Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The light filtering through the stained glass windows stung his eyes as he waited. A demented child like laughter echoed all around him, sending a shiver down his spine. How many times has he encountered this dust thirty child? How many times would he have to fight them? When was it going to be their final battle before the inevitable reset? 

His hand found its way into the orange hoodie’s front pocket, picking up and fiddling with the lighter that rested within. Stretch closed his sockets, the anticipation building up as the sound of footsteps never seemed to grow closer. He let out a heavy sigh before tightening his grip on the familiar and comforting object. Blue’s bandanna, wrapped tightly around his left arm, reminded him why he was here, why he even bothered to fight.

Maybe, one day, the anomaly would stop. 

He heard the child finally approach. Opening his sockets showed what he knew would stand before him. Those blood red eyes, that terrifying smile, that dust covered knife held tight in those small hands. It was the thing of nightmares, his specifically. 

“hey kiddo,”

And with that the exchange began, reciting the same dialog over and over again. Going through the same motions like a well rehearsed skit. Once all was said and done, the fight would commence, he would dodge their attacks, and return his own. KR would reduce their health. The child would get frustrated and their attacks would become more frantic.

And that’s when it all changed. 

The light darken to a deep red, the child twitched unnervingly, joints jostled with an eerie pop. The child’s grin grew sharper and more feral as blood began to drip down their chin. 

This was different.

Not the same song and dance. 

No, this was terrifying.

The chuckling began to ramp up, coming from different directions at once. 

Then the child rushed at him, pouncing like a rabid wolverine. Slashing at him with a ferocity that he never thought possible. Stretch fell back onto his tailbone, a clattering sound followed as his lighter escaped his pocket and was sent across the room. There were hands on his shoulders, squeezing, nearly piercing. 

Summoning all his magic, Stretch thrusted countless bone attacks from the ground, impaling the child through the gut as darkness surrounded his vision. 

Stretch sat panting, staring up at the child’s bleeding and grinning face. It was so close, he could feel the warm breath as it hit his face. 

Slowly the face morphed from the demon child to that of sharp points and red eye-lights. Shock and concern warred in those sockets as they looked down at him. The small clutching hands were suddenly clad in leather as they clung to his bare shoulders, they were always so gentle, even as they began to tremble. 

“no.” Stretch stared into Edge’s face, the strobing colors of his eyelights reflected off his husband’s face as he fought to hold back a grimace. Edge’s jaw was trembling. Reluctantly, Stretch let his gaze travel down. Through the bed and up through Edge’s chest were multiple bone attacks, marrow slowly spreading through his husband’s favorite night shirt. 

“no, no.” Edge coughed, springing Stretch’s attention back up as Edge began to cough up his own marrow. His body beginning to slip down the bone constructs. Stretch’s hands shook as he reached towards the fell monster, attacks dissipated, causing his previously impaled partner to grunt in pain as he fell forward into Stretch’s arms.

“no, no, no, babe, baby please.” Stretch’s voice began to shake as he clutch Edge close to his body, feeling the marrow against his own rib cage. Edge coughed again, curling into his body as his bones began to rattle. “please, stay with me.”

Fear gripped Stretch’s soul as he maneuvered Edge to lay on his back. He barely missed the soft whimper as he pulled away from the injured body. His pajama top was ripped to shreds from the bone attacks, cracked and broken ribs exposed to the world laid beyond the shredded holes. 

“Oh, stars, I’m sor…” Stretch’s throat seemed to clench shut as he remember to perform a check

Papyrus, Lv 18, 1100/1300 Hp
Hurt, but concerned

Papyrus, Lv 18, 950/1300 Hp
Hurt, but concerned

Papyrus, Lv 18, 775/1300 Hp
Hurt, but concerned

Edge’s Hp was still dropping, the KR in his attacks still at work to tick as much of his husband’s health away. Dismissing the attacks didn’t stop the effects of the KR, a brutal aspect of his magic under the judge’s influence. How did he call upon his judge’s magic in his sleep? It’s never happened before. Not during one of these nightmares. So, why now? 

Stretch went to work, ripping the rest of the ruined shirt off of Edge’s chest. The damage was worse than he originally thought. Tears threatened to spring forth as his hands hovered in front of him, frozen in shock and fear. 

A glance up at Edge’s face showed that the injured skeleton was watching him, his hazy eye-lights shook as his jaw gritted tight against the pain the KR was likely causing. 

A hiccup erupted from Stretch’s non-existent throat. Green magic sputtered to life in his hands. “i... i gotcha. just…. hold on.” Placing his hands on Edge’s rib cage, Stretch started healing the wounds, wincing as Edge hiss in pain. 

Papyrus, Lv 18, 555/1300 Hp
Hurts

Papyrus, Lv 18, 425/1300 Hp
Hurts

Papyrus, Lv 18, 330/1300 Hp
Hurts

Tears spilled from his sockets as he watched as Edge’s Hp continued to plummet, the KR not slowing down while he healed as he had hoped. He tried to pour on more healing magic with more force, only receiving a whine from Edge, who clenched his fist and looked away. 

Stretch wasn’t the best healer, but his brother was. Edge needed help fast, and there were two skeletons to choose from to get his brother over here fast. One was the obvious choice. 

Keeping one healing hand on Edge, Stretch twisted back towards the nightstand and fumbled for one of the cell phones. He managed to grab hold of his own first, turning it in hand to press the on button, only to find that he had forgotten to charge it overnight. Cursing, he dropped the phone and reached for Edge’s, using his nimble fingers to disconnect it from it’s charger before drawing it over and bringing it to life. Stretch had already cracked Edge’s latest passcode days ago and with a practiced touch, he unlocked and quickly navigated to Red’s phone number and pressed the call button.

