And this should be the end. A lot of talking in this one, but that was bound to happen. Thanks for putting up with me as I contribute my little story for the fandom. It was fun.

He didn't mean to sleep as long as he did. He just intended to nap long enough to skip the reunion and awkward explanations portion of the afternoon (evening?). He fully expected someone to wake him up fairly quickly or for his nightmares to do it. But Sans could tell by the heavy feeling and slow thoughts that he'd been asleep for hours. Several hours at least. Either he was more worn out than he thought or it was a case of his laziness striking hard.

At least he didn't dream.

He didn't bother moving or opening his eyes yet. He was too comfortable for that. He wasn't in his bed, though. Sans could tell his brother still had him, cradling his brother like a little baby bones. Papyrus' grip was looser than before. It almost felt like Papyrus' arms were just resting on him limply. He still probably couldn't wiggle free though.

Someone else was stroking his head gently, reminding him of how Toriel and Asgore would run a hand through the kid's hair to comfort them. He'd done the same thing a few times. But it had been a long time since anyone did such a thing for him. A very long time. But it still felt soothing and familiar. Maybe that was part of the reason he'd slept peacefully for so long.

When Sans shifted slightly, the hand vanished from his head and the arms around him tightened just a fraction. His relaxed grin widened a little. Papyrus not only let him sleep for several hours without trying to awaken him, but he also clearly refused to let go during all that time. Honestly, he was acting like he was afraid Sans would disappear if he wasn't careful.

Like Sans almost did disappear…

He couldn't prevent the shiver that shook him against his will. With all other distractions gone, the implications of the day's events were starting to sink in. He could have died. He should have died.

He was hit by Chara's blade, cutting through his defense and wiping out his single HP. Sans remembered the sensation of crumbling to dust. Monsters never survived those circumstances. Once they started turning to dust, it was too late. He was dying. And since neither human would have been able to Save or Reset, it would have been permanent. Frisk saved him, but it was such a close call. His life nearly came to an end at the edge of Chara's knife.

His memories were a little strange too. He remembered the fight perfectly. Every moment and every emotion was vivid and intense in his mind. But everything that happened before in that timeline, all the deaths and misery, seemed… disconnected. Like he read about it happening in a book rather than experiencing it himself. Was that what it felt like for Frisk when they remembered the other timelines? He knew that Papyrus died in that timeline and that it nearly broke him when it happened, but the memory wasn't completely real. It felt like it happened to someone else. And the disconnect only made what he'd felt during the fight with Chara, all the misery, fear, and anger, feel so much stronger.

It made his near death all the more terrifying.

When another involuntary shudder took hold, the hand returned to brush the side of his head and a voice called softly, "Sans? Are you awake? Are you all right?"

And that reminded him of the other impossibility of the day, this one far more pleasant. Sans' eyes snapped open. He ignored the couch now in his lab and his slumbering brother. He focused on the concerned face staring down at him. Even cracked and partially melted, it was certainly him. This was real. Sans actually brought him back. It really worked.

All those years of work, all those failures, all those doubts, and the growing fear that he wasn't good enough to ever fix the machine finally paid off. Sans couldn't identify all the emotions swirling around in him, but the most prominent was joy.

"hey there, old man," he said quietly, keeping his voice down to avoid disturbing Papyrus and to make it easier to keep it steady. "haven't seen you in a while."

"Don't worry. I haven't been a-void-ing you on purpose. I've missed you both far too much for that."

Sans couldn't help it. He started chuckling. He fought to keep the noise down, but his body shook with the effort. And even as he laughed quietly, tears prickled his eyes. Gaster smiled at his own pun as nostalgia swept through the chuckling skeleton.

"Perhaps not my best work, but at least I haven't completely lost my touch."

"no, that was a good one. i just didn't expect to hear a joke like that from you so soon," he said. Then, glancing away, he admitted, "…or hear from you ever again."

Gaster reached over and took his hand. Sans looked down at the familiar contact. The size, shape, and even the hole in the middle were all correct and exactly as he remembered. And even if there was a slight amount of give to the bones that didn't used to be there, Gaster was solid. He was real and actually there.

"i didn't think i could fix the machine," Sans admitted softly, his eyes dropping briefly. "i tried for so long until all the timeline stuff started happening and… then it didn't matter anymore. i stopped… i stopped caring about everything. i didn't try again until frisk… until they got us out. and even then… i wasn't sure i could fix it."

