The night was difficult for Gaster.

Eventually, once Sans had fallen asleep, he sent Papyrus back to bed, with the assurance that Sans was okay now.

Several times after that, he tried to tuck Sans back into bed, and go back to sleep on the couch. But every time, he got no farther than a hand on the doorknob before Sans would let out a pitiful whine, already back in the depths of a nightmare, and Gaster couldn't help but feel like he was only making things worse (if Sans' nightmares were about Gaster dying, then Gaster certainly wasn't helping by leaving him in real life. Sans would subconsciously pick up on the disappearance of Gaster's Magic, and, well... that would only aid his imagination.)

So, of course, Gaster always immediately turned around, walked back to sit on the side of Sans' bed, reaching out to scoop Sans back up into his arms.

Only for the process to repeat itself, four or five times.

Eventually, Gaster just gave up. He flopped over on Sans' bed, letting Sans snuggle up to him.

~o0o~

When Gaster woke up the next morning, it was to Sans poking him in the ribs.

"... Ow. Hey. Good morning."

Sans gave him a kinda funny look. "why are you in my bed?"

Gaster sat up, yawning. "'Cuz you wouldn't let me leave."

"what?"

"Don't you remember? You had a pretty bad nightmare last night."

"yeah, i remember, but i woulda thought you'd have gone back to bed."

Gaster shrugged. "I was going to, but every time I started to leave, you started whimpering. I assumed you were having more nightmares, and, well..."

Sans blinked a little. "... oh. sorry."

"No. You don't have to apologize." Gaster shook his head. "It's not your fault. You can't exactly control nightmares. And you can't expect to have no repercussions after something like-..." Gaster cut himself off when he saw Sans shudder. So he got up, out of bed, and stretched, cracking his back. "Anyway. Breakfast?" He stretched out a hand to Sans.

Sans took it. "... yeah. okay."

Gaster led Sans down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Not long after, Papyrus came in to find Gaster cooking pancakes-- or, trying to, rather. His cooking skill had improved dramatically in the last few years, but that wasn't saying he was a good cook.

"You two are up early." Papyrus grinned at them. "Normally, I would have to wake you up!"

"yeah," Sans chuckled, "dings woke me up. he fell asleep last night in my room, then woke me up when he rolled over on top of me!"

"Dad!" Papyrus admonished.

"It wasn't my fault!" Gaster said, a mostly burnt pancake sticking out of his mouth. "I was asleep! I can't really control what I'm doing then!"

Sans snorted. "i thought you were the royal scientist, and there's nothing you can't do."

Gaster gestured. "But I'm not the Royal Scientist then, I'm asleep!"

Sans gestured dismissively. "excuses, excuses."

The morning continued on until each of them headed off for the day- Papyrus to school, and Sans and Gaster to Waterfall to work on the folding machine. It had taken Sans some work, but he had managed to convince Gaster that he was okay, and not so totally traumatized by the event as to be unable to work on the machine.

Nonetheless, he did tell Gaster that tampering with the Void was a bad idea, and they needed to stop.

Gaster had agreed to that one a little more easily.

As they stepped into the room, Sans froze.

Shrapnel everywhere, twisted chunks of metal--

No, he told himself, I am fine. That timeline is gone.

Black, oozing out of the cracks--

And even if it weren't, I could just reset again.

Gaster, on his back, ribs caved in, wreckage protruding from his chest--

"Sans?"

Gaster was a few steps ahead, looking back at Sans over his shoulder.

Sans blinked, shaking his head a little. "yeah. i'm fine."

"If you're sure."

"i am."

They proceeded.

The day went more or less normally, as construction continued. They were getting down to the finer details now, the smaller things. It wouldn't be more than a couple months until it was ready.

And, for the most part, Sans could work without any issues. It was just when he stopped for too long, and started thinking that it all assaulted him again.

The waking up. So much wreckage. The cold black sludge. The other Fold team members. Gaster--

And then he would slap himself- sometimes mentally, sometimes actually physically, and get on with his work.

As for the anomaly in the timeline, it was behind them now. The timelines ran straight and smooth ahead.

And, for the most part, everything was okay.

... during the day.

~o0o~

Sans flopped onto his bed with a sigh. All things considered, the day had been a pretty alright one. Granted, his jaw and cheekbone were pretty sore, from all the times he had slapped himself, but that was okay.

