San's hadn't been in Waterfall often, so it took him by surprise when it only took a few caves to find Gerson's shop. He was even more surprised to find the veteran alive and well, solemnly polishing some kind of hammer. Alphys was a bit shaken but decided to walk up to him anyway. Sans decided to lay off the magic and let himself down, using the moist rock as a crutch.

"U-um, hello?"

Gerson replied without stopping his polishing. "Ah, Dr. Alphys, the Royal Phony. What brings you here?"

"Eh...excuse me?" Alphys stuttered; Sans could feel confusion and hurt over the bond.

"Oh, and could this be the infamous sentry-comedian, Sans the skeleton? How's your brother?"

Sans felt his own anger brewing. "hey, you've got some nerve-"

"Hmph." Gerson stood up, putting the hammer in a large satchel, seemingly ignoring the two idling monsters. He took up some well-dusted potions off his shelves, clipping them to his belt, and put his magnifying glass in another pocket.

"I have some nerve. Imagine that. You both have the most important jobs in the underground, neglect your responsibilities, and yet I have the nerve to call you both on at it." His voice was a bitter scathe.

"you think it was our fault the human dished out an all-out genocide?" Sans was unusually calm, yet Alphys could feel his brooding anger. Alphys tried to speak up, but her mouth was dry. She noticed a thin, faint ring of red in his otherwise empty socket.

"No, of course it wasn't. But it's not like you did much to stop them." He finally turned, and a bewildered expression crossed his face before he steeled himself again. He saw Sans' wound, and the exposed Souls of the two monsters before him. He gave a sad, old sigh, "And look where it got you two." He continued to pack his satchel, noticeably slower in doing so.

Alphys found her quiet voice again. "Where... where are you going?"

"Somewhere. Anywhere but here. Arguably there isn't much of a place I can go, but maybe there's still some monsters out there, hiding in fear-"

"B-but there is!" Alphys blurted, "After... after..." Gerson turned to her, giving her an odd-eyed glare. She swallowed carefully. "After Undyne warned me about the human, I tried so hard getting them all to safety, but... a lot of them didn't make it. Few of them wanted to believe in me... Those few are hiding in the capital, still waiting..." She drifted of mid-sentence as if remembering something. "Oh my god. They're still waiting for me."

"What?" Sans and Gerson said in unison.

"Ahhhhhh-I only told them I was going out, I can't believe... I'm so selfish, I-" She started to look smaller, and was staring off. Sans knelt down painfully, feeling for her over the bond, but she cut it off somehow. "Alphy- ah!" Suddenly, the pain in his chest was ripe again, and he found himself gasping in dizzying pain.

"Now what-" Gerson started, but once realising the situation was dire, he took up Sans and went into his shop, tearing of the bloodied shirt. He visibly flinched at the sight before him: terrible gouges that seemed to cut through each rib, now scabbed over in an awful bloody, purulent mess. The skeleton's ribcage was empty save for a weakly flittering soul. A closer look revealed that it was somehow split down to the middle.

How is this monster not dead...?

Gerson poured some solution carefully over the cleary broken ribs. "Let's hope I can remember anything from the war." Although to admit, I've never done something like this... He went back out to the unresponsive yellow reptile, picking her up gently and settling her into a chair. "I'll get to you later,"he said, and he began his work on the skeleton.

Alphys couldn't think. They were relying on her, how could she ever just abandon them?

"It's not like you did much to stop them." Gerson's words rung in her head. He's right, she cried internally, I just let that human slaughter all of those monsters, and even when I saved what I could, all I could think about was me. What would Undyne think of me? She went out swinging and I would have went out... just went out...

She felt it come over her, the oozing darkness coming over her eyes. It was grasping at every angle of her body, choking, squeezing, making her breathe harder for air. She couldn't think straight, couldn't see for anything.

"Welcome to my special hell," a cruelly sweet voice sung.

No, I tried, I'm sorry,

"Come join the fun," another hissed.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry,

"It's cold..." one croaked.

imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry

She could feel herself covering her face, almost clawing, before something was trying to pry them away. Then she was being shook softly as if someone wanted her attention.

no no no No please heLP ME

A cruel smile filled her vision.

