Paper Tiger
Chapter 47: Paper Tiger
Blake and Richard bolted for the door before Sans could even stand, and he pressed the terrified Frisk back down onto the couch when they tried to stand.
"Stay here," he commanded them firmly, glancing over to Asriel. "I need you to keep him safe. Can you do that for me, babybones?"
Frisk swallowed fearfully and nodded, and Sans wasted no time in charging after the pair of humans darting out the door. His slippered feet slammed over the floor as he ran, shifting through the door and stopping against the metal railing, observing for signs of danger. There was screaming from the parking lot and Sans took a shortcut downward, reemerging into the world behind Undyne, who had a human man pinned to the ground. His marrow was running cold, dread banging painfully in his chest as he tried to get a grip on the situation. A gun was a short distance away from the human, and he struggled hard as Undyne slammed his head into the ground a couple of times, disorienting him. There were a couple of handfuls of humans emerging from vans not too far away, cameras rolling. San wanted to tell them to shove off, but he was more concerned for his friends.
"What the hell?" Sans found himself shouting, staring at Asgore who was leaning against a bright red sports convertible in front of a parked black car, holding his shoulder. Toriel stood before the pinned bald man with flames crackling around her hands, outright fury plain on her features as she towered over him.
"Fuck you, fuckin' freaks !" the tattooed man screamed, thrashing to no avail as Undyne kept one arm pulled hard behind his back.
"Are you okay, your highness?" Papyrus asked softly as a mortified Alphys hid behind him, peeking out fearfully. Sans stepped toward them with one eye socket on the man on the ground, kicking the gun a little further away from him.
"It only grazed my shoulder," the king insisted, waving off Blake and Richard, one of which was on the phone informing someone of the incident. Sans could smell the dust from where he was, the scent was thick and he wanted to hurl, but forced himself to stay in the moment. "Please do not worry. I will be fine."
Sans was quietly boiling inside. This man, this human had very nearly caused what might have turned into a war had things gone wrong.
And if something had happened to them, or god forbid Toriel, he might have had to… convince Frisk to reset in order to save them.
Sans felt sick with himself, and stood before the growling human on the ground. He knelt before him with a forced grin, staring him in the bloodshot eyes.
"Say. Buddy," Sans said quietly. "If I were you, I'd quit thrashin' around like that."
"You should have stayed underground where freaks like you belong !" the tattooed man screamed at him, unable to throw off Undyne.
"Hey, alright," Sans shrugged. "You had a chance to have a normal conversation, but…"
Sans cast out an arm and the man's head slammed into the ground from the increased gravity.
"You blue it."
The man gasped for breath and choked, scrabbling uselessly at the concrete. Sans increased pressure on him ever so slightly, a little at a time until he couldn't breathe at all. He was trying to scream something and couldn't get air into his chest, clawing furiously at the ground as tears of pain streamed down his face. He wanted to hurt him, break him of his stupid habits until he got the point across. Sans eventually dropped the magic and stuck his hands back in his pockets, staring down at the attacker with a grin.
"I know," he smirked. "I'm kinda breathtaking. You should just chill out for a few minutes. Don't make us hurt you."
The man finally fell still as they heard sirens approaching. Sans stood watch over him with Undyne, not blinking the entire time. When Undyne at last released him he spat a slew of words that Sans was incredibly glad Frisk wasn't around to hear, and he was handcuffed by the police a short time later. Sans made sure to flip him the bird as he screamed something, thrashing madly from inside the police car, but he didn't care. Even from where he stood he could see that the human's eyes were dilated and bloodshot, whipping wildly as he thrashed like a rabid animal. The perpetrator was taken care of, thankfully without much incident. He finally turned back to Asgore, who was being healed in the shoulder by Toriel. She let up on the magic and finished with a little green flourish, and the king rolled his shoulder and winced.
"Thank you, Tori," Asgore smiled at her softly. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"So, somebody gonna tell me what the fuck that was?" Sans glowered at the place where the man had been, fists clenching and unclenching in his pockets.
"I would be dust if not for Asgore," Toriel informed him softly, giving Asgore a very strange look. "He stepped in front of that human before he could fire. I…"
"That was… close," Alphys stuttered, reaching out for Undyne's hand and clinging to her. "I thought that there was someone following us. II s-should have said something… !"
"Al. Alphys. Alphy," Undyne rubbed her shoulder with a gentle smile. "Told you. Got it all under control."
"That was… pretty heroic, your highness," Papyrus looked at him with awe.
"I cannot believe this… !" Blake growled, throwing out his hand at the reporters not too far away. "Shoo! Go away! Shoo! Nothing to see here. Clear out already!"
More snapshots went off and they ignored him completely, peppering them all with a barrage of questions and demands, and Richard cleared his throat. Alphys seemed to be on the verge of completely falling down at this rate.
