A/N: So this first chapter here is based entirely on a comic done by the lovely thelostmoongazer over on tumblr, and you should definitely go check them out, because their art is awesome and they make really good sads.

The first thing Sans felt upon regaining awareness was an uncomfortable feeling in his leg bones, a stiffness that told him he'd been in a certain position for far too long. He opened his eyes, realizing he was crouching with his hands over his head. He got up slowly, looking around the room, or lack thereof, he was in. Darkness surrounded him, shadows knipping at his heels.

"Wh..." He began walking, not stopping his examination of the area and hoping to find...well, something. "What...?" He'd been in his bed, hadn't he? How had he gotten to wherever this was?

"Sans."

The skeleton turned when he heard his name called. It was a familiar voice, but so different from what he knew it should sound like. That was Papyrus, no doubt, but he sounded so wrong. Not at all like his usual cheery, unshakably happy self, and it sent shivers down Sans' spine to hear his brother so solemn. "H-hey...Pap," he replied nervously, knowing that if Papyrus was talking seriously, something big was very wrong. "What's with the fa-"

"You really are a disappointment." That made Sans freeze entirely, halting his hesitant steps towards Papyrus, halting his words, halting the beating of his soul. Sans didn't say anything for a moment, a tense silence filling the space between the two brothers.

Sans finally summoned the courage to speak, saying in a quiet stutter, "Wh...what?"

"You're so useless. I can never rely on you for anything." Sans flinched at the words. He knew they were technically true, since he was after all rather lazy and spent most of the day sleeping or slacking off in some other way. But hearing his own brother say them still hurt quite a bit. "Not even when I needed you the most." That one definitely hurt. Sans beat himself up relentlessly for that, for never helping his brother and just letting him walk to his death without so much as a warning. He felt bad about it every single day, but...wait, Papyrus shouldn't know about that, right? He wasn't supposed to know about the other timelines! Sans took a single step forward, preparing himself to speak, but froze and step back in a subtle flinch at his brother's next words. "Heh...I guess I shouldn't expect something from nothing."

Did Papyrus really think so little of him? It was about what he thought of himself, but Papyrus had always believed in him no matter what...at least, that's what he thought. "P-Papyrus...I-"

"Whatever. You're not worth my time." With that, the taller skeleton huffed derisively and turned, his steps echoing through the empty space as he walked away. Sans watched him go, barely able to breathe as Papyrus walked away from him. He reached his hand out, hesitantly reaching for his brother, but froze when a familiar chuckle emanated from the shadows Papyrus was walking towards. He saw the glint of a knife and two glowing red eyes and felt panic slam into him.

He took another step, crying out, "Papyrus, no-!" Too late. With a thin 'shwing' sound, the blade cut through Papyrus' exposed neck bone, his head coming clean off and hitting the ground with a dull thud. Sans watched, horrified, as his brother's body fell to its knees and disintegrated into dust. A shaking hand went to the skull as a familiar blue tinted the vision in his left eye. "Oh god…" He heard the echoing of whispers around him as ectoplasmic tears gathered in his sockets and slowly began to drip down his cheekbones. "No…no, no, no, no, no…"

'Weak.'

'You could have saved them.'

'Your fault.'

'What have you done?'

'Useless.'

'You could have stopped this.'

Hands tightly gripped his skull, covering what would have been his ears if he had any. His eyes shut, but he could feel that blue trail of flamelike substance still pulsing bright in his left socket.

'You're nothing.'

'Your fault.'

'Coward.'

'Your fault.'

'You just stood there.'

'Your fault.'

'Your fault-'

A sharp scream pierced through the voices, cutting them off and leaving Sans in what would've been silence, but he felt the sobs escaping him as they ripped themselves out of him, restrained for so long that they were desperate to get out now that the skeleton was allowing them to do so. He fell back to the crouched position he had been in when he had first woken up in this place, hands still placed firmly over his head in a desperate hope that it would somehow help. He heard footsteps approaching him, but didn't move an inch to stop them. He shuddered as a voice sounded from directly behind him, the child so close that he could feel their body heat radiating off of them.

"What happens next?" Their voice is distorted, almost as if two people were talking at once, and it creeped him out like it always did when he heard it. Some small part of him wanted to get up and fight, slam this brat into the ground for killing his brother, but a larger part of him knew it was pointless anyway and didn't mind dying at their hand. It'd happened a hundred times before by now. A sound similar to the one the knife had made while cutting down his brother echoed through the empty space as he felt the knife sever his head-

Sans bolted upright in his bed, blind panic preventing him from realizing he was in fact in his bed back in Snowdin, and not in a room with voices and his brother's dust taunting and tormenting him. He tightly gripped his shirt where his chest would be, gasping for breath as even now tears dripped down his face. He took in a breath, hoping to exhale slowly and calm himself down, but it was released in a strangled scream as he pulled his legs up to his chest.

