Gaster whined out, slowly returning to consciousness. Pain flowed through him, both mental anguish and physical agony. He remembered vaguely everything that had happened. Getting violently torn from the void… Getting a glimpse of Alphys and his sons, Papyrus and Sans, before disappearing and waking up in the human world. Hiding from authorities for a day or so, and then… that human. Frisk. Attacking them…

He slowly sat up, groans escaping from him. He brought one of his hands to his head, feeling around. The two normal cracks were there, however they were accompanied by various chips and smaller cracks branching off of the two ones previously ruining his face.

"WhErE aM i?" He wondered aloud, wincing as even the quiet noise of his voice brought upon him immense pain, comparable to a migraine- which felt a lot better than this. "HeLlO? HeLlO?" He whispered into the darkness surrounding him. Had he been returned to the void? Had he died?

Gaster couldn't bear to turn his head around and squint through the darkness, it hurt too badly. He had been injured already after being ripped harshly from the Underground, though it was bearable. After suffering such damage to his face, one thinking that he would be capable of even simple movement would be wrong.

The skeleton let himself slump to the ground, incapable of coherent thoughts at the moment. He could feel reality slipping away from him once more. He didn't attempt to hold on to the pain of being awake; it felt to him as if he hadn't slept for numerous weeks.

It was at least three hours until Gaster awoke. The pain had reduced slightly, though still present within him. He let the would-be pupils roam around this time, though not moving his body. He recognized his surroundings as the doorstep to Frisk's house. He presumed the human had moved him there.

As Gaster struggled to get to his feet, he knew he had to try and find the human… he had to get a human soul to get back to the underground and regain his strength. He slowly reached out and tried to turn the door handle, only to find it to be locked.

A large car went roaring by on the street, loud music blaring and tires screaming. Gaster screamed himself, nearly collapsing, slipping while still keeping a firm grasp on the door so he could catch himself. He didn't know what a car was, as monsters didn't have access to them and he had been born many generations after they were first sealed underground.

The skeleton took deep breaths while forcing himself to calm down, face contorting in disgust as he noticed one of his ribs had completely broken off, and dust from it after it fell off was scattered across the ground. He shivered.

As car after car went by, Gaster grew increasingly unnerved. This was a new world to him, with unfamiliar concepts at every turn. The language, the technology… all were as foreign as aliens to him.

Suddenly, there was a loud hiss and a bang, as fiery red and orange lit up the black, night time sky with a thunderous crack. Gaster's breath hitched where his throat should have been and he started pounding on the door. "FrIsK! hElP mE!" He begged, believing himself to be under siege, unknowing that they were simple fireworks being set off from the neighbor's house. "I'm GoInG tO dIe!" Even with his little knowledge of the human world, he knew that this was probably over dramatizing, but he wouldn't take the chance.

Gaster clutched at his chest with one hand, feeling immense pain and covering an area of his ribs through his coat as if it was bleeding. "FrIsK! PlEaSe!"

Another 'explosion' lit up the sky, his efforts to get inside grew more desperate, yet somehow weaker. He ceased trying to unlock the door from the outside and began scratching at the door hinges.

"Stop that!" Came an angry, muffled voice from just inside. "Leave me alone!"

"LeT mE iN!"

"I said stop it!"

"PlEaSe!"

Another firework went off and Frisk flinched, realizing what the skeleton had been afraid of. But… he had just attempted to kill them. Was someone like that really worth MERCY? With shaking hands, they began to move to unlock the door, but something stopped them.

"FiNd It In YoUr HeArT, pLeAsE!"

Frisk could hear the panicked screeches from outside, and they slowly took a few steps towards their small kitchen, reaching out and hesitantly clutching a knife in the palm of their small hand. It was heavy and shining- looking foreign in Frisk's gentle hand. Though they doubted that they would have the heart to actually kill the monster, they approached the door again.

The teenager unlocked the door, stepping back, the knife outstretched in case Gaster tried anything once he came in. Unknowing that he was being allowed entrance, he threw himself against the door, gasping out in surprise when he was tossed inside the house.

Instantly, he reached out to shut the door out of pure panic, having fallen onto his knees. He brought his hands to the sides of his skull, pressing hard on both sides to block out the sound of another firework.

Frisk stumbled backwards, trembling even more as Gaster entered their home. His face looked even worse than it had been when they first met him. More dents, covered in something that appeared to be dirt, chips in the bone, and strange bruises, despite the fact skeletons in the human world didn't bruise.

The skeleton lifted his head and gazed nervously at Frisk, spotting the knife, however seeming much more concerned with the fireworks.

"I'm not going to hurt you unless you try and hurt me," they tried to force their voice to be stable. "And if y-you try anything… this time I won't have as much MERCY as I did today."

Gaster froze, but after a moment he nodded his head understandingly. He shifted his gaze so he was looking at the floor and avoiding eye contact with Frisk, ashamed of himself. He had selfishly tried to take this innocent teenager's SOUL only so he'd get to go home…

"It's… it's late and I need to go to sleep, I have school tomorrow…" Frisk lowered the knife, letting their guard down. "I… I don't know if whatever you are needs to sleep, but… I'll be entirely honest w-with you, I don't trust you and I'm not going to be alone and defenseless with you here."

Gaster kept looking at the ground, not bothering to stand up, basking in his shame on the floor.

"So… I'm going to tie you to the couch a-and you can sleep there…" Frisk was quite aware of the bad condition Gaster was in, and that he wouldn't be able to break free of even a weak tether like a piece of rope.

After telling Gaster that he should try and get to the small, faded green couch about ten feet away if he wanted to stay, Frisk made a quick trip outside. There was an old tire swing hanging from a tree branch, which they untied and went back inside.

The skeleton was struggling to move even as little distance as to the couch, shuffling on his knees while clutching at his stomach.

Frisk waited until he clambered up before approaching him and reaching out, grasping his wrist through his coat sleeve, and tied the rope to it, the other end being connected to the couch leg.

"Good night…" Frisk retreated into their bedroom, only to return a moment later with a purple, heavy blanket in their hands. "Y-you can h-have this f-for tonight…" they looked away and tossed the blanket over Gaster, who was lying down on his side, staring at Frisk.

"GoOd NiGhT, fRiSk. ThAnK yOu FoR sHoWiNg Me MeRcY…" Gaster whispered quietly, eye sockets somehow closing.

Had Frisk been capable of other emotions at the moment other than fear, anger, and confusion, they would have noticed how… human he looked. Cuddled against a fuzzy purple blanket, mouth slightly agape, and one hand clutching the corner of the sheets, like a human would sleep. So unlike the deranged yet well mannered monster that had attacked them earlier.