"I believe that we should continue this conversation inside," he nodded back to the apartment, and nobody seemed to have any argument with that. Sans was the last one in, giving the questioning photographing reporters one last glance before closing the heavy door behind him. He let out a
quiet sigh and closed his eye sockets, leaning against the door. He felt a sudden push against his stomach and grunted, staring down at Frisk, who was hugging him tightly around the stomach.
"Nothing happened," he lied quickly, petting their hair as they trembled against him. "It's okay, babybones. It's okay."
The shock of the situation was slowly starting to wear off, and his phalanges were shaking terribly. If Frisk had gone with them today… if they had even been outside, they might have…
Sans couldn't think of that. He wouldn't think of that. He had his little babybones. He was going to keep them safe. He hugged them tightly, sighing heavily. Oh god. Oh, god he could have lost them.
For a little while.
Sans took a deep, shuddering breath and stroked their hair, holding them close.
"It's okay, babybones," Sans said softly. "N-nothing is wrong. H-hey. Papy is here. You… you wanna go check out the new place? That sound good to you?" he tried to sound as calm as he could, despite his rattling bones. Sans needed to get them away from here. He couldn't let them see just how shaken he was. He needed to get them somewhere safer. Somewhere that he could hide how rattled he was. How terrified he really was of losing them. Frisk looked at him strangely for a moment before nodding slowly. He let out a breath that he didn't know that he had been holding, stroking their head again and trying to steady his breathing. He poked his head into the living room where Papyrus was sitting with Asriel on the couch, the silently crying child clinging to him desperately. They might not have seen what happened, but Sans had a pretty good impression that they knew what had happened regardless. It bothered him deeply. They just held on to him, and he felt their grip tighten and loosen almost at random.
"H-hey…" Sans tried to stay as casual as he could, sticking his hand in his pockets and standing before Papyrus. "Y-you, uh. You comin'…?"
Papyrus only gave him an odd glance and shook his head, holding loosely to Asriel.
"I… think that I should remain here, for now…" he said softly, brushing Asriel's hair as the child fell silent when Toriel entered the room. "The little one needs me. Shh. It's alright. Nothing bad happened. Everything is okay."
Asriel sobbed dryly and clung to him around the neck, burying his face in his shoulder. Papyrus only hushed him and held him closer, rocking him back and forth. Sans glanced over to Toriel, but she had her hand over her mouth and was looking away, as if ashamed. Sans could only imagine what she was going through. Her own son was back from the dead and wouldn't even speak to her. Sans gave her a gentle pat on the arm as he passed, looking her in the eyes firmly.
"… Hey," he said softly, drawing her away a bit as Papyrus rocked the hysterical child back and forth. "Me an' the kid are gonna go check out the new place. Are… are you… okay? I-I mean…" he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I mean… just, damn . Do… d'you need anything? Tori? Are you alright?"
"Everything is going to be fine," she answered softly in a tone that sounded very much as if she was certain that everything was definitely not going to be fine. "Attacked on the streets. But we must remain vigilant. At all times. Do-do take care of them, will you not?"
"Won't take an eye socket off 'em," Sans nodded once. This felt so wrong. He was just going to pretend that everything was okay? That he hadn't nearly seen one of his friends get dusted by some maniac? But he had to stay calm. Couldn't break down in front of the kids. Couldn't let them know about the dangers lurking around every corner. Had to keep them happy. Had to keep them safe.
He would give anything and everything in the world for that.
"… Sans?" Papyrus said after a while, just before he got to the door. "What's up, bro?" Sans asked quietly. Papyrus only held up a finger, digging in his battle body for a moment before drawing out a key ring. He tossed it underhanded to Sans who caught it deftly in one hand, staring at him.
"The car outside is mine," he said matter of factly. "The dealership was actually quite happy to take my money for it. Please don't scratch it?"
"You got a car? Heh. No promises," Sans winked at him, and Papyrus only rolled his eyes and returned to giving attention to the shaking child in his arm. That poor kid was going to wind up utterly paranoid of humans at this rate. Sans only sighed quietly, closing the door behind them before turning to Frisk and rubbing their head.
"… You're a good kid, Frisk," Sans said after a moment. They smiled up at him softly, which he was only too glad to return. Even if it didn't have the soul in it that he wanted it to. "C'mon, munchkin. Let's go check out the new digs, eh?"
It was a short drive to the edge of Ebott City, and Sans was surprised to see the massive amount of construction that had taken place. There were already so many more buildings up, and even more cropping up like overnight daisies. He couldn't help but grin at monster's determination to build a new life above ground. There were practically no humans around, only a few monsters walking the streets and several working on the buildings. Sans had to readjust the seating multiple times, but he finally got comfortable just as they were pulling in to the driveway for their new home. He looked up at it through the windshield, the finished double story log house feeling familiar although he hadn't been in it more than once.
He didn't particularly care for the feeling of dejavu that came with it.
