Sans woke, as usual, to Papyrus's embrace.

In the last however many weeks (Sans had honestly stopped bothering to even try to keep track) this had become something of a normal occurrence. In fact, the brothers were both pleasantly surprised when Sans went an entire night without waking up from a nightmare.

Of course, Sans was never sure anymore if he was waking up from just a nightmare, or if the world had just been reset again. He just couldn't tell.

His dreams, his nightmares were just about the timelines. The Bad Times.

His latest dream, or memory of the last timeline, he really couldn't tell, had been filled with green and gold. Sharp pain in his bones, sickening snap accompanied by screaming laughter. "Fight me, you smiley trashbag! Fight me!" "What do I have to do to get you to fight me?!" That wide grin, like a decaying face, sharp teeth poking through a twisted lip, I don't care how many times I have to reset, I'll get you to fight me!

And, strangely enough, the image of a flower. A flower with a face.

But. It didn't matter. On one hand, it was just a dream. On the other, it was just another timeline, another reset, and it didn't matter if he figured it out or not, because it would all reset again anyway.

~o0o~

When Sans reached his sentry station later that day, he froze.

There it was. Right in front of his station. The same golden flower from his nightmare, grinning up at him.

So... probably wasn't just a nightmare, then.

Sans was, to be honest, a little glad he was permanently stuck grinning, because he was sure that, otherwise, he would have had his face twisted into an expression of utter horror. As it was, with his frozen grin, he more had a look of bemused confusion.

He shook himself out of his shock, covering it with a small chuckle. "well, what do we have here? i'd be--"

"Dandylyin' if you said you weren't aster a few answers about my origins?" At the flower's words, exactly what Sans had been planning on saying, Sans froze, his eyes betraying his fear. "Puh-lease," the plant continued, "like I haven't heard that a thousand times."

Sans blinked, then took a step forward, slowly. "how-..."

The flower bobbed back and forth, grin widening. "That expression..." he laughed. "That's the expression of one very confused skeleton, eh, Sans?"

Sans' soul skipped a beat.

"Lemme guess. How do I know your name? You've told me your name. So many times, as if I didn't already know. But of course! You don't know I didn't already know. How could you?"

Sans blanched. If this flower was implying what he thought it was...

"Now, let me guess again. Your next question is "who are you?" Right?"

Sans blinked a little.

The flower took that as confirmation. "Of course it is! That's what it always is. Always has been. Because it's always the same, over and over and over." As the flower spoke, his face became twisted into something awful, a horror that belonged in-...

In a nightmare. Sans' nightmare. Not a nightmare. This thing-...

There was a moment of silence, and that horrifying face snapped back to a cheerful smile. "But that's why I'm here! Sans, I want you to help me!"

Sans frowned, the edges of his grin turning downwards. "how exactly are you wanting me to help you?"

-No matter how many resets-

"I want you to fight me!"

Sans' frown deepened. "... sorry, pal. can't help ya there." He slipped by the flower, heading down the path towards the door in the woods.

Suddenly the flower was popping up in front of him. "Oh, come on!"

Again, Sans stepped around him. "mmmmm... no."

Again, the flower popped up in front of him, grinning sadistically. "I'll kill you if you don't."

Sans blinked, hesitating a moment. He didn't want to-...

But, everything would just reset again, wouldn't it?

He stepped around the flower again, shrugging. "okay. go ahead."

The flower let out a roar of frustration, and, even though he could have, Sans didn't move out of the way when the vines erupted from the ground, coiling around him.

He wasn't immediately crushed, though. The flower shook him back and forth like a savage dog with a toy.

"How can you really care so little that it doesn't matter to you if i just kill you?! What will it take to get you to--"

Suddenly, the vines released, dumping him into the snow. He sat up slowly, groaning.

The flower was laughing. "I know! You won't fight because you don't care about you. But what about your brother...?"

Sans scowled. "what-"

But he was too late. The flower had slipped into the ground, leaving no trace that he had ever been there.

Sans scrambled to his feet. If that weed did something to Papyrus--

He twisted at his Magic, pulling at space. In an instant, he had taken a shortcut to Papyrus's "sentry station", the cardboard box the taller skeleton had found in the dump.

But Papyrus wasn't there. Where could he-

Undyne's. He was probably training with Undyne.

Sans took another shortcut. But the cave Undyne's house resided in was lacking in Papyruses, and Sans could hear the fish monster playing piano in her house.

Where, where, where?!

Another shortcut. Home.

Not there. WHERE?!

Shortcut after shortcut. Running through the Underground. Papyrus was nowhere to be found.

Out of desperation, Sans returned to his sentry station. Maybe Papyrus had gone to-

Scarf. Red scarf. Papyrus's. Dust. On the scarf. No. No, no no nonono.

Couldn't. Papyrus couldn't--

Couldn't break the promise. Broken promise.

Papyrus. Broke the promise. To Papyrus. Promised Papyrus.

