Chapter Text
She sat outside in the snowy woods sobbing loudly, her small body freezing in the snow, the wind that occasionally rolled by helping her none. It was only a matter of time before she froze to death, having nothing but a baggy shirt and shorts on, not even shoes. She had tried to find shelter, but all she found were naked trees that did nothing for any form of help.
So she did what any toddler would do. She gave up and cried, mostly from the pain of the cold. She hoped that someone would hear her and rescue her from her suffering, before it was too late.
Sans grumbled under his breath as he trudged down the snowy path. Papyrus had chewed him out when he found him taking a little snooze in his sentry outpost, telling him how worthless he was, that he couldn't even keep watch properly. Before it was time for work earlier, the Boss practically threw him out of the house an hour too early, telling him to get to work and for some reason no matter what he did, Sans could not get on his brother's good side today.
So Papyrus ordered him to get off his lazy ass and patrol. That will keep him awake and it did. All Sans could do about it was grumble and do what his brother told him to do.
What was that noise? Crying? Who could be crying all the way out here? Sans made his way through the trees, following the noise until he stood in front of a pale, tiny human. He stared, dumbfounded.
"how th' hell did you get here?!" he picked up the toddler and she immediately clung to him, looking for some kind of warmth. "hey, hey! w-what do ya think yer doin'?!"
ah, hell...
She was so small! A baby, he concluded. A human baby! Boss would definitely praise him for this! But...
"fuckin' hell, yer freezin'. how long were ya out here fer?" Finally, her crying was getting to him and he cringed as she seemed to get louder. "alright, already, i get it! i'm only doin' this to shut yer ass up, ya hear me?!"
Quickly, he unzipped his fluffy sweater enough so he can stick her in, then zipped it up the rest of the way. He put an arm under her to support her and put a hand on her back to push her closer to his body and he shivered. Her tiny body felt like an over-sized ice cube. How long was she truly out here for?
He felt bad for her. She was out here for God knows how long, only to warm up enough to get handed over to Papyrus. Then she'll be shipped off to the King.
Maybe...he can convince his brother to give her a break. He let that other kid with that coward of a flower through. Maybe he'll let this one go, too. It's just a baby. It's not like he's going to get very far holding her anyway.
Coming to a decision, he finally noticed that she quieted down significantly.
"hey." he called. "yer not dead, are ya?"
He didn't go through the trouble of holding her freezing cold body just to have her die in his sweater. No way. When he didn't get any sort of answer, he jostled her a bit.
"i'm talkin' to ya!" that earned him a whine that sounded like she was about to start crying again, but stopped short. "good."
Now then, the only way he can get passed here without running into Papyrus would be to teleport. He didn't want to, but that might be the only—
"SANS!"
Shit! There's no way he's going to get away with not answering him! OK, this kid's small enough, he might be able to pull it off. Before heading toward him, Sans stuck his hands in the pockets of his sweater and supported her that way instead, it'll look more natural.
"alright, kid, listen up. i need ya to stay still and don't make a peep. if th' boss finds ya, you'll really be iced." he patted her back and he felt her snuggle into him, before stilling once more.
Taking that as her answer and double checking that she's fully hidden, he continued toward his brother right as he heard him calling for a second time. He hurried his steps, knowing that the third call isn't going to be pleasant.
"yeah, boss?" Sans called out to him as soon as his brother came into view.
"GIVE ME YOUR REPORT." Papyrus commanded with his usual scowl. "SINCE YOU TOOK THIS LONG, I EXPECT YOU FOUND SOMETHING."
Red magical sweat started to bead on Sans' forehead as his permanent smile disappeared. Papyrus isn't going to believe him if he lies to him, will he? There are only two monsters that can see through him and Papyrus is one of them.
Pun intended.
Dammit, he felt so bad for the kid, but he knows he's not going to get away with this. Not unscathed anyway.
"yeah, i found somethin'..." Sans all but muttered, but he hesitated.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" In Sans' hesitation, Papyrus grew impatient.
Slowly, he unzipped his sweater until a tiny head was visible. Chancing a regretful glance at Papyrus' face, he saw a smirk cross his features.
"ASGORE'S BEARD, IS THAT A HUMAN?" Sans slowly nodded. "WONDERFUL! YOU MAY NOT BE WORTHLESS AFTER ALL!"
The praise felt great, but he felt like it wasn't worth it.
"HAND IT OVER. I MUST DELIVER IT QUICKLY BEFORE UNDYNE CATCHES WIND. I WILL BECOME CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD YET!"
"actually, boss, i was thinkin' that maybe we can let this one live? i-i mean, th' kid's so small—
"STOP BEING RIDICULOUS, SANS."
Papyrus held his hand out in a hand-it-over gesture, but again his brother hesitated.
"c-c'mon, this kid's just a baby." Sans tried to reason with him one last time. "can't even try to defend itself, y'know...?"
"SO WHAT? THIS WORLD IS KILL OR BE KILLED. IT'S WEAKLINGS LIKE IT THAT ARE RID OF FIRST."
"but, boss—"
"ENOUGH! GIVE IT HERE BEFORE I TAKE IT FROM YOU!"
With that threat, Sans inched back, putting a hand on the baby's back, the other still supporting her up. This baby didn't even get a real chance to live. It reminded Sans of their younger days, back when he had to do everything in his power to keep him and his younger brother alive. So when Papyrus was finally able to take care of himself, it was a weight off his shoulders, but in a good way.
He doesn't know why he thought that reasoning with this guy could maybe change his mind. He doesn't think or care about anyone but himself.
"I AM SORELY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU." Papyrus growled. "I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT USELESS!"
Sans put more distance between him and his brother when Papyrus took a step forward, also zipping his sweater back up to hide the baby from view. His words were starting to sting.
"HONESTLY. YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO SENTRIES, BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT." Papyrus glowered. "I AM JUST ABOUT ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY BROTHER."
he did not just...!
"y'know what?!" Sans snapped. "i don't know what i was thinkin' tryin'a talk to ya! ya ain't capable of any mercy! kill or be killed my ass, we can fuckin' make choices!" Sans turned his back on his brother. "an' i ain't about to let this baby go through what we had to!"
With those last words, Sans promptly disappeared. He wasn't interested in what Papyrus had to say. He'll raise the kid himself if he has to! It couldn't be as hard as raising Papyrus, right?
Sans teleported right above the living room couch and let himself fall on top of it, holding the small bundle of warmth close to him so she wouldn't get hurt. She did exactly as he told her, not one peep, not one wiggle. He could already tell she's a well behaved child. He quickly got up from the couch and went straight upstairs to his room, so he can finally put her down. Once in his room, he locked the door behind him, unzipped his sweater and carefully placed her on his bed. He noticed her eyes were closed. Well, of course she went to sleep, her body warmed up considerably, although he doesn't know how she can sleep through all that yelling...
Something's not right.
He barely lifted his hands from setting her down when he noticed her breathing was labored.
stars, she's not...He gently placed the back of his skeletal hand on her forehead to check her temperature, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.
Fuck. Sans didn't think this day could get any worse, but he was wrong.
Sans forced himself to calm down. It's just a fever and he's pretty sure he's got medicine. He made sure the baby was safely settled in his bed, then hurried for the bathroom and checked in the storage behind the mirror. Bingo! There they are. Pills for...fevers...
shit.
Sans slid a hand down his face. OK, first things first, he's got to get that fever down somehow, so he teleported to get two clean face cloths, then reappeared in the kitchen and ran the cold water. He also got a bowl, filled it with cold water and even added ice for extra measure. He couldn't teleport back with his supplies, knowing he might spill it, so instead he carefully walked up the stairs, hurrying to his room the best he could without spilling the water.
Sans found the baby still asleep, her breathing a bit quick, like as if she had to catch her breath. He felt pity for her. Jerk or not, his brother is right. It is kill or be killed, there's no way she could survive by herself. If anyone else found her, she would either be dead or be brought before the king...and die. Neither option was pleasant.
Sans let one face cloth rest in the ice water, before wringing it out, folding it to fit her forehead and placed it on her.
She reminded him too much of Papyrus when he got sick as a little kid.
MERCY
"don't ya worry." Sans whispered to her as he wiped her neck with the dry face cloth. "i'll take care of ya."
Sans was jolted awake to the sound of crying. When did he fall asleep? He didn't remember.
Immediately, he wrung out the cold face cloth he found resting in the ice water, wiped her face with it—which made her cry more—then promptly picked her up. He supported her butt with one hand and the other he rested gently on the back of her head, which was resting on his shoulder.
Sans remembered dealing with this with Papyrus when he was her age. He learned the hard way that bouncing a baby with a fever just makes the whole situation worse.
So he took what he learned and began swaying his body, occasionally moving around the room. Eventually, she quieted down, sniffling every so often. Thinking what he should do next, he realized she was going to need something soft to eat. Does she even have teeth? Sans checked and discovered she has a couple...and he also discovered that she didn't appreciate the sudden check-up and started to cry again. Now he has to start all over again! He's going to need help and there's only one monster he can rely on right now. When she settled down again, he carefully put her back into his sweater just like he had the first time he found her, keeping a hand in his pocket and gave her the same rules as before.
"'s ok." he cooed, when she started to fuss. "we're gonna meet an old friend, but i'm gonna need ya to stay quiet."
It seems like she understood again. She shuffled around a bit to get comfortable, then he felt her snuggle against him before stilling.
smart kid.
He took no time and teleported in front of Grillby's. Walking in, he made a bee-line straight to Grillby himself, placing a hand on the bar.
"i need ta talk to ya once ya closed shop."
It's a good thing it's close to closing time. Sans' seemed uncharacteristically serious and Grillby took immediate notice.
"...You know where to find me."
With a nod, Sans disappeared as quickly and as quietly as he arrived.
'Strange.' Grillby thought. Sans is not usually that short with words.
Again, Sans reappeared in front of the town's only store. All the teleporting he's doing is getting him tired, but he's getting anxious. He could feel the heat coming off the baby's little body. She felt like a tiny furnace and he's pretty sure she's getting worse, but he couldn't leave her alone in his room like that, she's a baby. Something could have happened to her or worse yet, the Boss could have gotten home. He also can't have her out in the open. 1. It's cold, she'll get worse and 2. Monsters are aggressive toward humans, baby or not.
"hang in there, kiddo. 'm almost done."
As he entered the store, he gave her a quick, one-stroke back rub while no one was looking. Even then she didn't utter a single peep which he was thankful for, because as soon as he finished with that one smooth motion, the rabbit woman who ran the store turned to him, giving him a look between a blank expression and a slight happy one.
"Yes?"
"got any liquid medicine fer colds? preferably one that brings down fevers... And don't taste like shit."
