Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Everything was okay.
No. Everything was perfect.
Until it wasn’t.
Let’s start at the beginning.
It had been 5 years since the barrier broke and the monsters emerged to live amongst the humans. It was the toughest 5 years for monsterkind but they slowly and surely made their way from the bottom of the chain to at least significantly equal to humankind. Everybody used to be trembling at the sight of them, the rumors considerably being exaggerated online every time somebody encountered a monster.
Monsters were the hottest topic. But just like any other hype, it slowly died down because monsters kept their head down low, kept anything interesting from happening so humans would lose interest. Until people tolerated the thought of them and at some point, accepted.
You have never been one to talk nor see one in person in the last 5 years so imagine your surprise when a skeleton monster, an intern just like you, appeared in your workplace. You wanted to work as an engineer in a futuristic company that creates and manufactures technologically advanced electronics that would help society progress. You weren’t one to call yourself smart but this company only and strictly accepts interns from the highest-ranking universities in the country. This skeleton monster, aside from being a monster, has proven himself worthy by getting a degree after just 2 years in a top-ranking university and has gotten the approval of the CEO to let him join the company.
Maybe they did so they could be painted as one of the first workplaces to accept monsters.
Nevertheless, being a monster didn’t let him from capturing your heart and trust. Not one of the interns had wanted so much as to talk to him and at first; you took pity at the obvious racism that’s been happening. So when you had the chance to crack an introduction, you swooped in. He had an apparent distrust of humans but he entertained your introduction. When you asked why later on, he said he needed to keep up appearances.
In the first few months, the two of you went from strangers to acquaintances to friends, bonding over stress-related work problems and bosses, crappy jokes and puns, and good food.
He was basically a humor-deflecting kind, one that made it hard to get to open up but eventually, after a moment of weakness, he did.
“Knock, knock,” you prompted. Today was an especially difficult day for him and you noticed. Sans hadn’t gotten out of his makeshift bed in the last two hours. You knew he doesn’t like to show people how miserable he really was so to see him like this startled you. You didn’t want to leave him alone in one of the intern’s lounge area by himself.
He didn’t answer.
“C’mon, Sans. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.” You offered him a gentle smile, your arms full of paperwork that the two of you needed to finish.
He grumbled. “who’s there?” He hadn’t bothered to lift his head up from the nest of blankets.
“Orange.”
He already knew what you were going to say next. “orange who?”
“Orange you gonna let me in on what’s making you feel bad?”
He lifted his head just a little and you eyed the bags under his eye sockets. “now you’re just stealing orange my jokes.” He was tired tired.
“Well, I did learn from the best.” You winked. That afternoon, Sans was able to tell you how at some times, he felt like crap. You spent the rest of the day shouldering some of his workload to which he was grateful for. It was a good start that deepened your connection with him.
You learned how smart he was, smarter than everybody in the building (you believe); especially when he started talking about astrophysics and alternate universes that mostly just flew over your head. Humankind doesn’t even have flying cars, you interjected; they’re not ready for parallel worlds and alternate universes. You believed in their existence to some extent but when Sans spoke about it, he talked like he was one reach away to achieving it into the palm of his hands.
After attaining a deeper level of friendship that might’ve involved getting drunk together and defending his ass so many times than you can count, he invited you to come to Freedom Day, the day the monsters celebrated the time the barrier broke and they weren’t trapped Underground anymore. You met his friends, his brother, and even the human ambassador, Frisk, the kid who single-handedly freed monsterkind. They were a rowdy and at the same time, a soft bunch and you remembered thinking all night how the hell did humans think these monsters were dangerous? They accepted your presence fairly fast; you were the first human friend Sans had brought to celebrate with them.
The venue was up in the mountains, with campfire and tents and great food, a reminder that they’re not down there anymore, but up here. There were lots of drinking, stories and then at the end of the night, fireworks.
It must’ve been past midnight when you found yourself sitting in away from the group, content with watching the monsters’ celebration from a third person’s point of view.
