Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was bad. Really bad.

Master was mad at him.

Was he gonna kill him this time? He didn't even know what he did this time to piss Master off.

Master dragged him on the chain through the snow, from the freezing, shabby shed, next to Master's house, to the backside where he knew the basement was.

The basement belonged to other Master, he worked down there on all kind of things. And sometimes he did things to him. It was always bad when Master dragged him there for other Master to punish him.

All he could do was keeping his head ducked and take whatever was thrown at him.

Master dragged him down the stairs and to a wall where an anchoring as big as his own skull was embedded in the brickwork. He took the heavy chain hanging from it and fastened it onto the cold thick iron ring around his neck. If he hadn't been cowering on the ground already the weight would have pulled him down.

"Get Up And Shift, You Worthless, Stupid Beast!" Master demanded. He whimpered when he managed to get on his hands and knees, the chains hurt, and did as ordered.

"At Least You Know How To Follow Orders," Master growled. "Muzzle!"

He hated the muzzle. It always was too tight. It hurt. And it was heavy. And it felt humiliating despite he'd gotten used to any other kind of degradation a long time ago. Somehow the muzzle still filled him with shame.

In the meantime other Master worked on some kind of... 'machine' was the word if he was correct. Other Master did something and it started humming... almost like a charging blast. Were they going to test an artificial Blaster on him?

He shook in fear and couldn't hold back the panicked whine that escaped him. Luckily Master didn't hear it over the loud hum of the 'machine'.

Other Master took a step to the side and revealed some weird kind of door, then gave Master a nod. Master took off the heavy chain that had bound him to the wall and pointed to the weird door-thing, his face a deep scowl that spoke volumes of how he wouldn't tolerate any hesitation from his side.

He hung his head and went over to the door on shaking legs. He stopped in front of it and other Master charged the muzzle and chains with his Magic so they'd shift with him.

"Now Go!" Master ordered. He stepped closer to the strange door, but halted mere inches from it, too afraid of the unknown.

Master got angry. "I Said Go!!" He shot a barrage of bones at him, hitting him several times and scaring him to jump through the door. The last things he heard were other Master cursing and some kind of explosion before everything went dark.

Chapter Text

Blue and Stretch were searching Snowdin forest.

Blue had been training with Captain Alphys when Dr. Undyne called. She'd said her sensors had caught an incredibly strong spike of foreign Magic in the woods, somewhere between the Ruins and Stretch's sentry station. Could Alphys send someone there to check it out?

Of course Alphys could never deny Undyne and said she would make sure the situation would be investigated.

Immediately Blue offered to drag his brother from Muffet's and take care of it. Alphys hesitated. They didn't know if it could be dangerous, but Blue reassured her that that was why he wanted to take Stretch with him.

Alphys finally caved in at the argument of Blue that he had to be able to deal with things like that if he was to become a good Royal Guard. Plus Alphys knew he could quite pack a punch if he needed to.

So, here they were, somewhere in the woods, surrounded by trees and snow.

"Won't be easy to find what we are looking for, bro. Maybe we should have left this to the dogs."

Blue pouted. "Don't be so lazy Stretch. The dogs are good at finding missing people and lost children, but they aren't that good when it comes to Magic. And we can cover quite a distance thanks to your shoooOOO-!"

Blue hadn't looked where he was walking and had tripped over something. He softened his fall by rolling over his shoulder and came to a halt, sitting in the snow. "-rtcuts," he finished what he had been saying. "What was... that."

He had turned around to look at what he had tripped over and fell silent at what he saw lying at Stretch's feet, half buried in the freezing snow.

"Brother? Is that what i think it is?" Blue asked while Stretch squatted down to inspect their find.

"I don't know, bro. I don't know what you think it is." Carefully he wiped some of the snow away. At first all they could make out were bones and... chains?

When Stretch dug out their find Blue covered his mouth with his hands in shock.

It was a skeleton.

He was smaller than Blue, wore nothing but some ratty shorts, filthy and threadbare, and he was in heavy chains. He had something around his face that looked disturbingly like a heavy, painfully tight muzzle, around his neck sat a thick iron ring, chains ran from it to rusty shackles on both his wrists, too short to allow him to fully stretch his arms. His feet were shackled too, connected by another thick chain, not long enough to allow him to walk normal. He was injured and dirty and a number of old breaks and cracks were visible, and his bones looked horribly fragile.

Blue looked up at his brother and without having to exchange a word Stretch picked the stranger up and shortcutted them to Undyne as soon as Blue gripped the sleeve of his hoodie.

When they suddenly appeared in the lab Undyne shrieked and almost jumped out of her skin, but she calmed down as soon as she recognized the skeleton brothers.

"G-gosh... p-please don't scare m-me like th-that. *Huff* Wh-what d-did you find? What h-have you th-there?"

"A strange skeleton," Stretch answered. "Looks like he's been through hell. He's badly hurt and needs help. Immediately." While he was talking, Stretch put the unconscious skeleton on an examination table.

Without Undyne needing to say anything Blue was already gathering her medical supplies he recognized and knew she might need and some tools to free the poor stranger from his chains.

The first thing Undyne did was hooking up the hurt monster to a Soul monitor and an IV with Healing Magic and Magic Supplement since his Magic levels were extremely low.

Then she inspected the muzzle and grimaced at how tight it was. It had to be chafing on the bone. She found that the muzzle was infused with someone's Magic, what for she couldn't tell, but at least it wasn't to seal the buckle of the thing. She struggled a little with the tight straps, before it finally gave and she could take it of.

Under the muzzle became sharp, dagger-like teeth visible, as well as a crack on the left side of the lower jaw. This had to hurt.

The neck ring came next. Raw, inflamed and partially infected bone came to light. While Stretch and Blue each worked on one of the shackles on the stranger's wrists Undyne cleaned and treated his neck vertebrae.

His wrists and ankles weren't any better.

While they cleaned the stranger and treated his injuries Blue's phone buzzed. It was a text from Alphys, asking if everything was okay and if they found what they had been looking for. Blue texted back, told her about their find and sent her a pic of the hurt monster.

After a few minutes Alphys asked if they would leave the skeleton with Undyne or take him in to care for him at their home.

Blue paused. He wanted to take him home but he couldn't decide this alone. "Stretch, what are we going to do with him? Leave him here in Undyne's care or take him home with us?"

Stretch thought and looked at Undyne. "I'm not sure, bro. Undyne has the equipment needed to take care of him, but tibia honest i don't like the thought of letting him out my sight."

Undyne studied the monitor and hummed in thought. "A-a-actually it m-might be b-better for him t-to rec-cover at your h-home. I-i c-can give you a m-mobile Soul m-monitor a-and th-the IV-b-bags you'll n-need. E-everything e-else is a m-matter of rest, f-food and t-time. D-depending on wh-what he's b-been through he m-might need th-therapy when he's b-better."

"We also should give him a decent name," Blue decided, looking at the other with a frown. "His Check shows no name and the only other thing that even remotely resembles a name is the word 'Beast' engraved into this horrid neck ring. That is unacceptable."

"We can think about this later, when we have him home," Stretch suggested.

And that was that. Blue texted Alphys he and his brother would take the newcomer with them and nurse him back to health. Alphys replied that she gave them two weeks off for now. Should they need more time they only needed to call or text her.

Blue thanked her and relayed the message to Stretch, who gave a thumbs up at that.

Undyne packed a bag with everything they might need, including a mobile Soul monitor and a foldable IV-stand.

After the IV-bags the stranger had been hooked up on were empty Undyne took the IV off and detached the monitor sensor. She gave the brothers a blanket to wrap their new charge in and Stretch shortcutted them home to Snowdin.

Chapter Text

When he woke up he felt warm and fuzzy.

Something was off but he couldn't, for his life, put a finger on it.

He... felt heavy, yet kinda floaty at the same time. He couldn't remember what happened. Had other Master made him take something weird again?

He blinked and looked around him. He was lying on something soft. On the other side of the room was a 'bed', if he was correct, the colour similar to those creepy flower thingys from the dark, wet place, that whispered things others once had said. On the bed was a blanket with colourful things on it...

Too bad he was so stupid. He didn't know the names of most things. He didn't have a name himself and all he knew was what Master and other Master beat into him.

...

The Masters!!!

He sat up abruptly, suddenly registering several things that weren't right.

He was in the house. Not just in the house but on a bed like it felt, too soft and comfy as the Masters would ever allow him. When they didn't need him he had to stay in the shed, with his thin blanket and the metal bowls for his food and water.

The next thing he noticed were the scents he didn't recognize. Everything smelled wrong. Strangely 'not-hostile', but unfamilar. There was no trace of Master or other Master.

Then there was this buzzing in his bones. He couldn't remember to ever have felt this, yet something told him that feeling was right. He... didn't hate it, was there a word for that? Surely, but he was too dumb to know.

While he inspected his strangely not-badly buzzing body he found his bones clean. That was a word he knew. The Masters had always talked about keeping things clean, but his only way to get clean was rolling in the cold white... snow! Yeah, the white stuff was called snow.

However, his bones hadn't just been cleaned, and even more than he could ever manage with the snow, his chains had disappeared! The places where they had been connected to his body were wrapped in white... clothing. He was almost sure one of his Masters must have mentioned what it was called once, but he couldn't remember.

But where had his chains gone? The Masters often told him he would die in those chains one day.

Wait.

Was that it? Did he die? The Masters never told him what would be after he died. He remembered one of his Masters tell the other something about that they couldn't take their stuff with them in death, so, that would mean if he died he would leave the chains behind.

So, he must be dead. But he didn't feel dead. On the other hand, what did he know how being dead was supposed to feel like.

Suddenly the door clicked and opened, a skeleton he had never seen before entered the room. The stranger was a little taller than him and his clothes were the same colour as the bed.

For a second they just stared at each other. When the other skeleton inhaled to say something he unfroze and scrambled backwards until he was smooshed as much as possible into a corner, trembling in fear and whimpering like a hurt animal.

---

Blue didn't know what to think. Never in his entire life had anyone been the slightest bit scared of him. And now this.

Slowly Blue crouched down and scooted closer to the other, inch by inch, talking softly to him and projecting friend, help, calm, safe with his Soul.

Slowly the whimpering subsided, the other still radiated confused, hurt, fear from every fiber of his being.

So, the other knew how to use intend to communicate. Interesting. He and Stretch had learned it from the Guard Dogs when they became friends. Most other monsters didn't use this way of wordless communication anymore, they had forgotten about it over generations.

Blue inched a little closer again, still projecting safe, calm, friend without pause.

The door opened again and Stretch came in. The stranger choked on a panicked scream and started whimpering again, rocking back and forth over and over again and projecting fear, panic, despair, hurt. The fear and distress rolled off of the poor monster like stormclouds, suffocating and heavy.

Stretch crouched down beside his brother and started projecting as well.

They didn't try to get closer and only waited for their guest to calm down, talking quietly in the meantime and keeping their voices as soft as possible.

"I got a look at his Magic for a second before he panicked," Blue murmured, "it's red. Do you think that's a good name?"

"I think it's a nice name. It matches you, Blue. Until he tells us his real name this will work."

Slowly their charge seemed to calm down. The brothers inched closer again, still projecting, Blue talking gently to him.

Stretch made himself as unnoticable as he could and handed his brother a handkerchief in a zip-bag, whispering, "take a scent sample for the dogs. I'm sure they can help us."

Blue smiled softly at the newly dubbed Red, he was just barely out of arms reach now and shushed him gently.

Red had stopped his rocking and the whimpers and was just sitting there, curled up and the hands held protectively over his skull.

Blue started humming a lullaby his parents and later his brother had often sung to him when he was still a babybones. While he hummed he quietly opened the bag and took the handkerchief out.

The other was feverish and sweaty. Blue scooted a little bit closer without missing a beat in his humming, Stretch had chimed in from the background.

Blue gently rubbed the knuckles of his fingers against the back of Red's hand, making him flinch and whine fearfully, but when Blue continued and nothing painful or otherwise bad happened Red calmed again a fraction, slowly, hesitantly lowering his hands a little.

Blue gave him a warm smile. "There you are, Red. Good job," he praised, keeping his voice soft and positive. He used the chance to wipe the sweat off of Red's forehead with the handkerchief, putting it back into the bag right away.

"Would you like something to eat? I am sure you're hungry."

