Chapter Text
New clothes, new job, new surroundings.
It’s been about a week since your last escapade across the multiverse. Nightmare was kind enough to let you rest until you healed from your first assignment - which was confusing since Dream had healed you, but you weren’t about to argue with free time - since it was such a disaster.
Sans, however, was punished severely for letting ‘his condition’ get injured so recklessly. He was given double the amount of assignments and cleaning duty on top of that. Nonetheless, it painted a powerful message: teamwork makes the dream work.
Or something like that. As if he didn’t have enough reason to hate you already.
At least you got a bunch of new clothes out of it though, right? The sneakers you chose fit comfortably, along with the black sweats and gray throwover hoodie you were wearing. It was a far cry from looking like a deer, much to your liking. This outfit felt normal; something that dredged up that feeling was rare to come by these days.
You were sitting at the island in the kitchen, poking at a plate of pancakes you didn’t feel like finishing. You had eaten your fill and knew that eating any more might make your stomach upset.
An image of a drooling Horror flashed in your mind and suddenly you had the appetite to eat the rest of your meal. You had no idea why the guy treated food like it was a rarity; he’d get pissed if he saw anyone wasting food then eat the rest himself. Killer refers to him lovingly as “Garbage Disposal” for that reason. Either way, he fucking terrified you, and you weren’t about to get on his bad side.
Speaking of Killer, you heard his footsteps approaching you from behind. You turned to look at him, wiping off your mouth with your sleeve. “Hey, Killer.”
He grinned in a way that reminded you of that Sans from the Classic AU, and again that uncomfortable feeling your realization caused settled heavy in your gut. As time had gone on, more and more things were starting to make sense: they all had similar senses of humor, each of them finding puns the funniest thing in the world. They all preferred hot dogs as their favorite meal. Each of them could shortcut, which now that you know what it is, you recalled Sans doing it plenty of times throughout your extended stay in the Underground. The list goes on. You wondered once more if there was some sort of unspoken agreement to not discuss it, or were you just expected to know?
“hey, y/n,” Killer said. He came to a stop before you, his hands in his pockets. “got news from nightmare.”
You groaned inwardly. You had picked up rather quickly that ‘news from Nightmare’ almost always wasn’t a fun thing for anyone involved. You also noticed that the news was always delivered through Killer, who is apparently Nightmare’s right hand. That little discovery made you trust him a bit less, despite his unwavering devotion to being your friend. Outside of that, you gathered that Nightmare wasn’t the fuzziest of fellows, so you felt it best to preserve yourself to keep anyone working directly with him at arm’s length.
You offer a small smile back. “Lemme hear it.”
“today you start your training! isn’t that fun?”
“Training?” You said back to him. “For what?”
Killer snorted. “c’mon, y/n, you’re smarter than that. this is happening because you were taken out by one attack, and in this line of work, that can’t happen. sooo…” he paused, searching for words. “nightmare’s had enough of your break from assignments – no dead weight allowed here. you have to pull your own. understand?”
A grim feeling spread through you. You knew this was coming, but… you were kind of dreading it.
He held his hand out for you to take. “ready to go?”
“Let me put up my plate first.” You turned back around, shoveled whatever was left of the pancakes into your mouth, then scooped your plate up and hopped off your seat. You made your way over to the sink and plunked your dirtied plate in there, briefly rinsed it with water, then went back over to Killer.
“i don’t know why you did that,” the skeleton mused, regarding you quizzically. “could’ve just left it for fell to handle.”
“I’d rather do stuff myself.”
“but it’s his punishment to clean?”
You shrugged, then took his still-offered hand. “Let’s just go. Should I change?”
“nah, what you’ve got on is fine.”
You were then shortcutted outside, into an expanse of courtyard that you’ve never seen before. The ground was worn to dirt from use, and the surrounding tall stone walls were heavily damaged in many areas. It was difficult to determine what exactly caused the marring in the rock, but it didn’t take much thought to figure out that they had been hit hard. Briefly, you wondered which of the skeletons were responsible for that, before pushing the thought away entirely; you didn’t want to know.
The grass surrounding the edges of the open area was patchy and dying, and ivy was crawling up what little free space the walls had left. The state of this area compared to the rest of the immaculate castle was shocking, to say the least; it looked like Nightmare didn’t care about it at all.
