Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Frisk's head was pounding.

Every footfall agitated the headache. It felt like they had bowling balls rolling around inside their head and crashing against the delicate skin at their temples. School had been pretty awful. They were grateful most of their lessons were with Toriel, at least; her voice was soothing enough not to hurt their head too much. They had managed to keep up a happy appearance all day, every smile a monumental achievement.

Why was everything so hard?

Two years since the barrier was broken, two years since Monster-kind had been set free. They'd done the impossible at eleven years old, and now they could barely get through a day without imploding for one reason or another. They had worked so hard to keep up with their good first impression. They needed to keep it together; if their facade ever slipped, everyone would be disappointed in who they really were.

They spotted a rock and punted it as far as they could. It bounced off the sidewalk and into a gutter.

It sucked that they had peaked before puberty.

As it were, they were now thirteen. Their body was constantly uncomfortable, though that wasn’t really new. Their body hadn’t felt comfortable since they were eight years old. It didn't matter, anyway. They should focus on keeping it all together and dodging any concerns that might come up.

And for now, they just… needed to get home.

They lived in their own apartment, in the same building as most of their friends. After leaving the Underground, the monsters had offered to find humans for Frisk to live with. But they absolutely didn't want that. So they insisted on living in the community of monsters, but in their own space. They liked their independence, liked the space. They wanted it. They didn't want anyone to wake them up in the morning, or help keep the apartment clean, or help them with this fucking headache -

A year back, their group of legal guardians had apologized to them for the harm they experienced in the Underground, and reaffirmed that they would help Frisk find a home among humans if they ever preferred it. 

They had asked twice now, and Frisk was worried they might ask again soon unless they managed to stop worrying everyone. Frisk was dizzy with the fear that they had burdened their guardians and they wanted to cast them into the human community. Frisk absolutely did not want that. 

So! They would just work harder than ever to make sure they pulled more than their weight. They would be so good that the adults would all have to admit they were perfectly capable of taking care of themself and everyone around them! Going above and beyond to help their friends and keep the adults happy! They would be so good that nobody could ever say that Frisk was indebted to them!

They had decided a long time ago that they never wanted to owe anyone anything. Never again.

“Hey Frisk, you doin’ okay?”

It was lunchtime earlier that day. Frisk sat idly on a swing, staring off into space. Some of the young monsters played on the playground nearby, their laughter echoing around the schoolyard. 

“Friiiisk. Hey dude, you there?”

Frisk snapped to attention. MK stood beside them, their head sideways as they tried to catch Frisk’s eye. 

“Oh! Yeah. Yeah! Sorry, is it time for student council?”

“Student council?” MK moved around in front of Frisk. “It’s lunchtime.”

“Yeah?”

“Those meetings have always been after school. And there isn’t one today.”

“Whoops! Yeah, after school! Different day! Slipped my mind!” Frisk laughed. They cringed internally as they laughed a bit too loud.

MK sighed. “You’ve been really off lately, dude.”

“Me?” Frisk couldn’t meet MK’s eyes. “Probably just tired. And it’s cold out today!”

MK shivered, shrugging their scarf up higher. “Ya got that right. Why are you even out here just sitting on a swing? Ya gotta be freezing.”

Relief swept through Frisk as they caught a way out of the current conversation. They liked MK a lot, but they often paid too much attention to Frisk, checking in on them whenever something seemed different. 

Thankfully, they were also easy to distract. 

“You’re totally right!! I’m super cold just sitting here.” They wrapped their purple winter coat tightly around themself. “Hey, why don’t we get the other kids together? I’ll teach you all how to play Capture the Flag!”

MK’s eyes shone. “OHH!! Is that a human game?”

“You bet. One of the best.” Frisk grinned and hopped off the swing.

“Well, why didn’t you teach me earlier, then?” MK was already running towards the field. “Let’s go!”

Why were they here?

Frisk was surprised not to feel anything as they stared up at their childhood home.

They hadn't told anyone that they grew up in Ebott. Asriel was the only one who had asked why they climbed that mountain, before immediately backing down and telling them they didn't have to share. Frisk had been relieved, mostly. They also felt their heart sink a little bit.

Nobody would want to know why they climbed that mountain. It was a reeeaal downer, and they weren't about to bring the mood down. They couldn't tell their friends that they would feel a whole lot safer not living so close to this place. But, welp. They'd walked themself right here anyhow, without meaning to. Muscle memory was really something, huh.

This house was perfectly average. It was in the suburbs. It wasn't run down or anything. It had a little yard and a little mailbox and everything. It was normal. Everything about it was normal.

They remembered creeping out that door in the dead of night when they were eight years old. They remembered the nervous hope they felt as they walked past that mailbox, determined to find their way to get help from someone, anyone -

They remembered the sound of the front door slamming open, a hand in their hair, and then being surrounded by those same old walls again.

Frisk's numbness cracked and they gasped. They took a step back, looked up at the house, and then started walking down the sidewalk again, their hands grasping at their thick purple coat to wrap it around themself as tight as it could go.

“Frisk, are you feeling alright?”

It was after school, earlier that day. Frisk took a deep breath in to compose themself, then turned around to look up at Toriel. 

“Hi Toriel!” They said, their voice bright. “Thanks for the home ec lesson today. I’m really excited to finally know how to make your famous pie crust from scratch!”

Toriel blushed, taking off her glasses and wiping them with her floral-pattern shirt. “Oh, I am so very glad to hear that you enjoyed the lesson. And I will understand if you opt for the cinnamon-butterscotch filling, rather than the snail filling.”

Frisk gave a sheepish laugh, stuffing their hands in their pockets. “Yeah, I think the snail one is an acquired taste. Or maybe something that only adults like. I know a lot of things change when you’re an adult.”

Toriel chuckled and put her glasses back on. “Well, I have been an adult for so long that I hardly remember my own childhood.” She lowered her voice and glanced around, as if she were telling them a secret. “But the trick is to find some people who like really bad jokes.” She straightened back up. “Then, even if you grow up, you have enough immaturity left in you to still have fun!”

“Got it,” Frisk looked up at her and smiled. “With all my friends around, I’m sure I’ll have a good supply of that.”

“That you will!” Toriel chuckled to herself. “Oh, but my child, are you okay? You have seemed a bit unwell recently…”

Frisk waved a hand dismissively, ignoring the brush of discomfort whenever Toriel called them my child. “Probably just the cold weather,” they said, reusing the talking point that had worked with MK. “But I’ll be having dinner with Papyrus tonight! Cooking with him will get the spirit all fired up.”

“Yes, it certainly will.” Toriel was still looking down at them with concern. Frisk wanted to hide. 

Finally, to their relief, she stepped back. “Well, I will return to my tasks for the afternoon,” she said. “Please let us know if you need anything, will you not?”

“Sure thing,” Frisk lied.

Muscle memory really was something, because apparently their subconscious self had figured out something their conscious self was struggling to sort out.

They looked down at the map on their phone and groaned. This alley wasn't even on the map, and somehow it didn't have the road they had just crossed, either. Ebott was truly a labyrinth, and lots of the side roads and alleys were notoriously poorly mapped on most apps.

They thought about calling one of their friends to pick them up. Surely, Toriel wouldn't mind. Asgore also always seemed desperate for some way to help them. They wondered if Sans had a shortcut nearby, or if Papyrus might be able to pick them up in that shiny new (used) convertible of his. They had a location tracking app on their phone for occasions just like this, and they couldn't lie, it did help them feel a bit safer to know that someone in the world knew where they were.

And sure, the tracking app might also end up in some weird dead end like Frisk's maps app, but they were sure their friends could figure something out.

Frisk's mouth twitched into a fond smile. They knew their friends would help if they asked… They looked at their contacts. They wanted to click one of them. Any of them, really.

They couldn't afford the debt of asking for a favour like that.

Frisk stuffed the phone back in their pocket. The screen made their headache worse, anyway. They closed their eyes and breathed through the pain, pressing their hands against their eyes to relieve some of the pressure in their head.

Get home. Just get home.

Frisk turned around with their eyes still closed, the motion making them a little dizzy. They took a step and ran into something solid.

They dropped their hands away from their eyes and snapped their eyes open, squeaking in shock. They took a step back and looked up.

It took one heartbeat for Frisk to realize they hadn't run into something, but someone. It took another heartbeat for Frisk to realize that they knew him.

The world around them disappeared. All that existed was the man in front of them and his deep, familiar voice.

"Kid. Been a while."

Frisk didn't exist anymore. They were more formless than a ghost, they were crumbling into dust. They were eight years old and their head was pounding as a hand dragged them inside by their hair.

"Dad?"

Chapter Text

Frisk didn't remember why they were outside. Had they tried to run away again? Their head hurt really bad. They must have done something. Dad was probably really mad at them.

"Hey. Look at me when I talk to you."

Oh. They hadn't noticed they weren't looking at him. They should look him in the eye, like he wanted. They didn't really like making eye contact with him, or anyone, really, but especially him. If he could see their eyes, they couldn't hide anything from him. They shouldn't want to hide anything from him, anyway, but they were always a bad kid.

Was Dad always this short? He was still over a foot taller than them, but Frisk thought they had to look up further to see him…

"So," Dad continued, "How have you been?"

Dad had pretty brown eyes, much nicer than Frisk's unsettling red eyes. He was asking them a nice question. They should tell Dad about school. They had a good teacher…

Who was their teacher again?…

Frisk was always bad at answering his questions.

Dad sighed, annoyed. That was a bad sound. Frisk was doing a bad job. Frisk was a bad kid.

"Why don't you come back to the house?" He said. "We can catch up."

That's right. Frisk was near their house. That's good. Dad won't be too mad since they didn't get too far. They wouldn't get this wrong. They would be good. It would be better this time. Dad started walking, and Frisk followed shortly behind him.

Frisk's pocket buzzed. It startled them.

Oh yeah, they had a cell phone. Weird. They pulled it out and saw a text notification and looked at the name.

From: THE GREAT PAPYRUS

A shiver ran down Frisk's spine.

Papyrus.

Papyrus .

Their head hurt.

They cast a furtive glance at their dad. He was walking a bit ahead of them and didn't seem to see them with their phone. They clicked on the notification.

THE GREAT PAPYRUS
-HELLO FRISK! I HAVE NOTICED THAT YOU HAVE NOT YET COME OVER FOR OUR WEEKLY "WEDNESDAY-AFTER-SCHOOL-AND-WORK-SPAGHETTI-AND/OR-OTHER-ASSORTED-FOODS-TIME!"

Papyrus.

Another notification came.

THE GREAT PAPYRUS
-IT IS UNLIKE YOU TO BE LATE, AND I WANTED TO ENSURE ALL IS WELL. I HAVE A NEW USED CAR AND CAN COME GET YOU, IF YOU NEED A RIDE FROM… WHEREVER! YOU ARE IN A RATHER UNUSUAL LOCALE.

Frisk sucked a breath in. This was wrong. Dad wasn't in their life anymore. Where were they? They stopped and looked around them.

Right, this weirdly quiet road. This uncomfortable alley nearby. A quiet, abandoned area near their old house…

…

Why was Dad here?

Finally noticing that they were no longer following, Dad turned around.

Frisk almost came up to his shoulders, now. He was a bit thinner than he was three years ago, and he had lost more hair. Frisk wasn't a little kid anymore.

They willed their voice to work.

"I… I'm sorry, I can't come over," they said. They clicked on the contact for Papyrus. "My friends are coming to get me."

Dad squared his shoulders and didn't say anything. His gaze bore down on Frisk. They tried not to look away.

"I'm… just gonna call them. And they'll be here and… I don't want to interrupt your day."

Dad looked at their phone. For the first time today, his expression shifted to one that was all too familiar.

He was angry.

Time moved slowly. Frisk clicked on the call button. Dad shouted something incomprehensible at them, then snatched the phone and threw it to the pavement. It cracked. Of course that wouldn't work. Dad always got his way.

Experience taught Frisk that it would all be over sooner if they didn't fight back.

Dad grabbed them by the jacket and dragged them into that stupid alley that wasn't on the map. Frisk distantly felt grateful that he didn't drag them by the hair this time, though their headache didn't feel quite as urgent anymore.

There was a sharp pain as they were thrown against the cement bricks of the abandoned building wall. There was a worse pain when he punched them in the stomach.

Frisk doubled over, coughing.

"It's been a while, huh?" Dad said. "You know what fucking hell you put me through when you ran away?"

This was always a tough situation. Dad usually wanted them to look up at him, but sometimes he decided that their eye contact was them trying to defy him. It was a lose-lose situation.

Frisk said nothing and kept their eyes down.

Wrong answer. Dad punched them across the face and sent Frisk sprawling to the ground.

"Teachers snitched. Cops came. I was in jail for a year. I was supposed to be away longer. Got out, but a year was bad enough."

Frisk chanced a look up. Maybe that was the right answer.

"If you'd just kept your shit together, I wouldn't have been in that situation. Do you hear me? You put me in jail, kid."

Dad walked over to them and squatted down.

"You might think you're big and strong now, and yeah, I've seen you on the TV with those freaks. Suits you to fall in line with them." Dad scoffed.

Lightning-fast, a hand reached out and grabbed Frisk's hair. They didn't fight it. They maintained eye contact.

"But you know you can't beat me. And the more you make things hard for me, the more you owe me. I'd say after a year of jail time, you owe me a whole lot."

Frisk's stomach churned.

They always owed him. They owed him so much, and he would take and take and take and -

Dad's gaze wandered down their body slowly, always so slowly, and he smiled .

"So be good, yeah?" Dad's voice became dangerously low as he yanked Frisk closer to him. His other hand snaked under Frisk's shirt, brushing the skin of their waist. The touch felt like sandpaper.

"Be good, and don't tell anyone, and I won't mess up whatever weird thing you have going on over there with your freaks." Dad's breath was hot. Frisk had almost forgotten what it felt like. "You owe me an awful lot, but I'm sure we can work something out."

Any tension left in Frisk's body drained.

They knew how this went. They just needed to let it happen. They could just… think about other things. It wasn't so bad, really. It would be over and then they could go home. They were good at hiding things from their friends, so they were sure they wouldn't notice. They felt bad for not responding to Papyrus's text, but it didn't matter. He would just watch anime with Undyne or something.

They felt Dad taking their comforting, warm jacket off, and the chilly air made them gasp. Frisk scolded themself. They were out of practice, too connected to their body. Think of other things… other things….

*…. determination….

Frisk blinked. A stray thought drifted across their mind, almost too distant to piece together. Maybe they could focus on that…

*…fill…determination…

Oh. It had been a while since they heard that voice. They had kinda missed it… They focused harder.

Suddenly, it came through loud and clear.

*The thought of fighting this FUCKING PEDOPHILE OFF FILLS YOU WITH DETERMINATION!!!

Frisk snapped to attention.

They were older now. They were stronger now. They could fight now.

Why the FUCK were they letting this happen?!

They reached up, grabbed their Dad's hair, and yanked to the side.

"GET OFF OF ME!!"

It startled them to hear their own voice come out like a roar.

They flung him to the side, their surprise attack enough to dislodge him entirely. The ease with which they threw him down shocked Frisk. They scrambled to their feet as Dad hissed out a string of curses. Frisk took quick stock of their body; they were still fully dressed except for their jacket, which had been cast off to the side. They had stopped him. They…

Dad was on his feet now, a look like death in his eyes.

They needed to run.

Frisk spun on their heel and darted towards the entrance to the alleyway. Shit, why had they wandered into such an empty part of town!

A hand grasped their wrist and yanked. Frisk felt something dislocate and they screamed. Another hand slapped over their mouth.

"You ungrateful son of a bitch," Dad hissed into their ear. "Just do something for me for once in your fucking life. You owe me."

Frisk twisted in his grip and bit down on his hand.

Dad screamed but didn't let go. He dragged Frisk back into the dark and pinned them against the wall. Frisk swung to punch him, but their arms were too short.

"You think you're big and strong now, huh?" he jeered. "Think you're a real man. That you can tell your old man what's gonna happen."

Dad clasped a hand around Frisk's throat. Frisk desperately scratched at the hand, trying to loosen the iron grip.

"But when it comes down to it, you're just a kid. So why don't you be good? Just do what you're told and stay still."

Dad's hand tightened around their throat.

Frisk pulled and clawed, but had no effect on the grip at all. They wondered if Dad just wanted them to lose consciousness, or if he wanted them to die. They wondered if they would come back to life this time. They weren't sure.

They didn't… want to die.

Huh.

That was different from two years ago.

Frisk wanted to live.

As their vision faded to black, they heard their dad scream, and the hand released their throat. They lost consciousness before their body hit the ground.

Chapter Text

Frisk's last known location did not match up with what Papyrus was seeing on his map!

He took a steadying breath. His phone was on high volume in case Frisk called again, but if the brief sound he heard when they called was right… they might not be able to call right now.

No matter! Papyrus was on the case. He had already started driving around town looking for them. Frisk had seemed very off lately, and Papyrus could detect an issue in his good friend from a mile away!!… He just wished he had pressed them more on how they were doing. They just always gave him that same bright smile, and Papyrus didn't push.

It all felt exactly like Sans, before they were all freed. When he had been dangerously close to falling down. If something happened to Frisk… if Papyrus was too late…

But! Sans was better now, and surely Frisk would be better soon too! Everything would be okay!

Papyrus hit the brakes and his car screeched to a halt. He was in a small suburb near where Frisk had been, and finally he noticed a forested walkway that led off of one of the sidewalks. It wasn't marked on his map. From what he had seen before Frisk's signal had disappeared…

He leapt out of his car and bolted down the path. He kept referencing the map on his phone, darting down side streets. He was sure he was getting closer! He would find them, and everything would be fine! Maybe they had dropped their phone and there just happened to be a man near them who yelled and Frisk was not in danger at all! Maybe Papyrus was overthinking - he was good at thinking many things, after all! Maybe -

Then he heard Frisk scream.

Frisk had been through… a lot in the Underground. The monsters could claim they didn't know Frisk was a child, claim that they were doing what they thought was necessary, but none of it excused what they had all done to Frisk. 

The group of monsters who were now Frisk’s legal guardians - himself, Sans, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore, and Toriel - had broached the topic with them directly, told them that they knew what they had done was wrong. Frisk had just waved them all off with a laugh and insisted all was forgiven.

They had all seen Frisk endure a lot of pain. But Papyrus had never heard them scream like that.

The magic that ran through his bones turned cold and he moved with a singular purpose towards his friend's voice.

A narrow alley came into his vision. He caught a flash of movement.

A man's head whipped towards him as he approached. And held against the wall, bruised and limp, was Frisk.

Papyrus didn't hesitate. Papyrus didn’t think.

Papyrus raised a single pointed bone up through the ground and ran it clean through the man's arm.

Sans was having a pretty good day.

Those had been happening more often, which was nice. The sun was nice. The wind was nice. Laughing and feeling genuine joy at the sound was nice.

Sans was having a pretty good day, so when something in his Soul started feeling very wrong, he sat up and focused on it.

Grillby glanced over at Sans from his spot behind the bar, but Sans ignored him. He sat straight and stared at nothing in particular as he drew his focus entirely to the source of his magic.

Sans knew that some monsters had connections similar to his. They had such close friends or family that a portion of their Soul was intrinsically connected to them. Papyrus had a place deep in Sans's soul, nestled comfortably in the core of his being.

That piece of his Soul had gone ice cold.

He followed the feeling of Papyrus's Soul until he felt it resonate with his brother. There. That was all he needed.

He leapt off the bar stool, ran out the door, and took a shortcut straight to Papyrus. 

Frisk was vaguely aware that they were in pain.

They were on the ground, and their eyes were closed. Dad was here. Dad was yelling, but they were pretty sure he wasn't yelling at them. Weird.

Frisk felt vibrations rumbling through the ground. Something big was happening. Should they be worried? They accomplished the monumental achievement of opening their eyes.

A tall skeletal figure stood a few yards away from them. He was dressed in blues, mostly, but his bright red scarf was unmistakable.

"…Pyrus?" Their voice wasn't cooperating. But if they weren't imagining it, his gaze momentarily flicked over to them.

Papyrus was moving his arm. Frisk recognized that motion - he was using his magic. He was attacking.

They didn't think he was attacking them, though. Even if he was, they couldn't do much about it.

Frisk sighed and felt their muscles relax into resignation. Whatever was going to happen, they couldn't change it.

A flash of blue magic jolted them back to awareness, and… Sans? Of course; where there was Papyrus, his brother would be close by. Sans flashed into existence in midair beside Papyrus. Before his feet even hit the ground, he swung his arm up. The ground rumbled beside Frisk and a wall of bones shot up around them, caging them in against the wall of the building next to them.

They couldn't see much, now. They could hear Dad shouting on the opposite side of the strange wall of bone. They heard the sound of metal clanging against concrete.

Welp, if they couldn't even see shit, there wasn't much of a point staying awake anymore.

With nothing left to keep their attention, Frisk drifted back out of consciousness.

Papyrus was numb.

He had seen Frisk hurt before. He had hurt Frisk before. But the human was scrappy and nimble, and they had endeared themself to him before he ever knocked them down. He had never seen them helpless.

Their arm lay at a funny angle. There was a nauseous feeling stirring in his magic as he remembered one of his own attacks snapping their arm into a different weird angle. They had downed a cinnamon bunny and it had snapped back into place. Then they had given him a bright grin and two finger guns.

He had long since known what they did was wrong. He had long since promised himself that Frisk would never be harmed again.

He was starting to understand why Sans hated making promises.

The man beside Frisk let out a growl and rammed his shoulder into the slim pillar of sharpened bone that had pierced up from the earth and through his forearm. It snapped and he pulled it out of his arm. Blood flowed down the useless appendage as it dangled by his side.

"What's your fucking problem?" He growled, taking a step forward. Papyrus, through his haze of numbness, deduced that the motion was an attempt at a threat.

Papyrus wasn't interested in threats. All he knew was that this creature was between him and Frisk, and he was going to change that.

Papyrus summoned a fleet of bone attacks. He threw his arm forward. If he could contain the man, Undyne could help him figure out what to do. But the villain was deceptively quick on his feet and sprinted towards Papyrus, dodging containment. It was a bold move that Papyrus would applaud if it was literally anyone else. The man leaned down and snatched a detached length of pipe that lay discarded in the alley.

Papyrus threw another formation of bones forward to contain him, but the man slashed the air with the pipe and shattered a few of the attacks.

"You hurt Frisk." Papyrus hissed the statement through clenched teeth.

The man scoffed. "Yeah, I heard that's the weird name he's using." He swung the pipe and broke a few more of Papyrus's attacks that stood around him.

"You hurt Frisk."

"Whatever. I don't care what all you freaks call him. He's my kid, anyway. So you just move along, this doesn’t concern you."

Papyrus's sockets widened. Was this man their father?

The human seemed to take Papyrus's stillness as some sort of concession. He stepped over a few shattered bones and moved towards Frisk.

Papyrus grabbed his soul and slammed him back against the wall. "You. Hurt. Frisk."

He had to contain the man. He had to keep him away from Frisk, to control the situation, to call the police and Undyne and -

"…Pyrus?"

Everything went quiet around him. He looked down at the little human on the ground.

Frisk was much smaller than him. Then again, at his height of seven feet tall, most people were! They were a child but they were clever and capable. Papyrus had always been sure that they could do anything.

They looked up at him with unfocused eyes. Their head was bleeding. Their lip was swollen. Tears welled in their eyes, and he realized in that moment that he had never seen them cry before.

Stars, they were so little.

In his brief distraction, Frisk's father pushed through the control and lunged at Papyrus. Papyrus launched a single attack at him. He narrowly dodged it before it pierced into the wall. Papyrus launched another three attacks and the human nimbly stepped aside. He wanted to launch a barrage of attacks, but the man was so close to Frisk, taking any break in Papyrus's gravity magic to always move closer to them.

The man chuckled. What was so funny? "What do you care about him, anyway? I told you, the kid's mine." His tone suddenly dropped even lower, and before Papyrus could react, he caught a sadistic light in the man's eye. "I can do whatever I want to him."

Then, several things happened at once.

Blue magic flashed beside Papyrus -

The human reeled back and swung the pipe at Frisk's head -

And a wall of bones launched up around Frisk.

Sans landed lightly on his feet.

He remembered how he felt back in the Underground, as if the entire weight of the Surface was crushing him underneath it. Most days he could barely get out of bed. He could barely persuade himself to move, to ever put in more than what was absolutely necessary.

Many days, that weight still settled on his shoulders. It was still hard to do so many things that the humans and monsters around him did effortlessly.

But many days also felt different. He was light. He was quick. He could take in everything with a speed he hadn't had for years.

He was grateful today was one of those days.

He glanced up at Papyrus - he was uninjured. He heard him exhale and his shoulders dropped slightly. Good. Papyrus was okay.

He looked at the strange human - he had stumbled backwards from the recoil of his pipe slamming into Sans's shield around Frisk. His right arm was covered in blood and he had a crazed look on his face.

The human gave a wordless cry and charged them. He swung the pipe down overhead, and Papyrus stepped forward and summoned a bone to hold up and block the attack.

"Get Frisk out of here," Papyrus ground out, his voice deathly serious. He raised a foot and kicked the human square in the chest, causing him to stumble back and almost lose his footing. "Go now. Keep their head and neck steady."

Sans nodded. He stepped backwards and snapped out of existence.

He reappeared inside of the shield. He was hit with a wave of nausea as he really looked at Frisk for the first time since he arrived. Their head was bloody and their shoulder was not supposed to bend like that. Most horrifying of all, there were deep red marks on their neck in the shape of fingers.

Fuck. He needed to get them help.

"Hey, buddy," He gently touched their non-damaged shoulder. They didn't respond. They were unconscious, but breathing evenly.

He reached for Frisk's soul, and it clicked blue. As the magic connected with their Soul, he ran a Check. Their stats flashed across his mind.

Frisk
LV 1
HP 9/21
Get them out of here get them out of here get them out of here get them out of here get them out of here get them out of here get them out of here get them out of here get them out -

Sans took a sharp breath and cleared his mind. He needed to focus.

"Alright, kid. I'm gonna need you to work with me here." He chuckled. "Actually, it might be better if you don't work with me. Take notes from a lazy bones like me and just… stay unconscious for a while. I gotta keep you reeeaal still."

There was a shout and an impact on Sans's barrier. He had to get Frisk out of here now.

He focused entirely on Frisk's limp form - the angle of their head, the curve of their spine, the placement of their shoulders. Every part of them was a separate piece, and Sans was going to persuade gravity to keep them all perfectly in place.

He had options. Healing magic may do them good, but he wasn't sure whether any of their delicate human nerves were damaged. Based on the past two years of research between humans and monsters, he knew that healing magic didn't always work in the more intricate physicalities.

Nope, they needed a human expert. Sans thanked the stars he knew so well that he had visited the human hospital with Alphys just last month.

Sans took a breath, lifted both of his hands, and gravity followed his command. Frisk lifted a few inches off the ground, no part of them shifting with the motion.

"Let's go, kid," he murmured. "I know a shortcut."

Chapter Text

The ground was too cold. Frisk didn't like it. They wanted to go home and sleep on their bed. It didn't matter that their bed wasn't made. They had a fever last week and had sweated through the bedding, and it was gross. So there were no sheets on the mattress, but that was fine. They were too tired to do the laundry, so any discomfort was their fault.

Back to the present moment, though. The ground was too cold.

Their other senses started waking up slowly. There were voices… some high, some low, some about the same tone as their dad's. Dad was there. Frisk had almost forgotten. They wondered if he was done yet, or if it was best for them to drift away just a little longer. They tentatively shifted their legs and noted that they still had their pants on. Ah. Dad probably wasn't done yet.

Fuck, their head hurt.

They groaned and reached a hand up to touch their head. A low voice said something and a large human hand reached down towards them. The voice was telling them to do something. The hand got closer.

They were such a greedy kid. They didn't want Dad to touch them.

Frisk shook their head and tried to push away, but one of their arms wasn't working. They had to get away. They had to fight him off, they wanted to scream, they needed to run -

The voices around them got louder. More hands came at them. Frisk made a strangled sound as they drew their legs up closer to their body.

Another voice - lower than anyone else, lower even than Dad's - suddenly joined the cacophony. A skeletal hand reached in front of Frisk's face, and the other hands backed away.

Frisk's mind slowed down a little bit as the sea of hands ebbed. Their vision swam, and they heard a familiar voice in their head.

*You feel safe at the hospital. You think you should stay still.

Frisk stilled. Hospital?… They weren't sure what to make of the voice. But if it was true, then maybe Dad wasn't…

*You believe the comedian is serious about your safety.

Sans. Sans was there. Sans was their friend, right? Their consciousness drifted. It was so hard to stay awake…

There was pressure on their body. They were moving, lifted… then something was around their neck.

Something was around their neck. A hand was around their neck. They couldn't breathe, they were too weak, they couldn't get away -

Frisk gasped in a breath. They reached up to claw the hand away from their neck. Their arm was restricted. They couldn't reach up. They tried to lift a leg up to push back but they couldn't move it. Dad was on top of them. Dad was pinning them to the concrete or the floor or the bed -

Frisk's eyes snapped open so wide they burned.

It was so bright here. There were lots of people, so many humans around them. Where was Dad? They knew he was there. They couldn't move, they couldn't fight back, they were horrible and selfish but they didn't want this anymore -

*You remember Sans is here.

"Sans!" Frisk's voice came out barely above a whisper. They thought they heard Sans's voice. It was… sharper than usual. Angry? They didn't know what that meant. Even if he was angry, they wanted him here.

They struggled against their restraints. "Sans! Please - Sans, please -"

Cool phalanges slipped into Frisk's hand and gently closed around it.

"I'm here, Frisk. Nobody here is gonna hurt you."

Sans's voice was nice. It didn't hurt their head. His hand felt nice in theirs. They grasped it as tightly as they could and tried to focus their eyes on him.

"My dad, he - I can't breathe, he's ch-choking me - he - Sans - get him off, please -"

There was a pause. They thought they felt Sans's hand shake in theirs.

"Frisk. Focus on me. He's not here. You can breathe. The thing around your neck is only there to help you."

Frisk gasped in a frantic breath. Sans continued, running a thumb along their knuckles. His voice eased back into his casual cadence and he shrugged. "Turns out humans have a lot of weird stuff in their necks. Lot more complicated than your cool skeleton friends. So yeah, that thing's gonna help ya feel better."

Frisk took another breath. They tried to concentrate on Sans. They didn't want to see Dad.

There were more voices. Most of them were a garbled mess. Frisk could only discern Sans saying "I'm staying with them" as he grasped their hand a little tighter. His voice sounded much more serious than they were used to hearing.

"Sans," The skeleton directed his attention back down to them. "Sans, my dad, I can't - I don't want to -" Their voice finally failed them.

"Don't worry, buddy," he said. His smile was soft. "He's far away from here."

"No," they whimpered, "He found me! I messed up, he's gonna find me again!"

"Easy there. Just breathe." Sans took a couple exaggerated breaths, encouraging Frisk to follow along. They tried and only partially succeeded. "I'm staying with you. No way he's getting past me. I've been working out." He flexed his non-existent bicep and winked. "Impressive, right?"

Frisk couldn't help but give a delirious laugh. Sans put his hand back in his pocket and kept the other one wrapped around Frisk's hand.

Frisk was really tired. They sensed that the hard platform they were strapped to started moving at some point. They wondered if they should be worried, but every time they looked over, Sans was by their side. They exhaled and the tension drained out of their body. If they had a friend with them, it would be okay, at least for now. They let their vision fade to black.

Papyrus let out a sigh of relief as he felt Sans's magic snap out of existence from inside the barrier. He had taken Frisk away. He could focus on the human in front of him now, who was currently still hacking away at the wall of bone Sans had left behind.

He finally crashed through it, eyes wide. "Where…"

"Far away from here," Papyrus hissed. "Now! You can focus on me.”

A look of fury overcame the man. "He's my kid. You don't have any right to take him away."

"Well. They are actually our child now! And they are also our friend." Papyrus summoned another line of attacks. "We won’t stand by and let you hurt them."

The man charged at him, the heavy pipe in his hand bouncing off the concrete a couple of times. Papyrus launched the attacks at him again, attempting to cage him in. Once again, the human dodged the attempt. He sent a string of blue and orange bones. The man charged through them, barely flinching as one of the blue bones crackled against his already-damaged arm.

He closed the distance and swung at Papyrus. Papyrus summoned a wall of bone as a shield, and the human recoiled off of it. He grunted in frustration as Papyrus leapt backwards.

This wasn't getting anywhere. He didn't think he should simply kill the human. And while he believed he could take this human down, he had enough self-preservation to remember the strength humans had. This man was surprisingly quick and strong, especially if he was using his non-dominant hand. More importantly, though, he was seething with murderous intent.

He really should call Undyne, but he couldn't capture the human long enough to even take out his phone.

Ah, right! If he couldn't capture the human, he would take a page from Sans's book. He would capture himself! Papyrus reached deep into his magic wells, raised both of his arms, and created a thick dome around himself of interlocking bone.

There was an angry shout from outside of his dome, and the crack of the pipe against it. At least he was angry enough right now not to simply flee, so Papyrus could chance a moment to call in reinforcements.

He pulled his phone out of his jacket and punched in the number for the Ebott Auxiliary Emergency Response Unit. The Royal Guard had, of course, been disbanded, but many of the same staff had formed into the basis for the general emergency response in their community.

"Ya got Undyne," Undyne's voice answered before the first ring even finished.

Relief swept through Papyrus, and he didn't even have the urge to lecture her on appropriate ways to answer the emergency line.

"Undyne!" He let out a breath, then continued. "I have a murderous human. Follow my -” He paused as there was a loud crack of the pipe crashing against Papyrus's barrier. "Follow my location in our app, and bring the dogs. They will need to track my and Frisk’s scent to find the exact location.”

Undyne was silent only for a second before she responded, her voice serious. "On our way." He heard his friend distantly shouting commands, and then the line cut.

There was another crack and Papyrus could see the fractures in the bones in front of him deepening. He dropped the bones behind himself, leapt far backwards, and dropped the rest of his barrier. The human was breathing hard, and when the barrier dropped, he locked his gaze on Papyrus again. The hatred emanating from him sent a chill down Papyrus's spine.

"What do you even want with my kid?" The man barked, shuffling forward.

Papyrus ignored the question and caught his Soul again, using a powerful burst of magic to shove him far back until he was pressed against the wall. He shot forward several sharpened bones, piercing through some of his loose clothes in an attempt to trap him against the wall. The man swung his body and ripped out.

"Silent treatment, huh?" The man scoffed. "The kid's nothing but trouble. Look at what he's got me into."

Papyrus launched several more bones and this time succeeded. He drove the bones deeper into the wall to keep him secured. The man tried to pull, finally gasping out a crazed laugh.

"Can't think of any reason you'd keep him around. Though…" A gross grin twisted the man's face. "I guess I never really thought about you freaks having needs, too."

Something in the way he spoke sent alarms off deep in Papyrus's Soul. He stepped towards the man, finally contained, at least for the moment.

"Frisk is our friend. We take care of our friends.”

"Sure, sure," the man waved his hand flippantly, a strange motion when the rest of his arm couldn't move. "But come onnnn. You get it. You're a man too, right?" He ran an assessing gaze over Papyrus's body, then mumbled. "I think, anyway."

Papyrus was quiet. He had a deep, terrifying feeling that he should really stop conversing with this human. Undyne would be there soon.

The man looked off to the side, as if he was disregarding Papyrus entirely. "The kid's a bit old for my taste at this point. But hey, maybe monsters are fine with using him anyway."

Papyrus snapped his attention back to the man. His face had a kind of sadistic satisfaction on it, seemingly pleased to have caught Papyrus's attention. "What, am I right?" He sneered. Then his voice dropped low again.

"Whatever. Have fun. I'm sure his body has a few good uses left in it."

Papyrus stilled entirely.

An icy layer of dread crashed over him -

And a series of moments flashed across his mind.

Shortly after reaching the surface, Frisk got a bike with money they had saved up. Soon after, they fell off their bike and scraped up their back terribly. Toriel had offered to apply ointment to the scratches after a preliminary application of healing magic, and asked them to lift their shirt up. Frisk had frozen, then laughed it off and said they didn't need the ointment.

Last spring, Frisk had almost tripped while on a hike, and Asgore had caught them around their waist. They had gone rigid before righting themself, thanking Asgore, and staying far away from him for the rest of the hike.

When they all went swimming last summer, Frisk wore two t-shirts with their swimming trunks. They changed in their apartment, not in the changing rooms, and insisted on wearing their wet clothes all the way home.

Just last week, Papyrus helped Frisk with their homework. He put an encouraging hand on their back, unintentionally placing it just a few inches lower than the usual spot at the top of their spine. Frisk flinched and stopped breathing. Papyrus had apologized and Frisk brushed it off, but their eyes had a faraway look in them for the rest of the night.

And through it all, they tried very, very hard to never let anyone else into their apartment. They always just said they liked their own space. When Papyrus dropped them off, he always heard a series of five locks bolting shut.

Long ago, Papyrus had learned there was a specific type of violence that was not a part of monster society, but a select few humans committed against each other. As the Ambassador to humans, Papyrus was well integrated into the communities around them. He had learned about these acts shortly after beginning his work. He looked up a few resources to be able to spot warning signs.

He had sworn to be diligent in fostering healthy communities in their society. He had promised to be vigilant.

He had failed the one human who was closest to him.

Papyrus summoned a sharp bone attack and snatched it out of the air.

He was about to fix that.

Through a haze of white-hot fury, Papyrus noted with satisfaction that the man's face shifted from twisted glee to unrepressed fear.

Distantly, Papyrus heard familiar barking. Then he heard a familiar voice scream his name. His aim wavered as he thrust his spear into his target. It pierced through the shoulder of the man's uninjured arm, and he shrieked in pain.

"PAPYRUS!! Stand down!!"

Undyne shoved her way into Papyrus's field of vision. "What's happening, man?"

Papyrus felt his socket twitch in frustration. "Hello, Undyne! All is under control. As you can see, I am going to kill this man.”

"Wh-Papyrus?"

There was a sound behind Undyne. The human yanked his way partially out of the hold, some bone spears cracking, others tearing more clothes away.

"Oh no you don’t!" Papyrus pushed his Soul against the wall. Undyne cursed and twisted around. She raised a hand and layered her magic over Papyrus's. The human's soul became a deep blue-green as Undyne locked him into her constricting magic.

Greater Dog trotted up to the scene. They looked at the human, looked at Papyrus and Undyne, then marched up to the human. With a gloved paw, they yanked the pipe out of his trembling hand (Papyrus was impressed that hand was still able to hold anything with his spear piercing the shoulder) and dropped it into an evidence bag, all the while wearing their usual content smile. They gave a satisfied yip and trotted away to stand with the other dogs who had come to the scene.

The human squirmed under the combined hold of Undyne and Papyrus's magic, but there was no way he was getting out of that. Fear was written all over his face. A spike of gratification flared in Papyrus's Soul.

Undyne spoke up, her voice strained. "Papyrus, talk to me. Please tell me what's happening."

Papyrus's grin was tense. "Can it wait until after I kill him?"

"No-" Undyne pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dude - Papyrus, you can't kill him."

"Why not."

"B-because you can't?"

"Watch me." He reached around Undyne and pushed his spear deeper into the man's shoulder.

Undyne wrapped her arms around Papyrus's chest and shoved him back. "PAPYRUS!! Stop, your LV -"

"I don’t care what happens to me." He pushed against Undyne, summoning another sharpened bone in his hand.

"Papyrus! Please - STAND DOWN!"

A desperate anger burned in Papyrus's chest. His voice boomed out. "You're not my captain anymore!!"

Undyne took a sharp inhale and heaved against Papyrus one last time.

"I know I'm not." Her arms trembled and her voice cracked. "But I'm your friend!"

Papyrus blinked. He faltered for a moment, and Undyne's strength overwhelmed him fully. He tumbled backwards and fell flat on his back, Undyne falling on top of him.

Both of their magic holds clicked off of the human. He let out a pained sound as regular gravity pulled against the spear through his shoulder. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by dogs, held securely on all sides.

Undyne shouted a few commands, and the dogs hauled the now-compliant human out of sight.

Undyne rolled over onto her back beside Papyrus and they lay together on the ground for a few moments.

"Papyrus," Undyne's voice cracked, "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"He hurt Frisk," Papyrus replied plainly.

Undyne sat up. "Where are they? Are they safe?"

Papyrus closed his sockets and took a deep breath. "Sans has them. He will let us know.” He heard Undyne exhale beside him.

They sat in silence for a while. Papyrus wanted to just lay there forever. He wanted to live in a world where Frisk's smiles weren't tinged with a fear that was so obvious to him now. He wanted to live in a world where their own father hadn't hurt them in such a horrific way.

Another cold shock ran through Papyrus. Why had Frisk climbed Mount Ebott?

He knew the human tales about the mountain now. Every human who climbs the mountain disappears.

If Frisk climbed it… if they chose to climb it…

Papyrus covered his sockets with his gloved hands. He was amazed that every revelation just made the horrible situation even worse.

Undyne cleared her throat beside him. "You did good. Sounds like you saved Frisk from a really dangerous situation."

Papyrus finally sat up, drawing his knees up to his chin.

"That man said he was their father."

Undyne startled beside him again. "I didn't know Frisk… Had a dad?"

Papyrus choked out a humourless laugh. "WELL! If it were up to me, they sure wouldn’t have one anymore!"

Undyne raised a hand and scratched the back of her neck.

"What… Happened? If you can tell me?" Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle.

Papyrus felt numbness settling over him again. His sockets drifted half shut. He started rattling off the events, as easily as he had given reports to Undyne back in the Underground a lifetime ago.

"Frisk missed meeting up with me after school, and they had been acting off lately. I was worried. So I looked at their location and came here as fast as I could.” He crossed his arms over his knees and rested his forehead on them.

"When I arrived, that man was - he was choking them against the wall." Undyne went rigid beside him. "I stopped him. Sans showed up and took Frisk away. The man told me…some things -” Papyrus's shoulders started shaking as the words burned his memory. "And I would very much like to see him dead.”

"Hey," Undyne wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Thanks for telling me. I'm… I'm so sorry this happened."

Feeling his friend's strong arm supporting him only made him shake more violently. "Undyne -" his voice cracked. "Undyne, this man did…unspeakable things to Frisk. The reason they’re so private, the reason they hide their body so diligently - the way they startle when they’re touched - he- he used them -”

Papyrus dropped his arms and looked up at his friend. Undyne's eye was wide. Her expression shifted from concern to something much darker.

The fins that framed Undyne's face twitched and fluttered open. She stood up abruptly and walked to the wall where the disgusting man had been pinned.

She reeled back and punched the blood-stained wall as hard as she could.

A crack ran up the concrete, all the way up to the roof of the building. Undyne punched it again and screamed with the motion. A second crack ran up the building.

Papyrus stood up and took a couple steps toward her.

"MOVE."

Undyne glanced behind her as Papyrus summoned a legion of sharpened bones. She leapt out of the way.

Papyrus flung the attacks forward and envisioned Frisk's father. He impaled the wall until the memory of him was completely covered.

Undyne turned back, her eye wild and her grin twitching.

"Wait, this building's set to be demolished, right?" She asked with a chuckle.

Papyrus watched the wall crumble. He blinked. "Well! If it wasn't before, it definitely is now."

He raised both his hands and used his gravity magic to control the rubble as the entire building collapsed.

Chapter Text

Sans finally allowed himself to land heavily in the chair next to Frisk's hospital bed. Frisk slept peacefully, an IV in their arm feeding a painkiller into their damaged body.

Their dislocated shoulder had successfully been reset. They would go for x-rays soon. But for a few minutes, Sans was finally alone with Frisk.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and pulled out his phone. He texted Papyrus.

sans
-frisks safe at the hospital with me. im stayin with them. no info on the damage yet but theyre snoozin and got some pain meds.
-[IMAGE] LOCATION PIN: EBOTT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - URGENT CARE UNIT
-probably no other visitors yet.
-u ok? i know that guy didnt stand a chance against my bro.
-but . are you ok?

Sans waited one minute, then two. The seconds were agonizing. He put his phone down and distracted himself.

"Ya did real good back there," he said to Frisk's sleeping form. "Super cool that you told all those people to shove off. Barely awake and still tellin’ them what for. So cool."

A stretcher with another patient was rushed down the hallway, passing by the open entry to Frisk's room. Sans listened as the noise ebbed.

He sighed.

"Not exactly the nicest place for a nap, but eh, I plan on stayin' awake anyhow. So you rest easy, kid."

He leaned his head back against the wall and stared up at the tiled ceiling.

"I'm gonna need to talk to you about some stuff when the dust settles," he mumbled. "I haven't always been a real good pal for you."

He looked at them from the corner of his socket. "I'm guessin' you've been holding back an awful lot." His voice hushed. "No kid should be that good at hiding stuff. So I'm thinking you probably didn't have much of a choice."

He sat like that for a minute, just staring at the ceiling. The fluorescent lights buzzed slightly. Whose idea was it to make lights that buzzed? Gross.

Sans's phone chimed. He snatched it up and turned it on.

Undyne? Sans clicked on the notification.

Undyne
-Heyyyy man. Saw your name pop up a bunch of times on Papyrus's phone, so thought I'd check in.
-Don't worry, your bro's safe. He's just busy washing the blood of his enemy off of his face.

The texts came rapidly. Sans couldn't get a word in before the next one popped up.

Undyne
-Like. not kidding
-Looked fuckin badass, not gonna lie
-okay, maybe not helpful commentary
-OH AND ALSO DONT WORRY PAPYRUS DIDNT KILL ANYONE
-freak wouldve deserved it tho
-anyway the old mans locked up. well figure out more stuff tomorrow.
-So that's us, How is Frisk???? I know you probs told Papyrus, but. Again, currently washing the blood of his enemy off his face and his phones locked.

Sans froze, reading the texts a second time. A bundle of fear tied up in his chest loosened. Papyrus was safe. Undyne was with him. Frisk was at the hospital sleeping beside him, and they would be treated soon and they would be okay, Sans would make sure of it. He reached a hand to his face and realized there were tears in his eyes. He scrubbed his face and replied.

sans
-thanks undyne. frisk and i are at ebott memorial. theyre asleep and got pain meds. x rays soon. im stayin with them.
-will let u know when theres more news. prob no visitors yet but ill be ur informant
-hey actually that sounds cool

Undyne
-Thanks so much
-Wait Sans what are you talking about

sans
-do u think ur emergency response unit wants an informant. i could sneak myself onto ur payroll again and do spy stuff for u

Undyne
-Sans what the fuck

sans
-consider my informant job here a free trial
-after this i get on the payroll

Undyne
-You have a weird way of coping

sans
-ur just figuring this out now????

Sans chuckled to himself and set his phone down. He took a deep breath.

"…ans?… "

Sans resisted jumping to his feet. He stood up calmly and moved slowly to Frisk's bedside.

"Hey, pal," he said, trying to keep any strain out of his voice. "Right here."

Frisk's eyes fluttered, unseeing. Not that they could really see much out of their left eye, anyway. It was bruised and nearly swollen shut.

"…pyrus. San…" They reached up with the hand that didn't have an IV in it. Sans reached forward and cradled their hand.

Frisk's eyes flicked over to him. Recognition flashed across their face.

They pulled their hand out of Sans's and touched their neck brace. Their brow furrowed. "San," they mumbled, tapping the neck brace. "Dad… Dad…"

Sans was grateful for his years of experience masking his emotions. He might not be as good at hiding his feelings now that he wasn’t squashing them down lower than the Underground, but he was still okay at it. And hey, it came in real handy to keep a neutral expression and not sob right there.

"Papyrus and Undyne took your dad far away." He pointed at his own neck as a way to mirror Frisk's motion. "You're wearing a neck brace from the doctor. It's safe. I won't let anyone stop your breathing."

Frisk blinked slowly and lifted their hand back up. Sans offered his hand again and they took it.

"Papyrus?…" they mumbled.

Sans nodded. "Yep, Papyrus made sure you're safe. You can see him again soon, if you want."

A small smile crossed Frisk's face. Their eyes drifted halfway shut. "Sans…" their mouth barely moved.

"I gotcha. Your old pal Sans is stayin’ right here."

Frisk's smile settled into a peaceful expression, and they drifted off to sleep again.

Sans watched Frisk for a minute, still holding their hand. When he was sure they had settled, he flicked his other hand and used magic to position his chair facing their bedside. He sat back down and rested his arm on Frisk's bed, so their hand was still cradled in his.

His Soul ached, but he was content at that moment. He looked at them fondly and the tension in his bones settled a little bit more.

He'd let this kid hold his hand as long as they wanted to.

It was really hard to run calculations when they could barely stay awake.

Dad always told Frisk that they owed him. So, to keep track, Frisk came up with a useful system when they were nine years old and learning to add and subtract large numbers. They tried to assign numbers to the things they did for the adults around them.

They focused mostly on Dad, of course. If they made dad dinner, that was 10 points. If they cleaned the whole house, that was 20. And when dad did good things for them, too, he got points. Every time he did a grocery run, Frisk counted that as 50 points. If he bought them a Christmas present, that was 100 points.

There were also deductions for Frisk. If they talked back, they counted that as -25 points. If they yelled, that was -50. Breaking something was -75. If Dad thought they had complained about him to anyone, that was -200.

Using these calculations, Frisk tried to keep themself out of debt.

If someone "owed" Frisk, that didn't matter - adults were the ones who cashed out. Being in the positive just meant they could breathe a bit easier. The calculations helped them estimate how close they were to being in the red.

It wasn't a perfect method, but it helped to have some kind of framework. And it usually wasn't too far off, because they were almost always in debt.

When Frisk was in debt, they had to let Dad do what he wanted. They told themself it was actually nice to have something that allowed them to wipe the slate clean, because their debt was often pretty grim.

They were lucky, when they looked at it that way! Unless Dad asked them to do something specific. they mostly just had to lay there, and they could think about other things and… pretend they didn't exist for a bit. After he was done, they could restart their calculations and try not to fall into the same pit this time.

Every "A" grade on their report card was 5 points. Mowing the lawn was 10 points.

Grabbing Dad's hair and throwing him to the ground was -700. Biting his hand was -500.

Getting him thrown in jail was at least -3000 points.

They had never been that far in debt before. And this time, they didn't even let him balance the accounts. They didn’t know what had come over them. Would once even be enough? They highly doubted it. And they'd definitely dug themself a deep enough pit to deserve it.

And that was just Dad.

Saving Monster-kind had seemed like a pretty big deal. Frisk was relieved that they were starting their relationship with the adults in the monster community with at least 100 points on all of them.

It might be selfish, but they also added an extra 30 points to monsters who had killed them, and the deaths stacked. When they left the Underground and their friends became their legal guardians, they were starting from a base of 160 for Undyne, 220 for Asgore, 100 each for Toriel, Alphys, Sans, and Papyrus. Other monsters had killed them too, but Frisk was most concerned with the adults they spent the most time with.

They had worked hard to be good the past two years. They had hoarded good favour by cooking, cleaning, running errands. They took care of themself as much as possible. They had to attend dinner with one of their guardians every night, but to fight off their debt, they did everything they could to help. They had docked their points a few times when they messed up, then worked themself to exhaustion to regain the lost ground. 

At the end of two years, they had 130 points on Sans and 150 points on Papyrus.

They had pieced together, in their flashes of consciousness, that Papyrus had saved them, and that Sans had brought them to the hospital and stayed with them. They vaguely remembered begging for Sans to stay.

So by their rough estimate, they figured they were sitting at about -870 with Sans and -850 with Papyrus.

Fuck .

That night, Sans called Papyrus. 

The call started out as a list of injuries. Fractured cheekbone. Dislocated shoulder. Bruised ribs. Minor concussion. Throat contusion. Frisk was lucky their cervical vertebrae were undamaged. Papyrus wasn't sure he was ready to think about anything in the situation as "lucky," but they would have to take the small mercies where they could.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Sans sounded exhausted. Papyrus really didn't want to talk about it, but if he knew anything, it was that Sans did better when he was given information. Being kept in the dark wouldn't help him in the least.

And despite how much Papyrus wanted to bury all of it down, he knew that he just… needed to talk with his brother.

"I found them with our location app. They hadn’t shown up to our house after school, and I was worried," he started. "When I found them, that - man was choking them against the wall.”

He paused for a moment to take a shaky breath. Sans waited patiently.

"I attacked the man. I tried to capture him, but he was…surprising. He was strong. He was determined. And there was something very wrong with him.”

Sans huffed out a chuckle on the other end of the line.

"I mean, I suppose that was rather obvious! Because then he decided to - he swung at Frisk. And you arrived and shielded them.”

Sans hummed. "Alright. That catches us up there. I… figured that happened. Their neck is still all marked up, and they were freaking out about the neck brace."

Papyrus winced. "Ah. Yes, that would make sense."

They sat in silence on the line for a few moments. Papyrus sat heavily on the edge of his bed.

"S-Sans," he stammered, "There’s - something else. I told Undyne, and - I don’t know how we can help them, but - we need to do something.”

"What's going on?" Sans asked, his voice measured, careful.

Papyrus fell backwards onto his bed and closed his sockets. He was way too tired to say the words. It felt impossible, he was utterly unprepared to face what this meant. He wasn't strong enough.

But Frisk had lived through this. The adults in their life had to be strong enough to face it.

"…Sans, what do you know about human crimes involving sexual assault?”

Papyrus heard Sans's breath hitch, then heard him curse quietly.

"I know enough to know that some bastards do that shit to kids." Sans's voice had lowered to something akin to a growl. Papyrus didn't think he had ever heard anything quite like it.

"He didn’t say it directly, but…yes. I’m confident that he has done that to Frisk. A-and it seems that it was likely long-term. I don't think it happened this time - they were still fully clothed - but in the past…"

Papyrus felt a weight on his chest. He couldn't breathe, but he couldn't stop talking.

"Sans, he asked - if that’s why I wanted to take them. He thought I would - Sans, I would never -”

"You would never," Sans affirmed immediately. "That fucking bastard just wanted to freak you out."

Papyrus curled into a ball on his bed. He had a normal bed now, since he had a real car. MK had inherited his car bed. They were vibrating with excitement the day Papyrus helped move it into their apartment, and the thought always brought Papyrus joy. He still had extremely cool flame-pattern blankets, though. He had to maintain his aesthetic, after all.

Papyrus curled in on himself further, feeling smaller than he had in a long time.

"Will we be able to keep them safe?" Papyrus asked, his voice wavering.

The line was quiet for a moment.

"Yes," Sans said. "Whatever happens, we'll do what's best for them. That's all we can do now."

“How you holdin’ up, kiddo?”

Sans walked back into the hospital room with a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria. It was the next morning, and Frisk was awake and lucid. They had been given some mostly-liquid foods, and with some food and rest, their eyes were regaining a bit of their usual shine. He plopped back down on his chair and noticed Frisk’s body language relax a bit. 

“Not bad!” They said cheerfully, their voice a kind of hoarse attempt at speaking. “Sorry for the inconvenience! You didn’t have to do all this.”

Sans tried not to show his concern too plainly and keep his voice casual. “Nah, bud, it’s not your fault. And of course I’d wanna help ya. We all do.”

Frisk didn’t respond to that, instead fidgeting with their blanket. 

“Um, I was wondering if -” Frisk winced and coughed. They groaned. Poor kid…they needed a better way to communicate. 

“Hold that thought,” he said. “Mind if I leave ya for five minutes? I got an idea.”

Frisk hesitated for just a moment, then gave a smile and a thumbs up. Sans sauntered back out the door. 

He had seen a gift shop a floor down, so he made his way there. He made it back to Frisk’s room in four minutes and thirty-nine seconds. 

“Mission accomplished,” Sans said with a wink. “Why dontcha try writing to me instead while your throat still hurts?”

Frisk’s eyes shone as Sans presented them with a notebook. Its cover was covered in a fluffy pink material, which Sans had always found a kind of funny choice. 

But he had noticed a couple things about Frisk:
-They liked bright colours. Seemed like pink was a favourite.
-They liked soft things. He had found them several times making a direct beeline towards the softest thing in any given room. 

So hey. Might not be Sans’s aesthetic, but he was pretty sure it’d be a hit with the kid. And it seemed that he was right. Frisk had a huge smile on their face and they immediately started stroking the soft cover. After a moment they lifted it to their cheek and contentedly closed their eyes as the fluffy texture brushed against their face, right next to the sterile white bandages that covered their wound.

Then, something strange happened. The kid froze and set the notebook on their lap and opened it abruptly. Sans passed them the purple gel pen he’d also picked up for them. Their eyes once again gleamed with delight before their expression fell slightly.

How much do I owe you for these? They wrote.

“Oh. Nah, don’t worry ‘bout it.”

Frisk looked at him from the corner of their eye, then wrote: Why? It’s not my birthday.

Hm. Sans shrugged. “Just a gift. Doesn’t gotta be a special occasion. And also you gotta be able to chat somehow.”

Frisk’s expression seemed to fall further, but then they suddenly looked like the cheerful kid he was used to. Thanks so so so much!!! I love it!!!!!!!

“Yeah, anytime,” Sans said easily. “Let me know if ya need anything else, okay? I got you.”

Frisk tensed slightly. Okay!! Thank you, I will! They drew a happy face beside it. 

Sans had a feeling they probably wouldn’t. 

But hey, that just meant he would just have to pay more attention than he usually did. He’d find ways to help them if they were struggling to ask for it. 

Frisk was fighting to keep their anxiety in check. 

Casual gifts were a thing with their monster friends, but this added a lot onto their debt. Frisk couldn't really afford that right now. But denying the gift further would have been rude. There was no safe option.

And…Frisk really liked the notebook. Sans found the best notebook they could ever imagine. It was so pretty and soft.

Dad never would have allowed them to have something like this, much less given it to them. 

…

Frisk hoped they could go home soon.

They were no longer hooked up to an IV, and they were able to get out of bed earlier to use the washroom. They were basically fine!!

But they were a bit weaker than usual right now, and they couldn't hide it, so Sans kept on doing things for them. And honestly, they still felt pretty rough, which made it hard to keep up their happy demeanour. It didn't help that Sans was too perceptive.

A nurse told them earlier that a doctor would be seeing them that morning. Frisk was grateful they had been unconscious or disassociated for a lot of the treatments yesterday. Having so many doctors and nurses around them, so many people touching them - so many humans - 

Frisk shuddered. Thankfully Sans seemed to be napping again, so he didn’t notice. 

…

The doctor would be coming to see them soon. 

Frisk steadied their breathing. Sans was here, and a doctor probably wouldn’t do anything too bad. It would be okay. It would be fine, right?

There was a knock on the doorframe, and then a doctor stepped through. 

The doctor was a tall, middle aged lady with a short blonde bob. She had slightly downturned eyes behind thin square glasses and a calm smile. Frisk felt some of their fear ease. 

Sans opened his sockets and straightened up. “‘Sup, Doc?”

The Doctor’s smile widened slightly. “Hi there. My name is Doctor Sommer, and I’ll be checking in today.” She set her clipboard and pen down on a desk as she sat down on the padded stool next to it. 

Frisk pulled out their notebook and wrote the name “Frisk” in big capital letters as Sans introduced himself to the doctor. 

He turned to them. “And this is -”

Frisk held up their notebook. FRISK. They even had time to draw a small flower after their name. 

“It is wonderful to meet you both.” She picked up her clipboard again, looked at the list for a moment, then looked up at Frisk. “I wanted to start off today by asking how you are feeling overall.”

Frisk spent a few moments writing, embarrassed at the silence that hung in the air as they did so. 

Pretty good! Face hurts a bit. Ribs sore. Throat sore, hard to talk. But good!

Doctor Sommer nodded. “That makes sense. Has the healing magic been working okay?”

Frisk reached up and touched the patch on their cheek. 

In the years since monsters and humans reunited, there had been a lot of research on healing magic’s effect on humans. Alphys had been a huge help in that, and Sans had been lending a hand lately too. They found that some humans responded better to it than others. Frisk’s experience in the Underground told them that healing magic worked pretty great on them! They wanted to just fix their body with a flood of magic and be done with it. But apparently, when it came to things like broken bones, their human body would heal more fully with a gradual application of healing magic in slower doses, with a foundation of human treatment. Frisk supposed that made sense. A few of the broken bones they got in the Underground still ached sometimes. 

