"Thankfully it was only a minor wound despite the blood loss. And thanks to you and your father being so willing to give your own blood for her, she should be just fine."

…

February 6th, 213X

…

"Dad?" Sans asked quietly as he stepped back into the waiting room. Gaster was laying on one of the sofas, his long legs stretched out over the overstuffed arm. A half-empty cup of orange juice lay on the table beside him, forgotten in his exhaustion and worry. When Gaster didn't answer, Sans approached and laid a hand on his arm. "Dad."

"Hm…?" Gaster's eye opened and he had to shake himself out of the sleep haze before he could focus on Sans. "Son… how is she?"

"Thanks to you, she should come out of this with nothing but a scar." When Gaster pulled his legs back to sit up, Sans settled beside him. "You did a pretty good job. The doctors have no clue how bad it really was before you got to her. Once they finish the transfusion and she rests a couple days, she'll be able to go home."

"Good… What did you say when they asked what happened?"

"An accident. I spun a whole story about how she was working with some equipment and tripped backward over some cables and fell on something. I don't know how much of it they bought, but they didn't ask anything else."

"They know she works at the lab and the CORE. It'll do." Gaster sat forward and smoothed his hair back with a sigh. "At least she's okay…"

"How long has this been a thing?" Sans asked after a few seconds.

"A thing?"

"How long have you and Aria been seeing each other?" When Gaster gave Sans a look that told him it wasn't his business, Sans gave him a half-smile. "Aw, come on, Dad. You're the last person I ever expected to get a girlfriend."

"Three months… give or take," Gaster murmured, his gaze moving to his scarred hands.

"It's pretty cute."

"Sans…"

"Alright, fine. Just trying to make conversation." Sans shook his head.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm just not the sort to talk about those things anymore. At least not about myself. But… I would like to hear about you and Papyrus."

"Well, you already know Frisk. And you know Mettaton, right?"

"Mettaton?" Gaster looked over at his son with a raised eyebrow. "Not Mettaton Taylor."

"Yep."

"With Papyrus?"

"Mhm."

"That poor boy," Gaster cracked a small smile. "He must have to fight off Mettaton's fans constantly."

"More or less."

"And didn't you date Mettaton for a long time?"

"Eh, not so much dating."

"Ah, so it was that kind of relationship."

"Yup. But he adores Pap. He loves seeing that Pap isn't quite as naïve as everyone thinks."

"Oh?"

"He's a badass when he has to be," Sans chuckled, and that earned a quiet laugh from his father as well. "Mettaton told me how he intimidated the hell out of a stranger outside a club that was bugging them, and then turned back into a teddy bear the moment the guy was gone."

"I suppose I'm one of the ones who still thinks he's naïve then. Sort of like how everyone thinks you're just a pushover, hm?"

"Sort of. I guess I'm a pushover for certain people."

"Like Frisk and Papyrus."

"Yeah. Especially them."

Both men were smiling to themselves now, though that was very rare for Gaster. He hadn't had a decent personal conversation with Sans in far too long. And he told him so. "The circumstances aside, son… It's nice to catch up with you. If only a little. We've been at odds for a long time."

"It is nice… And Frisk didn't even have to mediate."

"Were they going to?"

"Yeah… I wasn't feeling too excited about potentially getting into another fight. That's why I wanted them to come, to keep me from getting mad and saying something I'd regret."

"All things considered… a smart choice. I'm not sure Aria's quite brave enough to get between two Skjallars fighting."

"Almost no one is," Sans grinned. "But Frisk can get between whole countries, so they're the person for the job."

"Once this trouble is all sorted, it'd be nice to get to know them a little better. We've barely been acquaintances for… what is it, nearly twelve years now?"

"Yeah. Ever since they saved all our asses when they were nine."

"I still can't believe it, and I was there when the treaties were signed… Quite a partner you've chosen."

"Eh, I was pretty passive. They picked me. They've always known what they wanted and I guess I got put on the list."

"You should count yourself lucky, then, Sans."

"I do. More than I'll admit out loud."

"Good. Speaking of, where is Frisk?"

"On the phone. They'll be back in a bit. In the meantime… We oughta call Alphys."

"Shit…" Gaster sighed. "I didn't even think about it… What do we tell her…?"

"She knows about us, we don't have to cover anything up. Look, I'll call her. You stay here and wait for the doctor. You should be able to go see Aria soon."

"Are you sure…? I feel like I should call her."

"No offense, Dad, but you've never been the best at comforting and reassuring most people. Alphys is pretty sensitive and this situation is even more sensitive." Sans watched as his father shook his head and rubbed his temples.

"You're right… I just feel like… it's my responsibility. I've been close with the Carters for decades. And Aria and I…"

"I know, Dad. But leave it to me. I know how to talk to Al." Sans patted his shoulder before rising and stepping out of the waiting room. He glanced down the hall to his left to see Frisk leaning on a wall in a corner on their phone. It looked serious by Frisk's expression. Sans decided to head down the opposite way to a little alcove with some chairs, and he pulled out his phone. Alphys was close to the top of his contacts list and there was a little picture of her and Undyne from a year back. Undyne's arms were wrapped around Alphys' shoulders, her head on top of the blonde's with a big grin while Alphys looked as awkward and happy as ever. Sans smiled to himself, hitting the green 'call' button and bringing the phone to his ear.

It rang three times before a familiar voice answered, "Heya, Sansy." It was Undyne. Alphys often left her phone with Undyne when she was busy, and that meant that either both were off work or Undyne and Alphys were out to lunch together on their break.

