It was just like how he remembered, a familiar coldness, no warmth or love in the slightest. It was dark in the house as well.

"good to see nothing's changed" Sans muttered under his breath, looking around in almost disgust.

"Do you wanna drink Mister Sans?" Arial asked him, going to get a cup for water.

"Nah, I'm fine kid... You going to be okay if I go?" he asked, feeling like he was just abandoning the kid to something dangerous. Arial smiled at him, nodding.

"I'll be okay! I'mma go to bed" she told him.

"Well, I'll leave my number if you need anything kid... Be careful, alright?" Arial nodded as he began to leave, her waving to him.

"Bye-Bye Mister Sans!"

"Seeya Kid" hands in his pockets, Sans left the scene.

"GOOD TO SEE YOU ARE HOME FROM YOUR VENTURES INTO THE CAPITAL SANS!" Papyrus' voice boomed the moment Sans walked through the door. Sans was so lost in jumbled thoughts of his discovery that he somehow tuned his brother out by mistake.

"SANS?" Papyrus's face turned into one of mild confusion at his brother. Sans blinked, looking up at his younger brother now.

"hey bro, how's it hangin'?" Papyrus looked suspicious of Sans now, leaning over to look him over, as though to find a hidden truth of sorts somewhere.

"YOU SEEM UNSANS LIKE TONIGHT BROTHER"

"guess you could say i'm sans my attitude today" Sans grinned at his brothers wail of disapproval at the pun. His joy at his brother's mild suffering only lasted a few minutes, before he looked down, lost in thought again.

"BUT HONESTLY BROTHER, YOU SEEM QUITE TROUBLED, DO YOU NEED TO TALK TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS?" Papyrus asked, sitting on the couch and patting at the seat next to him. Biting it back as much as he could, Sans released a hefty sigh, trudging over and plopping down.

"paps... you know how like... everyone doesn't get how mom's our mom?" he could not believe he was going to do this to his brother. He had kept what their parents did secret from Papyrus for as long as he could, but now? His brother was hopefully mature and emotionally stable enough to handle what he was going to tell him.

"WELL OF COURSE, THEY SEEM TO FORGET ADOPTION IS ANOTHER WAY FOR MONSTERS TO BE PARENTS" Papyrus said it as though it were simply fact. Sans' mouth hung open at that, and was about to ask how or when his brother learned about that.

"I AM NOT AS DENSE AS EVERYONE THINKS BROTHER" Papyrus answer was good enough for his brother who rubbed his head now.

"r-right... so... you never like... asked why we were adopted...?"

"I FIGURED OUR PARENTS HAD FALLEN... WHY DO YOU ASK?" Sans tensed up at the question, before he looked down.

"okay papyrus... let me... let me tell you a story bro" Sans saw Papyrus look very interested, before seeing him get more comfortable, as though Sans was going to read Peek a boo with Fluffy Bunny before bed time. Taking a deep breath, Sans began.

"there were two skeletons, one who was barely even a kid, and their sibling who was only made 4 days ago" he started.

"the older Skeleton, a toddler, one day discovered they had the ability to use magic they shouldn't have even have HAD at their age. they decided it would be cool to show their parents, after all, they had heard magic was something monsters should be proud of" Sans saw Papyrus almost beaming, expecting a happy ending.

"DID THE LITTLE SKELETON'S PARENTS PRAISE THEM AND HELP THEM BECOME SOMETHING GREAT?" his question only made it harder for Sans to continue.

"heh..heheh... n-not really bro" Sans managed to choke out, taking a deep breath again.

"they decided to show their parents, by making their baby sibling float around, now the kid didn't know that was dangerous to do, but when their mom saw what they were capable of... well, the lady freaked out so hard she slapped the kid, nearly causing the baby to crash" Papyrus looked horrified, holding a blanket close to him. Sans was giving a weak chuckle, even with their age and the countless resets he endured, this was still one of his worst memories. He wiped the sweat off his head.

"the kid was locked up in their room when their dad got home, and could hear the things their parents said, how they were a freak, how they couldn't handle the possibility of the baby being able to do the same thing" Sans was trembling slightly, Papyrus' eyes narrowing, he was not liking where this story was going.

"SANS..." he said when he saw how his brother was moving, his expressions, everything.

"w-well, the parents decided they just were not ready for such a responsibility to raise a kid with magic, so... the next day, their parents told them they were going to take them out of town to play somewhere different" Sans could see Papyrus looked at Sans, seeming to almost understand this wasn't something from a book.

"so the parents took their kids out somewhere cold... really cold, snowy even"

"SANS... I'M NOT LIKING WHERE THIS IS GOING" Papyrus managed to say, his voice getting more meek.

"and with an excuse of leaving something at home, the parents told the kid to watch his brother and that they'd be back" Sans wasn't using gender neutral terms anymore. Papyrus looked very uncomfortable, he wanted to tell Sans to stop, but seeing his brother and hearing his voice get weaker and weaker, made him compelled to sit through it.

"so he did, and he waited hours of the day, till it was nightfall... I sat there waiting for mom and dad to return..." Sans felt a pang of guilt course through his bones, tears in his eyes. He knew his brother was staring at him, the room was more tense now. Papyrus, he was speechless, unable to find words to say to his brother.

"but nobody came..." Sans' voice was small, meek, and riddled with guilt. He wiped his eyes with a sleeve, to dry the tears he had. He gave a soft, bitter chuckle.

"heh... sorry bro, i just... i never knew the right time to tell you... that i basically messed up our lives, all becau- FFF!" Sans let out an alarmed noise when his brother nearly knocked him over, hugging him tightly. He looked at his brother with surprise, arms almost dangling now. The heaving of shoulders told him Papyrus was crying now.

"O-Oh jeeze, paps... No, I'm sorry bro I didn't-

"YOU DID NOT RUIN OUR LIVES BROTHER! SOMEONE HAD COME, SOMEONE WHO CARED" Of course that was the pebble that broke the dam. Hugging him back, Sans let out a choked sob, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. He was worried Papyrus would be furious with him for keeping something like that secret. The two stayed in the embrace for what would feel like hours, until finally Papyrus broke it, wiping away stray tears.

"th-thanks bro... you really are the coolest bro a skeleton could have"

"I SURE AM, THOUGH SANS, WHAT WOULD BRING YOU TO ONLY NOW TELL ME THIS?" well, it wasn't an unwarranted question.

"well... how would you feel if you found out you're now a big brother...?"

Here it is! Chapter 2! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you're just now reading this or this the first of my fics you came across, this is a "What if" tie in to my Fanfic "How Gaster became Dadster" and it will contain Spoilers to that fic.