Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Slim came back with a set of clothes for his brother, who was unchaining Sans from the wall. “Here M’lord.” He handed over each article of clothing, Razz dressing Sans in his Cub’s old clothing. They were of a similar size so they worked out perfectly and Razz sighed dreamily at him. He looked so much like he used to now, glancing at Slim he pointed to Sans. “Pick him up, we’re taking him to Undyne, so we can finish fixing him.” Slim merely nodded and gathered Sans up in his arms, following his brother back to the house where Razz gingerly picked up the jar of dust, cradling it like something precious. He looked up at Slim and nodded slightly at him, Slim took hold of his brother’s shoulder and shortcut them to the lab where Undyne lived.

Who had not expected to see not only Slim but the Captain suddenly in the lab, causing her to yelp and drop her instant ramen on the floor. “C-captain?!” She yelped pushing her glasses up, spotting the skeleton in Slim’s arms and the jar of dust in Razz’s. “Wh-what can I d-do for you?” Undyne stammered not daring to move from where she stood just yet, over the last three years Razz and Slim had grown increasingly unhinged. Most of the rebellion had been slaughtered by these two, one of the few left was her girlfriend and leader of the rebellion, Alphys. But she’d gone into hiding a while back and was going to stay that way if Undyne could help it, crime in swapfell was at an all-time low. Merely from the fear, these two put into the hearts of their fellow monsters, earning them the nickname Reaper and Hell hound behind closed doors. No one dared cross the line when either one of them was around, anyone who did was never seen again and those left behind didn't want to join them.

“I want you to fix Cub, just like I asked you last time.” Razz told her as if this was obvious, coming forward with the jar and Slim following with Sans in his arms still unconcious. “We found a new body for him, so fix him!” He wasn’t asking her to do it either, Undyne swallowed nervously. She wasn’t even sure it was possible for Salt to be brought back, he’d been dead for three years now but Razz acted like he was merely sick. “A-alright…” Undyne agreed as his voice shook, she motioned for them to follow her to a table where Slim laid Sans out on it. For safety she strapped Sans down in case he woke up while she tried to, fix, him. Undyne was pretty sure this was the original Sans but Razz had clearly tried to recreate Salt’s scars on him already. Between the carvings on his face and the large jagged hole in his mandible. Undyne felt sorry for him, but it would only end in her own demise if she defied the brothers.

“Captain m-may I…?” Undyne asked shakily, hands out to receive the jar of dust. Razz’s grip tightened but he sighed and relented handing it over to her in the end. “Be careful with Cub! You know he’s very sick!” Razz warned her with a growl. Undyne held the jar tightly, if she dropped it they would surely murder her on the spot. Sick wasn't the word she would have used unless you were describing his obession with a jar of dust. Setting it on a nearby trolley she left it there to gather up a few supplies, she’d been researching how this might work. Not that she had any confidence it would work, but the outcome of her failing were lesser than if she didn’t try at all. Slim and Razz watched her with rapt attention, she could feel their eyelights following her every move making her even more nervous.

“DT?” Slim asked as Undyne came back with a syringe and a vial of red substance nodding a little, glancing at Razz. “J-just a little bit, like…” She trailed off, the Captain had a drop in his own soul and hadn’t suffered too terribly. Well mostly anyway, but now wasn’t the time to think about that. Shaking her head and those thoughts away she used the syringe to draw up a small amount of the DT, if she mixed it with the dust and injected it into Sans’s soul then maybe something would happen? She’d never tested it on anyone but it was the best theory she had right now, and there was only one way to find out.

Carefully opening up the jar Undyne began to drip the DT into the dust, taking a stir stick she mixed the two together. The dust melted and she used that same syringe to draw up the mixture and turned to the still passed out monster. Uttering a quiet apology before summoning his soul from his chest, she had a lot of reservations about doing this to a monster unrelated to any of this. But she didn’t want to die today either, so wordlessly she plunged the needle into Sans’s soul and began steadily pressing the liquid into his soul.

With a terrible shriek of pain, Sans woke his eyelights flickering in and out, thrashing wildly on the table while the three around him ignored his sobs of pain. Only when all of the mixture was depressed into his soul did Undyne draw out the needle and soothe the small puncture wound with her magic. All their attention now turning onto Sans who was dry heaving and shaking, his bones covered in sweat.

“Y-you guys are sick!” Sans rasped unaware that he’d been injected with another monster’s dust, but he could gather from his surroundings that whatever was going on around him couldn’t be good. Razz leaned over and cupped his cheekbone, rubbing his thumb over it gently. “You’ll feel better soon Cub, don’t worry.” He cooed sweetly before glancing at Undyne. “Well?” He demanded hands on his hips, any previous softness leaving in an instant.

Undyne blanched and looked at anything but the Captain and his brother, putting the syringe down and approaching Sans. “W-well we have to wait, it w-won’t be instantaneous.” Razz huffed at this and crossed his arms now, looking down at Sans. “I guess not, fine. We’ll take him home and he can rest there until he feels better.”

“He hasn’t melted so there’s hope.” Slim told his brother, a hand on his shoulder. “Melted?! What did you freaks do to me?!” Sans shrieked in alarm, his sockets wide as his eyelights ignited and he shook so hard his bones rattled against the table. “Calm down Cub, you need to rest so you can recover. Undyne just gave you a shot is all.” Razz cooed stroking his face again. Slim undid Sans and gathered him up in his arms again, Sans couldn’t find the strength to fight him and groaned. Whatever they had done to him was making him feel sick, it was then that he caught sight of his soul and his alarm rose even higher. His cyan soul had entirely changed, a ring of cyan on the outside surrounded by black with just a speck of red in the middle.

“D-did you inject me with determination?!” Sans nearly screamed his expression one of horror. “Just a couple of drops don’t worry.” Razz assured him with a smile. “No more than I have in my own soul, you’ll be fine Cub.” Slim nodded in agreement and cuddled Sans against his chest more. “You haven’t melted so you should be fine, so don’t worry about it.” Sans stared at them in utter shock, having DT in your soul wasn’t anything he considered something not to worry about!

“Let’s go home Cub, you’ll feel better soon.” Razz nearly purred up at him before the trio vanished from the lab. Undyne stared at where they had been only moments ago, swallowing hard. “I’m so sorry Sans…there was nothing else I could have done…” She apologized to the skeleton who couldn’t hear her now.

Sans weakly flailed to free himself of Slim’s grip that only grew tighter, he followed Razz up to his room and lay Sans in the middle of the bed. “We’re home again Cub, and you’re never leaving again. We’ll make sure of that.” Razz told him firmly, snapping a purple collar around his throat and fastening a chain to it that was embedded into the wall. Sans’s eyelights shrank and he looked between them his bones rattling, what kind of hell had he found himself in?

Razz tugged his boots off before crawling up onto the bed and laying beside Sans, cupping his cheekbone with a rumble. Slim followed suit and lay on his other side, a long arm around his waist. “Things will get better Precious, you’ll see.” Slim rumbled softly, giving Sans a squeeze as they surrounded him. Sans was about to protest again but his vision spotted and began to fade in and out of focus until darkness had eaten up the view of them hovering over him. An unfamiliar yet somehow still familiar voice spoke to him, no it was two voices.

“Bro-th-er? Yo-u’r-e no-t su-ppo-sed to b-e her-e…it-’s n-ot t-im-e ye-t. G-o ba-ack.” The first voice seemed to scold the second, it reminded Sans of his brother actually.

“No! C-an-’t lea-ve yo-u, co-ome bac-k! P-le-ase!”

Everything was dark save for two small lights, bouncing off one another as the broken voices argued with one another. The larger of the two succeeding in throwing the smaller light back and closer to his vision. Before the smaller was drawn closer and the larger faded away leaving him alone with the smaller, a broken wail echoing in the darkness around them. Sans felt his soul twist painfully, his scream joining the wails.

Sans bolted upright with a cry of pain, holding his skull feeling like it would split in half at any second. Two sets of hands were on him in an instant, one on each side of his back and one on each arm. “Cub what’s wrong?!” Razz tugged his hands from his face leaning forward to get a better look at him, Slim following suit and the two stared hard at him. The pain had stopped but Sans felt, off, he looked between them in confusion. What were they staring at him so hard for?

“..R-razzi?” Rasped a voice that he didn’t recognize, that passed through his mouth and Sans grabbed at his throat his sockets going wide as his three eyelights shrunk in his sockets and he choked. “Cub!” Razz dragged Sans into his arms and held him painfully tight. “You’re finally awake!” Slim was there pressing against Sans’s back, arms wrapping around both Razz and him. “You scared us real bad there Precious…”

“A-awake…?” Rasped the voice again, making Sans tremble. What was going on?! Drawing back the trembling hands and looking down at them, panic overtaking as he tried to flee the bed only to be choked by the collar cinched tightly around his throat and thrown flat on his back. Gasping as the wind was knocked out of him, both Slim and Razz jumping to their feet to help them up. “Cub be careful! You could get hurt!” Razz scolded holding one of their hands while Slim took the other, pulling them off the floor. But the moment they stood those hands jerked away and clutched at their skull, this didn’t make any sense! But luckily or unluckily Razz had a full-length mirror in his bedroom in which they caught sight of their reflection in.

Inhaling sharply as they slowly approached it, eyelights shaking and sockets wide. A hand reaching out to touch the mirror as they took in their body. Hands that didn’t ache whenever he flexed them too far, two white eyelights, and a grey one shadowing the left one. What had happened, who or what was staring them back in the mirror? With shaking hands, they reached up touching their face before turning to the other two. “W-what did you two do?!” Demanded two voices that echoed each other, overlapping and distorting one another. One belonging to Sans, and the other, to their lover who was lost to them three long years ago.

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Razz gasped his eyelights growing bright as he rushed forward to hold their skull in his hands. “Cub! It is you!” They found themselves dragged into a near rib-cracking hug by Razz only for Slim to slink up behind them and wrap them all in his long arms with a rumble. “We’ve missed you so much Precious…” They looked up from Razz to Slim and back again, the smaller frame trapped between them trembling. Hands clutching tightly to the front of Razz’s shirt, their shared vision was spinning as the third eyelight moved on its own accord separate from the main two. Gloved hands held their cheekbones and directed their gaze upwards to Razz who was rubbing his thumb over the crack leading up to the left eyelight. “We finally got you back…you’re not allowed to leave us ever again Cub, that’s a rule!” Razz told them firmly.

“What-I-” The third eyelight spun and flicked back and forth within the socket, spoiled magic bubbling up in their throat. He shoved Razz away just in time to avoid throwing up on him, retching as Slim kept them upright rubbing their back as he watched them in concern. But even then he fought to free himself of Slim’s grasp, breathe catching in his throat his vision spotting. He clawed at his neck, chest and face, he couldn’t breathe-he couldn’t breathe! Choking on the very air he tried so desperately to draw in, a strangled noise escaping as a tail lashed out and struck Slim across the middle forcing him to release the smaller body. Hands scrabbling at the collar so hard that his fingers cracked and bled, bone attacks erupting from the floor. The black bones tinged with cyan, full of cracks that glowed red sending splinters of wood flying, Slim dragging Razz against himself his coat blocking the sharper bits of wood. A marrow curdling shriek escaping the smaller monster as he staggered throwing his skull back as a pair of blasters made their appearance, only for them to begin melding together into one. Red cracks spider webbing across the blaster’s skull as it seemed to howl in agony, a swirl of multicolored magic charging with a high pitched tone before firing right through the chain keeping him tethered to the wall. A hole blasted through the bedroom wall and down into the floor, Slim lunged to grab the smaller monster only for him to suddenly shortcut away.

Finding himself in a place he didn’t recognize, staggering forward through a broken doorway dragging the broken chain behind him. But he kept going, mind reeling and his manalines feeling like they were on fire. Finding himself at the bottom of a set of stairs, leading up into, what seemed to be a house? It lay silent, covered in a thick layer of dust. Whoever had lived here had been gone for a long time now, he collapsed in what was most likely the living room behind a massive armchair. Heaving and choking on more spoiled magic, curling in on himself. He lay there in the dust as he gagged on the remnants of sickness, trembling the sound of his rattling bones loud in the dead silence.

But as he lay there a voice was nagging at the corners of his fractured mentality, sounding so much like himself but somehow not. “Hey! What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing?!” The voice spoke through his mouth, but that wasn’t his voice. He coughed letting his sockets slowly slid shut, keeping them open was making him feel nervous all over again. “W-who’re you…?” He rasped at the voice. “Sans and the owner of this body, who the hell are you?” Sans demanded sounding downright pissed. He snorted a little at this, taking a moment to answer. “Salt…” He coughed his body feeling like lead, throat sore from throwing up and screaming so harshly.