Red cowered on the ground and squeaked like a lost puppy, shivering and avoiding eye contact.

Blue shushed him gently and, light as a feather, pet his cranium. Like before Red tensed and took a few minutes to relax under Blue's touches. When Blue went from light pets to careful scratches Red seemed to calm further and almost stopped shivering.

"Stretch," Blue addressed his brother in the same tone he had used to talk with Red.

"Ya bro?" "Could you please get our lunch from the kitchen and bring it here. I think it's better to make sure Red is eating." "Sure bro. Give me a few minutes."

Stretch scooted back and stood slowly. Without haste he made it to the door and left, leaving the door wide open so Red would hear him approach when he'd get back with the food.

Red followed him with his Eye Lights before he lowered his gaze again.

Blue didn't know what to think about the way Red behaved. Apparently he was used to being treated like a dog. In a bad way. But, maybe this could be used to help him relax and understand that he could trust them?

Blue decided to give it a try and petted Red's back in long, gentle strokes. He petted and scratched all the spots he knew the Guard Dogs liked.

Red froze and remained like that as long as he didn't know what to make of the new touches.

Then Blue found a particularly sensitive spot right behind his acoustic meatus. Reflexively Red's leg twitched and his sharp toes scratched across the wooden floor while he unknowingly leaned his head into the new touch.

Blue grinned at this reaction. "There you are. Good boy Red. Doesn't this feel nice? Don't worry, we'll take good care of you. No one will ever hurt you again. We will protect you. I promise." Red gave a high pitched whine that told Blue nothing.

---

He wondered what all those words meant. He only knew a few. And the way they were said to him, so low and not-angry. They sounded like the bed he had woken up on felt.

And still no sign of his Masters.

Well. If he really had died they wouldn't be here, right? They had stayed alive, where his chains were. But who where those two new skeletons?

Since they had taken him into their house and obviously wanted something from him... they must be his new Masters.

Did he even want new Masters?

He was sure he didn't want his old Masters back. But. He didn't know if those new ones had different rules from what he was used to.

At least they acted different.

The touches were... not-bad... they didn't hurt. He didn't want them to stop...

He caught the word 'hurt' in the skeleton's words, but in a way that didn't sound like a threat to him. He was so confused, and it scared him. Made him whine in a mix of indecision and distress.

The new... smaller Master fell silent and just continued the touches.

Without really thinking about it he formed a boney tail, poking through a rip in the back of his shorts, and dared to wag it, thumping on the floorboards.

Smaller Master looked a little confused, but kept scratching his skull.

The other... tall Master?... came back. He had some... plates?... with him.

He sat down where he had been before he had left and sat the plates down. Slowly he pushed one closer to him and small Master, then another one. He kept the last plate for himself and mumbled something before he started eating.

Small Master answered something at tall Master's words and took the plates, putting one right in front of him and eating from the other.

He never saw food like that. Well, he'd never seen any real food before from this close. At all. He knew all he had been fed before had been scraps. Cut out bones, peels of potatoes and vegetables, crumbs, apple cores and such.

On the plate before him were fingerlong... sticks?... alongside with a sweetish smelling blotch of red and a yellow one that smelled a little sharp, but in a not-bad way.

Unsure of what to do he looked at his new Masters, watching them eat. They took the small stick-things with their fingers and dipped them in the red and yellow stuff before eating them. They sounded crunchy.

Hesitantly, looking between both his new Masters back and forth, he sat up.

When nothing happened he slowly lifted his hand and poked at the stick-things on the plate before him. Neither of the other two reacted to that, so this really was for him?

His Eye Lights flicking from tall to small and back without pause he took one of the things and sniffed at it. It smelled... he didn't know. He only knew the smell made him want to eat it. So he did.

He was right. It was crunchy. And it tasted faintly like potato peels. But ways better.

He took another one and, like the new Masters, dipped it into the other stuff.

It made the stick taste different. One, two bites later he decided that the red stuff wasn't bad, but the yellow stuff... he wished he had more of that on his plate.

The new Masters seemed to notice, tall Master pulled a yellow bottle from his pocket and carefully rolled it over to him and small Master, who picked it up, held it upside down over his plate and gave it a squeeze.

More of the yellow stuff sploshed onto his plate and he squeaked, excited.

After the stick-things on his plate were gone he licked it clean before putting it down and curling up on the ground again.

Waiting for what was to come next.

Chapter Text

Getting Red to sleep proved to be difficult.

Blue somehow managed to get him back onto the thick mattress they had put on the floor for him. But Red visibly felt uncomfortable there and when Blue came back later to check in on him he found him curled up in the corner again.

"Maybe he feels too exposed on the mattress in the middle of your room," Stretch mused. "We could try to make him a safe space. We should at least push his bed into the corner, then he wouldn't have to sleep on the ground."

"That's a good idea, brother. We should think about a way to make him some kind of cave, so he can hide if he want to. I don't think it'd be a good idea to force him into the open."

Stretch nodded, agreeing. "Let's give him a day to settle in a little more and get the dogs the day after. We may need their help to communicate with Red and get him to understand that he's safe here."

Said. Done.

First thing they did was rearranging some of the furniture in Blue's room. They rotated Red's mattress when they shoved it into the corner, so the long side was against the wall opposite from the door and the head end against the wall opposite from Blue's bed. That way he was half hidden behind the opened closet door. To make it more hidden they positioned the big dresser in a way that the backside was against the foot of Red's mattress, the side against the wall and the doors facing Blue's bed. Then they gave him more blankets and pillows, arranging them to some kind of nest with a wall of pillows at the front so he could duck behind it.

While they worked they kept projecting safe, friend, calm all the time.

Red just sat in his corner, his blanket around his shoulders, watching the brothers redecorate. After they were done moving furniture around he fell asleep. He was stressed out, sick and plain and simply exhausted. So he fell into a deep slumber, not even stirring when they built that nest for him.

Since it was late in the night now they went to bed, Blue leaving a nightlight on just in case Red might wake and panic when he couldn't see what was around him.

---

The predawn of next morning found him jolting up from a nightmare, looking around frantically and finally recognizing the smells surrounding him as his new Masters' and remembering the evening before. He couldn't remember where the soft things came from, he recognized some as blankets, yet much thicker and softer than the one he had in the shed when he still was with his old Masters.

The other things, he didn't have a name for again, were soft lumps he found he could squish when he studied them.

Following his instincts and need to hide he burrowed under the blankets, curling up loosely and drifting off again.

---

Some time later Blue woke up at the same time as usual, despite having deactivated the alarm of his clock to not scare Red.

Blue got up and carefully crept across the room to look after Red without waking him.

All he saw was a mess of blankets, with a boney foot and tail peeking out from under it at one end, and a cranium covered in red magic fever sweat at the other.

Slowly, like a sloth in slowmotion, Blue reached out, grabbed the edge of the blanket over Red's skull and lifted it carefully.

Red was deeply asleep, apparently peaceful, thank the stars. His breathing was even and deep, no indications of pain, discomfort or any kind of breathing problems.

Blue lowered the blanket the way it had been, turned to his closet, got dressed and silently left the room.

He knew Stretch would sleep until breakfast would be ready, so there was no concern about him accidentally waking Red.

Blue made some oatmeal for himself and his brother and heated up some soup for Red. Undyne's examination had confirmed that Red had been starved and Blue was afraid he couldn't handle a heavy meal. But fingerfoods and soup should be okay and he hadn't had any problems with the fries the evening before.

In his head Blue began to put a vague diet plan for Red together, also considering the possibility of Red not knowing how to use silverware. He'd reacted to the fries as if he never had any before, what was very likely.

When Blue had everything ready he put the bowls on a tray, plus a bottle of mustard for Red, one with honey for Stretch and three mugs and a pot with hot chocolate, marshmallows and spray cream.

When he reached the foot of the stairs Stretch left his room, still half asleep like always. They made eye contact, Stretch motioned with his head to Blue's door in question and Blue nodded.

Stretch nodded back, then snapped his fingers and grabbed the tray with blue Magic from his brother. Blue got up the stairs and opened the door to his room for Stretch.

The smell of food woke Red like a spell. They heard his low whine and Blue started humming again.

Red fell silent and waited for the brothers, ducked under his blankets in his nest.

Blue sat down where the backside of the dresser jutted out over the side of Red's mattress, and leaned his back against the dresser. Stretch sat crosslegged next to him, putting down the tray in front of them.

Red peeked over the edge of his nest, sniffing audibly for the food scents. Blue put the soup and a mug with hot chocolate just outside the nest, keeping the mustard with him for now. Red needed to eat something substantial first. Leaving Red be so he could come out of hiding in his own time, they began to eat their own breakfast, talking softly about what they planned to do today.

"I think i'll go and talk to the dogs. I wanna ask AD to come over tomorrow to talk to Red. I know the others will want to help too, but they'll also want to meet him immediately, and i don't think that would be good. It surely would overwhelm him. AD is friendly and level headed, he can control his excitement."

Blue listened and nodded. "Good idea brother. I'll stay home and try to bond with Red a little. I could read to him."

"Sounds good, bro. Maybe it'll help get him to speak."

While they talked Red had mustered up the courage to sit up and take the soup. When none of the brothers reacted to that he drew the connection to the evening before, when they didn't react as well when he took the food that was meant for him. He sniffed at the soup, then testingly lapped at it and licked his teeth at the taste. He drank the soup in small careful sips from the bowl until it was gone.

Then he eyed the mug as he put the bowl back. He took it and, like with the soup, gave the rich cream a testing lick. Creamy sweetness melted on his tongue and his Eye Lights dilated and became fuzzy. He gave a meek sqeak of delight, catching the attention of the brothers who watched him from the corners of their Eye Sockets and kept talking. Red froze when he discovered the rich aromatic cocoa under the sweet cream and marshmallows. He visibly savored every sip and licked the inside of his cup clean when it eventually was empty.

He flinched when Blue slowly reached his hand out for the mug. It took a few seconds for Red to understand and when it clicked he handed it to Blue and ducked back into hiding.

When he heard something being put down outside of his hiding spot he peeked out and his Sockets widened when he saw his mug had been refilled.

The brothers exchanged a look when Red huffed, his tail thumping on the mattress, and took the mug. Feeling full already he took his time finishing his second helping of hot chocolate.

Getting sleepy again he put the cup on the floor outside of his nest and settled back to doze off.

Blue put the mustard bottle inside the nest and left with Stretch. While his brother would go and talk to the dogs, he would do the dishes and clean up a little. Maybe he could do the laundry...

Chapter Text

The day went by quietly.

Blue spent most of the morning cleaning the kitchen, then the living room, absentmindedly thinking about a good place for a hidey hole there for Red.

At some point he received a text from Stretch that AD had agreed to come over tomorrow, and that he had an idea how to show Red to the other dogs without him getting overwhelmed.

Blue sent a 'Thank You' back and asked Stretch if he could go get groceries, giving him a list he put together with Red's needs in mind.

After that he put his phone on silent and made a snack for himself and Red.

He knocked gently on his door before entering so Red wouldn't get scared (too much).

He softly greeted Red when he approached his nest, but not too loud in case his charge was sleeping.

He wasn't.

Red was wide awake and awaited Blue with an anxious expression on his face.

He lifted his head a little when he saw the food, sniffing curiously. Blue found it kinda cute. He noticed the crack on Red's mandible had faded to a hardly noticable hairline crack. Good. That meant Red was healing.

He sat down in the same spot like for breakfast and put the bowl with cut up fruit between him and Red so they both could reach it. Then he took the book, he had brought, from his inventory, opened it at the beginning and began to read aloud. It was a childrens book with simple wording for the youngest kids to understand.

Red seemed to listen in earnest for a while, then the food became more interesting again. Eyeing Blue and the bowl Red visibly battled with himself, before he eventually began to inch closer to the food.

Blue pretended not to notice, keeping reading instead and trying hard not to burst out into a laughing fit.

When Red was as close to the fruit bowl as possible without leaving his safe space he locked his Eye Lights on Blue while incredibly slow reaching for the food.

Blue had a really hard time keeping a straight face. Casually he reached into his pocket, pulling out and messing with his phone before discretely pointing the camera at Red and filming his 'absolutely sneaky' approach on the fruit bowl, to show his brother when he'd be back home.

He didn't react when Red snatched a strawberry and pulled his hand back into the safety of his nest. Blue heard sniffing, licking, then eating noises and again the light thumping of Red's tail.