At the other end of the courtyard was a wooden bench, the kind one would see at a sporting event, with an array of simple weapons on it. Behind the bench was an entrance to a hedge maze – which looked to be the source of the ivy, as well – but the energy wafting off it was foreboding, so you wanted nothing to do with it.
Fighting off the last of your post-shortcut nausea, you heaved a sigh as you saw Sans was present, too. He was wearing different clothing… sort of. He wore a loose, dark gray tanktop, black basketball shorts, sneakers with the shoelaces untied, all topped off with his signature black jacket. Notably, the metal collar and chain he always wore were missing.
He scowled at you, his eyelights narrowing in silent accusation. The bags under his eyesockets were more pronounced than usual – if you were being completely honest, he looked like depression personified. A little more so than usual.
He glanced at your hand in Killer’s and openly sneered. “makin’ friends, are we?”
Immediately, you felt your hackles rise. “Oh, go fuck yourself Sa-”
“okay!” Killer interjected, letting go of your hand and placing himself between the two of you. “why don’t we start with assessments? y/n, fell, i want you to spar. cleanly. get to either side of the courtyard.”
WHAT?
“Are you joking? Do I look like I have a death wish?” you said incredulously. You’ve seen Sans fight before, and you wanted none of that, thank you. You’d prefer if your body stayed not broken in multiple places.
“do it, or you’ll answer to me.” The threat came from somewhere behind you.
You whirled around, coming face-to-face with Horror. Your blood ran cold at the sight of him, and apprehension danced through your entire body at the close proximity he was to you. He had his axe with him, sharp edge to the ground, and he was leaning on his arms on the butt of the axe. His grin seemed anything but friendly.
Yet still, you argued, your mouth working faster than your brain could. “He’s way too strong, I’ll never stand a chance against him-”
Horror merely snapped his teeth at you in response, and that was enough for you to skitter into your place at the edge of the courtyard. You could hear him chuckling to himself at you.
Killer sauntered over and handed you two daggers. “you don’t have to know how to use these. just don’t want to leave you unarmed.” he said quietly.
You nodded. Should be easy enough to make a slicing motion, right?
Killer moved out of harm’s way, but you reached for him before he strayed too far.
“Wait,” you whisper. “Killer, you know I’m scared of Horror. Why didn’t you tell me he was here?” Wasn’t Killer supposed to not be able to lie? Omitting the truth is still deception.
He grinned at you mischievously. “well, if i told you that, you wouldn't have come, would you?”
Oh, fantastic. “I thought you said you couldn’t lie. Not telling the whole truth isn’t… truthful of you.”
“well… yes, you got me there, but it’s more i can’t hide from myself.” He said. You started to protest, but he shushed you and continued speaking. “we’ll talk after. face your opponent.”
You swallowed your ire and watched him walk back to the safety of the sidelines.
Sans stood at the other end of the courtyard, staring at you emotionlessly. Whatever anger he was pinning you with before is now hidden under a cool mask of indifference, and it made you uneasy. Is this it? Is this how he’ll finally kill me? You wonder. No – I can’t let myself think that. I lasted in the Underground for way too long to let this lazy asshole kill me.
You take a deep breath, steeling yourself for whatever is about to come. You seriously doubted he was going to go easy on you, but that's fine. You were already sizing him up to see how easy it’d be to dodge his attacks. He’s huge, and you’re little. He may have strength on his side, but you’ve got your speed and the daggers.
“you two gonna do anything, or what?” Horror called, boredom dripping off his gravelly voice.
You shot him a dirty look, then heard blasters powering up. Quick as lightning, you dropped to the ground, the beam of energy just barely missing you, firing through the air where you had just been.
Adrenaline lit your body on fire. Yeah, no, this definitely wasn’t just a spar. Sans is out for blood.
The blaster powered up once again and you threw yourself to the side, once again missing the beam of energy by a hair. You chance a look up at Sans; he hadn’t even moved. His hands were still in his pockets, his posture still slouched. The only thing that was different was his left eye was glowing bright red, a tail of energy curling around his skull like a menacing snake.
You started to pick yourself up, but a bone appeared under you, hitting you square in the stomach, then another collided with your jaw. He isn’t letting you back up.
