"GenO.....GeNo wAkE uP...WaKe U-GAH!"Error's voice says with a yelp

I try to wake up but couldn't. I was trapped in a nightmare chain. Again. One where my friends die before my eyes. But I notice it goes in a pattern. Error, Ink, Blue, Goth, Palette, repeat. I've gotten used to the pattern by now. At least for tonight it was like this. But then the dream reset to a blank space, which was unusual. I hear a yell of pain. One from a voice I knew.

No! Not again!

I turn to see someone holding Reaper's scythe and slashing him with it. Reaper disappears. I look away.

Don't look at that. Don't believe it. Reaper would never lose his own weapon or let it get used against him. They can't kill Reaper.....He's the very bringer of death.....can't they?

A container of a chemical appears in front of me. The liquid was a light blue kind of color. The container had a label: Deletion. My eye light shrinks.

No.....

It disappears. Reaper appears in front of me. He gets shot plently of times and I see the chemical on each arrow that pierced him. I drop to my knees, crying.

"Reaper!"I yell

He looks at me, saying nothing. He kneels down, fading away as he does so. Something hit me from behind and I drop forward.

This happened because you weren't there to keep him safe.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry. Make this end! End this please!"I cry

"Geno...."Reaper says, reaching out to me, but his hands fading

"This is all my fault! I could've....should've....No! I still can!"I cry

I look up at him. His face as he fell apart made me cry more. I know it's just a bad dream but it still hurts.

"No! Nononono! Reaper! Reaper! I won't let this happen, I promise!"I say, reaching out to him

"Then wake up. You need to WAKE UP!"He says

Then he disappears completely.

"No.....Nononono....Reaper......"I mutter

*Reaper is gone*

"No!"I yell

"Geno, wake up!"A voice says, making me jolt back to consciousness

I wake up to find myself still in the backyard with Error's newly made blanket still wrapped around me. It is morning by now. I find tears in my eyes from the nightmare. But it isn't Error beside me and gently shaking me awake. No..

It is Reaper.

My face warms and I jump, surprised. Shouldn't he be at work? Usually his job takes him days before he returns. What is he doing here? And why is he nuzzling my head again? But then I come to my senses and calm down. He is just bored. Too lazy to go to that precious job of his so he wastes time messing with me. Or, maybe his job was postponed and he wants to kill time until then. So stupid.

"Geno?"Reaper says

"What?"I ask

"Are you okay?"He asks

"I'm fine."I lie coldly

"You're crying."He points out

"From joy! Where's Error?"I ask

"A bird took him away. Blue and Dust are going to get him. We're you having a nightmare?"He says

"No...."I lie

"Don't lie to me, Geno."He says

"Oh, like you have to me? For your information, I have had nightmares for weeks without you knowing! But I can handle it! I'm not as weak as you think! And you will let me handle it because quote 'That is what friends do! Back off!' I'll be fine."I snap, sitting up

He's silent. He has this look like he's offended or hurt. I frown. It was as if he didn't expect that.

"What? Did that hurt you? Words hurt. The truth hurts. And that's what you told me. You should've expected it to come back. Unlike Ink, it's harder for me to forget things. Besides, shouldn't you be working? Your job seemed so important to you yesterday."I say, crossing my arms

"I decided not to go. I was doing the wrong one."Reaper says

"Ya, it's called lying and being a jerk of a friend. I bet you are just too lazy to go do it so you stayed back to entertain yourself. Or it was cancelled so you're just killing time. What lies do you have to tell me now?"I say

Reaper was silent. Then he speaks.

"You seemed worried yesterday about me leaving."He says

"No freaking kidding, SHERLOCK! How observant of you! Cause I was!"I snap, holding my crossed arms tightly and glaring at him

"Why?"He asks

"Why?! WHY?! Oh I dunno, maybe since I don't want the greatest friend I ever had to get into trouble! To get hurt! To die! Maybe, I care for them! I have a right to worry about them! And maybe, just maybe, I didn't want my nightmares to become a reality! And guess what! That greatest friend was YOU! But apparently it's a crime to care about your friends and the penalty is feelings getting hurt when it comes to you! And I don't want that. I'm done with your tricks. You were the best but not anymore. Now, I'm gonna go before you find another way to hurt me."I yell

Then, I get up and leave. I go inside, getting a jacket on. I leave out the front and find a diner. I go in and sit at a seat by the counter. I look up and a Grillby sat there. Grillby looks at me, smiles with a little wave. He places a glass he was cleaning aside.