And then there was their neck and head. In the Underground, if they got those injuries, they died shortly after, so they hadn’t experienced this before. But apparently there was a lot of complicated stuff going on there and they wanted to heal those even more slowly to make sure everything healed safely. 

In the current moment, Frisk was grateful for the healing magic bandages on their face and ribs. There was a soothing warmth that definitely helped with the soreness.

Their neck didn’t have healing patches on it. They had tried hard not to look at the bruises when they stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom this morning.

The magic is working great! 

“Good. Do you have a headache?”

Lil bit

“Sensitivity to bright lights?”

Frisk just pointed to the same answer. 

“Memory issues?”

No

Dr Sommer nodded and turned to Sans. “Have you noticed any memory issues from them so far today?”

“Nah, they know where they are ‘n stuff, still know what day it is, all that.”

“Okay. That is a good sign.” The doctor set down her clipboard. “Next, Frisk, I wanted to change over your bandages and check to see how the bruising looks on your face, neck, and ribs.”

Frisk couldn’t help themself - they visibly tensed at the idea. 

Dr Sommer’s shoulders dropped a little bit. “I will tell you what I’m doing at every step, and I won’t do anything until you say it’s okay. We can go as slow as we need. Does that sound alright?”

Frisk blinked. That was really kind of her. They were being a wimp and inconveniencing a busy doctor who definitely had better things to do, but they had to admit that they felt a lot better knowing they had some measure of control. Frisk nodded. 

“Alright, then. Thank you so much.” Why was the doctor thanking them? Frisk was making things difficult. And they should feel fine right now, but as the doctor walked to their bedside, their heart started pounding. 

Frisk wasn’t laying down fully, but they were reclined a little bit, and they still felt weak. If the doctor tried to do anything, they would be vulnerable. Anything could happen and they wouldn’t be able to fight it.

“Hey, pal,” Frisk startled at Sans’s voice. “Want a hand to hold?”

Frisk was thirteen. They shouldn’t need to hold someone’s hand for a checkup…but yes. They wanted that very badly. Sans reached a hand out and Frisk took it.

“First, can I take the bandage off of your face? Or would you prefer to take it off?” The doctor asked. 

Oh. That was a nice option. Frisk reached up and slowly peeled the adhesive off their face. The doctor took the old bandage and set it aside.

“Perfect,” she said. “Okay. Can I get a bit closer to look at the bruising on your face and neck?”

Frisk squeezed Sans’s hand unintentionally. That was probably annoying. But Sans responded by just running his thumb across their knuckles. Frisk relaxed a bit and nodded. They pulled their hair aside to give a clearer view of their neck. The doctor leaned in to inspect.

…That wasn’t so bad, actually! This was fine. Easy!

“Lastly, we can change over the bandage on your rib. Is that okay?”

Frisk had relaxed a bit and nodded easily. They let go of Sans's hand, reached under their shirt, and pulled off the adhesive healing patch. Once again, the doctor took it. 

“Can you lift your shirt a bit so I can take a look?”

Frisk felt their stomach drop. 

…

It was fine. She wouldn’t do anything. It was just because of the bruised rib, right?

They nodded and lifted the shirt just enough to show the bruising, no more.

If they weren’t imagining it, the doctor's eyes narrowed a little bit behind her square glasses. Frisk felt their heart start racing.

But the doctor leaned back and made a note, then smiled gently. “Good. It is already healing nicely. You do respond well to healing magic.”

Lucky. Would have been hard to get through the Underground without it.

“There is one more thing,” the doctor said. Frisk focused again. “I was wondering if I could have a short meeting just with Frisk?”

Frisk flinched. Sans looked closely at the doctor. 

“Sometimes we find it beneficial to have a one on one meeting with a patient,” she said easily. “It would just be five minutes, and your nurse will be here as well.”

…Five minutes. That wasn't long enough for her to do too much. And if a nurse was there too… 

Doctors were safe, right? Maybe they would make the others worry more if they made a big deal of this. 

It was just five minutes.  That was fine. It was fine!

Ok! they wrote in their book.

Sans gave their hand a squeeze." You good with that, bud?"

Frisk nodded decisively.

“Five minutes is perfect for me to get us ice cream from the cafeteria. Dessert time.”

With a wave, he headed out the door. 

The doctor redirected her attention back to Frisk. As promised, their nurse was there too. She was off writing some charts, but she was there all the same. 

“Thanks for meeting today,” she smiled. “I just wanted to check on something I noticed in our checkup.”

Frisk nodded.

“I saw that you have quite a few scars near where your ribs were bruised,” she said quietly. Do you have more scars like that?”

Frisk winced. They knew it looked bad. That's why they didn't show it to others. But…they should probably be honest. It wouldn't be good to just lie about this.

They nodded.

“Okay. And could I ask where those are?”

Frisk hesitated, then gestured to their torso. They picked up their notebook. Front and back.

“I see. And do they hurt?”

Frisk paused for a moment. A bit, sometimes. 

“Okay. I can prescribe something for that. And an application of healing magic should work well for you too, so you can always ask your guardians for that.”

Frisk nodded, even though they knew  they would not be asking for something so trivial.

“The scars looked old. Can you tell me when you got them?”

Frisk thought back. When I was 8-10.

“And you have lived with your current guardians since you were eleven?”

Frisk nodded.

“Okay.” The doctor jotted down a note. She looked serious. “I recognize that you had a difficult start with your current guardians. I have been briefed on your living situation. They had hurt you at the start, right?”

Frisk froze. There was no real point in denying that…

Some of them did.

“I understand, and I also know that there were discussions about your best placement at the start of your life with them. At the time, it was agreed that you could stay.” She adjusted her glasses. “I just wanted to make sure about something. Since they have been your guardians, have any of them done anything to hurt you?”

Frisk shook their head “no” a bit too aggressively and made themself a little dizzy. 

“Okay. And from what you said, the scars you have are not from anyone in your life now?”

A vigorous nod. Any scars from the Underground healed with magic.

They wrote in their notebook. They're all from my dad. At least that one was already kind of explained. She knew they were in here because their dad hurt them, so there was no point trying to hide it.

The doctor remained composed, but…sad. It was strange seeing someone who barely knew them seem to worry about stuff like this.

“I am so sorry to hear that, Frisk. You never should have been harmed, by him or anyone else.” She crossed her legs. “And if any of your current guardians - or anyone else - hurts you in any way, you know the numbers for emergencies, as well as the children's help line?”

A thumbs up. Frisk had a list of emergency numbers in their phone, at Toriel’s insistence. 

…Ah. Right. Their broken phone. Sans was gonna help them order their new phone later today, and they'd make sure they got the numbers again then.

“Okay. Remember that you can call even if you aren't sure whether it's an emergency or not, okay? If you have been hurt, it's better safe than sorry.”

Frisk nodded.

“And can I ask you one last question?”

Another nod.

“Thank you, Frisk. I just wanted to ask how you feel about your current living situation.”

Frisk smiled. Though they didn't really feel truly safe anywhere, their current life was the safest one they could imagine. Even though things had been harder recently, they cherished the life they had built. They didn't want to be anywhere else.

I feel safe and I'm happy with them. They're all so kind to me. They care a lot.

“I'm so happy to hear that, Frisk.” Dr Sommer’s smile was soft and genuine. Frisk’s Soul warmed; it was strange. Even though this appointment should have been scary, they actually felt okay. They weren’t sure when they had last felt at ease around another human.

Then again, it was probably because she was a doctor. She was doing her job, so Frisk didn't think they were gonna go deep in debt to her. And hopefully they wouldn't have to cause her too much extra work! 

Whatever it was…they would probably be okay. They would try to trust her.

There was a knock at the door, and the nurse opened it. Sans stood in the door with two cups of ice cream.

“Special delivery,” he said. “Am I good to come back in?”

“Yes, thank you very much. All is well.”

Sans sauntered in, plopped onto his chair, and handed Frisk an ice cream. They happily accepted it. He got them strawberry, their favourite!! They looked from their pink notebook to their pink ice cream and smiled.

“I am happy to confirm that you are healing well,” she said. “To give you a timeline of what to expect, we'll have Frisk here for a full day tomorrow. The morning after, we can have one more checkup, and if all is continuing to heal well, you can recover further at home. We will have a checkup after a few days.”

Oh, thank goodness. They wanted to go home.

“I have heard that Frisk stays in their own apartment most of the time, though. For at least seven days after they go home, they should stay with a guardian.”

Frisk tried not to show any surprise and internally chastised themself. Of course they would need to stay with the adults. That made sense. They had to heal from the stupid injuries they got because they were stupid.

They'd figure out a way to navigate this without being too much of a burden. Above all, they had to minimize what they owed.

They waved to the doctor as she left, and tried to look preoccupied with their ice cream so Sans didn't notice them running numbers in their head.

They'd figure something out. They had to.

The two days after the attack were a haze for Papyrus.

While Sans stayed at the hospital, Undyne insisted on sleeping on the couch in Papyrus and Sans's shared apartment. Papyrus wasn't sure he would have done anything other than stare at the ceiling if Undyne wasn't staying with him. For the first time in his life, he took sick days from work.

Papyrus wasn't used to doing nothing. A couple years ago, he would have called his behaviour inexcusably lazy. Papyrus currently didn't have the energy to call himself anything.

Starting the day after the attack, Undyne managed the communication about the incident among the monsters in the area. She was proving to be surprisingly adept at managing the difficult conversations.

At large, the monster community knew that Frisk had sustained some injuries after school earlier in the week, that these injuries were not life threatening, and they would be home soon. They were advised to give Frisk space and consideration as they recovered.

The group of adults closest to Frisk were given more details. Frisk's father had attacked them. He attempted to strangle them. The man seemed to attempt to murder them. The man was incarcerated.

They were told that Frisk may be very fearful, and to be cautious and mindful, and especially not to touch them without their consent. Even touches they were used to may be uncomfortable at this time.

Undyne withheld the more sensitive nature of Frisk's assaults at this point. She admitted that she was unsure whether it was her place to share the information so the adults would be better prepared for their triggers and trauma responses, or whether that would breach Frisk's privacy too much. They needed to handle it carefully. The guidelines they put in place should ensure they were kept safe regardless while they navigated the situation.

Papyrus was glad she was making the decisions right now. He could barely think straight.

On the second day, Papyrus couldn't get out of bed, so Undyne brought the food to him. They sat on his bed together, eating and talking about Undyne and Alphys's recent date at the aquarium. Alphys had to pull Undyne away from the penguin enclosure. ("THEY'RE SO CUTE, ALPHYS! I WANNA GO SWIM WITH THEM! JUST FOR A FEW MINUTES!!") Papyrus couldn't help but laugh at that. It was… really nice.

On the third day, Papyrus knew he was feeling more like himself when he woke up early and felt well rested, and disgusted at the thought of crumbs from his meal with Undyne in his sheets. So, laundry was an order!

Just as he bundled the sheets in his arms, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He dropped everything on the floor, pulled his phone put of his pocket, and opened the notification immediately.

sans
-hey bro
-u wanna get some use outta your car

Papyrus's Soul stilled.

sans
-frisks comin home this afternoon. passed all their exams, aced their report card, gold star. rest of the recovery can be done at home.
-anyway, frisk asked if you can drive us home.

Papyrus's smile felt full and genuine for the first time in days.

"UNDYNE!" He ran out of his room, just to collide with his friend in the hallway.

"Papyrus?!" She recovered from the impact and set her hands on Papyrus's arms to steady him. "Are you okay? What's happening?"

"YES!" He said, breathless. "Frisk is coming home. They want me to pick them and Sans up from the hospital."

Undyne paused for a beat, processing, then gave a big, toothy grin. She wrapped Papyrus up in her arms and spun him around. "DUDE!!! THAT'S AWESOME!!!"

When she let him go, Papyrus realized, to his surprise, that he was crying.

"H-hey man, are you okay?" Undyne asked hesitantly.

Papyrus nodded frantically, wiping his tears away. He was feeling many things, and, really! That made sense for him! He was the superlative in many ways. Including, it would seem, feeling many very big emotions!

The biggest emotion right now, though, was relief. He leaned into Undyne's arms again and sobbed.

Chapter Text

Undyne had checked many times if Papyrus was up to make the drive to the hospital alone. Papyrus assured her that all was well. He felt grounded today and his head was clear. He wouldn't dream of picking Frisk up at the hospital if there was any possibility he was not fit to drive! He was the very safest of skeletons!

She had packed her stuff and headed back to her apartment after that, giving him one last rib-crushing hug. He spent the next couple of hours preparing their home for their little guest of honour after receiving some very important information.

sans:
-so dr says frisk needs to stay with a guardian for a week. i asked em what theyd like to do for the next while
-they asked if they could stay with you n me. that good with you?

Papyrus had prepared two sleeping options! Frisk could either sleep in the living room, in the very cool blanket fort he had expertly constructed! Or! They could sleep in his room, and Papyrus would sleep in the living room!

(He thought they may want a proper bedroom, so they could close the door.)

And then it was finally time to bring their friend home.

Papyrus took a deep breath outside of Frisk's hospital room. He nervously fidgeted with his gloves. His favourite pair were still in the laundry, on account of - ah. As Undyne had called it, "The blood of his enemy." A very grim phrasing, though when Undyne informed him that he had looked very badass, he couldn't help but feel deeply satisfied. Anyway, the gloves had been missed in the load of laundry Undyne had done.

But! Today was not about enemy-blood or anything scary! Nosiree, today Papyrus was dressed in a soft, pastel green sweater, jeans, and his freshly-washed scarf. He was the picture of a cozy, soft skeleton! Surely nothing that would make his traumatized little friend nervous!

Papyrus straightened up, and before he could second (or third, fourth, fifth…)-guess himself, he rounded the corner into Frisk's room.

He saw Sans first, lounging in a chair, reading aloud from a quantum physics book. "…And I said patella? I barely know her!"

Then his eyes landed on Frisk, who was giggling.

They looked much less…broken than when he last saw them, but his breath still caught at the sight. The human had a sterile white bandage on their face where their cheekbone had been broken, and he was unsure if the dark circles under their eyes were from lack of sleep or bruising. 

Their neck was bruised the most. He only now noticed how clearly the marks looked like a hand.

He paused in the entryway and cleared his non-existent throat to announce his arrival.

Frisk sat up straight and looked up at him. They gave him a slightly-lopsided but bright grin.

"Papyrus!!" They beamed up at him. They coughed and slumped a little bit, frustration flickering across their face.

"Sorry, pal, voice still out of order," Sans said, nudging their arm lightly. They groaned.

Ah yes, another adjustment. Sans had warned him that their voice was still recovering, due to the whole… broken-face-and-bruised-throat situation. They had a fluffy pink notebook and a purple pen at their bedside, as well as a new phone that they had ordered to replace the old one.

"Well. I am glad to see you, Frisk! And very happy to bring you back home!" Papyrus gave a bright smile back to them. "My very cool car awaits, whenever you are ready!”

Soon, Frisk was ready to go. They checked out at the reception. Before they left, Frisk motioned at the washroom sign, letting Sans and Papyrus know where they were going.

Papyrus leaned against the wall next to the washroom door. Sans leaned against the wall, then slid over until his shoulder bumped into Papyrus's arm.

"They're gonna be okay," he murmured.

Papyrus's grin strained. "Was my shock obvious?"

"Nah. Ya did good. But you can't hide it from your bro." Sans looked up at him and winked. "Don't worry. I'll keep a socket out for both of ya. Good thing I have two sockets."

Papyrus sighed and leaned his skull back against the wall.

The bathroom door opened, and Frisk stepped out.

"Ah! Are we all ready to go, then?" Papyrus asked cheerfully.

Frisk didn't make any noise or gesture in response. They had a faraway look in their eyes that seemed… not good.

Sans seemed to agree. "Hey, buddy. Something happen?"

He pulled out Frisk's notebook and pen from his pocket and offered them to Frisk, but they didn't make a move to take the items. Instead, they raised a hand to their throat, tracing the bruises.

"Can see it a lot," they whispered.

Sans winced. He moved around Frisk and looked into the bathroom. It had a bright, well lit interior and the upper half of the wall was completely covered in mirrors.

"Better lighting in there than the other bathroom," he murmured. He redirected his attention to Frisk. “You’re safe here, Frisk. we’re right here with you.”

Frisk nodded, but they still had the same vacant look in their eyes. Their fingers curled and they scratched lightly at their neck. "Can see it so much."

…

Papyrus really wished he could kill that man.

That was not currently an option, but! Helping his little friend might be possible.

"Frisk," he said softly, "Would you like to cover your neck?"

They looked up at him and cocked their head slightly, every movement slow and detached.

Papyrus unwound the scarf from around his neck and held it out to them.

"Why don’t you hold onto this," He said. "If you would like to wear it, you can put it on. If it feels bad to wear it, then you should take it off immediately! If you have trouble, the Great Me (or Sans) can assist!"

Papyrus stayed still as Frisk looked at the scarf in his outstretched hands. After a moment, they accepted it, and they wound it around their neck.

They stood still, hands holding the ends of the scarf loosely. Papyrus held his breath.

Then, Frisk blinked and their shoulders dropped. They brought one of their hands up to their face and rubbed the fabric lightly against their bandaged cheek.

Frisk smiled and closed their eyes.

"It's soft," they whispered.

Well.

Papyrus had been considering buying a new scarf anyhow! As far as he was concerned, that one would be Frisk's now, as long as they wanted it.

Home had never felt so good.

Papyrus opened the front door of their apartment with a flourish and gestured for Sans and Frisk to walk in first. Sans stepped over the threshold and was greeted with a spectacular sight.

Their apartment's kitchen and living room were open concept. The kitchen was on the left when they entered, with a counter facing the living room with no wall dividing it. It made hosting gatherings really easy, and Sans loved it.

Right now, though, the living room had been turned into a rather spectacular shelter.

Papyrus had nailed blankets to the walls and ceilings to make a cozy tent structure that encompassed their two couches and armchair. The blankets were currently pulled away from the windows, but Sans noted strings that could be untied to block out the light as needed. The TV was in the shelter, as well.

The floor of the living room was covered in two mattresses with crisp, unwrinkled sheets. They were set up beside each other so the entire floor was cushioned. Pillows were propped up all around the edges of the mattresses, and four or five blankets that Sans didn't recognize were neatly folded up. As a finishing touch, hundreds of fairy lights twinkled gently along the blanketed ceiling.

He turned around to see Frisk frozen in place, their striking red eyes wide open and full of unfiltered wonder in a way that was rare for them. Papyrus stood in the entryway behind them, watching proudly.

"Welcome to scenic our house!!" He said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. "I hope you like the recent renovations!"

Frisk spun around to look up at him. They hopped up onto their toes and flapped their hands a few times, then spun back to Sans. They made a writing motion. Sans handed them their writing supplies, and they ran to the kitchen counter to start frantically writing.

IT'S SO COOL!!!! They wrote, then underlined four times. They flipped to the next page. Is it for a party?

Papyrus stood taller when Frisk held the pages up to him.

"NYEH HEH HEH!" He laughed, preening under the praise. "Well! If you count our favourite human visiting us as a party, then this certainly is one!"

Frisk paused, then looked back at Sans. Their expression was unreadable, which was honestly impressive; not much got past Sans. They turned back to Papyrus.

Papyrus cleared his throat, his tone evening out a bit. "I set this up to show you. But during the day, we can move the mattresses aside and pull the blanket walls back so we have our normal living room. And at night, this can be your bedroom!"

Frisk straightened up a bit. Papyrus continued. "But! If you do not want to stay in the living room, I have also prepared my room!"

This time, even without seeing their face, Frisk's emotion was easily readable. They visibly flinched and leaned away from Papyrus.

It seemed Papyrus noticed as well. "For you to stay in! Alone!! Privately!! And I will stay in the living room!" He said hastily. "I wanted to give you options. I am very happy with either. Let me or Sans know when you have decided!"

Frisk moved back to the kitchen counter to write again, this time at a much less rapid pace. Sans and Papyrus watched as they wrote. Thanks so much!! You're both always so kind. They paused. They continued, the text much smaller. you didn't have to.

Sans and Papyrus shared a look over Frisk's head. Sans stepped forward so he could see Frisk's face. Their bright eyes were lidded once again, and their shoulders hunched a little bit. Sans offered a reassuring smile.

"Papyrus is just really awesome. He loves doin' this stuff for friends," Sans said, his voice casual. He shrugged. "Just another day in the life of being the coolest dude around."

Frisk finally looked back up at him, then turned to Papyrus and smiled. They paused for a moment, then slipped off their shoes and walked into the living room shelter. They stepped carefully onto one of the mattresses, one slow step at a time, as if they were walking on holy ground. They lowered themself gently and sat cross-legged, looking up at the fairy-light ceiling. The wonder returned to their expression.

Papyrus stepped up beside Sans, contentment radiating from him. Sans's own Soul ached at the sight.

He remembered Frisk's look as they wandered through Waterfall, that same awe and slow, careful reverence in their eyes - as if they loved something so much, but weren't sure if they had any right to enjoy it.

He'd pranked them with a painted telescope lens, and some of their nervousness seemed to drain away as they laughed at their reflection in one of the pools of water. Anomaly or not, Sans had appreciated that they at least had a healthy funnybone. 

"Missed opportunity, Paps," he sighed. "You coulda put like, at least a hundred whoopie cushions under those mattresses."

Frisk snapped out of their reverie with a surprised laugh. Papyrus huffed and crossed his arms.

"Unbelievable! I would never consider such crude japes! Rule number one of being ‘The Most Cool Dude’ is being an excellent host!”

Sans shrugged. "Really? I didn't think cool dudes had a rulebook."

"Of course we do!!" Papyrus scoffed, and immediately produced a book from his pocket labeled Cool Dude Handbook.

Sans's casual demeanor cracked and let out a surprised wheeze. Frisk craned their neck to see the book and let out a sound of disbelief.

"Really! I do not see why you two would be surprised." He opened the book and turned to the first page, which had bold letters across both pages that read RULE 1: BE AN EXCELLENT HOST. He snapped the book shut and nodded seriously. "Being this cool is serious work!”

Frisk brought out their paper, struggling to write as they shook with giggles. They held up their paper for the brothers to read.

You're the coolest. I'll stay here. They then hastily added, if that's okay.

"I would be honoured." He turned to Sans. "Our human friend has good taste!”

"Sure does, bud," he said, nudging Papyrus affectionately. "They're right. You're the coolest."

Sans and Papyrus wanted Frisk to have a bit of space after that, so they went about their business. Sans told Frisk to rest while he set up the toiletries and other necessities that Toriel had dropped off before they arrived. They had looked nervous and told him that he didn’t have to do anything for them, but he assured them it was nothing. Sheesh, this kid was way too independent.

He had known that for a long time, of course. The monsters had a system in place that covered Frisk's needs. They received a grocery delivery weekly which was funded by the community's universal basic income, and they liked preparing their own breakfasts and lunches. But every weeknight, they had dinner with one of the adults in the community. It was fun having them over. They always insisted on helping and were a surprisingly adept cook, much better than many of the adults. Papyrus, Undyne, and Sans all learned a lot from them. Then, Frisk insisted on helping clean all the dishes, and often did extra cleaning while they were at it. Sans had tried to get them to be lazy, but gave up eventually. Frisk and Papyrus must simply be made of the same stuff.

Anyway, Frisk was capable of doing stuff around the house, of course. But like, they were a hurt kid. Why did it seem so odd for their friends to lend them a hand?

Just last weekend, Sans had only figured out after the fact that Frisk had been sick. They had dinner with Undyne on Friday night, and Papyrus had stopped by to hang out. Papyrus mentioned offhandedly to Sans that Frisk had seemed a bit… pinker than usual? Otherwise, he said they were totally normal! Sans hadn't known what to make of that. He saw them on Sunday and they seemed fine, and when he mentioned what Papyrus had said they waved it off and told him that they had just needed to sleep for 14 hours and then they got over it. They said it like a joke, but…14 hours was a lot for anyone, especially Frisk. The thought of them having obviously been unwell but not informing any of the adults around them had him worried.

They had always been so happy, so energetic and involved in everything. They were a healthy kid and never got sick in a way that Sans had actually noticed, anyhow. They were playful and helpful and they showed up to dinner every night, so he would notice if something was wrong, wouldn't he?

Recent events would certainly indicate otherwise. And Sans hadn’t been the most present guardian, especially the first year that they had all moved to the Surface. He had to keep a closer watch on them. That would definitely be made easier by their current living arrangement.

He shuffled into his room and flopped backwards onto his bed. The feeling was heavenly, after having dozed in a hospital armchair for a couple nights.

It was way too early for bed, and even so, he wouldn't have been able to sleep. He had to figure out what they were going to do to take care of Frisk.

They needed to get them into therapy as soon as possible. A human therapist would be best; sexual abuse was behaviour that was exhibited by select humans, not monsters, so a human therapist would be most equipped to address it. But Frisk had always politely but firmly refused intentional connection with humans. He was actually pretty amazed that they had been okay to talk with the doctor. 

Even with that progress, Sans was pretty sure they wouldn’t be keen on a human therapist at the moment. The could ask, but he wanted to have options if they turned it down. He could look for any monsters who may have learned and studied up on this type of abuse, but he hadn’t heard of anything like that. Frisk didn't even know yet that Papyrus, Sans, and Undyne knew the nature of their abuse, and Sans wasn't exactly sure how to broach the topic, and…

He groaned and rubbed his hands on his closed sockets.

Nothing needed to be done tonight. Tonight, they would make dinner, maybe watch a movie. They could figure out what to do later.

Papyrus was making lasagna for dinner. Him and Frisk had learned how to make it together last year, Frisk gently guiding him away from some of his more unorthodox cooking methods. By now, Papyrus was genuinely good at making it, and it had become a regular recipe in the household.

Frisk zipped around their kitchen. They pulled out the glass oven-safe dish, assorted kitchen utensils, and sauce. Papyrus retrieved the rest of the ingredients.

Frisk may not be able to speak, but they moved with the usual bounce in their movements, stopping occasionally to jot something down for Papyrus to read. If Sans didn't know, even he wouldn't have been able to guess that this kid had just been in the hospital.

They hadn't removed the scarf from their neck since they got here. He guessed they would wear it until no trace of their father's hand print remained on their skin… maybe longer. 

Yesterday, Frisk had asked if anyone had picked up their jacket. Sans remembered it. It was a puffy purple jacket with pink stripes and fluffy faux fur around the hood. They wore it every day in the winter. He asked if they had left it somewhere. In the alley where you found me, Frisk wrote.

Sans thought that seemed odd. It was a pretty cold day, and he didn't know why Frisk would have -

Ah. 

Frisk wasn't the one who took it off, were they?

How did the kid in front of him act like everything was normal? Like they didn't live with the trauma and grief and fear that only showed in flashes, only to be smothered as soon as they regained control of themself?

…The kid may have more in common with him than he had guessed.

Frisk reached up to give Papyrus a high five after they laid the last sheet on their lasagna.

Sans rested his chin on his hand and watched as Papyrus put the lasagna in the oven.

He had learned yesterday evening that Undyne had retrieved the jacket, and she would bring it by sometime soon. Frisk had been really glad to hear that.

Frisk let their body sink into the soft mattress underneath them. A heavy blanket weighed them down, kept them grounded in a way they hadn't felt in a long time. It had been borrowed from Alphys, they were informed: -20 points since it was just borrowed, and they were still in pretty good standing with her, so that was okay.

They fiddled with the bracelet from the hospital, which they had forgotten to take off. Their name was in capital letters across the top: FRISK DEL ROSSO.

After coming to the surface, Frisk was told they needed to choose a surname. They didn't want to use their dad's name, and although the Dreemurr's would have been okay with them taking their name, Frisk didn't really want to be connected to them as family in that way. Frisk wasn't particularly looking for family, even if they needed guardians. 

They decided that they could name themself after their Soul colour: red. Red wasn't a very fun word, though, so they spent some time looking at other languages. They finally landed on the Italian word, Rosso, because they liked the movie Porco Rosso. Hey, it was as good a reason as any.  

Frisk dropped their hand back to their side and made a mental note to cut off the bracelet tomorrow. 

The evening had been really nice. They helped make dinner, helped set up the movie, helped clean up. Sans had offered to help them with their bandages if they needed it, but they declined. They had the doctor’s instructions, and they would be able to manage the routine. 

And…the biggest bandage was under their shirt. They didn't know if they would be able to manage their reactions if Sans told them to take off their shirt so he could change it. 

What would he have done if Frisk said no? Would he force them to comply? Would he decide that now was actually a great time to take what Frisk owed him? Frisk wasn't ready. Their body still ached, and what if it hurt even worse this time? At least Frisk knew what to expect from Dad. It usually hurt but he was always really careful not to leave marks that other people could see, which Frisk was grateful for. They didn't want other people to see how often they messed up.

But this was new and dangerous territory. Maybe they should have just gone back home with Dad and then they wouldn't owe anyone else and they could have paid Dad back and they could be good again and-

Frisk turned onto their uninjured side, curled their knees up to their chest and wrapped their arms around themself. The front of their body was sheltered like this, but their back and neck were still vulnerable. They knew from experience that humans didn't have any way to keep their body safe. If only they had been born as an armadillo. Then they could curl into an armoured ball, roll around everywhere, and only ever uncurl when they were alone and safe.

Sans was at -1350 now. Papyrus was at -1325. Not that they really needed to keep track anymore.

They uncurled themself and looked up at the fairy light ceiling.

When they had asked to stay with Sans and Papyrus, they knew they were sealing their fate.

They weren’t allowed to live alone while they recovered, even though Frisk would have been fine. Whoever they stayed with, they knew they would rack up debt faster than they could repay it.

Experience told them that once they hit -500, it was almost impossible to climb out of debt without letting Dad balance the accounts. So they were already well beyond their ability to repay Sans and Papyrus. It was perfectly logical and just plain practical to keep the debts contained to them. They weren't exactly sure how a skeleton monster would even do most of the stuff Dad did, but, well, monsters were full of surprises. They didn't doubt that Sans and Papyrus could get some kind of use out of them. 

Frisk knew that Papyrus was strong, but he was pretty in control of himself. He also didn't seem to harbour any animosity towards them. The chance of him leaving Frisk with any bad injuries seemed low. Unless he purposefully wanted to do that, in which case… well. That would be that, then. Maybe he would use healing magic to make sure they were okay afterwards; otherwise Frisk could just find some healing food and bandages. They wouldn’t be a wimp about it. No big deal.

Frisk didn't know what to expect from Sans, and that felt much more dangerous. They remembered sitting across from him in a dark restaurant, him telling them that without a single promise, Frisk would be dead. Frisk fully believed Sans was capable of making that happen if he so wished.

They didn't think Sans wanted them dead, not anymore. Their friends loved them, and they loved their friends. And Sans kept Frisk safe at the hospital; he wouldn't have done that if he wanted them dead.

But someone who loved them could still want to hurt them. They wondered if those glimpses of danger in Sans would come out again when it was his turn. They didn't want to be hurt bad, but… well, they had survived this long. And Sans wouldn't kill them. They couldn't be such a crybaby about this.

Something deep in their Soul fought desperately against the thought of their friends treating them like Dad did. That was confusing; this was how the world worked, at least for them. Maybe it wasn't that way for other kids, but Frisk had always taken so much from those who took care of them. They would stop running from what they owed. Dad ended up in jail because they ran. They couldn't let that happen to any of their new friends.

They just hoped Sans and Papyrus could wait a little longer, until their body stopped hurting so bad. They would keep being helpful and try not to mess up. Maybe they could delay the inevitable, just a little bit.

Frisk drew Alphys's blanket all the way up until it was over their mouth. They blinked up at the fairy lights in the beautiful shelter Papyrus had made for them. -200 points, at least, but it really was beautiful. They smiled to themself and let their eyes drift shut. Maybe it was all worth it, anyway.

Chapter Text

Frisk was scheduled to stay at the skeletons' apartment for one week. They weren't really sure what the brothers' day to day schedule even looked like. They just knew they'd do their very best not to disrupt it.

"Hey, buddo, look what the skeleton dragged in."

Frisk was sitting in the blanket fort the following morning, brushing their hair. They craned their neck to see Sans peering around the corner, his eye lights scanning the room suspiciously. He kept his voice low.

Frisk cocked their head and made a small inquisitive noise by way of response.

Seeming to be content with the current state of affairs, Sans stepped further into the living room. Frisk saw what he was holding: a small, fluffy white dog with a happy, vacant expression.

Frisk made an involuntary squawk and scrambled out of their shelter. They rushed Sans and scooped the dog into their arms. They held him up to eye level and glared at him.

"Last time I saw you," they said in a hushed, still-hoarse voice, "you stole a legendary artifact from me. And then filled my bag with dog residue."

"Stealing legendary artifacts, huh?" Sans leaned nonchalantly against the wall. "Can't say I approve, but at least he's trying new things."

Frisk redirected their glare to Sans now. "He absorbed it."

"What, can't a guy have a hobby?"

Before Frisk could come up with a retort, the little dog leaned forward and licked their face.

Ah, Frisk really couldn't stay mad at him forever. They wrapped the little creature in their arms and buried their face in his fur. Soft.

Wait.

"You just got out of bed. Where did he come from?" Frisk's voice was still strained, but they were happy to notice that it was coming out a bit more normal again, and talking didn't hurt so bad.

"Climbed in my window," Sans responded plainly.

"Wh-" Frisk glanced over at the windows to make sure they weren't somehow misremembering a very basic fact. "We're on the fifth floor though?"

Sans paused. "Huh. Yeah." He stared at the fluffball in Frisk's arms, who just smiled up at him.

Sans shrugged. "Magic," he concluded.

Frisk groaned and rolled their eyes. "You guys are way too trusting."

A strange look passed over Sans's face. Frisk's stomach dropped for a second - wrong thing to say - but just as the expression came, it left.

"Maybe, but hey. Look at this guy. Does he look like he'd ever commit a crime?"

"He literally did," Frisk deadpanned. "I just told you about it."

"Glad we don't have any legendary artifacts around here then," he winked.

Frisk sighed.

They weren't complaining, though. Feeling the warmth of this little creature in their arms made their heart ache. They couldn't remember the last time they'd experienced physical contact that lasted this long. Well, unless they counted their run-in with Dad last week, which they would prefer not to count…

The dog gave a soft yip, bringing them back to the present. They hadn't noticed they'd been staring into space. They looked at Sans, who had that funny expression on his face again.

"Anyway, Papyrus will be back in…" he checked his watch - wait, had he just sharpied a watch onto his wrist? "- five minutes. He just went to the corner store. I figured we could get this lil guy ready for a reunion."

Oh, yes. Frisk remembered well the legendary rivalry between dog and skeleton…. Fated rivals, two sides of a coin… hmmm. How to reintroduce them?

Frisk scanned the apartment until their eye caught on a rock, sitting on a plate on the end table. It was covered in sprinkles that must have been from yesterday, because it was only 9:56am. Frisk remembered Papyrus saying he fed their pet rock every morning at 10am, and you couldn't spell Punctual without several letters from Papyrus's name.

They grinned. Reunion, here we come.

Three minutes later, Papyrus bustled in the door to see Frisk and Sans sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal. Frisk waved up at him.

"OH! Hello you two! I am so sorry I wasn’t back earlier," He said, a bit out of breath. "I was caught up in a serious matter involving the mailmonster and our local flock of geese."

He set down a couple of bags, then plucked a stray feather out of his sweater.

"Please do excuse me, I have another important appointment in thirty seconds." He pulled a small container out of one of the bags, then strode over to the pet rock.

Frisk caught Sans's eyelights and suppressed a giggle. Sans's sockets creased as his grin widened a bit. They leaned over a bit so they could get a good view of the end table.

Papyrus dashed some sprinkles down to the plate below, onto -

"… Do pet rocks grow fur?"

Frisk pursed their lips and focused on keeping their breathing steady, fighting a losing battle against bursting into laughter right then and there.

The dog was curled up into a perfect little ball on the plate, no eyes, ears, or tail in sight. He could easily be a white, fuzzy ball…. Or rock.

"Huh, I mean, who knows. Crazy things happen," Sans said casually.

Papyrus looked at Sans and narrowed his sockets. He looked down again and tipped another dash of sprinkles.

The dog's pink tongue flicked out and caught a sprinkle.

"SANS!!" He exclaimed, "Do pet rocks grow tongues?"

Sans shrugged. "Maybe if ya feed them long enough, they want a taste."

Papyrus was now deeply suspicious. He glared at Sans, and his gaze caught Frisk too, whose shoulders were currently hunched up in a desperate effort to keep their composure.

Papyrus looked back at the dog, hunched over, and poked it.

The dog yipped.

"A HA! Rocks do not yip!" Papyrus pointed an accusatory finger at Sans. "SHENANIGANS ARE AFOOT!!"

Before Sans could respond, the dog uncurled himself.

"IT'S YOU!!! You…RASCAL (pardon my language, Frisk)!!" Papyrus's eyes boggled. The dog yipped again and darted down the hallway.

Frisk finally let themself start laughing, nearly falling out of their chair. Sans caught them with a light application of gravity magic and helped them stay upright. They just laughed harder.

"NO!!!" Papyrus's voice came from down the hallway, "STAY AWAY FROM MY VERY IMPORTANT BUSINESS TIES!! THEY DO NOT FLATTER YOUR FIGURE LIKE MINE!!"

By now Frisk was crying with laughter and Sans was facedown on the table.

A flash of white and orange darted back into the living room, followed by Papyrus's flailing limbs.

"I admire your taste in accessories, but you are being completely unreasonable!!" Papyrus tripped over his own boot and tumbled into Frisk's shelter, landing on the mattress.

The dog, somehow wearing a flame-pattern neck tie in a perfect half-windsor, just smiled at Papyrus. He darted for the door, launched himself at the handle, opened it (he must be magic, right?), and was down the apartment complex hall before Papyrus could even stand back up.

He looked over at Sans and Frisk, who were desperately trying to compose themselves.

"SIGH," he said, untangling himself from a blanket, "I should have known my rival would return. And to think…he has gained such powerful fashion sense…."

Sans took a gasping breath. "You'll have to keep a socket out for him. Ebott has a new rising star."

Papyrus just grinned, standing up again and striking an impressive pose. "Then I too shall rise! I still have at least seventeen other flame neckties, after all."

Frisk wiped their eyes, taking deep, calming breaths. Sans held up a fist and Frisk gave him a fist bump. 

“And though it is difficult to concede,” Papyrus sighed dramatically, ”I must admit that tie really does flatter his figure.”

Frisk produced the rock from their pocket afterwards, stating that they needed to keep it safe from being absorbed. Papyrus… wasn't sure what to make of that. Regardless! The pet rock did get fed, albeit five minutes late. For the occasion of the reunion with his sworn rival, Papyrus felt this was an acceptable delay. 

And, more importantly, Papyrus would give anything to see Frisk laugh like that more often. For the first time since before the attack, they were acting like themself: an absolute scamp. 

Papyrus helped Frisk clear the bedding to the sides of the living room, transforming their home back into its familiar, bright setting. 

(He pondered on the emotion that flicked across Frisk's face when he told them he would tidy the living room for them. Then they insisted on helping. Which was fine!... He wished he could read expressions like Sans could.)

So anyway, this was working great! Frisk was in the bathroom getting washed and changed, Sans was in his room, and for a moment, Papyrus was alone.

It felt odd to be using vacation time after sick time. He loved his work, but it kept him quite occupied most days! And now here he was, trying to sleep normal hours to encourage the unwell human sleeping in their living room to keep a suitable routine, and being visited by a certain meddling canine. He usually disliked changes in his routine, but at the moment, he didn’t want to do anything other than exactly what he was doing right now. 

Somehow, out of anyone, the human had entrusted their safety to himself and his brother. It was an honour they wouldn’t take lightly. 

The part of Sans’s Soul where his bond with Papyrus was nestled felt warm and content today. 

It was the second full day since Frisk moved in with them, and Frisk and Papyrus were sitting on the living room floor together, papers scattered everywhere. 

“So, bro,” Sans said from his comfortable nest on the living room armchair, “What happened to taking time off?”

Papyrus straightened up, tilted his chin up and sniffed. 

“Well! Our delightful human guest was ever-so-curious about the exploits of the Great Papyrus as the Ambassador to the humans!”

Sans’s grin widened. “And those exploits need crayons?”

“And pencil crayons!” Frisk objected. 

“Well, brother, as you are so curious…” Papyrus aligned a few sheets of paper, showing a number of schematics in full technicolour. “My current approved project is designing a playground suitable for humans and many different species of monsters! It had not even occurred to me that Frisk would be the perfect partner for the venture!”

Frisk beamed up at Sans. “We’re adding TONS of puzzles.”

“Without spikes,” Papyrus clarified quickly. “I have since learned that most children may not enjoy those.”

Frisk rolled their eyes. “Amateurs.”

Sans chuckled. What a weird kid. 

There was a knock at the door. Frisk scrambled up and rushed to the door before Sans could even ask who was coming to visit.

“Yo!” A voice chirped. “Dude, it’s so good to see you!”

Sans turned in his chair to see Frisk bouncing lightly on their toes in excitement. 

“I’m so glad you’re here!” They said excitedly. “Come on, in the living room!”

MK trotted behind Frisk, who skidded to a stop by the pile of schematics. 

Papyrus spoke up. “Ah yes! Sans, MK volunteered to be my other valuable assistant in this matter! Frisk had the brilliant thought to invite them.” He sat up straight and looked up at the teen. “I know you are a monster who values a good puzzle! Nyeh heh heh!”

MK grinned. “You bet! Nyeh heh heh!!” They lowered their voice conspiratorially. “Are we adding spikes?”

Frisk sighed mournfully. “No, goes against safety codes up here.”

“Boo,” MK said. “But!! Papyrus is the puzzle master! I know we can come up with awesome stuff!”

MK looked up. Although the blanket walls were pulled back during the day, the fairy light ceiling continued to twinkle. Sans caught Frisk gazing up at them several times a day, so obviously there was no way either he or Papyrus would turn them off.

“Dude, this is awesome,” MK said, smiling. He turned to Sans. “When did you guys deck out your living room?”

Sans saw Frisk stiffen. 

“Well, we were real excited for Frisk to come over,” he said easily. “Papyrus had a ton of fun putting this up while they stay with us. He loves decorating.”

MK nudged Frisk. “You’re lucky, hanging out at Papyrus’s house!” They caught themself. “And Sans’s house!!”

“Nah, you’re right,” Sans said, pulling the lever on his armchair. “Papyrus runs the place. I’m the freeloader who hangs out here.”

“You know full well that is not true,” Papyrus objected. “Sans has been working hard, too. I do not always know what job he is doing, but he always has some kind of odd job on the go…”

Sans produced an eye mask out of nowhere and slipped it on. He yawned. “Gotta finish painting the new hot dog stand sign. A couple months and it’ll be ‘dog time.”

Frisk perked up at that. “I can help!!”

Sans lifted part of his eye mask and peeked at Frisk. They were looking at him with the earnestness he had known from them all this time, but… there was also a hint of something else there. 

Sans had seen it a few times. Yesterday, when Papyrus said he was going to clean the living room, that look flashed across their face. When they first arrived and realized Papyrus had created them a shelter, that look had been there. At first he had thought Frisk may just not be used to accepting hospitality, but the longer he was close to them, the longer it seemed that something may be a bit off. 

He thought he might be piecing something together, but it was strange… the look was something like hunger. 

Hm. He would need to think on that. 

“Well, with your flair for the artistic,” he pointed at the colourful schematics all over the floor, “how could I say no? Let’s paint it sometime this week.”

Sans watched carefully. A ha. Relief was written all over their face. 

“Yes!! Awesome!” They said. They gave Sans a thumbs up and turned back to the drafts on the floor.

Sans slipped his eye mask back on. 

In the two years since they came to the surface, Sans had never been super close to Frisk, not any more than any of the other adults around, probably less. He had a lot to work through just to regain his stability from how unhealthy he was in the Underground. He spent a lot of that first year sleeping, and when he started to regain some of his energy, he started exploring the surface on his own. He needed some space (hehe. Space. Because he took up stargazing. Good one, Sans).

Frisk was a good kid, and he liked hanging out with them. But they were just like any of the other people around here, and Sans never really thought much about their life experience.

These past few days had shown him that they had a lot of unusually horrifying trauma underneath that bright, eager exterior. Eesh. He prided himself in being pretty aware of the people around him, but… Well. He had always been a bad judge of Frisk, hadn’t he? 

But he had also just had more time to enjoy their company. They were silly and witty, quick with a quip and a bright smile. Despite everything, they were just a really good kid.

MK’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Okay, the monkey bars are great, but, uhh…” they paused, using their tail to indicate their lack of arms.

“And lots of humans can’t use them either!” Frisk agreed. “We can have them for fun since some kids like them, but they shouldn’t be needed for any puzzles.”

“Brilliant observation!” Papyrus exclaimed. “Truly, you two are wonderful assistants.”

Sans could practically see Frisk glowing under the praise. 

Sans had barely seen Frisk’s father, but from what he had seen, they didn’t look much like him. His cold eyes and twisted expression were so completely different from the kid who was currently sitting on the living room floor, helping Papyrus draft a playground. 

What a horrifying person, to have a kid like Frisk and not realize how lucky he was. 

“Not even little spikes?” Frisk said, a tone of mischief in their voice.

“I am afraid not, assistant!” Papyrus replied lightly. “Though I admire your imaginative mind!”

Sans regretted that he had not immediately known how lucky he was to know them, too.

Chapter Text

Frisk fidgeted nervously with the hem of the sweater that Sans loaned to them.

It was their third morning with the brothers, and they had to go back to their apartment today to pick up some more clothes. Toriel had gone in there to get them some clothes when they were in the hospital; it had happened when they were still kind of… unconscious, so it hadn’t really concerned them. Based on the fact nobody had mentioned anything about it, she probably hadn’t noticed the notes on their desk. 

Sans and Papyrus were coming with them to get their clothes. Unfortunately, they were both pretty aware of their environments. They thought of asking for other people to take them to the apartment instead, but obviously that went against their whole “damage control” policy. So they would have to clean their desk before the brothers noticed, while keeping their attitude super chill. They could do that. Piece of cake.

“How ya doin, pal?” Sans strolled into the walkway beside Frisk as Papyrus locked his apartment door.

Frisk flinched slightly at being addressed. Ugh, why were they so jumpy lately? They collected themself. 

“Good! Looking forward to getting my fuzzy socks,” they grinned.

Sans's smile widened a bit in acknowledgement, but he looked at them for another beat before turning forward again.

They were still getting used to being looked at like that. 

Since they left Dad, nobody had really looked at them much. They weren't ignored, of course! But people allowed a bit of distance. Frisk liked that. They liked their independence, not being analyzed. They liked people believing them when they brushed them off and said everything was fine. This was what they wanted . 

When Dad looked at them, it was always in the way one might look at leftovers that may or may not have gone bad. His eyes analyzed the leftovers with an expression of hunger and vague disgust, before deciding to eat them anyway. Frisk knew that this was how they paid him back, knew it was necessary. But sometimes, under his gaze, Frisk had desperately wished that he would decide they were just too rotten to taste. 

They didn't really know what to feel about the way Sans looked at them. 

His eyelights floated in the void of the sockets in his skull, an ethereal sight that had taken Frisk a while to get used to. He usually looked at them when he thought they may not be paying attention. It was never for too long, not like how Dad's gaze lingered. But his gaze on them felt close, like someone who was trying to understand them - someone who was dangerously close to accomplishing that goal.

Something deep in Frisk warmed at the thought of being known. But the rest of them crushed that little piece. If Sans came close enough, they couldn't keep him from seeing all that they kept hidden. They didn't want to lose the kindness they were given - even if it was only directed at a pretty facade they had created, and not at the rotten little thing that they really were.

“Ready to go?” Papyrus said cheerfully. 

Frisk straightened up and smiled at him. “Yep! Let's go!”

Frisk stepped into their familiar apartment for the first time in days. 

It felt so good to be back. 

This was their space, the one place where they were in control. They kept their home simple, but cozy. They had what they needed, as well as gifts their friends had given them, and bouquets of dried flowers in jars and vases throughout the house. A mug with Mettaton’s face printed on it was upside-down on the drying rack, right where they left it. Their umbrella leaned against the doorframe from the rainy day that had passed last week. It was all so familiar, wonderfully so. 

They had a small table near the entrance, and their kitchen was just beyond it. There was a sliding door on the left, which led to their large living space. It was a studio apartment, the large bedroom serving as their study and living space as well. 

They took a deep breath and continued walking further into the apartment. 

Their space. Their safe, secure space where they kept themself alone and safe. The one place they would not be harmed.

They heard footsteps, and then the door closed behind them and clicked shut. 

Frisk froze. 

Who was walking behind them?

Footsteps, a closed door. This was their home and they lived here alone. They never let anyone inside. They didn’t lock the door fast enough. One, two, three, four, five locks. Each one was important. Double check. They were supposed to be safe here. Footsteps, door clicks shut, they didn’t lock it in time, one, two, three, four, five - check again, check again, all useless, click shut, footsteps, hands in their hair and on their throat and up their shirt and -

“Hey! Hey, we aren’t coming into the room any further.”

Who was talking? Everything felt wrong, they needed to know where he was. “Dad - Dad -”

Frisk tried to focus their vision. The ground was close to them… Ah, they were on their knees. They didn’t know when that happened, though it wasn’t all that unfamiliar -

“Frisk, breathe. Your Dad's not here. Nobody is gonna hurt you.”

They shook their head. They were always selfish. Just do something for me for once in your fucking life. Selfish, selfish, why did he always want more, they were already so used up -

“...think we should leave?” “We can’t just leave them all alone! What if … lock us out and they end up hurt?” “I know! But we’re just…”

Frisk shrunk in on themself and closed their eyes. They knew what to do. Just… be good. For once, be good…

*You remember your dad isn't here.

Frisk gasped and their eyes snapped open. That familiar feeling, cutting through the chaos - they chased the thought.

*You remember to breathe.

They gasped in another breath, struggling to regain control as they exhaled. The dizziness they hadn’t even noticed started to clear, just a little bit.

*You know that Sans and Papyrus won’t touch you without your permission.

Sans. Papyrus. They had forgotten that their friends were here. They came here to help them; Frisk remembered that now. 

…Dad wasn’t here.

*You are looking forward to putting on your fuzzy socks.

Right, that was the task. Clothes. Fuzzy socks. They wanted their fuzzy socks really bad. They were cold.

Frisk was cold because they were kneeling on the tile floor. Cold, cold ground, every time. They wanted to stand up now. They set their feet under them and pushed themself up - ugh, their knees were shaking so bad. They pitched forward, but grabbed the edge of their kitchen table and steady themself. 

*You know that you can trust your friends.

The thought came so unexpectedly that they felt tears prick at their eyes. They stayed still for a moment, gaining their balance with the support of the table and just breathing. After a moment, Frisk scrubbed their face to clear away the tears and stood up to their full height, more control returning with each passing moment. 

Oh. Right. Fuck. 

Their friends. 

Frisk cringed and turned toward the skeletons, putting on a smile that they were pretty sure wasn’t going to convince anyone. Whatever. They’d save some points by trying, at least. They looked over at Sans and Papyrus. 

They slapped a hand over their mouth to stifle a delirious and completely unflattering snort-laugh. 

The brothers were turned towards each other, only their heads turned to look at Frisk. Sans was frozen in a half squat position, his shoulders hunched up and a hand on Papyrus’s arm. Papyrus had his other arm above his head, frozen mid-wild gesture, and for some reason was standing on one foot. Their sockets were wide open, the occasional blink the only thing that betrayed they were anything other than statues.

Frisk couldn’t help but continue laughing, even if the sound trembled. Sans and Papyrus looked at each other, back at Frisk, then finally relaxed their posture. Unfortunately, for once, it seemed neither of them wanted to laugh along. Frisk sheepishly regained their composure as the brothers looked at them with undisguised concern. 

They could still feel themself shaking a bit. They tensed their body to try to stay still.

“Sorry ‘bout that! Dunno what that was all about! All good now!” Frisk lied badly. They shot finger guns to make up for their lackluster performance. “Sooooo, about those fuzzy socks…”

“Frisk,” Papyrus’s voice was much quieter than usual. They flinched. “Ah - no! No, you are not in trouble!”

“I am - I’m really sorry,” Frisk mumbled. “I thought - Dad, I -” They cut themself off. 

How many points did that freakout cost them? They’d calculate it later. They could save themself a few points, anyway. 

“I won’t make any excuses,” they continued. “Sorry you had to see that.” 

“Bud, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Sans soothed. “We’re here to help you.”

Frisk’s heart ached. 

That seemed to be happening pretty often around the brothers lately. Their chest hurt with some kind of vague yearning that they couldn’t quite identify yet. It was confusing, and it wasn’t part of the system they had built to keep themself safe. 

They looked down at the floor and took a small step backwards.

“If you would like to talk about it -” Papyrus started. 

“No!” Frisk flinched at the volume of their own voice. Shit, they were really off their game today. “N-no, thank you! I don’t - I just - Please, no -”

Papyrus’s voice gentled even more. “You do not have to do anything. Just… what would you like, right now?”

Relief allowed Frisk’s shoulders to finally drop. 

It seemed like nothing was going to happen right now. They could get their clothes and go back to the skeletons’ house, and they’d be so normal and good that Sans and Papyrus would forget about their little tantrum. They could still turn this day around. 

As the adrenaline drained out of their system, Frisk’s aches pushed themselves to the forefront of their awareness. Ugh, this stupid body. 

They had to keep the brothers happy a bit longer. They could be safe for a couple more days, probably. 

Oh yeah. Their friends wanted to do something. 

They should be normal, slide open the door, and then they would all enter the bedroom and get Frisk’s stuff, it would be fine. Just a step through the door together! These were their friends! Dad wasn’t here. They could come into the bedroom. Then the door would close behind them, and the bedroom is there, and the door is closed and footsteps and -

“Ya know what, Paps?”

Frisk blinked and pulled themself out of their thoughts. Sans had his hands in his pockets, his typical easy smile on his face. “I have the worst sense of direction. You know that, right?”

Papyrus didn’t miss a beat. “I am fully aware. You could not find your way out of a paper bag!”

“Harsh, but true,” Sans nodded sagely. “Anywho, I think we should both just wait right here while Frisk gets their stuff. Need you to stay here with me to make sure I don’t somehow get lost. I’ll even put up a fence to make sure we don’t accidentally wander out.” 

A line of blue bone attacks raised from the ground very slowly. Frisk just watched, confused, as Sans set up a circle of bones around him and Papyrus, until they had glowing blue bars from floor to ceiling. 

Papyrus sighed. “Brother, you know full well that your own attacks can’t keep you contained. You have only successfully caged me! Therefore, I will ensure you are adequately fenced in. No skeletons are wandering anywhere they aren’t meant to, no siree!!”

Another circle of blue bone attacks raised around the brothers, interspersed between Sans’s attacks. 

“Splendid!! We will now entrust our wonderful friend to their task.” Papyrus said, setting his hands on his hips. “Frisk! I am terribly sorry that we cannot accompany you any further! Please let us know when you are done, and then we will all leave the apartment! Until then, Sans and I will be keeping each other right here!! In this exact spot! Not following you!!”

Frisk let out a disbelieving laugh. They were… contained. They couldn’t follow them. 

The thought from earlier - You know that Sans and Papyrus won’t touch you without your permission - floated through their mind. 

They wondered if it might somehow be true. Maybe their kind, generous friends would wait until Frisk said they were ready. A selfish thought - what if I just tell them I never want it? - rose up unbidden. Frisk brushed it off with an abrupt heel turn. They looked over their shoulder. Papyrus waved at them. Sans was somehow already asleep on the floor.

Frisk turned forward, then stepped through the sliding door into their bedroom. 

An open, quiet, bright space greeted them. The curtains were still pulled back, and gentle light streamed through. Their bed… was made. Toriel must have seen the sorry state of their bare mattress and decided to take care of the situation. Frisk took a steadying breath. They were still in pretty good standing with her, so it was okay. They’d make sure to thank her.

The dresser was to their left. But first, they needed to take care of the most important task. They were lucky that Sans and Papyrus had stayed by the entrance, but they may not be so lucky in the future. They walked a bit further into their room, up to their desk. 

Frisk felt their heart rate pick up a little bit. They desperately hoped that Toriel hadn’t noticed it. Their notebook was flipped open still, a few post-it notes stuck to the desk around it. Their writing was small, though, so someone likely wouldn’t have noticed the words unless they took time to look close. 

Frisk brushed their fingers across the open notebook pages. These were so far out of date, anyhow. 

Asgore
+10
+15
+5
+5
+5
+10
=410

The pages were running tallies, calculations across weeks and months. Frisk had run through several notebooks like this since they came to the surface. Further down the current page: 

Alphys
+5
+5
+5
+10
-30
+5
+5
=250

Frisk subtracted from Alphys’s entry for the blanket she lent them. 

-20
=230

Satisfied, they turned the notebook around to the next page.

Papyrus
+5
+10
+5
-40
+5
+5
=150

Their stomach churned. The brothers had always been hard to keep in the positives. Papyrus was just so insistent on being helpful. Further down the page: 

Sans
+5
-20
+5
+5
=130

And Sans… well. It was just hard to find ways that they could even be helpful to him. He wasn’t always around much, so the sum had stayed pretty similar to when they first came to the surface. They hadn’t been able to get any large amount of progress.

Frisk scratched out both of the brothers’ sums. They weren’t even close to correct now. Their hand shook a little; they clenched the pencil tighter and scratched out the entire columns for Sans and Papyrus. Frisk abruptly turned to a fresh page. 

Sans
-1490

Papyrus
-1570

Frisk shook their head. Sans and Papyrus had both just witnessed them throw a stupid tantrum. Frisk needed to be penalized for that. 

Sans
-1590

Papyrus
-1670

There. Accurate. This was good. The numbers were accurate now. The world was organized again. And soon, they would be able to reset those accounts to zero. That was a good thing, because Frisk needed a fresh start. It was a good thing. It was a good thing. It was a good-

Frisk blinked. Oh. Right. They were here to pack clothes.

But first, they needed to clear off the desk. It mortified Frisk to think of their friends seeing the equations they ran to just try to be good. They had worked hard to make a fresh start, so the monsters would think they were naturally good!... The illusion would shatter if they saw how careful they had to be just to keep their head above water.

Most kids didn't have to worry about having systems like Frisk’s, because they weren’t difficult like Frisk. Dad had always made it perfectly clear that Frisk was an unusually difficult child to take care of. 

Frisk was eight years old, before all the calculations and notebooks and sticky notes. Their teacher seemed weird today, and after school someone talked to Dad. When they got in the door of their house, he didn’t even wait for them to put their backpack down before he grabbed their hair and turned their head to look up at him. Frisk squeaked accidentally, then gritted their teeth and willed themself not to make a sound in the painful grasp. They would be good this time! They were Determined!

“Spoiled brat, telling the teacher you had it so bad. Told lies about me being a bad person. Things could have gone really bad if I hadn’t fixed it all.”

Frisk didn’t know what he meant. They hadn’t said anything mean about Dad. They loved him. But they must have messed up. They were really stupid.

Dad pushed them down onto the floor. Frisk scrambled backwards a couple feet as Dad towered over them. 

Other kids didn’t have to worry about numbers and systems because being good came natural to them. 

Being good wasn’t natural to Frisk. Their attempts were pathetic. They fought tooth and nail, but they never had enough points to withstand one bad day. One bad day, and they were beyond clawing their way out of debt with Sans and Papyrus. And as the week progressed, they sank lower and lower. 

“You can't go spreading this bullshit about me. Your mom couldn’t put up with you, and now I don't even know why I bother. You’re lucky that I stick around.”

Dad was right. Frisk was grateful. 

And suddenly, he was being so generous! He helped them stand up, then put a hand on their shoulder. Frisk leaned into the touch and didn’t mind that it hurt a little bit when he gripped it too tight.

Dad went quiet and got a strange look on his face.

“Come to think of it, you’re old enough to help me out with something else." A smile. " You wanna be good, yeah? ”

Frisk wanted to be good. They wanted goodness more than they wanted food for their empty stomach.