“sorry ‘bout my friends, they can be too much sometimes.”
You smiled, your thumb slowly grazing the mouth of the bottle you were drinking. “Are you kidding? They’re the best.”
Sans took a seat next to you on the log, hearing the grass crunching beneath his feet even with all the background noise. “shucks, kid. you don’t have to suck up to me.”
You dramatically gasped. “Are you saying I’m telling a fibula?” All the times with Sans had rubbed off on you. You weren’t one to think up of puns and jokes on the spot but it was kind of fun once you got the hang of it. Of course, seeing Sans’ excitement with sharing his love of shitty puns was worth it.
“i’m just sayin’. lay it on me. sticks and stones,” he said with a wink.
You turned back to his friends, the group huddled together as they shared stories, where Papyrus’ and Undyne’s voice greatly overpowers the rest. “You know I won’t deny your friends are loud and energetic,” you stated with a small smile, and you see Sans falter, “but they’re also sweet and passionate and kind. Like you.”
He didn’t reply after that. Instead, he kept you company until you decided to join them.
It was sweet and everything was perfect.
You considered Papyrus a good friend. You’d known him earlier than most of Sans’ friends especially when he comes by the company building to drop off Sans lunch. You were there one time and Sans introduced you to his brother. Papyrus promised next time to give you a separate batch as well whenever he dropped off Sans’ which you said was unnecessary but still thankful for.
You had a deep admiration for Papyrus for his good-naturedness and friendly disposition, so much that you kept interacting with him even without Sans around. Next thing you knew, you were watching Mettaton’s late night shows with him in him and Sans’ apartment. Papyrus trusted you to take care of his brother when he thinks he’s working too hard and haven’t gotten any sleep. And so you did. Even if you had to force Sans from this separate work he’s doing aside from his job work.
It was a wonder to you how you were the only one who can see Sans working all the time.
A couple of your co-interns and bosses always- always- catch him sleeping on the job. It doesn’t make sense. You knew they knew it doesn’t make sense. Every time they give him extra paperwork to do or solve an enigma, Sans was always done with it in an hour, no matter what, and snoring away in his workspace. The only time he showed he was actually doing work was when he’s alone with you.
Most of the time, he’s working on his alternate reality project.
Sooner rather than later, you had been invested in his project as well and sometimes come up with a varying answer when he hits a wall. Eventually, the two of you moved past being co-interns and were now co-workers working under the same department. But he never stopped working on his project. He showed you a blueprint of a machine under-renovation. He showed you his calculations that were too much your human brain can handle. He showed you the various researches and theses he worked on to prove it was possible.
He was always so tired and lazy in general but when it comes to this project, his whole face brightens up and his productivity increases 200%. It made sense that the two of you were more devoted in what he was working on than the literal work you do in the company. Human technology was small scale compared to what Sans was planning to do. It was overall more exciting than anything that happened in your entire life.
Along with the progress with the machine, there was also progress with your relationship with the monster. At some point, you initiated a romantic contact and kissed the side of his cheek when he was pretending to be asleep. It was the first time you saw him lose his cool and blushed a bright blue. The different-colored blush was weird but endearing.
“Was that okay? Did—Are you uncomfortable?” you asked when he didn’t speak to you for a couple of minutes.
“...yeah. that was okay,” he answered but refused to look you in the eye. “it was nice.”
It was the go signal he gave that gave you the confidence to leave him dainty kisses and longer touches here and there.
Half a year later, you found out Sans had bought an abandoned building at the edge of the town and working on the machine in his free time. He invited you to come and see. Alphys was there, acting as his right hand whenever he wasn’t there- which was all the time. They led you to the basement where they set up the machine. The basement was large, damp and dark, with no windows, no natural sunlight. The only light they have came from a single bulb hanging on the ceiling.
The machine, even when unfinished, looked large and looming. But you were surprised at the amount of progress they’ve already done. It looks like in a couple of years, they might actually be doing test runs on this thing.
