When he heard the front door open, he knew it was Clockwork. Clockwork was the type of woman to open the door fast and catch it right before it hit the wall. Smile Dog huffed at that noise, the red and black furred dog climbing off of the couch to go greet her.

And then he saw him.

Sans, by all accounts, looked like shit. He shuffled in through the front door, body hunched and almost withdrawn, looking around as if his own house felt a little bit odd. A leaf, damp, seemed to stick to his skull. His shirt was stained with grass and dirt. And as he walked in, he trailed in mud and dust.

"Holy shit," Smile Dog said.

"Yeah. I'm back," Sans said, and despite his tired dementor, he held a warm smile. "Got kidnapped but I'm back."

"Looks like it. Are you alright?" Smile Dog asked.

"Yeah." Sans shuffled forward to the living room, Sally holding onto his hand tightly as she followed closely. Her eyes were puffy, and there was a clear wet stain on Sans' shoulder. "I managed to get the magic restraint off in the car with Sally and Toby's help. Where is everyone?"

"Looking for you. They're all out. But they had a magic restraint? Who kidnapped you? What happened?"

"Puppeteer," Clockwork answered, giving Sans a moment to go sit down and grab a glass of water. He did so almost eagerly, peeling the leaf off of his skull when he noticed it.

And for a moment, Sans sat there. Staring out of a window across his backyard as he chugged down his drink. With Sally holding one hand, and Bean in another. Seeming to just sit, for a single instance of his life, and understand that everything was okay again.

"He kidnapped me to replace a guy's dead girlfriend. It's a somewhat long story. I'd rather not fully get into that, right now," Sans said. "I've been eating canned fruit and stale water for the past few days. And sleeping next to a bunch of overgrown plants. What I really want is a fucking meal - a real one - and a bath. Maybe sleep in my comfortable bed again."

"Yeah, of course," Smile Dog said, "I can talk to Clockwork and Toby. Go get settled back in."

"And can yer guys contact Laughing Jack somehow? I'm worried about him," Sans said, turning towards the others.

There wasn't much of a way to contact Laughing Jack. He didn't use a phone. They couldn't use the box to summon him. He just left, and that was that.

"We'll contact everyone else and see if they can try to find him," Smile Dog said. "I can do that."

"Thanks, this is... this is gonna take a bit to come back from," Sans sighed, tugging alone. "Come on, we can eat together. I'll just throw on a blanket until Jane gets home."

Sans and Sally left quickly, hand in hand before Smile Dog turned expectantly toward the other two. Clockwork was already typing on her phone, likely alerting everyone of who they had found. Her phone started buzzing almost violently with the number of replies she was getting.

"We don't know the full story. We just know he kidnapped Sans, that's all," Clockwork explained as a tic ran through Toby. "Think he kidnapped him to replace Judge Angels for Helen. Don't worry, when we left them it was pretty clear he wasn't really happy with that. They won't be coming back - hold on." She clicked on her phone once before pressing it up against her ear. "Yeah, babe - yeah, he's here, he's eating, not majorly injured either. How far are you..."

She continued talking quickly as she walked away, gesturing for Toby to explain further.

"We just figured out it was the Puppeteer because we... we remembered he had a deal with Offenderman," Toby said, moving to sit down on the couch. He practically sunk into the cushions, realizing how tense he had been after the almost fight he had partaken in. His brown hair shuffled underneath his sweeping fingers. "So we checked it out and found him. It's like Clock - feck - said, it looks like he just kidnapped Sans like he did those other women who went missing for a bit."

"Is he the type of man to hunt down Sans immediately again or flee once he's been caught?"

"Flee. Def... definitely."

"I'll make sure Ben has watch on all cameras then. We have to make sure this guy isn't a threat anymore," Smile Dog murmured, "Our priorities should be making sure this won't happen again and making sure Sans is safe. Then we can focus on how this happened and how to prevent something like this again."

It should have been preventable.

