Sans' shock and fear tactics on Flowey seemed to have done the trick. Papyrus wasn't attacked, even across the resets.

Sans made sure to carry things on, though. Whenever his awareness of space alerted him to a small flower, he would be sure to turn in that direction, grinning unsettlingly, eyesockets blank, until the flower slipped away.

And Sans started to relax. He didn't let his guard down, he was still waiting constantly for the next attack, the next reset. But things got just a bit easier. He relaxed his constant vigilance over his brother.

He looked at the picture in the photo album frequently. When things got bad, tiring, just too much, he would sometimes go there instead of Papyrus. He would look at that picture, at the thick black words, and he knew that it was okay. Maybe not great, maybe not the best. Maybe not even good. But okay. That somewhere, someone understood, and didn't begrudge him for his pain.

Sans wasn't entirely sure how, but he also ended up with another sentry point in Waterfall, and two in Hotland. Once he figured out that he could just pull his entire sentry hut through shortcuts using Blue Magic, things became a little easier. Things got a lot more interesting when he started multitasking, selling hotdogs again, but now from his sentry stations.

He still took frequent breaks, though. Either to recuperate, refill his oversized Magic capacity, or to check in on Papyrus.

Papyrus had gotten the notion to build traps and puzzles all throughout Snowdin. He had become fixated with the idea of capturing a human, and was sure that was the best way to do it.

Sans was a little scared by this. He didn't want his brother anywhere near humans. But Papyrus insisted. They would be caught in his traps, and there would be no danger to anyone, monster or human.

Sans supposed the building of the traps was harmless enough. There was just that one pit, right at the switches-on-ice puzzle. Papyrus was tall enough that he could just step over, but Sans... he wasn't used to the idea that he actually needed to use shortcuts to get somewhere. And if he couldn't take a shortcut...

Well. He was able to take shortcuts, and that was a good thing. He would leave it at that.

And take shortcuts he did. Often. As he wasn't worrying about the machine anymore and he was letting up a little on his guard over Papyrus, he had a bit more time on his hands. He went frequently to the woman behind the door. She understood him. His pain. Not to mention that she told the best jokes, and she was the only one who truly laughed at his jokes.

... Until she didn't.

~o0o~

Sans blinked a little. He had just told a long string of puns, one after another, about half of which were totally impromptu, and the lady had barely laughed.

Sans shook his head, eyesockets closed. Maybe she had just missed something? So he moved on.

"knock knock."

"Who is there?"

"a broken pencil."

"A broken pencil who?"

"nevermind, it's pointless!"

Again, just a soft chuckle.

So Sans waited a moment, then, quietly asked, "hey, is everything alright?"

There was a pause, and then a slow answer. "... Yes. Everything is-... everything is fine."

Sans leaned his head back against the door, letting out a huff. "... i've heard that voice... those words... far too many times... from my own mouth for it to be convincing."

She started to respond, but Sans cut her off, continuing.

"now, look. i'm not saying you have to tell me anything. because, uh, with those words, i usually insist on not talkin', too. and you've been... one of the greatest friends i've ever had, and, uh... i'd hate to ruin that just 'cuz i was too nosy. so, if you don't wanna talk, that's fine. i just... the first time i came here, i... had nearly no hope. and... you... and your jokes... you've already helped me in ways you can't imagine. and, uh, i guess... well. if you do wanna talk, the least i can do is return the favor, and listen."

And with that, Sans fell silent.

For a moment, there was simply silence.

And then, quietly, voice shaking, she spoke. "M-my friend-..."

"... yeah...?" Sans prompted gently.

"If--... if a human-- ever comes through this door-..."

Sans took a slow breath, waited.

"Could you p-please, please promise me something? Watch over them, and protect them... will-... will you not?"

Sans blinked. Of everything she could have said, that was not what he was expecting.

"... lady... i-... a human-... i don't--"

"Please!" Her voice was sharp with pain. "Please, my friend."

Sans blew out a slow breath. He didn't-...

All the big promises... all of them he had made, he had broken. Protect Papyrus- Papyrus had died. Fix the machine- the machine remained broken in the basement.