“Wow,” was all you could say.
After showing you the unfinished machine in all its glory, Sans toured you around the building. The building itself was decrepit but according to him, it’d be polished and shining in no time. You wondered how he could even work that out when he’s busy with work and the machine. You told him he should hire some men to fix everything. Even hire an interior designer. He said he had it all under control.
That was the beginning of your starting to help the two monsters with their side project as much as you can. You were of little help, considering your knowledge and your ability to juggle everything at once. You were constantly tired and sluggish, feeling more and more like Sans every day.
Then you got sick. Humans do get sick very quickly. Sans was so worried. When it was revealed to him that it was because of the lack of rest and sleep, Sans had dropped everything. He told you he’d nursed you back to health. He promised he’d take care of you this time. He said he’d pause his little side project just for you.
That was all fine and all, you didn’t want him to stop pursuing what he was passionate about but you also didn’t mind the extra attention he’s giving you.
He was lying down with you on your bed in your own apartment. He was playing with your hand, squishing the meat of your palm and your fingers repeatedly. Somehow, you remembered this was the first intimate moment you shared with him.
He was talking about how frail human bodies were.
“Sans, monsters literally turn to dust. I’m fine.” You softly grabbed onto his hand and entwined your fingers with him. You remembered thinking he was so small but it was because he was a skeleton with no flesh. You pulled his hand to your lips, pressing a small kiss on where his knuckles should be.
He took in a sharp breath.
His phalanges grazed your cheek before he pushed a stray hair into the back of your ear. His eyelights were almost shining as he searched your face. His voice dropped to a whisper and you felt his chest rumble when he spoke.
“humans also turn to dust, just slower.”
He had a point.
For a moment, the side project was forgotten. Alphys took over the machine while you and Sans spent more time together and taking care of each other. Hanging out and going on trips with the skelebros. Working yourself to the bone at the company. Making out with your best friend where the two of you were too cowardly to slap a label on whatever you have but you couldn’t care less and he couldn’t care less.
Another year must’ve passed since Sans had stepped back into the building. It was one of the best years of your life.
Everything was perfect.
Then.
Then...
It wasn’t.
Something tragic happened.
It was all too sudden.
Papyrus...
It was on the news when you found out. Papyrus had fought and died for a human. A human mob was ganging up on one lone girl when the skeleton monster passed by. He immediately jumped to his defenses and protected her. Papyrus was strong enough on his own but the problem wasn’t his strength, it was his inherent nature to see the goodwill of everybody.
That’s what got him killed.
You were at work. You remembered feeling as if all your blood was sucked out of your body as you stared at the news on your phone. You had a panic attack mere seconds later. You barely remembered standing up, wandering around the company building until you found a private space. You locked yourself inside a closet where you cried, your knees instantly giving out as you lied down and wept on the dusty floor of the cramped room.
Your brain was muddled. Your eyes stung. Your heart had gone through different kinds of pain as you denied over and over that Papyrus was gone, that they meant a different monster, that this was just all some kind of fucked up dream.
And then you remembered.
Sans.
You barely recalled dialing Sans’ number, your hands shaking as you grip your phone with both hands.
Ringing...
“h-hey, y/n!” His voice was raspy as if he was screaming for hours on end but he pretended he was fine by forcing the usual mirth to his voice.
You could feel your chest tightening once again. You opened your mouth to speak but your throat suddenly closed up as a new set of tears ran down your cheeks.
“are you okay? don’t worry about me, i’m totally fine,” he said lazily yet the tone of his unnaturally high voice betrayed him. “sorry, did ya see the news? don’t believe everything you see on the internet.”
It was fucked up that the reporters posted about it first rather than alerting the deceased’s family. It was fucked up that you had to find out like this. It was fucked up that even Sans knew that you found out from the internet.
“Sans,” you croaked, a little sob escaping your lips. “Where are you?”