Red picked up after the third ring, his displeasure of being woken up so early evident as he answered. “fuck it’s too early Boss, if this is one of those…”

Stretch cut him off. “Red, it’s Stretch, i need you to get Blue over here a-sap, Edge’s in-injured.” Stretch was surprised that he managed to keep his voice stable until the end. There was no reply from the other end of the line, not until there was a pop of a shortcut as Red, dressed in only a tank and shorts, dragged Blue behind him as he stormed towards the bed, 

Blue rubbed at his sockets sleepily, still clothed in star covered footy pajamas. “Red, What’s Going On… Holy Stars, What Happened?!” Blue pulled ahead of Red, letting go of his hand to scurry up on the bed, removing his gloves from his already glowing hands as he began to start healing Edge. 

Red glanced over the damaged bed and Edge’s chest and tattered top before growling and shoving Stretch. “what the fuck happened, Stretch?”

Blue blinked after he looked at the damage, hands glowing brighter. “Stretch, Why Is He Being Affected By KR?”

“what?!” Red barked, glancing from Blue to Edge and then Stretch. His cherry red eyes looked to be lit aflame with rage.

Stretch’s chin wobbled as he tried to fight back the tears, failing as the magic tinted drops rolled down his face. “i... i’m not entirely sure…’” He glanced back at Edge with his sockets devoid of light and his clawed fingers ripped holes in the already damaged sheets. The hand he kept on Edge’s chest continued to glow green, adding his measly amount of healing towards Blue’s stronger magic. 

“it was a nightmare… back in the judgement hall…” Stretch continued, recounting the dream with a shiver. “this time it changed, and… stars, i just reacted, i thought she was going to… so i struck back. i didn’t realize i was attacking in my sleep, that i had invoked the judge. i haven’t done that before. i’m sorr-” 

The fire in Red’s eye-lights seemed to have died back with a sigh. “nah, it ain’t yer fault. apparently watchin’ the kid cut her own cake with a knife was also triggerin’ fer Sans as well, he didn’t go full staby but i manage to wake him before the blasters went off. the horror movie afta tha party prob’ didn’t help.” 

“seriously?” Stretch looked at Red, stunned. 

Red shrugged and looked back over towards Edge “Boss knows betta’ than to… how is he?”

Blue let out a shaky sigh, he already seemed exhausted. “The KR Finally Stopped, I Managed To Keep His Hp Above 1, He’s Now Stabilized At 5 Hp But Unconscious. I Think That’s As Far As I Can Get Him.” Blue turned to Red and Stretch, gulping with a dismayed look in his eyes. “Red, I Know You Hate Hearing This, But He Needs To Be Brought To The Hospital. There’s So Much Damage. I Fear If We Don’t, He’ll Start Losing Hp Again Due To The Extent Of His Injuries.” Blue glanced over at Stretch then back down to his hand. “We Need To Do It Now.”

 Red clenched his fists “no, we can get Comic and Rus over here and they can help heal him. we don’t need no stinkin’ doc-”

“Red! He Needs Medical Intervention.” Blue jumped off the bed and got into Red’s face “If We Don’t Bring Him In, He’s Going To Lose Some Of His Ribs. One Of His Vertebrae Is Severely Damage, A Few Others Are Cracked. If He Doesn’t Get The Proper Help, He Can End Up Paralyzed Or Worse.” Blue threw an apologetic look towards Stretch before maintaining eye contact with Red.

The stare off lasted less than a minute before Red faltered, hands crept into his pockets as he glared at the floor like it owed him lunch money. “fine” Red grumbled before he looked over to Edge then Stretch. “Stretch, get the fuck dressed, i’m sure the hospital won’t appreciate your boxers as much as my bro does. yer’ll haveta survive havin’ marrow on ya til we get there, cause we ain’t got time fer a shower.” 

Stretch nodded mutley and nearly stumbled his way to the laundry basket to fetch the previous day's clothes. He didn’t want to throw on anything clean, much to Blue’s aborted protest. 

“right, now pick him up with yer blue magic, I’ll get ya both to the hospital in a jiffy.” Red scratched at the back of his head as he pretended not to be anxiously scanning over Edge’s body. 

It was all too easy to turn Edge’s soul blue and lift him up off the bed, keeping his limp body straight as an arrow. The marrow coated sheet clung to Edge’s back as he was lifted and Blue silently peeled them off without hesitation and stepped away from the bed. “I’ll Start Cleaning Things Up Here. I.. I Hope Edge…”

Red placed a hand on Blue’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “he’ll be fine, you did good kid. i’ll come get ya when i regain the energy.” Blue nodded as Red placed his hands both on Stretch and Edge before short-cutting them off to the hospital. 

Five days had passed by since that day. Stretch was out of tears and thoughts. All he did was sit in a nearby chair, lay his front half over the hospital bed, hold his husband’s cold skeletal hand and watch as Edge continued to sleep, continued to breathe. Edge hadn’t woken up for the past five days and Stretch kept vigil within the hospital’s allowance. Yea, he’d go home when the hospital staff asked, shower and attempt to sleep, but he was back within a flash once he was allowed to be in the room again. 

Edge wasn’t going to wake up alone. Not on his watch. 

