Worse Things Than Death

"Uh, hello?" Papyrus said as he answered the door. 

"Um." Alphys was by the door. "Um. I-I wanted to know if I could see Chance?" 

"Alphys?" Frisky moved over toward her. "You live all the way in Hotlands. You should have gone home by now." 

"I know. Toriel's watching all the humans right now. Conduits. But, um. I." Alphys moved out of the way of her Conduit boy. "This is umm . . . well, I never really named him. But, uh, I took him to Toriel and she says she can't do anything else with him." 

The Conduit's head was just leaning to the left. Completely unresponsive. 

"She said not to expect a miracle but she sensed before that uh . . . Chance might be able to help?" 

A Re-reset. "95451." Frisky's voice held no nonsense. "Check your friend." 

Chance moved from the table and clicked around his friend's ears. "Hey, PM. Yo, buddy, snap out of it. Come on, man. It's me. Can't forget about me." He whistled to him and hit his hand. "Hey, you want any Monster candy? It's good. Real good." 

"He-he was just fine a few hours ago," Alphys assured them all. 

"It can happen fast or slow," Frisky said moving toward Chance. "Evaluation?" 

"Pretty far gone already." He snapped next to his ears again. "Vision gone. Audio gone. All response to higher conduits gone. Hm. Permission to move to a more drastic measure?" 

"Chance is going to do something that's not nice," Frisky warned everyone. "Don't stop him, no matter what. Even if he gets a response, please don't stop him. Agreed?" 

"Well, umm. . . uh, fine," Alphys agreed. "Anything that might help." 

"Promise we won't interrupt," Sans said still licking at the sauce pot. "Do what you got to." 

"Okay," Frisky said. "Permission granted. Bring him back as close as you can." 

Chance closed his eyes, like he was trying to focus. "Kneel you worthless sack of crud." He swiped the Conduit's feet out from under him, making him land on the floor. He smacked the side of his head. "Hey, you, lousy Conduit! What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?! We're gonna whip you until your entire body is red if you do not respond! Respond you stupid chunk of flesh that barely lives! Respond now or we're sending you straight to a satellite!!" 

The Conduit moved his head and seemed to snap out of it a little. "No . . . no . . . I am . . . here." 

"Bull you're here!" Chance smacked his feet. No response. He smacked his hands. "Dangit, PM. Not you too." He broke character a second. "What's your priority?!" He smacked him straight in the chest, getting a groan as a response. "You're worthless, you're nothing, you're going to be nothing! You're worth nothing until someone needs to kill you! Nothing! Your only purpose now is to die, just to die! You want that?!" 

" . . . no . . . n-no . . ." The Conduit blinked. "Nooo . . . nooo . . ." Chance stepped on his stomach again. "Owww!" He grabbed at his stomach. Chance smacked his hands, getting a response. "Ow! Ow! O-o-ow!" 

He smacked his feet again, this time flattening them on the ground so much his legs popped up. This time the Conduit crawled away. Chance smacked his head again extra hard. 

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!"He crawled away faster, grabbed his head and started to cry. 

"I think he's fine now," Chance said like what he did was nothing. He held his hand out to his friend. "Yo, PM. How are you doing?" 

"Uh, hey?" The Conduit smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay. Well, PM. Um, how'd I get here? Where's Alphys?" 

"You better go back to your new home. And, don't get unhappy, man!" Chance laughed. "Try and laugh. Life's good. We might be trapped Underground, but we're more free than we ever were before! All that other stuff is over. Don't worry so much, okay?" Chance looked toward Alphys. "Try and keep him in a good mood as much as you can, okay? Especially right now. He's my buddy, and I don't want to have to do that again." 

Alphys hugged the little Conduit. "I'm so happy to see you well again!" 

Chance just nodded and sat back down while Frisky moved over toward Alphys. 

"Listen. This is very important," Frisky said to Alphys. "You need to keep him real happy. If Chance hadn't gotten any response from his chest, he couldn't have saved him. Re-resets. When they fully change, they can never come back. It's not just him either, you need to pay great attention and make sure all the little Conduits you and Toriel are watching stay happy too. I know they aren't tough to watch, and they usually stand around like little soldiers, but you need to really interact with them. And, if you see anything wrong, bring them to Chance right away. He's . . . he's what you would call a higher conduit. Um." She pushed her hands on her chest. "There is something inside his own chest that can sometimes reach a Conduit before it changes. Okay?" 

"Okay, yes, I will watch them real carefully. I-I promise," Alphys said. "Thank you so much!" 