The rabbit nodded, wordlessly, then turned to fetch the desired item.
"Is Papyrus sick again?" she chanced conversation. Sans wasn't in the mood for any conversation, but he also didn't want to scare the hidden bundle, who was currently huddled against him. "It's been a while."
It's true. It's been so long since Papyrus was sick. Sans remembers he got sick every so often when he was young, but as he grew older, he became less and less susceptible to illnesses to the point that he rarely ever gets sick anymore and Sans himself doesn't get sick either. Because of that, they don't have much need for medicine.
"somethin' like that."
Once the shop keeper handed over the medicine, he dropped the G required and disappeared once again only to land comfortably on his bed, holding the huddled bundle closer against him for maximum smooth landing. Quickly, he got to getting her out of his sweater and onto the bed without tousling her too much, then let her borrow his sweater for warmth in favor of not unraveling his ball of blankets. His sweater is warmer anyway.
OK, now to give her medicine. Then, he'll let her rest and visit Grillby—Sans interrupted his own thoughts to wonder when the last time she ate was. He shook his head thinking he should worry about that after the medicine. Once again he teleported to the kitchen, hoping Papyrus hasn't gotten home yet. Thankfully, he hasn't and Sans hurried to find that medicine syringe he used years ago for when Papyrus was too ill to drink medicine properly.
Perfect. Exactly where he left it. Quickly, he rinsed it out and teleported back, just in time too, she started fussing, it wouldn't have taken much longer for her to start crying.
"Shh..." Sans cooed as he quickly opened the medicine bottle and filled up the medicine syringe. He noticed the bottle said something about sleep. That lady gave him the right kind. "Got ya somethin' that'll make ya feel better. Open up."
He poked her mouth with the plastic syringe and she whined.
"c'mon, open yer mouth." Really? Now? "don't start gettin' difficult on me..."
Fuck. If she doesn't want to take it, he's going to have to force her and that won't sit well with either of the two.
"don't make me do this. i know ya don't wanna be bothered. if ya take this, i won't bother ya no more."
Again, she whined as an answer, but he poked her mouth again and this time she opened it.
"good—" He stopped himself short in wonder. This baby has a lot of hair, so a girl, right? He checked to make extra sure and...huh. No diaper. Definitely a girl though. "...girl. Probably potty trained..." he muttered as he rubbed her tummy to help her relax.
It worked with Papyrus, hopefully it'll work with her...and she fell asleep, this is working out a lot better than he expected. She might be easier to take care of than he initially thought. He put his pillow at her side, in case she rolls over and falls off the bed. Now for the last step.
"...What is it, Sans?" Grillby said when he heard the sound of air being forced into a space it didn't belong, a faint pop.
"i need to talk to ya about a tiny problem 'm havin'."
"I'm listening."
"i found a human." Sans said in a hushed voice, as if the walls had ears.
"Good."
"no! not good! it's a human baby!" He immediately forgot about being quiet. "she was already half dead by the time I found her, but i fuckin' felt bad for her." he banged his fist on the bar top, using his other hand to rest his forehead on.
"Sans, you didn't..."
"she's in my room, dead asleep. she caught a cold, so i gave her medicine, but i'm gonna need baby food without anyone else findin' out about her."
"You're an idiot."
"look, will ya help me or not?" he ignored Grillby's retort.
Grillby sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his supposed nose while he thought about it. Sans stared at him with an expression that somewhat resembled pleading.
"...Fine." Grillby muttered after a long pause. "For every food I make, I'm adding to your tab."
"fan-fuckin'-tastic." Sans rolled his eyelights to further exaggerate his sarcasm. "i need some now fer when she wakes up."
Without a word, Grillby retreated to his kitchen and as he stepped through the doorway, he heard another faint pop behind him. He knows Sans will be back by the time he's finished.
Sans doesn't know how much more teleporting he can do, but he doesn't want to run into Papyrus until the baby is fed, at the very least. Plus, if he went running around, someone would start asking questions, even if he started now. He appeared in his room to find her still sleeping and now up against his pillow. Her breathing was still a little labored, but now he's confident she'll be fine.
By how quiet the house was, Papyrus still isn't home. Now that Sans had cooled down and thought about it, he started feeling dread creep up his spine. The way he blew up on him and just disappeared is going to come back and haunt him, he just knows it. If he's lucky, Papyrus is blowing off steam somewhere. Maybe he won't be punished too badly...
He recalled Papyrus saying something about how he learned just how dangerous humans can be from Undyne. Good, but what can this little human do?! The other brat might be capable of doing something, sure, but this baby? She couldn't hurt a Whimsun even if she tried.
Speaking of the kid, that one had Determination. What does this one have?
Very carefully, Sans hovered his hand over the baby's chest and slowly pulled out her SOUL. The last thing he wants is to wake her up. It's green.
That's Kindness.
This poor kid was most definitely going to be eaten alive with a trait like that! Seriously, how did she get down here?!
The more Sans stared at it, the more something wasn't quite right. That's not really green is it? Upon closer inspection, it has kind of a blue to it...Patience.
Patience and Kindness...
She's Understanding!
Well, that makes more sense. It's no wonder she's well behaved with a trait like that. Sans let go of her SOUL and watched it slip back into her chest. Y/n...Well, the name certainly matches her. He felt like he was forgetting something as he watched her stir—
the fuckin' food!
Sans once again reappeared at the bar, holding onto said bar for support. After one more shortcut, he's done. He's at his limit. He knows this time is his actual limit, but he's not chancing running into Papyrus. Plus, he won't be able to walk straight on his way home anyway.
"About time you got back." he heard Grillby's smooth voice as the fire elemental disappeared into the kitchen once again.
"gotta make this quick." Sans called after him.
In no time at all, Grillby reappeared holding a medium sized container with a top.
"This is enough for three baby meals. Now go home, feed the human. I don't want you passing out on my bar."
"aw, don't sweet talk me like that. you'll get my hopes up." Sans gave him a shit-eating smirk and disappeared before Grillby can roll his eyes.
Y/n was already fussing when he got back. Her hunger must have woken her up. God dammit, he forgot to get—Oh. Grillby put a small spoon in the container. He seriously has to thank him later.
"alright, alright. i know yer hungry."
As soon as he opened the container, Y/n stopped fussing, but started to whine when Sans was taking too long.
"hold yer horses, it's hot. ya wanna burn yer tongue off?"
Sans helped sit her up enough to eat comfortably, then began to feed her, blowing(?) on the spoonfuls between every bite. Sometime during feeding, he heard a door slam downstairs, startling him enough that he almost dropped the spoon when he jumped.
Shit. Well, at least the baby's fed and safe in his room. By this time, Y/n started falling asleep in her position, so Sans decided feeding time was over and laid her down so she can sleep comfortably.
thank the stars, 'm fuckin' exhausted...
He laid down next to Y/n, putting her on the inside side of the bed. He faced her, laying on his side and noticed some sweat on her forehead. Good. Her fever's broken. He pulled his sweater up to cover her more and smiled. If it weren't for him, this poor child would be dead.
"SANS!!" he woke up with a start, hearing Papyrus' voice from just outside his room. "GET UP, YOU WORTHLESS WASTE OF SPACE!"
He never gets tired of insulting him...
From right in front of him, he heard tiny whimpers. It seems he wasn't the only one startled awake. Sans knows that if he doesn't hurry, his brother will shout again, but if he does hurry away, he won't get the chance to stop the baby from crying. His only choice right now is to take the babe with him, so he scooped her up gently, placing a hand on her head to gently ease her head on his shoulder. He swayed a bit to calm her down as he walked to the door and opened it just in time to see Papyrus' jaw already open. He was literally about to shout again. Papyrus shut his mouth quickly, earning an audible click, then he took a deep breath.
"I WISH TO TALK ABOUT..." he glared at the small bundle resting her head on his brother's shoulder. "THAT."
Papyrus wanted to talk? THE Terrible Papyrus wants to talk?
"funny." Sans drawled, leaning on his bedroom door frame and holding the baby up with one arm. "that's what i wanted to do, but you weren't havin' any of that."
"DON'T GIVE ME LIP, LEST I CHANGE MY MIND." Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets at him.
Sans rose his free hand, agreeing to have this talk.
"WHAT IS IT THAT YOU INTEND TO DO WITH THAT?"
"i intend to raise her."
"RAISE?" Papyrus scoffed. "HOW CAN YOU RAISE ANYTHING?"
"i donno." Sans glared at him. "seems you came out peachy."
Papyrus didn't have a comeback for that. Instead, he glared at Sans, who was glaring right back.
"FINE!" Papyrus finally concluded after a moment of silence as he threw his hands in the air. Sans had to start swaying for moment after he felt the babe jump from the sudden shout. "YOU MAY DO WHAT YOU WANT, BUT I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH... THAT." he glared one last time at the small bundle before turning, going into his room in his naturally fast pace and slammed the door behind him.
Sans sighed. This is not a good start, but at least Papyrus gave his approval on Y/n staying with them. For now, she must be hungry again, after that, he'll take her to the bathroom, where she can do her business and then he'll give her a bath.
After a week, Y/n was well enough to walk. She still had a small case of the sniffles, but other than that, she happily walked around the house like she owned the place.
Sans was sitting on the living room couch, slightly slouched, and watched Mettaton on TV. It seems the other brat with the flower is starring in the robot's latest bloodbath quiz show. That kid's going to die.
While watching TV, he checked on Y/n every once in a while. If she wandered away from his peripherals, he would use his magic to bring her closer to him and she had a blast every time he did. She had wandered away just moments before and he brought her back one last time, the baby giggling as he had her floating toward him.
"yer havin' way too much fun." he stated with a smirk and made her land right into his arms, transferring her to a spot beside him, but kept his arm around her. "that's enough wanderin' around. how about watchin' mettaton with me." It wasn't a question.
They watched the kid answer a question correctly and Dr. Alphys' face turned scarlet, hiding her face in her claws. Sans knew he just missed a little something while he talked to Y/n, but this was still funny.
"Mm." Y/n grunted as she tried to get Sans' attention, but he didn't want to miss what was happening next.
"hold on." Sans said as he snickered at Alphys' misfortune.
"Mmaah!" Y/n bounced in place, holding a handful of his hoodie's fur and tugged.
"kid, just hold on fer a sec."
Oh shit, the brat actually survived the quiz show. Whatever Mettaton has in store for them next, it's not going to be pretty. They're probably going to die.
Y/n whined. Sans knew that whine very well. He heard it from Papyrus when he was young. The kind of whine that said, 'you're out of time and if you don't pay attention to me right this second I'm going to start crying.' So he turned his head to look at her, trying to hide his irritation, but he was sure he was failing.
"what'dya want?"
