The scent of pancakes and bacon tempted Holly enough to peel her eyes open early the next morning, despite the heavy sleepiness she felt. For a moment, she forgot where she was and panicked, but her irrational reaction passed quickly when her memory kicked in.

She yawned widely, kicking the comforter off with some effort since it had tangled between her legs. Remembering that she was supposed to call off work today, she grabbed her phone and tapped into the app specifically for her workplace's employees. Confirming her callout and her knowledge of docked attendance points, she tucked her phone into the pocket of her pajama pants and stumbled her way into the living room.

She was surprised to see Alphys and Undyne there, both cuddled up and watching the news at a low volume. Holly noticed that Alphys had looked up a little too quickly, her tail curling at her side. But her face relaxed into a smile when she saw who it was.

"O-oh, it's just… good morning," she greeted. The monster's glasses magnified a black eye.

Holly rushed forward and surrounded Alphys in a soft hug. "Alphys! You're awake!" She leaned back, hands on the monster's shoulders so she could inspect Alphys. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"Easy, Holly," Undyne warned. Her voice was gravelly and rough; Holly looked over at the fish monster and saw deep black circles under her visible eye and peeking from the bottom of her usual eye patch.

"I-it's okay, Undyne," Alphys said, then looked at the human. "I'm… uh, I've been better," she admitted. "Toriel gave me some p-painkillers. I was a little sore when I woke up."

Holly wanted to ask her about what happened, but she refrained, knowing that Alphys would say in due time—or, at least, she'd have told Undyne, who would let everyone know.

She let out a huge sigh and grabbed Alphys's hand. "I'm just… so glad you're okay," she said, her voice thickening with tears. The yellow monster panicked.

"D-don't cry! I'm fine, really!" she insisted, her hands waving in front of her frantically. She looked up at Undyne for help, but the fish monster shrugged. Neither of them were very good at dealing with crying people.

"I'm okay, Alph," Holly reassured. "You just… we were all so worried about you." 'We could have lost you,' was left unsaid, since she knew it wouldn't help anything, but they knew what Holly meant. There was a brief, sobering silence, before Toriel thankfully announced that breakfast was ready.

Holly walked into the kitchen, eyeing the island countertop with more than a little jealousy. Frisk and Toriel were bustling about, Frisk grabbing plates and forks and napkins, while Toriel was pulling out butter and syrup and orange juice.

"I can help," Holly offered. Toriel turned and gave a grateful smile.

"Oh, that'd be sweet of you, dear. Can you help Frisk set the dining room table?"

The two humans placed seven plates around the huge dining room table in silence.

"Thanks for letting me sleep in your bed," Holly said, putting a napkin down with a fork on top. Frisk gave a grin.

"No big deal."

Papyrus and Sans came in from outside a few minutes later—Papyrus had finished a morning run around the block when Undyne had reminded him that his training wasn't to be put on hold, and Sans had gone outside for a cigarette break. Holly suspected he was keeping an eye on Papyrus. She also suspected Undyne had given the tall skeleton something to do so he didn't dwell on everything. Papyrus seemed to be the little brother to every monster he knew—or a kid, in Toriel's case.

They all sat down at the table, everyone thanking Toriel before digging in. Holly cut herself a piece from her stack of fluffy pancakes, dabbing it in a syrup puddle.

The flavor was phenomenal. It tasted like really good restaurant pancakes, but something about these… They were light, sweet, and fluffy, like a pancake should be, but it was almost like they were amplified to be the best that a pancake could be. Often her own cooking would end up making them a little tough, or burnt here or there, or the syrup would be too sweet. Little imperfections that made it home cooking. But Toriel's pancakes… Holly eyed her stack with renewed hunger, her mouth salivating.

"Oh my God, Toriel," she said. "How did you make these? They're the best pancakes I've ever put in my mouth." She began cutting herself another bite as Toriel blushed, her nose and ears turning a dark pink. "Oh goodness, you're so sweet," she tittered, looking pleased. "I don't do anything special," she insisted, but Frisk began gushing in her place.

