"ALPHYS!" Papyrus yelled, pounding on the door to the lab "DR. ALPHYS, PLEASE ANSWER ME!" It was difficult to pound on the door with the blue bundle in his arms. Sans slept fitfully in his brother's hold, his eyesockets squinted shut.

The door slid open and the little dinosaur-esque scientist appeared, her head tilted to look up at the rather tall skeleton.

"W-what is it Papyrus?" Alphys stammered, put on edge by his display. Not that Papyrus yelling was anything new, or him carrying Sans to the lab. Both those things were a common occurrence; more than not it was just Papyrus complaining his lazy brother won't wake up from a nap or something. However, what was unusual about this visit was that Papyrus pounded on the door. He was usually more polite than that, or at least called first.

Papyrus's skeletal face somehow managed a look of worry as he held out his elder brother "Sans fell down." He said so quietly (for him) that it was like the world was muffled.

Alphys's heart stopped.

"W-what?"

"HE FELL DOWN!" Papyrus's voice rose to its normal volume again. "DR. ALPHYS, PLEASE! HE WON'T WAKE UP!"

Alphys felt a lump in her throat but ushered them into her lab/house. "P-put him o-on the bed upstairs, please." She directed, motioning to the escalator perpetually moving upwards.

She watched the skeletons ascend and then scurried down into the lab. The true lab. Quickly, desperately, she leafed through all the notes she's collected about DETERMINATION. All the quantities of the injections were recorded as well as how each patient reacted. She put her head in her hands.

She couldn't use DETERMINATION on Sans. She couldn't. He'd melt.

A bitter chuckle found her at all the puns Sans could make off that.

"DR ALPHYS?" Papyrus's voice called from upstairs. The scientist steeled herself, grabbed what could be useful, and headed back to the ground floor. She has to try something. If it comes to that, if it comes to DETERMINATION….

She swallowed.

No. Only as a last resort. Only if Papyrus is fine with it.

She'd have to come clean. But, for Sans….

Alphys's hasty footsteps shuffled along the floor as she raced as quickly as she could to the Skeleton Brothers. Normally in a circumstance like this she'd run on all fours (it was a lot faster) but she needed her arms to hold precious objects that could potentially save Sans's life.

Papyrus had been looking around the ground floor when she emerged and quickly, without question, scooped both her and her materials up and raced up the motorized stairs.

The elder brother was in a worst state than when she left him.

Sans lied on the bed, breathing quick and shallow.

Skeletons don't really need to breathe. Unless they're dying. It's kind of an instinct, apparently. If they breathe more than the chances of their souls not breaking apart increases. It's a sign of persistence, of something done by the body that could remotely be useful in keeping their soul from falling apart.

Alphys swallowed down her hysteria and got to working using what she had. Gently she asked Papyrus to wait downstairs, and after a quick argument he did. Should she fail and Sans turn to dust- or…melt, she didn't want Papyrus to witness it. It might shatter his optimism about the world. And by Mew Mew she knew the Underground needed that optimism.

Alphys was so intent on keeping Sans alive she didn't hear the new arrival downstairs.

"HELLO UNDYNE." Papyrus said as he answered the door and promptly got a fish boot to the face.

"WHAT WERE YOU SCREAMING ABOUT MORON!? I HEARD YOUR OBNOXIOUS VOICE ALL THE WAY AT MY HOUSE!" she yelled in an Undyne-like fashion.

"SANS FELL DOWN." Papyrus explained, trying not to let his voice waver. It failed and cracked constantly with what might become sobs.

Undyne didn't expect that answer. For a moment she just stared in shock and then made her way inside.

"Where it the lazy lump? I'm going to punch him back to life!" she snarled, baring her fangs. Papyrus gripped her shoulder and held her back. If skeletons were capable of tears, his eyes would be as watery as Waterfall.

"DR. ALPHYS IS WITH HIM." He said.