"You did not fix it," said Gaster gently. "This machine is beyond the ability for either of us to properly repair. It cannot be fixed. As I explained to your friends, you simply broke it in a particularly unique fashion. I am actually impressed. You forged a faint connection to the void, the shielding you installed to the lab keeping it contained to this room when it happened."

"while tossing me into a fight with a psycho," he muttered, not certain if he was upset that he still couldn't fix the machine or just happy it managed to drag Gaster back anyway. "it wasn't a knife time for anyone involved."

The cracked and half-melted face broke into a smile at the pun. Gaster released Sans' hand so he could stroke the top of his son's head again. Honestly, this whole situation made him feel like a child again. It… was kind of nice.

"There is still a faint connection to the void, but only within the walls of your lab. That's why I can be here now. I'm still tied to the void, Sans. As long as the half-broken machine remains operational, I can remain connected to this world."

"but as soon as the piece of junk stops working, you'll go back," Sans said, working out the rest of it. His Soul clenched tightly at the thought. "and until then, you'll be stuck in here. you're still trapped. just trapped somewhere else. guess i didn't really do much to help ya after all."

"Sans," said Gaster with a bit more force in his unique voice than before. "Don't you dare think that for a moment. I missed so much of your lives already. You're grown and Papyrus is nearly grown himself. I've missed out on so much for so long. And now I have my sons back, for however long it might be. Even if I can't leave this room and whether I only have a few hours or a few years, it is worth it. I am with my children again. That is enough for me."

Gaster leaned forward and rested his forehead briefly against the top of Sans' head while his hand held Papyrus' arm. His expression was difficult to read as Gaster pulled away a moment later, but Sans could see that he meant every word. This was what he wanted more than anything. He wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

Sans' grin never twitched, but it felt a little more honest now. Gaster was right. This was a miracle. He and Papyrus had their father back, even if Papyrus didn't know him. His family was back to the way it was so long ago, the way he'd always wanted to go back to. For now, any other concerns could wait. This was enough.

"Besides," continued Gasater. "I told you this machine was beyond our ability to repair. Some parts now exist outside of time and space. We can't fix it. But there is nothing to prevent us from constructing a new one. With proper safety precautions this time, of course. With my knowledge of the original machine's design, it should go smoother. Perhaps your friend, Dr. Alphys, could assist as well. She was helpful earlier. The three of us may be able to devise a solution. There are no guarantees, but the possibility exists."

Sans stared silently as his words sunk in. That… might work. He couldn't really start from scratch before because he didn't have the genius mind that created it, the blueprints that were wiped from existence, nor access to the materials to construct the thing. But that was then and this was now. He didn't have to do everything alone anymore. He actually had help now. Sans chuckled quietly, feeling lighter than before.

"tibia honest, that sounds good to me."

The changes the void caused to his voice still made him seem strange compared to what he once sounded like, but his static-filled laughter brought back memories nevertheless. Gaster always laughed at his puns or smiled at Papyrus' drawings when he was small. Before his work consumed him, before the accident… This was who Gaster was. All those small details and everyday events… Sans had missed those most of all.

The click of the door opening interrupted the pair, prompting Sans to sit up as much as his brother's loose grip would allow. Quick and quiet footsteps scurried down the stairs. Sans knew those little feet quite well.

Frisk hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. Wearing their pajamas and their hair ruffled from sleep, they had a quilt wrapped around their shoulders and dragging behind them like a cape. The details that held his focus, however, were the wetness around their reddened eyes and the choking gasps shaking their small frame.

"nightmare?" asked Sans gently. When Frisk gave a short nod to his question, Sans gestured to them. "come here, buddy."

They accepted the offer instantly, running over to the couch and climbing up. Somehow managing not to dislodge anyone or wake up the sleeping skeleton, Frisk ended up on Sans' lap. And since he was still on Papyrus' lap, they ended up stacked like toy blocks. His brother could really sleep through anything when Papyrus actually bothered to sleep. Somehow the arrangement ended up relatively comfortable. The blanket unfortunately got dropped during the process, but no one seemed particularly concerned.

"I'm sorry," Frisk mumbled, wrapping their arms around him and burying their face into his shirt.

"hey, you know the deal. no apologizing for nightmares. that goes both ways, remember?"

Frisk didn't immediately respond. They simply fought back quiet sobs while apparently trying to burrow into his ribcage. Sans closed his eyes tiredly while running their hair between his fingers. Frisk was so mature and level-headed when dealing with everyone else's problems and facing down powerful monsters in the Underground that it was easy to forget… For all the experience they gained over the various timelines, Frisk was still just a little kid. None of this stuff should have happened to a child and sometimes it got to them.