He snuggled down beneath the blankets, pulling them up to his shoulders. Then he closed his eyes.

Panic crawling through his chest. Gaster on the floor, lying in dust.

Sans' eyes snapped open. Just a nightmare! He told himself. Just a nightmare!

It took a little while, but he managed to calm down. Then he looked at the clock on his nightstand.

12:48 AM

He had been asleep for a little under three hours.

Sans blew out a breath, and laid back down. His Soul was still beating abnormally fast.

For a little while, he didn't move, just trying to calm his pulse.

Then he closed his eyes again.

Gaster's voice, broken and raspy. "I--t'--s ok--a-ka-y, S--a-an-s-..."

He woke with a sharp gasp. Another few minutes to calm down.

2:21 AM

Sans groaned, rubbing his eyesockets. It was just a bad dream!

Dust, slipping through his fingers, Gaster's dust--

3:12

Just a bad dream!

His own dust, crumbling off his hands, mixing with the fine powder in front of him-

4:06

Just a bad dream!

The black nothingness, creeping across the floor from the puddles, consuming--

4:42

Sans decided that was enough.

He climbed out of bed, slipped out the door, scurried through the hall, scampered down the stairs. Gaster was sprawled out in the couch in the living room, sound asleep.

Wordlessly, Sans hurried over, and climbed into the couch.

"Whhunnggghh?" Gaster questioned. "Sa-aans?"

Gaster rolled onto his side a bit, and Sans took that opportunity to snuggle closer to his chest.

"Did'ja have 'nother nightmare?" Gaster asked, a little more awake.

Sans just nodded.

Gaster sighed and wrapped an arm around Sans. "'Lright. I guess you c'n sleep here with me."

Sans snuggled a little closer.

Even then, within the safety of Gaster's grip, it took Sans another hour to get comfortably asleep.

~o0o~

That day was even worse.

Sans had even more of the momentary lapses about the other timeline, enough that the other team members were noticing, and asking him of something was wrong. He had no answer for them. In addition to that, something exploded. Not as big as the incident, not even big enough to really be damaging, but enough that it completely freaked him out.

And to top it all off, he was exhausted. He had gotten so little sleep the night before.

At one point, Gaster told him to go sit down somewhere and take a nap.

But every time he tried, every time he closed his eyes, he saw--

So no. Better to stay awake.

That night was even worse. Because now he didn't just dream of Gaster dying, because now his mind warped the dream. It wasn't just that Gaster got impaled. It was that he got flash-fried in the explosion. Or that black ooze from the Void came to life, strangling Gaster. Or he was crushed. Or sometimes Papyrus was there too, and whether Papyrus died or not, it was always worse. Or- or- or--... it really didn't matter what. Every time, it was horrifying and gruesome, and Sans always got there just in time for Gaster to turn to dust in his arms, with the same broken parting words, "it's okay, Sans."

Every time.

Every single time Sans closed his eyes.

Even with Gaster there, hugging him tightly, rocking side to side and humming softly, it took Sans hours to fall asleep.

The next day was a repeat of the last, but Sans was even more tired.

Eventually, Gaster pulled him aside. He knelt down in front of Sans, hands on Sans' shoulders.

"Sans. Go home. Get some rest."

Sans shook his head. He couldn't sleep. "no, i'm fine."

"No, you're not. Sans, you can hardly concentrate before you zone out, and you've been walking around all day looking like you're panicking. Go home. You, especially you, need to sleep."

"dings, really-"

Gaster stood up, straightening his shoulders. "Fine. I didn't want to do this, Sans, but you've left me no choice."

"what-"

"Sans, with your inability to focus, your lack of productivity, and continuous panic attacks, you are posing a danger to yourself and to everyone in this workspace. I've no choice but to offer you the following options: either go home, or I will forcibly take you there."

"dings, i really don't-"

Gaster didn't give Sans time to finish. He strode forward, sweeping up Sans into his arms before turning to the door.

"I'll be back later!" He called out to the other scientists in the room as he left.

As he walked through Waterfall, Sans more or less went limp in his arms. The smaller skeleton let his skull settle on Gaster's shoulder, closing his eyes. Like this, with Gaster, alive, and holding on to him, Sans could relax, could sleep without fear...

Gaster arrived at the Snowdin house. He set Sans, groggy and half-asleep, on the couch, wrapped a blanket around him, and forced him to lie down.