Frisk seemed to notice that he was getting upset and held his hand, giving him one of those soul melting little smiles. He patted them on the head gently a couple of times and exited the car, stretching his back and staring up at the new place. He pulled the key ring out of his pocket that Papyrus had given him, cracking open the door as the scent of wooden logs and sawdust and apple cider filled him. He fumbled for a light switch for a moment to flick on some light, and a chandelier lit up above them. Sans whistled through his teeth, looking about the living room. It was furnished with a large red rug in the center of the floor, a large new plushy sofa against one wall with a wide television opposite it mounted on the wall. Papyrus had really meant what he said during their work together. Clearly his brother had done the majority of the work, and it showed.
"Man. Paps really spruced this place up, huh?" Sans glanced over to Frisk, who was taking in the sights with wide eyes. "Swanky. Guess he's learned a thing or two since decorating our old place. What'cha think, Frisky-bits?"
"It's so wonderful," they drew their hands up to their mouth happily. "You finally get to live on the surface…"
"We get to live here," he gave them a light hug, kissing them on the top of the head and making them blush a little. "C'mon. I didn't have much time to set this up, but Paps an' me got a surprise for you."
"A surprise…?" Frisk stared at him, dancing from foot to foot. He only chuckled and shook his head, holding out his hand for them.
"I think you'll like it," he held out his hand for them, which they took after a moment. "Follow me."
Sans drew them slowly up the stairs, clapping a hand over their eyes.
"You're not allowed to see it just yet," he said as they ascended the stairs.
"Sans," Frisk frowned. "I can see through your hand."
"Cheater cheater pumpkin eater," he poked them in the side and made them giggle. Oh, he was so happy to hear that sound again. "Alright," Sans stood before a wooden door in the middle of the second floor hallway. "Here we go, kiddo. Let's see what's behind door number two."
Sans slowly opened the bedroom door, and Frisk's mouth dropped.
The walls were painted blue with puffy white clouds all over, surrounding the room completely. There was a large bed with deep pink sheets against the wall in the middle of the room, a wooden toy chest at the foot of the bed. A nightstand stood on one side of the bed with a glowing lava lamp (with a single bone inside it) and blue bubbles dancing through it. Sans led them over to the corner and dramatically threw open the closet door, revealing a humongous line of clothes of nearly every sort with an eager flourish.
"Told ya we'd improve your wardrobe," he winked and nudged them with his elbow. "Kinda tried to get what we could ta fit you without lettin' ya find out the surprise . I know it's not much, but I really thinkthink that… oh, shit ."
Frisk was sobbing silently, hands over their mouth as they stared at him.
"Was it somethin' I said?" he asked worriedly. "I-I didn't mean to make ya upset, kiddo, I-I just-"
Sans didn't get to finish his sentence as Frisk had already slammed into him and wrapped their arms around him tightly, hiding their face in his chest.
"Thank you," Frisk whispered, though he could hear them easily.
"Thank you, thank you so much. I love you, Sans."
"I love you too, babybones…" Sans said softly, hugging them back. "Just… don't cry. Please, baby. If you start cryin' then I'm gonna start cryin', and we don't need a pity party goin' on before the house warming party."
"I'm sorry," Frisk sniffled through their tears, beaming up at him. "Thank you, Sans."
"I figured we should get ya a late birthday present," he shrugged before remembering. "Hey.
There's… one more thing I wanna show you."
Sans scooped up Frisk with one hand behind their legs and the other behind their head, making them let out a quiet surprised yelp. They were so slim, so frail, so light that it almost scared him. Were they eating enough? Humans really were supposed to be larger by their age, right? He didn't like that they were so light. So thin. It bothered him. He brushed the thoughts aside and gently placed them on the bed, flopping down beside them.
"Sans…?" Frisk asked softly after a moment, but he only held up a single finger. Then he reached for the magic and let out a little burst, flicking the light switch from a distance. They started to speak again until they realized that he was still pointing up at the ceiling.
It was dotted all over with glowing blue and orange stars.
"The sun. And the moon," he pointed at the painted glow in the dark crescent moon on the ceiling that had until now been invisible to the naked eye. "And all of the stars in the night sky."
"I love you Sans," Frisk dried their eyes with their sleeve, snuggling against him. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, babybones," Sans said softly, brushing their hair with his fingertips. He felt Frisk ever so slowly slip their hands up to his chest, gripping his ribs through his shirt. His face flushed and he began to sweat nervously as they cuddled up against him, almost purring. "U-uh. Kkiddo."
"I'm going to make it up to you…" Frisk whispered, craning their neck up and giving him a soft, slow, gentle kiss on the chin. "I promise. I'll be good for you."
Sans felt too hot, far, far too hot and uncomfortable all of a sudden, their grip loosening and tightening on his sensitive ribs. His breathing came fast and shallow, though he tried his absolute best to stay calm. All he had to do was pry their fingers off. They weren't even holding on to him that hard. He could probably shake them off. Or just tell them to let go. That was all that he had to do.