The first night went by in a blur, Edge was whisked away the moment Stretch set his body on the gurney. Red handled all the questions from the staff as he weaved a some form of a tale of what had happened. Stretch stared at the doorway that Edge was rushed through, frozen in place for some amount of time. He wasn’t sure when he made his way to a bathroom, using soggy paper towels to remove as much marrow from his rib cage. In a blink he was lounging in the waiting room, staring at the ceiling tile. 

At some point, after stuffing his face with vending machine chips, Red had gone off and brought his brother home to change and then to the hospital, Comic and Rus soon after once the sun had risen. 

Stretch doesn’t remember anything that was said until the doctor finally arrived to inform them that Edge was out of surgery and out of danger of losing Hp from his injuries. The doctor did mention that they won’t know the full extent of the spinal injury until Edge wakes up. They had to affix a mask over Edge’s face to provide oxygen for his soul since his ribs were struggling due to the damage. He warned that it may be some time before Edge would wake. 

“He’s lucky to be alive. He’s lucky you were able to heal him as soon as you were able to, when you did. A nurse will come when he’s ready for visitors,” The Doctor smiled at them before walking away from the group. 

That was all he remembered, the rest of the time had been spent staring at Edge’s resting face. 

Wait, he would wait forever for Edge.

His thumb rubbed circles over those still metacarpals. Marrow and magic. donated by both Blue and Rus, flowed through lines that connected to both his soul and his ribs, replacing what was lost. Red popped in from time to time, not saying a word to him, just watched over his brother for some made up time limit, before leaving just as quickly. Blue would show up, making sure Stretch ate and moved enough so his joints wouldn’t get stiff. 

Stretch closed his heavy sockets. Sleep was so hard to come by without Edge by his side. Rus and Comic worked their magic in acquiring a new bed with sheets to replace what was destroyed, but sleep still evaded Stretch. Maybe he could rest his eyes for just a moment.

There was a twitch of digits against Stretch’s hand, causing him to blink in confusion. Stretch opened his eyes, glancing back at that face, catching something new,  a pair of hazy crimson eye-light, barely alight, stared back at him. He froze, barely wanting to breath in case the image would vanish back to that resting face.  

There was barely a hint of a smile beyond that face mask before the hand in his grip rotated palm up. Edge’s middle and ring fingers folded closed before he nudged it against Stretch’s hand. He was signing I love you, in the simplest of forms. Stretch nearly choked out a laugh as he felt tears grow anew. Seems he hadn’t ran dry after all. He took that gorgeous scarred hand and brought it up to his mouth, kissing those knuckles in reply.
 
“Stretch.” Edge grimaced after he rasped out his name. Not only had Edge’s voice suffered from disuse and obvious difficulty with his injuries, but the mask that helped him breath, didn’t help in letting him open his jaw to talk. 

Stretch sat up and gave Edge a sympathetic smile. Shifting forward, he grabbed both of Edge’s hands and brought them together. “maybe just stick with signing.” He kissed those knuckles again. “I should get the doctors, they’d like to know that you’re awake.” 

He got up to do just that when the hands he was about to put down squeezed his. It wasn’t… it wasn’t a strong hold, but it was enough for him to stop and look back. Edge shook his head and signed “Not yet. Just want you right now.”

Stretch gave him a soft smile and nodded. Stars, he’d do anything for him right now “ok.” He sat back down in his chair. 

“How are you doing?” Edge signed and Stretch barely stopped himself from laughing. Here was Edge, waking from a near death experience and the first thing he asks is if Stretch, the one that had injured him in the first place, was ok. 

“i’m fine babe. maybe a little tired but fine. more worried about you, anyways.” Stretch ran his hand up and down Edge’s radius and ulna. 

“Barely made the top 5 injuries.” Edge gave him a weak smirk as he signed. 

Stretch winced at the idea, giving the bones under his hand a gentle squeeze. “how do your legs feel?”

Edge looked a little confused before signing “Staticy. Not painful but prickly.” Stretch hoped that was a good sign.

Silence hung over them, the only noise coming from the machines hooked up to the injured monster in the bed. Soon enough, Edge’s hands began to move again. “So, what happened? Nightmare?”

Suddenly the bed sheets looked rather interesting, his jaw tightening before he gulped. “yea, nightmare from hell. it just got too real.” Stretch sniffed back his tears, using the end of his sweater to wipe at his sockets. “then it was real. you’ve been out for five days. stars, i’m sorry Edge, i never wanted to hurt you.” 

Edge nudge’s Stretch’s hand, getting him to look back up at him. Edge shook his head before he signed. “I know, you would never. Don’t blame yourself. If anything, you saved me. You, Red and Blue. I shouldn’t have survived that.” a smile blurred behind the mask. “An accident. I should have known better than to-”

Stretch stopped Edge’s hand from continuing. “hey, if i’m not allowed to blame myself for the accident, neither should you. you had no idea what would happen.” Edge nodded, Stretch pulled the hand he held to his mouth and planted another kiss on those beloved knuckles. He placed Edge’s hand back with the other, thumb smoothing over each knuckle and scar. “i... i was thinking… maybe i should sleep in the guest room for now on…”

There was a sharp but weak yank at his hand as Edge glared at him. Letting go of Stretch’s hand Edge signed sharply as he rasped out a harsh “No.” Edge winced, taking a few shaky breaths before he continued to sign. “I will not let this incident change anything. You’re my husband and you will continue to sleep in our bed. No matter what. Together. Forever.”

Stretch chuckled weakly, a tear falling from his socket. “yea, ok. you’re the boss.” Edge’s face softened back into a smile. “i can’t wait for you to be back home. i haven’t been able to sleep since…” Stretch waved his hand to avoid mentioning the incident. “it’s not the same without you.”

