*There's a bar two blocks from work with decent music. Birdie's. Saturdays are busy, but after nine it starts to die down. I usually get there around that time.*

You stared at the text for a while, hovering your thumb over the OK button. Eventually, you just flipped the phone shut.

"He's probably got family stuff, anyways."

You looked at the scribbles on the wall, in the same spot you had painted over three times the past six months. The holiday season was rough enough at work, with you needing to use your magic for heavier workloads, and the vial hidden away in the cabinet was reaching dangerous levels. Thankful Giving was right around the corner, which meant another five days off from work to spend time with

Family.

The emptiness of the word made you shrink further into the bed. Daniel. You missed him more than anything this time of year. You looked over at the picture on the end table, where he and you smiled wide at the camera he was holding crooked.

"What are you thankful for, (y/n)?"

You looked at his big, stupid grin, and dark hair. His eyes were bright as the blue sky above. You couldn't help but giggle at him.

"I'm thankful for having a brother."

He giggled. "I'm thankful for you having a brother, too."

"Hey!"

"Danny." Your eyes welled up with tears, but you shook them away, frustrated. "It's been too long to feel this way anymore."

You heard a scratching, then looked to where it came from to see more scribbles being drawn up on the wall.

"H-Hey!" You jumped out of bed and ran to the wall being vandalized. "Knock it off, you ghostly fuckers!"

Slapping your hand on where they were being written, you felt something. A hand? It appeared suddenly, and was followed by more white hands and some black and oozing. You backed away and felt something grab you, and you recognized the strange white hand you had seen on Sans a month ago. Suddenly, you were surrounded in cold darkness.

You could hear something, almost someone speaking, echoing in the black that had a firm hold on you. Fear held your chest tight, and your heart beat hard against your chest. You tried to speak, but nothing came out.

A disfigured face came out of the darkness and stared at you intently. Your heart beat faster, and you struggled against the hold this strange monster had on you, to no avail.

More strange noises came from its mouth, and you took a deep breath.

"I don't kn-know..." You could barely utter a whisper, despite all your efforts, "I can't understand you."

The noises stopped for a moment, then he brought four hands together and moved them quickly. The strange signs began to form familiar words in your head.

-☼↨u ar◙ an interesting creature.-

"Y-You speak..." Something about the way it spoke reminded you of another life. A life after Daniel. A life underground.

-What are you.-

"H-Human." But the word caused a shriek to violate your ears and you winced in pain. "What do you want from me?!"

-You remember now, don't you.-

"I...!" Something clicked in your head. A name. Your father speaking to you about science and it's wonders when combined with magic.

"The possibilities of what a SOUL can do is limitless when you combine it with science!" He roared with excitement, his black hair slick with the sweat of epiphany. "Imagine, combining SOULs! No, duplicating them! Imagine birthing a SOUL from what was lost! This can be done, with minds as brilliant as ours! It's all possible with myself and"

"Gaster!" The name gasped from your lungs as the blackness squeezed you tight. Hearing it, the binds loosened, and the face joined with it's hands to produce a tall figure.

-It's been a long time since I've heard my name.- You almost laughed at how much more friendly it sounded. -Perhaps I'm not so lost in time.-

-I'll be watching closely.-

In less than a second, all traces of him had vanished. The layers of yellow paint lay as bare as before, and the apartment was strangely silent. You weren't sure if it was him or your own paranoia that made you feel you were being watched. You opened your phone, hit the button, then grabbed your jacket with the door slamming shut behind you.

***

9:18PM. This bar scene was a bust. You sank further into your crossed arms, watching the bubbles in the drink in front of you rise to the top. The crowd had faded, and a local band was making their way from backstage with microphones and instruments. You recognized them from an indie rock calendar on the bulletin by the entrance. The lights were dim, and the technician was messing with different color stage lights. Autumn leaf garlands decorated the ceiling, and there was a poster of a goofy-looking monster holding a turkey on the far wall where the bathrooms were.

"Maybe this place is a little more lame than I remember." You mumbled sadly into your sleeve.