“What? You-you were dust!” Sans exclaimed earning a small snort from Salt. “Yet I’m here…” He replied to Sans bitterly. “…Should still be dust, the fuck happened?” He couldn’t bring himself to move at all, and talking was draining in its own right. But at the very least he was somewhere away from other monsters, judging from the amount of dust he felt under his hands. He groaned and curled up more, he felt like every speck of his dust had been trampled. “Well, your crazy boyfriends kinda kidnapped me, tried to turn me into you, I knew Razz was sick but Slim? Didn’t see that coming.”

A mirthless laugh passed his teeth and Salt quietly spoke up. “Not my boyfriends…” He knew that was what the brothers had wanted from him, but he had never actually accepted those advances. And he had no intention of it either, what he wanted to know now was how he was even here. He’d stabbed his own soul with the blade he kept on his tail, what had they done? “Well…sorry for their shit anyways…” If he didn’t feel like complete and utter shit he might go back and punch them both in their stupid fucking skulls. But he was too tired to even keep up his usual aggression. “Eh, guess it’s not really your fault, you were already dead when this shit happened.” Sans said after a few moments of silence. This earned a barely audible grunt from Salt, more silence followed for a few moments before he spoke up again. “M’gonna sleep…” Salt slurred quietly, with any luck he wouldn’t wake back up again. But he had a feeling that wasn’t going to be the case, fucking assholes couldn’t even leave him alone in death.

“Alright, I guess.” Sans sighed feeling himself regaining control of his body again as the other consciousness faded into the background. He could still feel him there, but it was more like a nagging in the back of your mind. Sans groaned and slowly pushed himself into sitting up, looking around with a frown. This looked to be the ruins, but it looked like no one had lived there in a long time. He held onto the armchair using it to pull himself up off the floor and stumbling his way to the kitchen to wash up. Pausing when he caught sight of himself in the dusty reflection of a pot that sat on the counter. Staring at the word carved into his face, and the hole Razz had broken through his mandible. It still ached like a bitch too, touching it briefly with a low hiss. Taking note of the extra eyelight just behind his left one, but it didn’t follow his own sitting entirely stationary. He shook his head a little before turning on the tap, washing the dust and marrow from his hands and face. Well it wasn’t the best but it was better than nothing, Sans fished around in his pockets for a moment before realizing he didn’t have his hoodie on. This was Salt’s coat, and despite the many pockets, they were all empty. So he didn’t even have a phone to try and get a hold of anyone to pull him from this madhouse, he shuffled out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house.

These had to be the same ruins that existed in every other universe that was somewhat normal, so he had an idea where they were. And that meant that they were a good ways from the brother's house. Sans was tempted to remain here, except he had a feeling they would be tearing apart the underground looking for the both of them. So he checked around for any supplies, surprised to find the pantry was full. So he stocked his inventory only to find that he had twice as much space as usual. He chalked it up to having a tag along in the form of an undead monster. Sans wasn’t even sure if that was right, and he didn’t have access to anything to find out. After he was sure he had everything they could possibly need out of what was around the abandoned house Sans left the ruins, heading to where he knew there was supposed to be an opening that showed the sky above. Out of everywhere, that seemed to be the safest place to be right now, and maybe he could piece something together. And if not then, well he guessed they were screwed six ways from Sunday. Sans shortcut to the cavern where he would be able to see the sky, looking up at it to see it was night out. He could see a few stars, he took a spot on the patch of grass that grew under the hole.

Sans ran a self-check but, he found he couldn’t read it at all. Because his check and Salt’s were overlapping leaving everything a jumbled mess, he couldn’t help but give a humorless snort. “Guess that sums it up, huh? We’re one fucked up mess now unless we can figure a way outta this…” The only thing he could think to do was to somehow make it to the DT machine and draw it out of his soul. And hope that would be enough to A, remove the DT from them both and B, remove the second monster from his body. Sans lay back in the grass, arms behind his skull as he looked up at the stars. It was so quiet here, he could hear the sounds of crickets from up above. Despite the peaceful atmosphere, Sans didn’t feel at ease in the least, watching as fireflies drifted over the opening to the cavern.

Sans didn’t even realize he was crying until he felt something warm and wet trickling down the side of his skull, he didn’t bother to wipe away the tears it wasn’t like there was anyone around to see them anyways. He missed being home and now he wasn’t sure if he would ever get to go back home, see Papyrus or Edge again. He didn’t know what had happened here, but he’d been sucked into the middle of it all anyways. He gripped the coat over where his soul was thrumming painfully, he was afraid to look at it but…he summoned it forth and immediately regretted his actions. It was no longer cyan, only an outer ring of cyan followed by black and a center of red. As he carefully looked it over despite his want to never look at his own soul again he spotted a very tiny welt in the center. Brow bones furrowing at the sight, his expression growing sickly as realization dawned on him. He quickly dismissed the soul and swallowed thickly, he knew about the DT injection from what he knew about it and the pain it came with. But…in order for Salt to share his body, they had to have-he didn’t want to finish that thought but his mind supplied it anyways.

He had another monster’s dust inside his soul. Sans felt sick, even more than he already had. This was…even more, twisted than he expected of the two brothers and their Undyne, he had so many questions and he was afraid of all the answers. But he couldn’t get any until his new mind mate woke up or he spoke to Undyne, but he had a feeling that she wouldn’t be any help to him. Seeing as she was the one to have done this in the first place, and known to get along with the Papyrus of their world. He closed his sockets and decided it wouldn’t hurt to get a nap in at the same time. The grass wasn’t uncomfortable, and the sounds of nighttime were soothing to his frayed mind.

As he drifted to sleep Sans felt that new presence tugging at him, and when he opened his sockets again he wasn’t greeted with the sight of the opening in the cavern but with his bare-boned counterpart kneeling on seemingly nothing. The area around them was nothing but black, flickers of what looked like fragments of memories floating behind the both of them. Sans on his side, Salt’s on the other but some had intersected and become a tangled mess of a memory that didn’t exist. The form of his counterpart was fractured and seemed to barely be holding itself together, the cracks glowing the telltale red color of DT.

“S-ans…” Salt rasped looking up from where he knelt on the ground, the cracks in his face were trickling dust as were all the others, making him look like he was crying dust. It all filtered down onto the floor under him in small dust piles. Only for it to get drawn back into him again to keep his dust in shape. The DT seemed to be the only thing holding him together, Sans slowly approached offering his hand to Salt who shook his head. “B-better not…might spread…” Salt told Sans shakily. Sans drew his hand back with a grimace when he realized that Salt had a point, touching someone with DT was probably a stupid idea, even if that someone was already sharing a body and soul with you. The last thing he needed to do was make some stupid mistake and fuck them both over even worse than they already were, he sighed and looked around. He was at a loss of what to do, he wasn’t even entirely sure of what had been done. His counterpart had even less of an idea than he did, they were on the other side of the underground from the lab where he could try to find answers. Where Undyne would be waiting and where the brothers would surely look for them if they weren’t already tearing down every house in the underground to find them that was.

Sans finally sat down near Salt and sighed dropping his skull into his hands, this was some fucked up mess they were in. He should have checked the machine before he came through and maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Now he was stranded in the swapfell’s universe with an unwilling soul freeloader, his phone was probably still in the clothes they’d ripped up so it could be in their house or the shed. Neither of those two was a good option, even if he did manage to get a hold of anyone what good would it do with the machine here being broken? And Sans had a feeling they wouldn’t be leaving unguarded, hell he was half certain they’d have smashed what remained of it to pieces already to ensure that they couldn’t leave. Just how long would they be able to stay in the ruins until they were found anyways? Maybe he could seal up the door again somehow, he was trying to decide the next best course of action when Salt interrupted his thoughts.

“Sans, just…what do you plan to do?” Salt rasped not even lifting his head his sockets barely open as he caught his gaze. Sans grimaced at this, biting his tongue. “I, don’t really know…we can’t get back from where we are…and, the machine is broken. Hell it could be scrap metal at this rate, Undyne would probably turn us over to them so they don’t skin her alive…” Hearing this Salt grunted quietly, he couldn’t deny that either. “Gotta do somethin…they won’t give up so easy…” Salt mumbled his voice weak, now that Sans thought about it. Salt didn’t have a soul of his own, if he managed to extract the other would he just vanish? As if reading his mind Salt spoke up again. “M’fine with that…wish they…woulda done what I asked…”

Sans frowned and turned to face Salt more, arms crossed. Something was bugging him about this whole situation, and he couldn’t help but ask. “Just, what even happened three years ago? They didn’t use to be like this, sure Razz was always an asshole but Slim was at least a nice guy.” Sans asked watching as Salt seemed to deflate from that. “…Yeah, they were both nice enough…Razz, he’s just angry…” With what seemed like a lot of effort Salt pushed against the floor, arms shaking as he raised himself up enough to move into a sitting position to face Sans. The crack across his face pouring dust, it was like he was constantly dusting.

“…I came here over three years ago by accident…but, at the end of everything, I couldn’t keep living with myself…with what I’d done…so, I dusted myself.” Salt said quietly never breaking his gaze with Sans. “But…Razz found me as I was falling apart, tried to hold me together…” Now his head dropped, regret in his voice. “He wasn’t supposed to see…I didn’t even want them to find me, I left them an echoflower…to keep going without me.” Salt recounted in a somber voice, his dusty form trembled slightly. “…But they didn’t, I can see now they only held tighter to the idea that I would come back to them…” He looked up now, red tears in his sockets and a strained smile full of confused pain spreading across his face. Tears made of determination trickled down his cheekbones, cutting through the dust before being reabsorbed into his barely stable form. “How could anyone love so blindly?” How even after three long years of what had to be agonizing pain did they still want him to come back to them, knowing that he had selfishly abandoned them. Leaving them behind in order to stop his own pain, never really thinking of what anguish he was going to cause by doing it. “Th-those fucking…idiots…” He cursed quietly his fists trembling before he began to punch the floor with a scream. Over and over again, each blow shattered his dusty fists but he refused to stop.

The scream roused Sans from his slumber and he bolted awake his sockets wide, he took a quick look around and remembered where he was. Sighing he dropped his head into his hand and groaned, he could still see the grief-stricken face of his soul parasite as he tried to break his body apart on the floor of what could only be their shared subconscious mind. Sans’s soul gave a painful lurch and he gripped the shirt over it, just what was going to happen to his body if he couldn’t get Salt out of it? Just as he thought this something bony smacked him in the back of his head earning a yelp from Sans who jumped up only to find-a bony tail that was trailing behind him when he spun to get a better look at it. That, that couldn’t be normal. He didn’t have a tail, in fact, he didn’t know any Sanses that weren’t part animal that had tails. So where in the hell did this one come from?!

Back in Snowdin Slim and Razz were staring at the spot where their tiny lover had just been, Razz’s fists clenched tightly before he stomped his foot and snarled throwing a bone attack into the wall behind him. “That little shit Sans must have given him the ability to teleport!” He spat venomously, looking to his brother now. “Where did he go?!” Slim looked up from the spot to his brother and frowned, he had no idea really. “Well, if I had to guess Precious doesn’t know how to control where he’s going so…he could be anywhere really.”

This made Razz snarl his anger only growing with each passing second, he knew they should have cut his manalines! “Well, we need to find him!” And fast before he hurt himself again, his Cub was still very sick and needed to be on bed rest! “When we find him again take him to the apartment in the capital and do whatever it takes to make sure he doesn’t leave again! I’m going to get the dog guard on alert, I’m not going to let Sans influence corrupt our Cub anymore!”

Slim merely nodded to his brother and shoved his hands into his pockets, grabbing his phone. “I’ll see if I can’t find him on my own, I’ll call you if I see or get him.” Razz nodded at this and seemed to settle down somewhat hearing this, taking his own phone out and looking at the screen. It still held that photo of his Cub all carved and bound up so prettily for him, taking solstice in that they would find him again soon he tucked it away. “I’ll do that as well, now…go fetch.” Razz instructed turning away and going down what remained of the stairs as Slim vanished to search for the missing skeleton monster. Dropping into the true lab where he assumed Undyne would be.