Undyne looked at her apprentice a long moment and then shook his hand off, turned around, and put her hands on his shoulders. She gave one of her big grins.

"Then there's nothing to worry about. Sans will be fi-" a high-pitched wail cut her off. Neither of the pair wasted a moment and darted up the stairs. Alphys was desperately doing…something, moving her claws so quickly that they were just a blur of yellow. Sweat slicked her face.

"N-no! S-s-sans, d-don't give up o-on me!" she screeched, trying to do something…anything. Sans's hand was beginning to disintegrate into dust.

"SANS! BROTHER!" Papyrus screeched, magic beginning to seep from his eyesockets in the form of tears. He dropped to his knees by the bed and took Sans's dissolving hand into his own. "SANS! PLEASE DON'T DIE!"

Undyne tried to help.

"SO HELP ME SANS IF YOU DIE I'LL KILL YOU!"

Tried.

Tears welled up in Alphys's eyes as she did everything she could think of. There was a small dose of DETERMINATION with the materials she brought up. She could use that. Maybe if they were almost dust it'd work-

No that only worked for the soul, huh?

"SANS! SANS NO!" Papyrus wailed.

Alphys cried, finally just dropping where she was and burying her head in her hands. She tried. She tried so hard and she couldn't do anything to save him. Sans's body turned to dust. There was no point in trying DETERMINATION now. This was another one of her faults. If she had just used it…. If she had just sucked up her fear and tried maybe then Sans would be alive… Maybe…

She sobbed. Undyne gently, quietly, knelt by her and pulled the dinosaur into her fishy embrace. Alphys clung onto her and sobbed.

"I-I'M SORRY! I TRIED! I REALLY DID BUT I-IT WASN'T E-ENOUGH!" she wailed, clinging onto Undyne and biting down her lie. She could've done something but she didn't. She let her friend die. She let Papyrus's brother die.

Oddly enough Alphys was the loudest in the room.

Papyrus simply sat, staring at the pile of dust that had been his brother. Feeling the grains shift in his hand. This pile of nothing was Sans once.

Sans was dead.

But-

Papyrus's eyesockets somehow widened as a little white heart materialized, floating above the dust. The three stared at it and its soft white light.

"Sans was a boss monster?" Undyne was the first to say their thoughts. A very, very trivial thought compared to the bigger 'Sans was dead'.

A crack split through the middle of Sans's soul and then split down in half. Papyrus wouldn't avert his eyesockets from what was left of his brother. He'd stare until the soul broke entirely. Alphys joined him in his vigil, still clinging to Undyne and with tears still in her eyes. Undyne, in a rather large contrast, glared at the little soul, as if saying 'don't you fucking dare leave me with a sobbing Papyrus'.

They waited for the soul to break.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It didn't.

Needless to say, they were all very confused. Sans just died, he turned out to be a boss monster, and now his soul won't break. Perhaps that was a good thing, but then again maybe it wasn't. Was Sans still conscious?

Papyrus open his jaw to ask when suddenly the heart erupted into blue flames. All three of them moved back, startled by the spontaneity of this as the broken soul glowed blue, magical flames licking at the air. A small white bone materialized out of nowhere and crashed the end against the corner of the bookshelf, breaking one end into a point. The little bone then dug into one side of the broken heart and pulled out, tugging behind what looked like a blue thread. Then it dug into the other half, and then poked out, and then the other half. In, out, in, out.

Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus stared, watching the needle as it worked. When the BoNeedle made it the entirety to the bottom, it began to tug the thread tighter, bringing Sans's soul back together. Undyne, frustrated and impatient as she was, reached forward to push the two pieces together, her wrist being lightly slapped away from both Alphys and Papyrus, whom kept their eyes transfixed on what was happening before them. She crossed her arms with an agitated huff.

Sans's soul put itself back together. And once it did, the dust that was his body swirled into a storm, glowing blue as Sans reformed. From his soul, strings reached out and recollected the dust and dragging his clothes around the cloud. Before Undyne could try and poke it again, the glow died down and Sans plopped onto the bed, rubbing his skull.