Red repeated this game a few times with different kinds of fruit until he had tasted each one. Then he picked his favorites, seemingly banana, raspberry, pear and strawberry, but he ate from the other fruits as well.

When Blue reached for the fruit at some point, Red froze, like he just noticed he had wandered into a minefield. He watched Blue closely, who was well aware of it and ignored Red on purpose.

After a while Red dared to reach for the food again, not taking his eyes from Blue even once.

After he ate a few more pieces of fruit and Blue eating some now and then himself, Red apparently understood that the bowl indeed was for them both. He finally relaxed a little more again and turned his attention on Blue, at least seeming to listen. Maybe he really tried to understand the story?

When Blue had enough fruit he carefully reached over, touching his fingertips to Red's cranium. The feral skeleton froze for a second, then, when Blue gently scratched his head, he shyly leaned into the touch and started wagging his tail again.

When lunchtime came Blue got up, telling Red he was going to make lunch. He felt Red's Eye Lights following him out of the room.

Blue went to the kitchen and made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for them both.

When he returned to the room and gently called out to Red that he was back with food, he received a yip as answer for the first time.

Red sat in his usual spot, watching and apparently awaiting Blue.

At first he looked fearful at the red liquid in the bowl before him. Blue watched him, wondering what might be bothering the other.

He saw the exact moment Red caught a whiff of the soup's aroma. He blinked, tilted his head and sniffed again. Carefully he cowered down and sniffed at the soup, his face lighting up and he sat back up, took the bowl and tried a tiny sip. He licked his teeth and seemed to focus on the taste, before taking another, bigger sip. Red drank his soup and tried the grilled cheese when the bowl was empty.

Blue finally turned his attention on his own meal.

When Red was done with his food he scooted closer to Blue again and watched him with a contemplative look, obviously thinking about something. He seemed to fight with himself before he eventually fixed Blue with a highly focused frown.

"Mmmm... M-... Mmm-mm..." he really seemed to struggle, as if he was choking on whatever he wanted to say like it was a fishbone stuck in his throat. Blue held his tongue, he didn't want to interrupt Red's obvious concentration.

"M-... M-master," he finally got out, eyeing Blue nervously.

Blue gleamed. "I knew you can speak. Good job, Red," he praised, until the word actually registered.

...

Did he really just call him 'Master'?

"Uhm, what... did you just say? Can you say it again?"

"M-master," Red repeated dutifully, looking hopeful and adoringly at Blue.

Blue didn't know what to think.

In a way it warmed his Soul that Red seemed to get used to him and began to talk.

But.

Why would Red call him Master?

He was concerned.

But he didn't want Red to think he did something wrong. That could be counterproductive. Maybe he just had to teach Red what to call him.

He gently patted Red's head. "That's quite good, Red. But can you say Blue?"

Red leaned into the touch again and looked at Blue, obviously not understanding what he meant.

Blue pointed his free hand at where his Soul was hidden behind his sternum and tried again. "Blue. Can you say Blue? Bllluuuueee..." he stretched his name like a rubber band.

Red tilted his head and... finally, after a few more repititions, seemed to understand what Blue wanted.

He furrowed his brow in concentration and made some noises that sounded like he tried to figure out how to form the right sounds and syllables.

His first actual try already sounded promising. "'llll-ooooo?"

"B-. Llluue."

"Wh- lllluuue?"

"Way better,' Blue praised. "It's b-. B-. Blue."

---

This went on for a while, Red obviously struggling to pronounce a 'B'. He didn't get past a sharpish huffing noise.

Blue didn't want Red to get frustrated over his first tries and settled on 'lue for now. Maybe he should try to teach Red his real name? Sans? Would that be easier for him?

When Stretch returned home he heard talking from Blue's room. He went upstairs and made his presence known by giving a calm "Blue, Red, i'm home."

When he entered the room he found Red half in Blue's lap. Blue gave him chin scratches with one hand and had the other around his shoulders.

He acknowledged his brother's presence by looking up at him and flashing him a bright smile, before returning his attention to Red.

"Can you say it again, Red? Please?"

Red Looked up at Blue when the latter stopped scritching his chin to point at himself.

Red tilted his head. Then. "Sansss? 'Lue?"

Blue beamed and showered Red in praise and pets. Then he looked up at his brother.

"Impressive bro. You got him to speak?"

Blue sighed, his smile fell a little. "Actually he started on his own. Look at this." Blue picked up his phone and opened a video he made while practicing with Red. He gave Stretch the phone and the taller skeleton took it and started the video.

The camera was pointed at Red who paid it no mind, instead kept his gaze locked on Blue behind the camera. "Okay Red. Who am i?" "Mmmaster!" was the confident response. "*sigh* No, Red. It's Blue. Or Sans. Can you say Sans?" "Sss-... sssssaaaa- Sssaaannnsssss?" "That was really good. I'm so proud of you, Red." Red smiled back, a little crooked. "Sansss! Master... Master Sansss!" Then the video stopped, cutting of Blue's sigh.

Stretch gave Blue his phone back. "Did he really call you-"

"Yeah," Blue interrupted him, not wanting Red to keep holding onto this particular word. "I tried to teach him my nickname. Yet it looks like he is struggling with the pronounciation of some letters. That's why i taught him my real name. He doesn't get the B right yet."

Stretch squatted beside his brother and pointed at himself. "Heya Red. Can you say Stretch?"

Red seemed still uncomfortable and/or intimidated by the taller brother. He visibly shrunk back, seeking refuge with Blue.

Blue projected again safe, calm, not hurt, calming Red down. The small monster seemed to concentrate, Blue and Stretch waiting patiently.

Finally Red tried. "S- ssss... S'rrrredge?" He looked uncertain at Stretch.

"Eh, quite good for the first attempt. It's Stretch. Ssss't'rrrreeeeetch."

---

A few more attempts later they settled on S'retch for now. It was close enough.

Blue eventually went to the kitchen to start on dinner while Stretch stayed to spend some time with Red as well.

Since Red seemed to still be afraid of him he kept his hands to himself and picked up the reading where Blue had bookmarked the story.

Red curled up in his nest, hiding under a blanket, but still listening.

Blue made chicken noodle soup and ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. He also made fruit tea and brought a fresh bottle of mustard for Red. And honey for Stretch, of course.

Dinner went by peacefully, Red developed quite an appetite, which was good. It meant he got better.

After dinner Blue checked Red's temperature and found it normal. Another good thing.

Blue offered Red the mustard bottle with one hand, holding out the other. Red looked at the bottle, knowing its contents and wanting it. He looked at Blue, uncertain, then tried to follow his gaze. Finally it clicked and Red gave Blue the empty one, he still had in his nest. Blue smiled and handed Red the mustard.

He gave him a pet to the head and went to bed.

When he checked on Red later he found him half curled up, his legs and tail slightly entangled with his blankets, the bottle in one hand, tip between his teeth while he suckled it in his sleep. He looked so precious. So innocent. Free of any sorrow and fear.

Blue took a picture and made it his display wallpaper. He'd show it to Papy in the morning.

Satisfied that Red was fine he went back to bed.

Chapter Text

The next morning found him jolting up from a nightmare, which already faded from his memory. He looked around and recognized his warm half-hidden place in the house of his new Masters.

Master Blue, or Sans, and Master Stretch. He got their names right in his head, but he just couldn't for his life get them out his mouth right.

At least they didn't seem to mind.

It was them who wanted him to speak, after all. And they made him keep trying, but they did it in a not-bad way, like practically everything else, was there a word for that? Were they going to teach him? How was he supposed to speak when he didn't know words?

He wasn't sure about it.

His thoughts were interrupted when Blue woke up and came over to change (he always kept the open closet door between him and Red to keep his modesty).

"Good morning, Red," he greeted.

He tilted his head and furrowed his brow. "... g-... goo'... moooo'ning?"

Blue beamed. "That was quite good already, Red. Good job." And he gave him one of those soft touches on his skull again, making his tail wag.

Smaller Master Blue really seemed like the opposite of old Master and other Master. He still wasn't so sure about Master Stretch, though. He just looked way too much like old Master. And he hadn't much experience with him yet.

Master Blue left the room, leaving the door ajar, his footsteps fading outside, apparently descending a stair of some sort.

From somewhere downstairs(?) soon came faint clanking and clattering noises. After those had went on for a while he heard shuffling and movement from the next room.

Not long after, the other door creaked open almost simultanously with Master Blue's steps nearing the stairs.

He heard both Masters exchanging 'good morning's, before some weird Magic filled the air outside and Master Blue came up the stairs and held the door open for Master Stretch, who carried a tray with food.

This time they didn't put a bowl in front of him, but a plate with several of those soft squares with... stuff... between them. Master Blue said something about food that he didn't could understand, but he scratched his skull while he spoke so it couldn't be something bad. Right? He also got some of this hot drink stuff with the white stuff on top again and his tail thumped wildly onto his blanket.

When the Masters started to eat, he dug in as well. The squares tasted all different, but in a not-bad way. He ate them all and then enjoyed his hot drink.

While he licked his mug as clean as he could, Master Stretch's clothes buzzed. He pulled a shiny rectangle from the back of his pants and looked at it, before talking to Master Blue.

Whatever this was about, Master Blue only nodded, stood, took the tray with the plates, after refilling his mug, and left the room.

Master Stretch left as well but his steps went neither down the stairs nor back to his room behind the wall Master Blue's bed stood against, but the other direction, and through a door into a room behind the wall opposite of Master Blue's bed. He heard Master Stretch rummaging around a little, and then coming back already. At the same time Master Blue returned from down the stairs.

They both sat next to his safe spot, Master Blue saying something about his wounds and touching him again, while Master Stretch sat down a white box with a red cross on it and opened it.

Master Blue slowly took one of his hands and began to unwrap the white cloth while Master Stretch stood again and went once more to the new room.

He heard something like rushing water for a few minutes, before Master Stretch came back with a bright bowl filled with water and a small cloth.

He sat the bowl in front of Master Blue, who inspected the wrist he just unwrapped. With one hand he grabbed the cloth from the water, pressed out the excess water and began cleaning his wrist.

The water was neither too hot nor too cold, it was warm and didn't feel too bad on his raw wrist. The bone was chafed and inflamed, it stung a little, but after everything his old Masters had put him through, he didn't mind.

Master Stretch's clothes buzzed again and, without looking at his rectangle, he got up and went down the stairs.

---

When Stretch opened the door, AD greeted him with a fistbump. He wore a blue poloshirt with a breast pocket, where his phone peeked out, navyblue cargoshorts and a wireless headset in one of his ears. His white fur looked extra fluffy today.

"Hey Stretch, how's it hanging? How's your mysterious guest doing?" AD asked.

"Heya fluffball. Red's doing better, apparently. Blue's just changing his bandages." Stretch stepped back from the door to let AD inside and lead him to the stairs. "He started talking, sort of. It seems like he never learned anything about how to speak. I really hope you can help us help him. At least he trusts Blue enough to let him touch him.

What's that idea you talked about?"

They stood outside the room Red was in. AD pulled his phone from his breast pocket and unlocked it. He opened a zoomies-call, the participating monsters were Greater Dog, Lesser Dog, Dog #1 and #2, Undyne and Alphys. It was settled that #1 and #2 would translate everything for Undyne and Alphys so they could ask questions and understand the answers. AD had already a list of questions from both of them he was supposed to ask Red, beside the things the brothers wanted to communicate. He could hear everyone through the headset and had a wide range mic so they also would be able to hear Red directly, it was something Undyne put together for the Guards a long time ago.

AD switched from facecam to the one on the backside and put his phone back into the pocket, the camera pointing ahead, before Stretch lead him into the room.

For a few seconds he just watched, asking qietly if everyone could see, getting six affirmatives.

In a nest of pillows and soft blankets sat a small skeleton, looking almost uncannily like Blue, despite his red Magic and sharp teeth. He gave a whine when Blue wiped the washcloth over an especially sensitive spot on the outside of his wrist. Blue shushed and pet the hurt monster before carefully continuing what he was doing.

When Stretch and AD came closer Red looked up at them, first at Stretch, then at AD, and his Eye Sockets became impossibly large. He started hyperventilating and trembling so hard that his bones rattled.