"I hope you're not leafing just yet."

A familiar voice came from behind you, and you spun around to see a leaf being held up to your face. Behind it was Sans, smiling warmly.

You smirked. "You're moving up to props, then?"

He hopped onto the stool next to yours. "Nah, it was just stuck to your jacket. I improvised. So, what's the occasion?"

"Occasion?"

"Well, you never text or call me first. Or at all. Until tonight, anyway."

You sank back into yourself. "I... I honestly don't know for sure."

"C'mon. I came all this way."

"It just feels like..." You sat up straight and turned to him, determined to speak. "You went out of your way to get to know me, and usually that pisses me off. You call me... That, and I've beat the crap out of guys for doing things like that. Not you. I don't understand why, and I don't think I want to." At this point, you had turned your gaze back to your drink, and your face was getting hot. "I've... I've been hurt before. I've basically been abandoned my whole life. Being around someone that seems to care... It's strange for me. It makes me... Care. I haven't done that in a long time."

You waited for a response, and the idle sounds of mic checks and jukebox music made the time feel agonizingly slow. You felt a hand pull on your shoulder, making you turn in the bar stool to face Sans.

He stared at you for a moment, a serious expression on his face, then returned to his usual smile.

"You wanna know the first thing I noticed about you? I mean what I really noticed."

"Uh... What?"

"When you checked your watch the first time we sat together at lunch, I saw your arm under the glove."

Oh no. Oh NO.

You struggled to stay calm. "Oh? What about it?"

"Well, I didn't understand why you hid your arms like that." He glanced at your hands, then back to you. "Any scars you're trying to hide are out there for the world to see already. The way you walk, your expression. Even your eyes. Yep, anything you locked away is leaking out of ya all the time."

His words startled you, mostly because of their sincerity. "I... I don't hide my scars, Sans. What I've been through made me stronger. Made me smarter. You know that." You felt yourself fidgeting with your gloves, and tried to hold still. "I'm sure you've been through lifetimes of bad shit. It's something I can just feel about you; we both have our demons."

You noticed his hands were on yours, now, and he had a light hold on the gloves.

"So stop hiding yours, babe."

You flinched and your hands pulled away. He looked a little disappointed. You sighed.

"Sans, I'm can't." You pulled your gloves secure to your fingers. "My hands... They're delicate. I can't just whip 'em out. Not right now." You couldn't tell him the scars he had seen were already gone. The medicine made quick work of them once you fell asleep. "I need more time."

He was quiet, looking down, then shrugged and smiled wide. "Heh, I guess I could spare some more of that."

A few hours went by, the band played and left, and you talked time time away with him. Soon, the bar made last call, and you were outside where the wind blew cold and a streetlight a block down the street flickered weakly. You both laughed under the green and red lights from the bar's neon sign.

"I proved ya wrong, y'know." He said finally, after a few breaths.

"About what?" You asked, still smiling.

"You said before that you didn't have friends. Welp, I proved ya wrong. Didn't I?"

You paused a moment, then a warm smile made it's way through the cold of the night. "I guess you did."

You noticed he was staring at you strangely.

"What?" You asked with a chuckle.

"I haven't seen you smile like that since we met. It's awesome."

"Um." You felt your face get hot, and you threw your hoodie on.

"It's pretty late. How about I walk ya home?"

So you began walking further down the street, passing the dimming light and heading deeper into the heart of the city. Strange noises echoed in the alleys.

"Quite a neighborhood." Sans noted.

"It's cheaper living down here."

"You're not scrapped for cash, working at the factory."

"I live by myself, remember? I don't need much, so I stick to smaller spaces. Besides, I save money that way."

You noticed some people walking quickly past you and Sans, in the other direction.

"So scary" You hear one say.

A bright light ahead catches your attention. You look and see a black plume covering the dimly lit sky and moon. Some monsters and more humans were running from the yellow glow. "Fire! Fire!"

"Ribbit! (Fire!)"

"Sounds like there's a fire." Sans said casually.