He snorted. “why do you sound so bonely? geez, you need to stop skullking.”
“Sans.”
“hm, not laughing, i see. i know you’ve heard my bone puns hundreds of times before but don’t tell me they aren’t as humerus as before?”
“Sans.”
“still upset? i’m ribbing ya, kiddo.”
“Sans!”
“wow, ya really aren’t letting up. socket up, kid.”
“Sans, stop joking around! This is serious!”
“hm? i thought this is y/n.”
You couldn’t help screaming out in frustration. “I know it’s your instinct to hide behind fucking jokes but damn it, Sans! Papyrus is dead!”
The line went silent.
Guilt pooled at the bottom of your stomach but you refused to apologize. Sans has the emotional capacity of a potato but this doesn’t mean you should coddle him. “...Sans?” you whispered into your phone.
He started chuckling. “what do you mean dead, kiddo? he’s alive. somewhere out there. i’m gonna find him.”
Then he dropped the call.
That was the beginning and you failed to save him.
It was the saddest day for monsterkind ever since they broke the barrier. They held a funeral for Papyrus. You almost couldn’t get out of bed but you forced yourself. You didn’t want to be a bad friend. You attended but you didn’t enter the venue. You stood out there on the streets, overlooking as Papyrus’ friends- humans and monsters alike- trickled in and out of the funeral home.
Frisk found you and they were clinging to your hand with tears in their eyes. “I’m sorry... I’m sorry I can’t bring him back. Please tell Sans I’m trying my best but- but all the buttons disappeared when I promised myself that there would be no more resets. No more...”
You didn’t understand what they were saying but you consoled the kid the best you can before Toriel came around. She gave the best hug and you swore you could’ve lost yourself in her warm embrace and forget about the cold, dark reality. They left later.
Reporters and journalists showed up and that was all you could take before you went home.
It was Papyrus’ last day of the funeral before his ashes were to be spread to his favorite places. Sans was still in hiding but you knew where he was. You drove to the abandoned building that day, determined to pull him to say goodbye to his brother.
It has only been a year since you’ve stepped into this place but it was so much different than the first time. It was a 7-story building including the basement. The ground floor was fully-furnished but empty. You headed to the stairs leading to the basement without so much a second glance to the elevator that’ll take you up the levels.
The basement hasn’t changed. There he was. With his back turned against you while he worked on the machine. His shoulders were hunched. His hands were trembling. His clothes were tattered and greasy.
Before you could even utter a word, a wall of bones suddenly shot up, separating you from him completely. “Fuck you! You could’ve killed me!” you cried out, exasperation evident in your voice.
There was no reply from him. Only the occasional sound of a wrench tugging on a screw can be heard.
You knew he was hurting. You don’t know how you could help. You stayed there with the barrage of bones as fresh tears sprung from your eyes. You haven’t even recovered from last night’s crying and your face was tender to the touch.
Minutes or hours must have passed before Sans was too weak to keep the bones up for so long. You didn’t hesitate to run up to him and hug him, even when he was clawing at you to let him go back to fixing the machine. You stayed put and wrapped your arms around him as long as you can, your face buried into the back of his neck.
Until he gave up and broke down with you.
Sans must have spent the whole day weeping and desperately clinging to you. There was one thing that never left your mind that he uttered so mindlessly that day.
“it hurts so much, it feels like i might fall down any minute.”
It was the day you swore to do anything- anything- you can to help ease his soul. At the end of the day, he went with you to say goodbye to Papyrus, but his words were, “i’ll find you again, Paps.”
Everything after Papyrus’ funeral was a blur at this point. Sans was borderline obsessed on finishing the machine that he quit his job. He forced Alphys to help him 24/7. He asked you to quit your job and work for him full-time as well. He promised to pay you well. You did so without hesitation, even without the promise of compensation.
You should’ve said no.
You should’ve moved on.
You should’ve told Sans to move on.