They peeled the post-it notes off of their desk and shoved them into the desk’s drawer. They closed the notebook and moved to slide it in, but froze halfway through the movement. 

They hadn't been writing the numbers in their pretty new notebook. It was too nice for that. But it was hard keeping track of all the numbers in their head...

After Dad was done, Frisk sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over and staring at the floor. It didn’t feel like they had done something good.

But then Dad ruffled their hair, and relief flooded their senses. They sat up, pressing into the gentle touch. He spoke, his voice not necessarily kind, but missing its usual disappointed, angry edge.

Frisk swung their backpack onto the floor, stuffed the notebook inside, and zipped it closed. 

“Good. We’ll call it even.”

Papyrus’s dear human friend was now cozy in a set of pink flannel pajamas they had brought from their apartment, and they were wearing equally-pink, extremely fuzzy socks! He always admired Frisk’s chosen outfits. They loved many colours and wore them with confidence. 

And their current outfit was made even better by the fact that they still wore the bright red scarf he had given them! Truly a dazzling combination!

…

It was the evening of Frisk’s third day at their house. During that time, they had never taken off the scarf, except to sleep or wash. They constantly adjusted it, making sure it covered their neck and chin. Papyrus had no idea whether the bruises on their neck had healed yet. 

Frisk was scheduled for a checkup in two days to make sure everything was healing as needed. Something deep in Papyrus felt nauseous at the thought. He wondered if Frisk would feel comfortable baring their neck anytime soon, even to a doctor. Another part of Papyrus wondered if he would be able to sit by if anyone raised a hand to Frisk’s throat.

…Hm. It was good that Sans would be there, too. He was good at keeping Papyrus calm.

Anyhow! 

When Frisk walked into the bathroom to get ready for bed, Papyrus lowered all of the curtains around their shelter, pausing to admire the light flurry of snow that had just started. Frisk had helped bring the mattresses and sheets and blankets out, as usual. As soon as the curtains were lowered, Sans and Papyrus made sure not to get too close to the shelter. It was Frisk's sleeping space now. 

He flicked off all the living room lights other than one lamp and Frisk’s fairy lights. He paused for a moment, admiring his work - it really was a cozy little space. He was glad that Frisk liked it too. 

It was a particularly chilly night. The snow always made him a little nostalgic for Snowdin. Life in the Underground was… difficult, but! They had all enjoyed what they could. And he did love the snow. 

Nostalgia for Snowdin meant one thing! 

Papyrus hummed to himself as he pulled three mugs out of the cupboard. He grabbed a pot from the top shelf, spinning it deftly a few times before setting it on the stove. He opened the fridge and pulled out the carton of milk. When he closed the door, Sans was there holding the canister of hot cocoa powder. 

“Extra cocoa in mine, chef,” He winked and tossed it to Papyrus. 

Papyrus almost dropped the canister - juggled it a few times - then caught it on top of his foot just in time to prevent it from hitting the floor and causing a cocoa explosion. 

He groaned. “Sans!! Can you not do anything normally? This could have caused a mess!”

Sans plopped heavily into a kitchen chair. “No way. My bro is way too talented for that. See? You caught it just fine.”

Papyrus sighed and moved over to the stove. “Flattery will get you nowhere!” He turned back towards Sans. “Extra chocolatey, yes?”

“You know it.”

It was pleasantly quiet for a moment as Papyrus set to work. Sans rested his skull against his propped hand and pretended to sleep. Or maybe he actually was sleeping already. Even Papyrus couldn’t tell the difference between the two sometimes. 

It was pleasant, but… He couldn’t so easily shake the memories from earlier that day.  

Frisk knelt on the ground, calling for their dad again and again, folding in on themself. Dad, Dad, Dad, like a chant or a prayer or a plea for mercy. 

What had caused such a violent flashback? 

He saw them take a deep breath when they stepped into the apartment. They looked around, and Papyrus even caught a small smile. Everything seemed good.

And then, they dropped to the floor like they had just heard a gunshot. And before Papyrus even had time to think, Sans pressed himself and Papyrus back against the closed door. 

Right. The door. 

The puzzle pieces clicked together in Papyrus’s mind. Frisk dropped when the door clicked shut. Something about the door being closed by someone else when they were in their own home…The sound of their door clicking closed might as well have been a gunshot. 

…

He really wished he had killed that man. 

“You gonna add ingredients to that?”

Papyrus yelped as Sans appeared beside him, looking into the pot in front of him. 

“Wh-It’s still heating! Be patient!”

Sans shrugged. “I’m not one to criticize, but you’ve been stirring an empty pot for a couple minutes now.”

Papyrus gawked down at the pot. Sans was, in fact, correct. 

“Thought that creating hot cocoa ex nihilo might be a bit advanced, even for my cool bro.” Sans chuckled. “But man, that nihilo was stirred very thoroughly.”

Sans offered the carton of milk to Papyrus. He took it without further comment and poured it into the pot. They repeated the motions with the cocoa powder. 

Papyrus watched the powder and milk swirl together, the colours gradually blending. He added another spoon of the powder. 

“We gotta get that kid to a therapist.”

Papyrus looked over to Sans. He was leaning back against the counter, his elbows propped on the countertop. He hadn’t noticed until now, but Sans looked more exhausted than he had in months. In fact, he looked as tired as Papyrus himself felt, in spite of the extra long naps he had been taking this week! 

“...Yes,” Papyrus said. “But who would be equipped to help with… you know?”

Sans slumped further against the counter. “Nobody other than me, you, and Undyne know at this point.” He nodded his head towards the bathroom. “And they don’t even know that we know.”

“I would recommend we take Frisk to a human therapist, but Frisk seems…rather uncomfortable with connecting with humans.” Papyrus closed his sockets. “We really need to get our therapists trained as soon as possible. As we successfully connect further with humans, we need to be able to treat such harms…”

Sans hummed. “Howzabout we talk to ol’ Fluffybuns about looking into courses that humans teach on the topic? You and him could work on connecting with the humans to run a crash course for some of our therapists.”

“You know, brother, that is not a bad idea at all! Though I would hope that we could get Frisk in therapy sooner rather than later…”

Sans nodded. “We should check what the kid thinks, too. Maybe they’re okay with a human therapist. Might surprise us.”

Papyrus huffed out a sound of disbelief, but didn’t directly oppose Sans. It was worth asking.

The hot cocoa was steaming. Papyrus clicked off the heat. He put a hot pad on the counter and moved the pot of hot chocolate over to it. 

“What if they refuse any treatment?” Papyrus asked softly. “Is it our duty to decide what they need?”

“Not like we’re Frisk’s only guardians,” Sans commented. “We can check in with the group.”

“They don’t know, though, other than Undyne… Toriel, Asgore, and Alphys have no idea.”

“Back to square one,” Sans mumbled, holding out a mug. Papyrus carefully poured out the thick hot cocoa.

“We should ask Frisk if we can share the information with the others.”

Sans held the mug up to his face and inhaled deeply. “...Yeah. Ugh, I hate to make the kid talk about anything to deal with this, even if it’s just to ask if we can share the info…”

“But it is part of their life every day regardless,” Papyrus finished. 

Sans nodded, then took a sip of the cocoa. 

“Let’s not bring it up tonight, though,” he said quietly. “They’ve been shaky all evening.”

Papyrus set his jaw. He had noticed that too. 

“Okay. Not tonight,” He agreed. “For now…”

As if on cue, the sound of the shower stopped. Papyrus poured himself a mug of cocoa, and then poured one for Frisk. 

After a moment, Frisk walked down the hall, back in their cozy pink pajamas and fuzzy socks and red scarf. They ruffled their wet hair with a towel. 

Frisk looked up and paused. Their gaze flicked from the skeletons, to the pot, to the mugs.

“Hot cocoa for our favourite guest!” Papyrus beamed. “As your resident snow experts, we know that snow flurries call for hot cocoa!”

Frisk blinked, then gave a big smile. They swung the towel over one shoulder and rushed into the kitchen, sliding to a stop on the tile floor. 

“I haven’t had hot cocoa in a while!” They eagerly accepted the mug Sans slid towards them. They lifted it to their mouth and took an eager sip. Their smile widened even further. They swayed a little bit, a trait that Papyrus had noticed they did whenever they had food they enjoyed. His Soul warmed. 

“Do you think we’ll get a lot of snow?” They asked between sips. “You’re the experts, after all…”

Papyrus straightened up. “Well! Since you asked for my opinion…”

“We didn’t really have weather in the underground-” Sans started. Papyrus slapped a hand over Sans’s mouth. 

“IRRELEVANT! Since you asked for MY OPINION…” He narrowed his sockets and looked off to the side. “My expert opinion is… maybe!”

Frisk laughed into their mug, accidentally splashing a bit of cocoa onto their nose. They set the mug down and reached up to wipe their face with their sleeve, only to be intercepted by Papyrus handing them a napkin. They smiled and took it.

Once they were clean, Frisk took another sip of their cocoa. The three of them sat quietly together for a moment. 

Frisk was the one to break the silence. 

“Could we have Undyne over tomorrow?” they asked. “If she has my jacket…”

“AH! A splendid idea!” Papyrus said, setting his mug down. “Though… if you would rather, I can also just go get your jacket! Unless you want Undyne to come over?”

Frisk nodded. “I think it’d be fun! Can Alphys come over too? We can watch anime!”

…That actually sounded wonderful to Papyrus. It had hardly occurred to him how much he missed seeing his friends over the past few days. 

“Yet another splendid idea!” Papyrus exclaimed. “Sans, you are permitted to join as well! If you can stay awake past the opening credits, that is!”

“Awwww, Pap, you know I’m working on speedrunning my naps. I bet I’ll be snoring before the opening song’s first chorus.”

“SIGH. Truly, you do not appreciate the arts!”

Frisk reached over and patted Papyrus’s forearm consolingly. “It’s okay. We’ll enjoy it extra hard for him.”

Something in Papyrus’s mind alerted him that an important thing was happening - it took him a moment to realize that it was the first time Frisk had reached out to touch him in a long time. His breath hitched slightly. 

He reached out a hand slowly, telegraphing his movements, then lightly patted Frisk’s hand. It was probably an odd-looking gesture, but that did not matter in the least! Because Frisk smiled! 

Papyrus composed himself. “Indeed, my compatriot! With Undyne and Alphys on our side, we will experience extreme anime enjoyment!”

Frisk nodded with a determined expression, withdrew their hand, and lifted their mug again. They downed the rest of their drink and they had an impressive hot-cocoa mustache afterwards! Once again, they reached up to scrub their face with their sleeve. Once again, Papyrus intercepted them with a napkin. Sans just chuckled. 

“I’ve already filled the role of slob around here, so Pap's gonna make sure you don’t follow the path to destruction. Sorry 'bout that, kid.”

Papyrus thought he saw Frisk pause for just a moment - but when he blinked, Frisk was dutifully cleaning their face with the napkin. “Well, Papyrus is pretty great,” they crumpled the napkin up, “So following in his footsteps probably is a good idea.”

“Ya got that right,” Sans winked. “Welp, if we’re gonna have guests tomorrow, I better get a good sleep tonight. Gonna be a busy day full of naps tomorrow.”

Papyrus raised a finger to call Sans out on his laziness, but they had to go to bed to keep Frisk on their schedule anyway. 

“SIGH, I am not going to even try correcting that!” He set their mugs and the pot in the dishwasher. “But yes. It has been a big day! It is time for two skeletons and one Frisk to sleep!”

Alas. Although it was indeed time for sleep, sleep had decided that it would not visit Papyrus. 

Late that night - rather, early the next morning - he lay in bed with his blankets drawn over his head.

He thought of Frisk kneeling on the cold tile, calling for their dad over and over.

He thought of Frisk, scarf bunched up so nobody could see their neck, clothes always baggy enough to obscure their body. 

He thought of Frisk being choked against a wall. 

Papyrus curled in on himself.

Was he doing enough?

Was he doing too much?

Was he going to mess up so bad that Frisk would never heal?

He was certain that there were far better caretakers than himself. Frisk deserved people who knew how to heal children who had survived the unthinkable. 

He turned onto his back and drew the blankets down to his chin. 

There were better caretakers, surely. But for now, he was the one Frisk had. He would just have to hope that he could be a good enough person for them if he tried.

Chapter Text

In Sans's nightmares, the man's face was always obscured.

In his waking life, Sans rationalized that he had never really looked closely at his face, and there was just no point in adding details. Even his subconscious liked a good shortcut. It made sense.

In his nightmares, it just made the man look even more unnerving.

Sans appeared mid-air, next to Papyrus. The faceless man raised a pipe above his head. 

Frisk. Frisk was on the ground. The kid was hurt. 

Time moved slowly. Frisk looked up at him. He could read that expression any day: desperation. 

“Sans, please…”

In Sans’s nightmares, his magic didn't work.

The pipe swung down. The barrier didn't rise. Blood sprayed from Frisk’s broken skull. 

Sans had seen Frisk get hurt before. He knew what their blood looked like. 

But this was far too much blood. It was everywhere. He landed on the ground and the tide of blood rose up to his ankles. 

Frisk’s father swung the pipe down again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

In Sans’s nightmares, he was always helpless. 

He could only watch in horror as Frisk’s broken body disappeared under the rising red tide.

Sans snapped his sockets open. 

His Soul buzzed frantically in his ribcage. He took in his surroundings; his room was still dark, but he could see the outline of his familiar furniture. He tried to calm himself. It was just a nightmare, and he was awake. Yep, he was awake now! It was all okay. His magic had worked. Frisk was okay. Papyrus made them a blanket fort. Sans lent them a hoodie. They all had hot chocolate last night. 

Sans gasped in a breath and grasped a fistful of his t-shirt, clenching a fist over his racing Soul. 

So much blood. 

Frisk hadn’t died there. He had picked them up and taken them to the hospital. 

Sans, please… 

Sans, my dad, I can't - I don't want to -

A spike of horror shot through him. I don't want to - of course, that’s what they were talking about back then. He sat up and drew his knees to his chest.

He found me! I messed up, he's gonna find me again!

No. It was all okay. They had chosen to stay with him and Papyrus. They were safe. He would protect them. Papyrus would protect them. 

The pipe swung again, and again, and again and again and again -

Sans stumbled off his bed. He glanced at his clock: 5:13am. He just - needed to see the blanket fort. If that was real, Frisk was staying with them. They were safe. 

He stumbled forward and reached for the doorknob - missed - finally succeeded and walked into the hallway. 

The kitchen light was on. 

Frisk probably had just woken up. Or Papyrus. Normal explanations. Normal, safe, chill explanations. 

Or maybe Frisk’s dad had broken into the house, politely turned on the light and didn’t make any noise before strangling Frisk to death.

Heheheh. Ridiculous. That definitely didn’t happen. 

…

Sans ran down the hall. 

In a few strides, he stepped into the light of the kitchen and heard a squeak. 

Sans blinked a couple times, adjusting his eyelights to the warm light of the kitchen. When he could finally process what he was seeing, he saw Frisk. 

Frisk stood with their back against the kitchen counter, eyes wide and absolutely still. They were wearing Papyrus’s Cool Chef apron. There was a large bowl on the counter, as well as an egg carton, milk, bag of flour…

Sans finally breathed. He slumped into his normal relaxed posture. 

Frisk mirrored the motion, letting out a sheepish chuckle. After a moment, they stepped aside so Sans could get a clearer look at the ingredients. They did jazz hands over their workspace. 

“Pancaaaaakes,” they said in a singsong voice. 

Sans leaned against the wall and exhaled. “Pancakes sound great, kid,” he said. Frisk’s shoulders tensed slightly, even as they gave him a bright smile. Hm. 

The sound of a door slamming open made them both jump. Papyrus scrambled down the hall, sliding to a stop in a crouch. Sans blinked. 

Papyrus looked at him. Looked at Frisk. After a moment of silence, Frisk did jazz hands again. “Pancaaaaakes,” they said again. In a singsong voice. Again. 

“Sup, bro,” Sans said. 

“You know what is ‘sup,’ brother!” He said, indignant. He paused, redirected his attention to Frisk - “Pancakes sound lovely!” - Then back to Sans. 

Frisk smiled and turned back to their work as Papyrus sat down at the kitchen table. He looked up at Sans, then clenched a fist over his chest. Concern was written across his face, plain as day. 

Ah. Right. Just as Sans had a part of his Soul committed to his brother, Papyrus had a place for him, and his panic had probably crashed into Papyrus like a wave.  

Sans had to admit that this morning’s experience was… unusual. He was much more used to the heavy, cold sort of fear that weighed him down like snow packed on top of him. It was fear that told him that he couldn’t do anything to stop the inevitable. It was a type of fear that he had only recently started defrosting. 

He was much less used to fear that felt like lightning running through his bones. 

He sighed. He desperately wanted to play it off with a joke. Papyrus and Frisk wouldn’t press him further if he did. But he knew it was probably best to try that whole emotional openness thing he’d been working on. Euuughhh. 

“Had a nightmare,” Sans said. His voice wavered unexpectedly. He cringed internally. “Sorry if I freaked you out.”

Frisk turned back towards him, an empathetic look on their face. Papyrus stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“I am sorry to hear that. Would you like to talk about it?”

Sans leaned into Papyrus’s touch, finally leaning far enough that he was slumped entirely against his body. 

“NYEH! Too lazy to even stand!... I’ll allow it!”

Sans chuckled. 

He… wanted to talk about it. Huh. That was new. But he glanced over at Frisk, and - 

“...Thanks, bro. Can we talk about it later?” He leaned his skull against his brother’s ribcage. 

Papyrus wrapped his arm around Sans’s shoulders and spoke with a softer tone than usual. “I shall be here when you are ready.” His voice resumed its usual boisterous cadence. “And I am sorry for the delay in my expedient assistance. I would have been there to assist sooner, but… I was hindered by one of my brilliant traps!”

“Was it your blanket?” Sans asked. Across the room, Frisk snorted. 

Papyrus scowled down at Sans, then narrowed his sockets and looked away. “...Maybe!”

Sans laughed - a genuine, full laugh that shook off the last of his fear. The thought of Papyrus valiantly charging into the fray just to be involuntarily burritoed by his own blanket was just far too brilliant slapstick comedy to pass up. 

Papyrus pretended (badly) to be displeased as Frisk joined in the laughter. Suddenly, Papyrus scooped Sans up in his arms. Sans reflexively ragdolled as soon as his brother held him. 

“It is far too early for lazy brothers to be awake anyhow!” he declared. He walked up to Frisk’s shelter. Balancing on one foot, Papyrus impressively used his other foot to drag out Sans’s armchair. He turned it to face the kitchen. 

“There!” Papyrus said triumphantly. He dumped Sans into the chair. “Snooze!”

Pleased with his work, Papyrus walked towards Frisk. His pace was slightly slower, and he didn't walk straight at them, walking instead to stand at the counter beside them. They smiled up at him. 

“It is far too early for Frisks to be awake, too,” he said, tilting his skull. 

“I wanted to surprise you,” Frisk said cheerfully. “Sorry for using your ingredients. I’ll replace them when my groceries come.”

“Nyeh! Do not worry about that! And I do love surprises! Especially ones that don’t involve a certain canine…”

Frisk chuckled. “No dogs are involved. Probably.”

“Probably??”

“For sure… maybe.”

“Maybe?? What a slippery snail you are!”

Sans leaned back in his chair and his sockets drifted shut. 

His magic had worked. He had kept Frisk safe. They were staying here with him and his brother. Papyrus had made them a cool blanket fort. 

Frisk was safe here. Papyrus would protect them. He would protect them. 

“NYEH! This isn’t flour!!”

A small dog yipped. Sans opened a socket to see it dart through the kitchen. Papyrus chased it past Sans’s chair. 

“The dog opened the window!” Papyrus exclaimed. There was a sound of the window sliding open, little paws scrambling, and a distant yip.

“The fifth floor really isn’t an issue for it, huh?” Frisk mumbled from the kitchen, tilting their head and looking towards the window. 

Sans chuckled to himself. He nestled into the cushions, closed his sockets, and fell back asleep. 

Frisk flinched awake, disoriented. Their phone was in their hand - 9am. Their familiar blanket walls were all pulled back and they were laying on the couch, not a mattress. They were nestled into a scarf - they usually didn’t wear it to bed. A heavy blanket rested on them.

They sat up, blinking in the sudden daylight. It took a moment for their other senses to start working again. 

A low voice. A higher voice. A kettle whistling. 

Oh. They must have fallen back asleep after breakfast. Sans and Papyrus were in the kitchen.

The heavy blanket slid off of them as they sat up all the way. Frisk took stock of their body. They were fully dressed: Pink pajamas, pink fuzzy socks, bright red scarf. Papyrus’s scarf. Had one of the brothers put the blanket over them?

They had fallen asleep while Sans and Papyrus were in the room. 

Frisk wasn’t sure when they would repay Sans and Papyrus, or what exactly they would want to do. Frisk didn’t intend to stop it. But they never fell asleep with adults in the room. Even if they didn’t think a certain adult was going to do anything, they just… didn’t fall asleep around them. It was a habit, they supposed. They really, really didn’t like when Dad started doing stuff when they were asleep. If they stayed awake, at least they would be conscious if something happened. 

They knew it was illogical. Staying with the brothers now, they didn’t have any locked doors to sleep behind. And if Sans and Papyrus preferred them to be asleep, they shouldn't make that more difficult for them anyway. But they still just… couldn’t drift off to sleep until Sans and Papyrus were in their own rooms. 

There were some exceptions, like those days in the hospital. At the beginning they were too delirious to stay awake. And when they were stable again, their body eventually forced them to sleep. They were grateful Sans was too polite to do anything at the hospital.

Now, there wasn’t really any reason for them to be able to fall asleep. They hadn’t thought they were even capable of leaving themself vulnerable like this.

And… nothing happened. 

They would have known if something had happened. They remembered how it felt. Even if their mind managed to mercifully drift away sometimes, they always felt it in their body afterwards. It usually hurt, sure. But mostly, they just felt dirty. 

The first few times it happened, they had showered again and again until Dad yelled at them for using the hot water. They gave up on trying so hard when they realized the dirty feeling never left. 

They would never feel truly clean again, they knew that. Their filth was something they were used to. But…they didn’t feel any worse than usual right now. If anything, they felt a bit better . 

They had a bad dream last night, they remembered that. They woke up around 4:30am with Dad’s lingering whispers ringing in their mind. They couldn’t bear to just lay still with that voice. They decided that they might as well make themself useful!

Breakfast was really nice. After a brief dog incident and a Sans nap, they started frying up the pancakes. Sans and Papyrus both cheered when they tossed the pancakes in the air to flip them. Papyrus squeezed oranges for orange juice (with his bare hands… so cool). They all ate breakfast together and tidied the living room. 

Sans turned on the TV while Papyrus took out a puzzle book. Frisk sat on the couch, and then, apparently, they fell asleep. 

Sans and Papyrus were right there. But… nothing happened to them. 

That same selfish thought from yesterday drifted through their mind. What if I just tell them I never want it?

Even as the thought flickered to life, they tried to crush it down. They probably just hadn’t felt like it right now. 

Or… maybe they wanted to sink Frisk deeper into debt until they could justify doing more stuff to them. Like Dad. When he saw them last week, he had hurt them worse because they fought back. He wouldn’t have hurt them like that if they had been good. Or maybe he would have done it anyway, since they had him sent to jail, and their debt was so enormous. 

Before last week, they’d never owed anyone so much. This was new ground. Maybe it didn’t get worse as the numbers stacked? In the time before they ran away, Dad never seemed to care whether they were at -20 or -200. Maybe -2000 also didn’t matter? Or maybe it did and that was why Dad choked them. Usually he didn’t hurt them that bad. But it was also because they were fighting back, right? 

Their system didn’t account for this. Their system didn’t tell them whether Sans and Papyrus would be satisfied with using them just once. If they were, Frisk could get it out of the way and go right back to being as distant as they were before, so they would never owe them again. But what if they needed more? Would it happen again? Again and again and again and maybe if they owed them too much their friends would just want to wrap their hands around Frisk’s throat and squeeze -  

“...Bud, hey, what’s goin on?”

Maybe they should stay with Toriel now. Or Asgore. Even if they ended up in debt to them, it might be safer not to take too much more from the brothers. 

“Frisk, we are right here. Your father is not here.”

But they didn’t want to owe anyone else, they wanted to keep everything contained and under control. But maybe they were wrong and their debt would bury them and Sans and Papyrus would just have so much fun using them that they wouldn’t want to stop - but - but! -

*You really want to trust them, don’t you?

Frisk startled back to reality. 

Sans and Papyrus were kneeling on the floor in front of them, a few feet away. 

“Hey, pal. You with us?”

Frisk took a breath and looked up at the ceiling. The fairy lights twinkled gently. They loved those lights. Tension eased out of their shoulders. 

“We are right here to protect you,” Papyrus said cheerfully. “Nobody will get past us!”

Frisk looked down to their friends. They believed Sans and Papyrus could stop their dad, but nothing could protect Frisk from them. And that was okay. They didn’t need to be protected, they owed them. 

What if I just tell them I never want it?

They owed them… right?

“You're safe, bud. How can we help?”

I never want it. 

They opened their mouth. Their pulse pounded against their temples. 

“Be good, yeah? You owe me an awful lot.”

Frisk’s words died on their tongue. 

Tears sprung to their eyes. They didn’t know what to do. Maybe they should leave and stay with Toriel or Alphys or someone. But… despite the risk of taking more from the brothers…

“Would you like to hold my hand?”

Papyrus had a hand extended towards them. 

“Only if you want to. You do not have to. Only if it helps you feel safe.”

Frisk pursed their lips and looked down at the offered hand. After a moment, Sans extended his hand, as well. 

They didn’t want to think so hard about it anymore. They just knew that they wanted to hold their friends’ hands. So Frisk nodded. 

At their acceptance, Sans and Papyrus shuffled a bit closer. Papyrus gently took their right hand in his left hand. He was wearing his red gloves. The texture wasn’t really soft, but it wasn’t rough. It just felt… nice. Durable and sturdy. Papyrus held their hand delicately, and Frisk knew they could pull away from him if they wanted to. 

Sans took their left hand in his right. He didn’t have his mittens on, and the texture of the smooth bone wrapped comfortingly around their hand. It was familiar...The last time Sans held their hand, he was keeping them safe at the hospital. His hand was cool, but not cold. It felt just as comforting as they remembered. 

Frisk’s hands shook, but they closed their fingers around their friends’ hands. They closed their eyes and shrugged the scarf up a little, so it covered their mouth. 

This felt scary, but it felt safe, too. They just… wanted to stop thinking so hard. They wanted to stop worrying about what would happen in the future. They wanted to let their friends take care of them.

It might be selfish, but they gave into the longing. In this brief moment, Frisk decided they would be a little bit selfish, and they would try their very best not to calculate their debt for the kindness they were given.

Chapter Text

Papyrus swung the door open at the sound of a familiar, boisterous knock. 

“HEY DUDE!” Undyne grinned up at him. “Good to see ya!”

“H-hey, Papyrus,” Alphys said, shifting a bundle in her arms that Papyrus recognized as Frisk’s coat. “Thanks for having us over.”

“But of course! We are always happy to host our friends!” He stepped aside and ushered them in. 

He turned around and almost bumped into Frisk. He mentally chastised himself - of course Frisk would follow close behind! Their friendship power was truly great and they were always among the first to greet guests! 

“Whoopsie-doopsie!” He side-stepped as Frisk giggled and ducked under one of his arms. 

“Hi Alphys! Hi Undyne!” They chirped, offering a fist to Undyne. 

Undyne gave an enthusiastic fist bump. “How the heck ya doin’, punk?”

“Really good!” Frisk said (maybe a bit too quickly, Papyrus wondered?). “No school for at least a week, Papyrus and Sans hanging out, and now anime time? This week is the best!”

Alphys gave a nervous chuckle, but then again, she was always a bit nervous. “I-I’m glad that it’s going well. W-we’re here if you need anything at all.”

“Thanks Alphys. But nope, don’t need anything at all! I’m totally good!”

…Hm. 

Frisk was a very cheerful child! But…

Undyne caught his eye and raised an eyebrow. Papyrus just exhaled and shrugged slightly. As much as he wanted them to receive more support, it didn’t surprise him too much that Frisk would instinctively push back at offers of help. And they probably didn’t want to think about it too much anyhow; they had a fun day planned. And, well, fun was also an important part of Frisk’s healing! 

It had been a rather remarkable day already. He flexed his phalanges by his side, remembering Frisk’s hand wrapping around his, trembling, but… determined. They held on tight, held on through their fear. 

Papyrus’s Soul ached. They had been so scared. So many times this week, they had been taken right back to their past, to that man. 

“Oh! H-here’s your coat. We washed it!” Alphys stepped forward and offered it to Frisk. 

Frisk straightened up and looked down at the coat. They started to reach forward, but froze halfway through the motion. Their expression was blank, their mouth open slightly. 

Alphys caught the hesitation. She started to say something when Frisk resumed their movement and gathered the coat up from Alphys’s arms. They looked down at it for a second, then put it on, nestling into the faux fur of the hood. They closed their eyes and smiled. Papyrus had never seen a creature look quite as cozy as his little friend in that moment. 

“Thank you,” they said softly. 

As Undyne and Alphys walked to the living room with Frisk, he thought back on his conversation with Sans. He wished he could talk with the rest of their friends about how to best assist their little friend. Sans and Papyrus still needed to ask if Frisk would be okay with them sharing the more sensitive nature of their trauma…

“DUDE. LOOK WHAT WE GOT.” Undyne was brandishing a DVD case. “Gurren Lagann! An anime about escaping the underground with determination and friendship!”

“What!?” Frisk eagerly rushed forward to get a closer look. 

“I-it’s a classic,” Alphys eagerly contributed. “And the m-music is so good. And there’s romance, and-”

“GIANT ROBOTS!” Undyne threw her hands up triumphantly.

“G-giant robots!!!” Alphys agreed, bouncing in place.

Sans, who had been (maybe) sleeping on the couch, chuckled.  “Skill issue. We escaped the underground and the only robot we had was Mettaton.”

“I-I guess he is a b-bit smaller,” Alphys giggled. 

Frisk laughed, then eagerly accepted the DVD from Undyne. They got to work setting it up. 

Papyrus gathered some snacks from the kitchen, which he and Frisk had prepared: pizza rolls and veggies and dip. 

When the first episode started, everyone bundled up in blankets and grabbed snacks. Snow still swirled outside, and a warm day resting inside did sound rather wonderful. Not that he usually wanted such inactive days! And of course the temperature did not deter him! He was an all-weather skeleton! He just…rather enjoyed seeing his little human friend so warm and comfortable. That was probably a large part of what made his Soul feel so content.

Though it was a difficult time, Frisk was correct that much of this week had been rather wonderful. With snow gently falling, his brother making the occasional witty remark, Undyne and Frisk cheering at the screen, and Alphys chattering off facts about Studio Gainax, Papyrus settled contentedly into the couch. He couldn’t think of a single thing he would rather be doing.

Later in the afternoon, Alphys pulled out her binder of Pokemon cards. She had started teaching Frisk how to play, so they went through her binder, choosing cards to use in their deck for the day. Sans was napping again, of course. 

Papyrus took tea bags and mugs out of the cupboard, and Undyne joined him in the kitchen. 

“Ya got the good stuff, right?” She threw her arm around him and peered into the cupboard.

“Yes, Undyne, I always do.” He pulled out a box of golden flower tea. It turned out the humans hadn’t been making this particular tea, and the monsters were able to share their flower tea knowledge with them. It was a staple in local shops now, monster and human both.

He put tea bags in the mugs, poured hot water over them, and handed a mug to Undyne. Papyrus took a sip out of his mug. 

“Man, I dunno how you can drink it right away. The stuff’s scalding.” Undyne mumbled. 

“No skin! Very useful for such endeavours!” Papyrus said cheerfully.

“Yeah, I guess you win in the temperature-resistant department.” Undyne tapped the side of the mug, withdrew her hand quickly, and settled on holding the handle.  

Papyrus downed the rest of his tea in one shot. 

“THAT WASN’T EVEN STEEPED YET!” Undyne snatched the mug from him. 

“I know. I just wanted to show off!” Papyrus beamed. 

“UGH. At least you’re honest.” Undyne changed his half-steeped tea bag out, added a fresh one, and poured hot water in. She handed the mug to Papyrus. “NOW. WAIT. THREE TO FOUR MINUTES.”

“Sigh,” Papyrus said wistfully. “So long to wait for my wonderful tea…”

“IT’S A NORMAL AMOUNT OF TIME!”

Papyrus just grinned at her, but dutifully refrained from drinking right away. He was done offending Undyne’s tea sensibilities for the day. 

Undyne raised her mug and blew gently across the tea’s surface. 

In the living room, Frisk was holding a Pokemon card in one hand and scrolling on their phone, excitedly chattering at Alphys about a Pokemon called Sylveon. Undyne smiled fondly at the two. 

After a moment, Undyne turned back toward the cupboard and looked at Papyrus from the corner of her eye. 

“There’s something I wanted to let you know. Can we go to your room for a sec?” She said under her breath. 

Papyrus’s Soul stuttered, but he nodded curtly. Frisk - Sans was asleep, and they would be alone with Alphys - were they okay with that?

“Sans!” He said brightly. Sans raised a hand to indicate he was awake. “I am going to show Undyne my new… puzzle book! While I am away, please find out more information about Sylveon! Our very cool friend likes it, so it is our duty as very cool friends to gather information as well!”

Sans sat up and gave Papyrus a knowing look before sliding off the couch onto the floor with Frisk and Alphys. Frisk eagerly handed the card to Sans and continued talking without missing a beat. 

Mission accomplished. Sans was awake and alert! And he was just going into his room. Frisk should be okay. Undyne followed him as he strode across the room, into his bedroom, and closed the door behind him and Undyne. They placed their mugs on Papyrus's desk.

Undyne exhaled and leaned her back against the door. 

“How are they really doing?” She asked, her voice low. 

Papyrus sat on the chair by his desk, then drew his knees up to his chest and slouched over. It was an improper posture he especially would never have shown to Undyne back when they were Captain and prospective Sentry, but now, they were just… themselves. Undyne and Papyrus. 

“They seem okay sometimes. But they have intense flashbacks.” He swiveled in his chair a little. “They often are lost in thought and startle if we move too fast or even just address them. But…” his voice softened. “They have allowed us to help them, just a little bit. I am hoping they will continue to depend on us as time continues on.”

Undyne smiled. “I'm glad they're staying with you. You're the most dependable guy I know.”

Papyrus didn't know how to respond to the sincerity in his best friend's voice, so obviously, he leaned back, clasped his shirt over his Soul, and dramatically draped himself over his chair. “My only weakness! A genuine compliment!”

Undyne snorted and punched his shoulder. Papyrus chuckled and straightened up in his chair. 

Now that he really looked at Undyne, he noticed that she looked really exhausted, more exhausted even when Papyrus used to show up at her house at 2am begging for training sessions.

“I have some updates,” She said. Papyrus stiffened. “It’s about Frisk’s dad.”

Papyrus's spine straightened and he gripped the arms of his chair. 

“Whoa, dude. Don’t worry - he’s still in custody.” Undyne waved her hands in a placating motion. 

Papyrus’s posture did not relax. “What is happening?” He asked slowly.

“You’re probably not gonna like it,” Undyne warned. 

“I trust that you will tell me the truth.” Papyrus stood up and met her gaze. “Do not spare details.” 

Undyne’s expression softened. The edge of her mouth curled upwards. “Don’t worry. I promised no more lies, and I won’t break that.”

Papyrus’s Soul eased a little bit. 

“So, I’m the contact person with the court. They’re keeping me in the loop,” Undyne started. She slowly walked across the room, past Papyrus, and busied her eye with browsing the books on his shelf. “He has to be sentenced. And this is where we meet our first set of options.”

Papyrus nodded and folded his arms over his chest. 

“First option is a trial.”

A trial. a chance to lay the man's crimes out in front of the court and watch him be judged. Papyrus smiled darkly. “I would be happy to be in the room when that man gets sentenced.”

Undyne looked away from the books. 

“Here is the issue.” Her voice lowered to a growl. “Frisk would have to testify.”

Papyrus stepped back as if Undyne had just threatened him. 

“Absolutely not. Frisk will never be in the same room as that man again.” His Soul was racing. There must be another way -

Undyne sat down heavily on Papyrus’s bed. “Yeah. But the prosecution would need to talk to them so we can get evidence on the witness stand against…him. After that, the defense has the right to cross-examine as well.”

“The defense…” Papyrus mumbled. 

“The attorney for Frisk’s dad.” Undyne confirmed grimly. 

Papyrus reached for the edge of his desk to steady himself. 

“I…see,” he said, his voice strained. “A-another option. You mentioned there was another option.”

“Yep. Option number two.” Undyne crossed her legs. “A plea deal is on the table. If we take it, there will be no trial. Frisk doesn’t need to testify.”

Relief swept through Papyrus. “Okay. Yes. Yes, that option.”

“Heeeere’s the thing,” Undyne sighed. “The plea deal on the table is that he’ll go away for three years, and be on probation for the next three years.”

“Three years?” Surely he had misheard. “But - he’s a repeat offender, right?”

“I thought so too. Turns out he was charged for Frisk’s disappearance, but they had run away on their own. He had an alibi. And somehow, his abuse must not have shown. There was no proof of abuse beforehand.” Undyne gritted her teeth. “He was held for ten months, but eventually had to be discharged. He’s not on the books as a sex offender or anything. For the plea deal, he'd be pleading guilty to one count of aggravated battery of a minor.”

Papyrus’s mind reeled. 

Undyne scowled. “The defense team refused to agree to anything more than that. I’m betting that they’re thinking we’ll bite to save Frisk from the trial.”

Three years. That man would be out in three years. Frisk would still be a minor. They would get a restraining order, of course, but…would that actually protect Frisk? They could move cities to make sure their paths didn’t cross, but he doubted Frisk would want to be far from their community. 

But if they wanted to go for a higher charge and took it to trial, Frisk would need to be in the same room as that… thing.

Suddenly, he was aware that Undyne was standing in front of him. “Hey. Papyrus, can you look at me?”

Papyrus looked down slightly to meet her eye. She reached out and put a hand on his arm. 

“We’ll talk it over with the group,” she said, smiling a bit. “It’s not all on you, or me, or any of us. We have Alphys and Toriel and Asgore too. And, ultimately it’ll be Frisk’s choice. If they want to take the plea, we’ll go with that. If they want to go to trial, we’ve got a whole group to keep each other safe.”

Papyrus nodded. He processed the information for a moment. Just as he started sorting it out, another heavy rock settled in his Soul. 

“None of the others know about the nature of the assaults,” He said, his voice hushed. 

Undyne’s face set. “Yeah. If we do the plea, we wouldn’t need to go into detail. But if we do a trial…”

“Everyone would know,” Papyrus said, horror washing over him. “Even the public.”

“The court would shield Frisk's name in official records, so just the jury, witnesses, and specialists called would know. The jury is made up of community members, though.” Undyne exhaled. “There is also an option of a bench trial, but that’s up to the defendant to choose.” 

“Bench trial?” Papyrus asked. 

Undyne nodded. “A bench trial means a judge makes the decisions, rather than a jury. I’ve been told sex offenders often ask for a bench trial if it’s an option. They think a judge might be more lenient than a jury when it comes to sex crimes, especially against kids.” She spat out the last words. 

After a moment, she composed herself and continued. “If Frisk’s dad chooses the bench trial, there wouldn't be jury community members. If both sides agreed for it to be private, we might be able to keep Frisk's information private,” she explained. “The charges would be known to Frisk’s guardians, though. No getting around that if we go to trial.”

“But…Frisk's father. If everything is kept private, then people won’t know he's a danger.”

“OH yeah. Don't worry ‘bout that. If all goes right in the trial and he’s convicted, whatever the sentence is, he'd be a registered sex offender. All his charges would be public.” Undyne scowled. “The plea deal doesn't have sex charges on it, though. It's only for the physical battery.”

Papyrus stepped around Undyne, walked over to his bed, and promptly flopped onto it face first. 

This was the worst. 

None of this was okay. 

In the moment of quiet, he could hear Frisk’s laughter in the living room. 

The mattress dipped slightly. Papyrus turned his skull to look at Undyne, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“Talk it over with Sans sometime over the next couple days, yeah? And let me know if you want me to text him the info I told you. I can make sure he knows the rundown.” She said quietly. “When you’re ready, you two can let Frisk know their options.”

Papyrus turned his body and sat up beside Undyne. She rested a hand on his shoulder. 

“This is all rather horrible,” Papyrus said with a humourless laugh.

“Yeah,” Undyne agreed flatly.

They sat quietly for a moment, listening to the sounds of the house and the faint noise of the wind outside. 

“Thank you for telling me everything,” Papyrus said. He leaned slightly so he nudged his friend. “Whatever Frisk chooses, they will have all of us to support them.”

Undyne nudged him back. “Frisk’s lucky to have you looking out for them.”

For the first time in the conversation, Papyrus’s Soul warmed slightly. He closed his sockets. “All we can do is our best. I hope that will be enough.”

Sans felt ice in his Soul.

His body stiffened. He was about to rush to his brother's side when he remembered: Papyrus was with Undyne. Undyne had likely brought news about Frisk's dad.

His brother was safe, but…well. Seemed that they would have something to talk about later.

He tried to focus on Frisk and Alphys. Frisk had info-dumped about Sylveon to their heart’s content, and was continuing to flip through the binder. They lay on their stomach propped up on their elbows, their cheek resting in their hand. They looked relaxed.

Sans hadn’t been all that close to Frisk before. They were a nice kid, but really reserved and carefully polite when they were in the Underground. Made sense, he thought bitterly. They’d escaped a sex offender and fallen into a society where everyone kept attacking them.  

After they all came to the surface, Sans hadn’t paid much attention to Frisk. After all, he had a pretty good guess about what they were. The look on their face when he told them they hadn’t even died once - he was pretty sure he was wrong. And if that was the case, those hiccups in the timeline were likely connected to them. 

After they emerged from the ruins, though, the hiccups became less frequent than they had been before. There would be the occasional stutter and break; in their entire journey from Snowdin to the surface, it happened seven times. It was less frequent than usual, but….still. There had been resets. 

So when he came to the surface, he waited for it all to be taken away. 

He slept a lot. Then, when even he got bored of sleeping, he started exploring the surface. It was really beautiful. 

And by the time he started paying attention to his little anomaly again, they were building a life for themself. 

They had been vehemently against seeking out any human guardian (welp. That made sense.) and instead begged to stay with the monsters. They legally became ward of the leadership in the monster community: Asgore, Toriel, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, and somehow, himself. 

They had friends. They were doing well. They eagerly helped everyone in their community - Papyrus absolutely adored them, and when they looked up at him, he saw a genuine love in their expression. 

As time went on, he started gaining real hope that the life he was living now was actually one he would be allowed to keep. So, he started making a life for himself, and part of that life included stepping up more for Frisk. 

It was…strange. They genuinely loved all of the monsters around them, he could tell that easily. But as soon as they spent a decent amount of time with one, they would become distant for a while, almost formal. They would keep helping them, but not spend as  much time with them. Toriel herself had expressed concern at one point, when Frisk suddenly became distant to her. 

“We have been so close recently, and I do not think I have done anything to harm them. Why, I tutored them on some math problems just last week and baked them pie to snack on as they studied! They are such a curious child… I asked if anything was wrong yesterday, and they brushed me off. Politely, of course,” she hastened to say. 

It happened occasionally with Papyrus, too, Sans had noticed. Papyrus himself did not seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t mention it. He was very busy with everyone in the community. 

That just seemed to be how Frisk operated. They saw everyone frequently, joining them for meals on a rotating schedule, but they never seemed to stay close enough for anyone to develop a deeper connection with them. Their guardians were all like friendly community members to Frisk, but not exactly family. 

Frisk nudged Sans, bringing him back to the present moment. They looked at him, their face poking out from the fluff of their fluffy jacket hood. They'd been wearing it since Alphys returned it to them. 

“Hey. Hey Sans,” they said, suppressing a giggle. “It’s you.”

They passed him a Pokemon card. Snorlax. His grin widened. 

“Now see bud, you get me. That is what peak performance looks like.” He chuckled and passed it back to them. They added the card to their deck. 

He looked at them fondly. After a moment, they looked up at him again and met his gaze. They stared at him for a beat, as if they were trying to discern something. Then, they gave him a soft smile, and turned back to their cards.

They were acting more boldly than he had seen in the past. They’d always had a good sense of humour, but they were teasing him and Papyrus more often. Pulling pranks more often, too. They seemed less guarded, somehow. 

He hoped it meant that they felt safe. He hoped it meant that this time, they might let themself settle in. 

This week had been hard still, of course. They fell into flashbacks frequently, and they still often flinched or startled, but that was expected, especially after the recent incident. 

And it wasn’t like they didn’t have reasons to flinch away from the monsters, either. It had taken the monsters a long time to even apologize for the way they had treated Frisk. 

About a year ago, around the time when Sans had just started to feel more like a functioning monster again, Asgore organized and held a meeting for Frisk and all their guardians. It was an important meeting, and one long overdue. 

They all gathered in the former king’s apartment. It was a cozy space, with a magical fire crackling merrily and a sign on the mantle that said “New New Home, Sweet Home.”  Some of the group sat on chairs, some on couches. Undyne sat on the floor in front of Alphys.

“Frisk,” Asgore had said, his voice heavy, “When you came to the Underground, we were a people embroiled in war. Under my decree, I ordered all humans be hunted down for the sake of our escape.”

Frisk fidgeted in their chair and looked down at their hands, saying nothing. 

“Many of us here caused you great harm, either by our own hand, or the hand of those created by us.” Alphys ducked her head at that. 

Asgore stood up from his massive armchair. He cut a less imposing figure without his royal garb, now wearing a soft wool sweater and loose slacks, but he still certainly had a presence about him. 

He knelt down in front of Frisk and lowered his head.

Frisk squeaked. They whipped their head around, as if looking for the person he was bowing to. Toriel set a hand on their back reassuringly. 

Asgore continued. 

“What myself and my people did to you during my reign was unacceptable. I swear that no harm will ever come to you by our people again, and that you will be protected by us, should you wish for that.” 

Frisk finally couldn’t sit still any longer. They jumped off their chair and knelt in front of Asgore. 

“No! No, it’s okay! I get it, it wasn’t your fault -”

“It was our fault, my child,” Toriel said gently. She walked up to Frisk and set her hand on their shoulder. 

Asgore shifted his position so he was now sitting on his knees across from Frisk. They looked up at Toriel, then wildly around the room. 

“Nah, they’re right, Frisk,” Undyne said, leaning back against Alphys’s legs. “I came at you all self-righteously, ya know? I knew you were a good kid. Emphasis on the “kid” part. No excuses for that. There’s no justice in hurting a kid.”

“And even though I didn’t know you were a child!” Papyrus piped up from across the room, “You had done nothing to deserve harm! What we did was unacceptable!”

Alphys was next. “A-and… with Mettaton, I wanted to be the hero by p-putting you in awful situations and then saving you. It was awful. It must have been s-so scary.”

Frisk stood up and looked up at Toriel, confusion written all over them. 

She folded her hands in front of her and tilted her head down. “I promised you safety, only to harm you when you displeased me. That is unacceptable behaviour, and I am so deeply sorry.”

“N…no,” Frisk said. “It’s okay! It’s fine! We’re friends now, right? So it’s all fine!”

“We would certainly like to continue forward with you,” Asgore said solemnly. “That means that we needed to ensure we took responsibility for our actions.”

He stood up again, then lumbered back to his chair. Frisk stepped backwards and sat down in their chair, too. 

Toriel picked up a  few papers from a nearby table. 

“Frisk, as you know, you are legally our ward. However, at any time, if you would like assistance being placed with monsters who have not harmed you directly, or with a human fa-”

“NO!”

Everyone in the room startled. Frisk slapped a hand over their mouth. After a moment, they dropped their hand and gave a big smile. 

“Sorry about that! I just…I don't need to live with other monsters. And I really don’t want to go live with humans.”

Asgore inhaled sharply at that. Toriel looked down at Frisk with sadness weighing on her features.  

“We would love you to stay with us, too,” She said softly. “But please know that you have the right to guardians who have not harmed you. If you would like to stay with us, we will happily have you. And if you change your mind one day, we will support you in finding a home.”

They all continued talking with Frisk.  In the meantime, Sans just watched. 

He had never fought the kid. But he had stood by and watched them. And as they neared the end of their journey, in his bitterness and anger at finally finding his anomaly and having them sit across from him just to be unable to eliminate them -

He had let them know how much he hated them. 

Now, he watched as his friends reassured Frisk, apologized to them. Sure, Frisk brushed them off again and again and just smiled up at them, but at least they had said something. 

He had no idea how to make up for what he had done, no idea if they would even want to hear it. He and Frisk weren’t really that close, anyway, he rationalized. And he was still so damn tired.

And so, like he had in the Underground, he just stood by and watched. 

Sans blinked, bringing himself back to his present moment. Alphys was casting a glance at him. He must have spaced out. 

Sans took a moment to check on his Soul. Papyrus still felt cold, but not sharp and icy. Whatever was happening, it had settled, at least a little. 

Frisk hummed happily to themself beside him, swinging their legs. 

“D-do you want to battle?” Alphys asked. 

Frisk turned another page in the binder. “Hehe, to be honest, I’m having fun just looking at them. You got so many cute ones since the last time I looked!”

Alphys preened. “I have found a l-lot of rare booster packs and I’ve been trying to find variations on the Pokemon y-you liked! It’s fun having a friend who’s as excited as me!!”

Ah. There it was again . He was noticing it more and more. It was barely noticeable, but Frisk once again tensed slightly. 

“You’re the best!” They said, flipping a page casually. “You don’t have to do that, though!”

Alphys waved her tail a little. “N-no, I like to! Don’t worry about it.”

Frisk gave her a bright smile. “Alrighty, if you insist!”

Sans leaned back on his hands, looking up at the twinkling fairy lights as Alphys and Frisk continued to talk. 

Sans really liked having Frisk here. 

Sometime soon, he really needed to talk with them. They deserved Sans’s much-delayed apology.

For whatever reason, during this really hard time in their life, they had chosen to stay with him and his brother. Sans wouldn’t take their trust lightly. He wanted them to be safe. He wanted them to heal. 

He didn’t want to just stand by and watch anymore. 

Frisk was having a really good day. 

Their debts hadn’t fully left their mind, of course, but they were trying not to count every little thing. The comforts and small kindnesses given to them were starting to feel more and more natural. But everyone still did so much for them; they couldn’t risk throwing the whole system out.

So! Today was good, because today, they were useful . Frisk could help host Alphys and Undyne. They could be good. They could even watch TV and play games without feeling like they owed anything, because this was part of their job today. They were hosting! They were being good! Nobody was mad at them!

Papyrus and Undyne had been gone for a while, but that was okay. They were talking, and Frisk could make sure Sans and Alphys were happy. And…it was fun hanging out with them. Frisk showed Sans cards that they liked and talked with Alphys about her rarest new finds. 

Frisk noticed Sans looking at them again. 

Frisk still wasn’t sure what to make of it, but there was that persistent feeling that it was different from Dad’s gaze. At one point, they actually met his gaze, and Sans didn’t pretend not to be looking. If Frisk wasn’t deluding themself, he looked…fond? He smiled softly, as if he enjoyed sitting on the floor and just being here with them. 

The snow fell outside, but they were warm. Their dad wasn’t here, and as the day wore on, they felt themself settling into the softness of the moment. It didn’t seem like anyone really wanted anything from them right now, other than just to exist together. 

They shrugged their shoulders up a little, nestling into Papyrus’s scarf and the fluffy hood of their jacket, which they had worn all day. 

When they first saw their jacket today, they remembered vividly the last time they had seen it: laying on the ground in the alleyway, forcefully pulled off of their body and haphazardly discarded. But then they blinked, and they were back here in this warm apartment, and Alphys was giving it to them. Dad tried to take it away, but their friends brought it back. They cared enough to find it, clean it, and bring it back to them just because Frisk wanted it.

They loved their jacket. It was purple and pink and fluffy and pretty and warm. 

After their company left, Frisk helped Sans and Papyrus tidy up. They had a light dinner together, since they had snacked all day, and then spent most of the evening watching TV.  

When Frisk went to bed, they thought that somehow, the fairy lights looked extra pretty. They folded up Papyrus’s scarf and set it beside their pillow, as always. Then, they spread their jacket out over their blanket. The extra warmth and weight settled over them, a reminder of their friends’ care.

Today was really, really nice.

Chapter Text

In Papyrus's nightmares, the man’s face was always twisted in a sneer.

Frisk lay on the ground on their side, facing away from Papyrus. Their neck was bruised so badly it was entirely purple, and their breathing was shallow. 

In his nightmares, the man walked over to Frisk's body. He put a boot on their shoulder and shoved them onto their back.

Frisk shifted back to consciousness, blinking their eyes open. They had tears in their eyes. “...Pyrus?”

The man barked out a laugh. “His body's still got a few good uses in it,” he taunted.

In his nightmares, Papyrus couldn't speak, and he couldn't move. Frisk looked up at him, their tears running down to the concrete.

Papyrus heard the man walking away, leaving him all alone with Frisk. They closed their eyes again. He couldn’t tell if they were losing unconsciousness or were just resigned.

The man's voice rumbled as the scene slowly faded into darkness. 

“Have fun.”

Papyrus opened his sockets and was greeted with the familiar view of his bedroom ceiling. 

Relief flooded his senses as the nightmare drifted into unreality. He was home. Frisk was safe. Their father was gone.

For now, at least. 

Undyne’s words about the possible trial hung over his head. He hadn’t had the energy to try to discuss it with Sans by the time Undyne and Alphys had left. It was a strange concept, not having enough energy for something. That had been happening quite a bit this week. 

As his senses sharpened with wakefulness, he realized he was trembling. 

Papyrus turned onto his side and curled in on himself. He wanted all of this to go away, for Frisk to be safe and happy, for Sans to be the lazy brother and for himself to have energy.

He wanted that horrible man never to see Frisk again. 

Papyrus curled his hands into his duvet, desperate for some kind of grounding. Even his grip felt weaker than usual. He was so tired; he didn’t know how to fix things. He didn’t even know if he was helping at all. 

He closed his sockets again and tried to relax his body. He was so tired, but the trembling wouldn’t stop. Leave it to the Great Papyrus to find a way to keep moving even when every bone in his body felt like lead!

An image flashed across his mind. Frisk, collapsed on the concrete, the first time he had ever seen them cry. The bruised outline of a hand on their neck, their father laughing -

He hated this.

Papyrus pulled his phone off the nightstand and checked the time. It was just past 2am. He needed to sleep, he needed to just be okay! He was fine, he could handle this -

The screen was lit up with a text from Undyne, sent shortly after he had fallen asleep. He opened it. 

Undyne
-Hey! Wasn’t sure if you talked to Sans yet, but here’s the details from our convo today in case you need it for reference. 

Following was a detailed breakdown of their options. The trial, the plea deal, asking Frisk whether they wanted the others to know, sex offender registry, bench trial, Frisk testifying, their father in the same courtroom as them -

…Papyrus couldn’t handle this. 

He stood up slowly and slipped the phone into his pocket. His trembling legs almost gave way underneath him. He caught himself with a hand on his bedpost, then carefully made his way to the door. 

The hallway was dark; any light from Frisk’s fairy lights was mostly covered by their closed blanket curtains. Papyrus made his way down the hall carefully. 

He moved as quietly as he could to Sans’s room. He didn’t want to wake Frisk up, so he tapped softly on the door before opening it just a couple inches. 

“Sans?” He whispered as quietly as he could (which, admittedly, was not very quiet).

“Hnnmm?” Sans mumbled. Then he sat up quickly. “Papyrus? Hey -” He reached over for his bedside lamp, missed, and tumbled off his bed, landing with a quiet oof. He reached up again and successfully flicked the lamp on. 

Sans scrambled to his feet and shuffled up to Papyrus. His eye lights were still fuzzy with sleep, but he mostly just looked worried.  “Get in here bro, are you okay?”

Even as relief flooded through him, Papyrus’s trembling increased. He slipped through the door and closed it behind him, then sheepishly turned towards Sans.

“I - am not sure! I had a nightmare, and - I-I can’t stop shaking! I am not entirely sure what to - do -” 

Sans’s shoulders fell and his concerned expression shifted to sadness. “Come over here and sit with me.” He tilted his head towards the small couch in his room. Papyrus followed him over, then settled on the cushion. Sans sat beside him. 

“You want a hug?” Sans asked. 

Papyrus’s breath stuttered, and he nodded weakly. He wanted nothing more. 

Sans turned and wrapped Papyrus in his arms, and any hopes of maintaining his composure vanished. Papyrus doubled over and shook in Sans’s embrace, weakly wrapping his arms around his brother in return.

“I am - sorry,” he said. Tears finally spilled over and ran down his face. 

“You’re good, Pap,” Sans replied, his voice low and steady. “I gotcha. You’re good.”

Papyrus lowered his head onto his brother’s shoulder. He was so much bigger than Sans now, but somehow, he still fit perfectly into his hugs. Sans tightened his arms around him, and Papyrus felt the frantic, exhausted energy that shook his bones settle under the pressure. He took a deep, shuddering breath through his tears. 

Sans shifted back and forth slightly, rocking Papyrus with the motion. Papyrus’s shaking eased a little more, and his breathing slowly began to steady. 

He was so, so tired. 

“Sans?” Papyrus said, his voice cracking slightly.

Sans hummed in response. 

“How did you - keep going, when you were so tired?”

Sans took a deep breath. Papyrus felt him tilt his skull to rest against his own.

“I had the best bro ever,” He said softly. 

Papyrus scoffed.

“What? You don’t believe me?” Sans asked teasingly.

Papyrus pulled back from the embrace slowly, wiping his face with a sleeve. 

“Since - this happened with Frisk, I can barely think sometimes, I’m so tired,” He said. “I stayed in bed for three days after the attack. I - couldn’t keep going. I just…”

Papyrus fiddled with the button on one of his sleeves. He sighed. 

“I’m sorry I never realized how hard it was for you, back Underground. You were so tired, and I was always inconsiderate. I wish I had helped you better.”

Sans paused for a moment, then leaned back into the couch. Papyrus continued unbuttoning and buttoning his sleeve. 

“I needed more help than you or anyone around us could have given me, honestly,” Sans said with a sigh. “I know you were always doing your best, and just knowing you cared enough to give me the time of day helped a lot.”

“Yes, but all the same,” Papyrus said, his voice finally strengthening. “I was inconsiderate. I hope to support you better in the future, however you may be feeling.”

He finally looked at Sans again. Sans smiled fondly, then nudged his foot against Papyrus’s. 

“You really are the coolest, you know that?” He said, his voice soft.

Papyrus took a deep breath and rested against the back of the couch as well. His body relaxed into the soft cushions. “You are certainly not bad yourself, brother.” Sans chuckled. 

They were both quiet for a moment, looking up at the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars on Sans’s ceiling. 

Sans broke the short silence. “If you don’t feel better soon, we are getting you therapy. Actually, you know what, we are all getting into therapy. This whole situation is fucked.”

Papyrus sighed and nodded. “I suppose you are right. That may be wise.”

“Yep. That’s me, the wiseguy.”

Papyrus groaned, even as his grin widened. 

Sans tilted his skull towards him again. “Hey, was the conversation with Undyne earlier okay? You seemed rattled after.”

Papyrus closed his sockets. He didn’t know if he had the energy to go over this, but all the same, he might not be able to sleep until Sans knew. Thank you, Undyne, He thought as he pulled his phone out of his pajama pants pocket. He navigated to the text and wordlessly handed the phone over to Sans. 

Sans had been reading the text for just a few seconds before he quietly mumbled “Oh. Fuck.”

“Yes indeed,” Papyrus sighed. “Fuck.”

Sans read for another minute, then handed Papyrus’s phone back to him. He slouched over, setting his elbows on his knees. 

“We need to ask Frisk how they feel about the others knowing,” he said. “That’s our first step.”

“Are they even aware that we know?” Papyrus asked. 

Sans shook his head. “I haven’t told them. Not sure exactly how to bring it up, I’ve just been wanting to keep them stable after everything that happened.”

