A/N: First of all: I am so sorry for making you guys wait this long for this chapter. I've never wanted to be that writer who disappears for ages, but surprise! Real life got in the way.

I haven't really gone into detail much, but I was hospitalized for much of this past year – from January until mid-June. I was in the midst of heart failure, and a the end of May I received the heart transplant I desperately needed.

Which brings me to the reason that this chapter is incomplete and will probably stay that way.

What is currently written I've had written since February, after which point lack of proper circulation made my brain too fuzzy to focus on writing. I didn't want to post any of it, as the beginning and end are complete, but I had yet to write the middle.

Unfortunately, after I got out of the hospital, I found that the medical torture aspects of this story had become highly triggering. For my own mental health, I decided to try to come back to it later. But, really, the several months I've had with a mostly clear head have not helped, and I'm still unable to write the rest of this chapter, nor the two chapters that I had planned after this one.

I have spoken to Ran, and ze are unable to finish the chapter either.

The content that I'd been intending to finish in this chapter is about halfway through. I wrote it out in a sort of sketchy way, which is how I usually write my first drafts, and it is in italics and square brackets, [like so].

I'm really sorry, as I know a lot of you were really into this story, but I simply cannot continue. In the end notes, I'll address the two major loose ends that I'd been planning to explain in a future chapter.

Thank you guys for reading! All of your support has meant so much to me.

Sans didn't know how long he sat in the corner, staring out the window, before the scientist came back. The lights hadn't gone off, so it couldn't have been too long, but it was hard to tell. It was certainly longer than he would have liked. He was stuck, without Papyrus, in a room he didn't know if Alphys could find.

He wondered how long they'd be separated this time, a sinking feeling in his bones settling through him more deeply than the way he'd sunken onto his haunches, waiting for someone to arrive.

Before Papyrus, he had only sleep and the scientist's visits, and he had never been able to decide which was better. Sleep was dreamless and empty, too empty to be boring. The scientist brought food, taught him, and wasn't the four walls holding him eternally. That had been worth it, sometimes.

After Papyrus, it had stopped being enough. He could be hurt. Papyrus could be hurt. The dread had sunk further and further into his bones with every visit, and he didn't look forward to them, to being separated from his brother.

The thought of going back to that time filled him with apprehension. He didn't think he could go back to it, if he tried.

Papyrus came back before. He had to come back again. If he just... Waited.

Eventually the scientist came, with the faint click of his boots. This room wasn't as soundproofed as their usual one. Sans sat up. Papyrus, Papyrus! He could be there, he could be okay. Sans pushed himself to his feet and stood stock-still to the side of the door. He chanced quick glances at the window all the while, waiting to see if the scientist had come with his brother.

He had. But the scientist didn't turn towards Sans' cell. He turned away, to the cell just opposite Sans'. Papyrus blinked at Sans, breathless. Papyrus' legs gave an aborted twitch that revealed his desire to run for Sans' window.

Instead, he turned away, slowly limping into the empty cell.

The scientist walked away, his hands gesturing as he talked to himself. He seemed to have already forgotten about them.

Sans waited for the scientist to walk out of sight, then waited a little longer. As soon as he was gone Sans shifted. He ran to the window and reared up, so that his front paws were on the bottom of the window and his nose was pressed up against the glass. He could just see Papyrus through the window in the other room, and he whined a little. Then he barked, loudly, not saying anything but just wanting to see if the soundproofing was faulty enough for Papyrus to hear him.

Papyrus twitched a little, and ran over to his window. He was barely tall enough for his eyes to peek out over the bottom of the window, and he probably would have been far too short in his other form, even if he did mimic Sans' position. Papyrus raised his hand above his head and waved.

Sans shifted and waved back. At least they could see each other. That was better than it could be.

Sans pressed his skull against the window, his brow and teeth clicking against it as he stared down at his living, breathing brother. He squinted, ignoring the growing ache from putting pressure on his bad eye. Papyrus didn't seem hurt, but he couldn't see much of him from here. He'd been limping before, but that... hopefully that was just his toe.

