And so it continued. Papyrus would go to school on the weekdays, and immediately go to the lab when he got home. He did his homework there while Gaster did experiments, some on Sans and some not. Then, if Sans was awake, Papyrus would try to talk to him. Sometimes, Sans would ignore him. Sometimes, Sans would listen. And sometimes, Sans would talk back.

Sometimes, Gaster had to tell Sans to stop talking. To stop using that kind of language, to stop describing the level of violence, to stop insulting Papyrus.

As far as Sans was concerned, what he said weren't just insults, but also facts. Gaster still didn't like it.

And Papyrus still believed in his brother. He continued to insist that Sans was a good person, even if he didn't believe it.

Sans continued to tell Papyrus he was a naive little idiot. He also continued to take advantage of that.

But he still could not find a way to escape.

Not yet. He knew he would sooner or later.

And still, Papyrus was sure he could be good.

~o0o~

Papyrus was running, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his Magic too unfocused to form anything resembling an attack.

They were right behind him. If he stopped, he'd die.

He could hear them, too. Harsh screeches in a language he didn't know. Howls of adrenaline, their thrill in the chase. If he slowed down even just a fraction of a tiny bit, he felt their hot breath on the back of his neck. Their claws scraping at his heels. One of his shoes was torn off his foot. He didn't have time to stop and mourn the loss, nor think about the sharp rocks that stuck up between the bones of his foot, pushing uncomfortably against his bones with each footfall.

Where do you run to, little one?

The voice sent a chill down his spine.

You cannot escape.

He stumbled. Fell.

There is nowhere for you to go.

They were on him in an instant, ripping him apart, clawing their way to his Soul, beating wildly between his ribs.

You are m͖͉̲ͥi̦͕̘͖̩͍n̹͖̙̺͕̿ͅe̤̮̬̝̖̞̩ͪͦͭ̄̐ͦ.

Papyrus sat up, gasping and choking. Or, he tried to. His sweat-soaked sheets were tangled so tightly around his limbs that he couldn't really sit up.

It took a little while in his panicked state, but he eventually managed to disentangle himself and stagger out of bed. From there, still shaking and gasping with fear, he crept to the door of his room, flinching at every shadow and sound.

Papyrus started to open his door, and when it creaked loudly, he bolted in fear, running down the hall to his dad's room. Gaster was sprawled out on his bed, sound asleep. Papyrus shook his shoulder, urgently whisper-shouting for him to wake up. But Gaster only just moaned and rolled over, too deeply asleep to be woken. Papyrus continued to whisper loudly for Gaster, his fear making the shadows seem to grow.

He was on the verge of a mental breakdown, when-

Sans! Sans always helps me with nightmares!

Without stopping to consider that going to Sans would not only mean leaving the house in the middle of the night, but also that he would be going into the lab alone, Papyrus ran out of Gaster's room, down the hall, and out the door.

He hadn't put on any shoes, and the rough ground reminded him all the more of his nightmare. He ran faster.

He lunged into the dark lobby of the lab, making the distance between home and lab in under four minutes. From there, he scrambled to the elevator and punched in the button for the tenth floor, along with the code that allowed him access to said floor.

The elevator ride was horrible. He felt exposed, just sitting there, waiting. And every lurch and clang and rumble convinced him something was clawing at the elevator box.

But eventually, it stopped moving, and the door slid open with a pleasant ding-- but the door opened into another dark hallway.

Papyrus ran.

He scrambled down the hallway and into Gaster's lab, hitting the light switch as he did so.

In the containment cell on the cot, Sans was slowly propping himself up on his elbows, blinking in the sudden light. He looked a bit annoyed to have been woken up so early. "... whaddya want?" He growled tiredly at Papyrus.

"I-" Papyrus was trembling. "I h-had a nightmare, and y-you al-ways helped me w-when--"

He was cut off by Sans' laughter. It was loud and sharp and rough, but it sounded like he legitimately thought something was funny.

With the light, as well as the familiarity of Sans' laugh, Papyrus calmed down a bit, enough to be curious. "Wh-what are you l-laughing about?"

"you!!" Sans snorted. "if i could get close enough, i could kill you. i could break every bone in your body, i could smash your skull in, i could take your soul and crush it with my bare hands. i want to kill you. still, every day, you come down here, and you aren't scared at all, but one little nightmare, and you can hardly even--" Sans broke off, howling with laughter.

Papyrus thought about it. It was true. Sans was much stronger than any nightmare.

So Papyrus looked at Sans and grinned. "You're right! Thank you, Sans! I knew you were good inside!"

Sans stopped laughing. He was still chuckling a little, though. "um. what?"