"But nobody came."

Gerson was cleaning off the blood rib by rib, carefully using his healing spell to weakly fuse the bone together. It would have to heal by itself in time, but this would help jumpstart the process given he doesn't move too much, but by the looks of it, he doesn't much anyway. Gerson was just about done with the skeleton when he heard some scrabbling from the chair, along with some deep breaths. Ah, must I babysit everyone? He wrapped up last of the bone and went to the scientist, gently shaking her and calling out her name. "C'mon, get up. Your friend here needs you."

"I'm sorry...!" She yelled, meriting a disgruntled mumble from Gerson "Wha... where am I?" She asked in confusion. Gerson pointed over to Sans, in which Alphys suddenly remembered. The skeleton was still unconcious but clearly wasn't dusted, so he was trying to cling onto whatever life he still had. Alphys went all glassy-eyed.

"I did what I could... but I can't guarantee him coming back anytime soon."

No response.

"There must have been some other reason to come here."

Alphys' mouth twitched.

"There really aren't any monsters left, are there?"

Alphys broke. "No, there is, it's just that... I abandoned them when they needed me most, and now most of them are confused and in a scary, unfamiliar place. I shouldn't have left, but... All I was thinking about was that everyone was dead, and I failed the Underground, and that I couldn't lead all those hopeful monsters, and all I could think about was ki-"

Gerson put a clawed hand on her shoulder, making her come to a haggard stop. Gerson sighed heavily. "I guess I should say sorry then. Wasn't my right to say those harsh words."

"But they're true. I am a fraud, I always was." Her face was contorted. "I lied to everyone."

"Even so, it could not have helped you. I didn't help the situation much either so I shouldn't have much opinion on your actions.

Alphy's face faltered for a second. She was wringing her fingers together. Gerson materialised a Sea Tea and offered it to her. She took it and sipped on the bubbly liquid, looking towards her companion. "I don't know if I can continue without him..."

"Hmph. Well." The old turtle seemed thoughtful. Alphys looked towards him, expecting something.

"Since I was heading out anyway, suppose I head to the Capital instead?"

"I-uh, r-really? I mean... I-I guess, everyone... everyone knows you so it wouldn't be much an issue, but... what could I do?"

"Wait here until he wakes, then take the ferry to your lab, if the Riverwho is still even going with their fare."

"I..." Alphys felt a warm feeling, whether it be the drink or not she wasn't sure. "Thank you."

"You gave them hope, and you left them. Who has to know it wasn't to get help? I'd rather not let that hope go to waste, we need that more than ever now."

Alphys felt a little humbled, but a question still haunted her. "What changed your mind?"

Gerson looked towards Sans as well, who seemed to be actually breathing steady for once that day. "During the war, there were scores of skeleton armies eager to serve Asgore. To the lower General's they were expendable because despite their low defenses they had powerful attacks and high numbers. This is what killed off most of their population. For me, I was a warrior fighting alongside the more elite, but occasionally was stuck with the skeletal platoons as a doctor's aid. I've been through hundreds of operations, and seen countless injuries, and never seen anything that extensive without them ever living. But him... He has base defense stat of 1. Even monsters with hundreds times worth of defense can barely scrape by with a chest wound like that. I'm not even sure he'll survive but if he does..." He sighed. "Well, he's truly one strong monster. I don't know what he has going through him, but he's our hope if he can keep going."

He pondered for a second, feeling like he had forgot something. Alphys looked thoughtful as well. "As for the blood? Hell if I know, if you were going to ask that. I saw a few skeletons in my time then that bled like a stuck pig but there wasn't any real explanation as to why they did that, only that they didn't live long afterwards. Maybe it was a condition, or some viral disease. That's something you would have to ask your friend there, I think a skeleton would know his biology more than anyone." Gerson got up, steadying himself. "I suppose I will head out then. We'll see each other again?"

Alphys smiled, still kind of processing all this new information. "Yea. Um... Thank you, so much..." Alphys watched the turtle hobble out, then turned to Sans, scooting her chair closer to the cot he was laid on.

an: why hello again! there isn't much to say in this author's note. just saying thanks for reading!