That was the shitty thing about this whole situation. The Puppeteer wasn't even one of the most threatening CreepyPasta. They had a whole house of serial killers. Yet Sans was still kidnapped, along with Bean. And they couldn't find them for days. If he had just decided to kill Sans, well...

"We were lucky," Toby said.

"Yes. We were." Smile Dog stepped up onto the table, moving towards the computer. His paws brushed past newspapers scattered about the table. "We were incredibly lucky for a lot of things. And luck is always bound to run out. So let's take advantage of it while we still can, Toby." He looked back towards the man sitting almost hopelessly on the couch as if the good outcome still wasn't good enough for him. "Personally, I'd try not to waste time. We have people to contact and two skeletons to get situated back home. Also, a clown to hunt down. So get moving, yeah? This isn't over."

"Yeah." Toby nodded. "Yeah."

~~~~~~

Bean, innocent to the situation they both had to suffer through, happily giggled as she was fed a can of baby food with sugar mixed inside. Sans tiredly held the little spoon that came with the mushed peas jar, wincing as another press of an alcohol wipe stung at his ankle. Apparently Sans cut himself on something during his escape. Didn't notice until he had looked down towards the floor and noticed blood dripping down.

"- And no walking on it," Jeff rambled as he pulled out some bandages from the first aid kit in the kitchen.

Jeff was the lucky one who had been right down the block when he received the news. Everyone else, unluckily, was scattered around much further away. And none of them had the perks of teleportation power except for Ben, who did a quick check on Sans before he went on a hunt for Laughing Jack or the Puppeteer.

"It's just a cut -"

"Just - don't! No! No walking on it!" Jeff said frantically, wrapping much too many bandages around the bone as if it was broken. "No risking it!"

"I..."

Jeff tsked to himself as he carefully rewound a bandage, hands almost trembling as he moved. His eyes, blue and bright, were unfocused.

"Alright," Sans said. A shiver and slight cough ran through his body. "But Jeff, it's alright. I'm okay. It's over now. I'm here."

"And you were here when you got kidnapped," Jeff snapped, staring right at Sans. "And I wasn't here. I should have been."

"It's not your job to protect me," Sans said, "It was just a shitty situation. We all weren't prepared for something like this happening."

"I - just -" Jeff fumbled on his words, the teenager waving his arms around for a moment. And after that, his shoulders slumped. And he leaned forward with a sigh. His face twisted into a ball of unidentifiable emotions. "It was... difficult. To hear what happened. You're like a brother to me, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know."

The white hands continued to wrap bandages around Sans' leg. Sans let him. The movement was now slow, less frantic than before. Sunlight filtered in through the window across his dark hair, tied back into a messy ponytail with strands escaping down his face.

"I... I thought you were dead. For a moment." His mouth, despite being forever etched in a smile, had a horrid frown to it. His eyes almost shaking from the thought plaguing his mind. "It was horrible."

"Yeah."

"Were you scared? At all?"

Sans paused. He glanced towards Bean, who smiled warmly towards her Father.

"Yeah," He said. "I was. You?"

"Yes. I barely slept last night. I know what they - what we do to our victims. I was worried you just became another one because of us."

The teen tilted his gaze toward his hands. The burned, scarred hands had taken countless lives and couldn't even save one.

"I wasn't kidnapped because of you guys. I was kidnapped because I'm me. And that's dangerous, to be me. Way too dangerous nowadays."

He stared off across the kitchen floor, hands quietly gripping the edge of the shirt he had worn for three days without a change in clothing. To be Comic Sans was to attract the worst crowds. Frisk and Flowey always wanted to bother and mess with him. His friends and brother were all assholes who took advantage of him and only stayed close out of pity or to feel superior. And now serial killers came to him like moths to a flame. Some good. He'd never regret having his daughter. But for a stranger who never had a conversation with Sans to go "I'll kidnap him and him specifically" was a terrifying thought.

It was easy to dull the implication of a serial killer when he lived with them. When the threat because muddied and thawed out. A distant idea to what it was before.