Hah! There, see? You wouldn't fight, and now your brother paid the price.

Reaching out. To take the scarf. Can't be. Papyrus can't be dead. Sans couldn't have broken the promise. Couldn't have.

You've gotta be pretty mad about that, huh? I mean, I killed your brother. Now will you fight me?

Had to go back. He could do that. Go back. Fix it. Couldn't let Papyrus be hurt. Couldn't break the promise.

Had to go back.

FIGHT ME!

Had to go b--

Sans looked down. There was a vine, shot straight through his chest.

Next time, Smiley Trashbag.

It was so close. Nearly in his grip! He had to go back and fix-

~o0o~

And it happened again.

It seemed that Papyrus's death was something that affixed itself in Sans' memory, and stood the test of time- literally. No matter how many times the flower- Flowey, Sans learned his name was, reset, Sans remembered Papyrus being dead.

This didn't help Sans. Because as happy as he was to remember previous timelines clearly...

This was merely another hit to his already damaged mental and emotional states.

Sans clung to Papyrus, shadowing his younger brother everywhere, despite Papyrus's insistence that he would be fine. Sans was determined to keep the promise he had made all those years ago, determined to protect his brother.

For a while, this seemed to work. Flowey appeared to not want to attack Papyrus while Sans was around. He went to find amusement elsewhere, apparently, for several resets.

Of course, that couldn't last forever. Sans realized this. He knew it was only a matter of time- a matter of resets- before the flower got bored again. That was the whole point of it, right? Why he wanted Sans to fight, because he was bored.

Sans was going to put everything- everything into protecting Papyrus. He needed Papyrus. And if Flowey killed Papyrus and then didn't reset...

Sans was going to keep his promise.

The only time Sans let Papyrus out of his sight was when his brother was with Undyne. Despite the captain of the Royal Guard's hotheadedness, Sans trusted her. She was the captain of the Royal Guard for a reason, after all. Besides, she had a just Soul, and Sans knew that she would protect the innocent with her life, if it came to it.

He used these few hours to try to relax. He would visit Alphys, or go to Grillby's, or talk with the woman behind the door.

Sans' progress on the machine was as nonexistent as his father. The few times he tried to work on it, his exhaust, his stress, his worry got the better of him and he made mistakes. Things blew up, broke worse, and he started to work even less on it.

~o0o~

Papyrus, it appeared, had gotten a little fed up with Sans' constant tagging along.

"Sans," he said, gently reprimanding his older brother, "I can understand wanting to follow me around, but really, this is a little ridiculous! I am a responsible adult, and you don't need to worry about me so much! I am confident in my ability to handle any situation that might arise!"

Sans started to say something akin to "I'm worried about you and I want to protect you," but realized that was exactly what Papyrus was arguing- that he could protect himself. So, Sans went with the other half of the truth. "pap... it's because-... i haven't been doing too hot lately, i'm sure you've noticed. and, pap, the thing is, i need you. i don't think i could do much without you. and-... being around you is probably the best way i can-..." he trailed off, gesturing helplessly.

Papyrus had a pitying look on his face. For a moment, Sans thought his brother might actually give up the argument. Then Papyrus grinned. "I know! After my sentry shift today, we can cook something together! Cooking always cheers me up, so it will definitely help you!"

Sans blinked a little, desperation clawing at his chest. "i-..." he sighed. Maybe... Maybe Flowey would be too distracted with whatever he was currently doing to-... "... okay. papyrus, okay, you win."

Papyrus grinned, the leaned down to hug Sans. "Don't you worry, Sans! You'll be fine, I'll make sure of it!"

Sans wished he could believe his brother.

~o0o~

Papyrus insisted that Sans not follow him around for the few hours of his sentry shift. After a long argument, Sans reluctantly agreed to leave his brother alone for a little while.

He decided he would go see if the woman behind the door wasn't busy. After a little while, she heard his knocking, and came to talk.

He told her about his planned cooking session with Papyrus. When she heard that, she had insisted on giving Sans a few recipes to try cooking, on the off chance that he could convince Papyrus to cook something other than spaghetti. He accepted the recipes.

And when Papyrus's sentry shift was finally over, and Sans rushed to his brother's station, he found Papyrus alive and well, much to his relief.

They walked home together, and Sans found Papyrus to be agreeable with anything Sans wanted to do. Perhaps Papyrus was trying to recompense Sans for not hanging around for Papyrus's entire shift.

Looking through the recipes he had been given, Sans found himself attracted to a spinach-egg quiche. The recipe seemed easy enough, and Papyrus said they would have enough time to make it before it was time for his training session with Undyne.

For a little under an hour, Sans and Papyrus worked together in the kitchen. For a little under an hour, Sans was able to set aside his fear, and enjoy the moment, cooking alongside his brother.

But, despite the joy it brought to the brothers, the quiche was a disaster. After a single small nibble, neither of the brothers wanted any more of the not-pie.