When Blue touched Red in an attempt to calm him, he shrieked and pressed himself into the corner, curled up under one of his blankets.

AD could hear the others over his headset, they were shaken by the fear the poor pup showed.

He crouched down and scooted forward, stopping at the edge of the nest. This safe space was important for Red. Gentle and low, he sqeaked to Red. "It's okay, pup, i won't hurt you. I'm AD and i want to help you." At the same time he projected as much calming and friendly intend as he was able to.

Slowly, very slowly, the rattling subsided and Red's erratic breathing evened out a little. "Don't hurt me, please. I'll do whatever you say, but don't hurt me," he whimpered.

AD had to swallow hard at the amount of fear and terror the poor monster radiated. It was so thick in the air it was almost palpable.

"Shhh, calm down, pup. No one is gonna hurt you. Why should we? You did nothing wrong. You're a good boi."

Red barely shook anymore but gripped the blanket around him tighter. "Wh-... what's a 'good boi'? I don't know what that means," he asked meekly.

AD's expression softened further. "Hm. A good boi is someone who didn't do anything wrong. The opposite of a bad boi. Do you know what opposite means?"

The blanket moved, indicating that Red nodded his head yes. "Like hot and cold? Or up and down?"

AD smiled despite Red not seeing him. "Exactly. You're quite smart, pup."

"Not smart," Red whimpered, "i don't know much words only what Masters made me know. And a few others. I have not many words and even in noises i don't know much. I'm stupid, like Masters always told me."

AD frowned. "Seems to me like nobody ever taught you anything, and how are you supposed to know things like that? You're not stupid, you never had the chance to learn. And, who are those Masters?"

"My old Masters had me my whole life. Master looked a lot like Master Stretch, but had sharp teeth and claws and red Magic. He dragged me around on my chains, from the... shed... to whereever he wanted me to fight for him, or to the basement, to other Master.

Other Master was tall and made me take stuff that did weird things to me. He called it 'test'? Or 'eggspairment'? Something like that. He also stung me with a needle and i would get sick or twitchy in my whole body. It hurt and other Master almost always got angry and i don't know why."

"You were in a shed?"

Red nodded, still hidden under his blanket. "Uh-huh. It was always cold and i had only my shorts and a thin blanket to sleep on."

"Why had you only those shorts? Why no sweater or jacket? Is there a reason?"

"I don't know what those things are. But when i shift only my shorts would not be destroyed."

"What do you mean by 'shift', pup?"

Red whined distressed and began to panic. "I don't want to, it hurts. Please don't make me shift. Master always made me shift when he wanted me to fight, getting big and... and... bad. He made me do bad things when i shifted. Please... no!"

AD sqeaked gently to soothe Red. "It's okay, pup. Calm down. Nobody here will make you shift, or do anything you don't want to. Promise."

Red sniffled, but calmed down and, finally, peeked out of his blanket bundle. "W-what's 'promise'?"

AD had to think of how to explain. "Hm, if one makes a promise, they have to keep it. It's like... if i say 'i promise i'll never hurt you' i'm bound to never hurt you. If i would hurt you despite i promised not to, i would break the promise and breaking a promise knowingly is bad."

"Knowingly? Does that mean you can break a promise without knowing?"

AD nodded. "Yes. Sometimes there might be a misunderstanding or things happen you can't control, that make it impossible to keep a promise. Like, when you promise someone to visit at a certain time, but then you get sick and can't go. Nobody would hold it against you if you couldn't keep a promise because of that. You understand?"

Red nodded. "And you promise i don't have to shift? Never again?"

"Not if you don't want to. Promise."

This actually made Red smile.

AD smiled back and refocused on his questions. Blue also hadn't finished cleaning and rebandaging Red's wounds. "Um, do you think you could come closer so Blue can tend to your wounds while we talk? Please?"

Red hesitated. Then he slung the blanket around his shoulders and crept closer, on all fours. Eyeing AD still warily he sat down as close to Blue as possible and lifted his unbandaged hand for him. Blue took it gently and petted Red's head.

AD scooted a little backwards to give Red some space, before he continued the conversation. "You seem to like the pets, pup?"

"The... the touches?" AD nodded. Red furrowed his brow. "What means 'like'? If it means that i... want more, then... yes, i... like... it."

"That's exactly what it means. See? You're not stupid, you found out on your own. You're quite smart."

Red blushed, not used to being praised.

"Okay," AD said, "there are some things we would like to ask you, but since the brothers can't understand you, i am here. Just tell me if you don't understand something, okay? And if there is something you don't want to talk about, you don't have to, just tell me."

Red nodded.

AD nodded back in acknowledgement. "Good. So, what's your name?"

"I don't have one. Masters said i'm not worth a name. They called me things like worthless, stupid, useless or beast."

AD sighed heartbroken. "Everybody deserves a name. The brothers call you 'Red' because of the colour of your Magic. How's that for a name?"

Red's eyes widened. "So, that's why Master Blue uses this word everytime he's talking to me. ...I... i think i like it."

AD smiled. "So Red it is. Nice to meet you, Red."

Red tilted his head, thinking. Then he smiled shyly and replied, "nice to... meet you... too? AD?"

AD wagged his tail happily and petted Red's other hand, not wanting to risk scaring him by reaching for his skull. "That was good. Good job, Red," he praised.

And Red beamed.

Over the headset AD heard several 'awwww's and an 'adorable', but he couldn't tell who said what.

Blue had rebandaged Red's hand and carefully took the other, which AD had been petting.

With his dominant hand finished Red grabbed his mug and took a sip. AD tilted his head, his ears flopping a little at the motion. "Do you like hot chocolate?"

Red looked up. "Is that what it's called? Hot chocolate?"

AD nodded, humming confirming. "Yeah, what other kinds of food do you like?"

Red looked into his mug as if he could find the answers there. "I don't know the names of the food stuff. My old Masters only gave me food waste, like potato peels or what else was left after Master made food for him and other Master. So far i like everything the new Masters gave me, especially the hot chocolate... and the stuff in the squishy bottle."

"Squishy bottle?" AD had no idea what Red was talking about.

Red looked behind himself and his tail slithered through the blankets, eventually producing a yellow plastic bottle.

"That's a mustard bottle," AD explained, "so you like mustard?" Red nodded.

AD frowned. "And those old Masters never gave you real food? Never ever?" Red shook his head no.

"N-no wonder he's i-in s-s-such bad sh-shape," came Undyne's voice over the headset. AD decided to move on. "Red, do you know how old you are?"

Red thought hard, crinkling his forehead. "I don't know numbers," he finally confessed, "but i know other Master exchanged the... cal-ender(?)... that much times since i grew out of stripes," with this he held four fingers up.

AD cocked an eyebrow. "You wore stripes?" Red nodded. "Uh-huh. One day other Master said something about me growing out of stripes and Magic. And the same day i shifted for the first time...

... it was terrible. It hurt so much. Since then i only had my shorts because i couldn't control the shifting at first and tore any other clothes."

Blue was done with Red's other hand and, very gentle, went for the bandage on the neck.

"And they chained you up since then?" AD hated those so-called old Masters of Red more and more.

"Yes. And they muzzled me whenever they made me shift."

"Wouldn't those chains just fall off when you shifted from big to small?"

"Other Master put his Magic into the chains and muzzle. That way they got smaller when i shifted back. But they always hurt, were always too tight." Red began to cry and it took a while for him to calm down again.

AD decided to return to the original question. "So, you grew out of stripes and the calendar got replaced four times. That would mean you're seventeen. At least here monsters grow out of stripes when they turn thirteen." Red shrugged. "Like i said, i don't know numbers."

AD smiled and patted Red's head. "Don't worry, pup. We'll teach you everything."

Chapter Text

AD gave Red an encouraging smile.

"Okay, let's move on. I'd like to check you up, so we can find out if you need help with certain things since you've been chained up for so long."

Red looked a little nervous.

"It's nothing to be afraid of," he assured, "it's okay.

First, could you stand up?"

Red nodded and stood.

On all fours.

His shoulders were curled forward and his back was rounded to an arc, like one of those extremely overbred german shepherds or a whippet, his tail tucked between his legs, his knees bent.

AD smiled a little sad. "I meant upright, actually."

"You mean.... on the hindlegs? ...Like... like the Masters?"

AD nodded, "exactly, yes."

Red looked between his arms to his feet, and whimpered uncertain.

"Blue will help you, if you like," AD offered.

Red nodded, again close to tears.

AD nodded back and explained to Blue what he wanted. Blue nodded and stood, offering Red his hands to hold onto.

Red sat back on his haunches, grabbing Blue's arms and pulling himself up, until he stood as straight as he could.

The issues were obvious now.

His posture resembled elderly humans in those anime Undyne and Alphys loved to watch, weak bent legs, hunched, almost rounded spine line. And he had visibly trouble with his coordination when bipedal.

"I don't need a healer to see that he will need a shit-ton of ergo- and physiotherapy. Poor bastard," Alphys growled.

"N-not to m-mention his men-mental d-development. H-he is p-practically o-on the s-same l-level l-like a t-toddler. He'll n-need a l-lot of stimuli a-and t-teaching un-until he'll b-be able to l-lead a normal l-life. Th-that's going t-to take y-years," Undyne concluded.

She gave AD further instructions for the exam.

While he was listening, AD viewed Red, clinging onto Blue's arms with both hands, unsteady on his feet, hunched over.

When they sat next to each other Blue and Red had appeared only slightly different in height, Red reaching approximately up to Blue's browbones. Now, standing up, he barely reached the other's collarbone because of his bad posture.

"You're doing great, Red, very good." AD praised, coaxing an uncertain yet hopeful smile out of the small monster.

AD responded with a warm smile of his own.

"Now, pup, can you stretch your arms for me? And spread your shoulders? Can you show me, how flexible you are?"

Red stretched his arms as much as he could, but the chains had always been too short, not allowing him to fully stretch his limbs.

To spread his arms and shoulders he had to let go of Blue with one hand, but he was afraid he would fall if he let go.

AD and Blue saw his fear and while AD explained to Blue what he had asked of Red, Blue took the smaller into a hug, holding him around his ribs. Carefully holding Red upright, he moved behind him wrapping his arms around Red's ribcage under his arms, so the other could move freely while still being held securely.

Slowly Red calmed down and, hesitantly, spread his arms and moved them like AD told him to do, showering Red with praise and friendly words the whole time.

After that Red was allowed to sit back down, Blue helping him to get down without falling.

AD got further instructions from Undyne, relaying them to Red and demonstrating, like rolling his head on his neck, or touching the thumbs to each finger of the respective hand and other simple fine motor excercises.

Undyne also wanted to see the state of Red's feet, so AD asked Red to lean back on his hands and show them his feet.

Since those, to him, strange excercises didn't hurt and gave him something to do, Red obliged without hesitation, putting his feet on the edge of the nest.

They were covered in cracks and scars, but everything looked healed as far as it would since Red had stayed in his nest for the last few days, and rested his feet.

AD asked Red to move his toes, one after the other and all at once, curl them, bend and stretch his feet. Following the Royal Scientist's instructions he carefully touched Red's feet, stroking his thumb upwards from heel to toe to check if there might be pain or numbness in Red's foot bones.

Neither was the case, but Red giggled since he was ticklish. It was such a sweet sound, especially coming from such a badly hurt monster.

AD and Blue grinned at each other and the white dog monster tickled Red's feet on purpose now, making him squeal and wiggle his toes. Red's laughter was contagious and Blue and AD were helpless and giggled as well, AD playing 'this little piggy' with one of Red's feet.

Finally he showed Mercy and let go of Red's limbs, giving the wheezing monster the chance to catch his breath.

Eventually the small skeleton found his voice and asked a lot of questions about what just had happened, leading to AD patiently explaining what tickling is, that some people liked to being tickled while others don't, what laughing is and what it means and why it's so contagious. Undyne helped with that over the phone.

Red decided that he liked to laugh and how it made him breathless and kinda dizzy, in a good way, and that he didn't mind being tickled, as long as it was someone he knew and was comfortable with(AD had explained that word to him), like Blue or AD, maybe not Stretch, yet.

With that the exam was done and AD moved on to the question they all wanted an answer to.

"Red, can you tell me how you got here, do you know?"

"I'm not sure," the young skeleton replied.

AD nodded. "It's okay, can you tell me what you remember?"

