Something was horribly wrong. He could feel it, pounding in his chest, burning in his eye. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

His head.

His head hurt. It was hard to think.

Hard to move.

So, so wrong. Had to stop it.

No. stay down. Rest.

Can't rest. It's not right.

Wrong place. Shouldn't be here.

Have to stop. Stop it.

Sans. Calm down. Please.

So wrong.

Sans. Please, just stay down.

Have- ...

To...

Stop....

It'll be alright, Sans. You'll be okay. Just rest, you'll be alright when you wake up...

...No...

~o0o~

Gaster didn't believe it. Hardly dared to believe it. This was all just some sort of horrifying nightmare, and soon he would wake up, and things would be...

Well.

This last year, it hadn't been normal, but at least it had made sense. This? This didn't.

Because it wasn't Papyrus who was at the hospital in critical condition. Noooo, it was Sans. And Pure, no less, still wearing his torn, dirty combat fatigues, splotched with dried Determination and Magic.

Most of his wounds had healed, but he was delirious and feverish, and dangerously low on Magic.

For the moment, though, he was in a stable condition, an IV drip feeding Magic into him, wrapped in several layers of blankets.

And Gaster still had another son to find, and some... other monster in his lab.

This was all so blasted confusing.

After giving a number of nurses strict order to call him if Sans' condition changed, Gaster headed out to continue his search for Papyrus, the red scarf wrapped around his neck.

Commander Undyne was waiting for him in the hospital lobby.

"Doctor..." She began.

"I do not have time to stand around and talk; I have another son to find. If you have something to say to me, you may tell me, but I'm not going to stop."

She nodded and fell into step beside him as he headed from the New Home hospital back towards where he had found Papyrus's scarf. As they walked, she explained how one of her canine unit had smelled a sort of Sans-y scent, and all the other dogs had verified it. They had followed the scent trail until it had led to Sans himself, half submerged in a murky pool of water, mumbling deliriously. They had brought him to the hospital, where Gaster had been alerted.

And from there, Gaster knew the rest. Well. Of what had happened since then. How Sans had ended up Pure, in Waterfall...

He had to find Papyrus.

As he neared where he had found the scarf, he gave Undyne a quick rundown of what had happened. She said if she could spare a few soldiers, she would send a few to help search.

And then she was gone, making her way to the ferry to get back to Waterfall.

~o0o~

H-hurts.

That hurts.

Please.

It hurts.

Oͭ̂̈́̏̑ͬ҉̪̜̥̬f̲͚̥̠͎̻̟ͧ ͔͎͙̓ͧ̉̂ͨ̃̚͢ͅcͮ̿ö́ͣ̇͗̒u̙͇͉ͭ̍͞ř̸̭̼͕̜̹ͬ͋ͤs̻̘̠̥ͬ͊ḛ̲̫̣͎̣ ̮̫͇̰͖̕i̸̓͐̓̈ͥ͊t͇̺̼͙͋ͨ͐̈́͛͘ ̼̲ͪ̎ͦͩd̗̹͎̮̪ͨͯ͆̓ͣŏ̧̗̭͕ẹ̴̝̑ͥ̊͗͌̽s͈͍͓̦̮͖̑̄͛̈̀̅.̡̺̜̝̳͚̱͕͌́͐ ͩI̹̰̙̪t̶̯͇̭̄ͪͧ͐̿'̸̣̦͆̓s͍̆̿͠ ̴͈̗̭͎̻ͮ̄ͩ̈́̈́̉̆ͅs̠̟̰̾̉̆ͭ͒̽ȕ̪͈͓̾ͫ̕p̢͕͖͙̳͎p̼̜͋̇̎o͇͈̭̗͈̿̿̌ͩͅs͙͓̰͙̩͍̭ͧ̿̾̎́e̦̞̍̽̍͆̀͡ḋ̖̹ͥ͊͛ ͚́͌ͧͣṱ̶͛͋́ơ͇̣ͫ̎̈̊͑̿̍ ̔͆̈͡h̓̊͆͛ͅu͉̗͙͔̜͔ͮ͂͛̓̒͊r̼͙͓͓̳t̺.̠̯͖̎͑̆ ͓͋ͅ

Please.

Stop.

It hurts.

S-stop!

S-

Help!