"ah that hurt." He muttered, looking up. His spotted the three standing before him "oh. hey." His voice was level and nothing but the slight widening of his eye sockets could betray he felt anything but….whatever emotion Sans usually feels.

"BROTHER…?" Papyrus said, reaching timidly toward him. Sans gave his brother's hand a skeptical look, turned his gaze to Papyrus's and grinned.

"what's up, Pap? need a hand?" he said. Papyrus let out a delighted squeal that Sans (plus no one else after that pun) expected and scooped his brother up, squeezing him tightly.

"SAANNSSS!" he howled, magical tears streaming from his eye(sockets) and rubbed his face against Sans's.

"yep. that's my name." Sans said, eyeing his brother with a forced grin. Undyne reached over and snatched Sans from Papyrus (who whined like a sad puppy) and held the skeleton's face an inch away from her own, by the collar of his hoodie.

"YOU SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL-"'

Sans grinned and winked one eye, shrugging "i haven't the scare-cest idea what you're talking about."

Undyne let out a frustrated howl and shook him wildly before dumping him onto the floor, only for him to be scooped up by Papyrus again.

"are we playing hot-potato or something?" Sans asked. His eye-sockets widened in mock-realization "wait, does that mean i'm the potato?"

"ONLY THE BESTEST POTATO EVER!" Papyrus chirped, refusing to put Sans down. Alphys tilted her head and eyed him, burning with questions but not having the nerve to ask.

Un/fortunately, Undyne had more than enough nerve for both of them "Hey Sans, what the hell just happened to your soul just now?"

A flash of nervousness was barely seen before Sans just shrugged. "i still don't know what you're talking about."

"You DIED." Undyne elaborated. "Turned to dust and everything. You were DEAD."

"woah, really?" Sans would've blinked had he eyelids "man that's weird."

Undyne grinded her fangs "WEIRD!? Sans what the hell ARE you!?"

Sans checked himself over, stared at his hands a moment, then answered. "apparently a skeleton."

Undyne screeched and stormed down the stairs, yelling something about eating an entire tub of nice cream before dealing with Sans again.

Sans shrugged casually "hey, Pap. mind putting me down?"

Papyrus seemed reluctant but obliged, gently lowering Sans onto the floor. The younger brother was hesitant to withdraw his hands, as if thinking should he let go then Sans would turn to dust again. After a moment, he did and took half a step back. Sans didn't seem to mind him so close. Alphys timidly approached.

"I-I'm glad y-you're okay, Sans." She smiled. Sans shrugged.

"still don't know what you're talking about, but thanks." He said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Alphys swallowed and got closer, quickly hugging the short skeleton. Quietly she said "You can tell me you know."

Sans kept his voice low so Papyrus couldn't hear. "I know."

Alphys bit her lip. When Sans spoke with proper conventions you know something serious is happening. She took a step back and studied Sans meekly. It's been such a long time since the two have been the friends they once were. Sans still visited her on occasion, sometimes he'd watch an episode or two of anime, but for the most part it seemed the only one he talked to was Papyrus… And, uh, the lady behind the door. Then again, perhaps she was also at fault for that.

She smiled sorrowfully. Both of them had become something of a recluse, it seemed.

Howdy!

Yeah uh, Undertale fanfic because I can't stop thinking about these losers. Some things to be addressed:

Pairings: I really don't like pairings to be the center of my fanfics. Subplots, yeah sure. Hinted at? Definitely. But I don't make them the focus so if you don't like my ships they could be pretty simple to ignore. (My pairings for Undertale are Soriel, Alphyne, and kind of Papyton.)

Also: Why is Alphys seemingly the focus when the big stuff is happening to Sans? Honestly, because I like Alphys. Sans is gonna have more focus later on, so don't worry about that.

Updates: Oh please don't ask. I am horrible with consistencies in updating.

I think that's about it for now, so see ya.