Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters.

Frisk slowly opened the door to Snowdin's Shop. It was dark… and it would probably stay like that. The fusion let the door creak shut behind them as they approached the counter. They had no true reason to be here, other than… other than to be alone, without the risk of anyone seeing them.

They weren't seeking comfort this time.

Snowdin had been mostly empty for the past bit while people cleaned up the...aftermath of the attack. Which was what they wanted anyways.

Frisk clenched their fists, their whole body trembling, their tail writhing as the emotions all came crashing out. They slammed their fists down on the counter with a shriek, the wood unrelenting to their assault-but that didn't matter.

"Why…?" they managed-their voice a harsh whisper. "Why…? Why, why, why, why, WHY!?" Their voice grew into a strangled cry with each and every utterance as they beat their hands against the wood.

The child dropped their head down harshly against the counter, ignoring the pain as tears streamed down their face. How much more could be taken from them? How much more until it was finally 'enough'!?

Frisk ignored the bit of blood that dripped down their head as well as they battered their hands. Everything was falling apart, and Frisk had lost nearly all their supports, and those who were on their feet had too many other worries.

They let loose another wail, repeatedly slamming against the counter, the rate having quickened drastically. They were alone...they could break without any extra shame. The repeated thuds and crashes came at alarming speed-over and over-as if the child was trying to permanently mar themselves.

As if that somehow might atone for their shortcomings. "I-just-wanted-our happy-ENDING!" Just as swiftly, their legs gave out, and they slowly slid down, completely broken. They curled up on the floor, tucking their arms over their head as they shuddered. They were supposed to be able to fix this-to have the power to stop these things before they even happened.

But it was useless.

Their responsibilities, fear, guilt...regret… All of it was crashing down on the child, smothering them, and they simply couldn't keep fighting it all alone.

But they wouldn't dare share their burden on an already battered kingdom.

They couldn't...and so they wept all alone, broken on the floor, unable to provide a thing. They felt that without the resets...they couldn't provide anything. This was supposed to be a happy ending...but it was just getting worse.

They didn't leave...crying until sleep finally claimed the fusion.

And it wasn't until evening that white furred hands gently scooped them up.

Frisk closed their hands together, their eyes shut and their form Human once more. Sunlight came into the golden hall; casting harsh lights and shadows as they stood there expectantly. Slowly, they raised their head to see Sans standing before them.

He was silent at first, before raising his head. Frisk shivered as they saw the absence of light in his eyes…it was that glare that penetrated them, seeming to find every little secret they had within, exposing them, and ridiculing them for each and every one.

The small skeleton raised his hand, summoning a Gaster Blaster in cold silence. Frisk whimpered, taking a small step back, but in the end, they didn't do anything in their defense. They didn't fight…or struggle…they didn't even try to run away.

They knew full well that if Sans really wanted to, killing them would be easy—the only issue was just having them stay dead, but in all honesty…with everything that had been happening to the child…their hold on the resets was slipping away.

If he wanted to do away with the one that disaster seemed to follow…then why not let him? Why fight it? He had said it himself…just give up. Frisk couldn't see the point in struggling against their fate. They had brought enough pain and suffering to everyone, and this time—there was no way to fix what they had done.

"I…I'm sorry…" they stammered softly, their voice a weak protest to what he was about to do. All they ever wanted was…but with each and every day, the chance of it was slipping away. The maw of the creature began to open as Sans continued staring at them. Frisk lowered their head, adjusting their footing as they spread their arms wide.

He looked down, his skull becoming shadowed as he raised his hand fully, fingers ready to snap. Frisk shut their eyes, standing rigid as they waited for the sound, for the beast to fire, for their soul to shatter.

There was a snap of fingers, and the roar of the beast erupted—before being swiftly cut off. Frisk gasped, jerking their head up to see that the Gaster Blaster had vanished as Sans staggered, looking up at them in shock and concern, his pupils having returned to his eyes.

"B…buddy…?" he managed, his pupils darting around and taking in the situation.

Frisk looked up in confusion, unsure of what was going on.

The small skeleton rushed over to them, grabbing them firmly. "Frisk? What's wrong? Talk to me, what's going on?"

They were silent, staring at him as he looked them over worriedly to make sure they weren't hurt. "…my Sans?" they asked.

"Huh?" he asked in bewilderment. "Only one Sans as far as I know, Bud."

"…not a dream?"

Sans seemed to hold a genuine smile for a moment. "Nope, not a dream this time." He pressed his skull against theirs. "Guess that took a number on us…but I'm up now."

They shivered, and then, with a soft cry, they plowed forward, drawing their arms around him. "Sans!" they sobbed.

"Whoa!" He held them close as he fell back, managing to not end up flat on his back, as he sat with them in his hold. "Easy," he soothed, patting their back. "It's okay now," he assured as they clung to him. "We're all waking up…"

"Y—you've been g—gone," they sobbed. "F—for so long, I th—thought you we—weren't ev—ever coming back!" they wailed.

He stroked their hair, combing it with his fingers. "Sorry, Buddy, just…all the sudden, it just went black…how long has it been?"