Just like it sometimes got to him.

Both of them were quite familiar with nightmares. His had started before Frisk's arrival the Underground. The kid wasn't the first to mess with the timelines and what happened to Gaster certainly wasn't fun to watch either, so Sans had plenty of material to draw from. But it took him a little while to realize that Frisk suffered similar problems, the kid not wanting originally to worry anyone. Only when they both woke up from nightmares and tried to peek into Papyrus' room at the same time, trying to reassure themselves that he was safe, did the pair figure it out.

It became easier after that. The two of them developed a system. If one of them woke up, then they woke up the other. Sometimes that would lead to talking. Sometimes they sat in silence. Sometimes one of them would cling to the other. Other times, Sans would barely be able to look at them or Frisk would twitch at his every move. It depended on the type of nightmares, on who was dying and who was doing the killing.

Sans would see so many friends crumbling to dust. He would see Papyrus killed. He would see a child's broken body lying lifeless because of spears, because of fire, because of his own summoned bones or Gaster Blasters. Or he would see his father vanishing into an impossible darkness.

Frisk would see themselves killing friends, family, and random monsters. They would see themselves dying in a vicious cycle at the hands of those that loved them. They dreamt of a voice in their head, sometimes helpful and sometimes cruel. They would see themselves facing creatures with too much power and too many Souls that not even Sans remembered encountering. Or they would dream of things that they could never manage to explain properly, but still left them completely miserable.

But no matter what kind of awful dreams haunted their sleep, it was better when neither of them were alone afterwards. It was easier to face the nightmares together. Isolating and bottling all those feelings up never helped either of them cope.

"want to talk about it? might make it more bear-rib-ble."

The fact they didn't even chuckle told Sans exactly how much the nightmare affected Frisk. He leaned forward enough to rest his head on top of Frisk's. It was official. Other than Gaster's return, today hadn't been a good day for anyone.

He just waited as some of their quiet sobs began to ease. Slowly, their hug on him released and the child pulled back a little, staring at his white shirt. Then, almost timidly, Frisk traced their hand from his right shoulder diagonally toward his left side. Sans suppressed a shiver. The sensation was like the ghost of that painful and fatal cut decided to come back to haunt him. And unlike Napstablook, there was nothing nice about that ghost.

"I needed to be sure," Frisk mumbled, not meeting his eyes. "Make sure it's gone."

And that confirmed his suspicions of what exactly their nightmare entailed. He was pretty certain he would get to enjoy his own version of it in the near future. But for now, Frisk was the one having the freak out. He would have to schedule his own for another night.

Reaching for their chin, Sans forced them to look up. He gave Frisk his best comforting grin. It had to be at least mostly real or the kid would see right through it. They were far too observant to fall for fake comfort.

"i'm fine. i'm right here and safe. no cut, no pain, and no dying. i promise. you got me back in one piece, pal." And when Frisk rewarded him with a small and watery smile, he continued, "and am i wrong or did you finally use blue magic? i know you've been working on that one lately."

"They certainly did," said Gaster before turning his gaze toward the child. "You did very well, little one. It was very impressive."

"But I also hurt Sans and everyone. It wasn't all Chara."

"i know. But it also wasn't you you. ya know? that one was all tangled up with the psycho dead kid," he said quietly. "we've talked about this before. today didn't change that."

It was almost impossible to consider the two versions of the kid as the same person and recent events didn't change his views. This Frisk wasn't the same as the demonic thing that slaughtered the entire Underground, their eyes empty and terrifying. They weren't even the same as the broken and horrified child that this Frisk gave a pep talk to at the end. This was their Frisk, the one that did everything possible to do the right thing. This was the Frisk that was nice to his brother, won Undyne's respect, boosted Alphys' confidence and self-esteem, brought Toriel back out of her isolation, and provided redemption for Asgore.

"It was still my body that did it. I almost killed you earlier. You were dying, Sans."

"and you saved me," he reminded firmly. "you kept me from being killed first by blocking chara's knife with a shield and your body. if you didn't put your shield up fast enough, you'd be the one getting sliced. then you saved me again by getting me out of there in time. face it, kid. you're great at saving people. and if you don't believe me, you've got a whole house of people who'll agree."

As Frisk took this as a signal to return to hugging the skeleton tightly, Gaster said, "And speaking of the others in this household, I assume your explanations went smoothly?"

"Mostly," mumbled Frisk. "I told them about the Saves and Resets. I told them about all the bad stuff I remember doing before I did things right. I told them about Chara. I told them a lot. But…"

"but what, kid?"