Rage coursed through you. You acted before you could think rationally about your next move, and you threw a dagger at your assailant.
The blade collided uselessly against the ground in front of Sans.
“wow.” Sans drawls, stopping his incessant attacks for long enough that you could stand up. “this is all you’ve got?”
Your lips pulled back in a snarl. “FUCK YOU!” you shouted, and full-on charged him. Surprise crossed Sans’ features for all but a second before you slashed at him with your remaining dagger.
He fucking dodged the blow, moving at a speed you’ve never seen before.
You stumbled on the open air, your momentum causing you to fall forward, but Sans grabbed you by your SOUL at the last moment and lifted you up to his face. “seriously, y/n? you’re pathetic.” he said, his voice low so only you could hear it. “how the hell didja survive back home for so long? no one kind enough to put’cha out of your misery?”
You saw the red sweat beading on his forehead. Even if you were just throwing random bullshit at him to see what worked, clearly it was enough to make him actually take you seriously.
“i fucking hate you.”
“tell me something new.” Sans flung you towards Killer’s feet, and you nearly crashed into him as you made contact with the ground. “i’m done sparrin’.”
“good… session, i guess,” Killer said. He offered you his hand to help you up, and you smacked it away, getting up yourself with some effort. He frowned at you, but said nothing.
“notes for both of ya,” Horror said, picking at his teeth with a claw. “fell, don’t grab SOULs durin’ a spar. that’s cheating. y/n, get better.”
“At what?” You ask.
“everything. your form was shit, your throw was shit, all of it. ‘bout the only thing i got good to say about you ‘s the fact y’survived at all. ain’t never seen a human dodge a blaster attack before.”
That sounded a lot like a compliment, but you kept your astonishment to yourself.
“that how ya lived for so long down there?” Sans said mockingly. “just dodgin’ attacks, prayin’ you won’t die?”
You knew it was a dig, but responded anyway. “Yes. That’s exactly it, actually.”
The red skeleton barked a laugh. “fuck, y/n, that’s the saddest shit i’ve ever heard. that protection boss put’cha under wasn’t worth anything.”
“Yeah, I agree. I’d much rather be dead right now.” You grumble, rubbing your jaw where you got hit.
Sans stiffened. “what was that?”
“I said I hope you keel over and die.”
“yeah, get in line, sweetheart.”
Horror snorts. “you two have got the weirdest way of flirtin’ with each other.”
You recoiled as if you’d been struck, visceral disgust slamming into you like a brick wall. “What? Ew, fuck. No. Absolutely not.”
Even Sans backtracked, speaking at the same time as you. “no fuckin’ way, no. nasty.”
“whatever you say,” Horror said. “fightin’ seems to be the love language of most fell universes anyway. but hey, who am i to tell ya what gets you off or not?” he shrugged, then turned towards Sans. “fell. you’re with me. y’need to learn how to use your physical form to attack without relyin’ so heavy on magic.”
“why the fuck would i do that when i’ve got magic?” Sans said.
“you’ll get tired eventually and’ll need to rely on physical forms of attack while your magic’s depleted. you’re a big dude, surely you’ve thrown a couple’a punches before?”
“a few,” Sans said. “but i mostly use magic. don’t wanna move much in a fight if i don’t gotta.”
“well, that’s gonna change.” Horror said, beckoning Sans over to the far end of the courtyard, out of your earshot.
Killer swatted your arm, catching your attention.
“Ow! What?” you said, shifting away from him slightly.
“what the fuck was that?” he spat, his voice a hissing whisper.
This was a complete 180 to how he usually treated you, so to say you were surprised is a bit of an understatement. “What do you mean?”
“why’d you let yourself get beat up so easily?” he bristled. “aren’t you from fell?”
What the fuck? “Yes, but I never actually managed to hit anyone, Killer. I always ran before the fight ended.”
“you’re joking. tell me you’re joking.” he said. “why didn’t you tell me?”
You glared at him. “Well, if I told you that, you wouldn't have come, would you?” you said, repeating his own words back to him.
“oh for fuck’s sake, y/n,” Killer snapped, exasperated. “when are you going to let your guard down? nothing bad is going to happen to you here!”
