A happy ending. That's all that he ever wanted. It had been such an impossible goal for such a long time that he had never given much thought as to what a happy ending would actually entail. It was like dreaming of eating a perfect cake but not being able to describe the flavor or the ingredients. You just knew that when you ate it, it would be perfect.

And by all accounts it was a perfect ending. Everyone was free. Some monsters had decided to stay underground, sure, but this time it was their choice. Frisk got the family they wanted and their new mom Toriel got the school she dreamed about. Alphys and Undyne were together as a couple (finally!) and Asgore was finding some inner peace, and ... Papyrus, well, Papyrus was always happy. Sans always admired this about his brother, his undying hope in the face of anything. His brother had always been the light out of his dark moods. Even when the most horrible happened, especially when the most horrible happened and either or both of them died in the cycles of resets that plagued them for … oh so many years.

All of that was over now. No more resets. During that first night of freedom in the Overland, Frisk had promised him quietly and with careful hand gestures to never reset again. They both felt it in their hearts that they were no longer possible, the promise was made. Sans didn't believe in promises but he believed in Frisk and that had been enough.

A perfect happy ending.

It had been then when the bad dreams began.

At first they had been sporadic and had no real memory of them. A random bad night blamed on the stress of settling in a new place or dealing with humans that were either too afraid or too curious about monsters. Sans was grateful that others in their group where naturally talented in dealing with strangers, taking the responsibility away from him. If Sans were to be completely honest with himself, he would have chosen to stay in the Underground. The familiar surroundings made him feel better. He knew how to read monsters and what to say to them. After all, he had repeated the same conversations, how many times? In a ironic way, Sans missed knowing the outcome. He was practically missing the pain after the injury had healed. He almost felt numb.

Useless.

He stayed because at least here he could pretend to have some purpose by working odd jobs. It wasn't all bad. He enjoyed on going out stargazing with Frisk and Papyrus. Tori was always fun to hang around with. Her easy conversation and ready humor always made him feel at ease. Alphys and Undyne's, for lack of a better word, aggressive acceptance of the human world made him smile and almost, almost, feel bad for the human world.

He loved them all. He was just in their way. Why didn't he just go back to the Underground and disappear?

It had been then when the tiredness had increased.

It was unfair of him to feel this way, Sans reasoned. Everybody had to suffer and give up so much to make it happen. Sure, he remembered things other didn't. He made horrible choices that nobody else knew about. Even Frisk didn't remember as much as he did. Maybe Flowey remembered, but who knew with him. That flower had his own set of problems.

Sans suspected that Papyrus had some memory of the resets. The taller skeleton would make odd comments now and then about remembering things he shouldn't in this timeline but would always hand wave them away as an odd occurrence. Vague as it was, Sans knew he should probably sit down with him and talk. It was just not something the smaller skeleton was willing to revisit at the moment.

Besides,

No point. No point to it now.

It was all over.

It had been then when the dark fantasies had started.

He would never do it. He would never step over the tall cliff's edge a short way from their new home. He would never go into the forest right outside their settlement and get lost. He would never step in front of that car coming down the road. He would never. Never, ever. He would not be the cause of more despair. But the thoughts still came. In a perverse way, they were relaxing. It was a way out that was comforting just for being a possibility. Nobody needed to know. It was all in his head.

At least he thought so.

The tall, smiling dark man had been a surprise.

He had first appeared in the darkest corner of his room. Just standing there, without moving. His empty smile mimicking Sans resting grin. His mere presence had woken up Sans from an already fragile dream. At first, the skeleton had reacted defensively, his left eye alight with magic. The dark figure had laughed quietly at his reaction, startling Sans. The laughter sparked recognition in his mind. Something at the edge of his memory told him that he should know who this stranger was.

The laughter continued. He sounded very pleased with himself and at the same time, condescending towards Sans. Panic started building up in the skeleton. He had forgotten something important, he was sure of it now. What was it?

The man motioned him forward, excitedly. Sans was sure that this was a bad idea but pushed his feet out of bed and unto the floor.

"who are you?" He asked taking a step forward.

The figure didn't answer. He continued beckoning him forward, growing impatient. As he did this, however, the stranger's form wavered and flickered.

Sans stopped when he noticed the flickering. "this is a dream" He told himself. "this is not real"

The tall dark man's grin melted into rage. He shifted as if he was made of dark water and opened his mouth to shout, but as he did, whatever force was keeping there ran out. His form dissipated as his mouth vocalized one lone word.

"[SANS]"

A headache spread across his skull as memories. His original memories. Started to return.

It had been then when the bad times started.