Undyne was just coming down the stairs when he appeared and was surprised to see him so soon. “S-slim?” She called timidly. “What-what are you doing here so s-soon?” Slim turned to face Undyne, approaching her with a dark look on his face. His sockets hollow and dark, looming over her making her shiver. “Precious is back…but he took off, you seen him?” Slim demanded simply, his voice dripping with barely concealed rage. Undyne was at a loss for words, it had actually worked?! She swallowed thickly adjusting her glasses as she faced Slim, as afraid as she was she hadn’t seen Salt. “N-no, he hasn’t been here. I don’t k-know where he is…”

“He shows up, you call me. Understand?” Slim growled in his throat, the threat unspoken but clearly heard. She would have a bad time should she not tell Slim or Razz if she saw Salt anywhere, she nodded quickly in agreement. “O-of course-I know h-how much he means to t-the both of y-you!” Undyne assured wringing her hands nervously. Slim continued to tower over her, his right eyelights glowing brightly as he stared her down as if determining whether or not he believed her. Finally, he stepped back and nodded slightly at her. “Good.” Slim disappeared with a pop and the smell of ozone and she finally breathed again only just realizing she’d been holding it. “F-fucking shit.” She found herself torn between wanting to do as she was told and wanting to warn Salt about his crazed lovers, he’d been a good friend to her. But Slim wasn’t who he used to be anymore, and she feared for her life. Not to mention what Razz would do to her if she disobeyed, she’d heard the horror stories of what the two did to the rebellion members they caught. There was a reason the rebellion was no more and that crime was a rarity these days, she shivered and slid down the wall behind her until she was sitting on the floor. What was she going to do if she saw Salt again?

In town Razz had assembled the dog guard, giving them strict orders to capture the missing monster and bring him directly to Razz. If any harm became of their target they would pay with their lives, and if they saw and failed to retrieve him they faced the same dangers. The dogs scattered and Razz checked his phone, it seemed that his brother had already checked with Undyne but he wasn’t there. Razz had faith his brother had informed Undyne of the consequences if she should fail to inform them of his appearance there. Salt had been close with Undyne so it wouldn’t surprise him for Cub to show up there, it wouldn’t be the first time he went off on his own to spend time with Undyne without telling anyone what he was up to. Sighing he snapped his phone shut and stuffed it into his pocket, while the dogs searched he Snowdin he would head for the Capital. His brother would go anywhere that was harder to reach or had a chance of Salt appearing there.

Razz just couldn’t understand it, why did he keep running away from them?! Didn’t he know how much he and Slim both loved him?! Razz scowled and paused as he came across the riverperson’s boat, he couldn’t help but give a fond sigh. This was where they had first met, he’d broken his knee only for him to come back for more. A smile tugged at his teeth as he recalled their times together, he wasn’t even sure when he started to feel for the cretin, but he’d stolen away Razz’s soul like the little devil he was. Capturing his brothers just as easily, only to selfishly leave them both in the end. His smile faltered into something more sour, his sockets stung and he growled shaking his head. He would never let his Cub go again, this time he would make sure he never left them behind again! Razz vowed to himself, his brother, and to Salt that they would never be apart like that again. He was back now and they would protect him this time, they wouldn’t fail this time.

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Sans spun a few times before he managed to grab hold of the new appendage and found that yes in fact it was attached to his person, able to feel his fingers as they wrapped around it. This had to be an extension of his parasite, right? He recalled him having a tail, but that didn’t explain why he suddenly had one when he was otherwise the same as before they were forcefully joined. As he pondered this Sans sighed and shook his head, they couldn’t get any answers like this. Sans kicked a rock and rubbed his face in frustration, fingers catching on the jagged edges of his broken mandible. Pain shot through his skull and he groaned shutting his sockets tight as his vision spotted, leaning against the cave wall behind him. Slowly slipping down until he sat on the ground, as the pain ebbed away he slowly opened his sockets again. He-they needed to come up with some kind of plan to fix this if they could even fix this. Sans didn’t know and he had a feeling this parasite had no idea either, they couldn’t stay here but they couldn’t just go to the lab either. He didn’t know if the machine was in working order or not, they had told him it was broken but that didn’t mean it actually was broken.

Sans wasn’t sure he could trust their word at this point, given recent developments that had already bitten him on the coccyx and hard. Logically they had to be out looking for them, so they shouldn’t be home and he could potentially sneak into the house if he used a short cut then checked out the machine. If it was broken he’d just shortcut out and formulate another plan of action. It was worth a shot at least, there was very little he could lose at this point anyways. Sans weighed his options for a few more moments before deciding it was his best option right now. He tried to somehow reach his parasite to get his opinion but, the silence was all that met him. The third eyelight was dimmed and unmoving, not that he could see that much. With no other ideas, he stood up and went into a shortcut, stepping through onto, nothing.

Sans swore as he found himself among clouds and the ground miles away, but he could see Ebbot down below. More curses escaped him as he plummeted down towards the mountain, passing through another shortcut so he wouldn’t be smashed against the ground and nothing but two monsters worth of dust. But when he did Sans found himself once again falling through the air but this time he was surrounded by floating chunks of land and everything around him looked to be space. He yelped as he smacked into a chunk of land, bouncing off it and onto another one, scrabbling to get a hold and barely managing to get a grip. But now he was just dangling over nothing in what had to be Outertale, wracking his memory he tried to place the last place he’d been. Grunting he crawled his way up the chunk of land he found himself clinging to and flopped onto it with a tired groan. He’d meant to take a shortcut not get sent to some other universe! Sans lay there for a while panting tiredly his skull dotted with sweat, his magic was draining fast too. He wasn’t sure if he could do this for much longer, with hopes that he’d end up in the right place Sans passed through another shortcut. This time he thankfully didn’t fall but he groaned when he looked around finding himself laying across Dance’s stupid cardboard where he did his break dancing.

He didn’t even have the energy to try and stand any more, but he couldn’t just stay here either. With his last dregs of magic, he pulled himself through another shortcut. Sans felt himself falling again but this time, a pair of strong arms caught him. Sans looked up to try and see who had hold of him, two eyelights glowing in the gloom above him, neon green and pink. But he felt himself fading fast, going limp in the unknown monster’s arms who hummed softly. “You’re in the wrong place, both of you. Oh, but one of you has no place to go. How very peculiar.”

When Sans woke up he felt awful, his magic was still low and he had no idea where he was. But he was laying on something soft, the area around him was dark. Too dark to make out anything, but he had to be on a bed somewhere. A heavy comforter lay over him, a plush feeling mattress under him and a pillow under his skull. As much as he wanted to get up and explore the area around him, he just felt too weak. The third eyelight lit up and began swiveling around making Sans feel dizzy all of a sudden. “C-could you not do that? Makes me sick..” Sans groaned at his parasite. There was no response but the eyelight did stop and Sans felt better, sighing he closed his sockets. “Thanks…no idea where we are now…tried to go to the basement to check on the machine. See if maybe we could get out of swapfell, but…well we got out of swapfell in ways I’d never imagined. And it sucked ass, you weren’t answering so…”

Finally, his parasite spoke up in a low grumble. “Explains why I can’t see anything. Not even enough magic to see.” This made Sans frown slightly, maybe everything wasn’t black? Maybe he ought to try and sleep to regain some lost magic? But even as he considered this a door was thrown open and Sans heard the clicking sound of heels on a hard floor. Scratching of a chair being pulled over and a presence beside the bed. “Oh good, you’re awake. We won’t need to give you any subcutaneous magic! I was worried that you’d expended too much, but you’ll need to eat or well, we’ll have to do that. No one likes a needle in their soul, okay well maybe someone who’s into that kind of pain but-I digress. Let me get you some soup!” The unknown monster talked without giving Sans a chance to speak before they were gone off again and he was alone with his parasite.

“The fuck is that?” Demanded Salt and Sans could only sigh at him. “As if I’d know? Not even sure where we are right now.” This earned him silence that was soon broken by the unknown monster returning. The door creaking as it was opened, those same shoes clicking across the floor. “Alright now, let’s get some food into you. Then you’ll feel right as rain!” The monster said cheerfully, without waiting for an answer a straw was pressed to Sans’s teeth. “A spoon didn’t seem like it would be a good idea when you can’t use your hands. So I figured a straw in a cup would suffice for the time being.” And Sans, couldn’t say he disagreed with the idea. And seeing as he had no other choices he sipped tentatively at the offered straw finding the soup to be some kind of broth, not a whole lot to it but it was warm and he felt his magic increasing. Slowly he worked through the cup of broth until the straw was drawn away.

“That must feel so much better! Let me take this to the kitchen and I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere now!” Part of Sans was a little put off by just how cheerful this monster seemed to be after having a stranger come crashing down into their arms from seemingly nowhere. Sans opened his sockets and found that the room in fact wasn’t black, he slowly sat up in the bed and looked around. The walls were an off-white with a beige carpet. The bedding was a light cream color with embroidered flowers all over it, just looking at it made Sans feel out of place. Considering the state of his own room and bed, this was a far cry from his trashnado. He was about to get up when the door opened again and a version of Gaster met his sight.

“Oh good, you’re feeling better I take it?” He smiled brightly at Sans, he was wearing a turtleneck sweater in a deep blue color, black slacks, and a pair of black and white oxford saddle shoes. And those two different eyelights, this could only be the monster who’d caught him mid-fall earlier. “I’m glad that you’re feeling better! You were in quite the rough shape, don’t you know using magic so recklessly is dangerous?” He approached and sat down on the chair, crossing one leg over the other and resting his folded hands on his knee. “Now, you seem to be a tale Sans, just what are you doing here?”

Sans stared at him for a while biting his tongue as he tried to find the best way to explain the situation he now found himself. How the hell did you explain that your insane counterparts had injected their dead lover into your soul to try and bring him back to life, which had failed, and now he was some kind of dusty version of himself living inside of your soul like some kind of weak parasite? When he didn’t answer right away the Gaster hummed and began to speak in his stead. “I’ve already done a check on you, it seems like you’re carrying a little extra with you, not the healthiest thing for your soul and mind.”

Sans couldn’t help but scowl a little at least, it wasn’t like he’d chosen to have someone else in his soul! “Oh don’t make such a sour face, I wasn’t pointing any fingers. Just food for thought. Do you fancy sex on the beach?” He asked offhandedly, walking towards the door glancing over his shoulder at Sans his hand on the door handle. Sans stared at him blankly for a few long moments and the Gaster began to laugh and grinned at Sans. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re fuckin cute but not my type. You want a drink?” He clarified and once Sans shook his head no he shrugged and headed out of the room. “Suit yourself!”

Sans groaned and dropped his skull back on the pillow, covering his face with his hands. What had he done to deserve all of this bullshit anyway?! Was it all the pranks he’d pulled, because if so he was sorry! Beyond sorry even, he was ready to repent for his apparent sins when the door shut and the Gaster sat back down. He had a large glass of his drink, complete with a little umbrella and a silly straw. He looked over at the Gaster who took out a rubber duck that had a top hat and a messily painted suit painted on it and proceeded to dip it’s beak in the drink. “Whoa now, don’t drink too much! You know what happens when you get too overzealous James!” He tutted taking the rubber duck away, gingerly patting it’s beak dry with a napkin before setting it on his lap. “Now you stay right there, no wandering off!”

Sans peeked between his fingers at the display and he was suddenly much more worried for his well being than he had been five minutes ago, he didn’t know where this Gaster was from or where he was now but it was becoming very clear to Sans that he might not have all his screws. “Oh, excuse my rudeness! This is James, James Pond.” He smiled at Sans. “And you may call me Swell, silly me, I should have introduced myself sooner but you were really out of it Sans.” Swell told him easily, relaxing back in his chair as he sipped his drink. Humming contently as he crossed his legs and adjusted James so he wouldn’t fall off, fingers tapping the rim of his glass. “Now then, Sans you’re in quite the predicament, and as a scientist, I must tell you that while this development is beyond fascinating. And when I say that I mean that, honestly I’m tempted just to keep you here and find out just what’s going to happen to you but something tells me you wouldn’t be willing to undergo my experiments, so I suppose I will just have to suffer that loss.” Swell prattled on even when Sans didn’t answer and stared at him as though he’d grown another head or three.

Sans didn’t know what to make of this alternate to his own Gaster, he was clearly missing most of if not all of his screws. But if he were anything like any of the others then chances were good he did actually know what he was talking about, crazy or not. But first things first, he’d worry about the possible ‘developments’ in a bit. “Just, where even are we anyway?” Sans finally spoke up with a deep sigh, hopefully not in a place they couldn’t get out of on their own. Swell brightened when Sans asked smiling as he swallowed another sip of his drink. “A good question indeed! You see, we’re in a space between dimensions, you landed right in our living room.” Swell said cheerfully as if Sans was a guest he’d been anticipating.

Sans blinked owlishly before shaking his head, this had to be some void bullshit and he wasn’t in the mood to try and wrap his mind around it. All he needed to know was where he was and well, it wasn’t looking good. “Wait, we? Who’s we?” Sans frowned eyeing the rubber duck still in Swell’s lap. Swell followed his gaze and laughed softly shaking his head with a smile. “Oh, no, no. By we, I, of course, mean myself and Fell, he’s not home right now. He’s visiting his boys for a few days so I’m afraid it’s just us here right now, you’ll have to meet him later.”