"Hey Geno, how are you?"He asks

"I'm doing ok."I say

He leans on the counter.

"I can spot a liar, Geno. Do you know how many Sanses walk in here?"He says, sliding me some ketchup

I shake my head.

"No thanks. I guess I just have a lot on my mind is all."I say

"Well, if you ever want to talk..."He says, grabbing my hand gently

"I'm here to listen. Heh, usually Sanses would be hurt, burned by now. You're strong."He says

"Thanks, Grillby. I'm kinda already hurt so can't get worse. You really are a Sans' friend."I tell him

A bell rings.(Guess who >:3) 

Grillby tensed up, his flaming head erupting slightly like a volcano. He shakes his head and put a hand on his hip, the other sliding off my hand and forming a fist on the counter. 

"I gotta go. I'll be right back. We are so understaffed here."He says walking away

I look to where he went curiously. I've never seen a Grillby get like that before. Angry. He went to a booth next to a table of humans where someone sat alone, hiding behind a menu. Grillby begins snapping and yelling at the person about something. Grillby walks away and takes tables orders. I turn away and rest my head on the counter, trying to think. Maybe I should get busy myself. All I do is cook and clean or watch over everyone at home, even if they don't need me to. And it'll give me an excuse to leave Reaper or his tricks. I decide on it.

I sit up again and someone looking like a staff member comes over. They hand me a hotdog.

"It's from Grillby. He says it's on the house."They say, then walk away before I could react

I shrug it off and munch on it. Grillby comes back over. I look around and see he had Help wanted signs on the doors and windows. I could've sworn I saw the person at the booth peeking at me before hiding behind a menu again. I look at Grillby. He was cleaning his glasses and rubbing his head as if he were stressed. 

"Hey, I was thinking of helping you out and working here since you seem so stressed and say you're understaffed. How does that sound?"I suggest

He looks at me and his glasses shined as if his eyes lit up. He seemed to get happier again or like the sound of it.

"That sounds great! Thanks, Geno! Here, this is my email. Let's work things out later. If all goes well, you could be working on Monday."He says

It's Saturday. I nod, copying the email from his to my phone.

"What were ya eating?"He asks

"Some hotdog one of your staff members gave."I say

"I'm the only one working today."He says

"Then who are they?"I ask, pointing to a dude cleaning a cup at the other end of the counter

"A! Get out of here! You don't work here!"He snaps, shooting some fire at the dude

The person took off running. I got a sickening feeling. Grillby was fizzling with anger. I suddenly feel nausceous and I think Grillby could tell. He directed me to the bathroom and even waited outside. I go to a stall and puke into the toilet. Part of me forced myself to puke, wanting to get anything bad in that hotdog out of me. Some wanted it to just be food poisoning or I ate too fast, something innocent and not so bad. But the rest of me knew it can't be good. I finally finish and flush it. I walk out of the stall but get this horrible pain in my head. I fall forward and black out.......But then I feel a warm, brning, sensation on my foreskull. I open my eyes and find Grillby beside me, placing a hand on my head.

"Geno! Wake up! Please!"He says

"I'm up....Ugh...What happened?"I ask

He looks at me and sighs with relief.

"I heard a bang and come in here to find you lying on the floor out cold. I got so worried. Rumors say people at nearby diners have eaten foods and trouble has come once they enter the bathroom. I didn't want that to happen to you or with me in charge either."He says

"Oh...I...I see. Thanks Grillby."I say

"Are you okay?"He asks

I nod.

"I think I will head home."I say, getting up

"Ok."He says

I leave. I walk out and start to head home. Two arms wrap around me.