And he couldn't even manage that.
God help me I'm so fucking weak.
Sans didn't know for how long they just laid there, staring up at the ceiling. He held them close until they began to fall asleep, their little chest rising and falling softly. He could not sleep at all, nor did he want to. He wanted to hold them close. He wanted them to know that they were safe, that they were loved. And he did love them, he loved them more than he loved his own life. He wanted more than anything to see them happy. And for just a little while, even though they cried and he dried their tears every time, they were just so happy. They deserved that, so much. He wanted to give them all of the happiness that he could. Maybe he did keep making mistakes. But he wanted to try . He wanted to be better for them. He wanted so badly to just see them smile again, not that sad, wary little smile that they seemed to make out of habit, but a true, genuinely joyous smile. He would give anything at all to make them happy. They really had broken him down completely. All they had to do was ask, and he would deliver without question. He just wanted to give them the comfort, the love, the happiness that they deserved.
And for just a while, Sans could pretend to be happy, too.
Alphys did not arrive at their new home for nearly an hour. Not that Sans was keeping track of time anyway. He was perfectly content to lay on the bed with Frisk and gaze up at the glow in the dark stars, comfortably shifting in and out of consciousness every now and then as they clung to him. He could just stay like this for a while. For a little bit, he could allow himself to relax a little. In a place without worry. Where he could keep his little babybones safe. And every time he glanced down to that little half lidded soul warming smile, he just felt like his chest was burning. He just laid there and stroked their hair for a while, sighing deeply and holding them close. He could have sworn that he had forgotten about something.
And then the banging on the front door continued, and he mentally kicked himself, finally waking up a bit.
"Whoops," Sans chuckled a little as he gently shook Frisk awake by the shoulders. They blinked rapidly, hiding a yawn behind their hand.
"Guess Alphys finally caught up to us. You wanna go say hello to 'er?"
Frisk nodded a couple of times, sleepily grasping his hand.
"Hop onto my back," Sans swiveled on the bed, letting his legs hand over the edge. Frisk looped their arms around his neck and clung weakly to him, and he held their hands firmly. "Let's go visit our first house guest."
Sans fell into a shortcut almost immediately, and for just a bare fraction of a second he could feel that stare on him as he fell, watching, waiting
But then it was over and he was standing silently behind the lizard in a lab coat, watching her knock wearily at the front door. Sans stood behind her silently for a moment as she banged on the door with her fist, stamping back and forth in irritation.
"Come on, Sans, I know you're in there, the car is still out here… !" she said somewhat nervously, craning her neck to look up to the second story.
"Actually I'm out here-"
Alphys shrieked suddenly and whirled on the spot, clutching her chest and leaning heavily against the front door.
"Hi Alphys," Frisk beamed at her toothily from their spot on Sans's back.
"H-how m-many t-t-times do I h-have to t-tell you n-not to do that?!"
"Seven. Uh. Sorry Al," Sans shrugged and grinned. He just wanted to close his eye sockets again. He was tempted to just drop to the ground with Frisk still clinging to his back. The ground couldn't have been too uncomfortable. He needed a nap. "What's up?"
"I t-tried calling y-you…" Alphys tapped her claws together nervously.
Sans dug in his pocket for a moment before drawing out his phone.
Sure enough, he had twelve missed calls, all of them from Alphys. That, and a single picture message of an anime cat girl pawing at the screen.
"U-um. That-that l-last one w-was for U-Undyne…" Alphys muttered nervously, interlocking her claws.
"It's all good Al," Sans said tiredly, shifting from foot to foot as Frisk held on to his hands. "Let's go get this taken care of, huh?"
"Y-yeah. Let's… let's see what we can do."
Sans helped Frisk into the back seat of Papyrus's sports car, sidling in and hopping into the driver's seat comfortably. Alphys fumbled for her seatbelt for a moment, and Sans nodded at Frisk through the rear view mirror.
"Buckle up, kiddo," Sans said with a grin, revving up the engine loudly before taking off with a peal through the street. "Safety first an' all that. You ready for all this, Frisk?"
"Um… Sans…?" Frisk asked after a moment. "When… when did you learn to drive?"
"Saw Blake do it a couple of times," Sans shrugged as they took off at high speeds toward Mount Ebott. "Pedal for brake and movement, shift gears for higher speeds, blinkers to let people know which direction we're turning. Pretty standard vehicular transportation," he grinned at them, turning around in his seat. "You wanna learn sometime, kiddo?"
"Sans - Sans, eyes on the road!" Alphys was clinging to the dashboard in panic, her voice a high squeak.
"Whoops. Uh, sorry Al," Sans laughed awkwardly, turning around and picking up speed as the city road slowly began to give way to older paths to the mountain. "Darn it Frisk. Don't you know you shouldn't distract the driver?"