“Nothing bad?” You echo, a dry, sarcastic laugh escaping you. “Killer, everyone I know is dead. I almost died last week. I just got the shit kicked out of me by Fell, and I almost got eaten by Horror. How the FUCK is that nothing bad?!”
“i don’t know! clearly you’ve got some shit that you need to work through, but outside of all of that –”
“Oh, no. You do NOT get to blame this on me.” you point an accusing finger at him. “None of the things I listed were my fault. Me not having experience with fighting is not a flaw, it was a survival tactic. Look at how huge Fell is! He’s just over average height for the monsters in our universe. I’m barely the size of a child there, so to actually fight would have been IMMEDIATE DEATH.
“Furthermore, I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to work for Nightmare, I didn’t ask to be Fell’s condition, and I didn’t ask to be put into a world where it’s kill or be killed. I did what I fucking had to in order to live, and you don’t have the goddamn right to treat me like this.”
Killer’s face contorted, and the black tears on his face began to overflow, dripping off his face and vanishing before they hit the ground. He seemed to go through a myriad of emotions in front of you, stumbling over his words and fighting with himself to form coherent sentences, before ultimately letting out a loud sigh and deflating. “fine. fine! i understand. i’m sorry. i just –” he paused, attempting to regain composure. “you’re my friend. i worry about you. i want you to be safe, and i get scared when you’re not.”
Ah, fuck. Real emotions besides anger; your old enemy. “Killer, we’ve known each other for a week.” You deflect, receding into yourself out of instinct.
His irritation returned swiftly. “THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT I DON’T –”
“killer.” Horror appeared next to you, making you jump. “go. i’ll handle this.”
Wordlessly, Killer shortcutted away, leaving you standing alone with Horror. You stepped back from him, casually putting as much space between you and him as possible. He stared at you, silent, clocking your every move.
“you got a thing for baitin’ people to anger, or what?” he said slowly, his single eye taking in your entire form.
“Excuse me?” you said, barely restrained fury envenoming your tone.
“you heard me. seems all you do ‘s make people mad.”
“Yeah, well, maybe everyone around here is just fucking irritating.”
The corner of Horror’s mouth quirked up into a smirk, and he chuckled low in his throat. “you sound like dust.”
You roll your eyes, feeling the worst of your anger ebbing into a simmer. Most of what you were feeling now is unease; it was just you and Horror now. Sans wasn’t far off, but from your previous exchange, you didn’t think he’d step in to save you from the bloodied skeleton if he tried to eat you again.
Horror didn’t move though, choosing instead to continue staring at you. You chanced a look at his mouth – no drool, from what you could see. Why is he so… calm? “Why are you staring at me?”
“deciding on how best to quarter you to give me the most meat yield.”
Your eyes flew open and you took a step back, fear sending lightning down your spine.
Horror bent forward and laughed so hard he started coughing. “fuck, you are too fun to mess with. ‘m not gonna eat’cha. you’d be too stringy.”
“That doesn’t exactly make me feel any safer.”
Slowly, he stood back up and shrugged. “y’ain’t safe here. plain ‘n simple. whatever bullshit killer’s been tellin’ you about not bein’ in any danger ‘s a fuckin’ lie.”
Who were you supposed to believe? “He told me he couldn’t lie. How do I know you’re not lying?”
He rolled his eye, huffing at you. “he can’t lie, yeah, but he ain’t pinocchio. he can’t lie about whatever he believes to be the truth, whether it really is true or false.”
Ah. Well, there goes any glimmer of trust you might’ve had in Killer. “Great.”
Horror looked at you for a few more seconds before quickly wiping his mouth on his sleeve, then turned away from you partially. “look. this is why we’re trainin’ you. i agreed to this to get night off my back about helpin’ fell, but clearly you need a shitload of help, too. ‘m just lettin’ you know i ain’t here to fill your head will bullshit like killer does.”
There was a lapse in the conversation as you searched for how to respond to his indirect offer to help you.
“… look. i know i’m not the cuddliest guy in the world, ‘n you’ve got a justifiable reason to be scared’a me. i’m not gonna tell ya that i ain’t a threat to ya, either, ‘cause that’d be a lie in itself, but just know ‘m gonna be real with you about everything.”
Was that supposed to be reassuring?