Red nodded. "I thought Master was mad at me again, he came into the shed like he went into battle. He grabbed one of the chains and dragged me through the snow, to the basement behind the house.

Other Master was there, like always, and worked on a... machine?... Master chained me to the wall and told me to... to... shift... Then, he muzzled me... it hurt so much...

When other Master was done with his machine thing, Master took the wall-chain off again and told me to go to where some weird door had opened. It was like... a hole?... in the world? I don't know.

Other Master put his Magic into the chains and muzzle and Master told me to go through the weird door-thing. But i was scared and couldn't move. Master got angry and threw his bone attacks at me. I panicked and jumped without looking where i was going.

The last thing i remember is other Master's voice, sounding angry and a 'Boom'?... i think? The next thing i know is waking up in this room."

While Red spoke, AD had written everything down so the others would be able to reread Red's story if necessary.

What he noticed himself was how Red's description of his former 'home' matched with the brothers' house. They had a shed, as well as a basement on the backside, and Red had mentioned snow. And one of his 'old Masters' had looked like Stretch? Something really strange was going on.

Chapter Text

Alphys noticed something that seemed off to her, if Red's story was true.

"If they didn't care at all about him, why would they give him a golden tooth replacement? Or a replacement at all?"

AD thought about it and chose his words carefully. "That golden tooth looks quite cool on you. How did you get it? Could you tell me?"

Red tapped the fake tooth with his finger and looked at AD in silent question. When the dog nodded Red rubbed his cheek as if someone had slapped him.

"It was long ago. I had just grown out of stripes. Master tried to force me to shift, but i managed to run away. The Masters caught me before i could reach the dark and wet place. They dragged me back and... punished me. I lost my tooth and other Master made this one.

After that i escaped a few times and tried to hide. But the Masters always found me and... after a w-while i... learned?... that it... was... the...

...

... the tooth...!"

Red paled and looked like he was about to panic. His breaths became shallow, short and fast. Until he was hyperventilating.

Between gasps he got distressed sounds out.

Blue didn't know what to do, if he touched Red right now it might be helpful, but it also could worsen the situation and make Red freak out like before.

AD scooted as close as possible without entering the nest. He sat right in front of the panicked monster and began to talk to him. "Red. You need to breathe, pup. Can you hear me? You're safe here. If anyone showed up to take you, we will protect you, Red. You're not there anymore, and we won't let anyone take you back. Just focus on my voice, pup, and breathe with me. In... and out... in... and out..."

AD kept going until Red managed to follow his lead and slowly got his breathing under control again.

"That's it. There you are, pup. Good job. You with us again?"

Red nodded and rubbed his face with the ball of his hand. "I'm sorry," he whimpered miserably and meekly.

AD smiled softly. "It's fine. You've been through a lot. There's nothing to be sorry for, you did nothing wrong.

And for your tooth. I'm sure one of our friends can make you a new one, one that wouldn't give you away."

Red sniffled and rubbed his face again. "Really? The Masters wouldn't find me anymore?"

"Promise," AD huffed and puffed out his chest. "We will do anything possible to keep you safe from any harm and help you get better. I give you my word as Royal Guard."

Red sniffled again and wiped a few last tears away before nodding. "Okay. Thank you."

"I think this is enough for now," Stretch said, "Red is still recovering and all this is a little much at once."

AD nodded and pulled his phone out, switching his camera again and ending the zoomies-call. After that he put his phone back and looked at Red. "You look tired, pup. Maybe you should sleep a little while i talk to Blue and Stretch."

Red fidgeted with his hands, his tail winding this way and that. "Could i..." he visibly fought for the courage to ask his question. "Could i... get... pets? ...again? It... feels... good..."

AD smiled softly and carefully pet Red's head. "Of course you can, pup. We'll give you all the pets you want. Now lay down and rest. We are here to protect you."

Red snuggled close to Blue, put his head on the rim of his nest so AD could reach him without effort, and closed his Eye Sockets, listening to the, to him, uncomprehendable gibberish that was the talking of the others and let himself be consumed by his exhaustion.

---

AD rifled through his notes, recounting what he'd learned about Red's past.

"So, first of all, he never got a name, and he's fine with being called Red. Second, he didn't mention anything about his birth, but as far as he can remember, he was never treated like a person.

When he grew out of stripes he obtained an ability he and his 'old Masters' call 'shifting'. If i understand correctly he's talking about shapeshifting, he said he'd become 'big and bad', apparently his 'Master' forced him to fight in his shifted form. He's afraid of it. He doesn't want to fight and hurt anyone. He also said that the shifting is painful. I promised him that he wouldn't have to do it, if he didn't want to." The brothers nodded.

"So, this whole 'Master' calling thing is because of his upbringing?" Blue asked.

AD nodded. "Yeah, he only knew those two other skeletons he calls 'Master' and 'other Master'. I don't understand it entirely. Especially since he said this 'Master' looked like Stretch, only with sharp teeth and red Magic."

Stretch didn't seem too put out at that. He seemed to have a theory already. "Maybe that's why he's still so tense around me. Can't blame him for that."

Blue seemed to be in thought himself. "He looks so much like me, and this... 'Master', he spat the word like venom, "looked like Papy... what was this other skeleton, this 'other Master' like?"

AD shrugged. "He didn't tell me, only that he always was working on something in the basement. Red mentioned him making him take 'weird stuff' and injections, making him feel weird or sick. He didn't get the word right, but i think this 'other Master' used Red for experiments and tests."

Stretch sighed and stroke his hand over his own skull. "So, what do we have so far? They held him like an animal, forced him to fight, probably even kill, used him as lab rat, neglected his mental and physical health, abused him, did i forget anything?"

"We still don't know what exactly happened when they drugged him," AD said darkly.

"What ever, we're not going to let anything bad happen to Red, ever again," Blue growled.

Stretch and AD nodded determined at this sentiment.

Stretch got his phone out and started texting. "I have a theory about Red's 'old Masters', but i'd prefer to talk about it with Undyne present." He sent his text and focused on AD again. "What else did he tell you?"

AD told them. About Red practically being starved, how much he really didn't know, that he got their names right in animal talk, how he got here.

The last information only supported Stretch's theory.

Chapter Text

While Red slept, AD went to his own home to get some stuff.

He and the brothers had agreed that AD would stay close to Red for the time being. They talked it out with Alphys and the Captain agreed to give AD time off while the brothers would, partially, return to their duties. They would switch each day so that always one of them would stay home and the other patrol their district.

Red was still asleep when AD returned and set up his sleeping bag.

Later, Red woke up to the smell of dinner.

He immediately spotted AD, sitting where Blue used to sit during meals and playing on his phone.

"Are you... staying?" Red asked, still not used to being allowed to ask questions and a little anxious about it.

AD looked up from his phone and gave Red a gentle smile. "Yeah, i'll stay for a while. To teach you how to speak Common and for some other things. I'm here to help you with whatever you might need help with. No matter how long it will take."

A shy smile tugged at the corners of Red's mouth. "Thank you... i really don't understand why everyone here wants to help me... I'm not... used to it?"

"It's okay, pup," AD replied and gently petted Red's head. "This place is just entirely different from where you've come from. It's probably a little overwhelming and scary, since you don't know how to take it or what to expect. Am i right?"

Red nodded, rubbing his skull against AD's palm. "Yes! That's exactly how it feels. I've never been treated like this. It's... nice... but it also scares me. I always think that something... bad... will come with whatever nice... stuff... happens, like... there could be... something in the food? Like... what Other Master gave me sometimes, that made me feel funny and he did things with me... it's all blurry, and later i always felt awful.

Or that you want me to do... things i don't want to for the... help and... and the good food and stuff. And that you would take it all away *sniff* again and punish me when... when i won't d-do it..."

Red began to cry.

AD squeaked gently and carefully licked Red's face to comfort him.

"It's okay, pup," he gently shushed, "we'll take it slow. At your pace, okay? One step at a time. And if it becomes too much, we can take a step back."

"Pwomise?" Red sniffled. AD nodded. "Promise. Whatever you need."

"O-okay... thank you..."

Slowly Red calmed down. And began thinking again.

"Umm,... what-... what should i... call you?"

AD was confused for a second, then he reminded himself that Red never had had someone to talk to before and therefore never had a chance to develop any skills necessary for social interaction. Most other people could do it without even thinking about it. Red would have to learn it from the start, especially things like double meanings of phrases, irony, sarcasm and anything else.

"Just call me AD. And please try to remember that no one here is your master. We're all your friends. Okay?"

Red nodded. "Okay. Does that mean i'm not to call M-... the others Master Blue and Master Stretch?"

AD shook his head. "No. Just Blue and Stretch. Or Sans and Papyrus. Those are their real names, but they're using Blue and Stretch as nicknames for a long time now. I don't know why, it's just how it is. You can call them whatever is easier to say for you."

Red nodded again. The next moment, the door opened and the brothers entered, Stretch carrying a tray with food.

Since Red got used to regular meals the brothers brought him something more filling this time.

They had gotten pizza.

The three skeletons and the dog sat together and ate, Red watching the others to figure out how to eat this new food, while AD told the brothers what he and Red had talked about. What Red was afraid of.

Something caught Stretch's attention.

"He...'did things' with Red? What kind of things?"

AD shrugged. "I didn't ask, i was more focused on comforting him."

Stretch nodded. "Fair."

AD turned to Red, who was still stuffing his face with the greasy, cheesy goodness that was pizza. "Hey pup, remember what you told me earlier? About what your 'Other Master' did to you?"

Red nodded.

"Can you tell us what exactly he did?"

Red slowed down in his chewing, thinking. Then he swallowed down the bite in his mouth.

"It's... kinda blurry. He always made me take stuff, put it in my... food. Or he strapped me on his cold metal table and stung a needle in my Soul. Sometimes it made me sleep, or feel dizzy, sometimes it hurt, and sometimes it made me feel hot and... weird. Something red would cover my bones and i had this strange... itch?... between my legs."

AD felt immediately an ice cold shiver run down his spine. He already knew where this was going.

"Other Master had something cover his bones too, only his looked different and had another color. He got on me... and... i don't know... moved?... weird on me. I felt something in me, between my legs. Other Master would make odd noises and after a while... something... filled me? Then Other Master got off me, sometimes he would do it again, unstrapped me and then he or Master would do whatever.

Other Master also would make his bones covered, after making me feel fuzzy, and put this thing in my mouth. He would move his hips weird and the thing over his bones made me choke. But when i tried to take my head away he held me in place.

After a while he would fill up my mouth and make me swallow it.

A few times Master and Other Master did both things at the same time with me...

It felt weird... and it hurt...*sniff*... so bad..."

Red couldn't continue, dissolving into hysterical sobs.

AD scooted closer and gently put an arm around Red and nuzzled him, squeaking softly.

Red wrapped his arms around AD and buried his face in the soft white fur, feeling the vibrations of AD's voice while the dog monster relayed to the brothers what he'd just heard.

Understable that the brothers felt sick. Red, really, had been abused in every way possible.

After a while Red had cried himself to sleep and AD and the brothers talked in hushed voices to not disturb him. Red had practically wrapped himself around AD, seeking comfort and safety in the soft, warm fluff.

"We have a lot on our plate if we want to teach him everything about being a normal monster. But we should take it slow, at least for now. He's still recovering, and he'll need a lot of therapy to work through this whole clusterfuck that is his past life. Are we on the same page here?" AD asked, and the brothers nodded solemnly.

Blue sighed, "poor Red. Every time he tells us something new about himself or his past, it's something even more messed up than the last thing. I'm honestly afraid of what else might come from his mouth when he'll open it the next time."

Stretch nodded. "Feel ya, bro."

AD sighed, agreeing. "At least he doesn't understand yet, what they did to him. That kind of talk can wait until later. I suggest that, for now, we should give him the means to learn and understand. Get him paper and crayons, some toys and plushies, maybe some of those toddler books to learn some basics like colors, counting, and the names of things and animals and so on. To get him to learn proper Common language, i think it's best to start with speech therapy exercises, beginning with the alphabet. Maybe it would be good to teach him sign language as well. It's another way to communicate and a good exercise for his fine motor skills.

We have to start somewhere, but we shouldn't overwhelm Red. When his injuries are healed we can start working on his physical issues. Like correcting his posture and teaching him how to walk upright.

His mental state will hopefully start to get better along the way. But he WILL need proper therapy. Us teaching him how to monster will bring him only so far mentally and psychologically."