She climbed into his lap for better access to his teeth, using a tiny hand to touch them, feeling the smooth of them despite being pointy. She lingered over the gold fang as she cooed, like as if giving it special attention. Sans kept his hands on her sides, to make sure she doesn't fall.
"really?" he said as a statement. "this was the so important thing you interrupted my show fer?"
"Dah."
"yer a little shit." he said with a smirk and a ghost of a laugh in his voice.
"...sit?"
"hey, 'ey,' ey! don't ya repeat that! yer that age, huh? fuck, now i gotta watch what i say."
"Fug."
"what did i just finish tellin' ya? huh?!" he shook her sides gently and she immediately started giggling. He gave a short chuckle along with her. "ya can't repeat everythin' ya hear."
Suddenly, she looked over him and stared as he heard a set of footsteps behind him heading towards the kitchen.
"WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT, HUMAN?" Papyrus glared.
"thought ya wanted nothin' to do with her, boss?" Sans piped up.
"DO YOU WANT TO DIE?"
"i-i was just sayin'..."
"SHUT UP." Papyrus disappeared into the kitchen.
"tch." Sans scoffed under his breath. "don't pay attention to 'im. he's just an asshole."
"Ah?" she pointed at the kitchen.
"yeah." Sans smirked mischievously. "that's asshole."
"Ashole?"
"yeah, that's right." Sans chuckled.
This is going to be good.
About a moment later, Papyrus emerged from the kitchen and immediately, just as Sans suspected, Y/n greeted him as if she hadn't seen him all day just because she learned his 'name'.
"Ashole!"
Sans snickered, trying to hold in his laughter as Papyrus stopped in his tracks.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, HUMAN?" Papyrus glowered, but that didn't seem to have an effect on Y/n.
"Ashole!" the baby answered him, then proceeded to giggle while reaching out to him.
Y/n's answer broke Sans' damn and he couldn't hold in his laughter any longer. Papyrus stared at the back of his brother's head in disapproval.
"REALLY, SANS?" he said that as a statement, making Sans roar harder. "UNBELIEVABLE, HOW CHILDISH YOU ARE ACTING." With one last half glare at the smiling child, Papyrus continued on his way. "I'M GOING TO MY ROOM. DO NOT BOTHER ME."
"ah!" Sans took in a gulp of air he supposedly needed from laughing so hard. "that was fuckin' priceless!"
"Ashole."
A month now that the human toddler shared the skelebros' home and for a month now, the human toddler tried to befriend the Great and Terrible Papyrus.
Said skeleton currently sat on the couch, trying his hardest to ignore the toddler by watching some TV. Sans had left to Grillby's, doing something that Papyrus doesn't care to know about. It seems Sans had caught on that Papyrus isn't really going to harm Y/n.
Despite being threatened countless times, Y/n isn't intimidated by Papyrus. No matter how loud he got, how hard he glared, how much he growled and glowered at her, the most frightened he got from her was when he accidentally startled her and she started crying. Although the satisfaction he got from making her cry felt amazing, it was an accident. Does that really count?
And to make matters worse, Sans taught her to call him 'asshole'! Someone's going to have to fix this, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he's going to be the one.
"Ashole!" Y/n called, trying to get Papyrus' attention who was currently ignoring her.
There's only so many 'ashole's' he can take and he was at his limit!
"MY NAME IS NOT ASSHOLE!" he finally exploded at her.
"No Ashole?"
Y/n has been picking up some words on her own by listening to the two skeletons.
"NO! I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS! YOU HAD BEST REMEMBER IT!"
"Pa..."
Papyrus sighed in exasperation. He really has to teach her?
"LISTEN WELL, FOR I AM ONLY GOING TO DO THIS ONCE." Y/n stared at him, her attention undivided. "SAY TERRIBLE." he spoke slowly as not to lose her on the first word.
"Teble..."
"PAPYRUS."
"Parus?"
"I SAID, PAPYRUS, YOU FOOL!"
"Parus!"
"BAH! YOU HAVE NOT EVEN MASTERED SPEECH. I DON'T KNOW WHY I AM EVEN WASTING MY TIME ON YOU. BEGONE!" he waved his hand in a go-away motion. "YOU ARE DISTRACTING ME FROM THE SHOW."
"Mm!" Y/n shook her head. "Parus!"
When he ignored her again, she tried calling him again. This time, the scowl on his face deepened and he growled at her persistence.
"WHAT IS IT NOW?!"
Y/n reached up to him. "Up?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT. I AM NOT HOLDING A VILE CREATURE SUCH AS YOURSELF!"
At first, she stared at him with her arms still reaching out to him, but he went back to ignoring her and she realized he wasn't going to hold her, she whined, slowly lowering her arms. When Papyrus heard the pained whine, he glanced in her direction and immediately regretted it. Standing at his feet was a teary-eyed baby, her face contouring more as she readied herself to cry.
"DO NOT EVEN DARE." Papyrus threatened, but she instead worsened. "I SWEAR I WILL THROW YOU TO THE SNOW!"
By now, she was softly crying and though he loved making her miserable, right now he only wanted to relax and she was making that impossible.
He could just leave. He could go to his room, but he knew if he did, Sans wouldn't listen to him if he wanted him for anything later on. The more time he spent thinking about how to make her stop without touching her, the more her crying worsened, so finally he'd had it and scooped her up in an uncomfortable fashion, holding her away from his body. She looked at him with watery eyes, her lip still quivering. He stared back with a deep scowl and narrowed eyes, then she smiled at him, wiggling and cooing happily. Papyrus' big hands easily held her securely.
"YOU CONNIVING THING. YOU PLANNED THIS, DID YOU?!"
"Parus!" was the one worded response she gave, giggling at him.
"YOU HAVE FOOLED SANS—NOT THAT THAT IS WORTHY OF ANY KIND OF PRAISE—BUT YOU WILL NOT FOOL ME! I KNOW OF YOUR TRICKS!"
Y/n stared at his face before a look of recollection flashed in her eyes as she remembered what Sans always calls Papyrus when addressing him.
"Bos."
Papyrus stopped momentarily, a small look of surprise crossing his features for a second before a deep crimson dusted his cheekbones.
"I-I SEE YOU ARE NOT AS MUCH OF A FOOL AS I FIRST THOUGHT..."
"Bos!" Y/n giggled again, trying to reach for him.
For the first time since Papyrus has known this child, he saw the charm she carries and for the first time he felt the tiniest want to hug her. He changed the way he was carrying her, instead cradling her in his enormous palms. In one, Y/n's head and upper body lay and in the other lay her lower body.
"VERY WELL, PET. YOU HAVE PROVEN THAT YOU INDEED KNOW YOUR PLACE."
Just then, Sans teleported in the living room, right by the door, holding another container of Grillby's homemade baby food.
"hey, boss, i'm—"
Sans stopped himself mid-sentence, as he witnessed Papyrus smiling at the small bundle he gently held in his palms. For once in years, Sans was witnessing not a smirk, but a genuine smile on his brother's face as Y/n reached up towards him while giggling happily.
Not wanting to ruin the moment, Sans' perma-smile relaxed and he entered the kitchen quietly, deciding to wait for their bonding to reach a conclusion so he can feed Y/n.
"YOU ARE CUTE, I ADMIT THAT MUCH. NOW, AWAY WITH YOU." he set her down and urged her away with a small push on her butt.
So she did her little waddle of a walk toward the kitchen where she could have sworn she saw Sans enter a moment ago.
"hey there, kiddo." Sans noticed her without so much as looking, as soon as she entered the kitchen. He's always had a watchful eyelight for her ever since she started walking around. Sans then picked her up, the same relaxed smile on his skull. "i don't know how ya did it, but ya befriended th' boss, huh?" he hugged her and she giggled.
"Dada~"
"huh?!" Sans startled, his eyelights shrinking to pinpricks and he pulled away enough to look at her face. "what'dya call me?"
"Dada!"
"h-hold on...'m not—i can't—"
Y/n put her tiny hands on either sides of Sans' skull and nuzzled her face against his cheekbone in affection.
"heh. ya made up yer mind, huh?" his eyelights grew in glee. "don't worry, kid, if ya want me as yer pops, i'ma be dad-sational at it."
"SANS! I HEARD YOU FROM HERE! STOP WITH YOUR ATROCIOUS PUNS!"
"oops." Sans said with a genuine grin, as Y/n babbled cheerfully.
"I AM WATCHING YOU!"
"no need to get ticked off." he winked at Y/n, who giggled.
"SANS!" Papyrus growled.
"just makin' sure ya won't clock me, boss."
"I WILL END YOU!"
"alright, alright! grumpy bones..." Y/n nuzzled Sans' face again at his mumble, who then smiled at her. "let's get some food in yer belly."
Y/n hummed cutely in agreement.
It's been a couple days since Y/n had befriended Papyrus and things had become more peaceful around the house. She was playing in the living room near the horizontal heater under the window, which ran across the floor and stretched almost the whole length of that side of the room, keeping her pleasantly warm. She noticed a shadow of something pass by the window. Intrigued, she pushed herself off the floor and made her way to the window, going under the curtain for a proper look. She noticed some snow falling from the sky and decided that she wanted a better look, so she used the metallic top of the heater to give her a boost and held onto the window pane for added support.
Y/n cooed softly at the sight of the beautiful shine of freshly fallen snow on the ground, her eyes twinkling in awe. She vaguely wondered if maybe her adoptive father would let her play in it if she asked later, when a red ball flew up and over across her vision. She let out a soft cry of joyous surprise, straining to see if she could see it again. Instead, she saw yellow spikes on top of someone's head peak out from under the window. Curiously, she leaned further to gently press her palms against the window, trying to get a better look when the monster's head popped the rest of the way up.
Spotting movement, the monster turned to look at the window, instantly spotting the human child. They stared at each other for a moment, until Y/n gave the monster a wide smile.
The yellow monster was young. He seemed to be a sort of lizard monster, spikes that started on top of his head trailed down his spine and down an impressive tail. He sported a deep red shirt with a black stripe across the middle. He had no arms and strong looking legs.
Instead of smiling back, he scrunched up his face in the most intimidating way he could muster and hissed at the human, but instead of jumping away in a scared fashion, Y/n's smile widened further, now giggling at Monster Kid's antics. Slightly confused, he tried again, upping his intimidation and hissed more viciously, but once again it had the opposite effect on the toddler.
What's going on? Why isn't she scared? Monster Kid's confusion shown on his face as he leaned closer toward the toddler, who was now gently patting the window. Now that he's had a better look, she's actually kind of cute. Will she laugh again if he made another face?