Edge glanced down at his bed then back up at Stretch, his hand slowly moved from his lap to the bed, patting the spot twice. 

Stretch glance from the hand to Edge’s face, catching on to Edge’s silent demand. “babe, i don’t  know, i don’t want to hurt…” He stopped as Edge raised a brow at him, leveling a look at him. Oh how Stretch missed his stubborn ass. “alright, you win.” 

Stretch got up and moved Edge’s hand out of the way. There was only enough room for him to lay on his side, not that he minded. Edge moved his elbow and motioned with his head where he wanted it to go. Stretch carefully maneuvered the arm to go around his shoulder, making sure not to move it past its normal range of motion. A past injury made it hard for the arm to rise past a certain point.

Carefully getting situated so as not to bump into any injuries, Stretch leaned over, planting a kiss on the mask covering Edge’s face, which he received a tired but amused look before he stretched (heh) to plant a kiss on the Fell monster’s forehead. Settling in, Stretch could feel the other's hand trace soft patterns along his back as Edge leaned his head to rest upon Stretch’s, mindful not to jar the mask on his face. Stretch kept himself from chuckling, resisting the urge to call Edge ‘Vader’ from the noise the machine seemed to make as he breathed. 

It wasn’t the most comfortable of sleeping spots, but Stretch had slept on worse before. A little shut eye would be fine and maybe later he’ll tell the nurses that Edge had woken up. Edge’s breathing smoothed out as those faint patterns slowed to a stop, indicating that his small time of consciousness had ended as he slipped back into a slumber. Healing definitely took a lot out of a monster. 

Stretch took Edge’s other hand into his own, threading their digits together. Edge’s phalanges twitched slightly in his sleep. A few winks would be enough, and the next thing Stretch had to look forward to was getting his husband healed up enough to go home. 

Chapter Text

He woke in a panic, searching the room for an unknown threat when he felt his partner moving in the bed next to him. He gazed down at Stretch, watching as the other’s face contorted and cringe in response to something in his dreams. 

Another nightmare.

Stretch rarely talked to Edge about his nightmares, attempting to protect him from his pain. But if his nightmares were anything like Sans and Red, Edge already had an inkling of what they were about. He’ll let Stretch have his illusion of protection, but for now, Edge’s job was to watch over and wake Stretch if the nightmare went south.

Maybe he should have done that to begin with.

Stretch began to thrash in his sleep, struggling against an unknown threat. He cried out wordlessly, fear gripping Edge’s soul as he leaned over Stretch to place both hands on his shoulders, began to shake him awake. The magic in Stretch’s joints began to glow bright with activity. Edge called out to him, feeling the other try to pull away from him before those sockets snapped open. 

Edge realized the moment those sleep hazed eye-lights began to strobe. 

This was a mistake. 

The next thing Edge knew was pain. Several bone attacks pierced through his ribcage at multiple angles, the sickening sound of bones cracking and breaking filled the air. His spine was on fire with KR. His marrow already began to leak through the wounds to cling to his shirt. He could barely draw in a breath. 

Shock, the first expression to show after Stretch came to his senses, the strobing light of the active judge slowly came to an end, leaving only his husband’s beautiful honey glow. The unbridled horror didn’t belong on his love’s face, but there it rested as he assessed the situation, those cogs in that brilliant head of his catching up to the moment. 

How bad was that nightmare that it caused Stretch to call upon the judge? 

Edge had experienced the burn of KR a number of times in his life, it came with the territory being the brother of an Underfell Judge, under the rule of a mad king. Accidents and punishments happened, Edge knew well. The KR he was used to dealing with normally stemmed from one to two attacks, not multiple at once. KR moved through him like hell fire, burning and punishing every node of magic in his being.

Edge schooled himself to push back the pain, not to show how bad it was. Judging by the look on Stretch’s face, he was doing a poor job of it. 

He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t feel anything past the burning pain. Most troubling is that he couldn’t feel his legs as Stretch rolled him over and began to work. But he couldn’t help his concern for Stretch, concern of what this is doing to him. He wanted to reach out, but he couldn’t unclench his fist from their sheets. There was panic in Stretch’s eye-light, there was nothing he could do about it.

The pain began to overwhelm him as it spread through every fiber of his being. There was so much intent pushed into those attacks, all based out of fear. The KR rampaged as he laid on the ruined bed, he barely even felt the check past it. All he wanted to do was to comfort Stretch. Assure him it’ll be ok. He’s felt worse. He’ll be fine. Edge doesn’t blame him. He loves Stretch so much. But he couldn’t get the air to speak a word.

He felt the near punch like sensation as Stretch frantically began to heal him, attempting to slow or stop the KR. Edge knew that the KR had to run its course, it could not, would not just stop. It had to make Edge pay for every ounce of LV he collected, punishing him for his every sin. Edge wanted to wipe those tears away as they began to fall after the second check. There was no more room for concern, just pain. He knew his body was weakening, he could feel it in his bones. 

He knew that desperate look in Stretch’s face as he flailed behind himself. Edge knew Stretch needed help in handling this. His vision began to blur as new voices began to erupt. He knew them, so very well. He glanced over at Blue right as he climbed onto the bed and began to push healing magic into him, much smoother and stronger than Stretch’s. Edge’s consciousness began to slip from his grasp, he only wished he could apologize to Stretch, leaving him to fend for himself from his brother. 