"S-sorry…" Frisk mumbled, rubbing their arms and looking away. A little surge of guilt hit him, and he sighed.
"I'm just kiddin' around with ya, buddy," he said lightly with a small smile. "I'm gonna take care of everything. I promised I'd fix this.
Didn't I?"
"Y-yeah…" they murmured quietly, looking out the window. Why did they look so… dejected? He'd have thought that they would be overjoyed to have him as far out of their life as possible. He was a terrible, miserable creature, and it took every single ounce of willpower that he had not to devolve completely into a wretched excuse for a monster. He would have thought that they would at least be somewhat happier to have that spot removed. A little part of him that was with them always. Just like a little part of them was with him, burning brightly inside his chest with so much hope, so much determination, so much mercy.
He was changing, and it scared the living daylights out of him.
Maybe Alphys would be able to fix all of this. Maybe she was their salvation. Maybe, just maybe, he could allow himself to hope for just a little bit. And he wondered, silently, if that little part of Frisk that was in him filled him with such hope… what was that little part of him doing to them? He was vile to the core, and he knew it. He could only imagine what a piece of his soul might do to them. His poor little babybones.
I'm gonna fix this, Frisk.
I swear to god. I'll fix everything.
It took only about an hour to walk from the base of the mountain all the way to Hotland. Alphys flatly rejected the idea of using a shortcut, looking repulsed (and slightly carsick) at the thought, and Sans sighed quietly as they walked. Mettaton's resort was surprisingly packed with monsters and humans alike. They must have been tourists to the Underground, as Sans could see several vendors that had set up shop not too far away, the most notable ones being a couple of monsters that waved friendlily to him and Alphys and held up a sign that read One Monster's Junk Is Another Human's Treasure . They must have been doing well for themselves, or at least he hoped so. Alphys seemed almost ashamed when she saw them, giving them an awkward half wave before scurrying to catch up with Sans and Frisk. Monsters living peacefully with humans, even Underground. It was… a strange prospect. Nobody was screaming, there were no vulgar people hurling death threats. Everyone just seemed so… normal. Friendly.
It was disturbing, for some reason.
He had to stay on his toes. Something could go wrong at any time. He had to be aware constantly. He could feel stares on the back of his head, but he wouldn't give in, wouldn't turn around to see that smirk again. He just had to stay focused. Frisk's grip on his hand tightened a little, and he felt a warmth in his chest as they smiled at him. He grinned back and ruffled their hair, causing them
to stick out their tongue. Everything would be fine. He just had to keep telling himself that.
And maybe he would eventually start to believe it.
It didn't take long to traverse Hotland with Frisk holding his hand the entire way. Sans let out a quiet sigh as they entered the laboratory. He could smell the familiar scent of test tubes and ramen, and he looked about the place for a while as Alphys collected what she needed. It didn't take long, and the scientist had Frisk sit in her swivel chair as she hooked up several sticky pieces to the child. Frisk didn't seem to care for it.
"D-don't worry," she patted them on the shoulder kindly when she saw their worried look. "N-no needles o-or anything. I'm just checking your s-stats, getting a read on your vitals is all. H-how are y-you feeling, F-Frisk?"
"I feel kinda weird…" they pulled at their hair, looking between them nervously. "My belly hurts a little."
"Have you eaten much?" Alphys asked as she tapped away at her keyboard, several screens popping up on her computer as she worked. Frisk shook their head a little, and Alphys frowned. "D-don't e-even worry about it, I-I've got some food here for you. H-have you ever had c-chisps?"
Frisk shook their head again, and Alphys nodded.
"I'll g-get some for you. Just n-need to… um. Huh."
"What?" Sans leaned over her shoulder, causing her to jump as he inspected the screen. "What is it?"
"Their v-vitals appear n-normal enough…" Alphys ticked away, frowning. "Heart r-rate is a l-little low. A bit of a h-high temperature, bbut that might j-just be from Hotland. Can't say I-I'm surprised," she shrugged. "F-Frisk. I'm g-going to draw o-out your s-soul. Is… is that okay?"
"Can Sans do it…?" Frisk looked between them worriedly.
"Don't worry, babybones," he stroked their hair softly. "It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna fix this. I swear to god, I'll fix this."
Frisk nodded to him once and he let out a heavy breath, placing his palm over their chest gently. He reached for the magic and slowly drew their soul out of their chest, causing them to gasp a little. Alphys leaned forward in fascination, amazement plain on her face when she saw the brightly glowing red soul, still beating warmly despite the missing chunk.
"Does… does it hurt…?" Alphys stuttered, staring. Frisk shook their head and looked away, cheeks flushed. Why were they getting embarrassed? Sans frowned, carefully holding the soul out for Alphys to see. Her eyes eventually flickered to the white spot, and her expression darkened a little as she readjusted her glasses.
"Incredible…" she murmured almost to herself. She blinked and adjusted her glasses again, frowning. "A soul bond. An actual soul bond. I've r-read about t-these… but to s-see it for myself…?"
