Papyrus was late for training. That meant something was amiss, Papyrus was always on time. Undyne decided that she needed to go check on her favorite pupil. She bundled up to prepare for the cold of Snowdin.

Walking towards Snowdin Undyne heard some unsettling rumors. There had apparently been a major fight between the skeleton brothers in their house and neither had been seen since it happened. She picked up her pace hoping Sans was okay. Papyrus would be heartbroken if Sans had lost his one Hp in a fight.

When Undyne reached the skeleton brothers house she could hear heart wrenching sobs from behind the door. Oh no, that was a bad sign. She pushed open the door to see Sans weeping on the floor, a pile of dust, a human body, and a burn mark.

"What happened Sans?" was all she could ask tears forming in her eye.

At the sound of someone's voice, Sans' head turned. His face was stained with the tears that still streamed down his cheekbones. When he saw Undyne standing there, the guilt he felt only doubled, tripled, increased tenfold. Every bone in his body hurt to the point that even the slightest of movements were torture. He was all but consumed by grief and remorse.

He dragged himself to the captain of the royal guard's feet and continued weeping there. "do it." He said, expecting her to have figured out what happened already.

"Do what Sans? What happened? Did the human have fire magic? Are you okay?" Undyne bent down and realized that Sans was 'falling' torn apart by guilt.

"Don't destroy yourself Sans, I'm sure you did everything you could to prevent his d-death." Undyne said as she broke down into tears.

The fact that she still believed he'd tried to protect his brother only made him feel more miserable. "you don't understand…" He cried, grabbing her by the shoulders. "i did this, Undyne! i killed them!"

Undyne recoiled at Sans' words and suddenly what he had been saying and the scene came together in her mind. Papyrus, the idiot, must have tried to protect the human and Sans' attack had killed them both.

She pulled Sans into her arms stroking his back trying to calm him as she sobbed herself. "It's not your fault, Papyrus shouldn't have got in the way."

He shoved her away forcefully. "no. you don't understand."

His voice was low and threatening. She wasn't seeing it how it was. She was trying to comfort him when all he deserved was to die. His left eye came to life in a burning flame.

"if you don't get it… i'll make you." He told her through gritted teeth. This was the only way she'd see. He knew that now. His only option was to turn against her and hope she'd end his miserable excuse for a life.

He summoned forth another blaster and pointed it straight at her, intentionally missing.

The heat of Sans' attack went right by her ear. Undyne cursed. Who knew the lazybones had so much power?

With tears in her eye she summoned a spear and threw it at Sans, who didn't even dodge. "I'm sorry Papyrus" She said as she collapsed to the ground crying.

The darkness was suffocating. Frisk felt trapped in a never-ending darkness. She felt horrible. Papyrus had died, and even though going back could bring him back, she couldn't will herself to go through Sans' hate Again.

It hadn't gone back yet, so she thought that maybe she had managed to stay dead this time.

But the darkness. It was overwhelming. There was something there, and she knew it, but it didn't reveal itself.

There was only the darkness. It was all Frisk could think about. Dark.

A room. Three days, left in that room, locked in.

Father was too 'worried' about Frisk, keeping her locked up 'for her own safety'. And it wasn't the first time too.

Nothing to do.

Just do exactly what Father says. Then no room. No darkness. No death.

"Sans you bonehead, numbskull, idiot, you, you, you smiley trashbag" Papyrus shouted pulling Frisk behind him protecting her.

Sans turned in the direction of Papyrus' voice and for the briefest of moments he felt relieved. They were both alive… But then the reason why they wouldn't be sunk in. He felt lightheaded, and dizzy, and then he felt sick. He was completely and utterly disgusted with himself.

The feelings of shame, guilt and desperation that plagued his soul were so intense he doubled over, magic rising up and out of his mouth. He choked on it, shivering from the nasty sensation.

The cold snow beneath him did nothing to ease any of his discomfort. He deserved every bit of pain he felt. There were tears pooling at his eye sockets, and he felt so weak and useless.