"I didn't tell them about Asriel. He didn't want Mom and Dad to know what happened to him, so it isn't my secret to tell. And I didn't tell them about Gaster. I thought you two should do it instead."

"and you didn't talk about your old parents either, did you? about them getting rid of you?"

Frisk buried their face in his shirt again. Sans felt himself tighten his grip on the child's pajamas involuntarily as he remembered what the two versions of the kids talked about. Even though he'd been distracted at the time, he'd heard enough of what the other Frisk said and what his Frisk vaguely mentioned. And he didn't like the implications.

"Mom and Dad had a lot on their mind with Chara and watching me during the fight. I don't think they noticed."

"well, i did. So you going to tell me? 'cause it seems pretty a-parent that something happened."

They hesitated a moment before beginning. Heavy conversations like this should probably be saved for when it wasn't the middle of the night. But most of their tough and uncomfortable discussions seemed to happen at weird hours and they were already dealing with a mountain of issues anyway. They might as well push forward.

"Humans forgot how to use magic a long time ago, but we knew that some children could almost do it. So some people collected the children who showed signs, the ones who could over time put power in objects like bandanas and ballet shoes. Or a stick. They would collect them and take them away to study. It wasn't a very nice place. They would pay parents a lot of money for those kids with potential. Like mine did," said Frisk in a dull and flat voice. "I was there a long time. And when I couldn't stay any longer, I escaped and ran away to the one place they would never go. I tried to disappear and fell into the Underground."

The grin on his face never twitched, but Sans' eyes darkened as a cold rage boiled within. He could read between the lines. How dare those people? How dare they do something like that to this child?

He pressed a hand to the back of their head, keeping Frisk's face buried in his shirt. He didn't want the kid to see and get scared. He wasn't mad at Frisk. This wasn't their fault by any stretch of the imagination.

"What kind of cruel, heartless, and miserable creatures would do such a thing to their own child?" snapped Gaster, clearly struggling to keep his strange voice quiet and not awake Papyrus. "Such people do not deserve to be parents. I would never even consider such a concept. I would not trade Sans or Papyrus for anything in the world."

"and that's why they're our kid now," Sans said quietly. "anyone tried to take frisk anywhere and they'll be facing an army of monsters. not to mention a seriously angry tori."

"The place closed a month after the Barrier fell," mumbled Frisk. "I checked. Secretly."

"good. and where do i find the humans who let you go in the first place?"

Apparently he didn't control his voice as well as he'd hoped. Frisk pulled back to look him in the face with a concerned expression. Sans hurried to hide his cold fury with those people, brightening his eyes and forcing his grin to seem more relaxed. He could still tell that his expression was a little strained. He used to be so much better at hiding his emotions. He'd fallen out of practice since the Barrier fell. Of course, Frisk could always see right through him anyway. They could before and they could now.

"You're really mad," said Frisk uneasily. "Like back in the corridor. You're really, really mad."

"not at you, pal. definitely not at you. this isn't because you did anything wrong. now, the heartless humans who don't deserve to be related to you… that's a different story," he said in a carefully controlled voice.

"Don't look for them, Sans. Don't hurt them. Just… leave them alone. I don't need them anymore," said Frisk. "I have Mom, Dad, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and everyone. And you. I've got you, right?"

His anger with the unknown humans did not completely extinguish. But the way they turned the last part into a question at least shifted his thoughts to more important matters. His expression relaxed into something calmer and more genuine as Sans ruffled their hair.

"of course ya got me, buddy," he said. "that'll never change."

Gaster chuckled gently, the strange sound filling the quiet lab. The pair glanced towards him curiously.

"Forgive me, Sans. I was merely reminded of when you and Papyrus were small. You were always a good big brother."

Sans didn't know how to respond to the unexpected remark, but Frisk nodded enthusiastically. The child then yawned and leaned against Sans' shirt tiredly. He honestly had no idea what time it was at the moment. There were no windows and he never got around to sticking a clock on the wall. But Sans suspected it was either really late or very early in the morning. Either way, the kid was going to a shuffling and barely-conscious mess at breakfast.

"Your dad is nice, Sans. I'm glad you got him back."

He fought back a slight chuckle. Of course Frisk figured it out. He'd only told them that he once knew Gaster before the machine broke and that he saw Gaster disappear. He told them bits and pieces, but he never fully explained. He never admitted he lost part of his family that day. But Frisk clearly made the connection anyway. The kid was always too observant and clever for their own good.

Wrapping an arm around their shoulders, he said, "me too."