"Don't move."A voice says

I recognize it. Reaper's.

"What the hell, Reaper? What are you doing? Get your hands off me!"I snap

"No.~"He says

"Reaper yo-!"I begin

"AGH! I will always protect you, Geno. No matter how stubborn you get, how annoying I get or how annoyed you get at me. Honest."He says

(notice the eye color)

I look up at him. I remember a memory. It was back when Error checked up on us after reviving Error's memory. Renew was attacking us, but I didn't know it was Renew at the time. She had sneak attacked me, slashing me twice, but Reaper knocked her away and pulled me out of her attack range. He blocked me from her and even bandaged the wounds. He told me that while answering Error's text and kept that jerk away. I frown at this memory now in a panic. I look and see an arrow going through his shoulder with a chemical dripping off  the tip. It looked just like the one from my nightmare.

"Reaper....NO!"I cry

"Heh, don't cry silly. You're gonna be ok....."Reaper says weakly, then falls apart

"REAPER! NOOO!"I yell

I break into tears, crying. Why'd I leave? I should not have done that! I shouldn't have left him! No matter what happened between Reaper and I, I should have protected him! I should have done more! 

I do nothing but cry. I couldn't stop. Reaper's gone. Deleted. Dead. I hear footsteps. Fast ones too. I tense. But then I see a shadow appear on the ground. It looked like Renew's....I blink and shake my head, thinking my tears are making things up.

Reaper's POV

I run as fast as I can to find Geno. I move even quicker when I hear him cry out my name. Something is wrong. I find him and he's shaking....I froze up. What do I do? What do I say? He's mad at me! But then he reaches up and the glitches around his eye disappears. Tears flood out from that eye. He bows his head. His eye light looked different. Then again, I've never seen him cry before. Not like this.

"I'm such an idiot....I failed him! He's gone and I failed to stop it! I'm so stupid!"He cries

I place a hand on his shoulder.

"Geno? What's wrong?"I ask

He looks at me and his mood swings to anger. He slaps my hand away and steps back.

"Don't touch me, you jerk! I lost him because of you!"He snaps, summoning bone attacks

"Lost who? Geno, it's me!"I ask

"Don't play dumb! I'm done with your tricks! I hate you!"He says, firing the bones at me

I dodge them quickly. His words hurt but I earned it and he doesn't seem himself either. He needs to calm down before something goes wrong. I need to help him.

"Geno! Snap out of it! It's Reaper!"I say

"Stop taunting me, Renew! Burn in hell! Reaper is gone! Because of you! Now stay away from me!"Geno snaps, firing a Gaster Blaster that knocks me far back.

When the blast finished, I ran back to where Geno was to find him rnning through a portal that shut behind him.

"Geno!"I yell

Then, before I could process anything, Raven came.

"Reaper! Where's Geno?"He asks

I'm silent. 

"....I.....I don't know...."I say

He grabs my hood and drags me.

"You're coming with me."He says

Hours later, in a private meeting, Goth's POV

Raven calls Error, Shino and I into a private room. He said it's important. And when he says it's important, it usually means extremely important. He doesn't do it willy nilly or use the term 'important' loosely. Once we entered, he locked the door behind us. There were no windows in this room. Just a board with a rag covering it on a wall. I noticed Raven seemed quite...grim.

"Good, you all came."He says

"Of course."I say

"Anything for you, big bro!"Shino says

"WhY aRe wE hErE?"Error asks

"Well, we have a situation."He says

"WeLl dOn'T bEaT aRoUnD tHe bUsH aNd jUst tElL uS!"Error says

"Geno has gone missing."Raven says

"WHAT?!?"Error yells

"Nooo!"Shino cries

I stay silent, wanting to make sense of this or find reasons this may be happening.

"Yes, a few hours ago he went missing. He won't answer anyone or give even a sign of his whereabouts or very existence. Not a trace of him."Raven says

"This meeting isn't to assume the worst is it?"Shino asks

"Course not. It's to figure out what we do know. It's to somehow find him."Raven says

I nod. 

He saved my life, I can't let him down.