And when his thoughts settled on what happened prior to 'regaining his consciousness', everything started to hurt again. He hugged himself to keep from completely breaking down.

"i'm so sorry." He muttered. "i'm so, so sorry…"

He expected them to yell at him, to hate him, hit him even. But nothing came. Just silence. And somehow, that was even worse.

Frisk was relieved when the darkness finally passed. But she was also very, very scared. She had disobeyed an order. When Sans got sick, she was stuck with indecision. She settled on staying where she was. He was already going to be upset that she came back, but she didn't want to go back.

She didn't want to go back.

She started shaking, tears welling in her eyes.

Sans' gaze fell on Frisk and when he saw the glimmer in her eyes his soul nearly shattered. He went to reach for her until he realized that the reason she was crying was probably because of him. What right did he have to comfort her?

He let his head fall and gave up on trying. He was a disgrace. He didn't deserve to comfort her. He didn't deserve her happiness. He should just disappear and let her and Papyrus be happy together. They didn't need him. They didn't want him after what he did.

Sans wanted to take a shortcut out of there and just stay gone. He tried to do it but his magic didn't seem to be enough anymore. What he expelled must have been enough to deplete his levels to the point where he couldn't teleport. But still he kept trying. He didn't care that it was hurting. He didn't care that it could kill him. He wanted to die.

"Sans stop, please stop" Papyrus yelled as he rushed to his brother.

Sans however didn't stop. He kept trying to use magic he didn't have so Papyrus had no choice, but to knock him out cold, with a hit to the back of the head.

Frisk stared as her Father broke down, frantically using his magic. She was worried for him. She just didn't know what to do. She simply went to stand by Papyrus, her posture formal and proper.

Papyrus lifted Sans into his arms and began walking to the house, "Come on Frisk, let's get this bonehead in bed."

Papyrus noticed that Frisk was acting odd. She hadn't said a word since the reset and seemed to be scared of something. Papyrus hoped getting to relax and Sans to tell her that he still wanted her as his daughter would help.

"Frisk I hope you realize Sans still wants to be your dad. You being his little girl makes him very happy."

Frisk nodded, then decided that hugging Papyrus would be ok. She nuzzled into his chest, before backing away again. She gave a smile, hoping it didn't seem as strained as it was.

Papyrus could tell that Frisk was in fact not okay, but could see no way to help her feel better. Sans was probably the only one who could.

"The void is trying to tear you apart, but I believe in you! You can be great! But either way Sans shouldn't have done a violence "

"Tear us... apart? Do great? I-I uhhh. Ok, I'll try. But... I keep remembering... It didn't reset right away, and the darkness. I hate it. It reminds me of my original Father. He... Did some bad things to me. And payed enough money that he never had to stop." Frisk said, trying to at least tell someone why she was acting like that.

Papyrus could feel Sans stirring in his arms as Frisk spoke.

"Has Sans ever caused you to feel that he would hurt you the way your Father did dear human? I know Sans has hurt you lately and feels awful for doing so. Can you forgive this lazybones?" As Papyrus asked he felt Sans stiffen in his arms

Sans was vaguely aware of the fact that he was being carried by his brother. He still felt disoriented and like he couldn't move a finger if he tried. But he could hear the ongoing conversation.

Papyrus was putting it lightly. Feeling awful would be a mercy compared to what he was actually going through. All he could feel was like he deserved death and suffering. And not only had he actually killed his family, he'd made Frisk relive painful memories she had every right to forget.

He wished he could just turn to dust by simply willing it.

"I hate the darkness. Please, don't make me... don't make me go back..." Frisk said, her voice weak, wavering. "I don't want to go to the room. Please, please."

Her voice wavered. She took a deep breath, calming.

"It's strange. I mean, I was 'conditioned' by my father. But I managed to keep some of myself unchanged. But when I go through something that reminds me of it, I get caught back in that mindset. I'm trying, I mean, I know D- Sans will need my help, but I just don't know. He told me to go to the darkness. A-and I don't know why he did...