"You're right!" Papyrus beamed. "I don't need to worry about nightmares when you're around! If I can be brave enough to talk to you all the time, nightmares are nothing! You helped me! Thank you!"

For a moment, they just stared at each other, Papyrus's smile filled with happiness, Sans grinning blankly.

Then Papyrus remembered that it was a school night, and he really did have to get back to bed. So he thanked Sans again for helping him with his nightmare, and said goodnight.

~o0o~

Sans watched Papyrus leave, a mix of irritation and confusion making him blink. Or, maybe that was because his eyes were adjusting again to the darkness.

Regardless.

What had just...

He played the scene over again in his head.

He had been woken up. Papyrus was afraid. Laughing at how weak Papyrus was. Papyrus... took it as a compliment? Advice? Both? And said that Sans was good.

Sans brooded on that. Papyrus was naive. He really was. Relying on Sans for help with a nightmare. Hah. Idiot.

... Relying on Sans...

As Sans lay back down, the edges of his grin rose.

Relying on Sans.

There was the seed of a plan, beginning to grow in the back of his mind. It would take a long time, and he would have to go incredibly slow, as to not arouse suspicion. But if he could do it, he could not only escape, but also potentially kill Papyrus and Gaster in the process. Two- no, three birds with one stone.

If he failed, if they noticed his plan, it could destroy him.

But it wasn't like he was doing his army any favors trapped in here. It wasn't like he had much to lose, aside from time, which his plan would require anyway.

Sans closed his eyes, smile just about the biggest it had been since his capture.

He had a lot of work to do, and it was going to take a long time. Already, he had been here for several months, and it would take even longer than that on itself. This was going to require an incredible amount of patience.

Good thing he had so much.

~o0o~

And yet, time went on for the Gaster family. Months passed, and the war continued to rage on. It would seem as though the Corrupt had all but overrun Waterfall, before Commander Undyne would lead a brutal strike against them and nearly flush them out of the cave system entirely, only for the process to repeat itself.

Papyrus continued to go to school, come home, go to the lab. Gaster had little success in finding a cure, and unless Sans suddenly decided to be cooperative, he was just about stuck.

Sans set his plan into motion

It was slow, and he had to be carefully subtle in the beginning. Nothing much, really. He just let the occasional opportunity for insulting Papyrus slip by in silence, or actually paid some vague attention to his little brother. And another month slipped by, and Sans didn't glare quite as much. Another resulted in the occasional thoughtful, considerate response to something Papyrus had said. A few more and he wasn't quite so dismissive of Gaster.

In general, he was slowly allowing them to think they were having a good influence on him, that, deep down, he still was the son and brother they had lost, just as Papyrus had hoped. All the while, he was storing up his Magic, readying for his opportunity.

Because he would have his opportunity. Eventually.

Papyrus's eighth birthday came. Sans got cake. At one point he offhandedly made a remark that may have almost implied that, had he been able to, he would have gotten Papyrus a birthday present.

Another month. Sans made as if he actually cared about... things in general.

And Sans' twentieth birthday came. Papyrus asked what he wanted. He shrugged and vaguely alluded to wanting to just leave the lab.

It did occur to him at some point that outside the lab, the Underground, seemed almost like the unobtainable paradise that the Surface was said to be. While internally, this only steeled his resolve, he used that to give himself a gloomy appearance. When asked, he told Papyrus, who, in turn, looked incredibly sad for him.

After that, he occasionally heard Papyrus trying to convince Gaster to allow Sans outside, even just for a little while. Sort of like a reward, almost, for how nice he was being.

But, as much as Gaster wanted his son back, he couldn't quite believe yet that Sans wasn't up to something. Sans had yet to let Gaster see his Magic. In turn, Gaster was still quite aware and often considered the fact that Sans was probably highly dangerous.

Sans noticed that, and realized he might need to do something about that, eventually.

For now, though, he continued conserving his energy, watching for his opportunity.

He would get out. He would kill them. He would return to his army, victorious, white dust on his hands. Maybe a certain red scarf around his neck, the way a hunter wears his prey's pelt like a trophy.

The thought made Sans' grin widen.

They would trust him. They had to, whether they believed he always was good, or still suspicious of his Corrupt antiSoul. They would trust him eventually, if he was nice. That was the nature of Pure Souls.

They would trust him, and that would give him... opportunities.

Opportunities he would take advantage of.

It was only a matter of time, time and patience.

§

A/N

Short chapter + No school = 2 chapters in under 24 hours!! Wooo!!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this! And remember, votes and comments are not only always welcome, but always appreciated, too!