"Wow. That was . . . intense," Papyrus said. "And I am out of spaghetti. Not even a single noodle. Sans?" 

"Tapped out." Sans twirled the sauce pan by it's handle. "So, Chance? That got violent." 

"I have to treat them like the soldiers treat us when we start getting fazed," Chance said as he went back to his crossword. "Don't worry though, I haven't been fazed since . . ." 

"Since two years old," Frisky answered for him. "Only once." 

"Good. Hey, Papyrus? Let's go out and see the stars," Sans insisted. "We'll be back, and excellent food Frisky. You should start teaming up with Papyrus from now on." Sans trotted outside with Papyrus following after him. 

"Ooh. Stars." Papyrus didn't sound so positive. "That was a terrible thing to see." 

------------------------------- 

Annoying. So annoying. What did Chara want already? Flowey growled again as Frisky came over and helped Chance with his puzzle again. Why do I have to be here? What does Chara want from me? This is beyond stupid! As stupid as everything else! Flowey ducked his head. 

It was boring. Not being able to move. Stuck in a pot inside Snowdin. He wanted his ground again. To be able to move and be free. 

"Ooh. Stars. That was a terrible thing to see." He heard the tall bonehead's voice. Perks of being an evil flower. It was easy to crop up on secrets because he had extremely good hearing. Even if he didn't have ears. 

"Yeah, I know." Great, Smiley Trashbag's voice. "I am really not sorry I took out those ships." 

"Look at what they created. Humans! How . . . how . . . could they have come from that?" 

More than humans, idiots, Flower thought. Still being stuck next to a crossword puzzle with a boring mom and kid or spying outside. Even if there was nothing going on, there was the possibility of some kind of secret falling. He started to hop his pot over. 

"Flowey?" 

Great, it was Frisky's voice. He just growled. 

"I think that Chara wants you to learn how to care again," Frisky said. "So, I think we should work on a project together." 

Project? He didn't answer. She moved over to him closer and smiled. 

"You need to relearn about love and caring. Undyne and Alphys are off track completely. Will you help me bring them together?" 

"What?" Flowey whined. "Why would I care about that? Who cares about that?! It was a different timeline. It doesn't really matter, who cares?" 

"I care." Frisky bent closer to him. "Things repeat in timelines for a reason. They aren't magical you know. Certain events do follow certain events because of the way things were set up, but in the case of feelings? It shouldn't matter about timelines." 

Hm? 

"It isn't the letter I delivered and the pretend date we went on that got them together," Frisky said. "It was their love. I could do that event all day, but if they didn't love each other at first? It never would have happened." She sighed. "Now, there is a new factor. I don't think Undyne will deliver any letters because Alphys has conduits now, and I don't think she feels comfortable around human children. You know, without wanting to kill them yet. She's got some growing to do. How do you think we could help that?" 

"Uhh." Really? Seriously?! "You just married a Skeleton, got trapped Underground for the rest of your life, have to have a baby Skeleton in three months . . . and you're caring about that?!" 

"Of course I am," she said it in the most natural tone in the world. "They love each other, and just because an event didn't happen, doesn't mean they shouldn't be happy. I can't force them to be together, but I can help them find their way." 

"Why? Why care? You're life sucks, why care about them?" Genuinely. Her life really sucked. Really sucked! He knew so much that happened to her. He had to know. Why care? Why did everyone have to care? And why her most of all? 

"Same reason I care about you and Chara. I just do. I care about those I know, and even though you are a hard one to get along with?" She groaned. "Very, very hard. You not caring doesn't change the fact that I care about you too." 

Flowey made a sour face. "I don't care about you." 

"You don't have to. I just want to help you." 

"Why?" Flowey watched her carefully. "Because your life is crap, you have to help others? Is that it? To forget how horrid your life is, you dwell on making anyone else happy?" 

"Partly." She wasn't even ashamed to say it. "But not really. My life is hard, but I have Chance in it. I have people and Monsters who care for me. And . . . I don't know. I just get such a good feeling inside when I help others." She shrugged. "You're probably right though. It does make me forget problems in my own life. It might even be an escape device, but, I don't mind. It makes me feel good, and, if I ACT the right way? It makes the other person or Monster feel good too." 

"So . . . you want to help them 'cause it's right. Cause you . . . care . . . even if the timeline isn't fit for them anymore?" 

"There you go." She patted his flowery head. Flowey didn't move. "That is a very caring way to see the problem." She moved away again to help her son with his crossword puzzle. 

