was so riled up, soft sobs ringing through the air.

Sans sat bolt upright in his bed so quickly he actually fell off the side. Face first onto the floorboards, soul in complete distress, he immediately got to hands and knees, eyes darting around the room. His breathing was accelerated and ragged. Carefully he rubbed the spot on his arm where the disembodied hands had grabbed hold of him.

It felt like his bones were tingling with a sort of electric jolt. As he tried to calm himself down, the dream still fresh in his mind, his thoughts drifted to what he'd heard Frisk say. He closed his eyes, sighing, there was no way something like that could ever be true.

But in the midst of his musings, he heard a faint cry coming from downstairs. His head snapped in the door's direction and he jumped to his feet. For some reason, walking, or even running didn't seem fast enough. He teleported himself behind the couch in the blink of an eye.

"Frisk? what's wrong? did something happen?" He asked, concern dripping thick from his words.

"I-it was so dark. A-and there was something there. It-He said I needed to leave, a-and he grabbed at me, and it wasn't that scary but I can't calm down and something feels wrong and I don'tknowwhat'sgoi-"

Sans couldn't take it anymore. Her terrified state was enough to get him to run to her and take her into his arms, holding her tightly. He rubbed her back and her head gently, trying desperately to get her to calm down, and to comfort her.

"hey, it's alright, it was just a bad dream." He said in a whisper, not taking note of what exactly she was saying in between the sobs. "i'm… i'm here for ya, kiddo. just breathe."

"I don't think it was just a dream." Frisk said into his chest. "You were there too, weren't you? With the darkness and the voice and the hands?" She had mostly calmed down, but was still a little panicky at the last few words.

The short skeleton froze. That wasn't just a dream? The events of it started to sink into his mind. He held Frisk tighter still. He heard that voice too. And it called him 'my son'... And that also meant that what Frisk said… His hands grabbed Frisk's shirt.

"you… i heard…" He stumbled over his words, his mind racing. Sans didn't know what to focus on. "what else did he tell you? did he hurt you?" He finally choked out, deciding that her safety was more important than anything else he might want to know.

"No, he just scared me. I almost think... I almost think he was more scared that I was. He really thought I was in danger there. He said something about the void trying to control me or something." Frisk said, before finally mostly relaxing. She leaned into Sans, her eyes drifting. She yawned again, setting her head on Sans' chest.

"I'm falling asleep again, Dad. Can we ta-" Frisk cut off as she realized what she had just said.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say, sorry, I won't call you that again" Frisk stuttered out, crawling off of Sans' lap as if fearing he would get angry.

As soon as that word escaped her lips, Sans' soul leaped in his chest. He barely heard her apologizing, but as soon as she started to try and get away, he stopped her. She seemed startled, a flash of fear crossing her expression.

He pulled her back onto his lap and held her against his chest, pulling her closer and resting her head on his shoulder. "you can call me that as much as you'd like. Frisk…" He choked on his words and then closed his eyes. "thank you…"

He muttered those two words, and then said them again, and again, holding her closer each time. He couldn't bring himself to say anything else, he was just so happy. Happier than he thought he'd been in a really long time.

At first, Frisk was terrified and tense. Then when she realized that he wasn't angry, she started to relax in Sans', her adoptive dad's hold.

"H-he never let me call him dad. M-my f-father, that is." Frisk said, practically spitting out the last word. "Said it wasn't proper enough. Like I was some sort of medieval princess, instead of just the daughter of a wealthy businessman. I bet you can be waaaayyyy more of a dad than he ever was." Frisk trailed off into a yawn, half asleep on Sans' lap.

Sans stroked her face in a gentle caress, smiling down at her. "i'll do my best, kiddo." He whispered, noticing that her eyes were already closed and she was quickly drifting off to dreamland.

With one last squeeze around her, he relaxed against the couch. "i don't like making promises… but i promise you that i'll do everything i can to make you happy."