There was only darkness to welcome him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first time he felt the kiss of KR was a result of Red becoming the Judge. At that time, Edge was only carrying 3 LV and his brother was burdened with 5 LV, where he would forever remain. A judge was never supposed to hold LV, they were supposed to be without. But at the time, the number of monsters not carrying LV was scarce to basically extinct. The King was obsessed with the idea of a Judge holding more power, and the scientist at the time seemed to encourage the idea. 

Edge couldn’t remember the scientist's face, nor his name. He only remembered the fear as they were captured and brought to the lab, the lab they had escaped when he was still a relatively new baby-bones. He was still in stripes when they were recaptured, while Red had decided to forgo his own in order to obtain work to keep them alive. 

They have already heard the screams of other subjects, injected with a serum that would possess the victim with the essence of the Judge. All victims, of higher LVs, would succumb to the raging fire that coursed through them, falling down before dusting within days, allowing the judge to be passed to its next victim. Edge cried out as Red was pried from his arms, a threat to maim if he didn’t shut up. Red turned back to him, told him not to cry, not to give the monster the satisfaction. 

If Red didn’t do it, then the scientist would turn to Edge. There was only one clear choice. 

Edge watched as Red glared up at the Scientist, a snarl on his face as he was strapped to the metal bed and his soul summoned from his chest. Red yelled in fury as the needle was brought to the beet red soul, piercing it as Red screamed. His brother shook on the table, whether from rage or from the serum coursing through his soul as it was returned to his chest. The scientist was already preparing the next syringe as Red began to thrash on the table, magic glowing in every joint and through his ribcage. As the judge could only occupy one monster at a time, Edge was forced to watch and wait as Red fought against his screams, claws digging into metal. 

And then he stopped moving all together. The Scientist seemed intrigued by this change in results, almost pleased.

And that’s when the attacks began to fly. 

Edge was struck right in the socket, cracking his skull, like claw marks, with a blinding white light. He wasn’t sure how long he was on the ground, sobbing as he clutched his skull, but he knew he had to get up, to get to his brother. He opened his uninjured eye and looked around, the scientist was gone and Red had fallen off of the table. 

Edge rushed to his side, noticing a crack that originated from a newly missing tooth up towards his socket. A search through the lab produced a golden replica that seemed to fit perfectly. At least it would stop the bleeding. Edge began to try to drag his brother out of the room, only for darkness to overtake him once more. 

The Royal Guard found them. 

The King threatened that if Red didn’t awake within a week he would be dusted so the Judge could be passed on to Edge. They whispered that his brother had fallen. Edge used all his excess magic every night, attempting to heal his brother’s soul as tears trailed down his face and fell upon the barely glowing soul. The week crawled along and he feared his brother would be dust soon enough. 

Somehow Red defied them by waking, right before the guards would take him away from Edge. 

The King was pleased with his new judge. 

The Scientist was never mentioned, like he never existed at all. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say Edge wasn’t fond of hospitals would be an understatement, though it was rare for him to be waking up in one, on this side of the bed. He loathed hospitals, the smell and reminders, though he didn’t loathe them nearly as much as Red. Red had his reasons.

The first time he woke in this bed, the room was empty save the sleeping figure, laid stretched halfway on the bed. There was a plastic mask over his face, pushing oxygen through his ribcage, aiding his magic to continue to flow through his body, healing his various wounds. His legs felt like pins and needles swarming like angry hornets. As maddening as it was, all Edge could pay attention to was Stretch and how much the sight of him made his soul swell. 

Edge couldn’t wait a single second to tell Stretch how much he loved him. To make sure he was ok. To have him in his arms.

It seemed the course of action here would be to wake his husband up, luck would have it that his hand was already within the other’s. It didn’t take long for Stretch to stir and to gaze up at him with those gorgeous honey lights. He quickly learned that it hurt too much to talk, signing would be most effective. 

He knew Stretch would feel absolutely guilty from what had happened, he wished he could take that guilt away. He knew better than to be within striking range of a monster in the throes of a nightmare, the chances of the monster lashing out being high. Not that Stretch will allow him to place this incident solely on his shoulders. But in the end, he got his wish, Stretch curled up against him, an arm wrapped around that orange sweater and his head resting on Stretch’s. It was a good place to rest. 

The next time he woke, it was to new voices of upset nurses and his husband trying to calm them down. It took a few attempts to gain their attention. Attempting to get up seemed to do the trick. For a split second the buzzing feeling in his legs seemed to stop before the hornet needles resumed with fury. They urged him strongly not to move, he reluctantly decided to agree. Once the nurses were more willing to listen, he made sure that they knew he wanted his husband in his bed. 

Unfortunately Stretch did have to leave for a moment, following a nurse to take care of some sort of paperwork. The other nurse also left to fetch the doctor to inform them that he was awake. 

That was the moment he smelt the faint hint of void ozone in the air. His brother’s voice reached his ear canal, gifting him information of a story he was sure his brother had weaved to keep Stretch out of trouble and keep the incident as a simple and boring accident. Red was good with his cover stories. No News channel would even dream to report on it and would keep the Embassy and Monster-kind out of any sort of spot light. Red was good at his job. His brother’s voice was gone right before the doctor stepped into the room, Stretch and the nurses followed suit. 

It was obvious that the Doctor had taken the bait and bought Red’s story, only a few questions asked would seal the story. Throughout the time the Doctor was there, Edge was encouraged to continue to sign or write down his responses, not that Edge really needed the encouragement. 

The Doctor continued to explain Edge’s injuries and how they ended up patching up his body. Nearly every rib in his ribcage had some form of damage, from small cracks to big breaks. The cracks simply needed to be wrapped to prevent bleeding out, as well as to prevent them from breaking further. The breaks needed to be pieced together. In doing so, metal plates were needed to straighten certain bones and rods were placed to hold the bones together as they healed. It would explain why his chest felt so heavy. His spine was being held in place with a brace to keep the injured vertebrae as aligned and straight as possible to allow for proper healing and prevent paralysis. 