Everything going on around her. All the hell those humans and Balancers did to her that she even knows of, and . . . and she is still thinking of her friends' love? Flowey pulled himself under his own petal. She didn't gain anything from it. She didn't gain anything from helping Chara with him either. Even though he hated being stuffed in a pot, she wasn't doing it to torture him. 

And maybe Chara, wasn't doing it to torture him either. Can I really make a difference? He moved further away on his journey, closer to the window to eavesdrop again. He moved the curtain out of the way. Sans and Papyrus were a little out in the distance, probably to make sure the humans didn't hear them. Not real far though, and he could still see them right in their own yard. They were both facing away, staring up. 

"I don't know." Sansy had shoved his hands in his coat. "Pap. That other world is bad. If you leave the barrier, don't expect anything pretty. It's bad. It's real, real bad. Mm. Um." 

"What's wrong, Sans?" Papyrus asked him. "The humans are safe now. I mean, Chance and Frisky. They are safe now. Sorry, the human and Conduit. No wait, he'll be a Monster soon. The human and the half-Monster? Oh, I'll eventually get it. Sans? What's wrong?" 

"I care." Flowey watched Sans drag his slippered foot through the snow. "It used to take some extreme stuff to make me even slightly care. In the resets. You really don't know." 

"We went over this though," Papyrus reminded him. "We are moving along, and you are fine! Nothing else will happen anymore! Nyeh he he he he! A good day every day, a new day every day!" 

"I know but I . . . that mean Frisk, she was right. She really was. I would never have lifted a finger until FRISK wiped out everyone. I mean, I-I even . . . I even made fun of it . . . when it wasn't LV 19. I made fun of it for not being evil enough." 

Yeah, Flowey knew that. Even before he started to remember the resets, he was the same way. But, that wasn't really his fault. 

"My mind's been so toast," Sansy continued, "And . . ." 

"It's okay. I can't imagine what I would do if I were stuck looping constantly," Papyrus said. "Don't feel bad. Time is moving. It can't stop anymore." 

"Yeah, but. I want to go back." 

No! Flowey almost hissed through the window. Never! How could he? They were starting to move, how could he even say that?! 

"Huh?" Papyrus stopped looking up and looked at his brother. "What do you mean?" 

"To the not caring part? I want to do that again. I want all the Monsters to just die before I feel a pang of anything. Because . . . I . . . I feel . . . and I don't want to." 

"Sans?" Papyrus came over to him closer. "Brother? What do you not want to feel? You're rattling? Why are your bones rattling?" 

"Cause, I knew. I must have known. Or could have known, but you know, didn't care. I mean, Frisky had Chance. So, I should have known. I could have known. If it were the old me, it wouldn't be anything. If it were the old me, I could just shake this off. But I can't, Pap." 

"Is it Chance? Is it Frisky?" Papyrus asked. He came to his brother closer. 

"It's everything. The pictures. The erased memories. I thought I had a hold of it all, but then I found out Frisky was experimented on. Experiments. Experiments! But, I should have known cause Chance. Cause, you know, Chance. So, why not again? You know? And-and I think I knew but, I . . . I didn't really care . . . I watched Monsters get viciously killed, why would I care about one . . . and it's not like she died or even remembered. And, and why would I care even if she did? I . . . 

"Oh. Well, I don't know what else to say, Sans. Just that, we'll do our best to take care of them now. And if something comes, we will help if necessary." 

"Yeah. We will, you're right. I'm sorry we had to do this. I know it's always just been us here. This is kind of a big change." 

"No, no, no," Papyrus patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, Sans. I know, they are your family. You couldn't just let them go. Besides. My new sister makes great spaghetti! Who knows what else she can make Underground?" 

Sans rubbed the front of his skull. "Those . . . manipulators. They took so many from the Underground. Wiped them from our own minds. And now Chance is going to be a Skeleton because he's my kid, and I have to have another one and . . . and I'm a bit freaked out, Pap. I am not made for this kind of thing." Sans wiggled a bit. "We're okay now. We're okay though. I know that, it's just. This is not easy." 

-------------

No, thought Flowey. Cause he didn't know. If he knew. If the Underground knew. 

There were various scales on how things worked with Monsters. Most of them worked at the bottom end. Killing. But, there was so much more to a Monster than just that. In fact, honor played such a huge role Underground. Killing wasn't the worst one could do in the world of Monsters. 

There were more. There were more, and Sans had stumbled upon one soo bad, that he should have been able to have every Monster of every age fighting against his enemy if need be! 

