Frisk kept her back to Carlson, staring at the ducks playing in front of her. "So," she said, her voice as calm as she could make it. "It seems we have a problem."
"We've always had one," Carlson replied, sounding smug about it.
"Which worsened when you had to quit politics, huh?" Frisk shot back. "Wonder why that happened? Illness, you said?"
Silence met her words, but she still didn't look at him. Instead, she went on. "But you've been busy all the same, haven't you? With both sides of the same coin. And their children."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Ambassador," Carlson replied predictably.
"Of course not," Frisk agreed. "Just like I don't know why you're no longer councillor. Right?"
Another pause, before he snapped, shortly, "Get to your point. What do you want?"
"What is it you want?" she shot back.
"I should think it obvious, Ambassador," he replied. "It's the thing you hated me the most for, did you not?"
"You want monsters back Underground," she said plainly. "So why are you allying with them? And cut the charade already. I'm not bugged, and even if I were, it doesn't matter, anyway. You can check me if you're so nervous."
"No, thank you," he sneered. "But yes, let's cut the charade." He stepped closer, but she still didn't move or look at him. Duck butts were more interesting than him. "Some monsters want the same as I. I'm willing to see past their differences to make them useful. Odd that it's mostly children - I agree, there - but perhaps they know no other way."
"It has been almost seventeen years," Frisk admitted. "Plenty of time for babies to grow up confused about their place in the world."
"Or grow up without some kind of intelligence at all," he added meanly.
"Whatever," Frisk snapped. She still refused to look at him. "I want it to stop, Carlson. This decade-long vendetta you've had against me - or has it been longer? - your using and hurting other people because of that vendetta... it has to stop."
"Like before your freak daughter ends up getting hurt? Is that who you mean?"
White-hot rage filled her, and before she could control herself, she turned to him - and found herself being held up at gunpoint. Fear replaced her anger, and she raised her hands, shaking her head.
"You see, Ambassador," Carlson smiled, holding the gun calmly to her. "I agree with you! This needs to end, and for good. I, too, am tired of seeing innocents hurt. So I plan on killing - and thus ending - the only non-innocent in my way. Wouldn't you agree that this is a good plan for peace?"
"No," she snarled. "This would only cause more people after you, an endless cycle of revenge."
"But you," Carlson replied calmly. "You did this. You brought them to the surface. You mutated our city. When you die, so will the entire basis for this disease of monsters on land." He waved the gun, and she froze. "This is the vaccination to your disease, Dreemurr."
"Put the gun down, Carlson."
Darian Reden stood in the copse close by, his gun held right at Carlson, his eyes like steel. His paws on the trigger didn't waver, nor did his body. Despite being a teacher for several years now, it was clear that he was still a cop deep down.
"You," Carlson snarled, his gun wavering just a bit, as if unsure of which target to have. "You bastard! How dare you show your face to me again! You son of a bitch!"
"Drop the gun!" Darian shouted again. "Or I'll shoot you, Carlson! You know I will!"
"Oh, I doubt that," Carlson laughed - and he fired. Frisk went down, bright pain in her chest, and she was instantly breathless, blacking out.
Darian fired a moment after, hitting Carlson in the shoulder, forcing him to drop his gun and shout out and and yowl in agony, blood gushing from the wound.
Darian ran forward and kicked Carlson's gun out of his range, then ran to Frisk, who was wheezing for breath, her hand to her chest, still flat on her back. Carefully he undid her shirt - and relaxed: she had worn her vest, and the bullet was caught quite nicely. She was reeling from he force of the hit, not the bullet, itself.
"Fuck," she gasped out, her hands to her chest. Darian stared at her; even he knew that she never used language like that easily. "That really hurt!" she concluded.
There was a flash, and suddenly a cage of bones imprisoned Carlson, who was already cowering with a hand to his shoulder, his face enraged. Sans slowly walked out from behind a tree, his left hand out and his eye ablaze.
"Give me a reason, Frisk," he hissed, his tone sinister. "Give me a reason not to devour his soul."
Frisk slowly sat up, then said, "Why would you want to, Sans?" she demanded breathlessly. "Why would you want something like his disgusting soul within you?"
Sans stared at her for a moment, before his arm lowered and his eyes became normal. "good point," he admitted, smiling again. "that would be quite nasty."
"Darian," Frisk looked at him. "How did you know to come here?"
He grinned. "Your hubby, Ambassador."
Frisk smiled, grateful. "Thank you so much," she admitted.
Darian looked away, his grin wavering a little. "Let's just say I owed you, and leave it at that, got it?"
Frisk was bemused, but she nodded. "Sure, Darian," she agreed. With his help, she got to her feet, her hand still at her chest. "What do we do with him now?"
Darian pulled out his phone and made a few calls to his buddies on the force, and soon they heard both ambulance and police sirens. sans refused to let Carlson free of his cage until he was certain that Carlson was harmless, and even then, he kept close, his eyes narrowed, looking for any excuse to trap him again.
Paramedics checked Frisk's bullet injury - it was going to be an ugly bruise, one that proved an intent to kill - but she was going to be fine with proper care and rest. The ambulance took Carlson away, but none of them really cared by that point.
sans did the oddest thing once the scene had somewhat calmed down. He went to Frisk's side and hugged her close, like he had when she'd been in the hospital before Nicky was born, a close and tender embrace. Frisk returned it, shaking a little from the shock of it all but relieved to have a close friend at her side.
"if anything had happened to you again, frisk," sans said, his voice so quiet it kept her mute in surprise. "if you'd been hurt, i'd of done it. i would have."
She shut her eyes, hugging him closer and finally finding the right words. "Then I'm glad I'm safe, sans. For both of our sake."
He didn't let go for some time - only when the police needed their statements. But even then, he stayed close to her, his eyes sharp and watchful. Clearly, even now, he wasn't going to take any chances.
For Frisk, it was very comforting.