Y/n has been giggling uncontrollably in the corner for...Well, Sans wasn't exactly sure. He had dozed off in the living room while watching the other kid on T.V, who once again encountered Mettaton, this time on his cooking show. Last he checked, his daughter was playing off to the side with a new toy Grillby was able to obtain for her. However, her sudden loud joyous laughter pulled him from his dreamless nap.
Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eye sockets, Sans looked over, curious as to what was giving her so much glee.
"sweet pea, what are ya laughin' 'bout—"
Sans gasped as his SOUL plummeted, seeing his little girl standing on the metallic heater to look out of the window. There, Y/n was having a grand old time, babbling nonsense as if talking to someone. Sans, with empty eye sockets, feared for the worst and immediately pulled her away from the window via magic, which made the baby giggle even more.
"get away from there!" he shouted through a strained voice as he pulled her into him. "what if someone saw you?!" His raised voice coupled with his expression startled her into silence. "don't ever go near that window again, do you understand me?!"
Scared, Y/n started crying, not bothering to cling to her adoptive father. Sans sighed, hugging her protectively and making her bury her face into his shoulder, a gentle hand on the back of her head.
"stars, you scared th' livin' hell outta me..." 'someone obviously saw her. she wasn't gigglin' for nothin'.' he thought.
"There was a report of a human in this household." Doggo stood outside of the skelebro's house a couple days after the incident, and had knocked on their door. Accompanying him was Dogamy and Dogaressa, Greater Dog and Lesser Dog.
Sans was home taking care of his daughter, when he had heard knocking on the door. He immediately hid Y/n, telling her to be quiet until he said so.
"you honestly think i could hide somethin' like that here? you ain't really met my bro then, have ya?"
"Yeah, just like how he did somethin' about the kid what's been all over T.V with Mettaton?"
Sans' grin fell, his eyelights shrinking.
"Somethin' smells off about you." Dogaressa sniffed in his direction, leaning towards him. Sans leaned away with a face of irritation.
"You smell like a human." Dogamy growled at him, having caught a whiff himself.
"yer pro'bly smellin' th' kid. i, uh...encountered 'em a lil while back." Sans' grin was back.
"Then you won't mind if we sniff around?" Doggo asked as the rest of the dogs tried pushing through.
"be my guest." Sans opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out of their path.
If they find something they shouldn't, he's going to make them wish they hadn't.
They sniffed all around the house, even covering the upstairs as well. Besides the whole house smelling like Sans, which is to be expected—who's smelling pretty suspicious—there were no other smells out of the ordinary. Finally, Dogamy called the rest of the dogs downstairs where he stood with Sans, who was wearing a shit-eating smirk.
"There's nothin' out of the ordinary here. Let's go." he eyed Sans as he spoke, who's smirk only grew as they piled out the door.
Just before he closed the door, he told them a simple phrase that chilled them to their very core.
"d o n ' t c o m e b a c k ."
And he slammed the door behind them. That's an experience they were sure to remember and one they had a feeling was going to happen. The skeleton brothers really aren't ones who should be reckoned with.
As soon as they were out of sight, Sans teleported to Grillby's back room, effectively startling the elemental, who almost burnt him to a crisp. He must have found her while coming to fetch something.
"You owe me." Grillby sizzled, as he held a stuffed teddy just out of Y/n's reach, who was trying desperately to reach it.
It seems he literally popped in on Grillby playing with the babe. Sans grinned at the sight. and he likes to pretend he doesn't care.
"don't i always?"
"I'm running a business, Sans, and babysitting is not part of the job."
"yeah, yeah. i came back quickly enough, didn't i?"
"Never again."
"fine. be that way."
"Take that food with you." Grillby muttered, then promptly left the room.
Next to Y/n, he found another container of food Grillby prepared for her.
~*~
"WHY WERE THOSE MUTTS IN OUR HOUSE?!"
About an hour later, Papyrus came home and stopped dead center in the living room as Sans lounged on the couch, watching Y/n play with her new teddy next to him. Papyrus' face scrunched up more than usual and looked Sans in the eyelights before asking him that question.
"how'd ya know they were here?"
"I KNOW THE HORRID STENCH OF THOSE MANGY MUTTS ANYWHERE. AND YOU HAVE YET TO ANSWER THE QUESTION."
"why do ya think?"
"I KNEW SHE WOULD BRING TROUBLE. I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HER."
Sans gave Papyrus a hard stare. He saw his expression when he uttered those words and he was ready to protect the baby human if he needed to. As soon as Papyrus noticed his expression, he scoffed, giving him a quick smirk, then continued his way towards the stairs.
"MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T ATTRACT ANYMORE UNNECESSARY ATTENTION." Papyrus turned his head to give his brother a quick glance before he disappeared upstairs. "OR I'LL TAKE CARE OF HER MYSELF."
welp...
At least he's not referring to her as 'it' anymore.
She was gone in an instant.
Sans had wondered where his daughter went. He looked everywhere around the house and when he didn't find her, he panicked and headed outside to search. Monsters stayed out of the panicked skeleton's way, fearing his expression. He looked as if someone killed his loved ones, and that's exactly what he was fearing.
She was gone in an instant.
Up and down Snowdin he searched. He left not one rock unturned, not one door unopened. He was going to find his daughter, if it was the last thing he did and if anyone got in his way, they were going to pay the price! He only took his eyelights off of her for a moment!
And she was gone in an instant.
Finally, he decided to search the outskirts of town, surely she couldn't have gotten too far, right? With that little waddle she had, he doubted it. First, he decided to search towards the way to Waterfall. There! Waddling her way down, he saw her.
"y/n!" Instantly he called to her and she immediately responded.
She turned around and gave him a wide smile, happy to see him and even before he could tell her to hurry over to him, she did just that. He met her halfway and knelt down to hug her, to make sure she was really in his arms. Her breath tickled his cheekbone as she giggled. He's never letting her go again! When he gets home, he's going to give her a good talking to.
Just as he was about to scoop her up and shortcut back home, a magical spear shot through her back, the head peaking out of her chest. She gave out a strangled gasp, not even having the chance to let out a sound of surprise. Sans froze in place momentarily as he felt her tiny body slump in his arms.
"no. no, no, no, no!" as he pulled away enough to set her body on the snowy ground, the magical spear dispersed into the air, leaving only a gaping wound through Y/n's chest.
Y/n gaped at him, struggling to breathe, her small, tense body convulsed as her blood pooled beneath her. Sans tried to heal her, a trembling, glowing red hand hovering over her wound. His healing magic isn't the best, but maybe, just maybe—
"c'mon, y/n! don't—"
Her body stilled, going limp. Sans' tears streamed down his face and he let out a loud, strangled cry. He felt a small piece of his SOUL go empty. She was so young. Too young.
But she was gone in an instant. Just like that.
Raged grief. Sans stood, looking in the direction that the spear came from, his right eye socket flaring with red magic. By now the culprit was long gone, but he'll find them. He will never let them get away with murdering his child!
Suddenly, Y/n started crying. With a shocked expression, Sans whirled around to look at her—
And he found himself sitting up in bed in a cold sweat, out of breath and eye sockets dark. Beside him, Y/n was crying softly but in the dead silence, it seemed like the loudest noise he's ever heard.
But it was like music to his nonexistent ears.
He quickly scooped her into his arms, shushing her gently. Her crying was surely going to wake Papyrus. With a still pounding SOUL and fresh tear streaks staining his cheekbones, he watched her slowly go back to sleep and listened to her rhythmic breathing.
a nightmare... Come to think of it, it's been a while since he's had one. Slowly, he let her down on the bed once more and she stirred ever-so-slightly. Before settling back himself, he glanced at the digital clock on his night stand. 7:19 am.
How the fuck was he going back to sleep after that?!
Instead, he opted to laying next to Y/n in silence. It was just a nightmare, he told himself. There was no way he was going to let anyone harm Y/n. They'll have to get through him first.
Again, the kid with the flower was on T.V. This time, they were on MTT News. They were going to die for sure this time.
"Dada?" he heard from right in front of him.
Y/n was playing with both of her toys near the middle of the living room. He noticed she had a sort of thoughtful expression since a while ago, but the news was too interesting to pass up.
"what is it, sweet pea?" Sans replied without looking away from the T.V.
He doesn't think he's going to get used to Y/n calling him 'Dad', but he learned to respond to it at least.
"Bos?"
That's a good question. Papyrus has been out for most of the day. Sans saw him home earlier, but other than that he's pretty much been MIA. He's probably working.
"eh. he lives here. he'll be home later." Sans waved away her concern.
"Mm!" Y/n shook her head in an exaggerated fashion and decided to insist. "Bos!"
Dammit, he's going to miss the best part of the news!
"what do ya want me to do? huh?! ya wanna hire a freakin' search party for 'im?!" Sans was getting irritated, but it had little effect on his daughter.
"Uh! Luk!" she nodded.
"we ain't goin' out lookin' fer 'im, he can take care of his own damn self!" Y/n crawled up onto his lap for a proper face to face. "so stop worryin'."
"Dada! Luk!"
"heyeyey! who's th' parent here?! it sure as hell ain't you!"
"Dada~"
"i said, no." he said sternly. "now sit yer ass down, i can't see the tv."
Y/n whined in a tone that Sans knew meant she was going to start her waterworks.
"listen. the boss' pro'bly at undyne's, so he's fine. he'll be back b'fore it gets too late."
"Undin?"
"she's boss' friend who you ain't ever gonna meet."
Y/n finally sat on his lap, silently playing with the fluff of his jacket, allowing him to watch T.V. He watched the kid doubled over, panting with beads of sweat on their brow and the flower on their shoulder as usual, looking at them with concern. Dammit, he missed what happened, but it seems like they once again survived the killer robot. This kid is really something else.
They might die next time.
Suddenly, the front door opened forcefully, revealing Papyrus with a deeper scowl than usual.
"sup boss." Sans greeted with his usual grin.
"Up bos." Y/n tried to imitate her father with a smile that matched his grin. Sans ruffled her hair in praise at the attempt.
"YOU NEED TO LEAVE. NOW. GET UP." he eyed him down with an intense stare.
Sans' smile fell. "w-what's goin' on?" he got up nonetheless, taking Y/n with him.
"UNDYNE HEARD ABOUT Y/N," he pointed at the toddler. "AND IS COMING TO SNOWDIN TO SEARCH."
Of all the rotten luck!
"SHE'S ORDERED THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL GUARD TO SEARCH AS WELL, SO YOU NEED TO LEAVE. RIGHT NOW."
"how the hell did she find out about y/n?!"
"ALPHYS THOUGHT SHE SAW HER THROUGH ONE OF HER CAMERAS. APPARENTLY, SHE JUST NOW NOTICED WHEN SHE WAS LOOKING OVER THE FOOTAGE."
