Sans sat up quickly, looking around. "What in the--" He felt like he had just had the nightmare of a lifetime. His hands were shaking, he was sweating like a whore in church, and his magic was flaring in such a way that Sans didn't even need a mirror to know that his left eye was flashing between blue and yellow and probably even smoking out the magic residue in it's somewhat terrifying, fire-like way. He was terrified, but he didn't know why. He couldn't remember any dreams at all. There didn't seem to be anything out of place that would suggest a more real threat was present. He was sitting on his couch, the TV was on but muted, flickering with images of some useless show or another, the pet rock sitting peacefully covered in it's usual blanket of rainbow sprinkles. He could see snow falling outside his window, the streetlights of Snowdin highlighting each falling piece...wait, Snowdin? Why did that feel so strange?

He got up off the couch and made his way over to the window, peering out. It was definitely Snowdin. Something about that revelation made his soul beat faster and even more sweat appear on his palms. He stared down at himself, mystified. He turned to go back to the couch, and just then, he heard a voice from upstairs. "BROTHER, WHY ARE YOU AWAKE AT SUCH A LATE HOUR" Papyrus was standing at the top of the stairs, rubbing his eyes. Sans looked up at him, shocked. "Papyrus, what are you doing here?" he heard himself ask. Papyrus looked at him for a moment, confused. "I AM...WAS...SLEEPING? I NEEDED A DRINK OF WATER BUT I DID NOT EXPECT YOU TO BE AWAKE"

Sans just stared at him for a moment. Something felt profoundly wrong about this. Papyrus shouldn't be here, but why shouldn't Papyrus be here? It was his house too? No it wasn't, Papyrus lived across town in an apartment with... Then it all came rushing back.

"Red...RED!" He choked out, his legs suddenly going weak. It was all he could do to stumble forward so that he could lean against the side of the couch. What happened to Red? What had happened to him ? Sans could feel himself starting to panic, and then he realized. It was just another reset. The basement would be untouched, the leftover magic from Gaster would make sure of that, had always made sure of that. He could be to Red in an instant with the machine. He immediately ran for the stairs, cursing the fact that the stupid workout regimen that Papyrus and Fell had put them on to make him and Red more fit had actually all been for nothing. "WHAT IS RED?" he heard his brother ask as he pushed past him on the way to his old room. He rushed across the dark room, tripping over the stupid treadmill and the numerous piles of crap on the floor on the way to his dresser. Cursing loudly, he fished the key to the basement out of the drawer that contained three mismatched pairs of socks and no less than five empty bottles of ketchup and whatever the hell that was supposed to be behind the socks, he didn't even want to know. He turned to run back downstairs, he tripped over yet another pile of he-didn't-even-want-to- know -what and let fly another curse. Berating himself for ever having been such a freaking slob, he decided to just take a shortcut and found himself standing in front of the lab door. He fumbled with the key for a moment or two before he was able to get the door open and rush down the stairs, not bothering to lock it behind him like he normally did.

He took the step two or three at a time before he came to an abrupt stop when he reached the bottom. The machine...the one that he had finally figured out how to fix only a few resets ago, the one that allowed him to go to Red's world...

It was gone.

X-X-X-X

"SANS!!!" the angry yell came from the kitchen, but Red couldn't get himself to process his brother's voice. He had woken up less than an hour ago with the taste of mustard in his mouth and a muddled, hungover mind. It had only taken him a few moments to remember why he had tears running down his face.

He couldn't get the memory of the look on Sans' face as he had failed to break the barrier, failed to save them both. He couldn't get the sound of Sans screaming his name out of his head.

He had thought to check on his machine before remembering that it was nothing more than an empty shell now, the Underfell basement lacking the reset-resistant magic that was in Sans' world, any hope of fixing the machine unattainable. He had no idea where to even begin to fix it, it had always been Sans that was good at that sort of thing. They both had their Gasters, both had their moments in the lab, helping their father, learning complicated ideas and mechanisms, but Sans' kinder world had actually allowed him to continue in his love of creation instead of growing to hate was had made him into the lazy lowlife Red thought himself to be. It was only after he had met Sans that Red had been able to find kindness and light in the world and oh God, he couldn't do this without Sans .

Red forced himself to take a few deep breaths, and he relaxed his arms and legs, which had curled into him and tightened so hard he felt himself starting to go numb. He looked blankly at his wall, forcing himself to think rationally. Sans would come for him. He knew exactly how the machine worked, he could have his fixed back up in less than a day, probably. "SANS!!! GET YOUR LAZY ASS DOWN THE STAIRS, NOW!!!" Fell was yelling at him again.

Red's eyes widened suddenly, realizing something. That wasn't fell down there. That was Papyrus, that was Boss . He would be back to how he had been before they had met the Undertale brothers. Red didn't notice his limbs curling back into himself again as he considered what that meant. It had taken years to fix the damage, to repair their relationship. Red squeezed his eyes shut, not noticing the stomping footsteps that were crossing the floor below, on their way to the stairs. The Great and Terrible Papyrus, one of the most feared monsters in the entire Underground, Captain of the Royal Guard.

Even after they had left Underfell behind, he hadn't changed much. It had only been after Constantia was born that he -- Constantia! Red's eyes flew open at the same time as his door, a very angry Papyrus standing before him.