Protect the human- ... He was the Judge. He had been surprised when he hadn't been fired for not killing the last human.

Not to mention the whole protecting a human thing. Humans were... they had to be killed. That was the entire reason Sans had been created! And with just one more Soul, the Underground could be free.

But her voice. The pain, the agony. She had helped Sans when he had been on the brink of death, hopeless.

"lady, i-... now, i hate making promises. but-" he continued, cutting off her plea. "but, like i said, you helped me in ways you can't imagine. so for you, and only for you... i-... i promise."

Sans couldn't stop the wide grin on his face as he heard the relieved sobs through the door.

~o0o~

The next day, Sans was going to the door.

He had decided to walk today. It had snowed last night, Snowdin being one of the places in the Underground that actually did have weather, if only the mild snows it got. And, for whatever reason, Sans enjoyed walking through the snow, leaving his slipper-tracks through the powdery white.

Sans had been thinking. About the promise. He had, eventually, decided that he would do his best to keep it. Even if--...

Even if the human was one of those who-...

... with any luck, they wouldn't be.

The walk was not too long of one, and Sans quickly found himself approaching the door.

He was about to knock on it when the whole door gave a shudder.

Shocked, Sans took half a step back. Had the lady finally decided to--

There was a soft grunt as the door was slowly pushed open, and a hand- small, childish, pink, and fleshy- curled around the edge of the door.

Sans took another half step back, then took a shortcut to stand behind the trees.

That hand looked far too much like a human's for his liking. Hopefully, the lady was some sort of--

Nope. Of course she wasn't. That was a human, wearing shorts and a striped sweater, carrying a stick.

Sans was, honestly, conflicted. He had decided to keep his promise, but... he hadn't thought he would need to keep it so soon!

Sans watched as they slowly walked forward.

They were a small human. A child. So much smaller than Sans.

As they passed Sans'hiding spot, he could see their face. They looked... terrified. Clutching the stick with a white-knuckled grip.

He almost felt... bad for them. They looked so young, scared to be out in the world alone.

Then they were passed him. He wanted to keep watching them, though, so he stepped forward, darting between two trees to keep an eye on them.

Apparently, he made some sort of noise or something, because they suddenly turned around with a sharp gasp, searching.

But Sans was well hidden, and they didn't see him.

Hesitantly, they turned forward again.

Sans had the inkling of an idea.

As they walked, they stepped over a branch. A big branch.

Moments after they had passed it by, Sans twitched his hand in his pocket, sending bones spearing through the branch, then quickly dismissed the Magic.

Sans would scare them. He would scare them bad.

At the sound of the branch shattering, the small human turned around with an audible squeak.

Sans stayed hidden.

After a minute or two, they continued onward, more slowly, more hesitantly.

And then, once he was sure they were good and frightened, Sans would approach them. See what they did.

The human stopped at the bridge Papyrus had made, freezing as they heard Sans' footsteps in the snow behind them.

If they were friendly, then he would let them on.

He walked slowly, suddenly realizing he had a whoopee cushion in his pocket. He had been going to use it at Grillby's later on, and it would work here, too.

And if they lashed it at him, he could dodge.

When he reached them, he stopped. They were completely still, barely breathing.

If they lashed out, he would judge them accordingly.

"H U M A N ."

He would give them a Bad Time.

"D O N ' T   Y O U   K N O W   H O W   T O   G R E E T   A   N E W   P A L ?"

Because this time, this time, Sans was going to keep his promise.

Protect Papyrus // protect the human // be the judge // don't forget

He held out his whoopee-cushion filled hand. "T U R N   A R O U N D   A N D   S H A K E   M Y   H A N D ."

Slowly, the human turned around.

§

A/N

Thus ends The Time Before.

Thank you SO SO much for reading it! I cannot describe how much I appreciate your reads and votes and comments! Every single notification I've gotten, that someone voted, or commented, or added this story to a reading list, it made me grin like crazy. Thank you everyone, so SO much. :)

... now then...

What's next?

... well.

That would be the next book.

A Name to Remember.

If you enjoyed this, I would recommend checking that out on my profile, and reading it!

Anyway, thanks again, so, so much for reading!