You should’ve destroyed the goddamn machine before it was too late to turn back.
But you knew you couldn’t, not with the risk of him falling down. You can’t lose another friend. You just can’t.
At first, you worked with Sans and Alphys like some sort of co-worker. But your lack of knowledge made you useless. You didn’t even know what it is you’re doing with them. You offered support, physical and mental, or however they needed it. When they needed a part for the machine, you offered to be the one to search for it, no matter how far or how expensive it was. When they designed renovations of the different rooms in the building, you’re the one who hired the engineers for it.
You didn’t understand why they needed all these rooms when they’ve only ever been in the basement. What’s even weirder was all the rooms had the same designs. There was a single bed. There were cameras on all four corners of the room. Later on, you’ll realize that a scanner near the door would activate an electrified wall that cuts the room in half. And that all the rooms were basically magic-proof.
You haven’t seen nor talked to Sans as another half year passed. All you can do to help was drop him and Alphys breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At least Alphys went home when night came. Sans never left the building. You had long bought him a mattress, pillows, and blankets that he can fall asleep on whenever he liked. There were times he relented on your incessant begging to sleep next to you on the mattress.
But his warmth and his jokes and all these things that made him him were long gone. He was like a shell of his past self, a robot whose only desire was to finish the goddamn machine.
Then he had a breakthrough.
It was then your life has twisted rather sharply right after Papyrus’ death.
Your footsteps echoed through the empty walls after stepping out of the elevator and onto the second-floor hallway. The whole floor had four separate rooms, two of them occupied for... a month now? You clutched the two bags of spider donuts in your hand as you knocked on the first door before entering.
Blue’s face instantly lightened up at the sight of you. “Y/N!”
Your mouth curved into a smile. “Hey, Blue. How’re you doing?”
He was standing in the middle of the half-space he was graced with since the electrified wall was activated. You placed a distance between you two even when there was a barrier of electricity that separated you from him, just as Sans “requested” of you.
“I’M GREAT! MAGNIFICENT AS ALWAYS! ESPECIALLY MAGNIFICENT NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE!” he exclaimed as he bounced on his toes. “HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY SLEEP LAST NIGHT OR DID SANS WORK YOU ALL NIGHT AGAIN?”
“I’m fine, Blue. I’m glad to hear you’re doing great.” You proceeded to throw the bag of donuts across the room to him. The bag passed through the electrified wall, it can only zap living things after all.
Blue caught the bag in his hands and opened them, his beaming face painfully reminded you of his counterpart in this world. “DONUTS?! TELL ME THE TRUTH. DID MY UNHEALTHY BROTHER ASK FOR THIS?”
“Yeah. Remember you asked for tacos yesterday. It made sense that you get to eat what he wants to eat today.” You sat down on the cold floor, crossing your legs as you watched him.
This... this is who Sans pulled through from his machine. He and his brother from an alternate reality. An alternate world. You wouldn’t have believed him if the proof wasn’t staring you in the face and taking a bite out of a spider donut.
You remembered the time Sans planned to tell you. He almost didn’t. Fucking asshole.
If you hadn’t made your rounds through the whole building, you wouldn’t have discovered the new set of skeletons living in the building. Or rather... held prisoner in the building. Your whole body trembled at the sight of Papyrus in one of the rooms. Overcome by fear, you went straight to Sans to confront him.
And that was when he spilled the beans. He told you they were swapped versions of him and his brother. He told you he was holding them temporarily because he needed their data. He told you he didn’t want to bother letting them out into the world when it was so much easier to just imprison them here so they won’t go anywhere. He told you that you were the one to keep an eye on them, to keep them company so they wouldn’t be lonely.
So it was technically babysitting but not quite.
Babysitting with extra morbid steps.
You refused.
You should’ve refused.
You should’ve threatened to leave him.
You should’ve told him this was inhumane, even for him!
But your words died in your throat.
“it hurts so much, it feels like i might fall down any minute.”