But . . . he didn't know that. It'll hurt. Caring will hurt. It will hurt more than one if I share. But, timelines. As remarkable as it was that those two met in the first place, it was just as remarkable they ended up there. Again. They have their boy. They are even married this time. They just . . . don't know. He looked back toward Frisky trying to work on the crossword with Chance. But . . . is the right thing to do, to tell them or not? Which was kind? Which was cruel?

-------------------------- 

"Sans." Papyrus brought his brother in for a slight hug. "You're . . . you did really well today. You never even fell asleep." 

"Hard to considering what I was doing," Sans reminded him. "But, um. Things are better. They'll get better. I refuse to let what happened to that Conduit happen to Chance. We've got to stay positive, Pap." 

"Yep. That we can do!" Papyrus said enthusiastically. "That we most certainly can do! And we shouldn't worry about Chance like that. He'll be a Skeleton soon. He is correcting himself after everything that was done to him. Why, he might even get a regular grey soul like he should." 

"I wouldn't count too hard on it. Anyhow, I guess it's time I tell Frisky a couple of things. Hm. Do you think she figured out that she's got the lifespan of me yet?" 

"I don't know," Papyrus confessed. "Humans can be dull-witted." 

"No more dull-witted than me. Not seeing it. Right in front of me." 

"But lots of humans have blue eyes." 

"Not that shade of blue, Pap. Come on. Let's go to bed. I still have some hard talking beforehand, so every minute counts before work." 

"Which will be heavier hours. I know, Sans." 

------------------------------ 

"You'll love it!" Papyrus insisted to Chance. "It's a brand new bed with warm coverings that will keep you from freezing. Follow Uncle Papyrus!" Frisky, Chance, and Sans all headed upstairs. 

Papyrus opened his room. "See? It's right on the other side of mine." 

"I'm sleeping in your room now?" Chance looked toward his mom. "But, I never sleep away from you." 

"Uh." Frisky bent down toward him. "This is just another small change, okay? Give me a hug before bed." She knew what he meant though. Ever since he was a baby, she slept with him right next to her. By soul or by physical body, they were always together. Of course, what should I expect? Sans is my husband now, and I probably have to share his bed without Chance.  

"That small dresser next to your bed is yours too." Papyrus moved over toward the dresser with Chance. "See? It's filled with clothes, including pajamas! Warm, footy pajamas." 

Chance picked up the footy pajamas. "I never wear footy pajamas. How do they go on? With the zipper?" 

Frisky came over to his side. Footy pajamas. That would really help keep him warm at night. "You just pull the zipper down and step into them with each of your feet. Then, you put your arms in and zip up." 

"Oh." Chance lifted them to look at them. "Ok." He shrugged, looked at his mom, and got an extra hug. "Can you help me put them on then?" 

Sans and Papyrus both left the room. Sans moved toward his room and opened the door. His bed coverings were new, warm, and freshly washed with Toriel's help. Frisky and Chance were both supposed to share that bed, while Sans and Papyrus would have shared the racecar bed. But, things changed between a committing and marriage. And they had to move Sans' bed into Papyrus' room, and get a real two Monster bed for him and Frisky.

He wouldn't be able to afford Grillby's for weeks to catch his GOLD back up. Same for Papyrus.

There were two pillows, one for each of them. "Well, at least she invited me to bed last night," he said, trying to be cheerful. "That's a little less awkward. And, it's much better on my neck." 

"Yes, that is good." 

"Yeah. I really missed a bed." Sans gave him a thumbs up. "Yep. I got a bed and now I have to lie down in it." 

"That wasn't a good pun." Papyrus patted his brother's shoulder. "Don't start falling into that mood. Just forget that mean Frisk. We are going to be okay." 

"Bedtime, I guess." Chance hugged his mom from outside Papyrus' door. 

"Don't worry," Sans interrupted. "You'll get to sleep with your mom sometimes. Just, not tonight. Gotta talk to your mom, so get some rest . . . my kid." 

"And you won't be alone. I am going to bed too, and I am right beside you on my bed!" Papryus reminded him. "And, um, the annoying dog. He's . . ." He sighed. "Probably around there too."

"Goodnight, Chance." Frisky waved to him as he went to bed. She looked toward Sans. "Okay. The do's and don'ts I suppose?" 

"Eh." Sans yawned. "Come on." 

Frisky watched him trot into their room. Just Sans. Just sleep. I did this last night. Yeah, but there was a huge difference between that twenty-four hour gap. I am Frisk. I face everything no matter what. Feeling her DETERMINATION return, she went in. Hopefully, she didn't need it. It would be even better if she could just get some sleep. 

Sans moved over to his dresser. "I made some space for your stuff. I don't have everything. I kind of ran a little . . . umm." 