“… Thanks, Horror.”
“no problem. now follow me since killer’s dipped.” He turned his back to you and walked over to Sans, who was whaling on a punching bag that seemed to be a bit too small for him.
… He looked dumb as hell hitting that tiny thing, but you knew better than to express that right now.
“power’s there, but you’re not swingin’ right.” Horror said, leaning on the butt of his axe again. The boredom slipped back into his tone all too easily.
“how the fuck else am i meant to punch?” Sans growled.
“correctly?” Horror cocked a brow at the larger skeleton. “you’re throwin’ haymakers, you’re meant to jab the damn thing.”
Sans rolled his eyelights. “just sounds like a bunch’a fancy words for punchin’.”
“it ain’t.” Horror righted himself and handed you his axe – much to your complete shock – then started gesturing to various places on your coworker.
“rearin’ your arm back like that gives away the shot you’re gonna take ‘n makes it easy to block. your stance ‘n your posture are off, too. i doubt anyone’d be big enough to knock ya over, but ‘s better to practice now just to get your form right.”
For a moment, it looked like Sans was going to argue, then he let out a breath and turned his focus back to the punching bag. “fine. how do i do it correctly?”
“feet apart. brace one foot in front of the other; makes it harder for ya to lose balance.” As he spoke, Sans obeyed, adjusting his body as needed. “arms up. chin down. don’t let ‘em get your throat.” Horror cast a sidelong glance at you and raised his browbones, insinuating you should be taking mental notes, too. You gave him a quick nod, and he continued. “when ya punch, do a quick strike from where your arms are now. that’s a jab, n it’s better to hit people from there ‘cause they won’t be able to predict where your shot’s gonna hit as easily.”
“this feels stupid.” Sans said.
“just suck it up ‘n hit the fuckin’ bag, man.”
Sans obliged immediately and broke the punching bag. The three of you stared in stunned silence for a few heartbeats, only broken by the sound of Sans’ laughter. “fuck, didja see that? i took that fuckin’ thing out!”
“shocking what proper technique gets ya,” Horror grumbled.
“y/n, did you see –” Sans looked down at you, smiling, then stopped himself mid-sentence. He wiped all trace of joy from his face, replacing his emotions with the same indifference as before, and shoved his hands in his pockets. “’course ya did. you were right here.”
Weird, but okay. I’m used to him icing me out. “I did,” you said, leaving your mild confusion left unspoken.
Horror’s eye flicked between Sans and you. “hell was that?”
“the hell was what?” Sans asked, glancing at the smaller skeleton. “nothin’ happened. what else do i need to learn?”
“… just fuck off for a bit. go get a bigger punchin’ bag, there’s an equipment room on the other end of the courtyard.” Horror said, gesturing vaguely to the opposite end of the expanse.
Sans shortcutted away without a second word.
Horror pulled a bag of what looked to be beef jerky out of his jacket, then started eating it. “i thought killer was messin’ with me. fuck’s goin’ on between you ‘n him?” He didn’t meet your eyes as he spoke, concentrating almost entirely on his snack.
The way he was gripping the bag so tightly made you uneasy, but you didn’t show it. “Nothing’s going on between us.”
“bullshit.” Horror’s gaze suddenly snapped to yours, the pupil in his eye visibly narrowing as he bored holes into you. “whatever the fuck dynamic y’all have got goin’ on is goin’ to fuck up the flow of the team, let alone any missions y’get sent on together. so, again: what is going on between you two?”
His sudden intensity was frightening, and the way he was looking at you made you feel like a trapped animal. Is he going to try and eat you again? “I don’t know.”
The bloodied skeleton hissed and backed up a few steps. He took another bite of his snack, tearing it with a jerk of his head, then shut his eyesockets in thought as he chewed. “y’don’t know.” he said slowly, tasting the words, before opening his sockets just enough to see you. “is that the truth? or do you just not want to tell me?”
Your eyes tracked the saliva dripping down his chin, your heart a panicked bird in your chest. His behavior felt very stop-and-go, calm one moment and near losing control the next. It’s impossible to get a read on this guy, and you hated it. “It’s the truth,” you said, your voice barely a whisper. You fought the betrayal rising like bile in your throat and tried not to let yourself sink into those emotions – you needed to stay alert in case Horror got bitey again. “We were close once. Then one day, he just… started acting like what you’ve seen. I don’t know what I did. You’re better off asking him.”