And so you swallowed everything and did what he asked of you. You introduced yourself to Blue first. You couldn’t bear to see Papyrus’ face again. It was agonizing explaining to Blue what he was doing here, what happened that was the reason why he’s here, why he needed to stay here. You had to watch his expression fall to hurt to terrified. He demanded for his brother who was in the adjacent room. You told him you can’t do that.
You couldn’t speak to him at all in the first week. He refused to speak to you. You left him food and stayed with him, even when he was so upset while he watched you.
Maybe the silence got to him. Or maybe he just couldn’t help but be worried about his brother. Because he tried to interact with you the next day.
“HOW’S MY BROTHER?”
You told him what happened to... Papyrus’ alternate version. You called him Stretch. Sans gave them their names.
The moment you entered Stretch’s room, there was an air of hostility that suffocated you. You explained to him their situation just as what you’ve explained to Blue without stammering but damn it if you said that he doesn’t terrify you.
Stretch engaged in small talk but he was more or less discerning the situation using whatever information that comes out of your mouth. Once you’ve told him that Blue was safe in the next room, his posture significantly relaxed. It was better than nothing. So, Stretch’s first week had gone by smoothly seeing that he cracked jokes and puns (empty as they are), just as Sans used to. Your heart clenched painfully as you tried to force a smile on your face every time he opens up with a joke.
He was also adept with that skill that forces you to warm up to him yet you never actually know anything about him. Not that you needed to because he was exactly the same as Sans. You had an idea of what he was like, what he was interested in, and what ticks him off.
Stretch has yet to open up to you, unlike his brother, who was very eager to befriend you even when you “captured” him after getting past his solid one-week cold shoulder.
“Y/N...” Blue cut off your thoughts and your eyes flew towards him.
“Yes?”
“We’re on the surface, right?” His voice was rather timid than his usual boisterous one.
“Yeah.”
Blue was now sitting cross-legged across from you, finished with his bag of donuts. “W-what is it like?”
Fuck. You almost always forget about this. Monsters have been living with humans for almost a decade now. You forget that they were once stuck Underground. And these particular monsters, even if they were in a different universe, were still trapped.
“It’s just like the Underground but bigger. More places to travel. Same sky wherever you go,” you answered, shrugging.
“YOU’VE BEEN TO THE UNDERGROUND?” Blue asked, his voice picking up again at the hint of excitement.
You shook your head. “Nah, but I’ve heard stories.”
“I’VE HEARD FROM PAPY THAT THE SKIES ARE LITTERED WITH ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF STARS!” His eyes shone. “WHAT ARE STARS? WHAT ARE THEY LIKE? ARE THEY NOT DIAMONDS EMBEDDED IN THE CEILING? CAN YOU EAT A STAR?”
His enthusiasm melted away your pity. “It’s kinda hard to explain. Stars are like big balls of gas hundreds and thousands of light-years away from us. Ugh, Sans usually dorks over these. Would you like me to give you an information book about stars?”
He nodded his head a few times. “YES, PLEASE! I WOULD LOVE THAT!” He scooted a bit closer to you and you almost shouted at him to watch out for the electricity. “So... you mentioned your Sans. Can you tell me more about him?”
You inhaled sharply. Damn. “Uh... I’m not really comfortable talking about him.”
“Why not? Are the two of you not friends anymore? He’s kind of your boss, right?”
“Yeah.” You scratched the back of your head. “It’s difficult to talk about him. I never see him anymore. We’ve drifted away yet I’m still here-“ fulfilling his wishes “-because I still think we’re friends.”
Your phone sets off an alarm, meaning that you’re going to check on Stretch now.
Blue’s eyes wandered to your phone. “SAY HI TO MY BROTHER FOR ME! OH, OH! TELL HIM EVERYTHING WE’VE TALKED ABOUT, ALL RIGHT?”
You nodded your head. “See you tomorrow, Blue.”
“SEE YOU TOMORROW, Y/N!”