Edge squeezed Stretch’s hand every time he winced at a description of his injuries, though the strength in his grip was lacking. The wounds would leave scars, and so would the hardware used on his body. The Doctor originally seemed concerned at first when Edge mentioned the pins and needle feeling in his legs. After a few questions, with many pokes and prods, it was encouraged that feeling was returning to his legs. Though it would take time, the Doctor was confident that Edge would use his legs again once his spine had healed. 

“It’s better than we had hoped initially. Your body is making an excellent recovery from your trauma. Given time and physical therapy, you should be back in working order. But it will take time to get there, you’ll be on strict bed rest until we feel your spine has healed enough to support movement. We will prescribe exercises that can be done with the aid of another to keep your body from getting stiff. We have therapists that are specialized in these types of injuries and dealing with more complex movements. Do we have any more questions?”

“When can I go home?” Edge immediately signed.

The doctor took his time to reply, “It would be dependent on your ability to breath on your own and the progress of your healing. We would want you to be at least able to sit up and support small movements before your treatments could be transferred to at home care. Once we can confirm that you’re able to breath on your own we can take the steps necessary to get you back home.” 

Edge seemed to deflate a bit, closing his sockets at the information. He wanted to be home, secure and away from the sights and smells of the hospital. Stretch’s hand returned to his, squeezing in support, drawing Edge to look back at him. The doctor excused himself and proceeded to leave to attend his other patients. 

Stretch leaned forward and kissed Edge on the forehead. “babe, we’ll get through this together. i’ll be with you every step of the way.” Edge nodded, all he wanted to do was kiss him back, to have that honey glow taste in his mouth. He exhaled hard, fogging up the mask for a moment. Stretch crawled back into the bed, snaking Edge’s arm around him once again. 

“why don’t you get some rest babe. I’ll be right here.” As Much as Edge wanted to resist, his sockets felt heavy. Edge nudged his skull against Stretch’s before letting sleep take hold.

Chapter Text

The day had come that Edge would be released back home. Stretch was off somewhere doing the ridiculous amounts of legal paperwork to continue his recovery at home. Edge had been off the breathing machine for three days now. 

The removal of the mask appeared to be very nerve racking for his husband, but after a rough start of Edge trying to get his ribs to draw in the oxygen needed to get his magic moving, he finally got them to move and gasp in that first drag of un-aided air. A wave of relief filled the room, and Edge squeezed Stretch’s hand as he caught a tear escaping his love’s socket. The doctor was pleased with Edge’s healing and especially with him gaining full feeling and limited movement in his legs and feet. Limited was better than immobile, Edge was sure of that, he had to remind himself from time to time, he will be on his feet once again.   

Edge would be bed ridden for the first few weeks he’d be home. He can survive that, not that he hadn’t done so before. He would endure it to make sure his spine continued it’s healing so he would be on his feet that much sooner. Then he would be allowed short, light activities. No heavy lifting, no long distance walks or extended standing or non-reclining sitting. He would have to go to a Monster Embassy approved physical therapy counselor to help him regain his mobility and assess his progress. 

So many restrictions and limitations. 

And he would go through it and bide his patience if it meant reducing the guilty look in his husbands eye-lights. They would do this together and Edge would support Stretch while he supported Edge. 

Now if he could convince a certain gremlin of an overprotective big brother of his to lay off. 

Edge knew Stretch was catching those subtle looks when Red chose to show himself. He also knew when Red was lurking, as if to watch to make sure no harm would come. His brother cared, but it wasn’t helping. 

Edge turned towards the darken corner of the hospital room, cause somehow there always seemed to be a dark corner for his brother to hide in. “You really should... lay off my husband... Brother.” Edge gasped through the sentence.

Red eye-lights glanced his way, rolling in response before he heard his classic tsk. “and ignore the fact that he nearly killed you with that attack.” 

Edge took a deep breath, releasing it slowly through his nasal passage. “Must I remind you that... it was by accident... from a nightmare... and he plans to speak to... a therapist on his own... volition. Must I also remind you... that you’ve had similar... accidents.”

Red huffed in annoyance and growled out. “there’s still ta chance it could happ’n ‘gain. t’was too close of a call in mah book. he nearly killed ya, Boss, nearly cripled ya.”

“And you’ve nearly blinded me... fully in my left eye… when you lost… control. I’m sure my scar is enough... of a reminder... for the both of us.” Edge replied flatly. “May I remind you... the time your KR... nearly took my arm... when you decided.... to use it against... the Doggi who was... using my shoulder... as a chew toy. Or the times the King...”

“‘nough, i get it bro, don’t have to dig that deep.” Red stepped out of the shadows, scuffing his shoes on the floor as he walked. He flopped down on the chair adjacent to Edge’s bed. “can’t fully forgive, ya’ know.”

“Just like you struggle... to forgive yourself.” 

Red flinched at that statement, working his jaw in annoyance. “ya shouldn’t be talkin’ so much boss. use yer sign.” Edge levels a glare at him, raising his right hand to flip Red off. Red chuckled at that. “fair ‘nough.”

“Red, Stretch saved my life… you all did. Yes... he accidentally hurt me... but he didn’t hesitate to start... to save me from… his mistake. He was scared... but he managed to get me... the help I needed... when he knew he wasn’t... able to do it... by himself. Stretch… is struggling… to forgive himself. He… doesn’t need more… guilt… from you.” 