"Hey, Undyne," Sans answered, not quite mustering his usual laid back tone.

"You sound a little… lackluster. What's up?"

"Is Al there?"

"She went out to the store a while ago, forgot her phone. She should be back soon. Anything I can help with?"

"Not really… It's about Aria."

"What?! What happened? Where is she?!"

"Chill, it's under control. But I wanna tell Al before anything else… I kinda need her opinion on something."

"What happened?" Undyne repeated firmly, and Sans sighed.

"An… accident."

"As in not actually an accident."

"Yeah. But people need to think it was an accident. That's our cover story right now."

"Then I'm guessing that that… stuff, magicky-whatever, is involved."

"Mhm… Me and Dad both."

"I didn't know he could do it."

"It's a lot stronger than mine. And thank fucking god it is, because Aria would be dead if not for him."

"… I'm going to ask you one last time, Sans. What. Happened?"

"I'm… not completely sure yet. But… it was the CORE, and… something else."

"That's not very fucking specific."

"It's as specific as I can get until I talk to Al and check on some things, okay? Just deal with it for now. I've been making a few calls while waiting on Aria, but nothing's making much sense yet. I promise I'll explain once I get it all straight."

"Fine… I think I heard Al drive up. Hold on."

"I'll be here."

From there, Sans listened to Undyne move, and the distant sounds of Undyne and Alphys' voices.

"Hey, babe… Sans called for you. It's… kinda serious."

"Oh…? Um… o-one second… Is he still on the line?"

"Yeah…"

A few seconds later, the phone changed hands and Alphys asked, "Sans? It's Alphys."

"Hi, Al… uh… you might wanna sit down. Everything's under control, but I've got some bad news."

"O-okay… What is it?"

"Your mom got hurt pretty badly at the CORE a while ago. We're at the hospital right now." When there was no answer after a full ten seconds, Sans' brows furrowed in concern. "Alphys?"

"I-I'm still here…"

"You heard me, right?"

"I did… Is she… is she okay?"

"Thanks to Dad, yeah. He took good care of her on our way here, and the doctors took care of the rest. She should be done with a blood transfusion soon, and they won't keep her too long."

"How d-did she get hurt…?"

"She was stabbed… but we're telling everyone it was an accident, because it doesn't make any goddamned sense what happened… Al… I saw Chara."

"No… no you didn't!"

"I know those eyes, Al. But I called their doctor, and they're still in their room."

"Then how could it-"

"The knife was there."

"What?"

"The knife they got me and Frisk with. It was there. I have it with me right now."

"How the hell is that even p-possible?! It fell into the CORE!" Sans froze at that.

"Wait… what?" Sans asked quietly.

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"On that rampage, after you two were hurt and Asriel nearly died, Chara fled into the CORE to avoid the police. Undyne's father managed to catch them, and in the fight, the knife fell off the walkways and into the basin. I-it'd be almost impossible to retrieve, a-and it'd probably be buried in feet of sediment by now."

"Alphys… I have the goddamned knife. In my belt, right now. It's the same one, with the wooden handle and red blade and everything." Sans could hear Undyne in the background now, asking what the hell was going on and what Chara had come up for, as she couldn't hear Sans' end.

"Hold on, I want Undyne in on this… okay?"

"Yeah, put it on speaker." There was a small crackle, and then Undyne's voice got a lot louder. Sans had to pull his phone away from his ear.

"What the fuck is going on?!"

"U-Undyne-"

"Is that little punk on the loose?! What did they do to Aria?!"

"No… Not physically, anyway."

"What the fuck does that even mean, Sans?"

"It means I have a kid to visit soon."

"You're n-not serious…"

"I'm completely serious. I need to see them with my own eyes."

"You're not going alone."

"I'm not taking any of you."

"Sans, you can't go on your own. I know you, a-and I remember Chara. One of you will attack the other, I just know it. You wanted to rip them apart for hurting Frisk back then, and I know you don't let go of a grudge like that!"

"… I can't take any of you. That kid's hurt all of us. And I can't take Frisk…"

"Why the hell not? Frisk always keeps you calm, they're the best one for the job!"

"… I can't," Sans repeated quietly, lifting a hand to his chest as images of Frisk with Chara's knife passed through his mind. "Just… be alert, okay? I'm gonna figure this out. Until then, the CORE is shut down. And I need to talk to Aria about what she saw before she got hurt… she was on her own. She must've seen, even felt something."

"I-I'll be over there soon…"

"I'm coming too. You better still be there when we come in, Sans, so I can kick your ass for even thinking of seeing Chara alone."

"No promises… I've got work to do."

"Please, please just don't go alone," Alphys begged quietly. "Take someone who can keep you calm, someone who can help you if Chara gets out of hand."

"… Alright. I'll take someone."

"Yeah? You just saying that to appease us, or do you actually have someone in mind?"

"There's one person Chara might still care enough about to be calm around… Haven't talked to Tori since I brought her kid home." Sans sighed and shook his head. "She needs to know about this anyway. Maybe Asgore too, at some point."

"Good choice," Alphys agreed. "She's one of the only people who can talk you down too."

"I'm not gonna attack Chara."

"Considering how you react when anyone hurts any of us, I doubt that," Undyne muttered flatly.

"I'm not some temperamental teenager anymore, Undyne. I can handle myself."

"We'll see about that when you meet Chara face-to-face and remember everything they did. Kid or not back then, they fucked everything up for their whole family and almost killed some of our friends. You don't forgive, Sans."

"No… no I don't."