If the scientist hadn't hurt Sans, he wouldn't have hurt Papyrus, right? Papyrus knew how to be quiet and not make the scientist angry. He…

Papyrus blinked at Sans, his sockets never breaking contact. Sans blinked back. A mixture of relief and fear squirmed in his ribcage, but with every minute that Papyrus stood there, with every moment that Sans confirmed that he was okay, some of it dripped out.

Sans didn't talk, not unprompted, but the same thoughts ran through his head again and again as he stared back at Papyrus, building in his throat. 'are you okay?' 'i'm so glad you're alive.' 'don't leave.'

Not one of them reached Papyrus, but the same thoughts must have been hammering through his skull, because as time passed, neither of them tried to sit down or move away.

Sans' legs started hurting. He had to stand for a long time, sometimes, but it was always unpleasant.

He ignored it.

Papyrus' arms drifted from the window to his sides, but he didn't leave.

Sans was thankful.

Things were almost okay. Not normal, but bearable.

Sans hadn't had nearly the workout of some days, but today had been exhausting nonetheless.

Sans' sockets started drooping.

Papyrus turned his neck, slowly, and Sans' soul thudded in his chest.

He didn't leave.

Sans' breaths came more and more regularly, more and more quietly.

It was bright, but really…

After a day like this, he could probably sleep anywhere.

Sans' eyes drifted shut.

A thought fluttered through his head, elusive as dust, then settled in his mind. is papyrus okay? His eyes snapped open.

Papyrus was still there, still safe. For now. He looked more awake than Sans felt, although he wasn't the restless bundle of energy he usually was.

Sans shifted his weight between aching legs. Maybe he could lean on just one leg. Would that hurt more or less?

Thudding echoed in the distance, from the left. Was that where their normal room was, or was it to the right? The hallway was unfamiliar, missing from Sans' mental maps.

He glanced to the left, as far down the hallway as the window allowed. When he looked back, Papyrus looked confused, then looked down that hallway as well.

There were doors, empty wall, but nothing to be seen in the half-dimmed light.

Sans' eyes began to droop again. He was leaning heavily against the wall, the crown of his skull resting against the glass. His feet began sliding across the floor, away from the wall, and he scrambled to pull himself back up.

It wasn't long before his limbs were shaking from the effort of keeping himself in place. Still, he

The faint sound of footsteps made Sans jerk to attention. He looked around, a little wildly, and saw the scientist approaching.

[the scientist takes sans first. He takes sans to their original room, keys in a code, and then tells sans to open the door. Sans tries. He feels magic probe at his soul, but can't open the door. The scientist is blank faced, and then opens the door for Sans.]

[repeat with Papyrus]

[the lights eventually go out. Sans stays awake on lookout. A white shape appears in the window – One redoing the mimic. Sans is minorly confused. Manages to fall asleep.]

[wake up, lights are still out. After a bit Alphys visits. Time goes by. Highlights: Alphys mentioning the accents, the scientist futzing with their souls a bit more, discussing plans including One doing a distraction. Alphys shares a map One gave her, showing where the exit is. Sans is worried about Alphys, so she shares that she'll "be in the library" and there's an easy way to get there from outside. Maybe a bit more about the CORE?]

[the scientist brings the bros to the lab. He sets up an experiment, then receives a phone call]

"What." The scientist's voice was sharp, annoyed at being interrupted. "Are you... No. I'll be up shortly. Try not to let them eat anything else." He growled a little and jabbed his phone screen, then turned back towards Sans and Papyrus.

"You two," he snapped. Sans' back straightened. "Stay where you are. Don't touch anything." He stormed from the room, and Sans glanced over at Papyrus. This... had never happened before.

Papyrus was watching the door. After several moments, he met Sans' gaze. "You think...?"

Sans shrugged. There was no way to tell if this was One's distraction or not. After all, he hadn't even told Alphys what it would be.

All the same, Sans felt the still-unfamiliar feeling of genuine hope curling around his core. He couldn't deny that he really wanted this to be it. He wanted this to work. He wanted to get Papyrus out.