"Low," Frisky said for him. "New clothes, new table, a dresser, and a new bed. I don't even know how you managed it." 

"I didn't. I had to have help from Papyrus." Sans finally gave her the list of do's and don'ts. "Here. It's nothing half bad." He just turned around, walked to his door and leaned against it. 

Frisky looked at the Do's and Don'ts. Do be faithful. That was a given. Do be good to your husband. Do give a loving name. What? "What's a loving name?" 

"Something different, Frisky." Sans just tried to give her a cheerful smile. "I already picked mine. Faith. Don't know why but it just seems to fit." He shrugged. "Close enough to DETERMINATION for me. Which is good cause I was leaning toward Miss Determination." 

"Different? Faith? What do you mean?" 

"Yeah, I wondered if humans had that. Well, um?" He looked up and then back at her. "It's a special name when you want to be affectionate. You know, Monsters aren't always known for being affectionate. Half the time some look like they want to bite each other's head off. So it's kind of a cheating way to show you care?" 

"You mean like honey or something like that?" Seriously? 

"Kind of. Just don't pick a food. It makes me hungry." 

Oh, Sans. Frisky just found herself smiling at that statement. "Oh, I have no idea." Hm. Do not leave your residence for the first three months unless you are following your husband or another chosen guardian around. "What? What do you mean I can't leave for three months unless I'm following you around?" 

"Yep. And Pap, if you didn't guess that. Kind of similar to last time. Nothing new." 

"Is this something official?" 

"Everything is, Frisky." 

Frisky sighed. Okay, relax. No biggie. At least I can be out on patrol for humans since he does guard too. That was something she wanted anyway. Do cuddle four out of seven nights a week. Cuddle? How would they enforce that? Sans was playing everything by the book though so far. Appease thy husband's needs. What are the needs of a Skeleton? She glanced at him. He was nearly about to fall over. He needs a lot of rest. Look at what he's been doing beneath my very nose. Sans always needs extra rest.  He managed a lot, and he still took time to try and battle her. He didn't fall asleep during the ceremony either. 

Well, need one. She needed to make sure he took more breaks and got more rest. Okay, not too bad. That would appease his needs. He definitely likes my cooking too. I guess that makes it easier. Cooking and sleep. That's Sans. Well, that part was done. Now, the loving name. I don't know a loving name to give him though. I just don't know. Oh, what else? Three nights out of the week . . . Oh. Chance. "Chance gets to sleep with us?" 

"Uh, yeah. That unusual? Little Monsters sleep with their parents three nights a week. It's always that way. That's the reason we had to get a new bed." 

Oh. That was . . . sweet. And it made her feel so much better. 

So much had changed overnight, it was hard to believe she was just a prisoner twenty four hours ago. Oh. The next part referenced new children that had taken place in other marriages. Actually, the word was deceased. There isn't a form of divorce, just death or run away like Toriel. Hm. By this thing Sans was supposed to reference Chance as his son or his kid. That must be why he said 'my kid' instead of just kid to Chance. The don'ts were also quite simple. 

Marriage for Monsters was really just a . . . a loving sort of thing. Until she read the bottom. Rights of Vengeance. Vengeance? 

She was not surprised to see that there was a law on killing a family, but there was so much more. More than she ever knew. Stealing another Monster's wife without killing that Monster? Stealing another Monster's wife and having children with them without killing them? "This is a little . . ." 

"Huh?" Sans came from the door and looked at the paper. "What?" 

"Vengeance?" 

"Oh yeah. Yeah, a Froggit beat down on our door one time and said another Froggit stole its wife, and we had to help it fight." Sans shrugged. "It's a Monster thing." 

A Froggit? "That really happened?"

"Yep."

"But." Frisky knew she had an uncertain look on her face. "You don't even get added support when you seek vengeance just for a killed family member by this paper." 

"Worse things than death." 

I guess so. Apparently, dishonor was very heavy there. "So if you steal something, make sure you kill the Monster?" 

"Yep." 

Fantastic. Well, they were Monsters. Their way of thinking wouldn't be the same. But the rules of marriage was rather simple. Kiss before work, after work, before getting out of bed, and at night? Oh, that was awkward. 

Sans probably noticed her awkwardness. "Ah, you can just kiss my cheekbone tonight. Don't worry so hard about that." He trotted back in front of the door again and leaned against it. "Told you this wouldn't be too bad." 

"You're right," Frisky admitted. "This doesn't sound too hard." 

"Yeah, much better than what you would have gone through if you failed a mission."