It was easy to distance himself from the killing and the danger when that didn't happen in his house to him. When he knew and trusted them all. When he had his magic and his dates and friends and knew everything would be okay. When Ben or Smile Dog could just erase it all.

But then that was taken away. All of it. His magic, his loved ones, his backup. Leaving Sans as nothing but a trembling skeleton, skinny and frail. Alone and scared. Making him know just how quickly he could lose everything and more.

And that was all he could think about. The pressing, horrid thoughts of what he had gotten himself into.

Then again, Sans was never safe in the first place. He never did feel comfortable or safe at any point in his life. There was always someone out to get him. He should be used to it by now.

Despite that, his hands still trembled.

"It's weird that now after I'm out of there, I'm realizing how terrified I was about that," Sans said, turning towards Jeff with an awkward smile. "Ya know? Now I'm realizing how scary it was to be kidnapped. There I was mostly fine. But now that I'm out, and I'm learning how far you guys were from me, and... it's terrifying, man. I'm fucking scared. I couldn't do anything. You guys couldn't do anything. It just happened and it could very well happen again."

"We won't fucking let it. If that guy tries to sniff his way around here again I'll fucking kill him," Jeff said, "Fuck him."

"Thanks," Sans said, a slight smile tugging at his face. "That means a lot."

Jeff glanced at him for a moment before tugging him into a hug. Sans, of course, reciprocated. Both needed that, at that very instant. To just know they were together and that things were okay.

"Don't do that again man, please," Jeff mumbled against him. "Don't do that. If you need to use one of us as a body shield. Let them hurt us instead of you. You're all most of us have. We can't... I can't lose you, Sans. You're my brother. And I really... care about you. In a difficult and weird way."

"I get it."

"No. You don't. I don't just care about you because you fed and housed me. You keep me laughing. You fixed relationships. You don't give a shit and you're firm with your beliefs. You're kind of an asshole but you don't pretend that you're the hero saving us all."

"Gee, thanks," Sans said, patting his back.

"I don't need you because I want a house or food anymore, you ass. I need you because your Sans, you're my brother, and dammit do I need Comic fucking Sans in my life. I need you because I care about you. And it's scary, to realize that. You made me realize that when you disappeared. So don't you dare go do that again, alright?"

"I won't. I swear. I won't."

When he pulled away, there was a slight pool of tears gathering in his eyes. He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes with the corner of his white hoodie.

"Is your leg okay?" He asked, voice raw with emotion.

"Yeah. I'm okay. I really am, Jeff. We're both okay. Everyone is okay now."

Jeff was his brother. Sans could say that without a shadow of a doubt now. Jeff was, by all means, a brother to him. He cared about him so much that it almost hurt. He was just a kid who was scared, confused, and a little too alone with too much ego and insecurities to him. He didn't deserve to be going through this right now. To be begging Sans to stay safe and use him as a shield if needed. Just to keep his only remaining family safe after believing he could have died.

"Hey," Zero said, popping her head into the kitchen. "You alright there, skeleton?"

"Uh... Yes?" Sans answered slowly.

"Cool. Cool." Zero glanced back and forth between Jeff and Sans, as if bored. "Cool then. I'm going to go grab a milkshake. Stay alright there, skeleton man. Don't almost die again. Would really suck if ya did."

"Will keep that in mind Zero."

Sans spent most of his time that night catching everyone who arrived home up to speed on what happened to him and what the situation was. Mostly their efforts were focused on regrouping and making sure everyone was informed. Eyeless Jack. Ben.

And, of course, Jane.

"Sans is here?" Jane asked as she walked in through the front door, loud and commanding. It slammed against the wall, bound to leave a mark they'd have to scrub out.

Her gaze landed on Sans. The moment she locked gazes with him, he could see the tension melt from her shoulders.

"Hey babe," Sans said. He gave a wave to her from the couch he was on. "Hug?"