The brothers were silent for a second.

"What kind of toys should we get him?" Blue asked, behind his bright blue Eye Lights were the gears visibly turning.

AD thought while he slowly formed his answer. "Besides the mentioned paper and crayons, plushies so he has something to cuddle with, some toys that encourage creativity, like building blocks, or a rubiks cube to stimulate his mind. Puzzles of different kinds... You know, things that help him learn and that he can occupy himself with.

I got the feeling he's way smarter than he thinks of himself. We have to stoke his curiosity. His hunger for knowledge. He doesn't seem to be aware of how naturally he's absorbing any information from his surroundings. I don't know if you noticed how he learned how to eat his pizza just by mimicking us?" The brothers nodded. They had noticed.

So the course for the near future was clear. Coaxing Red out of his shell and waking his curiosity for the things around him. And teaching him the first basics.

AD was right. They had to start somewhere.

Chapter Text

It was the next day.

Undyne had knocked on the skeleton brothers' door after Stretch called her over. It was almost a miracle that Alphys hadn't come with her.

But this would be about science stuff, and Alphys got bored pretty fast by such "ass-complicated shit", how she tended to put it.

Stretch let her in and showed her to Blue's room.

Before he entered he knocked gently and announced his and Undyne's presence.

When they entered, there were AD and Blue, sitting next to the nest and drawing with crayons, together with Red.

They'd gotten him the crayons the day before and AD had explained to him how to use them and that there was nothing he could do wrong with them, as long as he wouldn't draw on things that were hard to clean, like the wallpaper. The best thing to draw on was paper, after all.

At first Red had been very unsure in using the crayons and in his choice of color, especially since he didn't know many colors. But AD had told him the names of the colors and Red, despite being unsure of himself, got them right most of the time whenever AD asked him once in a while if he remembered the color.

That only confirmed AD's suspicion that the small skeleton was way smarter than he thought of himself.

After experimenting a little with how to hold them correctly and what would happen when he drew over one color with another, Red began to try shapes like shaky circles or letters he had seen Other Master scribble down, even if Red didn't know what they meant.

Then he began drawing from memory. Of course it was childlike doodles, but still recognizable.

When Undyne sat down next to Stretch and just watched Red doodling for a moment, she could make out an echo flower, something that looked like Nice Cream Pants, but with the Burger Guy's food cart next to him, a Flowey and some kind of fierce looking beast that Undyne couldn't place.

Meh, she could ask about it when they had chewed through the subject she came here for. Stretch had a theory about where Red had come from, but he hadn't said more on the phone.

She looked at Blue. "H-hi, how had he b-been doing?"

"Better," Blue beamed. "Of course he's still afraid of strangers, but he really seems to open up around AD and me. Sadly he's still nervous and sometimes even skittish around Pap."

Stretch just shrugged. "Eh, when my theory is right, it's no wonder. It is kinda sad, but i can't blame him. I hope he'll come around over time.

AD wrote down what Red told him about how he got here. And... to not drag it out longer than necessary, i think, Red is Sans from another universe."

Everyone, except Red who was still drawing, stared at Stretch, speechless.

"You mean like... a parallel universe? Like in some of those movies from the surface?" AD asked.

Stretch nodded. "Exactly. Could you read to us, what Red told you? Just to make sure that we all heard it from the same source at least once."

AD just shrugged and pulled his notebook from his inventory, flipping through the pages until he found the right one. He read it aloud while his free paw pet Red's head.

The red skeleton paid the conversation no attention, instead he snuggled closer to AD and leaned into the nice touch while keeping on drawing and unconsciously started purring.

---

"S-so, p-putting everything together, it seems l-logic," Undyne finally said. Like always when her mind was occupied with something scientific interesting, her stutter disappeared completely as soon as her thoughts gained momentum.

"The layout of his former 'home', the skeleton that looked so much like Papyrus, the 'dark and wet place' that has to be Waterfall, how he described the surroundings of the other house, and finally, the portal, that, apparently, had brought Red here. Did i forget something?" She looked at the others.

None of them could think of anything. Not right from the top of their heads.

"He... really is another me?" Blue inquired. "And his Papyrus did all those awful things to him. But who is this other guy? The scientist?"

Stretch longed for a cigarette now, but just produced a sucker. "If i'm correct, it's someone who was pretty important to our Underground too, but here something happened and nobody remembers him anymore."

AD tilted his head. "Who? And... how?"

Papyrus took a slow deep breath as if inhaling the smoke of a cigarette. "I don't know why, but i never met anyone who remembers ever hearing the name 'W. D. Gaster'. The royal scientist who once built the Core and studied Souls in order to get us back to the surface. One day he had an accident while doing an experiment with the Core. He and his personal assistant, River, who tried to help him, fell in.

Somehow the concentrated Magic of the Core fused them into one being, before they could get out.

After that, they experienced total amnesia and became the monster we now know as the Riverperson. For everyone else in the Underground it was as if neither Gaster nor River ever existed. There's only the Riverperson. And no one seems ever to wonder, who built the Core.

Gaster was also our father. Kind of. He used his own Soul and Magic to create us, first me, and when i got lonely since i had no one to play with, he made Sans. He was too young to remember that time.

Since the Riverperson didn't remember ever being our father, there was no sense in staying with them. Luckily Muffet found us when she decided to move to Snowdin, and took us in.

Long story short, and personal stories aside, that other skeleton must be Gaster. Red's version of him, that is."

"Do you think that other Gaster made Red and his Papyrus like ours did?" Blue asked. "If so, why would he treat them so differently?"

"Maybe," AD began slowly, "it's because Red is so small. Or he created both for different reasons. A lot in Red's world differs from ours, so why not Gaster's reasoning for his creating Red and the other Papyrus and treating them like he did? And don't forget that we don't know for sure if Red and the other are even brothers or created artificially."

"A-as long as we c-can't get to a-a-ask Red's version of Gaster and P-papyrus, we will n-never kn-kn-know for ssshhhh-ure. Until we m-might get a chance a-at that, w-we should focus o-on R-red," Undyne decided.

The others nodded. Undyne was right. As long as they couldn't reach Red's world, what sounded like a dangerous and horrible idea in itself, there was no point in thinking about it. But Red was here. And he needed them.

Chapter Text

He got better.

It took everything out of him, but he managed to not let them notice that he was inwardly panicking.

When AD pet his head, he scooted closer. He knew no one would think anything of it since he was doing it all the time.

The truth was, when Stretch came in and the tall monster, he once killed on Master's order, followed, it took all his willpower and self-control to not break into a hysterical panic.

Right now he was grateful that only AD could understand him, that gave him an excuse to not talk at all. They didn't even expect him to acknowledge the other monster, apparently they were already happy that he didn't freak out.

Except he was.

What kept him from screaming and pressing himself into the corner was that they weren't paying any attention to him. They talked with the brothers and AD.

Also, AD had promised that no one would ever try to hurt him. And he trusted AD.

Somehow, just by talking with the fluffy dog monster, Red had learned many new words in the time they spent together.

It also seemed to him that he slowly learned to understand certain words in what AD called 'Common language'. Mostly the names of the others and some words they used often.

After AD read from his notes, Red recognized as taken when they talked the very first time, Stretch spoke for a while, with the others reacting or asking questions, when he interpreted the tone of voice correctly.

What he gathered from their conversation, and if he was correct, the new monster's name was Undyne. She, if he was also correct about that, acted way calmer than he remembered. Was she even the same monster?

The one he had killed had been way bulkier looking, but that could just have been because of her armor. She had been mean and attacked him on sight. Okay, he had been in his other form, but Master hadn't even given him any orders yet.

This Undyne wore glasses, a white coat and appeared way smaller without any armor.

He absently began scribbling a doodle of the Undyne he had killed.

...

Wait.

That mean Undyne...

She'd had an eyepatch.

This one here had glasses and was neither missing an eye nor did she sport any visible scars.

This really wasn't her.

He relaxed more and drew more of the monsters he remembered from before.

Without much of his conscious input, his hands just let his memories flow onto the paper until everything blurred in front of him and he pressed his face into AD's side with a whimper.

He felt AD hugging and petting him, squeaking gently to calm him down.

"What's wrong, pup? Are you scared of Undyne?"

Red shook his head no and looked up at AD with watery eyes. "I'm confused. Master made me kill her. Another her. And i don't understand how this is possible."

AD thought about it, before he tried to explain. "We think you came from another world to us. The 'door thing' you mentioned, you jumped through? We think that brought you from your world to ours. Do you understand?"

"I'm not sure," Red admitted.

AD took two blank sheets of paper and drew himself, the brothers, Undyne and Alphys on one. "This is our world. You see? Stretch, Blue, Undyne, Alphys and me, how we look here. And this,..." he drew the other Papyrus, Red and Undyne like Red had drawn them, in the same positions as their counterparts on his version of the group picture, "is your world. Your Master, you, your Undyne. I don't know what your versions of Alphys and me look like, so i couldn't draw them. But you understand? With that door you simply jumped from your paper onto ours." He encircled Red on the drawing with how Red had described the portal looked like, then he drew Red into the picture of his world, right between Blue and himself.

Red looked at it and furrowed his brow. "I... think i understand," he said slowly.

AD smiled and nuzzled Red's skull. "I knew you are a smart pup." That made Red blush his namesake.

"What are you talking about that has him that flustered?" Blue asked, grinning.

AD huffed amused. "I just called him smart, because i explained this parallel universe thing to him and he said he understood. At least the basic idea."

"What's with his Undyne wearing armor?" Undyne asked interested.

AD gave the question to Red and translated the answer. "He says he met 'his' Undyne only once. His Master had him shifted and attack monsters in the dark and wet place, so Waterfall. When they came across her she attacked him instantly and his Master ordered him to kill her after they'd talked for a short moment. She attacked him with spears of Magic until he managed to land a fatal blow."

Red whimpered and pressed his face into AD's fur again. "He says he's sorry. He didn't want to hurt or kill anybody and he don't want you to hate him for it," the dog monster explained.

Undyne smiled sadly. "I'm not mad about it. He was forced to do it. He didn't had a say in this. What i'm astonished about is, how he can be still this innocent and gentle. When his Masters forced him to kill so many monsters, his LV has to be quite high. Usually, beings with a high LV aren't that repulsed by violence or even killing. It's common knowledge that the higher the LV, the easier it is for the person to hurt or kill others. Yet, Red seems scared of the idea of kind of violence. And he's so shy. He doesn't even attack out of fear."

"They'd prolly beat that out of him," Stretch mused.

That thought hung heavy between them in the silence that followed.

Eventually AD turned to Red and squeaked encouraging. "Wanna meet Undyne officially? She's really curious about you, and she understands that you had no other choice when you killed her alternate."

Red looked up at him shyly. "Really?" AD nodded. "Really."

Slowly Red let go of AD and looked at Undyne with an open, yet nervous expression.

She smiled, equally nervous. "H-hi, Red. I-i'm Undyne. Dyne f-for short. I-i'd like to be your f-friend."

Red tilted his head, then turned to AD. "She talks different, somehow. I think?" AD nodded. "She stutters, it's normal for her. She's a little nervous around others, just like you. It's called social anxiety. It only eases up or vanishes when she feels confident enough. Like, when she can talk about things she is passionate about, like science or anime."

Red wrinkled his forehead. AD sometimes used more difficult words on purpose. "Does 'passionate' mean that she really likes that things? I have no idea what 'anime' means, though." He pouted, looking adorable.

AD smiled. "You got it exactly right. And anime is some kind of... entertainment. When you understand Common better we can show you. It's interesting."

Red nodded, then looked back at Undyne, his jaws began to work. Until...

"Hhhhi... D-dy....Dyne...?"

Undyne smiled brightly. "Th-that was very g-good, Red!" She beamed.

And Red knew he did good, smiling back equally bright, but still a little nervous.

Chapter Text

Following their conversation, Dyne and the brothers worked out a therapy plan, taking into account his developmental disorders, the physical ones as well as the mental ones, his emotional state, his speech development(or lack thereof, at least concerning Common), his need for trauma management and whatnot.

There was a lot to unpack and to take care of.

They decided to focus on the most important things right now and put everything else on the backburner until Red would be ready. Meaning, for now it would just go on as it had been the last few days, they would treat his injuries, give him stuff for enrichment, like toys, plushies and puzzles, and AD would keep teaching him Common and act as a translator for the time being.

