You're starting to get really scared. Two days, and you haven't thought of anything, and-...

And Papyrus has barely moved.

Two days ago, Alphys moved Sans from the table to a hospital gurney, and now, Papyrus just lies there, hugging Sans to his chest. You've never seen him so despondent, and it's immensely worrying. Alphys has started checking in on Papyrus every so often to make sure he's not Falling Down, too.

You know you need to think of something fast.

But...

But the only time you've ever seen Sans gain HOPE was when...

When you were building the machine!!

Ohh, yes, you've got it now!

Sans is only so devastated because the person he was going to save told him to stop!!

Well--

Well-

You grin and turn to run out the door.

Well screw Dr. Gaster!

You're gonna get Sans to build the machine anyway, and you're gonna prove Gaster wrong! You'll get Sans to hope!

In only minutes, you've run all the way back to Alphys's lab, and burst into the room where Sans and Papyrus are.

"Sans!" You shout.

Papyrus shifts a little to look at you, but Sans doesn't respond.

Oh... right... there is still the small matter of Sans being mostly dead and unconscious.

Well...

Well...!

You've gotten this far, you can't give up now! You'll just have to get Papyrus to help you instead.

So you hurry over to the bed and climb up on it. "Papyrus! Get up!" You encourage. "We have work to do!"

"Frisk..." he just looks at you. He looks so pitiful.

You just grin at him. "Come on! We're gonna build the machine and get Sans to hope again!"

"But Frisk, Dr. Gaster said-"

You promptly interrupt. "Well Dr. Gaster is an idiot!" (You can almost imagine Flowey grinning.) "If he really cared about Sans, do you think he woulda done this?" You gesture to Sans, comatose. "But we'll prove him wrong! We'll build the machine, save him, and get Sans better! And do you know why?" You've started gesturing emphatically as you speak, grinning excitedly. "Because we're determined! We're determined to succeed and nothing can stop us!"

You can see it. The spark of determination, of HOPE in Papyrus's eyes.

Then that spark gutters out. "But-... But we're not scientists! We don't know how to build the machine...!"

"Noooooo," you start smiling, "but Dr. Gaster does! And he gave Sans a bunch of blueprints! So all we need to do is follow the instructions and fit the pieces together right!" You practically grin at Papyrus. "Just like one big puzzle!"

"But the blueprints didn't work..."

"No, remember, Dr. Gaster said Sans had messed them up! So they did work, there was just a mistake in the machine! But two master puzzle builders like you and I, together, can certainly do it together."

Ah! There! The spark is back, and it's growing into a flame.

And Papyrus smiles, a true, genuine smile, the first since Dr. Gaster broke the machine. "Nyeh-heh-heh, you're right, Frisk! We can do this!"

You could swear you're grinning ear to ear. "Come on! Let's get back to the workshop!" You hop off the bed.

Papyrus hesitates, though. You can see he's reluctant to leave Sans' side. But then he scoops up his brother in one more tight hug. "I have to leave now, Sans, but don't worry! I'm going to build the machine for you, and then I'll be back! Just hold on! You don't have to worry, I'll be back, I promise! Nyeh-heh!" And then he settles Sans back onto the gurney, tucking the sheet over Sans's shoulders. Only a second longer, holding Sans' hand with a small smile on his face, then Papyrus is turning to you, his smile becoming that oh-so-familiar confident grin. "Well, Frisk? What are we waiting for? We have a machine to build!"

And, with the both of you letting out loud, confident laughs, you stride out of the building.

Things are a little trickier, though, than just "building the thing". For one thing, the ruins of the old machine are still scattered around the room, and they're all covered in a weird black sludge that's so cold you don't even want to touch it. So you have to clean that up first. That takes a long time.

But every time you see Papyrus's enthusiasm start to stutter, you do something to give him another boost. Sometimes, you remind him what you're doing, and why. Sometimes, you describe to him the surprise and excitement you're sure will be on Dr. Gaster's face when you succeed, and just how much Sans and Dr. Gaster will admire him for his work. Sometimes, you take him back to the lab, and you and he tell Sans how the work is going.

Those times are the best. Because sometimes, you swear that Sans, even still unconscious, looks just a little less tired, a little more happy, a little more hopeful.

It doesn't take long for everyone else to catch wind of what you and Papyrus are doing. At first they're against it.

But then you convince them. "We can do it," you tell them, "because we're determined to!"

And everyone helps. Even Toriel and Asgore are more involved, though they admit to no skill with machinery, and mainly stick to team support. Toriel makes food for everyone, and Asgore brings the food and make sure everyone takes breaks and is getting proper rest.

And then, one day, one day...

"y'guys all started buildin' without me?"

You turn to the basement doorway, and there's Sans. He still looks tired, still exhausted and low on HP, and he leans heavily on the doorframe, but Sans nonetheless, alive, awake, and here to help.

"SANS!!!" Papyrus crosses the room in a single lunge and grabs Sans up in a bear hug.

Sans hugs him back, snuggling his face into Papyrus's shoulder. "hi, pap."

For a moment, they just hug. You realize you're blinking back happy tears.

And then...

"hey, papyrus... i-... i'm sorry i went a little nuts there. i guess i just had a few loose screws."

And Papyrus just bursts out sobbing. "I- I th-thought I wa-as never g-gonna hear a-any more of y-yo-our aw-f-ful p-puns--!! I- I th-tho-ou-ght--!"

And Sans just hugs Papyrus tighter. "i know. i know, papyrus. and i'm sorry. i'm so, so sorry."

They just cling to each other for a little longer. Then Papyrus carries Sans over to a chair (because he is still pretty frail, and he did get all the way from the lab to there on his own) and Papyrus pulls what he was working on over there and sits on the floor next to Sans, and it doesn't matter that Sans doesn't hardly work at all, or that he just sits there, cracking bad (even by his caliber) puns, it doesn't matter.

Because Sans is there, he's there and alive, and no matter how tired and beaten, he's found hope, and that's all that matters.

You've all found hope.

And that's all that matters.

§

A/N

Well I went to the library and downloaded more Doctor Who episodes! Fourth season, here I come!!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and votes are my Favorite Things, and every notification I get makes my day!