Chapter Text
When the monsters were finally freed from the underground with the help of the over-determined child, Sans was happy to see them being adopted into the family with Undyne and Alphys. He understood that they would be able to help care for them. Since Undyne didn’t seem to be affected by the kid, then that meant Alphys could test and see if they could try to stop the determination from flowing out of the kid. But not everything was sunshine and rainbows after the barrier broke. No… Sans still remembered that he had to comfort Toriel and Asgore with the child’s decision of what family to go to on the same day they found out that humanity had turned their cities into mangled steel and shattered glass. Using the same magic they used against monster kind. Determination. But it seemed to be more potent and destructive than he had thought it would be.
It had been just a few years after that discovery and monsterkind seemed to be rebuilding a small town at the base of the mountain just fine. Paps and him found a small home that they started fixing up and moving their things into the home. Sans and Paps had finished unpacking the living room, bathroom, kitchen and dining room. Sans was fine with his boxes left untouched in his room right now, even if it bothers his brother. A knock on the door woke Sans up and he stretched and walked to the door to open the door to his room.
“yeah bro?” He asked as you looked up at his brother. Two small nubs were poking out from the top of his head and there was a lump on his nasal ridge. It always made Sans wince as he knew that these mutations from determination exposure wasn’t exactly comfortable to deal with. He could hear the slight creak of the bones as his brother’s mutations seemed to worsen.
“I’m Going To The Bunny Shop To Help Replenish Our Supplies For Food And Healing Supplies. I know You’ve Been Consuming More Than Normal… I Would Like It If You Could Come With Me?” Papyrus asked as he shifted his stance. Sans could see that worried look in his brother’s eye sockets. He sighed and shook his head.
“sorry bro… can’t. i gotta go and get supplies for some of my projects i’m working on and need to get some for alphys. but hey, i’ll be back in time for dinner. ‘kay?” Sans tried to give papyrus a reassuring smile as he looked up to him.
“I… I Understand. But… If Anything Happens, Call Me Okay?” Papyrus asked as he gave Sans a small smile. Sans responded with a simple nod and shrug. With that, his brother turned on his heel and walked out the door. Sans sighed through his nasal cavity and walked to his bed. Reaching down to pick up his ragged, fur-lined leather jacket made his joints pop and crack. Hissing out a few swears, he swung the jacket to get his arms through and walk out the front door. Blinking his sockets as the light of day hit him, he continued his walk. Ignoring the change of ground texture under his boots. Instead he was following his normal trail through the woods. The further he went, the more the soft sounds of nature took over. It was autumn, which meant he needed to be on the lookout for bears since they tend to be looking for food to eat around this time.
Wind blows through the amber forest creating a soft chorus of rustling as the birds gently sing to each other. Either they were calling for a mate or just threatening each other about lines of territory, Sans could care less. All he cared about was the fact that it was relaxing and distracting him off of the pain in his bones. Following his path more to one of the further ruins, he stopped. The forest became suddenly silent and he looked around. Trying to see what’s going one or feel for anything and that’s when it hit him. He stumbled a bit, shifting to steady himself and he looked down to see a you in ragged clothing clenching your side. All he got out was, “what”
“Please. Please help they’re… They’re-” That was all sans needed to hear, mostly because he checked you briefly to see in what condition you were in. Low HP and the fact you were scared meant one thing. You were fleeing from something or someone. He gently took the shoulder of your uninjured shoulder and side stepped to help hide you behind him. He silently was happy that he grew to be 6’7” for now. You were trembling against his jacket and he could feel that against his spine. It was something small if he wasn’t in constant pain from the joints trying to mutate and fuse occasionally. Huffing, Sans watched the way you came from and lo and behold. Two men broke through the bushes. They were brandishing guns. No doubt the same guns that injured you. Sans twists his maw into a grin, showing his jagged and uneven teeth completed with canines. Upper pair of canines sharper and bigger than the lower.
“heya… you all oaky?” He asked and they both glared at him. One seemed to have lifted their weapon towards him and the other gently pushed the gun down to point to the forest floor instead. At least one of the two have brains it looked like.
“You must be one of them Monster people those caravans keep talking about.” The older man pointed out. Ah yes. Very astute my dear Watson. He resisted the urge to roll his eyelights and just shrugged his shoulders as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Not ignoring the fact that the men got tense when he did that. He sighed and kept his grin up.
“yep! in the bone! but lookin’ at your sternum looks, i’m assuming you aren’t looking for my type are you?” Sans asked as he watched them carefully. Keeping his stance as relaxed as he could as he felt you push into his back even more. Feeling you clutch at the back of his leather jacket was making it hard for him as his bones rattled a bit now. Fuck this hurts.
“uh… is that a weird greeting from your kind?” The younger man asked, only to be smacked by the older one.
“That ain’t kind for him! I’m sure they are all different!” The older man seemed to scold the younger before looking back to Sans. “Sorry about that. We haven’t met your kind before.”
“eh.. no skin off my bones.” Sans waved them off as he shrugged. Confusion plastered their faces before the older man coughed to clear his throat as he took a step forward, making Sans raise a brow.