Red concentrated on his shoes, moving them from side to side as one untied lace danced with the movement. His hands clenched the upholstery of the arm rests, nearly puncturing holes in each arm. “‘k Boss, i’ll try.”

“That’s... all I can ask.” Edge leaned back against his pillows, closing his sockets with an exhausted sigh. “Besides, what's… a few more… scars to add… to the collection.”

Red huffed out an amused laugh, shaking his head. “it's just like ya, always makin’ yer wounds out ta be nothin’.”

Edge mouth quirked into a smirk. “Just the type… of monster I am.”

“If yer weren’t already hurt, I’d punch ya.” Red quipped, picking at his teeth with his pinky.

“Do it.” Edge almost sounded challenging if not drowsy. “Then I’ll have...Stretch kiss it... to make it better.”

Red responded by making retching sounds. “ew, yer two are too sweet fer mah tooth.” 

Edge’s smile broadened at that. “That’s why he... likes me better.”

Red chuckled. “nah, i’m just too bitter fer yer honey. ya can have him all to ya self.”

“Plan… on… it.” A gentle snore followed after as Edge fell asleep.

Red watched the slow rise and fall of Edge’s chest as he fell asleep. “if yer done hidin’ ‘round ta corner, you can come on in.”

Stretch stepped inside, ducking his head guiltily. “how’s he doing? think he’s good to be taken home?”

Red shook his head and signed. “i exhausted him, and not yet, wait til he’s deeper in sleep. he’ll be less likely to wake up queasy.”

Stretch nodded at that, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching Edge sleep. 

Red noted that he looked tired, knocking on his knee to get Stretch’s attention and signed. “got enough juice to get home? Your shortcuts are smoother than mine. I can hold him.”

Stretch nodded and signed back “Yea, I can get us home, no problem.”

“how much did you hear?” Red signed, looking more interested in watching Edge sleep.”

Stretch shrugged before signing “you told him he shouldn’t be talking. guessing he showed you how he felt about that in sign.”

Red smiled and signed. “something like that. we should get him home.” 

Red slid off his chair and went about dusting off his shorts. While Stretch gathered the bag of a few of Edge’s and his possessions that made it to the room. Red turned Edge’s soul blue and began to lift him off the bed, keeping his brother straight as a board as he muttered to himself in personal amusement “light as a feather.” 

Stretch rounded the bed and placed his hands on both the brothers before pulling them through the shortcut. Once again in their room, Stretch watched Edge’s reaction, noticing a slight grimace that faded back to restful sleep. Leaving their sides, Stretch approached the bed and lifted the new sheets and comforter for Red to lay Edge down on the bed. Stretch covered Edge, leaving a light kiss on his cranium before walking with Red out of the room. 

Door clicked as it was closed, and Stretch turned to see that Red was still with him. Red pointed towards the Kitchen with his thumb before marching down the stairs to head in that direction. Slipping his hands into his sweater pocket, Stretch followed after. 

Red was already at the fridge, digging through it. “gonna hav’ta ask baby Blue and ta Cinnabun ta stock ya up in here. Boss won’t be makin’ any five course meals fer a while.”

‘Red… i… i’m sorry for all this mess.” Stretch looked outside the kitchen window as he spoke, one arm slipping out of his pocket to grasp at the opposing elbow. “i, um…”

Red growled sharply enough for Stretch to stop. Turning away from the fridge, Red threw a wrapped string cheese at Stretch, hitting him square in the chest before he could catch it. “yer have more reason to apologize fer makin’ me see ya in yer boxers than ya have fer any of this.” 

Stretch just looked from Red to the cheese stick, resisting squeezing it in his hand. Red snagged one for himself and walked towards the kitchen table. Noisily, Red moved a chair before sitting down and pulled the plastic apart, chomping the top of the cheese stick like an animal. While chewing he continued, “if ya are gonna do anythin’ ta make up fer this, then just take care-o him. take care-o yerself ta care fer him. accidents happen, it’s whatcha do after that matter.” 

Stretch nodded before opening his own cheese and pulled a strand of cheese before eating it. Teasing for the next strand he asked. “did… have you ever… accidentally...?”

Biting off the next chuck, Red smacked as he chewed on his pilfered cheese. “comes with the territory.” he gazed at the far corner, not caring to see Stretch’s reaction. Red rolled the half eaten cheese stick between his hands. “he’s a tough kid, always has been. ain’t gonna help him blamin’ yerself. just would make him blamin’ himself worse.” 

Red threw the cheese stick in the air and caught it in his mouth, chewing it up as obnoxiously as any gremlin would. A glance at Stretch, showed the monster still teasing at the cheese stick, staring at the floor. There didn’t seem to be much more he was going to get out of his brother’s husband. Hoping off the chair, Red leaned back, popping his spine with a relieved sigh. “welp, ya can make him a sandwich with what ya have left in there. i’ll let Blue know that you’ll need the fridge stocked up.” 

“thanks.” Red heard Stretch mutter as he placed his hands in his jacket pocket. Red glanced back over to the taller skeleton, eyeing him. “for everything.”

Red tsked in annoyance “whatever.” He muttered before disappearing into a shortcut. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edge woke, momentarily confused by the change of scenery. He was no longer in the hospital room he had spent weeks recovering in. He blinked a few times, focusing his eye-lights against the sleep haze. The squeak of the desk chair caught his attention before listening to it roll over towards him. 

“hey, sleepy head.” Stretch smiled down at him, leaning over to plant a kiss on his nasal ridge. “finally decided to join the conscious?”