That way days went by and turned into weeks.

Red had nightmares on the regular, and AD and the others always offered to listen if he wanted to talk about it. At first, Red hadn't the words to describe what he dreamed about, but Blue got the brillant idea for Red to use his crayons to draw his nightmares and then figure out the words with the others' help. It also served the double purpose to distract him from how scared he was upon waking up.

By the time they had figured out the respective dream, Red had learned several new words and was calm again, and the others had learned something new about Red's fears and what haunted his sleep.

Over time it became easier for Red by using certain keywords. Had he dreamed of one of his old masters? Of both? Was it about shifting, experiments, punishments... or the other thing?

They never asked that bluntly, of course, only if one of his old tormentors were in the dream. Never asked for details, they let Red go at his own pace, only bundling him up in a warm blanket and giving him cuddles while he slowly tried to describe to AD what the nightmare had been about.

Some of it was hard to stomach and they guessed the night terrors were kind of a subconscious attempt of his mind to process the past.

The dreams could be divided into four categories. The peaceful ones, that weren't nightmares or -terrors at all, the ones that were pure unadulterated memories, the ones that showed memories but through a filter of hurt and fear, and the ones that were fabricated off of things he was afraid of, like that his old masters would come and find him or that he uncontrollably shifted and hurt his new friends. That last one appeared to be the worst for Red, even worse than anything he could dream about his masters to do to him.

He didn't want his friends to get hurt, or dusted, because of him. He would never forgive himself.

As his body healed, Red got slowly introduced to the first excercises by Blue, excercises to get his joints gaining more flexibility and control.

Blue would demonstrate the excercise and Red would try to copy him, with Blue correcting him gently, never losing his patience and optimism.

After loosening their joints they would stretch. Blue was very flexible with all the training under his belt and Red doubted he could ever come close to that.

But he got better, and when he managed to lay completely flat on his back, with his legs stretched out straight and shoulders and coccyx both touching the mats they used for their excercises, Blue decided to consult Undyne to ask her for help getting Red into practicing walking upright.

First Red needed to build up more strength in his legs. So, Stretch ported them all to Onionsan's lake to give Red swimming lessons.

Onionsan was elated about the visitors and eagerly offered their help as lifeguard.

Well, their lake wasn't that deep, except maybe for the crevice on the end where Onionsan had their hidden underwater cavern they lived in. The lake was kind of like their frontyard.

They all were wearing swim shorts under their clothes. After getting the permission from Onionsan to use the lake, they undressed, folded their clothes and put them to the side where they could see them but wouldn't get them wet when splashing around.

Stretch carried Red to the edge of the water. "This is Onionsan, Red. They're very nice, they allow us to use their lake for this." He looked at the watermonster. "Onionsan, this is Red, the hurt monster we try to help. Thank you again, for your help."

Onionsan blushed, smiled flattered and waved him off with several tentacles. "It's fine, it's fine, dear Stretch. Us monsters must stick together. I am happy to help. It's not often that someone comes to this part of Waterfall. Your company is a delight."

Onionsan's softspokenness and overall charming and friendly demeanor helped Red stay calm in the presence of the stranger.

Blue and AD got into the water and held him up when Stretch carefully let him slip in, before dipping in himself.

While Stretch held Red by his upper arms and allowed him to hook his fingers into his ribcage, Blue and AD took each one of Red's legs to guide him through the required movements together with AD doing the explaining.

They let Red try to make the movements on his own and after a few corrections, they let him excercise. AD swam a few rounds on his own while Blue kept an eye on Red to make sure he kept up with doing his excercise right. Then they switched and the fluffy dog monster observed Red while Blue swam for a while.

When Red got tired, they helped him stretch his limbs to prevent cramps and lessen the soreness that would inevitably come with the new exertion.

All in all, Red liked the swim excercise, even if he didn't like how his body felt heavy and a little achy the next morning. They went to Onionsan every three days and after the first few times, Red's body got used to it and stopped getting sore and achy.

In the days between the physical excercises, they taught Red how to speak, read, use sign language and basic school stuff like maths.

In between they played with him, showed him how their day to day life went to give him a feeling for what was normal in their universe, and cuddled up with him whenever he asked for it.

Blue was happy to have someone who appreciated a good hug. He was a very tactile person and Red seemed to be the same.

He also gained weight and his bones looked less ashen.

All in all, things were looking up for everyone involved.

Chapter Text

Everything was dark. Nothing but black. He was alone.

No matter what direction he chose, the scene didn't change.

Silent and black.

The silence was so absolute that he could hear the Magic thrumming through his leylines.

Something changed.

He couldn't immediately tell what, but something about the all encompassing darkness changed. It seemed to gain depth. Layers.

Like... like the pop-up books Blue and Stretch got him from the library not too long ago.

He noticed that he now was able to make out shapes in the black. Tall and straight, as far as he could tell.

When the darkness receeded, the black peeling away like something sticky, stubborn to let go of the surface it clung to, tree trunks became distinguishable. And only tree trunks.

No ground. No leaves. No snow. No nothing.

Only the trees, their limbs beyond the first thicker branches still shrouded in this unpiercable black.

He looked around and found himself surrounded by the trees where he had been standing in literally nothing before.

Nervously, he began to wander this forest of darkness, the crevices and ridges in the bark of the trees still filled with harsh shadows.

He had no perception of time and could therefore not say how long he had been stumbling between the trees. Was it forever? Had he just set off?

He looked around every now and then, slowly getting the feeling that he wasn't as alone as it seemed.

...

A hiss.

He whirled around, looking behind him and scanning the trees.

Nothing.

Slowly, he shuffled on, glancing around more frequently now.

...

Quick steps like running feet to his left. Trailing off the moment he turned around. Instantly followed by a throaty snarl from somewhere behind his right.

Nothing when whirled around to look.

He tried to catch his breath. Why was he so out of breath?

He swallowed and tried to call out. Whatever was following him knew already where he was. No sense in trying to hide.

But his voice wouldn't work.

No matter how much he swallowed or inhaled deeply, he couldn't make a sound.

A deep chuckle reverberated through the place, more vibration than noise. He could feel it in his bones.

And it made his blood freeze.

He felt as rooted to the not-ground as the trees were.

...

Nothing left.

Nothing right.

Nothing behind him as far as he could turn around with his feet unable to move.

Nothing ahead when he turned back forward.

...

..

.

Lights.

Two. Blood red. Lights.

No.

Not lights.

Eyes.

Eyes, he had hoped to never see again.

Master stepped out of the darkness, that clung to his black armor like a cape.

The edges of his face and his fangs were tinged in the glow of his LV-charged blood red eyes, giving him an even more sinister look.

His mouth stretched to the caricature of a smile, an evil grin, a grimace. A snarl.

"Found You. Did You Really Think You Could Escape? Stupid Beast."

He wanted to run. No matter where, as long as it was far far away from Master.

But he still couldn't move.

Master loomed over him, looking at him like he was thinking about how to punish him for running.

"SHIFT."

And, oh, how Master still had power over him with his mere voice.

He felt his bones shatter and rearrange themselves.

The pain finally dislodged his voice.

And he screamed.

Blue sat upright in his bed before his mind was even awake enough to tell what woke him.

It was so loud. Why was it so loud?

His door swung open with enough force that it banged against the wall, and the tall figure of his brother stood under his threshold. He looked around the room with wild, frantic eyes, met briefly Blue's gaze, before he settled on Red's nest.

With his mind still half asleep, it took Blue a few seconds to register that the noise he heard were screams and the cracking of bones. And that it was coming from Red.

AD already hovered at Red's side, unsure what to do. Stretch joined him and they both tried to talk to Red, get him to respond.

Blue tumbled out of his bed and over to the others.

The sight was anything but pretty.

Red's bones were cracking, breaking like from an inner force, deforming, stabilizing in their new form, only to repeat the cycle.

Red's body distorted, his skull formed a snout, his fangs grew larger. His shoulderblades shifted from his back to the side of his deforming ribcage. His vertrebrae got bigger, his spine longer. His sacrum and tailbone reshaped and grew a long, spindly tail. Along his spine grew sharp looking spikes and eventually shredded his clothes to bits,only his baggy sweat pants stayed somewhat intact. His limbs grew longer and sturdier, hands and feet turning into claws.

Before the transformation was finished, Red forced himself up onto his paws and, without being aware of his surroundings, burst through the window and ran off into the night.

Chapter Text

Everything was a blur.

A blur of light and dark. Tall, unmoving shapes he ran into and bounced off like a pinball from a bouncer, only to change his trajectory in an attempt at running around the obstacle and promptly run into the next one.

He was vagely aware of barreling over someone, but his mind was too clouded by panic to pause and investigate that impression.

It wasn't important.

What was important, was to run away and hide. All his instincts screamed at him to run away from the scary and find some place where it couldn't find him.

He zigzagged through the obstacles for an unknown time, until there was nowhere to run to anymore.

He found himself face to face with a rough stonewall. The cavewall. The physical border of the Underground.

He stared up at the massif rock formation while he caught his breath. With his space to run through, he also ran out of panic. At least partially.

He was still scared. Too scared to think clearly, but he wasn't unaware of his surroundings anymore. It registered that he, apparently, had run through the woods. All the way to the wall.

He knew Snowdin was cradled by trees in all directions, so, where was he? Was he close to the Ruins? The border to the wet pl-... Waterfall? The river that ran from Hotlands through the whole Underground?

What would he find first if he followed the wall? And in which direction? Could he find someone to help him?

No.

He didn't want to come across anybody. He was scared. And he knew he was scary in this form. Anyone would take a quick look at him and either run away in terror or attack him.

He glanced both ways along the wall, then chose a random direction.

He galloped on with the wall to his right and the trees to his left.

He had always hated moving around in this monstrous body, but now he was able to take longer strides, to stretch himself to his fullest, unhindred by any chains or binds.

He was sure he would have been of way better use to his masters if they hadn't restricted his movements with those heavy chains.

Now he felt lighter, almost weightless. He made long leaps every now and then, just to feel his body stretch and soar the short distance. He also had more control over his strength and coordination of his four legs. That was without a doubt thanks to the excercises the others did with him.

He ran until the trees on his left gave way to another wall, meeting the one he was running along in a sharp angle.

Panting, he pressed his face into the cold rock and felt his breath even out and the rush from the run tide down. This left his body getting heavy and shaky, gone was any desire to keep running.

But... now he began to feel unsafe again. He was tired and he had no idea where he was or how to find his way back...

He whined meekly.

He snapped his jaws shut so quick he heard his own teeth clack together loud like a gunshot.

Unsettled, he glanced around and listened for any noise around him.

The wind up in the stalactites. The rustling of the trees. The muffled crunching of the snow beneath his claws whenever he moved. The distant sound of rushing water where the river disappeared under the wall and into the Ruins.

He made a high pitched breathy noise in the back of his throat, just to make a sound but too scared of attracting something.

He kept listening.

There.

Far away, almost buried under the whistling winds and rustling trees, he heard the faint howl of a dog.

They were looking for him. And they were worried.

He listened to the howling getting slightly closer, before moving away again for a while.

He felt the cold settling in his bones and his body, not used to that much exertion, began to ache and to shiver until his bones rattled too loud for him hear the howls any longer.

With a tired whine he sat down in the snow and slung his tail around his paws.

When the winds changed direction for a moment, he could hear an excited bark. It sounded like it came from somewhere along the wall. Did they find his trail? Wouldn't it be erased by the wind? Or were they following his scent?

Did it matter?

He only wanted to be back in his cozy nest, wrapped in soft blankets and with a hot chocolate in his hands.

He whined again, louder this time.

He was a horrible beast. Horrible beasts didn't get blankets or nests or hot chocolate. They were left alone at best. More likely, beasts got chained up and muzzled and hurt and and and...

*WHIIIINNNNEEEE!*

"Bork!"

He paused. Listened.

"Bork! Bork! Awoooo!?"

They were coming closer.

He wanted to be found. To be brought back, to be warm and comforted.

He dreaded to be found. To be rejected and chased off, lonely, scared and miserable.

He pressed himself in the corner as much as he could and curled up in the cold snow, hiding his face from the world.

Running paws came to a halt several feet away. Keeping their distance. Surely they didn't want to get too close to the abomination he was. Were they afraid of him? Disgusted.