Sans already knew Fell, he still had those pictures of Edge as a baby bones chasing down another monster with a wrench. Among others anyways, but he frowned at this. Fell might have been his ticket out of this place and into underfell where he could have maybe gotten some help, dammnit why was his luck so shitty lately? “Think it’s karma?” Spoke his parasite earning an excited noise from Swell. “Oh, you’re awake!” He suddenly had a clipboard and a pen topped with a fluffy neon pink flamingo. “Tell me! Just how are you faring while being inside a body that is not your own?”

“Everything fucking hurts, and it sucks harder than a starving whore.” He hissed irritably, Swell meanwhile scribbled on the clipboard and hummed. “I see, I see…anything else?” Swell prompted curiously, he’d of course have to send them off soon but he could still ask some questions while they were still here! He glanced at his watch to check how much time they had left, not a whole lot. “That’s about it, can’t die, been trying.” Sans grit his teeth at this, had he been trying to kill himself ever since they’d been joined? He still didn’t know what Salt had done or why he had died in the first place, but it didn’t seem like he was going to get a straight answer from his parasite. As a professional at being purposefully vague, he had a knack for telling when someone was avoiding telling him something or a lot of somethings. “You’ve already died once thought, isn’t that enough?” Swell asked him softly, frowning down at his clipboard. He had already guessed that the second monster’s dust had a play in how they ended up this way, thus leading to his conclusion of him having already died.

“No.” Came the short reply that had Sans sighing and closing his sockets, it couldn’t be good for either of them for Salt to constantly be trying to destroy himself. Swell began to speak up but his phone rang and he paused, checking the number. “Hold on boys, I need to take this. Here, James, you keep watch over them while I’m on the phone.” Swell told the rubber duck as he placed it on the bed beside Sans and headed out into the hallway. “Hello~” Swell cooed his voice growing fainter as he walked further down the hall. Sans looked at the rubber duck beside him and grumbled to himself. “So…have you thought of anything, or are you just, you know, trying to die?” Sans asked him bitterly, he was starting to get annoyed with his parasite. Clearly what he was doing wasn’t helping either one of them, so he would have hoped that Salt would have at least tried to think of another solution. It wasn’t like it was just him that was dealing with this shit.

“Like what? I don’t fucking know all this science shit, hate to break it to you but I can’t help you figure shit out. I’d say ask Undyne but chances are they already got to her. Damn mongrel moves fast when he wants, so that’s out.” Salt hissed at Sans who grimaced slightly, he guessed he did have a point. Not every Sans knew this kind of stuff, and there wasn’t much Salt could do from where he was anyways. He just felt, angrier for some reason and the fact that they didn’t have any answers was pissing him off even further. “Hey…out of curiosity, just what was your trait?” Sans after some consideration, if he went off all the changes he’d been experiencing…there was a chance that his trait was leaking into his own too. There were a few long moments of silence before Salt sighed and spoke up again. “…Was aggression, what’s it to you?”

Great, his patience was being ripped up in favor of his parasite’s aggression, just what the both of them needed in a situation like this. As he lay there something shifted under Sans and he frowned slightly, it felt something akin to when he used a shortcut but different. As he began to sit up in order to look he fell right through the bed and everything around him went black as he scrabbled to grab hold of something, anything, barely registering a distant squeak and something firm under his back before the darkness closed in. "Goodness, we were almost too late."

Chapter Text

Undyne almost couldn’t believe it when the Captain’s father showed up in her lab with Sans in his arms and laid him down in one of the beds. Along with a rubber duck that he instructed to keep a better eye on Sans this time, then returning to his phone call as if he hadn’t just dropped through the ceiling into the true lab. She stared hard at him for a long time, it had been years since anyone had seen the royal scientist after Slim had accidentally knocked him into the core. Brushing aside her shock she grabbed her phone and opened her messages about to send one to Slim, the thought of what they’d do to her if she didn’t tell them made her blood run colder than normal. She felt bad for both Sans for having to endure their madness and for her friend, she felt like a terrible traitor but what else could she do?

With shaking fingers she began typing out a message for Slim, a lump in her throat as she glanced at Sans who lay prone on the hospital bed. Was she really going to go through with this? Undyne shook her head slightly, she had to do this. During their upturning of every rock in the underground they had found Alphys, the last member of the resistance still alive. And her girlfriend, with this she hoped to bargain for her freedom. Or else they were going to publicly execute her tomorrow, swallowing hard she closed the messages and made a phone call.

“Hey, Dyne, not like you ta call, what’s up?” Slim hummed after a few rings, she almost always texted and rarely called unless it was important. Taking a steadying breath Undyne steeled her nerves, she needed to be firm, or else Slim would just walk all over her verbally. “I heard you found Alphys.” Undyne began and Slim chuckled softly, he’d found her hiding in the dump last night. “Yeah, she’s set up to be made example of tomorrow.” Undyne felt the blood drain from her face at the way he said that so casually, like the weather. “Yes, I heard that too. I, I want you to pardon her.”

Slim barked out a laugh on the other side of the phone, was she seriously thinking he would do that? Alphys was the rebel leader, they’d been after her for so damn long! “Yeah, sorry but no way Dyne, my bro is set on making her scream tomorrow.” Undyne let him laugh, waiting until he’d quieted down to speak again. “I have something, or rather, someone you want more,” Undyne said evenly, the laughter all but died on the other end. “…Is that so, Dyne? And is it who I think it is?” Slim asked in a bare whisper, it had been a few days now since he’d escaped them. “It is, I have him, but I want her in return,” Undyne stated firmly, she couldn’t afford to budge if she wanted Alphys safe.

Slim sighed heavily from the other end, it wasn’t up to him if she went free or not. It was up to the Captain, to Razz. “Let me talk to the Captain, and we’ll see what he says. I’ll call ya back.” Before she could say another word the line went dead and she broke into nervous gasps her face covered in sweat and her hands shaking. She took a seat on a nearby hospital bed and set the phone beside her, trying to steady her breath. All she could do now was wait and see what he said, she hoped they would agree, if not…she feared what would befall not only Alphys but herself as well.

Back in Snowdin Slim sighed looking down at his phone, Razz wasn’t going to like this at all. But the question was, did he want Alphys or did he want Salt more? He dialed his brother’s number and waited for him to answer, which was almost right away. “Did you find anything?” Was the first thing out of his mouth, just like it had been every time he called the past few days. “Yeah, actually.” Slim agreed, waiting for him to process this and for the next question. “Where is he? Where are you?” Razz demanded stopping what he was doing entirely. “Well, I’m at home but he’s not here.” Slim began pausing as he waited for his brother to get angry and demand more information. “If you’re home and he’s not there then where the hell is he and why don’t you have him?!”

“Calm down bro, I know where he is. But…they wanna make a bargain for him. Undyne has him, but she wants Alphys back.” Slim explained simply, examining his claws and picking at some dirt between his joints. “She called me, those are her terms, but it’s up to the Captain.” Slim counted one, two, three, Razz made an exasperated sigh. “Of fucking course she does, and you’re sure she isn’t lying to you?” Razz almost growled, if he set Alphys lose only to find out she’d tricked them he’d-”I’m sure bro, she ain’t so stupid to try shit like that. Too afraid to cross us like that, trust me.” His brother fell silent for a while and sighed yet again. “…Very well, tell her I will bring Alphys to the lab within the hour,” Razz told him finally, he didn’t want to release Alphys but…Salt was more important to him than anything else in the cursed world.

“Aight, I’ll let her know bro.” Slim yawned sitting up on the couch. “You want me to wait here or come join you?” Razz hummed quietly, it wouldn’t take long for Slim to join him. Given they were living in the apartment he had in the capital while their house was repaired. Their little mate had done a number on it, so it would be a while until it was livable again. “No you stay there and get everything ready for our Cub, I don’t want him escaping again this time. Everything should be in the case I left behind. I will call you when I get him.”

“Sure thing.” Slim agreed easily enough, scooting off the couch to pull said case out from the end table and open it up. And damn, Razz was serious this time if he had all this ready ahead of time. “Setting up now, cya soon.” As soon as Razz hung up Slim called Undyne back, taking the case to the table and taking everything out as she answered. “Hey Dyne, Captain agreed to your terms, be there within an hour. Don’t keep him waiting.” Slim told him simply and once more hung up on her, laying out a set of restraints, a magic dampener, a very familiar shock collar, a second collar, and a leash.

Razz stood outside of Alphys’s cell, smirking up at her. Her arms were bound behind her back, a muzzle over her face to keep those sharp teeth in check. “Looks like today’s your lucky day lizard bitch. But I wouldn’t get too excited if I were you, we’re going to let you go free. But…not without some modification first.” He told her his lavender eyelights shifting to magenta and taking on the shape of pentagrams. Alphys narrowed her eyes at Razz, shifting on the spot as he unlocked the door. Word traveled fast about how three years ago the Captain lost all sense of justice and had become cruel beyond reason. The same was said of his brother, their path was full of bodies and spilled blood.

The rope trailing from her neck was yanked and she was forced to shuffle after him, her ankles bound together by a short heavy chain. She growled through the muzzle and he merely chuckled to himself, looking over at his shoulder at Alphys. “If I were you I wouldn’t make things harder on myself than they already are.” He purred dangerously, pulling harder on the rope as they entered the interrogation room. She stumbled forward and as she passed him Razz used the heel of his boot to shove her to the ground, grinding it into her spine. “Now then, before we release you to Alphys…we need to make sure your nails are properly clipped.” Razz cooed in a singsong voice that was as cold as the floor she found herself laying on.

Razz formed a thin bone attack holding it in his hand as he leaned over, his heel digging into her further earning a pained grunt. “This is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me, I’ve been waiting for this for so long.” Alphys twisted her head as much as she could, eyes wide as he took the thin attack and used it to cut down into her arm and through her manalines. Smirking as she tried to thrash only for him to hold her soul in place with blue magic. “Don’t move now, or you’ll mess me up.” Razz scolded gleefully before taking the bloodied attack and slicing down the length of her arm, cutting deep and watching as her blood dripped down a stark contrast to her yellow hide. “Oh how this brings back memories…” Razz purred fondly, of course, those memories had nothing to do with Alphys but to do with his precious Cub he would be collecting soon.

This time they would get him properly collared and make him stay home, it wasn’t good for a monster as sick as he to wander around all alone. He was so lost in thought he almost forgot what he was doing, until she hissed between her teeth at the pain. “Oh, so sorry, let me finish and then you can go.” Razz laughed raising the bone attack a manic gleam in his eyelights. He needed to finish carving up his Cub later too and replace all the brands he was missing now.

Undyne was waiting at the door for Razz, Sans still on the bed Swell laid him on. But she’d pushed it up to the top floor, when he arrived and shoved an unconscious Alphys to the floor Undyne nearly screamed. She was covered in her own blood and wasn’t moving, but a quick check told her the wounds were only superficial and she was fine. Razz didn’t even pay her any mind as his eyelights landed on Sans, who he gathered into his arms with a soft coo. “Silly Cub, you’re too sick to be out here. Look at how you’ve tired yourself out, it’s okay. We’ll go home and we can be together again, my brother is waiting for us too. And this time we won’t let you get sick, I promise.” Razz spoke softly, kissing the top of his skull. If Undyne hadn’t known any better she might have found the display cute, but this wasn’t Salt and their relationship had never been a healthy one.

She would never forget the many broken bones she’d healed, just how much pain he put himself through and the Captain happily gave. It made her stomach churn, but her concern was Alphys now. She barely managed to drag her up onto the now-empty bed and rolled her away to treat her wounds. Razz didn’t say a word to Undyne before departing with his sleepy Cub in his grasp, he couldn’t help but nuzzle and coddle him even if he’d misbehaved again and runoff. His Cub had always been a brat, but that was part of his charm. Razz would punish him once he got better as he wanted, that was why he got sick in the first place. When he arrived home Slim was waiting with everything laid out for his brother like he’d asked, Razz kicked the door shut behind him and sat on the couch. “Papy bring the collars and dampener first,” Slim grunted and did as he was asked, bringing over the collars which he snapped on and both sealed with their magic.

Already both of them felt better knowing he had his collar again, Razz looked up at Slim now holding Sans tightly. “Make a hole through his tail, we’re going to put the dampener there.” He explained, turning him so Slim would be able to reach his tail. “Huh, it’s shorter than I remember…” Slim hummed kneeling beside them and holding it in his hands, the dampener in question was a ring and now he understood why. “It’s probably that stupid Sans fault, I knew he was a defective idiot.” Razz scowled in annoyance, their Cub’s tail had been much longer and so cute.