"So can we fix it?" Sans asked softly, brushing the worried child's hair with his phalanges. "Can… can we remove it or something? There has to be a way. Somehow. Anything ."
"I-I really d-don't know…" Alphys crossed her arms, looking around the glowing soul and inspecting the missing chunk. "I c-can't believe you're e-even able to function with y-your soul like t-that. Oh my god, I-I can't even imagine w-what the prince is g-going through with a partial soul. Are you s-sure that it doesn't hurt?"
Frisk looked away, their cheeks pink.
"Only a little…" Frisk mumbled. "I'll be fine."
"You're such a strong kid, babybones," Sans said softly, holding up their chin with his thumb. "You really are amazing. Nobody tells you that enough. Okay?"
Frisk gave him one of those soft, soul melting little smiles and leaned into his touch, sighing.
"… Oh my god that's cute," Alphys hid her smile behind her hands.
"What?" Sans frowned, brushing the hair from Frisk's eyes as he slowly replaced their soul inside their chest. "I like complimenting my kid. They're the best kid anybody could ever ask for."
Sans couldn't really finish that thought, as Frisk began silently crying as they held his hand.
… Aw, shit.
Sans leaned down and hugged them tightly, and they kissed him on the cheek.
"… We're gonna fix this," Sans promised again. "Somehow. I'll fix this, babybones. I swear I will."
"I-I d-don't really know a-a whole lot a-about breaking soul bonds…" Alphys said nervously, clicking her claws together. "The only mmonsters I've ever even k-known to do it are the k-king and queen…"
"And we can NOT involve them in this dilemma," Sans said insistently. "Oh my god, no."
"I'm not dumb, Sans…" Alphys frowned and looked away.
"Never said you were, Al," Sans said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just tell me what to do, and I'll get it done." Alphys smiled at him warmly, shaking her head.
"I'm… I'm going to take some n-notes," she sighed at last. "If all else fails, i-it might be p-possible to surgically remove the portion of a ssoul, b-but even a-attempting that c-could be… catastrophic."
"Let's not have any more catastrophies, please?" Sans frowned, feeling Frisk's grip on his hand tighten a little.
"I-I was j-just throwing it out there," Alphys said uncomfortably. "I'll ggather as m-much data as I can. I'm h-here for you, Sans. For both of you," she smiled down at Frisk, who leaned up from the chair to hug her. Alphys blinked in surprise, face reddening a little as she sighed and hugged them back.
"Thank you," Frisk said quietly with a beam. "For everything."
"Heh," she shrugged, glancing over to Sans, who was giving her a strange look. "W-what are f-friends for?"
They spent hours in the lab, and Sans didn't enjoy a single second of it.
Alphys ran the gauntlet of putting Frisk through as many tests as she could, and by the time that she was done they were all relatively exhausted. Sans held Frisk's hand almost the entire time. They looked so worried. He didn't want them to be scared. Anything but that. Frisk insisted on giving Alphys one more hug before they went, and Alphys was not at all pleased with Sans taking them through a shortcut. The drive back was thankfully uneventful, and Sans was happy to see Blake's apartment again. The fact alone that they got back with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happening was bothering him, and that realization bothered him more . He parked Papyrus's car outside and sat there for a moment, closing his weary eye sockets and resting his head on the steering wheel.
Somehow, he was going to fix this. He was going to make everything better.
He was going to be the person that Frisk deserved.
Even if he had to break himself down completely in the process, he would keep going. For them. He would reforge himself in the fires of all adversity if that was what it took. He would be better. He had to be. They deserved so much more than the fucked up life that they had before, so much more than he could give them. He would give them the entire world if they so much as asked for it. But Sans knew deep down that they would never ask for that much. They were so good, so much better than him.
Maybe, someday, he could be good enough to deserve the love that they had for him. Maybe someday, if he kept trying a little harder every day, he would be the person that they deserved. And he wanted to give them that, more than anything else.
He was just tired.
He was so damned tired.
Sans sighed quietly, cracking an eye socket open when he realized that Alphys was staring at him.
"… What?" he blinked.
"W-what's wrong…?"
"I dunno. Aside from the fact that our little venture seemed to be a total bust," he closed his eye sockets again, resting his forehead on the steering wheel.
"I-I w-wouldn't say t-that…" Alphys tapped her claws together nervously. "I m-mean, we l-learned a lot."
"Yeah. We learned that Frisk has a low heart rate and is malnourished as fuck. On that note, we're goin' shopping tomorrow, kiddo. You like cake? I hope you like cake, because I am getting you so many cakes."
"You really don't have to…" Frisk mumbled softly, looking away as their cheeks flushed a little. Why were they getting embarrassed?
Was it something that he said?