"There you go." He murmured quietly, rubbing Sans' back. "You see? Everything's okay."

Sans settled down.

"Just go to sleep. Stay calm, and go to sleep. I'll be back later, okay? Everything's alright..."

Gaster stood, and turned to the door, Sans still sleeping peacefully on the couch.

He slipped out the door. He would head back to Waterfall, now... But first, he had a small detour to make, back to the lab.

~o0o~

When Gaster got home a few hours later, he realized he had made a mistake in leaving Sans alone.

Sans was sitting up, blanket clutched tightly around his shoulders. His eyesockets were wide, and he was trembling fiercely.

Gaster swore, and immediately threw himself at Sans, grabbing him up and hugging him tightly. Sans let go of the blanket, in favor of clutching Gaster's shirt.

For a little while, Gaster just sat there, hugging Sans, calming him down. Trying to get him to sleep.

But it seemed Sans was using his Determination to stay awake, and no amount of consoling from Gaster could combat that.

Eventually, Gaster could bear it no longer. The thing in his pocket felt like it was burning a hole in said pocket, and if he didn't do something soon, he was sure he would lose his nerve.

"Sans," he began quietly, "listen. I'm going to go to the kitchen, okay? I'll just be in the kitchen. I'm going to make some hot chocolate, just like you do all the time for me and Papyrus, alright? It'll help you calm down." Slowly, he let go of Sans, and stood up. "I'm not going far away, just to the kitchen. Okay?"

Sans nodded just a little as Gaster wrapped the blanket back around his shoulders.

"I'll be back in just a few minutes. You don't have to worry, I'll be back soon." Gaster walked into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, he had a mug full of hot chocolate, but he didn't bring it to Sans, not yet.

For a moment, Gaster just tapped his fingers against the countertop, debating the wisdom of what he was about to do. Then, slowly, he reached into his pocket, for the cause of his detour to the lab, earlier.

It was a small vial, only an inch and a half in length. Inside was a slightly blue-tinted liquid. It was a mild sedative, something to help Sans sleep.

Gaster didn't want to drug Sans. Especially without telling Sans, not since that had been how Gaster had-...

But Sans needed to sleep, or at the very least relax. He was going to kill himself like this.

Gaster pulled off the cap and dumped the vial's contents into the hot chocolate, and stirred it in with a spoon. Then he picked up the mug, and carried it over to Sans. Sitting down on the couch beside Sans, he carefully handed Sans the mug. "There. Go ahead and drink that. It'll help you."

Sans just looked at it.

"Are you okay, Sans?" Gaster reached out to wrap an arm around Sans' shoulders. He was surprised when Sans flinched away. "... Sans?"

"i-..." Sans looked up at Gaster, and Gaster's Soul just about broke at the scared look on Sans' face. "i saw you, dings. i s-saw you put something in it. i-- i thought you promised-- promised you wouldn't-- not anymore--" His expression took on a note of horrified desperation. "w-what were you going to do to me? why- why are you t-trying to drug me?"

"Sans," Gaster began, voice equally desperate, "Sans, please listen to me. I promise you- I swear on my Soul- all I want to do to you is get you to sleep. I love you, Sans. I love you very much, because you're my son. And I can't-... you're tearing yourself apart like this, Sans. You especially, can't keep going without rest like this. You're going to kill yourself. I can't just do nothing about that, I-... I'm just trying to help you. I promise." He paused, sighing. "I-... I won't force you to drink it. I won't make you-... But please, Sans. I'm begging you. I don't want you to die."

For a long moment, Sans looked at the drugged beverage in his hands. Then he looked back up at Gaster. "... i d-don't want to sleep. i'm scared to sleep."

Gaster looked at Sans. "... I know. That's why I'm trying to help you."

Sans looked back at the mug. "will-..."

"...Hm?"

"will you stay-... stay with me?"

Gaster answered without hesitation. "Of course."

"p-... promise?"

"I promise."

Very, very slowly, Sans lifted the mug to his jaw, and drank the drugged hot chocolate. When he had finished, he looked up at Gaster, and Gaster got the sense he was trying to say something, but couldn't find the words.

Silently, Gaster took the empty mug from his hands and set it on the floor, then pulled Sans into his lap. Even after the drug had kicked in, and Sans went limp in his arms, Gaster still cradled Sans to his chest.

He was going to keep his promise.

§

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Remember, votes and Comments are not only always welcome, but always appreciated, too!