Undyne's words rang loud and clear in Frisk's head. They were taken aback; it never happened at that particular stage of their journey.

"Missing?" Frisk asked, perplexed.

"Yes. She's my friend, and the Royal Scientist." The worry in Undyne's voice was evident. "I tried calling her, but there was no answer. Uhh... Frisk, I know you are probably busy, but if you feel up to it, could you look for her?"

They took a moment to think about it. "Okay."

"Thanks, punk," Undyne said gratefully. "I'll be looking for Alphys in Waterfall. If you want, you can meet us at my house in 20 minutes or so."

"I'll be there."

"Oh." There was a hint of surprise in her voice. "Well then, see you soon."

She ended the call there, leaving Frisk in a peculiar situation.

Alphys is missing... huh...

They remained in place, silently fighting to stop the fear from returning and taking over again. So... is it really impossible for some sort of a happy ending? I-

"Feeling troubled, kiddo?"

This time, it was Sans who interrupted their train of thoughts. The skeleton was walking up to them with his usual permanent smile, but something felt off about it.

He did not wait for Frisk's response. "How 'bout we head to Grillby's and talk about it?" he offered casually, but they knew all too well that it was not a question.

Reluctantly, they nodded slowly and followed him into the bar. It was not as crowded as the previous day where all the members of the Snowdin Canine Unit were hanging out.

Frisk could only assume that they were doing their normal patrols in the eerie forest of Snowdin.

The regulars greeted Sans and he returned the greetings without bothering with a pun, which made the human uneasy.

Like in the previous timelines, the two of them sat in the seats closest to the bar counter. Grillby, the owner, gave them a glance as he wiped a wine glass.

"Two sets of fries please," Sans said.

Grillby acknowledged his order by placing down the wine glass that he was cleaning and went to the back door. It did not take long for him to return with two trays of fries, placed on the bar counter.

As the flame monster resumed cleaning, Frisk, having found their voice back, spoke. "I thought you said you would be at your hotdog stand."

"It's my break," he replied.

"Why did you ask me here? It is not to chitchat, isn't it?" they asked, looking down at the fries. The smell of freshly made fries was not enough to tempt them in taking a bite.

Sans did not answer their question immediately. He calmly took a bite of the fries, wiping the oil from his glove with his blue jacket. It was as if the scene was playing out in slow motion, but Frisk did not dare to rush him.

"Recently," he finally spoke, "Asgore has been down in the dumps, especially when you arrived the other day. Usually, he walks around the Underground to interact with us and all that, but... he hasn't been doing that."

Sans paused. "A... friend of mine, Alphys, who also happened to be the Royal Scientist, went to visit him, from what I've heard. Maybe to cheer him up, but..."

"She's missing, isn't she?" Frisk finished his sentence for him. "Undyne told me about it."

"Yeah."

A sudden thought came to them. Alphys' disappearance was not the only unusual event that occurred lately. There was also Flowey's confrontation, something he had never done before. They had a hunch that those events were related.

If I could find Flowey, I might be able to find Alphys as well.

Frisk stood up. "I'm-"

At the speed of light, Sans' gloved hand was clasped on their right hand firmly. They froze as they saw his irises darkening to a hollow black, sending chills down their spine.

"Don't you know that it's rude to leave when someone is still talking?" Sans asked, his voice low and dangerous.

They sat back down immediately and only then he released his grip and his irises became their normal white colour.

"I know what you did," Sans claimed ominously, his eyes burning into Frisk's soul. "You killed us all, didn't you?"

The truth of his words made them flinch involuntarily. Memories of what they did in that previous timeline, those that they had tried so hard to forget, struck them once again.

Frisk could not muster any words to refute Sans' claim, only staring at their hands. It was almost as if they could see the dust...

"Looks like I'm right." Suddenly, Sans sounded sad and resigned, perhaps slightly disappointed as well. "Maybe we aren't friends after all."

He stood up, giving them one last look. "If you hurt us again, well... you already know what's going to happen."

The skeleton did not bother to take his fries as he stalked out of Grillby's, never once glancing back.

Eventually, Frisk got up as well, stepping back into the cold. Even as the temperature began to drop, they did not move elsewhere.

First it was Flowey, then Sans, bringing up the past they desperately wanted to forget. There were no tears, but a never-ending abyss of regret accompanied them.

Despondently, Frisk realised that it was their fate. They could only resign themselves to it and face their mistakes head on.

After all, no one can run from the past.

------------------------------------------------------------

Even though it's an AU, I'm planning to stick as much as possible to the canon personalities, because it feels weird to change a character's personality drastically. I'm not perfect but I'll try my best. :)

Fact of the Chapter: Frisk did a genocide run once, but the world was not erased and their soul was not taken.

Oh yeah, and Sans cannot remember timelines just like in the original game.

If you enjoyed, votes and comments are always appreciated! :)