“Only if… you give me a… proper kiss.” Edge replied, hating how he had to pause to take a breath as he talked. 

Stretch only smiled back at him, one of his hands rested over the side of Edge’s jaw before he leaned down again to do as requested. Who is he to deny Edge his kisses. After two soft kisses. Stretch pulled away, much to Edge’s disappointment. “wait here a moment.” And Stretch disappeared into a shortcut. 

“Not like I’m... going anywhere.” Edge muttered before Stretch reappeared with a plate. 

“made you an egg salad sandwich. it should be easy for your magic to incorporate, and I even cut it into those little triangles so it’ll be easy to eat.” Stretch presented the plate with four unevenly cut sandwich slices that nearly looked ripped apart rather than cut with a knife. The egg seemed to spill out of the edges and Edge can clearly make out Stretch’s thumbprint from where he held down the poor sandwich. 

Edge smiled up at Stretch. “Looks good... I think I can eat a bit.” In truth, he felt mildly queasy, from what he suspected was a shortcut while he slept, though the pain meds could also be a culprit. 

Stretch placed the plate down on his lap, and Edge noticed when something suddenly clicked in Stretch’s brilliant head. “oh, yea. so Rus and Comic seemed to have splurged on our new bed. check this out.” Stretch reached over and appeared to grab a remote with a long wire attached to it. After pressing a button, the portion of the bed Edge’s head resided on began to lift with a slight mechanical whirl. 

Edge glanced around as his upper half was lifted til it stopped in a better position for eating. “neat, huh?” Stretch exclaimed, showing him the remote and all it’s buttons. “it can also lift your legs and will adjust to your preferred hardness or softness. i know how much you like soft beds, while i tend to like it firm. it’s also temperature controlled so we don’t get too hot or too cold. my side also has its own remote.”

Edge looked at the remote. “Neat is a word for it… they didn’t… need to do that.”

“and yet they did. i wouldn’t even begin to figure out where they got this one from to attempt to trade it in for something more normal. besides, it’ll break Rus’s heart if we at least didn’t give it a good trial run. he said it really helped Comic sleep better.” Stretch fiddled with the remote as he talked. 

The last sentence definitely caught Edge’s attention, especially as he noted the dark circles under Stretch’s sockets. Edge wasn’t sure how much sleep Stretch was getting during all this time, but it couldn’t have been much. Edge dragged in a deep breath before he spoke. “We’ll give it the obli...gatory… thirty day trial.”

Stretch smiled at that, leaning over to kiss Edge on the mouth. “let’s put that mouth to better use, yeah?” Stretch grabbed one of the slices of egg salad and brought it to his mouth.

Edge leveled Stretch an amused look, playfully turning his head away from the offered sandwich. 

Stretch snorted with a laugh, “oh, gonna be that way, are we?” He said as he continued to follow Edge’s mouth with the sandwich, ‘accidently’ smearing the egg goop over Edge’s cheekbone, earning him a growl. “how about this, take a bite if you want a kiss.”

Edge raised his brow bone in interest before taking a bite of the sandwich, barely missing Stretch’s fingertips. Stretch cursed under his breath from the surprisingly quick movement before laughing. “Mmm…” Edge smirked up at Stretch after receiving his kiss reward, “guess I’m gonna have... to forgo the no... eating in bed... rule.”

Stretch smiled and leaned close to Edge, whispering, “no worries, Edgelord,” He then licked the creamy egg goop off of Edge’s cheekbone, “i’ll make sure to clean you up.” Stretch received a deep chuckle from Edge, before bringing up the rest of the sandwich slice. 

Edge only managed to eat half the sandwich before refusing the rest of the meal. Not wanting to force it, Stretch finished off the rest of the sandwich before placing the plate on the nightstand, bringing the cup of water that was sitting there to Edge to allow him to drink. Stretch began to busy himself with brushing off the crumbs off the bed.

“You up for… a game of… chess?” Edge suggested, but as Stretch looked him over, Edge seemed more ready for another nap than an inevitably intense game of chess. 

“mmm, how about i beat your ass at chess after you take a nap.” Stretch shifted the blankets higher on Edge’s chest, handing him the remote so he could position the bed to something more comfortable for sleep. 

Edge narrowed his eye-sockets, looking to possibly resist Stretch’s suggestion of more sleep. Between his medications and the process of his bones healing, Edge would be spending most of his recovery time asleep. At least it wasn’t making Edge feel drunk, by much. Edge only smirked at him. “I’ll accept… your terms… on one con...dition.” Stretch raised his brow bone in interest. “You.. sleep… with me.”

Stretch beamed a smile and chuckled, feeling the warmth of a blush on his cheek bones. “alright, alright brat, i accept your condition.” Stretch climbed the bed and straddled Edge’s pelvis. Edge gave him a heated look, running a thinly magic formed tongue over his teeth. “sorry, babe this activity is currently out of commission until you’ve healed up enough.”

Edge smirked, pressing the button to lift his legs and causing Stretch to squeak. “One can dream.” 

Stretch chuckled and lean forward, catching that naughty mouth in a kiss. He pulled away, looking into those half lidded sockets and kiss hazed eye-lights, noticing how much Edge was struggling to stay awake. After a quick peck, Stretch rolled onto his side of the bed. “hey, in time, that dream will come true babe.” 

Edge lowered his side of the bed to be at the same level as Stretch’s, a soft smile on his face as his sockets finally closed. “I’ll hold you... to that.”

Stretch reached over and twined his finger’s with Edge. “yea, that’s a promise.”