“you think i haven’t tried that?” Horror said, his response clipped. “he fuckin’ denies anything’s wrong at all. if he knows shit, he ain’t talkin’.” He took a deep breath, and another bite. The more he ate, you noticed, the more he seemed to calm down. “nightmare ain’t gonna like this. you’re gonna fuck up the flow of things.”
“Yeah, I know that already.” you said flatly. “Not like I can do anything about it.”
Horror stilled, his eye flicking over your form. “do you have any idea what that entails, y/n?”
“No?” Your brows furrowed.
“it means you’d be the first to go.”
Your stomach plummets. “You mean…?”
“yep. gone, like that.” Horror made a slicing motion over his throat. “you are the dead weight here – in nightmare’s eyes. he don’t want you here. he may act nice ‘n kind to your face, but he thinks you’re gonna take up space he doesn’t wanna give. ‘n don’t go thinkin’ that you bein’ fell’s magic reason for stayin’ is any sort of protection; he will make fell work for him, with or without you around.”
The cold reality of Horror’s words struck you like a freight train. Of course, like being the only thing to keep Sans around when he blatantly showed he hated you would do you any favors. You squeezed the hilt of Horror’s axe, once again fearing for your life, but for a different reason this time.
You looked up at the skeleton before you. “Why are you telling me this?”
“it’s important for you to know so you’ve got a fightin’ chance. besides,” Horror put the jerky back in his jacket and took his axe from you, swinging it over his shoulders and hanging his wrists on the handle. “begrudgingly, you’re startin’ to grow on me, kid. you’ve got guts, standin’ up to people that could kill ya with a flick of their hand. never seen human with balls like you.” He paused briefly. “also, fell seems to only listen to you, despite hatin’ you… for some fuckin’ reason. ‘m willin’ to bet if ya bring this up to him, he’ll ease up.”
“who’ll ease up?” Sans said, his sudden appearance making you jump. “took me a long damn time, but i found one that’d be easier for me to hit.”
“good,” Horror said, ignoring Sans’ question. “set up your stance like i told ya ‘n keep practicing.”
Sans grunted in response, and, to your surprise, did what he was told without complaining.
“y/n,” Horror said, beckoning you further away from your coworker. You follow him, and he fell back a bit to match your pace.
“What?” He had brought you to the edge of the courtyard, a fair distance from your coworker.
He positioned himself in such a way that you wound up with your back to the crumbling wall. While you were not trapped beneath him by any means, it definitely felt like it. He looked down at you, concern lacing his features. “this is gonna sound backwards as shit, ‘specially considered i tried to tear the flesh off your bones day one, but i am the only one you can fully trust ‘round here.”
The scoff escaped your lips before you could think better of it.
“i mean it,” he insisted, and the seriousness in his tone made you reconsider. “it’s clear fell ain’t gonna fuckin’ help you at all. error’s got an agenda, ‘n would turn you in to night for a fuckin’ snickers bar. dust’s prejudiced against humans for his own reasons. killer is nightmare’s fuckin’ dog, and nightmare himself would kill you just for shits 'n giggles."
So… what am I meant to do? "I can’t just come running to you. Horror, you scare the shit out of me, you look at me like I’m a piece of meat. How am I supposed to trust you?”
He shifted, looking embarrassed. “look, i’m – i’m sorry i tried to eat your arm, okay? wasn’t in my right head that night ‘n the scent of human flesh just… does somethin’ to me.”
“That – … Horror, I get where you’re coming from, but that did not help.”
“for fuck’s – y’know what? fine. y’don’t need to accept my apology, i get it. just know that i ain’t gonna steer you wrong. you’re part of the team now, my appetite agreeing with that or not, so just… promise me one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
“fight. fight like hell. don’t you fuckin’ dare let them get you. don’t let fell lord today over you. i ain’t gonna let the first person to join after me make the same fuckin’ mistakes i did, ‘cause no one was there to guide me.” Horror leaned in close to you. “do not give them the satisfaction of watchin’ you crumble ‘n fall like they fuckin’ expect you to.”