He removes the rag to show a chart of links and clues or notes, pictures, etc drawn on it. A paper covered one box marked with a question mark. At the center of the chart is Geno. Our goal is clear.

"Here's what we do know. First of all, the obvious. There are plenty of threats coming to us. He may have been attacked. Like E!Gaster, Renew, or their minions. Or, was tricked by somehow consuming one of Science's infamously stolen chemicals that are used as a tool."Raven says, pointing to the threats section

Shino and I nod. Error is silent, gazing at it.

"Then we have his last known whereabouts. According to his phone, he was last known being at a diner. A diner that he goes to often. Today, only Grillby was working in the time frame that Geno was there. He may have seen, heard or know something. He's a witness."Raven says, pointing to the location part

We each nod. Shino squeezes my hand tightly, seeming nervous.

"Then we have his nightmares. Now, there we have two suspects. Nightmare and Dream. We never know what Nightmare can be planning and he is all about trouble, so maybe he did something. Maybe he used Geno's own mind against him. Plus, Dream's been acting off lately...He can't be cleared as a non-suspect."Raven says, pointing to the nightmares section

We nod, listening and silent.

"He toLd mE aLl abOut thosE. MaYbe If I eXpLaIn, It cAn hElP lOcAtE hIm."Error says

"We also have his promise. Apparently he made a promise to our original Geno that he will protect us. Maybe something went wrong and he was convinced that he had to go in order to keep the promise. Which then circles back to the other facts."Raven explains, pointing to a lonely box on the far left

"Ya, tHeN wHeN hIs nIgHtmArEs gOt wOrSe, hE mAde tHe pRomIsE bE aBoUt kEePiNg uS aLl sAfe, nOt jUst YoU 3."Error states

"Then we have other leads or possibilities. He could be anywhere around here or the multiverse. There could be others-"Raven says

"LiKe FreSh."Error says

"Yep. Or secrets could be kept that get him in trouble. We need to find him. Sooner rather than later."Raven says

"WE ARE IN!"The 3 of us cheer

"Okay, that's a relief. He promised to keep us safe, we should do the same. I....We can't lose another one."He says, his voice trembling

He's holding back his emotions, I can tell.

We each nod.

"We keep this news among us only. If others find out he's gone missing, trouble could start. Goth, you and Shino go to the diner. Try to get info out of Grillby."He says

"Error, can you check the multiverse? Do that peekhole thing you do to watch the timelines? He could be anywhere."He suggests

"SuRe aNd yA miGht wAnT to aDd FrEsH tO tHe sUsPeCt lIsT. He wAs TrYiNg t0 tAkE GeNo a fEw wEeKs AgO."Error says

He nods.

"I'll try to find some leads or do what I can to find a direct connection between something and Geno or his whereabouts. That's the plan and we know our goal. This meeting has concluded."Hesays

We nod and stand up. We each leave the room at different times. Shino and I quickly walk to the front door, but then....

Knock, Knock.

I keep Shino behind me when I open the door.

"Hello-what the heck?"I say, summoning my scythe in a panic and in defense

"Relax, kid. I'm here to help. Just don't tell my brother or he'll hug me to death and don't tell the gang or they'll kill me."Nightmare says

I'm quiet. In shock. I thought he was lying but then why would he be in this form? Shino goes to get Raven and Error. 

"Well? Geno's not gonna find himself. Let me come in and help."Nightmare says

"How could you possibly help? Why do you even want to?"I ask

"I know pieces of their plan. I will not work with the ones who are breaking my brother. Only I can when I'm in my other form. I can tell you what they're doing. It may give clues. I'll give my reasons for helping when I come inside. Can't have people eavesdropping. But for now, let's just say I've been feeling empathy whenever I sense Geno's negativity lately. I've known what it's like to feel some of his emotions. Details later, but that's the simplest way I can put the reason of my assistance."He says

Error comes over, tying Nightmare up from the ceiling and dragging him to a room. I go off with Shino to the diner to get answer. But Nightmare's words perplexed me. Empathy? Knows how it feels? What could Geno be possibly feeling?