Story: Hope of Morning, Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale.

A/N: I'm sorry it has been so long. My ADHD and Anxiety/Depression has been making it impossible for me to stick with anything lately and then I keep adding more stories to my list to finish, so I repeatedly end up overwhelming myself even more. Not to mention a lot of other things have been going on. I just want you all to know that I've not given up on this story, it just may be a while before I update again. (Also, this chapter is taking place some time in between Sans' talk with Papyrus.) This section feels rushed, but I didn't know what else to right, circumstances considered. I may come back and edit this at some point.

"U-Undyne?"

"Hey, Alphys, I hope you're not busy!..." Undyne scratched the back of her head, smiling awkwardly, before her face turned a bit more serious. "I need to talk with you about something... It's really important. Can I come in?"

Alphys had been kind of busy keeping an eye on her camera in case a human came by, but it was nothing that would stop Alphys from listening to her friend. At firsrt Alphys, had got the idea it had been a love confession Undyne wanted to talk about. So, she was undoubtebly blushing at the thought of it, though it wasn't that noticable.

"O-oh, um... sure." Alphys stepped back so Undyne could step in. "What is it you need to talk about?"

"Well, it's about a friend of mine... They're really depressed..." Undyne felt awkward saying this, but forced herself to trust Undyne with such a tocuhy thing. In fact, Alphys probably had more experience with Anxiety than anybody she knew, so going to her had probably been the best course of action. "And they've been hurting themself. Do you have any clue as to how to help a self-harmer? I let their family know, and I told them I'd be there for them to listen if they felt like doing it again, but I don't know what to do beyond that, and I'm so worried right now. What if he accidentally dusts himself or something?!"

Undyne scolded herself for letting Sans's gender out, but sighed, her whole being shaking as worry for her friend continued consuming her.

Alphys was a bit startled when her reasoning for being here came out, but she grew serious, not able to stand seeing Undyne so worked up.

"Undyne, I kn-know this isn't easy to deal with, b-but you've gotta c-calm down, because getting upset w-won't help anything...!" She told her. Undyne's eyes widened a bit.

"...You're right... I'm sorry..."

"No, you don't need to apologize. J-just try to sit and calm down for a second." Alphys told her.

Undyne took her advice and sat down on the floor against the wall to take a breather.

"I'll be right back." Alphys said, as she walked off to get a glass of water, coming back about minutes later and handing it to Undyne, who thanked her, seeming to be slightly calmer now.

"Now, the key to dealing with a self-harmer is having patience and understanding."

"But how much patience can I have? He only has one HP...!"

"O-one HP?!" Alphys herself was compleltely shocked at hearing that, but, upon seeing that, her reaction worried Undyne as well, she had to compose herself again.

"It's almost like something...traumatic... wiped the majority of his HP..." Alphys thought aloud, wrapping a finger around her chin. "Did you try talking to him about what was causing him to hurt himself?"

"Not really... We were around other people when I found out, so I didn't want to put too much pressure on him."

"I see..."

"What have I done, Alphys...?"

"I d-don't know, Undyne..." Alphys mumbled, reaching down andp putting a hand over one of Undyne's. "but we'll f-figure it out together, okay...?"

Undyne looked up at her, giving a small smile, before giving her hand a small squeeze back. "Yeah, thanks, Alphys."

She looked down at the glass of water, her smile fading. "You probably want to know who's self-harming, don't you?"

"W-well news spreads fast in the Underground, so I'll probably hear something about it eventually anyway, in the case that somebody overheard." Alphys said.

"Good point... And It's... Sans." Undyne muttered.

"Sans has been...?" Alphys was sure she had heard wrong. Sans, the couldn't-care-less-jokester of the Underground, had been hurting himself? There was no way. She was speechless for a second, before speaking again. "So... Papyrus knows, then?"

"...Yeah, I let him know. I imagine he confronted Sans on it. But I don't... know how that turned out." Thinking about it, she found herself growing worried for both Sans and Papyrus. Sans, being as stubborn as he was about letting people in may have said or done something irrational, and Papyrus could have been hurt. Even if Papyrus was able to deal with Sans better than most, it didn't mean that Sans was ever completely honest or open with him.

"Alphys, can I use your phone?" She asked.

"S-sure. Gonna call him?" Alphys nodded handing her cellphone to her.

"Yeah." Undyne nodded in response, taking the phone.

"Oh, it has a voice automated caller. Just say to call him and it will call him." Alphys told her about her little experiment.

"That's neat. Call Papyrus." She stated. And sure enough, to her surprise, did exactly that.

However, Undyne was surprised that it took several rings for Papyrus to pick up, even though he usually picked up on the first ring.

"...Un...dyne?" Papyrus answered on the other side of the line.

"Papyrus? Did something happen?" Undyne inquired in response. He sounded incredibly upset.

"I... Sans... he teleported away, and I don't know where... Please help me find him, Undyne...!" Papyrus cried out loud. Undyne felt her anxiety rising in worry.

"Alright, Papyrus," Undyne felt herself hesitate for a second, before forcing herself to keep a control on her emotions. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm in Snowdin." Papyrus replied.

"Just keep searching for him, and I'll meet up with you in no more than just a few minutes." Undyne told him.

"Alright..." Undyne could tell, in his tone alone, that Papyrus probably was more upset and worried than any of them, there was no telling what he had just been through with Sans, but that was something that needed be discussed later. Right now, they needed to find Sans.

Upon hanging up, Undyne couldn't stop the question from rolling in her head.

"Sans... What have you done...?"

She wasn't mad at him, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't frustrated that Sans had upset and worried Papyrus like this.

"You know... I d-do have cameras set up around most of the underground..." Alphys suddenly offered. "I might be able to find Sans through that."

Undyne looked at her in surprise before smiling.

"Alphys, you're a genius!" She exclaimed, shaking Alphys by her shoulder a bit.

At hearing the compliment, Alphys blushed. "I-I am?"

"Yes, you are! I would appreciate it so much if you helped us find him."

"Alright, just give me a second." Alphys said, going over to her computer, followed by Undyne.

- End of Chapter 4 Part 1

A/N: Again, sorry I haven't been updating lately, and that this wasn't much, but I hope it was okay.