As Papyrus explained, Sans hurried to grab a couple of essentials and stuffed them into a small book bag he had laying around. He didn't think he would find a use for it, but he's glad he didn't decide to throw it out.
"ALPHYS FIGURED THE SECOND HUMAN MUST HAVE STUMBLED THROUGH SNOWDIN BY NOW." he eyed Sans as he put down the babe to put the straps of the bag over his shoulders. "I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BUY YOU ANYMORE TIME THAN THIS, SANS."
"this's all i need." he replied, zipping down his sweater, picking up his daughter again and sticking her in.
"Dada?" Y/n piped up before he fully zipped up his sweater.
"i need you to listen to me very carefully." he looked her straight in the eyes. "you need to stay quiet and i need you to stay still. understand?"
"Mm." she nodded.
"that's my girl." he zipped his sweater the rest of the way, as he held her up with one hand by her backside. He felt Y/n's little hands bunch up his shirt in her fists. Papyrus was a step away from stepping outside when he muttered,
"DON'T GET HER KILLED." and he was out the door, closing it behind him.
"...RESET..."
"S-Sans...?"
Sans trembled as he stood in front of the child with the flower, while carrying a SOULess Y/n in his arms. He looked up from Y/n's limp and pale form to look Frisk in the eyes. Flowey stared at the toddler, wearing a mixed expression of knowing and sadness.
"i said, RESET."
"...She's already died twice. Even if I did RESET, she'll just die again." Sans' gaze darkened, his eyelights disappearing. "H-Her death is set, there's nothing—"
In a flash, he was holding Frisk by the front of their shirt, their feet above the ground to meet Sans at eye level. Y/n was laying by his feet.
"R E S E T."
"W-What do you think you're doing?!" Flowey cried, fearful for Frisk's life.
"S-Sans..." Frisk choked out, their naturally soft voice reduced to a rasped whisper.
"if you don't, i'll make you!" he said, making Frisk's SOUL pop out of their chest.
Frisk realized in terror that Sans is not taking 'no' for an answer and he will not stop until he gets what he wants. Before he can take hold of their SOUL, Flowey bit his hand, but instead of dropping the human like the flower thought he would, he instead grabbed Flowey by his stem with his free hand, threatening to break it on the spot. There was a pause pregnant with dangerous tension, leaving everyone as stiff as a rock.
But after a moment he suddenly let go, letting Frisk land on their rump. They were so stunned, they simply stared at Sans. Flowey curved around Frisk's shoulders protectively, hissing at the skeleton.
"...again." Sans muttered after an awkward moment of silence.
"H-Huh?"
"let me try again. one last time. i'll save her."
Frisk felt bad, but they knew that if Y/n had already died twice, then it's most likely written into the timeline. It doesn't matter how many times they reset; the outcome will always be the same and with the way Sans is acting, they know he won't stop until he gets to the point where the timeline gets corrupted and he goes insane.
They can't do that to him, but it doesn't look like Sans is giving them a choice. They know that if they refuse, he's going to kill them and that will trigger a RESET even if Frisk doesn't want it.
Because Frisk doesn't want to die.
Slowly, the human stood up, keeping Sans' gaze the whole way up, then took a deep breath.
"One last time." Frisk spoke clearly.
Sans' eyelights returned, although dim. Frisk reached out and a floating red box with the word 'LOAD' appeared in front of them.
"This will be your last chance. I won't RESET to that point again." Frisk explained further.
Sans nodded, feeling DETERMINED. He will make sure his Y/n doesn't die.
As Frisk placed their hand on LOAD, Sans closed his eyes. He didn't feel the world shift. It was sudden—almost instantaneous—there was nothing but darkness and he was back in Waterfall, in the company of the Echo flowers.
But most importantly, he was holding a bundle of warmth, tucked safely under his fluffy sweater. For the third time.
This was his last chance. He sure as hell is not going to fuck this up.
This time, he won't let her out until he absolutely needs to.
She wiggled a bit and he knew exactly what was happening, but he kept walking. Despite already having gone through this, Sans still doesn't know where he's going. In a little while, she's going to shift again, poke her head out and—
"Dada~" Right on time. "Wee!"
He stopped walking.
His first slip up was letting her walk to a corner to relieve herself by her lonesome. He was sure she was going to come back on her own, and she would have, if she hadn't been distracted by Onionsan.
The sea monster had heard about the second human in the Underground and already knew the recent news about how it needed to be captured. She knew the first human to go by here—who was accompanied by a wary golden flower monster—was nice, offering friendly chit chat and promising to come back for a visit, but this one?
Oh...
She's so tiny! And so cute! How was she a danger?
"y/n?"
D'aww, that's a cute name. Y/n giggled and playfully reached for a yellow tentacle that came up and wiggled in front of her. Onionsan distracted her, trapping her with another tentacle and slowly lifted her to her face. The sea monster's smile was wicked, knowing she would get rewarded for this. However, she also felt bad. Such a small human...She had to be a baby, right? But, no matter the age, humans don't belong in the underground.
"y/n?!"
Sans found her laying on the ground near the edge of the water and rushed over to her side. He knelt down, picking her head off the ground, tears already gathering at the corner of his eye sockets. He noticed her clothes felt damp, which would have confused him, but he was too focused on the fact that although she seemed unharmed, she was missing her soul.
And then, the world went black and he was holding his daughter in his sweater again. Quickly, he left, clearly shaken and found a much safer place for her to pee, watching their surroundings closely, just in case, until she finished.
Thinking back on it now, it must have been that idiot octopus! No, this time she will pee in the water! Quickly, he set her down and took out her towel from the back pack.
Y/n whined, wiggling in discomfort. She has to go!
"hold on a lil bit longer fer me, sweet pea." Sans told her as he took off her pants, then promptly held the bottom half of her body in the water. "alright, go."
She shivered and protested, the water being a tad too cold to her liking, but the feeling of the water itself made her release nonetheless. He waited until she wiggled again, the green light for when she finished.
good. hope that bitch octopus chokes on it.
After taking her out of the water, he wiped her down with the towel, stuck it back in his bag, then stuck Y/n back in his sweater after dressing her back up, but left it open enough for her head to poke out. He doesn't need to worry about hiding her again until Hotland.
Sans knew Hotland well enough to know where he can take shortcuts so Y/n will remain unseen. Hotland is especially dangerous, mostly because he can't hide her away in his sweater. It's too hot, she's likely to get heat stroke. Hell, that's likely now, and she's not even in his sweater anymore! So he tried his best to keep prying eyes away from her, keeping her behind his legs at the very least. Somehow, he managed it and when he felt close enough to MTT hotel, he teleported to a room he's seen too much of.
The room's walls were plainly colored, much to anyone's surprise if you're thinking about the idol that owns the hotel. There was a large bed against the wall parallel to the front door. To the left and right of the bed stood nightstands with small, overly fancy Metteton-shaped lamps perched on top. Against the wall to the left of the room stood a good sized dresser with a large mirror and to the right of the room stood a large mini fridge, which was next to the bathroom door.
Everything he could ever need is in this room. He should be safe here for a while, but he won't be staying here for long. Just one night should be all right, enough to get some rest and a good night's sleep. Also, the walls were thick for several reasons, so if Y/n decided to be noisy, this room is the ideal place.
Sans completely unzipped his sweater, setting her down as soon as he landed inside the room and then sat himself on the plushy large bed. He watched Y/n look around at her new surroundings, even walked around, exploring the large room. Eventually, he noticed she walked up to where he was resting with a slight confused expression. Is the trip over?
"we stay here fer a lil bit." he vaguely explained when he noticed her expression, then he let the rest of himself fall onto the bed.
The one thing he was always grateful for in this room was how soft and comfortable the bed was. His bed back home felt like it was made of hay in comparison.
"Bos?"
"we'll pro'bly see 'im later." He honestly hoped not.
"Luk?"
"no." he firmly stated. "we're goin' on without 'im this time."
What comes next? Asgore. Sans was such a fool, he led Y/n right to him last time. While Frisk managed to melt Asgore's frozen heart, Y/n never got the chance.
Frisk had just finished gaining Asgore's MERCY and decided against doing anything with the barrier momentarily, deciding to visit their friends and tell them the good news, when Sans and Y/n reached the castle. What Sans hoped to gain from visiting the King with the second fallen human, he wasn't sure. Maybe he thought, with how Frisk was changing the Underground with their MERCY, that Asgore's heart was changed enough that maybe he can call off the hunt for the babe, if only he gave Y/n a chance. Surely a defenseless baby can convince him.
But Asgore instead saw another opportunity, a second SOUL he can use to finally, finally rid the Underground of that cursed barrier once and for all!
Sans walked the castle halls, having Y/n walk along side him. He honestly doesn't remember what distracted him long enough for Y/n to get away from him, it couldn't have been for more than a second that he looked away, but by the time he noticed and rushed after Y/n, the King had already ripped the SOUL from her and was breaking the barrier.
Frisk came back to a broken barrier, a SOULess toddler and a numb skeleton that had already grieved and had stared at the human with an idea. Frisk could reset, so Sans proceeded to ask them.
But this was his last chance. He could at least rest. He has until tomorrow for Frisk to fight Asgore and win his heart with their pacifism.
Y/n whined feeling hungry, giving Sans a pained, "Dada..."
Knowing her cues, Sans groaned as he sat up once more to open his bag and dig out the container of food he brought for her. He helped her up on the bed and she waited patiently to be fed, he also had some water in case she got thirsty. After this, it's her bath time and then bed.
This is perfect. He can breathe easy in this room, knowing that no one will come to look for her here. He let her play in the water as he bathed her and when it was time for bed, he laid down with her, hugging her to his chest and purring lowly; he knew the sound and vibrations puts her right to sleep.
"Sans..."
He managed to catch up to Frisk, who was on their way to the castle. Y/n was once again hidden in his sweater, but was peeking out slightly.
"kid." he greeted flatly.
"When I MERCY Asgore, this will all be over." Frisk said, filled with Determination. "By the way, I can't return to that time again."
"i got it." Sans replied, a bit too rough than he meant. "I've been meanin' to ask yer lil friend there..." Flowey and Frisk gave each other a glance before giving Sans their full attention again. "how'dya know y/n? i remember that look you gave her that time and i sure as hell didn't introduce her to ya."
His face darkened, trying to intimidate the flower to say nothing but the truth or else. It seemed to work as Flowey flinched away from his gaze before answering.
"O-One of the times I separated from Frisk, I decided to check the ruins just in case." Flowey paused to gauge Sans' expression, but it was hard to read. "The caretaker of the ruins had found her by then, but I felt bad leaving her with her, s-so I helped her escape when she was unattended." Flowey's words turned rushed when Sans' gaze turned angry. "I-I was separated from Frisk for too long by then, I-I grew worried! When I came back to her, I couldn't find her anywhere!"