Sans shivered in his arms as Slim used a small hand drill to put a hole through his tail, healing it so the marrow stopped flowing before slipping the ring through and once more they both sealed it shut. It wasn’t going to come off easy, if at all. “You can take the restraints to our room for now, he can’t do anything now so long as we lock the door.” Razz told his brother adjusting Sans in his arms and curling up on the couch with him. Slim gave a slight nod and gathered those up, throwing them onto the bed before rejoining Razz and Sans. He plopped onto the couch and gave his brother a pout. “C’mon bro, you gotta share Precious! I missed him too!” Razz sighed and rolled his eyelights, but scooted over and sat against Slim so they could both hold their mate together.

“When he wakes up he’s going to be very upset, but we can’t let him act so rashly anymore. You know how he is about his freedom.” Razz sighed shaking his head. “Yeah, he’s gonna be salty.” Slim agreed with a wolfish grin which earned him a smack on the shoulder from Razz. “None of your bullshit puns! I’ll be hearing enough of them from the both of you soon enough!” Slim chuckled but he fell silent, looking down at the smaller monster between the two of them and intertwining his fingers with Sans's. Razz hummed softly taking Sans's other hand in his own, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "I hope you wake up soon Cub, we have so much to catch up on."

Sans groaned quietly and began to stir as they handled him gently, both exchanging a glance before further crowding him watching as his sockets slowly slid open. Four eyelights still hazy with sleep igniting, the white pair stared forward while the darker pair darted from Razz's face to Slim's before widening. It was then that the body they held suddenly came alive, thrashing in their hands until they had no choice but to let go or risk him injuring himself. But this time he couldn't shortcut away and had no magic to destroy anything, the door was locked tight and the windows had been barred. He stumbled away nearly crashing into the coffee table, scrambling over the top of it to put distance between him and the brothers.

"Why did you do this?!" Two voices cried out, but a rougher one came out louder than the other. Razz's eyelights lit up in delight, that voice could only belong to his Cub! He quickly stood up reaching out to him with a smile. "We just wanted to heal you Cub, you've been sick for so long now, we were really worried. Please be careful, we don't want you to get hurt again." Razz tried to reason with him only for Salt to back away, grunting as his spine met the wall and he found himself cornered. He gripped at his skull his entire frame shaking, everything hurt like he was going to break apart at any second, it was agony. Fate must have a sense of humor, he'd wished for pain but now that he had it Salt wished instead to die again. He froze as two familiar arms wrapped around him, pulling him against a chest plate and held him close. "We love you so much Cub...please understand, we only want what's best for you."

Salt couldn't find it in himself to fight the arms he had once longed to hold him so, breaking down into agonized sobs as he clawed at the chest plate. "I-if you loved me so much, why couldn't you just let me die like I wanted to?!" He wailed, shortly thereafter two more arms wrapped around him and a much larger presence pressed against his back. "We couldn't live with you, Precious, we been trying to make you better ever since the accident." Slim whispered against the back of his skull, nuzzling his neck gently. "L-let me go!" He begged them in desperation, tears pouring down his skull. He wanted so much for it to end, even as his own shattered soul howled within him to embrace the love they harbored for him still, that he still held for the brothers. For everything he had done, he didn't deserve it, and now they had an extra monster along for the ride. The guilt he felt in his soul was crushing him, but he couldn't even die in peace knowing he'd be taking an innocent bystander with him.

Sans felt weak in his own body, he couldn't find enough strength to so much as wriggle his pinky. But he could see and hear everything happening around him, it was like he'd been pushed into the back seat and someone else was driving his body. His soul parasite had taken the forefront at this time, leaving Sans to be a bystander in his own body. As much as he wanted to take over again another part of him didn't want to see what would happen should the crazed brother's not mate be stolen away. He hadn't forgotten the pain of having his face smashed open, and he probably never would. So Sans did what Sans did best, he stood back and let it happen for the time being.

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Salt wanted to thrash away from the both of them but no matter how he tried to shove or struggle the two sets of arms encompassing his-no this wasn’t even his body, it was Sans’s. “Do you know what you’ve done?!” Salt finally yelled as loud as he could, his temper snapping. Even like this every fiber of his being ached, unlike anything he’d ever felt. He slumped in their arms and they both kept him from falling to the floor, Razz cooing softly. “Of course we know what we’ve done, we’re gotten you treated!” Salt wanted to scream all over again at them, he wasn’t healed! They’d stolen the body of a bystander who had nothing to do with any of them! And if the memories he saw while within Sans’s soul told him anything, this monster had a life too. He had a brother, and he had a date-mate who had to be worried sick about him. “You’ve damned me and ruined someone else’s life!” Salt screamed hitting Razz’s chest plate, their hand fracturing from the force. He hissed as marrow leaked from the crack, tucking it under their other arm and wincing. Fucking stars Sans’s pain tolerance was shit if something that small hurt this bad.

“Precious be careful…” Slim scolded gently rubbing their shoulder gently. “I can’t heal you as well as I used to…” Razz looked offended and scoffed at his words, rolling his eyelights. “Sans didn’t have a life Cub, he never did anything! I’m sure no one will miss him.” Salt felt rage on behalf of Sans, who clearly had done something if he had others who cared about him. “Yes, he does! You can’t just, take someone else’s body and act like it’s ok!” Salt spat looking up at him, sockets narrowed and giving him a look he’d seen so many times before. Razz couldn’t help but smile despite the words being yelled at him. Only further proving to him that this was his precious Cub, no one ever dared talk to him like this. “I think Precious just needs more time to adjust bro, he’s been sick for such a long time. Why don’t we put him to bed for now and have someone look at him later.” Salt wanted to claw their fuckings sockets raw, trembling in their arms as his rage only multiplied. But there was little he could do as Slim easily scooped him up off his feet bridal style and brought him to the bedroom where he was laid down and his collar attached to a chain that was embedded into the wall. With both, his and Sans magic unreachable and this body so weak Salt didn’t know what to do. They weren’t listening to him at all, as if they ever listened to him.

He apologized to Sans and those who cared about him for what had happened, this was something he could not have foreseen when ending his life three years ago. And even more now than ever did he just want to die, even if just so Sans could have his body back. But it was a hollow thought, even if he did they would never let Sans go. He couldn’t even begin to figure a way out of this, he curled up and away from them on the soft bed. “I need to report to the Queen, but I’ll be back later. Papy take care of Cub! Make sure he’s safe!” Razz squinted hard at his brother, but he knew there was no possible way Slim would let anything happen to him this time. His brother had missed Salt just as much as he had, and now they could finally be together again. “I will, cya bro.” Slim agreed flopping onto the bed beside Salt as Razz tried to give Salt a kiss. Salt growled and swatted him away with the uninjured hand. “Fuck off!” He spat earning a sigh from Razz. “I’ll see you when I get home Cub, I love you.” Salt turned his back to Razz and Slim both, he was so fucking pissed at the both of them.

Slim lay close to Salt even though he was still clearly pissed, but he was used to that from before. He always refused to accept the love he clearly needed from him or Razz, part of him wondered if that was why Salt had left them in the first place. Because their love hadn’t reached him in time to save him from himself, they could work on that now though. Even when he snarled and hissed Slim still wrapped his arm around Salt and drew him against his chest, purring softly and steadily. Laying his chin atop his skull and just keeping him close, giving a gentle squeeze. “I love you too Precious, just so you know.” He told Salt softly, nuzzling against him carefully. “This time we’ll make sure you know it so that you don’t have to hurt yourself again. So you don’t try to leave again, we’ll do better this time, don’t worry.”

Salt didn’t answer him at all which was okay with Slim, he never liked to talk about himself and he was probably still not feeling very good. So he let Salt rest in silence, however, he frowned hearing a squeak from the other room. What the actual fuck was that? “I’ll be right back precious,” Slim told him with a kiss to his skull before getting up and peering into the living room, in the middle of the coffee table was a rubber duck. Slim squinted at it for a moment before his sockets widened, was that James Pond?! “Dad?!” Slim called looking around for his scatterbrained father, he never went anywhere without James Pond. “In the kitchen Papy!” Called Swell, Slim sighed and stood in the doorway and sure enough, there was Swell. Standing in front of the stove, several sets of floating hands were helping him prepare a meal. Meanwhile, with one of his two hands, he held a cookbook open, his other hand holding a large vial of an unknown substance. “What are you doing?” Slim frowned at his father who merely smiled brightly at Slim. “Why making dinner of course! Sansy gets so cranky when he’s hungry.”

Slim sighed at this and shook his head a little. “Dad it’s like, one in the afternoon.” He attempted to reason with Swell. “Nonsense, it’s dinner time! Make sure Sansy washes his hands and gets under his claws, it should be ready soon!” Well he’d tried and as per usual it didn’t matter what he said, so Slim just let it go. “He’s at work still, I’ll tell him when he gets home.” Sometimes it was better just to play along with Swell. “And don’t forget your little friends too.” Swell chimed in with a smile. Slim blinked his father’s words slowly processing, his little friends? “Oh, do you mean Precious dad?” Slim frowned slightly, dad had never been around when Salt was alive and not after he died either. It had been about five years since they’d seen him after he left to collect some data. “Yes those two skeletons sharing a body, I’m very curious to see how they are developing. While they are essentially the same monster, they are still different and I want to make note of their changes before I separate them.” Swell explained as he set aside the cookbook and poured the unknown substance into the pot on the stove.

The several pairs of hands set down various dishes on the kitchen table and disappeared in a puff of magic. This statement made Slim frown deeply, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen as he fixed his father with a firm look. “Dad you can’t do that, Precious needs that body.” Slim told him, his tone firmer this time around. This was something he refused to back down on, he couldn’t let Swell take the two apart. Precious would be gone again, and they would both…he didn’t want to think about the last three years without their little mate. Swell turned to face Slim now, holding the pot and stirring it as he gave him a stern look. “Papyrus Serif they are highly unstable! You will not leave them fused like this! I will not hear another word from you or your brother on this matter. That is no way for a monster to live their life! Even if I am highly curious it is not an excuse to make them suffer!” Swell poured the contents of the pot into the sink which was full of water, causing it to bubble, steam, and hiss. He leaned over it and waited patiently for the steam to clear away. And once it did he smiled brightly and waved. “Felly! I’ve found them again! Do let Edge know that we’ll return his bonefriend as soon as we can! When you’ve got the time please join me at this address!” Swell dropped a slip of paper into the water and it vanished.

“Stop fucking calling me that-and quit your shitty puns!” Snarled another voice that had Slim wandering closer, blinking when he saw a fell version of his father looking up at the both of them from the water. But the paper was gone, and behind the fell Gaster seemed to be another kitchen of sorts. “I’ll let him know and I’ll be over as soon as I’m able. And would it hurt you to get a fucking phone like a stars damned civilized monster Swell?! Toriel’s tits this bullshit is time-consuming and inconvenient!” At this Swell giggled fondly and swirled his finger through the water. “Oh, but Felly, then how would I get to see you when we talk? Phones don’t let me look at you so easily…I can only call and text you!” Swell was pouting and the fell Gaster scowled up at him, seeing Slim he glared hard at him. “You fuckers should have your fucking coccyx beat black and blue for the stunt you pulled! If your father doesn’t do anything to you for this you better fucking pray I don’t!”

Slim was taken aback by the display from both his father and this other Gaster, what in the actual fuck?! He glared right back and growled low in his throat at Fell. “Fuck you! Like you could do anything to us, and we’re not letting you anywhere near precious! You might as well stay where ever the hell you are!” Slim was already grabbing his phone and about to call his brother when Swell plucked it from his hands right as he dialed Razz’s number. “Sansy!” Swell cooed happily, waving goodbye to Fell who rolled his eyelights and vanished from the water as Swell walked away with Slim’s phone in hand. “Dad give that back!” Slim chased after him, trying to grab his phone back. But Swell may as well have been dancing from the way he artfully dodged his son’s attempts to catch him. “Sansy dinner is ready! You should be done with work soon right? Remember to wash under your claws before you come to the table! Papy is getting impatient, and don’t worry I made enough for your little friends too! Even if they eat enough for the two of them, there’s plenty for everyone! Oh! And you’ll get to meet my bonefriend too! He’s coming to dinner as well, I think you’ll like him!”

Slim was panting roughly as he doubled over, hands braced against his knees. He’d forgotten how hard it was to get anything from his dad when Swell didn’t want you to have it. Razz was trying to comprehend what the hell he was being told and what was going on, he hadn’t seen or heard from Swell in about five years. But now he was on his brother’s phone talking about dinner, their mate he assumed and he had a boyfriend now?! He gave a long-suffering sighed, pinching the bridge of his nasal aperture. “Listen, dad, I can’t leave work early but I’ll be home in a few hours. We’ll talk about whatever the fuck this is when I get there okay?” Swell spun just out of Slim’s reach as he lunged for the phone again. “Of course Sansy! I’ll be sure to save you a plate!” Swell cooed fondly before tucking Slim’s phone in his inner jacket pocket and turned to face him. Hands-on his hips and looking very cross with Slim. “Papyrus! That was very rude! I was talking to Sansy just now! I’ll let it slide this time but the next time I catch you interrupting like that you are grounded young monster!”