"She uses her fire magic!" Frisk explained. "Most people just turn on the stove using electricity or gas or something, but Mom uses her own magic. It makes everything taste so much better," they stated proudly. Toriel's paw came to her face as she smiled.

"Oh, Frisk, stop it," she laughed.

"Magic in general has a way of makin' everything taste better," Sans piped up. "Tori's is just top-notch magic, 'specially for this kind of thing. Though Grillbz might give ya a run for your money," he winked at Toriel, who poked him with her fork. Holly looked over to see his plate was empty already—wait, how did Sans eat? He never opened his mouth, right?

But a more pressing question came to her mind. "Wait, you guys put magic in all your food?" Holly asked curiously. She saw Toriel look at her nervously.

"Yes, we do," the white monster confirmed, watching Holly's reaction. "It gives our food certain qualities. One of which is a therapeutic side effect," she explained.

"It can heal cuts and bruises and stuff!" Frisk said. Holly's mouth dropped open.

"Seriously?"

"Well, not only that. It can also help a soul to heal directly," Toriel continued. "Which was why I insisted that everyone eat a little when they came over last night."

"So let me get this straight." Holly waved her fork of delicious pancake. "Monster food heals you physically and emotionally, and humans haven't jumped on that?"

Everyone fell silent, their eyes not meeting Holly's. Papyrus spoke up, his voice softer than usual.

"You are a very nice human, but others are not so excited about magic like you seem to be," he told her. Holly paused, lips pursed.

"Well. They're weird, then," she concluded, and dug into the rest of her pancakes. The mood at the table lightened instantly, everyone chatting about their lives. Holly caught Sans's eye, who gave her another one of his secret thumbs-ups.

Holly helped to take the dishes up to the kitchen when they were all finished, the atmosphere light for the time being. She realized that she was still in her pajamas and hadn't showered, though for some reason that hadn't bothered her much. She felt at home, here; all the monsters were like family. The thought made Holly pause as she rinsed a particularly sticky plate.

She hadn't known these people for long enough to think that way yet. Hell, she'd met Alphys and Undyne about a month or so ago, and she'd only known Sans and Papyrus for a day. She only just met Toriel and Frisk last night. She glanced into the living room, where Undyne was causing a ruckus as usual and giving Frisk noogies.

Holly already felt so attached to them. Was it because she'd been so lonely and desperate for friends? Or because she found people who could be like a real family to her, instead of the broken one she'd come from? Sure, she had Michelle, who she loved dearly, but… Holly had felt so cold and empty some days, aching for someone to care about her. Longing for someone to care for, besides her sister who lived so far away that it hurt.

"Holl?" Undyne's concerned voice filtered through her thoughts and she jumped before looking up at her. She was still taller than the tallest person she had ever met.

"Hey, Undyne," she smiled, but it faltered when Undyne frowned slightly.

"You doin' okay?" she asked in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. Holly raised her eyebrows.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that, Undyne?" she admonished gently. The monster poked her forehead, right between the eyebrows where they'd been creasing.

"I asked first, dweeb."

"I'm—" Holly wanted to lie through her teeth and say yes, she was completely fine, but the way her friend was observing her said that she'd notice the falsehood right way. She sighed. "I will be?" Undyne scowled and Holly elaborated. "It's not… a normal occurrence for my friends to be attacked. I'm upset, but… all the people here are so supportive. I know I won't have to deal with it by myself." The thought spoken aloud made Holly feel very warm, and she couldn't help the small smile that came to her face.

Undyne ruffled her hair. "Yeah, I feel ya." Her eyes darted towards the living room. "Alphys woke up in the middle of the night and told me what happened."

Holly stopped fussing with the dishes and turned towards her friend more completely to give her undivided attention.