"There's been a couple." You replied. "Some pyro with a thing for making things hotter, is what the news said. He's been sticking around this area, since the cops would be on him if he went somewhere with value."

"Jeez. Why live somewhere so dangerous?"

"It's not like I-"

You reached your apartment, and every floor in the building was filled with hot flames. You felt your chest get tight, and your teeth clenched. You ran to an abandoned vendor and open three water bottles, dousing yourself. You reached for your gloves with your teeth.

"Stay. Here." You said to Sans, before jumping through the burning door to the stairway. You heard him shout for you, but your focus was on one thing.

Get up there. Teleport.

You ripped off the gloves and held yourself tight, feeling yourself being pulled through the walls of fire and up passed the second and third floors. You managed to reach the door before your body began to shake from the exertion.

"Shit. I can't get down that way." You cursed under your breath and you pushed through to your burning home. You grabbed the vial, then ran to the end table, grabbing the frame from the top and the journal tucked in the drawer. You used magic to break the window near your bed, and headed down the fire escape. Careful with the now fragile skin on your hands, you made your way down the wrought-iron steps. You got to the third floor, when an explosion launched you from the railing, sending you free-falling down the side of the complex.

"Shit shit shit!" Fly! Fly! Fuck... Float! C'mon, focus!

You tucked your treasures in your pockets and held your hands out, ready for impact.

My hands are going to shatter.

I'll die on impact.

My magic is too shot.. It's over.

...

The impact never came, and you opened you eyes to see the ground, two feet from your face.

You slowly reached the ground, and looked up to see Sans, his left eyes glowing bluish with a strange flame, and his hand held out to you.

"Wow." He panted. "You really live for the danger, don't ya?"

You managed to stand up, laughing lightly. "For a minute... I thought I was gonna... Hoo!" You felt the shock hit suddenly, and you were on your knees, your breathing shaky and your hands trembling. The skin was burned on the outside from the fire, and the inside from the magic. You reached for your gloves and put them on slowly, but you felt the skin give in the the rough matted fleece. The flesh tore as you pushed the fingers to the ends of the gloves. Sans was crouched beside you, watching close.

"You sure you should be putting those on?" He asked, genuine concern in his voice. "The burns looked really bad."

"I g-gotta keep warm." Even your lips were shaking. "Now th-that I'm h-homel-less. Ha ha ha..."

It was no use. You could feel the blood pooling in the fingers of the left glove, and you didn't have time to hide what was dripping from the right. Sans helped you back on your feet, swinging your left arm over his shoulder.

"C'mon. Let's get home before ya bleed out."

"I j-just need..."

You weakly reached for the vial in your pocket, then lost consciousness as the warmth of the flames blanketed you in darkness.

**

You came in and out of sleep, seeing figures circled around you, then seeing one, then finally waking to nothing in a small room that wasn't yours. You pushed yourself up, and realized the searing pain in your hands was gone. You looked down and saw light blue mittens in the place of your gloves. The scars reached far beyond there the cuff ended, but your hands were, for the most part, fully recovered.

"What the hell..." You saw your jacket hanging up on the door, and the contents saved from the fire were resting on a table in the far corner of the room. You tried standing up, but something gently but quickly pushed you back down.

"Easy, child." A soft voice hushed. "You're safe now."

You looked over, and a tall, white monster gazed back down at you. Her smile was strangely comforting.

"You're... The door monster." The drowsiness caused your mental filter to come loose.

The monster didn't seem to mind. She laughed lightly as she helped you to sit up on the bed. "Sans told you about me?"

"We talk about him all the time." You replied. "Sans... Is he alright? My gloves..." You looked down at your new attire. "He saw my scars..."

"He left when Papyrus and I began taking them off." She said, gently pulling the mittens off to reveal some areas of stitching and some magically healed. "It was... Quite a sight. You've been fighting these wounds for a while, based on the scars."

"I heal them with medicine, most days." You looked at the stitching. It seemed almost professional, and the magic healing seemed almost flawless. "I'll need to... Hah..." Something made you dizzy. "I feel strange."