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Slim glared up at Swell still doubled over and panting, gaining an annoyed expression as he was scolded like a stripling. “I’m gonna tell him what you’re doing dad! You can’t take Precious from us!” Slim all but growled at his father, Swell looking less than amused by his attitude but unafraid. “Don’t you worry Papy, once Sansy gets home we are all sitting down together to talk about the current situation.” Swell told him evenly, hands on his hips. “Now, go wash your hands as I told you. And no shortcuts, we will wait for Sansy.” Slim bit back another growl and huffed before doing as he was told and going to wash his hands, as much as he wanted to go against Swell he knew better than to try that. But once his brother got home maybe they could do something to deal with dad, because there was no way he was going to let him just take Salt away right after they had found him again. He didn’t think his soul could take the heartbreak or his brother for that matter. They were both changed by his death and the three lonely years that followed, he had felt so hollow inside without him around.

It was like finding a piece of yourself you never knew was missing until you had it, leaving behind a gaping hole. Sighing he dried his hands and went back into the dining room where Swell was setting out napkins and silverware. There was a knock on the door and Swell trotted over peeking through the window with a smile. “Ah! They’re here!” Swell flung the door open, arms open wide. “Felly! I missed you!” Fell stood in the doorway giving Swell a disgruntled look, crossing his arms. “Shut up Swell, I saw you yesterday.” Swell grabbed Fell and dragged him into a bone-crushing hug right before kissing him on the spot. Causing Fell’s skull to glow red as he struggled to free himself of Swell’s grasp, shoving at his chest but unable to move him at all. Swell finally pulled back and Fell snarled at him looking highly embarrassed. “Swell you ass! Quit it!” Swell merely purred and nuzzled his skull against Fell, if he had a tail it may have wagged with how happy he looked. And the thing was, Fell let him nuzzle him even as he crossed his arms looking annoyed.

Edge came in after they finally moved out of the doorway and glared at Slim, itching to summon a bone attack and run him through. Sans had been missing for days and no one had known where he’d gone, until now and he was fucking livid. But he also had enough composure and would try his best to be civil even if he wanted to dust both Slim and his brother for taking his date mate. From what his father had told him Sans was not doing well, and he was beyond himself with concern over him. Sans was a fragile monster whom he held dear to his soul, even if he was a troll. He couldn’t imagine living without his stupid puns, or having him randomly showing up at his house just to lounge with Edge. Sighing he sat down at the table to wait, he wanted to ransack the whole place to find his date mate. But something told him that he would only be angrier when he saw him, plus Fell had warned him not to act out of line in front of Swell. Because his dad’s boyfriend had zero tolerance for misbehavior during dinner, which Edge scoffed at but the way in which Fell had expressed this told him he needed to listen.

Swell took a seat across from Edge and Fell seat beside his son. “Papy sit down, it’s dinner time.” Swell told him firmly, Slim scowled by sat down next to Swell, and crossed his arms he and Edge giving each other the evil eye. “Now boys, none of that at the table.” Swell warned his voice gaining a sweet tone with an underlying threat that had them both looking down at the table instead. “Thank you.” Swell smiled his tone returning to normal, he leaned forward and began serving everyone food with a happy-sounding hum. “It’s so nice to have dinner with most of the ones you love, isn’t it? Even better when you bring the new family members!” Swell cooed winking at Fell who flushed and looked away, a smile tugging at his mouth. That asshole, he’d make him pay for embarrassing him later. “So Edge, Fell tells me you’re the Captain of the royal guard?” Swell asked as he sat down and began to eat. Edge sighed softly and nodded as he too began to eat, he may as well. “Yes, I was recently promoted to it.”

“How nice, I’m sure Fell is very proud of you!” Swell smiled at the both of them, he knew Fell wouldn’t admit to it but he cared very deeply for his two sons. One of the many reasons he loved Fell so much was his loving nature. His bark was much worse than his bite, under it all he was a gentle monster. Edge glanced at Fell and shrugged a little, he never said anything about it other than congratulating him on it. Meanwhile Red had told him he couldn’t have been prouder of his baby brother for getting such a high rank like that. “Who knows, but that’s not why we’re here. I’m here for my date mate.” Edge cut to the chase and glanced at Slim. “Yes I know Edge, but he’s resting right now. We’re going to sort this out don’t you worry, but we need to wait for Sansy to get home since he’s involved as well. And we’ll discuss this like adults, no fighting.” Swell told the both of them, looking between Slim and Edge as he said this. “Yes, dad…” Slim grumbled quietly, he didn’t want to fight so much as he just wanted to grab Salt and take him somewhere else where they couldn’t steal him away.

“He won’t be home for a while so until then we may as well get along and get to know each other hm?” Swell giggled fondly at the others. “I have a question, why is there a rubber duck at the table?” Edge asked pointing to James Pond who was set on the end of the table in front of a miniature plate of food. “Oh! That is James Pond, he’s my assistant and very helpful.” Swell explained brightly, Edge gave his own father a look raising a brow bone. Fell rolled his eyelights and didn’t meet Edge’s gaze, he wasn’t going to explain Swell’s bullshit to anyone. “He’s crazy, don’t worry about it too much.” Fell told Edge evenly. If you asked Edge that was plenty of reason to worry, and of course, his father was dating the apparently crazy monster. Edge shook his head though, at the very least it seemed he was nice enough. “How long until he gets home?” Edge asked looking over at both Slim and Swell. “Few hours.” Slim replied curtly, spearing his food with his fork.

“I will be right back, I want to check on our guest.” Swell told them with a smile and giving his son a pointed look before heading into the bedroom where Sans and Salt were resting. He heard them both talking when he opened the door, both falling quiet and looking up at him. Both sets of eyelights focusing on Swell and seemed relieved to see him. “Oh, it’s just you.” Spoke Salt with a sigh. “I guess he’s better than the alternative.” Sans replied shaking his head and trying to sit up, but he was having trouble coordinating his limbs. Swell noted this and frowned, this was going along faster than he had anticipated. It seemed to him they were fusing together at a rather alarming rate, if they didn’t do something soon they might not be able to separate the pair. “Please, you needn’t get up. I’ve brought Fell here so we can attempt to take you two apart, you are fusing together. Sans, Edge is here to see you as well. But it will have to wait for now.” Swell told him gently. Sans’s soul leaped into his throat, he never thought he would get to see Edge again after everything that had happened.

As much as he wanted to run to see Edge, he couldn’t even manage to sit up. Both he and Salt were trying to move at the same time, and it left them floundering around like a fish out of water. He doubted they could even stand let alone walk, so he nodded a little. “Uh, tell’em I said hi?” Sans requested softly. “Of course!” Swell chuckled with a smile. “What about you Salt?” The grey eyelights locked onto Swell and he heard a scowl. “Tell Slim I’m going to stab him in the coccyx.” Swell snorted in amusement and shook his head. “I’m afraid not, we’re eating dinner and the dinner table is no place for flirting like that!” Salt growled at this, he wasn’t fucking flirting! He was pissed, longing, scared, hurting, and so many other things right now. He wanted to scream too, but Sans had the majority of control. Their sockets stung from his feelings welling up again, he just wanted peace. Swell gently patted their skull, giving a sympathetic smile to them.

“I know it’s not easy, you’re not how or where you’re supposed to be…but we’ll help you okay?” Swell’s voice became gentle and understanding, his thumb wiping away a tear that fell. “It’ll be okay both of you, we will right this wrong.” He continued to try and console them. Both sets of eyelights flickered and more tears welled up in their sockets, they were both scared. The line that separated them that made them who they were was starting to blur and it was getting harder to tell who was doing what or who’s feelings belong to who. Sniffling they covered their face with their hands and began to cry, these last few days had been nothing but hell for the both of them. And Swell had been the first monster to try and even attempt to console them like this, sad as that was. They couldn’t really console each other either, they were both on edge the entire time. “Shh…just let it out, you’ll feel much better.” Swell shut the door and sat on the bed beside them, pulling a packet of tissues from his pocket and dabbing at their combined tears. Staining the tissues cyan and black, he carefully drew the smaller monsters into his lap and held them like one would their child.

Swell carefully cradled them and began to gently stroke up and down their spine as they sobbed into his shirt, the poor souls. They had to fix this as soon as they could so they could return to where they belonged, or at least Sans could. He didn’t know what would happen to Salt when removed from Sans, he could vanish altogether. But then at least he could perhaps find some peace, but that left him to wonder what would happen to his own boys. They seemed to hell-bent on keeping Salt here that they were willing to ruin Sans if it meant that they could have him again. He sighed heavily looking down at them and stroking their skull, they had suffered greatly. He hoped it would be painless for the two of them to be separated so that they would suffer no more. “I promise we’ll do all that we can to help the two of you, I know it’s scary. But you’ve got help now, so try not to worry too much?” It was impossible for them not to worry but he wanted to offer them at least some comfort.

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Swell cradled the combined monsters and gently rocked them, he had no idea what would happen when they tried to separate the two of them. But he could admit to himself he was worried that there would not only be lasting physical damage but mental as well. Salt might not be salvageable in the end, without a body of his own and DT holding his very existence together. But even more than that he was worried about Sans, his body was badly damaged in more ways than one, and he wasn’t sure they could do anything to heal it. Their sobbing stopped after a while and he looked down and couldn’t help the slight smile that tugged at his mouth, they had fallen asleep. Sighing heavily he laid them down and tucked them back in, if Razz didn’t come home soon Swell was going to go get him. He headed back into the dining room where the other were waiting, Fell looked ready to murder and both Edge and Slim were glaring daggers across the table.

“Quit it both of you, I will not have such bad manners at my table.” Swell scolded them his sockets narrowed at the two, Slim grumbled and crossed his arms looking away from his father. Edge sighed and looked up at Swell, he was about to speak up but Fell interrupted him. “How are they?” Fell asked laying his silverware down as Swell sat across from him. Swell grimaced and sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his skull as his met his boyfriend’s eyelights. “It isn’t looking good, they’re starting to merge together to the point that they’re unable to control their motions. But more concerning than that is their mental state, they will need to be separated as soon as possible. However, I cannot say with confidence that both of them will come out of it alive.” Swell explained making Fell’s expression turn grim. That was what he’d been afraid of, next to him Edge had stiffened.

“What do you mean?” Edge demanded unable to hold his tongue any longer, he wanted to know what would happen to his date mate. He swore to the angel and all the stars that if Sans died from this he was going to dust both Slim and Razz, and it would not be quick. He dug his fingers into his palms as he awaited his father’s or even Swell’s answer, looking between them. Swell finally spoke up after a few long moments of silence, grimacing at the undertone of fear in Edge’s voice. “Sans has extensive physical damage, I can’t say for sure how bad the mental will be. Salt…is held together by nothing but the DT within them, if removed from Sans’s physical body, there is no know if he will survive it. As he does not have a body of his own.”

Fell nodded slightly at this, under the table he gripped Edge’s hand and gave it a squeeze to try and reassure him. “Sans will live, but his recovery time is unknown. I would suggest you take time off to make sure he is taken care of Edge.” Swell suggested evenly, earning a nod from Edge. “I will.” He agreed easily, he wasn’t about to let Sans recover alone after everything that had happened. Stars he just wanted to run in there right now, he’d been so worried about Sans. Now he knew where he was and what had happened, he was even more worried than before. Stupid troll had better be okay, making him worry like this over him. Papyrus too for that matter, they’d turned the verse upside down trying to find his bony ass only to find out he was in Swapfell.

Swell looked at his watch with a sigh, Razz should be home soon enough and they could finally get this whole mess sorted out. He glanced over at Slim who still looked very miffed but he ignored that, taking out his phone with a hum. “Sansy should be home any minute now and we can talk about the situation at hand.” Swell told them all evenly, tucking it away. Slim scowled at this, there was nothing to talk about if you asked him. He wasn’t going to let them just take Salt away again, they needed him here with them. And he knew that Razz wasn’t going to let them either, he’d been the most adamant that Salt not be able to escape and hurt himself again. The front door soon opened and everyone turned to see Razz as he closed the door, blinking as he was met with a table full of monsters that had not been here earlier.

“What the hell are all of you doing here?” Razz demanded hands on his hips, squinting at the group. “Sansy!” Swell smiled and rose from his chair, grabbing his youngest son before he could make an attempt to escape and giving him an almost painfully tight hug. “Join us! We have so much to talk about!” He dragged Razz over and pushed him into a chair beside Slim, who made an indigent noise. “Explain what they’re doing here first!” Razz demanded pointing to Edge and Fell with an accusing glare. “Oh you see, Fell is my boyfriend!” Swell exclaimed with a smile. “And Edge is here to collect Sans! After we separate Salt from him that is, but that’s why were all here at the table. So that we can discuss the situation.”