Ñ̷̩̳̩̺̗o̸̤̼̰̲͕ ̦͐͛ͬ̄͂̈̽͟o̷̳̩͇͉̘ͫ̾ͅṅ̘̖͈̤̟͉̱ͩ̉͢e̸͕̳͇ͨͩ͂ ͈̰̥̙̾̿ͮ̌̐͋̚ị͙̗͕̘ͬͯ̂̽̑́s̝̤̥̥̈̆͛̓ͥ̊ ̹͖͖͈̫ͨ̊̑̆̊̊̓g̱̥͆ͥ͑ͣō̳ͯi͍̿n̫͉̮̙̮͍̖ͮͫ̎ͥ̏̈́g҉͙̙̖̦͚̹ ̺̖̹͜t̨̜̃͌̾̅ͨo͚̥͙̳͎̙̞ͦͭ̎ͨͧ͝ ̶̻̱͚̩̞ͭͅh̠̞̤͎̪͕ͧ͒͆ͬ̏͠e̛̐͋̒ͤ͂̒ͪḽ̥̱̝͓̔ͨ̀p̗̱̲̲ͬͣ ͚̣̐̎̉̓͆̐y̛̮̩̤̙̓ͭ͆ͣo̰̎͗̍̄ͦ̊u̩̯̼̣͉ͭ̆ͧͨ̑́̚.̮ͨ̽́͘ ̰̳̀͆̿̽́

Dad! Help!

S-Sans! Sans, please!

Help!

It hurts, Sans!

Please! Please, help.

Sans....

Someone...

Help...

H͆̃ͦ̐͗̿ͤ̀ẹ͖̦̩̝͖͋͑͐h̰̳̬̬̖͓̣͢.̙̹̙̠͈͙̻͛͆ͭ̉̑̋ ̮͖̬̱̖ͣ̓͌́͌͝B͏̺̣̬̖̠̻ͅu̬͂̽ṭ͓ͯ͐̐̔͂̽ ̱͙̞͇̮̙ͨ̆ͅṇ̜̗̫̖͍ͫ̇͌̽͑̌́o̧̺̖̙͍͎̬̐ͩ̆ͩ͋ ͖̗̼͚͈̟̙͒̀͆ͪ͐o͇̥̖͕̮ͧͦ̐̎͠n̮̜͚̘̙̞ͤͅe͑̏̐ͧͭ͏̰̥ ̰̮̯̳̫̼͐̏c̨̦̲̹̘̮͓̤̏̿͌a̯͆̍̌m͒̒ͤ͞ë̮͖͘.̦͉̪̖̘̦͋͡ ̖̬̪̰̥̲̑̓̂

...Anyone...

~o0o~

It had been another few hours, and Gaster had resorted to a flashlight. There had to be something there, there had to be.

But he couldn't find anything. It was as if Papyrus had simply vanished out of the Underground.

Eventually he got a call from the hospital. Sans was beginning to wake up.

Gaster made sure a good many lab employees were still searching, along with a number of volunteers, before speeding yet again to the hospital.

Sans was indeed beginning to stir.

His tattered clothes had been thrown away; they were of no use to anyone. He was wearing one of the thin paper hospital gowns, and the collar of it was low enough that Gaster could just see the dull glow of Sans Soul.

His Pure Soul.

He was having a hard time waking up, though. Gaster could tell that much. He tossed and turned as much as his weakened body would allow, moaning softly, struggling to escape the throes of sleep.

Gaster reached out and set his hand on Sans', silently willing his son to be strong. Almost immediately, Sans settled down a bit.

Gaster watched as Sans began to open his eyes.

His left pupil was whole. No cracks.

Above all, he looked exhausted. But fear was a close second.

"It's all right, Sans." Gaster smiled. "You're safe. It's okay. You're safe now." He squeezed Sans' hand lightly.

Sans flinched from his touch. "w-wh--" he broke off, frowning, the fear still clear on his face.

"It's okay. Calm down. Take your time." Gaster would've been well advised to take his own advice. His Soul was hammering in his chest.

Sans scarcely took a minute before trying again. "wh-here am i? --w-who-- who are y-you? wh-who's s-sans?"

Gaster felt the hope drain from him. For a moment, he just looked at Sans with a mix of pity and despair. Then he forced himself to hold on to his hope. He smiled gently. "You don't know? That's okay. I'll tell you. I'm Gaster. WingDings Gaster, the Royal Scientist and... and your dad. You're in the New Home hospital. One of Commander Undyne's unit found you in Waterfall, unconscious... And you, you are Comic Sans Gaster. You... you're commander of the Pure Army, but... we thought you died more than a year ago." Gaster paused a moment. "... Does any of this sound familiar?"

Sans slowly shook his head.

Gaster let out a small sigh. "It's... it's okay. I'm sure you'll remember eventually." He let his head fall slightly. Then, before he really even realized what he was saying, "I wish Papyrus were here..."

"w-who?"