Sans rubbed his hand briefly against their shoulder comfortingly. The kid didn't even flinch at the contact, Toriel's green healing magic ensuring the stab wound was only a memory. But the memory bothered him. He already had enough nightmares of death. He didn't want more. They could have been killed saving him. Frisk could have died permanently this time. And it would've been because of him.

"you really risked it all to drag my sorry bones back here, didn't ya?" he said quietly. "not sure i'm worth it."

Any signs of sleepiness vanished as Frisk pulled back and directed a rather stern look at him. The expression lost a little of its effectiveness due to their age, their pajamas, and their bed-head, but it still got their point across. Frisk apparently thought he was an idiot.

"Of course you're worth it. You're my friend."

"kid, you could have died."

"I've died a lot already. I've died a lot in that corridor specifically," said Frisk far too casually. "That doesn't change anything. You're my friend. And if it meant saving you, getting killed again would be worth it."

"but you couldn't reset," Sans said with a bit more force than he meant to use. "it wouldn't be like all those fights in the past. you said you couldn't reset. you would be gone, frisk."

"It didn't matter that I couldn't Save or Reset there."

"it would have if you died. you—"

"It wouldn't matter," interrupted Frisk, "because I wouldn't have tried loading a Save or a Reset anyway."

That stopped Sans cold. He stared at the child on his lap and tried to decide if he heard them correctly.

"…what?"

"I promised, remember? I promised you no more Resets. I meant it. No matter what happens to me, I won't do it."

Two opposing and powerful emotions hit him hard. Sans felt horrified and guilty to realize the kid really would let themselves die rather than break that promise. Frisk made that promise a while ago, but he'd always had his doubts. Hope was scary. Allowing himself to believe them completely would be too hard. This time, he could see their honesty and Determination. The child would rather be killed permanently than force him and the others back into that endless cycle of repeating timelines.

The other emotion the realization caused was relief. And his relief over truly escaping the Resets forever made the guilt worse.

"frisk, i honestly don't know what any of us did to deserve a great kid like you," he said finally. "thanks for saving me, by the way. i don't know if i said it earlier, but thank you."

"YEAH," shouted Papyrus, making everyone jump in surprise. While they struggled to recover from the unexpected noise, he engulfed Sans and Frisk in an impromptu group hug. "THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAVING MY BROTHER. I'M SO HAPPY THAT EVERYONE IS SAFE AND UNHARMED."

"uh… hey, bro? how long have you been awake and listening?"

Narrowing his eyes at his older sibling, Papyrus said, "LONG ENOUGH, BROTHER. LONG ENOUGH. AND I HAVE ONE IMPORTANT QUESTION."

He turned his head sharply and pointed towards the partially-melted monster beside him. Gaster jerked back slightly in surprise while the skeleton's eyes practically popped out.

"I HAVE A DAD?"

Toriel should have been more upset to find her child's bed empty that morning. Not only was Frisk grounded until further notice, but she didn't have much sleep the night before. Everything she'd seen and learned yesterday was too much. She was having trouble handling it all. Discovering her child missing should have been the final straw.

But she found herself not overly concerned. She already had her suspicions of where to look.

Far quieter than her ex-husband would have managed, Toriel slipped out of the house, walked around the building, and opened the concealed door to the formerly-secret basement lab. She would certainly have to commend Sans on the construction of the extra room at a later date. She then quietly crept down the stairs.

The scene she found brought a smile to her face.

Frisk was curled up on Sans' lap and sleeping quietly. They had practically latched onto, their arms encircling the skeleton while their hands vanished under his coat. Sans returned the favor by hugging the child close like an oversized stuffed toy. He slept with his head nestled on top of Frisk's hair.

Furthermore, Sans rested on Papyrus' lap. His longer arms wrapped around the smaller skeleton and human child quite comfortably. There was no danger of anyone slipping off and falling off the couch. And Papyrus seemed to be leaning against the new monster, Gaster. Even though he might be half-melted and strange, Gaster at least appeared to be sleeping lightly and solid enough to lean back against the snoozing skeleton.

Toriel had a few theories about the newcomer, but for now all that mattered was that he helped complete the rather adorable image before her. She was honestly tempted to sneak back up to the rest of the house and locate a camera.

Instead, she reached down and picked off the quilt from where it had fallen. Then Toriel carefully draped it across the four sleeping figures. There was no reason why they should not be allowed to sleep a little longer.

And thus I finish off this short story. It may have ended up longer than expected, but it wasn't too long. I hope that at least a few people enjoyed it. Thanks for all the reviews I've had so far. I certainly appreciate it.