"Months!" they cried. "It's almost been a year!"

The skeleton winced. That couldn't be good. "Uh, Buddy, are we still—?"

Frisk shook their head. "We've been rescued—but…but…" They shuddered. "Alma and Chara…Chara!" Just like that, they were reduced into a complete blubbering mess.

"Frisk!" Sans held them close, unsure of what to do. Having few options, he shifted his hold on them, practically cradling the child as he softly began to hum. It worked before, so why not now?

It took a while, but eventually, he calmed them down again. "Easy," he soothed. "Here, let's wait until we find the others before we sort out what happened. That way, we only have to go through this once."

"O—okay," the child hiccupped.

"There you go, Bud," he managed softly. The skeleton stood, keeping them against his chest. "Let's go find the others…" Frisk nodded, content with clinging to him. He smiled for a moment, but it faded as he moved, the Golden Corridor vanishing away as he did so.

Finding the others was of no issue—the real issue was them taking turns with Frisk when all the child wanted to do was hug them all and yell at them for being gone so long. Warm hugs were all around, with words of assurance—and some stammered apologies.

When that was mostly taken care of—as Frisk refused to let it be 'completely' taken care of—the group settled, and Frisk began to explain everything in greater detail. From the premise of their kidnapping, what happened in the rescue…they lighten the news briefly, mentioning the birth of Grillby's and Muffet's daughter.

They went quiet after that, hesitating on stating anything further. However, Sans seemed to be a step ahead as usual. "Buddy, that nightmare…" He looked at them in confusion—and perhaps with a little hurt as well. "What happened while we were gone?"

The child quietly looked away, even as Toriel scooped them up, nuzzling them. "My child?" she asked in concern. "Please, if there's something troubling you…"

Frisk shook their head. Undyne gave a dead-pan glare. "You know, you're a really horrible liar," she stated bluntly.

"Undyne," Asgore murmured.

"I have to say it," Undyne countered firmly as she folded her arms. "Because if we don't pressure the punk, they're going to try to hold it all in and never tell us, and we know what happens when they don't tell people things! It comes back and bites them, so dammit, Frisk! As your friends—as your family, you sure as heck better start telling us what's going on!"

"Un—Undyne," Alphys stammered, tapping her fingers nervously. "Th—that might be a tad…forceful?"

"Got any better ideas on making the punk spill instead of hurting themself?"

"Nyeh-heh…" Papyrus chuckled sheepishly. "Undyne does have a point there…"

"Come on, Buddy, talk to us," Sans insisted as he came over. "Granted I came in last second to that nightmare—but I'm not dumb. Your nightmare…" He drifted off, trying to find the right words to use.

Frisk curled up, clenching fistfuls of Toriel's robe as they bit their lip. "…the golden corridor…that attack…" They tensed. "That was the time I scared you, wasn't it…?" Frisk jerked, realizing that Sans had interpreted it much differently.

Sans sighed, looking limp—more so than usual. "I know that was a bad scare, but…" He glanced up to them with a pained expression. "Just how bad was it really, Buddy?"

It hadn't been that bad…in fact, Frisk had gotten over that fairly quickly. But…the other Sans had sent fear through them, and that had turned into a twisted nightmare. The other Sans despised them, and blamed them—they couldn't help that it got into their dreams where their own Sans had to witness it.

Frisk didn't want to say anything…but they couldn't bear the thought of letting Sans assume that Frisk had been bottling up emotions because of his own actions. Frisk looked up quietly. "…not you…" they murmured.

Sans blinked. "Then…what…?" he asked hesitantly.

With that, the child surrendered, and carefully began explaining things. It took a while, as confusion would swiftly spring up when they tried to tell them what transpired. The end had most shell-shocked, but Frisk still hadn't stated the last of it, the one little detail that only they had.

The small skeleton sighed. "…what did my counterpart end up doing?" he reluctantly asked.

Frisk lowered their head. "…don't come back…"

Sans gently grabbed their chin, forcing them to look up. "What else did he do?"

These memories were not a part of the deal that the little Frisk had formed with their Gaster, and with Sans prying as he was, it didn't take much for all of them to learn what transpired.

"S—Sans!" Papyrus exclaimed.

Undyne was fuming, while Asgore and Toriel seemed taken aback by what they had seen. Alphys hunkered down, covering her face, knowing how terrifying it had to be for Frisk to go through that.

"Oh, that's it!" the fish Monster exclaimed. "Sans, I don't care if that's supposed to be you!"

"Undyne…" Sans mumbled.

"We are going through—"

"Undyne."

"And we're going to teach him not to mess with our punk!"

"Undyne!" Sans snapped as he stood abruptly, turning to face her. "No. We aren't going to do that."

"But—!"

"Undyne, it's not going to change anything, even if we could. Do you really want to start something between dimensions?"

"He started it," she muttered. "Blaming our Punk for the mess when they opened the Rift."

"I don't care who started what," the small skeleton said. "No one's finishing it. Besides, he made it clear not to come back. Do we really want to open that tear just to tell him to be nice to someone he isn't going to see again anyways?"