“Yes… I suppose it is time for us to broach the topic.” The thought threatened to make Papyrus start trembling again. He took a deep, steadying breath. 

“I really don’t wanna put 'em through testifying,” Sans said.  

“I do not either… but perhaps they would also wish to prioritize getting him a longer sentence. I doubt that Frisk would be especially pleased with their father being free again in three years.”

“What if we moved away?” Sans said, his voice rising slightly. “We could move far away and their dad would have no idea where we are.”

“I have thought of that,” Papyrus answered. “Frisk has expressed many times their discomfort with humans, and this is currently the only place with such a high number of monsters. Surely, over the next few years, there will be more monsters in the wider area, but for now we are mostly in Ebott.”

Sans exhaled. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

Papyrus’s exhaustion pulled at his limbs again. “I would like that man put away for a long time,” he said wearily. “I just wish they did not need to testify in order to do so.”

Sans looked up at him. After a moment, he leaned over to rest against his side. Papyrus rested his skull on top of Sans’s.

“I’m here with you, bro. And we’ve got the rest of the group. We’ll all be there for Frisk, if they wanna testify. And if they don’t, we’ll keep them safe when he gets out.” Sans shifted slightly. “Whatever happens, that man won’t touch them ever again. I promise.”

A tension deep in Papyrus eased, just a little bit. 

“Okay,” He said quietly. Even as the ease settled into his bones, the images from his dream remained imprinted at the forefront of his mind. Frisk’s father, pushing them towards him - a discarded object, brutalized and cast aside - and that voice, that horrible voice. Have fun.

He felt sick. 

Papyrus took another shuddering breath. “Sans,” he breathed. 

“Yeah?” 

“I-I told you Frisk’s father told me - he thought I also wanted to do those things to Frisk -”

“Hey,” Sans turned towards him again. “Remember, all that was bullshit. He was trying to mess with you.”

“You’re sure? You’re sure -”

“I’m sure,” Sans said emphatically. He paused for a moment. “If you need another logical argument, it’s not even something monsters do. But even if it was, you wouldn’t do it. It’s not something people just accidentally do. It was a choice that Frisk’s dad made - more than once, probably. It’s not a choice you would make.”

“Y-you’re - sure.” Papyrus said.

“Positive,” Sans assured. 

…

Sans was smart. Sans was good! If he said Papyrus wouldn’t hurt Frisk, he had to be right. 

But…Sans also said things just to make him feel better.

He used to, anyway. Sans was always so kind to him. He took care of him as they grew up together, shielded him from the worst of the world. For some reason, it always seemed important to Sans that Papyrus was okay.

So if he couldn’t rely on his brother’s words…

Well. He could believe in the actions they were taking. They were both being very careful. They made sure to be very mindful of respecting Frisk’s privacy and personal space. They always made sure the child had a way out of any room, that they were never trapped. 

And there was something else Papyrus believed: that Sans really cared about Frisk. Sans wouldn’t let anyone hurt Frisk. Sans wouldn’t let him hurt Frisk. 

If nothing else, Papyrus would hold on to that.

The exhaustion was weighing him down more by the moment. 

Sans nudged him. “Hey, why don’t you take my bed? I’m short enough to sleep here on the couch.”

Papyrus blinked his sockets open. “No, I’m fine. I should just… go back to my room…”

“I don’t trust you to make it that far, bro,” Sans said with a chuckle. “And I’ll be right here if ya need me. Don’t gotta go stumbling your way down a hallway again.”

Papyrus should object. Sans deserved to sleep in his own bed. But… he was so tired. And he did not really want to be alone. 

“Okay,” Papyrus said weakly. “Thank you.”

In a matter of moments, he was tucked in and the lights were out. Sans was already snoring quietly on the couch. His brother’s presence alone gave him more comfort than he knew how to express. Sans would keep all of them safe.

Papyrus slept the rest of the night undisturbed. 

Sans, Papyrus, and Frisk sat in the hospital waiting room. 

It was much different than last time Sans had been in a hospital waiting room. Heh. You’d think those humans had never seen a teleporting skeleton before. 

This was a different section of the hospital, the clinic for non-emergency matters. Sans was relieved that Doctor Sommer would continue to be Frisk’s doctor. She was a kind lady, observant and careful. And Frisk seemed relatively comfortable with her, which was what mattered most. 

Beside him, Frisk was settled low in their scarf, their fluffy hood up. Their eyes were open, though, and they didn’t look too scared, just vigilant. It eased Sans’s worries to see that the hospital didn’t induce instant panic. 

Papyrus, on the other side of Frisk, was definitely on edge. He wasn’t showing many outward signs, but he kept on pulling his gloves half off and then sliding them back on. It made sense. Sans had spent more time here; he trusted the doctor. Papyrus was fairly nervous about letting anyone he didn’t know near their pal, even if it was necessary.

“Frisk?”

Papyrus and Frisk both nearly jumped out of their seats at the kind voice. Sans leaned forward and waved at the doctor. 

“Heya Doc,” he drawled. “Alrighty, away we go.”

It had only taken his two companions a moment to compose themselves. Sans took the lead, and Frisk and Papyrus followed as they all walked into one of the examination rooms. 

It was a fairly large room, with enough seats for the three of them. When they were all settled, Doctor Sommer closed the door behind them and settled onto her small cushioned stool by a computer. 

She picked up a clipboard, then wheeled her stool towards the three of them. “Good to see you again, Sans, Frisk,” She said, her smile warm. 

“You too,” Frisk said quietly, but raised their face enough from their scarf that their smile was visible. 

“And this is my bro, Papyrus,” Sans said, resting a hand on Papyrus’s shoulder. 

“It’s so good to meet you, Ambassador Papyrus,” she said, extending a hand to shake. “Thank you for your good work.”

Papyrus blinked, seemingly disoriented at being recognized in this setting. Then, never one to be caught off guard for long, he straightened up and shook her hand enthusiastically. “Oh! Well! Thank you for your good work, too!” He withdrew his hand and his expression softened. “I heard that you helped our Frisk quite a bit. We are truly grateful.”

“It’s my pleasure,” She said warmly, then turned back to Frisk. “Today, I just wanted to check to ensure everything is still on the mend, similar to our last checkups. I’ll want to take a look at your bruising and ask a few questions. Does that sound okay?”

Frisk hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly. 

“Wonderful. Okay, please come over and sit on this table for me.”

Frisk obediently walked over and climbed onto the padded examination table, crinkling its paper cover as they sat down.

Frisk wasn’t wearing any healing bandages today, as instructed for the appointment. The bruising had been less and less apparent every morning and evening when they changed them. If there were no concerns after the appointment, they should be able to just heal the rest of the way without bandages.

“So we need to do a few things today,” Doctor Sommer counted on her fingers. “We will need to check on your cheekbone, ribs, throat, and also review any concussion symptoms.” She lowered her hand. She paused for a moment, allowing Frisk to process the words. “I would like to ask you about your concussion symptoms first. Is that alright with you?”

Frisk nodded. Sans was relieved; these were just questions. It was a good way to ease the kid into the appointment. 

“Have you been feeling nauseous this week?” She asked. 

Frisk shook their head, but then aborted the motion. “Only for a little bit.”

“Yes? Can you tell me about that?” The doctor jotted down a note. 

“It’s… just when - I remember things.” They shrunk further into their coat and scarf. 

The doctor nodded, a sympathetic look coming over her features. “Are they frightening memories?”

Frisk nodded curtly. 

“Okay. Thank you,” She said gently, writing another note. “Are you okay with me asking a few more questions?”

Frisk nodded again. 

“Wonderful.” She glanced at her paper. “Have you experienced blurry vision?”

Frisk shook their head. 

“Balance issues?”

“No.”

“Okay. How about… feeling off or down, or feeling sluggish?”

Frisk tensed slightly, then nodded again. 

The doctor hummed. “When do you feel that way the most?”

Frisk looked down at their hands and swung their feet a little. “When I get scared.”

“Yes, that makes sense,” she said, then smiled up at Frisk. “Now, can I take a look at your eyes to make sure they look okay?”

Frisk nodded and removed their hood while the doctor took out a small flashlight. They blinked as she shone it in their eyes. Dr Sommer backed off and nodded. “Yes, the concussion was fairly minor, and as we expected, it looks like it’s healed just fine.”

Papyrus gave a sigh of relief, and Frisk smiled. 

“Okay; next, can I see how the bruising on your ribs looks?” She asked. 

Frisk nodded haltingly. The doctor wheeled her chair to look at their side. “You can just lift your shirt so I can see, like we did last time.”

Frisk hesitated for just a moment before pulling their coat back and lifting the left side of their shirt. The doctor shone her flashlight on the area. “Thank you,” She said quietly and backed away. Frisk exhaled and lowered their shirt. 

“Alright. How is your throat feeling? I remember you were having a difficult time speaking, and you didn’t seem too pleased with that,” Doctor Sommer said with a smile. 

For the first time since they arrived, Frisk’s smile finally looked genuine. “Feels fine now!” They said, their voice regaining a bit of its usual brightness. “It sucked, I had so many jokes I wanted to tell, but if you need to write them down, the moment’s gone!” They sighed dramatically. “But nothing’s stopping me now.”

“I can confirm that!” Papyrus shoulders relaxed a bit. “I have been the recipient of two pranks involving dogs this week alone!”

“Yeah,” Frisk said wistfully. “They were great.”

Sans wiped an imaginary tear from his socket. “They grow up so fast.”

The doctor chuckled and made another note. “Well, that is certainly the best kind of news. Pranks are good for the soul.”

“See? I like this doctor. She’s pretty humerus ,” Sans grinned.

Papyrus just groaned. 

Frisk giggled, emerging slightly from their scarf. 

“Okay, we just have two more things to check today,” the doctor said. “Your throat was looking okay when you left, but there was still some significant bruising, so I would like to see it. And I need to check your cheekbone fracture, as well; in this case, I would like to lightly touch the injured area. Which would you prefer I do first?”

Frisk lowered back down into the scarf. They reached up and wrapped their hands in the ends of the scarf. 

“How about we start with your cheek? Does that sound alright to you?” Doctor Sommer asked quietly. 

Frisk nodded. 

“Okay. I am going to reach up and touch your cheek now, and please let me know how it feels.”

Another nod. 

The doctor slowly reached up. Sans could see Frisk tense slightly. Beside him, Papyrus twisted his hands in the fabric of his pants. 

After a moment, though, the doctor had lightly pressed their cheek, asked for feedback, and it was done. Just slightly sore, and healing quickly. Frisk and Papyrus both relaxed slightly. 

Next, she had Frisk open their mouth so she could see the back of their throat, and when she had finished inspecting took another note.

“And now, the last area to review,” She said. “Would you be able to remove your scarf so I can check on the bruising around your neck?”

Frisk nodded quickly, their jaw set in a determined expression. They started unwinding it. Everything seemed to be okay. 

But then they froze, their scarf still halfway wrapped around them, and they started shaking. 

Doctor Sommer noticed it immediately. “Can you put your scarf back on?” she prompted. Frisk’s eyes looked a bit distant, but after a moment, they did as they were asked. The shaking stopped instantly. 

“I’m - sorry,” they said, their voice wavering. Tears sprung to their eyes as they twisted their hands in the scarf’s fabric again. “I’m sorry, I can do it! I’m sorry, I'm being stupid and making a big deal out of nothing-”

Sans moved to get up out of his chair, but the doctor held up a hand to him. He stayed still and watched. 

“Frisk, you are doing so well,” She said, her voice almost musical in tone. “You do not need to apologize, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong. Nobody is mad at you.”

“I’m sorry, I should - be able to - I -”

“Shhh, no ‘shoulds’ here.” The doctor soothed. “You are healing, and it looks like that scarf is keeping you safe, isn’t it?”

Frisk hunched into it further and nodded. “P-Papyrus let me use it.”

“He is very kind, isn’t he?” She said, smiling even though Frisk’s eyes were closed. 

Frisk nodded quickly. “He’s - he’s the coolest.”

“I would bet that he thinks you’re the coolest too,” she said. Frisk giggled. 

“The good doctor is correct! You are! The very coolest!” Papyrus said. His voice wavered only slightly; Sans was pretty sure he was the only one who would have been able to hear the restrained anxiety in it. 

Frisk opened their eyes again, then blushed and buried their face further in their scarf.

“Ohp, the Frisk went back in their burrow. Six more weeks of winter,” Sans declared. “That’s how the human tradition goes, right?”

The doctor laughed and Frisk popped their head out of their scarf. “I’m not a groundhog! And that’s not even how it goes!”

“Ahh, the mysterious customs of the surface world,” Sans mused. 

Frisk turned back to fiddling with the ends of their scarf, but they were smiling this time, and their tears had dried. 

“Um, c-can I just… lower the scarf? So you can look?” They asked hesitantly. 

“That sounds perfect,” Doctor Sommer beamed. 

“Once again proving their incredible ingenuity!” Papyrus said proudly. “They are truly a marvel!”

Frisk squirmed a bit on their seat and blushed, but didn't object to the praise.

Focusing back on the doctor, Frisk raised their hand to the fabric closest to their throat. Their hand trembled slightly. They turned to Papyrus and Sans. “C-can you come closer?”

Sans’s breath hitched. Papyrus moved over to stand next to them. Sans stood on their other side. 

“N-nothing bad - will happen,” they said.

Papyrus offered them his hand. “Nothing at all! We will be here to make sure of that!” They took his hand gratefully. 

“You got this, pal. We’re right here with you,” Sans reassured.

They turned back towards the doctor, took a deep, steadying breath, then reached up with their free hand and lowered the scarf slightly. They took another breath, then lowered it enough for the doctor to see their neck. 

After a few moments and looking at a couple different angles, Doctor Sommer said a quick “Thank you” and gave another kind smile. Frisk raised their scarf again, then nearly collapsed with the tension leaving their body. Instead, they slumped against Papyrus. They reached out their other hand for Sans. He took their hand immediately. 

His Soul ached. 

This kid was his ward, and he hadn’t been the most present guardian, to say the least. But seeing them lean on Papyrus and feeling their small, tough hand in his own, he wanted nothing more than to take care of Frisk. He wanted to keep them safe, watch them grow up into the kind of person they wanted to be; to help them heal. 

As long as they wanted him, he would be there. 

Frisk bundled themself deep in their coat, sitting in the back seat of Papyrus’s car. Thankfully, it did, in fact, have a retractable roof, so they put that up for the drive. The car felt safe and warm. 

“You are sure that you would still like to go out this afternoon?” Papyrus asked, looking at them in his mirror. “You have had a big day already. I am happy that the doctor confirmed you are recovering very well, and I have noticed your energy levels have continued to improve. But we only want to go out if it is what you would like to do!”

Frisk blinked sleepily at him, but they smiled. “Yeah. I wanna go.”

“Alright, pal,” Sans said. He turned to look at them from the corner of his socket. “You let us know if you change your mind, okay? We can turn back any time.”

“Thank you,” They said. 

Their voice was still a little bit quiet. This morning had been a lot, and not just because of the doctor. 

Frisk had snapped awake at 2am to the sound of Papyrus’s footsteps. They sat up, still half-asleep and trying to get their bearings. Footsteps, nighttime. Papyrus (they had long since memorized all of their guardians’ footsteps). They owed Papyrus. They didn’t want to be asleep for this, that was too scary…

*You know that Sans and Papyrus won’t do that to you.

Frisk hadn’t noticed their breath had picked up. They grasped at the fabric of their shirt by their chest. 

…They didn’t know that. The brothers had just been really nice, waiting for them to feel better. Or they wanted to wait for some other reason. Sooner or later, Frisk had to pay their debts. 

Right?

*You can tell them your fears. You know they would be okay with you asking. 

But could Frisk even trust if they said they wouldn’t do anything? What if they just wanted Frisk to let their guard down?

*You believe they would not lie to you. 

Frisk wanted to believe that. 

They rested their back against the couch and drew their knees up. 

Wait, wasn’t Papyrus coming to see them?

*You heard him go into Sans’s room. 

Um, okay. They were pretty sure they hadn’t. What the heck was up with this voice anyway? They hadn’t questioned it much in the underground since everything was weird, but now it was back again…

Huh. Now their mind was quiet. 

Either way, Papyrus wasn’t out here. It seemed like maybe he hadn’t woken up to come see them? 

Frisk wanted to stay awake and alert, but they were so tired. 

They remembered that when they fell asleep on the couch, they had been safe. 

Maybe…maybe they would still be safe?

Sans and Papyrus won’t do that to you.

They didn’t know why. Frisk took so much, had meltdowns in front of them, inconvenienced them all the time. Sans and Papyrus had come to rescue Frisk when they didn’t have to, stayed by their side through their healing, kept them safe when they were scared. 

After all that, surely, they would need to repay them, right? 

Frisk reached over for their bag, rustling through its contents. They pushed aside the pretty journal that Sans had bought them at the hospital, and pulled out their old, plain notebook. They flipped to Sans and Papyrus’s page. 

-1700. -1850. 

Frisk didn’t think all kids had to do what Dad asked of them. Dad had always just said they were so difficult to care for. They needed so much all the time. This was a way they could do something nice for Dad, make it worth his troubles to take care of them. Frisk was the reason this happened, not Dad. 

But in the last two years, their guardians hadn’t behaved like Dad did. They didn’t look at Frisk in ways that made them uncomfortable, or insist on coming into Frisk’s apartment, where they would be trapped and vulnerable. Frisk had always been so careful making sure not to accrue debt with any of them, but none of them had actually made an indication of interest in that.

They thought maybe it was because they lived in their own apartment. If they had to be with Frisk for an extended period of time, then it would happen. And then this whole disaster crashed into their life, and they owed Sans and Papyrus so much, and they were staying in their apartment, and-

Still, nothing had happened. 

But they needed to repay Sans and Papyrus. It made their skin crawl to think of just taking and taking and not doing anything to settle the score.

Frisk caught themself as their head lolled to the side. Agh, they were falling asleep sitting up. They wouldn’t be awake if Papyrus decided to…

Sans and Papyrus won’t do that to you.

…Frisk was really tired. 

They closed their notebook, slipped it into their bag, and laid back down. The fairy lights twinkled overhead. They were warm, and they…felt safe. 

Frisk fell back asleep within minutes. 

Back in the present moment, Frisk was trying not to doze off in the car. They wanted to help direct Papyrus to the exact spot, and they should be near there in about 20 minutes. They busied themself with watching the passing scenery. 

Ebott was a very green place, forested by coniferous trees that retained their vibrancy year round. The roads were clear but there was snow on the ground - about six inches, likely to be deeper near their destination. They had all packed winter gear, though, and would do just fine in the snow. The skeletons were especially well-equipped with their general temperature resistance and their experience living in Snowdin. It had taken a lot of convincing on Papyrus’s part to tell Sans that no, he should not just wear his slippers out there, put on boots already. 

Frisk smiled to themself. They were excited to share this place with their new guardians. It had always been a favourite place, and…it was hard, only having memories there with Dad. Maybe in the summer the whole group of their monster friends could come visit, but it was also nice in the winter. 

Frisk was looking forward to this. 

Sans and Papyrus seemed to know that the doctor appointment might be difficult for Frisk. They had insisted on doing an activity of Frisk’s choice this afternoon. After a lot of thought, they decided on visiting their favourite lake. 

There were baskets in the trunk to do some foraging, and Papyrus had even packed sleds to use on a hill in the area. It seemed like a good fit for an activity. Although Papyrus had seemed kind of tired this week, they had noticed him gazing longingly out the window a few times. And Sans didn't seem as tired as he used to be. So, Frisk thought this activity wouldn’t burden their guardians - maybe they would even enjoy it! Frisk could do something they wanted, and still be good for Sans and Papyrus!

Dad always liked the lake, too. It was too bad Frisk always made the outings so much work. 

They shook their head and set their shoulders. They were older now, and they were determined that they wouldn’t make today difficult for their guardians.  

Papyrus took the exit for the lake. They were getting close. Frisk leaned forward, looking at the street signs. Beside them, Papyrus gave them a smile. 

Frisk directed them towards the lake. There were several entrances to the area, and they wanted to go to their favourite spot. 

Eventually, they reached a narrow gravel road towards the parking lot. Frisk winced. 

“I’m really sorry, I forgot about this road. I don’t want your car to get any scratches.”

“That is no concern, friend!” Papyrus beamed. “Nothing that the Great Papyrus couldn’t fix! And this adventure is worth it!”

Frisk’s chastised themself internally. They had promised not to cause extra work. They hadn’t even arrived yet, but they might have made a mess of Papyrus’s car. They were naive to think that it could be different this time. They always caused Dad problems when they came here. They ruined it for him. Of course it would be the same with their guardians now. They were so naive, so stupid, so selfish-

“Hey pal, we’re here.”

Frisk startled. The car had parked. Oh no, Sans and Papyrus were both looking at them. They had made a scene, made things weird. They took a deep breath and smiled. 

“Thanks so much for driving, Papyrus!” They said. “I think you’ll like it a lot here.”

They climbed out of the back seat. Papyrus popped the trunk. Frisk quickly gathered the baskets and sleds, holding all the sleds under one arm, and hooking the three baskets on the other. 

“Um, ya need a hand, there?” Sans asked, sauntering over casually. 

Frisk shook their head. “Nope! I’ve got them, see?”

As if on cue, one of the sleds slipped out of their grip. They scrambled to catch it. 

Sans easily intercepted with his magic. He pulled it towards himself, then rested it on his skull. “Cool hat,” He said, shooting finger guns at Frisk. Frisk stilled, then let out a light chuckle. 

“Frisk! May I also borrow a hat?” Papyrus held out a gloved hand. 

Frisk blinked. “O-okay,” They said, laughing nervously, then handed one over. Papyrus balanced it on his skull effortlessly. 

“You see, Sans, you will not be able to best me when it comes to impeccable posture!” He declared proudly. 

“Hey buddy, can I have a basket?” Sans asked, his grin widening. Frisk held out their arm, and Sans pulled one of the baskets off with his magic. He plopped it on top of the sled. 

“Gasp!” Papyrus said. “Frisk! May I have two baskets!”

Frisk held out the remaining two baskets. He used his magic to toss them over the sled on his own head, stacking them on top. 

“Dang,” Sans said. “You’re way too cool.”

“Nyeh heh heh!” Papyrus said, hands on his hips. “You cannot spell Perfect Posture without several letters from my name!”

Frisk laughed, then looked back down at their load. They had been left to carry only a single sled. 

Sans and Papyrus had started walking, balancing their stacked items effortlessly. It…seemed like it was okay for Frisk not to carry everything? They seemed to be enjoying themselves, chatting and laughing as they walked.

Oh, but they were walking the wrong way. 

“Sans! Papyrus!” They waved at their friends. “This way!”

“AH! Where would we be without our stalwart tour guide!” Papyrus beamed at them and marched back. “You truly are the best of the best!”

Frisk blushed. Sans and Papyrus said so many kind things, said them so easily, as if Frisk deserved them. Nobody seemed mad at them for not carrying everything. Papyrus wasn’t even acting upset that his car was dirty or damaged. Instead, they were being praised.

The skeleton brothers were weird. But Frisk was starting to think that was a good thing. 

“Here!”

Frisk led the way out of the trail and into a clearing. Papyrus and Sans followed close behind. 

“Wowie!” Papyrus said, his voice delighted. “You certainly do know the best spots!”

“No kidding. Good one, bud,” Sans agreed. 

That familiar warmth bloomed in Frisk’s chest at the praise. In this case, they definitely agreed. 

Sprawling out before them was a beautiful, expansive clearing. There were trails and some low hills, and in the center of it all was a small lake. Frisk had looked it up once and recalled that a walk around the entire lake was about 1.5 miles. Despite the cold weather, only a few small patches of ice floated along the surface. 

Bushes framed much of the lake, but there were a couple of rocky beaches with docks out into the water. In the summer, there were usually some people swimming here. It wasn’t the most popular lake in the area though, so it was often relatively quiet, which Frisk liked. 

Conifer trees framed the entire clearing, making the space feel like its own self-contained world. On the far side of the lake, there were a few small, familiar cabins. 

Frisk took a deep breath. It was good to be back. 

“So, pal, what do you wanna do first?” 

Frisk looked out at the scene before them. They were, incidentally, at the top of one of the hills that was far away from the lake, so there was no risk of sledding straight into the water. They kicked the snow. It was fairly deep, but it was powdery. They should be able to get a good ride out of this. 

They swung their sled onto the ground. “Race you to the bottom!”

Frisk took a couple of running steps and leapt onto the sled. It zipped down the hill effortlessly, spraying powder snow behind them. They heard Papyrus squawk and before they knew it, he was zipping up to their left side. But Frisk had just enough speed to reach the flat ground at the bottom before him. 

They jammed a heel into the ground to make a sharp turn, intentionally launching themself off their sled and into the fluffy snow. 

They spread their arms out and looked up at the grey sky, laughing breathlessly. Then, Papyrus’s skull appeared in their field of vision. 

“Wonderful! I am glad that you are making happy sounds. This is good!” Papyrus flopped into the snow beside them, spraying snow into the air and onto them. Frisk giggled and pushed a pile of snow back at him. 

“NYEH! A counterattack!” He sat back up and shoved snow onto Frisk’s legs, which were thankfully covered in snow pants and warm boots. Frisk scampered onto their feet. They were currently under an oak tree, and if they pulled that branch riiiiight over there…

Frisk leapt and pulled the branch. 

Snow cascaded onto them and Papyrus. 

“Gasp!” Papyrus sputtered, wiping snow off of his skull. “Even risking friendly fire! A most aggressive snow-battle tactic! SANS! Come help me defeat -”

Papyrus whipped his skull towards the hill and his eyes boggled. Frisk looked in the same direction. 

Sans was, apparently, napping on his sled. Somehow, it was slowly sliding… up the hill?

“SANS! Stop breaking the laws of physics! When we said we would sled on the hill, we distinctly meant down the hill!”

“Nah nah, I’ll slide down.” He yawned, waved a mittened hand dismissively. “I just don’t wanna walk back up. And now I get two sled rides for the price of one. I love a good deal.”

“Sans, that does not even - WHATEVER.” He grinned down at Frisk. “I do believe I must concede this snow battle. Let us return to the top of the hill! In a normal way!”

Sans snored as his sled continued slowly creeping back up the hill.

Frisk laughed and ran back up to the top, their breath coming out in cloudy bursts. Papyrus stayed by their side and kept pace with them, even though Frisk knew he could go much faster. It seemed like Papyrus maybe liked being by their side. The warm thought made them smile.

After a while, they stowed their sleds along the path and picked up their baskets.

“So, pal, you said you have some foraging know-how, huh?” Sans asked, tilting his skull as he studied a bush with bright red berries.

“Yep!” They said cheerfully. They pulled several berries and tossed them into the bottom of their woven wood basket. They landed with a pattering sound, something like rainfall. “These are rowan berries. DON'T-” Sans paused mid-motion of bringing a berry to his mouth, “-eat them raw. They're poison raw. These are for jams and jellies.”

Sans shrugged and tossed the berry into his basket. “Surface food is weird. Wonder if this stuff would even poison a monster, or if that's just a human thing.”

Frisk narrowed their eyes. “Apparently, buttercups did a number on Asgore, so I'm not risking it.”

“A wise decision!” Papyrus agreed. He towered over Frisk and Sans and pulled dozens of berries off a higher part of the bush.

After they had a few cups of berries, Frisk continued walking. 

They hadn't been foraging in a long time, and they were happy that their skills were still sharp. They didn't have particular confidence in many of their skills, but they were good at this.

“Ooooh!!! Over here, oyster mushrooms!!” They scrambled across the trail and up to a fallen log. Several white oyster mushrooms emerged from the bark. 

“I wasn't sure if we'd find these here,” they said. “Oyster mushrooms sometimes don't like super cold weather. But these ones managed okay!”

Papyrus crouched down beside them. They glanced over, and he was searching up information on oyster mushrooms. They smiled. He was always an eager learner. 

They dropped the mushrooms in their basket. Sans moseyed up and looked in the basket. His smile widened a bit, and he looked up to catch Frisk's eye. They straightened at sudden eye contact, but settled down at the soft look on Sans's face. 

“A real cool skill you got here, kiddo,” he said and started walking down the path further. He tilted his head for them to walk with him. “Where'd you learn?”

A strange feeling tightened Frisk's chest. “Oh, I-” they stopped. “Cedar tree!! We can use the needles for tea!” 

“I love tea!” Papyrus called from around the corner, and after a few muffled snowy footsteps, was back with Sans and Frisk. They gathered some needles in the basket.

They finished and continued walking. 

“My - Dad taught me a bit,” Frisk said. Why did it feel so hard to even talk about him? “But I researched a ton. Lots of books from the library and some websites on local foraging for the different seasons.”

Papyrus swung his basket as he walked. “It is a wonderful skill to have! And very good if one ever ended up in a survival situation! Why, when I was training for…”

Papyrus continued talking, but the sound gradually faded away. Frisk kept walking, keeping their field of vision wide. Their head felt a little fuzzy.

They needed to find as much food as possible. Tea was great, but it didn't keep them full. And one couldn't really make jams on the run. More mushrooms would be good. There should be Lion’s mane. It was too bad it was too late for puffball mushrooms. The lake wasn’t frozen over, so they could try fishing later. They maybe had two more hours before it got dark and they needed to find shelter for the -

“Buddy?” 

Frisk startled and spun around. Sans and Papyrus were looking at them, and they didn't look happy. 

Shit. Frisk had messed it up. They knew they were going to mess it up. They were at - the lake? They used to visit the lake with Dad. Dad wasn't here, though. They ran away. That's why they had no food, that’s why they needed to find enough before it got dark… they were going to disappoint Sans and Papyrus. 

Why were they here again?

“Frisk, would you like to hold my hand?” Papyrus was kneeling in front of them. Oh no, he was going to get cold. No wait - skeleton monsters were okay with cold. That's why they chose this outing. 

Oh, right. They had chosen this outing after their doctor appointment. Sans and Papyrus were here.

Frisk reached out and took his hand. 

“There you are,” Papyrus said. His voice was gentle. “Do you want to share what you are thinking about?”

Frisk stood at Papyrus's side, left hand clasped in his right, and gazed down the trail ahead. 

They had caused Dad so much trouble…

“I wanna show you the cabins on the other side of the lake.” They tugged lightly at Papyrus's hand.

“You sure, pal?” Sans asked, walking up on their other side. “We can head back. It's pretty cold.”

No, they wanted to go see the cabin. Dad always liked the cabin, and things were good most of the time. Frisk ended up ruining it eventually, but when they were really little, it was nice. Frisk remembered that. Frisk wanted to show their friends the nice things they got to enjoy.

Suddenly, they realized they were breathing heavily. Oh, they had started running. Hadn't noticed. Papyrus was still holding their hand. It was nice. 

Soon, they emerged from the trail. 

They were near the rocky beach on the south side of the lake. Three small cabins stood in a row. It was all so familiar. 

Frisk took a deep breath. They realized they were still holding Papyrus's hand; they let him go, then turned to their friends. 

“I used to stay here for a while every summer. It felt like a second home. I made nice memories here,” they said with a smile. They turned back to the cabins. Something looked different…

Frisk wandered towards the middle cabin. This was the cabin they always rented. The windows were boarded up on it. Frisk looked around. All of the cabins were boarded up. 

“Huh,” they said. “Guess the cabins aren't used anymore?”

Sans walked towards the middle cabin and tugged on the door. It swung open easily. 

“Yep, looks like they must've closed up shop. They seem pretty unused now,” he mumbled. “Sorry about that, pal.”

“Oh! It's okay,” Frisk said. “I didn't want to stay here. I just wanted to show you.”

Papyrus looked out over the lake.

“Well! I can see why you enjoy it. What a beautiful beach!”

Frisk felt their muscles relax.

“Yeah. It was really nice,” Frisk smiled. “It was a lot of fun. I even made some friends when we stayed here.”

Sans walked up to them, hands in his pockets. 

The lake water rippled with the breeze. Some brave non-migratory birds flew overhead, dotting the skyline above the trees. A few small snowflakes had started falling.

It felt good, sharing this with their new guardians. They wanted to be able to love it here again.

“We usually came here in the summertime,” Frisk said. “The last summer when I visited, another family was staying in that cabin.” They pointed at the leftmost cabin. “They had a kid named Fariha, and she was really cool. We swam a lot, and she had a remote control boat toy. It was a lot of fun.”

“That does sound like a lot of fun,” Sans smiled.

“Yeah. We came here every year, as long as I can remember, right up until…”

Their voice drifted off.

“A-anyway, the last time I was here, it was fall. And I knew a lot about foraging then, so we found a ton of stuff, since foraging is good in the fall…”

Right, Frisk remembered that trip. Nobody else was staying at the cabins, which was too bad. Frisk liked meeting people. They wished Fariha’s family was there.

Frisk swam a lot that weekend, and Dad watched. They had a nice time. Dad caught some fish. Frisk helped clean them for dinner and they cooked them with mushrooms that Frisk had found. They liked being helpful. They were being good .

Frisk…didn't remember what they did wrong that trip. 

They had been keeping track of their balance with dad, and they weren’t in debt. They had just paid up a couple days ago, and since Dad seemed to be…needing stuff more often, they decided to work harder than ever to keep their balance high so they didn't slip into the negatives right away. They had been working so hard! They tried their best! But…they must have done something really wrong, right? That's the only way it would make sense.

They turned to look at the cabin behind them, its door now swinging lazily on its hinges.

The cabins were pretty bare, so they always brought their own bedding. The mattress they brought on that trip wasn't very thick, but Frisk tried not to complain too much when Dad threw them down onto it. The wooden boards creaked really loud as Dad climbed on top of them, and suddenly Frisk was so relieved that nobody else was here this time. They didn't want anyone to know that they must have messed up really bad this time. Otherwise, why was Dad hurting them so much worse than usual? They were so embarrassed at how horrible they were. 

And because they were so fucking annoying, they broke their own fundamental rule and asked Dad what they did wrong , they couldn’t figure it out, so he grabbed their jaw and held them still as he reminded them how stupid they were and their skin bruised and their body hurt and they wanted to scream for help but they knew nobody would come to save them nobody should come to save them they only got what they deserved they were horrible horrible horrible -

“Frisk! Sans, should we shortcut away from here?

“Kid, you -” 

Frisk stumbled backwards, away from the sounds. Every nerve in their body screamed with the instinct to run. They had already run away twice before. They knew how to take care of themself.

The first attempt was a failed escape, when they were eight years old. Their body felt so horrible and gross and they thought anywhere in the world would be better than home. They had been dragged back inside by their hair after that.

The second time, they were ten years old, and they were much more successful. 

Frisk had been planning for a while. They had a backpack full of supplies that they had stolen from around the house or swiped from corner stores. They had a book on foraging from the library, and several printed pages of further information. They had no phone.

They were scared to run away. They didn't really want to. But after that last trip to the cabin, Frisk had made up their mind. 

A few days later - still bruised and aching - they snuck out of their little house in the suburbs, soundless, and they ran . 

But this time, Frisk stumbled and landed in the snow on their backside. Something that was hooked around their arm tilted and slid off. They shied away from the movement.

Frisk wanted to run away again. But last time they did it, Dad went to jail. That was a bad thing, right? And now…where was he? They had seen him. He hurt them. Papyrus and Sans saved them. They owed them so much. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible.

Frisk didn't know what to do anymore. So they just drew their knees up, rested their forehead on them, and wrapped their arms around their legs.

This was nice. With their hood up, Frisk was completely contained. They wished they were truly safe like this. Once again, Frisk wished they'd been born as an armadillo. 

They stayed sitting for a while, listening to the wind, their own breathing, and the muted discussion around them. 

The voices were familiar. The snow was cold around their body. Once, when they were seven, they came here in the winter with Dad. They went sledding here together. When they were living alone in the forests around Ebott, they would sometimes sneak onto the buses that brought them close to this park. They didn't risk staying here, but sometimes they just needed a moment of familiarity.

But they weren't seven anymore. They weren't living on the run, either. The voices…they belonged to their friends. To Sans and Papyrus, not their dad. Sans and Papyrus took care of them. They were kind to them. They didn't feel the same scorn in their gaze as they did with Dad. 

Their fingers were cold, in spite of their gloves. Even so, they were starting to feel more present in their body.

…Oh, no. 

Sans and Papyrus were here. Their stomach churned. Yet another meltdown in front of their guardians. How many points… Horrible, horrible, horrible… Frisk chanced looking up, and their eyes widened. 

The brothers were both kneeling in front of them, just like they had that morning in the living room, waiting patiently for Frisk to come back to them.

“Hello, friend!” Papyrus said, his voice wavering slightly.

“We're right here with you, bud,” Sans said.

Frisk kept breathing. A few snowflakes had started falling. 

Everything was so quiet. 

Nobody was telling them how stupid they were. Nobody was telling them what to do to make up for their horrible mistakes.

It was just…quiet. And it was also very cold. Frisk wanted to stand up, but they weren't sure if they had the strength left in their legs.

As they gradually reconnected with their body, they just felt weak. Weak and tired. Their heart was aching and they didn't know why. 

But they did know that they wanted help. Frisk wanted their friends’ kind hands holding their own. They were annoying and stupid and horrible, but Frisk wanted to be cared for. How very selfish of them.

They slowly reached forward with shaking hands.

“U-um… can I g-get help up?”

A pitiful voice and an annoying request. Despite their exhaustion, Frisk's heart raced. 

But once again, their friends responded kindly.

Sans and Papyrus took their hands and eased them up to their feet. Frisk's legs were even weaker than they thought, and they stumbled forward slightly. Papyrus applied a little gravity magic to stand them up again, then released when they were steady. 

They looked down and noticed their overturned basket. They tried to reach for the spilled contents, but the scattered fruits and mushrooms were quickly surrounded in blue light. Sans gathered everything into the basket and balanced it on his head. 

“All part of a balanced diet,” he winked. Frisk giggled.

Sans and Papyrus always helped them.

Frisk was tired.

“...Can we go home?” They mumbled. Suddenly they were having a hard time keeping their eyes open.

Papyrus’s voice was achingly soft. “Of course, Frisk. Let us get you home.”

Sans squeezed their hand a little, and then there was a flash - Sans's shortcut. Papyrus pulled away. There was a clattering sound, and then he was back. There was another flash, and before Frisk knew it they were bundled up in the back seat of the car with the seat warmer on and their friends speaking to each other softly in the front seats.

Frisk felt comfortable. It was a strange feeling that Frisk was starting to settle into. They closed their eyes and nestled into their scarf and hood, and as the car rumbled along the gravel road away from the lake, comfort melted away the worst of the self-deprecating thoughts until the sharp edges were dulled. Their body relaxed, and they trusted that they were safe.

Chapter Text

Papyrus opened the door to their apartment. Frisk walked through the door, rubbing their eyes - they had just woken up from their nap in the car. Sans walked in behind them, staying close enough that Frisk could ask for a hand if needed.

Papyrus closed and locked the door behind them, set their baskets on the kitchen counter, and shed his snow clothes. Sans and Frisk also had just taken off their boots, and Frisk was making a beeline straight for the couch. They were still wearing their scarf, even though the ends hadn't quite dried from the snow. They settled into the corner nearest to the kitchen and burritoed in a light blanket. Papyrus's Soul warmed. Frisk was acting so much more comfortable in the house; still polite, but more confident and settled. One day, they might even leave a mess somewhere! Although he used to needle Sans about his messiness, it would be great progress for Frisk to be a bit more sloppy!

They yawned as they settled deeper into the blanket. They were certainly growing up, but bundled up like that and their guard lowered, they actually looked like the child that they were.

Papyrus hadn't really realized just how guarded Frisk was until recently. They were so friendly and bubbly! And sure, the way they never got too close to anyone may have concerned him a bit, but he was not the most educated in the way human children interacted with caretakers. They were happy and healthy! The distance they kept was probably normal!

It wasn't until a couple days ago that he saw their guard drop a bit. They reached out and touched his arm. They fell asleep with him and Sans in the room. Today, they asked for help getting up, reaching out with hands trembling - but reaching out all the same.

He had determined that their fierce independence wasn't normal. It was a necessary safety measure that they had in place for themself against their father - and against the monsters, too. 

Papyrus remembered their battle well. Frisk had been extremely agile, barely getting hit at all, even making playful remarks whenever there was a break in the action. Papyrus enjoyed their match! 

When Frisk's arm broke, they screamed. But when he looked at them again, they were still smiling. They healed it and jumped back into action. He shoved any worry down and continued the match.

But as Frisk continued to call and chat with him through the Underground, he started to conclude that the monsters’ treatment of Frisk was unjust. Their playful battle became a heavy memory in his mind, which he preferred to avoid.

After a year on the surface, Asgore had brought everyone together to discuss their treatment of the child, their need to apologize for the harm, and the importance of ensuring they knew that they had freedom to be placed wherever they felt safest. Frisk brushed off the apologies, and Papyrus wondered whether they believed the monsters would keep their promises.

Just over the past two days, Frisk had started looking…younger. It was strange. It must have been in the way they carried themself, in the softening expressions on their face. He wondered if they were starting to believe they were safe. 

But Frisk’s father thought Papyrus wanted to -

No. No, Papyrus and Sans both ensured Frisk’s boundaries were respected. The kinds of harms that man did were a conscious choice. Papyrus did not want any part of that. 

The harm he had done in their battle was already among his greatest regrets.

Frisk stirred, then leaned over and unzipped their backpack, which they had flung on the floor beside them. They pulled out their cell phone. 

In the kitchen, Sans put a kettle on the stove, then started taking out fixings for hot chocolate. 

“Ah! A wonderful idea!!” Papyrus said, walking over to join Sans. “Frisk! Would you also like hot chocolate?” 

Frisk looked up from their phone, their eyes sparkling, and nodded eagerly. “I can help,” they said, unwrapping their blanket.

“Nah, you stay cozy, bud. Making this is a piece of cake,” Sans said, smiling over his shoulder. “Well. Not really cake. I’m makin’ hot chocolate.”

Papyrus watched as Frisk stilled. Eventually, though, they quietly said, “Okay, thank you,” and their body language relaxed again. They settled back down to continue tapping away at their phone. 

Yet another victory!! Papyrus hadn't realized until recently how overly helpful Frisk was. He had always thought it was a good quality!! But he was starting to realize that ‘too much of a good thing’ was possible.

Papyrus checked his phone. He had barely looked at it all day, and sure enough, he had news from Undyne. 

Undyne
-Hey, FYI. Got news that if we don’t accept the plea deal, Frisk’s dad wants a bench trial, so it’d be private. So that’s good, at least. 

Sans gave Papyrus a sidelong glance as they worked in the kitchen together, and Papyrus felt the heaviness of the task at hand again. They had to talk to Frisk soon. It had already been a big day, but they couldn’t delay on letting Frisk know their options. 

“Order up,” Sans said as he turned to pour hot chocolate into the waiting mugs. Frisk, still burritoed, shuffled to the kitchen table, sat down, and accepted their mug eagerly. Sans and Papyrus sat down after them. 

Frisk bobbed back and forth slightly after their first sip, a sure sign of their contentment. Papyrus felt that familiar, almost painful ache in his chest at the sight of the child’s happiness. He would do anything to nurture that happiness. 

Suddenly, Frisk set down their mug. They pulled out their phone, clicked the screen a few times, and faced it towards the brothers. 

“Like my profile pic?” They said with a grin. 

Frisk had booted up the Undernet app. Their usual profile picture of a rather nondescript sunset photo had been replaced with the selfie they had taken together earlier in the day. Sans and Papyrus lay in the snow on either side of Frisk, who was laughing. The photo was slightly blurry, and Sans was either blinking or sleeping. Frisk’s face was flushed pink with the cold, and Papyrus had just managed to squish into frame enough before Frisk snapped the selfie.

“It is absolutely perfect,” Papyrus said truthfully. 

“I love it, bud,” Sans agreed, his expression soft. 

Frisk swayed happily a little more with the praise, then clicked their phone screen off and continued on their hot chocolate. 

“Hey, Frisk,” Sans said, slight hesitation in his voice. “Thanks for taking us to the lake today. It was nice to see a place that you’ve spent a lot of time at.”

Ah! Okay. An on-ramp to discussion! Papyrus’s Soul raced. Frisk was feeling safer, and he just hoped they could keep them safe through this discussion. 

Frisk nodded. Their smile became a bit smaller, and their shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry I made it weird. I thought I’d be okay.”

“No, friend, it is okay!” Papyrus assured. “How are you feeling now?”

Frisk fidgeted slightly in their seat. “I’m - okay,” they said quietly. “I was wondering if…I could tell you some things? About before?”

Sans straightened up slightly. Papyrus met his gaze. Frisk had never offered anything close to this. 

“Of course!” Papyrus said. “Whatever you would like to discuss! We are here to listen!”

Frisk hunched in a little further, making themself smaller. They glanced up at Papyrus, then Sans, then took another sip of cocoa.

“Um…I ran away. From my dad,” they said. “It was when I was ten. I kinda…lived on the edges of Ebott for a while. You had asked about how I learned about foraging, and…well, that’s why I needed to know about foraging. Oh, picking locks and stealing, too. I’m good at that.” They gave a wry grin.

Frisk took a deep breath. “I ended up going further and further up the mountain to stay out of sight. I didn’t wanna get caught and go back, but I didn’t wanna get Dad in trouble. So I thought I would just disappear.” They gave a sad laugh. “But it turns out he got arrested anyway. I was stupid.”

Frisk had wanted to protect that man…Papyrus wondered if that sentiment had changed. 

“I did okay. I lived outside or in abandoned shelters for a bit over a year,” they said. Papyrus tried to contain his surprise. A year? Humans were not meant to live in solitude, much less without their basic needs met. And they were only ten at the time?

Frisk continued. “But when the second winter was on its way, I was getting really tired. I didn’t really know why I was trying to even survive. So I started climbing up Mount Ebott further, and when I found the entrance to the Underground…” they drifted off. “Well, I sure didn’t avoid it.”

For the first time in the conversation, Frisk looked back up at them. They gave a little smile. “And that’s when I met you all. And it got better.”

“A year’s an awful long time,” Sans said, echoing Papyrus’s thoughts. “That must have been real tough. I’m sorry your home was so unsafe that you needed to escape it like that.”

Frisk looked away. Their face was turning a bit red. They opened their mouth to say something, closed it again, then looked up at the brothers and down again. Finally, they spoke. 

“U-um. I ran away after my last visit to the lake with Dad,” they mumbled. “Dad…needed some stuff from me. Some - um - like, sex stuff. But sometimes it hurt, and it always made me feel horrible. He used to need it pretty often, so I kinda got used to it, but that last time at the lake, it - hurt. A lot more than usual. And I didn’t wanna do it anymore.  So I left.”

Frisk looked up at Papyrus again, then at Sans, as if to gauge their reaction. “Does that make sense?”

Papyrus exhaled, grief weighing on his Soul. “It does, Frisk. I am so sorry that happened to you.”

Frisk blinked. “You don’t seem surprised.”

Sans nodded and rested his elbows on the table. “We got some info that your dad had sexually assaulted you in the past.”

Frisk’s face turned redder. “How did you find out?”

Papyrus winced. “...Your father told me. After Sans took you away.”

Frisk froze for a moment. Just as Papyrus was going to say something, they blinked rapidly a few times and started moving again. They picked at their fingernails. “Who all knows?”

“Just us and Undyne,” Papyrus responded. “Though, we did want to ask your opinion on some things.”

“Yeah?” Frisk cocked their head, not making eye contact.  

“It’s about your Dad, and legal stuff,” Sans said, his voice soft. “Do you feel like you can talk about that right now?”

Frisk leaned forward and set their hands on the table. “What’s happening with Dad?”

“He is being held in jail, don’t worry,” Papyrus assured. “But we need to make some decisions about next steps in the legal proceedings.”

Frisk’s eyes widened. “Is Dad in trouble?”

Papyrus tried to control the surprise on his face, but doubted he succeeded. “He - yes, Frisk, he is in a lot of trouble. He harmed you gravely last week! And… he harmed you for a long time before that.”

Frisk didn’t respond, so Papyrus continued. 

“We have a couple options,” He said. “If we do not go to trial, he will be in prison for three years, guaranteed. And when he’s released, he won’t be allowed near you.”

“Three years,” Frisk mumbled under their breath. 

“The second option is going to trial,” Papyrus said. “If we do that, then they will ask you to answer questions in court, and your dad will be there. He won’t be questioning you, but his lawyer will likely ask some questions. If we go to trial, he will almost certainly go to prison for much longer than three years.”

Frisk straightened a little bit at that. 

“As part of the proceedings, though, all of your guardians would be involved, so they would also learn the nature of the crimes against you.” Papyrus clasped his hands together. “Right now, Toriel, Asgore, and Alphys only know what occurred last week. But if we go to trial, they will learn about the other things your father has done to you.”

Papyrus felt exhausted. Just explaining these basic facts felt so overwhelming. How could they ever put such a choice on a child’s shoulders?

Frisk fiddled with the handle of their mug, then took another sip. 

“Don’t you think three years is too long?” They said quietly. 

“Too long?” Sans choked. Even he wasn’t able to hide the surprise. 

Frisk looked up at him. “Like, I didn’t like what Dad did, but was it really that bad? It didn't always hurt. And he was already in jail for a long time because of me…”

“Buddy,” Sans said, his voice soft again, “What happened to you was bad. Real bad. Adults should never hurt kids, and adults should never have sex with kids. Ever.”

“But - it was to help him. And he waited until I was old enough to do the sex stuff,” Frisk said weakly. 

“No, Frisk,” Papyrus said, his voice sounding like a plea. “You were not old enough. You said you were ten when it started, right? That is much too young for-”

“No, I ran away when I was ten,” Frisk said matter-of-factly. “It started when I was eight.”

Sans and Papyrus both took a sharp breath at that. Frisk flinched. 

“D-did I say something wrong? I’m - sorry for cutting you off.”

“No, pal. You’re good.” Sans clasped his hands on the table. “I need you to understand somethin’ real important. An adult never has any reason to have sex with a kid. No matter what. And if they do that, they… Well. I have my opinions about what should happen to ‘em. But they should be punished big time for that.”

“But I wanted to help him,” Frisk objected quietly. 

“No, Frisk,” Papyrus said softly. “No child should ever be asked to… help in that way. Your father should never have asked you to do anything like that.”

Frisk was quiet for a moment. They downed the last of their hot chocolate and bounced their leg under the table. 

“You…don’t think three years is too much?” They asked. 

“No way, bud,” Sans said. “He should go away for much longer. Three years is the minimum.”

“I…don’t want him to find me when he gets out of jail.”

Papyrus took a sip of his forgotten hot chocolate. “We understand. We do have options. We could move away, so he is less likely to find where you are located, but-”

“I don’t wanna leave Ebott,” Frisk interrupted. 

“Yes, we thought that may be the case.” Papyrus nodded and set his mug back down. “He will have a restraining order regardless, but there is the small possibility of crossing paths unintentionally.”

Frisk was quiet for a moment, frowning and tapping their fingers lightly on the table. “If I testify, do you think he will go away longer?” They asked, their tone cautious.

Sans leaned forward slightly. “Yeah. I definitely think so.”

“Do you think it’s bad that I want him to go away longer?” They whispered, like they were sharing a shameful secret.

Papyrus shook his head. “No. It is good that you want him to go away longer. I am very proud of you!”

Frisk looked at Papyrus for a moment. He could almost see their mind spinning, trying to decide whether to speak. Finally, they made their choice. 

“You…said that adults shouldn’t do this stuff to kids.”

“Yes,” Papyrus affirmed. 

They looked at Sans. “...No adults should do this to kids.”

“Yep. You got it right, kiddo.”

They went quiet again. 

Something clicked in Papyrus’s mind. 

Sans pieced it together at the same moment, and spoke up.

“Like we said, no adult should ever do this to you. That includes the adults takin’ care of you - all of us. But I know that might be tough to believe, so there’s somethin’ else that might be good for you to know.” Papyrus could hear the care in his words, choosing each one carefully. “Crimes like this - sexual crimes - aren’t part of monster culture. Our biology is different, and intimacy’s different too…so. Yeah. This is one type of thing that monsters don’t do.”

Frisk’s eyes snapped wide open, and they looked straight at Sans. 

“...What?”

Papyrus exhaled. “This is true. Monsters are not more moral than humans by nature, but this specific type of harm is not something you need to worry about. No monster will harm you in this way.” 

Even as he said it, that man’s words pushed into his consciousness.

Have fun. 

He wrestled the feeling down. Sans was correct. He was not lying. He steadied himself and continued.

“You are in control of your physical boundaries, Frisk. Your comfort and safety are of the utmost importance. We will do everything we can to ensure these needs are met.” Sans nodded beside him. “And! Even though monsters will not intentionally cause this kind of harm, if anyone does touch you in a way you don’t like - for any reason! - tell any of your guardians. We will help you.”

Frisk took a deep breath, as if they had forgotten to do so for the last ten minutes. Their shoulders dropped a little bit.

“Oh,” they said faintly. 

They went quiet again and stared down at their hands. Sans caught Papyrus’s gaze - what now? - Papyrus took a calming breath. 

“If you want to ask anything at all, please do feel free to ask us,” he said. 

Frisk nodded. 

“Um…can I have a bit of time to think about what I wanna do about my dad? I can decide tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

“Of course, pal,” Sans exhaled. “You’ve had a really big day.”

Frisk shrugged. Their cheeks flushed again. “Thanks for um, being okay with me talking about this stuff.”

“Anytime, friend,” Papyrus said. He stood up and gathered the empty mugs. “You can talk to us anytime, okay?”

They gave a small smile. “Okay.”

Long after everyone had turned in for the night, Papyrus sat on the edge of his bed.

No adults should do this to kids.

Frisk was so brave. So strong, and brave…and so small. A child, eight years old, their father doing these horrible things and telling them it was necessary -

Papyrus hunched over as his magic swirled into nausea. Dear Frisk - Is Dad in trouble? - little child - he waited until I was old enough. 

Have fun.

Papyrus wanted to scream. He wanted to remake the entire world into a place where this child was safe.

…Frisk’s father had convinced Frisk that they were old enough to be used in such a horrific way. He convinced Frisk that they were somehow especially bad. He twisted the child’s worldview to take their power away.

He remembered what Sans had told him that morning. He was trying to mess with you.

Perhaps that man derived some kind of joy from confusing people and taking control away from them. Perhaps it was a tool he used to reach his own objectives, or perhaps he had no objectives outside of the pain he inflicted.

Papyrus flopped backwards to lay flat on his bed, and tried to clear his mind, tried to clear away the man’s accusations. 

Did he want to hurt Frisk?

He had hurt them in the past. He harmed Frisk, allowed them to carry burdens they never should have. He wanted to be a hero to monsters. He wanted to be admired, loved, to be seen as capable. He wanted to prove his worthiness.

How people perceived him was no longer the criteria that he based his decisions upon. None of that mattered any more. 

He turned to lay on his side.

What he wanted…

Visions of their day together flashed across his mind. Frisk's flushed, happy face. Their nimble movements around familiar spaces. Their excitement to share the things they loved. Their laughter, which seemed to become more and more genuine every day. Their fear, their exhaustion - their trust as they fell asleep in the back seat of his car.

He wanted Frisk to be happy and healthy. He wanted to return to them the autonomy that their father had stolen. More than anything, he wanted to keep them safe. 

The thought settled over him like a blanket. He pressed into the truth of it, and some of the tension eased out of his bones. 

He did not want to harm Frisk. Never again, and never like their father had. 

He felt a measure of clarity that had been clouded since he faced Frisk’s father. He wanted to hold onto this feeling, in case it slipped through his fingers in the future. Papyrus stood up and walked over to his desk. He sat down, pulled out a paper, and started writing. 

Papyrus’s Guardian Goals!

He made a bullet list below. 

1.) Help Frisk become happy and healthy!

He leaned back and tapped the pen against his skull for a moment. How would he accomplish this?...He made a few bullets under the first point.

-Make sure guardians are present to care for them when they are sick

He had realized they had pushed through a fever alone a couple weeks ago. That must have been hard, and it must have been lonely. He wasn’t sure exactly how they could care for them in the future in a way that they felt safe, but at least this week seemed to be helping them learn that they can be cared for. They could figure out ways to ensure Frisk was cared for when they were sick or injured.

Another bullet under the first point.

-Assist in finding a therapist

Certainly one of the most urgent things. They would have to discuss this further with the other guardians. They needed to find someone to help them.

Next bullet.

-Engage with them in hobbies they enjoy!

Frisk always had trouble asking for things. But…even though today was hard, he was pleased that they had expressed a desire to go to the lake, and they could share it together. He wanted to do more things like that. 

Papyrus left some space in that first category. He could add more later. For now, he wanted to move onto the second main point.

2.) Support Frisk’s autonomy

This was a challenging one. The child seemed to make choices to please the adults in their life. He hoped they could find what they truly wanted. 

-Support Frisk’s choice in their living arrangements

This was something they were all working on, of course. They made sure Frisk knew they could live with humans or other monsters. In the future, if they wanted to stay with their current guardians, they could also make sure Frisk knew they could change their apartment, or live with a guardian…

He hesitated. He did know that Frisk sometimes made some choices that may be unsuitable for a young child, in order not to cause others inconvenience…just in case, he added a note to that point. 

*If unsure of the suitability of living arrangements, seek advice from a doctor and/or therapist!

He nodded decisively. Another area of autonomy…

-Ensure Frisk has control over physical contact!

This one was incredibly important. Papyrus knew that. He and Sans were being cautious, offering safe touch and ensuring Frisk knew they had the right to say no. 

…But with what was confirmed today, he knew that Frisk may not say no, if they thought it was their - duty to be touched. Papyrus’s hand hurt as he gripped his pen tight.

Another note. 

*Be extremely careful. Keep them safe. Keep them safe. 

…Ah. A good transition to the last main point. He left space in the second category for future thoughts, then made the third main point.

3.) KEEP THEM SAFE.

He rapidly wrote bullet points below it. 

-Do not let their father touch them ever again. 

-Do not let anyone attack them ever again. 

-Never hurt them again.

Papyrus’s shoulders tensed. He never wanted to hurt them again. But what if he said something wrong? What if he did something that brought up a bad memory?

He thought back to his resolution from a couple nights ago: for now, he was the guardian that Frisk had. He would just have to hope that he could be a good enough person for them if he tried.

He added a note. 

*Be the best person you can for them. 

It didn’t feel like enough. Papyrus took a deep breath and looked over his list. 

It may not be enough. It needed work, but…this was a start. 

Having these goals in writing in front of him felt good. They existed in the real world. And they were all true. He wanted to do all of these things. He didn’t feel confused about any of them. 

Something in his Soul settled. 

Frisk’s father had confused him. He was so desperate to keep Frisk safe, and the man’s words had made him doubt his own motives. But these goals were incompatible with the things that man had said he wanted. And Papyrus knew these goals were true.

He read over his list a couple of times. As he did, he felt a weight settle across his shoulders, but it didn’t feel bad. It was the weight of his responsibility towards his ward, and it was good.  

He slipped the list into his drawer and took a deep breath, his resolve settling into his Soul. Yes. This was a task that he was truly honoured to bear. 

Papyrus paused for a moment, then pulled the paper out of his drawer again. He pulled out his phone and took a photo of it. He had a feeling he might need to have it on hand, just in case that man's words pushed their way back to the front of his mind again.

Finally, Papyrus was calm enough that he could go to bed - and he was tired . He turned out the desk light, crossed the room, and collapsed onto his mattress. He was asleep before he even got under the covers. 

All things considered, that conversation could have gone a lot worse. 

Sans rolled over in his bed. His bones ached from the day’s exertion and he was tired , but…

Ah well. Sleep would happen some other time. At least they'd managed to get through that conversation today, and Frisk seemed okay afterwards.

Eight years old.

They were a baby when it started.  How had that man convinced them that was anywhere close to old enough?   But then again, how could they have known to doubt the man who raised them? And they hadn’t even touched on the topics of power dynamics and incest in the conversation. Fuck, they needed to find a therapist. 

He had spent some time researching, and bench trials in Ebott were extremely quick matters. Once everything was set, it was possible for it all to be completed in one full court day, if the judge was quick on their sentencing decision. If Frisk decided on the trial, it was possible that the process would be all done shortly afterwards. 