The door rattled. Papyrus jumped a little, and they both looked over at the door. The scientist couldn't be back already, could he? The call had seemed urgent, like it would take a while, but it was hard to tell.

A small yellow head appeared as the door opened. Sans let out a sigh. Alphys. Something inside him twisted a little as he realized that this was it. Alphys was right there, on the same side of the door as they were. She said she was going to get them out, and Sans believed her, he did, but. She could do... whatever she wanted to them. She was in the lab, on the same side of the door. Part of Sans' core went cold at the thought.

"H-hey," Alphys said quietly. She slipped into the room, leaving the door cracked open behind her.

Papyrus smiled widely and waved almost violently. "Alphys!"

Sans waved slightly, trying not to take his eyes off either the door or Alphys. He didn't trust that the scientist would be gone for very long, and as much as he had grown to trust Alphys, he couldn't shake the deep fear that this was the lab, and bad things always happened in the lab.

"Um," Alphys said, digging through her bag and moving closer. Sans tensed, sitting up rigidly. "I brought you some clothes, uh, I hope they fit."

She pulled out a bright orange thing for Papyrus – it seemed to be both shirt and pants together in one, held together by snaps. Sans looked at the shirt a little critically. It wouldn't be a good color to blend in with, but then the only good color for that would be white, and Sans didn't feel very keen on that.

Papyrus pulled on the thing, and Alphys' eyes widened. She turned a very interesting shade of red and looked away. Sans watched, confused, as she shuffled around the table with her eyes on the floor.

"H-here," she stammered, holding out a bundle of cloth to Sans. He took it, raising his eyebrows at her refusal to look up from the floor.

The bundle proved to be a white shirt, black shorts, and a blue jacket. He pulled on the clothes quickly, feeling safer and less exposed with them on. The jacket had a large hood lined with white fake fur, and he pulled it up over his head. Everything was a little large and baggy, but it stayed on his form comfortably enough.

Alphys pulled a pair of yellow boots from her bag and set them down on the floor by the table. Sans hopped down and pulled them on. They felt strange. He'd never worn anything on his feet before, and he wiggled his toes a bit, trying to decide if his feet felt trapped or not.

"Um. One should be here soon," Alphys said quietly, looking at the door nervously. Sans went over to Papyrus' table and helped him down. Papyrus was vibrating, looking around with excited eyes, but his expression was serious and nervous. At this point, there was no turning back. They either got out, or the scientist would find out. And if the scientist found out...

Sans shook his head sharply. This had to work. It had to.

The door creaked. Sans' head snapped up to look, and after a tense moment, a monster entered. He heard Alphys sigh in relief, but was more focused on the newcomer.

The new monster had smooth white skin, with no variations in color or texture, and solid black eyes with pinprick white pupils. Sans moved slightly to keep Papyrus behind him. A growl lodged in the back of his throat. This monster looked a lot like the scientist.

He obviously wasn't the scientist, he was short and wide and round to the scientist's tall and thin and almost sharpness, but he was clearly the same sort of monster. Sans' vision changed a bit as his magic surfaced and his eyes – no, his eye – began to glow.

The monster drew a sharp breath, eyes widening. His flesh seemed to tighten, as though it had sunken into his bones. Sans began to growl, a low rumbling deep in his chest, and was about to shift when Alphys stepped between them.

"It's okay, Sans," Alphys said, raising her hands in a placating gesture. "This is One. He's on our side. He's okay."

"how do we know?" Sans bit out. His mouth had too many teeth for its size, but he kept himself from shifting just yet.

Alphys opened her mouth, but a different voice answered. "you don't."

Sans narrowed his eyes at One. His voice sounded almost familiar, but Sans couldn't place why. It didn't have the strange accent that Alphys' voice did, but Sans was at a loss.

One met his eyes steadily. "i'm here to help, but i can't prove that." One spoke steadily and softly, and something about it made Sans believe him, even just a little bit.