"I'm g-going to go o-over my notes…" Alphys shuffled the sheafs of papers that she had printed off from the lab. "I'll see if I can find any correlations between g-green magic and soul b-bonds. This m-might be a… s-special case…"
Sans knew exactly what she was implying by that. He appreciated what she was trying to do.
There wasn't anything wrong with green magic, and he was pretty sure of it.
There was something wrong with him .
He didn't need Alphys to confirm what he already suspected. He was wrong, he was an abomination, and everything that he touched was corrupted in some way or another. He was the corruption, and it scared him more than anything to think of what might happen to Frisk if they were to see him for what he truly was, the monster that he really was. It made him feel vile, so repulsive. But maybe there was still a chance to fix this mess. A tiny sliver of hope that he might somehow find redemption, that maybe he could wind up not ruining his little babybone's life. And for that, he had to try. He had to try harder than he had ever tried in his life. But it was hard. He was just so tired.
He felt a little sick to the stomach but only sighed again and patted her on the shoulder, causing her to jump a little.
"… Thanks, Al," Sans said quietly, and she readjusted her glasses, flustered. "I don't know where I'd be without ya."
"Probably somewhere better…" she said lowly, almost to herself.
Sans's grip on her shoulder tightened suddenly, making her squeak.
"Al. Alphys," Sans frowned. "Don't do that to yourself. You're a swell gal, Al. You're a good person, and you're a good friend. Don't ever try to convince yourself otherwise. A'ight?"
Alphys looked like she wanted to cry, her glasses fogging a little as she looked away, cleaning them.
"… T-thanks, Sans."
"Ay, fuhgeddaboudit. You ready too, kiddo? Let's go see what the yahoos have been up to in our absence."
The 'yahoos' in question were gathered in the living room, and Undyne bounced up immediately from seeing them.
"There you are!" Undyne picked up the lizard with a huge grin, making her flush before she set her with surprising care back on the floor. "Man, it really took that long to move their junk?"
"Hey, I'll have you know that I did all the hard work," Sans winked at her, rolling with it. "Supervising is a very important job, y'know."
"Why am I not surprised," Undyne grunted and poked him in the head. "See, that's the reason you should'a just let me come. At least you got a workout from it, right?"
"R-right…" Alphys shifted from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. Thankfully she was saved by Frisk, who slipped in between the monsters to wrap their arms around Undyne's legs in a tight hug. Sans saw something that he very rarely got to see, as Undyne's expression softened greatly and she knelt down to her knees so that Frisk could hug her properly, and she wrapped an arm around their shoulder with a grin.
"Heyya, punk," Undyne said with a small smile. "They put you to work movin' junk too?"
"I took a nap!" Frisk said proudly. Undyne only laughed and ruffled their hair. She picked them up in her arms, carrying them off toward the living room where he could hear soft chatter coming from. It even sounded like Richard was still around.
"What's cookin', good lookin'?" Sans poked his head into the kitchen, sticking his hands in his pockets. Blake jumped at the sound of his voice, looking completely frazzled and a little red faced. Papyrus only gave him a quiet nod as he entered, dropping into the kitchen chair.
"Human Blake was just showing me some… pointers on how humans make spaghetti," Papyrus frowned, trying to cross his arm and a half. "We had a bit of a… disagreement on proper cooking etiquette."
"Call it whatever you like," Blake said firmly. "Either way, I cannot under any circumstances allow you to put frickin' cement in spaghetti."
"It needs texture !" Papyrus threw out an arm toward the boiling noodles.
"It already has texture. The texture of noodles !"
"That's not nearly enough texture for refined tastes. What do you think the glitter was for?"
Blake groaned and hid his face in his hands, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Aww, c'mon, Paps…" Sans said quietly. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. Who knows, maybe you'll even learn some super cool secret cooking techniques if you try it Blake's way…"
"I… I guess you have a point…" Papyrus narrowed his skeletal brows. "I suppose we can try it your way. Just this once. But don't come crying to Great Papyrus when you can't eat your own cooking," he warned him, pointing a spoon at him.
"You got it," Blake said with some amount of relief. "Whatever you say, man."
"See, why couldn't you have just said that half an hour ago?" Papyrus threw up an arm. "Eurgh. Regardless, dinner will be finished soon, Sans. Would you be so kind as to collect the plates for everyone?"
"No problem, bro," Sans grinned at him. Then he stood before the cabinets, craning his neck up. Blake was giving him a smug stare, and Sans only returned the look for a moment. Then he clicked his fingers and let a burst of magic swarm through his arm, plates defying gravity as they slipped out of the cabinets and fell into his outstretched hands. Blake only stared at him in shock, and Sans gave him a little wink.
"Ta-da," he said somewhat lamely as he placed them on the table. "And for my next trick, I will now disappear."
Then Sans turned on his heel and gave a hearty shrug, walking out of the kitchen. He grinned when he heard Blake snickering, only to be chastised by Papyrus for encouraging his 'terrible' behavior.