He felt slightly guilty that he wanted to go to trial. He knew it would be harder on Frisk, but he also didn’t know what he would do if he saw that man walking around Ebott in just three years’ time. 

Everything felt so mixed up, he wasn’t sure exactly how to feel about a lot of it. But he did know one feeling very well. 

Frisk told them that the last time their dad assaulted them, it was at the lake. It was probably in that cabin. 

He had seen the kid look scared a lot this week, but their flashback this afternoon haunted him. Despite their trembling, despite them mumbling “Dad” over and over, their face was completely expressionless. They looked detached from their body. Sans bet that he knew how they developed that habit. 

So yeah. He knew how to feel about one thing. He fucking hated Frisk’s dad. 

He turned over in his bed, wrapping the blankets tight around his body. 

At least, if there had been any doubt in Frisk’s mind about their safety around their current caretakers, that was resolved. 

Frisk finally seemed to be settling in more. They were less guarded than he had ever seen them. He really cared about the kid and he wanted to protect the peace that they were finding. 

He hoped that he would be a good enough caretaker to help that happen.

Chapter Text

In Frisk’s nightmares, Dad’s face was always crystal clear. 

Right now, he was leaning over them, frowning. 

“You remember what we talked about last time, right?”

His hand was over their mouth, pressing them down firmly. Frisk clawed at his arm. They were eight years old and their arms were little and weak. It was before they knew how to behave themself.

Dad raised an eyebrow. “This will all be way easier if you stop.”

Frisk tried to scream. The sound was suffocated by the large hand pressing them down.

Dad sighed. “Alright, this has been fun, but enough of that.” He moved his hand slightly to cover Frisk’s nose, too.

A deep, animal instinct came over Frisk. They couldn't breathe. They were going to die. They scrambled against the hold, limbs flailing ineffectively. 

“I'll let you breathe when you stay still,” Dad said, sounding casually amused at Frisk’s desperate attacks.

Frisk couldn’t see through their tears. They let their body fall limp. Dad removed his hand from their face entirely. 

“There. Should’ve done that from the start, kid.”

Tears overflowed from Frisk’s eyes, trailing down the sides of their head, brushing the delicate skin of their temples. They desperately tried to keep their sobs silent.

Dad just smiled. Frisk didn't know why Dad's smile made them so scared. He was happy now, right?

“Much better. It’s about time,” he sighed. A hand traced down Frisk’s body and unbuckled the button on their jeans. 

“Be a good kid for once.”

Frisk woke up with a whimper.

They blinked a few times and looked at their surroundings. It was their fairy-light shelter in the skeletons’ house, of course. They were thirteen years old. It had just been a nightmare.

Frisk rolled over in their blankets, curling up. Stupid. Stupid. They had to stop being such a baby about these nightmares. They glanced at their phone: 3:07am. Still way too early to start the day, but Frisk wondered if they would be able to fall back asleep. Their mind had been spinning since the evening before. 

Frisk was…confused. 

What did they mean, that monsters didn’t want that kind of thing from Frisk? Were they really not even capable of wanting it because of their biology? 

Dad wanted it, Frisk knew that well. He said all adults felt that way, even animals. And it was Frisk’s fault that mom decided to leave, so Dad needed someone. It was a need that had to be satisfied often, since Frisk was such a burden. So of course Frisk could carry that duty. 

Sans and Papyrus said that no adult should ever have sex with a kid. Did that truly include Frisk? They knew other kids probably didn’t have to do this kind of thing. But Frisk was different, they were so much worse, they stressed Dad out so bad and of course he had to use them. Would he even be okay in jail? Frisk wasn’t there to help him, and…

The thought of his hands under their shirt made them want to throw up. 

They had taken so much from Sans and Papyrus, so they should be aware of what a burden they were by now, just like Dad always said. But Sans and Papyrus didn’t seem to act like they were a burden at this point…maybe they had a higher threshold? 

Or was it really true that Sans and Papyrus wouldn’t want to use them for that stuff?

The thought grew some uneasy hope in them. It felt so impossible, there had to be a catch…

When they owed Dad a lot, sometimes he would act really nice, and then suddenly change, and they would have to pay up. Frisk figured that was his way of being nice. It was better that Frisk didn’t see it coming, like looking away from the needle when they had to get vaccines, or trying not to look at the cuts on their skin too much when they bandaged them. Look away or cover up the scary stuff. At least that way, they could enjoy their day until it happened. Could Sans and Papyrus be putting them at ease with lies about monsters not wanting sex from them so Frisk would stop worrying until it was time? They did seem to care about Frisk’s mental wellbeing a weird amount, so maybe this was to help them relax more, especially with all the stressful things coming up -

The phrase “mental gymnastics” floated across their mind unbidden. They snorted at the thought. 

Were they overcomplicating this? Sans and Papyrus had been really clear with them, that no adult should have sex with them, and that monsters don’t even do stuff like their dad did. 

…Maybe they should trust the brothers at their word. They had always been pretty honest…

Well. There was that one time when Frisk was sure Sans liked them and then he told them that he totally would have killed them if not for a promise. So like, maybe there were some times that they weren’t totally transparent. But they liked Frisk now!…Right?

They really had taken a lot from them this week. Someday soon, would Sans admit how much he hated them? Would Papyrus finally decide that he hated them too? What if Frisk was too much and maybe the brothers were just toying with them now, maybe this was fun for them and any minute now Frisk would hear a door open and close and footsteps and hands on their body and on their neck and over their mouth and nose and - 

Frisk curled tightly in on themself and whimpered. They wanted things to be easy. They wanted to just believe what the brothers said. They wanted to sleep.

Frisk sat up and pulled their notebook out of their bag. 

-1700. -1850. 

Frisk had ruined their day out. Sans and Papyrus acted like it was all okay, but Frisk was sure that they had ruined everything. Papyrus’s car was probably scratched. They had made the brothers carry their stuff. They had freaked out at the lake and Sans and Papyrus had to help them all over again. They hadn’t helped make hot chocolate. They hadn’t even cleaned up for everyone afterwards. 

Frisk pulled out a pencil and started frantically writing down the page. 

-100

-50

-200

-50

-60

-2160, -2310

Frisk doubled over and shook. The page crumpled slightly under their clenched fingers. They needed the world to make sense. This was all so horribly uncomfortable. Some desperate part of them hoped that Sans and Papyrus would show up in the living room right now and just make things even, and then Frisk would leave and never have to deal with them ever again. Their debts tied them to the brothers who probably hated them by now. They hated this, hated Sans and Papyrus for making the world so confusing, they hated themself so, so much, why couldn’t they just be given what they deserved - 

*You deserve love.

Frisk gasped and shot up straight. The thought felt all wrong, so incongruous with what they believed. 

Sure, Frisk thought that in some way, they did have love with their monster community. But it was a very contained love that never gave or took too much. It was skin-deep, at most. 

*It is a good thing skeletons do not have skin, then.

UGH. Bone-deep, then. But in a shallow way. It’s just a saying, anyway. Shut up. 

…Were they arguing with their own thoughts? Fuck, Frisk was tired. 

*You know Sans and Papyrus love you very much.

Frisk…did they know that?

They pushed themself backward until their back rested against the couch and drew their knees up to their chin. 

If Sans and Papyrus loved them more deeply than Frisk thought - if they were being honest about not wanting anything from them - that was even more terrifying. 

They knew how to repay Dad. They knew how to repay the adults around them by pulling their weight and not allowing themself to fall into debt in the first place. 

But if they burdened Sans and Papyrus, and they were still truly loved…that was completely incomprehensible.

How could they even begin to repay a love like that?

It was now Frisk’s sixth day staying with the skeleton brothers. 

They were still in their shelter at 10:30am. Papyrus moved around the kitchen quietly, but it was still unusual for them to sleep through any noise at all. Yesterday had been a rather huge day; if there was ever a time for them to sleep in, this would be it. 

Sans was back in his room, coffee in hand and doing some kind of research. Papyrus walked back into his room, where he had some papers spread across the table, miscellaneous documents that needed to be filed for his Ambassador position. He was scheduled to return to work the day after tomorrow, but he had considered that it would be wise to ask Frisk if they wanted to stay longer. They had a lot on their mind, and a potential trial would cause no small amount of emotional strain. 

So! Papyrus had started checking his work email and completing some of the urgent tasks. They could wait a few more days, he was sure. 

Papyrus was so engrossed in his work that at first he didn’t see Frisk standing by his open door. He swiveled in his chair to adjust the lighting on his floor lamp when he finally noticed him. 

“GAH!” Papyrus startled. Frisk flinched in response. Papyrus forced himself to calm down. “My apologies! I have allowed my stellar sentry skills to become dull!”

Frisk relaxed their shoulders. “It’s okay, you already caught the human,” they grinned. “No need to be on the lookout.”

Papyrus folded his arms and nodded. “You are correct on that point. And we have caught a rather amazing human, at that!”

Frisk looked away, but they were still smiling. 

There was a click from down the hallway, and Frisk turned to face Sans as he joined them. 

“Morning, pal,” He said. He came into Papyrus’s field of vision, leaning on the opposite side of the doorframe. He yawned. 

“Just woke up?” Frisk asked. 

“Nah, I woke up a while ago. Then, I had a nap.” Sans winked. “It’s good to be productive in the morning.”

Frisk laughed. Papyrus was about to propose that they all migrate to the living room rather than stand in his doorway to talk, but Frisk took a step forward. 

They closed their eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and set their shoulders.

“I wanna go to trial,” they said. 

Sans stepped forward to join them in the room. “You sure? You can take more time to think it over-”

Frisk cut him off. “I wanna go to trial.”

Papyrus leaned back in his chair, exhaling. 

“Okay. We will be there with you every step of the way,” He said gently. 

Frisk looked at Papyrus, then back at Sans. “Yeah. Yeah, it’ll be okay.”

They slid a hand into their hoodie pocket, then brought out a folded paper. They handed it to Sans, though Papyrus was sure he saw their hand tremble a bit. 

“Um…I thought if it was okay, you could tell Toriel and Asgore and Alphys. If that’s okay.” They gestured at the pages in Sans’s hand. “That has basically everything about - what happened. I know I’ll have to talk about it at the trial, but I thought it’d be easier just to have it down in writing for now.”

“Thank you, Frisk,” Papyrus said quietly. Then he allowed his voice to pick up some of its usual energy. “We will relay the information! And I will tell Undyne to proceed with the mission!”

Frisk blinked, then smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Yeah!” Then they paused. “Um. Actually, can I tell Undyne about going to trial?”

Hm! As always, their human friend was still full of surprises. He had thought they would want to be involved as little as possible, but… ah. He knew that look in their eyes. Determination.

It seemed they had made up their mind, and they would see it through. 

“Certainly!” He set his hands on his knees. “Would you like myself and Sans to visit our other friends at their residences to inform them of the…details of your case, or would you like them to come here?”

Frisk froze, then frowned a bit. He wondered if Frisk may be concerned about being alone if Sans and Papyrus left to tell the others. Thankfully, Papyrus was good at sorting out puzzling situations!

“Alternatively, Undyne could inform the others. Since you've written it out, we can just give her your document and she can go over that with them!”

Frisk made an audible sigh of relief. “Okay. Yeah, that would be good.” They fidgeted with the ends of their scarf. “Before you give that to Undyne, though - you can read it too. If you want. It has some stuff that I didn't tell you yet.”

“Alrighty, bud. You got it,” Sans said. After a beat, he rocked back on his heels. “It looks like we have a lot to get started on. But howzabout breakfast first? Gotta get energy for the mission.”

Frisk blinked. “Oh. Right, food.”

“Yes!” Papyrus stood up decisively, almost knocking his chair over. “No sending messages until we have food! We need our minds to be sharp!”

Papyrus stood up and walked towards his door. Sans started towards the kitchen too, but Frisk reached out and grabbed his hoodie. 

Sans and Papyrus both stilled. Sans looked over his shoulder. “What’s up, bud?”

“S-sorry,” they pulled their hand back, as if they were surprised at their own action. The determination that had lined their posture during their conversation had suddenly faded. They looked at the floor and shrunk into their scarf. 

“You’re - both sure it’s okay, right?” their voice was barely louder than a whisper. “That I want my dad to - to go to prison.”

Sans turned to face them, and Papyrus joined him in front of Frisk. 

“There is not a single doubt in our minds,” Papyrus said firmly. 

Sans nodded, then paused for a moment. “If it helps take the pressure off, think of it this way. You’re just tellin’ the adults what happened. The judge will decide what to do about your dad. It’s not on you.”

Frisk emerged a bit from their scarf, their eyes brightening again. “Oh. I guess so.”

Papyrus could practically see the pressure being lifted from the child’s shoulders. Sans was brilliant, as always! 

He noticed Frisk’s hand twitch slightly. It lifted a bit, then dropped back to their side. He offered his upturned hand to them. They gasped quietly, and a small smile returned to their face. They took his hand, then took Sans’s when he offered it, too. 

Their hand still shook slightly in Papyrus’s careful hold. But if Papyrus wasn’t imagining things, it seemed that his little friend’s hand was shaking just a little bit less every time he held it. 

They had a real good breakfast together, complete with cedar tea that Frisk brewed. Sans wasn’t a tea guy, but this one was pretty tea-riffic. (That got a groan out of Frisk and Papyrus both. Combo breaker.) And sure, the fact Frisk shared it with him with so much excitement might have slightly influenced Sans’s perception, but he sure wasn’t gonna complain. 

After they finished, Frisk cleaned up the kitchen in a flurry of action. Even Papyrus seemed to have trouble keeping up with them. The reason for their rush became clear as they sat themself back at the kitchen table again and devoted their attention entirely to typing something on their phone. Sans was pretty certain they were getting their message to Undyne sent off. 

Frisk and Papyrus had stowed away the mattresses and pulled back the blankets. Sans sauntered over to the couch. Frisk’s backpack sat open at the corner of the couch, and when he lifted it, a notebook he didn’t recognize slid onto the seat of the couch. Must’ve fallen out. It was a coil-bound notebook that was currently flipped around so two of the pages were exposed. Sans picked it up to tuck it back into Frisk’s open bag when his eye caught on the open page. 

Alphys
+5
+5
+5
+10
-30
+5
+5
=250
-20= 230

Huh. Must’ve been points from a game or something. He flipped the book around and moved to drop it into the bag. 

But as he turned it, he saw the back page, and he froze in place.

Papyrus

Under his brother’s name, there were numbers scrawled everywhere . They were in the margins, some sideways when the space ran out, small numbers crammed into tiny spaces. It was so chaotic he almost didn’t notice the other name halfway down the page. 

Sans

His Soul stuttered. 

The chaos continued underneath his name.

The page was slightly crumpled. Subtractions were everywhere, with some small additions. There were larger numbers circled - sums, it seemed.

-1100. -1350. -1570. -1490. -1700. -1850. And after a string of numbers written with a hand so heavy the page had ripped slightly, a set of final sums, circled multiple times. -2310. -2160. 

Sans jolted back to awareness by Papyrus starting to hum in the kitchen. He dropped the notebook in the backpack and set it down beside the couch, as he had intended. He cast a glance over to Papyrus. 

Papyrus had turned slightly towards Sans, continuing to hum in a ‘casual’ way (which was obvious enough that it would have seemed suspicious from anyone other than Papyrus). He wore a concerned expression, with a hand resting over his Soul. Sans tried to calm himself. What did this even mean? He nodded towards Frisk. He couldn’t talk to him now, with the kid  right there…

As for Frisk, they were still focused entirely on their phone, unaware of the brothers’ unspoken conversation. 

Should they just ask them about what the numbers meant? Should they let it go and trust that Frisk would talk to them about it if it was important? What was he supposed to do with this information?

Sans was pulled back out of his thoughts as Frisk took a deep breath and set their phone down. “Okay,” they said with a long exhale, “I told Undyne about wanting to do the trial. So she should know soo-”

Frisk jumped as their phone pinged. They checked the notification.

“Turns out she knows now!” They lowered their voice. “She does everything fast, huh?”

“I would expect nothing less from Undyne!” Papyrus exclaimed, gathering up a couple dishcloths for the laundry. “Sans and I will speak with her later today regarding sharing the information!” 

Frisk nodded and slipped their phone back into their hoodie pocket.

“How ya feelin, bucko?” Sans asked, walking back to the kitchen. His original thought of a nap was no longer in the cards. For now, he just wanted to act normal till he figured out what the heck was going on.

Frisk turned to look at him. “Hmm… Weirdly restless? Like now that I've decided, I just wanna hurry up and get this all over with.”

Yeah, Sans got that. He wanted all of this to be done, for Frisk to feel safe and for things to go back to normal.

…

Huh. For a moment he had forgotten what ‘normal’ looked like.

Sans and Papyrus would go back to having the place to themself. The living room would be wide open, no mattress floor or blanket walls or fairy lights. Frisk would be back at their apartment. They'd wave when they ran into each other around town, and Frisk would come over for dinner a couple times a week. Sans would work his odd jobs and Papyrus would continue being cool at his job, and when Sans went to bed at night he would have no idea whether Frisk was going to bed at a reasonable hour, and if they wanted hot cocoa before turning in.

That was normal. It wasn't so bad. Frisk was an independent kid, and maybe they missed having their space. Sans just…didn't like the idea of them feeling scared and not having a hand or two to hold onto.

Frisk had wandered across the kitchen while Sans apparently stared into space. When he came to, Frisk had slung a towel over their shoulder and headed to the bathroom. They also took their backpack, which had some of their clothes in it. After a moment, he heard the shower turn on. 

Sans turned to Papyrus, who was facing Sans with his hands pressed on the countertop.

“What did you see?” Papyrus asked directly, brow furrowed in concern. 

Sans winced.

Two years ago, Sans would not have told Papyrus about this. He sacrificed emotional closeness with Papyrus in exchange for not burdening him with any uncomfortable emotions he felt. He just…wanted Papyrus to be happy. Sans was a rain cloud waiting to rain on his brother’s parade.

That was a lifetime ago. He had barely noticed it happening, but somewhere along the way he stopped shielding Papyrus so much. Sans still didn't like bothering him, but Papyrus had proven he didn't mind a bit of rain.

But this was definitely pulling at Sans's old instincts. What good would it even be to share? It was just…confusing. And weirdly unsettling.

No, Sans knew Papyrus. He was insightful and resilient and he cared so much. He would want to know, and Sans could trust his brother’s strength.

Sans sighed and joined Papyrus at the counter, leaning forward onto his elbows. 

“Caught a glimpse of the kid's notebook,” he said. “Was a page of numbers under Alphys’s name. Thought it was like, a game score or somethin. But when I turned it around, there was a page with our names on it.”

Papyrus nodded and stepped towards the kitchen table, gesturing for Sans to join. They sat down together. Papyrus picked up his gloves from the table, which he had taken off while cleaning the kitchen.

“It was uh…really somethin else,” Sans said. “Numbers everywhere. Like…” he pulled at a drawer with magic and slipped out a pad of paper and a pen. He sat at the table and started writing.

Sans had always had a strangely accurate memory when it came to numbers. He wrote out their names and started duplicating the page from memory, writing numbers - more and more and more, as the page continued to fill.

“Just…so many numbers. All these equations. The page was totally covered.”

Papyrus watched silently as Sans kept on writing. -100. -40. -200. +10. -75. -1850, with a circle around it. Numbers climbing into the margins and along the edges of the page.

Sans heard his brother take a deep breath as he pulled on his gloves absent-mindedly.

“...Do we need to be concerned?” He mumbled.

Sans huffed out a laugh and set down the pen. 

“Literally everything about this poor kid concerns me.” He pressed the heel of his palm to one of his closed sockets. 

“That is fair,” Papyrus sighed. “I…suppose we could inquire with them. Though, that would likely be an uncomfortable conversation…”

Sans leaned back and let out a grumble of agreement. 

The shower turned off; Papyrus met Sans’s gaze. it looked like they'd have to make decisions later. Sans walked back to the living room and flopped onto his armchair, aiming to appear much more carefree than he currently felt.

Today was looking like a pretty big day already, and he wasn't sure when they should even try to parse this out. But hey, they'd navigated a lot this week. He hoped they could figure this out, too.

Frisk had fallen asleep on the couch again.

This time, they were cocooned in Alphys's weighted blanket and resting their head on a cushion. This setup not only looked more comfortable than last time, but showed that they had actually intended to fall asleep, even though Papyrus and Sans were also sitting in the living room. 

They had gathered their blanket after their shower, wrapped it around themself, and flopped unceremoniously on the couch about thirty minutes ago. After just a few minutes, their breathing became slow and even.

Sans listened to the sound, and he felt a pang in his Soul as he remembered their fear at the hospital. He remembered his assurance that he'd never let anyone stop their breathing, unsure whether they believed his words. Even so, they had relied on him. And now, here they were, feeling safe enough to fall asleep with him and Papyrus by their side. 

Back in the hospital, he would have said he knew Frisk pretty well. Now, he scoffed at that thought. He hadn't even known about -

Sans's phalanges brushed against the folded paper in his pocket. His breath hitched.

Papyrus looked up from his notebook at Sans. Sans closed his sockets for a moment, then pulled the paper out. He gestured towards his room. Papyrus nodded. 

With one last look at their friend, who was currently the very picture of comfort and peace, Sans led Papyrus to his bedroom. 

Papyrus quietly closed the door, and they spread the letter out before them.

Frisk had put in the work to give them this document. It was time for them to learn more about the child who was staying in their home.

Hey! It's Frisk! (Frisk had drawn a chibi version of their face here. ) This is super weird and awkward, so I thought it'd be better to just write it. It's good practice I guess. I hope this is a good enough start? 

I looked up some websites about how to talk about this stuff, and things I should mention. So if this totally sucks, blame the internet. 

Okay so first of all the internet told me to only talk about what I want to and not force stuff. But I guess I kinda want someone to know? And since the trial's happening, figured now's as good a time as any. 

When I was 8 my dad asked if I wanted to help with something. That was the first time sex stuff happened. It was weird, but Dad was happy with me after, and he wasn't usually like that.

I really hated it, though. It happened a couple more times and then I tried to run away. But he caught me. After that I didn't try to leave.

He touched me a lot, and sometimes he hurt me, but only in places it didn't show when I wore clothes. We did sex stuff a couple times a week, usually. It depended on how stressed he was.

I think more specific stuff might come up at the trial, but maybe I can start with this. I read that sometimes kids point to a doll or something to describe stuff? Maybe it's dumb but that kinda thing seemed easiest. So here's a drawing. I thought I'd colour the stuff that happened most often. I can't remember every time, but this should give you the idea. 

Colour meanings: 

Orange: cuts, but just with a pocket knife.

Purple: hitting or grabbing, not bad enough to break anything though.

Yellow: uncomfy touch

Red: sex stuff

 

( Below, Frisk had drawn two featureless gingerbread man-shaped figures. They labeled one ‘front’ and one ‘back.’)

(Both figures were entirely covered in colour, often overlapping. The forearms, neck, head, and lower legs were noticeably devoid of anything that would leave marks.)

 

It wasn't really bad at first. He was usually pretty happy during it and after it. But near the end of it I started getting more scared, since he was angry all the time, even when we did stuff. When we were at the lake the last time, it hurt more, and the marks showed. I had a lot of bruises everywhere. Not as bad as last week! But I was really embarrassed. Thankfully he didn't make me go to school starting that year so nobody saw it. But I was just really getting freaked out, so I ran away.

I left sometime in October, and then I lived mostly in the forests around Ebott for about a year. I walked further up the mountain, and I found my way to the Underground. And that's how I ended up there.

And I guess the last thing to talk about is what happened last week. I'm really sorry. I was stupid and accidentally walked to my old house. I didn't really mean to, I wasn't feeling very good and kinda autopiloted there. 

I left but then I got myself all mixed up and ended up where you found me. And then Dad was there. He told me to come home, and I was gonna, but then Papyrus texted me and I kinda just didn't wanna go with Dad anymore. So I tried to call Papyrus but then Dad broke my phone. And then he got me into that alley, and I was stupid and just kinda let him. I know it's super dumb. I kinda just gave up. I'm really sorry. I know I could have done better at the start and maybe I could have made everything easier for everyone. 

He hit me a couple times and touched my waist. But I didn't want to do this stuff with Dad anymore, so after a minute I got him off of me. He had taken my jacket off but not the other stuff yet. And I tried to run but he caught me and started choking me. And I kinda thought he might kill me? But then Papyrus showed up, and then Sans showed up too.

Doctor Sommer helped me a lot at the hospital. And Sans did too. And Papyrus came to get me and it all just helped a lot. 

I'm really grateful that everyone has been so patient with me. I'm really sorry for all of this. I didn't want to make work for everyone, and I know I was dumb last week for going back there. Sorry about all of this. But yeah that's basically it.

(Frisk had drawn a second chibi of themself at the end of the letter. This one was doing a peace sign.)

Frisk felt warm and safe.

They were wrapped up tight in the blanket. The cushion under their head was perfectly soft. Nothing bad was happening to them.

As Frisk slowly eased back to wakefulness, they looked around the living room. The brothers had been there when they fell asleep. They were gone now. 

That should have felt good. It should have felt safer to have the room to themself. Instead, as Frisk sat up on the couch, they felt… uneasy. 

They wanted Sans and Papyrus to be with them. They wanted their guardians.

Frisk stood up slowly. They wished they could keep the blanket around them, but it was too heavy and they felt a bit shaky right now. Their eyes landed on their coat, which was hanging on one of the chairs. As quickly as they could manage, they shuffled over and wrapped themself up in it. With the hood up, they felt contained again.

Now that they were armoured up, Frisk looked around again. Sans and Papyrus wouldn't have both left without telling them, right? They hadn't done that yet…did they do something wrong by falling asleep on the couch? Maybe they were being too lazy. Papyrus used to care a lot about that kind of thing. He didn't seem to care as much anymore, but maybe Frisk was misunderstanding.

Frisk looked towards the bedrooms. Papyrus’s door was open and the light was off, so he wasn't in there. Sans's room…

Ah. The door was closed, but Frisk could see light under the door. They must just be hanging out there!

…Did they prefer not to hang out with Frisk? They'd understand that. And Frisk liked being alone. They preferred it! That was normal for them.

Frisk stilled. They had kind of forgotten what their “normal” life was like. 

Soon, they'd go back home, and every day would be like this. It'd be quiet and they'd be alone and safe. It was better that way. They wouldn't fall asleep on the couch with Sans and Papyrus quietly working or reading, and that was okay! It was easier with their own apartment, alone and safe and happy.

…Happy. Hm, Frisk wasn't sure if they'd describe it that way…

Frisk cast another glance at Sans's door, where their friends were.

They shook their head and turned away. They were fine. It was all okay. There was no reason for their heart to be racing like this. They had to stop being so dramatic all the time.

Frisk jumped at the sound of a door opening. They looked down the hall again.

Sans and Papyrus stood in the bedroom doorway, frozen in place and looking at them. Held lightly in one of Papyrus's gloved hands was a familiar paper.

Oh. That's what they were doing.

“H-hi,” Frisk said with a nervous laugh. Shit. Way to act like a normal person. “Um. Sorry if that thing was weird, or…Um. Sorry. Is it stupid? Or gross, or, um…”

“Frisk,” Papyrus's voice was strangely hoarse. Frisk straightened up. They'd been rambling about nothing. They'd already wasted their time by getting them to read that thing, and now they were blabbing on about nothing.

“Sorry,” they whispered. 

Sans stepped forward. Frisk cursed their stupid body. Why were they shaking? So dramatic. So stupid, so annoying and gross and needy and -

“Hey, buddy. Can I put my hands here?”

Frisk startled out of their spiral. Sans was standing in front of them. His hands hovered over their upper arms. He wanted to put his hands there?

…Frisk nodded. They wanted that. 

Sans rested his hands on their arms. His hold was steadying, but for some reason it made them shake even more. They leaned forward a bit into the hold. 

Frisk’s legs were shaking so bad, and they pitched forward slightly, catching themself before they put any weight onto Sans. 

Papyrus. He was here too, now. Were they wasting everyone's time?

“Let's go sit down! Is that okay?” Papyrus asked. 

It took Frisk a moment to realize he was talking to them.

“U-um, yeah. Yeah, that's - good.” Why couldn't they talk normally? Come on.

Sans let their arms go and offered a hand. Frisk took it gratefully. The brothers gently ushered them to the couch; it did feel much better to sit down.

Sans and Papyrus sat on either side of them. They expected to feel uneasy. They liked having an easy escape route and usually avoided sitting between adults, but this just felt…nice. It was cozy. 

They drew their legs up and sat cross legged on the couch, then scooted back so they rested against the back of the couch. Their coat contained and warmed them, their scarf was soft and protective around their neck, and the brothers were here. Nothing bad was going to happen. It was okay. Nobody was mad yet.

“Frisk.” Frisk startled. Sans didn't usually use their name like that. 

“Ah - sorry, bud. Didn't mean to startle ya.” Frisk looked up at Sans. His expression was soft…nothing bad was happening. 

“Thanks for sharing with us,” he continued. “That must’ve been tough.”

…This was confusing.

“N-No problem. I mean, I should be thanking you, I know that was probably really weird and - I should be thanking you.”

“It is our honour,” Papyrus said. He sounded really serious. 

Frisk didn't know how to respond to that  but for some reason, they couldn’t help the small smile that twitched on their lips. 

The couch shifted as Papyrus slid off the cushions and knelt on the floor in front of them. Frisk straightened up and looked down at him. 

He set his hands on his knees. He looked so sad, so solemn. Frisk was confused, but still, they didn't feel scared. Nobody was going to hurt them here.

Papyrus tilted his skull a bit, looking up at them.

“Frisk,” his voice wavered, “I'm so sorry we couldn't protect you when you were little.”

Frisk blinked. That was a strange thing to say. “N-no, I mean, you couldn't have.”

Papyrus just looked sadder. “Even so, I wish we could have. You deserved to be protected.”

Frisk wasn't sure why that made their heart hurt. They rested a hand over their chest.

Papyrus leaned forward, just a little bit. His voice was earnest and sincere.

“From here on, Frisk, we will protect you.”

Frisk's eyes widened. They looked over at Sans. He nodded, his smile gentle. 

“Yep. As long as ya want us here, we'll do everything we can to keep you safe.”

Frisk was being stupid. 

There was no reason for them to be shaking so much. There was no reason for them to feel like crying. There was no reason for them to want a hug, even as the thought of an adult constricting their body like that made them want to throw up.

Papyrus got up, and before Frisk could wonder where he was going, he returned with tissues. They accepted them gratefully and wiped their eyes. Now if only they could get their stupid body to calm down.

“Do you want an arm around your shoulders? You're shaking like a whimsun,” Sans said with a light chuckle. 

Frisk didn't need to think about it. That sounded really nice. They nodded. Sans extended an arm, an invitation for Frisk to accept. Frisk leaned in and allowed their guardian to gently pull them to his side. 

The contact made them want to cry. It felt so safe and warm, it was almost too overwhelming. They rested more heavily against Sans's side. They wanted this closeness, they wanted to stay right here; but instead of calming down, their body was wracked with more tremors. 

Papyrus was sitting on the floor in front of them again, quietly watching. It seemed like he wanted to help them, even though they had already made today so hard. They felt selfish. They felt hopeful. They reached out a hand to him. 

Papyrus’s smile widened a bit as he took their hand in his. The calming effect was instant. Frisk's tremors finally settled, and they let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding. 

Papyrus’s gentle hold grounded them in the moment. Frisk knew where they were, and…they knew nobody here would hurt them. Sans and Papyrus had said that they wanted Frisk to be safe, and all week, they had proven that. Sans's arm around them sheltered them, like an affirmation of the protection they had offered. They felt small, but for once that didn't feel dangerous. 

In this moment, it almost felt like Frisk could believe them; that if their dad ever found them, Sans and Papyrus would be right there once again to rescue them. 

They sighed contentedly and melted into the gentle touches. 

Frisk was always so dramatic and sensitive. They were selfish and they kept taking way too much from everyone. But right now, all that stuff didn't matter as much. Frisk just knew they felt safe and warm and so, so grateful.

The rest of the day was quiet. Frisk displayed incredible courage and determination today! It had drained their energy rather significantly, though they still did insist on making some jam with their foraged rowan berries so they could have jam on toast tomorrow morning. But right after that, by 9pm, Frisk was safely settled in bed, and Papyrus and Sans had one more task for the day. 

Once again, they were in Sans’s room, the furthest part of their small apartment from Frisk. They didn't want to disturb their sleep. And once again, they had spread Frisk's letter out on the desk. 

Papyrus pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the front, flipped it over, and snapped a picture of the back. He pulled up Undyne's messages, attached the photos, and sent them.

Papyrus took a deep breath. Although he had told her the images were coming, it still twisted his Soul to think of anyone else having to read those words. Even so, he knew that Undyne wanted to know. She was one of Frisk’s guardians, too. She wanted to take care of them.

Sans patted his shoulder. “Undyne's gonna call us when she's done reading, right?”

Papyrus nodded. “Yes. We should not have her on speakerphone, though. I expect she will be rather… loud. And expressive.”

Sans's grin twitched. “Yeah, I don't blame her. Hell, even I could do with a good cathartic scream right about now.”

Papyrus’s phone rang. Who was calling him at this time? Undyne would be calling in a few minutes when she had finished the letter, so he didn't want to get bogged down in another call before that. 

Ah. Never mind.

“Well! Undyne was rather quick!” He held his phone up for Sans to see.

“She really does do everything fast, huh…” Sans chuckled.

Papyrus connected his bluetooth bone conduction headphones, handing one of them to Sans. He clicked to answer the call.

“Hello, Und-”

“I SHOULD HAVE LET YOU FUCKING KILL HIM WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I WANT TO STRANGLE THE LIFE OUT OF THAT SORRY EXCUSE OF A-”

Papyrus scrambled to lower the volume as he and Sans winced.

“-MAN WHO DARED TO COME ANYWHERE NEAR OUR FRISK. HOW COULD HE AND FRISK EVEN BE RELATED? I SWEAR, WE ARE PUTTING THAT MAN IN PRISON FOR AS LONG AS THEY'LL LET US AND AFTER THAT I AM PERSONALLY GOING TO SHADOW HIS EVERY STEP ON THIS EARTH UNTIL HE IS IN THE GRAVE-”

Undyne gasped in a breath, and there was a moment of quiet in the torrent of words.

Papyrus felt a very inappropriate laugh bubble up in his chest and tumble past his teeth unbidden. Tears sprang to his sockets. Sans wrapped an arm around him. 

Papyrus wanted to scream with Undyne. He could not allow himself to do any such thing, because he needed to be the child’s shelter right now. Frisk needed steadiness and safety, but Papyrus suddenly felt the desire to burn down a city seeking vengeance for his child.

…Hm. When did he begin thinking of them not just as his friend or his ward, but as his child?

Papyrus's soul ached with his own barely-contained fury. He could feel Sans's own hysterical energy coursing through him. He looked over at Sans. He was looking down at the floor, sockets wide and eyelights dimmed. Papyrus leaned against him, and Sans blinked a couple times. His eye lights flickered back on.

“HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY EVEN FIX THIS? HOW THE FUCK CAN WE EVEN START TO UNDO EVEN HALF OF THE SHIT THIS SCUM DID TO FRISK?” 

Undyne's voice cracked, And Papyrus heard another emotion begin to surface. “Sorry about not even saying hi, I just - guys, how can we make this better? The poor kid, I never would have thought…”

Sans exhaled and straightened up a bit. “We're with ya on that one, pal. We all missed a lot of stuff Frisk had gone through.”

They were all quiet for a few moments. Papyrus broke the silence. 

“So…Frisk let you know that we will be going to trial.”

Undyne made a pleased grunt. “Hell yeah they did. We’re gonna bury this guy so deep he won’t be able to find his way out ever again.”

Undyne’s surety calmed something in Papyrus. They could do this. 

“We’ve got a lawyer already, Mx Haru. They're human, and they’ve prosecuted a lot of sex crimes against minors. They’re good at what they do, real good at keeping kids safe when they have to testify. And on top of it all, they’re a big ol’ softie. I think Frisk might like them, even though they're human.” Papyrus could hear the grin in Undyne’s voice. “Not a softie against predators, though. They’ve got a good track record.”

Sans leaned forward a bit. “Wow. You’ve been busy, huh?”

Undyne laughed. “Dude, I’ve been getting the team together since the same day as the attack.” She slowed herself. “Of course, if Frisk had said they didn’t wanna do it, I wouldn’t have pushed it! But, I just wanted to make sure we had what we needed if a trial was in the cards.”

Some of the tension drained out of Papyrus’s shoulders. Undyne was a wonderful person to have in their corner. 

“We should have a trial date set up by tomorrow. I’ll keep ya posted,” she continued. “But…hey. Frisk is okay with the others knowing about what happened?”

Papyrus nodded. “Yes. Frisk is aware their other guardians will need to know. We actually have a favour to ask of you regarding this!”

“Whatever ya need, I got you,” Undyne said.

Papyrus loved his friend so very much. 

“Frisk isn’t exactly comfortable with having the others here for this conversation, or with either of us leaving them to tell the others. Would you be able to tell them? Frisk said you could share their letter, and then you can tell them the trial details.”

“Roger that,” Undyne said. “Alright, I think I have everything I need on my end. Is there anything you guys and Frisk need right now?”

Sans and Papyrus looked at each other. Sans shrugged. 

“I think that is all for now, Undyne,” Papyrus said. “Just…thank you. For all you’re doing for Frisk.”

Undyne’s voice softened. “No problem, man. You two have been carrying the most. I’ll do what I can on my end too.”

Then, her shark-grin returned. 

“Good talk. Let’s get ready to absolutely fucking wreck Frisk’s dad.”

Chapter Text

“Hey Sans, what’s this?”

The next morning, Frisk was poking around in the closet. They pulled inquisitively at a sheet of plywood stored along the side wall. Sans felt his Soul warm at Frisk rummaging around the house. He’d never seen them do that before. 

Right. The kid had asked a question. 

“Look on the other side,” He said, sauntering over to join them. Frisk leaned over the board, still half inside the closet. They turned back to Sans, giving him a flat look.

“...Sans, this just says ‘dogs’ in your font.”

“What can I say?” He shrugged. “Graphic design is my passion.”

Frisk sighed. Damn, their disappointed sigh rivalled Papyrus. His bro was teaching them well.

They pulled the board the rest of the way out and spun it around. They leaned it against the wall and rocked back on their heels. “ Oh , are you restarting the hot dog stand?”

Sans joined them and leaned against the wall, admiring his work. “Yup. And you know that a good sign is important for business.”

Frisk grimaced, still looking at the sign. “...Riiiight.”

“Think I should make it more detailed?” Sans asked, his grin widening. 

Frisk side-eyed him. “That depends entirely on what you’re about to say.”

“I mean. I sell hot cats, too. So I should include that. Cats and dogs.”

Frisk groaned. “That is exactly zero percent helpful. And if you plan to sell food to humans too, you gotta start off slow. Humans are definitely not ready for hot cats.”

“You took to them just fine,” He said dismissively.

“That’s because I’m not like other humans.” They tossed their hair and grinned mischievously. “I’m way worse.”

Sans snorted out a laugh. He loved some good self-deprecating humour as much as the next guy, but…

He leaned over slightly so his shoulder bumped against Frisk’s. He felt them shift their weight just a bit, leaning into the contact. 

“Nah. You just happen to be the same kinda weird as me.” He winked at them. “And the same kinda cool as Papyrus, now that I think about it. No wonder you fit in so well.” 

Frisk’s lips twitched into a smile, which they promptly buried into their scarf. They still radiated contentment, even as they tried to hide their blush. Sans looked down at them fondly. They really did fit in here. 

They huffed out an annoyed sound and stuffed their hands in their hoodie pockets. They had their own clothes here now, but those first few days they stayed, they had worn Sans’s hoodies. Sans had continued to leave one of his spare hoodies in the living room just in case. Sure enough, Frisk wearing it today with the hood up, and they looked completely adorable bundled in the oversized hoodie and fluffed up scarf. 

“Anyway,” They said in an exaggerated tone, “There’s no way I’m letting you use this. Where are your paints?”

Sans tilted his skull and tried not to let his surprise show. Were they being bossy? They really must be feeling safer. Heh, this was great. They really were a lot like -

“Did I hear paints?” Papyrus swung his bedroom door open. Frisk jumped, but their surprise passed in an instant. They gestured at the board leaning on the wall. 

“Look what Sans did,” they said with another very good sigh. “He’s not gonna sell any hot dogs like this.”

“GASP! You are absolutely correct, Frisk! Stellar observation skills, as always!” Frisk once again smiled a bit, hid in their scarf, but didn’t object. Heh. They were gonna get this kid used to compliments somehow. 

“I have many paints in my room!” Papyrus continued. “Shall we work on improving Sans’s…Attempt?”

“We shall,” Frisk said with a serious nod. “...But wait, didn’t you have work stuff?”

Papyrus waved a hand. “Not as important as helping my family!”

Sans heard Frisk make a small gasp. He glanced at them and caught another smile. 

Huh, he supposed they had been family technically for a while but…well. It felt nice to hear Papyrus say it. It felt right.

Papyrus was now gathering a wealth of art supplies, and Frisk had already picked up the sign and brought it to the living room. 

Looks like they had their morning plans decided. There wasn’t anything else they needed to be doing right now, since Undyne was taking care of things. And they all needed a break, anyhow. 

Sans had to admit, it was an improvement. 

Frisk was standing up and looking down at the board on the floor, pride plain on their face. They were wearing one of Papyrus’s dedicated “Art Shirts” over their clothes, and it was covered in paint. A bit of red paint was smudged on their cheek, which would have been endearing if Sans didn’t have to steady himself before getting them a paper towel to wipe it off. The colour was just a bit too familiar. 

“Well! I do think we are done!” Papyrus announced, standing up beside Frisk. They smiled up at him. 

“Looks great from this angle, too,” Sans said, slowly laying down on the floor.

Frisk nudged him with their foot. “Don’t fall asleep down there. Someone’s gonna trip over you.”

“But I haven’t even had my morning nap,” Sans grumbled. Frisk folded their arms and raised an eyebrow, unsuccessfully suppressing a smile. 

Sans rolled over onto his front and propped himself up on his elbows. The sign really did look good. 

Hot dogs for sale!

they only bark sometimes (this was painted over with an illustration of a hot dog.)

Magic and non-magic!

ask me about hot cats (this was painted over with flames.)

The sign was bordered with red and orange flames, and the lettering was blue. It was definitely a noticeable design. 

“All that is to be done now is for Sans to get a proper food license,”Papyrus said, side-eying Sans. 

“Yeah,” Sans sighed. “Human food, man. Does things like ‘go bad’ and ‘spoil.’”

Despite their earlier objections, Frisk sat down beside Sans again. “Maybe Grillby can tell you the steps to get it all set up?”

Sans rested his skull on his folded arms. “Not a bad idea. Be good to… heh, ketchup with him sometime soon anyway. Haven't seen him in a bit.”

Frisk stiffened beside him. 

“Yeah, not my best pun. And not yet, I'm stayin’ here with you. Don’t worry, kid.” He looked up at them. 

Welp. That sure didn’t seem to help. They tensed further, but let out an unconvincing laugh.

“Sorry you haven't had time to see friends as much recently. I know it's been busy, I'll-”

Suddenly, their eyes widened. They looked up at Papyrus, who was setting the sign against the kitchen wall to dry, then back down at Sans.

“Today’s the seventh day,” they breathed.

“Seventh day?” Sans pushed himself off the floor to sit cross-legged. He heard Papyrus approaching to join them. 

Frisk jumped back to their feet and clasped their hands in front of them. 

“U-um, what time did you need me to leave?”

The words felt like a kick to the chest. 

Right, a week. That was how long Frisk was required to stay with them, doctor’s orders. They could go home now. Huh.

Frisk took the stunned silence as a prod to continue.

“I can - help clean everything! I’m sure I’ve made stuff dirty while I’ve been staying here. A-and I can deliver Alphys’s blanket back to her so you don’t have to do that! I can get everything done in an hour and then I’ll head home. Actually, I bet I can do it in a half hour!”

“Frisk,” Papyrus said, stepping up beside Sans. 

“I-if that’s too long I can be gone in twenty minutes! Or fifteen minutes -” they took a small step backwards.

“Hey bud,” Sans tried to interject. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice earlier! I didn’t mean to overstay, I promise, and you haven’t even had time to go see your friends because of me, and I just -”

They took another step backwards, and their heel caught on the large box of paints. They tripped and tumbled backwards. 

Papyrus stepped forward in a flash and caught them around the waist before they hit the ground. 

Frisk froze - then went limp. 

Sans stood up quickly, but didn’t need to intervene. Papyrus had already realized what happened. He cursed under his breath, applied gravity magic at the same moment he let go of them, and stepped far back. Sans followed suit. Papyrus lowered Frisk to sit against the wall, then released their Soul. 

“I am so sorry, Frisk! I did not mean to, it was a reflex. I should have used magic to catch you.”

“Paps was just trying to catch you. You’re still safe, bud.” Sans sat back down on the floor again and gestured for Papyrus to do the same. Even a few steps away, having two adults towering over them might not be the best way to bring them back out of this. 

Frisk sat against the wall, their head slightly tilted forward. One leg was propped up a bit, and their arms were limp, with hands relaxed and upturned. They looked like a marionette whose strings had just been cut.

He could see the look on their face, and it was uncomfortably familiar at this point. They were far away from here right now.

Shit. 

Frisk stood at the sink, scrubbing the pot from dinner. They'd made spaghetti today. Dad didn't like it very much, but they figured it could still count as 20 points in their favour.

Dad got groceries today. -70. But Frisk made dinner and cleaned the kitchen, and if they could do enough other chores maybe that could count as another 30 points. 

This equation system was pretty new, but hey, it was helping them practise math! And if they could keep track and be better, then maybe Dad would be less stressed. Frisk would be a good kid. They were determined.

They set the pot on the drying rack, ran a knife under the water, and pumped soap onto the sponge. 

Large hands dug into their waist. 

Frisk screamed and lurched forward. The knife in their hand slipped and cut their left palm as they dropped it into the sink. The hands around their waist let go. 

Dad laughed behind them. 

“What's with that reaction, kid?” He walked around and leaned his back against the fridge. Frisk kept staring into the sink. Oh, their hand was bleeding. They ran it under the water. 

“You gotta stop being so dramatic. Just having fun.” Dad paused for a moment and Frisk hoped maybe he was going to leave. They weren't that lucky. 

“Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you,” Dad said. Oh, his voice had lowered a bit. Frisk needed to fix this fast. They obeyed. 

Dad scoffed.

“Aw, what are you crying about? I was just playing with you. You're making a big deal out of nothing.” 

Frisk blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears away. Yeah! He was just being funny. And he didn't do the uncomfy touches under their shirt this time. It was fine.

…Dad usually grabbed their waist when he wanted to take them somewhere. He grabbed hard and it left bruises. Frisk was grateful he chose there! It was nice that the bruises didn't show. They would have been really embarrassed for people to see the bruises. They proved Frisk was a bad kid.

Even now, when Dad was being nice and just playing, they were still being a bad kid. Dad was trying to have fun with them and they were being difficult. Why couldn't they stop shaking?

Dad's expression shifted and he sighed. Oh no, that was the annoyed sound. What was Frisk’s balance right now? They thought they were still in the positives, right? They didn't owe Dad yet. They should be safe. But this system was new, and they might have miscalculated - 

“Can't even take a joke,” he grumbled. He took a slow step towards Frisk. They tried to stay still. Dad wanted them to stay still. 

Dad put a hand on their shoulder. 

“I - I n-need to finish the dishes -” Frisk said weakly. 

Dad shoved their shoulder. Frisk stumbled back from the sink and landed on their backside. They instinctively pushed themself a couple feet away before stopping themself. Dad would want them to stay still. 

Dad squatted down in front of them. He grabbed their chin and jerked their head up to face him. 

“Alright kid, if you wanna be such a downer, why don't you make yourself more useful? Come with me and -” he paused, looking down at the floor. “- What's wrong with your hand?”

Frisk looked down. Blood was pooling on the floor around their hand. 

“Kn-knife in - sink,” they stammered. 

Dad looked back towards the sink. The tap was still running. 

“Stupid.” He sighed again and let go of their face. Frisk gasped as they were released. Dad stood back up. 

“Finish cleaning the dishes and deal with that,” he said, gesturing dismissively towards their bleeding hand. “Be good and don't bother me anymore.”

“O-okay,” Frisk whispered. Their heart pounded so loudly they were sure he could hear it, even as he walked out the door.

It wasn't so bad, they reasoned as they listened to the running water. Nothing bad had happened. So why did they feel too weak to stand up?

They really were stupid.

*You can feel the carpet underneath you. It's soft, and you like it.

*You can hear Sans and Papyrus talking nearby. Their voices are comforting.

* You can smell the coffee brewing. Coffee tastes gross, but you like the smell a lot.

*You can see the shirt you borrowed from Papyrus. It's covered in paint from a fun activity.

*You feel safer in this apartment than anywhere else. 

*You know you are safe.

*...You are safe, I promise. 

Frisk blinked rapidly a few times. 

Oh, they were on the floor. They were making a mess, bleeding everywhere… Frisk lifted their hand. They needed to stop the blood from getting everywhere.

They paused. Their hand wasn't bleeding. Only a faint scar remained.

*You can feel the carpet underneath you. It's soft, and you like it.

…wait, hadn't Frisk just heard this?

*You can hear Sans and Papyrus talking nearby. Their voices are comforting.

They were sure they had….

…They weren't with Dad, were they?

*You can see the shirt you borrowed from Papyrus. It's covered in paint from a fun activity.

Frisk touched the shirt. Oh, yeah. They had been painting. Today was fun. 

Slowly, their senses started returning. They felt the soft carpet. They heard their family talking. 

…Sans and Papyrus. Were they family?

The events of the day started slowly coming back in more detail. 

Oh, Frisk was out of time here. That's what they had been talking about. They had to go home again. They had to get ready to leave. 

*You feel safer in this apartment than anywhere else. 

Frisk felt tears spring to their eyes. They didn't want to go. 

Finally, they looked up. 

As had happened many times before, Sans and Papyrus were sitting in front of them. They were a bit further away than usual, though. Frisk must have really weirded them out. Their Dad's annoyed expression crossed their mind again. Don't bother me anymore . 

Frisk should get ready to leave. They'd probably already taken up a lot of time, but everything in them resisted the thought.

They didn't want to leave. 

*Then don't. 

Frisk startled slightly. What a selfish thought. They had been so weird this week, and now, they could hear the brothers trying to talk to them, but they couldn't even pay attention well enough to understand them. 

Frisk needed to get ready to leave. Maybe Sans and Papyrus were telling them to get out - don't bother me anymore - and Frisk was being annoying by taking so long. 

Frisk didn't want to leave.

“...A bit longer.” Frisk startled at the sound of their own voice unexpectedly coming out. “Please, can I stay a bit longer?”

Frisk’s senses finally all tuned back in. They took a deep breath. It felt like they had been underwater and could finally hear and see clearly again.

“Frisk! Oh, thank goodness, I -” Papyrus's voice was shaking. “Yes! Please, stay. I am so sorry I scared you. Do you want me to leave? I am-”

“Easy, Pap. Let's give 'em a sec.” Sans’s voice sounded relaxed, but somehow, Frisk thought they could hear a bit of a nervous edge to it. Maybe they were making it up. 

Oh, Papyrus had asked them a question. He asked if they wanted him to -

“Please don't leave!” Suddenly Frisk could move again. They pushed away from the wall and adjusted to sit on their knees, then shuffled forward a few inches. “If - it's okay, please, I want you both to - to stay.” Oh, that was selfish. “For now, if it's okay. I'm sorry.” They were being greedy and impolite. “Please. I'm sorry -” Apologize more. “I'm sorry, please, please, I'm sorry -”

“Frisk,” Papyrus's voice was closer, and it snapped Frisk out of their loop. They looked up at him. “I am right here. Your friendly neighbourhood Papyrus is here to stay!”

Frisk’s lip trembled. Sans scooted up beside his brother and sat down again. 

“We're both here for you, pal. We’re not leavin’ ya.”

Frisk needed to hold on. It felt like a breeze could come along and sweep them away from the brothers. They wanted to stay. They reached out and took Sans and  Papyrus’s hands.

Frisk’s sudden action surprised themself. If it surprised the brothers, though, they sure didn't show it. Papyrus closed his hand gently around Frisk's, his grip always so careful and kind. Sans gave their hand a small squeeze, the pressure grounding them instantly. 

“A bit longer,” they breathed. “Please. I'm sorry.”

“No problem with us, bud,” Sans said. Frisk looked at him, and his expression was soft. “As long as you wanna stay, you can. Ain't that right, Papyrus?”

Papyrus didn't hesitate. “But of course! We are happy to have you with us as long as you would like. We would be honoured, in fact! Overjoyed!”

Frisk wanted to stay forever. 

…

No, that wasn't right. Frisk liked being alone. It was safer and better for everyone when they had their own place. They liked it more!

Sans and Papyrus didn't know what they were offering, anyway. They definitely hadn't meant forever. And Frisk didn't want to stay. They really didn't! They were excited to go home, and be alone, and have all their space, alone, by themself….

Frisk held on a bit tighter and looked down at the floor again. The carpet really was soft, and they liked it.

“Okay. A bit longer, if it's okay.” They blinked back their tears and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Thank you.”

They sat together quietly for a minute. Frisk’s face felt warm and they were sure the brothers could see their shame. They had freaked out over nothing again. Why couldn't they be normal and good? Now Sans and Papyrus were here taking care of them when they should be doing other things. 

Frisk had to be careful. They didn't remember mom, but the one thing they knew is mom had left because they were too much work. They didn't know if they could survive if they lost Sans or Papyrus. It had only been a week, and Frisk knew eventually they'd have to go home, but it was getting harder to imagine life without them. At least they would still have dinner together sometimes, and say hi when they saw each other around town. Frisk couldn't lose that. It was selfish, but they didn't want to lose them. They wanted Sans and Papyrus to stay.

“Frisk, I am so sorry I scared you.” 

Frisk startled back to awareness. Papyrus was looking down at them, and he looked upset. 

Frisk frowned. “Why are you sorry?”

“When you fell, I tried to catch you. I am so sorry for touching you like that. It seems I caused you to remember something very unpleasant.”

Frisk’s face warmed further. 

“‘S nothing.”

They felt Sans run his thumb along their knuckles. It was silly, but the motion was soothing. 

“Bud, you've been through a lot. All of that isn't nothing.”

“I'm just being dramatic over nothing. My dad just - it wasn't always that bad. Sometimes he was just - trying to have fun, and I…” Frisk’s voice cracked as they tried to force out the words. They finally gave up. They were just too tired. 

Exhaustion pulled at their body. They leaned over slightly. Papyrus was right there, and they were so tired, it would be so nice to rest against him -

Don't bother me anymore. 

They straightened up again. For some reason, tears pricked at their eyes. 

“Why don't we go sit on the couch?” Papyrus suggested. “Perhaps you will feel more comfortable there!”

Frisk shifted a bit. They liked the carpet, but the couch was even softer. That would be nice. 

They nodded. They dropped their hold on the brothers’ hands and pushed themself to stand up. 

Their legs wobbled a bit with the effort  but they would be fine. They knelt down again and got ready to give another attempt.

“Need a hand or two?” Sans offered his hand. Frisk had just let them go, they could make it to the couch fine! But when Papyrus offered his as well, Frisk took both of their hands. It made it much easier to stand up.

They all settled into the couch like last night, Sans and Papyrus on either side of them. Frisk’s eyelids felt heavy. It was still morning! Frisk wasn't supposed to feel so tired. But as they sat with Sans and Papyrus, they just wanted to rest. 

Frisk leaned over until their shoulder bumped against Papyrus's arm. They turned slightly to rest their forehead against his arm.

…they wanted to be sheltered again. They wanted to feel protected.

“Can I put my arm around your shoulders?” Papyrus asked, his voice soft. 

Frisk’s shoulders trembled a bit, but they nodded. As soon as he lifted his arm, they pressed against his side. 

Papyrus's arm draped around them, and they nestled further into the hold. Sans kept holding their hand. He ran his thumb along their knuckles again, and their trembling stopped. 

Last night was the first time they were held like this. They were still nervous today, but they already felt steadier. Every kind word, every gentle touch made Frisk feel more sure that they would be safe.

They were calm enough that they could feel Papyrus’s Soul. Sometimes, Dad would be close enough that they could hear his heartbeat. Frisk hated when he was that close. But Papyrus’s Soul thrummed, and it was calming. 

Listening to Papyrus's Soul and feeling Sans's hand around theirs, Frisk’s body relaxed and their eyes closed. They didn't want to worry anymore. With their guardians nearby, maybe they didn't have to. 

Frisk allowed their guard to drop. Surrounded by protection and warmth, they drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Papyrus blinked his sockets open. 

The room was bright, and for a  moment, he felt disoriented. Why had he fallen asleep during the day? He had been exhausted lately, but he had mostly been able to make it through the day. 

There was a small sound at his side. He looked down. Frisk shifted slightly against his side, and then settled back into their sleep. Sans snored quietly on the other side of Frisk, not leaning against them, but still holding their hand in his. 

Frisk’s breathing was soft and even. Their wavy hair was a bit messy, and they were covered in dried paint from that morning. They looked like the exact picture of a child worn out from a day of playing. If Papyrus hadn’t seen it himself so many times this week, he would have a hard time imagining the trauma that haunted them. 

Papyrus’s Soul twisted uncomfortably in his chest as the morning's events replayed in his mind. He remembered their reaction to his hands catching them as they fell, shooting straight past fear into full disassociation. Papyrus had caused that. 

He didn’t need to look at his page of guidelines to know the magnitude of his failure. He had long since burned the words into his mind.

-Ensure Frisk has control over physical contact!
*Be extremely careful. Keep them safe. Keep them safe. 

He took a deep breath to quell the nausea roiling in his Soul.  It was a mistake. He had let them go as soon as he realized what had happened. It was a mistake. It was just a mistake. 

He mentally scrolled down his list. 

-Never hurt them again.

He felt even more uncomfortable. He had failed that one just as spectacularly. 

But the addendum he had included came back to his mind -

*Be the best person you can for them. 

Right. He knew he would make mistakes, so he had fallen back on that old belief: that anyone can be a good person if they try. 

Papyrus was trying. He was trying, right? He wanted Frisk to be safe. It was a mistake. Sans wouldn’t let anyone hurt Frisk. It was just a mistake. Frisk’s father was wrong about him.  It was a mistake. Papyrus was doing his best, he was going to keep Frisk safe, it was a mistake, Frisk’s father was wrong, he didn’t want to hurt them - 

A sleepy sound pulled him out of his thoughts. 

Papyrus looked down. Frisk was still dozing against him, but now they were frowning slightly. His Soul sank. Were they uncomfortable? Had he done something wrong? He lifted his arm off their shoulders and leaned away slightly. But then Frisk just frowned more, and with their free hand, grabbed his sweater. They turned their head and buried their face right into the soft fabric of the sweater. They sighed and leaned more onto him. 

Papyrus froze. He waited for Frisk to pull back, but they stayed where they were, only shifting to move closer to him. 

Papyrus’s shoulders fell and he gently rested his arm on Frisk’s shoulders again. Frisk’s expression relaxed and they made a content sound not unlike a little chirp. He smiled softly as he felt the familiar ache of love in his Soul. 

Right. Frisk had asked him to stay. He made a mistake, but Frisk was safe, and right now, they looked peaceful. 

They had to fight so hard for every bit of peace they had in their life. Bit by bit, they were letting their guardians offer them moments of rest, too. Frisk wanted him to stay, so he would stay and give them rest. 

The ache in his Soul steadily warmed until it shifted into a burn. He would not let anyone take that peace away from them.

He would protect his child. He would give his child a better future. He would soothe his child’s fears and heal his child’s wounds. 

Listening to their gentle breathing and feeling their weight against his side, he had never been so sure of anything in his entire life: he loved his child so, so much. 

“O-oh my god, guys. Oh my god.”

Papyrus and Sans sat on the couch in Sans’s room that evening with a laptop set up for a video call. Alphys and Undyne were on the screen. They were together at their shared apartment. Alphys scratched nervously at her hands, and Undyne took one of her hands in her own to soothe the behaviour. Alphys leaned against her gratefully.