"Hey, pup. It's AD. *pant* We were worried when we lost your track in the forest and couldn't find you."

He gave only a torn, distressed whimper.

"Can i come closer? I won't if you don't want me to. But i want to know that you're not hurt any more than you already were, puppybones."

He sniffed and rubbed his face between his paws. "You don't want to- *hiccup* be anywhere near me. I'm a beast, a horrifying thing."

AD tilted his head, but he couldn't see that with his face still towards the wall. "So? All i see is a scared bonepup that never did anything wrong, because they never had a say in anything. A pup that got hurt and deserves nothing but the world for still being so innocent and loving."

He hiccpped again and sniffled. "Really?"

AD's face softened even more, if possible, when the poor pup finally looked at him, even if it was only from the corner of his eye. "Really really. Promise." He came closer, shook the snow from his pelt when he was only one step away, and snuggled up to the other's side.

When the bonepup at last turned his head to him, AD gently licked the tears away and made soft, comforting noises.

The other dogs present shed what armor they were wearing and huddled around the two.

In the warmth of the cuddle pile, his shivers died down and he relaxed, cocooned in a cloud of warm fur and soft reassurances. The exhaustion caught up to him and he began to drift.

Not aware when he shifted back and was picked up by AD.

The pack made their way back to Snowdin in silence.

Chapter Text

As soon as the pack returned with Red, carried in AD's arms, the brothers bombarded them with questions.

"Is he okay?" "Where did you find him?" "What happened?" "Is he hurt?" "When did he shift back?" "Did he say anything?" And so on, and so forth.

While their anxiety ran their mouths, Blue and Stretch herded the dogs into their house. Stretch went to the kitchen to make tea for the dogs and hot chocolate for Red while Blue and AD brought Red back to his blanket nest.

During the time the Guard dogs spent looking for the younger skeleton, Blue and Stretch boarded up the broken window. They would let it get repaired in the morning.

"Do you know what happened?", Blue asked AD as he pulled the blankets up to Red's chin.

"Not sure," AD admitted, "my main focus was on calming him down and reassure him that he isn't the horrible beast his former masters made him believe he was. If i had to guess, i would say he had an exceptionally bad nightmare that somehow caused him to shapeshift. Either to protect himself or as direct response to what happened in his dream."

The white fluffy dog monster carded his fingers through the fur on his head and further down the thick mane-like ruff of his neck. "I think, he is scared of being rejected. His personality doesn't change with his appearance, but it's possible that those B-A-S-T-A-R-D-S got him to believe so. I promised him that it doesn't matter to us which form he's in. That he is our puppybones nonetheless and not scary or anything."

Blue nodded along. "Let's hope this won't happen too often in the future. It'll only give him more to spiral about without reason. I want him to not hurt anymore. He's already been through so much."

It was AD's place to nod now. "I agree, Blueberry. I think, we all want him to be happy, without all that baggage and trauma. Nobody deserves something like that."

After spending a half hour in the bathroom blow drying his fur to get rid of the superficial chill clinging to it after running through Snowdin forest for hours in search for Red, AD put on soft sweat shorts to prevent overheating, and slipped into Red's nest, cuddling up to the young skeleton to protect his sleep. Being of the samoyed breed, AD was a warm white cloud of softness, his thick coat, puffed up after the blow dryer, practically swallowed his little friend.

Everyone fell only into a light sleep for the rest of the night, wanting to be ready should Red start to have nightmares again.

Luckily, the shapeshifting skeleton slept through to the morning due to his exhaustion.

AD woke up when something squirmed in his arms and scooted away from him as soon as he loosened his hold.

The white dog monster blinked, then yawned long and deep, and looked at his charge. Red had rolled away from him and halfway kicked off his blanket. He buried his face into the cooler spot next to his pillow with a half-mumble half-groan.

Probably sore and still tired after last night, AD thought to himself. He shuffled around a little, until he got his limbs under himself and could sit up. He shook his fur to get rid of any bed-hair, and turned his attention towards the sleepy monster beside him again.

His ears twitched when he noticed that Red's breathing sounded a little strained. Gently, he placed a soft paw on the smooth skull of his friend.

He frowned.

Red felt warm. Too warm.

Carefully, the mutt climbed out of the nest and quietly got the medkit from the bathroom. If he was worried about nothing he didn't want to wake Blue for no reason.

He sat the medkit down next to the nest and searched it until he found the thermometer.

...

... yep.

Red was coming down with something and developed a fever. Fortunately nothing dramatic yet.

After running around in the freezing cold for hours it wasn't really that much of a surprise that Red would get sick.

He petted Red's skull again and put the thermometer back where it belonged, then got up and walked the few steps to Blue's bed.

Knowing his energetic friend, he placed a hand over his mouth and whisper-shouted his name.

Blue's eye sockets opened, his lights still fuzzy from sleep, but his gaze sharpened instantly as he became aware of the hand silencing him. He looked up at AD and gave him the skeleton equivalent of a cocked eyebrow.

AD lifted the pointer finger of his other hand over his snout, hissing a 'shhh'. Blue quietly nodded and the hand over his mouth vanished.

"Sorry about that, bud, but i don't want you to wake Red. He'll need his sleep, poor pup got sick and has a fever."

With a jolt, Blue sat upright, almost headbutting AD in the process. "Sick? How bad is it? Should we call a healer? Or Dyne?"

AD frantically tried to keep the blue-themed bonehead quiet. "Shhh. It's only a light fever right now. I don't think that we need a healer immediately. But let's keep watch and call Undyne later. If he doesn't get better. He probably caught a cold out in the woods. Depending on how much his immune system has improved, it shouldn't be much of an issue, but let him rest today and keep a close eye on him for signs that he's getting worse.

Blue thought about it for a moment. He nodded. "He doesn't need the stress of meeting a stranger after night he had. Only if it becomes necessary."

AD nodded back and returned to his position at Red's side.

Chapter Text

Thankfully, Red's cold didn't last long. He was feverish and lackluster for a few days, but bounced back pretty quickly.

After the experience, he was scared to sleep alone for a while and AD, Blue or Stretch had to sleep next to him to chase any bad dreams or night terrors away.

To have the broken window fixed, they brought him down to the living room where they showed him a lot of new stuff and taught him new words and signs.

Red absorbed everything like a sponge. He even found his own way to sign the brothers' names. For Blue he would do the sign for the color but in front of his forehead to indicate Blue presenting as male. He would flick the hand sign for 'B' thrice and no more, no less, to nod to Blue's three main traits. Bones. Blue. Bright.

To sign Stretch's name, he would do the sign for the action, signing 'S' with his fingers and doing it very slowly to indicate on his lazy nature. Blue thought it a little rude, but Stretch found it hilarious.

When they asked Red how he would sign his own name, Red had to think about it. At first he thought of a variation of 'Beast', but knowing his friends wouldn't like it when he referred to himself in a negative way, he remembered that AD always called him 'Pup' or a puppy. So he chose that combined with the finger spell of 'R'.

Things were good for a while and Red made more progress in his therapy, became more mobile and self confident, and improved his vocabulary and pronunciation.

Undyne came by a few times to check in on the skeleton household and document Red's progress, Alphys came over once, but Red was overwhelmed, and a little scared, by her loud boisterous personality.

That reminded everyone that Red sooner or later would have to learn to interact with the rest of the Underground, or at least the denizens of Snowdin.

To ease Red into it, they decided to start with the least intimidating people. The children.

Blue took up babysitting, having monster children over to keep an eye on them while their parents were busy, or tutoring them after school. It gave Red the opportunity to make new friends and gain playmates.

The children were more curious than weirded out about the almost adult skeleton behaving like a child. Heck, everyone knew Blue could be a little over-enthusiastic and acted like an excited toddler from time to time. And after hearing, in child friendly words, that Red been through some very bad things, they all wanted to make him feel better and be his friends.

Playing with the young stripelings also helped Red to even out some of the bumps in his speech. He was great with the little ones and could soon be trusted to take over babysitting mostly on his own.

It also helped boosting his self-esteem, and AD and the brothers were finally able to pick up parts of their original schedules.

AD would return to his station for a few hours, Blue would go to train with Alphys in the afternoon, and Stretch would go to his post near the Ruins, even if he spent most his shift napping.

They always made sure that one of them was with Red, or close by.

The next step was bringing Red outside more. When they went to swim practice at Onionsan's, Stretch ported them, but Red needed to get out of the house more.

So, they let the kids play outside with Red sitting on the steps at first, before he got more curious and let his little friends show him how to play in the snow.

Red thrived. He had so much fun and the positive enforcement it gave him made him eager for more.

It warmed the brothers' Souls how far Red had come and how he finally seemed to shed his fears.

It should turn out important for what was to come.

Chapter Text

No one watched the time going by in the Underground. Seasons never changed in the different areas, it was always winter in Snowdin, always spring in Waterfall and eternal summer in Hotlands and New Home. Those who remembered the early days monsterkind spent down there, recalled Home, which later became the Ruins, to experience eternal fall.

The only indicator, the Underground had that seasons were changing topsoil, was the main stream in Waterfall. The waters came directly from the surface and over the course of the year, differed. In winter, the water was biting cold and less was getting down. When in spring everything thawed on the surface, the stream swelled with melting water and some areas in Waterfall got flooded. In summer, the waters almost dried up, sometimes actually did so, and got slightly warmer. In fall the rain brought more water again, and colorful leaves would be washed down in the dump.

Monsterkind still used calendars to keep up with holidays and birthdays.

One morning, Blue was woken by a notification of his phone. When he checked it, his calendar app told him that a year ago Red had been found.

Blue was wide awake immediately. He quickly shot a text to Stretch, AD, the other dogs, Alphys and Undyne.

He wasn't surprised at all that Dyne didn't answer, she always stayed up late into the night, working on something or watching anime, and then slept in late. She usually was up some time before noon.

Alphys and the dogs reacted right away, asking if Blue planned to celebrate. Red had witnessed Blue and Stretch celebrating their birthdays, and since Red didn't know his, they had decided to make the day they found him his birthday.

So, of course they would celebrate. He started going to school a few weeks ago, and he loved it. A lot of the monster children there he knew already from when Blue tutored them. Red was pretty popular among the kids and nobody made fun of him for visiting school while other monsters his age either got a job or joined the Royal Guard.

Since it was a school day, Red would be out of the house, which gave Blue and Stretch free range to prepare the party. They had already invited his best friends from school several days ahead, asking them not to tell Red about the party.

Blue went to the kitchen, made breakfast and prepared Red's lunch for school. After breakfast, he and Stretch sent Red on his way and as soon as he was out of sight, they started the preparations.

Stretch ported to Muffet's to get the cake, then went to the grocery store to buy some things they needed and to do the weekly shopping while he was at it.

Meanwhile, Blue decorated the living room and began moving the furniture to the walls to make space to dance and play games. Stretch helped him with the heavier pieces like the sofa.

When school let out, AD picked Red up and took him to places to buy some time for Red's friends to get ready and for the brothers and the other dogs to finish preparations.

Stretch shot him a text when they were almost done so AD would get on his way back with Red.

The surprise party was a huge success. Red was so overwhelmed by happiness. He played party games and danced silly dances and ate cake and later they had a barbecue.

Nothing seemed to be able to ruin that day.

Until a loud husky scream sounded through Snowdin.

Everyone knew that voice.

Annoying Doggo had apparently stumbled over something. When it rattled the Annoying Doggo, it meant business.

Stretch was the first at the door and opened it.

Annoying Doggo was stumbling in the middle of the street, deep gashes on his shoulder and back and leaving a trail of blood behind.

While the dogs surrounded Annoying Doggo, Stretch hastily ported the children home and Blue called Alphys and Undyne.

The dogs brought Annoying Doggo inside and began asking questions.

Apparently, the husky had been strolling through the woods when he came across something horrifying.

A skeletal creature, huge and scary. It had been chained up and when Doggo had approached it to see if it needed help, it had attacked him. He wasn't sure, but the thing might be following him, not very hard, considering the bloody trail he had left behind.

Alphys and Dyne arrived, got caught up on the happenings and then Alphys took the lead and the group followed the trail back into the woods while Undyne stayed behind to treat Annoying Doggo. Without her noticing, Red slipped away and followed the others, a heavy feeling in his metaphorical gut.