"'s alright, bro." Sans laughed a little after Papyrus attempted to assure Sans that it wasn't that bad. "it's horrible, you don't have to try to make me feel better. i'll take it 'n' toss it out."

"Are you sure, Sans?"

Sans laughed again. "yeah. i'm sure."

"... Well, okay, then." Papyrus glanced at the clock. "I have to go, though. I don't want to be late to Undyne's!"

"... right."

Papyrus paused, looking back at Sans as he stood in the doorframe. "Sans, everything's going to be fine."

Sans attempted a smile. "... yeah, i know. ...thanks, pap."

Papyrus just smiled at Sans, before slipping out the door.

~o0o~

He had long since become numb.

It wasn't a fun experience, but that hardly mattered to him anymore.

In fact, it never really had mattered to begin with. Time was inconsequential here.

Instead, he just followed the timelines, watching impassively.

He had learned that, with difficulty, he could edit the strange code that made the world. Nothing big, though. If he tried big things, it usually... hurt him. In a strange way that was worse than this numbness. He could only do little things.

So he watched. Or read, rather, as it was through reading the programming that made the world that he gleaned information.

At the current location in time he was watching, Sans was carrying a failed cooking attempt through Waterfall. He stopped at a park bench, and, after a moment, sat down on it, setting the quiche between his feet. For a little while, Sans just sat there.

And then Sans started crying.

He didn't quite understand why, though. Perhaps that was a result of the numbness.

This wasn't a huge problem, though. He could always just pull up a new command prompt and look directly at the code that made Sans' personality.

That told him Sans was tired, and depressed. Sans was scared and ready to give up.

For a fleeting instant, the cold numbness of the Void that had overtaken his Soul was shoved back.

Gaster couldn't let Sans give up.

He opened a new command prompt.

~o0o~

Sans was still sitting at the park bench when he heard it.

A quiet whisper of a voice, a familiar voice, slipping from the nearby echo flower.

"is this an echo flower?" That was his own voice, younger, softly whispered.

"No. It's just a normal weed." A second voice deadpanned. The voice, though, was strange. He couldn't really place it, and it was covered over with static.

"so it is an echo flower?" His young voice responded. After another moment, presumably in which a response was given, he continued. "cool! how does it do that?"

The static-voice again. "The petals pick up the vibrations in the air and funnel them into the flower. There's a bunch of Magic there that resonates with the sound that's picked up, repeating it. Then the sound is bounced outwards across the petals, so that we can hear it."

This conversation sounded so familiar to Sans.

"that's cool."

"So it is." A pause. "Not especially useful, though, as they're incapable of repeating more than a few words for longer than a few hours at most. So not useful for storing information. And not especially good for passing it along, either, as there's no way to control when or to whom the words are repeated."

Another time. Long ago, crouched in front of an echo flower, another figure beside him.

"seems like they'd be useful for pranks, though."

"Except they wilt only a few minutes after being picked. So nothing too extensive."

"aww. that's too bad."

A soft, staticky chuckle. "So it is. Come on, then, there's still a lot of Waterfall to see."

The sound of receding footsteps, the voices tapering off into the distance...

Sans leaned towards the flower, trying to hear more. But the flower didn't even repeat the message.

Finally, Sans could bear it no longer. "... dad? was-... was that you?"

The flower was silent. It didn't repeat Sans' words.

"... dad...?"

Still no response.

Sans sat back against the bench, sighing, eyesockets still wet.

"i-... dad, i'm sorry. i-... i can't do it. i can't rebuild the machine. maybe, maybe if i didn't have to worry about the anomaly, if- if papyrus wasn't--... i'm sorry. i just-... i can't. i'm sorry."

He stood, started to leave. Then he glanced back at the flower. "if-... if that was you, if you are there... maybe, someday, if the anomaly stops-... i'll try again. but-... i can't. not right now. i'm sorry. i-... i just wasn't ready for this responsibility."

He took a shortcut away.

~o0o~

The next time Sans entered his workshop, it was with the intent of shutting everything down, before locking up the room for good.

He had finished covering up the broken, unbuildable machine with a tarp, when something caught his eye. It was the photo album, sitting out on the counter.

But that was strange. He always put it away when he was done with it. It was too precious to leave out, what with how things kept going in the lab.

Slowly, he stepped over, and started flipping through it. Eventually, he came to the last page, where the crayon drawing was, with the black smudge in the corner.

But now, the smudge was gone. In it's place, two words, two words written in a shaky hand, like the writer wasn't used to writing.

DON'T FORGET

Sans blinked a little, fingertips brushing across the black letters.

They weren't a command, he knew. There was no coldness in the words, no bitterness.

It was simply a quiet plea, remember me. Remember my legacy. Don't forget me, Sans. Please. Don't forget.

Blinking back tears, Sans bowed his head, breath coming in shaky gasps.

"i-... i won't forget. not ever, dad. i-... i promise."

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