Undyne had dutifully spread the word today, and everyone wanted to talk about what they had learned. Frisk opted not to be part of the call, and was currently watching Gurren Lagaan in the living room with the sound up. They didn't seem keen on listening in.

Papyrus was honestly relieved to talk to more of their friends about what was happening. But he was on edge. He had told Frisk to knock or send a text if they needed anything; today had been hard for them. Would they come to him for help? They had gotten better at asking for help, but maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe they were scared out there right now and Papyrus wasn’t there for them. Did he really need to be here? He could just catch up another time! He didn’t really need to talk to his friends. He wanted to be with his child, he didn’t need to be here - 

He snapped back to attention as two more people joined the video call. 

“Hello,” Toriel said quietly with a small wave. Papyrus noticed some tension leave Sans’s posture as he waved back. He must have been missing his friend this week, too. 

“Howdy, everyone,” Asgore’s smooth voice was heavy with grief, despite his usual cheerful greeting. 

“Thanks for callin’. Good to see everyone,” Sans said. “Sorry we’ve been kinda quiet this week, we’ve just been… you know.” He shrugged. 

“N-no, don’t say sorry!” Alphys said quickly. “How is Frisk? How are you two? What do we need to do? How can I help? What should-”

“Let us begin with the first question,” Toriel interrupted gently. Alphys hunched her shoulders a bit and gave a sheepish laugh.

“How’s the kiddo, huh?” Sans sighed, leaning back on the couch. 

How was Frisk? Papyrus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Were they okay right now? 

The image of them going limp in his grasp when he caught them was burned in his vision. How on earth had their father trained such a strong, brave, determined, kind, wonderful child to just…go lifeless in his grasp, become completely vulnerable? Even with Frisk’s horrifying letter, he had seen how much they downplayed things. Part of him didn’t want to know anything more about the evils this man had committed against Frisk. The other part of him wanted to know everything so Frisk didn’t have to be alone in the knowledge of what had happened. 

Regardless, they would surely get them a therapist soon. Frisk may not want to tell their family all the specifics, but maybe that slight distance of a third party would actually be helpful for them? 

“...so that’s how things are more or less going. Did I miss anything, Pap?”

Papyrus startled. “What? Yes! No! Probably?” He looked at Sans out of the corner of his sockets. “Sorry, I may not have been completely paying attention.”

Papyrus redirected his attention to the screen. Everyone was looking at him. He felt sweat bead on his skull.

“Perhaps this is a good time for our next question,” Asgore offered, concern in his voice. “How are you two?”

There was a time when walls of formality separated Papyrus and Asgore. It was a bit like the wall between himself and Undyne when he was trying to get into the Royal Guard, but much moreso. Asgore was their king. 

Asgore had never liked the formalities, though, and now he was not king. He often looked to Papyrus and Undyne for guidance, given their roles in the community. It was strange, but…it was nice, too. Papyrus was starting to let the walls lower. 

And right now, something in the concern on Asgore’s face made Papyrus want to cry.

“I! Am -” Papyrus’s shoulders shook. Sans leaned against him and put a hand on his shoulder. Rather than helping stop the tears, though, that just made it worse. Wonderful! He had barely said a word, and he was already falling apart!

“I am sorry! I do not know what is coming over me. I! Must have just caught something in my socket!”

Sans nudged him, and his smile grew a little. He winked. “And what would that be, Paps?”

Papyrus let out a watery laugh and allowed his posture to relax. “Tears!” He admitted. 

He flopped dramatically against the back of the couch and tilted his face towards the ceiling. “You go first, Sans!” he said, reaching a hand blindly to pat at Sans’s shoulder, instead patting his face. 

“Okay, okay.” Sans chuckled, batting Papyrus’s hand away. Redirecting his attention to the conversation, he let out a long sigh. “I’m fine. Just…really worried. We’re doing our best, but I just don’t wanna mess it up.”

He paused, and after a moment Papyrus realized it was his turn. 

“That is seriously all you are going to say?” Papyrus sat back up to stare at Sans incredulously. 

“Eyup. Efficient.”

“Wh - I know you have more emotions than that! Seriously, Sans! You have annoyed the tears away from me!”

Undyne’s laughter rose from the laptop. “I mean, that’s one way to do it!” She cackled. “You wanna tell us how you’re doing then, Papyrus?”

Sans leaned back on the couch, looking pleased with himself. Papyrus folded his arms. “FINE. But Sans has to talk more about his feelings later too!”

“Sure, sure,” Sans waved. “Your turn now.”

Once again, everyone's attention was on him. But he didn't need to feel nervous here. These were his friends, the people he coparented Frisk with. He could just talk.

“I am…scared,” Papyrus said. The sudden admission startled him, but it was honest. “I have been one of their guardians for years now, and yet I think it is only now that I am beginning to understand the fear a parent carries.” Toriel nodded in understanding. Asgore lowered his eyes. “I want to keep them safe. I want to let them rest. And yet, we have the trial ahead, and though we will all make sure they are safe, I am nervous about how being near that… man might affect them. Oh, and this brings me to the other emotion I am feeling!” He felt his grin stretch wider. “I am very angry.”

Despite the uncharacteristic admission, nobody seemed surprised. Undyne murmured a quiet “hell yeah.”

Papyrus only realized he was shaking again when he felt Sans's hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and straightened up. 

“Couldn't have said it better myself,” Sans growled. “Would love to get my hands on the guy. We'll just have to hope the judge doesn't go easy on him.”

Asgore nodded solemnly. Toriel closed her eyes. Alphys grasped Undyne's hand, a determined expression on her face. Undyne cleared her throat. 

“I have an update on that end,” she said, scratching the back of her neck. “Soooo uh, trial's set in two days.”

Everyone simultaneously said some variation of WHAT? as Undyne ran a hand through her hair. 

“Yeah. Ebott is real quick with this stuff,” she continued. “But thankfully our lawyer's got our witnesses lined up. It seems that the court had records of witnesses that would've been called if their dad went to trial for their disappearance a few years back.” 

Two days. 

“Papyrus and Sans will be called as witnesses,” she said. Then her voice became a bit quieter. “And Frisk. They'll probably have to answer the most.”

Papyrus’s restlessness returned. He wondered if they were okay right now. He checked his phone, and they hadn't messaged him. They were fine, he was sure!

“We will all be at the trial. I hope our presence offers them some strength,” Toriel said softly. “They worked so hard to tell us what happened. We will all offer them our support.”

Asgore nodded. “I am confident that the trial will have a just conclusion. And they will have protection from all Monster-kind as long as they would like it.”

…As long as they would like it. The words took the breath out of Papyrus. 

Right. Any child could leave their family, as was their right. Any child could choose not to stay in contact with their family. 

…Frisk had more reasons than most. 

They had apologized for the harm they did, but Frisk brushed it off. He wondered if one day they would choose to walk away?

His eye caught on Asgore and Toriel both nodding, seemingly communicating with each other. 

“...There is something we would like to discuss.” Toriel held a mug of tea in her paws, the steam lazily rising up from the cup.

“W-what is it?” Alphys asked, leaning forward. 

Toriel closed her eyes for a moment. 

“We… had a human child. You all know this, do you not?” There was a chorus of affirmative responses. 

“Their name was Chara. They were…our entire world. They were like Frisk in some ways. They were strong, and determined, and full of love.” Toriel smiled fondly. “They bonded so closely with our son, Asriel. And we loved them with all we had. But they also carried a deep hurt.”

Toriel's lip quivered and she looked down at her tea. 

“We pieced it together far too late. Perhaps we knew, deep down. Perhaps we thought our love was enough to heal them.”

Toriel looked up for a moment, and Asgore cleared his throat. 

“We…are quite certain that Chara experienced similar harms to Frisk.”

Papyrus's Soul sank. How common was it among human children to suffer like this?

“We knew of Chara’s hatred of humanity. We also knew that a human who climbed Mount Ebott likely did not have their own wellness in mind.” Asgore sighed heavily. “Toriel and I were both aware of sexual abuse, since we had lived on the surface. But…well. I wonder if Chara may have healed more if we had properly addressed their hurt.”

Toriel spoke up again, having regained her composure. 

“In the end, we lost our child before we could ever see them grow past their trauma. We could see how they were haunted by their past.” Toriel's eyes shone with tears. “Our child seemed to value their safety so little, and on bad days, their low self-esteem turned to a burning self-hatred that we tried to soothe. We seemed to help, and perhaps that made us complacent…I know that the wounds that caused their pain never truly healed.”

Asgore’s shoulders hunched a little, and he let out a heavy sigh. 

“I wish we had made sure they knew what was done to them was wrong,” he said quietly. “That we knew what happened, and we loved them. And that they were a beautiful and good soul, and nothing that was done to them could change that.” Asgore raised a tissue and wiped his eyes. “We loved them dearly and had the best intentions, but healing often requires more than that.”

There was a moment of silence. Papyrus didn't know what to say, and he suspected the others felt the same. 

Finally, Toriel continued.

“And when we were once again brought to another human child who bore this trauma...we did not pick up on the signs,” she said. “Their symptoms were quite different from what Chara displayed, and as we are still not the most familiar with the signs, we missed them again. We are very sorry we could not help sooner. And we are here to help now, in whatever ways we can.”

There was a resolve in her words that set Papyrus at ease. Having experienced parents available to help would certainly help them all in the time to come.

“Something we will need to keep in mind is that Frisk has never had a guardian who has not harmed them in some way,” Asgore said. “Their acceptance of our apologies and guardianship is not necessarily well-informed.”

Papyrus sat bolt-upright. 

“Are you saying that we must find them a new home?” He asked, his voice strained. “They have just started to feel settled, and I do not think -”

“No, no,” Asgore said, raising a hand. “Not necessarily, at least. What I am saying is that when we get the child into therapy, we should have the therapist check in routinely regarding Frisk's safety and their preferences. As they heal, if they prefer another home to feel safer, then we can support them in this transition. If they continue to feel safest here with us, we will certainly support them as long as they would like.”

Papyrus heard Sans take a steadying breath beside him. His brother's Soul was as uneasy as his own.

“The most important thing is that Frisk knows they are in control,” Toriel said firmly. “They have had control taken from them their whole life, and even when we have offered choices in the past, they may not have been able to understand the choice was truly theirs. Having third-party connections who can help Frisk understand their autonomy and choices will be very important for the child.”

Asgore and Toriel were right, of course. The guidelines he had made for himself said as much - that they needed autonomy in their future living situation. But something deep in Papyrus rebelled entirely against the idea of letting Frisk go. They were his child, he wanted to care for them and watch them grow and heal. He wanted to be there to help! 

…But he knew if his presence did more harm than good, he would not hesitate to place them in a safer situation. He loved them far too much to prioritize his own attachment over their healing. 

He just wished the thought didn't make him feel like he was dying inside. 

Sans lay in bed looking at the ceiling.

Two days. 

More like one day, honestly. They had one full day, and then the morning after that, the trial started. 

They had decided to go together as a group and take Frisk to the courthouse the next day to meet Mx Haru. Frisk had been relatively sheltered over the past week, and seeing everyone before the actual trial might make their time on the stand just a little bit less of a shock to their system.

He and Papyrus asked Frisk that evening if that would be okay with them, and they nodded firmly. Despite Sans's shock, they actually seemed relieved at the short timespan. They really did want to get it done.

Sans was so tired, but the anxiety in his Soul overrode that. 

It was chilling to see Frisk fall into memories so far from where he could keep them safe. He hated how much their dad had hurt them. He hated how much that man still hurt them even now. He hated that bastard so much.

Today was hard for Frisk. They were unusually quiet after they woke up from their nap. It seemed like they were okay, just recovering, so he and Papyrus just tried to make the remainder of the day as soft as possible.

Was Frisk okay now? It was hard enough sitting in that meeting not knowing how they were doing. He and Papyrus had checked the living room afterwards and they had seemed to be sleeping, so all was well. 

Sans sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He couldn't sleep without checking one more time. 

He slid into his slippers, crossed the room, and quietly opened his door. 

Halfway down the hall, though, Papyrus's door swung open and almost hit him in the face. 

Sans stifled a surprised sound as Papyrus stepped out. He turned and similarly stifled his own surprise at seeing Sans. 

Sans chuckled quietly. He shrugged and pointed towards the living room, then tilted his skull. 

Papyrus’s shoulders slumped a bit and he smiled sadly. He nodded.

Yeah, Pap was awake right now for the same reason Sans was. 

They silently moved down the hall and poked their head into the living room, then listened. 

Sans could hear Frisk snoring lightly. His smile eased. His kiddo was doing just fine. 

His kiddo . 

Thoughts like that were happening more often. His Soul warmed at the thought. 

Even as they started to really feel like his family, though, the conversation from earlier weighed on his mind. 

He set his shoulders. It would be easier to try not to get attached to them, knowing they might leave, but…they seemed to be feeling safe as they settled into his and Papyrus's Souls. They were acting more and more like their own person, and just today, they asked them not to leave. Frisk wanted them here, at least for now. Sans didn't have it in him to keep them at arm's length for his own emotional safety, like he would have in the past. As long as they were here, he needed to be a better guardian than he was before.

Sans patted Papyrus on the back, then they both turned to go back to bed. 

They'd keep Frisk safe from now on, whatever it took.

Chapter Text

“What do ya think, bud? Ya ready?”

Frisk looked up at Sans. They were starting to be able to parse his expressions a bit more, and despite his easy expression, they could see his worry, too. They wondered if it was a bad thing that they felt warmth at the thought of him being concerned for how they were feeling.

And, to be honest, they were feeling a bit nervous.

The courthouse was smaller and less intimidating than Frisk's imagination had made it out to be. It was a humble building without much grandeur, though the dark wood paneling and doors made sure it didn’t look cold or industrial. A large sign with the words EBOTT PROVINCIAL COURT was set above the entrance. The metal letters shone in the cold winter sun.

Frisk nodded firmly. They took a step, then stopped.

The brothers were watching, as if waiting for Frisk to tell them what they needed.

Being perceived like this used to be a nightmare for Frisk. They wanted to be just good enough that nobody would be concerned about them - that was the best way to be invisible. They didn't want adults to think about them. Adults thinking about them meant danger .

But now, Frisk was grateful that Sans and Papyrus saw them.

Frisk reached out, and Sans and Papyrus took their hands without hesitation. Frisk smiled into their scarf and lightly squeezed their hands. Papyrus gently squeezed theirs back, and Sans lightly bumped their shoulder with his own.

This was…their family. It was, right? It was okay for them to believe that?

Frisk took a deep breath and stepped towards the building. Whatever would happen inside the court, they weren't alone. And that was a good thing.

As they crossed the threshold into the courthouse, warmth washed over them. They were glad they weren't wearing their hood, because they wouldn't have wanted to let go of the brothers to lower it in the newfound warmth.

The lobby wasn't huge, but it didn't feel cramped. It was warm with light hardwood floors and brown walls, and several benches and chairs. The lighting was warm, not the ugly fluorescent lights that made Frisk uneasy. It wasn't as bad as Frisk feared. It was kinda cozy, now that they were here. They supposed they needed to check in at reception. Frisk scanned the room and caught sight of the reception desk, and -

“BURGERPANTS?”

The cat monster at the reception desk startled so hard he almost fell off his chair. He rapidly scanned the room as Frisk jogged up to him, dragging the skeletons along with them.

“The name's not-!” He started to scowl, but when he finally focused in on the approaching group, his demeanour shifted entirely.

“Little buddy!!” He said, grinning. “Aw man, I heard you'd be coming by today. Good to see ya, but wish you didn't have to be here, ya know?”

Burgerpants rested his cheek on his hand, resuming a demeanour Frisk was a bit more used to. He looked tired, as always, but even he had seemed to be doing better lately. This job was a new development, though.

“I thought you were working at Mettaton’s shows? Doing… acting?” Frisk tilted their head. They weren't sure if his role as a bush in the last show they went to counted as acting.

Burgerpants scoffed. “Let me tell you, showbiz isn't what everyone makes it out to be, lil buddy.” He got a faraway look in his eyes, before refocusing on the conversation. “Also, we get free pizza on Fridays here.”

Sans chuckled. “The guy's got good priorities.”

The cat monster bristled. “I-I'll have you know that the work I do is also very important!”

Sans raised a placating hand. “No, pal, wasn't razzin’ ya. Pizza's as good a reason as any to get a job.”

Papyrus interjected. “AND the staff at courthouses are integral to the workings of the justice system!” He nodded respectfully to the receptionist. “We thank you deeply for your tireless work!”

Burgerpants's expression relaxed. “Well, I wouldn't say it's tireless. Could use a nap right about now. This surface sun makes for some magnificent naps.”

Frisk smiled. They'd heard the cat monsters all say something similar. Seems that they had the same napping preferences as surface cats.

“And, uh…” Burgerpants looked off to the side. “I guess, it really does feel good to help out, ya know? It's complicated, meshing our two justice systems. But it feels good to be here and gettin’ to know everyone.” He scratched the back of his neck. “A few human kiddos who've come in here all scared seemed to be excited to see a cat workin’ reception. Got a lotta big smiles, and they seemed less nervous after that. That's always good.”

“Well, it definitely made me smile seeing you here, too,” Frisk said.

The cat monster looked surprised for a moment, then his expression softened.

“I'm glad, lil buddy,” he said. “OH. Right. ‘Nother thing I wanted to let ya know. Since I know you, I don't see any of the details in your file or anything. I dunno anything more than the public info. Confidentiality ‘n all that for when the staff knows a victim.”

Papyrus nodded. “Thank you once again for your professionalism! A shining example for your colleagues!”

Burgerpants tried to stammer out a response. His reaction reminded Frisk of how Papyrus got flustered back when they first met and Frisk gave him a genuine compliment.

“Anyway!” Burgerpants said, “The rest of your group is already in one of the meeting rooms with Mx Haru. You can meet ‘em there. Room Four, second door on the left.”

“Thanks!” Frisk gave him one last smile and started turning around. Papyrus followed the tug on his hand and followed the motion through.

Sans looked over his shoulder as they walked away. “Nice to see ya, B.”

“My name's not-!” He went quiet and Frisk looked back again. Burgerpants looked pensive. “Ya know what, actually? B works. B is great . Just imagine it stands for something normal, like Brian. Or Blastoise.”

Frisk giggled and continued walking. “Okay. See you later, B!”

It was a short walk to the meeting room. Sans and Papyrus hadn’t told them that they didn’t want to hold Frisk’s hands anymore, so Frisk continued to hold on. In the back of their mind, they wondered if it was immature of them to find so much comfort in something like this. They didn’t see any other teens holding their guardians’ hands. Some of them were even embarrassed to be seen with their parents.

Frisk thought about letting go, but at the mere thought of it, they felt a small, unexpected shudder run through them. Well, that decision was made, they supposed. They would hold on a bit longer at least.

Frisk saw Sans glancing over at them from the corner of their eye, and he ran his thumb over Frisk’s knuckles a couple of times.

They wanted to cry. Was it really okay for a kid like them to be given love like this?

Papyrus reached over and knocked on the meeting room with a number four on its sign. Frisk refocused on the task at hand. They wondered what Mx Haru would be like.

Immediately after Papyrus knocked, they heard a few familiar murmurs from behind the door (and one not-murmur from Undyne saying “They're here!!”). Frisk took a deep breath.

The door swung open.

The room was similarly decorated to the rest of the building. There was a long table running the length of the room, a box of donuts open on the table. The room was large enough, with more space near the entrance.

Frisk’s guardians were all there.

“HEY DUDES!!” Undyne tossed a donut at Papyrus, which he intercepted flawlessly. Asgore, sitting beside her, slid the box of donuts away from Undyne. Across the table and turned in their chairs to see the new arrivals, Alphys was perched on her chair, an anxious look on her face. Toriel waved to them as she wiped donut crumbs from her mouth with a napkin.

Frisk wasn’t sure how they should feel. They were distantly aware of Papyrus passing the donut to Sans after saying something about “grease not being good for his skin,” which would usually make them laugh. But right now, they were helpless as a sudden wave of shame crashed into them.

This was a whole room of people who knew how disgusting they were.

Frisk told them so much in that letter. All their guardians knew how often it happened and when it started, and now they must have figured out how horrible Frisk was, how worthless and used-up they were. Why did Sans and Papyrus even want to hold their hands? Frisk pulled their hands away from the brothers and clutched the end of their scarf. They heard Sans say something, but couldn’t quite understand what the sounds meant. Toriel’s voice came next. Then everyone’s voices started, and Frisk wanted to run away.

They vaguely saw a person ushering them out of the room. Frisk didn’t fight against it. Sans and Papyrus stepped back out with them. The other person, who moved them out of the room, closed the door most of the way and then left.

Papyrus was kneeling in front of them. Frisk was almost as tall as Sans already, but Papyrus still towered over them unless he knelt down. They had seen Papyrus make himself small for them so many times this week. He cared too much for a gross kid like them.

*You…safe…brothers…

A thought tried to form in Frisk’s mind, but everything was too much and they couldn’t parse it out. Frisk’s body felt all wrong. They pulled their hood up. They needed to hide. Sans was by their side, leaning over and trying to get their attention. They couldn’t do anything right, they were always weird and gross and stupid and -

Sans and Papyrus suddenly backed away. Frisk’s heart dropped. But no, that was good. Good, they had been too close to Frisk. Sans and Papyrus were good , and Frisk was going to make everything worse if they stayed close.

Through blurry vision, Frisk swore they saw a flash of gold fur.

Fur? That wasn’t right. And it was too small to be Asgore or Toriel.

Frisk blinked again and tried to focus in on the thing, which was a few feet in front of them.

A person was there, too, a large human. Frisk should leave. Frisk needed to run. But…

*A dog has been deployed.

Frisk’s vision finally cleared enough, and there, in front of them, was a smiling yellow labrador.

*You want to pet it.

A dog. A dog wouldn’t care if they were gross. Frisk wouldn’t make a dog’s life bad. They took a few steps forward. Slowly, carefully, they reached a hand to the dog, who sniffed it, smiled, and licked it.

Frisk let out a choked cry and sank to their knees. They needed to feel something other than their horrible body, other than phantom touches on their skin. They carefully reached out and wrapped their arms around the dog.

Frisk sat there for a moment. They finally opened their clenched hands and ran their fingers through the short, coarse fur. The dog smelled nice, like flowery shampoo and snow. Frisk laughed into its fur. Dogaressa and Dogamy would know this is a puppy.

The dog leaned into the touch, and they heard its tail thumping happily against the floor. Frisk wasn’t making the dog’s life bad. The dog didn’t care how horrible Frisk was, how gross it was to be touched by such a dirty person. It seemed happy Frisk was there.

…Their guardians were there, too. Frisk had just seen them, and they didn’t look disgusted at them, either. Frisk couldn’t figure out why.

Frisk froze.

Oh, no.

A large human was also here.

Frisk let go and stood up at the same time that they scrambled backwards. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry, I didn’t think, I didn’t -”

“You’re okay, Frisk,” A calm voice said. It wasn’t a familiar voice. How did it know their name?

Sans and Papyrus were at their side again, and then the human with the dog was in front of them. Right, human adults wanted kids to look up at them. Frisk forced themself to look up.

The person was pretty tall, somewhere between Sans and Papyrus’s height. They were heavyset with broad shoulders. Their long, straight black hair was pulled back in a ponytail. It was shiny and pretty and Frisk wished they could look at it, but adults didn’t like it when kids got distracted, so they looked back at the human’s face.

They wore thin wire glasses and shiny dangling earrings which Frisk wanted to admire, but once again, they needed to focus. They had tattoos on their forehead, a v shape with a smaller v shape inside of it, both pointing down from their hairline. And as they looked at the human’s expression, they didn’t look mad at Frisk. They looked…nice? They reminded Frisk of some of the teachers they liked, back when they went to human school.

Frisk chanced a look down at the dog, and it was still smiling and wagging its tail. Nobody seemed mad at them yet.

“This is Pepper!” The human said cheerfully, as if Frisk wasn’t making everything horrible and weird. “Pepper really likes you. Want to pet her some more?”

Frisk gasped. They couldn’t believe their luck. They looked to Sans and Papyrus, who both nodded. Frisk stepped forward and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Pepper. They giggled when the dog licked their face.

This was really nice. They got to pet a dog and sit on the floor. This was a really good day. Frisk chanced a look around as their hands were buried deep in Pepper’s fur.

Oh, right. They were in a wide hallway…outside of the meeting room, where the rest of their guardians were. Frisk had left them so rudely. They didn’t even say hi to anyone.

They snapped back to attention when the other human sat down against the wall on the other side of Pepper.

“You’re sure making Pepper happy. She loves the attention,” the other human said. They ruffled Pepper’s ears, making the dog’s tail wag even more rapidly.

Frisk blushed at the positive words. They kept stroking Pepper’s fur, running their hand down her shoulder. “Thanks for letting me pet your dog,” they said quietly, forcing their voice out.

The human laughed, but it didn’t sound like they were laughing at Frisk for being stupid. It was a nice sound. “My pleasure! You’re really kind to Pepper. In my opinion, people who are nice to animals tend to be nice people.”

Frisk blushed more, and they couldn’t help their small smile. They agreed with the assessment, but it was strange for someone to apply it to them. Frisk looked back up at the human, who looked over to them.

“Not that I expected anything else!” They smiled. “Your guardians told me how wonderful you are, and I’m happy to meet you too.”

Frisk tilted their head. This human knew their guardians? The dots were trying to connect in their mind, but they were still feeling flighty and the thoughts refused to focus to a point.

The human looked back down at the dog, and Frisk did too. Together, they kept petting Pepper.

“My name’s Mx Haru,” they said easily. “Pepper and I are coworkers.”

Oh, right, that name was familiar. They came here to meet with Mx Haru. They continued petting Pepper.

At their lack of response, Mx Haru continued. “I've been working here for a while. I rearranged my office recently, though. Gotta keep things fresh! I even got a new office plant.”

…Why were they telling Frisk this?

“Oh, and there’s an awesome burger place nearby. If you need lunch after this, totally recommend it. I go there way more often than I should. Not the best for the ol' wallet, but so good for the soul.”

Huh. It was weirdly calming, just listening to them talk.

“I don't go on Fridays, though. On Fridays we get pizza lunches. I won’t say I do my job for the pizza parties, but they’re definitely a perk.”

Frisk giggled. They surprised themself when - though not quite steady yet - their voice came out in response. “M-my friend works at the front desk. Said he likes the pizza parties, too.”

“Oh, yeah!” Mx Haru said enthusiastically. “The rest of your guardians knew him, too! He was happy that he was gonna see you today. Did you get to chat with him?”

Frisk nodded. “Likes this job a lot. 'M glad, his job in the Underground really wasn’t his favourite.”

“Ahhh, I feel that,” Mx Haru said empathetically. “My first job was at a steel manufacturer, making giant springs for machinery. So loud. And Pepper didn’t work there, so the job I have now is obviously way better.”

Frisk nodded. A job with lots of sudden loud sounds didn’t sound great.

Pepper’s eyes were closed and she looked totally content. “I think Pepper is glad you work here too,” Frisk said with a smile. They were surprised at how easy it was to talk to the other human. Frisk was usually way more nervous around new humans. Maybe it was because Sans and Papyrus were here with them.

Wait. Were they here? Frisk straightened up and looked around. Sure enough, Sans and Papyrus were sitting against the opposite wall, a few feet back.

“Do not worry, Frisk! We are right here!” Papyrus said, his voice chipper. Sans gave a smile and a thumbs up.

Even though Frisk had freaked out and pulled away from them and made a big deal out of nothing again, they had stayed.

Why did they keep looking at Frisk so kindly?

“Um,” Frisk said, then pointed at Pepper. “You guys should pet her. She’s nice.”

Sans’s grin widened and Papyrus clapped his hands. They both walked across the hall and knelt down. Pepper started wiggling with happiness at all the attention as they petted her too.

After a moment, Frisk gathered their courage, even as their face warmed with shame.

“I’m really sorry for making things weird in there,” they said quietly.

“Not your fault at all, pal,” Sans said. “That was a lot to take in all at once, hey?”

“I will tell Undyne to refrain from launching unexpected donut projectiles!” Papyrus said sternly.

Frisk laughed. “No, that was fine,” they said. “And you caught it perfectly. It was really cool.”

Papyrus straightened up a little bit and beamed. “Why, thank you, Frisk! I have kept my reflexes sharp!” He settled back into a more relaxed posture as he continued to scratch behind Pepper’s ears. “Do you know if something else was unpleasant in that room?”

Frisk leaned against Pepper and looked at the floor. They drew their knees up to their chest.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to. We just wanna make sure you're safe in there,” Sans said quietly.

“No, it’s just -” Frisk lowered themself slightly into their scarf.

I’m gross. I’m horrible. I make everyone’s lives so much harder. You’re all just too nice to get rid of me. Don’t you feel disgusted just looking at me?

“...Everyone knows now,” They murmured, pulling their scarf down just enough to be heard.

There was a moment of silence, then Papyrus took a deep breath. “They do know,” he said. “They know now because you were so courageous. We are all honoured that you shared with us.”

Frisk laughed bitterly. “You don’t think I was making a big deal out of something small?”

“Definitely not, bud,” Sans said. “You did real good. Pap’s right, you were brave.”

Frisk looked down. They scuffed their shoe on the wooden floor.

“...You don’t think it’s gross?” They asked quietly.

Only Mx Haru was close enough to hear them.

“What’s gross, Frisk?” They asked gently.

Frisk’s face got warmer than ever and they burrowed almost entirely into their scarf. They couldn’t say it. They pulled their shaking hands back from Pepper and gestured to their entire body.

Frisk’s eyes were closed. They didn’t want to see Sans and Papyrus nodding, agreeing how disgusting they were. They wanted to melt into the floor.

Instead, they heard Sans’s voice. “Frisk, no,” he said. He sounded really sad.

“You are not gross at all,” Papyrus said firmly. “Nothing about you. Not a single thing!”

Frisk wanted to disagree, but the only sound they could make was a pathetic whine, so they shut up and stayed burrowed in their scarf.

“And nobody in there thinks you’re gross, either,” Mx Haru said quietly.

Frisk hunched their shoulders. “How do you know? You don’t even know me yet,” they said, forcing their voice to be loud enough through their scarf.

“Not very well,” they agreed. “But I know you’re nice to dogs, and I know you care about whether your friends like their jobs. And I know all your guardians think you’re cool, and funny, and kind, and very brave.”

Frisk slowly emerged from their scarf again. Mx Haru wasn’t looking at them; they mostly kept their eyes focused on Pepper. Frisk was grateful for that. It was nice not to feel too seen.

“Your guardians told me all those things,” Mx Haru continued, “And not a single one of them said that you’re gross.”

Frisk stared down at their hands, which were now resting on their knees.

When Sans and Papyrus read their letter, Frisk were worried they’d be disgusted at them. But it didn’t seem like they were. They stayed with Frisk, they held them. And yesterday they even said Frisk could stay with them longer.

Frisk trusted Sans and Papyrus. They would be safe with them. Sans and Papyrus had seen so much of their badness this week, but they still let Frisk stay with them, and didn't even hurt them.

They said Frisk’s dad was wrong for what he did. They said that no adult should treat them like that. It was Dad’s fault, not Frisk’s.

…The rest of their guardians would be okay with Frisk, too. Sans and Papyrus believed that, and Frisk could trust them, right? They were all here because they believed Frisk’s dad should be punished for what he did. Everyone was on their side.

Frisk took a deep breath.

“...Can Pepper come with us for the meeting?” They asked quietly.

“You bet,” Mx Haru said. “She loves meetings. She’s always really popular.”

Frisk smiled. It felt weird making so many requests, but…

“Is it okay if I sit on the floor in there with Pepper?”

Mx Haru shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Floor time is great.”

“Yeah!” Frisk said, turning slightly towards them. “Especially when there’s a pet. I always wanna just sit with the pet.”

Mx Haru laughed again. Frisk liked their laugh. “Let me tell you, that urge does not go away when you grow up. So just get a lot of friends who have cute pets and understand floor time.”

Frisk nodded. “Maybe I'll get some pets when I grow up and then everyone can come over and have floor time with them.”

“I like how you think! You got a good head on your shoulders.” Mx Haru smiled again. They gave compliments so freely. Frisk wasn't sure whether they could trust that, but it just…felt nice. For now, they would try not to question it.

After a moment, they straightened up slightly and looked at Frisk. “Alrighty. What do you think? Wanna give this meeting thing another go?”

Frisk looked at Sans and Papyrus, then back to Mx Haru. They nodded. “Yeah,” they said, their determination returning. “I can do this.”

“Hello again, everyone!” Mx Haru addressed the group as they all walked into the room together. “I’d like to introduce you to Pepper.”

There was an appropriate chorus of “awww”s, and Papyrus smiled at the way Asgore looked positively giddy at seeing the adorable creature.

“Pepper’s job right now is to hang out with Frisk, so they’re gonna sit together in this area over here during the meeting.” Mx Haru gestured to the open area closer to the entrance of the room. Everyone nodded. Frisk hadn’t looked up at all; they kept their eyes focused on Pepper. They shuffled over to the corner and sat down.

Mx Haru pulled out a notebook and wrote something on it, then held it up to Frisk.

“Hey Frisk, when you’re all settled, tell Pepper to do this.”

Frisk finally looked up and focused on the notebook. They cocked their head, but followed the adult’s guidance. Once they had settled into their corner, they looked at the dog and said “Pepper, relax.” Pepper instantly flopped on her side and rested her head on Frisk’s lap.

Frisk let out a surprised, delighted giggle and bent over, raising their legs so her head was close enough for them to give her a kiss on her cheek. Pepper’s tail thumped happily.

Papyrus’s Soul ached in the most familiar way: He loved his child. He loved his child. He loved his child.

Now that Pepper and Frisk were situated, Papyrus and Sans took seats opposite each other - Sans beside Alphys and Papyrus beside Asgore. Mx Haru sat at the foot of the table.

“So! I realize I haven’t properly introduced myself!” They smiled. “My name is Amaruq Haru. You can call me Mx Haru, Amaruq, Haru, whatever. I’m not too picky. That goes for you too, Frisk! I know I introduced myself as Mx Haru, but just use whatever’s comfortable.”

Papyrus looked over. He couldn’t see Frisk from his spot, but over the edge of the table, he saw them raise a hand to give a thumbs up.

Papyrus leaned forward slightly. “It is very good to meet you! My name is Papyrus.”

“So good to meet you in person!” Mx Haru said. “I’m familiar with your work as Ambassador. We really appreciate it.”

Papyrus felt a familiar rush of warmth at being given a genuine compliment. “It is my honour! And a great joy to continue to meet the humans of Ebott, as well!” He narrowed his sockets. “Well. Most of the humans. There is one very specific man that we decidedly do not like.”

There was a quiet snort-laugh from Frisk’s direction.

Papyrus’s attention was redirected as Sans leaned back in his chair. “The name’s Sans. Ambassador of hot dogs and hot cats.”

“Sans, I told you humans aren’t ready for hot cats!” Frisk had now popped their head up over the table.

Sans winked at Frisk. “C’monnnn, Amaruq is cool. And it’s my job as hot dog and cat ambassador.”

“Not a real job, Sans,” Frisk sighed before sinking back down to hang out with Pepper again. Ah, it was nice to have the camaraderie of another person being one hundred percent done with Sans’s tomfoolery… Frisk was truly the best child.

Toriel, on the other hand, was stifling giggles, and Sans looked like that was the only audience affirmation he needed. SIGH. She always encouraged him far too much.

“Anyway, the name’s Sans,” He said, waving a hand. “The rest of the stuff’s just bonus content.”

“Alrighty. Nice to meet you, Sans,” Mx Haru said with a chuckle. “Now. Down to business.”

Papyrus saw everyone lock in. Notebooks and pens were distributed, including to Frisk, and they all listened attentively.

“We’re charging Penn Adamson with two felonies: Sexual Offense Against a Child, and Attempted Murder.”

Oh, that man has a name, Papyrus thought to himself. I sure didn’t care to know it.

“D-do we have the evidence for attempted murder?” Alphys asked, raising a hand.

Mx Haru nodded, a grim expression on their face. “I’ll get into it as we go. You’re right that we wouldn’t always want to pursue a higher charge if we didn’t feel confident in it, but I do believe this is the appropriate route, if you are all in agreement after we discuss it.”

Mx Haru pulled a paper out of a folder on the desk.

“Undyne sent me a copy of Frisk’s letter, and I think the information in that letter is central to our direct testimony. It’s an excellent testimony, Frisk. You outlined the dates and frequency clearly. I can see that you put a lot of work into outlining what happened, and you did a great job.”

There was a short pause, then - “Thank you,” Frisk replied quietly. There was a smile in their voice. Papyrus was pleased that Mx Haru was including Frisk in the meeting, even if they presently needed floor time. And she seemed to be of the same mind as himself: that Frisk deserved all of the praise! Truly the right lawyer for the job.

“Frisk’s testimony in this letter clearly outlines that these offenses had been ongoing. It also indicates that there was also an attempted sexual assault on the day of the attack last week,” Mx Haru said. “This is important to demonstrate that in both a physical and sexual capacity, Adamson is a danger. The judge can consider this in sentencing.”

Undyne crossed her arms. “Yeah, she better consider it. We need that guy put away as long as possible.”

“We’ve got our witnesses lined up. Doctor Sommer is going to be our expert witness regarding Frisk’s injuries. I have spoken with her extensively, and I was very happy to hear of Frisk’s quick recovery. The combination of human medicine and healing magic is definitely an exciting area of research, and helped Frisk along quite well.” Mx Haru took a deep breath. “However, the injuries to Frisk’s neck showed a large amount of force. Frisk was very lucky that they did not end up with any permanent damage to their spine or throat. An attack like that is very common when the attacker has murderous intent.”

A weight settled over the meeting room. They had all known it. Frisk had said as much in their letter, that they thought their dad wanted to kill them. But the reality of it, hearing their lawyer want to prosecute him for attempted murder of their ward…

Frisk’s head popped back up. “Can I have a donut?”

Undyne let out a surprised cackle. “Hey, I got you! Wanna catch it?” Frisk nodded eagerly. Asgore sighed and passed Undyne the box.

“Ya ready, punk?” Frisk was on their feet now, completely focused on Undyne. She frisbee’d a donut at Frisk, and of course with their supreme athletic prowess, catching it was not a problem! Papyrus was very proud.

They stayed standing and munched thoughtfully on the donut.

“So I really wasn’t freaking out over something little, huh?” They asked quietly.

“Certainly not,” Toriel said quietly. “We are all so sorry for the harm you have endured.”

The words had a weight to them that was not lost on Papyrus. The crack of their arm breaking in his fight with them resonated in his mind and sent a chill through his bones.

They had endured far too much.

“Can I give Pepper a tiny piece of the donut? It’s not chocolate,” Frisk asked.

“Yeahhh, why not. She’s such a good girl.” Mx Haru grinned. Frisk happily tore a small piece off and gave it to the dog, who snapped it up eagerly.

“I was also able to contact witnesses who can corroborate details from before Frisk ran away. The first one was on the list of witnesses from Frisk’s disappearance. Her name is Mrs Cyrus.”

Frisk’s eyes went wide at the name. “My teacher?”

Frisk’s teacher.

It still felt so surreal that Frisk’s life with their father had been so horrible, and simultaneously, they had to do things like go to school and try to be a normal child. They had teachers. Papyrus’s Soul roiled at the thought; how had they not noticed? How had they not protected Frisk?

But… Papyrus himself had not noticed the warning signs. And Frisk had said that their father was very cunning and did not leave any marks that would show.

“She can attest to signs that she noticed, such as attendance, Frisk’s performance in school, and the like,” Mx Haru said.

Frisk was back on the floor with Pepper. Papyrus could no longer see them.

“Another witness from before is Mr Roshan. He met Frisk the summer before they went missing, at the cabin. His family was vacationing at the same time Frisk and their father were. Cabin rental records indicated that Frisk and their father went in the summer, and again in the fall. Shortly after that, Frisk went missing.” Their voice quieted a bit. “This is, of course, consistent with Frisk’s testimony.”

Frisk had mentioned enjoying meeting friends at the cabin. They had also mentioned what happened that last time, when it was just them and their dad.

Papyrus felt Sans’s pain even as his own engulfed him.

They must have felt so scared and alone.

Papyrus didn’t need to be connected with the others’ Souls to know it weighed heavy on them, as well.

“Lastly, I wanted to discuss testifying,” Mx Haru said, picking up their regular pace. “Our witnesses will be Papyrus, Sans, and, of course, Frisk. I plan to call you all in that order, if there’s no objection.”

Frisk once again raised a thumbs up.

After Sans and Papyrus nodded, she continued.

“I’ll keep it pretty simple,” Mx Haru said. “It’ll basically just be asking you what happened last week, and also, Sans and Papyrus, I’ll ask you about the specific symptoms of Frisk’s trauma that you have seen this week. Since you aren’t qualified as expert witnesses - no offense, it’s a specific categorization - you can’t speculate. That means that your job is pretty simple. Tell the truth, answer only what I ask you. And on cross examination, the defense will question you too. I’ll object if they go off base, so don’t worry. We have a solid case and I don’t think they have much to work with.”

“What can the rest of us do?” Asgore asked. “Is there any part that we need to be prepared for?”

“Yes, actually, there is.” Mx Haru grinned, something wolfish in the expression. Ah. Papyrus had been so taken by her softness and professionalism that he had forgotten that Undyne had specifically mentioned that she was rather formidable when it came to taking down those who committed crimes like Frisk’s father did.

“You can all make victim impact statements,” they said. “That might sound soft, but believe me, that’s one of the most intense parts of the proceeding. You get to tell the judge how Adamson’s actions have affected you. As Frisk’s guardians, you can say exactly what you think of the guy that hurt them.” They crossed their arms. “You can recommend the judge give certain sentences, or just express yourselves. Choice is yours.”

Toriel folded her hands on the table in front of her. “Very good,” she said, her voice tight. “I have words. Many words.”

“Good.” Mx Haru grinned again. “As for our witnesses, though, after the cross examination and any redirect, I’ll ask for your victim impact statements. You’ll be done in one go, so have your thoughts ready for then.”

Papyrus nodded.

“And Frisk,” Mx Haru said. “I will ask you questions in line with the information in your letter. When it started, how often, things like that. I will give you the sheet of questions, and you can review them and let me know if you have any concerns.”

“Okay,” came their voice from the floor. Papyrus leaned over and saw that Frisk was fully laying on the ground with Pepper now.

We should get a dog, Papyrus blinked as the thought crossed his mind. He was not fond of dogs! They stole bones and broke the laws of physics! But…seeing Frisk with Pepper, he may need to reconsider. His child would have whatever they needed in order to heal!

…Oh, right. They had not committed to living with Sans and Papyrus. They may choose to go back to their apartment soon.

They may choose to leave entirely.

Papyrus took a deep breath. He needed to stay focused on the present moment, or he would lose his composure. And he was the most composed of skeletons! He was Papyrus, the Picture of Professionalism!

“I don’t anticipate any tough questioning of Frisk from the defense; they won’t want to look like they’re badgering the victim. They will be looking to reduce the attempted murder charge and will likely ask questions of all of the witnesses on their surety of the instances of sexual assault, but if they press Frisk much, I’ll make sure to object.”

Another thumbs up, considerably harder to see now that Frisk was laying on the floor.

“Alright then.” Mx Haru clapped, but Papyrus noted that her hands were slightly cupped, so the sound was muffled, as if they were used to intentionally clapping quietly so as not to startle people. “Before we leave, I’ll go over the questions that I’ll be asking each of you, so you can be prepared on the stand. After that, we can head out for the day. You should all review your materials, but also try to relax as much as possible. I know this is a very stressful time.”

That was a correct assessment.

“Let’s get to it.”

“Can I touch base with you three before you leave?”

The rest of their group had left the meeting room already. Frisk wanted to stay with Pepper for a bit longer, so Sans, Papyrus, and Frisk stayed behind.

Sans looked at them, then down at Frisk. Frisk had raised their head so they could see Amaruq.

“Yeah, what's up?” Sans settled in one of the chairs close to Frisk, while Papyrus stood near them.

“There are some questions I will be asking Frisk that I wanted to go over with just us here. I just know they might be tough, and I thought they might feel more comfortable in the smaller group.”

Frisk shifted. “Okay,” they said.

The meeting had been difficult at times, but Frisk had remained present throughout it. Amaruq sat down a couple feet away from Frisk, facing them.

“These questions will be about the cuts you mentioned. Are you okay to talk about that?”

Frisk took a deep breath, but nodded.

“First, there’s something that I was wondering about regarding Dr Sommer’s testimony,” the lawyer continued. She looked to Sans and Papyrus. “Dr Sommer mentioned scarring on Frisk’s side, which aligned with what Frisk marked it on the diagram in their letter.”

Frisk shifted a bit, but nodded.

Mx Haru turned to Frisk. “Do you think you would be able to show the doctor a bit more of the scarring?” She asked. “You don’t have to. And if you say yes, you also don’t have to show all of it. Whatever you’re comfortable showing will just give her a bit more info for her testimony.”

Sans heard Papyrus’s breath hitch.

Frisk hid their body so diligently. Even just showing the doctor their side and their neck had caused them so much fear. He didn’t want to make things more stressful for them, and this seemed like an impossible ask. But when he looked at his kid, they didn’t look scared, just pensive.

Finally, they nodded. “Is it okay not to show a specific part?”

“Absolutely. And if you get there and change your mind, that’s fine too.”

Frisk took a deep breath, then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

Sans exhaled. They really had come so far in just a few days. But… “With the trial tomorrow, when would we be seeing the doc?”

Amaruq jotted down a note on their legal pad. “She said she can meet you at the clinic next door at 8am, before the trial. Does that sound okay?”

“That would be doable. Frisk, what do you think?” Papyrus asked.

Frisk nodded decisively. “Yeah. We can do that.”

“Alright! I’ll call and get it set up.” They tore the sheet of paper off their legal pad and passed it to Papyrus. “Here is the address. It’s right next door, so it’ll be an easy find.”

Papyrus folded the paper and tucked it into his jacket pocket. After a moment, Amaruq looked up at Frisk again. “And next, I was hoping to get some information from you regarding the knife itself. Is that something you can talk to me about?”

Frisk drew their knees up a little bit, and Pepper pressed her head against their chest. “Yeah. Yeah, what do you need to know?”

Sans was proud of his kid. They were working real hard here, and they were doing a great job…but after all this was done, he needed to make sure they could nap for like, a month. Well. Maybe not a month, because of school. Eh, Tori would be able to manage something.

Anyway. Lots of naps in their future. They needed to actually rest sometime. They really hadn’t had a chance to do that yet.

He focused back on the conversation.

“You mentioned that Adamson used a small knife, right?” Amaruq took the copy of Frisk’s letter out of her folder and pointed to the markings they had made on their drawing.

Frisk nodded. Pepper licked their hand, and Frisk smiled down at her.

Amaruq pulled out a few wooden sticks that looked like skewers with the pointed ends cut off. The skewers were cut to a variety of lengths. They ranged from about the length of a toothpick to the length of a butterknife.

“Are we makin’ some tiny kebabs?” Sans said.

He was rewarded with a giggle from Frisk. Goal achieved. They picked up the toothpick-length skewer. “We could make kebabs for Muffets's spider family with this one,” they grinned.

“That is not a bad idea,” Papyrus said. He had been unusually quiet, but if there was one way to get him chatting, it was with culinary adventures. He sat down on his knees beside Frisk and observed the skewers. “I have long since thought that her establishment could use some savoury items!”

“And they could just use actual toothpicks! So it’d be easy to get a lot,” Frisk offered. Then they turned to Amaruq. “Oh! Sorry, you probably don’t know. Muffett is our friend. She has a bakery. They sell stuff for spiders, by spiders. But not only spiders like them! I like them, too. And don’t worry, they don’t sell stuff made of spiders.”

“... Of spiders?” Amaruq asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. Not anymore!” Frisk smiled.

Sans didn’t know if Amaruq was actually this chill with the odd sales pitch, or if they (like Sans himself) could never say no to that beaming smile. Regardless, she moved past any strangeness very quickly and just shrugged.

“Hey, I’ll give it a try! Let’s trade recommendations after. I’ll give you the address of the burger place, you give me Muffet’s.”

Frisk nodded seriously. “Deal.”

Negotiations settled, Frisk tentatively reached out and touched a couple more of the longer skewers. “...What are these actually for?” They asked carefully.

“They’re just a visual aid to help us out. We talked a bit about the knife that Adamson used, right?” Amaruq said, their tone even. Frisk took another deep breath and nodded. “I wanted to see if you could pick out a stick that’s about the length of the blade he used. Not the handle, just the blade.”

Frisk scooched forward a couple inches. Pepper just let herself be dragged along.

Sans leaned over to watch as they looked at the skewers, no longer touching them. Finally, they picked one out.

Amaruq nodded. “Okay. A five inch long blade seems about right.”

Sans felt his Soul stutter and hoped it didn’t show. Hadn’t Frisk said it was small? They said it was a pocketknife!

“Can I show you some pictures of types of knives, and you can tell me which one it looked like?” Amaruq asked.

Frisk closed their eyes for a moment, opened them again, and nodded.

Amaruq placed a paper on the floor in front of Frisk. Pepper butted her head against Frisk’s shoulder, and they reached over to scratch her ear.

The paper had a number of illustrations of foldable knives on it. They quickly pointed to one.

“Perfect. Thanks a lot,” Amaruq smiled at them. They took the paper back and circled the illustration of a switchblade. “And he always used this one?”

“Yeah,” Frisk answered. “He only brought out bigger ones sometimes, and he didn’t use them. Just said he would.”

Sans felt Papyrus steadily growing cold - a familiar sensation this week - but also buzzing with an almost-electric sense of urgency. Sans felt it in his Soul, too. Protect. Protect. Protect.

“I have another question, but again, you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to,” Amaruq started. “Was there a certain time he used knives? Did he say there was a reason?”

Frisk shifted a bit and shrunk into their coat and scarf. Pepper pressed her head against their chest.

The lawyer continued, voice soft. “Remember, you don’t have to answer this.”

Sans wanted to take Frisk away from here. He wanted to gather them in his arms - forget the fact that they were almost as tall as him, he wanted to cradle them and get them far away from everything that reminded them of that man.

But Frisk straightened up and scrubbed their eyes. They wrapped their arms around Pepper. And when they looked up again, Sans saw that familiar look of determination flashing in their eyes.

“I can answer,” they said, their voice wavering. “He said that kids learned faster with physical reminders, like spankings and stuff. But when I got older, he said I was - I was a lot less smart than most kids. And I was bad at learning things. So I needed stronger reminders. Things that left marks.”

The frantic buzzing from Papyrus’s Soul almost took Sans’s breath away. He pressed a hand against his chest to soothe it. As he did that, Papyrus looked up at him, winced, and took a deep breath. The buzzing calmed slightly.

“Um, he usually did it if - I talked back to him or if I was difficult,” Frisk continued. Then their shoulders tensed considerably. “Everything kinda got worse at the end, because he started using it - like, when I wasn’t learning how to do something quickly enough.”

Their face reddened again. Sans stopped breathing.

“Sometimes h-he wanted me to do something specific for him, you know? Something to make him feel - um - good. I wasn’t always very good at it, even after a lot of practice! I was just too stupid to get it right.”

Sans should really start breathing again soon. His vision dimmed as his eyelights flicked out.

Frisk’s voice became more frantic. They kept their eyes cast downward.

“I - I promise I tried to do what he wanted! I just was really slow at learning that stuff and it wasn’t even that complicated but I know that I’m a stupid kid and I just -”

Pepper whined and licked Frisk’s face, stopping the words spilling out of them. Amaruq moved back a couple of inches, pushed aside her file and the skewers on the floor, and gestured at Sans and Papyrus to sit with Frisk.

Sans started breathing only once he was by their side and their hand was in his. Pepper lay down across Frisk’s lap. Frisk pulled Sans and Papyrus’s hands towards their chest. Their eyes were closed and they were taking deep breaths.

“You’re good, pal,” Sans said. “We gotcha.”

“You were never stupid.” Papyrus spat the word out. “No child should know how to do - any of that. And even before it got to that! It was always unacceptable!”

Frisk held on tighter. “Most kids are - g-good at things. I wasn't good at things. N-needed…needed correction.”

“No, you didn’t,” Sans said. He winced at how harsh his voice came out. Thankfully it didn’t seem to scare Frisk. He steadied himself. “I don’t care if you’re good at anything. You should have been protected, not hurt.”

“B-but, need to - be good. Have to be - useful. Gotta earn -”

“Frisk,” Papyrus said, his voice firm. “This is a very important lesson that I have been learning! Being useful is not the goal. You do not have to fulfill a purpose to deserve care.”

Frisk shifted uncomfortably. They didn’t respond to Papyrus. Instead, after a moment, they looked up at Amaruq.

“‘M Sorry, Mx Haru,” they said. “Promise ‘m not tryin’ to be difficult.”

Amaruq smiled softly at them.

“Frisk, there’s something that you should know,” they said. “It sounds like you think you’re really different from other kids. And you’re right that most kids haven’t gone through what you did. But I work with a lot of kids who have gone through something like this, and I see a lot of different things from them.”

Frisk’s vice-grip on Sans’s hand lessened, and they lowered Sans and Papyrus’s hands down from their chest. “What kinds of things?” They asked weakly.

“Hmmm,” Amaruq folded her arms. “Last week, a five-year-old bit me.”

Frisk snort-laughed, and then dropped Sans and Papyrus’s hands to cover their mouth. “'M so sorry,” they said, voice muffled by their hands.

Amaruq grinned. “Nah, not gonna lie, I kinda was hoping to get a laugh outta you.” Sans’s own grin widened.

“But yeah. I have kids yell at me a lot. Lots of kids cry and can’t tell me much. Sometimes it takes weeks of meetings before we can discuss anything. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for that in this trial...I wish we did, so you didn't have to work so hard today. Lots of kids have difficulties, whether they’ve gone through the things you have or not.”

Frisk focused on petting Pepper.

“Kids can have difficult emotions and behaviours. It’s normal. You’re all just figuring life out, and a lot of you have the cards stacked against you.” Amaruq rested her hands on her knees. “And no matter how difficult, none of the kids I work with deserve harm. And that includes you.”

Frisk looked back up at her, then to Sans and Papyrus.

“And I think our two Ambassadors here -” Amaruq raised their eyebrows and Frisk giggled, “- have made it clear that there were many things Adamson asked of you that you shouldn’t have learned, and regardless, you don’t need to do anything to deserve care.” They nodded decisively. “Basically, the stuff your old man taught you needs to get thrown out the window. Thankfully you’ve got some people around you now who can show you the ropes for your new life.”

Frisk’s shoulders lowered slightly, and they leaned their head against Sans’s shoulder. A tension in his Soul eased.

“Mkay. Thank you,” they said quietly. Sans looked down at them. If he wasn’t wrong, it looked like they were getting a bit sleepy. He was pretty confident in his assessment at this point; this kind of work really took it out of the poor kid. One minute they would be trembling, and the next, they could barely stay awake.

Papyrus looked over at him and nodded.

“Mx Haru, I thank you very much for your excellent work!” Papyrus said. “Do you need anything further or may we take Frisk home to rest?”

They smiled at him. “You got the right idea. Most important thing is to give Frisk a nice rest of the day.”

The group finally got up to leave the meeting room. Before that, Frisk gave Pepper a long hug. After receiving promises that Pepper would be with them all day tomorrow, Frisk was able to let her go and sleepily shuffled out the door with Sans and Papyrus.

B wasn’t at the reception area anymore, but that was probably for the best. Frisk would have tried to put on a happy face and talk to him. Right now, Sans just wanted to get his kid home.

“Hamburger?” Frisk mumbled sleepily, passing a paper to Papyrus with the address Amaruq had written down.

“If you would like a hamburger, then a hamburger you shall get!” Papyrus said with a grin.

“Yaaaay,” they said quietly, a smile on their lips. They reached out again and took Sans and Papyrus’s hands.

Okay, shifting the itinerary a bit. First, Sans wanted to get his kid a hamburger. And then he wanted to get them home.

Frisk was feeling…okay, all things considered.

They were full from a good lunch, covered in dog hair, and had cruised home with the roof of the convertible down. As they took the elevator to the fifth floor of their apartment building, Frisk held the brothers’ hands and rested their head against Papyrus’s upper arm. They caught Sans looking at them a couple of times, and if they weren’t wrong, he was looking at them with something like love.

Just a few days ago they had been scared of how close Sans seemed to be to knowing them. He was always far too good at reading their expressions; it felt like a matter of time before he pried them open and read them like a book, whether they wanted him to or not.

But both Sans and Papyrus had been so patient with them, so kind when they absolutely didn’t deserve it. Frisk didn’t feel pried open or exposed. They just felt that they were known, known by people who wanted to keep them safe.

The elevator dinged and they all walked down the hall to their apartment. Papyrus unlocked it.

“Ahh, it is good to be back to scenic our house!”

Frisk’s breath caught. Were… they included in the “our”?

They shook their head and dismissed the thought. They really were getting attached to this living arrangement, huh?

Frisk dropped the brothers’ hands and shed their coat. There was a familiar sensation, a slight loss of security that came with taking off a layer. But…

*You know you are not imagining it.

*You are safe.

It hadn’t happened in a single moment, because of any one action or conversation. It was the ending of a road built with every promise of safety being met, and every expectation of harm being refuted.

Frisk slipped out of their shoes and took a few steps forward. Before they knew what was happening, tears dripped down their face and their shoulders shook.

Sans and Papyrus were there in an instant, because of course they were. They were always right there when Frisk needed them.

They quietly ushered Frisk to the couch and sat down on either side of them, because of course they did. They always made sure they were safe and comfortable.

“Did something happen, buddy?” Sans asked quietly. He was concerned. He cared so much.

Frisk shook their head and smiled. “I’m - sorry,” they said, scrubbing their tears. “I’m just - happy. I’m so happy m-my chest hurts. I don’t know what to d-do.”

Papyrus gasped and leaned over a bit to better see their face. Sans closed his sockets for a moment and took a deep breath.

“I…really am safe, aren’t I?” Frisk asked through a breaking voice. They tried to blink the tears away enough that they could see.

Papyrus nodded frantically and Sans smiled brightly.

“You’ve got us, kiddo,” Sans said, his voice wavering. “We’ll keep you safe.”

“Whenever you want us, and however long you want us, we will be by your side. You can always count on us,” Papyrus said softly.

He grabbed a tissue box from the end table and passed it to Frisk. They laughed weakly and wiped their face, but the tears didn’t stop.

They wanted to be held, but at this rate, they would really need both of their hands just to keep themself from being a blubbering mess.

“U-um,” they started, trying to steady their voice, “Can - you b-both put an arm around m-me?”

What a selfish request, to ask for the brothers to spend more time offering them comfort after spending the whole day dealing with their mess.

But Sans and Papyrus didn’t hesitate. Sans rested an arm on their shoulders, and Papyrus wrapped his arm around the top of their back, his arm directly beneath Sans’s.

And then Papyrus was crying, and then even Sans was crying too, and Frisk was pretty sure it was because they were also happy.

Frisk knew that deep down, there were ugly parts of them that Sans and Papyrus hadn’t seen yet. They hoped they never would, because those parts weren’t lovable.

But right now, Frisk believed that Sans and Papyrus loved them. Right now they both held Frisk and they all cried and laughed at how messy they all were as they emptied the box of tissues.

As the minutes continued on, Sans and Papyrus never complained. They didn’t mention how much time they were wasting, or get annoyed at Frisk for not being more mature and put-together.

They just sat with Frisk, held them, and kept them safe. Because of course they did.

Chapter Text

At 6:30 the next morning, Sans, Papyrus, and Frisk got dressed to leave. 

Papyrus wore a fitted grey suit. The blazer had puffed shoulders that gave a silhouette reminiscent of the armour he used to wear. His dress shirt underneath was white, and his tie was a burnt orange colour. Frisk was always impressed how he looked so cool in all his outfits, and this one definitely followed that trend.

Sans had really cleaned up nice. Frisk didn’t even know he had a suit. His was a more relaxed fit, and it was dark blue. His shirt was light pink and his tie was dark blue to match the suit, with slightly lighter blue stripes. 