"And I'm scared. You said that he still wants to be my dad. But then why? I-I just don't get it. What did I do wrong?" Frisk had that slight tone that just begged to know.

"Sans loves you, Frisk. He is fighting the demons that chase you both." Papyrus said shifting Sans and pulling Frisk into a hug. "He will tell you himself when he stops pretending to sleep."

Sans grunted at what his brother said. And then whimpered. His entire being still ached from the unbearable guilt. He kept quiet, not wanting to say anything because he knew that whatever he had to say wouldn't change a thing. Everything he'd done wouldn't be erased. It couldn't possibly be forgiven. So why even try?

"Da-Sa... Can I at least still call you dad?" Frisk asked, raising one hand to touch Sans' arm.

He flinched away from her touch, not because he didn't want her to touch him. He felt he didn't deserve her kindness. Unable to find his voice, he hid his head into Papyrus' chest. He wondered why she'd want to call him dad when all he'd done was fail her. He didn't deserve such a title.

"Sans you're an idiot, she needs you. You both deserve each other, you make eachother happy. So skeleton up and act like an adult and comfort your daughter." Papyrus said as he entered the house.

"Besides she needs you bonehead." he whispered in his ear as he put them down on the couch.

"she doesn't need me." Sans finally voiced his thoughts. "she's better off without me, you both are. i'm just a sorry excuse for a person."

He curled up into a ball, inching away from Frisk, almost afraid that if he touched her, he'd hurt her again.

Seeing that words weren't working, Frisk chose a different approach. She inched towards him, not quite confident enough for a hug, instead leaning on him.

"You are my pillow now. I am tired, and you are going to sit there and you are going to. Be. My. Pillow."

The short skeleton simply sat there for what felt like forever, shellshocked. For the briefest of moments, all he felt was a comfortable warmth settling on his chest. His hands trembled slightly as he slowly lowered them over her. He was completely baffled as to how she'd still want to even be close to him after what he'd done.

Gaining a little of his confidence back, he closed his eyes and tightened his hold ever so slightly. He didn't deserve this, he didn't deserve her and her love. But he was selfish. So he reveled in the feeling of having her in his arms again, alive and breathing. His little girl.

When he tightened his grip on her, Frisk allowed herself to finally relax. "Hmmm... Best pillow ever." She said sleepily.

Papyrus smiled, getting a blanket out of his closet and draping it over the sleepy pair. Relaxed, Frisk found herself drifting into a deep sleep.

'I'm finally safe again.'

Sans felt her breathing steadying. The conflict he felt before was still there, swirling inside his skull. How could he possibly have something so precious? It didn't feel right. She should have someone who knew how to take care of her. Not… him.

He opened his eyes and looked at Papyrus, who was still lingering. He could tell his brother was tense. And he knew exactly why. He expected him to lose himself again at any moment. Looking down at Frisk, sleeping soundly in his arms, he felt a shiver go down his spine. His gaze darted around the room until it settled on Papyrus.

His eyes were filled with fear of himself and what he could do. The flashbacks could hit him at any time, he knew. He still didn't quite know what they were about and he knew he shouldn't try to figure out.

His breath caught in his throat. He was starting to panic.

Seeing his brother looking so frazzled, Papyrus gently lifted Sans and Frisk up, trying not to wake Frisk. She stirred a little, but settled right back down after Papyrus sat on the couch under them.

"It's a Sanswich. You can't be sad anymore. Not as a Sanswich. I said so, so it must be true." Papyrus said, his voice quiet.

Sans chuckled momentarily, trying not to shake Frisk awake. He felt comfortable in his brother's arms. "heh. you always know what to do." He acknowledged in a whisper. "you're so cool."

He let his eyes fall closed. For a while there was nothing but a sweet silence. "i'm sorry." Sans uttered, unsure if there was actually anyone to hear him. Even if no one had, he had to say it to relieve the burden in his conscience. At least a little. He settled into a troubled sleep not long after.