In his own room, Papyrus had been sleeping soundly, but startled awake when he heard the sound of his brother's distressed screaming. He blearily opened his eyes, confused and tired. "S-Sans?" He got up and left his room, the sound of Sans panting harshly and crying causing his heart to drop as he walked down the hallway and towards his brother's room. "What on earth?" Finally reaching the door, he noticed the blue glow emitting from the crack at the bottom of the door and immediately reached for the knob, confusion giving way to concern. "Sans! Are you alr-?!" He cut himself off as he opened the door and caught sight of his brother. Sans was sitting up in the center of his bed, eyes wide with a trail of blue violently blazing in his left socket and tears running down his face. He didn't react to Papyrus' worried call or the opening of his bedroom door. He hardly even seemed to have noticed. "B-brother!"

Papyrus rushed over to the bed, panic and worry surging through him. "Oh my god…!" He threw himself onto the bed in front of his brother, gently grabbing his shoulders as he tried to grab the smaller skeleton's attention. "Sans! What's wrong?! What happened?" Sans didn't respond, hands still tightly gripping his head as he panted harshly. He looked as if he'd just run a marathon. He was still crying. "Sans, look at me! Come on, say something!" Papyrus' grip on his brother's shoulders tightened slightly. He wasn't used to this. Sans was always the rock of the pair, strong and steady, smirk and puns a constant presence that Papyrus had always found comforting, as much as he outwardly appeared to hate them, because they all meant everything was okay. But right now, that wisecracking source of strength was gone, replaced with a Sans too horrified and traumatized to even see that his brother was present. It terrified Papyrus. "Please…!" Still nothing. "Sans!"

A gasp, shaky and almost choking Sans as his head snapped up, looking at Papyrus and recognizing the fact that the other skeleton was there. "P…" A beat of silence, Sans feeling something akin to a punch in the gut at the sight of tears gathered on the rims of Papyrus' sockets. "Papyrus…?"

"Brother…" Sans was trembling beneath Papyrus' hands on his shoulders, the rate of his own tears slowed for now. "What happened…?" Sans didn't answer, instead moving his shaking hands to gently touch Papyrus' cheekbones, wiping away a tear as he rested them there. He saw glimmers of confusion in Papyrus' expression, buried beneath the overall concern with which he was watching Sans, and he reminded himself that this was his cool brother, someone who cared for him no matter what, someone that would never see in him all the negativities that Sans himself knew was there. This Papyrus, the actual one, would never say what he had in Sans' nightmare. He knew that, but some small part of him that couldn't allow himself to be happy insisted that Papyrus simply kept such thoughts to himself, not sharing them with the smaller skeleton. He began crying once more, letting out a murmured "Oh my god…" as he fell against his brother, tightly wrapping his arms around him and reminding himself that Papyrus was truly there and alive. That even if he'd have questions, he was okay. That was all Sans needed. As long as Papyrus was okay, Sans would be, too. He let out a sob, burying his face in his brother's neck as he felt Papyrus' protective arms encircle him.

"Shhh…" Papyrus' voice was quiet, soothing. A far cry from the near-shout he typically spoke in, full of excitement and exuberance. "It's okay…I'm here Sans." Sans whimpered, because that was the only reassurance he needed. His brother was there, not as a pile of dust held in place by a torn scarf, but actually physically there. Sans slumped in Papyrus' grasp, allowing himself to be comforted for the first time in a while. This wasn't the first time he'd had night terrors like this, but this was the first time he'd woken up Papyrus. He knew his brother wouldn't understand why Sans had woken up screaming, knew that he'd probably be frustrated when Sans would tell him he couldn't say why, but for now he was a strong and steady source of comfort and warmth that he hadn't given himself permission to indulge in since the resets first became noticeable.

"Thank god…" 'I'm here.' Whatever issue Sans was having, whether it be a nightmare or simply a bad day, those were the only words he needed to hear from his brother. Two little words that confirmed that one little human hadn't taken him from Sans yet. He felt Papyrus' grip on him tighten and he took in a deep, not so shaky breath, once again reminding himself that as long as Papyrus was okay, he'd be okay.