“What do you think, Frisk?” He asked. “Do you think it… suits me?”

Frisk rolled their eyes but agreed that it did. 

Frisk had not been too sure on what they should wear. They spent all evening yesterday sorting through the outfits they had brought, stressing over their options. They had a formal outfit they could wear, with pants and a jacket. But…they had a different outfit, which they had never worn before. They bought it at a thrift store a year ago and they loved it but had been nervous to wear it. Even so, they hadn’t been able to leave it behind when they gathered their outfits from the apartment. 

Dad would hate it. That was probably the reason Frisk had never worn it, even though they had lived with the monsters for two years. 

That morning, Frisk put it on. 

When they came out of the bathroom, Sans and Papyrus just smiled at them, as usual. 

“Lookin’ sharp, buddy!” Sans said with a thumbs up.

Papyrus nodded approvingly. “As always, superb fashion sense!”

“Y-you don’t think it’s…weird? For someone like me to wear this?” They asked. They spread their arms out to display the outfit. 

They still wore their scarf, pulled up close to their mouth like it often was. Their top was a muted burgundy colour with subtle pinstripes, which matched the scarf surprisingly well. They wore a black skirt that wasn’t too tight, and there was a slight ruffle at the bottom, where it ended at their calves. Cozy black tights and penny loafers completed the outfit. 

“Not in the least,” Sans said. He took a step forward and reached out a hand to place it on their shoulder, waiting just a moment for Frisk to subtly shift towards the motion before placing his hand on it. “As long as you feel comfy, it looks perfect for today.”

Frisk relaxed with the affirmations and smiled. 

“Indeed! Very professional and pretty!” Papyrus said, leaning against the counter. “And, more importantly, you look happy in it!”

Frisk giggled and pulled back from Sans. They took a couple steps back. 

“Okay, watch this,” They said excitedly. They spun in place, and the ruffle around the bottom of the skirt flared out. 

“GASP! THE PIZAZZ!” Papyrus clapped.

“Heck yeah, buddy,” Sans said as Frisk slowed to a stop and giggled. “That’s the coolest. Ya gotta wear it.”

Frisk stopped giggling and looked at the floor. They picked at their finger nervously. “Um, my Dad is gonna hate that I’m wearing this,” they said. 

Papyrus exhaled and nodded. “How does that make you feel?”

Frisk hesitated a moment before carefully answering. 

“Do you think it’s bad that the fact my dad will hate it makes me wanna wear it more?”

Sans let out a surprised laugh. “Nah, that actually rules.” He winked. “You really are the coolest. Right up there with Papyrus.”

“Indeed!” Papyrus exclaimed. He looked at them fondly and lowered his tone slightly. “I am proud of you.”

Frisk felt tears instantly sting their eyes. They blinked them away. “What?”

“We always are,” Papyrus said, raising a finger as he clarified. “But it is important to know today! That we are very proud of you!”

“Yep. No prouder skeletons around,” Sans grinned. 

Frisk blushed and suddenly wanted to disappear, but…it wasn’t a bad feeling. They wiggled in place slightly and then started marching towards the door. 

“We should go,” they said, trying to keep themself from looking stupidly happy over just a couple words. 

Sans chuckled. He grabbed the keys off the table and tossed them to Papyrus, who caught them without a problem. 

“Alright, bucko. Let’s do this thing.”

The clinic really was close by, close enough to park at the courthouse and just walk to the clinic. Sans offered them a hand as they stepped out of the car. They were grateful for the help; their legs currently felt like jelly. 

Papyrus walked around the car and offered Frisk his hand as well. They greedily - no, gratefully - accepted it. It was okay to accept it. Frisk wasn’t being too selfish.  

The clinic was part of a row of businesses in the shared building next to the court house. Frisk had always been a healthy kid and didn’t need to go to the doctor often. Dad cared about their health, though, so they had all their vaccines and necessary procedures, so they could remember going a few times to a clinic near their house. 

Frisk frowned. Dad…cared about their health? He said he took care of them, and when Frisk cried about getting needles, he got mad at them when they were alone in the car and told them they were lucky that he even cared, and Frisk believed that he did. 

But…he hurt them. And as time went on, they stopped going to the doctor, but it was okay because Frisk just had to make sure none of their cuts got infected! They learned how to disinfect and bandage them, and the ones on their back were tricky but the thought of a doctor seeing them made them burn with shame because the doctor would know how awful they were.

Papyrus held the door open for them, and Frisk dropped the brothers’ hands to walk through the door into the clinic. 

And now, they would be letting a doctor look at their scars. All those years of careful hiding, and now they were showing up here to be judged and evaluated for everything they had done to earn each stripe.

…But nobody else seemed to think they deserved it. 

Frisk took a steadying breath and lowered their face into their scarf. Sans stepped forward to talk to the receptionist. Papyrus stepped up beside Frisk. They leaned over and rested their head against his arm. They felt him laugh softly, then wrap an arm around their shoulders.

They felt a familiar buzz of nervous energy at the touch, but it didn’t last long before it melted into content warmth. It was becoming so natural, Frisk realized. Being held like this felt comfortable.

The receptionist guided them to an examination room, not unlike the one from their checkup last week. Frisk kept leaning against Papyrus, and he didn’t withdraw his arm. They settled in to wait, but Dr Sommer knocked on the door just a minute or so later. 

“Hello again, everyone,” Dr Sommer said as she opened the door. Once again, she had a clipboard in hand, and settled into her spot on the stool near a computer monitor. 

It was nice seeing her again. Doctors were scary for so many reasons, but everything about her made them feel just a bit more calm.

“Hi Dr Sommer,” Frisk said, finally sitting up and drawing away from Papyrus. Despite themself, they drew their coat tighter around their body. They caught Sans’s eye lights flick towards the movement, so they intentionally set their shoulders back. They didn’t want him to worry.  

Sans redirected his attention to the doctor. “Good to see ya, doc. Thanks for meetin’ up on short notice.”

“Of course; I am glad I can help.”

Papyrus was quiet, sitting upright and watching the doctor’s movements.

“Our appointment this morning will not take long at all. I will review the areas you are able to show me, and document the marks that I see.” She set her clipboard down, and leaned forward slightly. She focused her attention on Frisk, but her gaze didn’t feel intrusive. It just felt kind. “I understand that I will be reviewing the marks on your upper body today, and that you have areas you would rather I don’t see. Is that correct?”

Frisk’s fear prickled up in their body. They reached an arm up and a familiar clumsiness made the motions choppy. They drew their hand across their chest.  

 Dr Sommer nodded. “Not a problem.” She pulled something out of a drawer. “This is a gown with an open back. You can just take your shirt off and change into this. I will be able to look at your back, and when we want to look at the front, you can pull it up so your chest is still covered. Will this work for you?”

Nervous energy continued buzzing through Frisk’s body, but that sounded okay. She was just gonna look at the scars. It wouldn’t take long…

They glanced over at the examination table and their anxiety swirled more. 

“Will I have to lay down?” Their voice wavered. Lay down, exposed, helpless, can’t stop it can’t stop it can’t stop it -

“No, no,” Dr Sommer said gently, catching their eye. “This is an option, of course. However, it is not necessary. You can stand, and I will view the markings as you stand.”

Frisk felt tension drain out of their body. “Okay.” 

Dr Sommer passed them the gown, and they accepted it. “Myself and your guardians will leave the room, and you can get changed. Would you like me to do the exam alone with you, or would you like one or both guardians with us?”

A spike of panic pierced Frisk’s Soul. “Don’t -” they started, then tried to compose themself.  “Um, can they both be here?”

“Of course,” Dr Sommer said. “Is there anything else you need to know?”

Frisk’s face heated. They wanted Sans and Papyrus here, but the thought of them actually being here while they were examined, the thought of them seeing all those markings…

“C-can you guys be in here, but not look?” They asked, looking at the brothers from the corner of their eye.

“Yep, not a problem, kiddo,” Sans said easily. 

“Certainly,” Papyrus said. His voice was more subdued than usual.

“Alright, then,” Dr Sommer said, standing up. “I will knock on the door in a couple minutes. Take your time.” She walked out the door. 

Sans stretched as he stood up, walking casually out the door. “See you in a few, bud,” he said. 

Papyrus was last. He lingered by Frisk for a moment. If they weren’t wrong, he looked a bit nervous, fidgeting with his gloves. 

“You remember that you can call off the inspection at any time, right?” He asked, his voice was slightly strained. “We want to be sure you feel absolutely safe!!”

Frisk’s chest ached. He cared. He cared about something as little as this. 

“I feel a bit nervous,” they said quietly. “But I wanna do this anyway. And -” their stomach twisted as a selfish feeling rose up in them. “You won’t let anything bad happen. If I ask for help, you’ll…help me?”

Papyrus blinked down at them for a moment. Then, he straightened up, and he looked much more like himself. “You can count on me!” He said, pointing a thumb to his chest. “The Great Papyrus: Frisk Defender is on the case!”

A giggle bubbled up in Frisk and they smiled up at him, some of their nerves settling. “Okay. Then it’ll be fine!”

Papyrus nodded firmly. “It will be just fine!”

He spun on his heel and left to join the doctor and Sans. “We shall see you shortly!”

And then the door was closed, and Frisk was alone. 

They looked at the paper gown in their hands, thin material that would provide no protection from the outside world, a gaping opening in the back that left the sins on their back plain for all to see. 

…They didn’t need extra protection right now.  It was just them, and a nice doctor, and Sans and Papyrus. 

They slipped out of their coat, removed Papyrus’s scarf with some hesitation, then took off their pretty burgundy shirt. They pulled the gown on. The draft on their back made them shiver, despite the warmth of the office. 

Breathe in, and out. 

There was a light knock on the door. 

“Come -” they coughed through a crack in their voice “-come in.”

The doctor came in first, then Sans and Papyrus. Frisk choked down a laugh. 

Somehow, Sans had his hoodie on over his suit (he hadn’t brought his hoodie. How?...) and the hood was up with the drawstrings pulled taut so all Frisk could see was his grin. He wandered into the office. Dr Sommer smiled with amusement. When he almost ran into the counter, she placed her hand on his shoulder and directed him to his chair. 

Papyrus followed. He entered the room sideways, facing directly away from Frisk, and took long sideways strides into the room. “Do not worry, Frisk! As you can see, we have created ingenious methods to ensure your privacy is respected!” He reached for Sans’s chair, which he was already sitting it on, and spun it to face the wall. Sans swayed lazily with the motion. Papyrus then spun his chair around and promptly sat down. “Special Technique: Stare At The Wall!!”

Frisk laughed again, leaning back against the exam table. They loved Sans and Papyrus so much. They loved them, loved them, loved them.

“Remember, Frisk,” Dr Sommer drew their attention back, “Let me know at any point if you would like me to stop anything. And if you do not wish to tell me, you can direct your words at your guardians. They will also ensure your safety.”

“Yeah,” Frisk breathed. “Okay. What do I need to do?”

“First, may I look at your back?” Dr Sommer asked. 

Frisk turned around. Their chest tightened. When was the last time anyone had seen this much of them?

Stupid question, they thought with a sense of dark amusement.

“I am going to pull the gown aside to see the scars. Are you ready?” 

Frisk nodded. The paper gown crinkled slightly. 

What was she thinking? Was it gross? Maybe the others didn’t think it was gross but they hadn’t seen it…

“All done on this side,” she said. Frisk straightened up. That really was quick. 

“Now, can you turn around, and pull the gown up just as far as you want to?” She directed. “Remember, only as far as you feel comfortable with. No more.”

Frisk curled their fingers into the paper. Take off your shirt. Frisk didn’t want to, but Dad told them to, and if Frisk hesitated he would just take it off for them. 

Breathe in, and out. 

‘How are you doing, Frisk?” Papyrus asked. 

Frisk smiled down at their hands, clenched tight in the paper. Nothing bad was gonna happen. “I’m okay. A bit nervous, but I’m okay.”

“Just let us know if you need anything!” Papyrus said brightly. 

Doctor Sommer stepped back. “Remember, if you need to slow down or stop, we can do that. You are in control.”

Warmth welled up in Frisk’s Soul. They were so lucky; everyone was so kind to them. They cared so much. 

Frisk reached down and folded the material until their torso was exposed, up to just under their chest. 

So many scars. So many scars, Dad’s knife against their skin. Frisk said something that made a teacher worried about them. Frisk talked back to Dad. Frisk squirmed too much. Frisk said they didn’t want it. Frisk didn’t do what Dad asked good enough.

Frisk’s chest was tight. Tears pricked at their eyes. 

*You breathe in, and out. 

*You are safe now. 

Frisk breathed in, and out. 

“All done,” Dr Sommer said. “Thank you, Frisk. You did wonderfully. You can cover up again.” 

Frisk exhaled and lowered the paper. 

“We will all leave and you can get changed. Please feel free to open the door when you are done.”

“Okay,” Frisk breathed. 

“Well then! Off we go!” Papyrus scooped Sans under his arm, and once again walked sideways with comically long strides out of the room. 

Frisk was alone again. The room was quiet. 

They slipped off the gown, their scars once again revealing themselves. Frisk ran their fingers over a ridge of scars just under their chest, five tally marks. Dad did that sometimes. 

An adult just saw a lot of their scars. They were going to trial today. Frisk didn’t have to hide anymore. 

Frisk smiled to themself, relief coursing through their body. 

They slipped into their shirt and coat and wound the scarf around their neck, then opened the door. 

It felt nice not to keep so many secrets. 

They arrived back at the parking lot of the courthouse at 8:30am. Frisk was buzzing with energy. They felt like they might throw up. 

Dad. 

They were really going to see Dad today.

Frisk was so focused on their thoughts that they didn’t notice Mx Haru and Pepper until they were almost right next to them. Frisk startled when Mx Haru called out to greet them. Their surprise was short-lived, though - they rushed to Pepper and got down on their knees on the pavement to pet her. Pepper wiggled happily and licked their face. 

“Good morning, Miss Pepper,” Frisk said between giggles. “You’re such a good girl. My favourite little girl, aren’t you?”

Pepper wiggled even more and pressed her head over Frisk’s shoulder. Frisk grinned and wrapped their arms around her. 

They flinched slightly when they realized how rude they had been. Sans and Papyrus were already talking with Mx Haru and Frisk hadn’t even said hi to them. They stood up abruptly and brushed off their knees. 

“Good morning, Mx Haru,” they said as politely as they could. 

“Morning, Frisk,” Mx Haru answered. She smiled warmly, then tilted their head towards the courthouse. “What do you all think? Ready to head in?”

Frisk nodded, Determined. 

They were safe now. Sans and Papyrus would keep them safe, no matter what. 

They might be shaking, and they might feel nauseous at the thought of seeing Dad again. But Frisk believed one thing for sure: they were safe with Sans and Papyrus. 

They believed a second thing, a bit less, but they clung to it: Frisk didn’t deserve what Dad had done. 

Sans offered Frisk his hand, and Papyrus offered his. This time, Frisk took them both without a second thought. 

Together with Mx Haru, they walked into the Courthouse. 

The building was still locked; reception wasn’t open yet. Mx Haru let them all in and closed the door behind them. 

“The trial starts in an hour,” She explained. “I’ll show you all around the courtroom, and we can get settled in.”

Frisk looked at their lawyer. They were dressed a bit more formally than yesterday, in a sharp pencil skirt and a white top. Their hair was down today, and it swayed in a pretty way when they moved. Frisk mentally noted that they wanted to grow their hair long too. 

Over the next hour, the rest of Frisk’s guardians showed up. They were all a bit more reserved than Frisk was used to, which made sense. Frisk wasn’t exactly sure what to talk about either. Hey everyone, ready for a whole day of talking about my dad beating and having sex with me? Eugh. Not the most fun topic. They all really liked Frisk's outfit, though, and that felt nice.

Despite everything, as their group gathered in the courtroom and made whatever small talk they could come up with, Frisk felt strangely calm. 

It was almost time. Mx Haru was at the prosecution table, sorting through their papers. Frisk’s dad was gonna be here soon. He was gonna be so close to them and they had to spend a day with him. 

But Dad was one person. And they had six guardians now, with more than enough love in their life to outweigh Dad’s hate. 

Frisk sat down in the gallery between Sans and Papyrus, and they held their hands. Pepper sat on the floor in front of them, leaning her weight against their legs. 

The judge walked in. The defense lawyer walked in soon after.

And then, a bailiff came in - leading Dad into the courtroom with his hands chained in front of him.

Dad stood tall, wearing his orange prison outfit. He kept his eyes directly ahead as the bailiff led him to the defense’s table and he sat down.

Sans squeezed their hand. Papyrus leaned in slightly, pressing his arm against Frisk’s.

They took a deep breath. 

*Your family’s support fills you with Determination. 

Frisk closed their eyes and held onto the thought. 

They were safe. They were strong. They were determined.

Chapter Text

Frisk’s father was right there.

If Papyrus wanted, he could kill him. It would be easy. He wasn’t fighting back right now. It would be done so quickly. 

Frisk pressed against him, and he closed his sockets. Unfortunately revenge was not an exemption in the eyes of the law. The prison time that would come with killing someone - even this horrible creature - would take him away from his child. And he would not leave his child. 

He looked to the judge’s seat as she cleared her throat. 

The judge was a matriarchal woman who looked to be about in her sixties (if Papyrus was guessing right. He wasn’t always the best at guessing human ages). She had very cool purple rimmed glasses and grey hair pulled back in a bun. 

“Good morning,” She said. “The court calls to order case number EB25-803, the province of Ebott versus Penn Adamson. The record should reflect that the representative for the province and the defence are present, as well as the defendant. Would the prosecution introduce themself?”

Mx Haru stood up. “Amaruq Haru, representing the province.”

“And the defense?” The judge said. 

The other lawyer, a short middle-aged man with short brown hair stood up. “Ethan Abel, here to represent defendant Penn Adamson.”

Papyrus shifted his gaze from the lawyer down to Frisk’s father. 

He hadn’t taken much note of the man in their last encounter. He was too busy managing other thoughts, he supposed. But looking at him now, Papyrus noticed a few things. 

First, he was very tall. Papyrus guessed that he was only seven or so inches shorter than himself, which was much taller than most humans were. He had a very strong build, and he carried himself with his shoulders back and his chin tilted slightly up. Papyrus would admire the posture if anyone else held themself with such pride. This man should curl up in a ball and die, Papyrus thought resolutely. 

He had dark blonde hair that was mixed with some grey, and there was some stubble on his face. And though he could not see most of his face from here, he did remember that the man had brown eyes.

Aside from his height, he wasn’t a particularly noticeable human. He looked like many of the men Papyrus worked with, good men who built up their communities and took care of their children. 

But somehow, Frisk ended up with this one. 

Papyrus felt a restless energy in his Soul resonating with his own. He looked over to Sans. He held Frisk’s hand, running a thumb along their knuckles. His eye lights were locked on Penn Adamson. 

Protect. Protect. Protect. 

They would be feeling that a lot today, Papyrus thought. They just needed to get through today, and then, everything would be okay. 

“Would the prosecution present their opening?” The judge said, her voice even and calm. 

Mx Haru stepped forward in front of her table and turned slightly, still facing the judge but ensuring everyone could hear. 

“Thank you, your honour,” they said, shifting their weight slightly and taking on a composed and steady posture. “I am Amaruq Haru, representing the Province. In particular, I am advocating on behalf of the victim in this case, human resident of Ebott, Frisk del Rosso. The defendant in this trial, Penn Adamson, is their biological father.” 

Pepper turned her head and rested it on Frisk’s lap. They withdrew their hands from Sans and Papyrus’s to pet the dog. She pressed against Frisk’s knees, and they smiled down at her. 

In the meantime, Mx Haru continued. “Frisk is thirteen years old. They are a well-known figure around Ebott for their instrumental part in the freeing of Monster-kind when they were only eleven years old.” She paused for a moment, and - not for the first time - the reminder of Frisk’s age weighed on him. They were eight when their father started using them. They were ten when they ran away. They were eleven when they saved an entire people who had tried to kill them. They were thirteen when their father almost killed them. 

“When Frisk returned to the surface, they were identified as a child who had gone missing over a year before. Although human officials approached to take steps to reintegrate to human society and be returned to their father, Frisk’s own preference was to stay with Monster-kind. Their father made no effort to claim them, and to their great benefit, both governments agreed to Frisk’s request that they be under legal guardianship of Monster-kind.”

Papyrus hoped it was to their benefit. Would he ever be able to be the guardian they deserved? They had only just started realizing they did not deserve to be harmed.

“Since then, Frisk has lived in peace. They attend school, volunteer around the community, and are known and loved. I can personally attest to their kindness, resilience, and good humour.” 

Papyrus nudged Frisk slightly. They smiled, a light blush colouring their cheeks. 

Then, Mx Haru’s voice suddenly sharpened in a way Papyrus had not heard before. 

“Their peaceful existence was abruptly interrupted thirteen days ago when they crossed paths with the defendant, and he attacked them with brutality that can only be described as an attempted murder.” She took a step towards the defense table, still looking at the judge. 

“Since that day, Frisk and their guardians have been thrown into the pain of their past, uncovering the harms that have haunted them for years. Together, they have been putting the puzzle pieces together one at a time.”

…They had been doing that, hadn’t they? 

Every day, Papyrus learned a little bit more about his child. Every day, they softened just a bit, until their Soul was safe enough to allow himself and Sans to protect it.

Pride for his child - another very familiar feeling - washed over him. 

“Today, we will hear from witnesses who have known Frisk during different times in their life, ending with Frisk themself. Their testimonies will be pieces for our own puzzle. Once we have heard what each witness has to say, our puzzle will be complete, and we will have a clear picture of Frisk’s childhood under their father’s care -” Mx Haru turned more fully towards the judge. “- One of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse.”

Frisk sucked in a breath and their shoulders tensed. They kept their eyes down and reached blindly for Sans and Papyrus’s hands. Papyrus reached out and took their hand, then cradled it in both of his. Frisk visibly relaxed. 

“We are prosecuting Defendant Penn Adamson for his crimes against Frisk del Rosso: first, for his crime thirteen days ago of Attempted Murder. Second, for his crimes throughout Frisk’s childhood of Assault Causing Bodily Harm. And lastly, also throughout Frisk’s childhood, his crimes of Sexual Offense Against a Child. 

“By the end of today’s trial, Your Honour will see that the defendant has caused lasting harm to the victim. But you will also see that under the care of their new guardians, they have started a path towards healing. We can support this healing today by providing lasting safety and closure for Frisk: a guilty verdict against Penn Adamson, on every single count.”

Mx Haru’s voice softened, and she cast a glance back at Frisk and the family. They turned back to the judge. “Frisk is a bright, kind, determined child who deserves to live the rest of their childhood and beyond in peace, knowing that their abuser will be unable to cause them - or anyone else - any further harm. Thank you.”

Mx Haru returned to their seat. Papyrus had known she was a professional, but hearing her eloquent description of Frisk's character and what was needed for them to feel safe helped his Soul settle. 

“Thank you, Mx Haru.” The judge turned towards the other table. “The defense’s opening.”

And so, Penn Adamson’s lawyer stepped forward.

“Good morning, your honour,” Mr Abel said. His voice was quieter than Mx Haru’s, and level. “I am here today representing Penn Adamson. Today, you will have a chance to get to know him and his character. You will understand that he has been a single father who has made some mistakes, but that the claims against him are grossly overstated.”

Papyrus bit back every seething response he wanted to shout out. The lawyer is doing his job. It’s his job. It’s his job. 

“Mr Adamson is a hard working man who supplied the best childhood he could for his child. After losing his wife, he did his best to raise Frisk into the excellent young person you see before you today.”

Papyrus’s Soul went wild. How dare he -

Beside him, he heard Undyne growl. He knew she was about to shout, when Mx Haru turned and held a hand out in a clear message. Calm down. Undyne gritted her teeth and slumped in her chair. Papyrus reached an arm around her and squeezed her shoulders. Undyne sighed and smiled up at him. 

Papyrus startled as Frisk withdrew their hand and left their seat, but they were just settling on the floor to hug Pepper. Pepper leaned on them. A fine creature indeed, Papyrus thought to himself. Even so, he kept a socket on Frisk. 

“In today’s trial, we will be seeking to show the truth of the circumstances that caused the unfortunate encounter last week, as well as any ongoing harm the prosecution may claim. Thank you.”

He sat down, and Papyrus was relieved. At least it was a short opening. 

The Judge was sitting and taking notes, her expression unchanged this entire morning. 

“Thank you,” she said, finishing her note and setting her pen down. “Province, your first witness.” 

“The Province calls expert witness, Dr Leni Sommer.”

Papyrus had been so focused, he had not noticed the doctor coming into the room. He watched as the doctor took the stand. They were in a small courtroom, with the judge’s seat elevated, and the witness stand slightly lower. Doctor Sommer settled into her chair. 

After she had sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, Mx Haru started the questioning.

“Dr Sommer, is it true that you were working in emergency the day that Frisk was admitted?”

“Yes,” She replied, folding her hands on the desk in front of them. 

“Please describe what happened.”

Dr Sommer took a deep breath. 

“I was not in the waiting room when Frisk first arrived. My staff indicated they were escorted into the waiting room, via… teleportation, I suppose, by their guardian.” 

“Do you see their guardian in the room today?” Mx Haru asked. “If so, please indicate their name and what they are wearing.”

“Sans, and he’s the skeleton monster with the dark blue suit.”

Sans did a small salute, and Frisk smiled up at him. 

“Thank you. Please continue.”

“Frisk was unconscious when I first examined them. Upon immediate review, they had significant bruising around their throat, head, and on the left side of their torso. The injuries they sustained were a bruised rib, throat contusion, broken cheekbone, minor concussion, and lacerations on their head, face, and arms.” 

“What was the most worrisome to you?”

“The throat contusion,” Dr Sommer answered immediately. 

“Please explain that.”

“The amount of bruising on Frisk’s throat exhibited a large amount of force. Such force could have significantly damaged their neck, not to mention the asphyxiation, which would have caused brain damage and eventually could have killed them should it have been applied much longer.” Dr Sommer looked at Mx Haru directly. “We see many domestic cases in emergency. As a doctor, the most worrisome injury I see tends to be anything that restricts the airflow. In my opinion, perpetrators who are willing to do this are not unlikely to kill their victims.”

“Thank you.” Mx Haru paused for a moment, allowing a brief reprieve before continuing. “What other injuries did you observe?”

“I had to examine their torso, due to their rib injury,” The doctor continued. “In doing so, I observed significant scarring.”

“What kind of scarring?”

“My best assessment would be that they were caused by a medium to large knife.” 

“And where were they located?”

“The ones I saw were on the front and back of Frisk’s torso. I observed their abdominal area on their front, and the full length of their back. I did not observe their chest, so I cannot comment on that.”

“How many scars did you see?”

Dr Sommer took a deep breath. “Dozens,” she answered. “To be frank, I’ve never seen anything like it. I documented twenty eight scars prominent on their back, and twenty five prominent scars on the front, excluding the chest. Some of the scars were in patterns, tally marks in groups of five. Several were crossed over in the shape of an x. Most seemed randomly placed.”

“Were these scars fresh?” Mx Haru asked. 

“No. They were all several years old. None of them were recent.”

“Okay. Thank you, Dr Sommer. No further questions at this point.”

The judge nodded. “Defense, do you have cross-examination for this witness?”

“Yes, your Honour.”

Mr Abel stepped forward. “Good morning, Doctor.”

“Good morning,” Dr Sommer responded. 

“Thank you very much for your good work in our community, ma’am.”

Dr Sommer didn’t respond. 

“Regarding Frisk’s injuries. They have healed very well, yes?”

“Yes. Thankfully, they have.” 

“How many days did Frisk stay at the hospital in total?” 

“Two full days, three nights.”

“And thirteen days later, they are well again, not showing any issues caused by their injuries. Is that right?”

“My last check in was five days ago. They had minor bruising remaining, which I expect will be healed at this point.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” the lawyer said. “Is it common that patients recover from life-threatening injuries in just thirteen days?”

“...That would depend.”

“Do many of your similar cases like this resolve so quickly?”

“Not many.”

“Is it possible, then, that you are overstating the severity of Frisk’s wounds?”

Dr Sommer bristled. “No.”

“And how could you prove that?”

“My fourteen years of experience.”

“And yet, Frisk recovered so quickly. Is it possible that their attacker did not wish for them to die, but simply made decisions from aggravation or even self-defense?”

Mx Haru stood up. “Objection. Speculation. This witness does not know the defendant’s motives.”

Mr Abel smiled. “And yet she was asked to testify that my client intended to kill.”

“The objection is sustained. Ask a different question now, Mr Abel.”

He nodded respectfully. 

“Dr Sommer, how do you explain their full and speedy recovery, with your certainty of how grave their injuries were?”

 “I am glad that you asked,” Dr Sommer said curtly. “There are a couple factors. First, Frisk was lucky regarding the lack of neck injuries. Second, their body also responds well to monsters’ healing magic. That assisted greatly in their swift recovery.”

The lawyer clasped his hands behind his back. “And it is also possible that the client did not intend to kill.”

“Same objection, speculation.”

“Sustained. Is there anything else you would like to ask?”

“Nothing further, your honour. Thank you.”

The judge turned to Mx Haru. “Any further questions for redirect?”

“Yes.” Mx Haru stepped forward. “Dr Sommer, do you need to know the intentions of an attacker in order to know that an injury is life-threatening?”

“No.”

“Is your judgment that this crime was likely an attempt on Frisk’s life - whether that was the original plan or not - based purely on your experience with the medical field, and not speculating on any one person’s character?”

“Yes. I am speaking purely based on my experience with these injuries as an emergency doctor.”

“Thank you, Dr Sommer. I really appreciate you coming here today. No further questions.”

The next witness at the stand was Mrs Cyrus. Frisk climbed back into their chair when she entered the courtroom, and straightened up to see her. The woman looked toward Frisk, and when she spotted them, gave a kind smile and a nod.

She tucked her grey hair behind her ears and adjusted her glasses as she settled into the seat. 

“Hello, Mrs Cyrus,” Mx Haru started. “Thank you for being here today.”

“The pleasure’s mine,” the woman said, her voice soft. 

“How do you know Frisk?”

Mrs Cyrus smiled. “They were in my fourth grade class a few years ago. Such a sweet child, and so helpful. Very silly, too.”

There was a smile in Mx Haru’s voice. “I can attest that those qualities are still very present.” She paused for a second. “Can you tell me about anything unusual in Frisk’s attendance?”

Mrs Cyrus’s expression fell. “I can,” She started. “Frisk stopped coming to class the last two weeks of the school year, without explanation. We eventually contacted their father, who stated that they had an unexpected family emergency, and Frisk would be unable to attend. They had completed enough of the school year to be promoted to the next grade regardless, but this concerned me.”

“And what happened that fall?”

“Frisk… did not return. I had a bad feeling, and we continued to call their father, as he had not withdrawn Frisk. Finally he did and claimed he would be homeschooling them. But…” she slumped further in her seat. “A month later, I saw on the news that they were missing. And I never forgave myself for not doing something sooner.”

Frisk sat tall in their seat, obviously trying to make eye contact with their teacher, but the woman was focused on Mx Haru. It seemed his child would like to reconnect…he would have to call this lovely woman at a later date. She obviously cared very much for their child.

Next on the witness stand was Mr Roshan. He was a tall, thin man with short dark hair and a moustache, and a beautifully tailored suit. Frisk seemed similarly eager to see him. He looked over to them and gave them a small wave. Only then did Frisk settle back into their seat. 

“Mr Roshan,” Mx Haru said, “Tell us how you know Frisk.”

Mr Roshan smiled. “Frisk and I met three summers ago, at a nearby lake. There were three cabins at the lake. Frisk was staying in one with their father, and myself, my wife, and our daughter were in the neighbouring one.”

“Did your daughter and Frisk spend time together?”

“Oh! So much time,” his smile widened. “Fariha loved to spend time with Frisk. She was two years younger than them, but Frisk was so kind and gave her plenty of attention. They even repaired her remote control boat when it broke! I had no idea what to do, and here they were, a ten year old taking apart electronics and fixing them! Amazing!”

Another smile in Mx Haru’s voice. “They certainly are.” Her tone shifted to be more serious again. “Did you notice anything that concerned you about Frisk that summer?”

“Yes. Very much.” Mr Roshan’s smile dropped. “Frisk’s father often called them into the cabin very suddenly, and he also was quite reclusive. And also! Early one morning, I came out of the cabin and Frisk was at the beach. I said hello to them and they were startled! They seemed to be on edge, and…distant, somehow. And then, I saw something.” He made a slashing motion across the left side of his chest. “There was a line of blood here, seeping through their shirt.”

Beside Papyrus, Frisk hunched a little bit in their seat. Pepper pressed against them. 

“Did you ask them about it?” Mx Haru asked. 

“Of course!” Mr Roshan said. “I was so worried! But Frisk told me they had been out exploring earlier and a branch caught them and scratched them badly. And they had not bandaged it properly yet. After that, they ran back into the cabin, and later their shirt was changed and there was no more blood.”

Frisk turned slightly and rested their forehead on Papyrus’s arm. Papyrus felt his and Sans’s Souls both being crushed with grief and anger. 

“How did they act the rest of the trip?” Mx Haru asked. 

“That’s just the thing! They were perfectly normal for the rest of the trip.” His shoulders lowered. “I wish I had done more to help them. We only knew them for a few weeks, but we remember them well. Our Fariha still misses Frisk. I hope they can feel safe and happy again soon.”

Mr Roshan was dismissed, and just like that, they reached the first recess of the day. 

Sans stretched his legs in front of him. Toriel, who was sitting to his right, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He could recognize his friend struggling to maintain her composure any day. He caught her gaze and she smiled sadly. Then she redirected her attention to Frisk. Sans looked at them as well and saw them move to stand up. Their legs failed to support them and Toriel made a move to catch them, but they were able to redirect to land back on their chair. They shrunk away from Toriel’s hands and she quickly withdrew. 

“Oh, I am so sorry, Frisk,” she said, then folded her hands in front of her. “How are you feeling?”

Beside Toriel, Alphys turned slightly to look, but for the most part remained where she was. Sans was grateful for Alphys’s caution when it came to someone’s anxiety; she seemed to know Frisk didn't do well if they were crowded.

“I’m okay,” Frisk said sheepishly. “It was actually nice to see Mr Roshan and Mrs Cyrus. I had no idea they would even remember me.”

Papyrus leaned forward. “I am not surprised at all! You, as a very cool person, are unforgettable!”

Frisk pushed their scarf over their face and playfully nudged Papyrus with their shoulder. “What?” He objected. “I am only telling the truth and everyone here knows it!”

Asgore leaned over from beside Undyne. “I must say that Papyrus is very correct, as always.” Frisk buried their face into Papyrus’s shoulder. Sans felt Papyrus’s Soul flood with warmth as he smiled gently down at them. Asgore continued. “Frisk, will you be able to stand and move about, or would you like me to bring you anything? Water? Tea?”

“Um…tea actually sounds really nice.” They emerged from their scarf and smiled gratefully at him. 

“How you usually take it, yes?” He asked. Frisk nodded. “Wonderful. I will be back before you know it!” With that, Asgore stood up and walked towards the lobby.

Frisk nestled further against Papyrus’s side until he realized what they wanted. He moved his arm so they could press against his side, then draped his arm over them. They closed their eyes and held out a hand towards Sans. His grin widened. They’d come so far in a few days. They sure did have a lot of safe, gentle physical contact to catch up on, and they had guardians who were happy to give it. He took their hand and they sighed contentedly. As if she were mimicking them, Pepper also sighed contentedly from her spot sitting on their feet.

Amaruq stood up from her prosecution table and walked back to check in on them all. When she saw Frisk, her expression softened and she nodded to Sans and Papyrus. 

“We have about fifteen minutes left in the break,” they said, their voice hushed. “If any of you have any questions, I’ll be out in the lobby.”

After she left, Undyne, Alphys, and Toriel also stepped out. Toriel patted Sans’s shoulder and smiled at him as she departed. 

Now, in their row, it was just Sans, Papyrus, Pepper, and their sleepy kiddo snuggled safe and sound. Even now, in this courtroom, Sans felt a sense of calm surrounding them. As long as he had his brother and his kid, everything would be okay. He would make sure of that. 

He hadn't Checked on them in a while. He reached out to their soul.

Frisk
LV 1
25/25
Safe and sound.

Sans stifled a gasp. Since the attack, they had added 4 HP to their cap. Sans didn't think he'd ever heard of that happening so fast, unless the person was gaining LV.

Well. Whaddya know. The kid really was feeling better these days.

He looked up at the ceiling of the courtroom, idly watching the ceiling fans spin. 

This was where things really started. After the break, Papyrus would be called to the stand, then himself. And then, last of all…

He looked down at his kid’s hand and kept running his thumb along their knuckles. He didn’t want them on that stand. None of them did. But Frisk had chosen this, and he knew how strong they were. 

Tonight, they would bring Frisk home and make hot cocoa. They would hold Frisk if they wanted that, and if Frisk didn’t want to be touched, they would just make sure they had every soft thing they needed around them to keep themself comforted. Frisk would be far away from their dad and never have to see him again. 

They were almost there. Just a few more hours, and Frisk would be safe. 

“The Province calls Ambassador Papyrus to the stand.”

Frisk watched nervously as Papyrus stood up. He gave their hand one last squeeze before releasing it and walking towards the witness stand. 

They were okay. They were fine. They had Pepper and Sans, and all their other guardians were here with them. And Papyrus was still in the same room! It wasn’t a big deal. 

Their skin prickled and they felt their dad’s eyes on them. They looked up, and he wasn’t even facing them. 

They leaned against Sans. He understood their request and wrapped an arm around them. 

Frisk kept their breathing steady as Mx Haru asked Papyrus for the details of the day. Frisk didn’t answer his text. They called him, the call was cut. He found them being choked against the wall, and he attacked their dad. Sans teleported them away. 

Frisk had never actually heard what happened after that. 

“And what did he tell you during your fight?”

Papyrus took a deep breath. 

“The - defendant asked me of my intentions with Frisk. I was confused, of course,” He said, his shoulders tense. “He started asking me of my…needs. And whether I wanted to use Frisk for - well. That was when he indicated to me that his abuse of Frisk had not only been psychological and physical, but sexual as well.”

“And what happened after that?”

“Soon after, the emergency response team arrived. However, I had successfully subdued my opponent at that time!” Papyrus regained a bit of his usual energy. Frisk smiled as they watched him straighten up and set his shoulders back proudly. He was so cool. 

…Frisk had always had a hard time imagining anyone being able to stand up to their dad. But their guardians were big and strong. Dad didn’t look so scary anymore. 

“The emergency response team secured the defendant and ensured he was brought to the appropriate facilities,” Papyrus concluded. 

“Alright. Now, moving forward from the incident itself, my understanding is that Frisk stayed with yourself and Sans since the attack.”

“That is correct! They are a most excellent housemate!”

Frisk smiled again. Sans gently squeezed their shoulder. 

“Could you tell me some of the ways you have seen this specific incident impact Frisk this week?”

“Well!” Papyrus took a deep breath. “There have been many, many ways. When I first picked them up from the hospital, they saw a clear reflection of their own neck for the first time since the attack. Their bruises were…a rather terrifying reminder of their ordeal. Since then, they have worn a scarf. Which is both stylish and protective! An excellent choice, really.”

“That it is,” Mx Haru agreed. “What else have you noticed?”

“They have been much more cautious of physical contact, and have had fears of their father finding them again. Frisk has spent much of their time with us very frightened, I am afraid.”

Frisk’s heart dropped. They had tried to hide some of their fear from the brothers. They didn’t tell them about the nightmares, and didn’t describe most of their flashbacks to them. Even so, they’d been a mess all week. 

“Hey,” Sans whispered to them. They startled and looked up. He smiled down at them gently. “Proud of you, Frisk.”

Frisk closed their eyes and buried their face into Sans’s jacket. He squeezed them again and their Soul settled. 

Soon, Mx Haru had sat down, and the other lawyer stood up. 

“When you assumed that Frisk’s father was discussing sexual acts with his child, did he ever explicitly tell you that was what he meant?”

Papyrus frowned and folded his hands on the table. “Not precisely. However! He said -”

“My apologies, Ambassador. Please just answer the question I asked. Did he ever say he committed sexual acts, in those words?”

Frisk could feel Papyrus gritting his teeth all the way from here. “...No.”

“Thank you, Ambassador,” The lawyer said. “I understand that you came upon a very upsetting scene, and you took necessary steps to intervene as you saw fit. Is that correct?”

“Upsetting is quite the understatement -”

“Please, Ambassador. Just answer the question I asked.”

“...Yes.”

“Good. However, I also understand that you utilized rather excessive force in subduing my client.”

“Objection!” Mx Haru stood up. 

Mr Abel continued. “My client has informed me that you intended to kill him.”

Frisk startled hard against Sans.

…What? 

Sans shifted to hold them a bit closer.

“I said objection!” They flinched again at Mx Haru raising their voice. “This is irrelevant to the current case, which is about Adamson’s actions against Frisk. If the defense would like to litigate against Ambassador Papyrus, they may do so at a later trial.”

“Sustained. Defense, please move on.”

“No further questions,” Mr Abel said, taking a seat next to Frisk’s dad. 

Mx Haru declined further questions, and the judge turned to Papyrus.

“Now, as you are one of the witnesses to the event last week, we would also like to hear your victim impact statement at this point. Have you prepared it?”

Papyrus seemed a bit shaken, Frisk thought, but he focused and nodded. “Yes, I do just have something short I would like to say, and if I may, I would like to speak directly to the defendant.”

The judge nodded. “Go ahead.”

Papyrus gathered himself once again, and turned to face Frisk’s dad. They held their breath as he began to speak.

“I have a very firm belief! One that I hold very dear,” Papyrus said. “I believe that anyone can be a good person if they try! But… that’s the problem, isn’t it?” His voice suddenly became very serious. “ You will never try.”

Frisk looked up and saw Sans’s grin widen. Then he noticed Frisk looking up at him, and he softened again. 

On the stand, Papyrus resumed his usual cheery tone. “But thankfully, Frisk has people around them now who are more than willing to try. So! Whatever should happen, after today, you will never see Frisk again. That is all! Goodbye.”

Frisk heard their dad grumble, and his lawyer quieted him down. 

The judge nodded. “Thank you, Ambassador. You may return to your seat.”

If Frisk wasn’t imagining it, Papyrus moved even more swiftly than usual back to their side. 

Papyrus sat back down and turned to them. But they must have had a weird expression on their face, because he inched away slightly. 

…Did Papyrus try to kill their dad?

“The Province calls the next witness, Sans, to the stand.”

Sans slowly removed his arm from around them, looking between them and Papyrus for a moment. 

“Will the next witness please come to the stand?” The Judge said flatly.

“I’ll be quick,” Sans whispered to them, then turned and walked up to the witness stand. 

Frisk sat still for a moment. They suddenly realized they had been staring at Papyrus, and all their guardians were looking at them with some variation of concern on their faces. Frisk flushed red and settled back into their seat. Pepper pressed against their legs, and they scratched her ears. 

Frisk was barely listening as Sans described rescuing them and their stay at the hospital. 

…Papyrus fought their dad. Their dad was hurting them, and Papyrus fought him. 

Papyrus was never someone who got angry, not for real. That day, when they were fading in and out of consciousness, they thought he looked angry at their dad. They hadn’t really thought about it much. 

Papyrus had never killed them, or anyone. Despite his strength, he had no LV and no EXP. 

Sans had told them those things hurt the person who got them. They had been so relieved when they made it to the end of their journey without LV or EXP. 

…If Papyrus had actually meant to kill their dad, was he willing to take on something so horrible?

Had he wanted to do that for their sake?

Frisk felt tears sting their eyes. They felt horrified, and somehow…they felt loved.

How horrible could they be, that the thought of someone killing their dad made them feel loved? They were a messed up kid. They were awful. 

They turned their body and leaned against Papyrus’s side, and he rested his arm over them. 

They didn’t know what they should be feeling, but right now, they just wanted to be close to Papyrus.

Frisk redirected their attention towards the stand. Mx Haru was asking a question. 

“And Sans, could you please describe to the court how you have witnessed the defendant’s past actions - the ones from before the encounter thirteen days ago - have affected Frisk?”

Sans leaned back in the chair, looking way too relaxed. Frisk chuckled quietly. Leave it to Sans to look like he was lounging while he was on the witness stand. 

“Alrighty, let me just list off a few.” Sans raised a hand and counted on his fingers. “They have huge flashbacks. They’re worried the adults in their life now might abuse ‘em like their dad did. They have some baggage around their gender expression and also they show as little skin as possible. I even noticed that before. Even in the summer, the kid’ll be covered head to toe!” 

Sans didn't look relaxed anymore. He leaned forward and one of his hands was on the witness stand, balled into a fist. 

“Oh. And they help way too much. Poor kid barely knows how to stop, and I’m pretty sure that’s because they spent their entire childhood trying to be good enough for a certain adult who they could never please no matter how hard they tried!”

Frisk stiffened against Papyrus’s side. They had never heard Sans get this…loud. It wasn’t like he was shouting, but…

Tears pricked at their eyes. Why did he care that much?

They pressed against Papyrus. Pepper leaned on their legs, and they scratched her head. They focused on keeping their breathing steady as Sans continued to answer questions.

When Frisk refocused, his time on the stand was almost done. The judge was speaking again. “And Sans, your victim impact statement?”

“Yep, got it.” Sans looked relaxed again as he prepared to give his statement. Unlike Papyrus, Sans turned to face the judge. 

“Ya know, I’ve actually done a bit of judging here and there in my time. Hilarious, right?” 

Frisk remembered meeting Sans in the golden hall at the end of their journey. How he judged them for every step of their journey. How relieved they felt when he approved of their Soul. 

It had been so confusing. Before that, the last time they saw him had been when he said he wanted them dead. 

Frisk shook their head. It wasn’t like that anymore. Sans…loved them. Yes. They believed that now. 

Up on the witness stand, Sans continued. “Welp, it’s not my courtroom, but if anyone wants my opinion, well. I’d say that adults like him…” Frisk noticed the judge sit up abruptly and move away from Sans slightly. “Should be burning in hell.”

The courtroom was quiet for a moment. Then, Sans leaned back in his chair again, and winked. “Heh. Anyway, judge, I guess you’re gonna hear from Frisk themself in a bit. And after that, I’m hopin’ ya make the right judgement.” He spun the chair a bit and hopped off of it. “This guy’s in your hands. Wreck his life for us, will ya?”

Sans stepped off the witness stand. 

“Um - thank you, Sans, you are dismissed,” the judge said, as Sans was already halfway back to his seat. 

Frisk felt their entire body relax as Sans sat down next to them. Their family was back. Sans and Papyrus were both here. 

The judge cleared her throat. “Thank you everyone, we’ll break for lunch now. You have 45 minutes.”

Frisk and their guardians gathered in a conference room for lunch, cold sandwiches brought in by the court. Frisk sat idly in a chair in the corner of the room, swinging their legs. The sandwich was fine, but they wanted to be at home making lunch at Sans and Papyrus’s place. Pepper sat at their feet, and Papyrus sat beside them as Sans got up to get himself food. 

Papyrus took a breath as if to say something, stopped, then started again. 

“Frisk, I am sorry you had to hear about my - conflict with your father like this.”

Frisk swung their legs more aggressively. Pepper shifted to avoid being in their path. 

“I do not know if you need anything from me in order to feel safe, but -”

Frisk blinked. For them to feel safe? They shook their head.

They weren’t worried about themself. Selfishly, they didn’t even know if they were worried about their dad. That was a thought they'd have to figure out later. They knew it made them horrible for not caring about their own father's wellbeing. 

But right now, they were only worried about Papyrus.

Papyrus was so good. If he had done something like that and it had hurt him…they never could have forgiven themself. 

Frisk didn’t want to say any of that, so they just leaned their forehead against Papyrus’s arm. His breath hitched. Then, he spoke, and his voice was hoarse. 

“I will keep you safe, Frisk,” He said. “No matter what.”

Chapter Text

Frisk was now sitting at the witness stand. 

Pepper sat directly to their left, and they scratched her head. She leaned against their leg. There was dog hair all over their pretty skirt, but that didn’t bother them in the least. 

Frisk kept their eyes focused on the dark wood of the desk in front of them. They chanced a look up, and they immediately saw their dad, staring up at them from his table. They looked back at their side of the room and tried to steady their breathing. 

Mx Haru was nice. They liked them. And Pepper was here. Frisk looked past their lawyer and saw their guardians, all watching closely. 

Asgore had a fresh mug of tea cupped in his paws, probably his fourth today. The cups were pretty small for a monster like him. Undyne leaned over with her elbows on her knees, watching Frisk closely. Her glare would have been intimidating if they didn’t know this was just how she looked when she focused. 

On the other end of the row, Alphys had her tail curled around in front of her and her hands clutched under her chin. Toriel was beside her, the picture of calm. She caught Frisk’s eye and smiled gently at them. 

And then, there were Sans and Papyrus, sitting on either side of their empty seat. Sans grinned at them and gave them a thumbs up. Papyrus sat tall and nodded towards them. They believed in Frisk. They all believed they could do this. 

Frisk took a deep breath. 

Mx Haru caught their attention. “Good afternoon, Frisk. Thank you for being here today.”

Frisk tried to respond, but their voice caught in their throat. They cleared their throat, then tried again. “Hi,” they said simply, then winced. Was that the right response? 

“I know today is tough, so let me know if you need a break, okay?” The lawyer asked. 

Frisk felt a rush of relief. “Okay.”

“Alright then. Are you ready to answer a few questions?”

Frisk took another deep breath. 

“Yes, I’m ready.”

Papyrus’s Soul was racing. 

Frisk was doing fine. Wonderful, in fact! Their voice barely shook! (The fact that it shook at all made him want to scoop them up in his arms and rush them FAR away from this place.)

He trained his sockets on Frisk’s father. He was sitting completely still, and it looked like he was staring right at Papyrus’s child. How dare he.

Sans moved over into Frisk’s empty seat and leaned against Papyrus. Papyrus looked down at him gratefully. He had to calm himself if he hoped to get through today without committing any violence. 

…He hoped Frisk truly would not be more scared of him after hearing what he had done. They seemed concerned, but they stayed close to him. Maybe it would be okay. 

“Okay, Frisk. I wanted to ask you a question about some of the ways you have been hurt.”

Frisk nodded haltingly. “Okay.”

“When you were very little - before you were eight years old - what did your dad do to punish you?”

Frisk cocked their head. “It was mostly normal stuff. Spankings, not letting me eat food for a day or two, stuff like that.”

“Not letting you eat food?” Mx Haru’s voice was tight.

“Yeah. Food’s a privilege,” Frisk said dismissively. “So obviously, if I did something bad, I’d miss a meal. But if it was really bad, the time would be longer.”

“What was the longest time you went without food with your dad?”

Frisk looked upwards, then back down. “Hmm, yeah, I think it was three days. But I got to drink water, so it wasn’t that bad.”

“Three days without food,” Mx Haru clarified. There was a low voice at the defense table. The judge glared down, and Adamson’s lawyer hushed the man. 

Frisk’s eyes flicked towards the defense table. “Yeah. But that was just once! Usually it’d just be a day, and it didn’t happen all the time.”

“Did he do that through your entire childhood?” Mx Haru asked. 

Frisk looked down. They put on a voice that sounded like an attempt at being casual. 

“Nah, um, it mostly stopped when I was eight.” They said. 

Mx Haru nodded. “Did something else start happening when you were eight?”

“Y-yes.” Frisk said. They kept glancing over towards their dad. 

“Okay.” Mx Haru paused. “Hey Frisk, how’s Pepper doing?”

“Objection?” Mr Abel said. “I don’t understand how this is relevant.”

“This is a question I use with child defendants,” Mx Haru said coolly. “I ask your honour to allow us a moment.”

“Yes, overruled,” the judge said, glancing down at Frisk. “You will need to proceed with questioning, but take a moment.”

“Thank you, your honour,” Mx Haru said. “Sorry, Frisk. Just wanted to check in, how’s Pepper doing?”

Frisk directed their attention down behind their desk, where Papyrus knew Pepper was sitting. They took a moment to pet the dog. 

“She’s the best,” Frisk grinned at Mx Haru. “She’s so cute and helpful. It’s been so fun hanging out with her the last couple days.”

Mx Haru chuckled. “I know she likes you a lot too. She’s happy to be with you today.”

Frisk grinned. They directed their words towards Pepper. “The feeling’s mutual, good girl,” They said happily. Papyrus’s Soul ached with affection.

After a moment, they continued. 

“Alright Frisk, if you can, try to keep your eyes on me, Pepper, or your table, okay?”

“Okay,” Frisk replied quietly, then turned to sit up again. 

“What did your dad start doing when you were eight?” Mx Haru asked gently. 

Another grumble from the defense table. 

“Mr Abel. Control your client, please.” The judge turned to Frisk. “I’m sorry. Please continue.”

Frisk glanced towards their dad again. 

“Frisk, can you look at me?” 

They turned their gaze back to the lawyer. “S-sorry,” they said. They closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, Papyrus saw their Determination return. 

“When I was eight years old, my dad said I was old enough to help him with something. I wanted to help him. I was confused when h-he asked for, um, sexual stuff from me. I didn’t know what it was. But I didn’t like it.”

“Thank you, Frisk,” Mx Haru nodded. “Did this happen again?”

“Yes,” Frisk answered, their voice a bit clearer. 

“How often did your dad ask for these things from you?”

“A couple times a week, but sometimes it was more. It depended if I was -” Frisk looked down at their desk. “It just depended. When he was stressed it would happen more.”

Papyrus heard a shifting at the defense table, but Frisk’s father didn’t say anything. Perhaps he was feeling uncomfortable. Good. 

“An earlier couple of witnesses indicated scars on your body. Could you let us know how you got them?”

“Dad used a knife on me.”

“Okay. Did he specify a reason?”

“H-he wanted me to have reminders, when I made mistakes. Later, it was mostly when - um - he wanted me to do something for him. Like, sex stuff. If I didn’t do a good enough job, then…yeah.”

“You said that happened later, yes?”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah.”

“When did he start cutting you when you did not…do these things well enough for?”

“I think when I was ten. It started a few months before I ran away.”

“Okay.” Mx Haru paused for a beat. “I’m going to show you an exhibit that the court has approved. It’s a knife. It’s in a bag and I’m keeping it over here. Can I show you?”

Papyrus placed a hand over his Soul, steadying it. They had talked about this in the morning; it helped the judge to see the actual type of weapon. Frisk knew what was coming. It didn’t stop him from feeling nervous.

“Yes,” Frisk said firmly. 

“Okay. Can you tell me if this is the type of knife your father used on you?”

Mx Haru pulled out a switchblade. The blade was extended. It was safely wrapped in a bag, and there was a guard on the blade. 

“Yeah, it was a lot like that one,” they answered.

Papyrus’s bones felt cold. 

The blade glinted with the courtroom lights. Frisk’s father used a knife like that. They held it against their skin and marked them when they made mistakes. When they failed to please him. No, he always planned to do it. He just gave Frisk false hope that if they did something, maybe this time he wouldn’t cut them. This was something he wanted to do. Dr Sommer said they had dozens of scars that she had seen. Did they become accustomed to the pain? Did they even make a sound?

The knife had been put away.

Papyrus became more and more anxious as time went on. He wanted Frisk by his side as soon as possible. He could feel Sans wanting the same thing. Even so, Frisk became steadier as the questioning continued. They described the other contents of their letter. Frisk’s dad continued shifting uncomfortably, but that was his problem. Frisk was exposing his sins, and despite his anxiety, Papryrus couldn’t be more proud. 

“Your father withdrew you from school, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Did you communicate with your friends?”

“...No.”

“So as your abuse worsened, you were becoming more and more isolated. Does that sound right?”

Frisk nodded. “Yes.”

Papyrus knew where this was going for Mx Haru’s closing. She had proven that Frisk was being isolated; their teacher had records of that. The abuse was worsening and Mr Roshan had seen evidence of that shortly before Frisk ran away. And Frisk’s own testimony was that they ran away because they were pretty sure about one thing: that their own father seemed to be close to murdering them.

The questioning had continued, and now Mx Haru was asking about the incident last week. 

“He asked me to come home with him. I didn’t want to, and then he grabbed me and dragged me into an alley.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

“U-um,” Some of Frisk’s nervousness returned. “I don’t remember all of it. It’s a bit foggy. But he - told me that I owed him a lot, since he went to jail because of me.”

A grumble from the defense table. Mr Abel turned towards Frisk’s father. Papyrus’s magic burned. 

Frisk kept their eyes on Mx Haru, but they had started trembling. 

“Okay. And what happened next?”

“He asked me to let him…” Frisk’s eyes became slightly unfocused. Papyrus knew that look. He needed to get his child off the stand. 

But Frisk drew themself back and leaned down to pet Pepper, then continued. “He asked me to let him do what he wanted, and he - um. Reached under my shirt.”

“The kid’s lying.” Frisk’s father’s voice was finally loud enough to hear. Sans leaned forward beside Papyrus, anger flaring in his Soul.

“Defense,” the judge said, her tone warning. Frisk’s dad shifted in place. 

Frisk continued, shaky but undeterred. “He took my jacket off. And then I fought him off.”

Frisk’s father, again: “Don’t trust a word he says.”

For the first time that day, the Judge looked genuinely frustrated. “Defense! One more interruption, and your client is out of the courtroom.”

“Frisk, do you need a break?” Mx Haru asked. Papyrus wished they would say yes. He needed Frisk to take a break. He needed them safe by his side. 

But Frisk shook their head. “N-no. I can keep going.”

“Okay,” She nodded. “You’re doing really good.”

Frisk blushed and smiled. In the midst of Papyrus’s anxiety and anger, a familiar soft affection washed over him. They were incredible. 

Mx Haru stepped back to her table, looking down at a paper.

Papyrus heard a sound of clanking metal. Then, a man’s voice rose from a grumble to a roar.

“You ungrateful son of a BITCH-”

Several things happened in quick succession. 

Frisk’s dad vaulted over the defense’s table.

The bailiff ran towards him.

Mx Haru rushed towards Frisk.

All of Frisk’s guardians sprinted towards the front of the courtroom.

Papyrus grabbed the man’s Soul and crushed him to the floor. 

“I gave you so much, and this is what I get?” Adamson strained under the weight of the magic. “You selfish son of a bitch!”

Mr Abel knelt beside him and put a hand on his back. "Mr Adamson, come with me and the bailiff. We can take a breather and resume this later, okay?" His voice was bordering on hysterical as he tried to get his client to stop struggling. But Adamson started pushing up against Papyrus’s gravity. In response, Mr Abel threw himself across the man's back, trying to keep him down. 

Papyrus heard Sans curse beside him. 

“Sans, get Frisk out of here!” He hissed. Sans stepped up beside him and helped hold Frisk’s father down. 

“Somethin’s wrong, Pap. I can’t."

As soon as the bailiff arrived, Mr Abel backed off to give him space to work. He lept on top of Adamson and pulled the man’s hands back. Relief rushed through Papyrus's bones.

The man spoke through gritted teeth as he fought his restraints. “You couldn't just shut up and be a good kid for once!”

With a shout, he pulled his Soul out of Sans and Papyrus’s hold. A sharp chill ran through Papyrus. 

That shouldn’t be possible. What kind of twisted Determination - 

He reared his body back and knocked the bailiff off of him. 

“They’ll hate you too when they know what you’re really like!” Frisk’s father charged towards the witness stand.

Undyne cursed and launched a volley of spears at Adamson. He dodged to the side. one ran through his side with a sickening sound. He kept running as if nothing even happened.

Papyrus raised up a wall of bones. He lowered his shoulder and rammed through them, bone splintering and shredding his legs. 

Toriel summoned an inferno. He ran straight through it without hesitation. The flames singed his hair and clothes. 

Asgore leapt forward and his trident pierced his shoulder. The man spun and wrenched the weapon out of his body. 

Sans raised a layered barrier of blue bones. He didn’t even flinch as he charged through the crackling magic. 

He was getting too close. The judge had opened the door behind her and was beckoning Mx Haru and Frisk through. Mx Haru was trying to drag Frisk away. Pepper was standing between Frisk and the approaching man, barking at him. 