Undyne huffed, folding her arms. "I still don't like him," she grumbled.

"Not asking you to like him," Sans muttered. "I'm not happy about this either, but…" His pupils dimmed. "I can understand that a little—why he did that. Heck, if it were me instead of him…I would have been the same."

"Sans…?" Papyrus questioned in concern.

The skeleton looked down at his hands, slowly opening and closing them. "Just…heh…our happy ending…damn it, I tried to keep it together for a month and I failed. He…he had his for years, and then we came in…and then it got all messed up from something on our side of this thing."

He slowly drew a hand over his face. "We lost our happy ending, and I blamed the only source we have…heck, if my anger wasn't in check…I might have lashed out at Alma, for letting that thing take control and killing others, not even trying to put up a fight…except, really, I'm not much different, now am I? When I give in just as easily…"

Papyrus frowned, and marched toward Sans as he continued. "He was angry, and upset, and we were the source. I would have been no different," he muttered. "So there's no point in treating it as if..." Sans gasped as he was suddenly yanked off his feet, with Papyrus looking to him sternly.

"Sans," Papyrus started simply. "You are better than what you're saying. Honestly, you're painting the one Undyne's mad at in a better light than you. Look…" He sighed, trying to figure out what to say. "Sans. Are children inherently bad?"

"What? No…"

"Are they to be blamed when something that was out of their control happens?"

"…no…"

"Then you would not have yelled at Frisk had you been him," Papyrus murmured. "You are much better than you claim, brother. I wish you would open your eyes sometimes and notice that, you pile of lazy bones."

"Sure you're not just saying things?"

"Of course I'm sure," Papyrus replied. "I wouldn't say things like this just to say them. Where would be the honesty in that, Sans? To put it simply…maybe you won't always make the right choice…maybe, once in awhile, your anger will get the best of you…but, in the end, you'll try to do the right thing, and that's what matters, isn't it?"

"And my counterpart…?"

"I'm sure he was very distraught," Papyrus replied, as Frisk squirmed free, insisting to the group that they should aid Papyrus, while the child themself would give them space. With that, Frisk slipped away into the black, while Papyrus continued. "He may not have been thinking straight, or just needed some way to let out his emotions, and Frisk was unluckily in his range. If it was all right to go, I would have insisted on returning to talk to him, and try to help him understand that it's okay to be hurting—but not okay to take it out on just a little child."

The tall skeleton drew his brother close. "Like you, he just needs someone to talk to, Sans…we can't do that, but hopefully someone on his side will…now…don't think you're going anywhere. I'm not letting you leave until you feel as half as great as I, brother!"

Sans sighed…but his smile turned genuine as he hung limply in his brother's hold. "Not like I can say no to that, Bro…"

"Nyeh—heh—heh! Exactly, brother!"

While the group focused on aiding Sans, Frisk wandered in the depths of their mind, subtley seeking out the other soul…now where was he? They paused as the black began to morph into a familiar room. There was the warble of a broken machine, and they turned to see him warping into existence.

"It's good to see you again," the Monster greeted calmly. "I'm sure we all apologize for our absence. And those new memories…fascinating. Apologies that I couldn't seal any of the ones they were prying for, I was busy hiding a more obvious one away…"

"It's fine," they muttered. "It's not like anything can be changed about that…so long as you keep it safe."

"Our deal still stands," he assured. "It just took some time to settle back into my…'roost', as it were."

"Good…" the child muttered. "With everything else, that's the last thing I need…"

"I'm telling you, you worry far too much about that secret. Do you really think it'll change things?"

"Think? I know."

"And how is that?" Gaster asked.

Frisk's expression darkened as they looked down, their eyes shadowed by their hair. "That look, the other Sans gave me…I've seen it before…"

Gaster frowned in confusion. "While I admit I did not see everything during your run through the kingdom, the only time I saw him do that, was at the restaurant. That was one of intimidation…"

"No…" Frisk mumbled. "My Sans had that same look once." They closed their fists tight, quivering a little. "I've seen that look of anger…of ihatred/i." They bit their lip, trying to keep their emotions reined in. "That was not the first time," they muttered. "And that is why you must hide those secrets…because I know what happens if they find out…"

They were silent for a few moments. "If ihe/i finds out…"

Gaster sighed, folding his hands. "Perhaps I should have kept a closer eye on you at times. I seemed to have been unaware of these events that transpired."

"You didn't figure it out while protecting them?"

Gaster chuckled. "While I'm protecting them, it doesn't mean I look at them directly. There's just so much of 'that' secret, that I basically hide everything from 'point A to point B'. If I know where it starts, and I know where it ends, then I have no need to peer at the middle. Though, I had honestly thought I knew the middle…maybe I should—"

"The fewer that know, the better," Frisk insisted.

The skeleton sighed, shaking his head in light amusement. "Very well, child."

"Why risk it?" they muttered to him. "That look is horrible…it penetrates you, and it breaks you. Our Sans only gave it to me once…" They looked up with crimson eyes. "And my secret will stay sealed so that it shall remain the last."