"... Your younger brother, Papyrus. He... Something happened, and he's gone missing. I... I was looking for him when they told me you'd been found."

Sans frowned, but said nothing. Gaster understood, to a degree. If Sans couldn't remember his brother, it would have been hard to muster any sympathy or sorrow for the person he didn't know. Finally, he looked at Gaster. "... i'm... really tired."

Gaster nodded. "That's understandable. You can go back to sleep, if you want to."

Sans nodded, and closed his eyes.

Gaster let go of his hand. "I... I'll be back in a little while. I'm going to keep looking for Papyrus. If- ... if you need me, just tell one of the nurses. They'll call me."

He left.

~o0o~

Papyrus didn't know where he was. All he knew was it was cold and dark, so dark that when he opened his eyes he could see no more than if he kept them closed.

He was lying on his back, on a hard, flat surface. Everything ached, and he dared not move, lest it hurt more.

He was scared. Very scared.

"P-Papyrus?" The voice was a hoarse whisper, somewhere nearby. It sounded like it might have been Alphys, but he wasn't sure.

He let out a weak groan.

Moments later, he heard the rustle of clothes, and Alphys's scaly hand on his shoulder. "Pa-apyrus, is t-that you?"

He whimpered. "A-Alph-hys-- e-v-veryth-ing h-hu-rts--"

She gathered him up in her arms. "Shh-- P-p-Papyrus, it-s g-going to b-be alright. U-Un-dyne w-will get u-us out of h-here. W-we j-just have to h-h-hold on. S-she'll save u-s."

Seeking warmth and comfort, Papyrus snuggled against the reptilian monster's side.

What he wouldn't give to be with Sans right now!

~o0o~

He wasn't Sans.

As he lay in the hospital bed, Magic from the IV drip burning through his system, he was almost sure of it.

No, he was not Comic Sans Gaster.

But.

He knew he was someone.

And for the time being, he had no one else to be. So he would try to be Sans.

Maybe-

Maybe that was who he was supposed to be, eventually.

Maybe.

~o0o~

"Sir!"

The voice snapped Gaster out of his coffee-induced work daze. He had been searching slowly, methodically, all across Hotland and New Home for any sign of his missing son.

He looked at the monster running towards him. "Who are you?"

The monster hesitated. "I, uh, I'm Rynn. I work with the tech department. We- we were going over the security camera feeds to see about finding Papyrus."

"Oh. And?"

Many hours of coffee and no sleep had begun to numb Gaster's emotions...

"We- ... we found something. You're gonna wanna come see it."

... But the quiet, pitying tone in Rynn's voice was enough to chill him to the bone.

~o0o~

It was not as bad as some of the scenarios that he thought of, but it was much, much worse than anything he had hoped for.

The tech team had found Papyrus in the recordings, around 4:00, heading home from school. Alphys joined up with him, and they started to walk back to Hotland together.

At the area where Gaster had found Papyrus's scarf, they stopped for a second. Alphys said something to Papyrus, and they started moving again. Gaster could see the nervousness in their steps.

And then, a figure lunged up from behind, distorted on the screen by a dark haze. Gaster's Soul slipped a beat when Papyrus went down instantly, and didn't get up. Alphys put up a little more of a fight, but when the second Corrupter showed up, she too went down. The Corrupt proceeded to drag the pair out of the cameras range. As they did so, Papyrus's scarf snagged on a rock, and slipped off his shoulders.

And then, they were gone.

For a moment, Gaster just stared at the screen, feeling like he was suffocating.

His son had been kidnapped by Corrupters.

He was not going to lose Papyrus to the Corruption.

He refused to lose Papyrus to the Corruption.

Clenching his jaw, he growled, struggling to stay in Common so the technician could understand. "I want... this video... sent to Undyne... Now."

"Y-yes Sir!" Without hesitation, Rynn set to his computer.

Gaster turned and walked out of the tech lab.

He had a Corrupter to interrogate.

~o0o~

But "Sans," or whomever had been in his lab, was no longer there. The glass wall of the cell looked like it had exploded. Glass shards were scattered across the lab floor, and a sticky, dark, Corrupt residue covered most of them.

But the Corrupt monster was gone.

Gaster roared, cursed, and screamed in anger.

Could he not keep one child safe?

Could he not just protect his family?

How could he have let this happen?

After a while, he calmed down.

Well.

Maybe "calmed down" were the wrong words for it. It was more like he took all his rage, all his fury, and forced it into his hands, forced it to become a tool.

A tool he planned on using to every possible extent to get his son back.

§

A/N

*maniacal laughter*

Anyway, Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Remember, votes and comments are always welcome, and even more so appreciated!