Razz was still for a matter of seconds before he rose from his chair with a snarl. “You’re what?! No! You’re not going to take Cub away from me again!” A look of manic panic overtook his flashing eyelights, his fists clenched at his sides as he barely continued his rage. “We only just got him back, I won’t let you!” Slim was at his side shortly after his outburst. “I tried to tell you but dad wouldn’t let me get the phone back.” Slim told his brother crossing his arms. Swell sighed deeply and turned to face his sons his expression grim but firm. “I’m sorry you both feel that way but you took Edge’s date mate from him, this cannot continue on as it is. They are beginning to merge into one, and they will not be the monster you once knew.” Swell told them, planting himself firmly between them and the hallway where the two merging monsters lay.

Razz snarled deeply his frame shaking with barely contained rage, his eyelights flashing magenta. “I don’t care, Cub belongs here with us! We just wanted to heal him, Sans is just being difficult!” Edge was next to rise from his chair and without warning punched Razz right across the jaw sending him stumbling, his eyelights misting red. “You fucking delusional assholes, what makes you think you can do whatever you want to whoever you want?!” Edge spat standing over Razz only for Slim to snarl and bowl him over onto the ground. “Boys! Enough!” Swell bellowed all three of their souls pinging as he held them down with his magic. “This isn’t about any one of you! Those two have been put through hell on some stupid whim! And I will not stand for this to continue uncorrected! They will be separated and this wrong will be righted!” Swell’s tone warped as his own rage grew, making the trio fall silent.

Fell stood up finally and came to Swell’s side, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving a firm squeeze. “Swell, breathe.” Fell coaxed gently. “I know you feel strongly, but you need to calm yourself.” Swell looked away from the boys to meet Fell’s gaze and sighed deeply. He seemed to deflate and nodded at Fell, who offered a hand to him. Which he took into his own and released the magic holding the other three down. “It is not safe for them to remain this way, I know you both love Salt very much. But you can’t take someone else’s lover away for your own gain. You both know what it is like to lose someone dear to you, don’t make someone else suffer that same loss.”

Razz scowled from where he sat on the floor and crossed his arms, he didn’t care about Edge or Sans! The only ones he cared about were his brother and his precious Cub, it had been three long years since he’d…he shoved the memory as deep as he could. It wasn’t a real memory, his mind was playing tricks on him. Salt was just being difficult and stubborn as always, or so he had told himself that for the past three years. He didn’t look up even as his sockets burned and his soul churned inside his chest, it was only when Slim wrapped his arms around Razz did he even realize he was crying. He wanted so badly so shove his brother away but all he could do was cling to his turtleneck and sob miserably, all he wanted was for Salt to stay with them. To let him and Slim love him like they wanted to, why did he have to fight it so hard?

They both knew what he’d done, his past laid bare and they forgave it all. And yet he still wouldn’t forgive himself no matter how much he let himself suffer, no matter how many times his bones were broken it was never enough. Razz had never felt more helpless in his life than the day Salt had hurt himself so badly, that same feeling was returning to him now. Slim held him tightly and looked at his father for help, Razz had never been the same since that day. And he himself couldn’t find the words to explain to them just how much his brother needed Salt to live, the grief and denial had left his mind a shamble of what it was. And there was nothing that Slim could do to help him except to play along and do as he was told, to support his brother in any way that he could until they could figure out a way to bring back their long dead lover.

“Is there…really no way?” Slim finally spoke up, his voice cracking as he waited for someone to answer him. Swell and Fell exchanged looks, both looking grim as they spoke quietly between one another. “Salt won’t survive the process, no.” Swell finally spoke up shaking his head, he wasn’t even sure Sans would make it out unscathed. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t find another way to revive him. But I can promise nothing, do not get your hopes up.” Razz curled up in his brother’s arms as he heard them talking, his hopes couldn’t get any lower than they already were. So he dared to allow just a sliver of hope shine through that, he could once again hold Salt in his arms. To argue with him about something as stupid as eating with his hands and hiding all the silver ware, he didn’t feel like it was a lot to ask.

But he’d already been denied that by the monster he loved most, he didn’t expect his desires to be met. “Fell, I’m going to take them to the true lab. I will be waiting for you there.” Swell said after a few long moments of silence, nodding towards Edge. Fell understood and nodded in turn, he would find a place for Edge to stay where they wouldn’t be able to fight. “Alright, I’ll see you in a little bit. Come on.” Fell motioned for Edge to follow him, the two heading out the front door while Swell went to fetch Sans and Salt from the bedroom. He carried the sleeping combined monsters in his arms, pausing to look at his two sons with a sad sigh. “I’m sorry it had to be this way, but we’ll do everything we can to help them through this.”

With these words he departed and Razz began to sob even harder, clawing at his own arms until Slim restrained him and held him even tighter to himself. Talking softly to his brother to try and calm him, reassure him that their precious was in good hands. Dad knew more about this than Undyne ever could, and with Fell there he had hope that the two of them could figure something out where she couldn’t.

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“I don’t remember the labs being so…full.” Swell told Fell as they walked through the true lab together, passing by the amalgamations. Much to his displeasure Fell was carrying James Pond after Swell insisted that his assistant needed to be present for the procedure that was about to take place. Fell would have tossed the stupid rubber duck if he wasn’t so sure Swell would drop everything just to go get it, so he begrudgingly carried it in his hand. Fell glanced at them, the poor creatures shrunk away from them and retreated into the darkness. “How is Edge holding up?” Swell asked turning his back to the door and pushing it open this way so he wouldn’t bump the merging monsters in his arms, pausing to let Fell through. Fell sighed and shook his head, setting James Pond on the dusty nearby desk with a plaque, he brushed away the dust and chuckled when he found his own name on it. But his amusement soon fell flat and he turned to Swell who was laying the small monster on a medical bed and strapping them in tightly. They were still asleep and that was for the best, but he glanced over his shoulder at Fell waiting for him to answer. “He’s, very upset.” Fell finally said, it was a huge understatement but they didn’t have a lot of time to sort this mess out. Swell nodded in turn and wheeled the bed with the small monster strapped to it towards another doorway, they needed to figure out a way to separate them without killing them both.

“What’s yer plan?” Fell asked Swell as he followed him through, they passed by the DT extractor and into another room. There was a large panel and a large cylindrical tube and two smaller tubes took up the majority of the space in the middle of the room, Fell had seen this in his own lab and he was starting to understand what Swell was intending to do before he even answered. “Are ya really gonna make him a new body?” Fell asked as he watched Swell give the panel a quick wipe down, uncovering all the buttons. Quickly pressing a few that turned on the overhead lights, the tube began to fill up with a familiar fluid. Fell hadn’t seen this place since he’d created his own sons, he wasn’t sure how this was all going to work. “Yes, Salt does not have a place to go if we remove him from Sans. And to be fair, it would be cruel to leave Sans in the form he is in now. His bones have been badly damaged and if I can I would like to regrow what has been damaged. It won’t heal his mental trauma he has surely sustained but he will not have the physical reminders of what he has suffered.” Swell explained glancing over his shoulder at the body they shared with a saddened expression. “It is the least I can do for him, considering that it is my children who have caused him so much suffering.” Fell grimaced and lay a hand on his shoulder, giving a firm squeeze and an understanding smile. “This isn’t your fault, no one blames you for what’s happened.”

“I know Fell, but I want to at least try to help mend the damage they’ve done.” Swell said giving his boyfriend sad smile, he knew it wasn’t logically his fault but that did nothing for the guilt he felt. “Now, my plan is simple to explain but as you already know from experience, hard to actually do. We need to create an entirely new body for Salt to go to, and we will need to place Sans in another chamber to heal the damage to his bones and keep them both alive. Before we even do that, we need to somehow separate them. Which in of itself is also easier said than done, they have begun to merge to the point that they are unable to coordinate their movements. I fear that if we don’t do it soon, we will be unable to do so.” As he explained this Fell’s expression darkened and he looked back at their shared body in concern, so in short time was of the essence here. But they could not rush either, or they would risk damaging or even killing one or both monsters in their attempts to save them. “Aight, I’ll do anything you need me to do.” Fell said evenly, giving his shoulder a last squeeze before pulling open a nearby cabinet and grabbing a box of sterile medical gloves. He pulled a set on and handed over a set to Swell who thanked him before tugging them on as well.

The two scientists turned to the bed and exchanged a glance, their body was shaking and twitching as they slept. Fell pushed the bed towards the tubes, the largest one had filled up with the fluid. Meanwhile Swell had climbed to the top of the tube with a step stool and opened up the top, pulling down the wires that would monitor their souls and vital signs. Fell unstrapped the almost writhing monsters and carefully stripped them down, at the same time Swell came down with the wires in hand. Both grimaced at how soft their bones felt, the DT was starting to melt them together. They carefully stuck the wires to their soul, spine, skull and each limb before with help from one another carefully lowering them into the fluid. Swell secured the top in place as Fell pushed the medical bed against the nearby wall. They moved behind the panel and Swell observed the small screen that showed him their vital readings and he grimaced slightly. Fell made a frustrated noise looking over his shoulder at it, he could barely tell the two different soul pulses apart.

“They’re merging together at an accelerated rate…we need to try and put some space between them without hurting them.” Swell told Fell, who pinched his nasal aperture. “Yeah but how the fuck are we gonna do that, this shit’s not easy an you know it ain’t. They’re mergin an fast, this sorta shit takes a lot a fuckin time, and it’s time we ain’t got.” Swell sighed heavily and nodded slightly at Fell, tapping his hands against the top of the panel. “I know, but what choice do we have?” Fell didn’t have an answer for him, neither of them did but it didn’t change the fact that they needed to act. “Aight, let’s see what we can do before they’re impossible to separate, or else we’re fucked an so are these poor bastards.”

Inside the fluid Sans was still twitching and jerking around, but he was safer this way where he couldn’t hurt himself. His sockets had opened but were dark, their eyelights both out as they writhed. His cyan soul was spotted with black, and they were slowly growing bigger. Swell stood on one side while Fell stood on the other, this was only a temporary measure but it would buy them some time while they worked to make a vessel for Salt. Swell located Salt’s soul and placed a hold on it, while Fell placed a hold on Sans’s soul. Their gazes met and they both nodded, the merging soul glowing from their magics hold. And they began to pull their respective soul towards themselves, but slowly. The small body thrashed in agony, mouth open in a silence scream of agony. But the black spots shrunk slightly and while they couldn’t see it the vitals were separating into two clearer soul pulses. “That’s enough Fell, their souls are starting to leak magic, if we do anymore their souls might rupture.” Swell said letting his hold go at the same time as Fell. “It’s, not great but it’s better.” Fell grumbled and Swell was inclined to agree, but it was the best they could do right now.

Back behind the panel they checked their vitals and while their souls were more separate now, their other vitals had weakened considerably. “This is going to take longer than I thought…we can’t pull them any further apart like this…we need to find another way, or else one or both of them will die.” Swell told Fell, who cursed quietly. “Yeah I know that, but what the fuck can we do? It ain’t like we can just draw one outta the other.” Fell huffed grabbing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lighting it, taking a long drag from it. Half of it falling to ash as he blew the smoke out of the corner of his mouth. He didn’t miss all this science bullshit one bit, this part of it anyways. “Or can we?” Swell said quietly looking up at the tube where the small monster had settled down but his face was pinched with pain. “What’s that supposed ta mean, or can we?” Fell looked at Swell like he was well, crazy. And by all rights, yes, Swell was in fact crazy. “I know yer crazy but ya can’t be that crazy.”

“My level of sanity or insanity are not imperative right now Fell!” Swell waved his hand dismissively at him. “The point is I have an idea and it just might lead us to a solution! And okay, maybe it isn’t the most orthodox method but this is not a typical situation!” Swell reminded him. “I know that Swell but how the hell do ya plan to get them apart by drawin them apart? That don’t even make an fuckin iota of sense.” Fell huffed as he kept puffing on his cigarette. “What I mean is to literally draw Salt out of Sans’s soul, Fell.” Swell told him going to a large cabinet and throwing it open, it was filled to the brim with medical supplies but also chewing gum, bath bombs, bubbles, a body pillows. Fell didn’t even ask, he’d never get a real answer anyways, he just let it go. Swell dug around in the cabinet and pulled out a box of sterile syringes and disinfectant which he brought over and set on a nearby medical table, wheeling it over to Fell. “We need something to put him into still, but what if we used a syringe, to draw Salt’s dust out of Sans?” Swell told him motioning to the things he’d gathered. Fell stood there for a while looking between Swell and the small table, then over his shoulder at the body inside the tube.