"Hey," Sans dropped onto the couch beside Frisk, who beamed up at him happily. Alphys and Undyne sat on the other end of the couch, holding each other in their arms as the movie played. "Where'd everybody else go?"
"Asgore and Toriel are still tryin' to get the prince to talk…" Undyne said quietly, looking over at him with a slight frown. "I think they haven't really gotten over the shock yet. Blake's bro had some questions for them, didn't wanna talk about it in the living room. Asriel, he… he won't really talk to anybody except Paps. He starts getting real… weird whenever Papyrus leaves the room."
"… Weird how?" Sans asked uncomfortably, letting Frisk crawl into his lap and hug him, and he gently hugged them back.
"Just-just… uh. Y'know," she shrugged, clearly not wanting to discuss it. He definitely did not know, and it was bothering him. Sans only sighed quietly and tried to relax a bit, letting the scent of cooking spaghetti and Frisk's hair as they cuddled against him fill him entirely. He could almost fall asleep to the sound of the movie playing, the light chatter between Blake and Papyrus not too far away, Frisk's gentle breathing as they held him close. There was that little spark in his chest that felt so vibrant, so warm, and a tiny part of him feared that whenever he managed to fix all this… would it be gone? Would he lose that bright, hopeful little part of him? Was the only good part of him the part that contained Frisk's soul? Maybe he really was just foul to the core. It was cold, it was selfish to want to keep things as they were. He could only imagine what Frisk must have felt, with a part of his soul inside them.
Did he even know?
… Had he ever even bothered to ask?
Even once ?
He felt like he was just shouting at a storm at this point. He was so weary, but he couldn't rest. Not yet. Sans's meandering thoughts bumped around how he was supposed to actually explain Asriel's 'rebirth', as he was certain that his half-assed explanation wasn't going to cut it, but the king and queen were still in a rough patch. He hoped that they were at least managing to cope better than he was.
Sans tried to squeeze his eye sockets shut like he could block out the rush of guilt, and of course it did nothing. However, Frisk seemed to notice that there was something bothering him, and they leaned up and gave him a chaste little kiss on the cheek and a soft smile that made his soul feel weak and watery. They really were his greatest weakness. He couldn't help but smile back and kiss them on the top of the head, hugging them as gently as he could, letting out a quiet sigh.
"… Oh my god that's so cute," Alphys was hiding a humongous grin behind her claws, bouncing a little up and down.
"What?" Sans frowned, rubbing Frisk's hair. Why was he getting embarrassed? "I love my babybones. You got a problem with that?"
"No, Alphys is right," Undyne's cheeks were a little flushed. "That really is adorable."
"'s not adorable," Sans grumbled over Frisk's light titters, feeling his own cheeks heating. Frisk only shook their head and pressed their cheek against his chest, letting out a contented sigh. He closed his eye sockets and held them close, unable to contain his own smile any longer. Let them poke fun at him, he didn't care. He really did love them with all of his wretched soul. He just wanted them to be happy. Maybe someday he could give them all of the love and happiness that they deserved.
And for just a little while, Sans was, for once, happy. He would give anything to just stay like this. Even if only for a little while.
Then the window exploded.
Alphys shrieked and tried to hide her face behind her claws and Undyne was up in a moment, spear flashing in her hand and eye flickering dangerously as she shielded her. Sans had Frisk tucked close against him as he stood with them in his arms, ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Undyne only peered out the broken window as Sans placed Frisk down on the couch, giving them a look to indicate that he wanted them to stay. Blake and Papyrus were in the doorway in a moment, one of which still had a spoon dripping with sauce.
"What the hell was that?" Blake blurted as the king and queen curiously poked out of the bedroom with a tired looking Richard close in tow. Sans knelt down a little amongst the broken glass and gingerly picked up the brick, unwrapping the paper tied around it with a rubber band. He unfolded it slowly, spotting the mismatched lettering like someone had cut out the words from a paper or magazine. He felt a chill run up his spine as he read it aloud, the dead silence hanging heavy in the air.
GiVe HeR bAcK.
Frisk looked ready to start crying, rocking back and forth with their hands tangled in their hair in their distress, their face pale. Sans wanted to crumple the paper and set it on fire, but he saw more lettering a the bottom.
"… What's 'CH. 7?" Sans asked quietly. There was more lettering on the back, but Sans was almost afraid to read it. He felt sick to his stomach, he wanted to burn something, but he had to stay calm. Especially in front of the kid. He had to stay calm. If he panicked then they would panic, and he couldn't afford to let that happen.
"Channel seven, maybe?" Blake frowned, picking up the remote and switching the channels on the television. It was flipped over to the news station and it fell silent in the room as the monsters and humans gathered around the television in complete and utter silence. Nobody dared to speak over the breaking news of a monster dusted on the side of the road, a snapshot of a bunny monster sobbing over a pile of dust. Sans's hands were trembling when he finally turned the paper over to read the rest.
YoU'rE nExT.