Frisk was frozen in place. 

“SANS! HELP ME!” Papyrus screamed. 

Adamson, burned and bloody, charged at Frisk.

“You took EVERYTHING from me!” 

Sans rushed to Papyrus’s side. Together, they summoned a fortified wall between Frisk and their father. 

The ground rumbled in front of Adamson, but he didn’t stop. Without breaking his stride, he lept towards Frisk. 

The wall of bone launched up from the ground. 

It caught Frisk’s father at the waist and it launched him into the air. 

The wall stopped moving, but the man did not. Frisk’s father tumbled twelve feet from the top of the wall. He landed on the floor in front of Frisk with a sickening crack.

And then, everything was completely quiet. 

The silence only lasted a moment before the bailiff stepped up and dragged Sans and Papyrus back. Sans dismissed the wall of bones; the magic resisted him slightly, and he nudged Papyrus. Papyrus completed the dismissal and the bones faded, their magic dissipating. 

Frisk stood in front of the man’s crumpled body. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle. They looked down at him, horrified.

“...Dad?”

Pepper stayed between Frisk and their father, but turned towards Frisk and leaned against their legs. Mx Haru and the judge ushered them towards the back door.

“No!” They screamed, then cast a wild look towards them. “Sans! Papyrus!”

Papyrus made a move to follow them. The court bailiff grabbed his arm. Papyrus jerked his arm away and continued walking. 

Sans noticed the court doors opening, and several more officers entered. 

Frisk was gone, but Mx Haru was back, talking to the bailiff. 

“Please, even just one of them. Frisk feels safe with Sans and Papyrus.”

“I'm sorry, but they need to stay right here until we figure out what to do. Hey, miss -” he gestured towards Alphys. 

“A-alphys,” she stammered. 

“Come with me. Not through the crime scene. I'll take you to meet up with your ward.”

“O-okay. Okay.” Alphys looked up at Sans and Papyrus. “I'll look after them, just - um…yeah. It'll be…okay?”

Sans ground his teeth. He felt his magic reconnect with his Soul - what had happened back there? - and he knew he could teleport again. If only he knew where they were!!

…then again, running away now might actually land him in jail. If he wasn't already going there, anyway. 

“Please. Take care of them,” Papyrus breathed.

Alphys nodded as the bailiff directed her out the back door of the courtroom. 

The rest of the group was moved to the back of the room while officers secured the entire area from the defense table to the witness stand.

Sans looked up at Papyrus.

“Papyrus, I'm - I'm so sorry, my magic stopped working. I tried to shortcut, but it didn't - I'm so sorry.”

Papyrus shook his head. “I should have been able to stop him. And now…”

Sans gasped as he felt a spike of pain shoot through his Soul. He looked over as Papyrus clutched his own chest. 

They both looked towards the crime scene. There was a red glow that none of the officers seemed to notice - and then a shattering sound.

The pain in his Soul settled and Sans could breathe again. He rushed to check Papyrus’s stats.

Papyrus

LV 2

Needs to hold his child.

Sans checked his own stats.

Sans

LV 2

Needs to hold his child.

Well. He sure didn't need Check Text to tell him that last bit. But…

“Papyrus. Are you okay?”

He nodded, dazed. Undyne stepped up to him and took his arm. 

“You did the right thing,” She said, her voice low. She patted his chest. “This bit sometimes kinda sucks. But you kept them safe. It was the right call.”

“I - did not… intend to kill him. Not this time,” he laughed weakly. “I just had to stop him, and he…”

“He made his choice.” Asgore stepped up beside Sans. Toriel followed, and set a hand on Sans’s shoulder. 

Sans kept his eye lights focused on the crime scene. He could see Adamson’s feet poking out from behind the witness stand. 

Huh. Welp. What do you know. They actually did get to kill Frisk’s dad. 

“And he deserved it,” Sans said under his breath.

Papyrus stood next to him, following his gaze. His shoulders dropped slightly and he leaned his weight against Undyne. 

His voice was low. “And he deserved it,” he agreed. 

*You breathe in, and out. 

*You focus on your breathing. 

*You just…keep on breathing. 

*You keep calm. 

*It'll all be okay.

*Just keep on breathing, Frisk.

Chapter Text

Undyne, Asgore, Papyrus, Sans, and Toriel were all gathered in a separate courtroom than before. It had been about an hour since the incident.

The same judge as before had returned. A different bailiff was present. 

All of Frisk’s guardians were glued to their phone as Alphys sent them information in a group text. 

(47 minutes ago)
Alphys: 
-heyyyi everyone 
-How you doin
-I mean
-Lol maybe i shouldnt ask
-Um
-Forget everything i said im gonna start again

(45 minutes ago) 
Alphys: 
-Frisk is in a meeting room with me and mx haru and pepper. Theyre not talking
-But pepper is best girl and shes doing a good job ૮₍ ´• ˕ •` ₎ა

Asgore:
-Thank you for your updates, Alphys. Pepper is indeed “best girl.” Please keep us updated.

(25 minutes ago)
Alphys:
-okay they seem like theyre doin better
-Mx haru brought in donuts and frisk actually wanted one. And then they laughed and said they taste better when undyne throws them. 
-lol relatable 
-Imeanwhat

Undyne:
-I can throw food at you later, after the whole. Jail thing ;)

Papyrus: 
-FOCUS, YOU TWO.
-ACTUALLY UNDYNE YOU CAN ALSO THROW FOOD AT ME. I ALREADY CAUGHT THE DONUT EXPERTLY YESTERDAY. 
-THROW SOMETHING WITH LESS GREASE NEXT TIME.

Undyne:
-Yes sir

(20 minutes ago)
Alphys:
-They’re doing much better. Tired, but talking about what happened and stuff
-Mx Haru is great

Toriel: 
-Oh, I am so relieved to hear this. The poor dear child. Thank you for looking after them in our stead. 

(3 minutes ago)
Alphys:
-Whats your eta? Should i bring frisk back to my place
-Theyre gettin kinda restless. Im thinkin theyre not a super big fan of being in the place their dad died lol
-Was that insensitive
-ignore me
-except dont because i do need an answer

(1 minute ago)
Alphys:
-oh um they just asked me if they can come back with me to my place
-Im cool with that. Undyne im gonna take the car
-let me know if u need a ride. But i figure someone there can drive u back??? unless they all get arrested except u lol
-Ok frisk is getting restless. Will keep u posted

Sans: 
-thanks pal. youre the best. keep em safe

Alphys: 
-You got it  (‘-‘*ゞ

Papyrus sighed in relief. He hadn’t been sure whether Frisk would feel safe enough to go anywhere without himself or Sans, but it seemed that their trust in the rest of their guardians was also gradually deepening.

He took a deep breath and looked at his friends. 

They were all tense. Even Sans had not relaxed his bones at all. 

“Hello, everyone,” the judge said. Her voice was shaky. Papyrus did not understand why she would still be working right now. Was there no one else to assist them? 

“We will be discussing the events of this afternoon. I understand that you have all been in contact with Frisk’s other guardian, Alphys; my staff have indicated they seem to be a bit steadier. Do you know if that is the case?”

“Yes, your honour,” Toriel said. “Alphys has informed us that Frisk will be going home with her shortly.”

The judge relaxed slightly. “I am so glad to hear that. You…have my apologies that I could not escort them out sooner.”

“No, thank you very much for your actions,” Asgore said. “We’re grateful for your care for them.”

The judge nodded.

“I am required to go through certain processes today, and it is possible that we will require further hearings as this case is processed,” she said evenly. 

Papyrus’s Soul thrummed anxiously. He needed to get home. He needed to be with his child. 

“However, the reason I chose to hold this hearing rather than give it to a colleague was to expedite the process.” she continued. “Although we will have further litigation in the weeks to come - and these hearings will require an unbiased judge - all that we are concerned about in the present moment is taking steps to ensure your child’s wellness. I was present for this afternoon’s events and do not feel any necessity to keep you in custody here, so I will process you in accordance with this. I would like to set you all at ease that I will allow you all to go home tonight.”

For the first time in the past hour, Sans relaxed. And when he did, he fully slumped forward and Papyrus was concerned for a moment he might actually tumble forward off his chair. He grabbed Sans’s shoulders to steady him. 

“Let us begin on the records needed for tonight. I will endeavour to send you all home at a reasonable time.”

Papyrus let go of Sans when he was sure that he was steady. He leaned forward and nodded. If focusing would get him back to Frisk faster, he would keep himself and everyone else in this room completely on task until the day was done!

And after that, Papyrus would return home. Return to Frisk. He smiled to himself; it was truly natural at this point to believe that the two were interconnected. 

Sans followed everyone out of the courtroom, trailing behind as he messaged Alphys privately. 

Sans: 
-eyyy alphys, we just finished up
-we’ll be home around 7ish, we can swing by your place to pick up frisk
-has kiddo had dinner yet? or should pap and i get them somethin on the way home

“Well? What did she say?”

Papyrus leaned over Sans to see his phone, then made a disappointed sound when there was no response.

“Don’t worry bout it, bro. I just finished typing.”

“Yes! But! Alphys is always very -”

Sans’s phone vibrated it and he clicked the screen on instantly.

Alphys:
-Sans! Hi!
-Um
-So
-Um,,,, frisk asked to stay here tonight!!!
-Probably just cause they wanna watch anime with me!! Or something!!!!! Probably totally not because of anything to worry about 
-Like. they seem all normal and stuff
-Undynes coming back too and they said thats fine!! So like maybe its just. A change of scenery????
-And they’re ok with us all having a sleepover in the living room!! So well be able to make sure theyre ok during the night. 

Sans’s Soul dropped in his chest. He showed the texts to Papyrus. 

Papyrus inhaled sharply. 

“I…suppose that is normal, right? It is normal for them to want to spend time with their other guardians! It would not be because…”

Sans closed his sockets and all he could see was Frisk’s horrified face as their dad’s mangled body lay on the floor in front of them. 

He thought of their distress at the mention that Papyrus had even tried to kill him during the first encounter. 

“...Yeah. It could be for any reason. Whatever they want, it’s most important that they’re comfortable tonight. It was a real bad day.”

“Yes…” Papyrus straightened up. “It was. It really was.”

Their departure was somber. 

Undyne got a ride with Asgore, and Toriel drove herself home. Sans and Papyrus climbed in Papyrus’s car.

…Adamson had been secured during the hearing. He had picked the lock on his cuffs. He was so desperate to hurt Frisk that he was willing to get himself killed. He didn’t stop after Undyne impaled him. 

He resisted Sans and Papyrus’s magic. Something in his Determination nullified one of Sans’s abilities. Why would such a powerful person channel his Determination into hurting Frisk?

He would have killed Frisk if they didn’t run away when they were ten. He would have killed them if they went home with him thirteen days ago. He would have killed them if Papyrus hadn’t shown up when he choked them in that alley. 

He would have killed them today. 

…

The judge really had done a good job of getting them out of there as soon as possible. Sans was so grateful that she hadn’t kept any of them in custody. He couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing his kid. 

They were so scared. They screamed his name. They were taken away.

They had been so small against his side as they sat through the trial. They fought so hard to get through the day. 

He could wait until they were ready to see them. He had considered messaging them, but…maybe they needed some space. From, you know, the guys that killed their dad. 

Papyrus turned on the ignition, and backed out of their parking spot. 

Sans closed his sockets and reached for his Soul. 

LV 2, huh. Never thought a lazy guy like him would get here. 

…

He would do it a hundred times over if it meant protecting Frisk. 

*You are comfortable resting on the couch. 

*The pajamas you borrowed from Undyne are soft. 

*You can hear your guardians sleeping peacefully. 

*You know you are safe. 

*There is no reason for you to get up right now. 

*It is four in the morning, and you know you should just go back to sleep. 

*You remember that you do not need to do this.

*You know this is a very bad plan.

*You do not need to do this.

*You do not need to do this.

*You do not need to do this.

Chapter Text

Papyrus sat on Sans’s bed. It was six in the morning, and Sans had finally managed to fall asleep on his couch just two hours ago. As for Papyrus, he had not slept at all. 

He wanted to hold his child. He needed to know they were safe. Sure, they were staying with Alphys and Undyne, but…

But they belong here, with us. 

The thought rose up unbidden.

…Frisk was Alphys and Undyne’s ward, too. Any of them could take care of Frisk just fine, and Frisk had…preferred to stay with them. So they were fine.

He got out of bed and pulled on his sweater which was draped over Sans’s chair. It was unusually cold in the apartment; even he noticed it. It must have been a chilly night. He needed to turn up the thermostat.

Today was a day for comfortable clothes, he decided. He slipped on his sweatpants and a pair of fuzzy socks. He thought of Frisk, in their cozy pajamas and pink fuzzy socks. He hoped they had warm, comfortable clothes to sleep in at Alphys’s apartment.

He wanted to see them, wanted to make sure they were okay. He would have to check in with Undyne and Alphys as soon as possible. 

For now, he would just get a warm drink. When Sans woke up, they could decide what next steps to take. 

Papyrus stepped into the kitchen. His bones were rattling, but it wasn’t from the cold. 

He had killed someone. And his child…

Would they even want to be his child anymore? 

Papyrus shook his skull. It was pointless wondering that. And…if that was Frisk’s choice, he had always resolved that he would support them. No matter what. 

He watched the kettle boil on the stove. It took a very long time, but he was not in a rush. 

Finally, it boiled. He pulled out a mug, and filled it. He took out the canister of dried cedar needles.  The tea smelled heavenly. Finally, to finish it off, he scooped in what Undyne would consider “a whole heckin lot” of sugar. 

His tea prepared, Papyrus cupped the mug in his hands. It warmed his bones, offering a comfort against the chill. 

Papyrus turned around to walk into the living room. 

He dropped his mug to the floor and it shattered. 

Frisk was sitting on their couch, looking up at the twinkling fairy lights. The gold light bathed their body in its glow, warming their bare skin. They were dressed only in a pair of loose pants.

“F-Frisk!” He stammered. He spun so his back faced them. “Wh - I - Okay, put your shirt on first!”

“Can't,” they replied flatly.

“Why?” 

“Threw it out the window.” 

“WHY?”

“Cuz I'm a coward.”

“Wh-” A sound in the hallway. Sans was coming. “SANS! Stop. Grab one of my shirts.”

“What?...”

“Any one! Just bring something!”

Sans stopped arguing, and Papyrus watched the hallway. He saw him slip into his room. A second later, he stepped into the living room. He looked at Papyrus, then towards the couch -

Sans took a startled step backwards, closed his sockets and reflexively threw the shirt at Frisk. 

Papyrus waited a moment, then chanced a glance - Frisk hadn’t moved.

“I apologize for the rudeness,” Papyrus said, trying to keep his voice light. “I do understand that humans can opt not to wear a shirt! However, this is very unusual behaviour for you. And especially after everything that happened yesterday…I am concerned! Sans is too!”

“Yep,” Sans's voice was tight.

“...and come to think of it, weren't you with Alphys? How did you even get in here?”

“Easy lock to pick.”

“I - okay, noted. Please put on the shirt.”

Frisk said something, but it was too soft to hear.

“Sorry kid, can you repeat that?” Sans asked.

“...Why?” Frisk said, barely above a whisper.

Papyrus took a sharp breath. “Frisk, I do not understand what is happening. Will you please put the shirt on and we can talk more?”

Silence. Frisk inhaled, as if they were going to say something. But they just exhaled, a small whimper accompanying the breath.

Something was wrong. Very very VERY wrong.

All the same, he heard a rustle of fabric, then a quiet “Done.”

He slowly turned around and let out a sigh of relief. 

His child was now standing under the fairy lights, dressed in one of his crop tops, which covered their shorter frame just fine. They wore a loose linen pair of pajama pants that he recognized as Undyne’s, and one of Papyrus's orange shirts. They were fully clothed, but…

“Frisk, where is your scarf?”

Frisk blinked slowly, and tilted their head slowly, too. It was like they were moving through a thick liquid. They looked at Papyrus, but didn't meet his gaze.

Sans spoke up. “The one Papyrus gave you. I see it on the couch. You wanna put it on?”

Frisk shook their head slowly. “It's Papyrus's. Giving it back.”

Papyrus tried to maintain the levity in his voice. “Ah! No, friend. It is yours to keep! I want to give it to you!”

Frisk's breath stuttered. They hugged themself, nails digging into the exposed skin of their arms. They took a step backwards.

He thought maybe they would pick up the scarf. But instead, they walked past it to the wall. Papyrus looked at Sans, but he looked just as lost.

They crouched down, disappearing for a moment behind the arm of the couch. And then, the fairy lights went out.

Sans shoved his hands into his pockets. “Frisk? Why did you…”

They stood up slowly, then turned and walked back to the middle of the living room.

“Don't want them.” They stopped in the middle of the room. Their eyes were lidded. It reminded Papyrus of how they looked when they first left the ruins.

“O-okay. That is fine, too!” Papyrus reassured them. 

The room was dim now, lit only by the daylight streaming through the window. The clouds outside made it much dimmer than usual.

Sans and Papyrus were still. He was trying to keep himself composed, but the way Frisk was acting sent alarms off deep in Papyrus's Soul. 

Finally, Papyrus tried to speak.

“Frisk, yesterday was-”

Frisk interrupted him.

“You've both been real generous,” they muttered. “Thanks for waiting till I wasn't hurt anymore.”

Papyrus had a deep, terrifying need to stop what was happening.

Sans seemed to feel the same. He tried to redirect. 

“Hey bud, we know yesterday was really…bad. Why don't we make breakfast together? If you want to talk things through, we're here for you.”

Papyrus pushed his voice out to agree. “Y-yes!!! We should all…”

Frisk started shaking. They raised a hand to their head and winced, then took a deep breath, lowered their hand, and continued.

“Please.” Their voice cracked. “I just want to get it over with. I won't complain or anything.”

Papyrus’s Soul froze. 

“My debt-” Frisk grasped at the hem of their shirt. “I owe you.”

A sharp pain shot through him as their words struck Sans, too. 

-2350.

-2540.

Frisk took their silence as a cue to keep talking. 

“At least with one of you.” Through his swimming vision, he saw Frisk finally look up at him with wide eyes, then take a step towards him. Before he could react, they looked over at Sans. “Or i-if you both want to - I've never done that before, so I might not be the best, b-but!”

Sans. Thank the stars for Sans. 

“Frisk, no,” he choked out. “Never, buddy. We told you, we don’t want that.”

Papyrus started regaining some feeling in his bones. He saw Frisk more clearly. Their eyes were flicking from Sans to Papyrus. 

Papyrus took a step backwards. 

“There has been a grave miscommunication, Frisk,” He said. His voice shook. “Like we said, we will never touch you in any way you do not want.”

Frisk was starting to look more alert again.

“No, I w-want to! I told you, I want to get this done, so -”

“Stopping you right there.” Sans walked towards Papyrus, giving Frisk a wide berth. Frisk watched him warily. “Like I said, never. We don’t want that from you.”

“I can tell a nice lie when I hear one,” they muttered. “Dad told me things that made me feel better too.” They grasped the hem of their shirt so hard their knuckles were white.

A nice lie? Echoing his confusion, Sans spoke up. “What’re you talking about?” He asked hesitantly.

“Did you think I'd believe something like that?” Frisk asked, an uncharacteristic bite to their voice. “That - monsters…don't want this stuff from me.”

Papyrus flinched. He sucked in a sharp breath. “No, Frisk. That was not a lie. Truly. And we would not want that from you regardless.”

Papyrus felt a flicker of hope as Frisk stilled and finally seemed to really look at them. Were they starting to understand? 

They cast their gaze to the floor and wrapped their arms around themself again. Their shoulders hunched in, and their breathing hitched.

“...Is-is it -” they tried to keep their voice steady, but tears were welling in their eyes. “Dad said - is it b-because I’m - no good, I’m - used up-”

“Oh, Frisk,” Papyrus breathed. He started to take a step forward, but stopped himself. His magic swirled with fury in his Soul. He had never been so grateful for his practiced control. 

Sans was… struggling more.  

“That fucking bastard,” he growled. Papyrus saw his shoulders start to shake.

Papyrus took over. 

“No, Frisk. You are so good. You are not used up. That is not possible at all. Your…father has not diminished your value in the least.”

“Then do you think I’m ugly? Or gross?” Their voice was becoming frantic now. They took a couple more steps towards Papyrus, then winced again and pressed their hands over their temples. Papyrus almost reached out to offer a supportive hand, but stopped himself. 

Frisk looked back up at him. They grasped the collar of their borrowed shirt with both of their hands and pulled down. What control Papyrus had over his expressions slipped. His sockets widened and he covered his mouth. 

Starting just a couple inches below their collarbones, their chest was covered in scars - small and faded, large and prominent, overlapping. Virtually no skin was left unmarked. Dr Sommer’s count based on the rest of their body was nothing compared to even the small amount of Frisk’s chest he could see. And Frisk’s diagrams in their letter didn’t indicate anything near this. 

“It’s all ugly! I'm disgusting! Is that why?”

Papyrus gathered himself and looked in their eyes. “No, never. You are not gross, and you are not ugly,” he said emphatically. 

Beside him, Sans took a deep breath and finally spoke, his voice shaky. 

“Bud, you - mentioned a debt, earlier. Did you also think you were in debt to your dad?”

Frisk froze again, now looking at Sans. “Yeah,” they said matter-of-factly. 

“And you…repaid it by having sex with him.”

They let go of the shirt’s collar. Only a few of the scars were visible below the stretched material. Their face was completely red now. “...Yeah.” 

Sans's voice was low, rumbling, and deathly serious. “Frisk, I need you to know, that is not okay. An adult has no reason to want to have sex with a child.”

Frisk said nothing. 

“Did you ever learn about sex in school at all?” Papyrus asked softly. He remembered reading that this was an important part of human education.

Now Frisk really looked like they wanted to disappear. “Yeah,” they mumbled.

Okay. Good. “Did they teach you that an adult should never touch a child like that?”

Frisk huffed out an annoyed sound. “Yeah.”

Good! So Frisk did know! “Okay. I am very glad! What your father did was unacceptable in any situation. No child should ever be treated the way you were.”

For some reason, Frisk didn’t seem convinced. 

Sans looked up at Papyrus. If he was looking at him hoping for guidance, he was out of luck. This wasn’t something he was prepared for. He had only even learned of such crimes over the past couple of years…

Frisk didn't give them time to figure out what to say next.

Frisk looked at Papyrus, Sans, then back at Papyrus. Then they looked down at the floor. “But… I’ve taken so much.” They shrunk in on themself even more. “I could repay Dad with this. Then he felt better again.”

“You never took too much.” Sans’s voice was heavy with grief. “You were the kid. You’re meant to take stuff from your guardian.”

“You don’t get it,” they said, their voice a pained whine. “I was always a really hard kid to take care of, and - you understand now, right? I need a way to pay you back.”

“You are not a difficult child at all! You are absolutely a delight,” Papyrus said decisively. 

But Frisk shook their head violently. “Don't you get it? I'm horrible! You saw what happened yesterday! I’ve just been pretending to be good! And I've still managed to take everything from you, and Dad is -!!”

Sans tensed. “You haven’t taken too much, kiddo. We’ve just been taking care of you.”

“No!! Why don’t you get it, I need to -”

Suddenly, Frisk’s face blanched. They went silent. 

“...Frisk?” Papyrus asked carefully. 

“I…think I get it,” they said, their voice faint. “Since I'm human, I…I always knew that I owed the monsters... I knew that - I should maybe just let them hurt me, but…”

Papyrus interrupted them. “No. No, Frisk, absolutely not.”

“Did hurting me make you feel better?” They spat.

Sans took a step towards them. “Kiddo, no, that wasn’t -”

But they ignored him and turned fully to Papyrus. 

“You were happy when we fought!” Their voice cracked. “My Dad - he smiled too, when I let him - let him do what he wanted.” 

Tears finally tumbled down their cheeks.

 “I - thought maybe everyone just fought me because it was the only way to be free. But - w-was I wrong?” Frisk blinked their tears away and looked up at Papyrus with desperation plain on their face. “Did hurting me make you happy ?”

Papyrus’ knees started shaking, and his voice wavered. “Frisk, I did not realize -”

“What did you not realize? My arm broke!” They screamed.

Seemingly surprised by their own outburst, they slapped a hand over their mouth. After a moment, they dropped their hand to their side. When they spoke again, they were much more reserved. 

“If - that's how I can pay you back, please. Whatever you want to do.”

Papyrus fought to steady himself. “What I did was inexcusable,” he said quietly. “You never deserved it.”

Frisk’s body started shaking even more. “I need you to do something to me,” they begged. “Please, just get it over with.”

“Bud, we don’t want to hurt you,” Sans said, his voice strained. 

“It’s okay!” They spread their arms out wide and smiled as they trembled. “You can do it, I’m asking you to.”

Papyrus's Soul sank even further. “Please stop saying that.”

“You have to-” A tear ran down their cheek.

“No, I do not.”

“Please, please…”

“I do not want to hurt you, Frisk,” he said firmly. 

“I don’t believe you!!” 

Then, Frisk moved, and they moved fast. 

They took three quick steps towards Papyrus, and before he could react, their hand darted out and grasped his right wrist. He pulled back, but Frisk’s grip was tight. 

Sans stepped forward, a hand extended. “Bud, let's just-”

Frisk didn't even acknowledge him. 

“Do something!!” They cried. 

They yanked Papyrus's hand up and forward until his fingers wrapped around their neck. 

Frisk’s neck was warm and soft under his fingers, small and delicate compared to his large hand. His child pulled until his palm pressed firmly against their throat. He could feel their fluttering pulse.

“Please…” They begged.

Papyrus's mind went blank.

Sans watched in horror as Frisk - their friend, their hero, their kid - held his brother’s hand around their neck. 

Papyrus was completely still. Sans wasn't sure if he was even breathing.

“Please!” Frisk begged, looking up at him with crazed desperation on their face. “Please, I owe you so much! I need you to…”

Sans finally willed himself to move. He stepped between Papyrus and Frisk. “I'm gonna need you to back off,” he said quietly. “Come on. You're not acting like yourself, kid.”

Frisk's entire demeanour shifted in an instant.

They bristled and glared up at Sans with a malice that felt completely incompatible with the child he thought he knew. The expression shot ice through his bones. 

“You don't know me,” they growled. 

They threw Papyrus’s hand away from them. He stumbled backwards, caught his foot on the leg of a kitchen chair, and landed on the ground with a thud.

Sans put his hands up. He wasn't sure what the gesture meant: reassurance or surrender.

“That's okay! It's okay,” he said, glancing down at his brother. Papyrus was sitting on the floor, looking up at Frisk with wide sockets, but seemed unhurt. Sans turned back to Frisk. “Maybe we don't know you as well as we should. But we still won't hurt-”

Frisk grabbed Sans’s forearm and pulled him towards them. They used the momentum to swing him past them. Sans's spine thudded against the wall. When did the kid get so strong?!

Frisk stepped up to him until their bodies almost touched. They planted their hands on the wall on either side of Sans so he was caged in by their arms. 

Even though they were almost as tall as him now, Frisk had always seemed small to Sans; they were a kid. A child. Just a lil fella.

He hadn’t realized until that moment that he barely even had to look down to meet their eyes.

“Hey, Sans.” Their voice was all wrong. It sounded like a taunt. “Make any promises lately?”

Sans stopped breathing. 

“Not like it would matter much,” they sighed. “You know, right? That you failed?”

Frisk knew. 

Frisk knew he knew.

…How could they not? That day, at the restaurant - he said they didn't die, then asked if he was wrong. He all but told them directly that he knew they had died.

And that was right after he said that he wished they were dead.

Frisk leaned in closer. Sans pressed himself against the wall. He wanted to disappear. It should be easy! He should be able to teleport himself out of this situation like he had so many others!

He felt a now-familiar helplessness as those Determined red eyes froze him in place.

“Come on, Sans,” they urged, a completely misplaced sweetness in their voice. “I bet you're curious. Why don't we test if I still got a certain power I had in the Underground?”

No .

“I know it's what you wanna do. I won’t even try to stop you. It'd be so easy .” They were so close he could feel their breath.

No .

“Hey! You wanna record it?” They grinned, an expression that looked more like a creature baring its teeth than any expression of any kind of happiness. “Go for it. I got lots of practice being recorded, and you guys killed my old cameraman yesterday. I got an opening for a new one.” 

No.

And then, Frisk… giggled . 

“Promise I’ll be good.”

Sans didn't breathe. Sans didn't think. 

Sans grabbed Frisk’s Soul and shoved them across the room.

Frisk slid to a stop just before their back collided with the opposite wall. Their eyes were wide and disbelieving.

They looked at him, then down at Papyrus. 

Their smile returned, and they laughed again.

“Okay,” they said through weak laughter. “Got it. I'm sorry for bothering you.”

Papyrus finally regained control of himself. He staggered to his feet. 

“Frisk, please, let's talk,” he begged. 

“Don't wanna,” Frisk replied. Their laughter faded and they just looked tired.

Sans finally forced his voice out. “A-are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“No,” they snapped. They turned away.

“Why don't you rest here for a bit?” Sans asked, his voice breaking. “We don't have to talk yet.”

Frisk shook their head. They walked towards the door. Sans and Papyrus followed as they stuffed their feet into their shoes. 

“Where are you going?” Sans didn't think he had ever heard Papyrus sound so broken. 

“Home,” Frisk said flatly. “Thanks for letting me stay for a while.”

Before either of them could reply, Frisk was gone.

*You think you’re making a huge mistake. 

That fucking voice.

*You think you should go back to the skeletons’ apartment. 

*The thought of going back to your friends fills you with determination.

It hadn't shut up all day.

*You know they’ll take care of you. 

*You know you’re wrong about this. 

It just kept chattering away, grating at their nerves while they were trying to finally repay their debts.

*You know you’re being too fucking stubborn for your own good!

They had a splitting headache.

*Frisk, turn this body around and go back or so help me!

They raised a fist and pounded on their head. 

*Frisk, okay, fine! Okay! Stop hitting yourself!!

Dad had always been right. There was something wrong with them. 

*Ugh, this is not the ideal situation. Greetings! I am Chara! The Dreemurr’s human child! 

Frisk swayed on their feet. Cool, now the voice had a name.

…Chara. The Dreemurr’s human child. Frisk remembered them. The monsters had talked about them, and the tapes in the True Lab…

Wow. At least Frisk had an imagination, even if they really were crazy.

*No, you are not crazy. But you are incredibly stubborn!

They weren’t stubborn. They were just realistic. And now they were hearing voices. 

*I will find ways to prove my identity to you later. But for now, please trust me.

Frisk ducked into an alley.

“Shut up,” they breathed.

*No. You are not in the condition to be wandering around, and I don't want you to do something stupid.

“You don't get to make that decision for me!”

*Well, like it or not, I am here too. And I will be a nuisance until you stop being foolish and allow yourself to be helped!

Frisk closed their eyes. They hugged themself and held on tight to their upper arms, feeling their nails bite into the cold skin. They hadn’t even brought their jacket, and it was one of the coldest days in a while.

*Please. Frisk, I cannot just stand by and let you do this. You…You deserve help. You-

“Shut up!”

Frisk stood up so abruptly they briefly felt dizzy. They swayed on their feet, setting a hand against the wall to steady themself.

“Okay. So let's say that I'm not hallucinating, and the narration that has been rattling around in my head is somehow some ghost kid. COOL! That's fine, I guess. But I don't need you telling me what to do!”

*Frisk, please let me help -

“Nobody should help me!! Did you see what I did back there?” Images rose up in their mind. Papyrus reeling back when they threw his hand away from them. Sans looking at them in horror as they pressed him against the wall. Dad laying dead in the courtroom because Frisk was a selfish piece of garbage who didn't just take responsibility for everything. “I-I don't know why I can't figure out how to be a normal person. But I'm obviously fucking everything up all over again.”

*Frisk-

“I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!” Frisk breathed heavily. Then - ah. That was it.

“Are you somehow connected to me, or do you just float around or something?”

*...When you fell, I woke up. My consciousness has come and gone since you came to the surface, but I have remained connected to you.

“Okay, cool.” Frisk faced the wall and folded their arms, as if the wall was their conversation partner. “If you don't shut up, I'll throw this body away. I'm not feeling particularly attached to this whole ‘living’ thing right now, so if you keep annoying me, I'll throw it away, and both of us will go with it. So if you want to keep doing whatever you're doing in your weird ghosty situation, you need to just. Be. Quiet.”

*Frisk…

*...

*...Okay.

Frisk kept listening to their ragged breath, to the pounding pulse in their head, and finally, there was no more grating voice mixed in with it. 

Good. 

They always did way better when they were alone. This is what they wanted.

Chapter Text

Sans and Papyrus stood frozen in place for a long time after Frisk left.

Finally, Papyrus sank to his knees. His body felt like lead.

Sans stepped up beside him. He looked up to see him, but Papyrus was still staring at the closed door. He was trembling. 

“What…what just happened?” Sans said, his voice shaking.

“I am not too sure, myself,” Papyrus said slowly. 

They were quiet for another moment. 

“What do we do now?” Papyrus asked. His voice sounded hollow even to himself.

Sans looked down at him. He took a breath to say something, but stopped when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Sans took it out quickly and Papyrus’s Soul leapt. Frisk?

“Oh, it's Alphys,”

Papyrus’s phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out - Undyne. 

“Hey,” Sans answered the call with Alphys. 

Papyrus picked up Undyne's call.

“PAPYRUS!!!!! FRISK ISN'T HERE!!!! THEY'RE WITH YOU, RIGHT??? THEY MUST HAVE GONE TO YOUR PLACE!!!!”

Papyrus's magic churned. 

“I…”

“HUH? SPEAK UP PAPYRUS WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!! THEY’RE WITH YOU RIGHT?? THEY'RE FINE RIGHT????”

“I - they…”

“OKAY. OKAY YOU'RE FEELING QUIET TODAY THAT'S FINE. I'M LISTENING REAL HARD. TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING.”

Papyrus took a deep breath. Across the room, he heard Sans's conversation.

“...back home. I don't know if we should…”

Ah. Yes! First priority. Papyrus took a deep breath and composed himself.

“Frisk behaved in a very concerning way today. I do not think Sans and I should go see them right now. They went back to their apartment.”

“...What?”

Papyrus felt tears well up in his sockets. He wanted to sob on the phone with his best friend and explain everything that happened. Everything he had done that led to Frisk feeling so horrible about themself. How he had failed their child.

He blinked his tears away and focused.

“Go make sure Frisk is safe. They feel…like they deserve harm right now. They may ask you to do so. Be prepared for this.” He took a steadying breath. “Please hurry, Undyne.”

His friend's voice changed.

“On it. I'll inform you when I have more info. Alphys!”

The line cut. Sans turned his phone off too, then sat heavily on the couch.

“They'll be okay, right?” Papyrus asked. He sat down beside his brother.

“Of course,” Sans answered, the same way he always answered when Papyrus was a child and Sans was taking care of him. Papyrus had realized long ago that Sans didn't always believe what he said.

Papyrus's sight landed on the broken mug on the kitchen floor. The cedar tea pooled on the tiles.

“I suppose we should deliver Frisk's clothing back to their apartment sometime,” he said. “Oh, and maybe we should package some leftovers, so they have meals. They might not feel like cooking…”

“Yeah. Sounds good bro,” Sans said, his voice monotone. 

Papyrus looked outside. The apartment was still unusually cold. Snow was falling heavily outside. It was a perfect morning for hot chocolate with Sans and Frisk.

Papyrus drew his knees to his chest.

What had he done?

Before he could have any further thoughts, his phone rang again. Undyne already.

“Hello, U-”

“Frisk’s not here.”

Sans overheard Undyne’s voice and snapped to attention beside him.

“What?” Papyrus breathed. “Have you checked everywhere?”

“Alphys and I looked everywhere. Not exactly a huge place. They aren’t here. Alphys has been trying to call them, and their location isn't showing on the app. Their phone's probably off.”

Papyrus looked at Sans. He looked just as horrified as Papyrus felt. 

“Sans and I will start searching. I will message Toriel and Asgore. Undyne, please get your emergency response team on their trail.” Papyrus paused for a moment, then rushed to the couch and grabbed Frisk's abandoned scarf.

“I’ll call them right away. Shit, I hope this storm doesn’t mess with their trail too much - okay. Talk to you soon.”

Papyrus was already at the door putting his boots on. He threw Sans’s jacket to him.

“While the roads are clear enough, I’ll drive around the area. You have a shortcut; go check the hospital.”

Sans stood near the entryway, holding his coat. He looked dazed and his eye lights had blinked out. Papyrus closed his sockets for a second, then walked up to Sans and grasped his upper arms firmly. 

“My apologies, brother, but we must schedule our trauma responses for another time! Right now, we have a child to find. Whatever happens after that…” His voice drifted off and he shook his head. “Please. Let’s find Frisk.”

Sans blinked. His eye lights sparked back to life, and a slight shudder ran through his body. He nodded. “Okay. Hospital, right?”

“Correct. And then anywhere else a lost child may end up.”

“Roger that.”

Papyrus didn’t even wait for Sans to shortcut away before running out the door. 

There was a chorus of startled cries as Sans stepped into existence in the middle of the Emergency waiting room. He ignored them and went straight to reception, where a short, middle-aged woman was looking at him with an unphased expression. 

“I appreciate the efficiency of whatever you just did, but please don’t give any of our patients a heart attack.”

“Gotcha,” He said. “I got a question. Has a kid come here? Or been brought here. It would have been within the past hour.”

The receptionist focused on her computer screen. “Yes, a couple. I’ve only been on shift for a few minutes, though; I haven’t seen them myself.”

“Okay. Okay, Basically, our kid has gone missing and we’re -”

A side door opened, and a familiar figure walked in the building. Dr Sommer had a purse over her shoulder and was carrying a jacket; it looked like she was just starting her shift. 

“Doc!” Sans called. 

“Sir! Sir, let her -”

“Doctor Sommer!”

The woman turned towards Sans. She gave a smile when she saw him.

“Hello, Sans. What brings you here today?”

“I got an important request for ya,” Sans said. “Frisk’s missing. If they’re here, please, get someone to call me.”

The doctor’s face fell. She set her jaw and nodded. “And you have called the authorities?”

“Yeah. The rest of the group is on that.”

“Good. I will alert you if I hear anything at all.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Sans gave a quick wave, then stepped out of existence. He heard the receptionist calling after him, “Do that outside -”

Sorry, ma’am, he thought. Next time for sure. 

Sans stepped out in front of the school Frisk attended. His phone buzzed and the alarm started blaring. He never had the sound on. He clicked the volume off and looked at the screen. 

ALERT
Missing Human Child
Frisk Del Rosso
13 years old - 5 feet tall - brown skin - shoulder-length dark brown hair - red eyes
Last seen wearing orange t-shirt and beige pants
Contact authorities if seen

Sans felt a hysterical laugh rising in his chest. 

This time yesterday, his kid was by his side. They were soft and safe, despite the difficult day in court. 

How could so much change in one day? 

Sans ran a few steps around the school, teleported a few meters ahead, ran some more. School had been cancelled because of the incoming snow storm so the building was locked, but they could have picked a lock to get in if they wanted to. He shortcut to the cafeteria of the school. Nothing here. He made a step to teleport to Toriel’s office. 

Why don't we test if I still got a certain power I had in the Underground?

Sans’s Soul stuttered and his teleportation failed. He missed his target location and teleported outside the school, two storeys up, then started falling. Sans yelped and focused his magic to land safely on the floor inside the science classroom. 

Adrenaline and magic exhaustion were making his head spin. Sans stumbled towards a student’s desk and set his hands on it to balance himself. 

…

Was Frisk going to Reset?

And if they regretted yesterday badly enough, would they be desperate enough to pull everything back to the beginning? 

It had been two years! Two years of progress and healing and growing and - 

Frisk had spent those two years in fear, barely keeping their head above water as they waited for any of the adults in their life to snap. 

In this timeline, they had been beaten by monsters and their dad had found them. They had trusted Sans and Papyrus but now, they seemed to have given up on ever having safety with them.

He had never seen anger in them like he did today. 

In their next run, would they take that anger out on the monsters? He wouldn’t blame them. They had a right to defend themself. He doubted the Sans of their new timeline would think it was justified. The Sans of their new timeline wouldn’t love Frisk. 

His magic swirled wildly in his Soul. 

He couldn’t let a Reset happen. At this point, he didn’t care about any Sanses of other timelines. He didn’t care about an anomaly making a mess of things. He didn’t care about the apathy that would swallow him whole. 

Sans straightened back up and summoned his strength to keep on teleporting. 

He couldn't let a Reset happen because he couldn’t bear to live in a timeline where he might never realize how much he loved Frisk. 

*…

Papyrus turned the windshield wipers on faster as the snow obscured his vision. He gritted his teeth and gripped the steering wheel tight.

He had been making circles around their apartment complex, gradually moving outwards, but so far there was no sign of them. And with this snow…

His phone rang and he answered it through his car's audio system.

“Undyne! What updates do you have?”

“Not great, dude,” his friend answered. “The dogs only picked up a bit of their scent near the apartment. Everywhere else is covered in enough snow to make tracking pretty much impossible.”

“...Okay. Thank you.” Another call started ringing through. “Apologies, Undyne. I have to answer this.”

“No problem. We'll keep looking.”

Papyrus answered the second call.

“Hello, Toriel!”

“Hello, Papyrus. The human police force has been notified and they are out searching now.”

“Thank you, Toriel. And Frisk’s phone?”

“I still cannot see their location. I have called again, and it still goes directly to voicemail.”

“...Okay. Thank you.”

The call ended. Papyrus’s tire skidded and the vehicle slowed. The snow would soon become too much, despite his winter tires. He hoped the police force had better equipped vehicles. But he wanted to be out here searching! Just a little longer…

His phone rang again. 

“Hello, Asgore! Any news?”

“None,” he said, his breathing heavy. He was searching the forested areas near the apartment complex. “Alphys has posted information on social media, and I am hopeful we shall find them soon, but…how long has it been now?”

Papyrus glanced down at his clock. “Only one hour! They must still be nearby, right?”

Asgore hummed thoughtfully. “Let's slow down and think this through. Can you tell me what they said before they left?”

Papyrus's car skidded again. He held his breath and pulled off to the shoulder of the road.

“They…they thanked Sans and I for letting them stay. And they said they were going home. But they aren't home!! So they must have changed their mind, or…”

“Papyrus? You still there?”

“They went home,” Papyrus breathed. “Thank you, Asgore! I may have a lead. I have to make some calls!”

He hung up and dialled Mx Haru.

She answered immediately. 

“Papyrus! I heard about Frisk, I'm calling around and -”

“What was Penn Adamson’s home address?”

“...what?”

“Frisk said they were going home. They grew up nearby. I think their father still lived at their childhood home.”

There was a rustling sound on the other end of the line, as well as a sound that Papyrus recognized as Pepper whining.

“Got it. I'm texting it to you.”

The address popped up on his screen. 

“Thank you, Mx Haru! We will investigate!”

“Good luck. I'll call the police to send some cars there to help you look.”

Papyrus hung up. It might take him a while to get there. It really was close to where Frisk was attacked…

He called Sans and didn't wait for a greeting. 

“Sans, I think they went home. To their father's house. It's near where they were attacked. Can you shortcut there and find the address I send you?”

“Yep. Send it now. I'll be there in no time.”

“Okay. When you find the location, come get me so we can both look.”

Papyrus hung up, then took a deep breath. He texted the address to Undyne with an explanation and asked her to get the Emergency Response team there as soon as possible. With that done, he exhaled, and lowered his skull to rest on the steering wheel. 

…

Frisk wanted to be hurt. What if they had done something…

He clenched his teeth. 

How could he ever have harmed this child? How did he ever think it was okay?

If something happened to them today…

He listened to the wind outside his car for a while. There was no way he could keep driving now. He just had to sit here and wait for -

There was a familiar flare of magic, and Sans was knocking on his window. Papyrus threw the door open, stepped out, and closed it loudly behind him.

“Heya,” Sans said, his grin strained. He put his hand on Papyrus’s shoulder, took a step, and they were both gone.

Sans hated how normal Frisk's childhood home looked. 

It wasn't an extravagant home, but not run-down by any means. It was perfectly inconspicuous and Sans hated it. 

Papyrus ran up the stairs and tried the doorknob. At least they had info that a new family hadn't moved into the house yet - it hadn't even been two weeks since Frisk's dad was taken into custody, and it was still unoccupied. But of course, it was locked. 

Sans was about to ask if they should wait for the cops to show up when Papyrus screamed “EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES!” and kicked the door down.

The air inside was still and cold. Sans took a careful step inside, while Papyrus rushed ahead calling Frisk’s name.

“Sans, I will start on the main floor. You search the basement.”

Sans nodded and jogged forward. He opened a door - a closet with cleaning supplies. Tried another door - bingo. Stairs to the basement. He descended into the dark space.

He landed at the bottom of the stairs and fumbled along the walls for a light switch. Instead of finding one, a dangling string hit his face. He tugged on it and a small lightbulb lit up.

It didn't do a great job of illuminating the large space, but it would do the trick. He started examining the basement.

It was a large, open room, concrete all around. There was a washing machine, bookshelves, boxes. There were baskets and sleds. 

It was too normal. Frisk must have gone sledding even while they were nursing wounds. They had foraged and explored with a man who hurt them in horrible ways. 

Sans kept moving. He looked in any corner and tight space a person could fit into, and then some. 

Nothing. Nada. Not a clue.

Sans sighed, frustrated. He backed out of a tight spot he had been investigating and accidentally tipped over a stack of books.

He stepped over the mess and left it behind, but not before he caught a strange title on a thick stack of papers, stapled together. The paper was dated 12 years ago. The title page read:

Magic, Science, and Liberation:
A Scientific Proposal for the Dismantling of Ebott's Ancient Barrier.
Ahimsa Sharma, PhD

He didn't slow down. He ran up the stairs, back to the main floor.

…Ahimsa Sharma. That was a human name, wasn't it? It had to be. Sans knew every scientist in the Underground who had been working on breaking the Barrier, and that name didn't ring a bell.

He had heard of humans who had been researching the barrier in the past. Their research hadn't come close to liberating the monsters, but…the humans had been working to set them free .

Why on earth would someone like Frisk's dad have a paper like this?

Sans stepped onto the hardwood floor, out of the dark basement. Those were thoughts for another day.

*…

Papyrus started in the living room. 

It was a bit empty, but the furniture was nice. The hardwood floor was dark and polished. There were no rugs anywhere. He scowled disapprovingly. Frisk wouldn't like that. They were quite fond of the soft carpet in their apartment. 

No clues in the living room. He rushed into the kitchen.

Similarly nondescript. There was a magnetic strip above the sink that held several large knives. He thought about Frisk, kneeling on the floor in the courthouse meeting room, surrounded by skewers they used to describe their dad's weapon. 

He only brought out bigger ones sometimes, and he didn’t use them. Just said he would.

Papyrus tore his gaze away from the knives. He scoured the kitchen. There weren't many places to hide here…Still no sign of Frisk.

He cursed under his breath, ran down the hallway, and opened the door to the closest bedroom.

Papyrus’s breath stilled. 

He had stepped into a child's room. The bed was in the middle of the room. It was small, probably about 5 feet long. There was a desk and chair, and a closet. He pulled it open. Inside were a few outfits, hanging neatly. Jeans, t-shirts, a jacket…all in blues and greens and browns. He closed the closet and turned back, almost tripping over a toolbox on the floor. He recovered, then knelt down to look under the bed. Seeing nothing, he stood up to leave.

His eye caught on a child's blue backpack. He saw a label with a name he didn't recognize. It was struck through with a couple lines, and written underneath it was the name Frisk with a small pink flower drawn after it.

Frisk's bedroom. Their father seemed to have left it as is, even though they had been gone for three years.

It looked normal, if a bit empty - but it lacked any softness. There was nothing pink, no fluffy blankets, and certainly not a single skirt in that closet. Frisk liked shorts and t-shirts, certainly. But they also liked frilly things and fuzzy socks! This bedroom lacked so much of their Soul. It was hard to believe it had ever belonged to them.

Well. Frisk definitely wasn't in this room anymore, and he needed to find them. Papyrus closed the door behind him and moved on. 

Sans stepped out of the basement staircase. “No luck,” he said with a sigh. 

Papyrus was about to run upstairs when he heard barking. He looked towards the sound.

The dogs from the Emergency Response Team were bounding towards the house. Before Papyrus could say anything they had all pushed through the door in a jumble of fur and barks, and then set to sniffing the air, floor, chairs… everything they could get their nose close to. 

Undyne skidded into the house. “Hey guys!! Sorry we took so long. Lesser Dog's searching with Asgore, but I figured this should be enough noses for the job.”

They had actually been alarmingly quick in their arrival. “That is no problem, Undyne. We have had no luck so far.”

Sans walked upstairs to the top floor. Papyrus stayed with Undyne. 

“I have not heard anything further from the rest of the group,” he said. His head was throbbing and the adrenaline was starting to fade. Undyne set a hand on his shoulder, and only then did he realize how badly his bones were rattling.

“Undyne, where are they?” He asked, his voice breaking.

A pained expression crossed Undyne’s face.

They were interrupted by a whining sound. Greater Dog stood up, looking crestfallen. Dogaressa walked up to Undyne and Papyrus. 

“No scent at all. Dogamy is checking outside, but…”

Right on cue Dogamy came in the door, shaking his head. Papyrus felt his Soul go cold. 

He was wrong. He was totally wrong. They had wasted precious time. 

Frisk has been missing for over three hours now. It wasn't all that unusual for them to go do things on their own, but the fact nobody could find them when everyone was searching frantically left him with an intense, swirling anxiety that threatened to entirely consume him.

He felt a spike of some unidentifiable emotion from Sans upstairs. He ran up the staircase, but halfway up, there was a familiar sensation of Sans’s magic nearby - and then he was gone.

Sans pulled back the shower curtain in the upstairs bathroom. Nothing, of course. He turned around, left the bathroom, and pushed the door to another bedroom open.

This was the master bedroom. There was a king-sized bed and a dresser with folded clothes on top of it. He walked through the room and pulled open the closet - nothing of interest, just a man's clothes and shoes and belts. He groaned in frustration. Sans looked under the bed. Nothing. 

Sans stood in the bedroom. His head was pounding, and his magic exhaustion was seriously catching up to him.

This bedroom belonged to Frisk’s dad.

Sans swore he could feel the man’s sins crawling up his spine.

Downstairs, he heard the dogs report that Frisk hadn't been here today. Their only lead was gone.

A sense of apathy threatened to crush Sans under its weight. He sank to his knees. There wasn't anything else that he could do. 

He looked up at the bed. He wanted to tear it to shreds. He wanted to burn down every place where Frisk had been hurt. He would demolish this perfectly normal house. He would burn the whole Underground if it did them any good.

As Sans looked up at the bed, his vision slid over to the end table. There was a picture of a younger Frisk, far younger than Sans had ever known them. They were knee-deep in a lake, wearing swim trunks and a big floppy hat, their sunny grin showing missing baby teeth. 

…A lake.

I used to stay here for a while every summer. It felt like a second home. 

Frisk had smiled fondly.

I made nice memories here.

Sans gasped, stood up, and ran through his shortcut.

Chapter Text

*...wasn’t our deal!...

*You…going….eeze to death!...

*FRISK!...don't need to….

*...do not like…plan!!...

Shut uppppp.

*ABSOLUTELY NOT! And…ou are able to think that,...enough energy…get up!

Frisk was comfortable now.

It had been pretty miserable for a while there, but their body felt comfortable now…maybe a lot more comfortable than they had felt in a long time.

They were curled up like an armadillo on the bare slatted wood of the cabin’s bed platform. They missed the mattress they and their Dad brought. It was pretty comfortable, when they weren’t being crushed under Dad's additional weight.

But the bare wooden boards were fine. Their body was comfortable now. It would be perfect, if only a certain headache would shut up.

*NO FUCKING WAY!

Ugh, the voice was way more rude now that it had a name.

*I DO NOT USE THE PRONOUN “IT”! If you are going to complain about me, do it right and use “they!”

Ugh, the voice was way more rude now that they had a name.

*...You are certainly stubborn. 

Frisk liked to think of it as Determined.

*Call it whatever you want. Just…turn on your phone. Let them come and help you. 

…

They were sorry that Chara might go with them. Turned out they weren't able to save everyone. 

*I am not worried about myself, Frisk. I made my choices.

That didn't make sense. Then why did they stop talking earlier?

*I was worried about you, Frisk. I did not want you to get hurt. I want you to be okay.

…

*...Frisk. I hurt my family, too.

Yeah, right. Nothing compared to what Frisk did.

*Pfft. Remember what Azzy told you? I was not a great friend. 

The voice quieted a bit.

*He wished he had you, instead.

He didn't really know Frisk. If he did, he wouldn't want them either.

Chara sighed.

*There is not much of a point in comparing how bad we are. But I needed to tell you that I…

Chara quieted down again. Frisk felt their attention drift.

*I was… used like you. It was quite similar. That is the reason I sought Ebott.

Frisk’s attention focused back in.

*I was angry. I hated humanity. I broke everything with my anger.

Frisk's Soul ached.

*Still, my parents… Asriel… still, even now, they have love for me.

…

You didn't deserve to be hurt, Chara.

*...Thank you.

*And you did not deserve to be hurt either, Frisk.

Frisk wondered if they might be able to believe them. Maybe it was okay if they did.

Thank you.

Slowly, gently, Frisk’s mind drifted again.

*Hey! No…come back!...all asleep, Fri…

The wind blew flurries of snow outside. Their favourite lake was frozen over. Maybe Sans and Papyrus would enjoy the rest of the cedar tea they had made from their day foraging. Maybe they'd come sledding here again one day, and even though things ended badly, maybe they would have some nice memories of Frisk.

Frisk sighed contentedly and felt their muscles relax.

Despite everything, they were glad they got to have a family for a little bit.

Papyrus rushed into the master bedroom, even though he knew Sans had already left. Undyne followed him up. 

Papyrus pulled out his phone and looked for Sans’s location. He zoomed until he saw Sans’s pin.

The lake.

The lake, of course the lake!! Stupid, stupid, stupid!! What if they were too late!!

He showed his phone to Undyne. 

“Why would they be there?”

“It is their favourite spot,” he said wearily. “They said it's like a second home.”

He slumped over, burning with shame that he hadn't figured it out sooner.

Undyne slapped his shoulder. “STAND UP STRAIGHT, PAPYRUS!”

Papyrus yelped in surprise.

“WE'RE ONE STEP CLOSER TO FINDING THEM! YOU BETTER BE READY TO HELP THEM OUT IF THEY NEED IT!”

Papyrus blinked, then straightened up. He nodded. “You are right. Of course!! I shall be ready with my expert healing capabilities!!”

“THAT'S THE SPIRIT!!” She grinned at him. “WELP! I'm gonna raid the cabinets for tea!”

In spite of himself, Papyrus laughed. 

Undyne scoffed. “WHAT?? Not like a dead guy has any use for it…”

Papyrus kept laughing and leaned his head on Undyne's shoulder. He stayed there for a moment as he calmed down. 

“Thank you for everything, Undyne.”

His friend softened, then wrapped her arms around him.

“Of course. What are best friends slash co-parents for?”

Papyrus sighed, then returned the hug. 

“Of course.”

Sans tumbled into existence onto the beach. He should have brought Papyrus with him, what was he thinking? He didn't know how many shortcuts he had left in him…

Find Frisk, shortcut back to Papyrus. He could manage that.

Sans scanned the shore - nothing - then spun to face the cabins. The snow here was up to his knees. He definitely looked hilarious right now. Too bad there wasn't much humour in the current situation. 

He swung the door open on the first cabin. Empty. At least it was only a single room, so he didn't have to waste time inspecting it. He stumbled towards the middle cabin. Empt-

“Frisk!” Sans cried. 

His child was curled up, laying on the bed platform in just Papyrus's t-shirt and Undyne's pajamas. Their face was relaxed and it looked like they were asleep.

He ran across the room to them, running a frantic check. 

Frisk
HP: 3/16
They just want to sleep.

…Sixteen?

He didn't know it was possible to lose nine points off an HP cap in one day!

He took a deep breath. 

“Okay. I know the feeling of wanting to just…go to sleep, pal, but unfortunately I'm taking you back to Pap for a wakeup call.” 

He wasn't sure if touching them would cause harm. He lifted their Soul with gravity and took a step. 

Nothing.

What?

No! He had enough for one more! What was happening?

Frisk stirred and opened their eyes.

“Frisk! Hey pal, I’m so glad you're awake. Here -” he set them back on the bed, took off his jacket and his sweater, and draped them over their body. His hand brushed the skin on their arm. He didn't know human bodies could get so cold.

Frisk looked up at him, their expression neutral.

“Frisk, buddy, it's me! It's Sans. I know you might hate me but I'm just getting you to safety. Now let's try this again.” 

He lifted them and took another step. Nothing. 

“I'll get this. Don't you worry. We'll get you back to Papyrus! You'll be fine.” 

Another try. Another failure. Another try. Another failure. 

Sweat beading on his skull, he looked at Frisk. 

They were staring at him, expressionless. The pieces clicked together. 

“It's you,” he breathed.

Frisk let their eyes drift half shut. Finally, they spoke.

“...I won't Reset, you know.”

Sans froze. 

“It's easy enough,” they sighed. “It's just not doing something. Seeing the option to Reset, or to Continue, and not choosing it. And hey, maybe I won’t even have that ability anymore. I really have no idea.”

Sans couldn't think of anything to stay.

“You'll all be fine. You'll be happy,” they said. Their voice fell to a whisper. “And I'll get to rest.”

Sans shook himself out of his daze. 

“Frisk, we won't be happy. We need you.”

They looked away. “...'M so tired. Can't keep pretending to be good. Too tired.”

“No, we don't need you to do anything. We don’t need you to be good! We just want you to be safe.”

Frisk chuckled. It was a sad sound.

“You gotta believe me, bud. Just come with me. I dunno if it's on purpose, but your magic is stopping me from leaving. Please, just - stop trying to keep us here. Let me get us outta here,” Sans begged.

HP: 2/16

Shit. 

“Please! Please. It'll be okay. We'll take care of you.” Tears welled in his sockets. “I promise. I promise, we'll take care of you, no matter what.”

Frisk’s eyes opened wide for the first time since Sans arrived. They looked directly at him. A chill ran through his bones, and he recognized what was happening.

Sans was being judged. 

After a moment, Frisk gave a wry smile.

“I wonder if you'll keep this promise,” they murmured. 

HP: 1/16

Sans's magic reconnected with his Soul. 

Frisk closed their eyes.

Sans grabbed Frisk’s Soul and took a step towards Papyrus.

Frisk woke up.

Frisk wasn't supposed to wake up.

*...isk! Frisk, oh god you’re awake. You’re awake, you are safe. You scared me so badly -

Frisk winced.

* Ah. My apologies; I will quiet down. Though we will have words later! But for now… Just know that I am proud of you. That is all. I will leave you to your family.

Frisk didn’t open their eyes yet. They were awake, but in no way were they prepared to see the world. They gradually reconnected with their other senses. 

Their body ached, but a soothing warmth danced across their skin and sank into their muscles. It was familiar; they had felt healing magic before. But somehow, as this warmth enveloped them, this magic felt like love. 

The next thing they noticed was that both of their hands were being held. One of the hands holding theirs was wearing a glove; not particularly soft, but not rough. The material felt sturdy and durable, and the hand was gentle. The other hand was smooth, cool bone, and a thumb moved back and forth across their knuckles. The repetitive motion was soothing. 

The healing continued to sink into their body, all the way up to their head. The pounding in their skull eased and they took a deep breath. 

Their hearing started to become clear again. 

“...waking up. Papyrus, you’re the coolest, you did it! Look! They’re waking up!”

  “Are you sure, Sans? They aren’t opening their eyes, what if -”

“No. No, I’m sure of it. I just Checked. Paps, they’re gonna be okay.”

“I just cannot be sure! I need to see them wake up, I need to talk to them!”

…

Sans and Papyrus were with them.

After everything Frisk said, after everything they took, Sans still brought them back. Papyrus still healed them. For some reason, they still wanted Frisk to live. 

Frisk took a deep breath, and they opened their eyes.