She did. A very big hug. A tight, almost trembling hug as she held him close. A hug that told her that he was okay, that he was there and he wasn't going anywhere. A hug that he was going to remember for that night. He could feel her hair under his hands, her grip on him, her dark outfit pressing against his lackluster one. And it sent a delighted sigh through him, knowing that she was here again and things would be okay.

"Are you okay?" Jane asked quietly. "Did they do anything to you? Force you to do anything?"

"No, no, I'm fine." He wrapped his arms against her more firmly, feeling her breath tickle his collarbone in an uneven pattern. "Everything was just threats. No bodily harm."

"But are you sure you're okay? Your leg is all wrapped up and you look awful." She tugged back long enough to take a long glance at his face and dirt-covered body. "Clockwork told me you already got medical attention but a round two wouldn't hurt. And a bath and maybe some medicine. And some warm blankets. And you don't even have any soup - who the fuck didn't give him soup and blankets?" Jane looked out towards Clockwork, who was awkwardly standing to the side. "Babe, blankets, and soup! He was walking around in just a shirt for three days and eating barely anything from the looks of it! And someone run a bath!"

"Jane, I figured I should wait for everyone to return before I hop into a bath," Sans said.

"Your health should be first, Sans."

Her gaze was stern, no argument to be had. The hand on his back pressed him close to her again, the other gently rubbing down his skull to comfort both of them. Worked pretty damn well, if he had anything to say about it.

"Bean and I are doing just dandy. The most they did was threaten her to keep me there," Sans said, reaching up and cupping one of her warm, pale cheeks with his hand. Her gaze lingered on the heavy bruise on his wrist. "That was from the magic restraint. They, uh, they were prepared."

"That isn't good," Jane muttered. She kept running her hand up and down his back to soothe him. Or her. "Clockie told me a bit of what she saw but I don't know the full story. We can go into that later, though. I want to make sure you're all fixed up first."

"I just ate, so a bath would probably be good," Sans said.

Somewhat of a selfish desire. Dirt between joints was an unpleasant and awkward feeling. As if he was clogged up, his joints being sawed down. To get rid of that feeling he had for the past day and a half would be, frankly, amazing.

Then there was an urge to show Jane the little soul in his ribcage. He didn't want to straight up say it the moment she saw him since she was already dealing with him just being kidnapped, but he didn't want to put it off, either. Showing her once she was settled down a bit would be best.

"Of course. You're filthy. Not intentionally, too, I can tell a happy dirty Sans from an upset one," Jane muttered, swiping a finger across some dirt that had been leftover on his shoulder. "Did they not give you a restroom there?"

"They had this one tub, but I didn't use it for myself. It'd be weird."

"I don't blame you," Jane said. She gently picked him up, very careful in making sure his overly bandaged leg didn't drag across anything as she stood.

Sans let his skull lay across her shoulder, humming warmly as he was carried. Despite her inhuman strength, she was always so careful with him. Held him carefully, and made sure he didn't bump into anything as she brought him to the bathroom upstairs. Once she set him down on the toilet, she tugged out the first aid kit from that bathroom to make sure she had the materials to redress his wound after their bath.

"Babe, it's just a cut," Sans said.

"Can't be too careful." Jane set aside a change of clothes for both of them, folded neatly into a pile on top of the towel rack.

"Guess yer gonna be a real good Mom then," Sans snorted.

She paused. Her fingers hovered above her black nightgown and his pair of sweatpants he only ever used to sleep inside of. A smile drifted across her face, one that melted away any doubts Sans could have possibly had.

"So it's official?" She asked. "You're pregnant?"

Sans chuckled. "Yeah. Wanna meet 'em?"

It was easy to usher his soul out of his ribcage. Monsters were creatures attuned to their souls, so bringing it out was nothing more than a simple flick of the wrist. He cupped his soul and the little child's soul, like the most precious thing in the world, and held it out for Jane to see. Her own hands held his, and as she looked down, her expression softened.

"This is..." She whispered, voice trailing into a pleasant hum.

"Yeah," Sans said.

"He's so tiny," She said. "I forgot how small and fragile little soullings are."

"He is. I love him already."

Jane let out a soft giggle, tugging Sans against her. "So do I."