Fell gave a long suffering sigh and finished his cigarette in a single puff before snubbing it out. “Aight, how in the actual fuck is this gonna work? Cuz we ain’t gonna get but one chance to do this Swell. We fuck up an that’s all she wrote, ya know that right?” Fell was certain Swell did know, and while Swell was brilliant he was also crazy. “Of course I know that, that’s why James Pond is here!” Swell told him brightly, motioning to his rubber duck. Fell took a deep calming breathe, closing his sockets as he exhaled. “Swell, please explain to me why your bath to-” “Assistant.” Swell corrected him, Fell gave him a look before continuing. “Assistant, can help with this?” Swell smiled at Fell as he rephrased his words and he picked up the aforementioned bath toy holding him in an open palm. The toy nearly falling through the hole in his hand, beaming at Fell. “Well you see, James Pond has been holding onto something for me since Sansy was born, a backup if you will. Or rather I guess it was a failure, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use it!”

“Okay, Swell, please, I know you ain’t all there but for the fucking love of Toriel’s tits, explain to me how the fuck he’s holding anything or how the hell that’s supposed to help?!” Fell tried to meet his lover’s bullshit with an open mind but even he had to draw the line somewhere. “Well if you would let me finish talking I would have answered your question before you’d even asked!” Swell pouted giving Fell a stern look, making Fell groan and drop his skull into his hand. “Okay, just, fucking tell me already.” Swell gave him a fond smile and taking hold of James Pond’s top hat he pulled it off and inside was a tiny vial. “I kept a failed version of Sansy in here! It didn’t have a soul and it was far too small to be of any use, but we can use it as a vessel until we can create one of a proper size for Salt!” Swell beamed at Fell. Fell stared at him, mouth agape, he what?! He leaned forward and sure enough in the small vial was a tiny skeletal bottle in some kind of stasis he was guessing in order to keep it alive and in one piece. “You’re fucking insane…” Fell groaned at him, insane but brilliant, he wasn’t paid enough for this.

Chapter Text

“I’m only somewhat insane thank you very much!” Swell gasped looking offended even though he was in the same breathe agreeing that he was insane to some degree. Which only made Fell sigh and cross his arms, he wasn’t going to argue with Swell about this, they didn’t have time for that right now. “So what is yer plan for this, whatever the fuck you wanna call this thing.” Fell motioned to the minuscule skeletal body. Swell brightened and held it up for Fell to get a better look at it, not that he needed to. “This was just a very small body made during my attempts to create Papy and Sansy, but it has no soul and is just a body. So it’s the perfect place to keep Salt while we make him a bigger body! Provided we manage to get the two apart without killing both of them of course.” Swell mused tapping his chin, but he carried the vial containing it and carefully transferred the teeny body from it to one of the smaller tubes.

“How stable even is it? Can it even handle the soul of a full monster when it’s so damn small?” Fell asked following after Swell, crossing his arms and raising a brow bone. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, I just had no reason to use it for Sansy because it would be very dangerous for someone to be this small and live in a world like this. But I had a feeling it might be useful in the future, so I saved it anyways. And it turns out I was right! Once we get them separated and Salt into this smaller body we can work on creating a full sized body for him.” Swell told Fell with a smile.

Fell sighed at Swell but he made some good points, it would work for now until they could work on a full sized physical body for the second monster. He glanced over at the large vessel holding the combined monsters and grimaced, he wasn’t looking for to the both lengthy and tricky process of separating them and creating a new body for the previously dead monster to inhabit. “Just how much coffee is this going to take?” Fell grumbled at Swell who grinned widely at him. “It’ll be fun Fell you’ll see! It won’t be so hard this time around, since we’re both here to work on it!” Swell encouraged him hands on his hips looking pleased with himself, Fell looked less so.

“That doesn’t mean it’ll be easier Swell, it was hell the first time around.” Fell huffed crossing his arms and narrowing his sockets at Swell who continued to smile and waved his hand dismissively. “Now Felly, don’t be so sour, this just means we get to spend even more time together!” He exclaimed before reaching out and snagging his boyfriend, dragging him into an embrace with a deep rumble. “Won’t that be nice?!” Fell squawked as he was manhandled and flailed slightly but soon relented and allowed Swell to hold him. “Yeah I guess.” He didn’t sound all that enthused.

“That’s the spirit Felly!” He kissed his skull and finally let him go, Fell scowling and rubbing the area he’d kissed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever Swell. Let’s just get started, so we can be finished sooner.” Swell chuckled but he went ahead to make the coffee Fell had requested, meanwhile Fell began setting up and gathering everything they would need in order to make the new body. Even if they weren’t apart yet they needed to begin working on that or who knows when it would be ready for him. Fell was right and he knew it but he wanted to keep some positivity even though things were rather dire.

By the time Swell had made the coffee and returned with it Fell had pulled out everything they should need to at least begin the process. Swell handed Fell his cup and stood beside him, sipping his own, looking at the prepared tube that would eventually house the body for Salt. “So what do we do first?” Fell asked accepting his cup with a quiet thank you, looking between the empty tube and the one where Sans and Salt’s shared body was. “They’re going to keep fusing if we don’t work on getting them apart.”

“Yes but if we try to hard to pull them apart we could cause damage to them both.” Swell reminded with a sigh, shaking his head. “My children have created quite a mess…” He murmured to which Fell grunted softly, he couldn’t argue it but he wasn’t going to make Swell feel worse than he already did about the situation. “It’s fine, we’ll get it figured out, we’re both smart an we’ve done this shit before. We got this.”

Swell glanced at Fell and smiled at him, nodding as he downed the rest of his coffee and threw the cup behind him where it shattered on the floor. Clapping and rubbing his hands together with a grin on his face. “Alright! Let’s do this Fell!” Fell flinched as he did this and scowled setting his cup on the nearby counter. “Really Swell there wasn’t no fuckin reason fer that!” Fell scolded him but he relented and joined him anyways. “First things first, we’ll start putting the components together for the new body. After that we’ll try to pull them apart a little more, we’ll do it little by little so hopefully there won’t be too much damage. There’s no chance they’ll come out of this unscathed but we should avoid any further trauma if we can.”

They got to work putting the components together when the nearby monitors began to beep and flash, the both of them dropping what they were doing to check them. And what they saw wasn’t good, the two exchanging a look before one of them went to the panel adjusting the levels within the tube holding the combined monsters. The other keeping a close watch on the monitor biting their tongue, their vitals were getting harder to read as their shared soul faltered in trying to hold the both of them at once. The both of them were pushing their own magic into the body to hopefully help stabilize it and give them a chance to right themselves.

Several minutes passed with no change until finally their vitals leveled out and the two finally breathed, taking a moment to sit down. Looking up at the suspended body with deep concern, then at one another. “Sans’s soul is trying to keep them both supported, but it can’t handle two monsters at once. It can’t support them both, it doesn’t have the strength or magic to do it.” Fell said to which Swell nodded sitting back in his chair with a sigh and rubbing his sockets with his palms. “Yes…it’s only going to get harder for it to do so as time goes on, we should try to pull them apart again soon, see how far we can get with that. The sooner we can get Salt into the smaller body the sooner they will be able to stabilize.”

“That in of itself is going to be a process…” Fell murmured to himself more than to Swell, who he was sure was thinking the same thing right about now. “But, let’s get to it.” Fell sighed and after a few more moments the pair rose from their chairs and approached Sans and Salt’s shared body. It was looking worse for wear, cracks had formed along their arms and face and it looked like particles of dust were flaking off them. “It’s getting worse, for sure.” Swell sighed raising his hands as he stood to one side of the tube and Fell took his place adjacent to him. “Ready Swell?” Fell called looking at the merging monsters they were going to attempt to pry apart again.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He answered, on the count of three they grabbed onto the essence of each monster and begin to carefully pull with their magic. Swell’s magic searching out and wrapping around what made up Salt while Fell enveloped Sans with his magic in the same way, as they eased them apart the body began to thrash within the fluid, face twisted into a silence scream.

The monitors began to beep loudly in warning but they weren’t in a position to stop, they could see where the body was cracking worse and began to fall apart. The dust that broke away swirled in the fluid like glitter before behind reabsorbed by the body again, it looked as through they were dusting but fighting to stay in one piece. It gave the two scientists a little hope that they would hold on long enough for them to make some noticeable progress, however the beeping from the monitors changed tone after a few more minutes of their careful pulling.

Both letting go at the same time, only to start pushing their magic back into the pair once more. Fell rushing to the monitor to check their vitals, sucking in a sharp breath. “Fucking shit, they aren’t making this easy.” He cursed under his breath, busying himself with adjusting the levels inside the tank for them.

Swell remained by the tank looking up at the perpetually dusting and reforming monster, grimacing slightly when heard Fell muttering to himself. The flick of his wrist had Sans’s soul coming forth but he kept it within the tank for safety, it looked like only the bones were dusting and reforming for now. So there was that much but he was worried that at some point if they didn’t make enough progress that the soul would start to do the same, but as he stood there studying it a frown formed on his face.

He moved closer to the tank to get a better look at the soul, it wasn’t dusting but Sans’s soul had a strange almost glittery sheen to it. It gave him the feeling that this was all that Salt was anymore, wisps of dust clinging to life within the soul of a still living monster. The beeping had stopped and Swell let the soul return to Sans, sighing heavily he rejoined Fell to take a look at the monitors.

“What’s the damage?” He asked earning a scoff from Fell who rolled his eyelights before pulling up the program needed for them to set up the empty tank for a new body. “Well, they don’t fuckin wanna be separated, they’re resistin every time we pull but they’re too weak to really fight it. It’s a fuckin wonder they can move at all in there, but they’re managing somehow. Gotta be the other one, Sans is a lazy fuck.”

“So they’re coming apart, but their body just isn’t very pleased about it.” Swell summarized pulling up a pair of chairs for him and Fell, earning a grunt of thanks from Fell as they sat down beside one another at the panel. “That’s pretty much it yeah…stars on fire Swell, we’ve got so fuckin much to do…” Fell murmured rubbing his hands over his sockets, they had only been at this for a few hours and already they had nearly gone into the red twice.

“I know Fell.” Swell told him softly, reaching over to take one of Fell’s hands into his own and giving it a careful squeeze. “But thank you for your help, this would be so much harder if I had to do t his on my own.” His words caused Fell to flush slightly but rather than scoff and pull away he squeezed Swell’s hand back tightly.

He wasn’t going to make Swell do this alone, he could see the guilt in his eyelights. “Wasn’t yer fault, sometimes it don’t matter what ya do, yer kids just turn out how they do even tho ya do yer best.” He told Swell after a few moments of silence. Swell sighed softly and gave him a sad smile, he had a point but it was a bitter pill to swallow.

“C’mon, while they’re settled down we ought to get what we can done before we work on pulling them apart again.” Fell told him giving his hand another squeeze, before pulling it over to kiss Swell’s wrist. “Yeah…” Swell agreed softly before taking his hand back, the two focusing on the task at hand.

They spent the next several hours taking turns making coffee to keep themselves going while they set up the empty tank to begin growing a body for Salt, with a handful of interruptions when the monsters vitals dipped and they needed to intervene. The both sat back with yet another cup of coffee, they’d lost track of how many it had been already.

“Well, the easy part is done…” Fell groaned tiredly, closing his sockets and pinching the bridge of his nasal aperture. They had managed to get everything set up and the once empty tank was now loaded with everything needed to begin creating a new body, and programmed to do so. They had been very slowly and carefully pulling Sans and Salt apart, their progress was…not the best but it could also be so much worse.

Swell was nearly falling asleep in his chair, coffee in hand. He shook his head to chase away the grogginess he’d been feeling for some time now, glancing over at Fell. “What do you say, one last pull then we sleep for a few hours, come back and do another pull?” He asked setting his cup down with a shaking hand, they were really pushing it right now.

Fell nodded with a stifled yawn, they just needed to wait and keep pulling them apart now. A nap sounded like an angel send to him right about now, and they were going to need some sleep so they could keep up with the process of everything they were trying to do. “Let’s do it.”

They both stood and once more approached the monsters, giving a last pull to see how far they could get them this time. Over the past several hours they had managed to get them far enough apart that the body was no longer dusting, so progress was being made even if it was at a snails pace. After this they both crawled into the cots near the back of the room and set two alarms, one for another attempt to ease the monsters apart and a second one to go off if something happened to their vitals.

The pair didn’t even bother to change clothes or take off their lab coats, collapsing into the same cot together. Limbs entangling as they fell asleep moments after their bodies hit the cot, Fell barely staying awake long enough to pull the blanket over the both of them. Swell was already snoring like a chainsaw, but it did nothing to stop Fell from joining him.