That was probably after Sans found her. The story adds up so he went back to his neutral grinning face and shrugged.
"makes sense."
Flowey let out a silent sigh of relief. Without another word, Frisk turned and continued onward, Sans following behind them. Eventually, Y/n started feeling hot and smothered, so she started to fidget. Sans got the hint, stopping long enough to let her out and took her tiny hand with his thumb and index finger, her hand wrapped around his index.
"don't let go of my hand." he instructed as he eyed the stray pacified monsters scattered about. His eyelights burned into them, letting every monster know that if they neared Y/n, they'll be sorry.
"Ya." she replied, curious about the monsters that scurried away from Sans' gaze.
Finally, the small group got to the throne room's door way. Sans didn't dare enter, the one person he's trying to avoid is in there. Instead he waited for the human child to enter, staying away from the doorway in case Asgore so happens to glance that way. His plan was to wait for Asgore to be pacified, for the barrier to be broken. Only then will Y/n be safe enough to roam around freely.
By then, Asgore won't touch Y/n. He wouldn't have a reason to, the barrier would already be broken, then they can meet up with Papyrus and they can all be free once again.
Sans heard Frisk's soft voice, then Asgore's. After a while of speaking to each other, it grew silent until the sounds of fighting erupted, almost startling Sans.
And so it begins.
He decided to sit by the door, pulling Y/n onto his lap. He was afraid that if he let her go, even for a fraction of a second, she would wander off somewhere she shouldn't and she would—
nope, don't think about that.
His cellphone rang in his pocket, startling him enough to make him jump. When he glanced at the caller ID, he noted it was Papyrus.
"bro?" Sans answered.
"WHERE ARE YOU?"
"...that a trick question?" Sans rose a bone brow.
"NO! I WANTED TO CHECK ON YOU AND I WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. FOR NO REASON!"
OK, yup, that's not suspicious at all.
"Parus?" Y/n tried speaking to him, hearing his boisterous voice through the receiver.
"sorry, boss, but i can't disclose that info. gotta go."
"SANS, DON'T YOU—" that was all he heard before he hung up on him and for further security, he took out the battery from his cell too.
That was a warning. There's no way Papyrus would be that clumsy. He may be a softy at his core, but he's not clumsy.
That means the Guard knows he has Y/n.
And it also means they were on his trail until just recently, so it's only a matter of time before they search the castle. He stood, deciding he should keep moving after all or at least hide somewhere until Frisk breaks the barrier. He could go back to his hotel room, but just like anywhere else he could think of, it would only be a matter of time. He paced around the side of the door frame, not once passing in front of the opening.
Where can he go? The dogs would split up and search Snowdin forest and Snowdin, Undyne would be searching Waterfall, Royal Guards 01 and 02 would be searching Hotland and Papyrus would search literally anywhere else that Sans would likely visit. There is virtually nowhere Sans could hide and he just about forgot the hotel room is a place Papyrus knows he uses! Sans started to sweat.
Where can he go?!
There was a quick flash of darkness, he blinked and suddenly he was sitting down again with Y/n on his lap.
wait, wha—
His cellphone rang in his pocket, startling him enough to make him jump. When he glanced at the caller ID, he noted it was Papyrus.
shit, kid, seriously?!
"bro." Sans answered, standing up and taking Y/n with him.
"WHERE ARE YOU?"
"...boss, ya really wanna do this?"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION, SANS." his voice became firm.
Sans sighed. "sorry." he hung up on him, using his magic to pull the battery out and stuff his phone and the battery in his pocket. He has a feeling this is going to take a while. It hasn't even been an hour and already the kid died once.
Frisk died several times, judging by the amount of RESETS. Each time sending Sans back to sitting on the floor with Y/n in his lap and Papyrus calling his cell. Each time, Sans answered and each time he tried some form of pleading, to try and convince his brother to stop going after him and Y/n. He failed each time. This time, he simply gave one firm, dead serious statement.
"stop comin' after us, papyrus."
Papyrus was silent on the other line, most likely stunned.
"UNDYNE WILL BE VISITING THE KING TO GIVE HIM OUR REPORTS." Papyrus finally answered, his words strained. "WHERE ARE YOU, SANS?!"
That's the moment Sans understood the true reason why Papyrus was asking. He must have found a place to safely call him. Y/n had managed to dig herself deep into Papyrus' SOUL and he was now feeling the effects of hunting down his niece.
Sans slowly uttered, "the king's castle." before it was RESET once more.
He didn't know how many more RESETS he could take. Did Frisk RESET this many times last time they fought the king? Yes, they did. Thinking about it, he recalls the idiot octopus and having to chase away the same monster who was trying to get to Y/n four times before it finally settled down enough for him to move on to another monster who was trying to do the exact same thing.
He stood up one last time, his phone ringing in his pocket. If it RESETS again, screw it, he won't stand up again and he won't answer his cell.
Upon answering, Papyrus didn't start with the usual, "WHERE ARE YOU?"
"UNDYNE IS ON HER WAY TO THE CASTLE, TELL ME YOU ARE NOT STILL THERE!" a small confused sound escaped him, followed by a confused Sans.
somethin' changed.
"So you were here the whole time, huh?!"
Fuck.
"thanks fer the heads up, pap, but uh, she found us."
Sans heard him start to say something before he hung up on him. That should be enough of a clue for him to figure out where he was. He stood in front of Y/n protectively and focused his magic on Y/n's favorite teddy bear in his bag.
"I'll admit you have some guts, traitor." Undyne was scowling at him. "Who would have thought you'd be hidin' in the castle? Shouldn't you be runnin' in the opposite direction? Or maybe it's not guts you have, but stupidity."
"and here i thought papyrus liked to talk."
"Hand over the small human, Sans."
"yeah, no." Sans quickly replied.
Undyne darkly chuckled. "S'definitely stupidity."
She got into her signature fighting stance that Sans knew well, while he simply stood there, hands in his pockets. He closed his eye sockets, taking a deep breath before opening his eyes again. Red magic overflowed one of his eye sockets, the other an empty void.
"y/n." the little girl looked up at her father's big back. "mr. ted's playin' hide 'n seek." Sans gestured behind her. "find 'im quick!"
A fun little game he enjoyed playing with her. He would hide her favorite stuffed teddy bear and she would go look for it. He would follow her around the house, telling her whether she was getting colder or warmer. Also enjoying this game, the toddler cheered while clapping her hands, then turned and started running to look for the teddy.
"Oh, no, you don't!"
Undyne lunged toward her, but Sans quickly blocked her way, spiked, red bones springing up in front of her. If she had taken an extra step forward, he would have impaled her, so she instead stumbled backward, glaring at the skeleton.
'we're gonna have a g o o d t i m e.' he thought, his perma-grin turned into a smirk as the hallway's air became so heavy with magic, you can choke on it.
"yer gettin' warmer!" Sans spoke to Y/n as she turned the corner behind him, summoning a red, spiked bone to his hand. He short-cutted directly in front of Undyne to be in her face. "keep yer eye on yer opponent!"
He swung his weapon as he spoke and Undyne barely dodged it. She felt the hot sting of concentrated magic as it grazed her cheek.
"You little—" Sans didn't let her finish her sentence, sending flying spiked bones at her.
To dodge, she back flipped and slashed the rest away with her magical spear, his magic dispersing into the air. Sans sent another flying bone attack her way and she easily dodged it, quickly moving away and rounding the corner.
Excellent. Now Undyne is at a perfect distance away from Y/n. He just has to keep her away.
Spotting an opening, she dashed for it, trying to get back to the toddler, but Sans had another wall of bones spring up from under her feet. This time the wall reached the ceiling and once again made her stagger backwards. Sans quickly filled in the space between her and the wall of bones by short-cutting in between and once again swinging at her, but she won't fall for the same trick twice. She instead blocked it with her spear and made to brute force him back, but he disappeared, reappearing beside her as she stumbled forward with a wide eye and he kicked her into the wall.
Undyne growled viciously at him, frustrated. Why can't she get passed him?!
"SANS!" Just then, Papyrus appeared behind her, his eyelights searching the area around him.
It was obvious who he was looking for.
"Papyrus!" Undyne called out to him. "Take the small human's SOUL—AH!"
Sans interrupted her yet again, this time turning her SOUL blue, slamming her into the wall, then making her fly to the other end of the hall passed Papyrus.
"SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"protectin' my daughter." Sans looked at his surprised brother—who quickly recovered—straight in the eyelights. "no one's layin' a finger on a strand of her hair s'long i'm around."
The brothers watched Undyne as she shakily stood up on the other side of the hall. Her eye locked with Sans, her expression livid.
"Where Is She?" Papyrus' voice was lower than his usual volume.
"mr. ted's playin' hide 'n seek with her." Sans smirked.
"GOOD. KEEPS HER OUT OF THE WAY." Papyrus said, conjuring a long spiked bone weapon into his hand.
"Papyrus!" Undyne spoke up, noticing he wasn't exactly going against his brother. "Don't tell me yer goin' against the King, too?!"
Papyrus hesitated, slowly turning to face her.
"I CAN'T LET YOU HURT HER, UNDYNE."
Sans was surprised to hear his brother of all monsters say that. His perma-grin turned genuine as he smiled at him.
and he acts like he doesn't care.
"Don't make me take you down, too." Undyne lowly said, a small plea in her eye.
Papyrus was still her friend. She didn't want to go against him if she didn't have to, but she could see that she might have to for the King.
"WHETHER I LIKE IT OR NOT," he gave her a hardened stare and spoke slowly. "THAT...HUMAN IS MY NIECE. I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT MY NIECE."
"I'm sorry it has to go this way, Pap," Undyne truly was sorry, her SOUL feeling heavy. She once again got into her fighting stance, conjuring a magical spear. "But you leave me no choice." She flew at the brothers. "En garde!"
Undyne truly was a skilled fighter. She fought as if her life depended on it and took on both brothers with such skill, it was clear why she was the captain of the Royal Guard. But everyone has their limits, even she was starting to get overwhelmed—especially with how well the brothers fought together. They pushed her back enough that they eventually re-entered the Judgment Hall.
'well, isn't this perfect.' Sans thought with a smirk.
~*~
Y/n had wandered to the basement of the castle, finally finding her favorite teddy resting against a strange box. She gave the box no mind, completely proud of herself at winning one of her favorite games. She quickly went over, picked up the teddy and hugged the lights out of it, giggling happily. She was sure she saw it in the bag her father was carrying around, but it doesn't matter. She won!
Usually Sans would congratulate her in some way and she found it strange that he wasn't behind her, cheering her on or telling her whether she was close or not.
