Frisk slowly sat up as they crossed their legs and placed their head in their hands. This was the third time they got captured by Papyrus. At first, they were determined to spare and get past him, but after his 'special attack', it became increasingly difficult to keep their health up. Eventually, they became too weak from the attacks. Papyrus easily lifted them over his shoulder and brought them to the garage, mending their wounds before heading out again.

Obviously, the bars too keep them in were far too wide, and they ended up slipping easily though them. The second time, they almost got somewhere. They kept telling Papyrus that they didn't want to fight, and he seemed to be hesitant to attack them at some point. But then they failed again, resulting in them being carried to the capture zone.

By the third try, Frisk was getting tired. Even if their health was back up to 100%, they didn't feel the determination they felt before. They just felt like…giving up.

Noticing the change in behaviour, Papyrus didn't even bother to fight them. He just walked up and hoisted them over his shoulder. The child didn't struggle. They just went limp like a sack of potatoes.

After the tall skeleton left, Frisk just laid on the floor for what felt like hours, even if it was only for a few minutes. When they eventually decided to sit up, they looked over to the new note that was on the floor beside them.

IF YOU'RE JUST LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO STAY, JUST ASK! YOU DON'T NEED TO FIGHT ME!

-YOUR HOST, PAPYRUS

Frisk looked down to the note in their hands, reading over it once more. Reaching into their pocket, they brought out the two previous notes from before.

PLEASE ASK BEFORE YOU ESCAPE! WHEN YOU WENT MISSING I GOT WORRIED SICK!

-SLIGHTLY BONETROUSLED, PAPYRUS

SORRY, I HAVE TO LOCK YOU IN THE GUEST ROOM UNTIL UNDYNE ARRIVES. FEEL FREE TO MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME! REFRESHMENTS AND ACCOMMODATIONS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED.

-NYEHFULLY YOURS, PAPYRUS

Home…

The child took out the cell phone Toriel gave them earlier. Memories started flooding back, and they couldn't help but allow a few tears to fall when they remembered the motherly monster. They wanted to stay with her, but they also knew that they had a home in the Aboveground as well. It wasn't much, and their life may be hard at times, but they had a mother and father who loved them. They wanted nothing but to hear their voices again.

Dialing their house number, they patiently held the phone to their ear, listening to the ringing on the other side.

A dial tone was heard soon after, and when they looked down to their phone, it said that the number couldn't be reached.

Frisk has never felt so alone in their life.

The garage door was opened suddenly, bringing in the chill of the outdoors. Frisk hugged themselves as they listened to the familiar voice of the tall skeleton.

"-DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM, BUT MAKE SURE YOU STAY HERE AND KEEP AN EYE ON THE HUMAN!"

"but i don't have eyes."

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! AND NO NAPPING! THIS HUMAN IS VERY SLIPPERY, AND-"

The two figures paused as they saw the small child awake, sitting up and starting at their phone.

"HUMAN! YOU HAVE AWAKENED! I HAVE BROUGHT MY BROTHER SANS TO KEEP AN EYE ON YOU UNTIL UNDYNE-"

A small noise interrupted the younger brother's speech. He looked over to the small figure behind the bars and raised his brow.

They made another small sound, followed by a whimper, and soon enough, they started to cry.

The two brothers looked at the human before facing each other, and then back to the human. Sans was the first one to speak. "papyrus…what did you do?"

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING SANS! THE LAST TIME THEY CAME TO FIGHT ME, THEY JUST STOOD THERE! SO I BROUGHT THEM HERE AGAIN SINCE THEY DIDN'T PUT UP A FIGHT!" Now worried, Papyrus easily slipped through the bars to crouch in front of the small child, who only continued to sob harder. "TINY HUMAN! WHAT IS WRONG! ARE YOU INJURED?"

Before anything else could be said, Frisk sprung up to their toes and hugged the tall skeleton's chest plate, burying their face into his scarf. Not expecting the new weight, Papyrus lost his balance, causing him to go from crouching to sitting on the floor with the child in his lap.

Sans just looked on with confusion. He wasn't sure what to make of the scene in front of him. It wasn't until he noticed the three sheets of crumpled paper on the floor did he decide to investigate. Squeezing through the bars, the short skeleton picked up all three sheets, reading them over as the child's sobs could still be heard throughout the garage.

"…so you decided to break the kid by getting 'em homesick? I gotta say bro, that's pretty savage." Despite the situation, Sans couldn't help but let the humour in his voice escape a little.

"N-NO! I-ER IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA TO OFFER…" Looking back down to the weeping figure in his lap, Papyrus hesitantly ran a gloved hand through their hair, smoothing it out as he tried to think of a solution. Between their sobs, Frisk could be heard saying something. Even if it was slightly muffled by Papyrus' scarf, both brothers could clearly make out what they were trying to say.