Sans relaxed a little. His teeth shrank back into blunted, small shapes that fit into his mouth easier, and he untensed just a bit. He stayed where he was in front of Papyrus, though, and didn't take his eyes off One.

Alphys was looking between them, nervously. "W-well, uh. We should, um, get moving?" It came out as a question, and One nodded.

"sans," he said. "you are going to need to mimic the ru– the scientist's magic signature." Sans went cold. That was what the scientist had been testing, he couldn't do that, he...

"i can help you," One continued, cutting through Sans' panic, "but i will need to hold your hands."

Sans stared at One for a moment, and One looked back steadily, his hands outstretched. They were smooth and creamy, and in the center of each palm there was a small, circular spot that was lighter and a little grayer than the rest on One's skin. The spots shone slightly in the harsh light. After a moment, Sans nodded, once, and took a step towards One. He held out his hands and tried to stop them from shaking. This was for Papyrus, he reminded himself. This was the only way.

One closed the distance and took Sans' hands. His hands were warm and large, engulfing Sans' smaller ones without much effort. Something pulsed between their hands, and began to tug at Sans' magic.

Sans had a sudden uneasy feeling of familiarity. This... this had happened before, right? Only, not. He couldn't remember. He had been bigger, hadn't he? Maybe? He almost pulled away before One's voice stopped him.

"i'm going to push your magic into position. you're going to need to hold it like that until you're out." He prodded at Sans' core. Sans held completely still, as he always did when the scientist was trying to touch his soul. No, more so than that. He was frozen in place, he couldn't move even if he wanted to. He could feel his chest, vibrating with the slight push back of his soul as it was prodded into a new shape. Not different, not by much, but distinctly not him, and this was so familiar, this had to have happened before, but when? Sans wasn't sure. "it's going to be draining, but it's the only way to fool the doors," One continued, but the noise faded into the background.

"Wh-why can't you do it, again?" Alphys piped up from where she was standing a few feet away. Sans could barely hear her. This was so familiar. It had been the scientist tugging at his soul, right? No, he had been pushing something else into Sans' chest, nestled in right next to his soul. Sans could feel the echo of warmth and numbness.

After a few moments, One dropped Sans' hands and turned to Alphys. Sans didn't move, still frozen in place, and tried not to feel completely wrong while his magic was positioned just slightly different from how it was naturally. The familiarity was fading now that One had dropped his hands, and he started to wonder if he'd imagined it. It had been so strong, but Sans knew he'd made up stronger things before.

One frowned. "you okay?" he asked.

He took stock. His bones ached, like always, and his face throbbed softly, sending the occasional stab of pain across his skull. "one pain," Sans ground out. "non-interfering." He was functional. Pain only mattered if it interfered with functioning.

"that's not what i asked," One said, frown deepening.

Sans backed up a few steps, positioning himself in front of Papyrus again. "i'm fine," he said, because he'd probably made the entire thing up. His words rang false despite him trying very hard to believe them.

One gave him a look that said that his didn't believe Sans, but he turned back to Alphys anyway. Sans suppressed a flinch – it had been a long time since he'd seen that expression on the scientist's face, but One's expression brought every memory of it rushing back. It had never been good.

"i need to get rid of the r– the scientist's notes," One said to Alphys, seemingly ignoring Sans' lie for now. "he can't be allowed to continue his research."

Sans blinked. "you mean like 03-h?" he asked in a small voice, unable to stop himself. Immediately he cursed himself in his head. stupid, so stupid.

One snapped his head towards Sans, eyes briefly flaring bright blue. Sans actually flinched, reaching down to grab Papyrus' hand. "where did you see that," One said through his teeth. His voice was sharp, but it sounded almost... afraid?

Sans looked to the side of One's face, gripping Papyrus' hand tightly, and tried to stay calm. "it was on one of the scientist's papers."

As soon as the words came out of Sans' mouth, One's face crumpled. His eyes filled with grief for the smallest moment before they shuttered again. "right," he said. His voice didn't shake like Sans had almost expected it to. "like 03-h."

Sans glanced over at Alphys, who looked confused. "One...," she started, but One shook his head.