“So.. Uh… Mister Skeleton… Have you, perhaps, saw a girl? About ye tall? Did she run by you or anything?” He asked as he cocked his head after showing Sans that almost correct height of you. He shrugged again.
“hmm… dunno… all i know is that i hear rustling over to my left.” Sans shrugged as he looked over to his left as he rolled his shoulder, popping the joining lazily. He looked over to the men, who were obviously whispering to each other. “tabia honest, i don’t quite recall seeing any girl.”
“How do we know if you’re telling the truth mister?” The younger asked before getting smacked by the older.
“Sorry about that… But I am afraid he has a point. How do we know you are telling the truth?” The man asked.
“you just gotta take my word.” Sans said as he watched the men. He shrugged and watched them even closer now. Things were indeed getting more and more tense. The man were looking a bit more irritated with Sans and he just simply shrugged. “i am a busy skeleton so i’ll leave you two scratchin’ your skulls okay?”
Before either men could say or do anything, he quickly moved his hand to grip the hand that was on his jacket and teleport. Through the rush of wind and the groaning echos of the void, he could hear you scream. Soon, he made it to his destination, the kitchen. Turning around, he could see you clutching your stomach while falling onto your knees. That sight made him wince, but he knew that he didn’t have any choice. Shortcuts were the fastest and safest chance to get out of that situation. He knelt down beside you, his hand stopping short from your back. Hovering over the thin clothing that was loosely hanging from your form, he watched as you turned your head. Your frightened gaze looking at him between the greasy tangled strands of hair.
“heh… sorry ‘bout that… didn’t mean to grab you, but had to… those men were itching to dust me and probably do whatever they wanted to..” He stopped that sentence short judging by the panic in your eyes and how you were drawing yourself inward, it wasn’t going to be fun for you if he finished that sentence. Instead he leaned back and watched you as you were trying to get your bearings. Once you weren’t looking like you were about to throw up, he extended his hand. “let me introduce myself. name’s sans… sans the skeleton.”
You stared at him for a while before gently taking his hand, only wrapping your hand around his finger. You gave him your name before retracting your arm. He saw that your other arm was injured and he silently made a note to call Alphys while you take care of any needs you need. He also noticed how thin you seemed to be. That was almost a major concern. “Where are we?”
“glad you asked. you are at my place… well, me and my brother’s place.” He shrugged and gave you a smile as he got up. He extended a hand to help you up. It took you a while before you gingerly took his hand to use him as a way to get up. He smiled and gestured to the kitchen. “this is the kitchen, bro normally uses it, but you can use it if you want. but let me show you to the bathroom… it looks like you may need it more with that wound of yours.”
“Oh uh… I don’t want to waste your supplies…” You pulled away from him, moving your hand to your chest as you were shaking. He stopped and watched you. Tilting his head gently as you were quivering. He softly sighed and extended his hand, ignoring the wince from you.
“trust me… i’m not using it right now and we have plenty of supplies here… don’t worry.” Sans spoke gently to you, he may be lying, but it didn’t bother Sans any. He knew that they could recover from losing supplies like water or food. There were still wells around the area and Waterfall still had purified water.
“Oh… Okay.” You muttered as you watched him open the door and look to you. You nodded to thanks and walked in. He moved back to watch you gently close the door. He sighed and scratched the back of his skull.
“I’ll be grabbing you some clothes you can borrow okay?” He called through the door. Pausing for a second or two to hear you humm in confirmation of the fact that you heard him. He smiled and went over to his room to grab one of his darker colored shirts and a belt for you. He knew out of both him and his brother, you would probably only be able to fit his clothes. Knocking on the bathroom door he alerted you of the opening door. The door was opened just a crack for him to slide the shirt and belt off his arm and onto the clean floor. After that, he closed the door and sat on the old couch and texted alphys about your condition. He got a quick response from her and a confirmation of you being able to visit if you could. He sighed and leaned back against the couch. This was going to be a rough day. Looking back down at his phone he sighed and brought the phone up to his skull after dialing a number.
“Hello?” Papyrus’s voice run through the speaker of his phone.
“heya bro… i think i brought over a friend…” Sans said in a low tone, he could hear his humm at that.
“A Friend? Like A Guest?” Papyrus sounded a bit confused and concerned. Sans knew why. There was a lot that had made Sans the way he was now and paps has seen him through some of his issues. Sans sighed and nodded against the phone.
“Kinda… it looks like she needs a place to stay for a while until she gets back on her feet.” Sans mentioned as he leaned against the back cushions of the couch.
“Ah… Well, I Will Get Some More Food Then From The Shop. Anything Else I Need To Know?” Papyrus asked.
“don’t move too quickly around her… it spooks her.” Sans muttered into the receiver before looking to the bathroom door. It still sounded like the shower.
“Ah, I’ll Do My Best Sans. I’ll See You There!” Papyrus said before hanging up. Sans sighed and stuffed his phone into the pocket of his leather jacket. Yep… This is gonna be rough.