"Dada?" she looked around the room, but started getting sad when she couldn't find him.
He has to be around here somewhere, there's no way he would just leave her. Hugging her teddy tighter for confidence, she made her way back up the stairs, to look for her adoptive father.
Coming to the hallway they started in, she saw the bag Sans all but abandoned and went for it, thinking about what direction Sans could have possibly went. There's the door next to her. She remembered that big kid with the pretty flower went in there. Before she went to go find her teddy, Sans' back was facing her and when he called out that she was getting warmer, she glanced back and his back was still facing her. Come to think of it, he looked kind of tense? Doesn't matter, have to find him. She continued down the hallway, around the corner and down another hallway. Just as she was about to give up and start crying, she thought she heard her father's voice and followed it, finding herself back in the pretty room from before. There he was! Happily, she walked towards him and called out to let him know she was there. She saw his head turn toward her voice with a mix of confusion and surprise on his skeletal features. Without his eyelights, he looked intimidating, but Y/n shook it off as Sans reached a hand toward her.
"don't come over here!" the urgency in his voice made her stop in her tracks and also got the attention of Papyrus as well as Undyne. "go hide!"
Before she lost it, Undyne seized the opportunity. She got a running start toward the toddler and jumped over Sans, who tried to block her way. Undyne outstretched her arm with an open hand toward Y/n, the babe's SOUL flickering into view. Sans took hold of Undyne's SOUL just before she reached her, slamming her down—startling Y/n—and making her fly away once more to Papyrus who used his bone weapon as a bat and hit her in the side as if she were a baseball. Undyne was pushed back slightly from the force and she doubled over with a pained face, placing a hand where Papyrus hit her. The tall skeleton then stood in front of her to obscure her view of his niece as Sans tried to usher a now crying Y/n back into the next room.
Papyrus' frown deepened. He didn't want this. He didn't want to fight his friend, didn't want to see her in this state because of him, but she left him no choice.
"UNDYNE ." Papyrus called her attention. "STOP TRYING. WE CAN END THIS NOW, IF YOU STOP PURSUING Y/N."
"The King needs just one more SOUL." she growled out.
"THE KING CANNOT HAVE THIS ONE."
This is a problem. Y/n has decided that she will not leave Sans' side now that she's crying. She wants him to pick her up and console her as he always does when she's upset, but this isn't the best time for this! He shot Papyrus a glance to make sure he's got Undyne and Papyrus caught his gaze.
'm takin' y/n into the next room. Sans communicated with his eyes.
Papyrus nodded, understanding him and Sans picked up Y/n and hurried on his way to the next room.
In a fit of anger, Undyne launched a magical spear up from behind Papyrus and struck his back, startling him immobile for a moment and Undyne launched herself at Sans who was still rushing toward the next room. Hearing Papyrus cry out in pain, Sans turned to look and found himself face to face with Undyne. She reached out as quick as she could, the toddler's SOUL once again flickered into view in front of her and she took a tight hold of it, her smile growing wicked in victory. It was almost too fast for Sans to react. In a panic, Sans summoned a Gaster Blaster and fired at her, launching her away from him and his baby back toward Papyrus. However, instead of letting go of her SOUL in surprise, the fish captain held on tighter and protected it from the blaster's attack, effectively ripping the SOUL right out of Y/n. The babe jerked forward in response and her wide eyes instantly grew vacant. Sans held her protectively as she slumped in his arms.
no...no, no, no, no! stars!
"y/n!!"
It felt like the fish lady took his SOUL instead and was squeezing every drop of life out of it. Sans let tears freely stream down his cheekbones.
As he recovered, Papyrus saw the teal colored SOUL gripped in Undyne's fist and saw her in a red light as his magic flared up in anger. He flew at her at a speed she's never seen him move before and he caught her by surprise, injuring her hand with the sharp end of his large spiked bone weapon. He caused her to drop the poor SOUL with a mixed cry of pain and surprise. Papyrus caught the SOUL before it touched the ground and pulled up a large wall of blue bones on all sides around Undyne, when he saw her start to lunge toward it.
"SANS!" Papyrus called as he attacked Undyne. His tone was sharp and stern, snapping Sans out of his grief. "STOP YOUR SLOBBERING AND CATCH!"
Without another warning, he threw the SOUL his way and Sans easily caught it with his magic before it had a chance to collide into anything. With Y/n still in his arms, he sent one last furious glare at Undyne and promptly disappeared out of the Judgment Hall.
Sans reappeared somewhere in Waterfall, the glow of the crystals around them lit them up in an almost eerie way.
He quickly set Y/n down and pressed her SOUL against her chest.
"c'mon, c'mon!" he urged quietly through a strained voice when her SOUL stayed put instead of slipping into her body like it should. "why isn't it—just get into her body, ya little shit!"
For some reason, Y/n's SOUL just wasn't responding to her body and it was starting to scare him. A sudden little crack! noise petrified him. For a moment, he stayed as still and stiff as a rod, until he heard it again, the noise coming from just beneath his hand. Holding the SOUL gently, he turned it over to see it had a small section on the top right missing and a small fissure in the middle. Fresh tears rolled down his cheekbones as he let the SOUL slip from his hand and onto her chest.
"stars...y/n—"
He choked, his voice stopping in his throat.
She's dying.
She's dying and there's nothing he could do about it. Not even the kid is going to help him. that nightmare from before...a magical spear.
It's happening again. For the third time.
He lifted her body and hugged her to his chest, doing the only thing he could: he sobbed for her, his tears soaking the ground beneath him.
He realized all he did for her was in vain.
He realized he wouldn't get to see her go to school.
Wouldn't get to see her grow.
Crack!
Wouldn't get to chase boys away when she came of age.
Wouldn't get to eat with her anymore.
Crack!
Watch TV with her anymore.
Nap and sleep with her.
Laugh with her!
Crack!
STARS!
She was so young. Too young!
'my baby! my little girl!'
His SOUL reached out to hers without his knowledge and connected to hers—which was between their bodies—instantly filling in the blanks of her SOUL with his. It was an intense feeling, one he couldn't compare to anything else he's ever felt and with a startled gasp, he felt weak and his vision blurred, growing dark, darker and darker still until he collapsed into a dreamless slumber, still holding his child in his arms.
"Sans...Wake up..."
The voice was pleading, distant, but he felt so, so tired. Just five more minutes he thought and he rolled over.
"SANS!"
A smack to the skull startled him awake, enough to make him sit up.
"YOU—" He found Papyrus glowering down at him, but knowing his brother like the back of his hand, he found worry in his angry expression. "HOW DARE YOU!"
Hold on? He's laying in bed? How did he get here?
"what'd i do?" his voice sounded more gruff than usual.
"YOU WERE ASLEEP FOR THE REST OF YESTERDAY AND MOST OF TODAY! IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME COMING TO WAKE YOU UP, YOU WOULD HAVE SLEPT RIGHT THROUGH ALL OF TODAY, AS WELL AND DON'T YOU TRY TO DENY IT!"
"wouldn't dream of it—" a sudden realization came to him, his eyelights vanishing. His baby! "where is she?!"
"UGH! WILL YOU STOP WITH YOUR HIDEOUS PUNS, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING. NOW, GET UP! WE HAVE MUCH TO—"
"papyrus, where is she?!"
"THAT'S BOSS TO YOU, ESPECIALLY AFTER THIS STUNT YOU PULLED!"
"b-boss..."
"SPARE ME YOUR THEATRICS. THE PET IS OUTSIDE."
"she's what?!"
Sans rushed out of bed, almost stumbling on his way downstairs. His brother called out to him, but he was much too focused on locating Y/n. His SOUL pulled him toward the front door, which he found too strange to not question, but Y/n comes first. He tore open the door and the scene in front of him stunned him speechless, his eyelights dimly reappearing.
He found a laughing Y/n—who was clad in winter wear, where she got that, he has no idea—running away from a hissing Monster Kid, who was clearly not trying to frighten her. In fact, he was smiling and Sans was one hundred percent positive that he could run so much faster than that slow trot he was doing after her. Another little surprise he found was Frisk jogging beside Monster Kid with a goofy grin on their face and Papyrus' scarf? They were under-dressed for the weather, but he noticed they wore gloves, a hat and Papyrus' scarf, weirdly enough.
Papyrus willingly gave them his scarf?
"IF YOU INSIST ON STANDING BY THE OPEN DOOR WAY, YOU COULD AT LEAST WEAR YOUR SWEATER!" Papyrus' voice behind him almost startled him and he suddenly felt his sweater drop onto his head.
Sans continued to stare while also slowly putting on his sweater.
"...what happened?"
"WHAT HAPPENED, BROTHER, IS THAT I BROUGHT YOU AND Y/N BACK HOME WHEN I FOUND YOU TWO AFTER HOURS OF LOOKING FOR YOU AFTER YOU DISAPPEARED. BE GRATEFUL!"
"thanks, bro." Sans looked at him with a genuine smile and wide sockets.
Papyrus grunted for a response. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DID, BUT I WAS SURE SHE DIED."
"i don't know..."
"HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT YOU DID?!"
A smiling Frisk suddenly appeared in front of them, the brothers not noticing when they walked over.
"How are you feeling, Sans?" Frisk asked.
"what's goin' on, kid?"
"The barrier's broken."
"no shit...?"
"IT IS TRUE, SANS." Papyrus piped up.
"w-what about undyne?"
"DESPITE YOU HAVING LEFT WITH THE PET, I WAS STILL BATTLING HER WHEN HUMAN FRISK TOLD US THE NEWS. THERE WAS REASON TO FIGHT NO LONGER."
"I wanted all of us to go up to the surface together. The King's waiting for me to return to go up."
waitin'? "who's all of us?"
"Just meet up in the room after the throne room in the castle. There's something I need to do before I go." Frisk answered briskly and left to finish their business, waving at Monster Kid as he passed him.
"Dada!"
Y/n, finally noticing that Sans was up, ran up to him and Sans immediately welcomed her with open arms. He picked her up as soon as she landed in his arms and hugged her as tightly as her small body could handle. He suddenly felt a sense of being complete, his SOUL thrumming loudly in his nonexistent ears.
She's alive! Stars, she's alive! He wasn't sure how, but he did it! This is the happiest he's ever felt in his entire life.
Y/n put her tiny hands on the sides of his face and nuzzled her face against his skull.
"heya, sweet pea." he muttered against her.
"Heya, seepee." she repeated after him.
Sans chuckled, his eyelights growing in happiness.
"GET INSIDE OR STEP OUTSIDE, BUT STOP STANDING AT THE DOOR WAY AND CLOSE THE DOOR!" He heard Papyrus yell out from somewhere inside the house, effectively ruining their short moment.