"just wasn't expecting them. i suppose i should have been." One scrubbed at his face with one hand. "i'll take care of them."

Sans stiffened. Did he mean...

"You kill?" Papyrus asked, peeking out from behind Sans' back. Sans moved to keep his brother behind him, watching to taller monster.

One's face softened a bit, and when he spoke his words has lost the slight edge they'd had the whole time. "i'll try not to. it's hard to know if they'll be able to survive, but i'll keep them alive as long as i can."

Papyrus nodded. "Good," he said, voice steady. Sans felt his soul swell with pride. Where had his brother learned to be so kind?

"We should, ah, we should get moving," Alphys said.

One nodded. "the way out is through here," he said, motioning to a door Sans and Papyrus had never been through before, "as well as everything i need." He started moving, and the three others hurried after him. The door opened with no problem, but Sans felt something inside his soul twitch and he had to fight to keep his magic where One had placed it.

"the door at the end on the hall," One said, motioning, "leads to a tunnel that surfaces in hotland." His voice sounded rough, like Sans' did when the scientist asked him a lot of questions he had to answer quickly. He wondered how much talking One usually did. "sans will need to open both doors," One finished.

Alphys wrung her hands together. "Wh-what about you?" she asked.

One smiled grimly. "don't worry about me. i'll get out when i'm done."

Alphys nodded reluctantly. Sans eyed One briefly. He couldn't shake the feeling that One was really familiar, but he didn't know why. The only monsters he was familiar with were the scientist or Alphys. He remembered, vaguely, the picture Alphys showed them of her mom and dad, and there were those monsters he'd... killed. But One didn't look like any of them, either.

After a moment, Alphys turned and hurried towards the door One had indicated. Sans and Papyrus followed close behind. The door was intimidating, and Sans paused for a moment with his hand on the handle. He could feel something surrounding his soul, probing at its shape. He grimaced – it felt far too much like the scientist's probing from before – but kept his magic where it was. After a moment, the lock clicked faintly, and Sans pulled the door open.

Alphys went through first, followed closely by Papyrus. Sans glanced back behind him to see where One was, but he was already gone. He shook his head. If the scientist caught One, it would be One's own fault. There was nothing he could do. Sans repeated that to himself firmly as he followed his brother through the door.

There was nothing more Sans could do.

A/N: So I might write up a post on my tumblr (little-fuzzy-dude) later explaining more about this continuity, as it truly gained its own life far beyond what I'd originally intended. In fact, I may possibly return to this series sometime in the future (though don't hold me too that - my muse is fickle and my ptsd is strong). If I do, I'll try to let you know.

At any rate, I'll explain a bit about One and 03-H.

One is an alternate future version of Sans. Surprisingly, only one of you guys guessed that (prior to this chapter), although I suppose I was being rather oblique about it. Essentially, in his timeline, Sans and Papyrus never met Alphys and never escaped (since One orchestrated the whole thing to prevent his own timeline from happening). Therefore, Gaster was able to continue on with his plans. He made seven more skeletons, each about two years apart as that is roughly how long it took for his magic to replenish enough to create a new one. Hobo, 03-H, would already have been created in nsthb's timeline, but due to various errors in the process (because Gaster is a bad scientist), Hobo is not yet 'finished' to Gaster's satisfaction and has therefore not yet been left with Sans and Papyrus.

In the alternate timeline, Gaster succeeded in his goal of breaking the barrier and practically eradicating humanity, and then he proceeded to take over the underground, forcing Asgore to give up the throne. Things got bad, and a resistance formed. When One witnessed Papyrus' execution at the hands of one of their siblings, he defected. He ended up building a one-use-only time machine, and went back in time to try to stop Gaster's rise to power.

The reason he does not look like a skeleton is a magical disguise that he developed. Neither he nor nsthb's Sans can teleport yet.

How many of you guys figured at least a little of that out?

Once again, thank you guys soooo much for reading, and for giving me all of the support that you have. Again, I'm sorry that I'm unable to finish this story how I had planned. I hope you all enjoyed it anyway.