"She said that someone knocked at the door. She thought we were back early, that you walked up ahead of me." Undyne's voice had gone as flat as she could make it, though the growl still came through as she spoke. "When she opened the door, three humans in masks busted inside. They threw her aside and started trashin' our place, and one of 'em started kickin' her while she was down. She passed out before they left." Undyne's clenched so hard that her knuckles were a pale mint green.

"You don't have to talk about it," Holly said gently, touching her friend's arm. Undyne's muscles were clenched into a taut ball of energy.

"There wasn't much else anyway," Undyne choked out, trying to kep quiet. Holly noticed that she kept glancing towards the living room—she was trying to stay calm in front of Alphys.

"You and Alph are gonna be with me in my apartment. We'll talk to the owners about what happened, get things settled so we can split our rent instead. They probably have insurance for this kind of thing," Holly reassured. "We'll keep each other safe. None of us will be alone at any one time, and if we have to be alone we can just head to Toriel's or the brothers' places."

Undyne nodded, having collected herself. "Yeah, sounds like a plan. I wanna get revenge on them so bad, though, Holly," she growled, baring her teeth. Her one yellow eye burned, and Holly was reminded strongly of a dragon.

"Me too," she admitted quietly. Their eyes met in quiet understanding and the subject was dropped.

Undyne seemed to remember something and started rubbing the back of her neck. "Hey, I wanted to ask you a favor. I, uh… don't really wanna go back to our place right now. I was wondering if you'd go back and get our stuff for us."

Holly blinked. "Oh, sure! But… wouldn't someone have to drive me?" she asked, thinking. Papyrus could take her in his car, because she doubted Undyne wanted to leave Alphys anytime soon. To her surprise, Undyne laughed.

"Oh, nah I already asked Sans if he'd do his weird magic and teleport you guys back there."

Holly froze, confused. "He… he agreed to take me already?" she asked. She supposed he was doing it more as a favor to Undyne and just tolerating Holly's presence for his friends' sake.

"Yep," came his voice from the other side of the kitchen. Holly jumped and whirled around. "'Sup?" he asked, giving a little two-finger wave.

"You startled me!" she said, hand clutching her chest. After a moment, a thought occurred to her and she frowned up at Undyne. "Wait, if Sans is going there already, why doesn't he grab your stuff?"

"...Well, besides the face that he likes to do nothing at all," Undyne drawled, looking at him with distaste. "I don't want anyone alone over there. Even that lazy sack of bones," she finished, her gaze faraway.

Oh.

Holly put a hand on her friend's arm, but didn't say anything in response. She knew Undyne felt responsible for Alphys, and didn't want to be responsible for anyone else getting hurt. "Okay. I'm ready to go whenever. Just tell the others where I went, Undyne? I'm gonna get a shower while I'm home," she said.

"Sure thing." Undyne replied gruffly. "Just grab us an outfit. We've got showers here, and shoes. Alph needs somethin' comfy, so just grab her Mew Mew shirt and those shorts she wears all the time," Undyne listed. "And for me, just jeans and one of my muscle shirts." She always referred to her tank tops as this. Which was fair, because Undyne had an awful lot of muscle. "And uh, it's pretty banged up in there, just so you know." Holly reached forward and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"You ready, then?" Sans asked when Undyne was done. Holly nodded. He stepped close to her and she stiffened with surprise. Up close, he was about the same height as she was. "Gotta be touchin' for me to take you through one of my shortcuts," he explained, a smirk apparent on his face.

She nodded, feeling slightly awkward about touching someone who was essentially still a stranger. Holly reached forward and grabbed a bit of the fabric bunched up around his elbow.

"Gotta grab a little tighter than that," he commented, voice dripping with amusement. She scowled at him. She wrapped her arm around his, her opposite hand hesitating before settling on grabbing the front of his zipped-up hoodie. He smelled like ketchup and salt.

Part of her couldn't help but feel excited as well as nervous. This was the first time she'd ever teleported anywhere, but giving the intimidating skeleton her trust made her uneasy.