"Home…I-I wanna go home…I w-w-wanna see my parents again…I wanna go home!"

Sans nervously bit the tip of his fingers when he heard this. They really were homesick. At first he thought they just scraped a knee or something, but now it was obvious. A small kid being thrown into a strange world where almost everything is trying to hurt them, who wouldn't be afraid? Who wouldn't want nothing but to give up and go home?

Papyrus kept running his hand through their hair, all hesitation from before now gone. He looked up to his brother, hoping he would have a suggestion to solve this.

Sans sighed as he put his hands in his pockets, looking around the garage. "you know, maybe we shouldn't keep the kid in here. isn't the guest supposed to be as comfortable as possible?"

Hearing this, Frisk slowly looked up to him, trying to control their breathing as they sniffled. Smiling softly, Papyrus gently tucked their strands behind their ear. "GREAT IDEA SANS! HUMAN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME INTO THE HOUSE? THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN MAKE YOU A CUP OF COCOA TO WARM YOU UP! WOULD YOU LIKE THAT?"

The child stared up at him before slowly nodding their head, wiping their eyes with the sleeve of their sweater. "THEN IT IS SETTLED!" Papyrus then stood up, lifting the child with him before turning towards the door. Sans placed the notes back on the floor as he walked behind them. He could see Frisk peeking over his brother's shoulder, their eyes and nose red from crying. Still seeing a few tears run down their face, Sans gave them a wink as he closed the garage door behind him.

"hey papyrus, can i have some cocoa too?"

"SANS YOU ARE NOT THE ONE WHO IS SAD! YOU DON'T NEED THE COCOA!"

"please?"

"NO!"

"please?"

"NO!"

"please?"

"NO!"

"please?"

"SANS SAYING PLEASE A THOUSAND TIMES WON'T GET YOU ANY COCOA!"

"pretty please?"

Papyrus made a sound of annoyance as he took the key to their house out of his pocket. "IF I SAY YES, WOULD YOU STOP BOTHERING ME?!"

Sans gave a shrug as he smiled, hearing the child let out a small giggle. "k."

"THEN FINE! YOU CAN HAVE SOME COCOA!" The younger brother shouted as he unlocked the door.

"ehhhh….actually bro…my mood for cocoa is gone now. so i guess the kid can have mine."

"SANS YOU ARE INSUFFERABLE SOMETIMES!"

The older one put a hand to his mouth as he tried to contain his wheezing laughter. Frisk did the opposite. They gave a pure, happy laugh as they buried their head into Papyrus' shoulder.

Entering the house, Papyrus gently set the child down before straightening back up. "MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME HUMAN! I'LL GET THE WATER READY FOR THE COCOA!" He proudly announced before rushing towards the kitchen.

Frisk took a moment to look at their surroundings. It was a warm, cozy looking environment. The smell of weird cooking waffed through the house and they were reminded of the times their father use to cook. He was never really good at it, and always ended up make weird dishes that looked nothing like the original recipe.

The memories brought a fresh new flood of tears to come back, but Frisk tried to hold it in. There was no reason to cry, they told themselves. The skeleton brothers would take care of them. There's nothing to be sad about.

Sans was about to go into the kitchen with his brother before he heard the sound of sniffling. Turning towards the source, he saw the kid desperately trying to wipe the new tears with their sleeve before they could fall.

"the faucet's still on eh?" He asked with a sad smile as he went over to the child's side. "hey…i know everything's strange and weird and sometimes hard on you…and i know you just want to go home…but…"

At this point, Frisk looked up to the shorter skeleton as they sniffed again, listening to his words. Sans just smiled gently as he reached down to wipe away a few tears that managed to escape. "but know that you're not alone in all this, alright? i'm rooting for ya kid."

Frisk whimpered before stretching their arms out towards him.

"…uh…" Sans looked at them awkwardly, as if seeing the gesture for the first time in his life. The child then put on the saddest pair of eyes he ever saw as they sniffled again.

…ah screw it.

Carefully, Sans picked up the small figure, using one arm to support their body as the other rubbed their back soothingly. Frisk wrapped their arms around his shoulders as they nuzzled into the fabric of his hoodie.

"everything's gonna be alright kid. just you wait and se-hey whoa what are you doing?!" The older brother exclaimed as he felt himself being lifted in the air, still cradling the child to his chest.

"GROUP HUG!" Papyrus boomed before squishing his brother and the human against his own chest, rocking the two side to side. The shorter one gave a sigh before looking down at Frisk, who wore a peaceful smile as the tears stopped falling altogether. Sans just smiled back, freeing one hand from his brother's grip just so he could ruffle their hair.

Everything was going to be ok.