"Well... It was clear you didn't like the stitching, so I gave you a little something to help you sleep through it."

The door opened, and a little girl wandered in with dark brown hair and a striped shirt. She handed something to the white monster, then looked at you with a tired smile.

"Oh, I'll let Sans know you're awake." She said, then left the room.

"So that's the girl that set the monsters free?" You asked.

"Frisk. Yes. Oh! I never introduced myself to you! Forgive me, my name is Toriel."

"It's a pleasure." You said politely. You took your gloves from her as she handed then to you, and you noticed they had been cleaned, as the fleece on the inside wasn't as akin to dull razor blades. "My names-"

(Y/n)

"U-uh." Your head felt heavy as you tried to remember. "It's... I-it's"

(Y/n)

"Are you alright, child?"

My name... What's my name...??

"Kalia?"

That deep voice spoke timidly from behind the door. Toriel called to it, and I pushed open to reveal Sans with a sad, exhausted expression.

"Kalia." You sighed with relief. "I'm Kalia."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Kalia." Toriel smiled and quietly left the room, leaving you and Sans there in awkward silence. He sat on the end of the bed, blankly staring at the wall.

"Thank you." You said finally. He turned a little to look at you. "I... To be honest, I'd probably be sleeping in that alleyway if you didn't bring me here."

He nodded with a small smile, but didn't speak. You felt nervous.

"Heh. My gloves haven't been this clean since I first got 'em." You looked over the bright, softened leather. He still smiled politely but said nothing.

"Sans." You sighed. "I know I probably scared you, running in there like that. Thinking of it now, it was pretty stupid of me. Especially with my hands being... The way they were. I've been alone for a long time, Sans. I think it's close to six or seven years, now. I dunno. What's left of my life, from before I was alone, it's all I got left."

The room went silent again, and the minutes ticked away on the small clock on the night table. You stared for a while at your covered hands.

"I guess the gloves are coming off, huh?"

You caught his attention, and he looked with surprise as you started to pull off the gloves. You reached the wrist when he put a bony hand on yours.

"You don't have to do that, ya know." His voice was almost a shaky whisper. "I understand if you're not ready yet."

You looked back at the gloves and continued to pull them off. When your hands were bare, you took his hand. The bones were strangely warm, and the top was smooth, like finely-sanded wood.

"The last thing I held in my bare hands," you said softly, "was my brother's." You felt Sans stiffen next to you. "He was the strangest thing. Wanted to be just like our dad when he grew up, even when he was at his worst. He had enough determination for the two of us." The last sentence broke your voice, and you laughed over the painful tightness in your chest. "If you love your brother as much as I did, it's no wonder you two made it this far."

"Where is he now?"

"He's right here." You put your empty hand on your chest. "Always with me."

He watched you touch his hand, and you couldn't read the emotions on his face. You suddenly noticed something.

"Sans... Your cheekbones." You leaned in a little closer. "They look a little blue."

"Huh?" The strange color on his cheeks began to spread, and you felt his hand get warmer. "Blue?"

"Um, yeah. Wait, are you sweating?"

"Huh, I uh..." He looked away, then back at you and huffed. "I've... I have no idea what's goin' on with me right now. Since last night... Jeez, ya really scared me when you ran in like that. Then when I heard the explosion." He put his other hand on his face for a moment. "If I wasn't there... You might..."

"I might have been fine." You shrugged, then winced when he shot you an angry look. "Ah, shit, Sans. Don't linger on it too much, okay? I guess, since you saved my life, I kinda owe you one."

"Well, since you're homeless and all, you can help Papyrus cook for me." You felt relief as his old smile appeared on his face. "We've got accommodations, and he's been asking to meet you since I gave you my number."

"Well, I can't stay too long, but I'll help out where I can until I find a new place."

"Sure thing babe." He chuckled. "Only if it's somewhere away from any fires, right?"

You both shared some light laughter, and enjoyed the company of each other for a little longer.