"Hold on," he said, and the air crackled with static. Then it was she plunged into ice-cold spring water—the air was knocked from her lungs. And she felt like she was suddenly falling, her stomach clenching as if she'd tipped back too far in a chair.

And, just like that, it was over. Her feet were on solid ground. She opened her eyes, glancing around her apartment that was lit by the sun filtering through her open blinds on the other side.

"You can let go of me now," came Sans's voice, and she realized that during the teleport, she'd clung to him for dear life. Her arm was wrapped all the way around his ribcage, her other one tightened over his elbow. He was very solid beneath the plush fabric of his hoodie.

She sprang away, stammering.

"S-sorry! That was, I was j-just, uh, sorry," she said. Sans chortled and she scowled, face heating up. "Hey! It was scary," she pouted, crossing her arms and turning away before he could make fun of her for the huge blush covering her face. "I-I'm going to take a shower. You stay right there," she snapped at him, pointing at her couch.

"Sure thing," he laughed. Holly puffed all the way down the hall, thoroughly irritated by the short skeleton man who insisted on embarrassing her.

Still, though—she'd just teleported. Holly wondered if she was the first human to do so, but then remembered Frisk, smiling. Sans probably had taken her through one of his little 'shorcuts'-they'd known each other too long not to. It was still fascinating, knowing that the skeleton had the power to just pop in almost anywhere he wanted instantaneously. 'Magic is amazing.'

She enjoyed the heat of the water beating across her shoulders for a few extra minutes after she washed up in her shower, then stepped out to dry off. Just as she wrapped her hair up in a towel, she heard her phone begin ringing. Not just the normal ringtone, however; the familiar chorus of 'TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?!' reverberated loudly on the counter. Holly smiled brightly, fumbling through the pocket of her pajamas to get the phone out in time.

"Oh hi Mish! I haven't heard from you in forever!" she answered. Her sister's voice came back in a silly tone she reserved just for them.

"What up sis. It is I, your seester." Michelle changed back to her normal tone. "Hey, sorry I've been so busy lately, dealing with the landlord and all the paperwork has been a butt," she explained.

"No, no, it's fine!" Holly insisted. "I'm just really glad to hear from you. I was starting to get worried." Holly stuck the phone to her ear, holding it up with a shoulder while she did her after-shower routine of face cream and deodorant. "How's the move going? You got the furniture you need and all that?"

"Yeah I did! My boyfriend helped move everything in. Oh man, Holly, he's been great," she said, the gratefulness in her voice apparent. Holly grinned. She hadn't met her sister's boyfriend, but from everything she heard about him, he seemed to be making Michelle very happy, so she didn't have any complaints.

"Aw, that's great." She stuck her head out of the bathroom to make sure the coast was clear of any skeletons before dashing to her bedroom.

"So I heard you made some new friends! That's so awesome, I know you've been kinda bummed about that lately."

Holly's smile dropped. She'd temporarily forgotten the situation, but when reminded about her new friends, everything came back to the front of her mind-the reason she was back here in her apartment with Sans in her living room. She faltered, but forced her voice to be cheerful again. It wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be; she chalked it up to the fact that it was Michelle she was speaking to.

"Yeah, I was. But they're all really cool! You'd like them a lot." Holly shimmied into a pair of comfortable stretchy pants that she saved for her days off of work. "Two of them live here in the complex, I invited them in for tea. It was so awkward, I just shouted at them to come in," she said, laughing.

"Oh my God, you would," Michelle snorted. "How did they react?"

"Uh, well one was kinda suspicious of me and yelled at me and stormed out?" she answered, her voice going up an octave at the end. Her sister made an offended noise.

"Well, that's just rude! They could have just said 'no'," she grumped.

"It was, uh, certain circumstances. She'd been through some stuff with other people. It's… complicated. I'll show you later."

"Uhhh, okay? Show me what?"