X-X-X-X

Sans couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Where was the machine? There had never been a reset where it wasn't there, almost mocking him until he had finally figured out how it worked. He was stuck. Red was stuck, in that god-awful world. What was he going to do? He was pushing away thought of his daughter that were threatening to send him over the edge into a full-fledged panic attack. He realized he was shaking, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He needed to get to Red. Anything could be happening to him right now. In that screwed up world, he could easily already be -- Sans cut off that line of thought before it could finish.

There had to be some way to get to him. Maybe a shortcut? It could take him anywhere else, why not there? He and Red had never tried because of the obvious risks and the fact that they already had a ready-made way to travel between worlds, and after Red and Fell had come to stay, there had never been a reason to go back to that awful place. The amount of magical energy it would probably take to travel between worlds had to be astronomical, but Sans couldn't worry about that right now. He closed his eyes, imagining what he could remember of the darker version of his living room, and then he gathered his magical energy around him and and took the shortcut.

As soon as he felt the air come back in around him, his eyes flew open and he found himself facing his kitchen. His kitchen. His living room, his couch, his own bright, happy, dust-free world outside the door. He screamed in frustration, gripping onto his own skull and digging his phalanges in until it hurt. He heard footsteps running down the stairs as he summoned the energy to try again, this time appearing a few feet to his right. He sank to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself as he began to sob. He felt someone touching his shoulder cautiously, but he couldn't find room in his head to care.

Red, Constantia, Red, Constantia, Red...

Everything faded to black.

X-X-X-X

"What in the fuck do you think you're doing?" came his brother's angry voice. Red raised his own eyes to meet his, and was suddenly his by how much Papyrus had changed in the last 17 years. The Papyrus he knew would have looked an awful lot like the one standing in front of him to the casual observer. His Papyrus had an extra crack across the bottom of his jaw, and his bones were slightly more white due to his improved eating habits, but what struck Red the most was the complete and utter lack of affection in his brother's eyes. Things had always been tense between them, but in the last few years, they had made very big strides, thanks to Sans and Paps. The skeleton standing before him was looking at him with so much unbridled hatred, so much more than he had seen on anyone in a very long time.

Red's surprise in that moment caused him to make an awful mistake. "Pap-Papyrus?" he whispered, staring at the stranger in front of him. Papyrus's eyes narrowed as he looked at his older brother.

"What...the... fuck ..." he growled, "did you just call me, you useless piece of trash?" And just like that, this wasn't a stranger.

Red scrambled away from him, fear like he hadn't felt in 17 years clouding his mind. He found himself trapped between his headboard and his angry brother.

Boss looked at him scornfully as he cowered. "Pitiful," he snarled, walking around the side of the bed and picking Red up by his neck. "Usually you've got some smart-ass comment up your sleeve instead of just sitting here, shitting yourself like a god-damn dog " Boss's eyes sparked on the last word as though he had had a fantastic idea.

Red knew what was coming, and he knew that the tears making their way down his face were only making it worse, but he couldn't get himself to stop. 17 years in a soft world had made him weak. 17 years of kindness and people he loved had taken what he had gotten from countless resets and pain and death and losing his whole world over and over and over again. He had made the mistake of learning to care.

X-X-X-X

Sans woke up on the couch, his head pounding. He sat up blearily to see Papyrus sitting on the ground with his back against the front of the couch, sound asleep. Sans looked down at his brother, not sure what he was feeling at the moment. Papyrus was snoring softly, and he was wearing his battle body, Sans realized, smiling softly. He hadn't seen Papyrus in his battle body since before Constantia was bo-- Sans' smile dropped from his face.

He hunched forward, burying his head in his hands. What was he going to do? He had no way to reach Red, his daughter no longer existed. Who even knew what kind of hell Red was going through right now?

Sans remembered when he had first met Red. Behind his asshole exterior, he had been beyond damaged. He had been...broken. Destroyed. He had been an empty shell of a monster, with no concept of what love even meant. It had taken months before Red had been able to look Paps in the eye, years for his own brother. He remembered the way Fell had broken down when he realized Red was dying. And now he had lost all of that.

Sans began to cry quietly. He had promised Red, swore to him , that he would always be there for him, that he would never have to do the things he had once been forced to do. He didn't know what to do, he didn't even know where to start.

He didn't notice Papyrus waking up and standing until his brother rested a hand on his shoulder. "SANS, WHAT IS WRONG?" he asked. Sans jumped slightly, both from the contact and the question. He looked up to see Papyrus hovering over him, looking confused and sad. He didn't even know about the resets. He didn't know anything. This was barely even Papyrus!

Sans' train of thought came to a screeching halt. Of course this was Papyrus. It was just him 17 years ago, when he had been a naive, incredibly childlike Royal Guard "in training". This Papyrus had no scars. This Papyrus, Sans realized, could still use attack magic. Not that this Papyrus would ever want to.

Sans wiped the tears from his face, realizing that he had been asked a question. What was wrong? Where would he start? What would this Papyrus even understand? "Nothin', bro. I just haven't been sleeping well, I think I'm getting kinda bone -tired" he said, forcing a lazy grin onto his face.

Papyrus just looked at him for a moment, seeming confused. Then he straightened up. "YOU HAVEN'T BEEN SLEEPING WELL? ALLOW ME TO HELP YOU, BROTHER! I WILL PREPARE YOU SOME SPAGHETTI!" He began to make his strutting way into the kitchen before pausing in the doorway. Sans almost missed what was said next, it was so quiet. "And Sans...if you decide you would like to talk to me, I am always here. You are my brother and I love you," With that, he disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to make some spaghetti.

Sans couldn't bring himself to feel anything about this development.