Suddenly, he became aware that Monster Kid was standing some feet away, shuffling a bit nervously on his feet and staring.
"I-Is she done playing?" he piped up when Sans' eyelights landed on him.
Sans stared at him for a moment then turned his attention to the toddler in his arms.
"wanna play some more?"
"Ya!"
"go get 'im." Sans said playfully as he set her down. He then turned his attention back on M.K, his expression suddenly turning serious and his eyelights going out. "don't hurt 'er."
M.K shivered slightly as a chill from Sans' intimidating stare ran down his spine.
"I won't." he quickly replied, then turned to join her.
Sans exhaled through his nose cavity, watching the two continue their play from earlier before stepping inside the house and closing the door. He failed to see Papyrus in the kitchen or the living room, so he guessed he was in his room. Sans felt a small, strange twinge of disconnection, like as if a piece of the puzzle he called his SOUL was missing. He's been feeling strange since he woke up, this is something he needs to investigate. Once in his room again, he sat down on his bed and placed a hand over his SOUL. He paused for a second, thinking that there shouldn't be anything different about his SOUL.
Right?
He pulled it out carefully and immediately noticed a change. It's smaller? Not only does that not make sense, he also has no idea what it means. Alright, think, what makes a SOUL change size?
One example would be if you want to disappear. If you're so scared shitless that you want to disappear off the face of the Underground, your SOUL shrinks itself so small that it's almost impossible to detect, effectively making you virtually invisible to monsters as long as you stay hidden.
But he's not shitting himself in fear, in fact he's not scared in the slightest, just confused and maybe even a little concerned. Plus, his SOUL didn't shrink that much, just a little, but that's never-the-less noticeable to him.
Another example of SOULs changing size would be involving a SOUL bond. It happens to monsters and in theory, humans as well if they're getting involved with a monster. Both SOULs would grow a bit to accommodate for the other. A SOUL bond has two SOULs touch, entwining with one another so they're both quite literally joined and both parties would become one. It's a lovely, consensual bond and only happens with those who have a significant other. It is impossible to SOUL bond with someone who don't share mutual feelings.
Therefore, it is impossible for that to be a possibility for Sans' situation. Apart from the previous examples, SOULs do not change sizes.
He has absolutely no idea what was going on. The only thing that would give him some kind of clue would be Y/n's SOUL. She was the last one with him before he knocked out and woke up in his bed.
He'll check it later. She always sleeps with him anyway.
Since it was already afternoon, the rest of the day went by quickly. Frisk came by a second time to make sure that Sans, Papyrus and even Y/n will make it to the King's castle to break the surface together, then went on their way once they were given the OK.
Sans called Y/n back into the house and stripped her of the winter clothes, before they left for the castle. She shivered, even while in the house that was well heated, but before he could think to once again stick her in his sweater, she did it herself, taking both sides of the open sweater and trying to close it around her. Sans chuckled at her antics and helped her out by zipping up his sweater halfway and scooping her up. She giggled in joy and snuggled into him once she was wrapped in warmth.
"ready to go, boss?" Sans asked when his brother came down the stairs and stood beside him.
"JUST HURRY IT UP."
Without another moment's hesitation, he touched Papyrus' arm and shortcutted to the King's castle, in the hallway right before the throne room. Sans was honestly done with this hallway and he wouldn't mind not coming back here for a good long while. Sans let Y/n out, confident she won't be harmed.
As they walked into the throne room, they heard some voices in the next room. Walking into that room, they found Undyne—who Sans greeted with a soft glare, and she sent it right back—Alphys, Frisk and Flowey, Asgore, of course, but there was also another goat monster who Sans didn't recognize. As soon as Sans stopped walking he felt two tiny hands grab fistfuls of the back of one of his pant legs. He glanced down and found Y/n cutely hiding her face in the fabric of his basketball shorts. She was scared of someone in here, his SOUL was telling him so and it took some of his will to not start pointing accusing phalanges.
"—Dreemer."
The female goat monster seems to have been scolding the King and he seemed to be shrinking away from her. Never in Sans' life has he seen the Monster King in such a state.
It was incredibly satisfying!
"Good, you're here." Frisk smiled and everyone else's attention landed on the brothers.
"YES, YES, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?? ARE WE GOING TO THE SURFACE OR NOT?!" Papyrus impatiently asked.
"Sans." Alphys called, her gaze trained on something behind his leg. "You seem to have something attached to your leg there."
good eye there, einstein... Sans rolled his eyelights, but before he could tell her to mind her own business, the female goat monster gasped after catching a glimpse of Y/n's shy and slightly frightened face. She quickly went over and lifted the toddler, all eyes now on her.
"My child! I have looked for you everywhere!"
Y/n squealed in surprised, immediately following up with a short cry. Sans, suddenly feeling a sense of panic and fear, curled his hands into fists, his eyelights gone.
"Oh, dear...It is I, Toriel! Do not be frightened."
"That child..." Asgore piped up from where Toriel had left him, but she glared at him, daring him to continue. She became protective. There was no way he will hurt this child.
"hey!" Sans immediately caught Toriel's attention. "give me back my daughter." he growled out.
"Daughter??!!" Alphys screeched in surprise. She definitely missed something and now she wants to know!
Toriel narrowed her eyes at the short skeleton, sizing him up.
"You must be Sans." she spoke slowly; calculating.
Y/n had started to remember Toriel, feeling the soft of her white fur on her paws. There was a soft, calming feeling that was starting to settle in Sans' SOUL, but he was too on edge to notice.
"T-This is who I was talking about..." Frisk spoke to Toriel.
Frisk was growing nervous at the sense of heavy magic starting to rise and the smell of ozone coming from Sans that slightly grew stronger and stronger as the seconds passed. Toriel nuzzled her soft cheek against Y/n, who giggled, before setting her down to let her go back to her father. Sans instantly picked her up as soon as Y/n was close enough.
"Sans, this is Toriel. She was caretaker of the Ruins." Frisk spoke up again.
"so yer the famous caretaker i keep hearin' about." Sans started to calm down now that his daughter was in his arms and now that he knew who Toriel was.
"Thank you for showing this young child MERCY."
Sans doesn't know what that flower was so worried about. He can read people pretty well and Toriel doesn't seem like the kind of monster you have to run away from. She seemed quite motherly, in fact.
"If I had found out you had killed this child instead, you would not be standing." Toriel then added, her demeanor taking a quick one-eighty with a gaze, stone hard and chilling to the bone.
Pun intended.
ah, there it is! She managed to actually give Sans a small chill up his spine.
"Mam." Y/n pointed a chubby finger at Toriel.
Sans made an incredulous face at his daughter. "Yer kiddin', right?"
"U-Uh...Did she just call me 'Mother'?" Toriel's face completely lit up, a soft rosy color rising to her cheeks, her previous chilling demeanor gone without a trace.
"unfortunately."
Toriel opted for ignoring Sans for a moment and knelt down in front of him to speak to Y/n.
"You want to call me your mother, do you not?" she cooed at Y/n.
The toddler reached a hand out, wanting to touch one of the small horns poking out of the fur on Toriel's head, responding with another "Mam." so quietly that Toriel would have missed it had she not been looking at her.
"She is well-behaved." Toriel said, more to herself than anything else.
"yup." Sans replied, keeping a watchful eye on her.
"If that is your wish, little one. There are no barriers, you are free to do as you'd like."
Sans stared at her in pleasant surprise, not bothering to stop her from plucking Y/n from him for a second time. Y/n babbled in happiness in Toriel's arms.
"OH MY STARS!!!" Papyrus suddenly exclaimed, having heard Toriel's pun.
Sans started howling with laughter as his brother shouted out. Toriel stared at Sans' sudden outburst, a smile playing on her face.
Nevermind what he thought before, anyone who appreciates bad puns are good in his book! Plus, Y/n doesn't seem to mind her anymore. As Y/n settled comfortably in Toriel's arms, a sense of calm joy started settling in Sans' SOUL. Right, now he knows for a fact this has to do with Y/n's SOUL.
"HURRY, HUMAN! BEFORE SANS DECIDES TO ADD TO HER OFFENDING PUNS!!" Papyrus exclaimed as he hurried past them toward the broken barrier.
With a smile, Frisk followed behind him and everyone else followed their example. As they exited the mouth of the opening, the sun's blinding sunset rendered the group speechless.
"It is beautiful." Toriel breathed out, and Frisk nodded, tears gathering in the corners of their eyes.
"Breathtaking..." Alphys muttered.
"BROTHER. WHAT IS THAT?" Papyrus called Sans' attention.
"that, bro, is what's called the sun." Sans wore a genuine smile.
"We made it." Undyne breathlessly commented, a proud tone in her voice.
"It is more beautiful than I remember..." Asgore said.
Toriel set Y/n down so she could go to her father and took Frisk's hand instead.
"I, THE TERRIBLE PAPYRUS, WILL BLESS THE HUMANS WITH MY PRESENCE! NYAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!"
"W-Wait, Papyrus!" Frisk tried to stop him, but their voice fell on deaf ears.
"don't worry, kid. i got 'im." Sans winked and with Y/n in his arms, he short-cutted away.
Papyrus didn't get too far before Sans appeared and stopped him, convincing him that the humans were simply not ready for his magnificence just yet. He needs to finish packing anyway.
By the time they got back home, Papyrus was buzzing with the excitement of meeting new humans, Sans was beaming, happy that his brother was happy and Y/n had fallen asleep, her head resting on his shoulder, the fluff of his sweater making good for extra cushion. Sans bid Papyrus a good night, who was also heading to bed, and closed his bedroom door behind him. Setting Y/n down on the inside side of the bed, he crawled in after and got comfortable.
Before he goes to sleep, Y/n's SOUL must have something different about it. He carefully took it out to continue his previous investigations and froze upon seeing pure white filling in for missing pieces and cracks.
This is where the rest of his SOUL went? He brought his SOUL out to compare and it immediately gravitated toward hers. It stopped just short of touching and they happily floated beside each other. Sans again felt complete, both SOULs visibly pulsed silently. This is more than a SOUL bond. It's like he skipped the SOUL bond completely and went straight to two steps above it. His SOUL is literally attached to hers now! He wanted to save her so badly, his SOUL revived her by filling itself in. So all those extra senses of random emotions he felt were actually hers.
This SOUL thing is going to take some getting used to.
But he saved her yet again. If it weren't for him, Y/n would have died ten times over.
Tomorrow, he and the others will continue their exploration of the surface. They're going to have to play this right. Humans are fragile beings and even with Frisk as the new Monster ambassador, the rest of the humans will first see Monsters with fear. This will definitely be tricky, but at least Monsters are free.
Satisfied, Sans hugged Y/n to his chest and happily let her rhythmic breathing lull him to sleep.