Holly adjusted the shirt she put on after taking a pause from the phone to get it over her head. "Well, are you busy? Can you Skype in like, an hour or so?"

"I guess, yeah. Oooh are you gonna show me your new friends?" Michelle asked excitedly.

"Yeah! If that's okay with you," Holly said, knowing her sister would want to make herself presentable. Michelle liked having her makeup and hair done before meeting new people.

"That sounds awesome! I'll bring Miki," she said. Holly's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You got the cat?"

"Yeah. Took a bit of fighting with Mom, but I has hiiiiiim!" Her voice raised up to a tone reminiscent of speaking to a baby, and Holly knew she'd just picked up the cat. "He so cute, say hi!" There was a sound of shuffling, and then a whiny meow. "He says hi," Michelle clarified. Holly laughed.

"Hiiii, Miki. That's good, I was wondering if you were gonna be able to get him over there. Anyways, a friend of mine is waiting for me to go somewhere right now, so I'll talk to you in a bit! Go log into Skype and I'll meet you there."

"Mmkay, love you!"

Holly's smile was wide. "Love you too." She ended the call, feeling bittersweet. Her sister's call came at a bad moment, but perhaps she needed to hear Michelle's voice on a day like this. She smiled softly down at her phone for a moment before finishing up in the bedroom.

When she went back into the living room, she found Sans was lying on the couch with his arms crossed behind his head, eyes closed. One of them peeked open as she came in and regarded her with amusement. She noticed that his pupil-lights brightened when he was in a good mood.

"So we gonna get to meet your sister? That's cool," he commented. Holly frowned.

"It's not nice to eavesdrop," she said airily, trying not to look too annoyed. The skeleton's grin widened.

Holly grabbed a beat-up messenger bag after making sure it was empty, nodding at Sans. They walked up a small flight of stairs and made their way to Alphys's and Undyne's apartment, stopping in front of a door labeled 314. She drew a breath, steeling herself, and used the key Undyne gave her to unlock the door.

Even Undyne's warning couldn't have prepared her for what was inside.

Everything was purposefully toppled over and smashed. The television—a heavy, old model—was broken, the front glass caved in like it had been hit with a bat or a similar weapon. The couch was tipped onto its back, the cushions shredded. The coffee table was broken in half, the old noodle cups that had been sitting on top scattered. Their contents stained the beige carpet.

Every room had been hit. The kitchen was a mess of food and broken appliances all dumped onto the tile. The bathroom down the hall was littered with mirror shards; the shower curtain was ripped and torn down. Holly didn't say a word. Neither did Sans. The sheer destruction spoke volumes already.

They made their way into the bedroom, where all her friends' personal items had been strewn about roughly. Sans waited in the doorway while she went inside.

Holly turned off a part of her brain as she calmly picked through the clothing that had been tossed out of the dresser drawers. It didn't take long to find what she needed. She turned to leave, freezing when she saw a message on the wall above their bed, written in angry red paint:

"Don't come back or you're dead."

She stared at it, feeling a sick, hot sensation sweeping through her belly. How dare they. How dare those awful, disgusting people do this? How dare they disregard the lives of other people just for their race? How could they hurt sweet Alphys, defenseless and completely unwilling to fight? Why would they force someone from their home who hadn't even done anything to them? How could they—

"Hey."

She felt hot tears sliding down her face, her whole body trembled with rage and fear—

"Hey. Holly."

Her name made her look. Sans was right next to her, his eye lights flicking across her face with concern. She saw the tightness of his skeletal grin, and she knew he was angry, too.

"Let's get outta here."

She nodded, letting him grab onto her as they teleported back to Toriel's house.

A/N: I didn't get this one beta'd, unfortunately, so I apologize for any mistakes made! Also, I'm sorry I didn't respond to my reviewers last chapter, I have been a little busy. Be assured I greatly and deeply appreciate each comment and they make me very happy 3 I go back and read them over and over again for inspiration~